Pokemon Oneshot: Dragonslayer

The dragon had announced its presence with flames. The forest, almost immediately, had become engulfed in the dragon’s rage. I’d been hunting, tracking the scent of one of the various vole-like creatures that I’d never gotten a name for when the smell of ash had been carried upon the wind. Then I’d heard the screaming, the sound of panicked cries both coherent and incoherent, and the sounds of battle as the forest’s guardian did her utmost to combat both the flames and the invader.

Before I could even process the fact that my body was moving, I was sprinting towards the din, paws beating against the soft dirt of the forest floor I’d come to call home oh so recently. I can’t exactly remember why I ran toward the sounds of two giants clashing. Determination? Suicidal tendencies I hadn’t nailed down? Or perhaps it was just instinct. I’d never really know. But as I dodged under the feet of fleeing Pokemon, I only knew one thing; I had to stop this fight before all the innocents in the forest were hurt. Before my home was irreparably damaged.

Bursting into the newly made clearing, I’d almost been sent reeling by the auric pressure of the two combatants before I’d shaken off the instinctual terror and got to work, body coming alight with normal type energy as I set my eyes on the currently grounded Hydreigon.

‘Quick attack!’

Slamming into the hydra, I’d immediately begun my most basic move-chain, letting fighting-type energy fill my two hind legs as I kicked off the shocked dragon’s abdomen.

‘Double Kick!’

Landing gracefully, I barely had time to think before my ears twitched and I was throwing myself to the side, a gout of flame torching the earth I had just vacated, a trail of normal type energy betraying my sustained use of quick attack.

‘Fast! But I’m faster!’

Roaring in annoyance at the interruption, the evil dragon turned its attention to me, only for the Guardian to slam into his back, the golden glow of Sky Attack fading as she ascended once more. I didn’t let up, using the momentary opening, I slammed my paws into the ground, ground type energy engulfing my body as I borrowed underground, using the temporary seismic sense- No! Right, Hydriegon had levitate. But I knew where it last was, and most dragons were far too prideful to do anything but stand their ground without a trainer they trusted. Patiently, I waited, then trusting my instincts, I burst forth from the ground, tail aglow with steel.

‘Dig!’

My patience had paid off. The dragon had forgotten about little old me, and now his rear was exposed. With a battle cry, I sent myself into a vertical spin leading with my tail, adding more momentum and force to the move before I slammed into the unprotected back of the arrogant hydra.

It, rather predictably, roared in both rage and pain.

‘Iron Tail! And now-’

Springing away from the Hydra with another double kick, I began one of my longer move chains, committing my aura to the well-practiced kata. My eyes glowed with power as I used the first move in the chain, my perception sharpening as the familiar calm inherent in the move washed over me, time seemingly slowing down as the speed of my thoughts quickened. The dragon was turning towards me, but it was too slow, too late to stop my full combo!

‘Calm Mind! Then Trump Card!’

Six playing-card-shaped bodies began orbiting around my neck, each one glowing a menacing orange. And with a triumphant cry, I launched them each card slamming into the evil dragon, breaking through their auric shield and drawing blood. Unbothered by the sight after a year in the wilds, I began to concentrate on the next part of my chain-

Danger!

Anticipation. My ability. It had saved me time and time again, and once more, I listened, a burst of stored power rocketing me to the side as a gout of draconic energy bathed the spot I had just occupied from one of the three heads of the hydra. It seemed the forest’s guardian hadn’t managed to keep all three heads occupied- no. I had drawn blood, and now I had the dragon’s attention. My danger sense screamed at me again, and once more, stored power fired off, sending me rocketing forwards toward the dragon as more draconic flames bathed the area I had just occupied in blue flame.

And then the Pidgeot was upon him again, a hurricane of flying-type energy buffeting the great dragon with an absurd amount of tiny wind-blades, and I saw another opening. Building grass type energy around me this time, I charged forward, striking the slowing Hydra before kicking off of them again-

Agony shot through my body as one of the Hydra head’s jaws closed around my body, the own auric shield valiantly flaring as it struggled to fend off the oppressive force of a pseudo legendary Pokemon’s crunch.

“Unhand her.” The Forest’s Guardian cried, their voice gaining a deadly edge that had been absent before.

The Hydra did not respond, simply roaring back in challenge as they continued to try and crush my small body. I resisted with all my might, gaining just enough presence of mind to throw up a Protect, the shimmering shield of energy wavering under the sheer strength of my opponent.

Normal type energy filled my body again, and though it screamed in protest, I forced it into action, Quick Attack taking me out of-

DANGER

‘A gout of flame was coming towards me. It’ll break my auric shield with energy to spare. I will die.’

All these thoughts and more ran through my head as I stared down the Dragon Pulse that would be my doom, yet more than any of those thoughts, one triumphed above all of them.

‘I’m not going to die in a place like this, without ever having done what I wanted to!’

With a resolute cry, I launched my own attack, Trump Card slamming into the draconic energy one, two, then three times, the volleyed barrage of cards barely managing to do their job and give me enough time to escape onto the ground with a directed blast of Stored Power. I couldn’t even keep track of Pidgeot at this point. This fight was personal now. And…

It would require all my attention. I hyper fixated on Hydreigon. I let nothing exist in the world beside myself, my opponent, and the setting of our fight.

Breath in, breath out

I moved first. Surrounded by bodily doubles, I feigned a charge forward again, diving underground briefly before I surfaced elsewhere just as rapidly, watching coldly as the dragon dealt with my doppelgangers as I launched myself at its unprotected back, a series of Stored Power blasts giving me absurd momentum and my tail aglow with steel as I sent myself into a barely controlled spin. Iron Tail slammed home as I volleyed off my final directed blast of stored power, yet this time, I didn’t simply use Double Kick to leap off. Instead, feeling something within the Dragon give at the sudden strike to its unprotected back, I launched one final Trump Card that slammed into the unprotected back of the Hydrogen and pierced its heart.

I felt, more than saw, the life fade from the dragon as I breathed heavily, my closest brush with death in over six months having sent my body into overdrive, something I had always had difficulty coming down from. Instincts that I could barely control, ones I wasn’t born with, warred within me before I ruthlessly shoved them down, forcing my body back into the equilibrium I maintained.

It was done. The dragon was dead. I could-

‘Why… is the sky so green?’

It was with that absurd thought that I lost consciousness completely, face buried in one of the few small patches of uncharred grass in the clearing…