It's always a good chapter when you have to look at the clock afterwards to realize that you did not, in fact, finish it in mere minutes, but instead were so engrossed that you completely lost track of time. Fantastic work, thanks for sharing it!
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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.
This chapter was unexpectedly amusing given I am convinced Sabrina was the one shouting "Take it Off!" even if she had to throw her voice to do it or do some other psychic trick to make it come from somewhere else.
(Joking here, seems to be an editing error given I'm pretty sure the author is not implying Will and Brock have been the same character all along.)
Also it's really weird how Will just showed up out of nowhere with his own Quirina to fuck with Brawly and then disappeared and no one commented on it.
(Joking here, seems to be an editing error given I'm pretty sure the author is not implying Will and Brock have been the same character all along.)
xbox432
Lover of Editing
Now that Brawly has brought up raiding another Rocket base, I can't help but remember that one Rocket who was worried his Ekans wouldn't be able to sleep without a bedtime story. Here's hoping the two of them are eventually reunited!
Viva, you missed out on an amazing opportunity! You could have had Sanchez give Probopass some styling tips for his new facial "hair"!
Chapter 152 - Hero squad debut!
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
I eyed Flannery as we walked toward my office. "So you're saying you found a base in Cerulean City?" I asked, somewhat sceptically despite knowing that Flannery wouldn't jest about this.
I was sure the Guardians had swept through there in the last few weeks. How had they missed it and Flannery had picked up on it?
Flannery grinned. "We did some footwork around the City!" Her head bounced from side to side, delighting in being the centre of attention as she strutted. "And I just knew it would be something you'd be interested in!"
"Alright, so you want to show me on a map where it is for tomorrow?" I said, nodding along.
Flannery winked at me. "Yeah, that, and I'll show you something else. Something pretty cool," she said, grinning wider if possible.
I eyed her for a long moment. Then I turned my attention to Roxanne, who looked a little embarrassed, while Brawly looked amused. So, something embarrassing for Roxanne but not something she's protesting too much?
Flannery tried to push open my door, only for it to still be locked. She stumbled, face-planting into it. She stayed there, face pressed against the door.
When she took a step back she had a red mark on her face. She gave me an unimpressed look. "You lock your door?"
"Standard security procedures," I said, my eyes flicking up to the red mark on Flannery's forehead.
I stared long and hard; after all, it was common sense for such a secure room to automatically lock. I tapped the side of the door, unlocking the door with my keycard, causing it to swish open.
Flannery grumbled something but was quick to shake off her bad mood. "Alright! So, I know you've been worried about reprisal with Team Rocket, but I thought of something! What if they have no idea who it is that is raiding them?" she said.
I raised a hand to point out that wasn't really an issue, but Sabrina pushed it down and shot me a look that caused a doubletake. Wait, did Sabrina want to go ahead with whatever Flannery had planned? Sabrina looked excited. Alright, it looks like I'd have to at least hear Flanenry out.
Flannery, unaware of what had just happened, drew out a pair of small cases from her backpack.
She turned them around and clicked open the latches before lifting the lid. "What if it wasn't Brock or Sabrina attacking Team Rocket what if… it was the Hero Black!?" she said theatrically, revealing a black spandex outfit with a helmet that was the lovechild of every Mighty Morphin Rangers mask, coupled with a black theatre mask.
Sabrina inspected the case that was placed in front of her. I noticed the twitch of her lips and the slight wiggle she gave as Flannery gave out other cases to Roxanne and Brawly. Sabrina's outfit was extremely bright yellow and seemed to be shaped like a Pikachu. I could tell she didn't like what she was seeing now. Oh good, she was probably thinking through how ridiculou—
"Hmmm, I'd prefer a Jolteon mask," Sabrina said, causing me to sigh and rub my temple. I shot my own mask another look to see what I had gotten.
The visage of a Houndoom snarled back at me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Flannery… we're not children."
Brawly snorted as Flannery stomped her foot. "I know that! But this is serious! If we act as masked heroes, Team Rocket won't know who to go after! This is a way of protecting your loved ones!"
She gestured wildly, and I knew she was trying to come up with a valid argument. "It's pretty much what Lance is doing anyway with his G-men!" she said.
"The police have to know we're good guys, though; we can't just be vigilantes or we'll cause others to copy us," I pointed out.
Sabrina coughed. "Actually, we could probably be part of Lance's G-men without much effort."
Flannery bounced back and forth on the spot, her excitement growing. "There see! What Sabrina just said! If anything, we're merely acting in support of what he's already setting up!"
"I can make some calls. Don't worry Brock, Lance will approve, as it's very similar to what he's already doing," Sabrina said, raising her transceiver to begin typing out messages before she stepped out of the room to make some calls. Her costume floated after her.
I raised a hand to stop her, only for the door to click shut. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
That… wasn't really what Lance was doing, but he had established aliases for some of his Agents. That wouldn't be possible with people like me though who are well-known public figures. It would work for Koga, who was a ninja. People would have to be crazy to attack him.
Then again, chances were he didn't live where he listed… if he even listed his home address. It would make sense for officials to accept it as a personality quirk that he could get away with without too much complaint.
Heck Surge, Sabrina, Blaine, and the Cerulean sisters all had their own quirks that people knew to work around rather than trying to work through. Which… kind of let them all get away with a lot of things.
Honestly, I was kind of envious.
"I need a quirk…" I said aloud, causing Flannery to do a happy dance.
"Yes! That's the spirit!" she said, snapping her fingers and then waving them towards the opened case. "Exactly! Cut loose! Live a lot! Punish crime! Be Hero Black and win the hearts and minds of the people!"
I rubbed my forehead, eying the mask. "A Houndoom though? That certainly isn't a pokemon people will associate with me." If anything, they'd think of Karen before me.
"Maybe we should go with a Honchkrow, or… well, I can't say Graveler here…"
"No point having it be a pokemon you're known for," Roxanne said.
I nodded and pointed at Roxanne. "Yeah, that. We need to be careful with what pokemon we use." I waved at the mask. "There's no point in wearing these if we're just going to get spotted using iconic pokemon," I said considering what sort of pokemon I could call upon for that purpose. Clefairy had been doing rather well and was ready to fight at a high level. The same could potentially be said of Sudowoodo as merely an uncommon pokemon.
Who else could I use? Izumi would work; I'd just have to not mention her name. Geodude were common pokemon for people to own after all. I paused as I considered another pokemon that I knew no one would ever associate with me.
Cypher, the Porygon would be perfect for fighting crime.
I paused as I replayed the last minute back through my mind.
Oh, Arceus, I was seriously committing to this, wasn't I?
How did I find myself in these situations? I stared at Flannery. Yeah, it was probably her fault. Sabrina stepped into the room with her outfit on and a pleased expression on her face. She gave the room at large a thumbs up.
Flannery shot back a thumbs up, only to frown. "Hey! You have a key to Brock's office?"
Sabrina gave Flannery a look that made the other girl realise how obvious that should have been.
Brawly chuckled. Hehehe, that makes sense! Anyway, for pokemon that people won't associate with us, I have some good ones already! Plenty of people have Makuhita, Medicham, and Machamp!"
I raised my hand. "Not all of those at once," I said pointedly, causing Brawly to shrug.
"What are your masks like?" I asked.
Flannery raised up an Arcanine mask that was snarling, making it seem very fearsome. Roxanne raised a Clefairy mask, and Brawly raised a Blastoise mask.
"Pretty choice, hey?" Brawly said, waving his own mask around.
Sabrina put her mask on and sighed. "I still want a Jolteon mask. Pikachu is too cute."
I eyed the mask, agreeing with her that it was obnoxiously cute, but that only made it more appealing to me. It was strange to see Sabrina looking like this. "I kind of like it," I said, rubbing the back of my head.
Sabrina hummed and tucked her hair into the mask. I sighed and toyed with the mask. "Ok… so.. Tell me about the Cerulean Rocket base?" I decided to give up on pretending I was going to not take part in this madness
That way, someone responsible could make sure things didn't get too out of hand. Yeah, that made sense.
Sabrina teleported us onto the rooftop of the building across the street from our target the next morning.
Flannery bounced to the edge and peered over. "Perfect! Lights are still on, so the Rocket Grunts must be home!" She turned and pointed at us. "Remember that we need to use our code names from here on out, alright?"
"Copy that Red!" said Brawly as Blue.
"Y-yes!" said Roxanne in her pink outfit.
Sabrina and I shared a look before nodding. Yeah, maybe we'd just do the strong, silent type. Flannery turned to us and wilted when we shot her thumbs up and mimed agreement.
"Urgh! Spoilsports! Alright, so we're going to use Yellow's—" she said, making sure to emphasise the code name. "—scouting abilities for this. Yellow? Is there anything around us we need to be mindful of?"
I turned and started surveying the area, knowing that simply relying on Sabrina would be a poor trick that wouldn't cover all the angles. Outliers like myself, as a dark specialist or ghost pokemon wouldn't be picked up by Sabrina's psychic senses.
I started observing the street, looking for any people or pokemon that seemed a little too casual.
I instantly spotted a Raticate who was merely pretending to scavenge in a tipped-over trash can. It didn't make anywhere near enough noise for it to be actually scrounging, and it kept too much of a lookout.
"Got a sentry," I said. "Raticate on the corner, watching the approach to the warehouse Red," I said.
Flannery inspected the pokemon and pointed at Roxanne and Brawly to look around for any other pokemon or people that stood out. Brawly pointed out a house that had the blinds drawn, but a slit stayed open. "Kind of odd that the lady in there is still awake no?"
Sabrina turned her head in the indicated direction. "No, she's a shift worker who has come home late. She's catching up on the news before going to bed," she said.
Roxanne shifted back and forth. "It's rather disturbing how you can do that so easily."
"I didn't need to penetrate her mind for that. She is tired, and often tired people's thoughts project themselves as the boundaries of their mind relax," Sabrina said dismissively.
"Eh?" said Roxanne. "What do you mean?"
Sabrina turned her attention back to the warehouse across the street. "People think that thoughts only inhabit their brains, but that is often not true. It might not seem like it, but if we are with someone, we exchange more information than we realise. It goes beyond being able to see, hear, smell, or sense them consciously."
Sabrina made a circle with her hand in the air and said, "There is a certain… mental presence to people that is constantly being emitted. These are thoughts, or the mind, if you will."
"Really? " Roxanne said, sounding deeply interested.
I had heard this before, but it was always fascinating to hear Sabrina talk about the metaphysics of the mind.
"Indeed, researchers that work with psychic specialists have determined that everyone has latent untapped abilities. We might not be conscious of the links that occur when we get within the range of each other, but they do exist."
She made a gesture from herself to me. "Certain actions can make it easier to pick up on certain emotions and thoughts. These can be looks, actions, or even the intensity of emotions being felt. Most people experience this when they lock eyes with another."
"Oh? The fighting spark is psychic?" Brawly said.
Sabrina inclined her head slightly. "Indeed, we exchange small portions of impressions with others all the time. However, a true understanding of another person is something that can only occur when we spend significant time with each other. When we walk through a crowd of people, we are entering into a multitude of different, overlapping fields of thought."
Flannery tilted her head. "So sort of like how someone else's bad or good mood can impact us?"
"Indeed," Sabrina said. "No one is an island or a fortress." She indicated herself. "As a Psychic I have the ability to perceive this field of thought. Imagine, if you will, that I can see the thoughts being projected onto the surface of the mind, or the pond of thought that surrounds us all. This is how most mind-reading occurs. I am not intruding into the depths of their memories, or, as some science-fiction would have you believe, their personalities."
Sabrina shook her head. "That takes serious effort, and more often than not, people can feel such intrusions." She then shifted. "Using sight as a metaphor is rather limiting, as it doesn't account for people projecting their thoughts 'very loudly'. Sometimes the thoughts can be like rocks thrown at your house while you're in the sitting room. You have no choice but to notice them," she said rather firmly.
"Huh," Flannery said. "Do I—
"Yes, as a passionate person, you are like a Tauros kicking in my door with the message trailing after it."
Flannery wilted.
"You are not the worst I have experienced," Sabrina said. "Some people are just naturally loud with their personalities being larger than others. Yours is one such mind. Erika is also rather loud."
"Erika? She's as quiet as a church-rattata! She's got loud thoughts?" Brawly said before pointing. "Oh! Got one! That Murkrow has fought off a lot of pidgeys, but should be heading off to nest."
"Good spot," I said while Sabrina murmured something about Erika that I missed. "What was that?"
"It doesn't matter!" said Flannery. "Yellow! How many people are in there?"
"Seven. This seems to be a storage facility, and there are a number of pokeballs as well as Technical machines that Team Rocket Members can make use of." Sabrina held up her hand in front of her. "I… can see something of a computer room with various video feeds… they're tapped into the city camera system. I'm not sure of the purpose, though," Sabrina said.
"Monitoring the city alone would make it worthwhile by itself for Team Rocket; it does allow them a certain… freedom of action with how they would be able to mobilise with being aware of the local police. Wouldn't you agree?" I suggested.
"Alright, Yellow and Black, as the most careful, you will infiltrate the computer room," said Flannery.
"Ah, their dark emitters just turned on," Sabrina pointed out.
"Damn it! Suddenly competent bad guys?!" Flannery said with a huff.
I raised a hand. "Actually, I could probably send in Cypher if they're plugged into the city grid," I said.
Flannery pointed at me. "Good idea, Hero Black!"
I considered the warehouse and the subsequent cables leading towards it. There was a telephone line that was leading to the warehouse. I walked over to a powerbox and popped it open, releasing Cypher.
"Okay bud, here's the deal. There are some bad people in that warehouse over there connected to the city network. I need you to infiltrate and protect the computers so that we can use those." I considered him before deciding to increase his workload. "Keep the cameras on a loop as well, bud, for any that we appear on."
Cypher spun over himself and then dipped into the cable through the electricity box. I glanced at the cords and found nothing suspicious that could be seen. Huh, I was suddenly very glad I had three Porygon living my computer network in the Gym with how I'd just used them to exploit a weak point.
I could only speculate on what would happen when Rotom entered the scene. Would Porygon and Rotom enter digital battles over cyber territory and resources? Then again, neither was going to be exactly 'wild' by any definition of the word.
Or maybe I just didn't understand the virtual world. It might be worth talking about this with Oak or someone. What would happen for pokemon like Porygon and Rotom?
"Cypher's in," I said to the others, causing them to straighten up.
Flannery pointed out the pokemon. "Yellow, Pink, take those out, and then we'll enter through the back of the warehouse."
Sabrina nodded and tossed out a pokeball that levitated around behind the Raticate. When it opened, the Raticate whirled around, only to come snout to fist with a Makuhita.
Brawly tilted his head. "That's an odd pokemon for you to have Sa—I mean! Yellow!" he said quickly to cover up his slip-up.
Sabrina inclined her head. "Makuhita is… an interesting addition to my team. I think she has taught me quite a lot. Thanks to her, I have a good idea of how to work with my Medicham."
"Zip it on the type of pokemon we have," Flannery reminded before nodding towards the Murkrow.
Roxanne released her Probopass and indicated the distant pokemon. Probopass narrowed its eyes, and Murkrow twitched. Its head swept around in a startled expression before it took flight.
"Pink?" Flannery prompted.
A moment later, Probopass unleashed a blast of lighting, revealing that Roxanne had merely guaranteed the electric attack against the flying type with Lock-On first. As Murkrow fell out of the sky, Roxanne raised a thumbs up to us.
Flannery nodded and waved a hand towards the warehouse. "Alright! Let's go!" she said, leading the others over the rooftop and onto the street. When we got close to the door, I took point with Brawly. I raised three fingers and started a countdown before testing the door, only to find that it was unlocked.
Hmmm, not so competent bad guys, it would seem.
Brawly slumped. "Aw man, I thought we were gonna bust in!" he whispered plaintively.
I chuckled and waved Sabrina forward. "Three on the left," she said before pointing to the right. "Two over there, but they have four pokemon out of their pokeballs. They're inspecting them."
"Take the group to the left; move together. The group on the right might put their pokemon away before we get to them, which will make it easier," Flannery said.
I held in a chuckle. She was really taking the role of 'leader' seriously.
We stalked through the warehouse halls and found the trio idly flipping through reports near the computers. I suddenly felt much better about the idea of approaching this group first.
Flannery raised a hand and began a countdown. I braced, ready to sprint forward, only to frown and tap Flannery on the side. "Just walk in," I said. "Be audacious."
Flanery tilted her head before nodding and waving us forward. Instead of kicking the door in and storming forward, we walked through it like this was something we did every day. We got halfway across the room before one of the Rocket grunts looked up.
"What's with the outfits?" he said with a tilt of his head.
Brawly stepped up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Oh, nothing much. We're just heroes."
"Wha—" the man said, only for Brawly to punch his lights out. The other Rockets sat up realising that we weren't just quirkily dressed people but legitimate threats. One reached for a pokeball while the other moved to the computers.
I whistled, and Cypher leapt into action. He jumped out of the computer, surprising the Grunt. A Thunderwave blew out and zapped the Grunt causing them to fall with a rictus of pain.
Sabrina's Makuhita intercepted the pokemon that the other Grunt released, dispatching the Rattata. Roxanne released a Graveler that tackled the Koffing out of the air before pummeling it to submission.
The Rocket Grunt clicked his tongue and mimed, raising his hands while walking up to us. "Alright, alright, I give you got me, I'll co—" he said only to lunge towards a button.
I intercepted him in midair. "Not today!" I said as my hand descended on his head, knocking him flat to the ground where he lay still. I leaned down and exhaled in relief when he stirred. "He's just knocked out!"
Brawly chuckled. "Nice one! But maybe next time use a heo move! Something like Hero Chop! Oh! Or darkness bringer!"
I barked a laugh. "Ha, I think this is already a bit over the top, honestly," I replied.
Flannery snorted. "This from the guy that said we should just walk up to them? Bold as brass?" she said with a snicker. "Damn, that was smooth."
I shrugged. "If we kicked the door in, they'd know what we were about. If we left it in doubt, they wouldn't know until we confirmed it for them."
"It worked; no need to justify it!" Flannery aid. She giggled. "Not today!" she said mimicking my voice. "I thought that worked pretty well for a Hero catchphrase by the way."
The others chuckled as I grimaced.
When she was done teasing me, Flannery coughed and pointed at the computers. "Alright, Yellow, Pink, as the brains of this group see what you can get from the computer."
Yellow pulled out a USB and plugged it into the computer. "Cypher, come here. There's a nice duck," Sabrina said, drawing Cypher away from the twitching Rocket grunt.
Cypher spun away and entered the computer, breaking into it without missing a beat, before Sabrina started coasting through files, saving copies of certain documents and maps.
"There seems to be a supply run along with a list of acquisitions here. They have a number of stolen pokemon as well as technical machines. It seems they learn which trainers purchase useful items before ambushing them on the way out of the City."
"Huh, that's clever of them," Flannery said. "Think you can handle this lot while we go secure the other two?"
I coughed. "Remember, there might be others still around."
Sabrina inclined her head. "While I see nothing with regards to any Ghost pokemon or dark types on the roster, you are correct. Pink and I will trade out watching each other's backs while you inspect the rest of the building."
Flannery nodded at that before waving for Brawly and me to follow her out.
We stalked through the hallways a little more cautiously now. We inspected a number of rooms only to find them full to the brim of Pokeblock, and pokefeed. One room had a medical set-up for what would ostensibly be to care for the pokemon. I didn't like how haphazardly the equipment had been left, but unsafe healthcare practice was going to be the least of these people's charges with being a known criminal organisation.
When we reached another room that was occupied, it took both groups by surprise, as they were moving to leave the room through the door we had entered through.
Our two groups blinked at each other, only for Brawly to wave. "Hi, you looking for—"
"Intruders!" shouted the strangely whiny voice of the smaller of the pair.
"Shit! Let's roll out team!" Flannery barked as she released a Vulpix and a Growlithe.
"Ha! Let's show them Rocket power, lads!" said the younger of the pair released an Arbok, a Nidorino, and a Muk, while the other released a Raticate and a Fearow.
I sent out Izumi, and Brawly sent out his Medicham. I pointed straight at the Fearow and Izumi knew what to do as the Flannery and Brawly fought with their own opponents.
We made short work of the other pokemon with Flannery needing some backup by using the obviously much weaker Fire types to her normal team. As the Rockets floundered at their pokemon's defeat, I stalked up to the pair.
The first lunged at me with his fist raised. I dodged and shot a return right into his stomach. The other backed away, eyes wide with fear.
"No! No! This isn't how it's supposed to go! This was supposed to be how I fixed things! This is all that Charmander's fault for being weak!" the kid whined.
I frowned, a memory stirring regarding a kid with a Charmander. "What's your name kid?" I said pausing a few feet away from him.
"d-Damien?" he said nervously.
"Well, looks like you're blaming others for your own shortcomings. Now, you're going to be arrested, and you have a chance to fix things for yourself. Bad news? It's going to involve a lot of work. Fess up to any crimes and work hard, and you can do better."
"I'm not weak!" snarled the now-revealed Damien, the boy who had once owned Ash's Charmander. He threw a punch at me, only for Brawly to catch it and force it down before I could.
"We're all weak sometimes, kid; allow yourself that luxury and think about what I said," I said, cuffing him to a fixed-in pole as Brawly frisked him.
"I'm not weak!" snarled Damien at my back.
I walked away, shaking my head.
Flannery waited until I was out of earshot of the kid. "You know that kid?"
"Nah, not really. I know of him, but that's it." I sighed. "Right now, I'm wondering if my knowing him at all might have been something that would have spared him this moment. He… didn't make it to face me, from what I recall," I said vaguely.
I'd never seen him, but seeing him falling in with Team Rocket.
It… wasn't all that surprising I realised.
I did wonder how it had happened but I could make some enquiries. Oak would know.
I inspected the empty alcoves of pokeballs. There were only a few scones with actual pokeballs in them, but I had no doubt these were all stolen pokemon. This was a small facility at the end of the day, but it was still good to take it out of Team Rocket's control.
"Let's clean this place up and call the cops," I said. "We'll need to make some calls to make sure the right people get here first."
"The local Jenny, yeah?" Flannery said with a nod.
"Yeah, she'll do," I said. "We need to make sure these Rocket Grunts get processed properly without being able to skate free."
Flannery hummed. "Right, well, it seems like it's time to see who Hero Yellow called in favours with, yeah?"
Officer Jenny dismounted from her motorcycle, with other officers moving to cordon off the street. A woman opened the door of her house to watch them in her dressing gown, but soon closed it when officers asked her to go back inside. A news van pulled up, and some reporters piled out, cameras and reporters primping for an early morning news article.
Jenny snorted. There always seemed to be spectators around for this sort of thing. She approached the warehouse, not sure what to expect. The caller who had made the claim had weaved a story of what to expect that truly beggared belief.
Then again, it wasn't for Jenny to question; she merely enacted the law.
"Police! We're coming in!" She roared into the warehouse.
She then had the officer enter through the front door. They did so with textbook strategy, moving quickly and with support, pokeballs in hand and ready to be sent out.
"Clear!" the first shouted.
"Clear!" barked another as they rounded the door, moving in the opposite direction.
Jenny joined in and they soon had the entrance checked over before moving deeper in. Jenny went left and found herself in a computer room where the caller had said they'd find Team Rocket and the 'group'.
She wasn't sure what to think as she opened the door.
She paused as the masked individuals turned towards her. The Black masked hero nodded in greeting while the Yellow crossed her arms under her bust. Pink shifted back and forth nervously while Blue laced his hands behind his head and demonstrated some rather glorious muscles as his arms flexed.
Red straightened and approached them. "Ah, Cerulean Police, excellent! Our contact informed you of the capture, I take it?"
Jenny nodded slowly, her mouth dry, as she realised the caller hadn't been joking when they'd announced that Team Rocket had been taken in by a Hero group. "Y-yeah!" Jenny said.
"Excellent! We've been able to remove the passwords from the computers and have five Rocket Grunts locked up."
The Rocket Grunt to the side sneered at them. "Heh! Cute try! Our lawyers will be hearing about this! You can't storm in wearing masks and be upholding the law. We're innocent! They dragged us here!" said the smarmy-mouthed man.
Jenny chuckled at that. "Actually, they can, seeing as they are part of the G-men group that Lance has been organising."
The Rocket Grunt blinked. "What!? But that's just a group of cops! Not these posers! And he hasn't organised that yet!"
Hero Red rounded on the man. "These posers cracked your operation open like an unfertilised egg!" She then coughed. "So, no, you're not walking out of this, thanks to a technicality."
Jenny nodded, pleased that they'd set things up beforehand and were willing to go through the normal police procedures.
For a moment, when she'd first gotten the call, she'd worried they'd think themselves above that. What with calling themselves a 'Hero' group. She led the Heroes off to the side and debriefed them, all the while marvelling that this might be something new that she would have to get used to.
Before they left, she coughed politely. "So the rumours weren't false? Lance is setting up a super cop division?"
Red and Black shared a look before Black coughed into his fist. "That's on a need-to-know basis, I'm afraid. But…. they're certainly paying attention to certain individuals. Keep up the good work, Officer Jenny."
"Sir! Maam! Thank you for your work!" She saluted the group as they moved to the front.
Their exit caused the media outside to begin making a lot of noise. Jenny shook her head. It was going to be weird seeing the news later announcing the super-cop division, but it would be better than the news just talking about unsolved crimes.
She shifted, maybe… she might get asked to join?
She chewed her lip, which colour would she ask for? Blue would go well with… she shook her head and got rid of the idle thoughts.
She turned to the computers and started documenting the rest of the crime scene, glad that she wasn't higher on the organisation chart in the force just yet.
They'd have to handle the press trying to get details on the elite police force Lance had set up.
The next morning, I pointedly tried not to listen to the news as I ate breakfast with my family. At my side, Sabrina fed Ralts, as behind us, the news blared on about a shocking reveal of the new Superhero division of Lance's G-men.
That instantly had my family fleeing the table to inspect the news.
"So cool!" said Salvadore.
"Pretty!" said Suzie.
"Ha! There's more girls than there are guys!" said Cindy.
"Ha! They suck at posing!" said Tommy causing me to twitch.
Oh, right. I'd tried to forget that moment.
We'd decided to not approach the press and instead remain aloof, but Flannery had still demanded we 'hero pose' before we departed.
Only it wasn't something we'd practised, resulting in Flannery, Brawly, and Roxanne all adopting different poses that had nothing to do with each other.
"Awwww! Black and Yellow look cute!" said Yolanda.
I twitched. Sabrina and I had defaulted to raising our arms out from each other with our inner legs raised while standing next to each other. I still wasn't sure why we'd gone with that pose, but we'd made things more awkward with how choreographed we looked compared to the others.
The news was extremely excited about the development, and lots of people were talking about what this would mean for police work going forward. Some people were sceptical, while others thought it was a bold new step in policing.
I sat up when the door opened and Samuel Oak walked in. Salvadore waved at him but remained glued to the TV. Sam made a beeline for me. "Brock! Sabrina!" He sat down next to us and smiled winningly, only for it to fall away.
"Like I said on the phone," his face adopted a sad old man look. "I'm not mad; I'm disappointed in you both." He shook his head. "Next time you go out, I want to come too. I don't like that I wasn't asked beforehand," he said with a pout. Munchlax, who'd remained behind to eat everyone's forgotten meal, choked on Salvadore's breakfast. He blinked and whipped his head from the TV to us, and gasped. Sabrina raised a finger to her lips and Munchlax mimed zipping his lips shut.
I coughed and glanced over to find that even Flint had left us to watch the news, making our discussion private.
I turned back to Oak. "Sorry about that, but thanks for talking with Lance for us."
"Well I might not be Champion, but I can see a good idea when it comes my way and make sure it gets the support it needs. Lance was rather amused that I wanted to add to his G-men unit, but he understood the need." Sam grabbed some toast and began putting some spread on it.
"We'll have to get you talking with my tailor before our next outing together. I have some ideas for Hero Gold's uniform, but I think you could all use a wardrobe upgrade. Simple coloured latex, while eye-catching for some, doesn't differentiate us from people off the street. A proper uniform will go far." He patted my shoulder. "It was a good first run, though. I'll talk to Hero Red."
I sighed and shook my head. Sometimes my life was weird. I shot Sabrina an amused look and she smiled back at my tired look before giggling at something my family said.
Oh well, it was still a win for the good guys.
Sadly now I'd have to go make sure the bad guys didn't cheat any more than they already had with Will's match against Erika. I reached for another slice of toast myself, only for Sam to cough politely.
"Also, when were you going to talk to me about the volcano you're building in your backyard?" Sam said, with a glint in his eyes.
Ah… damn, I thought to myself. "Have you ever thought about how Porygon are unique with their digital environment and what would happen if another artificial pokemon were to be created?" I said attempting a dodge.
Sam tilted his head, "I can't say that I have… hmmm fascinating."
I mentally fist-pumped. Brock used dodge and it was super-effective!
Sabrina giggled, knowing what I was doing as Ralts watched on in confusion.
It was a good start to the day.
A.N. Thanks go to Patreons for their continued support!
I was sure the Guardians had swept through there in the last few weeks. How had they missed it and Flannery had picked up on it?
Flannery grinned. "We did some footwork around the City!" Her head bounced from side to side, delighting in being the centre of attention as she strutted. "And I just knew it would be something you'd be interested in!"
"Alright, so you want to show me on a map where it is for tomorrow?" I said, nodding along.
Flannery winked at me. "Yeah, that, and I'll show you something else. Something pretty cool," she said, grinning wider if possible.
I eyed her for a long moment. Then I turned my attention to Roxanne, who looked a little embarrassed, while Brawly looked amused. So, something embarrassing for Roxanne but not something she's protesting too much?
Flannery tried to push open my door, only for it to still be locked. She stumbled, face-planting into it. She stayed there, face pressed against the door.
When she took a step back she had a red mark on her face. She gave me an unimpressed look. "You lock your door?"
"Standard security procedures," I said, my eyes flicking up to the red mark on Flannery's forehead.
I stared long and hard; after all, it was common sense for such a secure room to automatically lock. I tapped the side of the door, unlocking the door with my keycard, causing it to swish open.
Flannery grumbled something but was quick to shake off her bad mood. "Alright! So, I know you've been worried about reprisal with Team Rocket, but I thought of something! What if they have no idea who it is that is raiding them?" she said.
I raised a hand to point out that wasn't really an issue, but Sabrina pushed it down and shot me a look that caused a doubletake. Wait, did Sabrina want to go ahead with whatever Flannery had planned? Sabrina looked excited. Alright, it looks like I'd have to at least hear Flanenry out.
Flannery, unaware of what had just happened, drew out a pair of small cases from her backpack.
She turned them around and clicked open the latches before lifting the lid. "What if it wasn't Brock or Sabrina attacking Team Rocket what if… it was the Hero Black!?" she said theatrically, revealing a black spandex outfit with a helmet that was the lovechild of every Mighty Morphin Rangers mask, coupled with a black theatre mask.
Sabrina inspected the case that was placed in front of her. I noticed the twitch of her lips and the slight wiggle she gave as Flannery gave out other cases to Roxanne and Brawly. Sabrina's outfit was extremely bright yellow and seemed to be shaped like a Pikachu. I could tell she didn't like what she was seeing now. Oh good, she was probably thinking through how ridiculou—
"Hmmm, I'd prefer a Jolteon mask," Sabrina said, causing me to sigh and rub my temple. I shot my own mask another look to see what I had gotten.
The visage of a Houndoom snarled back at me.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Flannery… we're not children."
Brawly snorted as Flannery stomped her foot. "I know that! But this is serious! If we act as masked heroes, Team Rocket won't know who to go after! This is a way of protecting your loved ones!"
She gestured wildly, and I knew she was trying to come up with a valid argument. "It's pretty much what Lance is doing anyway with his G-men!" she said.
"The police have to know we're good guys, though; we can't just be vigilantes or we'll cause others to copy us," I pointed out.
Sabrina coughed. "Actually, we could probably be part of Lance's G-men without much effort."
Flannery bounced back and forth on the spot, her excitement growing. "There see! What Sabrina just said! If anything, we're merely acting in support of what he's already setting up!"
"I can make some calls. Don't worry Brock, Lance will approve, as it's very similar to what he's already doing," Sabrina said, raising her transceiver to begin typing out messages before she stepped out of the room to make some calls. Her costume floated after her.
I raised a hand to stop her, only for the door to click shut. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
That… wasn't really what Lance was doing, but he had established aliases for some of his Agents. That wouldn't be possible with people like me though who are well-known public figures. It would work for Koga, who was a ninja. People would have to be crazy to attack him.
Then again, chances were he didn't live where he listed… if he even listed his home address. It would make sense for officials to accept it as a personality quirk that he could get away with without too much complaint.
Heck Surge, Sabrina, Blaine, and the Cerulean sisters all had their own quirks that people knew to work around rather than trying to work through. Which… kind of let them all get away with a lot of things.
Honestly, I was kind of envious.
"I need a quirk…" I said aloud, causing Flannery to do a happy dance.
"Yes! That's the spirit!" she said, snapping her fingers and then waving them towards the opened case. "Exactly! Cut loose! Live a lot! Punish crime! Be Hero Black and win the hearts and minds of the people!"
I rubbed my forehead, eying the mask. "A Houndoom though? That certainly isn't a pokemon people will associate with me." If anything, they'd think of Karen before me.
"Maybe we should go with a Honchkrow, or… well, I can't say Graveler here…"
"No point having it be a pokemon you're known for," Roxanne said.
I nodded and pointed at Roxanne. "Yeah, that. We need to be careful with what pokemon we use." I waved at the mask. "There's no point in wearing these if we're just going to get spotted using iconic pokemon," I said considering what sort of pokemon I could call upon for that purpose. Clefairy had been doing rather well and was ready to fight at a high level. The same could potentially be said of Sudowoodo as merely an uncommon pokemon.
Who else could I use? Izumi would work; I'd just have to not mention her name. Geodude were common pokemon for people to own after all. I paused as I considered another pokemon that I knew no one would ever associate with me.
Cypher, the Porygon would be perfect for fighting crime.
I paused as I replayed the last minute back through my mind.
Oh, Arceus, I was seriously committing to this, wasn't I?
How did I find myself in these situations? I stared at Flannery. Yeah, it was probably her fault. Sabrina stepped into the room with her outfit on and a pleased expression on her face. She gave the room at large a thumbs up.
Flannery shot back a thumbs up, only to frown. "Hey! You have a key to Brock's office?"
Sabrina gave Flannery a look that made the other girl realise how obvious that should have been.
Brawly chuckled. Hehehe, that makes sense! Anyway, for pokemon that people won't associate with us, I have some good ones already! Plenty of people have Makuhita, Medicham, and Machamp!"
I raised my hand. "Not all of those at once," I said pointedly, causing Brawly to shrug.
"What are your masks like?" I asked.
Flannery raised up an Arcanine mask that was snarling, making it seem very fearsome. Roxanne raised a Clefairy mask, and Brawly raised a Blastoise mask.
"Pretty choice, hey?" Brawly said, waving his own mask around.
Sabrina put her mask on and sighed. "I still want a Jolteon mask. Pikachu is too cute."
I eyed the mask, agreeing with her that it was obnoxiously cute, but that only made it more appealing to me. It was strange to see Sabrina looking like this. "I kind of like it," I said, rubbing the back of my head.
Sabrina hummed and tucked her hair into the mask. I sighed and toyed with the mask. "Ok… so.. Tell me about the Cerulean Rocket base?" I decided to give up on pretending I was going to not take part in this madness
That way, someone responsible could make sure things didn't get too out of hand. Yeah, that made sense.
Sabrina teleported us onto the rooftop of the building across the street from our target the next morning.
Flannery bounced to the edge and peered over. "Perfect! Lights are still on, so the Rocket Grunts must be home!" She turned and pointed at us. "Remember that we need to use our code names from here on out, alright?"
"Copy that Red!" said Brawly as Blue.
"Y-yes!" said Roxanne in her pink outfit.
Sabrina and I shared a look before nodding. Yeah, maybe we'd just do the strong, silent type. Flannery turned to us and wilted when we shot her thumbs up and mimed agreement.
"Urgh! Spoilsports! Alright, so we're going to use Yellow's—" she said, making sure to emphasise the code name. "—scouting abilities for this. Yellow? Is there anything around us we need to be mindful of?"
I turned and started surveying the area, knowing that simply relying on Sabrina would be a poor trick that wouldn't cover all the angles. Outliers like myself, as a dark specialist or ghost pokemon wouldn't be picked up by Sabrina's psychic senses.
I started observing the street, looking for any people or pokemon that seemed a little too casual.
I instantly spotted a Raticate who was merely pretending to scavenge in a tipped-over trash can. It didn't make anywhere near enough noise for it to be actually scrounging, and it kept too much of a lookout.
"Got a sentry," I said. "Raticate on the corner, watching the approach to the warehouse Red," I said.
Flannery inspected the pokemon and pointed at Roxanne and Brawly to look around for any other pokemon or people that stood out. Brawly pointed out a house that had the blinds drawn, but a slit stayed open. "Kind of odd that the lady in there is still awake no?"
Sabrina turned her head in the indicated direction. "No, she's a shift worker who has come home late. She's catching up on the news before going to bed," she said.
Roxanne shifted back and forth. "It's rather disturbing how you can do that so easily."
"I didn't need to penetrate her mind for that. She is tired, and often tired people's thoughts project themselves as the boundaries of their mind relax," Sabrina said dismissively.
"Eh?" said Roxanne. "What do you mean?"
Sabrina turned her attention back to the warehouse across the street. "People think that thoughts only inhabit their brains, but that is often not true. It might not seem like it, but if we are with someone, we exchange more information than we realise. It goes beyond being able to see, hear, smell, or sense them consciously."
Sabrina made a circle with her hand in the air and said, "There is a certain… mental presence to people that is constantly being emitted. These are thoughts, or the mind, if you will."
"Really? " Roxanne said, sounding deeply interested.
I had heard this before, but it was always fascinating to hear Sabrina talk about the metaphysics of the mind.
"Indeed, researchers that work with psychic specialists have determined that everyone has latent untapped abilities. We might not be conscious of the links that occur when we get within the range of each other, but they do exist."
She made a gesture from herself to me. "Certain actions can make it easier to pick up on certain emotions and thoughts. These can be looks, actions, or even the intensity of emotions being felt. Most people experience this when they lock eyes with another."
"Oh? The fighting spark is psychic?" Brawly said.
Sabrina inclined her head slightly. "Indeed, we exchange small portions of impressions with others all the time. However, a true understanding of another person is something that can only occur when we spend significant time with each other. When we walk through a crowd of people, we are entering into a multitude of different, overlapping fields of thought."
Flannery tilted her head. "So sort of like how someone else's bad or good mood can impact us?"
"Indeed," Sabrina said. "No one is an island or a fortress." She indicated herself. "As a Psychic I have the ability to perceive this field of thought. Imagine, if you will, that I can see the thoughts being projected onto the surface of the mind, or the pond of thought that surrounds us all. This is how most mind-reading occurs. I am not intruding into the depths of their memories, or, as some science-fiction would have you believe, their personalities."
Sabrina shook her head. "That takes serious effort, and more often than not, people can feel such intrusions." She then shifted. "Using sight as a metaphor is rather limiting, as it doesn't account for people projecting their thoughts 'very loudly'. Sometimes the thoughts can be like rocks thrown at your house while you're in the sitting room. You have no choice but to notice them," she said rather firmly.
"Huh," Flannery said. "Do I—
"Yes, as a passionate person, you are like a Tauros kicking in my door with the message trailing after it."
Flannery wilted.
"You are not the worst I have experienced," Sabrina said. "Some people are just naturally loud with their personalities being larger than others. Yours is one such mind. Erika is also rather loud."
"Erika? She's as quiet as a church-rattata! She's got loud thoughts?" Brawly said before pointing. "Oh! Got one! That Murkrow has fought off a lot of pidgeys, but should be heading off to nest."
"Good spot," I said while Sabrina murmured something about Erika that I missed. "What was that?"
"It doesn't matter!" said Flannery. "Yellow! How many people are in there?"
"Seven. This seems to be a storage facility, and there are a number of pokeballs as well as Technical machines that Team Rocket Members can make use of." Sabrina held up her hand in front of her. "I… can see something of a computer room with various video feeds… they're tapped into the city camera system. I'm not sure of the purpose, though," Sabrina said.
"Monitoring the city alone would make it worthwhile by itself for Team Rocket; it does allow them a certain… freedom of action with how they would be able to mobilise with being aware of the local police. Wouldn't you agree?" I suggested.
"Alright, Yellow and Black, as the most careful, you will infiltrate the computer room," said Flannery.
"Ah, their dark emitters just turned on," Sabrina pointed out.
"Damn it! Suddenly competent bad guys?!" Flannery said with a huff.
I raised a hand. "Actually, I could probably send in Cypher if they're plugged into the city grid," I said.
Flannery pointed at me. "Good idea, Hero Black!"
I considered the warehouse and the subsequent cables leading towards it. There was a telephone line that was leading to the warehouse. I walked over to a powerbox and popped it open, releasing Cypher.
"Okay bud, here's the deal. There are some bad people in that warehouse over there connected to the city network. I need you to infiltrate and protect the computers so that we can use those." I considered him before deciding to increase his workload. "Keep the cameras on a loop as well, bud, for any that we appear on."
Cypher spun over himself and then dipped into the cable through the electricity box. I glanced at the cords and found nothing suspicious that could be seen. Huh, I was suddenly very glad I had three Porygon living my computer network in the Gym with how I'd just used them to exploit a weak point.
I could only speculate on what would happen when Rotom entered the scene. Would Porygon and Rotom enter digital battles over cyber territory and resources? Then again, neither was going to be exactly 'wild' by any definition of the word.
Or maybe I just didn't understand the virtual world. It might be worth talking about this with Oak or someone. What would happen for pokemon like Porygon and Rotom?
"Cypher's in," I said to the others, causing them to straighten up.
Flannery pointed out the pokemon. "Yellow, Pink, take those out, and then we'll enter through the back of the warehouse."
Sabrina nodded and tossed out a pokeball that levitated around behind the Raticate. When it opened, the Raticate whirled around, only to come snout to fist with a Makuhita.
Brawly tilted his head. "That's an odd pokemon for you to have Sa—I mean! Yellow!" he said quickly to cover up his slip-up.
Sabrina inclined her head. "Makuhita is… an interesting addition to my team. I think she has taught me quite a lot. Thanks to her, I have a good idea of how to work with my Medicham."
"Zip it on the type of pokemon we have," Flannery reminded before nodding towards the Murkrow.
Roxanne released her Probopass and indicated the distant pokemon. Probopass narrowed its eyes, and Murkrow twitched. Its head swept around in a startled expression before it took flight.
"Pink?" Flannery prompted.
A moment later, Probopass unleashed a blast of lighting, revealing that Roxanne had merely guaranteed the electric attack against the flying type with Lock-On first. As Murkrow fell out of the sky, Roxanne raised a thumbs up to us.
Flannery nodded and waved a hand towards the warehouse. "Alright! Let's go!" she said, leading the others over the rooftop and onto the street. When we got close to the door, I took point with Brawly. I raised three fingers and started a countdown before testing the door, only to find that it was unlocked.
Hmmm, not so competent bad guys, it would seem.
Brawly slumped. "Aw man, I thought we were gonna bust in!" he whispered plaintively.
I chuckled and waved Sabrina forward. "Three on the left," she said before pointing to the right. "Two over there, but they have four pokemon out of their pokeballs. They're inspecting them."
"Take the group to the left; move together. The group on the right might put their pokemon away before we get to them, which will make it easier," Flannery said.
I held in a chuckle. She was really taking the role of 'leader' seriously.
We stalked through the warehouse halls and found the trio idly flipping through reports near the computers. I suddenly felt much better about the idea of approaching this group first.
Flannery raised a hand and began a countdown. I braced, ready to sprint forward, only to frown and tap Flannery on the side. "Just walk in," I said. "Be audacious."
Flanery tilted her head before nodding and waving us forward. Instead of kicking the door in and storming forward, we walked through it like this was something we did every day. We got halfway across the room before one of the Rocket grunts looked up.
"What's with the outfits?" he said with a tilt of his head.
Brawly stepped up to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "Oh, nothing much. We're just heroes."
"Wha—" the man said, only for Brawly to punch his lights out. The other Rockets sat up realising that we weren't just quirkily dressed people but legitimate threats. One reached for a pokeball while the other moved to the computers.
I whistled, and Cypher leapt into action. He jumped out of the computer, surprising the Grunt. A Thunderwave blew out and zapped the Grunt causing them to fall with a rictus of pain.
Sabrina's Makuhita intercepted the pokemon that the other Grunt released, dispatching the Rattata. Roxanne released a Graveler that tackled the Koffing out of the air before pummeling it to submission.
The Rocket Grunt clicked his tongue and mimed, raising his hands while walking up to us. "Alright, alright, I give you got me, I'll co—" he said only to lunge towards a button.
I intercepted him in midair. "Not today!" I said as my hand descended on his head, knocking him flat to the ground where he lay still. I leaned down and exhaled in relief when he stirred. "He's just knocked out!"
Brawly chuckled. "Nice one! But maybe next time use a heo move! Something like Hero Chop! Oh! Or darkness bringer!"
I barked a laugh. "Ha, I think this is already a bit over the top, honestly," I replied.
Flannery snorted. "This from the guy that said we should just walk up to them? Bold as brass?" she said with a snicker. "Damn, that was smooth."
I shrugged. "If we kicked the door in, they'd know what we were about. If we left it in doubt, they wouldn't know until we confirmed it for them."
"It worked; no need to justify it!" Flannery aid. She giggled. "Not today!" she said mimicking my voice. "I thought that worked pretty well for a Hero catchphrase by the way."
The others chuckled as I grimaced.
When she was done teasing me, Flannery coughed and pointed at the computers. "Alright, Yellow, Pink, as the brains of this group see what you can get from the computer."
Yellow pulled out a USB and plugged it into the computer. "Cypher, come here. There's a nice duck," Sabrina said, drawing Cypher away from the twitching Rocket grunt.
Cypher spun away and entered the computer, breaking into it without missing a beat, before Sabrina started coasting through files, saving copies of certain documents and maps.
"There seems to be a supply run along with a list of acquisitions here. They have a number of stolen pokemon as well as technical machines. It seems they learn which trainers purchase useful items before ambushing them on the way out of the City."
"Huh, that's clever of them," Flannery said. "Think you can handle this lot while we go secure the other two?"
I coughed. "Remember, there might be others still around."
Sabrina inclined her head. "While I see nothing with regards to any Ghost pokemon or dark types on the roster, you are correct. Pink and I will trade out watching each other's backs while you inspect the rest of the building."
Flannery nodded at that before waving for Brawly and me to follow her out.
We stalked through the hallways a little more cautiously now. We inspected a number of rooms only to find them full to the brim of Pokeblock, and pokefeed. One room had a medical set-up for what would ostensibly be to care for the pokemon. I didn't like how haphazardly the equipment had been left, but unsafe healthcare practice was going to be the least of these people's charges with being a known criminal organisation.
When we reached another room that was occupied, it took both groups by surprise, as they were moving to leave the room through the door we had entered through.
Our two groups blinked at each other, only for Brawly to wave. "Hi, you looking for—"
"Intruders!" shouted the strangely whiny voice of the smaller of the pair.
"Shit! Let's roll out team!" Flannery barked as she released a Vulpix and a Growlithe.
"Ha! Let's show them Rocket power, lads!" said the younger of the pair released an Arbok, a Nidorino, and a Muk, while the other released a Raticate and a Fearow.
I sent out Izumi, and Brawly sent out his Medicham. I pointed straight at the Fearow and Izumi knew what to do as the Flannery and Brawly fought with their own opponents.
We made short work of the other pokemon with Flannery needing some backup by using the obviously much weaker Fire types to her normal team. As the Rockets floundered at their pokemon's defeat, I stalked up to the pair.
The first lunged at me with his fist raised. I dodged and shot a return right into his stomach. The other backed away, eyes wide with fear.
"No! No! This isn't how it's supposed to go! This was supposed to be how I fixed things! This is all that Charmander's fault for being weak!" the kid whined.
I frowned, a memory stirring regarding a kid with a Charmander. "What's your name kid?" I said pausing a few feet away from him.
"d-Damien?" he said nervously.
"Well, looks like you're blaming others for your own shortcomings. Now, you're going to be arrested, and you have a chance to fix things for yourself. Bad news? It's going to involve a lot of work. Fess up to any crimes and work hard, and you can do better."
"I'm not weak!" snarled the now-revealed Damien, the boy who had once owned Ash's Charmander. He threw a punch at me, only for Brawly to catch it and force it down before I could.
"We're all weak sometimes, kid; allow yourself that luxury and think about what I said," I said, cuffing him to a fixed-in pole as Brawly frisked him.
"I'm not weak!" snarled Damien at my back.
I walked away, shaking my head.
Flannery waited until I was out of earshot of the kid. "You know that kid?"
"Nah, not really. I know of him, but that's it." I sighed. "Right now, I'm wondering if my knowing him at all might have been something that would have spared him this moment. He… didn't make it to face me, from what I recall," I said vaguely.
I'd never seen him, but seeing him falling in with Team Rocket.
It… wasn't all that surprising I realised.
I did wonder how it had happened but I could make some enquiries. Oak would know.
I inspected the empty alcoves of pokeballs. There were only a few scones with actual pokeballs in them, but I had no doubt these were all stolen pokemon. This was a small facility at the end of the day, but it was still good to take it out of Team Rocket's control.
"Let's clean this place up and call the cops," I said. "We'll need to make some calls to make sure the right people get here first."
"The local Jenny, yeah?" Flannery said with a nod.
"Yeah, she'll do," I said. "We need to make sure these Rocket Grunts get processed properly without being able to skate free."
Flannery hummed. "Right, well, it seems like it's time to see who Hero Yellow called in favours with, yeah?"
Officer Jenny dismounted from her motorcycle, with other officers moving to cordon off the street. A woman opened the door of her house to watch them in her dressing gown, but soon closed it when officers asked her to go back inside. A news van pulled up, and some reporters piled out, cameras and reporters primping for an early morning news article.
Jenny snorted. There always seemed to be spectators around for this sort of thing. She approached the warehouse, not sure what to expect. The caller who had made the claim had weaved a story of what to expect that truly beggared belief.
Then again, it wasn't for Jenny to question; she merely enacted the law.
"Police! We're coming in!" She roared into the warehouse.
She then had the officer enter through the front door. They did so with textbook strategy, moving quickly and with support, pokeballs in hand and ready to be sent out.
"Clear!" the first shouted.
"Clear!" barked another as they rounded the door, moving in the opposite direction.
Jenny joined in and they soon had the entrance checked over before moving deeper in. Jenny went left and found herself in a computer room where the caller had said they'd find Team Rocket and the 'group'.
She wasn't sure what to think as she opened the door.
She paused as the masked individuals turned towards her. The Black masked hero nodded in greeting while the Yellow crossed her arms under her bust. Pink shifted back and forth nervously while Blue laced his hands behind his head and demonstrated some rather glorious muscles as his arms flexed.
Red straightened and approached them. "Ah, Cerulean Police, excellent! Our contact informed you of the capture, I take it?"
Jenny nodded slowly, her mouth dry, as she realised the caller hadn't been joking when they'd announced that Team Rocket had been taken in by a Hero group. "Y-yeah!" Jenny said.
"Excellent! We've been able to remove the passwords from the computers and have five Rocket Grunts locked up."
The Rocket Grunt to the side sneered at them. "Heh! Cute try! Our lawyers will be hearing about this! You can't storm in wearing masks and be upholding the law. We're innocent! They dragged us here!" said the smarmy-mouthed man.
Jenny chuckled at that. "Actually, they can, seeing as they are part of the G-men group that Lance has been organising."
The Rocket Grunt blinked. "What!? But that's just a group of cops! Not these posers! And he hasn't organised that yet!"
Hero Red rounded on the man. "These posers cracked your operation open like an unfertilised egg!" She then coughed. "So, no, you're not walking out of this, thanks to a technicality."
Jenny nodded, pleased that they'd set things up beforehand and were willing to go through the normal police procedures.
For a moment, when she'd first gotten the call, she'd worried they'd think themselves above that. What with calling themselves a 'Hero' group. She led the Heroes off to the side and debriefed them, all the while marvelling that this might be something new that she would have to get used to.
Before they left, she coughed politely. "So the rumours weren't false? Lance is setting up a super cop division?"
Red and Black shared a look before Black coughed into his fist. "That's on a need-to-know basis, I'm afraid. But…. they're certainly paying attention to certain individuals. Keep up the good work, Officer Jenny."
"Sir! Maam! Thank you for your work!" She saluted the group as they moved to the front.
Their exit caused the media outside to begin making a lot of noise. Jenny shook her head. It was going to be weird seeing the news later announcing the super-cop division, but it would be better than the news just talking about unsolved crimes.
She shifted, maybe… she might get asked to join?
She chewed her lip, which colour would she ask for? Blue would go well with… she shook her head and got rid of the idle thoughts.
She turned to the computers and started documenting the rest of the crime scene, glad that she wasn't higher on the organisation chart in the force just yet.
They'd have to handle the press trying to get details on the elite police force Lance had set up.
The next morning, I pointedly tried not to listen to the news as I ate breakfast with my family. At my side, Sabrina fed Ralts, as behind us, the news blared on about a shocking reveal of the new Superhero division of Lance's G-men.
That instantly had my family fleeing the table to inspect the news.
"So cool!" said Salvadore.
"Pretty!" said Suzie.
"Ha! There's more girls than there are guys!" said Cindy.
"Ha! They suck at posing!" said Tommy causing me to twitch.
Oh, right. I'd tried to forget that moment.
We'd decided to not approach the press and instead remain aloof, but Flannery had still demanded we 'hero pose' before we departed.
Only it wasn't something we'd practised, resulting in Flannery, Brawly, and Roxanne all adopting different poses that had nothing to do with each other.
"Awwww! Black and Yellow look cute!" said Yolanda.
I twitched. Sabrina and I had defaulted to raising our arms out from each other with our inner legs raised while standing next to each other. I still wasn't sure why we'd gone with that pose, but we'd made things more awkward with how choreographed we looked compared to the others.
The news was extremely excited about the development, and lots of people were talking about what this would mean for police work going forward. Some people were sceptical, while others thought it was a bold new step in policing.
I sat up when the door opened and Samuel Oak walked in. Salvadore waved at him but remained glued to the TV. Sam made a beeline for me. "Brock! Sabrina!" He sat down next to us and smiled winningly, only for it to fall away.
"Like I said on the phone," his face adopted a sad old man look. "I'm not mad; I'm disappointed in you both." He shook his head. "Next time you go out, I want to come too. I don't like that I wasn't asked beforehand," he said with a pout. Munchlax, who'd remained behind to eat everyone's forgotten meal, choked on Salvadore's breakfast. He blinked and whipped his head from the TV to us, and gasped. Sabrina raised a finger to her lips and Munchlax mimed zipping his lips shut.
I coughed and glanced over to find that even Flint had left us to watch the news, making our discussion private.
I turned back to Oak. "Sorry about that, but thanks for talking with Lance for us."
"Well I might not be Champion, but I can see a good idea when it comes my way and make sure it gets the support it needs. Lance was rather amused that I wanted to add to his G-men unit, but he understood the need." Sam grabbed some toast and began putting some spread on it.
"We'll have to get you talking with my tailor before our next outing together. I have some ideas for Hero Gold's uniform, but I think you could all use a wardrobe upgrade. Simple coloured latex, while eye-catching for some, doesn't differentiate us from people off the street. A proper uniform will go far." He patted my shoulder. "It was a good first run, though. I'll talk to Hero Red."
I sighed and shook my head. Sometimes my life was weird. I shot Sabrina an amused look and she smiled back at my tired look before giggling at something my family said.
Oh well, it was still a win for the good guys.
Sadly now I'd have to go make sure the bad guys didn't cheat any more than they already had with Will's match against Erika. I reached for another slice of toast myself, only for Sam to cough politely.
"Also, when were you going to talk to me about the volcano you're building in your backyard?" Sam said, with a glint in his eyes.
Ah… damn, I thought to myself. "Have you ever thought about how Porygon are unique with their digital environment and what would happen if another artificial pokemon were to be created?" I said attempting a dodge.
Sam tilted his head, "I can't say that I have… hmmm fascinating."
I mentally fist-pumped. Brock used dodge and it was super-effective!
Sabrina giggled, knowing what I was doing as Ralts watched on in confusion.
It was a good start to the day.
A.N. Thanks go to Patreons for their continued support!
frozenchicken
Does not have a custom title.
Well, it's on-brand for a halloween update.
Also, I love Munchlax's little moment of discovering the truth.
Also, I love Munchlax's little moment of discovering the truth.
xbox432
Lover of Editing
This was so amusing. Just from friends hanging out and punching criminals in the face.
Except the part with Damian. That was just sad... The kid had the whole world in front of him and decided to take a dive into a sewage pit. That's the only way some people learn I suppose.
Except the part with Damian. That was just sad... The kid had the whole world in front of him and decided to take a dive into a sewage pit. That's the only way some people learn I suppose.
"Hehehe
hero
officers
Yeah, finding out about this has just made all of his dreams of being a hero seem even closer to the little guy. Heh, he really might just become the first Snorlax superhero.
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Threnodist
occupying Haudenosaunee & Osage land she/her/hers
- Location
- Pittsburgh
That bit with Oak at the end when Brock distracts him (for the moment) was really funny to me!
- Location
- Elsewhere
"But Team Rocket is!"
"I'm... pretty sure they're adults?"
"C'mon, do you think anyone over the age of ten would think those plans would work?"
I'm sure plenty his team would be willing to wear costumes.
Purely for anonymity of course.
Titan could wear a domino mask!
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Magical Girl Princess Bertha and Tuxedo Titan?"But Team Rocket is!"
"I'm... pretty sure they're adults?"
"C'mon, do you think anyone over the age of ten would think those plans would work?"
I'm sure plenty his team would be willing to wear costumes.
Purely for anonymity of course.
Titan could wear a domino mask!
Chapter 153 - Flower power!
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
Erika wasn't able to host her match against Will in her Gym.
For some reason that rankled me when I learnt about it.
But it didn't surprise me. As much as Will had gone about the match with me in the wrong manner, he had drawn a lot of eyes to him. Eyes that had remained glued on him when he'd then promptly faced down the Cerulean and Vermilion Gyms without missing a beat.
Will had built on the initial interest and dragged most of Kanto's attention onto him.
I liked to think most of them were merely doing so to watch him lose. Sadly, I wasn't sure how many were being swayed by his victories thus far.
This week, he'd kept the public interested in himself by fighting an Ace trainer in the top twenty, only to then back it up by appearing on a talk show.
It spoke of a man who knew his PR. Or someone who had backing and a team that knew when to get him in front of a camera.
This resulted in a lot of demand for people wanting to come to watch his match against Erika.
Sadly, Erika's gym had nowhere near enough seating to facilitate that level of demand, resulting in the public stadium being called into use and some temporary stands being set up, with the city setting everything up.
I noted that didn't stop Erika and the girls of her gym from styling the entire stadium.
They'd gone all in with small plants that outgrew their pots draped everywhere. Then they'd had the flowerbeds spell messages and be shaped into various pokemon. Small water features with small goldeen were interspersed on the walkways leading towards the stadium.
The stands themselves were wrapped in vines but in an artful deliberate manner that spoke of cultivation and care rather than a rampant overgrown garden. All of this while pokemon such as Bellosom ran around underfoot, merely adding to the ambience.
Erika might not own the stadium, but she'd put her mark on it.
I could only stare puzzlement at a host of trees as we got closer to the stadium. Those… hadn't been there. I was sure of it. They were just too notable in how they branched out and had vines wrapping around them to create a natural tunnel that softened the entire area leading up to the metal stadium.
"Those trees weren't here last time I was here… were they?" I asked with a tilt of my head as I walked along the path arm-in-arm with Sabrina.
"No, Erika's trainers had their pokemon help grow them last week," she replied.
"Oh, that's impressive," I said aloud, eying the trees that I would have sworn were years old rather than just weeks… or even days old.
Ralts was resting on Sabrina's shoulder with a flower crown atop her head, drawing more than a few giggles and coos of delight from people that we passed by.
"Gym Leader Brock and Sabrina!" said a reporter, practically popping out of the plants to push a microphone in our direction. "I see you're here to watch Erika's match against Will?"
We both nodded, with Sabrina even favouring the woman with a polite smile. "Indeed, we are," said Sabrina, surprising me. I gave the reporter and her tag-along cameraman another look. They looked familiar.
"You… were the one that interviewed us before our date a few weeks ago, weren't you?" I said tentatively. "I never got your name, I'm sorry to say," I said carefully, toeing the line of stating that I most likely forgot her name.
"Bron!" said the woman happily, and she waved her hand at her cameraman. "And this is Darrel! I'm glad you remember us!" she said as her smile grew a little warmer. "Any thoughts about tonight?"
I opened my mouth, about to speak my mind, before shutting it quickly. Sabrina had no such restraint. "I hope Erika defeats him. We, as Gym leaders, have paid a good deal of attention to Will with his run to be an Elite Four since he challenged Brock." She inclined her head towards me giving me a squeeze.
Then she turned her head back to the cameraman. I was stunned. I'd never seen her be so deliberately charming, but I could see it was working. Bron leaned in, a hopeful look on her face as she made sure the microphone was in pick-up range to make sure what Sabrina was saying was being recorded clearly.
"His first introduction to us was flamboyant and extremely suspicious, all told. There were a number of inconsistencies, and since then they have continued to pile up. Will's tactics, legal as they may be against Brock, have shown what he is like when pushed. Is this the sort of man that we want at the highest level of Indigo government?"
Sabrina shook her head morosely. "Will has shown that he is not willing to uphold certain… honourable principles that we have taken for granted in our country."
Sabrina directed a smile towards the stadium. "I know that Erika has already won in ways that we as individuals don't value. She's a better person than Will ever was or will be. I hope to see that shown during their match with her victory."
Bron blinked. "Oh! Well, my goodness, that is quite the insightful take on the coming match."
Sabrina merely inclined her head, accepting the praise. Bron shifted and directed her microphone in my direction. "Anything to add Gym Leader Brock?"
I shook my head and smiled at Sabrina. "I think she's said everything I could have, and done it better than I ever would have."
Sabrina squeezed my hand. "Sometimes straightforward answers are best; don't sell yourself short." She nodded her head to Bron and Darrel. "We should head inside; it's been good seeing you again."
"Bron, Darrel," I said, happy to follow Sabrina's lead.
We got a few feet away, and I heard Bron turning to Darrel. "Well, you heard it here first folks! Sabrina laying the foundations for a serious discussion on the morality of power and the importance of having the right people being in positions of power! A deep topic if I've ever encountered one! I'm Bron from Chrysanthemum Town, signing off!"
I chuckled. "Wow, you were incredible back there."
"Thank you," she said leaning into my side. "I was merely telling the truth as well. Will is the wrong sort of person to be an Elite Four member."
I gave her a kiss and walked through the archway into the stadium which was ringed by flowers to hide the barrier generators.
We claimed our seats at the front, and I found myself looking across at Giovanni on the other side of the stadium. I locked eyes with him, but he merely nodded amicably, like one would to a contemporary.
I laced my hand into Sabrina's and shifted my attention to Ralts to avoid giving Giovanni any more of my attention.
Despite my dark energy, Ralts seemed to be able to pick up the mood I was in and who I was directing it at with how she glanced from me to Sabrina, and then across the arena at Giovanni.
I sighed. I really wished I could walk up to him and punch him in the face instead of playing around the issue. Maybe I could throw another rock through his Gym?
I considered that with a dark satisfaction, enough that I missed the announcer coming in and starting introduction for Will.
"—rising through the ranks of Ace trainers! Will!" she said, gesturing grandly to one entrance.
Unlike other cities, Will received polite applause with his entrance instead of outright boos and catcalls like he had at Vermillion and Cerulean. He should have gotten a better entrance at Cerulean, but that wasn't on the cards with how he'd fought against me only to back up against the next Gym so quickly. By doing what he'd done, he'd disrespected Cerulean at large.
"And now, the Gym Leader of Celadon City! Please give a big Celadon welcome! To Erika!" cheered the announcer.
More polite applause filled the stadium with only a few more passionate calls. It was a marked difference from every gym so far.
"They're so polite," I said.
It was honestly strange to have such a subdued response after witnessing the screaming and shouting of the Vermillion gym. My own gym was similar to Surge's with how often people shouted and stomped.
Heck, even Cerulean City had people shouting and catcalling. In contrast, Celadon was like… well the best example I could think of was from my past life with a crowd at a tennis grand slam.
It was a noble event with grandeur and status, rather than the noise of a boxing match like I was used to.
"There are a number of boarding schools here. Also, you must remember that Celadon has some of the best minds at the university. A number of the crowd are from higher socio-economic groups and are therefore more reserved in their support. They still barrack for Erika, but it is different," Sabrina explained.
"I wouldn't have thought there would be such a difference," I commented.
"There are also lots of etiquette schools in Celadon that families will send their children to. It's something of a tradition in Celadon. At least that is how Erika explained it to me."
"Ah," I said, only somewhat understanding how that translated into… wait a minute. "Wait do they tell people how to cheer at pokemon matches at those schools?"
Sabrina's head bobbed up and down and I shook my own in response.
"Weird," I said, eyeing the people around me who were all sitting with straight backs and impeccable poise.
The referee took hold of the match and raised their flags to signal for silence. Once again, I noticed that it was a League official referee and not one of the local Gym trainers. They ran through the normal prematch talk before raising their flags.
Erika bowed politely towards Will. "May today's match be a wonderful showcase!" she said with what I could recognise as a neutral mask of politeness for her with the barest glint of something steely flashing through her eyes.
"I'm sure it shall be," Will said magnanimously.
He selected and threw out his first pokemon as Erika did the same.
On Will's side, an Exeggutor took to the field, causing a quiet murmur to break through the mask of politeness at the snub of sending out a grass-type pokemon first against a grass-type specialist.
Erika's pokemon caused a small gasp to run through the crowd as her pokeball disgorged her own Exeggutor.
Both pokemon locked eyes, and you could almost see the crackle of tension as they both understood how they were now representing their trainers.
The referee's flags dropped, and the battle began.
Will's Exeggutor danced from foot to foot and suddenly Sunny Day revealed itself while Erika merely waved her hand forward.
"Bullet Seed," she said to her Exeggutor, who fired off an extremely weak-looking attack. I chewed my lip and glanced up at the Sunny Day. That was a rather ambitious move that should see Erika benefit more, surely? I wasn't sure what either of their strategies were and decided to wait and see.
Part of me twitched to be out investigating the stands and nearby buildings in case Team Rocket got involved like they had for my match. With Giovanni here, surely that meant Team Rocket were interested.
Sadly, the plan called for me to be front and centre much like I had been for Surge. It was too obvious that I would draw attention if I didn't show Erika, a noted friend, support by being on the sidelines.
So instead, the job of searching for any threats fell to Janine, Koga, Agatha, Karen, Lucy, and the legion of Channellers that worked with the Guardians. That, and Lance had confided that the local police were also on the lookout for any suspicious activity.
I narrowed my eyes as I noticed that not all of the seeds that had peppered Will's Exeggutor were falling off. In fact, they were taking root on his pokemon and digging in.
Ah, that was sneaky of Erika.
"Bulldoze!" She ordered her pokemon to surge forward with its head lowered as though it were going to charge right into her foe. Only to stop halfway in with its head still lowered to unleash a barrage of what looked like Sludge Bombs.
The other Exeggutor danced around the attack only to twitch when a small orb of energy wafted out of it and into Erika's Exeggutor, who raised its heads to smirk.
"Return," said Will surprising a good number of people and causing what had to be some out-of-town trainers to cheer for Erika loudly.
"Reflect," Erika said, prompting her pokemon to boost its defences as Will selected his next pokemon.
He eyed Exeggutor's position and tossed out his pokeball, surprising a good number of people when it landed in close.
Then Will flicked his fingers, and Mr Mime dashed forward, only to vanish as it closed with Exeggutor.
"Stomping Tantrum!" cried Erika.
Her pokemon slammed its feet into the ground hurriedly, only for Mr Mime to appear in the air behind it, hands raised in a chopping position.
"Mr Mime!" it shouted as it swept it's arms forward and unleashed an Aerial Ace into Exeggutor's rear faces.
"Xeg!" Exeggutor cried out and stumbled backwards, causing the rumble of the ground to falter as Mr Mime landed.
It charged straight back in, with Will once more not saying a word. His pokemon's fist blazed to life only for Erika to fight back.
"Solar Beam!" she ordered. Her pokemon snapped its head onto the charging Mr Mime and unleashed a burst of energy straight into Mr Mime's face, blasting it away.
Exeggutor straightened itself and shook itself off, only to glower as Mr Mime stood up and dusted itself off.
"Synthesis!" Erika said, causing her pokemon to twitch its fronds and absorb the last of the Sunny Day.
Instead of charging in again, Mr Mime grinned and raised his hands towards the dying Sunny Day. It began to shine as well as Mr Mime used Copycat to use Synthesis.
"I must say, I underestimated you. I did not think you would begin with the pokemon that you did," Will said suddenly.
He flicked his hand and Mr Mime placed a hand atop its head and gained a look of intense concentration.
Erika didn't say anything. Instead, she kept her eyes on the match. "Seed Bomb," she said making her pokemon fire a burst of powerful seeds, each the size of coconuts, up into the air.
"Tsk, really my own move?" Will said waving a hand at the Seed Bombs which Mr Mime reached a hand towards. They were soon grasped in a psychic grasp and turned back towards Erika. Despite this, Erika had not been idle. Her pokemon's eyes began to glow, and Mr Mime twitched as Erika unleashed psychic waves of energy upon her foe. This was a move I recognised.
She'd gotten her pokemon to use Hypnosis. Mr Mime stumbled, losing control of the floating Seed Bombs.
In doing so the Seeds dropped and exploded between the two pokemon.
I still pumped my fist. "Nice one Erika!" I shouted, ignoring the sniff of disapproval from behind me. I sat with a grin. That had been good. Erika had baited Will into a trick by using his own move but then taking it a step further. When he'd looked up, her pokemon unleashed a notoriously tricky move with Hypnosis.
Will snapped his fingers, and Mr Mime blurred for a moment. I leaned forward remembering the last time this move had occurred. Erika squinted, also noticing the slight movement.
"Magic Leaf, but send it wide!" Erika said causing a huge torrent of rainbow-coloured leaves to shoot out of her pokemon.
Most arced towards the illusion that Mr Mime had left behind with the substitute, but others slammed into and broke the mirage that hid Mr Mime revealing that he'd hopped to the side before submitting to Hypnosis.
"Seed Bomb!" Erika called out once more, this time her move sailing through the air with unerring accuracy to explode down upon Mr Mime.
When the smoke cleared Mr Mime was revealed, just barely conscious with a lot of soot all over him. It glowered at Erika's Exeggutor.
It suddenly vanished in a red flash of light. I frowned. "It's a bit weird that he's gone back to doing the psychic command trick, isn't it?" I asked Sabrina as a Medicham took to the field.
Erika made use of the slight pause for a quick Synthesis.
"I think he wishes to reestablish himself before he faces me. His orders fall back into verbal when he is flustered, which reveals he has not always been as skilled as he is now with his psychic abilities. Without directly testing myself against him, I couldn't say where his skills lie but I am confident that I am stronger in most, if not all, of the known psychic abilities."
She sighed and shook her head as she let her eyes flicker up into the sky. "He is not my concern," she said causing me to nod and glance around for any suspiciously floating pokemon.
There weren't any; instead, the afternoon sky was filled with flying-type pokemon taking an aerial view of the match playing out before us.
Medicham copied Mr Mime with another Aerial Ace, only to follow up with another instead of attempting a Fire Punch.
With no Sunny Day in effect, Erika couldn't unleash a Solar Beam as quickly, but Will stayed much more cautious with how he kept Medicham in close and pressured Erika with the Aerial Aces.
Erika raised her pokeball and returned her pokemon as it began to topple from one hit too many.
She cradled the pokeball in her hands for a long moment before nodding her head over it and whispering to it.
Around us, the crowd applauded politely.
Erika inspected Medicham and tilted her head thoughtfully as she selected her next pokemon.
"Any guesses?" I said.
"No," Sabrina said with a tone of voice that let me know she knew precisely which pokemon was coming out next.
"Go Tropius!" said Erika, sending her pokemon out to soar in the air, the giant fronds on its back flapping to keep it in the air.
"Tropius!" cried the pokemon happily as it locked eyes with its foe.
I nodded, pleased with this development. She'd gotten herself room to move and denied Will an advantage while threatening her own.
"Gust!" Erika said.
I frowned. That was a rather weak move as an opener.
Will flicked his hand causing the Medicham to endure the Gust while raising its hands towards Tropius. A blue glow came over Tropius, and it cried out in pain as it started to be pulled down to the ground.
"Hurricane!" Erika ordered quickly. Her pokemon nosedived and went into a tailspin,. The spin caused a huge gust of wind to surge up around and within moments a hurricane formed and was released towards Medicham.
Medicham's eyes glowed for a moment, and it sprinted to the side, edging just onto the boundary of the battlefield where it hunkered down, grasping its hands into the earth.
As the hurricane died off, Tropius was revealed once more at its original height having been buoyed up by the winds.
Erika slashed her hand out. "Charge in with Aerial Ace!" she said making her pokemon once more nosedive straight at Medicham.
Will snapped his fingers and Medicham stayed in position its eyes glowing as Tropius charged in.
Medicham turned just as Tropius vanished into the Aerial Ace. As it reappeared, Medicham met it with a rising Ice Punch. It slammed straight into the Tropius's face. TRopius cried out in pain but lashed its wings forward to slam them into Medicham.
Both pokemon were blown back from the hit, only for Tropius to land heavily and not get up.
Will breathed out in relief as Erika returned her next pokemon.
I rubbed my chin. "She's got the team to put him under pressure, but they're not up the level they need to be," I said.
"She still has other pokemon to call on," Sabrina said. I shot her a look and nodded, she was right.
I tapped her thigh. "Any word from the others?" I said alluding to the Guardians.
Sabrina's eyes glowed for a moment, and she shook her head. "They are patrolling, but there is nothing amiss. Here, or out in the city," Sabrina said.
"Go! Vileplume!" Erika shouted as her giant flower pokemon appeared in a burst of light.
Vilpume teetered around, happily waving its hands before it caught sight of Medicham. It wilted into itself. The flower that crowned its head curled inwards, resulting in its eyes vanishing behind its large petals.
If I didn't know how strong Erika was I would have said her pokemon was merely shy.
But that wasn't the case at all. I'd encountered this strategy myself during a Gym match. The slits in the flower allowed Vileplume to peer out without the opposing side knowing which way Vileplume was facing without investing some effort.
Will didn't seem impressed, as he made a gesture for his Medicham to sprint forward with its fist raised only to vanish in another direction as Will continued to pressure Erika with Aerial Ace.
Erika's Vileplume reacted with a sudden bright light blossoming from under its fronds. Will stiffened. "Get out!" he barked, suddenly much more fearful of Vileplume only for Medicham to land and be caught in a rainbow blast of force that erupted from Vileplume.
I blinked in surprise, whereas Sabrina huffed in pleasure. "Was that a Fairy type move?" I said.
Sabrina nodded and when the brightness died off Medicham was revealed standing groggily and shaking itself off but no Vileplume. My eyes, darted to the ground out of instinct expecting Dig to be used only to frown as no tunnel was revealed.
"Wait! Vileplume can't dig!" I said as I realised my blunder.
"No, but it can float," Sabrina said, her own head tilted up. I glanced up and was surprised to find a spinning Vileplume that was using its own huge petals to keep itself in the air.
Will was just as surprised by this turn of events as he barked out his next order. "Future Sight!"
"Blast it," Erika said firmly, her hand chopping down.
Once again Vileplume gleamed, but this time a very distinctive orb of iridescent pink energy built up and was unleashed upon Medicham.
"Protect!" Will ordered only for his pokemon to falter in defending itself. It took the Moonblast head-on and crumpled.
I clapped along with the rest of the crowd as they applauded Erika's showing but I couldn't help but have conflicted feelings about what I was seeing. "I could have done that against his Medicham if I'd had Selene…" I said.
"Yes, but she was exhausted Brock. I think you made the right call not using her. It may have caused her to become injured if she wasn't at her best. Will is the type to exploit any weakness." She put her hand on my thigh and squeezed.
"Erika and I came up with this plan when we reflected on which pokemon you couldn't use against Will." She squeezed my thigh again. "I have always said that Selene is exceptionally versatile, and so I examined her moveset and noted a few that would have been used to threaten Will. "
She indicated Vileplume who had now landed. "We had to work on Vileplume, but Erika has been able to build on Charm to gain the more offensive moves Vileplume can learn."
"That… can't have been quick," I said.
"I've been working with Erika for quite a while already. We merely intensified her training and focussed on some specific pokemon and their movesets. We merely had to increase the time we spent each day."
I hummed and nodded, feeling slightly mollified that others had looked at my lo… fight with Will. Sabrina squeezed my thigh. "You didn't lose to him."
I huffed and shot her a smile, amused at how she'd read my mind despite knowing she couldn't.
"Ten Seconds!" barked the referee making me realise that Will has been delaying on releasing his next pokemon. At the prompt, a number of people in the crowd took up murmuring at the oddity of Will not sending out his next pokemon.
As it reached three a pokeball rose from Will's pokebelt without his prompting and was thrown forward to disgorge his Exeggutor. Will raised his chin in a slightly provoking manner before waving his hand. Exeggutor's eyes began to glow and Vileplume rose up with a cry of pain as Psychic grasped it.
"Fling!" shouted Erika. Her pokemon twitched as dark energy surrounded it, breaking the Psychic and forcing Exeggutor to leap to the side to avoid the rather weak dark-type attack.
Sabrina leaned towards me. "I believe he spent most of that time re-establishing his emotional control so he could psychically command his pokemon."
"Hmmm?" I said, considering how Will had been with Vileplume smacking his Medicham around to now. Sabrina was right. I shook my head at his mind games before nodding as Vileplume tried to unleash another Moonblast.
Sadly, Exeggutor was able to dash to the side and avoid the attack. Not that Erika seemed to mind as small puffs of energy wafted towards Vileplume, rejuvenating her pokemon.
"Vileplume! Do your thing!" said Erika with a wave of her arm. Vileplume stopped trying to blast Exeggutor and instead whirled about, pink energy wafting off its form. Its petals rose up into the air and Vileplume shot a wink right at Exeggutor.
The various faces twitched in surprise, and then a blush overtook all of them.
I choked back a laugh. "That isn't Charm is it?" I said with a smirk as Exeggutor trotted forward. I shot Will a look and he seemed to be shaking his head as though dazed. "Did he…" I started to say but stopped. I wasn't sure I wanted to complete that sentence.
"Connecting to your pokemon without knowing all the risks can make for a disorienting experience. Especially with a pokemon that has multiple heads. Attract can be rather powerful in instances like this," Sabrina smugly replied.
She drummed her fingers on my thigh. "That he has been so strongly impacted… implies certain things about him."
Oh," I said, suddenly wondering if Will would become a known member of the Pokemon fan club due to this exchange.
I glanced at Sabrina, a question on the tip of my tongue.
"I know to disengage with my pokemon when moves such as Attract are used. There is a rather obvious build-up if you're emotionally… aware of yourself," she said.
She waved a hand about herself. "Also, it is not something that would work as well on me."
I chuckled and squeezed her hand.
When I turned back to the match, Vileplume happily pranced right up to Exeggutor before spitting a dark purple mass of poison into Exeggutor's face.
Exeggutor reeled back in shock, but only one of the faces lost its blush. It started crying out to the other head, but those were still thoroughly infatuated. Will shook off his funk and scowled.
"I expected better from you Erika," he said as a pokeball was raised only for Vileplume to stab a poison-coated fist into Exeggutor's side, causing the palm tree pokemon to topple over.
"Self Destruct!" snapped Will, causing a gasp of shock to run through the crowd.
This time, however, the move didn't go off, as Exeggutor continued to gaze lovingly up at Vileplume. Vileplume smiled at the other pokemon and Erika made the most of her foe slowly being bled out.
"Grass Terrain!" she said.
Her Vileplume happily dug itself into the ground slightly, like a potplant planting itself. Suddenly, the arena bloomed to life as grass shot up. Long stalks grew and I saw some roots begin to entrap Exeggutor before its eyes closed despite Will's consistent orders to Self Destruct.
I sat forward. "Huh, she's really brought herself back into this match with her Vileplume," I said.
Sabrina inclined her head. "I expect Will is going to fight back much harder now," she said as Exeggutor toppled, felled by the poison.
She was proven right as the instant his Exeggutor was off the field, another pokeball whipped forward to reveal his Alakazam.
Will pointed, and a powerful Psybeam unleashed itself onto Vileplume.
"Protect!" ordered Erika quickly, causing the super-effective move to slam into the Protect.
I breathed out in relief only to blink in surprise as Erika returned her pokemon straight away.
"Calm Mind," Will announced into the silence that followed Erika's quick reaction.
While his pokemon did this Erika quickly selected another pokeball
Will perked up, only to scowl as Erika threw her pokeball deep into the section of the field with the longest grass where it was hidden from sight. I chewed my lip and shot Sabrina a look. She had a far too casual look on her face, which let me know she once again knew precisely which pokemon was on the field.
I held back from asking and decided to watch.
"Pin Missle!" Erika said and tiny pins were fired from out of the grass into Alakazam who Teleported out of danger only to scowl as the attack vanished.
"Blast it with Psybeam!" Will said making his pokemon unleash once again at the point where the Pin Missles had come from. The Psybeam blasted forward and Erika smiled.
"Go on the offensive!" she shouted, punching forward.
Everyone but Sarina was therefore stunned when a humanoid shape sprinted straight through the Psybeam, completely unaffected to slam a fist into Alakazam's gut. The powerful psychic type rocketed back to slam into the wall before staggering to its feet.
"Kazam!?" it said as its foe was revealed.
"Cacturne!" said the grass-dark type pokemon.
I grinned as it tapped at the hat shape on its head in mock greeting. I'd known Erika would have to own this pokemon. It was gratifying be proven right and to see it punish Will like this. Erika had set her battlefield to hide the reveal of the pokemon.
Sadly the powerful hit wasn't enough to see Alakazam down and out.
"Retreat to the long grass!" Erika urged, making her pokemon leap back into the grass where it could hide.
"Focus Blast!" Will snapped, less than pleased to be tricked.
The powerful fighting type move blasted forward only for nothing to be hit. I thought I saw something move off to the side and apparently so did Will.
His finger pointed in another direction, and Alakazam blasted in that direction.
Will growled before inhaling and cursing to himself as a pokeball rose and returned his Alakazam. He nodded at Erika. "You have done your homework," he said.
Erika merely bowed her own head back. "I have yes." she waved a hand at the battlefield. "Continue as you are, Cacturne," she said cryptically.
Will huffed and released another pokeball. This one revealed a Solrock that floated up above the long grass. "I was hoping to not rely on such tactics but…" Will made a sweeping gesture.
Will made a twisting gesture and his pokemon unleashed a tornado of fire that engulfed the grass. Cacturne was revealed with its arms raised and a green orb shooting forward to slam into Solrock who twitched as Giga-Drain slammed into it, causing both pokemon to trade out super-effective attacks.
Both narrowed their eyes on the other, only for Cacturne to twitch in pain, revealing that it had been burned.
"Fall back!" Erika said.
Solrock started to spin on itself again as it repeated its Fire spin. Cacturne sadly took the hit again without getting a reply. Cacturne was knocked back into grass but it wasn't long enough to hide in.
Will smirked as he stabbed a finger forward imperiously. His Solrock ignited into a Flare Blitz that saw it rocketing into Cacturne.
"Protect!" Erika ordered causing her pokemon to raise its arms up and raise a Protect to absorb the hit.
I could see it grimacing in pain as the burn impacted it once more.
Solrock floated back with a glower at the defended foe only to glance down and cry out in anger.
I followed it and realised that Cacturne had allowed itself to fall back into a part of the field that still had grass on it. Grass, that was part of the Grassy Terrain, therefore allowing a small amount of healing to the injured Cacturne.
I had to hand it to Erika. She could be very subtle in her set-up and orders.
Sadly, it didn't prove enough, as the moment the Protect fell away, Solrock rocketed in with another Flare Blitz, knocking out Cacturne.
Erika returned it and once more whispered some words of support as she had done for all of her pokemon thus far. She then selected another pokeball and tossed out a Venusaur that landed and roared its name.
"Razor Leaf!" Erika ordered sharply.
Will merely waved his hand and Solrock unleashed a Flamethrower which burned away the oncoming leaves. The fire kept coming, only for Venusaur to leap to the side with its legs springing out and causing it to dodge the attack.
"Petal Blizzard!" Erika said as her pokemon started to waddle, the flower on its back unleashed a huge barrage of flowers into the air that rose up to fill the air.
Will made a twisting gesture and his pokemon unleashed another Fire Spin that swept out to burn away the rest of the field and clip Venusaur. "Saur!" growled the pokemon only for Erika to punch her arm forward. "Solar Beam!"
Will huffed at that and pointed his hand forward. "I didn't expect hubris from you, Erika," he said as his pokemon charged forward with Flare Blitz it slammed into Venusaur and her pokemon was engulfed in fire.
Erika merely watched the fire before bowing her head. "No, merely aware of my pokemon's limitations. Venusaur can handle a little fire," she said before once again stabbing her hand forward.
From the fire, a blast of energy shot forward and slammed straight into Solrock, knocking it out of the battlefield and into the back wall where it slid down.
Will glanced at it before inspecting the extremely charred Venusaur. Venusaur growled and shook itself but remained on the field.
I hummed in thought. "Does it seem like Will is making a lot of mistakes to you?"
Sabrina nodded. "He should have used more Psychic abilities, but he instead committed to the idea of burning everything away. He only needed to get rid of the Grassy Terrain with a Fire spin or two once Cacturne was finished. After that, he could have whittled things down with Psychic. He was trying for more and going for the easiest and fastest win he could."
Sabrina sighed. "I doubt he will be so lax going forward."
She was proven right when Will unleashed his Alakazam once again.
"Recover," he said quickly.
"Petal Blizzard!" Erika responded, making her pokemon fill the air of the battlefield with deadly petals.
Instead of dodging into them, or allowing them to hit, Will surprised Erika by having his pokemon Teleport in close to Venusaur to slash with its spoons coated with psychic energy.
Venusaur groaned with pain and slumped worn down from the earlier match with Solrock.
Instead of returning her pokemon and whispering support to it, Erika's eyes gleamed as she returned her pokemon while tossing out another right next to where Venusaur had been.
"Tangrowth!" shouted her starter as it revealed itself.
Will sniffed only to twitch as Tangrowth went from posing into an explosive display of speed.
It instantly lunged at Alakazam and wrapped its viney tentacles around Will's starter. I blinked I hadn't been expecting that, but it seemed Erika had more tricks up her sleeve.
"Knock Off!" Erika ordered, making her pokemon's many tentacles glow with dark energy.
I perked up. Erika had planned that? Or had she merely made good use of Will's laxity to get her starter into an amazing position to grapple with another? It didn't matter as Will suddenly found his pokemon locked into a brawl with the mass of tentacles that was Tangrowth.
Fists flew as Tangrowth slammed Alakazam with Knock Off.
In response, Alakazam hammered back with Fire Punch after Fire Punch.
Both pokemon didn't back down, or in Will's case, couldn't back down. When the end came it surprised everyone as Alakazam slammed a fiery fist into Tangrowth's head.
Tangrowth cried out in pain only to throw itself on top of Alakazam in a last-ditch effort that caused Alakazam to be ridden down to the ground where Tangrowth's mass of tentacles smothered it.
"Teleport out!" Will barked to no avail.
When the referee raised his flags, he did so for both trainers. "Alakazam and Tangrowth are unable to battle! Both must be withdrawn!"
Will glowered at the man before turning his gaze upon Erika. Erika returned her pokemon to reveal the flattened Alakazam. She bowed politely. "I saw my chance and I took it," she said.
Will didn't reply instead tossing out a pokeball to reveal his last pokemon to be an Espeon.
Erika looked it over before sending out her own last pokemon in her Vileplume. "Let's go girl! Do your thing!" Once more Vileplume did her dance and it seemingly connected with Espeon as the other pokemon twitched and started walking towards Vileplume with its tails wagging.
Will remained aloof as Espeon walked forward. Erika frowned however. "Vileplume us—"
"Psybeam!" Will ordered smugly, revealing his pokemon wasn't male, which would have allowed the Attract to work, but rather female. From close range, the super-effective move slammed into Vileplume and knocked it out.
I sighed. "That was a little anticlimactic." I joined the polite applause as everyone thanked the two trainers for the battle. Camera crews hurried to a designated area as Erika returned her Vileplume and approached Will to congratulate him on the victory.
I shot Sabrina a look, hoping she'd picked something up for us to use, only for her to shake her head.
As we stood, a reporter and cameraman broke off to put a microphone in our faces.
"Gym Leaders! You've both seen Will fighting a few times now! How do you think today's match went?"
"Erika did well," Sabrina said. She glanced up at the scoreboard which showcased that Erika had lost with Will only losing four of his pokemon. "Mr Mime wasn't in a good condition, but he still had the advantage. It was very uphill for Erika but she did well."
"I see!" said the reporter before turning to me. "What about yourself Gym Leader Brock? Since your Draw, you've been vocal in wanting a rematch? Do you think Will has gotten stronger?"
"No," I said feeling annoyed at the reminder of Will's match with me and how it ended.
"Care to elaborate?" the man pressed.
I sniffed. "If anything, Will has gotten weaker. He needed extensive scouting against me to develop the strategies he did. He has realised how unpopular those strategies are and people have adopted counters for them. His matches since have been rougher."
"But he's still won them," the man pointed out. I merely grunted, deciding not to volunteer anything more, seeing as that hadn't been a question.
Before the reporter could ask another question, a microphone tap caused everyone to look to the centre of the field where Erika was.
She smiled. "Well hello everyone! Thank you for coming out today! I hope you enjoyed the match! It was a wonderful experience for me and I know I've gotten stronger for it!"
She received another polite round of applause, interspersed with a few out-of-towners cheering much more loudly.
"We love you Erika!" screamed one.
Erika giggled at that only to be interrupted from saying anything more.
Will coughed politely and stepped close to Erika. Sabrina and I stiffened as he loomed over Erika. "May I?" he said with a faux-polite smile.
She smiled back and handed him the microphone.
Will smiled out at the crowd. "I too would like to thank you all for coming out to witness my match." Next to him, Erika frowned at the man's words. He ignored her. "I also hope you will all be there next weekend for my next match."
He turned and looked in my… no.
In Sabrina's direction.
"Gym Leader Sabrina, it is time we settled the question of which of us is the best Psychic trainer in Kanto."
Sabrina's eyes glowed and the microphone shot out of Will's grasp. It shot to just in front of her before hovering at head height.
Sabrina inclined her head politely. "I'm not sure if that's really up for questioning, but I do have to admit that I have been looking forward to it."
Around us, a susurrus of excitement swept the arena and I saw more than a few people open their transceivers to order tickets. I also had no doubt that a number of television stations had just broadcast that moment live.
I could only chuckle as Will's mouth crinkled like he'd just bitten into a lemon. I couldn't wait to watch Sabrina's match.
Sadly, I felt a small flicker of concern build within me.
I, of all people, knew how much could change in a week.
I clenched my fists and eyed Will. No. I had a week to go over everything.
Sabrina's match wasn't going to be like mine. If Will tried anything, I'd nail him to the wall.
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their continued support!
For those interested, patreon has reached well and truly past Sabrina V Will.
For some reason that rankled me when I learnt about it.
But it didn't surprise me. As much as Will had gone about the match with me in the wrong manner, he had drawn a lot of eyes to him. Eyes that had remained glued on him when he'd then promptly faced down the Cerulean and Vermilion Gyms without missing a beat.
Will had built on the initial interest and dragged most of Kanto's attention onto him.
I liked to think most of them were merely doing so to watch him lose. Sadly, I wasn't sure how many were being swayed by his victories thus far.
This week, he'd kept the public interested in himself by fighting an Ace trainer in the top twenty, only to then back it up by appearing on a talk show.
It spoke of a man who knew his PR. Or someone who had backing and a team that knew when to get him in front of a camera.
This resulted in a lot of demand for people wanting to come to watch his match against Erika.
Sadly, Erika's gym had nowhere near enough seating to facilitate that level of demand, resulting in the public stadium being called into use and some temporary stands being set up, with the city setting everything up.
I noted that didn't stop Erika and the girls of her gym from styling the entire stadium.
They'd gone all in with small plants that outgrew their pots draped everywhere. Then they'd had the flowerbeds spell messages and be shaped into various pokemon. Small water features with small goldeen were interspersed on the walkways leading towards the stadium.
The stands themselves were wrapped in vines but in an artful deliberate manner that spoke of cultivation and care rather than a rampant overgrown garden. All of this while pokemon such as Bellosom ran around underfoot, merely adding to the ambience.
Erika might not own the stadium, but she'd put her mark on it.
I could only stare puzzlement at a host of trees as we got closer to the stadium. Those… hadn't been there. I was sure of it. They were just too notable in how they branched out and had vines wrapping around them to create a natural tunnel that softened the entire area leading up to the metal stadium.
"Those trees weren't here last time I was here… were they?" I asked with a tilt of my head as I walked along the path arm-in-arm with Sabrina.
"No, Erika's trainers had their pokemon help grow them last week," she replied.
"Oh, that's impressive," I said aloud, eying the trees that I would have sworn were years old rather than just weeks… or even days old.
Ralts was resting on Sabrina's shoulder with a flower crown atop her head, drawing more than a few giggles and coos of delight from people that we passed by.
"Gym Leader Brock and Sabrina!" said a reporter, practically popping out of the plants to push a microphone in our direction. "I see you're here to watch Erika's match against Will?"
We both nodded, with Sabrina even favouring the woman with a polite smile. "Indeed, we are," said Sabrina, surprising me. I gave the reporter and her tag-along cameraman another look. They looked familiar.
"You… were the one that interviewed us before our date a few weeks ago, weren't you?" I said tentatively. "I never got your name, I'm sorry to say," I said carefully, toeing the line of stating that I most likely forgot her name.
"Bron!" said the woman happily, and she waved her hand at her cameraman. "And this is Darrel! I'm glad you remember us!" she said as her smile grew a little warmer. "Any thoughts about tonight?"
I opened my mouth, about to speak my mind, before shutting it quickly. Sabrina had no such restraint. "I hope Erika defeats him. We, as Gym leaders, have paid a good deal of attention to Will with his run to be an Elite Four since he challenged Brock." She inclined her head towards me giving me a squeeze.
Then she turned her head back to the cameraman. I was stunned. I'd never seen her be so deliberately charming, but I could see it was working. Bron leaned in, a hopeful look on her face as she made sure the microphone was in pick-up range to make sure what Sabrina was saying was being recorded clearly.
"His first introduction to us was flamboyant and extremely suspicious, all told. There were a number of inconsistencies, and since then they have continued to pile up. Will's tactics, legal as they may be against Brock, have shown what he is like when pushed. Is this the sort of man that we want at the highest level of Indigo government?"
Sabrina shook her head morosely. "Will has shown that he is not willing to uphold certain… honourable principles that we have taken for granted in our country."
Sabrina directed a smile towards the stadium. "I know that Erika has already won in ways that we as individuals don't value. She's a better person than Will ever was or will be. I hope to see that shown during their match with her victory."
Bron blinked. "Oh! Well, my goodness, that is quite the insightful take on the coming match."
Sabrina merely inclined her head, accepting the praise. Bron shifted and directed her microphone in my direction. "Anything to add Gym Leader Brock?"
I shook my head and smiled at Sabrina. "I think she's said everything I could have, and done it better than I ever would have."
Sabrina squeezed my hand. "Sometimes straightforward answers are best; don't sell yourself short." She nodded her head to Bron and Darrel. "We should head inside; it's been good seeing you again."
"Bron, Darrel," I said, happy to follow Sabrina's lead.
We got a few feet away, and I heard Bron turning to Darrel. "Well, you heard it here first folks! Sabrina laying the foundations for a serious discussion on the morality of power and the importance of having the right people being in positions of power! A deep topic if I've ever encountered one! I'm Bron from Chrysanthemum Town, signing off!"
I chuckled. "Wow, you were incredible back there."
"Thank you," she said leaning into my side. "I was merely telling the truth as well. Will is the wrong sort of person to be an Elite Four member."
I gave her a kiss and walked through the archway into the stadium which was ringed by flowers to hide the barrier generators.
We claimed our seats at the front, and I found myself looking across at Giovanni on the other side of the stadium. I locked eyes with him, but he merely nodded amicably, like one would to a contemporary.
I laced my hand into Sabrina's and shifted my attention to Ralts to avoid giving Giovanni any more of my attention.
Despite my dark energy, Ralts seemed to be able to pick up the mood I was in and who I was directing it at with how she glanced from me to Sabrina, and then across the arena at Giovanni.
I sighed. I really wished I could walk up to him and punch him in the face instead of playing around the issue. Maybe I could throw another rock through his Gym?
I considered that with a dark satisfaction, enough that I missed the announcer coming in and starting introduction for Will.
"—rising through the ranks of Ace trainers! Will!" she said, gesturing grandly to one entrance.
Unlike other cities, Will received polite applause with his entrance instead of outright boos and catcalls like he had at Vermillion and Cerulean. He should have gotten a better entrance at Cerulean, but that wasn't on the cards with how he'd fought against me only to back up against the next Gym so quickly. By doing what he'd done, he'd disrespected Cerulean at large.
"And now, the Gym Leader of Celadon City! Please give a big Celadon welcome! To Erika!" cheered the announcer.
More polite applause filled the stadium with only a few more passionate calls. It was a marked difference from every gym so far.
"They're so polite," I said.
It was honestly strange to have such a subdued response after witnessing the screaming and shouting of the Vermillion gym. My own gym was similar to Surge's with how often people shouted and stomped.
Heck, even Cerulean City had people shouting and catcalling. In contrast, Celadon was like… well the best example I could think of was from my past life with a crowd at a tennis grand slam.
It was a noble event with grandeur and status, rather than the noise of a boxing match like I was used to.
"There are a number of boarding schools here. Also, you must remember that Celadon has some of the best minds at the university. A number of the crowd are from higher socio-economic groups and are therefore more reserved in their support. They still barrack for Erika, but it is different," Sabrina explained.
"I wouldn't have thought there would be such a difference," I commented.
"There are also lots of etiquette schools in Celadon that families will send their children to. It's something of a tradition in Celadon. At least that is how Erika explained it to me."
"Ah," I said, only somewhat understanding how that translated into… wait a minute. "Wait do they tell people how to cheer at pokemon matches at those schools?"
Sabrina's head bobbed up and down and I shook my own in response.
"Weird," I said, eyeing the people around me who were all sitting with straight backs and impeccable poise.
The referee took hold of the match and raised their flags to signal for silence. Once again, I noticed that it was a League official referee and not one of the local Gym trainers. They ran through the normal prematch talk before raising their flags.
Erika bowed politely towards Will. "May today's match be a wonderful showcase!" she said with what I could recognise as a neutral mask of politeness for her with the barest glint of something steely flashing through her eyes.
"I'm sure it shall be," Will said magnanimously.
He selected and threw out his first pokemon as Erika did the same.
On Will's side, an Exeggutor took to the field, causing a quiet murmur to break through the mask of politeness at the snub of sending out a grass-type pokemon first against a grass-type specialist.
Erika's pokemon caused a small gasp to run through the crowd as her pokeball disgorged her own Exeggutor.
Both pokemon locked eyes, and you could almost see the crackle of tension as they both understood how they were now representing their trainers.
The referee's flags dropped, and the battle began.
Will's Exeggutor danced from foot to foot and suddenly Sunny Day revealed itself while Erika merely waved her hand forward.
"Bullet Seed," she said to her Exeggutor, who fired off an extremely weak-looking attack. I chewed my lip and glanced up at the Sunny Day. That was a rather ambitious move that should see Erika benefit more, surely? I wasn't sure what either of their strategies were and decided to wait and see.
Part of me twitched to be out investigating the stands and nearby buildings in case Team Rocket got involved like they had for my match. With Giovanni here, surely that meant Team Rocket were interested.
Sadly, the plan called for me to be front and centre much like I had been for Surge. It was too obvious that I would draw attention if I didn't show Erika, a noted friend, support by being on the sidelines.
So instead, the job of searching for any threats fell to Janine, Koga, Agatha, Karen, Lucy, and the legion of Channellers that worked with the Guardians. That, and Lance had confided that the local police were also on the lookout for any suspicious activity.
I narrowed my eyes as I noticed that not all of the seeds that had peppered Will's Exeggutor were falling off. In fact, they were taking root on his pokemon and digging in.
Ah, that was sneaky of Erika.
"Bulldoze!" She ordered her pokemon to surge forward with its head lowered as though it were going to charge right into her foe. Only to stop halfway in with its head still lowered to unleash a barrage of what looked like Sludge Bombs.
The other Exeggutor danced around the attack only to twitch when a small orb of energy wafted out of it and into Erika's Exeggutor, who raised its heads to smirk.
"Return," said Will surprising a good number of people and causing what had to be some out-of-town trainers to cheer for Erika loudly.
"Reflect," Erika said, prompting her pokemon to boost its defences as Will selected his next pokemon.
He eyed Exeggutor's position and tossed out his pokeball, surprising a good number of people when it landed in close.
Then Will flicked his fingers, and Mr Mime dashed forward, only to vanish as it closed with Exeggutor.
"Stomping Tantrum!" cried Erika.
Her pokemon slammed its feet into the ground hurriedly, only for Mr Mime to appear in the air behind it, hands raised in a chopping position.
"Mr Mime!" it shouted as it swept it's arms forward and unleashed an Aerial Ace into Exeggutor's rear faces.
"Xeg!" Exeggutor cried out and stumbled backwards, causing the rumble of the ground to falter as Mr Mime landed.
It charged straight back in, with Will once more not saying a word. His pokemon's fist blazed to life only for Erika to fight back.
"Solar Beam!" she ordered. Her pokemon snapped its head onto the charging Mr Mime and unleashed a burst of energy straight into Mr Mime's face, blasting it away.
Exeggutor straightened itself and shook itself off, only to glower as Mr Mime stood up and dusted itself off.
"Synthesis!" Erika said, causing her pokemon to twitch its fronds and absorb the last of the Sunny Day.
Instead of charging in again, Mr Mime grinned and raised his hands towards the dying Sunny Day. It began to shine as well as Mr Mime used Copycat to use Synthesis.
"I must say, I underestimated you. I did not think you would begin with the pokemon that you did," Will said suddenly.
He flicked his hand and Mr Mime placed a hand atop its head and gained a look of intense concentration.
Erika didn't say anything. Instead, she kept her eyes on the match. "Seed Bomb," she said making her pokemon fire a burst of powerful seeds, each the size of coconuts, up into the air.
"Tsk, really my own move?" Will said waving a hand at the Seed Bombs which Mr Mime reached a hand towards. They were soon grasped in a psychic grasp and turned back towards Erika. Despite this, Erika had not been idle. Her pokemon's eyes began to glow, and Mr Mime twitched as Erika unleashed psychic waves of energy upon her foe. This was a move I recognised.
She'd gotten her pokemon to use Hypnosis. Mr Mime stumbled, losing control of the floating Seed Bombs.
In doing so the Seeds dropped and exploded between the two pokemon.
I still pumped my fist. "Nice one Erika!" I shouted, ignoring the sniff of disapproval from behind me. I sat with a grin. That had been good. Erika had baited Will into a trick by using his own move but then taking it a step further. When he'd looked up, her pokemon unleashed a notoriously tricky move with Hypnosis.
Will snapped his fingers, and Mr Mime blurred for a moment. I leaned forward remembering the last time this move had occurred. Erika squinted, also noticing the slight movement.
"Magic Leaf, but send it wide!" Erika said causing a huge torrent of rainbow-coloured leaves to shoot out of her pokemon.
Most arced towards the illusion that Mr Mime had left behind with the substitute, but others slammed into and broke the mirage that hid Mr Mime revealing that he'd hopped to the side before submitting to Hypnosis.
"Seed Bomb!" Erika called out once more, this time her move sailing through the air with unerring accuracy to explode down upon Mr Mime.
When the smoke cleared Mr Mime was revealed, just barely conscious with a lot of soot all over him. It glowered at Erika's Exeggutor.
It suddenly vanished in a red flash of light. I frowned. "It's a bit weird that he's gone back to doing the psychic command trick, isn't it?" I asked Sabrina as a Medicham took to the field.
Erika made use of the slight pause for a quick Synthesis.
"I think he wishes to reestablish himself before he faces me. His orders fall back into verbal when he is flustered, which reveals he has not always been as skilled as he is now with his psychic abilities. Without directly testing myself against him, I couldn't say where his skills lie but I am confident that I am stronger in most, if not all, of the known psychic abilities."
She sighed and shook her head as she let her eyes flicker up into the sky. "He is not my concern," she said causing me to nod and glance around for any suspiciously floating pokemon.
There weren't any; instead, the afternoon sky was filled with flying-type pokemon taking an aerial view of the match playing out before us.
Medicham copied Mr Mime with another Aerial Ace, only to follow up with another instead of attempting a Fire Punch.
With no Sunny Day in effect, Erika couldn't unleash a Solar Beam as quickly, but Will stayed much more cautious with how he kept Medicham in close and pressured Erika with the Aerial Aces.
Erika raised her pokeball and returned her pokemon as it began to topple from one hit too many.
She cradled the pokeball in her hands for a long moment before nodding her head over it and whispering to it.
Around us, the crowd applauded politely.
Erika inspected Medicham and tilted her head thoughtfully as she selected her next pokemon.
"Any guesses?" I said.
"No," Sabrina said with a tone of voice that let me know she knew precisely which pokemon was coming out next.
"Go Tropius!" said Erika, sending her pokemon out to soar in the air, the giant fronds on its back flapping to keep it in the air.
"Tropius!" cried the pokemon happily as it locked eyes with its foe.
I nodded, pleased with this development. She'd gotten herself room to move and denied Will an advantage while threatening her own.
"Gust!" Erika said.
I frowned. That was a rather weak move as an opener.
Will flicked his hand causing the Medicham to endure the Gust while raising its hands towards Tropius. A blue glow came over Tropius, and it cried out in pain as it started to be pulled down to the ground.
"Hurricane!" Erika ordered quickly. Her pokemon nosedived and went into a tailspin,. The spin caused a huge gust of wind to surge up around and within moments a hurricane formed and was released towards Medicham.
Medicham's eyes glowed for a moment, and it sprinted to the side, edging just onto the boundary of the battlefield where it hunkered down, grasping its hands into the earth.
As the hurricane died off, Tropius was revealed once more at its original height having been buoyed up by the winds.
Erika slashed her hand out. "Charge in with Aerial Ace!" she said making her pokemon once more nosedive straight at Medicham.
Will snapped his fingers and Medicham stayed in position its eyes glowing as Tropius charged in.
Medicham turned just as Tropius vanished into the Aerial Ace. As it reappeared, Medicham met it with a rising Ice Punch. It slammed straight into the Tropius's face. TRopius cried out in pain but lashed its wings forward to slam them into Medicham.
Both pokemon were blown back from the hit, only for Tropius to land heavily and not get up.
Will breathed out in relief as Erika returned her next pokemon.
I rubbed my chin. "She's got the team to put him under pressure, but they're not up the level they need to be," I said.
"She still has other pokemon to call on," Sabrina said. I shot her a look and nodded, she was right.
I tapped her thigh. "Any word from the others?" I said alluding to the Guardians.
Sabrina's eyes glowed for a moment, and she shook her head. "They are patrolling, but there is nothing amiss. Here, or out in the city," Sabrina said.
"Go! Vileplume!" Erika shouted as her giant flower pokemon appeared in a burst of light.
Vilpume teetered around, happily waving its hands before it caught sight of Medicham. It wilted into itself. The flower that crowned its head curled inwards, resulting in its eyes vanishing behind its large petals.
If I didn't know how strong Erika was I would have said her pokemon was merely shy.
But that wasn't the case at all. I'd encountered this strategy myself during a Gym match. The slits in the flower allowed Vileplume to peer out without the opposing side knowing which way Vileplume was facing without investing some effort.
Will didn't seem impressed, as he made a gesture for his Medicham to sprint forward with its fist raised only to vanish in another direction as Will continued to pressure Erika with Aerial Ace.
Erika's Vileplume reacted with a sudden bright light blossoming from under its fronds. Will stiffened. "Get out!" he barked, suddenly much more fearful of Vileplume only for Medicham to land and be caught in a rainbow blast of force that erupted from Vileplume.
I blinked in surprise, whereas Sabrina huffed in pleasure. "Was that a Fairy type move?" I said.
Sabrina nodded and when the brightness died off Medicham was revealed standing groggily and shaking itself off but no Vileplume. My eyes, darted to the ground out of instinct expecting Dig to be used only to frown as no tunnel was revealed.
"Wait! Vileplume can't dig!" I said as I realised my blunder.
"No, but it can float," Sabrina said, her own head tilted up. I glanced up and was surprised to find a spinning Vileplume that was using its own huge petals to keep itself in the air.
Will was just as surprised by this turn of events as he barked out his next order. "Future Sight!"
"Blast it," Erika said firmly, her hand chopping down.
Once again Vileplume gleamed, but this time a very distinctive orb of iridescent pink energy built up and was unleashed upon Medicham.
"Protect!" Will ordered only for his pokemon to falter in defending itself. It took the Moonblast head-on and crumpled.
I clapped along with the rest of the crowd as they applauded Erika's showing but I couldn't help but have conflicted feelings about what I was seeing. "I could have done that against his Medicham if I'd had Selene…" I said.
"Yes, but she was exhausted Brock. I think you made the right call not using her. It may have caused her to become injured if she wasn't at her best. Will is the type to exploit any weakness." She put her hand on my thigh and squeezed.
"Erika and I came up with this plan when we reflected on which pokemon you couldn't use against Will." She squeezed my thigh again. "I have always said that Selene is exceptionally versatile, and so I examined her moveset and noted a few that would have been used to threaten Will. "
She indicated Vileplume who had now landed. "We had to work on Vileplume, but Erika has been able to build on Charm to gain the more offensive moves Vileplume can learn."
"That… can't have been quick," I said.
"I've been working with Erika for quite a while already. We merely intensified her training and focussed on some specific pokemon and their movesets. We merely had to increase the time we spent each day."
I hummed and nodded, feeling slightly mollified that others had looked at my lo… fight with Will. Sabrina squeezed my thigh. "You didn't lose to him."
I huffed and shot her a smile, amused at how she'd read my mind despite knowing she couldn't.
"Ten Seconds!" barked the referee making me realise that Will has been delaying on releasing his next pokemon. At the prompt, a number of people in the crowd took up murmuring at the oddity of Will not sending out his next pokemon.
As it reached three a pokeball rose from Will's pokebelt without his prompting and was thrown forward to disgorge his Exeggutor. Will raised his chin in a slightly provoking manner before waving his hand. Exeggutor's eyes began to glow and Vileplume rose up with a cry of pain as Psychic grasped it.
"Fling!" shouted Erika. Her pokemon twitched as dark energy surrounded it, breaking the Psychic and forcing Exeggutor to leap to the side to avoid the rather weak dark-type attack.
Sabrina leaned towards me. "I believe he spent most of that time re-establishing his emotional control so he could psychically command his pokemon."
"Hmmm?" I said, considering how Will had been with Vileplume smacking his Medicham around to now. Sabrina was right. I shook my head at his mind games before nodding as Vileplume tried to unleash another Moonblast.
Sadly, Exeggutor was able to dash to the side and avoid the attack. Not that Erika seemed to mind as small puffs of energy wafted towards Vileplume, rejuvenating her pokemon.
"Vileplume! Do your thing!" said Erika with a wave of her arm. Vileplume stopped trying to blast Exeggutor and instead whirled about, pink energy wafting off its form. Its petals rose up into the air and Vileplume shot a wink right at Exeggutor.
The various faces twitched in surprise, and then a blush overtook all of them.
I choked back a laugh. "That isn't Charm is it?" I said with a smirk as Exeggutor trotted forward. I shot Will a look and he seemed to be shaking his head as though dazed. "Did he…" I started to say but stopped. I wasn't sure I wanted to complete that sentence.
"Connecting to your pokemon without knowing all the risks can make for a disorienting experience. Especially with a pokemon that has multiple heads. Attract can be rather powerful in instances like this," Sabrina smugly replied.
She drummed her fingers on my thigh. "That he has been so strongly impacted… implies certain things about him."
Oh," I said, suddenly wondering if Will would become a known member of the Pokemon fan club due to this exchange.
I glanced at Sabrina, a question on the tip of my tongue.
"I know to disengage with my pokemon when moves such as Attract are used. There is a rather obvious build-up if you're emotionally… aware of yourself," she said.
She waved a hand about herself. "Also, it is not something that would work as well on me."
I chuckled and squeezed her hand.
When I turned back to the match, Vileplume happily pranced right up to Exeggutor before spitting a dark purple mass of poison into Exeggutor's face.
Exeggutor reeled back in shock, but only one of the faces lost its blush. It started crying out to the other head, but those were still thoroughly infatuated. Will shook off his funk and scowled.
"I expected better from you Erika," he said as a pokeball was raised only for Vileplume to stab a poison-coated fist into Exeggutor's side, causing the palm tree pokemon to topple over.
"Self Destruct!" snapped Will, causing a gasp of shock to run through the crowd.
This time, however, the move didn't go off, as Exeggutor continued to gaze lovingly up at Vileplume. Vileplume smiled at the other pokemon and Erika made the most of her foe slowly being bled out.
"Grass Terrain!" she said.
Her Vileplume happily dug itself into the ground slightly, like a potplant planting itself. Suddenly, the arena bloomed to life as grass shot up. Long stalks grew and I saw some roots begin to entrap Exeggutor before its eyes closed despite Will's consistent orders to Self Destruct.
I sat forward. "Huh, she's really brought herself back into this match with her Vileplume," I said.
Sabrina inclined her head. "I expect Will is going to fight back much harder now," she said as Exeggutor toppled, felled by the poison.
She was proven right as the instant his Exeggutor was off the field, another pokeball whipped forward to reveal his Alakazam.
Will pointed, and a powerful Psybeam unleashed itself onto Vileplume.
"Protect!" ordered Erika quickly, causing the super-effective move to slam into the Protect.
I breathed out in relief only to blink in surprise as Erika returned her pokemon straight away.
"Calm Mind," Will announced into the silence that followed Erika's quick reaction.
While his pokemon did this Erika quickly selected another pokeball
Will perked up, only to scowl as Erika threw her pokeball deep into the section of the field with the longest grass where it was hidden from sight. I chewed my lip and shot Sabrina a look. She had a far too casual look on her face, which let me know she once again knew precisely which pokemon was on the field.
I held back from asking and decided to watch.
"Pin Missle!" Erika said and tiny pins were fired from out of the grass into Alakazam who Teleported out of danger only to scowl as the attack vanished.
"Blast it with Psybeam!" Will said making his pokemon unleash once again at the point where the Pin Missles had come from. The Psybeam blasted forward and Erika smiled.
"Go on the offensive!" she shouted, punching forward.
Everyone but Sarina was therefore stunned when a humanoid shape sprinted straight through the Psybeam, completely unaffected to slam a fist into Alakazam's gut. The powerful psychic type rocketed back to slam into the wall before staggering to its feet.
"Kazam!?" it said as its foe was revealed.
"Cacturne!" said the grass-dark type pokemon.
I grinned as it tapped at the hat shape on its head in mock greeting. I'd known Erika would have to own this pokemon. It was gratifying be proven right and to see it punish Will like this. Erika had set her battlefield to hide the reveal of the pokemon.
Sadly the powerful hit wasn't enough to see Alakazam down and out.
"Retreat to the long grass!" Erika urged, making her pokemon leap back into the grass where it could hide.
"Focus Blast!" Will snapped, less than pleased to be tricked.
The powerful fighting type move blasted forward only for nothing to be hit. I thought I saw something move off to the side and apparently so did Will.
His finger pointed in another direction, and Alakazam blasted in that direction.
Will growled before inhaling and cursing to himself as a pokeball rose and returned his Alakazam. He nodded at Erika. "You have done your homework," he said.
Erika merely bowed her own head back. "I have yes." she waved a hand at the battlefield. "Continue as you are, Cacturne," she said cryptically.
Will huffed and released another pokeball. This one revealed a Solrock that floated up above the long grass. "I was hoping to not rely on such tactics but…" Will made a sweeping gesture.
Will made a twisting gesture and his pokemon unleashed a tornado of fire that engulfed the grass. Cacturne was revealed with its arms raised and a green orb shooting forward to slam into Solrock who twitched as Giga-Drain slammed into it, causing both pokemon to trade out super-effective attacks.
Both narrowed their eyes on the other, only for Cacturne to twitch in pain, revealing that it had been burned.
"Fall back!" Erika said.
Solrock started to spin on itself again as it repeated its Fire spin. Cacturne sadly took the hit again without getting a reply. Cacturne was knocked back into grass but it wasn't long enough to hide in.
Will smirked as he stabbed a finger forward imperiously. His Solrock ignited into a Flare Blitz that saw it rocketing into Cacturne.
"Protect!" Erika ordered causing her pokemon to raise its arms up and raise a Protect to absorb the hit.
I could see it grimacing in pain as the burn impacted it once more.
Solrock floated back with a glower at the defended foe only to glance down and cry out in anger.
I followed it and realised that Cacturne had allowed itself to fall back into a part of the field that still had grass on it. Grass, that was part of the Grassy Terrain, therefore allowing a small amount of healing to the injured Cacturne.
I had to hand it to Erika. She could be very subtle in her set-up and orders.
Sadly, it didn't prove enough, as the moment the Protect fell away, Solrock rocketed in with another Flare Blitz, knocking out Cacturne.
Erika returned it and once more whispered some words of support as she had done for all of her pokemon thus far. She then selected another pokeball and tossed out a Venusaur that landed and roared its name.
"Razor Leaf!" Erika ordered sharply.
Will merely waved his hand and Solrock unleashed a Flamethrower which burned away the oncoming leaves. The fire kept coming, only for Venusaur to leap to the side with its legs springing out and causing it to dodge the attack.
"Petal Blizzard!" Erika said as her pokemon started to waddle, the flower on its back unleashed a huge barrage of flowers into the air that rose up to fill the air.
Will made a twisting gesture and his pokemon unleashed another Fire Spin that swept out to burn away the rest of the field and clip Venusaur. "Saur!" growled the pokemon only for Erika to punch her arm forward. "Solar Beam!"
Will huffed at that and pointed his hand forward. "I didn't expect hubris from you, Erika," he said as his pokemon charged forward with Flare Blitz it slammed into Venusaur and her pokemon was engulfed in fire.
Erika merely watched the fire before bowing her head. "No, merely aware of my pokemon's limitations. Venusaur can handle a little fire," she said before once again stabbing her hand forward.
From the fire, a blast of energy shot forward and slammed straight into Solrock, knocking it out of the battlefield and into the back wall where it slid down.
Will glanced at it before inspecting the extremely charred Venusaur. Venusaur growled and shook itself but remained on the field.
I hummed in thought. "Does it seem like Will is making a lot of mistakes to you?"
Sabrina nodded. "He should have used more Psychic abilities, but he instead committed to the idea of burning everything away. He only needed to get rid of the Grassy Terrain with a Fire spin or two once Cacturne was finished. After that, he could have whittled things down with Psychic. He was trying for more and going for the easiest and fastest win he could."
Sabrina sighed. "I doubt he will be so lax going forward."
She was proven right when Will unleashed his Alakazam once again.
"Recover," he said quickly.
"Petal Blizzard!" Erika responded, making her pokemon fill the air of the battlefield with deadly petals.
Instead of dodging into them, or allowing them to hit, Will surprised Erika by having his pokemon Teleport in close to Venusaur to slash with its spoons coated with psychic energy.
Venusaur groaned with pain and slumped worn down from the earlier match with Solrock.
Instead of returning her pokemon and whispering support to it, Erika's eyes gleamed as she returned her pokemon while tossing out another right next to where Venusaur had been.
"Tangrowth!" shouted her starter as it revealed itself.
Will sniffed only to twitch as Tangrowth went from posing into an explosive display of speed.
It instantly lunged at Alakazam and wrapped its viney tentacles around Will's starter. I blinked I hadn't been expecting that, but it seemed Erika had more tricks up her sleeve.
"Knock Off!" Erika ordered, making her pokemon's many tentacles glow with dark energy.
I perked up. Erika had planned that? Or had she merely made good use of Will's laxity to get her starter into an amazing position to grapple with another? It didn't matter as Will suddenly found his pokemon locked into a brawl with the mass of tentacles that was Tangrowth.
Fists flew as Tangrowth slammed Alakazam with Knock Off.
In response, Alakazam hammered back with Fire Punch after Fire Punch.
Both pokemon didn't back down, or in Will's case, couldn't back down. When the end came it surprised everyone as Alakazam slammed a fiery fist into Tangrowth's head.
Tangrowth cried out in pain only to throw itself on top of Alakazam in a last-ditch effort that caused Alakazam to be ridden down to the ground where Tangrowth's mass of tentacles smothered it.
"Teleport out!" Will barked to no avail.
When the referee raised his flags, he did so for both trainers. "Alakazam and Tangrowth are unable to battle! Both must be withdrawn!"
Will glowered at the man before turning his gaze upon Erika. Erika returned her pokemon to reveal the flattened Alakazam. She bowed politely. "I saw my chance and I took it," she said.
Will didn't reply instead tossing out a pokeball to reveal his last pokemon to be an Espeon.
Erika looked it over before sending out her own last pokemon in her Vileplume. "Let's go girl! Do your thing!" Once more Vileplume did her dance and it seemingly connected with Espeon as the other pokemon twitched and started walking towards Vileplume with its tails wagging.
Will remained aloof as Espeon walked forward. Erika frowned however. "Vileplume us—"
"Psybeam!" Will ordered smugly, revealing his pokemon wasn't male, which would have allowed the Attract to work, but rather female. From close range, the super-effective move slammed into Vileplume and knocked it out.
I sighed. "That was a little anticlimactic." I joined the polite applause as everyone thanked the two trainers for the battle. Camera crews hurried to a designated area as Erika returned her Vileplume and approached Will to congratulate him on the victory.
I shot Sabrina a look, hoping she'd picked something up for us to use, only for her to shake her head.
As we stood, a reporter and cameraman broke off to put a microphone in our faces.
"Gym Leaders! You've both seen Will fighting a few times now! How do you think today's match went?"
"Erika did well," Sabrina said. She glanced up at the scoreboard which showcased that Erika had lost with Will only losing four of his pokemon. "Mr Mime wasn't in a good condition, but he still had the advantage. It was very uphill for Erika but she did well."
"I see!" said the reporter before turning to me. "What about yourself Gym Leader Brock? Since your Draw, you've been vocal in wanting a rematch? Do you think Will has gotten stronger?"
"No," I said feeling annoyed at the reminder of Will's match with me and how it ended.
"Care to elaborate?" the man pressed.
I sniffed. "If anything, Will has gotten weaker. He needed extensive scouting against me to develop the strategies he did. He has realised how unpopular those strategies are and people have adopted counters for them. His matches since have been rougher."
"But he's still won them," the man pointed out. I merely grunted, deciding not to volunteer anything more, seeing as that hadn't been a question.
Before the reporter could ask another question, a microphone tap caused everyone to look to the centre of the field where Erika was.
She smiled. "Well hello everyone! Thank you for coming out today! I hope you enjoyed the match! It was a wonderful experience for me and I know I've gotten stronger for it!"
She received another polite round of applause, interspersed with a few out-of-towners cheering much more loudly.
"We love you Erika!" screamed one.
Erika giggled at that only to be interrupted from saying anything more.
Will coughed politely and stepped close to Erika. Sabrina and I stiffened as he loomed over Erika. "May I?" he said with a faux-polite smile.
She smiled back and handed him the microphone.
Will smiled out at the crowd. "I too would like to thank you all for coming out to witness my match." Next to him, Erika frowned at the man's words. He ignored her. "I also hope you will all be there next weekend for my next match."
He turned and looked in my… no.
In Sabrina's direction.
"Gym Leader Sabrina, it is time we settled the question of which of us is the best Psychic trainer in Kanto."
Sabrina's eyes glowed and the microphone shot out of Will's grasp. It shot to just in front of her before hovering at head height.
Sabrina inclined her head politely. "I'm not sure if that's really up for questioning, but I do have to admit that I have been looking forward to it."
Around us, a susurrus of excitement swept the arena and I saw more than a few people open their transceivers to order tickets. I also had no doubt that a number of television stations had just broadcast that moment live.
I could only chuckle as Will's mouth crinkled like he'd just bitten into a lemon. I couldn't wait to watch Sabrina's match.
Sadly, I felt a small flicker of concern build within me.
I, of all people, knew how much could change in a week.
I clenched my fists and eyed Will. No. I had a week to go over everything.
Sabrina's match wasn't going to be like mine. If Will tried anything, I'd nail him to the wall.
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their continued support!
For those interested, patreon has reached well and truly past Sabrina V Will.
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- Pronouns
- She
I don't know if this is cause of Brock's Dark leaning or just natural turmoil, but Brock is really suffering from his match with Will. I hope he manages to pull through this and clear his mind again
I kinda want a short interlude where we see Will's reaction to the interview Sabrina and Brock gave before the match. With what was said and implied by the two Gym Leaders, I would imagine that Will will be forced to spend more time on damage control and positive PR, and that will cut into his preparation time.
Also with Sabrina implying that Will is not on her level as a psychic, I would think that for the match Will will be showing off all his psychic tricks to make sure that no one can imply that his is a worst psychic. And Sabrina will be able to abuse ever single weakness like attract.
Also with Sabrina implying that Will is not on her level as a psychic, I would think that for the match Will will be showing off all his psychic tricks to make sure that no one can imply that his is a worst psychic. And Sabrina will be able to abuse ever single weakness like attract.
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xbox432
Lover of Editing
Ooh, looks like Erika has been giving Sabrina social lessons at the same time Sabrina has been training her to fight Will. Because Sabrina roasted Will twice on camera, and I'm pretty sure those clips are gonna be replayed as much as the battle between Erika and Will.
And Giovanni was there... Was that because he himself is a part of Kanto's high society and he needed to make an appearance, or did he notice Mewtwo's actions during the Cerulean battle and was just here to oversee things in person? I suppose that will remain a mystery for now.
@Viva01
And Giovanni was there... Was that because he himself is a part of Kanto's high society and he needed to make an appearance, or did he notice Mewtwo's actions during the Cerulean battle and was just here to oversee things in person? I suppose that will remain a mystery for now.
@Viva01
stare in puzzlement
Mime!" It shouted
heads
Sabrina
Tangrowth
I blinked I,
Actually, could Mewtwo be strong enough that he can use his psychic powers while still inside a Pokéball?
We have seen in the show that Pokémon can sense what is going on and release themselves, but can a strong enough psychic in their Pokéball use moves and such?
Good job Erika! I wasn't expecting her to do better then Surge against Will, but color me impressed!
As for Sabrina? **Wreck him** girl.
Bend him over like a spoon
As for Sabrina? **Wreck him** girl.
Bend him over like a spoon
I doubt Giovanni would think Will needed his help against the Cerulean gym since they have a reputation for being weak. Most likely Mewtwo did that on its own. Giovanni might be concerned enough by that to check in on Will himself. He'd want to know why Mewtwo would have a continued interest in Will's gym battles, especially if his mother might be involved, and Erika's battle being a high class event is a good excuse for him to make an appearance without drawing any attention to himself.
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Having looked at it before considering the pools are limited to gen 3 + later added evolutions Sabrina actually had a pretty big advantage here. Putting aside all the Ace battles Will has been in, lesser prep time and accumulated fatigue Sabrina was working with Erika which would help her out a lot especially since Sabrina would know to prep for the cheaper tricks so she didn't get caught out from Will using them heck she even revealed the fairy type and taught it's moves including Moonblast.
Comparing the rosters as covered before Will's roster is actually pretty limited when you remove the ones he won't have like Gardevoir. Aside from the pure psychics he can only have Xatu, Mr Mime (confirmed), Slowbro, Slowking (confirmed), Exeggutor (confirmed), Starmie (confirmed), Medicham (confirmed), Solrock (confirmed), Lunatone, Claydol (confirmed) and Jynx. However, of those there are 3 water types, 2 rock types and a ground type for his disadvantages while only 1 flying and 1 ice type for his advantages. That he used neither in that match is also interesting though in the case of Jynx it may simply be because of team rocket reclaiming the one he used on Brock and not wanting people to notice.
Erika on the other hand had the pure grasses, the grass poisons (which were at a disadvantage), Exeggutor, Jumpluff, Shiftry, Tropius, Parasect, Ludicolo, Cradily, Breloom and Cacturne. Of those other ones only Breloom is disadvantaged to Psychic but she has 2 dark types and a bug type for advantages plus a lot of extra possible ones like the 2 flying types for his Medicham and Exeggutor.
This match could also be pretty significant for later on tho if Sabrina loses because Blaine's roster is going to be pretty limited especially if he shuns the Hoenn ones meaning he'll be mainly pure fire other than possibly Charizard and Houndoom. The significance comes in Erika being made to shift from the gym to a public stadium which may put Blaine out from the volcano to a public one too. That weakens his team which is pretty important given the burns we've seen Blaine can dish out while also removing the disadvantage the 3 water types would have there.
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He never had a pokeball in the anime because the armor was secretly a means of subduing Mewtwo. Giovanni let Mewtwo think of their relationship as a partnership between equals, allowing Mewtwo to use the armor as a training aid in return for assisting Team Rocket. Giovanni planned to subdue and enslave Mewtwo the moment he stopped cooperating but wanted to keep the ruse going as long as possible.
If Gio was a little less arrogant he could have settled for creating a Kanto friendly Legendary but no, he just had to control Mewtwo completely.
- Location
- Scotland
I honestly don't believe Will has a chance in Hell of beating Sabrina unless the cheating gets really blatant and, honestly, they're on the lookout for that. Listing the reasons is 1) Sabrina is without a doubt the stronger and better trained psychic, 2) She has seen a large number of Will's tricks by now and understands just how low and dirty he's wiling to go in order to pull out a win. Almost undoubtedly she also has a number of surprises she can bring to bear herself, doubly so if she has managed to get a Wyrdeer or a Farigaraf in order to bring out some complete Wildcards against Will.
Eh those two work as decent surprises to throw him off a bit but by no means are an instant win. Remember Brock pulled out Gawain, Surge his Magnezone and Erika Tangrowth which did work pretty well but not that much with pulling out a part bug and steel type even being more important than normal/psychics especially with Gawain also having Stone Axe.
What's really going to matter is the secondary typings because for the pool they have it's pretty mixed. There's 3 water types which of course are countered by the Grass Exeggutor, which is countered by the ice Jynx and the Flying Xatu, which are countered by the rock Solrock and Lunatone, which are countered by the waters and Exeggutor. Then there's the fighting Medicham who counters Jynx and those normal psychics but is countered by Xatu, the Fairy Mr Mime for Sabrina and the Ground Claydol which is countered by the waters and Exeggutor.
Due to that I wouldn't be surprised if both of them open with a pure psychic type and tried to hold back one of them until their opponent uses one first it's what I'd do especially one like Espeon that could gain buffs then baton pass. I would also mention though that another key factor is Will is going to be facing another psychic and one better than him too so several of his tricks like Espeon hiding won't work and the whole silent move thing will also be used against him.