(XXX) Village of Dragons

The trip to Blackthorn City was quick but Isaac was exhilarated flying through the air on Aerodactyl's back. The silence, due to the winds making communication impossible, allowed him to build his composure.

Isaac was never very social in his previous life and hadn't realized he was terrible at keeping his mouth from getting him in trouble. He had made the mistake with Tay and she had simply dismissed it but doing it to Meowth was dangerous and he still didn't know how much it could still cost him.

'No more mistakes!' Isaac thought to himself as Aerodactyl and Dragonite began to descend below the clouds, revealing the construction-laden city.

Blackthorn City or village as it used to be known as had recently begun an aggressive expansion as an influx of visitors and residents has been increasing consistently since Lance had become famous for joining the Elite Four at the age of 16.

The core village remained as dozens of larger buildings had sprung up around it and grew further as more and more construction sites sprung up.

Dragonite and Aerodactyl floated down to a platform just outside of the Dragon's Den. Lance and Isaac departed their backs as Lance returned them both to their pokéballs.

"The Dragon Holy Lands is through there, the Dragon's Den. Be careful and whatever you do, do not go in there unless you are given permission to." Lance explained as he crossed the bridge behind the Blackthorn Gym with Isaac hot on his heels.

Lance unlocked the door to the rear of the Gym and the two entered a restricted area for the Gym Personnel. He led Isaac through the hallways to the current leader of the Gym, his uncle.

His younger cousin Clair was standing behind her father, attached to his leg as she watched over the battlefields below. Various pits of lava and pools of water were littered everywhere as trainers battled each other using various Dragon-type Pokémon.

"Uncle, we greet you!" Lance said and bowed, prompting Isaac to do the same.

"Ah, Lance! What brings you to Blackthorn?" His uncle said with a smile as Clair ran up and hugged him and started excitedly calling out to him.

"Guess where I'm going next summer!" Clair said with an excited smile as Lance patted her on the top of her head.

"Where's that?" He asked sarcastically.

"The Opelucid PokéSchool!" She exclaimed jumping up and down quickly.

"Oooh, are you going to leave with Iris when she leaves with Drayden next year?" Lance asked.

"Mhm!" She exclaimed excitedly staring up at her older cousin.

"That's great! You better come back and grow stronger than your father and take over this gym!" Lance joked and ruffled her hair before walking past her and talking privately with his uncle.

Isaac knelt next to Clair and patted her on the head, "I'm Isaac, a friend of Lances, who are you?"

The small blue-haired girl puffed her chest and tapped her thumb against it, "I'm Clair! The next Gym Leader of Blackthorn!" She declared proudly.

Lance and his uncle approached as Isaac stood up and extended his hand to the current Blackthorn Gym Leader. After the meet and greet, Lance led Isaac away from his family to the lower floors of the gym.

Underneath the bodies of lava and water on the first floor of the gym was a hidden training area reserved by Lance's family. The massive room was as big as both floors of the gym and had lots of rock formations scattered throughout the battlefield.

There were small pools of lava and water that formed from droplets that fell from stalactites connected to the ceilings underneath the bodies of water and lava on the first floor.

"Here is where most members of my family train with their partners. Every Gym Leader has challenged and beat the previous Gym Leader on this exact field..." Lance explained as they walked through the barren wastelands.

"My Great-Great Grandfather explained about this power that he was able to tap into through his connection with his Salamence that granted him incredible powers." Lance explained, before stopping and remaining silent for an extended moment before he spoke up once more, "Since then... It's never been seen again. My Great Grandfather was unable to learn the technique and was unable to pass it down to my Grandfather."

"What was the technique..?" Isaac asked in an attempt to break away from the solemn mood.

"Who knows! Maybe one day you can meet my Great Grandfather!" Lance chuckled to himself as he led Isaac to a large stone monument that was a dark gray which contrasted greatly with the light brown rocks nearby. Depictions of various Dragon Pokémon were carved into the stone at the top with thousands of weird letters below them.

"This is a replica of the Dragon's Creed." Lance explained as he knelt down before it, "Members of my Clan offer prayers to the real one in hopes that they will be answered."

Isaac knelt beside him as he placed both of his palms together and stared at the teenager beside him as he continued explaining, "For obvious reasons, you can't pray before the real one, but it's not the monument itself that holds the meaning, it's the words that hold the power."

He closed his eyes and bent forward, prostrating himself as he pressed his forehead against the stone. Isaac mimicked the posture and closed his eyes.

'Um... Dragon Gods..? Arceus..? Uh... Whoever is listening...' Isaac prayed inside his mind. After a long silence, he heard Lance stand up and finished, standing next to him.

"What does it say?" He asked turning to Lance as he stepped forward and placed his hand on the monument.

"The bond between Man and Pokémon is unshakeable and is to be nurtured. Our role is to maintain the peace of the world, through sheer force, unshakeable might, and undeniable stamina. Through our means Man can break down any manner of barriers and shatter the forces of evil. Cultivate the connections between our Draconic brothers and show the world our convictions!" Lance explained as he smiled at Isaac.

"Strong words..." Isaac muttered to himself as he stared up at the strange letters.

"Honestly, that's just the most sensible translation, it has a lot more that doesn't translate directly. My Great-Grandfather said his father gained enlightenment by understanding the texts but no amount of meditation or praying has been able to replicate him." Lance said before slapping his hands together loudly as a shockwave expanded out from his position.

"Alright! Now let's begin!" He exclaimed excitedly, "They said you have a team of four around level ten correct? Bring them out."

Isaac brought out Ava, Artorious, Elisabeth, and Hanzō as Lance stroked his chin and walked around each of them.

"You have a pretty decent start for your team. You might run into trouble later on but for the time being, they'll work just fine." Lance declared, "You may want to find something that is more difficult to raise and will have a higher ceiling."

Isaac nodded, "I do have a Larvitar egg that is incubating but it won't hatch for a few months."

Lance nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, "I guess it's time we get started!" He grinned, "Let's start with some suicide sprints!"

"Huh..?" Isaac was dumbfounded as Lance began taking off his cloak and folding it neatly and brought out all of his Pokémon, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Dragonite, Hydreigon, and Charizard.

"Everyone will start here..." Lance explained as he drew a line in the dirt with his foot, "We will all sprint to the end of the field and come back. We will do three sets of five reps before our first break!"

All of Lance's Pokémon obediently took their positions behind the line next to their Trainer while Isaac stared at Lance in disbelief while his team looked to him for guidance.

Lance smiled and turned his head, "You ready?" He said innocently.

The rest of the day Isaac and his four Pokémon were put through the most grueling experience they had ever gone through while Lance and his team were casually completing each exercise as they competed amongst themselves.

At the end of the day, Isaac and his Pokémon were resting their broken bodies in a naturally occurring hot spring when Lance joined him bringing an item of Isaacs from the changing room.

"How did you get this..?" Lance said as he held up the Draconic Visage that he had left on top of his clothes in the locker room.

"Oh, that..?" Isaac said as he leaned forward and grabbed it and stared at it for a moment and spun it in his hands, "I've had this since my birth. I can't explain anything about it, just that it's always been in my possession."

"I guess you'll be meeting with my Great Grandfather after all!" Lance said with a smile as he dropped the towel, revealing himself to Isaac as he lowered himself into the hot spring.

———

Daily Chapter 1 of 2!

Want a Bonus Chapter tomorrow? Make sure you Vote with Power Stones! 100 PS for a bonus chapter daily!

Liking PMA? Consider adding it to your library!

Consider joining the Discord server if you wish to ask questions, connect with other fans, and check out my other works:

https://discord.gg/eXgUdv5G

If you enjoy this work, buy me a cup of coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/Onewingedangel