Leo was cold, bored, and tired, and that was turning out to be a very dangerous combination. The biting wind cut through his jacket with laughable ease as Pidgeot winged through the sky, its sharp eyes picking out things that he never could. That left Leo with nothing to do but stare off into the distance or try to look down on the trees blurring by – it was both terrifying and exhilarating, and he was already contemplating sliding off of Pidgeot's back because he wanted to try skydiving.
Being caught in the talons of a giant predatory avian didn't sound like as much fun, but that was semantics at this point. He was bored, and it might be a worthwhile experience. Besides, he'd already managed to piss Daisy off when Spiritomb blew a whole bunch of snow into her hair – Leo thought it was hilarious, but she had thought otherwise and threatened to throw him off Pidgeot.
His response had been simple. "Don't threaten me with a good time." Though he did honestly feel kind of bad about it now, but it was relatively a harmless prank.
"I think we've got something," Daisy said through chattering teeth, not immune to the cold at such high altitudes either, as she peered through a pair of binoculars. "There, off on the ridge to the right," she pointed, Pidgeot having already angled that direction as it slowed to a more reasonable pace.
Leo squinted and peered in the direction Daisy was pointing, taking a few moments to spot what she was looking at. To him it just looked like a collection of orange dots blurring about in an open space, just above what looked like a small cliff face. This area of the national park – which was honestly a lot smaller than Leo had expected - had plenty of plateaus, the mesa continuing on far past the borders of the Park toward Olivine.
"Is that even in bounds?" Leo questioned, shouting over the wind. "And what is it?"
"The edge of the park is just over the hill they're on, we'll have to circle around to prevent them from fleeing off the park grounds and push them back. Looks to me like it's a yanma swarm – they're rare enough and if we catch a strong enough one it should net us a fair number of points. We don't have much time left before the competition is over though, so we need to make a decision," Daisy said.
Considering they hadn't run into much of anything up until this point – the best they'd seen was a scrawny-looking beautifly, which while rarer in Johto than butterfree or beedrill, were still not that great of a prospect – yanma were probably their best bet.
"I say we go for it," Leo said. Daisy nodded.
"Alright, I'm going to keep them occupied, you need to help me pick out one to catch and we'll isolate it. Remember, they either need to be strong or big – preferably both. The faster the better too," Daisy said. Leo nodded. "I don't know much about the species, but I promise you that we'll only have a short amount of time to pick a target. Pidgeot isn't all that stealthy and they've probably already seen us. They're going to scatter as soon as we start our approach, so grab a pokeball and be prepared," she ordered.
Leo palmed the pokeball he'd already been toying with, enlarging it and whispering to Spiritomb, who he knew could hear him over the sound of the wind, to get ready. The ghost hissed in response, chittering in imitation of a cricket and cackling when it failed spectacularly.
"Yes, we're going bug hunting," Leo said, rolling his eyes.
Spiritomb's purple ectoplasmic body snuck out of his pocket, where the keystone was kept, and hovered a small tendril of itself just in front of Leo's face. He squinted and sighed heavily when he saw the squirming grasshopper that was contained inside. Had it really been holding that insect hostage just for this joke? Really? How long had it been planning this? He could respect the dedication, at least.
"No, you know what I mean," he said, Spiritomb cackling as it let the grasshopper go free – the insect vanishing in the wind quicker than Spiritomb retreated back into its keystone.
"What?" Daisy asked.
"Nothing," Leo answered, refocusing on the yanma swarm. Now that they had gotten closer, Pidgeot approaching at-speed, he could make out the individuals. There were probably twenty and had all bunched up, facing the incoming Pidgeot and flitting about erratically. Pidgeot banked hard around the yanma swarm its feathers ruffling as it slowed a bit.
"Let's get to it!" Daisy ordered, and Pidgeot pulled up short.
Leo's stomach lurched at the sudden loss of speed, the giant avian pulling up short of the yanma swarm by a few dozen feet and flapping its wings with a mighty shriek. The air warmed uncomfortably, Pidgeot's wing feathers glowing as if a fire had been lit between them as embers flew in a massive wave into the heart of the yanma swarm. The bugs droned unhappily, a few dropping from the air immediately after the attack, while the others buzzed their wings in eerie unison.
"Drop, Leo!" Daisy commanded, and Leo, without hesitation, slid off the back of Pidgeot. He squeezed his eyes shut despite the short drop, expecting the sudden stop that never came.
A strange feeling overtook his limbs and body, not a sense of weightlessness, but as if there was a cold cloth that wrapped itself tight around him and held him aloft. Leo opened his eyes in surprise only to see himself suspended midair approximately a foot off the ground, shadowy tendrils wrapped around his limbs and holding him aloft. Spiritomb cackled at his expression and promptly released him, allowing him to fall stumbling to the ground, hitting the grassy soil feet-first.
Daisy landed with a thump next to him, her knees nearly buckling from the fall. Still, she recovered quickly and scrabbled up the hill, already shouting orders to Pidgeot as the bird blurred into action – now that the squishy humans were off of its back, it could go as fast as it possibly could. And that was fast.
Leo refocused on the swarm, darting between a few trees and examining the bunch to the best of his abilities. None really stood out to him, and he was having trouble picking out individuals as they were all darting about at great speed, zigging and zagging through the air in unnatural patterns. It was to the point where looking at all the orange was giving him a headache; but he had a job to do.
Pidgeot swooped in and the swarm droned dangerously, a few of the yanma shooting sonic booms up at the avian as it passed. Pidgeot just screeched and flapped its wings, air slashes homing in with unerring accuracy on a few of the yanma and knocking them out of the air.
"There," Leo muttered, finally spotting one that fit the bill. It was clearly bulkier than the rest of the yanma and was one of the few that had actually managed to dodge the air slashes. Combined with it having survived the heat wave earlier meant it was probably one of the stronger members. In fact…
Leo's eyes widened as the yanma he was watching zoomed out of the swarm, increasing in speed as it blasted sonic boom after sonic boom at Pidgeot, who dodged them with ease and returned fire with air slashes. He glanced to where Daisy was and pointed at the lone yanma, even as it swerved and rushed to rejoin the swarm, diving down close to the ground and weaving between a few of the trees to avoid the searching talons of Pidgeot as the bird swooped down on it.
Daisy just nodded and whistled sharply, Pidgeot responding with a shriek as it blazed ahead of the yanma and unleashed another wave of air slashes. This time the yanma did not dodge, instead buzzing loudly and meeting the attack with a series of sonic booms. Leo sprinted forward, circling around the yanma swarm and trying to keep low so as not to attract their attention, readying a pokeball. The issue here was that the yanma was quick and its movement erratic, so how…
"Spiritomb, I'm going to need your help here buddy," Leo whispered. "I'm going to try to get close enough, but when I throw this ball I need you to guide it to the yanma. Can you do that?" Leo asked, and though he received no response he prayed that it was listening. Pidgeot shrieked again and dodged a sonicboom, the yanma buzzing menacingly and swerving to the side, intent on rejoining the swarm.
Leo cursed and skidded to a halt, stumbling slightly as he planted his feet and hurled the pokeball as hard as he could in the bug-type's direction. The distance was too far for him to throw accurately and he wasn't all that skilled at it to begin with, so he cursed once again when he noticed it going low and to the right.
That is, until the ball stopped in midair, a tendril of black shadow suddenly appearing between it and him and grasping the pokeball firmly. The oddity of the situation even gave the yanma pause, the bug pulling up short and buzzing nervously at the new appearance. Spiritomb cackled, and with a casual flick hurled the pokeball at yanma's head, the red and white sphere smashing against its exoskeleton with a resounding crack!
Half of Leo was wondering how Spiritomb could grab things with what was essentially shadow – it was a puzzle he still hadn't figured out yet – while the rest watched the pokeball with bated breath as it sucked the yanma inside and fell to the ground. The pine trees groaned in the wind as the ball rattled, Pidgeot shrieked as it circled overhead, menacing the yanma swarm and keeping them at bay and suddenly the ball burst open in a flash of white light.
Leo backpedaled as the bug buzzed angrily, spinning towards him and rearing back – only to be hit with a great ball, thrown by Daisy. This time it did not escape, the ball laying still on the ground after wiggling a few times.
"Leo, back to me! We need to get out of here before the swarm decides we've bothered them too much!" Daisy shouted, whistling for Pidgeot who swooped down in a clearing to Leo's right. He nodded and bolted for the giant avian as it settled on the ground, puffing up its feathers menacingly and glaring at the swarm. Leo hesitated for a moment when he neared, Pidgeot eyeing him dangerously as he approached, but Daisy put an end to that by bodily picking him up and shoving him onto Pidgeot's back before jumping on herself.
With two mighty wingbeats Pidgeot was in the air again and shrieking their victory for the world to hear, Daisy laughing with glee as she held the greatball aloft and Leo's cheeks burning in shame. Spiritomb cackled at his misfortune – there was nothing like being reminded that he was still just a kid than to be picked up like a child, by a girl not three years older than him. Physically.
"We've got a shot at winning now! I was honestly getting worried!" Daisy crowed over the wind, burying her hands in Pidgeot's crest to keep her balance. Leo shivered and tightened his grip around her waist, the cold returning to him now that the adrenaline was wearing off. He sighed wiping off the grin that had wormed its way onto his face. Despite his misgivings at the start, what with all the restrictions on where they could and couldn't go and all the competition they'd be facing, that was actually pretty fun.
Third place. They got third place, which while not a bad showing at all, was not what Daisy had wanted. First place belonged to someone who had managed to catch a scyther of all bloody things, while second place belonged to a shiny butterfree. A shiny butterfree. Since caterpie and butterfree were so common it wasn't super rare for a shiny to show up in their species, but it was still ridiculously uncommon. Especially for a contest like this – and to make matters worse, second place prize had been a moon stone shard, while first place got both a sun and a moon stone.
Leo could do nothing but shake his head and sigh as he and Daisy walked off the stage, Daisy pouting as she went.
"We just got unlucky," she said with a scowl. "Stupid shiny butterfree, stealing my moon stone like that," Leo snorted and shrugged.
"Well, it's not a total loss. You caught the biggest and strongest yanma out of everyone, and the third place cash consolation prize is a fair chunk of change," Leo said. It had been two thousand dollars, which meant Daisy split it evenly between the two, while she kept yanma.
"I guess. You sure you don't want this yanma? It's a little aggressive, but you'd benefit from having a bug type on your team," Daisy said, unclipping the greatball from her belt and shaking it at Leo. Leo shook his head.
"Nah, it's all good. Like you said, it's a little aggressive for me. I still can't believe it kept trying to attack the judge," Leo said with a small laugh. It had been kind of funny to watch because the bug kept trying to shoot a supersonic at the poor man, but that quickly ended when the supersonic hit the microphone and practically blew out the speakers. They recalled it after that. Leo's ears were still ringing.
"Whatever you say," Daisy said with a shrug, clipping the ball back on her belt. "You've got a team of aggressive pokémon, though, one more shouldn't make a difference,"
Leo frowned at that. No he didn't. Santiago was aggressive and battle-hungry, that much couldn't be denied, and Spiritomb was…Spiritomb, but Diana was nothing but a sweetheart and Zuko acted more like a hyperactive puppy than a fire-breathing monster. That, and again, Spiritomb was Spiritomb. One day it acted like Froslass, constantly pestering him and playing tricks, the next it was sullen, silent, and ready to pick a fight with anything that moved.
That had to be reigned in first before he picked up another problem child like an aggressive yanma. The real issue was that after Daisy's comment about bellossom a few days ago he'd been considering finding an oddish or something to catch. They were pretty docile, and didn't require much upkeep…
Leo shook his head. No, he needed to focus on his current team for now. There was already a lot to keep track of, even if their training appeared to be progressing at a reasonable pace.
Still, the temptation was there.
The rest of the day passed relatively peacefully. The festival parts of the competition were slowly being packed away, foodstands and shops closing up and packing away their things as the spectators and tourists, attracted more for the spectacle of the festival than the catching competition, slowly filtered out of the National Park. Though that still left Leo plenty of time to use a bit of his newly earned money to try some of the many foodstands; he hadn't had a real burger in forever, and with the Unova foodstands as abundant as any of the others he finally got his wish. To say the burger and fries, the patty made from ground tauros meat, was delicious would be an understatement. It was greasy and fatty and juicy and everything he both loved and hated about food from America. It wound up sitting like a rock in his stomach of course, but that was to be expected. Food in Johto and Kanto tended to be far lighter and healthier.
"I told you not to eat it so quickly," Daisy chided as Leo pat his stomach happily, a little queasy perhaps but nothing over the top.
"It was worth it. I would gladly do it again," he said without a hint of shame, wiping ketchup off the corner of his mouth and grinning at the older girl. She just rolled her eyes at him as they wound their way around one of the many fountains in the National Park, muttering something about his eating habits. Leo just snorted out a laugh, fully aware that he had looked like a savage animal while eating that burger. To say he shoveled it into his mouth would be an understatement. He practically inhaled the thing.
Besides, Daisy's statement wasn't inherently wrong, either. He absolutely could be a savage animal.
"Daisy Oak! I thought that was you on stage!" a new voice called, catching Daisy and Leo's attention. The couple who approached looked vaguely familiar to Leo, specifically the man. The woman was relatively unremarkable, sure she was pretty but not in the way that she'd stand out in a crowd, though she did hold a young boy of about five or six in her arms while a girl of about eight hid behind her legs. The little girl was the only one in formal wear, wearing a muted pink kimono – or was it yukata? Leo wasn't sure – with cherry blossom petals on it. The man, on the other hand, had short black hair and wore a red sweater, but Leo could've sworn he'd seen him before.
"Norman! It's so good to see you again!" Daisy cried, rushing forward to greet the man. Leo stared for a moment before the name clicked; that was the dad of the main characters in the Hoenn games, wasn't it? The fifth gym leader? He vaguely recalled some lore about them being from Johto, or at least having lived there for a time, but what were the chances of meeting him here and now? On that note, it was surprising Leo thought he looked familiar; Norman does look similar to the anime version of him, as much as any real person could. Far more than Professor Oak ever did.
The Oaks are ridiculously well connected, for Daisy to be friends with a future? Gym leader. Leo rationalized, eyes trailing to the young boy and girl. That must be May and Max, from the anime. The resemblances between them were negligible but there was no other explanation.
"And who is this fine young man?" the wife said suddenly as Leo finally caught up with Daisy. He flinched when she tried to pinch his cheek, utterly flabbergasted and suddenly very wary of the woman. There was being manhandled by Daisy and tossed onto the back of Pidgeot, and then there was that. And she just had the audacity to chuckle at his expression, and try to pat his head!
"That's Leo," Daisy said, as if that explained everything. Leo swatted the woman's hand away and took a step back, just out of her reach. She smiled at him sweetly, and he resisted the urge to scowl at her.
"The kid who you were with in the competition?" Norman asked for clarification. When Daisy nodded he extended a hand in greeting. "Nice to meet you, Leo, my name's Norman," he said. Leo took his hand and shook it as firmly as he could.
"Pleasure," he said politely. Norman smiled and returned to his conversation with Daisy, catching up with each other and asking the polite questions before digging into the meaty stuff. The wife (Leo should probably learn her name at some point) chatted as well, eventually setting Max down when the young kid started to squirm and whine in her arms, wanting to get down and play or do whatever.
Leo swiftly tuned out the adults' conversation in favor of focusing on the children. Max was staring at him, and May was torn between looking around at all the scenery and pretending to listen to the conversation. Even if it was about the upcoming championship challenges between Victoria, Lance, and the current champion, it was boring. And children were a great way of distracting one's self, Leo had found.
That, and they were far more fun than serious conversations.
"Hello, I'm Leo," he greeted. Max and May just stared at him, May perking up from where she had been studying a dandelion that was growing from the concrete. "Wanna play tag?" The two stared blankly at him, seemingly digesting his words. A small grin formed on Max's face, and May glanced at her mother questioningly even though the woman wasn't paying her much mind. Leo's grin took on a bit of a sinister tinge, his hands forming vague claws as he made a face at the two.
"Beware the tickle monster. He's gonna getcha!" Leo crowed, prompting shrill shrieks from both children as they darted off, Leo bolting after them while cackling.
Clearly, they had played this game before if they understood what the term tickle monster meant.
"Be careful! Don't stray too far!" Norman called after them as they ran off, Leo easily keeping pace and sheparding them away from the worst of the rapidly thinning crowd, while still remaining in sight of their parents. That mostly meant chasing them around the fountain, and catching them whenever they ran too far in one direction.
"Gotcha!" Leo said with a grin, grabbing May with both hands and lifting her up, spinning around as fast as he could. The young girl shrieked with laughter – it would've been funnier had it not been right next to Leo's ear. He jerked his head to the side and set her down, wincing at the loud noise that was a little kid.
He'd almost forgotten about that bit. Kids could be loud, and had no qualms in shouting in your ear. May, on the other hand, remained oblivious to the pain she had caused as she grinned at him and took a few steps back, adjusting her red hairband so the few strands of long brown hair that fell in her face were tucked away, and bounced on her feet in that way a kid did when they were expecting something exciting.
Leo recovered from the shriek and took one step forward, glancing to the side to see Max creeping up on him, apparently intent on saving his sister. Cute. Futile, but cute. Why was it futile? Because that just meant Max would come to him to receive his punishment, and Leo wouldn't have to chase them. The tickle monster knows no remorse, and shows no mercy. Leo cackled and took another step forward and May took another step back, Max inching closer, when suddenly he spotted something.
A pink bulldog the size of a full-grown man, barreling down the street right towards May. Time seemed to slow as adrenaline surged through Leo's system, his legs propelling him toward May even as she bolted away, running right toward the Granbull with her smiling face turned towards Leo. He wouldn't make it in time; he wasn't fast enough and his arms too short to grab her first.
Spiritomb flared to life, a tendril of black shadow reaching out with amazing speed, wrapping around May's waist and hauling her back to Leo, the young girl crashing into his outstretched arms. The granbull's eyes narrowed and it picked up speed, spittle flying from its mouth – it was already almost on top of him. Leo pivoted on his foot, spinning away from the charging hound just in time for it to crash into his back, sending him sprawling as he curled protectively around May. Thankfully his martial arts training involved learning how to fall – he rolled and slapped the ground with one hand, arresting their momentum just a bit as he skidded across the concrete. May screamed in fear this time, but Leo had no time to feel himself for injuries, or check if she was ok – there was still Max to worry about.
He disentangled himself from May and scrambled to his feet just in time to see the Granbull vanish in a flash of red, the dog having skidded to a halt and turned towards Leo, as if surprised he had hit something. Max, on the other hand, was running as fast as his little legs could carry him toward his big sister, who sat on the ground no longer screaming, but clearly dazed and confused. Leo breathed a sigh of relief at Max's safety, and turned his attention toward May once more. Her kimono was in disarray, dirt smudged on the hems both from their game of chase and from the tumble, but otherwise she looked ok.
"Are you ok?" Leo asked anyway, kneeling before her and ignoring the stares of the onlookers. She looked up at him with wide brown eyes and nodded, sniffling. Max patted his sister's leg, whispering something in her ear that had her nodding once more. "Let me see your hands," Leo said softly, grabbing her much smaller hands and checking for any scrapes – only to be pushed aside by the girl's terrified mother.
She fell upon May and Mex in a fashion not unlike a particularly fussy mother hen, her hands flurrying to ensure no harm befell her children. Leo watched for a moment before anger flared in his chest, pivoting on his foot to try and find the owner of the granbull that had caused this mess. That anger died entirely when he saw Norman blowing up at the young man, who had his head bowed and was apologizing profusely, while Daisy approached, concerned.
"You ok Leo? I saw the whole thing, you took a decent hit there," she said softly, putting her hands on his shoulders and kneeling. He nodded, rolling his left shoulder – the side the granbull had hit. There was a bit of pain, but nothing beyond what usually came when he fell or got hit. He'd taken worse tumbles sparring with Victoria – heck, he'd been pounced on by her Persian, Prince, and that had both hurt worse and was far more terrifying. There was nothing like three hundred pounds of angry feline to instill terror into you.
"Yeah, I'm good," Leo grumbled. "What the heck was that? Someone just lose control of their pokémon?"
"From the looks of it, yes. Don't think it meant any harm though," Daisy reasoned, looking back at where Norman was still yelling at the granbull's trainer. Leo winced. Yeah, he looked properly chastised. More importantly, though, Leo pulled Spiritomb's keystone out of his pocket and smiled at it.
"Thanks, buddy," he whispered, earning himself the ghost's equivalent of embarrassed whispers echoing in his ears. He shook his head and pocketed the stone again, observing Norman for a bit longer then turning back towards Max and May, who were all perfectly fine now that their mother was done fussing. Leo rubbed his forehead and smiled at the kids, unsure of what to do next. The obvious answer was try and figure out more of Spiritomb's abilities, because he was certain that hadn't been a move it had used to grab May and how did it do that? But at the same time that should probably wait until later.
It wouldn't be very smart to start playing around with a ghost in public, even if most of the large crowds had dispersed; ghosts had enough superstition around them that Leo wasn't going to invite trouble. Not this time.
Soon enough Norman finished his rant and sent the young trainer on his way, checking up on his kids to ensure they were alright. Satisfied that all was well, he and his wife resumed their conversation with Daisy, Max and May sticking close by their sides this time.
Leo, not content to listen to the conversation, wandered about for a bit, eventually finding a nice stretch of green grass not too far from the conversing adults and letting Zuko out to play. That, of course, mostly meant roughhousing with the fire-type, Leo running away from him and juking and dodging the Quilava as he chased, or getting down on all fours and tossing his head and rolling around on the ground while Zuko tried to lick his face and leapt all over his body.
Zuko leapt onto Leo's back and stuck his nose into the back of his neck, sniffing as Leo lay perfectly still on the ground. A small whine escaped the back of his throat as he pawed at his head and sniffed his hair, trying to get Leo back up and playing again. Ignoring him, Leo remained quiet and frozen until Zuko had wormed his way under Leo's shoulder, trying to roll him over, at which point he leapt up and yelled at the Quilava, trying to scare him. A yelp escaped him as he leapt away, embers sparking from his fur as he growled at Leo playfully. Leo grinned and sat down again, feeling more than a little tired now.
"Alright buddy, playtime's over. I think it's time to give Santiago a bit of time," Leo said, earning himself a pitiful whine from Zuko. "I know, I know, but you get the most one-on-one time out of everyone besides maybe Spiritomb since you're out so much," Leo reasoned, palming Zuko's pokeball and returning him, doing his best to ignore the downright pitiful look on the Quilava's face. He would not be guilt tripped, no sir. Zuko was out quite a bit when they travelled. Santiago deserved some playtime too…even if Leo was too tired to really play with the slowpoke. Not that Santiago minded that. He'd enjoy laying perfectly still as much as playing.
The slowpoke appeared next to Leo in a flash of red, his big pink head swiveling side to side as he searched for an opponent. Spotting none, he plopped into the grass right next to Leo and lazily chewed on the grass. Leo snorted and scratched him behind the ears – Santiago only reacting after a few seconds, leaning heavily into Leo's hand.
The two sat comfortably for a while, Leo just enjoying the company of his starter and idly whistling the bellossom song while his mind wandered. More specifically, he thought about Jack. He'd have to talk with Oak about any news he'd gotten about him tonight, but…well. Now also wasn't the time to think about it. He couldn't really do much at the moment besides maybe try and convince Victoria to leave for Unova instead of Alola…
Which might not be a bad idea, now that he thought of it. Ultra wormholes were a lot more common in Alola than anywhere else, so wouldn't it potentially be more dangerous to go there? Professor Oak claims that they're incredibly rare phenomena, but then again there was also a Guzzlord frozen in a nevermeltice glacier in the Silver Mountains. Leo halted his whistling and chewed his lip in thought as he stared at the blue sky. On the other hand, even though he did want to see Jack again going to Alola presented a unique opportunity; he would have the chance to go to the Poni Island shrine and potentially meet Lunala and Solgaleo. He wanted to have a conversation with them – there were questions he wanted answered. And his gut told him there was a decent chance they would appear if he went there.
If I can exchange some messages with Jack before then, I might even be able to get a few of his questions answered too. Leo mused, scratching his chin in thought.
Any further thoughts were interrupted by a gentle tugging on his shirt sleeve. He turned his head from where he lay on the soft grass, coming face-to-face with the smallest hoppip he'd ever seen; it was probably only three inches tall. Near it were three sunkern as well, the tiny yellow buds bouncing eagerly on Santiago's back – who either didn't mind, or didn't notice them.
The hoppip cooed at him, bouncing from side to side and spinning its leaves.
"Hello there," Leo said softly, raising an eyebrow and being extra careful not to startle it. The hoppip cooed again, this time alternating its pitch erratically. "How can I help you?"
"Piiip," the hoppip said.
"Keeeern," the sunkern sang, sing-song. Leo stared at them for a moment longer before realization flashed through his mind. They wanted him to keep whistling.
Chuckling softly Leo sat up slowly, glancing around and making eye contact with May and Max, the two children having snuck up on him at some point and were now watching in fascination as Santiago was subjected to the explorations of the three Sunkern. One even bounced happily on his nose, not that he seemed to mind.
Leo winked at the two children and started to whistle again, the sunkern whistling back while the hoppip flew through the air and cried out happily. Pink glitter fell from its spinning leaves, the weak fairy wind doing nothing more than catching the late afternoon sun as it fell to the ground and setting the air to glittering. Leo smiled and winked again at May and Max, who watched with wide eyes, slowly changing the song from the bellossom song to the song Daisy's Clefairy had taught him. He wasn't as good at it, but nonetheless hoppip loved it. Personally, he wished he knew how to play his bellossom leaf replica better. Just another thing to add to the list of things to do. He mused.
And so the rest of his time in the National Park went; Leo relaxing beside his starter, humming and whistling songs taught to him by pokémon to entertain two human children and four young pokémon – blissfully unaware of the growing crowd of grass and bug types listening in, hiding in foliage.
When Professor Oak answered the video call, he was met by the sight of Santiago licking the screen with a large, wet pink tongue, and Leo wrestling with the stubborn slowpoke to back off.
"What a lovely view," the Professor said dryly as Leo hauled the heavy pokémon away, flicking him on the nose.
"Sorry professor. He's being quite ornery – no I said!" Leo snapped, shoving Santiago off as he tried to clamber into Leo's lap. "Just because I'm sitting down doesn't mean you get to be a lap pokémon again! You're way too big for that!" he protested. Santiago just cocked his head to the side, forcibly walking beneath the plastic chair Leo sat on and moving it a few inches to the right. Leo sighed and tilted the video camera so he was center screen for the Professor again.
"I can see that," Professor Oak said, amused. "How was the competition? Do good?"
"We got third place with a big old yanma," Leo said with a shrug. "Daisy was disappointed, but we got beat out by a shiny butterfree and a scyther so I can't say I'm surprised. It was fun though," the Professor nodded.
"I see. Seeing as how the yanma isn't registered to your profile yet I assume you opted not to train it? A smart choice all things considered. There is nothing wrong with collecting a full team of six quickly, but you must make sure to give them all the attention and training they are due. Yanma are social pokémon – they require a lot of attention to train and you've got a lot on your plate already," he reasoned. Leo nodded in agreement. That was his reasoning too. "That said, I imagine this isn't why you called. I'm happy to say that I did receive word from Professor Juniper. She hasn't had anyone approach her with a story like your own, but said she'd keep an eye out and try to contact the songwriter you spoke of. I already emailed a copy of your letter to her," the Professor said with a smile. Leo grinned back, another weight lifting off his shoulders at the news.
"Thanks, Professor. I appreciate it," he said. "Um, I've also got a few other questions for you though, about the current plan for me to head to Alola after I get three badges," the Professor raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak, but was rudely interrupted.
"Is that the brat on the phone?!" Victoria shouted, followed quickly by loud stomping as she approached. The professor raised his hands defensively, scooting back in his chair and standing.
"I'm going to leave that to Victoria. She's been in a bit of a mood lately and I have no desire to fight with her," he said, backing off and letting Victoria take control of the video call. Leo swallowed thickly upon seeing her expression – she always looked serious with her perpetual tough-girl smirk, but the uncharacteristic frown put Leo on edge.
"Kid," she greeted, then continued before Leo could even answer. "No more messing around. You get your third badge as soon as possible so that as soon as I'm done with my Champion's challenge you can head to Alola. I've seen your battles, you're more than ready for your third badge. Don't dilly dally. I don't want you to have to stay in the Indigo League for much longer,"
"What's this about?" Leo asked, his stomach sinking with worry. Victoria seemed to deliberate for a moment before sighing.
"I'm worried about the future of the Indigo League," she said gruffly, running a hand through her hair and frowning hard.
"Because of the current champion?" Leo asked.
"No, because I'm afraid he'll lose the title to Lance," she grumbled. "Despite his flaws, Champion Martin is a competent leader. The Youngster License was a mistake, but otherwise he's done right by both Kanto and Johto. Eased the tensions between the two regions. Lance doesn't have that savvy, and after our little adventure together calming a bunch of weavile…well, let's just say I'm worried where he'll lead us. He's got some dumb ideas," she said.
"Dumb how?" Leo asked, furrowing his brows. Wasn't Lance supposed to be this larger-than-life character in the games and anime? A paragon of virtue and strength, one of the greatest dragon masters? Someone who could control multiple pseudo-legendary dragons had to be worthy of respect, right?
"He's a warrior, not a leader. To a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Hell, I've already heard a whole bunch of complaints from the Kanto leaders about Lance. Giovanni is particularly vocal about not wanting another Wataru as Champion, much less Lance. Heck, even my challenge is more to help Martin warm up his team for Lance than it is for me to get the Champion's certification," Victoria grumbled. Leo frowned. Yeah, that did sound like it could cause some problems…
"I see. And you're worried because…?" Leo pressed.
"The training scene could get ugly for a little while here. I don't want you to get caught up in it. Like it or not, as you're sponsored by me and therefore the Oak family, once you get a fair number of badges your opinion will be asked for. And anything you say can and will be used against you. Reporters are nasty like that," Victoria said. Leo winced. Yeah, that didn't sound like fun.
The media in his world was more vicious and bloodthirsty than the media in the pokémon world, but they were still capable of being mean. Leo didn't want to touch that with a ten-foot-pole.
"Ok, fair enough. I don't want that, and I don't want to cause more controversy. That said, one last question. Are you sure going to Alola is a good idea? UB's are more common there, right? So wouldn't it be more dangerous than, say, Unova?" Leo asked. Victoria snorted and shook her head.
"Kanto has never had an ultra beast problem until now. I doubt any more beasts will appear, I think Samuel said something about the ultra wormhole energy calming down in the Silver Mountains in the past few months since he set up some sensors in the region, but the real question is; do you want to be protected by pokémon, legendaries or not, who have no idea how to fight those things, or protected by island deities, the Tapu's, who have fought them for millennia?" she said. Leo sighed. That was actually a fair point. "Not to mention that the Tapu legendaries are far more personable than most of the Kanto legendaries. The birds aren't known for being kind,"
Leo nodded but silently doubted that. He'd met Articuno, and while it hadn't been overly welcoming it hadn't seemed malicious or anything either. The way Victoria had made it sound, it seemed like she was saying the legendary birds (minus Ho-oh and Lugia) were openly malicious. Still, he wanted to go to Unova now…
"We're going to Alola," Victoria said firmly, reading his expression. "You can't even bring your pokémon to Unova, brat. They're far more strict about those things – you need eight badges and to be sixteen or older to bring your team there. Unova is a region of isolationists after all. I know you want to find your friend or whatever, but trust Uncle Samuel. He'll be able to do more than you ever would in finding him,"
That made Leo puff up in indignation, his first reaction to be denying that fact. Instead, though, he tamped down that reaction and nodded in agreement, rubbing his face as Santiago wormed his way out from under the chair, sticking his nose up against Leo's thigh. It was true, after all. The Professor would be able to do far more than Leo – if for no other reason than because he was a big name. That alone would open doors and avenues of contact that might be denied to Leo.
"Anything else?" Leo asked, scratching Santiago's nose and grimacing when he licked his hand, coating it in slobber.
"No. Just get your third badge," Victoria said.
"Any tips on that? It might be a little rushed for me to get the badge now," Leo reasoned, despite knowing he did still have about a week of travel to reach Azalea. A week wasn't that much time to train, though…
"I've seen your battles, brat. Your team may be lacking in technique, with the exception of Diana, but they've got all the raw power they need to beat the next gym. You'll be fine," she scoffed. "But we'll plan on leaving after my Champion's Challenge. Winter in Alola is pretty mild, so pack light," she said. Leo nodded and, after a few moments of silence they said their farewells and Victoria hung up. Leo stood and rubbed his chin, snapping his fingers to get Santiago to follow him.
It sounded like he needed to brush up on his history again. He knew that about a hundred and fifty years ago Kanto conquered Johto in a military campaign thus forming the Indigo League as he knew it today, but it sounded like there was far more to it than just that. If anything Victoria made it sound like Johto was in control. Yet another thing to add to the list. Leo thought, shaking his head. The things he needed and wanted to do just kept piling up. At least it kept him busy, though. But right now, it was time for dinner and bed. It had been a tiring day, after all.