Hard Enough - Pokemon SI

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
I have to say, Mewtwo being controlled like that is deeply upsetting. No wonder he decides he hates humans!

Sabrina beating Will was beautiful

Not just beating him while it was 6/3 even with the cheating all of Sabrina's loses were from her pulling them from the match and not only did Will not manage to do anything to Mega Alakazam but I think she may have won without her 6th being on the field (Espeon, Xatu, Alakazam, Exeggutor and Fraigiarf are the ones I remember her using). All in all as he realised his elite 4 hopes are crushed because he clearly isn't the best with his type to say nothing of the setbacks to ace points and Team Rocket support he'll suffer or the possibilities from the city wide empathy sharing thing and the upcoming press conference.

It also set that jerk Steven's plans aflame, set up for Mewtwo getting free and with Giovanni deciding to try and kill Brock hopefully they'll be more serious about taking him down.
 
I am so, soooo, looking forward to the upcoming press conference. I'm hoping we get to see Sabrina act on her thought from earlier and show off the note Brock left for her. We'd get to watch every woman in Kanto suddenly experience a surge of jealousy.

And I'm... curious. Sabrina noted that Will cheated with his Slowking and Alakazam using moves they don't actually know. Could she bring that up? Does the League have a way of checking to verify a Pokemon's move set? I would imagine so, considering TMs and such. That would be the literal cherry on top, to catch him like that in a live interview.

Then there is the whole thing with Sabrina blanketing the city with her power... Will this see a surge in Psychics within the city? Will it piss off, or calm down the Dojo King (I cannot for the life of me remember his name)? And the seeds she left with Mewtwo... Maybe this time he won't be so depressed and emo once he breaks free of Rocket's control? Heh, who knows? Maybe this time his and Mew's first meeting will be more amicable...

More importantly, did Surge make it to Saffron in time to join the beatdown!? Sabrina was right, he'd be so inconsolable if he missed out.

Saffron was currently hosting no less than seven Gym Leaders, two Elite Four, three trainers that Sabrina foresaw as being future Gym Leaders, a small horde of bored but well-intentioned trainers, and Karen.
Not only do I like that she gave Karen her own individual place on the list, which is petty yet respectful enough. I especially liked how she included the "horde of bored but well-intentioned trainers". I mean, yeah, they're practically a small army in their own right. It's just amusing how she said it.

"Take care of Xatu," she projected to her fretting mother.

Mentally, Sabrina nudged her father to look after her mother. He should have been on top of that, but sadly, he could become hyper-focused on what was right in front of him.

He took so much looking after sometimes.
And here we get to see Sabrina babysitting her parents. While it's adorable, it also highlights the problems they must have had trying to raise her. I'd imagine that parents of geniuses must feel similar at times.

Agent M, or rather Mewtwo, had all of a moment to realise how much danger he was in before Empress tackled him out of the air, dark energy radiating off her.

He slammed into the ground with Empress roaring her rage right into his helmet. Titan landed next to her and both of them detonated the Dark Pulse they'd been holding, to help them remain hidden.
Yeah... Brock must have mentioned that Mewtwo was the Pokemon responsible for the tragedy she experienced at Mt. Silver. While I don't believe for a second that her rage has been quenched. It's probably been soothed by the fact that Mewtwo fled from them.

"This is the power of friendship," she said, answering Mewtwo as she reached up to the sky for the stars and beyond.
Twilight Sparkle would be so proud.

She felt herself grow as she never before.
she never before - she never had before

"Erika and a few friends are joining the fight in the streets; I've noticed there is some infighting between each other.
You might want to reword this? Specifically the later half. Perhaps "I've noticed there is some infighting between different Rocket groups." Because with how it is currently worded, it sounds like there is infighting between Erika and their friends.

she did the more more that
more more - more

It also set that jerk Steven's plans aflame
I'm actually hoping for this. Like we are pretty sure that she beat him to the punch in regards to revealing Mega Evolution, right? That'll be such a huge blow to his ego. HAH!
 
Well team Rocket is super fucked... Not only did they lose Mewtwo, they failed to get the Master ball and I am pretty sure that testimony from Mewtwo might be enough to get Giovanni investigated publicly.

Also Will lost badly which is funny, but honestly isn't really relevant for Team Rocket in the grand scheme of things.
 
Well team Rocket is super fucked... Not only did they lose Mewtwo, they failed to get the Master ball and I am pretty sure that testimony from Mewtwo might be enough to get Giovanni investigated publicly.

Also Will lost badly which is funny, but honestly isn't really relevant for Team Rocket in the grand scheme of things.
Mewtwo got mind controlled and ordered away.
 
Mewtwo got mind controlled and ordered away.
That's very true, but we also have to wonder exactly how long those mind whammies are going to last, especially now that Mewtwo is aware of them. He may be young and still relying primarily on raw power than finesse but he IS still a psychic type Pokemon and now that he knows that his mind has been screwed with I strongly suspect he will take measures to rectify this in very short order. Maybe he'll even decide to quietly seek out Sabrina in order to get help since she showed him kindness and the offer of friendship.
 
And I'm... curious. Sabrina noted that Will cheated with his Slowking and Alakazam using moves they don't actually know. Could she bring that up? Does the League have a way of checking to verify a Pokemon's move set? I would imagine so, considering TMs and such. That would be the literal cherry on top, to catch him like that in a live interview.

I'm actually hoping for this. Like we are pretty sure that she beat him to the punch in regards to revealing Mega Evolution, right? That'll be such a huge blow to his ego. HAH!

The cheating was more extreme than that Mewtwo was pressing down on Sabrina and her pokemon which hindered them making Espeon take at least 1 hit from a dark move it wouldn't have otherwise and it was also boosting Will's on top of the faking Ally Switch. Unfortunately Sabrina could tell all that from her top tier psychic senses so she doesn't have any proof she can actually offer up. The League should be able to confirm a pokemon's known moves though because I'm fairly sure it's been shown as a function of the pokedex and other devices which could really catch Will out if an inspection is forced especially with the Jynx he somehow regained probably getting taken from him again though I don't think they have enough for that.

The Slimeball Steven definitely did get his plans foiled though because he can mega but he chose not to use it on Karen and set up a big dramatic show vs Drake later on but before he thought Brock could have learned it sucks for him though Sabrina had already started by then and had the stone for her high IQ starter instead of one who just became an elite.
 
That was awesome, I wonder if every trainer who mega evolves receives that sort of personal power boost, or just psychics.
I expected this to be great, but you really delivered.
 
That was amazing, and Sabrina reaching out to Mewtwo at the same time was perfect. It's the ultimate way to show that he isn't destined to be alone and that some Humans are trustworthy without involving Mew.
 
And I'm... curious. Sabrina noted that Will cheated with his Slowking and Alakazam using moves they don't actually know. Could she bring that up? Does the League have a way of checking to verify a Pokemon's move set? I would imagine so, considering TMs and such. That would be the literal cherry on top, to catch him like that in a live interview.

Actually. We've seen that the computer in Brock's medbay at his gym - which I believe is the same set up as at pokécenters - and pokedexs in general can list out a pokémon's known moves. How the hell hasn't Will been caught out in his lies yet? There's gotta be at least one person in the stands of one of his matches that pointed their Pokédex at Alakazam.
 
Actually. We've seen that the computer in Brock's medbay at his gym - which I believe is the same set up as at pokécenters - and pokedexs in general can list out a pokémon's known moves. How the hell hasn't Will been caught out in his lies yet? There's gotta be at least one person in the stands of one of his matches that pointed their Pokédex at Alakazam.
The obvious counterargument would be something along the lines of "Pokedex only lists out moves that the Pokemon are also known to be able to learn, but with enough effort they can learn things outside of their normal range, after all just look at Brock and Selene learning Teleport, you aren't accusing Brock of being a cheater are you?"

Of course, it also falls apart immediately if anyone corners Will and asks him to actually demonstrate those Pokemon moves outside of a combat environment. You know, like in a field with no fighting or distractions where they presumably "learned" how to do such a thing before applying it during combat. Would be mighty strange if they suddenly couldn't remember how to use their own moves, now wouldn't it?
 
Actually. We've seen that the computer in Brock's medbay at his gym - which I believe is the same set up as at pokécenters - and pokedexs in general can list out a pokémon's known moves. How the hell hasn't Will been caught out in his lies yet? There's gotta be at least one person in the stands of one of his matches that pointed their Pokédex at Alakazam.
Thanks for pointing that out, we HAVE seen tech which can read a pokemon's moves. So yeah, I'm really hoping he gets called out on his BS.
 
Of course, it also falls apart immediately if anyone corners Will and asks him to actually demonstrate those Pokemon moves outside of a combat environment. You know, like in a field with no fighting or distractions where they presumably "learned" how to do such a thing before applying it during combat. Would be mighty strange if they suddenly couldn't remember how to use their own moves, now wouldn't it?
We know he's been avoiding Brock to get out of a rematch. He probably uses his dramatic entrances and exits to escape any prying questions from reporters who don't like him. Who knows, maybe Giovanni's mom is also manipulating things?
 
Imagine Steven Stone when he is not only beaten to mega-evolution, but also by someone he didn't give a stone to.
His ideal scenario is to be the first with a dramatic reveal (cementing his reputation as the one to discover the phenomenon) and then Lance or Brock going mega to prove the concept repeatable, both of which Steven gave key- and megastones to for this purpose.
Sabrina being first must come completely out of left-field for him.
 
Sabrina being first must come completely out of left-field for him.
Them's the breaks. Sometimes things go your way and then sometimes the Universe decides that your plans aren't going to go the way you want them to. Unless you're Ash Ketchum of course, then you don't plan as much as you simply stumble into whatever trouble has decided it wants to meet you today and try your best to survive.

Kinda unrelated but I want to shout out to Chapter 1 of Saphroneth's Pokemon shorts. Please try not to die laughing at Arceus's revelation about exactly why Ash is the chosen one.
 
Mega-Evolution and using the Power of Friendship to reach out to Mewtwo from the person who actually had to most learn and experience this power: Sabrina.

Utterly brilliant and I love it! Woo-hoo!
 
I love Janine's indignant fury at the building code violations.
I hope the Guardians use the building code violations as a reason to get the Master Ball production shut down. They now see how far criminals will go to get it and whoever buys it will probably be even less secure than Silph Co. was. They could be all like, "If you can't even follow basic regulations, how can we trust you with such a powerful object. Normal thieves could probably break in by flying over your building, releasing a very heavy Pokémon to break the roof and floors, snatch it, and escape."
 
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Frankly I don't really see much of a use for a Master Ball in the first place except as Silph Co basically using it for dick waving purposes. The damn thing is likely to be so expensive that even if it enters (technically) mass production only rich assholes like Steven Stone could afford them in the first place. I'm saying it will be expensive because it either a) requires some pretty rare, expensive materials, b) is a complete and utter PITA to make or c) both (which is the most likely one IMO). Any regular trainer is likely gonna look at them like your average Joe (or Jane I don't discriminate) looks at the latest model of supercar, it's extremely shiny, we get wet dreams of owning one but we're honest enough with ourselves to admit they're completely impractical and expensive enough we'll never own one unless we suddenly win the lottery jackpot.
 
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