Ash looked at the jet in shock. He'd never even seen a private jet before, let alone flown in one. He knew from experience plane tickets were insanely expensive, there was a reason most people took ships whenever possible. He couldn't imagine how much it cost to fly one just for two people.
Lance noticed him staring and laughed. "Being a champion comes with some perks."
"Do champions really make that much money?"
Lance shrugged. "It depends. Not from the League's salary, but that level of fame has a way of making money come your way. That said, the jet's not actually mine. It's a loaner from the league. We can use them whenever on official league business, but between you and me, no one actually reads the request forms." He gave Ash a mischievous wink.
They climbed aboard into a luxurious but compact interior. The size of the plane was far from the ones Ash had flown on the handful of times he'd had the opportunity.
Lance took a seat in one of the recliners as the engines began to spool up.
"Make yourself comfortable, we'll be landing in Slateport in about 3 hours."
"3 hours…" The last time he'd headed to Hoenn it had taken a couple of days. And the few times he'd flown it had been distances which were just impractical any other way, about 9 hours to Unova, and 12 to Kalos. Truth be told, there were few times Ash had travelled anywhere that quickly, and those were just city-to-city rides by train or car.
Ash sat down across from Lance. "Wait, Slateport? Shouldn't we be headed to Ever Grande?"
Lance had already pulled open a laptop and tablet in front of him and seemed to be doing some sort of work, but he paused to respond.
"The conference isn't for several months. In any case, we don't really have a good place to stay in Ever Grande, unless we want to pay several months worth of hotel bills. An old friend of mine has a house in Slateport which he rarely if ever uses and I asked him if we could stay there."
He put down his stylus and looked at Ash.
"A word to the wise, I've noticed you've made a lot of friends throughout your travels. Keep them close. Good friends are even more important than you realize right now. And I'm not just talking about borrowing houses." He laughed on the last note.
"Pika-pi!" Pikachu chimed in.
"Pikachu's right, I already know my friends are the most important thing in the world to me."
Lance smiled. "That's a good attitude to have." He took on a more serious look though, closing the laptop. "That said, I have to ask, are you sure?"
"What do you mean?"
"How many times have you left your friends behind when you continued your journey? How long has it been since you've seen some of those friends? Last time we met in Hoenn, I didn't see Misty there. And when I saw you on TV at the Lumiose conference, I didn't see May or Max."
Ash looked down. "That's not… We had different dreams. We had to go our own ways to each chase our own."
"Is that really true? What's your dream Ash?"
"To be a Pokémon Master of course!"
"Which you could've done in any region, no? Yet each time you've lost a conference, you've moved on, leaving people behind. And, I'll note, leaving Pokémon behind too."
"I didn't know… I didn't know you could compete in the same league more than once."
"Ash… I can't really think of a way to put this kindly, ignorance of that common of knowledge isn't really an excuse. How many gym leaders have you traveled with? Any one of them could've told you that if you'd asked. And even that still leaves the question of your pokémon. How many pokémon do you have?"
"Uh… If I count the herd of Tauros as one, it's around 50," Ash answered with pride.
"Do you know how many pokémon I have?"
Ash stopped to think. A champion like Lance must have way more pokémon than he did, right? Over a hundred for sure, after all, he'd been travelling and training pokémon for so much longer. Lance cut off his musing.
"Ten, Ash. I have ten. You've already met my partner Dragonite before, and you fought Flygon. Beside them I have Gyrados, Aerodactyl, Charizard, Salamence, Garchomp, Altaria, Hydreigon, and Haxorus. I also used to have a Kingdra which is now with my cousin Claire, who I know you've met and fought. A good trainer doesn't have more pokémon than he can actually train. Tell me, who is your strongest pokémon?"
Ash answered without hesitating. "Pikachu of course!"
"Why?"
"We've just been through so much together."
"Has any other pokémon traveled with you anywhere near as long as Pikachu?"
"No…" Ash had a sinking feeling as he realized what Lance was getting at.
"How, then, can you expect to win against trainers who have three or four pokémon who've been with them their entire careers? Or even more?"
Ash was silent. He didn't know what he'd expected from training with Lance, but this wasn't it.
"How many pokémon do you have which have never reached their final evolutions?"
"Pika-pi!" Pikachu responded angrily.
"Evolution isn't everything!" Ash agreed.
"Calm down Pikachu. I heard about the details of Pikachu's situation from Lt. Surge. That's not what I'm talking about. First of all, Pikachus only evolve with a stone. Most pokémon evolve from age and experience alone. Second, Pikachu didn't want to evolve. That's completely fine. That's rarely the case though, most pokémon want to evolve. The fact that so many of your pokémon haven't reached their final forms means you haven't spent enough time with them, training and fighting by their side.
"I've seen your battles at the conferences. You talk a good talk about friendship and the bond between trainer and pokémon, but the fact is you treat many of your pokémon as disposable collectibles."
Ash looked down, shaken.
"If I'm such a bad trainer, why did you even offer to train me?"
Lance put a hand on his shoulder. "Because you're not a bad trainer Ash. You're incredibly talented, even if your sense of strategy is borderline nonexistent. We'll work on that. You have the potential to be perhaps the greatest Pokémon Master the world has seen since… Well, let's not get into that. I don't think you're a hypocrite. You truly believe in treating your pokémon as partners, not tools. That puts you ahead of a good majority of trainers. But everyone makes mistakes, and the only way you can get better is if you realize what they are and stop making the same ones."
"What can I do now? Maybe I shouldn't have caught so many, but they're my friends. I can't just get rid of them."
"I'm not asking you to. I'm somewhat unique among the champions in how few pokémon I have. Cynthia for example has around thirty. She's also been in the game for much longer than you have, so she's had more time to spend with them, and, I'll note, still has fewer pokémon than you.
"The first step is to stop actively trying to catch pokémon unless you have a good reason to do so.
"Second is to figure out how to split your time between focusing on your weaker pokémon to slowly bring them up to par in strength, and focusing on your stronger pokémon so you can win battles in the meantime. That's something you'll have to figure out yourself, every trainer figures out their own balance.
"Finally, for some of your pokémon, if you can't incorporate them into your battle strategies—and I'll be honest here, you're not going to be able to incorporate all of them—you're going to want to find a new home for them with someone you trust who can. The reason pokémon battling is even ethical is because most pokémon crave the stimulation of battle. Leaving them in a lab where they can't get that is quite frankly, borderline cruel. That doesn't mean you won't see your friends again. Like I mentioned, I gave my Kingdra to Claire. I still see her quite frequently. That's more of a long-term goal though. Finding a new home for a pokémon takes time if you want to do it right. I find the practice of 'trading' a pokémon the way some trainers do quite distasteful."
Ash agreed with him there. He'd instantly regretted his only experience with trading when he traded away Butterfree. Aipom didn't really count, that was closer to exactly what Lance was suggesting.
"Now, I'm sorry to say that being champion does come with a lot of paperwork. I've got to review the profiles of some potential gym leaders for the Alola region; they're getting their first local league soon. We'll talk more when we get to Hoenn and we can actually start training. Start thinking about your party composition for the conference. If you're gonna train your pokémon for it, you need to know which pokémon you're going to be training." He pulled open the laptop and kept working.
Ash honestly found it difficult to think about anything than the conversation they'd just had though. Had he really neglected his pokémon? He'd only started his practice of leaving behind his experienced pokémon after his experiences with people accusing him of being unfair by using Charizard against trainers without comparable pokémon. Yet Lance's list of pokémon only included pokémon which most trainers would have no chance of beating. He shook his head and put that thought aside as something to ask Lance about later.
What about people? He thought about all the friends he'd left behind every time he left for a new region. Brock had traveled with him the longest, and he was perhaps the only one for whom Ash's excuse actually held water. He couldn't exactly become a Pokémon Master at Brock's veterinary school. The rest… It was more complicated than saying he had always made the decision to leave himself, but for most of them, he could've stuck by them without giving up his dream.
Sure he didn't know you could retry the pokémon league next year, but Lance was right about that not really being an excuse. Not to mention, the more Ash thought about it, the more it was pretty clearly common sense. Of course you're not instantly disqualified from competing again if you lose once. Who would've come up with such a system? He was so caught up with the joy of travelling he never even stopped to think about it.
Well, at least for some of them, he was about to have a chance to make things right. Now he had to focus on the task at hand.
~ ⁂ ~
Ash had dozed off a bit by the time they landed, but the jolt of the plane touching down was enough to rouse him from his nap. He saw Lance putting away his work materials.
"Dreaming about battling huh?" Lance joked. "Y'know I've thought of some of my best battle strategies while asleep. No joke."
Ash smiled. "Wouldn't be the first time for me either."
The plane taxied to a stop, and the door opened downward turning into a flight of stairs.
"Oh, by the way, you might want these." Lance offered Ash a pair of sunglasses.
"It's already getting dark, what would I need those for?"
The Champion flashed him a mischievous grin. "Suit yourself."
Before Ash could ask him what he meant by that he strode down the stairs, cape billowing.
Ash followed him, only to be blinded by flashes of light.
"Pika!" Pikachu yelped startled.
"Champion Lance! Champion Lance! What brings you to Hoenn?"
"Champion Master Lance! Who's the boy who's travelling with you?"
As soon as he reached the bottom of the stairs he had several cameras and microphones getting shoved in his face, as League security struggled to hold the reporters at bay.
"Young man! Are you here to compete in the Grand Festival next week?" Huh? Is that happening so soon? He didn't have much time to muse on that though.
"Shove it Millie, does he look like a coordinator to you? Ask useful questions for once. Young man, what's your name?"
"I recognize him! That's Ash Ketchum. He was runner up in this year's Lumiose Conference!"
"Mr. Ketchum! Are you here for the Ever Grande Conference?"
"How do you know Lance?"
Before they could bombard him with any more questions, Lance quickly grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him into the waiting car.
"I did warn you," he chuckled. "Don't blame me when your face is splashed all over tomorrow's news."
"Chuuuuuuuuuu…" Pikachu blinked, trying to get its eyes working again.
"I think a Voltorb's flash wouldn't blind me that much," Ash said.
"Hey, if it makes you feel better, the respectable outlets will probably stick to the pictures that came out decent. The tabloids… well I can't help you there."
"Why were they all so excited?"
"Well, I mean, being Champion gets you a certain degree of attention anyway. Mostly it was just bad timing. The Grand Festival is here in Slateport in just over a week, so every reporter in Hoenn is in the city. They must've been looking at flight plan filings and noticed an official League flight in the records."
"The Grand Festival…" Ash trailed off.
"A bit too late to be thinking about entering that," Lance laughed. "Unlike the league, you need new ribbons every year, if you ever even had any. You don't strike me as the coordinator type, but stranger things have happened."
"That's not what I meant. And I have actually taken part in a few contests."
"Oh?" Lance looked at him surprised. "Impressive. Flexibility is always good for a trainer."
"I thought you said you kept tabs on me?"
"I don't really watch contests, and the PAC is independent of the league, so it wouldn't be on your file. The league is first and foremost a peacekeeping organization, so our competitions are all combat focused."
"Huh? I thought the league was just a sporting federation."
"You really don't read, like, at all, do you?
"... like son" He muttered something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Going into detail about what the league is would take way longer than a car ride. What piqued your interest about the Festival?"
"Oh, uh, some of my friends are coordinators in Hoenn."
"I see… Well, so long as it doesn't interfere with your training I see nothing wrong with you going to watch the Festival." He turned towards the driver. "Ed, would you mind calling up Fantina for me and asking her to get us some box tickets?"
"Certainly sir, though you know how she is, she'll insist on speaking with you herself."
Lance sighed. "Yeah, nevermind, I'll call her myself." He made a few taps on a screen on the back of the seat in front of him which Ash hadn't even realized existed.
"Lance! Quelle surprise! To what do I owe this pleasure, mon chéri?"
"Fantina, how's my favorite Kalosian doing? I just wanted to ask you if you might be able to get me a pair of box tickets to the Hoenn Grand Festival."
Ash watched the Sinnoh gym leader go silent for a moment.
"Have you no shame Monsieur Lance? Pah, of course I cannot do something comme-ça. You should have booked your tickets on time like any other audience member."
"Please Fantina? I don't want to disappoint my protegé. He wants to see his friends compete." He yanked Ash into a hug with one arm and pulled him in front of the screen.
Fantina's voice instantly went back to chipper.
"Oh how silly of me. Ash! Quelle agréable surprise!
C'est trop tard to get a box, but I would be delighted to have you join me in mine."
"Thank you so much Fantina!"
"But of course, Lance! Tell me, vous-avez arrivée encore?" She paused, figuring out the phrasing. "You are in Slateport… already?"
"Yeah! We just–" Lance slapped his hand over Ash's mouth.
"What Ash is saying is we just landed in Slateport but we're leaving right away to do some special training. I'm sorry to say we won't be back until the Festival."
Fantina's eyes narrowed.
"Quel dommage. When you do get here we simply must catch up over a bottle of wine."
"We must, we must. Well, I'll call you when we get back to Slateport, Fantina, thanks once again."
"Tout le plaisir était pour moi, mon chéri." She paused. "Lance, I would just detest finding out you had lied to me." She hung up.
Lance let out a deep breath.
"Ash, in situations like that, please let me do the talking."
"Situations like what?"
Lance sighed. "Forget it.
"Ed, would you mind leaking to the press that Ash and I are off to do some training at my secret base on Route 110? That should keep them busy."
"Of course sir."
"You have a secret base?"
"No, I don't."
Ash looked at him confused.
"Ash, I'm sorry to say that neither of us will be leaving the house until the Grand Festival. I can't have Fantina finding out we're here. You don't know what she'd do to me if she found out I lied."
"Huh? What can she possibly do, you're a champion."
"Ash, it's not her pokémon I'm scared of."
The answer just confused Ash more but he figured he wasn't going to get any more out of Lance.
~ ⁂ ~
The sun was down by the time they arrived at the house. It was a huge oceanfront house with its own pier which stretched into the water far further than Ash would've ever expected.
"Whose house did you say this was?"
Lance chuckled. "Believe me, you'll know as soon as you walk in the door."
He unlocked the door, and staring right at them was a giant bronze statue of Drake, though under his captain's coat his shirtless chest was far more muscular than when Ash had seen him in person.
"I see what you mean…"
"Pika-pika…"
Treasures from Drake's expeditions around the world lined the entryway and the living room beyond on pedestal after pedestal.
"Geez, Drake sure knows how to stick to a theme."
Lance laughed. "That's Drake for you. When he decides to do something, he sticks to it. He's almost never at this house since the only time he's in Hoenn is to fend off challengers. He's usually sailing the world with his crew. I think he treats it more like a warehouse for his collection than a living space."
He walked behind the bar in the living room, and pulled out a bottle, holding it up to look at the label. "That said, the old fart has good taste in whisky, I'll give him that."
He uncorked the bottle and put a glass on the counter before looking at Ash. "Want a drink?" He asked, pulling out another glass.
"Uh, I don't think I'm allowed to drink."
"Nonsense, you're less than a year from being 18, you've travelled a good chunk of the known world on foot, and you've saved the world multiple times. Plus trust me, there's no way you'll get out of it at the champions' banquet."
"The champions' banquet. You're that sure I'm gonna win huh?"
Lance looked at the young trainer. "Ash, let me level with you. Your strategy is abysmal. Your choices of matchups for battle are utter trash, and you often don't even bring your strongest pokémon to the table."
Ash looked down disappointed. Lance slid a glass over to him. "But, you're also the most talented trainer I've seen in my life, and that's saying something. All of that? That's book learning. I can teach you that in the few months we have. You can't teach gut instinct.
"And I think that calls for a toast." He raised his glass to Ash. Ash looked at him confused, he'd only ever seen this done on TV. He raised his own glass gingerly and clinked it to Lance's, hoping that was the right thing to do.
"Alright, rule number one of drinking. When someone offers you a toast, you look them in the eyes."
Ash stared him down and clinked the glass again.
"With conviction, look at me like we're about to battle."
At the third clink, Lance was satisfied. He downed the glass. Ash tried the same and burst into a coughing fit.
Lance slapped him on the back.
"Attaboy. Now, let's show that spoiled brat Steven what a real champion looks like."
Ash looked at him.
"Uh, Lance, I like Steven, he's a good guy."
Lance's voice got a bit flustered. "I like him too, I just thought it'd sound cool."
There was a pause and both of them burst into laughter.
Lance put away the bottle and rinsed off the glasses leaving them to dry.
"Alright, I think it's about time we get to bed. Meet me here for breakfast at 6 o'clock sharp, and then we start training."