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Ingo came around to the sound of Emmet swearing, something growling, and Chandelure swooping away from his side with an urgent chime. It was a lot of noise, more than he thought usually occurred in their little space.
Gliscor clicked grumpily and scrambled off of him when he sat up, careful not to hit his head on the underside of the bunk. Sinnoh, he didn’t feel great. His sinuses were stuffed, what little he could smell was the tang of medicinal plants, and his throat was killing him. Still, he wanted to know what was happening outside.
“Tangrowth! Hold her in place!” Emmet yelled from outside.
Ingo quickly pulled on his boots when something right next to the yurt roared, and he wrenched open the door to see nothing less than an alpha gabite getting tied to the ground under Tangrowth’s vines.
Chandelure was chiming at the alpha angrily, almost as if she was lecturing the pokemon, while the gabite growled low and glared at her. Ingo blinked and swayed a little in the doorway, at a bit of a loss of how to react.
What in Sinnoh’s vast Space happened while he was asleep?!
“Ingo!” Emmet’s worried voice pulled his attention away from the pokemon and he looked to his brother as he rushed over to him. “You’re okay?”
“I’m fine.” He whispered, careful not to aggravate his throat too much. He glanced at the alpha again. She was watching him intently, and started to growl low when Emmet put his hands on his shoulders. Chandelure shrieked and got into Gabite’s face, chiming at her until she was quiet again.
Ingo glanced around some more. Their pokemon were watching the alpha carefully, poised to attack if she tried anything. Even Gliscor had followed Ingo out and perched himself above the door of the yurt.
“Um… what happened?” He could already tell that Emmet knew just as much as he did, but he didn’t know what else to ask at the moment.
“Dunno. She was guarding the door with Tangrowth when I came, but she got aggressive when I tried to get close.” Emmet gave his shoulders a small squeeze and let him go. “Did you write anything down about it?”
Ingo glanced down at the nightclothes he was wearing before he went inside for his belt. He coughed as he pulled out his journal and turned the pages to find the latest entry. Unfortunately, it was just notes on what he could only assume were the events of the night before. There was nothing on the giant dragon that was now tied to the ground in front of their home.
“I didn’t.” He said sadly, putting the notebook away. “Sorry.”
“Okay. That’s fine.” Emmet took a deep, steadying breath and looked over at the gabite. She immediately started growling again. Ingo frowned and stepped forward, putting himself in front of his brother.
“Enough of that.” He said, as assertively as he could. “If you want to be here, you need to behave.”
Gabite only growled more loudly, clawing at the ground as she shifted under the vines. She glared over Ingo’s shoulder at Emmet. Chandelure chimed at her again.
“I mean it! You need to be nice to Emmet or I d-don’t want y-y-!” Ingo put a hand to his chest, inhaling shakily before his breath was stolen in a cough, and then another, and another. They were the rough kind, the ones that rattled in his chest painfully and made his head hurt.
“Niisan,” He felt Emmet’s hand on his shoulder briefly before Gabite suddenly reared her head and chomped on her restraints. “Get BACK!”
Chaos broke out in the small clearing in front of their home. Gabite tore away the vines holding her down and rushed forward towards them.
“W-wait-” Ingo coughed again, stumbling when the dragon’s head came between them and pushed him away from Emmet. Chandelure screamed and Gliscor launched himself from his perch while the rest of their pokemon surged forward to intercept, albeit hesitantly, with Ingo so close. Eelektross moved to put himself between Gabite and Emmet.
“INGO!”
“S-stop. STOP IT!” Ingo pounded his fist against Gabite’s side and she ignored him, snapping at Gliscor when he landed on her back. It was obvious that she was not trying to hurt him; the way she was curling around him made him think of a gible hatchling.
Sinnoh, had she imprinted on him or something, and that was why she was being protective? For the life of him he couldn’t remember what he’d done to earn it, though he did love the idea of having a dragon. Regardless, she was seeing Emmet as a threat right now, and that was a huge problem.
Oh.
Wait.
Maybe this was…
Something finally clicked in his brain and he gave her a withering glare as he mustered up his voice to shout without coughing. “Stop it right now, or you won’t be getting any more treats from me ever again!”
The effect was immediate. Gabite froze in place before she whipped her head around to look at him, her eyes wide almost as if in disbelief. Their pokemon paused and waited, and Gliscor slowly removed his mouth from Gabite’s shoulder.
“I m-mean it.” He repeated sternly, holding back another cough as his voice strained to stay even. “Emmet is my brother, and you will be nice to him if you want to be here. That means you have t-to be okay with him, too.”
He dissolved into another coughing fit that left him leaning against her side for support. Emmet cautiously came over with a water pouch, and fortunately, Gabite allowed him to get close this time to help.
“I am Emmet. I think you are done talking for now.” He said. Ingo nodded before taking a drink, relishing the feeling of cool water against his aching throat.
Gabite whined as she rested her head on the ground to watch him, her eyes flicking to Emmet every time he moved in the slightest. Ingo slid against her side to sit on the ground, taking a moment to catch his breath. His head was pounding now, which wasn’t going to be fun for him pretty shortly.
He raised his hands and gave Gabite a look, making sure she was watching before he started signing. “I am not feeling well, as you can tell,” Gabite’s gaze moved to Emmet when he started speaking for him. Ingo waited for her to look at him again before he continued, “but Emmet is going to take care of me. Not you. You can guard the yurt if you want, but you have to let him do what he needs to do. That means you have to listen to him.”
Gabite huffed at that. Ingo tsked and bopped her on the end of her snout before he registered how stupid that could be with a wild alpha. Both he and Emmet froze. Gabite, meanwhile, looked stunned by the motion, but didn’t so much as snap at him for it.
“...So, no arguing with me.” He continued, with Emmet translating again after he got over his own shock. “Either you listen to me and Emmet, or you have to leave.”
Ingo was fairly certain he’d never seen an alpha sulk before, but this one was certainly managing it. She dug her claws deep into the dirt and turned her head away with a frustrated whine. Gliscor hissed low from her back, and Chandelure and Eelektross threw in their own two bits as they floated closer.
Eventually, Gabite turned her head back and looked at Emmet for a few moments. She sighed loudly, tucking her arms closer against her chest. Slowly, Emmet scooted a little closer, giving her a small pat on her side before sitting next to Ingo.
“Thank you.” Ingo whispered. He sighed and closed his eyes, wilting against his brother as his adrenaline rush left him exhausted. He felt Emmet’s hand on his face, disconcertingly cool against his forehead and cheeks.
“You need to go back to bed.” Emmet told him.
Ingo nodded but didn’t move, only leaning back further to get comfortable. Emmet gave him a small nudge and looped his arm under his shoulder.
“I don’t think it’s good to indulge her this soon.” He pointed out softly. “Can’t let her think she’s the boss around here.”
Gabite growled low, and Ingo frowned and poked her side to get her to stop. With a sigh, he got to his feet and rested his head on his brother’s shoulder. He felt Emmet’s arm come around his waist when he started swaying slightly.
“Eelektross, Alakazam, you’re in charge out here.” Emmet instructed. Chandelure drifted over with a worried chime, following the two of them inside with Gliscor close behind.
“I’ll see you later, Gabite.” Ingo mumbled, giving their new pokemon a tired wave before the door shut behind them. He heard a pouty huff from close to the ground, and it made him smile a little.
Apparently, Ingo could call himself a dragon tamer, now. Or at least, one in the making.