On the day they set out for Northpoint, leaving Whitepond behind became easier done than said. Blitzer looked back in disbelief. Those short few days had been so much. Between the struggles with his body, his fears on what he had become and what he was capable of, and what the others touched on, there was plenty for the mind to get stuck on, and opportunity for the block to spread.
Enough to forget they’d been at the frontline of a war, even.
Yet on that day, when the blizzards had given way to a few rays of sunshine, moving out was no struggle. Sisu led the way out of town, unsurprisingly, and the accompanying Speedy marched beside her, storing a little electricity in his tail tip. Behind them came the two dragons, both of whom flexed their wings for the journey ahead. They’d walk the first hour, then fly the rest if the weather cooperated.
“Why aren’t we flying straight away, again?” asked Sefonia on the way out, rotating the muscles in her wings. “It’s plenty warm!”
Sisu whipped her head around, her tendrils wavering under gravity. “‘Cause we’re too damn close to danger, yeah? Ain’t no good trying to fly when you’re bein’ attacked. Smaugus could show up. Plus, it’s his first time, remember?”
The Dragonite licked her lips. “...True. That first time’s always special… Hey, Blitzer. How do you feel?”
The Charizard breathed in deep, as if he was about to take a plunge into the sea. “Not the greatest,” he said, claw over the heart. “I’m cold.”
Sefonia scoffed upon hearing that remark. “No, not whether it’s cold, dumbo. You’re about to fly. With your own wings!”
‘Oh.’ Blitzer gulped, glanced over a shoulder to see one wing half-outstretched, then sighed. Part of the limb had a mind of its own, furling and unfurling several times on the way out of town, as if it longed to go airborne. The other half was Blitzer reigning that impulse in. On paper, it was all danger and excitement. But the optimism or even the nerves weren’t there.
‘Thought I’d be excited for this… flying on my own. Being a Charizard. I’m not.’
Trudging through snow which had crystallised into a slushy snow-ice hybrid, Blitzer left Sefonia hanging, his mind too cornered by where to put his feet, and piecing together why he wasn’t happy. Every young boy is excited to grow up, only to grow jaded in the end. Except, Blitzer hadn’t ‘grown up’ at all - that happened on the inside as well as the outside. Instead, he was left blowing out the candles on a birthday cake. His birthday wasn’t coming around anytime soon. And instead of chocolate, he got a mouthful of whipped cream instead.
“Blitzer?”
“Eh?”
“What’s the matter? You’re anxious.”
Sefonia touched Blitzer on the wrist, grabbing hold of it moments later. It hadn’t dawned on him until now that he’d been shaking. “Are you sick?” she asked. “Charizard are supposed to keep warm inside, even when it’s cold out.”
“N-no,” Blitzer answered, meekly attempting to retract his claw. “Just… nervous, I guess?”
The Dragonite nodded. “That’s fine. The first time’s always the most intense. Speaking wholly from experience there, eheh.” As she tittered, she gradually ran her claw up Blitzer’s arm, stopping inches away from his shoulder. “I’ll be there to help you if it goes wrong.”
Blitzer frowned. “But you can’t help me fly. You can’t move my wings for me. I have to figure that out myself.”
Two firm pats on the shoulder later, and the Charizard shut himself up. “Of course not, silly,” said Sefonia with one antenna pitched up. “But I can show you how it’s done. I can watch you, tell you what you’re doing wrong, and what you should do instead. You’ve watched me before, right?”
“...Yes?”
“Then it shouldn’t be a problem if we swapped, right?”
“No?”
“Not even a question! Say yes, and I’ll make you wish you said no!”
The encouragement continued the further out they got. To Blitzer’s surprise, Sisu didn’t intervene, and the goofy winks Speedy fired at him barely passed. That was the Raichu’s regular behaviour when trying to egg someone on. Add a few words, a peep here and there, maybe a spark or two, and it would be fully authentic.
Then again, to the flightless, the subject might as well be magic. Bird business. Or dragon business, in this case. That had a nice ring to it, dragon business. Blitzer sighed at the thought. Sure it sounded funny on the ears, but it involved accepting what he’d been denying. Lizard Blitzer? Gone. Dragon Blitzer? Present and accounted for.
Speaking of dragon business, did Sefonia ever experience the same? He never asked. Blitzer struggled to keep his eyes off her face: Not long after the pats, she went right back to holding his wrist, the stiff wind blowing into their snouts little more than a nuisance.
‘She’s… why is she…?’
Blitzer’s lips curled up. Sefonia was strangely irresistible. Not to look at - Arceus knew he’d have a hard time explaining himself if caught - but just to think about. So strong, yet so sweet to him. Battling was like a game to her. Of course, the story behind her talents was ominous in reality, but…
…she had a strange vibe to her that Blitzer couldn’t scratch the surface of, let alone peel the layers back. He felt calmer around her, as if her presence alone had power behind it. Like the aura one of those crackpot Lucario would talk about, except real.
That power was everywhere. In the way she laughed. In her step. The way her antenna tilted. In Blitzer’s fantasies, as he imagined how they walked beside each other. How their feet, tails, wings and arms were in sync. They weren’t, but the thought didn’t disappear from the mind.
Or heck, worst of all, the way she held his wrist.
‘Sef is… What is this? I don’t want to upset her. I don’t want to ask her and… Ruin the moment? Would it ruin the moment? What moment am I even ruining?’
It took a while for the Charizard to screw his head back on straight. Dumb fantasies aside, he hadn’t got anything to smile about. First time flying? Tension in and of itself. Doing it in the dead end of winter, with the skies a greyish purple, and the snow near reaching up to his ankles? Like trying to smack the reaper in the face. All the above, plus carrying a passenger on his back?
Well, that was just gravy.
Raichu flavoured gravy.
And turns out, there wasn’t any avoiding it. Once hey got far enough out of town, with no company aside from the ambience of snow being swept away, Sisu hopped a full hundred and eighty degrees around.
“Alright!” The Marshadow cheered. “Far enough. We can fly the rest of the way there… As long as he can keep himself in the air for an hour or three. Four?”
Sefonia shrugged. “Don’t know. I haven’t been to Northpoint that often.”
“‘Course not. It’s not like it’s a big burg, is it?” Speedy chittered out a laugh, tapping the tips of his ears with his tail. “Never even heard of a ‘Northpoint’ before I got here. Ain’t that right, Blitzer?”
Blitzer, looking down towards Speedy, gulped. “Nope.” ‘I feel tiny.’
“Alright…” the Dragonite said, stepping ahead of the pack while dipping a digit into her mouth. Moments later, she pulled it out and stuck it up above her, antennae stretching to rise with her arm. A tiny shine from the saliva stood out; all was silent as Sefonia measured the air.
“Wind is… a little stronger than usual, if that. Mostly average for this time of the year, though. Doesn’t seem like we’ll be dealing with any blizzards, if we’re fast enough.”
Blitzer, baffled, raised an eye. “You can tell that by raising your finger?”
Sefonia winked at him. “I’m a professional, remember?”
The Charizard blushed. “Y-yeah, that’s right…” ‘Gosh, s-she doesn’t even need to punch me to have me beat, I swear.’
“‘Aight!” the Marshadow suddenly shouted, hands and horns pointed skywards. “We’re splittin’ up. I’m with Sef. Speedy’s with Blitz. Two dragons, two passengers. Deal?”
“Deal!” Sefonia shouted, with Speedy not far behind, albeit with a far more sheepish smile.
“Man, I get to be on that boy’s first flight? Talk about getting old, heh.”
“W-wait a second!” Blitzer cut in. “I-I have to c-carry someone already? But I haven’t even flown yet! Ever! What if it goes bad?”
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“That’s what I’m there for!” Sefonia said. “I’ll help!”
“Yup!” Speedy added. “And if she doesn’t? Well, take it easy, we both had a pretty good run, and we aren’t dying all by ourselves, no?” He patted Blitzer on the leg afterwards. The dragon’s upper teeth stuck out of his jaws right after.
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence…’
After some troubles with getting Speedy on his back, which Sisu had to hop off Sefonia to help out with, the two were ready. Speedy had flung his little feet around the base of Blitzer’s neck - for a moment, the Raichu resembled a scarf, just with a little more weight and a bit too much warmth. Blitzer grimaced as they walked up a hill, searching for a spot to take off from.
‘At least he’s not sitting on my tail… thought he was going to, the way he kept standing there.’
Following the expert’s advice, Blitzer positioned himself next to Sefonia on the edge. The drop was steep, and the snow below didn’t look particularly thick. Broken bones awaited down there; if not for him, then for someone else.
“Alright Blitz. I’m going to do a countdown. Remember what I said; focus on getting the wind in your wings, then flap real good! You’ll whip up an updraft that way. After that, keep focusing on the wind. Let your wings do the work for you!”
“Right, right.” Blitzer gulped. ‘Don’t act like it’s so simple!... I mean, for you it is, but…’
“On our marks!” ‘Oh. W-we’re starting already?’
“One!” ‘Crap, crap! My wings!’
“Two!” ‘Is Speedy sitting tight?! He-’
“THREE!”
With the force of a hurricane, Sefonia leapt skywards from her knees, her wings catching air in no time. One could hear a softening “Woohoo!” coming from her. Blitzer, on the other hand, was left panicking.
“Wait, WAAIT!”
“Blitzer, you-”
For a Charizard, he certainly resembled a hopping Breloom when taking flight. Instead of going skywards, he went sidewards. Off the cliff. Towards broken bones. His heart skipped a beat, before the wind struck him straight in the face. It was all he focused on, even past the gravity taking his life.
And then, the wind picked up. As if a tornado manifested inside his wings, one steady beat made him rise skywards. And with a second, up went his speed.
“Blitzer! Look!”
It wasn’t until now that Blitzer realised his eyes had been closed. Speedy somehow managed to figure that out, as if he had a sixth sense. The Raichu’s legs flopped around. Blitzer opened his eyes.
A gust of fresh air hit him head on, revealing a land covered in a white shroud below. The surface of Eravate became evermore distant with each beat of his wing. The ascent was all his doing, no assistance, no training. Only a dragon doing what a dragon does, as a book might say, or as the common saying would go.
‘Wow, I’m really doing this, huh? That wasn’t difficult!’
First time using your own wings, versus the first time in the air. Either way, you were in the air, and the initial amazement only lasted for so long. A few minutes passed before Blitzer’s excitement had dulled. It was just flying, at the end of the day. You’d have to land eventually.
‘Well, this is fun, I guess. But it’s… not as special anymore? I could do this again tomorrow, if I wanted. Carrying someone around is pretty fun though.’
Comfort wise, Speedy did fine for an old Raichu on his first flight. Gave a few cries of excitement that didn’t sound very sincere, even let go of Blitzer’s neck a few times. The overall picture painted was a plain one, however. His comments on flying were surface level, the kind you could just as easily make from the ground as in the air.
That didn’t concern Blitzer, though. Why should it? What mattered is that he sat perfectly well, and wasn’t tumbling back to the frozen wastes.
‘Speedy’s a bigger natural at this than I am! It’s like he’s done it before.’
And so the flight soared on, with Blitzer tailing Sefonia on their way north. The journey had the occasional vista: A mountain, a lake with a lone island in the center, a sleeping village, and so on. Though some sights invited the dragons to come in for a landing, they persisted. Slacking off now when life banged on the front door was as foolish a decision as they came.
Blitzer frowned. ‘It’s not that pretty, is it?’
Two hours passed before the northern reaches of Eravate gave way to something special. Sefonia had followed a thin road, one which rarely forked, and ran through and past several settlements. Nothing larger than subsistence level… until the road widened out of nowhere. A hill halfway to becoming a mountain rose on the horizon.
“Almost there! Get ready to land!” the Dragonite shouted at the top of her lungs; her voice may be powerful, but the wind made the mightiest resemble ants. Blitzer hesitated for a moment, trying to discern her words from context.
“How do you land?”
“Simple!...”
An innocent question lost to the wind, and an answer long forgotten. Blitzer’s nose picked up scents left and right, but he may as well have gone deaf. Just a handful of words made it to his ears now.
“Can you repeat?”
“...”
“Can. You. Repeat!”
Raising his voice didn’t do much, and Sefonia looked rather agitated. Sisu on her back might as well have been on vacation, with how lackadaisical she held her hands behind her head. Speedy?
“Do you hear what she’s saying?”
“Wish I did, lad. No luck.”
Blitzer gritted his teeth. The hill on the horizon rapidly turned into a city, one which covered half of the hill, and a large chunk of the surrounding plains. Down below, buildings sat close together, like rockling families huddling up together. A layer of snow covered each, smoke rising from the many chimneys sticking out from homes and businesses alike.
The closer they got, the greater the complexity of the cityscape became. The outer perimeter was a frozen moat, with bunkers and outposts keeping watch, the green banner of the Crest flying proud in the face of the purple sky. Inside, rivers, ponds and clusters of trees ran between building clusters, whereas any other city would’ve long tamed their countryside by now. Agate, Rustborough, Luminity, none were quite so wild.
Stranger still, commerce flowed freely in and out of the city: Pokemon hunting and foraging, bringing the bounty of the land past the moat. War hadn’t stopped that basic aspect of life. Everything in Eravate had gone to hell, yet Northpoint city remained. The question of how long it would last was best left unanswered.
Further inside, a second moat and palisade protected the urban core. No wilderness to be seen here; rather, a city shaped out of rock and metal sat in the landscape. Markets, workshops, restaurants and homes, as well as religious temples. At the centre of it all sat a cathedral, its spire pointing up at the heavens. This part of the city included a port on the far side, and the hill to the east - roads ran up the hill, where homes had been carved inside. The streets weren’t any wider than those below. Blitzer gulped.
‘Talk about claustrophobic…’
Alas for him, the time had come to land, just outside of the core. A small runway sat not too far from the main gate, and Sefonia swooped for it. Blitzer, not knowing what to do himself, followed.
Sefonia came to a running stop, ending in a pose that screamed ‘ta-daaa!’. Blitzer came to a stumbling stop, ending with a belly flop that grumbled ‘ow….’
“Ow…”
Blitzer felt a weight come off his back. He’d crash landed, but he’d landed. First thing he saw upon opening his eyes were a pair of grey, rodent-like feet. Then two clawed feet.
“Are both of you alright?”
“Me? Not a scratch,” Speedy said, patting himself down. “Not the best landing though, I’ll say that much. Speaking of which, you okay, Blitzer?”
The Charizard in question lifted his head a few centimetres. “As okay as I can be,” he groaned. ‘Like someone paddled me with a big slat of wood…’
Fortunately, Sefonia offered him a claw, which he was all too grateful to accept. “That was pretty good for the first time! It’s just taking off and landing that’s the difficult part, but that’s normal!”
Blitzer stuck his tongue into his cheek. ‘You don’t say.’
Whether licking their wounds, or wiping the snow off, it didn’t take long for them to get moving deeper into town. Sisu had already been chatting with the local green scarves; though Blitzer didn’t get much from their conversation, the weariness on their faces stood out. One was an Ursaring, the other a Vileplume. The weather didn’t seem like the culprit. The mood was far too sombre for even that.
‘How long have they been standing out here?’
“Oi, time to get a move on!” Sisu yelled “They’ve been waitin’ for us!” .
Heads tilted in response. “Waitin’ for us? Who?” Speedy asked. “We’re not that big of a deal, are we?”
“Me? I got biig stuff to discuss. You guys too, and-” Sisu cut herself off, then shook her head as if to untangle her tendrils. “Actually, why the heck am I talking ‘bout this? You’ll see in like, two seconds tops.”
Sefonia clicked her tongue. “That… doesn’t fill me with confidence,” she said, the vapours around her legs flickering.
Ready or not, their options were limited. Either they could follow the two green scarves into the city, or they could shut themselves out in the cold. The former was chosen. They passed by the wall, tall and wide enough to keep the wingless out. The green scarves eyed Sefonia with suspicion, several brandishing their weapons or sharpening their claws as she passed. She shirked away after passing through; Blitzer felt a knot inside his stomach grow.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m doing my best.”
“I don’t like how they’re looking at you. Like you’re a criminal.”
“Well, I look like the enemy, don’t I?” The Dragonite pointed a digit at her shadowy feet. “You can’t argue with them. But that doesn’t help me, does it?”
Blitzer sighed. “Yeah,” he said, trying to keep his growls behind lock and key. Sefonia didn’t just look like the enemy, she was their enemy… until a few short days ago.
Ursaring and Vileplume split off not to deep into the city. The former took Sisu along with her, and made a beeline to the cathedral in the centre. The latter, on the other hand, charted a course through the city, whose many streets were a mixture of dirt and cobble. Whichever one you were most comfortable walking on. Most chose dirt, few chose cobble, and the majority chose to stay in doors. You didn’t willingly go out in cold temperatures, after all.
Wandering under torchlight, Blitzer felt the cold break through his scales. Surely, they’d be inside soon, and the road to recovery could start. Alas, what’s normal for a dragon didn’t apply to him, and Vileplume bumbled from street to alley, light and dark, as if she’d forgotten the city’s layout. Speedy asked a few times where they were going, but didn’t receive an answer.
Eventually though, they did reach a stop. And for reasons Blitzer was utterly mystified by, they found themselves at the backdoor of the cathedral. Exactly where Sisu had been escorted to.
“Uh…”
“Inside. Go.”
“You heard her. Inside we go.”
Passionless for the job, Vileplume pushed Blitzer’s legs; he was the last to take the hint. All sorts of questions rushed through his mind, from the city to the Crest’s plans for them. Trusting a green scarf? He struggled to believe it himself. They’d ruined his life first of all. Anger rose as he thought back to Greenfield; he had yet to see his parents since.
Nevertheless, he had to keep himself under control. One toe out of line, and he was a dead ‘mon walking. Thus he sighed as Vileplume pushed him in, shutting the door behind. Blitzer blinked as the door slammed, keeping his tail close.
‘She almost closed it on my tail. Thanks a lot, greenie.’
Inside, the lighting was dim. Candles lit the scene, the air reeking of wax and dusty cobbles. Blitzer’s tailflame cast the most light, blocked only by himself and his companions. His stomach had yet to untwist itself; he kept his wings half open.
“Hello? Anybody there?”
“Of course there is,” Speedy chuckled. “Does this look like a prison to you? Just got to wait for a moment- ack!”
The Raichu got a firm tap in the rear from a Dragonite’s foot. “Hello? You might feel comfy here, but we sure don’t. Do you know what’s going to happen?”
Speedy gritted his teeth. “Nope? But-”
“Then don’t act all smart with us,” Sefonia said, blowing hot air out of her nostrils.The way she looked innocent one moment, then became hard to mess with the next…
Blitzer pinched himself in the stomach. ‘Don’t make this anymore awkward, Blitzer. Please’
As embarrassing as appearances could be, they were far from the only trouble on the horizon. Flapping in from a corridor to the side came their guide: A Toucannon bearing a crown of leaves landed before them, bowing his head slightly.
“Greetings. We’ve been expecting you for a while.”
Blitzer gulped, taking a step behind Sefonia. ‘Why do I feel like I’ve seen him before…?’
“Hah! Pray do tell, who are you?” Speedy asked, rubbing two of his digits together. Whether he charged up static just in case, or it was forces of habit speaking, Blitzer could only guess. The Toucannon paid it no heed.
“My full name isn’t important. Call me Vli, that is preferred.”
“Why, you don’t like giving out your name?”
The Toucannon loudly cleared his throat; it sounded as if something clicked into place. “I said, Vli is preferred. Don’t loiter around on the Creator’s holy ground. It’s disrespectful to Him.”
Speedy raised his paws. “No offence intended. Pray, what do you have in store for us?”
Another bow came from the Toucannon, who this time put his wings into it. “Temporary accommodation, having a good talk, as well as a cure, among other things. For one, the Dragonite is Corrupted. Not wholly, but it’s not preferred, no?”
Said Dragonite crossed her arms. “Believe me, I did NOT want this myself.”
“Indeed,” Vli said, shaking his bill. “I… must say I’m sorry. You sound young. Far too young to have to go through this mess. I wish we hadn’t failed you.”
“Who is ‘we’?” Sefonia asked.
“We’ve been fighting those responsible for years now,” Vli continued. “The Alliance, the cult, you must have heard of them. They’re the guilty party. But we didn’t fight back hard enough. Look at Eravate now,” he said, sighing. “Come, let’s go. We have a lot to see today.”
“Wait!” Blitzer said. “What about-”
“Not now. The questions come later,” the Toucannon stated, his voice firm and uncompromising.
The Charizard frowned. ‘So much for an introduction, I guess…’
And so much for getting information at his own pace. In this city, Blitzer was yet another puppet on a string. As was Sefonia, for that matter. Speedy probably knew a thing or two; Blitzer just never thought to ask the Raichu before. Not in Whitepond, and not during the flight, either.
Alas, trouble had a habit of popping up in unfamiliar territory. Just as Vli’s tour began, a whistle sounded behind their backs. Blitzer spun around, only to lock eyes with an armoured Lopunny.
“Apologies. You are Blitzer, yes? Lord Dritch wants to see you. Immediately.”