Chapter 4

The walk was somewhat quiet – Kent's assumption was that her motives would make themselves clear when they got to the Pokemon Center; there was no real need to press the issue at the moment. Besides, he desperately wished for a rest, anyway. And so they walked, with Leanne leading; her Vaporeon was now tucked safely away in its pokeball. Once more, Kent passed through the sliding glass door of the pokemon center, which was quite a bit busier than it was the previous day, given what had happened a moment ago. Still, Leanne managed to find a free sofa, on which she sat before waiting for Kent to do the same; Kent's thoughts turned back to Orpheus as he sat down, making sure to give Leanne plenty of space. Leanne spoke first. "So, then… Kent. I'm curious about something. How long ago was it that you left… your home town?" she asked, pausing for a moment near the end of her sentence. She had a peculiar smile on her face.

It wasn't a question that he was asked often; or at all, really, though it wasn't like it was difficult. "Well, I've only been on the road for about three years now. Haven't gotten into collecting badges yet, either. I want to build a team I'm satisfied with, first." He explained. He expected to be questioned about the three year remark – after all, he was 21, and very much looked his age. As it turned out, however, this wasn't quite the case – her face remained unchanged as he spoke. As a result, he merely plowed on with his explanation. "You see, I stayed behind and kept up with my education, rather than just going out on my journey. My parents wanted it that way, but as it turned out, I really don't regret it, honestly." He added. At this point, Leanne had a wide grin on her face; that she wasn't explaining herself was beginning to grow a little bit frustrating.

"I see, I see…" she mused, seeming as if she were about to burst out laughing. "Well, Kent… You wouldn't happen to be from Petalburg City, would you?" she asked, smiling wide. At this, Kent was quite understandably taken aback.

"I-Yes, but…" he began, though he was cut off.

"Calhoun street, right? You know, I realized something as you were leaving last time. You looked familiar… What was more, you had that Growlithe of yours – Ryko, was it? You know, you don't see pokemon like that every day; usually not, anyway…" she tacked on, glancing toward where they fought the Onix. "Regardless, I realized that I had seen another Growlithe just like yours, oh, about… Ten years ago, when I was leaving home for the first time. You'd take him for walks past my house on a daily basis. Y'see, I lived a few doors down; I only just realized it a little while ago, though."

For his part, Kent was finding this a little hard to swallow. He did vaguely recall there being a girl his age on his street, but… This was her? He supposed it was possible; after all, Kent really didn't talk to this girl all that often. He supposed Ryko would indeed make him stand out quite a bit – and she did describe his habit accurately, but… it was still a little tough to believe that he had suddenly run into one of his neighbors so long after the two of them set off to travel the world. "No fooling, huh? Yeah, I have vague memories of your family – er, sorry I didn't pick up on it myself.." he said, growing a bit red.

"Oh, yes, I'm positive. Remember when our age group from our neighborhood headed out to meet Professor Birch? There was a send-off then… Our parents gathered the neighbors to celebrate – you and that Growlithe of yours were there, too. Back then, I think you said the same thing – that you were staying in school. I remember thinking how annoyed I'd be if I were in your shoes…" she mused, clearly drifting back to early memories of her journey. "And no problem; not like I knew all along, either… By the way…" she began, starting a new point "Is Ryko alright? A-After what happened, I mean. You don't have him out, so…"

"Yeah, Ryko's fine. Hell, even after he got taken, he was more worried about me than anything else. No, I just didn't think it'd be a good idea for him to attract attention after that…" Kent explained, still sounding a bit down at the thought of it. "So, then… You've been gone for that long, huh? What brings you ba-" he began, though he was shushed by Leanne, who was now looking over at the television screen nearby.

"Shh! It's starting.." she said, staring harshly at the screen. There appeared to be a news report going on; they were now breaking the story of the berserk Onix in Lilycove – or so Kent thought. "…as there have been multiple reports of berserk pokemon in the region of Hoenn today. In a number of areas – roads, routes, and towns alike, there seems to have been an outbreak of unusual aggression in the wild pokemon. There are even reports of an attack in the middle of Lilycove City, which caused a great deal of damage to the bustling port. As of now, scientists are investigating the affected pokemon on the scenes of each attack, which have been cordoned off by the police force in each area. According to our reports, government officials are en route to collect each offending pokemon in order to transport them to a secure location in Mossdeep City for more study, though there have been no breakthroughs in the initial observations. Looking at data on the afflicted pokemon, however, it is worth noting that three of the attacks involved pokemon exhibiting rare color traits, including the Onix that went on the rampage in Lilycove. Now, if you're just joining us…"

Kent listened intently to the report – when he looked over at Leanne, however, it seemed to him as if her stare would burn a hole through the television. She seemed much closer to the way she had behaved in the two battles he had seen her in – calculating, and distant. Her attitude had changed as soon as the news report came on, it seemed…

"Interesting… Multiple attacks, hm?" she muttered to herself. Her eyes turned back to Kent, still carrying that determined, piercing look. "This is actually what I wanted to talk to you about, Kent. You seem like a halfway decent trainer; not to mention, you've already proven your willingness to work with me to quell situations like these. Now, what would you say if I were to tell you that this isn't the first time this has happened? It was back while I was in Johto… A pokemon just like that Onix attacked a group of trainers on the road. Something has to be causing it – there's no other explanation. You said you owed me a favor – how 'bout you help me investigate, and we call it even? Fair deal, wouldn't you say?" she asked, though her tone made it seem as if she wouldn't allow him to refuse.

"I.. well…" Kent began, somewhat taken aback by the request. He felt like she had him cornered – she had done a lot for him, and so it would be rather hard to refuse her in the first place; not to mention, her cause seemed to be rather important. The trouble was, Kent had no idea just how long this "investigation" would take – not to mention, how dangerous it would be. He'd be walking in blind… "I-I… Do you have any ideas on where to start?" Kent asked, delaying his answer for the moment.

"You heard, didn't you? They're sending the pokemon over to a 'secure location.' All we have to do is head to Mossdeep. Now then, will you help me, or won't you?" she asked impatiently. The question was far too direct for Kent's liking.

"F-fine. Alright, I'll do it." Kent said, sighing. He felt as if he had just been cajoled into agreeing with her, though on the bright side, it was at least a worthy cause. "Alright. We'll head to Mossdeep, then. When should we leave?"

"As soon as possible. I have a pass for the ferry; I oughta be able to get you on board. We'll leave whenever you're ready, then." She said, standing. Kent was beginning to realize that Leanne never really left much room for negotiation…