And… it’s another chapter

DISCLAIMER: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfic belongs to me under international copyright laws. Do not take my work!
Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Started 9/3/04

Chapter 9

“Lance?”

The genie looked at her owner. “You had a question, Ash?” She was floating and scanning for pokemon.

Ash was filling up the pokédex, certainly. Fortune shone on those who helped Oak’s research, and he was more inclined to do favors.

Remember, Oak had a lot of clout with the League, should he choose to use it. That was why Silph worked hand-in-glove with him. Silph had a monopoly on all the poke balls used, and much of the healing equipment as well.

They paid Oak royally for his research.

Hey, you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours. The world of power does work that way. It was generally not advisable to try fear.

Fear eventually leads to anger, anger to rebellion, and rebellion to major loss of profits… it’s all about money.

“Do you know where I can catch Eevee?”

“Eevee?” Lance laughed. “I think it’s impossible to catch wild Eevees. However, you _can_ buy the in Celadon’s Game Corner.”

“Wow, really?”

“Shall we go?”

“I wish we were at the Celadon Game Corner.”

“Genie.” Lance nodded. A flash later, they were there. Ash bought some coins with his saved money, and in return, he got an Eevee. She was a pretty Eevee, so he named her Sunny, and evolved her into a Jolteon. It fit. He was with Sunny for a week before the League season began.

The league.

It was… nice, in its own way. Bright, cheerful, bursting with eager young trainers and more than a few idiots, and…

Drake.

Lance peered out from her poke ball and sighed upon spotting him. Why was _he_ here? He ought to stay in the Orange Islands.

That would make everyone feel better. Her, of course… she had no desire to run into him in any sense or form.

Besides, Drake might not have fallen to her Amnesia-type attack to erase his memories. That… well, it would be a major problem if he remembered and the others did not. But then again, now Misty was… in hiding. During those three months, Misty had stayed at Oak’s lab. Unfortunately, the only thing he could conclude was that due to the odd levels of chlorine in her pool, coupled with the energy from the attacks, her body had absorbed Metapod’s DNA and integrated it, and so…

That would explain why the trainer’s Metapod had vanished.

Still, the poor bug catcher was not very consoled. Misty hadn’t grown any more green scales, but still… there was no way at the moment to hide it, much less reverse the process.

So what to do?

“I challenge you!”

Ash smiled. It wasn’t even time for the matches yet, but sure, he could always use some extra spending money.

“All right! Pikachu, go!”

Pikachu sparked her cheeks eagerly, and a second later, the Oddish was fried. Joyce gasped, her Pidgey falling as well.

“How on earth did you make it this far? Do you even have all the badges?”

“Hah! You only need two badges to compete if you make it out of Victory Road! Stupid!”

“… I see…”

So that was it. Unfortunately, several of the victory road trainers, if paid $45, would automatically escort the trainer through the road, and they wouldn’t need to battle. Cheap, really, but it could be considered black market and therefore necessary for the economy.

The real pity was that the League had to clean up the mess.

Ash hadn’t used Victory Road himself. Too dangerous! Someone might find out about Lance, see… so Lance teleported them to the Indigo Plateau.

Looks like he could add Teleport to her attack list. Pity using his pokédex would automatically send the data to Oak.

But he would keep her secret!

Lorelei sighed. “Where did Lance run off to now?”

“I assume he’s checking out the trainers.” Agatha poured herself another mug of green tea. “Tea, Lorelei?”

“Why thank you, tea would be wonderful…”

The two of them sipped and enjoyed cherry blossom mochi while meditating quietly.

The room next door, Bruno was meditating in his own way, which involved lifting weights and a lot of grunting. To each their own.

His fighting-type pokemon stood ranged ‘round him.

“We won’t lose!”
A rousing cheer went up. Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee hugged each other, the two Onixes tunneled around, and Machamp just slapped Bruno on the back. Ow, that must have hurt…

Agatha’s ghosts roamed the gravestones filling her room. She had about fifty in all, give or take a few ghosts, but her team only had two gengar and a haunter. Why? Well, it was probably preference, and it would be unfair to the challenger to have to fight all of her ghost pokémon…

Lorelei’s room was the same way. The icy pool around her hid many other pokemon, but she didn’t’ use them. It was a nice, large room, and she’d be lonely with just her team, so… that was it.

Lance had a lot of statues and a throne, but the whole room felt lifeless. That was why he escaped every time he could. Lorelei wished her cousin luck, and turned on the T.V. to watch the prelims.

“So, first match Water Field?”

Ash grinned, giving Lance a high five. “Hai!”

His opponent was an odd man in a garish purple suit named Eusine, who claimed to have been chasing Suicune for ten years. Ash had no idea what a Suicune _was_, but assumed it was some rare species of pokemon.

In any case… now was the time to battle.

“Go, Drowzee!”

Ash scanned the level with his pokédex, seventeen? What was this man pulling? With a shrug, he released his Squirtle.

“Squirtle, Bite!”

Dark type attack is super against ghosts and psychics! Drowzee does fall in that category… that was one pokemon down.

Squirtle was perfectly at ease in the floating pool of the water field anyways.

“Magnemite, go!”

This looked a bit more difficult. Now Eusine had type advantage. However…

“Squirtle, use Dig!”

How can one dig in a pool? That is an odd question but nevertheless, Dig succeeded.

Eusine gritted his teeth. He’d have to pull out the big guns then. “Jumpluff! Sleep Powder!”

Ash blinked at the strange flying pokemon. A flying grass type?! What in the blazes… he’d never seen _that_ before.

All Oak’s pokédex gave was a question mark when he tried to identify the pokemon. Eusine smirked. “Never been to Johto?”

“No…”

He could safely say he hadn’t… not that he didn’t want to, but there was no way he could make a wish _now_!

Squirtle probably wouldn’t wake up. Odd how Misty’s trick of washing away sleep powder and stun spore only worked in her gym… that was it! It wasn’t normal water! No wonder she had been turned to a pokemon inside of it.

Ash recalled Squirtle. “Charmander, Flamethrower!” Charmander breathed out a long streak of flames that rapidly consumed Jumpluff, and then… vanished back into the poke ball before he could hit the water. Excellent!

Nary a splash, it was lucky…

Eusine frowned. “Oh well, I was just doing this for fun anyways. I hope we meet again Ash…”

Without another word, the mysticman was gone…

The referee brandished the red flag high, indicating the victor.

“Winner – Red Trainer Ash Ketchum!”

Ash hugged Charmander, and Squirtle, after Squirtle had been woken up via a nice long poke flute tune.

Ash had no idea how to play it, but apparently Lance did… that was good. It saved money for Awakenings… as long as the pokemon weren’t snoozing during battle. He should learn.

Wishing would be rather cheap…

End Chapter

Completed 9/7/04