Pokémon: Starting with a Dragon Dance Gible [5]

It was as if some cruel curse had been cast.

Ordinary Gible, Gabite, and Garchomp couldn’t learn [Dragon Dance]—no matter what.

Level-up?
Egg moves?
TMs?
Move Tutors?

Nothing worked.

And yet, when it came to crafting a TM for [Dragon Dance]…

One of the key required materials?

Was none other than a scale shed from Gible.

“….”

Kaiba was convinced—Game Freak’s design team had to include someone who hated Cynthia.

Otherwise, why was it that every other Dragon-type Pokémon—even some non-Dragon-types—could learn [Dragon Dance]…

But Garchomp, of all Pokémon, was left out in the cold?

And fine—if Garchomp simply wasn’t “compatible” with [Dragon Dance], so be it.

But requiring Gible’s scales as crafting material for the TM?

That was just spiteful. Pure, deliberate antagonism.

A setup specifically designed to frustrate Garchomp players.

Cynthia: That’s just mean! Why do you have to bully me like this?! 😭

“Kapu~ Kapu~”

Little Gible blinked up at him, its eyes still wide with youthful innocence and unshaken trust.

Completely unaware that the burden of restoring the honor of all Garchomps, past and future now rested squarely on its round little shoulders.

The gears of fate had begun turning—and there was no stopping them now.

Gible downed the Moomoo Milk and kibble in a few quick gulps. Not picky in the slightest—everything tasted good to this little shark.

It gave its red, round belly a satisfied pat, then let out a contented burp—“Kapu…”—and plopped over onto the floor like a soft, pudgy basketball.

Breakfast, complete.

After giving Gible a few minutes to digest, Kaiba set out with it in tow, heading for the university gym.

Time to begin official training.

Last night, he’d spent hours racking his brain—planning ahead, mapping out training methods, move sets, and strategies for future battles.

But—“Reading a thousand books is nothing compared to walking a thousand miles.”

You couldn’t raise a powerful Pokémon through theory alone.

It was time to stop imagining and start doing.

Shanghai University had both indoor and outdoor training grounds.

The large gyms and stadiums weren’t just for battle—they were subdivided into dozens of training rooms specifically for students in the Pokémon Battle Department, or for rookie Trainers working with new partners.

Students in the Pokémon Breeding and Pokémon Medical departments also made use of these spaces.

Over time, this collaborative structure had matured into a fully integrated ecosystem—a well-oiled machine of student life and Pokémon activity.

At Shanghai U, and indeed across the Donghuang region, this had become the standard campus setup.

As one great writer once said:

“There was no path at first—but walk it enough times, and a path will appear.”

The same principle applied here. Society and its systems grew organically around the presence of Pokémon.

And in a world with such fantastical creatures, of course the face of society would evolve to match.

“….”

That said, asking a classmate to team up for training wasn’t something Kaiba could do.

He wasn’t in the Battle Department.

He was in Business Administration.

He didn’t know anyone from Battle, Breeding, or Medical.

Which meant… solo queue.

Just him and his Gible—like a lone wolf.

Kaiba: Don’t call me a lone wolf. Call me Zamazenta! Zamazenta (Crowned Sword Form)—!
Zamazenta: …What about me? Every time you talk about strong Pokémon, it’s always your my Zacian. You never mention me. That’s just mean.
Zacian: Glory shared, hardship shouldered. Stop whining, little bro.

...

“Excuse me, I’d like to reserve a private training room,” Kaiba said, approaching one of the gym’s floor managers with Gible in tow.

“Student ID, please. Let me check your remaining hours.”

The staff member spoke without looking up—clearly used to going through the motions.

[Student: Kaiba]
[Major: Business Administration]
[Remaining Training Room Hours: 100]

“Still got 100 hours left on your card? So you’ve never used it before… wait a sec—”

The manager finally glanced up at the screen, then did a double take.

“You’re not even from the Pokémon Battle Department…”

True, Shanghai University didn’t discriminate between departments when it came to gym and training room access.

As long as you were enrolled, you were entitled to a certain number of free hours.

Even non-battle majors were allowed to raise Pokémon for everyday companionship. Totally normal in this world.

And the occasional use of the gym? Also normal.

But…

Showing up with a Gible?

That caught the staffer completely off guard.

What the—

A Gible?!

Even among Battle Department elites, few students were lucky enough to start with a pseudo-legendary.

Who gives a Gible to a freshman as their starter?

The child of a Dragon-type Gym Leader?
The heir to the Donghuang region’s Dragon-type Elite Four?

Maybe.

But this guy?

According to the ID on file, Kaiba wasn’t even in the Battle Department.

“What? So just because I’m not from the Battle Department, I’m not allowed to reserve a training room?”

“Not at all.”

The staffer shook his head. “It’s just… unusual, that’s all.”

Unusual?

Keyword detected: Unusual.

Trigger response: Unusual? Who you calling unusual?!—hissss—Unusual my ass!

---

P.S. In Gen 8, Zacian was so absurdly overpowered that Game Freak had to nerf her stat total and her “Intrepid Sword” ability as soon as Gen 9 dropped.

Her brother Zamazenta got hit with the same nerf bat, even though he’d barely done anything notable the whole time. Talk about collateral damage.

Thus was born Zacian’s catchphrase: “Glory shared, hardship shouldered.”

T/N: yeah i heard about it LMAOOOO poor Zamazenta

This is a fan translation of 宝可梦，开局龙舞圆陆鲨 by 眼含泪光 All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!