Hard Enough - Pokemon SI
- Thread starter Viva01
- Start date
- Users' Choice!
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- Tags
- pokemon self insert
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
- Location
- British Columbia, Canada
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Another artwork from Dearluna!
Magical Girl Cindy and her Magical companion... Bertha!
Okay that puts a cute image in my head for a MG show where like the main character is mostly doing cute slice of life stuff but every now and then there is just problems that cannot be solved with the indirect touch if the power of friendship so she needs mr. Mascot to get off his hiney and kick ass in his battle form.
The magical girl will administer first aid to whoever gets busted up
Artwork - Brock, Sabrina and Ralts enjoy a meal
Chapter 144 - Aquatic showdown
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
The next day, I set up a few lounging chairs in the reserve along with a picnic basket. Yolanda deposited a few blankets and put Terra down next to Empress. Will's next match 'on his circuit' was about to start, and I had just about finished setting things up.
"Brock, do you think we packed enough snacks?" said Suzie from within a very fluffy-looking Flareon onesie. My family had heard I was going to watch the next match with Yolanda in the reserve. They'd taken that to mean that it was 'family time' and that they were therefore invited.
I considered the picnic basket and nodded seriously. "I think we'll be alright. Munchlax will just have to eat vegetables, or else he'll make the other pokemon envious."
Suzie reached over and pat Munchlax on the head as the gutsy pokemon sighed sadly.
A ping on my transceiver had me glancing at it. I'd been expecting Sabrina to come around soon and was anticipating her message, only to blink in surprise when a message from Surge was shown.
I called him, and his boisterous face appeared on the screen. "Heyo Brock! Thought I'd check in on you again! How's it hanging!"
My eyes twitched. If I wasn't in front of my family, I'd give him the crude response he desired. Instead, I settled for a simple. "Oh, alright, I suppose; I'm with my family." I hurriedly added, "We're about to watch the Cerulean Gym match."
Surge made a face. "Urgh, don't know why you'd want to watch that! Those girls are going to get stomped."
I shrugged. "Might pick something up from watching Will, though."
Surge snorted derisively. "Please! I got more of that asshole's style and tactics from watching his match with you. That whole thing was FUBAR I tell you! I think he had to be pulling at least three sly ones on the down low!"
I nodded and considered how to respond. Something must have shown on my face, or my silence was too suspicious, as Surge's eyes narrowed. "You know something! What? Did you catch him in the act?"
I grimaced. "I've raised it with Lance, but there were a few details that stood out to me as being wrong."
"Come on, man! Don't hold out on me! How much of a slippery Ekans is this asshole?" Surge said. I sighed and sat down, relaying to him the evidence I had given to Lance.
When I was done, Surge's expression was thunderous. "Yeah, alright, he's an Arbok with a mean streak, raised by a group of Muk! Damn! And little Daisy is going to try to fight him? Poor girl doesn't stand a chance!"
"Daisy is the one who's going to fight him?" I said. "I thought they hadn't announced it yet?"
Surge huffed. "She's the eldest, and she might be ditzy as hell, but she's got heart. She won't let her younger sisters take the beating that's coming her way. That and she likes to think she's chivalrous; it's why she dresses like the prince in their little shows."
I stared at the transceiver. "How do you know she does that?"
Surge smirked. "Their little shows are some fantastic first date options for me and the ladies. Gets them all wet! If you get me! Hahaha!" He guffawed at his joke as I rolled my eyes.
He settled down and nodded. "Right, well, I'm gonna hitch a ride over to yours. Been meaning to talk to you face to face like. I'll join you and your family in watching the match!" he said casually. "Tell Cadet Tommy I want to see his best salute!" he shouted before signing off.
I glanced up at Tommy, who was bouncing in place while his twin, Cindy, groaned in annoyance, only to gain a sly expression as she sprinted into the house. When she returned she did so with a jar.
When Surge walked around the side entrance with Alexa, whom he was obviously flirting with, Tommy leapt to his feet. "Sir!" His arm shot up into a childish salute.
Surge turned away from Alexa and adopted a serious expression as he looked over Tommy, like this was a parade ground rather than my backyard. "Hmmm good pose, nice straight spine, but when an officer comes around, you go into the standing pose unless there's a reason to salute, not before!"
He stepped to one side. "At ease!" he barked before nodding as Tommy copied him.
Flint, who'd been standing and watching this with a stiff expression, twitched.
Surge raised a finger to make a point. "Remember, Salute the man, not the rank; anyone who says otherwise is full of shit!"
"Swearjar!" shouted Cindy gleefully as she pulled out a jar that she'd run into the house for. She'd been waiting to ambush Surge with this.
"Feh! In the army, there's never enough swearing!" he said only for Cindy to thrust the swear jar in his direction adamantly.
He sniffed. "I suppose as an officer, I should set an example for the troops," he said.
He handed Tommy a ten-pokedollar note. "As an officer, I don't handle dealing with civies. Cadet, pay the woman!" he said.
Tommy nodded, drew out his wallet, put the note into it, and pulled out a pokedollar. He then shamelessly deposited it into the swear jar on Surge's behalf.
Everyone collectively blinked.
Then Surge howled with laughter. "Hahahahaha! That's a good one! Nice going, recruit! That's the sort of slippery thinking that'll see you doing well in the corps!"
"I think I'd rather you not promote the military as a lifestyle choice to him, Surge," Flint said tersely.
He shot me an angry look, and I raised an imperious eyebrow. I could see where he was coming from, but he wasn't here to help me get through the hurdles of being a Gym Leader. Surge was.
Surge rubbed a thumb over his nose. "Yeah? That so? First, I've been told not to," he said casually, looming by dint of his unusually tall frame. He eyed Flint, and a glint entered his eyes. "Private Flint, right? You were a reservist, weren't you?"
"I made corporal before the end of the war." Some of the kids watched this back and forth curiously.
For a few years, Surge had been like a well-meaning uncle who got too rambunctious. To see him and Flint talking like this was probably strange. I, personally, was finding it a bit too cathartic to stop. If anything, Surge was being downright polite.
Flint shook his head. "But that doesn't matter. I just go by Flint now," Flint said, locking eyes with Surge.
Surge nodded slowly. "Right, right. We never really got to talk. I'm Lieutenant Surge, Gym Leader from Vermilion. Never did get to meet face to face did we?"
"No, there was one video link meeting before Brock took over."
"Hmmm, yeah… took over, that's one way to put it. Reckon we should talk about that one day." Surge flicked his eyes around and recognised how many small, curious eyes were watching him. "Just you and me in a bar, yeah?"
"I think I know what you're going to say," said Flint, his jaw tightening.
"Yeah, I'm sure you do, but it's worth saying out loud," said Surge. I felt a rush of gratitude toward the taller man. Somehow, for all his rough edges, Surge was a good man.
Flint nodded tightly, and Surge relaxed. He glanced around and winked at the kids before turning back. "Dismissed!" he said to Tommy, who turned and played at marching off to the side for three steps. Then he raised his hands and ran around.
"Woob woob woob!" said Tommy, running back around Surge. "I got ten pokedollars!" he said tauntingly to Cindy, who gave chase.
"Not for long you don't! That was supposed to be mine!" she shouted.
I snorted, and Surge grinned. "Cute kid!" He winked at Alexa. "Feel like making an honest man out of me and making a few of our own?"
Alexa snorted. "That's not the worst pickup line I've heard, but it is far from the best." She waved a hand over her shoulder and walked away. Surge watched her go.
He turned back with a satisfied expression. "I hate to see them…" He paused suddenly his eyes widening dramatically. "Brock… do you got two Tyranitar or is the beer I drank earlier off?"
I glanced behind the chairs to find Empress and Titan standing behind us, watching the big screen we had set up earlier. "No, she's joined my team. Surge, this is Empress."
Surge whistled as Empress inspected him before turning her head away. "Daaaaaaamn! Now you're talking! You're gonna flex on Lance hard when you make your run for Champion!"
I snorted, and he shot me a look. "Oh come on! You'd be great at it!"
I waved a hand at him and rolled my eyes. "I'm good here."
"Urgh! Greatness is going begging, man!" he said with a shake of his head.
I waved for him to take a seat, and he did so, but not before reaching into a bag he had at his side and pulling out a can of beer. He cracked it and chugged it. "Ah! Nice cold one fresh out the cooler!" He raised his drink in my direction. "You want one?"
I waved him away, amused. Flint scowled at him and opened his mouth, only to close it and slump a little. Surge noticed and considered Flint. "You want?"
Flint shook his head. "I think I should abstain going forward. Need to stay on the ball with the kids."
"Huh," Surge said before grunting and finishing his beer in a few chugs. He glanced around. "You got a Steel type that'll recycle these?"
"Lairon!" I shouted. When Knight whined, I shot him a look. "No, I'm not feeding you beer cans. You're one of my Elite pokemon. None of that for you!"
"He's big enough, ain't he?" said Surge as he cracked open another beer.
I shook my head. "He's actually younger than Lairon. He's very much still a juvenile for his species. He's still growing."
"Hmmm, righto then." Surge tossed his crushed beer can into the waiting maw of Lairon. To console Knight, I handed him some metal offcuts I got from the foundry which I used for snacks for him.
When the actual match started, I was interested to see Daisy square off against Will. I felt a spike of anger at seeing him flounce around. "What pokemon do you think he will lead with?" I offered up.
Surge eyed Will with narrowed eyes. "If his Exeggcutor was in fighting shape, I'd be shocked. It got pretty bodied against you. Also, the way he blew it up will have it feeling pretty rough. Not sure he'll even get the chance to use it against me."
"Hmmm, good," I said, happy to hear that it had cost him. Most of my pokemon had almost been up and about the next day.
"Which pokemon will he use then?" said Yolanda thoughtfully, a notepad out.
"Hypno or Espeon?" I offered.
"He'd be the sort," Surge grunted. "But also a Slowbro, Xatu…" Surge scratched his chin. "Don't think a Gardevoir could stand him though."
"Grumpig?" I replied.
Surge snapped his fingers together. "Oh! I know! He'd have to have a Mr Mime! Those are creepy mothers they are!"
I chuckled at his antics and watched as Dasiy and Will stepped up to their podiums. I frowned when I noticed that the battlefield was the aquarium. "How'd they get the right to use that for the Ace challenge?"
"Will allowed it, the cocky son of a…" he flicked his eyes to Tommy, who was happily munching on some popcorn. "—B," he said, finishing lamely.
"Who do you think is his strongest team on paper?" Salvadore asked.
I leaned back in my chair. "Alakazam for one," I said. "Then that Slowking, that had a lot of utility. Exeggcutor as well." I waved three fingers in thought with pursed lips. "I think that Jynx was a bit gimmicky with the Perish Song and Mean Look."
"Medicham would be another," Surge opined. "It depends on how good his Espeon and Hypno are. They're both solid psychic types." He glanced around. "Speaking of psychic types, where's Sabrina?"
I shrugged. "She's training with Erika."
Surge chuckled. "Ouch! She thinks he's going to beat me?"
I shrugged again. "Covering her bases," I said. I knew Karen, Koga, Lucy, and Agatha were all patrolling Cerulean City looking for anything unusual. They'd asked me to stay behind as I was too high profile and they wanted my pokemon to rest up some more. It had seemed like solid advice at the time.
It still made me twitch in agitation. Even though I knew that nothing any of the Cerulean sisters could do would see them challenging Will, not unless they cheated.
They just weren't serious battlers.
A thought occurred to me. "How come they accepted this match? I thought they didn't usually do Ace battles."
"Probably felt like they had to. With you standing up, they had to at least make an attempt. If not, their little sister will inherit a gym looked down on by everyone," Surge said before taking a slow sip. "More than it is at the moment anyway. Some families have it tough, inheriting bad situations and all." I glanced over and found him eying Flint.
"Huh, that's nice of them to do for Misty," I said, deciding to not touch on the obvious dig at Flint.
Surge perked up. "You know her? She's a firecracker, that one! Little Forrest has found himself a good lass! She's got attitude!" He grinned. "You know she stared down a giant Tentacruel and made it ink itself?" he said.
"What's this?" said Yolanda with a tilt of her head.
Surge grinned and began to tell what sounded like an extremely exaggerated story of Misty facing down a giant Tentacruel.
I snorted as my siblings ate the story up. I knew that wasn't the way it had gone down. Forrest had said as much after things had calmed down. Which reminded me. "Thanks for getting down to Forrest like that while I was out of contact."
Flint stiffened. "Yes! Thank you for doing that for our family, Surge." He bowed his head, and Surge chuckled.
"Ain't no sweat off my back. It was damn interesting, is what it was."
We fell silent when the screen showed that the match was about to start. Daisy tossed out a Seaking and Will tossed out…
"He's sending his Exeggutor again?!" shouted Surge. "Or is he like Lance? Multiple of the same pokemon?"
I eyed the fronds and shook my head. "No, see the fronds. They're wilted and damaged. That's the same pokemon."
"I call tauros shit!" Surge said. He handed off a pokedollar to the swear jar without missing a beat when Cindy offered it to him. "No way he got that pokemon up to fighting fitness unless he poured a lot of money into it!" He shook his head before raising his hand up. "Even then, it wouldn't be worth it!"
I nodded. "A sign of less depth than we thought?" I said, but I knew that didn't ring true. He'd shown lots of pokemon, or at least the ability to fund other trainers to get an idea of my team. This didn't make sense… unless.
"Hubris?" I suggested, watching as Will used a Leaf Storm to force Seaking under the surface of the water only for the leaves to cut through the water.
The Seaking went belly up and floated up onto the surface, causing Daisy to pout and return her pokemon.
"Like that was not what I was expecting from you for your first pokemon!" she said with a shake of her head. "Let's go Dewgong!" she called sending out her next choice. A Dewgong with a pristine white coat appeared and swept its tail through the water.
"Gong!" it called out before it frowned seriously.
"Is that one of her show pokemon?" I asked.
Surge nodded. "It's not a bad choice, though. Has a good Ice Beam but yeah… it doesn't have…" Surge trailed off as Daisy had her pokemon perform a Blizzard that filled the arena.
Exeggutor suddenly did not have anywhere near as stable a footing as previous. Will clicked his tongue and ordered a Psychic but it could only catch a few of the descending ice shards.
"Come on Daisy!" I shouted, pumping my fist, pleased to see Will getting some well-earned comeuppance for being so arrogant.
"Exeggutor! Use Rest!" he barked, causing all but one of the heads to fall asleep.
"Like Encore!" ordered Daisy with a gleeful expression.
I blinked, confused. Wait that shouldn't work because… I gaped when I saw the last head of the Exeggutor close its eyes and fall asleep.
Surge spat his drink making it burst out of him like a geyser suddenly erupting. He wiped his mouth and gasped. "Did Daisy just pull a slick move on him?!" he bellowed in surprise. "Damn girl!" he said.
I had to nod in approval as she pointed and winked at the Exeggutor. "Like! Blizzard!" she said. This time the super-effective move rained down unopposed, and Exeggcutor was tossed into the water.
It woke up due to the cold, but the Dewgong was already in the water.
"Like Ice Fang!" said Daisy with a weirdly fierce expression on the usually vapid girl's face.
Her pokemon shot through the water and smashed into Exeggutor, causing it to shout in surprise before slumping.
Will stared at this floating grass type for a long moment. Daisy did a happy dance. "Wooh go me and Dewgong!"
She then turned and waved to the crowd. "And thanks Uncle! It worked a charm!" she said towards an extremely scarred man sitting next to Daisy's sisters. The girls waved exuberantly while the man merely glowered at the world harder.
Will returned his pokemon and stared at it for a moment before glancing up and giving a bow to Daisy. "I must apologise, my fair lady; I underestimated you!"
Daisy waggled her finger. "You could stand to do it more!"
Will huffed. "Well, I'm afraid I shall have to take this more seriously from now. Go Hypno, use Thunder Punch!" he ordered.
The fist surged into the water and sparked up as it hit the water. Dewgong took the hit and cried out in pain.
I clicked my tongue. Ah, the other reason he would be fine with the aquarium staying out. It somewhat made it easier for her pokemon to be electrocuted. Daisy's Dewgong revealed itself to have something of a glass jaw as it went down with a single zap.
"That's a weak-ass Thunder Punch!" Surge said disparagingly. He handed Cindy another pokedollar. "Still think that ass isn't a swear word," he muttered as he handed off another note.
He then tossed his empty can over his shoulder towards Lairon, who happily munched on it.
Daisy returned her pokemon and selected another pokemon. This one had red stickers all over it, and Daisy seemed reluctant to release it. She shifted from foot to foot. The camera zoomed in on her and picked up on her whispers to the pokeball.
"Pleasepleasepplease, pretty please be good for me! I need you to behave!" she said before winding back her arm and hurling out her next pokemon. The light of the released pokemon was bright, and it reformed into a huge form.
I whistled as what had to be one of the biggest Gyarados I'd ever seen revealed itself. "Wow, I never knew she had that sort of pokemon in her team. I assume it doesn't listen to her?"
"It's her gramp's pokemon; the old Admiral was a wily sort and very strong. He was able to raise that beast from one of the Magikarp of his original Gyarados in his later years; he passed it down, so I hear."
The Gyarados rose up and bellowed, causing the camera to shake at the noise being released. Gyarados turned to inspect Daisy who waved twitchily. "H-hi Gyarados! We're fighting someone strong! You up for it?" she said.
Before Gyarados could reply, Will snorted and snapped his fingers. "Thunder Punch again."
The super effective move was once again punched into the water and sparked up. This time it arced up the large pokemon's tail and caused it to roar in shock. It snapped its head around from Daisy to lock eyes on Will.
Daisy perked up and pumped her fist. "Gyarados! Don't let them diss you! Use Crunch!" she said.
Gyarados launched itself with a maw of glowing black energy.
Will instantly realised he'd miscalculated. "Protect!" he said, causing his Hypno to cross his arms.
Gyarados hit the platform that the Hypno was on and launched the platform up into the air.
"Dive down and surge up!" ordered Daisy.
"Hypno! Use Telekinesis to levitate yourself out of danger!" Will shouted to his now airborne pokemon as the Protect dropped aside. I noted that the hail was peppering it as it descended. Gyarados launched itself out of the water in an explosion of force, its fangs bared and eyes glinting with rage.
Hypno just dodged the attack. And as it floated back down to another platform, Gyarados began to descend back into the water, and like a whale breaching, it caused a giant splash.
"Hypno return! Go Alakazam!" he said, sending out another pokemon.
"Another?" Surge said with a click of his tongue.
I hummed in thought before shaking my head. "No, that one is different. The moustache isn't as long, indicating it isn't as old."
Gyarados rounded on the Alakazam and both pokemon locked eyes.
Daisy grabbed the podium to brace herself. "Twister!" she shouted. Her Gyarados snorted before spinning on the spot and forming a giant funnel of water. People in the stands started to don raincoats. Will raised a hand and braced himself against the sudden hurricane being unleashed.
"Thunder Wave!" ordered Will causing a lash of electrical energy to shoot out from the Alakazam's spoons. It was mostly absorbed by the onrushing Twister but some got through to splash against Gyarados. It only seemed to further enrage the pokemon.
The Twister slammed home, knocking Alakazam back, and causing it to go flying into a side wall. It shook itself off, however, and teleported back to another platform.
Gyarados turned with a snarl. "Gyarados! Use Dark Pulse!" ordered Daisy. Instead of doing that, Gyarados lunged with darkness-empowered fangs.
"Thunder Punch!" ordered Will causing his pokemon to teleport underneath Gyarados and lunge upwards to throw a sparking fist of electricity into Gyarados' head.
I grimaced as Gyarados thrashed about only to sway drunkenly, obviously affected by the two hits it had already taken.
Daisy shifted from foot to foot as the hail started to stop falling. "No! Gyarados I need you to listen to me!" she said plaintively. "Use Hyper B—"
"Psychic! Throw that pokemon out of the water!" Will ordered causing his pokemon to glow with Psychic energy. Then Gyarados glowed as it was lifted despite its size and hurled out of the water like a giant angler had snagged the serpent and was pulling it ashore. It slammed into the side wall and cracked into the wall. Gyarados slumped after the hit, and Daisy matched it dejectedly.
"Urgh the girl has dropped her head, she's letting him get to her. She's lost her fighting spirit." Surge shook his head and took another drink. "This won't last long," he said.
He was proven right when Daisy's Starmie, Golduck, and Cloyster failed to last against Will's Alakazam or Hypno. Daisy slumped with each defeat.
Surge stood after it was all done and shook his head. "Girl needs to stiffen her spine a bit. She was still in the fight."
"Most of her pokemon weren't as strong as that Gyarados," Yolanda pointed out carefully.
"Doesn't matter; she could have had a freshly caught Legendary pokemon following him out, but it wouldn't have mattered. She wasn't in it. She'd lost already up here." He tapped the side of his head. "She stopped trying to find a way to win after she lost that Gyarados. You can't let that happen in battle; otherwise, you may as well have your grave already dug."
Flint coughed pointedly, and Surge blinked. "What? They get what I mean!" he said waspishly.
Suzie yawned. "It's alright; Sabrina will beat him."
Surge huffed. "You wound me, Suzie girl; you wound me."
"You'll live," she said as she patted him on the leg and then offered him a hug goodnight.
I rounded up the other kids and they gave Surge a hug before heading in with Flint. Surge bid his own goodbye and I waved him off.
Then I turned to Empress. "So, what do you think?"
She warbled a tone, and I keyed up a replay. "Right so one of the best things that gets demonstrated here is the importance of following commands. See how Will exploited Gyarados for using Crunch? Daisy was actually right in calling out Dark Pulse instead of Crunch. By going for Crunch against a pokemon that can Teleport, he put himself in a weaker position."
Empress considered this while Titan nodded. Sanchez spoke up and waved his hand around, and I grinned. Good, my pokemon were talking about it. I glanced at my team of Elites, who had all stayed up to watch the match. I had to admit to feeling very pleased with myself.
It was a loss for Daisy and the Cerulean Gym, but it was going to work out great for me.
With Will's victory, the gleam in their eyes had returned.
It was good to have a target in sight for them.
I was proven right the next morning when my team put in a spirited training session where I could practically feel them getting stronger. Empress herself was extra attentive to my orders and seemed to accept them a bit easier as I had her hop and jump around, only to start unleashing some of the extremely potent moves she had learned during her years in the wild.
I sent Daisy a message to congratulate her on her strong showing and she sent back a series of emojis that had me chuckling.
"Way too many winkie faces," I said to myself as I shut it off and headed towards my first match of the day. With the next match of importance being Surge's match, I was going to be ready to help out the moment something went down.
I'd gotten confirmation that my challenge had been accepted by Gavin so now it was time to do a final check over before I selected my team. I'd also need to have a team ready for this weekend when Will went against Surge.
If Will tried to cheat against Surge, I'd be ready to fall upon him like an avalanche.
Daisy shook hands with Will. He smiled charmingly at her, and for a moment she wondered what he looked like underneath that mask. The rest of him certainly looked attractive enough… She shook herself. No, no, she wasn't going there.
Will's lips twisted downward, and Daisy almost giggled. She stepped back a moment later as Jeffrey, her big, loveable guard dog of a gym trainer stepped in to put a delicate hand on her shoulder. He was such a knight in shining armour.
"Alright, fuck off lad," said Jeffery gruffly.
Daisy pretended to swoon. Such a shame. If only he wasn't old enough to be her dad.
It was like having a battle-scarred Arcanine of an uncle who looked and sounded fierce but was so soft when there was just family around. Sort of like her Gramps.
Will's lips twisted into something ugly, and Daisy shook herself again, taking a step back. "Thanks for the match," she said, bowing her head. "Good luck against the other gym leaders!" she said chirpily.
She turned and waved to the reporters and fans still hanging around. Will's crowd of supporters were chanting his name, and Will waved to them magnanimously. "Will! Will! Will!"
"Bad luck out there Daisy! We love you!" cried one voice during a break in the group's chanting.
Daisy perked up and beamed. She gave the crowd another wave and stepped forward to talk with the reporters. She held her smile and pretended to let all the thinly veiled insults slide off her.
"What were you thinking when you stuck to the aquarium set-up?" said one.
"Did you think it would give you a fighting chance?" sneered another.
"Did you, heh, forget how electricity works?" another said with a raised hand, as if that was enough to hide the laugh of derision.
Daisy kept smiling. If she let herself cry, they'd be like Sharpedo in bloody water. "Oh! We just thought we'd keep things the same, you know! Like, why change things around? This is our Gym, water battlefield, and all!" she said like she hadn't given it much thought.
"What were you thinking bringing out that Gyarados? It obviously doesn't respect you!" said another.
"What were you going to do if it rampaged?"
Daisy huffed and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Like, I had it under control! Grampy's Gyarados was just grouchy to start things off. He's something of a heritage pokemon so he's got his quirks! He did great through!" Daisy felt her eyes sliding toward Jeffery, who had been ready to step in if Gyarados hadn't been willing to listen to her.
"Challenger Will! That's two of the Gyms now; are you going to keep this up?"
"Of course! There's a wonderful symbolism in challenging in the order that I am! I know what people will be waiting for!" Will said with a charming smile.
"So Pewter or Cerulean? Which match did you prefer? The heart-wrenching struggle that ended in a draw? Or the one-sided match?"
Daisy continued to hold her smile, although she felt like dropping it when Will glanced over at her appraisingly. She felt dirty as he smiled at her.
"Well, I have to say I preferred today's match. My dance partner in Pewter left something to be desired with how it all ended up going down."
Daisy held her smile and didn't snort in derision. It wasn't something she'd be able to get away with; she'd lost rather convincingly after all.
When it was all said and done, she waved the crowd goodbye, sent Will off, and marched back to the private lounge. There, she found her family waiting for her. Violet had her boyfriend with her.
Daisy collapsed into a chair with a long groan. "Like you all owe me big time for stepping up and fighting that guy!" she complained. Jeffery approached with a bottle of sparkling water and a lemon slice. Daisy shot him an appreciative smile.
Violet and Lily nodded. "Yeah! Thanks big sis! That wasn't a match I wanted to undertake!"
"Why'd you accept it though?" asked Violet's boyfriend. "I thought Cerulean didn't take Ace Challengers, unlike the other gyms?"
Daisy shrugged. "I guess I just wanted us to be taken seriously. Jeffrey patted her on the shoulder. "You did that lass, you got one of his pokemon which is a great showing."
Daisy smiled weakly, finished her drink, traded some verbal barbs with her sisters, prodded Violet's boyfriend for any hotties he knew, and then retired to bed.
She sat on the edge and resisted the urge to curl up into a little ball. She instead keyed a number into her transceiver.
Misty answered quickly. "Hey… Daisy…" said her little sister.
Daisy almost called her out for sounding so hesitant. The tease was on her lips, but then Daisy remembered what Erika had said to her when she'd mocked her sister the last time they'd had tea together. Her sister wasn't like Lily and Violet. They were sisters, but that didn't mean she should treat Misty the same way.
Misty was her own woman.
"Hey, Misty," she said, allowing some of the tiredness to show. She wasn't a rookie trainer who would white out from having her team wrecked like that, but it still wasn't fun.
Misty remained quiet for a long moment. "Thanks for accepting that challenge," she said eventually.
"Anytime little sis," Daisy replied, flopping back onto her bed. She yawned. "You still want the Gym after your journey's done, yeah? It's the least I can do to not give you a place people think is only a minor gym."
"Y-yeah thanks. How'd you… I mean…" Misty started to say, only to rethink her words.
Gosh, Misty was such an awkward ponyta, she was still growing into her hooves, it seemed. Daisy knew she'd be beautiful one day, but damn if she wasn't awkward right now.
"How'd you get Gyarados to listen to you?" Misty said eventually.
"Oh, I've been trying to work with him, getting him used to me… I think I almost have him interested in doing a show with us. He doesn't want to be the bad guy, though, so I think I need to rewrite the script I had planned."
"Oh? You're thinking of adding him to your show? Mum and Dad would have loved that," Misty said.
Daisy rubbed at her chest, where an old, familiar ache was. "Yeah, yeah, they would have, and Grampa would have been all like, 'Urgh!' you know?"
Misty giggled, and Daisy found herself enjoying the sound. She yawned again. "Well, I have to admit I'm pretty wiped."
"Oh, yeah! Good night then!"
"Yeah, but before I go! Have you kissed him yet!?" asked Daisy with an amused lilt to her voice.
"Bwah! What sort of question is that? No! No, I have not! I mean, we're not like that!"
"Ooooooh, but you're thinking of it, aren't you?" said Daisy with a grin.
"Argh! Just! Go to sleep!" snarled Missy before she hung up.
Daisy giggled before remembering she wasn't supposed to be teasing her sister. Oops. Oh well, she'd get used to being nice to her eventually, or Misty would learn to tease back.
Wouldn't that be a day? She thought as sleep claimed her.
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their support.
"Brock, do you think we packed enough snacks?" said Suzie from within a very fluffy-looking Flareon onesie. My family had heard I was going to watch the next match with Yolanda in the reserve. They'd taken that to mean that it was 'family time' and that they were therefore invited.
I considered the picnic basket and nodded seriously. "I think we'll be alright. Munchlax will just have to eat vegetables, or else he'll make the other pokemon envious."
Suzie reached over and pat Munchlax on the head as the gutsy pokemon sighed sadly.
A ping on my transceiver had me glancing at it. I'd been expecting Sabrina to come around soon and was anticipating her message, only to blink in surprise when a message from Surge was shown.
I called him, and his boisterous face appeared on the screen. "Heyo Brock! Thought I'd check in on you again! How's it hanging!"
My eyes twitched. If I wasn't in front of my family, I'd give him the crude response he desired. Instead, I settled for a simple. "Oh, alright, I suppose; I'm with my family." I hurriedly added, "We're about to watch the Cerulean Gym match."
Surge made a face. "Urgh, don't know why you'd want to watch that! Those girls are going to get stomped."
I shrugged. "Might pick something up from watching Will, though."
Surge snorted derisively. "Please! I got more of that asshole's style and tactics from watching his match with you. That whole thing was FUBAR I tell you! I think he had to be pulling at least three sly ones on the down low!"
I nodded and considered how to respond. Something must have shown on my face, or my silence was too suspicious, as Surge's eyes narrowed. "You know something! What? Did you catch him in the act?"
I grimaced. "I've raised it with Lance, but there were a few details that stood out to me as being wrong."
"Come on, man! Don't hold out on me! How much of a slippery Ekans is this asshole?" Surge said. I sighed and sat down, relaying to him the evidence I had given to Lance.
When I was done, Surge's expression was thunderous. "Yeah, alright, he's an Arbok with a mean streak, raised by a group of Muk! Damn! And little Daisy is going to try to fight him? Poor girl doesn't stand a chance!"
"Daisy is the one who's going to fight him?" I said. "I thought they hadn't announced it yet?"
Surge huffed. "She's the eldest, and she might be ditzy as hell, but she's got heart. She won't let her younger sisters take the beating that's coming her way. That and she likes to think she's chivalrous; it's why she dresses like the prince in their little shows."
I stared at the transceiver. "How do you know she does that?"
Surge smirked. "Their little shows are some fantastic first date options for me and the ladies. Gets them all wet! If you get me! Hahaha!" He guffawed at his joke as I rolled my eyes.
He settled down and nodded. "Right, well, I'm gonna hitch a ride over to yours. Been meaning to talk to you face to face like. I'll join you and your family in watching the match!" he said casually. "Tell Cadet Tommy I want to see his best salute!" he shouted before signing off.
I glanced up at Tommy, who was bouncing in place while his twin, Cindy, groaned in annoyance, only to gain a sly expression as she sprinted into the house. When she returned she did so with a jar.
When Surge walked around the side entrance with Alexa, whom he was obviously flirting with, Tommy leapt to his feet. "Sir!" His arm shot up into a childish salute.
Surge turned away from Alexa and adopted a serious expression as he looked over Tommy, like this was a parade ground rather than my backyard. "Hmmm good pose, nice straight spine, but when an officer comes around, you go into the standing pose unless there's a reason to salute, not before!"
He stepped to one side. "At ease!" he barked before nodding as Tommy copied him.
Flint, who'd been standing and watching this with a stiff expression, twitched.
Surge raised a finger to make a point. "Remember, Salute the man, not the rank; anyone who says otherwise is full of shit!"
"Swearjar!" shouted Cindy gleefully as she pulled out a jar that she'd run into the house for. She'd been waiting to ambush Surge with this.
"Feh! In the army, there's never enough swearing!" he said only for Cindy to thrust the swear jar in his direction adamantly.
He sniffed. "I suppose as an officer, I should set an example for the troops," he said.
He handed Tommy a ten-pokedollar note. "As an officer, I don't handle dealing with civies. Cadet, pay the woman!" he said.
Tommy nodded, drew out his wallet, put the note into it, and pulled out a pokedollar. He then shamelessly deposited it into the swear jar on Surge's behalf.
Everyone collectively blinked.
Then Surge howled with laughter. "Hahahahaha! That's a good one! Nice going, recruit! That's the sort of slippery thinking that'll see you doing well in the corps!"
"I think I'd rather you not promote the military as a lifestyle choice to him, Surge," Flint said tersely.
He shot me an angry look, and I raised an imperious eyebrow. I could see where he was coming from, but he wasn't here to help me get through the hurdles of being a Gym Leader. Surge was.
Surge rubbed a thumb over his nose. "Yeah? That so? First, I've been told not to," he said casually, looming by dint of his unusually tall frame. He eyed Flint, and a glint entered his eyes. "Private Flint, right? You were a reservist, weren't you?"
"I made corporal before the end of the war." Some of the kids watched this back and forth curiously.
For a few years, Surge had been like a well-meaning uncle who got too rambunctious. To see him and Flint talking like this was probably strange. I, personally, was finding it a bit too cathartic to stop. If anything, Surge was being downright polite.
Flint shook his head. "But that doesn't matter. I just go by Flint now," Flint said, locking eyes with Surge.
Surge nodded slowly. "Right, right. We never really got to talk. I'm Lieutenant Surge, Gym Leader from Vermilion. Never did get to meet face to face did we?"
"No, there was one video link meeting before Brock took over."
"Hmmm, yeah… took over, that's one way to put it. Reckon we should talk about that one day." Surge flicked his eyes around and recognised how many small, curious eyes were watching him. "Just you and me in a bar, yeah?"
"I think I know what you're going to say," said Flint, his jaw tightening.
"Yeah, I'm sure you do, but it's worth saying out loud," said Surge. I felt a rush of gratitude toward the taller man. Somehow, for all his rough edges, Surge was a good man.
Flint nodded tightly, and Surge relaxed. He glanced around and winked at the kids before turning back. "Dismissed!" he said to Tommy, who turned and played at marching off to the side for three steps. Then he raised his hands and ran around.
"Woob woob woob!" said Tommy, running back around Surge. "I got ten pokedollars!" he said tauntingly to Cindy, who gave chase.
"Not for long you don't! That was supposed to be mine!" she shouted.
I snorted, and Surge grinned. "Cute kid!" He winked at Alexa. "Feel like making an honest man out of me and making a few of our own?"
Alexa snorted. "That's not the worst pickup line I've heard, but it is far from the best." She waved a hand over her shoulder and walked away. Surge watched her go.
He turned back with a satisfied expression. "I hate to see them…" He paused suddenly his eyes widening dramatically. "Brock… do you got two Tyranitar or is the beer I drank earlier off?"
I glanced behind the chairs to find Empress and Titan standing behind us, watching the big screen we had set up earlier. "No, she's joined my team. Surge, this is Empress."
Surge whistled as Empress inspected him before turning her head away. "Daaaaaaamn! Now you're talking! You're gonna flex on Lance hard when you make your run for Champion!"
I snorted, and he shot me a look. "Oh come on! You'd be great at it!"
I waved a hand at him and rolled my eyes. "I'm good here."
"Urgh! Greatness is going begging, man!" he said with a shake of his head.
I waved for him to take a seat, and he did so, but not before reaching into a bag he had at his side and pulling out a can of beer. He cracked it and chugged it. "Ah! Nice cold one fresh out the cooler!" He raised his drink in my direction. "You want one?"
I waved him away, amused. Flint scowled at him and opened his mouth, only to close it and slump a little. Surge noticed and considered Flint. "You want?"
Flint shook his head. "I think I should abstain going forward. Need to stay on the ball with the kids."
"Huh," Surge said before grunting and finishing his beer in a few chugs. He glanced around. "You got a Steel type that'll recycle these?"
"Lairon!" I shouted. When Knight whined, I shot him a look. "No, I'm not feeding you beer cans. You're one of my Elite pokemon. None of that for you!"
"He's big enough, ain't he?" said Surge as he cracked open another beer.
I shook my head. "He's actually younger than Lairon. He's very much still a juvenile for his species. He's still growing."
"Hmmm, righto then." Surge tossed his crushed beer can into the waiting maw of Lairon. To console Knight, I handed him some metal offcuts I got from the foundry which I used for snacks for him.
When the actual match started, I was interested to see Daisy square off against Will. I felt a spike of anger at seeing him flounce around. "What pokemon do you think he will lead with?" I offered up.
Surge eyed Will with narrowed eyes. "If his Exeggcutor was in fighting shape, I'd be shocked. It got pretty bodied against you. Also, the way he blew it up will have it feeling pretty rough. Not sure he'll even get the chance to use it against me."
"Hmmm, good," I said, happy to hear that it had cost him. Most of my pokemon had almost been up and about the next day.
"Which pokemon will he use then?" said Yolanda thoughtfully, a notepad out.
"Hypno or Espeon?" I offered.
"He'd be the sort," Surge grunted. "But also a Slowbro, Xatu…" Surge scratched his chin. "Don't think a Gardevoir could stand him though."
"Grumpig?" I replied.
Surge snapped his fingers together. "Oh! I know! He'd have to have a Mr Mime! Those are creepy mothers they are!"
I chuckled at his antics and watched as Dasiy and Will stepped up to their podiums. I frowned when I noticed that the battlefield was the aquarium. "How'd they get the right to use that for the Ace challenge?"
"Will allowed it, the cocky son of a…" he flicked his eyes to Tommy, who was happily munching on some popcorn. "—B," he said, finishing lamely.
"Who do you think is his strongest team on paper?" Salvadore asked.
I leaned back in my chair. "Alakazam for one," I said. "Then that Slowking, that had a lot of utility. Exeggcutor as well." I waved three fingers in thought with pursed lips. "I think that Jynx was a bit gimmicky with the Perish Song and Mean Look."
"Medicham would be another," Surge opined. "It depends on how good his Espeon and Hypno are. They're both solid psychic types." He glanced around. "Speaking of psychic types, where's Sabrina?"
I shrugged. "She's training with Erika."
Surge chuckled. "Ouch! She thinks he's going to beat me?"
I shrugged again. "Covering her bases," I said. I knew Karen, Koga, Lucy, and Agatha were all patrolling Cerulean City looking for anything unusual. They'd asked me to stay behind as I was too high profile and they wanted my pokemon to rest up some more. It had seemed like solid advice at the time.
It still made me twitch in agitation. Even though I knew that nothing any of the Cerulean sisters could do would see them challenging Will, not unless they cheated.
They just weren't serious battlers.
A thought occurred to me. "How come they accepted this match? I thought they didn't usually do Ace battles."
"Probably felt like they had to. With you standing up, they had to at least make an attempt. If not, their little sister will inherit a gym looked down on by everyone," Surge said before taking a slow sip. "More than it is at the moment anyway. Some families have it tough, inheriting bad situations and all." I glanced over and found him eying Flint.
"Huh, that's nice of them to do for Misty," I said, deciding to not touch on the obvious dig at Flint.
Surge perked up. "You know her? She's a firecracker, that one! Little Forrest has found himself a good lass! She's got attitude!" He grinned. "You know she stared down a giant Tentacruel and made it ink itself?" he said.
"What's this?" said Yolanda with a tilt of her head.
Surge grinned and began to tell what sounded like an extremely exaggerated story of Misty facing down a giant Tentacruel.
I snorted as my siblings ate the story up. I knew that wasn't the way it had gone down. Forrest had said as much after things had calmed down. Which reminded me. "Thanks for getting down to Forrest like that while I was out of contact."
Flint stiffened. "Yes! Thank you for doing that for our family, Surge." He bowed his head, and Surge chuckled.
"Ain't no sweat off my back. It was damn interesting, is what it was."
We fell silent when the screen showed that the match was about to start. Daisy tossed out a Seaking and Will tossed out…
"He's sending his Exeggutor again?!" shouted Surge. "Or is he like Lance? Multiple of the same pokemon?"
I eyed the fronds and shook my head. "No, see the fronds. They're wilted and damaged. That's the same pokemon."
"I call tauros shit!" Surge said. He handed off a pokedollar to the swear jar without missing a beat when Cindy offered it to him. "No way he got that pokemon up to fighting fitness unless he poured a lot of money into it!" He shook his head before raising his hand up. "Even then, it wouldn't be worth it!"
I nodded. "A sign of less depth than we thought?" I said, but I knew that didn't ring true. He'd shown lots of pokemon, or at least the ability to fund other trainers to get an idea of my team. This didn't make sense… unless.
"Hubris?" I suggested, watching as Will used a Leaf Storm to force Seaking under the surface of the water only for the leaves to cut through the water.
The Seaking went belly up and floated up onto the surface, causing Daisy to pout and return her pokemon.
"Like that was not what I was expecting from you for your first pokemon!" she said with a shake of her head. "Let's go Dewgong!" she called sending out her next choice. A Dewgong with a pristine white coat appeared and swept its tail through the water.
"Gong!" it called out before it frowned seriously.
"Is that one of her show pokemon?" I asked.
Surge nodded. "It's not a bad choice, though. Has a good Ice Beam but yeah… it doesn't have…" Surge trailed off as Daisy had her pokemon perform a Blizzard that filled the arena.
Exeggutor suddenly did not have anywhere near as stable a footing as previous. Will clicked his tongue and ordered a Psychic but it could only catch a few of the descending ice shards.
"Come on Daisy!" I shouted, pumping my fist, pleased to see Will getting some well-earned comeuppance for being so arrogant.
"Exeggutor! Use Rest!" he barked, causing all but one of the heads to fall asleep.
"Like Encore!" ordered Daisy with a gleeful expression.
I blinked, confused. Wait that shouldn't work because… I gaped when I saw the last head of the Exeggutor close its eyes and fall asleep.
Surge spat his drink making it burst out of him like a geyser suddenly erupting. He wiped his mouth and gasped. "Did Daisy just pull a slick move on him?!" he bellowed in surprise. "Damn girl!" he said.
I had to nod in approval as she pointed and winked at the Exeggutor. "Like! Blizzard!" she said. This time the super-effective move rained down unopposed, and Exeggcutor was tossed into the water.
It woke up due to the cold, but the Dewgong was already in the water.
"Like Ice Fang!" said Daisy with a weirdly fierce expression on the usually vapid girl's face.
Her pokemon shot through the water and smashed into Exeggutor, causing it to shout in surprise before slumping.
Will stared at this floating grass type for a long moment. Daisy did a happy dance. "Wooh go me and Dewgong!"
She then turned and waved to the crowd. "And thanks Uncle! It worked a charm!" she said towards an extremely scarred man sitting next to Daisy's sisters. The girls waved exuberantly while the man merely glowered at the world harder.
Will returned his pokemon and stared at it for a moment before glancing up and giving a bow to Daisy. "I must apologise, my fair lady; I underestimated you!"
Daisy waggled her finger. "You could stand to do it more!"
Will huffed. "Well, I'm afraid I shall have to take this more seriously from now. Go Hypno, use Thunder Punch!" he ordered.
The fist surged into the water and sparked up as it hit the water. Dewgong took the hit and cried out in pain.
I clicked my tongue. Ah, the other reason he would be fine with the aquarium staying out. It somewhat made it easier for her pokemon to be electrocuted. Daisy's Dewgong revealed itself to have something of a glass jaw as it went down with a single zap.
"That's a weak-ass Thunder Punch!" Surge said disparagingly. He handed Cindy another pokedollar. "Still think that ass isn't a swear word," he muttered as he handed off another note.
He then tossed his empty can over his shoulder towards Lairon, who happily munched on it.
Daisy returned her pokemon and selected another pokemon. This one had red stickers all over it, and Daisy seemed reluctant to release it. She shifted from foot to foot. The camera zoomed in on her and picked up on her whispers to the pokeball.
"Pleasepleasepplease, pretty please be good for me! I need you to behave!" she said before winding back her arm and hurling out her next pokemon. The light of the released pokemon was bright, and it reformed into a huge form.
I whistled as what had to be one of the biggest Gyarados I'd ever seen revealed itself. "Wow, I never knew she had that sort of pokemon in her team. I assume it doesn't listen to her?"
"It's her gramp's pokemon; the old Admiral was a wily sort and very strong. He was able to raise that beast from one of the Magikarp of his original Gyarados in his later years; he passed it down, so I hear."
The Gyarados rose up and bellowed, causing the camera to shake at the noise being released. Gyarados turned to inspect Daisy who waved twitchily. "H-hi Gyarados! We're fighting someone strong! You up for it?" she said.
Before Gyarados could reply, Will snorted and snapped his fingers. "Thunder Punch again."
The super effective move was once again punched into the water and sparked up. This time it arced up the large pokemon's tail and caused it to roar in shock. It snapped its head around from Daisy to lock eyes on Will.
Daisy perked up and pumped her fist. "Gyarados! Don't let them diss you! Use Crunch!" she said.
Gyarados launched itself with a maw of glowing black energy.
Will instantly realised he'd miscalculated. "Protect!" he said, causing his Hypno to cross his arms.
Gyarados hit the platform that the Hypno was on and launched the platform up into the air.
"Dive down and surge up!" ordered Daisy.
"Hypno! Use Telekinesis to levitate yourself out of danger!" Will shouted to his now airborne pokemon as the Protect dropped aside. I noted that the hail was peppering it as it descended. Gyarados launched itself out of the water in an explosion of force, its fangs bared and eyes glinting with rage.
Hypno just dodged the attack. And as it floated back down to another platform, Gyarados began to descend back into the water, and like a whale breaching, it caused a giant splash.
"Hypno return! Go Alakazam!" he said, sending out another pokemon.
"Another?" Surge said with a click of his tongue.
I hummed in thought before shaking my head. "No, that one is different. The moustache isn't as long, indicating it isn't as old."
Gyarados rounded on the Alakazam and both pokemon locked eyes.
Daisy grabbed the podium to brace herself. "Twister!" she shouted. Her Gyarados snorted before spinning on the spot and forming a giant funnel of water. People in the stands started to don raincoats. Will raised a hand and braced himself against the sudden hurricane being unleashed.
"Thunder Wave!" ordered Will causing a lash of electrical energy to shoot out from the Alakazam's spoons. It was mostly absorbed by the onrushing Twister but some got through to splash against Gyarados. It only seemed to further enrage the pokemon.
The Twister slammed home, knocking Alakazam back, and causing it to go flying into a side wall. It shook itself off, however, and teleported back to another platform.
Gyarados turned with a snarl. "Gyarados! Use Dark Pulse!" ordered Daisy. Instead of doing that, Gyarados lunged with darkness-empowered fangs.
"Thunder Punch!" ordered Will causing his pokemon to teleport underneath Gyarados and lunge upwards to throw a sparking fist of electricity into Gyarados' head.
I grimaced as Gyarados thrashed about only to sway drunkenly, obviously affected by the two hits it had already taken.
Daisy shifted from foot to foot as the hail started to stop falling. "No! Gyarados I need you to listen to me!" she said plaintively. "Use Hyper B—"
"Psychic! Throw that pokemon out of the water!" Will ordered causing his pokemon to glow with Psychic energy. Then Gyarados glowed as it was lifted despite its size and hurled out of the water like a giant angler had snagged the serpent and was pulling it ashore. It slammed into the side wall and cracked into the wall. Gyarados slumped after the hit, and Daisy matched it dejectedly.
"Urgh the girl has dropped her head, she's letting him get to her. She's lost her fighting spirit." Surge shook his head and took another drink. "This won't last long," he said.
He was proven right when Daisy's Starmie, Golduck, and Cloyster failed to last against Will's Alakazam or Hypno. Daisy slumped with each defeat.
Surge stood after it was all done and shook his head. "Girl needs to stiffen her spine a bit. She was still in the fight."
"Most of her pokemon weren't as strong as that Gyarados," Yolanda pointed out carefully.
"Doesn't matter; she could have had a freshly caught Legendary pokemon following him out, but it wouldn't have mattered. She wasn't in it. She'd lost already up here." He tapped the side of his head. "She stopped trying to find a way to win after she lost that Gyarados. You can't let that happen in battle; otherwise, you may as well have your grave already dug."
Flint coughed pointedly, and Surge blinked. "What? They get what I mean!" he said waspishly.
Suzie yawned. "It's alright; Sabrina will beat him."
Surge huffed. "You wound me, Suzie girl; you wound me."
"You'll live," she said as she patted him on the leg and then offered him a hug goodnight.
I rounded up the other kids and they gave Surge a hug before heading in with Flint. Surge bid his own goodbye and I waved him off.
Then I turned to Empress. "So, what do you think?"
She warbled a tone, and I keyed up a replay. "Right so one of the best things that gets demonstrated here is the importance of following commands. See how Will exploited Gyarados for using Crunch? Daisy was actually right in calling out Dark Pulse instead of Crunch. By going for Crunch against a pokemon that can Teleport, he put himself in a weaker position."
Empress considered this while Titan nodded. Sanchez spoke up and waved his hand around, and I grinned. Good, my pokemon were talking about it. I glanced at my team of Elites, who had all stayed up to watch the match. I had to admit to feeling very pleased with myself.
It was a loss for Daisy and the Cerulean Gym, but it was going to work out great for me.
With Will's victory, the gleam in their eyes had returned.
It was good to have a target in sight for them.
I was proven right the next morning when my team put in a spirited training session where I could practically feel them getting stronger. Empress herself was extra attentive to my orders and seemed to accept them a bit easier as I had her hop and jump around, only to start unleashing some of the extremely potent moves she had learned during her years in the wild.
I sent Daisy a message to congratulate her on her strong showing and she sent back a series of emojis that had me chuckling.
"Way too many winkie faces," I said to myself as I shut it off and headed towards my first match of the day. With the next match of importance being Surge's match, I was going to be ready to help out the moment something went down.
I'd gotten confirmation that my challenge had been accepted by Gavin so now it was time to do a final check over before I selected my team. I'd also need to have a team ready for this weekend when Will went against Surge.
If Will tried to cheat against Surge, I'd be ready to fall upon him like an avalanche.
Daisy shook hands with Will. He smiled charmingly at her, and for a moment she wondered what he looked like underneath that mask. The rest of him certainly looked attractive enough… She shook herself. No, no, she wasn't going there.
Will's lips twisted downward, and Daisy almost giggled. She stepped back a moment later as Jeffrey, her big, loveable guard dog of a gym trainer stepped in to put a delicate hand on her shoulder. He was such a knight in shining armour.
"Alright, fuck off lad," said Jeffery gruffly.
Daisy pretended to swoon. Such a shame. If only he wasn't old enough to be her dad.
It was like having a battle-scarred Arcanine of an uncle who looked and sounded fierce but was so soft when there was just family around. Sort of like her Gramps.
Will's lips twisted into something ugly, and Daisy shook herself again, taking a step back. "Thanks for the match," she said, bowing her head. "Good luck against the other gym leaders!" she said chirpily.
She turned and waved to the reporters and fans still hanging around. Will's crowd of supporters were chanting his name, and Will waved to them magnanimously. "Will! Will! Will!"
"Bad luck out there Daisy! We love you!" cried one voice during a break in the group's chanting.
Daisy perked up and beamed. She gave the crowd another wave and stepped forward to talk with the reporters. She held her smile and pretended to let all the thinly veiled insults slide off her.
"What were you thinking when you stuck to the aquarium set-up?" said one.
"Did you think it would give you a fighting chance?" sneered another.
"Did you, heh, forget how electricity works?" another said with a raised hand, as if that was enough to hide the laugh of derision.
Daisy kept smiling. If she let herself cry, they'd be like Sharpedo in bloody water. "Oh! We just thought we'd keep things the same, you know! Like, why change things around? This is our Gym, water battlefield, and all!" she said like she hadn't given it much thought.
"What were you thinking bringing out that Gyarados? It obviously doesn't respect you!" said another.
"What were you going to do if it rampaged?"
Daisy huffed and rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Like, I had it under control! Grampy's Gyarados was just grouchy to start things off. He's something of a heritage pokemon so he's got his quirks! He did great through!" Daisy felt her eyes sliding toward Jeffery, who had been ready to step in if Gyarados hadn't been willing to listen to her.
"Challenger Will! That's two of the Gyms now; are you going to keep this up?"
"Of course! There's a wonderful symbolism in challenging in the order that I am! I know what people will be waiting for!" Will said with a charming smile.
"So Pewter or Cerulean? Which match did you prefer? The heart-wrenching struggle that ended in a draw? Or the one-sided match?"
Daisy continued to hold her smile, although she felt like dropping it when Will glanced over at her appraisingly. She felt dirty as he smiled at her.
"Well, I have to say I preferred today's match. My dance partner in Pewter left something to be desired with how it all ended up going down."
Daisy held her smile and didn't snort in derision. It wasn't something she'd be able to get away with; she'd lost rather convincingly after all.
When it was all said and done, she waved the crowd goodbye, sent Will off, and marched back to the private lounge. There, she found her family waiting for her. Violet had her boyfriend with her.
Daisy collapsed into a chair with a long groan. "Like you all owe me big time for stepping up and fighting that guy!" she complained. Jeffery approached with a bottle of sparkling water and a lemon slice. Daisy shot him an appreciative smile.
Violet and Lily nodded. "Yeah! Thanks big sis! That wasn't a match I wanted to undertake!"
"Why'd you accept it though?" asked Violet's boyfriend. "I thought Cerulean didn't take Ace Challengers, unlike the other gyms?"
Daisy shrugged. "I guess I just wanted us to be taken seriously. Jeffrey patted her on the shoulder. "You did that lass, you got one of his pokemon which is a great showing."
Daisy smiled weakly, finished her drink, traded some verbal barbs with her sisters, prodded Violet's boyfriend for any hotties he knew, and then retired to bed.
She sat on the edge and resisted the urge to curl up into a little ball. She instead keyed a number into her transceiver.
Misty answered quickly. "Hey… Daisy…" said her little sister.
Daisy almost called her out for sounding so hesitant. The tease was on her lips, but then Daisy remembered what Erika had said to her when she'd mocked her sister the last time they'd had tea together. Her sister wasn't like Lily and Violet. They were sisters, but that didn't mean she should treat Misty the same way.
Misty was her own woman.
"Hey, Misty," she said, allowing some of the tiredness to show. She wasn't a rookie trainer who would white out from having her team wrecked like that, but it still wasn't fun.
Misty remained quiet for a long moment. "Thanks for accepting that challenge," she said eventually.
"Anytime little sis," Daisy replied, flopping back onto her bed. She yawned. "You still want the Gym after your journey's done, yeah? It's the least I can do to not give you a place people think is only a minor gym."
"Y-yeah thanks. How'd you… I mean…" Misty started to say, only to rethink her words.
Gosh, Misty was such an awkward ponyta, she was still growing into her hooves, it seemed. Daisy knew she'd be beautiful one day, but damn if she wasn't awkward right now.
"How'd you get Gyarados to listen to you?" Misty said eventually.
"Oh, I've been trying to work with him, getting him used to me… I think I almost have him interested in doing a show with us. He doesn't want to be the bad guy, though, so I think I need to rewrite the script I had planned."
"Oh? You're thinking of adding him to your show? Mum and Dad would have loved that," Misty said.
Daisy rubbed at her chest, where an old, familiar ache was. "Yeah, yeah, they would have, and Grampa would have been all like, 'Urgh!' you know?"
Misty giggled, and Daisy found herself enjoying the sound. She yawned again. "Well, I have to admit I'm pretty wiped."
"Oh, yeah! Good night then!"
"Yeah, but before I go! Have you kissed him yet!?" asked Daisy with an amused lilt to her voice.
"Bwah! What sort of question is that? No! No, I have not! I mean, we're not like that!"
"Ooooooh, but you're thinking of it, aren't you?" said Daisy with a grin.
"Argh! Just! Go to sleep!" snarled Missy before she hung up.
Daisy giggled before remembering she wasn't supposed to be teasing her sister. Oops. Oh well, she'd get used to being nice to her eventually, or Misty would learn to tease back.
Wouldn't that be a day? She thought as sleep claimed her.
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their support.
SmashQueen
Professional duck-cat.
It's interesting to note that Will had access to another Alakazam but not a second Exeggcutor. The former was likely evolved by Team Rocket to temporarily replace the older one that got its leg mulched in the last fight. Meanwhile, the Exeggcutor was healed up just enough to fight (and why go further when it's just Cerulean, right?).
Really hoping that Will's disregard for his team comes back to bite him hard.
Really hoping that Will's disregard for his team comes back to bite him hard.
nmWarden
Webcomic Glutton
- Location
- Texas
No mirror matches (Starmie, Slowbro vs Slowking, Golduck pseudo-psychic)? A missed opportunity, but what we saw from Daisy's mind here was more than suitable.
Surge and Flint, very good, with some input from Erika setting in roots... These aren't the gym leaders Flint knew growing up, but he shouldn't worry about the next generation after all that he has seen. I sort of think he might give Surge a thunderstone in the future. Or if a legendary bird attacks, they could work together against one of them... Flint would have to give his team a work out in that case though.
Surge and Flint, very good, with some input from Erika setting in roots... These aren't the gym leaders Flint knew growing up, but he shouldn't worry about the next generation after all that he has seen. I sort of think he might give Surge a thunderstone in the future. Or if a legendary bird attacks, they could work together against one of them... Flint would have to give his team a work out in that case though.
- Location
- Detroit, Michigan
So, I'm going to make the obvious connection that this was the Gyarados that smol!Misty was caught swimming with.
I thought team rocket were forcing him to manage on his own for a bit since he failed to get a win against Brock.
I suspect it's partly down to the fact that exeggcute are actually harder to come by than abra, plus you need a leaf stone.
- Location
- Scotland
Yeah, it is somewhat ironic that, despite technically only being a gym leader, Brock has more attention on him than Agatha who is currently the only actual Elite Four member, Koga is technically only an Elite Four candidate atm. Mainly that's because Brock is seen as a young, fresh, up and comer while Agatha has been around for so long that she is easily able to slip into the background.
Bakkasama
There is always a greater fool
- Location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Pronouns
- He/his
I think it is less about reputation and more about how they both have skills that mean that they can get around without being seen, which means that it doesn't matter that they are high profile. Koga is a freaking ninja and agatha's pokemon can turn invisible and phase through walls.
- Location
- Texas
That is still the case, but I'm thinking that Alakazam is in better state because it knows Recover and Will was probably spamming the hell out of that to get his heaviest hitter back into shape so they didn't look weak.
How would a move like Swagger or Flatter affect Will when he's linked with his Pokémon? Would he end up confused and disoriented? How about Taunt? Would that deactivate both his Pokémon's status moves and his telepathy? How about Charm or… Attract... Actually, never mind, I don't want an answer, just wanted to state the implications of linking with your Pokémon's mind mid-battle.
Didn't Sabrina get somewhat effected by something like that I think it was confusion already in this fic and have to reduce how connected they were.
Chapter 145 - Ace high
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
My warm up was much faster today, but no one could blame me. Today was the next step in my plan to force Will's hand.
I'd been looking forward to this all week. When I'd laid down the challenge against Gavin Glady, he hadn't been able to back down, not after what he'd been saying.
Will had the excuse of having already faced me. I couldn't drag him into another fight with how slippery he was being, but that didn't mean I couldn't drag others into a fight.
I surveyed my pokemon as they ran through drills, eying them carefully. Judging if anyone was injured or nursing a wound they hadn't announced to me.
"Bertha, rest up! Knight, you come in as well! I want both of you for the fight today!" I then pointed at Selene and Titan. That would make up two more, with only two left over. I considered the rest of my pokemon.
Don postured aggressively, and Shrek shifted back and forth.
I glanced at Yolanda. "Gavin is known for some of his electric, fire, and poison-type pokemon, yes?"
She nodded her head, and I played with that thought. "Zephyr," I said, causing my Noctowl to hoot and hop forward.
"Zephyr?" Yolanda said as I walked through the rest of my pokemon.
"Yeah, Zephyr has a few moves that help mitigate Electric-type attacks and he has a great diversity of moves available to him."
Teddiursa raised his hands and growled in a display of strength. I snorted and patted him on the head. "Not today buddy," I said before shaking my head at Clefairy as well.
I considered the water-type pokemon I had available, before eventually pointing to Shrek. "Shrek, I want to bring you in again. You came in clutch last time, and I think you deserve some time in the sun. Everyone else? I want you to work hard and watch today's match-up as you will be cycled in soon."
Don shrieked in annoyance and flapped up before dive-bombing Shin. I'd probably need to pull Don into line soon or give him a match he could sink his teeth into. The same was true of Shin. I considered the pokemon and my eyes paused on Empress.
Hmmm… she'd do for now.
"Don! Stop harassing Shin, and I want you to do some harassment fighting against Empress. Empress, try not to hit him too hard."
I indicated the six pokemon I was going to use for today's Ace match. "Light workout today."
Yolanda jogged along next to me. Cranidos, as he'd started to do, tried to swipe out our ankles as we ran. Yolanda and I skipped over him or dodged him lightly. When it came time to stop, I caught him up and put him to the side. "That's enough of that training!" I said firmly, before depositing him in front of Terra who snorted and smacked her hands together like she was a tiny sumo wrestler.
"Brock?" Yolanda said.
"Yah?" I replied as I had Clefairy use Gravity on Jormungandr and Sanchez, who were having to weave their way through an obstacle course.
"Why have you chosen those pokemon?" she asked. Indicating the six pokemon I had.
I considered Yolanda for a long moment before shrugging. "How about you tell me?"
She shot me a highly unimpressed look, before chewing her lip. "You don't really have to worry about fire-type pokemon thanks to the rock typing most of them share. Knight is perfect as a poison type counter if Gavin gets a Toxic Spikes move out or sets up any poison mist.
"Bertha, is a one-hit super-heavy pokemon that is one of your strongest but she also knows Surf, so she can take out some pokemon that won't expect it. You're looking to bait Gavin in with Zephyr. As for Titan, well… He is your strongest pokemon by far."
"Good reasoning," I complimented. "I'm also taking into account that some of these pokemon need victories. I could probably sub Titan out for Tide without too much risk, but I need the safety of Titan to fall back on. Selene hasn't had many fights despite deserving them. She's been on the bench too long and merely had to watch others fight. She's who I'm worried about the most, as if I didn't use her, she'd be frustrated and taciturn with me."
"Knight had a rough go of it against Will despite doing great against that Perish Song. Now I could have swapped Don out with Zephyr, as Zephyr isn't as proud, but it is also good to sometimes not give Don his way. Don, could have fought in the match against Will except for being injured when I went to Mt. Silver. He has only himself to blame for that, as I did not order him to pursue like he did. I instead needed to back him up and catch him."
Yolanda nodded thoughtfully. "Right, that makes sense." She then leaned down and scooped Terra off of Cranidos. Cranidos hopped to his feet and cried out in protest.
"Oh hush now!" she said before giving me a look. "No fighting until you run around that rock!" she said, pointing to the rock that we ran around.
Cranidos twitched his head around to the rock and then back before, narrowing his eyes. He lowered his head to charge Yolanda, only for Terra to laugh and hop out of Yolanda's hands, flattening Cranidos in the process. She then waddled quickly towards the rock, cheering her name the entire way.
Cranidos shot upright and squawked indignantly, before charging past Terra and crowing smugly back at her, before faceplanting into the rock he was supposed to run around.
I turned away. It looked like Yolanda had things well enough in hand. I instead worked through my pokemon and refreshed myself on what I could do with my pokemon. I paid special attention to working Selene through some tests.
When she tried to show off with a Moonblast into a Teleport, I whistled. "Woah, back off there, girl; I need you fresh for this fight. Don't tire yourself out like this, alright?"
She nodded, and I chuckled. "Let's get you running some aura drills with Titan and Clefairy yeah?" Selene bobbed away to them and I turned my attention to Zephyr, who ran through a series of sweeps and dives with Steel Wing.
"I want you to do a corkscrew into the ground to finish off, make sure to stab your wings forward to bleed off momentum as well."
"Noct!" barked Zephyr as his wings glowed once more, before he tucked himself into a tightly controlled yet still fast-twisting drop out of the sky. He landed facing the 'target' position I'd assigned earlier, with his wings stabbed into the ground without a scratch on him. "Hypno!" I barked, causing him to fire off a wave of Hypnosis at the rocks.
"Nice, let's call that there, Zephyr; after breakfast, head in to Chansey for a final checkup, and I'll collect you later!" He hooted happily and floated towards the rocks that other pokemon in the Elite team were hanging around.
I glanced around and didn't see much of a need to continue training with anyone else, so I clapped my hands and signalled for Titan to lead a cool-down routine. Then I reached into a backpack and started distributing their food into bowls and plates with pictures of their faces.
Empress still didn't seem sure what to make of this raised eating, but Teddiursa was quick to plonk himself down and practically bury his face into his food.
"Someone make sure he breathes between bites," I said, causing Empress to lean forward and tug Teddiursa out of his food, where he gasped hugely, only to try and push his face into it again.
"Ty!" Empress barked at Teddiursa, causing him to curl up and whine at her, only for her to glare at him. He proceeded to use his hands instead of just throwing himself face-first into the food.
With my team all fed, I waved for Yolanda to follow me on a jog around the perimeter. She frowned. "Why are we doing this? You usually do it during the warm-up?"
"Good to shake things up and not get too into a routine, plus it's good training. Nice work with Cranidos, by the way. You're handling him well," I complimented.
"Had to toughen up a bit," she said, making a fist.
"Yeah, he can be hardheaded, can't he?" I said, grinning at her. Yolanda made a face and I chuckled as I led her back around for breakfast.
From there, the morning was rather typical; with the gym taking on a handful of challengers, most of the trainers that I faced these days being so well versed in their pokemon that they could earn the Boulder Badge, and the few that couldn't? Well, they'd either learn or continue to struggle.
When it came time for the Ace match, the stands saw a surge of people filling them. When I walked up from the medical bay with my selected Elite team, more than a few season pass members waved at me. I paused to talk with them.
"Oh Brock, I have to admit this year's matches have truly been worth getting the season pass," said one man, before sheepishly scratching his neck. "I'm… sorry to say that I've used up my year's worth of free tickets, as well as my allotment for early access for purchasing. However, is there any chance I could top up my membership? What with the news that you're going to rise up the Ace rankings, I think I'd like to come for a lot of those!"
I tilted my head, considering him. I noticed that a good number of the people around him were also now paying close attention to what we were talking about.
I eventually gave a slow nod. "I think that could be arranged; I'll talk with my team and see what we can come up with."
The people listening in leaned back, and a murmur broke out as the rumour mill went to town spreading what I'd just said. I was amused when I saw Granny Harridan stand from her seat and move to another elderly woman to loudly whisper what she'd just learned.
And like that, the news spread.
I shook my head in amusement and strode up to the trainer area, where A.J. stood with his arms crossed, listening in on Missy explaining how the Ace circuit worked differently to some Gym trainers.
I quickly jotted out a message to Rachel, Alexa, and Georgina about the idea of allowing an extension for more member priority options, so they would know about it before the rumour mill reached them.
Rachel sent back a smiley face with her tongue out, which let me know that the grannies had gotten to her first. I merely huffed and ran my hands over my pokebelt, checking the position of each of my pokemon before relaxing. I selected my first pokemon and toyed with the Luxury ball.
I settled back and let the noise of the crowd wash over me, while spinning the ball about in my hands.
I knew what to expect with Gavin. He had some strong pokemon with power behind them, but also had some neat tricks that could trip me up. In a way, it would be somewhat like fighting against Will, but I liked to think I was ready for most of them.
I doubted he would start things off with his Raichu. It was more likely that he'd come with one of his water pokemon. Gyarados perhaps? Although after the showing Lance's Gyarados gave, I doubted anyone was going to be looking to repeat that against me. Then again… people might think they had cracked the code. And it wasn't like I had Sanchez on the team.
Not that Gavin would know that. The threat would be there, however. So chances were he'd go with another pokemon. Tentacruel seemed to have good odds. Gavin had a history of enjoying setting up Toxic Spikes, so a poison pokemon would make sense, and out of all his pokemon Tentacruel would suit him the most.
The lights began to flash, and I stood. I rolled my shoulders and stretched myself out. Then I clapped my hands together and pushed away all the thoughts of the world. Instead, I focused on the effort of will that came with pushing my left hand against my right.
Then I released them, inhaling and enjoying the rush of air that came with the mental reset.
I nodded and stepped up to the front of the trainer partition. Rachel went to work hyping up Gavin, but I could tell she wanted to do anything but.
"Here he comes," I said to myself as Rachel finished introducing Gavin.
The swarthy man swaggered out and grinned when he got boos and jeers. He seemed to feed off the negativity. I noted he'd styled his hair into pointed tufts today, and he was wearing a leather jacket that made me think he rather looked like a Cueball style trainer from the games.
That merely cemented the idea of him using a poison type pokemon first.
I tucked the Luxury ball out of sight and crossed my arms, and the lights overhead boomed into life.
"And in this corner! Your Gym Leader and challenger for today! Please give it up, for Brock!" Rachel cried out.
"Show time," I said, with a smile.
The crowd responded like a well-oiled machine. The stomp-stomp clap rang out, and I held my position. People had mentioned how much they rather enjoyed the experience of being more than a lone voice and part of something greater, when this started each match.
It might have been an accidental masterstroke to reintroduce the song, "We Will Rock You!", to the pokemon world.
I held my position as the lights roamed the crowd, and that merely made them more enthusiastic. I grinned. Rachel was always finding new ways to make this memorable.
Once it seemed like the entire crowd had been lit up at least once the lights raced to my position and shone down on me.
With the crowd making the stadium rock, I strode forward and locked eyes on Gavin.
My grin grew when I saw him shift in place on his podium.
That's right, you messed up, and now you're going to learn what that means.
I performed my normal leap across the gap, and landed in the classic superhero pose as the crowd roared and the song that we'd had a local band record for us faded.
In the referee's stand, Jackson stood tall and raised his flags to go through the usual Ace briefing. Within what felt like moments he gestured with his flags. "Trainers! Are you ready!?"
"Ready!" "I'm good," said Gavin and I.
I locked eyes with him as my hand brought out Selene's Luxury ball. Gavin's eyes darted down. Ah, he was trying to read which pokemon I was going to send out first?
I noted that he relaxed when his eyes fell on the necklace that prominently held Titan's Greatball. Hmmm, so he wasn't confident against Titan eh?
I'd have to show him that I had a lot more tricks up my sleeve.
"Begin upon the release of your pokemon!" Jackson ordered, dropping his flags.
"Go! King!" barked Gavin.
"Go! Selene!" I shouted, a heartbeat behind him.
"Lunatone!" On the field, Selene manifested and hovered upward with a trill.
"King! Nido!" roared 'King' the Nidoking that Gavin had released.
I smirked. I'd been right—a good matchup straight out of the gates.
"Set One!" barked Gavin. Nidoking braced and began to unleash a barrage of poisonous spikes into the surrounding battlefield.
"Blast him!" I ordered. Selene's eyes glowed, and from the point of her arc, a beam of psychic energy was launched forth.
"Dig!" screamed Gavin, forcing his pokemon to abort the set up that he'd tried for. Gavin had some solid forms but I had done enough research to know that 'set up one' was standard fair for him and his pokemon to poison the field, poison the opposing pokemon and then set up stalling options.
Personally, I preferred his set up two which went for the opponent pokemon first.
It was a sign of good training but at the same time, it was entirely too predictable for an opening move. And thus, I had Selene unleash a super effective Psybeam at his pokemon.
King threw himself into a headfirst dive that saw the Psybeam missing, but I merely gestured down at the ground.
"Quake," I said straight away. Selene crashed into the ground, like gravity had suddenly increased tenfold. Instead of her being injured, however, the ground underneath her buckled as an Earthquake was blasted out, rocking the field and causing Nidoking to be launched out of the Dig.
Nidoking shook itself and staggered back onto his feet, but I could tell it had felt that move.
"Psychic!" I said, deciding to keep on the pressure.
"Throat Chop!" Gavin said. His pokemon raised its arms in front of itself, and dark energy emitted from its body, resulting in the Psychic failing to grasp or do any significant damage.
I tilted my head, watching as Nidoking charged forth, arms glowing ominously.
"Approaching me, hmmm? Selene, you know what to do," I said lazily.
Selene began to glow; her eyes locked on the charging Nidoking.
"Got you!" Gavin shouted as King closed in on us, only to gasp when Selene vanished in a Teleport. "What?!" he bellowed.
"Finish him," I said. Selene unleashed another Psybeam from right next to Nidoking's blindspot, nailing the powerful pokemon and hurling it out of the fight.
Gavin glared at me. "I call interference! Lunatone don't learn Teleport!"
Jackson nodded and raised a flag. "Ace trainer Gavin has raised a claim of interference regarding Lunatone's Teleport." Jackson indicated a hand in my direction. "Sadly, I can confirm that Selene, aka, this Lunatone, is capable of Teleport. It has not been used publicly except for a friendly match against Lance that was witnessed by the Rangers!"
Gavin's stunned face was far too enjoyable, and for a moment I felt my dark tendencies rearing up, as I delighted in the reveal of how skilled Selene was.
"She's got both skill and power," I said proudly. Selene swivelled back and forth in delight, and I chuckled before turning to Jackson. "I believe that grants me a move due to the disruption?"
Gavin snorted. "Oh, so it's cheap when Will does it but not when you do it?"
I leveled a dark look at Gavin, but instead of quivering, he jutted his chin.
I held his gaze for a long moment before shaking my head. "I can say we're nothing alike until the Miltank comes home, but it would never be enough for some people. Selene, Calm Mind, also Gavin your timer is ticking down," I said, pointing to the clock that had reached twenty seconds for his next pokemon release.
Selene trilled happily as a glow lit up around her once again, but this time she was buffing herself rather than attacking, or moving with Teleport. Gavin eyed her, and his hand slipped to another pokeball.
"Alright, if you want to play things that way!" Gavin said as he selected another pokeball. He hurled it out and released a large Arcanine that released a deep growl that rumbled forth like thunder.
"Speed!" Gavin ordered.
"Quake!" I responded instantly. Selene once again crashed into the ground, only for Arcanine to vanish in a blur as dust was kicked up.
The battlefield rumbled with force, and I snapped my eyes around looking for a hint of the Arcanine before shooting my gaze up. There I found Arcanine at the zenith of its leap; it was right above Selene and I knew I didn't have enough time for another Teleport.
"Crunch!" Gavin howled as dark energy glowed around Arcanine's maw.
I snapped my fingers up at the threat and responded with my best option. "Hyper Beam!" I shouted. Selene tilted herself like an artillery cannon, still embedded in the ground. A large orb of energy formed at the tips of her crescent before unleashing it straight at the descending Arcanine.
Arcanine, instead of catching my pokemon, was instead caught in the air and blown away.
Arcnine slammed into a barrier in front of the stands, where the Hyper Beam continued to push against it. When it ceased blasting Arcanine, the powerful pokemon fell.
I watched it fall and was stunned when it landed with a dull thump instead of landing on its feet.
When Arcanine didn't stir, I leaned forward in concern. Had Gavin sent out a pokemon that weak against me?
Gavin raised his pokeball and then I joined the crowd in exhaling in relief when the pokeball returned the pokemon.
I eyed Selene who was hovering with a wobble. That had been a strong attack… but that Arcanine shouldn't have been dropped just like that… Had she gotten a critical hit?
Nice.
I decided to capitalise on the stunned disbelief. "Nice shot Selene! Let's give the others a chance to shine!" I said loudly as I raised her Luxury ball to return her. The crowd responded with a wave of applause.
I smirked as I put her back on my belt. That would have been the best result, given how things might have played out. She would have won herself some fans with that performance.
I eyed Gavin, who seemed locked in hesitation.
If I wanted to, I could wait him out and respond to his pokemon, due to his pokemon being returned first, but I had other options. Sadly, I couldn't send out Zephyr and bait Gavin as I wanted to; Gavin had gotten off a Toxic Spikes after all.
"Go! Knight!" I ordered. Knight landed, and with his appearance, Gavin inhaled in surprise before grinning.
"Go Rapidash!" he shouted, releasing the pokemon. The fiery horse snorted in disdain as it eyed Knight.
Knight wasn't bothered by being looked down upon. Knight wasn't a pokemon with a lot of pride; he was a simple soul housed in a powerful frame, with an earnestness that made him strong.
"Stone Edge," I said, causing Knight to lash out with his tail and hammer some slabs of earth straight at Rapidash.
"Dodge to the side and Inferno!" Gavin responded. Rapidash performed a small hop and then whipped its head, its mane flaring and unleashing a wave of fire that crossed the field quickly.
"Dig dip," I said, resulting in Knight ducking under the wave of fire and evading the danger.
As Knight rose up out of the ground, Rapidash, much like Arcanine, blurred in a sudden display of speed. It appeared behind Knight, leaning forward with its rear legs raised to unleash a kick that I knew would be devastating.
"Protect!" I barked.
"Low Kick!" Gavin said, only to glower as Knight raised a shield instantly as Gavin punched forward. "Flamethrower!" he ordered. Rapidash hopped back a few metres to give itself some room as it inhaled.
"Sandstorm! Scrub the field" I shouted, causing Knight to raise a foot as his Protect dropped.
The Sandstorm swept the field as sand roared to life. Rapidash suddenly had to back up and shake itself in the face of the grating winds.
"Blow it away with Inferno, commit!" said Gavin. His pokemon this time spun with its entire body, its mane and tail brightening as flame swept the field.
"Dig dip into Earthquake!" I said. I might not have damaged Rapidash much, but I trusted I'd gotten rid of the Toxic Spikes with two Infernos and a Sandstorm scrubbing the field.
The sand and fire died away, only for a rumble to shake the field as Knight erupted and slammed a fist into the ground.
Instead of buckling in the face of the Earthquake, however, Rapidash reared up and began to dance on surprisingly deft feet.
Gavin punched the air. "That's the way! Use your training!"
I had to admit I was impressed with how Rapidash was dancing. It was a down right hypnotising display of dancing, mixed with bucking to land that resulted in always having a stable point that allowed Rapidash to evade a lot of the damage.
I played out a few options and decided I wanted to avoid letting this fight get stalled out as it had. "Return!" I said, surprising many in the crowd and even Gavin as he blinked.
He still had the presence of mind to order out a quick "Agility!" to his pokemon as I selected another pokemon.
"Go Shrek!" I shouted, unleashing Shrek onto the field, where he landed with a thud and a loud ribbit.
Gavin stared and looked around. He must have been expecting his Toxic spikes to do something, only to realise how I'd negated the environmental threat earlier. He swore and raised his own pokeball, not willing to allow this match to play out apparently. "Return Rapidash!" he growled.
"Bulk Up," I said happily. Shrek flexed, and his muscles swelled up as Gavin selected his next pokemon.
"Go Gyarados!" he said, releasing a Gyarados that roared and had Shrek stepping back, only to step back with a loud ribbit as he refused to be intimidated by the threat display.
I hummed. This might seem like a good idea for Gavin to send out a water type against another water type. Especially when compared to the fire type Rapidash.
But he was making critical errors, especially when in my Gym.
"Rock Slide," I said without missing a beat. Shrek dug his hands into the ground and then hurled rocks straight at the Gyarados.
"Hydro Pump," said Gavin. His pokemon responded quickly and blasted the flying rocks out of the air.
"Hop to the side and repeat," I said, more than happy to fire off another round of Rock Slide at the Flying type pokemon.
"Surf!" Gavin said.
"Surf," I said with a shrug, more than happy to match him, Surf to Surf.
Waves rose from each side of the battlefield before surging straight at each other. Both waves slammed into each other. Gyarados and Shrek became locked in close combat, with Gyarados curling itself around Shrek only for Shrek's fists to lash out.
Despite the larger pokemon wrapping around my pokemon, I knew I had Gavin right where I wanted him as our pokemon slammed into the ground.
"Stone Edge," I said. Shrek croaked, and his arm twisted out. He grabbed up a large fistful of rock and slammed it into Gyarados' side, causing it to roar out in pain.
"Again!" I said gleefully. Shrek repeated the action, and this time Gyarados went down. I looked up to find Gavin looking rather glum at how this match was turning out.
He pursed his lips and returned his pokemon. Once again, I decided to match him with another return. This time, however, I whipped out a pokemon that had already been sent out.
Selene reappeared, and she hovered up to her normal height, albeit a little slower than normal.
"Tch!" Gavin clicked his tongue. He raised a hand to his mouth, where he rubbed it worriedly in thought. I watched as he toyed with two pokeballs, his decision apparently not as clear as it had been moments before.
"Go Raichu!" he said with a tight expression.
"Quake," I said, without a moment's hesitation. Raichu, much like Rapidash, responded quickly, its tail stabbing into the ground and allowing it to bounce through Earthquake.
"Extremespeed into Iron Tail!" Gavin ordered, as soon as the Earthquake ended.
"Protect!' I replied immediately. The Protect rose and caught that Iron Tail just as Raichu reappeared with its tail whipping around, instead of slamming into Selene. Selene locked eyes with the fast rodent, before it darted back and gained some room.
"Trip up!" I said as the Protect dropped away. Selene perked up and once again crashed into the ground.
"Avoid it!" Gavin said quickly, only for no Earthquake to appear. Instead, Selene's eyes glowed and energy surrounded Raichu.
"Chu!" the electric mouse pokemon cried out in surprise. Selene had no mercy for it, however, as she promptly slammed it into the ground like she was trying to nail it down.
"Use Thunder to get out of there!" Gavin ordered.
"Toss it through a boulder!" I said to Selene. She did just that, and Raichu continued to be hammered with Psychic, as Selene refused to let go.
"Raichu, hang in there buddy!" said Gavin imploringly.
I shot him a look of disbelief. Had he almost sobbed just now?
His Raichu tried to regather itself with another blast of lightning, only to crumple as it seemingly took too much damage. "Raaaaaaai," it whined, going limp in Selene's Psychic grasp.
Selene paused and was about to let it go.
I was about to allow it, but with my eyes locked on Gavin, I caught the smirk that appeared on his features. "Hit it again, it's faking with Fake Tears," I said. Selene paused in lowering the pokemon and Gavin gained an 'oh shit' expression.
Raichu's head snapped up, and it tried to grab the ground only to be just out of reach. Selene's eyes glowed once more, and this time she slammed Raichu through a boulder with feeling.
This time, Raichu went down.
When Raichu fell, Gavin's shoulders slumped. He returned his pokemon and eyed me before raising a hand to the referee. "I am going to concede; I haven't brought the right pokemon to match Brock today," he said.
I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He'd only fought three of my pokemon! I still had tricks and plans to use! The crowd murmured in surprise at this while Jackson straightened up and raised a flag.
"Very well, this match will end at four to zero, with Ace Trainer Gavin conceding early." He then gestured to me, declaring "That means that Brock is the victor!" that got the crowd on their feet and cheering.
Selene warbled her joy at this unexpected boon, and I laughed before waving her over to share in the crowd's praise. I lowered the podiums and turned, starting to walk over to Gavin. Gavin hurried forward quickly, his own hand raised.
"Guess you got me a good one, Gym Leader," he said with a nod. Then he smiled, waved to the crowd,and walked away.
I blinked in surprise, used to a much longer discussion post match with my opponents. Well, apart from Will that is.
Sure I had called him out on his behaviour, but it didn't speak well of him that he'd conceded so quickly. I eyed the score. Or had he been avoiding a total wipe with six to zero officially registered on his record?
I shrugged and decided it didn't matter. Instead, I turned and waved to the crowd. With this victory, I'd gain a few more Ace points and climb up the Ace rankings. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
This time, I walked straight up to the reporters. They grinned at my approach, and I prepared myself for a different sort of battle. I made sure to keep Selene out during the entire post match interview.
"Brock! Does it feel good to face one of your naysayers like this?" started one reporter.
I grinned, more than happy with how this was starting.
By the time I was done, my smile was still firmly in place, despite the tough questions I'd been asked. I made sure to remind everyone that I was very interested in a rematch with Will, which got some nods of approval from the crowd that had remained behind.
When it was over, I gave the crowd a final wave and departed for the medical bay to get my pokemon checked over. Chansey merely sniffed at them before nodding at me as Knight, Selene and Shrek all lay on their tables. When I released the other pokemon I'd selected, they all called out their own praise for the three that had fought. I was amused to see Selene warbling happily while Knight ducked his head. Shrek merely croaked happily.
It might only be a few points, but I knew this was the first serious step into something more.
Will, and indeed any that came after him, would not be able to ignore me in the future.
I'd make sure of it.
Thanks go to my patreons for their support!
Thanks also go to Obiwankentucky for betaing this chapter!
I'd been looking forward to this all week. When I'd laid down the challenge against Gavin Glady, he hadn't been able to back down, not after what he'd been saying.
Will had the excuse of having already faced me. I couldn't drag him into another fight with how slippery he was being, but that didn't mean I couldn't drag others into a fight.
I surveyed my pokemon as they ran through drills, eying them carefully. Judging if anyone was injured or nursing a wound they hadn't announced to me.
"Bertha, rest up! Knight, you come in as well! I want both of you for the fight today!" I then pointed at Selene and Titan. That would make up two more, with only two left over. I considered the rest of my pokemon.
Don postured aggressively, and Shrek shifted back and forth.
I glanced at Yolanda. "Gavin is known for some of his electric, fire, and poison-type pokemon, yes?"
She nodded her head, and I played with that thought. "Zephyr," I said, causing my Noctowl to hoot and hop forward.
"Zephyr?" Yolanda said as I walked through the rest of my pokemon.
"Yeah, Zephyr has a few moves that help mitigate Electric-type attacks and he has a great diversity of moves available to him."
Teddiursa raised his hands and growled in a display of strength. I snorted and patted him on the head. "Not today buddy," I said before shaking my head at Clefairy as well.
I considered the water-type pokemon I had available, before eventually pointing to Shrek. "Shrek, I want to bring you in again. You came in clutch last time, and I think you deserve some time in the sun. Everyone else? I want you to work hard and watch today's match-up as you will be cycled in soon."
Don shrieked in annoyance and flapped up before dive-bombing Shin. I'd probably need to pull Don into line soon or give him a match he could sink his teeth into. The same was true of Shin. I considered the pokemon and my eyes paused on Empress.
Hmmm… she'd do for now.
"Don! Stop harassing Shin, and I want you to do some harassment fighting against Empress. Empress, try not to hit him too hard."
I indicated the six pokemon I was going to use for today's Ace match. "Light workout today."
Yolanda jogged along next to me. Cranidos, as he'd started to do, tried to swipe out our ankles as we ran. Yolanda and I skipped over him or dodged him lightly. When it came time to stop, I caught him up and put him to the side. "That's enough of that training!" I said firmly, before depositing him in front of Terra who snorted and smacked her hands together like she was a tiny sumo wrestler.
"Brock?" Yolanda said.
"Yah?" I replied as I had Clefairy use Gravity on Jormungandr and Sanchez, who were having to weave their way through an obstacle course.
"Why have you chosen those pokemon?" she asked. Indicating the six pokemon I had.
I considered Yolanda for a long moment before shrugging. "How about you tell me?"
She shot me a highly unimpressed look, before chewing her lip. "You don't really have to worry about fire-type pokemon thanks to the rock typing most of them share. Knight is perfect as a poison type counter if Gavin gets a Toxic Spikes move out or sets up any poison mist.
"Bertha, is a one-hit super-heavy pokemon that is one of your strongest but she also knows Surf, so she can take out some pokemon that won't expect it. You're looking to bait Gavin in with Zephyr. As for Titan, well… He is your strongest pokemon by far."
"Good reasoning," I complimented. "I'm also taking into account that some of these pokemon need victories. I could probably sub Titan out for Tide without too much risk, but I need the safety of Titan to fall back on. Selene hasn't had many fights despite deserving them. She's been on the bench too long and merely had to watch others fight. She's who I'm worried about the most, as if I didn't use her, she'd be frustrated and taciturn with me."
"Knight had a rough go of it against Will despite doing great against that Perish Song. Now I could have swapped Don out with Zephyr, as Zephyr isn't as proud, but it is also good to sometimes not give Don his way. Don, could have fought in the match against Will except for being injured when I went to Mt. Silver. He has only himself to blame for that, as I did not order him to pursue like he did. I instead needed to back him up and catch him."
Yolanda nodded thoughtfully. "Right, that makes sense." She then leaned down and scooped Terra off of Cranidos. Cranidos hopped to his feet and cried out in protest.
"Oh hush now!" she said before giving me a look. "No fighting until you run around that rock!" she said, pointing to the rock that we ran around.
Cranidos twitched his head around to the rock and then back before, narrowing his eyes. He lowered his head to charge Yolanda, only for Terra to laugh and hop out of Yolanda's hands, flattening Cranidos in the process. She then waddled quickly towards the rock, cheering her name the entire way.
Cranidos shot upright and squawked indignantly, before charging past Terra and crowing smugly back at her, before faceplanting into the rock he was supposed to run around.
I turned away. It looked like Yolanda had things well enough in hand. I instead worked through my pokemon and refreshed myself on what I could do with my pokemon. I paid special attention to working Selene through some tests.
When she tried to show off with a Moonblast into a Teleport, I whistled. "Woah, back off there, girl; I need you fresh for this fight. Don't tire yourself out like this, alright?"
She nodded, and I chuckled. "Let's get you running some aura drills with Titan and Clefairy yeah?" Selene bobbed away to them and I turned my attention to Zephyr, who ran through a series of sweeps and dives with Steel Wing.
"I want you to do a corkscrew into the ground to finish off, make sure to stab your wings forward to bleed off momentum as well."
"Noct!" barked Zephyr as his wings glowed once more, before he tucked himself into a tightly controlled yet still fast-twisting drop out of the sky. He landed facing the 'target' position I'd assigned earlier, with his wings stabbed into the ground without a scratch on him. "Hypno!" I barked, causing him to fire off a wave of Hypnosis at the rocks.
"Nice, let's call that there, Zephyr; after breakfast, head in to Chansey for a final checkup, and I'll collect you later!" He hooted happily and floated towards the rocks that other pokemon in the Elite team were hanging around.
I glanced around and didn't see much of a need to continue training with anyone else, so I clapped my hands and signalled for Titan to lead a cool-down routine. Then I reached into a backpack and started distributing their food into bowls and plates with pictures of their faces.
Empress still didn't seem sure what to make of this raised eating, but Teddiursa was quick to plonk himself down and practically bury his face into his food.
"Someone make sure he breathes between bites," I said, causing Empress to lean forward and tug Teddiursa out of his food, where he gasped hugely, only to try and push his face into it again.
"Ty!" Empress barked at Teddiursa, causing him to curl up and whine at her, only for her to glare at him. He proceeded to use his hands instead of just throwing himself face-first into the food.
With my team all fed, I waved for Yolanda to follow me on a jog around the perimeter. She frowned. "Why are we doing this? You usually do it during the warm-up?"
"Good to shake things up and not get too into a routine, plus it's good training. Nice work with Cranidos, by the way. You're handling him well," I complimented.
"Had to toughen up a bit," she said, making a fist.
"Yeah, he can be hardheaded, can't he?" I said, grinning at her. Yolanda made a face and I chuckled as I led her back around for breakfast.
From there, the morning was rather typical; with the gym taking on a handful of challengers, most of the trainers that I faced these days being so well versed in their pokemon that they could earn the Boulder Badge, and the few that couldn't? Well, they'd either learn or continue to struggle.
When it came time for the Ace match, the stands saw a surge of people filling them. When I walked up from the medical bay with my selected Elite team, more than a few season pass members waved at me. I paused to talk with them.
"Oh Brock, I have to admit this year's matches have truly been worth getting the season pass," said one man, before sheepishly scratching his neck. "I'm… sorry to say that I've used up my year's worth of free tickets, as well as my allotment for early access for purchasing. However, is there any chance I could top up my membership? What with the news that you're going to rise up the Ace rankings, I think I'd like to come for a lot of those!"
I tilted my head, considering him. I noticed that a good number of the people around him were also now paying close attention to what we were talking about.
I eventually gave a slow nod. "I think that could be arranged; I'll talk with my team and see what we can come up with."
The people listening in leaned back, and a murmur broke out as the rumour mill went to town spreading what I'd just said. I was amused when I saw Granny Harridan stand from her seat and move to another elderly woman to loudly whisper what she'd just learned.
And like that, the news spread.
I shook my head in amusement and strode up to the trainer area, where A.J. stood with his arms crossed, listening in on Missy explaining how the Ace circuit worked differently to some Gym trainers.
I quickly jotted out a message to Rachel, Alexa, and Georgina about the idea of allowing an extension for more member priority options, so they would know about it before the rumour mill reached them.
Rachel sent back a smiley face with her tongue out, which let me know that the grannies had gotten to her first. I merely huffed and ran my hands over my pokebelt, checking the position of each of my pokemon before relaxing. I selected my first pokemon and toyed with the Luxury ball.
I settled back and let the noise of the crowd wash over me, while spinning the ball about in my hands.
I knew what to expect with Gavin. He had some strong pokemon with power behind them, but also had some neat tricks that could trip me up. In a way, it would be somewhat like fighting against Will, but I liked to think I was ready for most of them.
I doubted he would start things off with his Raichu. It was more likely that he'd come with one of his water pokemon. Gyarados perhaps? Although after the showing Lance's Gyarados gave, I doubted anyone was going to be looking to repeat that against me. Then again… people might think they had cracked the code. And it wasn't like I had Sanchez on the team.
Not that Gavin would know that. The threat would be there, however. So chances were he'd go with another pokemon. Tentacruel seemed to have good odds. Gavin had a history of enjoying setting up Toxic Spikes, so a poison pokemon would make sense, and out of all his pokemon Tentacruel would suit him the most.
The lights began to flash, and I stood. I rolled my shoulders and stretched myself out. Then I clapped my hands together and pushed away all the thoughts of the world. Instead, I focused on the effort of will that came with pushing my left hand against my right.
Then I released them, inhaling and enjoying the rush of air that came with the mental reset.
I nodded and stepped up to the front of the trainer partition. Rachel went to work hyping up Gavin, but I could tell she wanted to do anything but.
"Here he comes," I said to myself as Rachel finished introducing Gavin.
The swarthy man swaggered out and grinned when he got boos and jeers. He seemed to feed off the negativity. I noted he'd styled his hair into pointed tufts today, and he was wearing a leather jacket that made me think he rather looked like a Cueball style trainer from the games.
That merely cemented the idea of him using a poison type pokemon first.
I tucked the Luxury ball out of sight and crossed my arms, and the lights overhead boomed into life.
"And in this corner! Your Gym Leader and challenger for today! Please give it up, for Brock!" Rachel cried out.
"Show time," I said, with a smile.
The crowd responded like a well-oiled machine. The stomp-stomp clap rang out, and I held my position. People had mentioned how much they rather enjoyed the experience of being more than a lone voice and part of something greater, when this started each match.
It might have been an accidental masterstroke to reintroduce the song, "We Will Rock You!", to the pokemon world.
I held my position as the lights roamed the crowd, and that merely made them more enthusiastic. I grinned. Rachel was always finding new ways to make this memorable.
Once it seemed like the entire crowd had been lit up at least once the lights raced to my position and shone down on me.
With the crowd making the stadium rock, I strode forward and locked eyes on Gavin.
My grin grew when I saw him shift in place on his podium.
That's right, you messed up, and now you're going to learn what that means.
I performed my normal leap across the gap, and landed in the classic superhero pose as the crowd roared and the song that we'd had a local band record for us faded.
In the referee's stand, Jackson stood tall and raised his flags to go through the usual Ace briefing. Within what felt like moments he gestured with his flags. "Trainers! Are you ready!?"
"Ready!" "I'm good," said Gavin and I.
I locked eyes with him as my hand brought out Selene's Luxury ball. Gavin's eyes darted down. Ah, he was trying to read which pokemon I was going to send out first?
I noted that he relaxed when his eyes fell on the necklace that prominently held Titan's Greatball. Hmmm, so he wasn't confident against Titan eh?
I'd have to show him that I had a lot more tricks up my sleeve.
"Begin upon the release of your pokemon!" Jackson ordered, dropping his flags.
"Go! King!" barked Gavin.
"Go! Selene!" I shouted, a heartbeat behind him.
"Lunatone!" On the field, Selene manifested and hovered upward with a trill.
"King! Nido!" roared 'King' the Nidoking that Gavin had released.
I smirked. I'd been right—a good matchup straight out of the gates.
"Set One!" barked Gavin. Nidoking braced and began to unleash a barrage of poisonous spikes into the surrounding battlefield.
"Blast him!" I ordered. Selene's eyes glowed, and from the point of her arc, a beam of psychic energy was launched forth.
"Dig!" screamed Gavin, forcing his pokemon to abort the set up that he'd tried for. Gavin had some solid forms but I had done enough research to know that 'set up one' was standard fair for him and his pokemon to poison the field, poison the opposing pokemon and then set up stalling options.
Personally, I preferred his set up two which went for the opponent pokemon first.
It was a sign of good training but at the same time, it was entirely too predictable for an opening move. And thus, I had Selene unleash a super effective Psybeam at his pokemon.
King threw himself into a headfirst dive that saw the Psybeam missing, but I merely gestured down at the ground.
"Quake," I said straight away. Selene crashed into the ground, like gravity had suddenly increased tenfold. Instead of her being injured, however, the ground underneath her buckled as an Earthquake was blasted out, rocking the field and causing Nidoking to be launched out of the Dig.
Nidoking shook itself and staggered back onto his feet, but I could tell it had felt that move.
"Psychic!" I said, deciding to keep on the pressure.
"Throat Chop!" Gavin said. His pokemon raised its arms in front of itself, and dark energy emitted from its body, resulting in the Psychic failing to grasp or do any significant damage.
I tilted my head, watching as Nidoking charged forth, arms glowing ominously.
"Approaching me, hmmm? Selene, you know what to do," I said lazily.
Selene began to glow; her eyes locked on the charging Nidoking.
"Got you!" Gavin shouted as King closed in on us, only to gasp when Selene vanished in a Teleport. "What?!" he bellowed.
"Finish him," I said. Selene unleashed another Psybeam from right next to Nidoking's blindspot, nailing the powerful pokemon and hurling it out of the fight.
Gavin glared at me. "I call interference! Lunatone don't learn Teleport!"
Jackson nodded and raised a flag. "Ace trainer Gavin has raised a claim of interference regarding Lunatone's Teleport." Jackson indicated a hand in my direction. "Sadly, I can confirm that Selene, aka, this Lunatone, is capable of Teleport. It has not been used publicly except for a friendly match against Lance that was witnessed by the Rangers!"
Gavin's stunned face was far too enjoyable, and for a moment I felt my dark tendencies rearing up, as I delighted in the reveal of how skilled Selene was.
"She's got both skill and power," I said proudly. Selene swivelled back and forth in delight, and I chuckled before turning to Jackson. "I believe that grants me a move due to the disruption?"
Gavin snorted. "Oh, so it's cheap when Will does it but not when you do it?"
I leveled a dark look at Gavin, but instead of quivering, he jutted his chin.
I held his gaze for a long moment before shaking my head. "I can say we're nothing alike until the Miltank comes home, but it would never be enough for some people. Selene, Calm Mind, also Gavin your timer is ticking down," I said, pointing to the clock that had reached twenty seconds for his next pokemon release.
Selene trilled happily as a glow lit up around her once again, but this time she was buffing herself rather than attacking, or moving with Teleport. Gavin eyed her, and his hand slipped to another pokeball.
"Alright, if you want to play things that way!" Gavin said as he selected another pokeball. He hurled it out and released a large Arcanine that released a deep growl that rumbled forth like thunder.
"Speed!" Gavin ordered.
"Quake!" I responded instantly. Selene once again crashed into the ground, only for Arcanine to vanish in a blur as dust was kicked up.
The battlefield rumbled with force, and I snapped my eyes around looking for a hint of the Arcanine before shooting my gaze up. There I found Arcanine at the zenith of its leap; it was right above Selene and I knew I didn't have enough time for another Teleport.
"Crunch!" Gavin howled as dark energy glowed around Arcanine's maw.
I snapped my fingers up at the threat and responded with my best option. "Hyper Beam!" I shouted. Selene tilted herself like an artillery cannon, still embedded in the ground. A large orb of energy formed at the tips of her crescent before unleashing it straight at the descending Arcanine.
Arcanine, instead of catching my pokemon, was instead caught in the air and blown away.
Arcnine slammed into a barrier in front of the stands, where the Hyper Beam continued to push against it. When it ceased blasting Arcanine, the powerful pokemon fell.
I watched it fall and was stunned when it landed with a dull thump instead of landing on its feet.
When Arcanine didn't stir, I leaned forward in concern. Had Gavin sent out a pokemon that weak against me?
Gavin raised his pokeball and then I joined the crowd in exhaling in relief when the pokeball returned the pokemon.
I eyed Selene who was hovering with a wobble. That had been a strong attack… but that Arcanine shouldn't have been dropped just like that… Had she gotten a critical hit?
Nice.
I decided to capitalise on the stunned disbelief. "Nice shot Selene! Let's give the others a chance to shine!" I said loudly as I raised her Luxury ball to return her. The crowd responded with a wave of applause.
I smirked as I put her back on my belt. That would have been the best result, given how things might have played out. She would have won herself some fans with that performance.
I eyed Gavin, who seemed locked in hesitation.
If I wanted to, I could wait him out and respond to his pokemon, due to his pokemon being returned first, but I had other options. Sadly, I couldn't send out Zephyr and bait Gavin as I wanted to; Gavin had gotten off a Toxic Spikes after all.
"Go! Knight!" I ordered. Knight landed, and with his appearance, Gavin inhaled in surprise before grinning.
"Go Rapidash!" he shouted, releasing the pokemon. The fiery horse snorted in disdain as it eyed Knight.
Knight wasn't bothered by being looked down upon. Knight wasn't a pokemon with a lot of pride; he was a simple soul housed in a powerful frame, with an earnestness that made him strong.
"Stone Edge," I said, causing Knight to lash out with his tail and hammer some slabs of earth straight at Rapidash.
"Dodge to the side and Inferno!" Gavin responded. Rapidash performed a small hop and then whipped its head, its mane flaring and unleashing a wave of fire that crossed the field quickly.
"Dig dip," I said, resulting in Knight ducking under the wave of fire and evading the danger.
As Knight rose up out of the ground, Rapidash, much like Arcanine, blurred in a sudden display of speed. It appeared behind Knight, leaning forward with its rear legs raised to unleash a kick that I knew would be devastating.
"Protect!" I barked.
"Low Kick!" Gavin said, only to glower as Knight raised a shield instantly as Gavin punched forward. "Flamethrower!" he ordered. Rapidash hopped back a few metres to give itself some room as it inhaled.
"Sandstorm! Scrub the field" I shouted, causing Knight to raise a foot as his Protect dropped.
The Sandstorm swept the field as sand roared to life. Rapidash suddenly had to back up and shake itself in the face of the grating winds.
"Blow it away with Inferno, commit!" said Gavin. His pokemon this time spun with its entire body, its mane and tail brightening as flame swept the field.
"Dig dip into Earthquake!" I said. I might not have damaged Rapidash much, but I trusted I'd gotten rid of the Toxic Spikes with two Infernos and a Sandstorm scrubbing the field.
The sand and fire died away, only for a rumble to shake the field as Knight erupted and slammed a fist into the ground.
Instead of buckling in the face of the Earthquake, however, Rapidash reared up and began to dance on surprisingly deft feet.
Gavin punched the air. "That's the way! Use your training!"
I had to admit I was impressed with how Rapidash was dancing. It was a down right hypnotising display of dancing, mixed with bucking to land that resulted in always having a stable point that allowed Rapidash to evade a lot of the damage.
I played out a few options and decided I wanted to avoid letting this fight get stalled out as it had. "Return!" I said, surprising many in the crowd and even Gavin as he blinked.
He still had the presence of mind to order out a quick "Agility!" to his pokemon as I selected another pokemon.
"Go Shrek!" I shouted, unleashing Shrek onto the field, where he landed with a thud and a loud ribbit.
Gavin stared and looked around. He must have been expecting his Toxic spikes to do something, only to realise how I'd negated the environmental threat earlier. He swore and raised his own pokeball, not willing to allow this match to play out apparently. "Return Rapidash!" he growled.
"Bulk Up," I said happily. Shrek flexed, and his muscles swelled up as Gavin selected his next pokemon.
"Go Gyarados!" he said, releasing a Gyarados that roared and had Shrek stepping back, only to step back with a loud ribbit as he refused to be intimidated by the threat display.
I hummed. This might seem like a good idea for Gavin to send out a water type against another water type. Especially when compared to the fire type Rapidash.
But he was making critical errors, especially when in my Gym.
"Rock Slide," I said without missing a beat. Shrek dug his hands into the ground and then hurled rocks straight at the Gyarados.
"Hydro Pump," said Gavin. His pokemon responded quickly and blasted the flying rocks out of the air.
"Hop to the side and repeat," I said, more than happy to fire off another round of Rock Slide at the Flying type pokemon.
"Surf!" Gavin said.
"Surf," I said with a shrug, more than happy to match him, Surf to Surf.
Waves rose from each side of the battlefield before surging straight at each other. Both waves slammed into each other. Gyarados and Shrek became locked in close combat, with Gyarados curling itself around Shrek only for Shrek's fists to lash out.
Despite the larger pokemon wrapping around my pokemon, I knew I had Gavin right where I wanted him as our pokemon slammed into the ground.
"Stone Edge," I said. Shrek croaked, and his arm twisted out. He grabbed up a large fistful of rock and slammed it into Gyarados' side, causing it to roar out in pain.
"Again!" I said gleefully. Shrek repeated the action, and this time Gyarados went down. I looked up to find Gavin looking rather glum at how this match was turning out.
He pursed his lips and returned his pokemon. Once again, I decided to match him with another return. This time, however, I whipped out a pokemon that had already been sent out.
Selene reappeared, and she hovered up to her normal height, albeit a little slower than normal.
"Tch!" Gavin clicked his tongue. He raised a hand to his mouth, where he rubbed it worriedly in thought. I watched as he toyed with two pokeballs, his decision apparently not as clear as it had been moments before.
"Go Raichu!" he said with a tight expression.
"Quake," I said, without a moment's hesitation. Raichu, much like Rapidash, responded quickly, its tail stabbing into the ground and allowing it to bounce through Earthquake.
"Extremespeed into Iron Tail!" Gavin ordered, as soon as the Earthquake ended.
"Protect!' I replied immediately. The Protect rose and caught that Iron Tail just as Raichu reappeared with its tail whipping around, instead of slamming into Selene. Selene locked eyes with the fast rodent, before it darted back and gained some room.
"Trip up!" I said as the Protect dropped away. Selene perked up and once again crashed into the ground.
"Avoid it!" Gavin said quickly, only for no Earthquake to appear. Instead, Selene's eyes glowed and energy surrounded Raichu.
"Chu!" the electric mouse pokemon cried out in surprise. Selene had no mercy for it, however, as she promptly slammed it into the ground like she was trying to nail it down.
"Use Thunder to get out of there!" Gavin ordered.
"Toss it through a boulder!" I said to Selene. She did just that, and Raichu continued to be hammered with Psychic, as Selene refused to let go.
"Raichu, hang in there buddy!" said Gavin imploringly.
I shot him a look of disbelief. Had he almost sobbed just now?
His Raichu tried to regather itself with another blast of lightning, only to crumple as it seemingly took too much damage. "Raaaaaaai," it whined, going limp in Selene's Psychic grasp.
Selene paused and was about to let it go.
I was about to allow it, but with my eyes locked on Gavin, I caught the smirk that appeared on his features. "Hit it again, it's faking with Fake Tears," I said. Selene paused in lowering the pokemon and Gavin gained an 'oh shit' expression.
Raichu's head snapped up, and it tried to grab the ground only to be just out of reach. Selene's eyes glowed once more, and this time she slammed Raichu through a boulder with feeling.
This time, Raichu went down.
When Raichu fell, Gavin's shoulders slumped. He returned his pokemon and eyed me before raising a hand to the referee. "I am going to concede; I haven't brought the right pokemon to match Brock today," he said.
I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He'd only fought three of my pokemon! I still had tricks and plans to use! The crowd murmured in surprise at this while Jackson straightened up and raised a flag.
"Very well, this match will end at four to zero, with Ace Trainer Gavin conceding early." He then gestured to me, declaring "That means that Brock is the victor!" that got the crowd on their feet and cheering.
Selene warbled her joy at this unexpected boon, and I laughed before waving her over to share in the crowd's praise. I lowered the podiums and turned, starting to walk over to Gavin. Gavin hurried forward quickly, his own hand raised.
"Guess you got me a good one, Gym Leader," he said with a nod. Then he smiled, waved to the crowd,and walked away.
I blinked in surprise, used to a much longer discussion post match with my opponents. Well, apart from Will that is.
Sure I had called him out on his behaviour, but it didn't speak well of him that he'd conceded so quickly. I eyed the score. Or had he been avoiding a total wipe with six to zero officially registered on his record?
I shrugged and decided it didn't matter. Instead, I turned and waved to the crowd. With this victory, I'd gain a few more Ace points and climb up the Ace rankings. It wasn't much, but it was a start.
This time, I walked straight up to the reporters. They grinned at my approach, and I prepared myself for a different sort of battle. I made sure to keep Selene out during the entire post match interview.
"Brock! Does it feel good to face one of your naysayers like this?" started one reporter.
I grinned, more than happy with how this was starting.
By the time I was done, my smile was still firmly in place, despite the tough questions I'd been asked. I made sure to remind everyone that I was very interested in a rematch with Will, which got some nods of approval from the crowd that had remained behind.
When it was over, I gave the crowd a final wave and departed for the medical bay to get my pokemon checked over. Chansey merely sniffed at them before nodding at me as Knight, Selene and Shrek all lay on their tables. When I released the other pokemon I'd selected, they all called out their own praise for the three that had fought. I was amused to see Selene warbling happily while Knight ducked his head. Shrek merely croaked happily.
It might only be a few points, but I knew this was the first serious step into something more.
Will, and indeed any that came after him, would not be able to ignore me in the future.
I'd make sure of it.
Thanks go to my patreons for their support!
Thanks also go to Obiwankentucky for betaing this chapter!
Honestly wasn't expecting Gavin to take his loss gracefully like that, but it's a pleasant surprise.
Also it's a nice touch that his team genuinely is well trained - as we saw with the Rapidash in particular - and he's just let his mouth get him in a fight he can't win. Like, dude's not a scrub even if he's not on Brock or Will's level.
Also it's a nice touch that his team genuinely is well trained - as we saw with the Rapidash in particular - and he's just let his mouth get him in a fight he can't win. Like, dude's not a scrub even if he's not on Brock or Will's level.
flareonflare
the best 'mon is a fluffy 'mon
- Location
- australia
I realize pokemon themed clothes probably dont cost as much in the pokemon world, and brock is kinda rich. But im still jelous that brocks siblings get cool stuff like fluffy flareon onesies! A flareon onesie costs so much money on earth! So much!
I want one! But who besides the stinking rich even has the bajillion dollars it would cost to buy and ship it.
As the most flareon themed user on the internet, I am sad to not be able to match the flareon fashion of a fictional character who trains rock types!
Just you wait yolanda, this pokemon lass will definitely get an even fluffier flareon outfit than you!
I want one! But who besides the stinking rich even has the bajillion dollars it would cost to buy and ship it.
As the most flareon themed user on the internet, I am sad to not be able to match the flareon fashion of a fictional character who trains rock types!
Just you wait yolanda, this pokemon lass will definitely get an even fluffier flareon outfit than you!
- Location
- Scotland
You'd honestly be better and cheaper finding someone in Australia who makes custom clothing and getting them to do it for you. I'd maybe try finding someone who does a lot of that stuff on YouTube so that you can get an idea of their style (and hopefully an idea of whether they're actually competent) before you ask for a commission.
Astarael
The Weeper
I really love this, one of my favourite fics on the web currently. I reread everything every other week and love where it is going—especially the breeding and worldbuilding.
I'm kinda waiting for Brock's mum to be introduced though. I really want to know if she abandoned Brock or left for a reason, good or not.
I'm kinda waiting for Brock's mum to be introduced though. I really want to know if she abandoned Brock or left for a reason, good or not.
Well, we know a few things about her. She's a veteran of the war, and a notably effective one, who was betrayed by her family during the war and had to kill a lot of them. She has severe PTSD and equally severe mistrust of people she's related to as a result.
My money's on her leaving because she was losing her grip and didn't want to hurt her kids.
I mean, she might just be as much of a vapid airhead as her canon counterpart, who wandered off because she's an entitled deadbeat, but given the lengths taken to characterize Flint's issues as pretty much entirely stemming from the war I think it's likely she's got a similar justification.
- Location
- Scotland
If, and this is a pretty big if, she left for just such a reason and can say that she went and got some professional help to get things back together again, then I can actually see Brock forgiving her. By no means will it be easy, but providing she had one hell of a reason AND got help for it I can see Brock forgiving her...eventually. I suspect there will be a lot of screaming, shouting, recriminations and, of course, one heck of a Pokemon throwdown before the healing can kick in.
Didn't some of the stuff shown about Brocks mom in this story show that she had some kind of trauma from being hunted by rock types in the war? Like even after the war she kept leaving out bowls of water because if the water started moving she would know something was tunneling around in the area?
Chapter 146- To the Thunderdome! And Beyond!
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
I woke up to the blaring alarm and sighed. Damn, it was tempting to just lay back down today. On the other side of the bed, Sabrina grumbled and telekinetically unplugged the alarm. I chuckled and gave her a kiss before heading to the bathroom to go through my normal routines. The Guardian holopad joined me, allowing me to sit on the toilet and scroll through news about recent events.
A recent meeting where we discussed Will's upcoming challenges and how we were going to monitor them had raised an interesting point. We were over-reliant on meetings to share information. So a system had been set up for the easy sharing of information, with a morning briefing of any reports that were picked up by the usual Guardian liaisons.
From my understanding, local shrine maidens, Channellers, and Hex maniacs that answered to Agatha had additional funding to talk with locals and people that had their fingers on the pulse around Indigo. From them, we gained a much wider net of information that allowed us to be much more informed.
I knew for example, that the surge of trainers was currently spreading out throughout the central region of Kanto. After Cerulean City, which most people were racing through, they suddenly found themselves with up to seven different gyms they could challenge, three of which were the Big Gyms in Surge, Erika and then eventually Sabrina. Grey, Manny, Kong, and Sophia, as lesser gyms, were also getting serious consideration and coming under pressure.
Sophia had been forced to implement a limit of no more than four matches a day due to her smaller pokemon roster.
Manny was causing a number of trainers to scream in frustration as he beguiled and led them around by the nose during matches.
Kong was making examples of everyone who came in thinking they'd have it easy against him as a lesser Gym. He wasn't helped by his showing against Bruno, and that Sabrina's gym was obviously larger and more selective in who could face her. Kong quickly corrected the assumption of weakness and had a few people complaining about how hard a fight he was.
I didn't have as much insight on Grey, but the consensus was that he was facing a good number of challenges and simply working through them. If anything, he was considered competent, but he wasn't getting anywhere near as much positive or negative attention as other Gym Leaders. He was popular as a straightforward fight that could lead to another badge for the end of the circuit tally, however.
Lorelei had made appearances in the southern parts of Kanto to offer challenges to some people and was apparently helping to stop trainers from clumping up in certain regions.
All of this and more were now accessible to me at my fingertips thanks to a suggestion by Lucy.
Lucy had noticed the lack of information, or rather, the difficulty in accessing the information. Previously, we'd almost have had to call or set up meetings for each other. Now I got detailed information on everything going on in Kanto, and if I wanted to I could flip through another report on Johto.
It made sense to me that Lucy would have desired this, especially with how she was out on the frontier most of the time. She'd been gifted by the League and Fiore a plot of land along a peninsula and was setting up what she called her 'Battle Pike' for the Battle Frontier.
This involved a lot of planning and calming down the local pokemon and what few locals there were. It had been rather interesting to hear how she'd worked with the Fiore Rangers to negotiate with a group of rather hostile Ivysaurs that had been encountered.
It became normal for me to flick through the various reports, like they were nothing more than newspapers in the morning, for anything that immediately caught my eye. I'd look over it a bit more during breakfast, but otherwise… Yup, nothing in here seemed important enough I would need to move.
I tucked the Holopad away and walked out to greet Yolanda for the morning's training.
With my pokemon fired up, for the past week I'd made serious strides in strengthening my team. Sanchez's electrical attacks became more intense and more widespread. Don swept through Wing Attacks in tighter and tighter turning circles with Zephyr. Tide was able to endure more hits as well as control his emotional state when deliberately baited a lot more often than previously.
Knight grew stronger, faster, and larger, allowing him to really throw himself around.
Shin and Gawain needed to have some different training partners these days as they were too used to fighting each other to gain much. I'd had them shift to sparring with Jormundgandr, Bertha, Titan, and even Empress on one occasion each. On both occasions, I'd supervised closely.
The concept of sparring as a training exercise was something of a foreign one to Empress and I'd had to have the match run through at half speed to let her know how fights differed. It was a rather nuanced discussion of how intent behind hits and commitment to carry through attacks wasn't easy to convey.
She understood after a while, though and went easy on Shin, and then Gawain. Both of them only needed a bit of potion after she'd done batting them around.
Clefairy was almost able to not faint after performing Healing Wish, which was incredible progress. He'd ended up being an inspiration to all of my pokemon with his sheer drive and commitment to continue training and growing beyond the morning training sessions, causing others in my elite team to train with him.
Perhaps even without losing to Will, or facing a Moltres, I'd have seen an uptick in strength thanks to his joining the team.
Teddiursa remained the child of the team with how he was training, but his young age was holding him back from seriously training as hard as other pokemon in my team. He probably would have been more frustrated with the games I made him play if it wasn't for Empress also taking part in the drills.
Jormundgandr and I had continued our aura practice, and I was slowly, trudging my way towards developing the pool of energy that needed to be developed. Slow was smooth and smooth was fast I had to remind myself.
Especially with something that might backfire as badly as Mega Evolution. The stories the Guardians had access to told stories of people attempting it in the past, which almost universally resulted in pokemon becoming crazed due to the uptick in power.
Yolanda was at my side for all of this, asking questions when it didn't hinder the training and watching with thoughtful eyes. With all the work she was putting into herself and Terra, I couldn't wait to see how she did when she went on her journey. She'd be a monster.
She'd taken over training Cranidos, Tirtouga, Anorith, and a Lileep of her own, to expand her methods while supervised by me. The Lileep training mostly saw her copying my method with a few adjustments.
When training was done and the pokemon were all fed I gestured for Yolanda to follow me back. We passed Dennis, Jackson, Missy and A.J. all working with some of their personal pokemon, I paused to watch them for a while. Missy's Rhydon stood out to me.
It was handling the gravity training Missy was doing with it rather easily. I saw that A.J was watching said training rather enviously; apparently, he wanted to put some of his pokemon through the same regime. I'd have to read him in or perhaps supervise Missy teaching A.J. how it was done while Yolanda watched on.
I nodded and waved to Missy to catch her attention. "You interested in evolving your Rhydon?"
Missy's head furiously bounced up and down. "Yes!"
I chuckled. "Alright, I think they're at a good enough level that you've gotten as much from this training as you can. I'd keep training moves that you want them to naturally know now before it gets too difficult with another evolution slowing it down for him, otherwise, I might stencil in a time to see about getting it all set up."
I rubbed my chin. "We'll need a travel kit, and the whole weekend for it." I glanced over to where the earthworks were for the future volcanic region I'd have the Growlithe and Slugma move into. "Or we need to wait another week or two."
Yolanda noticed where my eyes had flickered, and her breath hitched. I winked at her but everyone didn't notice. A.J. tilted his head again. "Huh, Bughead was right! Your eyes do twitch!"
"Bughead?" I asked before shaking it off, he probably meant Bugsy. "What do you mean twitch?"
A.J. squinted angrily, and his eyes spasmed. "Like that," he said. Jackson, Dennis, and Missy all snickered as I blinked in surprise.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Damn you Bugsy… no they're not twitching I'm just… winking," I said.
"Huh," A.J. said. "Looks like they're twitching." This time the others didn't restrain themselves as Yolanda and I glowered. Damn, Flint's genetically narrow eyes and A.J.'s bluntness.
I reached out and flicked him on the forehead, and he grumbled.
"What was that for?" he said.
I shot him an unimpressed look, and he stared for a long moment. I could almost hear the gears of his mind grinding together.
"Oh! That was rude wasn't it?" I nodded slowly. "Oh sorry then!" he said, now chastised.
I shook my head and waved him off deciding to leave that where it was. Yolanda walked alongside me her hands drifting up to pull at her eyelids. "There's nothing wrong with your eyes," I said causing her to cough and nod.
"Right! So, does the Rhydon evolution require a volcano?" she asked.
"Yup," I said, deciding to allow the shift in topic for now. "It requires that you build up clay and fire it while it is slathered to a Rhydon's body. I theorise that the shape you use can change the armouring of the later pokemon, but evolutionary energy will smooth out some issues."
"Oh?" Yolanda said.
I nodded. "I studied a lot of older armour styles that medieval knights used in the past."
"Medieval knights?" Yolanda asked, her head tilting to the side.
"Huh?" I said intelligently back. Oh right, they wouldn't have had access to that in normal school, would they? "Oh, so before the war there were a number of different regions. Some of them had different styles of trainers and warriors that roamed their lands. Kanto and Johto both favoured wearing leather armour, which I took a bit of inspiration from, but I mostly looked to the trainers that encased themselves in steel armour."
"Steel armour?" she said curiously.
"Tar?" said Terra with a gleam in her eyes.
I gestured towards my room. "I have a number of drawings I made up from back then. I think I still have them. We can go through them together if you'd like."
"That would be nice," Yolanda agreed. "But I'd love to hear more about these knights! What did they do?"
So I told her about the knights of Kalos and Rota, both places that I knew still held to certain knightly traditions. How they lived by a code and mostly favoured steel-type pokemon. She seemed rather interested by it all. When I was done and had some cereal made up for us both she sat next to me in a thoughtful silence. I left her to her thoughts and instead turned on the television.
I chewed my cereal while eying the television that was on in the lounge room. The morning news hosts were detailing what had occurred around Kanto in the past twenty-four hours.
I was amused to notice that some of the more serious incidents, like the attempted theft in Hollywood were rather sparse with details.
Details that I was privy to thanks to starting the morning these days by reading the news feed from the Guardians.
The thefts themselves had been linked back to a couple that were rather odd in that they had decided they wanted to make an ominous house. For that they enticed Murkrow to come to their house with pokefeed. They'd even set up a bartering system that saw the Murkrow able to trade small items to them for more food.
This had escalated until the Murkrow started handing in money to the couple. The couple themselves had thought nothing off it. They'd ended up accidentally teaching a murder of Murkrows to steal pokemoney however, resulting in the pokemon attempting to raid a bank's security van.
I had no doubt that tonight's news report would be much more humorous in tone than this mornings serious take on the event. The police themselves were only just learning all of the details and sequence of events.
"You really have to know a lot of different things to make strides with pokemon don't you?" Yolanda said, speaking up after the last few minutes of silence.
"Hmmm?" I said, turning back to her and considering how the conversation had been going. "Oh, yeah, it helps if you have more experiences to draw from. Thankfully, there's a lot more access to information these days. The pokenet was fairly new when I started, so most of my research was done at the library after school. Nowadays you can get information with the click of a button."
Salvadore tilted his head but didn't say anything.
I grinned at Yolanda. "That being said you can discover a lot of new things without having to go too far, but there's always more to learn! It makes things so exciting doesn't it?" I tilted my head at her childishly.
She beamed back at me. "It sure does! I can't wait to put everything you've been showing me into practise properly with my own team!"
I chuckled, and she collected up the dirty plates and spoons before depositing them in the dishwasher. She turned back to me with a wry smile. "You know there's no way you're going to be able to take me and not Salvadore for this Rhydon evolution right?"
That drew Salvadore out of his musings.
"Huh?" he said taking a swipe at his empty bowl. At his side, Munchlax burped happily and slid the empty bowl towards Yolanda.
I chuckled. I could also think of a number of professors and their assistants that would love it. I'd let that be a consideration for future Brock.
Today I had to go and support Surge while making sure Will didn't cheat. Or, more preferably, that when he cheated, he got caught and punished.
For that, I was going down to Vermillion to Surge's Gym.
Or as Surge liked to call it, the Thunderdome.
The Thunderdome of Vermilion City was located in the southern part of the city, along the coast. A position that Surge always lamented due to how exposed it was.
I'd always thought of it as a good position due to accessibility.
In the games, it had been blocked off by some hedges, but in reality, it was a sizeable part of a boulevard that met at a long wharf where people could dock boats. There was even a ferry that dropped people off at various points around the city. The river, further allowed the city to utilise the ferry and have a system in place. Numerous waterways led into canals in the rich part of town while the industrial sector was further in and closer to the hills and forests.
That gave Surge no end of delight. The rich were unknowingly in a terrible position should the war ever break out, while the industry was better defended.
I didn't have the heart to point out that the rich people owned those factories and refineries.
The Thunderdome itself was another gym that had seen refurbishment since the last circuit. Surge had apparently thrown his winnings from betting big on me against Lance into his Gym.
This was shown with the entry being a smoothly paved walkway that led towards a wide entrance. The roof was slanted and had a slash tracking back on itself, so that the roof and entrance looked like a giant thunderbolt striking the ground.
I walked around to the back. On the roof, I saw some flickers of movement that had me pausing. "That you Janine?" I asked aloud.
Janine appeared by my side. "No, I was running a ground patrol, but don't worry, the people on the roof are ours. We have people that have also taken up overwatch positions."
I flicked my eyes up to the building Surge and I had raided weeks ago. There was a certain delicious irony in using an observation base of Team Rocket to defend against them.
We'd also claimed a few other rooftops just to guarantee it. Team Rocket would after all know all about that base's point of view.
I glanced over a few other rooftops and found some people standing atop and waving flags obnoxiously. "Having them pose as Surge fans?"
Janine shook her head. "Some of them are supportive without knowing they are part of a larger organisation. They think they are performing something called a tailgating party on the rooftops."
"Surge! Surge! Surge!" chanted one group.
"Thunder! Thunder! Thunder!" chanted another.
I tilted my head. "Are they… competing with each other?" I asked. I could see a few trails of smoke. "Do they have barbecues up there with them?"
Janine nodded. "Indeed, they are, and yes they do. I've found them to be very useful idiots. Some have even taken it upon themselves to 'claim' other rooftops for their group."
I glanced at the three groups and scratched my chin. "How are they telling each other apart?"
Janine's lips twitched upwards. "They don't; it is extremely amusing to watch, but it works to keep any unwanted parties from taking the rooftops. They are also watching the other roofs as much as they are the projections they have set up to watch the match.
"Huh, neat," I said. A flash of light announced Sabrina's arrival.
Janine twitched and threw a kick, only for Sabrina to raise a finger and for Janine to halt. Janine flexed her own aura, and the psychic energy broke. Sabrina took a step back, and Janine slowly lowered her leg.
"I could have hurt you, you need to be more careful!" Janine chided.
Sabrina considered Janine before inclining her head. "My apologies, I did not know you were present when I teleported to Brock's location."
Janine blinked. "Oh… I thought you had been trying to tease me."
"If I wanted to tease you, I'd just tease you," Sabrina replied. "But I do not wish to." Sabrina flicked her eyes over Janine and the younger girl tensed up. "I like your outfit, it looks nice on you and suits you."
Janine gaped. She'd obviously not been expecting that. She shuffled from foot to foot. "Oh, thank you?" she said, squirting at Sabrina as though looking for the trap.
I coughed, reminding the girls that I was there. "Right, I'm not sure what this is beyond awkward teenage antics."
Janine huffed at me. "You're a teenager as well!"
I smirked. "I'm an old soul."
Janine twitched and glanced at Sabrina for support. Sabrina shook her head. "He is very mature… most of the time."
I smiled at first, only for Janine to chuckle. I narrowed my eyes and huffed. Right, if that's how they wanted to play it. I rolled my eyes and waved for the girls to follow me.
I knocked on the back door with the classic shave and a haircut rhythm. It opened to reveal what I could only refer to as a sergeant. He assessed me and the girls before grunting. "Gym Leaders," he said in greeting. Janine twitched with happiness at being greeted in such a manner, but the man didn't notice.
"Surge's favourite beer?"
"Juddumber," I said easily.
"Surge's favourite colour?"
"Thunderbolt yellow," I said.
"Got any weapons on you?" he asked.
"None but my fists and my pokemon team," I said.
He considered that before sighing like I'd disappointed him. He turned to the girls. "What about you girls?"
Janine smiled charmingly. "I am a third Dan Black Belt in Aikido, and it's not polite to ask a lady if she is armed." The man stared at her, and Janine smiled. "I have nunchuck, kunai and some throwing stars," she said proudly.
"Oh, nice!" he said happily. His gaze turned to Sabrina and she tilted her head in thought.
"I can make you think you are a little girl that needs adult supervision to go to the bathroom."
The man stepped aside instantly. "Go right through Gym Leader Sabrina and friends."
Janine clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Blast I should have mentioned my poison mastery instead of going for the straightforward threat."
Sabrina merely hummed and nodded as she laced her arm through mine.
"I can break boulders with my fists and terrify people with a Glare…" I grumbled.
Sabrina patted my hand. "Those are threats these people are used to. Abstract threats that their minds can't handle are much more frightening to military types," she said as we entered another room.
"Ain't that the truth!" barked a loud voice. I looked up to find Surge in his back training room, sitting on a bench "What you threaten my man with?"
"I told him how I could make him think he was a little girl if I desired.," Sabrina replied.
Surge snickered at that. "Good one!" He nodded to me and tilted his head towards Janine. "So, you're little Janine?"
"I am not—" Janine started to say only for Surge to stand up and hold out his hand to her.
Janine seemed to realise how pointless it would be to dispute her size to a man who made grown men look like dwarves. His hand was almost the size of her head alone, and that silenced her as he smiled.
"Nice to meet another young, up-and-coming Gym Leader!" he said amicably. "You got any issues? Come round or call, and I'll help out! Us Gym Leaders need to help each other out yeah?"
Janine nodded. I smirked up at Surge. "How often has Manny come around?"
Surge's finger shot in front of my face. "That is not funny! I know he's playing, but I don't appreciate his games!" Surge shuddered. "It's like bootcamp all over again, with having to keep my back to a wall around that man."
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't—" I started to say only for Surge to bark a laugh.
"Ha! Don't let me fool you! I don't mind a slap on the rear! Ain't nothing but a compliment!" he said with a snort.
"Ah," I said eloquently. I shifted and glanced to his pokebelt. "So, you have your pokemon team chosen already?"
Surge sat back down on his bench and hunched forward. "Yup! But if you want to shoot the shit, I'm down. We got another twenty minutes before I got to be out there."
"What team are you fielding?" Janine asked.
Surge grinned. "Nah, I ain't rookie enough to say it or even write it down." Surge tapped his temple. "Gotta be careful with things like that. I have strategies set up though, don't you worry!"
I nodded. It was a reasonable suggestion. "What are you going to do if he has a Claydol?"
"Hmm that is the biggest threat, ain't it?" Surge said. "I have a pokemon or two that have options for it though. Depends if he thinks he is going to send those out first. I think he will start with his—"
We traded suggestions and speculation on Will's team. I'd shot Janine a look during this discussion, and she'd shaken her head, indicating she hadn't been able to find Will to sneak up and learn which pokemon he was fielding today.
Supposedly, he was going to teleport to the front of the Gym at the start of the match. He'd been rather vocal about the Kanto Gym Leaders not letting him teleport onto the podium and trying to drum up support for this.
Despite some talking heads bringing it up on their shows a lot, not even the Cerulean sisters had lowered their dark emitters to allow him such extravagance.
When it was time, Surge stood and led us towards the tunnel that had three doors at the end. One led to the stands, one led to the podium, and the other led to a Gym trainer area that Surge expected us to sit in.
Surge turned and nodded towards us before moving through the central door. Janine blurred away into the stands, not that I expected her to remain there. It was more than likely that she'd be roaming throughout the entire Gym.
Sabrina and I turned to the leftmost door and walked into the box that overlooked the battlefield. I noticed a number of televisions that allowed the gym trainers to watch the match from multiple angles, along with the glass front that separated the trainers from the stands.
I claimed a plush chair with more than enough room for Sabrina and myself to sit.
"Goooooood evening, ladies and gentlemen! It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Vermillion City Gym, or as we locals know it." The announcer paused and put a hand to his ear, and the crowd roared the answer.
"THUNDERDOME!" they chanted.
The announcer nodded. "I'm Mayor Quimby and Lt. Surge has given me the pleasure of introducing the combatants for this match! I hope you're all ready for a good fight tonight! Please remember not to climb up the poles around the sides of the battlefield, as those poles are there for your safety!" he said, indicating a number of large poles that had small prongs sticking out of them.
"What are those for?" I asked.
"They appear to be attachment points for the barrier projectors," Sabrina said after considering the poles.
"That's only half right," said the Gym Trainer who had opened the door for us. "The Gym Leader's more serious battles run the risk of shorting out the barriers and putting people in danger. So we installed earthing rods so that the lighting hit the machines if it gets fired off at a bad angle. With the pylons, it doesn't hit the barrier or run the risk of bringing down a section of barriers."
"That's happened before?" I asked.
"Once," the man said. "The Ace trainer was good about it though and waited for the barrier to be reset so the crowd could be safe." The man worked his jaw, and a dark look crossed his face. "Somehow I don't think that Will would care; he might even aim to short them out."
"Yeah," I said. I glanced towards a section in the middle of the battlefield, directly underneath the referee's podium. "You have something set up in case he tries to Mean Look, stall you out for an advantage?"
The man nodded. "Oh yeah, we're not letting him pull that shit." I grunted, and the man blinked before realising why that would annoy me. "Oh shit sorry man. It was pretty badass watching you carry your pokemon out of there like that. How heavy do you reckon he was?"
"About two hundred or so," I said casually.
The man nodded and gained a thoughtful look. "Huh, and you picked that Aggron like it was a child…" He considered me. "If it wasn't for the Trick Room… you'd have gotten your pokemon out of there, wouldn't you?"
I nodded but frowned. "Yeah…"
Had I been impacted by that, or had Mewtwo been hindering me even then? I had dark energy coursing through me… but it was a Legendary pokemon at the end of the day, and if my encounter against Moltres had taught me anything, Legendary pokemon were different. Some of their abilities were outright bullshit.
"—this corner the man of mystery! So much so that we don't even know his town of origin! The masked Challenger! Give it up for Will!"
I was surprised to see a number of people rising to their feet and boo loudly.
Surge, as ever, had been extremely vocal in his opinion of Will's battle against me and that had transmitted to a lot of his supporters.
The diehard fans of Will were once again present, but they were easily shouted down.
The Mayor chuckled and shook his head halfheartedly before gesturing to the other side. "And now! Your big bad Gym Leader! The man who makes women swoon wherever he goes! The thundering storm of Kanto! Lieutenant Surge!"
The Gym darkened only for the tunnel to light up faintly illuminating Surge. Around the Gym the earth rods suddenly jolted with lightning and a harsh zap shot between them caused a jolt of lightning and a rumble to fill the room.
The Gym trainer from earlier shot Sabrina and me a smug look. "They also work like Tesla coils and add some serious cool factor, no?"
I chuckled and nodded.
Surge stepped out of the tunnel and locked eyes with Will. His grin stretched his face, and I leaned forward as he strode towards his podium.
The crowd went nuts, cheering for him. He strode through them and raised his hands out to the side, allowing people to high-five him and clap him on the shoulders as he marched past them. I was pretty sure someone threw underwear at him but those vanished so quickly that I wasn't sure if I had just imagined seeing them.
The announcer nodded to Surge and then waved to the crowd. "And now! I hand over the show to our referee, please give a round of applause to a representative from the Indigo League! Referee Timothy!"
I sat up at that and noticed the mild-mannered auditor standing in front of everyone. I shot the Gym trainer I'd been talking to a curious look. He grunted. "If it came down to us letting something cheap through, we wouldn't let it ride. Surge reached out to the League for a neutral ref."
"Ah," I said in understanding. "To be fair, I think Dennis made the right call as much as it frustrated me. I don't doubt that Dennis was hurting having to do that but did his job very well."
"Yeah… well we couldn't be that impartial," said the man with a dark glower at Will.
"Thank you!" Timothy said, with a surprisingly powerful oratory tone.
He raised his hands to both Will and Surge. "Gentlemen it is my, and the League's hope that we will have a nice clean match!" He pointedly looked at both men before nodding to himself, ignoring how both of their lips twitched into dark smirks.
"This match will be a standard Ace match with six trade-out options allowed! Any dodges performed by the trade-out will result in penalties with the severity including the loss of said pokemon from returning to the battle! I will be calling it if I think a pokemon cannot battle anymore! I don't want any accidents or cripplings with this match!"
The nearby trainer snorted, and I got the feeling Timothy was calling out Surge more than Will with that last statement.
"With that said! Both trainers! Select your first pokemon!"
Surge and Will selected their pokemon.
"Trainers! Are you ready?" said the referee.
Both men nodded, and Surge leaned forward slightly. Will perked up, and as the flags dropped, I had an ominous premonition. Will's eyes weren't visible behind his mask, but I got the feeling they were glowing.
Will revealed a Mr Mime that leered across at Surge's revealed Jolteon. I rubbed my chin in thought.
That was a good matchup. Lots of speed, utility, and some powerful matchups if Will had gone for Starmie, Exeggutor, or something from the Slowpoke line such as Slowbro or Slowking.
My awareness became hyper-focused as I watched each moment crawl forward.
"Hit him!" roared Surge with a gleam in his eyes as he punched forward. Jolteon began to spark and I saw it twitch and blur forward.
As this was going on, Will clenched his own fist in front of himself. "Protect!" he said instantly.
Mr Mime crossed his arms in front of himself, and Protect formed up causing the oncoming thunderbolt that Jolteon was in the middle of to slam face-first into the barrier.
Jolteon staggered at the impact as the electricity washed over the Protect impotently.
The Protect dropped away, and Mr Mime leered at Jolteon. "Confusion!" Will said with a hand extended as though he was imploring his pokemon. Mr Mime's fingers twitched back and forth in a no-no-no gesture. Jolteon twitched only to the snake itself.
"Shake it off Jolteon! Bite them!" Surge commanded.
Jolteon lunged to the side and gnashed its teeth. I cursed as the Pokemon hurled itself to the side of Mr Mime instead of locking its fangs on the other pokemon.
"Calm Mind," said Will happily.
"JOLTEON!" roared Surge, "I will have you up on insubordination! If you're dizzy always lunge at the one in the middle dagnabit! Missiles go!!" he ordered.
The edges around Jolteon's body bent forward and glowed with green bug energy before lancing out with Pin Missile.
"Mr Mime do your best! Reflect it!" he said a light sheen of a barrier forming up in front of his pokemon only for the Pin Missile to stab straight through it like bullets through cheap glass.
Mr Mime took the hits and staggered to the ground. His head dropped as he knelt gasping in pain.
"That's it!" Surge said. "Now Bite him!"
Jolteon lunged, its jaw glowing darkly, only for Mr Mime's head to snap up with a sneer as a fist encased in dark energy of its own slammed upwards straight into Jolteon's jaw, sending the pokemon sailing away.
"Excellent draw in Mr Mime! Control the pace with another Confusion!" Will ordered causing Jolteon to take another hit. Interestingly, Mr Mime was already acting before he'd even spoken.
"He's psychically connected to his pokemon isn't he?" I tilted my head. "He's being very inconsistent with how he gives orders. What's up with that?" I asked.
Sabrina nodded and I clicked my tongue.
Sabrina made a so-so gesture. "It is a sign of him not being used to projection like that. He has some skills as a psychic but it is not something he is used to using. Most of the time he only starts off that way as he has time and feels safe linking his pokemon. When he is flustered, he reverts to speaking orders."
She inclined her head towards me. "As shown when you fought him. There was too much risk of you disrupting him with some of your pokemon. He knew you had lots of pokemon that had dark-type moves or something that would daze him. You were able to blindside him with your Kleavor's Stone Axe's special ability. He was too focused on fighting well to take in the entire field. Right now, he is using it to give orders faster but he is also ordering with his voice."
Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "He is more assured of himself against Surge, so instead of hiding his commands, he is going for speed, which is not a terrible idea as Surge will otherwise sweep him with how fast his pokemon move."
I clicked my tongue at that as Jolteon staggered. Surge narrowed his eyes and raised a pokeball. "Return Jolteon, we're not dancing to his tune let's shuffle it up!" Surge selected another pokemon as Will had his Mr Mime perform another Calm Mind quickly.
Another pokemon appeared on the field a moment later. "Let's rock Ampharos! Use Electric Terrain!"
I whistled; that was a different order.
"Mr Mime! Use—" I watched as Will spoke, only for his pokemon to already be moving. Now That I was aware of it, I couldn't miss the faster reactions occurring with Will's pokemon.
Mr Mime used another move that buffed itself up. Part of me was pleased, as I suspected that it was a third Calm Mind which wouldn't offer as large a benefit as another move would have. It did make me worried for how hard that Mr Mime would hit.
Surge seemed just as aware of this however as he smirked. "Light em up!" he barked.
A moment later, a spark blazed atop Ampharos' head. Sabrina suddenly reached out and put a hand over my eyes. I had a moment to open my mouth only for a blinding Flash to blaze out of Ampharos.
Mr Mime, Will, and everyone in the stadium cried out in shock.
Sabrina dropped her hand and shook her head. "Apologies, I couldn't delay. I have seen Surge do that before."
I nodded and ran some Dark energy up to my eyes to get rid of any other residual after images from the Flash.
Will had been caught out and his attention seemed to waver. Heh, it seems like Surge had gotten him twice with how Will had linked himself. That was if his mask didn't block it? Was it like taking a double flash bang? I really hoped so. I grinned when I noticed tears trickling under the mask on Will's face. Nice one Surge.
"Baton p-pass!" Will slurred out, holding out a pokeball towards Mr Mime.
Instead of trading out with the closer pokeball something must have gone wrong; as Mr Mime, still rubbing at his eyes returned to his pokeball, only for another pokeball, notably not the pokeball Will was holding out, opened.
"No!" Will gasped as his Alakazam appeared on the field, unfolding itself from its meditative position to stand.
The crowd roared their approval. I grinned. "Hmmm, Surge just forced Will's strongest out onto the field."
Will bared his teeth, and I noted there was wetness trickling under his mask. So, it didn't block it as the crowd cheered for Surge.
"Psychic!" barked Will. His pokemon raised up its spoon as blue energy built up around Ampharos. Alakazam flicked its spoons, and Ampharos was hurled to the side.
"DP!" snapped Surge causing his pokemon to erupt in purple energy aorund itself, disrupting the Psychic and dampening the impact as it hit the wall. I breathed out in relief. Damn, that had been close.
"Good reactions," I said before glancing around. "Anything from the others?" I said, checking my transceiver.
Sabrina shook her head. "No, it doesn't seem Will has had his hand forced as yet."
I grimaced. Will was starting out quite strongly here, wasn't he?
"Again!" ordered Will.
"Blast him!" snarled Surge. From Ampharos' maw, a ball of energy was built and fired straight at Alakazam.
"Teleport," Will said causing his pokemon to vanish to the side and out of danger.
Will smirked only for the expression to vanish as the beam bore down on his position. He flinched for a moment before the barriers lit up and absorbed the attack.
Will sighed in relief, then he straightened and waved a dismissive hand towards the gasping Ampharos. "Finish it, Psychic!" he said, making sure his pokemon did not close with the electric pokemon.
This time, Ampharos was hurled straight into the wall with nothing to lessen the impact. It went down and Surge clicked his tongue as he withdrew his pokemon. "You did well, bud," he said before locking eyes with Will. "You're a slippery one ain't you?"
Will glowered. "I've drawn first blood, as it were? No?"
"I saw you flinch," Surge said with a smirk. Will glowered at him. Surge selected another pokemon. "This is way too early for anything. After all, it ain't over till the fat lady sings."
He threw out his next pokemon, and I settled in for the fight, wondering how Surge would win.
A.N. Thanks goes to my Patreons for their continued support.
A recent meeting where we discussed Will's upcoming challenges and how we were going to monitor them had raised an interesting point. We were over-reliant on meetings to share information. So a system had been set up for the easy sharing of information, with a morning briefing of any reports that were picked up by the usual Guardian liaisons.
From my understanding, local shrine maidens, Channellers, and Hex maniacs that answered to Agatha had additional funding to talk with locals and people that had their fingers on the pulse around Indigo. From them, we gained a much wider net of information that allowed us to be much more informed.
I knew for example, that the surge of trainers was currently spreading out throughout the central region of Kanto. After Cerulean City, which most people were racing through, they suddenly found themselves with up to seven different gyms they could challenge, three of which were the Big Gyms in Surge, Erika and then eventually Sabrina. Grey, Manny, Kong, and Sophia, as lesser gyms, were also getting serious consideration and coming under pressure.
Sophia had been forced to implement a limit of no more than four matches a day due to her smaller pokemon roster.
Manny was causing a number of trainers to scream in frustration as he beguiled and led them around by the nose during matches.
Kong was making examples of everyone who came in thinking they'd have it easy against him as a lesser Gym. He wasn't helped by his showing against Bruno, and that Sabrina's gym was obviously larger and more selective in who could face her. Kong quickly corrected the assumption of weakness and had a few people complaining about how hard a fight he was.
I didn't have as much insight on Grey, but the consensus was that he was facing a good number of challenges and simply working through them. If anything, he was considered competent, but he wasn't getting anywhere near as much positive or negative attention as other Gym Leaders. He was popular as a straightforward fight that could lead to another badge for the end of the circuit tally, however.
Lorelei had made appearances in the southern parts of Kanto to offer challenges to some people and was apparently helping to stop trainers from clumping up in certain regions.
All of this and more were now accessible to me at my fingertips thanks to a suggestion by Lucy.
Lucy had noticed the lack of information, or rather, the difficulty in accessing the information. Previously, we'd almost have had to call or set up meetings for each other. Now I got detailed information on everything going on in Kanto, and if I wanted to I could flip through another report on Johto.
It made sense to me that Lucy would have desired this, especially with how she was out on the frontier most of the time. She'd been gifted by the League and Fiore a plot of land along a peninsula and was setting up what she called her 'Battle Pike' for the Battle Frontier.
This involved a lot of planning and calming down the local pokemon and what few locals there were. It had been rather interesting to hear how she'd worked with the Fiore Rangers to negotiate with a group of rather hostile Ivysaurs that had been encountered.
It became normal for me to flick through the various reports, like they were nothing more than newspapers in the morning, for anything that immediately caught my eye. I'd look over it a bit more during breakfast, but otherwise… Yup, nothing in here seemed important enough I would need to move.
I tucked the Holopad away and walked out to greet Yolanda for the morning's training.
With my pokemon fired up, for the past week I'd made serious strides in strengthening my team. Sanchez's electrical attacks became more intense and more widespread. Don swept through Wing Attacks in tighter and tighter turning circles with Zephyr. Tide was able to endure more hits as well as control his emotional state when deliberately baited a lot more often than previously.
Knight grew stronger, faster, and larger, allowing him to really throw himself around.
Shin and Gawain needed to have some different training partners these days as they were too used to fighting each other to gain much. I'd had them shift to sparring with Jormundgandr, Bertha, Titan, and even Empress on one occasion each. On both occasions, I'd supervised closely.
The concept of sparring as a training exercise was something of a foreign one to Empress and I'd had to have the match run through at half speed to let her know how fights differed. It was a rather nuanced discussion of how intent behind hits and commitment to carry through attacks wasn't easy to convey.
She understood after a while, though and went easy on Shin, and then Gawain. Both of them only needed a bit of potion after she'd done batting them around.
Clefairy was almost able to not faint after performing Healing Wish, which was incredible progress. He'd ended up being an inspiration to all of my pokemon with his sheer drive and commitment to continue training and growing beyond the morning training sessions, causing others in my elite team to train with him.
Perhaps even without losing to Will, or facing a Moltres, I'd have seen an uptick in strength thanks to his joining the team.
Teddiursa remained the child of the team with how he was training, but his young age was holding him back from seriously training as hard as other pokemon in my team. He probably would have been more frustrated with the games I made him play if it wasn't for Empress also taking part in the drills.
Jormundgandr and I had continued our aura practice, and I was slowly, trudging my way towards developing the pool of energy that needed to be developed. Slow was smooth and smooth was fast I had to remind myself.
Especially with something that might backfire as badly as Mega Evolution. The stories the Guardians had access to told stories of people attempting it in the past, which almost universally resulted in pokemon becoming crazed due to the uptick in power.
Yolanda was at my side for all of this, asking questions when it didn't hinder the training and watching with thoughtful eyes. With all the work she was putting into herself and Terra, I couldn't wait to see how she did when she went on her journey. She'd be a monster.
She'd taken over training Cranidos, Tirtouga, Anorith, and a Lileep of her own, to expand her methods while supervised by me. The Lileep training mostly saw her copying my method with a few adjustments.
When training was done and the pokemon were all fed I gestured for Yolanda to follow me back. We passed Dennis, Jackson, Missy and A.J. all working with some of their personal pokemon, I paused to watch them for a while. Missy's Rhydon stood out to me.
It was handling the gravity training Missy was doing with it rather easily. I saw that A.J was watching said training rather enviously; apparently, he wanted to put some of his pokemon through the same regime. I'd have to read him in or perhaps supervise Missy teaching A.J. how it was done while Yolanda watched on.
I nodded and waved to Missy to catch her attention. "You interested in evolving your Rhydon?"
Missy's head furiously bounced up and down. "Yes!"
I chuckled. "Alright, I think they're at a good enough level that you've gotten as much from this training as you can. I'd keep training moves that you want them to naturally know now before it gets too difficult with another evolution slowing it down for him, otherwise, I might stencil in a time to see about getting it all set up."
I rubbed my chin. "We'll need a travel kit, and the whole weekend for it." I glanced over to where the earthworks were for the future volcanic region I'd have the Growlithe and Slugma move into. "Or we need to wait another week or two."
Yolanda noticed where my eyes had flickered, and her breath hitched. I winked at her but everyone didn't notice. A.J. tilted his head again. "Huh, Bughead was right! Your eyes do twitch!"
"Bughead?" I asked before shaking it off, he probably meant Bugsy. "What do you mean twitch?"
A.J. squinted angrily, and his eyes spasmed. "Like that," he said. Jackson, Dennis, and Missy all snickered as I blinked in surprise.
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. "Damn you Bugsy… no they're not twitching I'm just… winking," I said.
"Huh," A.J. said. "Looks like they're twitching." This time the others didn't restrain themselves as Yolanda and I glowered. Damn, Flint's genetically narrow eyes and A.J.'s bluntness.
I reached out and flicked him on the forehead, and he grumbled.
"What was that for?" he said.
I shot him an unimpressed look, and he stared for a long moment. I could almost hear the gears of his mind grinding together.
"Oh! That was rude wasn't it?" I nodded slowly. "Oh sorry then!" he said, now chastised.
I shook my head and waved him off deciding to leave that where it was. Yolanda walked alongside me her hands drifting up to pull at her eyelids. "There's nothing wrong with your eyes," I said causing her to cough and nod.
"Right! So, does the Rhydon evolution require a volcano?" she asked.
"Yup," I said, deciding to allow the shift in topic for now. "It requires that you build up clay and fire it while it is slathered to a Rhydon's body. I theorise that the shape you use can change the armouring of the later pokemon, but evolutionary energy will smooth out some issues."
"Oh?" Yolanda said.
I nodded. "I studied a lot of older armour styles that medieval knights used in the past."
"Medieval knights?" Yolanda asked, her head tilting to the side.
"Huh?" I said intelligently back. Oh right, they wouldn't have had access to that in normal school, would they? "Oh, so before the war there were a number of different regions. Some of them had different styles of trainers and warriors that roamed their lands. Kanto and Johto both favoured wearing leather armour, which I took a bit of inspiration from, but I mostly looked to the trainers that encased themselves in steel armour."
"Steel armour?" she said curiously.
"Tar?" said Terra with a gleam in her eyes.
I gestured towards my room. "I have a number of drawings I made up from back then. I think I still have them. We can go through them together if you'd like."
"That would be nice," Yolanda agreed. "But I'd love to hear more about these knights! What did they do?"
So I told her about the knights of Kalos and Rota, both places that I knew still held to certain knightly traditions. How they lived by a code and mostly favoured steel-type pokemon. She seemed rather interested by it all. When I was done and had some cereal made up for us both she sat next to me in a thoughtful silence. I left her to her thoughts and instead turned on the television.
I chewed my cereal while eying the television that was on in the lounge room. The morning news hosts were detailing what had occurred around Kanto in the past twenty-four hours.
I was amused to notice that some of the more serious incidents, like the attempted theft in Hollywood were rather sparse with details.
Details that I was privy to thanks to starting the morning these days by reading the news feed from the Guardians.
The thefts themselves had been linked back to a couple that were rather odd in that they had decided they wanted to make an ominous house. For that they enticed Murkrow to come to their house with pokefeed. They'd even set up a bartering system that saw the Murkrow able to trade small items to them for more food.
This had escalated until the Murkrow started handing in money to the couple. The couple themselves had thought nothing off it. They'd ended up accidentally teaching a murder of Murkrows to steal pokemoney however, resulting in the pokemon attempting to raid a bank's security van.
I had no doubt that tonight's news report would be much more humorous in tone than this mornings serious take on the event. The police themselves were only just learning all of the details and sequence of events.
"You really have to know a lot of different things to make strides with pokemon don't you?" Yolanda said, speaking up after the last few minutes of silence.
"Hmmm?" I said, turning back to her and considering how the conversation had been going. "Oh, yeah, it helps if you have more experiences to draw from. Thankfully, there's a lot more access to information these days. The pokenet was fairly new when I started, so most of my research was done at the library after school. Nowadays you can get information with the click of a button."
Salvadore tilted his head but didn't say anything.
I grinned at Yolanda. "That being said you can discover a lot of new things without having to go too far, but there's always more to learn! It makes things so exciting doesn't it?" I tilted my head at her childishly.
She beamed back at me. "It sure does! I can't wait to put everything you've been showing me into practise properly with my own team!"
I chuckled, and she collected up the dirty plates and spoons before depositing them in the dishwasher. She turned back to me with a wry smile. "You know there's no way you're going to be able to take me and not Salvadore for this Rhydon evolution right?"
That drew Salvadore out of his musings.
"Huh?" he said taking a swipe at his empty bowl. At his side, Munchlax burped happily and slid the empty bowl towards Yolanda.
I chuckled. I could also think of a number of professors and their assistants that would love it. I'd let that be a consideration for future Brock.
Today I had to go and support Surge while making sure Will didn't cheat. Or, more preferably, that when he cheated, he got caught and punished.
For that, I was going down to Vermillion to Surge's Gym.
Or as Surge liked to call it, the Thunderdome.
The Thunderdome of Vermilion City was located in the southern part of the city, along the coast. A position that Surge always lamented due to how exposed it was.
I'd always thought of it as a good position due to accessibility.
In the games, it had been blocked off by some hedges, but in reality, it was a sizeable part of a boulevard that met at a long wharf where people could dock boats. There was even a ferry that dropped people off at various points around the city. The river, further allowed the city to utilise the ferry and have a system in place. Numerous waterways led into canals in the rich part of town while the industrial sector was further in and closer to the hills and forests.
That gave Surge no end of delight. The rich were unknowingly in a terrible position should the war ever break out, while the industry was better defended.
I didn't have the heart to point out that the rich people owned those factories and refineries.
The Thunderdome itself was another gym that had seen refurbishment since the last circuit. Surge had apparently thrown his winnings from betting big on me against Lance into his Gym.
This was shown with the entry being a smoothly paved walkway that led towards a wide entrance. The roof was slanted and had a slash tracking back on itself, so that the roof and entrance looked like a giant thunderbolt striking the ground.
I walked around to the back. On the roof, I saw some flickers of movement that had me pausing. "That you Janine?" I asked aloud.
Janine appeared by my side. "No, I was running a ground patrol, but don't worry, the people on the roof are ours. We have people that have also taken up overwatch positions."
I flicked my eyes up to the building Surge and I had raided weeks ago. There was a certain delicious irony in using an observation base of Team Rocket to defend against them.
We'd also claimed a few other rooftops just to guarantee it. Team Rocket would after all know all about that base's point of view.
I glanced over a few other rooftops and found some people standing atop and waving flags obnoxiously. "Having them pose as Surge fans?"
Janine shook her head. "Some of them are supportive without knowing they are part of a larger organisation. They think they are performing something called a tailgating party on the rooftops."
"Surge! Surge! Surge!" chanted one group.
"Thunder! Thunder! Thunder!" chanted another.
I tilted my head. "Are they… competing with each other?" I asked. I could see a few trails of smoke. "Do they have barbecues up there with them?"
Janine nodded. "Indeed, they are, and yes they do. I've found them to be very useful idiots. Some have even taken it upon themselves to 'claim' other rooftops for their group."
I glanced at the three groups and scratched my chin. "How are they telling each other apart?"
Janine's lips twitched upwards. "They don't; it is extremely amusing to watch, but it works to keep any unwanted parties from taking the rooftops. They are also watching the other roofs as much as they are the projections they have set up to watch the match.
"Huh, neat," I said. A flash of light announced Sabrina's arrival.
Janine twitched and threw a kick, only for Sabrina to raise a finger and for Janine to halt. Janine flexed her own aura, and the psychic energy broke. Sabrina took a step back, and Janine slowly lowered her leg.
"I could have hurt you, you need to be more careful!" Janine chided.
Sabrina considered Janine before inclining her head. "My apologies, I did not know you were present when I teleported to Brock's location."
Janine blinked. "Oh… I thought you had been trying to tease me."
"If I wanted to tease you, I'd just tease you," Sabrina replied. "But I do not wish to." Sabrina flicked her eyes over Janine and the younger girl tensed up. "I like your outfit, it looks nice on you and suits you."
Janine gaped. She'd obviously not been expecting that. She shuffled from foot to foot. "Oh, thank you?" she said, squirting at Sabrina as though looking for the trap.
I coughed, reminding the girls that I was there. "Right, I'm not sure what this is beyond awkward teenage antics."
Janine huffed at me. "You're a teenager as well!"
I smirked. "I'm an old soul."
Janine twitched and glanced at Sabrina for support. Sabrina shook her head. "He is very mature… most of the time."
I smiled at first, only for Janine to chuckle. I narrowed my eyes and huffed. Right, if that's how they wanted to play it. I rolled my eyes and waved for the girls to follow me.
I knocked on the back door with the classic shave and a haircut rhythm. It opened to reveal what I could only refer to as a sergeant. He assessed me and the girls before grunting. "Gym Leaders," he said in greeting. Janine twitched with happiness at being greeted in such a manner, but the man didn't notice.
"Surge's favourite beer?"
"Juddumber," I said easily.
"Surge's favourite colour?"
"Thunderbolt yellow," I said.
"Got any weapons on you?" he asked.
"None but my fists and my pokemon team," I said.
He considered that before sighing like I'd disappointed him. He turned to the girls. "What about you girls?"
Janine smiled charmingly. "I am a third Dan Black Belt in Aikido, and it's not polite to ask a lady if she is armed." The man stared at her, and Janine smiled. "I have nunchuck, kunai and some throwing stars," she said proudly.
"Oh, nice!" he said happily. His gaze turned to Sabrina and she tilted her head in thought.
"I can make you think you are a little girl that needs adult supervision to go to the bathroom."
The man stepped aside instantly. "Go right through Gym Leader Sabrina and friends."
Janine clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Blast I should have mentioned my poison mastery instead of going for the straightforward threat."
Sabrina merely hummed and nodded as she laced her arm through mine.
"I can break boulders with my fists and terrify people with a Glare…" I grumbled.
Sabrina patted my hand. "Those are threats these people are used to. Abstract threats that their minds can't handle are much more frightening to military types," she said as we entered another room.
"Ain't that the truth!" barked a loud voice. I looked up to find Surge in his back training room, sitting on a bench "What you threaten my man with?"
"I told him how I could make him think he was a little girl if I desired.," Sabrina replied.
Surge snickered at that. "Good one!" He nodded to me and tilted his head towards Janine. "So, you're little Janine?"
"I am not—" Janine started to say only for Surge to stand up and hold out his hand to her.
Janine seemed to realise how pointless it would be to dispute her size to a man who made grown men look like dwarves. His hand was almost the size of her head alone, and that silenced her as he smiled.
"Nice to meet another young, up-and-coming Gym Leader!" he said amicably. "You got any issues? Come round or call, and I'll help out! Us Gym Leaders need to help each other out yeah?"
Janine nodded. I smirked up at Surge. "How often has Manny come around?"
Surge's finger shot in front of my face. "That is not funny! I know he's playing, but I don't appreciate his games!" Surge shuddered. "It's like bootcamp all over again, with having to keep my back to a wall around that man."
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't—" I started to say only for Surge to bark a laugh.
"Ha! Don't let me fool you! I don't mind a slap on the rear! Ain't nothing but a compliment!" he said with a snort.
"Ah," I said eloquently. I shifted and glanced to his pokebelt. "So, you have your pokemon team chosen already?"
Surge sat back down on his bench and hunched forward. "Yup! But if you want to shoot the shit, I'm down. We got another twenty minutes before I got to be out there."
"What team are you fielding?" Janine asked.
Surge grinned. "Nah, I ain't rookie enough to say it or even write it down." Surge tapped his temple. "Gotta be careful with things like that. I have strategies set up though, don't you worry!"
I nodded. It was a reasonable suggestion. "What are you going to do if he has a Claydol?"
"Hmm that is the biggest threat, ain't it?" Surge said. "I have a pokemon or two that have options for it though. Depends if he thinks he is going to send those out first. I think he will start with his—"
We traded suggestions and speculation on Will's team. I'd shot Janine a look during this discussion, and she'd shaken her head, indicating she hadn't been able to find Will to sneak up and learn which pokemon he was fielding today.
Supposedly, he was going to teleport to the front of the Gym at the start of the match. He'd been rather vocal about the Kanto Gym Leaders not letting him teleport onto the podium and trying to drum up support for this.
Despite some talking heads bringing it up on their shows a lot, not even the Cerulean sisters had lowered their dark emitters to allow him such extravagance.
When it was time, Surge stood and led us towards the tunnel that had three doors at the end. One led to the stands, one led to the podium, and the other led to a Gym trainer area that Surge expected us to sit in.
Surge turned and nodded towards us before moving through the central door. Janine blurred away into the stands, not that I expected her to remain there. It was more than likely that she'd be roaming throughout the entire Gym.
Sabrina and I turned to the leftmost door and walked into the box that overlooked the battlefield. I noticed a number of televisions that allowed the gym trainers to watch the match from multiple angles, along with the glass front that separated the trainers from the stands.
I claimed a plush chair with more than enough room for Sabrina and myself to sit.
"Goooooood evening, ladies and gentlemen! It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Vermillion City Gym, or as we locals know it." The announcer paused and put a hand to his ear, and the crowd roared the answer.
"THUNDERDOME!" they chanted.
The announcer nodded. "I'm Mayor Quimby and Lt. Surge has given me the pleasure of introducing the combatants for this match! I hope you're all ready for a good fight tonight! Please remember not to climb up the poles around the sides of the battlefield, as those poles are there for your safety!" he said, indicating a number of large poles that had small prongs sticking out of them.
"What are those for?" I asked.
"They appear to be attachment points for the barrier projectors," Sabrina said after considering the poles.
"That's only half right," said the Gym Trainer who had opened the door for us. "The Gym Leader's more serious battles run the risk of shorting out the barriers and putting people in danger. So we installed earthing rods so that the lighting hit the machines if it gets fired off at a bad angle. With the pylons, it doesn't hit the barrier or run the risk of bringing down a section of barriers."
"That's happened before?" I asked.
"Once," the man said. "The Ace trainer was good about it though and waited for the barrier to be reset so the crowd could be safe." The man worked his jaw, and a dark look crossed his face. "Somehow I don't think that Will would care; he might even aim to short them out."
"Yeah," I said. I glanced towards a section in the middle of the battlefield, directly underneath the referee's podium. "You have something set up in case he tries to Mean Look, stall you out for an advantage?"
The man nodded. "Oh yeah, we're not letting him pull that shit." I grunted, and the man blinked before realising why that would annoy me. "Oh shit sorry man. It was pretty badass watching you carry your pokemon out of there like that. How heavy do you reckon he was?"
"About two hundred or so," I said casually.
The man nodded and gained a thoughtful look. "Huh, and you picked that Aggron like it was a child…" He considered me. "If it wasn't for the Trick Room… you'd have gotten your pokemon out of there, wouldn't you?"
I nodded but frowned. "Yeah…"
Had I been impacted by that, or had Mewtwo been hindering me even then? I had dark energy coursing through me… but it was a Legendary pokemon at the end of the day, and if my encounter against Moltres had taught me anything, Legendary pokemon were different. Some of their abilities were outright bullshit.
"—this corner the man of mystery! So much so that we don't even know his town of origin! The masked Challenger! Give it up for Will!"
I was surprised to see a number of people rising to their feet and boo loudly.
Surge, as ever, had been extremely vocal in his opinion of Will's battle against me and that had transmitted to a lot of his supporters.
The diehard fans of Will were once again present, but they were easily shouted down.
The Mayor chuckled and shook his head halfheartedly before gesturing to the other side. "And now! Your big bad Gym Leader! The man who makes women swoon wherever he goes! The thundering storm of Kanto! Lieutenant Surge!"
The Gym darkened only for the tunnel to light up faintly illuminating Surge. Around the Gym the earth rods suddenly jolted with lightning and a harsh zap shot between them caused a jolt of lightning and a rumble to fill the room.
The Gym trainer from earlier shot Sabrina and me a smug look. "They also work like Tesla coils and add some serious cool factor, no?"
I chuckled and nodded.
Surge stepped out of the tunnel and locked eyes with Will. His grin stretched his face, and I leaned forward as he strode towards his podium.
The crowd went nuts, cheering for him. He strode through them and raised his hands out to the side, allowing people to high-five him and clap him on the shoulders as he marched past them. I was pretty sure someone threw underwear at him but those vanished so quickly that I wasn't sure if I had just imagined seeing them.
The announcer nodded to Surge and then waved to the crowd. "And now! I hand over the show to our referee, please give a round of applause to a representative from the Indigo League! Referee Timothy!"
I sat up at that and noticed the mild-mannered auditor standing in front of everyone. I shot the Gym trainer I'd been talking to a curious look. He grunted. "If it came down to us letting something cheap through, we wouldn't let it ride. Surge reached out to the League for a neutral ref."
"Ah," I said in understanding. "To be fair, I think Dennis made the right call as much as it frustrated me. I don't doubt that Dennis was hurting having to do that but did his job very well."
"Yeah… well we couldn't be that impartial," said the man with a dark glower at Will.
"Thank you!" Timothy said, with a surprisingly powerful oratory tone.
He raised his hands to both Will and Surge. "Gentlemen it is my, and the League's hope that we will have a nice clean match!" He pointedly looked at both men before nodding to himself, ignoring how both of their lips twitched into dark smirks.
"This match will be a standard Ace match with six trade-out options allowed! Any dodges performed by the trade-out will result in penalties with the severity including the loss of said pokemon from returning to the battle! I will be calling it if I think a pokemon cannot battle anymore! I don't want any accidents or cripplings with this match!"
The nearby trainer snorted, and I got the feeling Timothy was calling out Surge more than Will with that last statement.
"With that said! Both trainers! Select your first pokemon!"
Surge and Will selected their pokemon.
"Trainers! Are you ready?" said the referee.
Both men nodded, and Surge leaned forward slightly. Will perked up, and as the flags dropped, I had an ominous premonition. Will's eyes weren't visible behind his mask, but I got the feeling they were glowing.
Will revealed a Mr Mime that leered across at Surge's revealed Jolteon. I rubbed my chin in thought.
That was a good matchup. Lots of speed, utility, and some powerful matchups if Will had gone for Starmie, Exeggutor, or something from the Slowpoke line such as Slowbro or Slowking.
My awareness became hyper-focused as I watched each moment crawl forward.
"Hit him!" roared Surge with a gleam in his eyes as he punched forward. Jolteon began to spark and I saw it twitch and blur forward.
As this was going on, Will clenched his own fist in front of himself. "Protect!" he said instantly.
Mr Mime crossed his arms in front of himself, and Protect formed up causing the oncoming thunderbolt that Jolteon was in the middle of to slam face-first into the barrier.
Jolteon staggered at the impact as the electricity washed over the Protect impotently.
The Protect dropped away, and Mr Mime leered at Jolteon. "Confusion!" Will said with a hand extended as though he was imploring his pokemon. Mr Mime's fingers twitched back and forth in a no-no-no gesture. Jolteon twitched only to the snake itself.
"Shake it off Jolteon! Bite them!" Surge commanded.
Jolteon lunged to the side and gnashed its teeth. I cursed as the Pokemon hurled itself to the side of Mr Mime instead of locking its fangs on the other pokemon.
"Calm Mind," said Will happily.
"JOLTEON!" roared Surge, "I will have you up on insubordination! If you're dizzy always lunge at the one in the middle dagnabit! Missiles go!!" he ordered.
The edges around Jolteon's body bent forward and glowed with green bug energy before lancing out with Pin Missile.
"Mr Mime do your best! Reflect it!" he said a light sheen of a barrier forming up in front of his pokemon only for the Pin Missile to stab straight through it like bullets through cheap glass.
Mr Mime took the hits and staggered to the ground. His head dropped as he knelt gasping in pain.
"That's it!" Surge said. "Now Bite him!"
Jolteon lunged, its jaw glowing darkly, only for Mr Mime's head to snap up with a sneer as a fist encased in dark energy of its own slammed upwards straight into Jolteon's jaw, sending the pokemon sailing away.
"Excellent draw in Mr Mime! Control the pace with another Confusion!" Will ordered causing Jolteon to take another hit. Interestingly, Mr Mime was already acting before he'd even spoken.
"He's psychically connected to his pokemon isn't he?" I tilted my head. "He's being very inconsistent with how he gives orders. What's up with that?" I asked.
Sabrina nodded and I clicked my tongue.
Sabrina made a so-so gesture. "It is a sign of him not being used to projection like that. He has some skills as a psychic but it is not something he is used to using. Most of the time he only starts off that way as he has time and feels safe linking his pokemon. When he is flustered, he reverts to speaking orders."
She inclined her head towards me. "As shown when you fought him. There was too much risk of you disrupting him with some of your pokemon. He knew you had lots of pokemon that had dark-type moves or something that would daze him. You were able to blindside him with your Kleavor's Stone Axe's special ability. He was too focused on fighting well to take in the entire field. Right now, he is using it to give orders faster but he is also ordering with his voice."
Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "He is more assured of himself against Surge, so instead of hiding his commands, he is going for speed, which is not a terrible idea as Surge will otherwise sweep him with how fast his pokemon move."
I clicked my tongue at that as Jolteon staggered. Surge narrowed his eyes and raised a pokeball. "Return Jolteon, we're not dancing to his tune let's shuffle it up!" Surge selected another pokemon as Will had his Mr Mime perform another Calm Mind quickly.
Another pokemon appeared on the field a moment later. "Let's rock Ampharos! Use Electric Terrain!"
I whistled; that was a different order.
"Mr Mime! Use—" I watched as Will spoke, only for his pokemon to already be moving. Now That I was aware of it, I couldn't miss the faster reactions occurring with Will's pokemon.
Mr Mime used another move that buffed itself up. Part of me was pleased, as I suspected that it was a third Calm Mind which wouldn't offer as large a benefit as another move would have. It did make me worried for how hard that Mr Mime would hit.
Surge seemed just as aware of this however as he smirked. "Light em up!" he barked.
A moment later, a spark blazed atop Ampharos' head. Sabrina suddenly reached out and put a hand over my eyes. I had a moment to open my mouth only for a blinding Flash to blaze out of Ampharos.
Mr Mime, Will, and everyone in the stadium cried out in shock.
Sabrina dropped her hand and shook her head. "Apologies, I couldn't delay. I have seen Surge do that before."
I nodded and ran some Dark energy up to my eyes to get rid of any other residual after images from the Flash.
Will had been caught out and his attention seemed to waver. Heh, it seems like Surge had gotten him twice with how Will had linked himself. That was if his mask didn't block it? Was it like taking a double flash bang? I really hoped so. I grinned when I noticed tears trickling under the mask on Will's face. Nice one Surge.
"Baton p-pass!" Will slurred out, holding out a pokeball towards Mr Mime.
Instead of trading out with the closer pokeball something must have gone wrong; as Mr Mime, still rubbing at his eyes returned to his pokeball, only for another pokeball, notably not the pokeball Will was holding out, opened.
"No!" Will gasped as his Alakazam appeared on the field, unfolding itself from its meditative position to stand.
The crowd roared their approval. I grinned. "Hmmm, Surge just forced Will's strongest out onto the field."
Will bared his teeth, and I noted there was wetness trickling under his mask. So, it didn't block it as the crowd cheered for Surge.
"Psychic!" barked Will. His pokemon raised up its spoon as blue energy built up around Ampharos. Alakazam flicked its spoons, and Ampharos was hurled to the side.
"DP!" snapped Surge causing his pokemon to erupt in purple energy aorund itself, disrupting the Psychic and dampening the impact as it hit the wall. I breathed out in relief. Damn, that had been close.
"Good reactions," I said before glancing around. "Anything from the others?" I said, checking my transceiver.
Sabrina shook her head. "No, it doesn't seem Will has had his hand forced as yet."
I grimaced. Will was starting out quite strongly here, wasn't he?
"Again!" ordered Will.
"Blast him!" snarled Surge. From Ampharos' maw, a ball of energy was built and fired straight at Alakazam.
"Teleport," Will said causing his pokemon to vanish to the side and out of danger.
Will smirked only for the expression to vanish as the beam bore down on his position. He flinched for a moment before the barriers lit up and absorbed the attack.
Will sighed in relief, then he straightened and waved a dismissive hand towards the gasping Ampharos. "Finish it, Psychic!" he said, making sure his pokemon did not close with the electric pokemon.
This time, Ampharos was hurled straight into the wall with nothing to lessen the impact. It went down and Surge clicked his tongue as he withdrew his pokemon. "You did well, bud," he said before locking eyes with Will. "You're a slippery one ain't you?"
Will glowered. "I've drawn first blood, as it were? No?"
"I saw you flinch," Surge said with a smirk. Will glowered at him. Surge selected another pokemon. "This is way too early for anything. After all, it ain't over till the fat lady sings."
He threw out his next pokemon, and I settled in for the fight, wondering how Surge would win.
A.N. Thanks goes to my Patreons for their continued support.