Harry was floating in darkness.
He'd been in the Speaker's Realm many times. While at first it had startled him a touch soon it had become natural to slip into the space between minutes and seconds, communicating with his Pokémon while the world was paused. The Realm had helped him defeat and capture Zygarde, save Jack and Lance, and plot out many different battle strategies before his opponents could react. As his understanding of it had grown so too had his comfort level and soon Harry had felt as safe in it as he would in his own bed.
And yet he'd never experienced it like this.
There wasn't any fear. The new experience wasn't a frightening one at all. Just different. It was like awakening in a strange bed in a room he'd never been in before yet knowing that he was safe under the covers. It was both familiar and not and as Harry drifted he felt peace flow through his body, coating his veins and leeching into his bones until it seemed as if eternal calm made up his entire existence.
"Good," a voice said, familiar to him, and after a few moments he dimly realized it was Lugia. He sounded like he was far away yet he wasn't shouting. His voice was… muffled… quiet yet booming, like a great explosion played on a tiny speaker. "Now… I want you both to focus on the other. Bring their essence into focus. Like a candle's flame slowly growing stronger, the light starting out as barely a flicker until it becomes a raging sun. Gradual but ever intensifying, till it becomes your sky and stars."
Harry's brow furrowed at that. There was someone else? How? There was only him in the darkness. Just him and the peace…
'No… there was someone else…'
Harry's brow furrowed as he tried to remember who else was with him, who else had joined him... and then, like the sun's rays finally bursting through the blackest storm, the image and name struck him full force. 'Leafeon,' Harry thought and as he thought of his first Pokémon he sensed that he too was remembering him.
"Good," Lugia rumbled, his voice stronger but yet somehow quieter; if beforehand he'd been like a blaring speaker that kept going out and distorting words now his voice was a steady wind, whispering past Harry's ear but never overwhelming him. "Now go deeper... deeper. See your partner's life through their eyes. Learn their secrets... even those they hide from themselves."
Harry felt himself falling then, tumbling through memories. Of bursting from an egg and the old man ('Olivander') smiling with both pride and sorrow. Of the long wait in a pokeball, occasionally let out for brief moments only to be returned, like a man awakening briefly in the middle of the night only to fall once more to sleep the moment he shut his eyes. Of the trainer that was his trainer claiming him ('Harry') and loving him as he'd always wanted to be loved. He saw battles fought hard and new moves learned. He witnessed new friends come into his life, adding to the team and strengthening them all. Harry felt all the times he'd fought his evolution, not yet ready to become something more. Sometimes it was out of fright, unwilling to change and become something so unlike himself. Other times it was simply a matter of preference, not waiting to become an Umbreon or a Glaceon or an Espeon ('Never Espeon. Never like mother'). And then the time when he'd chose to evolve, to become stronger and save Harry from their foes ('Nocturne'). He saw simple things too: care during quiet moments and sitting together by the fire and fear when Harry lay in a hospital bed with bandages wrapped around his stump and rage at those that had hurt his trainer...
The images continued, cycling back to the beginning, playing again and again like a tape on a loop. But rather that be disturbed by this Harry felt an odd sense of peace. Jack always talked about how, every 2 years, he'd reread the entire Lord of the Rings saga, and Harry hadn't understood how someone could read the same book over and over but now he got it. There was something stabilizing about seeing the memories, of watching them over and over. Even the bad, even the terrifying... knowing what good was just around the next corner made up for all that horror and pain.
"Now see yourself through their eyes," Lugia whispered. "See how they see you. Discover the secrets that you've buried from yourself that only someone outside of your own form could ever hope to discover."
He didn't understand what Lugia meant... he floated through the memories, drifting through them, watching them once more pass by them, only to realize that for every one he'd seen before there was a new one that was both familiar to him and utterly alien. He saw himself, trapped and a lone under the stairs, and felt not just pity and anger for the child and what he had went through but also a great respect that one could go through such trauma and pain and still come out the other side with their soul so clean and bright. He watched as he grew, changing much as Leafeon had, and marveled at his own building strength. He felt the trust his Pokémon had for him, even when he himself had felt that he was helpless and useless. He marveled at the love and dedication that Leafeon had for him and in turn felt his own love for his Pokémon grow. It made him feel as if he'd gone his whole life only seeing in black and white and suddenly now there was color. Seeing what he'd gone through from Leafeon's eyes made him realize just how much more of the world there was than him.
"And deeper still. Feel what they have felt now."
He did. He felt Leafeon's shock and surprise, as strong as his own. His Pokémon's first reaction of wanting to deny such joy and kindness and then the warmth that came from accepting that another could feel such a way. And that fed in on itself: Harry felt Leafon's understanding of him grow and in turn it helped him understand himself all the better. And when one understood themselves they could understand the world. And understanding the world only made one's own world grow. On and on like a morbius strip Harry felt his emotions, his mind, his very soul circling, racing faster and faster, Leafeon's right beside his own, the curves growing tighter and forcing the two tighter together. And that was good, that was okay, because it was the two of them. Harry and Leafeon, together connected, together bonded. Just him and his trainer... or his Pokémon. Did it matter? Life rushed past him. He was freed under the stairs by Hagrid. His ball was opening in Ollivander's shop. He was battling Team Nocturne. He was learning how to be a better trainer. A better Pokémon. A better being on this earth-
"Now... ease the separation between the two of you."
No... that wasn't right. How could one become two? How could he-
"I know it is hard but you aren't truly breaking away from each other. Merely one soul living within two bodies. Careful now... careful... that's it..."
He felt something... and odd tearing sensation. It wasn't painful, more odd. He was in two places at once, both the greater of two pieces and the lesser. But that was again because the lesser was joined by the greater of another, just as the hole left was filled by another.
He was Harry Potter. He was Leafeon. He was them both.
Harry's eyes snapped open and he stared up at the ceiling of the Hall of Speakers.
"Careful," Lugia rumbled, using his Psychic powers to help Harry sit up. He was about to ask what Lugia meant only for a wave of vertigo to hit him. "A side effect. Give your senses time to adjust."
"Ugh," Jasmine said somewhere to his right and Harry blinked as he remembered that she had been with him when they'd begun this exercise. "Does it ever get better?"
"No," Jack said. Harry heard a hideous crack but from the way no one was panicking he assumed it was just the older trainer working the kinks out of his neck and shoulders. "But you know it is coming so it doesn't surprise you. Jonas, don't you dare try and stand up! I was up before you and I'm still unsteady."
"Hmmm," Jonas said off to Harry's left.
"You okay, Harry?" Jack asked, slowly crawling over to him, his face pale and eyes dark and sunken into his skull. Harry could only imagine what he looked like himself.
Harry, for his part, was slowly turning his head about, staring at the room and those around him, watching them. It was like he'd lived in darkness for all his life and suddenly his eyes opened and he could see color and light and recognize all the faces of those who he'd only known by their voice. He focused on Jack and was startled by the sharpness of his features and how the light seemed to dance upon him. Looking over at Lugia he saw it wasn't just the Father of Johto who appeared different. Everything was sharper, clearer, better defined.
"Yeah," Harry said, looking down at his hands and slowly waving them back and forth, marveling at the way the light shimmered and danced.
"Are you sure?" Jack asked. "Because the Long Talk... it can make people-"
"Yeah, I mean... yeah," Harry said, blinking a few times.
He heard Remus chuckle behind him and he slowly, so not to topple over as he found he was a bit lightheaded, turned to face his guardian. "You look like Sirius after he tried some of McGonagall's special kitty treats."
"So this is what being stoned is liked?" Jasmine asked.
Jonas shrugged. "Don't look at us. We've never tried a drop of anything like that."
Lance snickered as he made his presence known. "Jack is screwed up enough as it is." Jack, for his part, flipped Lance off.
"Someone mind telling me why my daughter is staring at the lights in a daze?" Clair snapped, her tone making it clear she wasn't interested in any joke or poor attempts at humor. Jasmine, for her part, was merely looking up at the twinkling spots of light that filled the Hall of Speakers, her mouth forming a little 'o' while her eyes shun like a child's on Solstice Morning.
Lugia let out a dry chuckle. "She is seeing the world through new eyes."
"I'm not interested in hyperbole."
"And I'm not speaking any," Lugia stated. "You humans... your senses are simply so... diminished... when compared to those around you. To become the magnificent race that you are you were forced to give some things up. The Long Talk… returns what was lost." The Legendary turned his massive head towards Lance and cleared his throat. "If you would be kind, Dragon Master, to take out your dex? I believe Harry is in need of a test." Lance shrugged and did as asked while Harry worked on actually focusing on what was going on and not staring at his hand giggling like Jasmine was. Jonas seemed to be doing better, though from what Harry had heard Jack had walked him through a Long Talk already with his Primeape. As for Jack this had been his third time through the process and he was the fastest snapping back to normal.
Well, normal for him.
As Lance turned on his dex Remus looked up at Lugia. "So humans get better senses and other perks… and Pokémon…"
"We get what we could never normally obtain," Azog grumbled as he slowly rose up, looking down at a smirking Jack. "'bout time you and I did this, kid."
"I had to work up to it," Jack said, patting his starter on the leg.
Mumik chose that moment to roll in. "He raised me from birth so I already thought more like a human than a Pokémon."
One of Jack's Camo Balls burst open and Smaug appeared in the massive hall, letting out a snort of amusement. "And he knew he needed one as magnificent as myself for his second choice."
Azog narrowed his eyes. "At least Mumik is the strong silent type. This one has a mouth on him."
"And an ego," Jonas supplied as he checked over his Ledian, Jet; the normally stoic Kenway brother was smiling as his Pokémon replied back in English that he was doing fine.
Jack shrugged. "But Mumik has it mostly right. Had to work up to you, Azog. Pseudos are powerful in body and soul. Can't just jump right in."
"Hmmm… suppose you're right about that, kid." Azog looked over at Jasmine, who'd finally stopped waving her hands about and was now staring at him with her head tilted. "What's the problem, lass?"
"You sound… different. But like yourself. It's…"
Harry nodded, risking to try and stand up. "No, yeah, I get it too." He struggled for the right words. "It's like we've been hearing you through a crappy phone and now your voice is crystal clear. Didn't even realize…"
"It is the same for me," Leafeon said, bumping his head into Harry's hip. The boy looked down at his starter before kneeling, pressing his hands along the grass type's neck. "Why are you crying?"
"Because of all of this," Harry said as he blinked back tears.
"It can be extreme on the emotions," Jonas warned. "I bawled for an hour after me and Kong finished." He nodded to his Primeape who had planted himself high above them among the rocks, the fighting type narrowing his eyes before nodding. "He did too," Jonas whispered.
"Does it feel weird to you?" Harry asked Leafeon, stroking his starter's head, his fingers finding the spot Leafeon always loved to have scratched.
The grass type quirked an eyebrow at that. "Yes, as odd as it is to say. I feel like it shouldn't be odd for me, that I should be able to accept this as normal. I mean, all I am doing his talking in your language. And yet… there is something else." He raised a paw and tapped his head. "Tickling my brain."
"I feel the same thing, good sir," Jasmine's Aegislash, Xena, informed them with a flipping of its ribbon.
"It's an expansion of your mind," Mumik answered, being the elder statesman of Pokémon who'd gone through the Long Talk. "Pokémon are smart, of course, no one argues that we aren't-"
"Except Magikarp," Sirius joked.
"-but the human mind is… different. Special. Capable of thought we simply aren't. They, when they wish it, are best at overcoming their baser needs, far more than us." The donphan waved his trunk about. "We give to them strength… they give us a new way to understand the world."
"Hmmm," Azog snorted. "Just let me hit something."
Remus shook his head. "This is all well and good but we were discussing Harry and what changes he'd gone through?"
Lugia nodded. "Of course. Is your dex ready, Mr. Blackthorn?"
"It is. What do you want me to do?"
"Turn it to a broadcast, any broadcast, and put it at the lowest volume setting. Let us see when Harry can make out what you're playing."
"Hmmm, smart idea," Remus said, folding his arms over his chest. "We can run variables, both with volume and distance, see if he can hear things if there are obstacles-"
"Remus, I'm not a lab Ratatta," Harry scoffed.
"You kinda are," Jasmine snarked.
"Go back to staring at your hands, druggie."
"Quiet," Lance said firmly. "Now Harry, I've got this set for the lowest volume setting. Every 15 seconds or so I'll raise the volume up a click. You tell me-"
Harry held up his hand, eyes shutting. "And… in a stunning upset… newcomer Jeri Katou has managed to defeat last year's league champ… Ri… yeah, Ritchie, Ritchie Gottem… in the final round of…" Harry tilted his head slightly. "the Indigo League. She managed to… sweep Ritchie's entire team… with just her Pyroar… Leo-"
"How low is that setting?" Sirius asked, glancing at Lance.
"I can't even hear it," the dragon master said. "By Arceus."
"And you people wonder why I'm moody all the time," Jack complained. "Imagine walking through your school and hearing all your students thinking they are alone and able to have a quiet f-"
"DA!" Jasmine screeched in horror, Harry letting out a yelp and covering his ears.
"Jasmine," Jonas said sternly.
"Oops. Sorry Harry," the Princess of Johto said with a blush. "Wait, why am I not jumping at every noise?"
"Because Leafeons have better hearing than Aegislashes," Xena said. "I believe that you each gain different things based on those you bond with."
"That true, kid?" Azog asked his trainer.
Jack nodded. "Type, style, power, skill, education… all play a factor. Leafeon is a hunter but also has to be wary of larger predators so he has amazing hearing." Jack began to walk around, entering what Harry had lovingly deemed his 'lecture mode'. "Just like every person and every Pokémon is different in their own unique way so too are the results of The Long Talk. Leafeon is a creature that straddles the line between predator and prey. It can hunt but it is also hunted and thus must always be alert so it might survive."
"Indeed," Lugia said. "Harry's senses have been augmented far beyond what you, your father, and your uncle have gained." Lugia chuckled. "But that does not mean you aren't without gifts."
"And what exactly did I get?" Jasmine asked.
"This," Jack said as he reached Jasmine, balling his fist and punching her shoulder.
"Jack!" Clair roared, outraged.
Jasmine, however, merely stared at her shoulder in confusion. "That didn't hurt..."
"Steel type," Jonas reasoned. "High defensive capabilities. So you're more durable." He dropped into a fighting stance and let loose a flurry of blurred punches and kicks that made the air crack with their speed. "Hmmm... faster. Will have to get used to that."
"I think he just broke the sound barrier and he isn't even batting an eye," Sirius said dryly.
Harry looked over at Jack. "So... what did you get from Mumik, Smaug, and Azog?"
Jack, without saying a word, thrust his arm downward, his finger tips driving into the hard rock like he was splashing in the water, embedding his arm up to his elbow in the stone. He waited a moment before yanking his arm free, wiggling his fingers before giving Harry a small nod.
"...bloody hell," Remus whispered.
"I've chosen strength and durability for my first few talks," Jack stated. "It helped me survive the war. Speed will be next."
Lance licked his lips. "Jack... just how much of you is still human?"
The Father of Johto shut his eyes, taking in a deep breath before slowly releasing it. The moment the last puff left his lungs his eyes snapped open and everyone jumped. Harry had seen Jack's 'mask' fall away a few times, when he showed the world what he truly was. Back then it had been easy to see him merely as a man using tricks and illusions to make himself look more bestial than he truly was. Now? There was no doubt. His upper lip curled, revealing incisors that would have put a vampire to shame. The tips of his fingers had gone from rounded ends to sharp points. His muscles weren't so much larger as more defined. And his eyes had gone from round pupils in dark blue irises to dragon slits surrounded by deep amber. And then there was the presence, the tingling on the back of Harry's neck that screamed for him to fall in supplication or flee. Jack let out a snort, air blasting from his flared nostrils before he grabbed back hold of himself. As quick he changed he reverted to himself, taking in several stuttered shaky breaths.
"You don't want to know," he finally said hoarsely, Clair walking over and with no fear kissing him. It was less a tender show of love and more of petting a dog to prove to all it wasn't rabid. Which Harry completely got as from the way Remus and Sirius were staring at Jack he was prepared for the two to snatch him up and try and flee the island before Harry looked like a cross between the Wolf Man and Dracula. Lance was handling it better, though he did mumble so soft only Harry newly enhanced hearing picked it up, that Kanto "never stood a chance".
As for Harry, he had only one thought on his mind: he needed to close the gap between him and Jack fast.
As if reading his mind (and considering he was a Psychic Harry wouldn't put it past him) Lugia spoke up. "There is, of course, a resting period that must be observed with each Talk, to ensure that a Speaker is fully healed from what happened in the previous Talk. In ancient times it was known for reckless novices to become completely lost in a Talk, never able to separate themselves from their Pokémon. Legends of bestial men came from students going made from the practice. Thus why a master must always lead another, even another master."
Remus shook his head. "I don't like this one bit."
"No less risky than being a True Magnus," Lugia pointed out.
"There are risks, yeah," Remus said, "but nothing as extreme as…" he waved a hand at Jack, "that." Jasmine growled at the insult towards her father and Remus blinked when he felt Jonas, Clair, Lance, and even Sirius giving him the evil eye. "I'm just saying. You can't compare Magnus to Speaker."
"There is plenty of risk to a Magnus," Lugia stated. "Many have tried to jump into a Pokemon who isn't ready and have their will and mind torn apart. Or tried to bring a new partner into their circle only to be rejected and left alone, their connect to the others severed-"
"Circle? Others?" Sirius said. "What are you talking about? Magnuses can only bond with one Pokémon?"
"And who told you that lie?" Lugia asked plainly.
"Think carefully here," Lance teased, "you're fighting with a legendary Pokémon."
Remus, despite is earlier trepidation over what the Long Talk could do to Harry, spoke up at the hint that there might be something of his own abilities he didn't know about. "Everything Sirius and I learned said that a Magnus could only bond with a single unevolved Pokémon."
"That's what your government has wanted you to think," Lugia said. "The dangers a fully trained Magnus could bring upon them made them see a gift that may be abused by the wicked as something no one deserved to have. The knowledge was outlawed, the lessons pushed aside, and soon students who still had much to learn from their teachers thought themselves already masters. In turn they taught their students only that which they knew and what should have been remembered was lost."
Harry cleared his throat. "What can a Magnus do?"
"A True Master, just like a Master Speaker, can bond with multiple Pokémon. For unevolved ones this means bringing them to their final form. But it is possible to bond with one who has reached the peak of their strength and then, by sharing of your energy…"
"Mega Evolution?" Clair asked, startled.
"The last vestiges of a once proud and powerful Art," Lugia stated.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Harry asked excitedly.
The legendary though shook his head sadly. "I am the Master of Speakers, not Magnuses. I only know what I managed to gather from books and scrolls."
"I'd like to see those," Remus said. When Harry looked at him, surprised, Remus gave him a shrug. "Wouldn't hurt to learn, I suppose. At least I know what a Magnus can do."
"This is all well and good but we need to focus on the here and now," Jack said, rolling his shoulders, Clair still holding his hand in her own. "We're changed now and that will alter things. Everyone, especially Harry, will need to learn how this changes fighting, movement, battles… both by having a Pokémon that can talk and strategize better and in our own bodies. Jonas, you take Jasmine and get her warmed up. Clair, Lance, get ready to assist us when we get to the dodging and live fire exercises. Remus, Sirius, perhaps Lugia can show you those writings now." The others nodded, the large group splitting apart leaving Harry and Jack by themselves to begin their warm up stretches. Jack had warned Harry that the human body, even one now enhanced like his own, could only take so much and as such he needed to take care of it lest he wished to see it rot away.
As the two of them moved through the various exercises Harry asked quietly, "How hard did Lugia train you?"
"He trained me to win the war," Jack said plainly. "Why?"
"You need to train me harder," Harry said. "Ten times more. A hundred times. A thousand. I need to be better than you Jack. Better than anyone else."
"Better than Voldemort."
Harry swallowed. "He shook off one of the most violent Pokémon attacks I've ever seen. You and Lance threw everything at him and he's still alive, hunting me. I need to be better, Jack… I need to be stronger." He flexed his flesh and blood hand. "The Talk helped… but power is nothing without training. I need you to make me better."
"Are you sure?" Jack asked as the two fell into ready positions. "That… is a lot for a child."
"I haven't been a child since that night," Harry said, knowing he didn't need to explain to Jack what night he meant. "Now… no holding back."
"Very well."
And as Jack's fist struck him in the gut and knocked the wind out of him followed by a sudden knee to the face Harry prayed he was ready for what he'd just unleashed upon himself.
~MC~MC~MC~
Author's Notes: So some might be wondering why the delay in this chapter. Blame Ultra Sun. Got it Friday, been playing it ever since, ate up my editing time.
Just a few quick notes. So we finally see Harry perform the Long Talk and get a hint as all that it gives… and that the more one does it the stronger they become. Jack currently has done it the most at three but it is clear Harry is going to want to catch up.
Jeri Katou is a reference to Digimon Tamers. She got the crap stick in that world so in this one she gets a happy ending because screw you I want her to have a happy ending.
Some have complained that Speakers appear to be too powerful compared to the other Arts. Now we see the truth: the knowledge of just how powerful Magnus can be was hidden… and Remus and Sirius are going to find it. And a world of new possibilities is going to open up to Harry.