Chapter 17: The Pokézone!
Leon turned to his side and saw three boys glared at him with sneers across their faces. The one who spoke was the leading boy, who looked about sixteen or seventeen. He was a head taller than Leon with brown hair and brown eyes.
This was the youngest son of the Pokémart owner who had beaten the previous Leon to death. The two behind him were only slightly taller than him with goonish features.
"Oh, so it was Jacob squealing just now, I thought it was a Pokémon or animal. You sounded like Tepig for some reason."
Leon looked at Jacob with surprise and said.
"T-Tepig!" Jacob's eyes widened and his face fell. With his education, how could he not know what a Tepig was? It was a foreign pig Pokémon that originated overseas within the Unova region.
Was he calling him a pig?
Jacob was utterly surprised when he saw Leon walking around as if nothing had happened. He had been certain that he had stomped on Leon's head and chest several times, and those blows seemed like they could have crippled or even killed him.
However, when he heard Leon's condescending words, he was instantly infuriated. Jacob's temper was short compared to his brother.
"You lowly trash! How dare you call me a Pig?" Jacob gnashed his teeth before power-walking over to Leon with arms out. It seemed he was trying to grab Leon and slam him into the ground like he did last time.
Leon smiled and reached both his arms out to meet Jacob's hand, as they both clenched one another's hands.
Jacob sneered, this scavenger wanted to compete with him in strength. However, when Jacob tried to apply force to bring Leon to his knees, his adversary didn't budge.
At that moment, Leon flexed his strength and applied great force. Leon's strength was already beyond an average adult; so what did an adolescent count for?
'What?!' Jacob was shocked.
"Ahhh!" Jacob screamed as he was quickly brought to his knees.
Leon didn't stop there, the resentment from the previous owner ran deep. It was to the extent that the latter wanted Jacob dead! Afterward, Leon cocked his knee back and followed up with a powerful knee strike to Jacob's face.
"Ahhh!!"
Jacob's nose burst into blood that accommodated the sound of a crunch, it was clear that his nose was broken! Leon quickly threw a kick at Jacob's torso, his expression cold and sinister.
Jacob's looked on in shock and horror, was this really that weakling Leon?
Jacob fell to the ground squealing in pain, his nose had bent strangely and was leaking blood like a faucet.
"Leon! How dare you attack Jacob so ruthlessly, you evil scoundrel!" One of Jacob's goons came out of his stupor and roared at Leon, but he didn't dare to attack.
"I was only defending myself, I don't see a problem." Leon shrugged nonchalantly, he wasn't worried and seemed at ease.
"What's going on over here—who is causing a commotion?!" Right then, a police officer came over.
"This bastard just attacked Jacob out of nowhere, he's lawless and cruel. Please, officer, enact justice on our behalf and lock him away."
"What?" The police officer had long noticed Jacob wailing on the ground like a fish on land.
"Kid...is what he said true? Did you just attack Jacob for no apparent reason?" The officer frowned and turned to question Leon.
"It wasn't without reason, he attacked me first and I simply defended myself." Leon remained unaffected by their deceit, but if the situation worsened, he had his methods to handle it.
"Officer, it's evident that Jacob is on the ground, badly injured, and this person seems unconcerned about what's happened!"
The evidence was concrete, Jacob was clearly the one on the ground wailing in pain. There was proof that Leon was the aggressor, and with this stance on his guilt; it was clear.
"Come with me to the sheriff's office for further questioning." The officer pulled out some handcuffs, he seemed to have found Leon guilty.
Leon frowned, and just as he was about to expose Jacob and his friends; the door to the Pokémon Center opened. The Pokemon Center's nurse walked out calmly before halting with a smile.
"Officer, you're attempting to arrest the wrong party. The aggressor is the one that's on the ground, but during his attack, he was struck down by this little friend here."
The green-haired nurse pointed to Leon and said.
"What? So the offenders are these three people? What proof do you have?" After all, she was in the Pokemon Center, could she really make out the situation?
"Oh..." The nurse opened her mouth in an O-like gesture before pointing towards a camera. The camera, attached to the Pokemon Center, monitored everything and could pick up sounds and voices.
"With this as proof, I can show you, just follow me, please." The officer was silent, this was the proof he needed.
Upon hearing the nurse's words and noticing the camera aimed at them, the two boys' expressions turned grave. Once he entered the Pokémon Center and checked the footage, he discovered the guilty party.
"No, please, we're sorry! I failed to see Mt. Silver!"
"I don't want to go to jail! This will go on my record and affect my future!"
The officer was indifferent to their pleas for forgiveness. If this incident were reported to the Alliance, it would cause trouble. Although not a major issue, it could cost him his job. The job paid well and was relatively easy, considering he was just an officer on a secluded island.
Both individuals were promptly handcuffed and taken away, while additional officers escorted Jacob to urgent care for treatment of his wounds before detaining him.
Leon was going to point out the camera as proof. He had asked the nurse about the cameras upon his first visit. The camera recorded everything, every day, and at every time and moment.
"Thank you for that." Leon couldn't have done a better job of suppressing the situation.
"Oh, little brother, it's no problem. I'm giving those bad little snobs what they deserve." This was no problem for her, after all, Leon was the main youngster who visited often.
After chatting with the nurse for a while, Leon left and went home. Once he arrived home, Leon saw that Lars and Leona were ready to go.
"Hey, we're heading to the Pokézone. Make sure to bring your Pokémon along so we can get them evaluated to assess their abilities, characteristics, and more."
"Haha, you didn't have to tell us twice, we were going to bring our Pokémon anyway."
Both their Pokémon were already out of their Pokéballs eating. They didn't seem to have any plans on putting them back into their Pokéballs. Leon and Lars smiled as they left the factory.
Leon relayed what had happened on his way home. Both Leona and Lars were outraged hearing the news.
"That piece of trash! Did you really give him a good thrashing, I hate them so much!" Lars' expression turned a bit cold, he hated that Pokemart family to the extreme.
At some point in history—the family tried to get them thrown out of the factory. However, the Mayor bought the factory when it was abandoned. He didn't have a problem with the siblings living in the factory, as long as they didn't destroy or damage anything.
The family attempting to evict them was a stark revelation. It made them realize that this family was their biggest adversary on the island. Did they really want to leave them out in the cold? It felt like they were trying to harm them.
If Leon heard his thoughts, he would say that this is true. The resentment from the previous Leon ran deep, to the point of killing intentions, it was a bit terrifying when he thought about it.
"Soon, hopefully soon, they'll get theirs." Leon hated them just as much.
"I can't wait to leave this island so we won't have to see them again." Leona frowned. She couldn't wait to leave this place and start her journey.
'They may also leave this Island and start their journey, who is to say?" Leon thought to himself.
The siblings strolled through the lively streets as people hustled about, tending to their businesses and engaging in trade. Leon could see many children his age, at least, according to his previous world's standard; they were children.
After some time, they reached a sizable blue structure adorned with yellow stars. The prominent sign at the pinnacle displayed the name "The Pokézone.
"It looks just as it always did." Leona gazed at the impressive building, marveling at the architectural masterpiece it presented.
"Nice! Let's go." Leon and his sibling walked into the building and approached the counter. Here, they saw a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties.
"Young ones, what can I help you with? Every machine is labeled with instructions to make things easier for you." There was no telling how many times the middle-aged man had to say this to people.
"Oh..." Leon and his sibling nodded, they had never actually been in this place before.
After hearing the middle-aged man's words, they went around the Pokézone. Numerous machines were available to assess various aspects of one's Pokémon.
"This place looks like an arcade, it is simply amazing!" Leon was stunned and so were his siblings, it was truly a dreamscape-like place.
Some machines checked a Pokémon's Nature, IVs, Talent, Moveset, Gender, Health Condition, Age, feelings toward its Trainer, the biography of that species of Pokémon, and bits of information on how to raise its talent.
There were duplicates of these machines placed around the room. This was for multiple customers, but there weren't as many here. The number of passersby on this island compared to the mainland was completely different.
The mainland received much more traffic.
"Here we go, this machine checks talent." Leon wanted to check his theory from before.
Leon chose to utilize the Taillow because he possessed different F-ranks for all three. Initially, he released them from the Pokeball to inspect them before recalling them and positioning them on the machine.
It was a ₱50 charge to check a Pokemon's talent.
"Here we go, let's test the F-rank first." Leon followed the instructions and activated the machine.
The machine lit up and began scanning the Pokeball. A 3D picture of Taillow appeared on the machine's interface. Leona and Lars watched in amazement, this was also a learning experience for them, as much as it was for Leon.
Once the scan was done, the light at the top revealed a white light.
[Your Taillow's aptitude is White Grade!]
Afterward, the machine announced in a robotic, yet cheerful tone. Leon nodded, it was just as he thought, but he wanted to double-check. He went ahead and checked the other Taillow and his theory was confirmed.
'It was just as I thought, but I need a list of talents to know them all.' Just as he was pondering, Leon noticed something on the side of the machine.
The machine had a list of talent ranks, from the lowest to the highest, on its side.