Two days later, all of us who had participated in that search and rescue operation on the sea were called into the briefing room by our commander.

"Long story short, Team Rocket was involved. There was someone among the passengers who were their target, a pokemon researcher of some sort. From what I was told, he was involved in some inhumane pokemon experimentation conducted by Team Rocket. Maybe his conscience could no longer take it, maybe he realised that there's no way he will have a good ending the moment he tangled himself up with the Rockets, but that guy suddenly wanted an out, so he made a run for it. Team Rocket sent someone, or someones, to make his death look like an accident. The scientist is now in STAR's custody and is under questioning."

"The only reason why's he still alive is because the Rockets didn't count on us arriving onto the scene so soon." Jacky deduced, and Commander Pyral Furnes nodded in agreement.

"There aren't many trainers who have highly trained dragonites on their team." Our commander drawled out in his usual lazy monotone that he uses whenever he is off the field, and I can feel everyone's gazes staring at me upon our commander's words.

"Um, you are welcomed?"

"What about that aerodactyl?" Amy voiced out the big burning question in everyone's minds.

"That's the funny thing." Our commander let out his signature long sigh that gives us the impression that him talking to us is a slow and torturous experience for him. That asshat. "That wasn't a Team Rocket pokemon, but it is still linked to Team Rocket somehow."

"What?" Adam blurted. We are all just as confused as he is.

"Less than thirty minutes before our regiment received the ship's distress call and our squadron was tasked to save the ship, a secret government facility that conducts research on prehistoric pokemon was suddenly under attack from a group of Rockets. Everything there was either stolen or wiped."

Commander Pyral slowly picked up his cup of steaming hot coffee and took a long sip before continuing.

"In that facility, there were a group of prehistoric pokemon who are more special than the usual. Unlike those revived from fossils, that group of prehistoric pokemon were found in the wild. They survived extinction. After these prehistoric pokemon were found by the government a few months back in some remote corners of the region, they immediately relocated them into that facility for further study. The whole affair was hush-hush. Not many were told about the existence of the facility and what it really does due to the type of pokemon it houses."

"No offense, but it sounds like a load of tauros crap to me, Sir." Rufus stated.

"Don't worry, I have the same thoughts as you do." Pyral waved it off before continuing the briefing. "By the time STAR forces arrived to assist that facility, the Rockets were gone together with every prehistoric pokemon kept there. Their computers were hacked, data stolen, all relevant research that they could not take with them were destroyed. STAR forces assumed that every single living fossil there were taken by the Rockets, but apparently one got away."

"That aerodactyl." Amy concluded.

"Bingo." Pyral pointed an approving finger at Amy. "But the timing between the two attacks were too coincidental and aerodactyls have no reason to fly close to the sea at all, or at least that's what those nerdy researchers claimed. So STAR forces ran another check on the aerodactyl and found faint traces of Hypnosis used on the aerodactyl. We believed the aerodactyl was being hypnotised to go after that specific ship, but unfortunately for the Rockets, we were able to stop it."

"There's absolutely no link between the attack on that research facility and on the ship, unless you are telling us that the scientist that was being targeted is also somehow involved in researching prehistoric pokemon." I said with a frown on my face.

"Here's what Regiment Commander and the STAR forces think had happened after we put all the facts together." Our commander put down his mug of coffee as he started to explain with hand gestures. "We suspect that initially, the attack on the facility and on the ship were two separate attacks conducted by two different Rocket groups. However, due to our quick response, the group that was attacking the ship failed their objective, and probably phoned the group at the facility for help. A Rocket that was attacking the facility probably had the bright idea of brainwashing an aggressive aerodactyl with Hypnosis to clean up the job, bringing us back to where we are now."

"It's a nice plan if you think about it." Jacky whistled. "You get a strong and ferocious wild pokemon to complete what your allies messed up, and even if that aerodactyl got taken down, there are no clues that can be traced back to them because that aerodactyl is technically a wild pokemon."

"Yes, which makes whichever Rocket that even had the brain cells to cook up this idea in the first place an exceptionally scary one. The people from the STAR forces are designating this unknown individual a Level 9 threat. There are very few trainers in Indigo with pokemon that possess such skill and expertise with the Hypnosis move, so hopefully this can narrow down the search enough."

Our commander took a brief pause as his stern gaze slowly swept over us.

"Now, I will only say this once. Other than the obvious fact that everything you saw or heard about this shitfest is classified, this affair is now under the STAR's jurisdiction, not the Rangers. And if you guys happen to spot such an individual among the Rockets for whatever reason, DO NOT ENGAGE the target alone. Do you guys copy?"

"Yes, Sir!"

Commander Pyral then detached a pokeball from his belt and tossed it to me, which I caught on reflex.

"That crazy aerodactyl is yours now, Skye. Congrats, I don't envy you at all."

"The researchers are just relinquishing their hold on it, just like that?" I asked in surprise. My question was answered with a casual shrug by Pyral.

Back then, I was asked to handover the captured aerodactyl to the Ranger force the moment the operation was completed because it is a wild prehistoric pokemon we were looking at. While a part of me was lamenting the loss of adding such a powerful pokemon to my team, a larger part of me was relieved to hand it over. The aerodactyl is probably more interested in eating me alive than trying to follow orders anyway. Taming such a prideful yet powerful pokemon is more trouble than it's worth.

"The researchers said something about the aerodactyl becoming even more ferocious after getting captured. Since its species shared many characteristics with dragon types, we suspect that it might only listen to you, the one who defeated it in battle."

"Basically, they want me to help them tame it and if someone ends up as its dinner, it won't be them." I deadpanned. The stupid researchers just freaking used me as free labour to help tame their little fossil monster.

Assholes.

"Glad you caught on." Commander Pyral rolled his eyes at my snarky answer. "The researchers are now curious as to how a prehistoric pokemon naturally born in the wild will behave in trainer captivity, so they will drop by a number of times to observe its behaviour and interaction with humans. Don't be too surprised if you see them walking around in camp and prodding you for questions."

"I will send the aerodactyl their way to prod them for questions."

"But Skye, an aerodactyl! An aerodactyl!" Amy gasped in a dramatic manner which might seem fake, but her reactions are actually genuine. She is legitimately excited at the thought of interacting with the rare prehistoric pokemon.

"Who is probably more interested in eating me than anything else. This is such a pain in the ass."

"Hey, this might be a good thing. We might actually get to see the aerodactyl biting on Adam's ass." Jacky reminded with a sly look in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, that. Hurry it up, Skye! Hurry and tame that aerodactyl so that we can set the aerodactyl on Adam's ass!" Rufus hollered.

"The aerodactyl's a she, by the way." Commander Pyral added. So helpful of him.

The only one who doesn't find the entire debacle funny at all is unsurprisingly, Adam.

"Shut the damn fuck up, you imbeciles."


"We have another new guy joining us today."

There were cheers from some members of my pokemon team. The other group of them simply looked on in curiosity. I had the entire training field to myself today. Commander Pyral had helped me ensure that nobody but me will be here today given that I will be taming an aerodactyl of all things.

Doing something as outlandish as this will definitely warrant such an arrangement.

I took out the pokeball that housed the aerodactyl and held it for my pokemon to see.

"Remember that crazy aerodactyl? I was given custody of it, because the stupid researchers are too lazy to tame it themselves so they threw the job to us. We will need to continuously beat this aerodactyl to break him into our team and then we need to get him to listen. This is going to be a really big pain."

There were a variety of reactions from the different members of my team. Some chuckled. Some snorted. One or two were too lazy to give an answer. Innocent cinnamon rolls like Cotton simply looked up at me in unconcealed curiosity and anticipation.

"Echo, Tino, I'm counting on you two to take him down a peg or two. Scratch that, take the aerodactyl down as many pegs as you need to. I don't want to waste too much of our time breaking her in."

Echo and Tino roared in laughter, delight clear in their voice.

Once everyone was ready, I let the aerodactyl out of her pokeball.

The aerodactyl eyed us warily the moment it was released. It hadn't taken flight yet, still standing on the ground with her two feet, wings tucked. However, the constant low growling and shifting of her feet is more than enough clues for me to know that it is definitely wary of us. The bared fangs is a clear enough indication that while she probably have some degree of respect for us after our big battle, it will require a lot of effort on our part to get her to work with us as a team.

"My name is Skye. I am now your trainer." I went straight to the point with the aerodactyl. Wait, does a prehistoric pokemon even know the concept of what a trainer-pokemon relationship is?

"We are going to be a team now." I gestured to everyone around me. "You and us. I will train you to be strong. In return, you will have to take orders from me."

Upon hearing the last part of my speech, aerodactyl immediately let out a defiant roar and spread her wings wide in a show of power, trying to intimidate us. She was immediately challenged by Tino and Echo, who returned the gesture. The entire session had immediately spiralled into a shouting match.

Guess playing nice won't work on aerodactyl. She's very close to losing her cool upon hearing that she will be taking orders. As I suspected, she is too prideful to accept the idea of taking orders from another.

"Tino and Echo are the strongest members of my team. If you want to be alpha, then beat them."

Without further ado, aerodactyl took off into the air with Echo hot on her heels. The two fliers immediately engaged in aerial combat. However, aerodactyl is mainly a physical fighter while Echo is a natural born ranged fighter. Furthermore, Echo had been through rigorous training long before we met the aerodactyl.

The aerodactyl didn't stand a chance.

"Do you yield?" I asked when the aerodactyl was sent crashing down back to the ground by Echo. The only answer I received was another defiant roar even as the aerodactyl struggled to get back up on her feet.

I can only shrug. I don't want to do this, but it seems to be the quickest way for aerodactyl to even consider listening to what I have to say.

"Have it your way. It's your funeral."


Now that we don't have a ship of civvies to protect and a huge flock of feral flying types to hold us back, my team can now fight aerodactyl at full strength, which was what they did with glee.

For the next two hours, each member of my team took turns to play around with the aerodactyl. To keep things fair, I even healed the aerodactyl back to full health with potions after every single bout. I want to show her how beneath she is as compared to them right now in terms of skill.

If this method still doesn't humble that prideful prehistoric pokemon, I don't know what will.

By the tenth and last battle where aerodactyl lost to my cute and adorable Emi, my emolga, aerodactyl's facial expression looked as though she had just experienced the most ridiculous and unbelievable shitstorm ever. Getting their ass kicked by a small cutesy emolga has that effect on any pokemon.

To top it off, Emi is one of the newer members on my team, joining us only about two weeks ago. I'm good at what I do. Any flying type that was trained by me improved by leaps and bounds even if they were under my guidance only for just a little while.

"Are you satisfied now?" I asked for the umpteenth time as I healed aerodactyl's injuries with potions once more. With obvious fatigue, aerodactyl begrudgingly got back up to her feet before going back to staring at me, fangs still bared. However, the growling is now gone, which is an improvement.

Dia stood protectively on my front left, which allows her to be able to quickly protect me with her wings if aerodactyl decides to suddenly launch an attack on me. She let out her own low growl in warning to remind the aerodactyl of her place in the pecking order.

Aerodactyl slowly stopped baring her fangs and after we had a staring contest of what seemed like an eternity (to me, at least), she slowly backed down and her eyes averted my gaze. Her wings are no longer spread out in a display of power and proclamation of territory but rather, now tucked into the sides of her body. The glare in her eyes is no longer hostile, although it is still predatory. Her chin is now facing downwards instead of up.

Very slowly, she dipped her head downwards in my direction with a nod as a show of respect, effectively acknowledging me as her superior and trainer. Once she is done, I gave my own curt nod in return, but not as low as she did. Since she now recognised me as the alpha, I have to make sure that I solidify my own standing while still giving her that same respect. I cannot bow my head as low as she did for me. Aerodactyl is obviously the type of pokemon that respect an individual's strength and power above all, so I have to maintain the status quo to get her to listen to me.

Such behaviours that aerodactyl just exhibited are typical of dragon type pokemon, but many pokemon that are not classified as dragon types also exhibit these same characteristics if their species are closely related to dragon types. Charizard, tyranitar, gyarados, are examples of species of pokemon who exhibit the occasional draconic characteristics. Aerodactyl falls under this category too from what I was told by the lazy asshole researchers.

I still insist that the researchers are assholes for making me do their job for them, but at least I got another powerhouse into my team, so I am not going to complain too much about this arrangement. This taming session went a lot better than I had expected it to be.

I was allowed to permanently keep aerodactyl on my team since it doesn't seem like it will ever bring herself to listen to another trainer. There are cases of pokemon only listening to the trainer that had captured them in the wild, which probably spurred the researchers to make such a decision.

When I deemed the aerodactyl to finally be docile enough to let me touch her, I scratched her with my hand at the spot underneath her jaws, near the place where her lower jaw and neck are connected. Her rough hide is scratchy but is smoother than I expected it to be. Aerodactyl let out a content purr from her throat, finally letting her guard down around me. Good, she is finally opening herself up to us.

Not many can claim to have touch a prehistoric pokemon before, let alone tame them. This is something that I can goad about.

"Do you want a nickname?"

Aerodactyl gave me a confused look.

"Tino is a dragonite, but I call her Tino. Echo is a noivern, but I call him Echo because that is the nickname I gave him. Each of your friends here all have a nickname. If you want one, I can think of one for you."

Aerodactyl took a moment to consider it before nodding in agreement. I suggested the first name that came to my mind.

"How about Aria?"

She let out a grunt of agreement.

"Welcome to the team, Aria."


Name: Skye Bale, 16, Female

Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 9th Ranger Regiment, 1st Ranger Regiment

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Code Name: Zephyr

Pokemon Team:

1. Pidgeot (Crown), male

2. Gliscor (Glide), male

3. Skarmory (Dia), female

4. Crobat (Beats), male

5. Jumpluff (Cotton), female

6. Dragonite (Tino), female

7. Noivern (Echo), male

8. Emolga, (Emi), female

9. Hawlucha (Hawk), male

10. Sigilyph (Cosmo), female

11. Aerodactyl (Aria), female

Name: Jacky Marsh, 19, Male

Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment

Rank: First Lieutenant

Code Name: Venom

Pokemon Team:

1. Scolipede

2. Crobat

3. Tentacruel

4. Nidoking

5. Skuntank

6. Venasaur

7. Toxicroak

8. Weezing

9. Dragalge

10. Beedrill

Name: Amy Rose, 17, Female

Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment

Rank: Sergeant First Class

Code Name: Powergirl

Pokemon Team:

1. Furret

2. Pidgeot

3. Lopunny

4. Ursaring

5. Wigglytuff

6. Exploud

7. Blissey

8. Tauros

9. Miltank

10. Cinccino

Name: Adam Clive, 20, Male

Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment

Rank: Sergeant First Class

Code Name: Nightmare

Pokemon Team:

1. Houndoom

2. Honchkrow

3. Umbreon

4. Weavile

5. Shiftry

6. Sableye

7. Greninja

8. Hydreigon

9. Pangoro

10. Krookodile

Name: Rufus Grandell, 21, Male

Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment

Rank: Master Sergeant

Code Name: Torrent

Pokemon Team:

1. Poliwrath

2. Kingdra

3. Dewgong

4. Gyarados

5. Feraligatr

6. Slowking

7. Crawdaunt

8. Floatzel

9. Jellicent

10. Golisopod

Name: Pyral Furnes, 38, Male

Known affiliation: Indigo Ranger Force, Johto Region, 1st Ranger Regiment

Rank: Lieutenant Colonel

Code Name: Cremator

Pokemon Team:

1. Typhlosion

2. Arcanine

3. Charizard

4. Magmortar

5. Magcargo

6. Alolan Marowak

7. Torkoal

8. Infernape

9. Emboar

10. Pyroar

11. Chandelure