In The Eye of The Beholder (Leon x OC)

Chapter 9 - Mad Encounter

3rd POV

Adeline dialled her mum as she rushed down the stairs, hoping to get Felice to aid in her search for her missing little brother/sister. Unfortunately for her, Felice and the rest of her team are out with her mum running errands. Naturally, her partner Pokémon can sense if its trainer is distraught or in danger, however, being halfway across the region complicates that connection.

As the distressed girl frantically leaves the house, the call goes straight to voicemail, and Adeline realised she had to do this without Felice. Suddenly, a Charizard descended from the sky and gracefully lands in front of Adeline. As Adeline waves her hand to clear the dust off her face from the landing, Leon, who appears to be riding the fire lizard, dismounts the pokémon and looks to Adeline with concern.

"We have to act fast" Leon stated. At the same time, he and Adeline started sprinting towards the Slumbering Weald, with Leon's Charizard flying above them.

"They knew that they're forbidden from coming here, why on pokéarth would they think now is a good time to be rebellious?" Adeline questioned as they run through the forest.

"You don't think, maybe it's because they now have pokémon they think they're ready to explore here?" Leon suggested, dodging wild pokémon and trees as he ran.

"I doubt that. Y/N knows better than to barge in here after just getting his/her starter. They'd have to have a pretty good reason for coming here unprepared" she replied as she critically analysed the situation "Perhaps some kind of emergency.."

As they run through the forest and enter the fog, Adeline couldn't help but feel something odd about the atmosphere. As if she's having the feeling of deja vu, she can't describe or understand what it was, but something mystical was pulling her in. Suddenly a cry came from a distance...

The three stopped and looked around their surroundings "That sounded like a Wooloo.." Leon observed.

"Of course! That must be the reason why they came here, to retrieve Hop's Wooloo" Adeline realised as she pieced the pieces of the puzzle together.

Leon turns to her, curious as to how she came to that conclusion "How can we be certain that it's Hop's though? It could be a wild Wooloo."

"It could, but that's impossible, because Wooloo can't be found around here and I saw Hop's Wooloo head butting the gate at the entrance for some reason this morning..." As Adeline explained her rationale, Leon couldn't help but stare with a dazed look at the woman in front of him. Her voice faded away as he focused on her, time itself seemed to slow down at that moment. Leon was so impressed at how intelligent his best friend is, and how adorable he finds it when she figures things out. She never ceases to amaze me, he thought.

Then she looked at him with a confused look. "Leon? Leon!" she clapped, breaking her dazed companion out of his trance.

Leon blinked and composes himself. "Oh, yea, sorry, what were you saying?"

Adeline looked at him with a disappointed look "Unbelievable. I said send Charizard to look for Hop's Wooloo and let's go!" she expressed in a slightly aggravated way.

"Right, will do. You heard her Charizard, Go!" His partner nodded and disappears into the fog. The two proceeded to run toward the deepest parts of the forest. As they ran, the fog grows thicker and thicker to the point where the two couldn't see each other. Unexpectedly, Adeline felt a hand grip her own and was surprised for a brief second. "Don't let go if you don't want to get separated!" Leon said. Adeline found it amusing that her uncoordinated best friend is leading the way in their search, and slightly appreciative of Leon's gesture.

All of a sudden, two screams echoed through the fog right in front of them. "Y/N!" "Hop!" each screaming their sibling's name, as they both identified the screams immediately. They quickly rushed further into the deep fog. Shortly after, the fog began to clear, and the two found their siblings lying on the ground, unconscious.

Deeply concerned for their sibling's. Adeline and Leon rush towards their respective family member to assess their state. Luckily they weren't physically injured, thankfully they both regained consciousness immediately.

"Oh thank Arceus you're ok," Adeline said with relief and firmly hugged Y/N, almost making them go unconscious again.

"Wha-? Lee? How'd you manage to find your way here?" Hop curiously asked. "You're pants with directions. You always get lost."

Leon frowned at the question "Oh, that's nice to hear from the little brother who had me worried sick!" he retorted "I'd been waiting for ages for you two, and you never showed! Of course, we came looking for the both of you."

Adeline found the perfect time to squeeze into the conversation to give Y/N a piece of her mind too "WHAT IN THE DISTORTION WORLD WERE THE TWO OF YOU THINKING?!" she yelled, intimidating not only the two new trainers but Leon as well.

Hop hesitantly replies "We were trying to rescue a Wooloo... Wait, where's the Wooloo?" he asked frantically.

Leon smiled and turned to Charizard conversing with the Wooloo behind them. "The little chap's just fine. Though all of you had fainted by the time we found you here." He then turned around to face the two again "You know this place is out of bounds... But it took courage to come in here all the same"

Adeline looked at the Undefeated Champion in disbelief "And I can understand well enough why you did it. You did good, Hop!" Leon smiled.

"You may tolerate this, but I absolutely do not! You could've at least called me, I was literally at home! You know, the house RIGHT BESIDE THE GATE to the Slumbering Weald!" Adeline pointed out while giving the two poor souls her signature death stare. "Sigh.. but at least you're both ok, and that's what matters."

"Indeed, I thought we'd had it when that weird fog started rolling in, and that mad Pokémon attacked..." Hop stopped talking, realising he confessed to the real danger while standing right in front of the scary overprotective lady.

"Wait, what-" Adeline felt her frustration building once again.

"-BUT HEY! At least it wasn't all for nothing!" He then chuckled nervously.

Catching Leon's attention at the moment when Hop mentioned a mad pokémon, "Attacked by some mad Pokémon? What are you talking about, Hop?" he asked, looking concerned.

"It seemed loads stronger than any Pokémon I've ever seen. And it just had this sort of presence... Our moves didn't even touch it. I mean, really-" Hop paused, trying to recall the event "They seemed to pass right through it!"

"Your moves passed right through it?" Leon crossed his arms in response "So, the fearsome Pokémon they say live in the Slumbering Weald... Are they actually illusions or something?" Adeline looked at her childhood friend with concern.

Leon then unfolded his arms and looked straight at the two new trainers "Get strong enough and maybe the two of you could be the ones to reveal the truth someday. For now, let's simply get out of this place. You'll be all right now that we're here with you!" Leon let out a big and bright smile.

"I'll let you two off the hook for now, but If you pull this stunt again, you're in BIG trouble. Especially you Y/N" Adeline intensely stared at her little brother/sister.

Hop gulped and attempted to liven the mood "Even is we did get an earful from Lee and Adeline... what an experience! This'll make a pretty fine first page in the tale of my legend!" He laughed, and they proceeded to walk.

Adeline and Leon walked behind the group while Hop, Y/N, Wooloo and Charizard were at the front.

"Do you think this has something to do with what happened 14 years ago?" Adeline looked at her friend with concern.

Leon gave her a reassuring expression "Perhaps, but I have a feeling this event marks the stepping stone of their interesting adventure, kind've like how ours turned out."

He then shot her a wink "So I wouldn't worry about it too much."