Lance subconsciously kept walking away from the ranch grounds. He wasn't necessarily thinking about anything in particular; just peeved about being forced to do something he didn't want to. He assumed his parents should have noticed that he had no plans on taking over any ranch or even wanting to be taught on the subject. Lance didn't really show interest in being a Pokemon Trainer on the outside but he always tried to get less and less done on the ranch itself. His sister was the most excited about taking over the property when necessary. That was obvious, at least Lance assumed as much to himself.
"Ee!" Eevee was only a few steps behind Lance, not leaving his side for a moment. Lance had slowed down and Eevee was able to catch up to his partner. Lance looked back at the small Pokemon and shook his head. Most people get a choice of a Bulbusaur, Charmander, or Squirtle but it seemed like Lance had to settle with this shrimp.
"I don't want you with me. You are small and not strong." Lance thought he would at least have the choice of all the different kinds of Pokemon at the ranch. He had his eyes on a Ghastly or a Rhyhorn, something that evolved into something powerful. Eevee slowed down now, purposely going slower than Lance. Pokemon, once they chose or were chosen as a partner, relied a lot on the love of their human trainers. With Lance not wanting Eevee around, it made the poor Pokemon feel horrible.
"Eev…" Lance didn't look back as the Pokemon did one last thing to try and get his attention. Eevee stopped entirely, his head and body drooping low against the ground. Lance kept walking, leaving the Pokemon in the middle of the field. Ahead was a lake that overlooked quite a lot of other places. He could barely see other places but most of all, it was where he could daydream about whatever he wanted.
Lance didn't move from his spot at the lake. He was comfortable sitting in the grass and just thinking about what he would do if he had a chance to become a trainer. There were lots of others but Lance thought he could have an upper-hand, barely, by being on a ranch before he could become a trainer. That was all he thought it was good for, other than just being able to get to know all the different Pokemon and their strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. He imagined having a team of the most powerful Pokemon he could find and doing what all trainers aspired to do. He was the Pokemon League Champion, better than any other and could come home and show off what he did.
"Hey, Lance!" Lance was suddenly broken out of his daydream by a Dragonite flying right in front of him. He wasn't spooked or jumped, just surprised. He knew who it belonged to right away, only knowing one person who had one.
"What is it, mom? Come to lecture me some more?" Lance had a smart mouth attitude and crossed his arms. He was still angry about what his parents was forcing him to do without giving himself the choice. It was immature for sure but Lance wanted the choice. Maybe he would have chosen to be a breeder if they asked before pushing him to do what they wanted.
"No, I came to get you so you can help me. Get on, we need to go to Celadon." Dragonite dropped itself beside Lance, facing away to give him the chance to climb aboard. Lance pushed himself to stand up and get onto Dragonite's back. It easily lifted back off, using the cliff as it's takeoff to get more wind under its wings.
"Did you see that Eevee as you were coming here? I know it stopped fallowing me a few minutes away from where I stopped." Lance didn't have a concerned tone, more of a neutral tone. He wasn't interested in knowing exactly where the Eevee went, just knowing if it went back to the ranch.
"YOU'RE Eevee? No, I didn't see him on the way here. He probably slipped back. Why? Why wasn't he with you?" Unlike Lance, Amy had a worried tone. No matter the Pokemon, she cared for every one of them. It could be a new resident or have been at the ranch for years but Amy still cared the same for everyone. Knowing that a Pokemon wasn't under almost complete supervision while away from the ranch got Amy very worried, not wanting any of their ranches Pokemon to get hurt or worse. There was no telling what the wildlife was like or what could happen to one, especially if it was as small and weak as Eevee.
"Yeah, it was but I assume it went back to go be with the other Pokemon." Lance looked down at the ground that was flying by, literally, from his position. The Dragonite was a fad flyer, whether it was with two or one person. She judged her speed from what was on her back, both weight and things like their position. Dragonite was a very smart Pokemon, being raised right from a young Dratini. Tom's and Amy's Pokemon were raised from their young first forms.
"Okay, good. I don't want any Pokemon to get hurt, you know that." Dragonite raised up more off the ground. She started a few feet off the ground and raised a few more. The three were now over Celadon City, overlooking all the buildings. The biggest was, of course, the Celadon Department Store. It was where almost everybody went when they needed to do any shopping other than for things like Pokeballs or Potions. Other than that, there was the Celadon Game Corner for gamblers or anyone with spare change to throw around. It had special but many illegal or unusual things to win. Common ones were TM's that were quite rare but other prizes included actual Pokemon. It seemed a little barbaric to just gamble off Pokemon but there was nothing that could be done with the situation in the city. The last landmark that made Celadon the most popular place in Kanto was the city Gym. Erika was a very strong gym leader and was giving out her gym badge for only highly experienced trainers.
Dragonite flew a lap around Celadon and ended up landing on top of the Celadon Department Store. She let both Lance and Amy off of her back, moving to the edge of the roof. The people that lounged on the roof were no strangers to Dragonite, as that was one of the only Pokemon Amy took out to fly. She was strong in both flight and power in battle. A powerhouse for offense, defense, and maneuvering in tight situations. The people waved at Amy and she waved back politely. No one was a stranger to either Dragonite or Amy, or anybody that had taken over the ranch each time it was handed down. All the owners of said ranch had a tradition of landing on the roof of the Celadon Department Store to get whatever they needed for supplies.
"Alright, let's get these things quick. I am still very worried about Eevee and he will be found by someone by tonight." Amy said firmly, making sure Lance understood well about what she had said.
"Oh, I know. I will go out later but I will expect something to have for protection." Lance really didn't care whether he had another Pokemon for help or not. He had figured out that whether a trainer looked defenseless or not, Pokemon rarely attacked them unless provoked.
"Don't be such a smartass. You will have a highly trained Pokemon to help you. It will be a fire Pokemon for you to have light, as well." Amy and Lance entered the Department Store for their usual pick-up. Food reagents, a few Potions, and some extra additions like Zinc and Calcium. Amy would come back later with Tom as well but she could still get her fair share of items with Lance coming along.
Lance and Amy came out of Celadon Department Store with hands full of bags.
"We would be getting more but the ranch mostly supplies itself. Only Pokemon like your Eevee and the few trained Pokemon need a daily meal." Amy was trying to give Lance a subtle share of advice. Lance still wasn't paying attention for the most part. His mind was still hadn't been convinced enough to want to be a breeder.
"That's great. Hey, who are those oddly dressed people around Dragonite?" Lance and Amy had their attention shifted to what was happening around the girl. There were indeed oddly dressed people around the Pokemon, along with what seemed like their personal Pokemon in between the people and Dragonite. She was surrounded but not one Pokemon around her was making a move. Either it was Dragonite was intimidating, which was probably the most possible answer, or they were waiting for something.
"I don't know but I know they aren't there to give Dragonite anything good. Let's see what they have to say." Amy stepped forward and Lance waited for a few steps before fallowing her mother to her Pokemon. Dragonite wasn't scared or cowering, instead honorably standing her ground. Not once did Dragonite ever show any kind of fear ever since her and Amy met and became partners.
"Look, don't screw this up, new girl! Just get that Pokemon or else you won't be part of the team for much longer!" A gruff sounding man's voice came from one of the older guys in the suits. Most looked young and there were only a few girls, still young as well. The total number of people surrounding Dragonite numbered twelve and there was a matching number of Pokemon as well. All looked dangerous but unlike Dragnoite, all had a little taste of fear in their face and movements.
"Hey, what is going on here?" Amy stepped forward boldly and all of the members turned their heads, the Pokemon's attention stayed on Dragonite. The gruff sounding man spoke first. His face had a thick beard and moustache could be well more visible, showing a light gray on their colors. All the members had on black hats to cover any hair, other than the few that had longer than average hair. One bigger thing was all of the members wearing the suits had a large, red 'R' on the chest.
"What do you want? This has nothing to do with you!" The gruff man spoke loud and demanded authority with his voice. Still, Amy had no intention of backing down. She kept taking small steps forward.
"It does indeed have things to do with me. In fact, that Pokemon is already owned. I know that for a fact." Amy smiled. Lance barely moved, just moving a step for every one of Amy's few steps. He acted tough but when he was outnumbered, Lance showed fear; especially since he had not one Pokemon to protect him.
"Oh? Like we care. We take Pokemon from idiots who leave them anywhere. Unless it's a stupid small one, which is gone now after this morning. Our newest damn recruit took care of that shrimp. Isn't that right?!" The gruff voiced man stole a glance to the one who he was talking to before. The young girl from before that looked nervous as is.
"That isn't right. Who are you, if I may ask? I heard about people who did that sort of thing but are you them?" Amy was being bland as can be, assuming that if this was the same one as she was talk about, the man would already know just if they were being talked about.
"Yeah, you probably did hear of us. We are Team Rocket!" The man spoke with pride, pushing the 'R' on his chest out to signify what it meant. That cleared up who these people were. Lance looked at Amy, back to the group of men, and then double backed to the both of them. He didn't really understand about most of what happened and tried to fallow but it was too much to bring it in this little short of a time. Whatever was happening, Amy already knew everything. Even more, Lance noticed his mother's smile had gone away. She had a frown now and looked serious as could be.
"Alright, then we have a problem at the moment. Dragonite dear, I need you to get us home. We have groceries and everything." Amy looked at Dragonite and spoke to her, who reacted right away. Dragonite started moving toward Amy and the Pokemon surrounding her tried to stop her. They got tighter in the direction of Dragonite but took a step back for every step forward Dragonite took. The members in the way of Dragonite stepped away almost instantly after Dragonite started moving toward them. They were more scared of the powerful Pokemon than the Pokemon trying to keep the Dragonite from moving. After a few steps, the Pokemon in front of the Dragonite got brave and stopped moving. Dragonite stopped as well, not wanting to get too much in trouble in a public place. The Pokemon that were in Dragonite's path included a Scyther, Raticate, Poliwrath, and a Gengar. All looked angry and not on the good side.
"Hah, your Dragonite can't take on all four of our Pokemon at once. You will hand it over or else no one will get it." The gruff man stood a good foot away from the action. He talked tough but wasn't exactly the bravest of the group.
"You want to bet? You probably stole those Pokemon and even if not, raising them in a bad way won't get them strong. Nowhere near as strong as a Pokemon such as mine. By the way, Dragonite is a 'her' not an 'it'. Dragonite, if you please? "Amy spoke in a firmer tone, not in her usual sweet tone she would to everyone else.
"I don't care what IT is! Make sure that thing doesn't get up!" The gruff man yelled to the four Pokemon still in the way. They jumped into action, all starting a brawl right outside the Department Store. Dragonite was quick enough to keep away from the attacks from the Pokemon, though. From the cut attacks to Poliwrath's strong water guns, Dragonite avoided all of them with not one making contact. The point of the brawl wasn't to go right after Dragonite at the start. The other Pokemon left started to make another circle around Lance and Amy. Still, Amy held her ground without any fear. In fact, she had herself another few hidden Pokeballs with her. She reached into one of the bags of groceries in her arms and pulled out two more Pokeballs.
"A rule you always have to follow yourself is to be prepared and make sure back-up is with you." Amy held out the balls forward and the red beams came out, showing a form of a Nidoking and a Nidoqueen. The red forms solidified and the two Pokemon were outside of the circle of evil Pokemon, ready for a fight right away.
"You didn't have those when we came here! Where were you hiding those?" Lance was almost a couple of inches away from Amy, his fear from the many Pokemon fighting at once. Lance should have been used to this situation but then again, Lance barely seen any big fights between more than a few Pokemon at once.
"Well, I had those hidden in just such a good way. Big rule when it comes to going out, have more than one Pokemon somewhere on you." Nidoking and Nidoqueen roared and planted their feet firmly on the ground. Dragonite, who was distracted before, had freed herself from the four Pokemon assaulting her. She was floating just above the last of the Pokemon who were harassing Amy and Lance.
"What are they doing?! Why aren't these Pokemon doing well enough?!" The gruff man was getting angry now, cringing his teeth.
"These Pokemon are in trouble. Lance, I need you to put your bags on the ground and when I say duck, you do just that." Amy put her bags down first and Lance followed almost on cue quickly. The three waiting Pokemon had their mouths open, a small yellow ball forming.
"Okay, DUCK!" Amy said and Lance, almost instantly, fell the ground. Amy got onto her stomach as well, head looking up still. The three Pokemon pushed their head forward a little and the small balls in the Pokemon's mouth changed in almost half a second to a beam. It shot from the mouths toward the circle of Pokemon around Amy and Lance. The beams were moved so that not one spot around the two were left uncovered. None of the Pokemon around Amy or Lance had stayed standing and was on the ground, knocked out instantly. The four Pokemon that was harassing Dragonite also was on the ground. The combined attacks from Nidoking, Nidoqueen, and Dragonite knocked every one of the Rocket's Pokemon.
"What was that?!" The gruff man took a couple of steps back, amazed at what had just happened. Amy was up when the beams had ended.
"That was why I have back-up and why you don't mess with experienced trainers. Three Hyper Beam's will end almost everything." Amy smiled, her cheery face back on. She obviously figured this was done at this point. After all, the three Pokemon left had no power for a couple of minutes and Amy didn't want to bring out her last Pokemon just in case if it wasn't needed.
"Heh, your back-up wasn't good enough! Scyther, Cut!" Lance was still on the ground, looking but not wanting to get himself in danger out of fear. The Scyther that was ordered came up behind Amy, his scythes up high on either side. Amy was about to jump forward but a stream of fire came just behind Amy's head, hitting the Scyther square in the face. It got pushed to the side and completely out of commission at this point.
"Well, this sure sucks if I weren't here right now. All you needed to do was pick up a few things and you got into trouble. Bad girl." Tom's voice came from the back of the approaching Arcanine's back, who had shot the expertly aimed Flamethrower.
"Hey, I can't help it. I am just like that." Amy smiled. The three Pokemon of hers were now standing behind Amy. Lance shakily got up, backing up against Dragonite for safety. The Rocket's were backing up now, fearful of all of the strong Pokemon and especially because they were getting beaten.
"I-I-I can't believe this. Fine, let's go!" The man pulled out a few small spheres from his pocket, throwing them onto the ground. Smoke bombs and when the smoked cleared a few seconds later, the Team and all of the Pokemon that were with them were gone.
"Aw, they left before the fun was done." Amy pouted, the Nidoking and Nidoqueen returning to their balls inside the grocery bags. Surprisingly, the bags got undamaged but then again, the fight wasn't as bad as it could have gotten with an inexperienced trainer.
"Yeah, well, Celadon is a dangerous place with it being controlled by Team Rocket." Tom took the two bags that Amy had and gave her the balls inside them.
"Lance, you are okay I see." Lance was still in shock but nodded. Of all the time he was at the ranch and even went out with Amy or Tom, this hasn't happened. This was the most action by far he has experienced. In his heart, though, this was what he wanted to experience himself. Big battles, unpredictable outcomes, and many Pokemon.
"I-I want to go home, please." Lance stuttered while muttering. Amy turned and smiled, nodding.
"We are going home now. Get on Dragonite and let's go. You have an appointment anyway to find your Eevee." With that, Lance and Amy left Celadon City on Dragonite, who was not as fast as before. She still needed to recuperate but was strong enough to last until they got back to the ranch.