"Steven?"

He sighed at the sight of his old friend grinning at him from across the Champion's desk. Lance never was one for formality. That thought was only reinforced by the haphazardly strewn paperwork all over the desk – was his Trapinch eating one of his folders?

The sight nearly made him cringe, but Steven knew better than to reprimand Lance. His friend – dare he say best friend? – wasn't going to change any time soon. To be honest, Steven wasn't entirely sure he desired that change. There was precious little entertainment in his life already.

Besides, he'd given up the Champion's Mantle to Wallace so he could go on the hunt for his traitorous cousin. What right did he have to criticize Lance, who would remain steadfast in his duty no matter the trial? For all his painful disorganization the Indigo Champion had always taken his duties seriously and performed admirably.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Steven asked. He glanced over to the golden dragon at Lance's side. It very nearly scraped the ceiling with its antennae. "And hello to you, Dragonite. I trust that you are well?"

Dragonite waved happily back to him, antennae twitching happily. Steven's lips quirked into a smile. Lance's first partner was in as good a mood as ever.

"How do you think?" Lance motioned to the papers all over his desk. The redhead wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Team Rocket's on the move, we're still having no luck tracking Pierce or that strange pokemon after the St. Anne disaster, and my cousin Drake's whining again," the Indigo Champion rubbed his temples and sighed. "It's like the whole damn world is coming apart!"

Steven frowned as a pang of guilt shot through him. If he'd just insisted on Pierce being extradited to Hoenn immediately none of this would have happened…or at least not as brutally. Team Rocket had a long reach but Hoenn was well-prepared to resist them. "Agreed. But I have good news for you."

"Is it Pierce's bastard head on a pike?" Lance asked hopefully. Dragonite perked up – he'd never liked Steven's cousin on the rare occasions they'd met before his betrayal. "Or at least a lead?"

"Better than a lead, worse than his head," Steven smiled and tossed a black folder onto Lance's glossy mahogany desk (though he was almost afraid it would be lost in the mountain of similar papers). "We know exactly where he is thanks to the information recovered from the Rocket base underneath the Celadon Game Corner. He's leading the conquest of the Sevii Islands."

Lance's eyes widened, then narrowed to slits. "That explains the silence on their end…Lorelei's going to be pissed."

"I'm counting on it," the Steel Master said quietly. It sounded cold, but Steven was rather pleased the Rockets had chosen the Sevii Islands as a target. From a strategic standpoint it was a smart choice. The Sevii Islands were relatively undeveloped and difficult to reach – they were too isolationist and proud to ask for help and too weak to protect themselves. It was a dying chain of islands. Their young men and women often fled to Cinnabar or Kanto's mainland to make a better life for themselves.

It offered Team Rocket access to a virtually untapped reserve of wild pokemon, a small population to recruit from and modernize, and a home base far from the League's watchful eyes. Since the Rockets had returned in full they'd lost dozens of safehouses. They might be brazen, but they weren't stupid. They couldn't sustain those losses.

They'd made on crucial mistake, however: Lorelei would not stand for an invasion of her homeland. She'd be more than happy to smooth over any diplomatic ruffles if it meant safeguarding her islands from Team Rocket.

"Pierce is spearheading the assault. We believe he's established a base on one of the islands, though we haven't been able to analyze the data yet. I took the liberty of dispatching several Rangers to gather intelligence," Steven said briskly. He'd handpicked several of the Rangers he'd worked with in the initial acquisition of Pierce back in Mt. Moon. They'd proven themselves quite capable. "I thought I'd leave the decision to send more personnel to you."

"Good," Lance nodded, satisfied. He scratched his Trapinch's bulbous orange head happily. The Indigo Champion glanced at the Steel Master. "Thanks for handling this, Steven. But why'd you decide to make a personal appearance? It's not like you," the tall man laughed.

Steven shifted uncomfortable. Lance was more perceptive than he appeared…though he already knew that. You didn't become a Champion by being stupid. Lance liked to play up his image as a trainer who relied heavily on brute force, but Steven had known him long enough to know it was just an act. You could only go so far on raw power – Lance's technique and battle intellect were his real strengths. He knew how to apply each of his teammate's strengths to maximum effect.

"I have a favor to ask you," Steven began, only to be cut off by a deep chuckle from Lance.

"Steven Stone wants a favor from me?" Lance grinned. He sat up straighter and folded his arms. "You've got my attention."

"As I was saying," he continued, obviously annoyed by Lance's interruption, "I have a favor to ask you."

"Oh, do tell," his friend (even though he was regretting even speaking to the tall redhead all those years ago) smirked. "This is going to be great, isn't it?"

Steven rolled his eyes. How was this man a Champion? Then images of Lance's every battle flashed before him – storms of fire, thunderous crashes as his beastly dragons annihilated all other contenders, and even Metagross' blank expression as Lev swallowed them before spitting the Metagross out – and he remembered. "Yes, yes. Is it all out of your system?"

"Continue." Lance said sternly, presenting the image of a grim Champion.

"I would like for both of us to personally attend the mission to liberate the Sevii Islands," he said coolly.

Lance nodded. "Done. We aren't letting Pierce get away again. Besides," he patted Dragonite's massive arm, "I think we're due for a workout. What do you say, guys?"

His team seemed more than happy with the arrangement if the cacophony of roars, grunts, and growls were anything to go by. Steven smiled as Saph uncoiled from around Dov's giant shoulders and slithered over. The calm Dragonair brushed against Steven's hand gently – her subdued nature was a nice change from the whirlwind that was Lance. She and Steven had always gotten along quite well.

The rest of Lance's team were finally interested in their conversation. Steven winced as Trapinch blindly reared up and fell off the gigantic desk in excitement – that had to hurt. But he leveled an even stare at Lance. "Thank you. I appreciate your help. But that's not all there is to my favor."

Lance's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Oh?"

"I've met an interesting young trainer," Steven announced. He tapped the miniature storage compartment – his father's spiel for the product blurred through his brilliant mind immediately, but he repressed the annoyance, afraid to open that can of Onix – and tossed the folder that materialized in his hand in front of Lance. "Read that, please."

The Indigo Champion nodded and glanced at the title of the folder as he arranged it in his hands. "Ash Ketchum? Haven't heard of him."

"I suspect you'll know it well in the near future," Steven chuckled. Wasn't that the truth? The boy seemed to get into all sorts of trouble – he was exactly the sort of person Lance liked to be around. Ash's immense potential as a trainer would just seal the deal. His friend had been bemoaning the lack of worthy challengers over the past few years for ages. It was really becoming quite tiresome, if Steven was being honest. There were only so many times you could hear about Lance's plight before you wanted to run away and become a Champion yourself…

Lance didn't skim over the report. His brow furrowed as he ran his eyes over Steven's dossier on Ash Ketchum and his activities. "This kid was there when you captured Pierce? I don't remember reading that."

"It wasn't necessary," Steven replied. "But yes, he was there with two traveling companions. Pierce's Muk was about to kill them when I arrived."

His friend's lip curled up in an ugly sneer at that but Lance didn't press any further. "He was on the St. Anne? And he was the trainer who found and invaded that Team Rocket base in Celadon on his own? Impressive. I like the guy already!"

Steven's mouth quirked into a smile. He knew Lance would like Ash. The Indigo Champion was pleasantly predictable like that. Hopefully he'd been impressed enough by Ash to be open to Steven's suggestion.

"I'd like him to accompany us to the Sevii Islands," Steven declared. There was no point in beating around the bush with Lance. He'd just annoy the truth out of Steven regardless.

Lance stared. "And you say I'm the reckless one…" he muttered under his breath. Steven honestly couldn't blame him for that. Metagross hadn't been a fan of the idea either. Normally he'd never entertain the notion, but he thought this was the perfect opportunity for Ash – it would help him, introduce him to Lance, and possibly recruit a trainer with a great deal of potential into the League's fold. Steven had no doubt that Ash would be a Master one day. The boy was focused and had a certain determination in him that would serve him well.

He was just trying to speed things up a bit.

"You realize the kid is eleven years old and a rookie, right?" Lance stressed Ash's age, waving the report around erratically. "You're insane if you think I'm bringing him on an operation like this."

"He's proven himself in dangerous situations before," Steven said calmly. He motioned to the report. "He's defeated Koga – not in a true battle, admittedly, but he has a head for combat and a strong team. Sabrina in particular wrote a glowing review."

Lance shook his head, but at least he wasn't saying no. The burly man flipped the report to the Gym Leader notes.

"Brock: A talented young trainer. Knows how to use his Nidoran quite well. The Sisters: Pretty good, we think he'd be really cute with our baby sister –" Lance grimaced at that. "Ugh, someone needs to get a psychic to go and sort out their hormones!"

"They're your Gym Leaders, Lance," Steven said sagely. Inwardly he was just glad that he didn't have to deal with the Sensational Sisters. They were powerful when necessary, but he didn't think his leadership style was compatible with them. "Please continue."

"Surge: Very talented. Didn't go hard but I think he'll grow quickly. Keep an eye out for him." Lance muttered the last part. "Surge isn't usually so generous."

"Erika didn't write a review, just wrote 'Ash Ketchum beat me'," the Champion groaned in disgust. "Typical…anyways, he doesn't have the Marsh Badge but Sabrina made a mention: A commendable young man. Untrained but will shine brightly in the days to come. I see success in all his futures…" Lance trailed off. Steven smirked as his friend reread the review. He'd known that Lance would put quite a bit of stock in Sabrina's opinion. Her foresight was famous and she was exceptionally hard to impress.

Lance shook his head. "Okay, so the kid's talented. I'll keep an eye on him. But why do you think he should come on this mission with us?"

"Simple," Steven began. He brushed an errant lock of his silver hair out of his eyes before it could bother him. Little imperfections like that were terribly annoying. "I think it would be good experience. He also hates Pierce, has a proven track record against Team Rocket, and I believe he could be a worthy candidate for an Elite Four position one day – possibly even Champion."

He smiled as Lance immediately paid him rapt attention. Steven knew that would get demand Lance's true focus. The mention of a potential challenger had him baited.

"You think so?" Lance muttered, brushing his hair back as he kicked back and stared at the ceiling. Steven barely managed to tell Lance not to lean back in his chair like that – he'd never hear the end of it if he did. Lance still hadn't let him forget about when he'd reprimanded him for swearing when they were teenagers…

"He's good. He'll probably make it to the Top 16 in the Indigo Conference."

Lance grinned wildly. "Heh, he's gonna go farther than that! Alright Steven, you win. Let's do this. I want to see what this kid is made of. We're putting him out of harm's way, though," the Indigo Champion said firmly.

"Good," he murmured, idly brushing his fingertips against Metagross' pokeball. Somehow he knew Lance couldn't resist the chance to meet a potential usurper. "We could use this as a chance to help him out if he performs well."

"You must have been reading my mind," Lance laughed. "Yeah, I think I have a few things that could help the kid out. His file said he had a Seadra, right? And it said he was heading toward Cinnabar."

"Should I start preparations?" Steven asked. His friend nodded. "Very well. I'll meet him in Cinnabar and –"

Lance cut him off rather rudely. "Not this time Steven. I think I want to meet the kid myself. He'll need some help finding Blaine's gym…"

He just nodded and turned away as Lance trailed off into a series of nonsensical mutters. "I'll see you soon, Lance."

"See you later, Steven."

Once Lance couldn't see his face anymore he smiled. It felt like he'd just sown the seeds of something great…