A/N- I'm so sorry that I took so long to post this. With school and taking care of my dog, I almost forgot about this. Hopefully I commit to this story 'till the end! Cheer for Sage on her journey to become a Gym Leader!
Chapter 3-The National Dragon Dex
It took a few weeks, even a month for me to form a complete bond with the Windstriker, who I named Valantine. I told my family about the dragon, and they wanted proof. So, of course, I decided to show them Valantine, and they finaly beleved me on training the dragon. Her wounds have healed, but her trust has been split with people other than me, so i'm working on that.
"Here you go. A stall just for you!"I said as I let Valantine walk into the stall shyly. She kneed the hay a little before laying down, quickly falling asleep. I smiled, knowing that she would trust me for anything.
A squeeling of tires out front signaled someone going into our driveway, and I ran across the yard to see who it is. I immediately gasped at the sight, because no one in our family had a bright blue mud-crusted pickup truck except-
"DAD!" All of us squeeled excidedly as we caught him in a flying tackle-hug while he was getting out of the truck.
"Alright, alright, settle down." He said. You know when I said earlier that Lilac looked like my dad, but gender switched? Well, it's true. He was wearing a red vest over his white shirt, and he was wearing black jeans and white boots. His jeans were tucked into his boots, so it kinda looked like he was dressed up so he could go wading in mud. His hair was cut short and it was starting to spike all over. His real name is Ranse, though.
Just as I was about to say something, a shadow enveloped me, and I was whisked off my feet. I looked...and it was Valentine, carying my by her jaws.
"Ah, so I see. You devoped a bond with a lovely dragon. A Windstriker. Rare to see 'em here in Rosana." My dad just comented as I was suspended in the air, my arms flailing as I shreaked at Valentine to put me down. She finaly put me down, and I wobbled a few steps before regaining my balence.
"Geez..."
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"Vien, Sage, I have exciding news for both of you."Ranse said to both of us after we got out of bed and started eating breakfast at the dining table 4 days after he came home. He clearly was excided, so I let him talk.
"You're both going with me to the Livid region."
I almost choked on my bacon halfway down the gullet and Vien gagged.
"C-coming...with you? Are you serious?!" Vien said, after finaly clearing his throght.
"Yes, Vien, both of you are comming with me. And-" He pulled out three round-trip train tickets and three blue boat passes out of his back pocket, "You get to explore the Rosana region in the process."
"Oh my god, dad, you're amazing." I said as I almost jumped over the table to give Ranse a giant bear hug. Vien almost did the same.
"But we gotta hurry to the train station if you wanna explore the whole region. Let's hurry, and pack up the stuff we need."
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"Alright, Bluebell, return." Ranse said to his light blue dragon, who had a pointy nose, spiky frill, and a smooth back. The winged looked jagged, and the black and red pattern was very colorful, going this way and that way, almost making shell spots on the dragon's back. Dad clicked a small button on the red and white ball he was holding, and the dragon returned into the ball in a red beam of light. He got into the truck, and closed the driver-side door.
"Ok, so, everyone got their stuff, correct?" My dad said, as he craned his neck to see us in the backseats. Vien was checking his stuff, and occasionally would look out the back window to where the dragon carrier was tied to the truck, with both Polar and Valentine inside. Getting Valentine into the carrier was a hassle, mainly because of the small space, but comfortably settled next to Polar once she got the hang of the small space inside.
"Ready." Vien said, closing his packed suitcase.
"Ready." I also said, clutching my pink suitcase.
"Alright. Let's roll!" Ranse said as he put the truck in reverse and carefully backed out of the driveway, with mother, Lilac, and Jordan waving from the porch. I slowly waved back, tears comming to my eyes.
"Sage, are you crying?"
"N-no, dad...these are tears of joy. Now, w-where are we going?"
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We were driving a long while, and down some dirt roads, when the truck slowed to a stop in front of a ranch-like area with a white barn-like building that had a picture of a orange baby Scuttleclaw on the front-big head, big yellow eyes, leaf-like spines, and a small body was what described the dragon.
As soon as we stopped, we heard a shreak from the dragon carrier, who was coming from Valentine. I unbuckeled as fast as I could, opened the truck door and jumped out, and raced to the carrier, dad behind me. I whispered in a hushed tone to Valentine, who was freaking the hell out once we had stopped. Dad was also trying to calm Polar down, and hit the lock by mistake, causing it to break a little, but enough to unlock the carrier.
I was about to grab Valentine by the horns when a voice behind us-sweet like honey but bitter at the same time-calmed the dragons down but caught our attention immediately.
"Back away from the carrier."
A lady, close to her mid-30s, with hazel eyes, a tan face, and curly, dirty blonde hair that had orange streaks, was approaching us, determination written over her face. She had a brown sweater, white shorts, and black boots on, underneath a dusty white labcoat that trailed down to her knees.
"I said, back away from the carrier."
Me and dad backed away, Vien approaching the scene. The woman carefuly took off the lock, speaking in a hushed tone to the dragons inside, and opened the carrier door.
"Now come on, guys, it's ok. I won't hurt you." And with those silk words, Valentine and Polar walked out of the carrier, calm as ever.
Ranse spoke up once she got the dragons out, "Thanks, Ru-"
"Call me Professor Daisy, if you don't mind."
"B-but still, thank you."
I was standing behind my dad, looking at our regional professor, Prof Daisy. Ruth Daisy is her full name, and she takes on a nicname of 'Bee' sometimes, but rarely. She was petting Valentine on the nasal horn, the dragon sort of growling-purring while being pet. How in the world Valentine was able to trust the professor, I have no clue, probably because Ruth had trained other dragons before, even the most unruly silenced their rage against her. It was weird...
"M-miss Ruth...thank you for calming the dragons down." My brother said first, his voice shaking and a smile on his face.
She waved for him to stand beside Ranse, then said, "You're here for Dragon-Dex's. I can see it in your eyes, both of you. Now come on and let's get this over with, I still have some scientific work I have to finish before the day is done."
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"Not what you would expect from a Scientific research facility, now would you?" Ruth said as we walked into the laboratory. What people would expect were machines and science-y equipment. No, her lab looked more home-y, with a couch near the entrance, a map of Rosana and Livid, and a couple bookshelves filled with info about each species. The real science equipment was in the back, with a Draco-Teleporter to transport dragons, a PC, and a communicator to talk with her fellow researchers from Livid, including the regional professor from there. Behind me and Vien was Ranse, and behind him was Valentine and Polar, who were calmed by the atmosphere of the lab, and genuily curious about the place, looking from side to side and seeing what this place had to offer.
"Here, the Dragon-Dex's are back here." Prof. Daisy spoke as she led us to the back of the room, where a silver examination table was set with three red and white Draco-Balls. I was about to open one up when Daisy gave a look that could kill, so I backed away. Getting on the professor's bad side could spell disaster.
She walked to a table with two Draco-Dex's, picked them up, and handed one to me and Vien, each. They were square in shape, and had a small translucent light blue screen with red and black on the top and bottom in the shape of target symbols. "This doesn't look like a Dragon-Dex to me..."
"It's the newest in tech! So far this one is Rosana-exclusive, but still has the same functions as any Dragon-Dex, and I registered it so you can find out about each dragon species, regardless of Region. Go on, try it on your Windstriker and Snow Wraith." Ruth motioned for me to do so, and I pointed the Dragon-Dex up to Valentine. The translucent screen slid farther open, reveling info about her dragon species, and a female monotone voiced more info about her, startling Valentine a little.
"Windstriker, the Sharp Edge dragon, and part of the Sharp Class of Dragons. This dragon uses superheated air to it's command, dive bombing opponents with ease around it's high habitat in higher elevations. Because of it's larger size and sharp spines, handling this dragon breed requires extreme care and patience."
"Cool! It has what moves she can do, and even her stats and Shot Limit!" I then pointed the Dragon-Dex at Polar, who tilted his head at the monotone voice.
"Snow Wraith, the Blizzard dragon, and part of the Strike Class of Dragons. Snow Wraiths are known to be untrainable, thus approaching them in their cold climate is sure for a surprise, like their prey. Frost Fusillades are their main form of attacking from a distance, and digging is to escape from danger. Low tolerance point and their status as Strike Class dragon gets them to not be trifled with."
"Wow!" My eyes sparkled as I looked through the info about both dragons, "I didn't realize that there were so much info about them! And so many dragons to boot!"
"I know, right?" Vien said as he scanned both dragons and started scrolling through the info about them. 'Wow...'
As I was putting the Dragon-Dex into my pocket,a huge crash knocked us off our feet, Valentine and Polar running out of the building, glass flying everywhere and dragon screeching could be heard. "Ahh..." I tried to get up, but pain shot through my lower left leg, and I looked to see what it was. Small shards of glass were stuck in my leg, a few beads of blood welding up at the spots. 'Not good...bad...dad, where are you...?'
My vision started to grow hazy for a second, as I saw men dressed in black and neon green attire enter the building and search through it's contents. As soon as a buff man and a woman wearing red gloves entered the building, I blacked out from exhaustion. Hopefully everyone was ok...
