I really, really wish that I knew how to write without stopping and then I could write whenever I wanted to instead of relying on the blasted plotbunnies.

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. I also use italics when Lance writes notes to Red.

Chapter 3

Red woke up to hear Lance singing. He sleepily blinked his eyes open. Why could Lance sing, but not talk? It was probably one of those weird things they took you to the head doctor for.

Lance’s voice glistened over the clearing like mist, and the pokemon nearby heard, and listened…

There was power in these songs, and he was in a good mood. The aura of life around him was almost visible, a pearly blue…

He could almost feel power sing, and yes… they were near the Viridian Forest, so he could feel energy flowing through his body, pooling in his fingertips as he continued to sing, notes dropping like peals of gold.

Somewhere in the bushes, a ratty-haired man in a gray jacket and pants furiously scribbled as he kept his tape recorder on. What a voice! If he sold it, he would get rich!

He should not have thought that.

Lance abruptly stopped singing. A minute later, his eyes hardened once more, and what came out next was not liquid music, but a shrill song high in the register that humans could barely hear. Still, it did the trick.

The man toppled over in the bushes, quite dead. Heart failure, the coroners would sigh when they brought him in. He should not have been journeying at his age…

It was as good an excuse as any.

“Why did you stop?” Red frowned, as he been heating water in the kettle to purify it. “It was a nice song.”

“I don’t sing for those who do not deserve it.” Lance said simply.

Red raised an eyebrow. “I see…”

“You don’t count. But no one must ever hear my voice.”

“You’re speaking.” Red pointed out. Lance snapped his mouth shut, startled, and picked up his notepad.

“Don’t. I liked your voice.”

Lance winced. He had slipped. He had not slipped in years. What was going on? Surely just the presence of human company was not enough to tip the scales back.

But Red was am empath, even if he did not know it. Damn. And he had that tricky empathy, a kind that could bring buried emotions to the surface, even ones that had not been touched in years.

He scribbled his answer on the notepad and handed it to Red. Red looked at it for a second and handed it back.

“But why, Lance? It’s… normal.”

That was the wrong thing to say.

Lance’s eyes narrowed to slits. So being normal is so important? Then why don’t you go and find a normal trainer to hang out with! With that, he released his Aerodactyl, hoisted a leg over its side, and was about to take off before Red realized that it had not been a good thing to say.

“Wait! I didn’t mean it in a bad way, Lance!”

Lance glared at him. And I thought you would be different, too, but I suppose I was wrong. Even with you being an empath…

Red caught the note in his fingers and hastily scanned the words. “What’s an empath, Lance?”

Lance sweatdropped, and tossed him another sheet of paper.

“An empath is someone who is good at understanding the feelings of others? But Lance, I can’t do anything like that… can I?”

Ask your pokemon.

“Ask my pokemon? Lance… get off the Aerodactyl and start talking to me face to face right now!”

Lance blinked. No one had ever treated him that way before. Usually they were gibbering in fear or too blind to see his true feelings. He shrugged as he jumped off and recalled Aerodactyl.

Red sucked in a breath, quite surprised that his tirade – though short, had worked. Lance seemed to be studying him too.

He held his head high and let Lance continue his examination.

Lance let his eyes trace over Red’s lithe form unashamedly. After all, he had no carnal designs. He studied the hidden strength and grace, and shook his head.

Red was so full of contradictions. It was quite refreshing to keep him company, even if he tended to fall off his pedestal.

Very well, I will stay. But no more mention of normality please. He wrote.

Red grinned. “All right. That’s a promise.” He held out a hand, and Lance shook it. For the briefest touch, a spark flashed from one to the other.

s

Now that that was finished, they got back to breakfast preparations. Lance produced some wild toadstools and toasted them over the fire, and well, even if Red thought it odd, he thought it polite not to mention. They were quite good mushrooms too, creamy on the inside and crispy on the outside.

“Wow, these are really good Lance.”

Lance colored, a bit unsure at the praise, but Red didn’t seem like he was lying. Besides, there were no sneering undertones. That was a good sign.

Bulbasaur nibbled on one and her eyes began to glitter.

“You like them too?” Red grinned. “That’s great!”

Poli and Pika also tried the mushrooms. They really were nice.

“So, how did you learn this?”

How did I learn what?

“How to cook!” Red replied promptly. Lance blinked.

You can’t cook?

“Well, no….”

I’ve known how to cook since I set out on my pokemon journey. Eating all those prepared foods is not good for you.

“So you’ll teach me?” Red prodded.

More blinking ensued. Are you serious?

“Of course I’m being serious, Lance! If cooking is so important, I should learn!” He did not want to keel over and die during his pokemon journey because of not eating right.

Green would never let him live it down!

Why did that make him so angry? Or was he simply excited? Lance was not completely sure, so he wrote another note

All right, Red, I’ll teach you.

“Yay!” Red impulsively hugged him again, and this time Lance managed not to flinch too obviously.

Perhaps they were making progress now.

End Chapter

Completed 6/5/06

Started 6/4/06

Lance isn’t as polished and graceful in this fic as he usually is. He’s still a work in progress, as it were. He’s got the intimidation factor down, and the coolness, but he has zero social skills. Hopefully Red can work on that.