11-12

"You're a curious little thing, aren't you?" Leo murmured, letting larvitar sniff his hand as she explored him and his stuff. Already she'd chewed on a plastic water bottle – hadn't liked that, spit it out immediately – torn a small hole in his backpack while nibbling on it, and tried to eat a pokeball, managing to dent the metal sphere before Leo took it away from her.

She tentatively licked his hand, her rough tongue gently sliding against his skin. She immediately recoiled at the taste, shooting Leo a scandalized look. He just chuckled and pulled back said hand, his other hand gently resting on Santiago, the slowpoke resting next to him. They were currently on the edge of the onix tunnels, hanging out in the shadows while the midday sun hung high overhead. Leo had wanted to spend some time letting larvitar get acquainted with the team, and see sunlight for the first time, though he was also waiting for Tyrus.

If the pokedex entries on larvitar were to be believed, then Tyrus may very well decide to pay a visit to see his daughter…or granddaughter, or whatever larvitar was to him.

Zuko squeaked at larvitar, drawing the rock-type's attention as he danced about in the sunlight, no doubt glad he wouldn't have to go down into the onix tunnels again. Leo smiled as larvitar cautiously walked out of the shadows of the cave, extending one rocky arm out into the sunlight and, after seeing it wasn't going to cause any harm, stepped out of the shadows. Zuko sprinted up to her and squeaked happily, poking her belly with his nose and making the larvitar giggle – a grating, gravelly sound not unlike two rocks banging together.

"He's getting big, should evolve any day now," Leo said, scratching Santiago's ears. Zuko hadn't just grown in size in the past few months, his fire had gotten hotter and he'd grown far more energetic, racing about at high speeds – both signs of an impending evolution. "The real question is, where is Tyrus? I expected him to be waiting for us once we got out," Leo murmured, leaning back against the cave entrance, watching larvitar chase Zuko around on her stubby little legs. She never strayed too far from the cave entrance, however, always retreating to the shadows once she got too nervous to head out further, or would momentarily get distracted and start eating gravel.

Leo patted his leg during one such instance, inviting larvitar closer. She, curious little thing that she was, came running back to Leo and looked up at him, big red eyes shining. Once more Leo extended a hand for her to sniff and, once she was finished, ran a hand over her head, scratching the rough exterior.

"You're not anything like what I expected a larvitar to be," he said. "Not nearly as aggressive. But that's not a bad thing." He had been prepared to deal with an overly aggressive larvitar, but he was glad that, so far, it had been a non-issue. Just because he had been prepared to deal with it didn't mean he wanted to.

A deep shadow suddenly loomed over Leo and he looked up, freezing in utter surprise at the sight of Tyrus glaring down at him, not but four feet away. He hadn't even heard him walk up. Santiago took a bit longer to notice the tyranitar's presence, but when he did, he stiffened, the slowpoke unmoving beneath Leo's hand.

Larvitar, on the other hand, had no such qualms about Tyrus' presence, leaving Leo and running over to him, crashing her head against his leg with a bang. A deep rumble echoed out of Tyrus' chest as he bent down, nudging larvitar with his nose and snorting out a plume of dust onto her. She opened her mouth and chattered a bit, butting her head against his leg once more before looking back at Leo, who had stood.

Tyrus met his gaze, and Leo bowed slightly, not saying anything. Although tyranitar were, for the most part, solitary creatures, the research he'd done on them prior to the start of his journey suggested that they were surprisingly protective towards their larvitar offspring. They would protect the larvitar until they were strong enough to dig their own way out of the ground, then send them on their way. Which is why Leo had waited for Tyrus; his new larvitar hadn't dug her way out. Thus, he figured Tyrus might want to check on her before he left, make sure she was ready.

"Slooow," Santiago called, heaving himself up and meeting Tyrus' gaze. A moment of silence passed, during which time all Leo could hear was his own heartbeat thundering in his chest, then Tyrus calmly and quietly moved out into the sunlight, standing in the scarred battlefield and turning back to face Leo. Zuko huddled next to a rock just a few feet away from the tyranitar, watching him carefully.

Leo sighed. He had an idea of what was coming next.

"Am I to challenge you?" Leo asked, and if tyranitar could scoff, that's what Tyrus would have done. Instead Leo was treated to the grating, boulder-upon-boulder rumble that was Tyrus' best impression of a laugh, fixing him with a firm gaze. Santiago growled, water burbling in the back of his throat, and Leo grit his teeth. This…wasn't going to be fun, was it?

"Santiago, hold. Zuko, I want you to go first," Leo said. Santiago whined and looked up at Leo pitifully, Zuko shooting him a look of absolute shock and betrayal. "I know, but trust me. The only thing we can do here is try to make a good impression," Santiago whined once more and threw himself on the ground despondently, larvitar moving over to sniff him. Zuko, on the other hand, glanced at Leo, then looked at Tyrus, then looked at Leo, the back and Tyrus and sighed.

Tyrus nodded and stomped his foot to the ground, roaring at the sky. Taking that as his que, Zuko took off like a bullet from a gun, white light blurring from his paws in a quick attack…Leo blinked as the white light traveled up his body, consuming Zuko's entire form as he blurred across the battlefield, embers trailing in his wake. He wasn't using quick attack, he was evolving. Tyrus paused mid-stomp, narrowing his eyes and allowing the event to unfold, Zuko picking up speed until he burst from his roving ball of white light as a blur of blue and orange, fire already curling around his longer body – the crude beginnings of a flame wheel.

"Smoke bomb!" Leo called hastily, hands clenching by his side. Before, Zuko hadn't been able to drum up enough heat to produce his tentatively-named unique move, but with the evolution…

Zuko puffed up his cheeks, the quilava hesitating for just a moment as his haunch and head blazed with fire. Then he belched, inky black smoke blasting out of his mouth with speed and force unfitting for a simple smokescreen – no, the superheated ash flowed over the land like an avalanche of black, washing over Tyrus angrily, the tyranitar's body vanishing from view. It was an attempt for a weaponized smokescreen, as the heat wouldn't harm Zuko at all, and if the black smokescreen was hot enough would most certainly cause damage to other types. Leo had wanted to recreate the pyroclastic flow from volcanoes, though it was most definitely a work in progress.

The smokescreen ended when Zuko ran out of breath and he sucked in a deep breath before taking off at speed again, zooming around in a circle around the inky black cloud that encased Tyrus and blasting waves of embers into the smoke.

Neither he nor Leo expected the ground to heave, launching Zuko sky high as it bucked beneath the quilava's feet. He squealed in surprise and pain as he flailed in the air, Leo scrambling for his pokeball, only barely managing to recall Zuko before he hit the ground. That was game, set, match for Zuko right there. It was a casual display of power from Tyrus, but that one move had easily shown Leo the gap in power between he and his team. He grit his teeth, fists clenching at his sides as he glared at Tyrus, the soot-blackened tyranitar emerging from the slowly settling cloud of smokescreen, fixing Leo with an unamused look. The air shimmered around him, betraying the temperature the smokescreen had gotten to and, by proxy, how it had heated up his armor.

"Santiago, water pulse," Leo ordered, not missing a beat.

Santiago leapt to his feet, larvitar scrambling away as he charged out into the sunlight with a bellow of challenge, a pulsating, vibrating ball of water forming before his maw and lancing out towards Tyrus. Tyrus just roared and met the water pulse head-on, the water exploding into a cloud of hissing steam as he charged to meet Santiago. Leo reflexively cursed. He'd hoped Zuko would get Tyrus' armor hot enough that a sudden burst of water would cause it to crack or something, though he knew it was a long shot.

Purple energy shrouded Santiago's form, the slowpoke slowing down as he focused a strange energy about himself, his muscles bulging slightly as he lowered his head. Tyrus snarled and raised one foot up, stomping down at Santiago's head even as he raised himself up to meet it. Head met foot with a resounding crack, and Leo was proud to say that, for just a moment, Santiago matched Tyrus' strength – even if it didn't look like the tyranitar was struggling much. Neither moved for a moment, then Tyrus stomped down harder, pressing Santiago's head into the dirt and effectively KOing him.

Though if the water spraying out from beneath Tyrus foot, and the way Santiago's body continued to glow with the strange power of curse, he certainly didn't believe that was the case.

"Return," Leo said, recalling his slowpoke and thanking him through the ball. A small tug on his pants had Leo looking down at his newly captured larvitar, smiling at her. Then he glanced back up at Tyrus, who was watching him carefully.

Leo bowed slightly, slapping his fist into the palm of his other hand in the traditional bowing style of his learned martial art. "I cannot promise to make her the strongest, nor anything like that. What I can promise is that I will help her become everything she can be," he said firmly, raising his voice so Tyrus could hear him. The tyranitar stomped his way across the field to Leo, looming over him for just a brief moment as he passed, not deigning him with a response. Instead he nudged larvitar with his foot, jerking his head to Leo and grunting roughly before heading deeper into the mountain.

Leo's heart thumped in his throat at the perceived meaning, the apparent approval, and he glanced over his shoulder at Tyrus.

"Wait," Leo said softly. Tyrus paused and looked over his shoulder at him. "Where's Longinus?" he asked. He…had to know. The slowking may have been a bit of a jerk, but he'd done so much for Leo that he had to know where he was. If the battle had claimed his life.

The question hung heavy in the air for a brief moment, and during that moment Leo saw a sudden shift in Tyrus demeanor. His shoulders slumped and battered tail drooped, just briefly, before he straightened and marched back out of the cave with a grunt.

He hesitated for just a moment before hastily recalling larvitar – he had to come up with a name for her soon, Godzilla wouldn't work since she was a girl – slinging his discarded backpack onto his back and packing up what little supplies he had taken out. Tyrus did not slow as he marched through the downed trees, and Leo scrambled to catch up. It's a good thing I packed up my tent today, he thought as he chased after Tyrus. Because I have no idea where Tyrus is going to take me.

The two travelled a few hours through the mountains, leaving the river behind and traversing a more densely wooded area, the ancient forest pressing in from all sides. It would have been serene, but Tyrus' mere presence scared away most smaller pokémon and kept the forest in a state of absolute silence. Once a pidgeot had thought to descend from the sky, but a simple grunt from Tyrus had it flapping heavily to gain altitude once more.

Tyrus stopped at the edge of a small pond, maybe twenty feet across, with an equally small creek burbling down the valley he had led Leo up. Mountains rose tall on either side, a cliff face maybe thirty feet high rising directly in front of him like a sort of grey-stone wall, the edge of the pond pressing up against the base of the cliff. On the ridge above trees continued to grow, nearly blotting out the sun from view and casting long shadows into the forest below. The air was chilly, a light wind gently rustling the treetops above. Leo focused his attention on the pond, wondering if Longinus was somehow hiding in the shallow waters. Green, green moss grew around the edges of the pond, and a soft giggle that sounded in Leo's ears told him froslass was nearby.

"Must be a natural spring," Leo muttered, bending down and touching the cold water with his fingers. A grunt from Tyrus drew his attention, the massive tyranitar standing a little ways away from the pond, hands against a fair-sized boulder pressed up against the cliff face. Stone ground on stone as the boulder was rolled aside, revealing a cave entrance that glowedwith ethereal blue light.

Leo glanced at Tyrus, whose stony face had morphed into an expression of apathy. He wasn't an expressive pokémon, but the expression was plain to see on his normally angry-looking face. Tyrus motioned towards the cave, and Leo nodded, getting the message. Longinus, whatever state he may be in, was in there.

When he stepped in front of the cave he was assaulted by a blast of cold air, goosebumps running up his arms as he walked inside, hiking boots immediately splashing against damp stone and a shiver running down his spine. Small crystals embedded themselves in the walls, emanating a soft blue glow that wasn't quite enough for Leo to reliably see by. Thankfully his pokedex was handy, and when the light from the entrance faded he flicked on the flashlight that came with the device. The damp rocks gleamed in the soft white light, the beaten path sloping upwards, lined with those glowing crystals.

Another shiver ran down Leo's spine and he turned his head, spotting froslass as she floated quietly behind him. The somber expression on her face did little to calm his nerves – she had a perpetual mischievous, borderline malicious smile on her face. To see her somber was…alarming.

"What are we going to find?" Leo asked, though the question went unanswered by froslass. Silence surrounded him, save for the steady drip, drip of water droplets splashing on rocks as he ascended. He found his answer a few moments later when, as he rounded a bend in the long tunnel, an opening revealing sunlight came into view. And what he saw through that opening, not but ten feet in front of him, froze his breath in his lungs.

A bird of brilliant white and blue plumage, as pristine as freshly fallen snow glittering in the first light of dawn, lay upon a dais of stone. Four small waterfalls streamed down the walls to the ground around it, splashing into pools of half-frozen water on the rocky ground. Sunlight streamed into the cavern from an opening in the ceiling high above, perfectly illuminating the avian. Its breast rose and fell gently, beak tucked under one wing as it slumbered, and Leo found himself struggling to remain still.

Articuno, the breath of winter itself, was lying before him. Slowly Leo managed to tear his eyes away from the legendary bird, his gaze landing on the mound of frozen stones laid before the stone dais it slept upon, a crown of ice carved atop it. Beside it stood a slowking, who watched Leo with a small smile.

His first thought was that this was Longinus, but his memories told him otherwise. Longinus looked old, tired, his hide bleached from the sun. This slowking was young, skin a fresh pink and crown gleaming, lacking the innumerable scratches that had tarnished Longinus' own crown. Which meant…Leo looked over at the mound of stones, and his heart dropped. That must be Longinus, or at least, his grave.

"Come," the slowking said, voice soft and melodious as it beckoned Leo forward. "Sit, listen,"

"What happened?" Leo whispered as he stepped into the much larger cavern, eyes flicking to the still-slumbering articuno. It was not nearly as cold as he had expected, being closer to a chilly fall day than the depth of winter, but if the waves of frigid air rolling off of the legendary bird were any indication that was only because articuno was asleep.

The slowking shook its head, and smiled at Leo, pointing to itself. "Queen," it – no, she – said, and Leo stared at her. Then he blinked, eyes growing wide.

"Queen?!" He asked in a harsh whisper. She nodded proudly, patting her chest and pointing to Leo.

"Leo, Queen," she said succinctly. "Winter, King, Tyrus, fight. King, end, Tyrus, fall, Winter, freeze. Rest, now," Leo furrowed his brows as he parsed together Queen's broken statement, the pauses between each word throwing him off. Clearly she hadn't had much time to learn human language, he was actually surprised she knew anything at all, but that was beside the point. From what he gathered, Tyrus, Longinus, and articuno had all fought…probably the guzzlord. (Which, to his chagrin, Leo had been unable to scan with his pokedex. The ice was too thick, and the ultra beast unidentifiable.) Tyrus had been defeated, articuno froze the guzzlord, and Longinus had died.

"I see," Leo said softly, looking over at the tomb and raising his pokedex. Pausing, he looked at Queen. "May I?" he asked. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, then nodded, and Leo proceeded to scan her, the tomb – which was made of nevermeltice, which Leo figured was a testament to articuno's respect for Longinus – and articuno. The 'dex didn't have any information on articuno, and registered it as an unknown pokémon. Thankfully, unlike the anime, the pokedex didn't immediately start spewing information on pokémon aloud. It had a mute function, so he didn't have to face waking up a legendary.

"Leo," Queen whispered, approaching Leo with a single arm outstretched. Leo looked up at her, the slowking (slowqueen?) having closed the distance so she was within touching distance. Her eyes glowed blue and Leo was suddenly aware of a prickling sensation around his head, as if something was pressing against him.

She's asking permission to connect psychically, Leo realized, and nodded his head in acceptance, relaxing his entire body. Queen smiled and he felt the familiar sensation of a psychic touching his mind – and then a scene was playing in his head, concepts pressing themselves into his mind and presenting themselves to his interpretation.

Queen sat atop a rock, watching the Lonely King as he hauled his beaten body out of the river, wheezing as he looked up at her. The Herd called for their Queen, and she answered, watching the Lonely King stand and smile brokenly at her. No words passed forth from his lips as he bowed, his powerful Mind touching her own and impressing his own thoughts onto hers. But she was but a slowpoke, and such things were beyond her – until the King grabbed his Crown.

Queen stood and called at him, urging him to not remove the Crown. She was smart for a slowpoke, she knew that to remove a Crown meant returning to a slowpoke. But he just smiled, and wrenched it from his head with a might heave, a dull black light enveloping him. But he did not change. Instead the Crown floated forward, separating itself from the pink gem in its center along the way, and planted itself on Queen's head – and suddenly she was no longer Queen the Slowpoke. She was Queen the slowking, standing where she had once lay.

And she understood, grasping the King's gem in one hand and watching sadly as her King fell to his knees and allowed his life to slip through his fingers, his last words the newly crowned Queen's to pass on to another.  Thank you, Leo, for fulfilling my last wish. I may not have seen you return to the Oak, but I know you did. Merri the Oak alakazam told me so – so I thank you.

But it was not just a simple thank you. Gratitude of the purest form presented itself to Leo through the memories, a wave of relief and appreciation so powerful it nearly sent him on his knees as it swept through his chest in a enveloping wave. Years of regret, suddenly given fulfillment, were lifted from Longinus' chest by Leo's action, allowing the slowking to die in peace. And Leo felt exactly how much it meant to him.

Tears fell down his cheeks unbidden as the memories flowed, watching as articuno swept down in a swirl of snow, led Queen to the cavern, and entombed Longinus for his bravery. Leo scrubbed his eyes, biting his lip to try and keep himself under control. The raw emotion he felt, however, was not to be ignored. It was not even sadness he felt, just…happiness, almost. A somber, tearful happiness that came from heartfelt gratitude expressed with more than mere words.

Queen reached forward and gripped his hand with her own stubby paw, pressing a hard, round object into his hand. When Leo looked at it, scrubbing his bleary eyes and cursing his emotions, his breath hitched once more. A small, spherical pink gem lay in his hand. Another impression placed itself into Leo's head, and he understood. This was the gem from Longinus' crown – the gem from a Slowking, now given to him as a final memento.

"Thank you," Leo whispered, slipping the gem into his pocket and not trusting his voice to stay steady were he to speak up. Queen patted his shoulder as his throat choked up. Another wave of gratitude swept over Leo, this time from Queen herself, though for what he wasn't sure. It left him looking away and furiously scrubbing his eyes, taking deep breaths to calm himself and thoroughly embarrassed – which led to irritation directed at himself – for being unable to control his emotions.

He had just acted. He hadn't been expecting…this.

Queen let Leo get himself under control, minutes ticking by like hours as Leo fought back the hiccups building in his chest. Then, once he was ready, Queen pointed to his belt, where his pokémon sat in their balls.

Without a word Leo released Zuko and Santiago, leaving larvitar in her pokeball. The flash of red and hiss of their forms materializing echoed around the chamber, droning out the splashing of the waterfalls for a brief moment, his team falling absolutely silent as they appeared. It was understandable, injured and in the presence of a legendary as they were. Queen quickly rectified the former, however, a heal pulse enveloping them and soothing their admittedly mild wounds. Zuko relaxed and let out a breath, relaxing his body while Santiago fixated his gaze on Queen curiously.

Leo bowed to her, and Santiago padded up to her questioningly, his dopey eyes looking even more confused now as he met one of his evolved brethren. Together Queen and Santiago's eyes glowed blue, a psychic conversation passing between them.

Leo left them to it and turned to Zuko, freezing in place alongside the fire-type as articuno raised its head and opened on brown eye to regard him. The temperature in the room dropped significantly, Leo's breaths coming out in ragged huffs as a weight slammed itself down onto his shoulders. He stumbled and fell to one knee, pain lancing up his leg as it crashed into the cave floor. Zuko whined, bowing his head and crouching low to the ground as he shivered.

A breath of air escaped Leo and he grit his teeth, shrugging off the initial pressure as best he could and rising to his feet, legs shaking with the effort. Silently he looked up and met articuno's eye, the legendary bird regarding him not with malice or even arrogance, just…curiosity. So, Leo bowed his head.

"I apologize for disturbing your rest," he said. Articuno shifted, flickers of white caressing the edges of Leo's vision, before resettling. The pressure vanished and Leo let out a breath, stumbling forward as his head snapped up, only to see articuno once more resting with its head beneath its wing.

Zuko whined and, with a silent apology, Leo returned him, looking back at Santiago and Queen. The two were still locked in psychic conversation, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened.

"Today has been a day," Leo muttered, flopping down on the cool ground and letting out a breath. It hadn't even been twelve hours since he'd caught larvitar, and already so much had happened. Once more Leo glanced at the still-conversing Queen and Santiago, then allowed his eyes to close. He just wanted to rest for a moment and silently pay his respects to Longinus. Then tomorrow it would be time to head back.

The sky was just turning blue, the sun still hidden behind the mountains, when Leo rose the next day. Queen had accompanied him outside the cave, engaging with Santiago and Leo in psychic conversation for most the evening before returning to her place – apparently having taken it upon herself to guard articuno while it recuperated from the battle with the ultra beasts. Her herd was safe for the moment, according to her.

Leo still didn't completely understand the battle that had transpired though. Queen hadn't been present for the fight, so hadn't any light to shed on what happened beyond lots of loud noises, and Longinus' death being a result of it. Which left Leo with only guesses.

Tyrus had also wandered off grumpily once Leo exited the cave, and froslass was…well, nowhere to be seen at the moment. In fact, he hadn't seen her once since that time in the cave, but that wasn't so unusual. So, Leo stretched, his joints popping and hair standing up on his arms in the cool morning air, ready to start his morning routine. Sensing his movement, Zuko stood and stretched as well, the quilava stumbling a bit as he wormed his way out of the tent, still getting used to his new body. Although his instincts helped him overcome the worst of the challenges the changes evolution caused in his body, there were still things to get used to. Like having a longer torso.

Which meant that, instead of the normal exercises Leo had the fire-type do in the mornings – runs, flaring up the fire on his back, shooting embers into the sky, endurance training, that sort of thing – Leo just had him run circles around the camp and get used to himself. Santiago, on the other hand, slumbered peacefully in the tent, content to not move until Leo recalled him. Which was ok, Leo trained Santiago at night for now anyway. He was good with water moves right now, what with him having mastered water pulse and all, but his psychic powers left something to be desired. Leo didn't have the patience to sit still and train Santiago's brain in the mornings.

That, and to call it training was a bit of a misnomer. Santiago only "trained" in the typical sense when he was pit against Zuko, or was fighting the more aggressive zubat, geodude, and even the occasional graveler that could be found in the onix tunnels. Leo had honestly been shocked at how aggressive they could get, but quickly realized that was because he was infringing on their territory. As bad as he felt about beating up wild pokemon, Santiago and Zuko both got a lot of practice in against them so it turned out ok in the end.

What was really fun was when he managed to convince other pokémon to have a mock battle with him, outside the caves. Bellossom had done that a few times over the months, beating Santiago to a pulp in the process, and Leo had found a machoke that would accept challenges every so often. None of these pokemon wanted to join his team, unfortunately, and Leo couldn't find that hitmontop that beat him up all those years ago, but they were friendly enough and made for good practice.

Shaking his head Leo stretched and started his own morning routine, ignoring the cold firepit and the hunger he felt rising in his stomach. Zuko didn't need direction right now, which left him to perform his own exercises. It wouldn't be as intense as the normal exercises he did back at Oak's ranch, as he wanted to conserve energy because his food supplies consisted of what he could hunt or forage or have Santiago fish up for him, but it would keep him in shape an familiar with the movements of his martial art.

It was when he was just about to start getting into the meat of his morning self-training regimen that Leo noticed larvitar watching him, her big red eyes wide and curious as she stood off to the side, watching him.

"I'm going to be honest with you, I completely forgot I let you out last night," Leo said. She tilted her head to the side and looked down at her little legs, shuffling her feet around then looking back up at Leo, unblinking. He snorted at her. "Well if you want to watch that's fine. In fact, I should probably think up a morning routine for you too, if you want," Leo muttered, shaking his head and setting his feet in a wide stance.

It was called the Earth stance, his feet set shoulder-width apart and knees bent, arms and head facing the right. It was one of the sturdier stances, all things considered. That was, so long as he was being attacked from the side, not the front. He breathed out slowly and slid forward, bare feet drawing lines in the topsoil. A rustling sound came from his left, distracting him, and he turned to see larvitar attempting to imitate his movements.

Her feet were spread as wide as they could go – which wasn't that much wider than her normal stance – and her stubby arms were turned to the right just as his were. She glanced at her feet, then at Leo, then looked at him expectantly. Leo narrowed his eyes imperceptibly, moving slowly and methodically. His left foot swept back, pivoting on his right so he was facing a new direction, and larvitar fell over as she tried to do the same.

"Well," Leo murmured, sliding out of stance and stepping over to larvitar, rolling her onto her belly so she could stand up. The rock type stood and dusted herself off, which sounded a lot like two rocks banging together, looking back up at Leo with that same, innocently curious look. "If you want to imitate me, I think I can work with that," he said with a smile, glancing over at Zuko distractedly as the quilava stumbled, tumbling head over heels through the trees but never slowing, leaping to his feet and taking off with sparks flying from his back.

Leo snorted, and a soft crunch drew his attention back to larvitar. Her face was screwed up in disgust as she spat out bits of a pine cone, a half-eaten cone dropped to the ground unceremoniously as she pawed at her mouth, whining in annoyance.

"Dummy, that's not a rock," he muttered, shaking his head. He couldn't fault her curiosity, though. She had literally lived underground all her life. Again, not what I expected from a larvitar, but I'll take it. Leo thought with a smile as she once again spat and sniffed at the ground. Now I guess it's time to head back. League season lasts until winter, so I should be able to get a badge or two if I hustle – assuming Oak and Victoria don't kill me of course.

Froslass hovered in front of Leo, staring unnervingly at him as he studied the map on his pokedex for the final time. Everything was packed and his 'dex was fully charged thanks to the solar power recharger thing installed on it, and he was just going over his plans to travel back to civilization before executing them.

Originally he had planned to follow the river back, as it was familiar country and he knew he could find food and water along the riverbanks, but had been second-guessing himself when he saw just how close Blackthorn City was. He estimated only a week and a half of travel to the city of dragons, and that was allowing for some leeway with difficulty of terrain. The idea that Tyrus lived so close to the known territory of dragonite boggled Leo's mind – but that was beside the point. The point was that it would be difficult travel that way, and since the river turned north but two day's travel from where he was now, Leo couldn't guarantee a proper food supply unless he foraged wildly and smoked some fish.

So he was going to go back downstream, until froslass made her displeasure known. The ghost frowned at him, none of the normal mischief present on her face and instead replaced by melancholy. She shook her head at him and gestured west, upriver, with one snow-white hand.

"You want me to travel upstream?" Leo asked hesitantly. Zuko hissed at his side, still agitated by the presence of froslass even after all these months. Froslass seemed to hesitate for a moment, her ghostly expression conflicted, before she nodded and presented Leo with something. The pink gem in her hand had Leo patting his jean pockets, narrowing his eyes when he realized Longinus' gem was gone, and now in froslass' hands.

He promptly snatched it from her with a glare, stowing it back in his pocket and ignoring the biting cold that came with touching the ice type. "Don't take that again," he warned, though it lost all heat when he saw the look in froslass eyes.

It was…sad, but hopeful, but…Leo didn't know how to explain it. Like she expected something from him. Leo bit his lip. On one hand this was a ghost type. Everything he'd learned of them from his research spelt disaster and mischief. But at the same time, he'd spent a significant amount of time with froslass. She meant no real harm beyond that first encounter and he might even consider themselves to be friends.

Leo sighed and ran a hand through his greasy, filthy hair, looking at her expression and cursing himself. "Can you lead me to food and water on the way? I've got some supplies foraged, but I don't know if it will last a week. Water won't unless I stoop to drinking Santiago's stored water. Food might last if I keep everyone in stasis in their pokeballs," he asked. Froslass nodded. "Are you sure?" he asked again, and she nodded once more.

Leo worried his lip and rubbed his face. Then he nodded, and froslass smiled weakly, floating past him and heading upstream. Leo and Zuko shared a look, Zuko cocking his head to the side and staring at him as blandly as a quilava could.

"Quiiil," he said.

"I hope I know what I'm doing too, buddy," Leo muttered, turning on his heel and following after froslass, Zuko on his heels.

He took the time travelling along the river to allow Santiago to fish and feast to his heart's content, cooking an extra magikarp or two every night and wrapping it up in the plastic baggies he'd brought along for just such an reason. Froslass also stuck around for the entire time, never vanishing from sight and leading the way. She also interacted with Leo and his team much, much more, and he found himself talking to the froslass randomly, just spouting nonsense or chattering, even when he was bonding with larvitar. Though he did finally figure out why larvitar was so calm – as first-stage evolution larva-type pokémon, larvitar tended to be much more mellow than even their second-stage pupitar, to say nothing of tyranitar, as they spent most of their time eating and growing.

Leo had learnt a lot just from reading pokedex entries, though all entries on froslass were still annoyingly vague and inconsistent. And mostly involved warnings to stay away from the ghost type – from all ghost types, actually. They were dangerous and whimsical, according to the pokedex.

Leo glanced up from his reading on the gastly line, having migrated there from reading up on froslass, snorunt, and glalie, to look at the froslass that had been following him. She was just floating midair, watching larvitar (still had to think of a name, he sucked with names) as she sleepily chewed on a few stones, leaning against Santiago for support. Santiago slumbered happily, belly full of magikarp and tail twitching as he slept. Leo's hand drifted to his side, where Zuko lay curled up next to him, twitching and huffing in his sleep. It was peaceful tonight, with the river providing pleasant background noise, but he couldn't help but worry about froslass.

So far, he'd seen the whimsical nature of ghosts, as well as a bit of their maliciousness, but that had faded away very quickly after their first meeting. He could only wonder if that was all there was to ghosts, or if there was something more. His instincts, and experiences with froslass, screamed that there was something more to it. Fighting back a yawn, Leo flicked off his pokedex and set it aside, laying down on his sleeping bag and staring up at the night sky. He'd elected to not put up his tent tonight, content to lay beneath the stars.

It didn't look like he was going to sleep much tonight though, there was too much on his mind. Between froslass, travelling, and the frozen ultra-beast that constantly hung on the edges of his thoughts, reminding him that he could very well be a ticking time bomb, he had plenty to keep his mind occupied.

The next few days froslass proved her trustworthiness, the ghost type always leading Leo to water so he could replenish his stocks, and even occasionally pointing out edible plants that he would miss while walking (he constantly thanked Oak for downloading the Wild Edible Plants book to his pokedex, it had proven its worth many times over.) Though that wasn't to say the journey had been easy.

The terrain had been harsh and he'd even once managed to piss off an ursaring, though Zuko and Santiago had managed to get the irate bear to back off long enough for Leo to beat a hasty retreat. Froslass had led him around the ursaring's territory after that, but aggressive pokémon were still common. His team, even larvitar, who battled against a few geodude with a childish sort of curiosity, got a fair workout in even despite travelling. It was during one of these battles that Leo even came up with a name for larvitar – Diana, like the superhero Wonder Woman. A strong and honorable warrior – that was what Leo could see Diana becoming.

But the journey was nearing its end, and froslass was leading Leo up a mountain towards the snowy peak. His heart hammered in his ears with each step, paranoia telling him that froslass was taking him to her lair to freeze him, and make him join her ice sculptures. His reason won out though, and he swallowed his fears as he followed her up the mountain. The climb took most of the day, and Leo had stopped to put on his jacket when the temperature plummeted and patches of snow began to appear in the shadowy parts of the mountain. The cover of trees had been left behind, and soon Leo found himself wading through knee-deep snow, panting with exertion and at the lack of oxygen. This mountain in particularly was stupidly tall.

He was only a little ways from the top, sweat dripping down his brow and threatening to soak his clothes, when he stopped to take a breather and look out over the mountain range. His breath caught in his throat at the sight laid before him, the numerous rocky peaks stretching as far as the eye could see, massive bird pokémon wheeling through the sky. This mountain was taller than almost all around, snow covering its peak and providing an excellent view. The sun, only an hour or two until sunset, beat down on the snow around him, a sharp wind sending a shiver up his spine.

"Laaaass," froslass called, drawing Leo's attention. She hovered twenty feet away, just beneath the peak and next to a small boulder. Leo nodded, controlling his breathing.

"I'm coming, just give me a second," he muttered, forcing his way up the mountain to meet her. She watched him for a brief second, eyes roaming searchingly over his form, and Leo braced himself for whatever would come next.

He expected the deep breath she took, and his hand ghosted against Zuko's pokeball. He half-expected the trembling of the snow as it shifted, and the howling winds as froslass exerted a never-before-seen control over snow and ice, clearing a patch on the rocky mountain peak. Leo had not been expecting, however, the body it revealed, perfectly preserved in the frozen ice.

A young, blonde woman, features covered in frost, lay peacefully on her back, preserved in time. Robes covered her body, and in her hands was clutched a square object of unknown design. Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, steadying himself.

"What is this?" he asked softly, opening his eyes to meet froslass' gaze. She cooed, the sound soft and sad, and floated down to rest a hand on the woman's forehead. "Who is this?" he amended, quieter this time. "Your trainer?" Froslass shook her head, prying the object from the woman's hands and floating back into the air, exerting her will over the ice and snow. The dead woman vanished beneath the wave of white, and Leo rubbed his arms, not wanting to think about the other possibility, but…needing to know.

"Was that…you?" he asked, in a whisper so silent it was almost lost in the wind. She nodded, then shook her head, and shrugged as if to say "yes, but no."

Leo could do nothing but stare. A thousand emotions raged within him, but froslass did not allow him the time to process it all. Witch light flared to life around her, a brief glow suffusing her form and snow blurring into motion as it formed recognizable shapes. Idly Leo recognized the effects of confuse ray surround him, blurring his mind, but the images froslass was now showing him, undoubtedly due to the illusionary effects of confuse ray, convinced him to leave it be.

A woman fled from a tower covered in icy flames, clutching the square object, running through the forest as men and pokémon alike chased her every step. One by one she evaded them, but one pokémon in particular, a fox with nine tails, chased her all the way to the peak of the mountain. She fell to her knees as the ninetails approached, and Leo thought he saw articuno appear in the image for a brief second. What happened next was a blur, the fox touching the woman with its tails and the details whirling out of focus. The illusion was broken by froslass' face bursting through the snowy illusion, prompting a yelp of surprise from Leo as he fell backwards into the snow.

Froslass cackled, floating forward and presenting the square object to Leo. He shook his head and sat up, eyeing the object.

"I, uh, what is it?" he asked. She shook her head and pointed to the horizon, in the direction of Blackthorn. "You want me to take it to Blackthorn?" he asked. She shook her head. "Somewhere in Johto then?" She nodded, and Leo frowned. He had an idea as to what this was, symbolically anyway, and what it was she was wanting from him. So he took the square stone from her, two inches on each side with strange characters intricately carved onto each face, and carefully placed the frigid object into his backpack.

"I'll return it for you, though I need your help figuring out where to return it to," Leo said. Froslass nodded, and her expression was, for a brief moment, nothing but hopeful. Then she vanished in a gust of wind and snow, leaving Leo alone on the snowy mountaintop and with the echoes of a ghostly cackle.

He stayed there, moving next to the boulder to avoid the worst of the wind and just…absorbed everything he had learned. Was that woman beneath the ice really froslass? She had said yes and no, what does that mean? What did he feel about the illusory images he'd been shown? It wasn't until fifteen minutes later, hard wingbeats disturbing the quiet, that Leo stood and looked up. A massive shadow descended on the mountain, the braviary it belonged to landing on the peak of the mountain with a prideful shriek, nearly shaking its rider off.

"You alright, kid?" Victoria Oak asked after swatting her mount irritably, shutting it up. With supernatural grace she leapt off the predatory bird Leo had, admittedly, never seen before. Though he hadn't met her full team, either.

"How did you find me?" Leo asked instead, flexing his fingers and finding, to his surprise, that he still wasn't very cold. Victoria smiled, eyes roaming the mountaintop and landing on the spot where the woman's body was buried. They lingered too long for coincidence, and Leo realized that she had probably been watching the whole time he had talked with froslass, at the very least.

"I never lost you, kid. Did you really think I wouldn't know you were planning to go larvitar hunting? Uncle Samuel may not have known, but I'm no fool." Victoria revealed with a sharp smile, patting Leo on the shoulder. "And let me tell ya, kid, you're everything I thought you were. Now c'mon, Blackthorn's only a twenty-minute flight on the back of General here. Let's go get you cleaned up,"

12

Victoria was many things – aggressive, harsh, brash, and overconfident among other things – but stupid was not one of them. That wasn't to say she was intelligent in the scientific sense, no, her father had kept those genes to himself. Instead she would call herself street smart. She worked on instinct, and damn if she wasn't usually right. Which is why she knew that Leo needed to go on his journey as soon as possible – she knew it better than he did, even.

When she thought back on her decision to sponsor Leo, she usually told herself that he had the skills to survive, and was plenty smart enough to learn what else he needed to. For example, when he spent time in the woods around Pallet he called it games or playing around – she saw it for what it really was. He was learning how to interact with pokémon, in a way that most trainers didn't learn until they had spent far too much time with their teams and broken a few bonds. It was hands-on experience, something Victoria thought a lot of Kanto schools were lacking.

She didn't take Leo's age into consideration either, as she had started her journey at twelve – all Alolans did. He was plenty old enough to be trusted. But it was her instincts that told her to sponsor him, and when she asked her gut why that was, it told her a few different stories.

Maybe it was the way he got a far-off look sometimes, staring blankly at the sky like an old man. She had thought him too young to understand what coming through an ultra-wormhole meant, that he had lost his entire world, but maybe that wasn't so. Or maybe it was the way he talked and moved like someone much older, despite his childish and naïve habit of ditching school. Perhaps part of it was the way he constantly searched for something with an undirected drive – a drive she had seen in other Masters like herself, a drive with a purpose. Except his drive had no purpose, and he was searching for a purpose like it was something he had lost. But the most likely option was because Leo reminded her of herself.

Cocky, overconfident, and a tad bit too gung-ho. Not to mention Leo's plans to enter the Silver Mountains was ditto to Victoria's own plans when she got her trainer's license.

She had bought a rowboat and rowed all the way to Poni Island to spend the first year of her Island Challenge there, after all. It was the Alolan equivalent of diving headfirst into the Silver Mountains. Plus, rumor had it Professor Oak had done the same as Leo, back when he first started, and that's how he got his dratini-turned-dragonite. That was back when the official starting age for a trainer was twelve in Kanto, too, so it wasn't like Leo was doing anything different.

Victoria had been making excuses to explain her actions, and she knew it. Didn't make a difference that she had sponsored Leo and let him essentially break the law and Uncle Oak's trust, but it sure made her feel better about it.

Samuel Oak resisted Victoria's push to get Leo a license at first, but once she learned that Oak was essentially giving Leo ACE Trainer exams and he was getting over fifty percent on the written portions – which meant he would've passed the regular trainer exams with flying colors – the old professor had no excuse to stop Victoria from sending Leo on his way. She'd had to threaten to take him to Alola and get him a license there to get it done though.

But what did come as a surprise to Victoria was how easy it was for Leo to slip past the rangers on route twenty-two, which only served to confirm a long-held theory of hers as to his true nature. This was doubly so when she got her oranguru, Sage, to confirm the fact.

Leo was Dark. He had the innate ability to remain undetected to psychic types if he so wished – it just so happened that most the time he was Open, willing himself to be affected by psychic energy. Which was why Merri, Oak's alakazam, never participated in the "catch Leo games;" she'd never be able to find him. It was also why he was so easily able to bypass the Ranger-employed psychics, put in place just to catch kids like Leo and stop them from entering the Mountains unprepared. When he wanted to hide, he instinctively flicked his Dark nature to full power, and vanished from psychic sight, if not its influence. This condition was about as rare as being psychic was, and not nearly as potent as a dark-type pokémon. He wasn't wholly unaffected by psychics, after all.

This discovery did drive home another point for Victoria – Leo needed to see the dangers of the Silver Mountains. With how much Kanto relied on their psychic types for border patrol, it was unlikely that Leo could've been stopped from leaving unless a full-time guard was slapped on him. It was best he get some of his carelessness out of his system now – after all, Victoria couldn't be around to keep an eye on him all the time. Sometimes children had to learn not to play with fire, by playing with fire.

Still, she doubted Leo himself knew of his own ability, but it did explain why psychics liked him so much. To have the ability to block out psychics, but to willingly stay open to their powers like he did most the time? They would instinctively like and trust someone like that, even if he did so unintentionally.

All this meant that, for the most part, Victoria let Leo have his little journey and search for a larvitar. Gypsy followed him around, the furrett unassuming enough to follow Leo and not make him suspicious, while she went off to train the rest of her team against the stronger denizens of the mountains. Gypsy was more than capable of warding off most dangers, or at least keeping Leo safe, and only occasionally would she return to check on Leo. Usually to find him doing something stupid, or incredible. Sometimes both.

Incredible like when he would whistle a tune for a group of bellossom, and incite them to dance for him, which was always a treat. Victoria recorded a few of those encounters for blackmail material later – pokedexes were nifty like that after all. Or stupid, like when he battled Archibald Oak's old tyranitar, Tyrus. Clearly he had just been testing Leo, but it had taken almost every ounce of willpower Victoria had to not jump in to the rescue. Tyrus could have easily killed Leo and his team had he not found him up to snuff.

Victoria sighed, readjusting her grip on General's saddle and feeling Leo's arms tighten around her waist, said boy staring out at the clouds as her braviary winged through the sky. One of the most troubling aspects of the journey had been the ghost Leo had attracted, falling just short on the "troubling scale" of the nevermeltice glacier in the middle of Tyrus' nest. Those two things were alarming.

Unfortunately, there was little she could do about the nevermeltice, and what she suspected was contained within. She wasn't sure, but Leo seemed like he recognized the dark shapes within, and InterPol was acting like they were certain it was an ultra-beast in the ice. The problem was that they weren't willing to send an expeditionary force into the known territory of a champion-level tyranitar, as well as potentially angering a legendary bird, to remove it. She hadn't seen articuno, but its presence was clear. InterPol was understandably hesitant to infringe in its territory. Supposedly they were going to send a representative to investigate it, but when Victoria had no idea. The Indigo League was steadfastly resisting InterPol sending a team of agents into the Mountains for unknown reasons too, because for some reason InterPol saw fit to suppress all evidence and information on Ultra Beasts.

So all the League knew was that InterPol wanted to send high-level trainers into the mountains, with no explanation as to why. Yeah, that was sure to go over well.

Unfortunately this tied Victoria's hands because her dad Samson, Samuel, and herself could all face major legal repercussions if she revealed the ultra-beasts to the Leagues. It was an absolute political and bureaucratic nightmare, one she was ill-equipped to deal with.

Those thoughts can be dealt with later, with the help of Dad and Samuel. If anyone can convince InterPol that they're being idiots to hide ultra-beasts from the Leagues, it's those two. Victoria thought, General banking and letting out a shriek to announce his presence. Blackthorn had just come into view, the city of dragons alive and buzzing with human activity. A roar of a dragon answered General's call, and Victoria had to swat him to keep the ornery bird from challenging the beast.

"Not while we're riding you, idiot," she hissed, the great bird shaking his head and clacking his beak irritably. Victoria sighed and glanced over her shoulder at Leo.

Well, at least she could take care of the boy's ghost problem. This wasn't the last he'd seen of froslass, she was certain, but that, at least, she knew how to handle.

"What are ghosts?" Leo asked, and Victoria glanced up from her newspaper, peering over the edge of the dull greyish-beige paper. She had been expecting this question for a while now, so had an answer prepared.

That didn't stop her from folding her newspaper up and leaning forward, stalling for time while she collected her thoughts. Currently the two were sitting in the Blackthorn City pokémon center, Leo freshly showered and waiting while his pokémon underwent a checkup. He was stalling against calling the Professor on the center's video phones, and Victoria was preparing his alibi. She wanted to keep his foray into the Silver Mountains a secret from Samuel, and the only way to swing his lack of check-ins was if she convinced the old professor that Leo had been training with her.

This way, neither of them would get in trouble over letting Leo go off the beaten path. And if she was being honest, Victoria feared Samuel Oak's retribution far more than she did the League's. They rewarded successful bravery, after all. Even if it was foolish.

"Ghosts can be one of two things," Victoria said, refocusing her thoughts and toying with Duke, her tauros', pokeball. "Natural born ghosts are your typical ghost-types. They're hard to study and elusive, but act as much like pokémon as any other type – albeit with a mischievous streak a mile wide. Not much is really known about their origins, or how they multiply, but from what I've gathered it's almost a form of mitosis or…spawning. They just kinda…split," she explained, hoping she was using the correct word in "mitosis."

"And the other?" Leo asked, leaning forward and fixing her with an intense gaze. She met his brown eyes, rubbing her chin thoughtfully and eyeing him up and down.

"That's why they get the name 'ghosts,'" Victoria said, glancing around the pokecenter to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. It wasn't exactly classified information, but it wasn't well known either. "Because in ancient times they were thought to literally be the lost souls of the deceased. We've since confirmed thats not the case, but I mean, it's not wholly wrong either. My best guess as to what they are is that they're potential ghosts – ghost type spores, if you will – that come in contact with residual negative emotions created by people.

"Somehow these ghosts suck up the emotions and, rarely, they form a ghost that has the same memories as the ones who created them. Usually its formed from people who died with a lot of residual emotion. Regret, anger, hate – those are powerful emotions that tend to hang around. You're lucky you ran into a regret-based ghost. Hatred ghosts would have killed you without a second's thought, and are marked by the League to be exterminated the moment they're located. Still, they're rarer than you might believe, and, before you ask, no they're not the souls of people transformed into pokémon. I'm pretty sure, anyway. Most of the spiritual mediums and hex maniacs I've spoken to don't think so," She explained. Leo frowned, running a hand through his still damp brown hair.

"You sound like you speak from experience," he said. Victoria grinned, though it felt a little sharp even to herself. She felt she was uniquely qualified to help Leo here, but was surprised by his observation.

"I do. People think dark-types are the bane of ghosts, but the truth is normal types are an almost perfectly evolved natural counter. Completely immune to their most harmful attacks, impossible to be possessed, and second only to dark types in utilizing dark-type attacks; and because I am a normal type Master, I get called in to deal with ghosts a lot," she explained, leaning back in her chair.

"Never thought of it that way," Leo said, frowning thoughtfully. "…Do you think froslass is gone?"

"Not a chance. That thing's following you for sure. Probably won't leave until you complete its regret, whatever that is, or I chase it off. Might even join your team," Victoria said. Leo hummed and fell silent, idly picking at his fingernails. She studied him as he sat, carefully watching his expression and trying to judge his thoughts.

Her plan could have backfired spectacularly if Leo quit training because of this. She wanted to curb his irrational tendencies and teach him a lesson about danger, not scare him off of training entirely. And she wasn't a therapist! She couldn't imagine stumbling across a frozen woman when she was twelve, much less a skeleton when she was ten. But if he did quit, maybe that was meant to be then.

"I'm sorry," Leo said, breaking the quiet and looking up at Victoria. "I know it seems like I was kind of spitting in your face for ignoring your warnings and heading into the Silver Mountains, and I didn't mean to be disrespectful or anything,"

Victoria frowned at him, schooling her expression into a stern one. "Look, what you did was stupid and reckless, I won't deny that. But I'm not going to be hypocritical here and say that you shouldn't have done so. I let you go – heck, it's what I expected of you. And now that you've caught your newest teammate and seen whatever it is you needed to in those mountains, you won't go doing it again for a while, right?" she asked. Leo nodded, and Victoria continued before he had a chance to elaborate. "Then don't worry about it too much. Train your team up. Get some badges. Try not to let Professor Oak find out what we did, and we'll be fine. Then, when it's all said and done and you're old enough, you can apologize to him,"

"Are you not worried about the League's response if they found out?" Leo asked. Victoria shrugged.

"Not particularly. You'll get reprimanded, a slap on the wrist and maybe a temporary suspension of your license, but with how much flak the current Champion is getting for approving the Youngster Licenses I imagine they'd want to use you as a poster-boy instead. Something along the lines of 'see, there are kids who are capable of taking care of themselves!' Kind of a thing," she explained dismissively. She didn't hold the current Kanto and Johto champion in high regard, so she wouldn't put it past the man to try such a stunt to save his failing reputation.

Not to mention that Kanto in particular loved individuals who were both brave and skilled. He'd probably get an interview with a news company for his stunt, all painted in a good light, of course. Maybe. Politics made things tricky.

"Huh," Leo said eloquently, falling into silence. Then, after a moment, asked one more question. "What did you mean by 'see what I needed to see,' by the way?"

Victoria snorted. "Kid, if you just wanted a larvitar you would've researched where to find them more. There's a known group of tyranitar that live in the mountains west of Fuschia, and they're a lot tamer than the Silver Mountains. Maybe you found it poetic to go back to where it all started," she said, and Leo furrowed his brows in thought. After a few minutes of silence, Leo stewing over whatever it was that went on inside that little head of his, a voice came on over the intercom telling him that his pokémon were ready.

Victoria leaned back in her chair, looking up at the ceiling as he got up to go to the front desk. Once again, her thoughts turned to Professor Oak.

…the more she thought about it, the more she figured that he already knew about Leo's excursion. She was going to catch hell for this, wasn't she?

Professor Oak was furious. He originally hadn't wanted to believe that Leo had ignored his warnings and gone running off into the Silver Mountains again – he was smart, after all, despite everything. But all that intelligence did nothing for his wisdom, apparently, because he had gone right off into the Silver Mountains not but three weeks into his journey. And Oak didn't even learn of that until a month later! Not to mention that Victoria had decided that such a course of action was perfectly acceptable and had followed him into the mountains!

He had half a mind to go after them and drag Leo back kicking and screaming. But he didn't. Because it wasn't that Leo had gone into the Silver Mountains that angered him – no, if the boy had proved anything it was that he was more than capable of surviving in the wilderness. That was especially highlighted by the fact that he spent most of his time at the ranch interacting with wild pokémon and honing his skills. Ditching school had been an issue, but…with how often he self-studied, and how easily he passed the typical trainer tests Oak had given him, he really couldn't hold it against Leo. He, himself, never even graduated from a research institute – it was the knowledge, rather than the institution, that was important in Oak's opinion. And even if Leo's knowledge was spotty at times, and non-existent in certain areas, he still learned enough.

That didn't stop him from giving Leo much harder tests, though. And eventually Oak found a difficulty that seemed to stump Leo, learning that, unfortunately, he didn't seem to have an interest in becoming a researcher. A pity, too. He was good enough with pokémon.

What really angered Oak about the situation was that Leo clearly did not think it through how successfully surviving in the Silver Mountains as a Youngster would appear to the public – or, Mew forbid, how it would look if he captured and could successfully control a larvitar. The League would use it as an opportunity to legitimize the Youngster License. That Victoria didn't realize the issue with this fact only served to infuriate Oak further – this wasn't Alola. The Islands were notoriously friendly, people and pokémon alike. Plus, the islands were relatively small. It was never too far to get to a city or town – help was never far away, except on Poni Island.

Kanto, on the other hand, was not. Culturally, socially, environmentally; even the pokémon were more aggressive and dangerous here than in Alola. Kanto children were not equipped enough to deal with the dangers of the world, and could easily get lost. They wouldn't be ready until they were thirteen to fourteen, at least. Oak would know. He had started his journey at twelve, after all, and Leo even seemed to agree with him, thinking himself the exception. Which, admittedly, he was. But just because his mind was older than his body didn't give Leo a free pass; because as far as the Leagues were concerned he was twelve.

It had been a bit of a surprise when Merri took Oak to the side and told him about Leo's true age, in those first few months of the boy being under his wing, but truth be told it hadn't been a shock. He'd started to suspect something was up with Leo in those months – sometimes what he said and did didn't match up with his physical age; Leo was many things, but an actor wasn't one of them. You can only act like a child so well, after all. It wasn't unthinkable either – Oak himself knew that time was nothing if not relative to legendary pokemon, his own experiences with celebi attested to that. Some sort of strange time-reversal on Leo's body wasn't unthinkable. This age, however, only helped to further Oak's anger at Leo. He expected more. More forethought, more patience, more awareness.

Added to this was that Vitoria discovered evidence of ultra-beasts in the Mountains – but that was a whole 'nother headache to deal with. He had left the Champion seat behind partly because of the inherent bureaucracy of the League – he despised the mind games and politicking involved. It prevented anything from getting done, like InterPol from moving in to ensure the breach was closed (it was, Oak and Merri had teleported nearby with the appropriate scanning equipment, courtesy of his cousin Samson, and found no energy leaks save from what radiated from the nevermeltice glacier – and wasn't that a sight! He'd never seen one that large.)

Legendaries – it was a wonder anyone got anything done in the League.

But as time passed and weeks turned into months, the Professor found his anger cooling off. Technically speaking Leo was still young in this world, and politics and culture were difficult to understand even for natives. Who's to say he didn't just think he'd be punished for going off-route? Kanto people rewarded bravery, and Johto honored tradition. Leo's route through the mountains honored both of those things – honoring the sacred journey, and bravely entering the mountains (even if it was foolish.) If anything, this meant his actions might be subject to public punishment, but a private reward. The Indigo League liked to snatch up promising young trainers early, after all.

Oak wasn't going to allow that to happen to Leo, not without giving him a choice. ACE wasn't a good place for him – for all his wits, if not wisdom, Leo was no soldier. All Oak had to do was be prepared for when Leo exited the mountains, and catch him before he caught the League's eye.

In the meantime though, he had research to do and a Gym Leader to keep an eye on. The more he watched Giovanni, the more Leo's claim that he was a crime boss started to make sense. The theory was there, he just needed evidence.

Merri teleported Oak to Blackthorn with a flex of her psychic powers, and the world shifted. A few hours ago he'd received a notification from Leo's trainer's registration that he'd checked into the Blackthorn Pokemon Center – a privilege he got from being Leo's registered guardian. And lo and behold, he had a third teammate; it was pure luck Oak caught it in time. He barely managed to stop the system from sending a notice to the League that a larvitar, a potential pseudo-legendary, was in the possession of a Youngster. As Kanto's premier Pokemon Professor, he had the right to hide certain facets of data from the League – he dealt with a lot of sensitive information after all, including diagnostic checks on official Elite teams.

Agatha trusted nobody else to ensure her team was hale and healthy, despite his and her…antagonistic relationship. It actually warmed Oak's heart a bit to think about, in a weird sort of way.

Oak blinked his eyes as Blackthorn City came into view, the darkness on the edges of his vision receding along with the disorientation that came with long-distance teleporting. A psychic force kept him from stumbling, pressing against his chest like a firm hand, and he nodded to Merri. The Alakazam just smiled serenely at him, glancing at the city around them with obvious distaste.

"No matter how many times we do that, I still can't get used to teleporting," Oak said, shaking his head. Merri made a small noise of amusement, briefly touching her mind to his to tell him where Leo and Victoria were, before recalling herself into her pokeball. He smiled and patted his side, where most of his old team sat in their respective balls, before schooling his features and marching off in the direction Merri had pointed him.

He didn't really notice the way the people of Blackthorn side-eyed him as he walked, each stride purposeful and confident, nor how they carefully moved out of his way, parting as if the sea before a gyarados. Nor did he pay much mind to the two gym trainers, marked by the gym uniforms they wore proudly, who watched him closely as he worked his way into the city. He chalked that up to them recognizing him, but that wasn't quite the truth.

This was Blackthorn. The people here were accustomed to old dragons intent on making their displeasure known.

It took only a few minutes for Oak to find Leo and Victoria, the sun having set but an hour ago and the two sitting on the patio of a casual-looking café, illuminated by the hanging lanterns Johtoans seemed to prefer. The smell of coffee and pastries wafted through the air, and Oak narrowed his eyes at the duo. Leo's back was facing him, the boy's long, messy brown hair poofing out at odd angles. Victoria sat beside him, voraciously tearing into the remains of a meal.

Oak frowned, and Leo visibly stiffened, slowly turning around in his seat, eyes scanning the crowd until he finally spotted the quickly approaching Professor. He took an almost sadistic satisfaction at the way Leo's eyes widened and color drained from his face, food forgotten as he turned and nudged Victoria, her own expression mirroring Leo's when she, too spotted him.

All it took was a deepening of the frown that he currently sported for Victoria to curb her immediate urge to flee, the woman stilling from where she had started to stand, slowly sinking back into her chair with an expression of defeat.

Good. Oak thought. They should be afraid.

"Lovely weather for a meal outside, isn't it?" Oak asked coolly as he vaulted the low, wrought-iron fence surrounding the café patio, sliding into a chair next to Leo, facing Victoria, with the smooth grace of a practiced gentleman.

"Yeah," Leo answered, voice surprisingly steady.

"What are you doing here, Professor?" Victoria asked, sounding much more nervous. His eyes narrowed imperceptibly, irritation welling up inside him. Wasn't she a Master? Didn't she know how to hide her emotions better?

"I believe the answer to that is obvious, Victoria," Oak said. Victoria swallowed thickly, and Leo sighed in resignation, slumping in his chair. Did you really think I wouldn't notice? Oak thought idly, staring dead at Victoria. I am not some tottering old fool.

"Sorry," Leo said, at least sounding sincere.

"You should be," Oak snapped. He had intended to let the game play out, see what excuses they would make and let Victoria dig herself and Leo into a hole, if they wanted to play the fool, but that admission let all his frustration come out. "Do you even realize why I didn't want you to go into those mountains? Hmm? Did you even stop and consider that maybe it wasn't because I didn't think you capable? That maybe it was because I didn't want you to start another wave of foolish children from jumping off into the wild unprepared?" he snapped, and Leo's eyes grew wide.

"I, uh," he stammered.

"Be quiet. You I can potentially excuse due to ignorance. You're absolutely smart enough to be able to understand the politics of Kanto and Johto though, so don't think you're off the hook. Ignorance is one thing, but willful ignorance is another. And Victoria? I expected more out of you. Did you stop to think why I was holding him back? Hmm?" Oak asked, waiting expectantly for Victoria to answer.

"Uh, because he's too young?" Victoria asked hesitantly. "But I told you, Alola –"

"This isn't Alola." Oak said bluntly. "This is Kanto. Dragonite do not gorge themselves on berries to become fat, friendly dragons. Here, the dragons rule the skies and seas and help only when they deem fit. Here, tyranitar do not sleep beneath the earth, only emerging once every half century on Mount Lanakila. They are tyrants. They roam the mountains, fight, rage, and destroy. This is the region snorlax are feared, not played upon like overgrown jungle gyms. This is the region muk are toxic, not recycling machines. And this is most certainly not the region where the Elites are friendly as your Kahunas,"

Victoria leaned back in her chair, her rattled expression morphing into a frown.

"I know that," she said.

"Do you?" Oak snapped.

"Yes!" She snapped back. "I do! And it's not like the pokémon in Kanto are more aggressive without reason – you Kantoans treat them more like Domestics than anything! They're perfectly reasonable creatures whenever you treat them with respect!"

"You are right about that. It's not the team that gets everyone killed or hurt, it's the trainer," Oak agreed, nodding. "Which is why I'm not angry about you going into the Silver Mountains because they're dangerous. I'm angry because you might just start another wave of Youngsters, this time with no excuse not to go in the most dangerous region of Kanto and Johto." That shut Victoria up for a moment, but if the frown on her face was anything to go by she was more than ready to keep arguing.

Oak was prepared to let her, until Leo spoke up.

"He's right, I think," he said, rubbing his face. "I did this without really understanding my position, or the politics of Kanto. I thought I did, but I didn't. I'm sorry. Got tunnel vision, I guess,"

Oak leaned back in his chair, idly noticing that they'd attracted a bit of attention from the other customers. But he found himself not caring much. This was important to get out now, rather than wait until later and let it lose its weight.

"I believe you are. But would you do it again?" he asked, meeting Leo's eyes. The boy nodded immediately, and Oak just wanted to throw his hands up into the air in exasperation. Had he not been listening?! "Why?! Were you not listening?"

"Do you really think I just went into those mountains for a larvitar?" Leo countered, and Oak hesitated. He can't say he'd really thought much about Leo's reasons. "I hadn't even thought about it much myself until Victoria said something to me earlier. Just had one goal in mind, y'know? Find a larvitar. Get Tyrus to let me take a larvitar, more precisely. But I just…had something to prove, I guess,"

"To who?" Victoria asked, furrowing her brows. Oak pressed his lips into a thin line, guessing where this was going and hating that he understood what he was about to say.

"Me. Who else would I be proving something to? You? The world? Nah, I needed to let myself know that I still had it. That my skills weren't just a fluke, that what I learned in the mountains wasn't just pity taken on a stranded child. That I still had my drive," Leo said, meeting Oak's eyes.

He understood – he didn't agree with it, but he understood – the need to test one's self. To prove that something, his survival in the Mountains in this case, wasn't a fluke or due to a legendary's influence. He'd gone through much the same thing after meeting celebi when he was a kid. So he didn't argue, instead he closed his eyes and sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose and trying to fight off his impending headache.

The conversation lapsed into silence from here. Leo asked a few questions; how much trouble was he in, would he expect anything from the League, that kind of stuff. Oak had waved it off for the most part – the League wouldn't find out what Leo did for a while, nor would InterPol discover his presence at the ultra-beast site. But the personal punishment, which would come from Oak, had yet to be decided. It would probably involve lectures, which seemed to be the one thing Leo actively despised.

They had a few more days before Oak had to be back at the lab for any serious length of time anyway – Gary was under the care of his sister, who was taking a break from journeying for the last few months of the League Season. This gave the professor plenty of time to come up with a suitable punishment, even if he couldn't force Leo to come back to the lab.

The next day Leo sat in a training field just outside of the city, his team released before him and stretching in the early-morning light. A cool mountain breeze rustled the pine trees and low oaky bushes, setting Leo's hair to stand on end as he enjoyed the morning. Despite feeling guilty for…well, everything, he had still managed to get a decent night's sleep. The Center beds were anything but comfortable, but it was nice to have a real mattress again.

"Slooow," Santiago crooned, butting his head against Leo's leg impatiently.

"You're riled up today, aren't you?" Leo asked, amused. Santiago growled lightly, rubbing his forehead against Leo's shin. "Yes, yes, we'll get started. Unless that's not what you want, huh?" he asked, bending down to rub Santiago's head affectionately. Zuko squeaked, darting forward and forcing his head under Leo's other hand, so he would start petting him too. Not to be left out, and because she was still curious as to what head-scratches felt like (they were kind of hard to feel through the Larvitar's rocky carapace), Diana ambled forward and proceeded to gently headbutt Leo in the gut, knocking him over.

Leo laughed and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, the little rock-type squirming under his grip.

"You little monster, you," he laughed, freeing her and letting her stumble away. "It's a good thing you were gentle there, that would've hurt quite a bit otherwise," he admonished, but Diana just tilted her head to the side and got distracted, ambling over to a rock lying on the ground. Leo ignored the crunching that followed, and set to work instructing Zuko and Santiago on their training regimen today.

With a clean bill of health from the Center and a good while ahead of them in civilization, Leo figured it was time to kick things up a notch. So he'd start the day with a spar between Zuko and Santiago, and spend some time with Diana. Santiago would try to hit Zuko, though using confusion didn't count because the Slowpoke couldn't quite control it yet, and Zuko would either dodge or intercept the attack with one of his own. It'd get everyone all nice and warmed up.

Once that was started he moved over to Diana, still chewing on her rock, and promptly started to go through his own martial arts movements. She watched him for a while, then stood and began to copy once she got her curiosity up. Leo grinned at her, stopping to gently correct her stance, basically just widening her feet, and adjusted his movements so that she could follow.

Occasionally he would call out a name for the stance, or strike, so that she could start associating the words with the movements. That would, hopefully, mean she could use this in a battle. If it was even remotely feasible. Leo hoped it was. A tyranitar that knew martial arts sounded awesome, even if they did have relatively short arms.

It was a pleasant morning, despite the grunts and growls and hisses of steam from fire meeting water in the background, with spearow flitting through the trees and the occasional bug-type visible in the dense pines that surrounded the training ground. Leo sighed and continued his motions, trying his hardest to not let his mind wander. It would do no good to overthink what Professor Oak had said last night; it was either learn more about the culture, customs, and politics of the Indigo League, or keep making mistakes. It was that simple.

"They're looking good. Got a nice team going, here," a familiar voice said from behind him, startling Leo.

"Professor! You're back early. I thought you would still be at the lab," Leo said, turning to greet him. Professor Oak had on casual clothes today, a tight t-shirt and jeans, and had a small smile on his face. It was a sharp contrast to the disappointed frown from last night, Leo noted.

"Gary's at school and the aides are taking care of the pokémon. I don't need to micromanage everything, you know," Oak said with a chuckle. "Teaching martial arts to your Larvitar though? That's certainly…interesting," he said, tone clearly telling Leo of his doubts.

"She started copying me in my morning routine – who am I to stop her? Besides, it could be interesting," he said, glancing at his newest capture and nodding to himself in satisfaction. Even though he had stopped moving, she was still going, attempting to spin in a circle in a way as similar to Leo as she could. He refrained from helping her, though. She needed to figure some of it out by herself, there was only so much he could do for her as their bodies were so different. Instruction was ok, micromanagement was not.

"I see. Well, I was hoping we could chat for a bit. It's been a while after all," he said, and Leo winced.

"Sorry," he said. Before he could continue, apologizing for taking advantage of Oak's kindness and all that, Oak waved his hand dismissively.

"It's the life of a trainer. Sometimes you just need to disappear for a while," he said. "Tell me about your trip, I'm interested to hear about it,"

Leo hesitated for a moment, then grimaced. He'd forgotten to tell the Professor about Longinus last night – mostly because he had left for Pallet right after chewing both him and Victoria out, promising to be back in the morning. Though, honestly, there was a lot to tell.

"I mean, Victoria already told you about the ultra-beast, right? Said that there won't be any action to remove the beasts so long as they remain encased in ice," Leo mused, scratching his chin and putting the topic of Longinus off.

"Yes," Professor Oak said, sitting down on the grass and watching Leo's team train. He followed suit, the dew-covered grass immediately soaking through his pants as his eyes roved over Diana, then moved to the blur that was Zuko and the pink tank of a slowpoke charging after him with all the grace of an angry Tauros.

"Well, then I'll tell you about froslass and articuno first," Leo said, grinning when the professor's head whipped toward him in surprise. And, for the next hour or so, Leo regaled the Professor with stories of the Silver Mountains, telling him of what it was like meeting articuno, of froslass' annoyingly mischievous behavior, of all the species he saw and of froslass' origins, and more. About halfway through his stories Leo had gone to his pack, lying on the edge of the training field, and retrieved both his pokedex and Longinus' gem. The former so Oak could review some of the scans, the gem for the conversation he'd been avoiding for a while now.

Why was it that Leo was always the one telling Oak someone he knew had died?

"I'll want to copy this data and examine it further at the lab," Oak said, scrolling through a few of the pictures Leo had taken. Santiago currently lay in a heap next to the older man, Zuko laying across Leo's legs, panting, the two having tired themselves out with their training session. "I don't think the scanner worked as well as I would've liked, especially in scanning articuno, but it's probably more hard data we've gotten on the legendary than has been discovered in the past century. That's not even mentioning all the scans you did of froslass – I am honestly shocked by how many rare pokémon you ran into this trip. Either your luck is terrible, or amazing," Oak said, shaking his head.

Leo smiled thinly, stroking Zuko's warm fur, careful to keep his hands away from the red dots on his head and rump, lest the Quilava have a sudden flare-up, and figured now was a good a time as any.

"Sure. There is one more thing though," he said. "Longinus is dead,"

"Hmm?" Oak said, looking up. Leo presented Longinus' gem to him, the little pink gem resting softly in his palm.

"He, uh, gave his crown to Queen after battling the ultra-beast. You know, the slowpoke who helped me so much before. She's the one who evolved, but he did separate his gem from his crown. Articuno froze his body, that's the mound of rocks you see in some of the pictures," Leo explained as Oak reached out and took the gem from him.

He examined it for a while, expression unreadable, before handing it back to Leo.

"You keep it. A psychic focus like that will come in handy for training Santiago, or any other psychic you happen to catch," he said, meeting Leo's eyes with a sort of sad/amused smile. "Don't give me that look, he's been gone for nearly forty years now. I can hardly remember what his voice sounded like, and I already grieved Longinus once. I've done enough mourning to last a lifetime." Oak said, and Leo nodded silently. The silence lasted for a moment more before the Professor stood, stretching and groaning like an old man.

"Speaking of, you should probably focus on resolving your little froslass problem. Since you accepted the responsibility of resolving her regrets, you need to see it through as quick as possible. These types of ghosts won't let you rest until you get it done," he said sternly.

"Was planning on it, so long as you didn't forbid me from travelling anymore or anything," Leo said. "Can't say I'd blame you for it,"

"Mm. I still have to decide on a suitable punishment – the problem is I can't exactly ground you from television. You'd probably like that," Oak said, and Leo chuckled. He would. Surprisingly enough, Leo felt like he didn't miss television or the internet. There was an entire, crazy world to explore here. It was more than entertaining enough. "Any idea where you're going to start? A burning tower…can't say anything comes to mind. Lavender, maybe?" he mused.

"Froslass pointed towards Johto, so I'm betting it's somewhere in the region. Was thinking either the Sprout Tower in Violet City – I've heard that's burned down once or twice – or Ecruteak," Leo reasoned. "I'll have to see if there are any other sites where towers burned. Who knows, maybe I'm interpreting the vision all wrong anyway,"

"Maybe," Oak said, rubbing his chin. "Good places to start though. Should even be able to get your first badge if you go to Violet first. Falkner is notoriously easy on rookies, though. Shouldn't be much of a problem for your current team – the first badge is generally achieved within the first three months of training,"

"Huh," Leo said, standing and recalling most of his team. Diana was left out, mostly so he could continue bonding with her. She was truly a joy to be around, and incredibly amusing. She tried to eat a bench earlier, but disliked the taste of steel and had proceeded to rub her mouth in the dirt with a disgusted expression. 'Twas priceless.

"In the meantime, we have some lessons to get through," Oak said, grinning.

"Lessons?" Leo asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Lessons. Merri just gave me a great idea, and even agreed to help me. For the next few days, I'll be educating you on the politics of the Indigo League – and you have no right to complain." Oak said, and Leo groaned. Yes, he did agree that he needed to understand this part of the world more, but that didn't mean he had to like it.

Plus, learning from Oak meant lectures. Leo hated lectures. They didn't work for him, and more often than not, he found his attention…drifting. Focusing on things he didn't like was hard.

"Let's get this over with," Leo grumbled, rubbing his face.

"That's the spirit! Let's start with the general legislative structure surrounding the Gym system," he said, and Leo forced an attentive look on his face, inwardly lamenting and praying that there wouldn't be a test. And he prayed that this punishment would not last too long.