Hassel was a man who was many things: a Pokémon trainer, an artist, a dear friend, a teacher, a musician, a respected colleague, a member of Paldea'a Elite Four, and a runaway son of a clan of dragon tamers. It was on this last thing that he dwelled as he walked through the halls of Naranja Academy.

It was never a good thing when another dragon tamer came looking for him. Usually it meant having to endure requests to return home, abandon his passions, and take on the role of clan elder and then having to refuse these requests in a firm but polite manner. He did not want to take out his frustrations at his father on another and he certainly never wished ill on any messenger who was sent to speak with him. But that was what made this visit from another dragon tamer so distressing. Whether he had wished it or not, misfortune had found the young tamer.

Miriam had called him and explained the situation; about the Dragonair crashing into the training yard, the injured trainer, her warnings about a dangerous Pokémon, and her need to speak with him as soon as possible. He went at once and now stood outside the door to the nurse's office. A long sigh escaped from him as he mentally prepared himself for what he had to do. He opened the door.

Miriam's office was clean but did not have the sterile aroma that so many doctors' offices had. Hers smelled like clean linen and fresh fruit. Much of this was helped out by the fact that right now she was actively crushing berries to a sticky paste in a mortar.

"Hello," Hassel said.

"Hello," Miriam said without looking up from her mixing, "Rawst and lum berries for the burns, sitrus berries to soothe the pain, and just a splash of lemonade for taste."

She gave Hassel a quick wink with this statement, but her mirth quickly faded.

"Does the lemonade help the taste much?" Hassel asked.

"No, this is still going to be quite bitter, but Dragonair will need to drink it when he wakes up."

She scooped the berry mixture, placed it into a bowl, covered it and stood.

"Are you ready to see her?"

"I am."

A curtain had been put up in the room to give the dragon tamer and her Dragonair privacy from any students who may have needed help.

"Anna," Miriam said, "Hassel is here."

They turned the corner of the curtain and beheld Miriam's impromptu hospital room. Two beds had been pushed together to accommodate the Dragonair's long body and a nest of pillows and blankets had been piled around to make him comfortable. Miriam's Hypno was busy fussing over the injured Pokémon, adjusting the pillows every time the Dragonair moved in his sleep.

In a bed next to her partner sat Anna, the dragon tamer. She looked exhausted but in much better shape than when she had crash landed. Her damaged clothing had been removed and she had been given a new shirt from the school's gift shop, her hair had been brushed out, and the soot and dirt washed from her. At the sight of Hassel, Anne tried to push herself up in bed.

"No-no-no!" the Hypno scolded as he rushed over to Anna.

"Hold on a moment," Miriam said, "we will help you up."

She and Hypno each went to a different side of the trainer and placed an arm around her back.

"On the count of three. Ready? One, two, three."

Together they eased Anna up to a sitting position. Before she had even finished sitting up, Hypno had pulled a pillow to them with its psychic powers and set it behind her.

"Thank you," Anna said.

"That's what nurses are for," Miriam said, "Hypno, could you please get her a sling?"

"Hypno," he responded with a nod.

"Easy with your arm," Miriam said to Anna, "the medicine I gave you is helping with the pain, but your shoulder was still dislocated. Don't move it."

A moment later, Hypno returned with the sling.

"Thank you, Hypno," Miriam said as she took it, "you're a dear."

Hypno made a soft snickering sound and scratched at the ruff of fur growing around his neck.

Once her arm was in the sling, the dragon tamer began her tale.

"I was studying Axew that live at the base of Glaseado Mountain, particularly those that ventured into higher altitudes. I was hoping to observe their territorial behavior towards the Frigibax species that also live on the mountain, so I was wandering around where their territories overlap at the snow line. That's where I found the footprints. Snow was beginning to fall and the wind had shifted what had already fallen, but a set of large footprints were visible. I thought for sure I had picked up on the trail of an especially large Haxorus."

"You can imagine how excited I was. Haxorus usually make their lairs in caves, so what was one doing this far up the mountain? Did it find a mineral deposit that was worth enduring the cold to get to? Had it chased something like a Beartic away from its lair? Had a stronger Pokémon pushed it from its territory? I had to know, so I followed the tracks."

"They headed down the mountain, towards Dalizapa Pass, but rather than go back into the caves found throughout lower Glaseado, they abruptly turned west and began to climb upwards again. And these tracks were fresher, so naturally, on I pushed despite the snow beginning to come down thicker. I am a dragon tamer, after all, and whether it is heat or cold, we push ourselves to endure any climate a dragon may be found in."

Hassel grunted and gave a nod. He remembered the intense training he and other members of his clan had put themselves through. They were not the most pleasant of memories, but whenever they did come to mind, he tried to focus on his Frigibax and how it would play happily in the snow, warming his heart even as his nose froze, or how it would cuddle up next to him whenever he got sunburnt, its cool scales easing his pain better than any chilled towel could.

"More motivated than ever to find this Pokémon," Anna continued, "I followed its tracks until I could see the dull shimmer of Casseroya Lake on the horizon. That's when I saw it and I knew at once it couldn't be a Haxorus. Even though it looked curled up, probably to keep warm in the storm, I could tell it was too big, much bigger than even the largest specimen ever recorded. Honestly, I thought it was a Tyrantrum."

"A Tyrantrum?" Hassel interrupted.

"I know, it sounds crazy. As we know, thanks to the miracles of modern science, Tyrantrum is no longer an extinct Pokémon. I had heard that in some regions there were plans to try and reintroduce them to certain ecosystems, but I didn't think that was happening here in Paldea."

"Not that I am aware of," Hassel said.

"Oh, do you think maybe it survived so long in the Great Crater?" Miriam asked.

"Possibly," Hassel said, "there is still much about that area that we do not know, but ah, forgive us Anna, we have completely interrupted you. Please continue."

Anna nodded and continued.

"I crept closer to the Pokémon. I had to. The snow was practically a blizzard but I had finally found the Pokémon. I wasn't going to leave without a good look at the thing. As I got closer I noticed that it didn't look like any of the Tyrantrum I had seen photos of. It was blue, to begin with and had a larger mane. Immediately, my stupid excited mind thought of two things at once. One, I knew that in rare cases, Pokémon can sometimes be found in different colors than what they normally are. Two, perhaps this was a never before seen evolution of Tyrantrum and I was about to make history. Both were such attractive ideas that I decided to get even closer."

She looked over to her Dragonair and gripped at the strap of the sling with her good hand.

"What a stupid mistake."

"We all make mistakes," Miriam comforted, "it's nothing to be ashamed of."

"You have survived and you have learned from it," Hassel added.

"I just wish this lesson didn't come with so much pain," Anna sighed, "But what's done is done. I'll finish my story."

"I had hoped that the snow was going to obscure me from the Pokémon as much as it hid it from me. I was right and I had made it as close as a Gym field in length of the thing. I had never seen a Pokémon like it. I would bet my entire honor that this Pokémon was not a Tyrantrum but something else, some new species. Hassel, it was incredible. Just one glace told you it was powerful, fierce, and majestic. I knew, I just knew it had to be a dragon-type Pokémon."

"But unfortunately, I was not the only thing obscured by the snow. I couldn't see where I was placing my feet and I stepped onto some loose stones, stumbled, and fell into the snow. The Pokémon heard this and turned on me at once. It let out a roar that cut through the storm, leapt to its feet much faster than you would expect something that size to, and lunged for me. I had only enough time to send out Dragonair to protect me."

"I had him use Dragon Tail to push the other Pokémon away, but even swinging with all his might, Dragonair only sent it stumbling a few steps. It did draw its attention though and it swung around to face Dragonair. That's when this happened," she gestured to her injured arm, "as it turned, I was struck by its tails."

"Sorry to interrupt again," Hassel said, "but you said 'tails,' did you not?"

"Yes. It had two tails."

"Fascinating."

"Fascinating and painful. As much as this hurts, Dragonair got it worse. As soon as that Pokémon turned on him, it used Flamethrower. As sturdy as his scales are, he still got burnt. The other Pokémon attacked with Flamethrower again and this time Dragonair was able to counter with Aqua Tail. A great cloud of steam filled the area and melted much of the snow. It was like being in a fog bank, but it didn't slow down that blue giant at all. The unmistakable energy of a Dragon Pulse ripped through the air and struck poor Dragonair. He collapsed and not a second later, I saw the shape of our attacker looming over him, preparing another attack."

"I couldn't let it land that attack. I recalled Dragonair, which meant that its attention was back on me. I did the only thing I could do. I ran. Downhill, sliding with the melted snow, I ran as fast as I could, but I knew it was going to catch me. I made another stupid decision. I went to the nearest ledge I could find, sent out Dragonair before me, and jumped off the mountain. Dragonair caught me with his tail and pulled me up higher on his body and not a moment too soon. Fire streamed through where I was a moment ago. My cape was singed, but mercifully, I was not."

"After that, neither of us turned back. We focused on escaping. We knew we had to come here, to find the greatest dragon tamer in Paldea, and to ask for his help in stopping this ferocious Pokémon. Dragonair was so tired but he flew here because he trusted me and I believe in you. So please, Hassel, please. Find this Pokémon and capture it. This is something only a master dragon tamer can do. Please."

It only took Hassel a moment to answer.

"I will help."

The relief on Anna's face was immediate.

"But," Hassel continued, "it will not be because I am the son of a dragon master. I will not be doing this in my clan's name," he placed a hand over his heart, "I will be doing this as a teacher protecting his students and I swear on each and every one of them, I will find this mysterious Pokémon."