//------------------------------// // Tamer of Dragons // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Ponyville, Afternoon. Still snowing in this accelerated winter. "Come quick!" Spike was dragging Twilight by her tail, trying to get her out of the lab. "What is it, Spike? What's so important that you want me to be outside?" "Today's a day that involves me getting better as a Dragon Trainer! And I don't want anyone to miss it!" "How so? More training with Ash?" "Nope! I heard some news that a bunch of sponsors are heading over to the Pokemon World and they're arriving one by one!" "Sponsors like?" "Check it out!" Spike held out sponsor fliers of various Trainer classes. But the one held out the most had images of various Dragon-Type Pokemon. "Oh, yeah. That's right. I do remember hearing about that." "Dragon Trainers are coming to Equestria to seek and challenge other Dragon Trainers! You know what that means?!" "That Dragon Trainers are challenging trainers who just so happen to have Dragon-Type Pokemon?" "It means that I can get better as a Dragon Trainer with this. If I can beat at least one of them, it'll show my skills a Dragon Trainer!" "Beat one of them? Spike. I don't know about that." "I totally can if that's what you're doubting. All those lessons Ash taught me are gonna come in handy when they get to Ponyville." Spike grinned with confidence behind him. Speaking of Dragon Trainers, they had finally made a stop at Ponyville. They heard that the most action goes down at Ponyville after all. "They're here!" Spike exclaimed. The Dragon Trainers looked exactly as you'd expect them to. They wore the traditional Dragon Trainer outfit which consisted of purple jumpsuits, red capes and the face of a golden dragon in the middle. They consisted of mostly young men and women with a few adults here and there. Many ponies gathered to see the tamers of Dragons, the highest of beasts. "This is Ponyville?" A young male trainer spoke. "It doesn't look as active as they made it out to be." "Never judge a book by its cover remember? There's a reason this place is so well known in our world." An older Dragon Trainer replied to him. "Wow...You're Dragon Trainers?" Scootaloo gawked at a female trainer. "That's right. Dragon-Types are our speciality, my little pony." She kneeled down to talk to Scootaloo. "But we also specialize in Pokemon that belong in the Dragon Egg Group." Other Dragon Trainers were either chatting or searching for ponies who owned Dragon-Types. Unfortunately, Dragon-Type Pokemon are kind of hard to come by. It's not that there's little of them like Ice-Types, instead, they're so powerful that they're practically considering Legendary Pokemon in their own right. And also because it's hard to tame one considering how destructive they can be. But that's why the Dragon Trainers exist. After all, most of them aim to attain the status of their greatest members, Lance the League Champion of Kanto and Clair the Dragon-Type Gym Leader of Blackthorn City. So far, there were only four trainers who owned Dragon-Type Pokemon with them. Ash, Rainbow Dash, Apple Bloom and Spike. And there were more trainers that owned Pokemon that were in the Dragon Egg Group. That being Scootaloo, Applejack and Rarity. And to some extent Twilight since she owned the Pokemon in PokePark. And a decent amount of them are indeed Dragons. "Alright. We came here to judge the strength of anyone who owns a dragon and we aren't leaving until we see something good. Whoever owns a Dragon-Type, step forward." The oldest trainer of the group spoke. You could tell how old he was due to his spiky purple hair standing upwards while having a purple beard to boot. "Oh! Hold on!" Twilight teleported in and out of the spot she was in, returning with the Axew that lived in PokePark. "Okay, go on." "Axew!" "Out you come." Ash sent out his Dragonite as the others followed suit. The Dragon-Types or Dragon Egg Group Pokemon that were present in Ponyville were all released from their Pokeballs for the Dragon Trainers to see. There was a pretty fine lineup actually. "Does Treecko count?" Applejack asked. "It's in the Dragon Egg Group from what I've learned. And its mega is Dragon...so yes." Twilight nodded as Treecko hopped of Applejack's back, joining his fellow Pokemon. The ones who owned the specific Dragon Pokemon showed them off to the tamers. All except for Apple Bloom who was passing on this one. The oldest Dragon Trainer took a moment to examine the lineup of Pokemon here with his own eyes. His very intimidating and dragon-like eyes. Actually, most of them had the eyes akin to that of a Dragon, even owning some fangs, similar to that of the Dragon Trainer Raihan. "Hmm. Let's see here. Dragonite, Altaria, Axew, Treecko, Feebas, Goomy, Horsea. Not a bad lineup actually. Some of these Pokemon seem to be very capable." He judged. "But the question is...who do we go up against and judge?" "Spike here's been waiting for this moment. Pick him." Twilight held Spike as he waved at his fellow Dragon Trainer. "Who? The purple dragon?" "That's me! And that Goomy over there is mine. We're both gonna become the best Dragon Trainer and Dragon-Type Pokemon ever!" "Goomy!" "Hmm..." He examined the two, judging them clearly. He could see that the determination was there, but the question was, are they decent enough? "You have the enthusiasm. But can you back it up? Both you and your Goomy." "Can we? Uh...I-I think we can at least. I mean...we haven't actually been in a proper Pokemon Battle yet." Spike scratched the back of his head. "You've never battled once?" "Well, not really. I mostly sat out because it was getting too intense for me and I just wanted to learn from my friends, ya know." It was true. Spike has never engaged in a Pokemon Battle once. Not even for a second. Even when Ash was training everypony, he never actually had his Pokemon join in. All he did was just watch from the sidelines and observe everypony. "Hm. Hm. A Dragon Trainer must always be in the midst of battle." He crossed his arms. "Dragons are the highest of the beasts. They wield the most power out of any other Pokemon. Not to mention, they are the raw essence of magic itself. Masters of Infinity Energy. Arcane at its absolute best. The only thing that can really stand up to them at their absolute best are other Dragons since they're that powerful and Fairies due to them being the purest essence of magic. That just shows you how powerful Dragons really are." "Ooooh..." Spike gawked. "So it is of the utmost importance that you train with your Dragon day in and day out. Or else, you won't make any progress for a long time. So, are you sure that you want to do this?" "Uh..." Spike was a bit intimidated. The man's appearance was intimidating anyways. But after hearing how different Dragons are in the Pokemon World compared to the Dragons of his world, he was quaking. But he was still willing to give it a go. "100%!" "Alright. If you say so. I want to see what you're capable of." He held out his Ultra Ball, preparing his Pokemon. "Show me some promise." "Spike. These are full-fledged Dragon-Trainers with years of experience. Are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight said to him. "I want to become a better Dragon Trainer. So yeah. I kinda know that I'm outmatched. But I want to show them how strong Goomy is. If I get the chance." "Your choice. We won't stop you." Twilight backed up. "I'm ready!" Spike exclaimed. "Good. Then...come out my partner!" The Dragon Trainer sent out his ace Pokemon. A Kommo-o. "Kommo!" The Scaly Pokemon roared, causing a powerful wind pressure to form around Ponyville. The ponies felt their scarves and manes flow due to its roar. "That thing's got scales on scales!" Rainbow Dash took out her dex. "Kommo-o. The Scaly Pokemon. There is a legend that says Kommo-o is covered in glittering scales in order to drive away a great darkness covering the world. The reason these Pokémon seek out battle is to gain the power needed to defeat this darkness. When it detects someone approaching, Kommo-o rings the scales on its tail to announce its presence. Its rigid scales function as offence and defence. It battles valiantly with its fists, which are armoured in steel scales. Kommo-o specializes in uppercuts. It clatters its tail scales to unnerve opponents. This Pokémon will battle only those who stand steadfast in the face of this display. In the past, its scales were processed and used to make weapons and other commodities that can be found in certain ruins It has no desire to battle against weak Pokémon unless it senses great potential in them." "This thing sounds pretty fierce Spike! Maybe it's not too late to back down!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Too late. Once two Dragon Trainers initiate a battle, there's no escaping." The Dragon Trainer smirked. "Are you ready, boy?" "R-Ready." Spike gulped. He knew he wasn't going to win but he had to try his best. "Then in that case...Make your move first." "Yes sir! Goomy! Water Gun!" "Goo!" The Soft Tissue Pokemon shot out a small forceful shot of water towards its fellow Dragon. However, this did nothing as the water just simply made Kommo-o's face wet. "That all? Come on. Put some more oomph to your attacks." "Goomy! Tackle!" Goomy propelled its body forward as if it was a rocket of some sorts. It smashed its body onto Kommo-o, barely even moving it, even with it going all out. The only one who was damaged Goomy, who felt Kommo-o's hard scales affect its head. "G-Goo!" The Soft Tissue Pokemon felt dizzy from making contact with a Pokemon as hard as Kommo-o. "Hmph. Is that the extent of your Dragon, boy? Shall I attack next?" "You haven't seen anything yet! Tackle one more time!" Spike pointed, aiming to try the same tactic again. "In that case...Kommo-o! Breaking Swipe!" "Ko!" The Scaly Pokemon swung its tough tail wildly, smacking Goomy right in the face which was its entire body. The opposing Dragon-Type was sent flying into the air by the Breaking Swipe. "Oh! Goomy!" Spike exclaimed. Goomy fell the ground as a dust cloud emerged from it. The Dragon Trainer wiped some of the dust off his suit as he observed the area where Goomy fell. He was impressed to see that Goomy was still standing, even after taking a hit that hard from a Pokemon as strong as Kommo-o. "Goo..my.." "Oh. Not bad. Not many Pokemon can withstand an attack from Kommo-o's hard scales." "You okay?" Spike said to his Pokemon. "Goomy!" "But, you'll have to do better than that. Tackle and Water Gun aren't going to cut it, boy." "I'll show you...I may not be great battling...but I know how to be annoying! Goomy! Jump on Kommo-o's head!" "Hm?" That command actually caught the trainer off guard. What was Spike planning? "Keep your wits up, Kommo-o. Use Sky Uppercut!" "Kommo!" The Scaly Pokemon stomped on the ground, pulling its arms back. Goomy rushed in, lunging towards the Dragon-Fighting-Type. Twilight and her friends had no idea what Spike was planning, but Ash did. Since he taught him a little neat trick that Goomy has that can give him the advantage from time to time. "Here it comes..." Spike leaned forward. Kommo-o thrust its fists skywards as if it was leaping into the sky. That's where Spike's small plan came into play. The moment Kommo-o's fists came into contact with Goomy, they slid off it harmlessly. Goomy managed to get on Kommo-o's head without taking any damage what so ever. "What the?" The Dragon Trainer pulled back. "That worked?! Why didn't it slide off before?" Rainbow Dash confused by this. "Easy." Ash grinned, knowing the real reason why. "Goomy's covered in a slimy membrane that makes any punches or kicks slide off it harmlessly. So if you only go for punches and kicks, you won't even get the chance to deal damage to them uness you try something else." "Pikachu!" "Oh. Is that why Breaking Swipe worked then?" Rainbow Dash nodded. "Makes you wonder why it's not Dragon-Poison then..." Twilight said. "Espeon. "Great job, Goomy! Now jump and use Water Gun!" Goomy hopped off Kommo-o's head, causing the Scaly Pokemon to have slime in its eyes. Goomy then pelted it with a Water Gun, which did nothing once again. But, thanks to the slime, Kommo-o couldn't see a thing, causing it to lose a lot of its focus. "Not bad, boy! Pretty clever using the Pokemon's biology to your advantage! But that's not enough. Clanging Scales!" "Ko! Mo!" Kommo-o didn't need its sight to continue battling on. As per the norm with Fighting-Types. The Scaly Pokemon rubbed the scales on its entire body, generating a huge noise that spread across the vicinity of everypony. It sounded exactly like metal being rubbed against each other, which was already painful to even imagine. And it didn't help that Kommo-o's scales are essentially steel. Goomy took the brunt of this noise the most. Due to its horns being intensely sensitive, the Clanging Scales caused a strong shock that made the Soft Tissue Pokemon unable to move. But surprisingly, it was somehow still standing. "Impressive. Being able to stand from a move like that is no small feat. But this battle is over." "It isn't over yet! Goomy! Water Gun!" Spike knew that it was a done deal battle. But, he was still giving it his best. And doing so caused Goomy to break out of Water Gun and unleash a newly learned move, Water Pulse. An ultrasonic wave of pulsing water was blasted towards Kommo-o, actually startling it for a bit. The attack made contact, causing an explosion of liquid to erupt. "Oh, nice! Goomy learned Water Pulse!" Rainbow Dash leaned forward, grinning. "And it looked pretty powerful too. That had to have at least pushed Kommo-o back." Twilight commented. But to their surprise, it didn't. Not at all. Kommo-o had shrugged it off as if nothing happened. "Or not!" "It's over. Kommo-o! Hyper Beam!" The most powerful Normal-Type move was unleashed. Only tied with Giga Impact. Kommo-o let out a grand and destructive beam that tore through the ground of Ponyville. Goomy met its unfortunate defeat as it was engulfed by this beam. It almost hit some of the ponies, grazing their manes as it broke through the roof of Twilight's Castle. The aftermath was an expected explosion that even blew Spike away. The dust settled with the beam's sparkles fading away. Goomy had fainted. There was no way it was standing up after something like that. "Goo..." "That's the match." The Dragon Trainer said. "Goomy!" Spike ran over this partner, picking it up. "Are you okay?" "Goomy..." "You did great there." "Indeed it did, boy." The Dragon Trainer walked up to Spike along with Kommo-o. "I must say...that Goomy of yours is surprisingly impressive." "It is...?" Spike looked up at him. "But of course. Goomy is considered to be the weakest of all Dragon-Type Pokemon. Well... the weakest until it evolves. But you managed to show great fortitude and skill in that small instance of a battle. That's what I like to see." "Really? That's great! Did you hear that Goomy?" "In fact...I see great potential in your Goomy. Us Dragon Trainers can tell from a mile away." "Yeah, we can!" The rest of the Dragon Trainers replied. "So...if Goomy continues to get stronger it'll become a unique Goodra?" "Something like that yes. Peak performance Pokemon of various species are somewhat common yet rare at the same time. I'd say your Pokemon is just another of those examples. And, I'm willing to give you an offer because of that." "An offer?" "How would you like us to train your Goomy?" "Train my Goomy? That actually sounds great! We can get started right now!" Spike raised Goomy up to him. "Yes. Unfortunately...we won't be able to train it here. We only came to Ponyville to see which Dragon-Type piqued our interest. And so far, yours is the most promising due to it being considered the weakest. So, we can't train it in Ponyville forever." "Aw..." Spike lowered his head. "Unless. You can either let us take Goomy along and train it...or...Goomy could stay here and continue to be trained by you." "Seriously? Those are the two options?" Twilight flew forward. "Can you even do that?" "They can. It's happened before." Ash replied, referring to his own Goodra and Gliscor. "Pika-Pika." "Spike. You can probably make some great progress training Goomy on your own, ya know." Rainbow Dash suggested. "But, these guys are like experts with Dragons. So they know what they're doing. Uh, no offense Spike!" said Sweetie Belle. "We're not forcing you. Just a small recommendation." "Hmm...I don't know. I haven't really been battling with Goomy all that much. In fact...this is the first-ever major battle I've been in. But even still, we've barely had any time to bond, ya know." "Choosing to have your Pokemon be trained by someone else is difficult. Believe me. But it's your decision. You have to find out what'll benefit your partner on your own." Ash commented. "Spike. If you don't want to say goodbye to Goomy, you can just say so." Fluttershy walked over to him. "Yeah. It's your Pokemon after all." Applejack nodded. "I know, I know." Spike scratched his head. He was torn on this. The decision of having Goomy go with these trainers would help improve its training to a quicker and more efficient degree. But it would also mean that they wouldn't have enough time to bond together. And who knows how long they'll be gone for. Spike looked at his Pokemon in the eyes, seeing that despite hearing the two options, it still looked like a happy Pokemon either way. This made Spike come to a conclusion. "I think I've actually made up my decision." "Yes...?" The Mane 6 leaned forward. "I'll let Goomy go with you guys. You're obviously the best with dragons, so I think it would be best if you trained him. I'm still kind of a novice at this Pokemon business." "Hm. So that is your decision." The Dragon Trainer nodded, accepting Spike's option. "Very well. We promise that we will return with Goomy and raise it into a mighty Pokemon by the end of it. It might take months, but we'll keep that promise of returning it." "Right." Spike nodded. He took out Goomy's Pokeball, ready to return it inside. "Goomy. Sorry that we're cutting our time together short. I didn't really get enough time to train with you at all. But when you come back, we can hang around even more and take part in loads of awesome battles, okay?" "Goomy? Goomy!" The Soft Tissue Pokemon jumped on Spike, getting its slimy body all over it. "Ow! Okay! Okay! Knock it off Goomy!" Spike laughed as he returned Goomy to its ball. The baby Dragon handed over the Pokeball to the Dragon Trainer, making it official now. "Many thanks, boy. We'll train him well. I suppose I never gave you my name. You may call me Dragon Trainer Avaun. Or just Avaun." "Thanks, Avaun! I'm counting on you to make Goomy the best he can be." "And count on me you shall, Spike, my boy. Alright, you lot. Let's get a move on." Avaun said. "Yes sir!" The rest of the Dragon-Trainers replied. There they went. Off with a Pokemon to train as they vow to return him. When that day comes for Goomy to return, Spike will have learned more about Pokemon. He aims to move out of his novice and rookie status and into a great Dragon Trainer. It's not easy training the most ferocious Pokemon Type. But that's why he's up for the challenge. And no doubt, his Pokemon will be facing harsh challenges as well as the journey continues. Chapter 174 End!