"Ok everyone, round up!" Dad whistled sharply and we moved to obey. In a matter of seconds we were all surrounding dad, waiting. "Let's check out your stats." Dad smirked, taking out his Pokedex.

Pokemon: Altaria (Nephele).

Gender: Female.

Ability: Natural Cure.

Type: Dragon/Flying.

Move set: Peck, Astonish, Sing, Fury Attack, Disarming Voice, Refresh, Perish Song, Safeguard, Take Down, Mirror Move, Dragon Breath, Dragon Dance, Aerial Ace, Double Team, Dragon Claw, Dragon Pulse, Sky Attack, Cotton Guard, Sunny Day, Solar Beam, Flamethrower, Dazzling Gleam, Mist, Ice Beam, Moonblast, Outrage, Sleep Talk, Protect, Substitute, Draco Meteor, Play Rough, Fire Blast, Bulldoze, Will-O-Wisp, and Tera Blast.

Egg moves: Steel Wing and Dragon Rush.

NOTE: This pokemon is shiny. The Egg moves Steel Wing and Dragon Rush are both unlocked.


Pokemon: Garchomp (Ladon).

Gender: Male.

Ability: Rough Skin.

Type: Dragon/Ground.

Move set: Tackle, Sand Attack, Dig, Bite, Take Down, Dragon Dance, Slash, Dragon Claw, Double Team, Dragon Rush, Sand Tomb, Sandstorm, Sunny Day, Dragon Pulse, Metal Claw, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Metal Claw, Dragon Tail, Dragon Breath, Bulldoze, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang, Aerial Ace, Stone Edge, Outrage, Earthquake, Flamethrower, Sleep Talk, Protect, Substitute, Crunch, Brick Break, Shadow Claw, Poison Jab, and Fire Blast.

Egg moves: Iron Tail.

NOTE: The Egg move Iron Tail is unlocked.


Pokemon: Haxorus (Drako).

Gender: Male.

Ability: Mold Breaker.

Type: Dragon.

Move set: Leer, Bite, Scary Face, False Swipe, Slash, Dragon Dance, Dig, Taunt, Assurance, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Claw, Dual Chop, Sunny Day, Outrage, Breaking Swipe, Endeavor, Night Slash, Low Kick, Giga Impact, Trailblaze, Bulldoze, Aerial Ace, Dragon Tail, Shadow Claw, Poison Jab, Stomping Tantrum, Iron Head, Crunch, Sleep Talk, Protect, Substitute, and Draco Meteor.

Egg moves: Endeavor and Night Slash.

NOTE: Egg moves have been unlocked.


Pokemon: Goodra (Nephertite).

Gender: Female.

Ability: Hydration.

Type: Dragon.

Move set: Rain Dance, Bide, Absorb, Tackle, Water Gun, Dragon Breath, Curse, Water Pulse, Muddy Water, Body Slam, Dragon Pulse, Sleep Talk, Protect, Substitute, Counter, Life Dew, Draco Meteor, Poison Tail, Curse, Power Whip, Iron Tail, Iron Head, Dragon Tail, Thunder Punch, Dragon Claw, Sleep Talk, Stomping Tantrum, Body Press, Ice Beam, Hydro Pump, and Focus Blast.

Egg moves: Counter and Life Dew.

NOTE: Egg moves have been unlocked.


Pokemon: Noivern (Bruce).

Gender: Male.

Ability: Infiltrator.

Type: Flying/ Dragon.

Move set: Tackle, Supersonic, Gust, Acrobatics, Air Slash, Roost, Tailwind, Super Fang, Double Team, Wing Attack, Agility, Sunny Day, Sleep Talk, Protect, Substitute, Aerial Ace, Close Combat, Draco Meteor, Defog, Dragon Rush, Moonlight, Hurricane, Boomburst, Protect, Brick Break, Shadow Claw, U-turn, Dragon Claw, Dragon Dance, Shadow Ball, X-Scissor, Flamethrower, Hyper Voice, Psychic, Wild Charge, and Outrage.

Egg moves: Defog and Dragon Rush.

NOTE: The egg moves have been unlocked.


Pokemon: Dragonite (Aeolus).

Gender: Male.

Ability: Inner Focus.

Type: Dragon.

Move set: Dragon Dance, Dragon Claw, Hurricane, Draco Meteor, Hyper Beam, Roost. Extreme Speed, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Beam, Twister, Dragon Tail, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Rain Dance, Outrage, Thunder Wave, Bulldoze, Endure, Sandstorm, Brick Break, Ice Punch, Sunny Day, and Light Screen.

Egg move: Extreme Speed.

NOTE: The Egg move has been unlocked.


Pokemon: Charizard (Agni).

Gender: Male.

Ability: Blaze.

Type: Fire.

Move set: Ember, Leer, Skull Bash, Take Down, Tackle, Slash, Smokescreen, Flamethrower, Scary Face, Swift, Fire Spin, Submission, Seismic Toss, Mega Punch, Overheat, Steel Wing, Wing Attack, Dragon Tail, Fling, Dragon Tail, Dragon Breath, Sunny Day, Dig, Brick Break, Shadow Claw, Metal Claw, Crunch, Heat Wave, Fire Fang, Inferno, Aerial Ace, and Acrobatics.

Egg moves: Dragon Tail and Metal Claw.

NOTE: The Egg moves have been unlocked.


Pokemon: Ampharos (Astrape).

Gender: Female.

Ability: Static.

Type: Electric.

Move set: Tackle, Growl, Thunder Wave, Thunder Shock, Cotton Spore, Charge, Take Down, Confuse Ray, Thunder, Light Screen, Power Gem, Dazzling Gleam, Electric Terrain, and Agility.

Egg moves: Electric Terrain and Agility.

NOTE: This pokemon is shiny. The Egg moves have been unlocked.


Pokemon: Jangmo-o (Ares).

Gender: Male.

Ability: Soundproof.

Type: Dragon.

Move set: Tackle, Leer, Headbutt, and Scary Face.

Egg moves: Counter and Focus Punch.

NOTE: The Egg moves have yet to be unlocked.


"Not bad," Dad smiled warmly at us. "I am very proud of all of you. Even if most of you have not learned new moves, you've achieves mastery of them and you speed and power has certainly increased." We all puffed our chests, there is no better feeling than making dad, our Trainer, proud. It filled me with so much warmth that I did not know what to do with it. "Astrape, now that you've gotten used to your new body, we shall proceed to learn new moves. "We will start with Zap Cannon, and then we will move into Dragon Pulse, Trailblaze, Dragon Tail, Focus Punch, Giga Impact, Outrage, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Stomping Tantrum, Sleep Talk, and Fire Punch."

I laughed when I noticed Astrape's wide open eyes. It was her first time being on the receiving side of one of Dad's info dumps. It's always hilarious to watch my thundermate trying to wrap their heads around the fact that they will be learning so many moves at once.

"Don't worry, he won't have you learn all of them at once," Nephele soothed her gently. Auntie Nephele is the vey best! She is Dad's starter and so beautiful. She is golden after all! So unique! Just like Astrape, who is lilac! "Ashy won't rush you and will only teach you the next move until you've achieved a certain degree of mastery over the previous one."

"As for Ares, I decree you in good shape to start learning new moves!" Dad announced and we all cheered for the newest baby of the Thunder. Many thought I would get jealous, but I was so happy that they stopped babying me. Not to mention, that being an older brother was awesome! "We will start with Protect and Iron Defense, then I will teach you Dragon Dance, Dragon Tail, and Dragon Claw."

"Nice!" Ares roared with a wide smile full of teeth. "Dragon moves rock!"

"Enjoy them while they last," Astrape sighed. She looked more relaxed now that Nephele had comforted her, but from her body language I could tell she was still a little bit tense. "Then he will start teaching you moves from other pokemon-types and you will suffer. Now I will need to learn how to channel Dragon-type energy, grass, fire, ice, ground, and fighting... Arceus! Just kill me now! I beg of you!"

We all laughed at her. Astrape could be such a drama queen when she wants to. It had Dad raising an eyebrow in inquiry, not understand what was so funny. He did not ask though, and continued speaking once we had all calmed down. "We will continue training tomorrow, Cilan and I decided that we want to head across the drawbridge to Driftveil City before the sun sets. So, everyone return. Good job!"

As Dad returned all of my thundermates, I took flight high above and dodged the red ray. I only returned back down once I was sure Dad was not recalling me back. I let out a happy chirp when Dad just shrugged and allowed me to follow them from the sky. I wanted to stretch my wings and enjoy the good weather. It's been a while since I've traveled long distance via flying.

I was having fun!

However, when I sensed the presence of a powerful force nearby, I rapidly descended and spread my wings before Dad and Cilan. In front of us stood Dad's regional rival Trip, a snoring man with long hair, a fainted Conkeldurr, and a stomping Bouffalant. I tilted my head confused, that man should not be as strong as I was sensing, not with the way he was behaving. But Dad had taught me to never second-guess my instincts.

"Good eye, Bruce," Dad praised me, making me preen in pride. "That one is Alder, the Champion of Unova. The strongest Pokemon Master in the region."

"He is?" I turned to my Dad confused. "He looks like a homeless man. He is also sleeping while battling, you would never disrespect any challenger like that. Even rookies deserve more respect than that! What is wrong with him?"

"You know, at moments like this I wish I was a Psychic Specialist. Being able to understand my pokemon would be a dream come true," Dad commented with a sad sigh, as Cilan chuckled. "But I think I understand what you are trying to say Bruce. You are angry about how disrespectful Champion Alder is behaving with Trip. I totally get it, I had met both Champion Lance and Champion Cynthia and they were more polite than this."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed in agreement.

"Was," Cilan corrected us, pointing to where a clearly affected Trip had recalled his fainted pokemon and was running away from the scene. We all winced at how Trip was clearly holding back his tears. "Ah, I've heard that Champion Alder has been looking for someone to take his position as Champion from him... but this was still not the way to behave."

"Let's get walking," Dad sighed, with a frown on his lips. "Any desire I had to meet him, just died."

"Mine too," Cilan agreed with a frown of his own.

"Me three," I agreed, returning to the sky, now that I knew Dad and Cilan were not in danger. "What a waste of talent," I thought I saw Champion Alder's pokemon scold him harshly. "If he keeps that up, not even his pokemon will want to stay with a Trainer like that." I shrugged uncaring. "Well, it's not something my thundermates and I would ever need to fear. Dad would never let us down like that."

I could feel the gentle hum of the wind beneath my wings as we ventured toward Driftveil City. On our way, once we had crossed the bridge, we decided to engage in a practice battle to sharpen our skills before facing the challenges of the Driftveil City Gym. Midway through our battle, a sudden interruption sent us all into surprise. From the nearby thicket emerged a Deino, and he wasn't alone. Two more of these little Dark/Dragon-type pokemon emerged, creating quite the spectacle.

Confusion danced across our faces. What were these Deino doing here, and why had they interrupted our battle?

Soon enough, our questions were answered when a man named Bobby appeared. He admitted that he had been trying to care for these three Deino but was struggling because, well, he had no prior experience with Dragon-types. Dad, always eager to help pokemon, especially Dragonn-types, saw an opportunity and seized it. He decided that we would volunteer to look after these Deino until their respective Trainers returned. Cilan and I readily agreed, eager to lend a hand.

As we began to care for them, it became clear that the Deino had different personalities. Two of them were joyful and playful, exuding the typical energy of young pokemon. However, the one I was assigned to looked terrified, and he appeared to be suffering from a deep sense of loneliness.

The most perplexing aspect was that he refused to eat. This was unusual behavior for a Deino, and it raised concerns among us. Dad, with his boundless empathy and unwavering determination, vowed to help this frightened Deino regain his composure and appetite. Day and night, we stayed by his side, doing our best to offer comfort.

The days turned into nights and back into days, a cycle that became synonymous with our mission to help this Deino. He continued to hide away in fear, but we remained patient, providing solace through our presence and actions. We wanted to let him know it was safe, that we cared.

The other two Deino's Trainers eventually showed up as scheduled. We welcomed them warmly, but there was one notable absence. The frightened Deino's Trainer was nowhere to be seen. As minutes stretched into hours, concern gnawed at us. Had this Trainer forgotten about their loyal companion? It filled me with draconian rage that had me boiling from within.

Finally, after several days that seemed to stretch on endlessly, the Deino's Trainer appeared. Relief washed over us as he explained that he had been training deep within Chargestone Cave and had become lost. The Deino's joy at being reunited with his Trainer was palpable, and my heart swelled with a mix of emotions. Although I had grown fond of this little Deino during our time together, I was overjoyed to see them together once more. It was a bittersweet moment, knowing that our paths were parting, but I couldn't help but smile as I watched their heartfelt reunion.

He might not become part of my Thunder, but there was no greatest pleasure than reuniting thundermates to each other.