17

It took Leo a good thirty minutes to get over his experience, and to fully understand what had just happened to him. For thirty minutes he sat in a room, on a chair with a glass of water in front of him – standard fair for those who went through Morty's test – and mulled over the events inside of his head. It was a solid thirty minutes of him working himself into a rage-fueled frenzy, absolutely intent on verbally tearing Morty's head off the next time he saw him.

That ghost had tried to kill him. It hadn't been like Spiritomb, who had lashed out in anger and fear and panic, nor was it like any of the other pokémon that had tried to kill him – like the sneasel pack – who each had discernable reasons to attack him. Like for food. The Aegislash, Morty had told him his "tester" had been an Aegislash before disappearing somewhere to let Leo recuperate, had torn through Leo's memories without his consent if the whole "dad appearing" thing was anything to go by, and proceeded to beat him down until it got what it wanted. How did it even read his mind anyway? Wasn't that a psychic thing, not a ghost?

Leo would eat a pokeball if that was the test Morty gave to everyone. No, that ghost sword was looking for something and apparently found it. So now Leo was pissed off, because hadn't he already proven enough? He calmed Spiritomb, Merri said he wasn't under its influence and he trusted a Champion-level Alakazam to know what she was talking about, and by god he was just…just...

The glass of water was promptly hurled across the room, shattering against the far wall of the purple-carpeted waiting area. Leo's chest heaved as he took deep breaths in a weak, almost token effort to calm himself down. Spiritomb whispered words of rage and anger in his ears from where it sat in his pocket, and for once Leo did nothing to resist its effects. He wanted to be angry. He was angry.

And that was what greeted Morty when he walked into the room, Ninetails at his side and a sword and flag strapped to his back; Leo, standing at the wooden table that sat in the middle of the room, fury etched on his features. The moment he saw Morty, however, the raging inferno inside of him cooled into a cold fury.

Morty paused and held up his hands defensively. "Now I know what you're going to say-" he started, but Leo cut him off.

"Do you?" he asked in a voice far calmer than he felt. Morty hesitated, then sighed and bowed slightly.

"I am sorry for putting you in that situation. I did not realize that Kusanagi would be the one to come test you – normally the test is far safer and not nearly as…well, Aegislash are…" Morty sighed again, and Leo felt himself relax just a tad, his anger subsiding slightly with the apology. Spiritomb still demanded blood of course, but Leo ignored those calls this time.

"Normally. What is the test normally?" Leo asked, sitting back down.

"It depends on the trainer and is never so intrusive, but mostly it's about testing your mental strength. Most of the time it's being hit by a confuse ray – it'll make you see things, the trainer will wobble around a bit, I or a gym trainer will explain what happened, and then depending on the trainer we'll either do it again or pass them. The idea is to get trainers accustomed to mental influences, to test their minds and remind them that many powerful pokémon, especially psychic or ghost types, do have the capability to induce mental effects. I seek to make sure they're training their own minds, as well as their teams – there's a reason my gym is usually challenged by older, more experienced trainers after all." Morty explained slowly, shrugging his shoulders. "Didn't you read the challenge agreement when you signed up for a battle? It's detailed in there – basically a consent waiver,"

Leo scowled because no, he hadn't read that. "But mine wasn't like that," he said bluntly.

"No. Unfortunately, Kusanagi had other plans for you," Morty said with yet another sigh. Leo watched in mild fascination as the sword on his back floated off, dragging the flag-banner along with it, and settled on the side of the wall.

Morty turned to raise an eyebrow at it.

"I thought Aegislash were sword and shields?" Leo asked suddenly, confused.

"The typical ones are. But Aegislash are more the ghosts inhabiting the sword, not necessarily the sword itself. If the sword breaks the ghost can find a new sword to turn into an Aegislash, if the Aegislash dies, the sword returns to being a normal sword. Here in Johto we've never really used shields though, so the Aegislash adapted to use banners and be flag bearers," Morty explained slowly, watching Leo carefully and sitting down in another chair across from him. Leo scratched his chin, staring at the Aegislash.

Hints of green and gold flecked the sheath, its massive eye staring right back at Leo. The flag-banner thing that was drug along with it was green in color, with a long dark wood shaft, and depicted a golden sun that glittered unnervingly in the dim light of the room. It was held by one of the ghost's sashes, ensuring it never left its side.

"I see," Leo said simply.

"For the record, you passed. Kusanagi is Imperial Regalia from the golden age of Ecruteak – I'll probably catch hell for it coming here later from the sages of the Bell Tower, where it's usually kept. For it to have taken an interest in you is either really good or really bad," Morty continued, shaking his head. "I don't know what god you pissed off, but they sure cursed you with an interesting life,"

"Good or bad? Which do you think it is?" Leo echoed, raising an eyebrow. He didn't really remember much lore about Aegislash besides them being able to detect the inherent qualities of leadership – but Leo doubted that was why he caught the sword's attention. He had no desire to become a Leader, or politician. Even becoming a Champion seemed a little much, though maybe doing what Victoria was doing and just become Champion class without the title would be worth doing.

"Depends. Does the phrase 'born under the light of a different sun' mean anything to you?" Morty asked. Leo stilled, and levelled him with a look that demanded an explanation. "It's what Kusanagi told me when I asked what had brought its attention to you. That, and that you smell like the moon,"

Leo put his face in his hands and let out a long-suffering sigh. It seems his little secret was bound and determined to come out, even without him trying to tell people about it. Oak had figured it out because of his position and knowledge, Morty now had the basics even without Leo saying anything.

"Does it mean anything to you?" Leo asked instead.

"No," Morty replied bluntly. "I have no idea what it could mean unless it has something to do with the legendaries. Are you a foreigner, maybe?" Leo nodded, thinking that was about as accurate as it could get. It was probably completely out of the question to think Leo was literally from another world anyway, so his secret was still technically safe. Kusanagi hummed, the blade vibrating in its sheath, and Leo's eyes immediately snapped to it.

"How did it even get that information anyway? It can't read my mind can it?" Leo asked.

"I can't say whether or not it can or can't, due to it being as old as it is but…no, typically not. Ghosts operate in the subconscious part of the mind – they might be able to sense the more powerful, personality defining things, but nothing so deep as mind reading." Morty explained patiently. Leo nodded and Spiritomb flared up, chattering away in Leo's ear. Morty snorted, covering his mouth with one hand.

"I'm sorry, have you seen what your ghost just did to you?" he asked, gesturing to the top of Leo's head.

"What?" he asked, reaching up and feeling his hair. It was sticking straight up into the air, like he had gelled it, and he could feel Spiritomb's ectoplasmic body swirling about above his head. Leo sighed again, allowing a small smile to tug at the corner of his lips. But there were a few more issues to take care of before Leo would allow himself to lose his anger-fueled motivation.

"This guy. I can't ever have a serious conversation unless it is directly involved," Leo muttered, rolling his eyes and recalling all the times Froslass had interrupted his and Karen's conversations. Had that really only been last week that he travelled with her? Time flies. "But I've still got questions for you. What would you have done if I had been killed by that thing? Would it have killed me, or possessed me or something?"

"Ghosts can't possess you," Morty replied instantly, and Leo blinked at the vehement answer. "Or at least, the common idea of possession is a myth produced by popular media. Only the truly insane can have their minds taken over by ghosts, or those who willingly give up their mind and body. It's…got something to do with how the soul, or psyche, or what-have-you is tied to the body. Without the original owner the body just…dies, so a ghost cannot take over your body. Period. You'll die first, and even then they'd have to kill you physically. It's a lot harder to truly kill a mind than you'd think – they're pretty resilient, and even powerful psychics can only stall the outer brain functions for short amounts of time, to say nothing of the subconscious mind. Trauma, causing problems in the mind? Easy. Killing it by slamming one mind into another? Much, much harder. Heck, even psychics can't control you like how movies and such shows – sure, they can puppeteer your body if they overcome your natural strength, but you will still be you inside and have some degree of control so long as you actively resist.

"Ghosts like Aegislash, mostly rely on long-term manipulation if they have ulterior designs. Influencing dreams, your subconscious mind, all that jazz. In that sense ghosts are actually more dangerous than psychics – with training you can learn to detect psychic influence. With ghosts you have to be more careful," Morty explained, more heated than Leo had expected from him.

"Huh. Makes sense, I suppose," Leo mused, now far calmer than before. Just like Morty said, although he could feel the emotions of Spiritomb and could hear psychic voices in his head, and though it was sometimes hard to discern the difference between his thoughts and psychic thoughts, there was still a difference. "Sounds like it might be like the laws of matter. Like, two atoms cannot occupy the same space or something? I dunno. I guess that also means brainwashing isn't a thing then?"

"It is, but not the popularized version. More the…long-term psychological manipulation kind of brainwashing. Psychics and ghosts just go about it in more direct ways than, say, a human brainwashing a human might. The fundamentals are still the same," Morty explained "It's a little bit easier for you, I imagine, to resist than other people, but most can learn to be like you eventually,"

"Like me?" Leo asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Dark," Morty said.

"Huh?"

"You don't know? That you're dark? You're naturally able to resist psychic influence, Leo. That's the first thing my ghosts told me – you're able to completely shut psychics out of your mind and ghosts struggle to find purchase," Morty said bluntly. "I, frankly, think that's a good thing. Though it's more a skill in my experience than anything else. I'm not classified as dark but can do much the same thanks to extensive training of my mind. Much how all people are psychic but only a few are true psychics, all people can be dark, but not true darks,"

"That, I, uh, okay," Leo stammered, unsure how to take that. Did Oak and Victoria know? They probably did. Why didn't they tell him something so important? Was it important? What did that even mean? Wait, had he been completely open with psychic types this whole time when he didn't have to be? On second thought, that was probably a good thing if Merri's reaction to him was anything to go by. "Then was I actually in danger of dying?" Leo asked.

"Yes. I had no way to stop Kusanagi from sucking your life away without risking that same exact thing. The situation was completely out of my control and for that I apologize," Morty said, bowing his head formally once more.

"Uh…ok, it's ok," Leo said slowly. It had worked out ok, and Kusanagi hadn't actually made a move to kill him he didn't think, so that was Ok? He wouldn't trust Kusanagi until he heard from the sword, if he even could, but it wasn't Morty's fault. He may be a gym leader but he couldn't be everywhere, and ghosts were tricky. "What happens now?" Leo asked. Now that all this had happened he just…wanted to get out of the city. It was time to leave, and that meant hopefully battling Morty as soon as possible.

"It is not ok. This is my duty as a gym leader and I failed to ensure your safety. That being said, after the test I usually have one of my gym trainers battle the challenger. I figure we can forgo that and just straight into the battle at the scheduled time if you're still feeling up to it," Morty explained, sitting up straight and meeting Leo's eyes. Leo firmed his expression and nodded, folding his hands across his lap.

"Sounds good. It's still at five, right?" Leo asked. Morty nodded. "Then I'll spend that time here, if you don't mind."

"I do not. There is a food court if you get hungry – one of the gym trainers would be happy to guide you. Come to battleground five for our match – and Leo? Although I am sorry for what happened do not think that I will go easy on you because of it. You have more than proved your mettle; but strong mettle does not a good trainer make," Morty said, standing up and heading towards the door. Leo scowled, but nodded. He hadn't expected anything less, but he didn't need Morty to repeatedly apologize. Once was enough.

"Then you don't expect the same," Leo snarked back. Morty snorted out a laugh and, after sending a glare at Kusanagi to ensure it was coming with him, exited the room with all his pokémon in tow.

Leo sat there for a moment before releasing his team. Santiago gurgled at him, Diana cooed, and Zuko sniffed the air as the three appeared. He'd give them breakfast in a minute, but first they needed to have a chat. Leo knelt down and attempted to look his team in the eye, even as they sniffed and looked about the room.

"Alright guys, I know we've talked about this gym battle before but I think I need to make myself extra clear. We are not going to go easy. This is going to be full throttle right from the start – I want each and every one of you to be fighting as hard as you can here. We are not. Losing." Leo said forcefully, hoping that the sheer seriousness in his tone would catch his team's attention. Santiago blinked at him and gurgled again, tail wagging happily as he was being addressed. Zuko twisted himself into a u-shape and scratched his butt with his teeth, and Diana cooed and ran forward, demanding headpats. Leo obliged, but not without a sigh, running a hand over her crest lovingly as she looked up at him with her big red eyes.

"You have no idea what I'm saying, do you? You just know I'm upset, huh girl?" Leo said softly, scratching Diana beneath the chin, the only way Leo could tell she felt the motion being the way she closed her eyes.

In fact, the only one who really seemed to notice him at all was Spiritomb, who whispered softly in his ear; its body appearing out of his pocket in a weird sort of black mist. An image of two men fighting both wielding swords appeared in the mist, followed by the sound of metal striking metal.

"Yes, we're going to fight," Leo said softly. Spiritomb's eyes appeared next, staring into Leo with an intensity he hadn't seen from it since the night he met it – instinctively he knew that this was not Froslass he was looking at now. The images it had fighting in the mist ended when one warrior stabbed the other, then vanished. Leo shook his head. "No, we are not fighting to the death. It is just a battle…training, almost, but a test to see our skill. Fight with all your might, but don't fight to kill or maim," Leo said softly. Spiritomb stared into his eyes for a moment longer, its mouth appearing in a frown, but slowly bobbed its face up and down nonetheless before vanishing.

Leo let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He was glad Spiritomb chose to clear that up now rather than during the battle. That could have been disastrous.

"Now if only the rest of my team would listen to me," Leo said, patting Spiritomb's keystone through his pocket. "Wouldn't that be something,"

Leo knelt in the hallway that led to the much larger stadium than he had anticipated – relatively empty though it was – and took a deep breath. Spiritomb was uncharacteristically quiet, though he could feel its anticipation for a fight echoing through his head, and the rest of his team sat comfortably in their balls. They'd had plenty of time to relax, they'd warmed up even before coming in with a few light stretches, and now it was time for a battle.

He stood and walked forward confidently, breathing in deep and glancing to the side for only a moment to spot the Professor, Gary, and Daisy Oak all sitting in the front row bleachers. Merri; Mizuchi, Oak's Dragonite; and a Clefairy that stood next to Daisy also filled out the seats – Mizuchi's happy wave and cheeful call brought a smile to Leo's lips as he marched up the small set of stairs leading into the trainer's stand, looking down on the wide, barren battlefield. Morty stood across from him, expression calm and cool and arms crossed as he waited for Leo to finish up.

The announcer took a deep breath and launched into his pre-battle spiel, outlining the rules – a four-on-four battle (presumably with Spiritomb as the last) – for Leo's second badge.

"Challenger, are you ready?" the announcer asked.

"Yes," Leo replied.

"Gym Leader Morty, are you ready?"

Morty didn't verbally respond but nodded all the same.

"Battle…start!" he shouted, and Leo released Zuko onto the field without a moment's hesitation. Morty gestured wildly with one hand at the same time, a Misdreavus floating up out of the floor with a sinister cackle. Zuko snarled, smoke curling from his lips as he slowly stalked forward, body pressed low to the ground while the opposing ghost eyed him calmly, casually. Leo remained quiet, sticking his hands in his pockets and shutting out the quiet whispers from Spiritomb – who sounded all too excited.

"Confuse ray," Morty commanded with a snap of his fingers. Misdreavus cackled but didn't immediately obey, rotating her body upside down midair before launching the speeding ray of purple and green energy at Zuko – who leapt out of the way in a quick attack. Morty grinned and snapped his fingers again. "Spite!" he ordered and Misdreavus glowed a ghastly purple color, Zuko suffused in the same light and yelping as…something happened.

In the games spite lowers the pp of moves, right? That must mean Morty wants to zap Zuko of his power, weaken him so even if Misdreavus can't take him out the next ghost will. Leo reasoned with himself, chewing his lip as Zuko blurred forward, charging straight at Misdreavus in seemingly blind fury, smoke trailing from his mouth and passing straight through the ghost. It cackled at him and vanished, another green and purple confuse ray hurtling forward and this time connecting with Zuko.

Leo didn't panic, though, as Zuko proceeded to halt in his tracks and belch out even more smoke, his back fires flaring up menacingly. Misdreavus cackled and glowed purple once more though Leo couldn't tell if it actually effected Zuko through the smoke or not. That was the point of the smokescreen though, for all Misdreavus knew its attack missed as well. Morty seemed to consider this for a moment before switching tactics.

"Shadow ball," he commanded. An orb of darkness coalesced in front of Misdreavus' mouth, taking a moment to build up as the ghostly energies crackled and writhed. Leo counted the seconds – two – until the ball of shadows was complete and sent hurtling into the smoke, detonating just inside of the cloud of smoke. An entire section of the smoke was blown away, revealing a very angry, very much not confused Zuko. Embers blasted out of the hole and caught Misdreavus by surprise, peppering the ghost with glowing embers even as it tried to phase into incorporeality.

"Ominous wind!" Morty ordered.

"Keep up ember," Leo commanded, waiting for the right moment. The oscillating wave of ghostly power Misdreavus fired phased right through the orange embers that Zuko fired, forcing the Quilava to dodge out of the way and leap back into his slowly dissipating cloud of smoke where he promptly started spewing out more, rebuilding his cloud. Leo smiled at Morty, who frowned. Ghosts were notoriously tricky and hard to pin down – Leo figured the best way to fight against them at this level was to either power through, or beat them at their own game. He wasn't certain they could power through, but Zuko could be a pain to pin down with his smokescreen.

"Shadow ball," Morty ordered.

"Flame wheel!" Leo snapped, seizing his chance. Misdreavus cackled and floated higher, opening its mouth to form the shadow ball as Zuko sped out of the cloud of smoke, fire blazing from his paws as he leapt into the air as high as he could – only just starting to spin up as he just barely clipped Misdreavus' belly, sending the ghost careening. He didn't stop there, however, continuing his roll and speeding around the arena as the ghost fired its shadow ball, just barely missing.

"Astonish," Morty ordered, still calm. Misdreavus seemed to consider this for a moment before blurring forward with admittedly surprising speed, its features distorting into a vicious mockery of itself as it smashed itself face-first into the still moving, still on fire, form of Zuko. Needless to say it did not come out unscathed, even as Zuko wobbled and careened out of control of his roll. But he was clearly the more lucid of the two as Misdreavus wobbled and spun, shaking her head from the impact, and Zuko unrolled himself and firing an ember directly into the ghost's face.

Misdreavus wailed, used spite one last time as a last-ditch effort to hurt Zuko, and was finally recalled in a flash of red as it fell to the ground unconscious. Leo resisted the urge to cheer as Morty frowned and called upon his next pokémon – a haunter who appeared by floating down from the ceiling.

"You good to keep going?" Leo called, catching Zuko's attention. The Quilava snorted and flared up his back fires in response, eyeing the Haunter as it cackled and stuck out its tongue, its disembodied hands making weird motions in the air.

"Begin!" the referee called again, and Zuko once again blurred into motion – smoke pouring from his mouth as white light blurred from his paws. Once again he started setting up his field, but Haunter wasn't content to let him just do what he wanted. The ghost cackled and flew straight up, a shadow ball forming in a split second and launching forward, detonating just to the side of Zuko and staggering him. The ghost took this opportunity to charge him at speed, tongue lolling as it aimed to lick Zuko. It just didn't count for one thing – the smoke.

Zuko's smoke bomb technique, where he superheated the smokescreen, had advanced to the point where he could use it practically at will now. So when Haunter passed through a cloud of smoke seeking to flank Zuko it found itself surrounded by intense heat. The Haunter shrieked and flew straight up into the air, trailing smoke and chased by embers from Zuko who sought to take advantage of the ghost's surprise.

"Okay," Morty said, raising an eyebrow. "Weaponizing smokescreen somehow, I guess? Haunter, go swimming," Haunter cackled evilly, a tinge of anger in its voice as it dove down into the ground and vanished. Leo cursed, having hoped that it would play at least a little fair – now Zuko would basically have to wait to be hit. It would be a game of trading blows, and Zuko was already tired. But Haunter were fragile ghosts, it wouldn't be able to take many hits either. Zuko had already hit it with an ember, so hopefully it couldn't take too much more punishment.

"Zuko, get ready to counter," Leo ordered, gripping the railing and watching the battlefield carefully for any sign of Haunter. Asking Zuko to run around right now was stupid, it would only tire him out more. It was a waiting game.

To his credit, Zuko knew exactly what to do when Haunter reappeared from below and punched him in the gut – he cloaked himself in fire and scratched, bit, and chewed on whatever he could get ahold of. Haunter shrieked and sank back into the ground, reappearing moments later with a shadow ball already formed and fired before Leo could blink – effectively knocking Zuko out with the blast.

Leo recalled Zuko when he was certain the quilava was done fighting, collapsing on the ground in a heap after being struck by the ball of shadows.

He chewed his lip as he considered his options, thumbing Santiago and Diana's pokeballs. He could have used Spiritomb, but Morty wanted him to save that for last. As he had explained before the battle, this was essentially a three vs three with an exhibition match tagged onto the end. Spiritomb's battle didn't matter so much as the others did. So, what he needed to do now was clear the field for Santiago. Haunter was a menace, and with its shadow ball and far superior speed he was worried that Santiago would be a sitting duck.

"Diana, it's time for battle," Leo said, tossing out her pokeball. The Larvitar appeared on the field with a cry and a blink, staring at the Haunter in curiosity. She glanced around the arena a bit, spotted Morty, turned back toward Leo, then focused on Haunter and settled into a deep stance.

"Begin!"

"Lick!" Morty ordered.

"Counter it," Leo said calmly, and Morty frowned. Haunter, however, didn't hesitate and lurched forward its tongue reaching out to properly slime Diana. Or at least, it tried to. Diana grabbed hold of the fleshy appendage with both hands and, with a war cry that sounded more cute than dangerous, judo flipped the floating ghost over her shoulder and slammed it into the ground. Flecks of dark energy curled off her arms and she didn't let go of the tongue, rearing her head back and biting it, prompting a shriek from Haunter.

"Shadow ball! Get it off you!" Morty ordered, voice heating up. Haunter stretched its two hands outward, holding them steady despite the vicious way Diana shook her head with its tongue in her mouth, two shadow balls forming in a matter of seconds. Diana twisted her body violently when it fired, spinning Haunter so that it caught one of its own attacks full-blast and letting the other just barely scrape her armor. It still did, technically, hit though so she took that opportunity to release Haunter and full-body tackle him in another payback – or, in other words, the dark-type counter.

"Up!" Morty commanded and Haunter dipped down into the ground to escape Diana's grasp then shot up into the sky, out of her reach even as her red eyes remained locked onto the ghost.

Leo, on the other hand, cursed. Diana was doing tons of damage, and Haunter was a glass cannon for a pokémon anyway, but she shouldn't have let it go. She was a close-combat fighter, and now Haunter could blast away with its shadow balls with her having little to no ways to retaliate. It was pretty dumb of Morty to let Haunter get close in the first place though. What was he thinking? Leo mused, then shook that thought out of his head. He still needed a way to get Diana to hit Haunter, or he could recall her and let Santiago take it out…

"Shadow ball, keep hitting it until its down," Morty commanded. Haunter frowned but did as was asked, forming a single shadow ball and blasting it at Diana. She tanked the purple orb, whining in pain as it struck.

"Try rock throw, Diana," Leo urged. Diana bent over as Haunter fired another shadow ball and dug her hands into the ground, tearing a chunk out of the gym floor and hurling it up at Haunter, who cackled and floated out of the way, the rock being caught by another ghost just before it landed in the stands, then deposited safely in a seat. Diana tanked another shadow ball and Leo raised her pokeball, stopped short by Morty's next call.

"Mean look," he commanded, and massive eyes suddenly appeared around the field as Haunter spread its hands with an eerie scream. Shadows pooled and eddied, obscuring the field all together for a brief moment before vanishing entirely. Despite knowing what the move did Leo still tried to recall Diana – only to find the recall beam blocked by one of the ghostly eyes. Effectively trapping Diana on the field.

Leo scowled and considered his options, watching as Diana dug another rock out of the ground and threw it at Haunter. He could forfeit her, but there had to be a way to get that Haunter. There had to be, but she couldn't reach him…wait. If she couldn't reach the ghost, they had to bring him down somehow. Why not beat Morty at his own game? If he wanted to play hard to get, they could play hard to get. It all hinged on whether or not Diana could understand the order though.

"Diana, dig a hole and cover it with rocks!" Leo called. The Larvitar hesitated for a moment, tilting her head to the side curiously and taking another shadow ball for her inattention – which pissed her off, if the way she angrily stomped her foot was any indication. But she appeared to understand him, grabbing another chunk of stone out of the ground, heaving it up and into the way of another shadow ball. The ghost attack shattered on the stone, leaving a small dent in the Larvitar-sized chunk but ultimately doing no damage. This seemed to give Diana an idea, and she continued to dig large chunks of rocks out of the ground and added them to her makeshift wall, effectively barricading herself in the small hole in the ground she had dug even as Haunter rained fire down from above.

Haunter fired another shadow ball experimentally, this one visibly smaller and weaker than the previous ones, and when it got caught in a crack in Diana's walls, exploding harmlessly against stone, it looked to Morty for advice. The Gym Leader just nodded appreciatively.

"Haunter, look for gaps big enough for a shadow ball. If you don't see any, go into the ground and try to get a lick on it," he said, the ghost phasing into the ground and vanishing.

"Diana, get ready to counter," Leo called, hoping that the Larvitar could hear him in her little rock shelter. What followed was a waiting game. Haunter tried, and failed, to attack the walls of her small fort – especially since she kept plugging gaps with chunks of the gym's floor – and eventually focused on trying to lick Diana. It was impossible to see what was going on though, the interior of the stone shelter had to be small and even though Leo was certain he saw the light of a confuse ray eventually the battle ended with Diana's victory – Haunter screeching in pain and sent hurtling from the stone shelter, hands falling limply to the ground and tongue lolling uselessly even as Diana plowed through the stone wall in a shoulder charge.

She wobbled unsteadily, most likely confused, and her movements were stiff and jerky.

"Haunter is unable to battle. The winner is Larvitar!" the referee called, and Leo took that chance to recall Diana. She would be useless in the next fight if she was confused – and if Santiago went down he needed her in top form.

"Good choice. Larvitar isn't down and out yet, but my next pokémon would take her out easily. Gourgeist, it's time" Morty called confidently, tossing out a pokeball this time. Leo frowned hard. Gourgeist was, type wise, a perfect counter for Santiago. Yet as the grass and ghost type appeared on the field, lights flickering in its gourd-like body and face carved into a jack-o-lantern smile, Leo felt confident that Santiago could take it. Or, at least, get it weak enough that Diana had a fighting chance to finish it off.

"Santiago, it's time for battle," Leo said, releasing the Slowpoke onto the field. He yawned loudly, tongue lolling out of his mouth and drool dripping to the floor, though he visibly perked up when he spotted the Gourgeist.

"Let's throw them for a loop, Gourgeist. Trick or treat, then shadow sneak!" Morty called. Santiago stood stock still and Leo racked his brains trying to figure out what trick or treat did – he had no clue, honestly, so he had better plan for the second move. The first would at least give Santiago some time to set up…which he was already doing. A red glow immediately formed around Santiago, curse seeping through his body as the haunted gourd danced forward, extending one frond-like hand to Santiago and holding a strange berry.

"Wait, no!" Morty called, suddenly panicked.

"Don't eat that!" Leo called as well, but Santiago, the stubborn butthead that he was, didn't listen. Instead he reached forward and bit down as hard as he could on the frond, shook his head side to side, and promptly released the Gourgeist from his grip, the berry gone and presumably inside Santiago's stomach. A purplish glow suffused him, which the Slowpoke wholly ignored, and proceeded to set up with curse once again.

Only this time it didn't act the same. Gourgeist and Santiago glowed a sickly purple at the exact same time, Santiago's tail sagging and head drooping as the gourd was suddenly wracked with pain, a harsh scream resounding throughout the arena. Though Leo was utterly confused as to the development he seized the opportunity it presented nonetheless.

"Disable it, then hit it with as many water pulses as you can!" he ordered. Their only hope right now was to try and confuse the blasted thing, then rain attacks on it until it quit moving. Leo only hoped that Santiago would remember their newly trained move – disable. It had been a surprise to find out he'd learned it two days ago when he froze Diana in place in training, but Leo wasn't going to complain.

Thankfully Santiago did remember the command, a red glow surrounding his and Gourgeist's body, freezing the two in place as the Slowpoke opened his maw, forming a water pulse slower than was normal for him. Still, it was quick enough that by the time the disable had ended Santiago had already fired it, the oscillating ball of water slamming into the ghost at-speed.

"Shadow run!" Morty ordered. Gourgeist screeched in pain once more, ghostly energy swirling around it as fired two shadow balls into Santiago, vanishing when the balls hit and reappearing underneath him, slamming head-first into his stomach. It didn't matter that his nervous system delayed pain, that had to hurt and Leo knew it.

Santiago pushed through though and whirled on the possessed plant, eyes glowing blue with psychic power but held back by the ghostly energy still surrounding him. To Leo's eyes it looked forced inward, suppressed…which meant when he headbutted the ghost it didn't pass harmlessly through it – no, Santiago veritably crashed into Gourgeist, sending it sprawling and followed by yet another water pulse that splashed against it.

"Seed run!" Morty commanded. The Gourgeist leapt to its feet looking slightly haggard, streams of glowing green blasting from its mouth and peppering Santiago – though he powered through it as he advanced on the ghost once more. Through all the action Leo cursed when he spotted a few seeds stick to Santiago's pink hide, tendrils lashing out and wrapping themselves around him as they sucked up his energy. Leech seed was mixed in with bullet seed – obviously, "run" meant combination moves. That meant they were on even more of a time limit.

Then Gourgeist faltered, shrieking once more in pain and ceasing its barrage momentarily, allowing Santiago time to close in and headbutt it once more, skull still surrounded by a psychic glow. If a plant could scowl it would have been, the ghost leaping backwards with surprising nimbleness and promptly resuming its barrage, mixing in a wide array of attacks this time. Santiago was a tank, true, and relentless in the pursuit of his foes, but under a constant barrage of bullet seed, shadow balls, confuse rays, razor leaf, and having his strength constantly sucked away by leech seed, even he couldn't keep going.

"Slowpoke is unable to battle, the winner is Gourgeist!" The announcer called once Santiago's legs gave out and he crashed to the ground, unmoving but still weakly trying to spit a water gun.

Leo frowned as he recalled his starter, thanking him for his hard work and frowning harder as Gourgeist danced forward, snatching up the three leech seeds that fell to the ground when he recalled Santiago and popping them into its mouth.

"Release your next pokémon," Morty ordered, crossing his arms and looking particularly hurried. Leo huffed and released Diana, watching in interest as the Gourgeist shrieked in pain once more, its gourd-like shell withering even as its wounds healed slightly from the leech seed.

Something was wrong with it, and Leo had no idea what. But it was good for them in this case.

"Diana, start off strong. Get in close and hammer it hard, use rocks to block any grass attacks, and don't let up. Be relentless," Leo ordered. Diana settled into a stance once again, clearly tired but determined nonetheless.

"Begin!" the referee ordered, and Diana charged.

Gourgeist fired a scintillating confuse ray followed by a stream of leech seeds, and Diana had no choice to take them head on. Or so Leo thought – instead, she opened her mouth wide and chomped down on the confuse ray, the ghost move splintering and vanishing before the tendrils of dark energy that raced through Diana's jaws. The leech seeds all hit though, but Gourgeist wasn't expecting her to charge straight through it all. Leo hadn't expected her to do that either, but was thoroughly unsurprised when she shoulder-checked the Gourgeist into next week, sending it sprawling to the ground.

"Sneak away!" Morty called, gripping the railing. An inky black pool formed beneath Gourgeist, who promptly began to sink into it.

"Don't let up!" Leo called, more as a reminder than an actual order. Diana had no intention to though, leaping forward and reaching into the black pool with her face, then yanking her head out a screeching Gourgeist clamped between her jaws, effectively hauling it from the shadows.

What happened next could only be described as a one-sided beatdown. Diana judo-flipped Gourgeist onto its back and proceeded to sit on the ghost's face with her not-insignificant weight, promptly pummeling it with her little fists, bashing her head into the ghost's body whenever she felt she wasn't doing enough damage.

It didn't matter that leech seed was sapping her strength. It didn't matter that Gourgeist was lashing her rocky hide with razor leafs hidden in its fronds, scratching her armor. It just didn't matter, because she was going to beat it until it stopped moving. Leo knew it, Morty knew it, and the referee knew it – such was the absolute savagery Diana was displaying. So it came as no surprise to Leo when Morty recalled the ghost and announced that pokemon's forfeit.

Diana paused for a brief moment when the target of her ire vanished, then turned her head skyward and did her best attempt at a roar – a squeaking, yet gravelly sound that somehow sounded more cute than intimidating.

This was Leo's little indestructible rock monster. The same one who ate sticks even though she hated the taste of wood, who tried to eat anything and everything, and who slept curled up in Leo's side whenever she could. Leo grinned at her, and she beamed back at him, little legs running as fast as they could back to his side of the field. Leo recalled her and released her in the trainer's box right next to him, just so he could envelop her in a hug.

"That was amazing, girl. Simply amazing," Leo whispered, Diana squirming happily in his arms. Gently she opened her mouth and placed her jaws onto his shoulder, almost like she was biting him, and purred. Leo laughed and stroked her head, looking at the referee. "I'm forfeiting Diana – er, Larvitar from the match. She can't continue," he announced, recalling her after another muttered thanks, and the ref nodded.

"I'll admit, I should've seen the curse move coming," Morty said aloud. Leo looked up at him. "Trick or treat effectively grants the eater of the 'trick' berry the ghost typing for as long as it sits in their belly – and curse acts differently for ghost types than other types. Your Larvitar wouldn't have been able to win had it not been for your Slowpoke's impromptu cursing of Gourgeist. Well done,"

Leo absorbed that information, silently vowing to keep the fact that he had no idea that would happen to himself.

"Let it be known that you have already earned the Fog Badge. Still, we have yet to see how your final pokémon will fare in battle. Let us do so. Gengar, to the field." Morty said formally. The Gengar that appeared on the field did exactly that – appeared out of thin air. There was no shadow show. No darkness gathering or oozing on the floor in a creepy display. Gengar was just suddenly there, grinning widely and displaying its rows of unnaturally white teeth, its red eyes gleaming with malicious desire. Leo didn't even have to know the ghost to get the feeling that this was not one of the friendly ones. This was no Casper the Friendly Ghost. It meant business.

Spiritomb spoke up for the first time since the start of the match as Leo stood, excited whispers filling his ears. The adrenaline that already pumped through his veins multiplied tenfold, white hot energy coursing through him as the whispers worked themselves up into a proper frenzy, demanding blood, demanding a fight, demanding war.

The sound of a sword being unsheathed echoed in Leo's ears as he tossed the keystone onto the field, the stone clattering against the pock-marked ground. The entire room was silent for a brief moment – save for some quiet whispers coming from the Oaks – until the ref called to begin.

Darkness exploded out of Spiritomb's keystone, raging outward and covering the entirety of the field, splashing against the concrete walls of the arena like water against stone. Gengar casually floated upwards, avoiding the wave and cackling even louder – shadows stretching across its features and red eyes glowing. Spiritomb howled in a hundred different voices, the sound echoing about the chamber as its entire body spread out, forming a crashing, ebbing wave of purple and green that stretched towards Gengar like a grotesque hand. Gengar scoffed, body twisting in on itself and vanishing only to reappear next to Spiritomb's keystone, fist clenched and seething with black shadows as it punched the stone.

Spiritomb howled in pain as its main body skittered across the ground, its ectoplasmic body scattering and roiling. Gengar cackled and danced forward, easily spinning past the lashing tendrils of darkness Spiritomb hurled in all directions and eyes glowing with a blue outline.

"Settle down, Spiritomb," Leo barked harshly, narrowing his eyes. This was something he'd noticed about the ghost – it tended to be too…uncoordinated. The spirits that composed its body didn't work together all the time, which meant that it couldn't focus its power at all. Froslass seemed to be the best at organizing the voices, but clearly she couldn't do much in this situation.

"Hypnosis," Morty said with a frown. "Then confuse ray," Gengar cackled and snapped its fingers, drawing Spiritomb's attention to itself.

"Don't look!" Leo called but in vain, Spiritomb's eyes locked onto the rhythmic motions of Gengar's hands as it hypnotized it, lulling it into a sleep. Leo cursed, watching Spiritomb's body sink back into its typical round shape, deflating slightly and eyes flickering. Gengar cackled and prepped a confuse ray, gripping the ball of confusing light in its hand and winding up like a baseball pitcher in an overly dramatic display. Then the unexpected happened – Spiritomb opened its eyes. But it was…different. Its eyes were a deep purple color instead of green, the purple of its body lightening until it was almost blue. It hissed, the voices fewer in number but more harmonious, giving Gengar pause as its body changed shape – transforming into a vaguely humanoid form with the keystone floating up into the center of its chest. Its face split into a vicious grin, more than a little unnerving.

Leo stared, dumbfounded. What in the world was happening?

Gengar threw the confuse ray, and Spiritomb split the scintillating ball of ghostly light in two with a brief, focused ray of dark energy. Leo stared harder.

"Is it asleep?" he murmured, watching as Spiritomb spread its "feet" apart and took a stance not unlike his own martial arts. "Or did only a few of the spirits take the hypnosis attack, and therefore…oh, that's clever. Only some of the spirits fell asleep, and the rest are more coordinated now because of it," Leo realized, eyes widening as he watched Spiritomb advance on Gengar, who fired a machine-gun like burst of shadow balls. Spiritomb focused a ball of darkness in its palm, releasing a burst of concentrated power that split the shadow balls in twain, effectively neutralizing the attacks.

If Leo had to describe it, it looked like a ghostly warrior wielding a sword of darkness, cutting through the shadows balls with ease. In fact it reminded Leo of the warrior he had met in the mind scape…which was probably who was in control now.

"Press it," Morty ordered. Leo considered giving a command as well as Gengar leapt into the air, will-o-wisps flickering to life and spinning around it in a defensive circle, its claws lengthening and dripping shadows. Then he decided otherwise, raising an eyebrow as Spiritomb opened its mouth and screamed out an icy wind, ice crystals forming on Gengar's body as it darted forward with blinding speed, claws bared and will-o-wisps slamming into Spiritomb's ectoplasmic body. It stepped backward and hissed, using its dark aura to parry the slashes from Gengar. Spiritomb seemed to know what it was doing, and Leo had no real clue as to what attacks it had beyond the scant few it'd shown. The best he could do was try to plan ahead and let Spiritomb do its thing.

Besides, this battle was way above his current level if the sheer number of attacks being thrown around was any indication. Haunter and Misdreavus had taken a while to charge up one shadow ball; this Gengar spit them out with ease.

Gengar continued its slashing routines until Spiritomb seemed to catch a break, parrying the shadow claw with a burst of dark energy then whipping in through the ghost's body, which split in half then formed back together. Gengar's grin widened.

"Step back, use range," Morty said. Gengar vanished before another slash of dark energy hit it – Spiritomb somehow manipulating it to form thin, lashing lines – and reappeared on the other end of the field. It grinned viciously and pressed its hands together, its body glowing a bright white and blasting out a glittering white beam that left spots in Leo's eyes. Spiritomb howled in pain as it struck, rushing forward with maw gaping and fists clenched. Gengar cackled and floated skyward, the smell of ozone filling the air as it began to rain down thunderbolts from above.

Spiritomb wasn't quick enough to dodge the first yellow bolt of lightning, tanking the attack and howling its anger, blasting at Gengar with roiling waves of darkness that the ghost dodged with ease. Leo frowned. Spiritomb was slow, much slower than Gengar to the point where it couldn't even land any attacks. They had to slow it down.

"Spiritomb, use icy wind," Leo tried. Spiritomb glanced at him and seemed to consider the order, taking another thunderbolt to the face for the inattention, then growled and unleashed a blast of freezing wind upon the area. Gengar barely managed to dodge so Spiritomb tried again, this time waving the icy wind around so it covered a larger area. Gengar could not dodge it fully, and when it moved it was noticeably slower.

Great, so icy wind works the same as the games. Makes the opponent slower – presumably due to the cold, so it should wear off if Spiritomb doesn't keep it up. Leo mused, tracking Gengar's movements. They were clear and precise – Leo got the feeling it wasn't going all out yet – but the fact that Leo could actually track it meant the Gengar had slowed a significant amount.

Unfortunately, however, their luck was at an end. Spiritomb's form shifted and a hundred wailing voices echoed around the arena, the rest of the spirits waking up from hypnosis and undoing the control the samurai spirit had exerted, reverting back to its base, swirling circular form.

"Interesting. I think we've seen enough, Gengar. Finish it with hex," Morty ordered and Gengar cackled its compliance, tracing symbols in the air with ghostly fire that lingered for brief moments. Spiritomb howled, losing even more cohesion and lashing out randomly with its dark energy as the spell assailed it.

"Icy wind!" Leo hollered and miraculously Spiritomb listened. The temperature noticeably dropped as it exerted its power over ice and snow, ice crystals forming in the air and crawling up the walls even as it focused in on Gengar. The purple ghost shivered as the ice accumulated on its body, solidifying it momentarily – just long enough to annoy it, and for it to finish things off with a barrage of shadow balls that finally silenced Spiritomb.

Ignoring the calls of the ref Leo leapt from the stands and moved over to pick up Spiritomb's keystone, the ghost faintly whispering in his ears.

"You did good – amazing, even, for our first real battle together. Rest now, ok?" he whispered, pocketing the stone and wondering if potions would have any effect if he sprayed them on the keystone. Pokemon centers could only do so much for ghosts, after all, especially with an unknown species like Spiritomb.

"Well, Spiritomb certainly shows promise. A little uncoordinated, except for when it was under the influence of hypnosis, but its attacks held plenty of power," Morty said, descending from his own stand to stand in front of him. Leo nodded. Had Spiritomb been more coordinated then they would've put up a better showing – the question was how to do that? Each spirit had its own instincts and desires despite not being full consciousnesses.

"The rest of your team is adequate. Quilava needs more versatile moves – flame wheel, smokescreen, quick attack, and ember are basic, a good base, but you need to expand his power and speed for him to truly shine. Slowpoke was surprising – vicious and a natural fighter, he seems to have a decent array of moves but lacks mobility like most of his species. Larvitar…I know too little about Larvitar to be any help, but it doesn't move like any Larvitar I've seen. Most just tank attacks, yours actively tried to lessen the blows," Morty assessed, presenting a badge with his hand. Leo accepted it and thanked him for his advice, for what it was worth. Some of it just seemed rote – who ever heard of an agile Slowpoke?

Still, as angry as he was earlier, Leo bowed to Morty as a show of respect. If for no other reason than he was a Gym Leader, and he respected the station, if not the person. (Though he did sort of respect the person, despite the…issues they may have had.)

"And…here, as an apology," Morty continued, handing Leo a small disc drive. He frowned and flipped it over a few times, confused as to what it was. "That's shadow ball, in a one-time-use TM. Careful who you use it on," he said.

Leo nodded and thanked him once again, closing his fist around the Fog Badge. That left only one more badge to get, then he'd leave Johto behind and head to Alola. After his little adventure in Ecruteak, he couldn't wait.

"I say we celebrate," Daisy said, pulling Leo along through the streets of Ecruteak with Gary and the Professor trailing slowly behind.

"There is no need for that," Leo laughed, shaking his head. After the gym battle and Leo had said farewell to Morty – hopefully meaning he'd never have to visit the gym again, and the ghosts therein would leave him alone from now on – and met up with the Oak family, who had promptly congratulated him on his win.

And apparently Gary now wanted a Larvitar for a starter. Leo wished the Professor luck in talking him down from that idea.

"Nonsense, you just got your second badge! That's an important milestone!" she cheered. Leo smiled to himself and shook his head. Wasn't the third badge supposed to be a big milestone that separated casual trainers from more professional trainers? But he'd let her have her fun – he hadn't seen her in a while, and it was good to see she was in high spirits. The Professor was certainly happier now than he'd seen her in a while.

"Sure, sure," Leo laughed, shaking his head and allowing himself to be drug.

She wound up leading them to a nice restaurant – treating everyone to the meal. It was…nice. Gary was a nuisance, as always, constantly badgering him for stories of his journey so far and to meet his team, most of whom were left at the center for treatment. But still, it was nice and relaxing, and Leo enjoyed the company of the Oaks. He'd grown fond of them, and the casual talk without any beratement or knowledge bombs to be dropped on him was pleasant. That didn't mean he was any less surprised when Daisy offered to travel with him for a time after the Professor and Gary left back for the lab, however.

"I've travelled alone for long enough. Thought I might join you on your journey until you head for Alola," she explained with a smile. Leo raised an eyebrow at her.

"After a year of no contact with the Professor, you just…want to travel with me? What brought this on?" Leo asked, immediately suspicious. Daisy winced at that but swiftly recovered, patting the head of her clefairy as she lounged in her chair. Did the Professor ask her to travel with him after seeing all the trouble he got into?

…ok, that actually wasn't a bad idea. He hated to admit it, but it really wasn't and would be totally deserved.

"Yeah, I could use a break from my journey. I just want to travel a bit," she said softly, her clefairy wiggling its fingers and giggling as puffs of smoke curled from her nostrils. Did it just use metronome for giggles? "I need to figure out who to challenge for my next badge, but I'm not quite ready for that next tier. And with the gym season drawing to a close I figured letting my team relax for a bit would be good," she said.

"I mean, sure, I'd love the company. I don't know where I'm heading yet though – Olivine or Goldenrod are the closest, but I could also reach Azalea in time for the league season to end. With plenty of time, actually, and that'd help me get my team ready for third badge level fights," Leo explained.

"I'd suggest Azalea. It's not a very hard gym, but at the third badge level it can be a real challenge. Any higher and there's a steep difficulty drop off – if you want to collect all the Johto badges I'd suggest getting Azalea early just so you get the challenge level right," Daisy suggested, grabbing Clefairy's hands so it couldn't use metronome again. The cheeky fairy just giggled at her, bouncing in her lap.

"Azalea it is then," Leo said, nodding and yawning. It'd been a long day, and he was ready for bed. His team, barring Spiritomb, would be fully healed by tomorrow morning so they could leave by then. Spiritomb would have to heal naturally, whatever that meant. Ghosts were resilient, according to the Professor.

Daisy nodded and stood, stretching and brushing a strand of brown hair out of her face.

"Awesome. I'll see you tomorrow then? I'm getting tired," she said with a yawn. Leo nodded.

"Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," Leo said, waving her off and standing up, leaving the Center lobby and heading to his own room to mull over the battle a bit more. He ended up not, however, having exhausted himself and with a belly full of good food, Leo fell asleep on the bed without even changing into his pajamas, his last thought being that he'd forgotten to ask the Professor about him being dark, and potentially psychic. Oh well, he'd call in the morning.