Chapter Two
"This is not acceptable!" Lance yelled, slamming his hands down on Blue's desk.
"My decision stands. I would like to see you try to stop me!" Blue replied, mirroring Lance's gesture.
"Mayor Blue, you have to understand. The Elite Four are more than a trainer's greatest challenge. They are the ultimate authority for their entire region," Cynthia explained patiently. Her calmness was a canker on Lance's frayed nerves.
"Vestige is not yet united. Factions here are at open war. You yourself, sir, pay tribute to another," Wallace put in.
"Not to mention all the gates around here. This place is a prison," Iris added.
"Blueport pays tribute to no one," Blue ground out. "We are the gateway to Vestige. We are the only open port this side of the Echo Range, and we are open year-round. Don't get the power bill confused with a tribute. Even that will be history soon, once the sea-powered plant is up and running. Blueport is the most successful, populous city in Vestige."
"But it remains entrenched in Blue Province," Cynthia said. "Mayor Blue, this attitude is why we cannot permit you to maintain an Elite Four."
"You don't have the right to permit me to do anything! Vestige is the great frontier. People come here to be free, to escape those who limit them. If I want to have an Elite Four then, by Kyogre, I will have an Elite Four!" Blue snapped.
"You aren't listening!" Iris said. She stomped her foot in irritation. "We aren't just for trainers! We act for the entire region. To do that, we have to have the permission of that entire region. We have to have the power to set up gyms, and to act everywhere!"
"In every city, every town. There can be no barriers. Provinces are not acceptable," Wallace said.
"I know what you're doing," Lance said quietly. "I can see your little power-play. If you control the Elite Four, you control the gyms, and you control the flood of trainers into the region. It's a base bullying tactic. We will not allow you to cowl the continent in our name."
"To the trench with all of you!" Blue bellowed. "What do you want from me? You want unity? You want no boundaries? Well, that's what I'm doing! Why shouldn't I unite the Provinces? No one else is. No one else can. Blueport has a stranglehold on this continent. There is no other port. I control what goes in and out. I control who gets what when. You can't change that. You can't stop me!"
Lance bristled. Blue's statements sounded all too much like the echoes of Rocket executives that he worked actively to suppress. It was men like Blue who could go on to commit terrible crimes against pokémon and humanity, men who had lost their own sense of scale and restraint, and were now driven only to reach their goals. Lance clutched Dragonite's pokéball. There was an easy way to end this.
"Mayor Blue, we have made our position clear. Vestige must be united before it can receive the honor of an Elite Four. We will not allow you to force unity like this. We can and we will oppose you," Cynthia said. She touched Lance's arm gently, but it was a restraining gesture.
"I don't have to do a thing you tell me," Blue said. "I don't give a flying Magicarp about your opinion."
"Disband your Faux Four, or face our wrath," Lance said. "I warn you, the League Champions are a force that will bring your reckoning."
"I refuse," Blue said. He sat down heavily in his seat. He indicated the door with his cane. "Know this, I'd kick you out if I could; however, it's not your power that keeps me from doing that. If Blueport evicted the League Champions, it would go badly for us in the press. You'll be accorded every courtesy while you're here, but it better not be for long."
"Sir, you are making an incredible error," Wallace started.
"Mayor Blue, please be reasonable," Cynthia implored.
"So be it. This interview is over," Lance said.
The others stared in shock as Lance rose to his feet. Lance would have been amused if he was not so angry, but now his anger burned cold. He could see that talk would not sway the Mayor of Blueport. It would take action, and that was fine with Lance. Action was a language that he understood better.
"Know this. By the end of the week, you won't have a trainer to stand by you," Lance said, voice as chill as Froslass breath.
John Blue only glared after him as he and the other champions left.
"Lance, that could have been handled better," Cynthia chided.
"Words are not going to sway him, Cynthia. He wants war. He's issued his challenge, and I will answer it," Lance said.
"Slow down, now. What are you going to do?" Wallace asked.
"I will dismember his army. I will defeat every one of the Elite that he has raised. They will feel the wrath of my displeasure, and they will disband. As I said, by the end of the week, there won't be a trainer that will stand by him," Lance said.
The other champions stared at him, Cynthia with reluctant understanding, Wallace with shock, and Iris with a disturbed look in her big childish eyes.
"You need to be careful, Lance," she said. "When you talk like that, you get a mean look in your eye. People might not know you're the good guy."
Lance did not dignify her with an answer. He turned to Cynthia.
"I need you to find out who won the tournament. I need their names, and I need their current addresses. Take Wallace with you. I am going to look around town, especially at the new power plant. Something's odd about Blue, and I want to find out what it is."
"So, I'm going with you, then?" Iris asked.
"No. You're going to the hotel," Lance said. "I work better alone."
The little girl looked crestfallen for a moment, but she revived quickly.
"I'm a champion too! You can't just shove me to the side!" she snapped. "I am well-passed the age of naps, Mister Lance."
"Then go shopping, go battling, go play. It doesn't matter to me, but you are not accompanying me," Lance said.
"Two dragon masters are better than one, I would think," Wallace said silkily. "An extra set of eyes may catch what you miss."
"I don't need..." Lance growled.
"I agree with Wallace," Cynthia said. "Mayor Blue has made his intentions clear. It is best that we do so as well. Traveling together is a show of strength and unity. Iris will be a good complement to you, Lance."
Lance glared, but he was hemmed in on all sides. He severely missed Alder.
"Fine," he managed. "Let's be on our way."
"We will meet up at the hotel at ten o'clock," Wallace said. "Then we can go over our findings. Is everyone agreed?"
There was a chorus of "yes." Lance only nodded. He would come back when he was ready, and not before then. With Iris tagging after him, he pressed into the streets of Blueport.