Back in the Game [Open]

It was another great day to have an adventure. Zane loved being back at Cherilli Academy for the past few weeks after spending some time with his family at the Village of Dragons over the past summer. He loved his family, but he also loved being a Pokemon trainer. He already had six Pokemon to call his own! He knew he had to train harder, though, for none of them were very strong yet. Plus, he still needed to catch a dragon. He wanted to be well prepared before he made the trek to the lava cave. And then there were classes. If he wanted to stay at the academy, he would have to pass his classes. He was not ready for a journey of his own quite yet. There were too many people at the school to meet!

Yet, he could not resist the urge to play before classes. That was why he had woken up early one Tuesday morning and headed to the park. His Pichu, Tessie, perched on his shoulder as he walked. The two of them always had lots of fun together. When they arrived, the boy took a moment to survey the scene before him. He smiled at all of the playing children. In a way, he was still like a child who loved to play like that. He was glad Tessie was a lot of fun too. He did not want any grumpy Pokemon who would be sticks in the mud!

He was about to step forward to begin his adventure when something caught his eye. Over to the side, he could see two Pokemon sparring with who must have been their trainer standing close by. He gasped when he recognized the Pokemon. They were dragons! He just had to see the up close. "Let's check it," he said to Tessie before moving forward. He stood a couple of yards away and watched the Pokemon's blows. They sure were powerful. He wished he could someday have Pokemon just like that. Their trainer must be pretty amazing. He wondered if he could get some advice from him...

Zane continued to watch the training session with great interest. He noted that both Pokemon were in their second evolutionary stage. He did not know how long it would be until either evolved, but it still took much care to get to that point. Was one of them a starter Pokemon? If so, he was extremely lucky. Dragons were the best type of Pokemon with so many magnificent qualities. He had not seen many around the academy, even those who had a trainer. He wanted to ask this trainer questions, but for once, he decided to not be rude and to wait until they were finished. Besides, he did not want to interrupt a splendid mock battle.

Tessie, on the other hand, was too curious for her own good. The Pichu climbed down his trainer's leg (he was too transfixed to notice) and landed softly on the ground. She kept her eyes on the dragon Pokemon as she bounded forward, stopping just at the edge of the battling space. <Hey, guys!> she said. <That looks like fun.> She wished she could battle like that!

The little Pichu jumped in surprise when flames were shot in the air and started to fall down. Oh no! She had not meant to cause that sort of trouble. She was too frozen with fear to do anything, so she was grateful that the Dragonair came to protect her. When it was all over, she let out a breath she did not realize she had been holding. <S-sorry,> she stammered. <I won't do it again. Some lessons had to be learned the hard way, and this was one of them. At least no one had been seriously injure in this episode.

Zane had not noticed Tessie's actions until the dragon Pokemon aimed their attacks at the sky.He looked down in surprise at the Pichu. He then took several steps back just to make sure he would be safe from the fire. "That was a close one," he murmured. He looked up at the other trainer with a small frown. "You're right. I'll make sure she understands." Risks could be fun, but he did not want to teach his Pokemon to be reckless. He stepped forward and picked up Tessie in his arms. "It's alright now. We'll talk about this later." He bet she would not do something like that again after having such a scare, but he wanted to make sure. He placed her on his shoulder before meeting the trainer's gaze once more. "Nice to meet you. I'm Zane Lathurna from Kalos." He paused before continuing. "Those moves were pretty impressive. You have some strong dragon Pokemon."

Zane was impressed by the way Yami's Pokemon listened to him so well and the bond the three of them seemed to share. That was what he wanted with his Pokemon. He and Tessie were pretty close, but they could do better at being in sync. He was sure it would come with time and hard work. He blinked at the sudden question. What did he want? Oh yeah, he did want to ask him some questions. He had been too distracted by his fascination to remember. He tried to think what exactly he wanted to say, and then he smiled when words came to him. "Well, I want to become a dragon master, but I'm a new trainer and don't have any dragon Pokemon yet. So I was wondering... Where did you find yours? Is there anything special about them I need to know to train them?" He stopped himself before he blurted out more questions. He did not want to overwhelm the guy.

Tessie continued to watch the other Pokemon curiously from her trainer's shoulder. She still wanted to talk to them, but she figured it was best to be quiet and stay up here for now. She did not want any more fire to come out on them and rain down on her!

Zane was not usually a good listener, but this was an exception. This was important. He listened quietly to Yami, soaking up everything like a dry leaf in a rain puddle. Also uncharacteristically, he paused to reflect on his words. He had to be strong? That was something he had to work on. It was not that he was particularly weak. Rather, he was more concerned with having fun and enjoying life than building up strength. He supposed that he would have to make some changes if he wanted to achieve his goals. "Ok. We can be strong, right?" The Pichu on her shoulder grinned and nodded.

Zane became curious at the mention of the eggs. Why had he not thought of that before? He was not ready to venture to the lava cave just yet, but he was certainly capable of caring for a baby dragon. Perhaps he would stop by the shop later and pick himself up an egg. The thought excited him. "Ok. Thank you very much. That was helpful." He would have to figure out the training thing once he actually had a dragon Pokemon. He paused as he glanced down at the Dragonair and Shelgon. "You can get back to training if you want." He did not want to keep him from such an important task, and he would not mind further observation - if he was allowed.

Zane looked at each of the Pokemon in awe. He had never seen so many dragon types together outside of the Valley of Dragons. This brought back fond memories of home. The Absol was the odd one out, but he still looked pretty cool as well. All of the Pokemon appeared strong, and even the babies seemed to have a toughness about them. "It looks like you've been taking great care of them," he mused. He was impressed. Then he looked around at them again and offered them a smile. "Hello, everyone. It's nice to meet you."

Tessie found the Pokemon quite interesting as well. She blinked at the Gible. <Funny? You have a fin on your head.> She was not mad, though. She did not get annoyed easily. She climbed down her trainer's back to get a better look at everyone. <I'm an electric type.> Sparks bounced from one pink cheek to another as she spoke. <I've got lots of friends too.> She turned around to face her trainer. <Show them!>

Zane thought he could tell what his Pichu was thinking. His team seemed inadequate compared to Yami's, so he was hesitant to bring them out. However, if some of the Pokemon here wanted to make some new friends, he was not going to get in the way. He decided to address the Pokemon themselves to make it less embarrassing. "Ok, want to meet my friends?" He juggled five Pokeballs in his hands and threw them in the air to release the Pokemon inside.

The Sewaddle scurried to Zane's side, looking at Yami's Pokemon nervously. His trainer glanced down at him. "This is Jimmy. And that's Nanuk." He nodded at the Cubchoo that was clinging to his other leg. He knew ice was a dragon type's weakness, so he hoped they were all fine with that.

A Turtwig bounded over to stand next to Tessie. <Hello, everyone!> she said.

Zane smiled. "Ah, that's Holly." A Stantler stood off to the side, tilting his head curiously. "That's Bucky. I hatched him from an egg. Lastly is Ellie." A Torchic walked over to Tessie's other side and stared at the new faces, though she did not speak. Zane glanced back at Yami and shrugged. "We still have a lot of training to do, but like I said, we've only gotten started recently."

Bucky blinked at the Gible's words. He had no idea what he was talking about. <You're the funny one with the shark fin on your head.> What was it for, anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be a dragon? He shook. There was still much he did not understand about the world.

Zane wished he could understand what the Pokemon were saying. Some of them seemed to be afraid of each other, but there was no obvious conflict. He glanced at Yami when he mentioned sparring. Oh, fun. He had not been asked to leave, so he assumed it would be alright if he and his Pokemon watched from the side. It would be good for all of them to learn from more experienced Pokemon and their trainer. He was not one to usually stand aside patiently, but this was an exception. He was on a mission."Stand back, you guys." He wanted to make sure something like the incident with Tessie did not happen again. So far, everything seemed good.

Ellie grew excited when the Dratini was asked to use Flame Thrower. That was an attack she wanted to use someday! Nanuk hesitantly moved to stand beside her. He too wanted to see this, though he was interested in the Ice Beam. Both Pokemon looked on in awe as the attacks collided.