24

"Once again, thank you," Leo said, bowing to Leader Mike as the man presented him his badge. The Leader laughed and shook his head, pressing the Azalea gym badge into his hand. Behind him his Heracross stood, carapace battle-scarred and dulled, but no less impressive for it. The large bug-type chittered at Leo, nodding its head.

"No, thank you. It is a rare sight to see such an evolution; I am honored to have born witness to it. Last time I saw something like that was when Clair evolved her Kingdra – it was just as moving as yours was," he said, patting Leo on the shoulder. Leo grinned and flipped the badge over in his hand, still giddy with excitement. Currently his team was being healed, so he couldn't really congratulate them, but that was beside the point. Even if they'd lost in the end, he had obviously earned his badge.

…though it was kind of crazy to see Spiritomb faint. He'd never seen that before; the ghost kind of just sucked up in on itself after a particularly nasty megahorn from Heracross struck its keystone. It'd put up a good fight, too…

"Thank you again anyway, you gave us that final push we needed," Leo said, truly grateful.

"You and your team did all the work, but you're welcome anyway. That's the job of a Gym Leader, y'know, to help trainers grow," Mike said. "But, sorry about forcing you to fight in the stadium. It was…necessary, however," he said.

"Necessary how?" Leo asked, cocking his head to the side. Leader Mike stared at him for a moment, then shook his head.

"Victoria told me you probably hadn't noticed, but I don't think I believed her until now. You've caused quite a stir, Leo. Someone caught sight of your team after Ecruteak and managed to take pictures – the media's been raising a fuss over how powerful a team you have as a Youngster. A Larvitar and an unknown ghost type? Dangerous," Mike said. "But you put those dissenters to rest with a public battle! No one can doubt your capabilities now, after watching that,"

"Wait, what? Why didn't I know about this? Shouldn't someone have, I dunno, approached me or something?" Leo stammered, eyes wide.

"Yes and no. The picture was grainy so your face wasn't well known, but you've been followed since the moment you entered Azalea. It's amazing you avoided any reporters during your stay here, though I suppose that's the benefit of hiding out in Ilex," Mike said, rubbing his chin. "That said, it's not over yet. You'll have a few interviews to do, and there's a meeting you'll need to go to,"

"Meeting?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow and feeling a chill run down his spine.

"Yes. Some of the Gym Leaders are getting together to talk about your team. A formality, I promise. And that's part of the reason why I had your battle be so public – the media is now firmly on your side. If the other Leaders – some have kicked up a fuss about Oak playing favorites and getting you a Larvitar – want to do anything untoward they had better think twice. The media will rip them apart for it. No pokémon evolves like that, without truly bonding with their trainer," Mike said, laying out his master plan. Leo blinked at him and just sighed, running a hand over his face.

Now he really couldn't wait until Alola, so he didn't have to worry about things like…this.

Leo really hadn't understood what a stir he had caused. After his conversation with Leader Mike he'd had a good few hours full of interviews, then he'd congratulated his freshly-healed team and thanked them for their hard work before trying to help Diana and Santiago get acquainted with their new forms. He'd also had to evade nosy trainers and reporters hounding him for information on his team, which led him to where he was right now. Sitting at a rectangular wood table in a large, dimly lit room, with Leader Mike on his left and Professor Oak on his right, while all around him sat a large number of powerful members of the Indigo League.

First and foremost of which, sitting directly across from Leo and dressed in his typical pinstriped suit, was Giovanni Vittore himself, his Nidoqueen looming in the shadows behind him. He sat with his hands folded in front of him and his attention directed away from Leo, focusing on the vast array of other people who had gathered to talk about…well, him. And while Giovanni made Leo the most nervous, there were plenty of other people to intimidate him as well.

Lance was present, sitting to the left of Giovanni, his cape draped dramatically over the back of his chair while his Dragonite stood behind him menacingly. Agatha was there as well, the old woman leaning back in her chair and staring at Leo unblinking, the red eyes of her Gengar visible on the wall behind her. Falkner, with a Noctowl perched on the back of his chair, sat next to her while Morty sat on Falkner's other side with his Ninetails casually grooming himself off to the side. Leo's eyes roamed the room in the silence, picking out a few more people of interest.

Two white-robed men with golden bells emblazoned on the front of their robes sat next to Morty; monks from the Bell Tower, Leo realized. There were a few other gym leaders present as well; Koga, with his Arbok curled around him; Pryce, the old man sitting back with a Weavile behind him; and a few others that Leo didn't recognize. Victoria was there too, her Oranguru, Sage, sitting behind her as she glared at the head of the table. Surprisingly the old woman with the Bellossom was there as well, said Bellossom sitting on her shoulder while she picked at her fingernails. It made him wonder just who exactly she was, but it was only an idle thought with all the rest of the figures at the table.

Like the Champion himself.

Champion Martin and his Starmie took the head of the table, the weary, balding, middle-aged man looking for all the world like he would rather be anywhere but here. Leo could understand the sentiment.

"You'll be fine," Merri, Professor Oak's Alakazam, spoke in Leo's head. "We are all here with you, and remember that Santiago stands behind you,"

Leo nodded, smiling to himself as he glanced over his shoulder at Santiago, the Slowking staring imperiously down the bridge of his nose at the rest of the table. That, or he was just staring. He'd been a little space-cadet since he evolved, which made sense considering that the speed of his brain functions increased from Slowpoke levels to genius levels in the span of a few seconds. But everyone in the room could have a pokémon out, and there was no one else Leo would rather have out than Santiago. The rest of his team were at the Pokemon Center anyway, getting a thorough checkup in preparation for his inter-regional travel plans. It was…different than the standard healing procedure.

I had no idea I had caused this much of a stir. Leo thought with no small amount of horror. The terrifying thought was not that all these people were here for him, or because of the evolutions in his team. It was that they had already been in Azalea just to watch the battle.

"Let's get this meeting started then," Champion Martin said, squaring his shoulders and looking around the room. Lance refused to meet his gaze, looking over at Agatha instead with a raised eyebrow, though Leo made sure to nod in respect to Martin when he looked at him. Love him or hate him the man was still Champion, and you had to respect that title if nothing else.

"Boy," Agatha rasped, staring at Leo. "What is that ghost you carry?" she demanded.

"Starting with that already you old crone?" Morty asked dryly. "Wait your turn,"

"Do not interrupt me, you Ecruteak upstart!" she snapped, eyes snapping to someone else for the first time since Leo first entered the room. "I was not talking to you,"

"Then don't ask questions you already know the answer to. I sent you all everything my family knows about Spiritomb the moment Champion Martin requested it; you know what the ghost is," Morty scoffed.

"I wouldn't trust an Ecruteak brat to know anything about ghosts. I would much rather hear the boy's thoughts, as ignorant as they may be," Agatha sneered, and Morty bristled.

"You Lavender town hypocrites; you truly believe that just because you've been around ghost types longer than my family that you know more than us? That alone shows how little you actually know," Morty said with no small amount of venom in his voice. Agatha sneered and opened her mouth again when Champion Martin interjected.

"Silence! I did not come here to listen to you two bicker over old grudges; we are all of Indigo, and I expect you to act like it!" he barked, effectively cowing the two ghost-type users. Then he sighed and steepled his fingers, leaning forward to look Leo in the eyes. "We are here to discuss the future of a rather talented young trainer – and to learn all we can about how he got such a powerful team in such a short time," he said.

"Let us start with the Slowking," one of the monks of the Bell Tower said, leaning forward. "For a child to have captured a Slowpoke worthy of Kinghood implies incredible luck, or a guiding hand," at this, the monk's eyes fell on Professor Oak, who bristled at the implication.

"Leo raised Santiago from a baby," Oak said firmly. "He emerged from the Silver Mountains with Santiago in tow, who was a freshly-born Slowpoke at the time, only a few months old. He stayed with Leo after I took him in, and the results are as you can see. Neither I nor Victoria had any hand in raising that pokémon,"

"Then what of the Quilava and the Larvitar? Both are incredibly rare pokémon, the former of which being a starter-class pokémon, while the latter is a pseudo-legendary; while it is commendable that he is capable of exerting such control over such a…bad-tempered species, how did he even come across such a capture? The routes are strictly controlled, there should be no Tyranitar within range of the routes. Not even in Mount Moon," Pryce said, the ice-type gym leader shaking his head.

"Commendable? You seem to underestimate just how bad-tempered a Tyranitar can be. You forget the dragons of the Wataru hold a longstanding grudge with the Tyranitar of the Silver Mountains. We understand their temper better than most. I'd say it's absolutely astounding to see a Youngster capable of controlling one, pre-evolution or not. I'm no fan of the license itself, but Leo here has proven himself more than capable of controlling such a creature. Only the Wataru have proven themselves capable of doing so from a young age, and with a species far more open to human interaction than even the kindest of Tyranitar. Who cares if he was gifted the beast? He clearly has the talent to handle it," Lance said, leaning back in his chair.

"Because it is illegal to gift a rookie trainer with less than five badges a Larvitar," Champion Martin said dryly. "Barring unique circumstances of course, such as those surrounding the Wataru. And Samuel Oak's father did have a Tyranitar on his championship team, which makes the Oak family a plausible source for Leo to have gotten a Larvitar,"

"I can assure you that I did no such thing," Professor Oak said.

"The kid caught her all his own. Diana – her name is Diana, right? – does claim heritage to Tyrus, Grandpa Oak's Tyranitar, but we had no hand in the capture," Victoria said, almost bored.

"So you're saying that Leo strayed off-route to go catch his Larvitar? Tyrus' territory is known to be deep within the Silver Mountains, the closest city to which being a good month away," Pryce said, leaning forward.

"What I'm saying, if I'm saying anything, is that Leo survived six months in Tyrus' territory when he was ten. Alone, without any trained pokémon, and repeatedly ran into the Tyranitar according to his story," Victoria said, picking at her fingernail. Prince, her Persian, licked his paw behind her, tail flicking in annoyance. "Take that as you will,"

"The boy is a survivor," Giovanni said smoothly. "Skilled and capable of controlling pokémon far more powerful than he has any right to. Rather than bicker about whether to punish him, we should nurture that talent,"

"We all know about your Training Initiative, Giovanni. Tell me, how many eight-badge trainers has it produced? One? Two? For all your bluster, talent seems wasted in Viridian. What was that one boy's name? Archer? Where is he now? He had such potential, and yet we have not seen hide nor hair of him for years now," Lance said, leaning forward and grinning savagely at Giovanni, clearly trying to get a rise out of the man.

"He went his own way," Giovanni said smoothly, unperturbed by the jab. "And I, at least, prepare all people for the rigors of Pokémon training and the harshness of the world. Blackthorn may be content to roll over and play submissive to the dragons you claim to train, but I am not," Lance's grin morphed into a scowl, though a steady hand from his Dragonite laid upon his shoulder kept him from doing anything else.

"Back on topic, you're saying that Tyrus, a championship Tyranitar, saw some potential in Leo before he even had any pokémon, and gifted him with a Larvitar?" Martin asked, trying to reign in the conversation.

"I am saying that he caught Diana fair and square; what Tyrus saw in him I cannot say," Victoria said, flinging one arm over the back of her chair.

"I see," the Champion said, locking eyes with Leo. Under the desk Professor Oak grabbed Leo's arm and squeezed it reassuringly, though the Champion quickly looked towards Koga, who leaned in to whisper something in his ear. "And what does Leo have to say about this?" he asked, after listening to Koga. Leo frowned and hesitated, lies held on the tip of his tongue, when Santiago's meaty pink paw laid itself on his shoulder.

He looked up at his partner, who nodded and gently connected with Leo's mind. Then proceeded to blast a single idea into his head at full volume – not having full control over his powers – that boiled down to one word; truth.

"He is right, Leo," Merri said telepathically, confirming Santiago's meaning. "Coming clean would be best, in this case," Leo sighed and ran a hand through his long hair, glanced at Professor Oak who nodded encouragingly, and sighed once again.

"I caught Diana in the middle of the Silver Mountains," Leo admitted. "I entered through route…I don't remember what route, the one that leads right by the gates of the Pokémon League, and hiked in to where I remember waking up in the Mountains. There I spent many months exploring the Onix-caves Tyrus claimed as his home until I finally caught Diana, after which he challenged my team; which consisted only of Santiago and Zuko at the time, and somehow deemed me worthy of training Diana. Then I returned to civilization, and a few weeks later challenged Falkner for my first badge," Leo said, giving them the abridged version. Champion Martin blinked at him, glanced at his Starmie who flashed its gem once, then leaned back in his chair.

Was Starmie there to read him and try to discern truth and lies? That was mildly concerning. Though Leo had left himself open to psychic readings for the meeting; he'd gotten much better at understanding what that felt like. Being dark was a pain at times.

"And did anything else happen in the Mountains?" Giovanni pressed, attention fully focused on Leo. Leo's mind went to the nevermeltice glacier, and the ultra-beast trapped within, then shrugged.

"Do you want the order of events in chronological or alphabetical order? We can start with the Butterfree," Leo said dryly. The old woman with the Bellossom snorted out a laugh, but held her tongue otherwise.

"While you did break the law in regards to a Youngster license, he cannot be punished for the action for it follows the old ways," Koga said, adjusting his scarf. "In my family it is still tradition for a child to tread out into the wilds with nothing but their will and wits to bond with and capture their starting pokémon. We must respect that he caught the Larvitar through his own merit, age notwithstanding,"

"The Wataru start raising their dragons from a young age as well, hell, I hatched my starter when I was ten. The Larvitar may not be his starter, but considering his age it might as well be," Lance added, earning himself a look from Koga. "And trained dragons, at times, can be even more dangerous and unpredictable than wild pokémon,"

"If a live start in Lavender you had better make friends with a ghost, or they might eat you," Agatha added, determined to get her two cents in.

Champion Martin glanced at Koga out of the corner of his eye then looked around the room, meeting everyone's eyes in turn.

"…indeed," he finally relented. "The law of Indigo is with him if that story is true. I will, however, move to keep the true origin of his Larvitar a secret; we do not wish to prompt a wave of foolish trainers heading into the Silver Mountains and getting themselves killed," murmurs of agreement rippled at his statement, Lance shooting Leo a wink and reclining in his chair. Professor Oak patted his shoulder in reassurance.

Leo frowned and sat back in his own chair, listening as the topic of conversation moved away from Diana and moved to Spiritomb. Immediately Agatha started bombarding him with questions, which prompted Morty to intervene, which had Champion Martin laying into them again to get things back on track – and suddenly Leo realized that this meeting wasn't actually about him and his team. They were treating this as an ego-trip, nothing more and nothing less, meant to lord the virtues of their own people above each other.

It pissed Leo off.

"…I doubt the child's capability to control such a chaotic ghost," Agatha rasped, finishing a small rant that Leo had tuned out in the depths of his revelation. "For such a chaotic creature, it needs a far steadier hand than some…twelve-year-old is capable of,"

"That's rich, coming from you. How often do the ghosts of Lavender get too riled up to control?" Pryce barked out a laugh, the pot-bellied old man shaking with mirth.

"Ghosts are not as easy to tame as your ice, Pryce," Agatha snapped. "Which is exactly my point,"

"Kusanagi, the Aegislash of the Bell Tower and the partner first emperor of Ecruteak itself has recognized his talents," the monks of the Bell Tower said, nodding to Leo in respect. Besides Champion Martin, Leo realized, they had been the only ones so far to address him directly. "He should remain in possession of the ghost specifically because we know so little about it, and because he has been entrusted with it by the legendary blade,"

"I would hardly trust an Aegislash to make a competent judgement of skill," Agatha scoffed. "They are manipulative, conniving, and prone to intense bouts of violence. For all we know it is sending the boy to his death," this made the monks of the Tower bristle, but Martin raised his hand to silence them. Agatha, on the other hand, fixated her gaze on Leo and he suddenly realized what it was he saw in her eyes.

Greed. She wanted Spiritomb for her own team, didn't she?

"Despite coming off as far too harsh, Agatha does make a valid argument. No one is doubting the judgement of a millennia-old relic that guided Johto to a prosperous future, we are simply doubting Leo's ability to live up to that expectation," Champion Martin said, soothing the monks with his words. Leo smiled at that, and shook his head as he leaned back. He did have a way with words. "Spiritomb is an unknown, what qualities does he have that could keep it in check?"

"He has the trust of the Trevenant of the Ilex Forest," the old woman with the Bellossom commented idly, inspecting her fingernails while her Bellossom danced on the table in front of her. Silence fell over the table at the statement.

"I don't have the trust of the Trevenant," both Morty and Agatha said at the same time, glaring at each other the moment afterwards.

"That should be telling then, shouldn't it?" the woman replied, not bothering to meet their gaze as she continued to inspect her fingernails. Leo marveled in the silence that followed that no one rose to challenge her words. Just who was she?

"It's true. When I first met Leo in Ilex I had to send the Rangers who accompanied me away as they agitated the Trevenant, who had awoken in response to ill-intent towards his person," Leader Mike said coolly. Champion Martin nodded to him.

"So, the boy has a knack for taming pokémon far above his level, or at least earning their trust, and has shown incredible competency towards training pokémon for a boy his age. My experts rank him at a fifth-badge level, and that is even with spending multiple months in the Silver Mountains. Which, as we all know, are far too wild and dangerous to be considered proper training grounds for anyone below eighth badge level," Champion Martin said, nodding. "The question is, then, what do we do with him?"

"My offer of training still stands," Giovanni said. "Training under a Master of a respective type will aid him regardless of the typing, and his team is sorely lacking in some of the sturdiness that the ground-type can provide. Of course, I would not pass him off into the programs I have set up for the less fortunate – he would be taken in as a gym trainer,"

"A paltry offer," Pryce said with a sneer. "I knew your mother, and I know you. You will let him waste away in that position; anything would be better than allowing him to train with you," Giovanni twitched at the mention of his mother, and turned to face Pryce fully.

"And you could do better?" he countered, expression the picture of calm serenity. "You, who lost to Champion Martin and Champion Layla, his predecessor, in the fight for the title? You, who sits in Mahogany and wastes away, a shadow of better trainers?" That obviously hit a sore spot as Pryce slammed his palms on the table, standing up and glaring at Giovanni.

"Enough," Champion Martin snapped, and Leo looked up at the ceiling and begged the heavens for patience. This was turning into an absolute madhouse. These were the leaders of the Indigo League?

"They do make fair points," Lance said, shrugging. "Though the Wataru would do the best job at training him, rather than Viridian or Mahogany. He has the heart of a dragon, though no dragon on his team. We could shape him into a true trainer, and train him better than any other here," Agatha scoffed, earning Lance's attention. "Tell me, Agatha, how many Champions has Lavender produced? If I recall, you were beat to the title by the Professor, and he retired only a few days after being crowned. Whereas the Wataru have produced dozens; only the Wataru have a consistent track record of producing Champion-level trainers,"

This earned a ripple of discomfort from the Gym Leaders present, and Leo shook his head as the table descended a bit further into arguments. This wasn't about him, like he thought. This was about ego, and lording one faction's power of the other. If Giovanni got to train Leo, that would be a win for his faction, if Lance got his way then the Wataru would have their egos stroked as another potentially powerful trainer went to them for training. Agatha wanted Spiritomb, Leo was sure, and Champion Martin was just playing mediator between these bickering children, unable to make any true decisions.

"I do believe you all are forgetting something," the monks of the Bell Tower said, interjecting into the conversation and effectively silencing the room. Leo actually marveled at the response the room had to their speaking. If his reading of history was right then while the Bell Tower, once the seat of power for the first Emperor of Johto, no longer held any true political power, it still held its own form of influence. "This is not your decision to make. It is his," the monk said, folding her hands inside the sleeves of her robes and nodding to Leo.

"I would not trust him to make the wisest of decisions," Koga said firmly. "He does not have a history of wise decisions, despite an excellent training record,"

"Perhaps they were not wise decisions on paper," the monk allowed. "But when looking at where he has reached now, who can say that it has not done him good? The wisest choices are not always the most logical ones, and he raised a King,"

This seemed to mean something to the rest of the room, and Leo suddenly blinked as the attention was turned back to him. Professor Oak patted his arm beneath the table in support, and Leo took a deep breath.

"My offer still stands. I can provide you with much opportunity to travel and grow," Giovanni said, leaning forward and clasping his hands on the table, looking straight into Leo's eyes. Lance just smirked at him and clasped his hands behind his head as he reclined in his chair, his Dragonite bobbing its head as it looked around the room challengingly.

Leo, on the other hand, stared right back at Giovanni and felt a wave of conflicting emotions run through him. This was a mob boss extending him an offer, and he really wanted to avoid a "made him an offer he couldn't refuse" sort of situation. So how did he decline Giovanni while still soothing whatever pride he had? Without being rude and potentially ticking him off?

Leo bit his lip and hesitated, but his hesitation was cut short by Santiago, who once again laid a hand on his shoulder.

"NO," Santiago boomed, his voice deep and powerful – the first word he had ever spoken aloud. The Slowking met everyone's gaze equally, as if in challenge, and Leo laughed to himself as he looked up at his starter. "NO," he growled out again, and looked down at Leo, nodding to him. It was a simple gesture, but it still reminded him that he was not alone here. He had backing, in the form of the Oaks, and in the form of his team.

"Thanks, buddy, you're right," he said, patting Santiago's paw before turning back to the table. "I decline all of your offers because I want to go to Alola,"

"Alola? What is in Alola that is not here?" Morty said, sounding genuinely confused. The derisive snort that came from Agatha displayed her thoughts on the subject as well.

"Alola," Giovanni said, frowning. "They are not the most…competent battlers,"

"And yet every time Kanto launched a military campaign against them in the past, you were soundly beaten. Let him speak," Victoria snapped, her Persian growling. Giovanni frowned at her but fell silent, allowing Leo to clear his throat.

"It's not what is in Alola that really matters, though I will say I'm looking forward to exploring the islands and meeting all kinds of new pokémon – ok, I think Alola has a lot to offer. But right now? Right now it's what isn't in Alola that is attracting me,"

"And what is that?" Champion Martin asked.

"You all," Leo said bluntly. "Over there I can roam and explore and train to my heart's content. Here I have to watch my every step – even with me trying to keep a low profile and requesting the Gym Leaders to keep my privacy, my team still got out and became a big deal. I could have seriously done without the publicity. And before you ask why; this is why. I don't want to be drug into your politics. Over there I'm just another rookie," Leo shook his head and sighed.

"He makes a valid argument," Koga allowed. "Though it would not do to have him poached by a foreign nation. Indigo needs strong trainers,"

"But at the same time, we do not know his future," Giovanni said, tearing his eyes from Leo. "If we invest too much into him to build him into a powerful trainer and he falls short, that is a waste of time and effort," at this Victoria finally stood up and cleared her throat.

"You forget that I am his sponsor," she said firmly. "Not you. And I was born in Alola. He will go there whether you like it or not,"

"Indeed. The Oaks do have legal custody of Leo, and as a third-badge trainer, Youngster or not, Leo does have the legal right to make his own decision and travel between regions," Leader Mike said, speaking up for the first time. Leo said nothing, and half listened to the conversation as it continued in his favor. This was entirely too much work for something that had already been decided.

"That was painful," Leo said, walking beside the Professor as they left the large conference hall, Merri levitating behind them and psychically conversing with Santiago, who lumbered along unsteadily on his two feet.

"Now you understand why I left the Champion's seat," he said. "It is entirely too much politicking, and far too little spending time with pokémon,"

"Do they always bicker like schoolchildren? Agatha took almost every statement as a personal attack, Morty couldn't let anything she said go, Lance seemed to think the Wataru were the end-all-be-all of training, Pryce was a bitter old man, and Champion Martin seemed to have his hands full keeping them on track," Leo complained. "I can't imagine what a meeting between all the gym leaders and elite four of Indigo is like,"

"Well you handled it admirably. It was mostly just a formality – there was no way they could take your team or force you to do something you didn't want to – but you did well," he said, patting Leo's shoulder. "What do you say we go ahead and return to the ranch? Victoria will be along shortly,"

"I'd like to go visit the Slowpoke Well with Santiago again," Leo said.

"I would advise against it. You've already drawn a lot of attention, if you go to the Well then others might follow you and disturb the Slowpoke with their searching. You evolved a Slowking using a method unknown to the public on live TV; people are asking questions as to how," the Professor reasoned. "Even teleporting you to the Well with Merri is risky – teleports can be traced by other powerful psychic types, to some degree. I would wait until things have calmed down and Santiago has established his power and presence more, until he's become a more established King, if you will, and then return,"

Leo frowned and mulled it over. It made sense, to a degree, and he got the feeling that the Slowpoke of the Well liked their privacy. Their mausoleum may have been forgotten in time by most, but maybe that's the way they liked it? Besides, Santiago was still coming down from his evolution high.

"There is a lot for him to process," Merri mentally supplied, speaking telepathically and turning away from his conversation with Santiago. "He went from a Slowpoke's mind, which is slow and methodical, taking in only the information necessary, to the mind of a genius-level psychic. He can see and process and think so much more that he's coming to terms with the entire universe at once. Taking him to the Slowpokes in such a state would be a mistake,"

"Makes sense, I guess. I'm just impressed he spoke so quickly, even if it was one word," Leo said, nodding along. He did figure that part out himself, but appreciated having his own thoughts confirmed.

"He grew up around humans – there is bound to be some sort of speech recognition already ingrained within him," the Professor said. "Now are you ready to return to Pallet then, or is there something else you need to do?"

"Just need to get my team and my stuff from the Pokemon Center," Leo said.

"Go now, I'll meet you at the Center. I might be a minute, however, as I should probably save Mike and Victoria from the others," Oak said, nodding to Merri and promptly turned on his heel, walking off.

Leo immediately recalled Santiago to save some time and took off towards the Center, avoiding the worst of the crowds and vaguely aware of the stares he was receiving. Maybe it was just his imagination, but it felt like there were plenty of people who were watching him as he walked, even without Santiago by his side. The moment he stepped inside the Pokemon Center, however, his paranoia was proven true when as soon as the first person noticed him walking through the lobby, everyone turned to look at him.

It was utterly terrifying in its own way, and Leo grabbed his backpack from his Center room as quickly as possible, returned his key, received his team from Nurse Joy, and stepped outside as quick as he could and without looking at anyone. Spiritomb whispered happily at his return, having not liked being left alone at all, and Leo spent some time consoling the ghost.

He really needed to work on that with Spiritomb. Leo would like to avoid the ghost developing some sort of separation anxiety.

"Leo," Professor Oak said, appearing through the crowd moving along the busy street with Victoria in tow and catching Leo's attention. The surprising thing, though, was that there was a third person as well. The old woman with the Bellossom, to be exact, though the grass type was nowhere in sight. Leo glanced back to the Professor, whose expression was carefully neutral, while Victoria looked all too smug as she walked next to the old woman. "Layla here would like a word with you,"

"Layla?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow. The name didn't mean anything to him…except in regards to Champion Martin's predecessor…

"Yes, brat," Layla said, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of the pocket of her jeans. She pulled one out and lit it, taking a deep breath and glaring around at the constant throng of people that threatened to push her over. Carefully she stepped closer, scowling at Leo as she looked him dead in the eye. "Layla, the ex-champion of Kanto and Martin's predecessor," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Ex-champion?" Leo parroted, raising his eyebrows and glancing at Victoria. She just grinned at him.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Layla said, taking another drag on her cigarette. "I'm sorry you had to deal with that mess. Hell, I started training when I was ten, don't know what these fools in charge of the League are thinking, getting so worked up about a trainer's age. If I was still Champion I'd beat the crap out of all of them and strip them of their ranks. Especially Agatha – that greedy, conniving woman has no right being an Elite Four member. I fought it for years, keeping her out of the seat, but Martin needed support to supplant me, and that was the price he paid for it," she hissed, shaking her head.

Leo glanced at Professor Oak, who just smiled thinly and shrugged. What exactly was going on here?

"But I'm too old, too tired, too damn sick to be running around kicking ass like I used to. My whole team's dead too, all that's left of me is an old husk waiting to die," she said, taking yet another drag and coughing violently. Leo flinched and almost moved to help her, but she swiftly got herself under control and met his eyes once again, baring her teeth in a feral grin. "Still, I sense some fire in you. More than this idiot Oak has – he would've made a better Champion than me or Martin, had he the guts to stick with it,"

"Yet he's changed the world with his inventions and studies on Pokémon," Leo countered, raising an eyebrow. "He's not just the Champion of Indigo, he's the Pokémon Professor, perhaps the most renowned in all regions," Layla laughed, an unsettling noise that sounded like something was rattling around in her chest.

"That is true, that is true. But I'm not here to complain to you. I'm here to give you a pokémon. Bellossom," she said, producing a pokeball. Leo stiffened and looked at the red and white orb, then narrowed his eyes and looked at her suspiciously. "Don't give me that look, he's the one who wanted it. It's tradition for an ex-champion to give an egg or pokémon to aspiring trainers – unfortunately for you I already gave away an egg and a starter-type pokemon. The two wound up pissing their lives away becoming Coordinators. Bah, as if the brood of my Championship team are fulfilling their potential by playing dress up!" she spat, snarling. Leo frowned.

Well, sure, Coordinators weren't the most popular profession – battling was much more exciting to the masses – but they were far from the worst.

"Bah, listen to me rant. He's the best damn Bellossom I've ever raised, and I'm too damn old to do anything about it. I don't care what you do with him, just take him. He evolved a year ago now, so he's well established in his new body, but he's got room for improvement. Just…don't waste his potential," she said, and tossed Leo the pokeball. He snagged it, fumbling for a moment, then looked up to see her already walking away, coughing into her fist.

"Um," Leo started, but Professor Oak laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Let her go," he said. "Just accept it," Leo frowned and looked down at the pokeball, feeling the weight of it.

It was heavy, and not in the physical sense. Leo sighed. Every single pokémon he caught or received seemed to come with strings attached.

The moment Professor Oak teleported them to the ranch – though Merri forgot to cast miracle eye on Spiritomb's keystone, and had to teleport back to fetch it grumbling curses about dark types the whole time – Leo let the rest of his team out, barring Bellossom, and was promptly dog-piled by them.

It was not a pleasant experience to be tackled by a three-foot-tall rock cocoon, a fire weasel, and a giant pink otter-thing but Leo laughed regardless and somehow managed to push them off. Santiago thoroughly slimed him with his tongue of course, the Slowking not having changed that habit, or perhaps still growing out of it, but he at least retreated after a few gentle shoves. Before getting to know Bellossom Leo wanted to spend some time with his team.

"I'll be around if you need me," Victoria said, waving as she walked off followed by the Professor, who looked like he needed a stiff drink as he slowly trudged back to the lab which sat upon a hill a few hundred yards away.

"I will return later, to continue aiding Santiago," Merri promised, the Alakazam levitating mid-air. "I may not be able to alleviate the strangeness he is experiencing, but I may speed the process up. For now, enjoy some time to relax," and then teleported away.

Leo turned towards his team, smiling at Zuko as the ever-energetic Quilava already blurred away, leaping and rolling in the fields behind Professor Oak's lab. Santiago sucked in a deep breath, the gem in his coral crown flashing as he looked up the hill, towards where a familiar red and black Arcanine stood, staring down at the new arrivals. It wagged its tail happily and whuffed, vanishing from sight and reappearing at Santiago's side with a crack of speed, already sniffing the newly evolved Slowking.

Santiago bowed slightly and laid a hand on the Arcanine's head, blank eyes focusing ever so slightly. Leo let him be and turned towards Diana, who looked around with wide, red eyes. She stood upright on the tip of her shell somehow, in a fabulous display of balance, though he was sure the pressurized jets in her shell kept her upright somehow. Even if he couldn't hear them at the moment.

"You ready to try moving again, girl?" he asked, walking over and laying a hand on her armor. She wiggled happily at the touch, squirming and shaking and pressing closer until her entire face was pressed into Leo's chest. The hum of air escaping her shell created deep, resounding vibrations in his chest, almost like a massage. "There's no ceiling for you to crash into this time, so let's try again, ok? Come to me," he said, stepping away and backing up a good ten paces.

The newly-evolved Pupitar stared at him, and suddenly the sound of jet-engines sounded. Leo hit the dirt before she even moved and inch, but his fears were unfounded. She hadn't even shot in the right direction, instead blasting into the air like some sort of misguided rocket, careening through the sky until suddenly she wasn't, tumbling end over end and crashing into the ground in a spray of dirt.

Santiago and Arcanine stopped their greetings to look over, while Leo picked himself up and dusted himself off.

Only to dive to the side as Diana came rocketing past, a spray of dirt following her in a grand rooster tail as her shell drug the ground. Spiritomb hissed in anger, shadows snapping up around him and protecting his arms and face as he dove, snagging a clod of dirt out of the air when it threatened to fall on him.

"DIANA! SLOW DOWN!" Leo hollered, but too late. Her shell caught something in the ground and she flipped end over end, out of control and narrowly missing a fence…only to crash right through a thick pine tree, and wind up somewhere in the forest. "For Hades' sake, DIANA! STAY!" Leo shouted, picking himself up again and watching with horror as the tree fell over, crashing to the ground.

Snapping sounds and the sound of a jet-engine told Leo that Diana either didn't hear him, or didn't care. Though, to his relief, she emerged from the thicket of trees at a much more sedate pace than she had entered at – even if she was rapidly picking up speed, seemingly out of control. Santiago stepped in front of him with a huff, raising his arms in preparation to do…something. He ended up not having to though as Arcanine met Diana halfway, the great orange hound launching himself through the air and planting a single paw on her face, forcing her into the ground. He barked once, loudly, reached down and picked Diana up in his mouth, and happily trotted over to Leo to deposit her at his feet. An impressive show of strength, to be sure.

The Arcanine whuffed proudly, planting one foot on Diana's face, who had the gall to wiggle happily, eyes scrunching up in joy and looking at Leo with an expression of let's do that again! Leo didn't even know Pupitar could be that expressive, and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"What am I going to do with you?" he muttered fondly, though there was no heat to it. "Thanks Arcanine, thanks Spiritomb," the great orange hound barked happily in response, licked his face, and then bounded off while Leo spluttered and wiped the drool off.

…ah, right. That's where Santiago got that habit from.

Diana hummed and wiggled again, the movement more akin to rocking back and forth, and Leo shook his head, sitting down next to her and laying a hand on her shell to calm her. Well, it might take some time, but they'd get her new form of locomotion down eventually. He just hoped that it happened before she broke something important. Like the lab. Or him.

Leo sighed as he sat on the back porch of Professor Oak's house down in Pallet Town proper. Santiago stood next to him, eyes glowing as he talked telepathically to Merri, who was in the kitchen washing dishes with Gary. Zuko squirmed and whined, worming his was into Leo's lap and settling as he started to scratch his ears, eyes closing. He was getting too big for that, his butt hanging off the side of the chair as it was. It would certainly be much different for him when he evolved again.

Though Leo had the hunch that Zuko would, somehow, stay a lapdog despite any upcoming evolution.

Spiritomb whispered gently, shadows dancing in the dying light of the sun at its command, forming intricate yet nonsensical shapes. Once again Leo let out a long breath, this time in contentment, and took a sip of his drink, pleased. It had been a good day. He'd played with Gary, Diana made some progress on her movement after their initial failure, and Santiago was…well, still staring off into space, but that was nothing new.

It'd taken Leo a good hour and a half just to get Gary, and by proxy Ash, who had tagged along with the young Oak, to stop talking about his gym battle. Then the two boys had taken to tiring out Zuko, then Leo, then proceeded to climb all over Diana and Santiago like they were their personal jungle gyms. Diana was surprisingly well behaved for it all, and Santiago was used to them so he was fine. And that was the rest of the day. It was cathartic after the meeting with the leaders of Indigo that morning, to just mess around with his team and two kids.

Still, there was one thing left to do. He pulled the pokeball given to him by ex-champion Layla out of his pocket and rolled it around in his palm. The Professor had transferred it to his Trainer profile earlier, so Bellossom was officially his pokémon.

"Ready?" Leo asked Santiago, who glanced at him. For a moment his eyes focused in awareness and he nodded, laying a hand on Leo's shoulder. Leo patted his paw. "Thanks for always being with me, bud," he said, knowing he didn't have to say it – they had a whole connection thing going on just yesterday that caused his evolution – but wanting to anyway.

Then he pressed the release and watched carefully as Bellossom appeared in front of him, twirling into existence and falling into a bow towards Leo.

"Sloow," Santiago mumbled, raising himself to full height.

"Bell!" Bellossom cried happily, waving at Santiago. "Ossom!" the Slowking waved back, and Zuko slid off of Leo's lap to pad over to Bellossom, inspecting him with a sniff. Bellossom giggled and patted Zuko's head, much to the Quilava's surprise and amusement. Spiritomb poked one eye out of Leo's pocket, dark tendrils swirling up and around Leo, stretching out in an eldritch display as if to grasp the grass-type.

Bellossom, however, was unperturbed, and grabbed one tendril to shake it like a hand. Leo was surprised at the gesture, and Spiritomb equally so if the way it retracted its tendrils was any indication. Bellossom looked around a bit more, then turned to Leo and cocked his head to the side questioningly. Leo shook his head.

"Diana's in her pokeball. She's been way too excited about her evolution, if I let her out now she'll cause a ruckus," he said. Bellossom nodded sagely. "So. Layla said you wanted to come with me? Just so you know we won't be staying here; I'll be leaving for a far-off region soon. Strange pokemon, strange lands…lots of strange and new stuff," Leo said. This, if anything, just seemed to excite Bellossom, as he nodded enthusiastically.

Then he did something…strange. Whipping a leaf from his little skirt – was it a skirt or a kilt, since he was male? Thoughts for later, Leo figured – Bellossom laid it lengthwise along his palms, knelt in the grass, and bowed his head as if presenting something. Leo cocked his head to the side in confusion, not sure what the symbolism was for. Santiago nudged him, urging him on and, bemused, Leo bent down from his position in his chair to gently accept the leaf.

"Thanks," he said, picking it up and flipping it over in his hands. Bellossom stood with a happy twirl and chattered excitedly as he carefully climbed down off of the porch to go exploring in the Professor's backyard, walking amongst the grasses. Leo watched him go then glanced at Santiago, who shrugged. "Odd. I'll need to think of a name for him though; what's a good name for a male Bellossom?" he said, leaning back in his chair. He'd stick with the theme of naming his pokemon after fictional characters, but who would be good for a…well, a flower child?

Thoughts for later, Leo decided eventually, leaning back in his chair and watching the sun set. Now was time to relax and just…enjoy life.

Enjoy life Leo did, in the last few days he spent at the Oak ranch. Sure, there was the odd reporter and the odd trainer that came to try to interview or challenge Leo in battle – sometimes both at the same time – but most were turned away by Oak's pokemon or Leo himself. He had no desire to answer more interviews, or do anything like that. A part of his brain whispered that he should answer those interviews to try and reach out to his friend Jack, in hopes of some news from Indigo reaching Unova, but the rest of him said not to bother. He was just some punk, he didn't want or need the publicity, and it wouldn't travel that far. Unova was a distant region, perhaps the furthest away from Indigo out of all the regions.

He did, however, find out a name for Bellossom. During his morning training routine Bellossom had taken to dancing with him. With Diana unable to mimic Leo at the moment, though she did tend to watch from the sidelines, wiggling her shell back and forth in time to Leo's movements, he appreciated the company. And on the third day of their new routine Bellossom did something new.

He pulled a leaf off of his skirt, brandished it like a sword, and began to dance. Leo paused as he watched the Bellossom move, twisting and twirling on the ground with the leaf trailing green energy – in a leaf blade, he'd later come to realize – as he whipped it through the air tracing intricate designs. Embarrassingly enough that hadn't been enough for Leo to realize he was actually using the leaf blade like a sword – it wasn't until Bellossom cajoled him into practicing with him, and stuck a branch in Leo's hands to imitate a sword, that it clicked for Leo.

He was a little swordsman, and needed a swordsman's name.

Leo debated on names like Beowulf, Aragon, Zolo, Ichigo, Arthur, or even Muramasa – but eventually decided against them and settled on Link. The green motif of Link fit Bellossom the most out of the possibilities Leo could think of, and he wanted to keep the theme of naming his pokemon out of fictional characters. Though come to think of it, he had yet to nickname Spiritomb, didn't he…? Thoughts for later. At least Bellossom approved, after Leo explained what the name Link meant to the little grass-type.

All too soon however, his time at Pallet came to an end. He stood outside the Oak household with all his stuff packed into his backpack and a small suitcase, smiling at Gary, the Professor, and even Ash, who had come to see him off with Gary. Victoria stood beside him, one hand on her Braviary's pokeball as she waited for the fair wells to finish.

Gary looked like he was going to cry, though the stubborn boy hid it well. The Professor had a smile plastered on his face, one that Leo couldn't see through. Ash looked sleepy – the messy black-haired boy was rubbing his eyes tiredly. Leo was honestly surprised he was up this early, the sun was only just starting to rise after all.

"Thanks again, Professor," Leo said. "I'll make sure to call every once in a while,"

"Make sure you do. And don't go causing too much trouble in Alola – not that there's much trouble to cause," the Professor chided with a wink.

"There's more than you think," Victoria said bluntly, though her teasing grin told what she really thought.

"Indeed. But do call, remember to upload your pokedex data every once in a while, and if you ever have any questions feel free to ask. You'll do alright, Leo," the Professor said, stepping forward and wrapping Leo in a hug before he could protest. Then he released him and Leo just smiled, tamping down the awkwardness he felt.

"You better be ready," Gary said, puffing up his chest. "I'll get my Youngster's License next year, and then I'll stomp you and your team flat,"

"Yeah!" Ash chirped in agreement, immediately perking up at the idea of becoming a trainer. Leo just snorted out a laugh, stifling another at the Professor's eye roll.

"Nah, you won't. They're going to repeal the Youngsters License before that. You, little Gary, still have a few more years to go before you're a trainer," Leo said – and something in his chest twisted at that idea. Gary, a trainer? He knew that the anime probably exaggerated things, and the games were, well, games, but…there was a lot that happened there. Many things. Dangerous things to come. Leo shoved those thoughts to the side for the moment, not wanting to dig himself into that rabbit hole for the moment.

"Well, I'll still stomp you flat. I'll take the title of Champion from you," Gary said, crossing his arms. Leo laughed at him.

"Sure thing, Gary, sure thing," he said, shaking his head and not even really sure he wanted to be Champion. Sounded like a lot of work, and a lot of problems to deal with. An image of Layla, Lance, and Champion Martin flashed through his mind and he glanced at the Professor, who was just smiling at the discussion.

"Aren't you going to give it to him?" Oak pressed, nudging Gary. The sandy-blonde haired boy blinked then flushed as he turned and darted back into the house without another word. Leo raised an eyebrow at the Professor quizzically. "He wanted to give you a present. To help you look cooler, he said. Thinks the dancing and flute playing on Bellossom leaves is too cutesy for you," the Professor said, no small amount of humor in his voice.

Moments later Gary came running out of the house carrying a very familiarly shaped case, presenting it to Leo who took it with raised eyebrows.

"Is this a guitar?" he muttered, unzipping the black leather case and revealing the acoustic guitar contained within. The wood was dark and the strings were fine; it looked like a good instrument. But Leo knew nothing about guitars, so he couldn't really say. Nothing at all.

"It's cooler than a flute," Gary asserted, crossing his arms and giving Leo a critical look up and down. The ten – or, well, he was eleven now, wasn't he? – year old boy snorted. "You need to think about your image more now that you're becoming a popular and powerful trainer. All trainers have their flair – and you were on the news yesterday. Someone released a video of you playing with Bellsprout at the Sprout Tower, which then led to another releasing a video of you playing a song for a variety of grass types – I don't know where, looked like in the National Park. And guitars are cooler than flutes – it'd fit your team theme better,"

"Team theme?" Leo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You have a future Typhlosion, a future Tyranitar, a Slowking, and a crazy scary ghost type. That is awesome and intimidating. Shredding the guitar will make you look like you fit in with your team more than a flute will," Gary said, nodding as if that made perfect sense. Leo found that hard to believe.

He just couldn't see any of his team – besides Spiritomb – as intimidating. Even Diana, she was too cute and he honestly expected her to be the same loving creature she was as a Larvitar. It was in her nature.

"Professor, what have you been teaching this kid? He's too young to be talking like this," Leo accused, pointing at Gary. The Professor laughed and ruffled Gary's hair, much to the younger boy's annoyance. No eleven-year-old talked like that, analyzing things like unique flair. Most boys that age were idiots. This must be the Oak genius gene starting to show.

"He's certainly above average for his age," the Professor said carefully. "But he's still got growing to do," Gary scowled, and Leo shook his head.

"Well, thanks Gary. I really appreciate it, I wasn't expecting anything like this," he said, zipping the guitar back up and slinging it over his shoulder. "I'll send you some souvenirs from Alola – I'm sure they've got tons of cool stuff you'll love," Gary just huffed and nodded.

"Be sure you do," he said. "And when you catch a new pokémon, or better yet, before you do, tell me what you're planning so I can tell you whether it's good or not. Mew knows you don't understand what is and isn't powerful, with a Bellossom now on your team. Vileplume is much better, competitively," he protested, and Leo laughed. Victoria tapped him on the shoulder and jerked her head, releasing her Braviary. It was time to go.

So Leo said his final farewells, giving Gary a hug, patting Ash on the head, and giving the Professor one last hug before jumping aboard Victoria's Braviary. With a few mighty flaps the bird lifted into the air, taking him and Victoria to Viridian City so they could catch the next flight to Alola.

It gave Leo time to think, as he stared at the Silver Mountains off to his left. That little interaction with Gary there at the end, when he was talking about becoming a trainer, worried him. He'd had a grand old time on his journey so far – the only issues he'd honestly run into – besides Froslass nearly killing him and Spiritomb being a jerk – came from humans. He couldn't help but be worried, especially since he had some idea of the future. Would Lance be a good champion? What was Giovanni going to do? Or, what about Mewtwo? That was a problem he hadn't though of yet.

Leo sighed, shaking his head and watching the trees pass by beneath them. I guess I'll just have to train hard enough that such things aren't as much of a problem anymore. There's nothing I can do about it now – I even told Professor Oak about Giovanni and Team Rocket and the man still has his Gym Leader position. That should show how good he is at hiding his tracks. He thought, and after shaking away the dark thoughts, smiled. It's a good thing that exploring and journeying counts as training. And that I find training fun, for the most part. Ah, Alola, what wonders await me there? Leo's thoughts began to drift towards Tapu's and legendaries, of all kinds of crazy adventures he might have.

But not before one last thought drifted through his mind, the last thought of Indigo before he left the region to explore, and train, and satisfy his wanderlust. Well, if all else fails and my faith in the League is shaken, I could always become Champion. Gods forbid, please, don't make be become Champion.