I choose you.

[juuchanisu]

Once Riel touched the ground, she yawned. "A whole night passed while we're in there? Jeesh, we were in there for quite sometime," Riel mumbled as she stretched. She clicked open on her holocaster and pulled up a map, wondering where they were. "Looks like we're on Route 15, gee. That tunnel went deep."


As she looked at the map, she hummed, "There's supposedly said to be a hotel not far from here. We can stop there? Unless, you want to go back to Lumiose. I really don't mind, I have no business in Lumiose other than that I live there." Riel spoke with a soft voice.

 

[Syrrus]

Lance wasn't certain of what he wanted to do. Peering back into the tunnel behind him. He wanted to get hold of a flashlight and look around but he assumed that Riel wanted something different, like a bath or a hot meal... which didn't sound too bad actually. He then nodded and patted Dragonite on the back. "Would you like to fly there?" He asked, the girl, obviously. Dragonite didn't really care if he walked or flew, as long as he was spending time with his trainer in the outside world.

 

[juuchanisu]

Riel nodded, "If it isn't too much," she smiled. "How about this time, you stay with me? Because there is quite the chance I might be late again," she laughed. She unclipped the cape she was wearing and frowned at how dirty she got it. Folding it up, she looked up at Lance with a small grin. "And I'm cleaning your cape. I'll feel bad if I didn't~"

 

[Syrrus]

Peering at his cape, not certain if he minded either way, he slowly nodded. "Very well... I'll take us to the hotel then." Jumping up on Dragonite's strong back he reached one hand out for the little girl, giving her a dashing smile. "Shouldn't take too long, I recon. I'll rent us a room each, if you don't mind." It was important to give people some privacy, once in a while after all.

 

[juuchanisu]

Riel smiled, nodding. "Alrighty then~" she said, grabbing his hand and climbing up onto the Dragonite. She had stuffed the folded cape neatly into her bag as she climbed onto Dragonite. Yawning, she covered her mouth and looked around. She gave a small squeak of surprise when Dragonite took off toward Lumiose, once again.

 

[Syrrus]

Holding her, Lance tried his best to keep her warm. Their cloths were after all wet and the wind was not going to help against the freezing sensation. Luckily they landed long before he started sneezing. Helping the young lady down. "Then again, you live here don't you? I suppose you can just as well go home." He said, nodding slightly and putting Dragonite back in his poke ball but this time holding it steadily in one hand instead of placing it against his belt.

 

[juuchanisu]

"Bless you," she laughed as he sneezed. She thanked Lance and Dragonite before looking up at Lance, "Yeah I do live here. Why don't you come with me? I have an extra room, and mum currently lives in Camphier Town, so I actually live alone. It's bad to throw money around like that, even if you're one of the Elite Four~" Riel nudged him, before grabbing his hand and tugging him gently toward her home. "Please?"

 

[Syrrus]

He was going to tell her that money was of little problem, but the way she asked him, that kind little smile on her lips made him rethink his methods. He assumed that staying with Riel for one night wouldn't be all that bad. He wouldn't mind it at all, in fact. "Very well. If you insist." He smiled, gently down at her and placed his arms neatly on his back. "Show the way."

 

[juuchanisu]

Riel's face brighten as she nodded, walking down South Boulevard, passing the Pokemon Lab and into a series of apartments. She fished out her apartment key card needed to enter the actual building and swiped it over the sensor, walking down the familiar hallway toward the elevator. "It's been awhile since I was here, excluding last night," she laughed as she pressed the button that brings the two up to her level.


She folded her hands in front of her as the door slide open and Riel walked toward her room, opening the room with the key card and opened the door, "Well. My home~" she smiled, as she opened the door.


Her apartment room was quite small. The front door sat on the far right of the kitchen. The counters of the kitchen sat near the left corner, leaning against the wall. A bit further, you would meet a clean living room with a small TV and some book shelves and pokemon plushies placed around. Then walked to the left and further from the kitchen, a wall of doors stretch the rest of the room out.


Taking off her shoes, Riel walked over to the living room, cleaning things up a bit. "Sorry that my apartment is a bit of a mess. Didn't have time to really clean last night, well...the night before." She laughed, setting her bag down on the couch. "If you want, I can cook up dinner?"

 

[Syrrus]

Lance had to admit he felt slightly out of place, even more so when he actually started to think about how much smaller her home was from his own. Hitting himself, mentally of course, for thinking such a rude thought he simply game Riel a weak smile. "It's very sweet, thank you for inviting me." He was indeed grateful, more so than it would seem in fact.


Looking around her home, doing his best not to appear rude or otherwise he simply nodded again at her question. "That would be lovely thank you, but not necessary. I can easily just order some take out for the both of us, instead." He was kind, very sweet even and didn't wish her to do more work than needed.

 

[juuchanisu]

Riel pouted, looking at him. "I said I was going to make you homemade meals while we're together, did I not?" she said, tying her hair up into a high ponytail. "Stop acting all formal, we're friends, are we not?" the blonde smiled, as she walked over to the kitchen. Making a small 'o' sound, she clipped off her pokeballs, and allowed her pokemon to roam around in her house. She glanced up to Lance with sheepish smile.


"I can't keep them in their pokeballs while I'm at home. They're my family, they gotta be out with me," she laughed gently. She walked over to the kitchen, and started to pull ingredients out of the refrigerator. Her Dedenne climbed up onto Riel's shoulder as she started making dinner. "Go ahead and watch TV, if you want. Just relax, for a moment. At least for the day. We've been through a lot already," Riel said as she planned in her mind what she wanted to make.

 

[Syrrus]

Lance blinked a few times upon the girl mentioning them being friends. He assumed so. To be frank, the Dragon Master didn't have that many friends. He almost had none, actually. Strange, when you think about it. Not that it bothered him. Friends needed you to spend time with them and he usually had no time to spare. "I suppose you're right." He said, smiling slightly. He assumed they could stay friends, until she decided it wasn't worth it anymore.


He watched as all her pokemon started to roam the house. Nor realizing why her pokemon wasn't too large. They seemed to all be in a simply size, not too big and not to wide. If he even let out half of his team in this apartment the walls would probably tremble.

 

[juuchanisu]

As Riel hummed a soft tune, while cooking up dinner which she decided on having spaghetti, a simple recipe she knew from the top of of her mind and didn't take long to make. Devon had scrambled off Riel's shoulder and bounced over to Lance, scrambling up his body and onto his shoulder.


He stared at the Dragon Master with curious eyes, before smiling and giving him a small shock. Fenny, Riel's starter had walked over to the pokemon trainer as well, watching Devon and Lance. She gave a small yip in hello at Lance, before walking over to Riel's couch and bouncing onto it.


"Hey Lance?" Riel called out, "When are you going back to Kanto?" she asked.

 

[Syrrus]

Lance peered down at the little mouse like pokemon which was climbing him like a tree. It was lucky that Lance was wearing a belt or he would have had some problem with his trousers. The little thing didn't seem to like the cloth. As it reached his shoulder he continued to peer, narrowing his eyes slightly. Pokemon didn't usually get this close to him unless they were his own... or they wanted to play a trick on him.


Of course, just as he expected. The shock of electricity when trough his body and made him twitch worse than ever. Causing his hair to stand even higher than it used to. He mumbled something at patted the little thing on the head. "Thank you, for that..."


Looking over at Riel he smiled. "As soon as Rocket is stopped." He assumed it would be by the end of the week, if he was lucky. "Why do you ask?"

 

[juuchanisu]

"De-nee!" Devon chirped in welcome, settling himself on Lance's shoulder. He had decided that Lance made a great shoulder rest, and he was quite easy to climb. His black long tail flickered behind him as he examined Lance closely once again with his beady eyes.


"...Because it would be nice for you to be here longer." Riel answered. It was true, she had grown a bit attached to Lance (and his Dragonite) during these past two days and if they're leaving by next week, it would sadden Riel. Her friends do always leave a week later. Frowning, Riel finished up preparing the noodles and continued on the sauce. "To be honestly, I am enjoying your company."

 

[Syrrus]

"I am enjoying yours very much too." Lance said with a smile, looking over at the young girl, trying his best not to disturb the weird mouse that he had perched upon his shoulder. He unfortunately had to return someday. Sooner or later, he had a proper job to do after all. "And I do have my Holicaster and Dragoni-" As he mentioned the big dragon it appeared out of the ball, yawning loudly before licking Lance's face. "--te... Ugh. So, I could always visit you, when I have time."

 

[juuchanisu]

Riel giggled as she saw a glance of Dragonite showing his affections to his master once again. Smiling, she nodded. "I guess. But flying from Kanto to Kalos would be quite long, wouldn't it? Even for a faster flyer like Dragonite. Holocasters are fine, though don't expect me to pick up. I usually never pick up my Holocaster..." she gave a soft laugh at the end. Her eyes were focused on what her fragile hands were doing, but she couldn't help but wonder how her life would be after the events of Team Rocket.


Then again, she always did this and it ended up the same: Once her friend left her, she would be a bit sadden and discourage until she gets challenged by a passionate trainer or she challenges a gym that makes her forget all her worries. Once she did, never had she dwelled on the feelings again.


But, this time it was odd. Somehow, Riel knew deep inside her heart that the feelings she hold for Lance was a bit different than just feelings for a friend. It had a tinge of...romance. Maybe because Lance was attractive? Or maybe because he simply cared for her safety, and he didn't even know her which touched her heart. Maybe, it was because during the past 48 hours, Riel got to know a lot about Lance than she would a normal person. There's many maybes...

 

[Syrrus]

Lance didn't even bother with trying to fight Dragonite sudden burst of affection. He figured that it didn't matter, they weren't out in public so no one that he didn't know could see the embarrassing scene. There was no camera men that could look take a photo of him and then write something rude, like that one time when they had called his Pokémon respect less and brutal, not that Lance knew where the idea to that had come from.


Looking over at Riel, he wondered for a moment if she needed some help. He felt awfully rude to just stand there, after all. Not that he would know a single thing about cooking, it wasn't really his skill. He didn't have many skills... to think about it. The Dragon Master frowned, causing the big Dragon to bounce happily and squeak in a very weird way as if his trainer had done something completely adorable.


"It wouldn't take long." Lance said as he pushed the dopey dragon away from him. "About four or five hours, that isn't too bad. I could get some rest for once, traveling that far." He laughed and scratched the back of his head. He sure worked a lot.

 

[juuchanisu]

Laughing gently at the odd sound his Dragonite made, Riel finished up making both sauce and preparing the noodles and began to prepare plates for them. Humming another song, one happening to be her favorite, Riel finished up making dinner. Holding both plates in hand, she set it on the small table she had purchased then proceeded to grab drinks for the two.


"What would you like to drink? I got various of drinks: coke, juice, milk, tea, water or even wine if you prefer that," she said as she listed off all the drinks she had in her fridge. Riel just wanted simple water, seeing as she doesn't like to have any other drinks during dinner, especially when she cooks for herself.


Before she sat down to eat, Riel prepared some food for all her pokemon, including Dragonite. She had settled the respective bowls down in front of each pokemon, then one down in front of Dragonite, smiling. "I hope you like it. I didn't know what kind of berries you liked, so I went with Oran berries," Riel smiled. "Devon, get off Lance and come eat," Riel called out to her pokemon, who was still perched on the Dragon Master's shoulder. The mouse pokemon chirped, jumping off Lance and onto Riel's head, making her pout. He climbed off Riel and landed on the coffee table, his favorite place to eat.

 

[Syrrus]

"Tea, would be nice, thank you." He did so long for a cup of tea. If there was something he missed about Kanto, it was having tea together with the rest of the Elite Four. They're break hours weren't very eventful but a nice chat and a hot cup of warming tealeafs always made the day go by so much quicker.


The young man sat down, Dragonite placing his behind next to his trainer peered with a curious face at the bowl of berries. He wasn't used to eat berries anymore. Sure one or two here and there but to be honest he hadn't had a whole bowl full since before Lance. Lance always made special pokefood for his pokemon, to keep them strong and alert. The dragon didn't wish to be picky though so he simply growled in approval and started to eat.


Lance watched as the little rat like pokemon jumped off his shoulder and then peered down at his own meal. He placed his hands together, bowed his head and mumbled: "Itadakimasu." and then simply began to eat, slowly. Forks were always a little odd to him. He understood spoons, but forks? It was strange and his agile fingers were far to use to chop-sticks and therefore looked far more elegant than they could holding the fork and knife.

 

[juuchanisu]

Riel smiled as she made some tea for Lance, her mind pondering on what her feelings are for Lance. Again, it's not just a simple friendship, nor does she consider Lance as a "brother". The butterflies fluttered in her belly as she set a cup of tea in front and settled down in front of him, while watching Lance did a small thing that she heard that Kantonese people do before they ate. Smiling, Riel waited for a moment before picking her fork up and twirling spaghetti on the silver needles.


Before she took a bite, she looked up at Lance. "Lance, I'm curious," she started, lowering her food a bit, "How many regions have you visited before?" the girl asked.

 

[Syrrus]

Eating noodles in the same fashion as one would when you're eating with chopsticks, even if you're using a fork was hard work. It looked perhaps a little odd, holding the silver tool the way he did, but at least it looked odd in an elegant way. He looked at her as she asked him a question about traveling, thinking to himself by looking slightly upwards towards the ceiling, he swallowed his mouth fools and as he spoke; lowered his eyes back down at her. "I believe I have been everywhere. As a Elite Four I get to compete in world championships around the globe, if not competing I'll simply have to attend and show my support." Lance started to twirl noodles around the fork again as he continued. "I have made a few friends, don't see them often but I have them on speed dial would I need them. First time I've been in Kalos though. Strangely enough, your home haven't had many tournaments until recently. You only keep sending a random gym leader, the champion and your Elite Four around the world instead. "


Lance realized that he spoke quite a bit when it came to his job. Perhaps he was more passionate than he gave himself credit for. Or perhaps he simply didn't have much else in his live to talk about. It was all quite sad.


Dragonite would comment, growling slightly, at what his master said as if agreeing or telling them his part of the story. Perhaps the big Dragon was talking Devon? Which reminded Lance. He pointed at the big mouse with his fork. "Devon. Did you name it after Mister Stone's company in Hoenn? I'm quite a good friend with his son, Steven.

 

[juuchanisu]

Laughing slightly, Riel nodded. "Kalos doesn't really care about World Championships and all that. You see, we're a bit different than different regions. We like to focus on our pokemon, mostly. Caring and loving them, showing them off to the world." she said, listing off what she remembers about her travel around Kalos. She, who lived in Kalos since she was young, still didn't know what they actually focused on until she stepped out of the city with a pokemon by her side. "Kalos is also big for their designers, and being famous." Riel added.


As she listened to closely, two words surprised her, "Few friends? Lance, I would think you have many, seeing that you're an Elite Four and all," she commented, twirling her food before taking a bite. Then when he pointed to her pokemon, she looked at him before chuckling softly.


Devon, who didn't enjoy being pointed at, glared at Lance, trying to shout at him with the syllables of his name.


"Hoenn?" she started, shaking her head. "Actually no. I named Devon after a friend of mine, Devon Despe. He is a Pokemon Ranger, I think...and he lives in Sinnoh if I remember correctly. "When I was young, I lived in Sinnoh for a few years and that's where I met Devon, who became a really great friend of mine," she smiled, recalling the memory. Then she realized something, laughing gently, "I'm sorry. I'm guessing you don't want to hear my life story. But yeah, Devon is named after my Pokemon Ranger friend~"

 

[Syrrus]

Lance looked at the little mouse and smirked slightly. Pokemon was charming little critters, weren't they? He leaned back in his seat, sipping at his cup of tea. "Just because I am the Dragon Master of Kanto, doesn't mean I got a lot of friends. In fact, I don't have all that many." Lance took friendship very seriously. He needed to know that he could trust them completely and always be able to rely on them, just as they could rely on him. He knew for a fact that if something was happening somewhere that he couldn't handle and he messaged Steven, he'd show up in an heart beat. Most of the Elite Four in Kanto would as well.


"Steven is the champion of the Hoenn region. " Lance decided to say, for no real reason. Pondering to himself. He would probably consider the man his best friend. He pulled out the holocaster, peering down at it perhaps he should call him?

 

[juuchanisu]

"Champion of Hoenn? Wow, that's pretty cool. I heard so many great things about Hoenn, and how pretty it is. I was thinking after this journey, I was going to head over to Hoenn to explore. Doesn't that sound great, Dev?" she grinned, turning her head to Devon, who chirped in reply. The mouse pokemon bouncing off the small table and ran over to where his trainer was seated, crawling up onto her lap. Riel laughed gently, petting him.


She peered over to Lance, who was looking at his holocaster. "You want to call him? I think you should! I would love to meet the champion of Hoenn!" she grinned, finishing up her noodles and setting the place aside. Bouncing over to her Lance's side, she rested her chin on his shoulder and nudged him gently, "Pretty please? I like to meet new people!"