#{ ☆ Drayton ; Dragon Tamer }

[destinybcnds]

"I thought fairy types were a myth made up to scare dragon type specialists."

[startgamc]

Headcanon - Blueberry Academy And The Pressure to Succeed

Uva/Naranja Academy and Blueberry Academy could not be more different from one another. This may seem like a pretty surface level observation, but the fact of the matter is that the culture surrounding battling and achievement in particular is much more intense than it is in Paldea.

To expound upon this, when we first arrive at Uva/Naranja, we're greeted with the concept of the Treasure Hunt. Yes, classes are still imperative but the truth is, where you choose to focus your studies ultimately is up to you. There is a lot of freedom within Uva/Naranja to follow one's passions, and that is reinforced by the faculty that are proactively involved in the lives of their students. That's not to say that Uva/Naranja is perfect by any means, as evidenced by how they handled Team Star. However, your education and what you do with it is much more in your own hands.

By contrast... Blueberry Academy seems to put an intense focus on battling and competition among its students. There do appear to be plenty of extracurricular activities available to the students, but battling appears to be the main focus of this academy. Between the exclusive use of double-battling, the competitive strategies that we see in Pokemon battles from non-E4 members, and the reactions of onlookers when their Champion loses a single match, it's pretty clear that the students hold themselves and each other to a higher level of battling.

Where does this culture come from? Likely it stems from the faculty first, but perhaps paints a broader picture of Unova's views on battling. We don't get the opportunity to see more than just one class during our introduction to the academy, but the class itself is very much hands on, practical experience. This may not be the case for every class, but it certainly lends itself to the impression that faculty expect you to be of a certain skill level when going into their assignments and to achieve the expected results.

And of course there are the random trainer encounters throughout the Terrarium. Each student seems to be focusing on their teams and trying to competitively improve so that they can move up or impress other trainers.

This all culminates in the Champion Battle against Kieran. All of these students gather together to watch, and the moment that Kieran loses, all of them turn their backs and walk away as if it was never worth their time to begin with. This is in stark contrast to the way the final battle against Nemona is perceived in Mesagoza. And while yes, Kieran certainly did not help the matter with how he behaved prior to the match, there's still no celebration or fanfare in this battle, even for the victor. It feels more like the students watching went well that Champion was short-lived. Anyway...

I would not be remotely surprised if Drayton's loss to Kieran had a similar energy.

Let's take a moment and move back to the Teal Mask too. Yes, there are other factors that do contribute to Kieran slowly losing it, but each battle does become more personal for him. That loss streak really gets to him over the course of the trip, perhaps because it's happening so consistently against someone he assumes to be a peer. And if the academy he attends already has a very intense curriculum when it comes to battling, this shouldn't come as a surprise.

We don't know how well Kieran was doing at Blueberry Academy before the Kitakami trip, but we can at least infer from Drayton that he had a lot more fun battling prior to those events. My guess is that Kieran was having his fair share of wins and losses.

And what of the faculty when it comes to Kieran's mental health? No one appears to have stepped in or tried to talk with him. The only faculty member directly involved in his battling is far more absorbed in the knowledge she can glean from him, rather than listening to and understanding a teenager's desperate cry for help. To me this implies the teaching staff do not have nearly as much care when it comes to how their students are faring if they're getting results in battles.

The academy is failing at checking the mental and emotional well-being at all levels if they're fine with allowing a troubled kid to no only run himself physically ragged, but inflict this same kind of punishment on other students for being weak in battle.

So what is the result of this? Bleuberry Academy is fostering highly competitive young trainers who will absolutely take on Unova, more than ready for all of its challenges and battles, but it appears to have a negative impact on the socialization of its students as well, where winning becomes a priority for everyone involved. Of course, not all of the students fall into this mental trap, but those that do may end up drowning due to the pressure and expectations of Blueberry Academy's ever lofty expectations.

[draytonite]

Blinks at him

" uh sorry weird looking thing. we're the tao and original dragon worshipping type dragon tamer peoples. you're probably lookin' for sinnoh? the time, space worshipping type dragon tamer people? take a right at kanto. can't miss it, it has a pointy mountain. "

[destinybcnds]

Once again, she could feel her throat tightening up as Kieran moved in her direction, leaning uncomfortably into her space. The look in his eyes was so intense, but she braced herself for what was coming. She told him to yell at her and that's exactly what she was going to get.

His harsh warning was unwanted, and she wanted nothing more than to argue his point. She wasn't stupid. She wasn't naive. It was one thing to be mad at her, but the way he was talking down to her was so painful. But before she can argue that point, he went on.

And this is where the knife really dug into her chest.

It was deserved. She did hurt him. And it lived in the back her mind for the last year, unable to leave her alone. He had no idea how much guilt she carried with her. How many times she replayed those events over and over in her head, agonizing over every mistake she made along the way. How she should've handled things instead... But it was way too late for that, now. The damage was already done. And now she had to deal with the consequences.

The anger coming from him was too overpowering for her to focus on what was really being said there.

"Okay! I screwed everything up! But that doesn't give you a free pass to act like this! You're mad at me but you're dragging everyone else down with you?! What sense does that make?!" As guilty as she felt, she wasn't going to let him scapegoat his attitude towards everyone else. "You can think I'm naive, stupid, heartless, or whatever else. Fine! I probably deserve it! But that's between us!"

This was not how she wanted or expected this to go. She wanted to apologize to him, to make things right, but she couldn't do any of that when he was acting like a bully himself.

Kotone's sudden yell did not just catch Drayton offguard. Kieran stared at Kotone for a few seconds, speechless as he was, before his eyebrows knitted together in irritation and Drayton lost Kieran's aggro, so to speak. As the boy approached the girl and got right up in her face about it, not breaking eyecontact once. He wouldn't let her or Drayton know how hard it was for him to keep this eyecontact up with Kotone in particular. She held... special status.

For many specific reasons. Most of which private and very much repressed.

"What are you, naive or stupid? He's using you to piss me off and you fall for it so fucking easily!" Easy there cowboy, you might come off as concerned for her. Backtrack, lest your image falls. Kieran scowled, teeth gritted behind lips pressed together into a thin, agitated line.

A practiced laugh then erupted from him. Clearly fake, brief, joyless; mocking like a mightyena.

"YOU didn't like how we left off in Kitakami? YOU were the person who tore my heart out! And betrayed me! You were my first friend and I loved being around you, and then I learn about how you were lying to me through your fucking teeth. I'm not going to make that mistake a second time. Thanks."

[destinybcnds]

"While we're on the topic of what food is or isn't, would you say that mayonnaise is an instrument?"

[startgamc]

"PSA to check your pants for Joltiks after leaving chargestone cavern. They will hitch a ride and drain your phone battery if you're not careful."

[tahobitz]

Drayton but dragon tamer cape

[startgamc]

Honestly she did have a point. Plenty of them. Unfortunately, Drayton was not motivated to act on them.

"Maybe you will! Who knows? I'm full of surprises." He raised his arms above his head, stretching out his back. "I think there's a good 60-40 chance that I don't skip after all."

it's like he wanted her to be annoyed all the time.

"you could be so capable if you just put effort in behind it. i don't understand why you won't." it's a long suffering tone. she doesn't expect him to change. she doesn't entirely want him to. "i will go to class as i should, and i expect you to as well."

[imadhatt3r]

Okay but Hassel being invested in Drayton's education is so sweet? Like they're clearly not very close (I'd imagine that Drayton wouldn't call him Mr. Hassel) but they're close enough on the family tree of dragon tamer families to be aware of eachother's existence and seemingly met in the past at least once (through Drayden I'd imagine). And we know that Hassel has cut ties with his branch of the family, but he still feels "responsible" enough for Drayton's education to get involved when he's failing classes. They're not close relatives, but Hassel still feels connected enough to his responsibility as a family heir to keep the youngsters in line.

It's also kinda mother-hen of him, and that's a trait he shows in interactions with his students like the protagonist or with other younger people under his "care", like Poppy.

Brassius was so right, this man was destined to be a teacher.

[cochineal-leviat]

"Drayton and Kieran battle. However, Drayton being Drayton - stokes the fires more than he should. Can the dragon tamer handle a Dragon's wrath?"

Heyo! I'm continuing this one shot because of the amazing comments I received and, of course, because it is fun to write and make art for. Thank you all so much for the support, and please enjoy!

I drew the battle poses in its entirety to get the anatomy right. If you want to see the full-body poses, please tell me. I think they're neat.

More of an art explanation under keep reading

The VS splash screen is based on Black and White 2's champion match against Iris. Originally, I was going more for the VS screen from gen 5 from the Gym leaders, but since Iris and Drayton are related - this fits more. (that and I couldn't find a good reference of the VS screens)

Also, my absolute favouritism of Unova and Black and White is shining through. To be fair, Blueberry Academy is set in Unova, and the Toaist dragons work perfectly well here symbolically. (I used Black and White 2's colour palette, which technically references Zekrom in Black 2 instead of the other Black, but let's pretend the blue on Drayton's side is from Reshiram's eye and vice versa on Kieran's side. I just wanted the cold colours to be on Drayton's side, whereas Kieran is supposed to be so flushed with anger)

Also, Rotom

[ruiyuki]

“Then, why don't you claim your own skies?”

The words ring in his head that morning of the ceremony. Thinking on this was unusual, really— the Drayster never mulled over things for long. In the days leading up however, Drayton couldn't help being reminded of the words said to him by that guy many months ago.

— —

Cyrano introduced him as a gym leader of the Galar region, visiting Blueberry Academy to train for a while in the Terarium.

“Yo, name's Raihan. Heard you're a dragon trainer too— care for a battle?”

A fellow dragon specialist, and Duraludon trainer too. They clicked instantly; having so much in common and being so similar in personality, it made League Club members do a double take. It wasn't before long that Drayton spent most of his class-skipping days hanging with Raihan in the Terarium during those few weeks.

They battled, they trained, and sometimes they just chatted over grub. Most of the time it was light-hearted: trading tips on dragon training, or stories of the strong trainers they've encountered. Other times, Raihan ranted off about the online beef he had with that Iono chick

(“The streamer girl? Yeah, we've met; she was invited here from Paldea last year. Girl's a whacky cuckoolander.” “Ugh, got that straight.”)

or jived Drayton about his League Club juniors.

(“Your girl Lacey is real cute.” “Yeah, that's her thing. Don't you think about trying anything though; her old man's Clay.” “The cowboy man? Damn.”)

It was only when the topic of rivals drifted along the daily conversation mill that vibes turned dour. A topic that Drayton avoided taking too seriously. There were feelings that never left him, never spoken aloud at Blueberry Academy. He wanted to keep it away, leave it on the shores of Unova miles from his small ocean sanctuary.

But Raihan never disparaged it. To Drayton's surprise, the other dragon tamer even had his own struggles to share, despite already reaching the status of 8th gym leader. He candidly described the child prodigy in his home region— the undefeated champion ever so popular and praised in the public eye.

It was a story Drayton knew all too well; he could recognize it in the undertone of Raihan's voice as he hit note for note the same emotions Drayton had felt too. So for the very first time since stepping foot upon Blueberry Academy, Drayton shared his own story— of his family, of the Opelucid Gym, of the Unova Champion.

Leon. Drayden. Iris.

These were the names that, although both Raihan and Drayton had much respect for them as pokemon trainers, never really made their smiles reach their eyes. The brighter big lights shine, the larger the shadows are cast behind them they say. Drayton's never found peace in that darkness, but it did make him feel better finding a kindred spirit in Raihan.

That is, until Raihan dropped the most mind-blowing take the Drayster's ever heard.

“It’s the same for you innit?— with Iris, I mean. There's always that someone you can't reach up to no matter how much you give your all— the ultimate rival. 'cept don't you think it could be that way 'cause you're playing the game with different rules?”

“Huh?”

“Leon was the strongest because his Pokemon are strong. Even if he's in a tight spot, he'd always manage to eek out a win because of that insane raw power of his pokemon. Battle instincts just come naturally to him y'know? But if you ask the man about how he uses his pokemon's abilities or setting up his next move? My mate gets lost quicker than Sonia can put a tracker on him, haha!”

“The Pokemon League's standard for single battles is great and all, but doubles is a whole different ball game. Singles is all about strength and endurance; double battles actually uses tactics. Just because a trainer is good at raising Pokemon to be strong doesn't always mean they'll be good at strategy. Honestly, it’s amazing how Leon stayed at the top for a decade 'til the new champ beat him.”

No matter how good Drayton was as Blueberry League Champion, at a school specialized in double battles, beating Iris was always a separate issue. The battle skills he was taught as a child, from his training by his grandfather at Opelucid Gym was all he had ever known when battling her. But truth be told, it never even occurred to him to level the playing field. It never occurred to him to think that he could.

“That's why I choose doubles in my gym. There are different ways to be strong as a trainer, it's just a matter of finding your own. 'sides, this school already specializes in double battles, why not put that to your advantage?”

Challenging Iris in a double battle… might just be the craziest idea Drayton has ever considered.

“The skies are big enough for all of us to fly— you just have to claim your territory, mate.”

— —

“Drayton, there you are!” Lacey's voice snaps him out of his reverie.

They've just finished the graduation ceremony. Long and arduous, the graduating students all decked out in Blueberry's cap and gown stood in the Terarium's Central Plaza waiting to be called up one by one to recieve a fancy sealed up paper. After the final speeches were said, cheers shouted and caps tossed, it was finally time for students to freely mill about in the celebratory energy.

“Yo. Congratulations, Miss Valedictorian.”

“Oh please, not you too. Crispin and the other League Club members have already said enough.” She pauses, lightly laughs as she approaches him. “And besides, I came here to congratulate you! Congratulations on graduating, Drayton.”

“Thanks, been a long time coming.”

“Yes… To be honest, I'm kinda surprised you made it this year…”

“Heh heh, aren't we all?” He took no offense to that, really. “Guess I just got my muse back this time 'round.”

Indeed, Drayton's change of pace didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the BB Elite Four. Perhaps it was the influence of the whole Kieran drama last year… or after that had cleared up, the subsequent sister school exchange event where the top BB League Club members got invited to Paldea to participate in a team competition. Lacey certainly noticed Drayton went back to skipping class when the Galarian gym leader was here, but at least he was motivated somewhat regularly after.

“I see… well I'm glad to hear that, Drayton. What are you planning to do after graduation?”

“Who knows… but I might have something in mind…”

“Something?”

“Don't worry about it.” He waves it off and ushers her ahead. “C'mon, lets take some photos with the club. It'll be our last ones here afterall.”

.

.

.

“By the way Drayster— if you ever find yourself in Galar, feel free to drop by Hammerlocke Stadium any time. We'll be happy to have ya.”

[startgamc]

"I once missed 20 text messages from Lacey and Crispin cause I didn't realize I had the little guys all over me. Can't be mad at that face though."

"This is very true."

[snakeassassins]

Pokemon Theory: Hassel, Drayton, and "Sinister Hands"

Hey guys! Before the pokemon presents starts tomorrow, I wanted to hash out some observations I’ve made on the scarvi dlc and the implications they have on pokemon lore as a whole. I don’t have much of a big hook to draw anyone in, though, so let’s just jump into it.

Hassel is only one of two characters in all of gen 9 who is left handed. The other is professor turo, who does so to symbolically mirror sada. Through this, I don’t think it’s hard to say that Hassel’s left handedness is also something designed to mirror someone else.

A lot of people have already pointed out that Hassel and Drayton have a lot of mirrored animations.

As such, I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to say that they are the big foils here.

There’s a bit of a snag, though.

With Sada and Turo, it’s obvious that this right/left theming is in regards to the past/future, but it becomes a bit murky if you attempt to apply this to Drayton and Hassel.

If anything this theming is reversed.

Drayton’s supposed to match Sada’s past, but his ace is the futuristic Archaladon.

Similarly, Hassel is supposed to represent the future, but his ace is Baxcalibur, who is themed around dinosaurs, much like past paradox pokemon.

The major exception to this is their signature moves. Electro shot takes a turn to fire, while Baxcalibur takes double damage after using Glaive Rush. Drayton’s ace’s weakness is the “past”, while Hassel’s ace’s weakness is the “future”.

So… how are we supposed to read this exactly? It’s an intentional contradiction —a paradox, if you will—but one whose intent is hard to parse.

Something else has been nagging me about Hassel’s left-handedness: it’s an anachronism.

See, given the name, Baxcalibur is designed to be a medieval weapon. In which case fighting with it left handed would be considered a major taboo for that time period. Swordsmen of that period were trained exclusively with their right hand, which meant fighting with your left was considered to be inherently underhanded.

This bled into a lot of the language and culture at the time. The word “sinister” itself literally means left in latin, we just use it to mean evil in modern times because those were the traits associated with left handed people back then.

It was a common trope for duels to be won unfairly by having the perpetrator fence with their right hand, only to stab their opponent with a hidden blade in their left. A left handed fencer in most medieval fiction is almost inherently duplicitous.

Another one was for left handed fighters to be masters attempting to hide their true strength by using their non-dominant hand to fight. A more benevolent form of trickery, but deceitful nonetheless. Maybe it’s a sign that Hassel is pulling his punches, given how low “elite four member” is compared to the multiple dragon tamer champions we’ve had?

You can see both of these tropes being invoked by this scene from the princess bride. Both opponents intentionally start with their weakest hand before switching to the right, but it’s a double entendre also meant to show that neither is as bad as they appear to be either, a fact made even more obvious by how honorably they fight.

To be honest, I was a bit concerned I could be grasping at straws with these comparisons, given that Baxcalibur’s Japanese name doesn’t even refer to a sword, but then it hit me

Its signature move is it literally backstabbing you. That’s the pun.

Which leads me to what’s been nagging at me here: why is one of Hassel’s major character motifs centered around him being a traitor if he never once betrays anyone in the story? If he was built from the ground up to be our metaphorical Brutus, then who is Caesar?

I think the obvious guess of who Hassel is a traitor to would be the dragon tamer family he seems to have run away from.

He tells us why he left, but his explanation is more than a little vague. Why did he stop being a musician and join the elite four? Why is he so necessary to his family’s hierarchy that they are willing to fake his father’s illness to get him back, even after all these years? There’s more to this story that Hassel is either downplaying or straight up not telling us, and that makes it the prime suspect for Hassel’s “traitor” status.

However, as we are in Unova for the dlc, my inner fan theorist can’t help but also point out the faction actively themed around medieval knights.

Especially when their boss is yet another blonde-ish lefty with swept back hair who is, frankly, more than a little ceasar coded himself.

Hassel’s backstabbing is probably a good thing for us either way tbh

Drayton’s the right hand man, however, and as such we can assume that he is aligned with whatever Hassel is against, willingly or otherwise. The Mark Anthony to our Brutus, if you will. The responsibilities of which he is likely dragging his feet on by staying in school as long as possible. Which actually brings us back to the original right hand/left hand dichotomy.

I think the big difference between the Sada/Turo dichotomy and the Drayton/Hassel dichotomy is that Sada and Turo are defined by a relentless pursuit of something. Drayton and Hassel, on the other hand, are defined by avoidance.

What’s important to the symbolism isn’t that Drayton is using his right hand, it’s that he isn’t using his left. He isn’t someone pursuing the past like Sada, but using his obligation to the school as a way to avoid the future.

Similarly, I think it's safe to say that Hassel is using his teaching position to escape his past moreso than he is looking to his future.

Because of this I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that Hassel’s past and Drayton’s future… probably coalesce in the same place.

What this actually implies is a question that will probably only be answered by our inevitable black and white remake, but I am curious about it nonetheless. I’ve got a bunch of extra comparisons to make between these two that didn’t quite make the cut here, so feel free to add your own observations and theories if you come up with anything.

[destinybcnds]

"Very important question incoming! If I got lost would you hold my hand?"

[startgamc]

"Birds are absolutely real. Fairy types aren't though."

[destinybcnds]

Winning or losing didn't matter to him, really. What was annoying was this attitude from Kieran that came out of nowhere. What happened on that return trip to Kitakami?

"I'm sorry your liege. Can you not stand the peasantry being taller than you or something?"

Setting down his books the teen sits down, if he was Drayton he wouldn't be showing his face in the club room after such a humiliating defeat. "You know there is plenty of room on the floor, it's where you belong anyways."