The Blackthorn arena was really big. Ornate, and set up with a large pool of water in the middle.

As we all walked in, I noticed Clair twitch as the Old Master settled onto a bench on the side of the arena to watch.

But then she shook it off and focused on me.

“Challenger of Blackthorn! You stand upon the peak of battle! Prepare yourself!” She roared out, and I heard the speech in her tone. This was probably what she said to everyone that came through.

“This will be a six on six match! No returns.” The girl that appeared out of a side room spoke up. She was obviously the referee.

“Clair!” I called out then before we could throw out our pokemon. “I’m going to start with my Dragonite!” I informed her and held out the pokeball.

She glared and nodded. Perfectly understanding.

And then it was called, and we both tossed our pokeballs into the arena.

“Pree!”

“Draaaa!” They both called out. My Dragonite was the more aggressive of the two, but that was to be expected. She was here to prove a point after all.

“That’s right, Dragonite! We’ll make them choke on calling you weak!” I called out and that got Dragonite even more fired up.

Clair scoffed, but I could see her Dragonite shift.

Her Dragonite was shaped more like Lances. A bit tubby if I was honest. But wider, bulkier in frame.

It wasn’t nearly as large as her cousin's partner. This Dragonite was strong, but…

“Begin!”

“GO!” I roared out, at the same time Clair said her own move.

But it was too late for that. The Dragon Pulse that her Dragonite began charging was cut off, A Dragon Rush slammed into the Dragonite and my girl made no motion to stop as she simply kept pushing. A moment later Clair yelped as her Dragonite was launched straight past her into the building and a torrent of dust and debris swept over her.

“Draaaaa!” Dragonite roared as she floated over the water. That had been a brutal opener.

“Dragonite!” Clair called out, but not in worry, but in anger. “Return it!”

“Draaa!” The roar came out of the dust as suddenly the buzz of noise I attributed to Extreme Speed was heard.

I just grinned.

Clair's Dragonite exploded out of the dust, Extreme Speed making it blur as it rushed my girl.

But my Dragonite fought with Arcanine, Clair’s Dragonite was crazy fast for a moment but when it ended. My Dragonite had managed to grab the claw that was aiming for her face, even if it sent both of them rocketing into the ground.

Unfortunately for Clair, While her Dragon was bigger than mine, mostly in width, I had no doubt what was going to happen next.

Dragonite pushed and suddenly Claire's Dragon yelped and then was slammed sideways as a Dragon Tail slammed into her side. The mass of energy scales covering Dragonites tail made it look like a club as it smashed into the other Dragon and then they were launched back once more smashing into the water of the pool.

Then everything got quiet for a second.

Clair looked from the pool to my Dragonite, and then to me.

And I knew that this match was already over. Because in her eyes I saw the failure of any Dragon. Fear. But then Clair’s eyes hardened, and that fear turned into anger.

Huh. Clair was like Iris’s Dragonite. Some Dragons when you pricked their pride would jump to anger, but for fear to bring up Anger as well? No wonder Iris’s Dragonite rampaged so much.

“Dragonite!” Clair called out. “This isn’t over!” She called, and I knew that she was telling Dragonite to start some trick.

“Dragon Dance!” I called out, and Clair took that in without giving any show of what she felt. Then the wind picked up.

Ah, I think I get it.

The water suddenly surged out of the pool as a Hurricane gathered it all up and turned a hurricane into a Waterspout. And in that surge of water Clair's Dragonite was in charge.

The difference between the way I trained my Dragonite, and the way Clair, and maybe the Blackthorn all did.

I focused on turning her into a monstrous bruiser. Using her defensive ability to just let her keep pushing.

They focused on defense, and special attacks.

The hurricane shifted and slammed into Dragonite, not that it would truly hurt her, but a moment later I caught Claire's plan.

Because the entire thing started freezing.

“Ice huh?” I muttered, as I caught it. Clair's Dragonite came launching itself through the Waterspout spinning around as a smaller tornado of Ice and freezing the wind and water together.

She reached Dragonite and slammed into her, and even I winced at the noise of just how much Ice the Dragonite had dragged up with her.

A moment later it was over, and the Waterspout finished freezing over, as Clair's Dragonite rushed out of the top.

Leaving my girl frozen inside.

But, while it was a really fancy move. It was complicated and intricate, it had one weakness.

“Too weak.” I called out, loud enough for Clair to hear, and her head locked towards me like I had just punched her. “That’s a nice combo move, but Dragonite already finished Dragon Dance.” I called out, and then we all heard it. The Ice cracked, then more and suddenly it burst apart with the sound of a chainsaw blasting through it.

Clair's Dragonite had stopped moving to see. Slow. The pokemon was too used to stopping mid battle to look and see if her enemy was still fighting.

Clair’s Dragonite was bulky, but it only made her a wider target.

Clair’s Dragonite had a moment where suddenly her vision was flooded by an angry Dragon, but without the time to react.

Clair… Was far too used to fighting gentle battles, where you never accidentally hit a trainer with an attack. Did she never have a Lt. Surge tell her the dangers? Or a Blaine to almost throw terrain hazards at her?

You don’t stop just because you wanted to see if your move would work. You slip into another move.

If you hit an enemy with a rock. Start using a buff move while they get out.

If you smashed an enemy away. Charge up another attack for when they come back. I nodded to myself.

I was still learning. Still had much to gain from every battle, and this was one of them. I’d remind my team about it, on the next training session. And have them all train to instantly switch to something else and not just stand around to see if the battle is over.

The ground shifted under me for a second at the force of Dragonite plowing Clair’s dragon into the ground with a Dragon Rush as big as I had ever seen from her.

Dragonite was fully engaged in this battle, and Clair for all her anger, wasn’t synergizing with her partner.

“Dragonite! Dragon Dance!” I called out instantly once Dragonite burst away from the crater she had created, and she jumped to listen. Then I turned to Clair.

“You’re too angry!” I called out, “You’re Dragonite isn’t, so you aren’t synced up! Either get your Dragon angry, or calm down!” I yelled at her, and she looked for a second like she was going to blow her top.

Then she stopped and breathed.

And as she did, her Dragonite rose itself out of the dirt wincing a bit as it weakly rose.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Dragonite!” Clair called, but this time it wasn’t anger, and the two finally synced up.

A moment later her Dragonite was in the air rushing forward once more, but not quite at Extreme Speed levels.

Did she not train her Pokemon to use Extreme Speed to move around? It wasn’t like you had to have a pokemon use Fly to fly in the air. You could have them move at their top speed using a tiny bit of the Extreme Speed Energy before switching it to another.

I mean I had discovered that with Arcanine years ago!

Then again, Extreme Speed was a Blackthorn Dragonite special, and not something that is normal for the species. So maybe they just never integrated it?

I shook it off.

Clair’s Dragonite made its move. As it approached I caught it!

“Protect!” I roared out as I caught the trace sign of power building up. Dragonite didn’t hesitate, crossing her arms, and building a Protect shield as the energy suddenly unleashed.

The wave of power was pretty intense. One of the strongest Hyper Beams I had ever seen ripped out of the Dragonite’s mouth.

It rolled over my girl, the energy shooting off sharply as it deflected off the Protect shield.

And then it was over.

Clair's Dragonite gasped heavily, too tired to do much as the smoke cleared and Dragonite roared, Claws of Dragon energy shooting from her claws and she charged into a Dragon Rush.

“Dragonite… Return.” Clair called out and her partner vanished from the crater it had been smashed into. She looked at her pokeball with a long conflicted look on her face, before finally putting it back on her hip.

Then her eyes met mine. “You… Very well. Grandfather is right.” She said and then drew another pokeball. “You have the heart of a Dragon, I’ll acknowledge that… But that? That has nothing to do with this! And I won’t let you win so easily! Go! Dragonite!”

I gasped in delight, another Dragonite!? Did she trick me and not use her strongest right at the start? I couldn’t tell. This one wasn’t as big, but it looked… Hmm. A different build? Clair’s second Dragonite roared out in challenge long and loud.

“Yes.” I said, without restraint as I felt Dragonites returning roar. She was a little beat up, but that was that, and this was this. Dragonite had some recovery moves. And she had a Dragon Dance already buffing her but I couldn’t let Clair think I only knew how to Dragon Rush. “We won’t be stopped! Clair! Fight me! Show me everything you have, but don’t think for a second, that I won’t show you what I can do too! DRAGONITE! DRACO METEOR!” I howled at the top of my lungs and Dragontie joined me.

A screaming wind ripped apart as Dragonite swallowed the orb of Draconic energy that formed in front of her.

The look Clair gave me was one of horror. Of disbelief. She couldn’t accept that I knew this move.

The Old Master though? Him I noticed was smiling brightly, like Christmas had just come early.

And I laughed letting my delight echo across the battlefield as the Energy of Draco meteor descended, coming to wipe out everything that dared to exist.

—--

“I can’t believe you would do that!” Clair shrieked at me, but I was far too happy to care.

Dragonite hadn’t managed a full sweep. Too many Dragon and Ice attacks had finally taken her out, but pulling out Milotic to take revenge against the Kingdra had surprised Clair enough especially when Milotic had pulled out Dragon Move after Dragon Move.

Then of course Clair had finished off with a Gyarados…

I just laughed harder as Blue Heart nuzzled up to me. That had been a very quick match, in fact it had shocked me just how fast my Blue Heart had battered Claire's Gyarados into unconsciousness.

Maybe she just didn’t train it right?

But now Clair was complaining about the damage to the arena.

What had once been a nice fancy little arena with buildings around it, and a pool in the center was now just craters and ruins.

“If you aren’t ready for a Draco Meteor, don’t pick a fight with a Dragon Master!” I proclaimed fist raised and laughed harder at the way her face went red.

“How do you even know about Draco Meteor!? Grandfather?” Clair demanded looking to the old man that had hobbled over, but he was more interested in Blue Heart, as my sweetheart was perfectly content with cheek rubs as we rubbed our face together.

“Victoria.” He said then turning away from Gyarados to look at me. “If you would, I would like to know how your Dragonite learned Draco Meteor. It is a unique move. Passed down among the Dragon Clans.”

“I taught it to her.” I said simply looking him in the eye to show that I wasn’t joking.

“Impossible! Only the elders can know the secret to-”

“First you raise your draconic energy to its maximum, then bring it all to your chest, condense it, and then release it!” I informed her, giving the same instructions I gave to Dragonite so long ago.

Clair stalled out, her mouth hanging open, and then I heard some chuckles from the Old Master.

“She’s got you there Granddaughter.” He offered and then stroked at his beard a bit. “And you got me too. You taught your pokemon the move yourself… To think. Can I ask, where did you learn this move? It’s supposed to be a closely guarded secret. Not even my Granddaughter knew the instructions.” He explained and I looked at Clair..

Yeah she looked embarrassed that she didn’t know.

“Speaking of Clair. Please remember the value of this knowledge.”

“O-of course! I won’t tell anyone!” She stuttered out, but then both of them looked to me.

Now how do I explain… I could lie and make up a story about meeting the old lady that Ash learned from…

“I’ve been training my pokemon in enhancing their moves. Compressing their energy is a good way to give their power a bit of a kick. It was mostly an accident, until we figured it out.” I explained, and the old man nodded slowly, while Clair continued to look on in disbelief.

“Draco Meteor has been discovered by many across the years. This isn’t unheard of… But to think, a child not even of a Dragon Clan discovering it? Will you not reconsider becoming my apprentice? I assure you, there is much to learn still, even for you.”

I blinked in surprise at the question. The first time had been almost joking, but not, but now he asked again, and he sounded way more serious.

“Grandfather! She is still from Kanto! You can’t just… Invite her in! You know the laws.”

“Ah? Yes, that’s right. There is a law for such a thing.” He mumbled then surprised me with his beard stroking and then he smirked under his beard. “Well there is an easy way to ignore that. After all, a Dragon Master is welcome in Blackthorn from before Johto ever made such silly laws. Victoria Ferrous. I recognize you, someone who recreated Draco Meteor, who has a dragon's heart as a Dragon Master.”

I pointed at myself and he nodded. Making me realize I could actually be knocking off that (Self Proclaimed) Section of my title a lot sooner than I expected!

“G-g K-y N-nnnn!” Clair made a choking noise as if her throat was completely sealing shut.

But I ignored her breakdown and looked at the old Man. No at Ald Blackthorn.

“Thank you.” I responded honestly. I wasn’t sure just what it really meant, and I had been joking about it before, but this was definitely something more serious than just being called a good trainer.

“Hmm! It is no issue. It is the duty of the Dragon Masters to grant the title to those that deserve it.” He said happily and then reached out to Clair who jerked at his touch. “Mhmm.” He offered.

“Wha-? Oh.” She took a deep breath and let it out.

“Dragon Master Ferrous.” She spoke to me, and I jerked a bit at just how official she spoke. Then she reached into her a pouch attached to the back of her belt and held out.

The Rising Badge. With a Star.

“You have defeated me at my best. Proving yourself to have earned this badge… I’ve never handed this badge out to someone that wasn’t from Johto. I want you to know that… I will not let this lie. You’ve defeated me now, but I’ll learn from this defeat, and come to challenge you next time.”

“I’ll be ready.” I said back firmly, because the idea of battling her again wasn’t a bad one. Dragon Trainers were fun. Once she had managed to regain some semblance of pacing after I knocked out her first two Dragonites, she had set up some brutal combos.

Unfortunately they would have worked better with her Dragonite and not desperately trying to play catchup with her Charizard.

I took the badge and looked it over. The Dragon shaped head was cool. I had always liked this badge.

I pulled out my badge case and had to struggle a bit to make room for it.

The cases weren’t meant to carry so many badges.

Putting it away I looked up and into the eyes of Clair and the Ald.

“I’ll think about your offer. It’s tempting, like a lot! I love learning new things about my friends, and I’m sure you all know so many things about Dragon Types, and Dragonite in particular. It sounds amazing.” I said and Ald’s beard shifted into a grin at my words. “But… I’ve been running all around Johto over the last couple days. All I really want to do is get home and sleep in my own bed.”

“Hah! Of course!” Ald said. “The doors to the clan will always be open. Dragon Masters no matter their origin are welcome here no matter the situation.” He reminded me, and that was that.

I turned, catching Bugsy’s rather shocked eyes at everything that had happened… And noticed he was really standing far away? I tilted my head and looked over at Gyarados that was still basically looming over me…

I smiled and hugged him. So cute!

Ah, that’s right. The sun is basically down, and I still need to get Bugsy home.

“C’mon Bugsy! To Azalea Town! I called and he jerked in surprise at my words before nodding.

—--

Dragonite was a little sore from the battle, but after Nurse Joy looked her over, she was willing and able to fly again.

I think she was just as excited to get home as well.

Considering she had been there already, it didn’t take long at all for us to fly down into sleepy Azalea Town, to drop Bugsy off.

The only thing was, he had been real quiet on the flight over.

As we landed, we stepped off and I looked at him, as he looked at me.

“Raincheck on that battle?” I asked, because honestly I was tired and wanted to go home.

“Yeah… I want to do some training first.” He said and I nodded, but neither of us moved.

Finally he spoke. “You weren’t what I was expecting… And you beat Clair.”

“I’ve beaten all the Kanto Gyms. Clair was strong, but I had more trouble with Koga,”

“That’s not what I mean, I mean… I’ve learned a lot from you. Moves, strategies. But more importantly… I think I understand now.” He said and he stood up straight, his floofy hair usually covering his eyes a bit was pushed aside.

“I’ll become a Bug Master. I’ll learn everything I can about my friends too… And soon I’ll challenge you again. Just like Clair said! Next time it’ll be us coming to challenge you! So, so Dragon Master Vicky! Be ready!” He ended his speech pointing a finger at me, and I felt myself practically vibrating at the idea of more fun battles.

“Yeah! I can’t wait!” I exclaimed, hands shooting into the sky. “Come and challenge me whenever! Learn new things and test them against me! And together let’s grow stronger and show the bonds we have with our friends!”

Bugsy smiled happily at my words, and then before anything else I stepped in and pulled him into a tight hug.

“This was really fun. I’m glad you decided to come with!” I stepped back and then nodded. “Okay! It’s late and I want to get home before my parents are in bed! Good bye for now Bugsy! Smell ya later!” I called out laughing as I jumped onto Dragonite, and we buzzed off into the sky.

I could just faintly hear “Smell ya later?” Echoing back from behind me, making me laugh as Dragonite soared into the sky.

—--

I burst through the front door ignoring the barking of the Growlithe guards as I rushed inside. I found Mama first in the kitchen, looking like she was just finishing washing some dishes. I jumped into the hug that she only barely caught me in time and I was laughing and hugging and just loving the fact I was home.

“Vicky! Wha- Welcome home!” She cheered for me, squeezing me back and holding me tight.

“Victor! Vicky is home!” Mama called out and Papa was already surging into the kitchen mostly at the Growlithe packs barking and then he laughed in delight and swept both Mama and I up into a hug that had me squeeze between him and Mama as he spun us around.

It was the best feeling ever, and I never wanted it to end.

Of course it did, when Mama laughingly finally poked me to stop hugging her, and sit around the couch.

Instead I flopped on top of Arcany who whoofed a bit at me, but didn’t get up from where he was happily flopped across the living room, and I got to enjoy some moments of the Growlithe pack running up and licking my fingers as I lay limply on top of Arcany.

But then it was story time.

“So then Bugsy and I traveled out of Azalea Town.”

“Wait, you traveled with a Johto Gym Leader, a boy?” Papa asked, and I nodded.

“Yep. Bugsy is a total Bug Type nerd, so we got along great. He… I think he discovered his reasons to train to get strong along the trip. Plus he helped me out a lot in Goldenrod! But let me tell you the story in order.” I started and Papa nodded with just a grumble.

Heh, Papa was being protective because Bugsy was a boy. That’s cute. I wonder if Bugsy would get an Arcanine talk instead of a Shotgun talk if he ever came over. The idea had me giggling as I continued.

I went through the entire journey. The battles. The evolution of Blissey, and finally.

“Wait… He called you a Dragon Master?” Mama asked, sounding a little faint.

“Mhmm! It sounded pretty official and everything.”

“That’s because it is Vicky.” Mama said and Papa nodded along.

“It takes a lot to become a Master of a type of Pokemon, and it’s not just a title, it’s a responsibility. Rangers might reach out to Masters of a type if they are facing a difficult pokemon… You’re the only Dragon Master in Kanto.”

“Cool.” I said and snuggled deeper into Arcanys fur. Ahh! It smelled like home.

“It’s… Nevermind. I’m sure the association will send someone to discuss what it means soon enough. I’m honestly not even sure about it all.”

“Me either.” Papa added. “Being registered as a Master of a Type is… Big.”

“I think the sixteen star badges will probably mean more.” I offered and reached into my pocket and pulled out my Badge Case.

Mama and Papa both inhaled. Sure I had told them I had done it, but hearing and seeing were two different things I guess.

Mama reached out and I handed them over, and both of them looked over the shining badges with a look of awe.

Yeah it’s pretty awesome. I felt myself yawn a bit and my eyes closed. Arcany was so warm.

ZzzZ