" I do have another candidate in mind that is extremely suited for the task, but..."
"Let me guess, Volkner?"
"Yes, him. Unfortunately, I no longer hold any power over him and he no longer stays in Sinnoh. You had met him once before, Lance, you know how he is. If you need an expert on dealing with something as huge as this, Volkner is the person I will strongly recommend you need to have on your side."
The conversation he had with his fellow Regional Champions and Looker through the secret web conference echoed within his mind. Of course he knows who Volkner Tide is and how invaluable he was to the Sinnoh League. The fact that a man like him married one of his Gym Leaders already meant that he had to know about him.
A Gym Leader marrying another Gym Leader, although extremely rare, is not unheard of throughout the world's history. However, such incidents only took place within a sole region itself. A Gym Leader from one region marrying a Gym Leader from a different region is definitely a first. The matrimonial union of Volkner and Jasmine brought up a lot of concerns and protests behind closed doors because of their respective statuses. Volkner has knowledge of many of Sinnoh's secrets and so does Jasmine when it comes to Indigo. There are concerns that the secrets of both regions will be leaked to each other through this unique marriage.
Surprisingly, the President of Sinnoh, Ashley Wells, personally vouched for Volkner and voiced her support for him and Jasmine. Cynthia did the same as well. That goes a long way to show just how trusted Volkner is among the ruling body of Sinnoh and considering his contributions to his homeland, it's not hard to see why. On the other hand, as Jasmine's direct superior, he trusts Jasmine. The Gym Leader of Olivine had never done anything that would let anyone else question her loyalty but people will still be concerned about the potential leak. The President of Indigo, Kain Briggs, was against such an arrangement and it took Ashley, Cynthia, and himself vouching for both Volkner and Jasmine for him to finally agree to their marriage.
Furthermore, it would not be wise to continue to prevent Volkner and Jasmine from becoming husband and wife. Their touching love story aside, not only did the usually gentle Jasmine look especially murderous when Kain kept getting in her way, Volkner himself is too powerful an individual to simply ignore. Volkner himself is someone that even every Regional Champion would not want to fight against as his enemy. He may not be a Champion, but his strength is one of the closest to being one. If he and Jasmine were to just up and leave in order to be together, nobody could stop them unless they mobilise a significant portion of their Pillars. Not only would that kind of battle bring about untold destruction, it would mean pitting comrade against comrade and a high possibility of losing a few Pillars in the process. That is the last thing anyone wants to see.
As Indigo Champion, Lance can understand Kain's concerns. As President and Champion, their first and foremost priority is the safety of their nation. While the marriage between two Gym Leaders from different regions may look good to the public and possibly promote international relations, the drawbacks are equally huge as well. Gym Leaders are still humans, they are still subjected to the influence of their emotions. What if Jasmine decided to follow Volkner back to Sinnoh and never come back? Indigo would lose a Pillar. What if she divulges all of Indigo's secrets to Sinnoh through Volkner? The consequences will be huge. Nobody wants to bear the consequences of the possibility of such a thing happening. Logically, the union between Volkner and Jasmine should not be allowed.
However, none of that sort happened. Volkner and Jasmine also do not like to draw attention to themselves and they don't want anyone, especially the public, to comment on their marriage. Even among the Indigo's Pillars only a scant few knew that she married Volkner. Jasmine's marriage to Volkner is a quiet and private affair and they had been living their lives peacefully at Olivine ever since. The agreement reached between Indigo, Sinnoh, and the couple was that Volkner will not be involved with Indigo's affairs and neither will Jasmine be involved with Sinnoh's.
However, Indigo is now facing a crisis of unprecedented danger. He really needs all the help he can get to guarantee the safety of Indigo. If even Cynthia herself said that he should at least try recruiting the ever disagreeable Volkner, then he really should try. Jasmine was fiercely adamant on not having Volkner involved with Indigo's affairs when he asked previously, but he has to try again regardless.
The situation Indigo is finding themselves in is just that dire.
Lance and his dragonite soon landed right at the front of Olivine's West Forest, the place where his Gym Leader and Sinnoh's previously strongest Gym Leader now reside. A hypno teleported itself in front of him the moment he took a single step inside, the swing of its pendulum gradually picking up speed, but a roar from his dragonite made the hypno flinch and stop in its actions immediately. Lance can spot the hint of fear in the hypno's eyes, it knows that it is no match for his dragonite.
The staring between the hypno and him continued for a short moment. The hypno ended the stare with a sneer on its face before teleporting away with a crackle of psychic energy, presumably disappearing to get reinforcements or to warn the residents of this West Forest that an intruder is here. Truthfully, he would have made a call before coming over to visit in order to avoid the misunderstanding entirely, but that would only give Volkner and Jasmine a heads up to disappear on him even before he could arrive. The only way he can meet them is to show up unannounced.
Lance quickly traversed upon the dirt path at a brisk pace, his dragonite walking alongside him. Many pokemon eyed him warily from where they are hiding themselves behind the trees and foliage and Lance has no doubts that all of them are wild pokemon that had made their home here ever since Volkner and Jasmine built this West Forest. He can also tell that these pokemon would have jumped him if it wasn't for his dragonite walking beside him. They know that they stand no chance against his dragonite.
That changed when a yellow streak of light descended from the skies and landed in front of him with a loud crash, kicking up a large cloud of dust and smoke in the process. A powerful electivire bellowed at him as it roared out its cry of challenge, something which his dragonite responded in kind. So this is the reinforcement that hypno had gone to find? Smart move.
"Dragonite, stand down."
Lance raised his arm horizontally in front of his dragonite in order to prevent the two pokemon from fighting against each other. He looked back towards the electivire and assessed it with a critical eye. No doubt this is Volkner's electivire, possibly the strongest electric type in Sinnoh until Volkner's retirement. It's too strong to not be one. This electivire is more than a match for his dragonite, that much he can tell.
"I am Lance, the Indigo Champion. I am here to find your trainer, Volkner."
Electivire narrowed its eyes at him, its body still buzzing with electricity. Lance saw how the electivire's gaze went up to a tree on its right and he tracked where the electivire was looking. Right on a thick tree branch of that tree is a gallade looking down at them from above, blades extended and eyes glowing in that blue psychic hue. Just a quick glance is enough to tell him that this gallade is definitely on the level of what you would expect from a pokemon trained by someone of the calibre of an Elite Four. It seems that the electivire is not alone.
The electivire grunted something at the gallade, who responded with a nod of its head after a few seconds of silence. The electivire turned back to look at him and dragonite, that same dangerous and distrustful gaze still in its eyes. After a few more seconds, it merely scoffed before turning around and walked on ahead, gesturing for him to follow.
Lance took a quick look back at the tree where the gallade was at, only to find that it had already disappeared. Probably teleported away while he wasn't looking. That is not really his concern right now. He has to follow the electivire because it is his guide to finding Volkner.
Lance and dragonite followed electivire down a twist of narrow and winding paths that strayed from the main one. Throughout the silent journey, he cannot help but be impressed at what Volkner and Jasmine had created in this plot of land. There are many wild pokemon that have taken refuge here, some of them are species that are close to extinction. The appearance of the stantler pack had surprised him when he spotted them because spotting those in the wild is extremely rare. It is also not hard to see that the wild pokemon are watching him warily. Even the wild pikachus here are staring at him with obvious hostility simply by him being here.
The electivire soon led him to a vast clearing within the West Forest, surrounded by tall and lush trees on all sides in a huge circle. This place is obviously a garden with how a flower field is blooming in full view here. He recognised most of these flowers to be gracidea flowers, a type of flower native to the Sinnoh region. There are many other plants and berry trees planted around as well. Lance can only wonder just how much effort Volkner and Jasmine had put into maintaining such a beautiful and large garden.
Following the electivire, he soon found the man he was searching for at a corner of the flower garden. A yellow haired man is squatting down with his back facing him, patiently replanting various flowers and plants in their proper spots. Around him are many electric types. Some of them are undoubtedly a part of his main team, like the huge luxray snoozing away by his side, the jolteon running around excitedly in the garden chasing after a butterfree, the vikavolt buzzing lazily as it floated around its trainer, the raichu mothering the younger pikachus and pichus around Volkner, and the heliolisk basking contently in the sun with its frill open. The rest of the electric types he could see around here are mainly pikachus, mareeps, and shinxs with the occasional elekids, probably the offspring of Volkner's pokemon.
Lance remained standing at where he is and waited for Volkner to react to his presence. There is no doubt that the strongest Electric Specialist of Sinnoh had known of his presence the moment he was here. If he chose to not respond to his presence, then he will wait until he is done with his gardening.
The only ones who reacted to his presence were the pokemon in the area. Volkner's pokemon had their attention drawn to him and his dragonite the moment they appeared with the electivire. The electric types only briefly gave him a disinterested yet wary look before going back to doing their own thing. The more cautious one is the luxray, who stared at his dragonite for a little longer from where it is lying on the ground, as if assessing the threat level of his companion.
Volkner continued with his gardening and Lance watched as the seemingly lazy looking man patiently trimmed the plants with a clipper. The electivire walked up to its trainer before squatting down and like Volkner, began to help in the gardening as well.
"What do you want?"
The silence was finally broken when Volkner asked that question with his back still facing him, his hands still busy in the process of gardening.
"I'm here on the behalf of the Indigo League to ask for your help."
"Pretty sure that the deal we struck was that I am not to be involved with any of your shenanigans and personally, I don't want to be involved in whatever shit you are about to dump on me." Volkner gave his reply as he carefully transplanted a few more flowers using a hand trowel. "If you are here for a friendly chat, by all means, make yourself comfortable. If it's anything else please see yourself out before Jas comes home. She will be hopping mad if she sees you here. I'm not going to see you off. As you can see, I'm kinda busy at the moment."
In a show of synergy and teamwork, the luxray yawned out loud right at that moment to accentuate Volkner's point before going back to snoozing away in the sun.
"Team Rocket is planning to launch a siege on the Johto region on National Day itself." Lance cut to the chase and quickly relayed to Volkner the severity of the issue. "The size of their numbers are unfathomably huge, way more than we expected it to be. There are numerous high ranking members among the Rockets who are on the level of a Gym Leader."
"Doesn't sound like a problem to me. Every notable criminal group has people like that." Volkner commented as he continued to shovel around with that hand trowel.
"Team Rocket is creating an artificial legendary pokemon through science. It is a clone of Mew."
"Johto has the Tower Duo and the three Legendary Beasts. Five against one sounds like pretty good odds to me. If all else fails, call your Legendary Birds from Kanto to come and help."
"That pokemon is created to defeat them."
"If that is the case there isn't a point to me helping out either. Either way we are simply cannon fodders in the face of the power of Legendary Pokemon."
"I'm not here to ask for your help to defeat a legendary pokemon, I'm here to ask for you to lend me your expertise and power to uproot Team Rocket once and for all." Lance clarified. "I understand your apprehension in being involved with Indigo's affairs, but I have already spoken to Cynthia about this. She's agreeable to this arrangement and I give you my word as Champion that you will face no repercussions for your assistance. After this is over you can go back to living the simple life with Jasmine."
"Since when did Cynthia hold authority over what I can and cannot do? Since when could she order me around?" Volkner scoffed in disdain as he finally turned around to face him. Instead of standing up, Volkner simply sat down on the ground where he was squatting at previously and slowly took off the soiled gardening gloves from his hands.
"Let's just be candid with each other, Lance." Volkner said in a mocking tone as he leaned and rested his body against his luxray who was lying beside him. "So, what's the catch? Another blackmail like what Sinnoh did to me? Or say that since Jas is involved in this mess because she is a Gym Leader, and because of that I am obliged to help as her husband? Or maybe try to guilt trip me by saying that if it wasn't for you Jas and I couldn't get married in the first place? Which is it?"
A raichu passed a bottle over to Volkner, which he took before drinking its contents in one big gulp to cool off from the heat. His thirst quenched, Volkner continued.
"Look. You know bloody well that the only reason why Indigo was forced to accept the fact that Jas and I will get married to each other was because nobody could stop us. Not you, not that idiot Kain, not Ashley and certainly not Cynthia. Jas and I are Gym Leaders, people who are even stronger than the top 1% of all trainers in the world. She is a Steel Specialist, a specialisation that is a rarity in itself. Of which, only three others in this world could possibly rival her in terms of her defensive capabilities. Steven, Wikstrom, and Byron, and none of them are from Indigo, meaning to say, to Indigo, she is irreplaceable."
Volkner pointed a lazy finger at himself as he continued with his speech.
"And then there's me, Sinnoh's strongest Gym Leader and Electric Specialist. Flint's equal and the best possible candidate to take over Cynthia's position as Sinnoh Champion should anything untoward happen to her. Your only hope of keeping me in check through the Sinnoh League was gone when they relinquished their hold over me. In Indigo, only the likes of you, Samuel Oak, or Agatha could possibly take me on and the latter two are old. They are no longer fit for duty, which means only you can take me down should I get hostile. The Indigo cannot afford to piss me off, the Indigo cannot afford to piss Jas off, and the Indigo sure as hell cannot afford to piss us both off by getting in the way of our marriage."
A predatory smirk appeared on Volkner's face right after he said that.
"Pissing me off is one thing. Strong as I may be, I cannot possibly fight against the full might of the Indigo. However, should it come to that, you will definitely lose a valuable Steel Specialist and Gym Leader because Jas will always be on my side. We don't need to even fight you guys. We can simply elope to wherever we want to and you guys will have no hope of seeing us ever again. For people of our strength there is nowhere that is too dangerous to travel. If we wanted to Jas and I could simply go to Orre and build an empire there for ourselves. We could easily conquer that war-torn place together. We could live like kings and queens for the rest of our lives instead of taking orders from you. We certainly do not need Indigo but the Indigo needs her. That is the real reason why you supported our marriage, because this is the best possible outcome for you. You keep your one and only irreplaceable Steel Specialist Gym Leader in exchange for agreeing to allow her to marry me. "
Volkner's stare turned cold and the electric types around him reacted accordingly by beginning to buzz angrily with sparks of electricity.
"So don't put up that noble act in front of me, Champion. Politics are the same everywhere. Don't act like a good man because you are not."
Lance remained silent, allowing Volkner to continue.
"People of our positions and power can never be a good person because of our jobs and responsibilities. Our hands are never clean. If you really need me to help you, either blackmail me with no way out like what Sinnoh did to me, or show me some genuine sincerity. Don't do half-and-half because it is not going to work on me, not with how you are demanding me to help you with a shit job nobody wants to undertake. Don't act like you are standing on a moral high ground in front of me, demanding for my help, you failure of a Champion. You obviously have a lack of things to blackmail me with to help you clean up your mess. You came here with zero sincerity while expecting to receive a wonder cure to solve all of your problems in return, so get out of here, asshole. Get out before I make you."
To Lance's disbelief, the skies suddenly darkened within a second. One second, that is all it took for a Rain Dance to take effect and Lance didn't even manage to see just which of Volkner's pokemon did that Rain Dance. Storm clouds gathered, fierce winds began to howl around them as lightning streaked across the skies. Rain is starting to fall and thunder is booming.
Volkner and his pokemon had just summoned a massive thunderstorm that covered the entire area of the West Forest and quite possibly the whole of Olivine and beyond. All of it in just one second.
No wonder the Sinnoh League relinquished their hold over Volkner. It's not that they want to, Volkner is simply too strong to be controlled. They cannot stop him if he really wants to leave.
"Volk. How many times have I told you to not whip up a storm in my city? Dispel it, now. You are going to incite a mass panic in Olivine and I don't want to deal with that."
Lance turned around upon hearing that familiar voice. Right behind him is Jasmine Terbium, the Gym Leader of Olivine. Her lucario and mawile stood beside her alongside the hypno and gallade he recognised from earlier. If he had to take a guess, the hypno or the gallade must have informed her of his arrival and she teleported in with them after that. How much had she heard about his conversation with Volkner?
"Jasmine." Lance greeted upon seeing the Gym Leader. Jasmine merely gave him a brief look before silently walking past him to reach Volkner. Volkner had immediately stood up when he spotted his wife, his previous threatening act gone entirely.
"Uh, I can explain." Volkner said with his hands raised in order to placate an angry Jasmine before comically turning to his electivire for help. "Franky! What are you waiting for?! Get rid of the clouds, quick!"
As soon as it came, the dark clouds dispersed as sunlight shone down on them once more, as if a massive thunderstorm hadn't just brewed above them a few seconds ago.
"You are back early today."
"Hippie and Myst came to find me so I reckoned something's up." Jasmine replied before turning back to Lance. "Didn't I tell you not to involve Volkner in whatever is going to happen? I trusted you, Lance, and you seeked Volk out behind my back after I told you my answer? Do you really want me to go through what I said that day?"
"You know very well that we need all the help we can get." Lance replied calmly. "You know how well suited Volkner is for the job."
"And you know what kind of reinforcements we will be getting. Volkner isn't needed." Jasmine rebutted. "Volk and I, we had to overcome many challenges to finally be together. Politics, criminal organisations, our regions. There will never be an end to the problems that we are dealing with. Instead of wasting your time here to ask for help, do something so that you will never need to rely on another for help. You are the Indigo Champion. It is also your fault that the situation escalated to what it is today. You and Professor Oak, the both of you are responsible for this mess. Clean it up yourself."
"Jas, have I ever told you how sexy you look when you get all fierce trying to protect me? Can you do that again?"
"Shut up, Volk. I'm having a serious conversation with Lance over here. You are ruining the atmosphere."
"My beautiful and gentle wife just scolded the Indigo Champion for my sake. I'm allowed to fanboy over her because of that."
"Don't think I forgot about that storm earlier, you are still going to get an earful from me later. Do you really want to drown me in paperwork? I don't care. You are sleeping on the couch tonight."
"Jas, I can explain-"
"Explain what?"
"... Nothing."
Lance can only watch as the husband and wife pair begin to bicker in front of him as if he is totally transparent. He mulled over his thoughts, still trying to find a way to have Volkner agree to help him, only to realise that the couple are right.
He really is a failure as Indigo Champion. The mess that resulted today is also his fault to bear.
"You are right, I should have come here with more sincerity when I came here to ask for your help." Lance admitted. "Regrettably, I have nothing to offer in return and I understand both of your distrust in me. After all, I have failed in my duty as Champion for not recognising and resolving this problem sooner."
Lance then did the one thing he never thought he would do in his entire life.
Lance went on his knees and lowered his head, resting his forehead on the ground. Such an act of submission is taboo for any Dragon Specialist, especially if done so right in front of his pokemon. Dragons are prideful creatures. They respect power and authority and they don't easily bow to another. His pokemon might lose respect for him for bowing so easily to another individual. However, now is not the time to be mindful of his pride as a Dragon Master. Pride is not going to help him save Indigo from the upcoming crisis his nation will face.
So, he will swallow his pride. For the sake of his nation and to help salvage the situation Indigo will face, he will swallow his pride as Indigo Champion and as a Dragon Master because he cannot protect Indigo alone. He needs allies. He needs his Pillars and then more. He needs Volkner and Jasmine to help him do what he cannot.
"I am here today not as the Indigo Champion, not as a Dragon master, and not as the heir to the Wataru Clan. Today, I am simply here as Lance. I am simply here as a citizen of Indigo asking the both of you to help him in ensuring Indigo will be able to tide through the coming crisis. I don't know how the fight will turn out but I do know that people will die no matter what I do. I don't know how many will die the moment our fight begins but I do know I need all the help I can get to reduce casualties to a minimum. I do know that I cannot do this alone because I cannot be everywhere and anywhere and I cannot possibly do everything. I am not an expert in combating terrorist organisations and certainly not skilled enough to take on Team Rocket on my lonesome. What I do know is that both of you can do what I cannot."
Taking a brief pause to recollect himself, Lance continued talking with his head still bowed.
"The mess that resulted is my fault, that I admit. I will take full responsibility for it once this is all over but until then, protecting Indigo and her people is something I must see done. That's what I had sworn to do when I took on the mantle of Champion. I can understand if you lose all respect for me because I have indeed failed the expectations placed on me and have gone back on a promise. I can understand if I came across as insincere in my plea for help because I was indeed not sincere enough when I came here demanding for your help in the capacity of Indigo Champion, thinking that my status as Champion alone was enough to convince you to lend me your aid. It was foolish of me."
Lance closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A second later, he opened his eyes again and continued to speak, every single word spoken coming directly from the bottom of his heart.
"I love Indigo. Flawed as she is, I love her with all my heart. All I want is the best for her and I want to be worthy enough to represent her, to be Indigo's Champion. All I want is to be able to be Indigo's protector and protect the people who live in the same lands as I do. Clearly, I have failed. Indigo would have been blindsided by the sudden eruption of war against Johto if I wasn't made aware of the incoming crisis through an unknown informant who I still do not know the identity of. That alone shows how ignorant I am regarding the dark side of Indigo, needing to rely on the help of an unknown third party to pick up my slack. Indigo had been sick for a long time, I knew that. I should have done something about it the moment I became Champion instead of turning a blind eye. What resulted from my inaction is the possibility that the people that I have sworn to protect might lose their lives, because I wasn't able to get to the root of the problem before it got blown up into what it is today."
Taking a gulp, Lance continued.
"I really love Indigo. If possible, I want to redeem myself by solving this problem without needing to involve anybody else because this mess is entirely my fault but fact is, I am not capable enough to do so. I need help. I admit that I'm desperate. I need allies that I can trust without question because one of our own already breached that trust. I need the Iron Wall of Olivine to protect the citizens of Indigo, I need the Sun of Sunyshore to help drive out the darkness within because the Indigo Champion is too inept to do it by himself. I know this is too much to ask from the both of you, especially Volkner, because I am asking you to give your all to help protect a nation that you hold no love for while receiving nothing in return. I understand that there is no benefit for you to agree to my selfish demands and there is nothing I can offer you that you don't already have. Yet, I am still here asking this from you, because I am at my wits' end and I really want to protect Indigo and her people with all my heart."
He made his final attempt to make a plea.
"Please, help me. Please help me protect Indigo because I really need the help from Olivine's Gym Leader and the previous Gym Leader of Sunyshore. I need both your expertise now, more than ever, because the lives of an entire region are at stake. I know this is a selfish move on my part, but I will still ask this from the both of you nonetheless because I really need all the help I can get."
There was a period of silence when he was done with his speech. There's a faint shuffling sound in front of him and Lance slowly looked up, only to see Volkner walking up to kneel down right in front of him as well. Volkner jabbed a thumb in the direction where his dragonite was watching silently the entire time.
"As a Dragon Master, you really shouldn't just bow to another person so easily, especially with your pokemon watching. If you are so submissive, how else are you going to command their respect? Great, now I have to return the gesture and kneel as well because if I don't do so, your entire team of lizards will probably not listen to you anymore. And if that happens, then Indigo will be short of a Champion and then people will accuse me for being the culprit why Indigo is suddenly lacking a Dragon Master."
Lance blinked his eyes, not knowing how to really respond. Volkner sighed and ran a hand through his messy yellow hair.
"You really left me with no choice, you know that? How could I say no after the Dragon Master and Champion of Indigo went down on his knees and prostrated himself in front of me to ask for my help?"
"You mean…"
"Your sincerity, I've seen it and felt it." Volkner replied. "Make no mistake, I will definitely loathe whatever you will be asking me to do and you can bet that ugly cape of yours that I will keep complaining about this shit job for the rest of my life, but I'm not heartless, Lance. More than anyone, I understand how heavy the burden of responsibility can be. Fine, you got yourself a temporary helper. However, I have a few conditions."
"If it's within my abilities, I will do my best to meet them."
Volkner held up his hand and began to count down the listed conditions using his fingers.
"Number one, whatever you want me to help you with, you give me free reign to do it. Everything I need to know to deal with this mess, I must have free and unrestricted access to it. No buts, ifs, or maybes. I don't care if all your Pillars object to this arrangement, I don't give a shit about them. Number two, like you said, any political repercussions that resulted from me publicly interfering with Indigo's affairs, you deal with them, not me. Number three, after my retirement I no longer have a Key Stone nor do I have Mega Stones but I need them if I have to face Team Rocket. Ampharosite and Gyaradosite, I need you to get these for me as well. I know these are rare, so if you really could not source one for me at a moment's notice a Galladite will have to make do as a replacement. I promise I will return them the moment I'm done. Number four, the moment I'm done helping you with this mess I'm out, no questions asked. Number five, everything that we just agreed to, I want it down black and white on paper, signed by you and legally enforced with Looker as the witness in the capacity as a PWL representative. The last thing I need is for you or Indigo to make me your personal slave."
"You have my word." Lance promised without hesitation. This outcome is already more than he can ask for and the demands that Volkner hashed out aren't unreasonable. If anything, the conditions proposed are for the sake of enabling him to work with greater freedom and to protect himself from any legal and political repercussions. He can understand Volkner's decision to do so considering his status as an ex-Gym Leader and is a Sinnohan.
"Then can we both get up on our feet and talk like normal people instead of kneeling? Don't your kneecaps hurt at all?" Volkner said in a lazy tone as he stood up and gave a loud yawn. Lance took the cue and got back up on his feet as well.
"When do we start?"
"Preferably immediately. Time is of the essence and there is much to plan for." Lance replied. "There is a ton of information we received about Team Rocket to sift through and analyse. It's a lot to digest."
"I assume that you received it from that mysterious informant that you were talking about earlier?"
"Yes."
"Send it over to me. I will start on it immediately." Volkner replied without delay. "Your manpower, staffing, the strength of your forces, those kinds of things, I will need access to them as well. I need to know everything on both sides to craft a concrete plan. If everything goes well I might be able to come up with a backbone of a plan by tomorrow morning."
"I will make sure you will have temporary unrestricted access to the League's database. I will get it done as soon as possible."
"Then that is all for now, I guess." Volkner shrugged as Jasmine walked up to stand beside Volkner, obviously still not pleased that her husband still got himself involved in Indigo's affairs in the end but accepted the situation as it is nevertheless. "So, are you staying for some tea?"
"I will have to decline the offer. I still have things that need my attention." Lance politely refused the offer sent his way as his dragonite made its way towards him, ready to take off at a moment's notice. Dragonite lowered itself down to allow him to climb on its back. Lance told Volkner one last thing before dragonite could take off.
"Whatever you need to know for now, Jasmine can fill you in. Getting the Key Stone and Mega Stones will take time, but I will get you the information you need within the hour."
"Got it. And Lance?"
"Yes?" Lance turned back to face Volkner. Does he have anything else that he needs?
"You may have failed in some areas, but you are still worthy to be Champion. At least, that is what I feel."
Dragonite took off into the sky even before he could formulate a response to Volkner's words. Even then, he cannot hide the small smile on his face even if he tried.
He's still worthy.
He's still worthy to be Indigo's Champion.
AN: Find and talk to me on a discord server created for writers and readers (Link below)
discord . g g / V54pcwA (remove the spaces)
Pokemon and trainer list:
Volkner Tide: Ex Gym Leader of Sunyshore, Electric Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievements: Tie for First Place with Flint in the 521st Lily of the Valley Conference, Sinnoh's strongest Electric Specialist, The Sun of Sunyshore, The Yellow Flash
Pokemon Team:
1. Electivire (Franky), male
2. Luxray (Simba), male
3. Jolteon (Jo), female
4. Magnezone (ISpy), genderless
5. Gallade (Myst), male
6. Rhyperior (Tec), male
7. Probopass (North), female
8. Gyarados (Puddle), male
9. Raichu (Squeaky), female
10. Pachirisu (Scrat), male
11. Heliolisk (Bask), male
12. Ampharos (Fluffy), female
13. Vikavolt (Vik), female
14. Eelektross (Whirr), male
15. Lanturn (Glowy), female
16. Rotom (Prime), genderless
17. Porygon-Z (Jarvis), genderless
18. Alolan Golem, (Toss), male
19. Electrode (Boomer), genderless
Jasmine Terbium: The Gym Leader of Olivine, Steel Specialist
Titles, Accolades and Achievement: Johto's Strongest Steel Specialist, Thirteen Pillar of Johto, The Iron Wall of Olivine
Pokemon Team:
1. Ampharos (Amphy), male
2. Steelix (Steely), female
3. Magnezone (Magny), genderless
4. Skarmory (Skia), female
5. Forretress (Forest), male
6. Metagross (Mety), genderless
7. Empoleon (Emy), male
8. Bronzong (Bronzy), genderless
9. Mawile (Molly), female
10. Lucario (Lucy), female
11. Excadrill (Drilly), male
12. Ferrothorn (Thorny), male
13. Klinklang (Clang), genderless
14. Bastiodon (Bobby), male
15. Aggron (Ronny), male
Lance Wataru: Indigo Champion, Dragon Master, Heir to the Wataru Clan
Pokemon Team:
1. Dragonite
2. Dragonite
3. Dragonite
4. Kingdra
5. Gyarados
6. Aerodactyl
7. Charizard
8. Salamence
9. Garchomp
10. Altaria
11. Flygon
12. Haxorus
13. Hydreigon
14. Alolan Exeggutor