A Dragon's Tail
Paralogue I: The Festival of Presents
-Sometime after the end of the third tail…
"Ah! Everyone, look!"
Rachael pointed her paw to a lonely village at the clearing of the snowy forest. It has been about an hour since when Rachael, Richard, Zetarus and Diego had arrived at the abandoned station of the Queendom of Riverbrine. And now, after walking through the pine forest, they finally saw the first sight of civilization of the snowy land.
"That must be the Frostdrop Village." Richard said while looking at the map. "This is a small village near the border of Queendom of Riverbrine."
"Near the border?" Diego asked. "Does that mean that we are almost at the border of Riverbrine-Fireview?"
"No." Richard answered. "As I said one hour ago, it would take us at least one week to reach the border."
"Oh, crap…" Diego mumbled.
"But this may not be that bad…" Zetarus said with a calm voice (Despite his body was now shivering very hard.) "At least I could find something warm to drink…"
"Right!" Rachael said. "And look!"
Richard, Zetarus and Diego looked at the middle of Frostdrop Village and saw a gathering square that is full with many Pokemon. (Almost all of them were Ice-type Pokemon.) They were now gathering around a huge tree decorated with sparkling and colorful light. Under the tree laid several boxes of presents.
"That seems like some kind of festival!" Rachael said.
"You are right." Richard said after he opened the Chronicle of Daybreak. "There is a small festival here in the Frostdrop Village to celebrate something…"
"Something?" Zetarus asked. "What's that?"
"I don't know." Richard answered. "But at this festival, there's a tradition where the villagers would give a present to each other."
"That's great!" Rachael said. "I want to join this festival too!"
"Then, do it." Diego said and turned back. "I am not interested in this festival or whatever…"
"What?!" Rachael said with a shocked voice. "B…But… Why?"
"Do not forget that I am a gladiator." Diego answered. "All I do is kill Pokemon, nothing more. Moreover, don't forget that I am a wanted criminal too."
"Oh, that's right…" Richard mumbled.
"So…" Diego continued speaking. "I will go and find some shelter around here and call it a day. Zetarus, when you finish your gxxxxxn thing, come and find me. And…" Diego looked at Rachael and Richard. "You two can put your butt in the hotel or whatever, I don't care."
"W…Wait!" Rachael said, but it was too late as Diego had already walked away from them.
"Well…" Zetarus said. "I will go and find something to drink. You two can do whatever you want and come to find us next morning, okay?"
"W…What?!" Rachael said. "A…Aren't you coming with us too, Zetarus?"
"Do you want someone like me to stay with you?" Zetarus asked with a cold voice.
"No." Richard suddenly spoke up. "I really don't trust a psychopathic criminal like you."
"See?" Zetarus said and looked at Rachael. "Right now, both of you don't really trust outlaws like Diego and me, and for Diego and me, both of you are just burdens."
"W…What?!" Rachael was shocked after she heard the words of the Garchomp.
"See? Now, back off."
After finished speaking, Zetarus walked into the Frostdrop Village. He didn't even give words of apologizing when he bumped into other Pokemon on the road. (He just gave them a cold stare, and the Pokemon the Garchomp bumped into had fallen into the utter silence.)
"…Isn't that Garchomp a wanted criminal too?" Richard mumbled. "How did he get into the village without any villagers recognizing him?"
"Onii-chan…" Rachael spoke up. "Let's go! I want to see cute clothing at this village's shop!"
Richard nodded in response to his younger sister, and then both of them entered the village of snow, Frostdrop Village.
After entering the village, Rachael and Richard headed to the shop of this village. Once they were inside the shop, Richard headed to the Book Zone while Rachael headed to the Clothes Zone.
"Wow! There're so many beautiful clothes!" Rachael said as she walked around the shelves full with many clothes. Most clothes were the winter gear such as scarves and sweaters.
'Wait a minute…' Rachael had just realized something when she saw the scarves on the shelves. 'This place is so cold, and Onii-chan and I are a Dragon and Psychic type, so both of us are weak to ice… Yes! That's right! I think I should buy two! One for me and one for Onii-chan! And… Zetarus is a Dragon and Ground type, so… He is very weak to ice! That's why his body always shivered ever since we arrived here! I should buy one for him too! And for Diego… He is a Fire and Flying type, so he isn't weak to ice… But… Since Zetarus, Onii-chan and I are going to have one, why not one for him too? Yay!'
Rachael spent the next hour choosing four scarves. One for her and three for her comrades. After she finished choosing, she brought those scarves to the cashier couter.
"Good afternoon, lady…" The cashier greeted her. "How may I help you today?"
"Here!" Rachael gave the cashier four scarves. "How much are they?"
"All come together in 500 PokeCoin…" The cashier said. "But with a special discount from our village festival, you get 20% discount, which reduces the price to 400 PokeCoin."
"Thanks!" Rachael said as she handed over a bag of PokeCoin to the cashier and received a bag of scarves from them.
"By the way, lady…" The cashier spoke up. "Would it happen that you decided to buy four scarves to be the presents for the festival?"
"Not really!" Rachael said. "I bought them for me and my friends!"
"Then, why don't you turn them into presents for your friends too?" Cashier asked and pointed their paw to another counter not too far from them. "Today, we have a special service to wrap a present for our customers for free! Why don't you try one?"
"That's right!" Rachael said. "If I turn these into presents, my friends would be very happy! And… It would also match the theme of the festival too! Thank you, sir, for a great tip!"
"Always happy to serve you." The cashier said as Rachael moved up to the counter with the service to wrap a present.
"Onii-chan!"
Richard turned his attention to the source of that cute voice. It was none other than his younger sister, Rachael. Right now, both of them were in front of the shop.
"Took you long enough, Rachael…" Richard mumbled. "Anyway, what should we do next? Should we find some place to call it a day?"
"Um…" Rachael said. "Would it be better if we stay with Zetarus and Diego tonight?"
"Stay with them?!" Richard said. "Why?! Aren't they wanted criminals?"
"I know, but don't forget that they are our comrades too." Rachael answered. "We would travel with them for the time being, so why don't we try to build a bond of trust with them?"
"…But, aren't they wanted criminals?" Richard asked. "That Charizard is a gladiator who has no interest in doing anything other than killing Pokemon, and that Garchomp… Didn't you see that he is truly a psychopathic criminal?!"
"That's not true!" Rachael said. "I know that they really aren't bad guys! I just know it!"
"…You know that…" Richard mumbled. "…But without any reason?"
"Right…" Rachael answered. "I just know it… And I am sure of it…"
"Sigh…" Richard sighed. "Rachael, you are truly the younger sister of mine that I remember, especially for your innocence… Well, actually, I was thinking of the same thing as you."
"You too?!" Rachael asked.
"Right." Richard nodded. "While I still don't trust them because they are wanted criminals, I feel like we need to build a bond trust with them because they really are formidable Pokemon, which I don't want them to become our enemies for sure. Moreover, I really want to know their backstory. I want to know the reason why they became wanted criminal, but I am sure that they would never tell me unless they trust me, so…"
"That's right!" Rachael said. "Onii-chan, you really are the Onii-chan I know, especially for your curiosity!"
"Yes… Yes…" Richard mumbled. "Now, let's go and find them. I am sure that the place they would use as a shelter wouldn't be very far from the village."
"Right!" Rachael said.
-Several minutes later…
"I'm back."
Zetarus walked into a small cave near the village. This cave was concealed by abundant groves of pine trees, making it a perfect shelter for Zetarus and Diego tonight. As the Garchomp walked into the cave, he could see that Diego had already set up a campfire as the sun had already descended from the sky.
"What the hell took you so long, axxxxxe?!" Diego asked.
"Hey…" Zetarus said with a crafty smile on his face. "Do not say anything like that to me or I will 'punish' you again."
"W…What?!" Diego said and unconsciously grabbed his tail. "D…Don't do it again, you bxxxxxd son of a—"
"I will do it if you don't shut up right now." Zetarus said.
"Hm!" Diego said. "Anyway, what took you so long?"
"I just had something to do." Zetarus said. "And… Here."
Zetarus dropped something on the ground. It was the body of a Walrein that's already dead.
"Tonight's dinner, eh?" Diego said. "Then, leaving the carving part to me."
Zetarus nodded and was about to sit down when he noticed something at the entrance of the cave. They were none other than the Latios and Latias, who were going to travel with him.
"Zetarus, Diego!" Rachael waved her paw as she and Richard moved into the cave. "Good evening!"
"Hm?!" Zetarus and Diego were both shocked as they saw the siblings. "What are you two doing here?!" Diego asked with a strong voice.
"Here!" Rachael placed a bag on the floor near the body of dead Walrein. Inside that bag were several kinds of berries. "These are the ingredients for our dinner!"
"Hm…" Richard said as he looked around the cave. "While both of you may not have much wit in your brain, your skill of choosing a shelter isn't bad."
"Hey!" Diego asked the same question again. "What are you doing here?!"
"What are you asking for?" Rachael asked with an innocent voice. "Onii-chan and I already completed our errands for today, so we come here to call it a day!"
"…Didn't I tell both of you that both of you would be burdens to us?" Zetarus asked.
"We can prove that we aren't!" Rachael said. "Look! We brought you some food! And I can cook you yummy meals too!"
"This isn't a childish camp, Latias." Diego said. "Now, back off!"
"You meanie!" Rachael said and pouted at Diego. "You are so mean!"
"Oh…" Diego mumbled. "Zetarus, help me there, wouldn't you?"
"…Are you really sure that you want to be here?" Zetarus asked. "A night in this place will be very cold… And wild beasts may come and eat you ALIVE! And… What if the bounty hunters found me and Diego here? They may think that both of you are like us and mistake you as wanted criminals too."
"Oh, don't worry about that…" Richard said. "I have calculated the direction and the speed of the blizzard for tonight, and I discovered that this cave will be safe from the frigid gale tonight. Moreover, I have already cast a spell using the Chronicle of Daybreak to make this cave invisible for most Pokemon, so there's no worry for any intruder who would come and discover our shelter here."
"…Da fuq?" Zetarus mumbled. "Can't you use easier words."
"…I mean that we all would be safe here for tonight." Richard said.
"Well, if you say so…" Zetarus said. "I really don't care what would happen to you. I don't care if anyone mistook both of you as wanted criminals or if wild beasts came and eat you. If you want to stay with Diego and me here tonight, then I won't say anything more."
"WHAT?!" Diego was shocked by Zetarus' words. "Zetarus, are you sure that you would be okay with both of them to stay here?"
"Why not?" Zetarus said.
"Geez…" Diego mumbled. "…Fine… Do whatever you want…"
"Great!" Rachael said. "And… I will make dinner for all of you!"
An hour later…
The camp for tonight had already been set. There was a campfire in the middle of the cave, with a pot of soup hanging over it. Above the campfire was an air hole that served as the 'chimney' of this cave. A bit near the campfire were four sleeping bags for four Pokemon; a flower-patterned sleeping bag with an Espurr Doll sleeping on it for Rachael, a thunder-patterned sleeping bag with several books on it for Richard, a fissure-patterned sleeping bag with a pistol and several bullets on it for Zetarus, and a burning flame-patterned sleeping bag with several forging tools on it for Diego. The owners of those sleeping bags were sitting around the campfire, having dinner.
"How's the soup?" Rachael said. "I think I did a pretty good job today!"
"It's too sweet." Diego answered. "I wish it could be spicy."
"Oh, then… Here!"
Rachael put something in Diego's soup. It was a Spelon Berry.
"Spelon Berry is the spiciest berry in the world!" Rachael said. "How's the soup right now?"
"Much better…" Diego said. "Can I have seconds?"
"Sure!" Rachael said as she poured some soup and put a Spelon Berry into Diego's bowl. "How about you, Zetarus?"
"…" Zetarus said nothing and picked something from his bag. It was a bottle that contained a dark red liquid. He then poured some of it into his soup bowl, making his soup turn into a blood red soup. The Garchomp then tasted the soup for a bit before putting another thing into his soup. It was something that looked like a white crystal.
"W…What's that?!" Rachael asked. "W…What did you put into your soup?"
"Blood." Zetarus answered as he put away a bottle of blood. "It made things much better. And for this rock…" Zetarus pointed his claw at the gradually melting white crystal he put into the soup. "I don't know what it is. I found it while I was wandering in Dustorm Desert. It made food taste better for me."
"That must be Halite." Richard spoke up. "Halite is a mineral form of Sodium Chloride, which forms isometric crystals, and…"
"…" Everyone fell into silence as Richard continued his long explanation.
"…Or you could just call it 'Rock salt'." Richard finished his explanation.
"Whatever…" Zetarus said. "These made my food a lot better than before."
"Okay." Rachael said. "How about you, Onii-chan?"
"It's tasty." Richard answered. "It seems like you put something special into my soup, right?"
"I knew it!" Rachael said. "I knew that you like sour food, so I put a Nomel Berry into this soup just for you!"
"That's good." Richard said.
"And now, I now know what kind of food you all like, so I can prepare better food for all of you!" Rachael said. "And Zetarus, tomorrow, I will go to the shop to see if they have salt for sale or not. If they had, I will put it into your food too, but for the blood part…"
"I understand…" Zetarus said. "Just leave the blood part to me, okay?"
"Okay!" Rachael said.
After dinner, four Pokemon now sat around the campfire. They were now talking about tomorrow's plan.
"…And this would be the best route for us." Richard finished explaining the route for tomorrow's journey.
"Yawn…" Diego started yawning. "Is it over yet?"
"Yes." Richard answered.
"Great." Diego said. "The last thing we must do for tonight is taking turns for fire watch."
"Then, can you leave Rachael out of this?" Richard asked.
"Don't worry about me, Onii-chan!" Rachael said. "I can handle the fire watch too!"
"Rachael, you already made us dinner." Zetarus said. "Leave the fire watch to the three of us."
"Okay…" Rachael said.
"Then, I will take the first turn." Richard said. "I always sleep late at night, so the fire watch wouldn't be a problem for me."
"Then, I will take the next turn." Zetarus said. "Diego, you take the last turn, okay?"
"Okay." Diego said. "Alright, now everything's over. Just let me catch some sleep after a long—"
"Wait a minute!" Rachael spoke up. "Could you just hold on for a minute?"
After she finished speaking, Rachael moved to her bag and picked three boxes of presents up. "Here!" Rachael said as she gave the presents to Richard, Zetarus and Diego.
"What is this?" Diego asked.
"A present for all of you!" Rachael said. "Quick! Open it!"
Richard, Zetarus and Diego then opened the boxes and found a scarf in each of their box.
"Scarves?" Richard said before he realized that Rachael was now wearing a scarf around her neck too.
"I found these in the shop." Rachael said. "And I know that our journey in this snowy land wouldn't end soon, so I bought these for all of you! Try wearing it!"
Richard, Zetarus and Diego did as Rachael said. After three Pokemon wore the scarves, a joyous smile appeared on her face.
"You all look so good in those scarves!" Rachael said.
"…Rachael, this isn't an ordinary scarf, right?" Richard said and looked at his yellow scarf.
"That's right!" Rachael said. "For Onii-chan, since you are a special attacker, I decided to choose the Special Band, which will increase your special attack!"
Rachael then turned her attention to Zetarus, who was now wearing an orange scarf. "For you, Zetarus, that's Mach Scarf. I don't know what that does, but when I saw it, it reminded me of you!"
"Hm…" Zetarus mumbled. "I think it gave me some mysterious power, as if I have gained a special skill or something like that…"
"I am glad you like it!" Rachael said before she turned her attention to Diego, who's now wearing a red scarf. "For you, Diego, that's Kindle Scarf. I really don't know what that does, but it seems like it has something to do with the fire and the sun…"
"Whatever…" Diego said. "This scarf really isn't bad for me…"
"And for me…" Rachael looked at her scarf, which was green. "This is Pecha Scarf! It will prevent me from getting poisoned! It will be very useful!"
"True." Everyone agreed with the Latias.
"And…" Rachael looked at everyone. "I am so glad that you all like my present!" Rachael said.
"Yeah…" Zetarus said. "I am sorry that we don't have anything to give you."
"Me too." Diego said.
"So do I." Richard said.
"It's okay!" Rachael said. "You all already gave me the greatest present, which is your joy!"
Richard, Zetarus and Diego all nodded to Rachael's word.
"Well, then…" Diego said. "I think I should catch some sleep—"
"Here." Zetarus suddenly spoke up and handed over something to Diego. It was a hammer for forging. "I found it at the shop where I bought bullets today, and I think you would want it."
"Hey!" Diego said. "I was thinking that I want that. Thanks, Zetarus."
A red blush appeared on Zetarus' face for a second as the Garchomp heard Diego's words before it suddenly disappeared. "W…Well… That's nothing."
"Okay." Diego said. "I will go to sleep right now. Wake me up near the dawn, okay?"
Everyone nodded to Diego's words, and then Diego got into his sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep.
"Yawn…" Rachael released a yawn after Diego already fell asleep.
"You should go to sleep too, Rachael." Richard said.
"Okay…" Rachael said and was about to move to her sleeping bag when she noticed something.
"Oh, look!"
Rachael pointed her paw outside the cave. Richard and Zetarus then realized that it's now snowing outside.
"Wow! Snow!" Rachael said. "It's so pretty!"
"True." Richard said.
"…Could this white thing fall from the sky too?" Zetarus asked.
"Right!" Rachael said. "Look! It's so pretty!"
'You are right, Rachael.' Ilia suddenly spoke up using telepathy. 'The white puff falling from the sky is a beautiful sight of the world.'
'…I don't really like snow, and I can't see anything.' Holmer spoke up using telepathy. 'But if you all say that it's beautiful, then I guess that it must be really beautiful.'
'Hm…' Zygarde spoke up using telepathy. 'I have never thought that something in the world of mortal could be this beautiful…'
Three Pokemon and three Dragon Legends then continued looking outside the cave as the white puff of snow continued falling from the shining sky above to the vast ground below.
-End of Paralogue I-
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Here's the first paralogue of A Dragon's Tail. A paralogue is a chapter where I will write a special scene of the main characters. Some paralogue, like this one, may be a tribute to a special day in the real world, such as this one is for the Christmas Day and New Year Day, but some paralogue would be daily activities of the main characters, and some paralogue would be a back story of the main characters...
As I said, this chapter is the tribute to the Christmas Day and New Year Day. So, Merry Christmas again and Happy New Year to you all!
After this chapter, I would take a little break, and then I will continue with the fourth tail in the next year! Don't worry! It won't be very long before the next tail comes out! I confirm!
See you all soon in 2017!
A special thanks to Ridin Valon for helping me with the error correction.