C061 - Clair, Dragon Trainer Extraordinaire

AN: Double chapter because my vacation is almost over and I spent so much time on writing I already have all the chapters until the next weekend written instead of releasing whatever I write the same day. Hope I can keep that up once I work again on Monday. Also got around to writing three more chapters for one of my other fanfics, that was a good change of pace.

_____________________________

For roughly twenty minutes, Pete and his pokemon were in a standoff with the Team Rocket members. His pokemon had them surrounded on his command and kept up their vigilance while keeping a healthy distance.

This world had explosives, but somehow, guns and rifles were pretty much nonexistent. The most intidimating thing he saw past a shortsword or knife was a stun gun, usually carried by police officers. A single-action taser that would do nothing in this situation, even if the both of them would dual-wield them against Pete and his pokemon.

With his mental command, Duosion had checked their bodies to the best of her abilities and didn't find any potential threats that remained. Like vials of poison or gas grenades. He also asked Duosion to keep the bag of the woman closed, just in case.

Pete kept his call with Elm open, who let out a big sigh of relief once he heard and saw the good news that Pete and his pokemon came out on top. He informed him that Lance opened his emergency mail and responded positively to the distress signal.

Only two of the pair's pokemon had survived the battle, and they were two of the three Houndoom. The rest was either squashed, ripped apart and eaten like the Arboks, or succumbed to the poison after losing the battle like Raticate.

When someone finally arrived, it turned out to be Clair instead of Lance, but Pete didn't mind either way. She landed together with her Dragonite and released her pokemon during touchdown.

They were a Charizard that looked much, much bigger than in the photograph, an Altaria, and an Aerodactyl that excuded a towering pressure by just hovering there, and it tickled Pete's scientific curiosity.

As a kid, he always wondered how a rock pokemon with a wingspan bigger than he was tall could weigh 'only' 60kg, which was less than his own weight. Especially with that meaty torso and tail. Was it hollow bones? Flying type energy shenanigans?

"Hey, my cute Aerodactyl, and I don't like the look on your face. State your name and business," Clair shouted as she hopped down from her Dragonite's princess carry. She was very observant to see Pete's focused look from so far away.

"My name's Pete Lang. I'm Professor Elm's assistant and the one who called this in. I found these two while they fought off some wild pokemon and then confronted them. They started the fight with an attempt on my life, so my pokemon went into the fight a little heavy-handed."

"I see. You're an egg head then. Don't get any funny ideas about my pokemon, though. My name is Clair Blackthorn, gym leader and dragon trainer extraordinaire. By your looks, I'm guessing you already knew that. Did you frisk them or anything?"

Clair was dressed in the same unflattering outfit he had seen in the article, stupid cape and all, but he bit his tongue to not say anything. Not because her pokemon were even more intimidating in reality, but because the woman was over a head taller than he was and looked just as ripped as Luna.

"Nope, I'm an assistant professor and not law enforcement. If I hadn't talked about this with my boss, I might not have recognized them either," Pete waved off in response. He didn't mention he lived closeby... well, kinda close - but only because the two Team Rocket members were still present and awake.

"Uh-huh. Assistant professor," Clair commented as she looked to all his pokemon, especially Arcanine and Nidoking.

Her eyes also paused for a second on the three Farfetch'd who stood in a perfect line with the leeks resting with the root-end on the ground and one wing behind their back in what Pete could only describe as the perfect parade rest. Sometimes, Pete really wondered who taught these birds.

Pete showed Professor Elm on his video call for a short moment to remove any doubt in Clair and then hung up on the professor with the promise to send him the conclusion at a later time.

"Okay then. Hey scum. Turn over your pockets and lady, throw your bag over there where there's no pokemon. Any funny business, and my Charizard has permission to use Flame Thrower," Clair ordered after turning to the two Team Rocket members. Her Charizard made it a show and looked at them with a terrifying sneer as he flames leaked out the sides of its mouth and its tail flame lit up with a blazing flame.

The two did as asked with reluctant expressions, though with hurried movements so as to not get roasted alive. Pete, in the meantime, retreated a little with his pokemon to the tree Duosion was hiding in. Clair followed that up with Altaria using the move Sing, putting both Team Rocket members to sleep.

Even Pete started feeling drowsy despite not being the target of the flying/dragon pokemon. What a scary move. His desire to catch a Swablu and train it to become an Altaria grew exponentially.

Clair stepped closer to the two, and unseen to Pete, her pupils turned into slits and her neck, collarbone, and bizeps gained scales in the same color as her hair. It was the real reason for her wearing a cape over her regular clothes: hiding the effects of flexing her very advanced dragon affinity.

She activated it in the hopes it would defend against any 'funny business' these two might have planned for after they were unconscious. It wouldn't be the first booby trap, and sadly, not even the last suicide bomber she would uncover in these last and upcoming weeks.

Having listened to her cousin to come fight for what was right might have been a mistake, she silently contemplated. She liked a good fight as much as every other dragon trainer, but there was too much bloodshed in these last days. And, most Team Rocket grunts were terrible pokemon trainers who cared little for the well-being of their pokemon.

It was clear that their pokemon barely left their pokeballs, fought more out of desperation and frustration than passion or fun, and most of them felt oddly detached to life. Stomping Zubats, Poochyenas, Ekans, and Rattatas with shallow movepools was not very fun.

As she turned the two sleeping villains and rummaged through their clothes, she was very relieved that she didn't find anything on them. She turned off her dragon affinity and ordered Altaria to lift up their bag and turn it over to release all its contents on the floor.

A few glass vials that thankfully didn't shatter, seven collars with a red gem on it, and a full cabinet's worth of files fell out before Clair stepped closer.

Pete was surprised by how meticulous the gym leader was and also interested in Altaria being so proficient in psychic type energy. It made sense that a powerful gym leader like her had trained her pokemon to such a degree in any case.

'Could Altaria learn any psychic moves outside Dream Eater and Rest in the games? Agility probably, right? At the very least through their 'flying' egg group as an egg move...'

"Hmm, no bombs or anything, though any vials we find are always worrying, and these darned collars are truly a disgusting invention. They shouldn't exist," Clair muttered under her breath.

"Untwist your panties, little professor. Danger is over," Clair shouted mockingly as she addressed Pete, who had retreated to a far away tree.

Pete calmly balled all his pokemon except for Aracanine, who he mounted, and Duosion, who he asked to get ready for a teleport in his mind and shouted back, "Panties? I don't want to get fashion tips from someone with those ugly boots and a wetsuit that makes your beautiful legs look short, your hips too wide, and your butt as flat as a pancake!"

The next moment, Duosion fell out of the tree and teleported the three of them back to Ilex Falls. Pete thanked his pokemon and asked Arcanine to run home while he laughed about his daring 'insult'.

Clair herself was stumped for a moment before breaking into a laugh of her own.

"Pfft, fashion tips he calls it... Didn't even know he still had a pokemon hidden away. That Vibrava was a recent evolution, I'm sure of it. And that Arcanine, it was very young as well, right Charizard?" Her Charizard nodded with a smile.

"She had so much potential, almost wasted on an egg head like him," she mumbled under her breath and regarded the battlefield with the two wimpering Houndoom, the two sleeping Team Rocket members and all the other corpses.

"Almost," she repeated with a ferocious grin and a respectful nod. "But how dare he talk about my ass and ditch before I can slap him into next week!"

Some time later on Pete's farm.

"So you met a potential future colleague of mine and insulted her outfit for no reason?" Jasmine asked with a tilted head as she lounged on Pete's patio after dinner. Sophie was reading the article Pete had brought up to explain why he went there in the first place.

"I mean, I also fought off two criminals, you know. Why are we not talking about that first?"

"You were rude..."

"She made me out to be a coward and was very confrontational. She was rude first," Pete argued with no real heat in his voice.

"That's probably just the way she talks," Jasmine retorted unsurely. She wasn't technically mad about him insulting her outfit. It was more that she didn't like that he had a deep enough opinion on her legs and butt in the first place.

"Hey, Jasmine. You're in the wrong here, and Pete was absolutely right to say something. Her outfit is not simply unflattering. Everything about it is wrong," Sophie interjected with scrunched up brows, listing in her mind everything that was wrong about Clair's outfit.

"I thought you were gonna say I was right to speak up because she was rude to me," Pete dejectedly countered.

"Hmph, no. As a guy, you technically should have never spoken up about a lady's outfit in the first place. I only praised you because she needed someone to speak up..."

"That's not very fair. Why can a guy not speak up about an ugly outfit? Most of us have eyes, you know."

"Because... you can't?"

"Ha! Come up with a real reason, and I'll hear you out," Pete concluded with a sagely nod.

Jasmine looked down at herself in contemplation. As she does most times here on Pete's farm, she wore sporty clothes. Leggings with sneakers, short shorts over them to not feel like her butt is openly showing, a croptop and a loose blouse over it.

"You'll tell me if my outfit looks bad, right?"

"Hey! As your sister and future fashion icon, you should ask me! I'm the one giving you your outfit in the mornings anyway," Sophie shouted with a pout.

"Sure, I will. The leggings and shorts look really nice on you, though. Really brings out your long, slim legs and makes your cute butt look bigger," Pete flattered earnestly, speaking over Sophie idignant shout.

Jasmine's face immediately turned red, and she ran off as fast as she could.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Nope, it's why I make us wear this outfit. Your comment's spot on. Baby steps, brother-in-law, baby steps," Sophie reassured with a pround thumbs up. "With critical thinking like that, you're allowed to comment on my fashion in the future until I say otherwise."