A pidove sat on a quiet branch lazing around, when, out of nowhere a large purple and blue blur passed by. The wind, stirred up by the passing phenom, threw the pidove into the air. He managed to catch himself while falling, before throwing a string of curses at his offenders.

"Miscreants! Braggarts, blackguards, downright delinquents! Disturb some other bird! This is my tree, you mew damned disrespectful dirtbags!"

The pidove's home tree, now bare of leaves, became completely unusable. The little bird left, searching for a new home for the second time this week, while grumbling quietly to himself.

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"Here we are. This is the pagoda our family uses to story treasures and relics. Follow me inside." the old dragon commanded.

Felix followed his grandfather inside the tower, which was large enough to comfortably accommodate a pokemon of his grandfathers stature. They didn't have to walk far. Just a few doors in, they took a left and entered one of the vaults. In the middle a small transparent ball was propped up on a pedestal. His grandfather grabbed it and brought it to Felix's forehead. The orb started glowing until the room was filled with an ocean blue light.

"Hah! I knew it. This much light is enough to confirm your pinnacle level talent. Your troubles on the path to strength should be limited to move mastery and level trials for now." His grandfather proclaimed proudly.

"What does the colour mean?" Felix asked.

"The colour that this orb lights up with refers to the element you are more aligned with, of your two elements. The hydreigon line contains both the dragon and the dark type. In other words, you're predisposed to the dragon type, perhaps more so than usual. Predisposition doesn't affect anything other than move mastery though, so don't worry about that. Well, with that done, I better get back to work. I will be busy during the next week organising your name day. In this ceremony you will receive a name from me, and be formally welcomed to the clan. It's also a great opportunity to network with the other young dragons and family heirs. You should focus on move training and levelling up in the meantime. I expect you to be level 15 by the time your name day comes around. Don't disappoint me."

With that final comment the bulky lizard flew away, seemingly ignoring the laws of physics.

'His body really shouldn't be able to fly at such a size.' Felix thought.

He left the pagoda and decided to explore the compound, his new home for the foreseeable future.

Both the pagoda and the main building were enwalled, so Felix had to ask the guards to open the gates for him. Once he was out of the inner courtyards of the compound, he once again found himself in the busier area. He supposed these could be called the outer courtyard. This area was filled with buildings of all sorts.

Houses, warehouses and a mess hall, which Felix thoroughly sampled, all to make sure the workers and retainers were fed properly, of course.

He even heard the distant sound of metal clanging on metal, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be a kingler working as a blacksmith.

Apparently her resistance to the fire type made her just as suitable as a smith in comparison to fire types.

"The only actual requirement to become a smith is to know the move hammer arm. I have a metal concept which helps me even more with my work as a smith." she had claimed.

Gardeners, bakers, farmers,... pokemon of all types and walks of life worked in the compound. Apparently the city was even more lively.

Felix tried to leave the compound to see more of the city, but the guards, the two dodrio he had met earlier, stopped him.

"We're not gonna let ya out into the city without a proper escort, young master. None of us want to have to wait another 100 years for a new family heir. The other families might not have any trouble finding young dragons to take up the position, but that blasted trial makes that much more difficult for our family. Sorry bud, we can't let you out." one of the dodrio heads had said, while the other five heads nodded along.

"Thanks anyway, I'll just continue to explore the compound then." Felix had replied dejectedly.

"Well if you're looking for something exciting, why don't you head to the training ground? There's one in the inner courtyard that's only used by inner members, but the one here in the outer courts should be in use. Ask the retainer there for some help training. That'll keep you busy."

With this new knowledge, Felix searched for the training ground. Soon enough he happened upon a large clearing. The training ground was a large open space with sand acting as the floor. Several pokemon could be seen battling or training by repeatedly using the same move against several targets. He could see a familiar monkey wandering in between the pokemon, bonking or tripping the other retainers every few steps, to their seemingly immense ire. Before Felix could catch up to what was happening an entire mob was chasing after a single monkey.

The monkey caught eye of Felix and smiled sadistically. Running towards Felix with the mob in tow, he skidded to a halt in front of him.

The monkey kowtowed in front of him and went to his knees, while hugging one of Felix' forelegs.

"Young master! These foul demons are after my treasures! They are filled with jealousy and hate because you regard me highly! They want to take my position at your side, despite my infallible loyalty and sincerity!" gurutompa proclaimed, while sniffling dramatically.

Before Felix could even get a single word in, a donphan approached, bowing similarly before defending himself.

"Don't listen to this scoundrel, young master! Around you he may act like he has honour, but in actuality he is nothing but a cheat. Het gets enjoyment from harassing the other retainers! Young master, you should not elevate one such as he!" the donphan spoke in a knightly manner. The other retainers clamoured along, agreeing with the donhpan's opinion.

"Young masta', if you back me up just this once, I'll teleport ya to the fringes to level up whenever you want!" gurutompa whispered using telepathy.

At first Felix wanted to agree with the donphan to get back at the prankster monkey, but remembering his grandfathers expectations, he decided against it.

'Besides, I can hold this over that monkeys head for as long as I want. Just you wait, old man.'

"Calm down all of you." Felix commanded.

The group became silent as they waited for Felix' verdict.

"I have taken note of your grievance with gurutompa. However, because I owe gurutompa a small favour, I bid you to forgive him just this once."

The retainers seemed slightly disappointed and became downcast. Gurutompa, meanwhile, was gloating.

"If you ever have any grievances with gurutompa henceforth, you may tell me, and I will handle his punishment personally." he added with a sadistic tone.

This time it was the other retainers turn to smirk, while the old monkey regarded Felix with a face like he had just eaten a raw lemon.

The group dispersed, and Felix decided to ask gurutompa about move training.

"Well kiddo, move trainin' ain't exactly complicated. Just learn to use a move in a new way or use it repeatedly to get better at it! Nothin' else to it."

"Then why does everyone talk about it so much?"

The monkey had a pensive look on his face this time until the look turned determined.

"Well, why don't I just teach you by example? Let's head to da' fringes and find a mon ta fight."

"Alright, why not?" Felix replied confidently.

A moment later, the young Deino and old oranguru disappeared in a blur.