Chapter 4!

Disclaimer: Don’t own pokemon. Don’t’ steal my fanfic.

Notes; <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics for pokémon thoughts

Chapter 4

 

            Crying….

            Red looked around, surprised. Where was it coming from? There shouldn’t be anyone else in the room…

            Unless….

            He raced to their shared bedroom and found Lance huddled underneath his desk. “Lance? What’s wrong?”

            “They killed them…. Killed them….” His voice was a faint whispery sound, like a dead thing…leaden…

            Oh no! What was he supposed to do?

            “Lance, let me help….”

            An unholy light flared up in Lance’s golden eyes as he stared at Red. “Ash….”

            “That’s not my name,” He muttered, but Lance didn’t seem to hear him.

            “Ash…” He held out his arms, and against his better judgment, Red stepped in. immediately, Lance began to calm, as he ran his fingers through Red’s hair.

            “Lance…. I….”

            “Shh, otouto, everything will be all right….”

            Red resolved to ask someone what had happened. Later. For now though, he just held onto Lance and tried to understand what was going on.

            This was too strange….

 

            He knew that Lance had gone on a mission earlier today, after quizzing him and finding the results satisfactory, but what had happened after?

            He needed to know…. Why?

            This was just another rocket, right? Bu while his head said yes, his heart said no…. and Red really trusted his heart in this case. Lance hadn’t ever acted rude or unpleasant to him, just sad and resigned.

            I’m sorry I couldn’t be your little brother…. I’m so sorry…!

            And with a start, he realized that he meant it.

            Maybe… maybe team rocket wouldn’t be so bad after all…? At least here, he felt like he belonged…

 

            How odd.

 

            Finally, Lance’s sobs quieted and he fell asleep, just like that. Red moved them out and put Lance to bed, wondering….

            What was wrong?

            He really did want to help. It was his heroic instinct that had gotten him in trouble so many times in the past, and yet….

            What to do?

            He had to do something…. But he was getting sleepy himself, and so he cuddled under the covers with the person who claimed to be his brother and fell fast asleep.

            It was warm….

 

 

            Lance woke up several hours later, feeling pleasantly drowsy and comfortable… and aware of someone else in bed with him.

            What was Ash doing? Then again, maybe he had finally accepted the truth.

            Lance snuggled closer to the younger boy and closed his eyes again. He needed rest after the incident…

            Who knew?

 

            The next morning, Red woke up to find a plate of pancakes and sausages waiting. Lance was nowhere to be seen. However, there was a note.

            “Your first mission is in the manila folder on the desk. Follow the instructions. Father expects you back by ten P.M. tonight. Enjoy breakfast. Lance.”

            Red nodded, picking up the folder. It seemed simple enough…. Go to Viridian forest and find a special kind of flower with purple and pink petals….

            It must be important?

            After finishing breakfast, he called Aeroy and then flew off to Viridian. Soon, he was deep inside the forest, searching for the elusive plant.

            Venus, his Venusaur, and Poli, his Poliwrath, followed him. It saddened his heart, as he remembered the early days of his journey when he only had three pokemon – Poliwhirl, bulbasaur, and pikachu.

            Well, now those days were past, and Pikachu was gone. Faithless pokemon…. Oh, how his anger flared at that thought, but he shoved it into the back of his mind and concentrated on his mission.

            “Anything?”

            Venus and Poli shook their heads.

            He sighed. Maybe…

            Well, currently, there was still an empty slot on his team. Pika’s position had not yet been replaced…

            Gyara…. Aeroy… and… did he want to keep his Snorlax? He’d have to think about that….

 

            Vee, his Eevee…. Yes, he wanted him back on his team…a quick fiddle with his pokedex, and it was done…

            He’d only been gone for a week or so, and no one would care… the championships were not for a few more months, so…

            Until then, he would not be bothered.

            Crimson eyes surveyed his location critically, and suddenly, he sniffed. What was that delicious aroma issuing form close by?

            He and his pokemon followed the trail, until they discovered an old man making fish stew by the riverbank a good distance off.

            Despite the fact that breakfast was not far in the past, he was still quite hungry, so he asked the old man for a bite.

            Job, as the old man was named, said that he’d give Red some stew if he went and picked him five pounds of acorns. That could be done.

            They found an oak tree, Venus sent him up, and Red picked acorns for an hour before there were enough – more so, almost six pounds, but Job didn’t mind.

           

            Job gave him fish stew and they began to chat.

            “So you’re a pokemon trainer, I take it.”

            Red nodded, not wanting to divulge his secret as a team rocket agent. “Do you live around here?”

            “Sure do, with my nephew the bug catcher John.”

            “Interesting.” Red smiled and gave his cheeriest grin possible. “Do you know where I can find a flower with pink and purple petals?”

            “Ah, so you’re also looking for the lady’s slipper?”

            “The lady’s slipper?”

            Job nodded, as he took another spoonful of stew. “It’s an old family legend…”

            “I’d love to hear more.” Red smiled.

            “Very well, then I’ll tell you the story, a simple one really. Once long ago, my ancestor Job the first loved a fair maiden….”

            Red listened intently, waiting….

            “Well, unfortunately, this was no normal maiden, but instead, she happened to be the legendary pokemon Espeon in human form!”

            Red was about to correct and say that Espeon wasn’t a legendary, before he realized he had no clue what an Espeon was.

            Maybe it was related to Flareon, Vaporeon, and Jolteon?

            “So then what?”

            “Well….” Job looked saddened here, “My great-great-grandfather was heartbroken. However, to console him, she gave him a seed, which grew into the loveliest pink and purple flower ever seen. And thus, he met my great-great-grandmother… she was a botanist, you see.”

            Red nodded.

            “So that was how my parents met.”

            “And what of the flower?”

            “It still grows deep in a cave nearby, but none have been able to enter the cave so far….”

            “I’ll give it a whack.”

            “Aye, four others have tried and failed… but be warned, their bones litter the surface….”

            Red looked worried now, but gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t fail! There had to be a way… there had to be some way to win…

            But how was he to get inside and not die?

            Giovanni would not go through all this trouble to kill him after recruiting him.

            Hmm….

 

            While Red pondered, he followed Job to the cave.

            “Here it is, lad. May good fortune befall you.”

            “I’ll try.”

            A small inscription almost hidden in the granite mound caught Red’s eye. ‘Only a fox may enter here?’

            In that case…

            He summoned Vee from storage, and released the pokemon, calling back Venus and Poli to protect them. “Vee?”

            Yes, master Red?

            “Can you open this cave?”

            Of course…

            Eevee smiled proudly as several words were spoken in the fox-tongue, and the door slid open. Job watched in shock as Red passed through, unharmed. So that was it…

            No wonder no one had opened it before. Eevees were quite rare…

            Well, hopefully this kid wouldn’t die like all the others….

 

End Chapter

Completed 5/3/05

Phantomness: Hehehe

Lance: *sigh*

Ash: At least I have an Eevee!