"Dragonite. Charizard. Excellent job. Take a rest now."
Lance pulled both dragons back into their pokeballs, disappearing them away from the midnight air. His eyes were still glued to Maya where she sat on the sidelines.
He began walking over to her position in the grass, his cape whipping around wildly in the oceanside breeze. Maya's heart began to pound harder with his every step as he drew closer and closer, her body still too broken from the explosive parade to fight or flight from this feeling.
Kadabra immediately sensed this and reacted, jumping up from the grass on-guard to move between them and defend its trainer, raising its threatening spoon up in warning at the man.
Lance froze. His expression fell; she was still afraid.
But with a gentle hand, Maya motioned for Kadabra to back down. She reached up to grasp her partner's claw and signaled out from her mind: It's okay, my friend. It's okay.
After a moment, Kadabra obeyed. It lowered its spoon, floating back to retake its position by Maya's side, its suspicious glare still following him. Maya's eyes locked with Lance's once again.
He didn't take another step, as to not test Kadabra further. Instead, Maya watched as he carefully knelt one knee down to the dirt, crossing an arm across his chest with new nobility.
"Please," He hushed out, "Accept my apology. For my actions the last time we met," his head bowed solemnly to the soil, eyes closed in shame as he remembered her fear from that night.
He peered up to Maya again softly. "When you told me you had no badges, I took it upon myself to... test you that night. It was wrong of me. But I wanted to show you the power that facing the League can bring you."
Lance paused, thinking back to his dragon's vicious rail of lightning, that brutal power he knew he could command, his impure unspoken thoughts attempting to pry out from his lips: I know you wanted to see it. I know you wanted to feel it. But... But...
"But I truly never meant to scare you, Maya."
Her name, on his voice...it sent shivers down her spine.
Her face softened; the memories of that night must have weighed on him so harshly, she thought.
"And Kadabra," He continued, "You gave quite a demonstration that night. You have my greatest respects."
Kadabra gave him a slow, wise nod, its guard now lowering a bit with the earnest conviction in his voice.
Maya studied him for a moment, the midnight tones of his royal navy suit bouncing the moonlight back up at her. His ruby-rust hair was disheveled from the wind, but framed his rigid face so well. She drew in a slow breath as she finally found her voice.
"It's okay," Maya hushed, attempting to lift herself up from the grass. She dusted off her knees as Lance stood back up straight, the subtle sadness still in his eyes as she continued, "Serves me right for sneaking up on a Champion, right?"
His serious face lingered, brows furrowed in thought now as he recalled that night again.
"Well, it wasn't the behavior of a Champion," he continued, "For a moment when we first met, I wasn't even sure if you knew who I was. Especially after hearing how little the gyms mean to you."
Maya chuckled at the thought.
"I knew who you were," she said coyly, "I mean, everyone kind of knows who you are." Her voice trailed off for a moment, losing the smile as she remembered the articles on him she had found. And Iris' story, one that painted such a lonely picture. Did anyone really know him?
"I was also half-expecting to find an article in the Saffron about me this week," he continued, "I was worried I gave you the wrong idea, or that you'd tell someone you saw me here. And then I'd have to outrun the press and find a new training spot."
"I told you, I don't write for them. I'm not a journalist or a reporter or anything." She paused, thinking of all the ways he had filled her mind this week.
She especially remembered the struggle she endured to mask her glowing face when she received the Orchid at the office. It was a struggle she had dealt with alone, save for Kadabra.
"And for your information," she continued, "I kept it to myself. All of it."
He stared at her for a moment, realizing she must be telling the truth. If it were a lie, the place would have been flooded with paparazzi and challengers by now. And they wouldn't be standing here, alone, together.
"Well, thank you," He crossed his arms, looking out over the battlefield, "I don't enjoy giving interviews. I don't like cameras, or talking to the press."
"I know." the words fell out fast, before she could stop them, remembering again her little article search she had conducted. She clammed up, but his curious eyes saw through it. So she had done a little research, he thought.
"I mean, I understand the feeling," Maya said with a save, "Kadabra and I prefer to be behind the camera, not in front of it. We've been a part of hundreds of shoots at this point, at all these battles and events. And I've managed to hide from the camera every single time."
"I know." Lance replied, crossing his arms. Maya's brows rose with curiosity now; Perhaps he had done a little research himself.
He paused again, looking back out to his secret field once more.
"But I'm glad. That you came here tonight." He struggled to find the words, "I would have understood, if you didn't."
Maya looked him over gently. His silver eyes were still tinged with that lonely luster, his red brows creased tight, his hardened shoulders still pinned back and tense beneath the cape. His high, sharp collar whipped around his face with the wind, giving him a near-sinister appearance; but it was surely a façade, one that worked against any enemy or opponent who faced him on this field. But despite the fiery danger of their last encounter, and the terror she had felt beneath the wrath of his thunderous dragons, it didn't fool Maya; not anymore.
"I'm glad I came back too," Maya continued softly, thinking back to the gorgeous display of Dragon-born power he had launched over the Vermilion stars just a moment ago. She gazed back up into the sky, the smoke from the colliding beams still drifting over the treetops. "That was... so incredible."
Lance peered over to her again, her big cerulean eyes lost in the memory of his fireworks as they looked out above the smoking sky, two gleaming blue pools reflecting back her sparkling wonderment. He felt a tiny pull in his chest at the sight of them, relishing again this moment of her awe.
She smiled at the thought as she continued, "You could become Kalos Queen with those types of performance moves, you know."
Lance's serious face is struck with an unexpected grin.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," He said proudly, "But I think it'd be a conflict of interest if I became Kalos Queen on top of my duties as Champion."
Maya grinned at the thought. She watched him take a few steps out into the field, looking up into the Vermilion night.
"It took me a long time to learn that the power of my Dragons doesn't always have to be scarring, or dangerous." He knelt down to the grass, running his hands over the burnt cinder that remained.
Glancing around the full view of the field now, Maya couldn't help but mourn for the poor meadowland that use to be here. Her eyes found the trees, where the scorching from Dragonite's Hyper Beam, as well as Charizard's assault from last weekend, had left them black and rotten.
Lance peered over to her again, noting the new sorrow in her face.
"Don't worry," He said thoughtfully. Standing up tall again, he reached to the back of his belt and retrieved another pokeball. He held it out gently in his hand, his voice falling to a more mild tone as he spoke to it. "Okay, you can come out now."
From the ball strung out a beam of red light, cascading to the ground below as the pokeball emptied.
"Plume, plume!"
From the light of the ball formed a handsome Vileplume, it's thick stately petals bouncing with delight as it looked up to Lance with a smile. Maya eyed it closely; something about it looked so familiar.
"Vileplume," Lance said proudly, "Thank you in advanced for your service to this forest."
"Plume, plume!" It cheerily replied.
Lance knelt down to the soil again, placing his hand on the soot-soaked earth. Maya watched with curiosity as he closed his eyes, as if reading the palms of the forest floor. His brows now relaxed and lost in a silent meditative prayer, he gave his unspoken thanks for the sacrifice that this forest had made.
"Okay, Vileplume," he whispered down, "Whenever you're ready."
"Plume!" The Vileplume closed its tiny eyes and spread it's little stemmed arms out in wistful wish. Slowly, gracefully, it began swaying back and forth, its massive crimson petals dancing about in the quiet wind.
Maya watched in amazement as a soft, green glowing light began emanating beneath Vileplume's body.
The light suddenly cast out in every direction, rolling over the charred arena, coating the coils of black burnt grass and the layers of ash that covered the pores of the battlefield's skin. Further it stretched to the waiting thicket of trees, the glow crawling up the blistered bark of their trunks and soaking in deep.
With the bow of its flower-topped head, Vileplume let out a singing little hum as the emerald light around it began to sparkle. And suddenly, from beneath the layers of ash sprung forth new life: A newborn swarm of baby blades of grass began sprouting from the glowing ground, growing taller and taller, overtaking the battlefield and all the sacred trails the light had touched.
Maya's eyes shined with a wondrous smile as the glowing blessing of light reflected in the pools of her eyes; Vileplume's Grassy Terrain was healing the earth!
She excitedly looked back over to Lance, still out in the field kneeling nobly in the fresh swath of grass as it continued to grow beneath his feet. By the treeline's edge, the light had healed the roots of forest as well, and the blackened bark was replaced by a fresh, new coat of wooden armor.
All at once, the glow began to fade.
Lance stood back up tall, a peaceful breeze now flowing under his cape. His eyes found Maya's again across the grass; the battlefield had been reborn.
Maya couldn't hold it back: her beaming smile.
"Thank you Vileplume. Return." He pulled the bouncing flower back into its little ball. He peered around the new forest with a quiet pride.
"My Dragon Clan teaches that it's a Dragon Master's duty to protect all people and pokémon," he said calmly, "And that includes protecting their homes. We're taught to leave no trace after we battle on their turf."
Maya thinks back to what Iris had told her. Perhaps this was a part of the old Code of the Dragon. And if it was, she thought, it was certainly an honorable tenet to live by.
"That was... beautiful." Maya whispered. She watched as Kadabra knelt down to the fresh field, softly grazing the new emerald blades with an outstretched claw. It peered back up to Maya with a happy look, the scent of the fresh grass filling its lungs.
But one thing didn't make sense; she thought aloud, "I didn't know you had a Vileplume."
"I don't," He replied coolly, "That was Gym Leader Erika's Vileplume. She loans it to me whenever this field gets a little too worn. She owes me a few favors, anyway."
He took a few more steps toward her, an idea crossing his face.
"I actually have to go back to Celadon tonight to return it to her." Reaching back to his belt, he retrieved another pokeball and tossed it out to the new green field. In a burst of light, his trusty Dragonite reemerged, its wings casting a wide shadow in the spotlight of the moon. "I have a few errands to run tonight, actually."
Maya's eyes found his again, curiously.
Did the night have to end so soon?
"I can give you a lift home," Lance continued, mounting the back of his orange beast with ease, "But if you're not in a hurry. There is one more thing I'd like to show you, if you don't mind me making a few stops first. As long as you're not afraid of heights."
Maya's lips broke into a tiny smile. The night was still young.
