maybe I'll be as famous as the man who can't be moved

[caped_elite]

Characters: Lance (caped_elite), Will (masked_elite), (elite_bookworm) and Cynthia (chomperchamp).
When: Directly after this conversation.
Where: The Pokehouse formerly known as Whipstaff.
Rating: PG. Lance keeps it classy.
Summary: Lance and Will have a pokemon battle to let off some steam. Shit hits the fan. Will tells Lance that he's actually not the Will he knows. Shit goes down. Cynthia goes

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[masked_elite]

Will is, as a matter of fact, not coming to talk to Lance. Talking was left way behind them at this lovely conversation, and Will had a feeling that if he tried to talk anymore, than he would just snap.

He couldn't handle Lance like this. So pure, so noble, it made him want to punch him and try not to disappoint him all at once. And he'd been lying to him, lying this whole time, convincing Lance that he was his Will, that he was some bumbling idiot of a circus performer or whatever, someone who had always hated team rocket, who'd never battled upon Lugia's back, who'd never almost thrown the entire timeline of Johto in jeopardy. Lance didn't even know such a thing was possible. Lance had no choice but to accept him as the same Will from his universe, a member of his team, a partner and comrade

[caped_elite]

Dragonite noticed Will before Lance did and the dragon snorted softly to alert his trainer. Whether or not Lance acknowledged Dragonite's warning wasn't noticeable, immediately, but he did automatically straighten. The footsteps grew nearer and Lance opened his mouth, still facing the wall, to speak to Will, to talk, when --

... wait, what?

Lance looked sharply over his shoulder towards Will, his eyes slightly narrowed. In the years that he had known Will -- and the other members of the Elite Four -- he had never been challenged by them... at least, not officially. It wasn't that it was illegal or anything like that -- to be fair, any of them could attempt to wrestle his title away from him, at any given moment -- but none of them had. His teammates liked things the way they were and officiated matches were tiresome and weren't the talk of friends. Scrimmages and training sessions, sure, but a challengeOr maybe he was overthinking it. Yes, that was probably it. He was just overthinking it, as he always did, and he needed to let off

[masked_elite]

He was expecting the confusion, partially- Lance, having his subservient do-gooder, challenge him? Unheard of. Even in Will's world, they didn't fight amongst themselves, not even for training. If you needed help to train, you might as well be left behind. Will was better off taking Xatu out into the wild than he was asking the other members for help.

"I challenge you," he repeated, not backing down. "One to one- Xatu versus Dragonite."

Will finally bit his lip, revealing a bit of his nervousness, before he took a deep breath and tried to dispel it yet again. "I hate fighting with you, and I hate being mad at you. It's better this way to get the anger out- and when we're done, I'll go with whatever you want to do, no argument, no backtalk."

[caped_elite]

Lance said nothing for a long moment, eyes fixated on Will as he looked over his shoulder. It took a minute, but the dragon master exhaled and turned to stare at the wall again, carefully weighing out the options. He had never backed down from a challenge before, in his life. If he had, he wouldn't be where he was today. Battling was what he was good at. Refusing a challenge would be a disgrace to everything he had worked for.

But then why was every single fiber of his being telling him to walk away and let it go?

"Fine," Lance said, his tone carefully controlled, turning to face Will, his eyes narrowed. "I accept."

Lucian finds Will (finally)

[elite_bookworm]

It takes a few hours - two and a half? - for Lucian to locate Will. The broken state of the road doesn’t help, nor do his turbulent thoughts. Somewhere down the way, Bronzong has to firmly calm his mind for him least he have a nervous breakdown in the middle of nowhere, and the peace that comes with it helps tremendously. Had Will kept Xatu out of her pokeball it would have been much easier, as the short amount of time had only given him a general location and even then it had taken Lucian time to get there as his own psychic companion lacked the ability of teleport. Will had wandered off before he could make it in time, wasting more daylight. Finding a person’s unique brainwaves was far more difficult than locating a pokemon’s

And Will is unhappy (very)

[masked_elite]

After getting Xatu healed by Sakura, talking to a few other people, and exploring quickly with Yoh for awhile, Will figured that it was time to drop the charade and find a place to hole up for the night. As cheerful as he seemed on the PCD and talking to people, he was still very much torn apart by what had happened earlier.

Not only had he lost an ally, but he'd lost Sir Lance. The man who was supposed to be his leader, his boss, his captain- gone. And as much as he told himself that it wasn't Lance, it still hurt. It was getting late by the time he'd finally found a place that seemed empty and habitable enough, if just for a night. Will kicked off his shoes by the door, slipped two fingers under his mask to rub at his eyes, and heaved a soft sigh.

He couldn't let out Xatu for fear that Bronzong would zero in on her mental waves, which, frankly, really sucked. He wanted a companion right now, needed someone who understood his plight to cuddle up to and cry on. Without that, he felt like some kind of walking dead- simply

[elite_bookworm]

“I’m not looking for a fight,” Lucian admonishes gently, lifting his hands in a shrug - no pokeball to see at all. He had been expecting some form of hostility, but would only retaliate if need be… which he hoped would be unnecessary.

“If you’d like, I could promise to not reveal your location to Lance or Cynthia. I’m only here to talk, Will.” There’s no I told you so or anything like that, Will was likely beating himself up over everything enough without any wise-cracking remarks, not that Lucian was the type to make them. He sighs, and forces a slight smile. “I’ll be waiting out front when you’re ready.” That way Will could finish whatever he was doing before being interrupted, and Lucian had some time to think.

He slips on out just as easily as he came in, musing exactly on what he wants to say and how he might go about it. It’s confusing enough, though, and he’s clueless overall. Has no idea how to go about it. But oh well, he was there and he was certain the words would come when they were needed.

[masked_elite]

Will closes the door behind him, taking a few long moments to pull himself together. Slowly, he finishes fixing up his appearance, puts his mask securely back in place, and closes his eyes for a few good old fashioned cleansing breaths.

When he does finally emerge from the bathroom, Xatu is behind him, silently, as if she were some type of bodyguard. Will doesn't know if Lucian has Bronzong or not, but he doesn't want to be left without her if things got ugly. For the most part, the bird seemed fully healed and ready to teleport him away at a moment's notice, if need be.

"What do you want?" He asks finally, a tad accusatory. "I'm not going back."