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TEEN: Dragony

Well then! Things are certainly moving a along at a fast clip! While I did expect it to take them a little longer to infiltrate the castle, there's definitely something to be said for a story that gets right to the point, and I can appreciate that.

I liked all the details once they got into Farindon! The banter between the guards was fun and the scene with Brent was friggin hilarious (hey, maybe this dragon revolution could wind up benefiting him as well? Of course, the Mega thing that Namo mentioned would be equally funny.) And I'm impressed you managed to work in so many different dragon species doing different things! I dunno why I was amused by the fact that the kingdom is constantly getting friend requests envoys from random new guilds that fall apart soon afterward.
:p


And then, the infiltration! Like Namo said, it went quite a bit easier than I was expecting, but I don't think dragging it out would've been a benefit anyway. Bella's song got a chuckle out of me too. (Random side note, but if Bella ever mega-evolved she'd be able to thrash the king so hard lmao. Dat 4x weakness.) And argh! That cliffhanger! Gahh, I love the tension you set up there. Even though I'm pretty sure he won't evolve, I also don't think you'd just have nothing come out of this, but I have no idea what's gonna happen argh!

So yeah, looking forward to the finale!
 
haha remember when i said this part would be the last well that turned out to be wrong also, the one after this will be the last (i mean it guys srsly guys)

still rated teen ok let's go

---

Part Five

---​

Blazing white energy surfaced on Keith's skin. It tingled, even seared, but Keith didn't mind - in fact, he loved it.

The energy clung to the eevee's body, molding and reshaping in like wet clay. His limbs and neck lengthened. His tail and ears became thinner. His collar of fluff was shed. Something in his eyes changed - though, naturally, he couldn't see what.

He felt stronger. His teeth felt tougher, sharper. He knew he was a beast, no longer a puny, helpless cub.

The energy finally subsided. Keith could see his surroundings again - and much better now. The darkness was thinner and all details sharper.

So this is how dragons see! I knew it, their sight is so much superior! And now I'll use it to take a good look at my awesome new dragon body!

Keith tore his gaze away from the Dragon Plate and looked down.

...Wait. This is…

He looked over his shoulder. His suspicion was confirmed.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

---

Bella tapped her foot on the throne room's floor, anxiously glancing at the slumbering dragons around her. She fidgeted with the brown leather bag around her neck, a bag she'd snatched from one of the sleeping servants with the help of more sleep-chanting. The emptied contents, tidily organized, still lay beside the servant. To Bella, it was the least she could do.

“Come on, Keith, what's taking you so long…” Bella whispered to herself, rubbing her wings together. “Is he maybe so impressed by the Plate that he’s forgotten the time limit?”

She plunged her head into the throne's tunnel as far as she could. While her neck was long, it didn't even reach the halfway point.

“Keith! Hurry it up!” she hissed at the orb at the tunnel's end, though considered it somewhat likely that sound would not carry over the teleportational medium.

However, as if it’d heard after all, the orb began to glow. Bella withdrew her neck, dashed to the window and begun to heave it open. She grunted at its considerable weight, but her determination kept her strength unwavering.

As she kept her eyes on the entrance of the tunnel, a doubt crept into her mind. What if Keith really had evolved, and his new form was too big for the tunnel? He’d be stuck in there, probably in pain! What would they do then?

The entrance began to glow. A draconic aura emanated from it, growing stronger by the second. Bella sighed, her mind now at ease. She gave the window one last push to open it fully. A click came from the frame, signalling that the window was now fixed with the help of some locking mechanism. Bella rushed for the throne, ready to take her partner-in-crime onto her back and fly off.

Right as she made it there, a mon gruntingly squeezed its way out onto the seat of the throne, the Draco Plate between his jaws. Bella smiled for a split second, happy for her friend to have gained a new form - until she recognized what she saw.

The umbreon gazed at the ground, slit-pupilled eyes bitter and teary.

“Oh, Keith…”

Stomps arose behind the door, cutting their moment short.

“Sleeping on the job?” shouted a female voice. “You disgust me! Utter failures as guards, that's what you are!”

“Quick! We need to get out of here!” Bella whispered, opened the bag and held it out to Keith. After he'd dropped the glowing Plate within, she turned around. “Get on my back, and hold tight!”

Keith nodded and did as asked. He wrapped his forelegs around Bella’s neck, and the two flew out of the window.

“Phew,” sighed Bella, “crisis averted. Looks like we’ll still be able to make it to the meetup spot without much trou-”

Keith’s ears perked. “Wait, do you hear that?”

“Hear wh-what?”

Then Bella heard it as well. A familiar drone. “A lati… oh Gods, this is not good. H-how close do you reckon they are?”

Keith squinted. “I can see them. Her. A latias, right to the front, between those two bright stars, can you spot her?”

“Oh Gods,” Bella breathed as she, too, spotted the red cross-like silhouette. “It’s way too late to dive down and make a fog cloak - she’ll see it and know it’s suspicious. W-we just need to go right past her and play it cool. Though I don't know if that's gonna work with a non-dragon on my back as I'm leaving a dragon-only city…”

Keith grimaced in distress. Of course I have to not only evolve into the wrong form, but it has to be what makes the plan fail, too… He grit his teeth. This wouldn't even be a problem if I'd turned into a dragon like I was supposed to! Instead I'm just… an umbreon! What can an umbreon even do?

He paused at that thought. Hold on… that guard I met right before leaving Pelton… could I do that too?

He sighed. It's worth a try, at least…

“Bella!” he said, neck extended to get as close as he could to her head. “I'm gonna try to melt into the shadows!”

“You're gonna what?”

“K-key word is try! Just don't be alarmed if it looks like I disappeared - that's what I'll be trying to do!”

Bella didn't feel like she quite understood, but nodded nonetheless. “Okay. But be careful!”

“I will, thanks…”

Keith closed his eyes. He concentrated on his surroundings. He looked for the shadow, the cold to the moonlight's warmth. He could sense it, blurrily, much like the normal energies he could as an eevee.

There was much of that darkness beneath him, but he knew he couldn't use his own shadow - it'd disappear once he did. Back in Pelton, Mila told me once that if the water a vaporeon was merged in evaporated, it meant death, or loss of body parts if some didn't make it out in time… Keith gulped. It could just have been a myth, but I'm not taking my chances.

He opened his eyes and studied Bella's back. But what about the space underneath her feathers? They've got to add up to enough surface together, and the light can't make it all the way to her skin. That won't change no matter what turns she takes. But I don't know if I'll be able to enter that straight from here… He frowned. W-well, I still don't know if I can enter shadows at all…

“A-are you doing it, Keith?” asked Bella. “The latias is coming right at us…!”

“I'm gonna try now! Just keep it cool!”

Keith took a deep breath, then focused on the forepaw he had on Bella's shadow side. Uhh, how do I do this… please, new instincts or something, give me an idea…!

A thought passed his mind and he took it. Still keeping Bella's shadow in mind, he concentrated now on the shadow underneath his paw. On his paw. Inside his paw. Light couldn't get inside him, that was true. Which means almost all of him, in reality, was in shadow. He was shadow. And that shadow on Bella's neck, that was just like him…

“Whoa!” he cried. The matter beneath his paw had given way. It had submerged in it like a puddle… but also not. Puddles had depth, this felt all surface, yet still, the paw was in it…

Seizing the chance, he pushed his foreleg deeper. He shuffled his body closer and sunk his side in. Yes! I'm doing it!

The background drone that had gradually gotten louder before now abruptly faded. “Oh, hi!” greeted a female voice from afar.

No, I still need time!

“H-hi!” replied Bella to the slowed down latias - barely. The terror of getting caught mixed with the strange sensations and disappearing weight on her back were not gentle on her nerves.

“Whatcha got there on your back?” asked the latias, decelerating with the help of her psychic powers. She craned her neck to take a better look, but Bella turned fully to the latias, flapping her wings far faster to make up for the lost uplift in slowing down.

Keith flinched at the shadows shifting at first, but realized Bella's neck cast one right on her back. Perfect!

He breathed in sharply and dove the rest of himself in.

Entirely submerged in the shadow, his vision and hearing were gone. There were no longer any sounds or sights - only shadows of different sizes, locations and angles. Even strengths. One area had lots of little shadows arising from a large, smooth one. Keith realized this was Bella's plumage, and moved within.

Thank goodness… now I'm safe. I can breathe easy…

...no, wait. I can't breathe. I'm a shadow. B-but I need to breathe. It's starting to feel bad… I’ll need to come out again soon.

Wait… how do I come out?


In the material world, the two avian mons’ conversation continued.

“Wh-what do you mean?” replied Bella, feigning confusion.

“There was something on your back,” said the latias. “It looked weird, but also cool! What is it?”

“No, there's nothing --”

The latias glowed blue, then disappeared, then reappeared behind the altaria's back. Bella peeped in distress.

“Huh…” The latias tilted her head, puzzled by the empty back. “I could’ve sworn there was something…”

Bella sighed in relief as stealthily as she could.

“Sorry, that's my bad, then!” chimed the red mon and circled back to Bella's front. “Must've just been seeing things. Well, be seeing you. Fly on!”

She waved with her arm, then retracted it and zoomed towards the castle tower.

“Thank the Gods,” Bella sighed again and resumed her previous course. “Okay, Keith, I think you can come out now.”

Having received no response, she looked over her shoulder. “...Keith?”

---

Cheri’s wings continued to cleave the air as she got closer and closer to the castle's tower.

Altaria have such pretty feathers, she thought to herself, and that one was no exception. I wish I could have a crest like that.

As she reached the tower, she dove straight for the open window. Weird that it's open like that… but maybe they wanted to ventilate the place a bit. It could use that, honestly. The king's got a kind of musk…

She peered in, studying the throne room to see if she was interrupting anything. Inside was the king along with some guards and servants… and Garchomp Kaora.

Cheri wrinkled her snout. Ugh, miss Big Shot’s here… and she looks pissed. Is she gonna whine at me, too?

Kaora's eyes widened as she noticed the latias. “Cheri! What are you doing here?”

“Wow, nice to see you, too,” Cheri scoffed. “I came ‘cause I forgot to bring something up during my report. My weather goggles broke the other day and I could really use --”

“To hell with your goggles!” shouted Kaora, drawing an indignant humph from Cheri. “We've got a far more important issue at hand! The Draco Plate has been stolen!”

“The Draco Plate…? Oh, that thingy.”

“Cheri, this is important. Did you catch sight of an altaria on the way here?”

“Oh, her? Yeah, I talked to her. She was pretty.”

Kaora threw her fins in the air. “You idiot, that was the thief! Did the massive energy radiating from the Plate not tip you off?”

“There wasn’t that much energy… and I thought she just had a strong aura!”

“Altaria are the most docile dragons the Original put on this earth! Shouldn’t you of all people know that, miss Mon Profiler?”

Now Cheri was the one to throw her forelimbs in the air. “Well excuse me, Head of Guard! How was I supposed to know a thief was on the loose before I even heard anything was stolen?”

Kaora nearly shouted something back, but restrained herself with a deep breath. She brought her claws together and reminded herself what was important.

“Cheri,” she began patiently but sternly, “as Head of Guard, I order you to go after this thief and retrieve the Draco Plate. The pride and fate of the Dragon Kingdom depends on it.”

“Why should I be the one?” Cheri groaned. “It’s not my fault it got swiped. And what’s so important about this stupid little plate, anyw-”

“Latias Cheri!” shouted Kaora. “I have given you an order! If you fail to comply, I will have all the reason in the world to discharge - no, not just discharge you from the Guard, exile you for treason!”

Cheri gasped. “No, what the hell? That’s so unfair! R-right, guys? Guys?”

She glanced at every face in the room, searching for support, but each one only gave a serious stare back.

“As the overwhelmingly fastest dragon available, Cheri, this is your duty,” pressed Kaora. “Now go, and do not return without the Plate!”

“Wh… I...” Cheri searched again for backup, but found none. “Fine!” she snapped. Little arms crossed, she took to the starry sky, and zoomed back towards the way she came.

---

O-okay, don’t panic! Panicking’s just gonna make it worse! Just calm down and think… you got here by realizing everything beneath your fur and skin was shadow. Now what’s light about you? The surface? But that’s only light if it’s lit. And there’s no light in this shadow world, only the absence of darkness, so what could I possibly even come out of?

Keith began to feel pressure around him. Little by little, it grew stronger, squeezing his consciousness...

Oh Gods, is that the lack of air getting to me? Is this death? Is this dying? If I’m dying, this is the worst day ever! W-well, it already was, because I evolved into the wrong form, but it’s… worster! The worstest!

The pressure surged.

O-oh Gods, here it comes --

With one shove came an explosion of sensory stimuli. Whooshing of air, sensation of said air pouring into Keith’s airways, darkness one could actually see, pinpricks of light.

I’m… I’m back in the material world! Yes! I-I don’t know how I did that, but that’s gre-

Gravity. Acceleration downwards.

Wait, oh Gods, I’m falling!

“Gaaaah!” he screamed, limbs flailing but finding nothing to cling onto. The dots of the sky became streaks as he plummeted faster and faster.

“Keith!” Bella shouted. She closed her wings and dove down beak first like a spear. She sank through the air a little faster than Keith, eventually catching up.

“Hold on, I’ve got you!” she said - though her voice was largely drowned out by another scream from Keith as he'd managed to catch a glimpse of the dim snow rapidly approaching beneath him. The altaria ignored it and swooped beneath Keith. She angled her body horizontally to catch more resistance, slowing down her fall enough for the umbreon above to lower onto her back.

Keith flinched as he felt something press onto his back, but thanked his luck it wasn’t the ground. He stopped his scream and flipped around, wrapping his forelegs around Bella’s neck. His eyes widened again at the ground only meters away.

“Are you holding on tight?” asked Bella, hesitantly beginning to unfold her wings.

“I’m on, fly up, fly up, fly up!” Keith screamed in terror.

The altaria braced for impact and spread her wings wide. The air crashed against them, but slid off the back ends, sending Bella gliding in a forward slope less steep by the moment. The snow still approached, but slower and slower, until the altaria’s feet gently grazed the flakes on its surface.

Bella swerved to the left and kept her angle, catching herself in a shrinking spiral on the empty field. Eventually, her momentum fell to a manageable level, and she let herself lower onto the snow. She came to a stop.

“...Ow,” she sighed. “Keith, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I am,” Keith replied, hopping off. “Are you?”

“Well, I’m not dead, but...” She unfolded her wings, wincing. “That air hit my wings pretty hard… I don’t think I can take off for a while.”

“Oh no...” Keith looked to the sky with a frown. “This is all my fault...”

“No, no, that’s not true,” Bella rushed to say and shuffled through the snow to the umbreon. “Your shadow thing worked! The latias was totally fooled! You just couldn’t get out right because you were in such a difficult spot. And I hurt my wings only because I didn’t have enough time to ease myself into the glide. It was just an accident. And, well, we’re not that far away from the meetup spot!” She pointed to the woods to their right, recoiling slightly from the pain in her arm. “We can walk.”

Keith sighed. “Okay...”

They began trudging through the snow in the direction Bella had shown. Keith took the lead, even if it didn’t help much with his smaller size. He felt that he should repay Bella’s efforts somehow.

I guess she’s right about it being an accident, he thought. I can’t blame myself for the bad exit when I didn’t know how it was even supposed to be done. But I can blame myself for trying something so reckless in the first place. While it seems like you’re just ejected automatically after too long in the shadow, I didn’t know that. It was cocky of me to think I could perfectly figure out something I saw once just like that… it was crazy that I even managed to get in. I should’ve thought of a better, much safer idea...

As they entered the cluster of birches, their trek became easier thanks to the thinner blanket of snow. Both of the mon kept glancing back at the sky above, alert for any motion.

“So, Keith,” began Bella carefully.

“Hm?”

“...Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I already said I was, and you got way more hurt --”

“No, I mean like...” Bella sighed. “The evolution thing.”

Keith realized his new form again. “...Oh.” His throat tightened.

Bella caught up a bit closer. “If you don’t wanna tell me, it’s fine, but… what happened in the chamber?”

“I guess I should talk about it… get it out of my system, start processing it right…”

Keith stared at his paws. “So I got in the chamber just like I should, and the Plate was there. I could feel its massive energy, its power, and I thought it just had to be what I needed. I was so stoked when I touched it that, apparently, the happiness was enough to trigger a different path of evolution. And since it was nighttime…” He exhaled heavily. “Here we are.”

“Oh, Keith… I'm so sorry. That's really unfair.”

“I know, right?” He sniffled. “I was totally prepared to not evolve after all, I mean, I’ve been doing that since I was born, but I never thought I was gonna permanently ruin my… chances...” The sentence stuck to his throat.

“Keith, Keith, come here...” Bella wrapped her cloudy wings around the umbreon and leaned onto him.

Keith leaned back, eyes squinted and wet. Their embrace was warm but short-lived as Keith soon pried himself away.

“We should keep going,” he said. “Some troops are probably scouring the area already.

Bella nodded, and the two continued on their way in silence.

Eventually, after hundreds of trees passed by, they spotted the silhouette of familiar carriage in the distant dark. Its windows gave a faint glow through their curtains. The pair rushed their final stride, still glancing at the sky every now and then, and finally arrived at the meetup spot.

Molly, standing still in her harness, gave a gentle, pleased snort upon recognizing Bella, but seemed a bit wary of her black-furred companion.

“Yeah, it's me, good girl,” Bella whispered. “Sorry you had to be out here in the cold for so long…”

She faced the carriage door and gave the secret knock with her beak. The curtains on the window parted slightly with a sliver of Ared's face visible. His eyes widened, and the door was promptly opened.

“Bella, great,” said Ared, but froze only a second after. He pointed at Keith. “Who's that? Was he following you?”

“Calm down, it's just Keith,” Bella said, clapped her wings free of snow and entered the carriage. “There was just… an accident. Come on in, Keith.”

Keith climbed in mareepishly, shaking the snow off his paws outside as well before shuffling further in past the dragons’ legs and luggage. Doris, still contained in her bag-garment, greeted both mon with words while Rog gave a happy grunt.

Ared closed the door. “So how about the Plate? Did you get it?”

Bella nodded and took off her bag. Ared noticed her wince at something in her wings’ motions.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, then glared at Keith, who shrank in his seat.

“It's not his fault,” Bella interjected. “We both had our own accidents, okay?” She dug her wings in the bag. “Let's not dwell on that. Look at this!”

She produced the shimmering Plate. The other dragons gasped in unison.

“That’s so cool!” whispered Doris. “I can, like, feel how powerful it is, dude!”

Rog nodded, grinning. “Ruh!”

“It's neat, for sure,” remarked Ared, “but we better get going. I'll drive first. Doris, keep your antennae perked for any latis.”

“Will do,” the goodra replied, and Ared slipped out of the carriage. A few seconds later, the vehicle jerked into motion.

Keith hopped up onto the seat next to Bella, who began to tell the others all that had happened. The umbreon nodded along and smiled when Bella smiled, but his mind dwelled on different matters.

Now that he'd realized his shadow-sense, he couldn't ignore it. He could feel the presence of each shade from each object, every area void of the carriage lantern's light.

Each spot of black could give way beneath his paws and trap his body in the shadow world once again, forcing his breath to cease until he'd suffered enough and spit him back out. And what if there had been no safety mechanism after all, and the previous time had only been a lucky break?

Keith shook his head. No, I should be honest with myself… I’m not that scared of the shadows in the end. It took me a lot of concentration to slip in the previous time, I doubt it can happen so easily by accident. I should admit what's really bothering me.

Bella said the bad landing was an accident, and maybe it was, but what about evolving in the first place? I'm an eevee, I know how umbreon evolve, but I didn't think about it, I didn't make sure it was actually the Plate making me evolve. If I'd taken a step back, I would've realized it wasn't dragon-related. Then I could've suppressed it like I've already done a few times before and stayed an eevee… which in turn could have passed off as feral, and Bella wouldn’t have ended up getting hurt, and we wouldn't have wasted so much time walking and probably letting the guards get closer on our tracks…


He placed a paw on his forehead. Maybe I even cost these dragons their future with this stupid plan? I shouldn’t have egged them on… I should’ve stayed at home… oh Gods, how worried must my parents be…!

“You okay, Keith?” Bella asked, nudging him with a wing.

“O-oh, yeah, I’m fine,” Keith said. “Just... tired.” After all I’ve done… I don’t want to cause undeserved worry, too.

Bella smiled slightly. “Well, you’re free to sleep if you want to. You don’t have a driving shift.”

“Thanks...” I guess I might as well… I don’t feel like I deserve a rest, but I might be able to help later on and I’d like to give the best I can.

He lay down and curled up. His sleek black tail and its pale ring marking stared back at him. He sighed at the loss of his cub-form’s fluff, though did admit there’d be even less with a scaly tail.

The carriage’s journey continued for an hour or two. The dragons took turn driving, except for Doris, who was deemed busy enough with her listening. Each time she heard a lati’s drone, she warned the driver, who parked the carriage and returned inside for the duration of the psychic dragon’s flight. This constant scouting did mean Doris was the only one who wasn’t allowed to rest, but from what Keith could tell, she seemed to be handling it just fine.

But Doris wasn’t the only one who didn’t rest - the thoughts that bothered Keith made sure of that. They stayed in Keith’s mind, circling like mandibuzz, nipping at his heart with each regrettable memory that surfaced. The siege did not end before a call came from the current driver - Ared again - announcing the arrival to the seashore. Not that they entirely left after it.

This port was much larger than the one Keith had arrived on. The increase in size and amount of piers allowed for the operation of not only more lapras, but even wailord liners. These forms of transportation involved a wailord wearing a harness attached to both a saddle above it and a ferry behind it. This saddle-platform was naturally remarkably heavy and required a dozen strong flyers to take on and off.

After scouting the area to make sure none of the king's guard were present, Ared bought wailord liner tickets for the crew, and the carriage was driven onto the ferry. Molly was released from her harness and brought to the stable at the front. Several minutes later, the horn was sounded to announce the departure, and the wailord slowly began to paddle.

The group decided then to call it a night. They lay down in the carriage as comfortably as they could, which wasn't very, but was bearable and helped a little by the clothes they'd spread out for cushioning.

The greatest of cushions, however, was Doris enveloped in her bag. She didn't mind letting someone rest their head on her, so Rog and Ared played grass-water-fire for the spot. Ared won with fire, which Rog claimed was only because he'd expected Ared to take him for a rookie that uses fire. Ared would then choose water, and that's why Rog used grass. Ared claimed that he knew exactly what Rog had speculated and thought ahead, but Rog claimed that Ared had only picked fire because he himself was a rookie and just got lucky. Doris then said that if the argument went on, she'd make both sleep outside and let Bella sleep on her instead. The boys begrudgingly quieted. Given Rog's unique manner of speaking, Keith could barely tell what had just happened.

Shortly after, the mon of the carriage lay down to sleep - with the exception of Bella, who said she still wanted to take a short walk on the saddle, or as any passenger would call it, the deck. Promising to bring the least disturbance she could upon returning, she closed the door and left.

Bella ascended to the deck via one of the rope bridges attached to the leashes connecting the harness to the ferry. Only a few other mon seemed to be present, out to clear their heads or simply their lungs. The sky was mostly covered by the saddle's shelter, but by the edge, more could be seen. That's where Bella headed.

She sighed as she grasped the wooden railing. It was as cold out as before, but her plumage protected her from the chill quite well. She looked down at the sea crashing against the wailord's side, then up at the sky filled with stars. The moon, gibbous and waning, stared back as well, casting its pale veil upon the liner and the sea.

Bella closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her. The sea, the whirling air.

Finally, we're safe…

“You!”

Bella gasped, eyes opened in an instant. Wh-who? Wait, oh Gods, I know that voice --

“I finally caught you!” snapped the latias hovering in midair, keeping the same speed as the wailord. “I knew you were always hiding when you heard my high-speed hum!” She crossed her arms and held her head high. “Well, I don't always make noise! I just had fly slower, and while that took forever, here we finally are!”

Bella didn't reply, only leapt into a run for the ferry.

---
 
I like your focus on Pokémon biology, like Umbreon being able to see in the dark. The merging-with-shadows thing reminds me of what NightWings can do in Wings of Fire.

Also, your worldbuilding reminds me of Eon Fable by ScytheRider. The Vaporeon chapter involves a port town, but it has boats that aren't pulled by Pokémon.
 
He looked over his shoulder. His suspicion was confirmed.

“NOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Wait, he evolved... did he...

The umbreon gazed at the ground, slit-pupilled eyes bitter and teary.

Oh my god he was so happy that--

happiness was enough to trigger a different path of evolution. And since it was nighttime…

It makes perfect sense and I hate it. Good job.

I don’t feel like I deserve a rest, but I might be able to help later on and I’d like to give the best I can.

Yeesh, Keith made a complete 180 on his attitude this time around. He seemed to bounce back a bit when it was urgent and he had to actually escape, but once everything was calm, he definitely went into depression mode. Understandably so! But it's still a crazy side to see of him, but I guess this is one of the few things that would probably bring him down a peg or two.

--

So, overall, I thought this was an interesting chapter in terms of reversals and escapes, but it looks like there's one final act to take care of. You spoke on the discord servers that you're struggling on how to end things, and I can tell what you mean, particularly near the end. It seems like it sort of faded into a narration swamp for a while, and it was a bit like you were hastily nudging the story to wrap itself up. Hopefully this encounter that happened near the end, in what felt like a sort of "but wait!" to the false-ending of the story, would help to give things a sense of resolution, since Latias seems to be their final obstacle.
 
Heya, so I know this one has been giving you a lot of grief for awhile, but I found it pretty enjoyable. To start with, I thought the twist with Keith being so overjoyed at the idea of evolving that he evolved into the wrong thing was great, and makes perfect sense. I also liked how you described how his senses changed first before confirming what he'd actually become. The description of how he figured out how to melt into shadow was particularly fun. And Cheri is delightfully obnoxious as always.

And while the second half of the chapter was a bit uneventful compared to the first half, it did give you time to dig into Keith's emotions. After all, this wasn't a mere setback on his life's goal--this was a real, permanent end to that goal. Of course he'd be devastated. But I'm sure he'll come to realize that he basically played a major role in a dragon revolution, which is pretty damn cool in its own right.
 
well it's time to post this here now too, the final chapter of dragony. rated teen for fantasy violence and harsh language. hope you like very good yes

---

Part Six

---​

“Hey! Stay where you are!” shouted Cheri. “Just give me the Draco Plate, and no one has to get hurt!”

The altaria continued her silent run. She reached the rope bridge and stumblingly began to make her way down. The other passengers on deck began whispering to each other, wondering what was going on.

Cheri clenched her hands into fists. “You wanna do this the hard way, then? Fine!”

Her head craned back, and indigo-glowing energy gathered before her open mouth. Gold and magenta sparks flew as she fired the blast.

Bella, having noticed the attack just in time, knew to jump and take flight - flapping her wings was still painful, but she knew being caught in the blow would be far worse.

The blast made contact with the rope bridge, ripping it in half and splitting a few planks. The leash connecting the deck and ferry luckily withstood the blow, being made of sturdier materials.

Bella glided down to the ferry and continued to run, now for the group's carriage.

“Guys! Guys!” she shouted, panting. “They found us! Wake up!”

“Ngghhh… what's that yelling about?” mumbled Doris inside, body stirring underneath Ared's head.

Keith perked his ears. “Isn't that… Bella?”

A nearby boom shook the carriage. Everyone within jerked upright.

“Guys! Help! It's a latias!” Bella screamed from outside.

“Bella!” Ared exclaimed, grabbed his bag and burst out the door. He nearly collided with Bella, but she swerved just in time and hid herself against the carriage.

A few meters ahead was a small crater in the ferry, and some meters above that hovered a furious-looking latias. Around the scene, some mon had stepped out of their own carriages to see what was happening and now stared in shock.

“What happened?” Doris asked Bella, standing in the doorway at first but backing up to let through Rog, who took to the skies barely a second after his exit.

“I-I was out,” Bella began in panic, “and the latias just appeared out of nowhere! She saw me and recognized me and --”

“She didn't make any noise?”

“No, she said she flew slowly!”

Doris grabbed her head. “Ah, crap…”

Keith jumped off the bench. “Wh-what do we do now?”

A snap rang out.

“Ow! Hey, that's cheating!” shouted Cheri.

“I think the boys have the right idea,” Doris said. “We need to fight. We have four dragons, we should be able to take a lati on!”

“Three dragons,” corrected Bella. “I don't think I can fight in this state…”

“Right. Still, three should fare just fine.”

“Should I stay here to look after the Draco Plate?”

Doris paused, then grabbed the bag that held the Plate. “No. This is what she's after. I can't have you caught in any wreckage she'd bring with her. You stay here, but we'll keep the Draco Plate away!”

The dragons nodded. Bella stepped in and Doris hopped out.

“Wait!” shouted Keith. “What do I do?”

“Uhh…” Doris looked out of frame. “Rog!” she called, and soon the dragonite swiped by to take the bag off her hands.

She turned back to Keith. “Can you fight?”

Keith flinched. “Not r-really…”

“Then, uhmm…” She glanced around, then shook her head and ran out of view. “Just stay there!”

“...Right,” Keith sighed. “I'd just get in the way.”

He stared at the floor. And mess up everything, just like I always do…

Bella shuffled closer and softly leaned onto Keith. “You still feel bad about before, don’t you?”

Keith nodded. “I wish I could make up for everything by helping out, but… I have nothing to offer.”

“You’re doing the best you can,” the altaria comforted. “That’s all that matters. Sometimes the best you can do is doing nothing.”

“But I...” He groaned quietly. “I’m a dark type now. It should be great against a psychic type!”

“But you don’t know how to attack yet, do you?”

“I don’t… but I learned to do that shadow thing! Even if I don’t know how to get out right yet, I learned it really fast, so why shouldn’t I --”

“You can’t make those assumptions, Keith. And even if you did figure out how to do an attack, you’d need to test it out first so you wouldn’t accidentally hurt someone on your team. I know it must feel wrong to you, but staying here is the responsible thing to do. If you want to help, this is the best way to do it.”

“Hrmmh...” Keith lay down. He tried to release his tension, but couldn’t - instead, it recoiled and caused him to jolt right back up.

“I’m only going to watch,” he said before Bella could interject. “I should at least be there in spirit.”

“Well… alright,” Bella mumbled, watching Keith step out. “But be careful!”

Keith nodded with a slight smile and shut the door.

---

“What the hell?” growled Ared as he watched the latias zoom after Rog, no longer disorientated at all. “I hit her with the totter seed, you saw that! How come she recovered so fast?”

“Maybe it was a dud?” suggested Doris.

“Grhh…” Ared snatched another spherical seed from his bag and set it on the band of his trusted slingshot. “I guess. But if this next one fails, we'll know they all will.”

Doris nodded and began gathering up her own violet energy before her muzzle.

“What in blazes be all this ruckus about?” shouted an unfamiliar voice from afar. All mon outside turned in its direction, finding a lone clauncher on the edge of the deck.

“Buzz off, shrimpy!” snapped Cheri, halting her chase of Rog, who took the opportunity to catch his breath. “This is none of your business!”

“It be me business when when it have me ferry be torn apart, ye crook!” the clauncher screeched.

“Crook? I'm the one trying to stop these thieves! They took the Draco Plate, and I'm not stopping until I get it ba- ow!”

“Got her!” exclaimed Ared, pleased with another totter seed hitting its mark. “Doris!”

Doris fired her charged-up beam straight at Cheri. Unfortunately, the latias dodged just in time. The motion had a bit of a wobble, but soon stabilized, and the mon gave the ground-bound dragons a nasty glare.

“Damn it,” grunted Ared. “Looks like totter seeds are a no-go.”

Meanwhile, murmurs had arisen from the crowd that had gathered.

“The Draco Plate?”

Those guys stole the Plate?”

“But they don't even look that strong!”

“Or rich - look at that crappy carriage!”

“Some guard must have screwed up big time…”

“No, they have lots of guards watching over the throne room… they must all suck!”

“Where are those taxes going?”

“The King's breakfast buffet, I bet…”

Further in the background, the clauncher kept fuming, but none seemed to pay him any mind - possibly just from his speech getting so hectic it was barely comprehensible.

“Quit throwing those seeds!” snapped Cheri at Ared, but then sighed. “Ugh, forget it… I’m here for the Plate, nothing else matters! So give it!”

A strong telekinetic force took hold of the bag Rog carried over his shoulder. Before he could secure it in his hands, the bag yanked away, its strap snapping in half. The dragonite growled in distress and took flight after the bag, but he couldn't catch up. Cheri pulled it away too fast.

Finally, she caught it in her hands. Her smug expression signaled some triumphant remark to come, but it never came, as a pebble shot into her shoulder momentarily tore her claws off the bag - but long enough for the bag to fall and for Rog to catch it again.

“THAT'S IT!” screeched Cheri. “I'm gonna break you, haxorus boy!”

Instead of throwing her head back like Ared expected, she bowed it. Her eyes began to glow cyan. The space right before her forehead appeared to twist and waver, then a shimmering, pink light formed in the middle.

“Damn, she’s going psychic this time,” Ared grumbled. “Wh-what kind of attack will it be?”

He looked to Doris, but she was already running away. He grimaced, even if he knew that was probably the smart thing to do.

With a flicker of the light and a bone-shaking boom, Cheri’s distortion shot forwards, but its path was odd, twisting, unpredictable. Ared’s legs begged him to bolt, but his brain insisted exactly that would make the attack meet its target - which it became less and less certain of as the attack’s path stabilized, seeming to aim for his current spot instead, but the poor dragon’s joints had already been locked.

“Oh crap!” was all he could yell as he realized his fate had been sealed. Throwing his arms before him, even if it felt too late for that, he braced himself for the coming pain.

But it didn’t come. A shadow had leapt in from the left and intercepted the blast, which vanished upon their contact. The distortion rectified, and the light died like the flame of a candle blown out.

The shadow stood up straight, barely fazed by the blow, and shook its coat. Its markings glowed bright yellow.

“Keith?” Ared breathed.

Keith looked to him and Doris. He smirked. “Sorry for getting in the way.”

“Eaugh!” Cheri twisted her face to a degree even she must have known was excessive. “Of course you’ve gotta have a murkie with you too!”

Keith ignored her. “Guys, give me the bag!” he yelled to the dragons on his side. “If I’m holding it, she can’t yank it away with her psychic powers.” And I can finally help out in the fight, he thought, smiling.

“Gruh!” Rog swooped over Keith, dropping the bag. Keith caught it and peeked inside to confirm the Plate's presence. Still there, yes.

Cheri glared at the umbreon and the other dragons arriving by his side, ready to protect him. “Well, fine, no psychic attacks then!” she spat. “I have plenty of power in my dragon attacks alone.” Her eyes stuck to Keith. “And that'll serve as a lesson to you, non-dragon, that mammals shouldn't get that cocky!”

“Okay, guys!” Doris called. “Avoid her attacks, don't let any hit Keith, and any time you see an opening, blast her!”

Ared nodded determinedly and began to gather heat in his maw, but Rog barked in uncertainty.

Doris sighed. “Oh, right, your blizzard isn't fast enough and you have no other ranged attacks… um, fly up try to herd her into one spot. If she gets close, just scratch.”

“Ruh-huh.” Rog took flight.

Doris looked back at Cheri, who'd begun charging another blast of draconic energy. She stretched her legs to ready them for any necessary sprint, and prepared her own attack.

The first to finish was Ared. He leapt forward and a pillar of flame erupted from his mouth, directed at the latias. He almost smirked as it seemed the fire had engulfed the mon whole, but the corners of his lips drooped as he noticed her reappear right next to it, unharmed.

“Oh, great. She can teleport, too?” he grumbled, but began readying his next batch of flames nonetheless.

As Doris had hoped, Cheri's teleportation had reset her progress, meaning the goodra was the next to strike. Instead of simply launching her attack at the latias, though, she exchanged glances with Rog in the air. The dragonite understood - well enough, anyway, and fluttered his way behind Cheri.

Cheri, on the other hand, had her eyes on Keith, or more specifically, the bag held in his maw. She swerved rhythmically from side to side like an arbok flaunting its false face to a predator, all while the sparks leaking from her mouth grew brighter and more frequent.

Keith returned the stare, light on his paws. His heart pounded and thoughts raced. I do wonder what getting hit by a dragon blast would feel like… but if I test that out, it'll be with a dragon I like. Right now, I have a Plate to protect.

His eyes strayed, torn away by motion behind Cheri - Rog had dashed at the latias, paw ready to swipe. Keith realized his mistake and quickly looked away, wishing dearly that Cheri wouldn't have noticed.

The latias flipped around and released her attack.

A plume of indigo fire enveloped Rog. The entire ferry flashed blue, brightened even further by the reflecting sea around. A reflex drew Keith’s eyes shut. For several seconds, all he saw was an orange afterimage. But the ache in his eyes barely registered compared to the freezing fear that he’d been the one responsible for this.

Two more whooshes came with flashes of their own. Keith guessed they were Doris’ and Ared’s attacks, and he guessed right, as his opened eyes told him. Unfortunately, Cheri still seemed unscathed - even with the distraction of Rog, she’d spotted and dodged the attacks in time. Her glassy down still retained its sheen.

Rog had dropped like a fly after Cheri’s flames had subsided. Now, his plummet reached its end with a powerful splash in the sea.

“Rog!” cried out Doris and Ared, their mouths now free.

“Ah, whiskers!” exclaimed the captain. “Lifeguard! Mon overboard!”

From a shack at the back of the deck, a floatzel with a red band around his arm bust out. “Where?”

The captain, along with a few in the crowd, pointed towards where Rog had fallen. The floatzel nodded, ran to the edge and dove into the sea. He flinched as he locked eyes with an angry Cheri, but proceeded as usual when the latias seemed to decide he wasn’t a threat.

“And now...” Cheri whispered to herself. A blue glow covered her.

Keith grunted to get the others’ attention, but by the time they’d turned their heads, the latias had reappeared right before him. He leapt backwards, rendering a swipe at the bag a miss. He leapt again, but this time his hop was cut short by a collision with a shelgon in the crowd. “Howwy,” he apologized, and slipped past the spherical dragon into the mass of mon and carriages.

“Outta the way!” snapped Cheri as she shoved onlookers to her sides. Each push drew more whispers and tutting.

A splash and a thump came from the other edge, momentarily drawing everyone's attention, but releasing it as they recognized it as the floatzel. He had returned with Rog and was now analyzing his condition.

Doris’ antennae perked. “Ared, keep an eye on the latias,” she said to the haxorus and rushed to Rog's side. She sighed, relieved, as he saw him still breathing.

“Is he gonna be fine?” she asked the floatzel.

“He's unconscious and cold,” the mon responded. “Help me carry him to the sickbay. It's warm and dry there.”

“R-right!”

Doris gripped Rog's slippery body as well as she could, and the two began carrying him towards the deck.

In the middle of the ferry, Cheri had finally lost her patience. She rose above the crowd with a growl.

“Alright, all of you!” she shouted. “As mon of the Dragon Kingdom, it’s your duty to cooperate! Where among you is the umbreon?”

“Don’t answer her!” roared Ared, drawing the mon’s looks to him. “She can’t do anything to you if you all just stay quiet!”

“Shut up, axe-face!” Cheri glared at a few randomly picked mon, making sure they all winced at her. When one didn’t, however, she spoke up.

“You!” She pointed at the mon in question, a weavile who stood with a slouch and an unintimidated face. “You know where he is, don’t you? Spit it out!”

“Why should I?” the weavile replied. “It’s not like you’d actually believe me, since I am just a lyin’ murkie.”

The mon around him exchanged nervous glances and shuffled a bit away. “He’s in trouble...” mumbled someone.

“Fine, have it your way,” groaned Cheri and picked another mon, this time a dragon. “You there --”

“Excuse me, latias, but I’m not done,” continued the weavile, drawing a scowl from Cheri. “You see, I heard you use that word - the m-word, as we civil mon call it - for that umbreon as well, so I’m assumin’ you’re no stranger to it.”

“So, what, are your feelings are hurt?” Cheri sneered. “Tough! It doesn’t matter what some non-dragon thinks. Now, I have a job to do, so just shut up and --”

“Non-dragon this, mammal that… call me crazy, but it's soundin’ an awful lot like you’re one of those dragons who don't think the folks of other types deserve any respect!”

He turned to the crowd. “Hey, everybody! This miss here thinks non-dragons are worthless! Barely above ferals, if even that! Do you all agree?”

The mon around looked away, fidgeting with their clothing, manes and scales.

“Come on now,” the weavile continued. “Don’t tell me y’all are just a bunch of mareep!”

A brief silence reigned, but then motion came from his right.

“H-hey, don’t say things like that!” bleated a young mareep that stepped into view. “We m-mareep aren’t any more cowardly than other types of mon!”

“That’s the spirit!” said the weavile and patted the mareep on the back, much to her surprise. “Now, how do you feel about that latias here that no doubt thinks your kind is nothing but dull-faced, subservient walkin’ pillows?”

The mareep stared at the weavile’s claws, then at the latias they pointed to, then over her shoulder at her ampharos parents inaudibly screaming and flailing at her to stop whatever she was doing.

She stomped a hoof on the ferry’s wooden planks, eyes fiery and locked onto Cheri. “I think that’s a load of crap, and that no one like that should be in charge of anything!”

Cheri clasped her cheeks in exaggerated shock. “Ooh, and what are you gonna do about it? What are any of you gonna do about it? The only non-dragon thing that stands a chance against a dragon is ice, and all of those are way too slow and frail! It’s just a fact dragons have the best type! No real weaknesses!”

The mareep puffed her chest. “What about fairies then, huh?”

“Fairies?” Cheri burst into laughter. “Yeah, okay! I suppose they’re just gonna hop off the storybook pages, huh? Grow up, kid! Fairies are just a myth non-dragons keep alive to tell themselves dragons aren’t that powerful! You’ve been lied to!”

“You’re kiddin’ me, right?” mumbled the weavile. “I know they’ve gotten rarer, but sheesh...”

“Fairies, the things they’ll believe...” Cheri chuckled to herself, but then shook her head. “Okay, this has gone on long enough!” she shouted. “The next one to bother me better tell me where the umbreon is, or I’ll blast them right off the ferry!”

“O-oh yeah?” This time, a pale ninetales stepped forth. She trembled a little, but kept her face fierce. “Try me, then!”

“Wha…” Cheri blinked. ”Uh, I mean... fine by me! Let this be an example of what happens when you don’t cooperate with a guard!”

The latias drew a deep breath, gathered a heap of draconic energy before her jaws and let it fly right at the ice type.

The crowd gasped and retreated, but the ninetales stood still to the very end when the blast made contact with her face - and after it, completely unharmed, no trace of the attack.

“Wh-h… how?” Cheri bumbled, eyes wide.

“Because I...” The ninetales stood tall. “I’m a fairy! And I’m not afraid to admit it to a bully like you!”

“Wh-WHAT?” the latias screamed. She cowered back, as if she’d seen Kyurem himself. “N-no, fairies don’t exist! They only exist in… f-fairytales!”

“You’re wrong! We do exist! A-and that means… you dragons aren’t as invincible as you think!”

“M-me too!” A granbull shouted, raising his paw. “I’m not a normal type! I’m a fairy! Full-blooded!”

A suitcase of a druddigon nearby began to rumble, then it opened, a tiny green-and-white creature with a red flower peeking out. “Same here!” it peeped. “I’m a fairy, and I should have the right to live like any citizen! I shouldn’t have to be smuggled by someone else to get around!”

“Dude, shut up!” the druddigon hissed through his teeth, eyeing the clauncher standing on the edge of the deck. “The captain’s right there!”

The weavile stroked his chin, then spoke up again. “So, let’s sum it all up! This latias here is supposed to be in one of the highest positions in the Guard, and the things she’s done include…” He pointed to the broken bridge. “Property damage!” He gestured to the pale ninetales. “Attackin’ a civilian!” He spun his paw around. “And insultin’ all non-dragon citizens of her kingdom! Does that seem like someone you want to enforce the law?”

“No!” shouted all the ones that had spoken before. “N-no!” shouted a few more.

“Ask the one next to you!” the weavile yelled. Another wave of whispers came. He turned to a hydreigon on his right. “Dragon! Do you side with the latias? Or do you side with these honest, hard-workin’ mon?”

The hydreigon trembled, cowering under Cheri’s glare. His secondary heads grit their teeth. “I-I...”

“Don’t let her bully you into silence!” the weavile pressed. “Answer as your heart truly believes!”

“Um, I d-don’t really know what’s going on...”

“Well, do you think non-dragons are worse than dragons?”

“N-no!”

“Do you think the mon who think so should be runnin’ a kingdom?”

The hydreigon looked away from the latias. “They p-probably shouldn’t, to be honest!”

The weavile stood on his toes. “How about the rest of you dragons on board? Do you agree with the latias’ form of policing?”

Scales rattled loudly as an elderly kommo-o shook her fist in the air. “I don’t! A dragon is supposed to act with honor and respect! Not like this little brat!”

“Brat?” Cheri snapped.

“You are a shame to all dragons, young lady! I demand you apologize to all of these fine mon!”

“Never!”

The kommo-o punched her fists together, creating a clang that echoed across the ship. “Then we will make you sorry!”

The weavile grinned. “What a great idea! Let’s bring her down!”

“Yeah!” yelled the crowd - or, sufficiently many in it did, creating that illusion.

Cheri raised her hands. “Hey, you’re not actually thinking of --”

A beam of freezing light shooting past her, barely missing, answered her question.

---

The door to the sickbay opened. Doris turned around, her face brightening as she recognized the one to enter.

“Keith!” She rushed to the umbreon with the bag between his jaws and closed the door behind him. “Are you okay?”

Keith set down the bag and licked his lips a few times to get rid of the leather’s taste. “Yeah, I’m okay. Is Rog?”

“The patient is making a fine recovery,” announced the floatzel, sitting in a chair by the desk with a book in his paws. “I recommend that he stays indoors for the rest of the night, however.”

Just then, the dragonite coughed.

“Oh, he’s coming to,” the floatzel remarked.

“Rog!” Doris went to sit beside the waking blanket-wrapped dragonite on the bed he lay on. “How do you feel?”

“Gruhh… o-kay.”

A low boom came from outside, accompanied by a purple flash.

Rog gave the window a stressed a stressed stare. “Hrmm…”

Doris’ eyes widened. “Keith, the latias didn't see you come in, did she?”

Keith shook his head, and the goodra sighed in relief.

“Even if she did,” Keith added, “she seems pretty preoccupied with what's going on out there.”

“I heard some of it,” Doris said. “The mon, are they really…?”

Keith nodded, smiling. Doris smiled back, as widely as a goodra can.

“Hm?” Rog tilted his head.

“Oh, Rog…” Doris brought her paws together. Tears of slime gathered up in her eyes. “They’re finally doing it… they're rising up!”

“R-ruh!”

“Yeah! We did it!” she laughed, lunging into Rog for a hug. The floatzel wrinkled his muzzle, unsure if exposure to goodra slime was good for a recovering patient.

Keith’s ears picked up the slightest of sighs from Doris.

“Doris, you should be out there,” he said. “I can keep Rog company while I watch the Plate.”

Doris looked at Keith, then at Rog. Rog nodded.

The goodra squeezed him again. “Thank you!” she chimed and hurried out.

Keith moved the bag to the edge of the bed and cautiously climbed on top of Rog’s lower body. As the dragonite seemed only pleased to have a leg warmer, the umbreon lay down and made himself comfortable.

---

“Hey, cut that out! That’s not fair!” yelled the mareep, twisting her head around to keep up with the repeatedly disappearing and reappearing latias.

“Oh - yeah? Well - make - me!” taunted Cheri inbetween warps, dodging several attacks bounding from the crowd.

“Guess we gotta find some way,” muttered the weavile, rubbing his chin.

“Hey, weavile?”

The weavile turned his head to see a haxorus in a winter coat approaching.

“I’m Ared. One of the Plate thieves.” The haxorus offered his hand. “Big fan of what you’ve done here. What’s your name?”

The weavile took Ared’s hand and shook it. The chill of his claws made Ared shiver.

“Not a fan of givin’ out my name,” the weavile said, “but for the time bein’, you can call me Vic. Not my real one, but still more personal than just ‘weavile’.”

He lowered his claws and followed Cheri with his eyes. “Got any ideas for takin’ her down?”

Ared scratched his jaw. “Could some psychics hold her in place?”

“We’re already trying,” interjected a gardevoir next to them, “but she won’t hold still long enough for us to focus!”

“You? Plural?” asked Vic.

The gardevoir nodded. “We’re talking telepathically.”

“How long do you need her to stay in place?” asked Ared.

“Uhh… two seconds, maybe? Three at worst.”

“I see...” Ared flicked his tail. “So we need something that can hit her and throw her off her teleportation streak for a couple of seconds.”

“Yup,” said Vic. He looked at the gardevoir, apprehensive. “Hey, I’m not... botherin’ your telepathy too much with my presence, am I?”

“No, not at that distance. But thanks for asking.”

“Ared!” shouted someone.

Ared turned to the voice and saw a familiar goodra coming his way. “Doris! Is Rog okay?”

“Recovering, yeah. Keith’s looking after him. And the Plate.” Doris looked around and rubbed her paws together. “So, we rising up?”

“Trying to, but the damn latias won’t stay in place,” replied Vic. “You one of the Plate thieves?”

“Yep! You one of the riser-uppers?”

“Please, he basically started it,” remarked Ared. “His name’s Vic.”

Doris clapped her paws. “Oh, thank you so much for your work --”

Vic raised his claws. “We can get to know each other later. For now, we’re tryin’ to think of a way to get the latias to stay in place for a couple of seconds so the psychics can trap her. Then we can basically do whatever we want. Current plan is turning her into an iceberg and leave her floating in the sea.”

“Haha, nice,” Doris snorted.

“So I’m guessing we can’t use any wide coverage attack,” said Ared, “since that would just hit our own people, too… but precision attacks aren’t fast enough.”

“Well… how about a homing attack?” suggested Doris.

“Where are you gonna find one of those that’s fast enough?”

“Right there.”

The mareep stared at the Doris' leather covered paw pointing at her, dumbfounded.

“Me?” she bleated.

The two ampharos behind the mareep hugged her protectively. “No way!” said one of them, the father. “You're not getting our daughter into any more trouble!”

“Well, does either one of you want to help instead?” asked Doris. “We need lightning. It's faster than almost everything and it homes in on its target.”

“Find someone else!” spat the mother.

Vic scanned the crowd. “It doesn't seem like we have any other electric types on board.”

“Someone could still know how to harness electricity,” said Ared, “even if they don't have the type. Should we ask around?”

“Wait! I'll do it!”

The mareep squirmed out of her parents’ hold and hopped closer. “I wanna help!”

“Bridget, no!” cried her mother, but the mareep raised a hoof.

“Mom, this is how we can show how brave we are!” Bridget said. “Grandpa's always saying how sick he is of everyone thinking of the mareep family as cowardly and meek!”

“Honey, it's a sweet thought, but your grandfather is completely nuts. He once put on a mightyena pelt and tried to infiltrate a feral pack. You shouldn't listen to what he says!”

“But Mom, they only need me for one little shock! That's all it takes to save the day! Don't you want the day to be saved?”

Doris stepped closer. “Sir, ma’am, you have my word that your daughter will be safe. We’ll have everyone we’ve got covering her back. The latias won’t know what hit her.”

“Absolutely not,” hissed the mother and pulled Bridget back into her embrace. “Hank, let them hear --”

“I’ll do it,” the father said.

“What? No!”

“If it’ll defuse the situation and keep my daughter safe, I’ll do it!” he proclaimed, fists clenched and eyes determined. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Yay, Dad!” Bridget nuzzled his father’s side. “You’re so cool!”

“You just want her to like you better, don’t you!” grumbled the mother.

Hank did not react. “Just tell me what to do,” he said, looking to the dragons and weavile.

“Well, I do have a plan,” said Doris, glancing above to make sure the latias was far enough away. “Here’s what we could do...”

---

What are they up to…? No one’s tried to attack me in a while...

Cheri's view of the ferry changed angles repeatedly as she continued to warp here and there.

I'm getting sick of this. But it's not like I can stop. If I stay still for longer than a second, someone in the crowd might blast me. She grimaced. Dammit! I can't keep track of this many mon. I should have backup for stuff like this! And I still haven't spotted the umbreon anywhere! Where is it hiding?

She noticed motion in the crowd, more than there was before. Oh, they're definitely doing something… I need to be careful. But as long as I've got my awesome psychic powers and speed, I should be just --

“Hup!” shouted someone. A yellow mass flung upwards from the crowd, considerably high - higher than even Cheri.

What the hell is that? Cheri squinted, but her rapidly changing vision made it too difficult to identify. I better quicken up my pa-

Arcs of electricity danced around the mass.

Oh crap! Quick, warp aw-

But in the blink of an eye, a bolt reached her. She screeched as it drenched her in flesh-frying currents --

Wait, this isn't… strong at all?

Her screech cut as quickly as it started. And it's over already? That was like the zap from a metal door handle! What a joke!

“Aaaghh!” screamed the yellow mass as it began its downward descent, having reached the peak of its trajectory. The panicking didn't quite stop even after the creature was safely caught by a passing staraptor and brought back to the ferry.

Cheri snorted. Okay, that was weird… but I guess I'll just go back to teleporting. Here we --

But the view didn't change.

Uhh…

She tried again, but the blue flash she’d see with each warp brought nothing new.

Her heart thumped faster. D-did it… break… somehow? Did I fill a quota for the day? Why can't I teleport?

You know what, doesn't matter, I need to get moving! I'll just fly like usual!


She withdrew the psychic energy coating her and tried to move - but she stayed in place, and her blue glow didn't leave. What?

“We've got her!” shouted a mon in the crowd - a gardevoir. Cheri gawked at her blue aura, then glanced around and saw a few others with the same coating of light.

“Hey, what the hell?” the latias snapped, flailing helplessly in place. “Let me go!”

A jynx chucked. “Oh, honey… you really didn't learn any dark type techniques to bust you out of that hold?”

“I'm not gonna learn any murk-type moves!” Cheri growled. “You wanna keep me in place? Fine! Let's see how you like my attacks!”

“Defenders! In position!” called the weavile, and more crowd-shuffling commenced.

Cheri charged up a draconic blast and let it fly right at the weavile, but an azumarill slid in front of the attack before it could connect. The attack dissipated, no harm done to the water type.

Cheri gasped. N-no! Those pudgy blue ones have fairy blood as well? J-just how many here are fairies? Fairies aren’t even supposed to exist! This has to be some kind of trick!

Her teeth chattered. What can I do? If I use a dragon attack, a fairy will block it, and if I use a psychic attack, a murkie will block it! A-and I don't know any other types of moves! This is bad!

Wait!
she gasped. There's no way they can block an attack if it’s wide enough to cover the whole crowd!

She closed her eyes to focus. Come on… I need to make this strong so it’ll still pack a punch despite being so spread out…

The space before her twisted slightly, then more and more strongly. It began to glow with rosy light, and its shape started to flatten.

A smile crept on the latias’ face. Yeah, this is strong alright! This'll show them nicely what you get for messing with a lati! Just a little bit more…

---

“Hey, she's trying something!” whispered Ared, eyeing the strange blanket of warped light and air taking form before the latias.

“Doesn't matter!” said Vic, a ball of freezing cyan light between his claws. “Our ice will go right through!”

“Will it, though?” Ared asked. “She is a lati, and we don't know what kind of move she's pulling. Worst case scenario, it'll reflect!”

Vic snarled. “Well, it's not like anyone can try a dark type attack, that would break our own hold of her!”

“Not if you fire right as it hits!”

Ared, Doris and Vic all glanced behind them.

“Keith? What are you doing here?” hissed Doris at the umbreon. “You’re supposed to be guarding Rog and the Plate!”

But Keith didn’t appear to be listening - he swiveled his head side to side, looking for something. “Where’s the mon that threw that ampharos from before?”

Vic kept glancing between the umbreon behind him and the latias in the sky. “What are you --”

“There! That’s the one, right?” Keith ran up to a machoke a little away from them. “Hey, you need to throw me at that latias!”

Doris’ eyes widened, and she rushed to the umbreon. “Keith, no! What are you talking about?”

Keith looked deep into Doris’ eyes. The determination in his red irises caught her by surprise.

“If you throw me at her and then fire right as I hit her, she won’t have time to move away!”

“But the blast will hit you, too! You’ll be frozen solid!”

“I’ll be fine! I’m a mammal! I’m… I’m not a dragon!” Keith prodded at the machoke with his snout. “Come on!”

Confused but sufficiently pressured, the mon picked him up in her burly arms. “A-at the latias?”

The umbreon nodded. The machoke changed her hold to one more suitable for throwing.

“Keith, this is cra-” tried Doris, but a shout from Vic cut her off.

“She’s craning back! We have no choice!”

“Throw me now!” yelled Keith.

The machoke leaped back. She ran forwards. With a powerful thrust, she hurled the umbreon at the latias. “Hup!”

“Keith!” shouted Doris. And Ared. And Rog from the window of sickbay.

Vic and Keith yelled a different word.

“Fire!”

---

It’s finished! It’s finished! thought Cheri, a mad grin splitting her snout. And so are they, once I let this baby fly!

She craned back her head, ready to fire, but stopped at the sight of a strange, cyan glow from the crowd. ...What’s that?

She shook the thought. Nah, doesn’t matter! This attack will disrupt all of them, anyw-

“Hup!”

“Keith!”

“Fire!”

What the --

She didn’t have much room for thought. Between the surge of the crowd’s glow and the grimacing umbreon rapidly approaching her, her brain was fully occupied.

The umbreon crashed right through her pane-like attack, shattering it, and collided with the latias’ chest next. The impact squeezed the air out of her lungs - but it also pushed her body back, causing her to realize her telekinetic prison had now been broken.

Hah, idiots! she thought. Now I can move ag-

The air around her plummeted in temperature. A tempest of icy light had broken free of the crowd, headed right for her and the pesky furball.

With the few cells in her brain still capable of sapient thought, she produced an exclamation.

“OH, KYUREM’S CLOA-”

---

Tick. Tick. Tick.

Crack!


A wave of gasps passed over the crowd. The thumping of their hearts was nearly audible.

But Vic sighed in relief. His claws had cracked the giant chunk of ice right where they needed to - exactly between the latias and umbreon trapped within.

“Okay, everyone, stand back!” ordered Ared. “Save for the ice types - you stay. And why not the dark types and fairies, actually. You may be needed in neutralizing attacks.”

The crowd shuffled, mons of the three mentioned types staying in or coming to the front and the rest receding.

Vic exchanged glances with the two fighting types positioned at both ends of the ice - the elderly kommo-o and the machoke - and hopped off the chunk onto the ferry’s wooden floor.

“Alright, now slowly pull them apart on my command,” Vic said, preparing a sphere of icy air between his claws. “And stop right away if I say so. We don’t wanna accidentally break off a paw if it’s stuck to the other half. Okay, ready?”

The two fighters nodded.

“Pull,” said Vic.

The air was filled with a loud scraping as the two halves of the ice slowly separated along the ferry’s floor. The clauncher captain was not happy about the noise, having witnessed enough damage done to his liner for the day.

The fighters remained vigilant for any call to stop, but none came. Instead, the first words to break the silence were a polite ‘thank you’ from Vic. The halves had been pulled far enough apart for him to fire his attack at Cheri’s half, covering her exposed side with more ice to safely seal her in.

“Alright, that’s good,” he said, swiping his paws clean of excess frost. “Everyone, the latias is in the iceberg!”

“Yeah!” cheered the crowd, some mon even clapping.

The psychic mon at the side of the ice had received their cue, and so a pale blue coating covered the latias’ chunk. Slowly, the mass began to rise, then slide away from the ferry. It lowered onto the sea’s waves and finally, it came free, bobbing up and down with powerful ripples around it.

“Good riddance,” snorted Ared, eyes on the frozen latias, but a tap at his shoulder shifted his attention.

“Don’t celebrate yet,” said Doris and gestured to the ice still on board. “We gotta get Keith out of that.”

“Right!” He hurried to the icy umbreon and the few fire types and dragons gathered around it, already blowing hot air on the chunk.

As Ared joined the effort, Bella watched nervously. She’d been fetched from the carriage a little prior, as the dragons assumed she’d want to see how Keith was doing.

“M-make sure not to make the air too hot,” the altaria said. “You don’t wanna burn him.”

Eventually, Keith was wedged free of the ice. He’d started breathing, but his eyes still remained closed from when he’d squeezed them shut for the impact. A charizard volunteered to carry the cold umbreon, and he headed for the sickbay along with Bella and Ared.

“So,” started Vic after the mon had left, “Doris, was it?”

Snapped out of her thoughts, Doris turned to the weavile. “Hm? Yeah, I’m Doris. Thanks so much for what you did, by the way.”

Vic waved a paw. “No biggie, I’m always down for some disrespectin’ of authority. But I gotta ask… what exactly are you folks plannin’ to do with the Plate? Why’d you steal it?”

“I’d like to know, too,” said the old kommo-o, stepping forth. “I don’t wanna help any bad-intentioned mon, you know.”

Mumbles came from the crowd, suggesting curiosity there as well.

"Well…" started Doris, "I guess we're not really planning to do anything with the Plate itself. The point was just to steal it, to make people lose respect for the King. I mean… does the Plate actually even do anything?"

The crowd muttered. Shrugs could be seen.

"I guessin' it's just a status symbol," said Vic. "Like crown jewels or so."

"Yeah… what would we even do with it…?" Doris pondered.

She noticed a haxorus descending from the deck via the rope bridge that was still intact. It was Ared, and he carried the bag with the Plate.

"Hey y'all," he said, arriving by Doris' side. "Keith seems to be recovering just fine, says the floatzel. Thought he was just a lifeguard, but I guess he doubles as a medic."

"That's good," replied Doris. "Hey, did we have any plans for what to do with the Plate?"

"I… don't think so," said Ared. "Bella said stealing it would destabilize the Kingdom and make people lose faith in the current ruler. But she didn't say anything about what we should do after that."

"I guess Keith's the one that actually wanted the Plate itself, so that he could evolve into a dragon. But that ship kind of sailed…"

Ared scratched his chin. "We can't exactly sell it. Way too trackable."

Doris nodded. "But I don't think we can, like, keep defending it forever, either. We're just four dragons."

Ared dug into the bag and produced the Plate. It glimmered in beautiful colors, emitting a draconic aura… but aside from that, it seemed just like any ordinary plate.

Doris turned to the crowd. "What we wanted was an uprising," she declared. "What we didn't expect was for the non-dragons to be the key. Thank you all for proving we don't need to put up with bad mon in power!"

She raised her fist, and the crowd cheered. Her lips formed a smile impossible to suppress.

"We did it…" she sighed.

Ared smiled, too. In a few seconds, however, his expression changed to a contemplative one.

"Hey…" he began, "there was that one thing we talked about doing with the Plate…"

"Hm?" Doris raised her brow. "Wait, you mean…"

"The thing I said as a joke, yeah," Ared said. "Only… could it really be…"

Doris held her chin. Then, she laughed.

"Yeah. Let's do it!"

---

The umbreon's eyes shot open, wide as plates.

"You threw it away?" he screamed.

"Y-yeah," said Doris. "I mean, it seemed like the smartest thing to do. Mon can be threatened and tracked, but the ocean is unrelenting and vast. Plus, it's gonna be a real pain in the neck for the Guard to try and get it back."

"B-but… we worked so hard to get it…" Keith whimpered, shrinking on the bed of the sickbay.

Bella put a wing around Keith's body, which had warmed up to a healthy temperature during his rest. "You should've consulted us first," she grumbled. "We'd probably have agreed anyway, just with less heartbreak."

Rog merely chuckled.

Ared crossed his arms. "Well, someone on board could've snagged the Plate while Keith was out and we were sleeping."

He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head to face Doris.

The goodra pouted, staring into the haxorus' eyes. "Don't you have something to say?"

Ared wrinkled his snout and snorted.

"Come on, he deserves to hear it," Doris continued.

"Mrrh… fine," Ared growled. He looked away, avoiding Keith's eyes especially.

"I'm sorry for being hard on you, Keith," he muttered. "What you did back there was really cool and respectable."

“Oh. Umm… thanks,” replied Keith. “Are we… friends now?”

Ared squeezed his eyes shut and scowled.

Rog snorted.

“Anyway,” started Bella, “what’s important that we all made it out okay. Right now, I think it’s high time we get some breakfast, huh?”

That caught Ared’s attention fully. “I’ll go get the meat!” he said, rushing out. “We’ll meet at the cooking spot!”

“I hope he doesn’t get the mareep,” mumbled Doris. “That’s gonna get us weird looks from the ampharos family...”

---

Ared did get the mareep meat, and the group did receive weird looks from the ampharos. The electric types were sitting two tables away in the deck’s dining area, hay and vegetables on their plates.

“It’s feral!” Ared exclaimed in response to one glance. Their glowers still didn’t relent.

“Just ignore them,” said Doris. “It’s only culture shock.”

Rog chuckled quietly. “Shock...”

Keith was too engaged with eating to react. Soon the others fell into a silence of culinary appreciation as well. Once breakfast was over, the dragons retreated to the carriage - except for Bella, who wished to stay a bit longer on deck. Keith decided to keep her company, and the two walked to the edge to watch the sea and the early sun.

“You sure you’re not cold?” asked Bella.

“I’m sure,” Keith replied, free of worry. “I’ve got my coat of fur.”

"Alright, then…"

They spent a moment only studying the white-fringed waves. Wild wingull cawed above. It seemed that they were close to shore.

"Hey, Keith?" asked Bella.

"What is it?"

"This is weird, but can I pet you?"

"Oh, yeah, go ahead!"

"Because I feel like this is gonna be the last time we'll see each other in a while…"

Keith's smiled faded at Bella's pensive expression.

He soon managed to return it, however. "Don't worry, you can always come see me! Especially you, you know. Pelton has kind of a… dragon-phobia thing like I told you, but you can totally pass as just normal and flying. Maybe even fairy and flying, or maybe even pure flying! You're very cloud-y, you know."

Bella smiled. "Thanks, Keith. I'll definitely visit."

Keith pushed his head underneath Bella's wing. "Now, pet me!"

“Heh, alright...”

She scratched his head as best as she could with a wing covered in fluffy feathers. He purred in response. The pitch was now lower in his umbreon form - and so was his voice, now that Keith thought about it.

"Hey, hold on," said Bella. "There's something here."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She kept rubbing one spot on his head in particular. Then another, on the other side. That does feel kinda weird, thought Keith. He winced. Gods, I hope they're not some kind of mites!

"They're, like, hard…?" She craned in for a closer look, then gently pecked at the spots. "Yeah, they're small, yellow and hard. Do umbreon usually have these?"

Keith tried his head with his own paws, feeling the hard bumps himself. "I… don't think so? These weren't here before, either."

"Really weird…" mumbled Bella. "They're kinda like… horns."

Horns…?

Keith's eyes widened.

"They're… dragon horns," he breathed.

"What? How so?"

"B-back at Pelton, the drampa who told me about the Plate… he said the Plate was able to give dragon-like qualities to the mon around it. I thought it was evolution, but, but… i-it's gradual, instead!"

Bella gasped. "R-really?"

"Yeah!" Keith laughed, barely believing what was happening. "This must've happened during the time I was guarding the Plate! I mean, I slept right next to it! You all were already dragons, so nothing changed, but I…"

He turned around, glancing frantically in each direction. "Mirror! I need a mirror!"

His gaze finally set on the pocket mirror in the hand of a jynx applying her lipstick.

“Ma’am! I need that!” he cried, rushing for the jynx. Startled, she dropped the mirror - but Keith dove for it in time, catching it in his paws.

Immediately, he checked the crown of his head. Indeed, there were two small, bony bumps, symmetrically placed. He dropped the mirror - which was caught this time by Bella - and began leaping all over the deck, vigorously wagging tail almost throwing him off balance every now and then.

“I’m a dragon, I’m a dragon!” he yelled, laughing near hysterically. “The Plate made me a dragon!”

He froze in place.

“The Plate!” he screeched, and ran for the edge of the deck.

Bella flinched and dashed after him. “Keith, no! It’s long gone!”

Keith ignored her, clambering over the fence.

“Keith!” Bella screamed, attempting to seize the umbreon in her wings, but she was too late. He’d already jumped.

“Lifeguard! Mon overboard!” she yelled, rushing for the sickbay.

Keith broke the sea’s surface with a splash. Despite the cold water, he wasn’t discouraged one bit. He kept paddling and paddling, a dopey grin on his face and certain words repeatedly leaving his mouth.

“I’m gonna be a dragon!”

---

END

Thank you all for reading and for your support!

---​
 
I don't remember Cheri being this antagonistic before.

The only non-dragon thing that stands a chance against a dragon is ice, and all of those are way too slow and frail!
I used to see this opinion a lot on wikis, and it bothered me on an irrational level. Also, is Cheri's denial of the existence of Fairy-types a jab at people who complained about it in 2013?
He once put on a mightyena pelt and tried to infiltrate a feral pack.
I get it!
 
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And so the conclusion has come! I will say that, overall, this chapter was a bit more well-composed than the last one, at least in terms of being able to follow what's going on. But there were a few quirks about it that I find myself tilting my head at--not because it was bad, but because of how surprising it was to see.

The main thing that stood out here was the fact that we had a lot of seemingly new characters showing up all at once, most of them unnamed but still playing pivotal roles in the actual revolution arc, or at least the spark of one. I get that it wouldn't make sense for all these guys to show up and get named in earlier chapters, due to the location, but it was still a bit surprising to see so many eleventh-hour arrivals.

Anyway, let's get to quotes before I get some overall thoughts in!

Bella shuffled closer and softly leaned onto Keith. “You still feel bad about before, don’t you?”

Do they really have time to be discussing this? Feels like they were in a bit of a rush beforehand.

“No, they have lots of guards watching over the throne room… they must all suck!”

“Where are those taxes going?”

“The King's breakfast buffet, I bet…”

Ahh, the winds of change...

“Sorry for getting in the way.”

Okay that was a good line.

“Of course you’ve gotta have a murkie with you too!”

Wait is that a--

“It’s not like you’d actually believe me, since I am just a lyin’ murkie.”

It totally is.

a pale ninetales

Oh I see where this is going. So, this is actually a really interesting bit of world building we have here--that the Fairy Type has been kept as a sort of secret from Dragons so they didn't endanger themselves, in a way. That's a pretty interesting take, and also a good edge to bring revolution to the tyrannical rule of the Dragons. I think it was a good call to have fellow Dragons feel the same way, too. (Also, I particularly enjoyed the little flashes of other peoples' stories, a Druddigon smuggling his Fairy friend, etc.)

The weavile stroked his chin, then spoke up again.

This guy in particular. He feels like a main character from another story.

“OH, KYUREM’S CLOA-”

I'm going to find a way to use this somehow.

Rog chuckled quietly. “Shock...”

God I love Rog.

“I’m gonna be a dragon!”

And nothing has changed.

--

So. This was a wild ride. I think your chapters were very strong except for the fifth one, where you definitely bumbled a bit in trying to get to this chapter, where the climactic battle and uprising had to happen. I think you did pretty well in actually depicting what happened and giving enough threads to sort of tie together what might happen next when the story's over. I'm a bit curious how Keith's parents will react to him being part-Dragon, though, or if Keith will do something crazy like enlist his Vaporeon buddy to try to find the Plate again.

I'm usually not a fan of open endings, but I don't think this quite counts as one. Keith got what he wanted, and sure, he wants more, but that's Keith. Everything else that happened in the background--that's not really Keith's story. That, perhaps, can be for later.

I think you did well to keep to the tone of a comedy while still giving a story that I could take seriously. I really like this tone that you have going on for your PMD-related works! I have a feeling that the "long" work you plan on making is probably going to be on the darker side, but--just saying, I really like this style you have going on here.

Anyway, thanks for the ride. I really enjoyed it.
 
Do they really have time to be discussing this? Feels like they were in a bit of a rush beforehand.

Well, both of them were ordered to stay in the carriage and essentially do nothing, so they weren't really in a rush anymore.

Okay that was a good line.

thank goodness because i almost removed it for how cheesy it was

So. This was a wild ride. I think your chapters were very strong except for the fifth one, where you definitely bumbled a bit in trying to get to this chapter, where the climactic battle and uprising had to happen. I think you did pretty well in actually depicting what happened and giving enough threads to sort of tie together what might happen next when the story's over. I'm a bit curious how Keith's parents will react to him being part-Dragon, though, or if Keith will do something crazy like enlist his Vaporeon buddy to try to find the Plate again.

Yeah, the fifth one is definitely the weakest. I think I may have made a poor call in splitting the "final chapter" before I actually finished the whole thing, since chapter 6 definitely had material to spare. Also, I'm not really sure if the shadow-sinking mechanic was a worth keeping in - it had a different role back when I wrote in the foreshadowing HAHAHA with the guard all the way back in chapter 1. I do want to keep the bonding between Bella and Keith as well as keep Bella out of the final battle for simplicity's sake (I don't know how you manage to write so many battles and with so many characters, I was really struggling), but I wonder if there could be a better way that didn't include such a huge tangent that ultimately doesn't even come into play in the climax.

I did have plans for the final scene to kind of take place in Pelton instead, with Keith getting Ared to scare his bullies and only then finding out about the horns - but it really felt like it would've stretched the story even longer, and it was already running well on overtime compared to the original plan, plus Keith going so long without noticing the weird tumors in his skull wouldn't be very believable. Lastly, the image of Keith jumping in the water to desperately paddle for the long-gone Plate was a scenario I really wanted to keep.

I'm glad you enjoyed! While I started to get tired by the end, I really enjoyed writing the beginning, the world and the characters. No current plans for other stories to include these characters, but I'd say there's potential if I think of any. And I may come back to this story some time in the future, once I've recovered from the burnout, and revise it into a better shape now that I have a full, intact plot on my hands. One thing I'd certainly do is make the beginning more concise and meaningful, as in its current state it has a lot of fluff that, while entertaining to me, doesn't serve much of a bigger purpose. Maybe find a way to include some of those eleventh-hour arrivals so that they're not so ex-machina? With how loose the story is, I should fit in at least one. It'd probably be Vic.
 
Hey there, hope you don’t mind the random review! Cute avatar!

Chapter 1:
“I have a word for the dragon,” he blurted. “M-misunderstood!”

Mila covered her face with a paw. The aipom at the back of the class had trouble concealing his giggles.

“Keith, how was the dragon misunderstood?” the teacher asked tiredly.

“Well, like…” Keith hesitated, but gulped down his fear. If I don't defend the dragons, who will? “I-if the dragon took the princess, he must have been lonely or something! He didn't deserve to die. They should've talked it out.”

“Keith, I'm glad that you're showing interest in literary analysis,” she said, though her tone much implied otherwise, “but you seem to be seeing things that aren't there. While I didn't explicitly specify it, this dragon is just like the dragons in our world - a bloodthirsty beast or at best a barbarian. Even if it was lonely, which I doubt dragons can be, it should have gone back to its own kind. All this considered, the dragon is well understood... although, to be fair, he is currently misunderstood by you. Which creates an interesting paradox, but I would much rather move on. Does anyone else have a suggestion?”

“B-but --” Keith tried, but the teacher wasn’t having it.

“Do not interrupt me again, Keith,” she said sternly, “unless you want to spend the rest of class in the corner.”
I mean, Keith may not be wrong. And man, way to make me sympathize with Keith right away.

“Seen any dragons lately, Keith?” Oliver asked mockingly, his gang and guest of honor as audience now.
I think there might be a missing word here?

“Come on, Mila,” Oliver said, “you really gonna side with the wyrb?”

Benny raised an eyebrow. “Wyrb?”

“You know, wyrmaboo.”
Oh, that's a slur equivalent to wee...

Mila crouched, and something cold clasped around Oliver’s tail. The aipom turned and saw a fish-tail rising out of the puddle right behind him, its fins keeping his tail in a clammy hold.

“Whuh-”

The fins yanked back, and Oliver lost his balance, falling into the dirty water. The splash struck the mon standing next to the aipom, and that was Benny.
“I’m not like that! It’s not like I’m gonna climb into a dragon’s mouth to evolve or something!”

Keith paused.

“Oh my Gods, you’re thinking of it now, aren’t you?” Mila shouted.

“N-no I’m not.”
Ha! She doesn't appear too much but I really like Mila and her interactions with Keith. She's awesome.

“Well, maybe they weren’t fresh enough or something. I’ve had this loose one for a while, you can have --” The drampa picked a scale off his skin, visibly flinching while doing so, and offered it to the eevee. “This one.”

The eevee nabbed the scale instantly with his paw, popped it into his mouth and swallowed.

“...What in the Gods’ names --”
I'm pretty sure eating the evolutionary item has ever been an Eeveelution process, Keith. I feel bad for the Drampa here, this is pretty awkward and the scale removal hurt but his patience and willingness to help Keith out is nice and you do a great job portraying that.

“I haven't noticed any difference. It’s just the full moon messing with your head.”
I'm curious, what would the moon effect Keith's father? Maybe he was trying to evolve into an Umbreon but something happened that made him evolve?

Overall Thoughts:
I thought this was a really good introduction to Keith and the story. That conversation with Drampa felt appropriately awkward and I really liked the scenes at the end with Nancy.

Chapter 2:
“Thanks!” said Keith, then studied the pattern on the poliwhirl’s belly. “I like your spiral.”

“Thanks! It’s my small intestine.”

“Aaaand now I hate it,” Keith whispered as he turned around and headed for the path shown.
Ha!

“This is Nimbus,” Jack said. “You’ll be riding her, as she’s the set-path type and strong enough to fend off feral dragons. Since, well, you don’t really look like you can do that on your own.”

Even if Jack was completely correct, Keith felt a little insulted.

“Don’t worry about any steering,” Jack added. “Once I tell her where to go, she knows my word weighs more than any traveller’s. She’ll follow the shortest path to Farindon --”

A whinny came from the back of the stable, followed by restless thumping of hooves.

“Oh, get over it!” Jack growled in the noises’ direction. He turned back to Keith and lowered his voice. “Sorry about Taima. On her first and last trip to the capital, she got bitten by a feral gabite. Or should I say gabitten. Haha.”
I love how each of the feral Zebstrika has their own personality. It does make some of the interactions between characters like Jack and Ared's with the ferals more questionable though.

It indeed was a haxorus, though unlike the illustrations Keith had seen, this one wore clothes. It did make sense for a cold-blooded mon to bundle up for the winter, but Keith had to admit it looked a little silly. Or a fraction of Keith, the one that still retained a regular train of thought, as everything else was overwhelmed by the vicinity and touch of a real, breathing full-blooded dragon type.
  1. I don't know if this was what you had in mind but the mental image of a haxorus wearing a longcoat and a red scarf is GREAT!
  2. Wow, Keith has little chill. Like, you’ve just been caught by someone who could have harmful things in mind for you but all you focus on is “A Dragon is touching me!!”
He briskly walked to the saddlebags on the ground and set them on his shoulder, keeping a close eye on the still thrashing feral in case of a deliberate attack. As she still seemed to be in her own little chaotic world, the dragon sighed in relief and ran back the way he came.
Wonder what'll happen to Nimbus.

“Tell me, Ared, why are you bringing home a dead person?”
I know this scene's supposed to be serious but this line is so amusing to me for some reason.

He brought his claws together, mareepish.
Great attention to detail.

Bella opened her wings - though not fully, to avoid scaring the eevee with her size - and lightly flapped them. “Look! Just a nice, happy bird. Friendly bird. No scary dragons!”
“Alright, sweetie, the big birdie is going to sleep now,” she said, curling up into a ball and tucking her head in her feathers. “Goodnight,” her muffled voice spoke, then fell silent.
Oh my gosh, I love Bella so much! She instantly became my favorite character.

And then I kept being frozen ‘cause I didn't really know what I should say, and then I’d already been frozen for such a long time that it would've been awkward to just start talking, so I was trying to wait for a time I was alone or something… and here we are.”

The altaria straightened her neck. “So you were… afraid you'd make a poor impression?”
#relatable

Overall Thoughts:
Well here we are, dragons. As I mentioned before, I love Bella and Doris is a delight. It’s a bit too early to gather any opinion on Rog but Ared comes off a lot like a mon with an armored outside but soft inside (pun not intended) that I’m ready to see and know more of.

Chapter 3:
Doris sighed. “You can just come in, eevee dude, no need to be shy.”
I like how Doris keeps addressing Keith as eevee dude or just dude.

He couldn't stop now, could he? He'd come all the way here. “I guess I just have to sneak in.”
This is the only reaction I can give; 0_0

“Sorry about Ared,” she said. “He's been through a lot, and it's made him somewhat of a pessimist.”
Usually I just go get supplies alone, because I’m the newest and the King’s mon don’t know me.” She gasped. “They don’t know you either! You can come along with me tomorrow! I can show you around!”
I'm curious, what was the backstory you had in mind for Ared and Bella and Rog and Doris? How did they meet each other? What turned Ared pessimistic?

Doris looked to Rog, who nodded. “Alright, then,” she said, “I'll get my gloves.”

The goodra fetched a pair of leather gloves from another room and pushed her hands inside them, splitting the stub-like ends of her arms into four functioning fingers. She shuffled the deck and dealt five cards to each dragon. As she lowered the deck on the table, Bella slid it over to Keith.
That's a really clever idea on how a Goodra would be able to pick up things like cards without difficulty.

Keith nodded, then pulled a card off the top. A drawing of a hoppip stared back. Sixty health. Grass type. No flying type? I guess these cards can only fit one. It had two ‘moves’ - Absorb and Bounce.

He slid the card under the deck and took another. Growlithe, fire, Flamethrower, Odor Sleuth. Another. Meowth, normal, Pay Day. Another. Stealth Rock? Trap card? Huh, I guess it’s not just mon.

Keith continued to go through the cards while keeping an eye on the others. They each chose a mon, then attacked one of their opponents per turn. A water move by Bella’s Surskit did double damage to Rog’s Slugma, mirroring real-life effectiveness. Keith believed he was getting the hang of it - thought there was one thing that puzzled him.
I love the reference to the card game here!

Doris reached a hand towards Bella’s cards.

“Hey!” shouted the altaria, spotting the motion.

“I’m just messing with ya,” Doris snorted and withdrew her arm.
Ha!

Keith paused to think. “Well… I guess there’s kind of a story behind it,” he finally said. “Back when I was a cub, there was this one really windy day. The wind picked up really fast, during my school day, and the teachers actually made us go home early before it got even worse. Except…” He lowered his voice, embarrassed. “I was in the bathroom during that time, so I missed the meeting. When I got out, I wondered where everyone was, and then decided to leave for home after a bit.

“By this time, it was super windy, and I basically had to hook my claws to the ground to keep myself on the path. In hindsight, I probably should’ve just stayed at school to wait it out, but cub me wasn’t very bright, you know. Anyway, I did make some good progress and was about halfway home until this massive gust came and actually swept me up in the air! It was really scary. I saw all the houses get smaller beneath me and feared that I’d eventually fall or be slammed against one. All I could do was flail and cry for help, but no one was outside, not that they could’ve done much anyway.

“Then I saw something in the distance. It was like a fiery meteor with a long green tail, and it was coming towards me! I was terrified, but then this stray sheet flying around hit me and I couldn’t see anything! Then, after a few moments, the sheet got caught in something and stopped with me still inside. I felt it getting pulled while the wind was still howling outside, and then I was thrown out right onto the ground. I dug my claws in the dirt again immediately, and I actually stayed down. I looked behind me, and I saw this huge, long, green dragon stare back with its yellow eyes. It then slithered upwards into the sky, as if there was no wind at all, and with a glowing tail, struck the air. It instantly became still. Then it flew away into the crevice it’d made in the cloud layer and disappeared.”
Well that sure wasn’t the backstory I expected Keith to tell. I think Bella put it best.

Chapter 4:
The source of the light was revealed to be a flame, one that burned on the tip of an orange winged reptile. Its stance was less than graceful, hunched over and wobbling.

“Hey! Bigwigs!” the charizard called out, its words slurred. “Lemme in!”

One of the guards, a druddigon, muttered something to himself while clutching his metal helmet. The other, a hakamo-o, pointed his spear down at the fiery stranger with a scowl.

“Only dragons may enter the city,” he said with a hint of a foreign accent. “Everybody knows this.”

“Then lemme in!” the charizard groaned, slashing at the gate. Keith winced at the harsh clang produced.

“For the last time,” the druddigon guard said, leaning over the edge, “you’re not a dragon! Just deal with it!”

“I've got scales and wings and a fiery breath!” the charizard yelled. “I'm a dragon!”

“Go home, Brent! You've had too much to drink and you don't know what you're doing!”

“Dragon!” roared Brent and clawed at the gate once more.

“Brent, I'm gonna have to use the rocks soon, and you don't want that!” The druddigon crouched to pick up a rock the size of his hand. It began glowing faintly with an orange aura. “Look, there's a line forming here and everything,” he added, gesturing to Bella. “Just go home.”

Brent only got louder. “Oh, and I suppose you're gonna let this bird in without any trouble? This guy doesn't even have teeth!”

The hakamo-o sneered. “You are obviously out of it, charizard, as that is no guy, but a lady! And quite a pretty one at that.” He looked to the altaria and tipped his helmet, smiling. Bella laughed nervously, her feathers puffed.

“Draagooon!” Brent bellowed, flapping his wings and taking flight, nearing the edge of the wall.

“Igor!” shouted the hakamo-o to his partner, as he was closer to the drunken non-dragon.

“Don't worry, I got him…” Igor took aim at the ascending charizard. The stone in his claws strengthened in its glow. Right as Brent had passed the edge of the wall and changed his course for the city, the druddigon flung the rock with breathtaking speed. It smacked into Brent's ribs, drawing a yelp from the mon and derailing his course. He veered to the right, ending up outside the city again and crashing somewhere in the snow by the sound that came.

“If he tries flying over again, he's the air guards’ problem,” Igor said, turning to Bella.
First off, this whole scene with Brent the Charizard was hilarious! It really emphasizes how hard it is for non-dragons to get in. Second, I like how Brent's "have scales and fiery breath" comment mirrors what Keith said to Mila in the first chapter. Could Brent be a foil to Keith? Third, I found the Hakamo-o's crush on Bella kind of cute and enjoyed the banter between him and Igor about it.

“O-oh my goodness, I am so sorry, sir,” the noivern stuttered, then remembered through her panic to curtsy. “It was an a-accident, I swear!”

The turtonator pointed a scolding flipper. “Not only do you soil the King’s goods, you go and invoke the Frostblight’s name, too?”

“Sorry! Sorry!” the noivern continued, her voice breaking. “I won’t ever do it again, sir!”
The noivern’s teary eyes widened. “No, please! It was an accident!”

“Exactly, that’s why it’s one and not three.” The commander turned to his troops. “Two of you, come here! One escorts her to a cell, the other find someone to finish whatever she was doing!”
Poor Noivern. Also, is that s after escort supposed to be there?

“We get it, you don’t like foreigners...” muttered Kaora to herself.
There’s so much I want to say about this line but I can’t.

“Wh- you could teleport this whole time?” snapped Kaora, running to the window with the smug latias waiting on the other side.
Ha! I love the interactions between these two so much! Cheri’s so cheerfully oblivious/obnoxious!

“Proud as a pyroar
But sweet as a mareep
And now you all will
Go the heck to sleep!”
I’m just imagining this starting out so soft and gentle then Bella just shouting “Go the heck to sleep!” in some meme-y voice.

It was a flat, tall hexagon, wider at the top than at the bottom. Its surface glimmered as if it was covered in hundreds of tiny iridescent scales. That sight and the energy that radiating from the plate… they found the little spark inside Keith that made him travel all this way for possible dragonhood, and they made it a roaring bonfire.
First off, the description of the Dragon Plate is beautiful. I can picture it perfectly in my head. Second, if Keith deciding to eat a dragon scale, run away from home, and break into the Farindon castle to become a dragon was a spark, I can’t imagine how powerful and large the current bonfire inside him is.

Overall thoughts:
I enjoyed this chapter a lot, from the business with Brett and Valentino to the description of the city and castle of Farindon to Cheri and Kaora’s interactions to Bella and Keith getting into the throne room and reaching the Dragon Plate to that cliffhanger of an ending! Which leads me right into

The energy clung to the eevee's body, molding and reshaping in like wet clay. His limbs and neck lengthened. His tail and ears became thinner. His collar of fluff was shed. Something in his eyes changed - though, naturally, he couldn't see what.

He felt stronger. His teeth felt tougher, sharper. He knew he was a beast, no longer a puny, helpless cub.
Love the description of what evolving would be and feel like.

The umbreon gazed at the ground, slit-pupilled eyes bitter and teary.

“Oh, Keith…”
Ohhh boy.

He paused at that thought. Hold on… that guard I met right before leaving Pelton… could I do that too?
Nice callback.

Back in Pelton, Mila told me once that if the water a vaporeon was merged in evaporated, it meant death, or loss of body parts if some didn't make it out in time…
Yikes!

A thought passed his mind and he took it. Still keeping Bella's shadow in mind, he concentrated now on the shadow underneath his paw. On his paw. Inside his paw. Light couldn't get inside him, that was true. Which means almost all of him, in reality, was in shadow. He was shadow. And that shadow on Bella's neck, that was just like him…

“Whoa!” he cried. The matter beneath his paw had given way. It had submerged in it like a puddle… but also not. Puddles had depth, this felt all surface, yet still, the paw was in it…

Seizing the chance, he pushed his foreleg deeper. He shuffled his body closer and sunk his side in. Yes! I'm doing it!
This is a really good take on how an Umbreon would slip into shadows.

“Oh, Keith… I'm so sorry. That's really unfair.”

“I know, right?” He sniffled. “I was totally prepared to not evolve after all, I mean, I’ve been doing that since I was born, but I never thought I was gonna permanently ruin my… chances...” The sentence stuck to his throat.

“Keith, Keith, come here...” Bella wrapped her cloudy wings around the umbreon and leaned onto him.
Poor Keith.

Overall thoughts:
...no, wait. I can't breathe. I'm a shadow. B-but I need to breathe. It's starting to feel bad… I’ll need to come out again soon.

Wait… how do I come out?
This whole sequence with Keith getting stuck inside the shadow got really intense. I really felt as if I was drowning alongside him!

Altaria have such pretty feathers, she thought to herself, and that one was no exception. I wish I could have a crest like that.
Seeing Cheri’s inner thoughts made me like her more. I felt pretty bad for her when Kaora banished her.

“Hold on, I’ve got you!” she said - though her voice was largely drowned out by another scream from Keith as he'd managed to catch a glimpse of the dim snow rapidly approaching beneath him. The altaria ignored it and swooped beneath Keith. She angled her body horizontally to catch more resistance, slowing down her fall enough for the umbreon above to lower onto her back.

Keith flinched as he felt something press onto his back, but thanked his luck it wasn’t the ground. He stopped his scream and flipped around, wrapping his forelegs around Bella’s neck. His eyes widened again at the ground only meters away.

“Are you holding on tight?” asked Bella, hesitantly beginning to unfold her wings.

“I’m on, fly up, fly up, fly up!” Keith screamed in terror.

The altaria braced for impact and spread her wings wide. The air crashed against them, but slid off the back ends, sending Bella gliding in a forward slope less steep by the moment. The snow still approached, but slower and slower, until the altaria’s feet gently grazed the flakes on its surface.
Nice save, Bella! Also ouch.

Keith stared at his paws. “So I got in the chamber just like I should, and the Plate was there. I could feel its massive energy, its power, and I thought it just had to be what I needed. I was so stoked when I touched it that, apparently, the happiness was enough to trigger a different path of evolution. And since it was nighttime…” He exhaled heavily. “Here we are.”

“Oh, Keith… I'm so sorry. That's really unfair.”

“I know, right?” He sniffled. “I was totally prepared to not evolve after all, I mean, I’ve been doing that since I was born, but I never thought I was gonna permanently ruin my… chances...” The sentence stuck to his throat.

“Keith, Keith, come here...” Bella wrapped her cloudy wings around the umbreon and leaned onto him.
Again, poor Keith. You feel how much turning into an Umbreon has impacted him.

so Rog and Ared played grass-water-fire for the spot. Ared won with fire, which Rog claimed was only because he'd expected Ared to take him for a rookie that uses fire. Ared would then choose water, and that's why Rog used grass. Ared claimed that he knew exactly what Rog had speculated and thought ahead, but Rog claimed that Ared had only picked fire because he himself was a rookie and just got lucky. Doris then said that if the argument went on, she'd make both sleep outside and let Bella sleep on her instead. The boys begrudgingly quieted. Given Rog's unique manner of speaking, Keith could barely tell what had just happened.
Ha!

wailord liners. These forms of transportation involved a wailord wearing a harness attached to both a saddle above it and a ferry behind it. This saddle-platform was naturally remarkably heavy and required a dozen strong flyers to take on and off.
That’s really cool!

Overall thoughts: What a rough chapter for several of the main cast, Keith didn’t get his dream to become a dragon, Bella got hurt, Cheri has a mission to find the Dragon Plate or banishment forever, and now she’s found them.


Chapter 6:
Her head craned back, and indigo-glowing energy gathered before her open mouth. Gold and magenta sparks flew as she fired the blast.

Bella, having noticed the attack just in time, knew to jump and take flight - flapping her wings was still painful, but she knew being caught in the blow would be far worse.
Augh, get out of there Bella!

But it didn’t come. A shadow had leapt in from the left and intercepted the blast, which vanished upon their contact. The distortion rectified, and the light died like the flame of a candle blown out.

The shadow stood up straight, barely fazed by the blow, and shook its coat. Its markings glowed bright yellow.

“Keith?” Ared breathed.

Keith looked to him and Doris. He smirked. “Sorry for getting in the way.”
And Keith returns in a blaze of glory!

I do wonder what getting hit by a dragon blast would feel like…
Yep, Keith's back.

A plume of indigo fire enveloped Rog. The entire ferry flashed blue, brightened even further by the reflecting sea around. A reflex drew Keith’s eyes shut. For several seconds, all he saw was an orange afterimage. But the ache in his eyes barely registered compared to the freezing fear that he’d been the one responsible for this.
Rog had dropped like a fly after Cheri’s flames had subsided. Now, his plummet reached its end with a powerful splash in the sea.

“Rog!” cried out Doris and Ared, their mouths now free.
No Rog!!!!

“Why should I?” the weavile replied. “It’s not like you’d actually believe me, since I am just a lyin’ murkie.”
Oooohhhh

“You see, I heard you use that word - the m-word, as we civil mon call it - for that umbreon as well, so I’m assumin’ you’re no stranger to it.”
Oh, so that's...

“H-hey, don’t say things like that!” bleated a young mareep that stepped into view. “We m-mareep aren’t any more cowardly than other types of mon!”

“That’s the spirit!” said the weavile and patted the mareep on the back, much to her surprise. “Now, how do you feel about that latias here that no doubt thinks your kind is nothing but dull-faced, subservient walkin’ pillows?”
She stomped a hoof on the ferry’s wooden planks, eyes fiery and locked onto Cheri. “I think that’s a load of crap, and that no one like that should be in charge of anything!”
And the weavile and mareep become the MVPs of this chapter.

“M-me too!” A granbull shouted, raising his paw. “I’m not a normal type! I’m a fairy! Full-blooded!”
Cheri charged up a draconic blast and let it fly right at the weavile, but an azumarill slid in front of the attack before it could connect. The attack dissipated, no harm done to the water type.

Cheri gasped. N-no! Those pudgy blue ones have fairy blood as well? J-just how many here are fairies? Fairies aren’t even supposed to exist! This has to be some kind of trick!
Love the reference to the type change.

“Oh, Rog…” Doris brought her paws together. Tears of slime gathered up in her eyes. “They’re finally doing it… they're rising up!”

“R-ruh!”

“Yeah! We did it!” she laughed, lunging into Rog for a hug. The floatzel wrinkled his muzzle, unsure if exposure to goodra slime was good for a recovering patient.
“Doris, you should be out there,” he said. “I can keep Rog company while I watch the Plate.”

Doris looked at Keith, then at Rog. Rog nodded.

The goodra squeezed him again. “Thank you!” she chimed and hurried out.
I felt so happy for Doris in this scene and I'm glad Rog's going to survive.

Current plan is turning her into an iceberg and leave her floating in the sea.”
Honestly Cheri's lucky this is all they're planning to do to her. The kingdom turning on her could've gotten a lot worse.

“Wait! I'll do it!”

The mareep squirmed out of her parents’ hold and hopped closer. “I wanna help!”

“Bridget, no!” cried her mother, but the mareep raised a hoof.

“Mom, this is how we can show how brave we are!” Bridget said. “Grandpa's always saying how sick he is of everyone thinking of the mareep family as cowardly and meek!”

“Honey, it's a sweet thought, but your grandfather is completely nuts. He once put on a mightyena pelt and tried to infiltrate a feral pack. You shouldn't listen to what he says!”

“But Mom, they only need me for one little shock! That's all it takes to save the day! Don't you want the day to be saved?”

Doris stepped closer. “Sir, ma’am, you have my word that your daughter will be safe. We’ll have everyone we’ve got covering her back. The latias won’t know what hit her.”

“Absolutely not,” hissed the mother and pulled Bridget back into her embrace. “Hank, let them hear --”

“I’ll do it,” the father said.

“What? No!”

“If it’ll defuse the situation and keep my daughter safe, I’ll do it!” he proclaimed, fists clenched and eyes determined. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Yay, Dad!” Bridget nuzzled his father’s side. “You’re so cool!”

“You just want her to like you better, don’t you!” grumbled the mother.
I love this family. I think Bridget became my favorite character in this moment and her mom gets some pretty funny lines.

A jynx chucked.
* Chuckled *

A charizard volunteered to carry the cold umbreon,
Brent? Probably not but it would've been nice if he made a return in the defeat against Cheri.

“I hope he doesn’t get the mareep,” mumbled Doris. “That’s gonna get us weird looks from the ampharos family...”

---

Ared did get the mareep meat, and the group did receive weird looks from the ampharos. The electric types were sitting two tables away in the deck’s dining area, hay and vegetables on their plates.

“It’s feral!” Ared exclaimed in response to one glance. Their glowers still didn’t relent.
Gosh darn it, Ared!

“I’m a dragon, I’m a dragon!” he yelled, laughing near hysterically. “The Plate made me a dragon!”
“Keith!” Bella screamed, attempting to seize the umbreon in her wings, but she was too late. He’d already jumped.

“Lifeguard! Mon overboard!” she yelled, rushing for the sickbay.

Keith broke the sea’s surface with a splash. Despite the cold water, he wasn’t discouraged one bit. He kept paddling and paddling, a dopey grin on his face and certain words repeatedly leaving his mouth.

“I’m gonna be a dragon!”
Never change, Keith, never change.

Overall Thoughts:
This was a really fun ride from start to finish and I enjoyed it immensely. I feel like the conflicts in Pelton like with Keith’s parents and his old classmates went unresolved but everything in the Dragon Kingdom felt really satisfying and the way the story ended with Keith jumping off the ship after the Dragon Plate is priceless! Vic and Bridget were MVPs and Cheri was an enjoyable antagonist! It was nice seeing Ared accept Keith as a friend (even if he won't admit it) and Doris have her dream of revolution finally come true.
 
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