Taming A Dragon

Slumbering Weald

After drying my hair I sat down at the kitchen table and began to eat my cereal when my mum walked in. "Good morning Mugi" she chimed as she turned on the coffee machine.

"Morning Mum" I smiled and took another bite of my cereal.

"You were up early this morning" she noted sitting across from me. 

"Yeah, sorry if I woke you, I went for a run" I smiled bringing my plate over to the sink to wash it.

"You were in quite a rush when you came home is everything all right?" she asked worriedly. 

I felt the heat rush to my face as I kept my back to her. "No...nothing unusual, was just looking forward to getting home to shower and eat" I shrugged.

"Oh...I see" she mumbled as she began to read the newspaper.

I placed my plate into the cupboard after I dried it and returned to my room. Yamper greeted me happily and I began to pet him. "Mugi will you get some food in the shop for me?" mum called from the kitchen. I let out a tired sigh before walking towards her with my backpack on my back. 

"All right" I nodded as she handed me her list.

It didn't take me long to reach the poké mart. I gathered the food on mum's list and paid for it quickly. Part of me hoping I would see Raihan here like the first time we met. However when I opened the door he wasn't there to bump into me. I let out a short sigh, unsure as to why I felt disappointed. I walked along the path of the village and noticed a figure ahead of me. A small smile formed on my face when I noticed the orange tints on his clothes. He was too far away for me to call him so I continued to walk behind him. 

He walked as far as my house and my stomach filled with knots. Was he coming to see me? How did he find out where I lived? If he stops at my house I'll have no choice but to talk to him. No Mugi you can do this! You promised yourself that you would talk to him. 

I mentally prepared myself for the conversation we would have until I noticed he walked past my house towards Slumbering Weald. My eyes widened. Slumbering Weald wasn't safe. I had to warn him. I ran towards my home and dropped my backpack by the door quickly and sprinted towards Slumbering Weald. 

The fog surrounded the area making me nervous. I had never been here by myself. Mum had always warned me to stay away from here when I was younger. I walked down the path quietly hoping no wild pokémon would attack me. I walked through the long grass slowly and made my way across the bridge. There was no sign of Raihan and I was starting to get worried.

It didn't take long for my worry to take over and I was soon sprinting through the grass calling out his name. I heard a low grumble behind me and I froze. I turned around slowly and gasped when I noticed a Weezing behind me. It tackled me and I fell onto the ground wincing as my elbow hit against a large rock. I started to back away on the ground yelling "Leave me alone!".

Suddenly a new pokémon appeared in front of me. It looked like a Trapinch. I then felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and let out a breath of relief. He was here. He helped me up to my feet and stood between me and the pokémon keeping his arm raised ensuring I wouldn't be harmed.

"Trapinch, use bite!" Riahan commanded and his Trapinch attacked the wild Weezing effortlessly. The wild Weezing attacked his pokémon but his Trapinch evaded it successfully. I watched in awe as Raihan battled. It wasn't often I got to see a pokémon battle since I didn't have a pokémon of my own and my mum worked from home. Trapinch finally knocked out the Weezing and Raihan returned it to its poké ball. He turned around to face me and frowned. "You have to be more careful Mugi, you shouldn't go into places like this without a pokémon by your side, it's dangerous" he growled and I looked at him surprised. I had never seen him use this tone with me before. 

"I was coming to warn you that this place was dangerous!" I defended.

"I have a pokémon you don't need to worry about me Mugi" he said rustling my hair.

I looked away blushing slightly. "Why were you coming here in the first place?" I asked hoping to change the conversation. 

"I heard some of the people in the village talking about a strong pokémon that lived here and I wanted to check it out! Maybe even catch it" he grinned.

"You think you could catch one?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah of course, I'm Raihan after all, tamer of dragons!" he smirked flexing his arms which made me laugh. 

"If you say so" I smiled. 

"I found a really nice place at the end of the path do you want to come with me to see it?" he asked extending his hand.

Without thinking I slipped my hand into his and he began to guide me down the path. I walked behind him allowing me the chance to glance down at our intertwined fingers and I began to feel my cheeks heat up as hot as a Charmander's flame. We stayed silent as we walked along the path enjoying each other's quiet company and the sounds emitting from the trees around us. Soon the fog around us began to lift as we reached the end of the path and I stared in awe at the site before us. It was beautiful.

I let go of his hand without thinking and walked towards the ancient ruin. The sunlight broke through the trees and hit against the small lake surrounding us. The ruin itself had fallen apart slightly but regardless still looked like it was something from an old story book. I walked up the steps and placed my hand on the monument feeling something powerful from it. "It's magical right?" Raihan smiled standing beside me.

"Yeah it is, something so beautiful hidden at the end of a spooky path, like a fairy tail" I grinned watching  the water flow down the river.

"I found it the first week I moved here. I like to come here to train or else to think alone but I wanted to share it with you, I thought you would like it" he mumbled scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Thank you Raihan" I smiled happily, causing him to look away.

After a moment he met my gaze once more. "You're welcome" he smirked returning to his carefree attitude that drew me to him. A moment of silence passed as we stared into each other's eyes. I felt my stomach fill with Butterfree but I didn't want to look away from those teal eyes. Something in that moment made me feel differently towards Raihan. I didn't understand the feeling but I liked it despite it making me so nervous. I wondered did he feel it too.

"I..eh better go home my mum might be worried about me disappearing" I smiled breaking eye contact.

"Oh yeah...I'll walk you back" he nodded. This time he didn't take my hand which made me feel a little disappointed. I liked the feeling of his larger hand holding mine. It made me feel safe and connected to him. I shuck my head. Don't be silly Mugi you're overthinking his actions. I followed him back down the foggy path and thankfully no pokémon attacked us. He walked me as far as my mailbox before stopping.

"Thank you for hanging out with me today Mugi, we should do it more often" he winked with his devilish grin spreading from cheek to cheek.

"Yeah we should, maybe tomorrow?" I asked silently praying he would say yes.

"Tomorrow would be great, I'll see you then!" he waved and began to walk away. I watched him until he disappeared into the distance and a smile formed on my face. I noticed the backpack was no longer at the door so mum must have picked it up. I opened the front door of my home and made my way to my room. I let out a squeal of excitement causing Yamper to look at me oddly. 

"I did it Yamper, I'm going to see him again tomorrow!" I cheered and pulled Yamper in for a cuddle. "I hope we become great friends" I smiled and looked out my window wondering if Raihan, wherever he was, felt the same way.