It wasn’t until late afternoon that Blitzer and George returned to Greenfield. The road back hadn’t been without holdups, but they managed. Bugs weren’t that threatening at the end of the day. A few bites here and there, a sting or two, but nothing major. The hardest part was finding an excuse for coming home all scratched up, just like yesterday.

“Ah, home at last!” Blitzer put his claws on the back of his head, before throwing his mouth open in a yawn. “All that exploring sure made me tired.”

“It sure has.” George stared down the plain separating them from the village, fidgeting with his fingers all the while. “Are you sure your parents won’t get mad at us? They did tell us to not get into trouble. Which we did.”

Blitzer shook his head. “Of course not. They’re used to me going into the woods by now! It’s not my fault there’s not much to do in the village, is it? There’s only so many kids my age! And no one else wants to go exploring with me!”

George bit his lip. ‘Probably because they haven’t lost their minds yet…’ “I’d like to meet them, actually,” he said in a muted tone.

“Oh, we can go and look for them right now, if you want to. If you’re not too tired, I mean!”

“I didn’t mean right away,” George replied with a roll of his eyes. ‘Especially when I’m covered in scratches!’

Blitzer chuckled. “Haha, no worries. I’m beat too! And that’s proof we did a good job! We’ve both gotten stronger, haven’t we? You especially! I mean, you had even less knowledge of your own body than a baby yesterday, and look at you now, George!”

The Oshawott’s eyes shifted left and right, so he didn’t have to look Blitzer in the eye. There’s being optimistic, and then there’s fantasy. George didn’t feel stronger in the slightest. Sure, it was only a day ago that he was running for his life from a Shroomish of all things, but nothing he faced would’ve been a problem the day before that.

“I’m not sure a few bugs mean anything, Blitzer.”

The Charmander threw his claws up. “Oh, don’t be such a downer! Everyone has to start somewhere. Do you know how often my parents remind me of the first time I tried sneaking out of the village, and how I came back screaming over some Starly? That was when I was just a little kid. But I got older, and I sure got stronger! No Starly is getting in my way now!”

Blitzer posed as if he were a mighty hero, with both his fists pressed into his sides. George clicked his tongue.

‘You’re still a kid, genius.’ “But it’s only birds and bugs. That’s not a high bar to clear, is it? Aren’t there Pokemon capable of breaking mountains and causing floods? I know we’re both getting stronger eventually once we’re old enough, but it’s hard to believe when I struggle to knock a spider off me.”

A wind emerged from the woods behind. Like before, Blitzer nudged George in his back to get him to walk. Were it not for the grass brushing against his tail, he wouldn’t have noticed.

“Look, I don’t know how strong humans are, but I know how strong I am,” Blitzer explained. “And I also know it’s only going to get better from here. One day, I’ll melt boulders and fly! Compared to that, what am I? Not much. Let’s not whine about how hard everything is now, okay? We’re today’s rookies, and tomorrow’s heroes!” He threw a hand up in the air, all while his tail flared with excitement. “That’s who we are, and no one will convince me otherwise!”

George nodded. ‘Well I sure hope you’re right,’ he thought to himself, harkening back to the fantasy of being a mighty warrior, a Seamitar in each claw. Blitzer spoke of it as inevitable, no matter which way you sliced it. One day, that fantasy would become reality. But that day was far off. A long way down a road full of trials and tribulations.

A growl put the fantasies to rest. George’s stomach wasn’t interested in hearing anymore, apparently. “All that worrying is making me hungry. Do you think your parents are preparing something right now?”

Blitzer looked towards the sun, then shook his head, eyes struggling to stay open. “No, it’s too early for that, it looks like. But heroes should always be well fed! We’ll make it ourselves if we need to!” he shouted. His stomach then released a bellow of its own. “Although, I’m really craving mom’s cooking right now… no, no problem! All food is good!”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” said George, clenching his fists. “I’m starving, and we deserve something after all that!” ‘Even though it was the kind of trip the Headmistress wouldn’t consider too far away. …I shouldn’t think like this anymore.’ “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I’ll reward myself if I have to!”

“Yeah! That’s the spirit!” Blitzer cheered. “Fooood!”

With blazing speed, they ran across the field, speedy and energetic despite them running on empty. Human or Pokemon, moods sure change fast once food gets involved. In that sense, the transition between worlds wasn’t so radical. Blitzer was eager to fill his belly, and George wasn’t any different. Not least of which because he actually ate well here.

But the bliss wouldn’t last. Upon reaching Greenfield, they were greeted by a deserted street, commotion coming from across the stream. Multiple voices yelled over one another. They were too far away to make out any words, but none of it was reassuring.

“George, do you hear that?”

“Yeah, it sounds like everyone is gathered for something. Does this happen often?”

“Not really, only when it’s important. And even when it’s important, people spread it at their own pace. This almost never happens, unless…” The Charmander’s eyes lit up. “Unless it is bad news. George? I think we have to put eating on hold for a while.”

George’s mouth curled up in a frown. “It can’t be that bad, can it?”

Blitzer nodded. “Hopefully this won’t be so bad. I’d like to eat in peace...”

Despite protests from his stomach, George followed Blitzer towards the crowd. The paths on the way there were as eerily deserted as the front. On an ordinary day, you’d see someone regardless of where you looked. The village might have been small, but always full of life on an ordinary day. Now? The roads on the southern bank, the bridge, every place was quiet as a mouse.

Once over the bridge, instead of taking a left to the hovel, Blitzer and George went right. Past a few more streets was the town square, the source of the commotion. Seemingly the whole village was gathered here; at first glance, George guessed that he was looking at two hundred heads, most being new faces. Speedy was here, as were Nero and Nera, and the people Blitzer had a knack for bumping into yesterday, like old miss Eldegoss.

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“They can’t just do this, can they? What are we supposed to do?”

“We have to do something! How are we going to explain this to the children?”

“But we can’t do anything. They’re too strong for that…”

“Fugitive hunting, nonsense! It’s all an excuse to steal again, I tell you! An excuse!”

Sheer pandemonium had unfolded in the village square; some shouted at the top of their lungs, others wept for their children, and others were caught in between, confused as to what to do. Blitzer and George anxiously eyed the chaos from a distance, not sure of what to say or think.

“Blitzer?” spoke a voice in the discord. A familiar orange rodent hopped out of the crowd, a sour look on his face.

“s-Speedy?” Blitzer stammered, “What is going on here?”

To this, the Raichu shook his head. “It’s hard enough having to explain this to my little lad later… it’s the Soldiers, lads. The Soldiers came.”

“Wh-what happened?!” Blitzer shouted. George reflexively stepped away from him. ‘All it took was ‘Soldier’ and he sounds like the rest.’

“They’re not happy. You know how we’ve not been willing to do whatever the Queen wants, yes?” Speedy said in a monotone, as if all the emotion had been sucked out of him.

“What do they want from us?” Blitzer asked. Speedy shook his head once again, likely to stall having to tell them. George however, had a nagging feeling scratch at the back of his mind. Deep down, he already knew what the answer to that was going to be.

“It’s about me, isn’t it?”

“Huh?”

“They’re looking for me, aren’t they? I overhead them searching for me in the woods yesterday,” George spoke in a hushed tone. What he had heard was still as clear as crystal.

‘What kind of Pokemon do you think he has been turned into? I don’t care, we’re going to find him’.

It had to have been related. It couldn’t possibly have been anything else. Not to George. His memories were pristine and shining like a pearl. “Do you know what those Solders are named? Is there one named Skal? Or one named Terez?”

Speedy looked at George with a dumbfounded face, then shrugged. “Kid, I don’t know what you’re talking about. They just took half of our food.”

“What?!” Blitzer put his foot down. “What do you mean, they took half of our food?! They can’t just do that! Who do they think they are?”

“Read the paper, lad. Either we give it to them, or they’re taking it by force. It was either this or housing Soldiers in our homes while they’re searching for fugitives, and we don’t want anyone to get hurt, Blitzer. As difficult as it is, we have no choice,” said Speedy.

George felt the hunger gnaw away at his stomach. True hunger was an oddity, something that only existed in dusty history books. Yet here it was in all its horror, all thanks to the Pokemon the village hated most. The Soldiers.

“Lads, we’ll figure something out. Stay calm, okay? You won’t be going hungry,” Speedy said with a shaky voice, before walking off. Blitzer reached out to the Raichu with a claw, but didn’t say anything. Speedy disappeared in the crowd. The last Blitzer and George saw him do was hang his head low.

“Great. Now what do we do?”

George held his arms over his chest. “I’m not getting any less hungry standing here… do your parents still have something? Speedy said only half the food was taken, right? There should still be something.”

“And you’re not just taking whatever you want.”

Alarmed, the two children jumped to face the crowd. Blitzer’s parents were standing right in front of them, one shaking his head, the other erratically scratching one foreleg with the other. “Listen boys, I couldn’t help but keep an ear open to all of that. Remember we’re all in this together, alright? So we’ll figure something out together,” said Nero.

“Is there still something for us to eat?” Blitzer and George asked at the same time.

“Yes, yes, patience. We’ll have to be careful with how much we eat for now. Until we can replenish the stocks.”

“How long is that going to take? What about the field?” Blitzer said while holding his tail in front of his chest.

Nera shook her head. “Can we please go home? I don’t want to talk about this here.” Nero nuzzled her in response.

“Yes, darling, don’t you worry. Let’s get going, you two… speaking of which, how in Arceus’ name did you get yourselves that dirty again? Did you run off into the woods, Blitzer?”

“No, uhh, we just went into a, uhh…” Blitzer let go of his tail to brush a green spot on his arm, which didn’t want to go off. This didn’t escape Nero’s attention, causing him to start sniffing the air loudly. George’s blood ran cold; the air in the dungeon had smelled a little funky. Certainly not like the village.

“Oh for crying out loud…”

* * *

Grumbling every step of the way, Nero led the children and his partner back home in uneasy silence. George gulped as the front door clicked into its frame. Someone was about to receive the yelling of a lifetime; at least he could claim it wasn’t his idea, but that wasn’t fair on Blitzer. He could’ve said ‘no’ at any time.

“So I told you to not go too far, and what do you kids do? Head off to aMystery Dungeon, because of course!”

“Heey! How did you figure that out?” Blitzer looked shocked.

“I didn’t. You just told me,” Nero said with a wink. “Anyway, what were you thinking? Do you have any idea how dangerous Mystery Dungeons are? The Pokemon that live in them are out for blood, Blitzer! I don’t care if you’re at an advantage, you see them as a game, they see you as a meal. And not only that, you brought George along too! George doesn’t even know how to defend himself, and you just throw him to the wolves! Just imagine if the ferals with the black glow had found you! What were you thinking?!”

“We can defend ourselves, dad! And George can fight for himself, he just-”

“Enough of this!” Nero sat down by the dinner table, letting one foreleg rest on it. He never let Blitzer or George out of his sight for a second. “I could rant for hours and hours on why you shouldn’t have gone. But what’s the point? You’ll head out anyway. There’s no stopping you, Blitzer.”

George lowered his head. Nero sounded defeated, exhausted from what must’ve been years of fighting this fight. “I just don’t want you lads getting hurt. You know what the dangers are. You know you can’t just ask for help out there.”

Blitzer nodded. “I’m not letting that stop me. Not a chance! I’ll go out and get stronger, you’ll see. I’ll win, they’ll lose! And George thinks the same!”

“Preposterous…”

Nera then got in between them. “Honey, you have to admit this isn’t something to be too upset over. I’ve had my worries, but I can’t lie.” She turned her head, revealing a proud smile. “We’ve raised one brave child, haven't we? That’s the kind of bravery we need right now. In these times.”

Nero sighed. “I’ll never forgive myself if either of those lads ends up lost… I can’t imagine the pain his original parents must feel… and what about the ‘wott, we don’t even know where he’s from. He can’t defend himself.”

George bit his lip before raising his hand, still fighting off hunger. “If no one minds, can I say a few things?”

The parents both nodded. “Go ahead,” Nera said. George nodded back.

“Okay. It’s true, I barely know how to defend myself, and there’s not many people around who I know I can trust. Thing is, I think I’m picking things up. Not fast, but I’m starting to figure out how being a Pokemon… works.” He swallows. ‘That sounds really awkward.’ “Look. It’s best if I did go out with him. The more experience I have, the more I’m able to stand up for myself.”

“Yeah, and we need to stand up for others!” Blitzer interrupted, leaving George staring out in front of himself as the Charmander placed a claw on his nape. “We don’t have anything to eat. We’ve got to find some! Isn’t there a place where berries grow like grass?”

“You mean the Azure Hills?” asked Nera.

“Yeah! That’s it-”

“For the love of Arceus, no…” groaned Nero. “As if Greenfield Forest wasn’t dangerous enough. You’re not old enough to go there, Blitzer. And you’re not the only one in the village planning to go there, either! So sit tight and wait, will you?”

Blitzer stomped his feet. “No way! I’m not going to sit here and let everyone stay hungry,” he said, pouting. Nero stood up onto the table with two legs and wanted to shout something back, but was stopped by his partner. George held both arms over his scalchop, pressing it against his chest for comfort.

‘I just want something to eat.’

“We have enough food for tonight, don’t worry.” Nera nodded at the two children. “Can you two prepare a bath for yourselves? I want to talk with your father for a moment, Blitzer.”

“Sure thing,” Blitzer said. “Come George, I know how to set the bath well!”

George bit his lip while following him out of the room. “Are you sure? Your dad told me you’re not good with bathing.” ‘And not someone that remembers to take one regularly.’

“I’ll be fine!”

With Blitzer and George having left the room, Nero slumped over the table. “How could I let them just go like that…”

Nera stepped beside him, caressing her partner behind the ear with a nuzzle. “You know what they say, they’ll have to leave the nest someday. You knew this when we took him with us. There’s just too much of his parents in him.”

Nero sighed. “I know. But they’re not ready, not yet. Not while the Soldiers are on the prowl… Blitzer is bound to get into trouble with them like this. And George… if they find out, he’ll be gone in a heartbeat.” Nero’s voice shook.

“Perhaps it’s their lot in life. The best thing to do is keep a close eye on them, and make sure they’re prepared.” Nera lifted her head. They weren’t ordinary village children. They were bound to grow too big for Greenfield’s britches eventually, and she and Nero had to accept that, hard as it might be. Where they’d end up, only Arceus knew.

“I just hope you’re not wrong, sweetheart.”

“Believe me, dear. I won’t be.”