Zenith raised an eyebrow at him, then sent out Blaziken.
Calreath and Politoed tensed. Blaziken was Zenith's ace, and could mega evolve to one of the strongest Pokémon in all the regions. Certainly it was the strongest starter, and Calreath tried to imagine a 10-year-old Zenith choosing a cute, feisty Torchic.
He pushed away the image to focus on the looming battle as Zenith ordered Blaziken to use Blaze Kick.
Too fast for him to react—maybe he would have lost that tabletop battle after all—Blaziken lunged past Calreath. By the time he spun around, a foot-sized hole burned through the rocks and wreckage that had buried a Pokémon.
They ran toward the wounded Luxio. Zenith stopped Calreath when he reached out to pick up the Pokémon. "You'll frighten him, Cal, maybe even worsen his wounds. Send out your Goodra. We'll use her skin to disinfect and heal Luxio's wounds before trying to move him."
When Goodra saw Luxio, she burst into tears again. "I'm sorry, Goo-dree," Calreath consoled as Zenith scooped up her liquefied slime and lathered it onto Luxio's abrasions.
Luxio stirred and blinked up at Zenith, then leaned over to lick his hands, which were covered in blood and slime.
"Nurse Joy should still take a look at him," Calreath advised.
Zenith nodded and offered a Pokéball toward Luxio, who hesitated but then tapped it open with his nose.
Calreath thought that was an adorable way to catch a Pokémon but there was no way Zenith would have done that with a Chandelure or Volcarona. Before he could ask, Zenith burst out laughing. "Goo-dree?"
Even Goodra giggled a little now that Luxio was safe in a Pokéball, though she covered her mouth when Calreath glared at her. "Plenty of trainers give nicknames to their Pokémon. Some even consider it an obligation. Don't tell me you never did it."
Zenith and Blaziken shared a look, then Zenith admitted, "Once, when Blaziken was a Combusken, he scratched me while we were training. For days after, I called him Teriyaki."
Calreath's mouth dropped open. "That's too mean!"
The fire-type trainer shrugged as he returned Blaziken to its Pokéball, though there was a hint of a smile. "Hey, you're talking to a former Cult Leader."
Calreath had thought it as they trekked through the volcano, but Zenith saying it out loud made it certain. Infernal was finished.
Calreath stared at the former cultist and asked, "What now?"
"We're getting out of this volcano," Zenith declared. "We're close to an exit now. I can feel the sun. Send out Dragonite."
As Dragonite flew them toward the opening in the volcano, Calreath clarified, "I mean, what are you going to do now that your cult is disbanded?"
Zenith's red-flecked eyes shone. "I have some ideas. It's exciting and nerve-wracking, but I think I get it."
Calreath smiled, remembering the textbooks in the base, the cleanliness, Nazeer's words: He is a master of words, but there is no such thing as brainwashing. Our minds are our own and no one else's puppet.
"Come visit me in Amphitrite sometime, and we'll have a real battle."
Below, Excadrill dug an opening for Rathai and Nazeer, who looked up to the sky and waved.