For a Brighter Future, for raichu100
Title: For a Brighter Future
Author: abarero
Rating: G
Verse: Pokemon Black Gameverse
Characters: Drayden, Iris
Summary: Drayden expected many things on a snowy night, but a young girl on his doorstep wasn’t one of them. For raichu100.
Warnings: None.
It had snowed the night before, and although the city was working on its high-tech ways to prevent there being snowdrifts on his doorstep that morning, Drayden still expected it to be there simply out of habit. It was always like that on the first day of winter- snow on his doorstep and some over-eager trainers nagging him to face them at the gym so they could move on to someplace warmer.
What he hadn’t expected was to find a young child there instead.
She was all purple hair and determined smiles when he looked down at her, and when he asked her where her parents were, she replied without hesitation that she didn’t have any. It was then he noticed the tattered clothing and the scuffs on her elbows, and most noticeably to him at least, the distinct indentation of dragon teeth scraped against her bare leg.
“I presume you’re having trouble with a dragon and someone sent you to me, is that it?”
“I am having trouble with a dragon, but I came here all by myself.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Iris and I’d like to learn to be a dragon master like you.”
To say he was surprised would be a vast understatement, and as a gym leader and mayor, Drayden had his fair share of surprises. He invited the girl in, for it was too cold to chat on doorsteps, and asked her to elaborate on her problem. A man known for giving everything to developing the city and his pursuit of strength as a gym leader, Drayden had never found the time for romance or children; but as Iris explained to him how she was orphaned, how she’d always dreamed of training dragons because they were the strongest and could protect anyone who needed protecting, and how much she looked up to him and wished she had a father like him, he felt himself for once in his life thinking that perhaps a protégée wouldn’t be too bad.
“It’s my Axew, Drayden Sir, he just won’t listen to me even after I got him to go in the pokeball. Every time I call him out, he gets angry and bites at me.”
Drayden offered the girl a rare smile, if she could see it hiding behind his mustache, and held out his hand for the pokeball in question.
He released the Axew and it snarled at Iris before running towards Dradyen’s legs. He chuckled, and after all the stress and strain of his work on the city, felt a lightness he hadn’t in years spark in his heart.
“Ah, it seems this one is intimidated by you,” he explained, reaching down to pat the dragon on its head.
Iris’s eyes went wide when she saw how easily he interacted with the pokemon.
“How did you do that?”
“Just capturing a pokemon doesn’t capture their spirit. Axew let you capture her because she saw something in you and trusted you enough to treat her well. Now, you need to work on your bond of friendship.”
Iris seemed to pout at that, and sulkily crossed her arms. “But that’s what I’ve been doing. I told Axew she’d help me become a gym leader some day!.”
Drayden looked to the stubborn girl then back to the dragon. “Is that what Axew wants though? Perhaps your dreams are still a little too lofty for her to help you with.”
The girl seemed to contemplate this before finally reaching a hand out towards the pokemon.
“Okay Axew, I guess first we should be friends right?”
The pokemon seemed to hesitate a moment before it slowly stepped out from behind Drayden’s leg. He softly encouraged her.
“Good. You see, Axew was afraid that you just caught her because you wanted to be powerful. She was afraid she was being used. The most important thing in training a pokemon is to remember balance. You must be a team, you must listen to your pokemon if you expect them to listen to you, and most importantly…” Drayden knelt down to the level of the two, “you must seek the same future together.”
Iris nodded in understanding before crouching down in front of Axew.
“Axew, I want to be a strong trainer and a gym leader that specializes in dragon types like you. If we work together, I’m sure we can make it even if we’re both really small right now. Do you want to help me get there?”
At this, Axew hesitated no longer and ran forward into the girl’s waiting arms.
As Drayden looked down at Iris smiling as Axew licked slobbery dragon licks all over her face, he pulled out a small phone and made a few calls.
“Kim, it’s Drayden. I have a few favors to ask. No, this is an odd one. I need a small bed, perhaps with purple bedsheets, and a veteran trainer such as yourself, to coach a young girl. Are you up for it?”
And even with the snow still falling on the city (he’d have to get back to work on the paperwork for that technology) Drayden knew that with a trainer like Iris to follow after him, the future of Opelucid City would be nothing but bright.
Author: abarero
Rating: G
Verse: Pokemon Black Gameverse
Characters: Drayden, Iris
Summary: Drayden expected many things on a snowy night, but a young girl on his doorstep wasn’t one of them. For raichu100.
Warnings: None.
It had snowed the night before, and although the city was working on its high-tech ways to prevent there being snowdrifts on his doorstep that morning, Drayden still expected it to be there simply out of habit. It was always like that on the first day of winter- snow on his doorstep and some over-eager trainers nagging him to face them at the gym so they could move on to someplace warmer.
What he hadn’t expected was to find a young child there instead.
She was all purple hair and determined smiles when he looked down at her, and when he asked her where her parents were, she replied without hesitation that she didn’t have any. It was then he noticed the tattered clothing and the scuffs on her elbows, and most noticeably to him at least, the distinct indentation of dragon teeth scraped against her bare leg.
“I presume you’re having trouble with a dragon and someone sent you to me, is that it?”
“I am having trouble with a dragon, but I came here all by myself.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Iris and I’d like to learn to be a dragon master like you.”
To say he was surprised would be a vast understatement, and as a gym leader and mayor, Drayden had his fair share of surprises. He invited the girl in, for it was too cold to chat on doorsteps, and asked her to elaborate on her problem. A man known for giving everything to developing the city and his pursuit of strength as a gym leader, Drayden had never found the time for romance or children; but as Iris explained to him how she was orphaned, how she’d always dreamed of training dragons because they were the strongest and could protect anyone who needed protecting, and how much she looked up to him and wished she had a father like him, he felt himself for once in his life thinking that perhaps a protégée wouldn’t be too bad.
“It’s my Axew, Drayden Sir, he just won’t listen to me even after I got him to go in the pokeball. Every time I call him out, he gets angry and bites at me.”
Drayden offered the girl a rare smile, if she could see it hiding behind his mustache, and held out his hand for the pokeball in question.
He released the Axew and it snarled at Iris before running towards Dradyen’s legs. He chuckled, and after all the stress and strain of his work on the city, felt a lightness he hadn’t in years spark in his heart.
“Ah, it seems this one is intimidated by you,” he explained, reaching down to pat the dragon on its head.
Iris’s eyes went wide when she saw how easily he interacted with the pokemon.
“How did you do that?”
“Just capturing a pokemon doesn’t capture their spirit. Axew let you capture her because she saw something in you and trusted you enough to treat her well. Now, you need to work on your bond of friendship.”
Iris seemed to pout at that, and sulkily crossed her arms. “But that’s what I’ve been doing. I told Axew she’d help me become a gym leader some day!.”
Drayden looked to the stubborn girl then back to the dragon. “Is that what Axew wants though? Perhaps your dreams are still a little too lofty for her to help you with.”
The girl seemed to contemplate this before finally reaching a hand out towards the pokemon.
“Okay Axew, I guess first we should be friends right?”
The pokemon seemed to hesitate a moment before it slowly stepped out from behind Drayden’s leg. He softly encouraged her.
“Good. You see, Axew was afraid that you just caught her because you wanted to be powerful. She was afraid she was being used. The most important thing in training a pokemon is to remember balance. You must be a team, you must listen to your pokemon if you expect them to listen to you, and most importantly…” Drayden knelt down to the level of the two, “you must seek the same future together.”
Iris nodded in understanding before crouching down in front of Axew.
“Axew, I want to be a strong trainer and a gym leader that specializes in dragon types like you. If we work together, I’m sure we can make it even if we’re both really small right now. Do you want to help me get there?”
At this, Axew hesitated no longer and ran forward into the girl’s waiting arms.
As Drayden looked down at Iris smiling as Axew licked slobbery dragon licks all over her face, he pulled out a small phone and made a few calls.
“Kim, it’s Drayden. I have a few favors to ask. No, this is an odd one. I need a small bed, perhaps with purple bedsheets, and a veteran trainer such as yourself, to coach a young girl. Are you up for it?”
And even with the snow still falling on the city (he’d have to get back to work on the paperwork for that technology) Drayden knew that with a trainer like Iris to follow after him, the future of Opelucid City would be nothing but bright.