Hoshi continued to stare at his reflection, entranced by the swirling colours. Still feeling the strange giddiness, he closed his psychic eyes and then opened them again, over and over, luxuriating in the ability to just turn it off.

  I’ve never been able to do that before – it really is like having a third eye. I always thought that was just a metaphor… hah, I guess the shoe’s on the other foot now, isn’t it?

  “Hoshi.”

  His girlfriend’s voice drew him slightly out of the joy-fugue, and he turned with a smile. “Yeah?” This is great. Is this connected to the nosebleed? I’ve seen psychics getting them in movies and stuff, but like, movies, you know? I thought it was just like, conveying shit to an audience, not how real psychics-

  A sharp snap once more returned him to reality, and Hoshi realised he’d been lost in his own head while Casca’d been waving a hand in his face. “Hoshi!” she nearly exclaimed, only the knowledge that the others would be able to hear keeping her voice in check. Woah. It’s- it’s like in the battle. I just know. “Earth to Hoshi! Fuck, I hope this isn’t a concussion, I’ve got no idea how to deal with that…”

  “I’m fine,” he replied, still smiling. “No, really. I was looking at- at my psychic shit. I think I leveled up?”

  Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Hoshi, you’re freaking me out. You’re covered in blood, and blinking a lot, and you did actually get a head injury yesterday. I think maybe we should wait a bit before going to see your friend.”

  My friend..? It hit him like a very slow bus; without impact, but still heavy enough there wasn’t a chance in hell of resisting. Oh fuck, right, Danny. Did I really..? He’d actually managed to forget somehow.

  Taking a deep breath, Hoshi attempted to calm his beating heart – and failed. He blinked yet again, dismayed… but not nearly dismayed enough. Oh. “Oh. Uh, yeah, maybe.” I can’t stop it. I’m trying to calm down, but it’s like trying to stop your stomach from dropping while doing a loop on a rollercoaster. And as one second ticked over to the next, he found the harsh surprise he’d felt at forgetting about Danny disappearing down into his core, hidden away with the rest of his negative emotions. Well, shit. “How weird am I acting? I feel kind of drunk, but like, still sharp? It’s probably just the psychic shit…” Another breath, another attempt to calm down and return to normal, but if anything it only got worse; he was bombarded by the sudden need to move, to do something, and his racing heart actually increased its rhythm. “Wait. Wait, gimme a sec…”

  Casca’s growing apprehension was impossible to ignore, a great flare right in front of him, so he snapped his third eye closed. “Stud, you’re freaking yourself out too, huh? Let’s not panic – why don’t you get to work washing up, and I’ll go grab you some new clothes? How’s that sound?”

  Don’t baby me, said a touch of annoyance before that, too, was washed away by euphoric glee. Arcus fuck, okay, this is definitely not as much of a straight upgrade as I’d thought-

  And then the fear, too, was eaten.

  Hoshi closed his eyes tightly. “Yeah, okay. I’ll get on that – pick me something sturdy, okay?” He continued to squeeze his lids as hard as he could as Casca moved away, the slight rustle of her clothes suddenly loud in his ears. Calm down. Calm the fuck down – maybe the exercises would help? Hypno had walked him through some psychic equivalents to a morning stretch that he could do even without the machines in the academy’s lab, but he’d never attempted them anywhere other than there – doing it at home had felt like bringing the tests home too, blurring the line between two things he very much wanted to keep separate.

  But in desperation, he tried anyway. Imagine an umbrella… Hah, you know, this is actually a lot easier with the whatever-the-fuck eating my embarrassment, too… And imagine it spinning, the different sections blurring together…

  It didn’t seem to be helping; the imaginary spinning umbrella was about as clear as he’d been able to manage in the lab, and about exactly as useful where controlling his abilities was concerned. Wait, I’m being dumb. I’ve already controlled my powers back in the forest, and when I lifted the halo in the church. I’ve just got to do that again.

  “Hey, Kenny,” Casca beckoned as she approached the television. The former wrestler sent back a grunt of vague acknowledgement, and she felt just a tiny prickle of regret as she continued. “Gimme a hand, Hoshi needs new clothes.” He’s not doing super great, is he? No, he definitely wasn’t; Kenny was obviously trying to distract himself with the game, as evidenced by his white-knuckled grip and scrunched brow. Well, that’s too bad. You aren’t the one who shot somebody earlier, so suck it up.

  The not-quite-bald-anymore man sent her a plaintive look, and it almost convinced her with the sheer contrast between it and his face’s structure – it was like one of those Paldean dogs that tried to snarl, but only ended up looking constipated. “Seriously? Whadda you need my help for, that ain’t a two-person job.”

  “I don’t want to leave him alone too long – he’s acting real loopy, Kenny. Please?”

  With a huff the man threw down his controller, eliciting a barked “Hey!” from one of the two uniformed grunts. “Don’t be rough with that, it’s the only entertainment we have down here!”

  “Fine, but don't expect me to do anything other ‘n pick random shit.”

  Okay… so. I’ve unlocked some kind of higher tier of psychic, uh, stuff, and it’s fucking with my emotions. Trying to lift stuff isn’t working, and neither are the focusing exercises Hypno taught me, or keeping the ‘eye’ closed, or leaving it open either.

  Various experiments had yielded few results, to his intermittent and momentary disappointment. Hoshi’s attempts at telekinesis were as weak and inconsistent as always, at least as far as he could tell, nor could he read anyone’s mind through the wall or predict the future with any observable accuracy. Maybe if I had a coin or something instead of just trying to guess when the faucet will drip? I should go get one and- fuck, no, focus.

  If there was any silver lining, it would be that panic was among the emotions being washed out, and so his head was remaining relatively clear – but of course, that silver was riding the edge of a very large stormcloud. Is this permanent? No, it can’t be, that would be stupid – other psychics aren’t like this.

  …Right?

  Of fuck – what if Hypno had been normal once, before he’d done whatever it was he’d done to unlock his powers? What if Kiribo had been normal? What if it was something like this that had turned them into horrible weirdos? Hoshi sucked in a breath, feeling the edges of despair creep in for a half-second before going down the drain. Fuck fuck fuck. Okay, fuck, keep it together – this is definitely not permanent, you’re just having some kind of reaction. It’s like in the forest; you got hopped up, and now your mutant brain is on the fritz… but instead of reliving a mess of memories filtered through a fever-dream, you’re just high as balls. It’ll stop on its own, any second now…

  Any Arcus damned second now..!

  But it didn’t, and the spurts of desperation built up enough of a head that Hoshi got halfway through talking himself into something really stupid – maybe it’s because I stopped the nosebleed too early? Maybe if I bleed more… – before he was interrupted by his girlfriend’s timely return. The door’s soft click as it closed was like a star falling to Earth, drawing his attention with celestial weight – and then he got a glimpse of Casca herself, the brilliant orange of her hair, the muted pastels of the blouse she was wearing, and the intensity of it all but punctured his eyes.

  “Hey stud. How you feeling?” Each word was its own individual knife slicing delicately into the sides of his head, the metaphor only incomplete in that it wasn’t at all pain he was experiencing, but pure audio-visual overstimulation.

  “I, uh, it might be getting worse?” It wasn’t like this when you left – or not as bad, at least. “But I think it’ll- I'm hoping it’ll go away on its own?” Fuck you, question mark.

  “You think so?” she asked, brow curved in concern, and Hoshi had to close his eyes again. A step echoed in the darkness, and then there came a weight, settling on his bare shoulder like steel feathers. “Hoshi, you haven't cleaned up at all – you're obviously not well…” A pause, and he cracked his eyes open only to get punched by the sunlight of his girlfriend's face.

  “I- Casca I can't. I need to help Danny, he’s basically my only friend!” The end of the sentence rose to a shout without his permission, and he grit his teeth with enough force that edges of his cheeks were caught. Whatever. Who cares; I'm already covered in blood, what's a few drops more? “I can't just let this lie – he said he'd be leaving soon, tomorrow morning might be too late!” Fuck you, exclamation marks.

  Actually looking at Casca was too distracting, so Hoshi closed his eyes once more – and, with unpracticed ease, his synesthetic sight took over. It wasn't anything like as good as real eyesight; it was dim and unfocused, his girlfriend appearing more as a cloudbank than anything… but at the moment, worse was actually better. “I need to get out there, Casca. If the last time I see Danny is telling him I’ll help but then flaking out, I’ll die.” The world is cruel, but there has to be a limit somewhere – I can’t have everything turn to dust, that's not…

  That's not fair.

  Usually, thinking something that naive would set a grimace of self-disgust on his face – but at the moment, Hoshi’s brain was all for it. He watched as Cloud-Casca’s emotions turned, fear diminishing as reluctance replaced it. He couldn't make out even a ghost of her expression, but he was sure it must have matched.

  “Hoshi, that… I know how you feel, but that would be dumb.” In the jumble of his third eye, each word sent ripples through reality, as though it existed only as a reflection on a pond’s surface. “If we want to get through this, we're going to need to be smart. Nobody- I mean I-”

  A pause as she sighed. The words sounded negative, but the colours were in opposition; the reluctance was eating the fear, and in turn being swallowed by a more complicated jumble. She's going to say yes, Hoshi concluded with a mix of giddy anticipation and sick regret. She's going to do what I want, even though it's really dumb, because she loves me.

  “We’re going to have to rely on ourselves, stud… Nobody’s coming to rescue us if we fuck up.”

  And that thought, rather than any other, was what put a crack through the shell of artificial glee. Fuck you. You don’t fucking control me. He could feel it, that ephemeral thing that was eating his fear, trying to make him happy. Trying to make him exhilarated, an object in motion, something that he’d always wanted to be but never believed he could achieve. A dream turned inside-out; yet another malevolent genie to contend with. It wanted him to go along with it, to go rescue Danny and make him stay and win and win and keep winning forever.

  But the real world was cruel – not unnaturally cruel, of course, but just the normal everyday amount. As much as he wanted to win every time, he’d have to just… live with living. In reality. For Casca – because she doesn’t have any dumb psychic powers to protect her.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Red rushed up, springing to life as it messily devoured all the suppressed emotions that had been stuffed into his core. Like a mythical cannibal-jar filled with poisonous insects and left for nature to take its course, Hoshi’s heart became a battleground for two opposing powers – and then one won. The container burst, and unleashed a terrible monster.

  There was a great crack, louder in his head than in the real world, and Casca cried out in startlement as glass began to fall, her hand leaving his shoulder. “H-Hoshi-? Was that you? Stop!”

  Hoshi wasn't sure if he could – because he didn't even try. His eyes flew open as rancour flew from his every pore, churning up the air in the small bathroom. Everything was bright and loud and too much, but the red film descending on him did its job; it blocked out the not-quite-pain, and let him do what he needed to.

  Glass shards flew on the currents, bounding off of concrete walls and splintering further. Casca drew into herself, visibly resisting the urge to scream as the telekinetic blast annihilated the bathroom – and the sight of her distress only strengthened the blood-red wave.

  Then actual blood joined the ephemeral colour as Hoshi pushed harder, shattering the film completely – and shattering himself. In an eerie mirror to scraping himself raw on Champion’ rough scales, the telekinetic force was too much for his pores to contain – and so it burst free like water overrunning a flooding river, large sections of skin on his arms and shoulders erupting like fields of very tiny volcanoes. The door opened as Tanya yelled “What in Lady Mew’s-” only to cut herself off as the miniature maelstrom encompassing her bathroom revealed itself.

  She flung herself back, the door slammed, and then it continued, ripping free of the wall. Hoshi cried out along with the splintering wood, feeling the shards of the broken mental construct cut into something he didn’t understand-

  And then Casca tackled him.

  Hoshi took his chewing-out with a very tired sort of satisfaction.

  “You have completely destroyed my bathroom,” Tanya Remond repeated herself, not for the first time, and he could only shrug. Yeah, yeah. What exactly do you want me to do about it? Grab a broom? Fuck off.

  “Sorry,” was what he said aloud. “Psychic shit, you know?”

  The executive’s expression – and the dancing colours behind, which he was pleased to see hadn’t gone back to how they’d been before as Hoshi had feared they might – told him that she very much wanted to say ‘no, I don’t know,’ but that the frazzled state she was in was preventing her from voicing anything that would even slightly lessen her authority, even something sarcastic.

  She’s afraid of me. Fuck, I think I’m afraid of me too, at this point.

  In hindsight, the altered state of mind had been fucking scary, and Hoshi was sure it’d be replacing Prince the krabby in his nightmares moving forward. Hah, I’m kind of half-hoping it does, that’s still a weak-ass nightmare…

  The tiny burst of forced amusement must have shown on his face, because Tanya inhaled for another bellow – but she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. “Boss,” one of the uniformed grunts – her bodyguards? I think she said that earlier – whispered sotto voce. “Maybe let’s let this one drop? We’re going to be leaving soon anyway.”

  The woman’s customary grimace shone brightly with white-hot anger, the emotion being fed with the carefully-controlled fear lurking underneath. Tanya eyed her underling, then Hoshi, and he could see the fire being banked in real time.

  “You will be paying for that with your next paycheck, Grunt… But very well, I’ll let the matter drop.”

  Hoshi sent a drunken smile her way, paired with another shrug, and the sparks that reignited for a second made him far more satisfied than was probably wise. Hmm… nope, don’t give a fuck. I’m fucking wiped, and I’m bandaged like an ancient Yahnikurmian mummy, and these painkillers aren’t doing shit. Probably because he wasn’t taking enough, but adding chemical addling on top of the natural and psychic kind seemed like a very dumb move. I’ll just suck it up, since I’ve decided to take my lumps anyway. “Yeah, okay. Appreciate the grace.”

  Then another bloom of emotion approached from the side. The act of turning nearly toppled him from the chair he’d claimed, and as Casca came into view she was revealed to be angry as well – though for her, the emotion was underpinned by worry.

  “Hoshi-”

  He languidly held up a hand. “You were right. It would be completely irresponsible of me to go out like I am, even before I tore myself up, and I’m sorry I had to completely freak out to see that. Would you be willing to go out and see Danny for me? Maybe take Black with you?”

  “Hey-” started one of the non-bodyguard grunts, but his superior hushed him.

  “Ryu,” Black barked, “Zip it. We’d love to get out of here and stretch our legs, right guys?”

  Two nods, followed by a more reluctant third that grew swifter as the named man looked to the trashed bathroom, then Hoshi, and slowly connected the dots between leaving and getting the fuck away from him.

  “Oh right. Yeah, we’re gonna escort you real gentlemanly, lady!”

  A few beats of silence, and then Casca sighed. “As I was saying, I don’t have any more money than you do-” A small lie; her emergency cash stash was about twice as big and she kept what she stole from Mimi, came information from nowhere – or, probably, from the surface level of her thoughts. “-But I’m willing to part with some jewelry. Danny should be able to get enough money for a boat ticket or whatever. Is that enough for your conscience, stud?”

  The last sentence had contained just a hint of playfulness, and Hoshi exhaled. It’ll have to be – and I’m glad I didn’t ruin things by putting you in the middle of an indoor tornado. Casca, at least, wasn’t afraid of him.

  And neither was Kenny, apparently. “I ain’t leavin’, just so you know. Ain’t gonna trudge through the swamp for nothin’; Orange’s got strong Pokémon, she’ll be fine.”

  “Yeah, okay,” Hoshi agreed without pushing back. I’m too tired to argue – and I’m not exactly in a leader-y mood.

  And so Casca and the four other Rockets left, leaving Hoshi with Tanya and her flunkies. If would’ve been awkward, if he’d had a single fuck to give about social niceties. As things were…

  “So, Executive, what’s your team look like?” he asked. She sent back a raised brow, heavy with an unspoken ‘Are you serious?’ “Come on, we’ll be battling through wild Pokémon tomorrow if nothing else. Exchanging information’s useful.”

  Silence, then a huff. “I suppose. You have seen Provost, and his son Prince, though of course the latter will not be participating in any serious battles.” Really? It was stronger than Guts or Crow when they fought, and my girls are ready for anything – they might not have the raw power Rivet and probably Moony do, but they’re scrappy as fuck. Venus too, of course. “I also have a crustle, Dean, which is another bulky attacker. Shallot and Scallion are water types, and excel at controlling the battlefield along with my prize ninetails, Clarion.

  “Altogether, I would rate my team as being at a strong fourth badge level, perhaps even edging into the fifth – though of course, I’ve optimized them to work as a unit. If we’re fighting full-team on full-team, outside the structure of a commonplace battle, I’m confident I could hold my own against a Gym Leader’s true strength.”

  Hoshi let the information wash over him, leaning back in his chair. Ugh, bandages… They felt coarse against his skin despite being silky smooth in reality, and he resolved to ditch them as soon as possible. No way I’m retaining the names, but the gist of it should stick. Another water team, blah, I don’t see what people are so obsessed about…

  “My team’s a mix of types,” he replied, “A raticate, a golbat – you’ll have met them in the tournament, if you remember – and a primeape round out the core. Then there are the magneton you just saw, and an ursaring. They’re from storage, and I haven’t quite gotten a handle on their movesets just yet. And finally…” He wet his lips, sharpening himself to catch the executive’s reaction. “A gible, also taken from storage. Ornery little bastard’s half-wild, but if we manage to survive the year he'll turn into a real monster in my pocket.”

  To his disappointment, Tanya didn’t rock back in her chair at the revelation he was carrying the most iconic Pokémon of Sinnoh’s champion – though her bodyguards were impressed, at least. “A gible?” the executive questioned. “I’m surprised such a rare Pokémon was left to languish.” Her mouth curved into an oblique line, and Hoshi was surprised to see her emotions become muddled and difficult to distinguish even to his newly-enhanced psychic eye. “I admit to being impressed you managed to evolve your starters so soon while operating a civilian identity on the side,” she continued. “That, at least, is worthy of praise.” Faint praise. I’ve had them three months, and I’m still convinced they evolved too soon. “But the fact you don’t know your own Pokémons’ moves is pathetic.” A cold smile. “Fortunately, we have more than enough time to remedy that. Release your magneton; we'll see how you fair without a type advantage.”

  Hoshi groaned as he reached for a ball. Sorry team, looks like it’ll actually be you who’re taking my lumps.

  They trained – not only Hoshi and the executive, but the grunts as well. And as afternoon bled into dusk, he was glad to find that besides avenging her loss with a non-stop thrashing, Tanya did indeed help him suss out the remaining blanks in his understanding of his team.

  Rivet’s electric move was actually the weaker Thunder Shock, not Thunder, which he was elated to learn; it meant the magneton had room to keep growing. Supersonic and Tri Attack joined Magnet Bomb to produce a nice round set, with another half-learned move that Tanya had to identify for him: Mirror Shot, a steel type projectile that would addle an opponent with sparkling lights if it made contact at the right angle.

  Moony, in contrast, had less type coverage but slightly more control. Slash was joined by the fairy type Play Rough, something Hoshi would never have thought to test in a million years, as well as Fake Tears and Covet. That’ll be a lark to use if I ever fight Ryan again – steal that leek right from out of his farfetch’d’s wings. No idea why she has a move for lowering energy defences though, not when her attacks are all physical… but I guess it’s nice to have. There won’t be a lot of one-on-ones in my future anyway.

  They also discovered that Champion had Sand Attack but somehow didn’t know the complete form of Bite, and Hoshi learned the name of his ground move: Bulldoze.

  Overall, he was happy with the spent hours; the senior grunt might not have even the vaguest idea of what their special abilities were, but he had to assume he was in the company of most trainers on that front. Though getting away from training for a moment…

  I’m starting to get worried about Casca. It was mostly just paranoia – a few hours was perfectly reasonable for a trip to the junkyard and back, accounting for a long conversation once they got there – but still, Hoshi was feeling antsy. “Let’s go another round,” he said, aiming his words at both Mondo and Wendy – Tanya’s bodyguards, who’d introduced themselves prior to battle.

  Mondo, the man, answered in a naturally soft tone. “Sorry, Senpai, but I think my poor ditto has had enough.” On his heels was Wendy, the woman, speaking in harsher tones

  “Yeah, I’m pretty whipped too – Aaron’s gotten more battles today than, like, the last year combined.”

  Hoshi struggled to restrain his scoff, only succeeding by reminding himself of the conversation he’d had with Black way back in July. Most Rocket Grunts aren’t active battlers; they do financial crime and stuff like that. My team are an exception – not that we get a whole lot of training time in either. It just seemed like such a waste, though; ditto was a strong Pokémon, theoretically able to turn any matchup into a 50/50 by transforming into its opponent… and in a mass battle, that ability made it as strong as the strongest ‘mon on the field. And they both have a tauros, too. I guess it makes sense that they’d have good Pokémon, since they’re bodyguards…

  He waved them off. “Fine, fine. I guess we should stop cutting into our Potion supply…”

  Mondo actually bowed. “Thank you for understanding, Senpai!” Man, don’t call me that, it’s embarrassing…

  “Uh, yeah,” Hoshi muttered, displeased to find that the emotion had touched his voice. “At ease..?” These guys take the underling thing a lot more seriously than any grunts I’ve met… Again, probably because they were bodyguards. I should-

  The thought was interrupted by the soft sound of boots on concrete echoing from down the hall, and a portion of Hoshi’s anxiety died. “Hm? Hey, somebody’s here.” Casca! But just in case… His hand went down to Guts’s ball, but the caution proved unnecessary; his girlfriend emerged from the access tunnel heading the pack of Rockets, Black and his friends close behind. “Casca!” he exclaimed aloud. Whew, I was really worried about something else going-

  Once again his thoughts were interrupted, this time by himself; Hoshi saw Casca’s downcast expression – and the fact that she still had her piercings all in, the visible ones at least – and his own face changed to match.

  “He wasn’t there?”

  Orange hair bobbed as she shook her head, one hand going to the pocket of her slightly blood-spattered jeans. “He left a note…” She drew and held it out, and Hoshi stepped forward to take the slip of torn paper.

  ‘Hoshi,’ it began.

  ‘If you’re reading this, you actually showed up like a dumbass. I’ll get to the sappy shit in a second, but first: cut that shit out. You’re in fucking gangland now, you dumb fucking son of a bitch, so fucking act like it.’

  The harsh language was somewhat undercut by the absurdly even penmanship it was written in; Danny could barely speak Kantonese, but his writing was so perfect it almost looked like a machine had printed it.

  ‘Something’s come up, and I need to leave. I’m not gonna go into details, but since I spilled my guts earlier I think you can guess the gist of it.

  Don’t worry; I think I’ll manage to slither my way outta this one, like always – I’m really only leaving this note so you don’t cry like a baby. Arceus damned bleeding heart, fuck you. Made me go soft and shit.

  Sorry, I didn’t mean that. There should be a present waiting for you in our secret stash, you know the place, so I guess I’m a bleeding heart too.

  Unless I came to my senses and didn’t leave ‘em, in which case, fuck you I got mine.

  Okay, that’s enough of that. I ain’t much of a betting man, but I get the feeling we’ll be seeing each other pretty soon, so don’t get too sad.

  With regards,

  Danny Houndoom’