Chapter 19 - 9-10

Oak shuffled through Leo's latest test papers, eyeing them critically in a show that had Leo rolling his eyes. The Professor liked to put on a show before giving out the test results, but now it didn't affect him as much as he'd been taking the increasingly difficult test for the past…what was it, year and a half now? Something like that, he looked about twelve now and it was the start of Leo's third spring in this world, with the spring equinox right around the corner. Anyways, the Professor liked to put on a show.

Admittedly, for the first two times Leo had taken the test, Oak's process of going over the test made him a little nervous. Now? Now he just went with the flow.

"Unfortunately," Oak began, and Leo felt his heart sink a little as he anticipated the word "you fail." Every time he took the test it got a little harder, so Leo had been extra diligent this time around and over-studied. He thought it had paid off, he was pretty certain he got a lot of the questions right (not to mention the practical exams, which he always passed.) "I have to pass you this time. There is no reason not to," Oak said, and Leo sighed.

Then he blinked, and fixed Oak with a look, the Professor's expression a mixture of regret and amusement.

"Did you just say I passed?" Leo asked, and Oak nodded.

"As usual your practical exam was easily over par. Though you may miss the more specific details to pokemon training, and don't know the official terms for many processes, you understand how to employ them. As for your written test…well, it is passable." Oak explained, shaking his head before grabbing another stack of papers. "Not even your school tests were failing – despite your chronic absences. Even history you passed," Oak said, fixing Leo with a glare that he met with a raised eyebrow.

He told Oak he didn't need to go to school. Besides, history was interesting and Leo had researched that on his own.

"So this means I can go on my journey, right?" Leo asked, and Oak hummed.

"Yes and no," he said, and Leo frowned. Oak held up a hand to stop him from protesting, leaning back in his chair. He ran a hand through his slowly greying hair before continuing. "As you know, the official League season does not begin for another week and a half, beginning on the spring equinox. As a first-time trainer, you won't be allowed to leave until after then, and you have been registered as a trainer,"

Leo nodded, relaxing a bit at that and absently rubbing Santiago's head as the slowpoke lounged next to him. He'd gotten a lot bigger in the past year, eclipsing Queen in height and weight. No longer was Leo able to carry the goofy creature around – not that it stopped him from demanding as much.

A wetness enveloped Leo's hand as Santiago shifted and pulled his hand into his mouth, idly gnawing on it. Leo let him, having long since given up trying to rid him of that habit. Feeding him so many treats was a mistake, Leo thought resignedly, feeling the slowpoke's flat teeth gently massage his hand. He was getting spoiled.

"So, I just need to wait for that, right?" Leo asked.

"Yes. I suppose it is best if I tell you now though – I will not be the one sponsoring your gym challenge," Professor Oak said firmly. Leo frowned and scratched his chin with his free hand. A good sponsor could be a great thing for the typical gym challenge, what with the sponsor providing access to certain training materials – like TMs – as well as food for pokemon, which was actually relatively cheap, and a number of other necessities.

Someone like Professor Oak sponsoring a trainer meant he would provide housing for a trainer's excess pokemon, so they weren't stuck in the storage system all the time, food, access to research materials, and any number of other things – the flip side to sponsorship was that the trainer was basically a walking advertisement saying "we sponsor powerful trainers," or "we sponsor trainers like this!" Which was why corporations also sponsored trainers. It provided a lot of fame and a steady income for trainers, while being good advertisement for companies.

That was, of course, mostly for the gym challenge and contests, which were the biggest "sports" in the pokemon world. Seeing as how pokemon were such an important part of the world, the gym challenge was much more than just a sport though – it was simply the best way Leo could describe its massive popularity and entertainment factors entwined therein. This wasn't to say one needed a sponsor, either. It was fully possible to challenge the gyms without a sponsor, but if you were looking for a head start in popularity, access to training equipment, and the like, it was suggested to find one.

"Ok, then I'll be on my own then?" Leo asked quizzically. He once thought that might be a problem, but that wasn't the case now. The world was full of food, and he was certain that, with enough time, he could come up with ways of making money that didn't involve battling for cash prizes. Like catching wild pokemon. Or designing T-shirts. There was always a market for both, after all. He'd just need some design software for the t-shirts.

"Not necessarily," Oak said slowly. "Victoria has decided to be your sponsor." At this Leo blinked in surprise, pulling his hand out of Santiago's mouth, earning himself a whine from the pink creature, and wiping it on his pant's leg.

"I thought she didn't like me that much," he said teasingly, trying to wrap his head around what Oak said. He and Victoria had a…strange relationship. He knew she didn't hate him or anything, but he also didn't think she liked him enough to be his sponsor. In fact, he still had bruises from their last "sparring" session.

"You certainly annoy her!" Oak laughed. "But she likes your game of hide-and-seek far more than she lets on, I assure you." Leo frowned and leaned back in his chair, wondering why Oak wasn't sponsoring him while Victoria was. He knew that Oak didn't approve of the Youngster License, and the man had already done so much for him, but…The answer struck Leo like a ton of bricks, and he sighed, shoving away Santiago's head as he vied for Leo's attention.

"You're not sponsoring me because of politics, aren't you? I think I heard that the Youngster License is set to being abolished at the end of the year or something. It'd be pretty bad if you, a staunch anti-Youngster, was seen supporting me." Leo reasoned out. Victoria was a lot less restricted that Oak in that regard. Heck, he wasn't even sure where she stood on anything regarding politics – she stayed right out of most of it.

"Knew you'd get it. It's the price of being high-profile, though I still think it foolish to send you off now instead of waiting a few more years. I wanted to try to keep you here, but Victoria has no such qualms. Perhaps it is her upbringing – she was practically raised in Alola. The islands are far safer and friendlier than Kanto," Oak mused. Leo just raised his eyebrows at him, unsurprised by the Professor's admission. He was half-expecting another attempt to get him to stay, but he was getting too antsy for that. His wanderlust had been ignited in the past month or two - he needed to go explore with a passion he hadn't felt in a while.

"I suppose I owe her a thank you, then," Leo said. Oak nodded.

"I suppose," Oak said, then, after a brief pause, continued. "This does mean you will not be receiving a starter from me – not that you qualified for a Kanto starter regardless," Leo nodded, idly touching his shoulder where he had been burned from his last encounter with one of the Kanto starters. That charmander never did like him much, and it had made its displeasure known that day.

"Can't say I'm not unhappy at not having to walk away with a charmander," Leo said dryly, masking his disappointment with the joke. Don't get him wrong, he would've loved to have a charizard on his future team, but…well, he wanted to get a bit of experience training less dangerous pokemon first. Like blastoise or venusaur.

And yet my first priority upon getting my license is to go catch a larvitar. You just keep telling yourself that about a charmander, Leo. Leo thought to himself, smiling wryly and standing up.

"I guess I'll get going then, unless there's something else you want to talk about. I've got a week to get everything ready, right?" Leo asked, and Oak nodded. "C'mon, Santiago," the slowpoke looked up at him with unblinking eyes, and he sighed, recalling him into his pokeball when he showed no sign of movement. Like he said; spoiled.

The next week flew by, with Leo making all the necessary preparations. Namely this just meant making sure he had supplies, as the true "trainer" items, like pokeballs, an actual license, and a pokedex – the second generation of which was slated to come out around spring – would be given out the day he started his journey. Oak had barely managed to get the first gen dex completed in time for Daisy Oak's journey to start, and it was by far the man's most successful invention. Already other regions were scrambling to copy it, which Oak happily complied to help with so long as everyone could come together to form a National PokeDex. He was struggling with that last bit due to politics.

That left Leo with a backpack, extra clothes, a tarp, a sleeping bag, the survival kit he had put together, and a few cooking utensils. With room for food. It was actually a little annoying, there weren't any hammer space bags that Leo knew of, which meant he had to lug everything around. That got real heavy, real quick, especially for his stupid now-twelve-year-old body, so he packed light.

He also had his route to plan out, which was a bit more complex. As a Youngster he had to stick to the designated Routes – which wasn't going to happen, Leo was already planning ways to give the rangers who patrolled said Routes the slip – but more importantly Leo didn't know which way to go. He wanted to go to the Silver Mountains first thing, but there were…issues with that. Did he travel a bit first, and then try to go catch a larvitar? Build up a team so he wasn't completely helpless against tyranitar in case he pissed one off? Or did he just go for broke, because he knew Tyrus and Longinus were in the area? Longinus, Archibald's slowking, at least was reasonable and might point him in the right direction. It was Tyrus Leo was worried about.

On the day of the official start of the League, Leo made his decision.

"I think I need to catch at least one more reliable pokemon before going larvitar hunting," he muttered, sitting on the grass outside Professor Oak's lab, waiting for his license. The rumbling sounds of conversation echoed from the back of the lab, where Oak was handing out pokemon to the few kids in Pallet now old enough to start their journeys. For the most part he handed out basic pokemon; oddish, poliwag, and even the occasional growlithe. They were easily trainable pokemon, whose evolutions could still be powerful in their own right, but were also relatively common.

But every year he did hand out the three Kanto starters as prizes for some of the best-testing trainers in the entire region. One had to apply for them, undergo an intense screening process, and even then only three prospective people were chosen to receive one of the Starters as a beginning pokemon. It gave Leo a lot of questions actually. Did Ash Ketchum actually pass that test and was just late to receiving the starters, or did he fail out of it? The latter made more sense logically speaking, but Leo wasn't sure. He didn't think you could be late to receiving a starter unless it was by days.

Sounds of cheering resounded out from behind the lab, startling both Leo and the few spearow perched on the edge of the plain building. He listened hard for a moment, then shrugged and flopped onto the ground, petting Santiago idly as he watched the clouds.

He would've already left, his supplies all packed in the backpack that sat next to him, it was just a matter of actually receiving his training license now. Victoria supposedly had that, but he hadn't seen her all week. She wasn't on an assignment for the League, Oak had made that clear, but he was getting anxious.

It was already almost noon…he wanted to hit the road as soon as possible.

"Calm yourself, she will be here soon," Merri said, popping into existence next to Leo. The alakazam peered down at him where lay on the soft grass, stroking her moustache and nodding. "I would agree with you in your assessment that finding another team member before hunting for a larvitar is the best course of action. Santiago has come far in these past few months, but he is no match for a tyranitar," she mused, her voice taking on a feminine edge in Leo's mind.

Leo found giving her a distinct voice made figuring out what was her telepathy and what was his own thoughts easier. Though it wasn't actually her voice, just Leo's mental representation of it…psychics were weird.

"Mm. Hey, think any of the abra would want to come with me?" Leo asked, craning his neck to look up at Merri. A ghost of a smile twitched on Merri's lips, and she shook her head.

"Psychics, more than any other type, choose their own trainers – with exceptions among species, of course. None of my children desire to travel the world yet. They all inherited my own flightiness, I am afraid. I tried to teleport away from Oak for the first three weeks of knowing him, after all," Alakazam chuckled, passing along a few images of escape over their psychic connection. Leo smiled, but couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at that. An abra would be a great help in traversing the wilds. Namely for their teleport abilities. Teleport would be invaluable for getting out of danger, not to mention that their species were unnaturally adept at sensing said danger.

Oh well. He'd figure things out eventually. Planning ahead wasn't his strong suit anyway, beyond broad goals. Like surviving, or catching a larvitar.

The next few minutes were spent in discussion with Merri, the alakazam giving him a few more tips on training a psychic type, even if it was mostly a moot point. Santiago hated training – oh, Leo could convince him to do it, and they'd worked on a little bit while at the ranch, but he was notoriously stubborn about actually training. Sure, he would battle, but train in the typical sense? As in, honing accuracy and improving power and all that? Not so much.

"I believe I have worn out my welcome though. You have visitors," Merri said abruptly, cutting Leo off mid-thought as her face scrunched up into what Leo recognized as discomfort. Then she poppedout of existence with a teleport, leaving Leo bewildered. He found out why she had left five seconds later, when familiar, childish screams reached his ears.

A mop of blonde hair came tearing up the hill towards Leo, followed closely by a head of spikey black hair, and he braced himself for impact, having barely enough time before Gary Oak came crashing down upon him in a tidal wave of ten-year-old energy. Ash Ketchum followed shortly after, shouting "dog pile!"

"LEO! I heard from Gramps you're going on your journey today!" Gary screeched in his ear. Leo winced and twisted himself out of Gary's grasp, dancing away from the two menaces as they looked up at him from their pile on the ground. What was it Merri had said to Leo about not liking Gary? Something about his mind being too loud?

"How come you're leaving so early?! Aren't you too young?" Ash asked, falling limply on the ground as Gary pulled himself out from beneath him. Leo nodded and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, I am. Just need my license. And it's because I'm a special case, Ash." Leo said, shrugging. Gary frowned at him, crossing his arms and pouting.

"And you were going to leave without saying goodbye, weren't you?" He demanded. Leo laughed and shook his head, ruffling Gary's hair and grinning wickedly.

"Of course not. But I did want to get my license first," Leo said. Gary huffed and crossed his arms, clearly still miffed that he was leaving on his journey so early, and Leo grinned evilly. "Don't worry, I'll come back and say hi once I become Champion," he teased. Leo didn't actually have plans to become champion at the moment, but saying that did tend to aggravate Gary.

"It'll be a short reign. I'll take that title from you," Gary said firmly, and Leo's grin widened. The kid had fire, behind all that sass.

"And I'll become a pokemon master!" Ash chimed in, forcing Leo to ruffle his hair, too.

"Well, I look forward to it. Now I've got an idea – there's some time yet for me to kill, so I figured, why not play a little game?" Leo asked, voice taking on a dangerous edge. Gary groaned and started inching away, Ash all but vibrating in place as he, too started to back off. "It's called, 'ESCAPE THE TICKLE MONSTER!'" Leo howled, tearing off after the two kids as they darted down the hill, screaming in childish excitement.

And that's how Victoria found Leo, chasing around two little kids, dragging them to the ground where he'd tickle them without mercy or remorse, leaving them breathless until they found the energy to move again.

"Kid, get over here," Victoria called, catching Leo's attention. He froze in his assault on Ash, the kid squirming out of his grasp like a slippery eel and dashing up the hill, laughing breathlessly.

"Victoria," Leo said, feigning calm as he caught his breath, standing and moving over to where Victoria stood next to her dodrio, Bran, at the base of the hill the pokemon lab was built on. The three-headed avian eyed him with one head, the other two idly bickering with each other, beaks snapping. Victoria herself looked fairly travel-worn, with dust and dirt smudged all over her face and travel gear, her hair tied up in a greasy ponytail. A perfectly ringed outline of dirt showed where her riding goggles sat over her eyes, something she wore whenever she went on long trips on the back of Bran. Her mouth stretched into a smile as Leo approached, a slightly dangerous expression that usually promised pain on Leo's end, but this time promised something else.

"Here's your license," she said simply, shoving a small metal credit-card-sized plaque into Leo's hands. He blinked and looked down at it, flipping the card over and over in his hands and scrutinizing it closely. His trainer ID number was there, the location of his hometown (labelled as Pallet, of course) as well as the region of issuance; Kanto/Johto. Technically they were two separate regions, but in practice they were the same. Same government, same League…yeah.

"Thanks, Victoria. I appreciate it, I really do," Leo said gratefully, shoving the license into his pocket. He wanted to say more, express how grateful he was that she finally helped convince Oak to let him go on a journey, but what she did next stopped him and put him on edge. She smirked and put one hand behind her back, immediately making Leo suspicious. She only did that when she was about to do something particularly evil…like that time she dumped a bucket of ice water on him, or hit him with a tree branch.

…the more he thought about it, the more Leo realized they had a weird relationship.

"That's not the best part. I know Uncle Samuel wouldn't let you have one of the Kanto starters, stingy that he is, so I took the liberty of scrounging something else up for you. If you're going to be travelling the region in my name, I might as well give you a leg up, huh? Can't have you making me look bad," Victoria said, producing a pokeball from behind her back. Leo blinked at her and stared in surprise at the pokeball, its bright red paint gleaming in the sun.

"What is it?" Gary asked from beside him, startling Leo. He hadn't heard him sneak up.

"Keep your grubby mitts off," Victoria snapped, smacking Gary's seeking hands away from the ball with her free hand. "Take it, Leo, before I'm forced to strangle the munchkin here," she said, glaring at Gary playfully. The blonde boy just giggled a little, backing off and looking ready to sprint in case Victoria gave chase.

"Um," Leo said, snagging the ball from her palm and rolling it about in his hands. Tentatively he pressed the middle button, enlarging it, and glanced at Victoria for confirmation. She made a 'go ahead' gesture and, taking a deep breath, Leo pressed the release mechanism.

"I kind of had to guess which one you'd want, but knowing you, figured this would be a good choice," Victoria explained as the blob of red poke-power coalesced into a tiny, blue-and-tan furred creature. Leo's breath caught in his throat as he examined the small, hedgehog-esque pokemon as it shook itself out, looking around curiously. Its eyes, which looked a little small for its rather large head, locked onto Leo and the two stared at each other for a moment. This was beyond what he had expected, to be honest. Mostly because he hadn't expected anything.

"A cyndaquil?" Gary asked, a touch of disappointment coloring his tone. "They're rare, but not used that often competitively. You could find a better fire type. There's a reason they're considered second-tier in comparison to the Kanto starters," Santiago apparently wasn't too impressed by the appearance of the cyndaquil either, if the way the slowpoke growled – a wet gurgling sound that was anything but intimidating – and eyed it was any indication.

"Be nice," Leo snapped, glaring at both offenders. Santiago didn't respond, but Gary held up his hands defensively while Ash, who had returned from fleeing, stared at cyndaquil star-struck.

"IT'S SO COOL!" he shouted, Leo wincing from the volume.

"How on earth did you get a cyndaquil?" Leo demanded, turning his attention back to Victoria, who was still grinning. From what he knew the Johto starters were as rare, if not rarer than the Kanto versions because they were less prized in competitive battling. Why use a typhlosion when charizard had air superiority? Or a meganium when venusaur had better typing and more potent status moves? Only feraligatr and blastoise were comparable, but because they were good at different things. Hence, the johto starters were usually given away as consolation prizes or something similar. Starters for those who hadn't made the cut for the Kanto starters; still good, but not as good.

"Professor Elm owes me a few favors, and he was all too happy to 'stick it to Oak,' as he put it, by giving his pupil a starter," Victoria said with a careless shrug. "From your expression though I think I guessed right. Didn't think totodile or chikorita were your speed,"

"His pupil?" Leo echoed, raising an eyebrow. Victoria rolled her eyes.

"Had to play to Elm's ego a little to convince him to let go of one of the Johto starters. And you are technically Samuel's pupil, having worked on his ranch and all. Don't let it get to your head though," Victoria said, making Leo laugh a little. The cyndaquil squeaked at his feet and Leo smiled down at it, bending over to rub its head. The short blue fur was soft and warm, and though the cyndaquil flinched away from the initial touch, it quickly leaned into Leo's ministrations.

"It's more than I expected," Leo said honestly, looking up at Victoria, who waved it off.

"Spare me the gratitude, I did it because I wanted to. And don't give me any of that 'you shouldn't have' crap either. Consider it a birthday present if you must," she said. "Don't think I forgot your birthday is on the equinox. I forgot last year, not this one," Leo laughed a little, having forgotten he had set his birthday as the spring equinox in this world. With a shake of his head he stood back up, scratching the back of his neck. Any words of gratitude died in his throat as he stood there, now fully prepared for his journey. He'd need to think of a name for cyndaquil sooner or later, but first he wanted to get going.

"Well, I guess this is it then. I don't want to stick around too much longer – or else Professor Oak will make me spend the night again," Leo said, prompting a sad, lonely look from Gary and a small smile from Victoria.

"Make sure you visit him before you go, either way. He may not be willing to publicly support you, but he will give you a pokedex. Much as I don't like them, they are useful tools. And one more thing," Victoria said, putting a hand on Leo's shoulder and leaning down to eye-level. "You and I both know you've been ready for your journey for a while, but don't get cocky, alright? You've got a good head on your shoulders and I'd hate to see it ruined by arrogance or stupidity," she said bluntly.

Leo smirked, brushing the praise off because, in truth, it was a little condescending considering he was much older than twelve. Of course he had a good head on his shoulders for being twelve. Still, he took it for what it was; praise.

"I can promise humility, but not intelligence. Being stupid is too much fun," Leo said, and Victoria laughed, clapping him on the shoulder and standing upright.

"Ain't that the truth! Get going, kid, before you decide to stick around," she said, spinning on her heel and getting back onto Bran's back, who squawked at her. "I'm going to go rest and take a shower, but I expect I'll see you again soon. Later, kid!" she said, and kicked her heels into Bran's side, the dodrio taking off at a sprint. Leo was silent for a moment, watching her go and only vaguely aware of the pestering questions of Gary and Ash, as well as the timid squeaks from the cyndaquil.

Fire burned in his chest, and a grin stretched across his face. Adventure awaited him, and he no longer had to ignore its call.

It took Leo a little bit longer than expected to get out of Pallet – thanks to Gary being a bit clingy and Professor Oak giving him a stern lecture about following rules of the Youngster License, officially transferring Santiago and the cyndaquil's pokeballs to him, giving him a few gifts such as pokemon food and a pokedex, gave a speech about using the pokedex, and assured him he could come back any time – but he still got out of there before four o'clock in the afternoon, so Leo considered that a win.

That did not mean, however, that Route One was very exciting either. Pidgey and spearow chirped in the trees as he trodded along, Zuko, his newly-dubbed cyndaquil, held in his arms so the two could bond a little. It was, in truth, a bit of a boring journey to Viridian City. Route One was heavily patrolled and kept clear of most dangerous pokemon, and it took Leo a good two days of trekking down the dirt road to get to Viridian. Granted, he had opted to take the scenic route rather than follow the paved road, but it was still a long journey. There weren't even any trainers for Leo to battle, though, unlike Santiago, Zuko took to training rather well.

He seemed good at following orders, though that made sense for a Professor-raised pokemon. Mostly Leo just worked the cyndaquil in circles, testing his stamina and fire-generating abilities before letting him rest. At night Leo spent at least a little bit of time looking up information on Oak's pokedex, the second generation device still being rather large and clunky-looking, but Leo couldn't deny its usefulness. He'd learned a lot about the cyndaquil line from the 'dex.

When he got to Viridian City, the large metropolis teeming with people and businesses, Leo's first instinct was to head back into the surrounding forest. But he resisted. Even Zuko shied away from the noise of the city, hiding behind Leo's legs at the sight of all the people. There weren't nearly as many automobiles as Leo was used to in his old world, most people opting to walk, use public transport, or ride on pokemon to get where they were going. It made sense, in a way, and saved Leo from having to dodge traffic every time he tried to cross a street.

"Better recall you, little guy," Leo murmured as he walked deeper into the city, recalling Zuko as he plodded through the suburbs. Even if Viridian was famously clear of crime thanks to Giovanni's presence, Leo knew better than to walk around with a rare pokemon like cyndaquil out. Perhaps especially because he knew better. That Giovanni could still cover his tracks despite Leo outing him to Professor Oak all that time ago spoke volumes of the man's skill and careful planning.

It nearly took him until nightfall to actually find the Viridian Pokemon Center – the official one, not the small clinics that dotted the city – despite the large, red-roofed building sticking out like a sore thumb amidst the rest of the tall, grey buildings. A large, park-like area covered in trees and bushes sat in front of the building and, as Leo crossed the street dodging cars and ridden pokemon alike, he noticed the presence of a couple battlefields set up alongside the Center. Trainers filled the fields, sunken into the ground as they were, shouting commands as pokemon of all stages of evolution duked it out in the single largest display of competitive battling Leo had ever seen. Live, anyway. He'd watched a few League matches on Oak's television.

He watched that for a little bit, admiring one trainer's butterfree in particular as it picked apart all comers with an astounding proficiency with powder moves – until a man with an arbok came along and smashed it into the ground. Satisfied, he headed into the Center to book a room for the night. It was early spring, and the air was getting chilly despite Leo's thin, mareep-wool jacket.

The sliding glass doors opened with a whoosh, warm air washing over Leo's chilled extremities and giving him another appreciation for civilization. He loved the wild, but things like heat and AC were a godsend.

Inside was busier than Leo expected, dozens of trainers of various ages milling about in the waiting room, lounging on chairs to watch one of the many TV's hanging from the wall or talking to their smaller pokemon companions. Three pink-haired Nurse Joys stood behind the counter on the far wall, pink blobs Leo recognized as chansey waddling around behind the counter, only the tops of their round heads visible.

Leo ducked beneath one trainer's zubat as it flitted about the room as he approached the counter, one Nurse looking up as he approached.

"Hello! I'm here to book a room," he said. She smiled at him as he pulled out his trainer ID card, handing it over before she could question his age. Her eyes narrowed at it for a moment, eyes locking onto the words "Youngster License" printed on the metal, then at Leo before she shook her head and handed it back.

"Alright sweetie, I'll get you a room. Do your pokemon need looking at?" she asked in a too-sweet voice, like she was talking to a much younger child. Leo ignored it and plucked his pokeballs from his belt, idly realizing he had yet to mark them so they were easily identifiable, and placed them on the counter.

"Please. The slowpoke's last checkup was a month ago, so he should be good, but I'm not too sure about the other," Leo explained. The Nurse smiled at him and passed a key over, Leo accepting it and pocketing it immediately.

"If all is well it should only be a few minutes until your pokemon are ready, until then please wait in the lobby, okay? And remember to turn in your key again after you've stayed the night. Hope you don't mind rooming with someone else, we're a little crowded at the moment," she explained slowly and carefully, making Leo smile wryly. He'd gotten used to being spoken to with at least some level of respect for his maturity, and this was…different. It wasn't even what she said, what she said was fine; it was how she said it.

"Thanks. I'll wait over there then," Leo said, accepting his ID once more and plopping down in one of the plastic chairs along the wall. He only had to wait a few minutes before he was approached by someone – a young man, probably eighteen or nineteen – with a patchy beard and messy brown hair. Leo watched him approach from the corner of his eye, more interested in the TV.

"Where you from, rookie?" The man asked immediately. Leo blinked away from the news station – it was an interview with the current Gym Leader of the Saffron City Gym, a fighting-type specialist with snow-white hair and a wrinkled, old face – and smiled at him. Immediately his eyes locked onto the Ranger badge pinned to the left breast pocket of his faux-leather jacket.

"Pallet Town. I'm Leo by the way, what's your name?" Leo responded politely.

"Richard. You a Youngster? Look a little young to be hanging out in a pokemon center." Richard said, crossing his arms and smiling tightly. Leo laughed.

"Do I? Probably do. But I suppose you could say I am – just a little early though. Couldn't wait the last few months to start my journey, and passed the Youngster and official trainer exam," Leo lied smoothly, implying that he might be a bit older than he looked, and that he didn't have far to go until he was fourteen. Joke's on you, I'm actually twenty-five by now. He thought to himself. Richard visibly relaxed upon Leo's admission, his smile loosening up a bit.

Being a Youngster is more frowned upon than I thought. Guess there's a reason the bill will be repealed by the end of the year. Leo thought to himself. The comm dinged on then, announcing that Leo's pokemon were done, and he stood.

"Gotta go get my pokemon," he said, dipping his head to Richard.

"Ah, hold on a sec. You just started your journey recently, right?" Richard asked.

"Two days ago. That's how long it took me to get here from Pallet," Leo answered.

"Have you done much battling yet? I've got a new teammate that hatched recently; just got into training two weeks ago. Care to see how you match up?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Leo considered this for a moment. He hadn't had an official battle yet, just some mock-battles with Santiago against other pokemon, but it wasn't the same as real battling from what Oak and Victoria told him, nor from the stories Daisy told when she called back.

Speaking of, he wondered how she was doing? Last he heard she'd finally gotten her fifth badge after only a year of training. Quite the feat, from what he knew.

Leo banished those thoughts from his head and refocused on what was in front of him. "Sounds like fun," he said with a grin.

Leo stood across from Richard in the well-lit arena, spotlights illuminating the packed-dirt field. The two trainers stood on small, metal platforms that stood a good five feet above the field itself, a safety measure so most attacks wouldn't hit trainers – assuming the fighting was limited to the ground. Low concrete walls surrounded the arena, and despite the sun having gone down a few minutes ago a few people were still watching the battle from the metal bleachers on the right side.

It was to be a two-on-two battle, so Leo could test out both of his pokemon in battle. Zuko would, of course, go up against Richard's newest member, while Santiago would take on one of his older teammates.

Richard grinned at Leo and held up a purple ball.

"Ready? We'll release at the same time. Three, two, one, release!" he called, and tossed the greatball onto the field. Leo pressed the release button on his own pokeball, the device not needing to be thrown as it had a point-and-release function, masking his nervousness behind a mask of calm as Zuko appeared on the field with a shake of his head and a tiny cry from the fire-type. On Richard's side of the field a small blue elephant appeared, trumpeting happily and prancing about.

"We're going to battle, Zuko. Let's see what you can do, ok buddy?" Leo called with confidence he didn't quite feel. If he remembered right that other pokemon was a phanpy, a ground type. Had no idea what its move-pool was, but he was nervous. This was his first battle.

Zuko, on the other hand, growled in determination, fixing his attention on the rambunctious phanpy, the little red dots on his back sparking with fire.

"A cyndaquil?" Richard asked, raising an eyebrow. Leo shrugged, hiding his sweating palms and the tiny bit of pride he felt at Richard's surprised expression.

"I did good enough on the tests to receive one," Leo said back.

"Right. Well, start off with tackle!" Richard snapped. The phanpy immediately halted its exuberant dancing and charged Zuko with surprising speed, kicking up dust as it bore down on the smaller cyndaquil. Leo hesitated for just a moment, indecision wracking him, but he swiftly cast that aside.

"Evade!" Leo called, "evade" being one of their set orders for a move. Zuko belched out a thin screen of black smoke as he dashed to the side, a blur of blue and tan as he ran on all fours, trailing the smoke out of his mouth. It wasn't a perfect smokescreen, just the beginnings of the move, but it was enough to confuse the young phanpy. "Ember," Leo ordered. Immediately after Zuko belched small balls of flame, the fire pelting phanpy's side as it searched wildly for Zuko in the smoke.

A yelp of surprise and pain came from the phanpy and Leo winced, his heart clenching at the sound. He knew that pokemon battles were essential in this world, and had seen his fair share by now, but being in a battle and watching them were two different things.

"To your right! Good, now rollout," Richard called, his voice exceedingly calm as he pointed Zuko out to the phanpy.

"Dodge and ember, keep it up" Leo responded, watching as phanpy trumpeted and curled into a ball, bearing down on Zuko with far greater speed this time. He leapt out of the way faithfully, the spots on his back glowing a dull red as he opened his mouth and unleashed another, unfocussed barrage of embers. Only a quarter of the small fireballs hit their mark, making no noticeable difference this time as the phanpy continued around the arena with increasing speed.

This same sort of scenario continued for a few rounds, Richard calling out Zuko's position with simple, abbreviated commands and phanpy charging, getting closer and closer to Zuko every time, while he retaliated with ember attacks. The cyndaquil was panting from the exertion, not yet having the stamina for an extended battle like this. Phanpy, however, showed no signs of tiring or slowing down, curled into a rollout ball though he was. Leo frowned slightly, trying to think of a way out of the situation and letting Zuko battle autonomously when suddenly everything was flipped on its head.

"Ancient power!" Richard called firmly. The phanpy stumbled as it came out of its rollout, nearly falling over as it skidded to a halt.

"Evade!" Leo responded, and Zuko spit out more of the black smoke, but it was far thinner now. Not even enough to fully obscure him. And certainly not enough to throw off phanpy's aim as it summoned ghostly chunks of rock out of thin air and hurled them at Zuko. "No!" There was nothing he could do, though, as the cyndaquil dodged the first rock but failed to see the second, allowing a clean hit. The ghostly rock shattered upon impact and sent Zuko sprawling, the phanpy trumpeting a victory cry and charging in.

Leo leaned forward and gripped the railing of the platform, palming Zuko's pokeball even as he stood up, firing another ember into phanpy's face, his back flaring up with fire right as it crashed into him. The phanpy knocked Zuko out, but cried out in distress when it stuck its face into Zuko's back fire, singing its trunk and making it stumble backwards. Leo hastily recalled the cyndaquil, gripping his pokeball in a white-knuckle grip. That had been better than he expected, but not what he wanted.

Battling was intense, and despite the cool night air Leo felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck.

"Good job, Zuko," Leo murmured almost as an afterthought, watching the phanpy as it tossed its head and tried its hardest to look fierce. It was still just a baby elephant though, so despite the beat-down it had given Zuko Leo couldn't help but find it a little cute.

"Mind if I keep Oli here out? I want him to get as much practice battling as I can," Richard said. Leo paused, considering this.

"I mean, yeah, but I would suggest switching out. This next one I've raised since he was three months old," Leo tried to warn. Richard waved it off and, with a sigh, Leo palmed Santiago's pokeball, pressing the release button.

When the pink pokemon appeared on the field, flopping down on his belly with a huff as he gazed dopily around the arena, Leo suddenly realized just how big he had gotten. Whereas he used to be the size of the phanpy, smaller even, now he was at least two and a half times bigger – wider, longer, and bulkier.

"Alright, Oli, start things off with a rollout!" Richard called. Leo didn't bother giving Santiago a command – he wouldn't listen anyway. So instead he watched with morbid curiosity as the phanpy bore down on Santiago, picking up speed once more as it curled into a ball. Santiago lazily turned his head to face Oli, ever so slightly pointing his muzzle towards the ground just in time for the phanpy to roll full-steam into his skull – only to be launched skyward by the impromptu ramp the dense slowpoke had made with his own body.

Richard cried out in shock and Leo's eyes widened as Santiago leapt up with surprising speed, spinning around and blasting his opponent with a pinpoint jet of water the moment his opponent hit the ground. Leo winced as the phanpy crashed into the wall, unmoving.

"Return, good work Oli," Richard said, surprise coloring his voice. He eyed Leo closer then, taking a good look at Santiago. "Y'know, that was a pretty well thought out thing to do. I'm honestly surprised you've trained your slowpoke that well, they're notoriously difficult to train,"

"He's impossible to train. I've had him for nearly two years now and I still haven't gotten a completely successful training session out of him. But he loves to battle," Leo said with a long-suffering sigh. Santiago was a bloody natural at battling, though it might have more to do with him hanging around the growlithe for too long – the fire-puppies play fought incessantly, which Santiago got into far too often – than anything else.

"Huh. I'll keep that in mind," Richard said slowly, reaching for his next pokeball. "Either way, let's get on with the battle," he said and, without warning, released his next pokemon.

The golbat winged through the air with a furious screech, its too-big mouth opening wide and revealing its gleaming fangs. Leo winced slightly and Santiago whimpered, burying its forehead into the ground and rubbing it against the dirt. Pain finally kicking in, huh? That's what you get for taking a rollout head on. Leo thought, but didn't say.

"Santiago, you need to listen to me a little on this one," Leo warned, watching the golbat as it winged through the night sky. It was almost impossible to keep track of in the dark, and near silent in its flight.

"Three, two, one…begin! Mega drain," Richard called, and Leo cursed silently.

"Water gun!" Leo ordered and Santiago complied, firing a jet of water into the air harmlessly as the golbat winged around the other side, sinking its fangs into his side. A green energy enveloped the slowpoke, though he didn't make a sound as he promptly fell onto his side and squished the golbat before rolling off. The golbat shrieked indignantly and hopped to its feet, baring its fangs angrily only to receive a water gun to the face in response.

"Quit taunting it – drain it," Richard ordered. The golbat winged into the air in a burst of speed, vanishing for a split second before reappearing behind Santiago, sinking its fangs into the fleshy, nerve-less tail. He didn't even appear to notice the golbat's presence, his head swiveling around and searching the sky for threats.

"Santi! Fish!" Leo roared, the slowpoke immediately reacting, swinging his tail violently around and twisting his whole body up in a suplex-esque slam, swinging the golbat up and over his body to smash into the ground. Santiago lay on his back and golbat groaned as it let go of his tail. "Pin it!" Leo ordered, desperation seizing his body as a chance of winning showed itself. If they could keep the golbat out of the air, then –

Golbat shrieked and spat a blob of poison in Santiago's face, winging up into the air and proceeding to rain attacks down onto the slowpoke from a distance. Air slashes, swifts, and blobs of poisoned rained down on the practically immobile Santiago, and though he tried to retaliate with a water gun or two, Leo quickly realized they were fighting a losing battle. So, with a sigh, he recalled his pokemon and waved at Richard, who waved back and held out an arm for golbat to land on, the bat looking none the worse for wear.

Leo walked down the steps calmly, forcing his heartrate down and trying his hardest to not just run to the Nurse and give her his pokemon. That had been…something. Far more thrilling than Leo had thought it would be, but different too. Different how, he wasn't sure.

"Hey, that was a good battle kid," Richard said, extending his free hand for Leo to shake as he approached, having descended from his own perch in the arena. Muted applause came from the audience, and Leo shook Richard's hand with a smile. The golbat hissed at him, though Leo ignored it as Richard recalled the bat. "Much better than I was expecting. Your pokemon are young, but so are you so I'm sure you'll get better. That slowpoke was a surprise for sure, I wasn't expecting it to be so vicious. Lacked the power to actually do solid damage to Bats, but still,"

"Thanks. I'm going to go get my pokemon healed now though," Leo said, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet. Richard stopped him.

"Don't worry about it, I'm not mean enough to take cash from a rookie. C'mon, I'll walk you to the Center," Richard said. Leo nodded and, after a moment of walking in silence, started drilling the boy with questions which he answered all too happily, seemingly enjoying the chance to teach someone else.

Leo took it as the gift it was, and that ended up being how he spent the rest of the night. Listening to Richard regale him with stories of his own journey, and his days as a ranger. It was, in all, a good start to his journey and after calling Pallet Town on the Center video phones to ensure Professor Oak he got to Viridian safely, he fell asleep feeling satisfied and excited for the future.

10

Leo spent the next three weeks in Viridian, battling trainers around the city – specifically around the Center and the Gym. He found that most of the more competitive battlers hung around those areas, with casual trainers battling in the city-sanctioned arenas. Just to see what it was like, Leo did spend some time in the casual arenas mucking about, but it wasn't quite the same as when he battled competitively.

He never got that nervous rush like he did with his first battle when battling against the casual trainers – maybe it was the impression that the battle actually meant something when going against the competitive trainers that made Leo more jittery. Whatever it was, Leo knew he didn't like it, so he battled as much as he could to both train his pokemon and to get those jitters out of the way. Which he did, eventually. It just took a little bit of time.

Thankfully the veteran trainers around the area were more than willing to help him out. Like Leo had assumed and the games led him to believe, Giovanni's Gym was considered the gateway to the pokemon league. It was the last gym to battle before Victory Road, the titular Eighth badge that, while it could be avoided by going to a lesser gym, was a sign of a "true competitor" the receive. It was also the only gym besides the Blackthorn gym that could only be challenged after a trainer got seven other badges. In other words, only the most ambitious and most powerful gathered to challenge the Viridian Gym. But even veterans such as those challenging the Viridian Gym had new teammates that needed training up.

The skill level varied greatly, sometimes when Leo challenged them he'd be facing barely-into-training pokemon like Richard's phanpy had been, and sometimes he'd be facing team members that were much stronger but not yet up to snuff. He still lost more often than not – far more often than not, his win loss ratio was abysmal – but thankfully money was basically a non-issue, especially since most of the battles were considered off-record. (A seven-badge trainer challenging and beating a rookie? That looks like bullying on paper.) Pokemon Centers let trainers dorm with them for a set amount of time every month for free, and Victoria had set up a small weekly fund for basic necessities for Leo and his team, such as food. So, with immediate needs and concerns out of the way, he dedicated himself to training with the older trainers.

He preferred the company of the older trainers compared to the young ones anyway. The emotional maturity gap was what really got to Leo – rookie trainers were just not as interesting or engaging to be around. They could be, but most weren't.

That wasn't to say that all the veterans helped him. Most really only "helped" by giving Leo experience battling, and the famous and really powerful trainers didn't even give him the time of day. But the older guys? The retiree's and the ones who had been training for twenty-plus years? They were a wealth of knowledge, and once Leo displayed his willingness to actually listen to them, they started to give a bit more than he asked. It was…eye opening.

At the same time though, he didn't understand how strange his approach to training was until Richard, who he'd been hanging out with from time to time since their battle, pointed it out to him.

"I wish I would've done what you are when I was just starting out," Richard lamented, gazing wistfully at the ceiling as the two sat in the Viridian Ranger Base, situated in one of the skyscrapers that made up Viridian's downtown area. It was the base of operations for the entire Viridian territory, or so Leo was told.

"What am I doing?" Leo asked, brushing Zuko's soft, short fur with a fine-toothed comb. The little fire type dozed happily under his ministrations, his unnaturally high body-heat soaking into Leo's legs but never getting uncomfortable. It was almost like his jeans were in a perpetual state of coming fresh out of the drier, Leo mused. Or at least, the part Zuko was sitting on was.

"Battling the veterans. The seven-badge trainers, the old guys who don't have their full teams anymore but have all the skills they did when they were younger. I learned too late that trying to do everything on your own was…inefficient," Richard said, kicking his feet up onto the glass coffee table and leaning back even further on the leather couch.

"Huh," Leo said eloquently, raising an eyebrow at Richard. He paused in his brushing, which disturbed Zuko and prompted him to nudge Leo's hand with his snout, urging him to get back to brushing. "But didn't you learn a lot about battling in school or something?"

"Yeah, and I learned a lot from my dad too. He got six badges before he quit the circuit. But, y'know, there's just this thing among our generation. It's that whole 'gotta do it myself' stigma. Traditionally, taking a journey is supposed to be a coming-of-age thing. You're supposed to do it yourself, but I feel kids our age have it worse. No one asks for help, and unless it's a gym leader talking, we never take advice," Richard lamented.

"Seems like a normal teenager to me," Leo muttered, remembering his own teenage years.

"Maybe," Richard said with a shrug, and Leo refocused on Zuko, who squeaked in happiness when he scratched his head. Richard could be onto something though. Daisy, for example, hardly ever called Professor Oak for anything. Leo on the other hand? The man was a wealth of knowledge, and if he ever wanted a second opinion on something he'd learned, he'd call the man and double check it.

Case in point, three days ago he'd battled against a retired trainer's slowbro with Santiago. Leo lost, of course, but the man had given him a lot of advice on how to train slowpoke and slowbro – which Leo had fact-checked with Oak, who just shrugged and said "probably. I've never personally trained a slowpoke, but it falls in line with what I do know."

"So what's your plan now? You can't just stick around Viridian forever you know," Richard said.

"Probably head down route twenty-two, follow it to the League Gates. I'd like to see them before I really start my journey," Leo said, setting down his brush and scratching behind Zuko's ears. They were small things, almost invisible on his head, and he let out a huff of contentment as he lay there.

"Aaah, going to go see the goal, eh?" Richard said with a wink. "Can't say I blame you. Every trainer should start off their journey with seeing the gates to Victory Road, it's just…an experience," he said wistfully, eyes growing distant. Leo nodded but didn't comment. After all, his reason for heading down route twenty-two was a bit different.

Namely, it led close to Mt. Silver. As a Youngster he wasn't technically allowed to go all the way to the Gates, as the route started to get too rough and wild, but all Leo was looking for was a bit of a head start before someone came looking for him. His goal was a larvitar after all, and though he could head to Mount Moon to try and find one – the presence of a tyranitar hadn't been confirmed there but from all the research Leo had done he would swear one used to live on the mountain – he knew there was a tyranitar in the Silver Mountains.

"Yeah, I'll probably leave tomorrow. Santiago's still sore over his last battle, and I want him fresh when I hit the road." Leo reasoned.

"Good idea. Wish I could come with you honestly. I love the rangers, I do, but sometimes I wish I hadn't given up my journey midway through. Only got to my third badge, did you know that? Then I joined the rangers. On my next vacation I might go and challenge a gym, get myself a fourth or even fifth badge. My team's more than strong enough for it, and it might make my next promotion easier," Richard said.

Leo smiled and nodded along, content to just listen as Richard jabbered away, launching into tales of his journey in much the same way the old men that hung around the Viridian Gym, complaining about the quality of trainers these days, did. Zuko whined and nudged Leo's hand, having fallen still as he listened to Richard. Leo chuckled at the needy pokemon and massaged his head with his fingers.

He had been expecting a pokemon with a lot more spunk as a fire type, but instead he got the equivalent of a lap dog without a mean bone in its body. Outside of battling, anyway. Still, Leo thought, running his hands through Zuko's fur. This is nice too.

Route twenty-two was very different from what Leo remembered from the games, and he wasn't sure it ever showed up in the anime. Though that was true of many things, so Leo wasn't sure his surprise at the Route was very valid. For one, as he followed the river upstream into the mountains – it turned south sometime just before Viridian and ran down through Pallet to the sea – there was an actual road to follow. Like, laid with bricks and well-kept. Sure, some pokemon roamed the lightly forested area close to the route, but it was maintained well enough that people could drive on it for miles. About a day and a half of walking from Vermillion, only half a day into the Silver Mountains, Leo passed through the same little town Victoria had first brought him to.

It was the last piece of civilization he would see besides the Gates and the cabin, and Leo couldn't wait. Even as he sped through the town (not wanting to be recognized by anyone, just to be on the safe side) he could feel anticipation bubbling up in his chest, urging him onward, further into the mountains. He was so excited, even, that as he followed the swiftly narrowing road – going from paved, to dirt, to a barely marked trail in the span of a few short hours – he almost missed the turn to the Gates, leading north towards the Indigo Plateau.

He paused for a brief moment, contemplating the idea of heading up there to see the gates. He had said he would, but he also didn't want to risk running into anyone that would ask for his Trainer ID. Already he was in a forbidden area for Youngsters, though it could be excusable for ignorance. Any further, on the other hand, was willful negligence of the rules. Not that Leo cared much, but still.

Fluffy white clouds drifted overhead and a cool breeze chilled Leo as he stood at the intersection, looking up north where the path wound its way up a mountain, disappearing between boulders and beneath the shadows of the mountains. He shifted his gaze west then, upriver to where knew what awaited him – a month-long trek, perhaps longer due to it being uphill this time, and at least two Champion-level pokemon. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, placing his hands over the two pokeballs at his waist. He'd let them out soon enough but…this was his step to take. And he wanted to take it in the silence of being alone.

He had his supplies. During his time at Oak's ranch, he had honed his skills. And, despite all the warnings that had been given to him about re-entering the Silver Mountains, it being considered a zone exclusively for six-badge trainers or higher, preferably higher, Leo was ready.

He had a larvitar to find, and so he marched westward, vanishing into the wild.

Leo shuddered as he lay in the small, one-person tent he had picked up in Viridian, huddled in his sleeping bag with his arms wrapped around Zuko, the fire-type's innate high-temperature providing much needed heat as the wind whipped and howled outside. The spring snow pounded on the tent fabric, and Santiago crooned pitifully as the slowpoke shifted inside the tent, his bulk crowding Leo even as he curled up as small as he could inside his sleeping bag. Zuko whined pitifully, not from the cold temperature, but because he didn't like the confined space.

"Sorry buddy, but I want to conserve heat," Leo whispered, trying hard to keep his teeth from chattering as he buried his head in the sleeping bag. Even fully clothed he was feeling too cold – the wind earlier had pierced right through his jacket, even if it was much warmer in the tent. Zuko's small eyes blinked at him, and though he huffed and squirmed a bit, he stayed put.

"Slooow," Santiago called grumpily, butting his head against a drift of snow piling up outside the tent. Leo reached out with one gloved hand and smacked him.

"Knock it off, butthead. Don't go collapsing the tent, I just barely got it up in time," Leo groused. Santiago grunted but didn't react, dull eyes still fixated on the snow falling outside the tent, only barely visible through the thin fabric.

Leo sighed. Only a week into the journey upriver and already his luck was infinitely worse than it had been that first year. Apparently, it had been a very mild spring, because this? This crazy spring snow came out of freaking nowhere and blindsided Leo. One moment it had been sunny, there was still two hours to sunset, and then storm clouds had rolled in. Leo barely had enough time to set up his small tent before snow was falling.

"Bloody snow. I love snow, but not right now," Leo grumbled, shivering as he practically felt the temperature drop. Santiago huffed, his breath coming out in a puff of white, and stood, staring at the zipped-up entrance to the tent. "What are you doing? Sit down, it's still plenty warm in the tent and I'm not opening the door to let it out," he said firmly, reaching out of his bag and putting a hand on Santiago's haunches, trying to force him to sit.

Zuko whined, Santiago growled, and suddenly there was a knock on the tent door. Leo froze, head whipping to the shadow hovering just outside the fabric of the tent.

But it had just been a trick of the light, shadows dancing in the corner of his vision. Leo let out a sigh, cursing his mind for playing tricks and his pokemon for acting strange – a giggle froze Leo once more, and he dared not move. Once more there was a knock on the tent, a soft tap, tap, tap, that came with the appearance of something outside. It was still day, after all, and the dim light that the cloud cover allowed through let Leo see through the thin fabric. It was thin and long, floating in midair and never sitting still as it paced outside the tent.

The creature giggled once again, vanishing alongside a gust of wind, only to reappear on the opposite side of the tent and knock. Leo's breath hitched and he prayed to everything holy that this was a friendly pokemon.

The shivers that ran down his spine just at seeing this creature's silhouette, however, told him otherwise. It drifted through the air outside Leo's tent, never fully taking shape, as if it was getting lost in the wind and snow. Haunting shrieks and eerie giggles echoed out through the forest, each noise making Leo's blood run cold.

It was a sight Leo was sure would haunt him, even as he pulled out his pokedex and powered it up, muting the speakers and recording the audio. Suddenly something heavy and wet slapped against the tent, forming a dark shadow on the wall before it was swept away by the wind. Another giggle, followed by another wet plop. Leo shivered as the temperature in the tent dropped several degrees, frost creeping up the walls. Fear spiked its way through his system as his mind sluggishly recognized this, white-hot adrenaline doing little to wake up his alarmingly sluggish mind. It's trying to freeze us. Leo realized, shaking his head to clear it.

Zuko whined and struggled its way out of Leo's stiff grip, sparks flaring from his back as it stood guard next to Santiago, steam rolling off of the little cyndaquil's body as it prepared to fight. But…he was right next to me. Why am I so cold? Leo wondered, working his fingers in an attempt to breathe life back into them. Their attacker giggled again, tapping on the tent once more, and Leo finally had enough.

"Stop," Leo croaked, struggling his way out of his sleeping bag. The giggling specter, fell silent as Leo spoke. "You're killing us," he said, glancing at his pokemon. Santiago was shivering a little, but otherwise seemed fine, and Zuko was glancing warily between Leo and the tent door, seemingly none the worse for wear. You're killing me. Leo amended quietly.

Silence reigned for a few moments longer, the temperature in the tent slowly dropping, when the knocks on the door repeated. This time, however, the silhouette that appeared alongside the knocks did not disappear, hovering just outside the tent.

It wants in. Leo realized, taking a deep breath of frigid air and nearly hacking his lungs up because of it. Santiago grumbled and butted his head against the tent wall, eyes flashing with the blue glow of psychic power. Leo shuddered and debated the merits of opening the door. There wasn't much choice though, despite the fire now roaring from Zuko's back, threatening to melt the tent, Leo would freeze to death before long if he didn't get this thing to stop whatever it was doing.

With a shaking hand – because of the cold, Leo told himself - he reached out, grabbed the zipper, and zipped down the front of the tent to see his aggressor.

It was darker than he had thought outside, the light he had mistaken for the sun replaced by blue and yellow witch light that danced in the air, floating between and through the pine trees of the forest. Fat, heavy snowflakes gently drifted to ground, whipped through the air by a fierce wind located only around the tent itself. The creature that floated in front of the tent, skin gleaming like a faceted diamond in the witch light, watched him with piercing blue eyes as it floated in the air. The red ribbon tied around its waist slowly fluttered in the breeze, the torn fabric dusted with frost and snow.

A froslass. It watched Leo as he crouched in the tent, shivering and shaking, and sucked in a deep breath as he slowly forced himself out of his little shelter, limbs aching as he moved and stood.

No warning was given when Santiago fired a jet of water at the pokemon, the froslass' body dissolving into a snowstorm when the water struck – only to reform not but a second later. Its eyes narrowed ever so slightly, a mirthless chuckle escaping its frozen, purple lips that would've sent shivers down Leo's spine were he not already shivering. As it were, he felt too cold to feel fear, and met the froslass' gaze without emotion.

"Are you finished?" he ground out through chattering teeth.

The froslass howled in response, eyes growing far too wide for its face and eerie shadows covering its body, the wind whipping forward with shards of ice forming around it, lancing forward with malicious intent. Leo would've died were it not for Zuko and Santiago. Psychic power enveloped the froslass, flickering weakly as a jet of water knocked the ice shards off course, while Zuko dashed forward through the snow to stand in front of Leo, steam roiling from the ground and air as fire blazed from his back, smoke curling from his mouth and nose and flames sparking from his paws. The froslass hesitated in the face of the fire-type, ignoring Santiago entirely.

"That is enough, froslass," Leo said firmly. The ice-type ghost hissed at him, white arms waving in the wind as it floated around Leo, looking him up and down. He watched the ghost out of the corner of his eyes, Zuko and Santiago growling at it and struggling to keep themselves between it and Leo. A wide grin split froslass face as suddenly it darted forward, forehead aiming for Leo's chest as it faded out of existence.

His sluggish mind instantly got an idea as to what the ghost was doing, and it filled him with righteous anger. His hands snapped out, palms open and slapped against the froslass' still solid forehead, shoving it away and preventing it from possessing him. The icy cold of the froslass' body instantly froze Leo's gloves, ice clinging to the fabric, but Leo didn't have time to care as he straightened his shoulders and met the shocked eyes of the ghost.

"YOU WILL NOT." He bellowed. The froslass spun through the air chased by balls of fire and a jet of water, the two attacks from Leo's pokemon slamming against it and obscuring it in a cloud of steam.

Almost immediately Leo felt better. The icy cold was no longer so oppressive, in fact the bone-deep chill seemed nothing more than a figment of his imagination as he straightened, his breath coming out in forceful, even puffs of white. The froslass rematerialized, watching Leo curiously even as the whipping winds around the tent vanished – allowing the snowflakes to gently and peacefully accumulate on the ground. An almost imperceptible glow appeared around the froslass' hands as Leo met the pokemon's eyes, and he nearly missed the way it twitched, and the chill suddenly returned.

Leo scowled and, without really knowing what he was doing, flicked his hands outward in a motion reminiscent of flicking off water droplets – simultaneously a shiver ran up his spine, feeling as if a giant strip of ooze was being peeled off of it. The cold vanished again, and Leo took a step forward.

"Do that again, I dare you," he challenged with a snarl, blood rushing to his head in a wave of heat, his fists clenching by his sides. When the froslass did not react, he continued. "If you try to possess me again, I swear to everything holy I will – I just, I'll…pain! I promise pain!" Leo ground out, coherent words not coming to him in his anger-addled mind. The froslass stared at him blankly, then shrieked, icy wind kicking up once more and blinding Leo for a brief second – a second in which the froslass vanished along with her witch lights, the floating balls vanishing like candles being snuffed.

Leo stood outside for a few moments, staring at the sky and letting his eyes adjust to the near blackness of the night. The trees creaked and groaned, snow fell, but the world was peaceful now. He huffed out a breath and looked down at his pokemon, who were still looking around warily. Then he examined himself, noticing that his gloves were not as frozen as he thought, and despite the dusting of frost on his hair and jacket, the froslass hadn't caused much damage with her ice attacks.

"Stupid ghost," Leo grumbled, climbing back into his tent and whistling sharply for his pokemon. Zuko immediately bounded in, curling against Leo's side and whimpering as he lay down, but Santiago took a bit more urging. The slowpoke eventually did amble back into the tent and flop down on the ground, allowing Leo to zip the entrance back up. And, for a moment, Leo just lay there until he remembered he had started recording with his pokedex.

He fumbled around in the dark for it for a second, the device having fallen off his sleeping back so the camera was, miraculously, facing the door. It had been recording video, apparently. Leo grumbled and pulled off one glove to thumb through the device as he wriggled down into his sleeping bag, after, of course, remembering to dust off the snow. A few minutes of perusing later, the screen hurting his eyes in the dark, Leo finally figured out the scan function and blinked in surprise at realizing it had scanned the froslass – just a little.

Not much was known about the ghost, apparently, as they were rare enough that few studies could be performed on them. Folklore was a major part of the entry – something about a young woman dying on a mountain during a snowstorm? Like he said, folklore. But what really caught Leo's eye was the two moves the pokedex had somehow managed to recognize. (How that worked Leo had no idea.) The witch light was will-o-wisp, and…Leo stared dumbly at the second move. It was the only thing Leo could think of that explained the sudden lack of cold, and the sudden changes in temperature surrounding the froslass.

"Confuse ray? Did that stupid ghost really confuse me?! How does that even work?!" But alas, there was no answer readily available to Leo, for knowledge about the effects of confuse ray was limited within the 'dex. Does that mean confuse ray is just as much about illusions than anything else? He mused. With gritted teeth and far too much grumbling Leo settled in for the night, and fell asleep a tad too quickly for someone who had just been attacked by a ghost.

It wasn't the scariest thing he'd seen in this world, after all. That title belonged to Victoria's persian.

The next few days Leo forged ever onward, undeterred by the spring snow. Well, not undeterred. He had debated the merits of continuing on despite the snow having hit, but the relatively warm weather and the way the snow quickly started to melt off cemented the idea of forging onward into Leo's head. Despite it being the mountains, the relatively low elevation and regional climate prevented winter from being too harsh or too long – discounting the intervention of articuno, of course. A far cry from his home mountains, where winter could last eight months and have far too much snow.

He continued to follow the river, growing increasingly aware that he had a follower. Santiago, who spent much of his time out of the pokeball swimming in the river alongside Leo, would occasionally pop his head out of the water and shoot a water gun at seemingly nothing, or perhaps a passing spearow or pidgey. Zuko, who often followed close to Leo's heels, only leaving to go sniff some edible plant that was only just starting to push out of the snow, would growl at shadows and fire bursts of flame at snow drifts, sending clouds of steam into the air.

It wasn't until a few days later that Leo finally caught sight of his follower as she darted through shadows – a glimmer of snow in an otherwise snow-free patch of land indicated that the froslass was following him. And from then on he continued to spot her as she tailed him, usually only catching a glimpse here or there and the occasional feeling of being watched as Leo sat by the fire at night. The gazes weren't malicious this time, however, merely curious. His instincts did not scream that he was being hunted here, and Leo tended to trust his instincts.

Still, it annoyed him to no end when he tried to lay down in his tent every night, to feel like something was watching you. Not even the constant presence of Zuko and Santiago could ward that off. And it wasn't like the pokedex was very helpful either – according to it, there had only been three known cases of a trainer having a froslass in the past two hundred years. Not even Agatha, the ghost-mistress herself, had one of the apparently fantastically rare and diabolically evil ghost types.

Because of course they were, and of course Leo had attracted one. Even if, again, this one didn't seem overly hostile anymore.

"You can come join me by the fire," Leo called into the darkness, as he had taken to doing in the past few days. It'd been a little over three weeks since he'd left the trail to the League Gates, and he'd finally gotten annoyed enough to start calling out to the froslass. The suspense was killing him; he just wanted to know what she wanted already.

He hadn't actually been expecting it to work, but a sudden chill ran up his spine and Leo turned around, meeting the icy-blue gaze of the froslass not inches from his face. He yelped and launched himself to the side, avoiding the fire and setting the ghost-type to cackling madly even as Zuko leapt to his feet from where he lay by the fire, charging with a war-cry and fire flaring from his back.

The froslass grinned, shadows stretching and dancing in the firelight as it vanished long before Zuko could crash into it. Leo sighed and dusted himself off, standing.

"Funny," he deadpanned, returning to his old position and flipping the two magikarp he was roasting over the fire. Courtesy of Santiago, of course, the slowpoke was living up to his namesake and could provide more than enough fish for himself, Leo, and Zuko, though the latter was omnivorous. That is, provided Leo occasionally warned him when there actually was a magikarp on his tail. He would forget sometimes.

From then on, the froslass took to harassing Leo. Making it snow even while it was sunny, chill the sleeping bag before he slipped into it, make shadows dance outside his tent at night, pop out of shadows to scare the living daylights out of him…oh yes, the ghost got plenty of opportunities to mess with Leo. It was only right that, a day after another light snowstorm left a dusting of snow on the ground, Leo got his chance at revenge.

He'd been playing around with a ball of snow, having collected it as he walked, and spotted froslass as she floated through the trees aimlessly. She seemed distracted, not really noticing Leo at all, and a thought came to mind that had Leo grinning manically. Crouching, he crept forward, froslass' back still turned to him as he approached, weaving through trees and carefully placing his steps so he didn't make too much noise until he was in range. Then he pulled back his arm, aimed, and threw his snowball as hard as he could.

He laughed triumphantly as it struck true, catching the froslass in the side. The ice-type whirled on him in surprise, eyes going wide and a terror-inducing shriek echoing through the river valley. A blast of frigid wind hit Leo, whipping his hair back and followed by a ball of hard ice that caught him in the stomach. His breath left his lungs and swirling nausea made him want to puke, sheer force of will being the only thing that kept his lunch down.

The froslass cackled evilly, vanishing into the shadows between trees with a haunting cry.

"Ok, note to self, don't try to start a snowball fight with a froslass," Leo wheezed, slowly standing. Luckily Zuko wasn't out, or else he'd be stuck putting out fires as the little fire-type tried to chase froslass. Again. For all he was quiet and calm most the time, Zuko sure didn't like froslass.

Leo sighed then and stood upright, wobbling through the trees as he continued on, still a little bit queasy.

It took Leo another week and a half to finally reach the site of Tyrus' nest, and when he did, he literally stumbled upon it. Nothing looked familiar to him at first, and when he stumbled through the trees to see Tyrus' mountain he understood why.

What had once been a half-destroyed mountain was nothing but a foothill and rubble, churned earth stretching far and wide away from the crater that was Tyrus' nest, the onix tunnels still visible despite the wanton destruction. Entire swaths of forest were blown down, trees pointing away from the mountain, branches still covered in green and brown needles. Boulders of all sizes littered the ground, and despite all this, Leo's eyes were drawn to something else entirely.

A hundred and fifty foot tall glacier loomed in the center of the crater, gleaming so brightly in the sunlight that Leo nearly had to avert his eyes. But his sheer incredulity won out, and he remained staring dumb-struck at the chaos.

"What in god's name happened here?!" he blurted out.

"Sloooow," Santiago answered, walking forward to chew on a bunch of pine needles.

"Can't be. There's no way a fight between Tyrus and articuno caused this when they'd been fighting for thirty-five years and only whittled the mountain down by half – and that's with the help of a ton of rampaging onix. It doesn't make sense," Leo reasoned, replying to Santiago more out of habit than anything. "C'mon, let's go. I want to get a closer look,"

Leo clambered over and around the fallen trees, eventually stopping to recall Santiago when the slowpoke got stuck, and releasing Zuko in his place. The much smaller pokemon had an easier time than Santiago, though he still struggled to get through some places and wound up clinging to Leo's shoulder with all his might. Eventually he did make it to the edge of the crater, which was thankfully clear of most was still mostly as Leo remembered, with the onix tunnels leading deep into the earth and the tell-tale scars of battle, albeit with a giant glacier and no mountain backing it up now. The small hill that had once been a mountainwas littered with craters and deep lines, snow still visible in the more shaded parts of the barren landscape.

"Froslass, if you can hear me, don't get too aggressive. You may very well end up challenging a tyranitar," Leo said aloud, not sure if the ghost type was around. He hadn't seen her in a few days, but better safe than sorry. He reached over his shoulder and peeled Zuko off his shoulder to set him on the ground before sliding down the crater side, wanting to get a better look at the glacier.

Zuko squeaked and scampered after him, narrowly avoiding falling down into a few of the onix tunnels. The glacier itself, Leo found, wasn't all that wide. Maybe fifty feet across as compared to its far larger height, and he closely examined it as he walked a circle around the object, narrowing his eyes at the stark white ice.

"What could you be?" he murmured, watching as Zuko curiously sniffed the object, sneezing a lick of flame when a piece of snow flew up his nose. It didn't even leave a mark. Could this be nevermeltice? Leo mused, pulling out his pokedex and trying to scan the object with it. It took a bit as Leo continued to slowly circle, eyes focused on the screen, until it finally pinged.

"Nevermeltice, a rare form of ice that is said to never melt except for under extreme circumstances. Formed in extremely cold areas in the presence of many ice-type pokemon, it has been shown to withstand temperatures exceeding three hundred and eighty degrees Fahrenheit before starting to melt, although records suggest a more powerful ice-type pokemon may be able to create stronger ice." The pokedex intoned in a dry, metallic voice.

"This is the first time I've actually used you to scan something, isn't it? Froslass doesn't count, it was unintentional. Should probably fix that…" Leo trailed off as he looked up, the sturdy device slipping from his hands and falling to the ground with a thud as his eyes landed on the creature encased in ice.

He should've seen it coming, he really should have. In the past few years he'd almost completely forgotten about coming through an ultra-wormhole. And yet here, in front of him, encased in a tomb of ice, stood simple proof that the wormholes were still active. Two long, black, mouth like appendages reached towards the edge of the ice, visible only through a foot of the thick prison and leading deeper into the ice towards a dense, black shape.

Only one pokemon fit that description. Guzzlord. Probably the most insane ultra-beast of the Sun and Moon series. Leo glanced at Zuko and swallowed heavily. I hope Tyrus is still alive, he thought honestly.

"Lets, uh, wait around for a bit before going searching for a larvitar. I think I need a few days to wrap my head around this, and try and figure out what happened."

Leo hung around the ruins of Tyrus' nest for three days before the tyranitar appeared. For the most part he spent that time exploring the surrounding area, trying to find Longinus while also not straying too far in case Tyrus showed himself. Longinus – Slowking, Leo had to remind himself, for he wasn't sure he would appreciate being called Longinus – was nowhere to be seen however. Whether that was good or bad remained to be seen, though Leo did run into his old bellossom friend.

The grass type had been busy dancing in a circle with a few other bellossom, grasses growing over a scar in the land and tree saplings planting their roots, and had asked Leo for a song after finishing up. He played a little after receiving another leaf, the bellossom laughed at his still-clumsy melody, and all in all it was an interesting experience. No nearly as impactful when compared to seeing Tyrus again, but fun nonetheless.

He felt Tyrus arrive more than anything else. It was the way the air stilled, silence suddenly overtaking the blown-down forest as Leo huddled beneath a few of the fallen trees, piled on top of each other like a teepee as they were. The flames of his fire flickered, and Leo calmly placed a hand on both Zuko and Santiago.

"He's coming," he said, and as if on cue, he spotted the lumbering form of Tyrus as he marched his way across the scarred landscape, appearing more as a moving mound in the dark than anything else. It wasn't until the tyranitar halted at the very edge of the firelight that Leo got a good look at him – Zuko and Santiago tense but unmoving beneath his hands.

Tyrus was different, more scarred. His armor was cracked and broken in multiple places, the green stone completely torn of in parts and ground down in divots in others. Entire spines were missing from his back, and his eyes – one milky white, the other still gleaming black – were far more tired than they had been before. Whereas before he had been a proud ruler of the mountains, now Leo was reminded of a wounded warrior. He couldn't even imagine the sort of battle that took place here, and stripped Tyrus of his armor and pride.

Leo and Tyrus stared at each other for a long moment, Leo trying hard to think of something to say, and Tyrus unmoving. Patiently waiting. In the end, Leo decided to focus on what he came here for – asking about the battle seemed wrong somehow, despite his dying curiosity. If Longinus were here, he'd tell me, Leo thought, quietly ignoring the possibility that the Slowking had perished in the battle.

Leo stood and bowed, slapping his right fist into the palm of his left hand and lowering his head, a way of bowing in the martial art he knew. "I ask your permission to catch a larvitar," he said simply, voice low. For a moment there was silence, only the crackling of fire audible in the night, until Tyrus snorted.

Dust sprayed itself all over Leo's head, and he glanced up to meet his gaze as the tyranitar looked down on him. He inclined his head slightly and turned, revealing his chewed-upon tail as he lumbered back into the mountain, descending into the first onix tunnel he came across. Leo didn't bother suppressing his wild grin – that could easily have been a dismissal on the tyranitar's part, but he was willing to bet it was approval. I've got a shot at getting a larvitar now. Leo thought to himself smugly.

That smugness faded as he looked out over the destruction of Tyrus' nest, and recalled the damage wreaked on the tyranitar himself. His natural armor would regrow, given time, but it had been sobering to say the least. If this is what I'm going to have to defend myself against, I wonder if a larvitar will be enough.

Leo started his expeditions into the onix tunnels with grim determination and tentative optimism masking his fears of delving underground. Larvitar lived underground for the first part of their lives, only emerging close to their evolutions into pupitar, so it wasn't like Leo could just wander around and hope to stumble across one. Unfortunately, however, the onix tunnels were convoluted and wide, stretching deep into the earth with seemingly endless twists and turns. This meant Leo had to be extra cautious so as to not lose his way and become trapped beneath the mountain, all while keeping an eye out for signs of larvitar.

Thankfully his pokedex did have something of a mapping function, which he was able to sort-of utilize to gather his bearing whenever he lost the markers he set, so he hadn't gotten to lost yet. And, according to the research he'd done, larvitar often lived close to tyranitar out of safety more than anything, at least until their evolution/maturities, so Leo was certain he was looking in the right place…the problem was finding them.

It had taken a good two months of searching for Leo to finally recognize some larvitar signs, and he celebrated by taking a good three days off of spelunking. It was old sign, the half-eaten rock probably years old if his guesses were right, and the caves wore on him. He didn't want to go underground ever again if he could help it – it was a godsend that onix tunnels weren't super tight and claustrophobic… except for when they had collapsed.

As a way to preserve his mental health Leo took to taking a few days off of spelunking now and then, something Zuko and Santiago appreciated. They weren't much help in the caves and didn't like them anyway, so more often than not Leo kept them in their pokeballs the entire time just to keep them safe and less-stressed.

By the third month of his searching Leo began to consider heading back to civilization – Professor Oak and Victoria were undoubtedly worried, despite him having left something of a note for them telling what he had gone to do – but actually seeing a larvitar reignited his passion. It had been just rummaging about in the darkness of the onix tunnels, and Leo had only gotten a glimpse of it in the light of his headlamp before it dove into the ground, vanishing. He searched that area for two week afterward, but it was long gone, and Leo eventually settled for searching other chambers. At least he got to see fresh larvitar tracks that way.

Leo sat on a boulder in a relatively large alcove, the stone bored away by one rock or ground type or another. He stared mutely at the ground, his headlamp shining brightly – he'd just replaced the bulb, he'd brought spares just in case – and providing the only source of light in this damp, dark environment. His eyes traced the old signs of larvitar in the area, one had passed through at some point, but he'd slowly grown…tired of searching. Spending so much time underground wandering around was boring and mentally exhausting, not to mention hard on the eyes, and he'd spent much of the past two weeks above ground, playing with Zuko and Santiago and annoying froslass, who had returned to bugging him in the past few days.

Speaking of the ghost-type, Leo glared at her as she floated in the air around him, watching carefully as if expecting something. It…worried Leo. He wasn't that far into the onix tunnel, maybe a few hundred feet underground? He'd been in this stretch before, there was nothing here. But froslass' presence worried him. Normally she refused to enter the passages, understandably so.

"What's got you so worked up?" Leo demanded, shifting himself on his boulder. Froslass tensed, then relaxed and shook her head sadly. "Knock it off, you're bothering me," Leo said, waving his hand dismissively. Four months of failure to catch a larvitar had made him…well, everything seemed lackluster, for lack of a better word. He just couldn't see the point of continuing the search for much longer. Maybe he'd come back, when he had another teammate to help out, and was a bit stronger.

Some part of Leo raged at the implication that he couldn't do it now, but he had to know when to quit. He'd hate to be here when winter hit again, even if that might not be for a while. Plus, the longer he stayed out here, the more likely Oak was to have a heart attack or something.

Lost in thought as he was, he missed froslass approach entirely, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up being the only warning he received when she leapt in front of his face with a soft, albeit extremely creepy, call. Leo jerked backward with a yelp, falling off the boulder and slamming onto his back with a groan, his backpack breaking the fall.

"What was that…" Leo trialed off when he felt the ground beneath him shift. "for?" he managed out, just when the cave floor gave way and he fell even further. The breath left his lungs as he hit the ground with a whuff, dust, dirt, and stone pelting him as it, too, fell into the cavern below. More groaning had Leo scrambling away despite his lack of breath, the rest of the cavern floor collapsing downward in a spray of dust and dirt that filled the air and dimmed the light of his headlamp, leaving him coughing and stumbling through the dark.

He almost howled at froslass for trying to kill him, but sudden movement on his left had him whirling around, still coughing furiously and squinting through the dust flying through the air. Fearing another cave-in, Leo held his breath and stopped moving, trying to not disturb anything. Rocks and dirt rumbled and fell from the other end, and through it all he heard a distinct, methodical…crunching sound.

His heart skipped a beat as the dust settled slowly, revealing a shape in the darkness. Leo squinted at it, eyes narrowing slighting as panic surged through his veins. A long spike atop a small head, small body and a moving arm…Leo was hurling a pokeball – the empty ones secured on the right side of his belt just in case he needed quick access to one - through the dust before his brain could catch up. A flash of red light illuminating the cavern for a brief moment as the shape was sucked inside.

Leo didn't wait to see if the ball was successful, grabbing at the first pokeball he felt on the left side of his waist and releasing his teammate, Zuko appearing with a sneeze and a flare of irritated fire. Leo snapped his finger, catching Zuko's attention, and pointed in the direction of the pokeball in the darkness, waiting for the ball to burst open.

He waited. And waited. And waited, and when nothing continued to happen, he pushed forward through the clearing dust, coughing again, and searched for the pokeball.

When he found it, he couldn't contain his excitement, picking the successfully closed device up and grinning happily, whipping his pokedex out of the side pocket of his backpack and pressing the scanning lens to the ball, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he stared at the screen with giddy hope.

"Please be what I think it is, please, please, please," he chanted.

"Larvitar, the rock skin pokemon. Larvitar is born deep underground, and does not emerge until it has consumed a sufficient quantity of minerals from the surrounding soil. Only once it has breached the surface will its guardian tyranitar show itself, and ensure the larvitar is ready to leave on its own," the pokedex intoned, text appearing on the screen along with the words. "This larvitar is female, weighing 147 pounds (66.6 kilograms), and stands 1 foot 9 inches (.5 meters) tall."

"YES! HELL TO THE YES!" He whooped, thrusting the pokeball into the air and laughing heartily before hacking from the still-present dust in the air. Zuko squeaked, worried, while the haunting laugh of froslass echoed through the chamber. But despite his coughing nothing could dampen Leo's sprits. He'd finally caught a larvitar.