Almost eight hours later we finally splashed up onto the beach of aptly named Dewgong Island.

I was exhausted. Milotic was too. He didn’t have the crazy stamina of Arcanine who wanted to run and exercise constantly. So we both slumped into the sand together finally free of the ocean.

“That… was fun… But also long.” I tell him earning a tired “Miiiiiiiii.” in return.

“Yeah. Next time, shorter trips. But we have to do that again. I loved swimming with you Milotic.” I tell him, thanking him for his effort. Even if eight hours of constant ocean got old around hour five.

Especially since Milotic was pretty bouncy. My stomach hadn’t quite rebelled, but I wasn’t going to risk eating anything. I returned him to his Pokeball to get some rest as I just lay back for a while enjoying having ground beneath me.

“Ho! You alive down there?” I wave my hand as a voice called out, throwing a thumbs up before letting it slump back into the sand. Sand. Saaaand.

“Hey kid. What are you doing way out here? If you are here to catch a Dewgong, I get that, but not much else out here.” An old man that looked like every scraggly fisherman I had ever met leaned over me.

“Long story.” I tell him tiredly. “You don’t happen to have a Pokemon center?”

“Not out here. We do have Kas, she opens her home as an Inn when wanderers come through… C’mon I’ll show ya.”

“Thanks.” I whimper as I get up. My butt was so sore. Arcanine and then Milotic meant I had been riding Pokemon for most of a day. I stood with a wobble and a bit off balance but I grunted and pushed it away as I followed the old man.

I could use a night's rest. So could Milotic. He led me into the small village on the tiny island, honestly it was what? Less than ten buildings in total?

The largest was an old mansion home, the old man led me there heading up the small steps into the front.

It had been redecorated, and I could see it was almost like a small Inn. A kindly woman sitting at the front desk reading a book looked up at our entrance.

“Oh Frank?”

“Kas. Got a young’un washed up.”

“Frank! If she washed up, you should be calling the doctor!”

“Ah. I interrupt the woman's obvious shock. “I rode my Pokemon here. I wasn’t shipwrecked or anything. I was resting on the beach when.. Frank? Mr. Frank offered to take me to an Inn?”

“Oh thank Arceaus. Honestly Frank, your words have meaning!” She hissed at him before shaking her head. Please come in. Let’s get you situated. I bet you are hungry? I’m afraid we aren’t entirely free. I know you trainers on their journey are used to Pokemon Centers…”

“Ah That’s fine. I have money. Don’t worry about that! Food sounds wonderful, and a room for the night? I wasn’t expecting to be out on the ocean so long. I think starting again tomorrow will be best.”

“Hmm. Ocean travel is dangerous riding on a Pokemon. I hope you are being careful?” She asked as she began pulling things off a shelf behind her a key with a little tag along with what looked like some basic linens and towel and the like.

“The price for a-”

I interrupt and just hand her my Trainer card, which she nods quickly swiping it through a little old fashioned till.

“Oh looks like you are all set. You really should ask for the price first dearie. You wouldn’t want someone to rip you off.”

“I would anywhere else. But little towns like this are filled with good people.” I offer with a smile that earns a bright smile in return.

“Well aren’t you a little charmer? Frank I got it from here, off you go. Dinner will be ready once I settle our guest in.”

“Right.” The older Fishman nodded both to Kas, and myself before wandering off.

“Right, forgive me, I forgot everything. Introductions. I’m Kasumi, the proprietress of this little Inn. My family owned a fishing business that used this island. The Dewgong often chase fish right into our nets, Great great Grandfather loved them. But now I just run the Inn out of the old mayor office.”

“Cool!” I tell her honestly. Dewgong fishing on a little sleepy rock? That actually sounded delightfully sleepy. Small towns like this were the best. Where everyone knew each other and were friends… Or had feuds that lasted generations. Either way.

I was led through the old mansion up into a room where Kasumi opened the door with the key. “The door does lock, so everything is safe inside. Not that we get much issues with thieves out here. I’ll show you to the baths although it will take a few hours for them to warm up. Unfortunately the heater isn’t what it used to be.”

“Oh I have a fire Pokemon. Honestly she would probably enjoy heating up the water. If you show me the heater, she can help.”

“Oh that’s kind of you dear.” She accepted and I grinned. Putting most of my stuff down I grabbed Arcanines ball and followed. She led me to a surprisingly big bath. It almost looked like a hot spring, but it was pretty obvious it was just a facsimile of one.

“Very hot spring chic.” I couldn’t help but say as I followed her into the bathroom over the stone flooring towards a door in the back of the room.

“Oh yes. My Grandfather had hoped to turn this island into a resort island. Unfortunately, it isn’t exactly warm here. He installed this Hot spring bath, but it still never went anywhere. Now it is just a pleasure for everyone that lives here. Honestly most everyone comes here to bathe, or at least we used to. The heater has been finicky for a while.”

“I suppose there aren’t a lot of fire Pokemon in the area either that you could catch to replace it.”

“Oh no. Not a one!” She chuckled at that opening the door leading to a well sized room that had a large boiler in it. Part of it seemed to be working, but I could see that for the most part the boiler was cold.

“What's wrong with it?”

I asked as I looked it over. It didn’t look broken.

“Hah! It’s ancient! This Boiler was installed before I was ever born. Don’t worry about it, I do have the parts needed to at least get it up and running on backorder, but they are old parts. They don’t make boilers like this anymore.” The woman chuckled, her graying hairs hinted at just how old this monster of metal really was.

“Alright, where should the fire go?”

“Right here dearie.” She said pulling open a hatch in the boiler. “Just have your Pokemon heat up the water inside, the Boiler will take care of the rest.”

“Perfect… Umm you’ll want to stand back my girl is a bit big.”

“Oh? One of those Charizard trainers? I went with Squirtle when I was a girl.” Kasumi offered with a chuckle as she backed up and then I released Arcanine.

“Woooo!” She gave a little howl as she stretched out her tail already wagging.

“Oh my Arceus!” Kasumi gasped in shock as she took in Arcanine, the woman's jaw dropped.

“Arcanine. Got a bit of training for you… And it would really help me out. Use your Flamethrower to heat up the Boiler. Let's do some endurance training. Just keep the heat up so it heats the bath out there. Oh is there a temperature gauge or something for her to keep an eye on?”

“That! That’s an Arcanine!” The woman was still gasping as she stared.

“Yep.” I agreed, giving Kasumi a few moments to take it in. “You can pet her if you want. She is friendly.” As I say that Arcanines tail began wagging.

“Oh my!”

Which is how Kasumi got so distracted petting Arcanine, dinner was an hour late. Much to the grumbles of a few old fishermen out in the dining room. But I was nice and warm after a bath, and the food was still good when it was done.

—--

The next morning over a pretty delicious breakfast I was inundated with questions.

“How long you had your Arcanine?”

“Couple years. She was a gift from my father.”

“Oh? Your father could give away an Arcanine? He must have retired. Is he some famous battler?”

“No? Papa works for the Police, he trains Growlithe. He gave me Growlithe as a guard dog. She was too aggressive for a police dog. So I took her as my second Pokemon. And then well. Family secret. But Papa has an Arcanine too.” I tell them to their astonished looks.

“Amazing!”

“Hell of a thing. But good! We need more Arcanine! Show those Johtans what for!”

“Oh stop it Bill the war has been over for years.” Another old man grumbled from behind a newspaper.

“Bah. This war is over. Next war is coming.” The oldman grumbled.

“I hope not! I hate the idea of Pokemon in a war.” I add with a frown. Then I shrug. Hopefully peace would prevail.

“So what are you doing so far out in the boonies then Arcanine girl? Ain't much out here but Dewgong.”

“Oh… Well I’m going to explore the storm.” I tell them. I wanted to keep it secret, to protect the Dragonite, but hopefully I wouldn’t stop here on my way back, or just wouldn’t tell them. Then it wouldn’t matter. If I did stop here, I could just say I didn’t find anything!

“Oh. Nothing in there.” One fisherman said simply.

“Aye. We explored the storm as kids. Nothing interesting. Not even any good Pokemon. The storm drives them all off.” Another replies casually putting a bit of his breakfast into his mouth.

“Oh yeah herald checked from the sky to the ocean floor to see if there was anything interesting. Not a thing. Just a weird storm.” Another said.

That's when I realized it. I felt a smile crossing my lips. “You are all so cute.” I couldn’t help but admit causing a bit of a quiet. “You're all trying to protect the Dragonite.”

“Girl… Don’t know what you are talking about.”

“It's okay.” I inform the town. Because honestly it was nearly the entire town as I waved my hands in front of me. “I totally get it! They help people so we definitely don’t want everyone bothering them! I think it's sweet you all keep them secret.”

Frank, the fisherman that found me yesterday, was looking uncomfortable. “We don’t bother them, and they have rescued many of us during storms. We do our best to ward away people from getting close. Girl, I-”

“I’m not going to go throwing Pokeballs at them. I swear. I do want to see if any want to join my team. That’s it. If all of them refuse. I’ll just leave after having a fun adventure.”

“Swear it on your Arcanine. You aren’t there to poach them.” It was Kasumi who spoke up from behind me as I turned and then I nodded once.

“I swear on my Arcanine. I am not here to hurt the Dragonite. I just want to see them and see if any of them want to join me.”

A breath seemed to go out of the entire town as they took in my words. It took a few moments before Kasumi seemed to nod, taking a seat beside me.

“We have kept the secret of the island for generations… My great grandfather didn’t settle here to fish. He did it because a Dragonite saved his life. He built the town here to hide them. He started telling everyone that he explored the whole storm, and there was nothing interesting.” Kasumi tells me as she settles onto the table.

“The secret has of course spread to most of the island.” Frank offered with a gruff voice. “But that’s because the Dragonite will rescue anyone who gets shipwrecked or lost at sea. They save us, and then when they get home we all tell them that we know. That they saved us all. We keep them safe.”

“Yeah. Poachers would go crazy over an island filled with Dragonite, Dragonair and Dratini.” I agree. “They are basically legends after all.”

“That they are. They are our legends.” Kasumi offered, looking me over. “A girl with an Arcanine, also wants a Dragonite? You certainly have a nose for them. Legends.”

“I guess I do. So yeah, that’s why I’m here. To go see the island…”

“Well we do get people searching for them from time to time. We get enough sightings around here, but I can’t say I ever expected to find someone who absolutely knew… How did you know?” Kasumi asked and I could do nothing but smile.

“Sorry, that’s my secret.” The old woman huffed at my words.

“Well I wish you safe journeys and I hope you are true to your word girl.”

“Vicky. Victoria Ferrous, and I am. I will never tell anyone about the island. I swear.”

The whole room nodded. Seemingly satisfied.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

An hour later I was suited back up and earning a few more gasps from Milotic as my boy showed off a bit. Mr. Steal yo Girl was actively stealing the attention of every girl on the island much to his delight.

But soon we were back in the water. With a specific direction from Frank the Fisherman about where the storm was so I wouldn’t end up off target.

And Milotic Swam.

—--

As we approached the storm reaching from the ocean surface to high in the sky I grabbed my rebreather and settled my goggles back on my head. “Good to go!” I call out as I stuff the rebreather in my mouth and then Milotic goes under. This time for a much longer period.

Milotic was almost faster under water than on the surface as he simply dashed through the ocean. The sky darkening above me meant we were under the surface but that hardly mattered because below the ocean it was calm.

And nothing came close to touching Milotic. A few times Pokemon looked like they might look for a fight. A big Tentacruel noticed us, but by the time he started pursuing he was left in our bubbles.

Extreme speed training had taken a long time for Milotic to get. And he could really only do an approximation underwater. But that still meant he was moving at least a bit faster than a quick attack underwater.

It was blazing fast. Although unlike Arcanine this level of speed was a strain for Milotic. He would need more endurance training. But this being an ocean voyage wasn’t a good time for practice.

He still did it a little, just to show me he could. Showing off for me as always.

Finally I noticed the light start brightening above me, and as he swam the ocean floor started rising up. Sand appearing below us.

Without even needing a call Milotic rose up, and then we burst out of the ocean revealing a lone island in front of me, surrounded in a massive circular storm.

Dragonite Island. Home to an entire population of Dragonite Dragonair, and Dratini.

I grinned as I took out my rebreather. “Come on Milotic, let's go!”

“Miiii!”

Before I even hit the beach I could already see Dragonite, and Dragonair coming to see what was going on. As Milotic settled onto the beach a few Dragonite were wandering over doing their cute little roar speech greeting as they wandered up.

“Good morning!” I chirped at them as I slipped off Milotic letting him stretch out a bit and cool down from his dash.

“Gaaar.” The Dragonite greeted as he… She? I couldn’t tell. Looked pretty interested in their new guest. Milotic was actually getting a lot of attention from the Dragonite as more than a few were giving him interested looks.

Oh no Mr. Steal yo Girl strikes again!

“Hi! I’m Vicky, that’s Milotic. I wanted to come to your island to see if any of you wanted to join me on my Pokemon Journey.” I tell the first Dragonite who scratched their head for a moment before shrugging at me.

It was so cute I broke out into giggles. “That’s okay! I’m not here to force anyone. Just to see. I really like Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite. So I figured if anyone wanted to go and see the world. They could join me. I can promise lots of food.” I tell them earning a sort of churring noise that I took as amusement.

It started walking away before stopping and waving me to follow. “Sure!” I chirped, turning back to Milotic, but I stopped. He was getting a lot of attention so I left it at that. Some Dragonair as well were floating over to see what was going on. But I followed after the Dragonite.

The tour of the island was full of cute Pokemon. I got to play with a Dratini that was fascinated by my goggles. Which I happily planted over his head earning the cutest little giggle noise from him as he quickly ran off to show the others. Dragonite took me through lots of interesting places. Although mostly it was just Dragons.

Dragonair tended to settle in small batches to watch Dratini. Dratini wandered all over playing. Dragonite tended to be in twos. Which as I watched and learned from the way they interacted made me think they were couples.

Interesting stuff! So Dragonair raised the Dratini communally, but Dragonite tended to couple. It was a question I couldn’t help but ask.

“So do you tend to stay with one partner, like fall in love and stay together?” I asked and after a few more clarifications the Dragonite nodded happily.

Sooo cute! They had little husbands and wives!

Unfortunately I wasn’t a protagonist. So no Dragonair that couldn’t fly that I could help them learn Dragon dance and prove my leadership skills so they would stay with me forever. The Dragonite I spoke to mostly seemed uninterested in leaving. More than happy to just chill out.

Dragonite were so chill. Honestly I think for Dragon types they were the most relaxed. It was pretty cool.

Then again I did remember Iris’s Dragonite. That fucking rage dragon that literally had zero chill. Maybe he just didn’t have a girlfriend?

Cause all of these Dragonite were happy couples and total chill. One was literally buried in Dratini that were obviously playing a king of the Dragonite belly game and despite catching a few twisters from overeager Dratini he literally continued snoring away.

I fell in love to be honest. That level of don’t give a fuck was incredible.

Unfortunately, though none of the Dragonite were interested in joining me, and the few Dragonair that heard me out, refused as well. Although I did note they seemed more interested. The Dratini of course were all excited but they were pushed away by the Dragonair. I understood, and even gave one of the Dragonair a laugh as goggles Dratini returned and made motions to want to become my Pokemon.

He was hauled away by what I could only think was his mother not long after.

So cute.

But I wasn’t about to steal someone's kid. Especially since this island was incredibly safe for the Dragon family.

I could understand not wanting to send your kids out into the wilds. With that I made a pitstop behind the waterfall to quickly gather up a whole bunch of Dratini sheddings. They were worth top dollar all over the world. People made boots out of them or something.

I would have to do something with those sometime.

But as I was grabbing the last ones I heard an explosion which had me drop what I had and hurry out.

Milotic!

As I rushed out the Dragonite that had been escorting me around was looking towards the beach concerned. “That might be my friend!” I tell him as I start running, but a moment after they scoop me up without another sound and suddenly I was airborne.

It was amazing. 10/10 magic dragon princess carry.

But I didn’t get a chance to really enjoy it because holy hell was it fast. In just moments we were on the other side of the island touching down towards the beach.

The beach, that was now much tenser than I had left. Milotic was looking angry as his fins were up showing a threat display and opposite him was a Dragonair. Doing the same. Worse, was another Dragonair to the side that had the obvious marks of Milotics tail imprinted on its face. I could see sort of what happened, the Dragonair had attacked Milotic. Milotic defended… The other Dragonair was angry?

I just wasn’t sure why.

Milotic was too lazy to cause a fight. “Hey Milotic what’s going on?” I call out as I am set back onto my feet on the sand and I rush forward earning a look from the Dragonair that was causing this but that was it. Instead it kept its focus on Milotic and Milotic to my shock called out as well. A warning.

To back away.

I stopped cold. Milotic? A moment later my escort was beside me and they gently tugged me back a bit until the area around the two Pokemon was safe.

A battle was going to happen. I turned to my escort. “Hey what's going on? Milotic wouldn’t pick a fight!” But it simply shook its head. It looked a little confused, it was obviously trying to explain but didn’t have the words.

Then two Dragonair came up, bumping me a little to get my attention. Which had Dragonite grr a little in acceptance, as the group enacted a little play for me.

First two Dragonair danced together. Then Dragonite came in and did some obvious flirtations with one of the Dragonair… I still wasn’t sure about any of the genders but I put that to the side.

The partner of the Dragonair got angry and had a pseudo fight, and Dragonite won. But then, the Dragonair he was wooing also started a play fight. In the end Dragonite ‘won’ and the Dragonair he had been flirting with was doing a dragon dance with them… OOOOOH!

“Oh shit. This is a courtship ritual!” I asked turning to Dragonite to receive a happy nod.

Hell. Milotic got some serious game then! He had flirted with a Dragonair that had a partner, and now he was being sized up… If he was good enough for her to choose him… Ouch. That was kinda harsh… But they were dragons. There was a reason they had a reputation for pride. Strength was important to dragons.

But it made me realize what was happening.

“Okay! Thank you for explaining!” I offered before stepping forward a moment. “Milotic! Don’t use Ice moves! Show her your strength as a Dragon!” I called out. Which earned a flap of Milotics fins as he acknowledged the order. “I believe in you!”

And that was it. I stepped back and settled in the sand as the Pokemon continued to size each other up.

There was a certain… Language being used, a body language between the two as they prepared for battle. I could tell Milotic was serious. Damn he must really like the look of that Dragonair. He loved attention but had never shown even any interest in the female Milotic of the flock.

I guess my boy liked them exotic.

And then in just a moment the battle began.

Dragonair let out a Howl that sounded like a mix of a lions roar and a siren singing as she let out a twister.

Milotic let out his own. Twister was a move Milotic learned, but we had never practiced it. But he gave it his all. The two dragon forces smashed into each other, and Dragonairs STAB was definitely the superior, but when the remnants of the move washed over Milotic he stood firm.

Unblemished.

As if my boy would be beaten by a weakened Dragon move!

And then it was on. The two rushed in. Circling, Dragonair using dragon dance but ending it with Dragontail whipping out.

But that was the only other Dragon type move Milotic knew. So when his own tail glowed a light blue which looked rather pretty actually. It didn’t matter that Dragonair had STAB. The two tails bashed into each other, and I could tell the exact moment Dragonair realized she had bit off more than she could chew.

Because Milotics tail battered the dragon danced STAB attack away without even slowing down. A static ringing noise echoed out as the two moves hit and Milotic cried out a loud “Miiii!” As his tail battered the Dragonair away from him. She landed in the sand with a cry as she hit hard before she rose back up once more the two Pokemon resumed their standoff, but this time?

Well even I could see the interest of the Dragons around me. This had changed from something amusing to something… Interesting.

Dragonite tapped me on the shoulder pointing and I grinned. “I caught Milotic as a Feebas. I told him… I believe in his beauty, his strength. And we worked together until I helped him evolve. And then? Then I trained him so that no one could ever denounce how special he is. My Arcanine is strong too. Any Dragonite, or Dragonair, or Dratini that joins with me would be able to grow just as much.” I tell them and they nodded a little before turning back to the battle. Which had continued.

Milotic proving his strength in physical attacks had definitely caused a change in the ritual, because Dragonair was now seeming less aggressive sending out a few twisters that were pushed back and then ignored as they washed over Milotic. But then Milotic proving that he was a chad. Took on his own offense.

He swirled with water as Water Pulse activated, and blasted off in just a few moments. The very thin move blasted a line in the sand past the Dragonair kicking up sand for a moment. But not a drop touched her.

A warning shot. And then it was on. Twisters began firing, pushed back with Water Pulse which did manage to push back the attack entirely. Milotics water pressure training showed an improvement in the moves power, even if it wasn’t anything awe inspiring.

But it was enough to prove that he could do damage, that was all it needed to.

With the special attacks proven, they started circling each other, and Dragonair to my surprise began initiating a dragon dance.

It wasn’t an offensive move this time, in fact it was like she was waiting!

“Milotic Dragon dance! Do what she does. Use Dragon energy like with Dragon tail! You can do it! Prove you are just as much a Dragon!” I yelled out realizing my boy was floundering.

He didn’t know Dragon Dance.

But Milotic wasn’t about to let something like that stop him. He did as I recommended. A few moments later he started following her dance, although I could see it wasn’t right, it took a few turns before his tail went that same glowing light blue.

Clever boy! He was using the Dragon energy from Dragon Tail to try and get the feel of the new move!

And slowly, it wasn’t perfect. It was rough, and he couldn’t really fly too much off the sand, even if Milotic could float a bit, Dragon dance activated, and the two came together.

Oh my! I covered my eyes!

But you're damn right my fingers split open.

—---

My Dragonite island adventure took a bit of an extended timeframe. Instead of just an afternoon because of Milotic proving himself a manly man he got the girl and so the two of them disappeared for a while.

I didn’t mind. Arcanine was having fun training on the beach, the Dragonite happily taking the challenge Arcanine was giving out, and with Chansey the loser could be healed to battle again.

Turns out despite being chill Dragonite loved to fight. I suppose it made sense if their courtship literally revolved around proving you were the strongest love interest.

Arcanine loved the fact that some of the Dragonite also had Extreme speed, and so were actually able to keep up with her.

And so we spent a few days just hanging out. I didn’t mind. Dratini were the cutest of all time. So I spent most of the day playing with baby dragons, while Arcanine trained, and Chansey healed.

Everyone was happy.

And then on the morning on the third day. As I came out to the beach from a cave I had camped up in Milotic rushed over. And gave me a big eel hug.

Awww. “I love you too buddy. Where is your new girlfriend?” I asked, only to be answered by her as she called out as she flew down.

“Preeeee!” And then Dragonair was there, landing above the sand. And I jerked back as she swung a tail at me lightly.

Oh she was mad.

Milotic wasn’t happy either. “Mii!”

“Pree. Dragonair!” She snapped, and then the two Pokemon were getting tense. Something was off.

“Hold up!” I call out getting in between them quickly. “Dragonair… It's nice to meet you. I’m not sure exactly what's going on, but Milotic is my partner, and I don’t want to interrupt your relationship. I’m really happy he found someone he likes.”

“Pree!” Dragonair made a scoffing noise as she glared. Turning to Milotic she snapped out a few more lines. “Dragon! Dragonair!”

“Milotic.” My boy said simply an absolute denial. Which didn’t make Dragonair happy.

“Wait!” I call out again. “I think I get it… You want Milotic to stay here with you?”

“Dragonair!” She snapped, but it was definitely a yes. I blinked Milotic? My partner staying? Impossible! He was my partner!

But it wasn’t just my decision. I turned to Milotic looked so confused. “Milotic. Do you want to stay?” I asked, and he hesitated, giving me a shrugging wiggle. “But you want to be with her?”

“Miii!”

I nodded. Makes sense. He jumped into a summer fling and now he was shocked their lives weren’t the same. I turned towards Dragonair.

“Why don’t you come with him instead? I came here to see if a Dragon wanted to join my team. You are more than welcome to join us on our journey.” I asked and that caused her to jerk a little before denying instantly. A sound of… dismissal escaping her as she looked me over.

Like ouch.

“I’m not good enough huh?”

“Dragonair.”

“Then let’s make it into a match. You like to fight over your relationships right? I won’t give up on Milotic either. He is my partner! So let's have a battle. If I win, you join me.”

“Dragon! Dragonair Drag!”

It takes me a minute to make out the way she was talking. “Oh, I won’t use Milotic, that would be weird. I have another Pokemon. If you can beat my other partner. Then Milotic will have to… He will have to choose. I can’t force him. But it won’t matter. You won’t win.” I tell her and that did it. She hissed a noise that was definitely unhappy escaping her.

“That’s right. You won’t win. And when you lose you can join me, and I will train you into a monster. You will become legendary. Just like Milotic.” I tell her and despite everything she jerked a bit at the fervor of my voice before scoffing, and nodding.

“Great. Let’s go.”

Thank Arceus for Chansey. Arcanine had been battling a lot in the last few days, but with Chansey and a full night's rest she wasn’t hurt or bothered. She was instead eager to battle some more when I released her. Listening to her howl of challenge, which earned a few Dragonite stirring from their naps.

But Dragonair was pissed. After all, I was basically challenging her for her newest lover.

But I would be damned before I handed over my Partner to anyone. Much less an upjumped Dragon.

“Arcanine. We have to win this. Milotic is part of our team. So this Dragonair needs to go down. She is resistant against fire moves.” I tell her, although considering how many dragons she had fought over the last few days she probably knew better than I did.

And then as both Pokemon settled into the sand, as everything went quiet. I knew the battle would begin soon. A Dragonite stood out from the sand and then roared.

As the roar ended the battle began.

“Extreme Iron head!”

“Preee!” Dragonair retaliated, a blistering twister tore through where Arcanine had been standing a moment before. And then Dragonair was letting out a cry of pain as she was smashed by Arcanine.

But this Dragonair wasn’t weak. She roared as an Aqua tail smashed into Arcanines side, both Pokemon eating sand from the attack.

“Shake it off Arcanine! Howl!”

Dragonair flinched back from the volume of Arcanines call, but she began a dragon dance, in return both Pokemon powering up.

“Arcanine! Extreme Iron head!”

“Preee!” Dragonair called out as she heard my call as she started trying to fly up and away, but Extreme speed was called that for a reason.

The Dragonair barely moved before a dog barrelled into her slamming her into sand. “Bite attack!” I called and Arcanine bit down dark energy causing a more powerful damage as her body was bitten.

But Dragonair was a dragon. The aqua tail build up was so fast I didn’t get a chance to start yelling to dodge before Arcanine was once more blasted away from Dragonair.

I grit my teeth. Water was super effective, even if Dragonair wasn’t an amazing physical brawler. It was still hurting my pup.

“Alright Arcanine! Double team! Not more letting that Dragon get a hit in!”

“Bark!” And then Arcanine was gone. Practically vanishing as more and more doubles of her appeared as she started running around.

A twister was sent out but hit nothing but an after image.

“Iron tail!” I called out, and then Dragonair was crying back into the sand as Arcanine knocked her out of the air.

“Hold!” I called out and a moment later Arcanine slowed watching Dragonair struggle to lift herself out of the sand.

“Pree!”

“You're strong!” I call out at her heated cry. “You even earned the love of Milotic! We don’t have to do this! We can work together. Grow strong together! You can stand beside Milotic on the battlefield! Work with him, train with him every day!”

“Pree!”

She denied me, still upset.

“Fine. Arcanine… Play rough.”

And as smoke appeared around Dragonair Arcanine jumped in and suddenly stars appeared as she was whacked around.

When it was done. She was unconscious. I fingered a Pokeball for a moment but eventually put it away.

I didn’t want a dragon on my team that hated my existence. We would have to talk this out first.