<Seth and Jeremy have things under control, Farquahar's team is basically done. I think I might have killed that Steelix, but meh, no great loss.> I did a draconic shrug, blew a thin stream of fire that incinerated a grunt where he stood, then looked back at Axel. <We need to get out of here. We've lost too much, and Leo cannot hold out against his sister. If he keeps fighting like this we'll lose him too.>

After I promised Katya we would destroy Elemental, Pokemon owned by the grunts popped out everywhere. I morphed into Gengar to avoid being shot, then started taking out any Pokemon that I got in a fight with. I looked around ...Where are Cat and Axel? I walked around looking for them while bullets and rockets went flying through my ghostly body. Finally, I spotted them on a rooftop. I teleported myself directly behind them. They were both morphed, so I talked telepathically: <I suppose you two were about to do something?> I told them sarcastically. <Leaving would be good.> I thought, followed by a ghoulish laugh. I morphed back to human form. I knew no Elemental grunt would dare shoot at me standing right beside Cat and Axel. "We need some rest," I continued, "and Leo definitely needs some time to sort out his thoughts. Finding his sister and figuring out she's the enemy now is probably a lot for him." I looked at him from the rooftop. "I would just leave him be 'til tomorrow. You know how he gets when it comes to this type of stuff."

I started up with a murderous snarl when the Gengar popped into existence behind me, and arrested my reflexive tail-swipe to avoid possibly barbecuing him with my now-normal tailflame. <Jeez, you nearly gave me a heart attack, what is it with you people and surprising my dragons? It's a bad idea!>

<Anyway.> I stretched my wings carefully. <Leaving is good. I don't think Leo's going to want to leave, so someone should grab him, someone who can teleport for preference. Saves arguments. We can probably meet up on Victory Road, then head to Ilex Forest in Johto. I can be vanguard, though I need help, since Garchomp is tired and Charizard can only do so much without burning the city down.>

Cat complained how I shouldn't scare the dragon Pokemon. "Well, uh, I was a ghost. That's what there supposed to do. Anyway yeah I can grab Leo and teleport him to Victory Road with me. If he puts up a fight I can always do this." I morphed into Gengar and used Hypnosis on a grunt a couple roofs down. He collapsed, barely hanging on the rooftop. I laughed. <I don't think I'm ever going to get tired of that.>

((So, Crunchy, I guess I'll teleport you to Victory Road with me. Feel free to start a conversation or arguement with me or whatever while we're waiting for everyone else to get there.))

Leo grunted, pushing his head into his hands, trying to stop or block or push the mental chatter of the others from his mind. How was he supposed to focus battling Sarah with them wanting to escape?!

"I'm not going anywhere, dammit!!" Leo shouted, as if to the sky, "We've taken down Farquarah's whole team of six pokemon! All that's left from me killing Farquarah and taking revenge is... her!"

"Hmph," Sarah looked down to him with pity, "Still focusing on your petty revenge? Isn't there anything more important to you?"

Leo cringed, snarling at her... Suddenly, he remembered with a gasp.

"It's my mission. My life's goal. I want to see the pokemon world through our elder's eyes when he once travelled. I want to know what's happening, and then, find a way to restore it..."

"What kind of mission is that?"

"...It's my dream. It's important to me."

"Important...? You sure say some weird things."

"What could be more important...? There isn't anything more important to me in this world..."

"Hmph! That's not important at all! What's important is getting back at Elemental for what they did to us!"

"...Revenge, huh? Is revenge really so important?"

Leo snapped back to reality. No, this wasn't the Sarah from back then. How was teaming with Elemental supposed to restore the world? He tried to forget the conversation completely, putting his fists up, ready to morph at any time. Sarah simply smiled at him, that cold mysterious smile from back then... He never understood her. Leo glared. Which pokemon should he use first? What pokemon was she going to use? What attack? How was she going to counter it? He was over analysing and thinking too much, and for good reason... He needed to win, at all costs...

((Teleport me now. ))

((Ack, no, we're all going to Tohjo falls together :O ))

I shook my head at Seth and Cat's suggestions. <Right now, they know who we are, how many of us there are, and what kind of forms we have; it'd be best to stick together and beeline it straight for Tohjo. Which was the whole point of coming to Viridian, anyway.> I sent the sensation of a shrug to the other two.

<Everything is indeed wrapped up, pretty much; there's little left to achieve here. So, I'll meet you guys west of the city; be ready to go.> I leaped down onto a lower adjacent roof, then down to the ground, then started running for Farquahar.



Farquahar watched with a mad gleam in his eyes as his newest apprentice battled her brother. Sarah was a battling prodigy; she would help him gain contorl over all the other regions. The Master would be pleased.

This Leo... he was one to watch. His unique abilities combined with his young age could make him a possible target for switching sides. Farquahar grinned evilly. But, first let Sarah crush the child; that would be so much more entertaining.

Out of nowhere, a black streak comes racing towards Farquahar. It appears to be a Mightyena; it must be one of the Grunts' Pokemon out loose or something. He would have to reinstill discipline; fools like that Joseph were making Kanto a less efficient regime. The grin disappeared. It was still coming towards him. He was about to call one of his monsters to help, when he realized that they were all fainted or dead. Ambivalence turned to fear, and he realized that this could be the end...



I leaped towards Farquahar, launching a Shadow Ball towards him. The ball of pure darkness engulfed him... and he disappeared. I didn't know where he'd gone, or why he'd even disappeared in the first place. But all that was left of Alfred Farquahar, instigator of the madness that was our world, was a small pair of black glasses. I howled, then dashed out of the plaza.



Sarah stopped, then turned around. It can't be... IT CAN'T BE. She looked back in Leo, just in time to see him disappear from sight. She sighed. Things would be harder now. But she would perservere, like always, working towards her goals until they were within reach. She shook her head, then walked away.

((sorry if that doesn't exactly fit; Pory/Crunchy, you guys went to a zone west of Viridian. The rest of us will meet you there, then we'll all flee the pursuing forces over the border.))

((Oh, I like that, Leo can definitely think about changing sides haha... Sorry about this, but where did Leo disappear to, rex? Was he teleported? Or...? I'll let you guys carry Leo, he wouldn't have taken off without being unconscious or being forced-ported either way Oh, but that wouldn't have been Sarah's typical reaction (what are her true intentons? gasp!), but I'll let it slide because I have to get going soon and don't have enough time to write a worthwhile post haha.))

<Tohjo Falls... ugh, water. Whatever... got it.>

I saw Leo vanish from sight, and Axel launched an attack at Farquahar before-- what the? The man disappeared before my eyes. I was confused, but I reared onto my hind legs and spat a giant blast of flame at the last few surviving grunts, before taking to the skies, rapidly climbing above cloud cover so my tail flame would not longer be visible from the ground, following Axel's path.

((You just teleported, sorry, I should've been clearer. Also, I'll edit the Sarah bit later on; if that's not how she'd act, then it shall be fixed Also, it was with Seth, so both of you guys are in a, uh, forest west of Viridian, let's say.))

Axel vetoed my idea of teleporting to Victory Road. He said traveling in a group to Tohjo Falls would be better. We would start by meeting up west of Viridian Forest. I was about to speak, but realized I was still a Gengar, so I told Axel and Cat <Ok, sounds good. I should probably still teleport Leo. He won't come easily.> I willed myself to disappear and reappear down next to Leo and his sister. I realized there were no grunts left on the rooftops, so I couldn't be shot at. I morphed back to human form to convince him to come.

"Leo, come on, I'm gonna teleport us west of the Forest. Then we're all gonna travel to Tohjo falls together." I said to him. Still glaring at his sister, he yelled, "I'm not going anywhere, dammit!" I let out a sigh. "Ok, guess you're not going to like me very much for this." I murmered under my breath. I morphed into Gengar and reached out to touch his shoulder, but before I did, Axel bounded towards Farquahar and shot a Shadow Ball right at him. I was ready to see him collapse on the ground, but instead, it was like he vaporized. Sarah saw it happen, and her facial expression almost exactly matched how confused I was. She was about to turn around and face Leo, when I remembered I still had to teleport him. <There's no way I'm letting you two start another arguement.> I thought, then grabbed his shoulder and teleported both of us west of Viridian Forest.

We appeared In a clearing, and I could see the forest to the east. I morphed back to human form. "Good, it worked." I looked at Leo. We were the only people from the group that was here now, and if I didn't talk, it was gonna be awkward. "So, uh, sorry about your sister being evil."

((So, yeah, Crunchy, feel free to start a conversation about whatever while were waiting for LM, Rex, and tt to get here.))

My delicate Mightyena nose started to pick up the scent of confusion and surprise. I didn't take time to think about how I had made Farquahar disappear; I just ran like hell for the eastern end of the plaza.

Inside, I felt detached, numbed. Fighting, killing... it was hard to keep track of emotion through it. When Katya died.. when she died for us, something turned off inside. Revenge on Joseph didn't resolve my guilt; the cry of her anguished father didn't help, either. AnShe had loved him, and he her; his job working for a terrible organization didn't stop that. There were casualties in war, but... innocents should never be part of that number.

I made a vow to myself. From now on, this fight isn't personal; it is for people like Katya, who would die for a small, good, kind act. For the innocents caught in war, I will fight. Nobody would ever have to take a bullet for me again. Never again...

Tears ran down my face as the others grouped behind me, following me out of the city, and ending the Battle for Viridian.



Katya's father saw Farquahar disappear through his tear-stained eyes. He didn't know what to think, what to feel; his baby girl was gone, forevermore. His only child. His dear Katya. No more would he feel her kiss on his cheek when he said goodnight, or her hand in his as they walked across a street... no more was Katya.

A terrible emptiness yawned in his heart. What he would do from now on was irrelevant; it just wouldn't be as a police officer for Elemental anymore. His wife had to know...

Suddenly, Katya's father saw the Pokemon who were actually humans run away. Rage filled him, for a second, and he walked off in their general direction, following.



Joseph groaned in pain, then came to in a sudden flash of the senses. He vaguely recalled ending up here, on the floor... that kid, Axel, had broken his left shoulderblade. Another groan, then he forced himself to his feet with his good arm. He stumbled for the door; the kid was right. It was over. Power, and its pursuit... gone.

He could've just thrown the bullet away; nobody had seen him yet. But he needed revenge. The children had duped him and his goals one too many times - he needed to be the one to get them. If Joseph could bring them in, dead or alive, to Farquahar, he'd be an Elite, at last. Joseph would be able to achieve his dreams if he caught them.

Despite the pain, a smile spread over Joseph's face. There was hope for the future, as long as those kids were free...

((guess who our recurring enemy will be? :p ))

"No!! What are you doing?!" he saw Farquahar disappear just as Axel's Shadow Ball hit, "NO, IT WAS FOR ME TO DO!! ME, ME, ME!!" he screamed, suddenly, he felt himself get pulled away by Seth's Teleport. Leo gasped, reaching a hand for his sister, "Sarah! NO! SARAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!---" and then he was gone.

Sarah reached out for Leo, swiftly pulling her hand away as he disappeared from her sight. She sighed sadly. She looked back again of what remained of Farquahar; his glasses... "Hmph." ((i was going to do an earpiece session with her boss, but i think you wanted sarah to be surprised farquarah disappeared like that. so to be honest, her reaction is that she doesn't really care lol.))

She turned for the helicopter. Opening the hatch, Sarah jumped on. She remained standing, looking out over the old tired city of Viridian. When it started to take off, Sarah started to stare East toward where Victory Road would be... Sarah started to whisper silently to herself, "Run away, brother... Forget of revenge... Please, keep Leo safe..." she prayed in her heart as the helicopter whisked away into the sky.

---

Leo fell to the ground with an loud grunt. It was over, and what he had accomplished... Nothing. He slouched over like he was in pain... "Damn it, damn it, damn it..." he muttered under his breath. He shut his eyes as tightly as he could, trying to forget, trying to keep his emotions from exploding... Everything he ever had was gone... his dreams of revenge, Sarah... how could he go on now...?

Leo looked up, not meaning to, he glared anyway at Seth. He looked down. None of this was his fault, actually, he hated Axel more than anybody at the moment. His eyes pierced Seth's when he mentoned he was sorry that his sister was evil. Leo shook his head furiously, mumbling, "...She isn't... evil. She... can't be, okay?!" the last bit he shouted.

Leo managed to stand, talking to Seth in the meantime, "...Listen, do you think that did it? Do you really think Axel killed Farquarah?" his fists clenched, looking away, "Well, whatever the case... At least Katya's safe and sound with her father... I'm happy for her," he smiled a little before it faded. It seemed he was oblivious to what had happened to her. The group telling him she was killed was their decision...

When I told Leo I was sorry his sister was evil, he shot me a glare that kind of made me feel bad for saying it. "... She isn't... Evil" he said. "Oh... Uh, sorry."

Leo asked me if I thought Axel actually killed Farquahar with the Shadow Ball he shot. "Well, we'll never know unless we see him again." I said. "Farquahar is one freaky dude, in my opinion. He probably has some damned trick that he did back there to escape death." I paused, then laughed a little. "Unless he was made of sand."

Then, Leo brought up Katya, and how he was happy she was safe. My facial expression immediately changed. He doesn't know... "Uh, Leo? This is going to be hard to believe... But... Katya... She sacrificed herself saving Axel." I took a deep breath and braced for Leo's response.

After a long flight, I landed, rejoining the group just as Seth told Leo the sad news and resuming my human form, fatigue starting to set in with a vengeance.

"I'm sorry Leo. She didn't make it. Joseph killed her."

I demorphed from Kabutops and gazed at the scene around me.  Farquahar's Pokemon were down, but the grunts still had theirs, as well as their never-ending arsenal of machine guns and whatnot.  I saw Seth teleport up to where Cat and Axel were waiting, and Steel was nimbly ascending the building as well.  Deciding to catch up with them, I morphed into Beheeyem.  I just floated along, redirecting anything shot at me back at the grunts with a Psychic.  Honestly, I didn't care at this point.  If they could murder innocent little girls, the least we could do is take out a few of their men.

I caught something the group said about heading to Tohjo Falls, and they took off, but not before Axel launched a Shadow Ball at Farquahar.  Serves him right, I thought.  But he vanished.  Truthfully, I wasn't surprised at all.  I figured that he wouldn't risk himself in the midle of a fray.  It was probably a holograph or something.  What a coward.

I Teleported up and out of the city, glancing down on it from the height I was at.  Nearly the whole thing was in ruins.  I had heard that it was originally a very nice place, but what remained now was no more than a burning wasteland.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a bit of time, but I eventually caught up with Leo, Seth, and Cat, who were all in their human forms.  I could tell that Leo wasn't taking things very easily.  Discovering his sister was now his biggest enemy and watching a girl be shot through the head obviously left an impact on him.  It left an impact on me.  It left an impact on all of us.  I demorphed, and walked up to join them...

((Crunchy, I'll just ask you to write Sarah when necessary, lol. I really don't have a clue about her character, so feel free to make her pop up when you feel like it. I'll PM you some plans I have for her, though.))

I bounded out of the city, Steel and Vincent behind me. The others had already beaten us here; my magic trick with Farquahar had probably cost us some time. Leo was standing off to one side, the others looking like they were trying to comfort him. It must be Sarah... I knew that he was incredibly attached to his sister, but were his feelings the same?

I slowly demorphed, feeling the aches and pains remaining deep below my skin. The energy I had used was still gone, as well. We needed to leave and disappear. But first things first. I walked up to Leo. "Leo, I'm sorry about how you found out about your sister. It must be hard. But you have my personal promise that we'll either bring her to our cause... or make sure that she won't be able to use her prowess to hurt others." It seemed a little odd, even to my mind, but I thought that he might appreciate the sincerity. I turned to the rest of the group.

"Guys, I know that we just went through a tough battle; it wasn't easy, and it took a toll on us. Especially Sarah and... Katya. But Elemental will be right behind us. We need to follow Bill's last instructions more than ever right now, and make it to the border. The Governor of Johto may not be as aware of us. I think we've been presented with a unique timing; Elemental is fragmenting. The Governors are warlords vying for power amongst each other, judging by Farquahar's actions. So it's likely the Johto's Governor doesn't even know about us yet, or little at most." I paused for breath, then continued on. "So the time to leave is now. Once we make it across, we can rest. But not damn well until." I looked around, seeing what effect my words had on the others. I hoped they agreed.

((I'll PM you shortly about her character. But yeah, sounds good ))

"Katya... She sacrificed herself saving Axel."

"I'm sorry Leo. She didn't make it. Joseph killed her."

Leo's eyes widened. No... she's... dead...? But... we were supposed to... Weren't we supposed to protect her...? Leo turned his head away, his face of despair and agony answering all their later questions.

When Axel arrived, all he could think about was pinning all the blame onto his shoulders. His voice irritated him, even the mere mention of his name bugged him... These horrible feelings were eating at him... After being silent and trying to hold back for so long, Leo paced over toward Axel and grabbed him by the shirt, looking up, glaring into his eyes.

"You...!! You think you're some kind of hero, don't you?!" he pulled at his shirt every hate-filled sentence, "Finding the Orb and gaining these powers... they're supposed to help change the world and save people and pokemon's lives, right?! It's supposed to help make a difference! It was Bill's dream! It was Sarah's dream! It's ALL of our dreams! But what have we accomplished so far, huh?!..." Leo's eyes swelled up, the tears beginning to fall as he stared into Axel's. He looked down, unable to hold them back as he fell apart, "...All we managed to do is hurt others. Hurt pokemon... and murdered a little girl... And even if you did kill Farquahar... What difference does it make? How does killing someone change all of this... I... I swore revenge... And you beat me to it... I hate you... Axel..." he sniffled, slowly loosening his grip on Axel's shirt until it fell.

Leo pulled away, rubbing his eyes with his arm until he had no more tears to shed, "...But you're plan makes sense. It wasn't just Farquahar's doing who destroyed my family and my home in Ilex, it was the whole of Elemental's doing... I'm interested in meeting all these Governor's and erasing them one by one... Only then will my village and everyone I had be avenged." Leo turned, placing a hand were the Silph Scope was, "It's almost about time. If we're going to fight them and win, we need to get stronger. And we need new Pokemorphs. Johto isn't far off... And Ilex isn't either. You promised me you'd follow me there, right? Let's get going."

Leo calmed. He spoke with some rationality, after he let out so much to poor Axel... Leo simply stared at the path before him, and pressed forward, just as Sarah used to as he once walked by her side... He still didn't understand her, but maybe he could one day...

When Axel arrived, Leo snapped. Everything that just happened came out in one big hateful group of words against Axel. My first reaction was, 'Uh... Wow.' I glanced around at everyone else in the group, and from what it looked like, they were all thinking pretty much the same thing. When Leo marched off down the path we were going to be traveling, I shrugged, stood up, and followed him.

I growled to myself, in a dark mood, the aggression of the two dragons not helping either. "Farquahar escaped, so if you want to kill him, you can do it later. I think he teleported away, he disappeared before that Shadow Ball hit."

Looking around, I asked the question that had to be on everyone's mind. "After Ilex, where to?"

Farquahar... isn't dead...? Was Cassie's suspicions correct...? Could it be...? Leo smiled darkly to himself before turning a little as he walked.

"We can think about that later. Ilex should be our main priority, because... Well, I said so." He said smugly.

Leo turned back, thinking about home... Would it be difficult seeing it after all this time...? He always thought that someday he'd look back on it with Sarah. But after Bill and the others gave him the strength to hope, he needed to go back. Something was pulling him there... He wasn't sure what it was, but something called out to him. He hardly missed it after all this time, he didn't really need to go back... Well, that's what he told himself.

Leo gathered the bandana from his pocket, mending it out before tying it tightly around the back of his head of red hair. The wind picked up the loose end and blowed it gently behind him. A green bandana with the black characters for Ilex... Leo gazed forward. Home... Sarah, let's go back. To the place where it all began.

((If we're almost done here. Well, we still have Katya's father following us... But I think it would be a nice time to camp out around Tohjo falls to use the Silph Scope to get us new morphs. I want to be in the Johto region anyway to meet my next guardian, because I think it would make sense So if rex is all for fastforwarding after he's commented on Leo's reaction (poor, poor Axel lol), I'll look forward to seeing what he wants to do.))

((We need an IC excuse for staying near the Tohjo falls though...))

"Because you said so?" The high-handed tone of the boy's voice was irritating, and I turned to look at him, eyes narrowed, the emotions of the fight and its aftermath leaving me in a rather grouchy mood, sarcasm dripping from my voice, which had unconsciously dropped to a lower rumble as the Garchomp growled in my mind. "And what makes you better than us, that we should obey your every word, O Chosen One?"

I turned away from him with a growl of disgust, seeing the fatigue on everyone's faces. "You want vengeance, all well and good, but the -rest- of us are tired from that fight. I look out for my allies, and we need time to recharge. There's a cave behind the waterfall where we can rest till nightfall."

((Haha oh boy. Cassie's going to hate Leo ))

Leo placed his hands into his jacket pockets, smiling smugly to himself. The sarcasm of Cassie didn't fault his motives one bit. He was tired as well, so much so he had bags under his eyes. But he had other things on his mind, being tired didn't matter. It was what kept him going. After his recent outburst, he found himself again, he supposed. Well, the darker part of him. Nothing else mattered...

"...You're right about that. I am the Chosen One. But let's have it your way. We'll rest up as soon as we reach the falls."

As they walked down Route 26 and ventured Route 27, Leo could feel a large but distance presence behind him. He kept looking back secretly from the others, but they obviously couldn't feel it... It was very dark, almost gloomy... Was it a Guardian ghost? Or was it just his imagination...? He gazed down, feeling cold... It was almost like a huge shadow was cast above him...

Leo held his hand toward the Silph Scope under his shirt... almost afraid to look. He told himself not to until they set up a checkpoint. Something was definitely following him, and this feeling he had... This pokemon felt the same way he did, so strongly it startled him.

((Oh yeah. She doesn't like being talked down to. Also, I'm going to go ahead and acquire a new morph.))

I curled my lip contemptuously at the boy, moving past him with the noiseless walk that had become second nature after years on the streets, gliding over the uneven terrain without making a sound. "Chosen One you might be, but survivor you most certainly are not. Without us, you would have been killed several times over by now, or in the tender care of Elemental without access to any morphs. So have a care for your attitude."

As I entered the cave that led to the Falls, I heard a deep, hoarse but familiar-sounding grumble from behind a nest of boulders-- ignoring Leo in favor of finding out what had caused the noise, I climbed over the rocks, ducking into a cave...

... and found, to my great surprise, a large and rather old-looking Swampert, regarding me with a steady eye. "Hello there." I murmured as I crouched down to avoid intimidating the aged Pokemon. "How long have you been here? And how -did- you get here? I thought Swamperts were native to Hoenn..."

The Swampert shrugged, then rumbled something in answer-- I shut my eyes, processing the noise through the Pokemon's minds, and came up with "Humans killed Trainer and Team. Waited for Trainer here. See Trainer soon."

"You're... dying." I frowned, instinctively reaching out to touch the starter's paw.

She allowed the touch, then rumbled again. "Smell like Pokemon. Like Trainer. Good human. Go with you, if younger."

"I'm sorry, girl. I wish I could do something..." I trailed off, then gently rested my hand on her head, acquiring her form and memories, rubbing around the base of her headfins gently, making the big Swampert rumble in contentment as she slowly and painfully lay down on her mud "bed", looking up at me with slowly glazing dark eyes, the battle fire in them returning for a split second as the old Pokemon tried to convey her feelings in that one glance.

"I understand. I'll do it for you. Thank you." As she closed her eyes, I realized something. "Wait... I never got your name..."

"Pert." "Storm." She exhaled slowly, then went still, curling onto herself gently-- I stroked her head before standing up and turning into my Garchomp, using a careful application of Rock Slide to create a burial mound for the loyal Swampert, then morphing into my newly acquired form, enjoying its relatively placid nature in comparison to my other two aggressive morphs, and plunging into the cold water, heading back to where the team was.

<It's me, Cat. New form, as you can see. I know where the cave is.>

I was about to step out on the trail when Cat asked where we would go after the Ilex Forest, which I hadn't really thought about. "We can think about that later. Ilex should be our main priority, because... Well, I said so." He said smugly at Cat. Oh, crap. Leo, big mistake... I thought that Leo was in the group long enough to know not to piss Cat off. "And what makes you better than us, O Chosen One?" Cat replied. After Leo told Cat that he was the chosen one, he turned and kept walking. Cat looked really annoyed, and went a little ahead of the group. She came back a few minutes later in the form of a Swampert saying she'd found the cave. "Ok, cool." I said. "Let's go."

"Chosen One you might be, but survivor you most certainly are not. Without us, you would have been killed several times over by now, or in the tender care of Elemental without access to any morphs. So have a care for your attitude."

Before Leo could utter a sound, he just couldn't find the words... Leo couldn't argue with that... He hated that he couldn't... But she was right... He sighed, collapsing inside himself, looking away almost shamefully... It was something pretty rare. He was already starting to feel bad. Leo wished he hadn't said the things he said to either Axel or to her, but he couldn't take them back now. He had serious pride issues... It all came back to the time he was with his sister.

Leo and Sarah, along with the Pikachu, finally exited Diglett's Cave safely. Route 11. After she saved him, the two had barely spoke to each other at all. They walked along a path, orange sky around them. It would've been night soon. Leo followed behind like usual. He was depressed. He felt bad. He was really acting like a childish pig back there. He really didn't want to admit it though... He had so many horrible feelings buried deep inside... but he had to talk to her. Leo stopped from behind them. Soon enough, Sarah and her Pikachu stopped as well. The Pikachu looked to each one of them with much concern, "Pika pi..."

"...Sarah, I'm sorry about before, all the horrible things I said..." Leo mumbled, his eyes to the pavement.

Sarah just simply stood there without a reply. She could tell... he didn't mean it at all. She sighed.

When Cassie returned in the form of a Swampert, he acknowledged her with a faint smile. She was impressive to say the least. Ever since they met, she always reminded him of Sarah when he was travelling with her. Leo turned to Seth, simply nodding and following the party along to a suitable camping spot.