A/N: I own a copy of at least one game from every Generation, but that's about it.
A new traveller to the Johto region would find a curious situation upon entering the old town of Violet City. Even though it could be the dead of winter everywhere else in the world, it was always a few degrees warmer in Violet than the rest of the country and the snow was not nearly as thick. Or, in the summer, what would be a manageable heat anywhere else was an unbearable heat wave in Violet. This seemed a violation of the general rules of geographic weather patterns, until you walked a little bit north of Violet and past the forests until you reached a valley that was barricaded by steep mountainous rock formations. The Charicific Valley. And then it all made sense.
Because, hey, if there was one thing that Charizards hate more than Dragonites, it's winter weather.
Liza was used to this. She rarely left the valley except to go get supplies from Violet, and everyone always marveled at how well-adjusted she was from being the equivalent of a hermit, and dealing with countless petulant Fire types. Of course, they never really talked to her face. It was more behind the back sort of things.
"They say she doesn't have any friends except those Charizard."
"They say she's never had a boyfriend. How can a girl that pretty be alone? I should ask her out."
"They say she's part Charizard."
"They say she's crazy."
"She's so tall!"
At which point, Liza would always turn towards the gossips and look them directly in the eye before shaming them with one sentence.
"They say she's deaf, too."
She'd lost count how many times she'd had to say that. Or a variant.
Today had been a pleasant difference. Too many people were hiding from the cold to gawk at her, so she was able to pay for her food and supplies with no hassle and departed from town as quietly as she had entered. Well, as inconspicuously as one could while flying with a team of Charizard. Her most trusted Charizard, Charla, was her mount and closest confidant. The other Charizard she had handpicked out of the literally dozens of Charizard in the valley based on their professionalism and common courtesy to the outside world. It had taken her a while to find enough. Recently, a lot of the Charizard had been rather immature.
They landed back in the valley as the sun was beginning to set. Probably about two hours of daylight left. Good. Just enough time for feeding. She pointed to the food troughs lined next to her cottage, and looked at two of the oldest Charizard.
"Fill these up, and you two are on order patrol. I don't want any fights." She said. The two beasts grunted in understanding, and went to work pouring out the feed. She looked at the other two Charizard. "You two are to let the valley know that it is dinner time. Start with the western quadrant, and work towards here. Give the outside camps a chance to get here in time, you know?" The two Charizard roared in acknowledgement, before spreading their wings and taking flight. Then Liza turned to Charla, and adjusted the Charizard's bow in its ear. "You're off for the day, sweetie."
Charla nodded, but there was a sad look in her eyes that Liza picked up immediately.
"You miss him, huh?" She asked. Charla nodded. Liza offered a sad smile.
"I do too. He was a tough guy, really hard worker. But you and I both know that he belongs out there with his trainer, that Ketchum kid. And he did promise to come back to visit a lot, right?"
Charla grinned and nodded at this. Liza sighed.
"Must be nice having a 'boyfriend,' huh dear?" She teasingly ribbed Charla in the chest. The Fire-type gave an indignant "harrumph" kind of growl, before walking off. Liza could only laugh.
Dinner went off without a hitch. The two Charizard she had picked as police did an excellent job distributing food equally. There were no fights this time, and no one got accidentally burned. It went so well that Liza was actually able to call it an early night. She had the elder Charizard from each section of the valley usher their clans back to their sleeping grounds, and then went up to her cottage for the rest of the night. She had bought a brand new tub of Ren and Larry's Ice Cream, and was fully planning on eating a good chunk of it that night.
Roughly fifteen minutes later, those plans were ruined.
It wasn't because of her. She and Charla were lounging in front of the TV that Liza had bought a few years ago, watching some battle on TV because there was nothing better on except maybe reruns of My Little Ponyta, when suddenly there arose a horrific roar from outside. Swearing violently, Liza threw a coat on over her pajamas and hastily put on her slippers, and bolted for the door. Every evening, she assigned two of the sharpest-eyed Charizard to keep night watch over the valley in case anything or anyone was stupid enough to enter it. The fact that they were currently freaking out meant that there was in fact an idiot inside of the Charicific Valley who was on a one-way ticket to getting flambe'd.
If Liza didn't kill him herself.
She raced down the stone steps from the cottage to the staging grounds. She was shouting with each step.
"WHAT-ARE-YOU-DOING-" She trailed off when she reached the end of the path, and saw the person in question.
"…here?" She finished lamely. It was probably a good thing that it was getting dark, otherwise it would be easy to see her rising blush. After all, it wasn't every day that Pokemon legend Lance drops in unexpected to visit your abode.
"I, um, apologize for the late intrusion." He said. He stood up from the rock he was sitting on, and turned towards her. He was wearing his standard League apparel, including that cape. He must've flown straight from Indigo Plateau. "I hope I haven't caused too much of a ruckus."
His obliviousness was absolutely stunning. Stunning enough that Liza got over her fangirling and immediately got back to angry.
"No, not at all. If by that you mean you have several starving Charizard looking to rip you to pieces and/or scorch you alive, then no you haven't caused too much of a ruckus." She said drily. Lance shrugged.
"I guess I should have come earlier in the day." He said.
"You should have given me notice, Mr. Champion." Liza said with a patronizing grin. "Just because you haven't lost in years doesn't mean that you can just waltz in and set up shop."
As soon as she said it, she realized that something was wrong. Lance didn't give that soft nod of acknowledgement he normally did whenever someone brought up his win streak. Instead, he just looked a little sad.
"I lost at the World Tournament." He said.
Liza felt her jaw hang open in shock. She then started to correct herself.
"Oh, Arceus, Lance I didn't mean to…I mean, you know I don't get much TV coverage out here in the valley and I just assumed…Oh man, this is I don't know…" She babbled like this for a good few moments before Lance smiled.
"It's alright, Liza." He said. "It was a good battle, and I've had a bit of time to think about it. Don't worry about embarrassing me. You can't." He winked at her. Liza recovered.
"Ok, so if you lost at the World Tournament, why did you come here? The last time you lost, I heard you retreated into the Dragon Clan castle and didn't come out for about three months." She said. Lance shrugged.
"I think I've changed." He said. He reached into his pocket. "That, and I'm here to deliver a message." He handed Liza the envelope. She opened it, and recognized the flowing handwriting of Grandmaster Arach immediately.
Liza,
I hope that all is well in the valley. I imagine the Charizard are quite a bit to handle.
I write to you requesting a favor: our dear mutual friend, Lance, expressed to me an interest in training his team in a different way than he normally has, no doubt inspired by his recent battle at the World Tournament (don't worry, he's more than willing to discuss it.).
Would you be willing to work with him for the foreseeable future? I promise you that he will be as little of a strain on your normal routine as possible, and if you need him to help you care for the Charizard in the valley…he could stand to learn how to deal with that sort of thing, don't you think?
Don't worry, I am more than willing to cover any costs the valley may incur while housing Lance. Think of this as free hired help!
I hope that you find this opportunity as meaningful as I think it could be, and I look forward to seeing you again in the near future. Now, knowing Lance, he has most likely arrived in a rather untimely and inopportune moment, so you have my personal blessing to punish him as you see fit.
Sincerely yours,
Arach
Liza had to smile at the Grandmaster's direct and honest means of communication. Even in writing, it sounded just like him. She also very much enjoyed the final sentence of this letter, oh so very much.
"Your Grandmaster has a wonderful way of communicating your plans." Liza said. "I accept. Welcome to the Charicific Valley." She looked at Lance and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, where is your equipment and extra clothing?" She asked. Lance shrugged.
"I figured I'd fly back tomorrow having brought everything that I need." He said. Liza's eyes widened.
Oh, this was just perfect.
"Nope." She said.
"What do you mean, 'nope?'" Lance asked, warily. Liza smiled devilishly.
"Arach gave me the free pass to punish you for arriving in such an ill-timed manner. So here's your punishment. Wanna live in the Valley? You act like one of us. That means no capes, no specialized meals, and no extravagant breaks or lazy times." She said. "You're living with me and my Charizards? You live like one of us." She pointed to her cottage. "There's a guest bedroom in there, as well as plenty of farmhand clothing that should fit you."
"Uhmm…you're a girl." Lance sputtered. Liza raised an eyebrow.
"Oh don't you worry your perfect little head. Ranch hand clothing is gender-neutral. You won't have to worry about one little thing!" She practically skipped back up to the cottage, already envisioning the horrible things she could do to Lance in the name of training his Pokemon.
Lance just stood there, completely expressionless. His eye was twitching. Unhealthily so. Then, he took a deep breath and-
Somewhere, far away from that valley and tucked snugly into the community of houses that made up the only city on Knot Island of the Sevii Islands, sat a house. On the porch of that house, a man wearing depressingly bland clothing was sitting in a chair, quietly flipping through a book that was rapidly becoming a favorite. He heard the sliding door open behind him, and soon felt a hand on his shoulder.
"How's the book, dear?" His wife asked. The man smiled.
"Excellent. I highly recommend it when I'm done." He said. His wife smiled and took a seat right next to him. The sun was setting just past Mount Ember, and the sky was blood-red. It was moments like this that was the reason they had bought this house. On the beach below them, their two college-age daughters were playing "tag" with a pair of Bagon and an Arcanine.
"That's good. I'm looking forward to it!" His wife said. She then frowned. "The strangest thing happened a few moments ago, honey. I was getting ready to come outside, when I heard what sounded like the echoes of a young man's enraged shouts." The man in the chair raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? And what did this man's shout sound like?" He asked. His wife shrugged.
"I'm not sure. Something about cursing the very name of Arach and how he was going to have Dragonite peal the Grandmaster's skin with a flensing knife, before roasting him with a Hyper Beam…" She trailed off, and then a sly smile crept on her face. "Dear, did you do something to Lance?"
Arach looked her directly in the eye with a completely innocent look on his face.
"Honey, I think you must have been hearing things." He said.
A/N: Another vignette from the TrodaireVerse, ladies and gents! This one will focus on Lance, and be a lot more humor-based than the previous ones. Also, isn't Arach adorably sneaky? He's the Big Good of the TrodaireVerse, yet he is not above putting Lance in an embarrassing situation. I'm sure his wife and daughters worry about Lance's sanity…
R&R, please!