Chapter Text
He could see it now, the Sealed Sanctum looming in the distance like a root-covered castle.
Walking along the ancient intricate bridge, he ran a hand along the crumbling ancient stone railing. It truly did feel like everything he had done up to this point had led to this moment. His team had gotten him this far, and they had to, needed to be good enough.
If they weren’t, the world would end.
There were challenges inside the World Tree, because of course there were. A mighty Dandilord, a swift Silvance, and a battle in an ancient science facility against genetic clones of the tower bosses, but one by one his best pals got him through unscathed. Through poisonous air, shadow fights, angry electric pals, and bitter cold, they made it through.
He remembered what Auri said. This was his fate, his destiny. She didn’t know who she was waiting for until he came along. Now that he was here, he couldn’t help but agree. It certainly felt like fate to him.
Readying himself, he opened his pack and the key spheres floated out.
It was time. He thought as the sanctum door slowly opened.
————
It was a tense silence as he made his way down an ancient pathway, but Drew was confident in the skills of his pals and his own combat reflexes.
Upon entering the inner sanctum, he saw the large creature, as well as a woman sleeping against it. Unsure as to what was supposed to happen, he closed the distance.
That seemed to be the wrong thing to do, as the moment he made a sound, both of them woke up.
Oh… damn… He thought as the creature rose and got larger… and larger… and larger.
Sure, it wasn’t as large as Panthalus, but as the smell of ozone and the pressure of pure power he hadn’t felt before slammed into his senses, he knew that he was standing in front of something different.
Something… otherworldly.
As the creature engulfed the woman and the two of them fused together in a blinding flash of light and became one, Drew released all five of his strongest. Hisses, roars, grunts, and a soft hum resounded around him as he drew his bow and readied a soralite arrow.
One way or another, this ended now.
————
Sultan was the first to fall, but it wasn’t his fault. The opponent they were up against was just too overwhelmingly strong.
“Sultan! Rocky impact! Blueberry, draw its attention! Solaris, Beam Slicer!” he yelled out from his spot behind Cybele, who was floating in front of him protectively with a barrier of energy.
Sultan was holding his own as well as expected, the extremely powerful Anubis raising spires of rock to protect the team, creating and dancing through massive cyclones of dust and sand, and speeding around the battlefield with the swiftness he had always had. Staying ahead of the fight had been his speciality after all, and his precise and deadly strikes had always been a staple of his fighting style.
Dancing around the beams of Light as Blueberry drew the attention of the Calamity, Drew watched in pure pride as the Anubis jumped high into the air, sailing in towards the large creature. Smirking, he saw him closing the distance even as a beam of draconic energy slammed into it-
-only for Sultan to receive a beam of pure energy lancing out from one of the creature’s many arms, slamming into his friend and sending him flying back. Slamming into the ground in front of him, Drew looked down in horror at his first true fighter laid there on the damp stone bleeding and broken.
————
Meeting the Anubis that became such a staple of his combat team was an… interesting encounter.
It was early in his journey, and he was still such a novice at everything. The chill of the night still bit at him, and the unbearable heat of the desert sun wasn’t something he was prepared for at all.
He had some pals that were decent enough at fighting, but none that he would consider by the end to be truly prodigious. His Wispaw, Mittens, was trying his best to keep him safe through the swarms of exploding birds and the… Pink grabby ones that by the time the sun was high overhead and Drew realized that he was out of water, it was far too late.
He did his best to make it out of the seemingly endless desert, truly he did, but somehow he ended up at a statue. It was an absolutely massive hunk of stone, depicting a pal that he had never seen before. Staring up in delirious wonder, he heard a shuffle in the sand behind him.
Snarling, the exhausted Mittens summoned his ghostly arms and the two of them spun around to see-
He gripped his makeshift sword tightly.
It was the same pal from the statue, and it looked huge and freshly ready for a fight, but it did something that surprised the pal gamer immensely.
It began to talk with Mittens.
Drew could only sit and glance between the two, keeping his guard up as they talked. Growls, mewls, hisses, and grunts could be heard, and not for the first time did Drew wish he could somehow speak pal.
Then, in a turn of events that Drew could never have seen coming, the large and imposing pal reached behind it… and gently cradled another one.
This one was wrong though. Even a quick glance showed that it was tiny. Sickly. It wouldn’t survive the night. Neither would he, though, but before he could say anything else, the pal led him to a small hidden alcove under the statue. With a stomp of its foot, the rock slid open and-
Water.
Sweet, delicious water flowing from hidden springs and then sliding back underneath the ground without so much as a splash.
Abandoning all sense of wariness, Drew and Mittens rushed over and started drinking as much as they could. Gulp after gulp of life saving-water caused him to laugh after a few moments. Filling his two water skins, he slouched back in the desert sun and took a long moment to realize that he was saved by yet another bout of luck.
He turned his head to see the new pal, his savior, and smiled. “Thank you, truly.”
A grunt from the new pal, and Drew turned around fully as the larger one set the sickly one down on the ground. Dipping its head low, it gave Mittens one last piercing look before it turned around and began to walk away.
Drew blinked, before looking at Mittens who was giving him a fang-filled smile.
With careful motions, he lifted a pal sphere and captured the baby, careful not to worry the mother who watched with an unreasonable amount of intelligence. She nodded, then began to walk away.
I still couldn’t believe that a pal would trust a pal tamer, even if Mittens had my back. Shaking my head, I tapped the sphere on the weakly panting pal, watching as it was consumed into the ball.
Not even a shake.
“Don’t worry, new buddy…” He picked up the sphere after it dropped onto the dusty desert ground. “We have medicine back home. I’ll get you fixed up, good as new...” Drew said, happily drinking from the water skin as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
Looking up to the sun, which was still high up, he groaned. This was going to be a long walk back.
————
“Sultan, no!” Drew screamed, his voice cracking as he fell to his knees in front of his pal, his sphere out in case he needed to return him to get more urgent help later. “Blueberry! Keep it busy!”
A roar came from his normally serene Broncherry Aqua and a cataclysmic torrent of water came from the blue dinosaur, slamming into the calamity.
His voice caught in his throat as he looked to his Lyleen Noct pleadingly. “Can you save him?” he begged, hoping against hope that she could.
She smiled warmly, and he saw the barrier drop as the telltale sparkle of her greatest healing power rising to gather around her hands-
-only for an explosion of pure energy to rock the entire platform.
Drew’s energy shield shattered, but he was otherwise left largely untouched as the shockwave rocked the platform he was on. Regrettably, his pals were not similarly shielded.
Cybele was blasted back and slammed her head on a rock, knocking her out cold. Sultan was sent flying as well, but Drew’s battle-tuned reflexes instantly returned him before he could hit anything and hurt himself more.
Damnit, not her too!
————
Cybele.
Wandering the Sakurajima Island late at night was a wondrous experience. It was one of the most peaceful and serene islands of Palapagos for a reason, with the only real threats being the odd wild pal…
… and the stinking ninjas.
Thankfully, for the moment, the Moonflower clan decided to leave him alone. It probably had something to do with the Anubis walking next to him that just beat the ever living crap out of a small division of ninjas that decided to test their luck.
He would need to do something to humble them soon. They were getting bolder.
Suddenly, two creatures began to sing as they slowly floated down from the cliff above to block his path.
The first figure floated down from the cliff above, a graceful, pale-green creature with long, flowing limbs and three orange flowers adorning her head. Her leafy hair and delicate, petal-like features gave her an almost fairy-like appearance as she drifted gently toward him.
Beside her descended another feminine figure that looked almost identical at first glance, though her dark navy coloring and teal flowers gave her a far more mysterious appearance. She floated down with the same effortless grace, her long hair and petals trailing behind her as she slowly approached.
Drew knew about these pals. They were famous. Lyleen and Lyleen Noct. Both were pals that fiercely protected pals and did not tolerate those who disturb those they deem troublemakers.
Sultan stepped up next to the pal tamer, seemingly relaxed but alert at the interruption.
Unsure what to do exactly, Drew kept his hands away from his sword and bow.
The two creatures smiled brightly at him, turning to each other and nodding. Two eggs floated out on flowing lily flowers, hovering directly in front of him.
Drew blinked, looking at the offering in amazement. The offer was clear but the reasoning wasn’t. “What? You pals are usually so protective of your young…”
I will ignore all the random abandoned eggs on the sides of cliffs.
The two held hands and smiled before floating away without another word.
He looked to Sultan for an explanation, who did his best to interpret with growls, wild gestures, and a few pictures drawn in the dirt.
“Wait, hold on, let me get this straight… The two of them wish for me to take care of their young because they have heard of my kindness from other pals?” he said, looking down at the two eggs in disbelief.
Sultan nodded, reaching over and gently gripping his shoulder in support.
While it was extremely touching to know that even elsewhere, his good treatment of his pals was becoming well known to them, there was something that was not clicking in his mind for the longest time. He stared at the eggs for a good five minutes as his brain struggled to process the information he was given. He stood there for a long time, his mouth opening and closing before his mind finally caught up to everything.
“One of them was male?!?” he yelled out loudly, and Sultan burst out laughing.
Placing the green egg in the bag, Drew stopped before he looked at the black and red one. He felt a connection with it, something he couldn’t quite place yet. The last time he felt like this was…
He looked towards Sultan, who was already returning to his vigilant watch.
Nodding to himself, he placed the other egg in the bag gently, wrapping them both in an extra multiclimate shirt. Smiling, he ran a finger along the egg the whole way home.
————
Attacking Cybele was a bad idea in most cases. While she wasn’t the most durable of his pals, she was definitely the most beloved by the team.
Especially…
His Venusa let out a loud screech as her snake-hair hissed violently. The scent of ozone and power was immediately and entirely replaced with the bitter scent of poison.
Her hair all opened their mouths as the largest plume of poison smoke left her and engulfed the creature entirely. Drew knew for a fact that the damn thing should be blinded and poisoned at the same time right now as a prelude to her surprisingly powerful dark blasts, but he was a bit worried about the effectiveness of the normally strong strategy. For one thing, the calamity did not have a mouth or nose as far as Drew could tell.
Sadly for his gorgon, he watched as she only grew angrier when the creature seemed unphased. She was an attrition fighter, but this creature was an opponent of pure power. Normally her blinding poison and dark blasts were a devastating combination, but against a being that may not even breathe?
Drew’s eyes narrowed as he readied a grenade.
So, it’s time to fight power with power.
“Solaris! Support her! Meteor Rain! Blueberry, root yourself! We lost Cybele, so you are on your own! Noodles! Dark attacks only!” He yelled as he chucked the grenade before readying an arrow.
The Broncherry Aqua grumbled and buried his roots deep to sustain himself, deciding by himself to drop a seed mine at the monstrosity’s feet at the same time Drew threw his grenade. Meanwhile, his dragon hefted her mighty wings into the air and a rain of powerful meteors fell from above onto the creature… which promptly disappeared the moment my grenade clinked to the ground in front of where it was.
Where- was as far as he got before he saw one of his Venusa’s snakes zero in on something behind him and all six turned at the same time, hissing.
Looking back, he saw a criss-cross of huge energy beams approaching him at a rapid pace. Knowing his shields were down, he threw himself to the ground next to him. He managed to dodge the attack, and from his spot on the ground, he saw the first yelp of pain this creature had let out yet.
It was when a dark bolt of energy from his little gorgon struck true to the woman fused to it.
A yelping hiss came as the creature continued its strafing run. When the pal tamer turned back around, his gorgon was burnt to a smoldering crisp.
————
Noodles.
“Sultan! Spinning Roundhouse on that Bushi!” Drew yelled, rolling out of the way as a few arrows thunked into the bulkhead of the boat he was on.
Ninjas. More friggan ninjas.
He’d always had problems with the Moonflower ninjas, ever since he… Well… broke into all their hideouts to steal their treasure maps.
Looking back on it, their hatred for him was understandable.
Funnily enough, (for him, not the ninjas) he was on this boat because someone back in the old fishing village said that he overheard the sailors of this boat talking about how rich they were going to be once they found the “buried treasure” that their shiny new map was going to lead them to.
Drew should have figured it was a trap, but hey, treasure! Also, the Moonflower clan already despised him, so what’s another transgression on the list?
WHAM!
Watching as a Bushi slammed violently into the wooden bulkhead and its sword clattered to the ground, Drew smirked as the two ninjas bravely made their escape in smoke bombs.
Dusting himself off, the pal tamer made his way deeper into the boat. Down some stairs, around a corner, down some more stairs and-
Shit! was all he could think as a blue katana slammed into his energy shield, the bubble flaring violently and shattering before the Jonin took advantage of the opening to cut a deep slash into his arm. Taking a step back, he hefted his rusty old sword that he forged a long time ago in his off hand and readied himself for a fight, only for Sultan to step up next to him and settle into a combat stance.
“Come on now, Pal Tamer! Have you no honor? You would let your Anubis fight your battles for you?” he said, gripping his sword with both hands as he began to circle him, the clanking of his armor and the sloshing of the waves against the boat filling the silence.
Drew blinked, then laughed loudly. Sultan took that as his signal as he punched the man squarely in the chest before he could even react, sending him flying into the wall with a loud thud.
Gritting his teeth, he released Cybele who appeared in a flash of light. The twilight blue Lyleen Noct immediately zeroed in on the wounds and whimpered before floating down to him. Holding out an arm, a green sparkling magic left her arm as her ability Goddess of the Tranquil Light refreshed both Sultan and the pal tamer.
Watching as his wound stitched together and his pain practically instantly subsided, he looked up to Cybele as she slumped from the effort.
Getting up, he made his way over to her and reached into his bag. “Still struggling with exhaustion from that?” he asked, and she simply nodded. Pulling out some recovery medication, he offered it to Cybele who gently took it with hesitation in her eyes.
Drew snorted. “You got my back, I’ll get yours, ok? We’re a team. We do this together.”
Looking down at the unconscious man, Drew smirked before picking up his shiny blue blade. “I think I’ll be taking this,” he said idly, testing the sharpness with his thumb before being impressed by the razor-sharp metal. Cybele didn’t like that, and whined as she saw the cut he came back with.
Drew rolled his eyes and ignored her. Turning and nodding at Sultan who then proceeded to bury the man in summoned rocks just to make sure he wouldn’t stab him in the back, Drew made his way deeper into the cargo hold.
After searching through several chests and finding nothing of import, he heard several soft hisses coming from around a nearby corner, and a previously unseen cage could be seen behind a few barrels and crates that were sliding around with the sloshing of the ship. Confused, Drew made his way over to it and rolled a barrel out of the way.
There was a pal in the cage crying and hissing. It was a strange one he hadn't seen before. Its dark and light patterned body was partially obscured by the mass of writhing snakes sprouting from its head. The pal was whispering to the snakes as it… she… lay there crying. The snakes twisted and coiled over one another as they writhed, clearly hungry if the lanky and weak appearance was anything to go by. The moment he was noticed, all six of the snakes came to life and hissed at him violently, their mouths opening and fangs showing in a clear defensive stance.
Drew held his arms up. “Hey, hey… I’m not with them,” he said, gesturing to the groaning pile of rocks. Slowly, carefully, he reached into his feed bag and pulled out a Mozzarina Cheeseburger he packed for the journey. He would need to settle for his trail mix for a bit, but that was fine.
Holding out the burger, he watched as the pal and the snakes conversed for a few seconds before one brave one inched forward, and…
*blublblblblbl*
Instantly, Drew watched as both the mouths of all six snakes and the pal’s true mouth started to water. Placing the burger inside the cage, he began to work at the lock. After a few moments with his lockpick, he had it open and looked annoyingly at the box that was preventing it from opening. “Sultan? If you would be so kind?”
The box was promptly added to the pile of things atop the Moonflower Jonin.
“Thanks buddy.” Drew said before yanking the cage door open, he held open a hand to the pal. “Would you like to come with us? I can promise it will be a lot better than whatever they had planned for you.”
The little gorgon seemed unsure of her answer even as she conversed with her snake-hair about it for a second. After a bit, she seemed no closer to making a decision so she turned to Cybele who had just floated over.
A few hisses and a few soft words from Cybele came and went before his Lyleen Noct floated down and hugged Drew tightly.
“Hey!” he yelped before melting into the hug and patting her arm.
The snake-pal watched with wide eyes before Drew thought her head might fall off with how fast she and all six of her snake-heads were nodding. Holding up a pal sphere, the creature was sucked inside. Only one shake before it plopped to the wooden floor of the boat.
Smiling, Drew turned to see Sultan smiling back. Another friend to add to the growing list.
Cybele floated up and smiled, handing him a piece of parchment. Looking at it, he smiled as he saw the telltale signs of yet another treasure map that these ninjas had gotten their hands on. Pocketing it, he began to make his way back out of the boat. Examining his new sword in one hand and the sphere of his new pal in the other, he smiled.
Cybele put her own hand on the sphere and he knew that he’d found something far better than just a treasure map…
————
Throwing a recovery grenade at Noodles before returning her, he patted the spot on his belt before he glanced back up to the fused human-monster. While his little gorgon was down for the count, she gave him the information he needed. This thing wasn’t unstoppable. It had a weak point.
Readying another arrow, he loosed a soralite shaft directly at the woman’s face, only for the creature to deflect it with a flick. Of course it wasn’t that easy.
“Blueberry! Bind it with Spine Vines! Solaris! Blast anything that gets in my way!” he yelled as he readied another arrow and started to close the distance. It was time to end this.
The Broncherry dug his legs into the ground, and the rocks below him cracked and rumbled before massive vines erupted around the creature and wrapped around all six wing-arms and bound them together behind its back. The calamity didn’t seem to appreciate this, and started throwing absolutely everything it could at Blueberry to free itself, but rooted as he was, it was going to take a lot to dislodge him.
Each impact of white-hot energy and burning plasma that slammed into his poor dino ate away at his heart, and he knew that he wouldn’t have long.
————
Blueberry.
Looking at his treasure map, he squinted at it before looking around.
He was back in Free Pal Alliance territory right now, deep in the valleys below the Frostbound Mountains. Thankfully, those crazies knew to give him a wide berth and plenty of room. At this point, he was well known by now as a powerhouse, having defeated several tower bosses, including the FPA’s.
Sadly, his rapidly growing strength as a pal tamer did not make him good at cartography… or navigation…
Turning the map in his hands, he mumbled to himself. “So… if we are here… and the mountain is that way…” he said, looking up, back down, back up, then back down again. “Then the treasure should be somewhere by this lake.” he said as he poked at the map.
Glancing where the lake should be, he blinked before realizing something awful.
The map didn’t tell him the lake was down a cliff, hundreds of feet below him. There were several large but peaceful-looking blue pals down there, but thankfully nothing he spotted that would try and blast him off the cliffside as he was climbing. Just a few grazing Broncherry Aquas.
Sighing, he released Sultan. The Anubis popped out and scanned his surroundings for a few seconds before relaxing.
“Hey buddy, we need to get down there,” Drew pointed, “and I don’t have a flyer. Is there any chance you can spot me as we go? That’s quite a long fall.”
Sultan straightened his posture and nodded.
Slowly, carefully, Drew began to make his way down. Every time he thought he got stuck in an inconvenient spot, Sultan would make a few rocks jut out of the cliff face to give him good footing and a handhold.
I love my pals.
Just as he thought that, the rock his foot was on slipped, and he clenched his hands on his grip, dangling dangerously on the cliff as Sultan whined from above. It took only a second for his footing to come back thanks to Sultan, but the threat of almost falling caused his heart to beat rapidly in his chest.
He ignored the weird whining noises coming from below and could only hope that he hadn’t somehow disturbed the nest of the most violent Broncherry alive.
After about ten minutes of slowly shimmying his way down the cliff face, Drew plopped down on the shore of the lake below.
Dusting himself off, he returned Sultan and patted his sphere. “Thanks, buddy. You’re the best.”
Looking at the map, he followed the shore around the lake for a few minutes before he came to the spot where it said the treasure was buried. Looking around, he found nothing of particular note here other than a large rock. Shrugging and knowing that the rock was probably the landmark of whoever placed the treasure here, he started to look around. Sure enough, he found a small indent in the dirt next to it.
Jackpot.
Re-releasing Sultan, I smiled. “There’s treasure here, buddy. Mind revealing it?”
He smiled, then stomped his foot on the ground. After a few moments, the dirt parted like sand being blown away and a small chest was revealed. Drew smiled and worked on the lock with his pick.
Let's see what we have this time…
Popping the chest open, he looked inside and got a stupid grin on his face. Gold, and a lot of it. Stuffing the coins into his bag, he idly groaned at the thought that he would need to carry this much metal up the cliff and back out of the canyon, but at the bottom, there was a folded-up piece of paper.
Frowning, he opened it up.
A schematic recipe for a… mechanical bow?
Shrugging, he pocketed that too. Dusting himself off, he made his way back to the cliff face. Just as he was about to start, he heard a happy but deep grumble behind him.
Turning around, he saw one of the Broncherry had made its way over to him and was smiling. Vines snaked out of its back as it created a ladder for me.
A happy and surprisingly high-pitched trill came from it as the creature looked very proud of itself. Drew smiled back and petted the Broncherry on the little water drop gem on its neck. The large but helpful creature happily pressed itself forward into his touch.
“You’re a friendly one, aren’t you?” Drew said with a warm feeling in his chest. Wild pals are usually rather skittish or aggressive, but this one was just so affectionate.
Holding up a pal sphere, he offered it to the Broncherry Aqua. “Would you like to come with me?”
The pal nodded rapidly, booping the sphere itself and capturing itself inside.
Drew couldn't help but laugh. What a strange capture that was.
————
Each impact of his feet on the cracked rocky ground was another second where Blueberry was being pelted with a barrage from a god. He knew that if they survived this, he owed the dino the biggest off day he could give him.
He was staring hatefully at the woman in the chest of this creature, losing another arrow that sailed wide by only an inch and scratched the seemingly impenetrable hide of the monster. He idly noted his shield was recharged and had returned to him, but the information did not give him any comfort with three of his pals down.
He was starting to get close, and she noticed.
The woman in the chest of the creature saw him racing toward her with murderous intent fueled by each pained yelp of his dino, and her eyes widened. The creature reacted to her panic with a panic of its own. Glowing brightly, the creature took in what could only be described as a deep breath before unleashing its pent-up energy.
Widening his eyes at the apocalyptic wave of pure light in front of him, Drew brought up his arm and flinched, but he could see the speedy flash of something black and red landing right in front of him.
Solaris unleashed an energy of her own, letting out the most massive Blazing Beam he had ever seen from her. Wanting to help as much as he could, he quickly took out his megaboost gun and shot his pal.
The white-hot beam instantly grew to twice its original size as his dragon roared in an absolute fury. He could tell she was putting absolutely everything she had into this.
She did well as she held off the cataclysmic beam she was up against, but it wasn’t long before the final detonation that Blazing Beam was known for was set off and destabilized the fight. A huge shockwave rocked the arena, sending everyone except for Drew flying away from the epicenter.
His shield shattered again as it took the force of the blast, and he watched as Solaris intentionally angled herself away from him so she didn’t crash into him. She was sent flying back into a cracked rock and slumped, and Blueberry finally collapsed, whiplashing from the shockwave before slumping in place due to his roots.
————
Solaris.
“There’s no way. Nope! I don’t believe you!” he yelled at the two pals.
Lucy the Lyleen and Rockem the Knocklem both looked properly chastised, but they still remained close as Rockem did his best to shield his mate from Drew’s wrath. Sadly for the two lovebirds, Noodles was right behind him, ever the loyal pal attuned to his emotions. Her snake hair was hissing wildly, upset at the mere fact that he was upset and the exhaustion of the fight the two of them were just in.
He had just returned from a successful bounty hunt, and Noodles, Blueberry, and Cybele, Lucy’s sister, were right behind him.
“There is no way that-” he gestured to the egg that was half the size of the mother- “came from this!” he said, gesturing to the Lyleen. “Who did you steal this egg from?”
Lucy blushed and tried her absolute best to convey that she loves her mate and wouldn't stray from him. Rockem was furious at the idea that they would go and steal someone else's egg. Sadly for them, Drew had another point to make.
“It’s purple! Neither of you are purple!” he shouted, before pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing. Walking over, he placed his hand on the egg, only to hiss as the egg was burning hot. “Alright look, let’s get it in the incubator and I’ll get the real details out of you two later.”
The two protested as he gestured for Noodles to carry the egg.
Noodles slithered up, scenting the egg with her six snakes before having her hair gently carry it towards the nursery. He was a bit jealous for only a few seconds at how she didn’t even flinch at the pain, but long ago noticed how durable his pals were.
His base was getting large now, and a great many pals were all scurrying about as they went about their tasks. It was rather funny to Drew. He never actually told them to do anything, and yet somehow his home had become a veritable storm of pals all doing different tasks to help him with one thing or another. He also couldn’t help but notice how many of them were taking orders from Wiggles.
I guess seniority has its place even amongst pals…
Shrugging, he followed Noodles into the nursery. Sadly for him, it seemed like his plans were about to be derailed as the egg cracked, then shattered instantly. The too-damn-large-for-a-newborn-creature opened its mouth immediately upon hatching, loosing a massive torrent of flames into the air. Its large, fiery body unfurled and instantly ignited into a warm flame as the egg slime from its birthing smoldered and smoked around it, filling the air with an oddly delicious-smelling scent. It locked eyes with me and I immediately knew that it thought I was its mama.
Oh no-
Curling around Drew against his consent, the newborn that was already massive wrapped its fiery wings around him and started to nuzzle his face. Oddly enough, the flames licked and kissed his clothes, but none of it burned as the heat was dimmed around him.
Before he could even think about what was happening, a loud hissing came from where Noodles was and he could see her absolutely drenched in egg slime. Rockem was laughing, Lucy was blushing, and the newborn dragon was cooing in Drew’s ears.
He could only give the two lovebirds a death glare and promise retribution for the inevitable angry mama-dragon that came looking for its young.
————
The monstrosity slumped from the detonation of Solaris’s massive attack, and Drew took the time to return his last two pals to their spheres. It didn’t take long before the creature began gathering energy again though, and the pal tamer was out of time.
It still looked off, like it was going to take a while for it to shake itself off from the massive blast that had just rocked it. Even in defeat, Solaris bought him a chance.
It was now or never. All his pals were gone and he was out of time. He reached back for another arrow, only to find nothing in his quiver.
Damnit! He thought in his mind as he unsheathed his sword. It was now or never, and he was out of time. The energy charging from this creature was charging fast, and he knew he didn’t have the time to close the distance on foot.
Pulling out his grappling gun, he shot it at the creature’s feet as he knew there was no way he would get a grip on that monster’s scales. Sailing through the air, he had the woman in his sights.
“A-Astralym! Stop him! Now!” She finally spoke, her voice gravelly, as if it hadn’t been used in a very, very long time.
Not that Drew gave a damn as he sailed through the air. Letting go of his grappling gun, he let his momentum take him the rest of the way.
The energy gathered, but the creature for the first time since the fight started was too slow.
SLLLCKKK. The blade slid true. Drew was face to face with the woman, and he saw her mouth opening and closing from the shock of being stabbed. Blood spilled out of her mouth, and he couldn’t help but think that this was the first time she ever felt pain before.
So, he twisted the sword.
Gritting his teeth, he watched as the same light from the creature filled her own eyes, and he had only a quick moment to think one thing before everything went white.
We did it.
————
Brawly was happily running along the beaches outside of Dewford Town as he did every morning, his feet dully impacting the sand as he took in the early morning air. Running beside him was a little Machop, a member of his zero-badge team that he was using this year.
He didn’t have any gym battles scheduled this week, so for once he had time to let loose and prepare to catch some waves! Life right now was calm, which usually wasn’t the case during the league year.
Oh well, he thought happily. Might as well enjoy the peace while it las-
BANG
Stumbling back, a white burst of energy erupted on the shore about a mile down the coastline. Blinking, the gym leader instantly fell into ‘protector of Dewford’ mode and brought out a Poké Ball from his personal team. Releasing his Hariyama, the massive fighter alertly looked around.
“Follow me, Hari. Something happened up ahead.” Brawly said, and the unusual seriousness of his tone was easily picked up by his strongest Pokémon.
Returning the machop and sprinting ahead, he eventually found…
What the…? Is that… a man?
Lying in a glassed crater, sure enough, was an armored man with the strangest outfit Brawly had ever seen. Around him were five large and intricate blue crystals and a strange-looking piece of equipment that had a rope sticking out of it…
But the weirdest part was the katana embedded in the glass and the bow.
He looked at Hariyama and only had one thought.
Well, there goes my off week.