{"sf1_id":808827,"sf2_id":null,"title":"First Flight - Chapter #3 (final)","author":"FBtH","words":3385,"posted_at":"2015-01-18T14:51:00.000Z","tags":["Brendan","Dragon","Human","Kissing","Salamence","Trainer","pokemon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/808827-first-flight-chapter-3-final","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/808827","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=808827\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"The final chapter of this arc.","content":"First Flight:Chapter #3 (final) - Skyward~\nDisclaimers: I do NOT own Pokemon, its characters, its locations or\nanything associated with it. It all belongs to Nintendo.\"...Bagon?\"Brendan stood there in sheer astonishment, hardly daring to\nbelieve that the Salamence poised before him, shielding him from the others, was\nthe Bagon that he had parted with over half a year ago.The Salamence did not answer Brendan or even look at him as\nhis full attention was focused upon his equals, staring down all three with a\nchallenging glare. And then the inevitable confrontation began. One of the opposing Salamence undraped its wings and blasted\nforward, screaming through the air like a jet, but was decisively repelled by a\npowerful stream of Dragon Breath from the one protecting the human. The other two took advantage of their comrade's initiative\nby moving in close in the meantime to engage their rogue brother in close\ncombat. Brendan's Salamence was forced to duel the other two at once\nat point blank range in an exchange of Dragon Claw attacks. Despite being\noutnumbered, he still managed to hold his own, blocking and dodging a good\nportion of their swipes and strikes and returning as much damage as he took\nfrom them both.With the trainer-friendly Salamence occupied with defending\non two fronts at once, the third Salamence who had been the first to strike\nwent for his open back, taking advantage of the distraction and the blind spot.\nIt swiftly closed the distance between them and lashed out with a Dragon Claw\nthat streaked trails of white light through the air. The tail of Brendan's Salamence unexpectedly flicked upwards\nin a fluid arcing motion that was heavy with momentum to strike the ambushing\nSalamence in the base of the jaw in an uppercut strong enough to dislodge bone\nand it was toppled onto its back with a resounding crash, its surprise attack neutralised\nbefore it had a chance to connect. Drawing inspiration, the remaining duo struck out with their\ntails too. One coiled around a foreleg of Brendan's Salamence and the other\nsnagged one of his hind legs. The tails pulled taut to stretch the Salamence's\nlimbs in opposite directions. Having already recovered from the surprise blow, the third\nSalamence launched itself with a burst of air again at the awkwardly restrained\none, landing a direct Double-Edge attack that sent Brendan's ally across the\ncave at a terrible velocity before he impacted the far wall in an explosion of\ndust and flying rubble.   Brendan's Salamence arose out of the dissipating cloud of\ndust on his feet, mostly unharmed apart from a couple of bruises along its body.However, as he squared off for a fresh bout against his\nenemies, the steady beat of pulsing wings interrupted them.  Brendan watched in horror as another pair of Salamence\nhovered down from the highest level of the cave to form ranks with the first\nthree, possibly attracted by the din of the battle.   Undeterred, Brendan's Salamence let out a shrieking roar rumbling\nwith pugnacious defiance that was answered fivefold. The battle began anew.For a brief moment, Brendan thought that his supporter might\nstand a chance, but that childish optimism was reduced to cinders as his\nSalamence became quickly overwhelmed, hammered and bruised by one attack after\nanother as the horde of enemy Salamence unleashed their fury on him without a\nshred of mercy.  I need to help him!Brendan tried to crawl over to where his party lay in\njumbled Poké Balls but his limbs would not obey him at all. He could not break the effect of the spell, the source of which was these\nmanifestations of his darkest fear standing not even twenty metres from him,\nand could only lie there, petrified.  \"Help me!\"It was a futile outburst borne out of desperation but miraculously,\nas if his plea had somehow reached them in their stasis, the Poké Balls quivered\nand then burst open one by one, releasing their passengers in a multitude of\nflashing lights - Milotic, Absol, Aggron, Gardevoir and Sceptile.  Without waiting for an order from their trainer, Brendan's\nPokémon sprang into action at once, splitting up and racing to confront the Salamence\ngang.Absol threw its head back while dashing straight at the group\nof dragons. The elongated horn on its head glowed and fired off a crescent\nshaped blade of energy that spun through the air and hit one of them in the\nback of its shoulder, catching its attention. The Salamence stomped around to face Absol, snarling, and\nretaliated by propelling itself straight at the mammalian Pokémon with its wings\noutstretched and skull primed for a debilitating Headbutt attack.  Gardevoir glided in front of\nAbsol and conjured a number of translucent hexagonal panes that all attached to\neach other to form a defensive charm that repelled the Salamence's charge with\na bright ping like ringing metal.All the other wild Salamence, too, wheeled about in order to\ndeal with the wave of new threats assailing them from behind, abandoning the\ncaning of their fellow Salamence. One aimed a Dragon Breath at the Sceptile rushing it, but\nthe jungle gecko sprang nimbly into the air with an incredible lightness,\nsomersaulting several times in quick succession over the head of its attacker. Landing\nprecisely on the Salamence's back, Sceptile slammed down with an unavoidable\nLeaf Blade.  Brendan's Salamence seized a laggard and twisting it back\nabout, he brought it in close until their foreheads clanged together with a\nsickening crunch. The Headbutt left the other Salamence reeling and dazed with\npain. Brendan's ally instantly followed up with a Dragon Claw that pummeled it\nright down into the earth, and it did not get up again afterwards.In the meantime, Gardevoir and Absol worked together to\nbring down their opponent but were unable to make much headway. After Gardevoir\nwould block each physical attack with Reflect, Absol would then charge in to\ncounterattack, but was unable to deal any real significant damage.Just as Gardevoir was on the verge of directly attacking the\nSalamence itself, the latter spread its jaw wide to charge a swirling ball of\ndazzlingly bright orange energy. The Hyper Beam cut through the air toward\nGardevoir and Absol.    Brendan's Salamence pounced in front of the two Pokémon and\nfired off his own Hyper Beam. The two arrows of energy met and struggled\nmomentarily against one another before merging into a singular force that\nimmediately collapsed upon itself in a tremendously powerful explosion that\nsent every surrounding combatant flying. Absol was slammed into the base of a\nnearby amethyst stalagmite while Gardevoir and the friendly Salamence were strewn\nchaotically far across the cave.      The enemy Salamence was the first to recover, appearing out\nof the thick, dark smoke that poured in all directions from the epicentre of\nthe devastation to finish them off.Milotic suddenly streaked high through the air like an\nelegant twirling ribbon. With a high-pitched whine much like a laser, it unleashed a\njagged bolt of Ice Beam that locked the attacking Salamence in place who shrieked\nin pain as its legs were encrusted in blooming crystals of ice so ruthlessly\ncold that they burned like fire.Gardevoir, Absol and the allied Salamence then combined\nattacks in order to take down the trapped Salamence for good, easily smashing\nright through and shattering the thick and tall ice crystals imprisoning it. Having already dispatched the Salamence it had initially\nencountered on its own at some point during the battle, Sceptile had now joined\nAggron in a pitched double battle against the remaining two wild Salamence.The battle was brought to a standstill when Milotic,\nGardevoir, Absol and the allied Salamence flooded onto the scene, all four of\nthem filing up at Sceptile and Aggron's backs to reinforce them. It was now six\non two.Recognising an unwinnable fight, the pair retreated without\nfurther ado, flexing their wings and taking flight, soaring back up into the\ndarkness behind that high waterfall at the top shelf of the cave from whence\nthey came.After they were gone, Sceptile spat in disgust at their\ncowardice before joining the rest of Brendan's Pokémon, who had all crowded\naround their trainer in collective concern. \"I'm okay - I'm not hurt,\" Brendan assured them, flashing a\nweak smile as he finally stood up with some trouble. \"You all...actually heard me\nwhen I called, thank you...and thank you\n-\" he added quietly, directing his words at the only Salamence left behind; the\nPokémon that had protected him and who was one that had run him over so long\nago, \"- for saving me.\" Aware of the fact that it was possible that more Salamence\ncould attack them again at any time, Brendan led the group through the nearest\nexit to a natural rock platform outside, which they found to be very close to\nthe top of Meteor Falls.        Even now, it was still difficult for Brendan to look at the\nSalamence meandering along at his side without feeling an anxiety that was\nalmost suffocating, and did his best to avoid eye contact.But when Brendan glimpsed Salamence's clawed feet scraping\nthe ground as they turned around to point at him at the borderline of his\nvision, he forced himself to raise his sight to their owner.  Salamence had his head downcast in a deferential sort of way\nand his front legs were bent. For one confused second, the boy thought that\nSalamence was bowing to him but then understood the meaning of the invitation. \"You want me to ride on your back?\" Salamence fixed Brendan with a dark eye that gleamed with\naffirmation. This was the small Pokémon that Brendan had rescued and\ncared for over half a year ago - the one that recklessly leapt of cliffs, broke\nbenches and happily quaffed down his own ice cream.  It was the same obstinate and vibrant soul.\nBut, he was still a Salamence. In his mind's eye, he had a terrible vision of this gentle\nSalamence violently turning on him, slicing grievous cuts across the head with\nhis claws and spattering crimson blood everywhere just like the vicious beast\nthat ravaged him as a child had done.Cracks of uncertainty and apprehension flitted through\nBrendan. No matter what, he still could not shake off that connate fear that\nexisted within him like some irremovable parasite. He took an unconscious step\nbackwards; a physiological response that was not missed by the Salamence who\ndid nothing to react but to hold its posture exactly, unblinking and patient. I can't...Just as the pathetic lament echoed in Brendan's mind, he\nsensed a wave of peacefulness wash over him like warm water. This was followed\nby another, and then another, and yet another; each tide gradually rinsing away\nthe reservations and insecurities that tormented him.Subsequently, Brendan felt a shift in his mental equilibrium,\nlike a door that had been shut for a long time had been thrown suddenly open.\nAnd then, there came a fountain of unfamiliar feelings that were not his -\naching loneliness, hopeful yearning, tempered patience, trust, and underlying\nall of it was a burning flame of unbreakable and honest loyalty.   Brendan glanced behind him and saw his Gardevoir lowering it\narms and opening its eyes, and he understood. It had projected its Calm Mind\nonto him to soothe his inner conflict and then used its powers to establish an\nempathic link between his mind and Salamence's, allowing him to directly\nexperience Salamence's unspoken emotions firsthand.    It gave Brendan the conviction he needed but had been unable\nto bridge by himself. With new confidence, he reduced the gap between Salamence\nand himself until they were finally face to face. Lifting a hand, he hesitated\nfor a breath's duration as if making sure of his ability, and then placed it on\nthe side of that long blue neck.For a moment he stood there, breathless, wondrously\nmarveling at the sheer fact that he was able to simply touch a Salamence like\nthis after so many years of not being capable of even looking at a picture of\nthem. He turned back to his Gardevoir.\"Thank you...I...\" he said, at a loss for how he could convey\nthe level of gratitude he had, but the graceful Psychic-Type did not seem to\nrequire anything more and curtsied back. Salamence gave Brendan a gentle and encouraging nudge in the\nribs with its snout, bringing him out of his reverie.\"Right...I can do this!\" Using the inclined leg that Salamence offered to him as a\nfoothold, Brendan hoisted himself up onto the dragon's back and perched himself\nat the bottom of the neck where he would be the safest from the slipstream with\nhis feet on either side.Taking a moment to check that Brendan was securely lodged\nfirst, Salamence then took a running start by making a headlong dash for the\nend of the ledge.Brendan immediately had misgivings about what was about to\noccur.\"Wait...you're not going to -\" Salamence hurled them right off the cliff and they both plummeted\nstraight down the mountainside.\"WHAT THE HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL?!?!?!\" Brendan screamed. Practically in free fall, he frantically gripped with\neverything he had around the girth of Salamence's neck as he was dragged by the\ndragon's much heavier mass toward the earth at breakneck speed, his fingers a\nbrush away from slipping off. \"I THOUGHT YOU COULD FLY!\"Salamence cast his wings out wide and straight on either\nside with a sound akin to windswept sails and they curved sharply out of their\ndive until they were suddenly gliding silkily along a perfectly horizontal\nplane.The Dragon Pokémon glanced behind him at Brendan and the\nlight of amusement glimmering in its eyes could not have conveyed the message\nany clearer.Just kidding. \"Jerk.\" Brendan muttered under his breath.With a mighty blast from his wings, Salamence launched them\nupwards again into the fathomless heights of the deep and pristine blue night\nsky. Brendan's hands redoubled the strength of their grasp to the dragon as\nSalamence carved a steep ascent to gain altitude. Peering down, Brendan saw the entirety of Hoenn rolled out\nbeneath them from the smoking crater of Mt. Chimney as phosphoric as a live\ncoal all the way to the distant South-East islands where the Battle Tower rose\nlone and tall above all else with the moonlight glinting off its glass\nstructure and across to a small white patch at the foot of the mainland that\nwas actually the beach of Slateport.   They swooped, plunged, wove, looped and strafed without any\nrestraint through the balmy night air with Brendan laughing giddily all the\nwhile as he enjoyed the various maneuvers that Salamence pulled off as much as he\nwould a roller coaster. Salamence climbed even higher and Brendan thought that he\nwas striving for the heavens themselves as they approached a dense blanket of sheer\nwhite that might have been the sky's ceiling and before he knew it, everything\nwas cold, moist and foggy to the point that he was virtually blind...  It all vanished as quickly as he had been engulfed. His\nsight returned to him and it was as if they had broken through a wall and\ntrespassed into an entirely different world.The moon reigned as round and bright as the sun during the\nday over an endless sea of clouds just under them that stretched on as far as\nthe sky itself like some lunar-soaked desert of bumpy fields and swirling\nfluffy constructs the size of castles. As they cruised lazily over the tideless\npale and lumpy ocean, a flock of Altaria rose up below out from its depths to\naccompany them, their soft calls like song. \n Brendan shivered. Not only had he been drenched through and\nthrough from condensation but whereas the temperature had been pleasantly warm\ncloser to the ground, all the way up here it was absolutely freezing and was\nonly made worse by the wind dragging and snapping at his clothes as they flew.  There was nothing but hushed silence up in this secret\nworld, save for the gushing wind moaning in Brendan's ears and the occasional\nbar of the Altarias' music. The quiet almost had a solemnity to it, as if\npaying respect to the grandeur of the transcendent wonder that was the\nimmeasurable void looming right over the two where the blue sky darkened into\nthe beginnings of space. Here, before the splendour of the engorged full moon that seemed\nso close and a hundred billion haphazard battalions of winking stars, the sights\nof what was beyond their tiny world were in full bloom - planetary bodies like\nspherical giants, glowing blue and green trails of mysterious cosmic aurora and\nmulti-coloured miasmic fireworks of unimaginable phenomena. Eventually, the two returned to the ground after whiling\naway most of the night away flying, with Salamence touching down lightly\nadjacent to a tall and majestic waterfall at the base of Meteor Falls.The earlier titanic battle had left them caked in dirt and\ngrime so Brendan was thankful for the opportunity to wash, wasting no time in\njumping straight into the rocky pool that caught the waterfall without even\nremoving his clothes first.Scooping up the icy water, Brendan rinsed his face four or\nfive times, each cold slap stinging but leaving him ultimately refreshed.\nPinching his nose, he dipped his entire head below the surface and then popped\nback up again a few seconds later. He glanced over to where Salamence was currently showering\nunder the dense curtain of falling water and found himself struck by the way\nthat stray droplets streaked down its low slung strong torso.  This is the Pokémon\nthat risked his own life by turning on his own kind to save mine. Even after when\nI had turned my back on him and wasted that amazing amount of faith and trust\nthat kept him waiting all that time me to come back, and I never did.       Acting on an inner compulsion, Brendan waded across the\nbasin to the dragon Pokémon. He reached up to cup both sides of Salamence's\nmuzzle in his gloves and pulled the beast's head down until it was low enough\nfor him to stamp a firm kiss on the tip of his snout and then rest his forehead\nagainst it. \"I'm sorry.\"Brendan's simple apology was weighted in tones of pained\nsorrow and indelible regret. With those glittering rubies of his stashed away behind\nfallen eyelids, Brendan felt Salamence's tongue breezily lap once at his face -\na universal expression common to all Pokémon that communicated nothing but pure\naffection.  Brendan couldn't help but smile without opening his eyes. It\nwas a simple answer for a simple apology. He leaned his head around the snout to\nplant his lips against the corner of Salamence's long mouth. Salamence's maw unsealed and his tongue ventured forth again\nto swipe Brendan's cheek, but this time it wasn't a gesture of forgiveness - the\nway that it skated over his skin, prodding the lobe of his ear and sketching\nthe shadow of his jaw was much more intimate than just a friendly interaction. As Salamence's tongue flicked in and out from under that\nsnout, darting across the boy trainer's face, Brendan let his mouth open so he\ncould introduce his partner's slimy and much larger sensory appendage to his\nown but his quarry was too busy moving to its own rhythm and they ended up\nbumping or grazing only two or three times.Brendan drew back after a few minutes of their outstretched\ntongues dancing and twisting sloppily together out in the open air, his eyes\nwide as if though he had just realised what they had done. Wow. Did I really\njust?... Even as that bashful thought transpired, Brendan couldn't\nhelp but notice that Salamence tasted comparable to raw meat except warm and\nmoist and think to himself that it really shouldn't have been that surprising\nand that he should probably start getting used to having his steaks rare.     The two went back to cleaning themselves in the rock pool\nand after they were done they prepared to depart the area.\"The others are probably wondering what's taking us so\nlong,\" Brendan surmised, as he clambered atop his companion. Salamence threw its wings out and the two took to the skies\nonce more where the colours of a newly minted morning were gradually spreading\nacross the distant horizon and draining the last dregs of night away.    ","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/797848-first-flight-chapter-2.json"}