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A Dragon's Might

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Author's Note: Special thanks to @Venia Silente and @CinderArts for beta reading this one-shot.



A Dragon’s Might



You throw your tusks forward and they dig into your foe’s body, hacking twice against warm hide and drawing pained bellows that trail off as his strength leaves him. You hop to the side and crouch, watching from the corner of your eye as your Emboar opponent briefly totters, before toppling forward. He falls onto his belly against the battlefield floor, his fiery beard dimming down into faint flickers as he lays there defeated and unable to rise.

You flash a grin and open your tusked mouth to let out a bellow of your own in reply—one of triumph. His trainer recalls him, and you call after the vanishing ray of light sweeping him away with an unheard taunt:

“Hah! Come back and try again when you can take a chop, piggy!”

It’s not the most respectful thing to do, and some of your peers would frown on your gloating. But here in Opelucid Gym, competition is fierce, and after a hard-fought victory, you’ve earned the right to puff your chest out a bit.

Your assigned trainer goes for the Emboar’s and winnings are exchanged, as seems to be custom among humans who lead Pokémon whose partners are vanquished in battle. The Emboar was a tougher challenger than usual for your during your duties in this gym, but between your strength and the guidance of your assigned trainer, you pulled through easily enough.

The Gym Trainer recalls you, and you return back to your Pokéball, Opelucid Gym’s light-and-dark stone furnishings vanishing in favor of a mountainous forest with a river running through it. All fake, as Pokéball environments are, which the translucent images of the Gym’s interior in the world outside in the not-sky are quick to remind you. Even so, it still provides a degree of comfort, as you paw at not-stones alongside the not-river to run your tusks up against them.

You probably shouldn’t be complaining after your match, but you can’t help but feel a twinge of dissatisfaction over how much your challenger failed to live up to your expectations. It surely wouldn’t be an issue if you were consistently fighting under your real trainer’s guidance, and you wonder just how much longer she’s going to let you sit on the sidelines being bossed around by Gym temps.

You pout and kick a not-pebble into the not-river, when before you know it, the surrounding world around you vanishes and melts away. You find yourself in the Gym’s backroom, where the Gym Trainer is handing off your Pokéball to a girl with a large shock of purple hair:

Iris, your real trainer, who’s been making waves among humans lately for the guidance she gives her Pokémon and her companions’ strength. It’s why a good chunk of the time, it is her that handles the final match in this Gym instead of the old human fart who first sought her out as an apprentice. Off to her side are her Druddigon and Zweilous partners, who turn their heads curiously at you as they talk.

“How’d you do out there, Hatchet?”

But the voice you hear doesn’t come from them. You turn to your right and look up, as a Haxorus plods over and glances down at you, rubbing a claw against the top of your head. That’s your elder sister—Francesca, as humans call her—the captain of your real trainer’s team… even if it’s been ages since the two of you have fought alongside each other.

After all, Iris lately has only been taking you under her direction when Drayden needs her to handle weaker challengers that have made it to the end of the Gym. Your sister, however, gets to fight with the best of the best.

… Even if she’s all of five minutes older than you, and has only been a Haxorus for less than a year. You turn away and let out an unimpressed huff. Sure, you sound obviously jealous right now, but given the circumstances, how could you not be?

“Fine. As usual,” you harrumph. “Not like randoms in the gym puzzle usually bring the best teams in the world for their challenges.”

You feel claws cup pat at your shoulder, and look up to see your sister giving a knowing smile down.

“You’ll get to take part in more battles with Iris before you know it, Hatchet,” the Haxorus tells you. “Just hang in there until the next batch of rookies makes it through.”

You push your sister’s claw away with a sour frown. She probably said that to cheer you up, but right then, it just makes you feel like you’re being talked down to. Like a mother might to an Axew who’s splattered her first berry.

“But I’m literally beating them left and right!” you exclaim. “I’m just as tough as Head Case over there! So how come she’s the one being trained to be a lead for the tough teams and I’m not?”

“Hey!”

The Zweilous turns her heads at you and flashes their fangs with a pair of angry growls. Right, even if her eyesight’s bad enough for her to be effectively blind, the Zweilous’ keen sense of hearing sure has a way of filling in for it. Her name’s not really ‘Head Case’, you just call her that because it’s true and it’s kinda funny when it gets under her hide. Seriously, for a ‘mon who’s cheating you out of time you could be spending with your trainer, she could at least take a joke better.

You growl back in reply and flash your claws, when Iris spots you and hurriedly comes over. She stoops, asks something about you if you’re alright, and cups a hand under your chin for a scratch.

You tense up and can’t help but feel a flash of contentment. It always feels great when she does this, and for a moment your frustrations ebb away.

“Aah… that hits the spot… hey, wait, no!

Only for them to come roaring back when you remind yourself you were upset for a reason. Even if other humans apparently call Iris a ‘girl who knows the hearts of dragons’, sometimes, she needs a bit of a nudge to get the hint. And so, you stomp over and take your place beside your elder sister. You motion at yourself, and then her with your claws and an adamant growl.

“I want to fight alongside her! Do you hear me? Her.

Iris pauses a moment, when she turns to your sister and says something in her tongue that you miss. Your sister nods back, which prompts Iris to take your Pokéball and put it on her holster. Much to your surprise, she even goes a step further and takes Head Case’s off hers much to both of the Zweilous’ heads’ alarm.

“I-Iris?!”

“What are you doing?!”

Your trainer goes over to Head Case and pats at her. There’s some words exchanged, when the Zweilous hesitates and droops with a grudging sigh. Your command of human tongue has always been a bit shakier than your teammates, and you’re not sure if you heard everything Iris said correctly before you turn up to face your sister with a puzzled frown.

“Wait, huh? What’s going on?”

“You got what you wanted,” Francesca tells you. “You’ll be filling in for a while as the lead of Iris’ seven-badge team starting tomorrow.”

You blink in disbelief for a moment. Iris… is actually giving you what you want?

“Wait, I did…? I mean of course I did! You won’t regret this, Iris!”

Your trainer comes back over towards you and pats at your head. You can’t help but feel a swell of pride as she does, and turn your head past her to see Head Case shuffling her wings with a low grumble. You stick your tongue out at the Zweilous to rub things in a bit. Not that she’ll see it with her eyesight, but it’s the thought that counts.

You wag your tail and growl, happy and content, when you notice your sister looking away and giving an uneasy paw at her shoulder.

“Hey, what’s that look supposed to mean?” you ask.

“I… just felt that it was important to warn you in advance that as part of being the lead on a team, that it’ll be your job to take the brunt of attacks while Iris tries to figure out the opponent’s strategy,” Francesca says. “It’s often every bit as demanding of a role as being the ace of a team, and you should expect this to be noticeably more challenging than your normal battles.”

You scoff and have to fight yourself to not blow a raspberry in reply. You’re not that much younger than your sister, and if Iris is confident in your strength, then what is there to fear?

“You worry too much, sis,” you shoot back. “Look, I’ve already got experience being a team ace already and can keep on my toes with Dragon Dance. It should be a piece of cake!”

She doesn’t look convinced, but whatever. Nothing that winning a couple battles can’t fix for putting her worries to rest.



Bright and early in the morning the next day, you’re there on the Gym Leader’s battlefield, with a Zebstrika facing you down. He’s a bit more slippery than you expected thanks to using Flame Charge a couple times already, but his blows barely put a dent in your scales. He starts to gather sparks about his body, when Iris cries out for you to press your advantage with a Dual Chop.

You lunge forward, driving tusks trailing dragonfire into your foe’s flank with all your might one after the other. The Zebstrika reels from the first blow, while the second knocks him off his feet and sends him crumpling to the ground. You pant and watch tensely, as the sparks on his hide die down and he lets out a weak groan.

“That’s the power of Dragon Dance for ya! Learn to love it!”

You take a moment to bellow and crow in triumph as his human, some backpacker who looks like he just stumbled in fresh from Route 4, recalls him with a disappointed sigh. That’s one opponent down, and you’re pretty sure there’s just two more to go. The Zebstrika’s trainer reaches for his belt and sends out his next Pokémon in a flash of red light. As the light settles and fades away, you see red and white hide with black stripes—a Krookodile, flashing her jaws with a toothy grin.

“You look a bit worn down, Fraxure,” she taunts. “We all know you’re not going to come out of this match better off between the two of us, so how about you just quit and tag out for one of your teammates?”

You bare your fangs back with an unamused scoff. You’ve still got most of your strength, and with that Dragon Dance pumping you up earlier, you’re quick enough to dance circles around your foe. This ‘mon seriously thinks that she’s going to get the best of you?

“Tough talk for someone strutting around with a perpetual sunburn!” you snap back. “Hit me with your best shot!”

The Krookodile doesn’t say anything back, as a knowing smile comes over her face.

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of holding back,” she replies. “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you!”

Iris calls out for you to use Dual Chop again, and you lunge forward, your first blow finding its mark that draws a sharp yelp, while the Krookodile hurriedly scurries away from the second and leaves your tusk slicing through empty air. The Ground-type then stomps the ground and knocks you off your feet, which sends you pitching to the floor of the battlefield where you spit up dirt. While the Krookodile packs a punch, her attack didn’t hurt as badly as you were expecting. From the growing stiff feeling in your legs, she’s most likely hit you with Bulldoze.

“Hah… hah… so you slowed me down a bit,” you pant back. “You’re still not avoiding that beating that’s coming to you!”

Iris calls out for you to use Dragon Claw this time and you get to your feet and take off running, dragonfire sprouting along your claws as you close in. Except this time, the Krookodile bides her time and stands her ground. You shrug things off when as you make it down the last few paces, something strange happens on the battlefield:

You hear ‘Dragon Claw’ called out again, but this time it’s the voice of the Krookodile’s trainer that says it.

“H-Huh?!”

And then the Krookodile’s claws come alight with dragonfire. Before you can do anything, she nails you with an uppercut to your chin. You feel your feet leave the floor of the battlefield, then your body twists in the air and you crash face-first to the ground. You skid briefly, your legs and tail swaying in empty air before they flop to the ground.

You lie there, trying to piece together what on earth happened as you try to push your body up with your claws. Except your strength just isn’t there, and you fall back down to the battlefield’s dirt with a weak groan.

Ow.



You didn’t know that Krookodile could use Dragon Claw, so the defeat came as a shock to you, even if in retrospect you probably should’ve seen it coming. You suppose you heard from others in the gym that most Pokémon had the potential to learn moves they normally couldn’t through one of those “tee-yem” thingies, but you didn’t realize that they would also let them learn a dragon’s moves, too.

No matter, it was surely just a fluke.

After a few hours’ rest, you are back out on the field as the lead an hour or so past noon, ready to massage your wounded pride with fresh victory. Especially since you’ve got a point to prove to your sister. Fortunately, that shouldn’t be all that hard for you from what you see of the next team, led by a human female with long red hair. Her first Pokémon takes his place on the battlefield and sizes you up with wide-set eyes, all as you furrow your brow with an unamused grunt.

“A Scraggy? Really? Your trainer’s gotten seven badges under her belt and you didn’t evolve at all before this point?”

Yes, a Scraggy, apparently. If the rounded head and exposed teeth didn’t already make it obvious, he pulls up the shed skin hugging his lower body up to his neck before letting it fall back down around his waist as his kind sometimes does. He narrows his eyes back at you afterwards, before turning away and folding his arms with a sharp huff.

“Hey, don’t knock me! I’m close to evolving! And even if I’m little, I pack a punch!” he protests. “Why, my trainer even says that she considers Scraggy to be dragons, too!

You’ve certainly heard those first protests a few times. Mostly from Pokémon who were all bark and no bite that you had no trouble defeating. Though Scraggy as dragons? That’s a new one. You let out a dismissive scoff in reply, before crouching and bracing for battle.

“Whatever, kid. I’m not the one who’s about to get wiped across the floor here.”

The Scraggy frowns, but doesn’t say anything in reply as the countdown to the match sounds. As soon as it ends, Iris calls out for a Dragon Dance and you thrash about in a frenzy, whirling around as dragonfire flecks your scales. You can feel yourself growing faster and stronger by the moment, and you turn back towards the Scraggy with a sneering grin and as you see him coming at you.

“Heh, make that blow count, Scraggy! Since it’s the only one you’re gonna-!”

You cut yourself off after hearing familiar words from the red-headed woman’s voice, ones of an attack that you’ve been practicing with Iris as of late.

“Wait, did your trainer just say ‘Dragon Tail’-?”

Much to your astonishment, the little lizard’s tail comes alight with dragonfire. Your eyes shrink and you hurriedly try to jump out of the way when you feel a sharp blow against your flank and go skidding along the side of the battlefield. You lose your footing and tumble, briefly seeing the lines marking where opponents go out of bounds when the surrounding world vanishes in a flash of light.



It took a while to register what on earth had happened, but the not-forest and not-river left little room for doubt. You’d been recalled to your Pokéball, since some way, somehow, that Scraggy had used a move that you’d still been practicing. He’d made it look downright effortless, and in spite of being significantly smaller than you, successfully managed to make you ring out.

Per human rules, that meant waiting for another opening to go back onto the field to fight. But the blow stung more than you expect, both to your body and even more to your pride. All the while, as your body lost the vigor of its Dragon Dance, you stomped and fumed in your Pokéball in a rage over the Scraggy’s slight.

“That lousy little newt! Iris! Hurry up and send me back out there!”

You even spat up a few attacks at the not-sky to try and force your way out. You could see the ball rock after a few of them, including from the Dragon Rage you just spat up, except when you do it this time, Iris’ hand clamps over it to hold it still. Much to your frustration, you won’t be forcing your way back onto the battlefield to get back into the fight today.

You throw a not-rock into the not-river with a disgusted fume and briefly notice the scenery change in the gaps between the translucent fingers of Iris’ hand. They take you off her holster and send you back out as the battlefield reappears in your field of vision, where the Scraggy is nowhere in sight. You throw a claw over your face and let out a seething growl. From what you could see of the world in your Pokéball’s sky, you gathered that your Druddigon teammate had been sent out in your place. Looks like she already mopped up the Scraggy before you could get even with him.

“Arrrrgh! I can’t believe I got cheated out of beating that lousy little pantslizard-!”

“‘Sup?”

You blink and look up to the other side of the battlefield, where standing at the other end is a Scrafty, pawing at his head crest as he shoots a smug grin back.

Told ya I was close to evolving.”

The frustration leaves your body and it gives way to a quiet flash of fear. The most likely way that little lizard could’ve pulled this off is if he beat your Druddigon teammate in battle while you were sidelined. You breathe in and try to calm yourself after noticing scuffs from battle about the Dark-type’s body that seemingly confirm your suspicions. He might have bested your teammate, but it came at a price. And he just evolved, so he can’t be that much stronger…

That had to have been a fluke, too, right…?

Right?

The Scrafty pants for air, before winding up a punch with a knowing grin. He’s tired, but there’s a certain self-confidence about him that’s worrying you.

“By the way, do you want to know the other reason why my trainer says Scraggy and Scrafty are dragons?” he asks. “It’s because a lot of us have got a fighting spirit like a Salamence, including me! Every foe I drop just gets me more and more pumped and makes me hit harder and harder!”

Yes… you’ve heard about that as well from some of the others in the Gym. It’s not all that common, but every so often, there will be a Salamence that turns up in Unova with a fighting spirit just like that.

You’ve seen one of them fight before, and if this Scrafty is telling the truth, you’re in deep trouble right now.

You breathe in and out quickly as you put two and two together and realize the Dark-type really did beat your teammate. Meaning that you’ll be fighting him with this fighting spirit burning strong and yours worn down back to what it was when you first entered the battlefield. You fight back visible tremors and remind yourself that Scrafty are Dark-types. Who’s to say he’s telling the truth? For all you know, this is all some dirty trick on his part to fake you out to try to throw you off-balance.

“Y-You’re just saying stuff to get under my hide!” you cry back. “I’ll wipe the floor with you in no time!”

Iris cries out for you to throw a Dragon Claw forward, this time with all the force you can muster. A twinge of worry comes over you when you realize that even with your Dragon Dance’s invigorating effects worn off, she wants you to go on an all-out offensive. You opt not to question it, and with the might of a dragon, flecks of greenish fire erupt on your claw.

“Take this!”

Your claws dig into the Scrafty’s belly and make him stagger back a few places on the battlefield. He falls to his knees and slouches forward, wheezing and struggling to stay lucid after your blow.

You have a moment of satisfaction, confident that at last that you’ve gotten your revenge on the pantslizard, when a pair of words in human tongue cuts it short.

Once again, the red-haired woman calls out for ‘Dragon Tail’.

Your eyes shrink to pins and much to your embarrassment, you scream in fright as the Scrafty staggers to his feet and his tail comes alight with dragonfire. Blind panic overtakes you and even without Iris’ prompting, you turn and try to flee. Dragonfire fills the side of your vision and the next thing you feel is a crushing, burning pain, then your body skidding along the ground as you hit something hard behind you.

You look up as your vision runs muddy and see that you’re now at the side of the battlefield again, against its retaining wall. So the Scrafty wasn’t just getting into your head about being able to hit harder. You don’t bother trying to get up that time, as you wheeze for air and weakly raise a claw from the ground.

“A-Agh… m-medic!



You also didn’t know that Scraggy of all Pokémon could use Dragon Tail. That defeat also particularly stung, especially since after you blacked out, you apparently missed out on the chance to do battle with some sort of turtle thing with a tree on its back and a self-roasting chicken that are both rare to this land. Battles that were it not for that Dragon Tail, you’d likely have had the strength to fight in.

You spent most of the day afterwards resting in the Gym’s infirmary again from your defeat and apparently Head Case had to step out to fill in for you with another challenger. Things are starting to get a bit embarrassing now, especially since you insisted to your sister that you were ready to serve as Iris’ lead for her seven-badge team. It’s not the end of the world to lose twice, but twice in a row? On the same day? Without even getting in a proper fight that last time?

As such, when you’re sent out onto the battlefield once again, for the last challenger of the day, you’re nervous and on edge. What sort of implausible Pokémon are you going to see wield a dragon’s strength this time? An Ampharos that somehow knows Dragon Pulse? You breathe in tensely as a human male takes the other end of the field and sends out his first Pokémon.

… It’s a Growlithe of all things, who wags his tail and lols his tongue briefly, before striking a determined pose.

“Heh, good battling to you, Fraxure,” he barks. “Let’s see how well you can keep up with me!”

You blink as the Puppy Pokémon takes the field, when you try and fail to hold back a laugh as fall onto your side and break out into loud guffaws.

“Sorry, sorry… I know that I’m not supposed to laugh at challengers on the job, but are you for real? A little puppy dog? What are you going to do? Roll over and ask me for a belly rub?”

The Growlithe flashes his teeth and growls back in annoyance, as Iris gives you an askew glance and the countdown to the match begins. As soon as it ends, the opposing trainer calls out his command. It takes you so aback that you miss Iris’ entirely, and stare blinking and dumbfounded.

“Wait, huh? Outrage-?

You hear Iris frantically call you back to attention and look back at the Growlithe, when your mouth flops open in astonishment. The Growlithe is charging at you with his whole body wreathed in dragonfire, his eyes smoldering with rage and draconic might.

“Here’s your belly rub, jerk!”

You hurriedly try to stop his blow with a swipe of your own, but he throws himself forward into your gut, striking you with a blistering flurry of burning blows that knocks you off your feet and onto your back. You lay there on the ground as stars swirl in your eyes, spluttering and hacking in a disbelieving daze.

“N-Ngah… b-but you’re a Growlithe! A-And that was Outrage and-! H-How?!

You don’t get an answer to that question before the Growlithe returns and runs you over with Outrage yet again. You tumble along the ground and your vision goes wobbly as you try to stumble back up.

You briefly hear what sounds like a raspberry as your strength gives out, and you flop to the ground as the world goes back.



You’re back in the infirmary in the rear of the Gym. Again. Once more, you woozily raise your head as you see bandages and lingering scuffs on parts of your body and the ceiling lights overhead with it looking dark outside from the window. Looks like that last fight beat you up a bit harder than the ones earlier today.

How on earth had this even happened? You expected to go into your battles to help Iris emerge victorious, not to spend most of it licking your wounds in bed!

“Hey.”

You roll onto your side and move your tusks to turn your head. Francesca’s apparently here, too. She looks down at your bed with a flash of worry in her black-and-red eyes.

“We pulled through in the end, but you looked like you were thrown around a bit out there, and those other battles earlier today weren’t exactly easy on you either,” she says. “Are you doing alright, Hatchet?”

You roll over onto your back and stare up at the ceiling, letting out a defeated groan.

Fantastic,” you reply. “Couldn’t you tell?”

Francesa turns aside for a moment and shakes her head with a low sigh.

“I suppose I should have mentioned earlier that it’s not exactly rare for the stronger Pokémon that challenge this gym to wield Dragon-type moves against us,” your sister sighs. “After all, such Pokémon and their trainers tend to spend more time seeking out ways of exploiting the weaknesses of their opponents before mounting their challenges. And for us, that often means that they’ll come against us with the might of a dragon itself.”

You turn to the Haxorus with your teeth set in a nervous grimace. You know you told her and Iris that you were looking for a challenge, but you’re starting to think that you’ve gotten yourself in over your head.

“How long do I have to fill in for Head Case again?” you ask. “Since fighting rookies in the Gym puzzle suddenly doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Long enough that you might as well spend some time training up a bit more if you’re currently having trouble,” your sister sighs back. “Especially since I doubt that Growlithe will still be one whenever his trainer comes back for a rematch.”

You look away as a sinking feeling settles in your stomach as you’re faced with the prospect of day after day like this one awaiting you. You snap back to attention after claws paw at your shoulder and you look up to see your sister as she gives a tired shake of her head.

“Just try and rest up a bit, Hatchet,” she insists. “Iris is in charge of handling challengers the rest of this week, and we’ll likely be facing more again sooner rather than later. Drayden apparently met a younger trainer in town earlier today from Nuvema Town that his companions from the League have been talking about for some reason.”

Your sister shuffles off and leaves you to stare up at the ceiling blankly. You feel a bit embarrassed for not knowing it prior today, but you didn’t realize just how many Pokémon could fight like a dragon in spite of not being one. If you had, maybe you wouldn’t have been so quick to press for taking the lead on Iris’ team for whenever she has to face down her toughest foes at this gym.

… No. You won’t back down here. A dragon never gives in. A dragon never yields. Not so long as they cling to life. Maybe your sister’s right and all you need is to toughen up a bit more so these surprises don’t catch you off-guard as badly. Why, you could even get started right now-!

You try to get up and hear something crick in your back. You yelp, before falling back into your bedding with a tired pant, pawing at your wounds before you curl up with a low groan.

… You’ll get started with that training. First thing tomorrow. Assuming there’s time before that challenger Francesca mentioned comes by.



Original Drabble:

FirebreathersHelioliskSerpentine
Scale and FangGyaradosOutrage
Dragon's DenProud LineageScraggy

You throw your tusks forward and they find purchase, hacking twice against warm hide and drawing a pained bellow. You run forward and look back, seeing your Emboar opponent as he briefly totters, before toppling onto his belly onto the battlefield floor, his beard extinguishing along with his strength as he lays there.

You flash a grin and open your tusked mouth to let out a bellow of triumph. His trainer recalls him, and you call after the vanishing light with an unheard taunt:

“Hah! Come back and try again when you can take a swipe!”

Your assigned trainer goes for the Emboar’s trainer, and as seems to be customary among humans leading Pokémon after defeat, winnings are exchanged. The Emboar was a tougher challenger than most that you’ve faced out here in Opelucid Gym, but between your strength and the direction of your assigned trainer, it was a cinch.

The Gym Trainer recalls you, and you return back to your Pokéball, Opelucid Gym’s light-and-dark stone furnishings vanishing for a mountainous forest with a river running through it. All fake, as Pokéball environments are, as the translucent images of the world outside in the sky remind. But it still provides a degree of comfort, as you paw at not-stones along the not-river to run your tusks up against them.

You probably shouldn’t be complaining, but you can’t help but feel a twinge of dissatisfaction over how much your challenger failed to live up to your expectations. It would surely not be an issue were you fighting under your real trainer consistently, and you wonder just how much longer she’s going to leave you to be bossed around by Gym temps.

You pout and kick a not-pebble into the not-river, when before it you know it, the surrounding world vanishes away around you, and you find yourself in the Gym’s backroom. The Gym Trainer is handing off your Pokéball to a girl with a large shock of purple hair. Iris, your trainer, who’s apparently been making waves for her direction and her Pokémon’s strength, which is why a good chunk of the time, she handles the final match in this Gym instead of the old human fart who sought her out as an apprentice. Off to her side is her Druddigon and Zweilous partners, who turn their heads curiously at you as they talk.

“How’d you do out there, Hatchet?”

You turn and look up, as a Haxorus plods over and looks down at you, rubbing a claw against your head. That’s your elder sister, Francesca, the ace of your real trainer’s team… even if it’s been ages since the two of you have fought alongside each other.

After all, Iris only takes you under her direction when Drayden needs her to handle a weaker challenger that’s made it to the end of the Gym. Your sister, however, gets to fight with the best of the best.

… Even if she’s all of 5 minutes older than you, and has only been a Haxorus for less than a year. You turn away and let out an unimpressed huff. Sure you obviously sound jealous right now, but given the circumstances how could you not be?

“Fine, as usual,” you harrumph. “Not like randoms in the gym puzzle usually bringing the best teams in the world to fight.”

You feel claws cup pat at your shoulder, and look up to see your sister giving a knowing smile down.

“You’ll get to do more battles with Iris before you know it, Hatchet,” the Haxorus tells you. “Just hang in there until the next batch of rookies makes it through.”

You push her claw away with a sour frown. She probably meant that to cheer you up, but right then, it makes you feel like you’re being talked down to. Like a parent might to an Axew that’s splattered her first berry.

“But I’m literally beating them left and right!” you exclaim. “I’m just as tough as Head Case over there, so how come she’s the one getting trained to be a lead for the tough teams and I’m not?”

“Hey!”

The Zweilous turns her heads at you and flashes her fangs at you. Right, even if her eyesight’s bad enough to be effectively blind, her keen sense of hearing sure has a way of filling in for it. Her name’s not really ‘Head Case’, you just say it because it’s true and kinda funny when it gets under her hide. Seriously, for a ‘mon who’s cheating you out of time with your trainer, she could take a joke a bit better.

You growl back in reply and flash your claws, when Iris turns and comes over. She stoops, asks something about you being alright, and cups a hand under your chin for a scratch.

You tense up and can’t help but feel a flash of content. It always feels great when she does this, and for a moment your frustrations ebb away.

“Aah… that hits the spot… hey, wait, no!

Only for them to come back when you remind yourself you were upset for a reason. Even if other humans supposedly call Iris a ‘girl who knows the hearts of dragons’, sometimes, she needs a bit of a nudge to get the hint. And so, you stomp over beside your elder sister, and then motion at yourself, and then her with your claws and an adamant growl.

“I want to fight alongside her! Do you hear me? Her.

Iris pauses a moment, when she turns up to your sister and says something in her tongue that you miss. Your sister nods back, when she takes your Pokéball and puts it on her holster, and takes Head Case’s off hers much to both the Zweilous head’s alarm.

“I-Iris?!”

“What are you doing?!”

Your trainer goes over to Head Case and pats at her. There’s some words exchanged, when the Zweilous hesitates and droops with a grudging sigh. Your command of human tongue has always been a bit weaker than your teammates, and you’re not sure if you heard everything Iris said and turn up with a puzzled frown to your sister.

“Wait, huh? What’s going on?”

“You got what you wanted,” Francesca replies. “You’ll be filling in as the lead of Iris’ 7-badge team for a while.”

You blink in disbelief for a moment. Iris… is actually giving you what you want?

“Wait, I did…? I mean of course I did! You won’t regret this!”

Your trainer comes back over towards you and pats at your head. You can’t but help but feel a swell of pride, and turn your head past her to stick your tongue out at the Zweilous as a taunt. Not that Head Case will see it with her eyesight, but it’s the thought that counts.

You wag your tail, happy and content, when you notice your sister looking away and giving an uneasy paw at your shoulder.

“Hey, what’s that look supposed to mean?” you press.

“I… just felt that it was important to warn you in advance that as part of being on a 7-badge team, that it’ll be your job to take the brunt of attacks while Iris tries to figure out the opponent’s strategy,” Francesca tells you. “It’s often every bit as demanding of a role as being the main battler on a team.”

You scoff and all but blow a raspberry in reply. You’re not that much younger than your sister, and if Iris is confident in your strength, then what is there to fear?

“You worry too much, sis,” you shoot back. “Look, I’ve already got experience being a main battler already and can keep on my toes with Dragon Dance, so it should be a piece of cake!”

She doesn’t look convinced, but whatever. Nothing that a couple battles can’t fix to put her mind to rest.



A couple hours later, you’re there at the Gym Leader’s battlefield, with a Zebstrika facing you down. He’s a bit more slippery than you expected thanks to using Flame Charge a couple times, but they barely put a dent in your scales, and as he gathers sparks about his body, Iris cries out for you to press your advantage with a Dragon Glaw.

You lunge forward, raking claws trailing dragonfire over your foe’s flank with all your might. The Zebstrika reels from the first, while the second knocks him off his feet and sends him crumpling to the ground. You pant and watch tensely, when the sparks around his body die down and he lets out a weak groan.

“Hah! That’s the power of Dragon Dance for ya! Learn to love it!”

You take a moment to bellow in triumph as his human, some backpacker who looks like he just stumbled fresh off from Route 4, recalls him with a disappointed sigh. That’s one opponent down, and you’re pretty sure there’s just two more to go. The Zebstrika’s trainer reaches for his belt and sends out his next Pokémon in a flash of red light. You see red and white hide with black stripes as the dust clears, and look up to see a Krookodile, flashing her jaws with a toothy grin.

“Heh, you look a bit worn down, Fraxure,” she taunts. “We all know you’re not going to come out the better of the two of us in this match, so how about you just quit and tag out for your teammates?”

You bare your fangs back with an unamused scoff. You’ve still got most of your strength, and with that Dragon Dance getting you pumped. This ‘mon seriously thinks that she’s going to get the best of you?

“Tough talk for someone strutting around with a perpetual sunburn!” you snap back. “Hit me with your best shot, bub!”

The Krookodile doesn’t say anything back, as a knowing smile comes over her face.

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll manage,” she answers. “And don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Iris calls out for you to use Dragon Claw again, and you lunge forward, your first blow finding its mark that draws a sharp yelp, while the Krookodile hurriedly scurries away from the second and lets you hit empty air. Then she stomps the ground and knocks you off your feet. You hit the ground and spit up dirt. While the Krookodile packs a punch, doesn’t hurt as much as you were expecting and from the stiff feeling in your legs, you gather that she’s hit you with Bulldoze.

“Hrmph, so you slowed me down a bit,” you scoff. “You’re still not ducking getting that beating that’s coming to you!”

Iris calls out for another Dragon Claw and you get to your feet and take off running, dragonfire sprouting along your claws as you close in. Except this time, the Krookodile bides her time. You shrug the matter off when as you make it down the last few paces, something strange happens on the battlefield:

You hear ‘Dragon Claw’ again, this time from the Krookodile’s trainer.

“H-Huh?!”

This time, the Krookodile’s claws come alight with dragonfire, and before you can do anything, she nails you with an uppercut to your chin. You feel your feet leave the ground of the battlefield, twist in the earth and crash face-first to the ground. You skid briefly, your legs and tail swaying in empty air before the flop to the ground.

You lie there, trying to piece together what on earth happened and try to push your body up with your claws, only to fall back down with a weak groan.

“Ow.”



You didn’t know Krookodile could use Dragon Claw, so the defeat comes as a shock to you, even if in retrospect you probably seen it coming. You suppose you have heard from your peers in the gym that a number of Pokémon could learn moves they normally couldn’t through one of those “tee-yem” thingies, but you didn’t realize that dragon’s moves would be included that.

No matter, it was surely just a fluke. After a few hours’ rest, you are back out on the field as the lead, ready to massage your wounded pride with fresh victory. Especially since you’ve got a point to prove. Fortunately, that shouldn’t be all that hard based off the next team, belonging to a human female with long red hair. Her first Pokémon takes his place on the battlefield and sizes you up with wide-set eyes, all as you furrow your brow with an unamused grunt.

“A Scraggy. Really? Your trainer’s gotten seven badges under her belt and you didn’t evolve at all before this point?”

Yes, a Scraggy apparently. If the rounded head and exposed teeth didn’t get the point across, he pulls up the shed skin hugging his body up to his neck before letting it fall back down around his waist before turning away and folding his arms with a sharp pipe.

“Hey, don’t knock me, I’m close to evolving and I pack a punch!” he retorts. “And my trainer says that some humans say that Scraggy are dragons, too!

You’ve certainly heard that first one a few times. Though Scraggy as dragons, that’s a new one. You let out a dismissive scoff in reply, before crouching and bracing for battle.

“Whatever, kid. I’m not the one who’s going to get wiped over the floor here.”

The Scraggy frowns, but doesn’t say anything in reply as the countdown to the match sounds. As soon as it ends, Iris calls out for a Dragon Dance and you enter a frenzied dance, whirling around as dragonfire flecks your scales. You can feel yourself growing faster and stronger by the moment, and you turn back towards the Scraggy with a sneering grin and see him coming at you.

“Heh, hit me with your best shot, Scraggy. Since it’s the only one you’re gonna-”

You cut yourself off after hearing familiar words from the red-headed woman, ones of an attack that you’ve been practicing with Iris as of late.

“Wait, did your trainer just say ‘Dragon Tail’-?”

Much to your astonishment, the little lizard’s tail comes alight with dragonfire. Your eyes shrink and you hurriedly try to duck out of the way when you feel a sharp blow and go skidding along the side of the battlefield. You lose your footing and tumble, briefly seeing the lines marking where opponents go out of bounds when the surrounding world vanishes in light.



It took a while to register what on earth had happened, but the not-forest and not-river left little room for doubt. You had been recalled back to your Pokéball, since some way, somehow, that Scraggy had managed to make you ring out.

Per human rules, that means waiting for another opening to go back on the field to fight. But the blow stung more than you expect, and even moreso to your pride. The whole time, as your body lost the vigor of its Dragon Dance, you stomped and fumed in your Pokéball with rage over the Scraggy’s slight.

“That lousy cowardly little newt! Iris! Hurry up and send me back out there!”

You even spat up a few attacks at the not-sky to try and force your way out. You saw the ball rock, except when you do it this time, Iris’ hand to clamps over it to hold it still. Much to your frustration, you won’t be forcing your way out today to get back into the fight.

You throw a not-rock into the not-river with a disgusted fume and briefly notice the scenery change in the gaps between the translucent fingers of Iris’ hand. They take you off her holster and send you back out as the arena reappears in your field of vision, where the Scraggy is nowhere in sight. You throw a claw over your face and let out a seething growl. Looks like the Scraggy’s already lost to another fight.

“Arrrrgh! I can’t believe I got cheated out of beating that lousy little pantslizard-!”

“‘Sup?”

You blink and look up to the other side of the battlefield, where there is a Scrafty, pawing at his headcrest with a smug grin back.

Told ya I was close to evolving.”

The frustration leaves your body and is replaced with a quiet flash of fear. The most likely way that little lizard could’ve pulled this off is if he beat your Druddigon teammate in your battle. You breathe in and try to calm yourself after noticing scuffs about the Dark-type’s body. He might have won the battle, but it came at a price. And he’s just evolved, so he can’t be that much stronger…

Right?

The Scrafty pants, before winding up a punch with a knowing grin. He’s tired, but there’s a certain self-confidence to him that’s got you worried.

“By the way, do you want to know the other reason why my trainer says Scraggy and Scrafty are dragons?” he asks. “It’s because a lot of them have got a fighting spirit like a Salamence, including me! Every foe I drop just gets me more and more pumped and makes me hit harder and harder!”

Yes… you’ve heard about that from some of the others from the Gym. It’s not all that common, but every so often, there will be a Salamence turn up in Unova with a fighting spirit just like that.

You breathe in and out quickly as you put two and two together and realize the Dark-type really did beat your teammate. Meaning that you’ll be facing him with this fighting spirit burning strong. You fight back visible tremors and tell yourself that Scrafty are Dark-types, so for all you know this is all some dirty trick to fake you out and throw you off your game.

“Y-You’re just saying stuff to get under my hide!” you cry back. “I’ll wipe the floor with you in no time!”

Iris cries out for you to throw a Dragon Claw forward, this time with all the force you can muster. A twinge of worry comes over you when you realize that even with its invigorating effects worn off, she wants you to go all-out on offense. You opt not to question it, and with the might of a dragon, flecks of greenish fire erupt on your claw.

“Take this!”

Your claws rake the Scrafty’s belly and he lurches back from his place a few places. He falls to his knees and slouches forward, wheezing and struggling to stay lucid after your blow.

You have a moment of satisfaction, confident that at last, you’ve gotten your revenge on the pantslizard until a pair of words in human tongue cut it short.

Once again, the red-haired woman calls out for ‘Dragon Tail’.

Your eyes shrink to pins and you squeal in fright as the Scrafty staggers to his feet and his tail begins to come alight. Blind panic overtakes you as even without Iris’ prompting your turn and start to bolt as dragonfire fills the side of your vision. The next thing you feel is a crushing, burning pain and your body skidding along the ground as you hit something hard behind you.

You look up as your vision runs muddy and see that you’re now at the side of the battlefield. So the Scrafty wasn’t just getting into your head about being able to get harder. You don’t bother trying to get up that time, as you wheeze for air and weakly raise a claw from the ground.

“A-Agh… m-medic!



You also didn’t know that Scraggy of all Pokémon could use Dragon Tail. That defeat also particularly stung, especially since afterwards you apparently missed out on the chance to do battle some sort of turtle thing with a tree on its back and a self-roasting chicken that are rare to this land. Battles that were it not for that Dragon Tail, you’d likely have been there to fight.

You spend most of the day afterwards resting from your defeat again and apparently Head Case had to step out to fill in for you with another challenger. You’re starting to feel a bit embarrassed now, especially since you insisted to your sister that you were ready to serve as Iris’ lead. It’s not the end of the world to lose twice, but twice back-to-back? Without even getting in a proper fight?

As such, when you’re sent out onto the battlefield again this time, for the last challenger of the day, you’re nervous and on edge. What sort of implausible Pokémon are you going to see wield a dragon’s strength this time? An Ampharos at this rate? You breathe in tensely as a human male takes the other end of the field and sends out his first Pokémon. … It’s a Growlithe of all things, who wags his tail and lols his tongue briefly, before striking a determined pose.

“Heh, good battling to you, Fraxure,” he barks. “Let’s see how well you can keep up with me!”

You blink as the Puppy Pokémon takes the field, when you try and fail to hold back a laugh as fall onto your side and break out into loud guffaws.

“Sorry, sorry… I know that I’m not supposed to laugh on the job, but are you for real? A little puppy dog? What are you going to do? Roll over and ask me for a belly rub?”

The Growlithe flashes his teeth and growls back in annoyance, as Iris gives you an askew glance and the countdown to the match begins. As soon it concludes, the opposing trainer calls out his command. It takes you so aback that you miss Iris’ entirely, and stare blinking and dumbfounded.

“Wait, huh? Outrage-?

You hear Iris frantically call you back to attention and glance up, where your mouth flops open in astonishment. The Growlithe is charging at you with his whole body wreathed in dragon fire, eyes smoldering with rage and draconic might.

“Here’s your belly rub, jerk!”

You hurriedly try to stop him with a swipe of your own, but he throws himself forward into your gut, hitting you with a blistering flurry of burning blows that knocks you off your feet and onto your back. You lay there on the ground as stars swirl in your eyes, and you splutter in a disbelieving daze.

“N-Ngah… but you’re a Growlithe. A-And that was Outrage and- H-How?!

You don’t get an answer to that question, only for the Growlithe to run you over with Outrage yet again. You tumble along the ground and your vision goes wobbly as you try to stumble back up.

You briefly hear what sounds like a raspberry when your strength gives out, and you flop to the ground as the world goes back.



You’re back in the infirmary in the back of the Gym now. Again, woozily raising your head as you see bandages and lingering scuffs on parts of your body and the ceiling lights overhead. How on earth had this even happened today? You expected to go into your battles to help Iris emerge victorious, not to be licking your wounds in bed.

“Hey.”

You roll onto your side and move your tusks to turn your head. Francesca’s there with you, too. Looking down at your bed with a flash of worry in her black-and-red eyes.

“We pulled through in the end, but you look like you got thrown around a bit out there,” she says. “Those other battles you were in earlier today weren’t exactly easy on you either, so are you holding alright?”

You roll over onto your back and stare up at the ceiling, letting out a defeated groan.

Fantastic,” you reply. “Couldn’t you tell?”

“I suppose I should have mentioned earlier that it’s not exactly rare for stronger Pokémon to use Dragon-type moves against us,” your sister sighs. “After all, such Pokémon and their trainers will try and seek out ways of exploiting the weaknesses of their opponents. And for us, that is often the might of a dragon itself.”

You turn to the Haxorus with your teeth set in a nervous grimace. You were looking for a challenge, but you’re starting to think that you’ve gotten yourself in over your head.

“How long do I have to fill in for Head Case again?” you ask. “Since fighting rookies in the Gym puzzle suddenly doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Long enough that you might as well get used to training up a bit more if you’re having trouble,” your sister sighs back. “Especially since I doubt that Growlithe will still be one whenever his trainer comes back for a rematch.”

You feel a sinking feeling in your stomach, and look away. You feel your sister paw at you and look up at her as she gives a tired shake of her head.

“Just try and rest up a bit, Hatchet,” she insists. “Iris is in charge of handling challengers the rest of this week, and we’ll likely be facing more again tomorrow. Drayden apparently met a younger trainer who caught his companions’ eye in town earlier today.”

Your sister shuffles off as stare up at the ceiling blankly. You feel a bit embarrassed for not knowing it prior today, but you didn’t realize just how many Pokémon could fight like a dragon in spite of not being one. If you had, perhaps you wouldn’t have been so quick to press for a place as Iris’ lead for when she has to face down her toughest foes.

… No. You won’t back down here. A dragon never gives in. A dragon never yields. Not so long as they cling to life. Maybe your sister’s right and all you need is to toughen up a bit more so these surprises don’t catch you so off-guard. Why you could even get started right now-!

You try to get up and hear something crick in your back. You yelp, before falling back into your bedding with a tired pant and curl up with a pant, pawing at your wounds.

… You’ll get started with that training. First thing tomorrow.
 
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A Restless Dragon

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Author's Note: Special thanks to @Venia Silente for beta reading this one-shot.



A Restless Dragon



THUMP!

A loud clatter rings out after knocking your head against the wall of the room you’re in. If you can call it that when it’s more or less the entire front of your present body that’s basically a block with legs. There’s a small impression left behind in it—not big enough to be easily noticed by your trainer, which you’re not sure is more relieving or disappointing. You turn away and shuffle back, settling down against the carpeted floor with a grumbling sigh.

“Why didn’t I just go along with everyone in my Pokéball?”

You let out a low grunt and look around at your surroundings, or at least as much as your now cumbersome and bulky body will let you. You were moody when your trainer tried to bring you along earlier, but instead of staying here with you, he got the wrong message. Because of course he would when he doesn’t fully understand what you have to say.

This present room is somehow even smaller and more cramped than your trainer’s bedroom back home. There’s a bed laid out on the right side that’s still mussed and unmade. On the opposite side, there’s a desk and a stand wedged in the corner along with a squarish ‘television’ set on it and a few little dolls set on top. The few constants from your trainer’s old room.

This current room is in a building that humans apparently call a ‘dorm’, in a large city a good distance away from where you, your trainer, and your companions grew up. He apparently had to come here for some ‘college’ thing, which takes up much of his time either with studies or with his human friends. He’s been spending a lot of time in particular going to some events called ‘Lahn Parties’ or something like that, hence why your other blocky companion in this room—a silver cube with a handle coming out its back which is normally connected to the television with cables—isn’t here right now.

Your trainer and the life you share with him have changed more than you could’ve imagined in the span of just a few years. He’s grown visibly taller and his voice is now deeper, and most of your teammates have evolved—other than Roy, who insists he won’t remain a Wartortle for long.

Eira’s now a Marowak, Aries evolved into an Ampharos a couple years ago, and even Jaki’s no longer a Murkrow thanks to a lucky break that helped your trainer get ahold of a Dusk Stone. All of them were excited for their new forms and everyone on your team was excited for them.

And then there’s you. Which on days like today, make you wonder if you’d have been better off holding back and not evolving into this slow, unwieldy block. Your teammates reassured you in the past that you’re just as quick as you used to be as a Bagon, even if it sure doesn’t feel that way sometimes. It’s much harder to move around with the shell all about your body, and you constantly have to ask your friends to slow down for you. You even have to ask Roy to do so sometimes, and he’s a Wartortle for crying out loud!

You can’t fit into many of the places you used to be able to as a Bagon, and going around the places that are still big enough for you is often a cumbersome slog. You felt it even on the occasions where your trainer gathered enough smaller Air Balloons to get your bigger and heavier body off the ground. Even though you still find yourself daydreaming of being in the sky, you’ve given up on trying to fly while in this form for a while now. The one time you tried jumping off a ledge to test your chances, you rolled and got stranded on your back. You just stayed stuck like that for the better part of an hour… with no company other than Jaki pointing and laughing at you until your other teammates came and helped roll you back onto your feet.

If only it’d occurred to you before you jumped that you didn’t have arms to flap anymore. It would have spared you the entire episode. In the wilds, Shelgon apparently sometimes meet their ends stranded like that, not that the humiliation of just lying there and flailing helplessly as you called out again and again for help was dramatically better.

Maybe you should just go find a cave to hide in until you’re a Salamence. You’ve heard that Shelgon supposedly do just that in the wild, and from your experiences since evolving, you’re starting to understand why. To not have to constantly fight with a body that feels more like an anchor than a step forward and to just stake a claim for a dragon’s den all for one’s self. A place to lay and rest, without ever having to feel like you’re being left behind by the world.

The door clatters open and you jolt to attention after something heavy thumps against your side’s plates. Something else clatters to rest from above on top of you and you feel weight on your back. You have trouble seeing past the edge of where your shell meets your face, when you spot your trainer’s legs passing… along with a Wartortle putting a claw to his mouth as he speaks up and calls out.

“Marl? We’re back!”

Your trainer… just used you as a shelf. Heat builds up at the back of your throat as a flash of anger comes over you and you turn your body to better see the pair. You can’t make out your trainer’s expression from your field of view, but Roy is visibly taken aback and mortified. They spent all night away from you and they seriously didn't even care enough to check if you were behind the door?!

“Ack! Sorry!” the Wartortle cried out. “We didn’t realize that you were resting there-!”

“Yeah, and I didn’t realize that I was just the new shelf in the dorm to set random junk on!”

You buck the object forward off your shell, and before it hits the ground, you spew dragonfire onto it. Roy and your trainer yelp as a silver blur launches across the room, and slams into the wall over the bed with a crash. It drops down, bounces off the mattress, and lands on the carpet. You see there’s now a dent in the wall where it struck, when you look down at the still-smoldering lump and freeze.

It’s the silver cube with its handle. Except now the bottom is now all charred, and one of the top corners now looks dented and discolored.

… You shouldn’t have done that. Your trainer’s parents gave that silver cube to him as a gift a couple years ago. Even simple gifts tend to be regarded by humans as treasures that they jealously guard, and the silver cube is no exception for your trainer.

You briefly see your trainer stoop down and look at it, before he turns his unplaceable face towards you. It’s etched with a deep, sharp frown, one that looks more upset than you’ve remembered in a long time. Roy’s face looks little better, when it occurs to you that your trainer sometimes shares the images that he makes through those boxes with you and your teammates to pass the time. It’s the only machine of the sort that he has at the moment.

Which you just destroyed in a fit of pique.

Your eyes widen and the flash of anger in you fades away. You back away towards the dorm room’s door, your words coming out in a shaky stammer.

“A-Ack! Wait! I can–!”

You don’t get to finish your sentence. There’s a flash of light, and the surrounding room fades away from your vision.



Well, you’re in your Pokéball now, free to stew in your regrets and enjoy a more open-feeling space… even if nothing in it is real. You rest inside the confines of a simulated cave, and occasionally look out at the bluffs and mountainous terrain generated by your Pokéball and see glimpses of the world outside overhead in the fake sky.

The whole time, through faded, translucent images, you saw your trainer moving around the room and occasionally looking towards the ground and talking. Probably with Roy. But it’s not like your trainer to keep you waiting inside your Pokéball this long, since normally, he has you back out and with whatever teammates he has on-hand at the dorm as soon as he can.

He’s probably mad at you. After all, that was a treasure of his that you just destroyed. Among dragons, such an offense often brands one as someone's lifelong enemy. B-But you weren’t the one who started all of this! He was the one who hit you with the door and used you as a shelf first! Why on earth should you be sorry about things before he is?

You see your trainer’s hand in the sky above, when your surroundings fade away. In the flash of an eye, you find yourself back in the dorm room looking at the bed. You turn around and see Roy and your trainer waiting, before turning away with a huff. You can afford to wait for their apology.

There’s a moment of silence, when Roy’s voice speaks up.

“... Marl.”

“I’m not saying sorry until Calvin does first,” you snarl.

Marl.”

The Wartortle’s voice sounds serious, like the sort of voice he’d normally have after catching you trying to jump from your trainer’s bedroom window back home. You waver and grudgingly turn to see the Wartortle locking eyes with you with his mouth set into a stern frown.

“You could’ve gotten us kicked out of the dorm by throwing attacks around inside like that.”

You hesitate and look away as a pang of regret comes over you. You didn’t realize that you could’ve gotten everyone into trouble like that. You certainly didn’t mean to. You just wanted to send a message about being respected.

Even so, you’re not going to apologize first. You are a dragon and you were the one who was wronged first. After everything that’s happened today, you refuse to let yourself look weak on top of everything.

“Calvin says he’s sorry for using you as a shelf. He was tired from a long day and wasn’t really paying attention,” the Wartortle’s voice sighs. “As for the game console…”

You hear jostling noises as you turn and see Roy turn and lift the damaged cube by its handle in front of your trainer, holding it up before you with a sigh.

“The good news is that it still works when it’s plugged into the TV, but it’s definitely never going to look the same again,” he explains. “And the damage you left behind in the wall is something Calvin is going to need to pay for with that ‘money’ of his that he was going to use for that trip he was planning on taking during spring break.”

A sinking feeling comes over you as the Wartortle speaks. Spring break was just a couple weeks away and your trainer had been dutifully scraping away spare money to pay for that trip. You were looking forward to it and so were the rest of your teammates, since it would’ve been a chance for you all to travel together again away from this cramped room. You can’t even imagine how mad they’re going to be with you when they find out about how you’ve ruined their fun.

You quietly set your teeth on edge as Roy trails off. He shakes his head before continuing on with a low sigh.

“He also said that some things will need to change from all of this.”

You starting to get genuinely worried now. ‘Some things will need to change’? Like you? But what could possibly change from the way you just sit and stand around most of the time…

Your heart and breath picks up a bit. Your trainer must be angrier with you than you thought. You didn’t think that he would ever be the type to do it, but…

“S-So he’s gonna kick me off the team? I-Is that it?”

“Actually… I tried to pass along what was going on to Calvin and I think he got the gist of things,” Roy tells you. “He’d like to spend some more time with you to make you feel a bit less ignored, especially since we’re probably not going anywhere far until the semester’s over.”

Your breathing calms down and you look up at your trainer. His face is as hard to place as it always is, but even if it’s upset, there’s a twinge of regret on it. Much like the one on your own.

… You don’t know for sure if Roy isn’t just telling you what you want to hear, but he and your trainer did apologize to you for his slight. You’re not sure what your trainer has in mind, but you suppose that you can hear him out. After all, you don’t know how enjoyable it will be for him to spend more time with you if he’s mad at you for the rest of spring.

“... What does he want me to do?”

“Well, since we’re sticking around the dorm for spring break, we’re going to need a new game console,” Roy explains. “He’d like you to come along with him when he picks up a replacement from the department store tomorrow.”

You frown and settle to the ground, turning away as a grumbling growl comes from your throat.

“Seriously? His idea of making things up is forcing me to walk around with these legs and my heavy shell?”

“It wouldn’t be all the way, Marl,” he insists. “Just when he gets to the game section in the department store.”

You hesitate and size up your trainer and his starter for a brief moment. You’re not convinced in the slightest that this will really make you feel better… but you suppose that you’ve wronged your trainer and your other teammates too. He at least is trying to make things up to you, so…

“... Fine, I’ll come along.”



The next day, your trainer sets off from the dorm and brings you and your teammates along on his Pokéball holster. It’s a busier than normal day judging by all the people and Pokémon you see pass through the sky of your Pokéball. They filter by as translucent images while your trainer goes about on the street and hops buses before approaching a multistory building.

Or at least that’s what you gathered as you moped in one of the simulated caves in your Pokéball. You know that you agreed to come to a department store alongside your trainer, but you were honestly hoping that he would forget about going after waking up, and you’re starting to have second thoughts about everything. With all these people and Pokémon around, you can already tell that it’ll be easy to fall behind from the others and get separated in the crowds.

Assuming that someone doesn’t mistake you for a shelf outside, too. Or do something else to humiliate you in front of an entire crowd of onlookers.

You lay against the ground of your mock cave and turn away to face deeper inside, when your surroundings melt away. As your surroundings settle down, you find yourself standing amidst a sea of legs with human and Pokémon voices all about you. That’s the department store alright, but something’s different this time. There’s no ceiling lights or hanging signs, and you feel the sun beaming down on you. You look up as best as your limited range of movement will let you, and see a blue sky and white clouds overhead.

… Didn’t Roy say that your trainer was taking you to the department store?

“Huh? What are we doing outside?” you ask. “I thought that Calvin was going to go and buy one of those game...”

You trail off after noticing that there’s stalls all around you, much like ones that would be set up in a market or a summer fair. You blink in confusion when you see Roy and your trainer walking up alongside you. The Wartortle steps forward, and paws at a furry ear as he studies his surroundings.

“He still is, we’re just in a bit of a different part of the department store than normal. The one here in Lilycove holds these markets every Saturday that they call ‘Clearance Sales’,” Roy explains. “Calvin never said that we were getting a new console. With those room repairs lingering, it’s probably best to settle for something that’s missing its packaging.”

… He and your trainer are never going to let you live last night down, are they?

“Look, just tell Calvin to replace the cube thingy with another one that looks like it and let’s go home,” you growl. “The sooner we can forget everything last night ever happened, the better.”

Roy hesitates a moment, before he hangs his head with a low sigh.

“... Whatever you say, Marl. Though I can’t guarantee everything will make it through translation. You know how humans can be sometimes,” he says. “Though the third stall up on the left should have one for sale.”

You make your way forward step by step, as Roy and your trainer steadily keep pace with you. The crowds are still disorienting, but you’re quietly grateful that at least this time, you’re not falling behind. The market stalls have all sorts of odds and ends set out. One has a row of TVs of various shapes and colors on display and another is selling some flimsy-looking fencing. Why, there’s even one that has dolls made to look like various Pokémon set out, with a stuffed Wailmer and a stuffed Rhydon catching your eye.

You freeze up from hearing a cry from ahead, along with the patter of feet running towards you. You look up, and a human tyke not much taller than you comes darting over. His eyes are wide and he calls out at you excitedly and points much to your blinking confusion. You’re not really sure what his problem is when he stretches his hand out towards you much like he’s about to tap your shell. You growl and make him freeze, when your trainer notices what’s going on and comes over.

You hesitate and cast an aside glance at Roy. Are you in trouble right now? You didn’t mean to seriously pick a fight. You just wanted to be left alone.

“Roy, what’s going on?”

The Wartortle pauses a moment and fidgets his ears as he listens in. There’s a moment’s hesitation before a small grin comes over his face and he lets out a quiet chuckle.

“You’ve got a bit of a fan, it looks like,” he says. “He was saying that you looked big and strong.”

You blink at the Wartortle’s response. While you know that you’re at least tougher than when you were a Bagon, you’re still surprised to hear that. Even with this blocky, cumbersome form of yours, this human child is impressed by you?

“... He thinks that I’m big and strong?”

“Well, yeah,” Roy says. “You are a dragon. Even if you’re not fully evolved, that’s how humans tend to see you.”

You feel a twinge of pride at his comment, and even more when you feel your trainer pat along the top of the shell. Roy joins in at the side, and you’re about to ask why they’re doing so when you see the younger child approaching again with his hand outstretched.

The Wartortle turns to you and gives a sheepish grin.

“I don’t suppose you’d be down to let the kid get in a quick pat?” he asks. “That’s what he was trying to do to you earlier.”

You hesitate a moment, before giving a wary glance back.

“... If it’s quick, sure.”

You hold still and brace yourself, half-expecting the human child to poke at your face. Your trainer says something and the child moves his hand towards the base of your shelled body, cupping it and stroking near your legs where you have the most feeling.

The way his fingers stroke back and forth against your scales feels more satisfying than you thought it’d be, and you can’t help but let out a content rumble. The human child looks happy, too. He continues on a little bit, before he turns and waves and slips back off into the crowd towards a waiting Torchic.

You weren’t expecting someone to be impressed with you as a Shelgon. It doesn’t change how much of a chore moving around is, but it still lifts your spirits a bit.

You snap back to attention after feeling clawed digits paw at your side. It’s Roy, as he continues ahead alongside your trainer, and stops to give a rub at the back of his head.

“Sorry for holding things up, Marl,” the Wartortle tells you. “I know you asked for us to not drag things out, so I guess we should hurry on over to that game stand.”

… You did tell Roy that’s what you wanted, even if now you’re not as sure about going back to the dorm right away. You can’t say you’d really oppose staying here a little longer if it means running into others like the little human youngling from earlier.

You lumber on a little ways, and before you know it, you and your teammates are standing in front of the game stand. It’s laden with boxes and machines of various sorts, including a number that are the same as the old ones that used to be in your trainer’s room at home a few years ago. They kinda look like they’ve sat in some backroom for about as long, too.

Roy steps forward and gets to work trying to help point things out for your trainer to speed the process along. He doesn’t speak human, but even so, he’s gotten pretty good at getting your trainer to figure out what he’s trying to tell him. Good enough that barring the trip back to the dorm, you doubt this errand will last much longer than a couple minutes.

You try to listen in on the two when you feel a chill run over your body. A strong gust of wind kicks up, forceful enough to nip at the stands’ awnings. You know that you’re outside the main Department Store building right now, but you didn’t think that it was that windy today. You turn and see that the gust is coming from past the stand, and without thinking you start walking towards its source.

You plod along, drifting off past passersby who duck out of your way. You fight back a growl when a trainer’s Medicham absentmindedly brushes up against you, but you let it slide since your thoughts are more preoccupied with where this wind is coming from. You follow after it as it blows in your face, until you bump into something hard and hear a metallic clang.

“... Huh?!”

You glance up and discover that you’ve run into a railing. There’s open air ahead of you, while there below you, are rooftops and streets. From how small the humans and Pokémon in them look, you’re pretty high up right now. You see the sky and clouds overhead as the wind blows in past the railing and can’t help but feel a sense of awe. You know better than to assume that you’ll be able to fly by leaping off of here, but you’re still closer to sky than you’ve been in some time.

You hop in place as the wind keeps blowing, and for a second, you don’t remember your heavy shell. It’s almost like you already have those wings on your back, the same ones that will be yours one day and let you look down at the world from above as the wind rushes over your scales.

“Marl? Where are…?”

You stop and turn around after hearing Roy’s voice call out from behind and spot him and your trainer walking up. The Wartortle sees you at the railing, as he cracks a sheepish grin.

“Guess the surprise is out of the bag now, isn’t it?”

You warily raise a brow and trade glances between Roy and your trainer. You’re not sure what to make of his comment at first, when it dawns on you that Roy and your trainer knew this view and the wind would be here.

“Wait, you told Calvin to come here?” you ask. “On purpose?”

“Well, it took some effort, but yeah,” he says. “It’s not quite tugging you around with an Air Balloon again, but I figured that just being up in a high place again would cheer you up a bit.”

You blink and turn your attention over to your trainer. He really must’ve wanted to make things up to you. Whatever worries you had about him being mad at you, they’re gone now. You paw one of your forelegs against the ground, and go up and nudge at him with a grateful rumble.

And as you do so, you spot the shopping bag in your trainer’s hand and notice that something’s wrong with it. He game here for a replacement “game cube”, but whatever is in that bag looks much thinner than what one ought to be.

“... Wait, I thought that Calvin was replacing the game console that I burned. That doesn’t look like a cube at all.”

“It’s more of an attachment to add onto one, actually. The one back at the dorm still works, and this thing wound up being quite a bit cheaper than buying another console,” Roy explains. “Even if it doesn’t look as nice as it used to, I guess he must still have some attachment to it. Heh, maybe he figures it’s better keeping it around as a reminder to pay more attention to us.”

Roy tugs at your trainer’s leg and motions at the bag, prompting him to pull the mystery object partway out of it. It’s a silver device in clear plastic that looks like a base of some sort, with one end raised with some sort of connector. There’s a disc in a clear case of some sort, along with another case with a sleeve over it. It’s some sort of cover depicting various creatures and rays of light in front of a banded background, with black-and-red glyphs set against a brick wall in the foreground.

It’s from that same set of games that the dolls on the television are from, but just from the box and its art, this one looks very different from the ones you’ve seen before.

“Calvin used the leftover money he was going to use for the console on this game with those cartoon monsters. You know, the same ones from those games he’d play at home?” he explains. “He says that since we’re not going anywhere fast for Spring Break, that he wants to bring the whole team out and show it off like the old days.”

You stare at Roy for a moment, at a loss of words to say. He paws at his shoulder, before he looks away uneasily with a low murmur.

“I know this isn’t what you asked for, Marl… but you’re not too upset about it, are you?”

You hesitate briefly, before you narrow your eyes back and speak up with a teasing huff.

“I guess that depends on whether or not I feel he wasted his money. I guess we’ll find out when Spring Break comes around,” you chuckle, before trailing off.

“... But before we do that. Could we stay here for just a little longer?”



Roy passed your request along to your trainer, and before you knew it, one thing led to another and a good half the day flew by on the rooftop of that Department Store. By the time you all made it back to the dorm, it was nighttime. Much to your surprise, you didn’t have to wait until Spring Break to make a judgment about your trainer’s purchase or share your thoughts with your friends. Your trainer made a visit to one of those ‘PC’ things to gather up your teammates who were home with your trainer’s family, and for the first time in weeks, you were all together again in this little dorm room.

Your trainer started showing off that new game of his not long afterwards, it’s been a couple hours since then, and most of your teammates have drifted off to their own amusements and chatter elsewhere in the room. You and Roy however, are still seated and watching the TV, which your trainer brought off the shelf and down to the floor for you to get a better view.

You peek off to the side where the silver cube is set on the ground next to it. That stand thing that your bought for the cube did a better job hiding the damage you left behind than you expected. Aside from a couple scorch marks poking up from the bottom when you look closely and the damage to the top edge, it doesn’t look that different from when your trainer first brought it with him from home.

You settle against your trainer as he uses a controller connected to the cube with a wire to shift the images on the screen, with him moving around a human in a trenchcoat through what looks like a desert town. Off to your left, Roy’s watching while lying on his belly with a cheeky grin.

“Hah! That sure looks a lot more like real life than those older games, don’t you think?” he chuckles. “Shame I probably won’t be able to do this for much longer. I’m going to miss being able to sprawl out on the floor like this when I’m finally all evolved.”

You find it hard to believe this is really related to those same games your trainer would play at home yourself, since it looks so different from them. Even so, you can see it’s got the same cartoon monsters in it along with some new ones thrown in, almost like the game itself evolved from those older ones. You muse to yourself about how that’s surely a bunch of nonsense, when you see the human on the screen abruptly stop. Your trainer stops to pat you at his side and says a few reassuring-sounding words to you, much as he did when you were a Bagon.

… In its own way, everything right now really does feel like you’re back at home.

“So what do you think, was the trip worth it, Marl?”

You shift your body to glimpse at Roy as your trainer goes back to fiddling with the controller. That’s when it dawns on you: you don’t need to find a dragon’s den to call your own and hide away in, you have one right here. Yes, the den one in your ball is one too, but you have a real one here in this darkened little room. It’s not as quiet or solitary as a cave, but it’s comfortable, and you’re able to just rest here alongside your teammates, whiling away the time together enjoy simple pleasures. Much as you’re sure you’ll be doing much the same together again in a couple weeks.

And… even if it’s not what most others of your kind would reflexively call a “dragon’s den,” you think you like it more this way.

“Yeah, it was.”



Original Drabble:

FirebreathersHelioliskSerpentine
Scale and FangGyaradosOutrage
Dragon's DenProud LineageScraggy

THUMP!

A loud clatter fills the room after you knock your head against the wall of the room you’re in. You shuffle back, see a small impression in it, and settle down against the carpet with a grumbling sigh.

“I should’ve just gone along with everyone in my Pokéball.”

You settle down with a low grunt and look about your surroundings, or at least as much as your now cumbersome and bulky body will allow. It’s somehow smaller and more cramped than your trainer’s bedroom, with a bed laid out alongside to the right still mussed and unmade, and a desk and a stand with the squarish ‘television’ set on it wedged in the corner with little dolls set on it. The few constants from the room back home.

You’re in a room in what humans apparently call a ‘dorm’, in a large city away from where you, your trainer, and your companions grew up. He apparently had to come here for some ‘college’ thing, which takes up much of his time either with studies or with human friends, especially for something called ‘Lann Parties’ or something like that, hence why the silver cube with a handle coming out its back isn’t attached to the television with cables right now.

Your trainer and his life have changed a lot in the span of a few years. He’s grown visibly taller and his voice is now deeper, and most of your friends have evolved—other than Roy, who insists he won’t remain a Wartortle for long.

Eira’s now a Marowak, Aries’ an Ampharos, even Jaki’s no longer a Murkrow thanks to a lucky break that helped your trainer get a Dusk Stone. All of them were excited for their new forms and all of you were excited for them.

And then there’s you. Which on days like today, makes you wonder if you’d have been better off holding back and not evolving into this slow, unwieldy block. Your teammates reassure you that you’re just as quick as you used to be as a Bagon, but it’s much harder to move around with the shell all about your body, and you constantly have to ask your friends to slow down for you. Even Roy sometimes, and he’s a Wartortle for crying out loud!

Just getting around is now cumbersome, and you felt it even on the occasions where Calvin gathered enough smaller air balloons to get you off the ground. You’ve given up on trying to fly while in this form, since the one time you tried jumping a ledge to test your chances, you rolled and got stuck on your back and just stayed there for a couple hours… with no company other than Jaki pointing and laughing at you until your other teammates came and helped.

If only it’d occurred to you you didn’t have arms to flap. It could’ve spared you the humiliation of lying and flailing helplessly calling out for help like that.

Maybe you should just go find a cave to hide in until you’re a Salamence. It’s said that Shelgon do just that in the wild, and from your experiences, you’re starting to see the appeal. To have a dragon’s den all for one’s self. A place to lay and rest, without ever having to feel like you’re getting left behind by the world.

You hear the door open and feel something heavy thump against your side and something clatter to you at rest from above. You have trouble seeing past you, when your trainer’s legs and Roy pass, the Wartortle putting a claw to his mouth as he speaks up and and calls out.

“Marl? We’re home!”

You growl as a flash of anger comes over you and the pair turn to you. You can’t make out your trainer’s expression from your field of view, but Roy is visibly taken aback and mortified. They spent all night without you just so that way they’d forget you’d exist when they came back?!

“Ack! Sorry! We didn’t realize that you were resting there-!”

“Yeah, and I didn’t realize that I was just the new shelf to set random junk on!”

You buck the object off your shell in front of you, and before it hits the ground, you spew dragonfire at it to send it alight. You see a silver blur launch across the room, where it slams into the wall over the bed, and drops down, bounces, and lands on the carpet. There’s a dent where it struck, when you look down at the still-smoldering lump and freeze.

It’s the silver cube with its handle. Except the bottom is all charred, and one of the top corners now looks looks dented and discolored.

You immediately grimace as it occurs to you that you shouldn’t have done that. That box was a gift given to your trainer by his parents, and such objects in general tend to be regarded by humans as treasures that they jealously guard.

You briefly see him stoop down and look at it, before he looks at you with a sharp frown, the one he makes during those times where he’s upset with you. Roy’s face looks little better when it occurs to you that your trainer sometimes shares the images that he makes through those boxes with you and your teammates, and you just torched the only one your trainer had right now in a fit of pique.

“A-Ack! Wait! I can-!”

You don’t get to finish your sentence. There’s a flash of light, as the surrounding dorm fades away from your sight.



Well, you’re in your Pokéball now. Getting that regret of yours taken care of, if obviously too late. There’s the simulated bluffs and mountainous caves as normal, as you rest in a cave, stealing glances in the world outside through the sky overhead.

The whole time, you briefly saw your trainer with his head turned down and talking. Probably with Roy, you guess. But it’s not like him to keep you waiting inside your Pokéball this long, since normally, he has you back out and with your companions as soon as he can.

It occurs that he’s probably mad at you. After all, that was a treasure of his that you just destroyed. B-But you weren’t the one who started this! He was the one who ignored you first! Why on earth should you be sorry about things before he is?

You see your trainer’s hand in the sky above, when your surroundings fade and you find yourself back in the dorm room. You turn and see Roy and your trainer waiting, before you promptly turn away with a huff. There’s a moment of silence, before Roy’s voice speaks up.

“... Marl.”

“I’m not saying sorry until Calvin does first,” you snarl.

Marl.”

That voice sounds serious, and you waver and grudgingly turn to see the Wartortle looking eyes at you with a stern frown.

“You could’ve gotten us kicked out of the dorm by throwing attacks around inside like that.”

You hesitate and turn your eyes aside as a pang of regret comes over you. You hadn’t ever meant to get everyone into trouble like that. You just wanted to send a message about being respected. Even so, you stubbornly refuse to apologize first. You are a dragon and you were wronged first, after everything that’s happened today, you refuse to let yourself look weak on top of it.

“Calvin says he’s sorry for using you as a shelf. He was tired from a long day and not paying attention,” the Wartortle’s voice sighs. “As for the game console…”

You hear jostling noises as you turn and see Roy fetch the damaged cube by its handle in front of your trainer, holding it up before you with a sigh.

“The good news is that it still works when it’s plugged into the TV, but it’s definitely not going to look the same ever again,” he explains. “And the damage you left behind is something Calvin is going to need to pay for with that money of his. And Calvin says that some things will need to change from all of this.”

You start to feel genuinely worried now. ‘Some things will need to change’? Like you? But what could possibly change from the way you just sit and stand around most of the time…

Your heart and breath picks up a bit. You didn’t think that your trainer would ever be the type, but…

“S-So he’s kicking me off the team? I-Is that it?”

“Actually… I tried to pass along what was going on to Calvin. That’s why it took so long for him to let you back out,” the Wartortle explains, shaking her head back. “I think he got the gist of things and he’d like to spend some time with you to make you feel a bit less ignored.”

Your breathing calms down and you look up at your trainer. His face is as hard to place as it always is, but even if it’s upset, you pick up a twinge of regret on it. Much like your own.

… You don’t know for sure if Roy isn’t just telling you what you want to hear, but your trainer apparently did apologize for his slight. You’re not sure what he has in mind, but you suppose that you can hear him out about how he proposes to make things right.

“... What does he want me to do?”

“Well, we’re going to need a new game console,” Roy explains. “He’d like you to come along with him as he gets a replacement from the department store tomorrow.”

You frown and settle to the ground, turning away as a grumbling growl comes from your throat.

“Seriously? His idea of making things up to me is forcing me to walk around with these legs and my heavy shell?”

“Not all the way, just when he gets to the part with the game section.”

You hesitate and size up your trainer and his starter for a brief moment. You’re not convinced in the slightest that this will make you feel better… but you suppose that you’ve wronged your trainer and your other teammates too. He made an effort to try and make things better, so…

“... Fine, I’ll give it a shot.”



The next day, your trainer set off from the dorm brought you and your teammates along on his Pokéball holster as you mope in one of the simulated caves in your Pokéball. It’s a busier than normal judging by all the people and Pokémon you see pass through the sky as translucent images as your trainer goes about on the street and hops buses before approaching a multistory building.

… You know that you agreed to come to a department store alongside your trainer, but you’re starting to have second thoughts. With all these people and Pokémon around, you can already tell that it’ll be easy to get separated in the crowds from the others as you follow along.

You grumble to yourself and lay against the ground of your mock cave, when your surroundings melt away and you find yourself standing amidst of sea of legs. That’s the department store alright, but wait, something’s different. You feel the sun beam down on you and look up, seeing a blue sky and white clouds overhead.

“Huh? What are we doing outside?” you ask. “I thought that we were going to the department-”

A cry from your side turns you to see stalls all about you, when you see your trainer walk alongside you. Roy steps forward afterwards, pawing at the back of his head.

“We did, we’re just in a bit of a different part of it than normal,” Roy explains.. “Also, Calvin never said that we were getting a new console. Those room repairs probably aren’t going to be cheap, after all.”

… He and your trainer are never going to let you live this down. You can already tell.

“Look, just replace the console with one that looks like it and let’s go home,” you growl. “The sooner we can forget this ever happened, the better.”

Roy hesitates a moment, before hanging his head with a low sigh.

“... You’re the boss, though I can’t guarantee everything will make it through translation. You know how humans can be sometimes,” he says. “Though it should be the third stall up on the left.”

You make your way forward step by step, as Roy and your trainer steadily keep pace. The crowds are still disorienting, but you’re quietly grateful that this time, you’re not falling behind. The stalls have all sorts of odds and ends set out. One has a row of TVs of various shapes and colors set out, another fencing that doesn’t look all that sturdy. Why there’s even one that has dolls made to look like various Pokémon set out, with a Wailmer and a Rhydon one catching your eye.

You freeze up from hearing a cry from ahead, along with the patter of running feet. You look up, and a human tyke not much taller than you are comes running over, eyes wide as he points and cries out at you excitedly much to your blinking confusion. He even approaches you with outstretched hand, when you shift back with a growl and cast an aside glance at Roy.

“Roy, what’s going on?”

“You’ve got a bit of a fan, it looks like,” he tells you. “He was saying that you looked big and strong.”

You blink in response. While you know that you’re at least tougher than when you were a Bagon, you still find yourself taken aback. Even in this present form of yours, this human is impressed?

“... He thinks that I’m big and strong?”

“Well, yeah,” Roy says. “You are a dragon. Humans tend to see you like that.”

You feel a twinge of pride when you feel your trainer pat along the top of the shell. Roy joins in at the side, you’re about to ask why when you see the younger child is approaching, hand outstretched. The Wartortle turns to you and gives a sheepish grin.

“I don’t suppose you’d be down to let the kid get in a quick pat?”

You hesitate a moment, before pausing, and giving a wary glance back.

“... If it’s quick, sure.”

You hold still and brace yourself, half-expecting the human child to poke you in the eye. Your trainer says something and the child moves his hand towards the base of your shelled body, cupping it and stroking near your legs where you have the most feeling.

It feels more satisfying than you expected, and you can’t help but let out a content rumble. The human child looks happy, too, before he turns and waves and then leaves. You weren’t expecting someone to be impressed with the way you are as a Shelgon. Even if it doesn’t change how much of a chore moving around is, it’s quite a silver lining. You’re snapped back to attention by a paw at your side, as you see Roy setting forth alongside your trainer, and giving a quiet sigh.

“Sorry for the holdup, Marl,” the Wartortle says. “I suppose we should hurry on over to that game stand.”

Right. You suppose you did say you wanted that, even if now you’re not as sure as you were just a little earlier that you wanted to get things done with right away. Before long, you make it to the game stand, which is laden with boxes and machines of various sorts, including a number that are the same as the old ones that used to be in your trainer’s room at home a few years ago.

Roy steps forward and gets to work trying to help point things out for your trainer. You suppose that you should be satisfied since you’ve gotten what you wanted and this errand will soon be over.

It’s at that point that you feel a strong gust of wind which nips at the stands’ awnings. You know that you’re outside the main Department Store building right now, but something about it was stronger than expected. You see that it’s coming from past the stand, and without thinking you go ahead and drift off, following the wind blowing in your face until you hear a metallic clang.

“... Huh?!”

You look up and see that you’ve run into a railing, while there below you are rooftops and streets, from how small the humans and Pokémon in them look, you can tell that you’re fairly high up. You glance up and see the sky and clouds overhead as the wind blows in your face. You know better than to assume that you’ll fly by leaping off of here, but it’s still most of the way there.

You hop in place as the wind blows, and for a second, you don’t remember your heavy shell. It’s almost like having those wings on your back that you’ll have one day, with the wind in your face, looking down at the world from above.

“Marl? Where are…?”

You snap back to attention after hearing Roy’s voice and turn to see him and your trainer approaching. The Wartortle sees you at the railing, as he cracks a sheepish grin.

“Guess the surprise is out of the bag now, huh?”

You blink as you trade glances between Roy and your trainer, and warily raise a brow.

“Wait, you told to come here?” you ask. “On purpose?”

“Well, it took some effort, but yeah. It’s not quite tugging you around with an Air Balloon again,” he says. “But I figured the view and the wind against your face would cheer you up a bit.”

Your trainer really must’ve wanted to make things up to you. Whatever worries you had about him being mad at you, they’re gone now, as you go up and nudge at him with a grateful rumble.

In the process you notice that something is wrong. You glance at the shopping bag your trainer’s replacement cube is supposed to be in, and notice that it looks unusually thin.

“... Wait, what sort of replacement game console is that? That doesn’t look like a cube at all.”

“It’s more something you add onto one, really. It wound up being quite a bit cheaper than getting another console,” Roy explains. “Guess he must have some nostalgia for the old thing, that or else he likes having it around as a reminder to pay more attention to us.”

He pulls it partway out of the bag, it’s a silver device that looks like a base of some sort, with one end raised with a port on it. There’s a disc in a clear case of some sort, along with another with various creatures in front of a banded background, with black-and-red glyphs on it set against a brick wall.

“He used the leftover money this game about those cartoon monsters that he grew up with,” he explains. “Said he wanted to bring the whole team out and show it off like the old days.”

You stare at Roy for a moment as he paws at his shoulder, before he looks away uneasily with a low murmur.

“I know it’s not what you asked for, but you’re not too upset about it, are you?”

You hesitate, before you narrow your eyes back and speak up with a taunting huff.

“Guess that depends on whether or not I feel he wasted his money. Only one way to find out.” you chuckle, before trailing off.

“... But before we do that. Could we stay here for just a little bit longer?”



Roy passed along your request to your trainer, and before you knew it, one thing led to another and a good half the day flew by on that rooftop. You’re back home now and it’s night, with all your teammates out and about, including the ones who were home with your trainer’s family at the time called up for the occasion.

It’s been a while since your trainer started showing off his new game, and most of your teammates are busy with their own things now elsewhere in the dorm room. You and Roy however, remain watching, at a TV brought off the shelf and down to floor level, with the silver cube placed on top.

That stand thing that your trainer bought for the cube did a better job at hiding the damage than you thought. And aside from the scorch marks poking up from the bottom when you look at it, and the damaged top edge, it looks almost like it did when your trainer first brought it with him from home.

You settle against your trainer as he maneuvers a human in a trenchcoat through what looks like a desert town, to your left, Roy’s sprawled out with a cheeky grin.

“Hah! That sure looks a lot more like real life than the older games, don’t you think?” he chuckles. “I’m sure going to miss being able to do this when I’m finally all evolved!”

You find it hard to believe yourself, since it looks so different from those ones that your trainer used to play. But it’s got the same monsters in it, and your trainer stops to pat you at his side every now and then just as he did when you were a Bagon.

… In its own way, it really does feel like you’re back at home.

“So what do you think, was it worth it, Marl?”

It then dawns on you, you don’t need to find a dragon’s den to call your own and hide away in. Even if it’s not as lonely what those ones in nature would normally be, you have one right here and now. Yes, the one in your ball, but you have a real one too. Right here, in this darkened little room alongside your teammates, just wiling away the time over simple pleasures together.

… You think that you like it more this way.

“Yeah, I think so.”
 
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JFought

Sloooowly writing...
Location
HCL
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. jfought-sword
  2. jfought-blue
  3. deerling-summer
  4. charmeleon
  5. vulpix
  6. monferno
Here for the second half of our review exchange! Sorry I took so long on this. I went and read both A Dragon’s Might and A Dragon’s Savior for this review. I also decided to try changing up my review style, as I’ve been feeling my normal way of doing things is more conducive to longer/multiple chapters than the shorter self-contained material featured here. I hope it works!

A Dragon’s Might
This was a cute one! A story focusing on that Fraxure Iris leads her team against you with in the games (which i didn't realize until i wrote this), as well as the competitive feelings that arise from wanting to prove oneself as a Gym Leader's Pokémon. Hatchet as a character felt suitably haughty and arrogant for the story's purposes, and I enjoyed her interactions with the other characters, especially as things started going wrong for her.

I like the detail of Hatchet not fully understanding her trainer's speech. As a side-effect it does make Iris seem kinda distant here, but it also works to demonstrate Hatchet’s lack of experience. It's kinda a background thing, but I do get the impression that Iris is doing this both out of respect for Hatchet, and so that she can learn valuable lessons and gain new experiences. So Iris is still in-character in this story, just in a way that Hatchet doesn't fully understand.

The "twist" of the story, the revelation that non-dragons can use “a dragon’s might” too, felt like a pretty practical lesson for her to learn. Her opponents aren’t just stronger, they’re also smarter, and she needs to learn to be able to deal with that and not get overconfident before she can prove herself in the way that she desires.

Overall, I’d say the story has a nice escalation across its three fights, and provides a neat glimpse into the world of gym pokémon. I liked it!

A Dragon’s Savior
A very short one, but I liked its vibe. I think the second-person really does this one favors: the way it’s handled here does a good job of immersing us into Goomy’s perspective and getting across their feelings at each point in the story. I also like the way the Exeggutor character is written, there’s a wise-yet-whimsical air about him that felt very fitting for his species. I also have to appreciate the Pokémon choices here: very underappreciated dragons who are non-typical from what you'd expect from the typing. I think overall this one gets its idea across well and succinctly, while also being very nice and smooth to read.

---
i had an error in this spot here originally but i realized it probably wasn't one.

As soon as it ends, Iris calls out for a Dragon Dance and thrash about in a frenzy, whirling around as dragonfire flecks your scales.
missing "you"
Even if he is tall and imposing, if he meant you harm you, he’d have done so by now.

But you need a shaded place to rest, and no bush on this island carries sort of power your unexpected guardian just wielded.
missing "the"
Overall, I liked both of the stories I checked out here. I don't have any particular complaints, I found them both effective at accomplishing what they set out to do. They were short and didn't overstay their welcome, while also showcasing unique perspectives on the world of pokemon and the place Dragon-types have in it. In general it seems like a lot of the stories here have interesting premises, so I wouldn't mind checking out more in the future!
 
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Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
@JFought
Here for the second half of our review exchange! Sorry I took so long on this. I went and read both A Dragon’s Might and A Dragon’s Savior for this review. I also decided to try changing up my review style, as I’ve been feeling my normal way of doing things is more conducive to longer/multiple chapters than the shorter self-contained material featured here. I hope it works!

Nah, it’s fine. I’m a patient guy, and at the time I wrote this, I still needed to get through the second half of my review of Detective Oscar, so I can’t really judge. ^^;

Though a different style than normal, huh? Well, only one way to see how it lands:

A Dragon’s Might
This was a cute one! A story focusing on that Fraxure Iris leads her team against you with in the games (which i didn't realize until i wrote this), as well as the competitive feelings that arise from wanting to prove oneself as a Gym Leader's Pokémon. Hatchet as a character felt suitably haughty and arrogant for the story's purposes, and I enjoyed her interactions with the other characters, especially as things started going wrong for her.

Yeah, I’ll have to tip my hat to @Umbramatic for how things turned out here, since Hatchet is actually a depiction of a very, very old character he cooked up years ago (ditto the Scraggy for that matter). That one wasn’t Iris’ W1 Fraxure, but eh, I like adding my own spin on things, and the nuts and bolts of said character’s personality when mapped to Iris’ W1 Fraxure made for some pretty lulzy outcomes as you’ve surely gathered, so good enough.

I like the detail of Hatchet not fully understanding her trainer's speech. As a side-effect it does make Iris seem kinda distant here, but it also works to demonstrate Hatchet’s lack of experience. It's kinda a background thing, but I do get the impression that Iris is doing this both out of respect for Hatchet, and so that she can learn valuable lessons and gain new experiences. So Iris is still in-character in this story, just in a way that Hatchet doesn't fully understand.

Yeah, part of it is that my headcanon, and the setup I roll with in my mainline writings is that Pokémon start out with the same level of understanding of humans as humans do of them. Which is to say “not a lot, with a lot of inferences made by body language and the like”. Though glad to hear that it worked out well vibe-wise for you.

The "twist" of the story, the revelation that non-dragons can use “a dragon’s might” too, felt like a pretty practical lesson for her to learn. Her opponents aren’t just stronger, they’re also smarter, and she needs to learn to be able to deal with that and not get overconfident before she can prove herself in the way that she desires.

Overall, I’d say the story has a nice escalation across its three fights, and provides a neat glimpse into the world of gym pokémon. I liked it!

Or she could stay cocky and keep taking funny Ls. That would work, too.
:bleplithe:


Though glad to hear that you had fun with the one-shot, and this new reviewing style so far has been fun to read.

A Dragon’s Savior
A very short one, but I liked its vibe. I think the second-person really does this one favors: the way it’s handled here does a good job of immersing us into Goomy’s perspective and getting across their feelings at each point in the story. I also like the way the Exeggutor character is written, there’s a wise-yet-whimsical air about him that felt very fitting for his species. I also have to appreciate the Pokémon choices here: very underappreciated dragons who are non-typical from what you'd expect from the typing. I think overall this one gets its idea across well and succinctly, while also being very nice and smooth to read.

I’m glad to hear. Unfortunately, whatever voodoo I pulled off to get coherent sub-2k word one-shots from the first batch of one-shots wasn’t something that I was able to figure out for the second one, but eh. Variety is the spice of life.

Though I’m very heartened to hear that you felt this one-shot was a complete package even if it was on the shorter side. And it was actually pretty fun going through canonical encounter locations and designing a story around it. Since you wouldn’t expect to be able to find Goomy and Alolan Exeggutor together, but it turns out you actually can. At Exeggutor Island, go figure. :V

[insert 3 typos and missing words here]

I fixed those a while back before writing up this review response, though thanks for pointing them out.

Overall, I liked both of the stories I checked out here. I don't have any particular complaints, I found them both effective at accomplishing what they set out to do. They were short and didn't overstay their welcome, while also showcasing unique perspectives on the world of pokemon and the place Dragon-types have in it. In general it seems like a lot of the stories here have interesting premises, so I wouldn't mind checking out more in the future!

:lugiyay:


And I’ll certainly be looking forward to seeing what you’d have to say about some of the other one-shots if and when you ever get to them, since this review was quite enjoyable to read.

And you all know how it works with these review responses. If I’m making them, it means I’ve got something new to share or else it’s right before Review Blitz, but that wasn’t the case at the time of posting. It’s been a wild ride with this second batch of one-shots, so let’s continue things with another installment that’s all about wild rides in the world of Pokémon:
 
A Mythical Dragon

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Author's Note: Special thanks to @Venia Silente , @Torchic W. Pip , and @CinderArts for beta reading this one-shot.



A Mythical Dragon



Late afternoon rays wash the steel awning over your head in burnt orange light, as you lie and sun yourself against concrete underfoot. Unlike the walkways humans use alongside their streets, this patch of concrete has green stripes marking out distinct spaces—for you and other Cyclizar like you who ply the Routes for hire on behalf of your trainers. The humans whom you carry keep your bodies warm on chillier days during your runs, and them requesting your services is surprisingly easy now. All it takes now is a few taps on those slates they call ‘phones’ that even human younglings seem to possess these days, some of which even house ghostly sprites as companions.

It can be a blur sometimes watching human machines and the way their owners interact with them seemingly change faster than you can shed your scales. Even so, some things have remained constant ever since you first became a runner-for-hire…

“Blugh… slow day.”

Namely that every now and then, there will be a lack of takers for your services, leaving you with little more to do than to sit with your riding harness empty and talk with passersby or other runners in your same situation. You’ve heard it said that humans here in Medali and the other places in this land where their dens cluster together, have a fondness for midday sleep. You’ve also heard that your kind in particular has a deep history with those humans. Perhaps they learned the practice from the way that Cyclizar like you might lay down to bask when the sun is at its highest and warmest during the day.

But the time when local humans usually rest in such a fashion came and went a few hours ago. Since then, you’ve just been here, waiting. Waiting for a customer to come to you so you can run and carry them off to parts far away, or else for your proper trainer to come and take you home to rest and to reward you for a hard day’s work.

Except, at this rate, you wonder if there’s going to be anything for you to do between now and then. With how slow things have been, you’re half tempted to sneak off from your post for a while and slip in a quick bask more directly under the sun before it sets for the evening.

I heard Rieju almost got run off the road near Porto Marinada by La Ferromandra last night.”

L-La Ferromandra? Boy, that must’ve been scary for her. Is she okay?”

You stir in your spot and shoot a sidelong glance at a pair of Cyclizar to your left who are similarly lounging in spots under the same awning as you. A nervous-looking one that looks like you, and another with tan scales whom you’ve never seen another one quite like during your runs. They’re friends of yours, and you often trade gossip whenever you’re together during slow moments like this.

Except, you don’t think you’ve ever heard either of them mention that name before…

‘La Ferromandra’?” you ask. “Clúa? Sanglas? What are you two going on about?”

Sanglas scoffs, before raising his tan head and letting his dewlap puff out.

“Seriously, Montesa. I know that work’s been slow today,” he says. “But how has a Pokémon in your line of work not heard of La Ferromandra? Have you been hiding under a rock all season?”

‘All season’? You genuinely hadn’t heard anyone say anything about this strange creature which apparently runs others off of roads. One that from the name, almost sounds like some sort of iron serpent. Have you really been that out of things that have been going on lately?

“I don’t pay attention to gossip that much, alright?” you harrumph. “Look, just what is La Ferromandra? And why are you two going on about it?”

The other Cyclizar, Clúa, looks around nervously, almost as if she expects to be struck down by an unseen presence. She paws at the ground, before turning to you and speaking up in a hushed tone.

“It’s this monster that’s been roaming the Routes between towns at night. They say it’s half dragon and half machine, and prowls the roads searching for unsuspecting prey,” she says. “When it finds a victim, it lets out a gods-awful roar before it moves in for the kill. The last thing you see if it goes for you is a purple blur, a hail of lightning, and then a set of metal jaws lunging for your throat.”

“Hence ‘La Ferromandra’,” Sanglas chimes in.

You tilt your head with a low scoff. Seriously? This is what Sanglas and Clúa are so worked up about? You’re pretty sure that this isn’t even a story they heard themselves, since you could’ve sworn you saw a picture from some dubious human magazine that one of your recent customers had been reading that kinda looked like that.

“Isn’t that just one of those make-believe creatures from those human tabloids?” you scoff, furrowing your brow. “Like those ponytailed Jigglypuff that are supposed to be a billion years old or those Volcarona with only one set of wings?”

“No way, La Ferromandra is totally real! I’ve got a buddy that runs one of the Routes going through Cabo Poco. He swears on his tail that a local friend of his saw La Ferromandra eat an entire pack of Houndoom out there!” Clúa protests. “He told he saw La Ferromandra’s lightning drop ‘em himself before he had to run off! Smelled the burnt fur and everything!”

Well that story got morbid really quickly. Though if the tale of this La Ferromandra has been heard as far out as Cabo Poco, maybe you really have been a bit out of the loop. Not that your friends need to know that.

“More like you need to be less gullible, Clúa,” you harrumph. “Seriously. Do you expect me to believe that a monster strong enough to hunt entire packs of Pokémon at a time to eat, that it’d have gone for a bunch of bony dogs of all things?”

They waver a bit, but they don’t seem to be persuaded that this ‘La Ferromandra’ is probably just another one of those ‘urban myths’ that gets around. You perk up after hearing footsteps approaching and turn to see a human walking up. He fiddles with a phone, before going over to a reader on the wall. He holds it in front of it briefly, when a Pokéball drops out from a dispenser for him to claim. Yours, based on the scuffs around its edges. It’s a sign that your wait for a customer has finally come to an end.

The human walks up to your side, distracted all the while talking on his phone to another human voice on the other end. You miss most of the conversation that he has in his tongue, but you think you at least picked out the destination he wants to go to.

“That’s my cue. Sounds like this guy’s headed out to Cascarrafa,” you tell your friends. “With any luck, I’ll be back in town by midnight.”

Sanglas and Clúa trade looks with one another after you finish speaking, as Clúa nervously thumps her foot against the ground.

“Wait, to Cascaraffa?” she asks. “Maybe I’m worrying over nothing, Montesa… But Cascarrafa’s not that far from Porto Marinada, and—”

You shift in place briefly as your hired rider slides into the harness on your back. After adjusting to the human’s added weight, you look back at Clúa, your mouth curled down into a frown.

“Clúa, seriously. Stop shedding your scales,” you insist. “I’ll be fine. Don’t go believing every little story you hear on the job.”

Your rider calls out and you set off ahead, exiting out from under the awning. You turn along the road as he twists the handlebars on your harness to guide you, when he pushes down on the footrests—a sign he wants to go faster. You oblige him, slowly at first, and then as you make it onto a stretch of open road, you curl your tail in and flare your dewlap out as you break into a run headed off for the countryside beneath the setting sun.



The hours and road markers flew by on the road to Cascaraffa, and before you knew it, the sun did too. It dipped over the horizon and the moon and the stars began to poke out as the sky darkened. You chalked up the way the world seemed to fly by you to the thrill of the run. With every stride forward getting your blood pumping and the warmth of your rider spreading to your body, you were honestly too busy enjoying yourself to notice how late it was getting.

Your run’s path takes you to a fork in the road and you fly down the left path, your strides carrying you along uphill a short distance. All of a sudden, you feel a sharp tug from your harness, one that digs into your scales from how abrupt it is. You blink and slow down, coming to a stop as you turn your head up at your rider. He’s calling out for you to turn around and motioning back down the path.

You narrow your eyes in annoyance and you raise your voice in protest. What on earth has gotten into him right now?

“Oh come on! You’re the one who wanted to go here in the first place!” you complain. “This is the road to Cascarraf…”

You trail off after noticing that the terrain is rockier than the way to Cascaraffa ought to be.

… Right, the Route to Cascaraffa from Medali goes downhill. Even if your human rider should’ve tipped you off sooner, you suppose you should’ve already known better.

You grumble and start to make your way back down to the fork in the road, rounding the bend where you see the slope headed downhill. At least you noticed this before carrying on too far down the wrong path.

You sigh and start to set off, when the air suddenly fills with an ear-splitting roar.

“H-Huh?!”

You jolt up and abruptly freeze in the path, looking around your surroundings as you try to make sense of where the roar came from. Your rider is tugging at your harness again, but this time you ignore his promptings entirely. What on earth was that? Is it even safe to go further down the path?

“Wh-Who’s there?!”

Nothing answers your voice but the normal sounds of night. You breathe out and are about to dismiss the sound as just some wild Pokémon getting into a scrap a ways off the path… when you hear strange noises in the distance.

There’s a whooshing hum that almost sounds like the engine of a human plane, along with something that sounds like faint, pulsing music mixed in. You look up at the sky and there’s nothing to be found, when it occurs to you that the noise is coming from the ground further down the path.

“What in the-?”

A large, darkened shape blows past you and strikes your shoulder. You lose your footing and briefly see purple and silver before you fall off your feet and flop into a ditch on the side of the road. You hear yelps, one of them yours, another your human rider’s, along with a skidding noise and gravel and dirt getting kicked up. You whirl your head in a daze towards the path further uphill where you hear a couple garbled beats of music abruptly cut out. There, you see a long, darkened shape with a pair of hollow wheels glowing violet and yellow and hints of static crackling along them. The wheels stop and darken as the darkened figure’s body rises up on a set of four legs. They lose their shape and merge back into the figure’s body when you see a glowing blue eye and as you look under the moon’s light, you see purple hide, a long tail, and large, glinting claws…

Along with a steely-looking head with metal jaws.

Your mouth flops open out of fright and stifled whines come from your throat. You know exactly who this strange being is, and if the stories about it are right, you are no match for it.

L-La F-Ferroman-

Something slides off the creature’s back, along with a slate-like thing that decouples from La Ferromandra and floats in the air. La Ferromandra then turns towards you, revealing a second blue eye, and begins to pace forward. Your mind goes blank and you forget about your rider or anything else other than that you desperately want to be anywhere but here. You hurriedly stumble onto your feet and try to flee, only to lose your balance from your harness hanging askew. You trip and flop forward onto your belly, feeling dirt and grass against your scales.

A dark shadow falls over you, and your heart pounds in your chest as your breaths come ragged and quick. This is it. Not even shedding your tail will get you out of this. Panic overtakes you, as you screw your eyes shut and your words come out in a pleading squeal.

“A-AAH! Please don’t eat me! I’m n-not a Houndoom! I don’t taste good-!”

“Houndoom?”

A voice that drones sort of like a Porygon’s speaks up as you lay there. You shiver a bit, waiting for searing lightning or to feel fangs tearing into your throat. Except, they never come and instead, the strange voice speaks up again.

“But why would I think that you’re a— Oh. Er… I’m sorry, you didn’t hit your head in that crash, didn’t you?”

It sounds… worried? Why, it even sounds a bit apologetic. Isn’t… Isn’t this La Ferromandra who’s cornered you? What’s going on?

You crack your eyes open and see the steel-headed beast is indeed there. But instead of the fierce monster you were expecting, the steel giant looks down at you, holding its head with a puzzled tilt.

“I already felt dizzy after I ran into that tree further down the path,” it says. “So I can’t imagine that hitting your head would feel good for a smaller Pokémon like you.”

You blink and stare up at the strange creature and its peculiar eyes that look almost like they’re from some sort of electronic sign. ‘Ran into a tree’? Was that what that roar from earlier was? You stare up into the eyes of the creature, raising your voice with a stammer as you start to get a faint hope that you’re not in danger.

“S-So you’re not going to hit me with a hail of lightning and then rip my throat out?”

La Ferromandra stiffens up, and looks away from you. You aren’t sure what to make of its reaction when heated words in human tongue ring out. You glance over, and there is your hired rider arguing with what looks like a human girl with a floating slate thing. One of those Rotom phones from a closer inspection.

You sigh in relief, as it sinks in that you really aren’t in danger after all. You turn your attention back to La Ferromandra, as it traces its claws in the dirt with an expression that reminds you of the ones you’d have when you’re downcast or glum.

“I couldn’t do that even if my life depended on it,” it tells you in a deflated tone. “I can’t battle at all… and I haven’t been able to for some time.”

You back away and study the creature carefully when you realize that it’s not just its expression that reminds you of your own. Sanglas and Clúa mentioned that La Ferromandra was half-dragon and half-machine. But with its serpentine profile, you realize that even if it has a steely-looking throat where a dewlap ought to be, the strange spike along its back, or where a tail that looks almost like it’s made of iron segments… that the dragon that it looks most like is you.

Your heartbeat begins to slow and return to normal as your fear ebbs away. You walk up alongside La Ferromandra, much like you would a peer who’s hurt or frightened, and give a worried look from the side of your eye.

“... Did you get hurt or something?” you ask. “I wouldn’t have expected a… whatever Pokémon you are to not be able to fight.”

There is a noticeable pause, before the machine-dragon looks back at you, its head hung low with a downcast huff.

“Something like that,” it mutters. “Though ‘Miraidon’ is what the humans I’ve been around say my kind is called.”

‘Miraidon’, huh? You’re not sure how that name got cooked up, but something about it has a ring to it. While part of you is still in disbelief that La Ferromandra is actually real, let alone here and in the flesh next to you, a part of you is relieved that, in the end, it is a creature just like you. Much more so than the fierce monster that Sanglas and Clúa’s stories made it out to be.

If that’s so, maybe… just maybe… you would know just the sort of thing that would cheer this strange dragon up to begin with.

“I mean, you can run well, at least,” you offer, raising your snout with a small chuckle. “I’m sure you’ll be able to battle again soon enough. Just don’t wear yourself out.”

Miraidon doesn’t say anything for a moment, before looking aside with a quiet sigh.

“I’d feel more confident if I could at least run properly,” it murmurs. “I keep crashing into trees on turns all the time.”

You blink and look back down the path from where this ‘Miraidon’ came. From the tracks left behind by those wheel things, it was running in the middle of the road—quite fast from how deep the impressions are.

You hesitate briefly. You’re not sure whether or not asking about basic running techniques will make Miraidon mad, but part of you needs to know…

“Um… how are you taking those turns again?”

“I try to stick to the center of the road whenever I can,” Miraidon explains, tilting its head. “Why?”

“Can you show me?” you ask. “Try taking the curve around the fork in the road at speed.”

Miraidon briefly glances at its human and yours as they continue on in their discussion, with your rider still agitated like he was earlier. It paces back a bit, before much to your astonishment, its tail curls in on itself in a hollow loop as another emerges from where its dewlap ought to be—the wheels you saw from earlier. They suddenly light up and Miraidon balances on its wheels and clamps its claws to hold them in place. Then, what look like contrails come out from what appear to be engines on its hips.

It shoots forward along the center of the road. Your rider hastily ducks aside as Miraidon blows by, going faster and faster as it whips around the corner at speed and veers out towards the left side of the road before skidding to a stop.

Your rider yells at it a bit more as it makes its way back to you and it undoes its startling transformation in front of you. Your head’s still spinning from trying to take this all in, but based on what you saw… you understand how this Pokémon ran Rieju off the road, or how it did the same to you, for that matter. Such a strange creature who at least feels like it ought to be tremendously powerful, and yet it’s still making the sorts of mistakes a rookie runner would.

“Try slowing down as you go into turns like those and then speeding up afterwards. Also, it’s custom when running on the roads to stick to the right side of it whenever you can,” you explain. “It’d… kinda be handy for keeping yourself from bumping into others like the way you ran into me.”

There’s a pause and a blink, as Miraidon seems to have a moment of realization.

“Oh, so the same way those ‘car’ things humans sometimes use do?” it asks. “I didn’t realize that was also supposed to happen on Routes too, but I’ll try out your suggestions.”

You hear footsteps approach and see your hired rider return, grumbling frustratedly under his breath. He straightens out your harness and clambers back onto it as the human girl goes back for Miraidon along with her Rotom phone. The phone briefly floats up in front of Miraidon before settling against its harness—the two must be close to each other. The strange dragon seems to similarly be close to its rider, since after it sees her, it pauses to let her stroke at its snout, before it pulls its tail and throat back out into their wheeled arrangement. It paces ahead as it comes alight, turning back to you as you pass side by side.

“I suppose this is where we part ways, since we both have places to be,” it says. “Though by the way, Cyclizar… it’s probably a silly question, but did your human also give you a name?”

… This creature has a name? You thought ‘Miraidon’ was it, but clearly there’s more to the story behind how it and its rider came together than you thought. You hesitate for a moment, before glancing back as you already start heading further downhill on the path.

“Well, this human isn’t my proper trainer. But yeah,” you reply. “It’s ‘Montesa’. Why, do you have one, too?”

Miraidon turns down the path as the human girl fiddles with the surface of the Rotom phone in her hands and the strange, pulsing music from earlier begins to play.

“‘Trueno’,” it tells you. “If we meet again, hopefully I’ll live up to it a bit better the next time you see me.”

The creature grips its hoop-like wheels between its claws as they begin to roll again. The jet-like whoosh then kicks up as its hip-engines billow contrails and it barrels off up the path. You feel your own rider tug at you and beckon you down the path for Cascarrafa.

Right, you’ve got a job to finish, and you shouldn’t keep your rider waiting.

Along the way, your thoughts keep drifting back to your encounter, and to Clúa and Sanglas’ stories from earlier in the day. You always knew that your friends were wrong about those stories, but in a way they were also right. La Ferromandra is indeed real, but it’s nothing like the monster who existed in their tales. La Ferromandra is a dragon named ‘thunder’, one who’s an awful lot like you, and more clueless and a road hazard than anything vicious or terrifying like their stories claim.

You already know that you’ll have quite a story to tell those two when you return to Medali later tonight. One that will surely seem so impossible to them that they’ll think you’re the one making things up for a change.

Though then again, from the path that the strange dragon and its rider were taking… perhaps your worries are premature. Based on the direction they headed off in, odds are you that won’t be the only runner entering Medali later tonight.

A mythical dragon. At once so different, and yet so much like you.



Original Drabble:

FirebreathersHelioliskSerpentine
Scale and FangGyaradosOutrage
Dragon's DenProud LineageScraggy

Late afternoon rays wash the steel awning overhead a burnt orange, as you lie against concrete with green stripes marking out distinct spaces. For you and other Cyclizar like you who ply the roads for hire on behalf of your trainers. They can apparently pay and hire with a few taps on those slates they always carry nowadays, but even so, some things have remained constant…

“Bugh… slow day.”

Namely that once in a while, there will be a lack of takers. You’ve heard it said that humans in Medali, and in their other clusters of dens in this land have a fondness for midday rests much like how your kind might to bask when the sun was at its highest and most warm. But that time came and went a few hours ago, and here you’ve just been waiting, for a customer to come for you to carry them off to parts far away, or else your proper trainer to come and take you home for the day.

With how slow things have been, you’re half tempted to sneak off for a while and sneak in a quick bask.

I heard Reiju almost got run off the road by La Ferromandra near Porto Marinada last night.”

La Ferromandra? Boy, that must’ve been scary for her. Is she okay?”

You stir in your spot and shoot a sidelong glance at a pair of Cyclizar similarly lounging in spots under the awning. One that looks like you, and another with tan scales. Friends of yours who you encounter in this place in between runs.

La Ferromandra? Clúa? Sanglas? What are you two going on about?”

Sanglas scoffs, before raising his tan head and letting his dewlap puff out.

“Seriously, Montesa. I know that work’s been slow for you,” he says. “But how has a Pokémon in your line of work not heard of La Ferromandra? Have you been hiding under a rock?”

“I don’t consider myself a big gossip, alright?” you harrumph. “Look, just what is this La Ferromandra?

The other Cyclizar, Clúa, looks around nervously as if expecting to be struck down by an unseen presence, before turning to you and speaking in a hushed tone.

“It’s this monster that’s been roaming the footpaths between towns in the dead of night. They say it’s half dragon and half machine, and roams the roads searching for unsuspecting prey,” she says. “When it finds it, it lets out a gods-awful roar before it comes at you. The last thing you see is a purple blur and then a hail of lightning.”

“Hence ‘La Ferromandra’.”

… Seriously? This is what Sanglas and Clúa are so worked up about? You’re pretty sure that this isn’t even a story they heard themselves, since you’re pretty sure you saw a picture from some dubious human magazine that looked like that.

“Isn’t that just one of those make-believe creatures from those human tabloids?” you scoff, furrowing your brow.

“It’s totally real! I’ve got a buddy that runs a route through Cabo Poco. Swears on his scales that a buddy of his saw La Ferromandra eat an entire pack of Houndoom out there!” Clúa protests. “Saw La Ferromandra’s lightning drop ‘em and smelled the burnt fur and everything before he ran off!”

Well that got morbid and unsettling quickly. Though if this story has been heard as far out as Cabo Poco, maybe you have been a bit out of the loop.

“More like you need to be less gullible, Clúa,” you harrumph. “Really now, you expect me to believe that of all the Pokémon this supposed monster that could hunt entire packs at a time to eat, it’d have gone for a bunch of bony dogs?”

You hear footsteps approaching and look up to see a human fiddle with his phone, before going to a reader on the wall, where a Pokéball drops out. Yours, based off the scuffs around its edges, meaning that your wait for a customer has finally come to an end.

He’s still talking on the phone as he walks up to your side. You miss most of the conversation in his tongue, but you think you picked out his destination, at least.

“That’s my cue. Sounds like this guy’s headed out to Cascarrafa,” you tell your friends. “With any luck, I’ll be back by midnight tonight.”

Sanglas and Clúa trade looks with one another, as Clúa gives an uneasy paw at the ground.

“Wait, to Cascaraffa?” she asks. “Maybe I’m worrying over nothing, Montesa… But Cascarrafa’s not that far from Porto Marinada, and—”

Shift in place briefly as your hired rider slides into the harness on your back. After adjusting to his weight, you look back at Clúa, your mouth curled down into a frown.

“Clúa, seriously. Stop shedding your scales. I’ll be fine,” you insist. “Don’t believe every little story you hear.”

You hear your rider call out and set off ahead and turn as he twists the handlebars on your harness. He pushes down on the footrests to indicate he wants to go faster and you oblige. Starting slowly, and as you make it onto a stretch of open road, you tuck your tail in and flare your dewlap out as you break into a run.



The hours and distance fly by on the road to Cascaraffa, and before you know it, the sun does too as it dips over the horizon and the moon and the stars begin to poke out. You chalk that up to the thrill of the run, as with your blood pumping the world zipping by and the warmth of your rider spreading to your body, you’ve been enjoying yourself for sometime.

You come to a fork and fly down the left, carrying on uphill a short distance when you feel a sharp tug on your harness that digs into your scales from how abrupt it is. You slow down and look up at your rider, who’s motioning back down the path. You narrow your eyes in annoyance and raise your voice in protest.

“Oh come on! You’re the one who wanted to go here in the first place!” you complain. “This is the road to Cascarraf-!”

You cut yourself off when you notice that the terrain is rockier than you expected. … Right, the way to Cascaraffa from Medali goes downhill. Even if your human rider should’ve known better, so should you.

You grumble and start to make your way back own to the fork, rounding the bend where you see a slope downhill. You sigh and start to set off, when the air suddenly fills with an earsplitting roar.

“H-Huh?!”

You abruptly freeze and come to a stop, gaping about your surroundings as you try to make sense of where the roar came from. Your rider is tugging at your harness again, but this time you ignore his promptings. You don’t know if you can go on just yet.

“Wh-Who’s there?!”

There is nothing but the sounds of night for a moment, until you faintly hear the sounds of a wooshing hum that almost sounds like the engine of a human plane mixed with faint, pulsing music. You look up at the sky and there’s none to be found when it dawns to you that the noise is coming from the ground further down the path.

“What in the-?”

A large, darkened shape brushes past you and you briefly see purple and silver before you tumble off your feet and into the side of the road. You hear yelps, one of them your human rider’s, along with skidding and gravel and dirt being kicked up. You whirl your head towards the path further uphill along with garbled beats of music, where you see a long, darkened shape pair of hollow wheels with hints of static crackling along them. They merge into the darkened figure’s body when you see a glowing blue eye and as you look under the moon’s light, see purple hide, a metal head, and long, glinting claws.

Your mouth flops open out of fright. You know exactly who this strange being is, and you know that you are no match for its might.

L-La F-Ferroman-

The pulsing music cuts out when something slides off the creature’s back when La Ferromandra turns, revealing a second blue eye, and begins to pace forward. You hurriedly get onto your feet and try to flee, only to lose your balance from your harness hanging askew, and flop forward onto your belly.

A dark shadow falls over you, and your heart pounds in your chest as your breaths come ragged and quick. This is it, not even shedding your tail will get you out of this. Panic overtakes you, as you let out a shriek and your words come out in a pleading squeal.

“A-AAH! Please don’t eat me! I’m n-not a Houndoom! I don’t taste good-!”

“Houndoom? But why would I think you’re a— You didn’t hit your head in that crash, did you?”

A voice with a drone not unlike a Porygon’s answers you as you lay there, waiting for searing lightning that never comes. You crack your eyes open and see the steel-headed beast looking down at you, giving a curious tilt of its head down.

“I already felt dizzy when I ran into that tree further down the path,” it says. “So I can’t imagine it would feel good for a smaller Pokémon like you.”

You blink and stare up at the strange creature. ‘Run into a tree’? Was that what that roar earlier was? You stare up into the eyes of the creature, raising your voice with a stammer as you start to get a faint hope that you’re not in danger.

“S-So you’re not going to kill me with a hail of lightning?”

La Ferromandra stiffens up, and looks away from you. You aren’t sure what to make of it when heated words in human tongue ring out. A glance over, and there is your hired rider arguing with what looks like a human girl.

You sigh in relief, you really aren’t in danger after all. You turn your attention back to La Ferromandra, as it traces its claws in the dirt with an expression that reminds you of yours when you’re downcast and glum.

“I couldn’t do that even if my life depended on it,” it tells you. “I can’t battle at all… and I haven’t been able to for some time.”

You study the creature carefully from a distance when you realize that it’s not just its expression that reminds you of your own. Sanglas and Clúa mentioned that La Ferromandra was half-dragon and half-machine. But with its serpentine profile, you realize that the dragon it looks like most is you.

You begin to lose your fear, and sidle up alongside La Ferromandra much as you would a hurt or frightened peer, and give a worried look from the side of your eye.

“... Did you get hurt or something?” you ask. “I wouldn’t have expected to hear a… whatever Pokémon you are say that it couldn’t fight.”

There is a noticeable pause, before the machine-dragon looks back at you, head hung low.

“Something like that, yeah. Though ‘Miraidon’ is what the humans call my kind.”

‘Miraidon’, huh? You’re not sure how that one got cooked up. While part of you is still in disbelief that La Ferromandra is truly here and in the flesh, it’s more like you than the fierce monster the stories made it out to be.

Considering that, maybe… just maybe… you already know just the sort of thing that would cheer it up.

“I mean, you can run well, at least,” you offer, raising your snout with a small chuckle. “I’m sure you’ll get on your feet for battling soon enough. Just don’t wear yourself out.”

“I’d feel more confident if I wasn’t running into trees on turns all the time.”

You blink and look back down the path from where this ‘Miraidon’ came. They are running in the middle of the road and deep from having been left behind while rolling fast. You hesitate, before turning

“Um… how are you taking those turns again?”

“I try to stick to the center of the road whenever I can,” Miraidon explains, tilting its head. “Why?”

That… would explain a few things about how this Pokémon ran Reiju off the road, or you for that matter. Such a strange creature who at least feels like it ought to be powerful, and yet it’s still making rookie mistakes as a runner like you.

“Try slowing down as you go into them and then speeding up afterwards. Also, it’s custom when running the roads to stick on the right side of it whenever you can,” you explain. “It… kinda would keep you from running into others like you did with me.”

There’s a pause and a blink, as Miraidon seems to have a moment of realization.

“Oh, so like those ‘car’ things humans have do?” it asks. “I didn’t realize that was also supposed to happen here too, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

You hear footsteps approach and see your hired rider clamber back onto your harness, grumbling frustratedly under his breath. The human girl is going back for Miraidon, too, and after it sees her, it turns back to you as you pass side by side.

“Right, I suppose we both have places to be. Though by the way, Cyclizar… it might be a bit of a silly question, but did your human also give you a name?”

… This creature has a name? You thought ‘Miraidon’ was it, but clearly there’s more to the story behind how it and its rider came together than you thought. You hesitate for a moment, before glancing back as you make your way further downhill on the path.

“Well, this one isn’t my proper human. But yeah,” you reply. “It’s ‘Montesa’. Why, do you have one, too?”

Miraidon turns down the path as the human girl fiddles with a device in her hands and the strange, pulsing music from earlier begins to play.

“Trueno,” it tells you. “If we meet again, hopefully I’ll live up to it a bit better next time.”

The creature breaks into a run as rings come out that it grips between its claws, the jet-like woosh kicking up as what look like engines on its hips spurt contrails and it takes off up the path. You feel your own rider tug at you and start off continue down the path for Cascarrafa. Right, you’ve got a job to finish.

You always knew that your friends were wrong, but in a way they were also right. La Ferromandra is indeed real, but it’s nothing like the monster who existed in their stories. La Ferromandra is a dragon named ‘thunder’, one who’s an awful lot like you, and more of a road hazard than anything malevolent like their stories claim.

You already know that you’ll have quite a story to tell when you’re back in Medali later tonight. One that will surely seem so implausible to them that they’ll think you’re lying.

Though then again, from the path that those two were taking… perhaps your worries are premature. From the direction those two headed off in, odds are you won’t be the only runner entering Medali later tonight.
 
Last edited:
A Dragon's Challenge

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Author's Note: Special thanks to @Z102eternal , @CinderArts , and EonDuoLatias from FFN for beta reading this one-shot.



A Dragon’s Challenge



You stumble back and dig your feet into the ground a few paces away from an earthen ledge. Your ragged breaths come out hoarse and flecked with stray embers as a stony gray lump rolls away and crashes through the dried brush. You always hated fighting these living rocks. It’s almost as if their blows are made to get under your shell as a Turtonator, and the sparks they throw around have an annoying tendency to make your limbs lock up.

But you won’t back down here. This Graveler is all that stands between you and a new nesting ground in the highlands’ sun. Even if he holds the advantage, there is one thing that you’ve been counting on to turn the tide of battle.

Burn!

While your kind might not appear so at first glance, they are dragons. The bluish fire streaming from your mouth is proof enough of that. It is the telltale sign of a dragon’s might, one which scorches stones that even normal fire would barely singe.

Beyond the flames, the Graveler visibly falters and wobbles. For a moment, your spirits rise, as you start to think that you’ve finally bested him in your battle. Those hopes come crashing down with the sound of rumbling earth. The Graveler comes barreling back, too fast for you to dodge as his crystal-studded body strikes you square in your underbelly, noticeably harder than last time.

Everything goes by in a blur afterwards: your feet leave the ground and your limbs flail above you in the air as you fall past the edge of the earthen bluff. A moment later, your shell hits something hard from behind.

BOOM!

A deafening blast from it follows, as is the case whenever your shell is struck, and your world disappears into a plume of dirt and shredded grass.

You lay there stunned, and discover that no matter how hard you try, you can barely move your limbs. As the dust cloud clears, it begins to dawn on you that you’re stranded on your shell lying in a freshly-blasted crater. Your vision is muddy, but up above you from the ledge, you can still make out the Graveler looking down at you with a satisfied smirk.

“Yeah, I thought so,” he harrumphs. “Go back to your hole and don’t pick fights you can’t win, shellhead.”

Sparks briefly crackle around the Graveler’s body before he rolls off out of your field of view. You try to summon a Dragon Pulse to spit after him as a parting shot, but it leaves your mouth as an inert puff of choked, bluish embers.

You let your head hang back with a defeated groan. You hate to admit it right now, but you’ve been beaten. With your strength spent, there’s little you can do right now other than mount a retreat.

You just don’t know what you will do after all of this. You’ve been struggling to move on to more fertile territories for a while, and this Graveler was your best opportunity at claiming one that you’d found in ages. What hope do you have if you’re still being defeated by foes that you initially thought were weak?

… You don’t want to think about that right now. You just want to go back to your nest and pull your limbs into your shell. To lick your wounds and do anything other than think about your latest defeat.

“Nrgh…”

You attempt to roll to your side only to wobble briefly and fall back into the crater. Right. Getting back onto your feet after being stranded on your back has always been tricky for you and other Turtonator to accomplish. In your present state, this could take a while.



It’s about an hour later and you’re trudging off for a small patch of lowlands that are shaded most of the day by the bluffs that surround it. It’s where your nest is, the first territory you were able to claim after going off on your own after hatching. Much to your embarrassment, while you’ve fended off foes who intended to cut your life short from it, that meager space has been the only territory you’ve managed to claim since then. Both from rivals of your own kind, and from others like that Graveler. Your limbs still sting from your loss, as does your pride—not that thinking about how long it’ll take to grow back the scuffs left on your shell from the earlier blast really helps your mood.

You just don’t understand what you’ve been doing wrong all this time. Aside from the fire and poison air that pour from their snouts, Turtonator are supposed to wield a dragon’s might, and can blow their foes away with explosive blasts. It’s more than enough for others of your kind to throw their weight around as they need… so why are you struggling so much trying to do the same as them?

The final approach to your nest of charred brush is just up ahead and you can already see the stones you sometimes heat up before resting on during chillier nights lying about. The walk up goes by much as it always does, when much to your surprise, the brush up ahead suddenly rustles.

You catch a glimpse of movement around the direction of your nest and hurry forward as much as your lumbering limbs will let you. Much to your alarm, once you reach your nest, you find a human with long hair worn in a bob poking at it alongside a black-and-gray lizard of some sort.

Those two are rooting through your resting place and poking at your warmth-rocks! After everything that’s happened today, you refuse to let your own territory be violated on top of it all!

“Get away from there, you little thieves!”

You spew a burst of fire over the pair’s heads, as a first and only warning shot. The human tumbles back from your nest and scurries away with a startled yelp. You lumber forward to try and chase her off, when much to your surprise, her lizard companion scuttles forward towards you. A loud, defiant hiss comes from its throat and flares a pair of appendages at the back of its neck, all as the orange streak on its back takes on a fiery glow.

Hey! Get away from her!”

The creature reflexively builds fire in its mouth and you can’t help but blink at its reaction. This little lizard thing, a male judging by the cadence of its voice, is a firebreather like you?

The lizard’s human calls out something in the distance that your ears don’t understand. He hastily smothers the flames in his mouth, and violet gunk takes its place.

“Eat poison, chump!”

You snap back to attention as the lizard spews a sickly-looking glob against your underbelly’s shell. You stumble back as the blow stings more than you expected coming from such a small ‘mon, but you hurriedly brush it away. You won’t lose to a little runt like him, and you let out a sharp battlecry to make sure he gets the message.

“Do you really think that’s going to be enough to get the best of me?!” you bellow. “Let me show you how wrong you are!”

You summon dragonfire in your throat, and briefly hear your foe cry out in surprise and try to dart away. It’s too late for him, and for the sake of your nest, you need to ensure that he understands he’s made a mistake by challenging you. You spew out a Dragon Pulse again, turning your head to follow the lizard’s movements in a sweeping arc.

I catches him in short order and sends him tumbling back. You hear his human yelp in alarm and you whirl about to discover that, against all reason, she’s still here. You glare at her, starting forward towards her with a low growl.

“I already told you once, get away from-!”

There’s a blue glint in the corner of your eye, when burning pain suddenly erupts along the side of your face. You thrash and bellow before the heat lets up, before losing your balance and flopping to the ground on your belly.

You lay there in a daze, unsure what on earth just happened. You put your arms out and woozily prop yourself up as your foes come back into view: on one end is the human fumbling through a bag of some sort, while on the other is the lizard, glaring at you as bluish flecks curl up from the edges of his snout.

Your eyes widen in stunned realization. He spat fire at you. And there’s only one kind of fire that could have felt so painful to be struck by…

“W-Wait a minute, you can wield dragonfire too-?”

Something bounces off your shell and the world around you abruptly whites out and melts away into an empty space. You let out a quiet yelp and whirl around in the void. You don’t know what happened, you can’t make sense of direction or even what’s up or down, but you at least don’t feel like you’re falling.

This too, must be another dirty trick by the lizard and his human. You refuse to let this be the end of things, and you turn your head up toward what you think is the sky and let out a defiant growl.

Hey! You’re not getting rid of me so easily!”

You spew out a gout of fire, and the white space briefly flickers along with a glimpse of the sky. It fades away almost as quickly as it came and goes back to the white space. Clearly you need to hit it harder. You ready dragonfire in your throat to try again, but this time, from the corner of your eyes, you begin to see translucent images taking shape around you.

Dried grasses and rocky bluffs. The sorts of features you’d expect from a territory much like your own.

“Huh?!”

The images vanish again and everything goes white. The next thing you know, your nest and your shaded territory pop back into view. There’s a faint crunch and you feel something pinned below your underbelly. You pull yourself up, where curiously, there’s a crushed red-and-white ball underneath.

You look back towards the brush and spot the human who is starting to run off. The lizard creature with her tugs at some sort of loose pelt along her leg and motions at you. Your eyes briefly meet his as you stumble onto your feet and hold your fire—just for a moment—out of puzzled confusion.

“Hey, wait! What did you do to me back there?” you bark. “What was that place in that ball-?”

The human lobs a second ball at you, when it occurs to you that you know what this is: it’s one of those balls that humans keep the Pokémon that travel with them in. Ones that other Pokémon in these mountainous plains sometimes sneeringly call their ‘pets’.

This one glances against your leg when once again, the world around you vanishes into a flash of white. You ready fire in your throat to try and burst out a second time, only to have your mind turn back to the translucent images that were starting to form around you earlier.

What were those? Would they come back again? And what would happen if you waited a just bit longer before breaking out of this second ball?

You smother the fire in your throat, still wary and ready to turn your might to the unseen sky in a flash as the translucent images begin to return. Moment by moment, they grow more visible and solid in appearance into something you find deeply familiar:

It’s a volcanic plain much like the one you live in, except it’s under a blue sky and looks well lit by the sun.

“What the…?”

You tentatively put out a claw and paw at the grasses. They feel a bit stiffer than you expected to the touch, and something about the temperature in the air is also a bit off, but… all things considered, you’d have taken this place over your current territory in a heartbeat.

That’s when it occurs to you that you’re seeing all of this inside that little ball that struck your leg, which didn’t look any different from that other one you crushed moments before.

… What on earth did it do to you? Are you still okay? You look up towards the sky, where you see translucent images of tall grasses and a giant purple eye surrounded by black scales glimpsing down on you.

“Gah!”

You flinch and reflexively pull your head and limbs into your shell as the images in the sky of the Salandit’s head are replaced with a human hand and glimpses of your nest, which suddenly looks a lot larger. You’re starting to get worried about if this ball has harmed you somehow, and you’re not sure how on earth you’re supposed to get out of it.

The other ball wound up letting you out after you spat fire into the sky. Maybe that will do the trick.

You build up heat in your throat again, as hot, bluish dragonfire gathers in your throat. When a voice faintly comes from the sky above.

“Let me try and smooth things over.”

You swear that it’s the lizard’s, even if you don’t know how that’s possible. You falter briefly and the dragonfire in your throat dies down. Then, much to your surprise, things go white again, the well-lit plains melting away back to your nest and its shaded environs. You reflexively lumber forward with a startled yelp and turn back over your shoulder to try and take stock of your surroundings.

The human is still standing there at a further distance, while the lizard is warily drawing near to you. The red-and-white ball is grasped firmly in the human’s hand, and you inch away, as you level your claw and point off at the human’s hand with a stammer that comes out a bit more nervous than you’d intended.

“Wh-What on earth was that?”

“A Pokéball,” the lizard tells you. “They’re places where Pokémon that partner with humans like me can rest.”

You suppose that you’ve heard stories about such things from other Pokémon that dwell nearby, too. Though you didn’t realize that they’d have so much space inside.

“B-But there was a whole plain in there! And-!”

“It’s all simulated. Pretty convincing sometimes, but it’s all fake,” the little firebreather tells you. “The novelty wears off pretty quickly once you get used to it.”

You shuffle back warily yourself, keeping a firm eye on the ball in the human’s hand. With the way you crushed the last one, it wouldn’t wouldn’t be hard to chase her off and break it. Especially when she was ready to flee barely a minute ago.

The one thing that would stand in your way of doing so is the lizard presently standing between her and you. You’re… admittedly not as confident that you can defeat him as you were when you first spotted him rooting through your nest. But before you go back to fighting him, there’s one thing that you need to know:

“How did you use dragonfire like that? And so strong, too?”

“What? You’ve never met a Salandit before?” the creature replies, brushing his scales with a satisfied smirk. “It’s something they can do when they’re stronger, and it comes easier when you’ve got a human who can help point out things you’d overlook in battle. I actually didn’t know that Dragon Pulse would work on you so well.”

You feel a twinge of wounded pride at the Salandit’s remark, and raise your voice with a growling huff.

“It didn’t work that well on me! It just surprised me, that’s all!”

The ‘Salandit’ rolls his eyes at your reply and doesn’t bother to hide it. It annoys you a little, but you can’t help but cast a curious glance at his human.

Was she was the one who helped make him so strong?

You think back to the many defeats you’ve endured. Extra strength surely wouldn’t have hurt your chances for victory…

Could this gangly-looking creature really give you that?

“So…” you say, thinking aloud to yourself. “If I partner with your human… I’ll become stronger, too?”

“Well, yeah, assuming you put in the effort. And you’ll get patched up whenever you fall short. That’s part of the reason why we came out here,” the little firebreather tells you. “My human was looking for another partner to travel with since we were planning on visiting my old home soon. The last time we went, the local Salazzle kept getting into my head with their pheremo-”

The Salandit abruptly catches himself as a mortified grimace comes over his face. He bites his tongue, before speaking up with guarded words.

“Er… I was a bit outmatched, let’s just leave it at that.”

There’s clearly more to this story than what the Salandit is telling you, but you decide not to press it at the moment. In spite of his appearances, the little firebreather is clearly no pushover. And if he’s to be believed, he and his human want your strength to help them.

Because you’ve impressed them.

… Part of you is telling you to go along with them, but all of this just seems too good to be true.

“Okay, what’s the catch?” you demand, to which the Salandit answers you with a brief flick of the flaps on the back of his neck.

“I mean, you’d need to leave your old territory here behind. And you won’t be able to hunt or pick fights as you please either since it’s the human partner’s job to make the call about when such things happen,” the little firebreather explains. “Every Pokémon that leaves the wild to partner with humans is supposed to make a pact like that.”

You hesitate at the Salandit’s explanation. That’s… an awful lot for this human to ask, and you’re not sure how on earth that will work. But the Salandit looks healthy and content enough, and he wouldn’t have grown so strong if his human treated him poorly, right?

“Oh right, I guess there’s one other catch I can think of,” the Salandit adds. “Humans can get a bit overly affectionate, and sometimes they have trouble knowing when they’re getting a bit handsy.”

You tense up. You just knew that there was a catch to all this.

“Handsy? What do you mean by-?”

The human draws forward hesitantly and puts out a hand. You reflexively raise a claw to swat it away, only to stop and hesitate. Things turned out very different from your initial expectations when you waited inside of the Pokéball… what will happen if you do the same here when this human gets ‘handsy’ with you?

You lower your claw and opt to let things play out. The human cups her hand under your chin and scratches at your scales.

You can’t help but let out a quiet rumble in reply. You don’t know how well this human can understand you, but if this is what the Salandit meant by getting ‘handsy’... you honestly could get used to this.

“If you’re still not convinced, my trainer will let you go from the ball she caught you in and we’ll part ways here,” the Salandit says. “She and most other humans know better than to knowingly try to force a Pokémon that doesn’t want to be a partner to come along. That is your nest right here, isn’t it?”

You cast a brief glance at the nest and the ever-present shade bathing it. The one that you’ve been trying so hard to leave behind and replace with something different.

It’d definitely be a leap of faith, but in the end there’s only really one thing that’s keeping you from making the plunge. If this human and her companion really want you to join forces with them, isn’t it worth raising your demand, just in case?

“Tell your human that I’ll join you two… as long as I get to bring my warmth-rocks from my nest along with me.”

He smiles and lets out a quiet chuckle to himself.

“I’m not sure if we’ll be able to get them into your Pokéball, but sure. Consider it done.”



Original Drabble:

FirebreathersHelioliskSerpentine
Scale and FangGyaradosOutrage
Dragon's DenProud LineageScraggy

You stumble back and dig your feet into the ground a few paces away from an earthen ledge, panting as stray embers come out with your ragged pants as a stony gray lump rolls away, crashing through dried brush. You always hated fighting rocks like these. It’s almost as if their blows are made to get under your shell, and their sparks sometimes make your limbs lock up.

But you will not back down here. This Graveler is all that stands between you and a nesting ground in the highlands’ sun. Even if he holds the advantage, there is one of your own you’re counting on to tip the balance.

Burn!

You are a Turtonator, and while your kind might not look it, you are dragons by blood. And the bluish fire that streaming from your mouth right now is of a dragon’s might, which scorches even stones that even your normal fire can’t touch.

Beyond the flames, you see the Graveler wobble, and for a moment your spirits rise, thinking that you’ve at last bested him in your battle. Those hopes die with the sound of crashing earth, and then a blow that strikes you, noticeably harder than last time, square in your underbelly.

Everything seems to go by in a blur, as your feet leave the ground and you can see your limbs above you in the air, falling past the edge of the earthen bluff. You feel your shell hit something hard and then there’s a deafening blast, as your world is consumed by a plume of dirt and shredded grass.

You lay there stunned, and find that try as you might, you can barely move your limbs. As the cloud of debris clears, you see you’re lying flat on your back in a freshly-blasted crater, while up above you from the ledge, the Graveler looks down at you with a sharp harrumph.

“Yeah, I thought so. Go back to your hole and don’t pick fights you can’t win, shellhead.”

Sparks crackle around the Graveler briefly before he rolls off and leaves. You try to summon a Dragon Pulse to spew up as a parting shot, but it comes out as an inert puff of choked, bluish embers.

You hate to admit it right now, but you’ve been bested. With your strength spent, there’s little you can do than mount a retreat. You just don’t know what you will do after all of this. You’ve been struggling to move on from your meager territory for a while, and this Graveler was the best opportunity you found in ages. What hope do you have if you’re still being vanquished by foes that you thought weak?

… You don’t want to think about that right now. You just want to go back to your nest. To pull your limbs in, lick your wounds, and do anything other than think about your latest defeat.

“Nrgh…”

Right. Getting yourself off your back has always been tricky for you and others of your kind. And in your present state, this could take a while.



About an hour later, you’re trudging back for your nest, in a small patch of lowlands kept in shade most of the day by the bluffs that surround it. The first territory you were able to secure after going off on your own after hatching, and much to your embarrassment, the only one since. Your limbs still smart from your loss and so does your pride—not that thinking about the time it’ll take to grow back the scuffs left on your shell from the earlier blast exactly helps.

You just don’t understand what you could be doing wrong. Beyond the fire and poison air that pour from their snouts, Turtonator are supposed to wield a dragon’s might, and can quite literally blow their foes away with explosive blasts. It’s more than enough for others of your kind to throw their weight around as they need… so why is it so different for you?

You make the final approach to your nest of charred brush, where the stones you sometimes heat up to perch on during chillier nights are set out, only to pause as you hear movement coming from its direction. You push the brush back, where much to your alarm, you see a human with long hair worn in a bob poking at it alongside a black-and-gray lizard of some sort.

Those two are rooting through your nest! After everything that’s happened today, you can’t lose your own territory too on top of it all!

“Hey! Get away from there, you little thieves!”

You spew a gout of fire overhead, as a first and only warning shot. The human yelps and tumbles away from your nest, her companion by contrast scuttles forward and flares a pair of appendages at the back of its neck as an orange streak on its back comes alive, hissing back at you in defiance.

“Hey! Back off from her!”

The creature reflexively builds fire in its mouth and you can’t help but blink with a start. This little lizard thing, male you’re guessing from the cadence of its voice… is a firebreather like you?

The human calls out something in the distance, and the lizard hastily smothers his flame, and violet gunk of some sort takes its place.

“Eat poison, chump!”

The lizard spews a sickly-looking glob which strikes against your underbelly’s shell. It stings more than you expected, but you hurriedly brush it away, and eager to let it be known that you won’t lose to a little runt like him, you answer with a sharp snarl.

“Do you really think that’s going to be enough to get the best of me?!” you bellow. “Let me show you how mistaken you are!”

You summon dragonfire in your throat, and briefly hear your foe cry out and try to dart away, before you spew out a Dragon Pulse again in a sweeping arc. It catches the lizard and sends it tumbling back, and you hear his human yelp with a start. You whirl about and glare at her, starting forward with a low growl.

“Like I was saying earlier, get away from-!”

There’s a blue glint in the corner of your eye, when you suddenly feel burning pain along the side of your face. You thrash and bellow before the heat lets up, before flopping to the ground. You woozily get up and see on one end is the human fumbling through her, while on the other is the lizard, glaring at you with bluish flecks curling up from around his snout.

Your eyes widen in realization. There’s only one way that that fire could’ve made you feel such pain…

“W-Wait a minute, you can wield dragonfire too-?”

Something strikes against your shell and the world around you abruptly whites out and you find yourself in an empty space. You don’t know what happened and you can’t make sense of direction or up or down, but you know you’re at least not falling. And so, you turn your head up towards what you presume is the sky and let out a defiant growl.

Hey! You’re not getting rid of me so easily!”

You spew out a gout of fire, and the white space briefly flickers along with a glimpse of the sky. Things go back to the white space and you try again, but this time, from the corner of your eye, you begin to see translucent images of what looks like a territory not wholly unlike your own forming around you.

“Huh?!”

Those images vanish again and everything goes white as your nest and your shaded territory reappear once again. There’s a faint crunch and you pull yourself up to see a crushed red-and-white ball below your underbelly.

You look back towards the human who is starting to run, when the lizard creature with her tugs and motions at you. Your eyes briefly meet as you get up and hold your fire in a moment of curious confusion.

“Hey, wait! What did you do to me?” you bark. “What was that place in that ball-?”

She lobs another ball at you, when you realize that it’s one of those ones that humans keep the Pokémon that go around with them in, the same one that you’ve heard others in these mountainous plains sometimes sneeringly call their ‘pets’. This one glances against your leg before once again, the world around you vanishes into a flash of white. You ready fire to try and burst out a second time, only to have your mind turn back to the translucent images you saw towards the end last time.

What were those? And what would happen if you waited a bit longer before breaking out of this space again?

You hold your fire, still antsy and ready to turn your might to the unseen sky at a moment’s notice when the translucent images begin to return again, and moment by moment, grow more visible and solid in appearance. It’s a volcanic plain much like the one you live in, except it’s under a blue sky and looks well lit by the sun.

“What the…?”

You tentatively put out a claw and brush at the grasses, which feel a bit stiffer than expected to the touch. Something about the temperature in the air is also a bit off, but all things considered, you’d have taken this place over your current territory in a heartbeat.

It occurs to you that this is all inside that little ball, which looked just like the other one you crushed moments before. What on earth did it do to you? Are you still alright? You look up in the sky, where you see translucent images in it. Of tall grasses, and a giant purple eye glimpsing down on you.

“Gah!”

You flinch and recoil as the images in the sky are replaced with a human hand and glimpses of your nest starting to come into view. You’re starting to get nervous now, and build up fire in your throat to break your way out, when you swear you hear the lizard’s voice faintly coming from above.

“Let me try and smooth things over.”

You falter briefly, as things go white again, the well-lit plains melting away back to your nest and its shaded surroundings. You reflexively lumber forward and turn back to see the human standing back warily and the lizard approaching you, as you raise your claw and point off at the ball in her hand with a nervous start.

“Wh-What on earth was that?”

“A Pokéball. They’re places where Pokémon that partner with humans like me can rest.”

You suppose that you’d heard stories about such things before, but you didn’t realize that they’d have so much space.

“B-But there was a whole plain in there! And-!”

“It’s all simulated. Convincing at times, but it’s all fake,” the little firebreather tells you. “The surprise wears off pretty quick once you get used to it.”

You shuffle back warily yourself, keeping a firm eye on the ball in the human’s hand. With the way you crushed the last one, it shouldn’t wouldn’t be hard to break and chase her off. Especially when she looked about ready to flee just about a minute ago.

The one thing that could stand in your way is the lizard standing between you and her. You’re… admittedly not as confident that you can defeat him as you were when you started battle. But before you resume battle, there’s one thing that you need to know.

“How did you use dragonfire like that?” you ask. “And so strong, too?”

“What? Never met a Salandit before?” the creature replies, brushing his scales with a satisfied smirk. “It’s something they can do when they’re stronger, and it comes easier when you’ve got a human to spot things you overlook in battle. I actually didn’t know that it’d work on you so well.”

“It didn’t work that well on me!” you huff back. “It just surprised me, that’s all!”

This ‘Salandit’ doesn’t bother to hide how he rolls his eyes at your reply. It annoys you a bit, but you can’t help but cast a curious glance at his human. She was the one who helped make it so strong?

You think back to the many defeats you’ve endured. Extra strength surely wouldn’t have hurt your chances for victory…

Could this gangly-looking creature really give you that?

“So… if I partner with your human… I’ll get to be stronger, too?”

“Well, yeah. And get patched up when you fall short. That’s part of the reason why we’re out here,” the little firebreather explains. “My human was looking for another partner to travel with since we were planning on visiting my old home soon and the last time we went the local Salazzle kept getting into my head with their pher— er… I was a bit outmatched, let’s just leave it at that.”

There’s more to this story than what the Salandit is telling you, especially with the mortified grimace on his face right now. Even so, the little firebreather is clearly no pushover. If they’re to be believed, the Salandit and his human want your strength to help them and you’ve impressed them.

… Part of you is telling you to go along, but this all just seems too good to be true.

“Okay, what’s the catch?” you demand, to which the Salandit gives a brief flick of the flaps on the back of his neck.

“I mean, you’d need to leave your territory here behind. And you won’t be able to hunt or pick fights as you please either since it’s the job of the human partner to make the call of when such things should happen,” the little firebreather explains. “Every Pokémon that leaves the wild to partner with Pokémon does that.”

You hesitate after the Salandit’s explanation. That’s… an awful lot to ask, and you’re not sure how on earth that will work. But the Salandit looks healthy and content enough, and it wouldn’t have grown so strong if the human treated him ill, right?

“Oh right,” the Salandit adds. “I guess one other catch is that humans sometimes have trouble knowing when they’re getting a bit handsy.”

You tense up. You just knew that there was a catch to all this.

“Handsy? What to you mean by-?”

The human draws for hesitantly and puts out a hand. You reflexively raise a claw to bat it away, only to stop and hesitate. Things turned out very different from your initial expectations when you waited on the inside of the Pokéball… what will happen if you do the same here?

You lower your claw and the human cups her head under your chin. You feel them scratch against your scales and can’t help but let out a quiet rumble in reply.

You don’t know how well she can understand you, but if this is what the Salandit meant by getting ‘handsy’... you could get used to this.

“... If you’re still not convinced, my trainer will let you go from the ball and we’ll part ways,” the Salandit says. “Mine and most others know better than to knowingly try to force a Pokémon that doesn’t want to partner with them to come along. And this is your nest right here, isn’t it?”

You cast a brief glance at the nest and the ever-present shade bathing it. The one that you’ve been trying so hard to leave behind and replace with something different.

You realize that it’d be a bit of a leap of faith, but in the end there’s only really one thing keeping you from making the plunge. If they really want you to partner with them, isn’t it worth raising the question, just in case?

“Tell your human that I’m in, as long as I get to bring my warmth-rocks from my nest before we leave.”
 
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A Dragon at Last

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Author's Note: Special thanks to @Venia Silente and @CinderArts for beta reading this one-shot.



A Dragon at Last



“A Magikarp. Really?

A disappointed grunt lingers in the damp cave air, as the Dratini on the cave shore stares at you in the water with an unimpressed frown. He lets his eyes linger on you for a moment, before turning his head up towards a human child with a shock of red hair—of a shade just a little duller in color than your body’s scales.

“Lance, I realize that the human elders here don’t help pair more than one dragon partner up with a human at a time, but surely there’s better Pokémon to have as teammates than this...”

You splash your fins and shrink back in the water from the two. You know you challenged the red-haired child and he got you inside one of those ball things already. From here, all that's left for you to do is just to agree to go with him, and he’ll treat you as a partner like humans are supposed to…

But it hadn't sunk in until just now just how big humans were compared to you, even while they were still small and young. Or how easily they could carry you off if they felt like it.

Why does he even want you as a partner so badly? Most humans who come to the Dragon’s Den come seeking out strong Pokémon, and as a Magikarp… you’re nothing of the sort. The odds are heavily against that state of affairs ever changing for a Magikarp, a fact of life which all the others of your kind here are all too aware of. The partner Pokémon this human child already has doesn’t seem to particularly like you either, so why haven’t you already turned and swam away?



Your mind briefly thinks back to a couple hours earlier in the Dragon’s Den. Your fins had grown tired and you swam off in search for a place along its lakebed to rest after others of your kind had already taken the best places to rest against. You found one a little ways off from the rest of your school in the shallows by a ruined chunk of bridge and were about to settle in, when a Horsea swooped in and took it right in front of your eyes.

“H-Huh?! But that’s-!”

My den now,” he snaped. “Leave before I make you, Magikarp.”

You tried to brush past the Horsea and push him aside with your bulk, as squabbles among your kind are typically settled, but he wasn’t having any of it. You’d barely moved him a fin’s distance away when he spewed up a bluish vortex that knocked you back and spread burning pain against your scales in spite of being underwater. You hurriedly darted back in the water and caught him sharply glaring at you. You were a mere Magikarp, one who already regularly lost shoving matches with your peers. He, on the other hand, was a dragon. One who could do a lot more to hurt you than just push and splash…

“Okay! Okay! I’m going!”

As such, there was no point in continuing on with that battle, not when all it would accomplish would be to leave you listing unconscious in the water if you didn’t eventually yield and flee. You hurriedly swam off, even more haggard and worn down, and began your search anew.

You made your way off towards the shrine in the center of the cave. Much to your relief, there were plenty of places there in the nearby water to rest, and most of them looked unclaimed. You made your way up to one of them near the water’s surface, under the shadow of the wooden walkway which surrounds the shrine there. You made your way towards a stony cleft and started to settle in with your weary fins, when a flash of blue and white cut in. You swam back in a panic, when you saw a Dragonair’s head dart out a cleft next to yours. She coiled her body in the water and loomed over you, before nosing off at a pair of Dratini deeper inside the cleft that she emerged from.

“Hrmph, you know how things work, Magikarp. These dens are already taken.”

“B-But there’s nobody in this one and I-!”

“Would be my lunch if this weren’t a sacred place where it’s forbidden to take prey,” the Dragonair snarled back. “This is the Dragon’s Den and you’re not one, now move along.”

You yelped and hurriedly swam off as fast as your fins could carry you, just in case the Dragonair decided to ignore local custom and make good on her threat. You lived in a place that was special for dragons, and as such, they had first say with regard to its workings.

You were desperate at that point for any place to rest and decided to try your luck with the inner ring of rocks further out. The resting places there weren’t as sought-after among the local dragons and you figured that it was your best chance to find an unclaimed spot and finally get some rest. As luck had it, you found a seemingly unoccupied place after a couple minutes, and swam up to rest your fins and weary body.

Except it was less unoccupied than you thought. Just moments after you had settled against the rocks, something smacked you hard in the face and sent you pinwheeling in the water. You briefly caught a glimpse of a Dragonite pulling his tail back to his side, before you keeled over and laid in the water in a groaning daze.



Right, that’s why you decided to try your luck with a human. You weren’t brave enough to leave Dragon’s Den entirely as a wild Pokémon since the world outside is full of terrors, and death that comes suddenly from all imaginable directions. The humans that come to Dragon’s Den are supposed to make the Pokémon they partner with stronger, but…

You just can’t help but feel that you’re making a mistake.

You start to turn away, when the human child stoops and pats the top of your head with his hand. He looks down at you as his mouth curls up and he speaks something in that peculiar language that humans have. You can’t understand any of it, but something about the tone of his voice is soothing to hear.

You briefly notice the Dratini hesitating, which makes you curious. Since the Dragon-type clearly understood things that the human said which you didn’t.

“... What did he say?”

“He says that he knows that you will be big and strong one day,” the Dratini answers, before turning away with a harrumph.

“Just don’t get your hopes up. I'd sooner expect Lance to teach me to use Barrier before working that sort of miracle on you.”



Things changed an awful lot after that fateful day, and much of the time following it went by in a whirlwind. You quickly learned a thing or two about how differently humans treated the process of giving names to themselves and their companions. Your human was ‘Lance’, your Dratini teammate was ‘Ryu’, and you were ‘Kouhaku’. You’re not fully sure what they mean, beyond that some other humans apparently thought that your and Ryu’s names were a bit on-the-snout.

With a bit of time and some help from Ryu, you learned to discern human cries, to tell when Lance wanted you two to swim one way or the other, or when he wanted Ryu to spew his dragonfire or use some other attack… much as you are doing now about a year afterwards, locked in a battle with a pair of Poliwag in a river not far from Lance’s home.

Lance ordered Ryu to get up close with the pair, striking them with Pounds and Dragon Rages. You, however, he kept swimming at a distance. Much like always, he instructed you to swim circles about your enemies, Splash them when he called for it, and then hurry away to safety.

“Ack!”

Which proved easier said than done when fighting foes who could attack from a distance like those Poliwag. You flinch briefly after one of them hurls a glob of mud in your face that makes it hard for you to orient yourself. After recomposing yourself, you break away as the Poliwag begin to chase after you, faster than you remembered them being able to.

Lance calls out from the riverbank and a flash of dragonfire sails in. A yelp rings out from behind you and you briefly glimpse one of the Poliwag listing in the water as Ryu comes over for you to hide behind. He repeats his blow on the other Poliwag and similarly dispatches him. The splashing and battlecries die down as after a brief moment’s stunning, the Poliwag both hastily swim off and flee.

You warily poke your head out from behind Ryu, who raises his own over the water to call out after your foes with a sharp huff.

“And don’t come back! We dragons aren’t the kind to let go of a slight!”

Water comes in and out of your gills as you try to regain your nerves as the river returns back to peace and quiet. No further Pokémon come to challenge you after that, leaving you and Ryu alone to swim back to your trainer waiting at the riverbank.

Along the way, you let your fins sag glumly. You’re supposed to be training to grow stronger, but you didn’t win that battle, it was Ryu who did all of the hard work. You were bigger than him, and yet all you could do was swim around, splash a bit of water, and then hide behind him after the Poliwag trained their attention on you.

It sure felt like most of your battles had been going that way. You looked at Ryu on your way over to shore, and as you neared it, you raised your voice in wavering protest.

“Ryu, wh-why do I have to be here? I can’t even do anything in battle other than just distract the other Pokémon!”

In the earlier days when you started training with Lance, Ryu might have said something snippy or mean-spirited in reply. Thankfully, he’d stopped doing that for a while now. You don’t know whether it was from the way Lance scolded him after he noticed how Ryu made you feel bad those first few times, or if the Dratini had just grown to tolerate your presence over the past year.

“Lance insisted that the best thing for you to do for now was simply to just hang tight in battle,” the Dragon-type sighed. “He says that it’ll help you build your nerves and get you more familiar with taking orders.”

You sink in the water at your teammate’s reply. So you literally can’t do anything to help other than just be there? Ryu notices the turn in your mood as he swims along, and slows his pace to turn his head back to you.

“Look, I don’t understand it either, Kouhaku,” he says. “But Lance insists that it’s making you tougher and that it’ll help both of us as we grow up.”

You wait by the riverbank with your fins and bob listlessly with the water as you start to feel small and powerless, like you tend to after times when you got chastened back at the Dragon’s Den. There’s a pat at your scales from above and you glimpse up. It’s Lance, smiling down at you with a twinge of worry on his face. He speaks in his tongue, and from what you’ve learned of it, you gather that he’s worried that he pushed you too hard in your latest fight. He’s holding a few leaves of lettuce in his hand, still bunched together. A treat for a job well done which he sometimes gives you to eat and tug apart in the water.

It lifts your mood a bit. Especially since pulling apart lettuce heads like those is one of the few times when you feel genuinely strong and can see yourself getting better and better at it.

He sets it out in front of you in the water as you swim up and start to nibble and tug at your treat. All the while, Ryu slithers onto shore for his turn to get affection from Lance and trades a look with you as you turn your attention up from your treat.

“Just hang in there a bit longer,” the Dratini insists. “I know it doesn’t seem like things are going anywhere, but it has to pay off eventually, right?”



“A bit longer” indeed.

Two years after that skirmish with the Poliwag, you and Ryu still were training in much the same fashion with Lance, and in spite of things being a familiar routine, quite a bit had changed:

You were now training in a land beyond the mountains east of the Dragon’s Den. Lance had grown visibly taller and started wearing a worn cape taken from some tatty old costume—a marker of the sort of human that he wanted to be when he grew up. Ryu had evolved into a Dragonair, every bit as big and imposing as the one that bullied you on the day you first joined Lance in the Dragon’s Den. Though unlike that Dragonair, Ryu fought alongside you, and used his newfound size and length to shield you from blows more times than you could count. He stopped putting you down a long time ago, and when you were feeling down, sometimes he would come and try to cheer you up all on his own…

“Gah!”

And then there was you: still a Magikarp after everything that had happened during those three years. You suppose you were a little bigger and swifter now and could tear apart lettuce better, but even now, battles are still bitterly disappointing. You’re still only able to Splash and shove and swim around your foes while battling alongside Ryu—with your current battle with a pair of Goldeen being no exception.

Once again, you can’t do anything to them. Which the Goldeen nearest to you is all too eager to remind you about.

“Hah! Don’t you ever get tired of doing something other than swimming around, Magikarp?”

You feel a pulse of anger under your scales. Those had been coming more and more frequently since for years now, your battles have consisted of swimming around and trying not to get hit by your foes. All while they mock you and you can’t do anything meaningful about it. You knife along in the water to try to ignore your foe and stay focused, since the times when you get distracted are the ones when you’re most likely to lose from not listening to Lance’s calls or overlooking a foe’s move that you didn’t see coming. Besides, from the visibly tired way the Goldeen are moving around, it shouldn’t be much longer before Ryu puts an end to this fight.

This time, something abruptly changes in your foes’ mood. The Goldeen spot something from higher up and there’s a brief flash of panic in their eyes before they dive underwater. Even the one that was in the middle of taunting you just turns and flees without further comment.

“Huh? What’s-?”

Before you can finish your question, sharp points slice into your side. You cry out in pain as they tear into your body and hoist it out of the water, dripping seawater below. Your vision is starting to grow hazy, but above you, you can see brown and cream wings, along with talons digging into the scales on your side.

K-Kouhaku!

Ryu’s voice cries out in alarm and dragonfire zips in from below. There’s a squawk as the sharp talons let you go and you fall back to the sea with a splash. You go under the water and limply bob about as your body floats back up to the surface. You list in place with the undulating waves, watching as the world spins around your eyes. Your scales feel warm and there’s a tang of blood on your tongue. There’s a voice coming from the shoreline which shrills and repeats again and again—Lance’s, calling out your name right now in a tone that sounds genuinely frightened. You hear Ryu’s as well as he splashes up beside you, and it sounds much the same. You weakly tilt your head and catch a fuzzy glimpse of him stopping in the water next to you and craning his head down at you with widened eyes.

“Oh no no no, Kouhaku! I’m sorry! I d-didn’t mean to let you-!”

“Back off, you stupid snake! That’s my prey!”

A flash of brown dives in at Ryu and makes him cry out in pain. There’s a cut on his scales now as your attacker—a Pidgeotto—comes back and tries to grab at you to carry you off again. Ryu desperately throws his body between you and the bird, trying to get you out of the way so you’re safely out of reach of the Flying-type’s talons.

And through it all, you’re unable to do anything. Again. All you can do is just lie here in the water, even while for all you know you’re dying. It burns you up inside, like the Horsea’s Twister did. Or the feelings inside of you thinking of how the Dragonair drove you off. Or like the sting of the Dragonite’s tail slap. Or any number of blows and mocking jeers you’ve had to endure all these years since you were a Magikarp. Since you couldn’t do anything back other than Splash and shove and swim around.

Something inside you snaps. You will do something this time, even if it kills you.

Y-YOU!

Your body feels warm and suddenly, you rise up in the air. You briefly hear the Pidgeotto cry out with a startled squawk and even hear Ryu and Lance’s voices yelp. Water churns about you as your eyes leave the water entirely, much like when you were snatched, and the sea’s surface grows farther and farther away. When your ascent stops, you can’t feel your front fins anymore and you can see that your barbels are now noticeably longer and blue.

You are a Gyarados now and your breaths come out hot and angry as you hear faint wingbeats. You whirl your head off in their direction and see the Pidgeotto again, now flying away now for dear life.

As he tears through the air, one thought alone fills your mind:

Everyone who hurt you for all these years must pay. Starting with this accursed bird.

DIE!

You hug the surface of the sea and knife through the water after the Pidgeotto, much like Ryu does to close the distance with foes. Much to your surprise, your undulating movements come almost instinctively to you and you’re able to gain on the Pidgeotto. His underbelly comes into sight when you lunge up, and open your jaws wide. The Pidgeotto looks down and sees your approaching maw. He screams as desperately banks to try and dodge your grasp. He almost makes it, but your jaws find purchase on his tail and your teeth sink into it. The bird shrieks in pain as you snarl and drag him down towards the sea. The Pidgeotto squawks out frantic cries for help all the while, until about halfway down, he realizes that help isn’t going to come. His cries start devolving into incoherent pleas for mercy as your once-hunter begins to pathetically beg for his life.

You’re not interested in them. He dug his talons into you to carry you off and try to eat you not even a minute ago. He hurt Ryu with them. You’ll give him the fate he deserves and chew him to pieces. Slowly.

You throw the Pidgeotto up into the air and open your mouth to crush him between your jaws when a voice calls your name from the shore. You hesitate and the Pidgeotto slips between your teeth and hits the water. Frantic wingbeats intermixed with low whimpers reach your ears and you briefly see the Pidgeotto pull himself out the water and clumsily flees back for the forest with his tail held stiff and injured. You briefly consider giving chase, only for those thoughts to die once you look back towards shore.

Lance and Ryu are there, staring up at you. Ryu looks visibly terrified and is shaking like a leaf from behind Lance. Lance looks a bit scared himself, he’s stiff and obviously unnerved and yet in spite of it all, he’s still calling out for you. His voice is shakier than normal, but it still has that soothing tone of his when he tries to cheer you up.

He pleads for you to calm down and tells you that things are alright. That things are okay now.

You look down at your body and when it dawns on you that Lance and Ryu look so much smaller now. So does the rest of the world. As your breaths slow down and grow calmer, your thoughts turn back to when you were a Magikarp and how on the day you first met Lance, he seemed so big and scary. You suppose it would only be natural the opposite would also be true now that the scale is on the other fin.

As your breathing returns to normal, you remember Lance telling you that he knew you’d become big and strong one day, and you are big and strong now. Because of his unwavering faith in you, that even after years where it seemed like nothing changed, he kept training you. Because he was convinced that one day you two would share this moment.

There is only one thing left for you to do now.

You lower your head and bring it down, stopping just in front of Lance. He visibly grows stiff at your approach and Ryu flinches and screws his eyes shut.

“Thank you for being there for me.”

There’s a moment of disbelief on Lance’s face as he brings his hand up and pats your snout, first warily, and then more and more enthusiastically as a smile spreads over it. You let out a content rumble as he paws at your snout, when you notice Ryu cracking his eyes open and nervously slinking back. You open your mouth to ask what on earth has gotten into him, when your memory turns back to a comment he made in passing a couple years back.

“We dragons aren’t the kinds to let go of a slight!”

… Right. When you first started training together, Ryu was downright awful to you, and he expects you to still remember that. You suppose you rightfully ought to be angry with that Ryu back then… but that Ryu doesn’t exist anymore. The one who’s your teammate now and standing before you today is stronger than the one from back then, older and wiser too. He was there for you when you were not doing well, and put himself on the line to protect you when you were still small and weak.

Including when your life hung in the balance just earlier.

Both of you,” you say. “Just don’t expect me to take every hit for you for three years, Ryu. After all, I know you can do more than Splash and swim around during a fight.”

Ryu’s breaths begin to return to normal as he starts to calm down. He’s still on edge a bit around you and lets out a nervous titter, but at least he’s smiling now.

And… he seems genuinely happy that you’re here.

“H-Heh, never thought you’d be looking down on me like this, Kouhaku.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle back. “Me neither.”



It’s been years now since that day when you evolved, Lance now wears a far nicer cape, and apparently has become a human who’s seen as strong and commands respect from his peers. So are you for that matter. As a Pokémon, you’re now far stronger than you ever dreamed of becoming when you first set off with Lance. Ryu similarly is a far cry from the little Dratini who first met you. He’s now a Dragonite, and even if you two have more companions now, he still is often alongside you. In this case, he’s here to keep an eye on you when Lance is preoccupied during your swims.

Today’s is in familiar territory: the waters of the Dragon’s Den.

“Remember, Kouhaku. Just… try not to take anything the locals say personally, alright?”

You slither into the water and let out a quiet huff in response. Sometimes you feel a bit insulted by constantly being watched like this, but honestly… with the way your temper can be sometimes since evolving, maybe it’s for the best. You don’t think it’ll be an issue during your swim today, though. The Horsea and the Dratini and their kin don’t dare treat you the way they did when you were younger, and every once in a while, you’ll see a face you recognize from those days hurriedly shrink away at your approach.

That alone already makes these visits back to the Dragon’s Den satisfying for you. But the part about these visits that really lifts your mood is hearing the awestruck words from your fellow Magikarp that live here.

“Wow! So big!”

“Did you beat your last challenger? It was easy, right?”

“When I’m all grown up, I want to be just like you!”

One of the things that you’ve learned in the years since you left to train with Lance and grew better traveled is that you’re far from the only Gyarados to have roots from the Dragon’s Den. A number of Dragon Tamers who start out in the surrounding land like Lance apparently choose Magikarp of their own to be their second partners.

For all of the local dragons’ insistence about how they don’t take prey here because it’s a sacred place, maybe that also has something to do with why they don’t dare hunt the Magikarp that live here.

You dive and let the water close in over your scales, as you snake around rocks and under wooden pylons as you please. All the while, your mind drifts towards Lance and the experiences you two have had together. Past victories and defeats, the many waters you two have seen together, and the new horizons you and your teammates chase alongside your trainer.

Lance apparently tells other humans sometimes that ‘Not all dragons are Dragon-type Pokémon’. You’re sure that many of the dragons here in the Dragon’s Den wouldn’t agree with those words, but in the end it doesn’t really matter.

After all, whenever you’re here, whatever they really think of you and Gyarados deep down and whether you’re really a dragon or not, they give you their respect. They understand that in the end, your might is just like theirs and like them, you can make the world quake and tremble.

If nothing else, you suppose that you’ve convinced them that you’re like a dragon.



Original Drabble:

FirebreathersHelioliskSerpentine
Scale and FangGyaradosOutrage
Dragon's DenProud LineageScraggy

“... A Magikarp? Really?”

A disappointed grunt carries through the damp cave air, from the Dratini staring at you with an unimpressed frown. He lets his gaze linger on you, before turning his gaze up to a human child with a shock of red hair, a little duller in color than your scales.

“Lance, I realize that that human elder refused to get another dragon to partner with you, but surely there’s better teammates to start a team out with, aren’t there?”

You splash your fins and shrink back nervously from the pair. Humans in general look frightening with how big they are compared to you and your kind, even if this one is smaller than the ones that are fully grown.

Yes, you challenged him and he got you inside one of those ball things already, so if you agree, he’ll treat you as a partner, but why?

Most humans who come to Dragon’s Den come seeking strong Pokémon, and as a Magikarp… you’re not anything of the sort. The partner he already has doesn’t seem to particularly like you either, so why haven’t you just turned and swum away?



Your mind briefly thinks back to earlier in the day in the Dragon’s Den, when your fins grew tired and you swam off for a place to rest along its bed. You found one, in the shallows by a ruined chunk of bridge and were about to settle in, when a Horsea swooped in and took it right in front of you.

“H-Huh?! But that’s my-”

My den now. Leave before I make you, Magikarp.”

You tried to brush past the Horsea and push it aside with your bulk, as squabbles among your kind are commonly settled. He wasn’t having any of it, and spewed up a vortex that felt burning in spite of being underwater and knocked you back. You were the Magikarp, and his kind was the one who could do more to hurt you than just push and splash…

“Okay! Okay! I’m going!”

Thus there was no point in continuing that battle, not when all it’d accomplish would be to get you left listing unconscious in the water and forced to begin your search anew feeling even more haggard and worn down.

You hurriedly swam off, towards the shrine in the center of the cave. Much to your relief, there were plenty of places there to rest, and much of them looked unclaimed. You made your way up to one towards the top, under the shadow of the wooden walkway about the shrine and began to settle in, when a flash of blue and white cut in and you saw a Dragonair swoop in, poking her head out from a pair of Dratini resting by her below.

“Hrmph, you know how things work, Magikarp. These dens are already taken.”

“B-But there’s nobody in them and I-”

“Would be my lunch if this weren’t a sacred place where it’s forbidden to take prey,” the Dragonair snarled back at you. “This is the Dragon’s Den, now move along.”

You yelped and hurriedly swam off as fast as your fins could carry you, lest the Dragonair be tempted to ignore local custom and make good on her threat. You lived in a place that was special for dragons, and as such, when it came to its workings, they had first say.

You decided to try your luck with the inner ring of rocks further out. Those weren’t as sought-after as resting places among the local dragons, and you figured that it was a decent chance to finally get some rest. As luck would have it, you found a place within a couple minutes, and settled in to rest your fins.

The next thing you knew, something smacked you hard in the face and sent you pinwheeling in the water. You briefly caught a glimpse of a Dragonite pulling his tail back his side, before you lay in the water in a groaning daze.



Right, that’s why you decided to try your luck with a human. You weren’t brave enough to leave Dragon’s Den entirely since the world outside is full of terrors, and death that comes suddenly from all imaginable directions. And humans are supposed to come to Dragon’s Den to partner with Pokémon and make them stronger, but…

You just can’t help but feel as if you’re making a mistake.

You start to turn away, when the human child stoops and pats his hand at the top of his head. He looks down at you as his mouth curls up and he speaks something in that peculiar tongue that humans have. You don’t understand any of it, but something about it is soothing in the tone of the human’s voice.

You briefly notice the Dratini hesitate, which makes you curious. Since the Dragon-type clearly understood parts of it that you didn’t.

“... What did he say?”

“That he thinks you have potential and knows you will be strong one day,” the Dratini answers, before turning away with a harrumph. “I’ll believe it when I see it, really.”



Things changed an awful lot since that fateful day, and in retrospect, much of it came as a whirlwind. You quickly learned a thing or two about how differently humans treated the process of giving names. Your human was Lance, your Dratini teammate was ‘Ryu’, and you were ‘Kouhaku’. With some help from Ryu, you learned to discern human cries, to tell when Lance wanted you two to swim one way or the next, or Ryu to use an attack… much as you did in battle with a pair of Poliwag in a river not far from home about a year after you met.

Lance ordered Ryu to get up close with them, fighting with Pounds and Dragon Rages. You however, as a Magikarp, he kept swimming at a distance. You were to swim circles about your enemies, Splash them when he called for it, and then hurry away.

“Ack!”

Which proved to be easier said than done when your foes could attack from a distance, as the Poliwag you were facing off with could that day. You flinched briefly from the swat and broke away as the Poliwag began to give chase, when Lance called out from the riverbank.

A flash of dragonfire sailed in that made the Poliwag list in the water and then Ryu came over for you to hide behind. After a brief moment’s stunning, the pair hastily swam off and fled, as Ryu called after with a sharp huff.

“And don’t come back! We dragons aren’t the kinds to let go of a slight!”

The river returned back to peace and quiet, leaving you and Ryu alone to swim back to your trainer waiting at the side.

Along the way, you glumly swam along. You’re supposed to be training to grow stronger, but you didn’t win that battle, it was Ryu who did all of the hard work. You looked at him on your way over to shore, and with a wavering voice piped up in protest.

“Ryu, wh-why do I have to be here? I can’t even do anything other than just swim around and splash right now!”

In the earliest days, Ryu might have said something snippy or mean-spirited in reply, but he’s stopped doing that for a while now. You don’t know whether it’s from the way Lance scolded him, or if he’s just grown to tolerate your presence somehow.

“Lance insisted that the best thing to do for now was simply to just hang tight in battle,” The Dragon-type sighed. “He says that it’ll help you build your nerves and get you familiar with taking orders.”

You sink in the water at the Dratini’s explanation. So you literally can’t do anything to help other than just being there? Ryu notices your mood sink and shakes his head as he swims along.

“Look, I don’t understand it either, Kouhaku,” the Dratini says. “But he insists that it’ll help us both as we grow and that it’s making you tougher.”

You wait by the riverbank with your fins listless and depressed, when you feel a pat from above. Lance is smiling down at you with a twinge of worry as he asks if he pushed you too hard in your latest fight. You see him with a few leaves of lettuce in his hand, a treat for a job well done that’s always fun to pull and tug apart in the water.

Your spirits lift a bit when he sets it out in front of you, when Ryu slithers onto shore for his turn of affection and looks back to you as you nose at your treat.

“Just hang in there a bit longer,” Ryu insists. “I know it doesn’t seem like things are going anywhere, but I’m sure it’ll pay off, alright?”



“A bit longer” indeed.

Two years after that moment, you and Ryu still were training in much the same fashion, but even so, quite a bit changed. You were now training in a land beyond the mountains east of the Dragon’s Den and Lance grew visibly taller and started wearing a worn cape from some tatty old costume—a marker of the sort of human that he wanted to be when he grew up. Ryu had become a Dragonair, every bit as big and imposing as the one that bullied you on the day you joined Lance in the Dragon’s Den, except he fought alongside you, and used his newfound length and size to shield you from blows more times than you could count. He no longer puts you down, and when you were feeling down, sometimes he’d go and try to cheer you up all on his own…

“Gah!”

And then there was you. Still a Magikarp after everything that had happened between now and then. Still only able to Splash and shove and swim around your foes when battling alongside Ryu, who this day were a pair of Goldeen.

Once again, you can’t do anything. Which the Goldeen nearest you is all too eager to remind you about.

“Hah! Don’t you ever get busy of doing something other than swimming around?”

You feel a pulse of anger under your scales, which has been building more and more since it’s just been years of swimming around and trying not to get hit by your foes as they mock you and you can’t do anything about it. You try to ignore them and stay focused, since when you get distracted, that’s when you’re most likely to lose from not listening to Lance’s calls and overlooking a foe’s move that you didn’t see coming. And from the way they’re moving, it shouldn’t be much longer until Ryu puts an end to the fight.

And then, something abruptly changes in the air. The Goldeen see something and there’s a flash of panic in their eyes before they dive underwater. Even the one that was just taunting just up and left.

“Huh? What’s-?”

Before you know it, you feel something sharp slice into your side. You cry out in pain and feel your body get pulled out of the water, dripping seawater below. Above you, you see brown and cream wings, along with talons latched onto your side.

K-Kouhaku!

Ryu’s voice cries out in alarm as dragonfire zips in above. There’s a squawk as the sharp grip lets go and you fall back to the sea with a splash. You lie there stunned as the world spins around your eyes, and your scales feel warm and your tongue tastes the tang of blood. Lance is calling out your name right now, his voice sounds genuinely scared, so does Ryu’s, as he knifes through the water and looks down at you wide-eyed

“Oh no no no, Kouhaku! I’m sorry! I d-didn’t mean to let you-!”

“That’s my prey, you stupid snake! Back off!”

There’s a flash of brown that dives in as Ryu cries out in pain. There’s a cut on his scales now as your attacker—a Pidgeotto—is back and tries to grab at you again to carry you off. Ryu desperately tries to wedge himself between you and the bird, and get you out of the way to safely attack the Flying-type.

As you’re unable to do anything yet again. This time just to lie here in the water, probably dying. It burns you up inside, like the Horsea’s Twister did. Or the Dragonair driving you off. Or the Dragonite’s tail slap. Or any number of blows and mocking jeers you’ve had to endure all these years because you were a Magikarp. Because you couldn’t do anything other than Splash and shove and swim around.

And then that something inside you snaps. That you will do something this time even if it kills you.

Y-YOU!

Your body feels warm and suddenly you rise up in the air. You briefly hear the Pidgeotto cry out and even hear Ryu and Lance’s voices yelp. You hear water churn as your vision leaves the water entirely much like when you were snatched and the sea’s surface grows farther and farther. When it stops, you can’t feel your front fins anymore and see that barbels are noticeably longer and blue.

You are now a Gyarados and your breaths come out hot and angry as you hear a faint splash and whirl your head towards where you last remembered seeing the Pidgeotto. It’s flying away now for dear life. And as it tears through the air, one thought fills your mind:

Everyone who hurt you for all these years must pay, starting with this accursed bird.

DIE!

You swim after the Pidgeotto, knifing after it in the water much like Ryu does to close the distance with foes and lunge after it once its underbelly comes into sight. The Pidgeotto looks down, sees your approaching maw and screams as it desperately banks and tries to get away. It almost does, but your jaws find purchase on its tail as it shrieks in pain. You snarl and drag it down to the sea as it squawks out frantic cries for help which as you pull it out of the air. About halfway down, the Pidgeotto realizes that help isn’t going to come, and his cries devolve into incoherent pleas for mercy as your once-hunter pathetically tries to beg you to spare his life.

You’re not interested in that. He dug his talons into you to carry you off and eat you not even a minute ago. He hurt Ryu with them. You’ll give him what he deserves and chew him to pieces, slowly.

You throw the Pidgeotto up and open your mouth to crush him between your jaws when a voice calling from shore makes you hesitate. The Pidgeotto slips between your teeth and hits the water, there’s some frantic wingbeats and a whimper as he pulls himself out the water as clumsily flees for dear life back for the forest with his tail held stiff and injured. And yet, in spite of it, the whole time, you don’t move to resume your pursuit.

Your attention is one Lance and Ryu back on shore, staring up at you. Ryu looks visibly terrified and is shaking like a leaf at your appearance. Lance looks a bit scared himself, he’s stiff and obviously unnerved and while it’s shakier than normal, he still calls out for you in that soothing tone of his he uses when trying to cheer you up.

He tells you that things are alright. That things are okay now.

You look down at your body and see that Lance and Ryu are so much smaller now. So’s the rest of the world. As your breaths slow down and calm, your thoughts turn back to when you were a Magikarp and how on that first day, Lance seemed so big and scary. You suppose it would only be natural the opposite would be true now that the scale is on the other fin.

As your breathing slows down, you remember Lance telling you that he knew you’d become big and strong, and you are big and strong now. Because of his unwavering faith in you, that even after years where seemingly nothing changed, that he kept training you, convinced that one day you two would share this sight.

There is only one thing left for you to do in that case.

You lower your head and bring it down, stopping just in front of Lance as Ryu lets out a low whimper and screws his eyes shut.

“Thank you for being there for me.”

Lance brings his hand up and pats you. You let out a content rumble. Ryu cracks his eyes open afterwards and slinks back nervously. You open your mouth to ask what on earth is his problem, when your thought turns back to a passing comment he made a couple years back.

“We dragons aren’t the kinds to let go of a slight!”

… Right. When you first started training, Ryu was downright awful to you, and he expects you to still remember that. You suppose you ought to rightfully be angry with that Ryu back then… but that Ryu doesn’t exist anymore. The one who does and stands before you today is older and wiser than the one back then. He is there for you when you’re not doing well, and put himself on the line to protect you when you were still small and weak.

Both of you,” you say. “Just don’t expect me to take every hit for you for three years, Ryu. After all, I know you can do more than Splash during a fight.”

Ryu’s breaths grow more regular as he begins to calm down. He’s still on edge a bit and lets out a nervous titter, but you can see now he’s smiling and seems happy that you’re here.

“H-Heh, never thought you’d be looking down on me like this, Kouhaku.”

“Yeah,” you chuckle back. “Me either.”



It’s been years since the day you evolved, Lance now wears a far nicer cape, and apparently is a human seen as strong and commands respect from his peers. As are you as a Pokémon, as now, you’re a far stronger Pokémon than you ever dreamed of being when you first started out. So is Ryu for that matter—now a Dragonite—who’s there alongside you to keeps an eye on you when Lance during your swims like today as you slither into the water at the Dragon’s Den.

“Remember, Kouhaku. Just… try not to take anything the locals say personally, alright?”

Sometimes you feel a bit insulted by constantly being watched like that, but honestly… with the way your temper can be sometimes after evolving, it’s probably for the best. Not that you think it’ll be an issue during your swim today. The Horsea and Dratini and their kin don’t dare treat you the way they did when you were younger, and every once in a while, you’ll see a face you recognize from those days hurriedly shrink away as you approach.

That’s alone is already satisfying for you whenever you come back to the Dragon’s Den. But the thing about these visits that really lifts your mood up is hearing the awestruck words from your fellow Magikarp that live here.

“Wow! So big!”

“Did you beat your last challenger? It was easy, right?”

“When I’m all grown up, I want to be just like you!”

Something you’ve learned in the years since you’ve left is that you’re apparently not the only Gyarados to have roots from the Dragon’s Den. A number of Dragon Tamers in this land that start out like Lance choose apparently choose Magikarp of their own as their second teammates.

For all their insistence about how it’s because this is a sacred place, perhaps that has something to do with why the other dragons don’t dare prey on the Magikarp that live here.

You dive and let the water close in over your scales, as you snake around rocks and under wooden pylons as you please. All the while, your mind drifts towards your Lance and the experiences you two have had together.

Your trainer apparently tells other humans sometimes that ‘Not all dragons are Dragon-type Pokémon’. You’re sure that much of the dragons here in the Dragon’s Den wouldn’t agree with that, but in the end it doesn’t really matter.

After all, whenever you’re here, whatever they think of you and Gyarados deep down, they keep it to themselves and give you their respect. They understand that in the end, your might is like theirs and you can similarly make the world quake and tremble.

So if nothing else, you suppose you’ve convinced them that you’re like a dragon.
 
Last edited:

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
  2. zygarde
Here for Blitz! And also because you've been BEGGING me to read A Dragon's Might due to the homages to me and my characters specifically.

Oh my god Hatchet is on basic gym duty. She can cook some pork (though it's a bit self-cooking anyway) but she wants bigger things. Better things.

Back at the training room we meet her sister, who seems to be original to you. (I established her parents but not any siblings.) I love how she's nothing but nice and encouraging to Hatchet and Hatchet is like "stop. go away. you're the worst."

Also we meet Head Case. head case is delightful. I felt so bad when Head Case got demoted to side challenge.

Speaking of, Hatchet gets what she wanted and gets promoted to Iris' main team! But she is warned this will fuck her up. Hatchet is convinced this is balderdash.

Always Sunny Title Card: It Was Not Balderdash

Do you know how many Pokemon can learn Dragon-type moves? I don't have exact numbers but it's a lot. She meets a Krookodile, a Growlithe, a Scraggy/Scrafty who's part of a trio of OTHER suspiciously familiar Pokemon... The works. She ends things off with a lesson in humility, but the worst is yet to come

The protagonist is coming.

This was very cute and funny but I am obviously very biased because it is about one of my OCs you put your own delightful spin on. I am very flattered and this was a joy to read, thank you!

(Also wait until Hatchet gets ahold of Fairy types)
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Location
The Yangverse
Pronouns
Any
Partners
  1. reshiram
  2. zygarde
Hi! Here for Review Blitz! I am BACK for MORE DRAGONS and this time going to the first chapter like an actual sane person would.

Flapple! I love Flapple. It gets overshadowed by the other members of its evolutionary line which are also neat but I always had a soft spot for it. Funny its defenition of hoard is its orchard.

I love the tales of how this orchard has been around for CENTURIES and was there in the time of knights and legends and this Flapple has a very very important legacy to fulfill.

And they're like "who is this old woman? Is she sus? Oh she's paying fine then but I will be envious of those applessssssssssssssss"

BUT THEN WHO SHOWS UP BUY THE REAL SUS BRIGADE, TEAM YELL! Fun to see them. They're perfect random hooligan material.

Our Flapple protagonist thinks peace may be an option. Then the Team Yell grunt goies for the steal. Peace is not an option.

So they give the Team Yell grunt one (1) warning. The Team Yell grunt goes "lmao Flapple it's only ZU". Then comes the acid. Rip the Team Yell grunt's jacket. He's lucky he tossed it off and ran before it burned a hole in his chest or something.

Allso he could have paid for it this whole time and this could have all been avoided. Oh well. At least Flapple gets a snacky.

This lacks the obvious personal connection of the last one I read but is still very cute and charming, and again features a underrated Pokemon protagonist. Excellent job!
 

Flyg0n

Flygon connoisseur
Pronouns
She/her
Partners
  1. flygon
  2. swampert
  3. ho-oh
  4. crobat
  5. orbeetle
  6. joltik
  7. salandit
  8. tyrantrum
  9. porygon
The pair were both dressed in black with ridiculous pink hair and face paint.
Oh great the worst team
You uncoil your body and spread your wings, fanning them wide to make yourself look bigger and remind the pair that even if it was a modest dragon hoard, that it was yours, and that they stole from it at their own peril. To make your message clear, you raise your voice and let out the fiercest roar you could muster
This is an absolutely delightful mental image

Ngl I kind of picture him sounding like a gecko 'roaring'
For whatever reason, humans had a habit of turning up perfectly good apples after someone else gave even the littlest of bites to them, but that was hardly a loss for you.
The wording of 'turning up' here left me confused. In context I read it as 'throwing aside' but it took me awhile to parse. Perhaps it's just a phrase I'm unfamiliar with though.

You can see them now as clear as day through three sets of eyes
Man I wonder exactly how it would feel to have three heads... Also huh, somehow I never realized before that Hydreigon have eyes on the other two heads? I always saw them as faux eyes.
Though perhaps things weren’t so black-and-white.
Heheh I see what you did there
Kill you.
Whoaaaa sick. Ngl this line goes hard. He says it with such certainty and he can back it up. Love me a character who has a bark that matches their bite
There was a lake you spotted north of here about fifteen minutes ago by flying: you’re going to go there, lick your wounds, and try your luck fishing for Basculin.
Yeah that sounds like the smart idea buddy

For a Pokémon, dwelling among humans comes full of quirks and oddities, and it’s rife with occasions you’d never encounter while living in the wild.
Ooo I always love me a little poke pov, especially when it highlights the differences between humans and pokemon in a non antagonistic light
My kind doesn’t normally rear children for long,” she says.
Intriguing. It's cool to incorporate aspects of real world snakes here
One who would draw mockery and laughter from dragonkind were he or she to claim the title of ‘dragon’.
*glances at Alolan Exeggutor* uh huh
You’d come to live with humans precisely because those other dragons didn’t lend you aid at a time of need in the wild.
Man harsh though. I do so love the idea of an injured Dratini turned aside by their kind and taken in by a human though
But right then, right there, you are convinced that in all the ways that matter, that she is just like you.
This was a really sweet ending, very simple but effective. I almost expected going in there to be some kind of end where perhaps Ekans inherited a dragon-type move or the like, but this makes more sense.

I've been meaning to get around eventually to doing something about reading this. Its a really cool idea to examine exactly what it means to be a dragon, particularly in the context of a world like pokemon. Are dragons just anything with dragon typing, or are there more traits that make something draconic?

In these three drabbles alone there's a delightful amount of variance. In the first, we have a mon thats definitely got the obvious traits of a dragon. Flapple has got the scales and wings and its kind of a serpent... even if its like half a foot long or something and voice of a gecko. But he does have a hoard. I thought it was a neat twist on a hoard that he's not so much hoarding as guarding his treasure. Its also a pleasant look at how pokemon and humans can integrate and work together. A Flapple may have an instinct to guard something and would be an ideal helpful for this little apple stand.

In the second, we have a pokemon that doesn't have any traits of a dragon. No scales, wings, claws or fire. Yet he does a mega evolution... Pitting a Hydreigon against an Ampharos was quite delightful. I have to say I adore the mental image of of this bad to the bone Ampharos protecting the ranch, and being absolutely ruthlessly confident. Him standing over Hydreigon and reminding it that 'yes I could have killed you' was pretty harcore. Don't even feel bad for Hydreigon, go try fishing bro. Perhaps in this one it can be said that the Mareep are the Ampharos's hoard. For me Ampharos stole the show tbh, even though it was Hydreigon pov. So cool.

The third was nice and lowkey, but emotionally poignant in comparison. Two serpent mon, in the moments before their first child hatches. This one is much more reflective and thoughtful. Dragonair is by all means a dragon, but also an outcast among their own kind. Arbok, though we don't get a ton of her story, is unfamiliar to being a parent. Yet the two of them are making their own kind of family anyway. I actually really hope we eventually run into this Ekans sometime because it could be fun to read a followup of their story, as they come to terms with their heritage. There's a nice undercurrent about the idea of starting a new legacy mixed in with Dragonair's acceptance of the new child.
 

windskull

Bidoof Fan
Staff
Partners
  1. sneasel-nip
  2. bidoof
  3. absol
  4. kirlia
  5. windskull-bidoof
  6. little-guy-windskull
  7. purugly
  8. mawile
  9. manectric
Hi Fobbie. Figured I should try to return the favor for your review, so here I am. I'll be covering at least a few chapters, but it may end up being more by the end. We’ll see.

With that out of the way, let's jump right in!

A Guarding Dragon
You even stood guard on the same old stand put out for harvest time: a shabby table with a raised ledge at its deep end you sat on,
I think that this sentence could have used a “that” after “end” because as it is it tripped me up and pulled me out of the story while I tried to discern meaning.

I love the implication that, at least to some degree, Flapple understands the value of money. Even the animals have been touched by capitalism :sadbees:. Joking aside, I do think it's cute that their metric is the that the value is equal to that of a soda pop. Makes me think that the soda in question is something that they get in exchange for their “guard dog” services.

Because that's really what this story is about. A guard dog hiding in plain sight (which now has me wondering if any would-be thieves ever tried to take a bite out of Flapple, mistaking them for the merch.) A guard trained by the previous guard, trained by the one before them, stretching back generation after generation. After all, what better guard than something inclined to protect “its hoard?”

To finish my thoughts for this one off, I think it's cute that the story ends with the Flapple getting a snack for its troubles. They don't care about no silly germs. Humans are just silly /j.

Anyways, overall a cute read and a fun little glimpse into one potential relationship between humans and pokemon.



A Dragon’s Ferocity
Fields full of mareep, untouched and unclaimed by other dragons? Uh oh, I have a bad feeling about this one Scoob. Something tells me this isn't going to end well for at least one party.

Yep, that went about how I expected it to, lmao. This is a classic example of the “strong, bully character gets humbled by someone they perceive as weak trope.” It also plays into the idea of dragons and dragon-like pokemon really well. Ampheros may not be a dragon (without mega evolving, at least), but that doesn't mean it can't use dragon-like abilities.

Circling back to the premise, I do really like the idea. The concept of a dragon understanding the concept of the balance between man and nature, but deciding that he was strong enough to go against it anyway only to get whipped into shape is fun. I like how his confidence went from being overly full of himself and shrugging off the mareep like it was nothing, to crying out with fear the same way his prey had previously. And then to have to go off and lick his wounds and hope none of the other dragons find out. Mmm delicious karma.

Don't have anything to say beyond that though tbh. It's a fairly straightforward story, but still pretty fun.

--

A Dragon’s Lineage
Ok. First point. I love that you have the egg reference the pokemon that's inside, instead of having it just be cream with green dots. It makes sense in a game where it saves space to only have one design. But in reality eggs don't look the same between species, so why would pokemon eggs? We even see that a little in the anime with togepi’s egg, but afterwards they're all the same iirc.

Sorry about the ramble. It's just. A neat world building detail that I like. Moving on.

Not gonna lie. I giggled a little when the baby bit him. Felt like it was meant to break the tension a little, and as a result gave me a bit of “haha, got your nose 8o)” energy, even though the baby was clearly scared.

Anyways, there's a lot I like about this one. I like that it plays into the fears of how Dragonair’s relationship would be perceived, even if he's no longer in that draconic community. But at the same time, we see that in some ways, their wild communities aren't that different. The Arbok may not nurture their young, but he was left helpless when he was hurt. I guess because he wasn't “strong” enough. It almost feels hypocritical, in a way.

That aside, I also love that he reads as a doting dad-to-be that is, at the same time, afraid of being accepted. Maybe that loops back to his backstory. And for a second, when the child first panics, it almost feels like his fears are going to be confirmed. But… that doesn't happen. Once she's calmed down, and assured he's safe, she acts totally different. I like to think that these three have a happy future ahead of them

I could opine on how this story could read like an allegory for mixed race or mixed culture relationships, and it's possible you pulled inspiration from that. But I'm not sure I could give a deep discussion the nuance it deserves within a review right now. But I did want to at least note it and say from my perspective, I think it works.

Regardless, I found this one really cute.

I think all three of these worked really well. None of them felt too short, and none of them felt like they overstayed their welcome. They feel like they fell right in that sweet spot of long enough to express their idea. I think I'm gonna cut the review here, but it's possible that I might return for more be
fore the end of blitz. Until next time.
 

JFought

Sloooowly writing...
Location
HCL
Pronouns
they/them
Partners
  1. jfought-sword
  2. jfought-blue
  3. deerling-summer
  4. charmeleon
  5. vulpix
  6. monferno
Hello! I said I might come back! Originally I wanted to do another Once a Thief review for blitz, but I ran out of both time and energy, so this will have to do! Now, I specifically needed 750 words to get three points, but some of these stories are really short. So I just kept writing reviews until I hit that point.

so

uh…

A Guarding Dragon
This was a cute vignette! I like how it takes the “hoarding dragon” trope and applies it to a Flapple’s logic, with the apple stand acting as the hoard. Its a cute idea to use a “guard flapple” like this, and the beginning of this story uses repetition effectively to get across the idea that incidents like these are fairly common and the Flapple is just doing their job. Or from the Flapple’s perspective, not their job, but their duty to what belongs to them.

Also we get some Team Yell representation, and they actually have a purpose in this story so you get points for this.

A Dragon’s Ferocity
From the image at the start I was expecting an Ampharos protagonist, but it looks like we have a Hydreigon Villain Protagonist instead. The worldbuilding about the balance of the gods is interesting, and makes sense for a strong dragon to believe in, given the dynamics that would exist between them. Hydreigon felt suitably haughty for the story’s purposes, and the strength of the Ampharos spoke true to the story of balance told at the beginning (and obviously the purpose here is to reference Mega Ampharos’ dragon typing). I’m a little surprised Ampharos knew of the same story though, buuut that’s a nitpick. I feel this one has a storybook quality to it that makes it easy to handwave: I imagine this would be told as an example of why you shouldn’t mess with human settlements, and to reinforce why that balance must be respected.

A Dragon’s Lineage
Aw, this one’s cute. The Dragonair here seems like he’s been through a lot, and the insecurities of both parents are touching. Their insecurity is informed by their species and upbringing, but they still map onto relatable concerns over whether you have the capacity to raise a child, or if you’ll be able to relate to them. And then it ends on a heartwarming note :veelove:.

Only one prose comment here:
You nose at your wounded snout, and brush away a couple droplets of blood against your scales.
I imagine “nosing” as touching something with your nose, so this read as odd to me.

A Dragon Someday
And I follow up a heartwarming one with a sad one :sadwott:. As a longer one-shot, this story has a bit more room to develop its characters, so I have a bit more to say.

I think this story gets across Grovyle’s perspective really well. They don’t properly understand what it was they were doing for their trainer, nor why he was taken away. And so the idea that the only thing stopping them is a simple barrier, that they just need to get stronger and they will get their trainer back, is equal parts naive and heartbreaking.

I like how Pokémon speech is handled here, told in prose rather than in dialogue. It gets across the idea that it is different in some fundamental way compared to human speech, and I think it lends to this story’s xeno-pov very well.

I also like how you’re purposely vague as to Grovyle’s intended target, until BAM, Steven’s here! The moment where Grovyle is wondering how a human could be so enamored with rocks so as to carry around an entire bag with him is a nice moment of levity in an otherwise tragic story. And Steven himself feels in character. It’s unfortunate that he’s technically enabling Grovyle in his hasty plan, but there’s no way for him to know that’s what they’re planning. Not like Grovyle will be staging any prison breaks soon, without a trainer to help achieve Mega Evolution.

Final note, as a story about dragons, it technically has the weakest connection, but in the sense of “dragon as metaphor” I feel it still fits. Becoming stronger and becoming a dragon are almost like the same thing for a Grovyle, and so even if their goal isn’t technically the latter, they are still connected. Or maybe I’m reaching, idk, it sounded better in my head :P.

Okay actual last note, prose comment:
The way the Arcanine pointedly told you afterwards that if you’d caused further trouble, you’d have your arm leaves cut and either spend the rest of your observation period sedated and drooling into your bedding or be sent back to your Pokéball regardless of your wounds was a good enough hint.
This sentence is so complex that ending it with “was a good enough hint” doesn’t really follow from its beginning fragment, even if it's technically supposed to.

So I knocked out four this time! I liked the variety of tones here, every story felt noticeably different and tackled the subject from a different lens (I may have said this last time, but I'll reiterate!) If I had to pick a favorite, it'd be a tossup between A Dragon Someday and A Guarding Dragon (i'm a sucker for vignettes what can i say). So yeah, I may come back to this again in the future! Keep it up!
 

ShiniGojira

Multiversal Extraordinaire
Location
Stranded In The Gaps between Multiverses
Pronouns
He/him/they/her
Partners
  1. froslass
  2. zorua-gojira
  3. salandit-shiny
  4. goomy
Hi! Hi! So remember when I said I'd check out your other stuff? Well here I am with a small little review! Hope you're having a splendid day!

A Guarding Dragon:

Oh, I find it so absolutely fascinating seeing how Pokémon interact in people's day to day life. I just love the creative ways people could weave them into one's job or something. I just think it's cool.

Doubly so when we're in the perspective of a Flapple guarding an apple sale. The 2nd person perspective isn't something I'm quite fond of, just a preference thing, it isn't like it's bad but most fics I've read with it are usually just romance or wish fulfillment. But I do quite love the unique view and immersion it provides. Definitely makes for a great read if well executed.

And I have to say, it's pretty good. Love how Flapple defends his little 'treasure hoard' and how he views his guardian job. I also love the little tidbits we get of the farm's past, really adds a little something something to the place and I adore the way it's introduced. And the way Flapple just thinks and speaks of pride and honour makes it all more fun when we realised that we're in Galar. Makes me wonder whether Flapple's mentor lived in the era of knights or something considering the implication of dragons being long lived.

So overall, it was a fun read.

A Dragon's Ferocity:

Okay. Perspective of a prideful and fierce Hydreigon. Definitely a fun piece to read.

I love just how arrogant Hydreigon feels. It's like a perfect blend of being extremely cocky and yet not too cocky to the point he feels more annoying than endearing. Especially when he gets his cheeks clapped by the resident Ampharos. And the way a trained and a wild Pokémon makes it all the more interesting especially when we're in said wild Pokémon's perspective. I just love the difference in ideals and culture and how they clash with each other. And how Hydreigon's like 'Oh fuck, I'm dead' when he lost.

Although it is a bit weird that he doesn't treat the Ampharos' mercy as pity or weakness considering his dragon pride. Like you'd think being a dragon and all that mercy wouldn't be regarded as anything but pit or weakness. But I guess it could be because his survival instincts are holding his pride hostage and threatening their family.

Ok and I also love how the Mareep tried to help their friends after getting over their shock and surprise. It really shows how much they cared despite the fact that they literally did nothing to him.

Also, it's probably nothing too crazy but how do we have a Hyrdreigon here? Are they not as rare in this world? Oh and how do their heads thing work? Are they just hands with a mouth and eyes or can they think. I mean probably not considering we didn't get any internal arguing or something but I don't know, our MC could be an outlier.

A Dragon's Lineage:

Ah, this was so cute. A Dragonair, An Arbok and their baby Ekans.

It's always fun reading how creatures not familiar with human tech react to things like fridges, computers, and ball-point pens. Makes you think more about the tech around you and how far humanity has come, huh? (or is that just me?)

Anyway, more dragon lore. I'm not entirely sure whether all of these drabbles are ok one world or not so don't know if dragon lore would change. But I'm gonna assume it is. So dragon pride is a real mess, eh? Letting one of their young die and laughing at their near-deaths and the thought that they would laugh at the one you love if they're not a dragon. Makes it kinda weird that the Hydreigon of last chapter didn't view that mercy as weakness or pity of that was the average dragon's thought process but oh well.

And not to mention, the small little Arbok lore in that their baby Ekans aren't venomous when they've just hatched. Really makes the whole vampire trick less scary when informed of that, yeah. Also I really love how Dragonair just absolutely adores their mate and that he doesn't mind that she didn't know how to nurture or take care of their young. (Really makes you wonder what other species don't know how to raise their young and yet still continue to do so.) And it's really sweet that Dragonair wants to take on the challenge of becoming a parent with their knowledge-less mate. So cute.

A Dragon's Saviour:

Ah, Goomy is such a fun little dragon to write and read about. The little guy's practically made for a good underdog story with how weak and squishy it is. (On a more morbid note, how do you think a Goomy tastes like? I'd say like a snail but I've no idea how a snail tastes like so...)

So this drabble was fun. I love how detailed and immersive the descriptions and prose is. It's neither too much nor too heavy and it does its job well. Just how a Goomy sees the world as it tries to survive while being chased by a Pinsir and being saved by an Alolan Exeggutor. It really gives off just how weak a Goomy is and how much one really needs to stay with a member of its den or someone strong.

The Alolan Exeggutor is also a fun character and not one I'd expect to appear. It is certainly nice to see that not all dragons are selfish and some will genuinely help others in trouble. The little bit where Goomy falls asleep on him is also a nice little adorable touch.

And I also really enjoy the nice subtle worldbuilding you put in your writing. It just adds so much life to this world despite how few the word count is. I, on the other hand, am really bad at writing short things so it really amazes me how well written these pieces are.

A Dragon Someday:

Oh, I really really enjoyed this one. Grovyle, Steven Stone and Megas? This drabble really packed a whole lot of punch and I was not prepared for that.

So first off, the fact that our POV is a Grovyle and he's a thief was just so fun. Like the fact that he doesn't quite know his trainer's a criminal but he still does it because he cares, it's just cute in a way. Doubly so when he's willing to break into Steven Fucking Stone's house all alone. Just the sheer amount of balls he has after seeing a Metagross, a bloody Psychic-type Pseudo Legend, and still thinking it was a good idea. I honestly couldn't tell if he was just brave or stupid.

And I really love how determined and loyal he is to his trainer. Just shows that criminal or not, people are always capable of love and that love would be prepared in kind.

Also I really love Steven's character in this. The fact that he's kind to someone that literally just stole something from him. If it were anyone other than him, I'd say they're pretty fucking stupid for doing that. But considering that it was him, it just makes him look good. Also, the little mention of his rock collection was funny.

Oh and I haven't mention it yet so I'll just say it now. I really enjoy the way you don't immediately tell us what character our POV is. Just trying to guess it before the reveal is so fun and makes the story all the more enjoyable.

A Flightless Dragon:

So another great and fun drabble. Being in the mind of a Bagon and their reckless tendencies to jump off cliffs, just seeing how one would think is so intriguing and fun. I really enjoyed how Bagon is just yearning to fly despite his lack of wings and how he's willing to do anything, like jump off a building... because that's a great idea. Yeah...

It's also interesting to see how Pokéballs work in this setting. Simulating one's ideal environment is certainly a fun idea though I do wonder how things like Luxury balls and Friend balls work. Like how can you make a swamp or a forest more luxurious or friendlier?

And also the buildup to Bagon just breaking his leg is great. Like I love how much dread you were able to squeeze in such few words, it just makes me kinda envious of how you were able to do that. But I guess that's also part of the fun since I'm always learning things about what I'm reading.

And when Roy just tries cheering him up after Bagon's crazy stunt. It was so bloody cute. The way he just enjoys floating with style and ignoring his intrusive thoughts of not actually flying is just so happy and cute and warms my cold dry heart.

A Dragon's Valor:

Okie, so we start off with a battle in which Charizard loses in a rather nom-draconish way. It's honestly also a blast to read things like this, y'know. Just the little subversion of a trope. A Charizard that never quite outgrew his cowardly past and still needs his friend to help. It's fun to see how such a loss affected Charizard's thought process. The fear, the dread, the worry that all builds up as the narrative paints a rough sketch of our trainer.

And then like a whole bucket of pain. It splashes onto the painting with a huge swoosh. And we're treated with a helping hand instead. It's cute just how understanding and loving the trainer is despite the fact that I don't think we've gotten a name for any of the trainer's so far. And it really amazes me just how well written a faceless and nameless character can be.

Then, overnight. Charizard and trainer wakes to snow. I wonder whether that's true for real life since Sinnoh is based on a real region. Anyway, Charizard and trainer goes to buy stuff and it's so cute how Charizard hugs their trainer close to keep then warm. Ah, I just love how wholesome this drabble is. Especially so when Charizard remembers just how and why he became a Charizard. And when it ends off with Charizard talking back about not being a dragon but is enough of a dragon to his friend hits so well and I just love it.

A Dragon's Folklore:

I'll be honest. This drabble didn't hit me as much as the others did. It's not that I didn't enjoy it because believe me, I did. I just didn't really enjoy it that much since it felt kinda exposition-y, I guess. Don't know. I guess I just don't really care for things like the Dragonspiral Tower or whatever in its own separate thingy. I mean I'd probably enjoyed it more if I read it during a chapterfic or something.

Anyway, dragon lore. One thing I did enjoy about this was how you handled folklore and that there are multiple different versions of it. As the saying goes, 'History belongs to the victors' or however it is. It is pretty interesting that Reshiram and Zekrom weren't at each other's throats during the folklore. Makes me wonder whether they started hating each other after or if history just paints them as benevolent creatures. And I liked how you've explained the various Pokémon that you can encountered in there and how they appeared.

I also like how you were able to make a character having a dislikable first impression and slowly evolving into a somewhat enjoyable character. I defo didn't like how the Mienshao interrupted the story but it is nice to see how he'd heard of the folklore. Makes you wonder just exactly how many different versions there are.

So while I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others. There were still some good points about it that made it an enjoyable experience overall.

A Treasured Dragon:

Heliolisk. Not quite what I would think of if I had dragons on my mind but I guess there might be some dragony inspiration to it, much like how Salazzle has if I remember correctly.

So archaeology. I'm assuming the trainer is less of a Pokémon trainer with badges and stuff and is more of an archaeologist. Y'know, I think this is perhaps my first time reading about an archaeologist instead of just watching it on youtube. It's an interesting experience. I really like how bored Heliolisk is during the expedition. Though at least they're able to have something to stimulate their mind instead of having to brush away a designate plot of land. It's pretty fun to see how an accidental spout of dragon powah is able to unearth history and shit.

And when they get attacked by the Sandaconda. It's nice to see the Heliolisk they accidentally scared, come back and introduce them to the ruins.

And the little bit of Helio lore is fun. I do think it's a bit weird that the Heliolisk in said painting used shields and stuff. Since it feels kinda unnecessary to me to even use conventional weapons when you can barf out lightning. But maybe it's just an artistic thing and they don't actually use swords and shields... or they can channel electricity through their swords and create a ridiculously effective way to fight back and they can do the same thing with their shields, thus making them extra op.

A Kingly Dragon:

Tyrantrum and Tyrunt. Being in the pov of a mon millions of years before any modern civilization is cool. Like I really enjoyed just how interesting it is to see someone that's more animalistic than any drabble before. Especially one that's the apex predator of their world.

I also enjoyed the little foreshadowing to the asteroid in the earlier parts of the drabble. Gives the right amount of 'oh fuck' and makes you just wince when it happens. With that said, I wonder who the hell summoned an asteroid to destroy earth's dinos. Like shouldn't Rayquaza have done something about it? What with it literally destroying an asteroid in ORAS and all. Unless Rayquaza was asked to ignore it or something or maybe Rayquaza just didn't exist yet?

Anyway, the fight between Tyrantrum and the herd of Bastiodon was fun. It showcased how strong the king of the jungle is since it singlehandedly beat up three of them and killed one without taking much damage. And when the asteroid dropped down. It really made me just go 'Oh boy' when everything started dying and exploding. It's also really interesting to see how someone goes through an extinction event and trying to survive to their best abilities.

Of course it doesn't go well but at least he got resurrected into the modern world. I wonder how the little guy will react to the countless new mons and rules that are in set.

A Dragon's Might:

Ooh, I enjoyed the theme that complements the bane of this drabble. As it's less so about our pov showing off his might and more of the opponents showing off the might of a dragon.

That being said, I really like how cocky and confident our Fraxure is. I feel like it's perhaps the first time we have a dragon act like that without having the strength to back it up. It's a really fun way to subvert the character themes of the previous drabbles. And when Fraxure just gets completely humbled by the mons he insulted, it felt really good despite y'know us being in his pov.

I also really like how unexpected the Pokemon you picked for the usage of dragon moves. Scraggy for Dragon Tail, Krooko for Dragon Claw, and Growlithe for Outrage. Honestly I thought Growlithe would have Dragon Rage instead but having it be Outrage is just amazing especially so when our Fraxure insults them for no real reason.

And it's also pretty cute how Fraxure's sister tried comforting him and how he's a bit annoyed at how she's already a Haxorus and he isn't and I feel like that's probably one reason why he wants to be in Iris' team. I also like the minor lore for Pokéballs and how a Pokémon could escape their ball. It's really interesting and I wonder if it's able to handle a Pokémon that's like really powerful. Like Groudon level or something.

A Restless Dragon:

Okay, so this should be the last one. And what a way to end it. With what's perhaps the conclusion to our Bagon from earlier's story. I have to say, it was quite a surprise to seeing him again, I wasn't expecting a continuation to his story.

So to begin, Bagon has evolved and with all the power comes with the nuance of a vastly different body. It seems like a couple years have passed and we're now in college. Ooh, it's nice to see the world growing along with the story. Anyway, Bagon now Shelgon is getting restless as he hates his new body. Not to mention, being stuck inside a small room. A bit surprised he didn't get claustrophobia from how small the dorm sounded.

So anyway, as one would do when they're getting restless. The frustration builds up in our little buddy and then he snaps and destroys something. It's nice to see that the trainer isn't too mad at him. And he of course, feels bad for destroying his trainer's things.

I also really like how things end of as the trainer brings Shelgon out to enjoy nature. It's also a really cute way to end in Shelgon looking at his teammates and trainer as his own den.

And that should be it for today. Really glad I was able to slug through this and I'm even more glad for how enjoyable this has been. I'll probably check out the rest of it later but as for now. I'll bid you farewell and hope you have a splendid day.
 

Spiteful Murkrow

Busy Writing Stories I Want to Read
Pronouns
He/Him/His
Partners
  1. nidoran-f
  2. druddigon
  3. swellow
  4. lugia
  5. quilava-fobbie
  6. sneasel-kate
  7. heliolisk-fobbie
Heya, hitting up with the last of my review responses for my stories without presently scheduled future updates, and boy was this one a real treat. Let’s just jump right in and start drilling down these reviews.

@Umbramatic
Here for Blitz! And also because you've been BEGGING me to read A Dragon's Might due to the homages to me and my characters specifically.

Oh my god Hatchet is on basic gym duty. She can cook some pork (though it's a bit self-cooking anyway) but she wants bigger things. Better things.

Well, that’s a good sign already for how you’re going to react to things. But yeah, Hatchet has always been a barrel of laughs as a character, so when I decided that I wanted to do a “gymmon bites off more than they can choose” episode and noticed that Iris’ White 1 team had a female Fraxure on the team… the rest of the oneshot basically wrote itself.
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Back at the training room we meet her sister, who seems to be original to you. (I established her parents but not any siblings.) I love how she's nothing but nice and encouraging to Hatchet and Hatchet is like "stop. go away. you're the worst."

Yeah, Francesca basically fills the same narrative role as OG!Hatchet’s father, if obviously a bit less stern and with a similar “axe-themed” name. Though such is life when you have to think of how Iris’ Haxorus and Fraxure from her team would relate. I mean, I could’ve made them completely unrelated, but a sibling rivalry angle felt more fun to work with.

Also we meet Head Case. head case is delightful. I felt so bad when Head Case got demoted to side challenge.

Don’t worry, she had the last laugh and you got to see her reprising her role as Iris’ team lead at the Unova League a couple years later. Just with a bit more experience and an extra head under her belt.

Speaking of, Hatchet gets what she wanted and gets promoted to Iris' main team! But she is warned this will fuck her up. Hatchet is convinced this is balderdash.

Always Sunny Title Card: It Was Not Balderdash

I mean, what did you really expect from a Hatchet incarnation, huh? >:V

Do you know how many Pokemon can learn Dragon-type moves? I don't have exact numbers but it's a lot. She meets a Krookodile, a Growlithe, a Scraggy/Scrafty who's part of a trio of OTHER suspiciously familiar Pokemon... The works. She ends things off with a lesson in humility, but the worst is yet to come

The protagonist is coming.

Hatchet:
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Though yes, the Scraggy/Scrafty and his implied teammates are exactly who you’re thinking of. Ditto his trainer if you caught some of that passing description.

This was very cute and funny but I am obviously very biased because it is about one of my OCs you put your own delightful spin on. I am very flattered and this was a joy to read, thank you!

(Also wait until Hatchet gets ahold of Fairy types)

Well, that’d certainly be very unfortunate for her, but for the rest of us…

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Hatchet: “Um… we still have that Poison Jab TM was still lying around in the backroom, right?”
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Hi! Here for Review Blitz! I am BACK for MORE DRAGONS and this time going to the first chapter like an actual sane person would.

Flapple! I love Flapple. It gets overshadowed by the other members of its evolutionary line which are also neat but I always had a soft spot for it. Funny its defenition of hoard is its orchard.

I mean, it just felt like the most Flapple thing in the world to grow possessive over apples, so of course I was going to do some sort of scenario involving that. :P

I love the tales of how this orchard has been around for CENTURIES and was there in the time of knights and legends and this Flapple has a very very important legacy to fulfill.

Yeah, I got the idea from how sometimes there will just be that one random small business that has been passed down familially for literally hundreds of years, which is a bit more common in Europe by virtue of them having more history. It felt like a convenient way to give some backdrop as to how SRS BSNS this ‘mon’s apple hoard was for them.

And they're like "who is this old woman? Is she sus? Oh she's paying fine then but I will be envious of those applessssssssssssssss"

That sounds pretty on-brand for Mr. Guard Apple, yes.
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BUT THEN WHO SHOWS UP BUY THE REAL SUS BRIGADE, TEAM YELL! Fun to see them. They're perfect random hooligan material.

I mean, it helps that they’re literally based off hooligans. o<o

Our Flapple protagonist thinks peace may be an option. Then the Team Yell grunt goies for the steal. Peace is not an option.

Flapple:
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So they give the Team Yell grunt one (1) warning. The Team Yell grunt goes "lmao Flapple it's only ZU". Then comes the acid. Rip the Team Yell grunt's jacket. He's lucky he tossed it off and ran before it burned a hole in his chest or something.

Yeah, I actually went back and double-checked Flapple’s dex fluff before writing this one-shot. The moment that I saw its Sword entry, I just knew that I needed to include it somehow.

Allso he could have paid for it this whole time and this could have all been avoided. Oh well. At least Flapple gets a snacky.

Flapple: “I love a happy ending. Delicious, too.”

This lacks the obvious personal connection of the last one I read but is still very cute and charming, and again features a underrated Pokemon protagonist. Excellent job!

And glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully you come back for more sometime, since your feedback was fun to read. ^^

@Flyg0n
Oh great the worst team

I mean, I’m sure that the average Team Yell member would insist that Team Flare was the real worst team. I mean, they’re still wrong, but not by much.
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This is an absolutely delightful mental image

Ngl I kind of picture him sounding like a gecko 'roaring'

I looked this up, and… honestly I could see it.
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The wording of 'turning up' here left me confused. In context I read it as 'throwing aside' but it took me awhile to parse. Perhaps it's just a phrase I'm unfamiliar with though.

I took a third option and went with ‘casting aside’.

Man I wonder exactly how it would feel to have three heads... Also huh, somehow I never realized before that Hydreigon have eyes on the other two heads? I always saw them as faux eyes.

Official fluff is actually ambiguous as to what those side-heads have going on with them aside from that they don’t have brains in them and apparently are capable of eating. I just rolled with those side markings being additional (if probably gimped) eyes of some sort because “something something it’s word-of-god based off Orochi thematically”.

Heheh I see what you did there

Yeah, what can I say? I’m a sucker for puns and nods like that in my writing. ^^

Whoaaaa sick. Ngl this line goes hard. He says it with such certainty and he can back it up. Love me a character who has a bark that matches their bite

I mean, the prompt I was given was “Cute but Ferocious”. Ampharos has “Cute” in spades, and with enough strength, they’re hardly anything to sneeze at.

Yeah that sounds like the smart idea buddy

Hydreigon: “*Yeah, no kidding.*”
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Ooo I always love me a little poke pov, especially when it highlights the differences between humans and pokemon in a non antagonistic light

Oh, you won’t be wanting for content on that front in this anthology then, since the central premise of it is stories written from a “you are the dragon” framing. :V

Intriguing. It's cool to incorporate aspects of real world snakes here

I mean, I could’ve given her python characteristics since they actually take care of their young post hatching but this made for a more interesting character dynamic, so c’est la vie.

*glances at Alolan Exeggutor* uh huh

Funny you should mention that, but- nah, I’ll let you get there when you get there.

Man harsh though. I do so love the idea of an injured Dratini turned aside by their kind and taken in by a human though

The intent was less “turned aside” and more “fell behind” with the others going
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about it since in nature, there’s only so much you can do for the weak before they wind up dragging you down with them.

This was a really sweet ending, very simple but effective. I almost expected going in there to be some kind of end where perhaps Ekans inherited a dragon-type move or the like, but this makes more sense.

As cute as that would’ve been, as of the time of this review response Ekans literally can’t learn any Dragon-type moves aside from Scale Shot via TM in SV. Which was a huge reason why when I got rolled Ekans as a prompt on my 2022 Drabble Bingo card, I wound up merging it with another prompt since there wasn’t a lot of “dragon”-y stuff to talk about Ekans otherwise.

I've been meaning to get around eventually to doing something about reading this. Its a really cool idea to examine exactly what it means to be a dragon, particularly in the context of a world like pokemon. Are dragons just anything with dragon typing, or are there more traits that make something draconic?

I mean, as you’ve gathered from just these three stories, the answer is “it’s complicated”. After all, in spite of it not being particularly dragon-y, Ekans is outright in the Dragon Egg Group and thus in that sense, can be called a “dragon”.

There’s a good deal of exploration of other edge cases and “weird” dragons in this story, but I suppose those are stories for another day.

In these three drabbles alone there's a delightful amount of variance. In the first, we have a mon thats definitely got the obvious traits of a dragon. Flapple has got the scales and wings and its kind of a serpent... even if its like half a foot long or something and voice of a gecko. But he does have a hoard. I thought it was a neat twist on a hoard that he's not so much hoarding as guarding his treasure. Its also a pleasant look at how pokemon and humans can integrate and work together. A Flapple may have an instinct to guard something and would be an ideal helpful for this little apple stand.

So when you have a dragon for a guard dog, is that when you know you’ve made it? Even if said dragon might indeed sound like a gecko. ^^

In the second, we have a pokemon that doesn't have any traits of a dragon. No scales, wings, claws or fire. Yet he does a mega evolution... Pitting a Hydreigon against an Ampharos was quite delightful. I have to say I adore the mental image of of this bad to the bone Ampharos protecting the ranch, and being absolutely ruthlessly confident. Him standing over Hydreigon and reminding it that 'yes I could have killed you' was pretty harcore. Don't even feel bad for Hydreigon, go try fishing bro. Perhaps in this one it can be said that the Mareep are the Ampharos's hoard. For me Ampharos stole the show tbh, even though it was Hydreigon pov. So cool.

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Do recall that Ampharos in the Japanese version of the games is called ‘Denryu’, which is a twofer pun to “electric current” and “electric dragon” in that language. Thus why its Mega Evolution gains Dragon-typing even if it took two generations for Game Freak to start making good on the second half of that pun through Ampharos’ moveset.

The third was nice and lowkey, but emotionally poignant in comparison. Two serpent mon, in the moments before their first child hatches. This one is much more reflective and thoughtful. Dragonair is by all means a dragon, but also an outcast among their own kind. Arbok, though we don't get a ton of her story, is unfamiliar to being a parent. Yet the two of them are making their own kind of family anyway. I actually really hope we eventually run into this Ekans sometime because it could be fun to read a followup of their story, as they come to terms with their heritage. There's a nice undercurrent about the idea of starting a new legacy mixed in with Dragonair's acceptance of the new child.

Yeah, I’ve gotten commentary to that effect of wanting to see more of this couple in a few past reviews. We’ll see if / when inspiration strikes, I suppose, since I can’t say that I didn’t have fun writing for them.

@windskull
I think that this sentence could have used a “that” after “end” because as it is it tripped me up and pulled me out of the story while I tried to discern meaning.

Done, thanks for pointing that out.

I love the implication that, at least to some degree, Flapple understands the value of money. Even the animals have been touched by capitalism :sadbees:. Joking aside, I do think it's cute that their metric is the that the value is equal to that of a soda pop. Makes me think that the soda in question is something that they get in exchange for their “guard dog” services.

I actually hadn’t considered that at the time of writing, but that would be a fairly plausible reward for Flapple’s services rendered, yes.

Because that's really what this story is about. A guard dog hiding in plain sight (which now has me wondering if any would-be thieves ever tried to take a bite out of Flapple, mistaking them for the merch.) A guard trained by the previous guard, trained by the one before them, stretching back generation after generation. After all, what better guard than something inclined to protect “its hoard?”

Presumably Flapple would get a bit “no touchy” whenever someone that’s not their trainer reached out to try and grab them, but it’s a funny mental image.

To finish my thoughts for this one off, I think it's cute that the story ends with the Flapple getting a snack for its troubles. They don't care about no silly germs. Humans are just silly /j.

Anyways, overall a cute read and a fun little glimpse into one potential relationship between humans and pokemon.

And glad to hear that you liked it! Admittedly, this story and a good chunk of this anthology were written by the seat of my pants and then sorted out after the fact, but I suppose that they’ve been a clarifying reminder that spontaneity has a place in a writer’s toolkit from time to time.

Fields full of mareep, untouched and unclaimed by other dragons? Uh oh, I have a bad feeling about this one Scoob. Something tells me this isn't going to end well for at least one party.

Hydreigon: “The grazers, right?” ^^; ^^; ^^;

Yep, that went about how I expected it to, lmao. This is a classic example of the “strong, bully character gets humbled by someone they perceive as weak trope.” It also plays into the idea of dragons and dragon-like pokemon really well. Ampheros may not be a dragon (without mega evolving, at least), but that doesn't mean it can't use dragon-like abilities.

Something something “Denryu is a twofer punny name and almost certainly why Game Freak got the idea to make their sheep thunder and dragon”. But otherwise this is completely on the mark (and gets explored in a bit more depth in another one-shot in this anthology).

Circling back to the premise, I do really like the idea. The concept of a dragon understanding the concept of the balance between man and nature, but deciding that he was strong enough to go against it anyway only to get whipped into shape is fun. I like how his confidence went from being overly full of himself and shrugging off the mareep like it was nothing, to crying out with fear the same way his prey had previously. And then to have to go off and lick his wounds and hope none of the other dragons find out. Mmm delicious karma.

Don't have anything to say beyond that though tbh. It's a fairly straightforward story, but still pretty fun.

Well hey, in storytelling, the difference between “simple and straightforward” being boring versus entertaining is often simply a matter of execution and fine details. Sounds like they at least kept you entertained even if you saw where things were going pretty quickly. ^^

Ok. First point. I love that you have the egg reference the pokemon that's inside, instead of having it just be cream with green dots. It makes sense in a game where it saves space to only have one design. But in reality eggs don't look the same between species, so why would pokemon eggs? We even see that a little in the anime with togepi’s egg, but afterwards they're all the same iirc.

Sorry about the ramble. It's just. A neat world building detail that I like. Moving on.

Anime-style eggs have actually popped up in the games, too! … Or at least in their supplemental materials. But yeah, I always thought that even if they weren’t necessarily the most biologically realistic in appearances, that “carries the pattern of the Pokémon within” was a bit more interesting than the generic pattern the games have stuck with, so this was a bit of a no-brainer.

Not gonna lie. I giggled a little when the baby bit him. Felt like it was meant to break the tension a little, and as a result gave me a bit of “haha, got your nose 8o)” energy, even though the baby was clearly scared.

I actually don’t remember how much that was planned or not, but yeah, there’s a bit of cringe comedy to be had when your attempts at interacting faceplant.

Anyways, there's a lot I like about this one. I like that it plays into the fears of how Dragonair’s relationship would be perceived, even if he's no longer in that draconic community. But at the same time, we see that in some ways, their wild communities aren't that different. The Arbok may not nurture their young, but he was left helpless when he was hurt. I guess because he wasn't “strong” enough. It almost feels hypocritical, in a way.

Yeah, nature usually isn’t kind if you wind up falling behind due to fate or circumstance. Dadgonair there unfortunately got to experience that harsh reality first-hand.

That aside, I also love that he reads as a doting dad-to-be that is, at the same time, afraid of being accepted. Maybe that loops back to his backstory. And for a second, when the child first panics, it almost feels like his fears are going to be confirmed. But… that doesn't happen. Once she's calmed down, and assured he's safe, she acts totally different. I like to think that these three have a happy future ahead of them

I’m inclined to agree, really. Even if I should probably consider putting some thoughts into plot bunnies to do with those three with how commonly it gets requested in reviews like these. ^^;

I could opine on how this story could read like an allegory for mixed race or mixed culture relationships, and it's possible you pulled inspiration from that. But I'm not sure I could give a deep discussion the nuance it deserves within a review right now. But I did want to at least note it and say from my perspective, I think it works.

Regardless, I found this one really cute.

I actually didn’t deliberately write the story with that dynamic in mind, even if I suppose I can relate with it on a personal level. Maybe there was some subconscious influence going on, but eh, building a family between unlikely couples tends to lend itself to plot bunnies fairly easily in general.

I think all three of these worked really well. None of them felt too short, and none of them felt like they overstayed their welcome. They feel like they fell right in that sweet spot of long enough to express their idea. I think I'm gonna cut the review here, but it's possible that I might return for more be
fore the end of blitz. Until next time.

And thanks for the review! It’s not quite the end of Review Blitz anymore, but I do hope to see you around in this story again sometime. ^^

@JFought
Hello! I said I might come back! Originally I wanted to do another Once a Thief review for blitz, but I ran out of both time and energy, so this will have to do! Now, I specifically needed 750 words to get three points, but some of these stories are really short. So I just kept writing reviews until I hit that point.

so

uh…

I mean, there’s honestly no shame in that, since “short and sweet” stories are ultimately king in Review Blitz due its to scoring structure. Besides, with how my PMD fare usually soaks up the lion’s share of attention more normally, I’m not exactly going to complain about getting some love thrown at my other stories. ^^

A Guarding Dragon
This was a cute vignette! I like how it takes the “hoarding dragon” trope and applies it to a Flapple’s logic, with the apple stand acting as the hoard. Its a cute idea to use a “guard flapple” like this, and the beginning of this story uses repetition effectively to get across the idea that incidents like these are fairly common and the Flapple is just doing their job. Or from the Flapple’s perspective, not their job, but their duty to what belongs to them.

Glad to hear that you liked it. This was definitely one of the shorter and simpler stories I cooked up in response to its base prompt, but eh. Short and simple isn’t always bad, especially based off that reaction.

Also we get some Team Yell representation, and they actually have a purpose in this story so you get points for this.

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I mean, I suppose that you’re not wrong regarding Team Yell and the canonical plot, though… ^^;

A Dragon’s Ferocity
From the image at the start I was expecting an Ampharos protagonist, but it looks like we have a Hydreigon Villain Protagonist instead. The worldbuilding about the balance of the gods is interesting, and makes sense for a strong dragon to believe in, given the dynamics that would exist between them. Hydreigon felt suitably haughty for the story’s purposes, and the strength of the Ampharos spoke true to the story of balance told at the beginning (and obviously the purpose here is to reference Mega Ampharos’ dragon typing). I’m a little surprised Ampharos knew of the same story though, buuut that’s a nitpick. I feel this one has a storybook quality to it that makes it easy to handwave: I imagine this would be told as an example of why you shouldn’t mess with human settlements, and to reinforce why that balance must be respected.

Okay, so the “story” that I was aiming for the two knowing in common is meant to be an understanding of “wild Pokémon that don’t want trouble stay out of the affairs of trained Pokémon, trained Pokémon that don’t want trouble stay out of the affairs of wild Pokémon”, which should probably feel very familiar if you’ve read either PMD longfic I have a hand in writing. Though glad to hear that on-balance you still had fun with this one.

A Dragon’s Lineage
Aw, this one’s cute. The Dragonair here seems like he’s been through a lot, and the insecurities of both parents are touching. Their insecurity is informed by their species and upbringing, but they still map onto relatable concerns over whether you have the capacity to raise a child, or if you’ll be able to relate to them. And then it ends on a heartwarming note :veelove:.

Yeah, I get that a lot for this one-shot. Though glad you also had a good time with it, since cute snek family is cute.
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Only one prose comment here:

I imagine “nosing” as touching something with your nose, so this read as odd to me.

Hrm, fair point, actually. I went and dropped in a tweak to that to smooth that out.

A Dragon Someday
And I follow up a heartwarming one with a sad one :sadwott:. As a longer one-shot, this story has a bit more room to develop its characters, so I have a bit more to say.

I think this story gets across Grovyle’s perspective really well. They don’t properly understand what it was they were doing for their trainer, nor why he was taken away. And so the idea that the only thing stopping them is a simple barrier, that they just need to get stronger and they will get their trainer back, is equal parts naive and heartbreaking.

I’m actually really glad to hear that this story was so emotive, since when I initially published it, I was afraid that it’d be a groaner for the audience given that it was partly cooked up as an extended meta reference to the Explorers PMD games. Sounds like that angle didn’t get in the way too much of actual story and character dynamics in play.

I like how Pokémon speech is handled here, told in prose rather than in dialogue. It gets across the idea that it is different in some fundamental way compared to human speech, and I think it lends to this story’s xeno-pov very well.

Yeah, that language dynamic is a common thread to most of my writings, even if this anthology varies a bit as to whether we’re seeing things through the human or the Pokémon side of the language divide. Glad to hear that you enjoyed the dynamic there.

I also like how you’re purposely vague as to Grovyle’s intended target, until BAM, Steven’s here! The moment where Grovyle is wondering how a human could be so enamored with rocks so as to carry around an entire bag with him is a nice moment of levity in an otherwise tragic story. And Steven himself feels in character. It’s unfortunate that he’s technically enabling Grovyle in his hasty plan, but there’s no way for him to know that’s what they’re planning. Not like Grovyle will be staging any prison breaks soon, without a trainer to help achieve Mega Evolution.

Is it really aiding and abetting if it doesn’t bring Grovyle any closer to accomplishing it anytime soon?
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Though I suppose that it is left up to audience interpretation as to if and how Grovyle will ever make good on his ending resolution, so…

Final note, as a story about dragons, it technically has the weakest connection, but in the sense of “dragon as metaphor” I feel it still fits. Becoming stronger and becoming a dragon are almost like the same thing for a Grovyle, and so even if their goal isn’t technically the latter, they are still connected. Or maybe I’m reaching, idk, it sounded better in my head :P.

I was aiming more for “Grovyle gets to see a glimpse of a very dragon-y endgame and turns it into his goal to help get his human back with it”, but glad to hear that you felt that the connection, if a bit loose, was still fitting.

Okay actual last note, prose comment:

This sentence is so complex that ending it with “was a good enough hint” doesn’t really follow from its beginning fragment, even if it's technically supposed to.

I went with a rephrasing about “got the message across well enough” there. Thanks for the heads-up.

So I knocked out four this time! I liked the variety of tones here, every story felt noticeably different and tackled the subject from a different lens (I may have said this last time, but I'll reiterate!) If I had to pick a favorite, it'd be a tossup between A Dragon Someday and A Guarding Dragon (i'm a sucker for vignettes what can i say). So yeah, I may come back to this again in the future! Keep it up!

And thanks for stopping by to review things! I’ll be looking forward to what you have to say if and when you wind up coming that ack to this series. ^^

@ShiniGojira
Hi! Hi! So remember when I said I'd check out your other stuff? Well here I am with a small little review! Hope you're having a splendid day!

Well, it was a bit more of a ‘tiring’ one when I finally got a chance to reply to this review, but I suppose that’s nothing a shot of feedback can’t fix:

A Guarding Dragon:

Oh, I find it so absolutely fascinating seeing how Pokémon interact in people's day to day life. I just love the creative ways people could weave them into one's job or something. I just think it's cool.

Yeah, I suppose that Galar does lend itself particularly well to those sorts of tales what with the PokéJobs system, even if I actually completely forgot about it when writing out this oneshot.

Doubly so when we're in the perspective of a Flapple guarding an apple sale. The 2nd person perspective isn't something I'm quite fond of, just a preference thing, it isn't like it's bad but most fics I've read with it are usually just romance or wish fulfillment. But I do quite love the unique view and immersion it provides. Definitely makes for a great read if well executed.

Yeah, it’s a bit of a divisive perspective, but I suppose that at the least it didn’t get in the way of your enjoyment too much, so I’ll take what I can get here.

And I have to say, it's pretty good. Love how Flapple defends his little 'treasure hoard' and how he views his guardian job. I also love the little tidbits we get of the farm's past, really adds a little something something to the place and I adore the way it's introduced. And the way Flapple just thinks and speaks of pride and honour makes it all more fun when we realised that we're in Galar. Makes me wonder whether Flapple's mentor lived in the era of knights or something considering the implication of dragons being long lived.

So overall, it was a fun read.

Well, I don’t know if Flapple’s immediate mentor was alive for that long, but there was certainly a thread of history that went back a ways that made it from their mentor to them.

Glad that even if it had a few things that weren’t normally your preference, that you still found it an enjoyable read.

A Dragon's Ferocity:

Okay. Perspective of a prideful and fierce Hydreigon. Definitely a fun piece to read.

I love just how arrogant Hydreigon feels. It's like a perfect blend of being extremely cocky and yet not too cocky to the point he feels more annoying than endearing. Especially when he gets his cheeks clapped by the resident Ampharos. And the way a trained and a wild Pokémon makes it all the more interesting especially when we're in said wild Pokémon's perspective. I just love the difference in ideals and culture and how they clash with each other. And how Hydreigon's like 'Oh fuck, I'm dead' when he lost.

Yeah, admittedly if I ever write a third batch of these one-shots, I might prioritize wildmon perspectives in them since as of present, the anthology is a bit skewed to the perspectives of trained “dragons”, though I suppose it makes the ones like this one stand out all the more.

Although it is a bit weird that he doesn't treat the Ampharos' mercy as pity or weakness considering his dragon pride. Like you'd think being a dragon and all that mercy wouldn't be regarded as anything but pit or weakness. But I guess it could be because his survival instincts are holding his pride hostage and threatening their family.

It’s absolutely their survival instincts holding their pride hostage and threatening its family. It’s easy to talk tough, it’s a bit harder to actually make good on it, especially when you’re in a bad spot. I figured that among creatures that would regularly go long periods without being seriously challenged, that those moments that do throw them in over their heads would be a bit clarifying as to the sorts of personalities they really are, as it did with Hydreigon here.

Ok and I also love how the Mareep tried to help their friends after getting over their shock and surprise. It really shows how much they cared despite the fact that they literally did nothing to him.

Well the shot of bravery and confidence from seeing their local champion casually wreck their attacker probably didn’t hurt either. After all, they were described verbally rubbing salt into the wounds of that Hydreigon’s pride later on. :V

Also, it's probably nothing too crazy but how do we have a Hyrdreigon here? Are they not as rare in this world? Oh and how do their heads thing work? Are they just hands with a mouth and eyes or can they think. I mean probably not considering we didn't get any internal arguing or something but I don't know, our MC could be an outlier.

re: Hydreigon: They are rare, if not quite “literally never appears in the wild” like in the Unovagames (think more along the lines of how you can encounter them on Kalos’ Victory Road) but this one is assumed to be a vagrant by range and a bit far away from where they’d normally be living.

re: head things work: This story rolled with them having mouths and working(-ish) eyes but otherwise stuck with dex fluff with only the central head having a brain. Which would imply that Hydreigon don’t have Zweilous’ divided personality shtick.

Probably, anyways. It wouldn’t really shock me if a Hydreigon here or there occasionally turned up with the equivalent of Dissociative Identity Disorder, but the MC here is not one of them.

A Dragon's Lineage:

Ah, this was so cute. A Dragonair, An Arbok and their baby Ekans.

Yeah, I’ll admit, I struggled for a while thinking of how I was going to handle the ‘Ekans’ prompt I got in my 2022 Drabble Bingo card, since up until Gen IX, literally the only thing dragon-y about Ekans was that it was in the Dragon Egg Group. I happened to also be struggling with Dragon’s Lineage prompt from the same card (my original idea for it was something closer to ‘A Treasured Dragon’ in the following year), and wound up merging them. The rest is history.

It's always fun reading how creatures not familiar with human tech react to things like fridges, computers, and ball-point pens. Makes you think more about the tech around you and how far humanity has come, huh? (or is that just me?)

Nah, it’s legitimately awe-inspiring when you stop and think about it. Especially with how rapidly that technology has progressed in recent centuries and decades.

Anyway, more dragon lore. I'm not entirely sure whether all of these drabbles are ok one world or not so don't know if dragon lore would change. But I'm gonna assume it is. So dragon pride is a real mess, eh? Letting one of their young die and laughing at their near-deaths and the thought that they would laugh at the one you love if they're not a dragon. Makes it kinda weird that the Hydreigon of last chapter didn't view that mercy as weakness or pity of that was the average dragon's thought process but oh well.

Well, they at least didn’t laugh at the MC’s near-deaths, even if they kinda just went:

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When it became apparent that he was struggling to recover and keep up after getting hurt. Which is unfortunately just part and parcel about life in wild environments even among IRL animals.

And not to mention, the small little Arbok lore in that their baby Ekans aren't venomous when they've just hatched. Really makes the whole vampire trick less scary when informed of that, yeah. Also I really love how Dragonair just absolutely adores their mate and that he doesn't mind that she didn't know how to nurture or take care of their young. (Really makes you wonder what other species don't know how to raise their young and yet still continue to do so.) And it's really sweet that Dragonair wants to take on the challenge of becoming a parent with their knowledge-less mate. So cute.

Yeah, it seems to be a common trend for feedback for this one-shot, though glad to hear you also enjoyed it.
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A Dragon's Saviour:

Ah, Goomy is such a fun little dragon to write and read about. The little guy's practically made for a good underdog story with how weak and squishy it is. (On a more morbid note, how do you think a Goomy tastes like? I'd say like a snail but I've no idea how a snail tastes like so...)

I mean, I wouldn’t be that shocked if Goomy tasted like escargot, which apparently taste similar to oysters and clams. (Though they’re both mollusks, so that shouldn’t be too surprising.)

So this drabble was fun. I love how detailed and immersive the descriptions and prose is. It's neither too much nor too heavy and it does its job well. Just how a Goomy sees the world as it tries to survive while being chased by a Pinsir and being saved by an Alolan Exeggutor. It really gives off just how weak a Goomy is and how much one really needs to stay with a member of its den or someone strong.

I mean, I couldn’t not play that up when even the Pokédex explicitly labels it the weakest Dragon-type out there. As it so happened, for my 2022 card, I wound up getting “Goomy” and “Exeggutor” as separate prompts, and there happened to be a place where canonically you can run into each other in close proximity. Things just kinda wrote themselves to a large extent afterwards. ^^;

The Alolan Exeggutor is also a fun character and not one I'd expect to appear. It is certainly nice to see that not all dragons are selfish and some will genuinely help others in trouble. The little bit where Goomy falls asleep on him is also a nice little adorable touch.

And I also really enjoy the nice subtle worldbuilding you put in your writing. It just adds so much life to this world despite how few the word count is. I, on the other hand, am really bad at writing short things so it really amazes me how well written these pieces are.

Oh trust me, I’m still trying to get the hang of writing short things on a consistent basis. A lot of these shorter one-shots were kinda lightning in a bottle that I’m still learning how to pull off more reliably. ^^;

A Dragon Someday:

Oh, I really really enjoyed this one. Grovyle, Steven Stone and Megas? This drabble really packed a whole lot of punch and I was not prepared for that.

And this is the part where I ruin it all by revealing that this one-shot was basically an excuse for me to do an extended mythology gag to the Explorers PMD games~

Though more seriously, I’m glad to hear that you had fun with it. There were a few things about this one-shot that made me worried about how it’d be received by readers, though thus far, those worries seem to have been misplaced.

So first off, the fact that our POV is a Grovyle and he's a thief was just so fun. Like the fact that he doesn't quite know his trainer's a criminal but he still does it because he cares, it's just cute in a way. Doubly so when he's willing to break into Steven Fucking Stone's house all alone. Just the sheer amount of balls he has after seeing a Metagross, a bloody Psychic-type Pseudo Legend, and still thinking it was a good idea. I honestly couldn't tell if he was just brave or stupid.

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And I really love how determined and loyal he is to his trainer. Just shows that criminal or not, people are always capable of love and that love would be prepared in kind.

I mean, I suppose that I’m not exactly a stranger to writing “Pokémon up to morally dubious things are persons too”, though glad to hear that you liked Grovyle’s character dynamic there.

Also I really love Steven's character in this. The fact that he's kind to someone that literally just stole something from him. If it were anyone other than him, I'd say they're pretty fucking stupid for doing that. But considering that it was him, it just makes him look good. Also, the little mention of his rock collection was funny.

Yeah, a part of me was waffling on whether or not readers would find this too much of a violation of suspension of disbelief, but then I remembered that Steven was literally depicting freely giving away a Sceptilite to a literal who in the anime's Kalos seasons and figured he could do the same in his backyard, especially to get a rock he really wanted back.

Oh and I haven't mention it yet so I'll just say it now. I really enjoy the way you don't immediately tell us what character our POV is. Just trying to guess it before the reveal is so fun and makes the story all the more enjoyable.

I mean, what can I say? Part of the fundamental premise of this series was to write stories with a general vibe of “you are the dragon”. Making figuring out what dragon you’re dealing with is part of the ride. ^^

A Flightless Dragon:

So another great and fun drabble. Being in the mind of a Bagon and their reckless tendencies to jump off cliffs, just seeing how one would think is so intriguing and fun. I really enjoyed how Bagon is just yearning to fly despite his lack of wings and how he's willing to do anything, like jump off a building... because that's a great idea. Yeah…

Marl: “*Again, it would’ve worked if it wasn’t for the stupid wall!*” >.<

It's also interesting to see how Pokéballs work in this setting. Simulating one's ideal environment is certainly a fun idea though I do wonder how things like Luxury balls and Friend balls work. Like how can you make a swamp or a forest more luxurious or friendlier?

Presumably by playing up different aspects or else having a better quality of simulation, but I suppose that’s a story for another time if I get the chance.

And also the buildup to Bagon just breaking his leg is great. Like I love how much dread you were able to squeeze in such few words, it just makes me kinda envious of how you were able to do that. But I guess that's also part of the fun since I'm always learning things about what I'm reading.

Okay, so it’s deliberately left ambiguous so as to not get in the way of the second-person PoV for people who don’t read my other writings, but Marl is technically a her. If you’ve ever read Dragonspiral’s Children up to the point where a certain dragon named ‘Marl’ briefly appears… this is that same Marl. Just some years younger and a bit closer to her home.

And when Roy just tries cheering him up after Bagon's crazy stunt. It was so bloody cute. The way he just enjoys floating with style and ignoring his intrusive thoughts of not actually flying is just so happy and cute and warms my cold dry heart.

Glad to hear. This one-shot is actually my personal favorite from Like a Dragon’s original batch of one-shots for precisely that same reason you articulated there.

A Dragon's Valor:

Okie, so we start off with a battle in which Charizard loses in a rather nom-draconish way. It's honestly also a blast to read things like this, y'know. Just the little subversion of a trope. A Charizard that never quite outgrew his cowardly past and still needs his friend to help. It's fun to see how such a loss affected Charizard's thought process. The fear, the dread, the worry that all builds up as the narrative paints a rough sketch of our trainer.

>non-draconish way

Are we just going to pretend that the very draconic Hydreigon from A Dragon’s Ferocity didn’t devolve into a whimpering and shuddering wreck after they got beat? >:V

Though yeah, Charizard here is a pretty old character concept of mine that I sometimes trot out in various guises in my writings. Since sometimes it’s fun to just take a bat to prevailing species depictions with a reminder that are 25 mechanical natures out there, and some of them just flatly fly in the face of what Pokémon are “supposed” to be like our +Spd / -Atk Charizard MC here.

And then like a whole bucket of pain. It splashes onto the painting with a huge swoosh. And we're treated with a helping hand instead. It's cute just how understanding and loving the trainer is despite the fact that I don't think we've gotten a name for any of the trainer's so far. And it really amazes me just how well written a faceless and nameless character can be.

I mean, if this one-shot were a bit longer, I’d probably have considered rolling some names, but yeah. Even literal whos can be quite memorable in stories under the right circumstances, and it sounds like the cast of this one-shot wasn’t an exception.

Then, overnight. Charizard and trainer wakes to snow. I wonder whether that's true for real life since Sinnoh is based on a real region. Anyway, Charizard and trainer goes to buy stuff and it's so cute how Charizard hugs their trainer close to keep then warm. Ah, I just love how wholesome this drabble is. Especially so when Charizard remembers just how and why he became a Charizard. And when it ends off with Charizard talking back about not being a dragon but is enough of a dragon to his friend hits so well and I just love it.

While peak snow season in Hokkaido is generally accepted to be mid-December to late February, it’s not unheard of to get snow as late as early April, so yeah. The scenario that Charizard’s trainer bumbled into is very much possible in real life, even if you’d likely still see a healthy amount of slush on the ground.

Though glad to hear that you liked the vibe and ending note of the one-shot. This was actually the original ending for the anthology before I went back and added additional stories to it last year. Sounds like the note that I was aiming for stuck the landing. ^^

A Dragon's Folklore:

I'll be honest. This drabble didn't hit me as much as the others did. It's not that I didn't enjoy it because believe me, I did. I just didn't really enjoy it that much since it felt kinda exposition-y, I guess. Don't know. I guess I just don't really care for things like the Dragonspiral Tower or whatever in its own separate thingy. I mean I'd probably enjoyed it more if I read it during a chapterfic or something.

Hrm, a bit unfortunate to hear that this one didn’t quite strike your fancy as much, though I suppose that in an anthology, there will always be one or another piece that doesn’t vibe as much with a given reader. I suppose this also being a cross-story cameo technically might have also hampered things, but oh well. I tried.

Anyway, dragon lore. One thing I did enjoy about this was how you handled folklore and that there are multiple different versions of it. As the saying goes, 'History belongs to the victors' or however it is. It is pretty interesting that Reshiram and Zekrom weren't at each other's throats during the folklore. Makes me wonder whether they started hating each other after or if history just paints them as benevolent creatures. And I liked how you've explained the various Pokémon that you can encountered in there and how they appeared.

Okay, so this is actually based off of the Spanish language localization of the Unovagames, which implies that Dragonspiral Tower used to be a place associated both mascot Taos from its name: ‘Torre Duodraco’. It’s a little wrinkle that exists in exactly no other localization, but I liked it, and am no stranger to cross-localization antics, so it was good enough for me to roll with it.

I also like how you were able to make a character having a dislikable first impression and slowly evolving into a somewhat enjoyable character. I defo didn't like how the Mienshao interrupted the story but it is nice to see how he'd heard of the folklore. Makes you wonder just exactly how many different versions there are.

Hrm, I suppose that crashing a story would leave a bit of a sour first impression, though glad to hear that Duke came around in terms of depiction by the end. It’ll be interesting to see if and how your opinion changes after getting to see him a bit more in other places narratively.

So while I didn't enjoy this one as much as the others. There were still some good points about it that made it an enjoyable experience overall.

I mean, if this is the worst you’ve had to say about an entry thus far, I’d say that’s a pretty good sign for your overall experience. ^^

Though thanks for calling things as you read them. I appreciate reviewers that don’t beat around the bush for their feedback, even if it’s not always what I want to hear.

A Treasured Dragon:

Heliolisk. Not quite what I would think of if I had dragons on my mind but I guess there might be some dragony inspiration to it, much like how Salazzle has if I remember correctly.

Heliolisk is here in this anthology much for the same reason as Ekans is. They’re both Dragon Egg Group Pokémon. It’s just that Heliolisk can learn Dragon-type moves a bit more reliably than Ekans can. ^^;

So archaeology. I'm assuming the trainer is less of a Pokémon trainer with badges and stuff and is more of an archaeologist. Y'know, I think this is perhaps my first time reading about an archaeologist instead of just watching it on youtube. It's an interesting experience. I really like how bored Heliolisk is during the expedition. Though at least they're able to have something to stimulate their mind instead of having to brush away a designate plot of land. It's pretty fun to see how an accidental spout of dragon powah is able to unearth history and shit.

And when they get attacked by the Sandaconda. It's nice to see the Heliolisk they accidentally scared, come back and introduce them to the ruins.

Gilbert: “*Just saying, you could’ve taught me Surf, you know… it’d definitely have helped with the Sandaconda there.*” >_>;

And the little bit of Helio lore is fun. I do think it's a bit weird that the Heliolisk in said painting used shields and stuff. Since it feels kinda unnecessary to me to even use conventional weapons when you can barf out lightning. But maybe it's just an artistic thing and they don't actually use swords and shields... or they can channel electricity through their swords and create a ridiculously effective way to fight back and they can do the same thing with their shields, thus making them extra op.

The shields and spears were meant to be carried by the humans accompanying the Heliolisk. I went back and tweaked the phrasing a little bit to make the wording a bit clearer, since as cool as the idea of Heliolisk toting around melee weapons would be, that wasn’t quite what I was going for there. ^^;

A Kingly Dragon:

Tyrantrum and Tyrunt. Being in the pov of a mon millions of years before any modern civilization is cool. Like I really enjoyed just how interesting it is to see someone that's more animalistic than any drabble before. Especially one that's the apex predator of their world.

I mean, Hydreigon wasn’t exactly a slouch in that department, either. Though I suppose that the lack of reader-facing dialogue from Tyrantrum’s perspective does give it an added click towards an animalistic depiction that ‘A Dragon’s Ferocity’ didn’t have.

I also enjoyed the little foreshadowing to the asteroid in the earlier parts of the drabble. Gives the right amount of 'oh fuck' and makes you just wince when it happens. With that said, I wonder who the hell summoned an asteroid to destroy earth's dinos. Like shouldn't Rayquaza have done something about it? What with it literally destroying an asteroid in ORAS and all. Unless Rayquaza was asked to ignore it or something or maybe Rayquaza just didn't exist yet?

Rayquaza: “*Hey! Let’s see how quickly you get up when you’re still waking up from seasonal brumation!*”
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But more seriously, it’s left up to reader interpretation as to why the asteroid did its thing. But it made it to the surface and did its thing, with a number of Pokémon becoming ex-species until they were revived a bit closer to the present day.

Probably, anyways. While the depiction of the asteroid impact was heavily based off some theories of what the Chicxulub Impact’s effects on Western Europe might have been like, between the fact that Dragonite apparently exist both in the fossil record and the present day and the sheer number of dinosaur-like Pokémon that aren’t fossilmons, it’s safe to conclude that the aftermath of this asteroid strike for Pokéworld wasn’t a 1:1 with reality.

Anyway, the fight between Tyrantrum and the herd of Bastiodon was fun. It showcased how strong the king of the jungle is since it singlehandedly beat up three of them and killed one without taking much damage. And when the asteroid dropped down. It really made me just go 'Oh boy' when everything started dying and exploding. It's also really interesting to see how someone goes through an extinction event and trying to survive to their best abilities.

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The text explicitly mentioned that the Tyrantrum had yet to finish the downed Bastiodon off, even if she realistically likely would’ve had life expectancy problems even without the Tyrantrum hovering over her fainted body or the asteroid doing its thing.

Of course it doesn't go well but at least he got resurrected into the modern world. I wonder how the little guy will react to the countless new mons and rules that are in set.

It will go fine™, I’m sure. ^^;

A Dragon's Might:

Ooh, I enjoyed the theme that complements the bane of this drabble. As it's less so about our pov showing off his might and more of the opponents showing off the might of a dragon.

While I suppose there’s room for interpretation, especially since PokéAni Iris’ Axew is canonically male, I actually saw Hatchet is actually a ‘her’ since Iris’ W1 Fraxure is female in the games.

That being said, I really like how cocky and confident our Fraxure is. I feel like it's perhaps the first time we have a dragon act like that without having the strength to back it up. It's a really fun way to subvert the character themes of the previous drabbles. And when Fraxure just gets completely humbled by the mons he insulted, it felt really good despite y'know us being in his pov.

Hatchet: “*H-Hey! What do you mean ‘without the strength to back it up’?! I beat that Emboar and Zebstrika just fine!*” O_O;

Though yeah, she clearly did not have a proper read of just how much strength she had, otherwise… she probably would’ve stuck to wrecking rookies instead of going straight into the deep end.

I also really like how unexpected the Pokemon you picked for the usage of dragon moves. Scraggy for Dragon Tail, Krooko for Dragon Claw, and Growlithe for Outrage. Honestly I thought Growlithe would have Dragon Rage instead but having it be Outrage is just amazing especially so when our Fraxure insults them for no real reason.

And Growlithe can indeed learn Outrage in the games. Granted, in B2W2 specifically, but the scenario was funny enough that I figured it was worth including just to pour salt into the wound for Hatchet’s pride.

And it's also pretty cute how Fraxure's sister tried comforting him and how he's a bit annoyed at how she's already a Haxorus and he isn't and I feel like that's probably one reason why he wants to be in Iris' team. I also like the minor lore for Pokéballs and how a Pokémon could escape their ball. It's really interesting and I wonder if it's able to handle a Pokémon that's like really powerful. Like Groudon level or something.

I’d heavily take the under on it working on the likes of Groudon if Groudon ultimately wanted out, but it’d probably work fine on most normie Pokémon. Which as much as Hatchet would probably protest otherwise, includes her.

A Restless Dragon:

Okay, so this should be the last one. And what a way to end it. With what's perhaps the conclusion to our Bagon from earlier's story. I have to say, it was quite a surprise to seeing him again, I wasn't expecting a continuation to his story.

Yeah, it was a bit tricky to write this one-shot such that it could be read either on its own or as a continuation to A Flightless Dragon, but glad to hear that you had fun with it.

I wouldn’t go so far to say that it’s the end of Marl’s story, though. Since she does have an appearance in another story of mine that is chronologically after this point, and I do have a plot bunny or two she’d fit into nicely. Even if it most likely wouldn’t be published as a part of this series.

So to begin, Bagon has evolved and with all the power comes with the nuance of a vastly different body. It seems like a couple years have passed and we're now in college. Ooh, it's nice to see the world growing along with the story. Anyway, Bagon now Shelgon is getting restless as he hates his new body. Not to mention, being stuck inside a small room. A bit surprised he didn't get claustrophobia from how small the dorm sounded.

The simu-mountains in her Pokéball probably helped with that a bit. Though yeah, trainer not having the same time to devote to you because college and LAN parties and unfamiliar environments have a way of getting to a ‘mon.

So anyway, as one would do when they're getting restless. The frustration builds up in our little buddy and then he snaps and destroys something. It's nice to see that the trainer isn't too mad at him. And he of course, feels bad for destroying his trainer's things.

Well, the implied Gamecube was a bit less destroyed than initially thought, even if it definitely won’t look particularly pretty anymore after that Dragon Breath.

I also really like how things end of as the trainer brings Shelgon out to enjoy nature. It's also a really cute way to end in Shelgon looking at his teammates and trainer as his own den.

Well, more “high place” than nature, since “nature” there was the top of the Lilycove Department Store. But it still made Marl’s day, so good enough. ^^;

And that should be it for today. Really glad I was able to slug through this and I'm even more glad for how enjoyable this has been. I'll probably check out the rest of it later but as for now. I'll bid you farewell and hope you have a splendid day.

And thanks again for the review! I’m honestly floored at how much of the series you went through in one shot, but I suppose that’s a sign that I did something right there. Whenever you get around to the last batch of 3 one-shots, I’ll be looking forward to reading what you have to say about them. ^^

Whew. That was definitely the biggest batch of reviews I’ve responded to in a straight shot in a while, not that I’m complaining about it. Thanks again for taking the time to read and review these one-shots, and I’ll be looking forward to repaying the favor for your generosity sometime soon!
 
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