Somehow, I will endeavor to complete this fic. YAY! All my homework for today is done! 8/29/05

Disclaimer: What fool thinks I own pokemon? Bring him or her up here so they can pay me! ^^ Anyway, I do own this fanfiction, and Nintendo owns pokemon, so we’re all clear, and I make absolutely zero profit, which is a pity, since I’m a broke college student and could use the cash…

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks. For now, the pairing is still undecided. May wind up being… anything. I’m thinking about Ash x Karen right now though. I dub Ash x Karen Almostchampionshipping! First to create this ship too, at least as far as I know of thank to ARCHAIC. Well, this’ll be another championshipping thanks to certain plot twists…

Chapter 3

He was… feeling scared. He looked at Karen anxiously. She looked back at him.

“Um… how do we start?”

“Well, hmm…” Karen considered. “According to the pokédex, even a newly-hatched ghost pokemon Gastly will know the moves Lick and Hypnosis… of course, since you have both a Gastly and a Gengar inside of you, it might be slightly different… and… Oh. That worked.”

She looked to where Ash’s tongue was hanging out and… er, looked unappetizing, but yes, that was the Lick Attack. And it had worked quite well on the unsuspecting Pikachu.

Pikachu fell off Ash’s shoulder.

Ash blushed. “Oops.”

“Well, that was interesting.” Karen said dryly. “I guess you know Lick. What about Hypnosis?”

< Of course we know hypnosis! >

“We?”

< Gengar’s sleeping, but I’m awake! > That had to be Gastly talking. < We didn’t mean to combine with him. It was an accident. We got sucked past the barrier when it broke. But we don’t mind. He’s important and we can help protect him after all! >

“I see...”

< And we have bad news for you. >

“Oh?”

< Bob is back. >

Karen twitched. < Bob? > Oh, she knew well who Bob was – she was one of Lance’s lesser Masters, so she knew about the Triple Guardianship. She knew about the Dark apprentice. She didn’t like what she knew, but she had thought he’d be gone for a while. Then again, it had been several, many lifetimes since he’d been seen. < I see. >

< We already informed the others. >

Karen sighed. < Nothing to be done, then… >

< No. >

Lance knew things were happening. He always did. It was a gift – as cursed as the gift of hindsight which allowed him to remember each and every life he’d ever lived, when he’d spiraled into madness, blood creeping up his nails and staining his fangs with crimson that vanished an instant later, cloaked in shadows. He had known that the Seal was weakening, seen the hints of Chaos in life after life, seen almost perfect marred by foul taint, and now, he knew for sure.

He watched as the seal began to crack.

The Onyx Seal would not work again, oh no. It required the strength of two healthy guardians to put it together and by now, the legend of Clow – Eriol and Sakura – was sadly but a distant memory. Ash didn’t even remember the cards now. A pity. He would see them re-released in a life soon, if he could talk Father into it.

His own cards burned beneath his blood when they weren’t running off in the dream realm. It was quite fun.

But then again, if life weren’t fun, it would not be worth it to be a guardian. They deserved something for risking their lives time and again, time and again, a never-ending cycle where destruction and creation sang and they tripped over wires as thin as spider silk but thrice as deadly and strong

The threads of fate were tricky. He didn’t weave much, hadn’t woven in a while – it wasn’t necessary. For some reason, Serebii had been doing it herself. Well, so much the better! Less work for them…

Ah, he was lucky though, because the Dragon Master had the most control out of all three. Perhaps the others resented him, but that wasn’t always the case…

Now, though…

He stepped back, willing the Dragon Blade in one hand and the Ice Blade in another. The Dragon Blade – aptly named, but in reality, he had a hundred and forty-four dragon blades that composed his steel wings… and danced the dance of death with him.

Bob barely had time to take a breath of fresh air before an Aeroblast attack slammed into him.

“Damn it, Lance! What did I ever do to you?”

“Nothing I hope. No, you’ve done far too much. You’ve tried to upset the balance and you might have succeeded had not the triple guardianship sealed you.”

“But I haven’t done anything in the meantime! I’ve been there for centuries, Lance!”

Lance frowned thoughtfully. “How about we make a deal.”

Bob looked at him suspiciously. “A deal?”

“If you swear by all you hold sacred that you will not attempt to disrupt the balance, destroy this realm, or cause harm to the pokemon or this world, I will let you go.”

Bob picked himself up. “And how do I know you’ll let me?”

“I will be swearing on my honor as Dragon Master.” Lance said sharply.

Bob sucked in a breath. “Deal.” A tendril of blue smoke wound itself about him. Lance nodded.

No deceit, it seemed…

The plates tipped invisibly in his mind.

“It’s done.” He casually tossed Bob a pouch with $2000 pokeyens inside. “Enjoy your new life.”

Bob brushed off his clothing – he was still wearing a red t-shirt from Mew knows how long ago, and jeans, and a cape. He walked off.

His pokemon – two had stayed loyal… they were Puff, his Dragonite, and a Nidoran Female. Oh well. It was certainly better than nothing!

He closed his eyes and left…

< You’re not trying hard enough. >

Ash squinted at the target. < But it’s so far! >

< Gastly and Gengar hit it with Shadow Ball just fine. >

< I know, but they’re the pokemon, not me. You’ve talked to them? I thought they were gone. >

< They mostly are. Their minds are still active, occasionally though. >

Ash looked slightly uncomfortable. < I see… >

< Anyway, back to business… >

It only took about a month – no, two months to learn anything, but he thanked Karen heartily afterwards, she made him tea and cakes – no, he took her out for the most expensive dinner he could think of – it took three months of allowance, but she was quite happy and their relationship ended on a good note. Then she went back to wait for Agatha to retire form the Elite and Ash continued on his journey.

Everything was fine…until…

End Chapter

Completed 8/29/05

Because since Lance is my favorite character, I love to write about him!

Hmph. My roommate says she isn’t shallow. The little ___! Does she think that if she apologizes every time she does stupid, thoughtless things to her roommate, she will be forgiven? *Cold laughter*