Hello, what's up everyone! King, and yes I mean BOTH of us, are back with another chapter of Promise Me! Like I told you wonderful readers, I would be updating a bit sooner than my scheduled timeline just to please all my followers! Hope you appreciate it! And it seems that we have some questions in the reviews. Let's look at them shall we?

-Guest97 (Guest): Now that he knows Iris, is there a chance he is going to meet Ash? Is he going to be Iris' Pokemon?

I'm afraid to say no to both of your questions. I have already planned out the story and I can safely say that King will never meet Ash or become Iris' Pokemon. You'll find out why he won't be captured, he has his reasons. And honestly, meeting Ash would kind of confuse the timeline this story is in. Let's just say that it's connected to my If I Was In Pokemon story. What's happening now is currently timed with each other, present time yet alternate universes at the same time. Everything will be clear soon, especially if you read both stories.

Hope that helps!

FWI, I plan on adding some filler chapters after the end of Promise Me. Probably battles or scenarios that people want to see. Hopefully I can fit them in right.

(Also, I'd still highly appreciate it if people create fanart of King for me XD Like I said before, just picture Mega Charizard X's body and colors mixed with Y's ragged wings and spiked tail! If someone makes some fanart, I'll link it on my page for everyone to see!)

"So, this is it then?" - Human Speech

'Wow, I expected something... more.' - Human Thoughts

"Ready for the worst mistake of your life?" - Pokémon Speech

'I'm itching for a fight you little shit!' - Pokémon Thoughts

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, except my Mega OC!

Chapter 3: Yadda, Yadda, Yadda...

For what could've been hours, it had felt as nothing more than a couple of minutes.

King and Iris, after getting over the first stage of awkwardness and anxiety, the two had finally crossed the border into familiarity between them. After coming to an agreement to get to know each other, the two were quick to become friends and had nonstop conversations to pass the time.

Iris; It had been one of King's first guesses as to where she had come from. And true to his gut, the girl had told him that she was born and raised in the Village of Dragons.

After learning of her origins, King finally moved onto his biggest question; why exactly was she running around in the forest so late at night. At first, Iris was a little hesitant and embarrassed to explain, but after a stern look from King, she decided to tell him.

Out of all things Iris could've used as an excuse, King was honestly stumped when he heard that she was only looking for a Pokémon, a Dragon Type to be exact. Apparently she had been getting bullied by other children and calling her out on being unable to become the 'Dragon Master' she always claimed herself to be. And being the child she was, Iris eventually caved under the constant pressure and declared that she would venture into the forest and return with a Dragon Pokémon of her own. Without any help.

After more pestering on his part, King urged Iris to go more into detail.

Once he heard which type of Pokémon Iris had picked to capture, he honestly felt bad for the girl and irritated at the same time. It was a Deino, one of the Dark/Dragon Type Pokémon that lived in the forest. One of the very few ones at that, but King already figured which one Iris was talking about.

It was the only Deino that dared to travel near and even into her village, most of the time to steal food and play pranks on others by stealing objects, only to leave them half-buried in holes dug in the outskirts of the village. It was also the same Deino that was 'crazy enough' - the name given by the forest Pokémon themselves - to not only walk into King's cave while he slept, but to also pester him about going out and making more friends.

It took quite a while of convincing and threats from King himself to finally get Deino to leave him alone.

And the Fire/Flying Type was pretty sure that week-long pact wouldn't last very long until Deino decided to drop by for the occasional 'he talks about making friends while King threatens to set him on fire'.

After reminiscing about the annoying Deino, King had tuned back into Iris' explanation and found out that Deino had indeed made an appearance in her search. Then King started to grow angry when Iris told him that Deino led her on a wild goose chase before disappearing into the dark and leaving her to find her way out of the forest.

'When I get my hands on him…!' King thought.

Iris' story had finally reached the point where she broke down into tears when she couldn't find her way out. Which, of course, her cries eventually alerted a nearby Serperior, the one King dealt with earlier, to her location.

"... wow." King said after staring blankly at Iris for a full, quiet minute. "Just… wow." The tanned girl squirmed under his stare and felt her cheeks heat up in growing shame. King's next words didn't help when he put both hands over his face and shook his head to the sides, an exasperated groan escaping his mouth. "You seem like such a smart girl Iris, you really do. But after hearing all of that?" Iris' cheeks felt like they were on fire and she looked down to her hands, suddenly becoming interested in twiddling her fingers. "Of all the things you could've done, what you did tonight was really, really stupid. Why in the world would going into the forest at night, alone, seem like a good idea to prove yourself?"

"W-Well…" Iris stammered. She sighed. "I don't know."

Taking his hands away from his face, King snapped his claws to get Iris to look up at him. And once she did, his red eyes locked onto hers in a stern glare. The type of glare a parent or guardian gives when a child does something way beyond their control. "You could've died in that forest, ya know. If I wasn't flying when I did, you could've been eaten by that Serperior or done in by that storm outside."

"I know…" Iris' voice cracked and King saw the tiniest of tears build up in her eyes. Her hands balled up into fists and pressed against her thighs, her arms beginning to shake. "But I was so sick and tired of being bullied. I knew I could've leave when the adults were awake so I thought going at night was a better idea. I thought I could come back with Deino as my partner."

"Iris, how old are you?"

"... 8."

"And did you honestly believe an 8-year-old can catch a Deino without another Pokémon? Do you even have any Pokéballs?"

"No." Tears began to fall onto her legs. Now Iris was actually crying, although she was trying her hardest not to. "I was smart enough to know I couldn't catch him even if I wanted to. My plan was to find him and convince him to act like he was my partner for a few days. I didn't think he'd a-abandon me in the forest."

King fell silent as Iris choked on her own words, eyes closed to hold back the tears. "I-I just wanted to be b-b-better than them… and I failed… and I a-almost died… and, and…!"

Iris flinched when she felt a hand place itself atop of her head. "Hey," She looked up to see King standing in front of her with an apologetic smile on his face. "I, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you, you know? You're still young and-" King stopped talking when he felt two arms attempt to wrap around his stomach. Iris, with her face buried into his chest, finally broke down into violent sobs. He couldn't even see her face due to her hair blocking his view.

Then he heard it. "I was s-scared! A-and, and I didn't k-know what else t-to do…!"

He could feel her tears against the scales on his chest. At this point, King didn't know what else to do except wrap his arms around her. She was muttering uncontrollably and some words were incoherent with her hiccupping. King let out a sigh and lowered his head down to hers. He rubbed her back and started to whisper. "It's ok, Iris. You're safe now and that's all that matters."

They stayed like that for a few minutes; King holding her close as a sign of protection and Iris bawling her heart out into his chest. Eventually when King heard her sobs die down, he heard a small hiccup and felt her arms tighten up. "I'm sorry, King." Iris apologized.

"There's no need to apologize. At least, not to me." King admitted. "Save that for your parents, okay?"

Iris' head dipped lower and King immediately knew he said something wrong. "I don't have any parents… I'm an orphan."

'Arceus dammit, I mess up…!' King inhaled sharply and mentally berated himself.

"I don't have anyone to look after me at home." Iris mumbled.

"Now that can't be true." Gently pushing her away, King was able to look Iris in the eye again. This time crimson met bloodshot. "Surely someone is your guardian?"

He saw Iris' eyes wander to the sides, a gesture meaning she was thinking. A good sign. Hopefully. "I guess the Elder counts," She mumbled. For a moment, King believed the situation to escalate into a positive one. That was, until Iris began to tear up again. "But I bet she doesn't even know I'm gone. Or care. She's always busy helping everyone else which ends with her barely having any time for me. Let alone notice I'm a person."

Okay, enough was enough.

King knelt down enough to reach an equal height with her. Using a single finger and being careful not to cut her, King wiped away a single tear before it could fall. "Well of course she's always busy, she's elder." King said and held up a lecturing claw, waving it a little. "But that doesn't mean she doesn't care about you. It's the elder's duty to care about her villagers, especially someone like you. I bet once the storm stops, she'll be out there searching the entire forest for you."

"You think so?" Iris asked.

"Iris, I know so." King chuckled.

That got the smile to come back. Even if it was a litttle one, it was enough for him. King matched her smile with a happy grin of his own. "Now chin up. I won't tolerate any more tears from you." A giggle was enough of an answer for him. That and a nod to go with it.

"Good. Now if you'll excuse me," King rolled onto his side and onto his back with a loud sigh, his wings stretched out beneath him. "Tonight got me beat. Scaring off that Serperior and flying through a thunderstorm multiple times to get supplies to make sure you made a pleasant recovery took a lot out of me." Honestly, he could still feel the light burning sensation the raindrops made against his scales. Now that all the worrying and stress was dealt with, he could finally relax like he was supposed to.

With a small huff, King had his eyes closed to enjoy the bliss of laying still and doing absolutely nothing.

Then he heard the shuffling of sandals.

Then he felt a weight climb onto his stomach, making him open his eyes and arch his neck to look up. There, he saw a blushing Iris laying on top of him. Her cheeks puffed with a pout and she spoke in the tiniest of voices. "I'm cold. And you're warm."

King blinked once. Twice. Then he let out a hearty laugh, making Iris bounce a little on his belly. "If you're cold, all ya had to do was ask. I had a feeling those sticks wouldn't make a decent fire." With his laughter ending in small chuckles, King allowed his head to fall back down to relax his neck. "Welcome aboard, cap'n!"

Seeing the goofy expression on his face, Iris couldn't resist laughing herself.

Gone was the depressing atmosphere. Here came the fun time he was hoping for.

"Hey King?"

"Hm?"

"Uh… how did you learn how to talk?" Ah, the awaited question that King's been expecting since she woke up.

"Well kid, it's a long story. Sure you wanna listen?"

Iris' head craned to the side and she squinted to see into the rainy night outside. "We got time." She answered. "Plus, it'll help get to know you better. After all, I told you all about me."

"You got me there." King snickered, his mind beginning to think back to the very beginning. "Now I must warn you, all of it may sound a bit strange at first and a little farfetched, but I promise you it's all true."

"I'll be the judge of that." Iris huffed as she got herself settled into a comfortable position.

"Alright then, now I just need to find a place to start..." King smirked as a certain celestial being came to mind. "Iris, have you ever heard of the legendary Pokémon Arceus?"

There we go everyone! Another chapter successfully put out for your entertainment!

And remember, if anybody has found or made any type of fanart of King, please don't be afraid to tell me! I'd love to see it! (Mega Charizard X's black/blue colors and body mixed with Y's ragged wings and spiked tail!

Stay tuned for more!

REVIEW PLEASE!