Hello, for those who follow me on Thousand Roads, you might have recalled me making a set of drabbles back in May 2022 that I kept insisting that any day now, I'd get around to expanding and overhauling into finished one-shots. Well, these are those much-ballyhooed one-shots, along with a second set written in May 2023, ready to be thrown out into the wild for others' reading pleasure. Now, while some details got changed around, the stories are largely still the same, though if you're curious as to what the original drabbles looked like, they are hosted on AO3 in an anthology titled Like a Dragon β.
Time will tell just how much things wind up outgrowing that initial base of stories since this one-shot collection happens to have one of those "theoretically indefinitely expandable premises", but as my latest sideshow to a sideshow I've got going on from my main work, this is one of those "bumps whenever I have time, energy, and motivation to make things happen" projects. But hey, there will be at least fifteen stories in this thing for your reading pleasure before I decide that I'm done with it.
These one-shots are uploaded in the order they were originally written in and are designed to be read in any order the reader pleases. To that end, I've added a cute little table of contents added as a little flourish for those that want to just skip straight to one or another story. They unfortunately don't have working links thanks to format limitations on FFN, but they contain short little blurbs about what they're about to help you zero in on the stories from the index you'd like to read in particular.
But that's enough rambling from my end for now. Let's get right into those actual stories...
Like a Dragon
It is the world of Pokémon and you are a dragon, a word that means many things to many sorts. Mighty and meek. Strong and weak. Covered in scale and fur and most everything in between. These are your stories, ones about the various creatures who can claim such a title.
Even if some of them might seem strange to others at a first glance.
A Guarding Dragon
It is in the nature of dragons to stand guard over their treasures. Even if you are a Flapple, you are no different.
A Dragon's Ferocity
Ampharos are unassuming creatures, ones that a human might find cute and unthreatening. You thought the same once, until you saw one display a power and ferocity like your own.
A Dragon's Lineage
The birth of a child is a milestone in the life of any Pokémon, not least of all for a dragon. Few things are said to be stronger than a parent's love, but can that still be the case when your child is so different from you?
A Dragon's Savior
When others speak of a dragon, they might reflexively think of strong and fearsome creatures that make the world tremble at their approach. You are a dragon and are none of those things. And in your current predicament right now, you find yourself wishing that such a dragon was around to come to your aid.
A Dragon Someday
Last year, your closest friend, your partner, was taken from you because you didn't have the strength to fight off your enemies. In your quest to get him back, you've come across treasures that promise to give you just the strength you need… if you can just steal it first.
A Flightless Dragon
Bagon like you are creatures who hear the call of the heavens above, enough so that you can feel it in your bones… even as your attempts to fly keep bringing you crashing to earth. Your place in the sky like a proper dragon lies just beyond your grasp. Perhaps all you need to claim it is just a little leap of faith.
A Dragon's Valor
Charizard are supposed to be noble creatures that fly about the sky in search of powerful opponents, creatures with the might of a dragon who back down from no challenge, even if some might insist they're not truly dragons. You thought that you would also be like that after finally leaving your smaller, meeker self behind… except it's proving harder than you expected.
A Dragon's Folklore
Like humans, dragons pass tales on from parent to child: of their past, their homes, their journeys, and their feats. Even if Druddigon like your family may not be mighty warriors in your land, you still carry a legacy as noble guardians thousands of years long, a legendary lineage that your children deserve to learn and grow proud of.
A Treasured Dragon
Pokémon that live among humans are said to have their lives intertwine with one other. Yours has taken you out to this remote desert searching and digging for traces of others that did much the same in the distant past. Your human has even awakened the power of dragons in you to help to that end, but after such a fruitless search will it really make a difference?
A Kingly Dragon
As the king of your realm, you have asserted your might and fended off your rivals with fang and claw. For the longest time, you thought no power could challenge you. But one day one came which upended your entire world.
A Dragon's Might
As a Fraxure, battle-lust pounds in your veins. Your life training in a human Gym gives you the opportunity to wield your strength against many foes and grow ever stronger. However, those foes manage to catch you off-guard, much as they did when you discovered that they too could wield power like yours.
A Restless Dragon
Shelgon are Pokémon which are at once blessed with budding strength, and shackled firmly to earth by a cumbersome body. Watching the world around you seemingly keep passing you by since evolving is an often disheartening and frustrating experience. Sometimes, you find yourself wishing you for a place to just hide away from it all.
A Mythical Dragon
Cyclizar are dragons that have lived alongside Paldea's humans for untold ages, using their swift feet to ferry riders to and fro. It is custom among your kind to trade tall tales from your wanderings, including ones of fantastical monsters and beasts. And once every now and then, those stories sometimes turn out to be true.
A Dragon's Challenge
The bluffs and plains around Blush Mountain are a place where strength means the difference between claiming prime territories and being squeezed out entirely. You had been long vexed by how even a dragon's strength didn't seem to help you in your struggles, when one day you came across a stranger. One not wholly unlike you who drew strength from an unexpected source.
A Dragon at Last
All your life, you have been weak and frail, unable to do much against a world full of dangers and would-be tormentors beyond weak splashes or feeble attempts to push them aside. The human you partnered with is adamant that great strength lies within you, even if you're unsure when you'll ever see it.