Granted Switch
Blackthorn City...
After going through the dusty, blue family album, the Dragon Clan Leader suddenly slammed the book shut with no consideration on how much power he's putting into the action. He pushed the book aside as he rested his head on his palm and eyed at the album as if it was something unholy. Even after years went by, the deepest part of him still wondered...
What happened?
Things just went by, events after events, years after years. And slowly, they all changed, and when they realized that they're changing in the bad direction, it's too late... too late to fix it, too late to take every spoken words back, and too late to apologize...
He let his mind wanders through the memories of those times again, before he finally stood up, and made his way out of the Dragon's Shrine, to that one special place, where everything was bury...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"Father, you have to stop this!" Ryan, Lance's father, said.
"I will not," His father replied with a firm tone, "This war will continue, until I make sure each and every one of those scums are dead..."
"You can't do this! I know you could never forgive for what happened to Shane, but please, think about how his daughter, Clair, would feel! This war started becasue of her parent's death, don't you ever consider that one day, she'll be blaming herself for all these deaths the war caused?"
"...This will be over even before she knew this has anything to do with her." He replied with a placid tone.
"This isn't and this won't be! Not unless you stop this madness now!"
"Ryan, you have to learn that these kind of people will never stop killing our Clan members until they get what they want," He said, "Shane and Anaria is the first, but... they won't be the last. We have to fight, we can't stay quite!"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The night came by quickly at the Viridian City, Lance, finding himself unable to sleep anymore, decided to get some fresh air by opening the window by the bedside. He opened the window wide, rested his hands on the sill, while breathing in fresh air. He looked up at the dark night sky decorated with nothing but a few stars and the full moon.
He then turned his gaze on the ground, where he can see Yellow and Clair both feeding the dragon pokemons, even his own. Dragons has this peculiar habit of taking their meals when its dark, probably it has something to do with the story where dragons are said to hunt and haunt late at night when everyone is sleeping soundly...
He could see Yellow having some kind of trouble with his Dragonite...
He smiled as he watched the clumsy girl work. Even though he rarely find these kind of things funny, but this time, he did. And he wasn't sure why...
"... Yeah, I like him..."
The words repeats itself so suddenly in his mind. His amused expression suddenly turned to a frown. He gritted his teeth, before turning away from the window, and decided to cool himself down in the shower and clear his mind...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Yellow sighed as she sat down next to Clair, "Never thought Dragons can be hard to handle..." She said as she gently rubbed her left arm.
Clair snickered, "Well, you still managed to get the hang of it, somehow." She said as she looked over to those dragons who is now fighting over the food, "This is why raising dragons is never easy. They're powerful, over-confident, full of themselves and... greedy." She added the last one at the same time when Dragonite and Aerodactyl started wrestling for food.
"... I thought they're just like any other pokemons..." Yellow mused, "Never knew they can be different..."
"Well, you should try raising some other pokemons, it helps to add experience."
Silent went over them as they watched the pokemons fighting playfully.
"Clair..." Yellow started, "I was wondering... Does Lance has a girlfriend?"
Clair stared at her with wide-eyes. After she processed her questioned, she smirked, "Well, what do you know? He's single, and lonely..." She teased lightly.
Yellow gave her a look, before realizing what she's implying, "Wait, no, don't get any ideas okay? I was just asking!" She quickly said in her own defense.
Clair smirked, "Are you... interested in him?" She asked, choosing her words carefully.
Yellow blushed slightly, "NO!" She replied a second too quickly, making it even more obvious that she's feeling the other way around.
And Clair knew this, "You're living in denial Yellow," She pointed out a bit teasingly, "Denial is bad... admittance is... good, in some ways... Admit it Yellow... You ARE interested, right?"
"W-Why would I be interested?" She stammered.
Clair shrugged, "Because you're starting to like him more and more?"
"That is not true!" She quickly denies again.
"Yellow, why would you deny your feelings for him?" Clair asked, "He's... young, powerful, and I think... he's kind of handsome. I couldn't understand how a girl could ever deny him. Sometimes, even I find him attractive, you know..."
"Well, I-I told you he's..." She hesitated on the word to use, "Complicated! I mean, with all his psychological and attitude problem... He's not... a guy I want to spend the rest of my life with!"
Clair raised a brow questioningly, "Oh, is that so?" She paused for a moment, before smiling, "Hmm... yeah, I can't argue with that point. He does have some mind problem... If only he can fix it, he'll be the man of every lady."
The 2 then went silent as they watched Dragonite bringing down Aerodactyl with a slam, resulting in Dragonite taking all of his food. Aerodacyl seems persistent as he rise again and tackled the unsuspecting Dragonite from behind.
Clair chuckled in amusement, "But... Yellow, I think you can help him... Even though you can't change who he is, but you can change how he sees things..." Clair said as she look at Yellow, "I believe that..."
Yellow blushed as she looked down on the ground, "H-How can you be so sure?" However she did not wait for Clair's reply, since Aerodactyl suddenly shoots a Hyper Beam at the Dragonite. She jumped up and quickly went over them, "Hey you guys, stop it! You're making a scene!"
"Just a 'feeling'..." Clair said to none in particular with a playful smirk...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Yellow sighed as she stepped in the bathroom, the only private place she got, now with the house cramped with 3 people and all...
What Clair said has made her think... Is she really interested in Lance? Why would she be?
Lance is... a jerk. No matter how horrible his past is, its still the fact. Even though she didn't blame him for that now, he still is, and there's no story that could change that fact.
She looked at her reflection on the mirror. Her mind wanders to the recent things that has happened between them, and those memories on the stairs, and on the bed make her think again... Is he really attractive, or is it just her male hormones working on her body now?
"Hormones..." She murmured... Yeah, that must be it. Otherwise, there's no other explaination why she can find her own body interesting except... Narcissim. She quickly shook the horrible thought out of her head, that just can't be true, that is going to be the last thing she'll catch. She loves herself, but not up to that point...
"... I'll give you my trust, for now... I won't be expecting much from you though..."
But then... how come those words make her somehow feels so... happy?
And all those things he said and asked about on the evening... why does he seems to... care?
She hit her head gently, "Don't assume, don't assume, don't assume," She repeated to herself as she stepped in the shower.
But then, what if what she's assuming is true...?
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Meanwhile...
It was late at night, and Clair was mindlessly flipping through the TV channel, hoping to find something good to watch. But how come every time she wanna watch some horrors, only comedies pops out? She grumbled as she turns off the TV "Stupid TV stations..." She muttered as she make herself comfortable on the couch and cover her eyes with her arms.
Just then, he phone rang.
She was surprised at first, but then, she quickly took it out of her pocket, and read the name of the caller. She was surprised to see who it is... her grandfather. She hesitated for a moment, before pressing the answer button and bring the phone up to her ear. "It's me Clair..." She answered without showing any hesitation, "What's the matter, grandfather?"
"... Clair. You're in Viridian, am I right?"
"... Yes."
"Is Lance with you?"
"... Yes. But grandfather, I think we won't be returning soon. We have a bit of a dilemma here. But don't worry, Lance is safe on my wat-"
"Stay there, and keep him busy. Clifford will come shortly to eliminate him... Tell him if he hides... that City would be a history. And if he runs... he's just wasting his energy... I'm counting on you Clair... Don't disappoint me..."
And with that simple message, he hung up...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
It took Clair a good one minute to register the message to her brain, and when she did, she found herself in a state no words can describe. Confused, blank and... angry. It took her another minute to sort out her feelings and finally... freaks out.
She quickly jumped on her feet, and began pacing back and forth restlessly. After a few moment, she quickly made her way to the kitchen and make herself a cup of coffee. But, even after gulping her cup down to the last drop, she still finds it difficult to keep calm. She took a deep breath as she rested her hands on the kitchen counter, and began to sort her mind carefully.
So... Lance's grandfather want his own grandson dead. Okay, that just supports her theory that there' something wrong with the Old man's mind. Okay, so that's a good thing.
But then, he ask her to do this. This is the tough part. HE is asking HER to betray HER own cousin who she respect in some way. So, she just has to choose right? Its between her grandfather and her cousin. The person who she must respect, and the person who she doesn't have to respect. The person who had been taking care of her, and the person who had been leaving her behind. The person who command her around, and the person who ignores her. It's a simple choice to make right? Isn't it obvious who to side for?
Just then, something that has been buried deep down in her memories, pops out randomly. And once again, it made her think...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"What's wrong Clair, why do you look so sad?" Her uncle said as he come closer and sat down right next to her. He put his hand around her small shoulder, but she did not budge, nor bother to look up. Her uncle, who had been acting like her father-figure now, looks worried, "C'mon Clair... Is something wrong?" He asked again.
This time, the little girl with the blue hair spare him a glance, "... Jared said... That his father died because of me... He said... The fight 10 years ago happens because of me... Is that true?" She asked with a sad look on her innocent, little face.
Her uncle looked genuinely surprised, "Why would he said that?"
Clair shrugged, "... I don't know. But even the other kids said so... They said a lot of people died because of me..." Her voice began to shake slightly, "... Uncle Ryan, is that... is that true...?"
Ryan frowned slightly. He sighed as he tried his best to find the right words to say, "Listen Clair..." At first comforting words flashed in his mind, but it went away as soon as it comes, and the only words that came out is, "Next time, don't hesitate to teach them whose the boss!"
The girl looked at him with a dumbfounded look. She went quite for a moment, before finally voicing out her doubt, "... But, we're not supposed to fight, right?"
"Well... Clair, you just have to know when to stand up for yourself. You don't like them, then beat the crap out of them! You're a lot stronger than them, and you know you can do it!"
"B-But isn't that bullying?"
"They're bullying you by saying that, Clair. You have to know when to teach them a lesson and show them whose more powerful! That way they'll learn to keep their mouth shut..." He muttered out the last line more to himself.
"But... that's not right... Dad used to say that fighting is not right!"
Ryan smiled as he patted her head gently, "Forget what they said. And do what's best. Not what's right, nor what's wrong. But something that will change everything..."
She tilted her head to her side in confusion. "... I don't get it uncle..."
Ryan grinned playfully, "Even my son didn't understand that... The point is, Clair, you should know you have the right to do anything you want, and that they have no right to insult you. So go get them, okay?"
The confused little girl said nothing as she nodded absent-mindedly...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Clair smirked when she recalled the good times she had with him...
Then, she realized one thing, "He has no right to kill Lance..." She muttered out the words. She then sighed out loudly, releasing the tension she which had been building up in her body, "I've got to do this..." She said as she smirked and walked out of the kitchen.
"What are you going to do, Clair?"
And that voice made her froze in her place...