This will probably be the last of the seemingly back-to-back updates. I have stuff to do and my birthday is later this month so there goes most of my time. I do plan on keeping a fairly similar pattern of updates from before my break, just don't freak out if I go long periods of time without doing anything.

This is the first time in a while that we hear mention of Ash's father. I have my reasons. It all has to do with future events, like most of the little random bits of conversation I throw in.

Ash gets his surprise today. I realize it was probably ridiculously obvious what he was going to get, but it kinda goes back to the Ash's father thing I mentioned.

Ch21 the Dragon's Den

Nurse Joy was right. It only took a few days for Lucario to fully recover his mobility in his right shoulder. Lucario was happy to be able to train with Ash again.

"Remember, Lucario, Nurse Joy said not to overdo your training for the next few weeks. You might reinjure your shoulder and make you miss more time that could be spent training."

Don't worry about me, Ash. I know my limits. I will always go to you if something is wrong. Ash was happy to hear that. Since he evolved, Lucario seemed more open about things around him. He loved exploring his surroundings, and his increased aura abilities helped greatly in that respect. It was a definite surprise to see how far he had come along with his aura powers. He was light-years ahead of Ash and once he figured out how he was able to do some of the things he was able to do, hoped that he could teach him. He was still a little naïve about certain things but that could be due to the fact that he was so connected to Ash, who still had some things to learn in life.

The scars on his face and shoulder were finally cleaned up enough to determine where exactly each one was. On his shoulder, they stretched to his mid-upper arm, crossed each other in random places, and consisted of about six major ones with plenty of marginal size. His face contained the most damage. One stretched from almost the tip of his snout angling down to the back of his head. Multiple crossed this singular cut at odd angles and seemed to avoid his eye completely. They all varied in length with the one on his snout being the longest.

They left for Blackthorn City not long after Lucario was cleared by Nurse Joy. They decided not to use Aerodactyl and walked. The trip through the mountains was difficult, but they managed to reach Blackthorn City within a matter of days all the while looking for the Pokémon that saved them from the Rockets. Not to his surprise, Ash did not find whoever did it, but was a little disappointed. He wanted to thank whoever it was, but Misty reminded him that they needed to keep going. Clair was waiting for them at the entrance to the city.

"It's so good to see you again. My cousin told me you would be here soon."

"It's great to see you to, Clair. He told us you had a surprise for me, and I had to work to get it. I would like you to explain that last part."

"Sure. First, and Lance knows this, I'm not the one with the surprise. Second, the work you have to do is not hard. It is a test, but it's not like any normal test you may have taken. If you would follow me, I will show you to the Dragon's Den." She led them to a lake in the northern part of town. "You must travel to the opposite end of the lake. Once there, you will meet three of the village elders. Do as they say and answer every question truthfully."

"Sounds simple enough. Can Misty come with me?"

"This is a challenge that you must face on your own with only your Pokémon to help. No other humans can help you."

"Great. I'll be back soon, Mist." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and called out Croconaw. He held on to his back with Pikachu sitting on his head. Lucario held on to his back and sped off across the water. As soon as he was out of sight, Clair turned to Misty.

"That's new," she said giving Misty a smile.

"Yeah, everyone isn't that surprised, though. Brock has been saying we should have gotten together years ago."

"Tell me everything that happened after you left me the last time."

Misty then started her story to pass the time until Ash came back.

xxx

Ash reached the cave that lead to the Dragon's Den and navigated the tunnels from memory and occasional help from Lucario. Once they arrived, he thanked Croconaw for his help and returned him to his Poké Ball. He looked around and noticed some changes that were made. The trees had grown back fairly nicely, and he could hardly tell what the fire had destroyed. "Where do you think they are?" Pikachu shook his head after trying to listen for people.

I will see where they are. Lucario got down on one knee and closed his eyes. The four black appendages on his head lifted up and started to vibrate as he held out his hand. He stood up and pointed to a building a good distance away from where they stood.

"Let's go." They started to walk over to the building. As they got close, they could see it was a shrine built, they assumed, to honor all the Dragon Type Pokémon who have inhabited the area. That probably replaced the old shrine that was destroyed.

He knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. He was about to give up and look elsewhere when the doors swung open. There were three men sitting on the ground in front of a huge stone altar. They all looked the same, except for the length of their beards. The one in the middle had the longest while the other two had beards of similar length but still fairly long.

"We have been expecting you, Master Ketchum," the one in the middle said with a voice that conveyed power and wisdom.

"How do you know who I am?"

"Clair told us years ago about your battle. We have been paying very close attention to you since then. We now think that the time is right for you to undergo the test," the man on the right said in a rather squeaky voice.

"Only one other outsider has made it here in our memory. You should be honored," added the one on the left in a soothing tone.

"What do you ask of me?" Ash asked as his heart began to beat faster and faster. The only other times he had felt like this was when he was with Misty. Except those were nice feelings. The feelings he had now were more of terror and nervousness.

"Calm down young one. The physical test has been passed with relative ease. You were able to control your Pokémon to get across the lake and through the cave with two more hanging on to you. Now we move on to the information part of the test. Please have a seat." The middle man directed him to sit across from him on the ground. Ash sat down and Pikachu climbed off his shoulder to sit next to him. Lucario sat on the other side of Ash.

"Now, come out little one." The man on the left turned behind him and motioned for something to come to him. It was a Dratini. The small Dragon Type slithered over to the elders. Upon seeing Ash, she moved over to him and draped her body over his shoulders with a happy expression on her face.

"I can see we don't have to worry about that test," the elder on the right said smiling.

"Yes, now to begin, we will be asking you questions about yourself and how you treat your Pokémon. We will also ask to see the other Pokémon you have with you. If you wish, you may call them out now." Ash nodded and called out Croconaw, Combusken, Aerodactyl, and Gabite.

"I see you already have a Dragon with you. First, what was your starter Pokémon?"

"Pikachu."

"How well do you get along with your Pikachu?"

"We are very close, even if it did not start that way. He did not trust me until I tried to protect him from a flock of Spearow that were attacking us. He then protected me from them, and we have been inseparable ever since." Pikachu gave the elders a nod.

"Now, about your Lucario, these are very rare Pokémon in any region one might visit, but how did it receive those scars?"

"We were being chased by Team Rocket while I was flying on Aerodactyl's back. We were trying to take a Frontier Brain to the Indigo Plateau for safety. Eventually, they started shooting at us. I had made a doll for Lucario when we first met when he was a Riolu, and it was hit and shattered. Pieces of the wood I used to make it hit him after the collision. He then evolved in order to protect me and everyone else."

"I can see you don't specialize in one type. Why?"

"As I traveled, I have met all sorts of great Pokémon. If they want to be my friend and traveling companion, I really don't care what type they are."

"Who would you say is your strongest Pokémon?"

Ash had never really thought about this before. Sure, all of his Pokémon are strong in their own way, but to pick just one would be extremely difficult. "I honestly couldn't tell you. I have lots of strong Pokémon besides these. I try to work with all of them as much as possible without focusing too much on one particular Pokémon. I try for a balanced team so that I am prepared for any kind of battle."

The questioning continued on like this for another hour or so. Most of the questions were about his training and battle techniques while a few were a little more personal. The personal questions were about both his human and Pokémon relationships. Then came the final question.

"Finally, what would you say is the most important thing about your relationship with your Pokémon?"

"Well, there has to be trust between the trainer and Pokémon. In order to gain that trust though, the trainer must put in the effort to become friends with the Pokémon. The way I see it, if you don't care about your Pokémon and understand their abilities, you have failed as a trainer. I care about each of my Pokémon and want them to be happy so that they can become the best they can be."

The three elders looked at each other. They began whispering amongst themselves. After a few minutes of nodding and whispering, they looked up at Ash. "We have decided that you are ready for the responsibility of taking care of one of the Dragon's Den's Dratini."

"What?"

"You heard me. Every year, we give out a young Dratini to the most deserving ten year olds in the city. We go around the Dragon's Den and hand pick certain eggs that will become a new trainer's starter Pokémon. Occasionally, Lance and Clair will drop off an egg that can be given to a trainer. Due to our old age, however, we are unable to tell if that is the offspring of one of their dragons. After monitoring your progress, we deemed you worthy to take the test. You have passed the final test, and the reward is the lovely Dratini that has been sitting on your shoulders for the past hour or so. I wish you congratulations and good luck." The middle elder stood up and invited Ash to do the same. He shook his hand and gave him Dratini's Poké Ball. "I trust you will take good care of her."

"I will sir. Thank you." He bowed and turned to leave. Once he was outside, the elders began to speak again.

"He reminds me so much of him."

"You don't think it is his son, do you?"

"I'm almost positive it is. His answers were almost exactly the same, and his appearance is so much like him."

"Do you think we should have told him?"

"No. He will find out eventually. If he is so much like his father, he will most assuredly run into him after all these years apart."

"But the way that Dratini reacted when she saw him was different than the way his did."

"You both know the legends. That should be enough to tell you that we were right in giving it to him."

The other two nodded and began to meditate once more.

xxx

Ash returned all of his Pokémon except Aerodactyl. "Just once more, Aerodactyl, that's all I'm asking for." Aerodactyl reluctantly let him onto his back, seeing as last time he did this they were shot at, and flew back to where Misty and Clair had stayed and talked. Misty and Clair were watching Azurill play with Clair's Dragonair. Once he had landed, Ash showed Misty Dratini.

"She's so cute. So that was the surprise Lance told us about," Misty said dreamy-eyed.

"Yeah, now I have to send a Pokémon to Professor Oak's so I can keep her with me," Ash said as he returned Aerodactyl to his Poké Ball.

"Maybe you should also ask for Charizard or Pidgeot instead of Aerodactyl. If we want to return to Kanto for some training, we may want to get to places we want to go here a lot faster than on foot. The tournament is in five months you know."

"I know, Mist. I just want Aerodactyl to get used to the idea that he may need to carry us on his back if we are running behind. Besides, five months is plenty of time. Professor Oak already told me where I should go to find certain Pokémon. Each place is not far from here and is relatively close to each other."

"Sounds like you all have some work to do here. I will let you go, but I want you to call me every once in a while to tell me how Dratini's doing."

"I will Clair, don't worry. We'll talk to you later."

"Bye you guys." She waved at them as they headed over to the Pokémon Center.

Ash told Professor Oak about his new Pokémon which may have been a bit of a mistake. Professor Oak started to get nostalgic and told him the story of how he caught his Dratini and how it eventually became the Dragonite it is today. After the long story was finished, Ash sent Croconaw to Professor Oak's lab and returned Dratini to her Poké Ball.

"We should be getting along now. How long do you think it will take to do everything you want to do in Johto?"

"I only plan on spending about two months here. I want to be back in Kanto for someone's birthday." Ash smiled at Misty.

"You don't have to do anything special for me, Ash."

"I want to. After what you did for me on mine, the least I can do is plan something special."

"Fine, nothing too extravagant though. You need to focus on your training."

"Whatever you say, Mist."

Together, they made their way back through the mountains. Next stop, Violet City.

So, Lance didn't tell Ash the full context of his surprise. He wasn't totally wrong though in saying it was from Clair. It could be her Dragonair's child, then again it could not. The reasoning behind it joining Ash will be shown at some later time.

I kinda just realized that Ash didn't really catch any Pokémon while he was in Johto in the next chapter. It might take me a little while to add any that I am thinking about adding. I would also be curious as to what you guys would want to see him catch. My requirements are simple: they have to be native to Johto, can't be Larvitar/Pupitar/Tyranitar (I have a plan for that later on), no Legendries, and a short reason as to why your choice would make a good addition to his team. Of course, you could also say that his team is fine the way it is at the present time and suggest not adding any more. At some point, each member of his team will play a pivotal role in this story, whether it's a League Battle or reasons to be explained at a later date. Leave it in a review with whatever else you might want to say about the story.