I have no idea why I picked this title!

Pika-chan: Phantomness is weird

Phantomness: *glares* I should be cramming for my physics midterm. Be grateful I’m sparing a few minutes to write.

Shoyko: *shakes head* I suspect darkfic on the rise

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfic belongs to me. Do not take my work.

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Chapter 2: Use connections. Use them well…

“Hello, Bob.”

Bob scowled at his cousin. “What do you want, Ash?”

“I just came by with this letter from grandfather.” Ash proffered the note, black ink shining on cream paper.

Bob scanned it. Same old, same old, quit dragon mastery or we’ll disown you. Pfft. He wasn’t going to go by their ideals.

Ash was so stupid! Why had he not tried something else?
“You got Fire, didn’t you?” Bob indicated the coat. This was a special coat; only members of their family who had passed Fire Mastery were allowed to wear it.

“Yes.” Ash declared proudly.

“Idiot! You had a Pikachu with a power level beyond normal pikachus! Why in Mew’s name did you abandon it?”

“Abandon? I did not.” Ash retorted, affronted. “Pikachu expressed a desire to go join his kin in the wild, and I allowed him to.”

“Argh… don’t you understand? You should have tried Electric Mastery!”

“Why?”

“Because – because it’s rebellion!”

The Elders were right, Bob was volatile and unpredictable and most likely insane. Ash made a curt bow. “I have delivered my message, so I will be seeing you.”

“Hey! Don’t just run away!”

Too late. Foxes vanished in an eye blink. Ash was far, far away when Bob had recovered the shock.

Well, he didn’t care what they thought! * I will get Dragon Mastery if it’s the last thing I do! I’ll show them I’m a nonconformist! *

“I see…” Lance put down his glass of grapefruit juice and studied Blaine. “But what I do not understand is why you are so adamant…”

Blaine coughed. “Our family is devoted to fire mastery, and it has spanned seven generations. When Amanda attempted Poison and failed, it was a clear sign that we were meant for fire only.”

“Still, would it not be… shall I say, unfair, for me to ban Bob from even taking the test for Mastery?” Lance asked.

“Three generations back, Clark attempted Water mastery. He drowned while en route to the testing arena. That is another sign. And in the very first generation, Herbert tried Grass and died from allergy complications of hay fever! We should stick to fire! It’s safe. Can you not understand? I don’t want the boy to die!”

Lance took another sip of the beverage. * Do you truly? Or is it just because fire you can control and others may not be controllable? Still, he has a point… it will only waste Rayquaza-sama’s time to test Bob. He’ll never pass. *

“Very well, Blaine. I’ll not let him take the test for a year. After that, I would like to review and see if perhaps circumstances have changed to allow testing.”

The gym leader inclined his head in a nod, assenting.

“One year, counting from now.” The shook hands to seal the deal.

“I don’t know why Bob is being so stupid.” Ash said.

< He’s an idiot. > Charizard snorted.

< I believe it’s his lust for power. > Houndoom contributed.

Rapidash was silent for a few minutes. < Perhaps he sees fire as a crutch and wishes to move beyond it? >

< But fire is our family! >

< True… > Ninetails nodded. She had seen Ash’s memories, as the melding had mixed and combined their knowledge and power. Bob was… annoying, to put it mildly.

When Ash was only four, Bob being seven, he had almost drowned when Bob tossed him into the murky water of a nearby lake to teach him how to swim.

She wasn’t sure if Ash had forgiven Bob for that.

Then, when Ash was six, he had fallen out of a tree when Bob had pushed him and broken an arm.

Incidents like these; sparsely scattered but no less vile, clouded Ash’s memory. His perception of Bob was fair at best.

No love bloomed between them.

< Did you enjoy meeting your friends again? >

< Well, Brock… Brock was interesting. > Brock and Suzie had hooked up, and she was excellent at curbing Brock’s girl-chasing urge.

His maturity was now much more apparent.

Misty… well, nothing special. They hadn’t been _great_ friends.

Did he love her?

It was much too early to tell, but at the moment, no.

< Are you preparing for the competition? >

Ash grinned. * Can’t keep any secrets from you can I? *

< Not if we share a mind. > Ninetails retorted.

Yes… every ten years, there was a tournament for all Masters, levels 3-5. Ash himself was level four, which was higher than adequate for Mastery, but not exceedingly powerful. Blaine had been level 5, before age had caught up and dropped him down to 4. Still, he commanded prestige and respect.

A Level 5 Master meant you could control wild pokemon of your element. It was a coveted power, for obvious reasons. Right now, he knew only of four of them. Lance and Dragon Mastery, Norman and Normal Mastery, Agatha and Ghost Mastery, and Morty also with Ghost Mastery.

Interesting how things set themselves up.

For levels 1 and 2, you were considered a Master-in-training.

Ash didn’t really know Norman, but he and the others had been semi-casual acquaintances. He somehow felt they looked down on him, often. Of course, it was fair to say they were much more powerful. Still…

Sometimes it rankled like a sore.

However, now he had a chance to prove himself. So why not? Yes, this tournament would be fun…

< Of course I’m going. >

“Sorry, but I have my orders.”

Bob glared at Lance. “Get out of the way!”

Lance was standing in front of the gateway to Sky Pillar, where Rayquaza rested. There, potential dragon masters would take the test.

Claire was level 3, the Elder of his clan and his grandfather, level 4. Lance had outstripped them both, although sometimes he felt as if his grandfather resented his successes.

Odd how Blaine’s family seemed to be more together than his. Well, all groups had their problems, right? Right. Bob was definitely a problem.

“Powder, I choose you!”

Lance sighed as Bob’s Dragonite #2 attacked. A quick flick of his wrist released his Articuno. He watched Bob gape as it froze the dragon solid.

“Don’t think I only have dragons because I have Mastery.” Lance smirked. “Well?”

Bob tensed as he released the rest of his dragons. “You’re on!”

End Chapter

Completed 11/2/04