Okay this is spring now. We're at the first tournament where Lance is the fourth Elite Four member. This is still in the montage kind of thing where I'm not dwelling on stuff around the tournament, etc... I see Lance as being popular before his career really started, and then it gaining traction as time goes on. Got more and more drama coming up, gonna see some ugly sides of certain people.


"Lance needs you over in the main field," Elijah greets Serena as she enters their office.

She has just finished up a meeting with a contractor for estimates and proto-designs for the magnet train idea she and Elijah have cooked up. The Association isn't going easy on her, they want the most information they can get. Her desk is a mess of designs, budgets and maps for where the train will come and go between the two regions. Many people are protesting the cutting of trees in the forests in and between each region, so she is trying to find the most eco friendly way to cross the divide between them.

"What's wrong?" she yawns and sets down her laptop bag.

"I think he needs help with training or something," Elijah shrugs. "I'd offer to go, but I still have a stack to get through."

He gestures with a thumb at the papers beside him and Serena grimaces. She has her own stacks to go through, but it hurts her brain to even think of them. "Okay. I'll go check it out."

She heads back out and over to the back entrance of the field. This is the side the elites will enter during the Champion's League after the Indigo Conference. Serena feels strange coming from this side, a sense of power building in her with each step now that she's a staff member and no longer just a trainer. The long hallway seems ominous as her steps bounce off the plain walls towards the opening at the end.

The lights shine in the closed-top field where boulders jut out of the dirt to provide an obstacle. On her side, Lance stands with his hands on his hips grinning at her. She can't help the smile forming on her face as she approaches and embraces him. He squeezes her tight, twisting her around to walk towards the middle while talking about a new training program.

While he speaks, Serena feels a slight tingle in her head and glances around the field just as many familiar faces pop out from behind the boulders and start yelling, 'Happy Birthday!'. Clutching her chest, she stares at all of them before it registers and she laughs.

"I forgot," she admits with a sheepish smile as a table rolls onto the field filled with delicious food and treats.

All the elites, her mother and father, Clair and some staff members she's come to know greet her happily as music begins to play in the speakers. She hugs everyone as they come up to wish her well and hand her presents. Her mother and Clair take care of the gifts, setting them on a nearby table while people mingle and eat, leaving Serena feeling awkward in the middle of all the attention.

"You really forgot?" Lance bumps his hip with hers, offering her a plate of some finger foods.

"Kinda," she accepts the plate and digs into the blocks of cheese and meat. "I wasn't at home last night so I didn't see my parents this morning. Did you plan this?"

He grins. "Me, Clair and your mom."

"Thank you."

He brushes off her thanks with a shrug. The eating and music continues until the lights suddenly dim and Elijah rolls a cake out from the back. Everyone delves into a horrible rendition of 'Happy Birthday' as Serena tries her hardest to not laugh. She wishes for successful presentations and blows out the candles with earnest hope it will come true.

The cake gets passed around and while some people leave, her mother, Clair, Lance, Aaron, Wesley and Elijah all stay to gather around her gifts. Wiping her fingers of frosting, Serena reaches for Clair's first and rips it open with little ceremony. The plain box hides a handbook on traveling around the neighboring regions, the one Serena has been eyeing up for a while.

She clutches the book and beams at her best friend. "Thank you so much!"

"Mhmm," Clair waves it off as though it were simple. "You are always looking up info on other regions, I thought this would be quicker."

"Pushing our daughter away, huh?" Aaron jokes from the other side of the circle.

Clair chuckles. "Giving her options."

He pretends to be hurt and Serena laughs as she sets the gift aside and accepts the one Lance shoves at her, presumably his. It's a large box that has to be held by both her hands. She sets it down at her feet and tears the paper away and lifts the top to reveal a plethora of items inside. A frown forms as she picks out a bunch of random items, it turns into a face of joy as she realizes it's all the little things she's been needing over the past few weeks.

"Oh my gosh," she gasps. "Is that a gift card to the coffee shop down in Silver Town?"

"Yep, and a rewards card," he beams. "I've noticed you're in need of fuel a lot."

She examines the various office supplies as well as gift certificates to a massage parlor in Silver Town, the bookstore there as well and some fast food places she frequents when she needs a quick fix. Her face lights up with each item, no matter how simple, until she reaches the bottom and stuffs it all back in there with Clair's gift on top. Her parents have bought her accessories for her laptop, something she's asked for a lot in the past few weeks.

"Mine isn't anything like theirs," Elijah comments as he hands her a long rectangular gift.

She holds it in one hand and examines it. "It doesn't have to be like theirs..." she trails off before peeling back the paper and gasping. "No way!"

Elijah chuckles as she reveals a desk nameplate with her name and title engraved along the front. "I'm sorry it took so long to get you one of those. There's also one on the wall outside our office too."

'Serena Champion's Assistant' gleams in the lighting of the battlefield, shining at her as if it were a trophy she won after a hard fight. She clutches it to her chest and beams at Elijah. "Thank you so much."

"Thank you for your hard work," he pats her shoulders. "Goodshow is impressed you're so put together this close to the next tournament."

Serena groans at the mention. "Elijah, please."

"Right, right. It's your birthday no mentioning work," he laughs as the party continues on.

Aaron, Wesley and Lance clean up, leaving Serena and Clair to talk with her mother and Elijah about the upcoming tournament. During the conversation, Serena eyes her handbook and goodie box, excited to get a good look through the book maybe on her next day off. She could use that massage that day as well. All the planning has definitely given her some knots in her back.

It's her first year helping Charles Goodshow plan it, he's an easy going man with the ability to multitask like no other. Already having commissioned the participant trophies, and champion trophy for the lucky winner in the end by the first meeting. He also booked several food stalls in Silver Town for some Kanto natives to be in the mix of usually Johto stalls. An idea he was open to once Serena mentioned the lack of support from the other side when she was there.

While he got that part done, Serena helped organize the running of the torch from Silver Town to the Conference battlefields just the other day. The supplies for picking out each battle round have been pulled from storage to get set up in the lobby. All that's left is for them to put a block on the hotels in Silver Town, buying the rooms and registering them to trainers as they check in, and for trainers to start appearing.

"Take the night off to go home and relax," Elijah gives her a soft hug. He places his hands on her shoulders, his eyes are bright staring into hers. "The paperwork is all ready, you're not alone during this. It will go by smoothly."

Serena takes a deep breath. "Thank you for coming here and being a great mentor. I will try my hardest to relax."

"'Atta girl."

The kids and Rowan, teleport home from the league, their hands filled with remnants from the party, cake and presents when Serena's house comes into view. She feels a sense of comfort take over her as they head up the steps and help her mother put away the leftover food. The three race upstairs to Serena's room, the girls giggling and Lance trailing behind with his own smile.

Lance and Clair sprawl out on her bed while she sits on the floor with her gifts. She sorts out Lance's by necessity and places the others back in the box, all gift cards transfer to her wallet for use soon and she puts Clair's book in her bag with sticky notes, highlighters and pens to mark it up with destination ideas. Her heart feels content with the gifts she received from everyone and the fact that it was a full party with everyone there.

Clair snickers on the bed, drawing her from her thoughts, and dodges a pillow thrown by Lance. Serena frowns at them, sitting up straighter to try and see what she's looking at. The cousins begin to wrestle, limbs flying as Lance tries to move quick to get the advantage only for Clair's brute strength to stop him. Serena snatches the magazine out from under their fight and stares at the front cover.

It's two pictures of Lance, one from his battle with Elijah a year ago and one more recent while he was shopping in Celadon for capes. The title alludes to his good looks and comments on a large fan following. A snort erupts from Serena as she flips to the article he's featured in only to find more pictures of him doing mundane things and his 'fans' unable to contain their joy at seeing him debut in the next conference.

"I can't believe this," Serena chuckles and then bursts into laughter as the next page shows a picture of him blown up while training Kai. "Oh my god! It's a poster!"

"Guys!" Lance groans from the bed. His face turned to the side while Clair sits on his back, hand on the back of his head and the other wrapped around his ankle. "Stop it!"

"No way," Serena wiggles the magazine in his face. "Clair, let him up and help me tape this on my wall."

"No!"

His agony gets lost in a fit of giggles as the girls try their best to sound like pre-teen fans drooling over their best friend. The picture goes right above her bed where anyone who walks in will see it right away. It leaves the two holding themselves and laughing while Lance hangs his head in shame. Lance looks decidedly handsome, donning a black workout tank top and joggers while facing Ryu with a serious face. It looks like they were sparring, no doubt building Ryu's endurance and strength.

"There's no way you're not enjoying the attention," Clair points out, wiping a tear away from her face.

He glances between them and the poster and sighs. "It's cool to have people cheering for me, but the photos are embarrassing. I'm doing regular things!"

"Yeah, people can't believe you're just a normal guy," Serena laughs again. "It's so interesting when someone hot does it."

"I'm literally shopping!" he picks up the magazine and gestures to the front cover. "Hot or not, what is so exciting?"

Clair shrugs. "Get used to it. It's only going to get worse once the conference starts and you do well."

"Oh?" Lance raises a brow at her. "Is this you being loving and encouraging, Cousin?"

"No. You made it this far, you better not fuck it up," she sneers at him.

The two stare at each other bringing a tense atmosphere to their fun as their rivalry rears its ugly head once more. Serena stares at them, holding back a sigh. She knew this would be coming, she only hoped it wasn't going to happen until after the tournament when she had more patience.

"Guys," she breaks the static building between them. "That's enough. You both are outstanding in your positions. Clair, I bet you could get far enough into the Elite Four if you challenged them. Your positions place you as peers, not competitors."

Not the complete truth given Gym Leader's have the full right, and sometimes capability, to undermine an Elite Four member through battle. It's always exciting when something like that happens, a gym leader moves up in the line or makes it to the Four. Clair has already put in a request to go against the four but it will be after the conference as to not shake it up last minute for the trainers.

Still, this does little to soothe them as Clair gets up to go. Serena feels her heart drop as well as blood boil at her best friend. In spite of everything she's accomplished, as long as Lance is in the Elite Four, it won't be good enough. She's constantly trying to pin their skills against each other as though it's just one battle that will make a difference for her.

But Serena doesn't have the energy to make her stay, nor does she have the words Clair needs to make her stay. Not because Clair doesn't deserve them, but because Serena won't crap on Lance's hard work to build up Clair's. The two are on separate paths and if Clair can't see that, then any compliment will be empty in her eyes.

Clair presses a kiss on Serena's temple and leaves the room without a word. The door clicks shut and everything falls silent between her and Lance.

"Sorry."

Serena turns to him as he stares out the window with a frown on his face. "Don't be, you asked something simple."

"Yeah, it never ends that way, huh?" he gives her a half, wry, smile and leans to lay back on her bed.

His shirt rides up, showing off his stomach and Serena forces herself to look away and keep cool. She focuses on her box of gifts and lets a smile form on her face. "Thanks for the gifts. Want me to walk you home?"

"How chivalrous of you," he chuckles.

"Whatever."

The spring air releases any tension in Serena's shoulders as she pulls on a cardigan and walks beside Lance to his house. Cobblestone streets decorated with newly blooming plants line the swept sidewalks down the street. Metal street lamps come alive as Hoothoot and Murkrow begin their nightly songs while perching among the lights. As the sun sets, Serena finds herself relaxing with each passing day as she realizes the conference will pass and everything will be back to normal.

At the gate to Lance's front yard, he pauses and turns to Serena. "Will you let me know if you plan on leaving the region?"

"Wanna come with?" she attempts to joke, but she feels an undercurrent in his tone.

"No, I just... We've been together forever," he states, then blushes. "As friends. And it'll be weird to be without you, I want to... prepare for it."

"It's not like I'll be gone forever," she chuckles. "I just want to see the world before deciding where to settle down."

"Settle down?" he raises a brow. "You're 18, as of today! Why are you thinking of your future as if you're older?"

"Well, I also want to get answers too," she gestures to her back. "I'm focussing on my uncle as he is a gym leader for the time being and I want to get him out of that position. He's dangerous and being part of the league makes it worse."

"So, once your uncle is out of the picture?"

She shrugs. "It's not like I'm going to sprint out the door. I have to make sure my position, if it's still a position, gets filled and have all my projects finished. What brought this on?"

He avoids the question, opting to stare at the sky as a flock of Spearow take off after being disturbed by some Murkrow. Despite the non-answer, Serena doesn't have to think hard about why he's like this. If she were to leave there would be no buffer for Clair's fights with him. He'd have to face her all on his own and vice versa. While she doesn't mind diffusing the fights and reminding her best friends how amazing they are, she can't help but feel tired at the thought of spending the next decade of her life being the mediator.

Another part of her knows that he's accustomed to her in his schedule, he's not one for any major changes and if she were to leave, he'd be on his own. At work, she helps him out with whatever he needs to get done, reminds him of his paperwork, drops off and picks up his pokemon at the center for him between training sessions and more. Their schedules are so intertwined, it makes sense he'd want to know when she's leaving, to prepare himself.

The smallest part of herself, wants to believe it's because he wants her at his side... Romantically. But she shoots that down, they're best friends and of course he would want to know if she was leaving to go somewhere. She'd miss him and Clair if they decided to travel in another region, there was no need to bring up old feelings.

"We'll see what happens in the upcoming years," she tugs on his sleeve and reaches up to press a light kiss on his cheek. "Tell your parents I say hi. Good night, Lance."

"Night."

He watches her go and waits until she's disappeared around the corner before heading up to his door, hand on the spot she kissed. There are times when the world feels too big and his problems threaten to swallow him whole and even though he should be fine on his own he can't help but take comfort in Serena's support. The thought of her leaving makes him sad, yet excited for her. She has the ability to learn and grow to any situation around her, he can't wait to see how she'll grow.

At the same time...

He stares back down the street to where she was and wonders why he feels a sudden emptiness at the thought of her leaving and not coming back.

XxXxXxX

"Looks like our challenger will be moving on to the next bracket!"

Serena grins at the screen, laptop in her lap and her drink beside her as she works on some reports for the day. It's day one of the tournament and the league feels so much more different than before. Decorations hang overhead for preparation of the one challenger to come through and take on the Elites. The biggest honor for the one trainer, win or lose, as they get a certificate added to their trainer profile on all League registries. Buzz about the upcoming battles, keeps the staff on their toes as they take bets on their Elites as well as challengers that stand out the most.

Reporters sit at the ready in Silver Town, interviewing challengers and getting a feel for who may be the one to make it to the League. Their reports change daily as hundreds of trainers are eager to stand out amongst their peers.

All around everyone is in a good mood, much different than when she and Lance were participating where everyone was on edge waiting to challenge anyone at the drop of a hat. Lorelei, Agatha and Bruno have started a betting pool for who they think will win while Lance is more concerned with his own performance. His first year as an Elite Trainer and he's worried he'll blow it.

At the beginning of the year, after Blaise left, Elijah took to helping Lance train with himself and his pokemon to prepare for the tournament. A lot rests on Lance's shoulders, he must hold the title and do it well, or risk being under the watchful eye of Elijah and the Association. If he loses, he'll be put on a more strict schedule to train his pokemon up and any of the Gym Leader's can challenge him for his spot and win it. If he wins, he gets a small bonus and the media will be eating out of his hands for the rest of the year.

While they trained, Serena got left to her own devices and she took advantage, getting presentations and other work done.

"Let's look at our line up this year; we have Lorelei and Bruno at the front as usual. Ice Queen Lorelei gives trainers an icy wake up call at the head of the Four while Bruno comes in for a beating right after. Coming in third is Agatha, most people let their guards down with this stern looking old woman, but she is powerful. Her ghost types are not a joke!

"Lastly, instead of Blaise we have Lance this year. He's a little on the young side and from Johto, but we won't hold it to him. He's got an army of dragon types so it will be interesting to see if he can hold the title this year. Pretty amazing Elijah let someone so young and new be the fourth member right away, eh?"

Another announcer nods eagerly. "If we look at Lance's battle with Elijah it. Is. Fierce! I'm sure everyone can agree we were all at the edge of our seats until the last second. It's no surprise Lance got the position in the first place. He is young, but maybe it's time the younger generation took over. I mean, look at Serena..."

Serena turns it down at that point, feeling uncomfortable still being under scrutiny of others. Her father warned her doing the things she is, everyone will have an opinion and think it appropriate to push it on hers. He insisted she started being more firm in her opinions and know when to give and when to take and to ignore any hurtful comments towards herself. When a person has no facts to back up their opinion they often target the looks of their opposer and everyone has something to say about a person's look.

One day at a time, she muses and returns to her work at hand.

OoOoOoO

"Okay, you've got this," Serena grins at Lance as he pulls on his cape to fasten to his jacket.

Dressed in a black shirt with a blue draconic design on the front under a red coat. He dons dark gray pants swallowed into red boots that go up his calves. His outfit encourages a more mysterious aura the public has given him; it makes him look young, but bold. He's been the topic of conversation all week as the finalist's challenge approaches. Lots of magazines speculate about his outfit, his team and what he has to say. The other elites were booked for interviews leading up to the tournament, but Lance just got his first one this past week.

Seems like everyone is underestimating him, Serena figured days ago when reading his article in the newspaper. She has it clipped with all the others in her journal along with his reactions to seeing himself in so much printed media.

"Thanks," he adjusts his collar. "The kid seems tough, so I'm hoping for a good battle."

"And what's a good battle?" she raises a brow, reaching up to fix his cape resting on his shoulder.

"This is a test for him," he explains watching her unfold the cape and straighten it out. "As the Elite Four we need to ensure his bond with his pokemon is strong enough to withstand ours. My team and I have been specially training for this day..."

"Part of your opening speech?" she asks with a pat on his shoulders once she's done and stands back with a smile.

"Yes, what do you think?" he poses for her, crossing his arms and turning his body to the side.

"It's good! I think the speech will change as you get challenged more, and I like the pose," she beams. "Still want me on the sidelines?"

"If you don't mind," he relaxes.

"'Course not," she shrugs and when the lights dim in the corridor, she gives him a thumbs up. "You can do it!"

He watches her jog down with a smile on his face. His skin feels electric all over with the thought of battling as an Elite Trainer rather than just a Trainer. Not quite Champion, but this is a step he is more than happy to go through until then.

The speakers crackle to life as the announcer makes a show of announcing his name, his cue to head on down the hall and step onto the field. Straightening his back, Lance moves forward with a purpose and smiles at the camera waiting at the mouth of the tunnel to his field. The lights gleam down at him, helping him sink into a professional persona as he stops at his marker and takes on his pose.

Ishiro, his opponent, stands straight with a determined look on his face. It makes the elitist smile and warm up to the situation faster.

"Welcome Ishiro! I am Lance, fourth member of the Elite Four!" he starts and dives into his short introduction. "... So, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be!" the young trainer responds, a pokeball at the ready.

Lance sneaks a glance at Serena at the side of the field, she beams, and he feels confidence pour over him. The camera disappears, and the building disappears, leaving just the two trainers as they call out their first pokemon and dive in. This feeling of strength and unity is what he's always craved and to share it with another strong opponent, Lance will do his best to keep this position.

OoO

"Lance is the winner!" the ref tosses up a flag.

For a second, Lance doesn't move from his hunched stance, but when Ishiro returns his Nidoqueen the redhead straightens up and recalls Nova. He forces himself to keep a calm smile on his face as he approaches the younger trainer in the middle. Serena claps from the sidelines and the ref speaks with the trainer first, complimenting him on his skills and standing to the side to await escorting him back to the locker rooms.

"Amazing job," he holds out his hand. The camera man comes close to catch this moment and the words exchanged. Lance tries his best to ignore him. "Your bond is powerful and you should be proud of yourself and your pokemon for getting this far."

"Thank you," Ishiro smiles. He accepts his hand and gives it a firm shake. "They weren't lying when they said your dragons are something else."

"I appreciate that," he chuckles. "Rest up, Ishiro. You did great."

The trainer bows his head and disappears with the ref down the opposite hall. Lance and Serena meet up at the entrance of his and disappear out of sight of the cameraman while the reporter wraps up the cast. They get back to his prep room and once the door shuts, Serena squeals and tosses her arms around his neck. He laughs, picking her up and twisting her around in their usual dance of glee.

His heart still pounds from the heat of the battle and some sweat has formed on his forehead but he feels so satisfied with how it turned out.

"That was awesome!" she squeezes him tight. "You only had to use three pokemon the entire time! That's amazing!"

"Yeah, it was still a tough battle!" he beams. He sets her down, his hands on her waist. "I can't believe I made it. I, for sure, thought I was going to trip up way more than I did."

"First battle as an Elite Four member, no major fuck ups," she chuckles making a check motion with her finger. "Now, you just have to keep the title and keep this energy going."

"Challenge accepted."

She realizes their proximity and steps back. "I, um, got you a present."

"What?" his voice pitches up, hands moving to his own hips. He hadn't realized he was holding her so tight until she moved. "I didn't get you anything."

"That's okay," she laughs and rushes behind the couch in his prep room to hold up a neatly wrapped package. "I figured you were going to win and since it's our first year working..."

She trails off to give him time to rip the package open. He does so with comical vigor, digging inside past the packing peanuts to pull out an official wall plaque. His eyes gleam looking at his name in the official lettering, 'Elite Four- Lance, Dragon Tamer'. He turns it to her with the biggest grin she's ever seen on his face.

"Rena, this is perfect!" he gathers her up again.

"The spot where Blaise's was looks terrible," she laughs and taps the present. "Maintenance crew will have it up by tonight. You have to take a picture with it."

He agrees to just as a knock on the door interrupts their little party. Serena cleans up the packing peanuts and wrapping paper as he gets the door. It opens to reveal Elijah and the other Elites with big smiles on their faces. Lance welcomes them in and each congratulates him with a handshake or head pat.

"Great job out there," Elijah beams. "I remember our battle so I can only guess how much pressure Ishiro was feeling. Your speeches were great and you treated him well afterwards. If you're not popular by the end of the night I will be shocked."

"You mean more popular?" Serena snickers.

Lorelei joins in. "That's true. I've never seen an Elite become so popular overnight, not since Bruno joined us."

"We have charm," Bruno shrugs with a gleam in his eye.

"Yes, yes," Agatha taps her cane on the ground to get their attention. She faces Lance with a grim expression. "There is an after party in Silver Town, since you're young I assume you're going, so be careful. Try not to draw attention to yourself. For the next couple of weeks we will be in interviews, together and separate as the regions come down from the high of the tournament. It's important you keep a good face for the public."

Lance nods with a serious look. "I won't mess it up."

"We know you won't," Elijah steps in and rests a hand on his shoulder. "You're young and that's why she's explaining it. You are allowed to have fun, just be conscious of the kind and how far it goes. You worked hard, so you can play hard. Just be ready for work tomorrow at 8."

The redhead agrees. "Of course."

Before they can steal Lance away, Serena gets his picture with his plaque before leaving herself to let them prepare the closing statements for the viewers at home. She heads back to her apartment to take the rest of the day off, much needed since it will be clean up duty for the next week or so around the league.

The Elites will get a head start on interviews during the day while the league decor gets taken down. Everything will be back to almost normal by the weekend and fully normal by the end of next week. The only excitement will come from the public as they analyze each battle, each interview and make predictions for the next year.

Instead of relaxing, Serena uses this time to draw up her proposals and work on the research needed for the Association and Council to accept them. Elijah has done his half of the work, now she needs to go in, fluff it up and make sure all the data is present. It's grueling detail work but it needs to get done.

She works well into the evening, pausing only to help Lance pick an outfit for his night out and refuse the invite to go along. While it would be nice to let loose, she knows he doesn't plan on coming home alone and would rather not either third wheel, or be ditched in the middle of the party. It's left unsaid mainly because she doesn't want to hear him try and pretend that's not going to happen.

Leading up to the tournament, he's been gaining more and more interest from women across the board and there have been multiple instances in which a guard has had to intervene on his behalf. While Lance has put on a good face until now, with his job secured from this tournament, Serena can't help but worry how it will affect his ethic moving forward.

She watches him go with a worried look, but manages to steer herself back to her room to get back to work. He's an adult and if he makes a mistake, that's on him to clean it up, at least, that is what she tells herself as she types along her keyboard. Elijah won't be happy about it and it'll just pile on more work for them, possibly drawing the negativity to Serena given their bond and that makes her pause.

If he gets out of hand, I'll have to step in, she groans, dropping her head in her hands.

"Lance, don't fuck this up," she swears in the direction of his apartment.

She drops it for now and continues working, well into the night, eventually falling asleep at her coffee table.

OoO

.Knock!

Serena huffs at Lance's door across from hers. Their meeting started at its usual time this morning, and he wasn't there at all. The Elites chuckled, knowing he would go overboard with his fun the night before not even bothering to wait for him; they continued on knowing Serena would get the notes to him. As such, Serena also promised to get him to the interview at 10 with the Kanto Now! magazine.

No answer still, she digs in her pockets for his key and jams it in the deadbolt.

She pushes into the apartment to find clothes strewn along the floor leading to his room. There's a musk hanging in the air and she rolls her eyes. Stalking across the main area, she knocks on it a few more times before opening the door.

Little streaks of light illuminate the bed, revealing Lance sleeping on his stomach, face buried in his pillow. Beside him, a woman with light skin and dark hair slumbers peacefully, her upper body barely covered by the blanket. It makes Serena's chest ache and anger flair, but she tempers it for the moment. With the woman there, she has to put on a good face for the league.

"Lance," she states in a normal tone.

"Mmm?" he groans, turning his head to the side.

"You have an interview in one hour," she replies while stepping into the room and drawing the curtains open completely. The young woman tries to pretend she's still asleep, but Serena swings over to that side with a peppy smile. "Hello, feel free to use my shower to get ready. I can have a ride home arranged for you."

The woman peeks open a blue eye before opening both and sighing. "Oh, thank you."

"You're welcome, my room is across the hall. Go ahead in," Serena gestures to the door to get them both moving. She avoids her gaze as the girl, naked, grabs her clothes and tosses them on before scurrying from the room to Serena's apartment.

Lance perks up as the girl leaves and glances at Rena. "I missed the meeting?" At her nod, he scrambles out of bed. "Shit! I'm so sorry."

"They weren't shocked," she shrugs, turning her face away as he picks up the mess of clothes around his apartment naked.

"Really?" he raises a brow coming back into the room. "Damn. Okay, I'm in the shower. I'll be out soon."

Serena leaves him then and returns to her place with a heavy sigh. While the shower runs, she makes a few phone calls to the league to have a psychic type to her room to get the girl home. Considering this isn't the first time, nor will it be the last, Serena has the number saved. The few months they were first living here, studying for their exams, Lance was used to having some 'visitors' coming in and out of his place. More often, he would be calling a ride home for them, but Serena took to doing it when he would leave them for a meeting in the morning.

She wonders how much more this will be happening now that he is a league member and his popularity rises.

"Thanks again," the girl interrupts her thoughts, coming back to the room in a short dress and heels in her hand.

"It's not a problem," Serena grins. There's a knock on the door and she gestures for the girl to follow her. "This guy will teleport you home."

"Oh?" her blue eyes widen at the Alakazam enters. "Fancy."

"That's the league for you," Serena chuckles. "Do you have everything?"

The girl nods her affirmation and Serena instructs her to picture her home and let the pokemon takeover to get her there. Within a small flash of light, the girl disappears and Alakazam takes his leave back to the main building. Serena sighs with relief and locks up her apartment to wait for Lance in the hall.

"Thanks for taking care of her," Lance joins her within fifteen minutes. Dressed in his usual garb and hair freshly spiked. "I promise I was trying to be responsible."

"Don't worry," she chuckles. "It was your first win as a league member, I'm sure it happens to almost everyone their first time."

"Even Agatha?" he comments and the two shudder. "Nevermind."

XxXxXxX

"I'm basically living my dream. I mean, I wanted to be champion, but to be second in command is the next best thing," Lance grins on the TV. "I want to keep training and building my bonds with my pokemon, that's how you get stronger, at least I think so. In the tournaments, I feel like we're testing those bonds with our opponents and seeing if they have the grit to face us. Almost anyone can train a pokemon, but to create a bond and really understand them is the goal."

Serena watches with a smile. Two months out from the tournament and he's been all over the news, in magazines, and on billboards. Johto and Kanto took to his heroic look, praising his battle strategy, his pokemon and his philosophies on trainers. Elijah is impressed with his work ethic, pushing for better policies, putting out more work on dragon types to spread awareness of them and going out to meet aspiring trainers.

Support of the league has risen, helping Serena's ideas get accepted and increasing the amount of trainer ID's being distributed. With more people interested in being trainers, more funding has gone towards trainer schools as well as nursing schools considering the rise in need for vets and techs for pokemon too. The list can go on with the benefits this good rep reaps for the league.

"Hey, Rena," Lance pops into her office. "Ready for lunch?"

She marks where she left off in her work and shuts off the TV. "Yes, finally."

"Sorry, I was on the phone with a media company," he grins. "They want to make stickers of me."

"No way," she pauses in the doorway, her jaw dropped and eyes wide. "I need to know what company and when."

"Rena," he groans. "Stop buying my merch, you can just get it for free."

"I can't help it," she laughs. "The poster I got just created this monster in me."

He rolls his eyes. "I thought you were my best friend."

"I am financially supporting you, Lance," she laughs. "Ok. I'll only buy one sticker book."

"Rena!"