Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Seeing the scenery
The next day,
"Housekeeping."
"Housekeeping!"
"HOUSEKEEPING!"
"HUH!"
"Ursa!"
Leon and Teddiursa both sprung up out of their beds, parts of their hair bent in weird ways as they showed a tired and confused expression.
"What time is it-10:00 am?" Leon showed a surprised expression since he fell asleep around 9:00 pm.
"HOUSEKEEPING COMING IN!" The lady screamed on the other side of the door making Leon widen his eyes.
"I'M NAKED DON'T COME IN!" Leon's eyes widened until his mouth unconsciously reacted.
"OH!" The lady who was about to open the door suddenly closed it shut.
"I COME LATER?" She yelled from the otherside of the door yet made it seem like her words were in the form of a question.
"No I don't need any housekeeping-"
"I come later." She spoke firmly before leaving for the next room.
"Ugh, it's too early for this." Leon rubbed his face in distress as Teddiursa fell back into the bed.
"And up we go." Instead of following Teddiursa's example, Leon pushed himself out of the bed before stretching his arms.
Leon had to do a lot today but the main focus for the day was to try and network different ways to get into the Ariados gang.
But the problem with this plan was that Leon would be entering very dangerous territory in search of a suitable information dealer.
This meant he couldn't risk bringing Teddiursa along, lest he end up getting robbed and all his current work being pried from his grubby hands.
His eyes unconsciously turned towards Teddiursa, who kept smacking his lips while groggily rubbing his face next to the pillow.
From a third-party perspective, some might view Leon's approach as reckless or blame his arrogance.
However, to him, such a risky move was necessary. While Leon had always been meticulous when it came to matters of safety and well-being, a trait that had led to his success in the latter half of his life, the beginning of his journey in his first life was marked by recklessness and audacity.
Leon viewed that reckless phase of his life as necessary. Many of the connections he had formed were established through risking his life, paving the way for a smoother tomorrow.
Yet, this was a different life, in a different world. Instead of cold hard metal and gunpowder, the primary force here were creatures that fit into miniature balls and could breathe fire.
It unnerved him, which is why he tended not to dwell on it.
After all Teddiursa, who looked like a cute teddy bear, could easily snap his neck.
Right out the gate, Leon had been immensely lucky to find a Pokémon that lived and breathed on the same wavelength as him.
However, that stroke of luck was just that, luck from yesterday.
Today was a new day, and everything he had tirelessly gained yesterday could be wiped away with a single mistake.
"Teddiursa, I need you to stay here." Leon sat up from his bed though Teddiursa, unlike his previous expression, immediately shot up with a ugly look.
"Teddi?" Teddiursa thought he heard wrong and asked for clarification.
"I need to get a better understanding of the-"
"Teddiursa." Teddiursa squinted his eyes, his words only conveyed the meaning that it didn't sound like they were partners.
"Let me explain." Leon held up his hands and surrendered wanting to explain his reasoning.
Communication was crucial in partnerships, and Leon could understand why Teddiursa might misunderstand him.
If he were in Teddiursa's shoes, it wouldn't sit right with him either. In all honesty, Teddiursa didn't exactly trust Leon.
He didn't trust him at all.
Teddiursa wasn't a pushover, and the only reason he allowed himself to be caught was for two reasons: his gut feeling and the chance to get stronger for his own goals.
The real reason Teddiursa was comfortable being caught by Leon was because, when they first met, Teddiursa had judged that he could kill Leon in a matter of seconds.
This was the true reason for Leon's appeal to him as Teddiursa felt that he needed an escape plan.
He had seen countless Pokémon taken away in crates or humans treating Pokémon like slaves, and Teddiursa would rather die than become a slave for someone else's goals.
Like many other Pokémon, Teddiursa's main goal in life was to be strong.
However, in that forest, he discovered a heart-wrenching fact: he could only go so far by himself.
At first, this realization made Teddiursa furious as he couldn't achieve his goals alone, which led him down a slightly dark path until he heard Leon's proposal, which piqued his curiosity.
But Teddiursa wanted to watch this human closely, giving him a sort of trial period, which is why he was so keen on accepting Leon's words.
But, in the end, if Teddiursa decided that Leon couldn't help him reach the limits he so desperately wanted.
And then all bets were off as Leon's blood would stain this cheap motel.
"First off, I don't know what the underworld is like here nor do I know if they would kill me and steal you if given the opportunity." Leon's words immediately made Teddiursa scrunch his eyebrows at the indirect words of him being weak.
"Yes, I'm calling you weak." Leon might be crossing into dangerous territory but he decided it would be best to knock Teddiursa down a peg before he leaves here today.
Leon, unlike Teddiursa, unfortunately knew exactly where he currently lay in the food chain which could be described at the very bottom.
"Teddiursa, I understand that in your neck of the woods you're the top Dragonite but here you're just a Pidgey." Leon tried to use an analogy that Teddiursa could understand while using a dragon type pokemon his past self was so obsessed with.
*Poof*
A light sound of soft fabric hitting Leon's face suddenly sounded before the small pillow slowly fell down revealing a deadpan expression painted on Leon's face that read 'really?'.
"Teddiursa!" Teddiursa, showing he was in fact the culprit from his paw outstretched, shouted in anger at being compared to a lowly Pidgey.
"If push comes to shove, do you really think you can go up against a dragon type! Because blackthorn is crawling with dragons!" Leon shouted, recalling memories of the Pokémon the Blackthorns always flaunted on the streets.
He knew a lot about dragons compared to other Pokémon in the region because his past self had heavily studied them in an effort to become a Dragon-type-focused trainer.
The dream seemed ridiculous and impossible to achieve. Leon could tell, without needing to do research, that Dragon-types were expensive because rarity bred greed, and greed bred immense amounts of money.
Obtaining a Dragon-type was no small feat. Aside from the expenses of owning one, finding one was the hardest part of all.
Unless you belonged to a Dragon clan, your chances of getting a Dragon-type were slim to none, especially in the wild.
The only other option was to obtain one from the association, but what organization would give such a precious creature to a simple orphan like himself?
At least for now, Leon was a little disheartened by the location he had ended up in. He truly wished that life had dealt him a hand that landed him in any other city except one run by Dragon pride.
But he had to work with what he got.
Teddiursa avoided Leon's gaze for a split second, knowing that he was no match for any Dragon-types as of right now. However, his demeanor seemed to say otherwise, as he never cowered away from this fact.
"One day." Leon held up one finger.
"Give me one day to really understand what we will be dealing with in the future. I just want to make sure I don't go in over my head and risk both our lives." Teddiursa hearing this plopped back down onto the bed while contemplating the decision.
"Ursa." Teddiursa slightly shook his head then immediately started snuggling the pillow and Leon huffed a breath of relief.
"Thank you for trusting me Teddiursa." Leon smiled while going to rub Teddiursa's fluffy fur.
"Ted." Teddirursa snarled and pushed Leon off of him after he started squishing his cheeks together.
"While I'm gone, I want you to think very hard about all the moves you are the most proficient in." Leon said while making his way to the door though Teddiursa only grunted in response but still acknowledged him.
"Oh! I almost forgot, don't leave the room under any circumstances, okay?" Leon, who had almost opened the door, suddenly spoke out as Teddiursa reciprocated his trainer's gesture from yesterday showing the little claw located in the middle of his paw.
"Jackass." Leon whispered, yet Teddiursa's ear twitched, jerking his head in his direction to see Leon hurriedly leaving.
"Teddiur-" Teddiursa quickly jumped off the bed only to fall flat on his face.
*Thump*
"With today's pokenews, a dead body was evidently found in an alleyway near the hotel district but the blackthorn authorities have declared it as a gang attack-"
"Teddiursa?" Teddiursa, who had accidentally fallen off the bed, landed on the T.V remote which in turn turned on the wondrous contraption known as the television.
Seeing the human lady seemingly talking to him, he tilted his head while looking around but after a while he slowly walked toward the T.V.
*Tink*
*Tink*
*Tink*
Teddiursa tapped his claw but once he did his eyes widened after realizing the woman was trapped in this small box.
"Teddi-"
"AND THE ELECTABUZZ LOSE THEIR 14TH GAME IN A ROW!" An announcer's voice boomed with deep sorrow, immediately putting Teddiursa on guard.
He realized that a fight wouldn't break out because the TV acted like a cage for these small humans.
Eventually, he let himself calm down, only to discover that the buttons on the TV changed what human appeared before him.
After messing around with the HDMI for a while, he turned his attention back to the remote.
Slowly but surely, Teddiursa became enthralled by this new technology, unaware that his unfortunate soul had become trapped in the ugly world of entertainment.
"Damn it's chilly." Leon rubbed his thin arms, trying to warm himself after arriving at a small market.
After being dismissed as a beggar multiple times, someone finally answered his questions, leading him to this particular market.
It wasn't exactly illegal, but it also wasn't entirely legal, teetering on the edge of what Blackthorn considered legitimate and shady business.
Walking around, Leon noticed a stark difference from the city. Here, people didn't bat an eye at his appearance; beggars were a common sight, spanning all ages from as young as eight to as old as sixty.
After wandering aimlessly from stall to stall, he finally came across a middle-aged man with a big beer belly, a white wife-beater, and slicked-back hair, standing next to a line of clothes.
"Ah! A customer! Come! Come!" Only when Leon stepped foot into his invisible zone and directly made eye contact did the man gesture for Leon to enter his little boutique.
"Wait, you got money right?" The man suddenly stopped Leon after finally taking a better look at him as the apparent money signs slowly fizzled into the air with his eyes seeing the clear rags dressing him.
"Yes I do-"
"Great! I'm Vince and forget about all worries you might have with the ladies cause I'll sell ya the clothes that will make you leave here irresistible!" Vince laughed heartily, the money signs reappeared in his eyes while directing Leon towards where all his clothes were lined up.
"Look at this! It's a collectible dratini t-shirt. Usually I would sell this expensive product for 10,000 pokedollars but for you my friend, only 8,000." Vince showed a toothy smile as a single golden tooth suddenly gleamed upon light reflecting off of it.
"I'm good." Leon held up his hand, but Vince's salesman smile remained undeterred.
Before he could be swayed into buying another overpriced item, Leon made his way to where the dull clothes were located.
Vince frowned, realizing that this kid knew what he wanted, which meant less money for him.
Determined to make a profit, Vince set his sights on scamming this child out of everything he had. However, warning bells suddenly rang in his head.
He wasn't sure if the kid was just playing around, but to his surprise, Leon was actually inspecting the fabric of each garment, examining the threading to ensure it wouldn't easily rip.
'Stop it Vince, you're overthinking he's just a kid, he doesn't know anything.' Vince dispersed the negative thoughts before appearing next to Leon.
"Ah! I see our designer apparel has attracted you-" Leon immediately scoffed once Vince said 'designer' and Vince's eyebrows twitched thinking he heard wrong.
"You can't expect me to believe that this cheap apparel is f*cking designer." Leon showed an annoyed expression.
Seeing Vince's eagerness to scam him, Leon stomped out any thoughts of being played for a fool. He made it clear to Vince that bargaining would be the only option.
"No, no, no, no, that is 100% real designer." Vince denied Leon's bold word, shaking his head vigorously while rubbing his hand against the cotton.
"Feel this, made by the finest Leavanny string from Unova and I should know, my uncle's cousin's nephew is from there." Vince patted his chest though once he tugged it a little bit onto the fabric, a slight rip followed.
"...."
"..."
"Are you trying to sell me trash Vince!" Leon acted angry while shouting loud enough for the passersby to hear before this scammer could try to blame it on him.
"Me! It was you who ri-"
"Is this the sort of quality your store sells!" Leon directed his full speech to the passersby intrigued by the sudden commotion before a few eyes locked on their exchange.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop!" Vince, seeing the situation about to turn sour, covered Leon's persecuting mouth as even the slightest disturbance could cause business to slow for the day.
"Alright maybe it was made by a swadloon-"
"Don't f*ck with me Vince, this was probably made from a cheap Weedle string." Leon scoffed while totally bluffing and comparing this string to one of the weakest bug types he could recall at the moment.
Though after seeing Vince's eyes briefly look away, Leon immediately guessed he hit right on the mark.
"How about instead of constantly hovering all around and trying to scam me. You instead wait at your little makeshift counter for me to finish picking out the things I want." Leon smirked, waving Vince away with confidence, knowing that Vince would eventually have to surrender.
Despite understanding his current situation, Vince knew he had one more chance. He anticipated that Leon would still make a purchase, giving him a final opportunity to scam him at the checkout.
"Fine kid."
10 minutes later
"Alright Vince, ring me up." Leon, who had finally picked out everything he wanted, came up to Vince with a whole outfit.
What appeared before Vince was a jacket, pants, the slightly ripped black t-shirt, and a used pair of shoes.
"Hmmmm." Vince pretended to inspect the cheap clothes before nodding at himself.
"10,000 and as an apology I'll make this t-shirt free." Vicne held up the shirt he ripped earlier but Leon scoffed at this shameless man who didn't have any intentions on giving up on scamming a child like himself.
"2,000." Leon held up two fingers resulting in a hard loud scoff to resonate from Vince's mouth.
"Are you trying to rip me off! A poor business owner like-"
"Rip you off! You tried to scam me into buying this t-shirt while passing it off as a specially made Leavanny product instead of its real material, which is only made from a crappy Weddle! Me! An innocent child!" Leon used his child card yet Vince didn't even bat an eye because in business there is only money.
"6,000-"
"2,500-"
"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM!"
"A SHAMELESS SCAMMER!"
A vein bulged on both of their foreheads as they squinted, constantly assessing each other, each seeking to exploit any weakness to their advantage.
"2,500-"
*BAM*
"This isn't a charity! This is a business!" Vince yelled at the kid trying to intimidate him yet Leon only leaned in closer.
"What kind of business takes advantage of a f*cking child!"
"A f*cking good one!"
"HA!"
"Dammit!"
Vince, realizing the repercussions of his words, cursed himself as he just directly admitted that he had tried to scam Leon, putting him further into the metaphorical corner.
"5,750" Vince crossed his arms while giving Leon a death glare showing he wouldn't back down.
"Alright, alright, alright." Leon held up his hands as Vicne smiled seeing Leon extending his hand.
"For 3,500, I'll do this deal." Leon showed a gentle smile while extending a hand.
"Hohoho, I knew you would see it my way-"
*Slap*
Vince, who had almost shaken Leon's hand, recoiled in horror, slapping away the sly kid's hand as he realized he had almost agreed to his terms.
It might not have seemed like something that should scare Vince, but the sacredness of a business handshake held significant weight in a small place like this, where reputation reigns supreme.
Beads of sweat appeared on Vince's forehead as he realized that this kid might be a monster.
From the start, Leon knew what he wanted and exactly what type of person Vince was, meaning only one thing: Leon had already anticipated an outcome like this.
But the way he presented the deal at the last second caught Vince a little off guard.
Leon had shown himself giving up, but right as he extended his hand to confirm the amount, Vince assumed the numbers were 5,750, only to have Leon say 3,500.
A little caught up in his supposed victory, Vince almost didn't notice that he would have agreed to his deal.
But in reality, Vince had already unknowingly fallen into Leon's trap.
"AHHH!" Leon grabbed his hand, showing that the afflicted area caused him intense pain.
*THUMP*
Not even hesitating, Leon's whole body fell to the ground in agonizing pain while even going so far as to show slight semblances of tears.
"My hand! It-It's broken!" Leon curled himself into a ball as Vince flinched before showing a grave look.
"AND I'M THE SCAMMER!" Vince yelled at Leon's clear bullsh*t act, but it didn't matter anymore because Leon would only make his performance more and more exaggerated the longer Vince stayed idle.
"I THINK MY ARM IS ALSO BROKEN-"
"OK! OK! OK! 3,500!" Vince immediately paled at him, extending the injury past his hand even more and once Vince gave in, Leon flung to his feet though decided to grab a beat up baseball cap.
"Alright throw this in for free and I'll do away with the injury lawsuit." Leon flashed a toothy smile as Vince showed a livid expression.
"YOU-"
"ARGH MY ARM-"
"F*CK! ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT!"
2 minutes later…..
*RING*
"Vince, it was a pleasure doing business with you." Leon, who had changed into his new outfit, waved at Vince though the latter only sulked.
"See you never." Vince growled yet Leon slightly tilted his head in confusion.
"Did you say 'see you later'?" Leon scratched his head as the veins on Vince's neck throbbed in anger.
"I SAID SEE YOU NEV-"
"Ok Vince, see you later." Leon waved while interrupting him, making Vince slam his counter.
"YOU GIRATINA SPAWN!" Vince screeched though Leon chuckled out of the tent while making his way back into the buzzling street.
Leon originally wanted to get some information out of Vince, but after taking advantage of him to the extent he did, Leon knew that it would be impossible or incredibly expensive.
Walking around the streets, Leon appeared to be looking for beggars, but more specifically child beggars.
Information was always being collected in places like the slums; ears always appeared in the most unlikely places.
However, the hardest part of information gathering on the streets wasn't finding it but escaping after collecting it.
If a gang member accidentally let something slip and noticed someone nearby, they would ruthlessly execute the eavesdropper, whether they had good or bad intentions.
Children made this flaw easier, since it's common in almost all societies for people to go easy on children, hence them being the perfect eyes and ears, with the likelihood of them surviving being around 7/10, depending on who the boss of a particular gang is and their morales.
"Well, If it isn't crybaby Leon or if my news serves me right, then it should now be just Leon."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone