Summary: United under the rule of a single emperor, decades-old tensions between the Kanto and Johto regions seem to have finally subsided. For fifteen years, a period of peace is seen throughout the realm. That is until a once dormant force slowly begins making its way back into the public sphere, this time threatening not only the pokémon, but the seemingly untouchable leaders of Kanto-Johto as well. During times when all else is uncertain, only one thing is clear: it's time to prepare for trouble.
A/N: As with anything, I'd like to give some insight into what the story will be about. The basis comes from the G/S/C/HG/SS games as well as a few components from the anime. This is a feudal era AU Pokémon story. Meaning there will be a lot of ancient Japanese cultural elements such as emperors, lords, peasants, along with some medieval European influences as well. It's a blend. I'm doing my best to research what they did and did not have in the time period, but there may be some mishaps, as in some things might not have been invented yet. Side note: with the introduction of pokémon into the past, it is only natural to assume that the world adapted along with it. So, there will be some things invented to better suit the new environment that may not have existed in the real time period. Feel free to call me out on any historical inaccuracies. Or anything else. Constructive criticism is welcome.
As a foreword, this story gets darker as it moves along. Adult content is very prevalent, so reader beware.
Finally, thank you for checking out this story. Or, if you are upset that I deleted the old one, and are here wondering what the hell is wrong with me, welcome back!
"Stop!" a voice called out, reverberating around the long, empty hallways of the Royal Palace. "Stop! Pikachu, stop!"
Up ahead, the aforementioned electric rodent perked its ears up. Turning its head, the pikachu narrowed its eyes at the young imperial guardsman trailing it. With a low growl, Pikachu's cheeks began to power up, sparks starting to fly all around it.
Young, fresh-faced and naïve, Timmon skidded to an abrupt stop, the soles of his boots squeaking against the immaculate marble flooring of the palace. He held out his hands, hoping to show the small pokémon that he meant it no harm. To no avail, however. As soon as he made the motion, Pikachu curled up on itself, and a bolt of lightning shot out from its body, zapping Timmon, shocking him to the floor. As the young guard lie there, his whole form twitching from the sudden burst of electricity that coursed through his body, the pikachu scampered off further down the hall.
"Get up!" came the voice of Dawrec, the Lord Commander of the Imperial Guard. "Why are you lying around?"
Timmon, feeling utterly exhausted, and partially numb from the attack, got to his feet as quickly as he could. Before him, the Lord Commander was standing completely still, a deep frown etched into his aging face. A horde of imperial guards were flanked around him.
"Pikachu," Timmon began. "It hit me."
"You sound like a sniveling girl," Dawrec said, eliciting stifled laughs from the guards around him. "Which way did it go?"
Pointing with his index finger down in the direction he had seen the small electric-type pokémon last, Timmon said, "That way."
"Let's get a move on then," Dawrec said, giving the men behind him a single, stiff nod.
The imperial guards followed suit as the Lord Commander took off down the hallway. Timmon sheepishly trailed behind them, his eyes casted downward in shame. It was his fault Pikachu got loose. He hadn't known. No, that was a lie. He had known. He just hadn't expected the prince's pikachu to be as cunning as it had been. What a fool the small rodent made him out to be, using his lack of knowledge, of understanding to its advantage. Timmon had been informed beforehand that Pikachu was a troublesome pokémon, that he should keep on his toes around it. When he'd gone in to deliver the early morning meals to the missing prince's pokémon, he had thought nothing of it. Lower the dishes, release the pokémon, wait for them to finish, then return them to their pokéballs. Easy. Simple. Only, it hadn't gone that way. Charizard and Snorlax were cooperative. They ate their meals, and compliantly waited to be returned. Pikachu was a different story. Kept in a cage separate from the others simply because it refused to remain in a pokéball, Prince Red's pikachu was as uncooperative, as troublesome as a pokémon could get. It was known to act out, to electrocute anyone who got too close. Any opportunity it had to escape from its cage, it took. Playing the role of the poor, innocent pokémon, its eyes wide, full of sorrow, Pikachu had banked on Timmon's naivety as a launch point for its means of escape. When Timmon had opened its cage, his heart swelling for the miserable pikachu, the electric rodent had been quick to zap him with a bolt of lightning before scampering off.
"Why do you keep the prince's pikachu in a cage?" Timmon had asked once.
"Empress' orders," was the reply he received from Dawrec. "Personally, I would've set the poor thing free. It simply can't live without the prince. It's been trying to escape ever since the young boy disappeared. You don't have to be a pokémon expert to see it's miserable here. But, the empress won't have any of that. She believes her son, and her daughter, are still out there."
"You don't?" Timmon had asked.
"After being Lord Commander as long as I have been, you start to realize that children who go missing, especially upper-class types, don't ever come back. Not alive anyway," Dawrec had said.
"They could still be alive out there," Timmon had argued.
"Three years ago that might've been a possibility," Dawrec had said, his voice detached. "But, now, it's safe to say they're most likely lying dead in a ditch somewhere."
Not paying close attention to what was ahead of him, Timmon slammed into a fellow guardsman, who turned and glared at him in irritation. He was quick to apologize before he craned his neck to see why they were suddenly stopped.
A few feet in front of the imperial guards was Chiji Lance Ryuzaki, the famed Dragon Master. He stood before them, tall, lean, imposing. Despite the hour of the morning being quite early, a little after the dawn, Chiji Lance was awake, and dressed. His face held no hint of amusement as his eyes roamed over the imperial guardsmen before him.
The Lord Commander bowed his head, and said, "Apologies, Chiji. It was not my intention to awaken you from your slumbers."
The imperial guardsmen around him bowed to the Dragon Master as well.
Lance hummed in dissatisfaction. He had not been awoken by the trampling of boots against the marble flooring, or the sudden commotion that seemed to have filled the halls so early this morning, despite what Dawrec was suggesting. On the contrary, actually. Lance had already been up for a considerable amount of time before he even started to hear these sounds. He was an early riser. The hours of the morning in which he sat awake while much of the palace slept was spent on general reflection, and thoughts and plans for the upcoming day. The cries and shouts of distress that had followed the sounds of thunder and lightning had not roused him in the slightest. Though, he couldn't say the same for his companions snoozing away in the surrounding rooms. But, then again, Bruno was a notoriously heavy sleeper, who snored about as loud as a snorlax did.
"Is Pikachu loose again?" he simply asked.
Dawrec nodded. "Aye," he said.
Lance considered this for a moment, and then sighed lowly to himself. "Lead the way," he said. "I will retrieve it for you."
"There is no need, Chiji," the Lord Commander said. "My men and I, we can handle it."
Waving his hand in dismissal, Lance said, "It won't be any trouble for me, I can assure you."
Dawrec opened his mouth to object, to express his concerns, but was soon silenced by the hard look Lance threw his way.
"Yes, of course. Right this way," Dawrec said, bowing again.
Onward the Lord Commander and Lance strode down the halls, the bulk of the imperial guard following closely behind them. As they continued through the Royal Palace, Dawrec attempted, many times, to strike up a conversation with the Dragon Master. All of the attempts, however, were in vain. Lance had no desire to speak with the man more than absolutely necessary. The Lord Commander, much like many of those who were employed under the imperial court, was a brownnoser. Not to say Lance was complaining, but after dealing with bootlickers for about a decade, he became desensitized to just about all obsequious behavior.
"There it is!" Timmon shouted suddenly.
From the back of the pack, the young guard rushed forward, his arm extended as he pointed out an open window. Braced against the stone sill, Timmon tracked the movements of the small electric rodent with his finger, indicating to the men who soon surrounded him that yes, indeed, it was the runaway pikachu.
Lance forced his way to the front of the crowd, the several imperial guards in his way stepping back to let him through. He eyed the pokémon for a long moment, watching as it dashed across the green of the palace gardens. It must have leaped out of the window in hopes of losing its pursuers. The hall he and the imperial guards now occupied was located on the second level of the palace. It was a relatively far drop to the grounds below, but certainly it would be no real obstacle for a pokémon predisposed to landing on its feet.
Smart creature, Lance thought. By the time any one of them managed to make it down to the gardens, Pikachu would have already created a substantially great distance between it and the palace, and its pursuers. No time to waste, then. Reaching for his belt, the Dragon Master unclipped a single pokéball, tossing it out into the open air, just outside the window. With a flash of white light, his dragonite, Vermilios, materialized. Flapping its wings, Vermilios stared back at Lance, patiently awaiting its master's commands.
"I'll handle it," Lance told the men, before hopping up on the sill, and leaping out into the air and onto Vermilios' back.
Generally, Lance wasn't inclined to superfluous gestures, such as unnecessarily hopping onto his dragonite's back through an open window just to fetch a runaway pikachu. However, this particular morning, he was feeling a bit more exuberant, and that was saying something, since usually he was a rather stoic individual. Not today. He felt like indulging the onlookers behind him in a grandiose display. He was a showman when it came to his dragons. Not that he would ever admit to it, but he liked to show off. The collective gasps and awes his actions usually elicited from nearby spectators always filled his heart, and head, with pride.
Without another second of hesitation, Lance ordered his dragonite forward, in the direction of Prince Red's pikachu. Vermilios was a fast pokémon, even in normal standards for a dragonite. Not that he'd brag, but Lance got his dragonite, back then, a dratini egg, from an ancient, and powerful dragonite that resided deep within the Dragon's Den in Blackthorn, a city-state in Johto. How it managed to live that long, Lance had no real clue. But, generally speaking, dragonite that come out of Blackthorn are, on average, more powerful and stronger than one that would have been caught in the wild. This being because of the heavy emphasis the Ryuzaki clan of Blackthorn placed on their dragonite, and the purity that should be upheld when breeding. Favorable traits and aspects, skills and strengths, those are to be kept within the gene pool. Everything else was blocked out, or forced to die off. To much of the world, this method was heavily criticized and disapproved of. It was understandable, since pokémon shouldn't be bred solely on power alone. Power and strength was supposed to come from within, and pokémon, no matter what their size, have a unique ability that can be found deep inside each and every one of them. This was, of course, known by Lance's family. But, somewhere along the lines, those thoughts were put far away, casted off into the corner, but still looming in the near background somewhere.
As Vermilios soared through the sky, Lance zeroed in on Prince Red's pikachu. It was still sprinting, rounding the green as it made a mad dash for the palace's front gates. Ordering his dragonite downward, Lance caught up to the small pokémon in quick time.
Immediately, Pikachu took notice of the Dragon Master flying over its head. With a short cry, Pikachu sent a bolt of lightning up toward Lance and Vermilios, who, without hesitation, was quick to move out of the way.
"Ice beam, Vermilios," Lance said.
With that, Lance's dragonite released an ice-cold beam of energy from its maw, sending it barreling down toward the runaway pikachu below it. Pikachu, sensing and anticipating the attack, swiftly darted out of the way.
"Ice beam, again," he said.
Pikachu, still in its mad dash, narrowly managed to dodge the oncoming beam of ice that was shot out almost immediately after the first. It was panting heavily, gasps of breath escaping its small mouth as it hurried along.
Though both of his attacks were avoided, Lance felt no frustration. He had patience, and cognizance that Pikachu would soon tire out. Either that or it would make a mistake, stepping in the wrong direction in an attempt to dodge another attack. Eventually, the might of his dragon-type pokémon would come through. It always did.
Guiding Vermilios closer to the ground, Lance positioned his dragonite right behind Pikachu, a prime and optimal spot for delivering a direct hit.
"Again."
Right on command, Vermilios released a final ice beam attack, aimed directly at the prince's pikachu, who only realized it needed to move out of the way when it was far too late. Struck in the back, Pikachu was sent flying, crashing to the dirt, its paws and body skidding across the grass, undoubtedly staining its yellow fur. As it lay there, the ice from Vermilios' attack spreading across its tiny body, Prince Red's pikachu was soon rendered frozen solid.
Lance leaped off of his dragonite, landing on the ground below nimbly. Behind him, Vermilios too came to a rest in the green of the palace gardens. The Dragon Master stalked over to the pikachu, his eyes appraising the small electric rodent that had caused such distress this morning.
"Chiji Lance!" the voice of the Lord Commander called out.
Lance turned his head slightly toward the approaching man. Dawrec, along with a few of his guardsmen, were running up to meet him. In the back of the pack, Lance noticed a young man, just a little over sixteen years of age, trying to shrink in on himself. He looked every the bit uncomfortable, and, to be frank, guilty.
"Chiji Lance," Dawrec said again, bowing his head. "You honor us with your skill and aide. I thank you for your assistance. We will now bring this pikachu back to its cage, where, certainly, it will not escape from again."
The Lord Commander of the Imperial Guard made a motion with his hand, and two of his guardsmen stepped forward, picking up the frozen pikachu, and carrying it off toward the palace.
"I should hope not," Lance said. "Though, it is rather odd you needed to call nearly half of your men to retrieve a simple pokémon."
Dawrec's facial features froze just then, his mouth hanging open.
"It is my fault, Chiji," the young Timmon said, timidly, stepping forward. "I let the prince's pikachu get the better of me. I hadn't known what to do when it had escaped, so I ran off to alert Lord Commander Dawrec, and a large majority of the imperial guard."
At his subordinate's words, Dawrec's wrinkled face began to regain life. The older man rubbed the fine, white whiskers of his chin as if considering what Timmon had said.
"Yes, yes," he said. "Timmon is very new to the imperial guard, Chiji. He only started a week ago. He had not known Pikachu would do what it had done."
"Understandable," Lance said, nodding once.
And truly it was. Though Lance was not particularly irritated in the fact that he had to assist in the imperial guard's retrieval of Pikachu, he was not, in any way, pleased. He had only taken it upon himself to do the job for them because if he hadn't, Pikachu would've been running around the palace, and possibly, the capital the entire day. It had happened before, on more than one occasion. Especially during the first year of Prince Red and Princess Leaf's disappearance. Least to say, chasing a pikachu down to the ends of the earth, well, that just seemed like a huge waste of time. Better to do the job himself than to let others run around like bumbling fools for the duration of the day.
Similarly, Lance felt empathy for the young Timmon. As he gazed at the teenaged guard, Lance was reminded of himself, nearly a decade ago when he had first come to the Indigo Plateau to take over for his father as chiji of East Johto. He had been inexperienced, confused, and prone to many mistakes. Mistakes his fellow Elite Four members were all too glad to remind him of, even now. Bruno did this frequently, but at this point in Lance's career, the fighting-type master ever really brought these mistakes up to poke fun at him. Lorelei almost always mentioned them to be spiteful; she and Lance tolerated each other's existence, as their relationship only extended as far as being mere colleagues. Agatha's two cents on the matter was ever really thrown into the pot when she wanted to teach him a lesson, or to remind him of a past fault he should reflect back on.
"Thank you, Chiji Lance," Timmon said, softly.
"All right, men," Dawrec said, his voice becoming loud and imposing. "Back to your posts."
With that, Timmon and the rest of the imperial guard marched away, their Lord Commander stalking off in the opposite direction, headed for the Royal Palace's front gates.
Lance turned to his dragonite, who was still looming by in the near background. Though it was patiently awaiting his instruction, Lance could see that Vermilios had become distracted with something. Its eyes were casted far off into the distance, fixed on a single point back at the palace. Squinting, Lance followed Vermilios' gaze to an upper window of the Royal Palace, where he saw the single figure of Empress Amaranth Beniko staring back at him from up high. Her lips were pressed in a hard line, and there was no hint of amusement on her face. She had seen the entire incident, Lance realized.
Tearing his eyes away, and thoroughly ignoring her stare, Lance recalled his dragonite before making his return to the palace.
Blue Oak was making Chiji Bruno Nakahara sweat. And that was a feat on its own.
Located in the center of the Royal Palace was a large indoor stadium, utilized solely for pokémon battles. Often, it was used to settle disputes, put someone in their place, or just plainly battle a fellow member of the imperial court. Practicing and training with a pokémon was also a frequent activity seen here.
At the moment, Blue Oak and Chiji Bruno were in the middle of an intense match, incited mainly because Bruno wanted to beat Blue one last time before the boy left for Viridian the next day. They were down to their last two pokémon. The current battle featured Blue's arcanine against Bruno's machamp.
From the balconies above, Lance watched on with mild interest. Blue Oak was truly a formidable trainer. Rather than focusing on one particular type, Blue had gathered a blended and balanced team of pokémon. It was a thoughtful way to go about battling, but in Lance's opinion, it really did not matter if the power was equally dispersed amongst his team if his opponent had strong, virtually indestructible pokémon. Lance thought this about himself. Revered as the Dragon Master, he was the strongest trainer in Kanto-Johto. No one could surpass him. The might of his dragon-types just simply could not be overcome.
As he watched Blue's arcanine use a flamethrower attack on Machamp, a sudden presence materialized in the air beside him. Without so much as turning his head, Lance crossed his arms over his chest, and raised one of his eyebrows.
"Nice to see you there, Gengar," he said, addressing the floating ghost-type pokémon.
In response, Gengar's smirk broadened across its face.
"Agatha," Lance said, calling forth his elderly colleague.
With the rap-tapping of a wooden cane on the stone flooring, Agatha Sato, the chiji of East Kanto, stepped forward out of the shadows. Steadily, she made her way to stand beside Lance, gazing down at the ongoing battle taking place before them. For a long while, Agatha said nothing, and Lance made no move to strike up a conversation with her. Instead, he too focused his attention back on Blue Oak and Chiji Bruno Nakahara.
Finally, she said, plaintively, "He's gotten to be so good. I remember when he first came here, as a ward to Emperor Carmine." A small smile danced across her lips just then, as she added, "Look at him now. Just fourteen, and already an impressive trainer. He'll do great things as the new lord of Viridian."
"He is very young," Lance plainly stated.
"As were you," she reminded him. "When you first came to the Indigo Plateau."
"It's still a lot of responsibility to place on the shoulders of a fourteen-year old boy," Lance said. "I do not understand what Lorelei was thinking in appointing him. His head may not even be in the right place to run an entire city-state."
"Was yours?"
"No," he said. "But, I was, I am different than him."
"You are correct about that, Lance," Agatha said, nodding. "You were fifteen, and instead, tasked with becoming the governor of an entire sub-region rather than a city-state. However, that is where the differences between the two of you stop."
"Not true," he argued. "Blue Oak is too prideful, too arrogant for his own good."
Agatha gave him a wary look. "And you are not?"
"Hardly."
Agatha huffed in disbelief, and then asked, "You do not think you are a god among men?"
"Not even in the slightest."
"You paint a very bright picture of yourself then."
"Regardless," Lance said, moving away from the subject. "The boy is in for a world of surprise when he arrives in Viridian. The people there are still disgustingly loyal to Giovanni Samejima, even after he fled three years ago, or when Lorelei was forced to take control of the city-state."
"They never did really warm up to the idea of a chiji controlling their affairs all the way from the capital," Agatha said.
"That does not make it right for them to still, even to this day, silently and secretly pray for Giovanni's return," he griped.
"They knew him as their lord first before they knew him to be a criminal," she said. "From what I understand, he was a generous man. Under him, Viridian thrived. They truly did love him. He was charismatic, thoughtful, well-spoken―"
"Don't tell me you were in love with him too, Agatha," Lance said, cutting her off sharply, his eyes narrowing as he turned to face her. "He did many terrible, many horrible things. He was the leader of the Roketto-Dan. Do you know how many crimes against pokémon they've committed? Have you forgotten what they did in Lavender Town?"
"No I have not," she told him. "But, you have to understand, Lance, that men like Giovanni Samejima have to be charismatic and charming for people to buy into what they're saying. How else would he have been able to manage to entice so many people to join the Roketto-Dan?"
"He was a disgusting, vile human being," he said, ignoring what she had just said.
"You are not wrong about that," Agatha said, thoughtfully. "People's perceptions are based on how they see the world around them. If you believe he was as evil as you say, then I am not the one to argue against you. I just want you to know that you cannot judge another person for the reality that they see and perceive. You are still a young man. As you grow older, you will soon realize not everything is as black and white as it appears to be."
"I've already realized that," he said, grumbling, refocusing his attention on the battle.
Below them, down on the floor, Arcanine was standing over Machamp's unconscious body, panting heavily. Bruno, who looked both stunned and amused, recalled his pokémon.
"Last one, boy. You better be ready," he said, unclipping a pokéball from his belt and flinging it onto the field. Out with a flash of white light was Bruno's onix.
"An onix?" Blue asked, haughtily. "Poor mistake, Bruno. Arcanine, go!"
"Fight as hard as you can until you faint!" Bruno shouted to his pokémon, as it rushed forward to meet the oncoming arcanine.
Frowning deeply, Lance lowly remarked, "Blue still has his blastoise. Why does he not switch out his arcanine for it? A water-type can easily defeat a rock-type. And, Arcanine is a fire-type. Those are especially weak to rock-types."
Agatha leaned up against the balcony, her fingers curling around the stone as she looked closer, the wooden cane she used to help her walk still clutched tightly in her right fist. A wide, knowing grin, similar in nature to that of her gengar, spread across her face.
"Where's the fun in that, Lance?" she asked. In seeing that he was not, in any way, smiling, or sharing her joy, Agatha sighed, and said, "You were right, the two of you are very different. You don't know how to smile."
Lance frowned again, despite himself, not sure if he should be offended by that statement or not. He eventually settled on the former, but even then, he did not dare show that her comment had affected him. He was told to smile more by nearly everyone in the Royal Palace at one point or another, so he was used to it. The truth of the matter was that simply Lance had not much to smile about nowadays.
"Iron tail, Arcanine," Blue said, firmly.
Swiftly, Arcanine readied its tail, powering it up for the steel-type attack. Then, with rapid speed, Arcanine sprinted forward, only to leap into the air, striking Onix in the face with its tail. A direct hit, even before Onix or Bruno could have reacted. Onix stumbled backwards after receiving the blow, its head wavering slightly.
"Smart move, kid," Bruno said, smirking. "Onix, rock tomb, now!"
Obeying its master's command, Onix raised its massive tail into the air above it before slamming it down on the field below, sending various rocks to come up from beneath the ground. And then, using its tail to wrap around each of the rocks, Onix began executing its rock tomb attack, hurling various boulders at Blue's arcanine with intense and brutal force.
Even as Arcanine worked to avoid the attack, it could not simply overcome the onslaught of rocks thrown its way. Within seconds, Arcanine was down, fainted. Blue was quick to recall his pokémon, and thank it for its hard work. He then brought out his last pokéball, expanding it in his hand.
"It's all over now, Bruno," he said before throwing his pokéball forward, sending out his blastoise.
"I was wondering when you were going to use that thing," Bruno said, his eyes shining with mirth.
"Ready to lose?" Blue taunted before pointing his finger forward. "Rain dance, Blastoise."
From the cannons on its back, Blastoise piped out a continuous stream of water into the air above, making it look as if it were raining. Much of the water splashed all over Onix, causing the rock-type to flinch and wave its long, serpentine body around as it worked to avoid the droplets.
"You're toying with me," Bruno said.
"Not exactly," Blue told him. "Blastoise, use hydro pump!"
The battle concluded right then and there, as soon as the command left Blue's lips. Bruno and Onix both attempted to avoid the attack, but it was much too fast, much too strong. Soon enough, when Blastoise finally ceased its hydro pump attack, Onix was completely drenched, lying on the ground, unconscious.
After returning his fainted pokémon, Bruno said, with a smile, "Good match, kid."
Blue shrugged, as if it was of no importance to him if he won or not. But, soon after, he smirked and said, "I sure will miss beating you when I'm in Viridian."
Bruno's smile broadened, and he chuckled. "It's clear that I'm no longer a match for you," he said, before turning his head up toward where Agatha and Lance stood. "But, I think that there are still some people that you should consider battling before you leave tomorrow. Lance? Agatha?"
At the mention of their names, both Lance and Agatha froze, like they had been caught. Not that they had done anything remotely wrong, but, for the most part, the two of them had not expected to be called out.
Agatha was quick to recover, waving her hand dismissively. "No, no," she said, overly gracious. "That is all right. At the moment, I am feeling quite tired out, you see."
"Lance?"
The Dragon Master pressed his lips together in a hard line, before shaking his head. "I would love to indulge the boy in a pokémon battle," he began. "However, I have business to attend to elsewhere. I just do not have the time. I apologize."
"That is too bad," Bruno called. "Perhaps next time, Ryuzaki?"
"Certainly."
As far as feasts or celebratory dinners went, the one that was held for Blue Oak was a rather spirited and jovial affair. It certainly was not the grandest feast to have ever been held in the Indigo Plateau. There had been far greater. But, it was a grand dinner nonetheless.
As ward of the imperial family, Blue Oak had grown up with the Beniko children. He was familiar with the prince and princess alike; early on, both him and Prince Red developed a rivalry. It was friendly enough, though at times, Blue was a bit malicious in his quest to be better than the prince. With the princess, Blue appeared to have on reserve some sort of special kindness for the older girl. Though he often teased and taunted her, it was clear there was something more to their relationship than the fourteen-year old boy let on.
Three years ago, when His Grace, Emperor Carmine Beniko, died, Blue was given the choice to leave the capital, to explore the world. He had aged quite a bit from the orphaned two-year old infant that had been taken under the emperor's care. But, even then, when he had been granted the opportunity to leave, Blue chose to stay. He remained in the Indigo Plateau long after the emperor's death, and even when Prince Red and Princess Leaf disappeared a few days later, weeks before the prince's coronation. Throughout all of the occurrences and shifts in the imperial court, Blue Oak remained, steadfast, and determined to grow and learn.
Now, Blue was in the midst of his celebratory dinner, the grand sendoff before his departure for Viridian the next morning. Around the feast hall, people ate, drank, chatted, or danced. General merriment and laughter filled the air, blending with the convivial sounds coming from the wind and string instruments as the band played gagaku.
Apart from the crowds, Lance sat by himself, watching as Bruno dragged Blue around the hall, much to the boy's dismay. It was all in good fun and nature, as Bruno was simply showing Blue off as the new boy lord of Viridian. Alone, where he felt the most content, Lance carefully picked up the chunbing off of his place, wrapping his hands around the fried dough, and taking a bite out of it. As he ate, peacefully and quietly, a sudden, unmistakable figure carefully slid into the seat beside him.
"Do you know that of all the people who live in the Royal Palace, you are the only one who ever eats that sorry excuse for a pancake?" Lorelei Mizushima, the chiji of West Kanto, asked, seemingly amused.
Lance put his chunbing down on his plate, swallowing thoroughly before gritting his teeth. "Do you know that of all the people who live in the Royal Palace, I am the only one who is from Johto?" he fired back.
"As you are so persistent in reminding us," Lorelei commented under her breath, though Lance heard it all the same. "I just think it's a waste of effort and time for the cooks to labor over such inane Johto food. Like that."
"You do realize I live here too?"
Lorelei smirked, drumming her long nails on the table top as she said, "Unfortunately."
"What is wrong with you?" he asked, frowning. "Don't you have someone else to bother?"
"At the moment, no," she admitted, all too casually.
Lance eyed the Ice Mistress carefully. There was something she wanted, something she hoped to gain in speaking with him. He just had yet to discover what it was. Lorelei never approached him freely unless she needed something from him. Her attitude at the moment, too, was all the more reason to suspect she had an ulterior motive. Normally, Lorelei was cold and curt in their interactions, but the Lorelei who now presented herself to Lance was sportive and a bit impish. There were times where she was known to be quite warm, despite her choice in pokémon, but as far as her relationship with Lance went, that side of her did not exist.
As Lance continued appraising his red-haired companion, he faintly decided that she wasn't particularly ugly. She wasn't particularly beautiful either, at least not in Lance's opinion. Though, his thoughts on the matter were heavily biased, and influenced by the several interactions they'd shared over the years.
Lorelei was a woman of average height with light auburn hair that she normally kept tied up and back. With pale skin and dark amber eyes, Lorelei was often mistaken as Lance's sister, or vice versa with him as her brother. They shared a lot of physical attributes between them, but upon closer inspection of their faces, it was very clear that neither of them really, truly resembled the other.
As the celebration continued around the two of them, Lance noticed that Lorelei, though physically present beside him, was off somewhere else. Her eyes were focused behind them, fixed and locked on a young boy with golden brown hair as he was being toted around the feast hall.
Lance arched one of his brows, turning his head fully in Blue Oak's direction. The boy, at the moment, was sharing a laugh with Bruno and Koizumi, the aqua-haired castle steward who also served as the empress' advisor. Not much was known about the tall, lanky man. He usually hung close to Empress Amaranth, always delivering her messages, or running personal errands. Lance wasn't sure he even knew the man's given name. Koizumi was just his surname.
"If you are so worried about him," he began, unsympathetically. "You should not have appointed him as the lord of Viridian in the first place."
"I didn't have a choice," she said, lamely. "Once he gets an idea in his head, he becomes dead set on it until he ultimately succeeds in accomplishing it. It didn't help that, similarly, Bruno decided to let a twelve-year old become the lord of Azalea."
"You did have a choice," he said, flatly. "You chose to leave Viridian without a lord. You chose to complain about the twelve-year old, loudly and frequently, I might add; it's no wonder the boy got that idea in his head. And, you chose to make Blue the lord of Viridian."
"Well, I wasn't wrong to complain," she said, defensively. "Lord Bugsy is hardly fit to run such a large city-state as Azalea. And, what was I supposed to do? The people of Viridian were unsatisfied with me. They wanted local leadership."
"You could have chosen someone else."
"Oh please," she said, rolling her eyes. "Do you know how many of the lords and ladies of Kanto-Johto are under the age of twenty?"
"Irrelevant," Lance said.
"Well, it didn't really seem to matter then," she said. "Blue will make a great lord. Better than Giovanni Samejima."
"I don't doubt you think that," he said, giving her a sideways glance. Then, he added, suggestively, "You've always been so confident in his abilities, always so sure of his strength. I'm not sure why I was so surprised when I learned of your decision to appoint him. Whenever he wanted something, there you were to give it to him, gold platter and everything."
Lorelei narrowed her eyes at his tone, her mouth parting slightly, and then closing just the same. She turned away from him, and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Don't you?" he asked, his voice low as he leaned closer to her. "Because from what I understand, you seem to have an odd fixation with the boy. An inappropriate fixation, I might add."
"You are making very broad insinuations, Ryuzaki."
"Am I?"
Lorelei snapped her head in Lance's direction, and for a moment, it looked like she was about to say something more. However, thinking better of it, she sighed in exasperation. Triumphantly, Lance smiled. She may be a cold, spiteful woman, who was always looking for a way to strike Lance down, but he could be just as unkind.
Deciding to move away from the subject at her expense, he asked. "Why did you come over here? I highly doubt you came in hopes of striking up a good-natured conversation with me."
Still a bit miffed, Lorelei's facial features became very rigid, her jaw clenching and unclenching as she responded. "I'm going home to Four Island for a few days, if you must know. I feel that I am behooved to let every one of my colleagues know the reason for why I will be absent during the next few weeks."
"Ah," Lance said, knowingly. "Court life becoming too much for you?"
She scoffed, and said, "Not exactly. I need a break to clear my head." She glanced up at him, sighing, and, for a second, Lance could see that she looked tired, and strangely, sorrowful. That look was quick to dissipate, however. "Besides, my mother has been nagging me to visit her for years. It seems like it's as good a time as any to see her."
As a sudden and loud chant started behind them, in the middle of the feast hall, Lance and Lorelei glanced back over their shoulders to see what was going on. Sat on a chair that was being hoisted high into the air by Bruno, Blue Oak was bright red, and howling with laughter. It was clear he was drunk, probably at the accountability of Bruno, who was leading the chants, shouting, "Lord of Viridian! Lord of Viridian!"
Most of the patrons at the celebration were quick to join in on the chanting, lifting their goblets in Blue's direction, red wine sloshing all over the place. It was safe to say that nearly half of the room was drunk.
"See what happens when you leave him in Bruno's care," Lance said, finally returning his attention back to his plate.
"He's never drank wine before," she said, her tone suddenly frigid.
"He'll be hungover tomorrow," he said. "That's for certain. Just pray he doesn't end up with a concussion if he falls off of that chair."
Lorelei stood abruptly, her hands fluttering to smooth down her dark violet satin robes. Without so much as a bow of the head, or a stiff nod to signal her departure, Lorelei glided away, the long, billowy sleeves of her kimono nearly gracing the floor as she kept her hands stiffly at her sides.
Lance picked up the chunbing off of his plate again, feeling every the bit more comfortable, and certain that he wasn't going to be interrupted for the duration of his meal.
The next morning, Blue Oak was standing at the front gates of the Royal Palace. Least to say, when Lance gazed upon the new boy lord of Viridian, he could very much tell that Blue was not content to be up so early. He looked every the bit tired, and then some. As he stood, basking in the sun's morning rays, Blue squinted, and clutched his head as if it were painful to him. Behind him, a dozen men sat up on their rapidash, waiting patiently for the new lord to join them on his own palfrey so they could escort him all the way to Viridian.
The sun was already high in the sky, and its rays were blazing down on the small crowd that stood to see the boy off. The early morning sun, Lance thought. The coming of summer is near.
Beside him, the three other chiji stood, each of them in various states of consciousness. Like Lance, Agatha Sato was an early riser, and therefore, did not appear as drowsy as, say, Bruno, who was struggling to keep his eyes open. Lance watched him warily. He did not put it past the fighting-type master to fall asleep while standing up. On the other side of Bruno, closest to the palace gates, was Lorelei. Heavy bags were under her almond-shaped eyes, and it did not look like she got any sleep last night. Still, there she was, a bright, but strained smile pulled across her lips. Also present were Empress Amaranth Beniko, the aqua-haired Koizumi, Lord Commander Dawrec, and Cecelia, Blue's old nurse.
Blue moved forward, stiffly and a bit hesitantly. Though he did not appear distraught over his departure, Lance could tell that the boy did not feel particularly overjoyed either. He first approached the empress, as was expected. She did not raise him in any way. That had been Cecelia's job. But, her husband had taken it upon himself to bring him in when he did, so Blue was obligated to show her some sort of gratitude.
Bowing his head lowly, Blue said, "Thank you, Kōgō, for providing me with a home these past many years. I am forever grateful."
"There is no need to thank me, child," Empress Amaranth said, coolly. "My lord husband can be accredited with that."
"Yes, of course," Blue said. "I will surely stop by the Arceon on my way out of the capital, and pay my respects to him."
Empress Amaranth gave him a pasted smile, and bowed her head at him, tilting her chin down ever so slightly. As she did this, Lance watched the enormous headpiece she sported begin to shift forward. Silently, he prayed that it would tip over, causing her to stumble out of her uppity position. It was no secret that Lance did not like the empress. She was conceited, and insincere in much of what she said and did. Unlike Lorelei, who had, at first, attempted to befriend him when he'd first come to the Indigo Plateau, Empress Amaranth was haughty, and contemptuous. She did not like him. In any way. This was simply because, as Lance later discovered, she had not wanted her husband to extend his mercy to Johto after the war. Amaranth did not like the idea of bringing a Johto-born into the capital to act as chiji. She would have rather he decimated every last Johto insurgent, but, instead, Emperor Carmine decided to call forth Lance's father, a prominent, but minor leader who had fought on the Johto side, to preside over East Johto.
In the beginning, it hadn't mattered what Amaranth thought of him. Her husband had been the emperor, so Lance did not have to deal with her, as she was only the empress consort. But, when he passed, she became the empress dowager, to which she still remains. Even though her children, the heirs, are missing, Amaranth still holds onto her empress dowager status, acting as the actual empress regent herself for three long years. The most logical thing to do would be to find any potential heirs to replace her, but, as it turned out, Carmine had no living relatives. The council suggested for her to marry, but she utterly and ultimately refused to do so. That would require for her to accept the notion of her children's deaths, something she stubbornly will not do. And so, here she stood a dowager. An old, bitter, scornful dowager.
Blue stepped away from the empress, turning on his heel to further say his goodbyes. As he moved on, he gave a short nod to both Koizumi and Lord Commander Dawrec, who, in turn, nodded his head right back. When he approached Cecelia, Blue let out a surprised yelp as she pulled him into her arms. She was a round, larger woman who, from the look of it, had some sort of hidden strength. Hugging him tightly to her chest, Cecelia patted his head soothingly. She seemed more upset over his departure than he was, and when Blue finally gave in, and wrapped his arms around her body, the nurse started to sob.
After he pried himself out of his old nurse's arms, Blue made his way over to Agatha, who was supporting herself with her wooden cane. Once he stood in front of her, she reached out her hand and gripped his face, squeezing his chin and cheeks.
"You better be good, boy," she said, chidingly. "I don't want to wake up tomorrow only to hear that half of Viridian is on fire."
Blue managed a smirk, despite his face still being held by the older woman. "I will promise no such thing," he said.
Agatha relinquished her grip just then, patting his cheek once for good measure, and said, "Don't think that just because you beat me in battle yesterday, you can act all high and mighty now. Next time, I won't show you any mercy."
"That was your mistake, Chiji," Blue said, smiling at the memory. He bowed his head, and added, "Goodbye, Agatha."
She only nodded in response, her eyes shining.
"Blue Oak," Lance said, when the boy turned to him. "It is a shame that I did not get to engage in that pokémon battle I had promised you."
Yawning, Blue shrugged, as if it were no big deal, and said, dismissively, "I would've beaten you anyway."
Bruno, standing by on Lance's left, put his arm around his shoulder, pulling him closer. "You got that right, kid," he said, his voice booming in Lance's ear. He poked the Dragon Master in the ribcage, causing him to twitch. "This one's all talk, but once you're in battle with him, he starts flopping all over the place like a fucking magikarp!"
Lance pushed himself out of Bruno's grasp, frowning. "Flopping all over the place? Bruno, last I remember, I nearly obliterated you and your fighting-type pokémon."
Waving that off, Bruno chuckled, and said, "All right. All right. So, I'm stretching the truth."
"But," Lance began, turning to Blue. "If you are so confident in your abilities, I would thoroughly enjoy battling with you sometime in the future. Perhaps, I will visit you in Viridian once I have the time."
"Looking forward to it," he told him. And then, to the two chiji, he added, "Goodbye."
Bruno and Lance both bowed their heads to the boy lord, who then proceeded, finally, to Lorelei.
If she was hoping to appear detached and emotionless, Lorelei was failing completely. Lance immediately saw through her façade, as her hands were visibly shaking, even as she tried to conceal them by folding her arms across her chest.
"Thank you, Lorelei, for everything," Blue said, genuinely, once he stood before her.
Her face broke just then, a grateful smile on her lips. She spread her arms, and Blue stepped into her embrace, hugging her tightly.
From where Lance stood, he noticed that Lorelei then began to speak very quietly to Blue. He couldn't quite catch what she was saying, but he figured it must've been of some importance to the two of them, as they were not sharing a word of it with any of the others. When the Ice Mistress finally released the boy, her eyes were shining with unshed tears. Blue offered her one last strained smile before waving everyone off once again, and mounting his waiting rapidash. And with that, Blue Oak steered his palfrey onward, out of the palace gates, and through the capital, the dozen men tasked to accompany him all the way to Viridian following closely behind.
When he was gone, the group that had gathered to see him off was quick to disperse. The bulk of the crowd headed toward the palace, but Lance, himself, went off in a separate direction.
Down a long, winding stone path that lead to the back of the Royal Palace, and then further along into a more remote location deep within the bamboo forest, was where Lance soon found himself. Walking steadily past the stalks, Lance sought for a calm mind as he moved closer to the Dragon Temple.
With the imminent arrival of summer, it was rather traditional for a Ryuzaki clan member, or perhaps, any other person who worshiped the dragon deities of Blackthorn, to visit the Dragon Temple and pray to the Vermilion Dragon for good fortune. While not as important as the Azure Dragon, who represented the essence of spring, the Vermilion Dragon was typically sought out for mercy, especially during the rainier, wet summer season. Typhoons and hurricanes were the most concerning when praying to the Vermilion Dragon, who could be as generous as it was merciless.
As Lance approached the Dragon Temple, traversing the thin stone path constructed through the reflecting pool that spread out just in front of the temple's entrance, he became vaguely aware that someone had followed him. He never turned around, however, seeing that he knew who it was, just from observing them out of the corners of his deep-set, amber eyes.
Entering inside, Lance strode to the center of the temple, the sound of his black boots echoing throughout the structure with every step he took. Once there, he came to a stop in front of the golden statue of the Yellow Dragon, dropping to his knees in front of it. By its feet were a censer and a few joss sticks that had been left there from Lance's last visit to the Dragon Temple. Carefully, he lit one, dipping it into the incense burner, letting the smoke rise into the air. The smell was therapeutic, and triggering to Lance. The faint scent of jasmine brought him back to his youth, to the many times where he sat, crossed-legged in the temple located deep inside of the Dragon's Den. His grandfather would always be the one to light the joss sticks, but, occasionally, he'd allow for either Lance or his cousin, Clair, to do the honors. Remembering wrestling Clair to the ground to get to Grandfather first brought a wistful smile to Lance's face, a rare sight to be seen nowadays.
Pressing his hands together, and bowing his head, Lance closed his eyes and began his silent prayer. Along with asking for mercy and good fortune from the Vermilion Dragon, Lance was also praying to his father. Ancestral veneration was exclusively in the domain of the Yellow Dragon, the centralized deity, as far as dragon gods went. Its likeness, usually in the form of a statue, was always to be found inside a Dragon Temple. Praying to it, as Lance was doing now, was done so out of respect, and gratitude. Dead relatives looked after those who they left behind. In Lance's case, he knew his father, and similarly, his mother, were watching over him.
Softly, and faintly, Lance heard the clicking of heeled shoes as they came to a stop just behind him.
Without turning around, or opening his eyes, Lance demanded, "What are you doing here, Amaranth?"
"That's Kōgō to you, Chiji," came her response, reproach rising in her voice.
Lance stood abruptly before whirling around to glare at Her Grace, Empress Amaranth Beniko. Still sporting her massive headpiece, the empress was donned up in sumptuous attire. Her silk robes were various shades of red, and there appeared to be about a million small rubies interlaid within the golden trimming of her long, billowy sleeves. Her russet colored hair was coiffed rather elaborately atop her head, surrounding, and complimenting the garish headpiece secured in place there.
"Why are you here?" he asked again, crossing his arms over his chest. He then gazed about the temple, searching for the castle steward. He was nowhere to be found. "And where's that houndour of yours, Koizumi?"
The empress let out a sudden strident laugh that rung in Lance's ears long afterwards.
"Is that amusing to you?" he asked, flatly.
"Not particularly," she said. Waving her hands dismissively, she added, "Koizumi is waiting outside, if you must know."
"Such a loyal servant," he deadpanned. "Are houndour not allowed inside?"
"I would assume he'd much rather be referred to as a houndoom," she said, coolly. "He favors that pokémon greatly. He actually owns one, along with its pre-evolved form."
"I see he shares your preference for dark-type pokémon."
Amaranth scoffed, and said, "One of the only good things to come out of Johto."
Lance ignored the deliberate insult, and reminded her, "You still haven't answered why you're here."
Amaranth looked him once over, clear disgust in her eyes, and then she spread her hands out graciously. "I have come to pay my respects. For Ban," she simply told him. "It's been ten years since his passing. Exactly ten. To this very day."
"I didn't know you cared so much about my father."
"Oh I did," she assured him. "I truly did." The empress stepped forward toward the statue of the Yellow Dragon, her dark eyes watching the white smoke still steadily rising out of the small censer by its feet. "Ban was so…tenacious, so full of Johto pride."
"Yes, he was."
"As are you," she said, quickly. She raised one of her defined eyebrows, and added, "Too much Johto pride, I would say."
"Pride in Johto is one of the few things I have left here in the capital," Lance said, coolly.
The empress hummed thoughtfully as she considered his words. And then, she began to move forward, stepping around the golden statue, circling it, circling him as she spoke.
"Lance," she began. "You are a righteous man, are you not?"
"I like to consider myself as such," he told her.
"Good," she said, a pasted smile stretching across her thin lips. "So, if you were asked to do something, say, by me, you would be obligated to do it, yes?"
The Dragon Master narrowed his eyes, not quite sure where she was headed. Vaguely, he understood that she wanted something. And, somehow, she was planning to coerce him into doing whatever it was she wanted. She was going about it in a roundabout way, but Lance knew what she was playing at all the same.
"What is it you want?" he asked, bluntly.
"Cutting to the chase I see," she said. "Fine. I require your assistance in finding and retrieving my children."
"You're children are dead," Lance plainly told her.
"No," she said, shaking her head. "No, they are not. I refuse to believe it."
"You cling to false hope," he said. "They've been missing for too long. If they were out there, surely they would've turned up by now."
"They were kidnapped," she reminded him. "My children did not go missing, and you know it. The Roketto-Dan, I know they took them. It was vengeance. They kidnapped my children in retribution for my lord husband's unearthing, and publication of their leader, Lord Giovanni, and his entire operation."
"Well, unfortunately, the Roketto-Dan has seemingly vanished from the face of the earth. I wouldn't be able to help you find them even if I tried," he said.
"That is not exactly true," she said. "There have been reports. Many reports that have come in, describing sightings of Roketto-Dan personnel all throughout Kanto-Johto. And, there have been rumors about their alleged return."
"Speculative," he told her. "All speculative information."
"No," she said, firmly. "It is not. I know it. I know my children are alive. I can feel it. Please, Lance, I am asking you to help me. It's a slim chance, I know, but the possibility of finding them is there. Even if…even if all you find are dead bodies. I just want to know what happened to them."
Lance gazed at the empress before him, taken aback by her surprising show of emotion. She seemed genuinely distraught, and sincere in what she was saying. It was no secret that she loved her children. Even after all this time, she believed they were still alive, still out there. Of all the faults she had, Lance could at least admit she wasn't entirely heartless. The undying love for her children was something even he could not deny she possessed.
"Why are you asking me?" he asked. "Why not the Lord Commander? Or perhaps Bruno?"
Empress Amaranth sighed, and said, "Because you are thorough, committed, tenacious. You are persistent in everything you do. Absolutely unyielding. The Lord Commander gave up years ago. He will not help me, and Chiji Bruno is hardly fit for such a demanding task. You're a powerful trainer, and you possess dragon-type pokémon. If any danger were to arise, you would at least be able to defend yourself, and make a quick getaway."
"How thoughtful of you to be concerned for my safety," Lance said, disbelieving. "I'm shocked to hear that you think all these things about me. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were complimenting me."
"As much as I hate to admit it," she began, begrudgingly. "If anyone were to find my children, it would be you. So, will you help me?"
Lance considered the entirety of her quest for a moment. What she was asking of him was not exactly a herculean task, but it was awfully close. Not only had he needed to locate a disbanded and long gone criminal organization, but he also had to find out what happened to the missing Beniko children. It would be difficult, but not impossible. But, if what Amaranth said were true about the Roketto-Dan's return, then there was still hope.
He eyed her thoughtfully. He did not like her, but that did not mean he would refuse to help her. She was right to take him for a righteous man. Lance often found himself fighting for justice, for what was right. Discovering what happened to Prince Red and Princess Leaf would certainly be the right thing to do. And, bringing in the final remnants of the Roketto-Dan would bring justice and peace to the realm, or at least to the empress.
"Yes, Kōgō," he said, applying the honorific, something he rarely did for her. "I will help you find your children."