Dragon's Den

*Blackthorn City Gym*

I had gotten Clair down to her last pokemon. She had a Kingdra sent out, so I decided to Give Lucius a break. "That was two Dragonairs in a row buddy." I told my Steelix. "You did a great job." I said as I returned him. I took out Talon's pokeball, drew a deep breath, and sent him out.

"Interesting…" Clair said. "And here I thought that you were going to switch back to your Electrode…"

"Talon is more than equipped to deal with your dragons." I said with a grin, though I had no clue whether Talon was going to make it through this or not.

"Kingdra!" Clair called. "Use Agility!"

"Talon! Use Attract!" I called out.

As Talon used Attract, Clair's Kingdra began to move more slowly, as if it was distracted by Talon's presence in the battle.

"Like that will work against me!" Clair said. "Kingdra! Hyper Beam!"

*Kingdra is infatuated by its opponent's attraction.*

"WHAT?!" Clair shouted.

"YES!" I cheered. "Talon use it! Use: Return!"

"Roger that!" Talon the Pidgeot replied as he flew up towards the ceiling of the gym, and then dove and rammed Clair's Kingdra into the rocky cliff-face behind her.

"Kingdra is unable to battle." The referee said. "That makes Talon the winner, and Hank the winner of the match."

"So, without further ado, I'd like my Rising Badge (At least that's what I think it was called.)" I said to Clair as she returned her Kingdra.

"No."

"Thank- wait a minute, did you just say no?"

"Yes." She said. "I did say no. I am not a fool. Only the bravest and stupidest trainers ever make it to my gym, and believe me, I would love to see a new Champion on the Indigo throne but while he makes the rules, the region will remain in a Nuzlocke, and you, sure as the Distortion World, are not ready to take on the Elite 4. Not yet. So no. You aren't going to get your badge yet."

"But we won!" Talon complained. "We beat you!"

"Yeah!" I said agreeing with Talon. "We bested you! We deserve that badge."

"I never said you didn't deserve the badge, kid…" Clair said as she motioned for me to follow her out of the volcanic gym. "But while we're at it, the strategy you used to best my Kingdra was reckless and foolish, and it could have cost your Pidgeot his life!"

"So what exactly do we have to do to earn our badge for real?" I asked as I rolled my eyes.

"First, stop being a smartass about your situation." Clair said as she hit me upside the head. "Second, make your way into Dragon's Den." She pointed to a small cave opening in the back of the city. "There you will meet, my grandfather, a known Dragon Master. He will test your skill. If you pass his challenge, you will be granted the Rising Badge."

*To make a long story short*

I passed the test. It turns out all he asked me were a bunch of questions about pokemon. I was now talking to him.

"So yes, you pass the test." The Elder said. "Also, if this quest to stop Mewtwo is true, then the legendary pokemon you seek to destroy in order to make Mewtwo himself a match is one I can only say I've heard legends of. None of which I can say are true, save that with a single flap of its wings, it can cause a forty day storm."

"Sounds like a tough bird, what is its name?"

"Lugia." Clair said as she walked into the den. "My grandfather is describing Lugia to you, and for your sake, you better not be planning to challenge Lugia of all things. I suppose there is no point in asking, you failed the test?"

"Actually, your boy Hank here passed with flying colors." The old man said. "So I believe he deserves his badge now."

"Fine." Clair pouted as she tossed me the Rising Badge. "But good luck getting your pokemon strong enough to hold their own in the Indigo League.."

"Actually." I said. "I was hoping that if I stayed in Blackthorn for a while, you would help train me and my pokemon."

Clair laughed. "Why would I waste my time on a doomed plan?" She asked.

"You know…" Talon said to me. "I'm starting to really not like here."

"But, I have all eight Johto badges! I can do it! I can stop Mewtwo."

"Oh please." Clair said as the music started.

"The music started!" Talon said excitedly. "Yes!"

"I really don't like the music…." I grumbled as Clair began to speak in a singing tone.

"So you want to play the hero kid, well: Whoop-de-doo." She sang.

I cringed a bit.

"I've been around the block before with blockheads just like you." She continued. "Each and every one a disappointment." She motioned over to a vast pokemon graveyard where trainers were mourning their pokemon from the nuzlocke. "Pain. For which there ain't no ointment. So much for excuses, though a new hero is asking me to jump into the fray…"

"Umm…" I went, unsure of how to respond, and scared that I might not be getting the help I wanted.

"My answer is two words!" Clair said, as she looked over at the graveyard and saw a little girl crying at a monument. I could swear I saw her tear up a bit. Maybe she did have a heart after all.

"Oh fine.."

"Great! You'll do it?" I said as I let out my pokemon.

"You win…"

"You won't be sorry Clair!"

"Oh Arceus…"

"So when do we start? Do we start now?"

"Oy vay…" Clair walked up to me and motioned for me and my pokemon to start picking up some boulders near the front of the cave. "I'd given up hope that someone would come along. A trainer who would ring the bell for once, not the gong!" She sang/shouted at Liteweight when he dropped his boulder on her foot. "The kind who wins trophies" She sang as she instructed Flint to knock some Apricorns off of a tree with some pebbles. "Won't settle for loafies," She sang as she realized that Flint was doing rather poorly. "At least semi-pro-fies but nooo!" She sang as Flint threw a Focus Blast at the tree and knocked it on top of her. "I get the greenhorn!"

"I was once on a journey too, with a mission then." Clair sang to me as I sparred with Talon to help train him. "But as a gym leader, I'm trapped like a hen! But you need an advisor, a trainer whose wiser!"

"Let's stick to adivisor…" Liteweight said as he dropped himself on Clair's head. "And- woahhh!" He said as Clair threw him up into the wind currents. "Somebody catch me!"

"I'm down to one last hope, and I hope it's you." Clair chanted as she and I rolled Liteweight and Powerball respectively up a steep hill. "Though kid, you're not exactly a dream come true…" She sang as I accidently let Powerball go and we started rolling down the hill. "I've trained enough has-beens, who never came through." She sang as she and Liteweight arrived to see Powerball and I sitting in the water of Blackthorn's lake. "You're my one last hope so you'll have to do." She sang shaking her head.

"Rule number 6." She said to Lucius. "When rescuing a pokemon." She pointed to a Poke Doll. "Always handle with care." Lucius tried to grab it with his tail, but ended up constricting its head off. Clair shook her head.

"Rule number 95, kid, concentrate!" Clair told Twinkle as he let loose a Whirlpool.

"Rule number 96!" Clair called out, her voice submerged by the Whirlpool waters. "Aim!"

"Training gods have faced the odds, and ended up a mockery." Clair sang to me as she took away a newspaper article I was reading about my failed Kanto journey. "Don't believe the stories that you read on all the crockery." She sang as Flint burned the paper to bits. I couldn't help but crack a smile.

"To be a true hero kid, is a dying art." She said to Liteweight as he flew Petal Dances all over the place. "Like painting a masterpiece:" She said as Liteweight finally hit one of the elusive toy Crobats Clair had flying around. "It's a work of heart."

"Takes more than sinew." Flint sang.

"Comes down to what's in you!" Twinkle chimed in.

I picked up a blue stone, and instinctively knew what it was. I threw it at Twinkle as I sang "You have to continue to grow!"

*Twinkle evolved into Starmie*

"Now that's more like it!" He shouted.

"I'm down to one last shot at my last high note." Clair sang as she led me and Flint through the basement of her gym. "Before that Psychic psychopath gets my goat." Suddenly Flint was ambushed by six Dragonairs. "My dreams are on you kid." She sang as Flint pushed the first one into the second one and knocked them both over. "Go make them come true! Climb that uphill slope!" She sang as he bested the third Dragonair. "Keep pushing that envelope." She sang as he bested the fourth and fifth with Strength and Focus Blast. "You're my one last hope." She sang as the last Dragonair evolved into a Dragonite. "And kid it's up to you!" She sang as Flint took out his Charcoal and used the move Blast Burn, turning the Dragonite to ash. "Yeah!"

*Later(Outside Clair's Gym)*

The music had stopped, and it was just me and Clair.

"I think I've trained you every way I know how." Clair said. "It was shaky at first, but I'm sure that you'll be fine in the League as long as you remember to heal your pokemon after-"

"After every battle, I know." I said.

"Here." Clair said as she handed me a TM. "This TM contains a move called Dragon Pulse. It will be useful to you in the League, I'm sure of it."

"Well then, I guess I'm off to New Bark Town. No other way to reach Kanto."

"New Bark town?" Clair called after me. "Tell Professor Elm I want you to have it!"

"To have what?" I called back, curious.

"You'll like it trust me!" Clair called back. She said something else but I was too far away to here. I wanted to get back to New Bark town so I could see Lyra, and Professor Elm, and so I could head back into Kanto and challenge the Indigo League again, only this time, I felt confident that I was going to win.