Hard Enough - Pokemon SI

[Viva01]

Jormungandr worked himself into the sand, luxuriating in the feel of it. It polished his body and worked itself into the links between his segments. With his body in position, he began a slow roll, turning the sand over his body and allowing the sand to do its work.

After a few minutes of just rolling and indulging himself, he raised his head towards where Slugma stood to the side. "Alright, let's try the hot sand now," he said. Despite being assured by Bertha, he was still worried about the fire touching him and cooking him.

For that purpose, Shin was sitting to the side, ready to cool the sands if it got too hot. With his tail still exposed, Jorm let himself relax as much as possible.

The heat around him slowly increased until he twitched his tail. Slugma must have stopped, as the sand stopped growing hotter and Jorm shifted slightly, allowing the hot sand to move around. It was… rather nice; it was well before it would grow painful, and that allowed him to slowly relax.

Eventually, his eyes grew heavy, and he dreamed.

He dreamed he was larger than any Onix he'd ever encountered before. He had never encountered a Steelix before, but surely he trumped them as well?

His form was glorious, sparkling with gems as he cast shadows about the land. Atop his head, Brock pointed, and they soared into the sky, Jormungandr worming his way up into the very stars themselves.

There he encountered Moltres and felt no fear in his heart. Instead, he roared his challenge and watched as the puny god of fire quavered with his approach.

It did not flee but instead met Jormungandr head-on as he should have.

The fire merely swept over Jorm's form as he lunged, his fangs glistening with dark intent as he crushed the god and cast him from the skies. Brock roared with Jormungandr in their shared victory.

Jorm wormed his way onwards, looking for greater challenges.

Then he felt something tap him lightly on the head.

"Jorm, it's time to wake up," said a calm voice.

Jorm opened his eyes and found Shin standing in a hole in the sand, his blades raised to tap Jorm on the head. Shin tilted his head. "Are you feeling alright? I was surprised when you started snoring."

"Ah," rumbled Jorm, surprised at how relaxed he'd been.

Shin twitched in such a manner that Jorm knew the older pokemon was amused. "You were twitching while you slept; you almost buried Slugma; I had to dig her out," Shin said. "It was a good dream?"

Jorm nodded. "The best of dreams," he said, recalling the feel of Moltres falling under his and Brock's shared might.

Then he sighed. "It is a shame; it was just a dream," Jorm said. Shin waved a blade, indicating that he was listening. Jorm shifted. "I had done it; I could feel the link between Brock and me. I was glorious in my mega-evolution form. Titanic in size and so powerful," he said wistfully.

Shin tapped the back of his blade against Jorm's head. "Do not worry, you will reach your goal; you and Brock are making progress. I think your agitation is caused by how close you are. I know Brock feels much the same way," Shin said.

"Hmmm, I feel like I am wasting his time; he spends much longer with me than the others and I—" Jorm began to say, only for Shin to ram his broad, flat head against Jorm's jaw.

"No, do not let such thoughts intrude on you. Each of us has had time when we were prioritised. You are merely the latest to receive this attention. The same has been true of Link, although he has forced Brock's attention with his…" Shin trailed off, trying to find the right word to use.

"Heart?" Jorm said, recalling the talk they'd had last night.

"I was weighing up if recklessness was the correct term to use," Shin said, the crook of his arm rubbing at his chin in a thoughtful pose they'd seen Brock do a few times.

Jorm huffed a laugh and rose from the sand, shaking himself as he did so to lose some of the sand from his joints. Shin darted back before even a speck of sand could fall on him, his agile body reappearing level to the ground.

Jorm turned his head around and found no sign of the Slugma beyond a trail of burnt earth indicating where it had gone.

"We have a meeting?" asked Jorm. Shin shook his head, and Jorm tilted his in confusion.

"Brock is inspecting us; some of us will be going with him tonight, as he suspects that Sabrina will face some interference," Shin reported, shifting his blades back and forth in anticipation only to wilt.

Jorm glanced at his teammate in surprise. "You are worried that Brock will not select you?"

Shin shook his head. "He has better options with how he has recalled Hypnotoad and Tide into his team," Shin said with a slight bend to his body. "I enjoy fighting, but I must recognise that Brock has better options than I, as far as water types go," said Shin, beginning to march towards the Elite training area.

Jorm swept after him, sand trickling from his body as he weaved his body forward.

When they arrived, they were some of the last to do so. Brock gave Jormungandr an appreciative look as he reached out to rub at Shin's head affectionately.

"Hmmm shiny," said Brock with an odd, amused lilt entering his voice. Jorm knew it wasn't meant in a mean way, and as a complement, he rumbled back a greeting.

Brock looked around and found that all of the other Elite pokemon, along with the trainees, were present. Teddiursa stood near Empress, his tiny paws lashing the air.

"—and then I was like, take that! And I won again!" said Teddiursa.

Jorm watched as Empress indulged in listening to the small bear pokemon with an amused smile on her scaly face. She looked rather motherly like this. Knight, who'd sat next to the pair, clapped his hands together and applauded Teddiursa.

"A might battle by the sounds of it! Well done on emerging the victor after being tested so much!" he said, shaking his head. He then turned his metal head towards Jorm and indicated the position next to himself. "Jorm! Sit with us!" he rumbled.

Jorm moved from Brock and claimed the spot next to his fellow steel type.

Brock chose that moment to clap his hands. "Alright, gang, it's good to see that you've been engaging in light training or relaxation this morning, tonight I am expecting that we're going to be getting into a fight."

All the pokemon stiffened at that, but Brock merely nodded. "Now, before that, I need to assign pokemon that I know will be able to hold down the fort here."

He waved a hand expansively. "The others and I can only fight as we do, knowing that there will be something to come back to. My family will be here as will the other pokemon. For that reason, I am entrusting this task to the pokemon that I know are up to the task."

"Knight, Cradily, Link, Hypnotoad, Tide, and Sanchez, "I'm going to be counting on all of you to hold down the fort," Brock said, locking eyes with all of the pokemon.

Shin stiffened, and hope entered his eyes as Jorm smiled for his friend.

"That means I will be taking Titan, Empress, Bertha, Jormungandr, Don, Zephyr, Gawain, Selene, Shrek, and…. Shin," Brock said, looking around.

Brock nodded to himself and tilted his head. "Yeah, that seems like a good team set-up in case we end up fighting in a building. Shin can link up with Gawain and Shrek pretty well and they have good counters for grass type…" Brok nodded and smiled. "Yeah, we'll go with that."

A screech had everyone looking up to find Zubat flapping around, only to dart off in an excited manner. Brock frowned, watching it soar off only to sigh. "Damn, I need to go check on her. I'll introduce you all to her later."

"What about me?!" shouted Teddiursa, puffing up cutely.

Brock paused and looked back to the small pokemon. "You want to guard the house or the reserve?" Brock said with a twitch of his lips.

Teddiursa frowned and looked to Empress, who shrugged.

Bertha grinned and leaned in. "The girls will dress you up in cute ribbons if you guard them! Make sure you get pictures!"

Teddiursa snapped his head to Brock and pointed at the ground. "Outside!" he said instantly, causing Brock to frown before he worked out what had been said, as everyone but Bertha laughed. With Brock heading off everyone slowly broke off into their own groups.

Jorm made sure to nudge Shin. "Looks like you were worried for nothing," said Jorm with a wide grin.

"Heh! So it seems. Fighting inside eh? I had forgotten about how I was suited for that."

"You are suited for more than that teacher!" said Gawain who'd ambled across to talk with Shin.

"Would you care for a light spar?" Gawain offered, brandishing his axes. Shin seemed very pleased with this, and Jorm bid his friend a good match before moving off to find a good place to lay in the sun.

He made a long circuit around the reserve, passing a number of Onix, some of whom looked at him with respect while others ignored him. Onix paused when he spotted the older Onix that had been spoken about last night around the campfire.

Jorm took in the scars along the dark-toned Onix with new eyes. Which of those had he gained during the war?

When the Onix looked towards him, Jorm bowed his head in respect. The Onix didn't say anything, merely nodding back and continuing to slither around, his gaze sweeping over the fence line.

Jorm watched him patrol, realising for the first time that that was precisely what this Onix was doing. When Jorm had first come here, he had joined in with the Onix patrols, and it had simply been a thing that was done.

Now he knew where this habit had started.

It wasn't just training endurance as Jorm had originally assumed, but training to guard the home.

"It changes things, knowing... doesn't it?" rumbled Titan from off to the side.

Jorm stiffened, not having heard Titan approaching.

"Ah! Yes, it does," said Jorm, inclining his head to Titan.

"You don't have to do that, you know?" Titan said, bobbing his head back.

"I feel like I should," said Jorm. He shifted. "I feel like a fraud sometimes, a… glass shield as some people have said."

"Do not listen to the crowds that jeer at us," said Titan sternly. "You are no glass shield. You stood up well against Will. Lift your head. You are an Elite of this Gym," Titan said firmly.

Jorm found himself buoyed by this but still he squirmed. "Yes… but," he trailed off, unsure how to have this conversation. Knowing what to say to get his point across… he wasn't sure. It wasn't like you could receive training for such things.

Titan observed him for a moment and nodded. "Ah, you are worried that you are infringing on Brock and I with how you are training to Megaevolve first?"

Jorm nodded. "Yes! That!" said Jorm, surprised, but at the same time not, that Titan could say what Jorm had been tripping over; Titan the Tyranitar was Brock's starter and it showed in moments like this.

"Brock has said that is not the case to you many times, no?" said Titan, scratching his chin in thought.

Jorm glanced away and Titan huffed. "So, it is not something that you have internalised or heard, eh?"

"I have heard it!" said Jorm worriedly. Did Titan think he didn't listen to Brock?

Titan shook his head. "No, I don't mean like that." Titan waved a claw around. "Sometimes it is not enough for someone to just say something for you to understand. To internalise a message and accept it is different. Sometimes you need someone else to say it to allow understanding to set in."

Jorm blinked. "Oh, that… thank you?" said Jorm uncertainly.

Titan shook his head, "Hmmm, don't worry, you will see. Also, I have had a long time to acknowledge that I will probably not be the first of Brock's team to Mega evolve. He has mentioned it to me before… we even had a plan to go and look for Tyranitarite, you know?"

Jorm blinked. "No? I thought he only mentioned it months ago when that silver-haired man came?"

"Steven?" Titan asked before nodding. "Indeed, to most of the team, he only mentioned it then, but he has spoken to me of the heights I and others could reach. I suspected Shrek might be the first, honestly."

Jorm shifted. "You said Brock planned to look for your Mega Stone; did you not find it?"

"We never got the chance to look. Brock was hoping for more time in Hoenn," Titan said, staring off into the distance.

"Hoenn?" Jorm said, tilting his head.

Titan waved a hand. "It is a different place, on a different continent. Brock had started the second year of his journey, and he had been drawn into the desert in hopes of looking for some rare rock-type pokemon with Sabrina's help. Thanks to that, we ended up finding Selene and Quirina."

"Ah," said Jorm. "Where had they been planning to go after that?"

"Lavaridge, specifically to a place called Jagged Pass, even though Brock did not hold much faith in that location he thought he might as well try." Titan shook his head. "Regardless, Flint called off Brock's journey, and Brock had to return home instead of searching Jagged Pass as he wished to. Perhaps we will go there in the future, though?"

Jorm considered this, and Titan scratched his chin. Jorm shook himself. "Do you regret Brock's original Onix not being in my place?"

"Guybro?" said Titan with a blink.

Jormungandr blinked, having not realised that the other Onix had been named. It made sense that Brock had done so.

"Guybro?" Jorm said, sounding out the name. "What does his name mean?"

Titan coughed and glanced aside in a sheepish manner. "Well, actually, Brock had jokingly asked for his family to help name Guybro and that was the name Cindy put forth… Guybro loved it, and Brock couldn't change it after that, as he was too attached to it."

Titan chuckled. "I think Brock was rather embarrassed about the entire thing."

Jorm blinked, stunned at this revelation. He hadn't been expecting that, but… it made a degree of sense. "Oh, that's still… nice?"

Titan nodded. "Guybro was very nice; he was extremely calm and very slow to anger, but still a strong Onix with natural talent. He didn't have as much drive as you do, but Brock had him for a lot longer, which forced Guybro to work hard."

Jorm shifted again. "How did Brock handle losing one of his pokemon?"

"As well as can be expected. Much of the team was morose after learning of the fact. I…" Titan clenched his claws and snarled. "I had wanted to hunt down the trainer that had done it… It felt so… pathetic to only report the other trainer and have him fined for how he had fought. We were all very sad for a while, and Brock had to also handle his family learning about Guybro's passing while himself being devastated by the loss."

Titan shifted and looked down at the ground. "He rather struggled at the time I remember. Sabrina helped out a great deal but it took Gym Leader Surge kicking a fuss to get us out of our funk."

"Ah," said Jorm. "do you…" Once again, Jorm lacked the words to say what he felt needed to be said.

Titan snorted. "Do not sell yourself short. You have exceeded Guybro many times over. You have filled his gap well and are exceeding his memory. If you want to honour him, try making yourself available to play with Brock's family. They would like that, I think."

Titan then rubbed at his face before he smirked. "Just be ready for them to put their hands in places hands aren't supposed to go."

"Ah," said Jorm, suddenly rethinking the idea before reaffirming it with a nod. "I think I will still try," said Jorm, glancing towards the house.

Before he could put words to action, another thought occurred to him. "What of Brock's original Geodude? I don't hear much about him."

Titan grinned broadly. "Ah, Dwayne? He's still around; he is old however, and Brock didn't have the knowledge at the time to realise quite how old he was when he caught him as a Geodude. He held up well and evolved all the way to being a Golem, with Brock learning a lot from training him."

"So he is still around? What does he do? I don't think I've met him, or seen him about the reserve."

Titan coughed. "Well, Brock needed a lot of eggs to test his theory about how to get electric-rock typed Geodude, you see? The Researcher… Bianca is very familiar with him, you could say. He does come out occasionally, but mostly only during feeding time. He doesn't train or fight much and is considered retired."

Jormungandr blinked at that, and it took a long moment for him to understand what was being said. "He is a stud now?"

"He has a very fine harem of three pokemon, to hear him speak of it," said Titan. "Sanchez is his grandson."

"Where does he spend his time?" Jorm asked, too curious to stop himself.

Titan waved for Jorm to follow and led Jorm towards the electrified cave. Both of them walked in without worry. They found Bianca in the cave wearing a rubber suit placing a few eggs off to the side.

"Hmmm good haul, ladies!" she said before noticing Titan and Jorm's presence. "Oh! Hello there, boys! Come to contribute?" she said eagerly.

Titan shook his head quickly while Jorm glanced around.

"Hoh? What's this? Bringing along another young one to my palace, Titan?" said a voice that sounded like it was being ground out between rocks.

"Dwayne," Titan said. "Jormungandr was curious about the original team Brock had, and I thought to introduce him."

"Hmpf! I suppose he also thinks my daughters and granddaughters aren't good enough for him eh?" said the old Golem.

Jorm was thoroughly lost, and Titan shook his head and tapped at the side of his head to show that Dwayne wasn't all there.

Sadly, Sanchez was there, and he rolled out with a huge grin. "You going to marry my sisters? Jorm yes! We can be literal brothers that way!" he exclaimed with far too much eagerness for Jorm.

Titan backed away, Jorm decided to do the same. "Nice to meet you all!" he hesitantly called back as he retreated.

"Feh! Young ones! Not enough vim and vigour by half!" said Dwayne to their backs.

"I've got that in bucket loads, pops!" said Sanchez, sparking up and zapping a nearby boulder just to demonstrate his point.

"Too much of it!" barked Dwayne, chopping his hand lightly on Sanchez's head.

Jorm left the cave and gave Titan a look. "I see where Sanchez gets it from now," he said.

Titan merely nodded. "So, still want to try playing with Brock's family?"

Jorm considered that for a moment and nodded. "Yes, I would like to try… I will be careful though; they are very small from what I have seen of them."

"They're stronger than you realise. Just keep yourself calm and don't take sudden actions. You can move fast, but make it smooth," Titan said patiently.

Jorm smiled. "Heh, you're so wise."

Titan grinned. "You just say that cause I've learned more and I get to teach you. Don't worry, you'll learn your own tricks!" Titan said, leading Jorm towards the edge of the garden that marked the edge of the reserve.

Jorm leaned over the hedge and found a delighted tiny human child grinning up at him.

"Jorm!" it said as it reached up to him with tiny hands.

Jorm stared at the tiny being and felt himself go soft.

He decided then and there that his predecessor, Guybro, had good ideas, and he was glad he'd learnt about him.

Now he would honour him by playing with Brock's family in his place and helping to make them smile.

When Brock came to collect him and Titan, Jorm had a sequence of artwork on one part of his body, with Billy and Timmy having signed their work like proper artists.

Jorm felt more sure of himself and ready to fight than ever before.

---

A.N. Thanks go to my patreons, with this being a Platinum request I dug deep to get this one made up and edited this week!

I hope you enjoy a bit of exposition coming with this chapter taking place between the time Brock returned from Mt Moon with his family.

Thanks go to Obiwankentucky for beating this chapter

 

[Zentoraus]

Very sweet. I love the names Dwayne and Guybro

 

[Forger1985]

The scene at the end with Jorm playing with Brock's siblings was adorably hilarious, keep up the great work Viva.

 

[TimEd]

Yeah, also I am guessing that the prompt was about that time when Brock saw Jorm covered in artwork, since I think I recall that being mentioned in passing somewhere in story.

edit: huh, forgot that the zubat means this happened fairly recently. Tighter timing than I initially thought then, and I guess it was another pokemon that his siblings painted.

 

[Forger1985]

Yeah, also I am guessing that the prompt was about that time when Brock saw Jorm covered in artwork, since I think I recall that being mentioned in passing somewhere in story.

edit: huh, forgot that the zubat means this happened fairly recently. Tighter timing than I initially thought then, and I guess it was another pokemon that his siblings painted.

Click to shrink...

This happens right before Brock is departing for Sabrina's match against Will where Brock is certain that Team Rocket will use the fight as a distraction to try and rob Silph Co for the Master Ball.

 

[Altered]

We got senile Dwayne "the Rock" Golem. And we got Guybro who before anything else was explained about that name, I thought was somehow a combination of Might Guy and Slowbro. But nah he was named by Brock's family. Still sucks to read about Guybro biting it and Dwayne going old and not completely there. Still lovely to read about them though. Dang, I might shed a tear lol.

 

[Maybe Mike]

Honestly, Dwayne reads just like those senile old men in anime whos going to get a serious moment and absolutely DESTROY someone.

The headchop was also fuckin cliche as all hell and thus hilarious as all hell!

Dwayne lowkey my favorite now.

 

[Blacksheep]

Learning about Brock's original geodude and onix was wonderful. I hadn't even realized that they weren't there actually, feel kinda bad for missing it. The team feels so well built and filled out.

That small homage with Dwayne and Guybro was wonderful love Dwayne being a senile golem fathering a large clan. Guybro deserved better, but that's not how it always goes. I am glad his story was shared

 

[xbox432]

"A might battle by the sounds of it!

Click to shrink...

might - mighty

"Knight, Cradily, Link, Hypnotoad, Tide, and Sanchez, "I'm going to be counting on all of you to hold down the fort,"

Click to shrink...

Sanchez, "I'm going - Sanchez, I'm going

"Ah, Dwayne?

Click to shrink...

Ah, these puns sustain me.

 

[Viva01]

The morning after the Team Rocket Raid on Silph Tower, along with Sabrina's victory over Will, saw her and I laying in her bed. When we were both awake we didn't say anything… we merely lazed in bed, enjoying the other's company as our arms wrapped each other tight.

Eventually, I decided to ask the question that had been on my mind since last night. "How did it feel? That was… much more powerful than I thought it would be."

Sabrina smiled. "I might have tried for that with how Mewtwo and Will were pressuring me." She gained a thoughtful look. "It might have also been the occasion itself."

"Hmmm? What do you mean by that?" I asked, curious, and worried that she'd felt pressured by Will of all people. Mewtwo, I could rationalise due to him being a Legendary.

"I wanted it, more than a lot of things that I've wanted before in my life. I had an image, in my mind that I wanted to happen. And then, I made it a reality," she shot me another smile, "Or close to one, anyway."

"Close to one?" I asked teasingly.

Sabrina smiled and kissed me.

When we eventually got up, we trudged down to breakfast only to find the television on. Sandra and Saul were entranced with it to the point where they barely registered our arrival. Ralts seemed very pleased by whatever they were watching.

When I got around the counter, I got a glimpse of the television and found Sabrina staring back at me.

"They're calling her the Mistress of Evolution! The strongest psychic of our age! She's Sabrina! And with one match she's cemented herself as the idol for everyone in Indigo!" said the tv host.

I grabbed a bowl of cereal while Sabrina assembled some toast, despite not physically touching the knife, bread, or toaster once from where she was sitting. It was rather distracting watching the kitchen utensils zip around while she kept her eyes fixed on the television.

This news article was all about the sudden hype that Sabrina had. People had respected her before, now she was adored and lauded with praise.

Sabrina's victory and the reveal of her ability with her Alakazam to Mega-evolve caused shockwaves throughout the known world.

Instantly, Sabrina became the most popular Gym Leader and her face was being plastered over billboards, news articles, and television shows, with many experts discussing how she'd done it.

We watched this with a stunned sort of disconnect until the doorbell rang and Sabrina frowned. "Ah, that would be Professor Oak," she said, her eyes glowing.

Saul stiffened. "Sabrina! Don't just—"

"Hello there!" Samuel said as he marched into the house. "Thank you for letting me and my fellows in Sabrina!" he said, revealing that he'd arrived with what appeared to be all of the notable researchers of Indigo in tow.

Professor Elm was present, albeit he was being restrained by two others. Despite this, he was twitching and acting like a rabid Houndour.

"Might we have a word?" Samuel said eagerly.

I chuckled. We'd been listening to the 'experts' all morning on television, but the true people in the know were still asking questions. Sabrina rose. "Yes, that is why I asked for you to come today with your fellows."

Samuel Oak shook his head with an exasperated expression. "Yes, and I thought I was being the clever one there." he chuckled. "I thought I had stolen a march on everyone else when you read me in on your Farigiraf, and your Wyrdeer, but now I see you were working on something truly special," he said.

Sabrina gave him a coy smile. "As they say, girls have more secrets than boys can understand." she waved her hand for them to follow as she rose, linking arms with me.

"Oh? I didn't get any memo regarding this," I said.

Sabrina coughed. "It got lost in all of our preparations. I assumed you would want to be involved."

I shook my head, unable to be annoyed by her presumption.

Sabrina led us all into the room where Alakazam had set up his notes.

I chuckled when I saw that the room had been set up like a classroom, and Alakazam was literally hovering in front of a whiteboard with a stack of notes laid out. I claimed a table, with Sabrina taking the one next to me.

She lifted herself and the table so she could sit next to me, earning herself a dour look from Alakazam, who was acting as the teacher for today's class.

I shot her a look. "Shouldn't you be up there translating for him?" I asked.

"He wants to let the researchers look through the papers first," she said, nodding her head to the papers that were now being levitated to each person.

Professor Elm snatched it out of the air and began reading it frantically.

"Ah! Of course! But how did you… oh, you accounted for that? Hmmm interesting, but what of… I see," he said as he read.

Oak sighed, pulling out a highlighter, notepad, and pen. Only then did he begin reading, albeit much more sedately. He made some considering noises as he read but otherwise ignored the rest of the room as they did the same. More than a few looks were directed our way, and I chuckled. They must be dying to ask Sabrina questions.

Interested, despite knowing how dry the content of the paper would be, I began to read the offered paper myself.

It worked through the historical premise of the Mega-evolution, the discovery of the stone and Alakazam's initial impressions, and Sabrina's own initial impressions. I blinked when I noticed that I was listed as a test subject,with my name blanked to that of subject B-one (male seventeen y.o.) and his Steelix.

Oh.

And here I was in a room with highly intelligent people.

They'd know exactly who subject B-one was.

I flipped through and noted how the study had developed. My role as subject B-one was noted and often earned disparaging remarks due to my developing bond with Steelix not being conducted in laboratory conditions, compared to Sabrina and Alakazam's efforts.

I shot Alakazam an incredulous expression. I worked better at home in my reserve! He sniffed at my annoyed look and began copying out the graphs onto the whiteboard behind him without actually looking, the markers held in his telekinetic grip.

I noticed the rest of the researchers begin to fidget as he finished, but instead of Sabrina rising to stand, she remained seated. I glanced around, unsure what we were waiting for, until I noticed that Samuel was still flipping through the paper, making notes.

When he was done, he arranged his notes in a manner that allowed him to observe all of them while still having access to his notepad. Then he lifted his gaze, laced his fingers, and spoke. "If you would be so kind, shall we begin?" he asked.

Sabrina smiled and rose to begin talking for Alakazam as she explained her process of Mega-evolving Alakazam. I was interested to learn that she had achieved the Mega Evolution multiple times in laboratory conditions.

"—and yet the mega-evolution that I experienced with Alakazam against Will was, by my estimates, at least three times more powerful."

"Do you have any thoughts on why this is the case?" Samuel asked politely.

Sabrina considered the question. "There may have been multiple factors that impacted the power of the evolution." Alakazam wrote out a numbered list as Sabrina spoke.

"First, Psychic Terrain may have contributed to the Mega-evolution being more powerful than normal; that was not something we had previously tested for, but against Will, it makes sense that he would have it deployed.

"Second, Mega-evolving in an actual battle may have been more stressful and caused a greater response. In a sense, our bond was stronger due to the implied threat."

"Third, the fight itself was vitally important for me on a number of levels, further bolstering the evolution."

Sabrina shifted. "And finally," She swept her gaze about the room, searching for people's expressions, and I felt something sweep over me.

Oak's eyes hardened as his colleagues stirred with surprise. Some of them squawked in outrage, but Sabrina quickly inclined her head. "Apologies, I was merely performing a surface assessment; none of you are here due to greed, so I can safely discuss the final point that may have impacted the Mega Evolution."

This had everyone sitting upright in their seats. Our undivided attention was on Sabrina.

"I have limited precognition that I sometimes utilise."

Samuel hissed a breath in surprise. "That—"

"I am aware of the dangers; I have a number of texts on the matter, and I am extremely careful to never make plans based on what I foresee. Sadly, last night's events were critical, and the impact will be widespread in many different matters. I was not aware that Team Rocket would raid Silph Tower for example, but I suspected, through other information sources, that they would be active in some manner. This allowed me to have many more people ready to respond rapidly than they otherwise would have."

Samuel coughed. "Ah, my thanks; my own grandson and a number of other young trainers that I support were caught up. Your foresight perhaps saved them."

Sabrina nodded. "Well, the point I wished to establish was that Alakazam's Mega evolution was a momentous occasion that impacted a number of future events due to how it played out. Events occurring around it that link together in a very abstract way but nevertheless made it more important."

One older researcher shifted in their seat. "Are you perhaps stating that your Mega-evolution was a Time Nexus?"

Sabrina nodded slowly, and the man hissed. "Well, I suppose we got lucky last night. Time Nexus' have been known to draw the attention of powerful pokemon. Last night's events could have become much more chaotic."

I blinked. "Powerful pokemon… linked with Time?" I said.

The researcher shifted as every researcher apart from Oak stared hungrily at this new tidbit. Their eyes gleamed like that of zealots wanting access to knowledge that they hadn't known they'd been denied until this moment.

The man looked around. "Well… I suppose if Sabrina was willing to share, so shall I. There are a few pokemon that are linked to Time as a concept. These are Celebi, a pokemon known widely as a Guardian of the Forest, Dialga, the pokemon of Time, Arceus, of course… and finally Giratina."

He raised a hand, and his gaze turned fierce. "If you have not heard of the last, I suggest you not repeat it unless needed to, and never more than five times in a single location within a month."

One researcher hummed. "You're referring to the Darkrai conjuring method of bringing about the pokemon's attention through the usage of their name? Conjuring? That has never been established sufficiently!"

The older man turned his gaze upon the much younger man. "I am the oldest researcher of Time phenomenon. Not many study my line of research. And I am the only one older than thirty-five. Make of that what you will, but always remember that we are referencing Legendary pokemon. Do not underestimate them!" he said firmly.

Oak coughed. "I would like to second what Professor Swatch has said today. Do not repeatedly call them by their names. Their legends, especially the last mentioned, have notable stories that dance about ever saying the name. During my tenure as champion, I must admit quite shamefully, I had to destroy or restrict certain books and tales from being spread around." Oak made a face to show how distasteful he found that.

"You may write it down, but speaking it does something that we, as yet, are unable to understand. The best person to understand this is perhaps Agatha of the Elite Four and she will not discuss that particular pokemon, so do not ask her or even write to her about the subject!"

I blinked. I hadn't been expecting last night to mean so much, but with what Sabrina had shared with me, it would have caused a lot of ripples throughout the world.

I rubbed my chin. Her reveal of Mega Evolution might just be the smallest of the forces causing ripples. But like she'd said, everything overlapped and built on itself.

A discussion broke out about talking with geologists about points that would overlap with pokemon populations to discover Mega stones and specific pokemon species stones.

Samuel rubbed his chin. "We will also need to discover and create a list of what pokemon can mega-evolve," he said.

"Steven Stone might be worth reaching out to," I said casually. "He was aware of the worth of Mega Stones."

The researchers shared a look before turning a collective gaze upon me. "And we haven't heard a word about this, why?"

I blinked. "There really hasn't been any murmuring in the research communities about what he's unearthed?" I said with some surprise. "Nothing?" I was more than a little amazed that the research community had been taken so by surprise by Sabrina's reveal.

"Steven hasn't announced this or revealed it… at all? What about the Hoenn researchers?" I asked. The group as a whole shook their heads quickly.

"That man wouldn't share anything like that!" said someone in the back of the room.

"Huh," I said intelligently. It really made Alakazam's research much more valuable.

The researchers closest to me shook their heads. "Steven Stone is notorious for keeping his cards close to the chest."

"Lance knows, he got himself a megastone before Brock," Sabrina said, more than happy to throw the Champion to the researchers.

They all stirred in irritation at that, and Samuel huffed. "I shall be talking with him about not informing us about this development." I stifled a chuckle as the hackles of the researchers around us relaxed, knowing that Samuel Oak would be having words with the current Champion.

I spotted Sabrina's slight smile and knew she'd done that deliberately. Did she not like Lance?

Huh, wonder what he did to annoy her?

Samuel turned a smile in my direction. "You said Steven Stone knew the worth of them? Did he... Perchance have a list of Mega stones?"

I nodded as I tried to recall. Had he sent me a list, or had he just shown me the list? "He showed me a list," I said eventually.

"Would you happen to recall what they were called?" Samuel said, inching closer. I noted that other reserachers were doing the same.

I allowed myself a smile as I realised I could probably get away with some additions to the list and all I'd need to do was claim a faulty memory. I rattled off what I could recall of Steven Stone's list of mega stones.

I started ticking off my fingers as I spoke, "He had Gardevoirite, Ampharosite, Charizadite, Blastoisinite, Blazikenite, Houndoominite, Mawhilite, Metagrossite, Sharpedonite, Steelixite, Slowbronite, Salamnecite, Cameruptite, Pidgeotite, Gyaradosite, and Beedrillite." I said, opening my eyes and nodding slowly to sell the act.

Then I allowed a frown to appear. "I am… unsure if that was a complete list. I know that Steven didn't know of Sabrina's Mega Stone, as I never mentioned it to him, but he seemed to think it would take me a year to develop my bond with Jormungandr, my Steelix, enough to mega evolve him. I am not certain, but I have to wonder if other options might have been available."

Samuel frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I've built up my bond with Jormungandr. I can feel that with the work we've put in recently, but if another option had been available, such as a mega stone for Shrek, my Swampert, or Knight my Aggron… or Titan…" I said, not bothering to mention which species Titan was.

The researchers all had thoughtful looks at my suggestion.

One spoke up. "You think he might have been deliberately presenting a false list? It had a stone that was highly valuable to you, but not one from a pokemon you had a well-established link with?"

I nodded, even as another researcher murmured about the density of pokemon capable of mega evolving located around Pewter. I had to agree that it was interesting, especially considering if I ever got the chance at Diancie. There'd be a ton of pokemon capable of pulling it off.

Samuel rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, this has been a fascinating morning, and it has raised a lot of potential avenues for research. I think we're going to have to disseminate this information to the wider community." Samuel's lips twitched.

"It might be more impactful if the Mistress of Mega-evolution herself were to present it? I for one know that Celadon University would be tremendously interested in listening to your thoughts on the topic, Alakazam and Sabrina."

I half expected Sabrina to deny them, but then I noticed the light of excitement sparkling in Alakazam's eyes. Sabrina nodded. "I think Alakazam would be delighted to," she said.

This caused a storm of professors shouting for their alma mater's receiving lectures from the current experts in the subject. I chuckled. If this played out, I wouldn't be surprised if Alakazam was considered a pokemon professor by the end of the year.

A hand on my shoulder cut through my thoughts, and I looked up to find Samuel smiling at me. "And don't think I have forgotten about your own contributions to pokemon evolutions, Brock! Celadon would love to have you, Sanchez, Gawain and any other pokemon you were developing! I know the thoughts you had on various pokemon evolution methods would be highly sought after! I have even heard some interesting things regarding your thoughts on pokemon moves from my old friend Pryce?"

"Ah, you heard about that?" I said as a few professors that had been close swivelled their attention onto me.

Samuel nodded. "Indeed I did! I was very impressed with your insight! With that and the variant pokemon evolutions that you currently have and that you are working towards, well… I think it would be a wonderful idea for you to do a lecture or two!"

I blinked. Why did I get the feeling he was annoyed with me? Oh, wait, was this like Lance not telling him about the Mega-evolutions? I hadn't mentioned the move-dependent evolutions. Ah… He was telling me, not asking. I'm going to have to do this, aren't?

"Ah, that does sound like a good idea… although I am already engaged in giving lectures with Poketech in Pewter—"

"Some of us will attend as well!" said a researcher quickly.

"... that's only considered a secondary level of study, though? I'm sure I could come to the universities or colleges?"

Samuel patted me on the shoulder. "I shall be looking forward to that!" he said.

He then handed me a business card. "Have your people reach out to Celadon University. I will inform the Dean that I think it would be a good guest lecture. We'll make it work," he said with an entirely too pleased expression.

I nodded, not feeling like I could say no to him. A few other senior researchers dropped their own business cards on my desk, while some juniors asked to exchange emails and transceiver numbers, with their specialities being recorded in case I needed someone to bounce ideas off of.

I accepted them all, but before I could leave, Professor Elm raised a question.

"Is there any chance of using Mega-evolution to create a super Abra or other pokemon?"

I blinked and considered what that would entail. I shuddered in time with Sabrina and Alakazam as we realised what that would entail.

We shot our hands into an x. "Nope!"

Elm looked extremely put out and opened his mouth, only for Oak to give a flat look to the other Pokemon Professor. "If the next words are anything like 'do it for science' then just let it go, Elm."

A few other researchers chuckled while Sabrina and I gained decidedly green looks.

Urgh, having your pokemon do it while linked to you? Urgh! Elm, that man could be entirely too focused on the end goal.

With that decidedly strange and disturbing imagery now in mind, the discussion broke up, with Sabrina and I heading off for a casual date.

A date that saw a lot of people calling out to Sabrina and me as we made our way around Saffron City.

"Seems you've gotten more popular," I said idly as another group waved at us.

Sabrina inclined her head. "People have come to terms with my previous reluctance to appear in public settings and realised that I wasn't snubbing or looking down on them but doing it for my own health. Now that they know that I've been struggling, there seems to be an idea of me struggling in silence. Some of them think it is rather heroic."

She shook her head. "I rather liked being left alone," she said before giving me a look to show her next words were meant jokingly. "I blame you."

Ralts, who'd been happily kicking her legs while sitting on Sabrina's shoulder, immediately narrowed her gaze upon me.

I rubbed my chin, amused at the game Sabrina was playing. "Yeah, that's probably fair; I did kick in your door and beat you and your Pokemon up. Then I totally dragged you along with me for a whirlwind journey." I shot her a smirk as Ralts gasped theatrically.

We both knew that I'd been very polite when I'd made my challenge, only for her to ignore me due to not having foreseen my arrival, which apparently had been a first for her. She'd then seen me as an aberration and tried to crush me with her Kadabra, only for Titan to stomp all over her and Kadabra with Dark Pulse.

We'd shared a few words after the match, and then she'd turned up at my campsite that night, demanding to come with me, having noticed that she could relax around me.

She'd very much followed me around instead of me dragging her anywhere.

Still, she had only made the effort to be more outgoing in the last few months. So her new popularity lined up well with her own ability to engage with her fans. It was a new experience to see Sabrina waving back at people or interacting with her adoring fans.

Within half an hour of us walking around, however, she had found a problem with her new popularity.

"This… is exhausting," she said flatly, nodding to another man who waved in our direction. The man gleefully ran off, having been acknowledged.

I chuckled. "Yeah, sorry, it can get like that. It's one of those things you have to get used to. This is also the day after a big match; people are going to be more excitable around you and more aware. It'll calm down after a week or so unless you do something else to draw their attention. Try to enjoy what you can of the moment, though."

Sabrina grunted at that and dragged me into a coffee shop, where we claimed a table and settled in to enjoy each other's company. Ralts happily ordered a cake tray with some lemonade, and we settled back with our own drinks to relax.

Within five minutes, the cafe was full, as people just so happened to need coffee from this shop.

The manager was quick to demand that only people who had ordered could linger, forcing people to fork over money.

He then swung around our table and offered us free drinks. I had to tip my head, acknowledging the slyness of the move.

"We also do pokemon drinks!" he said when Sabrina appeared unmoved.

I tilted my head as a thought occurred to me. "How big are your mugs?" I asked.

Sabrina caught on to what I was planning and eyed the roof. When she realised it was high enough, she settled in and released Alakazam, Hypno, and a Chimecho.

I released Bertha and Titan, who both towered over us. I tossed them some cushions and they sat down, Titan with a bemused air, while Bertha clapped her hands gleefully. She then proceeded to demand that I read the list of drinks to her.

I shot her an unimpressed look. "You're just going to want the girliest drink on here, with sparkles, chocolate, and sprinkles."

Bertha nodded, and I ordered that while Titan got a cappuccino. When the drink came around, I was amused that they had made it in a literal bucket for the larger pokemon. Bertha seemed very pleased with this arrangement and proceeded to extend her smallest finger as she took a dainty sip.

"Rhy, rhyper, Rhyperior," she said towards Ralts sagely, sipping from her drink, the very picture of elegance.

I shared a look with Sabrina and chuckled.

I could only imagine what Bertha was trying to teach Ralts, but the smaller psychic fairy seemed to be rather receptive. They were soon talking as though they were—what I imagined—ladies at a garden party would do, instead of two pokemon in a now relatively crowded coffee shop.

When the first photographers arrived, Bertha was more than happy to pose. When the photographers zoomed in on either myself or Sabrina, she would lean down so her unimpressed expression was caught in the background of the photo.

I saw more than a few paparazzi-like photographers lean back to inspect a picture only to find Bertha's glare zeroed in on them in the background. They promptly settled for more wide-angle shots. Bertha promptly snuggled into Titan for those photos.

Sabrina took a cue from that and levitated herself into my lap as a cake I'd never ordered arrived. Apparently, while I'd been distracted, Sabrina had psychically ordered for us. She tossed her hair and smiled winningly.

I lifted a small fork of the cake towards her and then took a bite of it myself. Ralts gasped theatrically, and I smirked, making sure to ignore the pinch Sabrina was giving me as I fed her the next few slices to show I was properly chastised.

I then made the mistake of looking at my Xtransceiver.

"Oh, hey, I must have forgotten to charge it last night after I spoke with my family," I said. Sabrina glanced away, and I tilted my head. That had almost been a bit too quick… "Sabrina?"

"I just wanted to enjoy a morning without interruptions," she said innocently.

"Oh," I said. That was rather cute. It also implied that she knew someone would be looking for me. "Who's going to be—" I broke off as a shadow fell over the entrance of the shop before disappearing.

The door jingled, and the crowd parted.

Lance stood at the entrance.

His gaze zeroed in on Sabrina and I. I made sure to raise another forkful of cake toward Sabrina.

Ah, she'd been preventing the League from getting in contact with me. Lance strode forward and sat in the chair. Sabrina nodded at him, and before he could speak, she pointed at a sign. "If you're going to stay, you need to order something," she said.

Lance blinked.

Then his head swivelled to the sign which he stared at in incomprehension for a moment. The Manager of the shop slid into view with a somewhat hopeful expression and Lance sighed. "You know what? I could do with a coffee." He reached into his pouch and produced a bag of coffee beans. "Can you grind this into a straight black coffee?"

"Ralts!" said Ralts in a reproachful tone.

Sabrina's lips twitched. "You are correct Ralts. He should have said please," said Sabrina playfully.

Lance chuckled. "Ah, of course, my apologies; could you grind this up for me into a black coffee, please," he said to the manager. The man nodded furiously and then sprinted off to complete the request.

Lance leaned back and allowed a sigh to escape him.

"Long night at the office?" I said.

Lance rolled his eyes at me. "Yes, you could say that. I had a rather lot of paperwork to get through simply to get the Executive Orders signed."

I raised my mug towards him. "I thought those were rather good ideas," I commented. I searched his fatigued face. "You haven't slept?"

He shook his head. "Once I had gotten properly formed and announced, I had been establishing the G-men properly and, from there, moving on some suspected sites."

He rubbed his face in annoyance. "Not all of them have borne fruit and there have been some feathers to unruffle, but we have had some success," he said.

He then waved a hand at the crowd lingering aorund us. "I obviously can't give any more details than that right now, but the League, slow as it is sometimes, is moving."

"Ah," I said. I could understand what that would mean for me and Sabrina.

I could be called upon to help with raids, especially with my proven track record. On the other hand, Sabrina could be used for intelligence gathering. We could, of course, deny them if we wanted to, but with them moving on Team Rocket, it was in our interest to support their efforts.

I could see why Sabrina might have wanted to put that off in favour of going on a morning date.

"You could have told me," I said, directing my gaze to Sabrina.

Sabrina swallowed the cake I'd given her. "Then you wouldn't have relaxed. You'd have felt guilty," she said, opening her mouth for another slice of cake.

I chuckled. I could see her point. I would have felt the anticipation building as I waited for the League's request, and that might have ruined the morning.

Sabrina had no such hangups about ignoring the League.

A rather aromatic coffee was set before Lance, and he paused to inhale the scent of it before taking a sip. He handed the manager one hundred pokedollars as a tip for their service in return for his small coffee packet, which he stowed away.

"You take your own coffee around with you?" I asked.

Lance smiled, obviously savouring the taste of his coffee. "Yes, this is a special Fiore blend that I haven't been able to find an equal to. They might be aggravating to negotiate with, but they certainly know a thing or two about growing coffee beans—something about the synergy of grass types and fire types creating the perfect coffee bean. I'm told it's a trade secret as much as it is a way of life for them."

"Huh," I said, surprised to learn that Fiore had such a luxury good. "Are they going to export much?"

"Limited amounts of only six million bags," he said. "The rest is reserved for domestic use," he said.

I nodded, not having any idea if that was a lot or not much at all. I got the impression that Lance wanted as much of their coffee as he could get his hands on.

We talked a little more as Lance enjoyed his drink. He complimented Sabrina on her match as he was finishing up his drink. He shot it a sad look, and his eyes drifted towards the grinder, weighing up the idea of ordering another before shaking his head and dismissing the idea. He then levelled a look at Sabrina.

"There have been a number of suggestions that you should take over the final position of the Elite Four," Lance said conversationally.

I didn't need to even look to know the entire room had just leaned forward slightly. The instant hush that swept the room gave away that everyone was trying to listen to this sudden turn in the already interesting conversation.

Sabrina gave Lance a look, shrugged, and replied, "I'm comfortable where I am right now," she said, wiggling in my lap. I snorted, and she smiled.

Lance sighed. "I knew you'd say that, but… well, I thought I should make the offer; I can't have the Mistress of Mega-Evolution not be offered a seat with the Elite Four of Indigo."

Sabrina didn't bother with a response to that beyond tapping me for more cake. I pointed, and Sabrina pretended to only just now notice that Ralts had devoured the rest of the cake. Ralts smiled as crumbles fell off her cheeks.

"Oh, you have gotten sly, haven't you?" Sabrina said, wiping at Ralts' mouth.

I blinked, realising that she hadn't been faking but had actually been not noticing. That meant Ralts had to be doing something to evade Sabrina's attention. Was this a regular occurrence that Ralts was seriously working on?

Lance snorted at our byplay. "Well, if we're all done here, I would like it if you could come with me. I need some experienced trainers to assist."

"Ah… actually sir," said a timid voice. We glanced up and found the manager holding a camera. "Could I get a photo with all of you? It's for the wall?" he said, indicating the wall where a number of other faces I recognised stood.

Samuel Oak, Rita Roscare, Nurse Joy, three Officer Jennys, Saul, and Kong smiled back.

Bertha grinned and adopted a pose, which settled matters for us.

We took the group photo with the manager standing in our midst with a huge smile. I had to admit that with the crowd that had swept in with our arrival, he'd have made bank today. That didn't stop him from thinking ahead.

Getting to serve the Champion and get a photo to prove it would probably secure him a regular customer base for a long while.

---

Sabrina saved us a flight by teleporting us with Alakazam back to the League. Lance swept forward into the heart of the building, leading us into the depths where the interrogation rooms were.

"We managed to capture an Executive and we want to take this further," he said as he led us into a room that mirrored Daniel's—my former employee and spy—interrogation room. Agatha and Koga stood in the room with Agent Brown standing by the side.

"About time you answered the call," said Agatha.

Sabrina flicked her head. "I had better things to do," she said nonchalantly. She walked into the room, and within five minutes, we had a host of sites to attack.

It was the final site that the man worked tooth and nail to keep Sabrina away from, with every mental trick he possessed, however, that made Lance grin like all his Christmas' had come at once.

We finally had the site for the Team Rocket Academy.

It was north-west of Cerulean City, and it was the point of our next raid. I hummed to myself.

When Oak had invited me to tour schools earlier today, I doubt he intended for me to trash them.

Oh well, it was a childhood dream I'm sure many could empathise with.

---

Thanks go to my Patreons for their continued support

It also goes to Obiwankentucky for betaing this chapter!

 

[Blaflaix]

Professor Elm was present, albeit he was being restrained by two others. Despite this, he was twitching and acting like a rabid Houndour.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Professor Elm

Sabrina inclined her head. "People have come to terms with my previous reluctance to appear in public settings and realised that I wasn't snubbing or looking down on them but doing it for my own health. Now that they know that I've been struggling, there seems to be an idea of me struggling in silence. Some of them think it is rather heroic."

Click to shrink...

"All this time you were suffering in silence!"

"Correction, you were suffering for my silence."

"...in hindsight that explains a lot."

"Limited amounts of only six million bags," he said.

Click to shrink...

Giovanni: "I don't understand why they would make all these concessions to Fiore!"

"Coffee."

"What?"

"They have great coffee. Here, try some."

"..."

"..."

"You know, maybe this whole 'Team Rocket' thing is going too far..."

 

[tri2]

brock about to teach how to raid a school is not what prof oak meant for a guest appearance

edit: Oak: If you didn't want to give a lecture you could have just said so Brock.

 

[BlackoutSampler]

brock about to teach how to raid a school is not what prof oak meant for a guest appearance

Click to shrink...

I'dunno I'm sure Oak has wanted to burn down a few institutions in his time. Malpractice is leagues more infuriating than Ignorance, and schools are not known to be the fastest institutions to adapt with the times.

Also, Oak still has his standing invitation to guest star in shenanigans every now and then.

 

[Zentoraus]

I wonder why it has never occured to the researchers and especially to Prof. Oak, that special moves can cause evolution.

 

[famfrit]

brock about to teach how to raid a school is not what prof oak meant for a guest appearance

edit: Oak: If you didn't want to give a lecture you could have just said so Brock.

Click to shrink...

Eh it's a bit hard to sympathise with or care about Oak when he's forcing Brock to do the lectures because Brock didn't tell him info that Brock thought he already knew especially when it comes to this stuff such as the pokemon evolutions Brock has discovered and his theories about them. Oak doesn't actually have any right to know them and Brock has been absurdly generous with all that he's freely shared so Oak doesn't really have any right to complain in the first place.

I wonder why it has never occured to the researchers and especially to Prof. Oak, that special moves can cause evolution.

Click to shrink...

Probably because prior to the new Brock inspired discoveries the only ones would be Sudowoodo and Mr Mime so there's decent odds they never knew how they evolved.

 

[veekie]

So thats how school breaks work

 

[Thunder999]

I wonder why it has never occured to the researchers and especially to Prof. Oak, that special moves can cause evolution.

Click to shrink...

Because it's a rare method and Ancient Power is an otherwise rather niche move, and the Girafarig and Stantler ones use moves that aren't even normally known.

 

[veekie]

Also its hard to tell the difference betweeb a move driven evolution and a level driven one. Especially when its in their native learnset or egg move

 

[Zentoraus]

Because it's a rare method and Ancient Power is an otherwise rather niche move, and the Girafarig and Stantler ones use moves that aren't even normally known.

Click to shrink...

Lore wise, what even is ancient power. Like I understand it in the pokedex

 

[Zero Moment]

Lore wise, what even is ancient power. Like I understand it in the pokedex

Click to shrink...

Pokemon moves don't tend to have much in the way of 'lore'. The flavor in the move description says "The user attacks with a prehistoric power." That's not a whole lot to go off of, but you can glean a bit more from seeing what pokemon had Ancient Power in their movesets when it was introduced. Specifically, it's the five fossil pokemon, Corsola, and two each of legendary and mythical pokemon. I'll infer that this means that whatever shade of Rock energy it uses faded out from common use over the course of history. With the return of the fossil pokemon that naturally knew the move, it was able to spread among the populations, as well as act as a catalyst for long-lost evolutions in certain species.

 

[readerdreamer]

Honestly if you want to make up lore about it, you can say that it's the equivalent of "using the power of one's ancestors" as opposed to your own Aura, and the rare stat boost effect is when your ancestors decide to empower you.

As for why it induces evolution in certain Pokemon, it's because the move can also awake latent genes as a result of channeling that kind of energy, leading to a "devolution" to a somewhat more primal state.

 

[Preventer Squall]

edit: Oak: If you didn't want to give a lecture you could have just said so Brock.

Click to shrink...

Brock: "Oh I'm going there to give a lecture, but it's going to be about why they should change jobs."

 

[Viva01]

The discovery of the Team Rocket Academy was a big win for the League.

I hadn't quite understood the depth of this win until Sabrina spoke up.

"The Rocket Academy is a facility that is a lynchpin in the Team Rocket organisation," she said indicating the map with the site clearly marked out. "It is a site that allows them to train both pokemon and people to meet their needs. From this one site, much of Team Rocket's soft and hard power is developed."

I nodded and stepped up to inspect the map.

Lance frowned at the location and shook his head. "How have we missed this site for so long? Surely someone would have learned of it in the past?"

Sabrina shook her head. "This site holds to war standards of information security. All electronic devices will be disabled prior to any person stepping foot in the Academy, with multiple checkpoints. The building itself is hidden within a valley that obscures it. There are also multiple patrols roaming around the mountains that act as observers. With the distance of the facility, it is not going to be picked up through traditional or modern methods. It is only with our capture of Executive Petrel that we learned the location."

Lance nodded his head. "What about how they supply the facility?"

Sabrina raised a hand and moved a marker from Cerulean north. "They take a truck north and have it ambushed outside the city once it has passed a number of checkpoints." She then Teleported the marker a significant distance to the northwest. "They use a large team of Hypno to Teleport the truck that brings in supplies and new recruits. This makes it impossible to track without another Psychic which is closely watched for. Even the Ghost specialists that Agatha has used in the past have not been able to infiltrate."

Agatha sniffed. "They make sure no pokemon that are previously owned are allowed into the Academy. Any flying type seen above the Academy is culled lest they are passing a message to another."

I whistled, impressed at the security they were putting into this. "All this for a place to teach their Grunts to be evil?" I said jokingly.

No one laughed. Sabrina shook her head. "The Academy site works in many different roles for Team Rocket beyond a training facility. It works as an indoctrination facility, with Hypno being engaged during lessons to loosen their reluctance for certain morals, or not shying away from theft."

She then gestured at the marker again and the display began to change as she telekinetically began to draw a rudimentary map. "Team Rocket also uses this as a site to hold all the pokemon they steal from trainers. It is here that pokemon are brainwashed or have their memories repressed with specialised equipment to make them follow trainers not their own. It is host to thousands of pokemon that act as a reserve for Team Rocket."

"Thousands?" One of the G-men agents asked. "How are they keeping the site hidden? This doesn't make sense!" He waved his hand about. "The requirements for food alone!"

I felt a memory of a talk I'd had with Oak click into place. "They're using the electronic transfer system that is still being debated, aren't they? All those pokemon are being dropped into the cyberspace of a server where they are held in true suspended animation."

"Shit!" Lance swore. "They have an army of pokemon at their beck and call… Worse! If we're not careful, a lot of pokemon will be hostages."

"Janine and I can—" Koga began to say only for Sabrina to speak over him.

"This is not as simple as disconnecting the power, in fact, that should be avoided at all costs. We will not be able to conduct a typical raid with the destruction of power to sow confusion or disable the cameras."

I clicked my tongue. "Urgh, maximum difficulty then?" I asked.

Sabrina nodded her head. "I will not be able to Teleport within as they also have significant Dark emitters in place… which are, again, tied to the electrical grid."

This caused a round of murmurs to break out and Lance swept his hand out. "We will hold off on any comments until we have the entire picture. Sabrina, continue your report of the situation," Lance said, inclining his head to her.

Sabrina, now finished drawing her rudimentary map, nodded. "At any time there are roughly one hundred Rocket trainees on site, along with at least twenty trainers."

I heard someone muttering something about that being a better ratio of students to teachers than most schools offered, but that died off as Lance levelled a glare in their direction.

"There are also usually two Executive level Team Rocket members on staff that serve as the Principal and Vice-principal. The only reason we have as much information as we do through capturing Executive Petrel is that he once served as the vice-principal under Executive Ariana."

"Hmmm, fortuitous," said Lance with a pleased expression.

Koga snorted. "It is a potential trap is what it is!" He glared at everyone who had nodded along with Lance. "Team Rocket did not become the threat it is today thanks to sloppiness! We are patting ourselves on the back for their failure to steal the Masterball and the designs from Silph Co. but we must not become complacent!"

I grimaced. Koga was right, this could potentially be a trap. I glanced around. "How did the League capture Petrel?"

One of the League officials shifted. "He was at a site that we had learned about through an informant. The Silph Co. raid has caused some members of Team Rocket to reach out for amnesty. Also, it seems their training and Hypno therapy to lose their morals isn't completely effective, as some did object to the raid on Saffron City. That is where we got the information for the raid which we acted on to capture Petrel."

That made me relax only for Koga to grunt. "It could be a double bluff," he said, but that seemed less likely to me.

It seemed more like Lance was striking while the iron was hot and had been able to capitalise on the moment.

Lance leaned forward. "We will need to act on this quickly. We will need to be decisive in our raid. The pokemon database and the generators that supply those structures will be vital. To cover for any potential damage to the generators, we need pokemon that can supply the electrical demands. The League has some specialised Electabuzz that can assist in this regard and will be attached to whoever is assigned to securing the servers that the pokemon are on."

I raised a hand. "We also need to deny access to the withdrawal features of the servers. Having them stuck in there isn't as much an issue as having them come flooding out. Even disoriented pokemon will create chaos that we can't allow."

Lance nodded. "Correct." He then leaned forward. "That is why Agatha will be the first person to go in to secure the critical points. She can slip through any gaps in the dark emission. I very much doubt they have all the angles covered. Not for a site this big. If not, there will be other methdos she can use," he said elusively.

Lance then waved a hand towards Koga. "Koga will be working to take over the access site to deny any and all Team Rocket members from withdrawing any pokemon!"

He then slashed his hand. "We will form two main groups for this raid. I shall lead one, and Brock, I want you to be the centre of the other."

I nodded, pleased that he was trusting me to hold one point.

"Lorelei will be holding down the fort here along with Gym Leader Clair. Sabrina and Bruno will be joining us to attack from the side once we have drawn enough of Team Rocket away from their base."

Sabrina inclined her head while Bruno merely grunted.

Lance chopped his hand. "This will be decisive and swift! Capture all that we can, as we have the facilities set up to deal with them."

Koga and Agatha shared a look. "When did this occur?" Agatha asked.

"It is something that I was able to create in the last month. The League, while slow, has not been idle." Lance said. He then nodded to the side. "Lorelei has been working on creating specialised camps to hold any prisoners."

Lorelei puffed her chest out, and I had to shoot her a look of surprise. I hadn't heard anything about that being created, and interestingly enough, the same seemed true of Agatha and Koga.

Agatha had a sour look on her face before it morphed into one of resignation.

"I suppose I can't be told these things with my being on the way out now, can I?" Agatha asked.

"You've got other duties," Lance pointed out, only to shake his head. "If anything, it is more an oversight on my part. I have not handed out tasks in the past to my Elite Four and instead ran everything. That will change going forward, I can't give you too many tasks but I will give you some to handle… If my guess is right, your replacement will have similar capabilities as yourself, so they will be able to fill the same roles."

"Hmpf!" Agatha said as though the very thought of her being replaced offended her.

I suspected she was merely putting on a show, though. If what Lance had said was correct, he was paying a lot of attention to Karen, which would suit the Guardians' objective of inserting her as another Elite Four member.

I gave the map another look, committing what we had to memory before the upcoming raid.

Agatha walked up to me only to pause. "Brock, we're going to use this moment to—"

"Agatha!" called Lance disrupting whatever she'd been about to say to me. He waved a hand and she scowled at him.

"I am not a Growlithe young man!" she said as she wandered up to him. Lance bowed his head and said something to her before indicating Koga. The trio all walked out and I went back to looking over the map before joining the group I'd been assigned.

Hopefully, I would have some good League agents to work with.

---

Agent Looker checked his watch before looking at me. "Brock, it is time," he said.

I stood and waved a hand. Looker was ostensibly in charge of the group, but I could feel a lot of eyes on me as I moved to the front. As Lance had said, he and I were to act as the 'big threats' of the attacking force.

Koga had already gone ahead of us. He had a list of sites that he was going to disable quietly, the chief of which would be a few dark emitters to allow Sabrina to enter. If she was able to get freedom of movement, we would have a lot more options. At least that's what we hoped would occur. It would depend on what Koga found in their system.

I doubted things would go that smoothly.

The academy itself was a large facility, and restricting Teleport would already be challenging despite the specialist Houndour and Growlithe that we had in our teams with Mean Look.

It felt a little different to be storming a base rather than sneaking in.

Perhaps it was the difference of working with a big organisaiton versus a small unit?

I had to admit that so far I was biased towards small unit tactics, but that was only because I'd succeeded with all of them, whereas moving as a large group of people felt so slow.

I paused and glanced around for anyone wearing red shirts or uniforms that made me itch. I ended up pointing at two men. "Hey, you two, I want you behind me when we move," I said.

They shared a look at each other as they moved over. "Uhmm? Alright?" said one of them.

"Was this because I was being too loud? Sorry, I am just so proud of my newborn! She's adorable!" said the other.

I nodded. "Uhuh, and if you want to keep gushing over her, get your head on a swivel and start paying attention."

That made him shut up and start looking around, suddenly much more serious.

"Huh," said the other man. "Why'd you call me out, if you mind me asking? Is it because I'm an expert pokemon nurturer and will be vital?" he said puffing up.

"Hmmm, yeah, sure," I said, mentally replacing 'expert' with 'target'. Honestly, I'd picked two people that stood out as waving death flags before the encounter.

Looker glanced over at both men and shot me an inscrutable look.

As we moved along, I noted how the part of the valley that we were moving through was starting to become pinched. I frowned at the walls of the valley, my mind itching with how this was a perfect point for—

"Attack!" yelled a Team Rocket Grunt. I didn't hesitate to send Bertha, Sanchez, and Shin to one side, while Titan, Knight, and Jormungandr appeared on the other side of our group.

Selene appeared next to me, with Zephyr and Don circling with a hoot. I held Gawain and Shrek in reserve just in case.

The other trainers—apart from Looker with a Weezing and an Arcanine appearing next to him—were much slower in reacting. The Rocket Grunts grinned down, and a wave of Koffings, Weezings, and Gravelers appeared.

"Crush Em!" "Blow em away!" shouted a pair of voices from different sides of the valley. I knew what they were going for, and if anyone else had been in this position, it might have been deadly.

The pokemon that surrounded us surged forward, just far enough to get their trainers out of the blast zone, and then they detonated.

Explosions rang out, and a landslide started to hurtle towards us, causing a few of the trainers with me to shout in fear.

I snorted and waved my hand. "Team, push it back!" I barked.

Bertha and Titan both stepped forward on their respective sides of the valley, and suddenly the avalanche reversed course and went uphill to rumble over the top of the Rocket Grunts.

"Argh! That's not how physics works!" screamed one man before he was knocked over by the Rock Slide.

I just huffed. "What in Kanto were they thinking? Trying to bury a rock specialist?"

Looker chuckled at that and directed a few men to capture the partially buried pokemon and people for processing. The Rockets looked relieved that we didn't leave them buried.

They looked less pleased as they were frisked of their pokeballs and handcuffs were put around their wrists and ankles before they were left with a group of five G-men and their pokemon.

"Hmmm, good to see Lance thought this out enough to have you with us," Looker said from my side as we marched along.

"Hmmm, I'm not too sure of that. He will have a tougher time of it if he's walking into the same—" A flash of light heralded a rumbling boom.

I sighed. "Those were Hyper Beams, weren't they?" I asked rhetorically.

Looker nodded only to chop his hand forward. "We need to double time it! If Team Rocket didn't know about us, they sure know now! Move people!"

We broke into a run at that, and soon a rumble broke out as my larger pokemon began to thunder along with us.

A small squad of Rockets met us and pokemon were thrown out only for Looker to sweep his hand and the trainers around me to release their own.

"Selene! Stay tight for our defense!" I shouted as Zephyr landed to keep a sharp eye on any threats.

A wave of pokemon charged at us, only for me to grin. "Looker! Let Bertha take them out!" I shouted. "Bertha! GO!" I shouted.

Bertha, who'd spent the whole run towards the base buffing herself up, leapt from one side of our group with her fist cocked back. Team Rocket had mere seconds to see her flying through the air, recognise the danger she posed, and scream orders before she slammed into the ground and caused an explosion of her own.

The ground in front of her was thrown into upheaval, and the pokemon that had stood were suddenly tossed and hurled about, many of them slamming into each other as much as the ground. A few others clipped low flying or hovering pokemon, causing them to join the devastation.

When the shaking stopped, a handful of pokemon remained glowering back at us, while the shaken Rocket Grunts stared back in horror.

Only a few of them had been clever enough to get their pokemon out of danger with Telekinesis, Fly, Protect, Detect, or Endure.

Where hundreds of pokemon had been storming moments ago, now perhaps thirty stood against us.

Looker was quick to capitalise on the shock Team Rocket was caught in as they stared at Bertha. "Attack!" he ordered. Growlithe, Arcanine, Machoke, Houndour, and even a Haunter surged forward to take out the remaining pokemon.

"Fall back to the base!" screamed one man, only for a man wearing a half mask to appear at his side and chop him in the throat.

"Belay that order! Fight to the last! We're going to make them pay!" he said before tossing out a large bag of pokeballs. "Take more from the bag and get back in the fight!" he ordered.

"Vice-principal Carl!" the Grunts responded, throwing themselves at the bag and ripping out handfuls of pokeballs that they quickly released the pokemon from.

I glowered even as Bertha snorted and rose from her crouched position. The battlefield was well and truly torn up now, and I wouldn't be able to get off another Fissure or One Hit K.O move like normal. I'd need to do this the hard way.

"Go Team! Take them out!" shouted the now named Executive/Vice-principal Carl.

He tossed out a team of pokemon to reveal three Houndoom, a Magcargo, a Piloswine, and a Muk. "Layer the field!" he shouted. His Muk exuded a noxious gas and was quickly supported by any other poison types Team Rocket had.

The gas began blowing towards us, and I knew I had to stop that straight away.

"Flying types! Blow that away! NOW!" I shouted. I then matched orders with actions, having Don and Zephyr both move forward and start flapping their wings to unleash a gale force wind that blew away the gas.

The cloud of gas served to hide the increased light coming over Team Rocket as the Sunny Day's Carl had called for were revealed.

On our side the fire types stood tall, absorbing the empowering effects. I noted a cluster of grass types lurking, even as my pokemon stepped forward.

"Step back and let fire fight fire!" I shouted to my team, not willing to let them step into the trap that was being set up.

I could see Carl wasn't pleased by this turn of events. I held in a smirk as Looker directed his team's Arcanine and Houndour forward.

"Inferno!" Both sides roared.

From the maws of fire-types, a conflagration erupted.

Around me, many trainers and policemen stepped back, shocked by the sudden heat that erupted from the pokemon. I barely batted an eye.

This was nothing compared to the fires that could suddenly appear if you were facing a Moltres.

That didn't mean I or my pokemon were idle however. They glanced in my direction as I sent out a connection to them through my aura. I wouldn't be able to shout an order that would reach them due to their positions and the flames, but I could project an idea.

My pokemon nodded, then as one, dove into the fractured ground, vanishing from view. This left only only a handful of pokemon on either flank.

A few seconds later, the flames died away to reveal Solar Beams arcing towards where my pokemon had been. Instead of slamming into unsuspecting rock types, they instead sailed on without hitting anything or anyone.

Behind me, the man who had just had a child exhaled in relief. I suspect he'd been originally ordered to stand at one of those points.

Carl swore when he saw the moves had missed, and it took him seconds of sweeping his gaze over our battle line to not see my pokemon anywhere.

He was quick to realise what that meant. "They're—"

That didn't mean he was quick enough.

From beneath the feet of each Houndoom, Magcargo, Piloswine, or other powerful pokemon, one of my pokemon emerged and smashed into Team Rocket's pokemon.

Titan, Knight, Hypnotoad, Shrek, and Jormungandr erupted straight after into powerful Dark Pulses, or Darkest Lariats that further sowed chaos into our foes line.

Better yet, I knew that, thanks to their efforts, Teleport wouldn't be an option for them. Carl snarled something, and his pokemon struggled back onto their feet.

I crossed my arms and slashed them outwards. "GO!" I bellowed, not committing to a serious fight but instead making my pokemon cause as much damage as they could.

Titan threw himself into a Giga Impact that saw him hurtling through and stomping pokemon out of his way as he cut a line straight through the battlefield.

Don, Tide, and Jormungandr unleashed their own Hyper Beams and Team Rocket was once more blown away with a sudden eruption of power that they couldn't match.

"Advance!" Looker shouted, and more and more police pokemon leapt into the fray, knocking out Team Rocket pokemon and Grunts. Carl was forced to retreat further and further.

When a certain glint entered his gaze, I turned my head. "Selene, go," I said casually to my Lunatone, who'd been hovering next to me.

Selene vanished in a flash of light, only to appear behind the lines of Team Rocket.

Carl whirled about in surprise at the flash behind him, only to stagger as Selene glowed and the few remaining Rocket Members that were fighting were lifted off their feet. Carl did something, and a flash of dark energy erupted from him, causing him to fall to the ground.

He fell awkwardly but didn't seem bothered. Instead, he raised a radio to his lips.

"Take Down!" Looker bellowed, and suddenly a trio of Arcanine were sprinting at Carl.

One slid low, knocking him off his feet, while another swept past him, knocking the radio out of his hands. The last shoulder charged Carl and bore him to the ground, where it lay on him panting.

"Lock him down with Crunch!" Looker said and for a moment I was worried, but then the Arcnine merely wrapped a dark empowered set of teeth around Carl's shoulder. They weren't biting him, but they could.

It would also stop any further movement from the man.

Seeing this, the few remaining holdouts in the Team Rocket camp threw up their hands. "We surrender!" they shouted.

Looker cast his gaze over the battlefield. "Return your pokemon and lay them on the ground! Then lay on the ground with your hands out!"

Around the area, this instruction was repeated with police officers advancing; in one hand, a pokeball was raised while the other held handcuffs. Machoke and other pokemon moved in. I was interested to see Haunter zipping past a number of Rocket Grunts that looking around slyly.

The pokeballs they put in front of themselves were quickly revealed to be Voltorb in disguise and these Grunts received special attention from the Machoke.

"Good pokemon to have, that Haunter," I said, nodding as it swept past a few more Team Rockets, clearing them of any traps without endangering other pokemon or Police officers.

Looker merely nodded, but the Haunter itself must have heard me as it glanced in my direction only to stiffen. I blinked and eyed it. It looked familiar.

"Wait! I recognise you!" I said, narrowing my eyes.

The Haunter started backpedaling.

"You're Jenny's Haunter!" I said as I remembered where I'd seen this pokemon.

I glanced around. I'd seen a lot of other Jennys standing around but I hadn't seen Pewter's Officer Jenny. It was probably a case of not seeing the tree due to the forest or something, but now she stood out as she stepped forward with a pleased expression.

"Reporting in!" she said, offering me a salute.

I gave her a nod. "Hey you! Why didn't you say anything?" I asked.

She shrugged. "It's… not so easy to approach you when you're just casually hanging out with Lance, Agatha, Koga, Bruno, and the other bigwigs, you know?"

I tilted my head. "They're just people, though?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, but that's because you're just as crazy as them!" she said.

She gestured to herself. "If I just walked up, people would think I was brown nosing!"

I shrugged. "Eh, just tell them we're friends."

Jenny blinked and stared at me, having obviously not considered that herself.

She coughed and shook her head at me. "Well, maybe! But you didn't say anything to me either!" I considered pointing out that I hadn't picked her out, given how she'd been standing with her cousins and aunties.

I frowned and looked around as an idle thought came to me. "Yeah… I think I was a bit caught up in how many people there were." I started counting. In our group alone, there were eleven Jennys that I could see. I looked back and noticed that my counting had not gone unseen.

Jenny gave me a dubious look. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing; I'm just realising that this is the most police I've seen together. I hadn't really stopped to consider it before but with the two big groups plus those that will be helping out with processing… this is a pretty big operation, isn't it?" I said.

"One of the biggest!" Jenny said happily.

Next to me, Looker snorted. Jenny and I glanced at him, and he smirked. "Sorry, it's just that this is bigger than you realise."

We both gave him expectant looks at that, but he waved a hand. "Sorry, I can't say anything right now, but in a few hours we should be free to discuss it."

He inclined his head toward the awaiting facility that was built into the valley wall. "For now, we need to secure the base. Officer Jenny, have Haunter scout ahead; if possible, link up with Agatha and then clear us a route to the servers and dark emitters!"

"Sir!" Jenny said, saluting. Haunter, who was still eyeing me, copied her before zipping away to complete its task.

Looker glanced around, pleased at what he was seeing, only to pause. "Where'd Vice-principal Carl go?!" he said.

I stiffened in surprise as my gaze swept around the area.

I'd thought him locked down, but it seemed that he had more tricks up his sleeve.

Around us, cuffed Rocket Grunts also perked up and looked around. A few glowered, instead of looking pleased at their Executive's escape.

I sidled over and caught a pair of Rockets whispering to each other. "Damn it! That's just like Carl! I bet him and Principal Sham have disguised themselves and run off like usual! This is just another day of training for them!"

I frowned. "They're skilled at disguise?" I said.

The pair of Rocket's twitched in fear, only to glance up, noticing how close I'd gotten. They swallowed and shared a look with each other.

"Uhm shit, what are we supposed to do now?" said one.

"I don't know! I still haven't completed the course on what to do when captured!" said the other.

I chuckled and knelt down. "Oh that's easy; this is where you throw your boss under the stampeding Tauros," I said. "Honestly, its standard practise in police actions like this. We let go of little fish like yourselves all the time for the chance to snag a big fish."

I smiled winningly and winked. "Standard business for cases like this," I said.

The Rocket trainees seemed to consider this before nodding. "Principal Sham and Carl are both masters of disguise. They train us in how to slip into places without raising alarms, or in some cases, get out without raising suspicion. They're both masters, and they run drills like this and demonstrate how to get out without anyone noticing."

"Interesting," said a voice from behind me. I twitched and glanced behind me. I hadn't heard Looker approach, but his gaze had turned from the pair of trainees to those around him.

He rubbed his chin for a moment before nodding to himself. "Looker?" I called, only for him to wave a hand.

"I'm fine, Brock. I'm just going to have to accept that Vice Principal Carl got the best of me with how slippery he was," he said over his shoulder.

I sighed and stood. "Uhmmm, about that offer?" said the trainee as I began to move away.

I glanced back and nodded. "Oh right, I'll put in a good word for you," I said, deciding to give them something, despite how unhelpful their information had been. I got their names and had them given a spot to the side of their fellow trainees. They received a lot of glares, which had them leaning away from their companions.

I looked around and found Looker walking through the other cuffed Rockets, sharing some words with trainers and police officers that were corralling the Rockets into orderly groups that could be supervised as Officer Jenny awaited word from her Haunter.

I started looking around the valley itself. There didn't seem to be anywhere that Carl could have gotten away from running or flight. Which left…

"Bertha, Titan, I need you to Dig and check that someone hasn't burrowed down to escape," I said.

Looker paused, hearing this order, and shot me a nod of appreciation.

Both pokemon threw themselves into the ground, and everyone held their breath.

A few moments later, Titan and Bertha both emerged, only to shake their heads. I clicked my tongue. "Thanks," I said while scratching my head. How had Carl gotten past us?

"That was a good idea Gym Leader Brock. Vice Principal Carl could have escaped that way," Looker said, walking up and checking a Rocket's cuffs before nodding at the man overseeing the collection of pokeballs.

"Yeah, but he didn't, so we're left scratching our heads." I sighed and shook my head. "I just can't see how he escaped."

Looker chuckled, and I shot him a confused look. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, just that you're so young. You have a good mind for this, but you have to understand. Carl hasn't gotten away yet," he said pointedly.

Before I could question him on this, Looker lashed out with his hand and chopped the police officer that had been collecting the downed Rocket's pokeballs in the throat.

The man gasped in shock, making to throw out a pokeball to protect himself, only for Looker to kick the other man's feet out from underneath him.

As he fell Looker grabbed him by the arm and twisted it so that he fell into the ground and was held with his arm held behind his back. Looker knelt on him.

People stirred in shock, and one man even pointed his pokemon toward Looker, only for a gasp to rip through everyone as the man on the ground turned his head to shoot Looker a hateful glare.

Everyone stared at Vice-Principal Carl as he glared over his shoulder at Looker.

"How?" snarled Carl. "How did you know to keep looking for me?"

Looker snorted. "Please! It was elementary to realise that if you couldn't escape, you had to still be amongst us!"

Around me, a few policemen slapped their foreheads as they grasped the truth of what Looker was saying.

"My disguise though!? It was perfect!" said Carl.

"To some, perhaps," Looker said, only to signal for another to move in and cuff Carl. "Keep a very close eye on him. Don't give him a moment alone; that means even toilet breaks. Constant supervision," he said.

A pair of Machoke lifted Carl to march him off with a pair of police officers of his own. "Wait! No! You have to tell me what was wrong with my disguise!" said Carl plaintively.

Looker laughed. "I really don't!" he said. I chuckled at Carl's shocked expression and then moved to join the others as Haunter returned with a Gengar.

A thumbs up from both pokemon saw Looker signalling for the next part of the academy raid to begin.

Before that, I stepped up to Looker. "Mind sating my curiosity?" I asked quietly.

Looker smirked. "You could say I'm something of a disguise artist myself, and I can recognise another working their craft," he said, and I felt a memory stir about another Looker in the anime.

He'd been almost equal to some of Jessie and James' disguises, hadn't he?

Huh, I thought to myself as I watched him direct how the next phase of the raid would proceed.

He was probably understating his skills, if anything.

I released Gawain and called Shin, Hypnotoad, and Shrek to move with us as we moved into the building.

---

A.N. Thanks goes to my Patreons for their support

Thanks also go to Obiwankentucky for betaing this chapter!

 

[LordCirce]

Looker laughed. "I really don't!" he said. I chuckled at Carl's shocked expression and then moved to join the others as Haunter returned with a Gengar.

Click to shrink...

Ha! Looker knows what's up. To misquote Napoleon, "Never instruct your enemy on how he is making a mistake."

 

[TimEd]

Jesse and James working under Looker would make them terrifyingly capable.