On this beautiful day, Andrea soared the skies on Meatloaf’s back, a younger Sora following close behind. The two dragons had developed a sort of mentor and student relationship.

Suddenly, the draconic pair stopped in their aerial tracks. “Huh? What’s wrong, you two?” Drawn to a unique scent, the two Salamences descended upon a small island buffeted by angry waves.

Once there, the winged serpents playfully circled around a blonde woman whom they instinctively recognized as a friend and part of their kin. Andrea had never seen them take such an immediate liking to someone before.

That person wasn’t just anyone, though. “Wait… You’re Freya, aren’t you?” The dragon-costumed girl asked, bewildered that she could happen across such an important figure in such a random, remote place.

freya morningstar //water / flying / dragon

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a small school of tympole float about in a tide pool. fafnir looks at them curiously, teasing them by dipping the white claws of his toes in the water. they blublubblub happily and wriggle to and fro. it's almost enough to lighten freya's mood. 

but fafnir gets distracted, and so too does freya, when two salamence approach. at first she prepares for a fight, instincts squeezing adrenaline through her body, but the fight response leaves her when the salamences' body language gets clearer as they near. 

she blinks. 

"uh, yes. i am." fafnir squats down in the water and grabs a wriggling green wyrm currently being chased by one unruly tympole. the wet dragon cheeps exhaustively and freya taps it into a ball, praising faf for his find. 

"these are impressive salamence," she says with a smile. "have i seen you around hq before?" something tickles the back of her brain. "oh! you're one of the minor league gym leaders, right? apologies - i'm terrible with names."

Andrea Vaneau
catching dipplin

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“Thanks, I trained them myself!” Said the draconic cosplayer with pride, petting each of her Salamences. “They’re not as impressive as your Salamence, though. The one with all the scars. The one that fought Kyurem in the Silent Icelands. I was there, you know.”

Meatloaf huffed in jealous indignation. Whoever that other Salamence was, he was confident he could take them on. Too confident, perhaps.

“I haven’t been around HQ that much. I’m never invited to any of the important meetings.” The cosplayer explained, while Freya captured a little green wyrm. “My name’s Andrea, and these are Meatloaf and Sora.” She pointed at her two dragons.

freya morningstar //skipping

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"that's no small feat," she says, but it makes sense. a minor gym leader, and someone who seems to be just as fanatical as freya when it comes to dragons, ought to be able to tame beasts like these.

"ah, that's lyune."

green envy snakes through fafnir, ever a proud dragon, and he romps off when his kin receives praise instead. freya's lips quirk as she watches him go. she tucks her hands neatly behind her back, eyeing the overtly friendly salamence. 

meatloaf. "my friend has one named salami," she says with a laugh. she'd turned her nose up at such a crude name for a creature like a salamence, but time has weathered her pride and her arrogance. 

"it's nice to meet you, andrea. care to stick around? some of the locals have said the dragons around here are acting a bit odd."

Andrea Vaneau
skipping

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“Lyune, yes! That one!” The dragon fanatic exclaimed with a finger snap. “I hope we can battle him one day.” She added, her male Salamence perking up at the mention of a battle.

“Salami, that’s such a funny name!” Andrea laughed as well at that nickname, oblivious to the fact that the name Meatloaf was just as much of a meme. She stopped laughing when she heard the reason the councilwoman was investigating this area.

“Dragons acting a bit odd? That sounds concerning. We’ll help in any way we can!” The draconic cosplayer resolutely declared.

freya morningstar //skipping

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"one day," she promises. when she's not knee-deep in paperwork and preparing for war. when the world goes back to some semblance of normalcy, if they ever get there in the first place. 

"yeah, i thought so too." undros had been his given name, and she'd watched after him a long time, after alex was gone. overheard, a pair of birds drift over the sea. the pidgeot is a puzzling sight so far out in the waters, but she chalks that up to another anomaly. 

"maybe when things slow down, i can stop by your gym."

Andrea Vaneau
skipping

☉

A Pidgeot? In these waters? That was an anomaly for sure.

“Feel free to visit anytime! My Gym is always open to challengers!” Andrea told the councilwoman, while staying alert for any signs of dragons in the area acting erratically.

“By the way, I’ve read your book on dragonology. How come you know so much about dragons? Are you a dragon tamer, like those from Johto?” The eccentric cosplayer asked in an attempt to break the ice.

freya morningstar //skipping

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fafnir continues to lead the charge, now that his pride has mended. while they travel, he does manage to untangle a dragonair from a jumpluff, knocking out the former in the process. freya tucks it away, ensures the jumpluff is at least stable, and continues on with her dragon-hooded companion. 

"sootopolis has dragon tamers," she says. "my family came from a long line of them and taught me all i know."

it's a double-sided truth - the morningstars were indeed dragon tamers, but they were keepers to her true bloodline: the zinnia. 

"i take it you must really like dragons too? is that a sygna suit?"

Andrea Vaneau
catching dragonair

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That Dragonair did not look that aggressive, though the Jumpluff could probably attest differently. Maybe they just needed to keep looking.

“I didn’t know about Sootopolis. I thought all of Hoenn’s dragon tamer tribes originated in Meteor Falls, which is close to my home actually.” The Fallarborian admitted.

When questioned about her Hydreigon Sygna Suit, the flamboyant cosplayer posed proudly. “It sure is! When I’m training with Chomper, I can pull all sorts of awesome tricks! Today’s Salamence Day, though. They deserve some love and attention too!”

Soon enough, she would miss their training sessions dearly, but for now, she blissfully and a bit carelessly took Chomper for granted. A grave error on her part…

freya morningstar //skipping

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