Chapter 3: Earth
The dimensional tunnel wasn't like the time travel tunnel they used over two years before. For one, there was more light. Two, the pit in the bottom of his stomach was growing faster than he remembered. Without an up or down, it still felt like he was free-falling and he struggled on hold onto Blaze. Finally, and none too soon, there was soft ground under his feet and the white, diffused light quickly faded around them. He was standing…on sand with the sound of waves behind and around him as water gently lapped around his blue feet, moving a bit of the sand around.
"Oh…wow, Leo…"
Leo swung around to his partner, suddenly in awe at the sea that stretched as far as he could see with the setting sun hovering over it. Looking around a little more, the golden-sand beach was large, stretching from one horizon to the other. Structures also seemed numerous, though further inland from the beach. "Always on a beach," he mumbled, but not at all unhappy about it.
"Yeah, we do seem to be always coming out of time and space on them, don't we?" Blaze agreed. Taking a deep breath as a breeze blew in from the sea, "Are far worse places."
Well beyond his partner, things were moving in the distance, but not so distant he couldn't recognize them. "Humans."
Blaze turned and stared for several moments. "I…never actually seen one before, in person."
Instantly thinking better of just standing there in the open, Leo was soon tugging him inland toward the trees that lined the boundary between beach and the rest of the land, Blaze continuing to stare off at the human creatures, who perhaps had not yet noticed them. Once deep among the trees, he started breathing easier. Yes, this was the world he was from, but he still knew virtually nothing about it. Caution was in order until they got their bearings.
Carefully feeling one of the trees near them, which looked and smelled similar to the palm trees in the world they just left, the infernape finally gave it a few raps. "We are really here…on the human world. Hard to believe. But uh, now what?"
Good question; even after a moment, he didn't have an answer or at least anything specific. Wait, what was it Dialga said? "I guess we're supposed to go find…myself."
"How do we do that?"
Another good question. Taking another survey around them, he had absolutely no idea on how to go about it! He was sure his expression said as much to his partner.
Blaze started scratching the back of his head before suddenly twitching his red tail. "Oh! Palkia said putting us near a city would increase our chances; maybe we should go there?"
"Uh…right." It sounded like as good an idea as any, but he felt a little hesitant about going there remembering the story Blaze had related. And what do they do once they get there? Well, first things first. "OK, let's go find the city. Do you think those buildings along the beach are the city?"
Blaze only stared back blankly before shrugging, "Maybe we should go further inland and have a look around first."
Leo lead the way through the trees and sparse undergrowth, dead palm leaves crunching underneath and making impossible any attempt to stay unheard. It was with some relief when they soon broke out into a clearing that was actually a wide, cleared path through the trees. A road? But just a little further along it… "A sign!" He raced his partner to it, hopeful they had a stroke of luck.
Only Blaze cocked his head immediately, his mane puffing slightly. "Huh? I can't read this."
The blocky characters certainly were nothing like the foot-print language most Pokémon used, yet… "It says 'Jade River City, four miles'." Finding his partner staring at him: "What?"
"Is that human language you just read?"
Looking back to the sign, he saw the obvious implications… Was he remembering how to read it…or was that particular knowledge never forgotten in the first place? "Maybe Dialga was right, I do have an advantage here if I can read."
Grinning, Blaze gave him a slap on the back. "Maybe things will turn out OK after all! Ha ha!"
Indeed, he felt better now knowing he could read the human's language. Now smiling himself with a feeling of suddenly increased chances of success, "Well, shall we head to Jade River City, then?"
To their disappointment, they weren't alone as they continued down the path. At first, they hid until the human or humans passed, occasionally with Pokémon by their side. Eventually he reasoned if they had to go where there were a lot of people, staying unseen was simply impractical. At some point they were going to interface with humans. As such, when they spotted the next human walking toward them, he convinced Blaze to stay on the path with him.
His partner was visibly nervous as they approached the human, but the human passed by them without incident…although he did stare at them.
"Whew," Blaze exclaimed afterward. "Didn't know what it was going to do, it just kept staring at us."
"It was a he," Leo corrected. "But there are other Pokémon here, I don't know why we are warranting special attention." Other encounters along the way ranged from complete indifference to the humans stopping with mouths open, mumbling something among themselves.
"That one said she wished she had a something called a 'spare poké ball' with her," Blaze whispered after they passed. "What did she mean by that?"
He could only shrug, but the continued attention was making him nervous too.
Crickets were chirping in force in the late evening as they arrived at the top of a small rise; the sky ahead of them had been lighter then what was normal for evening for some time. Now the reason lay before them in a large valley. Below, unfamiliar buildings of every shape and size were giving off light in a fantastic collective glow, the layout of which stretched off into the hazy distance. Roads seemed to go everywhere with…light-giving things moving on them alongside people.
"This…is…a human city?" Blaze asked, mouth dropping open as the light reflected off his blue eyes. "It's huge!" Then after sniffing: "Smells huge, too."
It was huge, and… Leo felt something stir, like he'd seen this or something like it before. Then the feeling was gone before he could grab it, yet leaving him certain the sight triggered something deep in his mind.
"What is it?"
"Thought this looked familiar for just an instant." He tried focusing on the lights, hoping the feeling would come back.
"Aw! Unbelievable! An infernape and a swampert, together! Those people weren't lying saying they saw you on the road!"
With a start, he swung around with his partner to face the surprised-sounding voice, finding the owner as a sandy-haired human male dressed in mostly blues, standing not far away on the path behind them.
"What this human want?" Blaze asked, instantly crouched down defensively.
Before he could answer, the human pulled out what appeared several small red and white balls from his belt.
"I can't believe my luck!" the human continued, bringing the balls in front of him, two in each hand. "Alright, let's battle! You guys are mine! Considering you're fully evolved, four on two is fair!"
Leo wasn't sure what happened next, but in a mere instant there was an elekid, electabuzz, pikachu and a wartortle dead in front of them! He didn't need to tell Blaze to run before they were off heading for the edge of the road and the trees beyond. Not that they often ran from fights, but facing three electric type Pokémon and one water, they were exactly the types that could do them the most injury! Not to mention they looked strong and outnumbered them two to one!
The human shouted behind them: "Everyone, thunderbolt, now!"
He tried diving behind a tree when what felt like the most powerful electrical charge in history coursed through him in an instant, leveling him at the edge of the grassy road. It hurt…a lot!
Somewhere to the side Blaze was screaming, the sound of flames being released coming right after. His partner screamed again before something hit the tree he almost made it behind. Fighting his pain, Leo got his head turned around, finding Blaze at the base, struggling to get the wartortle off him.
The wet infernape quickly succeeded, punching the hard shell of his opponent and sending him flying, but with a potent-looking electric discharge, the electabuzz saw to it Blaze wouldn't be doing anything else for a while.
The human came running. "You two look awesome! You'll be great additions to my team once I get you trained!" Whipping out yet two more of the strange red and white balls, it threw one straight at him.
Leo was feeling angry. How dare this human and his friends attack them? What had they done to him? Worse, was Blaze right about this world, that it was full of constant battles and evil humans? To think he came from such a world…he was ashamed, angry…livid! Gathering all his anger-fueled strength, he slapped the object away before leaping up and letting a water pulse fly into the electabuzz who was standing over a dazed Blaze. The electabuzz fell backward…but the real target was in front of him. With a primal scream, he leapt straight for the human…
Electricity. He hated it. Especially with another charge going through him. His leap fell short and laying flat on his stomach once again, watched helplessly the continuing charge leaving both the elekid and the pikachu. After scarcely a moment, he really wasn't feeling it anymore, his body numb and paralyzed…and consciousness slipping fast.
"That's enough!" the human shouted to the two Pokémon as he picked up the ball a short distance away. "You have a lot of spirit, swampert. I like you already."
"I…don't…like…you." Through hazy vision, he saw the human suddenly standing stock still, before complete darkness enveloped him.
Coolness. Moisture. Wet…water.
Leo opened his eyes.
White. Nothing but white…
Moving his head some, he found he was actually partially in a large water-filled tub. His legs, arms and most his body were in the water, but his upper back and shoulders were above it, with his head completely outside the tub hanging over the edge, face down. Essentially, he was lying on his stomach on a slight incline. The basin itself was on top of a large white table and… four walls were around him. He was in a room! Other water Pokémon were scattered around, some in clear pools, others in their own basins.
Testing his strength, he found himself able to move and not restrained at all, but…where was he? He started getting up.
"Oh, you're awake."
He jerked his head around, finding a human female he hadn't noticed was behind him!
"You've been out for while; I was just about to continue your treatment to help your recovery, but…well, I should still do it anyway. Just relax…"
Before he could say anything, the human was quick enough with putting her hands on his upper back and starting to massage, that by the time he figured out he should protest, he no longer felt like it. Within moments, he was back down in the water, enjoying the sensations of a good massage, not just on his upper back, but around his neck, shoulders and thick arms, too.
"Your trainer told me you took some pretty good jolts. You needed fair amount of treatment actually, and I gave him a good scolding. Next time, I think he'll take better care of you. But by the time I'm done, you'll be feeling better than new."
Trainer? What was she talking about? And just where was he? It was time to get some answers… Turning his head just enough so he could see the human, "Where am… I!" He let out a sharp yip as the woman jerked her hands on his back violently before backing away several steps. "Hey!" Planting a three-fingered hand on the table, he twisted himself around to face her. "What?"
The woman coughed before grabbing her chest and staring back, eyes wide in the middle of her long brown-haired framed face. Pointing at him, "You…you…you can…talk!"
"So can you," he pointed out, perplexed at the obvious being stated in such a manner. Then out of the corner of his eye, he started noticing some of the other Pokémon staring at him in much the same manner. A squirtle in particular had it's mouth open…
"Wow," it said. "How can you do that?"
Facing it halfway across the sizable room: "What do you mean?"
"Speak human language! Pokémon can't do that! How do you do it?"
At once he felt surprise and yet…there felt a certain sense about it…somehow. "I just can." More knowledge that he still retained as a result of once being human?
"A Pokémon that can speak…" the nurse continued. "This is unbelievable! You can't believe how long I've wanted to actually talk to one!"
He ignored her questions while getting himself out of the basin and hopping to the floor, producing a good size puddle on the hard white surface. There was only one other thing on his mind at the moment: "Where's Blaze?"
The nurse stopped her rattling. "Your trainer?"
"My friend! He's an infernape!"
"Ah…oh! Uh…your trainer brought him in with you last night. He wasn't as bad off as you; one of the other nurses treated and released him. He's with your trainer now."
Trainer again…what was that? "Then tell me where that human who brought us here is then."
"Well, he's waiting out in the lobby…"
All he needed was for her to point in the direction and he was off. Through the door and into a…hall…? A sign overhead read "Lobby" with another arrow, then through another door and into a large room with a lot of windows. He quickly scanned the strange room and sitting on a row of padded benches along one wall, was his quarry…
The sandy-haired human immediately noticed him; Leo certainly remembered what their attacker looked like. In an instant he was running, leaping, and had the human pinned down against the seat, legs straddling him and thick hands around his neck. "WHERE IS BLAZE?" The only other two humans in the room jumped up and ran as the wide-eyed young man in his grip stopped struggling.
"You really can talk! How…"
Leo tightened his grip around the youngish human's neck. "Where is Blaze?" He was in no mood for answering questions; this human attacked them without any provocation and had his friend somewhere. He was beyond merely angry.
"Aaaarg!"
The human reached for something…one of the red and white balls again, and almost as quickly was the electabuzz again, now behind him! Where the heck did it come from? Leaning closer to the human's face, "He shocks me and you'll get it too!"
"Stop!" The one human woman came flying through the doors yelling, skidding to stop near them. "No fighting in here! Please!"
"Tell me where you have Blaze!" Leo demanded again, tightening his grip just a little more. If this human didn't release his friend… Would he really hurt him or worse? In his growing rage, he wasn't so sure he wouldn't.
"Who's…arg…Blaze?" The man was clearly struggling for breath as much as he was finally sounding frightened.
"Swampert! Let go of Chris!"
He barely faced the electabuzz: "When he tells me where my friend is!"
"Blaze is that infernape you brought in last night with this one!" the nurse told the man. "You better do as he says!"
"Al…arg…right…a…all…arg…right!" the human surrendered, slowly unclipping another of the red and white balls from his belt. "He…re!"
Leo watched the ball intently, wondering how his friend could possibly be inside something so small…
A red beam shot from the ball and Blaze was standing where it had hit the floor!
At this point he didn't care much for how his friend had appeared here, only that… "Blaze! Are you alright?"
His partner began staring around the room, then down at himself. "Uh…I'm fine?" looking totally bewildered. "How…where was I and how did I get here?"
"Hey, come on, I…I released him. Will you please let go of me!"
Turning back on the human, he held his grip a moment more before releasing him with a glowering stare and stepping down off the seat to let him up. To Blaze: "We should leave."
His partner nodded without question and together they walked quickly out the door that clearly led outside as it opened in front of them on it's own. "What happened?" asking as soon they were outside.
Letting out a huge sigh of relief that Blaze was back with him, "I'm not sure. I think you were inside of one of those red and white balls. I rushed to free you as soon as I woke up."
Blaze gave him one of his "your-pulling-my-mane" looks. "I'm way too big to fit inside of one of those!"
Leo shrugged, "I can't explain it. But a red beam came from it, and you appeared at the end of it." Although he would have liked to continue pondering it, they reached the end of the path that lead from the building and were now standing at the edge of another, much wider and…hard black-surfaced path. A weird looking box with wheels went by, a human clearly visible in it. In their rush to get out, he hadn't thought of where to go! And now finally looking around them, they were clearly inside of the city they had seen from the hill the night before. "I have no idea where we should go," he admitted.
"Wait!"
Turing, he immediately prepared to run with Blaze as the human who had captured them came running toward them, the electabuzz following.
The man raised his hands, "No, please, wait! I just want to talk!"
Glancing at Blaze, Leo confirmed he was alright with letting the human approach. "What do want?" asking tersely. From the corner of his eye, Blaze was staring at him now instead of the human.
"What did you say?" his partner whispered. "Was that human speak?"
Leo nodded as the man and electabuzz stopped a respectful distance from them.
"Look, I'm…sorry for what happened. I didn't mean to make you angry or anything. I just thought I would capture you like other Pokémon. Clearly you are different. I mean, you can talk! I thought I was imagining it before, but…"
"You do this to other Pokémon?" Leo returned, hoping that wasn't what the man meant.
"Well, uh…yeah; so does everyone else. It's normal."
"Leo, remember what I said I heard about this world?" Blaze asked. "I was starting to believe it wasn't true, but now, maybe it was!"
Once again he felt ashamed of ever being human. "Why did you want to capture us?" making his disapproval clear in his tone.
"Hey!" the electabuzz shouted. "When a trainer defeats you in battle and captures you, it's your duty to help and bond with them! That's the code!"
"What?" Blaze shouted back incredulously.
"In exchange, you get food, medical care, and friendship. You also get to battle and make yourself stronger better than you could ever do yourself, and that's what's important! It's a good deal!" The Pokémon folded it arms, clearly convinced in what it was saying.
The human waited until they were done before answering, "Simply put, I captured you because I need your help."
"You need our help?" Blaze returned. "After attacking us?"
The man stared back blankly.
Oh, right, Leo realized. "I don't think humans can't understand Pokémon speech, Blaze."
His partner's eyes went just a little wide. "But you can speak theirs, and not just read it?"
Leo nodded.
Cocking his head, "I guess that makes sense, I mean, if you can read it."
"How does that make sense?" the electabuzz asked.
Blaze appeared about to say something, but glanced at the electabuzz and seemed to think better of it.
Folding his own arms, Leo answered the human: "Blaze and I are wondering what kind of help you could possibly need from us and why we would want to."
"Well put," Blaze commented.
The man smiled nervously while rubbing his neck. "Well...I'm in need of stronger Pokémon, no offense buddy," he said with pat on the electabuzz. "My last few matches haven't gone well. The opponents I have to face are very strong and well, we're just overmatched. I don't have years to spend raising more Pokémon, so my only hope is to capture some strong Pokémon. When I heard last night about a infernape and a swampert just ahead of me on the road, apparently without a trainer, well, I thought it was my lucky day. I mean, either a swampert or a infernape are rare enough, but in the wild and traveling together, such fully evolved Pokémon are…" He bowed his head. "I should have guessed there was something strange about it. You can talk, so you aren't average Pokémon; you're obviously special somehow."
That was something he wasn't expecting. As Pokémon, he never really thought they would do anything but blend in, or at least as much as any other Pokémon. Apparently that wasn't to be the case?
"Still, I would be truly grateful if you would help me win some matches. In return, if there's anything you want or that I could do in exchange…"
At first he felt like dismissing the human out of hand, but Blaze said it even as the thought occurred to him: "Maybe he could help us find…er…you know," censoring himself with another glance to the electabuzz.
Having someone help them who knew the human world could be invaluable, and he finally nodded agreement to his partner. To the human: "Maybe you can help us with something, then. If you do, we'll consider helping you in some of these 'matches', which I assume are battles?" After all, in the Poké world they were considered rather strong. Not that he particularly relished battling, but if it was a necessity… Surely battles here couldn't be that bad, the 'sneak' attack this human made on them last night notwithstanding. Even if not, they still really needed a guide, so to speak. The fate of the worlds could very well depend on it!
"Yes, matches are battles governed by rules!" the man answered, obviously not expecting his offer to have been accepted. "It's a gym match in particular, with the reward being to move into the Tournaments!"
It sounded important, but… "I have no idea what that is, but if you can help us, we can probably help you."
The human almost acted giddy. 'Thank you, Swampert and Infernape! By the way, my name's Chris."
"I'm Leo," Leo replied. "And I think you already know my friend's name is Blaze." In fact, he was certain the human would never forget it.
Leo didn't realize how hungry he'd become until Chris returned to their bench with a plateful of…
"They're called hot dogs," he explained, after holding the plate in front of them for a moment.
The aroma was hitting his nostrils with an irresistible beckoning. Grabbing one, he waited for Blaze to do the same.
His partner sniffed at his before dipping his finger into the red and yellow paste that covered the top. "Smells…interesting."
Sitting on top of the bench and mindful of his large back fin that made sitting like a human impossible, Leo mimicked Chris in sticking one end in his mouth. Several flavors that he couldn't quite indentify flooded his mouth, none particularly disagreeable. In fact, it wasn't bad at all. "Good," he said between chews, which Blaze apparently took as a sign they were edible and soon had his own mouth stuffed.
"Oh!" Chris exclaimed before quickly unstrapping the sack he had on his back. Opening it, he brought out two satchels… "I almost forgot, you had these with you. I dunno what most that stuff is in them or what those badges are pinned to them, but I guess they're yours, so…"
Blaze jerked both of them out of Chris's hands, handing one to Leo. With stuff hanging out of them, they had clearly been gone through.
"I was looking for an owner's name and when I didn't find one, I put everything back. Those golden metal coins you have look interesting; what are they?"
"Money!" Leo answered, miffed at their belongs having been rifled through. He also gave a passing thought to counting it, to make sure it was all still there.
Chris crossed his legs, taking another bite of his hot dog, and continued while chewing: "I never seen money like that. There's no country identification on it. Where's it from?"
Should he answer him or not, Leo pondered while stuffing his mouth with two more hot dogs from the plate in an effort to control his suddenly raging hunger. He certainly wasn't about to trust this human with the reason they were there, which meant he couldn't tell him where the money came from either. But if Chris didn't realize it was money, it sounded like there was a bigger worry: "Can we use that money here?"
The human looked somewhat surprised. "I don't think it's going to be legal. This is money here." Taking a coin out of one of his pockets, he handed it over.
Blaze intercepted it, having a free hand. Giving it a good looking over, "It looks nothing like our money."
"Great," Leo sighed, also looking it over while it was in Blaze's hand. The impression of a human's head was on one side, and some poor Pokémon bird in an uncomfortable pose on the other. "Now we have no money."
"Well, if you need money, we'll get some if we win the gym battle," Chris said. "I'll share some of it with you. Though, I've never heard of a Pokémon needing money before."
"We're special, remember?" Leo replied. He was loath to point that out, but perhaps the human's words might prove useful from time to time. On the other hand, although they needed money where they came from, could it be they really didn't need it here? He found it hard to believe though. How would they be able to buy supplies…
…wait, if Pokémon couldn't talk to humans here, how could Pokémon buy anything at all? Were there special Pokémon suppliers somewhere?
"Yes, you do seem to be spec…." Chris paused as a couple humans passed by, staring at them as one was whispering to the other: "That Pokémon was talking, I tell you!"
"Oh come on," the one whispered back before they moved out or hearing range.
The three of them waited until the couple were long gone, and Chris looked to apparently make sure no one else was within earshot before continuing. "Special and…different," he finally finished with a considering stare..
"I don't like they way he's looking at us," Blaze said. "He suspects something."
Leo wanted to say something, but Chris would understand him if he wasn't careful about reverting into Poké language. "Well, I can talk, when Pokémon aren't supposed to. Of course I'm different." If only he knew the full extent of it!
The area around them was filled with grass, trees, benches, venders selling food, and paths of what Chris explained was a hard rock-like substance called "concrete". The name of the entire thing was a "park". It was also rather large with many open spaces. Leo nudged Blaze as in one of the spaces, two humans approached each other, released some Pokémon from the red and white balls they were carrying, and proceeded to have their Pokémon fight.
"Is that a match?" Blaze asked. Leo translated for him.
"Yep, it looks like a rookie battle. I'm sure they're just practicing."
"Does that happen a lot?" Leo asked.
"In the park? There's usually people here everyday having a battle or two…"
"I mean everywhere."
Chris appeared surprised by the question. "Well…there's matches going on all the time, worldwide. Some formal, most not. Probably too numerous to count." He paused, glancing between the battle and them, then: "You didn't know that? I thought just about every Pokémon knew about trainer battles. That is after all how you get strong. You are a swampert and a infernape. How could you have evolved that far if you haven't battled?"
"We've fought," Leo replied, "a lot, but not in matches." And that was as much as he was willing to say about it.
"In the wild?" Chris asked wide-eyed.
Leo didn't answer and the human looked dismayed after a moment.
Sighing, "Alright, what is it you need my help with, then? The gym match I need to be at is in a few days, so I hope I can do whatever it is quickly."
"We're looking for a human."
"Please be careful, Leo," Blaze urged. "We don't know how much we can trust him. After what he tried to do to us, I don't trust him much at all."
"Uh, can you elaborate a little?" Chris asked after apparently waiting for him to say more. "Like, what's this human's name, for instance."
"His name is…" This was going to be awkward! "…Leo."
"Isn't that your name?"
"This human's name is also Leo."
Chris visibly became more uptight. "Um, OK. Is he…ah, your trainer, by any chance?"
"I don't know what that is, but I doubt it."
"Ah! OK, OK, that's good." The human seemed to relax. "So what's his last name?"
He briefly brushed the gills on one side of his face. Last name?
"You have two names?" Blaze asked, cocking his head. "You must have been important!"
"I don't remember it!" Leo replied in some shock. He never knew he had one…all he could remember was that he was Leo!
"Well, OK," Chris said, apparently understanding him even though he had meant the comment for Blaze. "Where does he live?"
Facing the human again, "I don't know."
The eyebrows on Chris's face rose. "A phone number then?"
Leo shook his head.
The human was looking slightly more perplexed. "Alright, what does he look like?"
It was really starting to sink in just little he knew about his life before becoming a Pokémon. He had never really thought how much there was to know, and he knew none of it!
"Let me guess, you don't know," Chris said in an annoyed tone.
"Isn't Grovyle supposed to be with you?" Blaze asked.
"Oh, I have…there's a grovyle probably with this human." Leo grimaced inwardly at nearly slipping.
Chris sighed. "Well…that's something, I guess, but you sure aren't going to make this little task easy, are you?" After a moment, he was heaving himself off the bench, "Well, let's go."
"Go where?"
"My apartment; I live in this city. We can try the phone directory to see just how many Leos there are out there."
Chris's abode was unusual, at least by what Leo was used to. He supposed his home as a human was probably something like it, but it was hard to imagine. Not only was it up high in a many-floored building, but there were so many other homes in the same building. Well, maybe it wasn't unlike the room he and Blaze had at the guild, but this was a lot bigger.
After getting inside, the home contained many things he couldn't identify, things like a "television", "DVD Player", "refrigerator" and "microwave oven", as Chris pointed them out on asking. At least the room names were familiar, like the kitchen. In fact, there was one room he was very glad was there. As soon as a red-faced Chris gave a quick demo of the bathroom and it's amenities, Leo made use of it. It was rather awkward given his different anatomy, but he made it work. And Blaze was right after him. At least his partner would have an easier time of it, he mused.
"Alright, let's check the directory," Chris said in seating himself in front of something that looked like a small version of the television, except with a thin rectangular pad with characters in front of it. Leo found he recognized the symbols on each of the small squares. "Letters."
"It's a keyboard," Chris replied as he begun rapidly hitting the buttons, the dark flat "television" suddenly becoming light as a result.
He watched with Blaze as various things displayed on the screen. "National Telecommunications Phone Directory?" Chris nodded a confirmation and although a lot of the words he struggled to understand their meaning, it appeared the human was initiating a search.
"What's he doing?" Blaze asked, looking over the human's other shoulder.
"Searching for everyone with a first name of 'Leo', I think."
"Exactly," Chris replied just as the results came up. "Ugh."
Leo scanned through the list, paying as much attention to the faces shown beside the names as the names themselves, but not recognizing any of them. Only a few of the names had faces next to them, however.
"There's…sixty-two people with a first name of Leo. In this region. In this country…" More hitting of buttons, another search…many more results, most of which couldn't be shown at once. "Nine hundred twenty-seven in the country. And I can't do a search world-wide from here, but surely there are many thousands around the world."
Exchanging looks with Blaze, his hopes started sinking.
"'Leo' isn't the most common name, but there are apparently a lot of them." Chris sighed, then facing Leo: "Are you sure you don't know a last name…or even what region or country this person lives in?"
He frowned, wishing there was something he could remember. "What about him having a grovyle?"
It was Chris's turn to frown. In a slightly sarcastic voice, "Oh sure, we could just call each of these people up and ask them if they just happen to have a grovyle." He paused, clearly not getting the reaction he was expecting. Swiveling around in the chair, "Look you two, even if the person was willing to answer that question from a complete stranger from out-of-the-blue, how long do you think it'll take to talk to each and every one of them? And that's assuming we could get a hold of each of them."
"I had no idea there were so many Leos in the human world," Blaze said. "I really didn't know it was going to be this difficult to find your human self."
Leo nodded agreement while staring at the display. One of the phrases at the top of the screen was "Phone Directory Database". Hmm. Database…he thought he understood what that meant. So… "Is there another information place you could try? One that has what humans are with each Pokémon?"
Chris's face displayed what seemed amusement. "The only thing like that is what's complied during the tournaments, and it only contains those who are in…" But the young man's green eyes looked down for a moment. "Actually…a grovyle is evolved from a treecko. If the treecko has battled enough to become a grovyle, that would usually mean he's with a trainer, since a trainer would do lots of battles. If so…" Swinging back around, he tapped just a few keys before the screen showed he was trying to contact someone, and it wasn't long before an older man appeared on it.
"Professor Korton."
"Hi Professor. It's me, Chris Urbason. How you doing?"
"Oh, Chris, I remember you! I'm fine. How's it going with you?"
"Pretty good."
"Wow! Is that an infernape and a swampert you have there? That's something! You've been busy, then!"
"Uh, yeah. I kinda have been. Hey, I was wondering if I could ask you for a favor?"
"What is it?"
"I'm looking for a trainer with a first name of 'Leo'. The only other thing I know about him is that he has a grovyle with him. Since you have records of trainers, and…uh…maybe could contact other professors, I was wondering if you could locate him for me. Please?"
The man on the screen merely raised his eyebrows. "Er…well, I'm not often asked to locate people. Can I ask why you want to find this 'Leo'?"
"I…uh…" Chris turned partway to Leo. "…heard about this trainer…from someone else. He sounded like someone I want to have a match with or at least talk with. He sounded like a really interesting trainer."
"I see. Well…I'll see what I can do. No promises, though. With only a first name and that he has a grovyle, that's not much to go on, but most the trainer records I have access to should have that information, but if I have to check with all the other professors, it could take a while."
"Thanks, Professor! I really appreciate it."
"Sure. I'll call back or leave you a message to let you know if I find anything or not."
"Thanks a lot! Bye." Chris immediately swiveled around again. "Now just have to wait."
Blaze nodded with a smile, hope beaming from him once again. Leo could feel his own spirits rising too.
"But what's a trainer?" Blaze asked. "It sounds like someone who…owns Pokémon?"
Clearly his partner didn't like the concept any more than he did. He relayed Blaze's question, which was the same question he that had been on his own mind for a while.
"You really don't know?" Chris asked, looking each of them in the eye. "A trainer is a person who, well, trains Pokémon for matches. Some do it professionally; others, like me, can only afford to do it part-time. But we all basically strive to make our Pokémon the best they can be. The ultimate goal is to achieve Master status, and that happens when you and your Pokémon place in the top three in a League tournament."
"What's a League tournament?"
The human's eyes became a little wider. Sighing, "Oh boy. I mean, seriously, you guys don't know any of this? Not to be insulting, but where the heck have you guys been? Another planet?"
Blaze's mane puffed, barely stifling a cough.
Leo suspected the human wasn't being serious, but not before almost gasping himself.
After another moment of silence: "Alright, how about if I get us something to drink and some snacks before I launch into the detailed explanations?"
Blaze's face said it all; Leo didn't need to translate it for the human. After only a few hot dogs that were their first meals since arriving in this human world, they were still hungry.
"This is all done for fun?" Blaze asked, picking the last few chips from the bag.
After Leo translated, "I'm sure each trainer has their own reasons," Chris answered. "Keep in mind, some Pokémon don't like it and do leave their trainers. One of the rules is if the Pokémon doesn't want to battle, the trainer can't make it. But most Pokémon do; they want to better themselves as much as the trainer, and really one of the few ways to do that is by battling. You know Leo, since you can talk, I'm sure there's going to be a whole lot of researchers who'll give anything to have a talk with you to gain insights into Pokémon psychology, like how they really feel about battling. There's so many thing us humans don't quite understand…."
"No," Leo flatly refused. That was the last thing they needed – distractions. Besides that, if this human wanted to capture them so badly, how many others would there be once a whole world knew about them? No, it'd probably be best to meet as few humans as possible.
"You tell him," Blaze agreed, proceeding with trying to lick some crumbs from the bag. "The fewer humans bothering us, the better."
"Good. I really don't want to share you anyway." Chris smiled, and Leo guessed he meant it as a joke. "You know, talking besides, you seem kinda…different, for a Pokémon."
After carefully wrapping his lips around a can labeled "root beer" like Chris had, and taking the first sip and deciding he liked the sweetness, "How?"
"I mean you…well, I dunno. Act different, kinda. I only met you last night, but you strike me as…sorta…I don't know, having some human traits, I guess I would describe it. Not to mention a little more mature acting than most Pokémon."
Leo noticed Blaze giving him long stare.
"Well, if you can talk, I guess maybe it's just a consequence. But, how can you talk? How did you learn that? Did someone teach you? Is that even possible?"
Leo had no answer, or at least, not one he was willing to give. "Very long story that I don't wish to tell." Maybe not the best explanation, but nothing else came to mind right away. If he grew to trust this human enough, maybe he would give the full story. Perhaps, he could even help them save the world. That point seemed a little distant yet, though.
"Um, well, OK. Fair enough." Chris raised his eyebrows in looking away, the answer seemingly not sitting well with him.
Moving from the small table in front of the long seat Blaze and Chris were on, Leo made his way to what Chris called a patio door. Pushing his head through the cloth covering, he gazed out the large window, finding the city awash in light in the otherwise dim evening. In a way, it was pretty from the vantage of being up several floors. He truly wished he could remember something about this world, to know just how good or bad it was out there.
"There is…one other thing that is different about you," Chris continued carefully. "Last night, I tried to get you into a Pokéball…"
Leo swung around. "A what?"
"One of these." He grabbed one of the small red and white balls that was sitting on a small table by the long seat. "Let me guess, you don't know about these either."
"That's what I was in?" Blaze asked, reaching for it.
Chris let him have it. "Pokémon are able to go inside these, primarily for resting and transportation. Don't ask me how they work, 'cause I don't know exactly, but it's like going to sleep for while, I think. But I tried it on you, Leo, two in fact, and neither of them worked. I know the balls work, but for some reason, they just didn't work on you. First time I've ever heard of a Pokémon that couldn't be put in one. I had to have Electabuzz carry you into the Poke Center last night. It wore him out."
Leo wanted to be angry after being reminded of what happened last night, but now he was curious.
"Well, I made a report about it. Who knows, maybe they're defective in some way, but now thinking about what else that's different about you…"
Blaze threw the ball into the air, catching it with his other hand. "I wonder how it works."
"Ah, don't touch that button on the side," Chris warned with outstretched hand, "unless you want to go back inside it. I'm assuming you don't, apparently being truly wild and all."
His partner shook his head, quickly handing it back.
"You two can sleep on the couch here, or the floor. I'll pull out some blankets for you." Then after pausing, "Boy, this is strange. I'm used to my Pokémon being safely in their Pokéballs for the night. Here I'm giving you the full guest treatment." Then human smiled, shaking his head. "Anyway, if you get hungry, there's more food in the fridge. Please don't make a mess. Oh, and we'll need to start early tomorrow on training; hopefully there'll be someone around who'll want a practice match with us. Most people don't have the level of Pokémon that can easily face…"
"Training?" Leo asked, Blaze already at attention.
"That was the deal, wasn't it? I help you, and you battle for me. I'm doing everything I can right now to find this Leo person for you, but until Professor Korton calls back, I can't do anything else at the moment. So, we might as well spend our time training and getting used to each other."
It was logic Leo found himself at a loss to fight. It was, like he said, the deal they made. Well, to be specific, he said they "would consider" helping him. But considering that Chris was upholding his end, it seemed rather dishonest for them to not start helping the human at this point.
"I think we should," Blaze said pretty much at the same time Leo concluded it.
"Alright," he said simply.
After Chris retired, Leo figured out how the patio door operated, and he and Blaze walked out onto the large ledge that was fenced in by a railing. Outside, it was still warm from the day and the slight breeze felt good, though lightening flashed in the distance past the surrounding hills of the valley. Down below, people were walking here and there and occasional boxes with wheels made their straight-line ways on the hard black roads, sometimes making nearly perfect turns onto crossing roads.
They spent some time looking down before Blaze finally spoke, "I'm not sure doing battles like this is right. When we battled other Pokémon on our world, it was for good reason. Here, it's done as part of a huge contest for entertainment?"
Leo reflected on what his friend said for a moment. "Maybe it's the only way any Pokémon get to fight and get stronger here. Maybe there aren't such things as missions here. No treasures to search for and nobody needs rescuing. Maybe there aren't even criminals to be caught."
"Still doesn't seem right."
"Although the Pokémon sound like they're free to fight or not."
"Electabuzz said if a human captured you, you were obliged to fight for that human."
"He called it a code, didn't he?" Leo asked.
"I think so."
"We should ask him more about it. A Pokémon might give us a more truthful answer, if there is one."
Blaze nodded.
Still, he felt what Blaze was getting at. But was it because he found it distasteful, or simply that it was different? Indeed, this world was already proving far different from what he expected. In fact, it appeared a little too much of what Blaze had said about the world seemed in fact to be true. Finally: "I'm sorry, Blaze," bowing his head down and suddenly feeling all the shame he had felt before but had bottled up.
"Huh?" The infernape stood a little higher, squarely facing him. "For what?"
"You might be right about this world, and I tried to make you think it couldn't be true."
Blaze's mane puffed a little. Whipping his tail around, "Leo, truth is neither of us knew anything about this world. All I heard were a few old stories. No way to know if they were true or not. I was scared and you helped me feel better. And you know what, once I got here…um, and out of that tiny ball, this world is already proving better then what some of the stories told."
"Really?" Leo mumbled, resting his chin on the railing and knowing what his friend was trying to do.
"Really. We've only been here a day, yet already we have a place to stay and a human helping us. And Chris doesn't seem that bad after all; we are respecting each other now."
He sighed, letting his arms dangle down over the railing. "You're probably right. Maybe we aren't doing too badly here, and Chris does seem to be decent enough, but…I'm starting to become afraid of meeting my human self too. Since this one didn't have to save the world, how did I turn out?" Maybe that was the crux of what was bothering him. Just what kind of human was he…what kind of human did his counterpart continue being? Not all the human behaviors they've seen already had been good. And if he was displaying human behaviors like Chris was saying, then…those same traits were part of him. Maybe, being a Pokémon was really in body only. His heart, his soul, was still human…? Maybe…he was one of those trainers, making Pokémon fight…
"If most humans are like Chris, this can't be such a bad world. And I'm confident your human self is the best one of the lot!"
Leo felt his partner's hair-covered tail around his neck…tickling around his gills…
"Leo, you helped save the world twice and even more impressively, gained my complete trust in very little time. You have been the best partner and friend ever. I can't image what my life would be like without you. If those things don't speak as to what qualities you and your human self have, I don't know what does!"
Raising his chin off the railing, Leo noted Blaze's wide (and wicked looking) grin as he continued tickling his gills. He finally took a swipe at the errant tail. "Oh, come on!"
"Ha ha! Not quick enough! The infernape is quicker then the swampert!"
The tail returned, this time to around his head fins and he took another badly missing swipe, nearly hitting his own fin.
"Or at least this swampert!"
"Alright, that's enough," Leo said, not too seriously. Maybe they did need just a bit of fun here…
"Not until Leo smiles!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!" Blaze started furthering the teasing by tapping his tail from one fin to the other…
Leo knew his friend knew that kind of thing on his head fins drove him nuts too, being as sensitive as they were. He feigned a grab for the infernape's tail before leaping straight into him, knocking Blaze onto the floor of the small patio. After a quick tussle, he had Blaze firmly pinned on his stomach as he sat on top of his white-haired back.
"But in a wrestling match, a swampert wins," Blaze admitted with a sigh before twisting his head around. "Ha! Got you to smile!"
Leo couldn't keep himself from laughing. He absolutely swore after evolving into an infernape, his partner developed a mischievous streak in him. Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't be mischievous too…
Blaze made a move to get up, but Leo kept himself firmly on him. "Ah, OK, I'm ready to get up now."
Leo didn't move and made his face go deadpan, though he was dying to at least grin.
"Ah…Leo, you're heavy."
"Oh I don't know. You're less trouble pinned like this."
"I'm trouble, huh?" Puffing his checks, he took on the appearance of someone hurt, in a mocking-sort of way.
"Blaze, if there's anyone who can create more trouble than you, I'd be very afraid of meeting him. I'm sure Loudred would agree."
"Oh-come-on, putting Fire peppers and Blast seeds into the apple bread I thought gave it some needed kick."
Although he tried to mean it as a semi-serious example, Leo finally started cracking up in remembering the image of Loudred after trying some of Blaze's "special" apple bread at one of the Guild's nightly dinners. Just conjuring the memory up made his ears ring. "I'd hate to think…what would have happened…to us…if we hadn't already…been graduated!" he struggled to get out between laughing fits, and wasn't able to resist when Blaze finally started squirming his way out from under him.
"We'd probably would've been on sentry duty for the rest of our lives! Or worse!"
"I can't think of anything worse!" Truly, he had hated sentry duty with a passion.
"Yeah, you weren't that good at it, were you?"
"Nope!" earning another round of laughing fits.
It took them several minutes to calm down, eventually both of them ending back at the railing.
"Lightening is getting closer," Blaze noted as several flashes seemed almost on top of the valley's hills.
Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly, feeling exhausted now after all their laughing. As it was, something Chris said was still stuck in his mind, though. "I do wonder how Pokéballs work…or wonder how I'm different that it didn't work on me." What was it that Dialga said about him…
"Dimensional?" Blaze said musingly.
He paid the infernape a quizzical glance.
"Dialga mentioned something about dimensions, that two worlds could occupy the same space, just that they're in different dimensions. For me to fit inside one of those really tiny balls, it just…seems like the reason has something to do with dimensions."
Leo felt some surprise his partner comprehended as much of that as he did. "Dialga said I had an extra distortion around me. Could that be it?"
Blaze shrugged. "It's the only other thing that's different about you. The other distortion you have I also have, and I still got stuffed in that thing."
"What was it like inside?"
Cocking his head, "It was…comfortable, actually. Warm. Peaceful. I think I was sleeping when I was let out."
"Hm." At least humans did that much for them. After a few more moments of watching the activity below them and the approaching thunderstorm: "Speaking of sleeping, I'm more than tired enough to go to bed."
Blaze yawned, nodding.