Four days later, they called King back to the Pokemon Center. Zorua was ready to be released, they said. So he left his hotel and went, and when he got there, two nurses were waiting outside for him, and zorua was standing between them, the one leg it favored still bandaged.
King stepped up to them. One nurse was the same who'd explained everything to him those few days prior when he'd wanted to see how zorua was.
"As I mentioned before," she said, "zorua shouldn't battle anymore. But," she sighed, "what you do is up to you, and you alone." Nodding to him, she turned on a heel and walked into the Pokemon Center, the other nurse trailing at her heels, leaving King and zorua alone. The Pokemon didn't look at him.
He squatted to its level. "Hey, zorua. How're you feeling?"
No answer. King scratched his arm, licked his lips.
"Zorua? Come on; I'll buy you pancakes or something."
Again, the Pokemon didn't answer him.
The loud rumble of a plane engine took off over them.
King broke down, knees hitting gravel. "Listen, zorua, I'm sorry, alright?" He pleaded, the words struggling to get out of his mouth. It wasn't easy, it wasn't, but he pushed through. Zorua needed to hear it. King needed to hear himself say it. "I won't make excuses. What I've done, what I've been doing this whole damn time, is wrong. I'm sorry, zorua. It's my fault you got injured. It's my fault that you might never battle again. I'm sorry."
He opened his eyes - he'd squeezed them shut -and looked at zorua. It was staring at him.
Did you really mean what you said in the swamps? That you only took me from Castelia City because you wanted to use me?
King opened his mouth, then closed it again. He nodded. "I did. But I was wrong, zorua. I was wrong. I'm not just saying this because I want you to fight for me, I'm saying this because I… really feel horrible. When I saw you jump in the middle of all those galvantula, I don't know, something changed."
Zorua paused, then finally spoke. I want to keep battling, King.
"You do?"
I do. I always wanted a bond with a trainer. Before, after I was born, I tried to live out in the wilds, but I just couldn't do it. I never had a mother to take care of me, I… think she died somewhere, and there was nothing out there for me. It was eat, then run from predators, eat, then run. I love battling, but how can I trust you anymore, King? How can I trust any humans?
"Another chance, zorua," King said. "Give me another chance. Let me show you that I see I was wrong."
They stared at one another. Come on, zorua. Come on. King didn't deserve a Pokemon like zorua, didn't deserve to be forgiven. But, still, he had to ask. Even if zorua said no, he could rest easy knowing that he tried, and knowing that zorua would probably be better off somewhere else.
Have you really changed? Can I trust you?
"Yes. You can."
Really?
"Yes."
Zorua leaped into his arms. King caught it, startled. "What are you doing?"
That's all I've ever wanted to hear, King. That's all.
The guilt, the immense weight on King's chest, vanished. Zorua forgave him, despite everything. He wasn't about to betray the Pokemon's kindness again. He stood, smiling, and patted zorua on the head.
"I'm going to trust you as well, zorua," he said. "Both in and out of battle. Skyla showed me something. I've been too controlling over you three. I need to place some measure of trust in you all, and not only rely on myself. I'm willing to do that."
He placed zorua on his shoulder and started toward the Mistralton gym.
Where are we going?
"To challenge the gym. Anyway, we've been talking as if you're fit to battle. Are you…"
You listened to what that woman said?
King snorted. "She's a nurse, zorua."
I'll battle. Trust me.
He nodded. "Alright, then. If you're sure, like I said, we're going to be trying out a new tactic. First, I'm going to try and take out Skyla's emolga using both palpitoad and rufflet, then save you for whatever her second Pokemon is. I want you to, at times, use moves even when I don't shout out a command. I want you to use your intuition, and I'll be there to… I guess, catch you when you fall."
Wow. I should get injured more often, Zorua said.
"Listen… I've had a lot of time to think these past few days, alright? I've treated the three of you horribly. Like my father, and you can be sure that if he does something, it's wrong."
Zorua chuckled. Alright. Let's do it.
The gym appeared in view, sunlight reflecting on its windows. "Right. Into your Pokeball for now."
Zorua nodded and hopped off his shoulder. King returned him to his Pokeball, then went inside the gym.
Skyla was already waiting for him, hands on hips. She grinned as he came in and stood on the other side of the Pokeball.
"Knew I was coming?" He asked.
"Mhm!" She said. "I know everything that happens in this town. Now, come on!" She sent out emolga. "Battle time!"
He wreathed a hand around rufflet's Pokeball. He hadn't discussed the plan with only zorua. Rufflet and palpitoad were going to use their intuition, as well. It was time he started treating them as what they were, not as tools, but as partners, and that meant giving them some measure of freedom. He was going to start relying on someone other than himself. He knew he'd been wrong about everything, but if it worked… it would be all the proof he needed.
He felt the cold metal of the Pokeball on his palm. He closed his eyes, listening to his heartbeat. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. He cleared his thoughts of anything other to win, focused his mind. He tasted the residue of pancakes in his mouth from breakfast that morning. He smelled the faint smell of burnt jet fuel that permeated through the town, drifting in with the wind, felt that wind on his skin. The smooth fabric of his clothes. The warm sun on his neck.
He would not lose. Not after finally deciding to place his trust in his Pokemon. I will not be like my father, never again.
He reeled his arm back and chucked rufflet's Pokeball into the air. The bird appeared in a flash of white, glaring at emolga.
"You know the rules!" Skyla called. "Let the battle begin!"
King planted his feet. Trust. Put your trust in them.
"Emolga, Volt Switch!"
Rufflet looked back at King as emolga spun in the air, charging an orb of crackling electricity. King nodded.
Rufflet bolted forward, wings glowing. Emolga released Volt Switch. The move shot through the air, cracking and snapping, but rufflet charged it. Closer. Closer. King smirked.
The bird tucked its wings in, spinning under it. Volt Switch slammed against the wall, dispersing in a flash of sparks. Rufflet became a blur of speed as it unfurled its wings, the wind molding around him as he darted upward, spiraling. Crashing into emolga.
Aerial Ace.
Emolga tumbled but managed to regain its flight a few inches above the ground with a cry. Skyla was grinning like a fool, even though her Pokemon had gotten hit.
"Rufflet, come back." He returned to the space above King's head.
"Wow, King! You've changed, and so has your Pokemon. Rufflet likes you a lot better."
King craned his neck to look at rufflet. "That so?"
"Emolga, use Acrobatics!" Was her answer.
Emolga all but disappeared. The move that had caused King so much trouble in his first match. Not anymore. He was prepared for it, this time around. He'd had plenty of days to think about a lot of things.
"Rufflet, Tail Wind!"
Rufflet flapped its wings, squawking. The air in front of him stirred, pushing in waves. Emolga came close, but soon was flailing backward, propelled by the winds, unable to become steady enough to get into a stable position.
King returned rufflet to his Pokeball. Before palpitoad even came out, King was calling an order.
"Bubble Beam!"
The long stream of bubbles caught emolga by surprise, sending her sprawling against the wall. She fell to the ground like a leaf from a tree, once palpitoad's move ended.
Rufflet was back before emolga could take flight, palpitoad safe inside his Pokeball.
Emolga cried and dashed forward. Acrobatics. Rufflet knew what to do, beginning to generate strong gusts with his wings, when a sudden Volt Switch broke through the Tail Wind, slamming against rufflet.
King tsked as his Pokemon fell, though he ran over and caught him before the bird struck the solid ground. Emolga, having landed an attack with Volt Switch, disappeared inside one of Skyla's Pokeballs, and a female unfezant appeared to take her place.
King looked at rufflet. "Nice job. You… did great."
Rufflet cawed happily, if not weakly after being damaged before King sent him back into his Pokeball.
"Let's continue!" Skyla called. "I'm having so much fun!"
He tucked the device away. His fingers stalled above zoruas Pokeball. Could zorua do it? Unfezant wasn't powerful, not compared to other final evolutions, but zorua was injured, plus still in his first stage. I have to have trust. King had already told zorua he was going to let him battle. He couldn't go back on that, and especially not after zorua had told King how much he loved to fight.
King released him. The Pokemon landed somewhat unsteadily but stood nonetheless.
I can do this, King. I can do this.
King nodded slowly. "I know. Long as you don't just fling Extrasensorys everywhere."
Zorua smiled.
"Alright, unfezant! Go for it!'
Unfezant squawked. The Pokemon's body shimmered with blue light, and in moments, rotating orbs of slicing wind were plunging toward zorua, one after the other. Air Slash.
Zorua jumped to the right, landing on his good feet, dodging some of the orbs. More came. He continued to evade them, moving this way and that, as agile as ever on his feet so long as he was careful with his injured one. An opening came. He released a Dark Pulse.
Unfezant flew under the move with not a second left to spare.
"Keep it up, unfezant! Air Cutter this time!"
Crescents of sky-colored energy replaced the orbs, shot each time unfezant crossed its wings. Zorua dodged, over and over, but it was all he could do. King clenched his jaw. There was no move he could call that would help, not when unfezant had that advantage of flight. Dark Pulse. Extrasensory. Nasty Plot. Foul Play. Zorua had to keep dodging until he found another opening, and then-
Zorua stumbled.
King saw the pain ripple through his face as he accidentally landed on his injured foreleg. Air Cutter instantly ceased.
"Unfezant, use Swagger!" Skyla shouted, pointing.
A red glow surrounded unfezant, and she spread her wings out wide, trying to look intimidating. Zorua's eyes turned the same color. He was confused.
"Shit!" King cursed. "Zorua-"
"Unfezant, Hyper Beam!"
King's face drained of color. He stared at the unfezant, at Skyla smirking; his brain turned to mush. A white pillar began to form in front of the bird. Unfezant knows Hyper Beam?!
He forced himself to move. He looked to his waist, fumbling for the Pokeball. He had to return zorua. The Pokeball was in his hand-
He dropped it by accident.
Hyper Beam hit.
The floor rumbled as a torrent of white energy crashed over zorua. King called out his name, shielding his eyes with his arm, tripping on the shaky ground. Hyper Beam continued to plow into zorua. Dammit! He tried to stand, but fell, helpless to do anything. Zorua hadn't failed him. He'd failed zorua in not being able to react in time.
It was forever before the move trickled down to nothing, and the intense light faded. King didn't get to his feet. He waited for Skyla to call that she had won.
She never did. A tense, almost palpable silence slid over the room. Heart beating in his ears, King turned to look.
Zorua was no longer there.
King stared at a zoroark with slumped arms, one of them loosely bandaged, trails of steam rising off his body. He glanced over his shoulder at King and nodded.
Then he tilted his head back and roared. King grinned. Zorua was a zoroark.
Zoroark vanished. Another instant and he was behind a panting unfezant, raising a glowing, crimson claw. He struck the bird, racking across her back. Unfezant cracked into the ground, tossing up a small, thin cloud of dust. Zoroark twirled and landed on his feet.
He had learned Night Slash.
Unfezant didn't rise and was soon swallowed by white light as Skyla returned her to a Pokeball, releasing a weak emolga.
Skyla shook her head. "I don't believe it… well, it's not over! Emolga, Volt Switch!"
Crimson light bathed zoroark's black and red fur.
You may wish to back away, King, said a voice in King's head, much more profound and deep than it had been when he was a zorua.
He scrambled to his feet. "What the hell is it now?" He asked, back away.
"Wait, emolga!" Skyla shouted. "Change of plans! Light Screen!"
The electricity building in front of emolga blinked away, replaced by a forming screen of pink light. A dark, swirling orb of energy surrounded zoroark as he raised his arms. Wait… That move is…
King turned and sprinted the other away. Night Daze.
Zoroark released the attack. Despite how far he was, it still slammed against King's back, throwing him to the ground in a wave of seeping cold and churning wind. He threw his arms over his head, tumbling, but it was over as soon as it began.
Groaning, King lowered his arms. Skyla sat on her butt, shaking her head as if to try and clear it. Emolga had sprawled on the ground, unmoving. Light Screen hadn't worked as well as Skyla thought it would.
That meant that King - no, he and his Pokemon - were the winners. Overwhelming joy flooded through him as he stood. He found what he'd been missing.
Zoroark came to him, patting him with a claw on his shoulder.
Sorry, King.
King shook his head, thumping zoroark in the side. The Pokemon was only about a foot shorter than him. "You kidding me? We won because of that."
Zoroark nodded. We did. I feel… different.
"Sound different, too. Evolving is probably like growing up, but a whole lot quicker. How's your arm, by the way?"
Still hurts, but not nearly as bad. I will not be walking on it anymore, so it shouldn't impair me too much, I don't think.
King nodded. Zoroark turned as Skyla came over, rubbing her back. She'd already returned emolga to her Pokeball. Abruptly, though, Skyla jumped about a mile and stared in bewilderment at zoroark. King raised an eyebrow.
"You can talk?" She exclaimed.
"Oh," King said, "yeah. He's always been able to do that."
I apologized for wounding her.
"I see, though I don't know if I'd call that a wound," King said. He looked expectantly at Skyla.
"I'm so glad I could help you discover how to be a better trainer." She smiled, digging into her pocket. The Jet Badge sat in the palm of her glove as she held it out to King. "No wonder zoroark evolved. Because the strength of your bond grew so much!"
King took the badge in two fingers. He almost didn't want to pin it to his shirt. He's worked incredibly hard for it, him, and especially his Pokemon. But, it was a symbol of all of that. He placed it next to the two others.
Skyla ran off, leaving zoroark and King in the gym as she proclaimed she had to take her Pokemon to get healed.
Zoroark turned to King once she'd gone, arms crossed over his chest. Where will we go now?
"Only one place to go," King answered. "Driftveil City. We've got a fourth gym badge to win."
Side by side, they walked out of the building. The sun seemed a little brighter, the sky a little clearer, as they began their journey to Driftveil City. King realized how happy he was to finally have a bond with his Pokemon. He'd traveled - he'd lived - alone for so long, no friends, no family, that he'd forgotten what it meant to put your trust in someone else.