Joy returned to the room by the time Sera had finished her meal. It was a unique experience to say the least, but the food wasn’t unpleasant. Ample salt and seasonings were present and there was something about it that tickled her craving for meat in an incredibly satisfying way, if mildly disturbing.
“I’m back. I hope everyone enjoyed?” Joy asked.
“Its presentation leaves something to be desired, but it was better than travel rations, so you have my thanks.” Sera commented.
“If you liked it more than whatever it was you were packing, the pokemart down the road sells bags of the stuff that many trainers bring with them on their journey. It keeps well, so I recommend it for traveling if you want to use your money that way.” Joy answered before stifling a yawn, “It’s getting late, let me lead you to your room.”
“Ah, yes, good call.” Sera agreed, shifting from her seat and moving to loosely put the saddle on her back without fastening it.
Sera extended a claw to give the two younger ones a way to climb up her body before following Joy. She moved back toward the front of the center, then took the stairs to the second floor where a clean hallway with 4 doors on the sides and one at the end greeted the druid. She looked at it with mild amusement but shrugged as Joy took her to the second door on the left.
“Here you are. The bed should be good enough to hold all three of you without much issue. The bathroom is the door at the end of the hall if you need to relieve yourself or clean up. If you don’t know how to use the shower, please ask me in the morning and I’ll show you how it works.”
“Hm,” Sera hummed, looking in the room and finding a space equivalent to her castle room. Plenty of room for her increased shape, though it’d be cramped if she adopted a larger size. While it took some squeezing to get her frame and saddle through the door, it was hardly as bad as it would have been traveling before. “This will do us well. Thank you healer, I wish you a good rest.”
“Sleep well, sweet dreams.” Joy said before quietly closing the door behind her.
Sera placed the saddle and bags near the bed neatly, in case she had to reach for any supplies in the middle of the night, then curled up on the bed. Zephyr yawned but swiftly hopped up onto the bed before grinning, performing slight bounces as he approached his usual sleeping nook.
“Zephyr Zephyr.” Zephyr spoke with a pleased tone.
“Yes, I am also surprised at the bedding’s comfort. We should sleep well tonight.” Sera commented.
“Ri-lou.” The small one said timidly before walking over the bed unsteadily.
“Yes, you may sleep alongside me as well. Neither of us moves much in our sleep so it should be comfortable enough.” Sera encouraged, trying to imitate the motherly tone she knew some used. She opened her wing and used it to scoop up the Riolu, earning a squeak and a giggle before she seemed to settle in a spot by the foreleg where Zephyr stayed near the back for warmth.
Sera closed her eyes and performed her ritualistic meditation, contemplating the nature of the true dragons and what part of nature she could fulfill. She considered the strangeness to this world and its creatures and prepared different spells for the upcoming day. Her offensive spells were still needed, but perhaps a little more healing and some disease or poison removal would be wise.
It felt like no time at all before her ritual was complete and she laid her head down to rest.
Sera awoke to the sound of knocking at her door.
“Hey, miss pokemon! You awake yet?” the lad’s voice came, then it voiced a little quieter but it failed to come through the door.
Sera only briefly stirred, leaving her eyes closed. She had no intention of giving him more of her time, she had more than made up for any perceived slight for her defending herself and was not trying to take any lives so she shouldn’t be-
“Hey, are you really napping?”
Sera opened one eye partway and noted the sun streaming in from the window. Judging by the angle it likely was only an hour after sunrise and she disliked moving before two or three hours. More importantly, the youth was in front of her, this time with a different set of shorts that held more pockets and a white shirt of reasonably fine make to rival a noble’s child if not for the lack of decorum or manners.
“You never heard the phrase ‘take a sleeping dragon and let it lie?’” Sera asked, opting to close her eye and enjoy her relaxation on the comfortable bed.
“No, but it’s like nine thirty in the morning. Besides, I have an idea! We should totally team up!”
“I see no benefit for me.”
“Come on, I have plenty to offer!”
“Let me rest lad.” Sera answered with an added low growl.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
“Just hear me out! I’ll make it worth your while!”
“You had better, or I'll be sorely tempted to remind you why you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.” Sera threatened while she licked her maw with a narrow cat-like tongue.
“Deal!” The youth said readily, hopping onto the edge of the bed while facing her before crossing his legs. “So, and hear me out here, you’re a newcomer around here, spoutin’ off about stuff we hadn’t heard before and you stick out like a sore thumb! You clearly aren’t around here, so I can help you learn what’s normal around here, help you fit in, and I’ll even be able to help cover some of your travel costs cause trainers get perks for being trainers.”
“Let me guess, you want me to fight for you like your pets do.” Sera answered with a frown, raising her head off the bed to slightly above his own head height.
“Nope! See, I was doing some thinking last night and while yeah, it’d be awesome to have you join our team, it’d feel weird having you fight without actually having earned it in a proper pokemon battle, ya know?” He answered casually, “So, I was thinkin’ you help me train my pokemon by fighting together with them, show them where they’re doing good, pick on ‘em where they’re bad or leaving themselves open, that sort of thing! You’re obviously pretty strong and were holding back when we met, so if you know it’s ok to go more all out, then we’ll get to have a real fight and maybe one day you’ll change your mind about joining my team!”
Sera blinked at the boy’s audacity, trying to process what she was hearing.
“Of course, if you’re not strong, we can always go straight to the battle and let me capture you the regular way.” He grinned, putting his hands behind his back and leaning back slightly.
“I have fought creatures taller than buildings, child.” Sera answered with a partial growl, “I am not as strong as a true dragon yet, but I do not believe myself to be particularly weak as you suggest. I and my party have survived things that most adventurers would fall to. We settled a threat to our nation and now travel to other- you must not call them planes, but what would you call places that you would not be able to go on foot or by wing?”
“Regions? It’s pretty common for people and pokemon to need to sail to travel, though flying by plane is doable too. Wasn’t that what you meant? Must be pretty exciting over where you’re from!”
“That’s true, after a fashion.” Sera admitted. She still found their use of ‘plane’ strange as if it were some carriage, but there was no sense in confusing him further. “I have conditions.”
“Shoot!” The boy said eagerly, leaning in and putting his arms on his knees.
“I have allies who are likely looking for me. I did not intend to arrive in this region but due to an interruption in our mage’s preparations, I was flung here. Regardless of our partnership status, you must be prepared to allow myself and my charge to return home. I have responsibilities there that cannot be ignored or put off to others, to say nothing of my two wives.”
“Huh? Two wives? Aren’t you a girl dragon?” The boy asked incredulously.
“A dragon will assume the form most suited for their partner, using magic to shape the lesser or weaker of the two to be the egg-layers, naturally. There’s a reason I requisitioned an elixir to handle such matters.” Sera answered as her cheek heated, hoping the fur hid the blush. “And I didn’t ‘intend’ to get two, it just so happened the one I was interested in was already occupied and-”
“Okayyyy moving on from that real quick!” The boy answered, his blush being far easier to notice, “So, homewrecker dragon poke-”
“I am not a homewrecker!” Sera yelped indignantly a full octave higher than her prior tone.
“ANYWAY-” the boy said even louder than Sera, causing a stirring under Sera’s wing, “I’ll explain anything you wanna know about the region, help you get around, help you fit in, help you get stronger by fighting my pokemon and getting used to fighting in this region. You help me by training my pokemon by fighting them, get me out of trouble if I fight something too big or hard, and you register as one of my pokemon temporarily. Deal?”
Sera looked at Timothy closely, then closed her eyes for a few seconds, then voiced without opening her eyes, “Why you?”
“Huh?”
“Why you specifically? There are other people I could team up with for those same benefits, correct? Why should you be the one?”
“Uhhh, because I asked and I’m here?” He answered. “Look, I know I’m not your only choice, but most trainers would just try to catch you and not bother with trying to work with you. Either you’re strong enough to catch a pokemon or you’re not, and pokemon that are too strong aren’t going to listen to you if you’re not strong so might as well just leave if you can’t rise to the challenge. I’m saying I'll work with you even if I can’t beat you. You don’t want to be caught? Yeah, I won’t catch ya unless you get beaten by my pokemon and i think you’ll get along with them well enough to be happy. The whole point is that we can have a same goal. I won’t even catch your babies either, cause I don't want to be mauled to death trying.”
“Oh I wouldn’t maul you to death.” Sera answered with a hint of smugness before smiling mischievously, “I would merely rend your clothes from your body and eat you whole.”
“Wow… that's a dark thought.” Timothy answered, freezing as his eyes looked at her teeth, “But yeah, obviously that’s out of bounds, no catching you we already covered with a compromise, letting you go back home when your friends get here shouldn’t be too big a problem if they come in a short time n all.”
“They should have the information they need to find me within a week.” Sera commented confidently, trusting in her kingdom’s archmage and house ally politically. “Maybe two or three if it proves exceptionally difficult to find this plane.”
“Yeah, we won’t have spent nearly enough time to get bent out of shape parting ways after that!” Timothy agreed readily. “Anything else?”
“I can’t think of any that would be pertinent.” Sera’s tone trailed off. “Are these terms sealed in stone upon our shake, or are you willing to hear additional concerns as we think of them?”
“Yeah I’ll always hear you out. Of course, it’d be rude to just go ‘I’m not gonna do this’ right before we need to do whatever that thing is, but we can talk about not doing it again after we take care of the problem.” Timothy answered, sticking out his hand.
“Very well, for now, we are allies. I, Lady Sera of Phendrana, promise to lend you my aid until such time as we are parted so long as you uphold the agreement we establish.” Sera answered, extending a claw carefully into his hand, only to have it grasped by him swiftly.
A green claw slightly smaller than Timothy’s hand reached over and put theirs on the two.
“Zephyr ryr zeph-eph, zephyr zeph zephyr!”
“Heh, glad to know you agree too buddy!”