After yesterday’s bath and dinner, George and Blitzer went to bed early. They wanted to be rested and well for the journey to the Azure Hills, for the sake of the village. Sure, they wouldn’t be the only ones going there, but they wanted to prove their worth to the others. And they were going to. No other outcome was acceptable, and a successful day of exploration was worth its weight in gold. After some light fun and games, they wished each other a good night, drifting off into sleep shortly afterwards.

“ ...George!… ”

’ Huh? Is someone there? ’

“ ...George, this is serious. Come out right now… ”

‘ Who are you? ’

“ ...You think you can get away with everything as usual, don’t you? Did you sincerely believe I wouldn’t find out?... ”

‘Wh- what do you mean?!’

“ ...Little scamp. Always trying to get away from his responsibilities, I see. No wonder you ended up here. Karma is a real downer, isn’t it?... ”

‘No, I’m not running from anything!’

“ ...Sure you are. Think I’d believe that? After every other lie you’ve told me?... ”

‘Headmistress?! What are you doing here? I mean- no, you can’t be-’

“ ...Of course I am here, you damned little dreamer. Always lost with his head in the clouds! ‘Oh, I’ll be a mighty heeroo! I’ll get the world to respect me!’ You can’t even get me to respect you. You can’t even get a cat to respect you! You’re an embarrassment! How do you ever hope to grow up and become an adult!... ”

‘H-headmistress… please, I’m sorry…’

“ ...And here comes the apology, of course. Let me tell you one thing, mister… ”

‘Please, stop…’

“ ...Your daydreaming ends right here. And you’re not snapping out of it, ever!... ”

‘I’m sorry! Please don’t-’

“ ...And since your parents aren’t around to bust your behind out, I’ll do it myself. Say goodbye to your little imaginary monster friends, because they’re GONE… ”

‘No, stop! STOP!’

“ ...Wakey, wakey! You’re never seeing any of this again!... ”

‘No! NO!!!’

A sudden jolt forced George upright. He woke up gasping for air, aching from what felt like a heavy fever. Panicking, his head dashed all over the place; he was surrounded by darkness, spare for the torchlight coming from Blitzer’s tail. A light prickling caressed his hands and legs. He looked down and plucked one of the straws out of the bed, twiddling it around in his fingers. It was tangible. Real.

‘ I’m here… what just… why did I hear the headmistress just now? ’

“Hey… are you awake?”

George’s breathing slowed down. On the other side of the room, Blitzer’s eyes were half open, his head still pressed against his bed.

“Y-yes, I’m up…”

“What’s the matter? Why are you awake?”

George gulped. “I had a bad dream, that’s all,” he said, nervously eyeing the half asleep Charmander. With the shivers, he curled back onto the bed, keeping his tail close for comfort. Apologies never meant much in the end, but it was something that needed to be done. Perhaps Blitzer might be more receptive than others.

Alas, the little value of an apology didn’t change. Blitzer continued to ask questions. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Is it still night?” George asked. “You look tired, we should sleep.”

“Yes, but you woke up scared,” Blitzer said, his tail twitching back and forth. “We should talk.”

“How do you know?” George bit his lip. He was trapped between a rock of an excuse and a hard truth. Neither option was any good; it was going to be a conversation unfit to have in the middle of the night, over another piece of the old world that had become so difficult to understand.

“I can tell you’re scared, George,” Blitzer said, lifting his head from the bed. “I can see it, I can smell it, you don’t feel so well. I just want to know if you’re okay or not.”

George shook his head. ‘ I’m going to regret this. ’ “No. But can we talk about it later? When we’re on our way.”

Blitzer nodded. “That’s alright. If that is better for you, then I’m all for it. Do you think you’ll be able to sleep?”

“I think so, yes.”

“Alright. Well, have a good sleep.”

It wasn’t long before Blitzer had drifted back off into a slumber, his calm breaths flowing through the room. George laid awake for a little while longer. He wasn’t in the mood for more sleep.

‘ Blitzer smelled it, he said. How, though? You can’t smell how people feel, can you? Does he really know me that well? You know, maybe he does know me that well. It’s nice that someone feels that way about me. Maybe, maybe it’s a good thing to tell him later… ’

After some minutes of thinking, George’s own tiredness got the better of him too, and he once again fell asleep.

* * *

As the sun emerged on the eastern horizon, the children began preparing themselves for their journey into the unknown. This time though, there wouldn’t be so much fun and games. The Azure Hills were bound to be a step above the bug filled woods outside of town. All either of them knew is that those hills were ripe for berry growth, and that was good enough for them. No second thoughts about what might be lurking there, enraged wild Pokemon or Soldiers not letting them get off so easily.

Of course, the fate of their world wasn’t resting on their shoulders alone, as they weren’t going to be the only ones there. As such, Blitzer sported a cheery mood when Nero and Nera came to see them off properly, all throughout breakfast and up to the point when the time had come to get going. It was still another day of exploring.

“Alrighty then. Do you think you’re prepared?” asked Nera.

The two children nodded; Blitzer with a wide smile, while George tried smiling and biting his cheek at the same time. Nero had given them both a woven basket that looked like something one would use to carry picnic equipment in, and Nera had taken the time to wrap a scarf around both of their necks. Blitzer’s was blue, George’s was red.

“Hey, what is the point of the scarf again?” George asked, trying to loosen his a little.

“Against the cold, of course! And to make sure that the others you might bump into won’t mistake you for wild Pokemon,” Nera said, clasping her hands together. “Honestly, you look cute in those! We should have given them to you sooner.”

George sheepishly smiled back at her. ‘ No one asked me anything… ’

Nero then grunted; his eyes were drawn to the sky opposite of the sun. “So, do you lads think you can fill up those baskets?”

“Yes!” Blitzer raised his hand; he had put the basket on the floor. “We’ll be there until they’re full!” To this, Nero only shook his head.

“Don’t put yourself in needless danger. You’re still young, and not the only ones making sure we’ll have something to eat at the end of the week. Okay?”

“I won’t let anyone down!” Blitzer said, picking the basket back up. George eyed him nervously. The basket was heavy enough as was, let alone the weight of all the berries added on top of that.

As adamant as Blitzer was, Nera waved her foreleg down in an attempt to get him to settle down a little. “Easy now. The most important thing is that you have fun, okay? Take it as a learning experience, both for yourself and for George. You’ll be fine, alright?” she said. But Blitzer wasn’t so easily stopped.

“We’re more than fine, you’ll see!”

Nera hummed timidly; far less grand than perhaps she had imagined, it was time to send her children off. With a nod, Nera pointed Blitzer and George towards the square. “Then I wish you the best of luck. Stay safe!”

“Yes, stay safe,” Nero said after her.

“See you later!” Blitzer said. George merely put his hand up, before being nudged down the road by Blitzer as the door of the hovel fell back into place. “We’ve got to make them proud of us, George. If we do good here, they might let us explore even further,” the Charmander then said.

George shook his head. “Worry about that later. We haven’t even started this one yet.”

Blitzer shrugged. “That’s true.”

Without further interruptions, the two got to work making their way out of the town. The streets were deserted, and could have been confused for those of a ghost town if not for occasional chewing sounds and the aroma of various fruits. No one to be seen, not even in the square or in the hillside fields past the square. There was just one lone shadow visible in the porch of a small wooden farmhouse at the end of the village; the field next to it lay in ruins. George gave it a dreary glance as he and Blitzer passed by.

‘ The soldiers must’ve taken even more than half here… After they promised they wouldn’t take any more than that. Nera must’ve been lying. Everyone really is counting on us, aren’t they? ’

Fears bubbling in his stomach, George pressed on, keeping close to Blitzer. The two came to a crossroad just outside of town; three dirt trails met under the watch of a weary wooden signpost, which bore the same strange lettering as the sign at the entrance of the Mystery Dungeon yesterday. The left sign bore the names ‘Klin, Mossy Hill,’ and ‘Poliwag’s Bend’, the right sign pointed towards ‘Agate Township’. George turned towards Blitzer and poked him on the shoulder.

“Your parents said that we had to go left here, right?”

Blitzer nodded. “Yeah. Go left and keep going until we come to a bridge. Then cross that bridge and follow the first trail left. Sounds simple enough.”

“Do you think we’ll find anything on the road?” George asked.

“Maybe some travelling Pokemon. Maybe Soldiers, I don’t know. I haven’t been out of town much.” Blitzer set his first foot forwards, breathing in the fresh breeze until his lungs were full. George followed him right down to the breath. It was a peaceful day, something remarkable on its own. And the air was so clean, too. Compared to the city, it was like he ended up in heaven.

They made their way over the road, passing through fields and bogs on their way to Azure Hill. The skies were filled with birds and the pollen of a thousand flowers, while grounded Pokemon frolicked in the fields far away. Distant yelps and cries kept the tension flowing for a while. Then again, the gravel crunching underneath his feet was a far more prevalent companion than any howling Pokemon were, or the scarf pressing against George’s neck, for that matter. The wind blowing against it hadn’t made it any more comfortable. On the positive side, it was at least a little cold out.

On this first leg of the journey, Blitzer and George kept themselves entertained by spotting wild Pokemon nearby. It was quite something to see just how many species there were, and how they lived. The ground types burrowing all over the place, the normals largely sticking with their own kin, the flying types flocking together overhead - George even tried calling out to them, but got no response back. They were just animals, as Blitzer would go on to explain. Even some of the species that George saw back in town were nothing more than feral critters out here. The same, yet wildly different. None of it made any sense. What separated the wild from the civilized? How did this situation even come to be? There weren’t any feral humans back home, or were there? George couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever stumble across wild Oshawott or Charmander, and how they would respond to himself and Blitzer.

It was a good way to waste time and not have to think about the morning. About an hour and a half into the journey though, Blitzer and George reached the bridge they had to encounter. It was a simple wooden one, like the one back in town, albeit with a more active stream running underneath it. By this time, George felt a little weary in his legs. He wasn’t the only one: Halfway across the bridge, Blitzer put his basket down and sat down, carefully maneuvering his tail away from the guard rails.

“It sure is a lot farther than I thought it would be…”

George placed his basket on the ground, before putting his legs in between the guard rails and gradually sank down until his tail touched the ground. “You could say that again. It feels like I have blisters on my feet already. And I didn’t think a basket would be that heavy.” He sighed, twirling his toes as spatters from the water below landed on them. “So… we’re resting for a moment?”

Blitzer nodded. “That sounds like a good idea. I wanted to talk about a few things, anyway.”

George gulped. “You mean my dreams, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Blitzer crawled his way over to George. “I just want to know what happened. You weren’t feeling all too well. Do you still feel that way, or…?”

George shook his head. “No, I’m not sick or anything, if that’s what you mean. All it is, is well,” he breathed in deep through his nose. “I had a dream last night.”

Blitzer gave an affirming hum. “You told me. What was it about?”

For a few seconds, George kept silent to prepare himself. He carefully stroked his scalchop for reasons he once again couldn’t explain. Some sort of instinct he had to have been acting on, like Blitzer interacting with his own tail. “My life before coming here. It was all there again. The dust, the other kids, the gray and the black, and the headmistress…”

“Oh yes, the headmistress,” Blitzer blurted out. “You told me about a headmistress yesterday, I think. I’ve been thinking about that, actually. What is she like?”

George briefly closed his eyes. In that moment, he heard her voice yell at him, and he could place himself back there in that house. So many memories came rushing back. So many awful, awful memories.

“She was a horrible person, Blitzer. Nothing I ever did made her happy. The way I played with toys, the way I interacted with the other kids, or how I did my chores, or how I did my school work. She’d always grab me by the neck just to berate me on everything. It was like, it was like she wanted to tear me apart,” he said, sniffing. “I don’t get why…” He stared at the water surging beneath him. Blitzer grabbed him by the shoulder.

“George, that’s awful! Who does this headmistress think she is? Why didn’t your parents say anything?” Blitzer yelled. George could feel the warmth of his flaring tail press against his head, as well as his hand gently squeezing his shoulder. It felt encouraging in a way, yet crushing in another.

‘ He really does care… ’ With a sniff, George tried to wipe his eyes dry, before turning away from the stream. “I haven’t seen my parents in years. I don’t know what happened. One day I remember being with them, and the next thing I know, I was suddenly living in that foster’s home. There were so many other kids there, and they were all cold. They almost never said anything to me. it was always so quiet there when I was around. And that was my life until, well, I woke up in the forest one day.”

With a sombre groan, George fell silent. Blitzer let go of George’s shoulder; his own gaze turned to the flowing of the stream. George looked up to him. To his surprise, Blitzer was shaking his head. Something in the air felt morose.

“George, I… I understand. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s not your fault.” ‘ I’m not sure whose fault it is .’

Blitzer breathed out a lungful, then took one back in, puffing up his chest as if to prepare himself for what lay ahead. “You’re not the only one. I know, I’m not alone, but… Nero, Nera, they’re not my original parents. They’ve told you that, but…”

“Yeah. Do you know what happened to your real parents?”

“It was a long time ago,” Blitzer said. “My earliest memories are all a haze. But I still remember that one day. I wasn’t able to talk yet. My father had put me down in a bed of leaves. He told me that it was time for us to part ways, that it was for the better. I don’t remember why. The whole time, there were tears streaming down his face. Whenever I’m lying on my back, I can still feel them on my chest.”

‘ Blitzer… ’ George stood up, gently patting the Charmander on the shoulder. “I never would have guessed. Your parents told me that they just found you there, and I assumed that they just didn’t want you anymore, or something.” ‘ That might not have been the nicest thing to say. ’

“That’s what my parents have believed this entire time as well. I’ve never told it to anyone, ever,” Blitzer said, looking towards George with only the corner of a single eye. “I just wasn’t ready to tell anyone, until now.”

George let his hand rest. “Do you think your actual parents are still alive?”

Blitzer nodded. “Yes. And I want to find them. That’s why I want to get stronger, too. So that when I do find them, they can be proud of me. Do you feel the same way?”

George hummed. “Somewhat. I want to know why they left me at that foster’s house. But I don’t think I’ll ever find them here, in this world. Maybe that’s for the better, too.”

Surprised, Blitzer flicked his head around. “Huh? But they’re your parents.”

“I don’t think it matters too much. To be honest, my memories before ending up in the foster’s home aren’t the best. And I don’t know if I’ll ever see my world again, so it’s better not to think about it,” George said.

Blitzer stepped back up. “That’s very brave of you.”

George nodded. “Thank you for saying that.”

“Come here,” said Blitzer, spreading his arms wide. George gave a slight smile, and spread his arms out as well, embracing the Charmander in a short hug.

“You are so much like me, George. We’ll be the best of friends forever, won’t we?”

“I sure hope so.”

“Thank you. So, do you want to stay here for a little while longer, or are you rested enough?”

“I think it’s time we get going.”

“Alright then, let’s go get some berries.”