Chapter 6: Glimpse
Leo liked mornings, especially the dew with sunlight glistening off it. This morning, the sky was cloudless and the tall grass they were wading through to get back to the path was virtually dripping. It felt refreshing on his smooth blue and white skin, being a while since it had experienced so much moisture. Breathing in the heavy, moisture-laden and earth-scented air, he savored it.
In a better than usual mood, he leapt out of the grass and onto the trail ahead of either Chris or Blaze.
"I guess you're feeling rested," Chris observed. "Glad you got enough sleep." The circles around his own eyes told of a different story for him. "Oh, that's right, I was going to check your leg, Blaze."
Stopping on the trail, Blaze let him have a quick look at his now dew-soaked leg.
Having already asked his friend about it, Leo knew that it was well along to being healed.
"It looks really good," Chris confirmed after a moment. "Should be good as new by tomorrow, maybe."
"That stuff he put on it is really helping I think," Blaze commented. He did a hop of his own, coming down very much normally. "Feels good, too."
"Take it easy, Blaze," Chris warned. "Let it finish healing first."
Blaze rolled his eyes. "He sure is acting like a parent."
"Might have to start calling him 'Daddy'," Leo returned, purposely replying in human-speak and bringing out a laugh from Blaze.
Chris only smiled weakly.
"Something's on your mind," he finally said to the human after they walked a good distance. And he was certain he knew what it was.
"I'll bet it was those humans last night," Blaze said.
"What do you think they were really doing?" Leo asked Chris, certain his friend was correct.
"Good guess," Chris replied. After a sigh, "I don't know. The entire thing was strange. They looked like they were looking for something in particular, and that device they had, they were moving it around like this…" Pretending he was holding something, he moved his hands around in a slow arc back and forth. "…like they were scanning. And wearing night-vision goggles, they were definitely prepared for the night. I'm thinking I might have to report this to the police when we get into town. I'd sure like to know what they were looking for." He finished by returning a longer-than-comfortable glance.
It was a passing thought Leo had himself. Could they possibly have been looking for him? Surely, he was really the only unusual 'thing' in the group, or more exactly, the small distortion…or distortions around him, Blaze only sharing one of them. It was either that, or that fact he could speak human speak, which had already been pointed out more than once that it could be considered a very valuable ability to many people.
"Hey!"
He stopped with Blaze and Chris as a young, long blonde-haired woman came running up from behind them, wearing a rather flashy black leather-like jacket and pants. "A swampert and an infernape? You must be a good trainer, then. Or just lucky. Care for a match? I could use some practice before taking on the gym leader in Jade River." Crossing her arms, she waited for an answer.
Looking to Leo, "You feel up for another one?" Chris asked.
"Practice makes perfect," he replied, entirely forgetting he was still speaking in human until Chris grimaced.
Wide-eyed, the woman gasped in backing up. "It talks!"
"Name's Leo; let's get this match going," deciding to cut off the discussion right then and there by moving off the path, heading for a line of trees standing amid some shorter grass that looked to make a good field boarder.
"Nice way to leave her speechless," Chris whispered as he followed with Blaze.
Indeed, they were almost to the trees before she started moving. "Uh…right," she finally said, hurrying to position herself a short distance away and opposite them. "But I want to talk to him after we're done! Alright?"
Chris barely nodded, but it seemed enough for the woman.
"Graveler, go!" Taking a Pokéball off her belt and holding it out, the said Pokémon appeared in front of her at the end of a red beam.
"Hmm, a graveler," Chris said thoughtfully from behind Leo. "Your water attack is going to be very effective, Leo. This should be easy."
"I've heard that before," Leo replied. The aipom from a couple days ago was supposed to be 'easy' too, as was the prinplup.
"But it does weigh more than you, so we'll be careful and not let it get too close. She has to have some reason for using it against you, knowing it's weak against water."
"A trap, maybe?" Blaze asked.
Nodding, Leo was thinking the same thing. Surely a couple water pulses should do it, but the other trainer must also know that, considering the level of skill he'd witnessed with human trainers so far…
"Graveler, roll! You know what to do!"
The grey, rock-clad Pokémon tucked it's arms about himself, dropping to the ground after doing the same with his feet; with seemingly little effort, he started rolling his rough, round self forward, but also to the side.
"Leo, when it gets close, nail it with a water pulse."
Exactly what his own instinct wanted to do. Leo waited the few seconds it took the graveler to get close, then let loose…right as the graveler astonishingly sped up, just dodging his attack! And right after, it changed it's course to come straight for him!
Leo didn't wait for instruction before shooting out another water pulse, only this time the other Pokémon sprang it's arms and legs out, leaping into the air in an instant, while the thin wall of water passed harmlessly underneath!
"Ah!" Chris exclaimed as Blaze yelled "Look out!"
Before he could react, the graveler was standing right before him!
Arms now out, the Pokémon was about to hit him, but Leo locked hands with him and for several seconds pushed as hard as he could against the graveler while it was pushing right back. Neither of them was moving the other… Their strength was even!
"Water pulse again!" Chris yelled.
And at this range, with the graveler's hands locked with his, he couldn't miss! He quickly got the water in his mouth ready in anticipation when the graveler unexpectedly shook a hand free. Shoving the rough-edged appendage into his face, it blocked his mouth and forced his head up and back sharply as water leaked from his mouth. But now with a free hand, he slugged the rock Pokémon in the side…to do nothing more then shove his opponent back a few feet and breaking their contact.
"Rock shards!" the woman trainer shouted.
Before his eyes, the graveler shook violently as shards of rock started breaking off it's shell to go flying.
Having seen the attack before, he was already on his way to the ground as the shards passed barely overhead, though a few sharp pains in his rear fin told of several hitting there.
"Roll!"
Leo didn't need to see to know what was about to happen. With a leap, he was back up and running; although he didn't like running on all fours, he needed distance and fast, lest he'd get run right over! The sound of crumpling grass and a quick breeze behind him told of just how close that came to happening, too. Finally, he stopped before one of the trees to turn around to look.
If the graveler insisted on coming for him now, he could leapt out of way and let him roll right into it. Probably wouldn't hurt a graveler much, but would stop it for a few seconds, giving him the time to focus his power into a combined fist, and hopefully cracking it's shell of rock before following up with a water pulse. Unless Chris had something else in mind.
After waiting as the graveler finished it's turn around before heading straight for him again, he tensed his legs to leap. Yet…his strength suddenly wasn't there. He started feeling dizzy…faint. What? No…not now!
He grabbed the tree for support...
"Leo!"
"Hey, you alright?"
"Get him to the chair, hurry!"
"Grovyle!"
Leo Hanson let himself be lead to a chair to be sat down and his head shoved between his legs as he regained his senses. He saw Sally's face before him.
"Leo, we'll get an ambulance here."
"Wha…no, I'm alright now." To prove it, he sat up, giving his head a shake, though his heart was pounding.
"You nearly fainted, just like before," George said, alarm still in his voice.
"No…I'm fine. Really!" Standing up, he fought off the nearby hands ready to help steady him. "No ambulance. I'm OK. I just need some air. Sorry everyone." With still shaking legs, he hurried out of the lab and to the restroom, Grovyle following, knowing he left some puzzled people behind.
Hovering over the sink, he stared into the mirror, noticing just how pale his face was. He wasn't so certain it was from fainting rather than what he saw…what he felt in his vision. Quite plainly, it scared him to death!
There was a crack somewhere.
"Leo!"
"Graveler, abort!"
Leo found himself coming to on the ground, heart pounding and his left forearm pinned up and behind him between the tree and the balled-up graveler. In fact, his arm was pinned perfectly between the tree and the point of the graveler's roundish body.
The graveler shoved out it's arms and legs to stand up. Then it became plain what the crack had been as his arm fell to the ground, with nearly unbearable pain hitting instantly. There was no stifling the load moan he let out as he started shaking.
"You…hurt bad," the graveler said, looking down with a puzzled and concerned expression.
"Leo!" Blaze was there before anyone else.
The pain in his arm was getting bad quickly enough that he hardly comprehended much of what was said right away. He remembered Chris, Blaze and the woman trainer all staring down at him, Blaze going nearly frantic.
"…broken."
"Don't move it! Hold…still!"
"Keep him…"
"Graveler…cloth!"
"…going to…some…branches…"
"…to doctor…"
He knew he was hyperventilating, making his stomach turn inside out as his arm was approaching pure agony. He dared not even try and move it, instead grabbing dirt with his good hand and with all his strength making a fist to try and take his mind off the pain. Water came leaking out of his skin, making the dirt into mud.
Blaze's hands were soon on his back, rubbing around and between his shoulders and neck, trying to keep him calm. "Chris is going to make a splint, we'll get it wrapped and you to some help right away."
"You poor thing, I'm sorry!" the woman said. "We've never had this happen before!"
Over the following minutes, he finally felt himself calming down, thanks to both Blaze's massaging and his pain level finally leveling off somewhere between unbearable and intolerable. "It wasn't your fault," he finally was able to say through clenched teeth to the female human. "Accident."
She returned a nervous smile. "Don't worry, your trainer seems to know what he's doing. He'll get you to a Pokécenter very soon."
Chris was quickly back. Leo only saw a glimpse of some large, short sticks as they quickly disappeared on the side of him. He tried to turn his head to look, but Chris told Blaze to hold him still. Cloth was ripped, and he felt the sensation of wood gently surrounding his forearm. "Leo, this is going to hurt a little as we put the splint on. Blaze, don't let him move!"
"It already hurts, more than little…" he said, right before an unbelievably sharp pain shot through his arm. "Ah!" The woman grimaced, quickly putting her hands on either side of his head and rubbing him near his gills and also keeping his head from moving. "He's just making sure it's straight."
Mercifully, the sharp pain was short lived and he felt cloth slowly being slowly wrapped and tightened around his arm.
"So this is what a broken bone feels like. Always wondered about it," he said in a weak attempt at humor.
"You Pokémon are so tough, it very rarely happens," the woman replied. "In fact, I can't remember ever hearing of it happening. Not like us humans, though. I mean, we break bones right and left."
"Yeah, exactly," Chris added. "When I was nine, I broke my arm when I fell off my bike. Broke it far worse then what it looks like you have. And I have a friend who had a car accident…twenty-nine broken bones."
The woman grimaced again. "Twenty-nine?"
Blaze echoed the same question with astonishment in his voice.
Leo felt another sharp pain as his arm was lifted slightly to get more cloth underneath, making him flinch.
"Sorry, almost done. Yeah, he was in the hospital for four months. A hip, most of one leg, both arms and a few ribs. Several of them with breaks in multiple places."
"How is he now?" the woman asked.
"Fully healed. But it did take some physical therapy afterward. He's running marathons now."
"Wow."
"And then, during one of his recent events, he tripped and broke an ankle."
"Oh, no…"
"Then I had another friend who played baseball in school. Took a line-drive to his wrist…"
"That poor guy!"
"…breaking two of his bones in…"
Leo had heard enough. "Can we please stop talking about breaking bones?"
"Ah…oh, sorry!"
He felt a tightening of the cloth, then: "There, done. OK, let's get you to the road and try to flag someone down who will drop us off at the Pokécenter. I don't think we're going to try walking the rest of the way. Are you ready to try and stand?"
Putting his unbroken arm under him, Leo started getting himself up while trying his best to minimize moving the broken one. Plenty of hands surrounded him to help get him standing, the shift in position of his left arm also providing plenty of extra pain. Chris soon had a sling between his arm and neck to help hold it still.
Fortunately, the walking path and road weren't but a few minutes walk apart through some tall grass and several lines of trees, and Chris was soon waving down a van whose driver took pity on their situation.
"OK, take care you three," the woman trainer said as they parted. "Hopefully we can battle again without anyone getting hurt like this."
Leo heard her and Chris exchange names before the doors were closed. With his large back fin, he could only sit on his side in the back with the seats down, Blaze helping to keep the bumps in the road from moving him too much by wrapping an arm around his upper torso.
"Blaze?" he finally said after one bad bump that forced his friend to just about crush him to keep him from being jostled too badly. "You need a bath."
"Ha ha! Leo, so do you."
He had to grin…though the next bump forced it into a grimace. Thankfully the trip was quick and they were soon in the Pokécenter.
"I have to admit this is the first broken bone I've ever treated on a Pokémon," the nurse said while finishing the plaster case around his forearm. "What kind of battle were you fighting anyway?" directing the question behind her to Chris who was sitting on one of the counters.
"It was an accident. His arm got pinned between a rolling graveler and a tree and took the full impact at that one point."
The nurse's eyes widened before giving him a look of extreme pity. "Ouch! No wonder, you poor thing!"
He smiled, being careful not to talk, at least in human speak. The pain killer the nurse gave him was working quite well, making him feel relaxed enough that he didn't feel like engaging in any lengthy conversations anyway. Actually, he felt like sleeping. Too bad he was sitting up between two chairs brought together to accommodate his back fin, otherwise if he was laying on his stomach, he would be asleep.
Shaking her hands over the bowl of plaster, the nurse finally pronounced the job complete. "Don't move your arm for a few minutes while it hardens. Let me clean up and then I'll be back to treat those fragments in your fin." Picking up the bowl of thin plaster, she left the room.
He'd forgotten…the rock shard attack must've embedded some shards in his back fin. Funny how something like a broken arm can take all your attention away from anything else that was hurting you.
Blaze hovered over his new cast. "Looks heavy. Bet it'll be as hard as rock, though. Make a good club! Maybe I should get one," his partner giving a toothy grin.
"I'd recommend not breaking an arm to do it," he replied, noticing Chris staring at him solemnly.
"Leo, I think I'm going to have a battery of tests done on you when you get a little better," the sandy-haired human finally said, moving down off the counter.
He didn't like the sound of that. "What…do you mean?"
"To get to bottom of what's wrong with you."
"We know what's wrong; my arm's broke!" Unless, he really meant…
"No, not that. I mean, that was the second time you nearly fainted. I've seen Pokémon faint before in battles, in fact it's common, but the first time you almost did was well after the battle was over, and this time…you'd hardly been touched yet. That isn't normal."
Blaze at first furrowed his forehead, then: "Leo, was it…"
He tried to tell his partner with a glance it was the Dimensional Scream without tipping off Chris that he was telling Blaze anything. "Didn't you say I was special?" hoping to throw their trainer off.
Chris bent over slightly in front of him, looking him in the eyes. "Leo, there's something wrong with you, and I'm getting worried."
For the longest moment, he instead locked eyes with Blaze, wondering what to say. Sooner or later it seemed, he would have to tell the human what was really going on, where they were from and why they were here. It was just…he didn't know if he should right now.
"You aren't…dying of old age, are you?"
Now that surprised him as well as Blaze, judging by the silly look his partner got on his face. "You, old? Wait, Dialga said you were born well before…"
"I'm a Pokémon of about three," Leo replied. It was the truth, but how old was he as a human before he was changed into a Pokémon, and did those years count? He had no idea.
Chris seemed a little more at ease after his answer. Giving a pat to his shoulder, he smiled. "Good. I'm glad it's not that. But just the same, we need to figure out why you're fainting so much. We'll wait till you heal some first, though. You've been through enough for one day."
Leo sighed, wondering what 'tests' were. Regardless, he knew they probably wouldn't figure out anything unless he told them the reason.
The nurse returned and started working on his large back fin. Blaze was watching, but it was also very obvious the question on his face. He would have to tell him the vision he saw…even though he didn't want to remember it. Now, with the memory of it creeping back to him, he started to tremble.
"Hold still, please!" the nurse said from behind him. "Just need to clean everything and get these patches on.
He struggled to stay still as his heart started racing; more and more of the vision flooded his mind and senses…and it was scaring him.
Oh God, what was that?
Leo Hanson let the cold water pour over his hands for a good moment before splashing his face.
Everything had felt so real, so…dark. And it either had happened, or will happen. Which was it? But he hadn't recognized anything or anyone in it, except, maybe… Looking back to where the lab would be through the walls; that one hand: with the scaring. Could he have been there?
There were some rapid knocks on the door, "Leo, you in there?" Sally's voice asked. "You alright?"
"Grovyle! Vyler!"
"I'm…fine. Hold on." Grabbing a towel, he dried his face off before leaving the restroom where Grovyle had been waiting outside along with Sally. "You didn't call an ambulance, did you? I'm alright."
"Not yet, but I think I should really get you to the hospital."
"Look, I only needed some air, OK?" He started making his way back for the lab, but she grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"No, people just don't have fainting spells for no reason. I'm going to take you."
"Sally, they're still running the tests from last time. I don't think they're going to find anything different this time around."
By her expression, she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Well, we'll let them decide that." Still having hold of his arm, she started tugging him down the hall and toward the front door.
"I said no! I…already know what's causing it." There, he said it. He was committed to telling her now. And from this last vision, maybe he really did now. Finally.
She stared back with her long, red-hair framed face changing from determination to one of concern as she let go of his arm. "Why didn't you say so before? I…it isn't…bad, is it?"
"I didn't say anything before because I didn't think anyone was going to believe me."
"Huh?"
Glancing to the lab doors, he decided they needed a better place to talk. "Let's go to the meeting room."
Sally was seemingly frozen for the longest moment after he finished. Finally: "That cable, that's how you knew? In a vision?"
"Groovyle!" Grovyle of course, had known about his visions for some time.
Leo nodded. "Yeah. And every one I've seen has turned out to be one-hundred percent accurate. Normally I don't get them very often, less than once a year, but lately I've been having a lot of them. You saw what happened to me when I got the last two. I don't know what's causing them, but I think these recent ones all have something to do with our project in one form or another. Two of them for sure."
"Then, what you thought you saw during Phase Two, you believe will happen?"
Nodding again, "I've little doubt. Something is going to go wrong and I have no idea who all those people were I saw. But this last vision…" He shook his head, trying to get a grip on himself before he told her what his last vision showed him. "…what I saw…felt…I felt raw fear."
Sally didn't move.
Tightening his grip on the table, he started to pick back over what he remembered: "There was a lab, but not this one. I didn't recognize anything there, though it looked like there were maybe tall superconductor coils arranged in a circle with some masers and modulators, I'm not sure…"
"Another project?" Sally gasped.
"That'd be my guess, and I think they were succeeding, except something was coming through. As it slowly took form, I felt ice running through my veins. There was an explosion, yelling, people started running…screaming. One after another they were struck down by…some…attack. The coils started exploding and fires were breaking out, to the point where they surrounded me. All the while, I just feel this oppressive…fear." He shook his head, fully remembering the feeling. "It felt like some evil had come to Earth!"
"Rrr?"
His green friend sounded scared and he realized Sally was holding his hands, trembling slightly. Wait…he was the one that was trembling!
"Leo, I…don't know what to tell you. Except, it wasn't here, right?"
Gathering his wits back together, "No, it wasn't here. But you know, I think I do recognize one of the people I saw. The Derganio representative with the scarred hands: Terrace." Of course! The vision had to have been in the past! "His hands, that must be how he got scarred, from the fires! I thought they looked like burns!"
Keeping hold of his hands as she got up, "Then maybe we should ask him a few questions."
"You believe me?" He really hadn't been sure how everything he'd told her would go over, but if he could at least get her to believe him, maybe he wasn't so crazy after all!
"How can I not? I thought there was something to you finding that disconnected cable like that yesterday. Something unexplained." Raising her eyebrows, "Well, this explains it…even though it does seem a little out there. But lets talk to that guy."
The two of them were back in the lab mere seconds later, but the Derganio representatives were already gone. "They left already?" Sally asked the others who were still milling around.
"Yeah, a few minutes ago with the Professor," George answered. "Leo, how you feeling?"
"I'm OK," he replied, now angry they just missed them. "Damn." How close had he been to getting some answers? His watch beeped.
"Appointment?" George asked.
"No, just a reminder to make sure I get out to the path for our arriving distortion."
"You still going through with that?" Sally asked, a hint of worry in her voice.
Feeling his own forehead, he felt normal, physically at least. "I can handle it. It'll probably give me a few hours to unwind while waiting anyway." Actually, what he really felt like doing was curling up into a ball in some corner somewhere to hide from what he saw, but he needed to find whoever had the other distortion around him/her/it. That was priority at the moment. He had to believe there was a chance of learning some from this second distortion, maybe even some clues to his visions if there was a connection between them and his distortion.
"I can go with you, if you want." George offered.
"You need to keep working here, all of you!" Sally said with some air of authority. Then again, she was third in charge.
Taking that as their cues, George, Naomi and Ticonamo quickly got back to what they were doing before the visit.
"Quit worrying, I'm fine!" Leo repeated to help keep them from worrying, though knowing it probably wouldn't. "Grovyle will look out for me too."
Grovyle straightened up a little, giving his head leaf blade a slight flick. "Gro-vyle!"
"Let's confirm they're still on schedule, first."
Leo followed Sally up to the control balcony, finding her comment a little amusing. He wondered if anyone told them they were on a schedule.
Bringing up the DV detector screen, she switched to the map display, where, sure enough, it showed a large red blimp right over Pinnacle Valley, which was as accurate as it got. But that's all it showed. "Huh? Where are they?"
Around the slight shimmer of the edges of his location circle, a second color was just showing. "They're…here. They're in the city already!"
"But… they were only half-way here a couple hours ago!" Sally exclaimed.
Slamming the counter with his fist in frustration, "Damn it! They had to of caught a ride or something!" Now inside the city, there was virtually no hope of finding them. The detector simply didn't have the sensitivity to track them down to anything more than within a few miles.
The morning was definitely not going well.
Leo came slowly opened his eyes on the bench in the Pokécenter. Warm late-afternoon sunlight was streaming through the large windows of the lobby, warming his skin nicely. Lying on his stomach, he moved his head enough to gaze out the windows and over the low bushes, idly watching humans and the occasional Pokémon passing by on the other side of the street while regaining full consciousness. His still drowsy eyes seemed to focus on one human on the sidewalk, dressed in dark grey clothes and sunglasses and staring straight at him, unmoving, for many moments.
Huh?
"Leo, you awake finally?"
Yawning, he turned his head to face Blaze. "Partly. That medicine is…weird."
"It sure knocked you out for a while."
"Look out the window. Do you see that human dressed in dark grey with sunglasses? He's been looking at me for a while."
Blaze looked…then looked puzzled as he cocked his head. "I don't see anyone."
Leo looked back out, finding the human gone. "Probably nothing." Feeling no energy to get up from the cushioned, cloth-covered (and warm) bench, he merely moved his head to look around the lobby. "Where's Chris?"
Seating himself on the next bench in front of him, his partner folded his legs to rest his head on his knees while letting his tail hang down the other side of the bench. "Went to challenge the gym leader here, he said. He wants to do a match tomorrow. He also said something about seeing the police and getting some room at someplace called a 'hotel'. Don't know what that means, but he said we're going to be here a few days while you're healing, so we needed someplace to stay other than at this Pokécenter."
"Oh." Like Blaze, he also didn't know what some of that meant.
"How's your arm feeling?"
Leo glanced to where it was hanging in the sling off the edge of the bench, solidly in it's new cast. "Stiff."
"Ha ha. Funny."
"So I have to wear this cast for a week or two?"
"That's what that female human who put it on said. After you fell asleep out here, she said humans usually had to wear them for up to two months!"
"They keep telling us we heal faster." There were advantages to being a Pokémon, it seemed.
"Does it hurt any?"
"No."
"You're supposed to take some other medicine twice a day when what they gave you wears off. Chris has it."
Leo nodded, a little difficult with his chin flat on the bench cushion.
In a quieter and a little more serious voice: "What did you see in the vision this morning?"
It was a simple enough question, but it made him tense about as much as when Chris was setting his arm! He tried laying for a little longer, but suddenly felt the need to get up and stand. He needed to move, to not feel like prey laying down ready to be filleted! Almost instinctively, he was searching for escape routes.
"What's the matter? I haven't seen you tense like this since we faced Dusknoir and Primal Dialga!"
He stared back at his partner in fear, the full memory of what he saw hitting him afresh and making his heart pound. It was the last thing he wanted to think about, but yet if he saw it in a vision, than it was likely important!
"Maybe you should sit, Leo." Blaze patted the edge of the two benches with his purple hand. "Tell me what's it is."
Finally realizing how he must be looking to his friend, he sat, making sure his back fin fit between the benches, but it felt like he was suddenly sitting on a cacnea! "I don't know how to describe it. I saw…destruction, humans dying, being attacked by this…thing from the shadows that was seemingly delighting in it! I could feel it…enraged…hunting."
"Wh…what?" Blaze was on his own feet suddenly, crouching on top of the bench's cushion as his mane ruffled up, ears twitching.
"Blaze, I have never felt that kind of fear before! Not even from Dusknoir. And the power it appeared to wield…" The vision of one wall of energy hitting something, causing it to explode, he doubt he would ever forget.
"Now you're making me scared! Do you know what it was?"
"It was always behind something or hidden by fire and smoke, yet attacking. Fires were burning, and…screaming…" He had shared their fear, their desperation. He felt…a tear stream from his eye and down his face.
"Oh, hey, Leo! Hey, take it easy! It was only a vision. You weren't really there!"
"Blaze, I don't know if it was the past or the future! It could be about to happen; I don't know. No matter what, it was horrible…like the end of the world!" He had always felt a resistance to pour his feelings out like this, but in this case, he just couldn't help it. Even after what he said, it still fell far short of what he had felt.
His view was quickly filled with the infernape's face after his friend jumped off the bench to stand before him. "Listen, you're OK. And did you see anyone we know?"
Although he didn't want to, he went over what he saw yet again, then shook his head.
"That's good. No one we know was or will be there. So, the next question is, what does it have to do with our mission?"
Blaze's calm was rubbing off on him and he started to feel as least a little better. And with the return of reasoning, he realized something else. "Don't know, but you know, this is the second time I had a vision and hadn't touched anything to trigger it."
Cocking his head, "Maybe that Graveler…you were locked with him for a moment."
That was true, but… "Everything else that triggers one, is always in…it…" The front doors to the Pokécenter slid open, and a black-haired man in a dark grey suit came striding in. "That's him!"
The infernape swung around and watched the human approach the nurse at the desk. "That's…the grey clothes. That's who was watching you?"
"Yes." He couldn't quite hear what was said between the man and the nurse, but the man did point to him at one point. The nurse finally stood up and they both glanced toward him.
"Who is he?" Blaze wondered.
The front doors slid open again with Chris coming through this time, carrying a couple small bags. "Oh, hey, you're awake!" he greeted as he approached.
"Yes," Leo answered quietly, so as not to be heard very far. "Who's that human at the desk?"
"Huh?" Chris swung around, apparently noticing the person for the first time as the grey-clothed human quickly left the desk and the Pokécenter. "That man? Don't recognize him. Why?"
Leo told him what he observed.
Chris's eyebrows narrowed. "Strange." Setting down the bags, he went to the desk to engage in his own conversation with the nurse. Leo watched her shake her head and shrug before he returned.
"He was asking who your trainer was and how long I was going to be gone." He paused, then kneeled before him. In a quieter voice: "I'm beginning to think you have someone after you two. I mean, we had two people nosing around our camp last night, and now someone asking about you here. Look you two, I know you don't want to talk about your past, but I'm getting suspicious. Do you know of anyone who would have reason to…I don't know, come after you for any reason?"
"I don't know of anyone," Leo answered quite truthfully. Indeed, he really didn't know anyone at all on the human world!
Grimacing, "Well, maybe someone wants you because you can talk. I'm sure those who've heard you have probably told others. Stealing Pokémon isn't unheard of, you know. And with your broken arm, you're an easier then usual target now, Leo. I think I better stick closer to you." Picking up the bags, "But for now, I got us a special room for trainers and Pokémon at one of the hotels here. It isn't too far and is close to the gym, too."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you!" Blaze said, puffing up his chest with a grin.
Leo returned the grin before getting up and following Chris out of the Poke center, Blaze bringing up the rear. As they passed various enormous buildings and people, he swore he caught glimpses of the man in the gray clothes and sunglasses…
Leo Hanson stared for minutes at the screen. For the last few hours he tried working on the code, but the vision he saw that morning was too damned distracting. That, and the fact he missed the opportunity to intercept the trainer Chris and his swampert that perhaps had the dimensional distortion, was weighing on him. Of course he could wait until the trainer returned to his apartment and returned his call, assuming the old woman gave him his card, or maybe try to meet him again.
Finally, the 'modulus 93' subroutine that he wanted to ask the Professor about was really getting to him. He didn't like the idea of code in the control program that he didn't know anything about.
Picking up the phone, he tried getting a hold of Professor Werner for the tenth time, only to get voice mail again. Slamming it back down, "You'd think with things as hectic as they are now, he'd be here to help out!" He reached for some chocolates only to find his bowl empty.
"Calm down," Sally returned soothingly. "I'm sure he's busy taking care of things we don't have to deal with."
He opened the drawer where he kept candy, but found no bags. That's right: he was going to stop for some this morning, but had to hurry into the lab instead. He let out a sigh of frustration at generally everything.
"Maybe you should go home and get some rest. It has been a tough day for you."
"Don't we have to have this thing ready by tomorrow for full-scale testing?" he answered, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I really should get this last module debugged, but I'm just staring it."
"Exactly. But if you insist on doing something…" Reaching inside a drawer of the cabinet next to her console, she pulled out a crinkly bag of something. "…I've been thinking a little."
"A little?"
Sally smiled, opening the bag and pouring chocolates into his bowl. "About that trainer."
"Oh, thanks! You're a life-saver." Taking a handful, he stuffed several into his mouth at once, enjoying the melting sweetness almost immediately.
"I know," she grinned, taking a candy for herself. "OK, suppose you're a trainer going to another city. What's the most likely reason you're going? And it's a city that has a gym…"
"Ah, of course! To battle in the gym." At once, he was on the internet and getting the number for the Pinnacle Valley Gym. Dialing, a man with a gruff voice answered after a number of rings.
"Pinnacle Valley Gym, Eric speaking."
"Ah, hi. My name is Leo Hanson, and I'm wondering if you can tell me if a trainer named Chris Urbason has been there, or still is there, probably for a match."
Silence, then: "Well, I don't release information about challengers unless or until they actually defeat me. Until then, the names of challengers is privileged information."
"So, you can't even tell me if he was there? Or maybe where he is now if you happen to know?"
"Look, I don't help track people down, especially for people I don't know. If this person has challenged me and he wins, the record will be public."
"Then could I leave a message for him that you could pass along?" He was getting desperate.
"I don't take messages unless it's an emergency. Is this an emergency?"
As much as he was tempted to say otherwise… "Well, no…not exactly."
"Well, then I'm sorry. Was there anything else?"
"No, thanks anyway." He terminated the connection.
"Well?" Sally asked, her voice giving away that she thought it didn't sound hopeful.
"He wouldn't tell me anything. Challenger's names are protected, apparently."
Sally leaned back, stretching her arms up and behind her for a moment as her long hair fell off her shoulders and behind her. "Well…he got to this city fairly quickly today. You said maybe he caught a ride. Then what would compel a trainer who's walking here to suddenly want to catch a ride?"
"He got lucky?" Leo offered, before grinning. It was the closest he'd gotten to a laugh all day.
"Funny. But trainers walk between gyms not just to get there, but sometimes to battle on the way, don't they? I mean, you use to be one, right?"
"When I was a kid," giving a glance to Grovyle. He was the one Pokémon he'd kept with him. Though it had been real difficult all those years ago to give up the handful he'd captured, he knew they'd be better off with other trainers when he decided to devote his life to his education and get into physics. Grovyle though, had evolved before his eyes and the bond they had was so strong, he refused to leave. Even though their last battle was many years ago, the green skinned Pokémon never complained, and actually seemed to enjoy watching and sometimes helping with what he did everyday better than battling. In fact, at some point he even took a peculiar interest in studying the old Unown language; part of his bookshelf was filled with such research books now. That was stuff even he couldn't understand, language never being one of his favorite subjects. Certainly Grovyle was one strange (and smart) Pokémon, but as there were many different kinds of humans each with their own interests, he believed the same was true with Pokémon.
"Oh, right, back in the Stone Ages," Sally continued.
"And…the Bronze Age came right after that, you know," Leo returned, subtly pointing out she wasn't much younger then he. He added a smile to make sure she knew he was joking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Grovyle cock his head.
"Inside joke," Sally said to Grovyle, then: "Well, from a Bronze Age maiden to a Stone Age warrior, what would really cause a trainer who probably prefers to be walking and battling to suddenly catch a ride to his destination?"
He thought at first she was pausing just for effect, but apparently she was actually waiting for an answer.
"Grovyle!" The green Pokémon made a motion of fake punching himself before falling on his desk as if…
"Injured Pokémon who needs to get to a Pokécenter!" he said with Sally in unison. Grovyle was nodding as he started scanning the phone directory again, this time for the town's Pokécenter nearest to the route to Jade River City.
"Tenth Street Pokécenter, Pinnacle Valley," a woman's voice answered. "Nurse Jill Anders speaking."
"Hi. I'm Leo Hanson, and I'm hoping you could give me some information. I'm looking for a trainer named Chris Urbason, who probably has a swampert with him."
"Well, I really don't give out patient information to strangers."
"Please, it's really important I find him. Wait, I'm sorry, I should introduce myself better. I work at Pinnacle Valley University, Department of Advanced Physics. I think this trainer may be able to help us in a study. I've already tried contacting him at his home in Jade River City, but he's apparently traveled to this city already."
"Uh…" The nurse stammered for half moment. "Actually, you're aren't the first person who's asked about him or his Pokémon. What's going on?"
"Huh? Uh…who else is looking for him?" Indeed, who else?
A sigh came over the line. "Look, I don't know where he went, so I really can't help you anyway."
"So he was there?"
"Yes, there was such a person here to get his swampert treated. But they are gone now. Huh, you know what's funny? His Pokémon has the same name as you."
"Er…what?"
"His swampert, it's name was also Leo."
He paused for a moment, wondering what that had to do with anything. "That's…interesting. Well, if he returns, could you give him my name and number and ask him to please call me?" The nurse agreed, and after giving his number, he terminated the connection. To Sally's expectant stare: "Chris was there and had one of his Pokémon treated. A swampert to be specific."
"Ha! We were right!" Sally exclaimed with a grin. "So, where…"
Leo already knew her next question: "But he's not there anymore, and she didn't know where he went."
"Oh. Then what was so interesting?"
Not that he thought it mattered, but it sure was…odd. "His swampert has a name: it's Leo."
Raising her eyebrows, she started tapping the armrest of her chair, "A human…and a Pokémon…each with almost identical dimensional distortions…and both named Leo. Huh."
As she put it, it suddenly did sound amazingly coincidental. "Assuming it is the swampert that has the distortion," he added, wanting to be careful about making too many assumptions. "Oh, and the nurse mentioned there was someone else who came in and was asking about them. By her tone, I think she thought it was odd. Who else would be looking for them?"
"Professor Werner, maybe?"
"But he sent me to find them."
Shrugging, "Then maybe one of his friends is looking him up."
The Professor's earlier warning about being careful again came to mind. What if there was someone else looking for them for the same reason he was, and the Professor knew it? But who else would know about the dimensional distortion? They had the only DV detector on the planet…
…unless…what he saw in his vision actually was what he thought it was, that being essentially another DP project. Would it really be a stretch to assume the DV detector technology could have already existed…and someone else had one?
Assuming all that, for what reason could anyone have for obtaining that Pokémon and it's distortion? Could it have anything to do with the reason for the distortion's sudden appearance several days ago? Or was it because a Pokémon and it's distortion was much more readily obtainable than a human (namely himself)? Or both?
Or neither, and it was simply an old friend looking Chris up?
Too many damned unknowns.
First thing Leo urgently sought inside the hotel room was the bathroom. Chris mentioned the room was for Pokémon as much as humans, and the bathroom design seemed to bear that out. After coming back out, the second thing on his list was the large soft-looking rectangular thing that was a bed. Chris had one in his house, only there were two large ones in this room.
Blaze seemed to be having fun on one of them already, bouncing up and down and earning a "Stop that!" from Chris.
"Ha ha! Hey Leo, this is fun! You feel like trying it?"
Shaking his head, he moved to the other bed, laying down on his stomach. He would jump like his partner just to try it, but the pain in his broken arm was beginning to return and all he wanted to do was lay still and let it throb.
Chris moved over to him after Blaze stopped jumping, "How's your arm doing?"
"Starting to hurt," he replied. "Is the medicine the nurse gave us supposed to help?"
"She said to give you some if it started to hurt again." Getting a glass of water, Chris handed it to him along with a small white round thing. "Swallow that along with the water."
Blaze leaned in close to have a look. "That's tiny! How can that help? Berries worth anything are much larger than that!"
Leo bit into the thing…and nearly gagged. "It's awful!"
"You're supposed to swallow it, not chew it!" Chris replied. "Drink the water."
After downing the entire glass in two gulps, the bitter taste hardly abated. He handed the glass back to Chris so he could refill it while suddenly noticing how close his infernape friend was. "Blaze, remember that bath I mentioned?" he asked, giving a wry grin. "There's a large bathtub in the bathroom."
Blaze backed up a little, grimacing. "Oh…right. I guess we both having been sweating a lot lately. Ha!" He quickly disappeared into the bathroom, running past Chris and nearly slamming the door behind him on his red tail. Sounds of running water soon emanated through the door.
"Sounds like he's taking a bath" Chris commented, handing him the glass. "I hate to say it, but infernapes smell a lot more than swamperts."
Leo again downed the water in a couple gulps, still not completely eliminating the medicine's unbelievably bitter taste. "Hadn't noticed." Of course, he could only guess how bad he smelled by this point, but if they were home they could take baths everyday and it wouldn't be an issue. The opportunity for baths on this human world seemed harder to come by, given all their traveling.
Sniffing suddenly, "Think I should probably have a shower too." Turning to start unpacking some stuff from his pack, "So, you have a home somewhere?"
"Far away," Leo answered, setting the glass on a table before laying back down on his stomach.
"I wonder if those men from last night came from where you live."
"I doubt it."
"How do you know?"
"Because humans…" Nearly too late, he realized what he was about to say. "…like that aren't found there." Not the best answer, but the only one he could think of without saying there were no humans period were he is from. (Save for himself, but then he wasn't exactly human anymore.)
Chris turned slightly with an expression of curiosity. "Really? What kind of humans are there then?"
The running water sound stopped, replaced by a huge splash and the sound of water hitting the floor. "Ha ha he!"
Chris moaned. "So that's why they said we have triple the normal amount of towels in this room."
Leo almost grinned and started looking forward to his own bath. From the size of the tub, even he could fit in it, back fin and all, compared to the one in Chris's apartment which he might only be able to partly lay down and still not have water completely cover him.
"So what kind of humans are found where you're from?" Chris repeated.
"The kind we don't have to worry about." And that was true; 'no' humans was certainly a type one didn't have to worry about.
Sighing, "I guess I have a ways to go yet before I earn your trust."
Leo wouldn't had thought so before, but the comment hurt him.
From the bathroom, more water hit the floor - Blaze was certainly having fun.
Though his arm was hurting again and he still felt really tired, he seriously thought about telling the human everything right there and then. "Chris…if I told you where we're from, I don't know if you'll believe me. Blaze and I are here for a reason, and part of that is to find this human named Leo." And he suddenly remembered: "He's in this city."
"What?" Straightening up, Chris swung back around. "Are you sure? When did you find that out?"
"Couple nights ago." He got himself up from the bed to find what he thought he saw on the way in. "Can we use the phone directory again?"
Mouth open, Chris stared at him for a couple heartbeats before moving to the phone terminal in the room. "How did you find out?"
"You wouldn't believe me."
"Try me." Touching the screen, he brought it to life before touching a few more "buttons".
"Another Pokémon told us."
"Ah…huh. You know, getting answers out of you is like pulling hen's teeth."
"What's a hen?" A Pokémon he never heard of?
"Never mind." With a few more screen touches, a list of Leos displayed, very few with photos. "Alright, in this city there are…seventeen Leos. That certainly narrows things down. You certain he's here?"
"Yes." Celebi said Palkia narrowed his presence to this city, and Palkia wouldn't say it if he wasn't certain.
"Alright, so which one is it? We have a Leo Aberson, Leo Attoki, Leo Ciro, Leo Darinwood…"
Leo watched as the names scrolled up, hoping he would be able to recognize the last name.
"…Leo Heborti, Leo Hanson, Leo Kiljoy, Leo Perski…"
…? One of them…he wasn't certain, not at all, but there was something that drew him to one of the names. Leaning forward, he touched the screen over the one, sliding his large blue finger along it. "Hanson…" Was that his last name? He stared at it, trying to remember anything. A flash…a fleeting image of…other people… The image was too short for him to capture.
"Leo Hanson? He's the one?"
Shaking his head. "I…don't know. Maybe."
"Well, there's no image of him in here. Lets see if there's anything on the 'net about him." Chris took to pulling out the keyboard and bringing up a series of screens while there was the sound of water draining in the bathroom, then wet feet on the floor. "OK, no photos, but this came up. Looks like he works at the University of Pinnacle Valley here…in the Department of Advanced Physics? Whoa, he sounds like a smart guy, then."
Wasn't that what Celebi said about him?
"So, why is it we need to find him again? Hey wait, are you a research project?"
Again, Leo felt bad that he couldn't tell him, but if anything, the fact that he was the same person as Leo Hanson would be the least believable thing of all! Of course, he really didn't know why they had to find him exactly, just that he had a part of whatever disaster was going to happen. Though, that wasn't the only reason he didn't want to tell Chris. If there was danger involved, he didn't want him to get hurt. Maybe the less he knew the better. "Because we just do and no."
Chris frowned as he clicked around the screen some more. "Looks like a group photo here of the department." With a last click, the screen was replaced with a group of six humans…and one Pokémon.
"Grovyle!" Leaning closer to the screen, he focused on the image of the green Pokémon, barely making out the tell-tale scar on his right arm. And standing next to him…a light-brown haired human…not too young, but not very old either. Recognition came like an electric shock: that was…him!
Leo, don't go…
The memory was gone as fast as it came.
In the photo, a young red-haired woman was standing in front of him; she was…beautiful… He very gently touched the screen over her. "Sally…"
"You know them?"
Chris's voice startled him out of his thoughts. "That's…him. That's the human we're looking for."
"I think the grovyle gave it away. Anyway, look damn it, why can't you tell me what's going on?"
He felt doubly ashamed to keep it from him, but he had to. If they were getting this close to his human self, they could be getting closer to any danger. Yet…would it be more dangerous to not tell Chris? He didn't know. Maybe after he met his human self, he would know more. Until then… He shook his head.
Chris took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "Alright. I agreed to help you find him, so we'll go meet him after the match tomorrow. Being a Friday, he'll probably be at work, I guess. Suppose we should try and contact him at home tonight by phone first…"
The door to the bathroom suddenly swung open and Blaze stepped out, his wet red, white and yellow hair still mostly matted against his body, and his long red and yellow mane spread and hanging down past his shoulders, giving him a comical, primitive appearance. "What are you two doing?"
Leo could tell at once the infernape smelled better, making him all the more anxious to get in the bath and return the favor. "We found him!" he said, pointing the photo on the screen. "We found Leo Hanson…and Grovyle!"
Leo Hanson rushed through the garage door, but the phone stopped trilling just before he could reach it. Waiting for a message, he or she didn't leave one. Still, it couldn't be the person he'd really like to get a call from, namely the trainer Chris Urbason; he'd only left his work number with the nurse at the Pokécenter. It certainly wouldn't have been him.
"Grovyle?"
"Yeah, it's going to be another early to bed evening, buddy. I'm beat and we have to be back early tomorrow."
"Groooovyle," the green Pokémon replied slowly.
"You too, huh? Having visions of the end of the world can really take it out of a person." Glancing at his friend, he flashed a smile. "Don't worry, it wasn't the end of the world obviously…only half of it." He chuckled a little, mostly to let his Pokéfriend know for certain he was only joking.
Grovyle walked past and out of the kitchen, giving a weak slap on his back as he did. "Grovyle."
"I suppose you'll spend half the night reading those Unown books?"
"Grovyle…rrr."
He tried acting normal while looking for something to fix for dinner, but it was all a facade. The raw fear he felt from the vision was haunting him still, and he really hoped it wasn't going to give him nightmares. Maybe some sleep aid was in order…