On one hand I can see the advantage in not giving out helpful advice, on the other hand, all that stuff with carefully picking the exact location for the battle feels like something for people who can't win by simply being better than their opponent.
Hard Enough - Pokemon SI
- Thread starter Viva01
- Start date
- Users' Choice!
-
- Tags
- pokemon self insert
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
Brock: Skill Issue.
Legit he doesn't actually have to care, he's in the Ace circuit to stay sharp rather than rely on it to makw his career.
Skilled trainers coming back with harder challenges is good
- Location
- Scotland
It's also pretty bloody obvious once you actually think about it a little. Seriously, I'm pretty sure most of the fairly experienced and competent trainers would cotton on pretty quickly to what she was doing. This is actually pretty bad for her as it gives away a lot of her strategy beforehand. What she really needs to be doing is to learn how to do the soil check discreetly so as to be much more sneaky about it.
As for Brock giving her the advice, well, it's Brock, he can't help himself. He's a Gym Leader first and foremost after all.
Interlude - The Dragon Master
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
Lance walked along the hallway of Honour, his eyes tracking across the various names and images that had been etched into the black granite.
At the start of the hallway, the Blackthorn's founder had pride of place with other notable members of the clan having earned their own section along the hall. As Lance walked he travelled forward in time, from hundreds of years ago, featuring wilder times to more modern achieving members of the clan.
When he reached the latest etched plaque he found himself once more reading the information of Claudia, the woman who defied Samuel Oak until she was cast down. She went on to join and lead the Rangers of Johto to keep much of the wilds safer. Next to her a blank space had been prepared.
Many whispered that this would be where his name went.
The first Indigo Champion of the Blackthorn Clan, some said. His name being etched here was all but guaranteed.
He would not have anything written until he retired from society and was in his final years of life. Elder Claudia barely left her home these days. Clair often visited the older woman, sharing what had been occurring about the world and then relaying the woman's blunt responses back to those interested.
Lance always found it amusing that he was still considered a 'wyrmling' according to her. It was a terribly kind term for family while being annoyingly demeaning.
She was the only one who used it, so Lance tolerated it.
Lance put his hand against the blank black granite. It was so highly polished it showed his reflection staring back. Would his Champion status be all that was written about him? Sometimes it was possible to lose the right to a plaque, through poor management or dishonourable conduct. Some of which stood out in their conspicuous absence with 'blank matte' sections of the hallways stood testimony to that.
Instead of being lauded and taught with specific visits from the school, people were quietly directed to books in the library where their failings could be quietly reflected upon.
"Still hoping to grow old quickly?" said a voice from behind him.
Lance didn't turn, instead merely waiting as the other man stepped up behind him. He bore a resemblance to Lance, but that was expected. Today his spikey hair was dyed blonde to highlight his sharp features. These day's the man had a near permanent scowl as he surveyed the world.
"Bruce," said Lance casually.
Bruce jutted his chin but Lance continued to hold his silence well aware of how his lack of reaction vexed Bruce.
"Well?" said the man.
Lance hummed. "Merely wondering how I can add to it. I rather feel I have done some good that should be mentioned, but the trick is to continue to strive instead of settling." Lance replied, subtly jabbing at Bruce's own position.
Years ago there had been a quiet battle between the two of them. There could be nothing but a fight. Both of them had announced that they desired to become Champion to the Blackthorn clan. Both of them had announced their methods. Lance had decided to emulate and pay tribute to Claudia by working with the Rangers.
Bruce had pushed to become the highest-ranked Ace trainer before making the leap to Elite and then Champion.
They'd had years to develop their teams and their strategies. Lance through his Ranger work, Bruce through the Ace battles.
Then, before either of them could announce their intentions to the world at large, the Elders had allowed them to fight each other.
Lance had won handily, and thus gained the backing of the full support of the Clan for his bid. It was now seen as a wise move, but at the time it had felt… well it had divided the Clan and Lance had retreated into Ranger work from all of his Clan bar Clair, who'd remained his supporter throughout it all.
And now Bruce was stuck, unable to claim the Blackthorn Gym with Clair having taken that over, and unable to challenge Lance without earning censor from the Clan. In his own mind he must think himself trapped, forever required to hold the first rank from the rest of the Indigo Ace trainers.
In truth, Lance begrudged him his freedom. If Bruce wanted he could depart for other regions while Lance would have to rely on others if new pokemon appeared.
Bruce growled. "I've been wondering for a while now if you haven't slumped with your loss to Brock cousin!"
Lance chuckled. "Pride came before the fall, thankful it cost me nothing truly of substance." Lance turned and locked eyes with Bruce, his aura flaring out to dominate the lesser dragon that dared present itself. "You will find I have only grown stronger of late."
"Ah, there you two are!" called a familiar voice. Lance broke his staring contest with Bruce, not caring that Bruce straightened smugly as if he'd won a prize for enduring until he could be saved by Clair.
"Clair, Bruce is worried that Brock will be nipping at his heels soon," Lance said casually.
Bruce spluttered. "I said no such thing!"
Clair rolled her eyes as she drew closer. "Must you two pull the other's pigtails?"
Both Lance and Bruce huffed and muttered under their breaths. "We haven't had hair long enough for pigtails for years! Stop bringing that up!"
Clair smiled, her teeth flashing in the dark cavern. "So, you're worried about Brock Bruce?"
Bruce huffed. "I never said that!"
Lance raised an eyebrow. "So you won't be asking for evolution restrictions to be lifted for some of your pokemon? To gain another Dragonite perhaps? Or a Kingdra?"
Bruce clenched his fists and inhaled before slowly exhaling. "Stop putting words into my mouth."
Clair and Lance both waited and Bruce eventually twitched in annoyance. "Alright yes! I did want to petition the Elders for my pokemon roster's expansion! Brock is advancing up the ranks and he will no doubt be after me, I need access to stronger, more specialised pokemon to counter him!"
Lance grunted. "I will support this Cousin."
Bruce narrowed his gaze. "Are you sure you want that? I might raise another challenge when my team is adjusted. I will be looking for Kingdra, Trapinch and a Bagon."
Lance chuckled. "You think I am worried about being challenged? No, if anything I welcome it cousin. By all means challenge me. If you desire I will even set aside time for us to trade pointers." Lance turned his back to Bruce inspecting the hallway of honour once more. "You will be given the Trapinch and the Kingdra, the Bagon will take too long, I'd turn your attentions elsewhere."
Bruce continued to frown, unsure of himself but obviously annoyed by the dismissal from his cousin. Eventually, he bowed shallowly. "My thanks… cousin," he said before stalking further in.
Clair watched him go with a sigh. "You two love to needle each other."
"Bruce started it," said Lance plainly, ignoring Clair's huff of amusement. He turned back to her. "Is something the matter?"
Clair chewed her lip. "Your recent seizure of the Viridian Gym. Were the training manuals for Ground types there? I too would like to ask for a Trapinch to join my team but I also want to look into the optimal conditions and training methods for a ground-dragon typed pokemon."
Lance sighed. "I sometimes wish you were the one in the top Ace ranking you know?"
"Please, I only know about it because I've worked so long as Gym Leader." Lance gestured and Clair joined him at his side as they moved towards the meeting hall where the Elders had assembled. "Will the League cause any issues with you having that information?" Clair asked.
Lance shook his head. "The League has a copy and much of the information and hidden insights are also being spread around to the universities and professors. There is not going to be an outcry regarding this as so many people will benefit."
"How positively libertarian of you," Claire said drolly.
"It makes Indigo stronger for those that know where to look," Lance commented.
"Like Brock," Clair pointed out giving Lance a moment to pause. "You know he keeps up to date on a lot of the recent research. Heck, he's caused some of the discussions at the university level! I hear there are people already fighting over getting seats when he eventually does a presentation at Celadon!"
"Brock is not my enemy," Lance said. "I've come to realise that."
"It doesn't look that way to a lot of people," replied Clair.
Lance raised an eyebrow. "Are you one of those people?"
"No." Clair continued to walk.
When they reached the walkway spanning over the dragon grotto where the Clan's Dratini liked to frolic she sighed. "I… somewhat understand that you have a good read of Brock. Others though, they see him rising up the ranks of the Ace leaderboard and they worry. He's beaten you once—" Clair was quick to raise her hands to show she wasn't voicing her own thoughts, merely paraphrasing others. "—and there is always going to be temptation for him to do it again. It doesn't help that he will be well-positioned to beat Lorelei. You'd be reliant on Bruno."
Lance continued to walk for a moment in reflective silence, pausing only to acknowledge the Gyarados and Dragonairs about the cave. A few were twisted around statues of their own forms or lying in the few spots of artificial heat lamps that were set up specifically for the pokemon's enjoyment. You wouldn't find a Dragonite here, not unless the meeting that was taking place was of the utmost secrecy.
Today's meeting did not require such measures. It was not for the public, that went without saying, but no extra measures would be needed. Lance wondered where his starter was right now. Perhaps he was flying with a trio of his friends? Or lounging near the Lake for Rage? He'd found some amusing pictures on the poknet of the family that lived near the lake catching sight of his roster of dragonites.
Soon enough his Salamance would no doubt join the Dragonite on their adventures.
Eventually, Lance spoke up, "Uncle has so little faith sometimes that it hurts," he said referencing Clair's father and the likely instigator of this conversation.
Clair sighed and nodded.
Lance hummed. "I am rather repeating myself. Brock's goal is not to become Champion, neither is Sabrina's for that matter. I'd welcome them both as members of my Elite Four but both have their reasons to not desire it."
"Sabrina…" Clair said. "She's someone the Elders are clucking about more."
"They would, as they had previously thought her merely strong, but not at an Elite level. Suddenly the decision to push Agatha out of the Elite Four is looking very short-sighted. I will have to advocate for Karen with her Dark type specialty."
Clair gained a pinched expression. "She… hasn't made herself very popular with her demolition of most of the other Gyms in Johto."
"Your own match was rather spirited if I recall," Lance said teasingly.
"I would have had her if her Gengar hadn't faked me out so well!" snapped Clair.
Lance merely chuckled only to stop before the sliding paper door to the meeting hall. He inhaled and drew himself up. Next to him Clair stepped back slightly and adjusted his cape. He shot her a smile and a nod before sliding the door open and marching in to claim his customary position on one side of the hall at the front, facing the Elders of the clan as the lead representative of the next generation.
Bruce was to his left as Clair claimed her seat to his right. Lance raised his gaze towards the Head Elder who sat across from him.
One of the matrons cackled. "Oh, it looks like the young one's blood are up!"
Bruce, Lance and Clair all scoffed and threw their heads in annoyance, a trained response that caused smiles to break out from the Elders.
The head elder merely hummed his approval, his eyes running over all before him. "This meeting was called to order with regard to the clan's path forward in light of the recent revelation of Team Rocket."
That had everyone sitting up straight and being serious. Lance sighed. It didn't matter these days if he was acting in his capacity as Leader of the next generation of Blackthorns, or as the Champion. It seemed his days were destined to be locked in meetings.
Still, that didn't mean he wasn't advancing his objectives.
The Indigo-wide police force had gained a huge, and importantly, an early victory for them had done much to gain the G-men traction and acceptance. The public and the people in power knew his idea worked.
He had the momentum now and he planned to initiate some more changes.
It was therefore important that he reflect on the successes and blemishes of his clan. He wanted to be a name locked in stone when he finally laid down his burden. His deeds would be an inspiration, not a cautionary tale.
"Let us begin—" he said bringing everyone's attention to himself. He had much to do and the drive to do it.
When the general summation of events was laid out Lance moved on to the first issue. "Foire is agreeing to allow the G-men access by setting them up as part of their ranger force. The island nations are also starting to agree making this a huge win for Indigo. I expect Steven will hold out until he gains more advantages for himself though."
This earned a round of derisive snorts.
Lance nodded and glanced around. When no one had any comments he moved to the second topic. "The expeditionary forces are combing through the routes that Team Rocket revealed and a lot of them seem to be extremely high risk with migration paths crossing over. We can use them but it will cost many, many lives."
This earned a round of murmurs. "Which regions did they have access to beyond Sinnoh?" asked one of the elders.
Lance hummed. "Orre is mentioned but the routes are never clear on this. There is quite a lot of contradictory information which our analysts in the League believe to mean that Team Rocket has a lot of infrastructure in Orre. Finding it is another matter." Lance drummed his fingers on the ground.
"What other regions are out there that we need to be aware of, I have access to some League information but it is redacted." Lance swept his gaze to one elder in particular. "I need to know more of what is out there," he said.
"Elder Librarian," prompted the Head Elder. "What do we know of the regions that have been lost to us?"
The Elder Librarian bowed and when he rose his voice croaked forth. "There are a great many regions that have been lost to us through the power of the Legendary pokemon, such is their power." The man bowed again, and around the room others copied him.
He straightened once again and smacked his lips, preparing for a long lecture no doubt. "The main regions that you will need to be aware of are Unova, Kalos, Sinnoh, and Fellum. Unova more than any other region you must learn of, they were the great conquerors and where many historians, those that still have access to pre-war texts, believe were the great instigators."
Lance sat, and not for the first time felt glad that he was part of a greater structure. The League, as great as it was, didn't have the history of the Blackthorn clan. With both, he hoped to do great things.
"I welcome whatever you can teach me," he said.
Even if that meant he had to endure meetings and lectures from many older people.
A.N. Thanks to my patreons for your support
Thanks also go to Twmmy for betaing this chapter.
At the start of the hallway, the Blackthorn's founder had pride of place with other notable members of the clan having earned their own section along the hall. As Lance walked he travelled forward in time, from hundreds of years ago, featuring wilder times to more modern achieving members of the clan.
When he reached the latest etched plaque he found himself once more reading the information of Claudia, the woman who defied Samuel Oak until she was cast down. She went on to join and lead the Rangers of Johto to keep much of the wilds safer. Next to her a blank space had been prepared.
Many whispered that this would be where his name went.
The first Indigo Champion of the Blackthorn Clan, some said. His name being etched here was all but guaranteed.
He would not have anything written until he retired from society and was in his final years of life. Elder Claudia barely left her home these days. Clair often visited the older woman, sharing what had been occurring about the world and then relaying the woman's blunt responses back to those interested.
Lance always found it amusing that he was still considered a 'wyrmling' according to her. It was a terribly kind term for family while being annoyingly demeaning.
She was the only one who used it, so Lance tolerated it.
Lance put his hand against the blank black granite. It was so highly polished it showed his reflection staring back. Would his Champion status be all that was written about him? Sometimes it was possible to lose the right to a plaque, through poor management or dishonourable conduct. Some of which stood out in their conspicuous absence with 'blank matte' sections of the hallways stood testimony to that.
Instead of being lauded and taught with specific visits from the school, people were quietly directed to books in the library where their failings could be quietly reflected upon.
"Still hoping to grow old quickly?" said a voice from behind him.
Lance didn't turn, instead merely waiting as the other man stepped up behind him. He bore a resemblance to Lance, but that was expected. Today his spikey hair was dyed blonde to highlight his sharp features. These day's the man had a near permanent scowl as he surveyed the world.
"Bruce," said Lance casually.
Bruce jutted his chin but Lance continued to hold his silence well aware of how his lack of reaction vexed Bruce.
"Well?" said the man.
Lance hummed. "Merely wondering how I can add to it. I rather feel I have done some good that should be mentioned, but the trick is to continue to strive instead of settling." Lance replied, subtly jabbing at Bruce's own position.
Years ago there had been a quiet battle between the two of them. There could be nothing but a fight. Both of them had announced that they desired to become Champion to the Blackthorn clan. Both of them had announced their methods. Lance had decided to emulate and pay tribute to Claudia by working with the Rangers.
Bruce had pushed to become the highest-ranked Ace trainer before making the leap to Elite and then Champion.
They'd had years to develop their teams and their strategies. Lance through his Ranger work, Bruce through the Ace battles.
Then, before either of them could announce their intentions to the world at large, the Elders had allowed them to fight each other.
Lance had won handily, and thus gained the backing of the full support of the Clan for his bid. It was now seen as a wise move, but at the time it had felt… well it had divided the Clan and Lance had retreated into Ranger work from all of his Clan bar Clair, who'd remained his supporter throughout it all.
And now Bruce was stuck, unable to claim the Blackthorn Gym with Clair having taken that over, and unable to challenge Lance without earning censor from the Clan. In his own mind he must think himself trapped, forever required to hold the first rank from the rest of the Indigo Ace trainers.
In truth, Lance begrudged him his freedom. If Bruce wanted he could depart for other regions while Lance would have to rely on others if new pokemon appeared.
Bruce growled. "I've been wondering for a while now if you haven't slumped with your loss to Brock cousin!"
Lance chuckled. "Pride came before the fall, thankful it cost me nothing truly of substance." Lance turned and locked eyes with Bruce, his aura flaring out to dominate the lesser dragon that dared present itself. "You will find I have only grown stronger of late."
"Ah, there you two are!" called a familiar voice. Lance broke his staring contest with Bruce, not caring that Bruce straightened smugly as if he'd won a prize for enduring until he could be saved by Clair.
"Clair, Bruce is worried that Brock will be nipping at his heels soon," Lance said casually.
Bruce spluttered. "I said no such thing!"
Clair rolled her eyes as she drew closer. "Must you two pull the other's pigtails?"
Both Lance and Bruce huffed and muttered under their breaths. "We haven't had hair long enough for pigtails for years! Stop bringing that up!"
Clair smiled, her teeth flashing in the dark cavern. "So, you're worried about Brock Bruce?"
Bruce huffed. "I never said that!"
Lance raised an eyebrow. "So you won't be asking for evolution restrictions to be lifted for some of your pokemon? To gain another Dragonite perhaps? Or a Kingdra?"
Bruce clenched his fists and inhaled before slowly exhaling. "Stop putting words into my mouth."
Clair and Lance both waited and Bruce eventually twitched in annoyance. "Alright yes! I did want to petition the Elders for my pokemon roster's expansion! Brock is advancing up the ranks and he will no doubt be after me, I need access to stronger, more specialised pokemon to counter him!"
Lance grunted. "I will support this Cousin."
Bruce narrowed his gaze. "Are you sure you want that? I might raise another challenge when my team is adjusted. I will be looking for Kingdra, Trapinch and a Bagon."
Lance chuckled. "You think I am worried about being challenged? No, if anything I welcome it cousin. By all means challenge me. If you desire I will even set aside time for us to trade pointers." Lance turned his back to Bruce inspecting the hallway of honour once more. "You will be given the Trapinch and the Kingdra, the Bagon will take too long, I'd turn your attentions elsewhere."
Bruce continued to frown, unsure of himself but obviously annoyed by the dismissal from his cousin. Eventually, he bowed shallowly. "My thanks… cousin," he said before stalking further in.
Clair watched him go with a sigh. "You two love to needle each other."
"Bruce started it," said Lance plainly, ignoring Clair's huff of amusement. He turned back to her. "Is something the matter?"
Clair chewed her lip. "Your recent seizure of the Viridian Gym. Were the training manuals for Ground types there? I too would like to ask for a Trapinch to join my team but I also want to look into the optimal conditions and training methods for a ground-dragon typed pokemon."
Lance sighed. "I sometimes wish you were the one in the top Ace ranking you know?"
"Please, I only know about it because I've worked so long as Gym Leader." Lance gestured and Clair joined him at his side as they moved towards the meeting hall where the Elders had assembled. "Will the League cause any issues with you having that information?" Clair asked.
Lance shook his head. "The League has a copy and much of the information and hidden insights are also being spread around to the universities and professors. There is not going to be an outcry regarding this as so many people will benefit."
"How positively libertarian of you," Claire said drolly.
"It makes Indigo stronger for those that know where to look," Lance commented.
"Like Brock," Clair pointed out giving Lance a moment to pause. "You know he keeps up to date on a lot of the recent research. Heck, he's caused some of the discussions at the university level! I hear there are people already fighting over getting seats when he eventually does a presentation at Celadon!"
"Brock is not my enemy," Lance said. "I've come to realise that."
"It doesn't look that way to a lot of people," replied Clair.
Lance raised an eyebrow. "Are you one of those people?"
"No." Clair continued to walk.
When they reached the walkway spanning over the dragon grotto where the Clan's Dratini liked to frolic she sighed. "I… somewhat understand that you have a good read of Brock. Others though, they see him rising up the ranks of the Ace leaderboard and they worry. He's beaten you once—" Clair was quick to raise her hands to show she wasn't voicing her own thoughts, merely paraphrasing others. "—and there is always going to be temptation for him to do it again. It doesn't help that he will be well-positioned to beat Lorelei. You'd be reliant on Bruno."
Lance continued to walk for a moment in reflective silence, pausing only to acknowledge the Gyarados and Dragonairs about the cave. A few were twisted around statues of their own forms or lying in the few spots of artificial heat lamps that were set up specifically for the pokemon's enjoyment. You wouldn't find a Dragonite here, not unless the meeting that was taking place was of the utmost secrecy.
Today's meeting did not require such measures. It was not for the public, that went without saying, but no extra measures would be needed. Lance wondered where his starter was right now. Perhaps he was flying with a trio of his friends? Or lounging near the Lake for Rage? He'd found some amusing pictures on the poknet of the family that lived near the lake catching sight of his roster of dragonites.
Soon enough his Salamance would no doubt join the Dragonite on their adventures.
Eventually, Lance spoke up, "Uncle has so little faith sometimes that it hurts," he said referencing Clair's father and the likely instigator of this conversation.
Clair sighed and nodded.
Lance hummed. "I am rather repeating myself. Brock's goal is not to become Champion, neither is Sabrina's for that matter. I'd welcome them both as members of my Elite Four but both have their reasons to not desire it."
"Sabrina…" Clair said. "She's someone the Elders are clucking about more."
"They would, as they had previously thought her merely strong, but not at an Elite level. Suddenly the decision to push Agatha out of the Elite Four is looking very short-sighted. I will have to advocate for Karen with her Dark type specialty."
Clair gained a pinched expression. "She… hasn't made herself very popular with her demolition of most of the other Gyms in Johto."
"Your own match was rather spirited if I recall," Lance said teasingly.
"I would have had her if her Gengar hadn't faked me out so well!" snapped Clair.
Lance merely chuckled only to stop before the sliding paper door to the meeting hall. He inhaled and drew himself up. Next to him Clair stepped back slightly and adjusted his cape. He shot her a smile and a nod before sliding the door open and marching in to claim his customary position on one side of the hall at the front, facing the Elders of the clan as the lead representative of the next generation.
Bruce was to his left as Clair claimed her seat to his right. Lance raised his gaze towards the Head Elder who sat across from him.
One of the matrons cackled. "Oh, it looks like the young one's blood are up!"
Bruce, Lance and Clair all scoffed and threw their heads in annoyance, a trained response that caused smiles to break out from the Elders.
The head elder merely hummed his approval, his eyes running over all before him. "This meeting was called to order with regard to the clan's path forward in light of the recent revelation of Team Rocket."
That had everyone sitting up straight and being serious. Lance sighed. It didn't matter these days if he was acting in his capacity as Leader of the next generation of Blackthorns, or as the Champion. It seemed his days were destined to be locked in meetings.
Still, that didn't mean he wasn't advancing his objectives.
The Indigo-wide police force had gained a huge, and importantly, an early victory for them had done much to gain the G-men traction and acceptance. The public and the people in power knew his idea worked.
He had the momentum now and he planned to initiate some more changes.
It was therefore important that he reflect on the successes and blemishes of his clan. He wanted to be a name locked in stone when he finally laid down his burden. His deeds would be an inspiration, not a cautionary tale.
"Let us begin—" he said bringing everyone's attention to himself. He had much to do and the drive to do it.
When the general summation of events was laid out Lance moved on to the first issue. "Foire is agreeing to allow the G-men access by setting them up as part of their ranger force. The island nations are also starting to agree making this a huge win for Indigo. I expect Steven will hold out until he gains more advantages for himself though."
This earned a round of derisive snorts.
Lance nodded and glanced around. When no one had any comments he moved to the second topic. "The expeditionary forces are combing through the routes that Team Rocket revealed and a lot of them seem to be extremely high risk with migration paths crossing over. We can use them but it will cost many, many lives."
This earned a round of murmurs. "Which regions did they have access to beyond Sinnoh?" asked one of the elders.
Lance hummed. "Orre is mentioned but the routes are never clear on this. There is quite a lot of contradictory information which our analysts in the League believe to mean that Team Rocket has a lot of infrastructure in Orre. Finding it is another matter." Lance drummed his fingers on the ground.
"What other regions are out there that we need to be aware of, I have access to some League information but it is redacted." Lance swept his gaze to one elder in particular. "I need to know more of what is out there," he said.
"Elder Librarian," prompted the Head Elder. "What do we know of the regions that have been lost to us?"
The Elder Librarian bowed and when he rose his voice croaked forth. "There are a great many regions that have been lost to us through the power of the Legendary pokemon, such is their power." The man bowed again, and around the room others copied him.
He straightened once again and smacked his lips, preparing for a long lecture no doubt. "The main regions that you will need to be aware of are Unova, Kalos, Sinnoh, and Fellum. Unova more than any other region you must learn of, they were the great conquerors and where many historians, those that still have access to pre-war texts, believe were the great instigators."
Lance sat, and not for the first time felt glad that he was part of a greater structure. The League, as great as it was, didn't have the history of the Blackthorn clan. With both, he hoped to do great things.
"I welcome whatever you can teach me," he said.
Even if that meant he had to endure meetings and lectures from many older people.
A.N. Thanks to my patreons for your support
Thanks also go to Twmmy for betaing this chapter.
- Location
- Elsewhere
I think this is meant to be the Ferrum region. I'm surprised it's being included in this list though. Can anyone share any insight as to why Ferrum might be a region to be aware of?
Lance has really grown a lot but he's still himself as seen with how he interacts with Bruce, both in terms of him growing and being himself. Lance is right about Brock and Sabrina not wanting his Champion spot. Also it's smart of Lance to do research into other Regions.
- Pronouns
- She
I love Lance in this story, he is a very good leader. It's a hard job, and he shoulders it well
The Ferrum Region, home to one of the most unique and powerful forms of battle for One vs. One combat; Ferrum Battles. Assisted by Gaia Energy and Synergy Stones, people of the Ferrum Region can sync up with their Pokémon partner, allowing them to react to each others input without the need to voice commands out loud. It lets them communicate on an instinctual level.
Syncing with a Pokémon has a lot of similarities with Mega Evolution (where some theories say that it is a deeper form of connection), as a Synced Pokémon with a possible Mega Form is capable of Mega Evolving, despite the fact neither trainer nor Pokémon have the necessary Key/Mega Stone. This is thought to be because Syncing with a Pokémon emulates the conditions for Mega Evolution so strongly that these stones aren't needed. The longer a Pokémon is Synced, the easier it becomes to Mega Evolve them.
People of the Ferrum Region call this a Synergy Burst, which occurs when the Synergy between a human and a Pokémon reaches its peak level. Any Pokémon can use a Synergy Burst, but since not all Pokémon can Mega Evolve, it simply empowers the Pokémon, putting them into a Synergy Burst state. Synergy Burst also gives access to unique moves not dissimilar to Z-Moves in their nature.
You can say that Synergy Burst emulates both Mega Evolution and Z-Moves, and that is probably very scary to other Regions. The good thing is that Battle Trainers (that's what people who participate in Ferrum Battles are called) are only known to be able to Sync with one Pokémon at a time, and it takes a lot more out of them (think the Bond Phenomenon with Ash-Greninja). We don't even know if they have normal battles in Ferrum, they may only have their partner Pokémon and anymore would be an exception.
Hope that helped a bit.
Last edited:
frozenchicken
Does not have a custom title.
It looks weird with two uses of the word power. I recommend switching one out for a synonym.
Chapter 175 - Corvo's surprises
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
The proper review session I had after the match with Tori started about how I thought it would.
"You sucked," A.J. said.
Yolanda bristled like a Meowth that had her fur rubbed the wrong way. "Brock won!"
A.J. sniffed. "Only because he had the better pokemon, his strategy was pretty basic. He flailed around when Minimize was used instead of committing to a move that would have worked." A.J. began ticking his fingers. "Surf, Earthquake, Thunder, Discharge, Swift, Lock-On, or other accuracy boosting moves could have all worked."
I coughed. "I only have a few of those and I don't have any moves to boost accuracy." I nodded to A.J. "You're right though, I should have committed to other options. I'm happy with how I was able to use Shin to get Starmie into a position where I could beat him with Sanchez, but things would have been tougher if I didn't have him on the team."
Yolanda shifted only to scowl and cross her arms. "You would have worked something out!" she said, firm in her support.
I shot her a smile. "Thanks; I think I might have had to do some other options, such as denying accuracy. Usually, I'd use Sandstorm for that, but it would have been hard. Sanchez was my best option but I wanted to guarantee it."
A.J. nodded. "You also didn't—"
I sat back and listened to A.J. lay out my various mistakes, from not scouting enough to not having a clear enough idea of what would be the best field for me. Missy sat to the side, taking all of this in while also writing a lot of what was being said down. Today had been worth a lot for her, having been involved in most of the negotiations, review, field check, spectating the battle, and now the review.
She'd been given a dearth of information to look through and would have to take a while to digest it, especially with how I was going to go to Goldenrod City tomorrow for the next match.
I'd faced a good number of people at home but it was time to fight in another stadium.
I gestured to the whiteboard, "How much of this is going to need to be altered for tomorrow's match?" I asked.
A.J. scowled at the whiteboard while the others in the room gained thoughtful looks.
Yolanda shook her head. "We'd need to watch some of Corvo's matches to judge that." she pointed to another whiteboard that listed his pokemon roster. An impressive fifteen pokemon all registered and had made appearances at the Ace level.
"Feraligatr's going to be in his team as a starter," I said, placing said pokemon on the 'locked in' position. I then eyed the fourteen other pokemon that had made an appearance thus far.
"Meganium is another solid choice," I said before looking at the other options. Hypno, Heracross, Primeape, Ursaring, Kingler, were other pokemon I put on the maybe pile.
Rocko tapped one of the whiteboards. "I think there is a chance that he might have some other pokemon up his sleeve," he said.
When I raised an eyebrow in question and waved my hand for him to continue, Rocko coughed. "Right well, Corvoi was able to do well enough to do a Johto, Kanto, and Hoenn journey a number of years ago." Rocko waved a hand about the room. "But I don't see any Hoenn pokemon on this list."
I chewed my lip in thought. That did rather stand out.
Dennis snorted. "That isn't actually a mystery. Corvo is a known Johto patriot. He likes to only use pokemon that he caught within the region. It limits him but he takes pride in his rise up the ranks."
A.J. scoffed. "Yeah, for a guy that got a Totodile as his starter he sure had it rough.," he said snidely.
I reached over and nudged A.J. "Hey, don't be too quick to judge. We all have different hurdles to face. Don't forget that powerful pokemon like that can sometimes mean that the person has a target put on their back. Also, don't begrudge him his success. Professor Elm gifted him Totodile yes, but with his team, he's risen up to seventeenth in Indigo."
"If he beats you he only needs to win a few more matches to guarantee a spot in the mid-season tournament," Alexa pointed out.
I nodded. "Yeah, but that's not going to be happening. I plan to win this just like the others."
"Now, let's do some review for his matches and pick out any techniques or tricks that he knows. Write down what they are and if they're important we can review them as a group. Otherwise, for now let's all pair up and watch a different match each," I said, sending people off.
"Score! We get to sit around watching pokemon matches for the afternoon!" said one of my trainers.
I snorted. It was a pretty good gig to have. They were even getting paid. But that didn't mean there wouldn't be work to be done. There was information here, and it was up to us to ferret out what we could.
Tori had admitted to reviewing and creating her team with mine in mind. People were starting to get smarter about how and what they faced me with.
I had a few gaps with my roster's heavy rock and water focus, but as A.J. had detailed, I'd been coasting on the strength of my pokemon. Will… as much as I hated to admit it, had pokemon at my level.
At the moment, it was like my team were made of pokemon that had all reached level sixty… or at least fifty, compared to the forties of my opponent's Ace trainers. Super effective moves would still blow me up, but we weren't on an even playing field.
I needed to work on this to make sure I had the skills to cover for any advantages they might use, some of which I was doing.
Still, that didn't mean I wasn't going to keep pushing my pokemon. With the embers of the Moltres event, along with Will's draw against us starting to die off, I would need to work to keep my pokemon motivated.
I was hoping that the slow uptick in the toughness of my opponents would make them keep up their efforts. I knew there was more my pokemon could achieve. It was just a matter of drawing out that potential.
Much like the games, it became harder and required more to have my pokemon get stronger. This was added to the complexity of needing to take into account training, rest, burnout, or even injury. All of that and more could cause setbacks.
Still, you needed to roll the dice and chance your hand if you wanted to be getting stronger.
For that, I needed to challenge and accept battles.
Specifically, battles that would take me out of my comfort zone.
Goldenrod City was one of the largest cities in Indigo. It came in as the third biggest after Celadon and Saffron. Where both of those cities were already established there was a growing sense that Goldenrod was still growing and doing it fast.
In truth, this was a lie. Goldenrod should have been the biggest city within Indigo bar none. It had a longer history, greater cultural significance, and also population.
It had all of these before the war.
The war had seen Goldenrod City ravaged as enemy forces were able to raid the high-value target from land, sky and sea to rip through the City.
Johto had been forced to station huge numbers of trainers and their pokemon at Goldenrod to defend it as they weren't willing to lose their capital. It was seen as too great a dishonour to abandon it.
So they had dug themselves in and made others and their own pay.
Due to this mindset, Goldenrod was the most infiltrated city the Guardians had thanks to the number of chanellers that were required to calm malevolent spirits. Morty's gym wasn't able to supply all of the demand, so specialists from Lavender Town were sent there by the League. Or perhaps it was just a matter of Lavender Town being seen as better thanks to Agatha's position as an Elite Four member.
Regardless, by the time the war ended, Goldenrod had been a shadow of its former self. That hadn't stopped people advocating for it to be the capital of the newly formed Indigo. The people fighting for this were passionate enough that Oak's compromise of the Indigo plateau being the true heart had seen a lot of pushback. At least that's what was written in the Guardian's notes on the time post-war history.
Goldenrod itself had struggled to get back despite the place in Johto residents had for it in their hearts.
It wouldn't have surprised me that Giovanni had seen such an opportunity in Goldenrod with all the damage it had sustained. They'd needed support, and he'd had funds for days along with building materials, pokemon, and the connections to make things work.
All for the low, low price of Giovanni having a sizeable stake in Goldenrod. League accountants even now were still working through everything. They were desperately trying to keep the money flowing even as the League seized Team Rocket's hidden assets to make sure that the rebuilding of Goldenrod continued.
I walked down the main street with Zubat flapping around me, taking in the sights.
There were a lot of building sites, but someone had obviously gotten a hold of a skilled city planner… or a team of them more likely, to set things out very well. Skyscrapers didn't hog the waterfront but rather were positioned such that they didn't obstruct someone's view. That was if they were to own houses on the eastern hills that allowed people there to look out over the Sentret sea to the west of Goldenrod.
A railroad that, unlike the games, ran through the middle of Goldenrod, and allowed transport throughout the city, and indeed, a significant part of Johto. I knew of plans that often got tossed around to expand the rail network so that it came through Pewter and down into Saffron.
Sadly, Mt Silver and the various denizens were in the way and any thoughts on setting something up long-term were crushed in the early stages by practical-minded engineers. Nobody wanted to create a railway above or below ground that passed anywhere near Mt Silver.
Kanto residents liked to scoff that the railway made some of the Johto trainers soft. What with not having to camp out as much. They couldn't dispute the undeniable benefits it brought though.
Interestingly, a subsect of the Battleclubs had formed due to the trains with trains often getting on and fighting other trainers from other areas of Johto. I had been told that there existed a Train challenge, where a trainer would start at the back, where the weaker trainers were supposed to be, before advancing up a cart after gaining three wins.
The trick was that you could only use one pokemon for each fight and you needed to do it in the space of time that the train was in station. This led to frantic fights that were all-or-nothing exchanges taking place near the train stations.
It was little wonder that the police had their own subbranches located right next to any rail station.
Johto, to me, was a dichotomy of the past and the future merging. Johto held to traditional styles while also having the latest cutting-edge facilities and technology.
It somewhat mirrored Japan from my past life, I suppose.
Interestingly I'd found an update on the next Gym Leader for Goldenrod after Hannah's arrest.
Norman, a Gym trainer that was seen with high regard and studying with his family had been called in to temporarily hold the Gym. It was being touted as a great honour, and extremely forward thinking by the League. I didn't miss the memo that mentioned how Norman, when he was expected to become a Hoenn Gym Leader, would help advocate for Indigo interests.
Such as the G-men.
I had to give it to Lance, it was a coup on many levels.
The arena that I would be fighting Corvo at today was located on the waterfront, and to my own sensibilities, it took place north of the Goldenrod radio tower.
A pier extended from the beachfront out to a large structure that was built into the ocean and held a lot of trainer facilities along with entertainment.
In a way, it reminded me of Coney Island.
My walk down the pier with my entourage started to draw attention from there. People couldn't help but notice me. What with how posters plastered up showcasing Corvo and my own face in a featured Ace match-up.
People began stepping out of the way while others glared at me. It was actually surprising to have people not approaching me, but then again I'd gotten used to Kanto resident's reactions. Johto residents… well I might not be so popular with them having beaten their golden boy Lance, and I was now facing off against Corvo. Another Johto patriot.
Murmurs were surprisingly as bad as it got with people giving me a cold shoulder. I had to wonder if there would be other reactions if I remained out in public but in the end, I decided to not test it.
It still affected Yolanda and Missy though, with how they stepped a little closer. "So this is the Johto cold shoulder I've heard about?" said Missy.
Yolanda shot her a look. "Cold shoulder?"
Missy nodded. "Johto people like to snub people they think have wronged them or are going to wrong them. By not interacting with Brock they are showing disapproval." Missy raised up her transceiver and displayed a travel advisory. "I discovered this during my own journey but if you're not liked by the locals, they will only serve you certain dishes or even refuse service. It's caused a number of fights to take place and while it isn't supposed to occur as much, plenty of places will still give a very… diluted menu if you go there."
"Huh," I said, eying the nearby stalls. "That's a shame. It looks like a nice place to bring the family."
Missy nodded. "Yeah, they will be like this for today and a bit after the match but they should be fine if you're coming in as a tourist. If you're coming here to fight one of their darling trainers though?" Missy shook her head.
I glanced towards where the Goldenrod Gym was. I wondered what the etiquette was about challenging the gym? "Do people just stay quiet about when they're going to challenge the Gym?"
Missy made a so-so gesture. "It's not as bad for trainers as most people doing the Gym challenges are young kids. They get a bit of the treatment if the challenger is loud and obnoxious, but once the match is over they usually return to being polite."
"Hmmmm, I can't say I like it," Yolanda said.
"Me neither," said A.J. causing Yolanda to blink in surprise.
"You do?" she said, perplexed.
"Yeah, they should just be upfront about it, not so sneaky. If people want to challenge them they shouldn't be like that. And if they have a problem they should just demand a fight themselves!" he said glaring at the people around us, only to earn a few glares himself as people reached for their pokeballs.
I sighed as people took his challenge at face value. A.J. grinned. It probably hadn't been his intent, but he'd drawn out a few people for a fight.
I was suddenly glad that I came an hour early for this match. It might have cost me a bit with Teleport fees but that wasn't too much of an issue. I'd just needed to schedule myself off for half the day.
I watched A.J. beat down a few locals only to get crushed in his third match by a strong trainer who had a very well-trained Furret. Once that was wrapped up we continued on to the arena itself which had a huge golden edifice that swept around on itself like a wave. It easily had enough seating to be classed as a mega stadium.
Team Rocket pokedollars had been spent very well.
I marched into the stadium and was led to a set of rooms that were a touch shorter than I'd expected. I could hear the rumble of thousands of feet marching over my head.
Yolanda twitched and shifted, agitated by the noise while I merely sat on a massage table and shut my eyes.
"This… is this really the room we have to wait in?" she said after a few minutes.
I cracked an eye open and looked her over. "Yeah, this is the room they give to 'away' trainers. They are deliberately built to be smaller, not as accommodating, and a bit off-putting. It is yet another method of disadvantaging a trainer."
"Huh, that's cheap," said A.J. with a dismissive sniff.
I shrugged. "It's a common enough practise in most sports for away teams to not have the nicest waiting areas. It's no different for pokemon trainers," I said, not worried.
"You're not worried about this?" Yolanda said.
I shook my head. "You just need to remember that there are worse places to wait around or to battle. It's one of those things that you'll learn a bit more about on your Journey," I said.
Missy started looking around, opening cupboards and doors to find various change rooms or broom closets.
A knock on the door ten minutes before the match led to an official entering and offering his id badge to me. I scanned it with my xtransceiver and got confirmation that he was who he said he was.
The man then gestured to a small six-ball receptacle. "Gym Leader Brock, it has been noted that you have a carrying capacity beyond the norm of six. Therefore it is our duty to ask that you please lock in your selections for which pokemon you will be using."
"Ah, like when I faced off against Lance," I said before nodding.
Interestingly, the official's face twitched into annoyance when I mentioned the Lance fight. "Yes, quite."
Yolanda shuffled from her feet. "You haven't had to do this in the past?"
I shrugged. "People have been willing to accept that I'll hold to six pokemon. I usually only openly carry five pokemon on my pokebelt, so it is obvious if I draw a pokemon from somewhere else."
"Five? But what…" Yolanda blinked and nodded. "Oh right! Titan's necklace greatball."
I nodded my head and registered which pokemon I was going to use today. The man bowed in acceptance before departing.
"I feel like that could be abused," said Yolanda.
I sighed. "Yeah, it could be. I was honestly surprised that Will didn't demand it for my match against him. I don't think it would have done him any favours. Then again he might not have thought about it."
I tilted my head. "Then again with the tricks he pulled off I doubt that, it probably wasn't worth it." I offered a shrug and pulled out some cards from my carry pack. "Want to relax a bit? Your nerves are making me nervous," I said with a teasing smile to show I was joking.
Yolanda huffed and dragged a chair to a table where we set up.
I released some of my team, and a few of them scrapped the ceiling. Titan and Link settled next to me while Knight sat behind A.J. Gawain turned down the offer and instead moved to a corner to meditate while Selene assisted Yolanda and Terra to win big time.
When the official came to collect us he found us playing another round.
"Go fish by the way," I said to A.J. who shot Knight a scowl. I then, at Titan's direction pointed a finger at Missy. "Two's?" I asked.
She scowled and handed me over her two to Titan's pleasure.
"You're playing cards with your pokemon?" he said incredulously.
"Yeah, it's great fun for them. When they don't cheat!" I said, staring at Selene who looked far too smug.
He shook his head and had me return my team before leading us up the tunnel. My entourage went ahead and got to their seats while I waited in the tunnel.
"And now! Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight's feature match! From Pewter City, the Gym Leader of Rock and Stone! Give it up, for Brock!"
I step forward, thoroughly bemused at the rather lackluster introduction. Rachel did better on her bad days.
I walked to the podium only for a wave of boos to roll out. Huh, guess this was another factor with being the Challenger.
I hummed and smiled. Really, it reminded me a lot of my time as a Gym Leader where I needed to be the heel to push people. Sometimes the crowd, even at Pewter, didn't cheer for me. Then again the Gym circuit and the Ace circuit were very different beasts.
I just shook my head as people shouted and hollered. I waved to Yolanda and the others, making sure to project how confident I was and that I wasn't letting these people get to me.
When it was time for Corvo's introduction, the lights dimmed, the crowd fell silent, and Corvo stepped forth.
"From the east to the west! All know of him and his passion for Johto! He's the Johto Patriot! The eighteenth-ranked battler. It's Ace trainer Corvo!" introduced the announcer.
Corvo descended through the crowd and they cheered as one for him. His long blue hair pulled into a ponytail. His hands played with a single pokeball as he walked.
The crowd called out his name but he didn't even acknowledge them.
His eyes were locked with mine. I felt a frisson of excitement run up my spine.
Hoh? He's got some proper fighting spirit then? Excellent.
When he reached his podium the referee was quick to go through the usual pre-match spiel before he waved flags in both of our directions.
"Trainers! Are you ready?" we both nodded and he swept his flags. "Release and begin!"
"Let's go Gawain!" I shouted.
"Snapper! Out and angry!" Corvo called.
As Gawain took form I had to curse as on Corvo's side, Snapper, the Feraligatr was sent out straight away.
Damn, he'd sent his starter out first against my rock-bug pokemon.
I'd been hoping for Meganium, Ursaring, or one of his fighting-type pokemon.
"Waterfall!" barked Corvo. His pokemon suddenly launched forward like it was on top of a geyser with how the water appeared underneath it, launching Feraligatr straight at Gawain.
"Agility!" I called, forcing Gawain to dodge the attack. Gawain blurred to the side and I was pleased to see him dragging his axe into the ground as he slowed to keep Feraligatr in his field of vision.
"Tch! I'm not falling for that!' said Corvo. "Surf! Whip the field clear!" he commanded. Feraligatr stepped back and a huge tidal wave formed to sweep him up.
Gawain stared at the oncoming attack with wide eyes. "Charge into it!" I ordered.
Gawain twitched but did as commanded, right before the wave slammed into him I slashed my hand. "Protect!" I ordered, causing the wave to sweep over an orb of protective energy, resulting in Gawain escaping easily.
When the wave crashed down on the other side of the field Snapper turned and shot Gawain a narrow-eyed look.
Gawain dropped the Protect and brandished his axes.
I shot a look towards where the small patch of Stealth Rock should have been only to find them washed away.
Hmmm, they'd accounted for that with that Surf. That was wise of them. I huffed, it seemed I really couldn't play it out easily. I could probably win this with Gawain, but it would be enough to see the field inundated with water.
Setting up for other water types and limiting rock or ground type attacks.
Gawain had good mobility, but I needed some quick dodges while being able to pressure Corvo's starter. Gawain, if I got in close, might be able to do that.
I had better options, however.
"Gawain return!" I barked holding up his pokeball.
Corvo twitched and narrowed his eyes, watching as my pokemon departed before I sent out another.
"Go Selene!" I said frowning, as I noted that Corvo didn't use a buff or something delayed that would… Realisation clicked in. He didn't have a move like that for Snapper.
I wanted to stare at him, that seemed like a bit of a blunder on his part, especially with how prevalent it was for trainers to change out pokemon. Instead, I had to make the most of Selene's appearance.
"Psy!" I said, making a grasping gesture. Selene glowed with psychic energy and Snapper rose struggling as he was grasped in Slene's Psychic.
"Waterfall!" barked Corvo.
Snapper once again had a huge geyser of water launch him up into the air where he hung for a moment. From on high he loomed over Selene. I smirked.
Well, if he was going to give me such options, who was I to deny him?
"Psybeam!" I ordered.
Selene tilted up and then unleashed right into the falling pokemon.
"Match it with Ice Beam!" Corvo said. His pokemon inhaled and then discharged a powerful blast of Ice straight at Selene only for her Psybeam to meet it in the middle.
Ice beam, while strong, wasn't able to match the STAB bonus of Selene with her Psybeam blowing through Snapper's attack to nail him before he could land.
Snapper landed only to kick up into a fighting position with a sinuous twist of the body. "Surf!" called Corvo.
"Build up for it!" I said, crossing my arms and watching as the wave built up before once more carrying Snapper.
The wave came on and for a moment it looked like Selene was in danger, only for her to vanish at the last second in a Teleport.
"Snapper!" shouted Corvo, revealing that his pokemon had been waiting for just this.
Snapper, already at the top of the wave, turned and leapt back towards where Selene was, fangs glowing darkly.
I allowed myself a smile. Corvo had anticipated what I would do. Selene's trick was known these days. Which meant that people's responses could also be anticipated.
"SE!" I called as the wave crashed before me. I might not have seen where Selene was precisely, but I knew what was coming next.
I saw Snapper vanish, only to reappear as a giant rock slammed into his head sending him flying back into the crashing wave.
I grinned. "Nice one! Follow up on him!" I said only for Corvo to return his pokemon. I clicked my tongue and instead made a quick circle motion. "Future Sight!" I said, preparing the best I could while Corvo selected his next pokemon.
Selene glowed with intent while Corvo paused, his eyes narrowing. Ah, he'd noticed that Selene was still in his area of the battlefield.
"Go! Snarler!" he said, sending out his Ursaring. It appeared with a snarl that I felt only to barrel towards Selene. "Payback!" he ordered, resulting in his Ursaring taking on a dark energy.
"Get out!" I said, resulting in Selene Teleporting back from the advancing pokemon. Selene appeared once more on my side of the field.
Snarler lunged and missed only for the dark energy to not dissipate; it in fact grew stronger.
I frowned as Snarler whirled about and charged on with more dark energy around it.
Huh, it seemed like Payback had registered Selene's Teleport as her leaving, resulting in the move growing stronger. Alright, I definitely didn't want to let that play out again.
With room to move, I snapped a hand down. "SE!" I said.
Selene once more launched a large rock straight into the oncoming Ursaring.
Snarler tanked the shot and once more the dark energy built up. "That's it! Take her out!" said Corvo as he realised that another dodge from Selene would only result in his pokemon growing stronger and stronger over time.
Thankfully, I had other options.
"Protect," I said. The crowd howled their disapproval as Snarler's fist slammed down impotently against Selene's protective shell. He loosened a huge snarl of rage.
"Rest Snarler," said Corvo as he narrowed his eyes. This caused his pokemon to shut his eyes and snore loudly as it recovered its health.
"Take it out of the fight!" I said to Selene as her Protect faded away.
Corvo, instead of fearing for his pokemon grinned. "Sleep talk," he ordered.
Surprising everyone in the crowd, Snarler went from laying on his belly asleep to barreling forwards with powerful intent. I recognised the move as High Horsepower.
Sadly Selene was too close to dodge and so had to take the hit straight on, getting cast away by the powerful attack.
"Again! Crovo called. This time his pokemon rose up with a brown glow around one arm. Brick Break, he was about to use Brick Break.
"Psybeam from in close!" I shouted.
Selene narrowed her eyes and unleashed a powerful blast from close to point-blank range knocking Snarler back.
With the impact, he shook his head and glowered at Selene, waking up from his beauty sleep.
I rolled my shoulders. Our review session yesterday revealed something interesting about Snarler. He could tank a lot of damage, but most of the time he dished out more, was when he went to sleep. I suspected that Snarler had the ability guts, which increased attack when a status effect was in play.
If so, Corvo was very much playing to his strengths with Rest, and then Sleep Talk into other attacks.
I'd done my homework, however. Future Sight slammed home into Snarler before Corvo or I could give any more commands knocking the Ursaring down once more. I didn't hesitate. "Psychic!" I said.
Selene lifted and then slammed Snarler into the ground heavily, ending the battle with a powerful blow, and I pumped my fist in victory having taken the lead one nil. "That's the way girl! Go Selene!" I shouted.
Selene warbled her name, pleased at her showing before hovering back to my side of the arena.
Corvo sighed, and sent out his next pokemon. "Let's go Pincher!"
His Kingler took to the field and I had to lean forward, knowing that this would be a tough match for Selene, but it was once again doable. I just needed to be careful.
"BB up high!" said Corvo. His Kingler raised the singular huge club-like claw and unleashed a barrage of bubbles into the air above Selene.
"Future Sight," I said, happy to get this off.
I eyed the floating bubbles and whistled to Selene. She glanced at me and I made a subtle gesture indicating for her to move slightly to the left.
Corvo pointed straight at Selene. "HH!" he said, causing his Kingler to turn to the side and then sprint straight at her with the huge claw raised up, ready to club Selene.
I merely pointed, willing to match attack for attack. "Stone Edge again!" I chose to forgo the shorter command.
Selene unleashed her move only for Kingler to kip backwards, or rather, due to turning, sideways from Selene to avoid the attack. He then raised his claw up into the air and let loose an Ice Beam.
As the beam swept through the air, it made contact with a number of previously innocently floating bubbles, whereby they became frozen and heavy.
They plummeted out of the air as giant balls of ice and water shattered and splashed the area around them as they slammed into the arena floor.
Selene, thanks to my earlier prompt, didn't even get wet.
I grinned. If Sanchez had pulled that off he would have clapped his hand and mimed an ole for all his worth. Instead, I pointed straight ahead at the gobsmacked Corvo and Pincher.
"Psychic!" I said. Pincher rose up as Selene grasped him with her power. Then she hurled him into a wall with a deft flick of her mind.
Pincher slammed into the wall, and then Future Sight slammed into him, knocking him out for another pokemon down.
I punched the air. "That's the way Selene!" I said.
She warbled but this time it was much more subdued. I assessed her and sighed. Those last three fights with Snapper, Snarler, and Pincher had all taken their toll.
I raised her pokeball. "Nice work girl, time to send someone else in." I grinned down at her ball before selecting my next pokemon. It was time to bait the hook and see what I reeled in.
"Let's go Tide!" I said sending him out before Corvo had made his selection.
Corvo stilled. His hand locked on one pokeball only to look up and meet my gaze.
He shifted his hand to another pokeball and hurled out his fourth pokemon of the match. "Let's show them up! Princess!" he barked.
Princess, the Meganium appeared and shook itself out as, on my side, Tide, the Lapras raised his chin defiantly.
Grass versus water. An advantage to Corvo.
"Petal Dance!" he said.
"Blizzard!" I responded, sweeping my hand in a wide arc.
Ice formed and was unleashed onto the field, freezing the petals as they formed. Huge boulders of ice flew down and Princess moved quickly to dodge the powerful, but inaccurate attack.
When the Blizzard died down, Princess was revealed and she had moved quickly enough to evade any danger.
"Energy Ball!"
"Ice Beam!" I replied.
Both pokemon opened their maws and a yellow and blue ball formed for each respectively.
Then they snapped their heads down and unleashed their attacks. I was more than a little surprised when Tide's Ice beam was slightly pushed back. I shot Princess another look, reevaluating her strength.
She would have had STAB, but still, a grass vs. ice matchup should have seen Tide emerging as the clear winner there.
"Again!" said Corvo, leaning forward as he sensed a weakness that he could push for. Princess formed another ball of yellow energy, only for me and Tide to not be willing to get locked into a mirror of earlier.
"Blizzard," I said, unleashing a powerful wave of ice once more. This time Princess wasn't in a position to quickly escape and a large boulder of ice slammed into her even as she got off the Energy Ball.
Tide took the hit and glowered at her.
Princess for her part shot back to her feet with a determined glint in her eyes.
"Meganium!" she said, shaking her head and flaring the flower.
"Charge in close with Vine Whip!" ordered Corvo, a hint of desperation tinging his words.
Princess sprinted forward and I snapped my hand forward. "Ice Beam!"
"Leap now!" shouted Corvo and against my expectations for such a large pokemon, her vines formed up and lashed the ground, launching her up into the air and over the top of Tide's Ice Beam.
Tide had a moment to try and tilt his head up to slam his beam into her only for her to get close enough to wrap her vines around his mouth. She landed heavily and Tide staggered her as he hurled himself backwards.
"Meganium!" said Princess, as she dug her feet in and wrenched Tide on his side, slamming him into the dirt and knocking him out.
I sighed. He hadn't had a good run of it. While I had been hoping for a better outcome, I had to admit to being surprised about how powerful Princess had ended up being.
She stood, heaving in breath after breath, before draining back her vines as Tide vanished in a red light as I recalled him.
"Megan!" Princess called as she waved to the crowd. The crowd roared their approval back only to fall silent as I selected my next pokemon and sent out Gawain right on top of Princess.
"X-scissor," I said firmly.
Gawain raised his axes and lunged.
"Vine Whip away again!" Corvo commanded. Once more Princess surprised me with her agility as she used her Vine Whips to kick back with an extra set of limbs, getting herself a little more room.
Only for Gawain to kick off the ground extra hard, his Agility still in effect from earlier to close with the Meganium.
X-scissor landed, and just like that Corvo had lost his third pokemon, and what had to be his second strongest pokemon. Even that seemed doubtful with how much better Princess' showing had been compared to Snapper.
But then again, a starter is your starter for a reason.
Corvo returned his pokemon with a stern expression only to then pull out another pokeball. "Go! Smasher!" he said. His pokeball was released, and this time I found myself locking eyes with a Primeape.
It instantly screamed in rage and began punching at the air before noticing Gawain before it.
I nodded my head. Alright, fighting type v rock-bug.
Let's do it to it, I thought.
I might have started this all because of Will and my desire to block his advancement and continued it so I was in a position to be the barrier for others like him, but that didn't matter at all.
I was in the thick of it, and I was loving it.
I'd made the right choice to keep pushing myself.
"Agility!" I called, pushing for more of a buff to Gawain.
"Stomping Tantrum!" roared Corvo. Smasher stomped his feet into the ground with a roar as shockwaves rocked the arena. A good deal of the crowd gasped in shock as Gawain stumbled.
"Give yourself more balance points! Go into a low guard!" I commanded and Gawain did just that, his axes touching but not digging into the ground as he bobbed with the shaking earth.
Smasher snorted and stopped stomping his gaze now locked onto Gawain.
"Focus Blast!" shouted Corvo. Smasher shot out a huge blast of energy with a punch.
"Evade!" I responded.
Gawain vanished as he took off, circling Samsher as the feral Primaeape snarled and stomped his feet.
"Stone Axe in close!" I said deciding to dance in close.
"CC!" said Corvo with Primeape opening his arms in readiness to grapple if Gawain got too close.
"Control the fight!" I ordered, making Gawain shift his target from centre of mass hits to instead grazing attacks. I did not want Primeape getting a hold of him.
Primeape and Gawain danced back and forth. Gawain chopped and slashed with his axes while Smasher snatched after him or tried to bullrush him into a tackle.
Each attempt was evaded as Gawain was too fast.
Smasher tried to fake him out with an aborted attempt only to twitch in another direction.
Gawain didn't hesitate to pull his axes back, raise them into a high guard position before lashing them in an X as he performed an X-scissor without my prompting.
I pumped my fist. "That's the stuff! Good read!" I shouted, pleased that the work we'd done with Shin and Hypnotoad, along with Trixie's fighting-type pokemon was paying off so well.
Primeape staggered back only to shake himself and howl with rage. He stomped his feet and snarled only to then dash about to another location, stomping his feet and throwing punches at nothing.
"Uh oh, he's gotten rage locked," I said.
Primeape snapped around at my voice and surged towards me, frothing at the mouth. I quirked an eyebrow, unimpressed as Gawain bodied the Primeape before he could take more than a few steps.
Primeape landed heavily only to stand and glower, his arms hanging low. It snorted and snuffled in rage only for Corvo to raise his pokeball and return him. "I withdraw him," he said simply.
I shot him a raised eyebrow. "You waited until then?"
"Smasher has a lot of vitality to him, he needs to be worn down properly. Sometimes he can lock onto the right target during his Rage and he becomes unstoppable…" he shrugged then. "And sometimes he focuses on the wrong target. It's a bit of a gambit. Fifty-fifty if you would, this time I came up unlucky."
I frowned. That didn't sound like how Rage was supposed to work, but then again there were a number of moves that were similar, such as Outrage, that were tough to Or had he trained for that specifically? It was very risky, but if it worked like he said it did, then it would be worth it.
Or was it an ability? Hmmm, too many variables that were unknown to say.
With Smasher removed, it came down to Corvo's second last pokemon, his Feraligatr had taken a beating so I didn't expect it to come back out, but then again, I might be wrong.
I glanced at Gawain and hummed at what I saw. He was a bit tired from that exchange but otherwise doing alright for himself. I tilted my head. If I was right… Corvo's best choice was another fighting type, with his Heracross having the highest odds.
If I was wrong, it wasn't such an issue.
I could stick with Gawain, he was already buffed up, but… I wanted to give another of my pokemon a chance to shine.
"Gawain, return!" I ordered. Gawain vanished in a red beam and Corvo narrowed his eyes at me as he palmed his last pokemon.
I grinned and palmed my next choice. "Let's go, Link!" I shouted, sending him out for his debut showing.
Link appeared with a twirl and both hands waving hugely, the wings on his back flapped excitedly and he had a gigantic smile on his face. "Clefable!" he shouted.
The crowd wasn't quite sure what to make of him and there was a lull as they stared at him.
"YEAH! GO LINK!" shouted Yolanda from the side lines.
I shot her a smile as Link perked up and waved at her before settling into a fighting stance.
I then turned my attention back to Corvo who stared at the Clefable. "You haven't used this pokemon before," he said.
I grinned. "Yup! This is his debut!" I said.
Corvo shook his head and sent out his last pokemon. "Go Buzzer!" he said, sending out his Heracross. I mentally fistpumped. I might not have gotten the order right, but I'd guessed what team he'd use against me correctly.
"Aerial Ace!" Corvo shouted. Heracross vanished into a blur as his wings buzzed up to speed.
"Gravity!" I replied and Link clenched his fists and punched them forward resulting in a distortion to build up around him. He flexed his knees but was otherwise unaffected.
Buzzer however was thrown off by the sudden increased weight of his flight and crashed into the ground with a heavy crash.
I chopped my hand at Buzzer's downed form. "Moonblast!" I said and Link held up his hands, channelling up a pink ball before hurling it at Buzzer.
"Protect!" snapped Corvo resulting in the attack slamming into a barrier.
"Again!' I said making Link go for another blast and this time Corvo couldn't dodge. The orb of fairy energy hammered into Buzzer and dropped him.
He buzzed angrily for a moment before standing and staggering back and forth. He glowered at Link for a moment before growling in rage and shaking his head, getting back into the fight.
I had to admit that I was impressed by his fighting spirit to keep going.
"Throat Chop!" said Corvo and this time Buzzer came straight on his wings buzzing and pushing him even as he used his feet to kick off the ground.
"Meteor Mash," I responded and Link threw himself into a roll that saw him and Buzzer slamming into each other.
For a moment they clashed, both of their energies radiating outwards only for an explosion to rock the field as both pokemon's attacks discharged.
When the smoke cleared it revealed Buzzer angrily leaning against Link who stared into his eyes in curiosity.
"Hera…" said Buzzer tiredly, only to topple.
Before he could hit the ground, Link caught him and held him up, helping Buzzer stand at his side.
"Fable!" said Link firmly. He then nodded once and put Buzzer back onto his feet before raising his hand up into the air with Buzzer's left hand.
I blinked in surprise, was he… honouring his foe?
The crowd, who'd almost to a person had been booing or catcalling me at the start, rose in dribs and drabs to clap.
Before long, everyone in the stands were on their feet cheering for the show of sportsmanship Link had just done.
Buzzer stared at the adoring crowd for a moment before shutting his eyes, passing out still on his feet.
Link stepped back and smiled.
I stared.
Holy Houndoom. That… I wasn't even sure what to call that.
He'd just flipped the crowd with one heartfelt gesture.
Corvo returned his pokemon and gave Link a long, thoughtful look before raising a hand to the referee. "I will withdraw any other pokemon that I might have, I think." He then turned to Link and me and bowed. "The victory is yours, Brock. It is a well earned sweep," he said.
He then raised his hands and clapped, leading a wave of renewed applause.
I laughed and hopped over the podium railing to grab Link and toss him up onto my shoulder.
"You don't even have to try, do you?" I said to Link. I was so getting a poster made of this moment. I'd title it, that's what heroes do.
He shot me a confused look before turning his attention elsewhere to wave to the crowd.
I shook my head and joined him.
The heart of a hero indeed.
And what was more heroic than winning the hearts and minds of the people?
A.N. I was thinking of cutting this off before the Primeape fight but then I got this idea I wanted to play with… it led to Link's moment and I was just like… damn, that really fits, doesn't it?
Super glad I kept writing more for this chapter, as it changes the entire feel with Link stepping up like that.
Thanks to my Patreons for your continued support.
Thanks also go to Twmmy for betaing this chapter.
"You sucked," A.J. said.
Yolanda bristled like a Meowth that had her fur rubbed the wrong way. "Brock won!"
A.J. sniffed. "Only because he had the better pokemon, his strategy was pretty basic. He flailed around when Minimize was used instead of committing to a move that would have worked." A.J. began ticking his fingers. "Surf, Earthquake, Thunder, Discharge, Swift, Lock-On, or other accuracy boosting moves could have all worked."
I coughed. "I only have a few of those and I don't have any moves to boost accuracy." I nodded to A.J. "You're right though, I should have committed to other options. I'm happy with how I was able to use Shin to get Starmie into a position where I could beat him with Sanchez, but things would have been tougher if I didn't have him on the team."
Yolanda shifted only to scowl and cross her arms. "You would have worked something out!" she said, firm in her support.
I shot her a smile. "Thanks; I think I might have had to do some other options, such as denying accuracy. Usually, I'd use Sandstorm for that, but it would have been hard. Sanchez was my best option but I wanted to guarantee it."
A.J. nodded. "You also didn't—"
I sat back and listened to A.J. lay out my various mistakes, from not scouting enough to not having a clear enough idea of what would be the best field for me. Missy sat to the side, taking all of this in while also writing a lot of what was being said down. Today had been worth a lot for her, having been involved in most of the negotiations, review, field check, spectating the battle, and now the review.
She'd been given a dearth of information to look through and would have to take a while to digest it, especially with how I was going to go to Goldenrod City tomorrow for the next match.
I'd faced a good number of people at home but it was time to fight in another stadium.
I gestured to the whiteboard, "How much of this is going to need to be altered for tomorrow's match?" I asked.
A.J. scowled at the whiteboard while the others in the room gained thoughtful looks.
Yolanda shook her head. "We'd need to watch some of Corvo's matches to judge that." she pointed to another whiteboard that listed his pokemon roster. An impressive fifteen pokemon all registered and had made appearances at the Ace level.
"Feraligatr's going to be in his team as a starter," I said, placing said pokemon on the 'locked in' position. I then eyed the fourteen other pokemon that had made an appearance thus far.
"Meganium is another solid choice," I said before looking at the other options. Hypno, Heracross, Primeape, Ursaring, Kingler, were other pokemon I put on the maybe pile.
Rocko tapped one of the whiteboards. "I think there is a chance that he might have some other pokemon up his sleeve," he said.
When I raised an eyebrow in question and waved my hand for him to continue, Rocko coughed. "Right well, Corvoi was able to do well enough to do a Johto, Kanto, and Hoenn journey a number of years ago." Rocko waved a hand about the room. "But I don't see any Hoenn pokemon on this list."
I chewed my lip in thought. That did rather stand out.
Dennis snorted. "That isn't actually a mystery. Corvo is a known Johto patriot. He likes to only use pokemon that he caught within the region. It limits him but he takes pride in his rise up the ranks."
A.J. scoffed. "Yeah, for a guy that got a Totodile as his starter he sure had it rough.," he said snidely.
I reached over and nudged A.J. "Hey, don't be too quick to judge. We all have different hurdles to face. Don't forget that powerful pokemon like that can sometimes mean that the person has a target put on their back. Also, don't begrudge him his success. Professor Elm gifted him Totodile yes, but with his team, he's risen up to seventeenth in Indigo."
"If he beats you he only needs to win a few more matches to guarantee a spot in the mid-season tournament," Alexa pointed out.
I nodded. "Yeah, but that's not going to be happening. I plan to win this just like the others."
"Now, let's do some review for his matches and pick out any techniques or tricks that he knows. Write down what they are and if they're important we can review them as a group. Otherwise, for now let's all pair up and watch a different match each," I said, sending people off.
"Score! We get to sit around watching pokemon matches for the afternoon!" said one of my trainers.
I snorted. It was a pretty good gig to have. They were even getting paid. But that didn't mean there wouldn't be work to be done. There was information here, and it was up to us to ferret out what we could.
Tori had admitted to reviewing and creating her team with mine in mind. People were starting to get smarter about how and what they faced me with.
I had a few gaps with my roster's heavy rock and water focus, but as A.J. had detailed, I'd been coasting on the strength of my pokemon. Will… as much as I hated to admit it, had pokemon at my level.
At the moment, it was like my team were made of pokemon that had all reached level sixty… or at least fifty, compared to the forties of my opponent's Ace trainers. Super effective moves would still blow me up, but we weren't on an even playing field.
I needed to work on this to make sure I had the skills to cover for any advantages they might use, some of which I was doing.
Still, that didn't mean I wasn't going to keep pushing my pokemon. With the embers of the Moltres event, along with Will's draw against us starting to die off, I would need to work to keep my pokemon motivated.
I was hoping that the slow uptick in the toughness of my opponents would make them keep up their efforts. I knew there was more my pokemon could achieve. It was just a matter of drawing out that potential.
Much like the games, it became harder and required more to have my pokemon get stronger. This was added to the complexity of needing to take into account training, rest, burnout, or even injury. All of that and more could cause setbacks.
Still, you needed to roll the dice and chance your hand if you wanted to be getting stronger.
For that, I needed to challenge and accept battles.
Specifically, battles that would take me out of my comfort zone.
Goldenrod City was one of the largest cities in Indigo. It came in as the third biggest after Celadon and Saffron. Where both of those cities were already established there was a growing sense that Goldenrod was still growing and doing it fast.
In truth, this was a lie. Goldenrod should have been the biggest city within Indigo bar none. It had a longer history, greater cultural significance, and also population.
It had all of these before the war.
The war had seen Goldenrod City ravaged as enemy forces were able to raid the high-value target from land, sky and sea to rip through the City.
Johto had been forced to station huge numbers of trainers and their pokemon at Goldenrod to defend it as they weren't willing to lose their capital. It was seen as too great a dishonour to abandon it.
So they had dug themselves in and made others and their own pay.
Due to this mindset, Goldenrod was the most infiltrated city the Guardians had thanks to the number of chanellers that were required to calm malevolent spirits. Morty's gym wasn't able to supply all of the demand, so specialists from Lavender Town were sent there by the League. Or perhaps it was just a matter of Lavender Town being seen as better thanks to Agatha's position as an Elite Four member.
Regardless, by the time the war ended, Goldenrod had been a shadow of its former self. That hadn't stopped people advocating for it to be the capital of the newly formed Indigo. The people fighting for this were passionate enough that Oak's compromise of the Indigo plateau being the true heart had seen a lot of pushback. At least that's what was written in the Guardian's notes on the time post-war history.
Goldenrod itself had struggled to get back despite the place in Johto residents had for it in their hearts.
It wouldn't have surprised me that Giovanni had seen such an opportunity in Goldenrod with all the damage it had sustained. They'd needed support, and he'd had funds for days along with building materials, pokemon, and the connections to make things work.
All for the low, low price of Giovanni having a sizeable stake in Goldenrod. League accountants even now were still working through everything. They were desperately trying to keep the money flowing even as the League seized Team Rocket's hidden assets to make sure that the rebuilding of Goldenrod continued.
I walked down the main street with Zubat flapping around me, taking in the sights.
There were a lot of building sites, but someone had obviously gotten a hold of a skilled city planner… or a team of them more likely, to set things out very well. Skyscrapers didn't hog the waterfront but rather were positioned such that they didn't obstruct someone's view. That was if they were to own houses on the eastern hills that allowed people there to look out over the Sentret sea to the west of Goldenrod.
A railroad that, unlike the games, ran through the middle of Goldenrod, and allowed transport throughout the city, and indeed, a significant part of Johto. I knew of plans that often got tossed around to expand the rail network so that it came through Pewter and down into Saffron.
Sadly, Mt Silver and the various denizens were in the way and any thoughts on setting something up long-term were crushed in the early stages by practical-minded engineers. Nobody wanted to create a railway above or below ground that passed anywhere near Mt Silver.
Kanto residents liked to scoff that the railway made some of the Johto trainers soft. What with not having to camp out as much. They couldn't dispute the undeniable benefits it brought though.
Interestingly, a subsect of the Battleclubs had formed due to the trains with trains often getting on and fighting other trainers from other areas of Johto. I had been told that there existed a Train challenge, where a trainer would start at the back, where the weaker trainers were supposed to be, before advancing up a cart after gaining three wins.
The trick was that you could only use one pokemon for each fight and you needed to do it in the space of time that the train was in station. This led to frantic fights that were all-or-nothing exchanges taking place near the train stations.
It was little wonder that the police had their own subbranches located right next to any rail station.
Johto, to me, was a dichotomy of the past and the future merging. Johto held to traditional styles while also having the latest cutting-edge facilities and technology.
It somewhat mirrored Japan from my past life, I suppose.
Interestingly I'd found an update on the next Gym Leader for Goldenrod after Hannah's arrest.
Norman, a Gym trainer that was seen with high regard and studying with his family had been called in to temporarily hold the Gym. It was being touted as a great honour, and extremely forward thinking by the League. I didn't miss the memo that mentioned how Norman, when he was expected to become a Hoenn Gym Leader, would help advocate for Indigo interests.
Such as the G-men.
I had to give it to Lance, it was a coup on many levels.
The arena that I would be fighting Corvo at today was located on the waterfront, and to my own sensibilities, it took place north of the Goldenrod radio tower.
A pier extended from the beachfront out to a large structure that was built into the ocean and held a lot of trainer facilities along with entertainment.
In a way, it reminded me of Coney Island.
My walk down the pier with my entourage started to draw attention from there. People couldn't help but notice me. What with how posters plastered up showcasing Corvo and my own face in a featured Ace match-up.
People began stepping out of the way while others glared at me. It was actually surprising to have people not approaching me, but then again I'd gotten used to Kanto resident's reactions. Johto residents… well I might not be so popular with them having beaten their golden boy Lance, and I was now facing off against Corvo. Another Johto patriot.
Murmurs were surprisingly as bad as it got with people giving me a cold shoulder. I had to wonder if there would be other reactions if I remained out in public but in the end, I decided to not test it.
It still affected Yolanda and Missy though, with how they stepped a little closer. "So this is the Johto cold shoulder I've heard about?" said Missy.
Yolanda shot her a look. "Cold shoulder?"
Missy nodded. "Johto people like to snub people they think have wronged them or are going to wrong them. By not interacting with Brock they are showing disapproval." Missy raised up her transceiver and displayed a travel advisory. "I discovered this during my own journey but if you're not liked by the locals, they will only serve you certain dishes or even refuse service. It's caused a number of fights to take place and while it isn't supposed to occur as much, plenty of places will still give a very… diluted menu if you go there."
"Huh," I said, eying the nearby stalls. "That's a shame. It looks like a nice place to bring the family."
Missy nodded. "Yeah, they will be like this for today and a bit after the match but they should be fine if you're coming in as a tourist. If you're coming here to fight one of their darling trainers though?" Missy shook her head.
I glanced towards where the Goldenrod Gym was. I wondered what the etiquette was about challenging the gym? "Do people just stay quiet about when they're going to challenge the Gym?"
Missy made a so-so gesture. "It's not as bad for trainers as most people doing the Gym challenges are young kids. They get a bit of the treatment if the challenger is loud and obnoxious, but once the match is over they usually return to being polite."
"Hmmmm, I can't say I like it," Yolanda said.
"Me neither," said A.J. causing Yolanda to blink in surprise.
"You do?" she said, perplexed.
"Yeah, they should just be upfront about it, not so sneaky. If people want to challenge them they shouldn't be like that. And if they have a problem they should just demand a fight themselves!" he said glaring at the people around us, only to earn a few glares himself as people reached for their pokeballs.
I sighed as people took his challenge at face value. A.J. grinned. It probably hadn't been his intent, but he'd drawn out a few people for a fight.
I was suddenly glad that I came an hour early for this match. It might have cost me a bit with Teleport fees but that wasn't too much of an issue. I'd just needed to schedule myself off for half the day.
I watched A.J. beat down a few locals only to get crushed in his third match by a strong trainer who had a very well-trained Furret. Once that was wrapped up we continued on to the arena itself which had a huge golden edifice that swept around on itself like a wave. It easily had enough seating to be classed as a mega stadium.
Team Rocket pokedollars had been spent very well.
I marched into the stadium and was led to a set of rooms that were a touch shorter than I'd expected. I could hear the rumble of thousands of feet marching over my head.
Yolanda twitched and shifted, agitated by the noise while I merely sat on a massage table and shut my eyes.
"This… is this really the room we have to wait in?" she said after a few minutes.
I cracked an eye open and looked her over. "Yeah, this is the room they give to 'away' trainers. They are deliberately built to be smaller, not as accommodating, and a bit off-putting. It is yet another method of disadvantaging a trainer."
"Huh, that's cheap," said A.J. with a dismissive sniff.
I shrugged. "It's a common enough practise in most sports for away teams to not have the nicest waiting areas. It's no different for pokemon trainers," I said, not worried.
"You're not worried about this?" Yolanda said.
I shook my head. "You just need to remember that there are worse places to wait around or to battle. It's one of those things that you'll learn a bit more about on your Journey," I said.
Missy started looking around, opening cupboards and doors to find various change rooms or broom closets.
A knock on the door ten minutes before the match led to an official entering and offering his id badge to me. I scanned it with my xtransceiver and got confirmation that he was who he said he was.
The man then gestured to a small six-ball receptacle. "Gym Leader Brock, it has been noted that you have a carrying capacity beyond the norm of six. Therefore it is our duty to ask that you please lock in your selections for which pokemon you will be using."
"Ah, like when I faced off against Lance," I said before nodding.
Interestingly, the official's face twitched into annoyance when I mentioned the Lance fight. "Yes, quite."
Yolanda shuffled from her feet. "You haven't had to do this in the past?"
I shrugged. "People have been willing to accept that I'll hold to six pokemon. I usually only openly carry five pokemon on my pokebelt, so it is obvious if I draw a pokemon from somewhere else."
"Five? But what…" Yolanda blinked and nodded. "Oh right! Titan's necklace greatball."
I nodded my head and registered which pokemon I was going to use today. The man bowed in acceptance before departing.
"I feel like that could be abused," said Yolanda.
I sighed. "Yeah, it could be. I was honestly surprised that Will didn't demand it for my match against him. I don't think it would have done him any favours. Then again he might not have thought about it."
I tilted my head. "Then again with the tricks he pulled off I doubt that, it probably wasn't worth it." I offered a shrug and pulled out some cards from my carry pack. "Want to relax a bit? Your nerves are making me nervous," I said with a teasing smile to show I was joking.
Yolanda huffed and dragged a chair to a table where we set up.
I released some of my team, and a few of them scrapped the ceiling. Titan and Link settled next to me while Knight sat behind A.J. Gawain turned down the offer and instead moved to a corner to meditate while Selene assisted Yolanda and Terra to win big time.
When the official came to collect us he found us playing another round.
"Go fish by the way," I said to A.J. who shot Knight a scowl. I then, at Titan's direction pointed a finger at Missy. "Two's?" I asked.
She scowled and handed me over her two to Titan's pleasure.
"You're playing cards with your pokemon?" he said incredulously.
"Yeah, it's great fun for them. When they don't cheat!" I said, staring at Selene who looked far too smug.
He shook his head and had me return my team before leading us up the tunnel. My entourage went ahead and got to their seats while I waited in the tunnel.
"And now! Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight's feature match! From Pewter City, the Gym Leader of Rock and Stone! Give it up, for Brock!"
I step forward, thoroughly bemused at the rather lackluster introduction. Rachel did better on her bad days.
I walked to the podium only for a wave of boos to roll out. Huh, guess this was another factor with being the Challenger.
I hummed and smiled. Really, it reminded me a lot of my time as a Gym Leader where I needed to be the heel to push people. Sometimes the crowd, even at Pewter, didn't cheer for me. Then again the Gym circuit and the Ace circuit were very different beasts.
I just shook my head as people shouted and hollered. I waved to Yolanda and the others, making sure to project how confident I was and that I wasn't letting these people get to me.
When it was time for Corvo's introduction, the lights dimmed, the crowd fell silent, and Corvo stepped forth.
"From the east to the west! All know of him and his passion for Johto! He's the Johto Patriot! The eighteenth-ranked battler. It's Ace trainer Corvo!" introduced the announcer.
Corvo descended through the crowd and they cheered as one for him. His long blue hair pulled into a ponytail. His hands played with a single pokeball as he walked.
The crowd called out his name but he didn't even acknowledge them.
His eyes were locked with mine. I felt a frisson of excitement run up my spine.
Hoh? He's got some proper fighting spirit then? Excellent.
When he reached his podium the referee was quick to go through the usual pre-match spiel before he waved flags in both of our directions.
"Trainers! Are you ready?" we both nodded and he swept his flags. "Release and begin!"
"Let's go Gawain!" I shouted.
"Snapper! Out and angry!" Corvo called.
As Gawain took form I had to curse as on Corvo's side, Snapper, the Feraligatr was sent out straight away.
Damn, he'd sent his starter out first against my rock-bug pokemon.
I'd been hoping for Meganium, Ursaring, or one of his fighting-type pokemon.
"Waterfall!" barked Corvo. His pokemon suddenly launched forward like it was on top of a geyser with how the water appeared underneath it, launching Feraligatr straight at Gawain.
"Agility!" I called, forcing Gawain to dodge the attack. Gawain blurred to the side and I was pleased to see him dragging his axe into the ground as he slowed to keep Feraligatr in his field of vision.
"Tch! I'm not falling for that!' said Corvo. "Surf! Whip the field clear!" he commanded. Feraligatr stepped back and a huge tidal wave formed to sweep him up.
Gawain stared at the oncoming attack with wide eyes. "Charge into it!" I ordered.
Gawain twitched but did as commanded, right before the wave slammed into him I slashed my hand. "Protect!" I ordered, causing the wave to sweep over an orb of protective energy, resulting in Gawain escaping easily.
When the wave crashed down on the other side of the field Snapper turned and shot Gawain a narrow-eyed look.
Gawain dropped the Protect and brandished his axes.
I shot a look towards where the small patch of Stealth Rock should have been only to find them washed away.
Hmmm, they'd accounted for that with that Surf. That was wise of them. I huffed, it seemed I really couldn't play it out easily. I could probably win this with Gawain, but it would be enough to see the field inundated with water.
Setting up for other water types and limiting rock or ground type attacks.
Gawain had good mobility, but I needed some quick dodges while being able to pressure Corvo's starter. Gawain, if I got in close, might be able to do that.
I had better options, however.
"Gawain return!" I barked holding up his pokeball.
Corvo twitched and narrowed his eyes, watching as my pokemon departed before I sent out another.
"Go Selene!" I said frowning, as I noted that Corvo didn't use a buff or something delayed that would… Realisation clicked in. He didn't have a move like that for Snapper.
I wanted to stare at him, that seemed like a bit of a blunder on his part, especially with how prevalent it was for trainers to change out pokemon. Instead, I had to make the most of Selene's appearance.
"Psy!" I said, making a grasping gesture. Selene glowed with psychic energy and Snapper rose struggling as he was grasped in Slene's Psychic.
"Waterfall!" barked Corvo.
Snapper once again had a huge geyser of water launch him up into the air where he hung for a moment. From on high he loomed over Selene. I smirked.
Well, if he was going to give me such options, who was I to deny him?
"Psybeam!" I ordered.
Selene tilted up and then unleashed right into the falling pokemon.
"Match it with Ice Beam!" Corvo said. His pokemon inhaled and then discharged a powerful blast of Ice straight at Selene only for her Psybeam to meet it in the middle.
Ice beam, while strong, wasn't able to match the STAB bonus of Selene with her Psybeam blowing through Snapper's attack to nail him before he could land.
Snapper landed only to kick up into a fighting position with a sinuous twist of the body. "Surf!" called Corvo.
"Build up for it!" I said, crossing my arms and watching as the wave built up before once more carrying Snapper.
The wave came on and for a moment it looked like Selene was in danger, only for her to vanish at the last second in a Teleport.
"Snapper!" shouted Corvo, revealing that his pokemon had been waiting for just this.
Snapper, already at the top of the wave, turned and leapt back towards where Selene was, fangs glowing darkly.
I allowed myself a smile. Corvo had anticipated what I would do. Selene's trick was known these days. Which meant that people's responses could also be anticipated.
"SE!" I called as the wave crashed before me. I might not have seen where Selene was precisely, but I knew what was coming next.
I saw Snapper vanish, only to reappear as a giant rock slammed into his head sending him flying back into the crashing wave.
I grinned. "Nice one! Follow up on him!" I said only for Corvo to return his pokemon. I clicked my tongue and instead made a quick circle motion. "Future Sight!" I said, preparing the best I could while Corvo selected his next pokemon.
Selene glowed with intent while Corvo paused, his eyes narrowing. Ah, he'd noticed that Selene was still in his area of the battlefield.
"Go! Snarler!" he said, sending out his Ursaring. It appeared with a snarl that I felt only to barrel towards Selene. "Payback!" he ordered, resulting in his Ursaring taking on a dark energy.
"Get out!" I said, resulting in Selene Teleporting back from the advancing pokemon. Selene appeared once more on my side of the field.
Snarler lunged and missed only for the dark energy to not dissipate; it in fact grew stronger.
I frowned as Snarler whirled about and charged on with more dark energy around it.
Huh, it seemed like Payback had registered Selene's Teleport as her leaving, resulting in the move growing stronger. Alright, I definitely didn't want to let that play out again.
With room to move, I snapped a hand down. "SE!" I said.
Selene once more launched a large rock straight into the oncoming Ursaring.
Snarler tanked the shot and once more the dark energy built up. "That's it! Take her out!" said Corvo as he realised that another dodge from Selene would only result in his pokemon growing stronger and stronger over time.
Thankfully, I had other options.
"Protect," I said. The crowd howled their disapproval as Snarler's fist slammed down impotently against Selene's protective shell. He loosened a huge snarl of rage.
"Rest Snarler," said Corvo as he narrowed his eyes. This caused his pokemon to shut his eyes and snore loudly as it recovered its health.
"Take it out of the fight!" I said to Selene as her Protect faded away.
Corvo, instead of fearing for his pokemon grinned. "Sleep talk," he ordered.
Surprising everyone in the crowd, Snarler went from laying on his belly asleep to barreling forwards with powerful intent. I recognised the move as High Horsepower.
Sadly Selene was too close to dodge and so had to take the hit straight on, getting cast away by the powerful attack.
"Again! Crovo called. This time his pokemon rose up with a brown glow around one arm. Brick Break, he was about to use Brick Break.
"Psybeam from in close!" I shouted.
Selene narrowed her eyes and unleashed a powerful blast from close to point-blank range knocking Snarler back.
With the impact, he shook his head and glowered at Selene, waking up from his beauty sleep.
I rolled my shoulders. Our review session yesterday revealed something interesting about Snarler. He could tank a lot of damage, but most of the time he dished out more, was when he went to sleep. I suspected that Snarler had the ability guts, which increased attack when a status effect was in play.
If so, Corvo was very much playing to his strengths with Rest, and then Sleep Talk into other attacks.
I'd done my homework, however. Future Sight slammed home into Snarler before Corvo or I could give any more commands knocking the Ursaring down once more. I didn't hesitate. "Psychic!" I said.
Selene lifted and then slammed Snarler into the ground heavily, ending the battle with a powerful blow, and I pumped my fist in victory having taken the lead one nil. "That's the way girl! Go Selene!" I shouted.
Selene warbled her name, pleased at her showing before hovering back to my side of the arena.
Corvo sighed, and sent out his next pokemon. "Let's go Pincher!"
His Kingler took to the field and I had to lean forward, knowing that this would be a tough match for Selene, but it was once again doable. I just needed to be careful.
"BB up high!" said Corvo. His Kingler raised the singular huge club-like claw and unleashed a barrage of bubbles into the air above Selene.
"Future Sight," I said, happy to get this off.
I eyed the floating bubbles and whistled to Selene. She glanced at me and I made a subtle gesture indicating for her to move slightly to the left.
Corvo pointed straight at Selene. "HH!" he said, causing his Kingler to turn to the side and then sprint straight at her with the huge claw raised up, ready to club Selene.
I merely pointed, willing to match attack for attack. "Stone Edge again!" I chose to forgo the shorter command.
Selene unleashed her move only for Kingler to kip backwards, or rather, due to turning, sideways from Selene to avoid the attack. He then raised his claw up into the air and let loose an Ice Beam.
As the beam swept through the air, it made contact with a number of previously innocently floating bubbles, whereby they became frozen and heavy.
They plummeted out of the air as giant balls of ice and water shattered and splashed the area around them as they slammed into the arena floor.
Selene, thanks to my earlier prompt, didn't even get wet.
I grinned. If Sanchez had pulled that off he would have clapped his hand and mimed an ole for all his worth. Instead, I pointed straight ahead at the gobsmacked Corvo and Pincher.
"Psychic!" I said. Pincher rose up as Selene grasped him with her power. Then she hurled him into a wall with a deft flick of her mind.
Pincher slammed into the wall, and then Future Sight slammed into him, knocking him out for another pokemon down.
I punched the air. "That's the way Selene!" I said.
She warbled but this time it was much more subdued. I assessed her and sighed. Those last three fights with Snapper, Snarler, and Pincher had all taken their toll.
I raised her pokeball. "Nice work girl, time to send someone else in." I grinned down at her ball before selecting my next pokemon. It was time to bait the hook and see what I reeled in.
"Let's go Tide!" I said sending him out before Corvo had made his selection.
Corvo stilled. His hand locked on one pokeball only to look up and meet my gaze.
He shifted his hand to another pokeball and hurled out his fourth pokemon of the match. "Let's show them up! Princess!" he barked.
Princess, the Meganium appeared and shook itself out as, on my side, Tide, the Lapras raised his chin defiantly.
Grass versus water. An advantage to Corvo.
"Petal Dance!" he said.
"Blizzard!" I responded, sweeping my hand in a wide arc.
Ice formed and was unleashed onto the field, freezing the petals as they formed. Huge boulders of ice flew down and Princess moved quickly to dodge the powerful, but inaccurate attack.
When the Blizzard died down, Princess was revealed and she had moved quickly enough to evade any danger.
"Energy Ball!"
"Ice Beam!" I replied.
Both pokemon opened their maws and a yellow and blue ball formed for each respectively.
Then they snapped their heads down and unleashed their attacks. I was more than a little surprised when Tide's Ice beam was slightly pushed back. I shot Princess another look, reevaluating her strength.
She would have had STAB, but still, a grass vs. ice matchup should have seen Tide emerging as the clear winner there.
"Again!" said Corvo, leaning forward as he sensed a weakness that he could push for. Princess formed another ball of yellow energy, only for me and Tide to not be willing to get locked into a mirror of earlier.
"Blizzard," I said, unleashing a powerful wave of ice once more. This time Princess wasn't in a position to quickly escape and a large boulder of ice slammed into her even as she got off the Energy Ball.
Tide took the hit and glowered at her.
Princess for her part shot back to her feet with a determined glint in her eyes.
"Meganium!" she said, shaking her head and flaring the flower.
"Charge in close with Vine Whip!" ordered Corvo, a hint of desperation tinging his words.
Princess sprinted forward and I snapped my hand forward. "Ice Beam!"
"Leap now!" shouted Corvo and against my expectations for such a large pokemon, her vines formed up and lashed the ground, launching her up into the air and over the top of Tide's Ice Beam.
Tide had a moment to try and tilt his head up to slam his beam into her only for her to get close enough to wrap her vines around his mouth. She landed heavily and Tide staggered her as he hurled himself backwards.
"Meganium!" said Princess, as she dug her feet in and wrenched Tide on his side, slamming him into the dirt and knocking him out.
I sighed. He hadn't had a good run of it. While I had been hoping for a better outcome, I had to admit to being surprised about how powerful Princess had ended up being.
She stood, heaving in breath after breath, before draining back her vines as Tide vanished in a red light as I recalled him.
"Megan!" Princess called as she waved to the crowd. The crowd roared their approval back only to fall silent as I selected my next pokemon and sent out Gawain right on top of Princess.
"X-scissor," I said firmly.
Gawain raised his axes and lunged.
"Vine Whip away again!" Corvo commanded. Once more Princess surprised me with her agility as she used her Vine Whips to kick back with an extra set of limbs, getting herself a little more room.
Only for Gawain to kick off the ground extra hard, his Agility still in effect from earlier to close with the Meganium.
X-scissor landed, and just like that Corvo had lost his third pokemon, and what had to be his second strongest pokemon. Even that seemed doubtful with how much better Princess' showing had been compared to Snapper.
But then again, a starter is your starter for a reason.
Corvo returned his pokemon with a stern expression only to then pull out another pokeball. "Go! Smasher!" he said. His pokeball was released, and this time I found myself locking eyes with a Primeape.
It instantly screamed in rage and began punching at the air before noticing Gawain before it.
I nodded my head. Alright, fighting type v rock-bug.
Let's do it to it, I thought.
I might have started this all because of Will and my desire to block his advancement and continued it so I was in a position to be the barrier for others like him, but that didn't matter at all.
I was in the thick of it, and I was loving it.
I'd made the right choice to keep pushing myself.
"Agility!" I called, pushing for more of a buff to Gawain.
"Stomping Tantrum!" roared Corvo. Smasher stomped his feet into the ground with a roar as shockwaves rocked the arena. A good deal of the crowd gasped in shock as Gawain stumbled.
"Give yourself more balance points! Go into a low guard!" I commanded and Gawain did just that, his axes touching but not digging into the ground as he bobbed with the shaking earth.
Smasher snorted and stopped stomping his gaze now locked onto Gawain.
"Focus Blast!" shouted Corvo. Smasher shot out a huge blast of energy with a punch.
"Evade!" I responded.
Gawain vanished as he took off, circling Samsher as the feral Primaeape snarled and stomped his feet.
"Stone Axe in close!" I said deciding to dance in close.
"CC!" said Corvo with Primeape opening his arms in readiness to grapple if Gawain got too close.
"Control the fight!" I ordered, making Gawain shift his target from centre of mass hits to instead grazing attacks. I did not want Primeape getting a hold of him.
Primeape and Gawain danced back and forth. Gawain chopped and slashed with his axes while Smasher snatched after him or tried to bullrush him into a tackle.
Each attempt was evaded as Gawain was too fast.
Smasher tried to fake him out with an aborted attempt only to twitch in another direction.
Gawain didn't hesitate to pull his axes back, raise them into a high guard position before lashing them in an X as he performed an X-scissor without my prompting.
I pumped my fist. "That's the stuff! Good read!" I shouted, pleased that the work we'd done with Shin and Hypnotoad, along with Trixie's fighting-type pokemon was paying off so well.
Primeape staggered back only to shake himself and howl with rage. He stomped his feet and snarled only to then dash about to another location, stomping his feet and throwing punches at nothing.
"Uh oh, he's gotten rage locked," I said.
Primeape snapped around at my voice and surged towards me, frothing at the mouth. I quirked an eyebrow, unimpressed as Gawain bodied the Primeape before he could take more than a few steps.
Primeape landed heavily only to stand and glower, his arms hanging low. It snorted and snuffled in rage only for Corvo to raise his pokeball and return him. "I withdraw him," he said simply.
I shot him a raised eyebrow. "You waited until then?"
"Smasher has a lot of vitality to him, he needs to be worn down properly. Sometimes he can lock onto the right target during his Rage and he becomes unstoppable…" he shrugged then. "And sometimes he focuses on the wrong target. It's a bit of a gambit. Fifty-fifty if you would, this time I came up unlucky."
I frowned. That didn't sound like how Rage was supposed to work, but then again there were a number of moves that were similar, such as Outrage, that were tough to Or had he trained for that specifically? It was very risky, but if it worked like he said it did, then it would be worth it.
Or was it an ability? Hmmm, too many variables that were unknown to say.
With Smasher removed, it came down to Corvo's second last pokemon, his Feraligatr had taken a beating so I didn't expect it to come back out, but then again, I might be wrong.
I glanced at Gawain and hummed at what I saw. He was a bit tired from that exchange but otherwise doing alright for himself. I tilted my head. If I was right… Corvo's best choice was another fighting type, with his Heracross having the highest odds.
If I was wrong, it wasn't such an issue.
I could stick with Gawain, he was already buffed up, but… I wanted to give another of my pokemon a chance to shine.
"Gawain, return!" I ordered. Gawain vanished in a red beam and Corvo narrowed his eyes at me as he palmed his last pokemon.
I grinned and palmed my next choice. "Let's go, Link!" I shouted, sending him out for his debut showing.
Link appeared with a twirl and both hands waving hugely, the wings on his back flapped excitedly and he had a gigantic smile on his face. "Clefable!" he shouted.
The crowd wasn't quite sure what to make of him and there was a lull as they stared at him.
"YEAH! GO LINK!" shouted Yolanda from the side lines.
I shot her a smile as Link perked up and waved at her before settling into a fighting stance.
I then turned my attention back to Corvo who stared at the Clefable. "You haven't used this pokemon before," he said.
I grinned. "Yup! This is his debut!" I said.
Corvo shook his head and sent out his last pokemon. "Go Buzzer!" he said, sending out his Heracross. I mentally fistpumped. I might not have gotten the order right, but I'd guessed what team he'd use against me correctly.
"Aerial Ace!" Corvo shouted. Heracross vanished into a blur as his wings buzzed up to speed.
"Gravity!" I replied and Link clenched his fists and punched them forward resulting in a distortion to build up around him. He flexed his knees but was otherwise unaffected.
Buzzer however was thrown off by the sudden increased weight of his flight and crashed into the ground with a heavy crash.
I chopped my hand at Buzzer's downed form. "Moonblast!" I said and Link held up his hands, channelling up a pink ball before hurling it at Buzzer.
"Protect!" snapped Corvo resulting in the attack slamming into a barrier.
"Again!' I said making Link go for another blast and this time Corvo couldn't dodge. The orb of fairy energy hammered into Buzzer and dropped him.
He buzzed angrily for a moment before standing and staggering back and forth. He glowered at Link for a moment before growling in rage and shaking his head, getting back into the fight.
I had to admit that I was impressed by his fighting spirit to keep going.
"Throat Chop!" said Corvo and this time Buzzer came straight on his wings buzzing and pushing him even as he used his feet to kick off the ground.
"Meteor Mash," I responded and Link threw himself into a roll that saw him and Buzzer slamming into each other.
For a moment they clashed, both of their energies radiating outwards only for an explosion to rock the field as both pokemon's attacks discharged.
When the smoke cleared it revealed Buzzer angrily leaning against Link who stared into his eyes in curiosity.
"Hera…" said Buzzer tiredly, only to topple.
Before he could hit the ground, Link caught him and held him up, helping Buzzer stand at his side.
"Fable!" said Link firmly. He then nodded once and put Buzzer back onto his feet before raising his hand up into the air with Buzzer's left hand.
I blinked in surprise, was he… honouring his foe?
The crowd, who'd almost to a person had been booing or catcalling me at the start, rose in dribs and drabs to clap.
Before long, everyone in the stands were on their feet cheering for the show of sportsmanship Link had just done.
Buzzer stared at the adoring crowd for a moment before shutting his eyes, passing out still on his feet.
Link stepped back and smiled.
I stared.
Holy Houndoom. That… I wasn't even sure what to call that.
He'd just flipped the crowd with one heartfelt gesture.
Corvo returned his pokemon and gave Link a long, thoughtful look before raising a hand to the referee. "I will withdraw any other pokemon that I might have, I think." He then turned to Link and me and bowed. "The victory is yours, Brock. It is a well earned sweep," he said.
He then raised his hands and clapped, leading a wave of renewed applause.
I laughed and hopped over the podium railing to grab Link and toss him up onto my shoulder.
"You don't even have to try, do you?" I said to Link. I was so getting a poster made of this moment. I'd title it, that's what heroes do.
He shot me a confused look before turning his attention elsewhere to wave to the crowd.
I shook my head and joined him.
The heart of a hero indeed.
And what was more heroic than winning the hearts and minds of the people?
A.N. I was thinking of cutting this off before the Primeape fight but then I got this idea I wanted to play with… it led to Link's moment and I was just like… damn, that really fits, doesn't it?
Super glad I kept writing more for this chapter, as it changes the entire feel with Link stepping up like that.
Thanks to my Patreons for your continued support.
Thanks also go to Twmmy for betaing this chapter.
xbox432
Lover of Editing
Hmm, I see AJ is doing a good job playing Giratina's advocate here. It's good to always have someone in your employ to negate any echo chambers around you.
I'd suggest removing one of those "review" or adding "pre" and "post" to them.
That second "trains" with "trainers".
Oho? So first is Norman as an intermediary, and then Whitney will step in? Soon... soon ALL will know true fear in all its milky horror. I wonder if Brock will warn his siblings before they get suckerpunched with an udder?
Whip - wipe
Slene's - Selene's
to Or - Missing the end of a sentence after "to" I believe...
Unseelie
(Verified True Fae)
- Location
- Tír fo Thuinn
Does Brock not realise (or did you forget) that Tide is Water/Ice?
I mean:
I mean:
They are both super effective against each other.
So does Tide's Ice Beam.
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When did Giratina do anything wrong!?
...except for that one time with Volo?
Could also argue for movie 11, being controlled by unbound hoopa and apparently the adventures manga tho that isn't really that bad for a main legendary especially when you consider all the side games like the mystery dungeons.
frozenchicken
Does not have a custom title.
A Feraligatr named Snapper with all attack moves? I think Brock just fought against my starter from when I played the original silver version.
- Location
- Somewhere
"Dearth" might not be the right word here, given that you're talking about a large amount of info - and 'dearth' would refer to a lack of it.
Maybe "glut" would work better here?
(Not that important-context clues save the day)
Obloquy
CrossMyHeart And HopeToDie, StickANeedleInMyEye
- Location
- the Physical Realm
I love Link's Shounen Honor moment, really well done! Also, I get the idea that Smasher knows Rage Fist but hasn't really crossed whatever breach is necessary to evolve...? Hmm, I wonder if we'll be seeing something new from Corvo, maybe if he interacts with a few of those channelers and realizes Smasher just punched out a ghost.
Chapter 176 - Family downtime
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
When the post-match wrapped up I checked my watch and was pleased to see that I still had plenty of time until my booked Teleport transport was due. I glanced up. There was another Ace match booked in but.. I had already gotten my fill of reviewing potential matchups and trainer fights for the day.
I wanted something else. I shot Yolanda a thoughtful look. She looked a bit tired but still had a bounce in her step thanks to the victory.
"Want to head out to the entertainment area for some fun now that the match is done?" I tapped my Xtransceiver. "We still have another hour before we need to leave," I said.
Yolanda perked up before wilting. "Oh, ummm, won't the locals still be giving us the cold shoulder?" she said.
I grinned at her. "I think, with how everything eventually played out, they'll be rather welcoming, you know?"
Yolanda hummed but decided to nod. Missy and A.J. joined us, and I led us all out to the entertainment area of the pier that encompassed the stadium.
I had to give whoever designed this place some credit; the entire pier was rock solid and despite the moves thrown around in the stadium, there wasn't any shaking going on.
I shook that thought off and turned towards the surrounding entertainment area. A few of the signs still flashed with mine and Corvo's faces but others had snapped onto showing highlights of our match with a caption of 'watch on battlecast for replay' across the bottom.
I hummed and walked into the entertainment area.
A few people glanced in our direction and more than a few gained the light of recognition. Before any bad reactions could form, I tapped two pokeballs and released Gawain and Link. Both of them appeared and blinked in surprise.
"Hey, you two! Great work today!" I said. I waved a hand about us. "We're going to have some fun, interested in joining us?" I said.
Link and Gawain shared a look with each other. They were each the newest members of my Elite squad. They glanced around and then shared another look before each of them gained goofy smiles before they jumped and shot their arms into the air.
"Vor!" "Fable!"
When they jumped for joy I could only laugh as they acted their ages.
Yolanda perked up, realising what I was doing as the people that had been side-eyeing me perked up.
"Hey! That's the Clefable that just fought daddy!" said a girl's voice. "He was really nice!"
I grinned. While Johto was known for their cold shoulders they were also known for recognising kindness more than any other region. Link, without even meaning to, had thawed their response to us.
Thanks to him, all of the vendors that we approached were more than happy to let Yolanda, Missy, Gawain, Link, and I, to play their games.
I had to raise my Xtransciever a few times to take photos of Gawain playing the rubber psyduck game with the tips of his axes instead of the pole and hook provided.
Yolanda dragged the pair of pokemon with her and Terra to a merry-go-round where they all laughed happily. Missy disappeared for a few minutes and came back with an armload of fluffy toys that she shoved into my travel pack.
"You want me to hold these?" I asked curious about what she was doing.
"Hmmm? Oh, no! These are for your little brothers and sisters, don't worry I have tons of toys like this. There are a few tricks you can learn if you spend a bit of time… and way too much money on these things. Once you work out the tricks you can win pretty big," she said with a shrug.
Yolanda heard this and shot me a pleading look. I waved a hand. "Care to show us rookies?" I said, handing Yolanda some money to play with.
From there, we spent the rest of our time playing games with the goal of winning prizes. More often than not I ended up with the consolation prizes but by the end, Yolanda had won herself a plush Bulbasaur while Terra had a smaller plush Tyranitar.
Along the way a few locals who had watched the fight paused to take pictures with us. A few people asked for pictures with Selene and Don and I obliged them. Don seemed very pleased to get praise for how ruthless he'd been during the fight.
Selene, while she was out, had spotted a photo booth and nudged me towards it where she demanded some pictures with me and the others.
By the end, everyone had some photos with Selene in various poses.
As I chuckled over a particularly silly pose of Yolanda and me with Selene held between us. Then I felt my wrist buzz. I checked the time and nodded only to frown as I realised I hadn't seen one person in our group in a while.
"Hey where's A.J.?" I said only to roll my eyes. "No, don't answer that, I know," I said.
We walked back to the beach and sure enough, we found A.J. locked into what appeared to be a doubles battle that he was rather handily wrapping up with his Beedrill and Butterfree beating out a Staryu and Tentacool.
Yolanda waved her hand. "A.J.! You need to wrap things up! We're going to leave soon!" she called out.
A.J. waved back. He collected some winnings from the two trainers he'd been facing before marching up to us.
Yolanda stared at him. "You're… smiling? You never smile."
A.J. continued to grin, "I smile," he said undaunted by Yolanda questioning him.
Yolanda tilted her head. "Are you sure? Usually, you just sort of grump," she said, using her fingers to scowl deeper than she could normally.
A.J. huffed at her. "I just won a lot of really good matches against some decent trainers," he said. He shot me a look. "I think I like the idea of travelling around like this now!" he said.
I snorted. "Of course, you went and got into some fights, but never mind. Good work finding your own fun. Come on, gang, it's time to head home," I said, leading them back to the transport hub where a Hypno would be ready to take us for a multi-legged hop.
As I entered the transport hub, a dark-haired man leaning against the wall kicked off it. "Gym Leader Brock!" he called when he spotted that I'd seen him.
I looked him over and realised that while I'd never met this man, I knew who it was. "Norman right? Or should I call you—"
Norman raised a hand to his lips. "Ah! Sorry, that hasn't been announced to the public yet! The champion is going to release it soon."
"Ah," I said.
Norman waved his hand back and forth. "No worries I thought I'd come meet you before things get too hectic for me."
"Hmmm yeah, you will be busy soon." I said.
Norman bobbed his head in a lopesided manner. "Well about that, I checked the logs and goldenrod has already seen a number of challengers but I thought there might be a need to…" Norman rolled his hand about. "Demonstrate my skills to the public at large, I know I'm seen somewhat as an academic to most people so I wanted to ask a favour if possible."
I nodded, having an idea of what he wanted. "You want to have a friendly match against me?" I said.
Norman nodded "Gym match? So our typings only?" He asked.
I paused and I considered him.
Hmmmm that would make it a touch tougher but also more interesting. Normal versus Rock.
That wasn't a bad idea for him.
Heck, I should probably propose it to Visquez. Norman challenging me made sense, he'd be able to demonstrate his skills to the best effect.
"Yeah, I'd like that. I think we can work something out in the coming weeks," I said, finding myself locking eyes with him and an itch forming as my mind clicked hope that I was facing a challenger.
Norman grinned. "Excellent! I'll arrange a date! Oh! Maybe bring your family with you! I know my family would love to meet some more kids their age."
I nodded, that was right, May and Max were going to be of similar ages to Salvadore and Cindy or Tommy, weren't they? Although they might get on better with Yolanda and Salvadore in truth.
"That sounds nice," I said. Next to me, Rachel was brimming with energy at the potential showdown that she'd get to work on.
Norman nodded once again, "I won't hold you up, good match earlier by the way," he said as he tossed a wave of farewell over his shoulder.
I watched him go feeling an odd stirring in my chest. I'd never gotten to fight the Petalburg Gym during my journey, but in a way… that would be sort of like challenging it. I chuckled and waved my group towards the teleporting berth we'd be using.
It would take another hour or so with the relays that we needed to do with other Teleporting stations, but soon enough, we were back home.
"I'm home!" I announced loudly.
"You were incredible!" shouted Cindy as she stormed towards me.
I raised my hands in readiness for a hug only for Cindy to duck the hug, grab Link's pokeball from my pokebelt and to release him.
She then slammed herself into him. "Eiii! The commentators were all going on about how mean Goldenrod people were being booing Brock like that but then you just made them love you!" she said while clinging to him.
"Clefable?" said Link with a tilt of his head, the only part of him he could currently move.
"We're home with gifts!" shouted Yolanda into the house.
Flint, who'd been in the kitchen emerged with a washcloth in his hands. "Ho? Gifts?" he said even as a stampede erupted from deeper in the house.
I shot Flint a look. "I thought the kids would have been in school during the match?"
Flint smiled. "I made sure to record your match. You did wonderful despite Corvo trying to anticipate you."
I grinned. "Thanks," I said, only to brace as both sets of twins slammed into me. "Brock!" Brock!" "Big Bro!" "Brother!" they all chimed over the top of each other
I gained the mental image of a Pidgeot returning to a nest of Pidgey and having them chirp at him.
"You brought gifts?" they said, completing the mental imagery. I sighed and shot Yolanda an amused look. She merely grinned as Salvadore walked up.
"Hey bro! Great fight! Gawain was great! So were you Link!" Salvadore said, giving Link a small pat that Link rocked away from with a giggle.
I hummed and released Gawain. He appeared with a flash of light and blinked before perking up when he noticed my siblings cheering his name. I chuckled and toyed with the idea of releasing Don before crushing that idea. He wouldn't like being praised like this.
He wanted praise, there was no doubt about that. He was a prideful sort, but he didn't want small grabby hands reaching for him. Him and small children were usually a recipe for tears. Unless Bertha was sitting very close at hand and thumping her club-like tail in warning the entire time.
Hmmmm… I tossed that idea away as Suzie tugged on my pants. "Gifts?" she said with puppy eyes.
I huffed. "Course you heard that," I said in amusement. I reached into my travel pack and started pulling out a number of cuddle toys and cheap plastic toys that we'd won from the Goldenrod entertainment area.
The kids laughed at the silly toys and ran about playing with them. I handed some of the soft toys to Munchlax and Eevee only to pause and realise Gible was here. I blinked and handed him the most solid looking toy I had.
He took it in his mouth and grinned hugely. "Gible!" he said, turning and running away with the toy hanging out of his mouth by its head. It looked very macabre.
"He's cute!" said Billy with a laugh, dropping his toy to give chase.
I raised a hand and considered that for a moment before shaking my head, eh, let him enjoy himself. If he thought a tiny pokemon that were mostly teeth looked cute, who was I to judge? I rubbed my chin in thought. Hmmm, that had potential.
"Hey Flint? Do you want to represent Billy for next weekend's contest that we're running? We're going for a tough theme."
"But Gible is cute?" Flint said with a tilt of his head.
I sighed. "... Just ask Billy if he wants to do it with you. We have a section that is just for presentation and not part of the display-battle traditional contest style of Hoenn." I'd gotten the idea of animal displays at local shows that I had sometimes attended as a visitor and a few times as a competitor.
I turned my attention to the rest of my family and spent some time playing with them and the new toys they had.
Sadly, most of them didn't last very long due to how cheaply made they were. Suzie was the first to come up to me with her plushies' arm ripped off. I grabbed the sewing kit and reattached the limb before strengthening the rest of the stretches.
"Thank you toy doctor Brock!" chimed Suzie happily as she took her plushie away.
As soon as she was done, Tommy presented himself. "Toy doctor Brock?" he said, presenting his. His toy had the head, and the legs ripped off.
I stared at the toy seriously. I wanted to say, 'He's dead, Jim' but that would never go over well with a child, so instead I nodded. "You brought him to me just in time; I think we can attach him to life support."
"I'm the Nurse Joy!" said Suzie, claiming the spot next to me. She then took the toy's arm. "There, there's a little guy, who's a brave boy?"
She leaned down and gave the paw of the ursaring toy a smooch only for the arm to fall off.
"Ah!" she screamed. "I didn't do it!" she shouted, leaping over the couch only to trip and faceplant with a heavy thump.
I grimaced. "Oh dear," I said.
Suzie raised her head, locked eyes with me and started to tear up.
"Walk it off?" I offered hopefully.
She tried, standing heroically lip quivering, only for her hands to shoot to her forehead. "It hurts!" she wailed.
"Yeah I didn't think that would work," I said, scoping her up for a hug. I carted her over to the medical kit and became 'Doctor Brock' for a few minutes. A small bandage was put on her head to help keep the pain going away along with a lollipop.
She then sat in my lap for the rest of the 'surgery' with the Ursaring toy.
"How come you're stitching up the parts that aren't broken?" asked Suzie seriously after a few minutes of work.
I tugged on the cheap stitching. "See these here? They're quite weak, so I'm just strengthening them up with a Ladder stitch."
Tommy walked up with Timmy, who'd come to see how long the surgery would take, only for Tommy to tilt his head. "How come you're doing a girl's job Brock? Shouldn't you get Yolanda to do that?"
I could feel Yolanda's head turning and her glare settling upon Tommy.
"It's not a girl or a boy job; it's just a job," I said reasonably.
Sadly, reason wasn't that useful against seven-year-olds. "No, it's a girl's job!" he said.
"Hmmm what makes it a girl's job?"
"It's stitching! And only girls do that!" he said, crossing his arms and nodding seriously. Timmy copied him, and I felt a small part of me perk up. Ah, this was one of those moments that came along sometimes, and as an older sibling/parent you needed to be watching for them.
Sadly, as I could attest, you weren't always going to be at your best when such developmental moments reared their heads.
"So only women can be doctors?" I asked.
That got Tommy and Timmy to blink in surprise. I continued the assault to hammer home the point I wanted to make. "What about Leatherworkers? Bookbinders? Quilters? Tailors? Sailmaker? Shoemaker? Dressmakers?"
"Well! Some of those are… girl jobs and some of those are boy jobs!" said Tommy
I shook my head. "That's not the case, actually. Lots of people do different jobs depending on what they want to or are good at." Or what they need to do. But I wasn't going to say that last part as the discussions around economic unfairness weren't something that would register to young kids. Not unless you had a really simple method which I currently lacked. Maybe I needed to rent out some more parenting books?
It had been a while.
Thank Arceus that Flint had come back when he did otherwise I would have drowned in responsibilities and Will would have easily skated… I paused and played that thought back over in my mind.
Huh, I hadn't thought of it that way. But, it really had been a good thing having Flint back home. He'd been able to cover a lot of the tasks I typically handled.
I shot Suzie's dress a quick look over and found that the stitching done there to patch up a tear was actually better than mine. Huh, would you look at that?
"Brock!" said Tommy, stomping his foot to get my attention.
"Hmmm?" I said finishing up the stitch before tying it out, my mind returning from the Furret hole it had been running along.
"Girls are better at stitching! And Boys are better at tough stuff!" he said, stomping his foot.
"So like Trixie and Sabrina? They're pretty tough, right?" I poked holes in his argument right away. "Agatha, Janine, Sophia, Daisy, Lorelei, and Erika…" I tilted my head. I was probably forgetting people, and that was without getting into Johto Gym Leaders.
"Okay! So…" Tommy tilted his head. "What does that mean?"
"It means there are a lot of jobs and that there is no job that is specifically only done by boys or girls," I said. I made the Ursaring toy dance in front of them. "Flint and I both needed to know how to stitch to look after you, and it's not a bad idea to have a good idea how to do things like this. Then you can be the one looking after your toys, or maybe even adding to them." I said. I then punched the arms forward. "Four armed Ursaring!" I said.
I shrugged. "Or it could be a neat hobby."
Tommy blinked at this before shaking his head. "I think I need to go lay down and process this."
I snorted. "Yeah, you do that. It can be tough having your world flipped around like that," I said, handing the Ursaring toy back to Timmy.
He gave it a cuddle and toddled off without any complaints, so I counted that a win for me, and I'd gotten Tommy to lay down and think, which was also a win considering that my audience was a young boy.
Flint shot me a thumbs up and I shot back a smile before kissing Suzie on the back of the head. "So, are we watching movies and ordering Rapidash Pizza tonight?" I prompted.
This got a resounding cheer from the kids which I capitalised on by clapping my hands. "You know the drill then! No pizza is to be ordered until everyone's teeth are brushed, faces and hands are clean and you're in your pajamas." I said firmly.
This caused another stampede with Gible caught in the middle, thoroughly unsure what to do with himself. He chased one child around only for another to charge past him resulting in him switching targets.
Eventually, Salvadore snatched him up and grabbed a spare toothbrush to brush his teeth. Gible seemed to rather like this but then again, he was generally a very jolly fellow.
When everything was settled and the family assembled on the couch I gave them all a stern expression. "Hmmm, adequate," I said with a fake haughty sniff. I then drew up the pokenet page for Poliwag's pizzeria. "So what will we have?" I asked.
The kids started shouting various things at me which I dutifully added to the cart. Munchalx leaned in to whisper things to Suzie which she added resulting in a cart that listed off twenty pizzas. I made a game of pretending to be perplexed by this much to the kids' amusement.
Link and Gawain were still here so I included them on the order with some specialty pizza before shrugging and deciding to get some for my Elite team as a whole, taking the list up for forty pizzas.
Munchlax, who could see things through his christmas had come early only to refute when I told him who the extra pizzas were actually for.
A flash of light made me glance over to find a rather bedraggled-looking Sabrina had just arrived. She grabbed her transceiver and pressed a few buttons before sighing. "I'll have a meatlover's with extra onion," she said.
She then waved to my family. Suzie leapt into a hug for Sabrina and Sabrina accepted it. When Gible leapt at her she telekinetically caught him in the air much to his shock. Sabrina blinked. "Ah, I apologise, when something with that many teeth lunges at me, I have a set response."
"That makes a lot of sense, I have the same response for Munchlax!" Suzie said with a nod. Munchlax blinked at her and opened his mouth to feel around for how big his teeth were.
He then shrugged and ran at Suzie. Suzie put a hand to her head and pretended to copy Sabrina. "Freeze!" she said, and Munchalx froze dutifully.
Sabrina nodded her head, and I smiled. I'd seen her twitch if Munchlax had committed to a leap but the bond between Suzie and Munchlax meant they didn't have to worry about hurting each other.
Sabrina hovered Gible into her arms for a quick pat before handing him off to me. "I'll be having a shower before coming out to watch the movie, I'm done with any League assistance for the next week at least," she said.
"Perfectly reasonable," I replied, sending out the order, minus the extra pizza that Suzie had ordered for Munchlax.
Within a few minutes, Sabrina returned with a towel around her hair in her pajamas. She settled in next to me and yawned.
"Hmmm Detective Pikachu and the mystery of the unknown?" she said. I nodded. I'd watched this twice already but the little kids loved it so it was fairly common to see. Sabrina could recognise the scenes as and so she just focussed on getting comfortable and relaxing.
When the pizzas arrived they came with a small herd of Rapidash and Gawain and Link led two of the horse pokemon and their trainers around the back to dish out the pizza to my Elite team with me.
I had to stop a feeding frenzy from occurring with Don being adamant he needed three pizza himself despite the specialty pizza being much bigger than a standard human pizza. I distributed them and returned to my own family to find them in various states of food coma having gorged themselves.
Flint looked far too amused, and Sabrina looked too tired to care that some of the kids had rather swollen stomachs. Munchlax was still working his way through the pizza while Gible was devouring the pizza boxes.
"Should he be eating those?" Flint asked worriedly.
I shrugged. "Eh, it's mostly paper and pizza oil, he'll be fine," I said without too much concern. Only to then have to stop him from eating the next five pizza boxes.
"Thought you said he could eat those?" said Flint as he watched on from the side with a smirk.
"Some of them! I said. Not all of them! Moderation is key cause he's tiny!" I said, shoving my hand into Gible's mouth fearlessly to draw out the pizza box.
When that was over and the youngest kids were being sent to bed, Suzie marched up to Sabrina and me. "Can you read the book to me, Sabrina?"
"The book?" Sabrina said, making sure to give the word enough gravitas.
Suzie nodded and presented Sabrina with a very particular book. Sabrina inspected the book seriously. "The great book of poop?" She read aloud.
Suzie grinned. "It's great!" she said, and I had to smile. She'd recently lost one of her front teeth and it made her look rather cute with the gap in her smile as her.
Sabrina shot me an amused look while Flint facepalmed. "You've been reading this to her?"
"Yup!" I said shamelessly. "Readings a good habit to get into, so what if the topic is silly."
Sabrina nodded and marched off to read a book about poop to a four-year-old. I watched her go and felt my heart swell a little.
When she came back, I led her to the kitchen. The other kids were happy enough watching another movie so I spent some time with her enjoying a cup of cocoa.
"So, the League got pushy again?" I said.
"Yes, and they raised several good points for my assistance, but this time I've told them to just do it the old-fashioned way. I was running into walls with how much everyone knew and it was becoming a bit… too much for me."
"I can't imagine the conditions would have been good for it, and well… the act itself?"
Sabrina sighed. "It is taxing but it also… it becomes a bit too easy after a while of doing it over and over. I started to reflexively do it on the guards when they stepped in. The situation was getting to me so I told Lance no more."
"Good," I said firmly, wrapping my arm around her and kissing her on the temple. She sighed and leaned into me.
She then peered up at me. "I didn't get to watch your match against Corvo, can we go watch it in your room? I'd like to see how it went."
I smiled, knowing she'd like seeing Selene do well, and Link's showing was sure to give her some more energy. "Sure thing," I said, standing to walk, only for Sabrian to Teleport us both.
I chuckled at that before cueing up the match on my tv.
When the match was over Sabrina pointed out the rough spots and also the good adaptations I'd made to the team and my planning. "You're getting stronger, and smarter about this," she said, giving me a kiss.
"It takes a lot of different skills than being a Gym Leader, that's for sure, it also…" I twirled my hand about. "You need to be more fluid in your thinking and more ready in case things change." I tapped on my chest. "You can't just rely on the same pokemon and the same tricks that were great at the Gym circuit, most people have seen those, you really have to start thinking about how people are going to react to your tricks and plan accordingly. It's.. a lot of fun."
"I noticed, you were smiling during the match a lot and you're smiling now," Sabrina said. "It's good to see you smiling like this."
I chuckled. "Well thanks, but now I feel bad because with how tired you've been I haven't seen you smile much lately."
Sabrina allowed herself a softer smile. "This is how I've been smiling. When you ran the bath and left me with it without bothering me, with how you're happy for snuggles and hugs without pushing me when I'm tired. I know you've made me smile a lot." she kissed me then. "Don't worry, I'm not helping the League out any more. In fact I will make sure to have some time set aside to come and watch you next week in Celadon."
"Yeah?" I asked, "That'd be great."
Sabrina nodded before gaining a much more predatory smile. Her hand on my chest started to glide lower. "Now, I can think other ways you and I can… smile," she said huskily
I was entirely down for this sort of night time activity.
In the morning, I stretched luxuriously and kissed Sabrina as we lay entwined.
"Morning," I said. Sabrina grumbled at me and then rolled over. I huffed and took a shower before heading out. With a later start, I hurried out to feed my elite and check on the reserve.
All of the pokemon were there and looking very pleased with themselves. They'd really liked their pizza snack after the last two days of a controlled diet for their matches. Zubat looked a bit swollen so I assumed she must have gotten her fill of the pizza and then some.
"Right, sorry to say that you won't be getting too many more treats like that," I said, knowing full well that there was an ice creamery in Celadon that served pokemon.
Titan shot me a wink, well aware of said cafe.
I coughed and continued. As long as Bertha didn't learn about it, I would only have to take the group a few times.
"Now, until next Monday you're all on light duties, I've spoken to you before but we're going to have to stay fairly dynamic with which pokemon get to fight, when there are restrictions to consider. I will need to blend things pretty well." I then turned to the single Cradilly and Lileep in the training area.
"That being said I can devote a bit more time to both of you as neither of you are up to the Elite level as I deem it just yet. Everyone else is to go through a light warm up run, then some stretches with light sparing. Tomorrow we'll have some games to play instead to keep things as risk free as possible."
Don screeched angrily at this and Bertha pumped her fist. I rolled my eyes. "That does mean the inflatable headgear, yes," I said.
For Zubat that meant she'd become a floating orb that would bounce into people and then off them. I was expecting a comedy of error with her wearing protective gear.
I then shot Don a look. "You don't have to take part, remember? You usually just sit on the side and mock everyone!" I said.
Don paused and then grinned realising that was what he usually did. I decided not to bait him into doing something stupid while his daughter watched on but Bertha had no such restraint.
"Rhy Rhy Perior—" she started to say. I didn't need to speak pokemon to know what she was saying. I lunged over and put my hands in front of her mouth to shut her up.
"AS I WAS SAYING!" I bellowed.
Bertha laughed and thankfully shut up instead of pushing the point. I detailed how things were going to go and then shifted focus onto running through a light session before working Cradily and Lileep. For part of this, I referenced a journal article Erika had written up for me.
It was strange to have to blend Rock type training methods with grass type. A lot of this revolved around strong defence with the potential for quick, vibrant regrowth that started days, if not weeks prior with good pokemon care.
It was a different sort of challenge and I had some doubts that I'd have Cradily ready to enter my Elite team for a while yet, I'd just have to keep her on the fourth badge tier team for a while for some experience. When she started feeling a bit too overpowered I could try otherwise. It was that, ori engaged in some more simple friendly matches just for a bit of pocket change with some of the battleclub locals.
Both ideas had merit.
Then again, everything I did with Cradily that worked I needed to repeat with Steven Stone's pokemon. I wasn't about to trade off a pokemon that was weak after all.
Actually, now that I thought about it, it was strange that Steven hadn't contacted me, or Sabrina at all about her mega evolution.
Perhaps he would when I eventually revealed to the public that Jormungandr was capable of it as well.
For now, I got stuck into work with my grass-rock type ,stretching and bending with them, testing how quickly they could bend and twist themselves to get a feel for their actions before having them lash out their attacks as practice.
When it reached breakfast time Yolanda and Sabrina walked out to meet me.
It felt like a good start to a lazy weekend that would lead into a frantic week.
"Brock, Lance is giving a press conference," Sabrina said.
I blinked, realising exactly what this would mean.
"Well, I can still have a lazy weekend… but there's going to be a lot of attention sent our way on Monday, isn't there?"
Sabrina raised an unimpressed eyebrow and I sighed. "Alright, I'll call Rachel up and see if we can release our own press statement." I rolled my shoulders and waved the girls into the lounge room. "Not that it will reduce the attention we get," I grumbled.
Damn, I'd forgotten about this.
Maybe Lance wouldn't mention me?
I straight away knew those were short odds.
A.N. Thanks for my Patreons for your continued support!
Thanks also go to Twmmy for betaing this chapter!
I wanted something else. I shot Yolanda a thoughtful look. She looked a bit tired but still had a bounce in her step thanks to the victory.
"Want to head out to the entertainment area for some fun now that the match is done?" I tapped my Xtransceiver. "We still have another hour before we need to leave," I said.
Yolanda perked up before wilting. "Oh, ummm, won't the locals still be giving us the cold shoulder?" she said.
I grinned at her. "I think, with how everything eventually played out, they'll be rather welcoming, you know?"
Yolanda hummed but decided to nod. Missy and A.J. joined us, and I led us all out to the entertainment area of the pier that encompassed the stadium.
I had to give whoever designed this place some credit; the entire pier was rock solid and despite the moves thrown around in the stadium, there wasn't any shaking going on.
I shook that thought off and turned towards the surrounding entertainment area. A few of the signs still flashed with mine and Corvo's faces but others had snapped onto showing highlights of our match with a caption of 'watch on battlecast for replay' across the bottom.
I hummed and walked into the entertainment area.
A few people glanced in our direction and more than a few gained the light of recognition. Before any bad reactions could form, I tapped two pokeballs and released Gawain and Link. Both of them appeared and blinked in surprise.
"Hey, you two! Great work today!" I said. I waved a hand about us. "We're going to have some fun, interested in joining us?" I said.
Link and Gawain shared a look with each other. They were each the newest members of my Elite squad. They glanced around and then shared another look before each of them gained goofy smiles before they jumped and shot their arms into the air.
"Vor!" "Fable!"
When they jumped for joy I could only laugh as they acted their ages.
Yolanda perked up, realising what I was doing as the people that had been side-eyeing me perked up.
"Hey! That's the Clefable that just fought daddy!" said a girl's voice. "He was really nice!"
I grinned. While Johto was known for their cold shoulders they were also known for recognising kindness more than any other region. Link, without even meaning to, had thawed their response to us.
Thanks to him, all of the vendors that we approached were more than happy to let Yolanda, Missy, Gawain, Link, and I, to play their games.
I had to raise my Xtransciever a few times to take photos of Gawain playing the rubber psyduck game with the tips of his axes instead of the pole and hook provided.
Yolanda dragged the pair of pokemon with her and Terra to a merry-go-round where they all laughed happily. Missy disappeared for a few minutes and came back with an armload of fluffy toys that she shoved into my travel pack.
"You want me to hold these?" I asked curious about what she was doing.
"Hmmm? Oh, no! These are for your little brothers and sisters, don't worry I have tons of toys like this. There are a few tricks you can learn if you spend a bit of time… and way too much money on these things. Once you work out the tricks you can win pretty big," she said with a shrug.
Yolanda heard this and shot me a pleading look. I waved a hand. "Care to show us rookies?" I said, handing Yolanda some money to play with.
From there, we spent the rest of our time playing games with the goal of winning prizes. More often than not I ended up with the consolation prizes but by the end, Yolanda had won herself a plush Bulbasaur while Terra had a smaller plush Tyranitar.
Along the way a few locals who had watched the fight paused to take pictures with us. A few people asked for pictures with Selene and Don and I obliged them. Don seemed very pleased to get praise for how ruthless he'd been during the fight.
Selene, while she was out, had spotted a photo booth and nudged me towards it where she demanded some pictures with me and the others.
By the end, everyone had some photos with Selene in various poses.
As I chuckled over a particularly silly pose of Yolanda and me with Selene held between us. Then I felt my wrist buzz. I checked the time and nodded only to frown as I realised I hadn't seen one person in our group in a while.
"Hey where's A.J.?" I said only to roll my eyes. "No, don't answer that, I know," I said.
We walked back to the beach and sure enough, we found A.J. locked into what appeared to be a doubles battle that he was rather handily wrapping up with his Beedrill and Butterfree beating out a Staryu and Tentacool.
Yolanda waved her hand. "A.J.! You need to wrap things up! We're going to leave soon!" she called out.
A.J. waved back. He collected some winnings from the two trainers he'd been facing before marching up to us.
Yolanda stared at him. "You're… smiling? You never smile."
A.J. continued to grin, "I smile," he said undaunted by Yolanda questioning him.
Yolanda tilted her head. "Are you sure? Usually, you just sort of grump," she said, using her fingers to scowl deeper than she could normally.
A.J. huffed at her. "I just won a lot of really good matches against some decent trainers," he said. He shot me a look. "I think I like the idea of travelling around like this now!" he said.
I snorted. "Of course, you went and got into some fights, but never mind. Good work finding your own fun. Come on, gang, it's time to head home," I said, leading them back to the transport hub where a Hypno would be ready to take us for a multi-legged hop.
As I entered the transport hub, a dark-haired man leaning against the wall kicked off it. "Gym Leader Brock!" he called when he spotted that I'd seen him.
I looked him over and realised that while I'd never met this man, I knew who it was. "Norman right? Or should I call you—"
Norman raised a hand to his lips. "Ah! Sorry, that hasn't been announced to the public yet! The champion is going to release it soon."
"Ah," I said.
Norman waved his hand back and forth. "No worries I thought I'd come meet you before things get too hectic for me."
"Hmmm yeah, you will be busy soon." I said.
Norman bobbed his head in a lopesided manner. "Well about that, I checked the logs and goldenrod has already seen a number of challengers but I thought there might be a need to…" Norman rolled his hand about. "Demonstrate my skills to the public at large, I know I'm seen somewhat as an academic to most people so I wanted to ask a favour if possible."
I nodded, having an idea of what he wanted. "You want to have a friendly match against me?" I said.
Norman nodded "Gym match? So our typings only?" He asked.
I paused and I considered him.
Hmmmm that would make it a touch tougher but also more interesting. Normal versus Rock.
That wasn't a bad idea for him.
Heck, I should probably propose it to Visquez. Norman challenging me made sense, he'd be able to demonstrate his skills to the best effect.
"Yeah, I'd like that. I think we can work something out in the coming weeks," I said, finding myself locking eyes with him and an itch forming as my mind clicked hope that I was facing a challenger.
Norman grinned. "Excellent! I'll arrange a date! Oh! Maybe bring your family with you! I know my family would love to meet some more kids their age."
I nodded, that was right, May and Max were going to be of similar ages to Salvadore and Cindy or Tommy, weren't they? Although they might get on better with Yolanda and Salvadore in truth.
"That sounds nice," I said. Next to me, Rachel was brimming with energy at the potential showdown that she'd get to work on.
Norman nodded once again, "I won't hold you up, good match earlier by the way," he said as he tossed a wave of farewell over his shoulder.
I watched him go feeling an odd stirring in my chest. I'd never gotten to fight the Petalburg Gym during my journey, but in a way… that would be sort of like challenging it. I chuckled and waved my group towards the teleporting berth we'd be using.
It would take another hour or so with the relays that we needed to do with other Teleporting stations, but soon enough, we were back home.
"I'm home!" I announced loudly.
"You were incredible!" shouted Cindy as she stormed towards me.
I raised my hands in readiness for a hug only for Cindy to duck the hug, grab Link's pokeball from my pokebelt and to release him.
She then slammed herself into him. "Eiii! The commentators were all going on about how mean Goldenrod people were being booing Brock like that but then you just made them love you!" she said while clinging to him.
"Clefable?" said Link with a tilt of his head, the only part of him he could currently move.
"We're home with gifts!" shouted Yolanda into the house.
Flint, who'd been in the kitchen emerged with a washcloth in his hands. "Ho? Gifts?" he said even as a stampede erupted from deeper in the house.
I shot Flint a look. "I thought the kids would have been in school during the match?"
Flint smiled. "I made sure to record your match. You did wonderful despite Corvo trying to anticipate you."
I grinned. "Thanks," I said, only to brace as both sets of twins slammed into me. "Brock!" Brock!" "Big Bro!" "Brother!" they all chimed over the top of each other
I gained the mental image of a Pidgeot returning to a nest of Pidgey and having them chirp at him.
"You brought gifts?" they said, completing the mental imagery. I sighed and shot Yolanda an amused look. She merely grinned as Salvadore walked up.
"Hey bro! Great fight! Gawain was great! So were you Link!" Salvadore said, giving Link a small pat that Link rocked away from with a giggle.
I hummed and released Gawain. He appeared with a flash of light and blinked before perking up when he noticed my siblings cheering his name. I chuckled and toyed with the idea of releasing Don before crushing that idea. He wouldn't like being praised like this.
He wanted praise, there was no doubt about that. He was a prideful sort, but he didn't want small grabby hands reaching for him. Him and small children were usually a recipe for tears. Unless Bertha was sitting very close at hand and thumping her club-like tail in warning the entire time.
Hmmmm… I tossed that idea away as Suzie tugged on my pants. "Gifts?" she said with puppy eyes.
I huffed. "Course you heard that," I said in amusement. I reached into my travel pack and started pulling out a number of cuddle toys and cheap plastic toys that we'd won from the Goldenrod entertainment area.
The kids laughed at the silly toys and ran about playing with them. I handed some of the soft toys to Munchlax and Eevee only to pause and realise Gible was here. I blinked and handed him the most solid looking toy I had.
He took it in his mouth and grinned hugely. "Gible!" he said, turning and running away with the toy hanging out of his mouth by its head. It looked very macabre.
"He's cute!" said Billy with a laugh, dropping his toy to give chase.
I raised a hand and considered that for a moment before shaking my head, eh, let him enjoy himself. If he thought a tiny pokemon that were mostly teeth looked cute, who was I to judge? I rubbed my chin in thought. Hmmm, that had potential.
"Hey Flint? Do you want to represent Billy for next weekend's contest that we're running? We're going for a tough theme."
"But Gible is cute?" Flint said with a tilt of his head.
I sighed. "... Just ask Billy if he wants to do it with you. We have a section that is just for presentation and not part of the display-battle traditional contest style of Hoenn." I'd gotten the idea of animal displays at local shows that I had sometimes attended as a visitor and a few times as a competitor.
I turned my attention to the rest of my family and spent some time playing with them and the new toys they had.
Sadly, most of them didn't last very long due to how cheaply made they were. Suzie was the first to come up to me with her plushies' arm ripped off. I grabbed the sewing kit and reattached the limb before strengthening the rest of the stretches.
"Thank you toy doctor Brock!" chimed Suzie happily as she took her plushie away.
As soon as she was done, Tommy presented himself. "Toy doctor Brock?" he said, presenting his. His toy had the head, and the legs ripped off.
I stared at the toy seriously. I wanted to say, 'He's dead, Jim' but that would never go over well with a child, so instead I nodded. "You brought him to me just in time; I think we can attach him to life support."
"I'm the Nurse Joy!" said Suzie, claiming the spot next to me. She then took the toy's arm. "There, there's a little guy, who's a brave boy?"
She leaned down and gave the paw of the ursaring toy a smooch only for the arm to fall off.
"Ah!" she screamed. "I didn't do it!" she shouted, leaping over the couch only to trip and faceplant with a heavy thump.
I grimaced. "Oh dear," I said.
Suzie raised her head, locked eyes with me and started to tear up.
"Walk it off?" I offered hopefully.
She tried, standing heroically lip quivering, only for her hands to shoot to her forehead. "It hurts!" she wailed.
"Yeah I didn't think that would work," I said, scoping her up for a hug. I carted her over to the medical kit and became 'Doctor Brock' for a few minutes. A small bandage was put on her head to help keep the pain going away along with a lollipop.
She then sat in my lap for the rest of the 'surgery' with the Ursaring toy.
"How come you're stitching up the parts that aren't broken?" asked Suzie seriously after a few minutes of work.
I tugged on the cheap stitching. "See these here? They're quite weak, so I'm just strengthening them up with a Ladder stitch."
Tommy walked up with Timmy, who'd come to see how long the surgery would take, only for Tommy to tilt his head. "How come you're doing a girl's job Brock? Shouldn't you get Yolanda to do that?"
I could feel Yolanda's head turning and her glare settling upon Tommy.
"It's not a girl or a boy job; it's just a job," I said reasonably.
Sadly, reason wasn't that useful against seven-year-olds. "No, it's a girl's job!" he said.
"Hmmm what makes it a girl's job?"
"It's stitching! And only girls do that!" he said, crossing his arms and nodding seriously. Timmy copied him, and I felt a small part of me perk up. Ah, this was one of those moments that came along sometimes, and as an older sibling/parent you needed to be watching for them.
Sadly, as I could attest, you weren't always going to be at your best when such developmental moments reared their heads.
"So only women can be doctors?" I asked.
That got Tommy and Timmy to blink in surprise. I continued the assault to hammer home the point I wanted to make. "What about Leatherworkers? Bookbinders? Quilters? Tailors? Sailmaker? Shoemaker? Dressmakers?"
"Well! Some of those are… girl jobs and some of those are boy jobs!" said Tommy
I shook my head. "That's not the case, actually. Lots of people do different jobs depending on what they want to or are good at." Or what they need to do. But I wasn't going to say that last part as the discussions around economic unfairness weren't something that would register to young kids. Not unless you had a really simple method which I currently lacked. Maybe I needed to rent out some more parenting books?
It had been a while.
Thank Arceus that Flint had come back when he did otherwise I would have drowned in responsibilities and Will would have easily skated… I paused and played that thought back over in my mind.
Huh, I hadn't thought of it that way. But, it really had been a good thing having Flint back home. He'd been able to cover a lot of the tasks I typically handled.
I shot Suzie's dress a quick look over and found that the stitching done there to patch up a tear was actually better than mine. Huh, would you look at that?
"Brock!" said Tommy, stomping his foot to get my attention.
"Hmmm?" I said finishing up the stitch before tying it out, my mind returning from the Furret hole it had been running along.
"Girls are better at stitching! And Boys are better at tough stuff!" he said, stomping his foot.
"So like Trixie and Sabrina? They're pretty tough, right?" I poked holes in his argument right away. "Agatha, Janine, Sophia, Daisy, Lorelei, and Erika…" I tilted my head. I was probably forgetting people, and that was without getting into Johto Gym Leaders.
"Okay! So…" Tommy tilted his head. "What does that mean?"
"It means there are a lot of jobs and that there is no job that is specifically only done by boys or girls," I said. I made the Ursaring toy dance in front of them. "Flint and I both needed to know how to stitch to look after you, and it's not a bad idea to have a good idea how to do things like this. Then you can be the one looking after your toys, or maybe even adding to them." I said. I then punched the arms forward. "Four armed Ursaring!" I said.
I shrugged. "Or it could be a neat hobby."
Tommy blinked at this before shaking his head. "I think I need to go lay down and process this."
I snorted. "Yeah, you do that. It can be tough having your world flipped around like that," I said, handing the Ursaring toy back to Timmy.
He gave it a cuddle and toddled off without any complaints, so I counted that a win for me, and I'd gotten Tommy to lay down and think, which was also a win considering that my audience was a young boy.
Flint shot me a thumbs up and I shot back a smile before kissing Suzie on the back of the head. "So, are we watching movies and ordering Rapidash Pizza tonight?" I prompted.
This got a resounding cheer from the kids which I capitalised on by clapping my hands. "You know the drill then! No pizza is to be ordered until everyone's teeth are brushed, faces and hands are clean and you're in your pajamas." I said firmly.
This caused another stampede with Gible caught in the middle, thoroughly unsure what to do with himself. He chased one child around only for another to charge past him resulting in him switching targets.
Eventually, Salvadore snatched him up and grabbed a spare toothbrush to brush his teeth. Gible seemed to rather like this but then again, he was generally a very jolly fellow.
When everything was settled and the family assembled on the couch I gave them all a stern expression. "Hmmm, adequate," I said with a fake haughty sniff. I then drew up the pokenet page for Poliwag's pizzeria. "So what will we have?" I asked.
The kids started shouting various things at me which I dutifully added to the cart. Munchalx leaned in to whisper things to Suzie which she added resulting in a cart that listed off twenty pizzas. I made a game of pretending to be perplexed by this much to the kids' amusement.
Link and Gawain were still here so I included them on the order with some specialty pizza before shrugging and deciding to get some for my Elite team as a whole, taking the list up for forty pizzas.
Munchlax, who could see things through his christmas had come early only to refute when I told him who the extra pizzas were actually for.
A flash of light made me glance over to find a rather bedraggled-looking Sabrina had just arrived. She grabbed her transceiver and pressed a few buttons before sighing. "I'll have a meatlover's with extra onion," she said.
She then waved to my family. Suzie leapt into a hug for Sabrina and Sabrina accepted it. When Gible leapt at her she telekinetically caught him in the air much to his shock. Sabrina blinked. "Ah, I apologise, when something with that many teeth lunges at me, I have a set response."
"That makes a lot of sense, I have the same response for Munchlax!" Suzie said with a nod. Munchlax blinked at her and opened his mouth to feel around for how big his teeth were.
He then shrugged and ran at Suzie. Suzie put a hand to her head and pretended to copy Sabrina. "Freeze!" she said, and Munchalx froze dutifully.
Sabrina nodded her head, and I smiled. I'd seen her twitch if Munchlax had committed to a leap but the bond between Suzie and Munchlax meant they didn't have to worry about hurting each other.
Sabrina hovered Gible into her arms for a quick pat before handing him off to me. "I'll be having a shower before coming out to watch the movie, I'm done with any League assistance for the next week at least," she said.
"Perfectly reasonable," I replied, sending out the order, minus the extra pizza that Suzie had ordered for Munchlax.
Within a few minutes, Sabrina returned with a towel around her hair in her pajamas. She settled in next to me and yawned.
"Hmmm Detective Pikachu and the mystery of the unknown?" she said. I nodded. I'd watched this twice already but the little kids loved it so it was fairly common to see. Sabrina could recognise the scenes as and so she just focussed on getting comfortable and relaxing.
When the pizzas arrived they came with a small herd of Rapidash and Gawain and Link led two of the horse pokemon and their trainers around the back to dish out the pizza to my Elite team with me.
I had to stop a feeding frenzy from occurring with Don being adamant he needed three pizza himself despite the specialty pizza being much bigger than a standard human pizza. I distributed them and returned to my own family to find them in various states of food coma having gorged themselves.
Flint looked far too amused, and Sabrina looked too tired to care that some of the kids had rather swollen stomachs. Munchlax was still working his way through the pizza while Gible was devouring the pizza boxes.
"Should he be eating those?" Flint asked worriedly.
I shrugged. "Eh, it's mostly paper and pizza oil, he'll be fine," I said without too much concern. Only to then have to stop him from eating the next five pizza boxes.
"Thought you said he could eat those?" said Flint as he watched on from the side with a smirk.
"Some of them! I said. Not all of them! Moderation is key cause he's tiny!" I said, shoving my hand into Gible's mouth fearlessly to draw out the pizza box.
When that was over and the youngest kids were being sent to bed, Suzie marched up to Sabrina and me. "Can you read the book to me, Sabrina?"
"The book?" Sabrina said, making sure to give the word enough gravitas.
Suzie nodded and presented Sabrina with a very particular book. Sabrina inspected the book seriously. "The great book of poop?" She read aloud.
Suzie grinned. "It's great!" she said, and I had to smile. She'd recently lost one of her front teeth and it made her look rather cute with the gap in her smile as her.
Sabrina shot me an amused look while Flint facepalmed. "You've been reading this to her?"
"Yup!" I said shamelessly. "Readings a good habit to get into, so what if the topic is silly."
Sabrina nodded and marched off to read a book about poop to a four-year-old. I watched her go and felt my heart swell a little.
When she came back, I led her to the kitchen. The other kids were happy enough watching another movie so I spent some time with her enjoying a cup of cocoa.
"So, the League got pushy again?" I said.
"Yes, and they raised several good points for my assistance, but this time I've told them to just do it the old-fashioned way. I was running into walls with how much everyone knew and it was becoming a bit… too much for me."
"I can't imagine the conditions would have been good for it, and well… the act itself?"
Sabrina sighed. "It is taxing but it also… it becomes a bit too easy after a while of doing it over and over. I started to reflexively do it on the guards when they stepped in. The situation was getting to me so I told Lance no more."
"Good," I said firmly, wrapping my arm around her and kissing her on the temple. She sighed and leaned into me.
She then peered up at me. "I didn't get to watch your match against Corvo, can we go watch it in your room? I'd like to see how it went."
I smiled, knowing she'd like seeing Selene do well, and Link's showing was sure to give her some more energy. "Sure thing," I said, standing to walk, only for Sabrian to Teleport us both.
I chuckled at that before cueing up the match on my tv.
When the match was over Sabrina pointed out the rough spots and also the good adaptations I'd made to the team and my planning. "You're getting stronger, and smarter about this," she said, giving me a kiss.
"It takes a lot of different skills than being a Gym Leader, that's for sure, it also…" I twirled my hand about. "You need to be more fluid in your thinking and more ready in case things change." I tapped on my chest. "You can't just rely on the same pokemon and the same tricks that were great at the Gym circuit, most people have seen those, you really have to start thinking about how people are going to react to your tricks and plan accordingly. It's.. a lot of fun."
"I noticed, you were smiling during the match a lot and you're smiling now," Sabrina said. "It's good to see you smiling like this."
I chuckled. "Well thanks, but now I feel bad because with how tired you've been I haven't seen you smile much lately."
Sabrina allowed herself a softer smile. "This is how I've been smiling. When you ran the bath and left me with it without bothering me, with how you're happy for snuggles and hugs without pushing me when I'm tired. I know you've made me smile a lot." she kissed me then. "Don't worry, I'm not helping the League out any more. In fact I will make sure to have some time set aside to come and watch you next week in Celadon."
"Yeah?" I asked, "That'd be great."
Sabrina nodded before gaining a much more predatory smile. Her hand on my chest started to glide lower. "Now, I can think other ways you and I can… smile," she said huskily
I was entirely down for this sort of night time activity.
In the morning, I stretched luxuriously and kissed Sabrina as we lay entwined.
"Morning," I said. Sabrina grumbled at me and then rolled over. I huffed and took a shower before heading out. With a later start, I hurried out to feed my elite and check on the reserve.
All of the pokemon were there and looking very pleased with themselves. They'd really liked their pizza snack after the last two days of a controlled diet for their matches. Zubat looked a bit swollen so I assumed she must have gotten her fill of the pizza and then some.
"Right, sorry to say that you won't be getting too many more treats like that," I said, knowing full well that there was an ice creamery in Celadon that served pokemon.
Titan shot me a wink, well aware of said cafe.
I coughed and continued. As long as Bertha didn't learn about it, I would only have to take the group a few times.
"Now, until next Monday you're all on light duties, I've spoken to you before but we're going to have to stay fairly dynamic with which pokemon get to fight, when there are restrictions to consider. I will need to blend things pretty well." I then turned to the single Cradilly and Lileep in the training area.
"That being said I can devote a bit more time to both of you as neither of you are up to the Elite level as I deem it just yet. Everyone else is to go through a light warm up run, then some stretches with light sparing. Tomorrow we'll have some games to play instead to keep things as risk free as possible."
Don screeched angrily at this and Bertha pumped her fist. I rolled my eyes. "That does mean the inflatable headgear, yes," I said.
For Zubat that meant she'd become a floating orb that would bounce into people and then off them. I was expecting a comedy of error with her wearing protective gear.
I then shot Don a look. "You don't have to take part, remember? You usually just sit on the side and mock everyone!" I said.
Don paused and then grinned realising that was what he usually did. I decided not to bait him into doing something stupid while his daughter watched on but Bertha had no such restraint.
"Rhy Rhy Perior—" she started to say. I didn't need to speak pokemon to know what she was saying. I lunged over and put my hands in front of her mouth to shut her up.
"AS I WAS SAYING!" I bellowed.
Bertha laughed and thankfully shut up instead of pushing the point. I detailed how things were going to go and then shifted focus onto running through a light session before working Cradily and Lileep. For part of this, I referenced a journal article Erika had written up for me.
It was strange to have to blend Rock type training methods with grass type. A lot of this revolved around strong defence with the potential for quick, vibrant regrowth that started days, if not weeks prior with good pokemon care.
It was a different sort of challenge and I had some doubts that I'd have Cradily ready to enter my Elite team for a while yet, I'd just have to keep her on the fourth badge tier team for a while for some experience. When she started feeling a bit too overpowered I could try otherwise. It was that, ori engaged in some more simple friendly matches just for a bit of pocket change with some of the battleclub locals.
Both ideas had merit.
Then again, everything I did with Cradily that worked I needed to repeat with Steven Stone's pokemon. I wasn't about to trade off a pokemon that was weak after all.
Actually, now that I thought about it, it was strange that Steven hadn't contacted me, or Sabrina at all about her mega evolution.
Perhaps he would when I eventually revealed to the public that Jormungandr was capable of it as well.
For now, I got stuck into work with my grass-rock type ,stretching and bending with them, testing how quickly they could bend and twist themselves to get a feel for their actions before having them lash out their attacks as practice.
When it reached breakfast time Yolanda and Sabrina walked out to meet me.
It felt like a good start to a lazy weekend that would lead into a frantic week.
"Brock, Lance is giving a press conference," Sabrina said.
I blinked, realising exactly what this would mean.
"Well, I can still have a lazy weekend… but there's going to be a lot of attention sent our way on Monday, isn't there?"
Sabrina raised an unimpressed eyebrow and I sighed. "Alright, I'll call Rachel up and see if we can release our own press statement." I rolled my shoulders and waved the girls into the lounge room. "Not that it will reduce the attention we get," I grumbled.
Damn, I'd forgotten about this.
Maybe Lance wouldn't mention me?
I straight away knew those were short odds.
A.N. Thanks for my Patreons for your continued support!
Thanks also go to Twmmy for betaing this chapter!
- Location
- Miami
Pizza and movie night was adorable. And I feel the same way as Brock did with Gible and the boxes, my father doesn't know the difference between a few bits of treat food and too much either.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
Pokemon in general seems to have strangely non-gendered JOBS, but very gendered ARCHETYPES. And then of course there is the weirdness of the Jenny and Joy clans.