(The Next Day. 12:30 in the afternoon. The Sleeping Snorlax)
The Sleeping Snorlax was a old fashioned, family restaurant. The interior walls, roof, and floor were made of a dark wood, with the floor always shiny from being polished. The outside was made up of a lighter looking logs rolls.
Inside there were booths against three of the walls, with tables and chairs taking up the middle of the restaurant.
We find Lance at the table in the very middle, one arm laying on the table with his fingers drumming along the wood. His other hand held onto his glass of ice water. In fact he was the only one currently in the restaurant, besides the people he currently had working there.
Taking a sip, he paid no attention to the bell ringing from the front, meaning that someone had walked through the doors. He placed his glass down, just in time for 'John' to sit in the seat in front of him.
"Nice place." John said quietly, looking around to get familiar with his surroundings.
"Indeed. I always loved coming here as a kid." Lance commented, smiling at his friend. A waitress with green hair and eyes walker up to the two. She handed the two menus before walking away. "Go ahead, find something you want. It's just the two of us for now." John nodded and opened his menu.
"Why are we alone?" He asked, flipping to another page.
"I convinced the owner to let me have the restaurant to myself for a couple of hours. Told him I had special business I needed to attend to." Lance informed, pushing his menu so it would sit at the edge. He'd been here so many time, he had the entire menu memorized.
The waitress from before came back to them, smiling.
"Are you two ready to order?"
"Yes. I'll take a BLT for now." Lance informed. She wrote it down, before turning to John.
"And for you sweetie?" But he stayed silent and looked at Lance.
"Ash, it's okay. She's with the G-Men." He reassured. Quirking an eyebrow under his mask, he turned to look at her. She bent down and nodded.
"My name's Christine, Mr. Ketchum. I've been a big fan of yours ever since you started your journey, and it's an honor to finally meet you in real life. Your secret is safe with me."
Ash stared at her for a few seconds, before removing his mask and placing it in the seat next to him.
"I'll take a chicken sandwich with a side of fries. Water for the drink, please."
"Yes sirs. I'll bring your drink after I give Agents L and V your orders." She smiled and walker away.
"G-Men?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I knew you wouldn't take that stupid thing off if regular people were working here. I gave them all a paid day off and called a few agents here to take their place." Lance informed with a shrug. Ash didn't respond, mainly because Lance was sorta right. Even if he was surrounded by G-Men, he was still reluctant to take off his mask.
"Hmm, makes sense I guess." They sat in an awkward silence for a minute, until Christine came back with Ash's drink. He thanked her quietly, and she left, only Lance seeing her grin.
"You know, I think she might like you." Lance teased, causing Ash to spit out his water. Lance laughed when Ash gave hi a dirty look.
"Could you not say stuff like that?"
"Sorry, sorry, just trying to lighten the mood." Lance tried justifying his reason. "So...what have you been up to?"
"Training."
"That's it?"
"It's really the only I've been able to. I don't want any kind of human interaction unless it's with you, Clair, or the very select few I've chosen."
"You know, the world knows the truth now. You can stop hiding."
"I'm not hiding because of that." Ash scoffed. "I'm hiding because I want nothing to deal with everyone. All they would do is say sorry, try to make it up to me, and annoy the fuck out of me. I don't need their pity."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense..." Lance trailed off, taking a sip. His phone buzzed, prompting him to check it. He grinned, before putting it away.
"What was that about?"
"Seems like Goodshow finally did something useful." Lance stated, not noticing as Ash's eyes narrowed.
"That son of a bitch? What did he do now?"
"Looks like he got your Sceptile back." Lance informed, smiling when he saw Ash's features softened.
"S-Sceptile?" Ash stuttered, remembering all the good times they had back in Hoenn.
"Yes. You're welcome, by the way. I was the one that convinced Goodshow to track down and get back all your old Pokémon."
"You?!" Ash exclaimed, causing Lance to nod. "Wow. Thank you Lance, I don't-I don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything. Seeing you smile is enough." Lance grinned. Christine came back with their and gave the two their respective plates. She even had a bottle of ketchup and barbeque sauce for Ash.
"Will this be all for now?" She asked. The two nodded. "Great, let me know if there's anything else." With that, she walked away.
"Wait. Wouldn't people want to return my Pokémon once they found out I was innocent." Ash asked, squirting some ketchup onto the chicken of his sandwich.
"Believe me, I wish." Lance sighed. "Everyone who witnessed the strength of your Pokémon were desperate to get their hands on one. They all refused to give them up when me and Clair broke the news on TV."
"Of course. Everyone is fucking greedy." Ash scoffed, taking a bite and sighing in happiness. It had been so long since he had actual food like this, berries were a big part of his diet when he vanished.
"Good?" Lance questioned and Ash nodded, causing him to laugh. "Great. When you're done with that you can order something else if you want. Lunch is on me."
They sat in silence after that, taking time to savor their food. When they were done with their sandwich's, they shared the fries.
"So...how long do Bastard's one and two have in jail?" Ash asked, dipping three fries into both condiments.
"Oh, right...listen Ash, sometimes things don't go as planned." Lance informed nervously.
"What do you mean?"
"Gary and Drew have been...missing ever since the day me and Clair rescued you."
"...You're shitting me."
"Afraid not. There have been reports here and there about them being in one area, but the police and G-Men have never been able to find them."
"Motherfucker!"
"The biggest theory is that they modified their looks in order to blend in. Their banks accounts haven't been touched." Lance informed.
"So while I spent months in hell, they've been running free?! Wow, Arceus really did fuck me." Ash growled, pushing the fries towards Lance. He suddenly lost his appetite.
"I'm sorry Ash...if you want, I could drain their accounts and send them into a new one for you. It's not as much as you originally had, but it'd be something at least."
"Yeah, do that please." Ash sighed. "Speaking of my money, how's the bitch been?"
"She used it all on shopping sprees and vacations. She was so drunk on spending she didn't save any and lost the house. She and the Mr. Mime have been living with Professor Oak ever since." Lance informed. "As for Oak, he hasn't been doing well either. When everyone found out he sold your Pokémon, trainers stopped going to him for their starters, and other professors stopped communication. They both have been forced to get jobs in order to keep the lab."
"Good."
"As for your old group, they're suffering as well. Brock's fathers fired him and put in charge his second youngest as Gym Leader. Dawn, May, and Max have been disowned by their parents, and Misty can no longer battle as Gym Leader."
"Fantastic. They all deserve to suffer." Ash stated, before getting up.
"Where are you going?"
"To train. Need to work on Pidgeot's speed a little bit."
"Oh, how did the battle go?"
"Idiot tried using a Fearow against me." Ash snorted, putting his mask back on. "Thanks for the lunch Lance. I appreciate it."
"No problem. Maybe next time I'll invite Clair."
"That'd be nice." They shook hands and Ash left, leaving Lance alone with his thoughts. That was until Christine came up to him.
"How'd it go?"
"He still despises his old friends and mother. Hell, he hates just about everyone." He sighed.
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know yet." He stood up and pushed in his seat. "I'll have to think about it. You, Agent L, and Agent V can leave now. I'm going to call the owner and tell him he and the actual workers can take back over." He walked away as well while Christine went to tell L and V.
None were aware of what was to come tomorrow.