The black soot crunched beneath Lance's leather boot as he stepped back onto the midnight field, enjoying the cool ocean breeze under his cape as it kicked in over the Vermilion bay. He could always count on his secret spot here on Route 11, where the rising mask of the misting sea and the towering hands of the trees could always guarantee him some privacy. It was the outlet he needed, for him and his pokémon to let off some steam and practice their most coveted of skills.

Although it wasn't quite a secret anymore, Lance thought. He looked further out toward the burnt blacktop of overcooked grass, Charizard's clever pathways still carved deep into its skin from the weekend before.

His mind remembered her so vividly; the trembling, beautiful girl, so petite beneath the mystic watchful moon, as if built with a Bellsprout's bones, his quiet Vermilion voyeur and her hungry cerulean eyes. And her unwavering, agile Kadabra...

...and how he had probably scared her away for good. That's all he was ever good at, he growled to himself.

He shook away the thought; no distractions from training tonight.

His trusty Dragonite landed with a THUD at his feet, its scaly, gingered body towering over his own. As his oldest friend and top-line ace, Lance knew he could trust Dragonite with any task, to follow him down any tunnel and fly him valiantly into the dangers of the unknown.

"Let's do one more round." Lance said, his trusty dragon nodding at him in agreement. It kicked off from the ground again and flew like a spirit shackle's arrow out above the field.

Lance watched as Dragonite moved into position in the sky, a blazing orange sun on this black night, doubling back around at the end of the battlefield and stopping just above the furthest line.

"Ready?" Lance called out, lifting his arm out from behind his silken cape preparing for the signal. Dragonite eyed him from above with a nod, it's muscles tensing, its wings beating in controlled waves as it held itself in suspense across the field.

A stern look crossed Lance's face, eyes alight with the thrill of the command:

"Go!"

Dragonite LAUNCHED out toward the grass, garnering vicious speed as it swooped downward with the ocean wind to its back. On the way down it took in a cold, solid breath through its razor-sharp teeth, gathering the energy of the watching stars above them into its massive lungs.

Yes, there it was... Lance could feel the power brewing in his bones as well; his muscles swelling, the pressure mounting in his chest as his hands curled into tight, angry fists.

He and his dragons were linked, their auras synced and solitary; they moved as one, they felt as one. And as this power built up in Dragonite, as it dropped like a searing stone awaiting the final command, so did it build in the Dragon Master's body.

Throwing his hand down to the air with fury, Lance cried out:

"Hyper Beam!"

With a raging ROAR, Dragonite unleashed its most devastating attack: Hyper Beam, a shaking, white-hot ray of brutal annihilation BLASTING into the battlefield and incinerating everything in its path as it swept over the remnants of the grass. The beds of the forest SHOOK with the raging inferno, the earth quaking, the trees trembling and dancing in place.

Lance could feel his bones draining, his veins emptying out with the beam, giving it everything he had as his Dragon rained the fire down. He held his breath and braced his triceps strong, enduring the release, enduring these stings of pain. This training was as much for him as it was for Dragonite; his dragons would only be as strong as he could be.

It was over as quickly as it began: the raging beam dissipated into the cool air of the night and Dragonite attempted to land, only to skid to a halt on the field, seizing in place, fighting the paralyzing after effects of the move.

Lance could feel it too, the freezing of his muscles, the near-unbearable searing in his joints. He gritted through the pain, grinding his teeth and talon hands together while attempting to hold his body straight. He locked eyes with his dragon before him on the field.

"Don't give in!" He spat out, "Fight through it, Dragonite!"

Body shaking above the dirt, Dragonite fought off the adrenaline freeze and felt its fires lighting again, its teeth snarling through the pain.

But then, a sudden noise: a rustling, from the trees beyond the field.

Lance froze in place, eyes darting into the woods. What was that?

He and his dragon turned curiously to the thicket of trees from which the sound came, their breathing still heavy as they raced to recover their lungs for the possible threat.

Lance readied another pokeball, gearing to send out a second dragon to whoever dared to face them, his body still aching, jumpy with adrenaline, still panting hard in the chill ocean air.

But then, his body did soften;

His brow released, his gaze grew wide. His eyes; do they deceive him?

Out from behind the trees, with a gentle push of the brush,

came the purest pair of beautiful cerulean eyes.

Maya stepped forward, her black bomber jacket clinging to her as she cleared the rest of the treeline, revealing herself out to the boarder of the battlefield. Kadabra followed close behind, on guard, but floating just beside her shoulder.

And in this moonlight silk, casting clear over the bow of Vermilion's ocean brine, their eyes had met again.

Stone silence.

An unspoken tension was grabbing them both by the throat as they soaked each other in, cosmically reeling them together in a burning dare as if to say: Please, don't look away.

And there it was again: this pull in Maya's lungs, a drum beating in her chest at the sight of his silver gaze. Those eyes, they seemed different somehow; still guarded like the historic iron walls of a Hisuian village gate, but somehow softer; tender, as they studied her with a subtle curiosity. His royal cape fluttered, but the rest of him lay still.

Dragonite looked her over too, also with a supple gaze, one softer than Maya had ever seen out of any dragon type before. It looked back to Lance for instruction, but there was nothing to be said.

In this moment, Maya realized her words were lost.

But it hardly seemed to matter.

She took one step, and then another, and another down the battlefield's bordering line in Lance's direction. Kadabra followed, floating silently above the long-dead trails of grass and cindered soil left in the Hyper Beam's wake. Lance watched her, every step she took bringing her closer to him.

Just short of the northern edge of the field, less than fifteen hallowed feet from where the Dragon Master stood, she finally stopped.

Without a word between them, Maya then knelt down to the soil, brushing away the new coal of the night to take her seat on the ground. Her knees kicked up, wrapping her arms around them loosely. Kadabra settled at her side in the dirt.

And those true cerulean blues peered up to find him again.

They shined with a confident resolve; with a polite and calming curiosity.

Silence, as the realization hit him, his knowing grey eyes now shining back with the clarity of the smoky air in this midnight call. His little Vermilion Voyeur had gotten the Orchid's message, and had traveled all this way to get the best seat in the house.

His thoughts hushed out to him as he reveled in this feeling;

She had come back for an encore,

She had come back just for me.

He turned back to his dragon.

"Dragonite," He called out, his voice low and husky, "To the center. Let's go."

Without a moment to spare, Dragonite obeyed; it launched itself up back into the obsidian sky and flew out to the center of the field. Maya watched as it climbed higher and higher, its wings cutting through the fresh salt of the air.

Lance drew in a deep, confident breath.

"Dragon Dance!" he called out, pointing up at his trusty ace.

With a soft singing cry, Dragonite's massive body began spiraling with the currents of the wind. A string of warm orange auras began glowing over its body, swirling with the breeze, granting a blessing of new strength in the dragon's deepest muscles. So beautiful, Maya thought as she watched from the ground, entranced by the dragon waltzing its way through the sky with its sacred glow.

Lance eyed Maya as she watched on in wonder, hiding his devious satisfaction at her growing little smile. He pointed back up to his ace once more.

"Again!" He called, "Dragon Dance!"

Just as the light had began to dim, it glowed again; Dragonite let out another soft trilling song as it performed its dance once more, feeling the growing energy of the air as it spun around and around. The spiraling orange stars that trailed around it reminded Maya of the view of the rising sun over a cloudy Alolan sky. How beautiful, she thought, for a pokémon known for it's pure destructive power to be able to master a move so full of grace. The Dragon's strength had grown again, but soon the glow began to die back down once more.

"One more time!" Lance's voice called over the field, "Dragon Dance!"

As Dragonite began its third dance in a row, Maya glanced back to Lance, his stance now unbreakable as he felt the growing power surging through his own body as well. His cape frilled around him against the wind as he fought hard to hide it, this brutal power coursing in his veins, infecting all his muscles as his Dragonite began to glow again. He grit his teeth and drew his breaths in slowly, peering over to Maya now to meet her gaze again.

She shuttered at the sight of him, at those dark and disciplined eyes, at his massive growing power that seemed to shake the dirt between them.

This twisted feeling in her chest; she didn't want it to end. But what was his grand plan?

He quickly reached to his belt and withdrew another pokeball, feeling its weight in his hands before launching it upwards.

"Charizard!" He called, his second orange Dragon bursting out from the ball in a great pillar of light. It cried out a prevailing ROAR as it flew up into the blackened sky, before landing back at Lance's feet. He gave it a nod with a hushed command of words, his voice now low and grating: "Get ready."

As Dragonite's last dance ended, it found itself shaking in the darkened sky; quivering with the newfound strength and agility that the glow had left in its wake. It gave out a bellowing ROAR up towards the watching moon, eyes darting down with vigor as it awaited the Dragon Master's final command:

"Dragonite! Hyper Beam!"

With a blinding FLASH and a howling ROAR, Dragonite BLASTED out another devastatingly mighty Hyper Beam, directly up into the waiting sky. The dragon dances had magnified its power from a narrow beam into a blasting train of energy that launched up and out toward the stars.

The recoil of the beam's white-hot heat began casting down in trembling waves onto the battlefield. The trees danced and the ground beneath Maya's body shook; she could feel it in her legs, crawling up her knees, teasing in the space between her thighs as she embraced the rolling waves and whimpered through them, shielding her eyes to watch the beam's skylight illuminate the forest around her. Kadabra braced itself to the ground, ready to cast its reflecting shield at any moment, but instead it watched on in suspense.

Lance could feel the power pouring out from his own body, draining fast, the energy wringing out from his every muscle, but he fought back; His fists tightened, his shoulders held square to endure this great and crushing release. He pointed out to Charizard with a strong and steady hand:

"Charizard! Dragon Pulse!"

"ROAR!"

With a precise and purple BLAST, Charizard unleashed a pulse of pure electric vigor out from its jaws, zigzagging through the Vermilion mist & aiming right up to the sky at the trail of the Hyper Beam's path:

KA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The moves COLLIDED with the deafening, sparkling sound of a string of military mortars, birthing a cascade of breathtaking turquoise fireworks that flashed over everything; above the tallest Tanga-berry trees, and the battlefield's blanket of black-tar soot, as shimmering blue glitter began raining down now over not just their secret stretch of Route 11, but over it all:

Over the clans of Dugtrio who peered out beyond their cave;

Above the winding bushel paths of the highest grass, their sprigs of Vermilion Orchids posing tall in a standing ovation;

and far above the rich Kantonian sea, it's foaming waves reflecting back the sparkling light from the dragon's ire.

Maya's jaw had dropped; such incredible power... such incredible beauty.

The sparkles faded and the smoke began to clear. A new silence overtook the field, with only the sound of the rustling trees and Lance's quiet gasps echoing out into the air. He caught his breath and steadied his soldier's composure, squaring out his shoulders and painting a sobered face, the stoic glare that he always wore so well.

His eyes peered over to his little spectator as she sat wide-eyed in the grass, jaw still dropped, hands still clasped at her chest to temper her hammering heart. She finally turned and looked upon him: The Champion of Kanto, the Dragon Master himself, who had put on a spectacular show.

And he had done it just for her.