In Search Of A Cave [open]

[TANZ]

It would have been easier if he had his old Pokemon with him. He cupped his chin in thought, starring at the mess of dusty furniture, webbed corners and mist-like lighting in the cathedral. Jin studied the area without moving from his spot beside Chase, finding no interest in the place much like his human partner.

"Not being able to fly is an experience I'm going to miss," Chase commented coolly. "Don't worry though, I know all about Druddigon. I've trained earth-bound Pokemon when I was a kid and I do have a Haxorus back home. We'll drop by the library later so I can refresh my memory, and maybe get a better map."

Chase pulled out the one he had with a frown. "Juno is a tiny city. I don't know why the Ranger Union squeeze themselves here with the Cypress Laboratories and the Breeder's Guild when they are equally important with the Trainer's Association! I may have to suggest moving the union's headquarters in Prosperina instead if I can't find a cave. I mean no offense to the people but Kohaku by far is a geographic failure..."

Jin seemed to be listening to Chase but wasn't taking any offense from him. Chase didn't seem to be even talking to him and had began talking to the map in front of his face instead. Jin knew Chase was in search of a cave he could recommend as the Ranger Union's new base of operations ever since he discovered it was a mere warehouse. Jin hadn't really thought about it until now but he did like the idea of caves. Caves are nice.

? OPEN!

[vertigo]

isaac stared at the cathedral as it loomed over him. he was pretty sure he'd taken a wrong turn out of juno, but at the same time, he was sure that this was the way he'd taken to get back to the city. after delivering a letter to professor cypress on behalf of a pelipper (okay, he'd carried it with him all the way from proserpina, much to clavier's amazement and disbelief), he had decided to head back to proserpina. the city was the only way back to nerio, where he'd promised to meet his older brother.

the ranger knew he had to hurry, and that there was no time to doubt himself. his brother had already got up to ceres forest; he couldn't still be here while mordecai was in nerio. it wouldn't only make his brother worried, but his being a ranger would also be let out of the bag. worried, the boy hardened his head and decided to pass through the cathedral in order to find the path. without the pelipper, navigating became a tough job.

perhaps it was because he had no one to rely on. perhaps it was because he had no one to ask questions. perhaps it was because he was all a-lone now, with no-one, that he had to make decisions himself.

"clavier," the boy whispered, for the building was so deathly silent. "where is this?" he looked at the axew, who seemed rather worried; a chill had run down the dragon's spine, and he had a bad gut feeling about the place. there had to be a resaon why there weren't people around this place, or an explanation behind it being deserted and abandoned. as it was thinking, isaac had wandered on ahead. clavier hurried to follow its partner, only to find isaac waving to a talking figure in the near distance.

"hello?"

"... the ranger union ... union's headquarters ... geographic failure ..."

"um, by any chance, are you a ranger?"

if that figure was a ranger, then he could probably offer some help, isaac thought, much to clavier's worry.

[TANZ]

Chase poked his head out of the map and turned around to the source of the voice. "Yes," he answered formally as if addressed by a superior. Chase's status never left work mode. "Do you have a concern, citizen?"

For someone to be looking for a ranger, it must be serious. Chase would do everything in his power to help anyone in need but as he and Jin were still starting out, he didn't know if they would be up to par with it. Chase would not hesitate to call for Ranger Sa'di's help. He was ready to face the humiliation as a reminder of his own weakness.

But Chase was in for a surprise. His scrunched up eyebrows loosened and rose to his forehead. He burst with a gaping smile.

"Could you be - " Before letting the young man explain, Chase had grabbed his shoulders with a claw-like grip and bent down a bit to level their eyes together. " - an aspiring dragon tamer who seeks to purify the land from evil and crime? I take back what I said! Kohaku does have some good qualities after all," he said, booming voice bouncing back and forth in the cathedral walls.

Pleased, Chase gave the young man a pat on the back as he would pat a two-hundred-twenty-six-pound Salamence with skin as hard as a rock. He hadn't expected this at all but he just found this young man with a dragon Pokemon. "Look, Jin, a brother of yours has arrived! This is an Axew, the basic stage of the Haxorus I was talking about."

w/vertigo

[vertigo]

clavier let loose a breath it had no idea it had been holding in all along. the axew's worried gaze followed chase's as he turned around to face isaac, rambling on about -- clavier didn't want to listen to it. he heard it, but paid chase no mind. what mattered was that the man was a ranger, and considering everything, isaac had gotten lucky. it wasn't someone dangerous or a trainer out for a battle. (the axew wasn't sure if it could take a battle this quickly and suddenly, especially against a druddigon.)

"uh, no?" isaac mumbled, while clavier had been occupied with its thoughts. the boy had barely been able to comprehend what chase was saying; he had, however, been paying rapt attention. "i'm not a dragon tamer. i'm a ranger!" he tried to inject some sort of hope and optimism into his voice, but wasn't sure if he had succeeded. chase's bright, beaming smile was a tad hard to read, considering the context and situation he had found himself into. what was there to cheer about, seeing a ranger with an axew?

the boy had no time to ask his question before he found himself coughing violently, an amused yet concerned clavier watching on. the slap had been one that resounded in the empty, vast cathedral; isaac had not been expecting it, nor did he think that chase's muscles were real. as in, able to crush someone's lungs if the other ranger desired to.

"i-i'm isaac," squeaked the younger ranger, still trying to catch his breath. it's futile, he read from clavier's pointed look at him. he could see that the axew's gestures and jerks of its head indicated that they ought to leave before chase grasped hold of them and whisked them away on an discussion that neither was comfortable about. isaac disagreed with his partner, however. now that he had found a ranger, perhaps new, just like him, he was not about to pass up the chance to at least come out of the conversation with an acquaintance made.

"... and this axew is my partner, clavier," isaac finished, thoroughly aware that the both of them were quite possibly on different wavelengths.

[TANZ]

"I am Chase, volunteer ranger in the Eos Program and dragon tamer of Blackthorn," he introduced proudly.

Jin grunted from Chase's side, not taking a particular interest for his supposed brethren and his partner. He didn't seem to be finding anything odd even after Chase almost displaced the boy's lungs with but a single "pat."

"And this great dragon is Jin, a Druddigon," Chase continued, gesturing to Jin before turning back to Isaac. "You shouldn't be afraid to reach for ambitious callings, Isaac. You can become a ranger and a dragon tamer at the same time just like me. Although..." Chase looked past Isaac and stared at his Pokemon thoughtfully. "...if Ranger Sa'di had accepted you, you must be a worthy ranger but it appears you have much work to do on the dragon taming part."

Chase approached Clavier. As soon as he was close enough, he bent down on one knee, reaching for the Axew's head while his other hand grabbed hold of one of Clavier's tusk. Without warning, Chase proceeded to snap it off his mouth.

w/vertigo

[vertigo]

isaac stared, wide-eyed at the dragon tamer. he wasn't sure of the responses he should be giving to the man named chase; he did know that he was proud of his position as some sort of black-thorn-man and an eos ranger. the last part he understood; it was probably some sort of elated feeling that he could watch justice being served on a silver platter. isaac too, wanted the scourge dead, and wondered if chase felt the same about them too.

"it's nice to meet you, jin and chase," said the boy, giving them both a small bow to show his respect. when unsure, be polite, his parents and experience had taught him. it usually worked, but with chase, isaac was no longer sure. "are all rangers dragon tamers?" he blurted out. last he heard, there wasn't such a thing going on, but chase's confidence in speaking (or one-track-mindedness, actually), was rubbing off on isaac. "because i have a dragon, too, so i wondered."

clavier took a wary step back as chase approached him, but felt that it should give rangers the benefit of the doubt. it didn't like it, though, when chase attempted to pull one of his tusks out of its mouth. it opened its maw and let loose a ferocious dragon rage, blue flames licking the sides of his mouth as they launched forth in a straight line towards the dragon-ranger.

"huh?"

by the time isaac realized what was going on, it was too late, and clavier had already stepped back from the ranger, snarling as it threatened to use its flaming breath again.

[TANZ]

"Of course not," he calmly answered Isaac, dodging to the side to avoid the flames from burning his face. His hand caught some of the burn but Chase merely waved his hand from the blue flames as if he were clearing smoke.

There were all sorts of rangers and most of them referred to be themselves with no other title than that. Most of the rangers Chase met back in his home were affiliated with the elements of nature: grass, water, ground. Many of them were close to flying Pokemon too. But that wasn't why Chase thought not all rangers were dragon tamers like him.

"Not everyone deserves to be a dragon tamer."

Jin began to growl. He took menacing steps toward Clavier with his entire body becoming tense.

"Jin, stand down!" Chase ordered, his eyes not leaving Clavier. The Dragon Rage did nothing to daunt Chase. He looked neither upset nor afraid. On the contrary, he looked quite thrilled.

The Axew was quite young but it was spewing blue flames already. Chase picked up from the floor a flat piece of wood which seemed to have been part of a chair once upon a time. Opting for a change of tactics, he cautiously approached Clavier to close their distance. When he was a good foot close, Chase threw the piece of wood at him, inviting his flames to burn it to ashes. He would use the opportunity to leap forward too and grab the Axew from behind to attempt to snap its tusk again.

w/vertigo

[vertigo]

"what do you mean by that?" isaac asked. weren't people interested in training dragons allowed to take a shot at it? if it didn't work out, it didn't, but at least they got to try. funny how he had gotten a dragon, then. maybe he deserved it, like chase had said, but the boy doubted that it was really that simple. for one, he didn't have an affinity with wild pokémon. secondly, clavier had agreed to come along very, very reluctantly.

clavier glanced at the piece of wood, quickly dodged it, before thrashing around when chase grabbed at its tusks. it tossed its head about; even though it was no match for chase's furious, muscular stature, it still managed to put up an admirable fight, which of course involved a lot of dragon rage abuse. the axew was practically breathing flames all over; isaac took a wary step back as clavier struggled.

somehow, the creature managed to escape chase's grasp, and was now leering at him angrily.

"... what exactly are you trying to do?" in his most non-confrontational tone, isaac attempted to reason with the other ranger. isaac had assumed that chase had been at the job for longer than he did, and taken him to be some sort of mentor figure. he also assumed that chase knew what he was doing, but with clavier unhappy and angered, the boy felt that he had to at least ask. "clavier looks really stressed out."

[TANZ]

Chase was unable to answer Isaac instantly. He managed to grab hold of the Axew's tusk and Chase tried to snap its tusk as fast as he could but Clavier wasn't making it easy. Chase didn't protest. He told no pacifying, assuring words to calm Clavier down, no angry demands telling him to stop. He put up with the struggle and did not back down. If Chase did any of those, he wouldn't be helping Clavier.

The Axew escaped his grasp and Chase found himself stumbling backward. Chase's gloves were completely charred. He plucked the two out of his hands, revealing angry, red burns underneath.

Clavier is an amazing dragon, Chase thought. Zuko, his Haxorus, didn't learn to breathe fire until it had evolved to that stage. But as Chase had found out, not all was well for Clavier. Chase looked at the Axew sadly.

"Yes, he is," Chase agreed. "For a ranger Pokemon, he's very wild. He doesn't trust humans." Chase took out a small bottle of aloe vera from the pockets in his belt and applied some dabs on his burns. "He doesn't trust you," he said flatly. "I don't think I would either if I saw my friend standing idly while I was feeling scared. I had assumed you knew what I was doing."

Chase wasn't disappointed. As he said, not everyone deserved to be a dragon tamer. He would bump into the occasional trainers who knew nothing about the sacred, grand species. In a way, he was used to it so Chase was always ready to educate them if he must.

"How about you try breaking his tusk?" Chase asked, pocketing the aloe vera back and taking out a new pair of gloves. "Here." He tossed Isaac a small rock.

w/vertigo

[vertigo]

isaac took the comments good-naturedly. he hadn't expected pokémon to like him in the first place; most of the time, they stood aside, preferring the presence and companionship of his brother and sister than to his. it was fine if clavier didn't trust humans, too. isaac didn't trust them too much, either, but he had told himself that he should give rangers the benefit of the doubt, and chase fell neatly into that category. that's fine, lingered at the tip of the delacroix boy's tongue, but he said nothing and remained silent.

"but why?" asked the boy. chase had yet to give him a straight answer as to why. he didn't understand the significance of breaking an axew's tusk, especially when it was its most lethal weapon, other than the flames that clavier could breathe out with ease. "you're not giving me a reason to, chase." isaac was obedient, yes, but when clavier had struggled so much against chase, he wasn't sure if it was even the right thing to do.

clavier huffed, its eyes still glaring at chase. for a moment, they moved to isaac, but they eventually returned to rest on the other ranger. its stance was still a tense, unnerved one, and it was almost glad to see that its partner had yet to pick up the rock to break its tusks.

[TANZ]

"You don't know?" he asked impatiently. Chase already knew he didn't but the question furthered Isaac's ignorance to sink in Chase. Or maybe it was the way he was called by his first name instead of a sir.

He stood in full length at Isaac, glaring at him as if it had been him who burned his hands off with dragon rage. "This is elementary and I expected rangers to have a broad knowledge of Pokemon. Why did you pick Clavier? Did you not pick him because you had the desire and passion for dragons?" Then it hit him and Chase grew angry at the thought. "Did you think picking a strong Pokemon like a dragon was most beneficial? Do you have any idea how many dragons lose themselves on the hands of ignorant humans?"

All Chase's life, he had fought for justice and the creatures who suffered injustice the most were dragons. So many people did not understand them, abused them to be massive tools of destruction. Rarely do people saw past their ferocious reputation and saw that they were as humane as they were. Chase couldn't help but think of the previous cases he'd handled before. The frustrations that had built up since was starting to come out at the mere thought that this might be another one he'd found.

w/vertigo

[vertigo]

by now, isaac was able to weather chase's anger. the trip from nerio to juno had not been easy, and he had taken far worse than this. he stood strong in the face of those words, but said nothing. his mind replayed the moment when he chose his partner pokémon; sa'di had gave him an array of pokémon to choose from, and none of them had wanted to be his partner. they had shied away, leaving clavier at the front, and gave it no choice but to go along with the boy.

in a way, clavier was a victim, too. "he picked me," isaac said softly, looking at the dragon-type. he didn't have a choice. he might have gone for the other pokémon, but he was so pleased to have been chosen by one that he hadn't thought further. perhaps chase was right, but returning the pokémon was not - never - an option. the only way he could go was forward. he raised his head and looked chase in the eye.

"the other pokémon walked away the moment they saw me." the more isaac spoke, the more it felt like he was incriminating himself further. he could almost hear chase's words coming out from his mouth, saying that in that case he had no affinity for pokémon and should not have been a ranger. expecting to be scolded, isaac continued on with what he had to say. "not everyone has the luxury to choose from a group of them," he pointed out.

clavier flinched from the words. it had not wanted to go with isaac, but for the benefit of the rest, he had gone along, alone. neither of them had more than a colleague-like relationship, but the dragon figured that if it worked now, it would work even ten years down the road. as long as they remained tolerant of each other and did not throw each other under the bus, the axew was fine with that.

briefly, it wondered what jin could possibly be thinking all along, having such a headstrong and passionate partner.

[TANZ]

Chase nodded to confirm Isaac's story. "Dragons are a good judge of character. They rise above all the others." Despite what he just said though, Chase was far from sympathetic. "You have been honored but I think we can all agree that you're not living up to it," he said brusquely.

Chase wanted to say more of what he thought Isaac was but he trusted Clavier's judgement. If his Axew had indeed picked him then there must be something in Isaac that should be given the benefit of doubt. Chase spared him the rest of the sermon, having full faith in the decision Clavier made.

"I will make it clear," he began, calm once more. He still couldn't believe he had to recite text from The Tamed and the Wild textbook he read eleven years ago. "It's not Clavier's fault for not knowing that's why the responsibility falls greatly to his tamer. You're aware - I hope - that Pokemon in captivity mature differently from wild Pokemon. Their behavior pattern differs so some of their evolutionary aspects become neglected."

If Chase had glasses, this would be the time when he would push it up his nose bridge. "A wild Axew would break their tusks to crush berries. They ingest valuable protein from their daily diet so that their body can optimize tusk regrowth each time it breaks. Not only do Axew tusks regrow at a fast rate, they become stronger. An Axew in captivity would only break their tusks during battle. If it happens too inconsistently, the tusks will be harder to regrow as the Axew grow older. Once they evolve, the tusks completely stop regrowth and they could permanently lose their tusks if it's too brittle."

Chase turned to study Clavier's tusks. "Clavier's tusks have reached their maximum length. It's about time to break them to make way for stronger tusks."

w/vertigo

[vertigo]

isaac half-believed the other ranger's words, but didn't lap them all up like a skitty to a dish of milk. he remained silent as he listened to chase. weren't ranger pokémon recruited from the wild as well? only willing pokémon were brought into the ranger's union, as far as isaac knew. they had to remain in top condition even though they had nothing on their plate, and he was confident that the union would not let its pokémon slack. it was unlike the trainer's association where it allowed its pokémon to live in pokéballs, awaiting the day they would get picked by an aspiring trainer.

by the end of chase's spiel, isaac was at a loss. clavier was glaring at chase and seemed to be threatening to exhale a dragon rage at him if he did so much as step towards him. at the same time, isaac wanted to doubt chase (which was natural for anyone, really), but kept his mouth shut and studied clavier at the same time chase did.

what if the axew's tusks broke, and they were involved in combat? a creature without its natural weaponry was nothing better than a sitting duck. clavier used its tusks for many things, and breaking them would essentially be giving it a disability, isaac thought. he tried to make a guesstimate: even with a fast regrow rate, it would still take at least two days before their cores formed and maybe another couple days before the tusks would be functional as before, albeit shorter.

"what would it do without its tusks?"

[TANZ]

Chase was not happy with Isaac's short-lived response. "Don't tell me he still wasn't getting it!" Chase thought. Everything he said clearly made sense. He was amazed Isaac hadn't gone in a phase of deep regret and shame in order to become a better man at the end of the long suffering. A man must accept and grow from his defeat for him to be able to serve justice once more. Isaac had a long way to go.

"Isn't that obvious?" Chase said, crossing his arms. "If I wasn't leaving you with a dragon Pokemon, I wouldn't be wasting my time here. I have caves to find and evil to perish. Didn't you just witness what Clavier was able to do? He could breathe fire. As I have scientifically explained to you, the tusks regrow stronger than before. If you're worried about not being able to fight without his tusks, you should be more concerned if it breaks during combat. You should try to prepare yourself first and think of long-term benefits."

Chase didn't mind Clavier's death glare at him. Clavier didn't know what he was doing. It was all his human partner's fault. Chase did not do what was right to be liked. His job was not a popularity contest. Chase knew with all his heart and mind that he was doing what had to be done for the greater good. He didn't need people nor Pokemon to tell him that.

w/vertigo