Chapter 12: Complications
Leo Hanson finished cleaning up after breakfast, wondering what to do the rest of the day. It was a weird feeling being home on a weekday while the city around got back to work. It also felt weird having the house to himself since Grovyle was always around, but he could see Grovyle's desire to participate in matches again, at least for the moment, and so let him leave for the park with Chris, Blaze and his Pokémon counterpart as they continued practicing for the upcoming League Tournaments.
The thought crossed his mind of 'lending' Grovyle to Chris to help bolster his team even more, especially since his Pokémon counterpart with his broken arm could do little other then advise on the sideline. The League rules allowed for advisors during the tournaments, and they weren't specific that such advisors had to be human…
He had to chuckle at that after starting the dishwasher. How strange would that be? Taking it one step further, with the ability to speak in human language, what if his counterpart decided to become a trainer himself, like a few on the subway yesterday thought? He sometimes felt the desire to 'get back into it' - surely his counterpart would share that?
After making his way to the small office nook just off the living room, he setup his laptop from work and made the decision to make the offer to Chris and Grovyle. It would be weird watching someone else give commands to Grovyle, but he deserved the chance to compete if that's what he wanted.
The system quickly finished booting, and after typing his password and swiping his finger over the small built-in scanner, got past the formidable security. Even if someone physically broke into the laptop and extracted the data storage device, all they would find is 4096-bit encrypted data, something that would take even the ten most powerful computers networked together many, many years to break. It was of course, a reflection of the potential problems the project's technology could cause if it ever was misused or used incorrectly.
Another unfamiliar feeling as of late was of things going right. The Professor's decision to suspend the project was the right call in his mind, even if sending them all home for the week felt a little over the top. Maybe the Professor had a good point though about wanting them to lay back, take time to think about everything and come back with a new perspective. Not a bad plan if you're trying to uncover some problems that you suspect might exist but can't otherwise see because you need to take a step back.
Still drastic, though. And he really had to wonder what Derganio's reaction was going to be. In retrospect, he definitely sensed they had been rather "pushy" as of late.
The documentation archive soon came up, providing a table-of-contents view of all the theories, equations, and experimental data they had produced over the project's six-year life. Just as he was deciding the best place to begin, the phone interrupted with it's trilling from the other desk. Sally's face appeared as soon as he answered. "Oh, hi. What's up?"
She smiled. "Well, it feels strange to be home on a weekday."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
"So, I was just wondering if…you wouldn't mind if I come over and maybe we could attack some of the equations together. And I guess I have other questions too. I mean, I know you have company, so if you're busy and all…"
Although it surprised him some, he actually felt glad she asked. "No, actually it'll be fine. Chris and the Pokémon are going to be at the park for most the day practicing for the Tournament. Even Grovyle went with him. It's just me here and well, it does feel like I should be working."
"So you're alone…" She grinned briefly. "Well, um, how about I come over in an hour then? Maybe we could go someplace for lunch too."
At first, he didn't think much of it after he agreed and they terminated the connection. After all, it was something they did at work all the time. Only…the others weren't going to be around. In fact, this would be the first time he was really going to be alone with her, save for some occasional late nights at the lab.
Then it struck him that her manner had been slightly…different. And all the little things she'd been doing for him lately, like buying the chocolates, and always treating him just a bit different then the others… The realization came that it possibly was adding up to something. But was she just being a friend, or…
Probably reading too much into it.
Still…
Electabuzz was staring down the treecko, with neither trainer having given a command for several moments. Neither side had any particular vulnerabilities or strengths against the other, which had been born out by the first attacks; although Electabuzz probably was at disadvantage ability-wise, he was more evolved and therefore physically stronger. But how to use it?
Leo could sense the concentration Chris was exerting and wished he had a suggestion.
"If only I was in there," Blaze commented.
"Maybe that'd make it too easy," Leo whispered back. "He's going to have to use physical attacks and not his electrical ability. This is good training."
"Wonder how high he can jump?"
Blaze's question made obvious what he was thinking. But infernapes were good jumpers, making the knock-out blow he gave the other grovyle in the gym battle possible. Electabuzz, he guessed, probably wouldn't be able to manage it.
"Electabuzz, slam!"
"Huh? What is…"
Before Blaze could finish his question, Electabuzz was off and running straight for the treecko. The treecko deftly moved out of the way at the same time Electabuzz veered at the last instance and spread his arms, just catching the dodging green Pokémon with the very end of his fist to knock it over.
It was a light hit though and the treecko was back up in a hurry.
"I think he was trying to run straight into him," Blaze observed. "If he's going to use physical attacks, he has to move closer, otherwise he isn't fast enough."
Leo found himself in agreement: it seemed the best solution was to stay close and take whatever hits the treecko could dish out, knowing that Electabuzz could dish out more punishing attacks up close.
The other trainer called out his attack; the treecko moved quickly to go around Electabuzz before spinning and impacting his tail against the backside of Electabuzz's knee. The yellow and black-striped Pokémon stifled a wail as he did his own spin to just knick the treekco's head, knocking him over.
"Thunderbolt!" Chris commanded.
Electabuzz responded by glowing briefly before the brilliant spark jumped the space between him and the treecko while it was just jumping up. The treecko went to it's knees, though it was clear the attack didn't have a lasting effect on him.
"Keep him on the attack!" Leo said from behind Chris. "Keep doing physical attacks…"
"I know!" Chris yelled back. "Electabuzz, keep hitting, stay close!"
Electabuzz grimaced, his knee obviously bothering him, but landed some weak hits despite the treecko moving and jumping quickly around him.
Holding a hand back behind him, Chris was giving the impression of waiting for something while the treecko and Electabuzz continued trading blows, nothing too serious, as the two Pokémon danced around each other. But slowly Electabuzz was working closer by letting the treecko get in to land hits…
"Slam!" Chris yelled just as the treecko got right in front to land a blow.
Electabuzz jumped forward in an instant, using his entire body to impact squarely into the much smaller Pokémon. The treecko fall backward, solidly hitting the ground with Electabuzz fully on top and driving him into the grassy field. It was effectively a double hit.
The teenager on the other side screamed, running onto the field. It was as everyone suspected; when Electabuzz rolled off the other Pokémon, he wasn't moving.
"The doctor will be busy," Blaze said in jumping up from his crouched stance, worry evident in his grimace. "That poor thing."
Leo moved with Chris and Blaze onto the field; Chris gave Electabuzz a well-deserved pat on the back, but everyone's eyes were on the treecko.
After the other trainer reached his arms under the little guy to lift him off the ground, only then did it open it's eyes.
"Don't worry, he's a tough little guy," Chris consoled.
"He…is…too…big," the treecko said weakly, clearly still half out of it.
The teenager visibly breathed a little easier at the words from his friend, though he certainly couldn't understand them, before hurrying off the field in the direction of the nearby Pokécenter.
"Tough opponent for his size," Electabuzz commented, before walking toward their end of the field with a slight limp.
"Looks like you'll be heading for the Pokécenter too this morning, buddy," Chris said after him.
Electabuzz waved him off. "This is nothing."
Leo felt compelled to translate it.
"Same 'ol Electabuzz," Chris said with a shake of his head.
Electabuzz stopped short – someone was standing in their trainer box, and Grovyle had backed up to the bench behind the box, acting weary. Clad in dark-grey clothes and dark sunglasses, the black-haired man had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. "Quite an impressive battle," he commented gruffly.
Bolting to Leo's side, "Leo, is that the man from yesterday and the one at the Pokécenter?" Blaze asked.
"The voice is difference than the human from yesterday," he could tell immediately. In human speak: "Chris, that's him from the Pokécenter."
Chris glanced at him, then back at the man. "So there are two of them," he mumbled.
The man almost imperceptibly upturned one corner of his mouth. "Care for a battle?" he said, slowly unclipping a blue and white ball from his belt. "I'd love to battle your swampert there."
Blaze took a step forward, partly shielding him. "Can't you see he has a broken arm? You should already know that, following us around and everything!"
"He's not available for battling, if you haven't noticed the cast on his arm," Chris replied, his eyebrows lowering just a little.
Tossing his Pokéball into the air a little, the man caught it on the way down, his grip looking solid and strong. "Ah, that's too bad. I thought that was the case, but I had to ask anyway. He looked like your most powerful Pokémon. And ones that can speak in our language…well, they're unique, should I say?"
Leo at once realized he spoke out loud in front of what could have been exactly the wrong person! Or did he already know? He didn't look surprised at all…
Smiling unnervingly, "Well, your electabuzz looks worn out…"
Electabuzz hissed.
"…as does your grovyle, so how about your infernape?"
Leo could tell by Chris's stance he was feeling defensive all of the sudden. But he kneeled down next to Blaze: "Well, we did come here for practice," he said quietly, "But if this is one of the guys who was following us near the Pokécenter, I certainly don't trust him. I'll leave it up to you if you want to battle whatever he has, Blaze. I'm game if you are."
Facing Leo, "Maybe I can beat some answers out of his Pokémon…and then turn on him!" Blaze almost shouted.
Leo had the feeling it might not be that easy. Whispering in human speak: "If he and the human from yesterday are part of a team, then don't you think there's a good chance whatever Pokémon he has will be as tough as one of those charizards?"
Chris grunted. "Well, we do have Electabuzz, Pikachu, Elekid, Wartortle and Grovyle if we need them," he reminded. "And so far, I only see him with the one Pokéball."
Blaze looked behind them at the man where he was still standing on their side of the field, Electabuzz carefully staying where he had stopped. "That's all I can see too."
Leo nodded, also confirming. "But that ball is blue."
"Just means it's a higher power ball is all," Chris replied. "Whatever Pokémon he captured with it may have required it, which in turn probably means a more powerful Pokémon…or else he was too lazy to weaken it first before capturing it. Or is just plain rich and is showing off. Still, seeing this guy, I'd bet on the first possibility."
"I'll take him," Blaze announced. "If there's any chance we can get some answers out of him, I have to take it."
Leo patted his partner's shoulder, quietly translating what he said to Chris.
Chris grinned, giving a pat on the infernape's yellow-haired spot on his shoulder as well. "Don't let anyone say you aren't brave, but let's be extra careful here," he said before standing up. To the man: "Alright, we'll have a match then, but I want to know first why are you so interested in Leo? What were you doing at the Pokécenter a few days ago when I took him there?"
The man froze only for the merest of instants. "If you win, maybe I'll tell you."
Chris huffed, mumbling a "Figures." Louder: "Your side of the field is over there," pointing to the opposite end.
A bigger smile spread across the man's hard-edged face and removing his sunglasses, revealed pale hazel-blue eyes which contrasted a little with his short black hair. "Very good. This will be a good battle, I think."
Leo followed Chris and Blaze back to their side of the field, Blaze just staying within bounds.
"That human is hiding something," Grovyle said, joining the rest of them from the bench.
"Another Pokéball?" Leo asked.
"Not that, but he's being deceptive. He believes he's going to win, otherwise he wouldn't have made the offer to tell why he's been following you."
That was probably obvious, but Grovyle reinforced his suspicion.
After the man reached his end of the field, he held out the blue Pokéball, releasing what was inside.
Electabuzz and Grovyle both gasped as Blaze flinched.
Leo also felt stunned at sight of the large Blastoise.
"Ah…" Grovyle stammered, his mouth agape. "This…isn't good. Maybe I should fight…"
Electabuzz was quickly tapping Chris, getting his attention. "Even the best infernape doesn't stand a chance against that! Let me fight him! I'm the only one who has a chance! Grovyle is still more tired then I from his match, and Elekid and Pikachu aren't powerful enough." From his desperate glance, Leo instantly knew he wanted him to translate for him.
"Blaze, Electabuzz is right," Chris said urgently after the translation. "Let me send him in!"
Blaze appeared to consider for a few seconds, but shook his head. "I have to do this. I have a chance."
"Don't be stupid!" Electabuzz shouted, his fingers splayed in obvious frustration.
Leo quickly stepped up to his friend. "Blaze, there's nothing you need to prove. You're at a serious ability disadvantage, he overweighs you and he's way stronger physically. Blaze, please…" Back on their world, they did frequently fight other water types, even a few blastoises. But he was always with his partner and was able to take care of most water types himself. Here, he wouldn't be able to provide any such help. Blaze was going to be alone, and seemingly against the strongest and largest looking blastoise either of them had ever faced!
"Electabuzz is tired and hurt," Blaze pointed out.
"I'd have good effect!" Grovyle said.
"No," Blaze said stubbornly, shaking his head with enough vigor that his red and yellow mane flew a little. "If I don't take him, then I will at least soften him up for Grovyle. That'll give him a advantage."
Electabuzz's mouth opened long before anything came out. "You're thinking like part of a team."
"I've always been part of a team!" Blaze replied with a hand on Leo's shoulder. "He wanted to battle me and I'm not backing down! Let me do this! Believe in me."
Leo saw the determination as well as the pride in his partner's expression, from his wrinkled red forehead and barely concealed sharp teeth to his balled-up fists and whipping tail. And that pride could end getting him badly hurt. He knew that if he tried to stop him though, he could get hurt even worse, and not physically. "He's determined to fight," translating back to Chris. "At the very least, he should be able to weaken that blastoise enough for whoever goes in next."
"Come on!" the man shouted over. "Are you ready yet?"
The blastoise seemed rather disciplined in merely waiting, not saying nor moving much; just…staring intently at them.
"Assuming he'll let us use more than one of you; this is a one-on-one match," Chris replied to both Leo and Blaze, sounding very undecided. Finally, he waved Grovyle out of the way to kneel behind Blaze. Laying a hand on his back, "OK then, if you're sure. Fire attacks are going to be out, since they won't do much good against it. Instead, let's save your strength for close in physical attacks. You're probably faster then that lumbering beast, so we should be able to attack from behind him, or even underneath. If he fires his water cannons, dodge without waiting for my instruction; there won't be time."
Blaze gave a single nod at the instructions, his determination only becoming more evident as his body tensed.
"Hey, you have to call attacks out loud there, buddy!" the man shouted gruffly across the distance.
Standing up again, "Oh don't worry," Chris shouted back, "all my attacks will be loud and clear! Pre-battle strategy is perfectly legal!"
"Whatever. Let's go then!"
"He's impatient too," Grovyle commented. "He's been following you up to now, seemingly trying to remain unnoticed. So what does he have to gain by now coming out in the open like this and confronting you directly?"
His question seemed like a good one, Leo thought. "Perhaps a consequence of us confronting his teammate yesterday?"
Grovyle nodded with a quick hiss. "Even so, he's giving up the ability to keep himself anonymous."
Leo wanted to continue the line of thought, but the battle was beginning.
"So, by taking the coefficient of the wavelength and multiplying by the radial power squared, that gives us the variable… here." Sally leaned around him to point to that part of the three-line equation displaying on the screen, tapping her other finger on the desk.
Leo Hanson stared at it, getting a whiff of her subdued but flower-scented perfume and wondering if there was an alternative way of stating the equation, one that might possibly allow for more variables. Of course there were always such possibilities, but as far as he knew, no way to discover them. Leaning back after a sigh, "You know, this is one of the first equations we came up with, and it's just a variation of one of the equations used in Pokéball dimensional technology. If anything, it's one of the most tested. If there is anything wrong here, it'd have major implications."
Sally seemed to consider him before leaning back herself. "Best place to start, then. Make sure we have the basic stuff sound."
Looking between the screen and her, he noted her gaze was at him a little more than the screen. Then he heard it…the sound of a stomach, and not his. "You know something else?" he asked. "I'm starving. How about that lunch?"
A pleasant smile forming on her face, "Was wondering when you were going to ask."
Leo nearly cringed when Blaze almost didn't dodge the water pulse in time; bits of grass and dirt went flying in a dirty mixture as the twin thin walls of water forcibly impacted the ground he'd just been occupying a fraction of a second before.
The man's blastoise was without question bigger then the ones he and Blaze ran into, and with a Pokémon of his size, it surely had tremendous water reserves in addition to great power. The force it was shooting out it's water pulses from the twin orifices in it's hard shell certainly exceeded his own!
If there was any weakness it it's attack, it was that he had to turn his entire body to aim, being that the openings were merely that: holes where water was released with no ability to aim, unlike being able to turn his head like most other water variety Pokémon.
As for Blaze being able to attack, that was proving more difficult then he imagined. For a large, heavy Pokémon, this blastoise was able to turn around quite well, allowing Blaze to get in only a few ineffective strikes from behind against it's hard shell. But at least Blaze was fast enough to avoid the water attacks, any one of which would have hurt him a great deal.
No, it seemed the only real vulnerable spot the blastoise had was underneath, and Blaze didn't seem like he had a chance in the molten depths of Dark Crater of striking there.
Blaze again had to move quickly in dodging another attack, going over the same spot where the previous water pulse hit the ground. Seemingly stumbling a little, he came close to falling.
Having already worked up a good sweat, Leo thought at first his partner was exhausted before realizing the ground was slick! Maybe…
In as low a voice as he could manage and still be heard: "Chris, the slick ground, maybe we can use it…"
Chris was already nodding. "You're right, but it's going to be tricky." Louder: "Blaze, come toward me!"
The infernape complied, in a few bounds getting to just beyond the spot where the previous attack hit the ground.
"Stop and use flamethrower!"
Leo instantly figured out what Chris was attempting, and needed a distance attack to do it, but Blaze looked confused. "Blaze, hurry!" he confirmed.
The other trainer wasn't giving any time though: "Blastoise, water shot!"
Blaze released his flamethrower just before the larger Pokémon shot out two slugs of water. It clearly wasn't an even match.
"Dodge, Blaze!" Leo shouted before Chris could get the same words out. Blaze leapt straight up even while the flames were still blowing out of his mouth, the two water slugs impacting the ground underneath him with enough force that a shockwave came up to keep him in the air a good second longer then normal. He cringed thinking of what that would have done to his partner if it had hit directly.
Blaze landed amid a small depression and a fair amount of mud.
"Blaze, back up and try again!"
He was quicker this time, getting the flame out immediately and almost before the blastoise could counter with a wider-coverage water pulse this time.
The red and white haired infernape again leapt, this time to the side, but the water attack caught just part of his tail, snapping it violently around and almost taking him with it. Blaze still managed to land on his feet, and Chris immediately ordered him all the way back to just in front of him and Leo.
Leo saw at once how his friend was starting to shake from exhaustion. The battle was getting long, and featured Blaze mostly dodging attacks. But now with most the field between them, any water attacks by the blastoise would be greatly weakened by the time they reached him, giving him at least a few seconds to catch his breath. If the blastoise wanted to press the attack, it would have to close the distance, at least a little…
The man on the other side seemed to refuse to lose his cool. He wasn't grinning, smiling, or giving any hint of emotion.
"Blaze, how are you doing?" Chris asked.
Looking back, the same determination was still on his face, but also along with fatigue. "Give me a way to land a good attack! I can't see a way to get a good strike in!"
"It's coming," Leo said in Poke speech. "Don't worry, we have a plan."
Blaze growled, turning back to face their opponent.
"Blastoise, get closer and keep pounding with water pulse only," the man commanded. "Conserve your water."
The large blue and brown turtle-like Pokémon nodded and started moving toward them on it's two large legs.
"Blaze, charge straight at it!"
"Ha ha! 'Bout time!" Blaze leapt forward and landed running on all fours at full speed straight for the blastoise.
"Blastoise, attack now!" the man screamed.
"Blaze, slide!"
Blaze hesitated for a mere instant, but which worked to his advantage as he landed on the ground at the edge of where the last water attack had hit to go sliding on the muddy mess…the last few attacks having made a nice, neat path straight under where the blastoise now stood! "Pound!" Chris screamed.
The blastoise couldn't react fast enough; the slick muddy surface gave the infernape nearly as great a speed as if he was running. And when Blaze arrived underneath, he shot his arms up, landing his fists with seemingly all his strength straight into the other Pokémon's lightly armored underside.
"Arrrr!" Gripping his lower stomach, the blastoise fell to his knees after Blaze safely slid out behind him.
"Way to go, Blaze!" Leo shouted, jumping up with his good arm in the air. It was his partner's first really solid hit, and it was a punishing one!
Blaze got up, slowly, but was grinning in triumph.
"Blastoise!" the opposing trainer yelled. "Punch!"
Suddenly moving like it wasn't hurt at all, the Pokémon was up and whipping around it's much larger body.
At once, Leo realized in horror his partner's mistake in staying too close; almost in slow motion, he watched the blastoise's heavy, clawed fists impact Blaze's stomach, sending him flying to the edge of the field…
"Water shot!"
"Get up, get up!" Leo screamed. "BLAZE, GET…"
Still on the ground from the heavy blow, Blaze never looked in time to see the attack. Far more powerful then mere water pulses, both of the massive, potent water shots hit dead on, forcing the infernape back up into the air to impact hard against a tree trunk, well outside the boundaries of the field.
"Blaze!" Leo was running as fast as he could. His friend had never taken such a succession of powerful hits before in his life! He couldn't run fact enough, arriving over him only after several seconds. "Blaze! Blaze?"
His friend wasn't moving at all – he was as still as death. Frantic, he leaned close, holding a hand over his nose. He was still breathing…
Chris was suddenly on the other side of Blaze, a Pokéball already in hand. "We need to get him to the Pokécenter now!"
"He doesn't like Pokéballs!" Leo screamed.
"We get can him there faster if he's in one!"
"He battled well for a fire species."
With Chris, he looked to the man and his blastoise as they approached, but keeping their distance.
"Was that last hit necessary?" Chris shouted, anger evident as he shook. "He was already down!"
"He was still in bounds and moving," the man pointed out, replacing his sunglasses. "And as tough as it was proving, I expected him to get back up."
Leo hissed, infusing all the growl he could before taking the Pokéball out of Chris's hand. He ignored Chris and the man as they continued arguing and pointed the red and white ball at Blaze, hoping he would forgive him. "Blaze, it's the quickest way…" Pushing the button, the red glowing beam came from the ball to engulf his friend, quickly absorbing him into the confines of the ball before closing itself gently.
He completely ignored Chris as he was still engaging the man and leapt up. Blaze was his friend, and his top priority was to get him help as fast as he could, no matter what! Fortunately, having been there a couple times already, he knew the way to the Pokécenter and took off running, Grovyle and Electabuzz following.
"If I ever see that man and his blastoise again, I'll personally choke the life out them!" Grovyle raged.
Leo barely acknowledged, but did notice Chris catching up after a few moments. Minutes passed, people scrambling to get out of their way as they came running into the Pokécenter, the couple seconds it took for the front doors to slide open being a couple seconds too many for him.
If anything happened to Blaze…he didn't know what he would do!
The lunch was perfect. The small cafe counter had a few tables on the sidewalk and being well past the noon lunch rush hour, was fairly cleared out. Leo Hanson sipped the freshly made tea, feeling relaxed after the food. "We need to take days off like this more often."
"Agreed," Sally replied from across the small wrought-iron table. "And I don't know about you, but I've had enough of equations for a while. Kinda all we been talking about while we were eating. We really should take the rest of the afternoon off; we are supposed to be returning next week refreshed you know."
She was right. But the Professor really had given them contradictory instructions. Work on the project's theories and come back rested. "Maybe John thinks working on equations is relaxing."
"He has a peculiar sense of relaxation, then" With a wry smile, "But then, he is peculiar at times."
"That he is," Leo agreed. Although, not any more so then most other university professors devoting their entire time to a project in place of teaching.
"So, how are you doing? I mean, you have a Pokémon walking around who used to be…or is you. I can't begin to imagine what that feels like."
Staring down at his empty plate, he wondered just how to answer; he was still very much working his way through all that. There was the acceptance of the fact of it - in the face of the proof, there was no denying it anymore. But truly accepting it on a personal level…that was more difficult. "I guess I've been avoiding thinking too much about it. It's hard to get used to in a way. How does one talk to oneself? But he is a Pokémon and although the first thirty years of our life is common, his life has been very difference the last three years. So he really isn't same as me, is he?" framing it as a real question and not rhetorical.
Sally seemed to consider him a moment while pouring herself more hot water. "I don't know. What makes you, you? All I can say is to me, you are two different people. Maybe that makes his physical form and the last three years everything then."
"Maybe. That and he managed to save this planet and that Poké planet at least once. Grovyle too, but not this Grovyle."
"How's he holding up?"
At first he was going to answer just fine, but after a few seconds he knew that wasn't quite true. "He's gotten a sudden interest in battling again. Been a little moody too, the last few days. Not quite himself." He of course had to chuckle at what he just said. "Can't imagine why."
The red head smiled slightly while stirring the water in her cup after plunking in the tea bag. "From just a purely objective viewpoint, and don't take this personally as I would probably be feeling the very same way, but you and Grovyle went off to be heroes in another timeline. In this timeline, and it's a much better one from all accounts, neither of you have done that – you haven't had the opportunity."
"Are you saying you think I'm feeling…jealous of myself?"
Wagging her finger lightly at him, "Two different people. But…" She grimaced, shrugged. "I don't know what I'm saying. If I were in your place, maybe I would be, just a little."
"He's a Pokémon, for God sakes! How could I be jealous of not having that done to me?"
"Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up." Busying herself with the tea, she lifted the bag out, throwing it to the nearest trashcan.
Leo realized he was a little angry…perhaps she was hitting a nerve. "No, I'm sorry. You might have a point. I just never thought about that aspect. Truthfully, I just don't know what I'm feeling. And you know, I should be asking you how you're holding up too."
"Me? Oh I'm just taking the week off while we try to decide the fate of the project, like everyone else. That kind of pales in comparison to what you're facing. What about the other Leo: is he getting along well? Must be hard for him too, dealing with his lost memories and all. I certainly don't envy that."
"Well, if I'm having trouble opening up, surely he does too," Leo half-heartedly joked. More seriously: "Most of the memories he is getting back are of a world that no longer exists. I don't know if he's happy or sad because of it. From what's he's said, the planet was being destroyed around him toward the end. I think I wish he could remember more, though."
"He and Blaze are pretty close, it seems. They've must have been through a lot together; the story you told us of what they did on the Poké world, it was the short version you said? The same as what the two of you told me on Saturday?"
Nodding, "Yeah. We left out a few details to shorten it, like some things from when he saved the tower and started to disappear. When…my counterpart told it to me, he...was a little emotional. His infernape friend too. It was painful for both of them, I think. To lose one's best friend like that, after you've been through so much together…one of them forced to carry on without the other, his friend being lost forever. I've thought about that off and on since, having the timeline you were unique to changed and causing your very existence to be erased, how it would affect others. Leaving them the gift of a better future… But, it only erased the last three years of my life and Grovyle's; otherwise neither of us would still be here." When he finally looked up again at Sally, he found her green eyes fixed on him, perhaps with a touch of sadness. "Dialga must be a good being, bringing my other self back in spite of the obvious problems."
She finally moved enough to have sip of her tea. "You know…I think I would miss you." Her lips twitched a little, forming a slight smile. "I need someone around to help me eat all that chocolate, after all."
It was obvious from her look and tone she meant it more than she was letting on, though he wondered how much.
The next hour seemed a blur to Leo: the nurses put Blaze on a padded cart and literally ran him through some swinging doors into a room full of unfamiliar equipment. Once there, they and a doctor moved quickly around him, attaching this wire or that tube with a needle while he was forced watch through a window.
He didn't know when, but eventually someone came by and closed the blinds, and when he protested in anger, was lead away by Chris to the front lobby area. But he was unable to lay on the benches for very long. Seeing some stairs and light from up there, he went up to the next level to find an outdoor balcony. It was scenic enough and provided a nice secluded spot to look over the city as the late afternoon wore on and the sun began to set. Humans moved to and fro everywhere, the wheeled boxes called cars and trucks and multitudes of bicycles clogging the streets below and around the Pokécenter; everyone had someplace to go…most likely home for most of them, he guessed.
He and Blaze…they were so very far from home. And Blaze…
The vicious hits he took kept replaying in his mind over and over. They weren't the ordinary attacks that either of them normally endured when they fought other Pokémon. These were very powerful, dished out from a stronger-than-usual Pokémon, and the blastoise used abilities that Blaze was weakest against. Those water slugs…they were especially injurious. The sight of his body slamming hard into the tree before falling limply…
Why…why did he not talk him out of fighting that beast? Letting his tears fall, he started fearing the worst. Please let him be alright! he cried out to any unknown entity that would care.
From behind, he heard the glass door sliding open. Not that he cared, though soon two green hands joined his on the railing and for a while the owner said nothing.
Taking a deep breath to get himself back under control, "I should had seen what was going to happen. I should have talked him out of it."
Grovyle remained quiet for several heartbeats, then: "Second guessing the past serves but one master: Doubt." Leaning forward over the railing, "That's from an Unown translation."
His green friend didn't understand! "I could have prevented this!" If Blaze didn't make it, how would he ever be able to forgive himself?
"I've only known the two of you for a few days, but from what I've seen it's obvious Blaze is a stubborn Pokémon. He wouldn't have let you talk him out of it, not without feeling hurt. Am I right?"
Pointing behind him, "At least he wouldn't be lying in there, fighting for his life!"
Grovyle faced him, green eyes piercing, "There was no way to predict what would happen. I too thought he would probably lose, but that he would just come out of it a little worse for wear. None of us could have predicted what happened would happen. You can't blame…"
"I have the Dimensional Scream ability! Why didn't I see this coming? Why didn't it work!" Slamming his balled hand on the wide metal railing with a bang, he dented the hollow structure before collapsing on it, then let his head hang down over it as he could control his tears or sobbing no longer. He should had seen what was going to happen; he could see everything else! Why not this?
He let it all out until there was no more. Twilight eventually settled over the city before he felt himself spent, and he slid onto his knees behind the railing. Grovyle was still beside him as Chris and Electabuzz appeared on the other side of the glass door.
"Any word?" Leo asked immediately as they walked out.
Somberly, Chris shook his head. "He's still in the ER," in a quiet voice, just audible over the traffic noise around them. "This is my fault. I should never have let him battle, despite what he wanted. As the trainer, it's my responsibility to match you guys up where you will at least have a chance and not risk getting seriously injured. I failed. I'm sorry."
Leo huffed. "I should have seen this coming with the Dimensional Scream. But I didn't. I should have talked him out of that obviously bad matchup. But I didn't." He grew angry - with himself. "As his friend, I should not have done what he wanted – I should have stopped him!"
Electabuzz and Chris settled on the other side of him opposite Grovyle, backs against the railing. "In watching him through a few battles now, I can say he's tough," Electabuzz said. "If anyone will recover after what he took, he will. And probably will end up stronger, too."
Leo hoped with everything he had that was true.
The four of them remained on the balcony as twilight deepened and the outside lights around the Pokécenter started lighting up. Eventually one of the nurses appeared in the door and slid it open to step through. Looking up with both hope and dread, Leo's heart started pounding in expectation of either good or bad news.
"So here you all are. I just wanted to tell you we've finished with Blaze in the ER and moved him out."
"Is he going to be OK?" Chris asked.
"It's a little early to tell for sure, but he's out of immediate danger. If he continues to improve through the night, then I think he will be fine. But he took a lot of punishment, far more then what we usually see from a match, even in the worst cases. He'll be in intensive care at least for the rest of the night. If he's looking good by morning, he'll make a full recovery and we might be able to release him in a couple days."
"Thanks."
"By the way, the four of you are welcome to spend the night. We have a few trainer rooms available."
"I think we'll take advantage of that, thanks," Chris replied after giving Leo a glance.
Leo nodded. There was no way he was going any further away from his dearest friend.
Chris waited until the nurse left before speaking again. "Leo, I hate to lay this on you too, but it could be important. I'll be calling Mr. Hanson here soon too; I left him a message earlier saying where we were, but I didn't think it was safe to say anything more in a message."
And what else could be important as this point?
"After you ran off for here, that man we faced had a message for us. He said that Derganio wasn't going to allow the project to be delayed. They are going to finish it themselves."
Now that did get his attention, as unlikely as such seemed a few seconds ago. "What?"
"He refused to say anything more and I had to go running after you anyway, but I'm guessing this isn't good. I think to tell us that must have been the reason he battled us."
"That human…who was he?" Grovyle asked, clearly alarmed. "How does he know about the project, or about what Derganio Corp is going to do?"
Leo had the very same questions. "We need to tell Leo."
Leo Hanson saw Sally to the subway station before heading home. It was a wonderful evening. The movie was good and served as a good distraction from the project. The company wasn't bad either. Two coworkers/friends spending a day together outside of work – although he realized the possible implications. It didn't seem to go too far, but he found himself getting to know her a little better and wishing to continue down that path. He found he was liking this side of her outside of work.
Arriving home, it seemed curious the lights weren't on; surely Chris and the others would have been back by now, especially with it being dark. They couldn't be still battling at the park? After turning on the lights, the first thing that caught his eye was the blinking message light on the phone terminal.
"Leo, it's Chris. We're at the Pokécenter. Blaze was hurt pretty badly in a battle this afternoon. We may be staying the night. Um…give me a call here when you get back; there's something else I need to talk to you about, rather important."
Leo stared at the screen after it went black. Blaze was hurt bad enough that they were staying the night at the Pokécenter? That alone made him concerned, but what was this important 'something else'? Hitting the few buttons for the Pokécenter, he was already nervous before the image of a nurse appeared on the screen. "I'm looking for Chris Urbason. He left me a message wanting me to call him back there."
The nurse put him on hold while his heart raced; Chris's tired image appeared a few moments later.
"Chris, what's going on? How's Blaze?"
"Leo, thanks for calling back. Blaze was hurt in a battle against a blastoise. He only got out of the ER a half-hour ago."
With alarm, he glanced at his watch, calculating from the time of Chris's message about how long he had been in there…coming up with over six hours! "My God, is he going to be OK?"
Shaking his head in response, "Don't know yet. They're saying if he improves through the night, he'll be OK. If not…" He seemed to face someone off the screen and his Pokémon counterpart's blue face appeared next to him.
Leo couldn't help noticing how blood-shot his counterpart's eyes looked and how listless he moved. Not that Chris looked a whole lot better.
"There's something else," his counterpart started. "The blastoise's trainer was one of the people who's been following us."
His heart skipped a beat. "The guy from yesterday?" Returning to give them trouble?
"Different human. This one was the one who was at the Pokécenter the first time we came here and showed some interest in me."
"He challenged us to a battle, right out of the blue," Chris added. "After he pummeled Blaze, he gave me a message, which I think he intended for me to pass on to you."
"For me?" Peculiar. "What was it?" asking with trepidation.
"He said that Derganio Corp wasn't going to allow the project to be delayed or cancelled; that they are going to move to finish it themselves."
Leo stared blinking at the screen for a solid moment. "What?"
The blonde-haired trainer repeated the message before shaking his head slightly. "What do you think is going on?"
Not seeing any obvious answer off the top of his head, "I don't know; I'll need to look into it. Until then, would you like me to come there?"
Chris looked to his counterpart.
"No need," the swampert said simply.
After the quick goodbye and expression of hope for Blaze's recovery, he started thinking a little more clearly. It was too late to really call anybody. But if Derganio was somehow going to get full access to the project, someone from the University would have to let them in; only a few people had access to the lab and the passwords to the systems.
Which meant…there was someone on the project who was…? No…that was hard to believe; everyone knew the risks of letting anyone get their hands on the technology. That and he felt he knew everyone fairly well, even the Professor. Heck, he'd even met his wife on more than one occasion!
On the other hand, breaking into the lab wouldn't be especially hard either. It wasn't like they had the security of a top-secret government lab. And there surely was someone else on the University staff who had access to the systems. At least one other: the IT department wouldn't tolerate not having such access in the event of any emergency.
He needed to call the Professor first thing in the morning.
Leo was finding sleep elusive. As quietly as he could, he left the room where Chris and Grovyle were asleep to pace through the halls where other rooms held other sleeping trainers and their Pokémon. Unfortunately, the doors to the hospital portion were kept locked, otherwise he'd be with Blaze already. The reasoning part of him knew there were good reasons why visitors weren't allowed in the rooms where the sickest Pokémon were, but the friend side of him raged at not being able to be with him.
At least they let him be with his partner for a few moments before they closed the hospital. Seeing the wires and tubes stuck into his friend felt like someone walking over his grave. He really hoped those same wires and tubes would keep Blaze out of his.
Eventually his wandering brought him back at the balcony, where he looked out over a much calmer city being late into the night. With so few people out and virtually no vehicles around the Pokécenter, chirping crickets could be heard clearly in the grass, shrubs and small trees that comprised the immediate area around the large building.
Blaze was still foremost on his mind, though he was able to devote at least some thought to other concerns, which would have been impossible only a couple hours before.
Derganio. That was the corporation (whatever that was) that was helping to build…no, helping to pay for the dimensional gate project. That's what his human self said. Now, they were going to finish the gate themselves? Meaning without the project's members, including his human self? That would mean…the project wasn't going to be cancelled or suspended after all. If the gate was going to be the cause of the coming disaster, then they were still heading toward it unabated!
So in the end, talking to the members of the project team and convincing them to halt it ended up accomplishing nothing…
A new thought occurred to him, one he really didn't like: if that man who they "battled" was actually a member of Derganio, could his objective have been to "eliminate" either him or Blaze, or both, in order to prevent them from interfering and getting the project stopped?
He just about accomplished that regarding Blaze, Leo thought angrily. Maybe actually did, depending on if his friend recovered or not. But if that were the case, why bother giving them the message that Derganio was taking over the project? If the goal was to keep them from interfering, then it would have been best to keep that news a secret for as long as possible.
The two things seemed contradictory. The man acted as both foe…and friend!
It didn't make sense, and he really hoped his human counterpart could figure it out.
Leo Hanson tried the Professor's number again, not getting any response. Not even on his cell number. Finally trying his home, his wife answered only to say he was "out of town", and didn't know when he'd be back.
"Great," he mumbled to himself, resolving to finally fix himself some breakfast with it now being late morning. Certainly, he could get used to sleeping late, especially after lying awake for half the night wondering about what that message Chris passed along meant exactly. But like the previous night, it was still strange being alone in the house as Grovyle was almost always around. No doubt he and his Pokémon counterpart were watching over Blaze. Which reminded him he should go there for a visit since he couldn't contact the Professor.
Though…he should probably tell at least Sally, and resolved to do that right after he got back.
After finishing his oatmeal and cleaning up, the phone terminal trilled just as he was preparing to leave. Sally's face appeared on the monitor. Immediately noting her worried expression, "Sally? I was going to call you later, actually."
"Oh, well I needed to talk to you right away, since I can't get a hold of the Professor."
"Yeah, he's out of town apparently. What's going on?"
"I just stopped by the lab this morning. I was going to pick up a couple things and…I couldn't get in. There security men there in Derganio uniforms, and there's a bunch of other people there, and they've apparently taken over the lab!"
Leo found himself sitting down in surprise. "Sally, listen, something happened yesterday." It took him only a moment to relay Chris's experience in the park.
"My God," Sally exclaimed. "What the hell do they think they're doing? They have no right to go in there and confiscate the project! They don't own it! And who the hell let them in?"
"My guess would be someone in University administration," having already gone over that question during the night. "Someone there would have all the access codes. Maybe Derganio twisted some arms or something, I don't know."
"Well…we have to stop them, somehow. They couldn't possibly know those systems…in fact, what could any of them know about how our systems operate anyway?"
All those "visits" by Derganio representatives seemed to take on a darker purpose all of the sudden, and something else also seemed to fall into place right at that moment: "Sally, remember that one vision I told you about, the one where I thought I saw another gate project? What if it was Derganio that built it, and they never gave it up? What if they continued development of their own DV detector, and now they're just moving in to finish what they consider their second gate attempt?" What he didn't bring up was his other vision, the one where he saw all the strange people in their lab, which now seemed to be coming true…
"Damn," Sally's image breathed. "Look, maybe we should meet and figure out what to do. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get paranoid; who knows what else those people are up to. I'll call the others; is it alright if we meet at your house?"
At first he thought that sounded like a good idea, but quickly had another thought. "Maybe we should keep this just between the two of us. It might be dangerous if we all get together." Although the man Chris battled might or might not have been from Derganio, the fact that he hurt Blaze pretty badly and then gave them the information, seemed to feel like an unspoken message of some kind…
"Alright, I'll come over right now."
"And I think I need to make a call to the University." So much for the visit to the Pokécenter.