Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Dragon's Series ❯ In which everything begins ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 1 of Dragon's Love!

Disclaimer: Shadow does not own pokemon. If I did, Lance and Ash would be snuggling, Gary would have gotten rid of his cheerleaders and gotten a girlfriend, and Brock would be with Misty. Or, Ash, Charlotte and Sabrina would be off having cool adventures without Brock or Misty.

Notes: <> indicates telepathy, ** indicates thoughts, and italics indicates poke speech.

Note: Throughout the fic, characters will be referred to with the incorrect gender. That is because the other person thinks they are the opposite gender. Example: If Ash was a girl but Lance didn't know it, Ash would be referred to as 'he' when Lance was talking and stuff.

Chapter 1: In which everything begins

"Mom!" Ash screamed as his mother fell, the Scyther's blades piercing her torso. "NNNOOOOO!"

"Run, Ash!" His mom gasped out.

The Team Rocket agents laughed as they took the Starlight orb from the dying woman. "Don't you love it when they cooperate?"

"Let's torch this place, Butch." Cassidy said.

"Great idea. Destroy all the evidence, right?" Butch said, laughing. "Magmar, go!" The Magmar appeared and began using flamethrower. The wooden house quickly caught fire and was soon ablaze. Ash ran, carrying nothing but Poliwag's poke ball with him. As he headed into the forest, he saw his childhood home engulfed in flames.

When they were quite far away, Ash collapsed, tears running down his cheeks. "Mommy!" Poliwag popped out and tried to comfort Ash, but he was very sad too. Both of them cried for a while, before they fell asleep.

"Are you okay?" A voice jolted Ash out of his sleep. He looked up and saw a boy about fifteen or sixteen, with spiky blonde hair and dark blue eyes staring down at him. But what caught Ash's attention was the fact that he was wearing a black bodysuit and white boots. Never mind that he was wearing a cape and red jacket too. It could just be one of Team Rocket's agents in disguise.

"Team Rocket!" Ash gasped. "Poliwag, go! Water gun! This is for my mom!"

"Hey!" Lance said, as he dodged the jet of water. "I'm just trying to help you! But if you want to be this way… Dragonair, I choose you! Use Thunderbolt!"

Dragonair nodded as it called down a bolt of electricity, striking Poliwag down easily.

"Poliwag!" Ash said, as he ran over to his little frog pokemon. "Oh no!"

"I'm not trying to hurt you." Lance said, as he recalled dragonair. "And I'm certainly not part of Team Rocket. Here, let me help." He picked up Poliwag. A pale golden glow surrounded him for a minute. When it cleared, Ash saw to his shock that Poliwag was fully healed.

"I'm sorry." Ash said, as he reclaimed Poliwag. "But your clothes made you look like you were part of Team Rocket."

"You've had dealings with Team Rocket?"

"No." Ash said sadly. "T-they, last night, my mom…" Ash burst into tears. Lance awkwardly wrapped his arms around the younger boy and let him cry.

"I'm sorry about your mom." Lance said when he finished.

"I couldn't help her." Ash said. "I really tried, but they-they killed my Rattata." Ash vividly remembered seeing the little purple rat pokemon being set afire by a Team Rocket Charmander. He shuddered.

"That's terrible." Lance said. "Humans do such cruel things to pokemon sometimes…"

Ash stared at Lance. He would have said something, but then several Team Rocket agents charged into the clearing.

"Hand over the orb, little boy! We know the one we got was a fake!"

"Step aside." Lance told Ash, who ducked behind him. "You're not going to hurt him any more!"

"Oh, like you're going to stop us?" One of the rockets sneered. "You're suicidal, kid! Koffing, go!"

"Ekans, go!" The second agent said.

"Jolteon, go!" The third agent said.

"Kadabra, go!" The leader of this band shouted.

Ash winced. It looked hopeless. "A-ano, Lance, maybe you shouldn't. Team Rocket is really powerful…"

"Dragonair! Gyrados! Aerodactyl!" Lance shouted. "Dragonair, use Thunderbolt! Gyrados, use Dragon Rage! Aerodactyl, use Hyper Beam to take out Kadabra!" The three Dragon pokemon easily moved in synch and took care of the attackers.

"No way!" The leader said. "That's impossible!"

Lance smirked. "Don't underestimate me." He idly waved a hand, and suddenly all three rockets flew into the air.There was a *ping* and they disappeared.

"You were saying?" Lance asked Ash, who looked stunned.

"Wow! You're such a great trainer!" Ash said, with starry eyes. "Can you teach me how to be as good as you are?"

Lance thought quickly. The kid didn't seem to be a brat, plus his parents were dead, so there was no way that he could live by himself. Also, Team Rocket was after him, and there was no way he could send the poor kid to an orphanage. Lance sighed. * How do I get myself into these situations? I'm too nice… *

"All right." Lance said, albeit a bit reluctantly. He indicated to Ash that he should climb on Dragonair. Ash happily climbed on and began chattering to her. Surprisingly, Dragonair didn't butt him off.

"Dragonair, you know where we're going." Lance said. Dragonair nodded and they shot off into the clouds.

Three hours later…

Ash stared. He hadn't expected Lance to live in a place like this!

The forest was completely destroyed but industrialization. There was nothing left but a barren, desolate wasteland. The only stream that ran through the valley, if it could be called that, was choked with waste and chemicals.

"Not very nice, is it." Lance asked.

"How?" Ash asked, bewildered.

"Humans do such terrible things to pokemon. This is one of the results. The pollution and dumping of waste from all the nearby factories completely destroyed this valley. I remember when this was still green and fertile. Two years later, heavy pollution and logging had reduced it to this. Almost all the pokemon had died. I only managed to rescue two. Dratini and Magikarp." Lance said bitterly.

Dragonair nodded. Lance stroked its head absent-mindedly. "This was the Dratini I rescued. The Gyrados you saw earlier evolved from the Magikarp. I caught Aerodactyl when it flew over this area two years ago."

"Do you actually live here?" Ash asked.

Lance tsked. "Of course not. That would be highly impractical. I live in a cave about 5 miles away. I hope you don't mind walking there."

Ash gritted his teeth. If Lance could do it, he could too! "Lead the way."

Lance shrugged and recalled Dragonair. After about fifty minutes, they reached the mouth of a cave.

Ash blinked. Lance drew a poke ball out of his pocket.

"Magneton, I choose you. Flash!" The magnet pokemon did as told, amazingly, lighting up the entire cave.

"I normally can find my way around in the dark, but since you don't know the way, this should solve the problem." Lance said. He started walking inside. Ash followed, even though he felt a bit queasy. However, he soon discovered some cave pokemon, so he quit freaking out.

"Wow…" Ash said. There was a really cute Paras, which was planting its mushrooms."

He watched for a good ten minutes before Lance dragged him away.

"Ash, are you paying attention to me? If you ever have to find your way back to this cave by yourself, I hope you won't get lost." Lance said.

Ash snapped his attention back to Lance. "Oh. Sorry."

Lance sweatdropped. "Never mind." He pressed a button in the wall of the cave, and suddenly a whole section of wall slid open.

Inside was a large room. (Sort of like Blaine's gym at Cinnabar) There was a bed in the corner, and a closet near it. There was a lot of other stuff too. All in all, it looked like a one-story house, without dividing walls, except there was a bathroom.

"Tired?" Lance asked. Ash looked down and nodded.

"Here, I'll fix you something." Lance said. He walked over to the kitchenette. Ash sat on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. Lance shrugged, and poured Ash a glass of milk. He surreptiously glanced back to make sure Ash wasn't looking at him, before placing a bit of white powder in as well.

He needn't have bothered. Ash was still staring at the ceiling. He looked dazed.

"Here you go." Lance said, handing Ash the milk. Ash didn't complain; he just drank the whole glass quietly. He still looked kind of dazed.

Ash handed the glass back quietly. Lance walked back to the kitchen area and stuck the glass in the dishwasher.

"Are you hungry? I could make you a sandwich or something…"

"Why are you being so nice?" Ash asked suddenly.

Lance blinked. He suddenly realized he had no answer to that question.

"Because I feel like it." Lance finally said. * And because you can sense his potential and you want to harness it for your own use * A little voice said in his head. Lance ignored it.

"I'm not hungry." Ash said.

Lance nodded and fixed himself a peanut butter sandwich. By the time he had finished, the sleep powder had kicked in and Ash was fast asleep.

Lance tucked him into bed. Then, she settled herself on the sofa and soon fell asleep afterwards. Dragonair smiled. * I think they'll make a good pair, if Master lance ever tells Ash that she's really a girl. *

< Bit too early for that, wouldn't you say? > Aerodactyl asked.

< Who knows? >

End Chapter 1! What do you think? Drop a review and tell me! Flames will be used to toast flamers!