Disclaimer: Do I look like an old asian man to you? You can't see me, you say? Well, no, I don't, so that would be a no for the rights to Pokemon. And guess what? I'm not Enrique Iglesias, so I don't own the song 'Hero', either.

Characters: Lance X Kotone from HeartGold/ SoulSilver (and maybe some Kotone X Silver . ). Also, to make this couple not so creepy let's say Lance is…twenty. And Kotone is…fifteen...Yeah, okay, still not the greatest age difference there, but it's better than him being forty and her eleven, am I right?

Summary: This is later on in Kotone's journey, still in her POV. It starts from when she meets Lance at the Lake of Rage to when they part ways after they infiltrate the secret Rocket Base in Mahogany Town. Also, if you want to see what my version of a pokemon battle looks like search up 'IPL Altaria vs Gyrados' by *Leashe on DA. Man, that's some good drawing. Oh, also, if you want to read some quality writing on Lance X Kotone check out Strawberry Bijou's work; it's amazing. (Don't know her, personally, but I stumbled upon it and it's so beautiful)

Hero

~Let me be your hero~

The water of Lake Rage roils, and Kotone has to fight for every breath as the gyrados continues to fume. Its shining red tail smashes into the surface of the lake, and ten-metre waves are the result; they throw her around with merciless force, pulling her body in all different directions at once. At the last second she manages to surface, gasping for air and clinging to her politoed for dear life.

"Poli, Hyper Voice!" she chokes out, trying to keep her head above water. The politoed shoots her an anxious look, croaking his concern for his trainer. "Don't worry about me, Poli, just do it! We need to stop it before it causes any more damage!"

Poli's face creases in an even deeper frown, but he turns his head away from his trainer and does as he's told. Breathing in deeply, Poli's exhale releases a brutal, colourless pulse that hits the gyrados head on, ripping at its frontal scales. It roars its outrage, saliva flying from its mouth, canines bared in a feral display.

"Poli, Ice Beam." Her voice is a fear-choked whisper, her lungs labouring. She relies heavily on her pokemon to keep her afloat, her limbs made useless by exhaustion. "Let's finish this."

She hears her order being carried out, and sees the water dragon's body crashing into the water, which signifies its defeat. The impact causes a great wave to ripple across the lake, and Kotone grips Poli as tightly as she can, too tired to scream.

Her last thought is that she hopes she hasn't killed it, and then the wave falls and she is swallowed whole.

000

"Breathe." She returns to consciousness in time to hear words being hissed in tones of worry and desperation, and feel hands push on her chest. She chokes, water being dispelled from her mouth, and tries to do as the voice says. "Breathe. That's right, keep fighting." She coughs again, and her eyes open. Eyes the colour of the sun are millimetres away from hers, citrus-flavoured breath warm on her face. She's too drained to flinch away from the closeness, and doesn't react when a dry, slightly calloused hand comes to rest on the side of her face. "Oh, thank Arceus you're awake. Are you alright?"

I almost drowned. What do you think? "The gyrados," she sputters instead, trying to sit up and failing miserably.

"You're safe from it now- it won't hurt you-"

"No. Is it okay?" As she watches the concern in his eyes fractures, melting into surprise. "I- I didn't want to hurt it, but it had used Outrage and was out of control and-" She pushes herself up, this time managing to stay in the upright position. "What about Poli? Where-"

"Your politoed is safe. It returned itself to its poke ball and is resting." He has hair the colour of a blood moon, she finds herself noticing even as she is swamped with relief: hair that's a spiky crown of maroon, gilded in the same gold that's in his eyes. Skin that's tanned, littered with tiny scars. White, even teeth that glint from behind thin lips. A face that is classically handsome and somehow familiar, as if she's seen it on TV or something. "The gyrados, however…"

Her throat closes. "Oh, no…"

He crushes her gently to him. "It wasn't your fault. You fought bravely, and there's no shame in that- the blame lies completely in the strange radio signals that have been broadcasting lately. That's what's been causing all the pokemon in the lake to rage."

She lets the stranger hold her until the threat of tears passes, and then she pulls back, struggling to her feet. He rises with her. "I'm Kotone. Who are you?" she asks.

"Lance." His smile is unexpectantly sweet for someone so strongly built, and makes her feel instantly at ease. They shake hands once, his hand so large it envelopes hers, and as soon as they let go he takes off his elaborately detailed cape and hands it to her. "You're probably cold," he says.

She nods gratefully, and drapes it around her shoulders. "Thanks." Then she looks at him, trying to get her addled brain to make sense of things. "Hey, what you said about radio signals…Well, in Mahogany Town there's this store that I think looks suspicious. There's this tree with an antennae on it, and there are Team Rocket grunts sleazing around-"

He frowns, his brow furrowing. "Yes, I've noticed that. I was thinking of investigating." He looks at her closely. "If you're feeling up to it, would you accompany me? Your battle against the gyrados was inspiring."

Dude, my pokemon are all badly hurt, I just got tossed around like a football by a giant water dragon, and am sopping wet. So you tell me- am I feeling up to it? "Sure- but only if I get to go to the Pokecenter first."

He dips his head, taking long, graceful strides as he begins to walk away. "Very well: I'll meet you inside the suspicious store, then."

"Wait! What about your cape?" She slips it off her shoulders and offers it to him.

"Keep it," he tells her over his shoulder, a flicker of humour passing over his face. "It looks better on you, anyway."

She doesn't protest, and puts it back on without fuss. Then she just stands there and watches until he's nothing more than a black smear against the midday sun.

000

"Dragonite, Hyper Beam."

Kotone arrives in time to see a winged dragon aim a Hyper Beam at the store owner, the force of it taking out the entire wall and burying the store owner underneath the rubble. She gasps, heading toward him, but Lance snags her by the sleeve and pulls her back.

"He's fine," he assures her. "Nothing a few painkillers won't fix." Taking her by the hand, he leads her to the golden rectangle in the back corner, his dragonite at his side. "The stairs are right…here." He kicks the rectangle, and to her amazement it slides away, revealing a staircase that leads down. "Kotone, we should split up to check the place. Are you okay with that?"

"Absolutely." With Pip her jumpluff beside her, Lance leading and the ninja-esque cape still tied around her neck, it's the truth.

"Good." He squeezes her hand before letting go. "I'll go in first, but just call if you need help, alright?"

"Alright."

"Good luck, then." And, in a swish of black clothes, he descends and is instantly enveloped in darkness.

She follows shortly after, making quick work of the grunts that come to thwart her and the security system that is oh-so-cleverly hidden. She finds the passwords needed to unlock the barred doors, and meets up with Lance every now and then to heal her pokemon and check to see if he is alright. It's all so exciting- she can feel her heartbeat everywhere, and her muscles are quivering with elation. She's sneaking around an evil organization's base with a cute older guy, is beating grunts twice her age, is feeling pretty goddamn ninja-

And then she runs smack into Silver in one of the underground hallways.

"Silver?" she gasps, stunned. Her hands are on his chest, his hair tickling her face, and her universe is swallowed up by those spangled gray eyes that are currently staring down at her as if she is a ghost. "Silver, what are you doing here? I thought you said that you were heading to Olivine."

He looks incredibly dazed, his nicely sculpted face drained of colour. "What are you doing here?" he whispers.

She resists the urge to pout. "I asked you first."

"No, Kotone, seriously- what are you doing here?" His grip on her is startlingly close to an embrace, and he shakes her once, his pupils so large that they consume his irises.

She squirms, trying to hide her blush at their closeness. "I'm helping an acquaintance get rid of all the Rocket members here in Mahogany. Now what are you doing here? How do you even know about this place?"

"I was…looking for someone. But it turns out he's not here." He still wears that haunted look, and his plush mouth is uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Kotone, get out. You shouldn't be here."

"Why not?" She feels herself puff up a little. "I can take care of myself."

He laughs once, bleakly. "I don't care. If any of the executives catch you they'll hurt you- no, don't give me that look. It doesn't matter how strong your pokemon are; you're weak. You don't stand a chance if they decide to fight dirty."

"Well, thanks for the concern," she replies, a little miffed, "but I'll be fine."

He exhales- a loud, frustrated noise. "I'm trying to protect you, idiot."

"I told you not to call me an idiot, idiot."

"And I- know what, forget it. Just do yourself a favour and run while you can." He releases her slowly, almost as if he doesn't want to, but she knows better when he half-pushes her away. "Oh, and that 'acquaintance' of yours? The dragon tamer? I wouldn't trust him if I were you- he's not as kind as you think." Then he's off running, only pausing long enough to add: "That cape looks ridiculous on you, by the way."

She scowls at his back and tries to shake off the feel of his hands on her skin as she goes to insert the passwords into the door.

000

The executive Ariana, despite forcing Lance to come to her rescue, doesn't strike Kotone as being an evil person: she allowed her murkrow to open the door, after all, and there was a certain wistfulness in her voice when she spoke Giovanni's name. Then she let Kotone and Lance go, walking off without a backwards glance.

"I'm sorry, Kotone. I saw how well you were doing, so I just hung back. Are you alright?" Lance's voice is soft and sweet, and warms her up after her icy encounter with Silver.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Let's go shut off those radio signals so we can get out of here." They do so, and then meet up at the front of the electricity generator, both sweating and tired. "Those signals should have stopped," she sighs, giving Pip an affectionate pat on the head.

"Yes," he agrees. "All thanks to you. Here, I'd like you to have this as a token of my appreciation." He hands her an HM disc. "It's HM 05, Whirlpool. It should benefit you on your travels."

"Thanks. By the way, I'm giving this back." She passes him his cape, the summery scent lingering on her flesh. "No matter how badass it may be, it suits you better."

He grins at her, and she grins back. "Kotone, where are your travels taking you?" he asks suddenly. In the background, Pip and his dragonite circle each other, sniffing warily before giving each other small smiles. "You're an amazing trainer, but I can't seem to tell what kind of trainer that may be."

"I'm aiming to be the champion." She strikes her signature pose. "I'm going to be Kotone Lyra Heart, the first female champion ever. I'm going to prove to everyone just how strong girls can be, and how it's unfair to discriminate against people just because they're teens."

"That's a beautiful dream that I'm positive you'll accomplish." His eyes are gleaming, and she allows hers to gleam back, just a little. It's nice to have someone that believes in her. "The journey to becoming the champion is a long and difficult one. Knowing that, will you keep going?"

"Of course." She tilts her chin up and puts a hand on her hips, nodding as she speaks. "Long and difficult journeys help you find yourself. They strengthen bonds. They show you the beauty and hardships in life. If you sit back and let life pass you by, how will you ever discover what you're really all about?"

"No, you're right. If you would give up that easily, you would have never chased that dream in the first place." He reaches out to take her hand, and bends to drop a light kiss on the back of it: then he straightens, putting on his cape and giving her a truly flashing smile. "I look forward to seeing you again, Kotone."

He doesn't wait for her to reply, and sweeps out of the room, his dragonite hovering at his heels. Pip floats over to her master, watching as Kotone absently runs her fingers along the hand that he had kissed. She's frowning, and Pip cocks her head, mewling her confusion.

"No cute redheads ever give me their number," Kotone groans in reply, and the two laugh as they exit the base.

~I can be your hero, baby~