1 Azurion, Gym leader of Cinnabar Island
"Gym leader, Gym leader, it's an emergency."
The persistent cry of my gym leader title forces me to retreat deeper under my covers, seeking temporary escape from reality.
"Gym Leader, your Dragonite and Salamence still have a battle. We need you."
"Call the old man to separate them. Despite his age, he remains a formidable trainer." I lift my head slightly to see one of the trainers from my gym enter my room without knocking, as if it were routine; my house is not locked, guarded by an Arcanine and a few Growlithes that let in those authorized by my grandfather.
"Mr. Blaine is currently absent, invited to a conference on a scientific topic."
Annoyed, I glance at my clock indicating 10:30. I get up with my eyes still half-closed, heading towards the bathroom.
"I'll get ready, Jordan, your mission is to hold them off until I arrive. Make sure my gym isn't destroyed before I get there." I look at the trainer talking to me; he's about 190cm tall, with brown eyes and brown hair.
"But sir," his face whitens at the thought of facing my two powerful elite-level Dragon-type Pokémon. But I trust him; he's skilled enough, not the best fighter in my gym for nothing.
"No 'buts,' execute." He'll probably struggle with this, but it'll teach him a lesson for disturbing my sleep. I'll also have to inflict punishment on those two idiots fighting.
"Yes, sir," he grits his teeth, looking at me, and quickly leaves the house to restrain the two dragons.
I watch him go with a smile and head to the bathroom, observing myself through a mirror. My name is Azurion Flame; I am a reincarnated individual, currently the grandson of gym leader Blaine. I am 20 years old, 186cm tall, with pure white hair and azure eyes.
I am currently living the dream of every hardcore Pokémon fan, evolving in the wonderful world of Pokémon. I was reincarnated, lived through my adventure, and traveled through the regions of Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh in 4 years.
Although I would have liked to explore the next regions like Unova, Kalos, Galar, and Paldea, unfortunately, the borders are closed. There was a world war 20 years ago involving all countries, pitting Kalos, Kanto, Sinnoh, and Unova against Galar, Hoenn, Paldea, and Johto. Alola, fearing this global conflict without a champion to defend it and not wanting to take sides, closed its borders first, and other regions followed after experiencing the repercussions of the war.
Kanto and Johto merged to form Indigo under the leadership of Professor Oak, the war hero, and a few other elite trainers. By combining the resources of the two regions, they were able to recover more quickly than others. Sinnoh and Hoenn also managed to bounce back just when I wanted to visit their regions.
"In short,"
Once out of the shower, I head towards the gym that my grandfather, Blaine, entrusted to me. He now focuses on his scientific studies after my return from the journey, considering me worthy enough to succeed him. Oh yes, I mentioned it, but I'll clarify: I am the grandson of the Fire-type gym leader, Blaine, located on Cinnabar Island. Yes, yes, the scientist who helped Giovanni create Mewtwo. But today, he has become a simple retiree who loves jokes and riddles. I won't dwell on his story.
Fifteen minutes later, I stand in front of my gym, near the sea. It's a large building that I had renovated while preserving its old charm. At the entrance, two statues of Charizard on each side of the grand door welcome me.
BOOOM
BOOOM
Two dragons are battling in the air. Civilians, although keeping a bit of distance, are used to seeing this kind of spectacle, and it has become entertainment for them. Some trainers from my gym are stationed in front of them to protect the onlookers in case attacks fall by accident. I nod to them and greet them.
In the sky, a massive Salamence with scars on its belly and a small piece of its wing torn off, which doesn't affect its flight, and an equally large Dragonite with visible muscles and a black scarf around its neck, stare at each other like mortal enemies.
Next to them, three Altaria and two Charizard try to separate them but get knocked away by the movements of the two monsters. It's not that they are weak; they just avoid injuring themselves seriously unnecessarily. After all, if they fight seriously, they might lose some pieces of flesh.
"Come on, stop, both of you, we're done," I speak loud enough for them to hear me without shouting. With dragons, it's important to make them understand who's the leader. If the identity of the leader, the alpha, is not clear, a fight to the death to determine who will be it will ensue, and for the more peaceful ones, desertion will be considered.
The two dragons freeze, then look at me before growling and stopping. I sigh at this sight. When I arrived in this world, I absolutely wanted to become a Dragon-type trainer because I found them super cool and powerful, which is a reality.
"It's Azurion."
"He's so handsome."
"Hello, Azurion."
The citizens greet me and cheer as I enter the arena. I smile and wave at them before heading inside, the two dragons joining me by flying on each side, right and left.
I sigh slightly as I look at them. Unfortunately, the life of a trainer is not that easy. During my journey in the quest to become a dragon trainer, they were extremely challenging to find, to tame, and the most difficult part was teaching them to coexist with each other.
Dragons are very territorial, not tolerating another Pokémon as powerful as them being too close. The job of a dragon type specialist is to control this wildness and make them get along to have a strong team.
I realized this when I caught my third dragon. At first, two dragons were manageable. It just required careful attention to ensure they tolerated each other. But with three, it quickly became complicated. If I didn't take control of the situation quickly, once they reached their final stage of evolution, I feared they might kill each other. Fortunately, I was lucky, I was able to regain control of my team and force them to get along. But that doesn't prevent some reasonable skirmishes between them.
Anyway, I don't plan on stopping them from fighting. Restraining the wildness of a dragon type is like covering a grenade with your body. It's just a matter of time before it explodes.
"Hi Azurion"
"Gym leader, Hi"
"Mr, hi"
The arena employees greet me, and I respond with a smile. However, my attention is caught by a woman with dark brown hair and freckles who approaches me with a serious expression, holding a tablet in her hands.
"Hi, Cassandra," I greet her with a frown.
"Azurion, perfect timing, I'm giving you a recap of your schedule for today." She is my secretary, responsible for organizing my schedule. Initially, I didn't need one, but as I invested in expanding the gym, my administrative responsibilities increased. My grandfather returned to the field to help me, then advised me to hire a secretary, which I did after thorough research. Even though it pains me to admit it, she's a genius, although her character is rather challenging.
"At 11 am, the arena opens its doors to welcome trainers. At 11:30, if all goes well, you'll have your first battle after the challengers face our trainers. You'll continue this until 2 pm. At 6:30 pm, you have a meeting with the five gym trainers, Jordan, Edgar, Anais, Matthieu, and Lucie, until 8 pm."
My schedule is quite lenient during this time of the year, with a moderate workload. At the same time, my gym is the most challenging to access.
Generally, trainers come to me for their 6th, 7th, or 8th badges due to the difficulty of access and the distance from major cities. But in return, trainers are relatively strong and come in groups on the same means of transport, which can overwhelm me quickly.
My gym also plays a key role because as a high-level gym, we must sort out trainers and determine who deserves their badge to participate in the Indigo League.
"Do you have anything to say about that?" She stares at me with her tablet in hand.
"No, but where are my dear gym trainers now?" I look around; they should already be here.
"Jordan went for a quick visit to the infirmary. His Charizard suffered some injuries from your Dragonite. Edgar is training with his Ampharos and Milotic on the beach near the gym." She looks at me with a slightly reproachful look but says nothing and checks her tablet.
"Anais is warming up with the assistant trainers. Her Arbok and Seviper are with her. As for Matthieu and Lucie, they're having a little match between themselves in the underground volcanic arena. It's a match between Lucie's Altaria and Matthieu's Flygon." I nod.
Each of the trainers is someone I personally recruited. I have a dragon-type breeding enclosure with well-maintained eggs that I can sell to them or have them raise for the gym. Although my gym is dragon-type, this species is relatively rare, so my trainers have Pokémon with draconic traits, even if they are not all dragon-type. Dragon-type breeding is relatively slow, but once they reach 3 years old, their growth can be accelerated with a huge dose of battles, which has been used for my team.
By the way, a fun fact is that the fact that Charizard, despite being a fire type, has draconic traits, creates a perfect link between my grandfather's old gym and mine. It's symbolic but always interesting to make this connection between us in this way, which is why I made them the symbols of my gym.
"Okay, I'll get my backup team ready for the day then. Tell the others not to tire themselves out too much and to be ready for any challenges that come their way." I nod at her and head to the back of the gym to prepare for the day.
"All right, see you later then," Cassandra watches Azurion's back
Azurion is someone rather special, and this is accepted by everyone on the island, whether due to his ideas or his behavior. His grandfather, a Fire-type specialist, is overprotective of his grandson and gave him a yellow Vulpix as his starter Pokémon. Azurion then challenged the Indigo League in just one year, obtaining all eight badges at a crazy speed, while an average trainer usually takes at least three years.
What's even more surprising is that he had only five Pokémon on his team: a Ninetales, a Charizard, a Dragonite, a Kingdra, and a Clefable. He explained that unfortunately, Dragon-type Pokémon are too rare, making it quite challenging to build a complete team.
Although he didn't win the League, he reached the finals, losing to another Dragon-type trainer named Lance, who was four years older than him.
Back on the island after the League, Azurion was extremely frustrated, just like his Pokémon. Apparently, being a finalist wasn't enough for him; he wanted to win. When he learned that the Hoenn region had reopened its borders, he rushed there and caught a Trapinch, a Bagon, and a Swablu, which he added to his team.
He won the Hoenn League, then the following year, he participated in the Indigo League again and won. In the fourth year, just as he thought of staying on the island to train, the Sinnoh region opened its doors.
He rushed, won the eight badges again, and this time, in the semi-finals, he faced an extraordinary trainer named Cynthia. She defeated five of his Pokémon before finally losing to him. He then won the Sinnoh League.
By the way, it has now been a year since I learned that Cynthia won the League this year. She plans to challenge the Elite 4 and then the current champion. She too is incredible; she and her monstrous Garchomp make a great team.
But what makes Azurion so special is his psychological evolution, a change that has not escaped the islanders and his grandfather. At the end of the first year, when he returned, Azurion had anger issues and showed a certain arrogance, though not overtly, as if winning should have been normal.
In the second year, he had a boost in self-esteem after returning from Hoenn, considering himself among the best, which was true but slightly made those around him uncomfortable with his words.
Moreover, an authoritative side was felt in him. He remained quite reserved in appearance, but when he made a request, it was more of an order than a simple request. That's when the population realized that, in becoming a Dragon-type trainer, this boy had to become an authoritative person to gain the respect of these powerful creatures.
This was disturbing for some, but strangely, when he toured Johto to claim badges and participate in the League, upon his return, he was calmer, more serene, more controlled. His mastery of his Pokémon increased, his dominant aura did not disappear, but it is now better controlled. Everyone wonders what could have caused this change.
Cassandra looked at the back of the most admired man in the city before returning to her office.
-------
Once I reach the back of the arena, I descend a broad staircase, relatively recent, leading me into an underground passage. This place extends towards the mountain attached to the back of the arena, and inside this mountain, several caves are arranged to shelter my Dragon-type Pokémon. These caves have openings to the outside, but they are only accessible by flying.
Instead of going around all the caves to retrieve my team, I decide to call them to me. I head towards an underground river that runs through the mountain before launching my call.
"Dragons, gather!" My voice echoes through the cave.
Boom, Boom, Boom
ROAAAR
Roar
Roars, frightening tremors, and footsteps are heard, heading towards me. I keep my hands in my pockets, accustomed to this spectacle.
Before me appear 4 Dratini, 2 Dragonite, 3 Charizard, 2 Charmeleon, and 10 Charmander. In addition, a Salamence, 2 Altaria, 1 Swablu, 1 Flygon, 1 Garchomp, 2 Gabite, and 2 Ditto. In the water, a Kingdra, 4 Seadra, 6 Horsea. In the water, they don't always hear my calls, but when the other dragons make so much noise, it attracts them.
I can see that my breeding is taking shape. My most powerful Dragonite wears a black scarf around its neck. The other Dragonite is a female who recently laid 4 Dratini. My primary Charizard is quite imposing, measuring 2 meters, much taller than the average of 170 cm. It wears a gold collar and bracelet, being a fan of this color. It has two female Charizard that have given birth to 12 Charmander, of which 2 evolved through the gym battles.
Salamence is still the same, with a scar on its belly and a grumpy look. It is accompanied by two female Altaria, one of them is also a member of A-Team. Unlike its Salamence companion, she is sweet and adorable. They had a Swablu together.
My Flygon is solitary and only interested in training, a true maniac. Garchomp is probably the hardest to contain, constantly excited. To calm him down, I gave him 2 Ditto despite Garchomp's low fertility; I got 2 Gabite, testifying to his "effectiveness." Kingdra displays an arrogant and royal behavior, remaining calm in the water while observing me with its harem of Seadra and its 6 children.
So here is my A-team:
-Ace, my starter (Ninetales)
-Kaido (Dragonite)
-Tesoro (Charizard)
-Yamamoto; Yama (Salamence)
-Mavis (Altaria)
-Crocodile; Zero (Flygon) -> undecided between Crocodile and (Mr.) Zero
-Momonosuke; Momo (Garchomp)
-Neptune (Kingdra)
-Moon (Clefable)
My B-team consists of the companions of my A-team Pokémon. When I reach 12 powerful Pokémon, I'll finally have a real B-team, but for now, I have only a temporary team. However, it is more than enough to face the challenge that awaits us.
