‘Talk about having space for once!’

For the first time in a long while, George smiled upon being surprised. At long last, the quarters for himself and Blitzer were finished. Like a sunny day after nights of storms; instead of damp rocks, the walls were wooden and smooth enough for one’s fingers to glide right over. There was actual light in the form of two lanterns, which turned on and off with a switch: A little flame appeared in each, covering each other’s shadows nicely.

And most important of all, there was actual space! No longer crammed like sardines in a tin, they had room to sleep, prepare meals, store things, and more. They had their own water supply, too, in the form of a pond on George’s side.

“Look at this, George! We both get half the room!” Blitzer hopped right from the entrance to his side. The wood here was painted orange, and adorned with red strokes of fire painted on by hand. He dropped right on a thick linen blanket, which didn't catch fire from his tail flame.

“Hahaah! Now this is what I call comfortable!” Blitzer laid on his back with his claws on the back of his head. “Yeah… no more bits of hay sticking to my scales, blegh!”

George waddled to his side of the room. The wood here was light blue, with darker droplets painted on by hand. “Took the words right out of my mouth. Always takes like ten minutes to get everything out,” he said, sitting on his own bed: A pile of blue blankets and a pillow, smooth like the finest silk in the land, woven by the finest artisans in the land…

…well, so his thoughts went as he messed his hands through the blankets. No more prickling like what happened with all the hay beds before. Being treated like a king after years of being spat on by peasants was something to enjoy.

Of course, it wasn’t as if the blankets or pleasant smelling room came from the kindness of someone’s heart. They had duties to fulfil now, as a certain Gardevoir poking her head into the room would confirm.

“Well then, boys, how do you like your new room? We spent a remarkable amount of weeks getting the walls ready, you know.”

Terez chuckled. Blitzer and George both caught the chuckles as well, as if it was the common cold she was spreading.

“Oh, it’s the best! I don’t have to keep my arms on board just to be able to sleep this time!” Blitzer said, flailing his limbs back and forth like he was making snow angels. “I don’t know why, but you gave me more space than I know what to do with! What’s all that for? Look, my arms don’t even reach halfway!”

His remark made Terez crack up like crazy as she entered the room herself. She looked over at the Charmeleon still trying to spread himself out over the entire bed, then shook her head at George, her hair whipping back and forth.

“Well then, Othersider, do you want to tell him, or should I do it?”

George’s ears went flat for a moment, then jumped right back up as he cracked up much like Terez did. Of course. Charmeleon. Bed too big, and not even as bad as George’s was.

‘Of all the things for him not to get.’ George grinned. “Nah, you tell him.”

“Oh, gladly.” Terez turned back to Blitzer, who now sat up chittering. “Let’s try to put two and two together, shall we Blitzer? Why would we give a Charmeleon a bed that doesn’t fit their body well? The same reason you’d provide an Oshawott with an even bigger bed and a weapon rack.”

Blitzer chittered. “Uh- Wait a minute…”

Suddenly, his face lit up.

“AAAAH! Because it has to fit Charizard me one day!!”

All three laughed, George and Terez hardest of all, while Blitzer’s laugh was akin to a squee. At the rate they were going, the contagion would be epidemic in no time.

“And here I was thinking you’d get that before either of us!” George laughed.

“I-I know!!” Blitzer’s eyes were sparkling, much like the sea under the summer sun. His body shook, his mouth hung open, and to say he struggled to control his limbs was an understatement, given how much they were jittering for joy. One little reminder, and his fantasies ran wild.

“Haaah, oooh come on now. You weren’t expecting us to leave you hanging on this, were you? Especially after you talked my ears off on the way to the base.”

“I’m gonna be a Charizard… I’m gonna be a Charizard…” Blitzer was rocking back and forth on his blanket, tears streaming down his eyes. “I’m gonna be the most heroic Charizard in the world!”

“Keep your daydreams to yourself!” George called. He had to pinch himself to keep a straight face.

Terez raised her hand. “Alright. You've had more than enough time to see your room for yourselves. We have training to get to.”

“Aw, really?” George said, his brow partially furrowed.

“But-”

“Plenty of time later to inspect every nook and cranny,” Terez said, shutting both of them down. She waved her finger back and forth while she looked them over, a blue glow in her eyes. Sure enough, both struggled to open their mouths now. ”When duty calls, you would be very foolish to neglect it. Now then, come.”

George’s tongue poked out of his mouth the moment Terez let it go. ‘Man, does she really have to do that? I can shut up just fine.’

After a while spent dragging Blitzer off his bed and out of his bliss, they were off. Their private quarters were quite a way down the corridor: Past the fire habitat came the flying and fairy habitats, before finally reaching the private quarters. All high ranking black scarves had their own quarters, Terez and Skal included. They preferred to keep theirs a secret, though.

And so, off they went past the moonlit halls of the fairy habitat, and the wind tunnels that made up the flying habitat, back to their training site.

‘Here goes nothing as usual. Don’t even need to tell myself that, training’s always doable.’

* * *

“...and CATCH!”

A rock the size of a coconut came flying George’s way. The Oshawott threw his hand forward, his eyes taking on a blue glow. The rock bent to his will, stopping in mid-air over a lilypad, some two seconds removed from George’s forehead.

“Haha! That’s my Georgie!”

“Clever. Dodge this.”

Not to be outdone, shadows gathered on George’s left, forming a ball of darkness. Terez directed it George’s way with a single finger, and it came thundering his way with shrill echoes as it zigzagged back and forth on Terez’ whim.

George bit his lip, the left side of his head still splattered with black splotches from half an hour earlier. He couldn’t let go of the rock. He’d been instructed not to. Yet stopping two attacks simultaneously was a bridge too far. One had to fall if the other was to cease.

‘Think out of the box, think out of the box-’

The Oshawott sucked in a breath as the shadow ball approached. As if conducting an orchestra, he directed the rock leftwards with a wave of his hand, flinging it in the path of the shadow ball. But Terez was swift, and her attacks swifter. The rock didn’t make it on time, smashing into the shadows and shattering both into pieces. George was pelted by shadowy debris.

“Nngh!”

“Halt!”

As George scratched his itchy fur, Terez came levitating down from her spot at the top of a giant rock tower, which collapsed back into the floor at a much faster rate, thanks to Allora being busy.

“Impressive, George. Turning the enemy’s attacks back on them is a clever skill for a psychic to have. You’ve learned much this session.”

George fell flat on his backside, puffing from exhaustion. “Sure hope so, that was painful.”

“I am not one to lie, George,” Terez said.

“Yeah, she’s right! You should’ve seen yourself fight there!” Allora came waddling over, pouring water from her jaws and onto her flippers. “You were incredible there, Georgie!”

The Oshawott worked to peel the shadows off, as annoying a process as that was. It went about as well as combing long hair that hadn’t been washed in a month. “Dunno. Guess swinging the scalchop went pretty well, and by that I mean I can actually swing the thing around now letting it slip. Oh, and the psychic lessons went okay too.” ‘Something like that.’

Allora chuckled as she shook her head at him, her flippers hanging like she was asking for a hug.

“C’mon now, give yourself credit where it’s due! You talk about this stuff like it ain’t impressive, but you know better than that! You didn’t know the first thing about scalchops when you walked in here, and now you’re slashing through wood that’s thicker than you like it’s no problem!”

Allora now gestured a slicing motion with her flipper. Except it wasn’t the kind of slicing you’d cut up vegetables in the kitchen with. This was far too brutal for that. Allora didn’t seem to notice it, however.

“And then it gets even worse, you think Hidden Powers aren’t a big deal! But c’mon, no other Oshawott on the earth knows how to stop my rocks in midair like that! Most psychics don’t even know! Just ask Terez all about it, hahaha!”

Terez scoffed, and brushed Allora’s remark off her shoulder. Literally.

“Oh, I beg to differ,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “But that is beside the point. Let’s not turn this into a bragging game, shall we? George, you are learning remarkably well. There’s no harm in admitting that.”

George got up and waddled in circles, his tail and ears swaying back and forth. “That’s still nowhere near what either of you two can pull off.”

Terez raised an eye. “So?”

“Not really a big surprise that I’m improving so much at the beginning, is it. This is elementary stuff you’re teaching me,” George said, much to the bafflement of Allora. “That’s what my teachers always told me. If you ain’t a hero, you’re nothing but a zero.”

“But that’s terrible, George!” said Allora, stomping her way to the Oshawott, crushing some of the rocks she’d thrown earlier under her feet. They crumbled like rotten leaves. “You shouldn’t ever say that!”

“He’ll change his mind on that eventually, don’t worry,” Terez said. “Once he sees for himself what he is capable of, even the foolhardiest delusions will falter.”

George bit his lip. ‘In English now, please. Or proper Pokemon language… what was it called again, Eravatean?’

“Let us get a move on, shall we? The day is not over yet.”

Terez and Allora didn’t provide George with much of a breather before they dragged him along to whatever else they had in store for them. On the way out, two Ludicolo came out to sweep up the mess they had left behind in the arena.

* * *

“Fire!”

“Hyah!”

“Fire!”

“Hyaah!”

“FIRE FIRE FIRE!!!”

“HYAAAAAAAH!!!”

The sounds of shattering stone reverberated through the air of the fire habitat’s main arena as George and his mentors walked in. Broken stone slabs littered the rocky ground, some with large burn marks on them in shapes a Charmeleon was capable of. And sure enough, in a far off corner of the Arena, Blitzer was smashing his way through stones with flaming fists and claws, all under the watchful eyes of Porov and Skal.

Terez raised her hand and directed all attention her way. “Are you finished?”

“Just about ready to finish, hah!” Skal chuckled. “Blitzer, yer one tough kid!”

“Heck yeah!” Blitzer pumped his fist, then he breathed out in relief before falling onto his back, his tail beating up and down as an inferno raged on the tip of it. Porov was at his side moments later, putting a hand against the side of his head.

“Blitzer me boy, yer stroong! Yer fellow Chars would respect ya!”

“Thanks, Porov… phew.” Blitzer was pulled back to his feet. “I’ll be honest, my claws are sore, my throat is sore, yet I feel GREAT! I wanna rip a Gyarados to PIECES!”

“Hahaaah! That’s the spirit!” Skal swayed his tail around wildly. “But eh, we got-”

“More left on the schedule,” Terez said. “There is something we wanted to show you two today, other than your private quarters.

Blitzer raised an eye. ”What is it?” he asked, tail tip twitching out of curiosity.

George clicked his tongue. “Yeah, what is it?” ‘It’s not like that’s been kept a secret as well for god knows whatever reason.’

“Well, ye kids always wanna be together, right? ‘S always a struggle seperatin’ the two of ye every mornin’! So since ye wanna work together, we gotta prepare ye for that!” Skal explained with a pump of his arm. “Am I right, or am I right?”

Blitzer punched the palm of his claw, much like Porov would. The Darmanitan grinned in approval.

“Darn straight! Flat out, I can’t be anywhere near as effective without George at my side, and neither can he be without me. We’d be lost!”

“Well, then ye gotta come with us for this next bit!” Skal replied.

“I haven’t seen much of Blizzie before, this’ll be great!” Allora said.

“Neither have I of me boy George!” Porov added.

“Well then,” said Terez. “Enough hanging around here, let us get a move on.”

“Wait a-”

The other five were already on the move out of the fire habitat within the blink of an eye, leaving George standing there amidst broken stones and smoky air with his finger raised. With a sigh, he followed, dragging his tail over the floor. Blitzer was kind enough to not leave him stranded, and it wasn’t long before the two were at each other’s side, passing the twin braziers at the entrance of the arena.

On their way to Arceus knows where, Blitzer went on a tangent of rambling. Excitement for what’s ahead, training together, going out in the world together like he always wanted to, all the things he’s told George of many times before. George nodded along, and didn’t bring up anything himself. He wasn’t quite as optimistic about any of this. It all seemed way too fishy again, with how secretive the mentors were keeping everything.

‘Great. Here we go again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get jumped again on our way there. Then again, I get where they’re coming from. You’re way more prepared to face anything if you can do it with your life on the line.’

The Oshawott bit his lip, then pinched himself in the chest. ‘What on earth are you saying now, George? You’re just shy of fourteen, you shouldn’t be thinking like that!... then again, I shouldn’t be an Oshawott either, but that’s just denying my life at this point.’

One bit of his cheek and many nods later, George hid his worries. He’d have his answer soon enough.

* * *

One teleporter later, George and Blitzer found themselves in a different underground complex elsewhere in Drasal. At first it resembled a bunker. But it ended up looking like someone’s basement instead. A basement no one had bothered to keep clean for the last ten years. Or even stepped in. Or even remembered existed.

Downstairs from the teleporter, the bunker was a hot mess of vines, which seemed to have infested every last inch of brickwork. It was a struggle getting over this mess without tripping. The actual ground was barely visible underneath all the various greens getting in the way, like algae dirtying a pond up.

“Well, here you go,” Terez said. “Remember what we told you. Find the four electric gems, and get back here. That’s it!”

George furrowed his brown. “Really? This is the great training you promised?”

Allora chuckled. “You’d be surprised about the skills you develop doing this, you know. I had to do it myself too!”

“An’ me too!” said Porov.

“Heh, kiddos. It ain’t nice down here at all, but lemme tell ya, it taught me a thing or two about doin’ crap in awful terrain!” Skal grumbled, one hand on the door. “Good luck!”

“But wait! It’s dark in here! And the air is cramped!” Blitzer shouted as the door began to budge.

“Good luck.”

And with a bang, the door was shut, leaving the two stranded on the other side. George kicked the vines at his feet. What little of them could be seen, anyhow: If it wasn’t for Blitzer’s tail, you’d be hard pressed to find your own hands in the room, let alone the vines. Let alone the ge

“You know what? Maybe we shouldn’t agree to these awful secrets anymore. Every single time it’s like getting pie’d!”

Blitzer sighed. “Sorry George. I was expecting more, too.”

An irate George clenched his fists. “Blegh… not your fault they can’t be honest with us for once! Why didn’t I say something earlier, would’ve saved us the hassle! Blah!”

“They wouldn’t have let us dodge this even then, I think.” Blitzer grabbed his tail and shone it in front of himself like a torch. “You know how they are.”

“I know. Would’ve been nice to prepare myself, though.” George’s ears twitched erratically. “Right, find four electric gems, then get back… hey, do those glow in the dark? Because that would make this ten times easier.”

“Yeah, they do,” Blitzer said, a red hot glow coming from the back of his throat. “Hold on a sec…”

The Charmeleon breathed fire. Nearby vines went ablaze, sissling and snapping under the pressure of the heat. Blitzer’s flames dazzled George and himself more than ever, but the actual damage dealt was limited. Very limited. Once the fire had stopped, the vines all returned to their original state, shrugging off the heat and soot like it was nothing.

Blitzer’s mouth hung half open.

“Uh… what?” He grabbed a vine and tried clawing through. “Why aren’t my flames working?”

George blew air through his nose as he pulled on his cheek, his tail slapping against the ground out of frustration.

“Great. So we have to pull this crap apart manually.” He drew ice out of his stomach and tried breaking the vines that way. No dice. “Ugh!”

“I guess we can’t win at everything,” Blitzer chirped. He seemed uncomfortable in his own scales as he spat a loogie at a candle on the wall. Unlike the vines, it actually turned on, much to his relief. “Phew… at least I can still keep things bright.”

“That’s like finding a bandaid after scabbing your knee.” George lifted up a vine. “Guess it’s something.”

“You say that like bandaids aren’t rare,” Blitzer replied, followed by another chirp and a tug on his scarf.

Blitzer brightened up the bunker. It had the shape of a window, a cross shape connecting the rectangular sides directly to one another, and it wasn’t that big. One lap took about a minute. Yet vines cluttered up all over. Ten minutes went by without anything turning up. Except specks of dust. What an achievement. Twenty minutes later, still nothing. It wasn’t until thirty minutes that George yelled ‘ow’. He’d reached under a vine with his hand, and ended up touching a gem.

“Ugh, finally… Alright. Put any you find near the entrance, saves us the trouble later.”

Blitzer hissed a little upon seeing the gem in George’s hand. “I thought I had looked under there.”

George raised an eyebrow. “You sure?”

“No. Everything looks the same. Except the door and this hole on the exact opposite side, it’s all vines. And bricks too. Can’t forget about the bricks,” Blitzer said. George gave him a dull stare.

“Yeah. The bricks. Like we’d ever forget about those after we’re done here.”

“You think we’re almost out of here?”

“No. We only have one gem, remember?”

George’s reply came instinctively. The voice he was talking with sounded like Blitzer’s, and given that the Charmeleon ran all over the place while conducting his search, how distant the voice sounded didn’t matter.

Except, Blitzer hadn’t ran off somewhere. He’d been right next to George the entire time.

“Uh, who are you talking to?”

“Err, you? Wait a minute-”

“I hear someone!”

“Damnit, black scarves! What the hell do we-”

“Kill them! Before they raise the alarm!”

Kill. With a gasp, George and Blitzer’s head turned towards the other end of the bunker. A fiery blast surged forth from the gap in the wall with the fury of a volcano. On instinct, George lashed out with a hand, his eyes instantly glowing blue. An explosion roared through the bunker. George jumped for cover, as Blitzer had already done.

“Quick, here!“