"So what do you think of the human?" I ask Cubone.
"What?" Cubone looks confused when I ask him out of nowhere.
"Gade," I mention his name. "He's the one that offers you to join us, remember?"
"Oh. Him." Cubone realizes who was I talking about. "I don't know." Looking into the distance, I can see Gade guarding the entrance to that building he called "Silph Co."
Currently, we're taking a break under the shade of a tree after we finished our sparring session. Since Cubone has no combat experience, Gade suggested that I, the 4 feet tall Nidoking, have a sparring match with him. Frankly, I do not mind a little bit of workout. On the other hand, Cubone here lacks the motivation and drive to push himself forward.
"Then why did you stay with him?" I ask the bone pokemon. Cubone looks at me as if he doesn't understand my question. "What I meant is that when he offers you to join in with your mate, why did you refuse?"
"S- She's not my mate?!" Flustered, Cubone is stumbling on his word. "A- Also," Regaining his composure, Cubone continues. "I just think that I owe it to him, that's all."
"Owe? You owe what?" I question him further.
"Isn't that why you stay? Because we all owe him something?" Ah. So that's what he thinks.
"You misunderstood." I correct Cubone. "I did not owe him anything. None of us did."
"What? But then-" I raise my paws, signaling him to let me finish. "Sorry, go on."
"It was my intention to stay with Gade, not because I owe him my life, but because I realize my purpose."
"Your... purpose?" Cubone inquires.
"Yes." I begin to tell him a story. "Back then, I was a small Nidoran. My life is a cycle of survival, finding food, battling the hostile enemies, and so on." Closing my eyes, I recall the image of those 2 pokemon. "My first encounter with Gade was when he rescued me from those 2 wretched Nidorinoes. He promised me Strength. He promised me Revenge. He promised me Freedom." Opening my eyes, I look at my arm. The arm that will never get this strong had it not been for my trainer. "He never breaks his promises."
Cubone nods, gesturing for me to go on.
"On the day of my revenge, we got surrounded by a horde of enemies. Thanks to my newfound strength, I destroyed all of the enemies in my path, unaware of the state of my trainer." At the end of that sentence, I go silent.
"You mean..." Cubone looks shocked, realizing the direction I am going with this story.
"Yes," I confirm it to him. "He almost died." Clenching my fist, I regain my composure. "On that day, I felt rage. Rage that I've never experienced before. Anger slowly consumed me, and I was starting to see red." Breathing in and out, I try to calm myself down. "I then looked at those 2 Nidorinoes, those that subject me through torture in the past. I saw them stomping on his hand, my trainer, making him suffer in pain. At that point... I just snapped."
Cubone goes quiet after I finished my story. Gathering his word, he asks me. "W- Why are you telling me this?"
"Because... It was also the day that I discovered my purpose." I explain. "To not live for me, but to live for someone that I care about." Turning my head around, I notice Gade is waving his hand while looking right at me. "I do not know what it's like to lose someone you care about, which is why I need to get stronger to prevent that from ever happening." Raising myself up, I point my claw at Cubone. "But you. You know what it's like to lose someone, don't you?" Cubone goes rigid the moment I said that. "If you don't want that to ever happen again, then you must get stronger."
"I- ...I don't- ... I don't think I can..." Cubone looks down, studying the grass beneath him.
"That's because you believe it." I kneel down to face myself toward Cubone. "You believe that you cannot get stronger. That no matter how hard you try, you will always remain weak."
"But it's true!" Cubone raises his voice, almost yelling. "If not, then why did my mom- ...why did she!" Cubone is now sobbing, rubbing his eyes out of tears.
"You're right. You are weak." I place my paws on his shoulder. "But tomorrow, you are stronger than you from today. And the day after that, you're going to become even stronger."
"You really believe that?" Cubone softly asks.
"I don't believe it. I know it." I reassure the tiny pokemon. "Every day, I ask myself, how could I do this better?" Staring into his eyes, I tell him. "But starting today, you will say that to yourself. Repeat after me, I am going to do this better!"
"I- I am going to do this better?"
"Louder!"
"I am going to do this better!"
"Louder!"
"I am going to this better!"
"LOUDER!"
"I AM GOING TO DO THIS BETTER!"
"GOOD! THAT'S THE SPIRIT. NOW SHOW ME YOUR STRENGTH."
"I WILL SHOW YOU, MY STRENGTH!"
"YEAH!"
"Hyping someone up, Nidoking?" Turning around, I notice Gade is standing right behind me. "As much as I don't want to ruin your fun, we have to go." Taking out his pokeball, Gade signals for Cubone to get inside.
"It's ok, Cubone. We can continue this tomorrow. Remember, you are going to get stronger."
Nodding with a smile on his face, Cubone enthusiastically walks back to our trainer before he gets zips back into his pokeball. "Alright, what kind of bullshit did you tell him this time?" Gade asks.
"I don't know what are you talking about?" I shrug, pretending to not know what he talks about.
"Sure I do, you're basically a carbon copy of me." Looks like I got caught.
"Fine, you see right through me. But at least Cubone is in a better mood yeah?"
"Hmm... alright, you win," Gade states. "Just be sure to tell me next time, ok?"
"I'll try not to forget about it." Walking right behind Gade, I follow him into the Silph Co. building.