I woke up early next morning, eager to get started on taming my new Pokémon. After I showered and got dressed, I decide to follow the Gym Leader's advice from last night. I went to the Pokémart and had my leftover pokeball registered to my account. After that, I went to the computer room.
I sat down at one of the computer stations and logged onto my account, opened the PokéDex app and placed the Zorua's pokeball into the device. The pokeball device immediately lit up as it scanned the ball. Once it finished scanning, I clicked on the pokeball icon. A picture of a Zorua appeared on the screen. Some information appeared under the picture.
Species: Zorua, The Tricky Fox Pokémon
Ability: Illusion
Type: Dark
Gender: Female
Age: 4 Years
Nature: Hardy
Summary: Zorua is a slate grey, fox-like Pokémon with red and black accents. Its ears are triangular with dark insides, and it has a large tuft of fur tipped with red on top of its head. It has greenish blue eyes with red eyelids. Its muzzle is short and tapered with two small fangs seen in the upper jaw when its mouth is open. Zorua possess a ruff of black fur around its neck and four short limbs tipped with red. Its tail is short and bushy.
There was some more general information on the species after the basic summary. There were a few specifics pertaining to the extent of their knack for illusions. I paid close attention to the section on the attacks, specifically on what Zorua learn naturally in the wilds and the attacks it could be taught.
After reading all the given information, jotting down a few points, I did the same for the Rookidee.
Species: Rookidee, The Tiny-Bird Pokémon
Ability: Keen Eye
Hidden Ability: Big Pecks
Type: Flying
Gender: Male
Age: 2 ½ Years
Nature: Impish
Summary: Rookiedee is a small bird-like Pokémon that is primarily dark blue, including its wings, tail, back and part of its head. The lower part of the body has…giving it… red eyes and small grey feet. They are feisty and territorial Pokémon and will fight with anybody, no matter how big and strong their opponent is.
Before I left the computer room, I sent a short message to my family informing them that I have passed my Ordeal and that I would contact them later.
I entered the cafeteria and spotted Bradley eating by himself at a table. Once I received a tray of food from the kitchen, I walked over and sat across from him.
"Morning," I said.
"Morning," he replied. "You ready for today?"
"I am," I said. "I'll be training the Zorua first before the Rookidee. I have a good idea on what to do. After I eat, I will go to one of the grassland training grounds to get started. You?"
"I'm going to one of the mountain training grounds." He thought for a bit. "The other day, I saw that there were a couple of caves that had been carved out. I figure if I release the Whismur into a familiar setting that I captured it in, it would then be easier to tame."
After I wished him good luck, we ate out breakfast in silence.
"Hey," I said. Bradley looked up from his meal. "Do you still have some Repel left from your Ordeal?" I asked. "If you do, mind if I borrow it for this morning? I used mine up during the Ordeal, and I'll pay it back as soon as I can."
He thought for a second or two before he said, "Just make sure to pay me back." He reached into his backpack and took out the repel. "I didn't use much of it as most of the Pokémon in the caves didn't have noses," he explained, when he handed it over to me. I gave my thanks and promised him that I would make good of it. Soon, I finished my food except for half of my sandwich. I wrapped that part up and put it into my backpack. Bradley finished his at roughly the same time.
We both stood up and took our trays to the kitchen. Once we were done, we left the Centre and headed towards the training grounds. After walking in silence for a while I spoke up "Have you seen Caitlyn today?" I did not want to think about the three who are most likely dead by now. Although, it was unheard of, sometimes either through wit or luck, the Chosen survived a couple of days before coming back. The record being three days at most.
"Yes," he said. "A trainer picked her up this morning and took her to retake her Ordeal. I think they have taken her to the savannah again."
"I hope she passes this time," I said.
"We'll see," he said. "I still think she doesn't have what it takes to be a trainer."
"Like I said before, she may surprise you."
"We'll see," he repeated.
We walked in silence for a bit more before Bradley split off and headed in a different direction. "Good luck," he said as he walked away. I wished him luck as well and kept walking. I kept examining the training grounds that I passed by until I reached one of the small training grounds meant for single trainer use. It was currently empty. The field consisted of just a small grass field with four wooden practice dummies spread out.
I thought that this would be a good place to start. I checked my pocket to make sure I had the right pokeball and a nearly empty can of Repel. "Here, goes nothing," I said. I activated the pokeball and tossed it in front of me. The ball opened and released some bright light. The Zorua materialized a few feet in front of me. She looked dazed for a moment until she shook herself. She quickly examined the area and spotted me.
The Zorua tensed up and growled at me. Just as she was getting ready to pounce on me, I recalled her back into the pokeball. 'So far so good.' I thought. 'Let's try that again.' I held out the pokeball and released the Zorua again. She recovered from being released faster this time. A second after she materialized, she jumped at me Scratch at the ready. I managed to recall her just before she reached me. 'That was close,' I thought. 'I need to be careful.'
For the next hour or so I kept repeating this process. I would release the Zorua then quickly recall her when she tried to attack me. The Zorua also transformed into various forms of Pokémon like Mightyena and Nuzleaf before growling and then charging at me.
Undaunted, I just recalled her each time before releasing her afterwards. Eventually her transformations stopped and tried running away several times. After I released her once more, she just stood there staring at me, not bothering to run. Jade eyes clashed with my sky-blue eyes.
I took out the can of Repel and kept staring straight into its eyes and began slowly walking towards her. She stood still and kept staring back at me, watchful of my movements.
This time I had a better look at the female fox. Her left eye looked much better than before. Unfortunately, the jagged scar did not disappear, and she still looked small for her size. I did not know if she was the runt of the pack or an outcast.
When I got close, I slowly reached into my pocket with my free hand. If this didn't work, I would have to use a different method to tame it.
The Zorua watched my hands warily. Its eyes narrowed a bit when I took out some food from this morning. I teared up the half-eaten sandwich and placed it on the ground. I backed off a bit, to give her some space to eat. After sniffing it and not finding anything wrong with it, she started eating.
When she nearly finished, I ordered 'stop' in quite a firm tone. She stopped immediately. The fox glanced at the sandwich from time to time whilst watching me warily.
"I know not of your life before I rescued you, but this is your life now." I said, "Submit to me now, and you'll never go hungry again. I will feed you, shelter you, and train you, and in return you will protect me and mine unless ... you'd rather be sent back to the forest, at the Ariados' mercy?"
It tensed and growled at me but didn't move. I raised an eyebrow at that before showing her the Repel I had borrowed from Bradley. "Do you want a repeat of last night?"
As if remembering what had happened when we first met, she crouched down with ears drooping low. Her eyes, however, was still following the sandwich. Only after several minutes of crouching down did she show me her underbelly to which, after putting the can aside, I gave her a good belly rub.
She tensed but soon relaxed enough to make purring sounds. When I stood up, she quickly followed suit. I looked at her for a minute before I kneeled and gave her the rest of the sandwich. I thought for a minute before I said to her, "I think I'll call you Zatanna."
Zatanna just barked at me, but I noticed that there were some side movements with her bushy tail. I smiled.