Lance's Family
Lance could honestly say, being a Champion was a chore. A really hard chore that would break anyone who was not mentally strong. Everyone's eyes were on you from fans to rivals to enemies to leaders to unknown. He didn't mind of course, being born in the infamous blackthorn city to one of the most powerful clans that boasted of being Dragon type Master had desensitized him to being in the public eye all the time. Despite that sometimes he wonders, if he could go back in time, would he do things differently.
Lance looked at his Dragonite, 'Some things maybe... Others never.'
He rubbed Dratini's head as the young Dragon watched the older ones train together. She was still too young to join the training. But she enjoyed watching and observing the fights and mock battles. Dratini's eyes sparkled as she watched the powerful attacks, defense, movements and techniques. She was one of the few that were born to the group of Dragonites that belonged to Lance's late father. They were a very powerful pack and demanded respect from everyone and treated Lance as one of their own dragonlings.
Lance sobered remembering his late father, 'Father, I barely remember you but I wish you were here. I have so many questions about the abilities and gifts that our family has. Abilities that came to light a few years ago.'
Lance's quiet disposition was noticed by one of the older Dragonite that nudged him, -Are you alright cub?-
Lance gave her a reassuring smile, "I'm alright Mother Dragonite. Just a lot of things in my mind, that's all."
Mother Dragonite hummed accepting that answer for now, -You know a lot of the elder dragons are interested in meeting your young friends.-
Lance, "Young friends? Ah! You mean Ash and Gary? I suppose I could see why."
Mother Dragonite nodded, -Indeed, none of us even knew your inner core had been messed with at all. We all thought the trauma of losing your parents had made you block out most of your abilities on instinct.-
Lance, "I see."
Mother Dragonite's expression hardened, -Then, it turn out to be something else.-
Lance looked pensive at being reminded, "I'm still baffled by it, honestly speaking. I never thought there would be someone capable of doing something like that."
Mother Dragonite rumbled, -You should have seen your Father Dragonite. He was furious and ready to hunt down whoever it was that did that to you. I don't think I have seen him rage so much since your Father was hurt in his younger days. This new enemy of ours better watch their back, we don't take threats to our own lightly.-
Lance's eyes softened, "I know. I could hear his angry bellows from the training grounds."
Lance thought back to the two kids who were the reason why and smiled a bit, "Perhaps I will invite them here at some point soon."
Mother Dragonite accepted that, -See that you do. We are all quite curious about the two cubs. I heard Lord Mew even adopted them into their clan.-
Dratini squealed happily when she saw her eldest brother who was now a Dragonite win the match. Lance called for a break as Dratini flew towards her brother to congratulate him on the win. Lance walked over to the training ground and healed their injuries before instructing them to get lunch and take some rest. The two Dragonites and one Dratini purred thanking him before flying off to the mess hall. He watched them go before heading to his office, he can honestly say that the paperwork is alive and grows. Lance then remembered what the older siblings went through and rubbed his head. Red and Green, they were apprentices, not yet trainers and still they were involved in a skirmish with Team Rocket. He didn't know whether to be thankful or not that they decided to become apprentices before becoming trainers. He was relieved they had support in the form of their families and tutors.
Lance sighed feeling his exhaustion appear, 'I should probably get them the new pokenavs and tell them to have us on speed dial just in case. It would not hurt to have people ready to give them back up, should they run into problems again. Something tells me they will.'
Lance sweatdropped thinking attracting trouble was no doubt a family trait. Not only does the younger ones attract trouble but the older ones too. He knew about the eldest Oak. Daisy Leaf Oak may not attract legendaries but she definitely always stumbled upon more than one poachers camp. All on accident, according to her report but Lance seriously doubted it. She was attracted to trouble just like her brothers and had an overprotective streak a mile wide. Lance read through one of the request she had made, she wanted to borrow some of the Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny hopefuls and have them tag along with her brother and quoting her 'future brother in law', for their protection.
Lance sweatdropped, 'I may not have known Red or Green that well... But I'm pretty sure they will not agree and ditch them the first chance they get.'
Lance then went through the rest of the request from different gyms and Pokemon centres across the Kanto and Jhoto region. Some were asking for new equipment, others for manual labor and the rest were reports of how things were running. The next reports were of Team Rocket sightings across the two regions, here his lips were pursed into a very unhappy line. One of the reports said they had tried to catch Entei but Liza had stopped it as the attempted kidnapping was happening in her territory. It worried him a bit, okay a lot, the obssessive interest the organization had in legendaries on top of that they even wanted to capture the Aura Guardians. Lance remembers reading one of the curious books Ash had in his last visit.
Lance signed the papers, 'According to the old tomes, Aura Guardians and the first Dragon Masters were powerful allies. Despite the long distance they always supported each other.'
When the older Dragonites and the clan Elders had seen a photocopy of that book in his hands with the very curious language, they had almost blown their tops demanding to know where he found it. He sweatdropped thinking about how the Elders had acted like Christmas came early when he told them about the original and who it was that found it. Lord Blackthorn, his Eldest Uncle had hummed and commented how curious the children's luck was when it came to the treasures of the olden days. He couldn't help but agree especially after he learned the dead language was a language of the olden Dragon Masters or rather as they were known back then, Dragon Riders.
Lance sighed as he finished his work and looks at the clock, 'Night time already? I wonder how the others are doing.'
He walked through the halls of the new Champion castle. Well, it was not new but rather the League renovated one of the oldest Blackthorn Castle, that fell between Jhoto and Kanto and had it house the joint Champion of two regions. His father's Dragonites were absolutely delighted about being able to stay with him longer. It even allowed housing for the Elite Four of both regions very easily. Bruno had an Elite Four seat in both Jhoto and Kanto Elite groups, Will, Koga and Karen taking the other Jhoto Elite seats, while Lorelei, Agatha and himself handled the rest of Kanto Elite seats. He had half considered asking Sabrina to become an Elite but she had declined, stating she had her hands full as the Psychic Master and teacher. He had then been recommended a few individuals that would be able to fill the position but unfortunately they still needed experience. He had considered asking Aqua Waterflower, the resident Water Master of Kanto to join the group and he agreed to it once his youngest daughter was old enough. As it turns out Misty Waterflower may take after her mother in looks but her passion came from her father. Lance soon joined the banquet hall where the six Elites from both regions were waiting for him.
Lance smiled it was rare for everyone to be together, "Good evening ~"
Bruno, Koga and Agatha nodded their heads in greeting while Lorelei, Will and Karen greeted him verbally. He would never admit it out loud but they had become a second family to him over the course of the months since he became Champion. He smiled as they talked about everything and nothing through the dinner. They were all older than him by a few years or months as in Karen's case, but respected him as a Champion and a trusted comrade.
Agatha turned to Lance, "So, have you decided on who you want as your fourth Kanto Elite?"
Lance nodded, "Aqua Waterflower agreed to take the test once his youngest was ready to go on her journey."
Lorelei brightened, "He is the Water Master of Kanto with a Mastery on Blastoise, Kingdra and Tentacool lines."
Bruno nodded, "It'll ease you from some of your burden."
Koga smirked, "And he can stop pretending to be a beginner gym leader as well."
Will snickered, "Yeah! He was pretty annoyed and miffed when the league had to tell him to hold back his power."
Karen, "How long till he joins us exactly?"
Lance smiled, "A few years, 4 or 5 give or take."
Karen nodded, "I'll help you out, till then."
Lance accepted her offer, "A few days ago I went to meet my youngest friends. I was planning on inviting them to the Blackthorn house for the weekend."
Agatha lit up, "The two boys that has the Ghost types excited. How are they? My Gengar's youngest would not shut up about them."
Lance smirked, "Doing well. And from what I saw last time, Gengar is very protective of them. Somehow they seemed to have calm down his rage."
Karen looked confused, "Gengar's youngest?"
Agatha explained, "Blue Oak's Gengar is actually my Gengar's youngest child. He was quite a happy fellow till he ran afoul with a bunch of criminals. Poor dear. I'm happy to hear he's doing better."
Lance laughed, "He would not let me near them in the beginning but after a while he didn't mind my presence."
Agatha shook her head, "As expected from the children who helped Samuel discover the three different Mew."
Karen was surprised, "What do you mean? Wasn't it Professor Oak who found them?"
Agatha smirked, "I can understand why he did not mention their names but that doesn't mean my old rival can hide things from me. After all, we are cousins."
Lorelei blinked, "Oh! Oh! I see!"
Karen caught on, "Ah! We will not say anything."
Lance laughed, "Unless, we want to have a overprotective papa and grandpa Gengar making our lives hell. No, we won't."
Koga mused, "I still can't believe there is more than one Mew in existence. But then again the world is a big place."
Will grinned, "Planning on catching one?"
Koga shook his head, "No, but I'm curious about them now. Is there still a colony out there somewhere? Or are they the only ones? Are they in hiding? Or is someone hiding them?"
Bruno, "Perhaps one day we will know."
Lance smiled content sitting back and letting the chatter and laughter wash over him like a comforting blanket. Sometimes, he wondered if he made his late father proud of him, his sweet cousin Claire insists, he did. But she's his sister so she's probably biased on it. He always will try his best and no matter what happens protect what is the most important to him. That is the way of the Dragon. He grinned thinking about the book he had helped his youngest friends translate out of curiosity. That saying became one of his favourite ones after the translation was over.