6 Chapter 6: A Scared Dragon?

"Aeron, did you pack everything?"

"Yes, mom." Aeron hugged Sophia as tears appeared in her eyes. "Please don't cry."

Sophia used her sleeves to wipe the tears. "These are tears of happiness. I am happy that my boy is finally starting his Pokémon journey."

Aeron turned toward his father. "Take good care of her. You know how she can be."

"Don't worry, and focus on your journey." Ethan hugged his son. Sophia pouted and joined them in a group hug, and the trio stayed like this for a few minutes before parting from each other.

"Did you make a plan of what you are going to do?"

"I already have one Pokémon in my roster and only need five more for the Indigo Conference. Raising a Pokémon is difficult, so I cannot catch random Pokémon. Now that I have a Dragon in my rooster, my expectations for my future team have grown a bit more than they should. I already know what Pokémon I want next and where to find it. I will train with Axew before I go after it."

Ethan nodded his head, and Sophia commented. "It is good to have a general plan of what you want to do."

"Aeron, remember what I am going to tell you." Ethan's tone changed and became severe. "It sounds all fun when one thinks of a Pokémon journey. But remember my words, boy."

"You will see things. You will experience things. You will start to forget the things you should remember, and you can't stop to remember the things you should forget." Ethan's eyes reflected the wisdom he had gathered as a Pokémon trainer. He knew what it meant to be a Pokémon trainer and how hard it can be to move forward when one realizes the reality of this world. "I am not speaking these words to discourage you but to tell you to be prepared and always move forward."

"From here on out, you will be the architects of your actions…and you must live with their consequences. Whether glorious or tragic."

Aeron looked at his father and bowed. "I will keep your words close to my heart and make you proud."

"We are already proud of you. Make sure you live the way you want to." Ethan patted Aeron's shoulders in a fatherly manner. "Now go, or your mother might decide to keep you here for the day."

"He is right." Sophia nodded her head, agreeing with Ethan's words.

The trio chuckled before Aeron turned around and walked away. He did not say any more goodbyes since they would make him want to stay for another day. He knew how hard it would be from here and how strong will he would need to walk on his chosen path.

Ethan and Sophia looked at the disappearing figure of Aeron with longing look.

"He was but a little kid; look at him go out alone." Ethan looked at Aeron's back with pride while Sophia had tears in her eyes as she remembered all the hardships Aeron would face from now.

-0-

Pewter City was the nearest big city to Florian Town and Aeron's next destination. However, he was not following the road used by busses and cars but the routes used by trainers. The regular roads were made to cut past all the colonies of dangerous Pokémon and other small colonies to avoid the cars or buses being attacked by Pokémon.

Surprisingly, these roads were the one that was least used. Although the world had cars and buses, they were scarcely used as the primary mode of transportation was with Pokémon through the dangerous routes and the like since it was only at these routes that a trainer could train themselves and their Pokémon.

Aeron walked through the thick forest filled with trees, and once he was away from the outer edges, he decided to take out his Pokémon.

First, he removed the Pokeball hanging around his neck with a necklace. It was a black-coloured ball with no other colour on it. It was one of the rare balls made for Dragon-type Pokémon. It was gifted to Aeron by his parents.

Aeron scanned his thumb on the small button, which scanned his fingerprints, and threw the ball in the air. "Axe, come out."

He called his starter by the nickname he had given it due to the tusks that would later become its deadliest weapons.

The black Pokeball opened midair, and a black light flashed onto the ground. It soon took the shape of a Pokémon inside the Pokeball.

"Axew!"

The young Dragon shouted its name and ran towards Aeron before it started to hit him with his tusks playfully.

-0-

Aeron was four years old when he first saw a Pokémon battle on a TV, and he was five when he first saw it live. Ever since that day, Aeron wanted a Pokémon of his own.

Unlike other kids his age, he did not want to be the strongest in the world. He had a different ambition. He wanted to be a great trainer. Were they the same thing? He did not know.

What was a great trainer? How strong was someone who was called a great trainer? Or how can one become a great trainer? He did not know, but it was okay since he wanted to find an answer to that himself.

So, he worked hard to learn everything there was about Pokémon. His hard work bore fruit when he became one of the rankers in the yearly league examination.

Now that he officially had a starter, nothing could bound Aeron's excitement for a Pokémon journey.

Therefore, the first thing Aeron did after calling out Axew was scan him with the Pokedex.

-0-

[Axew

Gender: Male

Type: Dragon

Ability: Mold Breaker

Innate Moves: Night Slash, Iron Tail, Sword Dance, Dragon Dance

Moves: N/A

TMs: Protect]

-0-

'A pure monster.'

These thoughts first appeared in Aeron's mind when he saw Axew's stats.

Aeron was impressed by the egg moves of his starter Pokémon.

'As expected of a Dragon-type Pokémon.'

Innate Moves, or Egg Moves, for a newly hatched Pokémon, like Axew, depend significantly on a Pokémon's talent and parents.

The more significant a Pokémon's talent, the more egg moves it would have at birth. A Pokémon could have a maximum of four egg moves. Since Aeron's Pokémon had four egg moves, it showed how talented Axew was. Aeron was pleasantly surprised when he learned this fact.

It had been a week since Axew hatched, and Aeron had enough time to bond with him. Now that the young Dragon was out of the baby stage and ready to train, Aeron wanted to use every second to prepare for the Indigo Conference.

Aeron was excited about his Pokémon journey, but the same could not be said for his Pokémon.

As the young trainer and his starter walked through the forest, Axew seemed scared of anything that might pop out from the bushes. As strong as Axew was with his egg and innate talent, he surprisingly had a timid nature despite being a Dragon-type Pokémon.

"It's fine, Axe. You don't need to be scared." Aeron held Axew and patted the little horn on his head. "I am here."

"Axe, Axew."

At first, he was surprised since he imagined a Dragon-type to be arrogant and overbearing. Axew, however, was the complete opposite. Not only was Axew timid, but he was also afraid of other Pokémon. Aeron knew raising a Pokémon who did not want to fight or was too scared would be challenging.

Aeron now had two choices. He could either give up on Axew and train a different Pokémon as his starter. Or force Axew and make him battle against his will. However, he decided to do neither. He was on his journey to be a great Pokémon trainer, and what kind of a trainer would make their Pokémon do what they did not want to? Yes, he wanted to get strong and fight battles, but it did not mean he would force Axew into them.

Moreover, Axew was but a week old. He could not expect such a young Pokémon to fight others. Aeron would not push him into a battle unless the young Dragon was not ready.

Aeron's next goal was to capture his second Pokémon, but the goal seemed bleak since it was almost impossible as his only Pokémon was not ready for a fight. He told his parents he had a plan not to make them worry, but the truth was far from it. He was clueless as to what he should do next.

Suddenly, a thought appeared in Aeron's mind. 'Would Axe take part in basic training?'

Fighting and training were two different things. Axew feared to fight, but what if the training had no fighting? This way, he could at least prepare Axew for the worst-case scenario.

With his bright eyes, Aeron turned toward the Axew in his arms. "Axe." He called to his starter, and the young Dragon looked at his trainer. "Since we are on our journey, we need to make sure we train."

"Axew…" The Dragon made a meek sound as if he did not like it.

Aeron smiled and patted his head. "I will not make you fight if you don't want to. Plus, we will be training, not fighting. I will make sure it is fun for you as well."

"Axew!" Axew happily brushed his tusks against Aeron with its cute, puppy-like eyes.

"How about we play a game of tag?" Aeron was not going to bring out the word training. Instead, he knew Axew loved to play and eat. He was going to use that to train his starter without him knowing.

As if the word 'play' set a fire inside him, Axew jumped out of Aeron's arms and started running around him.

"How about this? You will run after me to catch me, and if you do, I will reward you with your favourite berry?" Aeron took out a berry from his leather bag and held it before Axew.

"Xew Xew!"

With that settled, Axew immediately started running after Aeron. For the next hour, the trainer and his Pokémon played a game of tag where the young Pokémon would run after his trainer, trying to catch him with all his strength.

Aeron ensured he ran at speed Axew could effortlessly chase after him. Whenever the Dragon was too close, he would increase his speed and decrease when they were too far. This made Axew continuously chase after Aeron. But Axew was very young, so he gave up a lot of time.

To overcome that problem, Aeron showed Axew his favourite berries.

Axew was out of breath from running all this time, and Aeron could tell he had pushed his starter to his limits. It was time to end the basic running exercise. Aeron pretended to be exhausted and dropped his speed. Axew, who saw Aeron slowing down, jumped at him with his tiny body.

"Axew. Axew!"

As if it had finally accomplished a great mission, Axew cheered before falling to the ground, panting for breath. Aeron gave a small chuckle before dropping to the ground beside his Pokémon.

'Even though I can keep going, but not for too long. I should exercise myself as well. This might motivate Axew into following me?'

Since Aeron was the first person Axew saw, he was the only family Axew knew of, followed by Ethan and Sophia. He would follow Aeron like a baby duck running behind the mama duck, doing whatever Aeron did. Be it watching TV, eating, reading (Axew pretended to) etc., over the last week.

Once they rested enough, Aeron took a few berries and handed them to Axew.

"Xew Xew."

Not wasting even a second, Axew grabbed the berries out of Aeron's hand and used his tusks to crush them before he started eating.

While Axew was busily enjoying his favourite berries, Aeron was having his snack and thinking about what he should do next.

His plan at first was to train Axew in battle, followed by making him battle with another Pokémon to grow stronger. Then, he would catch his second Pokémon. But now, all of it was down the drain.

'Let's get to Pewter City first.' It was his first day, and he did not want to spend it in the wild, not when his only Pokémon could not fight. 'Maybe I can accept a mission that does not require battling another Pokémon?'

And hence, Aeron packed his bag, and Axew jumped back on his shoulder before they made their way toward Pewter City.

-------------------------End of Chapter-------------------------

Author's Note:

- I hope you all like this story, and I will try my best to write a good one.

- Thank you for the support. I hope you like the book so far.

- Peace!