Dratini

Two men and a Pokemon walked between a group of small ponds scattered in a grassy field, stirring up autumn leaves as they went along. The younger one, much younger, probably around twenty, wore a dark blue cape that was always worn by the ancient Dragon Tamers Clan. "We were worried initially about your plans for this Safari Zone," Lance said. "But I do see that you have taken special efforts to support natural conservation through this organization."

The older one, the Safari Warden who went by the nickname of Slowpoke, gestured out to the ponds. "I think the modernization of our nation needs to pause for a bit and take steps to ensure that we do not overrun the wild. No good will come out of killing Mother Nature."

"Right." His attention was distracted for a moment as his Pokemon, a white and blue Dratini that was longer than his Trainer was tall, rubbed against his leg. Lance rubbed the Dragon's head, smiling.

Warden Slowpoke chuckled at this. "You know, they say that Dratini used to live in these parts. Their eggs would hatch underwater and the young ones would keep together for safety. But then Fuchsia was founded and more and more humans came into the area. The Dragons became cautious, eventually abandoning this area altogether."

"So I've heard. And other factors have killed them, so that none in the wild remain. There's only the ones raised by the Clan left."

"It's a shame. We don't want any more Pokemon getting into that state of near-extinction."

A ripple in the water sounded by them, but the three paid it no heed. If they had, they might have noticed that a female Dragonair had come up briefly to look at them. She and two other females had been deterred from their previous spawning place, but the ancestral memory of this one remained. They had found a way here and would shortly find a way back to the ocean.

Nature was stronger than mankind realized.

-+-

After a winter of being frozen in the small pond, the Dratini eggs hatched. There were nine of them, all white and blue, all around two feet long, with rounded noses and no ornamental frills. They soon went out to explore their home, finding underground tunnels to other ponds and perhaps even the ocean. But when the days were over, they all came back to the pond where they were hatched, to sleep together as a group.

It had to be a group, with no clear-cut leader. They were weak and relied on numbers to survive. Unfortunately, it didn't always work; one of their pack got dragged out of the water screaming as a predator managed to get a hold of her. The Dratini had to remain equals, until they were strong enough to stand up for themselves and to take claim to true leadership.

As the Safari Zone staff made sure that there were plenty of eatables in the ponds for the other Pokemon, the Dratini pack never went truly hungry. And so they grew quickly, getting to five feet and beyond as autumn came again. Growing meant shedding, however, as their developing bodies pushed out against the rigid scales that were their main means of defense. One male fell to another predator just after he had shed, before he had time to solidify a new skin.

So a different male was cautious as he swam just below the water's surface. His scales were cracking and his body felt the stress as mild but widespread pain. But there had been a human walking about some time ago. Was it gone?

When he looked again, he saw no humans. Only a Heracross, who wasn't interested in eating a young Dragon. So the Dratini came out of the safety of the pond and quickly found a rough rock to rub against. He used that to peel the oppressive old skin off his body. It was tough work, considering that he had five and a half feet of body to free. After some time, he had managed to get rid of the dead scales.

But as always, it wore him out. The Dratini lay down by the rock for a while, trying to rest but also trying to be wary of any predators. A ripple from the pond showed that one of his pack mates was watching out for him. However, none of them wanted to come out of the water if they didn't have to. It was too dangerous and they still didn't have sufficient strength to move quickly without the support of the water.

There was another ripple from the pond. This time, his peer poked his head out of the water and made a quiet call. Humans were approaching. The other Dratini then dove back underwater to safety.

The recently shed Dratini felt alarmed. He had not encountered a human directly, but ancestral memory told him that he did not want to encounter one directly. Still feeling sluggish, he slithered into a patch of tall grass. He was too tired to make it back into the pond right away. Instead, he would have to hide here and hope.

What came down the path then was a middle-aged man and two boys. They were on the other side of the pond, thankfully. One of them asked, "Gramps, can't I have a Safari Ball to catch something? At least to try?"

"No Red, neither of you has your Trainer's license yet. You came along as observers, remember?"

"Yeah, I know. So when can we get our licenses?"

"Don't be so impatient," the grandfather said, in a warm but patronizing tone. "You'll both get your licenses in the spring when you both are ten. And I'll keep my promise about the starter Pokemon for you both."

Red looked disappointed. "Aw, but I turn ten in a couple of weeks. It's your fault for having such a late birthday, Blue."

"It is not," Blue retorted.

"Calm down, boys. I want things to be fair for you both."

"Sure enough, Professor Oak."

Although he crossed his arms over his chest in a grumpy manner, Red said, "All right, Gramps." Then he muttered something under his breath.

The Dratini felt collected enough that he could reach the pond now. He slithered into the waters, grateful for their cool feel on his tender skin. After some resting on the bottom, he would have a full set of scales again. His peer clicked an assurance that he would be closer this time, more protective.

Above the water, Blue stopped by the small pond. "Hey, was that a Dratini?"

"Don't be an idiot," Red said. "They don't have any Dragon types here."

"But there was something like that going into the water."

The other boy waved dismissively. "It was probably some Tentacruel or a mirage. Sheesh, you need to get your eyes checked."

However, Blue did find the shed skin that the male Dratini had left behind. As the Professor's volunteer observer, he made notes on it and took a small scrap of it as proof. Red was still mad at him, though, for making him wait to get his Trainer's license; he made sure that Blue's notes and samples got conveniently but accidentally damaged.

-+-

The summer was hot. The Dratini pack was over a year old now. As they were now old and strong enough to fight off the predators, they were now old and strong enough to fight amongst each other to find out who would be the pack leader.

At least, the three males were. The four females still thought of each other as equals, and they would as they would go off into the ocean. The males were learning their ritualized battle for earning mates and power later on in the ocean. As it was, the genders had already separated to give each other space.

Today, though, the skirmishes were over something else. There was a tantalizing smell coming from the land above the pond. It wasn't like anything the Dratinis had encountered before. However, the scent made their tongues eager and their stomachs wanting. It was some kind of very desirable food. As it came from above the pond with the males, they squabbled with each other as to who would get first claim at the food.

The shortest male realized, after a few rounds, that he was unlikely to get first claim, or any claim, to that food. That is, if he were to rely on only his strength to get it. He swam out of the way of his peers and curled around so that the tip of his tail touched his nose. It was a sign of passiveness, of acknowledging his peers' strength. The two of them lightly thwacked him with their tails, in a normally humiliating gesture.

But he remained in a passive posture. He gave the other two praise calls. However, he was only supposed to give a praise call to one of them. Giving out two caused them to glare at each other in a spiteful manner. They both claimed the praise and soon were battling each other to decide once and for all who was the superior Dragon.

Pleased that his ploy had worked, the short male swam upwards and came out to check out the food scent. It looked unfamiliar too, a pack of rice with fish meats and kelp leaves. The Dratini gave it an experimental sniff and lick. Nothing warned him of poison or other badness, so he ate the rice thing.

He missed a Safari Ball being thrown at him.

-+-

The shortest Dratini was inside a building with no open source of water and a heavy scent of humans. He curled up against a wall and watched warily. Oddly enough, he remembered the boy who had captured him. It was that one from last autumn, when he had been nearly seen after shedding.

"I knew that I had seen one out here before," Blue explained. "And those shed skins aren't the same as an Arbok's. So when I read this recipe that the Dratini line loves, I used one as bait, and finally got my proof."

"It is amazing," Warden Slowpoke said. "But I hope you have enough time to give him the attention and training he needs. This one seems truly wild, uncertain of humans."

"I can do it," the boy said with a confident smile.

The Dratini didn't know what was going on, but he knew that his life would never be the same.

...

Dratini DPP entry: It is called the 'Mirage Pokemon' because so few have seen it. Its shed skin has been found.

Dratini has surprisingly boring Pokedex entries. Also, aren't the Sinnoh triplet legends the mirage Pokemon?