The wind whisked past, causing a ball to just barely miss the door of the hovel. It bounced, fell, and rolled to a stop by Blitzer’s feet. He stared at it for some time, let out a groan, picked it up, and repeated the same process, stopping to either fiddle with his blue scarf or clutch a part of his body.

“So I guess this is what we’ll be doing today as well, huh.”

Not far from him, George was scratching alphabetical letters into the dirt, stopping after each letter to wipe the dust off his fingers. Little was more annoying than dirt under the fingernails in his book; sure enough, he had a particularly bad case of it after finishing the sentence he was writing. Grumbling, he polished his fingers, his tail kicking up a small cloud of dust with its annoyed slapping.

“What are you doing?” asked Blitzer. “Wait, are those Unown runes?” His tail audibly crackled with energy, not to mention his voice sounding energetic enough to overpower the flow of the stream a short skip away.

“Unknown runes?” George responded.

“Yeah, Unown runes. There’s some old ruins with those. My dad once showed me some in a ruin not too far from town. They kind of look like what you’re writing.”

George, now dumbfounded, turned his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. This is just how I’ve been taught to write, that’s all.” ‘ Why is he telling me this now? ’

“Oh, okay,” Blitzer replied. “What did you write?”

George smacked his lips. “ ‘What a waste of time. ’ I felt inspired.”

“Ah.” Blitzer let out a raspy sigh. “Yeah, no surprise there. Can’t even go out into town much… ugh, these damn cramps,” he said, placing both his claws onto his head. “I’m not supposed to sit still when wearing a scarf. It’s not right. Yet here we are…”

The past two days in particular hadn’t been kind on the Charmander. His limbs hurt like they had been infected with something, and no berry was capable of easing the pain. His parents were anything but clandestine on what was affecting him, despite the cramps getting worse and worse. This morning George could only watch as Blitzer struggled to get out of bed, struggled to conjure up an appetite for breakfast for the first time, and had issues walking. It didn’t sit well with him, but there was little to be done. Anything short of pure adrenaline wasn’t going to fix things fast.

“Do… do you think you’ll get better soon?” George asked with a slightly higher pitch in his voice, his ears flat against his head.

Blitzer shook his head, frowning all the while. “I sure hope so. Dad said ‘yeah, it will’, and then he just grinned afterwards. Asked mom earlier today and she had the same silly smile on her face, as if there’s nothing to worry about… blegh.” He turned his head back towards the rest of the town, letting the ball he was throwing roll off into the grass. George got his fingers out of the dirt, and looked out over the town with him. The wind blew into their faces with surprising strength, howling into their ears and bringing a myriad of odd scents with it. As if nature itself disagreed with them looking over.

The town was largely quiet. Some residents were out buying things from their neighbours, others were at work on their houses or on the fields, some were returning from their work out of town, tugging on a cart bearing rocks or strange plants someone in the village might have needed eventually. An Aipom was busy on a roof, repairing damage inflicted by the rain a day ago. Small sprouts of green were rising up out of the field, at last. It had been some time since the last harvest was seized. Down the road, a column of Pokemon were marching into town. They wore green scarves; the crunching of their feet were loud and in sync with one another.

“Wait, what the…!” Blitzer jumped to his weary feet. “Agh! George, do you see that?”

In the blink of an eye, George had gotten up as well. “Yeah, I see it alright!”

His facial muscles were frozen solid: Some of the soldiers had their undivided attention in their direction.

‘What is this now?’

“George, let’s go back inside, okay?” Blitzer chirped, clutching onto his tail.

“Yeah. that sounds like a plan,” George said back with bated breath.

They stumbled back inside and locked the door, before running down into the living area. Nero and Nera were both there, working on some sort of wood carving. It faintly resembled a lizard. Nero looked up from his work, frowning.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to here-”

“Not now, dad! There’s a whole bunch of soldiers coming our way!”

“What?!” Nero threw the tool knife he was holding down onto the table. “What do you mean, soldiers?! Why are they here now?”

“We… we didn’t do anything wrong, did we? Haven’t they bothered us enough as is?” Nera asked.

“I don’t know what they’re here for,” Blitzer asked. “We just saw them coming, that’s all.”

George gritted his teeth. The situation was far more dire than that. They weren’t just coming. They were coming straight towards the hovel. Some had been wielding weapons.

“Kids, I don’t know what this is, but let us handle it, okay? We’ll figure something out-”

A loud bonking sound suddenly struck into the room. The candle near the entrance flickered.

“Open the door, now!”

George, Blitzer, Nero and Nera all froze. The faint light coming from outside disappeared; no one could tell why for sure. George caught a glimpse of what seemed like feet pass by the window. The presence at the entrance gave the front door another beating. It creaked with every blow.

“I said, open the door! We know you’re in there!”

Nero looked to his family; there was a glint of fear in his eyes. “I’ll handle this, stay back.”

“I’ll come with you,” Nera then said. The Nidorino shook his head. “Stay back, please,” he said, then turned to walk up to the front door, leaving the rest behind in the anxious atmosphere that had manifested in the living area.

“Yes, we can hear you just fine! What are you here for?”

“Just open the damn door, you! You know what we’re here for.”

George inched closer to Blitzer, who quickly huddled up closer to the Oshawott himself upon noticing his approach. The Charmander’s tail was producing a strong, comfortable warmth, which George highly appreciated. It was a light in the cold darkness they were stuck in. Whatever was coming next, that warmth was something he desperately needed for it.

“No… what are you talking about?” Nero answered the other side of the door. A rising growl came next from the other end.

“We know what you’ve been up to! You are harbouring supporters of the Grand Alliance in there!”

With gritted teeth, Nera took a step closer to the door. Her ears flicked backwards against her cyan blue head. George shivered, and leaned up against his friend’s orange scales. He was shivering, too. The Grand Alliance. He’d never even heard of such a thing. Or had he? Was that what Speedy had been alluding to on the road back home a few days ago?

“Alliance?! What are you talking about? We’re just living our lives here!” Nero roared back. “There’s no rebels in here, are you out of your mind?”

“Oh yes there are, and you are going to hand them over, right. NOW.” The door shifted violently in its frame.

“WHO?!” Nero screamed back.

“Your damn kids, that’s who! One Oshawott and a Charmander! They’re Alliance supporters!”

A loud thud sounded on the other side of the door. It was at this moment that George and Blitzer began cowering together. Nera turned her head around, eyeing them with disbelief. Blitzer was speechless. George didn’t even know what to think anymore. It was as if he were floating out in the middle of nowhere. A void like the one he’d seen when speaking to that strange voice in his dreams. The Grand Alliance. Was that who had been sending them messages? Was Speedy one of them? Didn’t that mean Speedy was in danger as well? What about Hein? The Tangrowth?

Whatever the answer, he was never going to find out.

“Open the damn door now, or we’re breaking it down!”

“How’s about you piss off, and don’t get near my kids!”

“So be it! Get into position, everybody!”

The presence on the other side opened a violent assault on the door. With bated breath, they watched Nero back away from the door, ears flat and crouched in a very defensive manner, like a cornered animal. Strike by strike, the door was beaten down in a rhythm of a heartbeat. George felt his own beat against his chest with every thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Bang. Bang. Bang. BANG.

Crash.

“Run, run…!” Nera cried out, “Blitzer, George, run!!”

Like lightning, Nera tackled the two in the direction of the backroom, breaking their embrace before jumping back to face the storm alongside Nero.

“Don’t worry about us! Just get out!”

Adrenaline surged within George’s veins. Blitzer ran off into the back room, almost falling in the process, and George jumped after him. The air was cramped and dusty; George breathed in a mouthful as they rushed through the back door, into the largely empty berry fields the family owned.

“T-through the woods, fast!!”

Blitzer screamed at George as he rushed his way into the forests to the left of the house. George was gasping for breath. He tried to follow through the berry fields, escaping in the same fashion as Blitzer but couldn’t: A glance to his side revealed several green-scarved Pokemon rushing up, one a vicious mongoose and the other a yellow feline, their attention solely on him. Either he’d end up between a set of teeth, or all the secrets would be pilfered from his flesh at the tip of a claw. He ran into the forest as fast as his stubby feet would let him.

Thorns left their marks as George ran past. There was a narrow path through the vegetation, just large enough for him to pass. The rustling of the bushes sounded not far behind; his attackers were biting and clawing their way through, and the vegetation could only stall them for so long. His heart raced. He couldn’t waste a second. He’d just lost sight of Blitzer. Nero and Nera were still stuck in the hovel, their fate unknown. George didn’t want to think about it, yet those tense few moments lingered. They were eager to fight the threat on their own, even with the house surrounded.

Sun shone through a gap in the trees, revealing an empty space just ahead. George sped up, jumping his way between two thorny vines that hung at ankle and head level. A roar sounded behind. He rushed into the light. Two paths lay in front of him, left and right; he rushed left without thinking. The more distance, the better.

Lightning crackled overhead as the shroud of the trees fell back over him, striking a large branch of a tree dead ahead. A sharp crack echoed through the forest; the branch split off and tumbled down. George threw himself forward onto his scalchop with a gasp; the bark missed the back of his head by a hair. A hiss rang in his ears, followed by a second crackle further back. In the blink of an eye, a thunder roared overhead, striking the tree just past the last at the stump with a force strong enough to shred the base. George, having barely pushed himself off the ground, stumbled forward. The whole tree tipped over, missing him, but landing precariously onto the fallen branch. George ran. He didn’t look back.

“You fool! Now what?!”

“I’m tryin’ me best!”

Voices fading away under the rhythm of his heart, George ran. The forest grew more spacious; he had reached a path the villagers must’ve used to gather wood. He glanced around; no one to his left, no one to his right, torchlight ahead. Torchlight. No, tail light. He almost jumped for joy, before rushing ahead, fighting his way through ivy towards the flame he saw burning in the distance. He was there. He had to be there. It was like his feet were floating. He was that close to safety, that close to having a chance. There was no time to look back. He rushed forward, through the bushes.

“HAAGH!”

A claw grabbed him by the neck; George had ample time to yelp before he was face to face with a snarling Charmander. The snarl quickly disintegrated into shock, then horror.

“G-George!” a familiar voice said. It came from the Charmander’s mouth. “S-sorry, I couldn’t-”

Blitzer choked on his own words as he put George back down. George hesitated for a second. For a brief second, his own friend saw him as an enemy. Had that continued for a second, his face would’ve been scorched clean off. “Blitzer,” he muttered. A pained glister appeared in the Charmander’s eyes.

“I swear, I didn’t mean to… I heard the bushes move and I thought you were one of them, so I…”

A shaky breath freed itself from Blitzer’s jaws. It was accompanied by a soft, weak chittering sound.

George idled, letting the beat of his heart and rhythm of his lungs talk in his stead. He felt Blitzer’s breath on his face. It was as if he was standing in front of a campfire. All it took was one slippery step to destroy a whole world. He shook his head. There was no time to dawdle.

“Forget about it, we need to-”

A branch snapped from the path leading leftwards. George’s head shot in the direction of the sound. A set of yellow, fuzzy legs was fast approaching, the wind carrying an accompanying hiss.

“There you are, you little scamps!”

A Galvantula whose legs bore green patches bearing the Crest crept towards them, electricity crackling around its mandibles. It appeared to charge up for a strong attack. George put his arms up to shield his face. Any second now, lightning would strike him head on, when he heard a growl right next to him. Blitzer had snapped out of his stupor; his throat vibrated ferociously, something George now knew to be the warning before the firestorm.

‘Get him! Get him good!’

But the Galvantula wasn’t an ordinary bug like the ones Blitzer was so used to fighting. Seeing the buildup in the Charmander’s throat, it struck early, shooting an electrified string out. It hit Blitzer in the foot, causing him to gag and start coughing intensively, spitting out smoke instead of fire.

“Agh, aagh…!”

The smoke enveloped the area at alarming speed: In what couldn’t have been more than a second, George lost sight of the Galvantula, the trees, even Blitzer’s outline was hard to make out. He reached into the smoke, grabbed the Charmander by the hand, and pulled him away from where the soldier was standing. Electricity hissed behind their backs now, in a way that sounded as if something was being charged. George felt a chill in his body, instincts pushing him to keep his head low. ‘ Something is going to happen ’, he repeated to himself in his head, before the hiss reached an apex; a beam of energy cut through the smoke, passing just overhead, right where the top of his head had just been.

“Haagh, ack, ack…”

The two broke through Blitzer’s smokescreen, and went on the run. A thick branch lay on their path, which they had to jump over; a second beam passed just overhead - once again, George somehow felt it before it had actually struck, as if the attack had been telegraphed. The Galvantula soldier couldn’t have been far off; it must have seen them jumping. George gritted his teeth and tugged harder on Blitzer’s arm, which felt increasingly heavy with each passing second.

“George, George, I don’t feel good at all…”

The Charmander’s pleas fell on deaf ears. A bend in the road up ahead was their lone respite, even if it was just for a few seconds. George looked over his shoulder and saw the Galvantula creep over the branch. ‘ Not good ,’ he thought, pushing himself to speed up even further, in spite of the struggle Blitzer was giving him. They had to make distance, and fast.

“George… aargh!”

Upon reaching the bend, Blitzer let out a pained cry. As they passed through, that cry intensified into sheer agony. George’s grip on the Charmander’s arm faded as if the arm had been torn off; Blitzer lunged forward onto his knees, panting and heaving, his tail crackling with intense spikes in energy. He stared out in front of him, eyes wide and unfocused, propping himself up on shaky arms. George reached for his arm, desperately trying to make him stand back up.

“Blitzer, we’ve got to get out of here!”

“I can’t…”

“What do you mean, you can’t?”

“My legs hurt… my head too, I feel like my body is falling apart…!”

Blitzer rolled onto his back, heaving with his claws on his head. The adrenaline had done what it could, but couldn’t last forever. George, now scared, took a step backwards. This wasn’t pain, it was worse than that. Blitzer’s skin was shivering, as if a horde of tiny insects were stuck underneath, trying to escape. He was stuck on the ground, kicking his limbs around, screaming at the top of his lungs as his body seemed to be ripping itself apart.

George’s breaths intensified. He had to help. But there wasn’t anything he could do. Nothing except stay at his side, and watch him suffer as the Soldiers inevitably caught up with them. In the blink of an eye, his hopes of getting through this were destroyed. Even if he did by some miracle evade capture, what was the point? He’d have lost everything. He’d be all alone in the forest, shelterless, foodless, and friendless. The last one stung deeper than the others, by a long shot. He hung his head and tail low. For a brief second, he thought he saw a shimmer of light.

“There you are,” a hushed, sharp voice said from beside. George didn’t look. The sound of the twitching mandibles was hard enough to hear. “It was about time you gave up.”

The Galvantula spoke with a pronounced hiss. Her eyes were cold, and calculating. Not a shred of empathy could be expected: She came straight for George with clattering mandibles, bypassing the Charmander twitching and growling on the ground next to her.

“So, we can do this one of two ways. Either you will come with me right this second, or I will resort to option two.”

George took a small step sideways. “Get lost.”

“Sweetheart, I’m afraid that’s not an option here,” the Galvantula said in a mocking tone. “I know I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Not without you.”

“What do you want?” asked George with a slap of his tail. The Galvantula made an obnoxious chattering sound in response; it had the tone of laughter.

“A diversion! How unfortunate for you that I do not fall for people playing dumb. We know what you’ve been up to. We know how you’ve helped members of the Alliance. Don’t pretend like you haven’t.”

George clenched his fist. “And that’s why you’re trying to kill us?” he said through gritted teeth, inching away from the Galvantula which matched his every step. Even with his ears flat against his head, he could hear each of the spider’s feet move over the dull growling that sounded nearby.

“Traitors generally do not get mercy, little one. This is just a way of telling you and the rest of your friends that we know what you’re up to,” the Galvantula said as shimmers of silver light flashed behind her. “So… are you going to give this little protest up, or are you going to make this more difficult?”

“I already told you to get lost.”

“Sweetheart, don’t make me go for option two-”

“Get lost!” George yelled, shooting a jet of water at his mouth. It rushed to the Galvantula and hit her point blank, sending her sliding back across the dirt but holding steady, thick stripes running through the dirt from the grip of her feet. She shook her head and hissed, a ravenous shine appearing in her four eyes.

“So be it then!”

She twisted her body around, electricity gathering around her abdomen with a hiss. With the speed of an arrow razing through the air, an electrified web shot out towards George; he hardly knew what was happening before he was hit. He fell backwards onto the ground, wrapped tight in a blanket of silk which started to constrict up against his body.

The silver light intensified as the web squeezed George with high voltage, causing him to scream out. It was as if the web was cutting through his skin, scorching everything in its vicinity. He wildly flailed his arms at the web, accomplishing little besides sending additional waves of electricity through his body. The agony made him gasp for breath. It was like his lungs were full of fire.

One foot then stomped down on George’s arm. His other arm was pinned in the same fashion. Two mandibles were hovering precariously over his neck. The pain dulled somewhat, but the dirty work had been done. The terror that spread through George’s body at this time, now that he finally realized the hopelessness of the situation he’d gotten himself into, must’ve been a joy for the Galvantula standing on top of him.

“I told you to not make me go there…”

His throat felt dry, and a little wetness found its way to his eyes. He wanted to scream, but couldn’t.

“Do you see now? One more chance. You come with me, and I promise it won’t be so painful.”

Her legs pressed harder against his skin. George panted, and looked at the mandibles creeping up to his neck. It wasn’t much of a choice. Either a vague promise, or a quick death. The hissing, venomous tone of the Galvantula stood out to him. ‘She’s lying…’ he thought, gritting his teeth. The Galvantula hissed at him, when a sharp cry rang through the air.

An orange ball rammed into the Galvantula’s side, exploding into fiery cinders. The spider was thrown off George with a horrid cry, its hairs cindered down and the Crests on the same side scorched. George immediately gasped for air, rolling and struggling his way out of the web.

“What the… what just happened?”

He rubbed his head as he got back onto his feet. For a second, he was lost. How was he free? Blitzer was down on the ground, screaming in pain, wasn’t he? Did he somehow get a last ditch shot in? Those questions were rushing through George’s head, but then vanished without a trace as he turned his gaze back up. There was no Charmander lying on the floor anymore. There was no Charmander to be seen anywhere. Instead, standing at the spot where Blitzer fell, was a sight for sore eyes. A strong, tall flame. A red body. A horn protruding from his head: Blitzer stood tall and proud, angrily staring down the injured Galvantula with bare teeth and spread claws.

“Did you think I was done for?!”

With a roar, the red Blitzer unleashed a gout of fire from his mouth, the flame on his tail surging along with him. The Galvantula hastily leapt out of the way, but Blitzer was fast on her rear, forcing her to leap even further to avoid a fiery end. Her jumps were anything but graceful, each landing was accompanied by a swift but sharp hiss as her yellow body dipped against the ground. Blitzer chased her with every jump. No longer did his feet buckle, or his tail sway unnaturally. This was the Blitzer George knew. He watched with a beaming smile on his face.

‘He… he looks awesome!’

“Graah! You can’t run forever!”

As the Galvantula leapt away to whatever hole she’d spawned from, Blitzer closed his mouth, beating himself on the chest with a fist a few times out of glee. “Ha… serves you right, ya witch!” he said with a growl, then turned around with a wild sway of his tail. His eyes locked with George, who reflexively stepped back; a bubble of saliva slid into his throat.

‘And pretty damn scary too, actually.’

Blitzer ran up to him and fell onto one of his knees. He’d gained a head on George, and he had already been taller prior to thatl. George let a hand rest on his scalchop. This was going to take some time to get used to.

“George, George! You okay?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” George said. “What was that?”

“I… I evolved, George!” Blitzer cheerily chortled, holding his claws before his face. “And the cramps are gone, too!”

“Yeah, I can tell! You look so much stronger now, this is amazing- ah!” George hissed out his breath. A static shock passed through his body.

“Damnit,” Blitzer growled, “she got you good… Can’t go back for the others like this.”

“The others?” George said between gritted teeth; the leftover static was still leaving its mark.

“Yeah, the others! We can’t just leave all our friends back there,” Blitzer said, spitting drops of hot saliva over George’s face. He spoke with a vigour that wasn’t there before. Something deeper had to have changed within him. George gestured out to the trail further behind.

“We can’t, they’re still following us, agh.”

An itch in his throat made George reconsider what he was saying. Blitzer scowled right at him.

“We can’t?! My mom and dad are there! Our friends, George! They’re attacking my whole world, I can’t just leave them behind!”

Voices rang through the woods from beyond the bend. “They went this way, right?”

“Yes, and one of them just evolved. They’re tougher than they look!”

Blitzer sucked in a breath. “Argh, not now! Okay, can you run?!”

“Yes, let’s go already!”

The two ran off further along the trail, each step putting more space between them and the village. The Soldiers weren’t far behind; a Heracross and a Talonflame weren’t far behind, their green scarves waving through the wind. If they didn’t rush, the two Soldiers would undoubtedly catch up. Blitzer was constantly looking over his shoulder; he ran a lot quicker than George could now,did, and slowed down so he could catch up, even after George told him not to.

They made their way through thick and thin trails, past yellow bulbs that shrieked when they walked past. Bushes full of thorns and other thick vegetation stood in their way; Blitzer cut through them with his claws like a hot knife through butter; his motions seemed effortless to the eye. George could tell they were still being chased, however. It wasn’t just from behind, either. He felt two presences nearby, right in front of them, in fact. One was warm, the other cold and idle. Had the Soldiers gotten around them? Had others escaped the village?

Their run came to an end at the shore of a large pond. Blitzer tried making his way around, and George didn’t have much of an option but to follow; the water was cool to the touch: Heaven for him, not so much for Blitzer. A screech came from behind, and chittering wings followed shortly thereafter. They ran, and it was a good run, but they were too slow; the two Soldiers overtook them by a short strip on the edge.

“There ye are! On yer bellies!”

A wild wind rushed past. The next thing George felt was a talon making contact with his back, followed by the taste of mud being forced into his mouth. Small lumps of dirt scratched his skin as the Talonflame slid him to a stop, like a rodent being seized by a hawk. A gasp escaped his throat on the way down; he was silenced shortly thereafter. Blitzer fared little better; he went down from the Heracross slamming into him with the full weight of its body, defiantly gritting his teeth as the Beetle took hold of his horn.

“Enough runnin’, yer comin with us!”

“Blegh, not if I have anything to say- nghr!”

The Heracross pressed the tip of its horn against the back of Blitzer’s neck. “Quiet, Ruby trash.”

“You’ve been a real headache for us, you know that, right?” the Talonflame holding George screeched towards Blitzer. “All this running, and for what? One big waste of everyone’s time.”

“Just tell us, what you want from, from us,” George struggled to say. The talon holding him was pressing him further into the ground, squeezing his lungs in the process. Yet he had to ask, even if it didn’t matter now. ‘What for’ was right, just why where the Soldiers here? They had struck the village like a scythe through a field of wheat. It couldn’t have been much more than an hour ago that Blitzer was asking about his writing. Why did they come here? Just to spread terror? Were they after something?

The lone answer George got was a cackling laugh from the Talonflame.

“Lad, feel free to spill your guts to the interrogator later, okay? I don’t care about what you have to say..”

The wings of the Talonflame conjured up an updraft; George felt his body be lifted up from the ground. A tear crept out of both eyes. It was over. He didn’t even know why, but it was over. Humiliated and unable to speak, listening to the angry yelling of his best friend as the Heracross holding him in place lifted up the ground with heavy chittering of his wings. This was no way to meet the end. No diginity, no grace of any kind, just carried off like prey, as stones started zipping past.

“AAAAH!”

The talon holding George let go all of a sudden, as stones the size of a human fist zipped past like spears. One struck the Talonflame in the wing, snapping the bone with an audible crack. George fell back onto the ground with a thud, the screeching of the Talonflame and the rocks swooshing by ringing in his ears. He felt a cut on his back and a prickling in his chest roughly around the spot of his scalchop as he looked back up in a hurry.

‘What now?!’

The source of the rocks was nowhere in sight. Instead, he saw Blitzer on his knees nursing a blemish on the back of his neck, and the Heracross suspended in mid air for a brief moment. There was a strange energy in the air. A tether of sorts. George didn’t quite understand it, yet felt its presence. It was like seeing the silhouette of someone you knew and loved in the middle of a dark night.

Suddenly, a force flowed through the energy, and the Heracross was sent flying across the lake with a high pitched chittering left in its wake. It fell onto the water, bounced, and skipped along across the water, its body twisting and contorting in ways that seemed far too violent to be natural. The two sat and watched. Stunned was putting it mildly.

“What.. the actual…”

Blitzer’s tail flame crackled up and down. George got up and walked towards him, trying his hardest to ignore the cut on his back.

“Did, did you just see what I saw?!”

“I sure did…” Blitzer groaned in response. George shook his head as his tail started tapping the ground at his feet. Had the world been sucked up into a tornado? A vortex of utter insanity? First the Soldiers marching, then the chase, then Blitzer’s sudden evolution, all the way to this. There’s only one fitting question running through his mind.

“What is even happening?!”

“We’re happenin’, kid.”

George’s ears went up from the sound of a gruff, rough voice. The thud of a large foot crushing into the ground came out of the bushes; Blitzer’s tail spiked with anxiety. They had guests. One was a tall, broad, dinosaurian Pokemon with a steel body, and floating right next to him was a psychic that resembled a green haired woman. Both wore black scarves with silver medallions. George felt a strange wave come over him. As if these were familiar faces he was seeing.

“Fine time to get outta here, don’t ya say?” the dinosaur grunted.

“Who are you?” Blitzer growled; the woman held out a hand.

“There’s no time to explain everything now. We need to get you to safety first.”