-ASH GOES TO DRAGONLAND-

A POKEMON/ DRAGONTALES CROSSOVER STORY

Ash had just finished his gym fight on Cinnabar Island, clutching the Volcano badge firmly in the palm of his hand. His battle with Leader Blaine had been a fierce one, luckily however he had his trusty Dragonair by his side to tip the scales of the battle. Standing on the shore, Ash looked out to the ocean ahead of him. Brock and Misty would be waiting for him back at the campsite, he wanted to savour this moment for as long as he could. Their adventure through Kanto up until this point has been a personal peak for him in his mind, and he wanted their their journey to never end. Only one Gym to go, and then he would be facing the Elite Four, then hopefully with luck, the Pokémon champion. Ash breathed in the balmy seaside air and took in the glimmering sunset in front of him. He could stand here forever. He opened his eyes and took a Pokeball from his belt.

"Pikachu?" asked Pikachu, wondering what Ash was going to do. Ash grinned.

"Dragonite, I choose you!" Ash released Dragonite from it's Pokeball. The chunky orange Dragon stretched it's wings. Their fight had been one of their hardest ones yet, yet Dragonite was more raring to go than ever. It looked at Ash, ears perking up as it's eyes adjusted to the orange sunlight.

"Dragonnnn Dragoniiiite?" Ash beamed.

"Thanks for having our backs there, Dragonite. We really would be unable to beat Blaine and his team without you. It means a lot, really!" Dragonite flapped his wings cheerfully.

"Dragonite!" One thing about Ash that his Pokemon really appreciated was his dynamic. When he praised them for doing a good job he meant it, and they could see it in his eyes. Whenever one of his Pokemon screwed up or they lost a match, Ash was unafraid of disciplining them. But Dragonite never had to be punished, which was a record for one of Ash's pets. Even Pikachu, Ash's best friend, had to be beaten once in a while. Dragonite began to nuzzle his master in gratitude, but Ash quickly became distracted. Something out on the ocean waves had caught his eye. Something shining just a little more than the waves themselves. He put his hand to his brow and squinted, trying to make it out against the harsh sun. Dragonite tilted it's head out of curiosity. Ash put his hand to his hip, scowling a bit.

"Hey Dragonite, do you think you can fly me out to that spot over there in the ocean?" Ash motioned in the general vicinity of the mysterious object. Dragonite craned it's head trying to see what Ash was seeing, but gave up nodding. It bowed it's head begging Ash to get on. Without thinking, Ash climbed onto Dragonite's back with little difficulty,

"Alright, let's go check out what that shiny object is, I just have a... strange feeling about this, c'mon." Ash had a strange feeling come over him over this mysterious object. Dragonite quickly took off into the summer air with Ash in tow, leaving Pikachu behind on the beach to watch. As Ash and Dragonite travelled farther out to sea, the air started to become colder. Ash soon realized that the object that they were chasing must have been a greater distance away than it had initially appeared, and he shivered in spite of the brightness of the sun. After several minutes of flying, they began to approach the object in question. It was much larger than it had appeared from the shore, yet it was still difficult to tell exactly what it was due to the constant motion of the waves. Ash had Dragonite swoop down next to it several times as he attempted to fish it out of the water, but it still took many tries. At one point he managed to brush his hand against it briefly; it was solid like rock and smooth almost as if it were fashioned out of a strange porcelain, whatever it was. Finally, Ash was able to maintain a grip on the object and managed to pull it out of the water by his fingertips. He tucked the object into his vest so it wouldn't fall to back to it's shallow grave. As Dragonite returned to shore, Ash took it back out and held it to the light. Now that he could it inspect it more closely, he could make out the details of what lie in his hand. It appeared to be some sort of rock at first glance, but it wasn't like any rock Ash had ever seen. And yet, somehow, it was still familiar…

The object was an iridescent blue-lavender gradient color that sparkled rainbows when hit properly with light. This didn't seem like a shell or rock any sort… the ridges along the edge and strange texture implied almost a... dragon scale. Dragonite landed and looked back at the scale Ash held in his hand with curiosity.

"Here, Dragonite, you didn't lose a scale did you?" Dragonite sniffed the scale in ash's hand as Pikachu ran up eagerly to greet them.

"Dragonite!" it exclaimed.

"Well this definitely is a dragon type pokémon's scale regardless, isn't it? Maybe we should take this to the Pokemon Lab tomorrow morning, it's here on Cinnabar Island anyway so it can't hurt. What do you think?

"Dragonnnnn!"

"Pikachu!" Ash smiled.

"Alright then, it's agreed. Tomorrow morning we're going to the Pokémon Lab!

Ash stretched out on his camping mat. He hadn't gotten much sleep last night. He turned over ready to fall back asleep but the smell of Brock's cooking got the best of him. Brock might've been a womanizing pig, but boy, did he ever know how to fry up smoked Bidoof. Ash rose lazily, almost forgetting to tuck the scale he had found yesterday in his backpack.

"Breakfast is ready!" chimed Brock as he moved the last of the smoked meat from the camper grill to their respective plates. "Dig in before it gets cold!" Ash's stomach grumbled

"Don't mind if I do..." he mused as he dug into the tender meat. As he chewed a forkful of the meat, Pikachu nosed his way up to Ash from his bowl of Poké-kibble.

"Alright, just one!" Ash smiled as he dropped Pikachu a sliver of the juicy Bidoof.

"Pika Pikaaaa!" Pikachu squealed as it devoured the tender bidoof slice Ash had given it. Misty was still asleep in her tent, but the two boys were wise enough that they wouldn't dare wake her up after last time. Ash shivered at the thought. He played with his breakfast and tried to break the morning silence.

"So Brock, what's on the plate for you today?" asked Ash. Brock shrugged.

"I was thinking of taking a day off in all honesty, I've finished my supply run yesterday right before your big gym battle, so there's no errands left on my list really." Ash nodded in contemplation.

"Ah, yeah I was thinking the same," he whispered. Brock cocked an eyebrow.

"Really now? It's not like you to be so relaxed, especially after a fresh victory." Ash shrugged sheepishly as he took the last few bites of Bidoof.

"Don't worry about it Brock, might go into town today after breakfast but nothing special," he leaned back in his fold out chair and placed a folded hand on his stomach.

"Want me to come with you? As I said, I'm not really up to anything, and if you're not going to be in town for the whole da-"

"Nah that's fine," interrupted Ash, looking down his Pikachu.

"No reall-".

"I said no." Brock eyed Ash over with a look of mild dejection.

"How come?" he asked curtly. Ash shrugged weakly, continuing to avoid eye contact. He was unsure if he wanted to delve into this matter again. He took a breath.

"I don't need you tagging along if you're going to creep on every woman we meet Brock. I'm honestly surprised Officer Jenny hasn't locked you up for your predatory antics yet. It's really gross, dude, and I don't wanna be seen around dudes like that." Brock stood up angrily, dropping the spatula from his hand.

"What the hell are you on about Ash? I know I flirt pretty intensely in public at times but-" Ash held a hand to Brock's face.

"Look, I didn't mean any offense, but I just don't need this kind of crap today okay? I just got my badge." Brock smirked.

"You just got you Badge, Ash Ketchum? Well sorry, I didn't know winning Gym Battles entitled you to being a gigantic asshole- oh wait, it doesn't. You wanna know why I know that? Because I'm a fucking gym leader." Brock stormed up towards Ash and threw a finger in his face, escalating the confrontation even more quickly.

"I've won more fucking gym battles in my few years as the Pewter City leader than you will in your entire goddamn life so listen here you little shill. Until you get a grip of your own on reality, you can zip that bratty little mouth of yours. Kids like you should be going to Pokemon school instead of leaving home at ten to become failed trainers!" Ash shot up abruptly and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He snapped at Pikachu to follow. Out of the corner of his eye, he could make out Brock fuming, storming off to his tent in a tensely controlled anger. Maybe it would be best to no return until evening.

(A/N: Please Please PLEASE bookmark this story. I have a lot in store for it and would love any feedback you guys have to give!)