Championshipping! YAY!

*Phantomness yawns*

Disclaimer: If I owned pokémon, championshipping would be VERY canon! But since you don’t see Lance and Ash kissing or hugging, well, there goes all my proof. Pokemon belongs to Satoshi Tajiri, Nintendo, Shogakukan Comics, and a lot of other people… this fanfiction is non-profit, and does not infringe on copyright. Since I wrote it, it’s *mine*… so copying it is plagiarism!

Notes: <> for telepathy/mind-speaking, and ** is for thoughts, and italics when a pokémon talks!

Timeline: About 3 years after Pokemon Special book 7

Chapter 2

Bruno smiled as he took a large gulp of wine, fondling the scantily clad girl at his side. Her face was flushed and she looked like she was holding back tears, but he ignored it as he leered at her body.

Ahh, Yellow. It was dangerous to keep her alive, but the thrill was in the danger. After all, she had defeated Lance. The Dragon Master had died at Cerise, he was certain of it, and Lorelei and Agatha were buried beneath the slick marble in front of his new Palace. Now, he was the true ruler – the true Leader of the Elite Four.

And finally, the world for pokemon was coming into being.

He could hardly wait.

You should not be here. Lance said, and his voice was cold and quiet. The Hitmonchan flushed, one arm still cradling rough bandages awkwardly.

I…

Lance looked different. His hair was long now, reaching past his waist, smooth without a hint of its previous spiky nature. His dragons were coiled around the room in various loops, but Hitmonchan did not doubt that at the slightest hint of danger, they would attack and destroy him.

He wore gloves, Hitmonchan noticed idly, long white ones, and to go with the long white robe he was wearing. It hid his slim figure well. If not for the stray wisps of hair escaping from the hood, he could have sworn it was an entirely different person.

Dragon Master…

“Silence,” Lance hissed. “If you wish healing, I will grant your request, for I have sworn to help those that cross my path, to atone for my sins at Cerise and the damage I inadvertently – carelessly, caused. However, if you wish for me to join your Master, or to defy him, why I say no to both!”

Hitmonchan smoldered in silence, chastised, while Lance placed his hands over the injured limb and concentrated. A pale bluish glow surrounded him, and then he thanked the Dragon Master politely and left.

Outside the door, Hakuryuu accosted him with a growl. And if you reveal this location to your Master, I shall tear you up and eat you myself. She said severely. Her brother nodded.

Hitmonchan nodded curtly, but inside he was trembling. Of course he was loyal to Master Bruno, but he would never – had never thought of this much…

He sighed and returned to the castle, wondering.

Lance sighed. Ever since Bruno had destroyed the Pokemon Centers during the initial weeks of his reign, more and more pokémon had come to seek him out. The price of Potions and other healing items had shot through the roof, especially after the fighting trainer had disbanded Silph’s monopoly on items. He heard rumors of resistance off in the Sevii Islands, but he paid them little heed.

He had no wish to become entangled in the affairs of men ever again.

He was content enough. His dragons would hunt for him, and he would tend them and any other pokemon that came seeking sanctuary. The cave was not elegant, but it was enough and he slept every night, wrapped in the warm embrace of dragon scales.

If Bruno destroyed the world through his careless machinations, well…

It was no longer his concern.

Hitmonchan returned to Bruno’s palace, feeling oddly empty. He was not sure why he felt that way. True, it was difficult for pokemon and humans to coexist, and he did not mind that human cities were destroyed, but what about the survivors?

What of the pokemon caught in the middle?

What of the corpses, human and pokemon alike, piled like driftwood outside the fence and rotting with a stench to the heavens?

What of them?

He wished he knew. Oh, he could deny it all he wished – fighting pokemon were supposed to be stupid, little more than machines, but he knew better. Their training heightened their senses, gave them a bit of a grasp on reality that normal pokemon found difficult to reach.

It was almost like a sense of atmosphere…

When he had seen Lance, he had felt calm, which was odd, since it was nothing like what he had remembered the Dragon Master to be. He sensed danger, but not overtly, only a calm layer of emotion with blades hidden underneath.

Defensive, not open aggression was what he sensed. Odd.

Cerise Island truly had been a turning point. Agatha and Lorelei were dead, and he shivered as he remembered how Machamp had crushed them to pulp, Agatha unable to leave once Medicham had sealed her power.

He shivered.

He had no doubt Bruno would kill Lance too, if he saw him, but Lance… the wild pokémon seemed to need him, or his skills at any rate.

No, he would not betray him, even if it were prolonging the inevitable. Bruno forced pokémon to spy for him.

If this was the way to build a world for pokemon alone, he did not like it.

No, he did not like it at all…

Master? Are you sure letting him go was wise?

“I’m sure, Ptera. I saw into his heart when I healed him.”

Oh. Of course. Lance was used to it, the flash of memories as soon as he brought up his power. He did not doubt that it was stronger than what Yellow had boasted, and he almost reveled in the fact. Speaking of Yellow, a passing Pidgey had informed him of her fate.

Reduced to one of Bruno’s slave-girls. How distressing.

His lip curled in disgust at the idea. Bruno did have delusions of grandeur now, and unlike Lance, he had succeeded.

Enough! That was all in the past. He shook his head as he turned his attention to the next patient. The Skitty mewed pathetically.

“And how did you get here, little one? You belong in Houen, where it is still safe…”

Bruno killed my Master. We were just passing through, but…

It figured. He nodded, and began to tend her wounds without another word. Skitty licked his cheek afterwards, much to his surprise. True, pokemon were affectionate, and he was a Healer, but he was still unused to it, after all these years. “Why do you trust me? I could easily betray you.”

I know. Skitty said seriously. We have heard, even in Houen, of your attempt to control Lugia. But you failed, and we believe that you have repented. So we forgive you.

… We?

As he stared at the Skitty, it changed shape, glowing with white light and resolving into a form he had never expected to see.

Mew…

End Chapter

Completed 12/28/06

Finding out that 4Kids is very fond of AAMRN is most disturbing! *Gags* EEW! To the point that they edit dialogue and put in hints! *Gags some more*