Legend of the Ice Drakes

Chapter 2: How It All Started

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or anything it incorporates.

"Speech."

'Thoughts.'

As the sun finally set over Sinnoh, a stomping of feet awakened Ash. He groggily sat up on his sand bed in the dark as Zenith did the same.

"What is that?" He half-asked half-yawned as he stretched out his tired limbs. Who knew gaining a special ability that changes oneself from the inside-out would be so tiring?

"...Your new family members," Zenith replied while yawning, his mouth opening to the point where it encompassed his entire face. The dragon slowly stood up to light the embers on the wall, scratching the base with enough force to create sparks and ignite the grass.

Getting up, Ash sluggishly followed him out of their room and into the main tunnel, seeing the trail of dust the stampede had just left behind.

"Why are they all in a hurry?"

"They're probably headed off to the meeting my father said he would call," Zenith said as he fruitlessly tried to cover another yawn with his small paw. He started to follow them, though at a leisure pace. "Aren't you coming? It is going to be about you after all."

Ash nodded as he began to follow. He wondered what they would talk about as he tried to avoid stepping on sharp rocks that were kicked loose on the ground by the stampede from earlier. Before long, both of them managed to follow the trail through the tunnels to an immense room that Zenith recognized as the Meeting Room.

Pokémon of all shapes and sizes sat on the rocky floor inside the room in a semi-circle. They were all murmuring with one another, curious as to what this meeting was going to be about. Ash and Zenith sat in the very back, whatever noises they could have made was drowned out by the rest of the crowd. As Ash looked past the dragons in front of him, he noticed that they were all facing Zenith's father.

Zarbon scanned through the crowd to make sure the majority of Ice Drakes who were able to come were present. 'This meeting is sure going to be a controversial one...'

Before beginning his speech, he cleared his voice loudly, gaining the attention of every dragon due to the unexpectedly loud rumbles the action created. Sensing the silence that took over the crowd as a welcoming to talk, he began.

"I have called this emergency meeting for a very important reason... Last night, my son managed to find and bring back a human boy who was proven to be able to unlock our bloodline. We wi-" His speech was cut off by gasps and murmurs from the crowd. He witnessed many dragons asking their neighbors whether or not he was joking while others were too shocked to speak. The only members of the crowd that didn't have a reaction were those who knew of the situation, including Ash himself.

Annoyed from the interruption, Garchomp glared at the audience. Concluding to himself that the noise was not going to subside anytime soon, he had to be the one to stop it. The Roar he emanated then easily drowned out any and all conversations the Pokémon in attendance could have had, and refreshed their mind on just why he became their leader in the first place. He cleared his voice once more before he continued, though with obvious annoyance in his tone. "As I was saying...the boy will be staying with us from now on since we simply cannot let him leave." Sounds spread through the crowd again, though at a much quieter level this time.

"Did I hear him right?"

"This is unbelievable!"

"Isn't one of the biggest rules we follow is to avoid humans at all costs? Now we're going to live with one? What's going on?"

"Grrr...I hope he's not dangerous, 'cause if he is-"

"Have they gone mad?!"

Harsh whispers based on the boy spread through the crowd like a virus. Eventually, some wandering eyes managed to spot Ash near the very back next to their leader's only son. An anonymous voice then called out. "There he is!"

Everyone's attention was soon all focused on Ash thanks to the cry. Their faces pinned on the boy varied from genuine curiosity to almost unjustified hatred. His knees began to shake under their stares.

"Come here, young one," said Zarbon, who noticed Ash's presence as almost the entire crowd turned towards the outsider.

Ash gulped before reluctantly walking through the path the dragons were signaled to make for him. He was sure he felt a claw or two poke him at one point along the way. Once he was in front of Zarbon, the dragon gestured for him to turn around and face the others. He complied, but soon regretted it as nervousness took over his body from the numerous pairs of eyes burning into him.

"This boy will live with us from now on, and shall be both taught and treated as our own. I expect you to welcome him into our family." More gained curious looks on their faces while others kept up their glares, though none argued against the powerful Garchomp.

"He will be sharing a den with my son, but will be spending most of his time elsewhere. Any questions?" For the first few moments, the crowd kept silent. But one made his question known.

"...Why can't we just kill him?"

The dragons all turned to the one who stood out through the crowd. The one they were now facing was a two-headed dark-colored Pokémon. He showed no nervousness in front of the menacing Garchomp, but what was even stranger...no emotions at all.

Zarbon easily recognized the dragon as the unofficial emo of the Ice Drakes. Ever since an incident at a young age, the boy has been never seen showing any emotion or sympathy in public. Though the ones in charge of the Nursery have often tried to bond with him, the two-headed Pokémon always ignored and refused their help.

Zarbon narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"...Why let him live? He's a human..." This time the other head spoke, though with a voice just as emotionless as the other.

Other Ice Drakes in the vicinity began to think about his statement as the crowd began to split into either letting the seemingly harmless boy stay or just getting rid of the human here and now.

The Garchomp answered with an unnoticed smirk. "Why? Because he's family."

And everyone's thoughts paused at the answer given.

The Zweilous hid his surprise well, like he had done his whole life. "He's a stranger/ ...We don't know him/ And we certainly don't tolerate his kind." The heads spoke in turn, those closer to the Dark-type hearing low hisses starting to emerge underneath his words.

"He's an Ice Drake." The Garchomp's claim of the boy being family followed up by this was almost an instant victory.

The Pokémon in attendance recalled the one thing that was consistently pounded into their minds since their own time in the Nursery:

'All Ice Drakes are family.'

This phrase was meant to make sure everyone treated others equally here, since the more powerful species could easily overwhelm and overtake the weaker ones. It also only makes sense that they all shared a common ancestor due to having similar genetics.

Though the phrase was never intended for a situation involving a human, most of the crowd seemed to now take a more neutral stance towards Ash; or at least stopped glaring daggers into the boy, which he was undoubtedly thankful for.

"He's a human/ They aren't family," claimed the Dark-type.

"Yet he's also an Ice Drake. He will live here whether you like it or not. No more questions!" The Garchomp didn't expect someone to blatantly suggest this boy's death, causing him to be a bit more aggressive since one actually did so.

The Zweilous recoiled a bit from the response, and seemed to mumble something under his breath. He hunched his heads over as he slowly turned and trudged back to his spot in the crowd, knowing that trying to talk more against Zarbon wouldn't help. If one would look closely at his shadowed faces, they would see both trying to suppress a scowl. 'Letting a human in...fools!/ One day you'll regret not killing him...'

After the Pokémon returned to his seat in the crowd, Zarbon prepared to end the meeting. "That's all I had to say. I expect no one to change their behavior towards this boy. You are dismissed!" And with that, most of the crowd began their way back to their dens to prepare for the hunt. However, none left without first stealing a glance at their new clanmate.

Ash watched as the dragons left, leaving him with Zenith and Zarbon.

"What is wrong with that child?" muttered the Garchomp as he leered in the direction the Zweilous had left in, though only loud enough to get the attention of his son and the human boy.

Zarbon turned to face his son. "Take him to the back room of the Nursery and ask for Fiona. I've already told her what to do." With a quick nod, Zenith raced up to Ash and pulled him out of the Meeting Room and back into the main tunnel. He began waddling towards the Nursery as Ash followed him a few steps behind. Not much later, Ash decided to strike up a conversation, curious of the other places he has not been to yet.

"Hey, Zenith, what's the Nursery?" the boy asked as he began staring in awe at the massive walls of the main tunnel. The sheer size of the tunnel must have taken a great amount of effort to make. Though the walls and ceiling were mainly smoothed out, some areas showed burns, cracks, and even claw marks, showing what amount of physical work was needed.

"Oh yeah, that's where all the baby Pokémon go. They get to run, play, eat, and sleep all night. You're probably going to join them," the Gible responded.

Like all boys fresh out of the baby stage, Ash's face was red in denial and embarrassment from what Zenith said. "I-I'm not a baby!"

The Dragon-type smirked at how easy this kid was to frustrate. "Well then, I guess my dad just thinks you're a baby. Want to argue with him like the other guy did back there?"

Ash quickly looked away, though with a red tint still on the marks on his cheeks. A few minutes passed before the two finally made it to the entrance of the Nursery.

"C'mon, let's go!" Zenith grabbed the boy by his shirt as he descended the steps into one of the largest rooms they have.

Ash gaped as he saw young Pokémon of many different species flying, digging, running, clawing, and even fighting all around him. He had to try his best to avoid many bodies and careless attacks as he was pulled by the Gible throughout the entire length of the area. Many glances and looks came his way from the baby Pokémon, none having seen nor even heard of a human yet.

Eventually, after making their way to the end of the Nursery, which Ash had to admit was quite large, the two suddenly stopped as they saw two Pokémon guarding the door they were told to go through. They looked closer to recognize that the guards weren't just ordinary Pokémon, they were two intimidating and obviously powerful Dragonites. The Gible gulped at the sight of the dragons before gaining his courage to step forward.

Like their job intended for them to, the two yellow Dragon-types glared at the baby Pokémon to intimidate him away from the Hatchery. "U-um...you wouldn't happen to know where Fiona is, do you?" The highly-outmatched first-evolution tried to remain calm in front of the two larger dragons leering down on him, though the stutter in his voice was evident. The Dragonites looked at one another before realizing who must have sent this Gible to them. Making a small gap for him to enter, the two opened the door behind them and gestured for him to go inside.

Zenith hurriedly charged into the room, trying to get as far away from the two guards as possible while leaving Ash still in his original spot. The boy tried to rush through along with Zenith, but was quickly blocked by one of the Dragonite's tails before the door was closed. He looked up reluctantly to see the two dragons shaking their heads, not surprised by the human's presence since other dragons who went to the meeting had notified them of it. They only knew that detail from the meeting since not much else was told to them except to not harm the boy. They denied him entrance since no order had been given to them regarding him. For all they knew, he might have wanted to harm the eggs.

Once that thought crossed the dragons' minds, they lit their eyes up at the boy, causing him to stumble a few steps away. Not harm the kid, sure. But nothing was said about not intimidating him. The Dragonites closed the space between them, preventing even the smallest Pokémon from entering. What they didn't expect was for the two of them to almost fall backwards as the door was pulled open from the inside.

"Oh, Ash, please come in." The owner of the voice saw the boy past the two Dragonites.

Ash saw the two Pokémon embarrassingly try to recover and play it off, leaving a gap between them to the open door.

The previously intimidated boy rushed past the legs of the beasts and into the room, not noticing the owner of the voice.

Only then, inside the room, was he bombarded with a sight that no human could ever picture, not even the famous Pokémon professors themselves.

For decades researchers and Pokémon professors have developed many theories when it comes to Pokémon breeding, specifically, the results of said act in the form of eggs. The two most accepted theories on this topic stated that either the mother of the egg protects it until it hatches or it is completely abandoned once laid. Since for some reason Pokémon refuse to show their breeding and egg-laying habits under human speculation, the only choice was to make guesses on their natural behavior. However, not one guess, even those thought up by famed professors after their years of research and experience, has ever come close to what Ash was witnessing right now.

Everywhere he turned, eggs were neatly stored there. Gorgeous eggs of intricate patterns and color morphs lined the room with adult Pokémon carefully surveying and caring for each and every one of them. All the eggs had a unique design, none with the same pattern nor color. Some were of different sizes and had varied levels of movement inside, which was understandable due to the variety of Ice Drake species and when the eggs themselves were laid. All of the ones in the room represented both the next generation of Ice Drakes and a system of egg storage and care, refuting all known theories on how the process worked.

"Over here, Ash!"

The boy struck out of his trance of admiring the eggs as he heard Zenith's call. Turning to the source, he saw said Pokémon standing next to yet another one of those Kanto-native dragons. 'Hey...isn't that the same Dragoni-

"Greetings once again, child. My name is Fiona, the same Dragonite from the day before. I do hope you remember me." The Dragonite said this with a welcoming attitude and smile, contrasting with the other Dragonites at the gate.

Ash nodded his head, recalling her as the one who presumably gave him the ability to comprehend Pokémon speech. "Very good. Right now, we are in the Hatchery, where I work alongside others to make sure our next generation hatch out safely. Where you entered from was the Nursery, where the hatched baby Pokémon are raised..."

Ash nodded subconsciously as she explained this to him, trying his best to store the information.

"...it is also where you'll be spending your time until further notice."

Ash

- None

Zenith

- Dig

- Sand Tomb

Author's Note: Not going to lie, the writer's block on this one almost physically hurt. Anyways, I've mapped out a large portion of the story post-nursery so I just need to get through writing this beginning (Hopefully that doesn't kill me). Some of you may notice the new story description/type of story in general, and yes it will be a harem (albeit a small one). Until next time!