MATURE: Dragon Days [Chapter 26]

[Alex800]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

just read the whole story and, as always it's just plain awesome
I'm really glad I finally cought up and don't have to read the whole thing months after it's been posted like always.
I've never imagined Lance as a killer though.
but like fangirl21 said, it's really wierd that he's talking when his jaw is broken on so many places, mabe they have hyper potions for humans now

 

[Gama]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Thanks for reading everyone and I really appreciate all the comments. Hope you enjoy this week's chapter.

Chapter 10

Maturity​

​

Lance gave up all hope of remaining covert. He pulled Dragonite’s Poké Ball off of his belt and headed to Azalea with all the subtlety of an atom bomb. It was little more than a few seconds before he touched down outside Azalea’s Pokémon Center. As Lance dashed towards the Gym, he noticed that there were far fewer Slowpoke around Azalea than usual and most of those that were there seemed not to have any tails. He would’ve liked to investigate further but there were more important things at hand.

Halfway to the Gym, Lance stopped dead in his tracks. He stopped because he knew he was too late. He knew he was too late because he saw a black clad figure with a black mask and long red hair walking out of the Azalea Town Gym with a smile on his face.

“Rex!” growled Lance.

The masked figure turned around to face Lance and there was an audible chuckle.

“Hello, brother,” greeted Rex, “I heard you got to Violet City. Did Skye survive?”

“No!” growled Lance furiously, dashing towards his brother, “You killed him!”

Lance stood less than a foot in front of Rex. All he could see was the emotionless expression of that black mask.

“He was alive when I left,” stated Rex casually, “I didn’t make that mistake again. The Leader here is dead already. You needn’t bother going in there at all.”

Lance, unable to contain his anger with Rex, threw his right fist forward to punch him in the face. Unfortunately, Rex’s reactions were lightning fast and he grabbed Lance’s hand before it could reach him.

“I hope you haven’t forgotten the warning I gave you last time we met,” hissed Rex, “Because I was deadly serious.”

Lance’s eyes welled up with tears. He felt weak. He felt ineffectual. He hadn’t felt like this since the last time he had been in the company of his brother. It had been a long time since there was an evil he couldn’t stop.

“Why?” whimpered Lance.

“Why what?” snapped Rex impatiently, throwing Lance’s arm back to him.

“Why are you killing them?” asked Lance.

Rex was silent for a moment, composing himself. He cleared his throat before he spoke. Every second that he didn’t speak felt like an eternity to Lance.

“Recognition,” answered Rex calmly, “Like I told you before, you’ve got to look out for number one because no one else will. You’re the one who taught me that, Red Cape.”

“I don’t use that name anymore,” retorted Lance quickly.

“Oh, of course,” said Rex with a hint of a smile in his voice, although it couldn’t be seen through his mask, “I’m sorry, Lance then. I killed them so I’ll be remembered. So that when I become the Champion, I’ll be the most notorious Champion ever. I’ll be feared. I’ll probably never even be challenged. I’ll finally be able to get whatever I want, whenever I want.”

“You’re disgusting!” shrieked Lance.

Rex made a noise that sounded like some sort of hiss.

“You were a murderer a long time before I was, little brother,” responded Rex eventually, “What makes it alright for you to kill people when it’s so bad for me to do so?”

“I only kill villains!” snapped Lance, “It’s not the same! I only kill people who do wrong, you’re killing innocents!”

Rex paused again.

“So,” he said, “If these Gym Leaders were evil people. Would it then be alright for me to kill them?”

“That’s not why you’re killing them,” answered Lance, “If you kill a bad person for selfish reasons, it’s still evil.”

“What about killing a good person in the name of justice?” posed Rex.

“What?” growled Lance, unable to understand what his brother was getting at.

“Say, for instance, there’s a lonely, young boy,” speculated Rex, “He comes from a broken family. His father left when he was a baby, no siblings, he’s mother’s a drug addict or a drunk or something like that. He has no one. All he wants is to be loved. To have a family. Eventually, he finds what he wants in the loving embrace of Team Rocket. Now they’re a true family. He doesn’t know he’s helping to prop up an evil organisation. All he knows is that he’s finally accepted and valued. People finally care about his wellbeing. He’s hanging out with a couple of his Rocket friends, all of them in their swanky, black uniforms that really spell out ‘we belong’, when all of a sudden an angry teenager with red, spiky hair and a cape appears in front of them and that’s where his story ends.”

Lance had no response to this. He refused to accept the notion that anyone in Team Rocket could be a good person.

“We’re not that different, Lance,” continued Rex, “I hope you know that. You can’t judge me for murder when you’re a murderer yourself. We’re two sides of the same coin, you know.”

“I’m not like you,” insisted Lance.

“Sure,” answered Rex, “Whatever you want to believe, little brother. Look, it’s sweet of you to follow me around and I don’t want you wearing yourself out so I’ll give you a heads up. I’m taking a couple days off before I visit the next Gym. It’s no fun if I do it all in one day, is it? It’s Ecruteak next. I’m going to kill that magician.”

“Why are you telling me this?” asked Lance.

“I want you to be there,” replied Rex, “I want you to see it. But, like I said, I was deadly serious when I gave you that warning. I hope you haven’t forgotten it because I meant it.”

Rex then proceeded to summon a Dragonite from his Poké Ball and Fly away. Lance could’ve easily pursued him, but he didn’t want to. Lance was scared of Rex. Anyway, Rex said he was taking a few days off. Lance wasn’t sure whether he really believed that his brother wouldn’t lie to him or if he just wanted to believe it so that he wouldn’t have to deal with the harsh reality of battling him today. Lance left it around ten minutes before he did anything and then decided to Fly to Ecruteak himself and find somewhere to stay. That way, if Rex was lying, Lance would be there quickly enough to do something about it and if he wasn’t, Lance would have somewhere to stay for the night and be close enough to the Gym to react quickly to anything that could possibly happen.

 

[Flaze]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

It was a short yet good chapter. I can't believe Rex really became such an evil person though he does have a point about Lance's way of fighting back when he was the Red Cape, while true that Team Rocket is evil he doesn't know what the people he kills are like or have been through, after all no one sees themselves as evil and some maybe didn't like it and were just doing it cause they didn't want to lose their life.

 

[Thundagere]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

I agree with Flame Haze. The main thing I wonder is what caused Lance and Rex to grow so far apart? I suppose eventually youth will meet the beginning of maturity, and we'll find out, but what will Lance do in the meanwhile? That magician is going to ha ve a very bad day.

 

[Flaze]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Also, by now I sort of figured that all the gymleaders except for Claire and Pryce and maybe Chuck were new gymleaders by the time HGSS hit home, it explains why they're Pokemon are weak and why they're so young compared to the Kanto gymleaders.

 

[Lugion]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Is the magician Eusine?

Also, I thought Rex was talking about Red at first. XD

 

[some colour no doubt]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

OOO
Another great chapter, finally the brothers come face to....mask?
Lance's character just did a complete 180, from confident Trainer to snivelling younger sibling, well done! It shows that he is more human than he lets on.
As others have said, I can't wait to see how the two brothers grew so far apart, perhaps because of what Rex said about Lance's "justice".

 

[AceTrainer14]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

I'm surprised that the two have confronted each other already, I was hoping for maybe it being built up a bit, but I do like how it reflects the previous Youth chapter. I now think Rex is vile, so all my sympathy for him being attack has disappeared. Good job with envoking all these feelings in the reader, can't wait for the next part!

 

[AetherX]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

I've been following this for a while now but haven't responded at all yet. This was a great chapter. The emotions and tension of the situation were very clear and powerful. I'm interested to learn more about Rex and how he came to be what he is. Can't wait for chap 11!

 

[sharktooth162]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

I'm gonna guess that the reason that the reason Rex is on this rampage is he was rejected by the league to be a leader so he's taking it out on those who were accepted.

 

[Rob Anybody]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

I'm gonna guess that the reason that the reason Rex is on this rampage is he was rejected by the league to be a leader so he's taking it out on those who were accepted.

Maybe not just that, maybe he also became a Rocket Agent, softening targets for their takeover.

 

[jcogginsa]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Also, by now I sort of figured that all the gymleaders except for Claire and Pryce and maybe Chuck were new gymleaders by the time HGSS hit home, it explains why they're Pokemon are weak and why they're so young compared to the Kanto gymleaders.

morty seems be an adult

 

[Lugion]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

morty seems be an adult

He's still a pretty young adult, though.

 

[Alex800]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

I was playing soul silver the other day and now I really feel sorry for Clair... everyone seems to think that her "look" is embarassing, like at the dragon's den when Silver said something like "heck, no! I'm not taggig along with that embarrassing one in the costume!" and when Jasmine asked Erika what she thought about wearing a blue costume and cape and Erika said "no, that would be embarrassing" "so you think Clair's embarrasing?" "um, no! I didn't mean that!"
Poor Clair

 

[fangirl21]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

wow I loved that chapter! I really liked young Rex so I'm really curious about what made him so... sinister. But I liked the interaction and it was great to see Lance showing some weakness (I mean up til now he's just been wiping the floor with anyone in his way). It will be interesteing to see how Rex's weak pokemon become so powerful as to make Lance scared.

Oh, and I liked how Rex called them two sides of the same coin. I've liked Lance so far but his casual attitude to outright murder was sort of scary - its nice to see him stumped by Rex's logic there

 

[Shadow Raikou]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Hey where is todays chap.

 

[Gama]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Also, by now I sort of figured that all the gymleaders except for Claire and Pryce and maybe Chuck were new gymleaders by the time HGSS hit home, it explains why they're Pokemon are weak and why they're so young compared to the Kanto gymleaders.

Yup, Falkner, Bugsy and Whitney all make some sort of reference to before they were a Gym Leader or before they were a trainer or something like that that made me think they were new when I was playing through GS for the first time.

Is the magician Eusine?

Oh, you'll have to wait and see! That'd be interesting though, wouldn't it?

OOO
Another great chapter, finally the brothers come face to....mask?
Lance's character just did a complete 180, from confident Trainer to snivelling younger sibling, well done! It shows that he is more human than he lets on.
As others have said, I can't wait to see how the two brothers grew so far apart, perhaps because of what Rex said about Lance's "justice".

I guess it just goes to show what seeing a sibling or parent can do to you when you're an adult. It can take you all the way back to being a scared little kid again and that's what exactly what happens to Lance. I don't think he's really scared of many people in the world but it looks like he's definitely scared of Rex.

Hey where is todays chap.

It's still Monday, isn't it? It's only 3pm over here! Hold your horses!

Anyway, here's today's chapter!

Chapter 11

Youth
​

​

It was only a few weeks after Rex left that Clair started begging Lance to let her come out with him and fight Team Rocket too. At first, Lance refused to even discuss it but slowly she began to talk him round. Lance was concerned by the fact that Clair’s Pokémon weren’t as strong as Rex’s, she only had a Dratini, given to her by her and Lance’s grandfather, and a Magikarp, which she had, like Lance, caught locally with the help of her Dratini. Of course, Lance had already started taking to the streets when his team had been exactly the same as hers was now. The problem with Rex had never been the strength of his team, it had been his attitude to the battle. He had battled like he was already a Gym Leader taking on a challenger. He battled like there were rules and a regulating authority who would step in if anything got too out of control but real life wasn’t like that. Lance knew that Clair was different though. Clair was more like Lance. Rex was destined to be a Gym Leader and maybe, if things went well, one day a member of the Elite Four but Clair and Lance were different – they didn’t play by the rules, neither of them would ever be in either of those positions.

Of course, it wasn’t like Lance had learnt absolutely nothing from his and Rex’s encounter with Team Rocket. He wasn’t about to take Clair out with him on her word that she’d do better than their older brother. He battled with her himself first instead. She needed the training that Lance had given himself before she could even start thinking about going out to fight Team Rocket with Lance. Lance needed a break from his nocturnal vigilantism anyway – his and Rex’s encounter with Team Rocket had really knocked his confidence.

They battled each other round the back of their block of flats and Lance didn’t hold back. His Pokémon were infinitely stronger than those of his little sister and he won every time, but he refused to throw her a bone even once. Lance’s Gyarados and Dragonair knew that they were forbidden to actually hurt Clair but he still had them aim attacks at the ground in front of her or stop inches in front of her, ready to kill her.

“You’re dead,” Lance would announce proudly every time he managed to get her into one of these positions.

Still, Clair didn’t give up. Lance admired her determination, she really did have potential. It was weeks later that it finally happened. Lance started to get lazy. He was so used to being infinitely more powerful than his little sister that it was inevitable. Both siblings had both of their Pokémon out, clashing with one another. Lance knew that it would be seconds before his Gyarados and Dragonair managed to take out Clair’s Dratini and Magikarp, like always but this time was different. Just as Gyarados darted towards Magikarp and Dragonair flew towards Dratini, both of Clair’s Pokémon were enveloped in an all consuming white light. Lance couldn’t help but shield his eyes – the light was just too bright.

Lance heard screeches and growls from the Pokémon battling but he had no idea what was happening – the evolutions had just made things too predictable. Lance opened his eyes once he couldn’t feel the light on them anymore and found that he could see nothing. He looked from left to right and found himself in complete pitch black. He then looked to his feet and saw that they were visible. There were large teeth all around his knees.

“You’re dead,” Clair remarked from outside.

Lance was trapped in Clair’s Gyarados’ mouth. It could kill him and eat him in half a second and there was nothing he or either of his presumably unconscious Pokémon could do about it. Lance lowered his head as Clair’s Gyarados slowly raised its jaws from around Lance’s neck.

“Congratulations,” said Lance.

Clair did nothing but smile. Lance surveyed the scene. Both Dragonair were unconscious. At least his Pokémon had put up a fight. Lance’s Gyarados was also unconscious. It seemed that Clair’s Gyarados had been the only survivor of the clash. They kept training, of course. Lance still wasn’t prepared to let his little sister out against Team Rocket and the other scumbags of the city.

Weeks later, Clair ran into Lance’s room in the afternoon.

“You’re not gonna believe it, Lance,” she screamed.

Needless to say, Lance was intrigued. Clair led Lance into her room, where she had built a small den for their two Dragonair to live. She had wanted to build one for the Gyarados too but they had proved too large and had to remain in their Poké Balls most of the time instead.

“What am I looking at here?” asked Lance.

Lance had seen her little den for the first time months ago. He started to look closely, to check if it was broken or something.

“There!” exclaimed Clair, pointing to her own Dragonair, who was in the den.

Lance focused on Clair’s Dragonair but couldn’t see anything.

“Underneath her!” instructed Clair in frustration.

Lance audibly gasped when he finally noticed what Clair was trying to point out. There were eggs underneath Clair’s Dragonair. He supposed it shouldn’t be that much of a shock – that’s what happens when you put a male Dragonair, like Lance’s, and a female Dragonair, like Clair’s together for long periods of time. Lance tried to move Clair’s Dragonair off the eggs so that he could get a look at how many there were but she hissed at him.

“There’s four,” informed Clair, “I got a look earlier.”

Lance nodded.

“Shall we keep two each?” suggested Clair.

The eggs hatched into four Dratini, two male and two female. Lance and Clair decided that the boys should stay with their father and the girls should stay with their mother, so they split them accordingly. That night, Lance and Clair had the young Dratini watch their parents and the two Gyarados battle and before long, they were joining in themselves. Lance and Clair were pleasantly surprised with the development of the young Dratini. It was like they were born battlers.

A few months later, when Lance was sixteen and Clair was fourteen, the two of them were preparing to go and train by the lake like they did every night.

“Do you want to go tonight?” asked Lance suddenly.

“Of course,” answered Clair, “We do every night.”

“No,” replied Lance, “Not to the lake. To Celadon. To the Game Corner. To Team Rocket.”

Clair nodded. It was time and she was ready.

 

[RobMysterio]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Nice chapter
Can't wait to read more

 

[Metabee]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

I didn't know we were in the same time zone. That's quite convenient...

Well, I don't think I've commented on this yet, Gastly's Mama, but this is a great piece of work. It's interesting to see this side of Lance looked at in more detail; a side that you know is there from some of his actions in the games.

And, what I find brilliant about the constant switching of time periods between chapters is the amount of foreshadowing that you've been able to place. It really gives this a constant sense of mystery, something that I always find entertaining.

I could say more, but I'm having trouble thinking of what to say. That's what I get for thinking I can sum up eleven chapters in one brief post, I guess. Ah, well, thanks for another great story, Gama. I'll continue reading right to the end.

 

[Lugion]

Re: Dragon Days [Updated Mondays]

Exciting.

Nice to see Clair at last getting a more active role.

Also, RobMysterio stole my avatar.