We were up before sunrise.
Skyla led us down a narrow trail carved into the Colorado mountainside, the morning air thin and cold enough to sting my lungs. The path opened into a wide plateau of stone and wind overlooking a deep ravine carved straight through the earth.
"This is one of my favorite training spots," Skyla said, planting her hands on her hips. "High altitude, nasty wind currents, uneven terrain, your Pokémon have to earn every inch up here."
She shot me a quick grin.
"It's the perfect place to sharpen an edge before a rematch."
Zoey cracked her neck beside me, her mane flicking in the breeze. Feels like home already.
I snorted. You hate nature.
I hate humidity, she corrected. Dry cold is fine.
Skyla released her Skarmory, the steel bird sliced into the morning air with a metallic shriek that echoed through the pass.
"Movement, feints, and illusions," Skyla said. "Show us what you've got, Zoey."
Zoey grinned. Gladly.
Skarmory dove, and Zoey split into three illusions and scattered across the stone. Two were carved apart instantly. The third vaulted onto a ledge halfway up the cliff face.
"Better," I called. "But show me range. Fill the field."
Zoey smirked at me.
Watch this.
Her eyes flashed, and the world rippled.
Suddenly, we stood in a submerged arena, light shimmering overhead like we were beneath rolling waves. Schools of fish flickered around our legs. Barnacles and coral coated the "stone" beneath our feet. Pressure pressed faintly against my ears, and even the air felt heavier.
Skarmory banked hard, thrown off by phantom currents.
Zoey held the illusion for only a few seconds before the whole world collapsed into rushing blue light. She dropped to one knee, panting.
I knelt beside her. "Zoey... that was incredible."
She grinned weakly. I hope it's enough
Swampert lumbered toward the cliff edge, planting his feet wide.
More output? He asked.
"More pressure. Show me everything you've got."
He exhaled and unleashed a roaring torrent of water that smashed into the opposite ridge, carving trenches into the stone.
"Again! Harder!"
The second blast was tighter, brighter, faster, almost white-hot at the center.
Zoey braced the ground with her claws. He's gonna wash Denver off the map if you're not careful.
"One last push!" I shouted.
Swampert's entire body tensed, and his muscles bulged as his arms began to vibrate. A beam of water erupted from him like a lance, vaporizing a stone formation across the canyon in a thunderous explosion.
Skyla stumbled backward. "That, Atrea, that wasn't Hydro Pump."
"No," I breathed. "That was Hydro Cannon."
Swampert rumbled proudly. I can do more.
"Save that for Drayden," I said, patting his arm.
Trilla didn't need full-contact drills. She sat with Skyla on a flat slab of rock, practicing meditation and psychic centering. Her power, even in stillness, hummed faintly beneath the air.
After a while, she opened her eyes and bowed her head.
I am ready. Whenever you need me.
"Scizor, you ready?"
He clicked his pincers once. Always.
I froze. His voice was metallic and sharp, like a blade slicing through air. Despite hearing his voice during the battle with Colress, it was still shocking to hear him speak after all this time.
"Alright," I whispered. "Mega evolve."
Light exploded across his frame. Armor thickened. Edges sharpened. His posture shifted under the weight of new power. When the glow faded, Mega Scizor towered like a weapon forged for war.
He flexed experimentally.
Heavier... but stronger, he murmured. I will adapt.
Skyla pointed toward a nearly vertical cliff face. "Run it."
Scizor leapt without hesitation.
He tore down the cliff in a blur of red metal and sparks, carving lines into the stone as he redirected momentum with precise thruster bursts. But I could see the strain, the added weight fighting him, slowing him.
"Shift momentum into your legs!" I yelled. "Don't absorb the impact, redirect it!"
Scizor adjusted instantly. His motion smoothed. Each kick-off became cleaner, faster. He hit the bottom of the canyon, then blasted upward in a streak of red light, landing beside me with a spray of gravel.
Simon buzzed eagerly beside me.
Alright, alright, what do you want? Dragon Claw? Boomburst? I can do Dragon Claw.
"Dragon Claw. Hit the PokéBot. Controlled power."
He shot upward. A PokéBot dummy activated, drifting into the line of fire.
Simon dove.
But halfway through, the energy didn't stay in his claws,
It wrapped around his entire body in a blazing aura of blue-green dragonfire.
"Simon!"
Too late.
He smashed into the dummy at blistering speed. The PokéBot didn't fall.
It disintegrated.
Simon wobbled in the air, looking sheepish.
Uh... that wasn't Dragon Claw.
Zoey laughed. No kidding! You turned yourself into a missile!
I stared in shock, stunned.
"That was Dragon Rush, Simon. You just learned Dragon Rush."
He brightened immediately.
Cool!
By sunset, every one of us was sore, bruised, soaked, or covered in dust. My muscles throbbed. My throat was dry. But my team... they'd never looked stronger.