Chapter 54 – The lost dragons

"Well, it's a Flygon alright."

Ashachu remember the brief time in which Ash had owned a Flygon before it was accidentally traded to Iris for Emolga. This Pokémon, while obviously not the same one, looked so much like that one.

A long slender body and long neck, and long tail, two rhombus shaped wings protruding from its back and a pointed face. It's eyes were encased in a red dome like filament that made them look a lot bigger than they actually were.

It lay on the bed of leaves and grass outside Sylveon and Snivy's hut, curled in almost perfect circle, with its tail wrapped around its head. Its breathing was laboured and there were a number of nasty looking cuts and bruises across its body. It has obviously been in a bad fight.

"How did it get here?"

The group Pokémon who had gathered around consisted of Sylveon, Snivy, Sniveon, Ashachu, Axew and Geyser.

"It flew, obviously," mumbled Geyser. "It has wings," then adding under his breath, "You should know all about that!"

Ashachu glared at him. "I can see it has wings. Flygon mostly live in the Hoenn Region. Could it really fly here all the way from there?"

"Well, it's part dragon-type," pipped up Axew. There was a definite note of concern in his voice, probably due to Flygon being a fellow dragon type. "We have a lot of endurance you know. Winged dragons can fly for miles and miles."

"You lost to a Dedenne who used one attack on you," Ashachu breathed. "Endurance! Give me a break."

Unfortunately, Axew heard this. He glared at Ashachu and snapped, "What did you say."

Ashachu held up his paws in an attempt to look innocent. "I didn't say anything."

"Come on guys, this isn't the time for fighting," said Sylveon calmly.

"Vee." Snivy nodded her approval, giving each Ashachu and Axew a disapproving look, while Sylveon smiled.

"Poor baby. I wonder what happened to him." Sylveon rubbed the top of Flygon's head with her feelers.

"What happened to it. How did you find it?" Ashachu asked.

"That was me," said Sniveon. "I was out taking an early morning walk when I noticed a strange shape in the sky. As it got closer, I noticed it was a Pokémon. I called out to it, but it didn't respond. It crashed into a large tree. I came back to the den to get my parents to help get Flygon out the tree."

"Then they came and go me," added Geyser. "Snivy couldn't lower him out with her vines alone, so I used my psychic to help her."

"The question now is what do we do for Flygon," said Snivy. "He can't stay here. Not in this condition."

"We should get Ash," Axew suggested. "He'll know what to do. Pokémon Centre's probably the best place for him. Should tell Bulbasaur too since he's in charge when Ash isn't here."

Ashachu shook his head. "We're Pokémon. We can take care of another Pokémon. We shouldn't always been running off to humans to solve our problems. That just reinforces the idea that we're simply and naturally subservient to humans."

Geyser rolled his eyes. "You sound just like Nova.

"I've tried using heal pulse," said Sylveon sadly, looking down at Flygon and continuing to stroke the dragon type with her feelers. "I don't think it's helped."

A determined look came across Ashachu's face. "Fine then, I'll help him. I can heal him in ways no human can." He stepped forward and placed his paws on Flygon's neck. A shimmering blue aura begun to glow around them.

The two eveelutions' and Snivy's eyes widened, and they each shouted, "Ashachu, No," while Axew and Geyser shook their heads disapprovingly.

Ashachu in turn felt his strength drain pretty rapidly and he started to feel lightheaded. Next thing he knew he was being held limply in Sniveon's arms, one paw under his back and one behind his head.

"Are you okay Ashy!"

"Sniveon," he blinked, the sight of her red face coming slowly into focus.

The Flareon scowled at him. "You have to stop being so reckless like that."

"Being irresponsible like that is going to get you killed," snapped Geyser, folding his arms. "Your aura isn't some superpower. Stop pretending you're a hero."

Ashachu threw him a dirty look but didn't reply.

It was at that point that a soft voice croaked out, "Eh…What the. Where am I?"

Flygon had started to stir, the emerald dragon Pokémon finally opening his eyes and raising his head slightly, taking in his surroundings for the first time. "How did I get here."

"You're awake." A wide smile spread across Sniveon's muzzle. "You did it Ashachu."

Flygon turned his head this way and that, eyeing each of the Pokémon in turn. "Who are you guys. What am I doing here?"

"I'm Sylveon," the Intertwining Pokémon replied cheerily. "And these are my friends Snivy, Sniveon, Ashachu, Axew and Geyser."

Each of the Pokémon greeted Flygon in turn.

"You were unconscious in the top of a tree," said Snivy.

"We brought you down," Sniveon added.

"Oh. Damn it." Flygon moved as if to stand up but winced and closed one eye as if the movement was a cause of great pain.

"You should take it easy," Sylveon said, trying to push the Flygon back down onto the bed with her feelers. "You were in a pretty bad way when we found you."

"I've been looking for my friend," said Flygon. The dragon type's voice had a deep quality to it, suggesting this Pokémon was a male. "He's a Dragonite. Have you seen him?"

Sylveon frowned and shook her head. "I'm afraid not!"

"No Dagonite here," added Geyser.

[Pokémon]

Meanwhile, with Ash, Pikachu and Zacian…

"Pikachu Pi." Pikachu let out a little cry and pointed to something on the ground.

"What is it buddy," Ash asked as he glanced at his partner.

They were about halfway between home and Oak's ranch, and the storm damage seemed to have gotten worse. The road had become almost completely obstructed by tree trunks and other debris. Not just trees either.

The wind had brought down several of the poles that held up the power line servicing many of the residences and business in Pallet Town. Ash knew downed power lines were dangerous – his mother had told him that on several occasions when he was younger plus the electricity companies warning adverts on TV.

But that wasn't what Pikachu was pointing to. No, Pikachu was pointing to a dark purple stain splattered on the ground and the trunk of the nearest fallen tree. Ash frowned, a feeling of unease coming over him. "Is that…"

"Blood." Zacian finished his sentence and answered his question, sniffing at the stain on the ground before biting her lip in concern. "Reasonably fresh too. There's a Pokémon nearby who's in pain. Hmmm."

She lifted her head and wandered over to the stain on the tree trunk, before clambering over it. "Yep," she called out. "Looks like there's a trail."

Ash and Pikachu looked at each other. Though unspoken, each knew what the other was thinking. They needed to find this Pokémon and try to help. In any way they could.

"Zacian. Wait for us!"

[Pokémon]

Oak's ranch…

"Dagonite's my best friend. We go way back together. He was a wild Pokémon when we first met, and I had a trainer. The first time we met, we fought, and I defeated him so that our trainer could catch him. He told he'd never been defeated before that battle. That started our rivalry…hmmm."

Flygon sighed, a wistful smile remembering his friend. Slowly, he raised the sitrus berry to his maw and nibbled on it. "Our trainer took us to the Alola region where he released us. We've been living as wild Pokémon ever since. Everything was fine until…Until a couple of weeks ago when…when." He sighed and continued. "Dragonite encountered this group of humans. They attacked him. He told me they had some sort of device that, I don't know. He said it controlled. Made him obey them against his will. Made him do things."

Ashachu and the other Pokémon all exchanged looks and murmurs.

"Who were these humans," asked Sylveon. "What did they want with Dragonite?"

"Were they by any chance wearing red outfits with stupid hair styles," Axew added, but Flygon shook his head.

"So, it wasn't Team Flare then?" said Sylveon.

Snivy shook her head. "Team Flare are gone. They disappeared into space. I bet it was Team Rocket. Or Team Plasma."

"I don't know who they were," said Flygon, taking another bite from his berry. He seemed to be regaining strength with each morsel and was now able to sit up, his wings fluttering.

"What where they are wearing," Geyser asked. "If it had some type of symbol, it was probably a villainous team!"

Flygon shook his head again. "No, they were just wearing normal trainers clothes. Our trainer used to dress similarly. And they didn't want Dragonite. Or at least, he wasn't their main goal. They wanted to use him to capture another Pokémon. It was that Pokémon that they were really interested in!"

Another exchange of murmur between Ash's Pokémon gathered and Ashachu experienced a sense of unease. He had a vague memory of a Dragonite chasing after a certain Pokémon…

"What sort of Pokémon was it," asked Sylveon gently, laying a feller on Flygon's side. "What did they want them for."

"The Pokémon they were after was a Sneasel," said Flygon. "I never found out why they wanted it. Dragonite chased it halfway across Ula'ula island."

Ashachu felt a pang in his chest as Flygon confirmed his suspicion. "Blade," he whispered.

He wasn't the only one. Sniveon's eyes widened, and she exclaimed, "Oh, so he was THAT Dragonite. Remember!"

"You mean the one we encountered in Po Town," said Geyser folding his arms again.

Flygon cocked his head. "Wait. You were there? You saw what happened."

"Not all of it," Sylveon replied.

"While our trainer was journeying in the Alola region, there was a Dragonite chasing after a Sneasel named Blade," Snivy explained. "Let's just say we had some dealings with that Sneasel afterwards. Or some of us did."

Ashachu felt uncomfortable as he noticed the other's glance at him. Thankfully, this passed when Sylveon continued, "A Dragonite chased Blade into the town where we were staying, and we forced it to leave. That was your friend, I presume."

Flygon nodded "Probably. I wasn't able to follow him that far."

"We don't know what happened to him after that!"

"All we know is that he didn't get Blade in the end. Blade ended up captured by Team Rocket," Geyser grumbled, adding under his breath, "and we all know whose fault that was!"

"I figured," said Flygon. "I found Dragonite frozen in a solid block of ice a couple of days later. I had to thaw him out. There was a Togedemaru with him, but that Pokémon fled as soon as the ice melted. He was cold and sick. We fled Ula'ula after that to save Dragonite from being controlled again. The humans never came after him again, but things got worse after that. Dragonite started having nightmares. He told me some dark Pokémon was coming to him in his dreams threatening to kill him…and me! Threatening to kill both of us. It got so bad at one point that he was barely sleeping for more than an hour at a time. I told him he was just having nightmares. That a Darkrai might be in the area, and that it would pass. He was still scared, so we decided to leave Alola. And so, we moved to the Hoenn region. The nightmares stopped after that, and things were good again…Until last night, when Dragonite was attacked! Wait, why are you looking at me like that."

For the other Pokémon were all staring wide eyed and open mouthed at Flygon. Before any could answer his question, Snivy said, "huddle" and wrapped a vine around them, hugging them all together. "What the hell," she whispered once their heads were all together. "Is that thing going to stalk us, until we're all dead!"

Ashachu shook his head, his heart thumping in his chest. "Shadow's dead. Charizard and ad told me Zacian killed him. He saw him die."

"He actually saw him die," whispered Flareon, his voice high. Ashachu knew she would be pale as a Glaceon in the face, were someone to shave her thick orange fur. "Or just burn."

"Can you even kill a legendary," squeaked Axew. "This thing sounds less of a Pokémon and more like a demon from the pits of the distortion world."

Geyser had the least helpful input. "You know this is your fault Ashachu. If you'd done what dad told you to do, and not get involve with that turd of a Sneasel, none of this would have happened." He growled, showing off his fangs.

Ashachu glared right back at him and snapped, "Hey, THIS." He waved a paw at Flygon. "Has nothing to do with me. You heard what Flygon said, it started before we met Blade. Actually, sounds like this Dragonite was the reason we met Blade. Hardly my fault." He added, more for his own benefit than anyone else's, "And do we even know that whatever attacked Dragonite was Shadow. It could have been anything. Don't forget Shadow was in Galar a few days ago. The timing doesn't add up! Does it?"

"I don't know," said Sylveon. She sounded extremely worried, biting her lip, and pawing the ground nervously. "We're all going to need to be careful and to take care and look out for each other. And we have to help this Flygon."

"Guys," asked Flygon apprehensively from behind. "What are you talking about. Are you saying, there really is something coming for Dragonite? What's Shadow?"

[Pokémon]

Somewhere outside Pallet Town…

"Well, the trail leads here," said Zacian coming to a halt, Ash and Pikachu stopping behind her.

Here was a large glass dome shaped building in the forest on the outskirts of Pallet Town. A veritable greenhouse of sorts, although with a major defect. Someone or something had punched a giant hole in the side, cracking the glass on one half of the building.

"This is the Xanadu Nursery," Ash said surprise as he laid eyes upon the building. "Remember Pikachu."

"Pika." Pikachu nodded.

"Used to come here with my mom all the time. She used to buy plants and soil from here. I'm surprised it's still in business. The man who owned it moved away a long time ago."

"Wasn't it being run by that girl with the Gloom." Said Pikachu. He closed his eyes and tried to remember the name. "Flo somebody!"

"Well, it doesn't look like anyone runs it now," commented Zacian, looking at the glass strewn across the floor. "Come on. Whatever's been bleeding all over the place is probably inside."

Pikachu looked closely at the wall as they passed through the hole. The glasses seemed to be as thick than his entire body. If he stretched himself out from nose to tail, he would only just be longer than it was thick. "They must have been strong to cause this much damage. It looks like the glass has been melted here!"

The last time Ash had visited the nursery it had, as Pikachu had suggested, been run by a young girl and her gloom, and they had gone to great lengths to maintain the garden's. But now.

"If somebody's still taking care of this place, then they've really dropped the ball," said Zacian as she looked around. "Very few humans grow their gardens like this."

The neat rows of different plants had been overrun by weeds, which seemed to be slowly taking over the rest of the dome, and the grass had clearly not been mown for a long time. It came halfway up Ash's leg.

"Though of course for some Pokémon this is perfect."

The three of them move cautiously through the long grass, Zacian in the lead. Ash was careful where he moved, not wanting to tread on some unsuspecting Rattata or Oddish who might be lurking there, or else having something larger and mean leap out at him.

Ash sighed and smiled sadly as he looked around. "I wonder what happened here. Used to be really nice inside. I wonder how long it's been abandoned for."

"Wait stop." Zacian suddenly came to a halt, a note of urgency in her voice that made Ash's heart pound. She raised her head and sniffed at the air.

"What is it, Zacian."

"There's something! Yah." Zacian leapt backward, as a burst of flames shot from out of the weeds and plants nearby. Even with her quick reaction, the flames only just missed her.

"Wow," was all Ash could say, as he felt the heat on his face, and Pikachu shielded his eyes.

WHOOSH

An orange and cream coloured creature flew out from the bushed, hovering in the air above their heads. A draconic bipedal creature built similar to Charizard but with a shorter neck, smaller wings, and round snout rather than Charizard squarish one.

Ash knew what it was of course, having seem this Pokémon… "Cool a Dragonite." But he still reached for his Pokédex as usual.

Dragonite, the Dragon Pokémon. Dragonite is said to live in the sea. With its small wings and large body, it can fly faster than the speed of sound

Two other things were noticeable about it too.

"It looks hurt," said Pikachu. "Look at it's belly."

Sure enough, there was a large cut on its belly and a purple stain covering most of its lower side from where it had bled.

"It looks mad," said Ash, more focused on the snarl on its face, and the fangs and claws it was flashing at them.

"Rwahhh!" Dragonite reared opening its mouth and shooting from it, a beam of bright orange energy right at them.

"Look out," barked Zacian.

Ash dived for cover, landing headfirst in the tall grass. On his way down he, he scoped Pikachu up and held him against his chest, using his own body to protect him. The Hyper beam missed them by an inch, but they still felt it.

The shockwave felt like being hit by an earthquake attack. It made the ground tremble and shook their pair of them to their bones. When everything fell still again, Ash looked over his shoulder to see the Dragonite still fluttering there in mid-air. Still snarling but breathing heavily as if the effort of the attack had taken it out of him.

"Dragonite stop." Ash let go of Pikachu and stood up, raising his arms in surrender. "We're not here to hurt you. We want to help."

"Ash is a friend," added Zacian. "He can help you. Calm down brave dragon."

"Pika Pikachu…"

But Dragonite wasn't listening. Instead, it reared its head again and shot another attack at Ash. Zacian leapt in front of him, reposting by shooting an orb of pink energy into the oncoming beam. There was another explosion as the attacks collided, and Ash and Pikachu were forced to brace themselves for another shockwave. He coughed as the smoke filled his nose and mouth.

"Dragonite…cough cough…Please. We're not trying to hurt you. You're hurt and we want to help!"

"Grrrgh!" Dragonite growled, but then winced, bowing its head, and clutching at the wound in its side.

"That last hyper beam must have drained him of his energy," said Zacian.

"Poor Dragonite must be running on pure adrenaline," muttered Pikachu.

Ash's heart was beating hard. He took a deep breath, raised his arms again and said, "Please Dragonite. We can help you. You just have to stop fighting."

"Nite." Dragonite raised its head and gnashed it's teeth at them, before flying over their heads and towards the crack in the dome.

[Pokémon]

"Hey Chari."

"Char." Charizard emerged from the den as he heard Ashachu calling his name. "Ashy!"

He found his boyfriend standing cheerfully outside, along with Sniveon, Sylveon and a Pokémon he didn't recognise.

"Charizard, this is Flygon," Ashachu said cheerily, pointing to the newcomer.

Charizard frowned at him and moved a little closer to examine this Pokémon. A ground dragon-type, with bright red eyes and green scales, only slightly shorter than himself. He sniffed, breathing in, and tasting Flygon's scent, which was like dry earth.

"Zard!" Charizard grunted but offered no other greeting to the dragon.

Flygon, for his part, raised a claw and started to say, "Hi Char," but stopped, his face falling at Charizard's response and apparent lack of interest in him.

Sylveon smiled weakly, while Sniveon groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come on Chari, lighten up," Ashachu implored. "The poor guy's looking for his friend."

"Zar." Charizard coxed his head at him and snorted. While he didn't say anything, the look on his face seemed to say and that's my problem, because?

"We were hoping you might be able to give us a paw looking for him," said Sylveon. "Being as you can fly and all."

"Please," added Flygon, sounding as if he were almost begging. He put his claws together, seemingly preying to Charizard. "He's a Dragonite. Orange scales, stocky build."

Charizard sighed then folded his arms. "This isn't a good time," he said rather curtly. "I'm nesting."

It was Flygon's turn to cox his head. "You have an egg."

Charizard nodded. "And I don't want to leave it my cave all alone."

"I'd be happy to watch your egg," Sylveon suggested.

"Or I could," said Sniveon. "So, mom can go help search. Might be useful to have a fairy type around if there are dragons."

"Please Chari." Ashachu scurried to the back of Charizard and, to the lizard's somewhat surprise, clambered onto his tail and crawled up his back and onto his shoulder. "Help us and out and." He lowered his voice so only Charizard could hear. "I'll make it up to you." For emphasis, he pressed his body against Charizard's neck and rubbed it up and down.

"Zar." Charizard's eyes widened in surprise, and he blushed. He eyed the others wearily then sighed and said, "Alright. I help you search!"

Flygon was elated. "You will," he cried happily. "Oh thank-you." And with that, and much to Charizard's Chagrin, he threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around the other dragon's neck in a hug. Nearly dislodging Ashachu in the process.

"Hey! What the! Stop that!"