Granted Switch

Lance flinched when he heard what his cousin said. There was a long awkward silence as the 2 stare each other, before finally, Lance decided to speak, "Go back to Blackthorn, and act as if nothing has happened, for now..." He said in a flat tone.

Clair could not say anything as she keeps on staring at him. The silence continues as Clair began to try to sort her minds out. Lance decided this would be great time to leave her... just like what he did numerous times before...

Lance withdraw all his pokemons. He then turned around and look at Yellow, "... Let's leave..." He said as he motioned her to follow, to which Yellow could only responded to with a weak nod.

"Lance wait!"

The 2 blessed trainer stopped when they heard Clair's shouting. The 2 gaze back at her, wondering and hoping she won't do anything stupid that might risk their safety.

Clair look up at him with teary eyes burning with... rage, "I don't know what's going on, or what happened between you and her! But I know you're going to leave me again now! But please, don't leave! Can't you just... just... wait for me...?" she whispered out the last words sadly.

Lance did not budge, he said nothing as he kept his gaze straight ahead again and began walking away. Yellow frowned, she didn't know what's going on between Lance and Clair, but she knew one thing... Lance couldn't leave her just like that. She quickly catch up wit him and grabbed him by his shoulder. Lance froze, "What?" He asked with the same flat tone.

"Listen to her..." Yellow said, in a somehow-pleading voice.

Lance glared at her murderously, "No..." he hissed.

"Stop acting so stubborn, she's your cousin. She has the right to know what's going on." Yellow said.

"... She's not. She's just another watch-dog the old man sent to keep an eye on me." He said venomously.

"No she's not!" Yellow insisted, "Can't you tell how sincere she is? Lance, for once, stop being so stubborn and ego-centric!"

"You know nothing about me!" He spat as he roughly pushed her hands off, before turning around to leave.

"... Jerk!" Yellow shouted after him.

Lance stopped in his steps, before looking at her with a dangerous look, "What did you say?" he asked.

"Yeah Lance, you know what? You're nothing but a big jerk! A stubborn, ego-centric, self-centered, jerk who never even considered other people's feeling for you!" She shouted out loud without even faltering.

Lance's eyes narrowed, "I don't need to! They should learn to mind their own business! Especially you!"

"Well maybe you're just too stubborn to know that what you're doing is not right?"

"Oh, so now you're telling me what to do?"

"I'm just telling you to stop acting the jerk!"

"This is who I am, and if you have anything against that, get lost!"

"See? That's what you've been acting like! 'Oh, I'm the unbeatable Dragon Master, I'll do anything I want and no one gets in the way! If you gets in my way, I'll kill you!' Grow up! Don't you realize how spoil you are?"

"I am NOT some random orphan girl who live most of her life having fun with kids of her own age and relax, rather than having to spend her time getting trained like slaves only to end up killing her own father!"

Yellow was left speechless when she heard what he just said. Did she just hit the nerves or what? Guilt quickly struck her even before she realised it.

"... I told you," He said with a dangerous look, "We could never understand each other!" He said before he turned around and began to walk away in a brisk pace. Leaving the dumbfounded Yellow behind...

yellow said nothing as she turn to Clair and walked over to her, "Are you okay?" She asked as she got down beside her.

Clair said nothing as she stood up and withdraw all her pokemons. She then stared to the direction where Lance has just left. She said nothing for a good 2 minutes, before looking at Yellow, "Would you tell me... what's going on?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lance walked down the crowded street of Viridian. He brushed people away with no whatsoever consideration and make his way straight to the Viridian Forest. When he reached there, he walks in deeper and deeper into the forest, until it came to the point when he feels his weak body couldn't walk anymore. But he keeps pushing on. He didn't know where he's heading to, but all he wanted is... to just forget everything!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I see..." Clair said when yellow has finished telling her everything she knew.

An awkward silence ensued as Yellow waited for her to say something...

"You can say that... Lance's life is not what you think it is..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

At some point where he could feel nothing else, Lance tripped some roots and fell down. He tried to stand up, but found himself unable to, "Damn!" He hissed as he hit the ground in frustration.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"He was... a nice boy, you can say..." Clair said as she glanced at Yellow, "Naive and... eager-to-please... But he changed... "

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lance stood up groggily, "Alicia, Guardian of Viridian Forest!" He shouted, "Get your sorry ass here! I want my body back!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"He was 7 at that time... You could say he had a perfect life. A loving family, pokemons as friends and a competitive cousin who will always lose..." She smirked at the last line, "But then, everything changed when they found out about his power..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"I want the boy, and I want his powers..." The elderly man said.

"You're not laying a hand on my son!"

"Move over! The boy have a special power, and I know I can train him. Under my care, he'll be a powerful, unbeatable Clan Leader!"

"Father, you can't do this! Not my son! Not Lance!"

"I'm afraid, I'll have to do this the hard way..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Grandfather wanted to train him in his own ways," Clair said, "And... Lance's father wanted to train him in HIS own ways. In the end, there's nothing Lance's father can do... They took Lance, and train him to become what he is now... More of a machine of destruction rather than a trainer, in my opinion.

But... Grandfather is so proud of what he did to lance that he didn't notice Lance suffers... emotionally. He never noticed it, and Lance... turned to be the person he is... A jerk, just like you said. One that never consider people's feelings. Lance was... clueless. He just did what he thought he had to do, and that is... to train harder and harder with no purpose at all.

Then one day... Everything just... spills out...

Lance's father finally found out how grandfather had actually been training Lance. He argued with Grandfather. He wanted his son back, but grandfather is as stubborn as can be. This led to a big fight. The biggest fight ever. They both decided to end this up with a pokemon battle in the Dragon's den. Lance's father agreed, but one thing he didn't know is that... he'll be facing his own son in the battle...

Of course, he was surprised to see Lance in the battlefield. And, it was easy to guess who won. "

"... Didn't Lance recognized his own father?" Yellow asked.

Clair shook her head, "So much time has passed ever since the 2 are separated, Lance had forgotten... And when he did realized it... it was too late... He killed his own father..."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Lance... I'm sorry, I'm not... a good father..."

The red-headed boy was left speechless at what he just heard, and that's when everything falls into place. The boy's eyes widened in shock, "Father...?" The words escaped his trembling lips.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Of course, he was more than furious," Clair continued, "He blamed... everything, and everyone, including himself. He left the Clan, and we never saw him again... Not until he appeared on the news saying that he's wiping out humanity..." Clair smiled weakly, "After you defeated him... We managed to get him back in the Clan when he's still weak, but... that's when thing went downhill for him..."

"... What happened?"

Clair inhaled deeply, before exhaling "His name is Clifford... Another boy grandfather had been training ever since he was young. Probably he's as old as Lance, but he's more... destructive and powerful... Grandfather pits the 2 of them, resulting in Lance losing. Grandfather decided he won't be needing Lance any longer to inherit the position of the Dragon Clan's leader... So, he set Lance aside, as if he's merely a kid's toy...

Then Lance left the Clan again. I was worried he might do something stupid, so I was determine to look for him... but I never thought this could happen..."

Guilt now struck Yellow twice as hard, "And here I thought that he's a..."

"You can't blame him nor yourself..." Clair said as she wiped her teary eyes, "If there's someone to blame, it would be grandfather. He wa so obsessed to make the Dragon Clan the strongest, that he forgot what the most important thing is... Love..."

Yellow looked down the ground while thinking. She look at the direction where Lance ran off, hoping that he would magically appear, but he didn't. Now thinking back, she did say something horrible to him... Why? Why did she said that before thinking? Oh, if only she could kill herself for saying that!

Yellow pulled her knees closer to her chest, "I'm such a horrible person... Now I guess I know why Lance hate humans so much... and why he said he's fighting for pokemons..."

It's because... they're the same... Pokemons suffer because of humans, and so does Lance... And here she is, doing nothing but making everything just worse for him.

Clair nodded, knowing what she's thinking.

However, so suddenly, droplets of water trickles down on them. The 2 automatically looked up at the darkened sky, "... Let's get inside for a while." Yellow offered as she stood up, "We'll wait for him to come back..."

Clair hesitated, but finally nodded.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Lance sighed as he rested himself against a tree. What was he thinking? As if running away and screaming could make everything better...

He began recalling those moments, back when he's in Blackthorn, again...

"Do you really think I'm willing to do your dirty works again old man? Stop dreaming." He said with his trademark smirk. Even though they all had him tied up in such a rough manner, he's never going to give up to this old man's will, never again.

"I'm afraid you'll say so Lance. However, if you really refuse, then there's only one thing left I have to so with you... Lance, this is Clifford, the person who'll be taking over your place as the next Clan Leader."

"Huh, he could take that position and I wouldn't even care. Seems to me he'll make a good pet dog you can command around."

"I want you to battle him, just to prove, whose superior..."

Lance laughed , "Do you really think he could defeat me?"

"If some brats can, what makes you think he can't? Your ego, or confidence? You know Lance, you are just like your father... You both are a fool."

"We'll see about that, grandfather." Lance said in such an eerie tone that anyone who hears it will questioned his mentality.

He was so sure he'll win easily. But Clifford is... not any ordinary dragon trainer... He's a...

"... Dragon child... He's not a dragon trainer, he's a dragon. Half human, half dragon... now Lance, do you really think you can win against him?"

He could only smirk, "So? I tame dragons, and that's what I'm going to do."

He failed in the end, to tame the so-called Dragon Child. And to think he could fail so miserably and get traumatic after the battle... what a shame...

Just then, rain began to fall. He looked up to the dark sky, but do nothing. He sat there and do nothing else. The heavy rain soon turned to a thunderstorm, but still, he didn't move from the spot. The sound of thunder did not bother him, and the chilling wind did not make him shudder. He only sat there, remembering...

"Mother... Father... I just don't know what else to do..." He whispered out those words ever so slowly, "I screwed up my life... and everything... What am I living for? Why do I have to live? Why can't it all ends, right now...?"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o