[ there's a soft noise of approval, at blue's answer. it's a good one, and fitting, lance thinks. and comforting, really, that the lesson seems to have finally sunk into the boy's thick skull.

battling is just one method of knowledge. and sure, it is fun. lance absolutely loves it, and thrives on the rush of adrenaline that always occurs when he fights alongside his partner. but true mastery is gaining understanding, of knowing culture, of learning different ways of training, and always being open to the understanding that you will never be the best forever. and that is an okay thing. ]

Precisely.

[ approvingly, and lance even takes the canteen from blue, mulling over blue's next statement as he peers into the container. ]

And that much is hard to believe. [ that they fix things up in no time. it still stings, the failure (in lance's view) of giovanni running rampant through kanto, and that poison spreading to johto. ] But it's good to know that better days are on the horizon.

[ and, finally, lance looks into the canteen for a long moment, waffling between dumping it out and taking a sip as instructed before he decides to both have fun and be an adult and

he dumps it onto the ground, with a warm smile. ]

And I promise that Red will not return to Mount Silver for half a decade, so long as I am the leader of the Indigo Plateau.

[ :) ]