Lance could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times he had seen Sabrina speechless. The first time had been when she was given her first Pokémon, an undersized Abra that soon grew to become the cornerstone of her team. The second had been when she achieved Mastery at an age at which most of her peers were still considered children.
Her control was flawless usually; it was surprisingly fun to watch her struck dumb.
Ash cocked his head sideways. "Is she okay?" he asked, concerned at her stillness.
"I'm sure she's fine, Ash," Lance said, leaning back in his chair. Ash took in his relaxed and amused posture and took it as a sign that this was something to enjoy. The little boy turned back around to the teenage psychic and gave her a friendly smile, waving brightly. Sabrina blinked, her hair slowly flowing in a breeze that didn't exist.
"I know that I was told about you, but nothing could have been enough warning for this," she murmured quietly.
"Did Lance tell you about all of the moves that I've learned?" he chirped at her.
Sabrina tilted her head to a side, scrutinizing Ash further. "Define that for me."
"Like this!" Ash immediately ran backwards a few steps, stumbling slightly in that short distance, and bounced on the balls of his feet a couple of times before taking two steps forward, launching himself into the air, and somersaulting. Or, at the very least, attempting to. He ended up landing squarely on his bottom with a loud enough smack that even Sabrina winced sympathetically.
"Mewtwo!" he called out in half of a whine, flopping over on the floor. "You were supposed'a catch me if that happened!"
The purple Pokémon wore an expression of innocence. 'When-where-why-hmm confusion-uncertain-when never-never-knew told-not-not can't-blame-no nothing-did-didn't' ran through the air. Lance managed to hold his neutral expression at the woven story. Sabrina looked at Mewtwo with a wide and appraising look; Lance wondered if she was able to sense the underlying impressions due to her affinity to the mind arts or if Mewtwo had willingly projected them onto her.
"Interesting," she murmured, not sparing a look to Lance. "I'm seeing why you're ill-prepared for this."
Before Lance could get offended by her comment, Ash turned to her and frowned slightly, nose scrunching. "That's kinda mean of you to say," he said.
Sabrina cocked an eyebrow at that. She floated over slightly to loom over Ash, who was still sat on the floor. "I assure you that I may seem 'mean' but I don't intend it. Sometimes, simply stating what you are thinking is the wisest course."
Ash blinked at her. "You're a kid too. Why are you telling me how to think?"
Sabrina started. "I am not a child," she said stiffly. "I am Kanto's Psychic Master and worked hard to get to the level that I'm at. I will not be disrespected in this way."
"Oh, I didn't mean to disres-ect you," Ash said. "But I don't get why you sound so grown-up when you're not grown-up yet."
"I need to speak in this manner in order to get the respect in the first place," Sabrina said, though her hackles were slowly starting to lower. She regarded the young boy with an air of some discontent. "Eloquence will be our first lesson, it seems."
Mewtwo glanced over to Sabrina and then glanced back towards Ash and Lance. 'Approval-yes-yes good-yes-fine yes-her-her enjoyment-amusement-approval' ran through Lance's mind. Lance relaxed at the undercurrent of satisfaction that sang in the back of his head. He hadn't realized just how reliant he was on Mewtwo's reactions to assure him of how Ash might react.
Sabrina gave the two a once-over before locking her eyes on Mewtwo's. They glowed a faint cyan for a split second, fading out just as Mewtwo's eyes grew much wider in shock. His eyes didn't glow in return, but a much swifter undercurrent began to mutter through Lance's head, too fast to even be able to word the sensations that flashed through. The flickering of the emotions and detached words that echoed in the back of his mind was more annoying than painful, though it was starting to slowly kickstart a dull ringing. It was abruptly cut off when Sabrina's eyes glowed yet again.
The Psychic Master turned to Lance. "Leave us," she commanded. "They will be distracted by your presence, Dragon Master."
Lance briefly considered protesting before acquiescing, knowing full well that she could easily have thrown him out, no help needed, if he decided to antagonize her. He bowed to Sabrina before whisking himself from the room. The door was gently closed behind him.
Lance had been reading over Sabrina's notes on the intake she conducted for him on Ash (he definitely had some form of attention disorder that, paired with adrenaline, might could be the difference between life and death for him. Lance wanted to investigate that further) when he heard about the match that he was now observing. He winced as Surge's Raichu managed to twist in the air just enough to avoid the meteor that was Blaine's Charizard. The draconic Pokémon managed to quickly flick a wing out and avoid slamming into the ground at full speed, but she still skidded on the ground, having managed to flip onto her feet and catch herself. Lance took a moment to appreciate the Charizard. She had been bred and trained to be as close to a full Fire-type as possible: her very presence heated up the air around her, and her tail burned white-hot.
"C'mon Chu, roast her! Thunder Twist, version 4!"
The floating Raichu let out a screech that sounded half like his normal cry and half like a whirring motor. He whipped himself through the air, still balancing on the end of his rounded tail. A shower of sparks flooded from his cheeks and his eyes glowed a faint pink as he reached out electrified tendrils in a swirling rope towards the grounded Charizard.
"So, what sparked this, again?" Lance asked Lorelei, who stood in the back of the audience.
She lightly grimaced as Charizard quickly huffed out two sharp bursts of flame before whirling around and sending a pair of wind-based blades through the fire. The burning projectiles reflected in her glasses. Lance had the feeling that she was already preparing strategies to counteract them. "Surge made the 'mistake' of gloating about his newest trainee," she said, indicating the air quotes with her fingers. "Apparently, he's the son of some Kahuna from Alola, and he told Surge about the variants in his region. Brought him a bred Pichu and everything; now we've got a monster on our hands. Blaine made some smart comment about how it would be incinerated just as easily as Rai can be. Now we're here."
Lance squinted at the strange looking Raichu, his eyes narrowed even as he cheerfully bounced in the air. "Is it using Psychic naturally?" he asked, impressed.
Lorelei nodded. "Not something I expected, even after all of Matis's bragging. Blaine will have a counter prepared immediately after this match, but I wanted to see if his adaptability has gotten any better."
"Would you say it has?"
Lorelei glanced back at the field just as Charizard peppered the entire arena with more flaming Air Cutters. "Would you?" she asked, sarcasm dusting her words.
"Fair enough." Lance's eyes narrowed. He lowered his voice; he didn't trust Green to overhear something he didn't want her to. "Do you think Ash would be interested in talking to Surge about raising Egg?"
"I can enthusiastically verify that vice versa would be true," Lorelei said, her voice equally quiet, "but you may have to ask your ward what he thinks beforehand. I shudder to think of how the Lieutenant would choose to treat a child, no matter what the age."
Lance shrugged. "The relevant Masters will most likely know about Ash by the end of this meeting, if only to poll who would be interested in working with him. Surge knowing slightly earlier out of necessity is no huge issue, in my opinion."
"Your opinion isn't the one that matters here," Lorelei said. She abruptly turned and made to leave the arena.
"What's your hurry?" Lance asked.
"I've seen enough of this foolery to know how to freeze both the meathead's and the riddler's schemes in their tracks," she called back over her shoulder. "I'm going to ensure their mortification, should either be so unwise as to challenge me."
Lance watched her go and turned in time to see Chu dart up through the ignited Air Cutters and explode a vastly oversized Electro Ball in Charizard's face, blasting the larger Pokémon backwards. As always, her observations seemed to be correct; the embarrassing moment for Blaine had long since stopped being educational for the other Masters. Lance left to Surge's boisterous cackling at his opponent's misfortune.
"I must admit, Lance, when you said you had a request for me, this isn't quite what I expected."
Scott, Lance, and Professor Samuel Oak sat at one end of Lance's office, observing the three children on the other end interact. Coatl had decided that he was going to watch over them from a much closer distance; the Dragonite had carefully curled up in a pseudo-sleeping position and said nothing as the children clambered over him. Well, some clambered over him. Ash had opted to sit on Coatl's head, admiring the faint layer of fuzz that coated the Dragonite's scales due to his mixed heritage. Anabel seemed content to sit by Coatl's tail, leaning against him. Eevee was curled up in her lap. Oak's grandson, a perky and rambunctious boy, had managed to climb up the dragon and was sitting between his wings.
"Lookit me, Gramps!" he crowed to the adults. "I'm king of the dragon!" Coatl opened one eye and gave the little boy a look of disgruntled, patient incredulity before closing it again and settling back down, gently relaxing his muscles so as to not jostle either of the boys that perched on top of him.
Professor Oak chuckled at Gary's enthusiasm. "Be careful, your majesty!" he called back. "I don't want to have to take you back to your parents hurt." The little boy scoffed at the concern but carefully climbed back down to rejoin his compatriots. Ash was less careful; he sprang off of Coatl's head before Lance could say anything.
"I'm guessing that Blue hasn't let up on him, then?" Lance said, deciding to let Ash's energetics go for once.
Professor Oak sighed before relaxing in his seat slightly. "No. If anything, that fool son of mine encourages the competitiveness. He told me, 'Pa, I used to be that way too, and look at me now, preparing to take Master Giovanni's title from him. If he keeps that tenacity while growing up, Gary'll more than outstrip me some day.' I sometimes wonder if all of the child psychologists are correct to be lobbying for an older training age minimum, if that's how we're going to let our children develop." He fell silent again, watching as Gary said something to Ash and Anabel, prompting them both to follow him in sitting down.
Scott chuckled. "Well, I'd say that I'm more than happy that your grandson is gregarious if it brings Anabel out of her shell more. I really should have tried to arrange some play-dates for her earlier, if she's going to be that social now."
Professor Oak gave him a curious look. "She's been sitting with her Pokémon on her lap all afternoon and hasn't said a word yet."
"She's not treating Eevee like a plush to hide behind, either," Scott retorted. "Baby steps."
Professor Oak merely raised an eyebrow at Scott's earnestness. Before any of the men could say anything else, they heard a loud grunt from the corner that the children were in. They looked over to see Ash doubled up on himself, Gary cackling quietly as Anabel merely stared with widened eyes. Eevee wasn't in Anabel's lap anymore, instead standing in front of her, head cocked to one angle in confusion.
"Is everything alright over there?" Lance called over.
Ash wasn't able to say anything in between his wheezes. Gary's laughter doubled as he fell onto his back, legs kicking in the air. Anabel was now covering the bottom half of her face with both of her hands.
"Anabel? Can you tell us what's up?" Scott asked.
The girl started trembling and crumpling herself. Lance nearly stood up and out of his seat out of worry. What happened? Why was she refusing to say anything? Only Scott's relaxed posture cued to both him and Professor Oak that everything was fine.
A couple of seconds later, Lance was just as reassured. Peals of high-pitched giggles spilled out from between her fingers and joined in with Gary's uncontrollable howls. Ash had finally regained his breath and was giving them all halfhearted glares. "Not funny," he coughed out.
"Okay then, kids, who can explain to us unobservant adults what just happened?" Professor Oak said.
"I-I-I got it, Gramps," Gary said between barks of laughter. "We were talkin' about how Pokémon and people c-can't really fight anymore"— he had calmed down a bit and wasn't laughing anymore, though he had acquired a potent hiccup— "Ashy-b-boy here said that h-he could stand up to a Pokémon if he needed to and talked about how-w you and Master Sabrina were workin' on it with him or something. And Eevee overheard and decided that he wanted to test it out a-a-a-and h-he j-j-j—" Gary lost the battle against his amusement, his cackles now punctuated by the sharp, loud hiccups that now plagued him.
The adults patiently waited for one of the kids to finish explaining. Ash seemed grumpy over the entire situation, Gary was once again paralyzed in laughter and rolling on the floor, and Anabel was still attempting to reel herself in. Finally, she was able to finish the story.
"Eevee thought it would be funny t-to test Ash's skill by Tackling him right in the belly," she said, a snort slipping out between her giggles. "And he wasn't expecting it at all, and…" She gestured helplessly at Ash where he sat on the floor, legs splayed out, arms crossed.
"I see," Scott said. "Thank you for explaining everything. Ash, are you alright?"
"Rain," the boy responded.
Professor Oak and Scott blinked.
"Right as, he means," Lance quickly translated.
"Did he pick that up from Sabrina?" Scott asked.
"He must have. Or, perhaps, from another one of his friends."
Professor Oak studied Lance's features. "Weren't you saying that Ash was sorely lacking in the friend department? That is why you asked for me to bring my grandson after realizing that they were around the same age, correct?"
"Ah, he didn't have any human friends. I'm sorry, I thought I made that distinction clear, but I guess not," Lance said.
"Where are his Pokémon, then?"
"His friends" – Lance didn't mind having to correct the other two men; how could they have implicitly understood the strange camaraderie from that group of strangers? – "are a bit shyer. I think they rely on his opinion on other people before choosing to meet them. As Ash seems to be getting along well enough with Gary and Anabel, unfortunate happenstances aside, I can't imagine why they might want to keep hiding in the future. I'd be shocked if Ash hid them past today."
Professor Oak chuckled. "I'm sure Gary would be rather jealous if Ash indeed has as large of a collection as you are implying. The boy has been begging me for a Pokémon already; I'm tempted to give him one of my starter eggs and teaching him some responsibility while he's still young enough."
"I must have been around his age when the elders of the Blackthorn Clan decided that I was to help tend the dragons at the altar," Lance mused. "Maybe we should require that all Trainers first learn how to care for Pokémon for at least five years before they obtain their licenses for independent travel. We could discuss it while all of the Masters are still around here."
"How exciting," Scott said dryly.
"Gary, if you want, I can ask Eevee to Tackle you too to see how tough you are!" Anabel's voice chirped cheerfully. Lance looked back over; Ash had fully recovered from the unexpected hit, no worse for the wear, though he was still pouting at Gary for laughing at his misfortune. Anabel was sitting with her legs splayed outwards, leaning back on her hands. Gary was lying on the ground still.
Gary blanched slightly at Anabel's suggestion, quickly pushing himself into a sitting position. "Nah, that's alright, Anabel. I don't think I'm anywhere near as tough as Eevee is. How'd'ja get him, anywho?"
Anabel shrugged. Gary waited for a couple of seconds before he also shrugged and kicked a leg at Ash to get his attention. The two boys started somewhat cheerfully needling each other again. Anabel watched in resigned confusion.
"I do quite appreciate that Gary seems more relaxed here. Green seems intent on making sure that her relationship with Blue is mirrored in their children. While it's perhaps sweet and nostalgic in her own way, I'm not sure if it's necessarily healthy for either of the kids," Professor Oak said.
"I'll admit that I wasn't too sure about this at first," Scott said, "but I've never seen Anabel so calm and open. I would be more than happy to bring her back on a regular basis, if you two don't mind."
Whatever Lance would have said was cut off by the kids suddenly all getting up and running out of his office. Professor Oak and Scott both looked over to their stampede out in alarm before looking to Lance for answers. The Dragon Master shrugged before reaching for a Pokéball on his desk and flicking it to the ground. Deino shook her head to clear it slightly before looking up to Lance expectantly.
"Can you make sure Ash, Gary, and Anabel don't get up to anything too devious?" Lance asked.
Deino barked in response before turning and happily trotting out of the room.
Professor Oak watched her go, shaking his head. "I haven't had any time recently to even think about training a new Pokémon from the ground up. My research is taking over my life," he said.
"I could recommend you a new line to investigate, if you want," Lance said. "I'm sure you've heard all about most of them, though."
Professor Oak merely raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't know which you are currently referring to, but I'm all ears."
Lance started to wax philosophical over the pros and cons of the Noibat line originally attributed to Kalos, and soon enough it was time for the other children to leave.
That evening, over a dinner of pasta and greens, Ash needed no prompting to talk about what happened after the children had run out of Lance's office.
"Gary wanted to see all of the others so we went back to my room," he said, punctuating his words with a cheerful stab at his tomatoes. "Mewtwo didn't really wanna deal with them so he practiced what Sabby taught us and made himself i-visible. Egg wanted to meet Gary and Anabel though, and Amber just goes along with everything because she likes having friends. Fossil annoyed Eevee a li'l. Program stayed in the Pokédex. Gary was real jealous that I had a Pokédex, too, but then he said that he was gonna get a Pokémon from his gramps that was better than Egg and Amber and Fossil and all of my friends combined, and I thought it was kind of weird first but I think he was just tryin' to seem cool."
It took Lance a second to register exactly what it was that Ash said. "Did Sabrina let you call her that?" he asked.
Ash just shrugged. "Her name is too long."
Lance took that as a no. "And she taught Mewtwo to make himself invisible?"
"Yeah, that was what happened yesterday," Ash said, nudging a withered spinach leaf around his plate. At Lance's meaningful glance, the boy sulkily forced himself to shove it into his mouth and worry on it for a second.
"How does he do it?" Lance asked.
Ash shrugged. "Somethin' about bending light beams. I dunno." Ash pushed his plate away. "Can I go play with the others now? Amber had an idea about how to make Egg even faster."
"Egg? Faster? Who would think?" Lance mused aloud. "If you think you won't need to eat anymore, you're free to go. No snacks later."
Ash furrowed his brow at that condition before eyeing the plate again. He pulled it back to him, shoveled the remainder into his mouth, and ran out still chewing.
Lance chuckled to himself as he continued to calmly eat his food, idly counting the seconds in his head. Exactly fourteen seconds later, Ash zoomed back into the room, Egg on his shoulder and Amber hot on his heels.
"Did you leave Program and Fossil to try and catch up with you again?" Lance chided. Ash looked abashed for a moment before his face split into an excited grin.
"Mewtwo said you wanted to tell me and Egg about something?" Ash said, bouncing on his heels. Egg squeaked in time with his fidgeting.
"I was going to tell you before you decided to run out," Lance said. "I was talking with Master Matis and he's more than willing to help you figure out a training regimen for Egg. The Lieutenant is known as Kanto's expert on Electric-types, and he's especially well-versed with the Pichu-Pikachu-Raichu line. If anything, he may be more excited than you to check out a Pikachu that's probably faster than his own Raichus were before training."
Ash tilted his head slightly. Egg mimicked the gesture. "Why can't you do that?" he asked.
"I could help you figure out a basic training regimen, probably," Lance allowed. "It wouldn't be anything special, though, and probably applicable to every Pokémon on the planet. I know all that there is to know about the Dratini-Dragonair-Dragonite line, yes, and I know the Dragon-type well enough to be able to train any member of it to my standard. I don't know enough to help you to that extent with Egg, or really any member of your family." Lance grimaced at this admission. "Matis can help with Egg in the same way that Sabrina helped with Mewtwo by teaching him how to finesse his skill and turn invisible and that Brock could help with Fossil. It will always be more beneficial to get advice from the Type Master of your specific Pokémon than try to get by with whatever basic knowledge any Trainer could give you at a certain point in their journey. Am I making sense?"
"Kinda." Ash thought for a second. "So it's like how Brock asked you for help with Aerodactyl? Because you know about it, but you couldn't tell him too much because yours isn't as Rock-type as his is?"
"In a sense," Lance said. "I'm sure that when Amber develops more, Bruno will also offer his assistance in honing her talent. I've also got to start training you myself."
Ash looked startled. "Training me?" he asked, dumbfounded. Egg leapt off of his shoulder and began chattering quietly to Amber, most likely enthused about the upcoming days of working alongside seasoned Raichus.
"Of course. You have to maintain yourself as a Trainer just as much as your friends have to maintain themselves as Pokémon. It's a mutual respect thing; if you're not putting in the work, then how could you demand it of them? Also, if you battle anyone outside of the Masters in Pokespeech and not in Universal, then people will call an unfair advantage. It's considered polite among humans to verbalize your commands such that your opponent knows what's coming. It's mostly a preventative measure; if a Trainer hid the fact that they were going to use a water-type move against a Charmander, for example, the move could potentially be so powerful that the Charmander's tail flame could go out, and that would be an entire mess and a half which could have been stopped by the Charmander being commanded to dodge with a second to spare." Lance held up a hand as Ash began to protest. "I know that you would never harm a Pokémon to that degree. You're different from a human in that you empathize with your Pokémon to that extent and would never demand such a move. It would be safest for you to hide that part of yourself by acting as a human Trainer might."
"What about things that aren't listed in the Pokédex? Like when Amber jumps up real high with her paw?"
Lance smiled at the memory. "Many Trainers come up with original move combos and give them custom names. In those cases, it's less knowing the move's identity and more knowing that the move is coming and preparing for it."
Ash nodded thoughtfully. "I'll try and come up with something," he said. Egg tugged on Ash's pant leg, apparently having run out of patience for their conversation. "Egg wants to know when he gets to meet the Lieutenant," Ash quickly translated. "He's calling him Sparky-sparky-boom-man. I don't think I should call him that, though."
"Sparky-sparky-boom-man?" Lance repeated.
"He says it's a very good title for someone to have. It's hard to really translate? It's like the crackling of the air before lightning and thunder in a storm, but as a man. Or a Pokémon, I guess."
"Best not repeat that to Master Matis; I don't think he will understand the implication," Lance said. "I'll be sure to let him know that you're ready to meet him. Make sure that Mewtwo continues his training with Sabrina so that you can all improve together. I would offer to introduce you to Daisy and see if she has any Water-aligned advice for Fossil, but I have the feeling she'd spent most of the time squealing over the fact that I have a child running around after me and also that there is a child on League property." He sighed. "I don't think she'd be able to stay focused."
"Who is Master Daisy?"
Ash's automatic respectful tone both amused and worried Lance. "Daisy is the Kanto Water Master. She's known for grace and precision, as well as being a bit absent-minded at the best of times. She can seem a little, er, shallow, but she is often far more observant than many give her credit for. She's also very good at getting other humans to underestimate her. It might be something that Fossil would be interested in learning about, but again, she would spend most of her time meeting you and proclaiming you the cutest thing she's ever seen."
Ash immediately wrinkled his nose at the prospect.
"Perhaps later, then," Lance said with a chuckle.
"Can I see Master Matis before saying yes?" Ash asked. "I can get Mewtwo to practice staying invisible by making him make me invisible too, and we can follow you around a li'l bit and watch him."
"You're asking for consent to sneak around," Lance deadpanned. "You have to be the first child under the age of eight to ask for permission to snoop."
"It seems rude not to?" Ash said, his voice lilting into a question.
Lance barely held in a laugh at Ash's bewilderment over human society. "I'll let you know when I plan to verify plans with Lieutenant Surge and you are more than welcome to shadow me during it."
Ash beamed before nodding. "Is that everything, then?" he asked. Egg quickly climbed back onto his shoulder.
"It should be. I want to go and speak with Mewtwo and see his improvement for myself, but you can run off first and I'll join you in a bit," Lance said. The words had barely left his mouth when he was blinking at the empty space that the three once occupied.
Lance sedately finished his meal, made sure that his dragons had their own dinners sorted, and headed down the familiar hallway, quietly conversing with the few Masters he came across on his way. Blaine had been slightly singed and mostly muttering to himself, barely able to keep up a basic conversation. Surge was still twitching at the notion of working with a Pikachu with more raw potential than what he'd ever been presented with. Brock had obviously been coming from where Lance was heading, and he gave the older man a nod of greeting and a quick rundown of how much better Aerodactyl had gotten after Brock started to react to her instincts, as well as showing Lance the Protector that Giovanni finally deigned to give to him. Erika had been meditating in a hallway, her Vileplume, Bellossum, and Roserade sitting around her and in the same trance. Lance hadn't tried to engage her at all.
Ash's eyes lit up when Lance walked in. "Finally! What took you so long?" he asked, flopping to the ground. Lance noted how much more comfortable he seemed without having to worry about others possibly intruding at any time.
"I ran into a few friends and wanted to talk to them, of course," Lance said.
"Other Masters?"
"Indeed." Lance looked around the room. "I assume Mewtwo is somewhere here."
'You assume correct.' For the first time, Lance could hear a singular voice speaking above the echoes of implication that typically marked Mewtwo's speech. Were Mewtwo a human, his voice would put him at around Brock's age, though Lance had the feeling that had more to do with his mental maturity than his actual physical age.
"Did Sabrina make you work on that?" Lance asked, tapping his temple to specify.
Mewtwo nodded. 'The Guide wished to have a structured conversation with me. She claims that communicating through insights would never be nuanced enough to be able to display what one would want to show. It truly isn't too much more of a strain than basic communication is; as such, I am adequate. I apologize for any instances of misunderstanding between the two of us, though I would say that you, Fire-Drake, are far easier to communicate to than most. I commend you for that.'
"Thanks, though I'm sure most of that is because I've been helping Sabrina since she was a very young child." Lance pulled a chair out from the table and sat at it. "Would you mind showing me what else you've improved on in training?"
'Of course. I hear from the Dying-Flame that you were asking after a particular skill that I used to hide from his companions earlier. Why he is so fascinated with the two younglings, I have no idea. The Feel-Others in particular was tricky to work around; the Firebrand was less of a worry.'
Lance knew that Mewtwo was aware of every human's name. His strange nomenclature was something very common to telepaths. Really, Mewtwo was doing nothing additional in how he broadcasted his thoughts, but he was adding additional neural signals that helped convince Lance's neurons to register the sensations as something solid, giving him an actual voice. That being said, according to Sabrina, the only way to signify separate beings was through a series of impressions and emotions that signified who that person was in your perception. There was no way that Mewtwo's perception of Ash matched what Lance's could ever be, and that was something that no telepath had been able to overcome. That Lance knew immediately who Mewtwo referred to wasn't typical, either; it took others a lot of work to try and piece together how a psychic might perceive of the person they were talking about.
That being said, Anabel and Gary were distinct enough personalities that calling them the Feel-Others and the Firebrand respectively made sense.
'The Guide has been helping me work on all aspects of stealth,' Mewtwo continued. He crossed his legs and floated much more fluidly in front of Lance. 'That includes propulsion through the air, analysis of the room via others' thoughts, and, as the Dying-Flame was so excited for, the alteration of other's perceptions such that one can be ignored for a time. The Guide started me with the harder of the two exercises for that last bullet point. The easier method would be to ask another's mind politely to ignore my presence. If there were few enough people searching for me, then I could persuade them to never find me. It's much harder with larger groups, in which case I must bend light itself to try and remain unseen.' Mewtwo rolled his head around his neck and stretched his arms out. 'It's very difficult, though. It requires so much of my concentration that, as of right now, I can't be doing anything if I want to remain unseen.'
"It seems like a good skill to practice with," Lance mused. "If you learn how to make it second nature, then you can strengthen your mental focus. It would be much easier to master other skills as you'd already know how to hone your concentration."
Mewtwo tilted his head to the side. It seemed as though Lance had forgotten how young Mewtwo actually was.
"If you keep practicing being invisible while floating or speaking, then there's a chance that you'd have the contorol t be able to apply your powers in whatever other exercise Sabrina gives you already," Lance clarified.
'And you didn't word it as such previously, why?'
Lance knew that the detached eloquence of his words wasn't completely on purpose, but he still sighed at it. "You psychics are far too good at acting more eloquent than you actually are."
Mewtwo narrowed his eyes. 'I don't understand.'
"You don't need to bang your head against it," Lance said, waving off his curiosity. Mewtwo hesitated for a second before relenting.
'That is most of what we have covered in our time together,' Mewtwo waved a hand dismissively. 'I believe that the Guide wants to cover telekinesis as soon as I have mastered invisibility. She says that it will feel much simpler once I master this trick. I do not think I enjoy thinking of them as tricks—it makes my powers seem much smaller. Less world-bending.'
"Someone is getting a little full of themselves," Lance teased without any fire in his voice.
Mewtwo didn't recognize the hidden boast, it seemed, as he simply gave Lance a bewildered look.
"I was thinking about training Ash on how human society is supposed to work: Trainer etiquette, how to work on strategies, etcetera. Would you want to be included in that from a human's perspective or from a Pokémon's perspective?"
Mewtwo gazed blankly at Lance, though the man would have been a fool to think that Mewtwo wasn't thinking about the question. It was an odd question to ask of a Pokémon, normally, but Mewtwo had never acted as though he would be content to be treated as a Pokémon usually was.
'It doesn't seem like a typical gesture, to be offered to be trained as a Trainer alongside the Dying-Flame,' Mewtwo mused as though he could hear Lance's thoughts. 'I cannot help but wonder if you have an ulterior motive for such a request.'
"Honestly, it would probably be more mentally stimulating for you to experience training as a human would and more physically stimulating if you trained as a Pokémon would," Lance said. "You could easily switch between the two if you so desired. I want to maximize your training as well as Ash's, and you know yourself well enough to make an informed decision about your path in the future. I can't imagine Egg or Amber appreciating the nuances of what I'm going to be drilling into Ash's head for the next few years."
'I need to be strong for the Dying-Flame. He is all I have left,' Mewtwo said. 'I will train as one of his for now. Perhaps he can in turn inform me of what he is learning.'
"That works for me." Lance paused. "Why do you say you need to be strong for Ash?"
'The Menace will come back for him,' Mewtwo said flatly, flicking his tail. 'The world is small and his reach too wide. The Dying-Flame needs to be prepared for that return.'
"Menace?" Lance asked.
He blinked and suddenly there was the feeling of a presence, one that loomed and slunk around the room. There was something insidious in the air around him, a feeling of slowly sinking dread that faded into a deeper resignation to something, a deep-seated despair that itself led to hopelessness. The presence loomed at the front of Lance's mind, omnipresent, omnipotent. Only Lance's innate draconic pride kept him from slumping to the ground listlessly.
And then the sensation went away. Mewtwo gave Lance an apologetic shrug.
"That was quite something. I feel like I understand, though I'm sure that I don't," Lance said, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to brush off the feeling.
'The Menace is always waiting, always there,' Mewtwo said solemnly. 'No matter how hard we tried, he made sure that we were never strong enough. Now I can be. I can be strong enough to fight the Menace.'
"And so will Ash, once I'm through with him," Lance said firmly.
"The most important thing to remember in battling is positioning."
Ash cocked his head to the side, closely examining the crude battlefield diagram that Lance had scratched into the dirt with a stick. They were in the very training grounds that Lance had been heading to when he found Ash; the other Masters were far more comfortable throwing each other around in the arenas that the League provided, so they had complete privacy to work. Ash had willingly brought his entire team with him in Pokéballs; even Mewtwo had come along in one, which surprised Lance despite what Mewtwo had decided about his training previously.
Lance tapped one of the boxes he had drawn on the short side of the battlefields. "This is informally called the trainer's box. In official matches, that is the entire space you can stand in during a match. Leaving it during active battle disqualifies you. Typically, more polished arenas such as the ones provided for the Indigo Tournament raises those boxes up a bit, but otherwise you will have to bear in mind that all of your moves must benefit you from this very spot. Putting up a Smokescreen may be helpful in limiting your opponents' sightlines, but if the Smokescreen drifts over your box as well, then everyone's going blind. In that case, your Pokémon should have a solid strategy that it can enact itself with the Smokescreen as a cue. Do you understand me so far?"
"Kinda," Ash ventured. "You keep saying stuff about formal things and official matches. What about battles?"
"Ah. I see that Lorelei has touched on that difference," Lance said with a satisfied nod. "Most Trainers don't differentiate between the two, as a warning, but we'll keep to the formal definitions in these lessons. In a match, the etiquette is to keep both your and your opponent's boxes in mind. Don't purposefully hurt your opponent simply to win. In a battle, all rules are off, and that's where positioning truly matters."
Ash seemed deep in thought.
"How about I show you what I mean?" Lance said mildly, unhooking several Pokéballs from his belt and activating one's expansion mechanism. "We're going to start from the very basics, though even as rudimentary as this session may seem you'll find that not many Trainers put any thought into this."
"This?" Ash prompted.
"We're going to be talking about the release of a Pokémon into a field," Lance said. "A match starts when a referee calls for a start. I prefer bouncing a Pokéball off of the ground and letting the shock open the Pokéball. That way, my Pokémon will materialize close enough to the ground for them to know that they should stay on the ground and wait for a cue." Lance flicked his wrist. The expanded Pokéball shot a few feet in front of him, bounced off the ground, violently ricocheted back into the air, and released Coatl, who calmly floated down to the ground and crouched forward into a ready position. Lance expertly caught the capsule he had thrown. "Okay, you try."
Ash furrowed his brow before fumbling with his collection of Pokéballs, which had just been stuffed haphazardly into his pocket. He looked at one carefully, expanded it, and threw it at the ground. The capsule skipped on the ground shallowly, releasing a rather discombobulated Amber who hurriedly caught herself from tripping as she fell out of the Pokéball. She then chased after it as it skipped along the ground rather than bouncing back to Ash's hand the way Lance's had.
The boy winced. "Sorry, Amber!" he called out, immediately chittering afterwards in the same apologetic tone. Amber jogged back to him to hand the capsule back, seemingly unconcerned by her less-than-graceful entrance.
"Let's practice that toss again," Lance said. "Think about how it'll rebound. Pokéballs are made out of an alloy of Aron cast-offs and midrange quality iron to ensure that the ball can't break, no matter how hard it's thrown by a human. It allows Silph Co. to make the shell for the Pokéball technology extremely thin, which should help you properly throw and retrieve it."
Ash uncertainly held the Pokéball up, hesitating.
"Think about how hard you need to throw it for it to come back to you," Lance said quietly. "It's not magic, it's not psychic ability, it's just physics and intent. If you throw it and want for it to come back, your body will comply. Especially yours, with your connection to Aura. Just go for it: throw the Pokéball and intend to catch it."
Ash took a deep breath, wound his arm back, and whipped it forward with a yell, flicking his wrist downwards as he did. Amber burst out of the capsule, only surprised for a moment at being released a few feet in the air before she whipped herself into a ready position and landed crouched on the ground. Ash didn't pay too much attention to watching her land, staring instead at the Pokéball that shot back from the ground as though magnetically drawn to his hand.
"Very good, Ash!" Lance called over, clapping.
Ash turned to him with a wide grin. "Did I do good?" he asked hopefully.
"You did amazingly. Getting the hang of throwing Pokéballs is difficult, though it may be a bit easier since you didn't rely on the crutch of manual release to begin with."
It took a second for Ash's brain to catch up, but his head whipped back around with a startled look. "Manual release?" he repeated, feeling the words out with his mouth for clarity.
Lance allowed himself a smirk. "Yep." He held up another Pokéball. This time, instead of throwing it at an angle, he held the release mechanism on its front down for the allocated three seconds. Red light flooded from the Pokéball and coalesced into the hulking form of Drakon, who managed to snarl in a friendly manner to Coatl. The latter Dragonite simply nodded in acknowledgement.
Ash looked shocked and almost mutinous. "What was the point of learning to toss it, then?" he asked.
"We're not talking about matches today, remember?" Lance prompted. "It's easy in a match to release your Pokémon calmly. In battles, it's a whole other story. The release button takes three seconds to activate—that's to prevent against accidentally releasing your Pokémon when you smack your belt too hard or something as trivial as such—and you might not have three seconds to spare to call in your reinforcements when there are people fighting all around you."
Ash still looked a little put out by Lance's omission, but he nodded a bit sullenly to show he understood.
"Keep practicing your throw," Lance said, stepping back. "Release your whole team."
Ash grumbled a little before grabbing another Pokéball from his pocket, winding up, and throwing it, deftly catching the capsule after Egg skidded to the ground, enthusiasm flaring before he realized that nothing too exciting was happening. Egg was followed by Mewtwo, who was followed by Fossil, and finally Program. The group of Pokémon waited patiently as Ash fumbled with the final Pokéball, trying his hardest to not leave his trainer's box.
"Very good, Ash!" Lance said. "This is going to be a little more challenging, now. To return your Pokémon, you need to hit them with the right Pokéball. Each one has been keyed to your specific Pokémon and will activate upon contact, no matter to where. Now it really matters where you throw and how you catch. Try it."
Lance had Ash run through the exercise of releasing and retrieving his Pokémon for a little while. Ash's party seemed a bit bored of the sedentary exercise, but as soon as Ash displayed full control over that aspect, Lance had the Pokémon running as soon as they left the capsule and had Ash attempting to retrieve them mid movement. It took quite a bit longer for Ash to master this, though that might have been because Egg seemed to revel in quickly changing direction right as his Pokéball was about to recall him. Even in the short time, Lance could see that Ash was starting to develop his own style: a slight flick of the wrist that sent the Pokéball spinning, a flourish when catching it on its return. The pace at which Ash was able to pick up on what Lance was teaching was startling. Lance had read Lorelei's summaries about how quickly Ash was able to understand the strategies of war generals and old Masters, but this was on another level from that, even. It took Ash a fraction of the time to conceptualize and apply what he was being told, and though he seemed slightly frustrated by his progress, Lance could tell that he was also starting to get a bit bored.
That wouldn't do.
Lance surreptitiously detached three of his own Pokéballs and circled around Ash. When the boy finally succeeded at predicting exactly where Egg was going to be and returned him at the first try, Lance snapped his wrists outward and threw all three Pokéballs at the same time.
The first bounced on the ground but then rocketed into the air. The team member he released was barely visible; it immediately dove straight at the ground in a dark blur and opened up a huge crater, sending shockwaves through the earth.
The second arced high in the sky and released another dragon that immediately flew as high as it could before giving a piercing cry and swooping down, summoning illusory copies and circling the two humans standing on the ground in a never-ending blur.
The third skidded against the ground slightly, releasing the final challenger in a crouching position. This dragon was the only recognizable one, though how Haxorus folded himself up so much, even Lance couldn't fully explain.
Ash froze, his eyes darting around at the new threats suddenly unleashed on him.
"Ash, stay focused. This is still a controlled setting. We aren't going to hurt you if at all possible, and if it does happen, we'll be able to heal you completely when we get back to the League," Lance said as soothingly as he could. He clipped the three Pokéballs back to his belt and picked out a couple more. "Matches are the official way to test your strength against each other. Trainers are protected by carefully constructed barriers. Audiences can watch freely. Matches are easy to learn, but we're not just learning how to fight in a match. I'm going to teach you how to battle."
Lance felt his inner dragon purr as he locked eyes with his charge, whose eyes lost all apprehension and gained the spark of something. "Your goal is to make me recall my Pokémon in whatever way you see fit. Of course, try not to get too badly injured. The battle starts when my next partner is released and ends when one of us has been knocked over by the other. I will count any direct hit made on a released partner as their being eliminated from the exercise and I will be slowly releasing all of my team members. My goal is to knock you off of your feet. Are you ready?"
Ash didn't even get the chance to nod as Lance was already releasing his fourth team member when he asked. "Gabite, cloak upon arrival! Flygon, disengage and disorient! Haxorus, move in and prepare to swipe! Drakon, to me!" Lance leapt up, arm outstretched, and was caught by Drakon, who swiftly gained as much altitude as he dared with the fragile human in his arms. Gabite shot out of the hole in the dirt he had dug and scraped his foot backwards, kicking up a swirling defense of sandy dust. Flygon chirruped at his order and slowed herself down, managing to fly sideways as she continued to circle around Ash in multitudes. Haxorus gave a snarl and bounded forwards, arms raised high.
Ash ducked his chin down and rolled out of the way, getting back up quickly. He leapt over another swinging claw and flicked his wrist—a Pokéball shot out of his hand and Amber quickly coalesced on the ground. She gave Ash a questioning growl but was quickly cut off when he made a strident sound at her and waved his hands wildly about. Her eyes widened before narrowing in concentration and then glowing slightly. Amber herself glowed red for a split second, and she darted forward quickly enough to fade from view in the next.
Amber dove through one of Flygon's copies, leaving an opening in the illusory boundary. She barked something out before curling in on herself, coiling up to spring away at a moment's notice.
Ash, for his part, didn't remain static. He dove through another of Flygon's Double Team copies and stood across from Amber, crouching low. His eyes sparked blue and his hands began to glow with an unearthly cyan fire.
Lance reached up and tapped Drakon with his Pokéball, recalling the dragon from midair. "Flygon! Aftershock, version 2!" he called out while in freefall.
Flygon screeched loudly, the sound given physical form as it flew through the air, knocking Lance closer to the ground. She immediately followed the Sonic Boom with a Protect bubble that she manifested around Lance that allowed him to crash down with minimal damage. He nimbly got to his feet just as Ash called out something unintelligible. Amber darted towards Lance in a blur, her feet glowing each time they touched the ground, bounding further and higher than she should have been able to. Amber barked out once before leaping up, aiming for Lance's shoulders. Lance took a step back and quickly flung another Pokéball out. This time it was Altaria who came out in a shower of feathers.
The Humming Pokémon sang out a strident sound that visibly rippled through the air, hitting Amber. The Riolu faltered and lost control of her leap; Altaria danced out of the way, shimmering red as he did so.
"Haxorus!" Lance called. The dragon dove towards Ash, who was just barely able to duck out of the way. He grunted; Altaria landed on his head, making him snarl up at the preening Pokémon.
"Stay focused, guys," Lance muttered more to himself, though he knew that his team would hear him. "Flygon, could you catapult Gabite out for me?" Flygon let out a chittering giggle before somersaulting in the air and slamming her tail on the ground. Tremors shook the earth, rushing under the surface to eject Gabite violently into the air. The Cave Pokémon howled his glee before slicing the air in front of him downwards in a Dual Chop.
Ash squealed before ducking again. He fumbled with the Pokéballs in his pocket before blindly throwing one out. It nearly hit Haxorus, who was obediently standing and waiting for Lance's cue. He grunted and moved his leg in time for the ball to bounce off the ground, and at a quick gesture from his trainer, Haxorus slid away backwards, his claws scraping grooves into the dirt, as Fossil scuttled into existence.
"Altaria, pick him up!" Lance called, ducking beneath Amber's insistent jumps. "Gabite, help me out over here, would you?"
Gabite seemed to take a slight to the blue Pokémon attacking his Trainer. As soon as he was given permission, he leapt at Amber with a snarl and batted her away, sending her reeling to the ground. The canid gasped a breath before glaring at the dragon and springing up. She launched herself at Gabite, an Aura Sphere forming in her paws. Gabite snorted and blew a tiny ball of energy at it, exploding the developing Aura Sphere and sending cyan sparks dancing into the air, before twirling away and landing squarely on his feet.
Amber seemed to panic, twisting as much as she could so that she wouldn't land strongly on one leg as she was aiming to do and skidding clumsily on the ground.
The ground beneath Amber exploded upwards; she barely managed to dart out of the way of another Earth Power Flygon had thrown into the packed dirt. Rather than the summoned spires of earth retracting back into the ground, Flygon slammed her tail into the ground once more and sent them flying into the air towards Ash, who was at that point frantically jumping backwards, away from Haxorus's outstretched claws.
Ash glanced towards Lance, as though to beg for a reprise without words. In response, Lance released Charizard, who immediately took to the air with a roar of exultation. The boy audibly groaned before fumbling for another Pokéball and releasing Egg with a burst of sparks. The Pikachu looked cross that he had been kept in the capsule at all but dutifully flared up in a shower of crackling lightning before darting off at a command. Haxorus grunted as he quickly backed away from the tiny sparkling comet that sped across the ground.
Altaria had long since abandoned his perch on Haxorus's head and had Fossil in his claws. The Kabuto was furiously flailing his appendages, attempting to rear back and hit Altaria with a Water Gun, but the Humming Pokémon was effortlessly twisting himself around, showers of droplets flying across the air. Altaria ended up casually throwing Kabuto into one of the divots that Flygon's Earth Power had made as they fell back down.
Egg checked on Fossil quickly before squinting into the air. The Pikachu snarled to himself before crouching down, a wide grin on his face. He jumped up, spun, and smacked his tail into the ground, throwing himself up a little higher. Ash shouted something else to him, and Egg complied by summoning a massive ball of pure electric energy and launching it at the ground, riding the shockwaves up in a much cruder version of Lance's Aftershock base technique. The Mouse Pokémon looked determined to ride everything all the way up to Charizard, but he had the misfortune of fighting against one of the Pokémon that had helped Lance create the technique to begin with. Charizard smirked before rearing back and unleashing a torrent of flames past Egg's head, disrupting the electrical waves that Egg was relying on. The Pikachu lost control over his trajectory, and with a shrill, panicked squeak, he went flying back towards the ground.
Lance had the thought to relent before deciding against it. There was no purpose to sugarcoating combat for Ash if he was going to start training, and he seemed to take to the exercise well enough. "Flygon, trap Egg where he lands," he commanded. Flygon trilled in acknowledgement before raising a glowing tail and slamming it into the ground. A small, loose vortex of dust and sand whipped up where her tail hit and swirled across the field towards Egg. The Pikachu squeaked in surprise before somehow coating his body in sparks and maneuvering it out of the way, dancing backwards frantically away from the swirling mess once he made it onto the earth.
He ended up backing up right into Haxorus's arms, who wasted no time in snatching up the confused rodent. Egg released a burst of electricity instinctually; Haxorus grunted in annoyance as Lance recalled him for being hit. Egg seemed smug at defeating his foe, but that was before Flygon swooped over to pick him up and hold him above ground. The Pikachu attempted to release himself in the same way as he previously had before realizing that Flygon wasn't taking any damage from the electric-type bursts. Ash tried to release Program, but it materialized in a pile of pixels that was only able to spew weak spouts of water at random. Lance merely had to release one of his newest partners, a towering tree of an Exeggutor, and instruct it to hold the immaterial Pokémon in place. Amber had frozen where she stood, allowing Gabite to sweep her up in his arms and start playing a macabre parody of catch with Altaria, the two twisting around each other as they tossed the Riolu back and forth against each other. Charizard had plucked Fossil out of the divot with his claws, casually holding him in such a way that all the Kabuto could do was feebly scrabble in the air.
Lance hadn't been idly standing by as his dragons immobilized Ash's team. He had perched on Charizard's back while commanding Flygon to grab Egg, and when he was within reach, Lance jumped off of the dragon's back and was able to grab Ash's wrists, preventing him from releasing Mewtwo to help them all. The boy flailed with a squeal, attempting to shake Lance's grip off to no avail.
"And time," Lance called. His team relaxed, immediately releasing their captives, and Lance returned them all with very little preamble.
He looked over the younger team. Amber looked dizzy and discombobulated from being used as a ball. Egg looked irritated at not being able to do anything to free himself. Program was a bit hard to read, but Fossil's fierce scuttling betrayed his own annoyance.
"Final time was two minutes and forty-seven seconds. Not bad at all," Lance said.
"That seems real short," Ash said, sulking slightly.
"Not at all. First-timers to this style of training rarely do better than two-and-a-half minutes; most usually last just over one. You've got an impressive base level understanding of what it means to fight. All we have to do now is shore up your instincts and make sure that how you react is the same as how you would logically want to act. That's much easier to teach than basic instincts. You'll be making it to three minutes in no time."
Ash scrunched up his nose at Lance. "I'm going to be beating you in no time," he vowed.
"No, you're not," Lance said. "Not this year, anyhow. Let's see if we can't impart some basic wisdom on you today. Are you ready?"
The boy grinned at the man before launching himself into the air with an exuberant, challenging shout.
Sorry for the lateness (again)—I may have gotten myself Pokémon Shield when I was about 1000 words from being done with the first draft (I've got boxes full of Sobbles from an ongoing Masuda hunt). Not sure if it's necessary to say, but Galar Pokémon are most likely not going to end up in this fic, at least where it stands right now (it's going to be pretty Kanto-centric for a good while yet). While writing this, I realized that the reason why I'm dragging my feet through all of this is that I have had quite a bit more exposition to set up before the real plot can begin, and that by choosing Lance as the limited narrator, I've limited myself a lot right now. That being said, next chapter is really when things start to get exciting, so hopefully it will be out much more quickly than these past two chapters have been posted.