Hello! Sorry I haven't been able to post as of late - I've been forced away from the Internet because of summer activities. But all that is done now, so I'm going to be posting once a day from here on...if I can remember to, that is. ;)

Chapter 30 - Dragon Training

"You need all of us to teach you how to be a Dragon-Type?" Ray asked, surprised.

Khrista nodded, looking around the crowd of Pokemon she had befriended. "The Professors want me to go back in about two days' time, so that I can start rounding up the imprisoned inhabitants and take out what defenses they have. I figured that having the Dragon-Type under my belt might help."

"I should think so," a pink Dragonair agreed, the tip of his tail twitching. "Where do you want us to start?"

"The basics, Arius. You'll have to decide together what the 'basics' are, though - this is that one chance you'll have to train me."

The assembled Dragon-Types looked at each other, then went into a huddle as Khrista sat down on the rocky floor, smiling as she listened to the Pokemon's voices - both her Rayquaza's rumbling murmur and the mutterings of Joshua's, White's, and Mist's Dragon-Types.

It sounded like Arius wanted to start out with Dragon Rage, Dragonbreath, and Twister, which were moves that were normally taught to younger Dragon-Types, as well as the occasional Rock, Flying, or Fire-Type. Lyra, an Altaria, wanted to start with Dragon Dance, and Georgia, one of the "rare" red Gyrados, agreed. Meanwhile, Don and Silas, the Flygon and Salamence, were conversing with Drift - a Dragonite - about techniques for teaching Dragon Rush and Dragon Claw. Dreadfyl the Druddigon was doing the same with Hax, a Haxerous, concerning Dragon Tail. And, in the center of the group, Rosa, a Latias, was conversing with Ray (who had informed Khrista of his name change) about Draco Meteor and Dragon Pulse.

After some time, the Pokemon began to argue among themselves which one would teach Khrista first, eventually splitting into separate groups in different areas of the cave, with Rosa and Ray remaining in the center of the cavern.

"So, you've come to a decision?" Khrista asked as she stood up.

Rosa nodded. "We're going to have you go around and learn the techniques from each of us in any order, except you can only come to Ray and I last."

"Since they really couldn't come to an agreement on who would teach you first, they decided that you should be the one to make the decision," Ray added.

Khrista let out a breath to release whatever stress that might have built up in their system. "All right, then." She looked around the cave, confiding her options.

I'll want to start with something simple, to ease myself into it...Dragon Dance raises Attack and Speed, but it won't truly help unless I've got other Dragon abilities mastered...

Eventually, she decided on where she was going first, and Khrista strode over to where Arius waited.

"Which attack do you wish to learn first?" Arius asked as Khrista approached.

"I want to give Twister a try," Khrista replied calmly. "It kinda looks like it's based off the Flying-Type move Gust."

"I've been told that it was the other way around," the pink Dragonair replied. "According to legend, Dragons were created first, and the other Pokemon came after, inventing moves based off what we knew." He slithered around Khrista, looking the brown-haired teen over. "Hmmm... Have you tried to maintain a Dragon-Type form?"

"Not yet," Khrista admitted, "but I haven't exactly been close to any Dragon-Types down here yet." She felt a wrenching feeling in her gut as her mimicry activated and tried to make Khrista a Dragon-Type. However, her shirt only flickered to royal blue for a moment before reverting back to dull red.

Arius frowned. "Let's start with that, then, before I being to lecture you. What do you do in order to activate different Types?"

"I get this...wrenching feeling in my gut when I'm copying a Type, but after that I can just switch to a Type by thinking about it." To demonstrate, Khrista shifted to Grass-Type, then Psychic-Type, then Dark-Type before going back to the "No-Type" of humankind.

Arius cocked his head to one side, then nodded slightly. "All right, then. Perhaps it is not just the ability to mimic that you have to use in order to gain access to the Dragon-Type."

Khrista frowned. "What are you suggesting?"

"I suggest that you think of something that brings dragons to your mind in an instant. Not Dragon-Types, but dragons."

Khrista blinked blankly. "Dragons..." Her mind went through everything that she had heard, read, and seen about the scaly beasts back at home. Giant, winged lizards moved across her mental vision, standing tall and proud and filled with a lot of power and energy.

Almost as though they were...regal creatures.

"I'm getting the feeling that you guys are regal Pokemon of sorts," Khrista stated, looking over at Arius. Her shirt flickered royal blue again, staying longer than the first time, but it disappeared some time later.

Arius inclined his head. "An intriguing notion."

"Well, most of the Legendaries are part Dragon, aren't they?" Khrista responded. Another thought came to her mind, and she added. "Besides, Legendaries used to be as hard to find as dragons, and monarchies are getting to be that rare now, too."

"Monarchy was once how Dragon clans were led," Arius recalled. "Each species of Dragon-Type was led by a Shiny form, which wasn't as rare as it is today. Every generation of new Pokemon released a Shiny form into the world. In the Dragon Clans, it was concentrated into a single bloodline, claimed to have been descended from the Legendaries directly."

Khrista blinked, considering the Dragonair's statement. "Really? I guess I could see that - how rare colors could be passed from parent to child. The same goes for certain moves, too."

"Indeed. Extremespeed was originally thought to be learned by the royal sons who had normal coloring."

"Like my Dragonair," Khrista realized. "He knew Extremespeed when he was given to me by the Head Elder of BlackThorn."

Arius nodded. "Yes. My family contains some of the royal blood within our veins. However, the term 'king' has long since been discarded from everyday interactions."

Khrista grinned. "Yeah. Especially considering how rare the odd colorings are nowadays."

"You are a rare occurrence, as well," Arius pointed out. "Many legends have foretold of creatures who were capable of switching between human form and Pokemon form. Your powers are the closest we are ever going to get in this time period."

Khrista smiled. "I'm as rare as the Shiny Dragon-Types," she murmured. Her shirt continued to flicker, only now it was remaining royal blue for longer intervals. "I think I've figured it out, Arius." The shirt stopped flickering, remaining fully royal blue.

Arius smiled. "Looks like you've got it," he remarked. "Now, you said you wanted to learn Twister?"

Khrista nodded. "I don't exactly feel comfortable with Dragonbreath because Pokemon use it by breathing the attack out."

"I believe it is the only way to use Dragonbreath," Arius responded. "Twister, however, is a move that can be generated by the flapping of wings or the summoning of winds."

"Summoning winds?"

"Correct. This is easy for a Dragonair like me, because we are capable of messing with the weather around us if we so choose. The trick with you is to work out your own way of using the move." Arius turned his head and nodded to a figure, and a Pidgeot approached. "Paula is going to use her wings to create a wind, and I want you to harness it. Find a connection with that power and use it to your advantage."

Khrista nodded, understanding where Arius was going. "Right. Whenever you're ready, Paula!"

Paula nodded. "Here goes!" She started to flap her wings vigorously, forcing Khrista to raise a hand to block the wind from her face, her hair flying out behind her.

"Remember to take control of the wind!" Arius called out. "Shape it into a Twister!"

"How?" Khrista shouted back.

"Not to sound too much like an Areodactyl, but you have to become one with the wind!"

Khrista frowned. "One with the wind?" she muttered. "How's that going to work?" She started to lower her hand, forcing the teen to shut her eyes to protect them from the wind. She stood there, hands at her sides, feeling the wind blast around her and through her hair.

After standing there for a time, Khrista began to get an inkling of what Arius had meant. She could feel the power in the air rubbing against her arms and face. Instinctively, she started to gather the wind together into an area in front of her, using some sort of power source in her chest. The wind kept exiting in bursts of energy, but Khrista managed to keep it in one place. She then began to spin the "wind power" in one direction, opening her eyes in order to see what exactly she was doing. Surprisingly, the wind obeyed her fingers' touch, as it became the mini-tornado the move Twister was.

Arius nodded in approval. "Good, good. Now, let's see if what you created has any actual Dragon-Type powers." He stuck his tail-tip into the twister, only pulling it out when a small rock from the cave floor smacked it.

Khrista held her breath as Arius inspected the three spheres on his tail. The Dragonair noticed this, and smiled in spite of himself.

"I have strong defenses," he told his Trainer. "You can relax." After staring at his tail for a moment longer, he lowered it and looked at Khrista. "There's some Dragon power in there, but most of what you used to create the Twister is Flying power." He blew out the Twister, and the wind dispersed.

"Well, Paula was supplying the wind for me, so the Flying powers could have come from here," Khrista pointed out.

"Perhaps, but I find it doubtful. A wind is a wind, no matter where it comes from."

"The Dragonair speaks the truth."

Khrista's head turned, and she caught sight of the rainbow-colored Legendary bird from Jhoto entering the cavern followed by an Entei with a blue mask. The mere size of the Fire/Flying-Type astonished the teen, since she had never seen the Pokemon in person. Had she not managed to catch the Pokemon in SoulSilver, Khrista would have been greatly intimidated.

"Pyrus," Arius identified, nodding to the Entei. "What brings you here?"

"We came to discuss a few things with the Professors," Pyrus explained gruffly.

Khrista, upon hearing his voice, mentally noted that Pyrus sounded a lot like Wolverine.

"I think they're still in the Underground," Khrista remarked. "They've been discussing their plan concerning taking out you-know-who."

Ho-Oh nodded. "We thought as much; that is the reason we came here."

"It is?" Arius asked, curious.

Khrista frowned and cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"We have our own plans for assisting you in destroying Cyrus' hold on this world," Ho-Oh explained.

"Exactly," Pyrus confirmed. "We have been filling the thunderclouds above us with energy, and they're just about ready to burst. If we time it right, we can unleash our own fury on the tower, thereby weakening it and opening more of a chance of destroying Cyrus."

"That'll turn our three-way attack into a four-way," Ray realized. When Khrista gained a confused expression, though, the Legendary didn't elaborate on his statement.

Ho-Oh looked like he was about to say something else, but then he paused and looked up at the cave ceiling. "I sense a great amount of energy, as though someone was trying to energize every single Pokemon and Trainer in this mountain." He looked back at the rest of the group in the cavern. "I believe this is Victini's work."

"He always said that he didn't have enough things to do to keep him busy," Paula recalled. "I guess with this thing that's coming up, he's in charge of morale. It's hard to be unhappy about it at this point - he's releasing so much energy that we're practically jumping all over the place."

Khrista smirked. "I actually haven't run into him yet, but I have to admit - I do feel a little more energized than normal."

"That's Victini's work," Arius confirmed. Turning to look at Pyrus and Ho-Oh, he explained, "Khrista is basically a Legendary Pokemon, thanks to Azelf's meddling. We're trying to teach her the various Dragon moves before she goes back to the Tower. I apologize if we kept you."

"No need," Ho-Oh responded. "I now know the time for attack is near; the specific date is another thing entirely." He looked down at Pyrus. "Come; I sense a Trainer nearby who might tell us of what will occur." With that, the two left the cavern.

Khrista looked over at Ray. "Do they live in the area?"

"Most of the Elite Trainers knew that Ho-Oh, Lugia, and the pairs of Entei, Suicune, and Raikou live in those mountains near the PokeBall Graveyard," Ray explained. "They've been keeping what remains of the weather going until the time that their elemental storm could be unleashed."

"If they're getting ready to unleash that thing, we'd better get back to training you," Arius remarked. "Let's try that Twister again..."

I like writing up interactions more than actual fighting scenes for some reason...I've got to work on that, or else everything's going to get majorly dull around here.