Chapter Summary: Sometimes to enjoy the thing you love, you need to embrace something you fear. Ixen learns that the hard way.
Warnings: Mild violence, some swearing in future chapters, school life during the first few chapters.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the region and the characters.
A/N: Hello again! I have a good number of chapters planned out ahead, and I've mapped out the Daar region with my wonderful Paint skills (sarcasm~). I'm still trying to decide whether Mega Evolutions should be involved in this. I'm kind of leaning on the side of not using them. What do you think?
The Trio's (Trio: Ixen, Hannah and Vince) adventure won't start until around chapter 7 or 8 (I've planned that far ahead). I know, you're probably thinking: 'Well what the hell are they doing for 6 or so chapters?' STUFF. That is what they are doing. Basically you'll have to wait and find out. xD
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 2: Camping trip
A month after the school term started, Ixen, Hannah and Vince were getting off of the school coach, buzzing with excitement. They were at the entrance of Blevik Forest, lining up at the side of the coach to get their bags and rucksacks out of the luggage compartment of the vehicle. As Ixen shouldered her rucksack, wincing at the weight, she stared up at the tall mountain known as Mt. Dara. It was a tall mountain that was directly in the centre of the Daar region and held a lot of interesting tales that probably weren't true. Blevik Forest was one of the three bases of Mt. Dara that was frequently visited .
Ixen smiled and breathed in the forest air. She loved the outdoors. She loved walking through the fields and up hills, and taking in the scenery of the countryside. Her experience was often disrupted when a Pokémon got too close. She hated giving in to her fear.
"It's amazing…" Hannah breathed when she stood next to Ixen. Her eyes were firmly at Mt. Dara. "Look at that mountain! Think about how many Pokémon live up there! Do you think they'll let us hike up there?"
"Do you even know how hard it is to hike up Mt. Dara?" Vince asked incredulously. "The Pokémon who live up there are so protective of their territory they attack anyone who tries to get to the top."
"Maybe they're protecting something else besides their territory?" Ixen suggested.
"I'm so excited now!" Hannah exclaimed with a grin. "When I'm a Pokémon trainer I'm so going up that mountain."
"Good luck with that," Vince mumbled under his breath before grinning when Hannah gave him a jab.
As September had passed by and the camping trip grew closer, Hannah had grown more excited about catching a Pokémon. Many times Ixen and Vince had tried to convince her to ditch the idea, but Hannah was one of those people who made a decision and stuck by it. This made Ixen and Vince nervous as well as excited when it came to the day of the camping trip. Hannah had even shown them her Poké Ball before they got on the coach.
"Hello all!" a male voice suddenly called, gaining the attention of both students and teachers. The man was tall and had dark hair. He appeared to have a cheery smile as he came down the forest path to greet the three Geography classes. "My name is Zachary Dixon, but you can all call me Mr Dixon. Welcome to the Blevik Forest Campsite."
"Thank you for having us, Mr Dixon," Mr Tucker, the Head of Geography, said as he shook the man's hand.
"No, no, thank you for choosing us," Mr Dixon said, "I've heard a lot about Waterwick High School. Great school, good exam results. It's always nice to see youngsters take an interest in the geographical side of nature. What's a better way than to camp in it? Some of them might even learn some tips to get by as a Pokémon trainer."
Ixen narrowed her eyes and looked down at the ground, finding some blades of grass extremely interesting. She wondered when Pokémon would be brought into it.
"Does that mean we'll be seeing some Pokémon?" a student asked after raising their hand.
Mr Dixon chuckled and nodded. "Of course! This forest is full to the brim with Pokémon. You might even see a few trainers coming into camp here."
Ixen grew edgy while Hannah almost began to bounce with excitement. Vince on the other hand just wanted to get to camping already.
"Now remember everyone," Mr Tucker called out to students, "we're not here for fun and games. We're here to study the ecosystems of the woodland. We'll make up the groups when we get to the campsite. Mr Dixon, lead the way."
"Of course," he said with a smile, "who knows what we'll see?"
As Mr Dixon lead them into the forest, Ixen was doing her best relax and enjoy the trip instead of worrying about whether a Pokémon was about to attack her. Hannah and Vince were the complete opposite. They were trying their best to spot a Pokémon and often tried to get Ixen to join in with them. In the end Ixen settled for searching for odd plants and flowers as Mr Dixon went on about a herd of Sawsbuck and Deerling that lived in the forest. There was a sudden burst of laughter at the back of the group, and when Ixen and Vince turned around they noticed Hannah wasn't with them, but instead at the back causing a bunch of ruckus. Ixen wasn't surprised Hannah had gotten a little bored.
That's when something caught her eye among the noise. Lying on the ground in the grass was a light blue scale. It was pretty, and it gleamed in the sun. Ixen picked it up and examined it, finding that it was pretty tough, but also smooth. The length of the scale took up three quarters of her palm.
"What's that, Ixen?" Vince asked when he finally saw it.
"It's a scale of some kind," she replied as she turned it over.
"Mind if I take a look?" Ixen and Vince looked up to see Mr Dixon looking at the scale with curiosity. Ixen handed it to him and the man took a good look at it. "It's a dragon scale."
Most of the students were now interested in the strange scale. Hannah gasped with delight. "You mean the rare item Dragon Scale?"
Mr Dixon shook his head. "No, not that kind of dragon scale. This is the kind of scale that comes off of a Dragon type Pokémon when they get an injury. This scale looks like it's come from a Salamence."
"A-a Salamence…?" Ixen's eyes widened in horror.
"Yep." The camp owner handed the scale back to Ixen. "Dragon Pokémon often make their home up in Mt. Dara. It's not unusual to find their scales around the forest. Especially if they've been fighting for mates. Let's continue our walk!"
Ixen stared up at Mt. Dara, feeling less excited and more apprehensive. Dragon type Pokémon were one of the main Pokémon she feared besides Poison and Ghost types. She looked down at the light blue scale in her hand and decided she was going to throw it away, but when she swung her arm to throw her hand didn't release the object. Hannah and Vince watched her worriedly and Ixen just sighed. She didn't know why her hand wouldn't release the scale, but for now she tried not to dwell on it as she stuffed the scale in her hoodie pocket.
"I thought you were going to chuck it," Hannah said as they continued the walk to the campsite.
"I was going to, but my hand wouldn't let me."
"Are you worried about Mt. Dara?" Vince asked, concern evident in his voice. "I mean, we both know how you aren't too fond of Dragon Pokémon."
That's a bit of an understatement, Ixen thought. "As long as they don't visit the camp, I'll be fine."
"I'm a little afraid of Dragon Pokémon as well," Hannah admitted. "I mean, they're pretty intimidating if you think about it."
"They're powerful, though," Vince said thoughtfully. "I might try to catch one on my journey."
"Good luck with that," Ixen and Hannah said in unison.
When everybody arrived at camp the students were given a bit of time to have a break to rest and take in their surroundings. The campsite was a large clear area that had markings that showed where tents were meant to be set up. The trio briefly wondered why there were no tents before coming to a realisation: they had to put them up. After a few minutes, the teachers got the students up and working. What was supposed to take half an hour at the most became an hour and a half as everyone kept messing up. As Ixen, Hannah and Vince were raising the tent, Hannah's hand slipped and their tent lost its shape, falling into a mess. By the time everyone had pitched their tents all of the teachers were annoyed and eager to actually start the tasks that brought them there in the first place.
The three Geography groups were split into ten smaller groups. Vince was put into a different group from Ixen and Hannah, and despite trying to convince someone from the girls' group to swap with him, they were off in different directions in the wood. During the time of learning about the trees and the ecosystem of Blevik Forest, Ixen was extremely nervous and edgy. Every time someone exclaimed that they saw a Pokémon, Ixen would flinch and hide next to Hannah. Luckily, every time that person shouted, the Pokémon was scared away before it could do any 'damage' to Ixen.
The groups swapped locations and studied different parts of the forest all day long. They only stopped for lunch, having a picnic in the forest, and for short breaks to let the students unwind before working again. By the time they were finished the sun was setting over the forest and everyone was boiling in their fleeces, coats and hoodies despite the chilly October air. Hannah sighed with relief when she saw the campsite.
"Oh, thank Helix we're back," she sighed with relief. "I was seriously afraid the teachers were gonna make us work all night."
The thought of working all night in the forest sent chills down Ixen's spine.
Soon enough all of the groups had returned. When Ixen and Hannah asked Vince about his time in the forest, he told them about a Pidgeotto that swooped down and stole Mr Tucker's clipboard. Hannah was howling with laughter when Vince told them how Mr Tucker tried to get it back.
By half eight everyone was sitting around the giant campfire roasting marshmallows and telling spooky stories. Even the teachers were relaxing.
At some point Mr Dixon stood up and everyone went quiet after a moment of chatter. "I have a story of my own to tell. Now, it isn't a scary story or a spooky folklore, but a tale of legends. Does anyone know why Dragon Pokémon live up on Mt. Dara?"
"Because it's secluded," a kid with ginger hair said.
"That's right!" Mr Dixon exclaimed. "It's secluded and it's hard to reach. Even the most skilled of hikers have a tough time climbing up there even without the Pokémon making it difficult. Dragon Pokémon are rare, but they are powerful, and they know they're safe up there. That's where the tale begins. You see, back in the old days there was a large group of travellers called 'The Daralexi'. They had the ability to understand and speak to Dragon type Pokémon both with emotion and language. This ability was passed down by blood. They could command any Dragon Pokémon to do anything they'd want, but they respected their right to freedom. They protected all Dragon Pokémon with their lives.
"One day the travelling group visited the Daar region to see Mt. Dara. They had heard that a large population of Dragon Pokémon lived there and they wanted to see if it was true. They wanted to know that there was a safe, secluded place for them to live. So three skilled explorers set off to hike Mt. Dara and get to the summit. They met many Pokémon on the way up to the summit, not just Dragon types, and passed them with ease. When they finally got to the top they saw three stone stands, all carved in with three different Pokémon who looked similar and different at the same time. On these three stands were three flutes; one flute was red, one was blue, and one was yellow. In front of these three stands was a large stone door that seemed to lead to nowhere as there was no structure behind it. The Daralexi explorers realised they had to play the flutes for something to happen, so with the permission of the Dragons, they played the flutes and the door opened."
Mr Dixon paused for a dramatic effect, but Hannah had to let her curiosity get the better of her. "What happened when the door opened?"
The man sighed, but smiled and continued. "Great power was released, and greedy men wanted it. The Daralexi explorers realised their mistake and sealed the door shut with the flutes before sealing the flutes away in three hidden chambers."
"Does anybody know where the chambers are?" a girl asked.
"Of course they wouldn't," Vince chided, "they're hidden."
"Quite, the chambers are hidden. No one knows if they and the flutes truly exist. No one knows if the doorway on the summit of Mt. Dara even exists."
"What happened to the Daralexi?" Ixen asked.
"Ah, during the fight to seal away the flutes, many of them lost their lives," Mr Dixon said.
"Only a few survived, but supposedly stayed in the Daar region. That's how the region and Mt. Dara got their names, from the Daralexi. I assume if they did exist, they bred into the local villages around the region, and their blood has simply thinned over time. There haven't been any reports of people being able to speak to Dragon Pokémon like they could."
A mass of murmurs broke out around the campfire and the teachers hushed them all. Mr Tucker smiled at the camp owner. "Thank you for that interesting tale, Mr Dixon."
"It was my pleasure," Mr Dixon said with a smile before returning to his seat.
They stayed around the campfire for a couple more hours before everyone started drifting off to their tents. Vince was staying in a tent with two of their other classmates while Ixen and Hannah had a tent of their own. The three sat in their tent for about half an hour before Vince had to leave. As he got up Ixen spoke.
"Why do you two want to go on a Pokémon journey?"
"That's simple," Hannah said proudly, "I want to become a Pokémon Master. I want to become the Champion of the Daar region."
Vince rolled his eyes. "Because that isn't cliché."
"Shut up, it's my dream, okay? Why do you want to become a Pokémon trainer?"
"I want to travel around the world," he told them with a strangely light smile. "My parents never got to travel, so I want to do it for them and tell them everything I find, see and learn."
"So you're travelling for your parents?" Hannah asked incredulously.
"They're both valid reasons," Ixen said and both of her friends looked at her. She smiled warmly at them. "Try your best, okay?"
Hannah and Vince glance at each other before grinning at Ixen. "We will."
Vince, I'm pretty sure your sass is growing. Ixen's name actually means 'fire' in Draconic. You can use the Draconic Translator here: draconic .twilightrealm (obviously take out the spaces).
Thank you for reading. Feel free to leave a review, I'd love to read it. c:
Dolan
