#and then she does a sweep of the facilities to make sure she didn't leave any

[ask-professor-laurel]

Hello! I am Professor Dracaena I specialize in dragon types and am head at aAshbirn dragon type sanctuary.

It seem we share having a Dragonite as our first Pokémon, though mine was obtained less conventionally, what specific challenges would oh say you faced starting with a dragon?

Hello! Haha yes, I got Cloudhopper by very conventional means. But there were... definitely a lot of challenges.

For anybody who doesn't know, I received Cloudhopper as a Dratini from my aunt, when she found out I wanted to set out as a trainer. Cloudhopper and I have been inseparable ever since. But, there were lots of challenges! I was a kid, she was a young dragon, there were bound to be hiccups.

The first big thing was diet. Dratinies are just as carnivorous as Dragonites. So, I was having to handle meat products and actively prevent her from hunting while we were travelling Galar. A fun fact about me is I'm a vegetarian, have been since I was a kid, so handling meat was... very much not something I was prepared for. It was an adjustment, but I knew that if I couldn't handle Cloudhopper's diet I would have to give her up, which I didn't want to do. So, I powered through.

Shedding was a lot. Dratinies and Dragonairs shed... so much. It took a while for me to get used to having to clean up shed and help her with tough spots. It took even longer for me to get used to her eating it! Shed has a lot of nutrients, so it's a perfectly healthy boost, but for a kid? Horrifying. I used to always cover my eyes when she was done shedding so I wouldn't have to watch her eat it. These days I don't mind it at all.

Activity was never a big issue, she got lots of exercise and I've never really kept her in her Pokeball that much. Lots of battling, lots of playing, lots of moving around. It did take a while for us to adjust once she was fully evolved, I'll say. Flight was very new, took her a good while to get the hang of those new wings, but with my aunt's help she got there! Now she's a fully licensed ride Pokemon and we fly often.

Honestly, the biggest challenges presented themselves when she evolved into a Dragonite. Suddenly she had to eat a lot more, her hunting instincts were a lot more intense, the exercise she needed jumped way up. I was lucky- I was prepared for that, and I had someone I could easily contact to help when needed, and I think that's why things didn't go horrifically wrong. The instincts took a lot of getting used to- I've always been a trouble magnet, you can ask anyone who knows me, and Cloudhopper suddenly had the mass and strength where she could be as fiercely protective as she felt. We had lots of conversations about how she couldn't just... blindly attack anything she thought might hurt me, basically. We worked on redirecting that so that now, if she thinks something might hurt me, she instead just grabs me and basically holds onto me until she thinks the danger has passed. Which can be quite funny- she's twitchy, and has on multiple occasions scooped me up and stared down a Paras that happened to pop out of a bush and startle her.

But, hey, she's my partner and my best friend, and all those challenges just brought us closer together. She's actually having a shed right now as I type this, she's currently lumbering around my office gathering up what's already come off so that she can keep it all in one place and have herself a snack later.

Thanks for the message! Dragonites are incredible Pokemon, and I wouldn't trade Cloudhopper for the world :)

#pokemon #professor laurel #arthur rambles #asked and answered #she is the most tidy Dragonite I've ever met #don't get me wrong she loves making herself into a mess by rolling around in mud #and getting into playful scraps with other Pokemon #but she's incredibly meticulous with cleaning herself off #and when she sheds she cleans it all up as she goes and basically hoards it for when it's all done #and then she does a sweep of the facilities to make sure she didn't leave any #it's hilarious and adorable