22

Leo huffed in annoyance at the King's Rock, having just attempted to put Longinus' gem onto the rock, then the rock onto Santiago, to no effect. He really should've known that simply adding another part to the King's Rock wouldn't induce an evolution but he'd been hoping it would have.

"It was worth a shot," Leo muttered, standing and putting the King's Rock back in his bag before turning to his team. Santiago lounged while Zuko and Diana played, Zuko happily zipping about in a circle around Diana, occasionally trying to push her over with his front paws, while she swiped at him and giggled in that weird, rock-rumbling way of hers. It was adorable, watching her try to toddle after him on her short legs – she was actually pretty quick, but next to Zuko she might as well have been standing still.

His thoughts drifted to the nearing gym test, and he frowned. They were strong, his team, and he had no doubts as to their ability to overcome the test (of course there was that niggling little sense of doubt and worry in the back of his mind, but that was quickly squashed) but they had little practice fighting bugs. Going in against Morty relatively blind was to be expected – ghosts were rare enough as it was, and his team actually had plenty of practice with Froslass' pranks. But they'd never really had a good chance to challenge a whole bunch of bug types.

He'd been complacent, thinking this gym badge would be an easy victory, and now the test was looming and he was worried they'd be caught flat-footed. Bugs could be tricky, from the few times they'd battled them, and had a whole bunch of status moves that, while relatively useless or quickly became obsolete in the games, were far more debilitating in real life. String shot was one such example. Though it was a moot point against a pokémon like Zuko, who would turn it all to ash.

"New plan today, guys. Our test is tomorrow, so we're going to go practice battling against bug-types instead of basic training. The gym isn't an option for obvious reasons – they don't let you train against gym trainers when you've got a test scheduled – so we need to go find either trainers with bug types or go fight aggressive bugs. Picking a fight with wild bug types doesn't seem wise, though," Leo said, thinking aloud to the blank stares of his team.

He'd done some side-research on the local gym leader, and what he found was a bit distressing. There was a high chance he'd be battling a foreign bug-type in his official gym challenge. Scyther, Pinsir, and Heracross were all obvious threats, but he had methods to deal with each of those. Scyther wouldn't be able to do much damage to Diana, barring specific moves, while the other two could be taken out by Zuko or, in Heracross' case, Santiago. Heracross didn't have any ranged options, and Santiago could keep it at bay with disable and psychic attacks.

No, the real problem were the non-native bug types. For fourth tier badges, which Leo had repeatedly been told he'd most likely be facing a team of that level, the gym leader liked to use the alolan pokémon Araquanid – a terrifying water-spider that effectively countered three of Leo's team both offensively and defensively – and, in rare cases, a Galvantula. The electric spider looked to be an absolute nightmare to fight as it turned the entire battlefield into a hazard with electrified webs. Even Diana would struggle with it as, according to his pokedex, an adult Galvantula's threads could be as strong as a steel cable. She'd get stuck before she could hit the stupid thing.

"Sloooow," Santiago called, and Leo scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah, I don't like the idea of picking a fight with wild pokémon either. Trainers would be the best bet, unless there's some job listing in the Center that is too good to pass up," Leo reasoned.

"Pooooke,"

"I know I'm not officially able to accept those jobs, but who's to say I can't just 'stumble' across a problem and elect to fix it? I'm not going to bite off more than I can chew, don't worry," Leo said, waving his hand dismissively. Santiago grunted and flopped down on the ground, tongue lolling as he stared blankly at Zuko and Diana. "Good talk. Alright everyone, return," he said, shaking his head and recalling his team. The Center training ground was strangely empty with his team recalled, only a patch of concrete, cold walls, and the near-silent hum of the lights.

Spiritomb whispered in his ears, nonsensical noises filling the silence. Leo smiled and patted the stone in his pocket, turning and heading out the door.

It didn't take long for Leo to find something that might fit the bill of what he needed. It wasn't a job listing or anything of the sort, but a bug sanctuary – more of a petting zoo for tourists, if Leo was reading the listing right – located near the edge of the Ilex forest that promoted battling and viewing of bug-types. A few rarer bugs were listed on the little brochure as well, even promoting viewing of an old Heracross that was supposedly champion-tier, and a number of foreign bug-types that had produced a few of the current gym-leader's official team members.

Destination now in mind Leo set out, walking through the city with determined steps until he came upon the large greenhouse nestled on the edge of the city, surrounded by the tall pines of the Ilex forest. Multiple outdoor training grounds surrounded the building, only a few of the concrete arenas occupied by trainers of various skill levels duking it out. For a few minutes Leo lingered on the edges of those arenas, observing the battles – paying particularly close attention to the trainers who had bug types, and the tactics they used in battle – before he was approached by a trainer not much older than he was. Maybe fourteen, to his twelve-almost-thirteen.

"Hey kid! You looking for a battle?" he called, waving one hand cheerily at Leo.

Leo smiled at him. "Well I'm trying to prepare for my upcoming gym challenge, and was hoping to battle a few bug types. Got any of those?" he asked. The other kid paused, clearly not having expected Leo to be requesting a specific kind of battle.

"Yeah, I actually do. An Ariados. How many badges do you have?" he asked.

"Two. Working on three," Leo answered.

"I've got four. Been training for my fifth gym badge, but I don't think I'll get there until next season," the kid answered, puffing out his chest with pride. Leo plastered a suitably impressed expression on his face and nodded. Call him a little cynical, but after having grown up with Daisy and talked a lot with trainers that had between six to eight badges, four didn't seem all that impressive. Though it probably was fairly impressive, especially for a kid his age.

"That's great! Still want to battle me?" Leo asked, suddenly realizing that this kid was probably in the skill level range he would be facing in the gym, probably a little higher. This was perfect.

"Of course! Ariados still needs work to catch up to my other teammates, so I'll definitely be using him. And you get to see what someone with four – almost five! – badges can do!" he said. Leo nodded in agreement, though he didn't like the sound of that last bit. It sounded like he was being challenged to boost this kid's ego.

Oh well. Either way, he got what he wanted, and if the kid started being a punk he'd just withdraw from the battle. There was no reason to just let his team get hurt if the kid was intent on steamrolling him. Soon enough though he was facing off against the kid, standing in the small trainer's stand above the concrete arena.

"This'll be a three-on-three, alright? Let's go, Ariados!" the kid yelled, releasing the large spider onto the field. It hissed, poison dripping from its fangs in an attempt at intimidation.

"I'm not sure I have three battle-ready pokémon," Leo answered in response. He wasn't sure he wanted to use Spiritomb or Diana against this kid.

"Then you're not ready for a third gym badge. Release your pokémon!" the kid answered, making Leo sigh. He'd probably just withdraw if both Zuko and Santiago lost. No point in revealing that he had a Larvitar to some kid he just met. The real question then, was whether to use Santiago or Zuko…Zuko was the obvious choice, but at the same time he wanted to make sure Santiago knew how to battle bugs as well, so he wasn't completely helpless.

"Santiago, you're up," Leo decided, releasing his slowpoke onto the field after a moment's hesitation.

"Slooow," Santiago called, squaring up against the giant, creepy spider across from him. The kid scoffed.

"A slowpoke? Really? Recall that thing and send out a real pokémon," he said, and Leo frowned.

"No. Santiago stays out," he said firmly.

"Your loss. Ariados, let's start things off with poison sting!" the kid called, pumping his fist into the air. Leo didn't even have to order Santiago to counter, a disable flashing out and cancelling the move, only to be followed up by a water gun that blasted the spider in the face and sent it scuttling backwards.

"Don't let it poison you, bud. Keep it away with water attacks, but if you get the chance blast it with confusion," Leo advised, eyes focusing on the Ariados and trying to figure out its tells. The kid yelled a few instructions and the spider scuttled forward, darting in-between water gun blasts and spinning web behind it, circling Santiago. Leo frowned as the Ariados continued to circle Santiago, forgoing shooting poison stings in favor of just spinning its web, slowly closing the encirclement and limiting where Santiago could move.

"Set up," Leo ordered, and Santiago ceased spamming water gun to crouch and use curse a few times. "Then continue with water gun. Drench the field," he had no idea if water would affect the Ariados web much, but it was worth a shot.

Ariados seemed content to let Santiago set up for the moment, but swiftly blurred into action when he started blasting water guns again. It was slower than Leo expected, if he was honest, and Santiago managed to counter the reaching fangs of the bug-type by slapping it in the face with his tail as he turned, a water pulse already building up in his mouth.

Ariados shrieked and dodged to the side, the pulsating ball of water catching one of its spindly legs and sending it spinning.

"Change tactics! Ghost mode!" the kid called, and Leo frowned. That's right, Ariados and Spinarak could learn a few ghost-type moves, couldn't they? The spider's eyes glowed an eerie red as it crouched low to the ground, a thin line of something lancing outwards and suffusing Santiago, who grunted in pain.

"Try your new move, bud!" Leo said, hesitating for just a moment. Santiago grunted and opened his mouth, pausing to concentrate for a good two seconds. A small, thumb-sized ball of black, ghostly energy formed in-between his jaws, growing no bigger before it was shot out to uselessly splash against Ariados' hard carapace. It did, however, disrupt the ghost move it was doing. So…mission accomplished?

"What was that?" the kid asking while laughing. "That was the most pathetic shadow ball I've ever seen! Ariados, shadow sneak!"

Leo shot the kid a glare, tamping down his irritation at the brat. There was no call for that; Santiago had literally only learned the move from a TM last night, after the Slowpoke Well. Of course it was still weak. TMs didn't immediately teach moves, only the basics, contrary to popular belief.

"Headbutt," Leo drawled, leaning against the railing. Santiago grunted and began to move – only to freeze in place once on of his feet got caught in one of the webs Ariados had spun. Leo cursed, and Ariados struck, fading into the shadows and reappearing right next to Santiago, fangs bared and sinking into the Slowpoke's side. He grunted and whirled, forehead glowing with psychic energy, and bashed his skull into Ariados'.

The spider did not rise, its legs sprawled out on the ground, twitching.

"That's why you don't let a pokémon set up with status buffs," Leo muttered to himself, watching while Santiago struggled to remove his front left foot from the web, the kid repeatedly calling for the KO'd Ariados to get up. I should start to consider controlling the battlefield more though. He mused, scratching his chin. Santiago shuddered and Leo narrowed his eyes at his starter as he slowly turned and ambled back towards Leo's side of the field.

The kid returned Ariados and laughed dismissively. "I guess Ariados is falling further behind than I thought if he lost to a slowpoke. He's impressive though, I'll give him that," he said, nodding to Santiago. Leo smiled at him.

So not a complete jerk then. He'd have hated to have run into someone as stereotypically…mean as what appears in some fiction. In his experience not a lot of people were actually like that, though they did exist.

"But my next pokémon will be a bit harder on you! This isn't my ace, but it's still powerful, and won me the badge against Chuck! Let's go, Jumpluff!" he called, releasing the grass-type pokémon. Leo sighed. Santiago was in for a bad time on this one, the matchup was terrible and Jumpluff were surprisingly tanky, especially with giga drain and leech seed.

The battle that followed was nothing less than a one-sided beatdown on Jumpluff's part. Oh sure, Santiago got off a few good hits with a disable/confusion combo, and splashed it with water a few times, but when up against the mega drain, leech seed, and powder abilities of a Jumpluff? Nah, Santiago was down for the count before too long. He'd been too tired from the Ariados, which had poisoned Santiago at some point, Leo suspected, to really do much damage.

Still, it was good practice for him against a stronger, type advantaged opponent while he was weakened. That was why Leo didn't immediately swap him out. This was training, not a serious competitive battle.

"Zuko, you're up," Leo said, recalling Santiago and releasing his Quilava on the field. Zuko stretched and glanced at Jumpluff, then back at Leo. "It's a spar, bud. It took down Santiago, so you've got this one and the next," Leo said. Zuko glanced back at the Jumpluff, the cotton ball pokémon floating in the air seemingly by magic, and huffed out a plume of smoke.

"3…2….1…begin!" Leo called, and Zuko took off like a bullet from a gun. Fires flashed from his paws as smoke billowed out from his back fires, superheated in a split second and covering the arena in even less time. Jumpluff had the misfortune of having one cotton hand caught in the smoke, screeching as it was burned and floating higher, spitting leech seeds into the smoke. A swift attack immediately burst from the inky smog, the stars shaky and harmless, pinging off of Jumpluff uselessly – Zuko could form the stars now, but couldn't do much damage with them. But that wasn't the point of it. The point was actually the blast of embers that scored Jumpluff's side that followed immediately after the swift, the grass type warbling in distress.

This had been their solution to the sight issue with his superheated smokescreen. Using swift to determine an enemy's location – and though it was limited in its usefulness, it could still be used.

And it allowed Zuko to absolutely thrash Jumpluff. Leo actually felt bad about it, with the streams of embers and swifts keeping it off guard and hurting, until finally Zuko leapt from the smoke and barreled bodily into the grass-type, covered in flame, and tackling it down to ground level – where it would be helpless in the superheated smoke and pit against Zuko's flames.

This time the kid wasted no time in recalling his pokémon, a hard frown on his face. Leo, himself, was frowning as well. This kid had four badges? Unless the rest of his team were far stronger, he wasn't seeing it. Granted, Jumpluff had a bad matchup against Zuko, but Santiago had taken out Ariados too. Surely he'd have a counter to something like Zuko's smoke screen by now, right?

Vaguely Leo had become aware of the small crowd that gathered around the arena, but largely ignored it in favor of studying his opponent, whose lips had thinned into a grimace and his hands were shoved into his pockets.

"You've got a powerful team there. Those your best pokémon?" he asked.

"They're up there," Leo said noncommitally. Each had their own strengths – he wouldn't say any trumped the others. Except for Spiritomb. In terms of raw power, the ghost had all the rest of his team beat, if not in control. The latter was improving by leaps and bounds, however.

"Mm. You'll have no trouble beating the third gym. But – here. Let me show you what the power of a fifth-gym-level pokémon is like. He's battled Pryce's Piloswine and won! Charizard, battle time!" he shouted, tossing a gleaming pokeball into the air. Leo's eyebrows reached his hairline as the giant orange dragon appeared on the field with a roar, fire streaming from its nostrils. It wasn't a particularly large specimen, nothing like some of those Leo had seen at Oak's ranch, but a Charizard was still a Charizard. And with a single flap of its wings the smoke screen was blown off the field, leaving Leo coughing and Zuko wholly revealed.

Well, there went that strategy.

Leo gulped, and his fingers twitched towards Zuko's pokeball, even as said pokémon growled and squared himself up against the large pseudo-dragon. Light glinted off the creature's scales as the onlookers gasped in surprise and delight – surely more excited to see the vaunted Charizard, perhaps one of the most famous pokémon around, than any of the pokémon that had appeared in the battle so far. But, more importantly, how did this kid manage to get ahold of a Charizard?!

"This is my unofficial starter! My dad was a breeder for the Charific Valley! Hope you're ready, because we're about to bring the heat!" the kid crowed, pumping his fist into the air. Leo hesitated for a moment, narrowing his eyes. Charizard could be dangerous, and while he'd put his team in battles against powerful, dangerous pokémon before, this felt…different. Like something was off.

"Zuko, you want to keep going or tap out here?" Leo asked loudly, deciding to leave the decision up to him. The Quilava flinched and shot him a scandalized look, back fires flaring in indignation. Charizard growled, getting Zuko's attention, and he growled back. Well, that answered that question.

"And begin! Slash!" the kid commanded, Charizard rumbling forward with surprising speed on its stubby legs.

But it wasn't quick enough for Zuko, who was both already set up from constant use of flame charge, and already blurring away in a quick attack. Embers flew from his mouth as he darted about, peppering the Charizard's thick hide as the dragon uselessly tried to track Zuko…though it was remarkably unconcerned about the whole affair. It didn't even bother to shield itself, lazily tracking Zuko as he sped about. Leo chewed his lip. Charizard traded their ground-based speed for flight speed upon evolution, actually being slower on the ground than Charmeleon, so it made sense Zuko was quicker right now. That would change if Charizard took to the skies. The real problem, however, was that he couldn't do any real damage unless he got close – maybe through judicious use of quick attack, and perhaps a rudimentary rollout? Ember wasn't going to cut it, clearly.

"Flamethrower!" The kid yelled, and the dragon roared. Bright orange flames spilled from its mouth as it stood in the center of the field, flowing across the ground and sending a wave of scorching heat up into Leo's face, who winced and took a step back from the edge of the stand. Knowing Zuko he was probably enjoying the heat. That was one advantage the Quilava line had over Charizard – their fire resistance was noticeably higher.

"Quick attack!" Leo shouted, shielding his face, and Zuko obliged. He couldn't see the Quilava through the flamethrower, but he did hear the resounding crack that came from Zuko leaping up and headbutting the Charizard's jaw from below. The dragon's maw snapped shut, flames spilling from the corners of its mouth and eyes widening in shock and pain. Leo grinned as Zuko planted his rear paws on the Charizard's belly and shoved, blurring away and forming a quick succession of swift stars to further harass the dragon.

And that is where everything went horribly wrong.

Blue fire flared in the Charizard's tail flame, a furious roar escaping the dragon's maw as it howled its wrath to the heavens. Zuko froze at the sound of the large predator announcing its ire, goosebumps rising up Leo's arms as he stared in shock at the beast.

Blood trickled from its mouth, where one of its fangs had been cracked off from the force of Zuko's blow.

What happened next happened all too quickly for Leo to react to, but just slow enough that he could realize what was happening. Orange fire streamed from the Charizard's mouth towards Zuko, purple and blue flames of searing intensity mixed in and giving it a truly hellish appearance. Zuko shrieked in pain, and Leo whipped out his pokeball, recalling his Quilava in a flash, anger searing through his limbs.

Dragons weren't considered hard to train just because of their power and aggressiveness – it was because dragon fire was among the most dangerous of elements. Zuko had natural fire resistance, true, but not against dragon fire.

"What the hell was that?!" Leo bellowed over the victorious roar of the Charizard, expression twisted in anger. The kid hesitated, narrowing his eyes at Leo.

"What? Upset your little rat lost against my dragon?" he said in a mocking manner. It was the wrong thing to say.

"Are you daft?! Your Charizard can't control its dragon fire – you could have seriously injured Zuko!" Leo yelled, gripping the railing so tightly his knuckles turned white. The Charizard scoffed, and Leo fixated the dragon with a glare. Now that he was looking for it, he could see the signs. The horns were short, its scales weren't fully developed – even the membranes on its wings still looked fresh, with none of the wear and tear that came with age. He'd seen many Charizard on Oak's ranch, more than most actually, and had come to be able to recognized the young and cocky – and freshly evolved – versus the more experienced.

How had he missed that? How?!

"Oh, he'll be fine, Quilava are impossible to really hurt with just a little fire," the kid said dismissively.

"Are you blind?! Did you not see the dragon fire mixed in with that flamethrower?! Freshly evolved Charizard can't control the strength of their flames – and dragon fire is no ordinary flame! How long ago did it evolve?!" Leo yelled. There was a reason dragon type gyms and trainers usually only appeared when they were already strong. In some ways, fighting an untrained dragon, with access to dragon type moves, was more dangerous than a fully evolved one. It was like the idea of baby snakes on Earth – baby rattlesnakes were more dangerous than adults because adults only injected some of their venom, while babies injected all of it in a knee-jerk reaction.

Same principle, but with fire capable of overwhelming even a magmar's fire resistance instead of poison. Untamed dragon fire was dangerous.

"Uh, a month," the kid said, taken aback.

"A month, a month he says!" Leo laughed in mock hysteria. A small part of his mind pointed out that it was impressive the Charizard was starting to use dragon type moves at that age – even the most well-bred of the Charizard line could only use dragon rage naturally when they were Charmeleon – but that was largely ignored. "You had better hope that Zuko is ok. What were you thinking, sending out a freshly evolved Charizard out against a two-badge trainer?!"

Quietly, in the back of his mind, Leo rationalized that his own mistake was assuming this kid had command over his pokémon like those veterans he always battled did. But that was a thought for later.

Charizard growled, only to take a step back as Spiritomb flared to life around Leo, the ghost hissing and cackling as the shadows crept outward. The kid gulped visibly, even across the stadium, and Leo glared as the shadows crept and swirled, flaring up behind him. His temper flared, fed by the growing anger of Spiritomb, who whispered furiously in his ears and demanding violent action.

He wanted to be mad, he really did. He wanted to lash out at this kid, to order Spiritomb to teach the Charizard a lesson. But cold rationality forced him to try to keep his calm, wrestling the anger to a manageable level; after all, if he lost his cool there would be nothing left to keep Spiritomb in check. He could feel the ghost's anger bubbling as it urged for Leo to act, to punish that stupid Charizard – who lashed out in anger because something weaker than it did damage – but he couldn't let it. At least, not in the way Spiritomb wanted; it wanted to maim. If it just wanted to humiliate Charizard Leo might've let the ghost – but not maim. He was in control, not Spiritomb.

"I, uh," the kid stammered, cut off by the roar of Charizard as its eyes flashed in anger.

Spiritomb hissed in response, ignoring Leo's mental protests as the keystone rattled, pulling itself out of Leo's pocket to form a wall of purple and green ectoplasm, shielding Leo from the Charizard's anger. Before any further violence could erupt, however, Charizard was recalled in a flash of red.

"Control your ghost, and go get your Quilava looked at. We'll call the battle here," the kid said, obviously a little shaken as he clipped the ball to his belt. Leo was torn for a split second between continuing to shout, and going to get Zuko checked out – but concern won out over anger as he grabbed Spiritomb's keystone from where it floated and turned on his heel, sprinting off toward the pokémon center. Maybe he should've let Zuko out to make sure he was actually ok first, or maybe he should've gotten the kid's information just in case he did really injure Zuko, but the only thing on his mind was the 'what ifs'.

And so, Leo ran.

It was a bit sobering, hearing the extent of Zuko's injuries from Nurse Joy as he was treated. The dragon fire hadn't actually done a ton of damage – the real problem came from where it had burned through his fire-proof fur and the layer of heat-resistant skin, allowing the flamethrower through. He'd have a scar or two, probably, but would make a quick recovery. Nothing to worry about, or so the Nurse said.

But worry Leo did, as he sat in the lobby.

"Was it my fault?" Leo whispered, head in his hands. "Did I get Zuko injured because I didn't spot the signs? Shouldn't I have just withdrawn once the Charizard was let out?"

Spiritomb had a ready response in the form of whispers, a cold wind ruffling his hair as the ghost exerted its influence.

"But I didn't think he was dumb enough to send out a freshly evolved Charizard – and now the Nurse is mad at me, questioning my competency as a trainer," Leo muttered. "I should've gotten that kid's info,"

Comforting emotions ran through Leo's mind – reminding him of warmth on a cold day, and shade from the intense sun.

"Thanks, Spiritomb," Leo sighed, rubbing his face. It had already been two hours since the Nurse started working on Zuko, and he had already run his mind through all the stages of blaming himself. None of it had helped, and now he was just exhausted. Exhausted from the anger, and exhausted from the worry.

"Mr. Angelico?" a gentle voice called, and Leo looked up to see the Nurse Joy looking down at him, her expression kind. "Your Quilava has finished his treatment. Given a few days the fur that was burned off will grow back completely – other than that he's made a complete recovery," she said.

"So what do I need to do then? Do I need to keep him from training or battling for a set period of time – does he need supplements to regrow his fur?" Leo asked. The Nurse smiled and shook her head, sitting down next to him in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, procuring Zuko's pokeball from the pocket of her medical jacket. Leo accepted it gingerly, rolling the device in his hands.

"No; your Quilava is perfectly healthy all things considered. It's not that unheard of for their fur to be burned off, especially in their more natural habitats. Those who live in volcanoes tend to have that issue as well, at least until evolution. It might actually do him some good to do a bit of training, to work the healed skin a bit so he regains full range of motion. The only real thing that was damaged was his pride," she said. "That said, I apologize for my outburst earlier. Your Quilava is in excellent health; I've just had too many experiences with pokémon being injured due to trainers neglecting their pokemon's well being. Quilava can be burned if they're not eating right after all," she said, bowing her head slightly in apology.

"Oh, uh, it's ok," Leo said, blinking at her in surprise. "I understand,"

"Thank you," she said, taking a deep breath. "That said, you might consider putting your Quilava on a specialized diet. What have you been feeding him so far? The standard fare for omnivorous fire types? Although they're more expensive, there are food supplements that promote healthy growth for the Quilava line," she said, not unkindly. Leo nodded.

"Thanks, Nurse," he muttered.

"Don't feel bad," she said, patting him on the shoulder. "Is this the first time your pokémon has been badly hurt?"

"No," Leo said, frowning. There were times in the Silver Mountains where his team had been hurt, but this was the first time it had been explicitly out of his control – and felt like his fault. Fighting Tyrus for Diana had been a calculated risk, but…Tyrus was also intelligent, powerful, and knew his own strength. There was little reason for him to go all out against Leo when his team was so weak – unless of course Leo did something to piss the Tyranitar off. "It is the first time it's been my fault though,"

"Well, lesson learned then," she said simply. "Though your opponent should have known better than to send out a freshly evolved Charizard out against a weaker trainer. If he comes in here while I'm here, I'll give him a piece of my mind," she hissed, frowning. Leo smiled at her appreciatively, and thumbed the release button for Zuko. The Quilava appeared in a flash of red, and immediately hunkered down to look up at Leo.

"Hey bud, you ok?" Leo asked softly, examining his partner's injury and reaching down to pet his head. Small patches of fur had been burned off along his left flank, revealing bluish white skin beneath, with a few patches missing on his back. What really caught Leo's attention though was the patch of fur burnt off around Zuko's left eye. "Not gonna lie, that little patch of missing fur around your eye makes you look kinda cool," Leo tried, smiling softly. Zuko blinked, bowing his head slightly and not looking him in the eye.

"Quil," he softly cried.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have put you into that situation," Leo said, putting a hand on his friend's head. Zuko pressed up into his palm, peeking up around his hand with one big blue eye to stare at Leo. "I understand if you're mad at me,"

Zuko was silent for a moment, then snorted out a puff of smoke through his nostrils and sharply bit Leo's hand. Leo jerked away, shocked at the sudden action, which swiftly morphed to confusion as Zuko leapt up into his lap, placed his front paws against his shoulders, and gently headbutted Leo in the chin.

"What-" Leo protested, shaking his hand and going cross-eyed trying to look at Zuko, but was cut off by the Quilava licking him. On the face. While his mouth was open.

Leo spluttered, but Zuko did not relent licking his face enthusiastically. "Stop – hey, what – no, I said – disgusting! Knock it off!" Leo protested, jerking his head this way and that in an attempt to escape the slobbery onslaught, fighting back laughs.

The nurse giggled beside him, and as he placed a hand over Zuko's mouth to prevent more licking he glared at the nurse.

"He clearly doesn't like you very much," she said, a Cheshire grin on her face. Leo scowled, and Zuko took that opportunity to headbutt him in the chest, hard, before glaring up at him.

"…ok, ok. I'm sorry," Leo said, though at this point he wasn't sure what he was apologizing for anymore. Zuko stared at him for a moment longer before nodding and laying down length-wise across Leo's lap, paws dangling off the sides of the small chair and chin resting against his knee. The warmth of the fire-type's body was almost uncomfortable, but all things considered he was loath to remove his friend from his lap.

"Should probably reschedule my gym challenge though, huh?" Leo muttered. Zuko froze, and Leo stilled as the Quilava whipped his head around to stare directly at Leo, his body temperature rising sharply. Leo swallowed thickly, and turned to the Nurse for help, who was frowning.

"…well, that's up to you. I wouldn't recommend it, but from a medical standpoint your Quilava is fighting fit. Chansey eggs aren't miracle cures, but they do wonders for injuries. Just be careful with any fire-type attacks, especially ones that cover a large area. Quilava fur protects them from their own attacks, as well as opposing fire types." The Nurse said, and Leo blinked in surprise.

"I was fully expecting you to side with me, and force him to rest and heal," he admitted. The Nurse smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I might have, were it not for the fact that your Quilava might burn you if you do. Besides, his fur should grow back in within the next week or two," she said, then leaned over to whisper in Leo's ear. "A harsh defeat can be just as important as a strong victory for a pokemon's growth," she said, and leaned back, smiling. "That said, think about my advice with the diet. He's a fine example of his species, it'd be a waste to squander his potential. Now get going. You don't need to be cooped up in here, moping about," she said, patting him on the back and standing as she walked back to the counter, waving at the receptionist Joy who had been watching their conversation closely. Leo stared for a moment, until Zuko's intense stare got to be too much to bear.

"What do you think, want a few day's rest? We can reschedule, and I don't want you pushing yourself too hard," he said, turning his attention back to his Quilava.

His answer came in the form of a jarring headbutt to the chest that threw him back against the wall, chuckling as Zuko yipped angrily at him. Seems like someone's pride had been stung. Leo pet Zuko's head, calming him down as a knot of worry relaxed in his chest. Maybe his pokémon were more like him than he realized. Getting hurt wasn't a setback.

It was motivation.

There was only one word Leo could use to describe the Azalea Gym gym test; chaos. Bug types skittered about throughout the small battle arena, dozens flitting around and crawling over the ground as they harassed his team. None were very strong, and there were only three full evolutions in the form of two butterfree and one beedrill, but the sheer number of them were overwhelming.

Yet his team persevered, even as he himself darting throughout the arena, hiding behind rocks to escape the pursuing bugs. Because that was the nature of the test – Leo's team not only had to defeat the swarm, but protect Leo all the while. String shots and sleep powder would take him out of the equation in an instant, and getting hit by one of those would mark his loss.

The other problem was that there was no trainer setting up the swarm or giving directions; the system was almost entirely automated, so Leo couldn't even try to get a read on the trainer. Even the bug swarms' release and recalls was automated, or at least controlled by someone he couldn't see.

Though it wasn't like he was in any real danger. Leo took a moment to peer around the boulder he had taken cover behind, observing the battlefield. Santiago stood back, away from the worst of the battle, and struck every opportunity he got – blasting water pulses, water guns, and the occasional confusion into the swarm to weaken or try and pick off stragglers. He mainly focused on keeping the swarm away from Leo, however, blasting the Butterfree or Beedrill whenever they tried to get too close.

Diana charged through the swarm with reckless abandon, smashing through the Spinarak and tearing through their webs with ease – or relative ease. Her arm got stuck in a particularly strong strand as she tried to punch a Metapod, jerking in place as she struggled against it. Diana whined, blinking owlishly and swatting at a particularly aggressive Spinarak with her free arm – only for her, the Metapod, and the Spinarak to be bathed in flame as Zuko went speeding by. When the flames died, Diana stood relatively unharmed, shaking herself off and staring after Zuko curiously.

Zuko, on the other hand, had been nothing but a right terror – blazing through the battlefield with his fires burning at a hundred percent from the get-go, fighting as if he had something to prove. Leo couldn't help but be impressed, actually, watching as he battered the Beedrill with an ember that finally knocked the bug out, only to switch targets as he continued to sprint, his strafing run clumping the remainder of the swarm together so Diana could throw a massive rock at them – their hard exoskeletons preventing lasting damage, but the rock itself still knocking a good few of them out.

All in all, Leo didn't even feel the need to hide. His team had it covered, and Spiritomb hadn't even made an appearance yet.

As if to prove him wrong, the hairs on the back of Leo's neck stood on end and he hopped to the side – his instincts saving him from the intricate net that was about to be dropped on him from above. Or, at least they would have had Spiritomb not decided to flare up and bat the net – and their assailant – out of the way with a massive blast of dark energy. The ghost cackled as an ominious, purple wind blew from its mouth, catching the white spider-web net and promptly tossing it over the body of the yellow arachnid that had attacked them.

Leo stared at the Galvantula as it squirmed not but ten feet away from him, flipping itself over off of its back and chittering at him angrily, the electrified webbing it had spat falling off of its arachnid body harmlessly. Its big eyes stared at him like a predator, and he took an instinctive step back as Spiritomb flared once more, darkness enshrouding his form from the giant bug.

"The hell is this?!" he spluttered, backing up further and glancing at his team, who were finishing up with the swarm.

"Congratulations, you defeated the swarm. Now you have to face a sixth-tier pokémon in battle – survive for sixty seconds, and you will have passed the gym test," a new voice, not the gym trainer who had started the challenge, said over the intercom. Leo frowned and took another step back, only able to see the Galvantula vaguely through the swirling black mists summoned by Spiritomb. They may obscure his vision, but he also got the feeling it was another way in which Spiritomb was protecting him.

Galvantula lunged with surprising speed, its legs propelling it across the arena at Leo – only to be batted away as Spiritomb's ectoplasmic body surged from the ground beneath its feet, blasting it into the air with electrified webbing spewing from its abdomen. Leo backed up further, the wall of swirling darkness moving with him as Zuko blazed past like a comet, leaping into the air and slamming head-first into the Galvantula as it came crashing to the ground.

The spider screeched and tumbled away, landing on its feet and blurring away while still trailing web, electricity sparking from its body and surging out in all directions. Diana moved to intercept it, the Larvitar hurling a large chunk of rock at it that it nimbly dodged, falling upon her in a flurry of limbs. Its mandibles sank down into Diana's rocky hide and she retaliated with a payback, the powerful move jerking the bug upwards and sending it scrambling away – narrowly dodging a flame charge from Zuko and skittering to the side to avoid the worst of Santiago's water gun.

Leo clenched his fists and watched the battle with as intense of a stare as he could. While Zuko, Diana, and Santiago held their own together against the bug-type, it quickly became apparent that they would be picked apart by the Galvantula were it not for Spiritomb. The ghost made its presence known in the most annoying of ways – sucker punching when Galvantula went in for a serious strike against anyone, blowing icy wind at random intervals, and overall just proving to be a nuisance as its cackling filled the air. Spiritomb might actually be able to match Galvantula in power, were it not for a lack of discipline. Leo mused as Galvantula completed yet another lap around the arena, still trailing webs and sparking randomly.

"What is it doing?" Leo wondered, narrowing his eyes. It had probably been close to a minute by now, so what…?

That exact moment, Galvantula sprung its trap. Spiritomb suddenly jerked to a halt as another blast of weak electricity burst from the spider's body, the winds dying down and ectoplasmic body freezing in place as if it was paralyzed, while the webs it had spun across the arenawere pulled taut with a swift jerk of Galvantula's leg. Leo's breath caught in his throat as his entire team was caught in its trap; Diana locked in place by the webs, Santiago shuddering in pain as an electric current flowed through the webs he stood on, and Zuko yelping as his two front legs struck a particularly thick strand – sending him tumbling into another electrified web with a yelp, where he stayed.

And though Zuko immediately began to burn his trappings away, Galvantula had been granted all the time it needed. It lunged for Leo, darting across the ground so quickly he almost didn't have time to react.

Almost.

What he ended up doing surprised himself, the Galvantula, and probably everyone watching; he screamed because Big Scary Spider coming rightatmeohgod! And kicked it right in between the four eyes that sat on its forehead. The spider made a strange noise as it skidded to a halt, jumping back from Leo – probably because it hadn't expected him to actually attack it – and eyeing him warily as he scrambled away.

A burst of fire caught Galvantula's attention next as Zuko came blazing back into the fray, smoke curling from his form and a snarl on his lips as he crashed into the bug, biting, clawing and scratching with little regard to his own safety and fires. Spiritomb flared to life again, roaring its displeasure at having been tricked – Galvantula must have managed to paralyze it somehow – and just like that it was over. Galvantula was recalled in a flash of red light and Zuko, faced with nothing left to vent his ire on, spat a stream of embers at the ceiling. Spiritomb hissed angrily and Leo collapsed to his knees, patting the keystone softly and releasing a shaky breath.

That had been…intense.

"Sloooooow," Santiago called, still trapped by the webbing, and Zuko's fires dimmed a bit, the Quilava glancing to the side as if ashamed. Leo chuckled and shook his head, glancing back toward where the Galvantula had disappeared. It had been running, true, but to avoid all of his team and also set a trap for them at the exact same time? That was nuts. Leo bit his lip and clasped his hands behind his back, standing slowly on shaking legs.

It was a big scary spider, yes. Not only that, but it was an electric big scary spider, that almost passed by Spiritombs senses to capture him, had fooled his entire team, and had proved that he had no real counter to the electric/bug type. It was a nightmare – not visually, the yellow spider was actually kind of cool looking if a bit creepy because, again, big scary spider – that he was most likely going to have to battle in his fight against the gym leader. But that wasn't the important bit.

The important bit was that now he wanted one. It was a small thought, but a thought that stuck nonetheless.

"Congratulations," the voice from the intercom said, startling Leo out of his thoughts as the door to the isolated arena sliding open, revealing the gym trainer that had been his original examiner. "Your gym battle will be scheduled after five days, at noon. Meaning; you will get five days to rest and train, after which you will battle the Gym Leader for your third badge," the voice said, crackling over the speakers.

Leo rubbed the back of his neck, shaking the hand of the gym trainer and accepting his congratulations as he recalled his team; Diana was still stuck, and the pitiful look she gave him was heartbreaking and hilarious at the same time. He'd find her some nice rocks to chew on later, as thanks for her hard work. In fact, all his team deserved a thanks – even Spiritomb.

He hummed and stuck his hands in his pockets, pondering what to do next. You know what? I've been in civilization for quite a while now. I think it's time to go out into the woods and relax and train for a bit. Ilex Forest, here I come.