Pride [Feat. Dracul/OPEN]

A strong, familiar voice cut through the white noise of the crowd, prompting Doug to turn sharply in its direction, Axew swinging with the turn of his head.

She grumbled and growled, her short, stubby arms smacking at the boy's scalp in protest. A little warning would have been nice!

The boy seemed to not notice the smacks however,  more focused with finding his grandpa amongst the crowd. It didn't take him long.

"Over there!" He said while pointing, prompting the Axew to pause in her rambling to look.

She found herself staring at a man that did fit the young boy's description, though it went without saying that the boy had criminally over simplified the man's countenance.

The man had more in common with the boy's mother than him, including the air of wisdom and actually knowing what he was doing. 

"Hold on tight!" The boy said suddenly to the dragon, who blinked down at him shortly before squealing as he broke into a sprint, weaving his way through the crowd before all but throwing himself at the old man in a glomp, his arms wrapping around the man in a firm hug. "Grandpa!"

That was a remarkable lack of mind given to the old man's age, thought the Axew as she held tight onto his hair. Doug's perception of old age was rather skewed; in his personal experience, old people could just as easily flip you on your ass with one hand as anyone else.

Actually, they were more likely than anyone else to be able to do it. Well, his grandfather was anyways. 

Pulling away from squeezing the old man's ribs, the boy reached up to his head and promptly took the small Axew, holding her in his arms while smiling wide at Dracul. 

"Grandpa, you won't believe all that's happened since I left home!" Started the boy cheerily, before holding up the little Axew. "Meet Axew. Isn't she cute?" He said with a wide grin, causing the little dragon to flush red; she wasn't! She was-

"Tough too, cleaved a steel Desk in half while trying to tackle me." -Oh, that was better. 

A little placated, the small dragon shyly waved hi, meeting the old man's wise gaze before glancing down curiously at the unfamiliar pokemon at the man's feet. Was that another dragon?

Noticing this, Doug crouched, setting her in front of the Goomy.

"That's Gelato, Axew. He's a Goomy; was a gift to grandpa from one of my cousins." He had yet to meet her. He hadn't traveled much out of Stellara yet; supposedly, he had been to Blackthorn plenty during his early childhood, when his grandmother had still been alive, but he could scarcely remember his time there.

Axew cocked her head to the side curiously while eyeing Gelato; reaching into his jacket's pocket, Doug produced a small box of treats he had taken from his father's stand, about to set it between the two pokemon before he realized they were still in the middle of a crowded avenue. 

"Uh. How 'bout we go find somewhere to sit, grandpa?" He proposed.

---

Dracul

Pulling away from the hug, the young boy took a step back to examine his grandpa, nearly mirroring the man.

It had only been recently that the man had returned to his life; five years prior, his yearly summer stays at his grandparent's home in Blackthorn had received a jarring stop with the death of his grandmother and subsequently, his grandfather's depression.

Rather young at the time, he hadn't truly comprehended what was going on. All he knew was that his grandmother was no longer around and his grandfather was not seeing visitors anymore.

When the man had finally come out of where he had holed himself up and announced his retirement, it had been the first (and last) time since he had been 7 years old that the boy visited the man's home in Blackthorn.

He didn't presume his rose-tinted childhood memories to be perfect, but to say that his grandfather had aged swiftly in the space of five years would have been an understatement.

He had seen him more often once the man had moved into Shaula and taken over the local gym, but he had still not spent a whole lot of one on one time with the man. Even as he examined the man now, he couldn't help but wonder how in the world had his black mane become white so swiftly.

But between work at his father's restaurant, and training and work at his mother's Academy, what little free time he had he usually used to explore the woods around Shaula.

There had been a couple of visits to his grandpa's home since he moved to Shaula, and the man himself had given their home a couple of visit's. Sometimes he would visit their mom's dojo and speak with her while he and the rest of the students ran through their drills.

But overall? They really hadn't had a real conversation in quite some time.

The boy grinned at his grandfather's praise, petting Axew's head. 

"Yeah, she's been really receptive to training. She'll be ready to rumble in a gym Challenge real soon." He said, "I thought for a while Axew might be a lost one from your gym, Grandpa. She and my Turtonator both, actually. I found both back at Shaula's woods, and thought it was a bit weird, considering their diets and all." 

He cocked his head slightly at the man's next words. "Ah, Mom's already told you about that?" He asked, not aware of his grandfather's role in helping his mother acquire the position for someone so young.

"Yeah. I won't lie; I wasn't too happy at first. Came outta the blue and, well... certainly not my first choice on pokemon type at the time." He said as he crouched once again, placing Axew on top of his head before grabbing Gelato in his arms, hugging the gooey dragon to his chest before falling in line behind his grandpa. "But that's exactly why mom did it, isn't it."

"I think dad's mentioned that restaurant before." He commented, pointing out a restaurant he remembered his father commenting on as specialized in Kanto-Johto cuisine. As they their seats and a waiter brought a pair of menus, the boy picked up were he left, looking thoughtful.

"I've been meditating a lot since I got the position. There was a lot I hadn't really wanted to agree to; I was very angry, and the first challengers took the brunt of it." He said, his gaze shifting down to the Goomy on his lap.

He hadn't even been around for the most part; the challengers had yet to even see his face.

Sicking Sawk and Throh on everyone that made it through the tournament and just letting them do their thing was hardly fair to the poor challengers. The bash brothers would just tear through the newer challengers if not ordered to hold back appropriately.

"I've calmed down a little since then, and I've started picking up different types of pokemon. Sometimes. But I dunno; I don't feel much of a rush when taking on challengers as the gym leader. It doesn't feel like these pokemon listen to me out of mutual respect."

The pokemon that worked under him at the gym were a batch of his mother's students. It was pretty clear to him that they listened to him not because they considered him a skilled trainer or martial artist, but because his mother had asked them to.

He set the box of treats on the floor besides Gelato and Axew as his grandfather ordered his meal swiftly, the boy doing so as well immediately after.

He bit on his lip, nodding somewhat uncertainly as his grandfather began to spoke. Meditation was not one of his favorite activities (too much sitting down and introspecting, not enough actually doing stuff), but he had to admit that it had been a great deal of help for him recently, not to mention that his mother had never taught him anything useless, and his grandfather wouldn't lead him astray.

"I know." He said, the words a response to both of his grandfather's first statements. Keeping his cool and thinking through what he was going to say and do was not really something he was known for. He had nearly blown his top at the Martial Artists at the Jade Temple already when he caught wind of their thoughts before.

Thankfully, his mother's pokemon had managed to dissuade him from rash action... to a point. Even if they clearly were just doing as their mom had asked of them, at least they seemed to be trying to steer him in the right direction.

They were all actual masters themselves who had taken to his mother's philosophy, so he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised they all wanted to impart some wisdom unto him. 

If only it didn't come at the cost of his bruised pride so often.

The boy bit on the inside of his cheek, not looking forward to having to 'earn' respect from anyone. He hadn't asked for the job, but now that he had it, he liked to think he was doing some pretty swell work, after calming down. Couldn't people just be happy he was doing well, mind their own business and keep their opinions to themselves?

The 'qualities of dragon  tamers' sounded a lot like his mother and grandfather, but he wasn't sure if they applied to him. Brave or reckless, diligent or stubborn. He had been referred to as a lot of things to date.

Arrogant and full of himself mostly. And occasionally compared to an insect or vermin as well; funny how being compared to his preferred typing didn't feel all that great.

The boy prodded at his food absent-mindedly while keeping his focus on his grandpa, an assortment of meats and veggies he had ordered without giving too much thought. He knew his grandfather was on point on everything he said, but knowing the path ahead was even harder than he had expected was not very comforting.

The way his grandfather ended it didn't leave much room for whining or kicking about how bullshit it was for him to have to deal with all this a month into his pokemon journey, however. His family had big expectations for him; and he had to deliver.

"I won't disappoint you or Mom, Grandpa." He promised, bowing his head slightly. "Thanks for the meal." He said, before stuffing a piece of meat into his mouth, testing it as he pondered on his grandfather's words.

"Grandpa... Do you think I should stay in the Jade Palace for a while?" He asked the man. "You know what the Gym Leader is expected to do."

The Jade Palace Gym was a temple for learning the Arts of Self Defence first and foremost, and it had been so since his mom had taken control of it nearly a decade prior, the changes she had made to the infrastructure remaining even long after she left.

In her absence a new 'Grand Master' had been elected by his peers, and had been expected to become the new gym leader once the Stellaran Pokemon League Recognized his prowess.

And then he came along, so there went that.

The Gym Leader was not only expected to battle challengers, but to teach at the Academy as well. Problem was; Doug wasn't too certain he had it in him to train anything. To be honest, from what he had seen, he wasn't certain if anyone but the higher tier pokemon his mother had left at his disposal were capable of teaching at the Jade Palace Gym.

His standards for what constituted a master and teacher were quite high, them being his mother, his grandfather, and a number of his mother's oldest students who's entirety he could count with his fingers.

Needless to say, with them as the standard, he didn't consider himself in any condition to train anyone. But clearly the 'masters' at the Jade Palace considered themselves perfectly capable of teaching, and expected him to be able to do so as well. That, or expected him to make a fool of himself and hopefully abandon the title in shame. 

His only 'student' to date was Mienfoo, but he was handling that case with kiddy gloves, trying to take it slow and not make any irreversible mistakes that could ruin her style forever.

The boy brightened considerably at the praise. Even now, he imagined his grandfather didn't much care for thinking about his wife's death; the boy wouldn't take her mention lightly.

He couldn't remember much of his toddler years, but the few memories of his early summers he could recollect clearly brought warmth to his chest and could brighten his mood even in a bad day; and they all tended to be centered around his (then, much younger looking) grandfather and grandmother.

"You really think so?" He asked tentatively, a small smile tugging at his lips. He grasped at the chair under him, pushing it back slightly to stand up and bow to the elder man low. "Thank you." He said.

As he took back his seat, he began taking small bites from his meal, tasting it slowly as thoughts of his job began clouding the happy note in which the praise had left him before. After a few more bites, he asked his grandfather for advice. The elder man didn't take long to provide it.

The boy didn't seem to enjoy the answer however, his lip tugging down as he bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't enjoy time at the gym much. The 'masters' didn't enjoy being under someone so young, and the students couldn't really take someone his age all that seriously.

"I... I guess-" Ah, fuck it. "No; you are right." He said, grabbing at his face with his palm, groaning into it. "Nobody is going to take me seriously if I'm never around." He sighed, his hand grasping at his fringes and yanking hard.

Then he dropped it back to the table, grabbing at the cutlery once again.He had a sour expression on his face.

"But I don't think I'll ever get along with those 'masters'." He said, his brows furrowing into a scowl at the thought of them. None of them would ever accept having someone so much younger than them as their leader.

'Seniority' was a big deal in eastern cultures such as Johto and Kanto; from which most forms of martial Arts tended to came from. In some of the more traditional, conservationist Dojos he wasn't even of the minimum age required to be eligible for a blackbelt, let alone to be the Master of an entire Palace.

"Bunch of old farts with more pride than skill." He grumbled, his lip curled in distaste.

His grandfather returned the bow, which brought a smile to the boy. Despite not liking where his immediate future appeared to be going, he knew listening to his grandfather's wisdom would be the smart thing to do.

He wasn't sure about his possible relationship with the master's as compared by his grandfather's experiences, however.

Doug wasn't too sure how one could respect someone they despised. If he hated someone strongly enough that he wanted to beat them into the dirt, he doubted he could feel even a smudge of respect for them.

Maybe it was just something he had to experience for himself to understand...

"Can't just kick 'em out, can I?" He asked his grandfather rhetorically, sounding tired as he leaned his forehead onto his fist. Of course not; that was hardly the mature way of dealing with the problem. Even he could see that.

He grinned wryly at his grandfather's later words, shifting his hand to lean his temples onto it. 

"I'm convinced Mom just beat them into submission. She can't possibly have tolerated this treatment." Or she had taught most of them, effectively gaining their respect immediately... No, beating them into submission still sounded more likely.

"They definitely don't have the scars to have been trained by her seriously." He mumbled to himself, rubbing at his long sleeves absentmindedly as he did.

His forearms looked like jigsaw puzzles these days, and his mother had only started teaching him with the most effective, if brutal, forms of training about 3 years back.

If these men had been training as seriously as they claimed for as long as they appeared to be old, their bodies should have looked like cracked kalosian sculptures.

He blinked at his grandfather's sudden, very serious tone. The conversation went back to its previous mood, and the boy couldn't say he liked it better this way.

What to tell the man? The way the question was phrased didn't exactly encourage him to be completely honest.

The typing wasn't even the problem. He had been raised around fighting type pokemon. He was knowledgeable of them, and respected every pokemon that had been put at his disposition on the gym on a personal level, having been trained by and with them before.

No, the problem was the humans. 

Having to stay at the palace every day, under the constant gaze of men much older than him that had little if anything good to say about him? Having his every word questioned, and his every action judged?

Yeah, no. He would much rather go back to travelling around Stellara challenging gyms. Participating in random events, joining festivals, working as a travelling chef... The past weeks had been the most fun the youth had had in his young life.

He wasn't too eager to drop the freedom he felt he had enjoyed for so little a time to go suffer green old men. And yet-

"Yes." He said with a sharp nod, keeping his face set on a grim, serious mask. His grandfather didn't need to know his real feelings on the matter; if the older man was right, and he tended to be, the boy would eventually come to an understanding with the older 'masters'. 

"I said it before. I'll not disappoint you." He said, bowing again.