Chapter 7: Closing the Gap
It was mid-morning before they started for the gym and the streets seemed even busier then yesterday afternoon. Leo still felt the hurt in his broken arm, but the medication seemed to be taking care of most of it. He knew this because before taking any after waking up, his arm hurt nearly as bad as when it was first broke!
Still, there was no debate he would be coming along, despite his condition. Although Chris had planned to use him in the match at the gym before his 'accident', the human was still confident Blaze would make enough of a difference that he could, in his words, "pull it off". But after the battle, they were going to try and first contact, then meet Leo Hanson, assuming Blaze didn't need healing right after the battle.
Several times Chris tried calling his human self at his home, only to get "voice mail". He really didn't want to leave a message, since they couldn't wait at the hotel room all morning and second, well, this was unusual enough that he just didn't want to leave some message from a complete stranger.
Honestly, Leo didn't know what the right approach should be. He even had no idea how he was going to tell his human self who he really was, namely that they were the same up person to about three years ago. Would he believe him? After all, only he, Blaze and Dialga had any first-hand knowledge of the Future That No Longer Exists and of the three of them, Dialga couldn't appear and Blaze couldn't talk in human speech.
"Ow!" Blaze started hopping, holding his purple foot. As Chris swung around, "This concrete is hard!"
Leo relayed what his friend said, finding he could only agree. Concrete wasn't the most comfortable thing to walk on; humans all around them seemed to all be wearing footwear now that he started paying attention.
"It's only a few more blocks," Chris replied. Then with a slight grin, "I could probably carry you, if you want."
Blaze at once looked horrified, "That'd be embarrassing!"
Leo tried envisioning it, finding he couldn't disagree. Choosing not to share his conclusion, "He says no thanks." As a person passing them stared, he remembered yet again that talking in public in human speech probably wasn't the best thing.
Leaning closer after they left the same person many paces behind, "OK, I have to stop asking you questions in public," Chris replied.
Leo did a quick glance around them, making sure no one else had noticed…catching a glimpse of someone in dark gray clothes and sunglasses, far behind them, mostly hidden by those between them. Looking again, the person was gone.
Did he imagine it?
"Leo, that human Sally with the long reddish mane," Blaze started, "how much do you remember about her? Have you remembered any more about those others?"
The same thing had been on his mind since last night. He'd been struggling to remember more, but more just wasn't forthcoming. "It was just a impression; they just all felt familiar for an instant. But with that one human Sally, there was more, Blaze. I…saw her. She said something to me." Unlike any of the other flashes of memory he had gotten, he could still recall this one! "She said: 'Leo, don't go'. And there was something…else. She felt special, somehow. I can't explain it." His partner remained expressionless for a moment, but when he next looked at him the infernape was smiling.
"It's good you're starting remembering more. Maybe she's a good friend to your human self?"
"Maybe." Maybe more?
Looking down for a moment, he wished for the countless time there was more he could recall and nearly bumped into Blaze when everyone stopped at a street corner. A pichu was also waiting there on the shoulder of a human.
Waving down to him, "Hi! What happened to your arm?"
"Huh?" He glanced at his left arm, instantly embarrassed he'd forgotten about it. "It got broke."
"Broke?" it asked in it's high-pitched voice, looking puzzled. "Does it hurt?"
"A lot."
"Must have been a hard battle. Are you going to the gym to battle again?"
"My partner is," Leo answered, gesturing to Blaze who then waved to the small Pokémon.
"Ooo…you look strong. You should win!"
Everyone started moving again and the pichu's human outpaced them, soon being out of sight.
"You hear that Blaze, you should win this match," Leo said, trying to instill confidence into his friend.
"Ha ha! I do feel strong today. My leg's fully healed and I feel like I can win against any one!" With a short bound, he leapt up as humans around them made sure to clear a wide spot for him to land.
"Of course you can!" Of course, he also noted Chris hadn't yet mentioned who their opponent Pokémon were supposed to be. Despite his friend's rising excitement, his mind quickly drifted back to his memories.
Why her, why that human female? Why was it the only significant memory he could recall so far? If she was a friend… Actually, the feeling he had was stronger than that. Her face…it expressed worry, great worry….and…she was crying?
Emotion. Perhaps, it was the most powerful memories he was remembering first?
"We're here!" Chris announced.
Lost in his thoughts, Leo never noticed that they had come up to a very large bowl-shaped building in the middle of it's own block.
Chris stopped well before the doors, as if admiring the view. "Last time I was here was a couple months ago."
"What happened?" Leo asked after carefully checking to make sure no other humans were around to hear him.
"We got our butts kicked, basically. The leader here uses all ground and grass types. Electric types are at their mercy. Wartortle was the only one on my team who had much effect against the ground types, but he was severely disadvantaged against grass." He glanced down before turning to face them, "But it was my fault for not reading up on this gym to learn what types the leader used. I thought we could win against anyone if we simply tried hard enough. Sometimes though, you're just at too much of a disadvantage and you need help. Blaze, will you be my help today?"
Blaze grinned in his special infernape manner while flexing his purple hands. "Grass types? I'll own them!"
Leo translated, getting a loud laugh out of Chris.
"That's the spirit! Alright then, let's earn that badge so we can qualify for the Tournaments! They're going to be held in this city, you know." With an excited bounce in his step, he lead them through the front double doors.
Leo felt a pang of guilt he wouldn't be able to help. Damn that vision, couldn't it had waited a few minutes till he was done with the graveler? In fact, he really could have done without it altogether. It still was making him shiver and look over his shoulder.
"Well, you've kept me waiting," a tall, thin, black-haired human greeted them gruffly by a desk just inside the doors. Then quickly smiling, "For about ten seconds. Nice to see you again Chris; hope you're better prepared this time then last."
Chris shook the offered hand. "Oh, I think so, Eric."
"Well, judging by the fact you have an infernape with you today, that does at least look to be the case. But…" Eric's eyes went wide, "what's with the cast on your swampert?"
"He broke his arm in a battle yesterday. It really didn't go well."
"Uh…yeah, I'd say. I've never heard of a Pokémon breaking a bone before. That had to of been one nasty hit! Will it live?"
Leo bit his tongue. He was getting tired of it; couldn't the human tell he was a he?
"Oh, he's tough. Fortunately we were able to get a ride to the Pokécenter here and get him patched up, but it'll probably be a couple weeks before he'll be doing any battling."
"Well, tell you what: if you win today, I'll personally sign it's cast!"
Chris glanced back to Leo. "Hey, it'll be your first signature."
Blaze cocked his head. "Signature? On a cast?"
"Would you like one, Leo?" Chris asked. "You can tell him, don't worry. Gym leaders are good at keeping secrets." He winked.
Eric looked at once confused. "Huh?"
Leo wasn't sure if he should, but Chris did seem to be encouraging it. "Are casts supposed to be signed?"
Eric's mouth fell open. "Hey! It talked!"
"And I'm also male, if you don't mind!" Leo corrected.
"Ah…"
"Yep, he talks," Chris said with a roll of his eyes. "And if I can ask a favor, please don't tell anyone. We'll get mobbed if it gets widely known."
The gym leader eventually nodded. "But, how are you able to talk? Only some telepathic Pokémon I thought could do that."
"It's a gift," Leo answered. And perhaps it was. Though most likely it was because he was once human.
"Uh, wow," Eric continued. "You are amazing. If you were my Pokémon, I'd keep you out of battles just in case something happened to you. You're too valuable to risk!"
"I don't mind." There was the matter of pride, after all. To be nearly beat by a Pokémon that hadn't even evolved once yet…
"So, how about we start?" Chris suggested.
"Ah…oh, right. Darn, you bring a talking Pokémon in here and give me only a minute to converse with him before wanting to get the battle going. Man, what a strategy to break my concentration! Brilliant!"
"Belief me, it wasn't by design," Chris almost apologized with hands up.
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll still do my best to recompose myself. I think you'll find me just slightly better than last time, too. After all, we've had a bit of practice since also."
The sandy haired human laughed, seemingly nervously. "If you get any better, I should just give up."
"Ha! I still get beat my fair share. Let's get to the arena then, shall we? And…will you stick around for a while afterward? I'd really like to talk to him," jabbing a thumb behind him toward Leo. "This has got to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
"I think I can arrange it, at least for a few minutes."
Leo sighed. He knew Chris planned to use the phone afterward to try and contact Leo Hanson again, so obviously there would be a few minutes…and likely a number of questions he didn't want to answer.
"Sleep well?"
Leo Hanson returned a smile to Sally. "Sleep aid is good," commenting as he flipped power on to his terminal before releasing Grovyle from his Pokéball.
"Hey Grovyle," Sally greeted. "Say, the Professor is actually in this morning."
"So when is he leaving?" asking sarcastically, but in an upbeat tone. Truly, as much as their project head had been gone lately…
"He isn't as far as I know. But he doesn't tell me everything, you know."
"Or me, apparently." Indeed, high on his list was to get to the bottom of the 'modulus 93' subroutine. Doing a quick check, he found his access still denied. Sighing, "Alright, better find out what's going on then." Handing Grovyle the book on Unown research he brought with them, he plodded back down the open metal stairs and out of the lab to the Professor's office. As Sally indicated, Professor Werner was indeed in and in his office.
"Hello Leo, how's things shaping up out there this morning?"
The older man seemed just a little too cheery for his taste this morning, especially with the sleep aid not yet fully worn off. "I was wondering about that modulus 93 subroutine that seemed to replace what I was working on a couple days go. I'd like to have a look at the source code, but nobody seems to have access to it. Did you write it?"
The Professor didn't seem to miss a beat in tapping on his own keyboard. "Some of it. It was written by an outside vender to my specifications."
Leo nearly dropped his mouth open, not quite believing what he just heard. "An outside vender? Since when are we allowing outside venders access to this project? Having hardware manufactured is one thing, but the software is supposed to be written and seen by only this team!"
"Sorry, but there was little choice. I thought we needed some help in that area, so I solicited an experienced vender to write a generic control subroutine, and I modified it for our use."
Well, the Professor sounded sincere in thinking they needed help, but… "What vender?"
"One who gave us a good deal and asked not to be revealed lest others would want the same deal."
"I…thought this project was supposed to have at least a minimum level of security on it." He paused, waiting for some kind of answer, but the Professor only glanced up at him between keystrokes. "Will you give me access to it so I can at least look it over? I am supposed to be the project lead after you."
"Wish I could, but it's proprietary and the company didn't want anyone else to have access to it. They're afraid it'd give away their competitive advantage."
This was starting to annoy him. "Who the hell would I tell?" Letting out a frustrated sigh, "Damn it, John! I don't like what's going on here! First you're pushing us to complete this thing sooner than we scheduled, now we have this secretive control module embedding into the system. I feel like we're losing control of this thing. Is it Derganio that's pushing us like this? Why are we even taking direction from them?"
"Calm down, Leo! They aren't pushing us like that. But I feel that the sooner we get going on at least the first round of tests, the better. We could be on the brink of something incredible! Doesn't that excite you and make you want to hurry to get going?"
Although the Professor sounded sincere, it sounded like he wasn't as excited as usual. Was the long hours and all the meetings taking that much a toll on him? "So long as we take reasonable precautions," he finally countered. "And that includes not allowing outside people to write our control software!" Indeed, it ran counter to everything the team decided about keeping the knowledge of the project to a minimum since the potential for creating real damage was high.
The Professor bowed his grey-haired head, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment before fully facing him, "Leo, we needed help and we got it. So quit complaining. I'm ending this discussion. And since you haven't found that Pokémon with the distortion around it yet, please make that your top priority and bring it here. Thank you." Without another glance, the Professor started concentrating fully on the screen before him.
"Well?" Sally asked after he returned.
Hammering at his keyboard to log in, "He won't give us access. And get this, it was written by an outside vender who doesn't want anybody but John to see it." He glanced over when she didn't respond right away, finding her merely staring at him. "Yeah, exactly."
"But…we weren't supposed to do that. What about our security?"
"Shot to hell, as far as I can tell." He thought briefly about what he needed to work on next before making a decision. "Do you have any good hack programs?"
"Ah…why?"
"'Cause I intend to hack into that subroutine and see it for myself." The fact that he wasn't being given access was suspicious enough, but given the Professor's explanation, that wouldn't have been enough to cause him to try and break into it. But the Professor himself…something really wasn't right. He was too edgy, too unwilling to explain things, or at least provide explanations that weren't lacking. Which wasn't like him; he normally always explained his decisions in depth, often seeking the advice of everyone on the team. These unilateral actions were…abnormal. Not only that, he also seemed too…inattentive in the last couple weeks, now that he thought about it. And he still didn't know why it was so important to find that Pokémon so quickly.
Something was going on…
"Wow, Leo! This place is huge!"
The faint scent of many different Pokémon and cut grass hit Leo as he stood just inside the daylight-lit arena, having very much the same reaction as Blaze in just marveling at the view in front and above them. Never had he ever seen such a large indoor space! He almost got dizzy staring up at the high ceiling and it's gigantic window that was letting morning sunlight stream in. And the field was only a small portion of the floor space. Surrounding the field in a huge circle was what looked like giant stairs. For spectators?
"Hey you two, come on!"
Leo ran with Blaze to catch up to Chris, carefully holding his cast arm to isolate it against the shock of running. They all stopped at a white line in the sandy, but mostly grass-covered ground, with Eric doing the same on the opposite side of the field, perhaps a good hundred paces away.
"OK Blaze, this field is just like what we had at the park, only larger," Chris explained in kneeling beside the infernape. "Just be mindful of the boundaries and don't do any attacks outside of the outer white line. That's illegal. OK?"
Blaze nodded. "Simple enough. Ha ha!"
A third person entered the arena from the side of the field, climbing a small platform just outside the boundaries at the midpoint. The young black-haired man glanced toward each side before focusing on Chris. "I'm Josh, and I'll be your judge today. This will be a one-on-one contest, with each trainer allowed to use up to three Pokémon out of a pool of six. Each trainer is allowed to make substitutions at any time, and there is no time limit. I'll be the sole judge of when a Pokémon is unable to continue battling, although either trainer may permanently withdraw any of their Pokémon at any time. Are you ready?"
"Yes!" Chris replied, and turning to Leo: "Leo, since you know Blaze and how he battles better than I, I think, would you stand by me here and make any suggestions you feel are appropriate?"
Leo at once felt useful again. Maybe he could help, despite his broken arm! He nodded without hesitation.
Blaze started walking onto the field…
"Whoa, hold on Blaze! Let's wait till we see which Pokémon he's going to send out first."
His partner looked disappointed, but Leo added with a grin, "You'll have to share the battling, Blaze. It sounded like each side will be using three of us."
"Ha ha! Be just my luck he would've sent out a water type," Blaze commented in getting back to the line.
"Seems your infernape is eager to get going!" Eric called over. "But it might want to wait a while."
"Why does every human call me 'it' too?" Blaze asked aloud as the gym leader whipped out a Pokéball, releasing a donpan onto the field.
Leo knew his partner could be fairly effective against the ground type, especially if he could use…
Chris whipped his own Pokéball off his belt. "Well, I really only have one choice here," he said quietly, pointing the ball toward the field and hitting the small button on it. "OK, Wartortle, let's do our best!"
"Yes sir!" the blue turtle-like Pokémon answered in glancing behind him after 'appearing'. "Hey you two! How's the arm Leo?"
"Healing," he answered. "Better focus on that donpan. They have a wicked rolling attack!"
"I know; I've faced him before. Don't worry, I can take him."
"You didn't last time!" the donpan shouted over.
"It'll be different this time!" Wartortle returned defiantly.
The donpan smiled faintly, rearing it's short truck upward. "Sure it will. Oh well, I need the exercise."
Leo wondered if the humans knew just how much Pokémon tended to jibe each other before and during fights, seeing as they couldn't understand the language.
"OK, Donpan, let's try that special maneuver we've been working on."
At once, the donpan balled himself up and began to roll…but not directly at Wartortle.
"Try and hit it with a water pulse!" Chris commanded.
"It's a he," Leo corrected, but he was mostly focusing on the battle now to care much.
Wartortle responded with the attack, missing as the donpan turned a quick arc and headed straight for him!
Leo recognized at once the move as familiar…
Wartortle tried another water pulse, but the donpan shot out it's legs and jumped…
"Jump!" Leo yelled as loud as he could, Chris echoing the command only a hair later.
The blue turtle-like Pokémon jumped as high as he could, just clearing the donpan as it landed right before where he had just been standing!
"Water pulse!" Chris shouted.
"Dodge!" Eric countered.
With his head already aimed down, Wartortle shot out the thin, high-speed wall of water directly downward as the donpan started to respond to his own trainer…but too late. The water slammed into the Pokémon, forcing him off his legs and onto the ground.
With nowhere to go but straight down, Wartortle landed on top and obviously didn't need any instruction before starting to pummel the donpan with his 'hands'.
"Donpan, get up!"
Clearly hurting, the donpan did get on it's feet and try to run, unsteadily…
"Another water pulse!"
Wartortle did as Chris commanded twice over, the first water pulse nailing the donpan from behind, and when he turned in an apparent attempt to try and avoid any other attack, the second got him in the side, pushing him over with a slam that almost echoed around the arena. The donpan hit the ground, sliding a little through a sand patch and panting hard as he came to rest. "Enough!" it cried as it lay still for several moments.
"Wartortle is the winner!" Josh shouted, holding a green flag up and pointing it toward Chris. "And wow, a talking Pokémon?"
Wartortle spun around, his light blue-haired tail swishing as he wore the widest smile a Wartortle could. "See!"
"Great job, Wartortle!" Chris congratulated. Then to Leo: "Good job on telling him to jump, too. That sure looked like that graveler's attack against you, didn't it?"
Leo nodded. "Did they learn it here?"
"Or maybe vice versa," Chris suggested. "Gym leaders are always on the lookout for new and better moves. They'll pick them up and use them, just like any wise trainer and Pokémon."
"Hey, Leo," Blaze said, "speaking of learning, do you remember that move that one charmeleon tried on us a while ago?"
He did remember, and was actually thinking about it earlier. "I wonder if you'll get the chance to use it here."
"Just give me the opportunity." Blaze grinned wickedly in apparent anticipation.
"Good job to the both of you," Eric shouted over while absorbing the donpan into a red and white Pokéball. "Your wartortle seemed ready for that move! And your talking swampert seems eager to help, too. Guess I'm going to have to try harder!" He quickly released his next Pokémon.
"Nidoking?" Chris grimaced. "Oh man, he didn't have him last time. Sorry Blaze, but you'll have to wait a bit yet. How you feeling Wartortle?"
"I'm ready!" Wartortle responded with determination and a thump to his hard shell of a chest, although he was breathing a little hard and looking somewhat tired.
Surely he must be really thirsty by now Leo thought, given all the water he had used, far more then he should have given his size. Water pulses used a lot of water, and he wouldn't be able to use many more before collapsing from extreme dehydration. Whispering to Blaze: "I'd be ready to go in."
"Hey, a little confidence here?" Wartortle said, apparently overhearing.
"Sorry," Leo returned.
The nidoking didn't seem interested in talking; instead he was staring menacingly across the field, the large horn jutting from his forehead adding to the effect as he pointed it at them.
"Careful Wartortle, he can poison you," Blaze warned.
Wartortle nodded, bracing himself for whatever was about to come.
Eric's command came quickly: "Nidoking, charge!"
Lowering his head, the nidoking launched himself forward in an instant to rapidly close the distance.
"Get ready," Chris said, not giving any clue as to what he was going to command next.
When the nidoking was over two-thirds across the field, Eric barked out a single word: "Tremor!" The nidoking jumped across most of the remaining distance…
"Sidestep!"
As the nidoking came flying in, Wartortle slipped quickly to the side to avoid being landed on, but the purple poison-spiked Pokémon instead twisted in the air and with apparently all his might, slammed into the solid patch of earth between sand patches with both his feet and thick tail, causing a rather good brief shake of the ground. Leo felt it all the way into his broken arm, producing a not-too-pleasant sensation.
Wartortle tripped, fell…
"Poison!"
The nidoking responded by rebounding from his slam into the ground and charging to tower over the fallen Wartortle, where he gave a quick slash of his longest horn to one of Wartortle's arms.
"Ow!" Wartortle screamed.
Leo watched in horror as he had no time to react right along with Chris, though at least the human managed to scream out a water pulse command almost at the same time Wartortle got scratched. He forced the water out of his mouth, straight into the belly of the nidoking as he still stood over him, and the larger purple Pokémon suddenly had every look of having the breath knocked out of him.
It was short lived however, and the nidoking responded with a short, quick kick, catching Wartortle in the stomach of his shell. Though Wartortle landed some feet away, he quickly got back up, looking none the worse for wear.
"Another one!"
Wartortle responded to Chris's command by sending yet another thin wall of water at his opponent, just catching a leg as the nidoking started to dodge and nearly making him fall.
"Tackle!" Eric yelled with more excitement than he had yet shown.
The nidoking's recovery was impressive as he whipped his tail and quickly caught his balance enough to push off on his other foot. The short distance between them didn't give Wartortle the opportunity to even try and get out of the way; Wartortle went flying to land outside the field boundary.
Leo was at once glad the water-type Pokémon had a hard shell, but still worried since such a hit still had to be felt.
"Nidokings are strong…" Blaze mumbled, looking a little worried himself.
Wartortle managed to pick himself up off the short grass of the outfield, but stumbled a little making his way back onto the field. Meanwhile, the nidoking moved over to his side of the field in response to Eric's command. Positioning himself in front of Chris, Wartortle was clearly tiring and struggling for breath while the scratch on his arm was now slightly oozing a yellowish liquid.
The two Pokémon faced off from their respective ends of the field, with Eric not giving any commands for a few moments.
"Damn," Chris mumbled. "He's too far away for us to go charging in…he's just waiting for the poison to take effect."
And dehydration surely wasn't making the situation any better, Leo knew from experience, having been poisoned more then a few times himself. After the first time, he always made a point of carrying some Pecha berries with them wherever they went. If there ever was a cure-all for the various poison types produced by different Pokémon, those berries were it. Unfortunately, he and Blaze left their bags at the hotel room. There now wasn't a Pecha berry to be had!
Wartortle suddenly put a knee on the ground. "We need to hurry and attack. I'm not feeling so good!"
Leo relayed what he said to Chris.
The human seemed to be at a loss for a couple heartbeats. Finally: "Alright Wartortle, charge in and use your best judgment!"
The blue Pokémon picked himself up with some effort and ran straight toward the nidoking with seemingly all his remaining strength.
"Tremor!"
The nidoking answered his trainer's command by jumping straight into the air as Wartortle was almost there.
Instead of charging in for a tackle though, Wartortle merely jumped slightly to land on his back just before delivering a water pulse once again into the nidoking's belly from below. The hit caused the larger Pokémon to stay in the air just a hair longer, giving Wartortle barely enough time to finish sliding out from under him.
But the hit was weak with little water, and the nidoking landed with as much force as before, causing a good shake of the ground, though not quite as strong where Leo was standing, due to the greater distance from the source.
Wartortle however…didn't get up; he stayed on the ground, panting and looking very weak. The nidoking merely turned, placing a foot directly over his stomach…
Eric took on a serious expression: "You can either surrender, or Nidoking can finish delivering a stomp," he said, more to Wartortle than to Chris.
"Help!" Wartortle cried, barely audible.
Leo quickly translated, though Chris didn't seem to need it.
"I withdraw Wartortle!"
The judge was quick: "Wartortle is withdrawn! Nidoking is the winner!"
"Good effort, little guy," Eric said to the defeated Pokémon as the nidoking gingerly removed his foot. "Now you better get yourself healed."
Wartortle struggled in rolling onto his stomach and tried getting up, but was too unsteady on his feet and quickly fell; Chris ran across the field to carry him back. Getting a small canister out of his pack, he sprayed it over the poisoned scratch on Wartortle's arm while Leo wasted no time getting a water bottle into his hands.
"You fought well," Leo said, words echoed by Blaze while Wartortle downed all the hefty volume in a matter of seconds.
"Have any more?" he asked weakly, holding out the now empty bottle upside down.
"You did really good, buddy," Chris replied, reaching for another bottle from inside the pack. "That last move you did was awesome, and you weakened him for Electabuzz. We stand a good chance now."
"Not me?" Blaze asked.
"Blaze wants to go in," Leo relayed. "Blaze has good effect against poison species."
"I need you fresh for who I suspect he's going to use as his last Pokémon," Chris explained with a pat to Blaze's shoulder. "That's where I failed last time. Don't worry, Electabuzz will have some effect too on a half-poison type."
His partner nodded while Leo didn't feel too happy about having Electabuzz out. Surely, he was going to make some comment about his injury.
Indeed, the yellow electric type Pokémon didn't disappoint after Chris released him onto the field: "Too bad about your arm. Only the careless get hurt that bad."
Blaze growled. "Only the overconfident make such comments!"
"Please just ignore him Blaze," Leo pleaded. Internal squabbling wasn't going to help them.
"Hm, an electric type now," Eric said from across the field. "Interesting!"
Leo started rubbing the gills on the side of his face with his one good hand. "Does he mean he was expecting Blaze to fight next?"
"Blaze would've been the obvious choice," Chris explained quietly, patting Blaze's shoulder again. "He would have a little better effect against a nidoking, but like I said, I'm going to need him for who I suspect will be our next opponent. Of course, he could surprise me too."
"Must be a tough opponent," Blaze commented, folding his arms across his white-haired chest.
Looking up, Leo noticed Chris was sweating on his face; he started considering rooting for Electabuzz…
"Electabuzz, charge!" Chris instructed.
Electabuzz kicked up some sand in getting himself going toward the nidoking.
In response, the nidoking simply stood, waiting…and still breathing a little heavily.
Chris watched intently, and when Electabuzz got close, "Low kick!"
"Jump!" Eric countered.
At the same moment Electabuzz swung one of his legs out in front of him, Nidoking jumped up and over his leg…
"Thunder punch!"
"Hit back!"
Leo swore Electabuzz had been expecting the command as the electric-type Pokémon rose an electrically-charged fist straight up into the nidoking's underside as he passed underneath, very reminiscent of Wartortle's last attack, only…the nidoking brought his fists down at the same time, resulting in a trade of blows.
Electabuzz went rolling sideways from the hit while their adversary initially landed on his feet, but he was unable to stay standing as the electric charge from the punch clearly had effect.
"Charge Electabuzz!"
"Charge Nidoking!"
Electabuzz was just a little quicker in getting up, slamming into the nidoking with enough force to counter the other's greater weight. The two quickly became locked in physical combat.
As the nidoking started to lower his horn in an attempt to poison, Chris commanded a thunderbolt and the two Pokémon were almost instantly glowing in bright electrical discharge, with steam rising from the nidoking as water from Wartortle's last water pulse attack evaporated. Leo instantly felt glad it was them and not him, still remembering the massive shocks he suffered not that many days ago.
Yet despite the crackling charge running around and through him, the nidoking still managed to scrape his longest horn across Electabuzz's shoulder! When the charge was finished, he gave a massive shove, pushing Electabuzz back several feet…before collapsing face-first.
Electabuzz stood panting where he ended up, not moving as seconds passed.
The nidoking continued to lay still…
"Electabuzz is the winner!" Judge Josh shouted, raising the green flag toward Chris.
"Great job, Electabuzz!" Chris shouted with a fist in the air. "Come on back!"
Eric likewise praised the nidoking for his own skill, before shouting over an "Excellent!" to Chris.
"Not bad," Leo said to Electabuzz as he walked by with Chris already having the antidote bottle in hand.
"Yeah, good job!" Wartortle furthered from where he was sitting and recovering.
Electabuzz only huffed.
Leo noted Blaze was focused completely on Eric though, waiting for him to release his final Pokémon – the one he would finally get to fight. "You're actually looking forward to this, aren't you?"
"We have a reputation to uphold, don't we?"
Since Blaze put it that way, "Doesn't look good to be nearly beaten by aipoms and machokes, does it?"
Blaze grinned, teeth fully showing. "No."
His partner was never further away from the timid and scared chimchar he was when they first meet then he was now, Leo realized, and he didn't feel all that disappointed about it.
"So, it seems I'm down to my last Pokémon, Chris. You're already doing better than you did last time, but I think I'm going to be stepping it up a notch now. After all, I can't make this too easy, can I?"
"Easy?" Leo exclaimed. Was the human joking? Already he had witnessed some battling skills rarely seen in the Poké world!
Eric laughed. "This is a gym, Swampert! It's supposed to be hard! Badges aren't handed out, they have to be earned!" He appeared to finger several of his remaining Pokéballs before finding the one he wanted. With a quick motion, he brought it forward and released…
"Grovyle!" Blaze nearly jumped.
"Different grovyle," Leo pointed out after a few pounding heartbeats. Indeed, there was no scar on the right arm along with a few other minor differences…and one important one.
"It's as I thought," Chris mumbled. "Caution, Blaze; it may be weak against fire, but it's fast and has some powerful attacks that will work well on you. At least last time it did; it must be even better now. Speed is going to be the key, here. And Leo, this is where I may really need your advice."
Leo nodded along with Blaze. "It's female, by the way."
"Tell Chris to let me try first," Electabuzz said, directly to Leo. "If I can weaken her even a little, Blaze will have a better chance."
He didn't move as Electabuzz's selflessness came as great a shock as one of his thunderbolts.
Electabuzz seemed to sense it. "We're one team, so what counts is getting the win, no matter the method or by who. Will you tell Chris what I said?"
Leo translated, still feeling surprised.
Chris didn't seem nearly as much. Facing Electabuzz and putting both hands on his shoulders, "No, you need a little time to recover from the poison. If Blaze can't win, then you'll be a stronger opponent after resting."
Electabuzz nodded, moving to take Blaze's spot beside Chris after the infernape moved onto the field. "Don't lose."
Blaze glanced behind him, before giving a mischievous grin to Leo.
Again, it felt strange to not be out and supporting his partner. But watching all the battling without being able to do any himself, and yet able to give commands, he was finding…interesting. With someone else doing the fighting, it gave him time to think objectively...more so than when he was doing the fighting oneself. Sure, he had learned how to counter certain Pokémon and their expected attacks, but that was by learning what they did and what worked verses what didn't against them. Being separated from the physical combat, he was already thinking of a few creative things he was sure he wouldn't have thought of in the "heat" of it. And…the entire situation had a certain air of familiarity about it.
"Alright Blaze, you ready?" Chris asked.
"More than ready," Blaze called back, clearly excited and determined.
Leo couldn't recall when Blaze was last so excited by the prospect of a fight… Then again, it had been a long time since they had any sort of real challenge, the practice matches they had in the human world so far notwithstanding. Yep, the chimchar his partner once was had come a very long way.
Leo Hanson watched the command fail with growing frustration. The lab's computer system was…quite secure. Every attempt he'd made over the past two hours to gain access to the source code of Modulus 93 had been unsuccessful. Obviously, he simply didn't have the experience with the computer security to be able to override the subroutine's access properties. It would also had helped if he was a better programmer, but that hadn't been his real area of study.
"There's got to be a way…" he finally mumbled.
Leaning over from her console, Sally spoke in a whisper: "You know, maybe you should take a break."
"Really?"
"Definitely." Then smiling warmly: "In fact, how about we go out for lunch? It's almost noontime."
He couldn't help noticing a slight twinkle to her eyes…or was he just imagining it? Not that he hadn't thought of asking her out on occasion, but although he thought she showed occasional signs of interest, he was never really sure if she was only just flirting. Then again, it was likely just a simple suggestion of a lunch date between coworkers. Best to keep it professional… "Sure, just…"
Someone came running up the metal steps, George soon appearing at the top. "Hey, we finished getting all the individual subsystems tested! You know what that means?"
"We start prepping for full software interfacing," Sally answered, swinging around. "Hooray!"
Leo sighed, not sure if he was glad for the interruption due to the good news or not. "Alright, let's start filling the superconductor coil tanks with nitrogen.
"Yeah, won't the Professor be pleased!" George said with a glowing look of accomplishment. "We should be ready for Phase One testing on Monday now, provided we get all the communications set up this afternoon."
Still, he wished he had been able to review the mysterious code the Professor added. "Well, I guess since we're going to be busy with that, there goes lunch."
"No you don't," Sally countered. "I think you still need the break. How about you go out and get us some? Besides, I'm hungry." Seemingly putting on her best pleading face. "Pleeeease?"
Leo shook his head, finding himself unable to resist the beautiful red head for very long. Or George's expectant look either. He opened his mouth to answer…
"Great, thanks, Leo!" George exclaimed. "I'll get Naomi's and Ticonam's to shout their orders!" With that, the late twenty-something disappeared back down the stairs.
"Alright, I'll go!" Leo yelled after him. It sure was amazing the effect food had around the lab.
"Uh…where were you going?" George shouted back up.
"To that Fridley's Deli shop." After rolling his eyes at Sally's grin, "Come on Grovyle, let's go get lunch."
"Groveryle!" the green gecko-like Pokémon bounded down the stairs ahead of him better than George had, and with equal enthusiasm.
Blaze was delivering one powerful flamethrower attack, but Leo saw the grovyle bounding just out ahead of the flame and back toward Blaze. "Blaze, she's coming back at you!" He wasn't sure if Blaze had seen her from behind his flames or not, but he jumped to the side even as he was still breathing out the last of them, causing the counterattacking grovyle to barely miss him with a swipe of her leaf wrist-blades.
It was as tough as he thought it would be. Back when he was still a mudkip, he had battled his own partner Grovyle before they knew who each other was. He was a powerful adversary then. This grovyle was battling just as well if not better!
"Grovyle, slam!" Eric shouted.
"Punch!" Chris countered.
The two Pokémon collided, one with it's body at full speed, the other with a powerful fist. Leo cringed, almost feeling the hit against his friend as both fell backwards and were slow getting up, as worn as they were obviously getting. At the rate the battle was going, it was going to be close. Although still having Electabuzz available seemed to push the entire match in Chris's favor, he really wanted Blaze to win.
Perhaps it was time… "Chris, let Blaze do a fire ring! Then he has to follow up with…"
"If you have a good idea, then take over!" Chris interrupted. "It'll be too slow to relay commands through me!"
He didn't give it a second thought: "Blaze, like with the charmeleon, run!"
Blaze had already picked himself back up and was staring down the grovyle, separated by only a few feet. Without breaking the stare, he nodded acknowledgement and stepped back a couple paces before turning to the side and started running. The grovyle only stood and watched as he ran down along one side of the field.
Leo started to get concerned. The move depended on the opponent following, something the grovyle wasn't doing at the moment as gym leader Eric looked to be waiting to see what would happen before responding. There were, of course, ways to induce a chase… "Blaze, run around her and attack!"
His partner skidded to a stop, kicking up a minor amount of sand, then came back at the grovyle before veering off quite early to start running a wide circle around her.
The gym leader still didn't seem sure what command to give, until Blaze started breathing fire into the middle, nearly scoring a hit. "Grovyle, pursue and cut!"
That was it! Grinning slightly, "Straighten out!" Leo shouted.
His partner responded by going down the longest length of the field, purposely running at slightly less than flat-out. The grovyle was almost upon him in a matter of seconds…
"Jump!"
At once, Blaze appeared to slam on the brakes just a hair before leaping into the air as the grovyle started sailing underneath him with little room to spare. With seemingly all his upper-body strength, he swung his combined fists down between his legs to impact directly against her head, causing the grovyle's legs and lower body to continue on their forward path even as her head and shoulder acted like they hit a wall.
The hit wasn't entirely painless for Blaze either; hitting the ground just behind her, he was shaking his hands from the obvious pain they were in from such a massive hit. But he did get up afterwards, whereas the grovyle stayed on the ground, moaning with every look of being only partially conscious.
"Infernape is the winner!" Josh declared from the middle of the field "The challenger Chris Urbason wins the gym match!"
Eric went rushing out onto the field to check on his grovyle, but looked immediately relieved when she as least sat up, albeit holding her head and looking to have having less than full control of her senses.
"The hit looks worse then it really is," Leo explained to Chris, who was still staring with mouth partly open. Indeed, he knew this from first-hand experience while protectively rubbing his forehead.
"Where…did he learn that?" Chris finally asked.
"From a charmeleon that had an attitude and the skills to back it up," answering before Blaze returned. "Blaze, that looked incredible!"
The red and white haired infernape looked tired, sweaty, out of breath, and collapsed to the ground in front of them, but he was grinning practically from ear to ear.
"Blaze, you alright?" Chris asked. "Need anything?"
Leo was already getting him a bottle of water by the time he asked for such.
Once the grovyle was up and walking (slowly), Eric and Josh came over to them, and Blaze forced himself to sit up at least.
"Chris, those were some of the most amazing moves I've seen in a while," Eric said, specifically looking down at Blaze while shaking his head in apparent disbelief. "It takes a lot to defeat my grovyle, as you already know. You and your Pokémon are top-notch. You've all more than earned this," and held out a small golden medallion shaped like a mountain. "Congratulations on earning the Peak Badge."
Chris had his own wide grin as he showed the medallion to each of them. "You did great guys, all of you! And this badge makes eight!"
"And you," Eric said, putting a hand on the top of Leo's head between his fins, "In my many years here as a gym leader, and many years before that as a trainer, I have never, ever heard of, much less seen, a Pokémon that could talk, let alone acting as a trainer. You…are really one special Pokémon!"
He looked up at the good foot-taller human, not sure what to say. "I guess, we all have abilities."
Eric nodded. "Yes, indeed we do. But I wouldn't mind in making you use yours for a while yet."
"Or me," Josh added.
"No problem," Chris said. "But can we use your phone first?"
After Eric directed them to the phone terminal near the gym's entrance, Chris pulled out a scrap of paper with a written number before entering it. It rang for a good few times before a click and the display showing the call was being rerouted. "Huh, maybe not at work either?" he mumbled, just before the call was answered by a female voice.
"Advanced Physics Lab, Sally speaking." The terminal displayed "Voice Only" on the screen.
"Um, yeah, hi. I'm looking for Leo Hanson?"
"Oh, Leo left for lunch a little bit ago. Can I take a message?"
"Uh…sure. My name's Chris Urbason, and…this may sound strange, but I have a friend who needs to talk to him."
The line was silent for several moments…long enough that Leo was wondering if the woman had hung up.
"Chris Urbason?"
"Yes."
"Oh, then you got Leo's message!"
"Message? What message?"
"He left you messages at the Pokécenter and your home."
"He…did?"
Leo shrugged in response to Chris's glance which nearly asked 'What aren't you telling me?', feeling just as surprised as both the human and Blaze looked.
"Er, I guess I didn't get them then. I didn't even know he was looking for me."
Long pause, then: "Well, that's OK, it's not important now. Do you have a swampert with you?"
Blaze cocked his head, his mane puffing up and eyes widening.
If he had a mane, it'd be puffing too, Leo thought. Was it possible his human self knew about him?
"Well…I do actually," Chris replied, "but how…"
"Where are you right now?" The woman's tone sounded completely different, clearly more excited.
"I'm at the Pinnacle Valley Gym. But how do you know…"
"Please, will you stay there for a while? I'll call Leo right now and tell him to go there and meet up with you. He's, well actually all of us, have been looking for you for the last several days."
"Can you tell me why?" Chris asked, his expression being pure confusion.
"It's a long story, and he'll explain when he gets there. Will you stay there until he arrives? Shouldn't take him more than an hour or so."
Leo nodded, making sure Chris saw him.
"Uh, alright, we can stay here for a while."
"OK, great. Please don't go anywhere! I'm sure we talk to each other again soon. Bye!"
Chris turned from the screen. "I guess we wait here then. But how could they be looking for us? Wait, could they have been the ones who in our camp a couple nights ago? Alright Leo, how about telling me who this Leo Hanson is exactly?"
"Leo?" Blaze asked. "I think we should tell him, but I don't understand how they could be looking for us either. Does he know about us and why we're here? Maybe Dialga told him."
"I don't know." Would Dialga or Palkia actually have contacted his human self? He instantly crossed that off as unlikely; after all, he and Blaze were ones who were supposed to find him! In human speak: "We don't know why he would be looking for me, he shouldn't even know I exist, but I'll be telling you everything I do know when he gets here. It's going to be a long story."
Chris raised his eyebrows, but seemed to accept it with a nod. "Well, then let's go see how Electabuzz and Wartortle are doing in the recovery lounge. I think Mr. Eric desperately wants to talk to you, too."
Leo sighed. It seemed he was about to do a lot of talking.
Leo Hanson grabbed the bags from the counter, handing one to Grovyle. It was a small celebration feast if anything, for getting all the construction and subsystem tests complete. Reaching Phase One was an accomplishment many long, struggle-filled years in the making. But it was only equivalent to reaching first base in baseball. If the fully integrated system tests didn't work, such as the superconductor coil outputs not being properly regulated in relation to the maser outputs for example, it would mean trying to redesign a major part of the system. Sure, the computer simulations showed it would all work, but he still had butterflies over whether the full-up tests would have the same results.
"Theory's about to meet fact," commenting to Grovyle as they were leaving.
"Grroverol."
He smiled, knowing his partner well understood what he met. The green Pokémon had only been there watching for most of the years of the project.
Feeling a familiar vibration in one packet, he handed the second bag of hot deli food to Grovyle to answer. "Leo."
"Hey, it's Sally. You aren't going to believe this! Chris Urbason just called!"
He stopped dead in his tracks, his heart suddenly pounding. "He did?"
"Yes. And he has a swampert with him and they're waiting for you at the Pinnacle Valley Gym. One other strange thing: he said they've also been looking for you, specifically, as well."
"Well, obviously he got get either my card or message."
"No, he said he didn't; in fact, he didn't seem to have any clue we were looking for him."
"Really?" That sounded…odd. Why would they have been looking for him just out of the blue, then?
"He also said it was a friend that was looking for you."
Curious…but that was secondary. He just felt relieved they had finally found this mysterious trainer just when it seemed like it would take much longer to do so, and had a thought of how pleased the Professor would finally be…then had another thought. "Have you told the Professor yet?"
"No. I haven't told anyone yet. Wait…you don't want me to tell him, do you?"
"Right. Don't tell anyone yet, not till I call back."
"You're…uh, never mind. OK, I'll wait."
"Thanks. But…I just got everyone's lunch."
"Don't worry about it. I'll go pick something up. I'll just say you got an urgent call from…"
"My grandfather." He knew she wanted to say parents, but they were both dead, a fact he rarely brought up. "Thanks, Sally."
"Will you be bringing them back here?"
"I don't know. Probably, eventually, but I'll call you first before I do."
"OK. Leo…good luck."
He powered off his phone, facing Grovyle. "Change of plans, Grovyle. We'll be taking the subway to the gym."
The green Pokémon looked up at him, his bright green eyes curious. "Grovyle?"
"We found him. Chris Urbason is waiting at the gym for us."
"Grover, Grovyle!"
"Guess we're about to find out if this person and Pokémon are truly dangerous or not."
Grovyle's voice suddenly was lower: "Grroveryle."
It wasn't far to the end-of-line subway station and the wait was only a few minutes, but the one large guy in the black suit and dark sunglasses was already starting to make him nervous before the train arrived.
Leaning well back into the couch, Eric took a quick sip from his can of soda as his grovyle watched from a cot nearer the wall. "That's all really curious, so I have to ask: where you from? Do they have gyms and matches there?"
"There are battles, but no gyms," Leo answered carefully before sipping from his own can of fruity flavored and scented bubbly water, all the while watching Wartortle to make sure he didn't run out of plain water. Even a while after the match, he was still drinking it down to replenish what he used in water pulse attacks. "Pokémon battle each other when they feel like it."
"Boy, that's a place I'd like to visit! Where did you say that was?"
"It's where Blaze and I are from." And he refused to get any more specific.
"Don't worry, he gives me the same non-specific answers," Chris chimed in.
Leo thought he detected just a hint of annoyance. And…he really couldn't blame him anymore. He feigned sudden interest in the signature Eric put on his arm cast for a moment. "Can I ask you something?"
"Shoot," Eric replied.
Shoot? Figuring that meant yes, "Why do you battle?" He made sure to direct the question to the grovyle as well.
"Well, to get better," Eric replied. "I like Pokémon, I think you're fascinating creatures, and I want not just me, but my Pokémon as well to be the best we can all be. Pokémon are naturally just as competitive as humans, and we all want to be the best and have fun, don't we?"
"You've given me something new to work for," the grovyle replied. "I have to get stronger to defeat you next time."
Eric looked to his partner, nodding. "I think she agrees."
"More or less," Leo said to give him some confirmation, though it sounded like he didn't need it.
"After I heal," the grovyle added. "That was a good hit. It hurt." With one of her two-fingered hands, she gingerly started feeling around the bump on her green forehead.
"That's what it finally took to beat you," Blaze said. "That says how tough you are. Any ordinary grovyle would've lost long before. I had the advantage, after all."
A buzzing sound came from the ceiling for a few seconds.
"I think your guest is here," Eric announced in getting his tall form up from the couch.
At his words, Leo felt his heart start to race.
"This is it," Blaze commented, jumping up from the floor. "We finally meet him now."
"Meet who?" the grovyle asked.
"Yeah, meet who?" Wartortle echoed.
Electabuzz showed the same question on his face, though barely.
"A friend," Leo only answered, earning a frown from one of them.
Following Eric and Josh down the hall, they rounded a corner that took them the rest the way to the front entrance of the arena. There, standing by the front desk holding a bag, stood a man maybe six feet tall, with light brown hair, blue eyes, and a still young completion, dressed in a shirt and the usual blue jeans most humans seemed to wear. Beside him at about two-thirds his height was another grovyle, a scar on his green right arm, also holding a small bag in his clawed, two-fingered hand.
Although he tried preparing for this moment, Leo still gasped, feeling instantly frozen to the floor.
"Is that…you?" Blaze whispered near his ear.
Words didn't come near quick enough; he nodded. Not just from whatever memory he had of his time as a human, but from just plain, raw feeling came the certainly the human in front of them was his other existence! As sure as staring into a mirror…
Now…just how was he supposed to greet…himself? As he stared at his other self, his other self glanced around, ending up focusing dead on him.
"Leo Hanson?" Chris asked, stepping forward to hold out his hand.
The man shook it and in a mild voice, "Yes. And you're Chris Urbason then? Glad to meet you, finally."
"Sally said on the phone you've been looking for me?"
"That's right. For a few days now."
"That's interesting, cause we've been looking for you. In fact," Chris turned, waving Leo forward, "this swampert is who really wanted to find you, though he hasn't told me why yet."
"It…has?" Leo Hanson focused on him again, brow furrowed in obvious confusion.
Leo approached till he was standing right in front of his human self, but first paid a glance to Grovyle. It was so good to see him again… Looking up to his human self: "Hello, Leo."
The mouth of his human self fell open.