Chapter 1
Infiltrating the Rocket base was easier than Lance had suspected. The grunt he stole the uniform from wouldn't be missed and the dragon master slipped into the role perfectly. He felt dirty in the gown of the biggest criminal organization to abuse pokémon. Silver had requested his help and was too easily recognizable as Giovanni's son. Under normal circumstances Lance would have told his student to take care of it himself, but he also wanted to gather information of his own on the locations of the group.
He hid his red hair underneath the dark cap of the uniform careful not to let it fall off. Even after eight years people still occasionally recognize him as the one that tried to save pokémon from humans. Ordinary citizens forgot about the events on Cerise Island, but the Dex holders and organizations such as Team Rocket held intimate knowledge of the occasion. Though much has happened between then and now, mainly his employment with the pokémon association, he still remained vigilant. Lance did not have a miraculous change of heart when deciding to take over the duties as champion. He still retains hate towards humans but recognizes some are worse than others, and there are innocents that deserve saving.
Lance opened the door to a large conference room. There was a meeting already in progress. Unsure of where to stand, he was roughly tugged to the side by another grunt that said something along the lines of 'always one messing up' with a roll of his eyes. The room was filled with Rocket members. An admin was standing in the front delivering a progress report for morale. It was exactly the kind of information that Lance needed. He slowly reached into his pocket pressing a button to start recording.
Team Rocket was rising again like the roaches they were. How they could continue even when cut down so many times Lance couldn't understand. What he did know is that weeding them all out was going to be a lifetime of work. They were resilient bastards that just wouldn't stay down. The discussion included new bases that were disguised better than before, more recruits from Arceus knows where, and lastly the exact information Silver had been asking for.
"As you all have seen we have been cautious revealing the location of our leader. I am proud to announce that Giovanni will be returning to the Kanto region." A loud murmur erupted from the crowd. The grunts were excited and couldn't contain speaking to their neighbors about the implications. The admin held up a hand to quiet the room. "Yes, it has been some time since Giovanni has graced us with his presence. No, he is not coming here to stay. Instead he will be inspecting the progress of each base individually. Keep focused and continue in the name of glory for Team Rocket!"
With that the grunts were dismissed back to their duties. Lance followed the stream of rockets out the door. He cautiously glanced around and slipped away from the crowd into an empty corridor. He wanted to relax but his instincts told him not to, there was no knowing when another member would show up.
Taking a few more turns Lance felt safe enough to peek inside one of the doors. To his pleasure there wasn't anyone inside. Before entering he scanned the hall once again. Inside computers lined the sides of the room. The front wall held a massive whiteboard covered with complex equations. The dragon master cursed for not having the foresight to bring a camera. He would have to ignore the mathematics and code on the board for now.
He pulled a chair away from one of the computers and began to crack into their system. He acknowledged his luck in finding a room that had the machine he needed when opening a door at random. Once Lance was able to bypass the passwords and extra security he took the recorder from his pocket and plugged it in to the computer. While the large audio file was downloading he decided to snoop through any other files he could find. There wasn't much that he didn't already over hear, but that didn't mean he had found everything. Lance was sure more information was hidden from him.
Before going deeper he checked on his download and seeing that it was completed the dragon master attached it to an email intended for Silver. If Team Rocket found out about this they would surely track down and eliminate the recipient. To avoid this Lance began to encrypt the file. He wasn't fast since he had put less hours than he should have into learning the technique.
While the fake rocket typed away on the computer the noise of the keystrokes failed to alert him of the doorknob turning. A darkly clad man entered the room not expecting another person to be occupying the space. No one was scheduled to use this room but the rocket member till much later in the day. Reaching behind his back and retrieving a pokéball from his belt the rocket addressed the other man.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Lance looked behind him at the rough voice and cursed. What an incredible novice mistake to make. He had run out of time. Unable think of an excuse as to why he would be in this particular area the dragon master ignored the rocket to finish the code. He heard the distinct sound of a pokémon being released behind him. Lance knew he wouldn't be able to complete it in time so he hit the send button hoping that the file wouldn't corrupt.
Turning from the computer to release one of his own pokémon the dragon master couldn't move out of the way from an attack delivered by a small red and gray pokémon. The bladed hand pierced through his left side. Lance's eyes widened from the shock of the impact. Instinctually taking a step back left him open for another attack.
"Good job Pawinard! Now use Metal Claw!" The rocket had no remorse attacking. Lance jumped to the side to avoid the attack but it still nicked his arm drawing more blood. Landing heavily on his injured side Lance was able to use the break to throw a pokéball.
A yellow dragon appeared from the flash of red light. The pokémon discharged a savage roar shaking the room. The rocket was shaken for only a moment before ordering his steel pokémon to attack again. The dragon did not need orders from his master to go on the offensive. It raised its paw, claws glowing, and smashed it relentlessly into the smaller pokémon. Pawinard laid prone on the ground when Lance's Dragonite swiftly turned using its tail to slam the pokémon back into its trainer. The rocket fell backwards hitting his head on the door he came though knocking him out.
Lance used a chair to lift himself back onto both feet. He winced looking down at his injuries already seeing the cloth darken from his blood. He glared over at the now helpless rocket and considered whether to kill him or allow him to live. Not too long ago the dragon master would have disposed of the man without a thought, but working with the pokémon association had taught him to think things through before he acted. Deciding that the punishment for staying alive was probably going to be worse than if his life was ended, Lance turned his attention towards his dragonite.
"Hyperbeam." He commanded pointing to the ceiling. The base would already know he was present so why bother with subtlety anymore. Lance ignored the pain he was in and snagged the recorder before climbing onto his loyal dragon. Flying from the base he could hear sirens going off, but the dragon master would be long gone before reinforcements arrived.
The Rocket base was only a ten minute flight on Dragonite from Lance's own in the Viridian forest. They were getting too close for comfort. Dragonite landed in a small clearing for Lance to disembark. He tripped when getting off, but his loyal friend caught his arm and steadied him. Dragonite didn't want his master to make the rest of the trip alone and hurt. It nudged Lance with its big head and whined.
"Don't worry friend, it isn't very far." Lance placed his hand on Dragonite's snout to comfort it. The walk to his cabin had too much underbrush for the large dragon to traverse. Recalling the pokémon, Lance started on the hike to his cabin.
Placing his hand on a tree for support Lance continued through Viridian forest. A smear of blood left behind on the bark was the only evidence of his passing as he staggered through the vegetation. His pokémon looked up at him through their balls in worry. His vision blurred and he wasn't sure if he was heading in the right direction anymore. He should have reached his base by now.
Lance gasped in pain gripping his side with his right hand and still navigating with his left. Precious liquid oozing through his fingers. Breathing heavily he stumbled upon a stream with a waterfall cascading clear liquid down and through the forest. Even in his dazed state he could enjoy the beauty of this secluded area. He spied someone bathing and wavered when he saw her long blonde hair. Unable to hold on to consciousness much longer he collapsed onto the ground with a groan.
Hey there reader! I haven't done much on here much recently but this story really wanted to be written. I'm sad that there are so few stories dedicated to my favorite pairing so I've decided to resolve that. I went over and edited this a few times, but there are probably mistakes that I didn't see. Constructive criticism is welcome. This story will definitely not be dropped I will see it to completion no matter how long it takes!
P.S. This chapter was very Lance-centric but don't worry you'll see Yellow soon =)