A breeze flew over George as his eyes opened to the sight of a translucent blue sky. It felt as if he was hovering in midair. His feet kicked around in search of ground, seemingly under the impression that he was sleepwalking. Nothing but a void existed under him, however; No dirt, no rocks or grass, or any material the Pokemon of Greenfield used to build their homes. Just plain air.

‘Huh?’

This wasn’t the result of George having stumbled off in the middle of the night. One glance of his surroundings revealed a great azure expanse stretching beyond the furthest reaches of the horizon, with no company but the clouds under his feet. A strange warm sensation massaged the insides of his head. It was akin to entering a warm, cozy home after a long time spent trapped in a blizzard.

‘What is this place?’

Curious, George dipped a foot into the clouds below. To his surprise, they wouldn’t sink further than the length of a finger into the bed of cotton, even though the cloud itself was not providing any sort of resistance. He tried a few times, feeling, prodding, even forcing his feet down hard, but the task proved too herculean to do. The clouds pushed his feet back up. There was no way through them.

‘But how?’

Then, a gust of wind flew directly into him, coursing through each hair in his fur. Warm, powerful like a wretched seabound storm, and impossible to resist, George shielded his face. But what good could his little stubby Oshawott arms do? It was a miracle they weren’t sent flying backwards. Were it not for sudden mercy, he would’ve flown back. But the wind stopped, and a ray of light shone from above. George lowered his arms. The light was empty, yet a presence made itself known from that same ray of light.

“It is so good to see you, George. I have been waiting for you.”

Just like the clouds and deep blue yonder, the voice surrounded him from all sides, its echoes reverbrating high up and down. The sounds harmonized in such a way that multiple voices spoke. It was frightening, and majestic. .

‘h-Hello? Where am I?’

“You are in Eravate, George, just like you were when you went to sleep. I have simply taken you aside for a moment for the sake of your well being.”

‘Who are you?’

“An old friend, George. One you may not remember, but there will come a day when the knowledge of my true identity will hit you, and everything will fall into place. Rest be assured, there is no need to force this. I did not call you here to glorify myself. I came here to speak to you.”

‘...me? But why? I’m nothing special!’

“So you may think. And perhaps right now, you are. You were but a guardianless child who one day awoke in a strange body in a strange world, met a local village boy and became companions, and remained with him in the village hoping that someone may provide you answers for everything that has happened, and continues to happen. But you are meant for grander things, George. Eravate may not know your name yet. There will come a day where that all changes, when that mythical name George is recognized across this world.”

‘But why, though? Why would anyone see me in that way? I only just learned to defend myself.’

“Eravate is in trouble, George. You may not see it now, but it is inevitable that you will. A crisis is approaching, one ordinary Pokemon are incapable of solving. The world is at a crossroad. So many have fallen for it already, and so much more will be lost when the truth is finally revealed. But I know what I have seen. Amidst the disorder, only a handful were brave enough to make a stand for order and justice. For peace. For light. You are one of them, George. One of the few who may last against all odds.”

‘All odds? Do you mean the-’

“You will see in due time. Unfortunately, our time together runs short.”

‘Wait, what? Why?’

“The dawn is swiftly approaching, and someone will arrive with it. Someone whose importance to the crisis is paramount. Farewell for now, George.”

An exhaling sound echoed all around, as the sky turned black and the clouds disappeared. The dream closed off, and George was drawn back into his slumber, his unconscious body twitching erratically on the straws.

* * *

Dawn broke some time later when a yawn tickled George on the ears, along with the sounds of weary limbs being stretched after a long night’s rest.

“Aah, it’s a new day!”

While Blitzer was greeting the morning with the energy of an Electric type, George groaned on his straw bed. His eyes creaked open at a glacial pace, tears welling up thanks to the light coming from Blitzer’s tail, and his arms and feet were aching. Not to mention the throbbing in his head. Either that strange dream had done a number on him, or he’d fallen asleep on the flute piece. The only part of him not groggy were the ears, which were actively listening to Blitzer’s footsteps drawing near.

“Alright, wake up sleepyhead! It’s the morning!”

“Ngh, a few more minutes, please…”

“Come on! Breakfast will be ready soon!”

“How can you be so sure it’s the morning, there’s barely any light in here-”

George’s nose woke up and caught a strong scent of fresh fruits and berries coming from under the door. ‘Looks like that excuse’s not going to work… ’

“You smell it! It’s morning alright. Speedy can be here any minute, and I’m not leaving on an empty stomach, you hear?” Blitzer said. When it seemed like George was about to roll onto his other side, the Charmander put his claws on George’s leg and began dragging him off the warm straws and onto the murky cold of the ground. First touch of dirt on his fur sent alarmbells ringing.

“Aaah! Stop! Stop!!”

One eye blink later, George was kicking and waving all over the place, intensely slapping his tail around. Blitzer, now laughing, finally let go of his leg.

“There you go, George!”

“Thanks a lot, Blitzer…”

One smiling and the other grumpy, the two left their dark room. Breakfast this morning was a fruit salad: Everything from strawberries to chunks of orange, Chesto to help with the sleepiness, Oran to help with the grogginess, and a few other kinds of fruit were delivered to them on a plate, courtesy of Nera. All the bits were neatly organized per kind in a circle, their juices pooling up on the plate and coating everything in another layer of sweetness. George happily breathed it in. When the smell was strong enough to bury the dusty taste of the air, it had to be good. It was enough to forget about that morning’s dream for a while, and not let any of it slip by accident in a sleepy stupor. He’d be stuck here all day if he said a word about it.

While catching light coming from a dirty window, the two ate their fill. After some questions, a knock sounded on the door. Blitzer ran to answer, and Speedy replied. “Morning, Blitzer!”

“Good morning, Speedy!”

Nera leaned up against the table. “Oh, he is here already?”

George got up and walked towards the front door, only for the Raichu’s pale chest to appeared right in front of his face as he was about to step into the entry hall.

“Oops! My bad, laddie! Heheh.”’

George stumbled back into the table. “I didn’t think you’d come in here.”

Speedy gave a rough chuckle. “Just wanted to say hello to your parents, lad, that’s all. How’s life?” he asked the two parents, who both answered with a dull shrug.

“Not bad.”

“Could be worse.”

Speedy’s chuckling continued on. “Aw, don’t be such spoilsports, you two. T’is a beautiful day, forget about all that crap from yesterday, alright?” he went on to say.

Nero cleared his nose before pressing a forepaw against the side of his head. “Hard to forget about this ‘crap’ when it’s running our lives, Speedy.”

The Raichu nodded. “Oh believe me, I’ve had a whole bunch of experiences with ‘em already, but we’ve gotta move on with our lives, right? Whatever’s the case, I’m not letting no one stop me from being me, you hear? Can’t let anyone do that to me, or Junior.” A spark flew from his cheeks on the last few words. Both children took a step backwards; the parents seemed unimpressed.

“So how long is this chore of yours going to take, exactly?” Nera asked.

“A few hours,” Speedy replied.

Nero’s ears went flat against his head; Nera’s ears followed his lead shortly thereafter. “Why so long?” he grumbled with the voice of someone that had missed his morning caffeine.

“It’s a long story. I might have to go one town over, buy some things for my house,” Speedy told him. “I could use the extra hands to carry it all back home.” George bit his lip, anxiously awaiting the parents’ response.

“Then you better keep a close eye on them,” Nera said. ”They have a knack for getting themselves into trouble. With the soldiers around on top of that? I’m worried.”

Speedy nodded back. ”Don’t worry. I got this under control. If I can handle Junior, then these two little balls of energy won’t be a problem,” he said in a calm, confident voice, as if Blitzer and George were nothing more than boy scouts. Hearing this, Blitzer fidgeted around with his hands behind his back, shying away from the Raichu and towards the door. George felt a little prickly in his cheeks, which he couldn’t resist putting his hands on now.

‘ b-Balls of energy? I didn’t think anyone would find me that adorable. ’

* * *

With neither parent seemingly suspecting a thing, the two boys got on their way, following Speedy out towards the village’s entrance. It was calmer in the streets than in the previous few days, the other village Pokemon hesitant to stop for idle chat. Everyone was doing the bare minimum to keep their lives afloat, whether that be keeping the village tidy, toiling on the half empty berry fields on the outskirts of town, or lumbering into the murky atmosphere of Hein’s Cafe. None of the other children were out; the silence in the town was palpable.

A familiar Druddigon was hanging a new item onto the board, something about the activities of the Queen’s Soldiers in the area. He was being half watched by a green-scarfed Fraxure, who gave a bored grunt as Speedy and the two passed by. No one said anything. Nothing more than a one eyed stare that acknowledged the other’s presence. Lance grumbled a bit behind everyone’s backs, out of a deep running exhaustion that couldn’t simply be slept off.

Once at the village entrance, Speedy finally rediscovered his voice. “‘Alright kids, here we are. Agate Township, rightwards! Should be about an hour before we’re there, and I’ll tell you who we’re looking for just before that.”

Blitzer stretched his arms as a yawn spilled out of his gaping mouth. “Haaargh, feels good to be out of town again, doesn’t it?” he said. George followed him up with a stretch of his own, then straightened the creases out of his bright red scarf.

“Sure does. It gets boring around here sometimes.”

Speedy chuckled. “Hahah, you might not believe it, Oshawott lad, but boredom is it’s own reward. Once you find yourself getting bored, you get the desire to move onto greater pastures,” he said with a swing of the lightning bolt at the end of his tail. “You get a longing for doing something good. Something beyond the ordinary. You must feel it today, right?”

George was taken back to his dream that morning. If he squinted slightly, he could hear those echoes all around him. It sparked the imagination up, sending it flying right into that fantastical wonderland he loved, with all the swashbuckling fantasies of a fully grown Pokemon in tow. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought. “Of course I do.”

“That’s the spirit!” Speedy said as he shuffled forward over the path, scattering dirt over the grass and his feet. “Trust me lad, you’ll need that hunger in you. Whatever might happen, you better be ready for anything. It’s a wild world out there.”

“Trust me, I’ll be as ready as I need to be,” George said with a slap of his tail. ‘I had started to get that idea anyway! ’

The Raichu nodded. “Good on you, lad.”

“He won’t be as ready as me, though.” Blitzer swung an arm around George’s neck, who jumped in response. A smirk was plastered all over his face as he nudged George with his arm, all smug and confident without so much as flinching. George had only an envious stare to return.

‘ His back healed pretty quickly, didn’t it. ’

“Now that’s the spirit, you two,” Speedy said with a turned head. “Knew this was going to be the response I’d get from you lads! That’s why I picked you two of all people to come and help me out here, actually.”

Blitzer’s tail tip twitched with curiosity. “Why, is there no one else in the village who thinks so?”

Speedy’s ears went flat as he let out a sigh. “Something like that. Lads, I love the village and all, but sometimes I get the feeling that everyone’s just given up, you know. They’re all just content waitin’ around for others to pull ‘em out of the mud. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, that sounds like my parents,” Blitzer said. “They’re very restrictive all of a sudden. I know it’s not nice for them to see me coming home all scratched up, and I respect that, I really do. I know they care about me and mean well and all, but they’re trying to protect me from everything. They were getting antsy about me helping out with the food situation, even though we’d starve if no one would go.”

“That sounds like Nero and Nera, alright,” Speedy said while stretching his arms a little.

Blitzer exhaled through his nose heavily, as if holding onto his breath was a heavy burden on his shoulders. “Don’t see this as me not liking them, by the way. I love my parents. They really do care for me a lot, but I know who I am. I know I’ll have to get out into the real world eventually, and I need to prepare for that. I’m not going to be a Charmander forever.”

“No, I understand you alright,” Speedy said. “You’re like a second son to me at times, Blitzer. I know how you feel. They’re apathetic to the world, even though the world isn’t getting any better, is it?”

Blitzer shook his head. “No.”

“Exactly. That’s to be expected, really. Greenfield likes not being bothered.”

Having taken in the conversation, George’s curiosity got the better of him. Blitzer’s troubles with his situation, he understood. Speedy was another story, though. Why would he want to put himself into danger? He had a kid to look after, at the end of the day.

“Hey, what do you mean with ‘not being bothered’? It’s not like everyone here’s afraid of their own shadow. Half the village went to Azure Hills a few weeks ago, didn’t they?”

Speedy breathed in deep; for a slight second, the air was charged. “Something other than that. The most confrontational anyone else gets is Hein dealing with idiots who’ve had too much juice.”

Blitzer cracked up. “Tell me about it.”

“That ghost’s one charmer, I have to admit. There’s something about that attitude I like, if you get me,” Speedy said, smirking. “Anyway, that’s about as defiant as it gets. And I just can’t wrap my head around it. Truth to be told, I don’t like seeing Junior grow up in that environment. I want him to be able to stand up for himself when he’s older. How is he ever going to have that chance if we just keep stewing around? It’s not going to happen, is it?”

George shrugged. “I guess not.”

“Exactly! And that’s why we’re going where we’re going. That’ll be my first step towards broadening the horizon…” Speedy’s pace slowed down as he stared out over the wide emerald plains, as if longing for something. “Anyway, that’s my little rant. I haven’t actually heard you talk about this yet, George. What is your drive to keep going?”

“My drive?” George replied.

“Yeah, your drive,” Speedy retorted. “What motivates you? Because it takes one brave lad to toe to toe with thieves with me, I’ll tell you that.”

George had to take a deep breath.That morning’s dream came back to mind. The echoes set to a backdrop of a brightening sky, explaining how both he and Blitzer had a higher purpose. That would remain behind lock and key, however. Too many questions to deal with.

“I didn’t have the best childhood before I came to Greenfield.” George looked out over the green fields, towards the distant outline of a great, snow capped mountain. “You might have heard some things from others, but the truth is worse than that. I grew up in a foster’s home. I was left there by my parents. I don’t know why. But they did. Since then, my life was nothing but stress, fear, and being helpless. The people at that foster’s home hated my guts from the day I walked in. The other kids there saw me as an easy target. And there was nothing I could do about it. Whenever I tried to stand up against one, the other always knocked me back down… Every day, for years…”

He’d felt it come up in his throat while explaining, but he couldn’t hide it. No matter how badly he wanted to. Bottled up emotions fresh from Pandora’s box had grabbed him by the throat.

“They used me, fooled me, betrayed me, did everything you could think of to me… and I was powerless! I didn’t have the strength to do anything about it, either. It’s like your worst nightmares about Junior, Speedy. That was my life, for years…”

Tears rolled down George’s face, leaving a wet trail behind on his pale fur. Blitzer and Speedy had both come to a stop, and each was holding one of his arms, softly patting him with a digit or two.

“It’s okay, George. Just let it all out,” Speedy told him.

“You know I’ve always got your back,” Blitzer whispered in his ear.

“Thank you…” George said with a sniff, his tail jittering on the dirt below. “That’s why I’m here. No one should have to go through that, no one. When I get older, I want to make this world a better place for the weak. I want to be the person I wish I had back home. I might be scared, I might fear what others will think or say, but I want to do what I can. One day, I won’t be too weak to defend myself anymore. There’s so much evil out there in the world, and I want to show it with everything I’ve got! That’s who I want to be!”

For a brief moment, all those worries, all those foul memories of home vanished through his fingers like sand, and in their place arose a spectacular image of himself. His fully evolved form, with its long swords and strong muscles, the mustaches flowing from a wise snout, and those fierce, fearless eyes that could laugh at the mightiest of foes… one day, that was going to be him. And nothing was going to get in the way of that.

“Blitzer, Speedy, I’m ready for this.”

Blitzer grabbed George by the shoulder; his snout grew a fierce smile. “Me too.”

George nodded back at him with a strong grin of his own. “We’re going to do this!”

Speedy chuckled heartily. “That’s the George I believe in right there. You’re a lot fiercer than you’re willin’ to admit, lad. Trust me on that,” he said as he got in between the two. “So then, what are we waiting for? We’ve got some thieves to kick around!”

“Yeah!”

And so, wearing their hearts on their sleeves, the three Pokemon made their way through the fields, past forests and through thorns towards Agate Township, where a fateful day was sure to be waiting for them.