52 C052 - Meeting dragon pokemon

Three days later, Pete was in the open stable he had created to shelter his pokemon from rain. Golurk was almost done with the cavenous hideout inside the hill with the entrance under the roof.

It looked like an ugly mineshaft entrance, but the new cave was even connected to Pete's hallway in his house. The ladies in the house were glad that Luna had promised to come over tomorrow with some materials and everything she needed to make it a proper entrance with a sliding door.

Under the stable's roof, Pete was currently fixing up a sort of shack with all the tools, instruments, and spare parts he had gathered. Klink sat on the workbench and looked at Pete and his tools with interest.

"You see, this is a soldering iron. Without steel type energy, we humans require heat to meld two pieces of metal together. This, in particular, is for smaller projects where you need a lot of precision and only need very small pieces of surface melded together. The bigger process would be welding, but I didn't buy a setup for that yet. Maybe I don't need to, seeing you are here?"

Pete talked to Klink and explained every tool and what they are for to the pokemon as he hung them up on the wall or sorted them in a cabinet.

"These are screws. From what I understand, humans fashioned them like this because of the Magnemite pokemon line. You need a screwdriver, either manual or like the cordless one I showed you earlier to properly use them. We can combine two non-metal objects with each other with the appropriate screw. Like two pieces of wood, or even two pieces of metal, in case at least one of them has a hole that is properly threaded," Pete explained as he noticed with glee that Klink got kind of competitive hearing that humans used a steel pokemon as inspiration.

Honestly, Pete wasn't even sure that was true.

"Haha, you don't need to be so fired up. I dare say that gears and cogwheels are just as important in human technology as screws. Probably even more important just for the technology aspect since it's a moving part," Pete added as he held up a small transmission he had bought in one of the stalls of the New Bark Town market.

He was a mechanical engineer who liked to tinker due to his upbringing. He was sure he needed this stuff sometime in the future! Surely, a busted gearbox from the motor of a random lawnmower he didn't know the model of would be useful eventually! He was not a hoarder of random junk!

Pete shook his head to get his head back to the present.

"Here, help me bend these nails back into shape. Flat top, pointy end, fully straight," Pete requested as he got out a bunch of out of shape nails. He had salvaged these together with the wooden boards at the very start of his journey in the world from overturned and broken boxes.

He was rich enough to buy it all new, but why not live frugal? He had a pokemon right there who could lift itself up in the air with sheer will. Sure, at this point in time Klink used the electric move Magnet Rise, the psychic move Gravity and its own steel type energy to do it, but it only meant Klink would be up longer in the air in a day thanks to all the options. The only restriction was that Pete banned Klink's use of Magnet Rise inside the house. No need to fry all his appliances for no reason.

Since it could use three different pools of energy, just floating around the farm was already training for the pokemon. And bending old nails back into shape was no problem at all. Well, it would train Klink's control over smaller, more delicate operations. Especially if he asked it to straighten out screws and sharpen their threading so they would cut into wood easier.

"Pete! You won't believe what I've just seen in the forest!"

The door to the shack was wide open, so Valentino, who came running from the direction of the waterfall, could see him clearly.

"Was it a pokemon?" Pete asked in a calm voice, betraying no emotion.

Valentino had gained a bit of a 'boy-who-cried-wolf' dynamic with Pete after he came running to explain he found something amazing and then proceeded to show Pete a picture of a Pinsir having sex with a Heracross. Or a Ledyba doing it with a Venonat. Or two Ariados ganging up on a- nevermind.

"Okay, guess I'll go and talk to the professor then about me finding a Dragonair with two Dratini," Valentino quipped back with a grin as he turned around to walk to the house.

"Wait, wait, wait. You found what?" Pete turned around instantly.

"Hehe, now you're interested, huh?"

"Of course! You're not talking about some bug pokemon doing it!"

"Hehe, I could tell you about that one Scyther and his-"

"Please, I know you're just doing this to get a reaction out of me. You've seen enough pokemon getting it on in New Bark. Now tell me why they would be in the middle of the forest! They aren't water type pokemon, but I know for sure they prefer living near lakes and rivers," Pete interrupted.

"Not like I could ask. One of the Dratini did look quite wounded though while the Dragonair didn't look in its best shape either," Valentino supplied with a shrug.

"Let me get some pokemon, and you go to Elm! I'm sure he'd love to see some wild dragon pokemon with his own eyes," Pete ordered with a shout as he ran to where his pokemon usually hung out.

"Getting ordered around like a servant by my little junior~ oh the woes of a good-hearted senpai," Valentino lamented in a sing-song voice loud enough that Pete heard.

A short-range teleport and a good twenty minutes later, Elm, Valentino, and Pete were looking into a clearing with a small pond near it.

They were surrounded by Golurk, Aggron, Duosion, two Azumarill, and Snivy. Sadly, Pete's Milotic weren't present, and they were on a time crunch. Who knew how long these elusive dragon pokemon would stay around otherwise?

Pete was sure bringing the Milotic would have ended in a more positive outcome if they chose to engage, but it wasn't meant to be.

'Duosion, can you let Dragonair know we're here?' Pete thought in his open link with all his pokemon.

Ever since he trained his psychic energy, he could connect to his pokemon and let them hear his intentions and orders through a psychic link just like he could with Duosion from the very first day.

It took a while to get proficient enough to connect to several pokemon at the same time and the more links he had open, the shorter the range of these links would be, but it was a steady process of improvement that Pete welcomed very much.

"Oh, the Dragonair is looking over!" Elm whisper-shouted in excitement. He didn't behave like a person looking at a four meter long danger noodle that could kill him by breathing a little harder than usual.

Well, he was protected by Pete's and Valentino's strongest pokemon, so it was a very unlikely outcome.

Duosion cautiously floated forward and used a Heal Pulse on the bleeding Dratini. Pete had looked at it through the binoculars he was gifted by Valentino at his departure from New Bark weeks ago and saw that one of the Dratini's looked ferociously mangled. Its body was littered in long, bloody gashes and burns, and it was a wonder that it was even still breathing by how much blood it seemed to be losing every moment.

Dragonair did not attack the group as Duosion kept relaying our positive intentions, yet the group also did not step forward.

The three dragon pokemon were resting next to an almost circular pond with a radius about Dragonair's length, and Dragonair eventually nudged the body of the wounded Dratini inside before looking at the two Azumarills. The two stepped forward under Duosion's psychic invitation and used Life Dew as best they could, though they weren't quite as proficient as the two Milotic.

'Well, every bit helps. What's the status Duosion? You think we can step closer, or is Dragonair still guarded against us?'

Duosion answered with a picture of berries and a positive feeling, which Pete relayed to Elm and Valentino. As they stepped closer under the watchful gaze of Dragonair, Pete took out some berries from the bag of holding hung over his shoulder.

Elm and Valentino stayed a few steps behind Pete, not that Pete noticed. It wasn't that they didn't trust him, but they were more curious about how their newest coworker would handle this situation.

Pete had by now read the book about surviving a meeting with and training dragon pokemon he had found in the cabin on route 27, so he knew what signs to look out for and how to best handle his approach. The book was quite extensive and thorough, so it left a good impression on him and he was sure it was applicable in the 'real world'.

With steps and a posture that showed he was neither threatening nor weak, Pete walked to Dragonair with some Oran and Leppa Berries in his hands.

A similar scene repeated itself as it happened when Pete first met Rapidash and a weakened Ponyta during the storm and offered them poketreats as food. The Dragonair sniffed the berries Pete had floated over with psychic type energy - a show of strength - and Dragonair carefully ate one of the berries.

If it wasn't for such a purpose, Pete would feel sad about it because his stock still wasn't looking all too good - but this was for the friendship of the only dragon pokemon line of the first generation of pokemon! A dream come true, despite all the wonders Pete had already experienced in this world.

"Huh, didn't know you had psychic powers! What other affinities have you unlocked?"

Elm asked curiously, for a short while forgetting that they were in the presence of wounded dragon pokemon.

'Damn, forgot they were here! Truth or half-thruths?' Pete thought and it took his full willpower to not flinch. 'Terrible timing, Professor!'