Next morning, they went out to the mountains to see what their pokemon were capable of. It had taken them most of the morning to get up to the ridge, following a loose trail on the side of the range. Chip had managed it easily, making footholds where there weren't any and hauling himself up by the claws. Kelpie had found the path where there was one and jumped the gaps where there wasn't. Finn and Ciri had done it the hard way.
The view was worth it. The Sinnoh range spread in every direction, snow on the high peaks, cloud moving through the gaps between them. Below, the valley was green and small and far away.
When they set up a place that was comfortable enough, they started to work on their pokemon.
First, Finn crouched down in front of Chip.
Chip sat in the dirt, chin up, jaw at the angle it usually rested, slightly open.
"Fight," Finn said. "What do you know?"
Chip stared at him.
"Combat. Attacks. What can you do?"
Chip kept staring. He tilted his head one degree to the side.
Finn tried gesturing. He made a punching motion and pointed at a rock formation at the edge of the ridge.
Chip watched the gesture. Then the rocks. Then Finn. Then the rocks again.
He pointed at them with one small claw.
"Yes," Finn said. "That. Attack it."
Chip grinned. It was the first time Finn had seen him do an attack. He opened his jaw wide, the teeth then seemed to deepen in color, the edges of them sharpening, hardening too. Then he turned and bit the rock.
The sound of the shatter was really loud. A chunk the size of Finn's torso broke away and fell.
"So he knows how to bite," Ciri said from behind him. "Shocking."
Finn chuckled. He held up a hand and Chip stopped eyeing the rest of the formation.
"What else?"
Chip pointed at his claws.
He moved to the flat center of the ridge, crouched down, and then the ground opened up for him. He was in it, moving through the dirt the way a shark moves through water, the chipped fin cutting a line above the surface. He made a wide circuit of the ridge and came back up at Finn's feet, shaking dirt from his head.
"That doesn't look possible," she said. "But apparently it is."
Chip stood there looking pleased with himself. Then pointed at his claw again.
The claw changed. Color drained from it, went grey, then silver, then bright and hard, exactly like steel.
"Metal Claw," Finn said. He crouched to look at it. "That's three, Chip. Do you know any more?"
Chip pointed at his claw again.
He glanced at Finn and gestured once, as if he's saying: back up, give me room.
Finn stepped back.
Chip turned to face the rock wall. His claw came up, and the color that moved into it this time was different. Deep blue. Then he struck the rock face in a single motion and the scratch he left was deep enough to put a finger in, running two feet across the stone.
Finn whistled. "Nice, Chip."
And he threw a snack toward him.
Chip accepted the snack and moved off to his corner.
—
"My turn," Ciri said.
Kelpie was standing at the far end of the ridge, ears forward, tail flicking. She'd watched Chip the whole time and seemed to have developed opinions about it.
Ciri went to her and crouched.
"Your turn," Ciri said. "What can you do?"
Kelpie's back legs gathered and the hooves lit with light. She kicked. Twice. Against the surface of the ridge. Then she drew herself up and stood in front of Ciri.
"Good," Ciri said. "What else?"
Kelpie moved to the nearest rock, lowered her head, and hit it with her shoulder. The rock skidded a few feet. She came back and stood there.
"T-That's it?" Ciri said.
The words were out before she could stop them.
Kelpie went still.
The ears dropped. The tail stopped. She stood with her head slightly lowered, eyes on the ground.
"I didn't mean—" Ciri started, a bit panicked. "That was good, Kelpie. I only meant—"
Kelpie's ears came back up. Suddenly, her weight shifted into her legs, and when Ciri started to say something else, Kelpie was on fire.
Not her mane. All of her. She then moved, and the moving became spinning, and the spinning became a wheel of fire churning forward across the ridge, fast.
"Kelpie—"
The wheel of fire hit the edge of the cliff and went over.
Ciri was already running. She reached the edge and grabbed for Kelpie and caught nothing and in the same movement jumped too, intending to catch Kelpie mid-air.
"Ciri!"
Finn was at the edge. Below him they were falling, Ciri with Kelpie under her arm, both of them in the air, the valley far below and getting closer.
Then, they were gone.
Then they were behind him, on the ridge, both on the ground, both breathing hard.
Kelpie's fire was out. She pressed tight against Ciri's side, trembling.
"Are you okay?" Finn asked.
"Fine," Ciri said. She ran her hand over Kelpie. "I'm fine." She paused. "But… I used my powers."
Finn was quiet for a moment.
"We need to go back," he said. "Pack up and leave. Today."
Ciri's hand stilled on Kelpie's neck.
He didn't say it again. She used her powers, which means now, The Wild Hunt might caught her scent due to it.
She didn't argue. She ran her hand along Kelpie's neck once more, and Kelpie leaned into it and stopped trembling.
"I know," Ciri said.
Chip came over from his corner, finished with the snack. He sat beside Finn and considered the edge of the cliff with professional interest, as though evaluating it for future use.
"Don't," Finn said.
"Gii," Chip said.