“Wow! You really know a lot about breeding and the care of pokemon,” Ash said impressed, once again by Celeste’s talent.
During the weeks that followed the fateful day, since they all became friends; it had become a repetitive scenario. When they took her to Ash’s house so Delia could teach her how to cook food for her pokemon, she already had the basics down and knew exactly what Eevee’s and their evolutions would like to eat. When they took her to the Preserve to teach her about grooming and how to take care of pokemon in rehabilitation, her knowledge might even surpass theirs. Which lead them to this situation.
“Here I thought I would have to catch you up with Ash,” Cilan commented.
“Ash might know a lot about taking care of pokemon because of his work in the Preserve, but the thing is that what he knows it’s mostly focused on dragons, which is good for him as he wants to be a Dragon Master. But what about when he ends up with a pokemon that it’s not a Dragon-type but belongs to the dragon egg group, he will need to learn that taking care of those pokemon will be different. From the food to the grooming.” Celeste explained, brushing Zeus’ fur. “I simply have a much-varied area of expertise. My mom has one of the most successful breeding centers in Pania, even people from other regions make requests. Especially since Eevee’s are kind of our expertise.”
“You’re going back for winter vacations?” Ash asked her excitedly.
“Yeah, I missed her. Missed everyone back at home, really.” Celeste answered with a longing smile. “What about you guys? Any plans?”
“I’m going back home,” Cilan replied, grooming Pansage. “My brothers and I, need to take care of the last details for the café/gym. We open in half a year. I also need to study hard for my Pokemon Connoisseur exam, I’ll be trying to raise my level to Class B after graduating alongside the gym license exam.”
“I know you can do it!” Ash exclaimed, smiling brightly at the older boy. “Mom is taking me to Kalos for a road trip vacation as a reward for keeping high grades in the last couple of years. Ele and Ladon are super excited!” Suddenly his chipper expression turned sad. “Though I hate the idea of leaving Drako alone at the Academy.”
“I feel you,” Celeste replied, cuddling Zeus.
“I’m the same but remember that in a couple of years you won’t need to do that anymore,” Cilan tried to cheer them up. “What I am more interested in, rather than knowing what vacation plans you have, is how did you convince Mister Pokemon Master here to sign on the Coordinator Optative Class?”
“Well, it took a lot of time and team effort,” Celeste answered him, with a dignifying expression.
“You stick your Eevee team on him and had them use cute charm and their puppy eyes,” Cilan deadpanned, making Celeste blush.
“I did not!... at least not only that!” Celeste pouted. “I also had Ele’s help!”
“Ele?” Cilan asked confused. “She is as much a battle-hungry menace as her trainer!”
“Celeste convinced her that it would be lovely to sing and dance in the air for a crowd” Ash sighed.
“Can you blame me? Ele is beautiful and made for contests,” Celeste continued to pout.
“As long as you stop with this class because there’s no way I will ever enter a Contest,” Ash sighed. “My Dragons would kill me if I had them performing for other’s entertainment.”
“You really have it hard,” Celeste commented.
“You have no idea,” Ash sighed again, making both of his friends laugh .“Talking about Coordinator Classes, ours is about to start.”
“Oh, you’re right,” Celeste exclaimed, “Let’s go!”
With that both young students bid Cilan goodbye and left towards the new contest stage, the Academy had built for these lessons. It was on the small side, but it was enough to hold the classes and have special appeals and battle performances by the students for their parents and those who were interested in novice level coordinators.
However, as they were reaching the stage Ashley and Laura stopped them. Surprisingly, it was not Ash they wanted to talk to but Celeste. Confused but not minding it really, Celeste told Ash to secure her a seat and left with the girls.
“Why are you so close to Ash?!” Ashley snapped, cornering the teal-haired girl against a tree.
“Because I am his friend…” Celeste replied, very confused.
What was going on? She thought surprised.
“Yeah, sure. The girl who did not deem any classmate good enough since day one is suddenly best buds with the most popular guys in school.” Ashley scoffed, while Laura shook her head- she wanted nothing to do with this, but leaving her best friend alone when she’s like this, is a recipe for disaster.
“Are you jealous?” Celeste asked, finally realizing what was going on. Ashley blushed at being caught. “First of all, I did not try to get along with any of my classmates because at first, I was still trying to learn the language and didn't want to embarrass myself by speaking poorly… then it was too late. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but I am kind of shy… or at least, I was. Ash and Cilan have been helping me with that.” She told them sincerely, making both girls feel bad about cornering her. It wasn’t that Ashley was mean, she simply liked Ash too much. “Also, if there’s one I liked out of the two of them like that is Cilan. Ash is too much of a little brother to me.”
“You really don’t like him?” Ashley asked, shyly.
“I do like him, just not like that,” corrected her Celeste. “Now if you excuse me, I need to get to class.”
“Right… em, sorry about this, and… maybe we could all have lunch one of these days,” offered Ashely.
Celeste looked at her in surprise before gently smiling at the girls: “Yeah, I would like that.”
The girls parted ways, but their smiles did not leave their faces. A new friendship blowing between them.
YOU ARE READING
Ash The Dragon Specialist (adopted from Kurenohikari)
Fanfiction"Tell me Ash, would you like me to teach you about pokemon? About how to take care of the? Cure them when they get hurt? Would you like to learn what it takes to be a trainer?" Professor Oak asked the speechless boy, making a decision that would cha...
