“Come on, come oooON!” the Roserade growled, trying her damndest to send the energy ball to its mark. Powerful enough to knock George out for days, it should’ve left her free to deal with the far more threatening Blitzer before he freed himself from her vines.

But the ball wouldn’t go forward. It couldn’t hit George, who still had his hand out. He was breathing in and out, silent to his ears over the sound of his own heartbeat.

‘What is… happening? The sphere… I sense it. I can… control it?’

George gritted his teeth, concentrating on the energy ball with an iron will. The energy reacted violently to his focus, and he could feel its struggle in his own head. The conflict. The confusion. A war within, like hurricanes colliding and ravaging the air they occupied in a frenzy.

‘Go… go…!’

The pressure rose into George’s head. His hand vibrated like the Roserade’s flowers. Both struggled to bend the energy ball to their will. George bit his lip. The beat of his heart thundered in his ears, through his body and into his toes. His fingers twisted forward like they were claws, the pressure rising within. It rose. Rose.

‘For….WARD!’

A blinding flash struck the area as the energy ball exploded, knocking George and the Roserade backwards. He was flung straight against the ground, the earth wreaking havoc on his back. There was no time to waste; he scrambled back to his feet, wincing from the pain.

All the while, Blitzer snapped his way out of the vines tying him down, and roared back into the action as the fire built up in the back of his throat. Without a second thought, he pelted the Roserade, whose flowery defense was no match. She had barely gotten up before fire devoured her, singing leaf and flower alike. Growling, Blitzer went in to finish the job. The Roserade wouldn’t give in, sticking her burnt blue bouquet out and draining his energy. Blitzer backed away, tail flame surging. Mere flames weren’t finishing this.

Fire and ice, however, was a different story. After witnessing Blitzer’s retreat, George immediately pulled on his deepest energies… much like he did when fighting Gareda.

‘Water!… no, this isn’t-’

Ice soared out his mouth and struck the side of the Roserade’s head. She fell sideways with a cry, and away she passed into dreamland. Between the now frozen side of her head, her burnt flowers and various scratches, she’d be out cold for a while. George ran over, and upon seeing the damage for himself, clenched his fist.

‘So that’s how to get ice! I have to press deep into my gut for it, like there’s a horrible pain there.’

He shot a glance towards Blitzer, but the Charmeleon had already come to his side, eyes wider than the space in between clouds.

“Man, talk about winning in a pinch. What in all of Eravate was that, George?!”

George blew the air out of his lungs. “Wish I knew myself! Don’t know what it was, but I did it!”

“You’re right you did it!” Blitzer held his fists beside his head, visualising his mind being blown much like the energy ball. “Man, and I thought you were a goner! Like, gone gone!”

“Was it really that bad?” George asked.

“You were almost fertiliser! What Oshawott stands a chance against a Roserade?!” Blitzer’s teeth softly chattered. “We need to go. Porov and Allora aren’t here.”

The other side of the bridge was deserted, spare for a dust cloud hanging over the spot where the mentors once stood. George and Blitzer ran across, the former looking and sniffing around for threats, the latter doing the same while snatching the Water Stone from the bridge.

Sounds of battle reached their ears as they headed back through the tunnel. George steeled himself for the worst, a feeling strengthened by a growl coming from behind. It was Blitzer’s, he’d heard it before. But Blitzer’s growl was still a growl. A rough, draconic one at that.

Porov’s voice suddenly echoed through the passage. ”GET ‘IM! THE LIL’ TRAITOR!”

Allora’s voice came roaring right after. “POUND HIM INTO DUST! LET HIS ASHES WASH INTO THE ABYSS!” she shouted, in a line eerily similar to a passage from a book George read. A book which wasn’t a pleasant read. There was no time to dwell on this, however. Not when the alternative was risking that Roserade waking back up. They’d be dead.

George pinched himself on the chest as he ran, Blitzer leaping right after.

‘Focus. She must’ve been had.’

Upon emerging from the passage, George and Blitzer were face to face with a Hitmonchan limping away, Desperately shielding itself from an angry mob with a protect barrier. Blitzer unleashed a wave of fire right into him, searing the barrier to pieces. When initially struck by flames, they gasped, realising their mistake before falling over.

The mob, not pacified by the take down, moved in to kick the Hitmonchan while they lay down for the count. “Hey! Stop that! He’s down!” Blitzer shouted. But the mob had other plans, and the kicks kept flying.

“Heeey! You’ll kill him!”

“What he said!” George shouted right after. ‘What else is there to say? Stop already! What’s this all over?’

“HEY! Settle down now!”

It wasn’t until Allora and Porov stepped in that the mob’s bloodthirst subsided. For now. Half the civilians dispersed back into town, the other half stuck around, keeping a close tab on the situation at hand. Venom stirred in their eyes, the kind of venom kings had their worst enemies assassinated with.

“We’ll handle this sorry bag of bones from here.” Allora’s words to the stragglers were accompanied by a stomp of her feet. George folded his arms out of a reflex. “This two faced fool will have a lot to answer for… but we’ll need him to spit out what else’s he’s been yammering on about.”

As the remainder of the mob began to get a move on, George raised an eyebrow. ‘What is she talking about?’ “This is something else, isn’t it, Blitzer.”

The Charmeleon licked his lips. “You could say that. So much for a fun training.”

“A-ah! Yer back!” Porov piped up, his brows shooting fire upon spotting the two at the mouth of the passageway. “Darnit, all this hubbub outta nowhere made me forget, that’s me bad. Ye didn’t catch any o’ this, did ya?”

George shook his head. “We got attacked by a Roserade.”

“R-Roserade?!” Porov slid back on his fists, then shook his head. “Ah for the love of, boys, I’m sorry. Ye shouldn’t have had to deal with any o’ that.”

Allora suddenly came stomping their way. “Shouldn’t have dealt with that? Understatement of the year!” she stressed. “My goodness, are you two alright?” While she spoke, the Hitmonchan groaned in pain.

“Barely,” George said, biting his lip while his ears went flat against his head. “I almost got hit by something real big. According to Blitzer, it would’ve killed me.” ‘Probably would have. I’d rather not think about it.’

“Barely!” Blitzer’s tail swayed back and forth from clear nerves. “Honestly, I don’t even know what it was! I was bound to the ground, then she put her flowers out, I think it was a she at least, and then… she tried killing George! With an energy ball! But George stopped it somehow, I-I don’t know what happened,” he rambled, repeatedly putting his claws together.

“Stopped it?” Allora asked, her eyes shifting away from Blitzer and the Hitmonchan towards George.

“Yeh… stopped it?” Porov eyed George like a detective. George gulped.

‘Why do they think I can explain?’

“Yeah! It stopped in midair. Looked like they were fighting over the attack! It wouldn’t move, and then it just exploded!”

Allora and Porov looked at each other, before Allora shook her head.

“Well, whatever happened, I’d like to take both of you to the medical bay once we get back to base, just in case. A Roserade is no joking matter whatsoever.” The Carracosta shook her head. “We’ll have to take some measures here regardless. One big disaster happened here. That’s why we had to be absent.”

“You mean him?” George pointed at the Hitmonchan, who appeared to be rummaging around their waist.

“Him, the Roserade, and a few others,” Allora replied. “They’re traitors. Snitches.”

“...snitch?” the Hitmonchan suddenly wheezed. “‘Ere’s a real snitch!!”

Allora spun around, only to see the Hitmonchan holding an iron spike in one of their gloves. Porov threw his body weight at him, Allora charged ahead with both flippers glowing, but it was too late. For the iron spike flew forth, and it was headed straight for George’s heart.

‘...!’

Said heart skipping a beat, George shoved his hand out, fingers spread wide, his entire being drawn to the spike as it approached. A whistle rang through his head. Just as Porov tackled, he squeezed all fingers inwards. There was no resistance.

“THERE! NOW STAY PUT!”

“George! Are-”

Blitzer cut himself off. Right before the Oshawott’s chest hovered the iron spike, all the force that went into the throw having faltered. Not even the wind blowing down the mountain budged it. Not even gravity did. From the outside, George’s will had become the master.

George himself didn’t budge. Aside from the nervous jittering of his arm, no limb or tuft of hair dared to move.

‘Don’t… come any closer…’

The Oshawott clenched his teeth, his tail falling to the floor as the shaking in his arm intensified. And once again, there was nothing he could hear except the rhythm of his heart, each beat sounding up close to his ear. And all the while the spike remained where it was, menacingly pointing to his chest, almost daring him to come closer. Closer. Closer.

“Ghk!”

The top of his hand shifted backwards as he choked on his tongue. To his surprise, the spike followed his hand’s motion. Nothing but sky in its path now. George let his arm fall, and his concentration went with it. And just like that, the spike clattered onto the ground. He breathed out in relief.

“My goodness…” Allora uttered as she waddled over, her mouth agape and her flippers spread. “...George, did you know you were psychic sensitive?”

The Oshawott took a step back. “Psychic sensitive?” ‘Don’t tell me that’s a bad thing.’

“Y-yeah! Psychic sensitive!” Blitzer picked the iron spike off the ground, then presented it to the others with both claws. “You stopped it in midair! All that was missing was throwing it somewhere else! I’m sure Terez would’ve done that if she were here!”

“I don’t get it,” said George, then clicked his tongue and repeated. It wasn’t clear enough the first time.

“Grr–grr!”

A loud thwack sounded as Porov delivered a knuckle sandwich to the Hitmonchan. A roasted one. “Stay put, ye! Let actual good folk do the talkin’.”

Whatever stragglers remained were leaning against a wall, chatting among themselves while fiddling around with their black clothes. From the glimpse George got, none one looked comfortable, despite sounding content and well. Given the roughness of the stones they were leaning against, that wasn’t surprising. Not even a rock Pokemon would enjoy that.

‘Why are they standing there at all, is this really that-’ A flipper suddenly tapped George on the side of his head. “Aaah!”

He almost jumped out of his fur. Allora, now kneeling in front of him, and Blitzer standing right next to her, couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hahaha! Georgie, you’re one big box of surprises, you know that, right?”

“That’s why I like to be around him!”

Allora and Blitzer turned to laugh at each other, all while George flopped off his feet, unsure whether to rub his head or rear first.

‘Thanks a lot…’

“Hahahaaaahem, but really now.” Allora pretended to cough. “George, you just discovered your hidden power! You know what that- no, wait, you wouldn’t know what that is, so let me explain, alright?”

George had but a slow nod to give. ‘Why not. Not that no is an option.’

“We Pokemon are all unique in many ways,” Allora began. “Different species, personality, identity, our souls… even our basic elemental prowess is not set in stone. Sure, you and I both know water. But for reasons no one quite understands, some of us have a remarkable affinity for an element they shouldn’t normally have. And when I say some, I mean almost no one.”

“No one? But I just did it,” George said. “Granted, I don’t know how, but there has to be some sort of trick to it.”

Allora shook her head. “If only we knew. No one’s ever cracked the code. We know the concept, and there’s been books written about people who have, but all of them say similar things you do. Either they don’t know, or what they said couldn’t be replicated. In fact, this is so uncommon that many believe it’s pure fiction, nothing more.”

‘As fictional as Pokemon are.’ George thought. Another mystery to add onto the ever growing pile. “Hey, Blitzer, do you know what your uh, ‘hidden power’ is?”

Blitzer’s tail flopped onto the ground. “Not in a hundred years. I know I breathe fire, but never have I ever felt anything else. Or anyone else I’ve ever met. I know Speedy told me some old stories he’s read before, but that’s it. If it wasn’t for that, then yeah, I’d say this whole hidden power business isn’t real.” A smile formed on his snout. “Until you came along, that is.”

“Hmm.” Out of the blue, Allora turned her head towards Porov, who was now sitting on top of the Hitmonchan, twiddling his thumbs around with a dumb look on his face. “Come to think of it, didn’t the other Othersiders discover their hidden powers too?”

“Think so, yeh,” Porov replied, before squeezing one glove with a fist. It made a squeaking sound. George winced.

‘Ugh, come on! Out of all the damned things from home to follow me here, squeaky toy sounds! What’s next, dogs?’ In the corner of his peripheral vision, a Rockruff ran around in search of something. George groaned. ‘...Of course.’

The distractions came to an end when a tall shadow was cast over him all of a sudden; Allora had stood up. “In any case, George, I will have to get into contact with Terez over this. This is a skill I can’t help you with, but she sure can. You’ve seen her for yourself! Only problem is, she’s a busy woman, but she should be able to make time for the Othersider, shouldn’t she?”

“Yeah, she should be,” Blitzer whispered. His tail flame dimmed the second Terez’ name had been said.

“... I guess so,” George replied, biting his lip. A chill went down his spine. “Hey, Allora? I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to get a really bad feeling about this whole ‘hidden power’ business.”

The Carracosta tilted her head. “What makes you say that? There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

On paper, she was right. But all the proof in the world couldn’t override simple feelings sometimes. George’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t know what it is, but all this talk about ‘hidden powers’ and how most Pokemon won’t ever learn about theirs, if they even have them to begin with… there’s something unsettling about it all. First the Crest comes for me, now the Alliance. Do you think it’s related to me being, well.”

Blitzer sent him a knowing nod behind Allora’s back. George idled for a while, not sure of how to respond. The few stragglers listening in weren’t making things easier, either. “That.”

Allora shrugged, then stepped aside. “Maybe, maybe not. In any case, you have nothing to worry about. At the end of the day, you’re yourself, and we want what’s best for you. Sure, we can nudge you in our preferred direction, but hey. We can’t just force you to listen if you don’t want to, can we?”

“...Right,” George said. ‘Not to mention, Artanouk made a big deal about me being a nobody. What’s this ‘hidden power’ nonsense all about then?’

Hearing no more objections, Allora pulled everyone’s attention with a stomp of her feet. “In any case! We can’t stand around here. This is a serious breach of security in this town! We can’t train anyone here like this!”

“...That race was training?” asked George.

“Yeah! It wasn’t actually a race, we just wanted to see how you’d cooperate even when it’s technically not in your favour!” Allora said. “What else do you think those obstacles were for?”

“I knew it! I knew it wasn’t a race!” Blitzer said, tossing the Water Stone between his claws. Allora sighed.

“It’s a shame, because this is a blast every time. Now we have to go and clean house around here. Bring this joker home with us, too.” She pointed a flipper at the Hitmonchan, who was fast asleep by now. Porov was still sitting on top of him.

“Heh. ‘least he can answer ‘bout who they work for.”

“Pretty much. Now then, let’s get going. Before more of them show up.”

Porov guided George and Blitzer back to the teleporter through the stench of that restaurant, while Allora stayed behind to take care of sudden business. The mood among the three wasn’t particularly high. Blitzer seemed jovial enough at first, but that all changed with time. In truth, both were shaken by the experience. So much for a ‘safe haven’ outside.

Once at the base, Porov dismissed the two for the day. Although his specific instruction was to wait, Blitzer and George went straight to the fire habitat, just in time for some bizarre tea party the fire Pokemon liked to participate in. As for hidden powers, neither had much to say at the moment. Even Blitzer didn’t say much more than ‘we have so much to discuss later’ while they were sipping tea. They were still promised their own quarters.

George huffed his way through the tea party, sipping on his vaguely Oran-tasting tea while trying to ignore the irritation of sitting on bare rock. Nothing really seemed right. Why tea, why here, and better yet, why couldn’t they just get some time for themselves for once.

Not long after the ceremony was over, a doctor came to pick him up for a checkup. No choice but to comply. All he did was sigh while he was escorted away.

‘Well, at least the whole surprise wasn’t a lie.’

* * *

Night fell upon Mountainshade. The battle earlier that day had caused damage to several buildings. Damage that couldn’t be fixed in a few hours of daylight; the repairs were postponed to tomorrow.

But in the dark, when all reasonable folks had left the street, one lone Dusknoir appeared. His lone eye took in the damage. Not just in the city, at the training camp as well. The wind picked up speed, stirring chimes at the distant end of the village, as the ghost spoke. His voice echoed down the slope, and into the distance.

‘There is a weakness.’