May I end the fic here now? I’m tired… Phantomness is running on 3 hours of sleep…

Chapter 6

 

            Red sighed. That wasn’t exactly a special memory… he went on to the next one. Really, why did he care? He had only seen Lance a couple of times… and he hadn’t even known his real name, but somehow…

            The feeling wouldn’t leave!

 

*FLASHBACK – 4 months pre-Cerise*

 

            “Wataru!”

            “Hello, Red… why you’re in Johto. How nice…”

            Red looked around Blackthorn City. “You’re from this city then?”

            “Yes… my family has trained Dragon pokemon for generations.”

            “That makes sense.” Red grinned. “So, how about a quick-.” He broke off as an alarm began to sound. “What’s happening?”

            “This isn’t normal.” Lance frowned. “That alarm is only sounded when – Red! Into the air! Now!”

            Red didn’t bother to question, as he jumped back onto Aerodactyl’s back and watched as Lance did the same. The ground they had so recently left began to pitch and heave, almost like a sea…

            Earthquake?

 

            For several moments, the seismic waves swept through Blackthorn. Stalls were overturned and the more unlucky pedestrians shaken and tipped over. However, no extreme damage was done – all the buildings were still standing, a few a bit lopsidedly, but… all in one piece.

            Red sucked in a breath. Natural disaster…

            Slowly, people began issuing out of their houses, trying to clean up the area.

            “Lance?”

            “Yes, Red?”

            “How did you know this was going to happen?”

            “That alarm is only used for earthquake, of course.”

            “Yes, but do you have a seismologist here or something?”

            “Of a sort – my grandmother can predict disasters before they happen.”

            “Wow….”

            “Well, I don’t think it’ll be a good day to tour today.” Lance gave an apologetic smile. “I’ll show you my secret place.”

            “Really?”

            “Follow me…”

 

            The two Aerodactyls soared off, before finding a cave hidden beneath a waterfall. Inside the cave, there was a hewn stone table and chairs, several beds, what looked like a storage area….

            “Did you – did you build this yourself?”

            “Found it.” Lance said promptly. “No one’s used it in hundreds of years, judging from how thick the dust was when I first got here.”

            “Wow…”

 

            They had peaches and fresh spring water and some strawberries, and the food really tasted extraordinary, but that could be contributed to the unique atmosphere. In front of the cave, the waterfall crashed like a living curtain, staining the cave with bluish white light, quite pretty….

            After a few hours though, Red had to go home, so he said goodbye to Lance…

 

            He came back the next day, and the next, but after two days, the commute to Johto took too long, so he didn’t visit.

            It wasn’t that important…

 

*FLASHBACK – 2 weeks pre-Cerise*

 

            “Lance? What are you doing here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…” Red paused, taking in the trainer’s bedraggled state. “What happened to you?”

            “I tried to cheat fate and failed.” Lance murmured.

            “Huh?”

            “I lost a very important battle.”

            “Oh! Well, that’s bad… I’ve heard that the Dragon Clan runs Blackthorn City gym. So you’re a gym leader’s kid, right?”

            “My little sister’s the leader.”
            Red grinned. “I see. Well, um… let me go find my first-aid kit… it’s around here somewhere…”

            While Red bustled off, Lance sighed.

            Cheating Fate… yes, I failed to cheat fate… I really do not like the recuperation period after the lightning and the lava, but it can’t be helped. Serebii wouldn’t listen to my pleas after all. I thought she’d mellowed, but no…

            Ah well…

            In the end, it will all work out. Eventually, everything will fade…

 

            Red came back with the bandages, steered Lance into the shower, belatedly realized that the trainer hadn’t been carrying a backpack and wouldn’t have clean clothes, went into his parent’s bedroom and dug out some of his deceased dad’s old clothes for Lance, left them outside the door, and then went downstairs.

            He found two frozen chicken pot pies, so he heated those in the microwave. It wasn’t gourmet food, but it was edible!

            Lance came downstairs half an hour later, looking slightly more awake, his hair tied back with a strip of black cloth, dressed in jeans that dragged on the floor.

           

            “Are you feeling better now?”

            “Yes…. thank you, Red.”

            “No problem!” Red handed him a chicken potpie, watching as Lance picked at his food. Hmm.

            “Wataru, are you on a diet?”

            “Oh no, nothing like that. I’m just feeling a bit sick, I guess.”

            “Well, if you don’t eat, you’ll get worse!”

            “Point taken.” The Dragon Master replied dryly. After dinner and some oranges from the fruit bowl, they sat on the couch and watched the news together.

            It was nothing special, really.

 

            By the time Red realized how late it was, it would be inhospitable to push Lance out of the house. So he let the trainer stay the night after all, there were three bedrooms, although he only used one…

            He woke up at dawn when he heard Wataru scream. Thinking that maybe a burglar had gotten in or something, he’d rushed in, but seen nothing.

            Nightmares?

            Lance had been whimpering something about lightning, but when he had woken up, he hadn’t remembered anything. Still, he had looked at Red with a horribly frightened expression in his eyes.

            The next morning, after a quiet breakfast of cereal and milk, Wataru left. That was the last time Red had seen him, until Cerise, when…

 

            Red snapped out of memory lane. “Enough! I can’t keep thinking about him! I barely knew him! And he would have destroyed the world or something! I have got to stop this brooding!”

            But how?

 

End Chapter

Completed 6/30/05