Isn’t he so cute and naïve? *Cough* don’t worry dear readers; Lance won’t stay that way for long, love!

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 2

 

            He was fifteen when the man came. He was an old man in a wheelchair. Over the past few years, the small area of Houen had flourished with abundant pokemon and crops, and the villagers were happy.

            Lance had been preparing to go on his pokémon journey. School had been completed, and it was high time he could leave. They had been packing up the last of his supplies together, making sure he was prepared.

            The knock had been unexpected. Lance had answered the door, and the rude old man had let himself in. All right, perhaps he was not that old, but he had a Swinub in his lap and was sitting in a wheelchair.

            “How may I help you?” His mother had asked politely.

            The old man had smiled. “I am Professor Pryce Icewind of Mahogany Town in Johto. Perhaps you have heard of me?”

            “You run a school for gifted children, do you not?”

            The man had nodded in pleased acknowledgement. “Yes. I have come to inform you that we are extending an application to our school for your son here.”

            “That is very kind of you, but Lance is leaving on his pokémon journey in two days. Also, he has already completed his required schooling, so we cannot accept your offer.”

            He had almost, almost exhaled in relief then. Almost. However, Pryce’s next words had shattered him.

            “I will be frank with you, Ms. Ninge.” Pryce exhaled. “My school is for gifted children, yes… but don’t tell me you didn’t know?”

            “I did not know what?”

            Lance tensed. How had this man known? He’d been so careful to keep it a secret. And he was a stranger…

            His eyes flashed blue for the barest fraction of a second.

 

            His mother put her hands on her hips. “What are you saying?”

            “The school is mostly a blind, Mrs. Ninge. The truth is, your child was born with special powers.”

            “Impossible!” She scoffed. “I would know!”

            “The family is often the last to find out when a child develops special powers.” Pryce was trying to be sympathetic, but it was not working well.

            “Lance, is this true?”

            He could lie, but he was afraid the man would know. What was he, a psychic?

            His eyes narrowed. “Yes. I have powers.”

            She moved so quickly that he did not see it coming. “Get. Out.”

 

            Well, at least it wasn’t death yet! He touched his hand to his swelling cheek, almost in disbelief, and stared at the man who had broken the news with accusing eyes. A moment later, he was out the door. Well, he tried at least.

            There were people waiting outside. So many people…

            One word, his mother screamed, and they attacked him en masse. He was too panicked to think about resistance. It was only when they had bound him to a scarred post with chains and piled dry faggots around him that he realized what was going on.

            His mother came forwards, a horrible smile on her face and a box of matches in her hand.

            He screamed as she lit the dry wood on fire. The flames licked closer, and he shut his eyes, trying to think of a way to escape…

            The howling gales heard his call, and from the sky, jagged bolts of lightning ripped through the crowd, scattering them right and left. Heavy rain drenched the pyre and the flames stuttered and died, but it was enough.

            Anger blazed in his eyes as they settled on blue.

            “Cowards, all of you! I saved your miserable lives when I brought rain! I helped you! I could have used my power for destruction, though I did not! But it matters little now! You shall all die.”

            The storm above rumbled in assent, and instead of rain there was now hail, furious biting needles, shards of jagged ice and whips of brilliant lightning.

            The chains that held him groaned, the post buckled under the assault, and he pulled himself free.

            Corpses littered the ground. He allowed himself a slow smile, and whistled.

 

            The winds caught him, lifted him into the air, and he flew away without looking back. Pryce had left, saddened. He had no idea where the boy had run off to. Perhaps he should have approached the matter with more delicacy, but the mother had seemed a rational woman. Certainly he had not expected her to react in such a way.

            He had also lost a potential ally!

            Well, it could not be helped…

 

            “Stupid old man.” Lance muttered. Although learning that he could fly was nice, he was still burning with anger.

            And his mother! Well, at least he had expected it of her. No, he had not possessed unnecessary illusions. And what of the town?

            He had saved their miserable lives and they would have repaid him with death! Well, now they would walk that path and not him.

            Fifteen years of life reduced to nothing simply because of his DNA? People were so fickle! Unforgivable.

            He would find a way prevent this in the future, keep the others like him safe, but that could wait until later. For now, it was time to hide.

            There had to be some way to keep Pryce from finding him again… the old man had done enough harm!

 

            He found it soon enough. His DNA was much like a dragon pokemon’s, though all the data on this had been lost, so all he had to do was stay in the company of dragons, and their auras would mask his. It worked exceedingly well.

            He liked dragon pokémon. He had found a dehydrated Magikarp and revived it, after all, he had the power to bring rain, and he had washed a small stream clear of debris and junk, saving the life of a baby Dratini.

            They were more than happy to become his pokémon after that. A life debt, as such, was owed.

 

            So as long as he stayed out of sight, the League would have no reason to know of his power, and no way to suspect him. As soon as Dratini evolved into Dragonair, he no longer had to hide his weather change powers. He bought blue colored contacts to hide his unnatural eye color, and attempted to bleach his hair blonde so he would not attract attention, but all that happened was it turning a horribly salmon pink.

            At least it helped him blend in when he traveled Houen. Pink hair was not as extraordinary as red hair. In fact, it was almost common. He passed himself off as a distant relative of the Nurse Joys and no one commented.

 

            Meanwhile, in Johto and Kanto, the Indigo Council was beginning to enact anti-mutant legislation. They had finally discovered that there were trainers out there with ‘powers’, and as such, those without power were giving a tremendous outcry.

            It was not quite evenhanded, for example. There was a girl who could walk on water. There was a boy who could hypnotize pokemon. Such powers gave them an added boost on their pokemon journeys.

            However, when they decided to blood test every single trainer before they could train pokémon, it made things ever worse.

            After all, there were some with powers that were no good in training, and there were others who had powers but had not unlocked them.

            Chaos.

            Also, not all pokémon trainers participated in league events, though many did. And there were pokémon living everywhere. Was it fair to deprive a four-year old girl of her pet Meowth simply because she had been gifted with the ability to talk to it in its own language? Not so!

            Where did the line form? It was a blurry line at best, and at worse, a chasm between the ‘talented’ and the not.

            The worse part was, that most of the gym leaders had talents. Misty could breathe underwater. Brock had endurance beyond that of a normal human. Erika could produce the Sweet Scent effect, but it only applied to and attracted wild grass pokémon. Sabrina was definitely a psychic…

            Would they replace all the leaders with ‘normal’ people, then? What would happen to the ones tossed aside?

            Whose banner would they gather under?

            It would not be Pryce’s…

 

End Chapter

Completed 6/10/06

Yes. Lance’s real hair is red, but he botched the bleach and dye job so now it’s pink! ^^ And yes, he is now evil, just in case that wasn’t evident!

Their last name, Ninge, is one letter off from the Japanese word for human, Ningen. It’s also a bit close to Spanish, ‘Nieve’, for snow, and ningún, which means something like none, never

Hmm… what language was I channeling when I wrote this? Both of em? ^^ I do tend to mix Spanish and Japanese because oddly enough, they sound similar…