Hehehe…
Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks
Chapter 7
Lance finally had enough and removed Ash.
“Do you not understand the meaning of the word ‘No’?”
“But…but…I need help!”
“Well, I can certainly see that.” Lance said in an undertone. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the only person who beat my Mewtwo!”
“Trust me, if you didn’t have Mewtwo the rest of the Elites would have beaten you easily.”
“I don’t believe it!”
“You don’t?” Lance raised an eyebrow. “More reason for me not to train you then. If you think you’re so good, then why waste time with me, ne?”
He turned to leave.
“I’ll do anything!” Ash cried.
Lance raised his eyebrows. “… Anything?”
“Yes!”
“You swear by Lugia you will do anything for me to train you?”
“I swear.” Ash said rather foolishly.
An evil grin spread across Lance’s face. “You said it, not me… very well. We’ll start tomorrow. Get a good night’s sleep tonight.”
“Thank you!!”
After Ash had left, Lance opened his wall safe and took out a vial of murky purple potion. “This ought to do the trick.”
That’s cruel of you, Master.
“He deserves it.”
I suppose…
Ash was surprised when he woke up the next morning. “What did you do?!”
“You wanted me to train you, right?”
“Yes, but where are we?” Ash looked around. It was foggy…
“We are currently in the Realm of Time. You can come here because you have a Mewtwo.”
“Huh?”
“This is a place separate from normal time… you can only pass here if you have a legendary pokemon.”
“Oh…”
“Considering it would take about five years to get you to Champion level in real time, I decided to take us here.”
“I see... but…”
“But what?”
“Er…” Ash pointed to his clothes. “Do I have to wear this?”
“What’s wrong with it?” It was just a plain bodysuit: black, no special designs, looked like a TR outfit without the ‘R’.
“I feel so… provocative.”
Lance sighed. “It’s to make your movements as unhindered as possible.” * … Provocative? What on earth? *
“Really?”
“Yes… Now, put your poke balls down. You won’t need them.”
“What?”
“The power of a Champion comes first from a trainer. It does not come from the pokemon first.” Lance said coldly. “Do you want to go through this or not?”
Ash gritted his teeth, but nodded.
“So, first we are going to build up your strength. Let’s start with one hundred jumping jacks!”
After that, they did push-ups, cherry pickers, mountain climbers, and ran around for half an hour.
Ash groaned. * Ugh… this is what you have to do? *
They were currently on break. Ash finished eating the curried chicken and rice Lance had prepared; it was pretty good…
He looked at the eight textbooks Lance had set in front of him.
“Of course, training isn’t just physical.” Lance said. “I want you to read these.”
“All of them?”
“Read 1 chapter of each a day. If you have questions, ask me.”
Ash groaned and started reading. It wasn’t too bad…
Basic chemistry, physics, biology, statistics, algebra, pokemon physiology, attack guide, and breeding guide.
And so time passed…
Approximately 6 months later, Realm of time, time, no time real world
Ash glared at Lance as he attacked. “KYAH!”
Lance deftly blocked each clumsy punch as he shook his head. “Concentrate, Ash. Concentrate! Do you want to become a Pokemon Master or not?”
“But!”
“But what? This doesn’t even affect time in the real world, so why are you worried?”
“It’s so boring!”
“Boring?” Lance asked dangerously. “Fine. I won’t train you anymore. Remember, _you_ begged me to do this.”
“I didn’t’ think it’d be so hard!”
“So you’re going to give up halfway now, is that it?”
“I!”
“I never knew you were a quitter Ash. An annoying trainer, yes... But did you give up? Or have I misjudged you twice?”
“I’m not a quitter!”
“Then don’t talk about stopping the training.” Lance said coldly.
Ash frowned, but Lance was right…
So he didn’t give up.
3.4 years later, Realm of Time
“Finally!”
“Pass.” Lance said, smiling. “Well, good luck to you. You’ll still have to wait a year before Championship.”
“Thank you, Lance.”
“Ne, you’re forgetting something.” The Dragon Master said.
Ash blinked.
“Remember you said you’d do anything?”
“H-hai…” A nervous expression fixed itself on Ash’s face at this. What would Lance want?
He hadn’t been mean to him after he actually put his heart into the training…
Still…
Not Mewtwo, right?
“So what do you want?”
Lance let Ash sweat for a few minutes while he deliberated his answer…
End Chapter
Completed 10/1/04
Hehehe…