Dragon's Champion

Raihan

This was the moment I waited months for as the battle was upon me. I kept a stride in my step. I was finally able to leave home and get to Wyndon. I left my apartment and headed into the dimly lit hallways. In this part of the gym this area was in candle light leaving a warm glow. It was mostly dark and that's how I liked it. I turned and pulled out my keys and made sure to lock the door behind me. I walked down the hall making my way over to the spiraling staircase.

At the bottom of the stairs I made it to the edge of the main lobby. I wasn't there for long as I heard voices that came from ahead of me. Upon entering the area I saw two people near the front desk, they chatted loudly with each other about gym challenges. These were my best trainers as they'd been happy together for as long as I could remember. I wish I had something like that. At least there weren't many people around. I stepped out into the open and they turned to see me and waved wildly as they stepped over to me.

"Hey Raihan! Good luck today in your battle!" My best male trainer bellowed.

I placed my hands on my hips. "Thank you."

"You'll do well! I just know it, you always do." The female trainer shouted.

I nodded, "I'd love to stay and chat but as you may know I've got somewhere important to go today."

"Yes! Of course! You have that big battle with Leon. That's such an honor to have. I would never be able to face your rival like you can."

"He won't win today." I said as I raised my fisted hand in the air. "I'll make sure of it."

I turned on my heel and headed toward the door and stopped to look back at my trainers. All of the trainers who worked here always did what I needed them to do. Primarily it was their job that kept things within the gym. I'm happy to have such a team that supported me whether I was around or not. It wasn't something that I would trade out no matter what the offer. I grinned to myself, they had a job to do here for the upcoming gym challenge that's coming with PokeFest this year. I walked out the front doors and into the black bricked city of Hammerlocke.

The sky was mostly clear of clouds today, a few lingered but there wasn't enough to brew a storm. It would've helped me in battle but I can't change the weather. I turned to look at the black dragon shaped castle behind me with a red king's crown placed in the center of it. All I knew is that I'm glad to be the Dragon Type Gym leader with a specialty in double battles. My gaze traveled alongside the buildings till it landed on a rectangular shape built into the side of it with a single window, it was my apartment. It was the only place anyone could live in this area so it made the most sense to let the Gym Leader of this area have it. This was the place I called home, it wasn't going to go away from me so easily.

I made my way into the middle of the city, it didn't take me long since it was only a few paces away from the gym. Generally, when I waited it was by the yellow logo with a Corviknight printed on the front of it. But to my surprise nobody else was around. Hammerlocke was always flooded by people but I assumed that most if not everyone that lived here looked forward to the battle too. Huffing I gazed at the sky, the taxi service wasn't here yet and I paced and tried not to stray too far from where I'd been standing.

After what felt like forever my Rotom dinged from inside my pocket. I wasted no time and pulled my phone out and opened the message, it was from my taxi driver.

It read: I'm sorry for being late, traffic is jammed up and I had a lot more people that I had to fly today than I expected. I'll be there shortly! Again, sorry for the inconvenience on such an important day.

I groaned at the thought of being late, I ran my hands over my face. At this point I'd have to let someone know that my ride is late and that I'm not sure when I'd arrive. I thought about it for a few minutes, it didn't take me long to figure out who to tell. Piers the Spikemuth Gym Leader was the first to come to mind and he was by far the best choice out of all the other Gym Leaders. Besides that, he was the most willing to do anything for me. It was nice to have a support group but at this point I didn't care about anything else, the long awaited battle was coming closer and fast.

Rotom in hand I scrolled through my contacts and dialed Piers' number. Much faster than I expected he picked up on the other line after the first ring. His white skin was the first thing that I saw, it blinded me for a moment. Once I adapted I watched his ice blue eyes lined with dark circles under them. The thorn-like spikes lined within his black and white hair stood on end, a few loose hairs floated around his face. Looking to me that someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.

"Ey! what's up my guy?"

Piers groaned, "What do you want Raihan?"

"I have a favor to ask of you, it's nothing big but I need it."

"Can't it wait? I'm busy setting up for PokeFest with the other Gym Leaders."

"I can't drop everything to tend to your every need. You've got to learn to take care of yourself."

"Yeah, I get that but I wanted to inform you that there's the chance that I might not make it in time. My ride is being a lot slower than it's supposed to be.

Piers rolled his eyes, "That figures that something would happen that way. All of the taxis have been awfully delayed lately." He sighed, "What exactly did you need from me?"

"Are you able to meet me at the front entrance of the Stadium? It might make it easier for me to get there and not be alone when I get there."

"I guess so? I'd have to make sure that the others are aware of this."

"You're a lifesaver, thanks for that."

I hung up, I didn't give him a chance to respond but that didn't matter. I slipped my Rotom phone into my pocket. I continued to wait for my Corviknight Taxi, I tapped my foot. The service has been slow, they should've been here five minutes ago. I thought that getting a ride there would be faster than walking plus it saved me energy too. I'm the Dragon Type Gym leader, I'm one of the most important people to be at PokeFest. What could be holding this ride back for so long? I didn't even want to be on my Rotom Phone with my nerves being so frayed, that says a lot about me.

After a few minutes I heard the swoosh of large wings looking at the sky. I saw the black armored raven-like Pokemon swerve down and land on the street before me. Finally, It's about time that they arrived. A trainer, the one controlling the Corviknight, opened the small gate on the entrance on the side of the carriage. I grabbed onto the rope sent down to me and swiftly grabbed it and pulled myself onto the bird. I moved to the back of the carrier and leaned on the railing.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late Raihan, my last customer was a lot-"

"Just fly, I don't have time to listen to your excuses."

The trainer didn't say another word before he shut the gate lifting the reins. Wide wings spread on both sides and we were in the air in seconds with one solid flap. The cool air brushed past me, I closed my eyes and let it wash over me as we moved forward. This might be the only time of peace before I arrived before a busy day in Wyndon.

However, I let my shoulders drop after a few minutes. My body was sore from prior days and my head hurt from the constant thoughts that swarmed me this morning. There's the chance that I overdid it today by thinking about the battle ahead. I'm so stupid for doing that yet again. I groaned and leaned my head back and rubbed my forehead. This had to stop but there was nothing that I could do about it. I figured that this flight would take forever and was much slower than I thought it was going to be. Shaken from my thoughts the trainer called back to me.

"We're almost there. We're beginning our descent."

At his voice I opened my eyes and looked over the edge of the carrier. In the distance I saw the battle tower beyond the red carnation flower shaped Stadium. That was the place where all the Championships were held and the home of Leon, my biggest rival. He's been the Champion of the Galar Region for years now and I wanted to be the one to dethrone him.

A shift in the air followed by a thud signaled to me that we landed. We stopped in front of the Stadium. The trainer turned to face me and opened the gate and held his arm out to the exit.

He bit his lip and spoke, "Again, I'm sorry for any of the trouble that I've caused you today."

I jumped off the bird's back and landed on solid ground. "Whatever, I've got better places to be."