So this was Mateo? He seemed a bit smaller than he expected, he was a short fellow in shabby clothing with an even more shabby hair cut. Not that Ken had much room to talk given his hair was always in a badly combed mullet or a full blown mess of unkempt locks styled into a explosion of sunrays. Still, the kid’s cloths were better than Ken’s no matter how shabby. A letter men jacket vs a bad ass looking dragon master costume... Okay, maybe he was a tiny bit out of his element here. He looked him over from head to toe, the white jeans made him pause for a moment as he studied his them for a moment... In all his years of life he had never seen white jeans, at first he thought them to be badly bleached but low and behold they were indeed white jeans that were paired with... SANDALS?! For some reason, Ken felt underdressed for this now. Ugh, he should have known better than to wear his training gear to meet the dragon den’s guardian.

The air had become tense as the dragon master made stark ‘i dunno’ in the air between them, Ken felt his heart rate elevate as he stared into the dark haired male’s perfect eyes. “My name is Ken” he chimed up when the questions began to flow, “I know you, you’re Mateo Fusube’s current guardian of the Dragon Den as well as the city’s gym leader.” he wouldn’t show any weakness he stood confident and tall, his back left the wall and he stood at his full height of a confident 6’3 “I want to help you here, I want to help maintain the den rather it be protecting the Pokemon, feeding them or even just helping the hatchlings learn the lay of the land. That and I want to be one of your gym trainers!”

He was talking alot, but like any interview he needed to sell himself to his potential employers, “That and one day, not that I’m gunning for your job or anything but I want to be a gym leader too one day and I know if I learn under you I can achieve that dream and be someone the people of johto and my hot girlfriend can look up to as a standard and pillar of support!” he spoke with fire and passion!

“BUT before I do any of that making my hot pink haired girlfriend proud as well as protecting the region I want to go in here get a dragon so I can donate years of my life to serving you!”
Mateo Martinez

As soon as the Dragon Den’s guardian returned Ken’s exact enthusiasm the blonde had known he made the right choice! As a member of Virus he should have been more careful about taking on employment somewhere like this, but at this exact moment Ken wasn’t thinking as a member of team virus nor did he take on the situation as a member of the ever forming group Juggernaut. No, today he wanted to do things as himself, the man who loved Savannah Becker and wanted to build a healthy future for not only her but the entire Johto region and right now he had taken the correct step in doing so.

With a wide grin and fiery eyes Ken would offer an aura of enthusiasm to Mateo that could rival the heat of the beating sun above them. He wanted this, he wanted to know what was inside of the Den and did whatever it took for him to obtain a dragon! Not that, that was all he was there for. His goal was still in mind and his belly was growling with anticipation as he heard of what could be inside of the cave. Just thinking about what lied dormant in it made his gut twist and turn as he imagined the beast that would be waiting for him. That and as they began their journey into the cavern the fighter thought about the Pokemon Mateo could have had on his person: massive beast that could set the region a blaze, he had to have a team of brutal Pokemon! Ken just knew it! Maybe one day he’d get a battle.

Once they were inside of the den, the light of the entrance fading as their shadows became more diluted Ken’s eyes would fall on the lake and everything beyond that. The lake at the belly of the den was like nothing he had ever seen before, while he didn’t see any dragon Pokemon he could feel power radiating from the body of water before him as every thing in the cave from the moist walls to the structure at the end, every little crevice of this magnificent place roared with energy.

Ken had been taken aback by what he had seen, but soon his focus would return to the man beside him as he was offered an empty Pokemon. With a nod he’d accept the Pokeball, sapphire hues drifting down to it as he listened to the instructions from the man. He had been told to put his hand in the water without any hesitation, no thoughts just action... He could do that.

He’d take his first step toward the lake and paused before continuing the rest of the way. He could feel his hands shaking a mix of nervousness and excitement battling in his mind for supremacy over his massive form. As anxious as he was, he’d take a knee to the lake and without a second thought dipped his hand into the waiting pool below him. The sensation shocked him at first, the water was cool against his skin. A dull shock went up his arm and pulsated through his body as he could feel the power from the den, just for this brief moment envelope his form. His eyes would shut as his mind called forth to any dragon that’d listen.
Mateo Martinez

Ken had gotten a little too into what he was doing. He remained with closed eyes as he felt his mind become completely blank. There was nothing but peace and energy running through him right now as he let his thoughts go adrift. There were so many dragons here, he could feel them all radiating with him on a level that he couldn’t comprehend. Thoughts would try to come to his mind, but he would immediately place his attention back onto the coolness of the water as he allowed himself to be at the mercy of the feelings that were coming over him.

Any minute now his dragon would come and he’d be a real trainer and it seemed that moment was now. He felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and peering over his shoulder what he had expected to be the guardian was a Pokemon. The very sight made his eyes light up with joy as he sprung up to look at the Charmander. He had never seen a Pokemon like it before, but from the appearance he could tell it was certainly a dragon! It had to be! “Hello there.” he managed to blurt out words that weren’t overly excited in hopes he wouldn’t scare it off, his expression was one of genuine gratitude as he felt grateful not only for the chance to be in the den but to meet his first dragon in the region outside of TV.

“It’s very nice to meet you. I’m Ken, what’s...” he sniffed the air, “Hey do you smell something cooking?” he sniffed the air again before checking behind both of his shoulders. He didn’t see anyone or anything until he took another big whiff and looked down at the back of his pants. A flame had been set on his bottom and his reaction, well it was uncharacteristic of someone so big. Jumping up with yelp he fumbled on his feet to pat his rear end flame-less only to end up teetering on the edge of the lake. He teetered, he tottered but he kept himself up and instead continued to try to pat out the flame with hard swats.

Eventually he would manage to douse the flames but he had a sneaky suspicion that he knew the culprit behind that joke, giving the dragon the stink eye he glared at it. “Hey, did you do that?” he questioned with narrow eyes, “I could have been set on fire!” he didn’t quite yell but there was some shock in his voice, enough to get the point across that he was stunned.

His expression would soften and he’d begin to laugh, “Why you little... Heh, that was a pretty good joke. But I bet I can show you a way better prank...”

He’d smile, “But you’d have to come outside of the den to see it.”
Mateo Martinez

As Ken waited for the Charmander’s answer he noticed the hesitance in its demeanor after the laughter had subsided. It was only natural for it to not immediately jump into his group without really knowing who he was, thus the blonde would take the time to let the little Pokemon ponder its next move. Rather or not it joined was a crucial first step to his joining of the Fusube city gym, but he wouldn’t force the young Pokemon to do anything it didn’t want to as it likely did have family and friends in the city that it would miss on the long road to the Pokemon Ken was on as he strives to join the Pokemon league.

Mateo would soon interject speaking about the Pokemon having relatives in the Den to which Ken would look at the male and slowly nod. “Well, I won’t say that I’ll just give you bonds like those you have now.” he’d step out of the lake completely this time, body drenched with water. Taking his first step on land he’d remove his jacket and allowed his muscular physique to breath.

Once his jacket was strung over his left shoulder he’d continued to speak, “Charmander, I won’t pretend that I’m a great trainer who’ll give you unlimited strength, I won’t lie and say that things will be easy for us but...” he’d take a knee and hold out a hand to the orange salamander, “What I will give you if you come with me is another family, a family that will grow with you, be patient with you, and embrace you for being you. I can see that power in you and I want, forgive the word, I want you to join me and I want to get stronger with you. And not only that but of course we'll pull some pranks on the side.”

His hand would retract to his chest as it rested over his heart, “We’ll be family and we’ll fight whatever comes our way together.” what he was saying may have been cliched, but for him it was a heck of a lot more real than telling the Charmander they’d have tons of adventures, and be the best and other silly little lies trainers told the Pokemon they met in the Den. Ken sought out to grow with his Pokemon, not just use them as tools... Even if that is a lesson he thought would make him stronger.
Mateo Martinez