Outset

A hauntingly graceful flame grew within the dragon's mouth, pulsing blue with the bray of her heart. One foot in front of the other, shoulders squared, she pointed towards her intended target. "Dragon rage." The attack exploded against the stone almost instantaneously, a tribute to how fast the fire was launched. Glowing white, yellow, and then a dull red, the target began to cool down. She gazed at her partner appraisedly. A small head raised itself and tilted in her direction. "You did well," she assured, betraying no emotion. Satisfied, the dragon-type picked up the pace in a chipper manner. Hawthorne was supposed to be here almost thirty minutes ago- the unprofessionalism was apalling.

The two practiced aim and power of dragon rage for ten more minutes before being approached by a strange young man. He was shorter than her, with unkempt dark hair and a casual demeanor.

"The, um, the professor couldn't make it," he said, fidgeting around. I see your self confidence couldn't attend, either, Ronja thought drily.

"Well? What happened to her?" he began to fidget again. "Speak up!"

"S-she didn't say!" A few pokeballs and a pokedex were shoved into her hands unceremoniously. The so-called starter kit?

"How unprofessional of you both. Though, I am not sure what I expected in the first place. You are dismissed." The man practically ran off with his tail between his legs. Elspeth's head was tilted curiously. "What? Do you think I was too harsh?" The dragon type sighed and looked away. She crossed her arms and began to mutter to herself. "You always say that..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The duo continued to practice relentlessly, taking turns carrying weights and running long distances (Ronja made it only a mile before collapsing; the fact that Elspeth made it several more and still wasn't tired irked her), stretching, and in the dragon's case practicing moves and their aim. A few hours later, they both turned in for the night. She started pitching a tent with her dragon's 'help' (she was too clumsy to be of any use... Plus she had no fingers) and poured her some food. Satisfied, she fell asleep spread-eagle under the stars.

"Use tackle!" With a roar, Elspeth rushed forward and visciously threw her body weight at a local pidgey. It flew in the air to dodge, but the dragon type jumped up and bit its wing, pulling it to the ground and slamming it down. She found herself with a wince. It looked incredibly painful. Since last night, she had taken down the tent and packed up, and was currently waiting to meet the professor... Formally, this time. Elspeth stopped what she was doing once she was satisfied that the pidgey was beaten and tilted her head. She must have smelled someone coming close.

To Ronja's chagrin, it was the assistant from the other day. "S-sorry! She's busy again. S-she wanted to l-let you know that she thought you should take the g-gym challenge..." She sighed and brought her hand to her eyes.

"I was going to do so anyway..." She muttered. This whole sequence of events was one mess after another. "Tell her that I'm going." not waiting for a response, she turned tail and left, the dragon-type at her heel. If they weren't going to bother with professionalism, than neither was she...

...although she was really looking forwards to challenging her first gym. Something nagged in the back of her mind. Maybe I shouldn't have been so harsh on the assistant... But it was quickly pushed away. She had work to do.

Under new grading guidelines, you also receive 4 trainer exp.