A/N: Hello my lovely readers! Welcome to the latest chapter of the book! I hope you enjoy it!

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love. -Washington Irving

Chapter 8: Are You Weak?

Serena was caught completely off guard by Gordo's behavior. When a battle was over, that was usually it. Trainers were supposed to return their Pokémon to rest up. From how Gordo had Delphox in his aura, he made it impossible to sever the aura grip link with a Poke Ball alone. Serena tried returning her first Pokémon, but the red light was reflected away from Delphox's outline. Serena looked like she didn't know what to do and decided to plead with the old man.

"What are you doing?!" Serena asked in distress.

"Whatever I please. This is the amount of respect I have for you," Gordo said dryly.

"Hey… pea for brains. Don't you think you're being a bit too rough on her?" A voice suddenly echoed in Gordo's head.

"Stay out of this, Jordon." Gordo hissed. The elderly man was surprised to hear his counterbalance considering how little he says things.

"Eh, I don't come out often, so you don't have to worry about me abruptly taking control. Still, to be this brutal without being provoked? Thought you might have changed by now..." Jordon said in a disappointed voice. He seemed sad. Gordo grew irritated.

"Shut up. This is more than me being brutal for the sake of it. Worthy to stay or not, I need to see if the girl can handle pressure. You know the method to my madness. Aurora grew strong like this." Gordo argued. To illustrate his point, he attacked Delphox even more. The Pokémon hissed in pain.

"I understand trying to make something stronger, but you could be doing it a lot better than you are. Aurora grew up under our training and you knew what she could take. You've no idea of that girl's potential. You could kill the girl's Delphox if you keep this up…" Jordon told him. He felt bad for Serena and Delphox, but wasn't sure if he cared enough to stop Gordo physically. Jordon decided to only come out if things went too far. He hoped it wouldn't need to come to that, so he tried to get through to his balance.

"And what if I did?" Gordo replied with a sharp tone. Jordon made the most toneless laugh Gordo ever heard in response. His voice got chillingly low.

"You'd be a spiteful piece of garbage and I'd be even more ashamed to share this body with you. You'd also prove how right Charles was all those years ago when you killed his son. In some ways, I still see you as a villain, but I just don't care enough anymore to bother." Jordon said with a slightly indifferent sigh.

Gordo was beginning to feel angry at his counterbalance, but decided not to deny him. He only didn't deny him because his counterbalance didn't like him and their conversation would go around in circles.

"Why are you bothering to convince me now then?" Gordo said, noting his counterbalance's hypocrisy.

"If I see you doing something unjust, isn't it the counterbalance's job to be the voice of reason… like to balance out the bad?" Jordon asked sarcastically. He knew they both knew the answer to that.

"Counterbalances also can complement balances, you know." Gordo pointed out.

"Only if I agree with you and obviously, I don't agree with what you're doing. What, the girl is partially psychic? Boo hoo, she hurt your feelings over how she is? How pathetic." Jordon said in a mocking tone. Gordo grew even more irate.

"I can't believe you're downplaying all that we've seen in our life. Charles and his cronies alone have caused us so much grief! How dare you! I don't know how you're like me!" Gordo was screaming at this point. Just like always, Jordon was indifferent to him. He even mockingly yawned. Gordo could feel himself seething in annoyance. Even if Jordon was right, Charles took things way further than he ever did by separating his grandson from him and nearly killing his daughter. He felt as though he's justified at this point.

"I can be just as petty as you. I'm only attempting to say something because last time I didn't say how I felt, I almost lived with the regret of not having said something until it was too late. I don't want to go through that feeling. We're very similar, Gordon, and you know it. You're just being a baby about it." Jordon said matter-of-factly. The last time Jordon didn't say how he felt to Aurora about he agreed that Gordo should be more open to psychics, he almost saw Aurora die trying to learn a technique. They both had been deeply affected by that, even if neither of them wanted to admit the extent.

"…" Gordo didn't respond to continued to focus on Serena and Delphox. Delphox looked like she barely had any fire left in her. Serena still wasn't making a stand for her Pokémon. Gordo found himself disappointed. The girl had to have some sort of fire in her. After all, she was with a boy that was passionate about anything he did. Ash wouldn't choose a weakling for a lifelong partner, would he? Jordon wasn't done trying to get Gordo to stop verbally. He decided to play his trump card: their family.

"Anyway, if you did happen to go through this petty killing, you'd need to be prepared to get estranged from both our grandson and daughter. If Ash was willing to kill Delilah over Aurora being unconscious… I'm not sure how things would be once he got home and found out what you did. At the very least, be a bit gentler to the Delphox and girl if you want them to improve." Jordon warned and advised. Gordo got a shiver down his back thinking about it and hated that his counterbalance was right about something. He decided not to acknowledge it.

"We're done discussing this. Unless you take over me right now, I'm going to continue what I started. I know what I'm doing and I'm not as scummy as you're implying. You know as well as I that this is a test for the girl." Gordo argued.

"A test that may go too far." Jordon supplemented.

"Either the girl is truly worthy to stay or she's going die not helping her partner. I'm using how Mew would teach someone something normally. You noticed Mew isn't helping the girl now, right? It's likely because she can handle this." Gordo continued. Jordon sighed, but didn't deny his balance. Now, it was his turn to be annoyed about his other side being right about something.

"All I'm saying is to be careful taking your anger out on someone that doesn't deserve it. Be mindful of the consequences your actions might have…" Jordon said as his presence disappeared from Gordo's mind. The elderly man never liked when Jordon came out, but he had to admit his counterbalance had some merit in his argument. He decided to keep it in mind, but not visibly show it.

Serena sucked her teeth and narrowed her eyes at the old man. She knew that he didn't like her, but he didn't seem like the type of person to hurt an innocent Pokémon, especially after it had been weakened significantly. The girl that was a low blow, even for him. Serena grew even more worried when he intensified the power of his aura spheres at the fire type.

"Delphox!" Serena cried out in anguish. Her first Pokémon tried taking the hits the best way she could, but at this point, she resigned to not resist Gordo's assaulted. She was only sorry she couldn't do any more to protect herself and felt ashamed to be like this in front of Serena.

"Can't you even stop me?" Gordo snorted.

"Mew, please help!" Serena begged to the psychic type legendary. Mew looked at her expressionlessly. She shook her head.

"… I don't help when there's a point to be had." Mew said. Serena looked enraged.

"A point?! Delphox is getting hurt and you only care about this stupid 'point'?!" Serena hissed. Mew sighed, closed her eyes, and resigned to put herself in a non-transparent pink bubble. It was clear she didn't want to speak any longer. Serena sucked her teeth in response.

"Relying on help is sad. You are such a weakling." Gordo said while shaking his head. He continued to pelt the fire and psychic type with aura spheres. Delphox wailed in pain.

"Stop it! Please… Delphox can't take anymore!" Serena begged. She started to cry. She hated not being able to do anything. Gordo's eyes turned colder.

"What can someone like you do about it? Aurora nor Raven is here to defend you. Mew won't help you anymore, seeing as she feels like she's helped enough. You're on your own and if this is how you act… you don't fit for the family. You might as well go." Gordo closed her eyes and turned away from her. He decided to finish things. He knocked Delphox on the ground. Forming a bone club in his hands, he leaped into the air, seeking to finish the fire typed fox.

Serena looked up at the old man, disgusted, sad and ashamed at herself. Her expression was one of shock, then turned to one of a lack of emotion. Alice looked at the girl and noticed this. She suddenly seemed much more afraid for her husband. Serena's blue eyes changed from bright to harsh. One of her eyes were twitching.

In the moment Gordon showed his intention to kill Delphox, Serena remembered one of her interactions with Aurora's friends in trying to teach her something.

Flashback

Serena stared into a few hundred Poke that was lying on the ground. She grew determined as she started to make her hand glow their natural color, a hot pink. In the background, there were two people watching her intently. One was a short wavy raven-haired lady with grey eyes. She wore a torn and worn-down diamond patterned poncho with somewhat neat jeans. The other was a lilac-haired lady with brown eyes. She wore a much dressier outfit, sporting a lavender pin-stripe suit with matching shoes.

While Ash was with his mother and grandmother learning how to make and recognize certain foods, the two women decided they could use the battlefield in the front yard, at least until Aurora was done teaching her son inside.

The two ladies had been coming into the Tree of Beginning to help Serena for about a week after Ash moved in. Every day, they helped Serena with her endurance with small exercises heeding to Raven's observation of her during Ash's and Aurora's comas. Serena felt like she could use her aura for longer and it was all thanks to them.

Today was finally the day the two ladies thought she was ready to try a technique that eluding her: the psychic grip.

The psychic grip enabled the user to lift up any object they desired, but they must be emotionless while doing so. It was weaker in potency compared to the aura grip, which used a user's emotions to lift up living things only. Serena was able to do the hybrid grip, an odd mix of the aura and psychic grips, but she felt incredibly tired every time she did it. The two women decided to help her learn the other techniques, so her energy wouldn't be exhausted.

"Think she'll finally be able to do it, Mirabelle?" The raven-haired lady whispered to the lilac-haired lady.

"We'll see what happens, Raven. I don't like to ruin surprises." Mirabelle winked.

Raven sighed, then pouted. She knew that Mirabelle could see into the future because of being a psychic, but sometimes, she wished Mirabelle would get to the point. Still, Raven acknowledged several possibilities that could happen. The dusk guardian also knew that Mirabelle usually tried to shift the future to be a favorable one for everyone, so she could accept her answer.

Raven decided to sit down in the middle of the battlefield, where the referee would normally stand. Mirabelle was standing across from Serena, watching her technique. Serena brought her hand out and it began to glow pink. The money on the ground began to glow the same color. Raven curled her fingers against her mouth in anticipation and excitement. Mirabelle narrowed her eyes slightly and watched Serena intently.

Serena looked into the money with harsh blue eyes. She was intent on doing this to prove to herself that she can use her powers well. Mirabelle had a twinkle in her eye seeing the amount of focus in Serena's expression, but noted something was missing. The money began to glow pink, but it did not budge. For several moments of trying this, Serena severed her link with the cash and it stopped glowing pink. Raven looked sad at seeing Serena discouraged while Mirabelle didn't look too surprised.

Serena sat pretzel legged next to the money and looked at it wistfully. She sighed in disappointment and had her head down. Mirabelle decided to sit right beside her and forced her to keep her head up. Raven got up from her spot and sat in front of them. The trio formed a triangle around the Poké Dollars.

"Mirabelle, is there something I did wrong? I thought I listened to you exactly. I really felt like I was improving." Serena said.

"You have been improving tremendously. You have been listening to me… and I think that's the problem." Mirabelle admitted.

"Huh?" Serena blinked her eyes in surprise.

"Raven and I were really young when the rest of the hybrids perished in the Hybrid Purge. As such, a lot of what was known about hybrids were lost. No one has attempted to teach a hybrid something in thirty years. I feel like we may be approaching this the wrong way." Mirabelle admitted.

"What should we do then?" Serena asked.

"I'd say those exercises have been helping you, so we can keep doing those. I still want to try to help you master the aura and psychic grips, even though you know the hybrid grip. I do remember hybrids having a hard time learning each technique separately, but the most powerful ones were the ones that could do all three." Raven said.

"In the meanwhile, maybe the technique will stick when you're put into a situation both deep to your heart and harsh to you, too. You know… a combination of guardians and psychics in how they approach techniques. You need to recognize both feelings distinctly to change between both techniques at will." Mirabelle noted.

"I already witnessed Ash holding back killing his aunt, Delia. He… wasn't like himself after his mother was knocked unconscious." Serena said while looking down. She could never forget the face he made to her when she stopped him. Though she was thankful she got him back to his senses, she was afraid of what he could do while angry.

"But that wasn't close to you specifically. That was closer to Ash." Raven said.

"Ash is close to me, though," Serena argued. Raven shook her head and made a solemn smile. Raven looked at the teen as if she didn't understand what she was trying to tell her, so she gave up for the moment.

"I think you'll get it once something horrifying like that happens to you. Ash literally saw his fake mother nearly kill his real mother a second time after that same fake mother tried to kill him in a strong blast. I think Ash acting differently there was justified. Usually, those in tune with their emotions will perform better under duress. I'm not sure if that will happen to you, though." Raven told her.

"Trust me, it will. I can't say when it will happen, though, since that will alter what will come to pass." Mirabelle disclosed uncomfortably.

"I… don't want to go something horrible, though. Can you tell me what it is?" Serena said with fearful eyes.

"…" Mirabelle made a slightly distressed grunt, but looked away. She looked like she wanted to warn her, but held back. Though slightly annoyed, Serena decided to leave it alone. She knew once Mirabelle looked into the future, she would become cryptic. The girl wondered how much burden Mirabelle was carrying since her future seeing ability was better than most psychics.

"It's okay. I guess… I'll be alright afterward. Can you at least tell me that?" Serena pleaded. Mirabelle continued looking away from her eyes, knowing she might cave in otherwise. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Serena. I'm not going to take a risk. Things will happen for a reason, but this catalyst will jumpstart your progress much more quickly than now. I can at least say that much. Let's… continue, okay?" Mirabelle said in a small voice.

Serena didn't feel like continuing, but sighed and decided to anyway. From then on, Mirabelle's prediction was on the back of her mind.

Serena felt a lack of emotion regarding Gordo, but so much sadness for not being a better trainer to Delphox. Serena jumped in front of Delphox and met Gordo head to head. She grabbed his bone club before he could knock Delphox out with it. The old man was surprised to see the psychic guardian so brazen all of a sudden and liked the change. Delphox looked up weakly, happy seeing Serena defending her like this.

"Oh?" Alice noted Serena's narrowed eyes and began to think to herself. She wondered, "Her eyes… I could see the cold cruelness of it. And yet… there's a lot of passion for her Pokémon. Why do they keep shifting between those emotions so quickly?"

"Finally! A spark! Bring it on, runt!" Gordon said with a grin. Mew made no change from her bubble and remained suspended in the air.

"Grr…" Serena growled and pushed him back in response. Gordo slid on the ground slightly. The old Ketchum smirked at the strength Serena displayed. He knew she wasn't nearly as in tune with her powers as Ash was, so to see this was intriguing for him. Still, he also noticed the ever-changing emotions in her eyes and grew slightly startled by it, just like his wife. He shook his head at his thoughts.

Gordo noticed that she was only standing in front of Delphox protectively, but she wasn't making any sort of aggressive approach. His stance changed from just standing there in awe to preparing to rush them both down. Seeing this change from Gordo, Serena held her ground and glared at the man.

With a speed that Serena didn't expect, Gordo dashed to her to hit her directly with his aura-made attack. Serena reacted almost instinctually. She held him up in the air without touching him. She had her hands out as she concentrated her power into Gordo. Gordo was suspended in a pink outline in the air. Delphox had her mouth open in awe. Alice and Gordo widened their eyes in surprise.

"Gah! The psychic grip? Since when…?" Gordo said, caught off guard.

"I will not let you harm another hair on Delphox!" Serena bellowed.

While she had Gordo suspended in the air, she created a large pink war hammer of destruction and whacked him from the air. Alice widened her eyes at seeing the aura emulation. Upon sensing the hammer, Mew popped her self-made bubble and looked at the teen with sparkles in her eyes. She looked like she was excited for Serena, despite showing apathy a few minutes earlier.

"Hggh…" Gordo grunted at the hit, but prompted stood back up. This girl was full of surprises… and he hated that he liked that.

"I don't care that you are my boyfriend's grandfather. I don't care what you say to me. It doesn't matter what you think of me… as long as I know what I'm doing is worth it to Ash and myself. I won't let you just do anything to me or Delphox. If you're going to be this brutal to her, you'll have to go through me. I don't care how badly you want to hurt me. I'll defend myself the best way I can." Serena said while still protecting her first Pokémon from the wayward Ketchum.

Gordo looked at the teen with analyzing eyes. Serena narrowed her eyes and gripped her weapon tighter. She was ready to react to his advance again. Then, Gordo closed his eyes in thought. When he opened his yellow eyes, they looked intense. He narrowed them.

"Then make your words have weight and prove yourself as the trainer Delphox can count on. Prove that you don't need help to earn your keep." Gordo said with a serious expression. He pointed his aura made bone club at the girl with a grin. Serena sucked her teeth, but still did not move from her spot.

Gordo decided not to approach Serena this time. From his free palm, he shot several aura spheres at the girl. Serena at first panicked, but then tapped into her earlier disconnected feeling. Her free hand began to glow as she deflected each aura sphere away using the psychic grip.

Upon seeing that display, Gordo decided to fight her up close. Serena whimpered slightly at the sudden burst of speed and once again suppressed him with her psychic grip. However, Gordo decided to resist her this time by exposing himself to dark aura. As such, he was able to move about freely despite her hold. Serena braced herself and parried his hits the best she could.

Upon seeing the girl have some sort of spark in her, he decided to heed his counterbalance's advice. Inside him, he could feel genuine relief from Jordon, which surprised him. The counterbalance cared more than he let on. Gordo chuckled to himself and decided to continue gauging Serena at her pace.

Alice could tell in Gordo's movements that he meant Serena no real harm, which surprised her. She noticed a more curious outlook than a hateful one from him in his strikes. The greying haired woman knew that some of what Aurora said earlier was in his mind when engaging Serena because she knew how Gordo could be when seriously suppressing someone. Alice found herself curious about the girl as well.

Gordo went slow with each of his swings, gauging at her current skill and noticed that she knew nothing about one versus one fighting. He knew it was to be expected as Serena never showed any signs of having combat experience. Gordo decided to watch for any more changes in her fighting stance and temperament.

Serena, meanwhile, had no idea what was going through Gordo's mind, but she knew she would never let Delphox get hurt like that again. For all she knew, he was trying his best to hurt them both because of her psychic guardian heritage. Despite that, she grew determined to keep fighting to prove something to herself. She wanted to hold her own against any adversity.

Alice saw the two battle it out for a few more moments. Serena looked terrified and seemed to be fighting not only for herself, but for her Pokémon. Alice decided she had seen enough. When Serena went for another swing toward Gordo's head, Alice swiftly moved in front of her husband. Serena widened her eyes and immediately stopped her swing. Gordo found himself surprised. He usually didn't see Alice stepping in anything deliberately.

"Enough!" Alice bellowed. She stood in front of Gordo in a protective stance. Serena's weapon was centimeters away from hitting both Alice and Gordo.

"Alice?" Gordo grew slightly concerned at the dire, but stern tone of his wife's voice. She seemed slightly scared, but no one else picked up on it except for him. She hid her fear well through her tone, but Gordo had been married to her long enough to know something was off.

"Please stand aside, Mrs. Alice," Serena growled. Alice forced herself to look into Serena's cold blue eyes. The elderly woman's hands began to glow a light blue.

"If you dare land another hit on my husband, I will personally intervene and knock you out of the Tree myself, regardless of how Ash and Aurora feel," Alice said with narrowed eyes. Serena noticed her hair beginning to rise up on its own. She could feel dormant anger in her stern tone.

When Alice mentioned Ash and Aurora, Serena remembered that she didn't want to ruin any sort of impression she had made to them. The psychic guardian may have thought that they hate her more than before, she decided to salvage whatever civil interaction they could have. Serena made her weapon disappear and made a relenting gesture.

Alice noticed how easily the girl submitted and nodded to herself. Alice then said, "That being said, I think we're done with Gordo's portion. Honey, what do you think?"

"Yeah, I'd say she's ready for your part," Gordo said easily.

"What?" Serena blinked her eyes in surprise.

"I'm not surprised that you would say this after what she just did." Alice sighed.

"It's pretty obvious to me that she can handle your portion. Whether she can handle it without being provoked is another story." Gordo said with a humorless chuckle.

"I… can keep going?" Serena said in slight disbelief.

"Yeah. You know, I thought of you as a wimp that has no reason being here. I still think of you as a wimp, but you've shown me you've got more fire than you're letting on! Hahahaha! I love it when I get surprised like that!" Gordo said, somewhat excited. Gordo coarsely chuckled, "You've earned more of my respect, kid. Ash needs a strong-willed woman… whether you're the one is left to be determined."

"Yes… it definitely is left to be determined. Your eyes…" Alice started, but then shook her head and stopped herself. Serena was confused. She said, "Ah, never mind. Well, it seems you passed Gordo's portion. Time to do mine. Mine will… not be as straightforward as my husband's. Go to the base of the crystal caves when you are ready."

Alice started to walk away from Serena while having both of her hands behind her back in thought. Gordo looked back at Serena before following his wife.

Gordo whispered, "You alright, dear?"

"I should be asking you that," Alice said in response. Gordo looked slightly unamused at the retort and decided to be a bit more direct with what concerned both of them.

"You saw her eyes, too, right?" Gordo said.

"Yes. It's like her eyes shift between feeling like we're dealing with a guardian to feeling like we're dealing with a psychic. It's unnerving." Alice confirmed both of their thoughts.

"I agree. What shall we do about it? She didn't do anything unreasonable against me for us to use to kick her out." Gordo noted. Alice thought for a moment before responding.

"Ash… has found quite an interesting girl. Her eyes gave me an unnerved feeling. I felt waves of terror and that's something I haven't felt since encountering the Zurui. I have a bad feeling about her. I'm not going to take any risks… so I want you to…" Alice began to whisper her idea to her husband.

The greying haired Ketchum listened intently. He closed his eyes in thought and opened them in slight concern. He wasn't sure what to think about this, but nevertheless did what she wanted. Giving her a small peck on the cheek, he flew off to do Alice's request.

A/N: I wonder what Alice had Gordo to do... she can be quite shrewd at times. Seems like Serena isn't out of the woods, yet. What will Alice have her do? Will either of Ash's grandparents grow to like her? We'll see eventually.

It's interesting writing a counterbalance that outright despises their other self instead of only being mad at their other self like with Aru and Ashton in the last book. Gordo is used to it at this point, too. I hope to delve into Gordo's and Charles pasts gradually and how it is affecting Ash in the current day.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. We'll get to see how Gordo's method of teaching affected Serena next chapter. See you guys in a couple of weeks!

Next Chapter: Nature at its Core

~SPG123~