For those who don't know, Haki is an power system from the manga/anime One Piece. It literally means 'will' or 'spirit'. It manifest into three different types.
Observation Haki: Lets people sense the emotions/intent of others, giving them a sort of spider sense in regards to threats to there well being. The more advanced version, achieved through practice, gives people limited precognition.
Armament Haki: Lets people coat themselves in 'invisible armor', visually represented in the manga/anime by the characters body parts or weapons turning black. This enhances their offesive and defensive capabilities, while also letting them strike a person's 'true body'. Meaning that if anyone has an annoying super power that lets them bypass or nullify physical damage, they can know be hit. Hard. The more advanced verison, achieved through practice, allows a person to 'flow' there Haki into an object or person and do damage from the inside.
Conqueror's Haki: Unlike the previous two, this form of Haki is not available to just anyone. In the manga/anime it is said that only one in a million are born with the ability to use it. Having it is a sign of being one of the 'chosen' or having the qualities of a king. At the most basic level, it lets someone assert their will onto others. Resulting in them being intimidated, or flat out losing consciousness. The more advanced users apply it in a way similar to Armament Haki to super charge their attacks.
Last but not least, in One Piece it is stated that Haki can only grow in conflict and battle. Noone has become a master by practicing in the mountains isolated from the rest of the world.
Now, because One Piece characters have used Haki to split the sky and punch holes through islands, Leonardo's Haki has been significantly nerfed for the sake of the story. He will still perform super human feats, even by Pokemon standards, but don't expect him to leap into the stratosphere and spike Ho-Oh out of the sky.
...
The afternoon had come around again, and Leonardo was reassigned his 'duties' as after school delivery boy. However, in an out character act of being proactive, the majority of the school groups had already gathering their supplies. Unfortunately that didn't translate to his freedom.
A wagon full of empty boxes and trash trailed behind him from his trip, collecting everything the groups no longer needed. He paid little attention to other pedestrians as he continued on his route. The winds that passed through the streets, along with the average community chatter, increasingly began to fade from his senses. Till eventually, he was lost to his thoughts.
Should I go to the Pokemon Center?
He thought, as his mind traveled back to the previous night. When he stumbled across a pokemon, a Buneary, bleeding out in the shadows of an alleyway. Next thing he knew, he was in the Pokemon Center. How he got there was just a blur, but his labored breathing and sore legs gave a clear answer. After the nurses directed him to the restroom to clean the blood off his person and borrow some spare clothes, he sat in the lobby for a few minutes. Before he stood up and left without a word.
Why does it bother me?
Why indeed, Leonardo thought as he stopped his aimless trudge under an overpass. Bringing his collapsible wagon into the shade, he set it against the white bricks before laying himself beside it. Putting his hands behind his head and shutting his eyes, Leonardo began his self imposed break time. Many attempts were made to drown his memories of last night, using the noise of footsteps and chatter from people and pokemon on top off and under the overpass. It didn't work. Deciding to prematurely end his break he-
Why is my brain itching?
His eyes scrunched at the new uncomfortable feeling. While his right hand scratched through his silver hair. Soon everything was overpowered by internal static noise.
"Hey."
His mouth released an angry groan. Then he clenched his teeth and started grinding them together. The static increased, along with a buzzing sensation behind his eyes.
"Hey… are you okay!"
A slender hand pulled Leonardo's hand out of his hair. He tried to put his focus on that, and push back against the hissing and crackling in his mind.
"Shit! I'm sorry I-"
When Leonardo realized someone, a girl, was speaking to him, he waved her off. The static began to recede as if someone turned down the volume dial. He slowly opened his eyes, and was greeted by a familiar pair of concerned blue eyes framed by brown hair.
"I-I'm fine." No. He wasn't. "Just a headache from all the… heat." He tried reassuring her forgetting it was winter.
With his mind still clearing Leonardo honed in on her last words. "Wha-what are you apologizing for?"
"Oh, well-" Hilda stood up from her position kneeling beside him. Allowing him to see she still wore her sleeveless black jacket and white shirt combo. And of course her denim shorts. "I… I just was sorry I couldn't do anything to help."
She folded her arms in on herself and turned away from him. Her face marred with… guilt? Leonardo raised an eyebrow at that before remembering Hilda is the 'protagonist' of childrens video game, so of course she developed a savior complex. He was the last person who would knock her down for it though.
"Don't sweat it Daisy Dukes." He joked with grin.
"Maybe you're not okay." She noted with concern. "You're saying weird things again."
Leonardo let out an almost wistful sigh as he stood up and rested a hand on the handle of his trash wagon. "Doesn't matter, anyways I better keep moving so-"
"Wait! Are you sure you're alright to be moving around?" Hilda asked with her hand outstretched toward him.
Leonardo turned to face her. "Got trash to collect and I'm in for an even bigger headache if I'm caught slacking off."
"I'm sure they'll understand in this case."
Hilda was right, his teachers probably would understand. He could then probably sneak off to do some strength training. However, doing this job, pointless as it was, kept his mind from wandering back to —.
Leonardo shook his head. "Yeah, but our festival starts tomorrow and as a proud citizen of Lacunosa Town, and a representative of my academy, I must do my part." He lied with his hand placed on his chest. Judging from Hilda's unimpressed stare he wasn't very convincing.
Whether she believed his town patriotism or not wasn't his problem. Leonardo stepped out from under the shade and continued his trek through the town. He hummed himself a tune all the way to his destination, a group of students setting up streamers and pokemon balloons.
One boy from his class smirked as he approached. "Well look who it… who is she?"
Leonardo looked behind himself at where the boy was pointing, to Hilda standing a few feet away. Her sporty outfit making a stark contrast to their school uniforms. He gave her a puzzled look, which had him receive a causal wave in return. So, she was tailing him now huh? Unfortunately for her, Lacunosa students didn't meet many pokemon trainers.
"A pokemon trainer, couldn't you tell?" Leonardo answered with a smirk. He watched with a grin that would make the Norse-god Loki proud, as Hilda was barraged with questions from awestruck students.
"No way for real! Do you have any gym badges?!"
"What kind of pokemon do you have?!"
"I think I've seen you on tv before!"
"Do you have a boyfriend?!"
Leonardo chuckled at Hilda floundering in her newfound popularity with the students. Quickly he moved, scooping the leftover paper strewn about up into his wagon. Trash secured and not sparing a glance back, he bolted down the street with the trash barely staying in the wagon.
Continuing this breakneck pace, Leonardo finished in record time. After dumping the trash in the school dumpster and returning the wagon to the supply closet, he locked up behind himself and began to make his way home. As he passed through the school gates he hummed the tunes of songs from his old world. Eventually, Leonardo's mind was lost to the world as he passed through the winding town streets. He ascended a set of stairs to a lookout point, giving him an overhead view of the town surrounded by walls.
'Maybe, I should run across the top of the town walls using only my hands.' Leonardo thought to himself in an attempt to lighten his mood. 'Yeah… and the danger might trigger Observation Haki so I don't make any missteps.' Genius. Now he needed a blindfold.
"I've found you!"
Leonardo turned to the voice on his left and saw the result of his actions. A red faced pokemon trainer stood across from him, body tense as if she was ready to pounce.
"Ah, hey daisy dukes." He greeted her casually.
"You got my name wrong again! It's Hilda, get it right already!" She exclaimed, marching up to him. Standing face to face made him realize she was slightly taller than him.
Brushing some snow off the lookout rails he addressed her. "So what are you doing out here? Come to take in the sights?"
"I took in enough of the sights thanks to those friends of yours." She heatedly replied, causing him to chuckle. The town didn't have many young trainers, so of course the students took a liking to her. Especially if she showed off her pokemon.
"I wanted to ask you about something that happened recently. Something involving you." Hilda stated with her voice taking a more serious tone.
She didn't wait for his response as she continued. "Last night you brought a Buneary to the Pokemon Center in critical condition right?"
"Whoa whoa, how do you know this?"
Hilda gave him a confused look, as if she didn't just blindside him with uncomfortable, unprompted questioning. "The Pokemon Center staff told me, you weren't exactly quiet. Now-"
Leonardo interrupted again. "And this is of interest to you why?"
Hilda's eyes bore into him for a few seconds, before she took a breath. "Let's start over."
"Last night you brought to the Pokemon Center a Buneary suffering abrasions, tears, and crush wounds across her torso." He shivered at the memory and opened his mouth to again ask why she was questioning him, but she pressed on. "You left without a word which wouldn't usually be a problem, but during the treatment they found that she is owed by a trainer."
She took note of the realization that dawned on him. "Judging from the look on your face the trainer wasn't present when you found her."
No they weren't, he found her alone bleeding in an alleyway, which implied numerous things. The worst of them being the trainer was either hurt, dead, negligent, or straight up human trash. However, Leonardo was getting ahead of himself.
"I don't know if we're on the same page, but I think we're jumping to the worst case scenario too quickly." He stated, fidgeting with his school bag handles. "I'm sure someone in town is looking for her."
"That may be the case, but we can't rule it out." Who is 'we'? Why doesn't she just leave this stuff to the police or rangers? Protagonist Syndrome? "Can you take me to where you found her?"
Leonardo sighed and began walking towards the stairway of the lookout. "Alright, let's go."
It didn't take long for them to find the spot, with it being near one of Leonardo's numerous napping spots. The buildings around it cast long shadows in the afternoon sun and the alleyway was nearly as dark as when he last stood in it. It was stupid really, he lost count of how many times he had walked through it with nothing on his mind, but now it just disturbed him.
"Here we are." Leonardo said, waving his hand down the direction of the alleyway. "What's next, Miss detective?"
He was ignored as Hilda walked up to the blood marked spot where the wall met the alley floor. She knelt down at the spot before turning back to him. "The nurses said that at the rate she was bleeding she would have died within the hour of receiving the wound, at best. Did you see anyone or anything leave this alleyway?" At the shake of his head she gave him a small smile and stood up.
"You're free to take off, I've got it from here."
It seems that she noticed his frazzled state, and seemed almost as confused as he was. Spilt blood crossed familiar territory for him and death was an old friend, so the jury was out on them being the reason. He and the pokemon were, and still are, complete strangers to one another.
'Whatever, it's not my problem anymore.'
Repeating the beats of the night before, Leonardo left the alleyway without a word.
[To Be A Shounen Protagonist]
Hilda knew she was getting sidetracked. Investigating what injured that pokemon had little to do with why they were in the area. The two were… connected, but it wasn't something required of her specifically. Still, she was here so she would do what she could.
After the boy had left Hilda reached into her bag and pulled out a poke-ball, clicking the button to release a stream of white light.
A small canine pokemon appeared covered in orange fur with black stripes along its back and legs. It stood proudly puffing out its chest and showing the flame like beige fur covering it. Growlithe looked around itself, taking in the environment before focusing on Hilda and letting out a confused bark at the lack of his master's presence. "He's doing something else right now, but I could really use your help with something."
After a brief explanation of the situation Growlithe began snooping, with his nose poking and prodding at the bloody mark. She didn't expect anything major to come of it, they were lucky enough it hadn't been power washed away, this was just a precautionary measure. Growlithes never forget a scent, so every scent attached to this spot would be burned into memory.
Of course multiple people and Pokemon passing through here diluted the scent. In addition to her being new to this investigation thing, and Hilda was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed. Good thing she was able to 'acquire' something to help with that problem.
A bark from Growlithe alerted Hilda that he was done. She gave him a satisfied nod before reaching into her messenger bag to pull out a zip-locked one. It contained a grey sock, much to her disgust.
Yet, this disgusting piece of footwear could be their blessing in disguise. When it was discovered that the buneary belonged to a trainer, a simple phone call was the next step. The trainer didn't answer. Fearing the worst the Pokemon Center contacted immediate family members. After navigating through a Mamoswines worth of family hysteria, they found out that the young man is part of a missing persons case.
Last they heard from him he was at the Pokemon League, meaning he was present during Team Plamsa's attempt to usurp Unova's leadership. The compiled information was weaving a tale of tragedy. A tragedy of another family falling victim to Ghetsis's ambition.
Hilda pushed her hatred of the man to the back of her mind, as she unzipped the plastic bag to pull the sock out. Wasting no time, Growlithe put his nose to work. After getting a good whiff of the item he trotted around the alleyway, his muzzle moving in a sweeping motion across the floor. He came to stop before turning around to face Hilda with his head shaking and whining.
"Nothing? Figures it was a long shot." Hilda sighed dejectedly. Even at the sight of his injured pokemon there was next to nothing to go off of. She'd just have to tell the Pokemon Center that the missing person John Doe was still that. Missing.
"Arf!" A bark from Growlithe brought her attention back to him. The canine pokemon was jerking his head toward the opposite end of the alleyway.
"You have something?" He nodded.
"Is it John Doe?" He shook his head.
Something else then. "Ok, lead the way."
Growlithe sprinted off with an enthusiastic bark as Hilda trailed after him.
They ran through the narrow streets of Lacunosa, Hilda following Growlithe as he continuously made sharp narrow turns. Marble road transitioned to green grass as they neared the edge of the town's walls. She stood back and watched as Growlithe went to work, sleuthing through the hedges near the walls.
Growlithe buried his face in a particular spot, wagging his tail as his body was obstructed by the brush. He released a Roar, causing a small pink figure to launch out the hedge with a cry.
"A clefairy!" Hilda cried out as it landed in front of her.
She clasped her hands over her ears in anticipation of its singing, but to her alarm it did something else. The star-like pokemon eyes frantically darted between her and Growlithe before raising its stubby hands to the sky. Like clock hands its fingers swished forward and back to a beat only it could hear.
Hilda didn't waste a second in throwing a pokeball, not to catch but to stall, so it couldn't complete its metronome. A unique move that pulled from the entirety of the pokemon move pool. Oftentimes it was harmless. Other times resulted in catastrophe. The poke ball struck the pokemon and opened up, swallowing the clefairy in a red light.
Hilda barked an order to Growlithe. "Ember immediately if it bursts free."
She received a bark of confirmation as Growlithe honed in on the shaking poke ball. The capture device continued shaking and whirring for three more seconds before finally clicking shut.
"Huh, it was probably exhausted." She muttered to herself walking to the prone pokeball. She lifted the sphere up and gestured to Growlithe. "Is this the scent you picked up?"
A cheerful little yip answered her. In response she reached down to ruffle the flame like tuff on top of his head. Growlithe sat proudly, pretending the affectionate gesture had no effect on him. His wagging tail and tapping foot betrayed him.
"Let's call it a day. Maybe your master had better luck than us."
[To Be A Shounen Protagonist]
Leonardo hated hospitals. He hated the sterile air and antiseptic smell. He hated the confusing layouts and stark lighting. He hated the lack of communication and feeling of helplessness he experienced in his past life. And he hated that waking up in one was the first thing he experienced in his second life. He hated hospitals and generally avoided them.
"I'm here to see a buneary in your care. She was admitted here yesterday." He spoke to a woman at the front desk of the Pokemon Center.
Her tired gaze met his nervous one. "Relation?"
"Umm, what?"
"Relation?" She tried again. "To the pokemon."
"Well… I don't have any. I just heard her trainer was missing and —"
"We are aware of the trainer's status. However, I don't see what that has to do with you." He blinked at the sudden hostile tone.
At his confusion she simply sighed. The quality of her work day written clearly on her face. She lifted her head off of the makeshift stand of her palm and dryly answered the boy. "Due to safety hazards and the risk of poaching I can't just let anyone back there so…"
Really? Leonardo did vaguely recall some news headlines about activists breaking into Pokemon Centers. Mainly Team Plasma with the goal of liberating pokemon. With the pokemon sick and weak it was harder for them to refuse.
"I don't mind an escort, I'm just here to pay a visit." He said while raising a plastic grocery bag.
Surprisingly her gaze withered even further. Anymore and she'd look at home in a desert. "Somehow I doubt you're just here for a visit."
"Based off of…" He trailed off.
"My sister is in your class."
Sisterhood gossip. The boy groaned. "You're being a bit unprofessional here."
"Am I, am I really?"
"Look, I —"
"Room 1226" Both parties paused to look at the other woman behind the desk. "I rang them up and they said you could visit. Just make sure you're on your best behavior."
Leonardo nodded as the woman punctuated that last statement with a glare. He spared a glance at the receptionist he argued with. "If your sister wants an autograph just let me know."
Was that last comment petty? Yes. Did he care? No. Because he was already walking through the double doors by the counter. Though he did wince a little when her coworker reiterated "Best Behavior!".
Leonardo's gaze remained fixed as he walked across the cream colored floors, surrounded by red and white walls. One thing he remembered about hospitals, which transferred over to Pokemon Centers, was not to keep your head on a swivel. He kept this mindset as he passed by various rooms tailored for different pokemon. There was nothing he needed to see in there.
His rigid walk came to a halt in front of a white sliding door. A sign on the wall labeled his destination. "Room 1226, this is it."
Leonardo knocked to the beat of "Shave and a haircut, two bits" before standing at rest. Well, as much as one could be with their rapid foot tapping echoing through the hallway. After a wait that felt like an eternity to him, the door slid open.
An exhausted nurse stood in the doorway with bags under her eyes. His eyes drifted to her pink hair, telling him that she held the title of Head Nurse. Her sapphire eyes lit up in recognition when they focused on him.
"You're the boy from yesterday!"
Not even Observation Haki could have prepared for how fast she yanked him into the room. Even then he wasn't spared a breath as he was bombarded with questions. Questions not too different from what Hilda asked him earlier, and the answers were not dissimilar to what he gave earlier this afternoon.
"I'm sorry I don't have more to go off of." Leonardo said to the nurse, who was sitting down with her hands in her face.
She waved him off. "No, it's fine. Not like I just spent the last few hours answering calls from frantic family."
"Well, um… I brought some carrots." He announced awkwardly. To which the nurse just shook her head before pointing to full trays of fruit, vegetables, and water.
"She's refusing to eat or drink. Not uncommon for Pokemon, or even people, dealing with stress or… grief." She paused. "But now she's stopping us from giving her nutrients through IVs."
Leonardo frowned at that, it… it almost like she didn't want to be healed. Why else would she turn away help? It was strange to him, because if she was this hostile to any type of care, why didn't she turn him away when he found her.
"Where did those wounds come from?" He asked.
"From another pokemon."
"Which on —"
"We don't know." She answered quickly. Too quickly, she realized it too judging by how her face briefly frowned. If he had to guess the exhaustion caused her to slip.
Whatever, it's none of my business.
{MEDICAL ALERT! CODE: BLUE!} {MEDICAL ALERT! CODE: BLUE!}
"Never ends." The head nurse muttered to herself as she walked out the door, leaving Leonardo by himself.
Himself and one other person.
He walked forward and passed through the privacy curtains. Lying in a Pokemon Center bed was the reason he came here. She could be mistaken for a mummy with how many bandages were wrapped around her torso, and considering the state he found her in, it might not be far off. A fluffy, pom-pom like, ear twitched at his arrival. The buneary opened her eyes causing grey to meet brown once more.
Leonardo remembered why this bothered him.
Buried in the recesses of his brain a memory stirred, savagely clawing to the forefront of his mind. On the day of his reincarnation, his rebirth, he felt nothing but anxiety and fear. He remembered being trapped in a weak body, trying to escape a small confinement while giant monsters made noises at him. The stress of it all unlocked what he would come to know as Haki. For his parents it was the happiest day of their lives. For him it was the most terrifying.
Yet, one thing stood out. Audino. There was nothing particularly special about this Audino, it had the same pink an beige color schmeme as all the rest along with a cute nurse's cap. No, there was nothing special about it at all. Except that it was the first pokemon he ever laid eyes on. Its soothing presence and warm embrace calmed him down from the sensory overload. He remembers the feelings of awe, the realization of his situation, and the dawn of endless possibilities.
Despite his dismissal of… quite a few of them, he still to this day, subconsciously, placed pokemon as whole on a pedestal.
A pedestal that she shattered.
"Hey there, how ya doing." He asked in a low voice with a light hand wave. Buneary's gaze was directed at nothing. Not him, her bed, or anywhere in the room. "Right. Not the smartest thing to ask. I mean it's obvious you're —"
Leonardo's rambling was cut off by a nasty coughing fit escaping her mouth. His mind fumbled at what he was supposed to do in this situation, multiple scenarios running through his head. He narrowed them down between slamming the call button and flagging down someone in the hallway.
She's thirsty, remember?
Right, the stubborn thing hasn't been drinking. He quickly grabbed the pitcher from the tray and poured water into a plastic cup. Rushing back over to the bed he held the cup to her lips.
She turned her head away.
His eyebrow twitched. "Drink dammit!"
Buneary kept her head turned from him. He growled in frustration. He couldn't force her to drink it, her injuries could worsen during the struggle. This was stupid. Is she suicidal or something?
He froze.
There… there's no way, right?
"You know…" He started. "We could just get another pokemon to come in here and Sing you to sleep. Then we could bring you back to full health."
Now it was Buneary's turn to freeze.
"Or, you can drink this water." He started holding the cup to her face. "Your choice."
For the first time since he'd seen her, something other than apathy appeared on her face. Sure it was frustration, at him mainly, but he would take that over nothing.
Holding the cup to her lips, because she couldn't do it herself, Leonardo slowly fed the water into her mouth. When the cup emptied he went to refill and repeated the process two more times. Two more times, because that was all she would let him get away with.
Done with that, Leonardo walked over to the window to pry it open. Hospital air was notoriously sterile; it made some people uncomfortable, he imagined it rang even more true for some pokemon. He was proven right when Buneary started breathing a little easier, almost in rhythm to the flow of the night air. His eyebrow twitched again when he noticed she was trying to hide it.
Back on his earth, there were no known cases of an animal overriding its natural survival instincts to off itself. Humans were completely unique in that regard. He assumed the same was the case in the pokemon world, and so far for him it was. Until now.
Leonardo clenched his fist.
Pokemon weren't supposed to look like that. A pokemon had been there for him in the beginning of his new life, and another just recently prevented its premature end. He didn't know what caused this buneary to give up on life, but if he ever found who or what caused this.
Well… now he needed to unlock Armament Haki.
Because he had something he'd like to test it on.
Authors note: With this chapter, I have breached the 10,000 word mark. I'm feeling proud of myself.
Hmm, what's that? There are authors that can write 10,000 word chapters in a fraction the time I took to write this one? Well... darn.
Don't fret though, because by the time this arc is over Leonardo will have TWO team members. Hopefully it won't take too long.
Rosco Peeko Trane and pratikchakraborty911, Thank you for the reviews. Appreciate ya.