-The Dragon King-
-Yankeeeee/ F̷̮̔o̸̳̽o̷̹̔l̶͙͝s̴̺̾ ̷̤͋i̸̮̚n̵̠̿ ̸͕͑ṭ̸̂h̷̲͌ḙ̸̐ ̶̱̎W̷̧̛o̴̧̿ö̴̟́d̶̠̓s̶̰͊: Ch3-
Marcus stood across the clearing from Bagon.
All he had on him was his battered old military uniform, a pair of worn out boots which had seen him through the end of the world, and the basic hand to hand combat training he got in the Military.
Tool wise, he wasn’t much better. He had a pair of thick leather gloves, purpose built to withstand massive talons, which were (hopefully) tough enough to withstand pointedly lizard teeth, and a trusty metal Baseball bat.
That was all he had to tame a Dragon.
But it was a small Dragon, it couldn’t be that hard.
Marcus let out a war cry as he charged forward, bat raised high in the air, Bagon matched his roar and charged forward.
Mark swung his bat, and Bagon jumped over it, and slammed into him with a Headbutt. Mark was sent tumbling back, spittle flying from his mouth as one of his ribs cracked.
-The Dragon King-
“Alright class, today you’ll be catching your starter! Your companion for your journey and your lifelong friend!” Miss Apple addressed the crowd of excited students, some of which had already tried to run off on their own.
“Usually we would go into the outskirts of Eterna Forest, but the pokemon in there are too rowdy after last night's full moon. So unfortunately we’re going to have to restrict ourselves to the tall grass on route 206.”
There were various sounds of dismay and annoyance from the students.
“Yes, I know, I know, but to make up for it I managed to get a special volunteer, who’s agreed to help you all catch your starters today! She’s a trainer who’s not only competing in both the Gym circuit and the Contest circuit, but has already won multiple badges and ribbons!”
The teacher stepped aside and motioned for a girl to step forward. She had a black V-neck tank top with a white shirt under it, a very short pink mini skirt, and a red scarf. On her head, she had a white beanie with a pink Poké Ball print, that sat on top of well kept blue hair.
“Hello everyone, my name is Dawn!” She said with a smile. “Let’s catch some Pokemon!”
“I’m gonna catch an Ampharos!” One of the kids shouted. “I won’t accept anything weaker!”
“I don’t think there are any Mareep flocks in this area.” Dawn sweatdropped. “Also wild pokemon that have gotten to their third evolution are super rare, and usually mean bad news.”
“Are you really doing Gyms and Contests?” Another kid asked skeptically.
“Yep!” Dawn smiled and brought out two flat cases, one blue and one silver. She clocked the buttons on the side and had to push down a feeling of pride as the kids ohh and ahhed.
In one case sat the Jubilife and Floaroma Ribbons. And in the other case the Coal, Forrest, and Relic badges sat proudly on display.
“Badges and Ribbons? I didn’t know you could do that!” One of the girls whispered.
“She already has three badges!?” A boy whispered to his friend. “She doesn’t look much older than me!”
Dawn pocketed the cases with a haughty smile. It felt good to show off sometimes. Maybe that was why she liked Contests?
“Alright little miss three badges.” Miss Apple chuckled. “Any last words of advice before we head out?”
“Of course! The bond you share with your Pokemon is special.” Dawn said, to the students, as she released her Piplup and picked him up in a hug. “And that goes doubly so for your starter! You need to make sure your starter is on the same wavelength as you. Ideally you don’t want to force them to fight for you, you should befriend them instead!”
-The Dragon King-
“BRRLURLRURLGHRLRHRHUFGGRR!”
Bagon shook its head wildly with the end of the bat gripped firmly between its teeth, like it was some kind of rabid dog using a stick for a tug of war.
“Drop it! Let it go!” Mark demanded as he tried to wrestle back control of his only real weapon. The little fucker was deceptively strong for his size, and the mud was making it so that for every three steps he managed to pull back, the Bagon would pull him forward one.
-The Dragon King-
“But don’t we have to fight them to catch them.” A kid asked.
“That’s true, but ideally you want to use that as an opportunity to impress them, and show them how much stronger a Pokemon can be with a good trainer!” Dawn pumped her fist in the air. “The two of you will go on many journeys together, so it’s important that you get along! Make a good first impression, and become friends!”
-The Dragon King-
“Die! Die! Die!” Marcus shouted as he lifted the bat into the air, Bagon still stubbornly attached, and repeatedly slammed it into the muddy ground.
“Die!”
Smack!
“Die!”
Smack!
“Die!”
Smack!
After a dozen or so solid hits, the little bastard eventually lost his grip and went flying through the air- smacking into a tree with a solid thunk. But it didn’t stay down long, and it immediately charged him.
The Military Vet readied himself to step to the side at the last moment before hitting Bagon like a golf ball, but when it was less than ten feet away, a faint white glow suddenly shone in Bagon’s eyes and it lunged forward.
It hit Marcus in the legs with enough force to send him airborne, flipping over once and landing on his back. His precious bat slipped from his fingers.
“BAG! OOOON!”
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
Almost as soon as he got to his feet, Marcus dove back to the ground as he was grazed with a Dragon Breath and his back lit up in blue~purple flames.
But the classic advice of Stop Drop and Roll was failing him because no matter how frantically he rolled in the mud, the magic fire just wouldn’t go out! Thinking quickly, he ripped off his flaming jacket and threw it to the side, leaving him in his white undershirt.
“BAA!” The Dragon’s eyes faintly lit up again, as it channeled Type Energy, and it launched another Tackle at him.
Mark patted the ground around behind him, frantically searching for his bat, and his hand bumped into a loose rock. It wasn’t his bat, but he didn’t care.
“Rock throw!” He shouted as he hurled the fist sized stone at Bagon. It shattered on impact, mainly due to Bagon’s move, and dazed it long enough for Mark to find his bat.
THU-WACK
The bat nailed Bagon square in the midsection with enough force that it folded over, its head touching its feet on the other side of the bat. And Bagon let out a scream of rage as it went sailing into the bushes.
“Home run baby, I still got it.” Mark joked as he stood up, and winced as he put pressure on his left leg.
‘Definitely cracked.’ He thought with a scowl.
But he didn’t have any time to make a splint, or even bandage himself up. Even after a hit like that, Bagon was stomping back into the clearing, looking more pissed off than hurt.
Bagon reared back its head and roared, as it charged forward. Mark raised his bat and ran to meet him.
-The Dragon King-
Casey followed the Floette deeper and deeper into the woods, completely oblivious to just how far he was being led, or how the trees seemed to bend and twist behind him, erasing the path as if it had never existed.
Slowly the forest opened up before him and he gasped as he stumbled into a beautiful clearing. Flowers of every type and color covered the entire grotto, from well kept rose bushes, to massive sunflowers that stood as tall as some of the smaller trees.
But what really took his breath away was the Pokemon, so many Pokemon- some of which he hadn’t thought even lived in the Sinnoh region!
Cleffas played with Togepis, while Snubbulls ran around and a group of Flabébé floated in the wind. A Sylveon napped in the sunlight. A Jiggypuff sang a lullaby to some Marill and a Mawile.
It was like a hidden paradise.
But in the middle of the hidden flower meadow, under the shade of a particularly large flower, two beautiful women sat at a white clothed table, peacefully enjoying tea together. Cups of Tea, Biscuits, and Pies filled the table to the brim.
The one on the right had fiery red hair that dropped to her shoulders, and wore a wreath of roses around her neck that complimented her leaf green dress.
The one on the left had long blue hair that scraped the ground slightly, and wore a pink sweater with a white skirt.
The two looked up at him with matching pink eyes.
“Oh, a visitor!” The red one said as she saw him, though she didn’t sound surprised. “What brings you to us today?”
“I’m sorry for intruding, I just got a bit lost.” Casey raised his arms in apology. “I didn’t mean to barge in, I didn’t even know anyone was here.”
“Don’t worry dear, you’re not intruding at all. Where are my manners? My name is Rose, and this,” she gestured to the blue haired woman. “Is Matte. What’s your name sweetie?”
“Oh, uh.” He scratched the back of his neck. “My name’s Casey.”
“Oh? #######. What a handsome name!” Rose swooned as she walked over. “Please, sit down and eat. We so rarely get guests here, I would hate to not be the best host possible.”
Rose placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and led him over to the table, where he gladly took a seat.
He didn’t question where the tea or food had come from, or why there was a table sitting out in the middle of the forest. After all, why would he? Nothing felt unnatural. It all felt normal.
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Instead he smiled and laughed merrily as he drank tea and ate pie with two lovely ladies.
‘I wonder how Mark is doing?’ Casey wondered to himself.
-The Dragon King-
“AAAGH!” Mark shouted as he was dragged through the mud by his fractured left leg.
Bagon had the sole of his boot clamped firmly in its mouth, and was dragging him around the clearing while shaking its head wildly.
“Let! Go!” Mark repeatedly kicked the Pokemon in the face with his good foot, but his blows were being completely ignored. Worse still, he could feel the metal bottom of his shoe slowly giving out.
Thanking God that he kept sit ups as part of his morning workout, Marcus pulled himself as much upright as he could, grabbed ahold of his boot’s shoelace, and ripped the string out of the leather entirely with one mighty pull.
It wasn’t a moment too soon, because almost immediately after he yanked his foot out, Bagon succeeded in crushing the combat boot in two.
Mark scrambled backwards, almost slipping in the mud without his shoe, and Bagon let out a shriek as it gave chase.
He scooped up his bat from where it had fallen, raised it up high, and put everything he had into a double handed downwards swing- executioner style. Bagon ran right into the blow, and Mark hit him so hard on the head that his entire top half was buried in the mud, and the metal bat bent at the handle.
-The Dragon King-
“So, ####### what’s bothering you?” Matte asked as she slowly swirled a spoon in her teacup. “You’ve been putting on such a happy face, but something’s weighing you down. I can see it in your eyes.”
Casey looked away and swallowed the biscuit he had been chewing. “It’s nothing, just some personal stuff.”
“Oh don’t worry, ####### this is a safe place.” Rose smiled. “It’s a place where you can feel relaxed and secure . We’re always willing to help.”
She was right. He did feel relaxed and secure .
And so Casey explained all of his worries. About how he feared he had started too late, about how he feared he was too sickly to even undertake a journey, about how he feared he would be too frail to properly raise a team.
Rose listened to him with a gentle smile.
“Oh dear, how horrible.” She tisked. “Luckily for you, you stumbled upon the one lady who might be able to help you.”
“Really?” Casey asked, intrigued.
“Really. I can fix you up, and help you become the trainer of your dreams. All I want in return are three tiny favors.”
“What are they?” Casey asked as he leaned forward with a desperately hopeful look in his eye.
“The first is that you plant a sapling in any place of my choosing. The second is that you agree to one undetermined future favor, on the condition that it will always be something you personally want to do. And the third is that I ask for two letters used at some point in your life.”
“Letters?” Casey tilted his head in visible confusion.
“Yes, letters. Think of any of the countless letters you write down every week, and I only want two. They are but paper and ink, fleeting as the seasons, while the treasures I offer are everlasting.”
“So you want me to plant a tree sapling, do one task I already want to do, and give you two letters? Just any of the ones that I can write down?”
“I would want to choose the letters, but yes.” Rose nodded with a smile. “And in return, not only will I guarantee you become a Pokemon trainer capable of rivaling the Champion herself, you will never get sick again.”
Those were strange things to ask for. Very strange. How could a normal person take letters? Or guarantee that he’d become a great Trainer? Or keep him from ever getting sick? But his head was cloudy, and he was too focused on the conversation to think about that.
Besides, when she said those terms they felt… real.
“I-I’m willing to do that.” Casey nodded and licked the bottom of his lip.
“Perfect.” Rose held out her hand, Matte watching intently from the side. “Do we have a DEAL?”
Casey reached out and shook her hand.
“DEAL.”
He startled slightly at the sound of his voice, and completely missed the brief glow that formed ghostly chains around their hands before fading away.
“The Pact is sealed.” Rose hummed with a wide smile.
The lady lifted her hand into the air and at the snap of her fingers the entire clearing went absolutely silent.
All of the Pokemon were looking at them, and at some unseen command, one of them walked forward.
Casey’s eyes ballooned.
“H-Hey little guy.” He said softly as he sank to his knees and tried to be as non threatening as possible. And he watched with complete wonder as a small white Pokemon with green hair waddled up to him.
Ralts may not have the greatest eyesight, but thanks to the red horn on its head that gave them their empath abilities, they could sense any living creature from a mile away and immediately know if their intentions were hostile.
You didn’t just find a Ralts in the wild, a Ralts had to find you. And it was entirely up to them if they chose to approach.
The little Psychic looked up at him and titled its head.
“I’m going on a big adventure here soon. I’ve been sick all my life, so my parents have kept me all locked up in our house. But I’m finally an adult, so I’m going to go and see as much of the world as I can, and make as many memories as I can along the way.” Casey held out his hand, a Pokeball in his palm. “Would you like to join me?”
Ralts looked up at Rose, looked at Casey, and then smiled as she tapped the button in the center of the ball.
A flash of red. One Shake. Two Shake. And then the PING of the Pokeball locking.
Casey couldn’t believe it.
“Thank you.” He said to Rose as he stood up. “Thank you so much!”
“Of course. We made a Deal. I will always uphold my end of the bargain.”
“Hold on, you’re not done just yet.” Hatte called out as she walked over, having disappeared when Rose snapped.
Following behind her, with a proud march, was a Pokemon Casey had never seen. It was a small, round, pink thing with two stubby little legs, a blue mop of hair in its head, and a pointy tail that was sticking straight up, and closely resembled a party hat .
“This is Hatenna.” Matte said, as if reading his mind. “She will also be accompanying you on your journey.”
The small pink/blue puffball of cute huffed indignantly, as if being given permission was insulting.
Hatenna marched up to Casey and puffed up proudly.
“It’s nice to meet you Hatenna, did you hear what I told Ralts?”
Hatenna nodded in a way that betrayed her real excitement.
“Do you want to join me, and go see the world?”
Hatenna nodded vigorously.
Casey smiled and pulled out another Pokeball. He had saved up his allowance for over a year to buy 10 of the things, not because he thought he could catch that many Pokemon, but because he’d been worried how many failed tries it would take.
“Well then, I’m happy to have you aboard, partner!”
-The Dragon King-
Dawn couldn’t help but smile as the kid who declared he’d catch an Ampharos rolled around on the grass with his new Bidoof.
Offering Berries and treats to a Pokemon as a way to get to know them didn’t always work out, but it was a happy sight when it did.
“It’s always good to see a peaceful capture.”
Piplup chirped in agreement as he placed her hand on his head, and wordlessly demanded more headpats.
-The Dragon King-
“AHHHH!!”
“BAAAAAAAA!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
“BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
-The Dragon King-
Casey walked out of the grotto, Hatenna and Ralts out of their Pokeballs, and following behind him. The leaves closed behind him, sealing the garden off from the world once again.
But back at the table, the woman he had been talking to was gone. Sitting in her seat was a slender Pokémon with a white upper body and a green lower body. Its lower body resembled a mermaid's tail with two large leaves sprouting in either direction like fins. It had a round head with a pointed, upturned nose; long, teardrop-shaped ears; and dark eyes with green, plantlike lashes. Surrounding its head was an ornate bouquet of beautiful red flowers.
Rose the Florges hummed to herself as she finished her cup of tea.
It was always good to get visitors.
The Floette, that had led Casey to the hidden glade, floated down into her lap and she gently stroked it head.
Another Pokemon walked up, It was very thin and had extremely long blueish pink hair- far longer than its body was tall, which acted like a cloak. The hair on its head poofs out and then spikes up, resembling a hat of a stereotypical sorceress or witch.
It was also holding a teacup in the hand-like hair tentacle that sprouted from the top of her hat.
“Why the letters?” Matte the Hatte(rene) asked psychically as she came back with more drink, gliding across the ground as if she wasn’t really there.
“You could have asked for something actually valuable, like an hour of his time, or one of his happiest memories, or a strand of hair.”
“Because even though it's been a hundred years, my Trainer’s name was Casey.” Flora smiled as she picked up the Trainer ID card that the silly boy had left in his excitement.
An ID card that’s name slot very clearly read-
[Cassedy Ranger]
“I think it’s such a pretty name. The world could always use more Caseys.” Flora giggled as she wiped her thumb over the name, smearing away the ink of two letters.
[Cas e y Ranger]
“It’s not like I’m being cruel. He won’t mourn his old name, these are my letters now, no one will remember them ever existing. Not Casey, not his parents, not even someone reading them.” She turned to look at the Hatterene.
“What about you? I may be the maiden of the glade, but you are a dear friend. You can stay here as long as you want and I’ll never allow it to press its rules upon you. Yet you assisted in the deal on your own accord. Why?”
Matte huffed.
“Because the years we spent traveling with our Trainer are some of the happiest memories of my life.” S he sighed with a fond yet distant look in her eyes. “My daughter is growing up and wants to see the world, I would never deny her the chance to experience that.”
-The Dragon King-
Marcus heaved and gasped for air, sweat pouring down his face, as he pushed every muscle he had into keeping Bagon pinned down.
His leg was fractured, his nose was busted, he had several broken ribs, one of his fingers was crushed, and he was covered in a mix of so many bruises and burns that every twist and pull of his skin was painful.
But even still, he powered through all that to put as much force on the bat as he could, pressing the metal bar down and pinning Bagon face down to the ground.
The Dragon struggled widely, like a feral animal, flailing its stubby arms, clawing at the mud, and shooting out small shots of dragon fire.
“Surrender!” Marcus shouted, pressing the bat down harder. “I win! Give up!”
This caused the Dragon to thrash around even more violently, but after a few more minutes its struggles gradually died down. It dropped its head to the ground, all its muscles going slack.
“Bagon.” It snorted, spiteful but defeated.
“Is that a tap out?” Mark panted.
“Bag.” The Pokemon said resignedly, but with a tone that reeked of sore loser.
Marcus relaxed his hold and stood up, but had to stomp his boot down on Bagon’s back when it immediately tried to turn and bite him.
“Listen here, and listen well! My name is Marcus Cross!” He said as he leveled his beat up bat at Bagon.
“It was my childhood dream to become a Pokemon Trainer, and now that I finally can, I'm gonna take the world by the horns and make it mine. I’m gonna be the very best , like no one ever was! I’m gonna take on every challenge, beat every last Gym Leader, every Rival, every Trainer, I’m going to decimate the Elite Four, and then I’m going to challenge the Champion! Everyone’s scared of Cynthia, they say she might just be the strongest of all the region Champions, and her Garchomp is an absolute monster .”
Bagon’s head perked up at the mention of the Champion owning a Dragon.
“But I’m going to beat her! I’m going to wipe her entire team, and take the crown of Champion for myself! This entire region- no, the entire world will know who I am, and respect me!” Mark stepped off of Bagon and planted his bat in the mud like a sword.
“But to do that I need a partner. I need a second in command. I need an ace that, even when things are at their bleakest, I can always count on to pull through! Do you have the strength and the courage to fill that role? Because what I saw here was a poor showing.”
“Bagon!” The Dragon snapped, offended that anyone would think him not good enough.
“If you join me, I’ll take you to the very top of the world! We’ll show everyone just how strong we really are!” Marcus held out his hand, and then, remembering a fact about Bagons from the game Pokedex, he added. “Together we’ll touch the skies. You won’t just fly, I’ll make you soar .”
Bagon stared at him for a long while before climbing to his feet and lifting his head up high.
“Bagon!”
Mark grinned like a devil, and pulled his Pokeball from his pocket.
“Great choice!”
-The Dragon King-
Marcus felt like a million dollar man as he walked out of Eterna Forest, the sunset illuminating his back as he marched home triumphantly, and Bagon marching alongside him.
He was beaten up, the uniform that he’d spent the last two months patching back together was completely ruined, and even with the fancy healing tech they had in this word he was going to be sore for months.
But nothing could ruin his moment. He’d caught a Pokemon. He’d caught a Pokemon ! And more than that, he’d caught a Dragon as his starter! How awesome was that!?
He could already imagine flying over Victory Road on the back of a Salamence.
“We’re gonna take on the whole fucking world!” Mark shouted and raised a fist into the sky. “We’re gonna make it all ours, and no one’s gonna stop us!”
“BAGON!”
-The Dragon King-
Up at the top of Veilstone City, a man watched the news with disappointment.
“Breaking news from Hoenn! The leaders of the terrorist groups, team Aqua and team Magma, have been apprehended. The organizations have been on the ropes for well over a month now, after a series of coordinated strikes by the Hoenn League, led by Champion Steven Stone, on their largest hideouts.
This is following a sharp fall off of both groups’ numbers, after an opposing set of unknown plans was foiled by international trainer Ash Ketchum.”
Magma and Aqua. One wanted to wipe humanity out in a Biblical scale flood, to “cleanse” the word and return it to an “untainted” paradise for Pokemon. The other wanted to expand the world's landmass, pushing back the water, and giving Humanity more land to colonize an exploit. Naturally to make use of the land humanity would have to survive the extreme ecological fallout, and total destruction of established world weather patterns, but Magma seemed to think it was worth the risk.
Of course the public didn’t know of the groups’ true aims, much less how they actually intended to carry them out.
But he did.
The fools. They were so short sighted, and their plans just seemed so… hollow, and…
Unambitious .
The door to the room slid open, casting a ray of light into the dark room. In the doorway was a tall woman with short red hair that curled down the sides of her head and slightly over her face, which matched her bright crimson eyes.
And on the chest of the silver white uniform she wore, a stylized yellow G was emblazoned proudly.
“Leader Cyrus.” Mars said as she stood at attention, hands behind her back. “Charon and Saturn reported in. All of the preparations have finally been completed. We can finally begin.”
“Good.” Was all Cyrus said as he stood up.
Hopefully Maxie and Archie would have access to TV in whatever prison they were being thrown into, that way they could see what real ambition was.
-Chapter End-