9 Chapter 8

Everything was such a mess.

Which was pretty much the norm for the Ketchum Household.

The only real issue to be had from it was the enormous amount of clean up to be had afterwards, and boy did everyone have to clean up before mom made it back home. That's right, EVERYONE had to pitch in, and that's including Daisy, Ash, Gary, Blossom, and I. Otherwise, we'd all be in deep trouble when mom arrived back from work.

Well, not everyone wanted to stick around and clean up the huge mess. Clair was officially 101% done with everyone and angrily stormed off, but not before pointing at me and tossing me a card through the air that I swiftly caught. I would have made a Yugioh Abridged reference about the impossibility of a thin white card being able to be thrown with so much wind resistance, but I was better than that.

"Enough of these distractions, my issue of challenge will wait. Luke Ketchum, we will reconvene in a place appropriate to discuss crucial matters tomorrow. Do. Not. Be. Late."

I shrugged with a simple "Okay" which seemed to further peeve her off, but with her message already made clear, she departed with a flourish of her cape in the wind. Dramatic as usual, I see. Looking at the card with Daisy hovering over my shoulder, I read the words "Nest Raider" and immediately knew where she wanted us to meet. Daisy reached the same conclusion and looked quite nervous about the implications behind this last-minute meeting and the forceful requestor of said meeting.

This made my last-minute decision to invite everyone over for dinner the perfect distraction for her since she'd be too busy helping me cook and prepare the food for the little kids and my own pokémon. Of course, this decision was made after we cleaned everything up, and the kids did so with gusto. So, once Daisy and I made them some spaghetti, they rushed out to eat amongst my pokémon.

Gary, like any boy his age would, gravitated around Kamina the Scizor, one the "cooler" pokémon as perceived by the male demographic.

Blossom herself played with Lenny and Leonardo. I had to keep Leonardo in charge of Lenny lest he hurt the girl with one of his bear hugs, but so far, they were relatively alright.

The rest of my team were behaving. Kidd was back in my shadow after laughing himself to undeath at Asch's graffitied body; Sparrow was back on his perch atop the house roof, looking vigilantly over us as usual; and Epona was laid beside me and Asch as she watched me wash the black marker and paint off him with hints of amusement on her snout that Asch was pointedly not looking at.

As for Sylvie…? Uh, I had to ball her back into her premier ball. I have no clue what happened to her, and I get the feeling like I shouldn't, just to save preserve my sanity despite my burgeoning curiosity. So, I nabbed my underwear from her, and placed her away for now. Hopefully, she'll start getting back to her senses tomorrow.

I had the tiring job of cleaning my resting Starter while letting my own dinner grow cold beside me. At this point, I wasn't going to eat it, so I decided that it was best for lunch for tomorrow. Waste not, want not as mom would always say. Daisy helped out too by helping me wash Asch's wings right beside me.

As for Ash…

"LUUUUUUUKE!" I heard the shrill cry of my brother from above as he poked his head out my window to enviously look down at all of us. "I'm done cleaning your room! Can I come join you guys now!?"

"Did you make sure my floor's clean?" I exclaimed, not even taking my eyes off Asch's painted back.

"YEAH!"

"Is everything back to where they belong?"

"YEAH!" Hm…I don't believe THAT answer for a second.

"Did you stuff everything you dumped onto my floor in the closet?"

"YEAH!" Yup, there we go, that made more sense. "Wa-Wait, I hung every-!" Too late, Ash, too late…

"No. Clean up everything the right way. Now."

"BUT LUUUUUUUUUUUKE!"

I had to listen to his whining for the fifth time since I've sent him up to clean my wrecked room. My room may not be perfectly organized or super clean, but it was still my Sanctuary to return to and relax. If he really wants to be out here eating and playing with my pokémon then he should have already handled the mess with less of his whining taking up time.

I internally rolled my eyes. No matter the life or world, little brothers will always be a pain in the neck. To be frank, he should be thanking me, I'm going out of my way to take mom's old basin that Blossom broke to the Mr. Claude, the town's local carpenter. If mom were to find out then she would have grounded Ash for life (an exaggeration, but one aptly used to express how pissed she'd be). This basin was one of the few possessions that mom had of Great Grandma Delilah's; this wooden bowl was basically older than the founding of Pallet Town itself, when this area was nothing more than a nameless hamlet of a settlement.

Thankfully, mom wasn't too concerned with the basin when she came home with Jubilee and Angel from work. She was more preoccupied with cooking more food for us kids than bringing it up, which was logical since she thinks its still intact. It made me happy for once that she immediately zeroed in on Daisy and me to eat a bowl of spaghetti together, lest she ask the damning question that would leave Ash in super mondo trouble.

Eventually, Daisy had to take home Gary and Blossom and wished us a somber "Good Night". A bit too somber for my liking, but I couldn't fault her. Her Conference opponent, who brutally knocked her out of the Quarter Finals was in town so I wouldn't be in much of a good mood either if I was in her shoes. So, after confirming things for tomorrow, we saw them off, Ash still got into a little trouble for not properly cleaning her room after going through it, and I sent an email to who I was originally going to spend the morning chatting with over a Video call, but Clair takes precedent for now.

She's already had one of the new waitresses at the café call off for the unforeseeable future due to handily defeating their pokémon. Which is going to make it harder for mom and the others at the café. I asked mom why Blossom's mom, Petaline wasn't there to battle herself, but apparently, she had to run a quick errand out of town for the day. Which makes me curious about how a battle between her and Clair would go…

I'd love to see a battle like that. Who knows, they might even know each other if the old conference battle records of Mrs. Petaline coming from Blackthorn City hold truth. Still, that was for another day because the next day would have me sitting across from one of my most bitter opponents from the conference. Waking up in the morning was always a drag, but I pulled myself together, took a shower, dressed appropriately, helped mom with breakfast, ate breakfast, made a prayer over at the shrine, and departed from the house on Epona's back.

Ash slept in, which was fair since it was Saturday, but he was still grounded with a couple of days added for snooping through both mom and I's rooms without properly cleaning them up.

The ride to the Nest Raider's lab took about the same time and distance as ever whenever I visited Professor Oak's lab. Yep, he was this infamous Nest Raider that Clair hissed about and there's a definite story behind that she'll no doubt bring up since we're holding our little "chat" in his lab. Upon making it to his lab, I realized that I wasn't the only one to show since Daisy was waiting for me in anticipation. After letting Epona run off to run around the perimeter of Kanto, I entered the lab with my friend by my side.

Clair didn't specify a time but knowing her type I realized that she would be punctual and arrive early. Now if she were requesting this chat at any other time or place, I would have chosen to go a bit late or whenever I felt like it. Again, no time was specified, and I generally didn't feel the need to put my own plans on pause for her.

Too bad that she chose Prof. Oak's lab for this little talk of ours. Bringing in a third party like Prof. Oak was sort of a dick move, but an effective one. I couldn't just leave the professor and his aides to deal with Clair so its best that I handle this so they can go on with their agendas today.

Also, so Daisy can settle her nerves…

"She's waiting in the lobby. Has been since 5 AM this morning." Daisy spoke with a hush.

"Wow, so she's serious-serious about this." That was way earlier than I expected. I woke up at 7 AM and got here at 8 AM, so she must really want to get this done.

"Thank Mew that I told Grandpa ahead of time." Daisy sighed in relief then grimaced. "Him pulling another all-nighter over here did do us some good after all."

"Was your dad mad again?" Mr. Oak was very particular about making sure Prof. Oak was taking care of himself. The professor was still only human and one at his age required rest when possible, not after five days of continuous research without sleep.

"No." Daisy shook her head. "Mom was."

I inhaled sharply. "Yep, that's way worse."

"Yup." Daisy popped the "p". "Mom gave Grandpa quite the lashing over the phone until Clair arrived."

Ouch, I mean it's ironic in a way, but that was kind of a cruel punishment to subject to the old man. Noticing my look, Daisy rolled her eyes and shook her head. "He got off easy. Zam threatened to teleport mom here to give him the scolding in person."

I chuckled. "Okay, now THAT sounds worse." Well, it was all out of love at the end of the day. Prof. Oak's Alakazam even stepping in to reprimand his lifelong friend and trainer was just the final nail in that love coffin. "So, what happens after…?"

"Home. Bed. Rest. Tea." Daisy listed off.

"No poetry?" The face that Daisy made was downright hysterical. The professor loves to write poetry and you would think that a former Champion and a current leading researcher in his field would be a pro in the world of prose and flowery words. Too bad that he was either terrible at worst or at best basic with his works.

Heck, I'm sure most of my classmates, especially Joey, were experiencing PTSD whenever the mention of a poem was made. The professor made us, his chosen students, listen through lectures upon lectures of his poetry as a requirement for his sponsorship and teachings. I generally enjoyed how terrible his and my own poetry were in comparison to the others.

I coughed and recalled one of my poems that the professor verily approved of.

"Charmander is red

Squirtle is blue

if you were a pokémon

I'd choose you."

I ended my poem off while tapping Daisy's nose. She did not approve.

"That was terrible, and you should feel terrible." Daisy shook her head in disappointment.

"Heh, says you, that poem helped me pass the class." Of course, he would have passed us all no matter how crappy our poems were, but he did say that mine was well-written compared to the others. Yes, my special situation did give me the advantage over the normal 11-year-olds, but still I wasn't going to downplay the achievement that much.

We returned to amiable silence once we neared the lobby, I had noticed that our previous conversation had settled Daisy quite a bit, but not quite enough. She was doing that finger drumming thing against her thighs whenever she got nervous. This tic of hers only worsened when we stood five feet from the door where Clair was no doubt waiting for me on the other side.

Emphasis on 'me' being the reason that she's here. I crossed my arms and looked at my friend. "Y'know, you don't have to-."

"I-If Grandpa gets to be in there, then I do too." She stubbornly looked at the door.

"But the professor is only there to mediate, so you don't have to stress yourself out like this." I said, but this only made her more insistent to come.

"Luke, I'm joining." The glance she shot at me emphasized the finality in her tone. Geez, and here I thought that old Oak stubbornness from the circuit was finally put to bed.

All I could was concede lest she get ornery and more anxious. "Okay." I shrugged and patiently crossed my arms and tapped my sandaled foot. Oh, we were just waiting for the Professor to show up if the reason why we're standing out here was any clear indicator.

The silence went from comfortable to awkward after that exchange, so I chose to break it. "And totally unrelated to whatever you think I'm implying and you might be sick of me already telling you this-." I raised a finger to stop her from insistently coming in with me. "But you did remarkably well in your battle."

Daisy shot me the same weird look that she gave me the last time I complimented her Quarter finals match. "Luke."

"Yup."

"She beat me 6 to 1."

"I know."

"How would you call that remarkable?" I rolled my eyes at clipped tone.

"Yeah, you lost, but you sure made her work for that win." I resized Sylvie's premier ball in my hand and played with it.

"She used her Dragonair to sweep my entire team, Luke."

"Yes, after you defeated her Dragonite with your own Dragonair." She opened her mouth to counter my point until I raised a finger at her yet again. Boy, was she getting annoyed with me for that. "A Dragonair that might I add, you caught and trained yourself with no help or advice from your grandpa. That was all you."

That was the undeniable truth. Prof. Oak's Dragonite has been deemed to be one of his three Aces during his days as the Indigo League Champion. His Alakazam, Tauros, and Arcanine weren't slouches either and could even pose a serious threat to our current Elite Four and Champion. The old recordings of his battles during his rise to the position and his Defense Title Matches only solidified this.

Yet even there was a clear divide between those three and his Dragonite and the other two Aces. Just to give you a clue though one of them is a mystery since he's never used that Ace in an official match, but his other Ace is his Starter. Yeah, that's how formidable that Dragonite was.

So, the fact that Daisy didn't just turn around to ask her grandfather for any of his Dragonite's eggs or even glean for any advice on how to tame and train her own dragon type should be a testament to her skill. Especially since that Safari Zone Dratini she caught (seriously I wondered and cursed how her luck was THAT good to find one) was strong enough as a Dragonair to defeat Clair's Dragonite, her second strongest pokémon.

No one before her in the conference had even felled that beast of a pokémon except for Daisy (and I also, but this isn't about me). The only reason she lost so handedly against Clair was because Daisy had infuriated Clair to simply use her Starter, Dragonair to clear the field just because of the audacity and also due to Daisy being an Oak. I don't know the details since it's been omitted from the public, but apparently Prof. Oak and his wife did something to royally piss off the Blackthorns.

Though with how Clair had referred to Daisy as the granddaughter of the "Nest Raider" at the conference, I could hazard a guess.

"You managed to do much more than anyone before you when you were up against a trainer that trained for two years, earned all 8 Johto badges in her first circuit, and took part in their first conference." If there's one thing, I had to give Clair, it would have to be the dedication it took to reach as far as she did last year. Of course, it helped to be backed by one of Johto's three most influential clans, but that only got you so far.

Still, it wasn't original when her cousin did the exact same thing but actually defeated the Conference in his first circuit.

"So don't be ashamed. You're far from being pathetic and a second-rate trainer." The way that my friend refused to look me in the eye just confirmed that what Clair said to her after the Oak's loss still cut too deep.

…

…Welp, I guess I'll be a little mean to Clair in this meeting if she acts up.

Thankfully the professor did return but it was a bit of bad timing on his part since Daisy had wanted to say something, but once the wheels got rolling, the thought was pushed to the back of my mind as we entered the lobby. There, sitting on the leather couch was none other than Clair Blackthorn.

If not for her ever-present scowl, she'd look like your average pretty 14-year-old girl. If you managed to look past the skintight black body suit, the cape, and dragon teeth earrings and necklace that she wore. Okay, so she didn't fully look like your average girl, but you (can kinda…) get my point. She seemed less steamed than yesterday but not by much. The room though had this weird pressure about it that made it a little stuffy to enter but once the professor entered, he shot the girl a disproving look before said pressure vanished.

Clair derisively snorted at Prof. Oak while Daisy had to take a few calming breaths as sweat began to bead on her forehead. Their reactions had to mean something since when Clair glanced at me, her scowl deepened a bit before returning to normal. Weird, but that could wait for another time. Taking our seats, I sat on the couch opposite Clair with Daisy by my side while the professor sat in the lone single person chair to the side of the two couches, in between everyone.

"Hmph. You've kept me waiting, Luke Ketchum, but I am relieved to see that you can show a modicum of punctuality." Clair sniffed. Lady, you must be out of your mind if you expect me to be up and over here at 5 AM. Even the local Dodrio (our equivalent of a rooster) had yet to tap their internal Snooze buttons to fill the town with their obnoxiously loud crows and caws.

"Good morning." I yawned and waved.

Clair's eyebrow twitched as she regarded me with a weird look. "Yes… Good morning…" The words sounded awkward coming from her as she also stiffly regarded the professor with one as well. "And to you as well, Professor Samuel Oak."

Hold on, so are you telling me that you didn't even pay your respects to the man who's residence your holding your meeting in? Talk about disrespectful. With the professor being a good guy and given next to no time to prepare for this, he no doubt allowed this to pass because he was that nice or simply did so because he didn't care to push it.

"And a good morning to you too, young lady." Prof. Oak smiled but not even that grandfatherly smile of his cracked Clair's permanent glower.

"Quite." Clair nodded then turned to me.

"Good morn-."

"Now shall I finally get to the crux for why I'm here?" Clair cut off my friend and solely focused on me. Seeing a slightly offended Daisy flinch back at the nonverbal dismissal didn't quite sit well with our host, nor me for that matter.

"Hey, you forgot to say good morning to her too, ya know." She's the granddaughter of our host, you can at least rectify your past disrespect by greeting her too.

Her arms crossed; Clair impatiently tapped her finger along her arm. "All of this was for the explicit purpose of having a dialogue with you alone. Anyone other than the Nest Raider himself is but simply a distraction that I will not deem to acknowledge, especially to those I find severely lacking."

Daisy shrunk in on herself a bit at that.

"I see…" I nodded slowly at that. "Well, by that logic shouldn't I technically not acknowledge you?"

The glare that Clair shot my way was fierce. Fierce enough to rival even Macaque's whenever he went on a rampage. "Excuse me?"

"Well, since you find her skills lacking then by that logic, I find yours to be as well. For reasons apparent for the both of us." Hey, it's not healthy to grind your teeth, Clair. "Thus, we don't have to have this stuffy meeting and I can finally go back to bed…" I drearily rubbed my eyes.

"That is not the same, Luke Ketchum."

"…" Swear to God, Arceus, Mew or even the Buddha himself, I looked Clair in the eye, and simply smiled. "Then please elaborate and dissuade my reasoning, Clair Blackthorn." Oho, she's pissed and I'm not even doing this just to slight her back for slighting Daisy. I genuinely want to hear how she'd spin this around and prevent me from simply walking out of here.

Either way, she's going to be pissed at having to verbally acknowledge her defeat to me.

"Tch!" See? A classic response for a dragon tamer of her stature and temper. It's

Tapping my shoulder, Daisy frowned. "Luke, it's okay you don't have to-."

"Fine." Clair ground out after looking like she'd just swallowed poison and looked at Daisy. "Good morning to you, Daisy Oak. I trust that you are well?"

"O-Oh! Um…I…" Shocked, Daisy tried to compose herself. "I am, and a good morning to you too, Clair."

Clair nodded with a click of her tongue then turned her glare back to me. "There are you satisfied?'

"Not really." I nonchalantly shrugged and crossed my legs. "It's basic common courtesy so it shouldn't be taken that seriously." For real though, all this effort just to disrespect these two isn't worth it. It's tiring and it's annoying.

"…"

Ohoho, now she looks like she wants to murder me, violently beat me in a pokémon battle, or perhaps even both.

"Honestly, children these days…" Prof. Oak exasperatedly sighed, but I didn't miss the edges of his lips crooking upwards. Yeah, guess even he found Clair's disrespect to Daisy distasteful, which is appropriate for a doting grandfather like him.

Clapping his hands, the adult in the room eased the tension growing from Clair's side of the room. "Now, I believe that introductions have long since been made, so we may now go forward with main topic of discussion: the purpose of young Clair's appearance."

"Which explains why this simply isn't you coming over to challenge me, right?" I leant back and folded my arms behind my head.

"Oh, do not misunderstand, Luke Ketchum. My sole motivation for even coming to this little town of yours is to set right what had been done four months ago. The humiliation that you've inflicted upon me that day will be repaid back tenfold, Luke Ketchum. That I promise you."

"Neat. It'll be fun to have a battle with you again." Considering you don't do anything else to annoy me, I would actually enjoy a challenge.

Clair's eyes widened for a split second before they narrowed at me once more. Huh, looks like she wasn't expecting that to come out my mouth. "Indeed…" You don't have to sound so suspicious.

"However, my own desires and feelings are secondary when the Blackthorn Clan's interests take precedence. Which is why on behalf of the 35th Grandmaster of the Blackthorn Clan's main branch, I, Clair Blackthorn-" She grit her teeth. "-humbly request of you, Luke Ketchum of Pallet Town, for a trade."

Damn so this was serious. For her clan to make her of all people be the one to come and bend the knee to get their message across was harshly telling. Daisy seemed just as surprised as I was while Prof. Oak's expression remained neutral. So, he must have been given the general gist of this happening when Clair barged in.

Moving my arms down to cross over my chest, I casually regarded my old opponent with a tired look. "And the specifics for such a trade entail?"

"A trade of information for one of our clan's acquisitions." She explained, which was no help since I didn't have anything beyond the general basis. Seeing in my confusion, Clair groaned. "Allow me to elaborate."

She looked at Prof. Oak then tentatively at Daisy. "How informed of the first and second pokémon wars are you, Luke Ketchum?"

"About as informed as the information I was taught when I was a student." I shrugged. "Even heard some stories here and there from a couple primary sources, but I wouldn't say that I'm an expert."

"That's…" Sighing through her nose, Clair looked to the side. "Better than what I expected, but that falls on me for retaining such low expectations for you in the first place. I'll be sure to appropriately adjust such shallow expectations for the future."

Rude, but I don't generally care. From the corner of my eye, I saw that Daisy had worked up the nerve to glare at the bluenette, but Clair also subscribed to the same IDGAF response as me. My silence urged the Dragon Tamer to resume with her point.

"As one of Johto's three prestigious clans that have had their traditions survived since even before the formation of the region, the Blackthorn Clan has always been the Johto Region's mighty clan, who've had no equal when faced in the skies." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at Clair basically touting her own clan up while not even mentioning the Mahogany and Ecruteak clans. "That is why when the time for conflict came, our clan members were swift and attacked the Kanto region's bordered lands with no mercy."

"You mean Viridian and Pewter City?" Daisy asked.

"Yes." Clair nodded and deemed to answer my friend. "Though we've had some glaring roadblocks that have impeded our clan's war efforts in the past." She shot a glare at Professor Oak, who still remained neutral faced, before continuing. "None of these impediments stood out more than the mysterious failed advancement of the Fourth Dragoon Squadron that was to advance upon the lands that would one day be referred to as Cerulean City during the First Great Pokémon War."

It was a blink, or you'll miss it moment, but Prof. Oak's eyes lit up for a fraction of a second before they calmly regarded us all.

"We have no records of what actually took place during that point of time. The only accounts found back then were from a few reconnaissance reports detailing the ragged states of our clan's riders when emerging from the mountains before they were beset upon by an ambush that just so happened to be on the other side."

Tragic, but…

I blinked upon realizing something. "Mountains?" I rubbed my chin. If the advancement were already pushing past Viridian and Pewter then the only way to go forward would be through…huh. "Are you referring to Mt. Moon?"

"Yes. Those mountains have forever been a mystery to me and my people. The average time traversed through the caverns when travelling to Route 4 and by extension Cerulean City would take a day or two on foot. The reports have stated that the platoon traversed the caverns for 3 weeks before finally reaching the other side and thus facing their untimely demise." Clair solemnly closed her eyes.

"3 weeks? But how is that even possible? Unless they were looking for something there then at best it would be 4 days before they reached the exit, less so if they had dragon type pokémon to deal with the wild pokémon that live in there." Daisy spoke in disbelief. "It only took me an extra day to find and capture Fae before leaving the cave on the third day."

Yep, Daisy somehow caught one of the stupidly rare Clefairy of Mt. Moon because of course she did. I had hoped to come across the pokémon and their giant Moon stone "spaceship" that they showcased in the anime, but nah. I basically traversed the cave as fast as I could because I was a bit behind to get my second badge due to having to reschedule a rematch against Flint.

Not a single Clefairy crossed my path, all I had to deal with were Zubats, Geodudes, and Parases. Though to be fair to Daisy, she actively had the time to look for one unlike me who didn't fully invest in searching for and capturing the fairy type in its natural habitat.

…Oh. Now I'm starting to piece together where this story was heading.

"I am aware." Clair grunted. "Trickery and subterfuge were afoot, and any attempts to figure out why have lead to dead ends. Not even I nor another one of our own have been able to glean to the mountain's mystery or it's potential link to the Clefairy in it."

Guess the Blackthorn Clan heads would automatically assume it could be them since they stood out the most for being exceptionally rare and difficult to find. Heck on the trainer scene, there was a considerably low ratio of trainers that owned a Clefairy in last year's circuit and the ones before it.

"Question." I raised a finger. "Instead of going through the cave, why didn't the platoon simply fly over the mountains?" That would seem to be the appropriate course of action for a squad of dragon riders.

"…" Clair's lips tightened to a straight line. "A day before the platoon entered the cave, they had considered that avenue and sent one of the clansmen to survey and return with any findings of wild pokémon that could attack them from below. That same clansmen did not return the next day, and thus to err on the side of caution, the group ventured into the caverns of Mt. Moon."

…Damn.

Just what set the Clefairy off about those guys? It can't possibly be just because of their opposing typing to their dragon types, right?

"So, such means of trickery have eluded my clan for years with no answer." Clair gritted her teeth. "Until the day of my announced Semi-Finals match against you, Luke Ketchum."

"Ah…" I nodded as memories of my Sylveon haughtily running circles around the likes of a Gyarados, Kingdra, and Dragonair itself resurfaced. "Yup. I see where this is going now. Sorry, but I'm not letting you guys poke and prod at Sylvie." I nonchalantly waved my hand.

I wouldn't budge for the other die-hard researchers insistently begging to see her, and I especially won't do so for some ancient clan wanting to better fortify themselves against another pokémon typing that brutally decimates their prideful dragons.

Clair's hands clenched as her teeth gritted so hard that I heard them grinding. "Though I would insist that you reconsider, the Grandmaster is aware that demanding that of you would be farfetched. Instead, we would request for any helpful knowledge you have in regard to your…Sylveon." Hey, don't hold it against Sylvie's species just because you got wrecked by her. "Talks around the local research community have warring on either the Normal or Psychic typing to classify the species as. Now, there are arguments that wish to overrule the Psychic typing for the Normal typing instead."

"Again?" Prof. Oak sighed in exasperation. Sheesh were the talks really starting to flip-flop like this?

I raised my eyebrow. "Okay, so if you guys are so closely watching the research of others, then why not wait until a final verdict or breakthrough has been made?"

"We wish to attain answers as soon as possible, Luke Ketchum. The prattle happening has shown that any public release of this news won't happen for a long while." Clair clarified.

I had to concede that point before recognizing something. "But wai-."

"Wouldn't that imply you're clan is willing to siphon information on this new research before anyone else?" Daisy said, finally entering the conversation.

Clair narrowed her eyes. "Yes." Well, at least she was honest. "We only seek to benefit the clan and ensure that we're prepared for any possible dangers to our pokémon and people. Though it pains me to relate to one of your ilk, you would be in the same place as I." She looked at Prof. Oak. "The both of you would, after all, wouldn't you seek to help the stability of your loved one's frigid clan should she ask for your assistance?"

"I would request that you not bring in any other third parties into the conversation, Miss Clair." I had to wince since Prof. Oak was uncharacteristically serious. Not the grandfatherly serious, but the dead serious you'd find in man who's been slightly rubbed the wrong way.

"Hypocrisy." Clair narrowed her eyes at Daisy. "Weren't you all so insistent on allowing her to attend? I'm only stating a possibility." Daisy heatedly glared at Clair, who refused to be cowed by the brunette.

"Ahem!" I coughed loudly to get everyone's attention. Didn't want things to devolve into an argument. "I still have questions." Clair broke eye contact with Daisy and sniffed. She crossed her arms and scowled at me, imploringly. "So disregarding Sylvie for a moment. How come you guys didn't try and make a deal with those in Pewter to further your agenda with researching the Clefairy?"

Clair clicked her teeth in annoyance. "We've tried. The Gym Leader of that area has rebuffed all of our requests and messages multiple times."

Flint did that? "Any reason why?"

"If there was one, he would not give it." Clair hissed. "And before you ask, we have not had any luck in purchasing the lands that surround Mt. Moon. A majority have them have been claimed by the man before he became initiated as that city's Gym Leader."

Whoa, but that would cost a lot of money, and when I went for my first gym badge, Brock's family didn't seem too well off. At best, they were just barely getting by.

"The Second war may have been shorter than the first, but the toll it took on the generation forced to take part in it was still severe, Luke. No amount of war stipends earned from exceptional service can fix past traumas." Prof. Oak solemnly explained to me. "Only bury or distract them."

Okay, that provided some much-needed context, especially since Pewter was super close to the border right beside Viridian.

"Do you have any more questions?" Clair asked, impatiently.

"Yeah, so it's cool that you guys came to ask me but what stopped you from asking Prof. Oak about Sylvie?" I may have had to set some boundaries since I didn't want the professor to get overzealous of his research and irritate Sylvie to the point that she'd go on a massive hissy-fit but he's currently the most well-informed on her "mysterious" typing in the whole region besides the one probable professor in the undiscovered Kalos region.

"The Grandmaster sought to do business with you, Luke Ketchum. He does not wish to interact with the vile Nest Raider that conspired with a member of our rival clan and stole one of the clan's Dratinis that was fathered by the same sire of the Grandmaster's starter."

Oof. Okay, so that was basically part of the history told in Kanto while I assumed that bit was omitted a bit in Johto.

"You do know that he's sitting right there." I pointed to the professor who the decency to look a little sheepish.

"Those were my grandfather's words, not my own." Still feels like that hostility is coming from you though.

"Decades later and it never fails to amaze me how long old Talon holds a grudge. He wouldn't be averse to…letting it go anytime soon?" Prof. Oak nervously laughed and scratched his cheek.

Clair regarded the professor with a sardonic smile. "Of course, all that he requests is the swift return of the taken pokémon, any of it's kin, and your head."

Daisy and I gulped and looked at the professor who's nervous laughter rose while he grew a bit paler.

"Hahahaha, yes…I don't see that happening any time soon."

That took a dark turn. "Anyways, my stance is still firm, but…I would still like to see what you even brought to trade."

"…Hmph." Reaching into her cape, Claire revealed a pokéball, but one with a silver fang logo on the upper blue surface of the device. Cracking it open with a hiss, out came a Dratini that laid upon the flat surface of the coffee table between the two couches. The pokémon quickly looked about the room in a state of panic before it's eyes laid directly onto me.

Tilting my head at it, the creature jumps in panic, takes a deep breath, then regally puffed itself out as one would expect of a dragon. I noticed that it was holding it's breath just to maintain it's pose.

"This Dratini that's been born and raised by the Blackthorn Clan's finest breeders will be yours to have in exchange for any recent and upcoming information regarding your Sylveon."

"Are you kidding?" Daisy's jaw fell from disbelief while I pulled out my pokédex to analyze the dragon type that's turning a little purple from holding their breath.

["Dratini, the Dragon Pokémon. Dratini are known for their overabundance of life energy and shed many layers of skin to accommodate for it's rapid growth. This pokémon at it's youngest have been known to exceed the height of 6' 6". Dratini are indigenous in large bodies of water, and waterfalls."]

Okay, that's informative, but I skipped the rest of the information I've already gleaned from scanning Daisy's own Dratini in the past to simply focus on analyzing the moves that this Dratini possesses.

"I wish I was." Clair growled. "But the Grandmaster himself found this to be a fair trade." Which again shows just how serious this whole debacle truly is if they're willing to part with one of their prized dragons. However, I couldn't help noticing something after reading the number of moves that this Dratini possesses.

"This Dratini seems a bit…premature, wouldn't you say?" Prof. Oak spoke out exactly what I was thinking. When Clair released it, the creature barely shook the table and creaked under it's weight. The pokédex states that a newborn Dratini's average height is 5'11". This Dratini is examined to be about 4'9" and lacked the bulk that's known to be found in a dragon type pokémon bursting with life energy.

"Yeah. Not even my own Dratini was this small when I caught her." Daisy narrowed her eyes in suspicion and crossed her arms. "What's going on here?"

"A trade. For your information, we have chosen a Dratini amongst the herds we have cultivated back at our Den that was best suited for Luke Ketchum." Clair huffed. "It's quite a good deal, you know. We will not hold any offense toward you by willingly supplying you a pokémon that's been raised by our private method of breeding, and you get a pokémon that's fits for someone of your station, Luke Ketchum."

You know, she could try to be less opinionated since it would make it harder for me to believe that she intentionally had a hand in this. Or maybe the Grandmaster of the Dragon Den is being a jerk by sending me a small Dratini that only has one move to it's name. Yep, one move and despite Extreme Speed being super impressive, it still was the only thing it knew.

Now I didn't really care. Clair's verbal and nonverbal insults aren't really worth getting mad over or dignifying an answer because of her wounded pride. In fact, this right here was par for the course when I imagined meeting the Dragon Tamer again. Getting reborn into this new life and I realize just how stupid and time-consuming childish spats were when you could be doing more productive things with your time.

Like how I'm basically shutting out the argument brewing the Oaks and Clair in regard to the pokémon being offered to me. Instead, I focused on the Dratini that had long since forwent puffing it's chest out to feebly catch their breath. During the conversation, I noticed that they were understanding our words and reacted quite badly to them. Each verbal blow seemed to shatter the poor thing's confidence with each mention of it not nearly living up to the "average" standard that it's own species has been known for.

Yet despite it looking to want nothing more than to curl up in on itself, the dragon type defiantly stayed upright and looked forward. It wasn't looking at me or anyone, but in the direction of the walls behind us as some moisture began to build up around its eyes.

…Huh. To be clear, I never really liked Dragonite's design. It seemed to goofy to me and I would only really capture a Dratini to raise up in-game just for the prestige of having a Pseudo-Legendary. I had wanted to capture the likes of a Beldum or a Gible as my first real life Psuedo-Legendary, but the odds of that happening are zilch what with Beldum being exceedingly rare in Hoenn, and Sinnoh had yet to even reach out and be "discovered" yet.

Despite my misgivings with the way the Dragonite looks and my slight disappointment with my personal plans dashed, I focused on what was truly important: Making this quivering little Dratini into the best natural disaster that it could possibly be!

After all, I had fun training Tempest up, so this will be just as good. "I'll take him." My answer stilled the entire room as any arguments or heated words died upon my declaration.

"Wha-? But Luke, she's-!"

"Are you certain, Luke?"

I appreciated Daisy and the professor's concern and willingness to stand up against the blatant insult, but I simply allowed my actions to speak for themselves. "Hey, pal." I laid the back of my hand on the coffee table in front of the Dratini.

It cautiously slithered back before slowly looking up at me. "I know that we're talking about a lot of complicated stuff that might have flown over your head, but I think it's fair if I ask if you really want to come with me." The Dratini froze at my words before furiously nodding it's head. I chuckled but wouldn't immediately accept.

I coughed into my other hand. "Yeah, that's great and all, but allow me to clarify." I used my supine hand on the table to poke the dragon type's belly (sheesh did it feel bony, was it not eating properly?). "Should you join my party, I will do everything within my power to train you to be the best. Not just the best in sheer strength, but the best you that you can be."

The Dratini tilted its head in confusion to which I sighed. "Okay, so you'll get my meaning sooner or later, but the point is that I won't be slacking off when training you and I expect 100% maximum effort from you if seeking battle is truly what you want. Is it?" I received another bout of reckless nods that almost had the poor creature bang its head down against the table. It surprised me further by desperately crawling up my arms and snaking its way to wrap around the back of my neck.

Huh. That was easier than expected. "Well, I'll take that as a yes. Though I'll ask you once more, are you su-!"

The little guy pridefully crooned next to my ear and furiously nodded once more. Okay, I need to later figure out what this pokémon's been through…

"Well then welcome to the team, Dratini…" I chuckled and contemplated over a proper name for them. First, I have to figure out their gender.

"So, I take this to mean that you'll provide us with your end of the trade?" Clair clicked her tongue with distaste. She obviously didn't seem to like my nonchalance towards her subtle snubbing when presenting her side's "lacking" offering to me to trade.

More preoccupied with scratching the chin of Dratini (Hm, how about Ddraig for a name? Nah, it's not red enough for that), I chuckled. "Sure, but I'm not going to give up the data pertaining to Sylvie to you guys."

My stance on that front wouldn't change. After all, they may be up for not poking and prodding Sylvie and would instead like the current data on her, but I'd like to hold some valuable intel for myself as a bargaining chip down the line. I would much prefer the likelihood of using the collected data for the possibility of using it when a certain Kalosian professor catches wind of it than giving it to the Blackthorn Clan to hoard for themselves until the confirmed data has been made public.

"Then this trade is null, and I request that you return the Dratini." Clair sneered.

I noticed the Dratini on my shoulders sadly lower its head as hope seemed to drain out of them. Sorry pal, but you're not going anywhere. I raised my finger and chuckled. "Now hold on a minute. I may not be willing to part with the recent research made around Sylvie, but I am willing to supply you with a pokémon that I'm sure that your clan will find to be as equal of a trade, otherwise."

Clair's eyes narrowed. "I do not have time to play your games, Luke Ketchum. Our terms have been explicitly clear and if you will not accept them, then that concludes the Blackthorn Clan's business with you."

"True, but then if you don't at least hear me out, then that will conclude the business that you personally have with me, Clair." I countered.

"You-! You would reject my challenge just for-!" Clair snarled.

"Pretty much, but only if you won't let me make my case for an alternative trade for you guys." It was kind of a dick move, but mixing Clair's own personal wants with her responsibilities toward her clan was the perfect way to stop her from immediately shutting down my attempts to negotiate.

"…" Clair glowered fiercely at me for what seemed like minutes.

Deciding to break the tension, I scratched my cheek. "Is that a no or a-."

"Make your point and be done with it."

"Well, okay then." I licked my lips and did my best to suppress a memory steeped with terror and rage as I pushed the words to come out of my lips as delicately as possible. "So, Clair, how would you like to be the first modern Dragon Tamer to own, train, and breed a living Aerodactyl?"

"W-What?" Clair sputtered in disbelief.

Okay, so I finally got a reaction that wasn't a growl, sneer, hiss, or curse from Clair. It was really refreshing to see the bluenette be genuinely flatfooted for a change. Daisy's reaction was far more reserved yet even she didn't see this coming while the professor's reaction was-

"LUKE, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sheesh, I've never heard a man sound so heartbroken.

Well, looks like it'll be a challenge trying to get that accursed ultra ball from the basement with the professor trying to verbally and physically dissuade me from my decision.

But to be truthful, I'd say that the effort will be worth it.

Now what's the perfect name for a Dratini?