A Dragon's Tail
Tail 4: Claura's Tail - Stagnation
Tail 4-1: Once Upon a Time
"…And finish this by using an alembic to filter the side effect of this potion." Richard said.
"Wow!" Rachael said as she looked at the potion she just made. "Thank you, Onii-chan!"
"You should give your gratitude to yourself rather than giving it to me, Rachael." Richard said. "The thing that enables you to make such a high-quality potion like this is your gift of making potions."
"But before that, I could only make the potion that restores HP, PP, cures status aliments and revives fainted Pokemon." Rachael said. "Because of your knowledge, you taught me the recipe of potions that temporarily give a stat boost during a battle!"
"Hm…" Richard nodded. "The recipe I taught you requires the use of Figy Berry, Iapapa Berry, Wiki Berry, Aguav Berry and Mago Berry in order to give one-stage boost to Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed. You can also use two berries and follow this recipe to add more attributes to the potion, such as using two Wiki Berries will give you a potion that gives a two-stage boost to Special Attack, or using a Figy Berry and a Mago Berry will give you a potion that gives a one-stage boost to both Attack and Speed."
"That would be useful for us, right?" Rachael said.
"Right, but remember…" Richard continued speaking. "The five berries that could be used in this recipe may sometimes give a side effect of inflicting confusion to someone who doesn't like the flavor of those berries. Thus, you must not forget to use the alembic to remove the side effect. A potion made by using two berries is harder to remove its side effect than a potion made by using only one berry. Keep all of this in mind."
"Okay!" Rachael said.
Richard nodded to his younger sister again and watched as the Latias put away her apparatuses. Right now, both of them were sitting near a campfire in a cave in the middle of a snowy pine forest. Other than both of them, there were two more Pokemon in this cave, a Garchomp and a Charizard.
"…" Diego the Charizard didn't say anything or move even a bit, as he was now sleeping peacefully in his burning flame-patterned sleeping bag near the camp fire.
"ZZZZZ!" Unlike Diego, Zetarus the Garchomp snored loudly while he was sleeping in his fissure-patterned sleeping bag.
"Yawn…" Rachael released a small yawn. "I think I'm starting to feel sleepy…"
"Then, you should go to sleep, Rachael." Richard said. "I will keep watching here until it's that Garchomp's turn."
"Okay…" Rachael said and was about to enter her flower-patterned sleeping bag when she seemed to remember something. The Latias then picked something from her bag and handed over it to the Latios.
"Onii-chan." Rachael said. "Could you read me a bedtime story for me?"
Richard looked at the thing that his sister gave him. It was a book about a bedtime story. He remembered that Rachael bought this when they went shopping together at the Gamma Department Store during the Equinox Sale.
"Fine…" Richard said. Rachael then gave him a hug before she sat down near the Latios as he opened the book and started reading the story.
"Once upon a time…"
"YAHH!"
Two lures were thrown into the cerulean sea of Riverbrine. They were connected by two long strings to two fishing rods held by two Pokemon on the rear deck of a grand ship.
"Just wait and see!" One of two Pokemon who held a fishing rod spoke up after she threw the lure into the sea. "This time, I won't lose to you!"
"Shout what ye want, matey." The other Pokemon holding a fishing rod, who was a blue alligator-like Pokemon named Feraligatr who wore a black captain hat with a mark of jolly roger, spoke up. "But th' victory be always mine, yer sea horse."
The 'sea horse' didn't pay her attention to the Feraligatr. Instead, she focused all of her attention to the fishing rod with a hope that she would get something big today.
"Aye!"
The Feraligatr's voice attracted her attention again. She then looked at him and saw that he was wrestling with the sea Pokemon he had just caught with his fishing rod. That Pokemon was a Clawitzer. It tried to blast a stream of water to the Feraligatr in order to get free, but his strength was no match against the big jaw Pokemon as the Feraligatr used his jaws to block the Clawitzer's big claw from blasting him and finished the battle with a snap of his jaw on the howitzer Pokemon's body.
"Jackpot!" The Feraligatr said and held the body of the Clawitzer up with his right paw. "We be 'oin' to have a blast tonigh!"
The 'sea horse' ignored the Feraligatr's words and turned her attention to her fishing rod. However, it wasn't long until the Feraligatr caught something with his fishing rod again.
"Boi!" The Feraligatr said and showed his friend another water Pokemon he caught, which was a Kingler. "It seems like I got myself in a real pinch!"
Once again, the 'sea horse' ignored the Feraligatr and turned her attention to her fishing rod, and again that the Feraligatr was able to catch something with his fishing rod!
"Booty!" Feraligatr said and showed his friend a Gyarados he just caught. "'tis one is so 'reat and 'rant!"
"…" The 'sea horse' said nothing and was about to turn her attention back to her fishing rod when the Feraligatr spoke up first.
" How 'bout ye, sea horse? Did ye catch somethin'?" The Feraligatr asked as he placed the Gyarados near the Clawitzer and the Kingler.
"Shut up, Bismarck." The 'sea horse' said. "...Unless you want to bite the dust again."
"Scary as e'er, eh? Matey…" The Feraligatr said. "I accept that, while ye fishin' skill be not at jolly as mine, in battle, ye be one 'o th' scariest beas!"
"I am not a beast, Bismarck." The 'sea horse' said. "I am a dragon."
The Feraligatr nodded while he looked at the 'sea horse'. She was a Pokemon that looked like a big blue-scaled seahorse with a yellow-scaled belly. She had a curled tail and three fins, two at the back of her head and the third one at her back. She also had two horns on her head. Her eyes were dark red. Overall, one could tell that she was a dragon and water type Pokemon, Kingdra.
Before the Feraligatr and the Kingdra could say anything more, they noticed that the Kingdra's fishing rod was shaking. This indicated that the Kingdra had finally caught something!
"HAAA!" The Kingdra tried her hardest in order to pull the thing she caught from the ocean. It was not long until she succeeded!
"By the Powers!" The Feraligatr said as he saw the thing that the Kingdra caught with her fishing rod, as it was the Pokemon known as 'Lord of the Ocean'!
"HYAOOO!" Wishiwashi (School Form) roared as it was dragged out of the ocean by the Kingdra's fishing rod. It then prepared to attack the Kingdra!
"Ha! Don't think that you can take me down easily!" The Kingdra said and grabbed her weapon, which was an Anchor with a long chain attached to its head, and threw it at the Wishiwashi while dodging its Water Pulse attack!
"Ha! How's my attack taste like?" The Kingdra said as she pulled the anchor back to herself.
"HYAOO!" Wishiwashi roared and attacked the Kingdra again using the move Brine, but its attack didn't hurt the Kingdra even a bit!
"Fool!" Kingdra roared. "I am a Kingdra, a dragon and water type, so the water move won't hurt me even a bit! Now, take this!"
The Kingdra threw her weapon at the Wishiwashi's head! This attack hurt it so much that it stopped schooling!
"SESEEEEEE!" Several Wishiwashi (Solo Form) tried to escape back into the ocean when they stopped schooling, but…
"Ha! Don't ye think that I gunna let ye be off!" The Feraligatr roared and threw a net to catch the Wishiwashi, preventing them from escaping!
"Whew!" The Feraligatr said as he dragged the net with several Wishiwashi inside and placed it near the Clawitzer, Kingler and Gyarados he caught. "That's a tough one!"
"See?" The Kingdra said and put away her weapon. "I told you that I will catch something today! And look! The thing I caught is the Pokemon known as 'Lord of the Ocean'!"
"Ya ya…" Feraligatr mumbled. "I gunna let ye win 'tis the hour, lass… HEY!"
Feraligatr quickly dodged the anchor that was thrown from the Kingdra. The Kingdra's eyes were full with rage. "You stupid croc! I told you not to speak like that to me!"
"Boi! I for'ot!" Feraligatr said without having any regret in his action or grudge against the Kingdra's action. He seemed to be as casual as ever.
"Hm!" The Kingdra mumbled and pulled her anchor back.
"Whate'er…" The Feraligatr said and turned his head to face the door that would lead to the deck corridor of the ship. "Ahoy! Ye squiffies!"
After the Feraligatr shouted, the door opened, and five Pokemon, a Poliwhirl, a Prinplup, a Dewott, a Wartortle and a Machoke, appeared.
"Aye, sir!" All five Pokemon said.
"Take these fish to th' mess hall. We be goin' to have great, grand dinner t'night!" The Feraligatr said.
"Aye! Captain Bismarck!" All five Pokemon said, and then they approached the Water Pokemon that the Feraligatr and the Kingdra caught and took them into the deck corridor of the ship.
"Wew!" The Feraligatr wiped his sweat as he and the Kingdra put away the fishing rods. "This day be such a blast! i reckon I be 'oin' to 'rab somethin' to drink! Wanna join me, sea horse?"
"No." The Kingdra gave a firm answer. "It's still daytime, so no alcohol for now."
"Ha! I be knowin' that ye would shout that thin'!" The Feraligatr said. "Still, I couldn't do that because we be low on th' spiced grog. But we be almost at th' land, so we could stock some more spiced grog fer me matey."
"So, we are almost at the Riverbrine Island?" The Kingdra asked.
"No." The Feraligatr answered. "We almost reach th' town full wit' landlubbers, not Ri'erbrine Island."
"Seaside Town?"The Kingdra mumbled.
"Aye." Feraligatr nodded. "After we finish stockin', th' Seacross gunna once again rule over se'en islands 'o Ri'erbrine!"
The Kingdra nodded to the Feraligatr's words, but before either of them could say something, they heard a shout from someone at the crow's nest of the ship.
"Emer'ency! Emer'ency!" The Pokemon who stood at the crow's nest, who was a Politoed, said with a panicking voice. "We spot another ship comin' 'tis way!"
"What?!" The Feraligatr said and shouted at the Politoed. "What be that ship belong to?"
"I…It's the Razor Scale!" The Politoed said.
"That scallywag!" The Feraligatr roared. "How dare they think that they could match their might wit' th' Seacross?!"
"W…What's ye order, Captain Bismarck?!" The Politoed asked.
"We gunna show them who's th' cap'n around here!" The Feraligatr shouted. "Be tellin' them squiffies to prepare fer a brawl wit' th' Razor Scale!"
"Aye, sir!" The Politoed said before he made an announcement to everyone on the ship to prepare for a battle!
"AYE!" Everyone on the ship roared as they prepared their weapon for a battle, including the cannons!
"I must be off now, sea horse." The Feraligatr said to the Kingdra. "…Or would ye like to gather pirates in a battle wit' them scallywags?"
"With pleasure, Bismarck Aquamarine the Feraligatr." The Kingdra nodded.
"Aye!" The Feraligatr named Bismarck nodded. "Then, let's be off to th' main deck first."
As Bismarck and the Kingdra reached the main deck of the ship, they saw several crews dressed in pirate uniforms and wore a blue bandana running around the deck. It seemed that they were all preparing for the upcoming battle!
"That reminds me…" Bismarck seemed to remember something and turned his attention to the Kingdra. "'tis would be th' first naval battle we have since when ye come wit' us, right?"
"Don't worry about me, Bismarck." The Kingdra said. "This may be the first real naval battle for me, but I know what to do about this."
"Well, if ye shout so..." Bismarck said. "Then, I gunna be off to check th' preparation. Take care, sea horse."
After he finished speaking, Bismarck walked away from the Kingdra to check his crews, leaving her there.
"I can take care of myself, Bismarck." The Kingdra mumbled before she looked around. "Well, the first thing I must do is…"
The Kingdra was about to prepare her weapon for the battle when…
"Yawn… What happened, Claura Pulsawhirl the Kingdra? Why it's so noisy around here?"
A voice came from inside the saloon of the ship, followed by the appearance of a Pokemon. He was a tall bipedal dragon Pokemon with light orange skin and a cream-colored belly. All of his paws and feet had three claws. He had a tail and a pair of green wings too. His head had two nostrils jutting from his eyebrow and a small horn over his head. His eyes were dark green, and his face seemed sleepy, as if he had just woken up.
"What are you doing, Xavier Storming the Dragonite?!" The Kingdra named Claura yelled at the Dragonite who had just appeared from the saloon of the ship. "The battle is about to start! Hurry up and prepare yourself!"
"Battle?" The Dragonite named Xavier walked up to Claura. "Battle what?"
"What?!" Claura scolded. "We are on a pirate ship, so what battle could we have other than a naval battle between two pirate groups!?"
"Naval battle… Then, see ya!" Xavier said and turned back, preparing to go back to the saloon of the ship, but he was stopped immediately by Claura.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Claura scolded again. "THE BATTLE IS ABOUT TO START! AND ALL YOU WOULD DO IS JUST NAP WHILE EVERYONE IS FIGHTING?!"
"And what should I do for this situation?" Xavier asked.
"Didn't you train to be the t—" Claura continued speaking, but her words were cut off by the Dragonite.
"This battle is a naval battle between two pirate groups, right" Xavier spoke up. "They don't need my help for a battle like this. Moreover, the naval battle mostly consists of a fight by shooting cannonballs to other ship, not a fight by attacking each other directly. So, unless the pirate from this ship board the other ship or the pirates from the other ship board this ship and engage a direct battle, this battle is pretty boring for me…"
"Whatever!" Claura said and grabbed Xavier's tail using her own tail. "No slack off for you!"
After she finished speaking, Claura was about to drag Xavier away from the path that would lead him back to the saloon of the ship when both of them heard a sound of cannon blasting!
"BOOM!"
"…The battle have already started…" Xavier said.
"YAH!"
"BOOOM!"
"HYAAAA!""
"BOOOOM!"
"Blast them!"
Bismarck commanded his crews to load the cannon balls and fired them at the Razor Scale's ship, and the crews on the Razor Scale's ship also did the exact same thing to this ship.
"That scurvy sea dog!" Bismarck roared. "They dare to approach our ship, so we must show them who's th' cap'n around 'tis sea!"
"But, captain…" A Machoke approached Bismarck. "O…Our cannonball…"
"What?!" Bismarck turned his attention to his underling.
" We be almost out 'o th' cannon ball!" Machoke said.
"AHOY!" Bismarck roared. "Ye want to be tellin' me that we have no balls?!"
"Good grief…"
Claura mumbled. She, along with Xavier, now stood not too far from Bismarck, so both of them could hear the Feraligatr's words despite the sound of a cannon blast.
"Well… As I guess… Yawn…" Xavier mumbled.
"W...What we do, si?!" Machoke asked.
"An eye fer an eye, 'o course!" Bismarck said. "We must give a 'o' to approach th' Razor Scale's ship 'n show them our might!"
"Aye, sir!" Machoke said before he quickly walked away, and then Bismarck turned his attention back to command his crews.
"So, it's time for a real battle…" Claura said and picked her anchor, but…
"Yawn…" Unlike Claura, Xavier didn't seem to be very enthusiastic of the upcoming battle.
"XAVIER!" Claura scolded. "Don't just stand like that! Grab your weapon and prepare for a battle!"
"It's pointless, Claura…" Xavier mumbled. "We would never win this battle if we do something like that…"
"WHAT?!" Claura said. "How dare you say something like that?! If you split those words in Bismarck's face, you will be sure to get keelhauled, you know?!"
"But it's true…" Xavier mumbled. "While this pirate group is low on cannonballs, the other pirate group still continues barraging at us. Moreover, it was that pirate group who started this battle, right? All of this means that the other pirate group has an ample amount of cannonballs, and they are truly ready for a skirmish. With this, it would be suicidal for this ship to get close to the other ship because it would be easier for the pirate on the other ship to blast this ship with their cannons. Overall, this battle is just futile…"
"YOU MEAN THAT IT'S BEST FOR US TO GIVE UP?!" Claura roared. "I DON'T KNOW THE MEANING OF GIVE UP! I DON'T KNOW THE MEANING OF SURRENDER!"
"Then, what would you do?" Xavier asked with his arms crossed.
Claura stopped saying anything after she heard the Dragonite's words. She then looked around and tried to think what to do next…
Until she saw…
"That!"
Claura gazed at something on Xavier's chest. It was a hardened small black brooch that looked like a scale. Claura then looked at something on her chest. Like Xavier, she also had a brooch. Unlike Xavier, her brooch was a light small white brooch that looked like a feather.
"This?" Xavier mumbled. "Are you sure about this?"
"Absolutely." Claura said. "We didn't form a pact with them just for us to have a nifty brooch decorated on our chest."
"Well, fine…" Xavier said. "Let's go…"
After the Dragonite finished speaking, he and the Kingdra used the moment when everyone's attention was at the battle to sneak to the rear deck of the ship via the deck corridor of the ship in order to proceed with their plan…
"AHOY!" Bismarck roared at the ship of the Razor Scale. "Ye scallywag!"
"Captain!" A crew who was a Dewott approached the Feraligatr.
"WHAT?!" Bismarck turned his attention to his crew.
"Look there!" Dewott said and pointed his paw to something above the Razor Scale's pirate ship…
Suddenly, a flock of black clouds started gathering above the ship of the Razor Scale, followed by a sound of thunder! And… Not only that…
"Captain!" A prinplup crew approached Bismarck and pointed his paw at below the Razor Scale's ship. "Look th'!"
Like the black clouds above the ship, a ring of blue light suddenly appeared under the ship of the Razor Scale!
"W...What they be plannin' to do?!" Bismarck said.
"GRARRARAR!"
"RARARARARWWRR!"
A loud roar could be heard by everyone on both pirate ships, and suddenly, like the sudden appearance of the black clouds above and the ring of light below, two silhouettes appeared; one was a black silhouette from the black clouds above and the other one was a white silhouette from the right of light below. And… Two silhouettes weren't the only things that appeared from the black cloud and the ring of light.
"ZOOOM!"
"FLARRERRR!"
An enormous bolt of lightning dropped down from the black clouds above to the Razor Scale's ship below at the same time the black silhouette appeared from the black cloud. And at the same time, a blast of blue fire raised from the ring of light below the Razor Scale's ship at the same time the white silhouette appeared from the ring of light. The bolt of lightning and the blue fire crashed with each other at the deck of the Razor Scale's ship, resulting in a huge explosion!
"ARRRRGGRRR!" The crew of the Razor Scale roared in pain as they were attacked by the mysterious lightning and fire.
"NOW!" Bismarck roared. "FIRE!"
After Bismarck finished ordering, several cannon balls were fired from the ship of the Seacross to the ship of the Razor Scale again. This time, all cannon balls hit the ship of the Razor Scale directly, resulting in a huge damage to them!
With everything came like this, the battle had finally come to the end…
With the loser being the Razor Scale…
And the victory belonged to the Seacross…
But…
What was that mysterious lightning and fire?
To Be Continued…
Dragon of Vale: Hello! After a break, I am back with the first chapter of the fourth tail. This tail is called Stagnation… Strange name again, isn't it?
This tail will set up in a nation with both tropical and tundra climate, the Queendom of Riverbrine. This chapter starts with the point of view of Rachael and Richard at the snowy pine forest before it switches to point of view of the main protagonist of the fourth tail, Claura Pulsawhirl the Kingdra. While she is a female Pokemon, do not underestimate her or she would knock you out as she's a bit of proud tomboy. Her weapon is an anchor, but her weapon's name isn't revealed yet.
This tail would be like Zetarus' tail as it would consist of two PoV. Each PoV will tell the story that happens at the same time, but happens in two different places; one at the sea and the other at the glacier.
A special thanks to Ridin Valon for helping me with the error correction.