Ash The Dragon Specialist (adopted from Kurenohikari)

Are you ready

Ash followed Cilan’s advice, and with Pansage’s help, Ele was able to learn to tap into Grass-type energy and use the move Cotton Guard by the end of the month. Then followed the dual training, which surprisingly was not that hard. There was some competitiveness there, but most of it was Ele taking the lead as the Thunder’s dragon leader and Ladon following her. It did help that Ladon looked up to her as a mother figure, so having him questioning her position as leader was not an issue… at least not yet. Sunny Day is a fire type move, so the dragons had to learn to tap into another type of energy yet again and then learn to use the move. It took them another month.

The year went by and summer came, Cilan returned to his hometown to visit his family while Ash stayed helping out at the Preserve. It was hard for the two best friends to stay be apart for the whole summer break, but they managed. Ash had his dragons and Cilan his brothers, not to mention they would see each other again once the school year started.

Ash took advantage of his me-time and coached Ele into learning Solar Beam, he wanted to surprise Cilan once summer was over. They did not manage it, but they did make leaps of progress. So, he was very proud of them.

“Ash!” Cilan called out, by the entrance of the Academy.

“Cilan!” Ash exclaimed, excitedly, rushing towards his friend’s side. “How are you? How’s Pansage? How are your brothers? How was your summer?” The boy might be twelve years old now, but as he hugged the fourteen years old, he still acted as if he was eleven.

“We’re all fine,” Cilan laughed, amused by his friend’s hyperactivity. “Mom and dad took us on a road trip and by the end of the summer, my brothers passed their Gym Leader test. They were given funds by the League and will start building our café/gym this year. Though they won’t open it until I graduate and pass the exam myself. I’m planning on doing so as soon as I get my degree from the Academy.”

“That’s so cool!” Ash exclaimed, eyes shining in excitement. “But I don’t like the thought of this being the last year we go to school together.” He pouted, saddened by the reminder.

“Well, what if I told you that this year, you’ll be getting a new friend,” Cilan told him, trying to cheer up his friend. Ash looked up at him curiously. “You see, this Academy is not only prestigious for their academic accomplishments but also for preparing their students into the art of pokemon care and pokemon fighting. I think they are even adding a few extracurriculars for those interested in Pokemon Contests too. So, when the students enter their last three years of school, they are presented with a large variety of pokemon from which to choose. That pokemon is the one that will accompany them throughout the rest of their Academy experience and the one they'll be given by the school board when they graduate.”

“Really?!” Ash, exclaimed shocked and excited at the same time. “Why didn’t I know that?”

“Because students aren’t supposed to know,” Cilan replied. “Otherwise, they’ll choose the pokemon because of their strength or because they are rare or something like that.  Also, because sometimes teachers will see that the pokemon they chose isn’t a good match, and throughout the three years might give them a new one. What do you think will happen to the boy or girl who had thought that pokemon was going to be their starter is later taken from them? If they are just a pokemon they befriended and train with for schoolwork they’ll be sad, but if they were supposed to be their starter… they’ll be devasted.”

“Then why tell me? How do you even know?” Ash asked, confused.

“Because you already have a starter pokemon and there is no way that the pokemon and you won’t get along.” Cilan ruffled his hair, making him giggle cutely. “I know because when I went back home for the summer, I saw the same pokemon my brothers used during their time in the Academy with them. They explained everything to me then.”