23

"There once was a ship that put to sea

The name of the ship was the Billy o' Tea

The winds blew up, her bow dipped down

O' blow my billy boys blow!" Leo sang, stomping the ground and clapping his hands to the beat of the song. Diana cheered, tossing her little arms up in the air and stomping her feet in a crude imitation of Leo's own terrible dance – despite practicing martial arts, when it came to dancing sometimes he felt like he had two left feet and a third right foot to boot – while Santiago watched from the side.

"Soon may the wellerman come,

To bring us sugar and tea and rum,

One day when the tonguin' is done,

We'll take our leave and go!" he roared, spinning and laughing as he spotted Zuko chasing a Butterfree, the bug-type floating just out of the reach of his jumps, chittering and spinning in the air to the beat of the song.

"She had not been two weeks from shore,

When down on her, a right whale bore,

The Captain called all hands and swore;

He'd take that whale in tow!"

A lone Bellossom joined him in his dance, Skiploom floating in the air above it as they spun around Leo, the gentle ringing of Bellossom's leaf skirt adding a soft quality to the song. Though it was also at this point that Leo forgot the rest of the lyrics, so switched to an entirely different song that he butchered to fit the same beat as the other. None of the pokémon seemed to mind, however, simply joining in on the dancing until Leo collapsed, laughing breathlessly into the soft grass below.

Leo twined his fingers through the grass, noting how thick and rich it was now, the grassy terrain used by the Bellossom having woken it from its slumber – preparing for winter as the world was. Bellossom giggled and walked over to him, patting him on the forehead as he lay sprawled on the ground, waggling one hand at him and humming the tune to the song to itself.

"You liked that one, huh?" Leo asked softly, earning himself a twirl from the grass-type. He grinned at Bellossom and sighed in contentment, looking up at the sky as Santiago trundled over to him and lay his fat head on his chest. Leo chuckled and scratched his starter behind the ears, closing his eyes and just…feeling the world around him.

It started simple. The smell of fall lay draped over the land, masking the smell of soil and grass beneath the scent of a coming storm – it reminded him of sleep and rest, and laying dormant until the world came alive again. He breathed a little deeper, and allowed his conscious mind to slip away, fading into the background as he felt a…connection, for lack of a better word, between himself and his pokémon. He could sense Santiago's inattention, his chest rising and falling as he refused any thoughts to enter his mind, leaving him simple and pure. He felt the chaotic attention of what could only be Spiritomb, the ghost eyeing him from where it rested in its keystone, remaining perfectly still while still somehow translating its manic energy – it was buzzing, ready for action.

Leo felt Diana and Zuko, the Larvitar solid as a stone and reminding him of the manic energy of a child in an amusement park – her infectious joy at simply being alive stirring Leo's heart into a rapid thump of excitement – while Zuko was far more quiet than his fiery nature belied. When Leo felt him, it was as if he was feeling the embers of a campfire – still burning hot, and ready to burst into flames at the slightest moment, but still far quieter than a raging bonfire.

Another breath escaped Leo and he felt his consciousness expand further, relaxing into the feeling as the land opened up beneath him and the forest reminded him that, despite the coming winter, it was still very much alive. But that was as far as he got, pressing forward no further as he both could not force it, and because the feeling of being watched overcame him.

Leo opened his eyes and sat up, forcing Santiago's head off of his chest and slowly turning his head, searching for what was staring at him, but finding nothing.

He frowned. "Must've been my imagination," he muttered.

"What was your imagination?" a vaguely familiar, yet frustrating unfamiliar, voice asked from the edge of the woods – at the edge of the small clearing Leo lay in. His head whipped toward the speaker and he immediately narrowed his eyes, the well-dressed man that emerged from the tree line and flanked by two red-jacketed, stern faced rangers looking aloof for all the world.

"Uh, hello," Leo called, standing and dusting dead grass off his pants.

"Hello," the well-dressed man replied, his pinstriped charcoal suit pressed neatly and without a single wrinkle, his short brown hair combed neatly to one side, and standing in a picture-perfect posture.

"You are Leo Angelico, correct?" one of the rangers asked sharply. Leo nodded.

"You are a Youngster, and Youngsters are not allowed off route. What are you doing this far off route?" he demanded. Leo raised an eyebrow at him.

"Am I off route? I didn't realize, I thought the route ended at the river a quarter mile to the North," Leo apologized.

"Ranger, calm down," the well-dressed man said smoothly.

"But Leader Mike, he's close enough to the border that it shouldn't matter! This is how Youngsters get killed," the Ranger protested.

"Maybe," Gym Leader Mike, Leader of the Azalea Gym, said slowly and without ever losing that peaceful smile on his face. "But the trees have eyes, and we do not want to anger them," A chill ran up Leo's spine as he slowly turned to where the Leader indicated with a nod, eyes widening slightly at the sight of at least five Trevenant watching from the treeline – their red eyes their only distinguishing feature in the woods. Even the Bellossom from before was staring silently at the conversation, while his team looked ready to start a fight.

"Oh," the Ranger said, stiffening and reaching for his pokeballs. The Trevenant groaned, and Leo held up his hands trying to placate both the Ranger and the Trevenant.

"Ok, ok, it's ok, don't do anything rash," Leo said quickly.

"They're not hostile," the Leader said calmly, placing a hand on the Ranger's shoulder. "Just don't provoke them any further. Thank you for guiding me here, but I will take it from here. You are dismissed," he said, patting the Ranger firmly on the back. For a second it looked like the Ranger might disobey, but eventually he relented and, taking his hand off of his pokeballs, walked back into the forest with the other Ranger. Leo watched them go silently, wondering just what in the world was going on here.

"So, care to explain?" Leo asked, glancing at the Trevenant just in time to see them close their eyes and fade back into the forest.

"Apologies, I had asked the kind Rangers to aid me in finding you; I did not know he would get to be so aggressive. That said, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Leader Mike, of the Azalea Gym," the Leader said, crossing the distance between them with a few swift strides. Zuko growled at him, back fires sparking, but Leo silenced him with a hand gesture and met the Leader's firm handshake with his own.

"I'm Leo Angelico," he said, nodding respectfully. "It's nice to meet you,"

"You had quite the performance during my Gym Test the other day. Clearly you are above the standard for a third badge trainer," he said, smiling kindly at Leo. It was, in a word, unnerving. Everything Leo had heard about this man so far had been nothing but negative, so why was he being so kind?

"It was a tough challenge," Leo allowed.

"As you say. Quantity has a merit all its own – a merit many bug types exploit," the man said, nodding. "And while I am sure you are wondering as to the nature of my visit, I assure you, this topic of conversation is not wholly unrelated,"

At this the Leader sucked in a deep breath and gazed longingly at the surrounding forest, his smile transforming into a nostalgic one. "Care to join me for a walk? I have not been out in the Ilex Forest in far too long…ever since I took up the duties of a Leader, as I recall. Unfortunately my duties take up far too much time for casual jaunts,"

"Uh, sure. There's a nice view of the river that way," Leo said, pointing northward. The Leader nodded and started off, Leo following close behind after recalling his team. For a while neither spoke, until finally, Leo could stand the tension no longer. "So, what brings you all the way out here?" he asked.

For a moment longer the Leader was silent, looking up at the tall pines as they continued to walk. "Well there are many reasons. First and foremost being that Victoria asked me to find you. She's quite upset that you didn't call her upon reaching Azalea – she wants updates as to how your challenge is going,"

"Victoria asked you to find me?" he asked.

"Without directly asking, yes. Though the second reason would be to warn you," the Leader said, and paused, looking directly into Leo's eyes and making him swallow thickly. "There's a snowstorm coming. Not too big, but it'll drop a decent amount of snow by my guess. You should probably return to Azalea for your safety – getting caught out here would be…difficult," he said, and smirked as Leo stiffened, not sure how to react about that.

He was expecting a different kind of warning, and if the Leader's smirk was anything to go by, he knew that.

"But I suppose what I really wanted to do was simply meet you, and see you with my own eyes – not over a camera or on a screen." He said, and Leo frowned, sticking his hands into his pockets and fingering Spiritomb's keystone. "Youngsters like yourself are hard to come by – truly talented, with intelligence and wisdom beyond your years."

"I thought you were against the Youngster License?" Leo blurted, and that earned himself a slight frown from the Leader.

"I oppose certain aspects of the License, yes. It was designed for trainers like yourself and my own son, Bugsy, but my issue is that others had taken it as an excuse to vilify supporters of the License, and was used by parents to stroke their own ego at having children who earned said license. Not every Youngster deserves one of those licenses – in other words, the idea was acceptable, if not wise, but the implementation was disastrous." He said, his frown turning into a full-blown scowl. "Not to mention that the title genius put upon you by earning that license leads to arrogance, and the fame can go to your head. Many talented young trainers have been ruined by fame, burning bright in their younger years but ultimately amounting to nothing,"

Leo scratched the back of his head, recalling something he'd realized about child actors in his own world. A lot ended up going off the deep end because of their fame, and never really amounted to anything later in life. He'd always attributed it to the fame getting to their heads while they were younger, and all that pressure warping their personalities – which was terrible. And he could see the same being the case here, but that wasn't what he latched on to.

This guy was Bugsy's dad? He vaguely recalled that information, but it was good to know.

"What my reputation stems from is my reaction towards the League trying to instate my son as a Leader before he was ready," The Leader said with a scowl. "He is young and talented, yes, having at least a sixth-badge team without having earned any badges yet, but I fear what the pressures of Leadership might do to him if he is not ready yet. Ah – if you didn't know, Azalea is among the last of the hereditary gyms. It's been in the family for generations, and while I declined the position initially when my father retired, the old coot ended up leaving the gym to Bugsy in his will. Which meant I had to take over until my child is ready," he explained, reading the confusion on Leo's face. "I can't say I even really have the team for being a Leader – a few of my personal pokémon are powerful, but I don't have a full team of near-elite 'mon,"

"I can't blame you, really. I don't know what duties a Leader has, but I can't imagine a kid being a good fit for the position," Leo said, nodding.

"Indeed, but while I worry, Bugsy does show promise. I will not allow the League to force the position on him if he is not ready, but when he is ready I will not stand in his way either. That said, I didn't come here to complain about my own troubles to you," he said, coming to a stop beside a thick pine tree with branches so dense Leo couldn't see the trunk.

"I'm still not sure why you're here either," Leo admitted. "Despite Victoria asking you to find me, I can't imagine you couldn't have sent someone else to get me,"

"True, true. I have…an offer, if you will," the man said hesitantly, eyes staring off into the distance as he started walking again. "Regarding your challenge. By League mandate I am forced to give trainers a beatable test – if it were up to me, I would provide an unbeatable test, and hand out badges based on their performance therein – however you find yourself in a unique situation. You have the backing of a major family, the praises and support of the two gym leaders you have previously faced;" at this Leo made a face, and Leader Mike chuckled. "Oh yes, Morty and Falkner both consider you to be a trainer to watch out for – a veritable rising star."

"Really?" Leo blurted. "I mean, Morty I can kind of understand despite my misgivings about the man, but Falkner?"

"Yes, Falkner was the one who first brought you to the Gym Leaders' attention in the first place. He was impressed with your ability to command a Larvitar at your age. Morty, on the other hand, said to keep an eye on you because you attracted Kusanagi, the Aegislash of one of the most famous emperors of Ecruteak in Johto's history. I wasn't sure I believed it until you came here, and returned from the Well with a King's Rock," the Leader said.

"I think I'm missing some context here," Leo said, maneuvering around a bush as he spoke. "I get that attracting the Aegislash was supposed to be a big deal, despite it trying to kill me and everything, but I still don't understand it,"

"Aegislash are attracted to Kings, Leo. If the path you and your team were taking to reach Kinghood matched Kusanagi's desires, you would be travelling with an ancient and powerful Aegislash," the Leader said bluntly, and Leo almost tripped over his own feet. "Not all Kings reside in a palace, or seek to conquer new lands like Kusanagi does. Most don't in fact. Some are far simpler in nature; and make no mistake, just because your Slowpoke is the one who will earn the title of King in his name if he evolves, you are not exempt from that title."

Leo frowned and looked forward, falling silent as the trees broke and revealed a smoothly flowing river. It was maybe a hundred feet wide, and deeper than it looked, but the waters were relatively peaceful as the river flowed, eddies curling up on the edges where water type pokémon undoubtedly rested.

For a moment the two stood there, admiring the view, and Leo watching the clouds roll down from the North – thick white clouds that promised winter weather. What the Leader said about Kings did ring true; Queen, for example, didn't rule from a palace – he would dare say she didn't rule. Instead, she guarded her herd. Yet she had earned her title as a Slowking.

"Back to what I was saying, though, I have an offer due to your unique situation. You could take the regular gym challenge I have planned for you – it will be challenging enough, yes, but you are all but guaranteed a badge at the end of it. I actually doubt it will be very challenging for you at all, based on the restrictions I must place on myself to keep it fair in the eyes of the League. Or you could accept a real challenge, and fight a battle that will prove you are everything you believe yourself and your team to be," he said mysteriously.

Leo shot him a look out of the corner of his eye. "I don't have to prove anything to anyone," he said bluntly.

"No, not anyone. Just to yourself," the Leader said knowingly, and procured a beat-up pokeball from his pocket. "Just think about it. Either way, I suggest you come back to Azalea before nightfall – the snowstorm is coming, and remember that Victoria Oak was looking for you," he said, and let an Abra out of the pokeball. The fox-like psychic type regarded Leo for a second, its psychic powers running over Leo's skin like pinpricks, before it nodded, and with a farewell from the Leader, teleported away.

Leo stayed at the river for a while yet, just staring out over the river frowning. He let Santiago out for good measure, the Slowpoke romping about in the river water and fishing up a rather large magikarp that he promptly swallowed whole. All while Leo watched, and wondered why everything had to be so complicated.

Or am I making it complicated? He mused. I don't think the offer is malicious, but is it really necessary?

"I can be stubborn," Leo said aloud, rubbing his face. "But I do need to realize when beating my head against a wall isn't the best solution,"

"Sloooow," Santiago replied from where he poked his head out of the river.

"I am stubborn, you're right. What do you think? Do we make things harder on ourselves? I kinda just want to get to Alola," Leo said, scratching the back of his head. Santiago remained silent this time, offering no support. With a sigh Leo nodded. "I do have multiple days to think this over. There's no rush, I suppose, the offer itself just confuses me. C'mon, let's get back to camp. We've got some packing to do if we need to head back to town,"

Leo did not, in fact, end up going back to town. He got distracted, gathered a whole bunch of wood for a fire, built a small lean-to to keep the worst of the northerly storm off of his tent, and spent the night out in the Ilex forest – only to wake up to two inches of snow and his breath coming out in puffs of white air. It was glorious, and in the early morning light he found himself spellbound by the beauty of the frozen forest. Grey clouds hung low over the treetops, a light breeze blowing puffs of snow from the canopy and fluttering to the ground below, giving the illusion of more snow fall.

The meadow he had been training in was picturesque, tall golden grasses peeking out of the layer of pure white snow with not a single track on it – besides the tracks left behind by the wind; shallow furrows and drifts left by moving snow. The trees themselves sat as silent as ever, hardly rustling in the breeze though Leo was sure they were looking down at him, quite literally in some cases. The Trevenant were indistinguishable from regular trees.

Leo stood silently in front of the meadow, wrapped up in his Mareep wool jacket and with thick mittens on. It wasn't that cold all things considered, and for the moment he was simply enjoying the silence – the kind of silence that only fell on a forest after a snow, when everything was bedded down and content to remain unmoving until the sun rose and promised some modicum of warmth. That was why his team currently wasn't with him, having not stirred when Leo slipped out of the tent and remained asleep even now. Even Spiritomb had been quiet and still, and Leo was loathe to disrupt their slumber. They deserved some rest, and he wanted to enjoy the morning.

Soon enough his feet started moving, taking him North toward the river and simply wandering about. His fingers traced the tracks of a Rattatta, the first awake besides himself, and he stumbled across a shed Stantler antler – a fantastic find. It was clearly from a small buck, with only four points, but Leo picked up the bone either way and carried it with him as he moved to the river, examining the purple gem-like thing pressed deep within the antler's root. Stantler only shed their horns once every five years, unlike deer in his old world which shed their antlers far more often, so Leo counted himself lucky.

It was at the river that Leo ran into the Bellossom from the previous day again, the little grass type drinking from its waters and waving the moment it spotted Leo. Leo waved back, smiling at it. He recognized it because it had an odd number of petals on its – no, his, Leo was pretty certain Bellossom was a him – on his head flowers. The red flowers had seven petals each, as opposed to the usual four or five.

"What are you doing up? Shouldn't you be hibernating, or whatever it is you grass types do during winter?" Leo asked, crouching next to Bellossom.

"Bell!" he cried happily, tossing his arms in the air. Leo smiled at him and shook his head, standing and stretching.

"Right, well I'm going to head back. Sun's rising, and I want to get my daily workout in before my team starts their training," he muttered to himself, turning on his heel and heading back to the meadow. The grass-type followed him all the way there, walking on top of the snow and, after Leo checked on his still-sleeping team and triple-checked his breakfast – a few granola bars he'd eat after his morning workout – he set about moving through the stances of his martial art, throwing strikes and, at times, running in circles in stance.

His feet plowed through the snow and his breath came out in ragged huffs, leaving trails in the meadow while Bellossom stared at him from the side.

"Bell," he said, suddenly approaching and halting Leo mid-stride. His muscles burned as he held his stance in an awkward position, slowly correcting himself so it wasn't so hard to hold.

"What's up, bud?" Leo asked between breaths, looking down at Bellossom.

"Som," he said with a cheery smile, the tiny grass type waving his hands in the air. "Bell, o, som," he repeated, spinning and waving his hands before looking pointedly at Leo.

"It does look like dancing, huh?" Leo asked with a chuckle. Bellossom smiled, and repeated the same motion, then stared at Leo expectantly. "What, you want to join in?" he asked. Bellossom shook his head, pointed at Leo, then pointed at himself. "To copy you?" he asked.

"Bell," he said, nodding, and Leo smiled, relaxing slightly.

"Sure. I was just about done anyway. Lead the way," he said, and awkwardly mimicked Bellossom's dance. He moved slowly at first, matching the pace of the grass type as he spun and danced, laughing as the gentle ringing of Bellossom's petal skirt began to sound out, filling the air with music.

The two danced, the sun peeking over the treetops and illuminating the duo in its warming light as they moved, spun, swayed, and occasionally leapt about, leaving Leo breathless and exhausted by the end of it. His legs collapsed under him and he fell to the ground, staring up at the sky while his muscles ached. That had been more of a workout than he'd been planning, and the coolness of the snowy ground felt good on his back.

"Bell," Bellossom said simply, patting Leo on the forehead and slowly ambling off, disappearing into the trees.

"Quiiiiiiiiil!" Zuko's cry blasted through the silence of the meadow, the fire-type sprinting up to Leo and leaping on his stomach.

"Ooof! Careful buddy, you're getting heavy!" Leo laughed, placing a hand on his Quilava's head as he nuzzled up against his face, full of energy despite the early morning. "If the rest of the team isn't up, you certainly woke them up. C'mon, let's go get breakfast. Then it's training time,"

Leo whistled sharply, Santiago cutting off his water gun mid-stream and switching seamlessly to confusion, shoving the rock Diana tossed at him to the side with nothing but psychic force. Ever since the Slowpoke Well Santiago had become far more dedicated in his training, though it was still a chore and a half to get him started.

"Good, Santi. Now try to hit Diana. Diana, counter," Leo ordered. Santiago's eyes glowed and Diana clenched her little fists, the Larvitar screwing her eyes shut as a single wisp of darkness curled around her, signaling her mastery of the payback technique. A battle of wills continued between the two for a moment before Santiago's concentration broke, his technique fading as Diana's payback technique successfully cancelled out the confusion.

There has to be a way around that. Maybe payback is just one of those moves that is great for defense against psychic types, but if just using a dark type move is enough to counter psychic type moves that's ridiculously overpowered. He mused, scratching his chin. But then again, maybe that's the point. Checks and balances.

"Keep that up. Diana, you're doing great with your physical training but you need to focus on your latent dark type. Keep it up," he encouraged, Diana whining at him and stomping her foot on the ground in annoyance. "Don't give me that. Just imagine, once you get to be able to use dark pulse you'll be able to blast away just about anything that tries to hit you from afar,"

Diana whined again and scratched at her stomach, then bent down and scooped up a mouthful of dirt, made a face at the texture, but swallowed anyway and glared at Santiago before starting again. She was making great headway in all honesty. Her power, speed, and defenses were all top notch, especially considering she could use honest-to-god martial arts, but they'd neglected learning new moves beyond the ones she already knew because of it. It was time to correct that, and even though dark pulse was probably out of her reach until evolution, it was still a good goal. Along the way she'd pick up other techniques, or at least that was the idea.

Santiago, on the other hand, was fed up with his psychic abilities, clearly, if the way he started shooting weak shadow balls at Diana was any indication. She took the attacks and just blinked at Santiago, cocking her head to the side as if confused as to what he was doing and completely unbothered by the attack. Leo sighed. He'd leave them to it.

Next he turned his attention to Zuko and Spiritomb, the latter of which was swaying and cackling as it dodged all of Zuko's attacks, opening holes in its ectoplasmic body for embers and flame charges to pass through harmlessly. The swift stars Zuko shot at Spiritomb it didn't bother dodging, just letting the normal type move pass right through it.

"Spiritomb, what are you doing? Focus, man. I told you to try countering Zuko's embers and swift stars with your own moves. Try shadow ball, try anything. Hex, even, I'm pretty sure I saw you use that," Leo chided. Spiritomb cackled, a strange mixture of emotions flowing over their connection – which Leo had gotten far better at parsing from his own emotions – that he had no idea how to read. One thing was for certain though; Spiritomb didn't like that idea, and like Santiago, Spiritomb wasn't a pokémon that could be easily convinced to do something it didn't want to.

"What am I going to do with you?" he muttered not unkindly, putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head, switching to watching Zuko. He blazed about, training his speed, stamina, and control over the heat of his fires. He was still a bit of a one trick pony, but Leo didn't think having many moves up his metaphorical sleeve was where his strengths lie. That kind of tactic was best left to other species with greater control over various elements, like normal types.

No, the Quilava line excelled at using their fires to solve any and all problems, with maybe some normal or ground type moves or the occasional thunder punch thrown in to throw off enemies. They didn't have a different move for every problem – they had five moves that they master to such a degree they can be used to solve any problem. Leo decided to lean into that strength, and make Zuko the best he could possibly be at using fire to solve problems.

Besides, wouldn't it be great to one day watch Zuko's own flamethrower overpower the dragon fire of a Charizard? He got excited just thinking about it, and Zuko seemed to agree.

"Well, keep it up I suppose. Zuko, make sure to keep your fires from getting too hot. Control is key – once you can more freely adjust the temperature of your fires, then we can start going hotter and hotter," Leo said. Zuko didn't show any sign that he heard him, but kept training regardless.

"LEO!" a familiar voice called, making Leo turn on his heel and grin at Victoria as she strode out of the trees, glaring at him with that same Bellossom hot on her heels. His smile faltered.

"Hey, Victoria," he said, wincing and recalling that Leader Mike had said she was looking for him. Oops?

"What in Mew's name are you doing still out here? Didn't it snow last night?" she demanded, kicking at a puff of unmelted snow for emphasis. Between Zuko's fires and the sun, most of it had melted off by now.

"It wasn't that bad," Leo said, waving off his team as they halted their training to turn their attention to the newcomer. "Besides, it's midafternoon and it's already almost melted off,"

Victoria glared at him for a second longer, then laughed and shook her head, her stern expression fading. "You little brat. You just stayed out here to, what, prove a point?" she asked.

"Essentially, yeah," Leo said with a grin, despite not really having to prove anything. "It's not winter yet, and the forecast didn't say anything about any big snowstorms coming in last time I checked. Leader Mike said it might be big, but I wasn't too worried,"

"Amazing, you actually did think this through," she chuckled, moving up and ruffling his hair. Leo batted at her hand, annoyed. "You sure surprised the Distortion out of Mike – he wanted to treat you to dinner or something when you got back, and when you didn't show up he panicked and sent me after you. Took me half the morning just to find you,"

"I thought you were already looking for me," Leo said. Victoria shrugged.

"I was. But now, I think I want to see how much you've grown since I last saw you. Prepare your team, because Prince is coming to get you," she said, releasing her Persian. The great cat lazily licked one paw as it appeared in a flash of red, immediately drawing the attention of all of Leo's pokémon as it stared directly at him with hungry, predatory eyes. Leo shivered.

This…probably wasn't going to be fun.

Leo lay in a heap on the ground, Victoria standing over him with a savage grin on her face while Prince continued to savage his team – which was an overstatement, yes, but the Persian was thoroughly trouncing everything his team could throw at him – including Spiritomb, once the ghost got riled up enough to actually battle – and routinely proving that at any point, he could knock any one of Leo's team members out with a single hit. Except maybe Spiritomb, who was hard to hit to begin with.

It wasn't even funny, except it kind of was. It was humbling in a serious way, and Leo found that the only thing he could do at that was laugh. Especially when Bellossom tried to console him by patting his forehead as he lay there, the grass type having stayed to watch for some reason.

Leo was starting to suspect he might want to be a part of the team, but when he asked the Bellossom had turned him down. Shame.

"Not too shabby. Not where you could be, but not shabby at all. Seems like travelling with Daisy actually did you some good," Victoria said, watching his team while offering a hand to help him up. "Though you personally still have a habit of bull-rushing me when you get angry. That you need to stop doing," she said, referring to the spar she had just forced upon him. And, yes, Leo had gotten frustrated and lost his cool and charged her with everything he had.

The flying tackle hadn't done as much as he hoped, and she punished him for it.

"Thanks," Leo grunted, accepting her hand with one hand and brushing off Bellossom's incessant patting with the other. Victoria hauled him up, and he looked at the sky, groaning in pain and soreness. "Only got a day left until the battle. Think we're ready? I'm probably going to accept the Leader on his offer to make things more difficult,"

"Good. I would've been disappointed had you not – Mike's a good guy, despite the rap he gets. Not the best trainer – he's good a low tiers, though at high tiers he's a bit of a pushover – but he's a natural teacher," Victoria said, nodding. "And your pokémon need the push. They're getting close to their respective thresholds; evolving will open up a lot for them,"

"Really?" Leo asked, looking at his team as they battled Prince, the Persian dodging attacks with ease and retaliating with weak swipes that still sent the ones he hit reeling. Diana in particular was getting annoyed that Prince could send her flying so easily, stomping her feet and charging headlong into the Persian in a way very reminiscent of what Leo just did to Victoria.

It ended just as poorly too, with Prince batting her to the side and casually stepping on her to keep her down, all while keeping Spiritomb at bay with a shadow claw. The ectoplasmic form of the ghost swirled around Prince but refused to get too close; it seemed nothing Spiritomb could do could surprise the Persian.

"Yeah. Zuko needs to up his power, Santiago just needs to focus his control and to find whatever it is he needs to evolve, and I can't imagine Diana is that far off. Larvitar grow slow, but she'd been growing even before you caught her – I wouldn't be surprised if she's already thirty years old or something. Rock types age incredibly slowly," Victoria said, scratching the back of her neck. "That said, take it easy tomorrow. Train a little but give them some time to rest too. They've been working hard, and you'll need all your strength to overcome Mike's challenge,"

"I…see, thank you," Leo said, accepting her advice.

"I'll stick around until after your battle, but after that you'll be heading off to Alola. It'll take maybe a week or two to get the paperwork signed and get your travelling trainer's registration, but I don't plan on wasting too much time," she said.

"I've been meaning to ask; why the rush? Is it really that bad?" Leo asked. She paused, whistled sharply at Prince for no apparent reason, then looked Leo in the eyes.

"Yes and no. Lance is…look, I may have been a little harsh on Lance to start with, but I can't say I'm not worried. He's got the capability to be a strong leader – but he's arrogant and idealistic in some worrying ways. Once he gets to be champion – and he will, he's got the support from enough Gym Leaders that he'll be able to officially take the title once he beats the current Champion, after all it's not just about strength but also votes – he's going to run into a brick wall. Many of the things he's saying he'll do just won't be feasible. The question is; how long and how much will it take before he learns his lesson?" she said, shaking her head. "Kanto is a powder keg, ready to explode. They're sick of Johto leadership. I worry what the cost of Lance's rise to champion will be, and how much he'll have to give before he learns when to stop pushing,"

"Huh," Leo said, summing up his thoughts on the subject. He wasn't actually sure what to make of that.

"So that's why I'm sending you to Alola. Uncle Sam will be safe in Pallet as he's literally the only interesting thing about the town and too valuable where he is, but as a trainer you might be called upon if the situation does get hairy, Youngster or not. Besides, you'll love Alola. There's hardly any restrictions on exploring the islands," she said with a grin, and Leo grinned back despite the seriousness of the conversation. Exploration was his bread and butter.

The two lapsed into silence and Leo watched as Prince continued to decimate his team, beating them down, letting them catch their breath, and then doing it all over again. Bellossom eventually got bored of watching and drug Leo into another dance, which prompted Victoria to try it with him, which somehow or another led to Leo getting dogpiled by his team while Victoria wrestled with a playful Prince.

It was a good day.

When Leo headed back to Azalea for his gym challenge, he hadn't been expecting Leader Mike to expedite their battle by a few hours. Previously the battle should have been scheduled later in the day – close to eight o'clock at night, the last match of the day. When Leo told the gym leader that he'd be accepting his harder challenge, the Leader had clapped his hands happily and moved the battle up to four o'clock, a mere two hours away. Which wasn't bad, but he'd been hoping for a bit more time to mentally prepare himself and his team.

He had also been expecting to have their battle in a small arena, like the ones he'd battled Morty and Falkner in. So the fact that he was sitting in a locker room, listening to a sixth-tier gym battle going on in the official Gym stadium and waiting his turn to enter that field, left him a little shaken.

The gym stadium was reserved for battles of fifth tier or higher. Leo got the feeling he'd underestimated how serious Leader Mike was about making things hard on him. He glanced at the clock and bounced his knee nervously, counting the seconds while his team roamed about the locker room. His match was next, after this battle finished up.

"Sloooow," Santiago called, ambling past a few lockers and plopping down right next to Leo.

"I know, I'm just a bit nervous," Leo admitted, underselling just how nervous he actually was. "We got this though. I believe in you all," he said.

"Poooke," Santiago replied, nudging Leo's knee.

"I just – how big of a crowd do you think there's going to be?"

"Slooo,"

"This'll be the first time I've really been in a stadium – I mean, sure, I've battled with an audience before, but this is going to be something else. And are we actually ready?" Leo rambled. Santiago blinked at him as he continued to chatter, then in one swift motion opened his mouth and stuck both of Leo's hands inside the orifice. "Gross! Santiago, what that for?!" Leo yelped, yanking his now thoroughly slobbered hands out of his starter's mouth and glaring at him.

"Slow," Santiago said, staring blankly at him. Leo glared right back and shook his head.

"Butthead," he said, but couldn't help the grin that came over his face. Well, at least he wasn't fidgeting or rambling anymore.

"Leo Angelico, to the field, Leo Angelico, to the field. Your battle will start in five minutes," a voice said, crackling over the speaker. Leo looked up, nodded to himself, and stood, wrapping his jacket tighter around himself and clapping his hands. Diana and Zuko ran over, Diana with a concrete dust all over her face – no doubt she had been eating the floor or something – and Leo gave them a few short words of encouragement, recalled everyone, and promptly headed out of the locker room and into the long hall that led to the battle arena.

His boots echoed on the concrete floor, the dull hum of the crowd drowned out by the nervous whispers of Spiritomb in his ears. Leo patted the keystone in his pocket comfortingly and stepped out into the light of the stadium, blinking into the bright light.

Floodlights shone down on the field, illuminating the large stadium where the late afternoon sun would not. Two seven-foot-tall trainer's stands loomed over the once-grassy field, scorch marks and craters in the dirt showing where attacks had rent the field, or were parts no one had bothered to fix. Leo took a deep breath and glanced around at the stadium stands while walking to the trainer's podium, gauging the crowd.

Most of the spectators were leaving, though it wasn't all that full to begin with. Maybe only half the stands were full – and it wasn't anywhere close to the size of a stadium from his old world, this one maybe holding two or three thousand people max as opposed to twenty or thirty thousand. Leo felt slightly relieved at that, that fewer people would be around to watch. He'd have to get used to it eventually though, he was sure.

"And now, as an intermission between battles, we have a new Challenger approaching the field. This will be a fourth tier battle folks, but make no mistake, this will be no simple challenge," the announcer began, but Leo swiftly tuned him out in favor of looking around.

"BEEEEELLLL!" a small shrill voice screamed over the noise of the stadium, catching Leo's attention immediately. He whipped his head towards the source, blinking at the Bellossom that waved all-too-cheerily at him from the front row, standing atop the concrete wall that separated the audience from the gym floor. He stared for a moment, then furrowed his brows in confusion. That was the same Bellossom from the forest – the one he danced with. What was it doing here?

An old woman grabbed Bellossom before he could leap out of the stands and shook her head, meeting Leo's eyes and raising one grey eyebrow. Leo waved at her, and turned back around, climbing the ladder up into the trainer's box.

He wasn't sure what to make of that.

"This will be a four-on-four battle," the announcer said, listing off the rules of battle through the speaker when Leo situated himself, staring out across the battlefield at Leader Mike as he stood in the opposite podium. "The challenger is allowed three switches – after that, the challenger may no longer change pokémon without them fainting. Additionally, the Gym Leader is allowed two forced switches – upon using these switches, the challenger must switch their pokémon. This does count towards your number of switches. Do you understand the rules and additional rules as I have read them to you?" Leo frowned. Those additional rules sounded…harsh. That could be trouble.

"I do," Leader Mike said, voice booming over the field.

"I do," Leo agreed, pressing a small button on the side of the stand to activate the microphone so he could be heard by everyone.

"Then trainers, release your pokémon!" The announcer boomed. Zuko appeared on the field in a flash of red, across from whom a Butterfree appeared. Leo stared at the beautiful butterfly as it fluttered slowly in the air, lazily drifting as it chittered. "The challenger starts off with a mean looking Quilava, while Leader Mike chooses his infamous Butterfree! Remember folks, this is the same Butterfree that took down a Gyarados not but three days ago – this will be a tough battle for Quilava! Three, two, one, begin!"

"Smoke bomb!" Leo ordered, and Zuko took off like a bullet from a gun. Fire engulfed his form and black smoke billowed from his fires, covering his half of the field in an instant.

"Quiver dance, tailwind," The Leader ordered almost lazily. Leo's eyes flew wide open at the command, Butterfree darting through the air in an elaborate dance, each wingbeat causing a gust of wind to surge through the air – simultaneously speeding Butterfree up and blowing away bits and pieces of Zuko's smoke.

"Seeker!" Leo amended, and swift stars burst from the smoke chased by embers, the latter of which were avoided easily, and the former met with a clever use of string shot – the silk meeting the stars and preventing them from properly seeking their target. Only one swift star got through to impact Butterfree, the bug shrugging it off.

"Whirlwind, clear the air," Leader Mike commanded, and Butterfree fell out of its dance to blast away the smoke with a single wingbeat, catching Zuko and sending him stumbling, then went straight back to dancing in the air. Leo cursed as Zuko flared his backfires and belched a stream of superheated smoke straight at Butterfree in anger, surprising the bug and engulfing it. Butterfree hissed and burst from the smoke, wings singed from the heat, and fired a retaliatory psybeam that Zuko darted out of the way of. It dug into the ground viciously, blasting away a chunk of dirt.

This couldn't be allowed to continue. If Butterfree continued to use quiver dance so liberally, eventually it would reach the point where none of Leo's team members could stop the stupid bug. There was a reason quiver dance was so commonly used as a set up. But how to beat it…? Leo traced Butterfree through the air with his eyes, watching as the bug dodged and wove out of the way of Zuko's attacks with ease – the normally highly accurate Quilava reduced to only scoring a glancing blow here and there. Butterfree was too fast, and too tricky. Using string shot to counter swift? Ingenious, and showed remarkable skill. Still, they needed a way to get a direct hit – or limit the bug's movement maybe?

Leo swore. No, if accuracy was the issue, they needed an area of effect attack so Butterfree couldn't dodge.

"Zuko! Heat up!" Leo barked, out of options. The superheated smokescreen would just be blown away by Butterfree now that it was expecting it, however, if Zuko heated up enough to superheat the air around him…well, hopefully that meant that Butterfree would take damage every time it got too close to Zuko. Leo had no idea if it would actually work, but it was worth a shot.

Zuko skidded to a halt, throwing off Butterfree's aim and dodging another psybeam that scored a long line in the dirt, and immediately flared his back-fires as he stoked his fires and heated up.

"String shot, tie it up," Leader Mike ordered.

"Don't stop! Go as hot as you can go!" Leo shouted, hands clenching on the railing and heart pounding in his chest. Zuko let out a savage cry, his back fires flaring up even hotter as heatwaves shimmering off of his form even as silky string began to drape itself over his body. For a moment nothing happened, Zuko remained still even as silk continually draped itself over him. Then the silk began to blacken and, in a rather marvelous display, burst into flame. Butterfree panicked at the sudden ignition of its silk and backed off, fluttering higher and firing yet another psybeam. This time Zuko couldn't dodge, and took it head on.

"EMBER!" Leo roared, and Zuko screamed out a challenge. Fire pooled in his mouth and a massive wave of embers flew into the sky, igniting the very air as it went. Butterfree screeched in pain, aborting a second psybeam as the wave of heat and fire sent it flying even higher into the sky on the updraft, violently jerking its wings back. It hovered for a split second, then began to fall. "Charge!" Leo barked, and Zuko blurred into action, already aflame and running to meet Butterfree as it fell.

Time slowed as Zuko leapt into the air just as Butterfree righted itself mere feet from the ground, a psybeam already formed and firing as Zuko leapt towards it – tanking the hit, his fires faltering but his momentum unshaken – and crashed into the bug. They fell to the ground together, Zuko biting and scratching savagely while Butterfree returned the favor – antenna glowing blue with psychic power even as it bit at Zuko.

"Whirlwind!" Mike commanded, and Butterfree flapped its wings once, twice, three times from the ground before a gust of wind howled and shoved Zuko off Butterfree, allowing the bug to rise into the air once more. "Air slash!" Butterfree flapped its wings once, desperately, blades of wind lancing out and scoring deep lines into the ground around Zuko, a few striking the fire type. Zuko ignored the damage and pressed his advantage, however, bombarding the tired bug with a flurry of embers – scoring a direct hit and dropping it to the ground.

This time it did not rise.

The announcer shouted something into the speaker, but it faded into the background to Leo. It wasn't anything regarding rules, so he tuned it out and celebrated Zuko's victory. Zuko had taken a lot of damage, but he was fired up now and ready to dish out even more.

"Nice Zuko!" Leo cheered, the Quilava flaring up defiantly. He was ready and raring to go, blood singing through his veins and –

"Switch pokémon, Leo," Leader Mike said calmly, recalling Butterfree with a satisfied expression on his face. Leo scowled and produced Zuko's pokeball, recalling his teammate. That was cheap, killing their momentum like that. Zuko tanked a number of hard hits during that battle, resting would do more harm than good what with letting the adrenaline fade from his system.

"Fine. Do I release first or do you?" Leo asked.

"At the same time," the Leader said. Leo grunted and thought for a moment on who to pick.

Offensively the choice was Diana, but he was loathe to let another of his trump cards get tired so early. Zuko was still able to fight, but Leo didn't know for how much longer, and Santiago was weak to bug types. The logical option, then, was Spiritomb, who was more of a safe, defensive pick. Not to say the ghost couldn't bring the pain, but…

"Spiritomb, you want to take this one?" Leo asked, glancing sideways at the crowd. There were plenty of people watching the battle. Seems like a quite a few who were leaving had come back to sit down. Leo swallowed and refocused on the battlefield, waiting for an answer from his ghost. Spiritomb hissed in the negative, popping one ghostly eye out of his pocket to shake it side to side. "Okay then, Diana it is,"

"Three, two, one, release!" Leader Mike commanded, releasing a Shuckle of all things onto the field. Diana appeared across from the bug, earning herself some shocked muttering from the crowd, shaking her head and eyeing the red-shelled insect speculatively. Recalling that Shuckle was a rock type, Leo almost opened his mouth to remind her that Shuckle was not for eating – but then changed his mind and kept his mouth shut. Bite was technically an attack.

"Withdraw, safeguard – start setting up," Leader Mike ordered, the yellow bug retreating within its red shell.

"Attack, Diana. That's a tough bug," Leo said, frowning hard. Shuckle itself wasn't that dangerous of a 'mon, but it could do some ridiculous set up strategies. Power trick in particular was incredibly dangerous – or whatever the move was that swapped attack and defense. It transformed the bug from a defensive monster, to an offensive nightmare. He just prayed it wasn't set up to toxic stall – meaning it would poison Diana, then use protect and other defensive moves to stall until she fainted from the poison.

Diana did Leo proud though as she ran right up to Shuckle as it sat there unmoving, grabbed the shell, picked it up and started bashing it into the ground repeatedly. Shuckle didn't even make a sound, however, rings of blue light surrounding the shell and protecting the bug – not from damage, but from status effects. A waste, really, since Diana was a bruiser.

"Get inside the shell!" Leo ordered.

"Power trick! Gyro ball!" Leader Mike commanded, and a strange pink glow surrounded Shuckle's shell. Leo hesitated for a moment but didn't end up giving Diana the order to back off – with power trick going, now was the time to defeat this stupid bug. Its defense was supposed to be terrible now, even if it would hit like a freaking meteor. Diana seemed to understand this, or she was just too lost in the throws of trying to break apart Shuckle's shell to care, as she promptly latched her jaws onto the shell of Shuckle and viciously shook her head side to side, tossing bug this way and that even as its shell glowed silver, its long, sinuous limbs reaching out and planting themselves on the ground.

Diana was hurled to the side as Shuckle spun like a top, its limbs propelling it to the side, then back around towards her as she picked herself up off the ground and glared at the incoming 'mon. Diana tensed, bracing herself and squaring her feet, settling down into a stance and narrowing her eyes.

"Deflect and throw!" Leo ordered, not wanting Diana to take a direct hit from a super effective, overpowered gyro ball. For a split second Leo worried she hadn't heard him, then she shifted ever so slightly and twisted at just the last moment so Shuckle went bouncing off of her side, delivering only a glancing blow. Diana whined and stumbled, unable to follow up as she misjudged the power of the attack, and looking to Leo for help as she cradled her side. Even just a small hit had hurt.

"Calm, girl. Water stance to dodge. Calm," Leo ordered, forcing his voice to remain steady. He had absolute faith in her, she just needed to remain calm. She had all the training she needed.

"Rock slide, sticky web. Trap her," Mike said, and Shuckle stopped its spinning to shriek at the sky, raised its limbs skyward, and smashed them down with incredible force. The ground split and roiled, stones three times the size of Diana launching from the ground into the sky towards her. She stepped slowly to the side, dodging the projectiles with inches to spare, sometimes allowing the smaller stones to bounce off of her armor harmlessly. Shuckle wasn't finished though, spitting a massive glob of webbing into the air. Leo scowled as it dropped down, draping over the stones that acted as pillars and supports and created a sort of impromptu maze.

"Your turn, Diana. Mimic him; rock slide," Leo said calmly, hoping that the example would prompt her to learn the new move.

"Laaaaaar!" Diana cried, raising one foot and stomping it on the ground as hard as she could. The battlefield cracked, but remained unbroken, and she stomped her foot again. This time a single stone popped into the air right in front of her, which she grabbed with one hand and hurled at Shuckle, the stone flying through a gab in the web to bounce off of its shell.

"Gyro ball!" Mike ordered, and Shuckle once more began its rotation, hurtling itself around the maze of stone and webs, searching to confuse Diana and find a way inside of its own trap.

"Get ready. Water, Diana, water," Leo soothed as Diana whined again. The seconds ticked by as Shuckle spun around the arena. Diana watched it closely as she settled into a shallow stance – as shallow as could be for her stubby legs – and prepared for the strike. The bug ended up choosing an unexpected route to Diana – opting to plow through one of the stones from its rock slide in a shower of debris, and slam into the Larvitar. Diana twisted harshly, grabbing hold of Shuckle's shell with both arms and spinning with him, feet dragging the ground and kicking up a dust cloud as she spun, and spun, until finally she stopped.

"PUNISH IT!" Leo roared, and Diana obliged.

"Struggle bug!" Leader Mike ordered as Diana bashed the Shuckle into the ground harshly. Its long yellow limbs snapped out of its shell and slapped Diana harshly, making her wince.

But Diana was on a roll now, and Shuckle was the object of her ire. Her punches left dents in the shell, her bites gouged holes in the bug's armor, and after a few short moments, the bug moved no more. Diana panted harshly, shouting her victory to the skies as Mike recalled the bug. He wasted no time in releasing his next pokémon, and Leo cursed harshly when the brown insect appeared on the field, chittering angrily, flexing its arms, and gnashing its horns together.

Pinsir. He'd sent out a bloody Pinsir.

"For the record," Leader Mike said with a small smile. "The two pokémon you just defeated were fourth-tier gym pokémon. You performed admirably, but it is time to turn up the difficulty a bit. Pinsir here will not be taking it easy,"

"You good to keep going?" Leo asked Diana loudly, ignoring the Gym Leader and keeping an eye on the Pinsir that stalked around the outside of Diana's prison of web and stone. She didn't bother answering, digging up a chunk of stone and hurling it at Pinsir.

It simply caught the rock in its horns and crushed it, sending pebbles everywhere.

"Keep it at a distance," Leo said, but Pinsir would have none of that. The moment Diana dug her hands into the ground to haul up another chunk of earth, the great bug leapt over the strings of web Shuckle left, tore through a strand or two, and crashed into the ground next to her. Leo had no time to think of any commands, let alone give out any orders, as the bug bodily slammed itself into Diana and tossed her into the webs; where she stayed, stuck hanging midair. A strangled cry left his mouth as Pinsir leapt forward with that same astounding speed and grabbed her with its horns, ripping her free of the webs even as she pounded on its head with her fists.

"Vital throw," Mike ordered. Pinsir chittered and paused for a moment, Diana squirming in its grip, then promptly suplexed her. For a terrible moment, Leo was convinced Diana had fainted – he already grabbed her pokeball and was preparing to recall her – when Pinsir was hurled off of her by a spire of rock suddenly bursting up from the ground and impacting its side. Diana lay facedown on the ground, one arm wholly encased in dirt where she had punched the ground and raised stone, and turned her head to glare at Pinsir. Leo bit his lip, worry welling up in his chest as he watched her raise herself up on shaking limbs, her armor obviously cracked in multiple places.

He had never seen her this tired, or this injured.

"LAAAAR!" She roared, standing, dust and rocks falling off her form from where Pinsir had driven her into the dirt. Pinsir met her gaze as it recovered and chittered angrily, gnashing its horns together. Leo frowned. Diana wouldn't last much longer here, especially with Pinsir capable of learning so many fighting moves. He either needed to switch, or – "VITAAAAAAR!" Diana cut off his train of thought by doing something completely unexpected.

She glowed a brilliant, white light, and began to evolve. Gasps rose from the crowd as Diana's cry reached a fever pitch, the light spilling from her form turning blinding – then suddenly ending, leaving Leo blinking spots out of his eyes. The first thing he noticed was not anything visual, as he was still blinded by the light, but rather a sound. A deep rushing sound resounded throughout the stadium, audible even over the ecstatic cheering of the crowd. It thrummed through his chest and when he blinked away the spots, he was greeted to the sight of Diana's glorious new form.

Her grey carapace gleamed in the afternoon sun, her red eyes locked dead on to Pinsir as she balanced precariously on the very tip of her shell. Pressurize air blew away all the loose debris in a circle around her, vented out of gaps in her new armor and keeping herself balanced; Diana squinted and, with a sudden pulse of power, a ring of darkness blasted out of her body and slammed into Pinsir, sending the bug tumbling once more.

"Nice, Diana!" Leo cheered, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. "Take that bug out!"

"Vise grip, submission," Mike ordered calmly, looking unperturbed by Diana's sudden evolution. The start of Diana's assault was marked by a sudden high-pitched whine that reminded Leo of a jet engine, a blast of air shooting out from her shell and launching her at-speed at Pinsir; who didn't even have time to dodge even if it wanted to. She crashed into Pinsir and the two went flying through the air – Leo grinned manically as she landed on top of the bug, though that swiftly faded when he realized it hadn't let her go.

Another dark pulse blasted out, washing over Pinsir's exoskeleton, but it held fast as it struggled to its feet, grabbing onto Diana with both hands and its horns.

"Get out of there!" Leo called, now very worried, but it was too late. With a mighty heave Pinsir suplexed Diana once more, but this time didn't let up. With all the grace of a frenzied animal Pinsir proceeded to unleash hell on Diana, bashing her armor, punching her, kicking her, gnashing its horns against her shell hard enough to break off one of the spikes on said horns – even as Diana tried to fight it off. Two more dark pulses were fired off, and once she managed to almost shake off Pinsir with another attempted tackle, but there was nothing she could do.

She was too damaged from her time as a Larvitar, and her Pupitar body was too different from before. Pinsir would hold her there until she stopped moving.

"Diana, return," Leo said, recalling her and making eye contact with the referee, who nodded at him. She vanished in a flash of red, leaving Pinsir panting and kicking angrily at the dirt. "Excellent work, girl. That was amazing – you take a good rest,"

"And despite Larvitar's perfectly timed evolution, the newly evolved Pupitar was defeated, having taken too much damage prior to evolution! The question is, will young Leo keep his lead, or will Pinsir mark the beginning of a turnaround for our Gym Leader?!" The announcer boomed. Leo frowned at Pinsir, thinking up a strategy and smiling coldly. Fine. He wanted to play dirty by sending out an overlevelled 'mon? Well he could play dirty too.

"Time to be cheeky. Santiago, you're up," Leo said, letting his starter out onto the field. Santiago yawned and blinked at Pinsir, the bug locking onto him immediately and hissing angrily. Neither side was willing to wait for the ref, so Leo started first. "Yawn," he said.

Santiago opened his mouth wide, a bubble of spit connecting his top and bottom jaws as he let out a jaw-popping yawn. Pinsir charged forward, and the bubble popped, the sound even making Leo drowsy. Leo made eye contact with Leader Mike as Pinsir closed in on Santiago, an x-scissor charged on his horns, and smiled.

"Santiago, return," Leo said, recalling his starter and immediately releasing Zuko on the other side of the field, opposite Pinsir. "Zuko, quick attack. Play keep away until Pinsir goes to sleep." That's two switches. One more. Leo mused, watching as Zuko blurred away in a quick attack, away from Pinsir.

If Leader Mike wanted to let out a bruiser of a pokémon that could tank its way through an evolution from Diana, that was fine. Leo didn't have to play nice either, and Santiago had plenty of moves that could be used in annoying ways. Even if he hardly ever used them. Yawn had never been used before in an official battle, Leo didn't think. Putting Pinsir to sleep would at least let Zuko set up with flame charge and smokescreen again.

"Dig and swords dance. Set up below ground, come up when you're ready," Leader Mike said, and Pinsir promptly dove into the dirt in a flurry of debris, noticeably slower as it struggled to stay awake. Leo snorted.

Like that would save them. That just gave Zuko a stationary target.

"Swift into the hole. Then try using heat wave again – bake it," Leo commanded. Zuko darted over to the hole and sucked in a deep breath, multiple stars forming in the air around him and flying into the hole, then began to heat up once more. It took a few seconds, the move still probably unusable in actual battle from how long it took Zuko to charge up, but Pinsir was probably asleep by now so they had time.

"DIG!" Leader Mike bellowed, but Pinsir showed no response as Zuko blasted the hole with a heat wave, screaming his fury into the underground.

There was silence for just a moment; then the ground beneath Zuko ruptured and Pinsir came storming out of the ground beneath Zuko, snapping and snarling and trailing smoke from its charred carapace, smacking Zuko aside with its horns. He helped and twisted midair, somehow managing to land on his feet and launching a barrage of embers at Pinsir before blurring away in a flame charge.

Pinsir hissed furiously, stomping at the ground and wholly ignoring the embers Zuko peppered it with in favor of chasing after him in mindless pursuit.

"Vital throw! Take it out of commission!" Mike ordered, and Pinsir suddenly stilled, closing its eyes. Zuko continued to dart about the arena, smoke billowing from the fires of his flame charge as he started to set up in earnest, all while continually blasting embers at Pinsir. Leo frowned at the command. Wasn't vital throw a never-miss move? How did that work? Swift was cheating enough, so how –

Pinsir acted before Leo had time to blink, darting to one side the moment Zuko came a little too close and catching the flaming 'mon in his iron-gripped horns. Zuko yelped, still on fire, as Pinsir promptly bashed him once, twice, into the ground, before tossing him away bonelessly. Zuko hit the ground, struggled to rise once, then fell still. Leo swallowed thickly and recalled him, thanking him for his hard work.

Pinsir screeched at the sky, burns and bruises covering its body as it stood there on trembling legs, barely standing. It looked like a strong breeze would knock it over, but still it stood. Leo hesitated for a moment, looking down at his belt and trying to decide who to use next.

"Santiago, this thing's almost done but it's not out yet. Be careful," Leo said, releasing his Slowpoke onto the field and frowning at Pinsir. Unless Santiago could pull off a miracle, Spiritomb would have to come in clutch here. He hoped that Pinsir was the ace of this team, but he wasn't going to bet on it. Santiago would finish off Pinsir, deal as much damage as possible to the next contender, and then Spiritomb would finish up. That was the plan, anyway.

Pinsir locked eyes with Santiago and screeched, digging its feet into the ground and charging forward – bulldozing through the water pulse Santiago countered with but falling short when he switched to a psychic blast from confusion. Pinsir shrieked as it stumbled, earning itself a water gun to the side, but quickly recovered and slammed its horns into Santiago in a vicious x-scissor. He grunted and slid in the dirt, loosing a disable that stunned Pinsir, and finally put the beast of a bug down with a headbutt and water pulse combo.

"Pinsir is unable to battle!" The announcer called as Leader Mike recalled the bug. "And Leader Mike is down to his last pokémon, while Leo still has two pokémon left – his Slowpoke and an unknown fourth teammate!" The Gym Leader just nodded his head and rubbed his chin, then reached down and pressed something on the side of his stand.

"You've done an excellent job battling so far," Leader Mike's voice came out of a speaker right next to Leo on the stand, startling him. The little speaker was built into the railing, and was quiet enough for him and him alone to hear. Clearly the Leader didn't want anyone else to hear what he was saying. "But this is not a test of your battling skills. Your pokémon are powerful and well trained, and two of your members were very advantageous to fighting bug-types. Pinsir was a fifth-tier pokémon, and you still managed to put him down. So what is the lesson here? I am not here to just beat you down," he said.

Leo didn't know what to make of that, but filed it away in his brain regardless and prepared himself. Leader Mike smiled at him and released his next pokémon – a Heracross. The blue beetle's carapace was faded and battle-scarred, deep lines etching its horn marking the many battles it'd gone through. It stretched, exoskeleton clacking together loudly as its eyes roamed over the battlefield, lingering on Santiago. Chittering, it turned back to Mike questioningly. He said something Leo did not hear, and with a firm nod Heracross turned back to Santiago, bowed, and squared itself for a fight.

"And Leader Mike sends out his starter, Heracross! Though old and nearing retirement, this pokémon is no less powerful for it – Leo is in for an uphill battle in this fight!" The announcer boomed, making Leo pale. This was Mike's personal Heracross?! There was no way his team was ready to battle something like that! Wasn't a Leader's team supposed to be close to Elite level?! Apparently the crowd agreed with Leo's indignation as jeers filled the air, and he himself almost shouted out a protest until he recalled what the Leader had just told him.

This was a test, but what was the lesson? Insurmountable odds?

"Santi, focus. It's a close combat monster so try to keep it at a distance," Leo said, frowning. Santiago huffed and spat out a water pulse, the ball of water harmlessly splashing off of Heracross' carapace. The beetle-like pokémon hummed, shaking off the water and opened its mouth casually – only to spit a stream of seeds right at Santiago. He lowered his head and tanked it, glowing with the tell-tale sign of curse. Heracross moved forward at a relatively sedate pace, in no hurry to cross the distance as it continually spat bullet seeds at Santiago.

"Disable," Leo ordered. Santiago didn't even pause his curse setup as he used disable, forcing Heracross to stumble and freeze, his attack halting. Heracross huffed and flexed, breaking free of the disable with casual ease and eyeing Santiago almost speculatively. Santiago met his gaze, grunted, and fired a water pulse that Heracross intercepted with his horn. The bug burst into motion, crossing the distance in an instant and lowering his horn, sliding it underneath Santiago and flipping him over his back.

Santiago cried out in surprise and confusion, flailing in the air and hitting the ground with a hard thump. Leo winced on impact, clenching his fists and jaw. They needed to do more damage to Heracross if they were going to win. As it is their chances were looking pretty slim.

"Yawn!" Leo called.

"Megahorn," Mike countered. Heracross' horn glowed and he charged as Santiago opened his mouth in a yawn, a bubble forming – but the move didn't form in time, and Heracross slammed his horn into Santiago and sent him flying once more. Leo cursed; they didn't have enough practice using yawn, it took too long to form and Heracross was too fast.

"Confusion, and headbutt when he gets close," Leo said, switching tactics. Santiago grunted and stood, a eyes glowing as Heracross came charging in once again – though the attack did no noticeable damage. He was forced to meet Heracross' attack head-on, horn meeting skull with a terrible crack. Leo winced again as, even despite curse having buffed Santiago up, Heracross pushed him back.

Santiago growled and struggled, stubby legs digging into the cracked ground and pushing back with all his might, but Heracross still pushed him further and further away. Leo's mind worked furiously on how to get Santiago out of there – despite his plan being to use him to chip away at Heracross, Leo had quietly hoped Santiago would still pull through.

"Santiago, return," Leo said with a sigh, raising his pokeball and pressing the return.

The red beam lanced out and with a sudden jerk of his body, Santiago freed himself from Heracross and dodged the recall beam.

"SLOW!" Santiago bellowed, head glowing with psychic power and bashing against Heracross' side. The bug grunted in pain and backhanded him in retaliation, then threw him across the ground with his horn.

"Santiago, return!" Leo tried again, pressing the recall button. Santiago, despite being on the ground and already struggling to stand, somehow managed to meet the beam with a water gun, disrupting it and preventing the recall. Leo met his eyes then, and whatever he was going to say died in his throat. His eyes, normally so dopey and blank, glinted with sheer determination as he stood once again, turning to face Heracross and blasting it with another confusion.

Leo swallowed thickly and lowered Santiago's pokeball, clenching his free hand on the railing but keeping the pokeball ready for when Santiago fainted. He couldn't switch him out after that. He couldn't. This meant something to Santiago, and he would respect that determination, damn his personal feelings.

There had to be a way out of this. Leader Mike had said that the challenge had to be winnable, so what was the play? What wasthe way out?

"What is the lesson?" Leo muttered, clenching his fist and thinking back on the rest of the battle. Zuko versus Butterfree, Diana versus Shuckle and Pinsir…wait, come to think of it, both of them had major developments during this fight, hadn't they? Zuko learned heat wave in dealing with Butterfree, who was uniquely suited to dealing with his precision, while Diana was backed so far into a corner she evolved to try to pull through. So what was the lesson here? What was Heracross versus Santiago meant to be?

Leo narrowed his eyes, watching as Heracross routinely mopped the floor with Santiago. He tossed him, smacked him around, fired pin missles and bullet seeds at him, and despite all that, Santiago kept getting up. He kept trying to fight back, despite being outclassed. He just. Kept. Trying. Leo tuned out the noise of the crowd and focused solely on his starter, his heart clenching at the pain he was going through – but more so at the sheer determination and willingness to go on that he showed. He was battered and bruised and stood on shaking legs – weak to the point that even Heracross paused his battling to stare curiously at him, and glance up at Leader Mike.

"Slow," Santiago growled weakly, taking one shaking step forward.

"Santiago, look at me," Leo said, just loud enough for him to hear. Slowly he turned his head towards Leo, big, normally dopey eyes drooping but filled with a desperate determination that Leo hadn't ever seen in him before. It was jarring, in a way, to see such raw emotion on the Slowpoke's normally dopey or stoic face. "It's ok. You've done enough," he said softly.

Santiago didn't register the words at first, but when he did, he took a step towards Leo as his eyes began to glow. A gentle psychic touch touched Leo's mind, Santiago knocking on his head to ask permission. It was a simple thing to let him in, letting all thoughts flee his mind and allowing the psychic powers to fill his brain with thoughts and emotions.

He saw a crown of stone, resting in his backpack back in their hotel room, and felt an intense, desperate desire to be worthy of it. He saw Queen, and heard snippets of the conversation she and Santiago had standing before Articuno in the Silver Mountains, and felt the requirements she told him about to become a King. Honor. Duty. Power. Responsibility. The ability to bear the weight of the crown. He felt the sheer weight of responsibility he felt, going to the Slowpoke Well, receiving a crown he was not ready for, and standing in the presence of such an ancient line of royalty. Of standing before a line of Slowpoke who had repeatedly proved themselves worthy of being Kings.

But most of all, Leo felt the respect, pride, and love Santiago felt for Leo, the one who raised him, and the one he felt he needed to make proud. And the simplicity of his desire; Santiago knew they needed to win, and that was it. He knew not that they had a chance to fight again. He knew not that this was not heir only shot. He knew only that Leo needed to win, and so he gave it everything he had.

Leo heart shattered and he bit back tears, shook his head, and vaulted over the railing of the trainer's box. He ignored the protest of the announcer, and walked over to kneel in front of Santiago, who stared at him and continued to send that same feeling of love and respect over their connection.

No words passed between the two as Leo knelt, laying a hand on Santiago's head. Instead, he brought up everything he felt, and pushed it through their psychic connection. He recalled dragging Santiago through the Silver Mountains when he first arrived here – his constant companion on a lonesome journey. He recalled laughing at the little Slowpoke's antics, at him fishing with his tail and dragging a giant Magikarp out of the river, the way he earned his name. He recalled watching Santiago play with baby Growlithe, and Gary, and every small moment that he could. He reminded Santiago of the time he stayed awake, watching over Leo while he tamed Spiritomb, and the times he stood guard while Froslass was still haunting them. A protector. A guardian. One who looks after others.

He had been Leo's companion from the start, he had watched him grow and would always be proud of him. Santiago was his little bull-headed, lovable, dopey, battle-happy butthead, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

It wasn't the victories, the battling, or any of that, that Leo felt defined Santiago. He didn't care whether he won, lost, chose to battle and picked a fight, or opted out – he was and would always be his companion and starter. His friend, for all that was worth.

"You don't need a crown to be a King," Leo whispered, laying his forehead against Santiago's. "You are a King," words could not truly convey all of what Leo was trying to say – but thankfully the mind needs no such crutch as language to convey meaning. And the beautiful simplicity of Slowpoke, and Santiago's pure, unflinching trust in Leo, came to a glorious head in that moment.

Leo could feel it, the moment Santiago processed his meaning and words, and accepted them as truth from the very depth of his being. That simple action, that realization that being a King is not defined by a crown and that Leo believed in him with all his heart forced him to accept it, and believe that as truth in his own. And it sparked greatness.

Santiago began to glow with the brilliant light of evolution, and Leo stayed with him throughout it all. When the light died and Santiago finished growing, Leo looked up at a worn, weary, but proud Slowking standing before him, a resplendent crown of coral atop his head and a gem gleaming with power. Santiago stood tall, and rather than examine his new form or revel in his power, he extended a hand to Leo and helped him to his feet. One meaty paw laid on Leo's shoulder as Santiago turned to Heracross and Gym Leader Mike, the latter of whom had a brilliant smile on his face, and bowed. Leo carefully wiped the tears from his eyes and bowed as well.

"A-amazing, folks! Not only do we get to witness the evolution of a Larvitar, a rare enough event, we even get to witness the evolution of a Slowpoke into a Slowking! Without the use of a Shellder to spark the evolution! Is that even possible?!" The announcer all but screamed into the microphone, all but frothing at the mouth in excitement.

"Do you wish to continue the battle?" Leader Mike asked, voice surprisingly calm despite the excitement on his face. Leo looked at Santiago, who shook his head, shoulders sagging now that the rush of evolution had faded. Spiritomb, however, whispered excitedly in his ear, now ready and raring to go.

"Santiago is too tired to continue," Leo said, presenting his pokeball to the newly evolved Slowking, who recalled himself with a weary sigh. He'd been ready to collapse as a Slowpoke. Even through evolution, he needed to rest. "But Spiritomb wants to pick a fight,"

"So be it. Send out your ghost, and let's finish this thing," Leader Mike said. Leo smiled, fished out Spiritomb's keystone, and tossed it onto the field as he turned and headed back to the stand.

"Once I get back to the stand, hypnosis if you can, then finish this," Leo called over his shoulder, not really bothering to worry about whether or not Spiritomb would win. It would be too much to ask for, for there to be another great breakthrough in this hell of a battle.

Spiritomb hissed, the arena exploded into darkness the moment Leo got to his stand and the announcer resumed the battle. Spiritomb never really stood a chance against an Elite level pokémon, but it put up a valiant fight. Still, even despite losing in the end, Leo left the stadium with his head held high and pride in his heart.

He could ask nothing more from his team, and at the end of the day, he still earned the badge.