"…so you're telling me that Lusamine might be crazy?" Victoria asked over video phone early the next day. She looked tired, with bags under her eyes and a glare stuck on her face, but otherwise ok.

"Not might be. She is," Leo said, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "It's been a while so I don't remember everything, but in my old world she went off the deep end and entered ultra space to…I dunno, study ultra beasts or something. Went totally bonkers," he explained. "There was something about her lost husband too, but it's all pretty hazy at this point. Kinda forgot to write this stuff down because, you know, survival was more important in the beginning and by the time I got to civilization and safety I'd forgotten to write what I remembered down,"

"…I actually remember you telling me something like this, a long time ago. That Lusamine was crazy – I didn't take you seriously then, so I wrote it off. I'm sorry," she said. Leo frowned. He didn't remember doing that, but seems he was already ahead of himself.

"What changed?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Victoria's tone didn't sound very reassuring.

"Giovanni. You said he was the head of a criminal organization, but no matter how much the Professor and I dug – which admittedly was not very much, we're not investigators – we couldn't find any concrete evidence. But now that Lance is Champion, Giovanni's been quiet. Too quiet for how much of a fuss he was raising about him becoming Champion; and now a group of pokémon thieves have been running all across Kanto and Johto. Well equipped thieves," she admitted, rubbing her face. "It hasn't gotten bad enough to mobilize the Gym Leaders or Elite Four yet, but I suspect it's only a matter of time,"

"Probably not, Giovanni's smarter than that. He wants to ensure his victory against Lance – he'll play the long game. Though I am just guessing," Leo said. That was another thing he had to try and prevent, but he had to increase his power base first. He had powerful allies in the form of the Oaks, but more allies and a more powerful team wouldn't hurt either. "But, back on topic, Lusamine. I'm going to the Aether Paradise today because she's got a job offer for me. Debating on taking it, because if I remember right she's not wholly irredeemable. Just crazy. There's a chance we, or I, can prevent whatever is going to happen. Plus, ultra-beasts. I'm going to have to figure out how to fight them eventually, and if they're studying them I can learn about them. So I'm not blindsided,"

Victoria huffed and leaned back, running a hand through her hair. "How do you even know this stuff if it hasn't happened yet?"

"Time and space is my theory. I didn't just get sent from one dimension to another, I got punted backwards in time too. People think time is a linear path, but it's not. It's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly timey-wimey…stuff," he said, rubbing his chin and absolutely making that up on the spot. Well, not the timey-wimey thing. He vaguely remembered that from a TV show and was shamelessly stealing it.

"That is the strangest definition of time I have ever heard," she said with a snort.

"Thank you," Leo said with a grin. She shook her head and paused, seeming to consider something.

"Alright. Here's what I want you to do; accept the offer, or at least seriously consider it. The Aether Foundation is reputable and I know Lusamine – she's actually a good friend of mine. Losing Mohn, her husband, was rough I know, but it shouldn't have been enough to make her crazy like you say. I'll be there in a month or two to help see what's going on. In the meantime, I also want you to go meet my old teacher; the Kahuna of Poni Island. If anyone can get you where you want to go training-wise, it's him. But you have to ask him yourself, and be sure that is what you want, Leo," she warned.

"I'm tired of being at the whims of the crazies," Leo said bluntly. Victoria snickered.

"Unfortunately, that's how it is no matter how strong your team gets. There's always some rule you have to follow. Call me if you get into trouble, kid, but otherwise? Remember to have fun. Sounds like you've already been doing that, but don't let what might happen get to you. What if's are dangerous. See ya," she said, and flicked off the screen, ending the video call. Leo sighed and leaned back, reaching one hand down to pet Zuko's head as the Quilava napped next to him. He checked the time.

Only ten minutes until Lusamine came to pick him up.

"Let's get going, bud. We've got a heck of a day ahead of us,"

"Think about it, words are just grunts and noises that we make and prescribe meaning to. They don't actually mean anything until we give it meaning," Leo said, unsure as to how the topic of conversation got onto communication, but leaning into it all the same. Lusamine raised an eyebrow as she sat across from him, the boat bobbing up and down in the water as they headed towards the Aether Paradise.

"Words are fundamental to culture – all culture. It is what helps us record things, to communicate with each other and pass along information, and communicate with future generations," Lusamine argued.

"True! Very true, but then how are we certain to understand the intent of the writer? How can we say we really understand what is being said and what the meaning behind words and writing is? Let's take the word 'king' for example," Leo said, slapping Santiago's arm and making the Slowking jump, whipping his head from staring out the window at the ocean to glaring at Leo. "I've known three Slowking in my time. Longinus, Queen, and Santiago – and I've had the privilege of naming two of them. And a king is a kind of ruler, right? So Slowking is a ruler of the Slowpoke line, a leader of sorts, right?"

"Indeed," Lusamine said, folding her hands in her lap and raising one immaculate eyebrow at him. Leo was on a roll though, an almost manic gleam in his eyes as he continued, so she didn't intimidate him much at the moment.

"But to the Slowpoke, is king a word or a noise? They say their name all the time; Slowking, slowking, slowpoke, slowbro, all that jazz. It has to have many meanings to them. We humans just chose the word king and decided that it means ruler. Did we steal it from the Slowking and decide to make it arbitrarily have a specific meaning? Barring that, let's say for the sake of argument that the word king does hold some meaning to the Slowpoke, that it does represent someone worthy of rule – which it doesn't, by the way, I'm convinced it's the form and evolution that holds meaning, not the word – then let's talk about human misinterpretation.

"According to the dictionary, a King is a male ruler. But there's no such requirement for Slowking, or Kingdra for that fact. In fact the only such species that has a difference in what a King is, is the Nido line, with Nidoking and Nidoqueen – so who's to say that we didn't misinterpret what king meant to them? Or that we twisted it – because I guarantee you Slowking do not care about gender; whoever is worthy of being a King is one." Leo took a breath and sat back, grinning at Santiago who raised one eyebrow at him, then turned back towards the ocean.

"What I guess I'm trying to say here is that communication is weird. We try to interpret words and understand intent, but since we don't actually understand intent, actual meaning is up to the receiver's interpretation. So something nice can be seen as mean, something helpful can be seen as harmful, and something mean can be misunderstood as welcoming," Leo said, shaking his head. What was the point of all that? He didn't actually know, but it was kind of fun to rant.

Maybe because she was trying to connect with ultra-beasts, which were literally aliens. No matter how intelligent they were, communicating with them was going to be difficult. And they made a mess of things in the games.

Santiago slapped him upside the head then and, ignoring Leo's cry of protest, pointed out the window at the massive building sitting in the middle of the ocean – an artificial island – they were swiftly approaching.

"Seems we're here," Lusamine said with a smile. Leo leaned over Santiago and peered out the window, eyebrows raising as he beheld the white-painted Aether Paradise, bird pokémon circling overhead while many, many different kinds of boats and water-type pokémon ferried people in and out of the docking area. It was at least four stories tall, too, with more levels underwater. An astounding work of modern architecture is what it was.

Leo was suitably impressed.

From there it only took a few minutes for the boat they were riding to pull into the docking zone, Leo recalling Santiago as it pulled in. He was a bit too big to fit through the cabin door, and Lusamine didn't want him out in the elevator either, but Leo figured the time in the boat was nice for him. It was a new experience, after all.

That didn't mean Leo was left without a pokémon out though – he still had Spiritomb in his pocket, and he immediately released Link upon exiting the boat. The little Bellossom promptly climbed up his body to stand on his shoulder, observing the world from a high perch. Lusamine chuckled at the sight, following after him as they wandered down the docks.

"This is the docking zone, clearly, where shipments come in and people leave from. So long as they're leaving via boat or water-type pokemon, I should say," she explained, waving her hand towards the myriad of Aether employees, all clad in white, moving large crates around with the help of forklifts and pokémon. She led him further into he building, towards an elevator located at the far end of the dock.

Her heels clicked loudly against the metal floors, the employees stepping out of her way and nodding respectfully before continuing on with their duties.

"The first level is where a lot of the uninteresting things are," she explained. "Equipment, a few of the labs, things like that. There are a few neat features, like viewing of underwater pokémon, but for the most part it is dedicated to necessities to keep this place up and running. The third level, where we are headed, is where the conservatory is located,"

"Sounds good," Leo said, stepping into the elevator next to Lusamine and poking at Link with his finger. The little Bellossom swatted his hand away and poked his cheek in retaliation. Leo had to stop himself from poking him again. That would devolve into a poking fight, and that wasn't the best choice right now.

The two rode in silence for a moment as the elevator rose, cheery piano music playing over the speakers, before Lusamine spoke up.

"What you were saying about communication, do you believe that applies to humans as well as pokémon? Perhaps between people you know well?" she asked slowly.

"Of course it does. It especially applies to humans – speaking the same language is a crutch in that regard, because we think we know what words mean. But we don't, not really. What one person could see as a personal attack against their character, could actually be said out of concern for that person's well-being," Leo said absently. "Shoot, I'm still trying to figure out what I mean when I say anything, let alone anyone else," he joked. Lusamine hummed as the elevator doors dinged open, revealing a wide-open lobby where Wicke, the purple haired woman, was waiting for them.

"Welcome back, Miss Lusamine," she said, bowing slightly. "And Leo, welcome to the Aether Paradise,"

"Hello again," Leo greeted.

"If you would follow me, I will show you to the conservatory," she said, turning and leading the way towards a set of large sliding doors. Leo and Lusamine followed, Link still on his shoulder – and promptly had his breath taken away when the doors slid open to reveal the conservatory.

Tall trees reached up towards a domed glass ceiling, while dozens of different species of pokémon danced about in their little sanctuaries. Raised walkways let employees and tourists view the floor of the conservatory while not restricting the movement of pokémon – save for the few species that were cordoned off, thanks to their more volatile nature. A Scyther, for example, sat in its own little corner, one of its arm-blades wrapped in bandages and tied tightly to its side.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Lusamine asked. "We rescue and habilitate pokémon that have been injured, providing for them all the love and care they need to get back on their feet. Take those Corsola for example, they are constantly preyed upon by Toxapex and Mareanie, to the point where they are becoming endangered in the Alola region. We shelter select groups to aid in the repopulation of their species, so they can continue to live and thrive," she said, sweeping one hand towards the conservatory, passion coloring her voice.

"But you also study them, right?" Leo asked, whipping out his pokedex and starting to scan everything he could.

"Indeed. Corsola's recover ability helped in making what is now known as a hyper potion – and the move refresh helped in the creation of the fabulous full heal. By aiding these pokémon we come to further understand them, thereby helping to deepen the bonds between pokémon and man – a truly beautiful thing, is it not?" she said wistfully. Leo glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as he scanned the Corsola, the rock and water types lounging in a shallow pool while an employee tested the water with a chemical strip.

"We also, however, help to rehabilitate those pokémon who have been released by trainers. It is truly unfortunate, but sometimes a trainer will release a pokémon in a habitat not its own. Take this Meditite, for example. He was brought over from the Sinnoh region and released here, in Alola, where Meditite are not naturally found. He was badly poisoned by a Salazzle when we found him, and is currently still being rehabilitated," she said sadly, shaking her head and pointing to where a Meditite sat upon a rock, legs crossed and eyes closed as it meditated.

"Huh," Leo said, scanning the fighting type and furrowing his brows.

"Some people cannot give love to every pokémon," Lusamine said, shaking her head. "We at Aether give it freely, to all pokémon in need,"

An exaggeration, I'm sure, Leo thought to himself. From there the tour continued, Wicke picking up once Lusamine had to leave for a conference call, and leading him around the island, showing him what all they did. He got to see the medical facilities – where a Lapras was being treated after it got stuck in a fishing net – the aviary, where all the flying type pokémon brought in mail or were being retaught how to fly after having been badly injured; and more. He even got to see the control room, where a field operative was performing a rescue of a Cubone that had fallen halfway down a cliff in real time. The operative had a camera mounted on her head, and the video was broadcasted to a massive screen being watched by numerous people.

That had been pretty cool, actually, and Wicke had let him stay to watch for a while longer. The room was even set up like one of those movie control rooms, with the auditorium-like seat setup for all the techies.

The timing ended up working out perfectly despite that small detour, because that gave Lusamine enough time to finish up her meeting. Which then led to him, Lusamine, and Wicke in a small office-like room, with the contract to join the Aether Foundation in front of him. Leo, of course, read through the thing thoroughly and found that he'd have to be a right idiot to not accept.

It wasn't even a contract, or a job offer. It was less of a contract, in fact, and more of a license that allowed Leo to hire himself out as a free agent to corporations like Aether, or organizations like the Rangers, to perform tasks for said corporations or organizations. In other words, he kind of would become a mercenary. As a trainer he already had a lot of legal freedom in regards to pokémon, such as being allowed to catch, train, and handle said creatures, but this license would give him even more wiggle room. Obviously the Foundation, or at least Lusamine, wanted him to work primarily for them, and there were some caveats about performing a few jobs and such to protect their investment in giving him this license, but nothing overly serious.

It was a ridiculously good deal, but the real caveat wasn't the license he'd be getting from it. That would be the sponsorship Lusamine was offering alongside it. But first he wanted to understand the license.

"So," Leo began, intent on understanding what this…thing, was. "How is this different from just accepting jobs from the Pokemon Centers?" Link, still on his shoulder, poked his cheek and Leo swatted his hand.

"Skill level and specialties," Lusamine said, hands folded on the faux wood table as she stared at him. "The Pokemon Centers mostly deal with local tasks – farmers, people who wish to find a good pet, Rattatta infestations, the like. Trainers accept those tasks and are paid by the poster, and the Center receives a nominal fee once the task is complete. This, on the other hand, puts your name into a bigger playing field. We would approach you with tasks we believe are suited to your skill set with the promise of pay, training, or supplies. This would then allow other organizations to do the same,"

"…I see," Leo said, nodding. That aligned with his own research for the most part. The Centers had plenty of tasks for trainers to do, posted on their job boards mainly by locals, but didn't necessarily handle the large things. Such as natural disasters. Or poachers (trainers without training licenses).

"We believe you more than capable of performing a wide variety of tasks – especially those in regards to grass-type, ghost-type, and psychic-type pokémon. The latter two of which are highly regarded as the more difficult to be able to handle," Lusamine continued.

"Alright, then what's this about you becoming my sponsor?" Leo asked, frowning and watching as Link leapt from his shoulder to the table, looking down at the paper contract and nodding as if the Bellossom actually understood what it was.

"Well, besides allowing us to keep an eye on the wormhole energy still stuck to you, becoming your sponsor is mutually beneficial," Wicke said. "Miss Lusamine has become very interested in your training career, and we both agree that you have the potential to go far. Having a powerful, skilled trainer on our side is always a boon. It's what all companies are doing nowadays – since the entertainment boom, all companies are scrambling to pick up skilled trainers to add to their brand. We at Aether are lucky to not need to do that, as our name is already large enough as it is, but a little extra advertisement never hurts,"

"That, and we wish to protect you," Lusamine continued, earning herself a look from Leo. "Your Slowking's evolution has earned you no small amount of fame – surely, many organizations would be clamoring over themselves to try and get you into their clutches. That is, were you not already sponsored by Victoria. But her name, and by proxy the Oak name, only goes so far, and people want to know how to evolve a Slowking. Allowing us to sponsor you would keep the larger Houndoom at bay, so to speak. And of course, we are a rich organization with plenty of resources. The training equipment you would have access to is state of the art,"

"Well I'd need to talk to Victoria about this first," Leo said.

"I have already spoken to both Victoria and the good Professor Samuel Oak, and send copies of the contract to them. They agree that this is a fair deal," Lusamine said. Leo frowned and mulled it over, narrowing his eyes at Lusamine. She didn't sound as manipulative as yesterday, for whatever reason, but perhaps that is just him getting used to her. What did make him leery is that Lusamine said "hire" yesterday, not "sponsor." Why the change?

"I'd like to call them," he eventually decided, and Lusamine nodded as if she hadn't been expecting any less.

Two phone calls and twenty minutes later, Leo found himself tentatively signing the sponsorship contract and the paperwork for the "mercenary" license, for lack of a better word, with a few caveats. He wouldn't wear a tracking beacon like Lusamine wanted, but he would keep an actual phone on his person so they could contact him; he wouldn't accept every task sent his way, but would accept a minimum of five tasks per year; and while he had initially argued against allowing himself to be used in advertisements once he got stronger and more famous, Lusamine eventually turned him around on it.

The fame involved wouldn't hurt if he ever needed to, say, become Champion.

He also learned something very interesting – Victoria was officially sponsored by the Aether Foundation. So, he accepted their offer because, in her own words, if he lets worrying about what could be consume his actions, he'll never really be able to take a step forward.

And if nothing else, he'd be able to understand more about what the Foundation would do in the future by being on the inside. The thought made Leo chuckle to himself. It was like he was a spy or something.

What happened next was a whole bunch of legal jargon and contract signing that left Leo exhausted and wondering why it took so long to complete. Which was followed by an orientation that lasted all of an hour, and then…not much else. Lusamine had already scanned the ultra-wormhole energy off of Leo with scanners built into the building proper – which wasn't ominous at all – then pushed through the rest of the work to finalize things.

Leo even got an official uniform that he refused to wear – honestly, it was pure white and wouldn't last more than a day with him. What did they expect, that he wouldn't go rolling around in the mud because he was wearing a nice white outfit? After that, he was shown the rest of the facility and given a rundown on what all was available to him now. There was advanced training equipment designed for specific pokémon and specific types, doctors who came up with diets for pokémon to promote growth in certain areas, and access to medicines like Protein and Zinc (for a price, though. That stuff was expensive and Leo didn't get it for free.)

What interested Leo the most, however, was that he was getting almost completely unrestricted access to training records and research documents pertaining to training and pokémon behaviors. While he had access to plenty of research documents via the pokedex, which were neatly organized by the device's design, these went far more in-depth and there were more of them. Lusamine had been more than happy to show Leo some of Victoria's personal notes about training normal types, which, while not as cool as having her personally train him from time to time, was still neat.

There was just one issue with the training notes, however. For the most part? He already knew the advice being given. Sure, there were nuggets of information that he didn't know or wouldn't have figured out on his own – and an Alola perspective on training was far different than a Kanto perspective, and thus gave him a deeper understanding of subjects – but there was a reason he mostly battled veteran trainers. Because when he lost to them, or, less often, won, they gave him some advice. That advice tended to pile up, and they were all too happy to help someone as young as him.

It was one of the few things Leo was happy about with his physical age.

Still, Leo hadn't had true training references since he'd discovered Archibald Oak's journal, which contained some of the ex-champion's training routines, so it was nice to have a physical copy to remind him of things he'd forgotten.

And so the weeks passed. Leo was pushed through the basic training at the Foundation, briefing him on search and rescue operations and making sure his knowledge of potential disasters was at least passible, and he trained his team a lot during his free time. At first he was surprised at how bare-bones the basic training was in certain areas, but then brushed it off. He wasn't training to be a search and rescue specialist, Lusamine just wanted to make sure he knew how to handle certain disasters in case they did pop up.

In fact, the real problem turned out to be Lusamine herself, who wanted to micromanage his every move. Leo, of course, had none of that, and quickly figured out how to push her buttons to let him do what he wanted, not do things her way. For example, she really didn't like it when he got up early in the morning to practice martial arts, saying that a child should have no reason to practice such things, but Leo pointing out that it was one of the few ways he could remember and honor his lost family – which was true to a degree, it was one of his anchors to his old family – got her to shut up and allow it.

All he had to do was play her heartstrings a little and she'd cave. Still, learning the ways of the Aether Foundation wasn't too bad, and he got a lot out of it despite not much happening therein.

It was on the day he was to be done with basic training, and potentially free to go roaming again, that something…different happened.

"What do you think, Link?" Leo asked the Bellossom at his feet, staring at the Alolan Graveller on the other side of the battlefield. The Aether Employee he was currently battling was one of the more skilled ones – a field operative named Holly that had taken a shine to beating his team, and, very rarely, losing to Leo, after he'd started challenging the other employees for training purposes. Most weren't competitive trainers. They were too easy.

This time, however, Leo would be battling one of Holly's newer team members. So they had a chance to win.

"Bell," Link replied, pointing at a Zuko's pokeball as it sat on Leo's belt. Leo hummed and palmed the ball, critically examining the Graveller.

Well, Zuko did need a bit more practice against 'mons he was weak to…

"Zuko, get ready for an uphill battle," he said, releasing him onto the field. Zuko appeared in a flash of red and a puff of smoke, fires already flaring from his back as he stood upright, sniffing at the Graveller. The rock/electric type smashed its fists together, sparking aggressively and reminding Leo that he still kind of wanted a Galvantula. Maybe he should go look for a good electric type…who knew if he'd find a Joltik or Galvantula that worked well with him, but an electric type would be useful.

"Begin!" The ref called, and the two combatants started their attacks.

The Graveller dug stones up from the ground and hurled them at Zuko, but the Quilava was already gone in a stream of smoke and a blast of embers. The little balls of flame splashed mostly uselessly against its rocky hide, but the point of them wasn't to do damage.

The most common method for a fire type to defeat a rock type was to overheat the rock. Their armor was hard to get through, true, but it meant they didn't leech heat as well either – so it became a battle of attrition. Which would give out first? The rock's armor, or the fire type's stamina? Zuko had stamina aplenty, Leo just hoped he wouldn't get hit too many times in the process. He wasn't the bulkiest of pokémon.

Graveler reached into the ground and pulled up a hunk of rock, hurling it at Zuko who dodged out of the way, continuing to pepper it with embers.

Graveler grunted in annoyance, shielding its face with one stone arm as Zuko circled it, and charged forward while crackling with electricity. Zuko nimbly dodged the attack, belched a plume of dark smoke into Graveler's side, and resumed his attack strategy. Leo narrowed his eyes, waiting and watching for that key moment in which they could try out their new move. He'd spent the entirety of his small stipend from the Foundation – basically his first paycheck – on a TM for Zuko, and he was dying to test it out in battle now that they had it combat ready.

Graveler huffed and barreled out of the smoke, sparking with electricity and uncaring of the embers Zuko shot at it as it charged straight at him. It was visibly annoyed now.

"Agni Kai!" Leo ordered, using the code-word for the new move. Zuko didn't even flinch, seamlessly switching from red fire to blue, then back to red. The blue fire shot out as tiny, ember-like balls of flame, splashing against the rock-type's armor and leaving long, black scorch marks. Will-o-wisp was a devastating move, and Graveler visibly slowed, groaning as the burns began to hurt. "Escape, heat wave!"

"No!" the Graveler's trainer, Holly, cried. "Discharge!"

Electricity sparked from Graveler and burst from its body, a few stray bolts striking Zuko and momentarily freezing him, but he replied in kind with a heat wave that scorched the training ground floor. From there, it was only a matter of time. Graveler could do little damage to Zuko and couldn't even catch him, with the occasional discharge it fired off doing hardly any damage at all. This was, honestly, a bad matchup for the rock-type. It was far too stationary, and too reliant on close quarters for a speedy ranged attacker like Zuko, type advantage or not.

After a few more minutes Graveler crumpled to the ground, unconscious and glowing cherry-red in places, leaving Zuko panting as he stood victoriously across the stage from it. Holly sighed and recalled Graveler.

"Thanks for the battle, kid. Butthead here was getting too arrogant – hadn't lost a battle against a type he was strong against in a while. This ought'a whip him into shape, light that fire back in his belly," she said, grinning at the pun. Leo snorted as he leapt out of the stands, carefully approaching Zuko as he cooled off.

"Nice work, buddy. You take a rest, and we'll play tons later," he whispered. Zuko just continued to pant, thoroughly exhausted as the recall beam sucked him back up into his pokeball.

"Bell!" Link said happily, nearly startling Leo as the grass type all but appeared at his side.

"I need to get you a bell or something," Leo grumbled, laying a hand on Link's head and scratching, earning himself a pleased hum. "Thanks for battling me, Holly," he continued, looking up at the older trainer as she approached. "I appreciate you taking the time to help me train,"

"Don't mention it. Say, when are you going to let me have a rematch with that Bellossom of yours? Pira is dying for a rematch," she said with a grin, Pira being her Primarina. The monster of a water-type had nearly defeated Link last time they battled, despite the type disadvantage, and was now, apparently, holding a grudge. Link perked up at the mention, and Leo scowled down at him.

Link was the only one who could consistently beat members of Holly's team. The rest of Leo's team had to play catch-up first.

"No, you aren't going to battle Pira again yet. Maybe in a few weeks, but you need to let everyone else get some experience fighting strong pokémon too. Santiago would benefit the most from battling her," Leo chided, earning himself a pout from Link.

Holly chuckled and shook her head, eyeing the grass type.

"Say, what's that little dancing routine you do with him early in the mornings?" she asked.

"Martial arts," he said instinctively. Link enjoyed joining Leo in his morning routine, much in the way Diana used to, and would copy Leo for the first little bit. Then, after he was done, they'd swap, and Leo would mimic Link as he worked through what could only be described as a sword dancing routine. There were lots of twirls and slow elegant movements – emphasizing control over power. It was unique, and Leo enjoyed it. Plus, he was already halfway used to it from dancing and singing to Bellossom all the time.

"No, the other thing. Where you dance like a hula dancer," she teased, and Leo flushed a little, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Yes, it probably did look like that.

"It's, uh, the Bellossom dance," Leo said, and briefly explained what that meant. That he learned it from the Bellossom, and learned their song as well. Holly hummed and rubbed her chin, eyeing Leo seriously.

"You're Victoria's kid, right?" she asked.

"Well, she technically sponsored me but – wait, you know Victoria?" he asked.

"She and I were something of rivals back when we first started our Island Trials. Though I wound up falling behind and never catching up – turns out competitive battling isn't for me. She and Kukui though, man, you should've seen them tear through the trials…" she said, trailing off with a wistful tone to her voice. Then she shook her head. "Listen to me reminisce. It's like I'm getting old or something. You been to Poni Island yet?" she asked.

"No. That was on my list of things to do. We've been busy getting set up here, finalizing things with the Foundation becoming my training sponsor and going through that orientation thing. I was planning on either doing that, or going back to Melemele and trying to find the first trial," Leo explained. He remembered Victoria said to go find her old teacher, but…the idea of tracking some monster of a pokémon across Melemele only for it to end in a climactic battle appealed to him as well.

"We're going to Poni then," Holly announced, grabbing Leo's shirt and hauling him upright. He blinked in surprise but let it happen, following after Holly with a mixture of curiosity and…well, more curiosity than anything. "Go get your stuff and meet me by the docks. Don't tell anyone where you're going; if Lusamine catches wind she'll never let us leave,"

"Really?" Leo asked, partially surprised but also not.

"Really. She's unnaturally, ah, protective of you. Normally for orientation we send recruits on short training missions out on the islands – even sending them to clear Island Trials to make sure they know how to battle, or just to observe others in action. She refused to let you leave her sights," Holly said, and Leo's mood immediately darkened.

The Foundation, and by proxy Lusamine, had been excellent to him so far. The training equipment was state of the art – even if Leo had no idea how to use them most of the time, and he had access to all kinds of resources he didn't when just wandering around. It was helping him to focus his training efforts, for sure. He would hate for Lusamine to go and ruin things by trying to stifle him.

Leo didn't want to stay in this place. The Aether Paradise was cool, yeah, but it wasn't the wilds. He wasn't free here, despite all the good things going for it. He'd get too restless eventually.

"She normally isn't this bad, but when it comes to certain things she can be a bit…obsessive. I've seen how she treats her kids. Sure, she's a loving mother, but sometimes the worst thing is a helicopter parent. And I refuse to let her smother your talent. Besides, I owe Victoria a favor. Figure she'd appreciate this," Holly announced, shoving Leo towards and elevator. Leo recalled Link, the grass type having not moved from his spot in the battlefield. "Meet me at the dock, bay three. Don't take too long," she snapped, and headed off towards…wherever, walking with a purpose.

It took Leo all of twenty minutes to get all of his stuff ready – running Zuko through a quick healing cycle in one of the healing machines Aether had on standby in the meantime – and reach the docks. He still only had a single backpack for his stuff – though it had been filled out with new supplies. Extra clothes, minor equipment that would help with survival, stuff like that. His favorite new item was a little handaxe that sat at his waist now, but that was beside the point.

What was the point, was that Lusamine was arguing with Holly at the docks. She had her hands on her hips, blonde hair pulled back perfectly and white clothes all but blinding in bright lights from the LED's overhead, and her expression was the stuff of nightmares. From where Leo was approaching from he could see the whole of her expression, and it just screamed "pissed off and disappointed mother that is about to teach you a lesson with a frying pan."

Holly, on the other hand, had her arms crossed and was wearing thick, white field clothes with the mark of Aether on the back while she stood next to a boat. A boat Leo presumed was her own.

"Poni is far too dangerous a place for a boy as young as Leo," Lusamine said coolly.

"He is no boy," Holly snapped angrily. "He's got the potential to be a better trainer than I,"

"He is a boy. Only thirteen years old," Lusamine replied. Holly huffed and said something Leo couldn't make out, only for Lusamine to laugh and cover her mouth with one hand. "Training? He can train here, of course. We have state-of-the-art equipment, the best medical facilities outside of the Joy headquarters in Sinnoh, and more at his disposal." She said smoothly, and Leo could immediately tell that Holly was losing this argument. Not because of logic or anything like that, but simply because she was losing her temper, and Lusamine was remaining calm.

Leo squared his shoulders and plastered a patient smile on his face as he walked up, catching Lusamine's eye and waving.

"Leo, go put your bags away, darling. You'll be staying here for a while yet," she said smoothly, her voice sweet and, dare he say, motherly.

"Sorry, but I actually want to go to Poni Island," Leo said with a shrug. "This your boat, Holly?" he asked, gesturing to the small vessel at the dock. Holly nodded, still scowling, but raising an eyebrow as Leo tossed his bag into the…cockpit? Deck? He should learn boat stuff sometime. But not now.

"You should listen to me. Poni is dangerous, you and your team could get seriously injured. Stay here, train and grow stronger, and in time you'll be able to go to Poni," she said.

"I thought I told you that it was in everyone's best interest if you did not treat me as a child," Leo warned, raising an eyebrow.

"You are a child," Lusamine insisted, setting her hands on her hips and looking down at him with a disappointed look. Leo was unfazed. "And children should listen to adults, who know better,"

Gotcha. Leo thought, smiling thinly. "You're right, I should. Which is why I'm going to Poni. Lots of adults are telling me to go there – Victoria told me to, Professor Oak agrees, Holly said I should, even Kahuna Hala insisted that I explore to complete the Island Challenges," Leo said, stretching the truth a bit to fit his point. "So if more adults are saying that I should go to Poni, should I listen to you, or all of them? I mean, Professor Oak and Victoria are both Champion level trainers, so surely they know what they're talking about right?" Leo asked, and Lusamine frowned.

Leo said no more, looking at Holly, who was nodding along.

"Leo has the battling skills to take care of himself, and just from talking to him, I'd probably trust him in a survival situation more than most of the Employees here. Call what we're doing boot camp, if you have to, but practical experience is a vital part of training," Holly said. Leo smiled a little at the praise – Holly had been one of his examiners during the orientation process to make sure he knew his stuff.

And sure, Leo didn't know the technical terms for a lot of things, but he knew his stuff. Hours spent reading the pokedex and just experiencing the world made sure of that.

"Is that so," Lusamine said. "Well, there's an easy way to test your theory. Battle me, Leo, and if you win I'll let you go to Poni,"

"…how many pokémon?" Leo asked. "I only have three badges, you know,"

"I admit that you are a talented trainer, so don't sell yourself short. You are not merely a three badge trainer. But in the interest of time I don't have the time to battle all your team. Besides, I myself earned eight badges back in my days as a trainer. Most of your team wouldn't be able to match up," she said, checking her watch. "Let's make it a quick one-on-one. How's that sound?" she asked, and Leo knew it was a trap. She was a boss in the games, the Big Bad. Though he didn't remember her team, he knew she probably had a strong team.

Holly opened her mouth to intervene, probably to complain, but he cut her off.

"Deal," he said firmly, eyes narrowed. He was feeling ornery today and, as he said to himself before, he was tired of being pushed around. Besides, if he lost here he could just sneak aboard a boat or something. It wasn't like Lusamine actually had the capability of stopping him, even if he was on her own private artificial island. Spending two years playing "escape the Dragonite" with Professor Oak's Dragonite prior to starting his journey had taught him a lot of escape skills.

Lusamine appeared a little surprised at Leo's swift acceptance, but took it in stride nonetheless.

"Very well. Follow me then, let us make this quick," she said, turning on her heel and stalking away. The few workers that had stopped to watch the conversation quickly scrambled back to work, and Holly frowned at Leo, tapping his shoulder.

"She's going to mop the floor with you. What are you doing?" she asked. "The strongest member of your team, by far, is Bellossom, and she knows that. She'll choose a pokémon that will have an inherent advantage over your Bellossom – not only that, but she's no slouch at battling. She has strong pokémon,"

"I'm aware, but do you really think she'd just let me go that easily? This way, if I do win, then I have some leverage. If I don't I'll call Victoria or Professor Oak; they'll vouch for me," Leo reasoned, strangely calm about the entire situation. Link was the strongest member of his team by far, having been bred and trained by an ex-champion – and though he hadn't had a chance to truly shine in battle yet, Leo had faith in his abilities.

So long as she didn't choose something ridiculous. Like a Ninetails, or Salazzle.

Holly shook her head and muttered something about a crazy kid, slapping him upside the head. He grumbled but accepted the punishment, following Lusamine to one of the training fields, stark white and free of any blemishes. It was almost blinding in its brilliance, and Lusamine took the stage opposite Leo, already holding a pokeball in one hand.

"You release first," Leo said, touching Link's pokeball with his fingers.

Lusamine casually flicked out her pokeball, releasing a floating purple creature with red orbs dangling from its neck and a strange, hat-like head. It smiled eerily, its mouth stretching far wider than it would naturally allow, as the ghost faded in an out of existence, wispy strands of purple energy trailing off of its form.

A Mismagius. Leo blinked and stared at it as Lusamine muttered a few words and the ghost began to chant eerily, balls of mystic fire floating around its head. For a brief second Leo fell under its spell, a wave of ghostly energy washing over him and dulling his mind – before he brushed it off with practiced ease. If that thing thought it could enthrall him with a few quick words like that, it had another thing coming. But barring that, now Leo was well and truly pissed off. Had she really just tried to manipulate him? With a ghost?

Who did she think he was?

"What have I told you about putting people under spells?" Lusamine chided the ghost. "Let him free of your illusions. Honestly, that is the one bad habit I cannot seem to break you of," she began, not aware that Leo had resisted the Mismagius' spell in the first place. Thankfully though, he wasn't the only one angry at that fact.

Anything else she had to say was cut off as Spiritomb, for the first time in weeks, burst to life. Anger surged through Leo as his ghost exploded from his pocket, purple and black energy roaring out with a furious screech as Spiritomb made its displeasure known – it was seething mad, for Leo's sake. He could feel it through their bond, and that made resisting the ghost's fury all the harder.

Especially since, for the first time, all of Spiritomb's scattered spirits were focused in on one thing; protect Leo. And that ghost had crossed the line.

"Call begin," Leo said, voice smooth as butter despite his raging emotions and the screeching mass of rage that was Spiritomb. Mismagius flinched away, shying away from Spiritomb as it expanded its form, darkness overtaking half of the arena. "I don't know how long Spiritomb will be able to hold back,"

"Begin!" a voice said over the intercom, and Spiritomb attacked with savage fury. Mismagius darted backwards, blasts of fire blazing out to engulf entire sections of Spiritomb's massive, shadowy form – but there was no stopping the tidal wave of darkness. Tendrils of shadow and blasts of icy wind snuffed out the fires and slapped at Mismagius, sending the ghost careening through the air as it tried to dodge the onslaught.

Shadow balls blasted outward, Mismagius dodging expertly and showing its skill as it retaliated with a large number of attacks. Ominous wind, magical leaf, shadow ball…they all fired at Spiritomb, to little effect. It was clearly well trained, but seemed a little out of practice. Its attacks weren't as swift as it could be, nor as powerful, and Spiritomb took vicious advantage of that.

"Phantom force!" Lusamine commanded, a bit of worry seeping into her voice. Mismagius shot down towards the ground, vanishing into the shadows - but there was no escaping Spiritomb. Spiritomb was the shadows and darkness, and Mismagius found itself caught in a spectral hand. Spiritomb's body condensed on the hand, forming a humanoid body made of shadows, purple light, and sickly green swirls that held Mismagius still.

Power surged and a dozen shadow balls formed in the air around the two, all poised to strike. Tendrils of shadow sprouted from Spiritomb's chest area, where its keystone floated in its body, and creepily reached out to wrap around Mismagius, further halting its movements.

It took a moment for Leo to find his voice. He'd known that Spiritomb was powerful, just lacking the ability to harness said power due to its hive mind not really playing well with itself, but holy shit. How strong even was that Mismagius? How strong was Spiritomb?! The argument could be made that Spiritomb had surprised Mismagius, and therefore it didn't get a chance to fight back properly, but still!

"My literal gamble paid off, I think?" Leo muttered to himself. "Lusamine, recall Mismagius. The battle is over," Lusamine said nothing for a moment, eyeing the results of the battle calculatingly, but eventually recalled her ghost.

"You are talented," she allowed, a mix of emotions warring across her face, eventually giving way to a warm smile and a shake of her head. "Very well. I don't like it, but you may go to Poni. Just be sure to call every day to check in,"

"Every week," Leo countered. Lusamine hesitated, then nodded and without another word, left the arena. He stood there in silence for a moment until Spiritomb approached – or, more like, suddenly took up the entirety of his field of vision with its grinning face and a screech. Leo jerked backwards and cursed, glaring at his ghost. "Well you're certainly feeling good, aren't you? Thanks for the help, bud. That was incredible," he praised. Spiritomb cackled and sucked itself back up into its keystone, leaving the square cube on the ground. Leo picked it up and put it in his pocket just as Holly entered, having been watching from some separate viewing booth or something.

"That was insane," she said. "I had no idea your ghost was that powerful. Though we got lucky, in more ways than one,"

"How so?" Leo asked, following her out of the training area. A few employees were giving him strange looks as he left, but he paid them no heed.

"Lusamine was in a good mood. She actually let you go without much of a fight," she said. "Don't be too hard on her. She's got that whole helicopter parent thing going on, but she means well. Her obsessive tendencies have just been getting worse and worse lately. She used to be so much more in control,"

"She did? What happened?" Leo asked.

"…I don't know," Holly admitted. "I used to think it started after her husband disappeared, but I'm not sure that's the case anymore. She grieved for him for a while, yes, but she only started getting really controlling a few years after he vanished. But it's the only thing I can think of," Holly said with a sigh. Leo hummed and mulled that over, but eventually let it go. That was an interesting fact to remember, but useless at the moment. For now, he just had to look forward to going to Poni.

As Victoria had said; it's like the Silver Mountains of Alola. Wild, dangerous, and filled with all kinds of powerful pokémon. Leo couldn't wait.