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50% poke fanfic fun to read / Chapter 46: 43

บท 46: 43

Link sat beside Leo, soaking in the sun while it was his turn to watch their trainer. For the most part all was quiet. The others were off training, gathering supplies or, in the young Commander's case, plotting to capture the ghost that had made a habit of haunting them. Even the Bulwark had moved away from their trainer's side, electing to go help the young Commander – Santiago, as Leo called him.

That left Link to sit quietly beside their trainer as he rested, Spiritomb keeping watch over him in the mental world, while he watched over him in the physical. Though, if the Bellossom was being honest, there was more to it than that. As he sat there, simply sitting cross-legged with his leaves splayed out around him in a circle, he could feel the grass dance. More specifically, Leo's dance, his aura twisting and twining and shifting in an all-too-familiar pattern. Reacting to Link's presence.

It was a funny thing. His aura reacted to those pokemon around him, shifting to earth and stone near the Bulwark, ferocious and strong near the Warrior-chief, and to the warmth of a campfire near the Comrade. The things humans did without realizing what they were doing – that was what Link thought funny. But this time it was a little different. Even now he could feel Leo reaching out to him, his aura reaching out and running through the grass-and-swords dances before petering out and restarting all over again. Sometimes it switched to fire. Sometimes it changed to the ferocity of dragons, or the stubbornness of stone, or even the flexibility of water. And in the undercurrent of it all, Link could feel the Poison. It wasn't true Poison, as it was known to him – he had elected to forsake his Poison upon evolution, after all – but it was…similar. It was a quiet thing, insidious but not, harmful but not. He could sense Leo's internal battle with it, his aura shifting through the Dances as it tried to figure out what worked and what didn't.

It was humbling, in a way, and he was slowly coming to a realization about the nature of Pokemon and people. Why they needed each other. Why he felt drawn to Leo, and why the others did as well. Mayhaps he simply needed to voice it, but he could feel it.

"Link," Leo croaked, and the Bellossom whipped his head up to look at his trainer. Very slowly the young man had pushed himself into a sitting position, long brown hair falling in a messy, matted heap about his head as his green-ish eyes peered through the underbrush, unblinking. Link stood up and moved to stand beside him, putting one of his small hands against Leo's larger one as the boy slowly clenched and unclenched his fist. He'd been in and out of consciousness for the past few days, and each day he slowly gained more and more motor function.

It was a slow process, but they'd been just as slowly making their way back to Blissey in hopes of receiving aid.

"How long was I out this time?" he croaked, reaching over to his backpack and pulling a water bottle out with shaking hands. Link watched quietly as he carefully unscrewed the lid, sniffed it to make sure it was one of the purified ones, and proceeded to slowly sip on the contents. Link shrugged, not really knowing the measurements of hours like humans did. Since the middle of the night to the middle of the day, at least. With another sigh Leo laid back down, throwing an arm over his face and breathing heavily. "I ever tell you how much I hate nausea? When I was a kid I used to get this really bad stomach bug every year, gave me nausea for weeks. Was hoping that was over, but apparently not," he chuckled mirthlessly, and Link remained cautiously silent.

It was a rare day in which Leo talked about his life before this world – the only things Link knew about it were from the Commander, and the few times Leo spoke about the meanings of his songs. True, he knew that Leo – the young Emperor – was not from their world, that he was a foreigner much like how Link himself was a foreigner to this world, but not anything about his life before. Still, he had learned who the boy was through interactions and the feel of his aura and that was enough for him. Though he could not deny his curiosity.

"Funny, I haven't thought about that in years. I haven't thought about a lot of things in years." At that he fell silent, though Link waited patiently for him to continue. Leo looked over at him and smiled thinly. "Did I ever tell you about my dad? Probably not. He was a good man. And I don't mean that lightly – lots of people think their parents are good people, many of them are blind to the truth. Everyone has their flaws, and they can be just as terrible as anyone else. My father was no real exception; he had his flaws. But he was also the kind of man to wake up every morning, and say 'good morning' and mean it."

Link furrowed his brows, not quite understanding that.

"He was charismatic and full of energy, and taught me a lot. When I was a kid he used to take me hunting – bow hunting in particular. There's something about hunting with a bow over a rifle that makes it all so much more…personal. The kind of things you have to learn to get close to the animals; you really have to understand them. At least for elk, anyways. He also taught me most of my wilderness survival skills, even if he far outclassed me in those." Leo laughed lightly. "Though I'll be the first to admit that my skills weren't as good as I thought they were when I first landed here! Modern convenience spoiled me. But I guess what I learned the most from him was how to be a good person. From a young age I always knew it was all but impossible for me to be exactly like my father; I wasn't him, and he didn't want me to be. But the lessons he taught me…well. They made me who I am.

"A little respect goes a long way. Be quick to forgive, if for no one else's sake than your own. Be nice. The biggest obstacle in your path is yourself. Everything requires some kind of sacrifice, nothing is easy and nothing is free. And my drive. I may not know what I want my purpose to be in this world yet, but I'm slowly discovering it as I continue on." Leo said, smiling to himself as he slowly laid back down, staring up at the leafy canopy overhead. "Though that does remind me of a story…"

And so Link sat there, listening to Leo regale him with stories of his past. Of hunting strange pokemon he'd never heard of – what was an elk? – of times spent with his family, brothers, father, and mother. The other team members slowly filtered back as Leo rambled on, Diana coming to rest beside him, Santiago leaning against her and listening with an impassive expression. Xena and Zuko, back from their hunt, listening while Aerith played with one of Xena's scales, the dragon idly flicking it up and down on her arm as Aerith giggled quietly. And they listened. And learned about the man whom they travelled with as he told his stories as if remembering them for the first time.

It was hours later that Leo finally drifted off to sleep, the sun having just dipped below the horizon by the time he finished. Link let his own eyes close as Leo's last words, which had transitioned into the quiet hum of a song, faded into the gentle breathing of a restful sleep. His aura seemed much calmer now. And the group sat in silence. It hadn't been a shocking revelation, hearing about Leo's past. But it had been enlightening into the boy's attitude and actions; this world being so different from his own surely threw him for a loop. Maybe that's why the gods saw fit to revert him into a child – because in this world, he very much was.

Xena raised her head from where she'd been resting, the dragon meeting his eyes. Why do we follow humans? She asked, genuinely and without any ill intent. It was a loaded question. One that plagued pokemon for all eternity; much like how humans, Link had learned, questioned their reality and the nature of their species constantly. Pokemon are strong, and though humans have their strengths, they are so…different from us. Why do we follow them? What is it that makes them different?

Link looked skyward, as the Commander tried to reason out the Warrior's question. He felt the answer, on the tip of his tongue, his leaves rustling and ringing softly as he stood and stretched to get his mind working, yet it didn't come. The Commander argued with the Warrior, and yet it was the Bulwark, with her quiet steadiness despite her joyful nature, that truly answered the question first.

He shows us what we would never see otherwise. She said and left it at that. Link looked at her, and started to laugh as his thoughts finally clicked into place.

Humans give us what we cannot see ourselves. He said with a smile. And he didn't just mean seeing new sights or experiencing new things. No, while that was true, there was also something a bit more to the statement. Humans introduced them to new aura as well – Link could not comprehend the Fairy aura on his own, but with Leo's help he'd been slowly adding that to his repertoire in order to better battle dragons. Without him, he never would have been able to – because that was the gift and curse of humans, as he was starting to understand it. They could not wield aura like pokemon could, could not shape it into powerful blasts of fire or harness the light of the sun into a powerful beam. But they could feel all types of aura and teach it to others, unlike most pokemon.

Xena mulled it over, rubbing her chin with one paw and considering that. Seemingly satisfied, she lay her head back down and closed her eyes. As you say. She said softly. Link nodded as well, looking up at the Commander, who sighed and stood, leaning against a tree in order to take first watch. The Healer Aerith had already fallen asleep, and Link himself had been up all day, even if he hadn't moved much. He needed to rest – they all did. Especially if what he feared was coming actually was.

The jungle whispered to him as he closed his eyes and let sleep come to him – all normal noises of pokémon moving about in the dark. He could only pray it would stay that way, at least a little longer.

"What is your malfunction, fool thing?" Leo grumbled, tapping his pokedex in annoyance. He was pretty certain he knew what the issue was, but it was very annoying nonetheless. The red device had a constant low-battery signal flashing, despite its built-in solar panel and spare rechargeable batteries, as well as a low-storage signal. Something that he had never seen on his pokedex before, and something he wasn't super excited about having to deal with.

[System requirements not met. Please update to system or newer.]

The device flashed as Leo tried to access his old notes, warning him off of accessing other functions than the pokedex – and even that was a little glitchy and messed up. He scoffed and messed around a bit more, opening up the storage function that told him exactly what was taking up so much space only to see a multitude of files that were locked away and that he had no recollection of seeing or downloading. There was only one explanation for this that Leo could think of - that Porygon, probably a Porygon Z, had likely invaded his pokedex and found the living space a little cramped. But as one of the few still-working devices in the world that he'd found so far, the pokemon had little choice in the matter, even if it clearly wanted him to find something better.

…it was too bad Kukui didn't seem to have any spare pokedex in his home. Maybe at one of the labs he'd be able to find one…? No, he needed to focus on getting home, but at the same time, this Porygon had access to data that Leo was very interested in. What if it knew what happened to the world? What if it had information on ultra beasts and wormholes? If he remembered right Kukui's wife was the leading professor on Ultra Wormholes besides the Aether Foundation, so it was very possible. The real question was where he might find some stuff that would be able to fit the Porygon. Maybe the observatory on Ula'Ula? He remembered that being a big deal. Or maybe he just skips that and heads straight to Pallet Town, raiding Professor Oak's lab.

There was a lot of decision making to do here.

Which tied in pretty well with their current predicament – and as Santiago came pushing through the jungle, Link hot on his heels and looking at the sky nervously, he knew the answer to his question before he even said it.

"Are we still being followed?" Leo asked, and Santiago nodded.

"Yes. We don't know how many, but it seems there's one central one leading the others in a sweep of the area. The center stays high in the sky while the others go below, using the center as a…" Santiago frowned, mulling over his words.

"Control tower," Leo reasoned, nodding. The Nihilego had been on them for a few days now, and their presence had forced them to divert their path away from Iki Town and the totem Blissey, and more northwards up the coast. It didn't seem like they were being herded towards something, and although Leo figured the flying jelly-fish-like Ultra Beasts were searching for him and his team specifically, they didn't really seem to have a solid lead even if they knew the general direction they were heading in. But they were in the way and had seemed to even be circling Iki Town before catching onto Leo's scent, if he'd charted their path well enough.

A few days prior the Buzzwole had even picked a fight with the Nihilego, the muscular red mosquito-like pokemon tossing the Nihilego around for a bit before being driven off. That, at least, had been encouraging. The ultra-beasts weren't all working together all the time, not like when they had invaded the tournament grounds. That had seemed far too…organized.

…at least he'd been feeling better recently. Sometimes his face still throbbed, and he ached a lot and moved slowly, but his condition had been steadily improving. There weren't even any scars from the Rotom's electrical attack.

"Right. We're going to have to make a choice eventually; do we try to take them on and take them down, possibly catching them in balls so they don't go alert any of the others? Or do we keep running and try to circle around back to Blissey? I'm slowly getting better, even if it is a slow process," Leo asked, rubbing his face. He didn't know the strength of the Nihilego – it seemed to vary wildly, based on what he'd seen here and previously. He hadn't seen one yet that was Champion level, able to stand up to Victoria's team, but there was no doubt in his mind that there were at least one or two. The issue was their poison; the more Leo watched and observed them, the more he was convinced that was their most dangerous aspect.

Their attacks and movements all led to them getting close and stinging their prey. They didn't have the best attacks nor could they hit as hard as others – not like Buzzwole, for example – but their poison was absolutely debilitating even to pokemon. Leo winced as pain surged through him, nearly breaking his control over his body and sending him to the ground. Speak of the devil, and it shall appear.

After pulling himself together he righted himself and refocused on the task at hand, ignoring Santiago's concerned look in favor of Link, who was patiently awaiting orders.

Neither of them offered their opinion, so Leo made the decision for them.

"We need to set a trap. I hate to do this when that Rotom is still harassing us, but none of the plans to trap it have panned out yet. They're split up while they're searching, so here's my idea. We take out one on the ground as quickly as we can, or hit it and run as fast as possible. Diana might be a good choice for this, she's loud and distracting and might attract the attention of most of the Nihilego. Once the others are on the trail or investigating the downed Nihilego, we smack the one directing them. Knock it out of the sky. We think there's three, maybe four searching the ground? That would leave two, maybe three left for us to fight all at once. Two down leaves us with much better odds, especially if I can put the beasts in pokeballs to keep them from getting up," Leo reasoned.

"Or, alternatively, we use the environment to our advantage. If this world is anything like ours, then up north near…I'm forgetting the bay's name," Leo said, snapping his fingers in an attempt to jog his memory. "But it's up there, there's a decent canyon that drops down into the ocean below. If we can somehow lure them down there – probably by having me down at the bottom as bait, or a piece of my clothing – then we not only have the high ground, but we can potentially bury them by collapsing the cliff. Thoughts?" Leo asked. Santiago just blinked at him, turned toward Link, then back to Leo and nodded his head.

"Yes. We're not using you as bait," he said.

"It's just an idea, probably wouldn't work as intended anyway but the 'bait' idea is still something to consider. We'll keep watching their movements and make a plan as we go. Right now I don't think we have enough information for an actionable plan, but it's at least a start. Pick them off one-by-one, then lure them into a killbox. Simple, actionable, and we can still improvise when it all hits the fan." Leo reasoned. When no further response was forthcoming, Leo just nodded and gently rubbed his face, forcing himself to stand and working his legs gently. He could probably get a walk in – they had to keep moving, after all, even if it was slow going with him.

He didn't want to force Xena to carry him all the time, and he needed to move around some regardless.

The rest of the day was spent hiking and scouting for a good spot to set up an ambush. Zuko and Link were the ones who did that the most – though Zuko did return a little worse for wear, having run into the renegade Rotom – as Diana was too loud to really let her move around too much, Santiago was a little too slow, and Xena spent a lot of her time carrying Leo piggy-back through the jungle. He felt like crap about it, but his apologies fell on deaf ears as she continued through the jungle, not breaking a sweat at the added weight. Considering she'd been carrying him around ever since they left the lab, she was probably used to it. Not that Leo weighed much to begin with…and he'd only lost weight since the incident.

"Let's set up camp here," Santiago decided, having just finished scoping out the interior of a nearby gift shop. The dilapidated building had vines crawling all over the exterior, many of the windows having been shattered or boarded up. The ceiling even looked like it was caving in, and Leo refused to sleep in there – Santiago had just wanted to make sure there weren't any pokemon living there that might cause problems. This far north and west there weren't very many buildings to begin with – the Alolan people having mostly built towns and cities along the Southern and Eastern coasts of Melemele, leaving the center to the jungle and pokemon – but there were still occasional roads and shops.

This road in particular was cracked and all but covered in greenery, hardly a road at all, with the trees even starting to encroach, and evidence of pokemon having churned up the ground somewhere around here.

"I'll help," Leo said, watching a Ribombee as the yellow bug-type gently floated through the trees, followed closely by a gaggle of Cutiefly no bigger than Leo's thumb. They must have been young, to be so small. With a slight smile he whistled to them, matching the beat and rhythm of his tune to the humming of the bug types. Slowly the little creatures began to fly towards him, their humming increasing in volume to match his whistling. The Ribombee in particular flew right in front of him, locking eyes and smiling, puffs of pollen drifting from the bug's wings to land on the ground before him. The Cutiefly didn't show as much personality, seeming to drift with the wind and fall into formation behind Ribombee, rising up and down in the air to match the tune of Leo's whistling.

Then they continued on, and Leo turned back to help set up camp; letting out Diana and Aerith, the little Happiny immediately wandering over to him to show him a cool new rock she found before waddling off to go bug Santiago. As Diana settled into the dirt he sucked in a deep breath, the scent of earth and stone hitting his nose like an avalanche. He laid a hand on the Pupitar's shell as she wiggled, settling deeper into the loamy soil and digging her spikes in, and smiled at her. She squinted happily and wiggled again as Leo turned away, ignoring the amused look his dragon was sending him.

"Haka," she chuffed, poking his side as he slowly moved over to where Santiago was searching through Leo's backpack, the Slowking having carried it all this way. Each movement was slow and he had to force himself to move – almost dragging his feet across the ground – but he did have enough energy to swat Xena's claw away.

"Oh hush, you," he chided, even as he was waved off by Santiago. He glared at his starter but Santiago was nothing if not stubborn, clutching Leo's backpack protectively and sending the boy the most heated glare he could possibly muster. He had no choice but to back off, settling down with his back against Diana, Xena laying down next to him with her tail touching his thigh as if to make sure he didn't move away in the night. With a grunt of pain, his back muscles twinging at some slight movement, Leo leaned back against Diana and sighed heavily. He wasn't necessarily looking forward to tonight, but he figured he was near a breakthrough in his battle against the poison. Not the physical aspect, but the mental, as the Nihilego poison was a poison of the mind and aura.

Already he could feel his consciousness fading, which did not mean the blissful release of sleep. No, it meant falling into the mindscape with Spiritomb, and fighting off the poison attacking his aura. Something that he had slowly come to…no longer fear, or see in a negative light. He was still him. He was not losing himself like Lusamine had; he could feel it. His pokemon were watching him closely enough to know it wasn't the case either.

But tonight was a little different. When he let his control over his body fade and his mind to drift off, he did not wake in Spiritomb's mindscape nor remain wholly cognizant of his body. No, instead he found himself sitting beneath the boughs of a tree, staring off into the starry distance, where his memories played like nebulae. He was getting tired of reliving them, though it did have their perks.

"Y'know, back when I first met Professor Oak he asked me why I tried to so hard to get his dad's journal to him. I mean, I was just some random kid dumped in the middle of the mountains that happened to stumble upon him; how come I tried so hard to make sure Archibald Oak's journal got to the good Professor?" Leo said conversationally, knowing Spiritomb was listening in. "I told him that I would do a lot to hear the sound of my father's voice again. That's why I made sure the journal made it back to him. So in a way I kind of have to thank the Nihilego,"

On cue a memory pulled up in front of him, moving to cover the entire of the starry expanse in front of him and playing like a movie from the first-person perspective. It was of his father, a short, stocky man with clean stubble and hints of grey along the temples of his black hair, green eyes shining with mischief.

"You are not aiming for me." He said, stance relaxed. They were in their garage at the time, a red wrestling mat laid out so they could toss each other on it and tools lining the walls, safely away from the mat. "You are aiming six inches behind my head. We do not break bones, we rattle organs. When you hit someone in the gut, you bruise their kidneys and make them piss blood for the next month. That is the Wu Tang fighting style; we aim inside. But as in all things, you master yourself first," he said.

Leo smiled as the memory continued, him getting his ass repeatedly handed to him by his dad – that was one of his earlier memories of training in the martial arts. Sometime in his first year of high school, and that was before he even got to the heavy stuff.

Movement off to his left alerted him to Spiritomb's official arrival, and Leo turned his head to look at his ghostly companion – surprised to see Froslass floating beside him instead, coming to rest in the grass at the base of the tree as well.

Wu Tang? She asked without words, and Leo nodded.

"Yes. Many people called the Chinese martial arts kung fu, but that isn't the name of the style – or even martial arts! Kung fu is a way of life, it is taking a skill and making it into your way of life. One can have kung fu baking bread, or sweeping the streets; it was simply most famous among the martial artists who made that their way of life. But I'm rambling. My style is called an internal martial art; it is believed that by practicing this style you gain master of your own qi, or internal energy, using it to empower yourself and eventually gain enlightenment into the universe," Leo explained, smiling and standing as the memories and explanations of his father came flooding back to him. These memories intertwined with some of the explanations Sofu had given him about aura, back during his time on Poni.

He shifted through a few stances, feeling the way his spectral mind-body moved as he shifted into the Bellossom dance, feet darting across the ground like a bloody ballerina. There was little difference between a martial artist and a dancer, he figured. But as he moved like this he became increasingly aware of connections from him to other beings – his team, arrayed about his protectively. Link, whose aura sang of grass, but soul rang of steel. Santiago, the young King discovering who he was alongside Leo, outside the thrill of battle. Diana, earth and stone and silence, simply thrilled to be alive and experiencing the world. Aerith, a healer full of hope and wonder. Xena. Warrior, princess, dragon. Pride and honor incarnate, simple, yet strong. The one Leo knew least in his team, yet…yet. One he knew he could count on. And Sunny. The little martial artist who had tried so hard to protect the ones Leo had come to care for, and had been left behind in the other world.

"I…think I can see a little bit now. This whole time I've been practicing my martial arts, I've been using aura. Unconsciously, of course, and while I did know this I didn't understand it. It helped that I knew the grass dance, and helped that I was trying to connect with something every time I did this," Leo said slowly, falling out of his stances and turning to Froslass. He could feel something within him, bubbling up as he moved about. The stars around them seemed to roil and wave, the tree's leaves rustling in the wind. Froslass cocked her head to the side and for what felt like the first time, Leo saw.

She was but one of over a hundred spirits in Spiritomb, once upon a time, and yet, she was whole without them. Unlike Spiritomb. According to her backstory she had once even been human; or a part of her had been. Then she'd been cursed to live as a Froslass until Leo came along, and woke the horror of the Burned Tower, prompting her to merge with the ghost in order to contain and guide it. Now the one hundred and eight spirits Spiritomb had once been was down to twenty some-odd, after over six months of hard work on both of their parts, merging the spirits. Even now he could see them, all twenty darting about in the heart of his mindscape, running themselves ragged trying to keep the silvery lines of Nihilego's poison from his core.

No words could express his gratitude to the ghost for what they were trying to do. But at the same time, he was not so certain it was necessary. He had examined what was happening to him excruciatingly closely, and had come to a conclusion – it was no different than when he'd first met Spiritomb. Not really. The poison was trying to effect who he was, exert some sort of control on him, and to an extent it was even working. It was cutting away the excess, leaving the barest, most firmly placed parts of himself. Well, the purest parts of himself would be a better way of putting it, but that was beside the point. He would not change because he would not deny who he was.

"What say we wrap this up tonight, huh?" Leo asked abruptly, startling the ghost.

Froslass cocked her head to the side, and Leo strode forward, the visual representation of his mindscape falling away to show only him, Froslass, and the collection of ghosts that was Spiritomb in a field of darkness. Spiritomb was an…odd sight. He could feel it more than he could see, and to him Spiritomb felt like a spiderweb. All bits and pieces interconnected together around a center, but surprisingly fragile when touched. Strong enough to do what it was intended, but not a permanent structure by any means.

Froslass blinked at him as he stretched his will out, his aura, crackling with the silvery lines of fire that was the Nihilego poison though it was, reaching out to gently encompass Spiritomb. Pride welled up in Leo's gut as he looked at Spiritomb. Pride and gratefulness. And he would return it as best he could.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his aura wrapping around the Nihilego poison, feeling it out. Spiritomb hesitated.

It wasn't.

It was scared.

What about Leo? Would he be ok at the poison's mercy?

Leo reminded it; I am the master of my fate. I am the master of my soul. I have crossed the Void with another soul beneath the safety of my own, and faced your Pressure. This poison will not truly harm me.

…it was ready.

And the mindscape was colored in the light of a healing aura.

Memories flooded Leo's mind as he pressed the spirits in, the normally long, arduous process seeming to just…click and fall into place. He saw the lives of those that had come before, half a dozen warriors – some tower guards, others wandering mercenaries that practiced with swords of Scyther scythes or Skarmory feathers – even the memories of some pokemon, strangely alien, yet oddly familiar in their thoughts and instincts. And for the first time Leo felt how his aura burned through it all. He didn't just force the spirits together like puzzle pieces, seeing their memories allowed him to resonate his aura with their own, and then, through this resonation, conjoin them into a greater whole with his own aura merging into the spirit right alongside them, acting as a binder that would eventually dissolve away into the ghost itself. Kind of like internal stitches, in a way, in that they just dissolved into the body as it healed.

Which also explained why Leo could only do so much of it in a night, besides the mental fatigue. He would almost literally burn himself out trying to use so much life essence.

But stubbornness was part of his nature, and Leo was determined to finish helping Spiritomb tonight; if for no other reason than because Spiritomb deserved it. He pushed and pushed, the small pool of aura around his soul swiftly depleting until almost nothing was left…nothing but Nothing, that touch of Void that stuck with him even after being pulled into this universe.

He cursed, halfway through the merging of another spirit as he felt his exhaustion begin to take over, almost losing his grip on the spirits, the two starting to slip apart.

There were only eleven spirits left, not including the two main personalities, the Warrior and Froslass, the latter of whom hadn't merged with any spirits. She looked at him, concern etched across her features as Leo felt the poison in his system redouble its efforts against his soul now that his 'aura' was out of the way. Annoyance flashed through him as it struck at his soul – visualized as a multifaceted silvery ball, small divots having been burned away by the poison. Leo grit his teeth, tightened his grip, and did the metaphorical equivalent of stomping his feet in the dirt. Pain wracked his limbs and mind, his soul aching as the poison tried to wrap itself around him, the silvery lines taking on a purple hue and burning.

"That. Is. ENOUGH." He barked, soul flashing with sheer determined will. The poison blanched as Leo tugged on Nothing – small motes of blankness floating in the mindscape, holes in the otherwise completed fabric – and felt something within himself break.

And suddenly there was light. Nothing turned to Something, and aura flooded the mindscape from deep within his soul, hidden away behind a…dam, as it had been. The poison burned away with an almost unearthly screech, a cool breeze seeming to kick up and spread out across the mindscape. Leo let out a deep breath as some unseen pressure was released from within him – not unlike a good burp, but also a thousand times better than that and minus the burping part – and he felt himself relax. With a smile, he turned back to Froslass and the rest of Spiritomb.

"Let's continue, then," he said, and promptly got to work.

On the outside, the moment Leo awakened his aura – truly awakened it, the aura which had been hidden away by the Void and which had held him together in said Nothingness, ferreted away as much for his own safety as it was an unconscious attempt to not remember the Void, not the odd usage of excess aura that he'd been doing until now – it was as if a supernova went off in the jungle.

It was a silent thing, in actuality. Leo had shifted from leaning against Diana to sitting upright in a cross-legged position; entirely unconsciously, and remained that way even as aura rolled off of him in waves. His shirt did not ruffle in an unseen breeze. The grass did not grow, and lightning did not crackle about him like some sort of anime. For the untrained observer, it was as if he was simply meditating. But the scent of rich soil and verdant fields did become stronger, and a certain kind of strength rumbled through the ground as he sat there.

In a normal world, his awakening might not have been as shocking. Even a bonfire can be lost in a veritable sea of candles, such was his aura to the peoples of the other world. But here? In a land where humanity was all but seemingly gone – survivors, if there were any at all, few and far between? His aura was a beacon, instinct alone from thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of years of symbiotic relationships between man and 'mon drawing the eyes of all who could see for miles and miles around. Even those pokemon who didn't know the scent of a human's aura, and there were quite a few of them, somehow found their eyes drawn in that direction; a beacon in the sky.

Though even among his own pokemon, few recognized what had happened. Too used to his aura and the aura of humans in general, most slumbered gently save for two. Aerith, who had been his companion for only a week, woke up from where she slept in his lap to stare up at her trainer. And what a strange word that was, trainer. They mostly played! But even she knew something was different now, close in proximity to the waves rolling off of him, even if she didn't know what it was.

The other was Diana, the Pupitar having been awake as the night guard. She rarely slept anyways, entirely too energetic despite her pupal form and entirely too curious to let the world pass her by in the underground. She'd spent years down in the dark, and didn't want to miss what the wide world had to offer. But now she felt calm. Nothing but calm, this close in proximity to Leo's aura as she stared up at the sky. She had faith he would pull through whatever was eating at him. He still had much to show her of the world, they still had plenty of adventures to have. And she was ready for them, and ready to experience them. But first and foremost, she was ready to stand guard.

Because her squishy friend seemed really good at attracting trouble.

When Leo opened his eyes, he found himself strangely refreshed. Sure, his entire body ached like he had just spent the past twelve hours working hard, and his vision was a little fuzzy, but it was still refreshing. Sensing his sudden awakening Aerith hopped off of lap, the little Happiny chattering away at him excitedly. He smiled at her, patted her on the head and prompting a giggle from the little pink normal-type, and rolled his shoulders. With a groan he stood and stretched, one arm above his head the other bending over his head to touch his shoulder, back popping in multiple places as he did so.

"Aaah, that felt good," he muttered to himself, turning around and laying a hand on Diana's carapace. She hummed and wiggled happily under his touch, eyes closing in pleasure as he scratched her shell. She probably couldn't even feel it, but – a sudden thump from inside her shell caught him off-guard, and a grin found its way to his face. "You're growing up quick, aren't you girl?" he asked happily.

The actual body of a Pupitar lived inside its shell, not the shell itself, and as they grew into Tyranitar they could actually start moving their limbs on the inside. That didn't necessarily mean Diana was anywhere close to evolving yet, as the natural growth of a Pupitar into Tyranitar varied wildly with the amount and quality of soil they'd eaten as a Larvitar, but it was encouraging to hear evidence of her growth.

"Hap!" Aerith called, drawing Leo's attention back to her. The little Happiny chattered away at him, puffing up her cheeks and making waving motions with her little arms in an attempt to tell him…something. He cocked his head to the side, not fully understanding what she was trying to say, but getting a…feeling? He did something that surprised her…

"Oh, that was probably just me helping Spiritomb," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the ghost's keystone. The intricately carved stone cube felt heavy in his hand, and suddenly he frowned. He…couldn't feel any activity coming from the stone. It seemed dormant. "Spiritomb? …Froslass?" he asked, careful not to let too much hope seep into his tone. He'd been hoping that Froslass would turn out like Cynthia's Mismagius and pop out of the stone once it was ready, but maybe that was too much to hope for. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember whether or not he'd connected Froslass with Spiritomb's final spirit. Everything had been a bit of a haze after he burned away the poison…

A chill ran down Leo's spine and, with furrowed brows he turned around – only to come face-to-face with Froslass, her red eyes glowing creepily and illuminating her white-and-purple face in a decidedly scary manner.

"LAAAASSS!" she screeched, at the same time Leo shouted "JESUS!" and leapt back, heart hammering in his chest. Froslass cackled and drifted off through the trees, trailing snow behind her. Leo laid a hand over his heart as the rest of his team leapt awake, startled by the ghost's cry. Diana rumbled in what Leo could only describe as laughter, Aerith running up to grab at his leg fearfully. Sighing Leo bent and scooped the little pokemon up, gently shushing her and patting her head comfortingly as he turned back to the rest of his team. Link, for one, had his leaf blade ready to go, a green glow illuminating the forest as the Bellossom readied his attack.

"Guys, meet Froslass. We travelled together for a while," Leo said wearily, shifting Aerith so he was gently cradling the Happiny in one arm and gesturing towards where Froslass had disappeared. The ghost then promptly reappeared above Santiago, giggling silently as she put a snowball on one of the tips of his crown, then vanishing again. "…well, you'll meet her eventually," he said, unable to hide the pleased tone in his voice. Truly he was glad Froslass was back. Though he wondered what that meant for Spiritomb. Speaking of, he looked down at the keystone in his hand, all while waving his team back to sleep. Zuko snorted, his back fires dying out as he laid back down, wholly ignoring Froslass as she sprinkled snow on his snout.

At least it seemed that way until he huffed out a cloud of embers without opening his eyes, startling the ghost type off. Leo chuckled, gently setting Aerith down as she started to squirm. She immediately ran over to Link, settling in beside him and rubbing the top of the round stone in her pouch as she looked around for Froslass. Leo sighed. He'd have to get on to Froslass if she tried to traumatize the poor girl.

"Yeah, that's not the same little Quilava you used to torment," he said to the air, amused, then turned his attention back to Spiritomb. "Hey buddy, you there?" he asked, shaking the stone. Nothing. He frowned and tapped it with one finger, only vaguely aware of Froslass as she snuck up over his shoulder, peering down at the stone with him. "Any idea what's going on here?" he asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eyes. She shrugged the best she could and breathed out a small flurry of snow into one of her icy palms. Leo raised an eyebrow at her as she furrowed her brows, eyes concentrated on the snow in her hand as it piled itself back up into the vague approximation of a tower.

"Are you saying I have to take Spiritomb back to the Burned Tower?" he asked, and Froslass shrugged again, cocking her head to the side at a decidedly unnatural angle. No head should twist that far, but then again this was a ghost. So. "That is entirely unhelpful, but does make sense. Stupid location-based evolutions…they should never have existed," he grumbled, rubbing his forehead and gently putting the stone back in his pocket. There was one thing for certain though – his Spiritomb was not a Magearna like Cynthia's. There were no memories of such things, and the memories of the spirits did not even come close to suggesting that.

"Laaas," Froslass cried softly, shaking her head and starting to fly off.

"It's good to have you back though," Leo said with a smile. Froslass glanced over at him and grinned wider than should have been possible, revealing jagged teeth brighter white than any snow before vanishing into the night of the jungle. Leo frowned. "You're going to make me eat those words, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. But it didn't wipe the comfortable feeling in his gut, or the happiness that Froslass was back and Spiritomb, though apparently dormant, was closer than ever to being healed.

"Leo," Santiago said, drawing his attention to his starter. The snowball Froslass had speared on his crown was swiftly melting, despite the cool night air, and Link was looking at it in amusement, patting down his leafy kilt and settling down on the ground. "Are you ok?"

"I'm good, buddy. Feeling much better. I think I burned most of the poison out of me, but I'll keep an eye on it just to be sure," he said, looking down at himself and blinking. Gods above, he was filthy. His brown cargo shorts were matted with sap and dirt, twigs sticking off the fabric, and his pale green "safari" shirt, because that was the best word he could use to describe the button-up garment, wasn't much better. Not to mention all the scratches and dirt on his legs, black hair starting to come in on them, and arms. His hair probably wasn't much better, and a quick hand through the brown mess atop his head confirmed it. "Need a bath and to change clothes though. Probably wash these, somehow," he said, and Santiago snorted, visibly relaxing.

"You're fine. Don't smell that bad," he said.

"No, but I feel sticky," Leo grumbled, rolling his shoulders again and twisting from side to side, his back popping in a satisfying machine-gun pop running up his spine. He groaned in pleasure and slumped his shoulders, enjoying the feeling. "Ah, that felt good." Santiago gave him another look before wandering back over to the small divot in the earth he'd made with his psychic powers, lying down flat on his belly with his chin resting on the soil in a perfectly straight line – almost exactly how he'd slept as a Slowpoke.

A poke to his side had Leo turning to raise an eyebrow at Xena, the dragon huffing at him and flexing her claws.

"Haka," she said, narrowing her eyes in concern as she looked him up and down. He snorted, feeling energetic despite his soreness, and stomped his feet while turning to face Xena fully. She cocked her head at him as he settled in a stance, spreading his arms in a manner that clearly said 'let's wrestle.' She snorted at him and shook herself, scales jangling as Leo snorted back, kicking his shoes and socks off and digging his feet in the soil. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, so Leo made the decision for her.

He attacked.

Surprise on his side, Leo darted forward and grabbled Xena around the middle, snaking his arms beneath her own and throwing his hip into her left side, knocking one of her legs just slightly off-balance. She yelped as Leo twisted, using her own body weight and momentum against her to awkwardly throw her to the ground, the dragon landing roughly on her back and eyes widening in surprise as Leo tumbled over with her, throwing an elbow towards her eve as he fell. She snarled and opened her mouth, her instincts kicking in as she leaned up to wrap her jaws around his arm, but he slapped his other hand around her face, rubbing his thumb and forefinger over her closed eyelids with a cheeky grin, holding himself up by pressing her head to the ground.

"I won that one, girl," he taunted, Xena's scales ringing softly from the brief tussle. He wiggled his fingers for emphasis, even as he felt the dragon's jaws tighten briefly around his arm. His message was clear; I may have lost an arm, but you lost your eyes.

What happened next was a brief, one-sided beatdown on Leo's part. After kicking him off of her; quite literally in this case, as Xena pressed her feet against Leo's middle and tossed him away, she had proceeded to methodically toss him around with greater strength, speed, and dexterity. Even if he did get a few surprises in – grabbing her by the head and using his entire body weight to bring her to the ground, sweeping her legs once when she over balanced, and using her own tail against her by tripping her up with it, for example – she absolutely dominated him. That was, until they were interrupted.

The rest of the camp had watched on in amusement as Leo wrestled with Xena, the Hakamo-o getting very much into the exercise as time went on, happily helping Leo to his feet and snapping her jaws in glee whenever he surprised her. Aerith cheered from the sidelines while Froslass hovered over her, cocking her head at the little one seeming unable to decide what to think of her, and Zuko pointedly trying to ignore everything with his paws over his ears to disrupt the noise, as Leo slammed Xena to the ground once more. It had been a beautiful counter, and one Leo was unlikely to be able to repeat on purpose – when she came in for a straight punch, hiding her claws to avoid mauling Leo, he had promptly brushed it aside, stepped inside her stance, and kneed the side of her leg before full body-tackling her to the ground.

She chuffed in the back of her throat as Leo stood up, panting hard and sweat dripping down his body as he offered a hand to her. That was when the disruption came.

Trees crashed as Buzzwole came tumbling through the jungle, buzzing madly and muscular arms flexing. Leo froze as the overgrown mosquito skidded to a stop right next to Aerith and Froslass, the two staring at the Ultra Beast in shock.

"Aerith, throw!" Leo barked without hesitation, Xena forgoing his hand to leapt to her feet with a snarl. His sudden order sparked the little Happiny into action, working on sheer instinct and reaction to his words as she hopped over, grabbed Buzzwole by one of its skinny legs, and bodily hurled it into the distance. Tree limbs snapped as it flew away, buzzing madly as it went. But it wouldn't be gone long, of that Leo was sure. "Guard, now! Aerith, batter's up!" Leo ordered, already backing up and away from the direction the Buzzwole had been sent flying towards.

Santiago hauled himself to his feet. Diana hummed angrily, lifting herself into away from the tree she'd been resting against to watch Leo wrestle with Xena, and turned herself to face the hole in the foliage. Link prepared a leaf blade and hesitated on making a sunny day, glancing over at Zuko, who flared his back fires and lowered himself to the ground on all fours with a growl. Froslass vanished into the shadows with nary a sound, and for a moment Leo hesitated on giving a command. Sunny day could interfere with Froslass' movement, but…

"Set up! Sunny dance!" Leo barked, the buzzing of Buzzwole once again reaching his ears. Too many teammates benefited from sunny day to not use it. Especially with fire being super effective against Buzzwole, as little as type advantage seemed to really matter. He just wanted every edge they could get.

The deafening sound of a tree falling filled the jungle as Aerith grabbed a nearby tree – not too big, of course, it wasn't one of the monsters easily thicker than Leo was tall – yanked it out of the ground, and swung it just in time for Buzzwole to come hurtling through the jungle once more, crashing through the tree-sized bat Aerith swung with one fist outstretched. Leo covered his face as wood splinters rained down around him, and was briefly blinded as the clearing was lit up with attacks. Fire blasted forward from Zuko, joined by a jet of blue dragonfire from Xena, while Link hurled a seed bomb. Santiago blasted Buzzwole with a psychic, stopping it in its tracks, while Diana jettisoned forward, plowing through the flames to smash bodily into Buzzwole. The bug type tumbled out of the air, landing flat on the ground as Leo breathed out, Froslass floating beside him protectively.

They had a fight on their hands, and it wasn't just Buzzwole. His senses twitched and he pivoted on his heel, pointing behind him and shouting a wordless command as another pokemon appeared out of the jungle; white and tall, with long legs, and insectoid face, and a skirt-like frills along its body.

Pheromosa. Speedy, bug/fighting. "Slow her down!" Leo barked, leaping to the side as the bug type buzzed towards him, arms outstretched and missing his shirt by inches. Froslass screeched and breathed out, a wave of ice extending from her maw to cover Pheromosa, chilling the bug. It did little to slow her down though, as she blurred over to Leo and grabbed him by the shoulder, leaning her face down to look into his eyes inquisitively. Then they narrowed, and Leo slapped the bug as she leaned even closer.

The blow did little to actually hurt Pheromosa, but it did startle her enough to give Froslass an opening. She phased up out of the ground between Pheromosa and Leo, firing a point-blank ice-beam at her midsection. She screeched and let Leo go, the chill giving him goosebumps and a block of ice freezing Pheromosa's legs together.

Then Xena was there, hitting the bug in a flurry of scales and draconic energy. Leo cursed as he backpedaled away, assessing the situation; watching Santiago get slapped into the ground by a backhand from Buzzwole, and Diana come hurtling back into the camp from where she'd been slapped away. Zuko seemed torn on fighting Buzzwole or coming to Leo's aid, while Link, well…

Link had turned into a furious storm of leaves that leapt all around Buzzwole, leaving cuts all along the red bug's muscular form. Unfortunately there still wasn't a sunny day up though - they probably got distracted by Pheromosa.

"Sunny day, then let's hit 'em! Diana, bulwark!" Leo barked, dive-rolling to the side of Pheromosa, who broke out of the ice and went on the offensive against Xena, nd popping up in an odd stance. Zuko belched out a ball of light, floating high into the sky and making Link go even faster before leaping towards Pheromosa, electricity crackling along one paw as he struck the bug in a thunder punch. The unexpected blow drove her off of Xena, and let his dragon spin and slam a dragon tail into the bug's gut.

Then Diana was there, jetting through the air with a trail of stones bursting from the ground behind her and driving Pheomosa further back.

Santiago stood slowly, shaking himself off and scowling, gem glowing atop his head and momentarily freezing Buzzwole in place, allowing Link time to whip up a dazzling gleam, infuse it into his leaf blade, and resume his rapid attacks. Almost should've named him Yoda. Leo thought, watching the Bellossom leap up Buzzwole's body, leaving glittering marks along its muscles as he went, then tumble down his back and narrowly dodge when the giant bug turned to slap where he had been standing, cracking the ground.

Then Pheromosa struck. A loud buzz rocked the area, momentarily stunning Leo and his team as her antenna trembled in a bug buzz – and then she was gone in a plume of dust. Link shouted in alarm as he was plucked away from Buzzwole, Pheromosa punching him mid-air, only to dodge away as a boulder the size of a minivan hurtled through the clearing towards her, courtesy of Aerith.

Leo cursed and recalled Link just before he impacted a tree, re-releasing the little grass type by his side before being forced to dodge away as Pheromosa once again settled her interest on him. Only this time he wasn't fast enough, and she grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him into the air, eyes narrowed curiously. Xena howled in rage but was stopped by Buzzwole, who powered through a psychic by Santiago and slammed a fist into her side, its sheer strength sending her crashing into a tree.

Zuko roared and belted out flames towards Buzzwole, encasing it and forcing the bug to retreat.

Leo couldn't help himself. A grin stretched across his face as he lifted his legs, twisted his body around, and locked his ankles behind Pheromosa's thin neck. The bug blinked at him as he yanked himself backwards, tearing his shirt and jerking the bug's face down, low enough for Link to promptly leap up and punch her with a fist full of fairy energy, the dazzling gleam exploding in a glittering display of light. Stone spires jutted out of the ground the moment Leo was free of Pheromosa's grip, catching her in the side and knocking her sideways –

And then the cavalry arrived. But not for Leo.

Four Nihilego descended from the skies, stones encased in purple light – power gem – peppering the landscape and catching Leo's entire team unaware. Zuko yelped as multiple stones struck him, Santiago barely managed to shield himself with a blast of psychic energy before retaliating with rapid-fire water pulses, Link ducked behind his substitute shield, and Leo recalled Aerith before the little Happiny could be struck from where she'd been hiding behind a tree.

Froslass shrieked and fired an ice beam into the sky, freezing half of one Nihilego, only for Pheromosa to lunge across the clearing and pierce the frigid ghost with sharp claws. Froslass shrieked again and vanished into shadows on reflex. Leo knew she was hurt bad – Froslass weren't known for their ability to soak up damage, and she had just come back to him.

"Xena, roar!" Leo commanded, and Xena, tossing a tree that had collapsed on her off of herself, stomped her feet and roared at the night sky. The Nihilego froze at the noble roar, and Leo took the opportunity to bark out a few more commands. His pokemon responded even before he finished them, almost seeming to read his mind as he conducted them into defensive positions. Diana rocketed into the sky to mix it up with the Nihilego, crashing into the one Froslass half-froze full-force, while Link took on distracting Pheromosa. Xena charged across the clearing to Buzzwole as an almost purely physical attacker, dragon claws lashing out against the bug's tough hide, while Santiago and Zuko turned their attentions to the skies and began peppering the descending Nihilego with ranged attacks. Ember, heat wave, water pulse and psychic all peppered the white jellyfish, but Leo knew it wasn't enough.

They needed something more.

He set his feet, locking eyes with Zuko and letting out a huff, his aura aligning with the traits of Fire. He slid his foot along the ground in the first step of the fire dance, letting his instincts guide him -

A terrible crash alerted Leo to incoming danger, but he was mid-step and couldn't adjust. Xena had been bodily tossed aside by the much-larger and stronger Buzzwole, the dragon crashing into Santiago and sending both to the ground. Pheromosa juked around Link, eyes focused entirely on Leo as she sped towards him with unparalleled malice in her eyes – likely recognizing the Dance of Fire, Leo realized, as they had likely fought some Alolans before – and he stumbled backwards as the two closed in.

He didn't have time to –

Stones abruptly rose up around him and Diana was there, crashing into Pheromosa from above. Her jet-engines roared furiously, a dark pulse blasting off of her form as she carefully righted herself – only to be kicked three times in rapid succession by Pheromosa.

"Diana –" Leo started, but was cut off by Buzzwole, who ripped a tree out of the ground with a horrific snap and swung it like a baseball bat. It crashed against the boulders around him, impacting Diana and Link, who was attempting to jump into the fray. Buzzwole stepped forward, attention locked on Leo and wholly ignoring Santiago's water pulse as it impacted the back of the bug's head, and Leo realized something as he stepped away from the stone wall and the angry ultra-beast. There would be no flex-off to save him this time.

It was angry. This was not the almost playful challenges it had issued to him and his team before.

Pheromosa buzzed angrily and slapped at Froslass, who appeared out of the shadows to spit another ice beam at her, and shot towards Leo – only to abort as Diana once again blasted forward, placing herself between the bug and Leo. Pheromosa juked around a stone edge that burst from the ground to catch her and, with anger and annoyance on the bug's alien features, promptly began laying into Diana. Leo's breath hitched as he watched, time slowing as Buzzwole joined in, moving behind Diana and slamming a fist into her back.

Santiago's roar stretched on forever as the Slowking struggled against a Nihilego, Zuko and Xena similarly tied up while the fourth jellyfish descended on Leo from above. Link was darting through the trees from where he'd been tossed, a solarbeam searing through the dark night sky to hit the Nihilego threatening Leo, Froslass similarly focused on the most immediate threat to her trainer and friend, all while Diana alone stood against two fighting-type ultra beasts.

"No!" Leo roared as Buzzwole's fist lashed out, slamming into Diana's carapace and cracking her armor. It was a horrible sound, and Diana's shriek of pain echoed through the clearing, ringing loudest in Leo's ears. Fury and fear pumped its way into his system, heart hammering in his chest as his feet forced themselves forward, heedless of the danger. And Diana…Diana turned herself, just barely, just enough so her large red eyes could look directly at Leo.

They were filled with sadness. With joy. With curiosity and the smile of a child's innocent wonder, taking in the world one day at a time. All the things that Diana was, all the things she was grateful to Leo about, conveyed in a single glance.

All in a last hurrah, because the ultra beasts were after his life, and she could not allow that.

Light spewed from her shell as she forcibly started her evolution, her jet-engines revving ominously and shell cracking dangerously as Pheromosa and Buzzwole redoubled their efforts to break her, and get to Leo. Leo's breath came in rapid huffs as he realized what was going to happen – Diana had not accumulated enough energy for an evolution. She hadn't grown enough inside her shell, and her energy hadn't finished condensing enough to spark the titanous evolution into a Tyranitar – a veritable force of nature. For a brief moment she would be her final evolution, but that was all. Her life would fade in a glorious but brief flash of light – just long enough, he imagined she hoped, to grant her victory.

Leo stomped his feet and ground to a halt, not daring to move his eyes away from Diana's evolution, the light already fading, flickering dangerously.

No.

Not Diana.

Not today. Not on his watch.

His feet spread apart and arms spread, fists raised skyward as his muscles flexed. He could feel his aura surge, aligning with the indomitable nature of Rock and Stone, building higher and higher as he slid his feet forward. But he did not want rock. A mere stone was not enough for Diana, and his aura connected with hers and flooding into her, further feeding her evolution. The dimming light of evolution began to brighten, but all the power he possessed was not enough to help her, so deeper he dug. Reaching down, down, down into the deep earth below, into the bedrock below.

Santiago bellowed, reaching out and just barely slowing Buzzwole's attacks with a disable, Link hurling a substitute shield in-between Pheromosa and Diana, giving Leo just enough time to finish his dance.

He stomped his feet and twisted his body to the side, striking another pose as stone rose up to greet him, the weight of a mountain pressing down upon his shoulders. A small spark of lightning touched his mind from the depths of his bag, the light of a thunderstorm adding that last sliver of help needed to push Diana over the threshold.

Dream of Mountains, who Dwell on Things Eternal.

And Diana's light exploded.

"Continental crush," Leo finished quietly, all his energy gone, though the Z-move never came to fruition. Instead, the jungle was filled with a furious roar, stone cracking as a fist of green granite burst from the Pupitar's shell, catching Buzzwole's fist with relative ease. Pheromosa leapt back, but another hand shot out from the other side, snagging her by the wrist as the Pupitar's shell twisted, broken, and turned into pure white energy, transforming into a new form. Then it faded, and a Tyranitar's roar of pure gleeful fury filled the night air.

She rose high into the air, tail thrashing and green stone armor as unblemished as a polished countertop. Her spines shuddered against each other as she stretched out to her full height, towering a good foot and a half over Buzzwole, and nearly two feet over Pheromosa, her maw open wide to reveal rows of teeth meant for crushing stone…and particularly irksome interlopers.

Buzzwole struggled against Diana's grip, fist still caught in her own. She rumbled and twisted, smashed him into the ground with her newfound tail and yanking Pheromosa back, slinging her around like a toy and slamming her into Buzzwole.

But, just like Leo had taught her when she was but a little Larvitar, she did not let go. She did not give the gift of close proximity up easily. She snarled and slammed her head into Buzzwole as he lifted himself up, the sheer impact sending the giant mosquito to his knees. The earth trembled beneath her fury, stones ripping out of the ground and slamming into Pheromosa as Diana stepped forth, slamming a knee into Buzzwole's gut. The bug doubled over – and Power Gems pelted Diana's green hide. She snorted in annoyance and turned her head to face the Nihilego, cocking an eyebrow at it. Light pooled in her mouth, as bright as the light of an evolution and forming a bright ball in front of her maw.

The hyper beam screamed as it pierced the night sky, blowing Nihilego away from the sheer force.

Buzzwole froze. Pheromosa froze, eyes wide in fear as Diana turned her attention back to them, still holding onto their respective fists as she was. Then the bugs turned towards the rest of Leo's team, battered but not beaten, as they rallied themselves and prepared the best of their attacks to combat the ultra beasts.

Pheromosa and Buzzwole shared a look, and Diana promptly leg go of their hands, spinning rapidly and smashing her tail into the larger Buzzwole with enough force to send him to the ground, on top of Pheromosa. The Nihilego waved their tentacles in distress as Zuko roared out a stream of flame so hot it burned blue, and Santiago slammed one into the ground with a use of psychic. It landed right next to Xena, who laid into it with malicious fury and judicious use of dragon claws.

Diana roared into the night sky once more, and the Ultra Beasts scattered. Her eyes narrowed for but a moment, and the familiar sound of a jet-engine's roar reached Leo's ears. He watched mouth agape as Diana, sticks and plants whipping in winds generated by the air vents in her green stone armor, lifted a full inch off the ground to hover. Then, abruptly, the sound cut off and she hit the ground with a thud, feet digging deep into the soil from her own weight.

For a moment longer all was still, Leo and his team tensing and waiting for any of the ultra beasts to return.

"We need to move. Who's injured, who can travel?" Leo commanded, pushing aside his fears and worries for now. Santiago grumbled something and pulsed with pink light, the heal pulse washing out over the team and visibly healing a few of their wounds. Link rolled his shoulders and Xena cracked her neck, wincing as she rubbed her shoulder and pulled a bent scale off, tossing it away. Froslass drifted lazily through the trees, dropping and almost looking like she was going to melt, while Zuko shook himself off.

Diana rumbled, clenching her fists and thrashing her tail as she stared at the sky, a growl echoing up from the back of her throat.

As much as Leo wanted to talk to her right now, his top priority was getting him and his team out of here, and losing the ultra beasts. They needed time to rest and recover, even with Diana newly evolved he wasn't supremely confident at being able to take all of them. The evolution had been a surprise, after all, and there was a lot of them. He'd hate for them to go seek reinforcements, too.

"Right, return all of you. Link, get on my shoulder and keep an eye open. We're moving, and we can't have everyone out. Too many pokemon moving through the jungle at once will draw too much attention," Leo said, recalling each member of his team besides Link and Froslass. For Froslass he simply held an empty pokeball out to her and raised an eyebrow. She cocked her head to the side, clutching her side – which had an entire chunk missing, jagged edges of ice mixing with an ethereal purple glow emanating from the wound – before grinning and shooting forward, catching herself. Leo nodded and clipped her new ball to his belt, bent, and picked up Link, settling the little Bellossom on his shoulder.

As the last vestiges of the sunny day vanished, returning the jungle to darkness, so did Leo, taking off into the jungle with nary a sound.

He ran and ran, leaping over logs and around trees, very careful to leave as few tracks as possible. After an hour he came across a stream, which he stopped at, stripped out of his shirt and pants and sending them floating downstream, and proceeded to liberally coat himself with mud in an attempt to mask his scent. He didn't know if it would actually work against the Ultra-Beasts, but everything was worth a shot at this point. After two more hours he reached the coast, steep cliffs dropping off into the ocean below and the faint remains of a trail leading northward, along the cliffside. Leo followed that for a ways until he came to a bridge crossing a chasm – or at least, what remained of an old rope bridge that had long since fallen to the ocean below.

Then he turned back into the jungle and kept running, all but nude and covered in mud, as Link rode on his backpack.

Only when the sun started to rise did he come to a stop, a small pond covered in green algae before him with a few water-types lounding about in the pool. Morelull floated in the air above the pool, the psychedelic-looking three-headed mushrooms turning to him and blinking in surprise, but not flying off. Leo's instincts prickled as he knelt at the water's edge, dipping one finger into the pond while Link tensed.

As sharp crackle of lightning was all the warning Leo got of the rogue Rotom's arrival, the ghostly ball of plasma appearing before him with hexes hovering about its form, balls of purple lightning. Leo raised an eyebrow at it.

"I really don't have time for you," he said blandly, and Link immediately acted, leaping over Leo's head to cut straight through the ghost with a leaf blade. The Morelull scattered at the sudden combat, Rotom having been cut in twain by Link. But it quickly reformed, the ghost's smile turning vicious – only to morph into one of surprise as the seed bomb Link had thrown right in the middle of Rotom, so it reformed around the explosive seed, detonated and blew it apart.

Leo snorted as the ghost shrieked, its remains zipping off and leaving them in peace.

"Well, I'm glad that worked. Glad we discussed this too," Leo muttered, shaking his head and stripping his shoes and socks off to dip his feet in the pond.

He'd half expected Rotom to show up – it sounded like the ghostly thing to do to show up right after a hard fight – and had discussed what to do with Link. It worked far better than expected, and took advantage of a ghost's unique ectoplasmic composition. Still, the cool waters of the pond felt good against his aching feet and Leo let that feeling dominate his thoughts. Link muttered in agreement, wading through the waters – which rose to his chin – to pull himself up next to Leo. "This'll be as good a place to rest as any. We'll take an hour or two, let the team out, then get back on the road again," he said, reaching over and scratching Link's head fondly, just between the red flowers. Link sighed and leaned into his touch, dipping his little feet into the pond as well as Leo tapped the release buttons on the rest of his team.

Santiago and Aerith appeared first, shaking themselves off and appearing ready for combat, but relaxing when Leo told them that there were no enemies around anymore, even if he did want them to stay on guard.

"Aerith, stick by me. Diana just evolved, and I need your help going over her to make sure there were no complications," Leo said softly, picking the little normal-type up and running his fingers through the small tuft of pink fur on her head. She babbled softly at him, nodding and twisting so she could press her face into Leo's chest. "I'm sorry. That was scary, wasn't it? Or were you worried about me?" Leo muttered, to Aerith's indecipherable muttering.

"Leo's too stubborn to die. Where do you think I get it from?" Santiago muttered, sinking down into the pond and sighing in relief. Leo snorted and thumbed the release for Zuko and Xena, going over their injuries real quick and healing them a little with a hyper potion he pulled from his pack. They were battered and bruised, but the battle hadn't been harsh enough to put them fully out of commission. Thankfully.

Next was Froslass, who vanished almost immediately to hide in the depths of the pond and rebuild her frozen skin with an ice beam, leaving only the girl of honor left.

Taking a deep breath, Leo thumbed the release to Diana's pokeball, the Tyranitar appearing in a flash of red light. She shook herself and rose to her full height, eyes blinking open as she took a quick look around, and Leo took the chance to take in her new form. From first glance alone, Leo knew she was a little bit different than other Tyranitar. For one, she was taller, and a tad bit bulkier. The average Tyranitar was six feet tall, but she towered at least seven feet, her armor thick and gleaming in the light of the sunrise.

The holes in her leg and chest armor, that most Tyranitar used to cool themselves off as well as aid in whipping up sandstorms, were bigger and more reminiscent of a Pupitar's vents – and Leo was certain he had seen a few more along her back, where most Tyranitar didn't have them. That both excited him and worried him, because what if – and this was a big what if – Diana kept her mobility from her Pupitar stage?

A flying Tyranitar? Yes please.

But those were thoughts for later, because the first thing Leo did was lunge towards her and wrap his arms as far around her impressive girth as he could, resting his cheek against the cool blue scales of her stomach. Diana rumbled as he squeezed her as tight as he could.

"Don't ever do something like that again," he whispered. She rumbled, the sound reverberating through her armor and scales and into Leo's chest, bending and nuzzling his shoulder.

Only if you do the same. He could almost hear her say, and he laughed through a choked sob, the fact that she had almost died – no. He wasn't going to think about it that way. She was willing to sacrifice herself for him, and damn it, he didn't want that even if the sheer gratitude at the sentiment threatened to overwhelm him. It was an odd feeling.

"No promises," Leo laughed weakly, and Diana huffed out a rumbling laugh. Then she grabbed him back and lifted him up by the backpack – there he was, shirtless, pantless, in only his underwear and covered in mud, being held up like a wet puppy by a Tyranitar so her big red eyes could peer into his own green.

She opened her mouth and licked him, her rough tongue dragging across his face like sandpaper.

"Gross! Diana, no!" Leo laughed, squirming in her grip. She chuffed and spun him around, clutching him to her chest and sitting down with a thud, him in her lap and refusing to let go. He squirmed a bit but she refused to move, rumbling contentedly and slouching so her chin could rest gently on the top of his head. A whine from Zuko drew both of their attention to him, the Typhlosion looking their way jealously. Leo sighed and patted his lap, prompting the oversized fire-type to happily move over and lay his head in his lap. Taking up Leo's entire lap. Leo smiled and chuckled, rubbing Zuko's ears.

He frowned as he absently reached to the side to wave over a pokemon that wasn't there – and for a moment he felt confused. Where was Sunny? The little Meinfoo was usually the first to come running to jump in his lap.

Then he remembered, and he sighed, rubbing his face with his free hand, feeling a pang of longing in his chest. Longing for Sunny, for Victoria, for…people. For where his bonds led. But that just furthered his resolve, and he screwed his eyes shut to take a deep breath. Getting home was the priority. Then he could see everyone again. For a moment longer he sat there, enjoying the company of his team and almost drifting to sleep as exhaustion overtook him, but through sheer force of will he stayed awake and stood up, extracting himself from Diana and Zuko's cuddle pile. Diana rumbled sadly at him, her pleading look joined by Zuko's begging puppy-dog eyes for more scratches, and with considerable effort Leo managed to push through.

"No, Diana, we need to check you out. Make sure you're ok. You took a lot of damage, so…Aerith, would you help me?" Leo called the Happiny over from where she'd been playing in the pond, splashing waves at Santiago as he lounged. She happily skipped over as Leo set about inspecting Diana…though first he washed himself off of mud, and put on new clothes.

Only then did he pull out his pokedex, scan her, and start inspecting her for physical damage. His conclusion? She was fine. Healthy. Her armor was thick, she was big, and she was the same as the little Larvitar he'd picked up in the Silver Mountains. Aerith seemed to agree with his assessment, and the brief scan from his pokedex, as little as it showed, indicated no major issues. From his research into Tyranitars and what Oak had told him, though, she would still have a bit of growing to do. Not in size or weight, but her armor needed to firm up a bit more, and she likely had to settle into her changes quite a bit. The early evolution meant she probably wasn't as strong as a regular Tyranitar either…yet. She still had plenty of time to grow.

Now satisfied, Leo settled down for real this time, closing his eyes and allowing himself to drift into a light slumber. He didn't have much time, but he did need rest. Hiking all day and night was taking its toll, as well as having been sick the past…however long. And slowly, he drifted off to sleep.

Sunny jolted awake, senses flaring and eyes flying wide open as she sensed something. Ever since her Chosen Trainer had disappeared she'd been at a bit of a loss. She'd trained some with the Master of the Normal, but that had felt stale compared to the training with her Chosen. She was not some frivolous pokemon who could jump between trainers at will – she was a Meinfoo of the Tribes, and her Chosen had been approved by the Elders. Even the Dragons Against Darkness approved of him, sending one of their champions to aid in his quest. She had honor, and even now she could feel her connection with her Chosen flaring strong –

Sunny leapt to her feet in elation, a small cry of surprise escaping her lips. She was not her father nor her mother, she could not sense aura to the degree that they could. She could not whip out aura spheres at will, nor could she see the very flows of the universe; and even though they denied that they could see that deep, she knew better. But here and now? She could feel something. A little strand, a bond that stretched out to who-knows-where, connecting her to a very, very familiar aura. An aura that was burning brighter than ever, flaring before falling asleep once again. Once the flare died down she could no longer sense it, but knew it was still there. That bond hadn't faded. Her fate with her Chosen Trainer was not yet done.

With a cry of joy Sunny darted out of her little sleeping place, quietly padding through the House of White and out into the open air. She sprinted through the man-made island called "Aether Paradise" and down the steps, feet padding silently on the slick floors to reach where she knew the Master of Normal was. Victoria, her Chosen Trainer called her, a name of victory and strife. Sunny poked her head through the door, the Master of Normal angrily whispering to a screen while her Persian lounged next to her.

"I told you, Giovanni, I don't have time to help you! I have my own issues here in Alola!" She snapped, irritation flaring loudly. Sunny almost flinched back, but the joy of feeling her Chosen Trainer's aura again spurred her onward, padding into the room and jumping up onto a chair in Victoria's line of sight. She spared her a glance, raised an eyebrow, and then returned to glaring at the screen. "I can't help you right now. Unfortunately, what I'm dealing with here is actually bigger than Kanto's situation. And no, I can't tell you what's going on, so don't ask." She growled out, then tapped the screen she'd been staring at, turning it off and cutting off the other person's shouted "You don't understand, Lance -!"

Leo's alive! Sunny shouted, all but vibrating in excitement. Victoria raised an eyebrow at her, but the Persian raised his head.

How do you know? He asked, at the same time Victoria asked "What do you want?". Sunny shouted her explanation to Persian happily, and he furrowed his brows, kneading his claws into the carpet. How does this help us? He asked, and Sunny paused at that.

Uh…Ma and Pa might know. She said weakly. They know aura better than me. Persian cocked his head to the side and licked one paw, revealing rows of sharp teeth. Sunny resisted the urge to shudder – even having been raised next to dragons, this pokemon was nothing if not intimidating.

The Persian called it a sound theory, and also said they should seek the advice of the Old Master, Sofu. None were closer to the Tapus than he, after all, and Sunny hopped from foot to foot with unburnt energy. They finally had a lead! She wrung her paws together and looked to the side, where Victoria was watching their interaction with confused interest. Maybe, just maybe, this meant they were actually getting somewhere. She could only hope.


บท 47: 44-45

Leo patted Diana as she settled down from her training, the great Tyranitar shuffling her feet and pressing her forehead into his hand like an overgrown puppy as she ended her martial forms. An overgrown puppy that could shoot lasers and levitate, if only for a few seconds and a few inches at a time. Still, in the past few days since the Ultra Beast attack – of whom they had seen neither hide nor hair from – she had steadily increased the duration she could levitate and the height she could reach. Leo wasn't sure why that was the case, but he had his theories. It could in part be because of her early evolution. It could be because the Tapu Koko feather in his backpack had given her that last sliver of energy she needed for evolution. It could even be because of her desire to fly and touch the clouds – he vaguely remembered a pokedex entry for Salamence saying that the reason they grew wings was due to their intense desire to fly in their pre-evolutions, so maybe Diana had a similar influence on her own evolution? Who knew. As far as Leo was aware, that was the question pokemon scientists had been asking themselves since the dawn of time.

Everyone had their theories. Everyone knew the basics. But the outliers were what threw even the true professors off, and made them question the pre-determined "rules."

What he did know was that because she did have a unique evolution; he was almost positive she was thinner and more aerodynamic than the average Tyranitar, despite being taller, he had to make observations and compare them to the data he had in the pokedex. Not only would Professor Oak kill him if he didn't, but he also wanted to make sure Diana was ok and that her early evolution didn't have any bad side-effects. So far he hadn't picked up on anything, but she was still getting reacquainted with her limbs and that was taking longer than was typical for the species. He, once again, chalked that up to her early evolution though. Tyranitar could move their limbs while in the Pupitar phase, once said limbs were formed within the cocoon, and Diana didn't really have that time. Still, Leo thought as Diana pushed her head into his chest, nearly knocking him over, she seemed to be doing absolutely fine.

"That's enough girl," Leo said with a chuckle, gently pushing the giant rock-monster away. "You've been incorrigible ever since your evolution. No more pats for you, I need to give the others some love too. Zuko and Xena are feeling jealous," he gently chided. Diana pulled her head away, a guilty rumble reverberating in her throat as she looked over to where Zuko was napping and Xena was very pointedly not looking at them, instead watching Aerith as the little Happiny polished her white stone.

"I need to finish my thoughts on Spiritomb, too," Leo muttered, rubbing the stone in his pocket. The ghost had been dormant ever since Froslass had split from it – she had refused a name, even the name of the woman she had once been, and thus Leo would continue to call her Froslass – and while that didn't overtly concern him, it did bring up a few questions.

For example; he'd repeatedly tried to enter the mindscape again, with Froslass' help even, and failed every time. Currently his working theory was that the mindscape had been unique to Spiritomb itself, as a sort of way for his mind to rationalize and visualize the ghost's hive-mind, as well as the esoteric concept that was the soul. Either way, it seemed to him that the mindscape was something tied to Spiritomb specifically, rather than a unique ability that he had access to. Not that the mindscape was really useful for anything other than things involving Spiritomb…or in visualizing his soul. But that didn't feel as…important to him. It was hard to describe.

But Spiritomb and Diana weren't the only ones who had grown since their time in this world, and since he hadn't seen any evidence of the ultra beasts around since the night Diana evolved, he finally felt like he had enough room to really start to catalogue everything that was going on. Well, not just that, but since he was feeling back up to a hundred percent now he felt up to actually trying to see it.

Link was working on his connection to fairy energy, and had grown by leaps and bounds. Leo was fairly certain they were close to inventing a new move, one that involved swords and the fairy type, but as for now dazzling gleam was all but mastered and he was close to creating a fully Fairy Blade, without using leaf blade as a base to channel the energy through. Santiago was sharpening his mind – his psychic power, while vast, was slowly being honed to a finer degree so he could use it as both spear and hammer. Most impressive, however, were his improvements with his water abilities. From where Leo stood beneath the shade of the jungle, Diana by his side, he could see Santiago on the beach practicing hydro pump.

It was a solid upgrade from water pulse, and was giving him a bit more power behind his water attacks that water pulse wasn't giving him. Right now he could score great lines in the sand with his attack, but he could only use it a few times and it wasn't as powerful as it could be. Meanwhile, Zuko had been working on his electric attacks, and Xena was…well, she was working on a lot of things; from close-combat to the ranged dragon breath. The only one who wasn't actively expanding her repertoire was Froslass, and that's because she was still getting used to being her own pokemon again.

"I'm tired of waiting, girl," Leo said finally, patting Diana's side. She rumbled out an agreement, eyeing the large jungle tree next to her as if she was considering eating it. She had the same curiosity as when she'd been a Larvitar, after all. She had to taste everything. "We just need a final check on the boat, and then we're crossing the ocean. We've tested the engine, we've triple-checked the motor – what little I remember about engines, anyway – and it all looks good. We haven't seen the ultra beasts in days. We won't gain anything by waiting around too long," he said decisively. A crunching sound was his answer, Diana leaning forward and biting through a tree-branch, only to spit out the wooden shards and whine, looking at Leo plaintively. He sighed.

"I can't even count how many times he has told you that wood won't taste good," Santiago said, his training finished as he ambled up to them, breathing heavily. Diana whined and ran a hand along her tongue, brushing off more splinters before bending down and eating a mouthful of soil to wash away the taste. Judging by her expression she did not enjoy the texture, but she swallowed anyway. Leo shook his head in amusement. "When will we leave?"

"I was thinking tomorrow at the latest." Leo said with finality.

"That soon?" he asked.

"Yes. We've done everything we could, and there is nothing more to prepare for," Leo said.

"…you're sure?" Santiago asked, slowly, and Leo nodded. "You are far more…decisive than before,"

"Yes, I think I am," Leo agreed, touching his chest. He could feel his aura there – though it wasn't a foreign feeling. It was like becoming aware of his own breathing, something he did naturally, but now thought of consciously. It was weird, and more in-depth than that, but that was the closest feeling he could prescribe to it. Being aware of it now meant he could start to understand what it did in more detail. And he was only scratching the surface. "We've wasted enough time. Can you imagine what Victoria will do when we come back, if we tell her how much time we wasted?"

Santiago seemed to ponder that for a moment, then shuddered. Leo nodded in agreement; just thinking about what Prince, Victoria's Persian, would do to him was enough to send a shiver down his spine.

So they got to work. The rest of the day was spent in quiet preparation, checking and re-checking that everything was in order. And that the boat, a white thing with blue stripes down the side, cleaned of moss and muck by Leo and his team, was pushed into the water by Diana. Everything was ready.

But in the early morning light of the next day, when Leo slid out of the little shelter he had made along the beach and stood up, looking towards the ocean, he found that his plans for the day were entirely derailed. The fact that a Nihilego was peacefully floating over the boat had everything to do with it – though not for the reasons one might expect. For one it was just sitting there peacefully, facing his direction – despite the massive jellyfish not having an actual face – with its two foremost tentacles wrapped around its back almost as if it was clasping its hands together.

Of course, Leo felt no fear towards a single Nihilego. They were not as powerful as he had feared – much like most of the other ultra-beasts he'd fought for that matter. They were not legendaries. Extra-dimensional beings with foreign abilities, yes. But they were not legendaries.

They paled in the face of something like Articuno, whose power did not so much as radiate from it as simply exist, letting all know that it was Winter, for all that entailed – even Celebi had more of a presence than the ultra beasts; that of something ancient and timeless. Ultra beasts were just…foreign. Strange. Unknown, not unknowable.

But what really caught his attention about this creature was that it was wearing a hat. A battered, once-white Aether Foundation hat, with the trident-like golden logo stitched onto the front.

"Uh," he said, eloquently stating his surprise. The Nihilego seemed to spot him and casually waved one tentacle in greeting. And then his team took notice of the threat.

Diana roared, startling Pikipek from the trees, her deep boom joined by the rattling warcry of Xena as she leapt to her feet, claws bared and teeth pulled back into a snarl. Link leapt in front of Leo, a leaf-blade half drawn as Santiago took up position behind him, crown gem flashing with pink light. Aerith put a little hand on Leo's pants leg and gripped a small rock in her other, eyeing the beast warily. Only Froslass was missing, and Leo felt her absence sharply.

He squinted and spotted a flash of white just behind the Nihilego – too soft to be the ultra-beast's weird skin – and he knew where his ghost was.

"Stand down!" Leo barked, squaring his shoulders and clasping his hands behind his back. Santiago turned to look at him in confusion, but his team made no further movement to attack. With a grunt Leo bent and scooped up Aerith, who chattered at him softly while keeping an eye on the Nihilego. Absently he bounced her on his hip, trying to soothe the worried normal-type, and stared at the ultra-beast unsure of what to say next. Thankfully the Nihilego solved that issue for him by letting out a long, low cry that sounded like a pitiful attempt at imitating a Pidgeotto's cry.

Collectively his team blinked in surprise, shock ripping through them. Leo felt lost as he looked at Santiago and raised an eyebrow.

"Um. He said 'Greetings and salutations, human! My name is Mohn. I apologize for the way my associates treated you before, but I assure you it is a misunderstanding. May we have a little chat? I promise I will explain everything,'" Santiago said. Ok, what? Leo thought, not missing the name-drop. Mohn was Lusamine's husband – the one who had fallen through an ultra-wormhole. And now his curiosity was well and truly piqued. He worried his lip a bit and looked up at Diana before shrugging. Aw, what the hell. Call me arrogant, but I've got a Tyranitar on my side now. Let's see what it has to say. Besides, I'm tired of fighting these guys.

Leo rubbed his hands together as the Nihilego told its story, Santiago translating as he lounged in the sand beside him. It may have looked like he was relaxed, but Leo knew he was anything but – laying sidewise in the sand as he was, head propped up on one paw with half-lidded eyes, Leo knew the Slowking was keeping a psychic eye on their surroundings all while translating the conversation. A perk of being a psychic type, that multi-tasking ability.

Which was great, because Leo was positively enthralled.

He'd always wondered what happened to this world.

In Alola, at least, a land abandoned by humanity – whose scattered remnants still held out in pockets in other regions – it started with the Sundering. By the time the ultra-beasts had arrived, much of the region had been destroyed so all this information was what Mohn-Nihilego had learned from the local pokemon or from magazines it had found. Prior to this event, humanity had been as it always had been. Pokemon worked together with people to become stronger, they forged bonds, people fought and played – and of course there were those who did ill. No one was quite sure what caused the Sundering. One day everything was fine. The next, many people just…stopped, having lost the will to carry on. People laid down in the streets and refused to move. Some perished outright. Others milled about seemingly lost. Only the strongest of heart and mind survived unchanged, though they described the event as something akin to having a hammer strike against their soul.

Their pokemon described it as someone taking a knife and raking it across the bond between them and their trainer, as if trying to sever it.

The skies darkened on that day, radiating outward from the north-west like a wall of shadow. Sensing a disturbance, the Legendary Tapus raced across the ocean towards the source of the darkness, never to be seen again. All they left behind were feathers and Z-crystals as tokens to remember them by; vestiges of their power.

For three long months the skies remained dark, but that was not the worst of it. For then came the distortions. Fractures in space and time, holes cleaved in the fabric of the universe leaving paths to foreign worlds, ran rampant. And thus came the ultra-beast hordes. Dazed and confused they flooded into Alola unchecked, lashing out against all who crossed their paths out of fear for the foreign world. That is when Mohn-Nihilego first arrived. And in their panic, they fought against the leaders of Alola and those humans who remained. It was a time of war and bloodshed, in which people perished in droves and humanity teetered on the brink of collapse.

Then the sun returned, in a flash of brilliant golden light, and with it the space-time fractures began to heal. The ultra-beasts eventually calmed, growing used to the foreign world. The remaining humans gladly accepted the ultra-beasts newfound peace, for fear of their race's extinction, but the damage had been done. Very few people remained, and those that did were scarred from all the fighting. It had been a true apocalypse; and the survivors, led by the Alolan Kahuhas who lived, left this land in search of survivors and their guardian deities. They had not been seen since, and it had been twenty years since that day.

Leo nodded along with the story as the Mohn-Nihilego launched into the next part of the tale, and the part he was most confused about – why this Nihilego called itself Mohn, Lusamine's long-lost husband. It was actually pretty simple, in some respects. One of the things Nihilego fed off of were memories, and this particular Nihilego had absorbed the memories of Mohn.

"It's actually a fascinating subject. I – or, well, the original Mohn – had so many theories after I absorbed the memories," Santiago translated, his tone of voice lacking any of the enthusiasm the Nihilego seemed to have as it waved its tentacles in the air, floating back and forth as if pacing. "We devour memories of humans who pass by our section of ultra-space, where we lived originally. Why is that? I theorize it's a sort of defense mechanism. Something about the nature of ultra space makes it hard on the human mind – so long as you are not travelling with one of the great Legendaries to protect you – and we eat those memories. Obviously that is not the only function Nihilego have, but considering we inhabit those strange spaces between worlds that are most dangerous for humans and pokemon alike, I cannot imagine it is an accident."

"He's rambling," Leo noted as Santiago fell silent, watching Nihilego pace back and forth while letting out those low, keening cries with relative consistency. Eventually Santiago picked up the conversation again, though, though Leo kind of wished he'd heard the rambling.

"This is where the man named Mohn comes in. He fell through a hole in the sky a few years ago, and I happened to be the one who ended up tasting his memories. Through him I learned about other worlds, and became aware of myself as a being, not just a thing. He only stayed for a short time – a few months at most before falling back to his world – but that time was very educational for us. After all, that is how we discovered ultra-wormholes and a method to escape back to our own worlds. This is not our home, and we desire to return. Unfortunately we did not know how to communicate with you. That combined with the fact that many of the ultra beasts have few good experiences with humans, caused me to send a few of my much tamer brethren after you. I do apologize for the miscommunication. I am entirely at fault and, in hindsight, it was not the most human-like gesture," Santiago translated.

"But that does sound like a Pokemon solution to problems. Everything can be solved with a good fistfight." Leo reasoned, scratching his chin. Mohn-Nihilego bobbed up and down in agreement while Leo eyed the pokemon. He had a decent understanding of the situation now. Somewhat. "So do you have a way to get me back to my world?" he asked. Mohn-Nihilego warbled, and Santiago cocked his head to the side.

"Not without losing your memories." Santiago translated. "Leo, I think the rule is that you have to travel with a legendary in order to not lose your memories."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Are you the ones who keep attacking Alola in the other world? Why are you so fixated on Lusamine – is it because of your memories?" Leo asked, keeping his tone civil and expression neutral. Mohn-Nihilego bobbed its head again, and Zuko let out an uncharacteristic growl.

"I do not have a lot of pull with the other ultra-beasts outside of a select few of my own species. We accidentally incited the Buzzwole and Pheromosa into attacking you a few days ago which, again, I apologize for. Try not to use Z-moves by the way, they incense us. Regardless, what we all agree on is that we wish to return to our respective homeworlds; Lusamine is the leading researcher on ultra wormholes and mapping out ultra-space. Thus, she is the most likely beyond the unreachable legendaries to be able to help is. Mohn's memories do push me in that direction as well, though. Your world is the one world we are consistently able to connect to, that is close enough to this one we know what to expect. It is almost a…mirror of your world. My best guess, anyway," Mohn-Nihilego reasoned, and Leo rubbed his face.

This was getting complicated.

"So let me sum this up. You've been attacking my world because you're trying to get home, and think Lusamine has figured out how. You've been attacking me because I came through a portal, though you haven't really told me your interest in me yet. You ate Lusamine's husband's memories, and that's how you know all this and act more human than pokemon. And now…?" He asked, trailing off leadingly. Nothing about this situation made him happy, but Nihilego was potentially extending a hand – tentacle? – of peace, and he didn't want to turn it away. Not fearing an attack around every corner would be nice.

"Ah, yes, I do prattle on sometimes. Sorry, we require your aid," Mohn-Nihilego said, and didn't elaborate. Santiago narrowed his eyes, glanced at Leo, then looked back at Nihilego.

"Who's we?" Leo asked, his eyes wandering up to where Froslass had reappeared above Nihilego, giggling to herself and freezing the top of the ultra-beast's hat.

"My comrades, and the remaining Totems," Nihilego said simply, and Leo paused. He tilted his head to the side and scratched his cheek in confusion. Santiago blinked in surprise, then furrowed his own brows, lifting himself up into a sitting position and turning to properly face Mohn-Nihilego.

"The remaining Totems?" Santiago questioned. Leo just frowned as the Nihilego engaged in a quick conversation with Santiago through a series of quick, quiet chirps and warbles. Leo himself just frowned and ran a hand through his hair thoughtfully. He didn't trust this pokemon. Like, at all. But his team hadn't noticed any foul play yet, and no one had noticed any other ultra beasts coming to attack either. So he would at least hear out the request.

"He says there are three remaining Totem pokemon, not including the Blissey you promoted. In fact, he says Blissey is the one who turned him onto your trail," Santiago said, and Leo jerked in surprise. "And that they need your help in anointing other Totems…wait, that's not right," Santiago muttered to himself a bit and talked to Mohn-Nihilego once more before scratching his chin and shaking his head. "I can't make sense of what's being said here. It's not translating to human right." He grumbled. A thought occurred to Leo then and he turned around, reaching inside of his pack and rummaging about for a second before finding what he was looking for.

"Does it have something to do with this?" Leo asked suddenly, turning and pulling out the feather of Tapu Koko and showing it to Mohn-Nihilego. He had himself fully prepared for a hostile reaction from the ultra-beast, but instead all he received was an excited wiggle of the pokemon's head.

"Yes," Santiago translated. "That. We need your help with two things, the second of which is in regards to that feather. Or in regards to the other Totem pokemon. We need you to travel to each of their shrines, gather what they left, and take them to…the Throne? In order to call them back. A few years back they got a visitor from another region – a travelling pokemon, something called an Eon? – that said they were gathering mementos of the legendaries. This world is hurt, but not dead, and they need all the help they can get to get it back on its feet." He explained, cocking his head to the side. Leo did the same, scratching his chin. Wait…the Throne? And legendaries? Was that Mount Coronet? That's the…arguable throne of Arceus, right?

"Mount Coronet?" Leo asked, and Nihilego bobbed its head in affirmation. Leo narrowed his eyes and scratched his chin. He was going there anyways…and they just want him to take the feathers of Tapus there? What in the world was going on here? "What's in it for you? Why go to all this effort? I'm very confused, if I'm being bluntly honest," he said.

"That brings it back to the first task. Our greatest desire, to return to our homes, can only be granted by the return of the legendary pokemon. The only way to do that is to take their treasures to the Throne and physically call them back – something about it acting as a homing beacon or something? I'm not fully understanding it. I'm not even sure they know where the Tapus actually went – ah! The first task is also in regards to a legendary pokemon. Well, in regards to the only true legendary among the ultra-beasts; Guzzlord." Santiago said, and Leo frowned. The only true legendary? Weren't all ultra beasts legendary pokemon…?

Or, wait, that was just based on stats. And based on stats alone, weren't Tyranitar stronger than Articuno? Yet back in the silver mountains, Diana's dad Tyrus had been constantly fighting Articuno and never once won. Seems like I was right, then. Ultra beasts may be powerful, but they're not "legendary" pokemon. Based on what I remember from the games, in their home planets ultra beasts are relatively common. I'm certain that it's their alien nature that makes it difficult for us to handle them, as well as these ones having been veterans of a war against all of Alola. If Guzzlord is legendary, then, and is truly the endless glutton the games and anime made it out to be, what is it's purpose?

All legendary pokemon have a purpose, even if it's not expressly clear. Articuno seems to be winter. Celebi time travel, the Tapu pokémon are guardians against extra-dimensional incursion, and Lunala has something to do with inter-dimensional travel. So what is Guzzlord? There was one frozen in a block of nevermeltice in the Silver Mountains and it was powerful enough to harm Articuno – still not sure if it was a flock of Articuno or just one, I've heard too many conflicting reports on that – so clearly it's legendary level.

"What is it you need me to do?" Leo asked.

"Capture it or send it home?" Santiago repeated, cocking his head to the side. "…you want us to fight a legendary pokemon? Well, it wouldn't be the first time," he said with a shrug. Diana and Xena, both of whom had been sitting on the beach a few yards away and listening intently, perked up at the idea. Xena in particular flexed her claws and grinned ferally.

"I'm sorry, what?" Leo asked, the only one who was reasonably concerned about the idea. Fighting a legendary? Really?

"What are you surprised about? It's nothing we haven't done before," Santiago said, completely relaxed. "Besides, he said he and the other Totem pokemon will be helping. Even Blissey." Leo blinked and opened his mouth to protest, but Santiago interrupted him. "I want you to stop and think about what you've done. Not just us, your teammates, but you. Who have you personally picked a fight with?"

Leo spluttered, face turning red at the accusation and eyes narrowing, but unable to counter Santiago's point. Off the top of his head he had, alone, and with no chance of winning; wrestled with a literal wrestle dragon multiple times, gotten into fights with fighting types, fought a bunch of smugglers and won, and even battled Tapu Koko without a second's hesitation. He frowned, scrunching his nose and glaring at Santiago in annoyance.

"I hate that you're right," he grumbled.

"I know I'm right. Also, he says that Guzzlord is eating everything, even the atmosphere, and if we don't stop him the world will truly fall to ruin," Santiago said, and Leo blanched. Wasn't it a theme to find Guzzlord in a ruined world? He's pretty sure there's an episode in the anime about Ash fighting a Guzzlord with a ranger or something in a ruined world…

"Well shit. Where is Guzzlord now?" Leo asked. Santiago listened for a minute, then nodded.

"Ula'ula island. The Totem there is keeping it contained in a blizzard, slowing the dragon's intake of, well, everything, but he can only do so much. We have maybe eight months before the dragon can move freely again." Santiago said, then nodded. "I believe him. His mind is alien, but truth and lies are similar no matter the species. Some of what he said isn't entirely true to what he believes, but what he just said is truth."

"You believe him?" Leo asked, and Santiago nodded. "Guys?" he asked, turning to the rest of his team. Xena flexed her claws and bared her teeth, Diana yawned while staring at the sky, Zuko seemed to sigh as he laid next to Xena on the beach, Froslass continued to mess with Mohn-Nihilego's head, building a snowcastle atop the hat now, Link idly played with his leafy kilt, determination shining in his eyes, and Aerith…Aerith was busy digging holes in the sand with a little plastic shovel. Leo stared at her a moment, a smile crawling its way to his face, and couldn't help but sigh.

Blissey gave Aerith to him in hopes he could guide her to a better world. How could he leave this one without doing something to make a difference? But first…

"What do you expect me to be able to do that you could not?" he asked. "Why don't you just capture it in a pokeball?" Nihilego buzzed, and Santiago translated.

"It won't stay in for us. Not even ultra-balls? Nor do we truly have the power to defeat it – wild pokemon are not like trained pokemon. Trained pokemon will all fight to the very end. Us ultra beasts may flee, and I cannot command them. If the Old One has taught me anything, it is that we need a human's help. All pokemon know is fight until it is defeated – but even if we defeat Guzzlord, we cannot do anything about it. It will wake up, and continue to consume. Even with Kartana's help we cannot get it to go through an ultra wormhole, though the sword's aid is spotty at best," it said. Leo rubbed his chin and stood.

Does it not know about beast balls? That would make things much simpler. Considering Mohn disappeared before the creation of beast balls it makes sense though. I wonder if Aether Paradise is still standing…

With a jerk Leo realized something. He wasn't even considering not helping out – he wanted to give aid to these creatures. Even if they had been antagonizing him since before coming here, Santiago's word was good enough to give tentative trust to the beast. It wasn't smart. It wasn't wise. In fact it could very well be considered stupid.

He just didn't care.

"Well damn, seems I already made my decision. Fine, I'll trust you tentatively. We'll check out the situation, but if we sense any kind of foul play you will be the first one to die, got it?" Leo said, not a hint of a threatening tone reaching his voice. It was a simple statement of fact that hid the seriousness of his statement. His fists clenched unconsciously as he turned to face the Nihilego, who had stilled. "Do you understand?" he demanded, freezing the 'mon in place. It was silent for but a moment before bobbing up and down in acknowledgement.

Carefully and quietly the Nihilego rose into the air, motioning for Leo to follow and clasping its tentacles behind its back. It drifted slowly to the ocean, hovering over the waves lapping gently against the beach. Off on the horizon a flock of Pelipper and Wingull flew, cawing loudly as they sought fish as nothing but flashes of white against the clear blue sky.

The sea began to tremble, water roiling as from the depths of the ocean came a truly massive creature. A flat, rounded, brown carapace covered head the size of a bus emerged first, water spilling from the edges as the beast lifted itself out of the water, the massive, scythe-like arms native to the water-dwelling species rising out of the ocean with it. By the time the Kabutobs had risen to its full height, carapace glinting in the sunlight as it shook itself off, it easily stood over twenty feet tall. Power radiated from the beast unlike anything Leo had seen before – this was a Totem Pokemon, of that there was no doubt.

It warbled out a cry, its voice booming over the beach and rumbling through Leo's chest, scraping its scythes against each other as it rolled its neck and cast an unimpressed gaze over Leo's team.

Xena roared out a warcry in response, not in challenge, but just to let it know that she was here, too. Link stepped forward and immediately levelled a leaf blade at the totem, eager for a fight against a fellow swordsman, while Diana rose up to her full height and said nothing – though that was partly because she was chewing on a boulder the size of Leo, greatly enjoying crunching through the hard stone. Though judging by the rumbling of her vents she was not wholly relaxed.

Santiago just sighed and shook his head, looking at Leo helplessly while Froslass appeared over his shoulder, staring at the Kabutops curiously.

For a moment nothing moved, and Leo cocked his head to the side, then bowed to the great beast formally as a sign of respect. Kabutops screeched in response, the sound leaving no doubt in Leo's mind as to its anger. He angled his head up to stare at the pokemon unimpressed as it marched across the sand towards him. Link leapt in the way, a substitute shield already summoned and a battlecry halfway out of his mouth before Leo cut him off.

"I do not care about your rage. I am doing this out of the kindness of my heart," he announced, straightening up. Kabutops hesitated. Honestly Leo didn't understand what Kabutops was angry about. He didn't understand a lot of things, and he was, quite frankly, pissed the hell off about this entire situation. All he wanted was to go home. "And in the hope that once this is done, you all will help me get across the ocean and to Mount Coronet, where I can return home. I am not of this world, and thus I truly have nothing to do with its problems and its collapse. Yet here I am. And damn my bleeding heart, I don't think I can abandon you after Blissey helped me. But try me again and see what I do," he snapped, curling his lips in a snarl and stepping forward as if to fight Kabutops himself.

"I am Leo Angelico. Foreigner to this world and the one I came from; traveler of dimensions. I have stood before Articuno, been saved by Lunala twice, and received the wisdom of Celebi. Trainer of legacies; legacies of champions down to the hope of a simple Slowpoke herd. I am not of this world nor any you know. Yet I am here, listening to you, offering you aid, so you had better damn well treat me with the same respect I offer to you," he snapped, tilting his head up to stare Kabutops in the eyes. The beast stared at him for a moment, then let out a low crooning sound that sounded suspiciously amused before turning and rumbling at the Nihilego.

"He says 'Seems we were sent a spark of moonfire, not a guiding light.'" Santiago translated. Leo frowned, not sure whether or not to count that as an insult. In fact, he wasn't sure what the hell that meant in the first place. Moon might be a reference to Lunala? He filed that thought away for later and simply raised an eyebrow, watching the Totem Kabutops as it turned back to the sea. It waved one clawed hand to the boat Leo had been preparing to travel in, then jerked its head in a motion to follow it out to sea.

He only hesitated for a few seconds before recalling half of his team. Only Aerith, Santiago, Link, and Froslass remained outside of their pokeballs, the rest either too big to fit on the boat or ineffective at sea. It was a simple command and Leo was half tempted to ask it to say please; but that was petty, and he was not petty. Besides, pokemon did not abide by the rules of man; pokemon were creatures who fought each other for fun, almost universally so. Combat was not so much a decision as a way of life. Almost as necessary as breathing, for some pokemon.

Leo chuckled to himself, a thought occurring to him. Maybe that was why he liked the pokemon world so much. It was a world of warriors. Or, more specifically, it was a world that truly nurtured the warrior spirit inside of him. Something that his old world, his first world, never had. Maybe it was only just occurring to him. Maybe he had been blind to it. But the pokemon world – or worlds, in this case – were worlds of heroes. Of people who were more than willing to toss their lives aside for the greater good. That was what the Nihilego's story had told him; even Alola was full of people willing to toss aside their lives to combat the greater evil. Whatever had caused the collapse of this world could not be allowed to fester, and as such, the warriors had promptly packed up their things and gone in search of it.

How could he do anything less?

How could Leo spit in the face of such bravery?

He wouldn't. He couldn't.

As he took his first step towards the boat he felt his aura flare, rising up within him like a roaring flame that burst from his skin and filled his limbs with heat. It was almost as if he could feel the fallen heroes of Alola pushing him along – it was not a weight on his shoulders, but an encouraging shove that said to him "go. Show them your mettle." And it occurred to him that this was not a broken world, like he had been told and believed.

Whatever great evil, whatever great destructive force had driven this world to the brink had been defeated. It was not a dying world, but a redeemed one. A world that shouted "we will not go quietly into that good night!" It was a world to be rebuilt. A surge of excited pride lanced through Leo's veins as he approached the boat, tied up to the shore against a rotten log as it was.

He was not a hero of this world, but damn it if he wouldn't help it get back on its feet. Maybe being sent here was an accident. But, while he was here…

He would leave his mark, for himself and his team, even if it was a mark only he would see. It wasn't a matter of personal pride. It was a matter of soul.

It was time to go kick the ass of a legendary pokemon. After some preparation, of course.

45

A salty breeze whipped through Leo's hair, the boat's engine roaring as he piloted it across the ocean. It was actually a beautiful day – the sun was shining, there were a few fluffy clouds in the sky, and a Celesteela flying above glinted in the sunlight.

Leo yanked the wheel to the side, nearly throwing Santiago off the side as he swerved to avoid the beam of energy that shot down from the sky, carving a line in the blue ocean and spraying Leo with water. Santiago spluttered and responded by hurling a water pulse skyward – it was still far more accurate than his hydro pump – that the Celesteela casually avoided.

"I thought you said the ultra beasts would be allies!" Leo yelled while Link climbed up onto the seat next to him, charging a solar beam. Mohn-Nihilego waved its tentacles at him, flying alongside the boat but very carefully not getting too close. After all, Leo seemed to be the only target. Link popped up and fired the solarbeam, the ray of green light smiting Celesteela in the side and knocking one of its rocket-arms off course, sending it careening through the air. It managed to right itself after a few seconds and hovered, seeming to lock on to Leo with malicious intent.

Then the Totem Kabutops popped out of the water and hit it with a hydro pump for the ages. A pillar of water easily as wide as the boat was long erupted from the ocean, directly hitting Celesteela. A sharp whine echoed out from the ultra beast, the space-rocket like pokemon blasting off through the air dripping water. Leo watched it go – glancing between driving the boat and where it disappeared into the skyline – and only slowed down when he was certain it was gone. The boat's engine slowed to a dull rumble, the wind not quite so harsh on his face, as he took a breath and steadied himself.

When he tried to take his hands away from the steering wheel, he found they were shaking.

Fighting ultra-beasts on land was one thing, and scary enough at that. Fighting them in the middle of the ocean was entirely another.

"I thought you said the ultra-beasts were allies," Leo ground out, turning to face Mohn-Nihilego as it approach, carefully putting its beat-up and now soggy hat back on its head. It waved its tentacles and warbled as Link waved a leaf at it threateningly, saying something that was decidedly not nice, even if Leo couldn't exactly understand what he said.

"Where did you ever say they were allies?" Santiago questioned, breathing heavily and still steadying himself against the side of the boat. It really wasn't a big vessel – just a small fishing boat with two seats, a cracked windscreen, and a once-white coloration – but it was enough for their purposes. "What was that entire speech you did on the beach? About you all just wanting to go home?" Nihilego warbled again, and Santiago scowled.

"He says he never meant to imply they were allies. You're still a human, and they spent years fighting humans. There will be conflict, even if he can reason with a few of them. That's part of the reason why they're having trouble with Guzzlord, the ultra-beasts aren't unified; every time they start to battle it attracts more rogue ultra-beasts, and it descends into a free-for-all." Santiago translated. Leo scowled and glared at Mohn-Nihilego.

He wouldn't have let Celesteela get so close had he known that.

"So who are our allies then?" Leo asked, frowning. Nihilego waved its tentacles around.

"He says that he can reliably control three others of his own kind, there's a good chance we can direct Buzzwole towards Guzzlord because the bug loves to fight, a Kartana, and there are one or two others. Plus the Totem Pokemon, and whoever we manage to convince in the next eight months, before Guzzlord breaks free again." Santiago translated. The Slowking frowned, scratching his belly and giving Leo a look. "That's not a lot to fight a legendary. Diana's dad fought Articuno with an entire champion-level team and still lost." Leo nodded in agreement, narrowing his eyes at Nihilego.

"We need to work on our communication," Leo said, shaking his head. Mohn-Nihilego warbled, and he sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose and going over his plans. On the other side of the boat a splashing sound heralded the arrival of Totem Kabutops, the massive undersea fossil poking his head out of the water and staring at Leo. "We're making a detour." he finally decided, flicking open his pokedex and pulling up the map. Hopefully it was in the same place as his world…

"Where?" Santiago asked, and Leo shot him a look.

"Aether Paradise," he responded dryly. "If we're going to keep getting attacked by ultra-beasts we can't put it off."

"We both agreed that was a bad idea." Santiago said, and Leo nodded. Heading into the Aether Paradise after the building had suffered years of neglect – that was assuming it was still standing, but it was built to be able to withstand pokemon to a degree, so it was possible – was a universally bad idea. What he wanted from it were beast balls though, unique pokeballs designed to capture ultra beasts, and he wasn't sure where else to find them. He had figured that there might be hidden stashes in old ranger bases or important defensive sites, but if they were going to be continually attacked by ultra beasts he wanted a way to neutralize them.

Even if he couldn't actually train the ultra beasts, catching them in beast balls meant they were out of the way.

Mohn-Nihilego warbled, and Santiago nodded.

"See, he agrees. He's been there before, and it's crumbling and unstable. You'd be dead before you can get to the lower levels." Santiago argued.

"That's why I won't be the one delving. So long as she agrees, anyways, Froslass will be," the last part he muttered to himself, thumbing a pokeball at his side. It was perfect. Froslass could phase through walls, was weightless and thus wouldn't cause the building to collapse unless she did something stupid, had hands to grab things, and had no issue doing spooky things. Therefore, there was an easy way for him to search the building without putting anyone at risk. Even if the building collapsed on her she should be fine – ghosts were terribly difficult to truly kill.

"That's…actually not a bad idea. Spiritomb wouldn't have been able to do that," Santiago muttered, rubbing his chin. Spiritomb was limited by it being bound to its keystone. That was something physical that could be lost or trapped in the potentially crumbling structure.

"Either way, we should probably swing by and see what it looks like. I'd be astonished if there wasn't a whole bunch of damage done to it, considering what kind of research went on in there, but I do want to see. If nothing else I may have you and Kabutops swim around on the ocean floor, looking for anything to scavenge." Leo amended, turning the wheel of the boat and glancing towards Mohn-Nihilego. "Can you guide us to Aether Paradise? I have a general idea of where it should be from my old world, but who knows if this one is different," he said, and Mohn-Nihilego bobbed up and down, not bothering to warble out a reply before floating off in a south-easterly direction.

Leo spun the wheel and revved up the engine on the boat, driving it forward.

Though this time, he kept a closer eye on the skies to watch for any other hostile pokemon. Even now, the thought of the boat sinking made his knuckles tighten on the steering wheel and another shot of adrenaline to shoot into his veins.

He had to admit it, the ocean scared him a little. More than a little, the idea of being shipwrecked in the middle of such a massive expanse of water, nothing beneath him and no land around for miles and miles justifieably terrified him. Even if he did have pokemon to help him, the idea sent shudders down his spine.

He was just glad he wouldn't be sailing all the way to Sinnoh.

Link clambered up onto the dash as he drove the boat, being very careful about it because it was old and he didn't exactly know what he was doing, as Leo drove the boat. It took a good three hours before Aether Paradise came into view – a mountain of metal in the middle of the ocean, half-collapsed but somehow still standing. Leo was already pulling back on the throttle by the time Kabutops poked his massive head out of the water, making a "follow me" motion with one scythe-like claw.

"He says to be careful. There's debris all throughout the shallows here, so follow him." Santiago translated. Leo nodded, further slowing the boat until they were gently pushing through the waves, weaving back and forth in the waters around unseen – and rarely, seen, obstacles. Large struts of metal stuck just barely out of the water in some areas, and Leo sometimes heard the hull of the boat hit something beneath the waves. Never hard, just a gentle thud, but it gave Leo a fright more times than once. He was way out of his depth here, out on the ocean.

Kabutops led them to a sandbar along the southern side of the structure, a flock of Wingull and Pelipper squawking in irritation as the great big fossil pokemon hauled himself out of the water and onto the sandbar, the flying types fluttering off with a few weak water guns splashing against Kabutop's carapace. He just shook off the water, and turned his gaze back to Leo as he slowed the boat, the prow digging into the sand.

"I don't remember there being a sandbar near the Aether Paradise," Leo muttered.

"I think this version was built on the remains of an old island; one that sunk below the waves long ago. That's what I'm gathering from the snippets of conversation I can hear from the local pokemon, at least," Santiago reasoned, scratching his head.

"So like Hawaii?" Leo murmured, pulling off his socks and shoes and jumping into the water, sinking up to his ankles in the soft sand, the water reaching mid-calf. He grunted and grabbed a rope tied to the side, tying the boat off on a rather large piece of metal sticking out of the water. That should keep the boat from floating away…

Shaking his head, Leo turned to face the crumbling Aether Paradise. Gaping holes riddled the sides of the massive structure, flying types nesting on the sides and plants hanging down from them as well. Pokemon moved inside the dark structure, visible only as flitting shadows in the dark, while waves lapped at the support structures keeping the building from completely sinking. Trees grew atop the structure, thick and dense, and Leo spotted what looked like a Passimian poking its head out of the foliage to look at them.

Kabutops said nothing as Leo stared quietly, absently reaching a hand up to the boat and letting Link climb down his arm and onto his shoulder. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to feel when he got here and saw the Paradise; maybe quiet melancholy, maybe sadness at seeing someplace he knew destroyed, even if it wasn't technically his Paradise. But instead he felt…very little beyond the eyes he knew were upon him.

Mohn-Nihilego floated by, a loud slap-splash indicating Santiago had belly-flopped off the back of the boat, but Leo raised a hand to stop the ultra-beast. The floating parasitic jellyfish waved its tentacles at him, but he ignored it even as Link told it off, shushing the beast and clinging to Leo's shoulder. He glanced over at the little grass type on his shoulder, Link's expression firm but not hostile as he looked out over the water.

"You feel it too, bud?" he whispered, slowly moving forward. There was a….presence watching them from somewhere, gauging them and their actions. Before he awoke himself to his aura it would have been an instinctual thing – he wouldn't have known why he was cautious, or stopped in a specific spot to wait for something, but he would. Now, however, he could feel and somewhat understand it. A powerful pokemon was judging them. So he walked forward, the ocean waves lapping at his calves and toes digging into the sand and gravel beneath his feet, until he was a good distance away from the Totem, the boat, and the ultra-beast.

There was no loud trumpeting noise heralding the arrival of the great creature. No churning of the sea or massive eruption of water as it rose from the depths. It wasn't even that big of a pokemon, if he was being honest. Not like the Totem Kabutops, or even the Gyarados Link had battled in the tournament. The, dare he say, little Milotic simply poked its head out of the water a few feet and stared at him.

She was clearly very old. Her scales were not as lustrous, the beautiful red of her scales faded into dull pink. Her eyes were milky and clouded, not clear – yet Leo felt she could still see him fine. Her movements were slow and precise, and the tip of her nose wiggled as she shook, presumably from age. This was no guardian of the Paradise, Leo knew, but she was an elder. Like the Dragonite and Kommo-o whose scales were white, back in the caves on Poni Island; a pokemon to be respected, whose presence held weight not just through the strength they once held but the wisdom and grace of their existence.

Leo bowed to her. She inclined her head and sunk back beneath the waves, the faintest echo of a song chasing her.

And then the sea churned, and Leo caught sight of the pokemon that had followed Milotic – thousands of glowing blue eyes illuminating the sea as the schooling Wishiwashi split and swam off. The massive school had been all but invisible until that moment, the small white fish's scales shimmering and transforming from ocean blue back to their natural white as they swam off. The ocean churned, scales glittering in the light and hundreds of the tiny fish rubbing past Leo's legs. And it just. Never. Stopped. For at least ten minutes the Wishiwashi turned the seas white with their scales. The activity prompted Wingull and other flying types to launch from their perches and swoop down on the raging waters, scooping up dozens of the smaller fish.

From below even more water types appeared – Leo was certain he saw a Sharpedo, but it was only a blur that quickly vanished. But even with all that, the Wishiwashi never decreased in size or numbers. They were without end. And by the time they vanished beneath the waves, Leo got the message. That was really not an opponent he could fight. An endless horde? Nah.

"Right then. Be careful, I guess?" he muttered, shaking his head and pulling Froslass' pokeball off of his belt. The metal was cool to the touch, almost chilly, which told him the ghost had been paying attention the entire time. "You up for this, girl?" he asked in a half whisper, thumbing the release. Froslass appeared in his shadow, avoiding the direct sunlight and staring at him with her red eyes. He cocked and eyebrow at her, and she giggled, blowing a burst of snow at him that quickly vanished in the intense heat.

"The building looks more stable than I imagined, but I still don't want to take any chances. Can you scope the place out? Maybe see if you can find anything useful?" He asked, fishing his pokedex out of one of the many pockets of his cargo shorts. She cocked her head to the side, then giggled, nodding. "Thanks. Here's what I want you to look for; but remember, your safety comes first. If there are any hostile pokemon or ghosts that might endanger you, come right back," he said, and opened a tab on his 'dex that let him make sketches.

For the next ten minutes Leo spent some time going over what he wanted Froslass to look for – pokeballs, ultra balls, beast balls, new pokedex models that could replace his current one as the main – and how to get to the lower levels, plus what the lab looked like, before she abruptly sunk into his shadow and vanished from sight. Link spent that entire time on his shoulder, peering around curiously and enjoying the sunlight, harsh as it was.

Clapping his hands he turned to the rest of the pokemon assembled. Kabutops now lay on his belly, scythes digging into the sand and water lapping at his carapace, while Santiago lay on his back beside him. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, shielding his face from the sun and grimacing.

Now came the hard part on his end. Searching through the debris. He had no clue if anything could even be found in the surrounding waters, but it didn't hurt to look either. Maybe they could find something useful. Maybe not. It sure beat waiting around for Froslass to come back though. Running a hand through his hair and sighing, Leo got ready to get to work.

Froslass returned only a few hours later, while Leo was diving. It was an…interesting experience, trying to reach any of the bits of metal or containers he found along the sandbar – most were too deep for him to reach and thus he asked Santiago to fetch them for him. Kabutops could, but not only was the big fossil stubborn as all hell and not Leo's pokemon, the few times he had actually deigned to help he'd mangled whatever he was trying to get with his scythes. Leo would swear it was done on purpose, if the way he casually tossed the massive, twenty-foot-long steel beam he'd shredded aside was any indication.

Leo popped his head out of the water, gasping for breath, and pulled himself back up onto the sandbar, shaking himself off and tossing the length of chain he'd pulled out of the water into the pile of junk they'd salvaged so far. Mostly it was just boxes and metal barrels that had sunk to the sea floor – he'd cracked open one or two of them and most of the internals were either soaked with saltwater, or useless. The best he'd found was a fresh bag of Aether Paradise issue clothes, wrapped tightly in plastic bagging.

He'd had to shoo a particularly stubborn Tentacool away from the small metal container that it had been in, which had been…an experience, but otherwise there'd been remarkably little trouble. Most of the water-types seemed content to leave him be or simply watched him curiously as he dove and swam about, searching for treasure.

"Lass," Froslass called, hiding in the shadow of the small pile of supplies Leo and Santiago had drug from the depths of the ocean floor. Leo glanced over at her and raised an eyebrow, her snow-white head poking out of the side of one of the barrels Santiago had telekinetically lifted, just above the water. She looked absolutely miserable.

"Are you ok?" Leo asked, suddenly concerned, splashing through the water towards her. She nodded slowly and turned her red eyes towards the sun, glaring hatefully at it. And, suddenly, Leo understood. She was pissed because of the heat. "Shit, do you want to go back to your ball?" He asked immediately, half-turning back to the boat. She just shook her head though, and pointed to the top of the barrel she was hiding in.

There, sitting on the rusting metal top, was a beast ball, broken in two. The blue coloration hadn't faded, and the golden "wings" that lined the sides were polished and gleaming in the sunlight. But its hinges were broken, exposing the internals, and it lay in two in the sunlight.

"Is that what you found?" Leo asked, wading over to the barrel and plucking up the two pieces. Froslass bobbed her head as Leo examined them. Unfortunately, he had no idea how to piece them together. He understood the basics of Pokeball technology but lacked the technological knowhow of how to piece one back together – let alone one as technologically advanced as the beast ball; specifically designed to capture interdimensional beings. "Well crap. Were there others?"

Froslass nodded, then gestured to the ball. Leo cursed again, rubbing his face. They needed those balls if what Mohn-Nihilego said was true. That was another thing – if what Mohn-Nihilego said was true. Leo couldn't just trust him, not after having tried to escape capture for the past month and a half, and fighting ultra-beasts all this time. He needed some kind of confirmation, and deep down, he knew that the Aether Paradise held the answers to those questions. If not deep in the heart of Paradise, then at its top, in Lusamine's mansion. A heavy sigh escaped him as he shook his head, running a hand through his dripping wet hair.

"How was the inside? Was there a lot of damage?" he asked, wiping salt water off of his chest absently. He'd need a good bath after this to cleanse himself of all the salt; he couldn't imagine having it on his body for extended periods of time would be good for him. Not that he was certain, but still.

Froslass shook then bobbed her head in a "yes, but no," kind of action. He frowned.

"Is it stable enough for me to look around?" he pressed, and she hesitated. Quietly she sunk back into the barrel until only the top of her head and her eyes were poking out, looking at Leo suspiciously. "Look, I know I said that I didn't want to enter the building myself, but it looks far more stable than I initially thought it would. Plus, can you see all those pokemon in there? How many did you see, how big were they? Me sized? Bigger?" he asked, gesturing towards one of the holes in the side, where he could see a few Pikachu napping in the sun.

Those land-based pokemon were likely left in the Paradise after the collapse – either having been abandoned, been unable to board whatever escape boats, or escaped from pokeballs and other containments during the fall of civilization. That was just a theory though.

Froslass shook her head at him and pulled herself out of the shadows enough to mime an explosion.

"What, I'll cause the building to collapse? Do you think I'll get into a fight?" he asked, and she nodded. Leo frowned and rubbed his chin, guessing at what Froslass was trying to tell him. "The structure's compromised, if I go in there and a fight breaks out the whole building will collapse? Is that what you're saying?" he asked, and she slowly nodded.

That wasn't everything, but that was the gist.

"Well, damn." He cursed, rubbing the back of his neck. It was a legitimate concern, too, considering how he seemed to attract ultra beasts. "We'll keep this place in mind as a last resort, then. We should have a few months at least to try and find supplies elsewhere; no need to risk the building collapsing. At least now we have confirmation that beast balls do exist in this world." He said wistfully. He'd love to have gone in there and tried to gain access to the building's computers and information, but he was fairly certain his Aether ID wouldn't work in this world.

After thanking Froslass for her hard work he recalled her, then began sorting through the rest of the junk they'd tried to salvage. What would be useful, he tossed onto the boat. What wasn't he'd have to leave.

When Santiago got back from his dive, hauling a metal crate behind him with his psychic powers, Leo told him that they were going to wrap things up and head to Ula'Ula. He just quietly nodded, ripped the lid off of the crate, and shook his head. It had once been filled with the pokemon equivalent of MRE's, but saltwater had gotten in, and the packages had long since decayed. Aether was all about the environment, so even the MRE packages were biodegradable…though it took years for them to actually degrade without halfway decent storage. It was kind of silly in Leo's opinion, as the whole point of MRE's were long-term storage, but whatever.

It didn't take much longer after that to pack things up and head out – in fact it took longer to rouse the Totem Kabutops and find Mohn-Nihilego, who had floated off to investigate a passing pod of Wailord, than it did to pack up all the "good" items they'd found. Rusty chains, that one packet of good clothes, and a few pokeballs that still seemed serviceable.

But eventually they did get everyone rounded up and then they were off, speeding across the ocean back towards dry land. They were blessed with good weather, thankfully, but a lot of time had been spent at Aether. By the time they reached Ula'Ula the boat was spluttering unhappily and the sun had long since set, the ocean lit up occasionally by the odd Tentacool floating by. Very rarely did the red gel sacs on their heads glow, usually only when they were distressed, but Totem Kabutops seemed to be very good at getting them stressed.

He seemed to relish in it, actually, if the way he casually tossed a few dozens of feet into the air was any indication.

Mean and grumpy. Leo thought, an eyebrow raised. Who exactly did I agree to help? He wondered as he slowly guided the boat towards the beach. He'd shone a spotlight at the port they'd passed by to get a better look at it and immediately vetoed the idea. Too many ships had sunk in that port to make it comfortable for him.

The fact that mass amounts of seaweed had grown over almost all the wreckage only made things more uncomfortable for him. Seaweed didn't grow like moss, and it certainly didn't wrap around boats. And, very dimly, he recalled a certain ghost pokemon that was made of seaweed debuting in Alola…one that had to do with shipwrecks. He braved ghosts all the time, but that port he wanted nothing to do with. Something about it screamed danger. So he went around, ignoring Kabutop's groans of protest, and parked the dying boat on the beach a good few miles from the main city of Ula'Ula island.

It was right in front of a whole bunch of fancy looking but dilapidated condos, but still. Away from the city.

"Santi, take Link and Froslass with you to go check out those condos. See if any of the rooms are habitable. Preferably on the ground or second floor. I'm going to stay here and tie up the boat, see what the hell's making the engine whine." Leo commanded, releasing his entire team on the beach while he held the boat's lead rope. The engine had been making a truly terrible whining sound there at the end. He hoped he wouldn't have to go find another one. Turning to his Tyranitar, who had scooped Aerith up in one hand so she could nuzzle the tiny pink blob, he waved said lead rope at her. "Diana, see if you can find me something to tie this rope to, would you sweetie?" he asked.

Before he could start asking the other two to help out Diana simply stomped one foot, the sand rumbling as a spire of stone pushed its way out of the sand right in front of Leo. He blinked at it, then glanced over at her as she continued to nuzzle Aerith.

"Uh, thanks," he said. That was a new trick. Or could she always use stone edge like that, and he'd never noticed? Questions for later. Mohn-Nihilego came floating down beside him and waved his tentacles around. "No, we're resting now. We've been going all day, I'm covered in salt water and would like at least something of a chance to rinse off, and resting is the key to health. Everyone has to rest." He said, not even looking up. Mohn-Nihilego flinched backward in surprise at his sudden statement, and Leo smirked at him as he tied the rope to the spire, testing it to make sure it wouldn't unwind in the middle of the night.

He was getting better at understanding pokemon. It was strange, knowing what they were saying without hearing words. It felt like a lot of guesswork.

After that, setting up camp was relatively quick. Leo had Zuko flash-boil some water to clean it up, then used a towel to wipe himself down. Xena helped unload the essential gear from the boat – which honestly wasn't much, he was travelling pretty light – and by that time the others had come back.

Santiago guided him to a small office on the ground floor with boarded up windows – thus the interior was relatively safe from the elements. It was still a little worse for wear, with dust everywhere, but it was halfway decent. Clean enough, at least. Without giving it much thought Leo lay out his blankets, lay down on them, and promptly fell asleep while Link was settling Aerith in beside him, the little normal type snuggling into his side.

He woke to the sound of roaring, and immediately sat bolt upright. Aerith tumbled away from his side with a startled cry while Zuko, who had at some point fallen asleep with his head on Leo's legs, leapt to his feet with a snarl. Hardly sparing any time to think Leo immediately scooped up Aerith, whispering apologies to the baby even while he snagged his belt of empty pokeballs and darted out of his temporary shelter. He was outside in seconds, Zuko leading the way, and emerged to the sounds of rocks bashing against each other.

Diana roared in fury, tail thrashing as she stomped her feet, glaring at Totem Kabutops. The fossil roared back, waves churning in the ocean behind him as he shook himself of sand. Leo could only guess what had happened – the fossil had tried to pick a fight with Diana, and she took exception to that.

"What's going on here?!" Leo bellowed, Aerith making scared cooing noises and clutching at his shirt while Zuko growled at his side. Dimly he was aware of Santiago lumbering out of the condo building behind him, while off to his left Xena and Link were standing off to the side, just on the cracked asphalt that separated the condo buildings from the sandy beach, attacks ready but not stepping in to intervene.

Leo's yell went largely ignored as Totem Kabutops darted forward and slashed at the smaller Tyranitar, his stone scythes sparking against her armor uselessly. Diana shielded herself for a moment, then abruptly burst forward with a sharp explosion of air from her vents, shoulder-checking Kabutops and once again sending him stumbling back. She roared at him again, stomping her feet but making no move to continue attacking – while Kabutops snarled and spat, swiping his scythes against the sand and digging deep furrows.

It was behavior Leo was at least somewhat familiar with, having raised a fair number of dogs in his old life and seen these kinds of disputes at Oak's ranch. Kabutops was trying to tell Diana who the king was around here. He scowled; he'd probably gone uncontested this entire time as a Totem in a broken land, and now Diana's presence was making him feel threatened.

But Leo was really not in the mood to watch this go down, and Diana clearly did not want to fight the fossil by the way she was acting purely defensively.

"Go with Santi, girl." Leo said, tone firm but not unkind as he passed Aerith off to Santiago. Then he squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and spoke. "I said, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" This time it was a little different. He could feel his aura react to his words, surging up and lacing his voice with raw power. It wasn't a challenge by any means, but it did have the desired effect. Kabutops stopped his slashing and snapped his head up to Leo, eyes narrowing and a dangerous hiss echoing out.

"That is enough." Leo said simply, eyes narrowed and arms crossed as he took a few steps closer. He was stupid at times, but he wasn't stupid enough to try and approach a clearly agitated fossil with literal scythes for hands. "What is this? Trying to figure out who's alpha? Is this really the time and place for this?" he questioned, hoping the Totem would see a bit of reason.

Judging by the way he tossed his head and turned his attention back to Diana, the answer to that was no. Leo scowled. He honestly had no idea if Diana could take the Totem or not; with the rest of his team it might be possible as they'd come a long way since their battle against the Kommo-o tribe, but he just didn't know. What he didn't want was for the battle to attract any hostile ultra-beasts.

Kabutops snorted again and rubbed his scythes together, stabbing the tips into the sand and roaring to the early morning sky. A flock of Wingull squawked back as they winged through the sky, banking towards the ocean and leaving the soon-to-be battleground far behind. Diana stomped her feet and snorted angrily, her vents flaring and kicking up even more sand, but made no move to respond to Kabutop's challenge. She was acting incredibly defensive…he didn't know why that was, but he wasn't going to force her to fight if she didn't want to.

"Stand down, Diana," Leo said, glancing over his shoulder at his team. Xena was growling, a deep and low sound that rumbled through her chest and set her scales to rattling gently, but made no move to advance against Kabutop's challenge. Leo narrowed his eyes at her, detecting a hint of…bitterness, in her expression? And watching her eyes, she didn't seem to just be glaring at Kabutops, but also looking over at Diana from time to time. Jealousy, maybe? That was something he'd have to address. But later.

Zuko was standing protectively over Aerith, back fires sparking, while Santiago moved up to stand next to Leo in case a fight really did break out. Froslass was nowhere to be seen, as was typical for the ghost. Link, on the other hand, was staring right at Leo, one small hand on his leafy skirt and his other hand held just off to the side as if ready to summon a substitute shield.

"Link, take Diana's place," Leo commanded, palming his Tyranitar's pokeball.

Kabutops, sensing that his sparring partner was about the change, roared in protest and swiped his scythes across the sand, his back scales rattling dangerously. Diana growled back but snapped her mouth shut with the sound of stones smashing together, backing away from Kabutops and slowly lumbering towards Leo – though never taking her eyes off of the Totem. Kabutops twitched, eyes narrowing, and Leo and Link reacted without a second's thought.

"Defend!" he barked and Link burst into motion. Kabutops roared and spat a truly massive hydro pump at Diana, intent on fighting the original target of his challenge, but it was intercepted by a beam of pure white light. The solar beam seared through the hydro pump and impacted the ground directly in front of Kabutops, sending up a cloud of steam and sand the obscured the 'mon from view. Link blurred forward, stepping in front of Diana even as Leo recalled her, glancing down at the worn pokeball and frowning slightly.

"Bell!" Link called sharply, whipping out a leaf blade and readying his stance, Kabutops still obscured.

"Next time he does something like that kick his ass, girl." Leo whispered to the ball, clipping it to his belt. "Come to think of it, Link, you haven't really had a chance to shine recently have you? It's been all 'ultra-beast' this and 'ultra-beast' that, each being a perfect type counter to you. What say we see how much you've grown since the Gyarados, huh?" he asked, recalling his battle with the massive serpent back into the Alolan Tournament.

Kabutops came roaring out of the steam and met Link's leaf blade with his own claws, a sharp ringing sound echoing out as the two clashed in a flurry of blows. The much larger Kabutops slashed at Link with surprising speed and ferocity while he danced around the fossil, darting between his legs, parrying scythe blows with sword and shield, and leaping into the air to slash at his underbelly.

"Flashbang, dance!" Leo commanded, and Link twisted about in a circle, tossing a seed bomb directly into Kabutop's face. That was not the end of it, however, the moment the seed detonated Link leapt as high into the air as he could and fired off a point-blank dazzling gleam, the bright, sparkling flash of energy burning Kabutops' eyes even through his eyelids. Kabutops roared and slammed his scythes against the ground, a wave of sand rolling out in a circle around him that tossed Link back as soon as he hit the ground. It was followed by a hydro pump Link desperately dodged, tossing out another series of seed bombs and magical leaves that seemed to bounce harmlessly against Kabutops' carapace.

Instead of cursing at the lack of effect, however, Leo felt a thrill of excitement run up his spine. His aura surged on his own, reaching out and connecting with Link in a way that felt familiar, yet far stronger than it ever had before. Link darted to the side as Kabutops fired an ancient power – and Leo grinned.

"Tank and sun!" Leo ordered, spotting a sudden opportunity as the hydro pump puttered to a close. Link stilled and flung a ball of golden light into the sky, the last dredges of the hydro pump knocking him off his feet as Kabutops swept it to the side. Link's speed instantly doubled and he darted forward, a solar beam smiting Kabutops in the leg and knocking him to one knee. His leaf blade glowed with power as he crashed against the fossil's hurried counter, the green leaf extending to the point where it was no shorter than Kabutops own natural weapons.

Solar blade met slash and night slash as the two danced in a storm of blades, Leo only occasionally calling out commands or warnings when Link started getting pushed on the defensive or an opening appeared. And he smiled as he slowly started to move through the grass dance, Link mimicking him even as he fought.

Leo's aura surged forward, though the power he touched on wasn't comparable to when he helped Diana evolve it was still enough to finish the fight. Only this time he truly felt what he was touching on – the brightness of spring, the strength to survive the winter. The warmth of the sun transformed into power, a small blade of grass to the greatest of trees. That essence surged outward and connected to Link, the little Bellossom darting back a few ways and soaking up the last of the energy from the sunny day, his leaf blade glowing as bright as any sun. Kabutops roared in defiance, stomping his feet and summoning a wall of stone in front of himself.

It didn't help. Link swung his sword, the pure grass energy searing out in a beam of light that cut straight through the stone and impacted against Kabutops with a detonation of force. Leo shielded his eyes until the light faded and he dared to look again.

What was left of the wall of stone was now covered in vibrant green moss. Kabutops himself had thick green algae and seaweed covering his carapace, the pure life energy that the attack was composed of causing whatever seeds or specks of plant matter was on his shell to grow at astonishing rates. The Totem had fallen to one knee, glaring at Link with one eye open and breathing hard while said Bellossom fell to one knee as well, obviously worn out. He'd taken his fair share of hits too, so it wasn't like he wasn't uninjured.

For a moment the two combatants stared at each other, then Kabutops grumbled and stood, limping off into the ocean. He watched the fossil disappear and shook his head, glancing at the skies half expecting to see a group of ultra-beasts on their way. All he saw was Mohn-Nihilego floating above them, watching curiously.

"Great job, Link. I think that's the fastest we've ever used a z-move," he praised his Bellossom, recalling the little grass type. "You take a rest. We need to move fast now, just in case the fighting attracted any ultra-beasts. Mohn, would you lead the way? We're heading where, the observatory or Mount Lanakila first?" Leo asked, recalling the ultra-beast wanting to visit both places.

Mohn-Nihilego waved its tentacles, descending a bit, and Santiago translated. "He says the frozen mountain to meet the guardian of Guzzlord, then the observatory to try and gather more allies. Perhaps with a human's help, the local pokemon will be more willing to aid us." Santiago translated. Leo nodded, already heading back into the abandoned condo building to go fetch the rest of his stuff.

Along the way, maybe we'll be able to stop by the burning desert or whatever it's called. That's where Tapu Bulu's shrine is, after all. Visiting there will probably give me more insight into the situation of the legendaries. He figured, rubbing his chin. If not, at the very least I might get another feather and the chance to promote another Totem pokemon. Maybe. Hopefully. Gods above, this is going to be a long eight months.


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