13 Years Ago

King bounded along the docks, his bare feet slapping against the wood. He laughed, feeling the ocean breeze ruffle his red hair. The salt-smelling wind was happy, too, because it was summer and warm, and it danced right along with him and his lillipup, who raced at his side. His mother had given him Lilly on his fourth birthday. She said she'd had Lilly for a long time, but she had never evolved. That was alright with King. She was his best friend, and he loved her all the same.

The homes along the docks seemed huge to King, blurring by him as he ran with Lilly. The people who lived in them, also giant, gave him grins as they stumbled out of his path. That was right. He didn't just dance with the wind, he was the wind, and nothing could stop him from running, except for when he felt like it.

He came to a stretch of the marina where the homes were behind him, and the ocean swelled into view, reaching to the horizon. King gasped, padding to a standstill and looking out at it. He'd lived in Humilau City all his life, but he would never stop loving this blue place his mother called an ocean.

The waves glittered under the bright sun that hung high in a sky without a single cloud, just a thick blanket of blue, like the ocean except darker. He looked down. The clear, greenish water smiled back at him, and he could see below its swishing surface and hear the tiny waves - miniature versions of the ones out in the open ocean - lapping up against the jutting pillars of wood that held up the dock. A green form whirled about in between them.

"Look, Lilly, look!" They both laid down, peering over the pier's edge. The tip of King's finger plunged into the water as he pointed at the fish. The warm liquid caressed his skin. "It's a basculin! Isn't it cool?"

She licked his face.

He chuckled, rolling over onto his back. Lilly jumped on his chest and continued to stroke his cheeks with the rough surface of her tongue.

"Hey!" He grinned, stomach pained from laughing. "Cut it out, Lilly! Cut it out!"

A shadow fell over them. Lilly stopped licking King's face and hopped off of his chest. He wiped away the slobber, calming himself before rolling over onto his stomach and looking up to see who it was that had spoiled their fun. Immediately, he looked down again.

His father had stepped in front of the sun; arms crossed over his chest. He was even bigger than the others, and to King, it seemed as though he stretched up to the sky. When he came, the wind left, and the air went still. King shifted, unconsciously rubbing Lillie's soft, golden fur.

"What are you doing, boy?" His father growled. The noise was like sudden thunder cracking through a perfectly blue sky. King was sure the docks would start to split and break every time his father spoke.

"Nothing, dad. Lilly and I were just-"

"Get off your damn stomach while you're speaking to your father!"

King staggered to his feet, not daring to look up, but instead keeping his eyes glued on the black shadow.

His father squatted down so that King could hear his voice all the clearer. "You like Pokemon, don't ya', King? You adore that dog ya' mother gave you.'"

"V-very much, dad."

"Well, how about this." He could hear the toothy grin in his father's voice. "Why don't you have a battle with your father? You can use that little pup of yours. Eh? How bout's it?"

King's eyes went wide. "Father, I can't do that, you're-"

He shuffled King over to the opposite end of the dock, pushing him with his leg. Lilly followed. She was always a good friend. "Now, you're not disobeying me, are ya'?"

He didn't say anything, but huddled into himself, wishing he could disappear. Lilly stepped up next to him and licked his hand. He looked down at her. Try your best; that look said. Try your best, and I will, too. They couldn't beat his father, but Lilly knew that and wanted to attempt it anyway. Well, King had watched many, many of his father's battles and had even practiced being a trainer with Lilly a few times. Maybe he could do something.

His father stopped a ways away and turned, hands on hips. No one paid them any mind; Pokemon battles were all too familiar in Humilau City.

"Alright, boy. Let's see here. Don't you look so worried. This'll be a good lesson." He pulled a Poke ball from his waist and tossed it into the air. It thudded against the dock, then opened, and all a sudden, King stared at the bulbous form of a jellicent; sunlight reflected on its smooth blue skin. Lilly stepped up to meet him; her head raised high. She did know one electric type move, but King didn't know how effective it would be.

His father peered around jellicent, grinning. "Well, go on, boy. Attack em'!"

"Lilly, use, um, Take Down!" She listened, bounding forward, paws striking wood, until she reached jellicent. She leaped and tackled it. King's face lit up, but the excitement faded when Lilly bounced off without leaving so much as a scratch.

His father cackled. "What are you, stupid? Jellicent is a ghost type, boy! Do you think you can become a trainer if you don't even know that? Jellicent, Hydro Pump!"

King's breath snagged in his throat. He knew that move.

A ball of water began to coalesce in front of jellicent. King sprinted over to Lilly, grabbing her and hugging her into his arms. He pressed her soft fur against his cheek as he huddled down, cradling her, his back to the jellicent. Please let Lilly be okay after this. Oh, please.

A torrent of water engulfed them. It felt like whips snapping against his skin as he was submerged. His feet slipped. His stomach lurched as Hydro Pump blasted them off the dock. For a moment, he was suspended in air, no water around him, before being dunked under again. He clutched Lilly, kicking his legs, searching for air. Please be okay, Lilly.

He broke the surface with a gasp. He blinked, reorienting himself to where he was: treading water at the surface of the ocean. The dock was in front of them. They'd been pushed into the water by Hydro Pump.

King looked down, salt burning his eyes. Lilly whimpered, looking up at him, and her fur was soaked all the way, but otherwise, she seemed okay. He smiled.

His father's face appeared above them. "Well, get up here, boy!" That dog can still fight, if only because ya' cheated." He left them to get back up.

"It's okay, Lilly," King whispered, lifting her onto the dock. She shook her fur to get all the water out of it as he pulled himself onto the wood. "I have an idea! Mommy told me of this cool move she taught you."

She wagged her tail, padding over to face jellicent again. King straightened, dripping water as he took his place behind Lilly. His clothes felt tight and uncomfortable, chafing under his armpits, and his skin was red where Hydro Pump had bitten him, but he did his best to ignore the feelings. If Lilly wanted to fight, then so did he, even against his father.

"Come on, then," his father said beside jellicent. "It ain't over just yet!"

"Lilly!" King shouted. "Use Attract!" Complying, she whirled, winking, and a tiny pink heart formed in front of her. It sailed toward the opposing Pokemon.

His father bellowed a laugh. "You don't learn, do ya'? Attract is a normal-type move!"

King clenched his fists as the heart drifted closer and closer to jellicent, who hovered in place as if he couldn't even see it.

Something had triggered in King's memories when he remembered that ghost-types couldn't get hit with a normal-type move. His mother had told him that, but he'd forgotten jellicent was a ghost-type. She had also said to him that that only applied to attacks that directly hit the ghost-type, like Take Down. Not moves like attract.

He beamed when the heart swirled around jellicent's head, and he fell limp, gawking at Lilly. Mommy was right!

His father grimaced. "What the-"

"Lilly, use Crunch!"

She leaped, clasping her jaws on jellicent's rubbery skin. It continued to stare in infatuation.

"Jellicent, you fuck! Icy Wind!"

Nothing happened. Lilly vaulted back onto the dock.

"Again, Lilly!"

"Hydro Pump!" Nothing.

"Crunch!"

"Icy Wind! Shadow Ball! Goddammit, Water Spout! Water Spout! WATER SPOUT!"

"Okay, Lilly! Wild Charge!"

Sparks zipped around her. King shielded his eyes as bright yellow electricity engulfed her. She darted forward like a lightning bolt, crashing into jellicent. He cried out as he fell backward, flippers flailing in the air. He landed on the dock with a thud.

King cheered, throwing his hands in the air. The pain from Hydro Pump vanished. "We did it, Lilly! We did it!" She sprang into his arms, panting from being so tired, but still licking his face anyway. He held her tighter than he ever had before. They danced and spun around, and the wind joined them in it, too.

Joy welled up inside him, but he froze when he looked at his father, and all that disappeared like a snuffed-out candle.

His father seemed to have grown the size of a skyscraper, up and up, looming over King and Lilly. His face was contorted and warped so much King didn't recognize him. He shied away, shaking. King thought his father would be proud of him. Now he realized he'd done something horribly wrong.

His father began to kick jellicent. "Get up, you stupid fuck! Get up! Get up! I swear to god, I am not losing to some snot-nosed kid, not my own damn kid!"

Jellicent groaned a deep and echoing sound, then picked himself up to a float.

"Now! Water Spout!"

A wingull screeched in the distance. King stared up at the sky and the sun as they became obstructed by a downpour of gigantic raindrops like pointy, sharp icicles.

They smashed against the docks, plopping into the water, sending sprays of water outward in all directions. King crouched down with Lilly, screaming her name over the crashing sounds and her barking. Pain slammed against his back. His vision became blurry with tears as he was toppled onto his side, exposing Lilly. The Water Spout struck them like a flurry of blows from a hitmonchan.

The pain hammered through King's small body. He blacked out.

When he opened his eyes again, light flooding into his vision, his father loomed, strangling Lilly by the throat with one hand. A bundle of people had gathered behind him, but none of them would dare oppose his father.

"You see this, boy?" He snarled, clutching Lillies limp body harder. "Pokemon are tools. That's all they are. You can't be friends with a stupid thing like this."

He flung her into the water.

King screamed, his voice hoarse and gargled with tears. He crawled toward her, nails digging into the wood. Please, please, please, please.

A boot cracked into the small of his back, stopping him. Spittle exuded from his mouth as he coughed, and a meaty hand grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up.

He scrunched his eyes so hard he thought they would pop out. He struggled, heart squeezing in his chest, hot tears pouring in trails down his cheeks, the walls of his throat closing. He would not look at his father. Scary. Scary. Scary.

"Listen to me, boy," his father whispered. King could feel and smell his hot breath. "Don't you ever become a trainer. You never try and follow in my footsteps. If you do, I will sink you into the ground until you never feel like gettin' up again. You will never be better than me, do you understand? Never! Don't you think for a moment that you even came close to beating me! I'm the greatest there ever was and ever will be!"

King could only sob, chest heaving.

His father tsked and dropped him to the wood. Dull pain erupted in his side as he landed, but still, he could hardly feel it when compared to the roaring fire of hurt pulsing throughout his body. As his father stomped off, pushing through the crowd, King pulled his knees to his chest, shaking and shaking and shaking.

He did not go after Lilly. If he did, his father would be there and would break him and snap him and beat him until there was nothing left to beat.