Too many "looked"s there.
Missed a word I think.
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Hard Enough - Pokemon SI
- Thread starter Viva01
- Start date
- Users' Choice!
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- Tags
- pokemon self insert
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
It honestly screams that this kid may have just been gifted the team one way or another, and I think the ice beam move being mentioned as a TM purchase reinforces that. Maybe mom and dad wanted him to have a strong start, maybe family's just rich, maybe he inherited a rich relative's pokemon, but wow this was...a bad matchup in an interesting way.
See, it's easy to read about bad Pokemon fights. Usually, it's because the author fails to capture what is intriguing about Pokemon fights. It can so easily devolve to, "Hey use x move! Gasp win!" or some variant thereof. This, though, was just...awful in a directed way. Intentional from a narrative perspective, but it is the exact sort of thing you would cringe on seeing irl and that's why it worked as well as it did.
As for the rest of the chapter, I definitely agree this is one of the more interesting, particularly because the conflict is not any solidified thing, but rather a mounting problem that will get steadily worse due to an influx of trainers that seem poised to overwhelm Brock's gym.
I'm not sure what happens when a Pokemon Journey-the standard right of passage in this world-goes awry not because of, you know, wild pokemon causing problems, bad weather, or heck poor personal choices or just plain bad luck but because a gym is literally too booked to meet you for months or even this year, but I imagine it's not good and might be the sort of thing that caused gym leaders to be replaced.
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TimEd
Meteor maker
Man, Brock needs to call Lance and Agatha for this. If the problem is so bad that it'll persist for the entirety of the season, then he needs someone else (Lance) to plan defense and (Agatha) attack vectors.
He needs to insulate himself from blame asap, and show Lance how badly this scheme would have damaged any other gym.
Agatha's group on the other hand, should be informed because this might be signs of Brock's gym being made into a battlefield. She needs to figure out if this came from the League, Rocket, or both.
He needs to insulate himself from blame asap, and show Lance how badly this scheme would have damaged any other gym.
Agatha's group on the other hand, should be informed because this might be signs of Brock's gym being made into a battlefield. She needs to figure out if this came from the League, Rocket, or both.
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- Location
- Argentina
That kid definitely shouldn't be a Pokemon trainer.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Eh, he doesn't seem that bad. Obviously ignorant and unable to make use of his team, but as Brock said, his team seem perfectly willing to listen to him for now, even if Squirtle seem to be his "real" Starter (Cacturn takes longer to evolve, so it is probably also overleveled).
On the kid, he seems to be someone well used to using crocodile tears to get him things his money is unable to. Maybe he'd use this wall as the wake up call that it is, maybe he won't, but that still means he deserves the chance to decide which.
- Location
- Argentina
He seems like the kind who will get all his Pokemon stolen by Team Rocket.
Brock mentioned Pokemon Types is something even small kids know and even use in games.
Had it been me the Gym Leader I would have called whoever his parent figure or legally responsible party is and recomend he goes to a Pokemon Trainer school unless they want him to die n the wild after all his Pokemon get stolen.
Because yes that happens.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Oh absolutely. But that doesn't mean he doesn't deserve to be a trainer (yet). After all, if we use Rockets as the minimum of requirements to being a trainer, then 99% of starting trainers would get disqualified from that qualification.
On the kid's teaching/upbringing, Brock doesn't know the main cause for the blindspots. And it is an absolute credit to Brock that his first and continuing thought was bad/faulty training/schooling than any aspersions to the kid himself or on his family situation (neglected rich kid trope, etc.).
Again, the kid deserves at least the chance to shape up now that he is seeing the real world for what seems like the first time. Doing anything else seems like a diservice to both the kid and the purpose of the journey/starting gym itself.
- Location
- Argentina
If he has money for a full gifted team and for TMs he has money for whatever that Pokemon Trainer school was called in the Anime. It is also less likely to get him killed.
Then again I don't know how many Rookie Trainers a year get killed in this story.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Again, you are expecting too much sense from a rich kid who probably don't have much (good) familial guidance.
Treat him as someone who considers the city outside his mansion as "wild". He deserves a chance as much as the bug catchers.
- Location
- Argentina
The bug catchers are still better that this kid. They at least use poison and cause paralysis to cause early game Hell, more so on Gen 1.
Just like not every Pokemon can be a Champion, not every human kid can be a Pokemon Trainer.
Also you know the whole getting all his Pokemon stolen and dying in the wild thing.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Poison, which this kid tried (poison jab and poison powder). Paralysis, arguably similar to his use of Sleep powder.
I used bug catchers specifically because I want to put into mind what will happen to a bug catcher if they pick Brock as their first badge.
- Location
- Argentina
Look Butterfly is more that capable enough for a first badge on Brock's Gym, more so on Pokemon Yellow.
Thing is this was a kid with a full Team but he was quite ignorant about Pokemon Types.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Only if done right.
Which was the point I was trying to make regarding bug catchers/types. Let the kid make his own mistakes, and he just might be able to overcome the disadvantage of whatever spoiled upbringing/education/circumstance he had before. But to do that, he needs to be given the chance. Thus the opportunity to bash his head against the Brock wall and see if he finds his own way through.
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Chapter 63 - Meetings with Movers
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
Detective Pikachu had saved the day. That hadn't been enough for my siblings and I'd ended up reading two more books before arriving late to the meeting. I'd apologised, but everyone understood where I had been. Or in the case of the new hires, had been informed of what I'd been doing.
I hadn't done anything formal to start the meeting and instead dove right into the nitty-gritty. I laid out how things were looking for the next month or two as it currently stood.
"—in light of the frankly huge surge of trainers we're going to need to have everybody on deck and active," I said to the trainers in the meeting room.
Crystal was in the corner happily petting Selene as the moon pokemon ate her dinner. Georgina sat next to them happily watching on.
"I honestly feel like we're going to need more than just our current team can deliver. So there's going to be some shifting around that I will be discussing tonight." I pointed to the daughter-of-my-accountant turned pokemon-trainer-wrangler.
"Crystal, great work for handling the trainer courts. Damage was kept to a minimum?"
"Yup!" she said, petting Selene.
I pointedly didn't ask her to clarify if she meant property damage or damage done to trainers. Georgina waggled her hand in a so-so gesture and I resolved to assign some money to fix them up by tomorrow.
I flicked through the notes I'd made from a quick walk-through of the gym. I still needed to patrol the actual area but that would have to wait until the morning. With more people testing us, I might need to hire on more staff for security. I already had two people on at night and one on during the day but perhaps another on each shift wouldn't be a bad idea?
The patrol outside the Gym I could do during a morning run with my pokemon before the day started.
"As I mentioned to Alexa, I'm extending the gym hours to work through more trainers so we can get them out of Pewter and on the road."
I looked around. "I know it's going to be difficult but with the extended hours, you will all be earning the bonus rate for overtime hours at time and half-pay. That includes the entirety of Saturday so make some plans for when it's time to pay your taxes cause you're going to be in a much higher bracket."
I waved towards Georgina, "See Georgina if you need it explained to you." I'd mentioned it offhandedly at lunch, while waiting on hold with the airport, and she'd taught me things about taxes.
She really was a terrifyingly smart woman with how she somehow taught you things you had no interest in.
"I'm going to be posting some more temporary jobs as well. Alexa, I need you to get in contact with the list of trainers that I'm sending through to you. They reached the shortlist last time but didn't make the cut. I need them now to run gym duties, and also fulfil patrols of Pewter to assist the police."
I flicked to another page and sighed, "Along with also making sure the wilds are safe for the new trainers wandering about the routes for the first time." The room at large shared a grumble at all the duties that were expected of a gym trainer.
"How come we don't just have the Rangers and the Police take that over?" asked Daniel.
"These are duties that we as a Major Gym are expected to take care of. This is to allow us to continue upholding the Gym's agreement. Failing to uphold them can create tension with the league and could even lead to a review of our gym license. It's by no means easy for the League to strip us of our license, or even renegotiate, but it's not something I'm going to allow to be counted against us." I glanced around before smirking. "It also comes with some privileges."
"What sort of privileges?" Daniel said while scratching his neck.
Janine bounced in her seat. "Oh! Your gym signed on under the old charter?"
At my nod Janine beamed. "Excellent! With how new your Gym's facilities were I thought you were under the new agreement! So that means you get preferential tax rates, a roster of pokemon that act as a reserve for the city in emergency times, and a political voice."
I nodded. "Yeah, my family earned the Gym charter after the war. Though I have no idea what they did to deserve that," I grumbled to myself.
Forrest looked interested, but I made a gesture to show we could talk about it later if he wanted. Instead I waved the issue away. "Anyway, that's beside the point."
I coughed to reset people's attention.
"We hold a prestigious position in the Indigo conference, and that means we have duties to perform alongside it. If things lapse, lots of people look to the Gym before the Rangers or the police. We're the first point of contact for a lot of trainers who further serve to keep things calm… most of the time." I added on at the end.
"We do have some overlapping responsibilities with other regional organisations, such as the Police, Rangers and local government, but that is by design. We work with them, we're not and never should be antagonistic towards them and vice versa. We're not beholden to them though, and they can't order you about any more than a civilian. In some instances, you actually have better legal standing than civilians as long as you're acting in good faith. I might have Lawrence come in and talk to us about that one day."
I tapped the stack of papers in my hand, "Until then, our focus is on dealing with this surge. The influx of trainers is going to put a strain on us. We need to be ready for what that will mean."
I pointed to Alexa. "Alexa, I'm promoting you to be my personal assistant. Your duties will remain the same until we can get another receptionist or two, they will work under you and alongside Bethany. You'll be in charge of the receptionists along with getting my schedule streamlined and making calls while I'm busy." A few people blinked in surprise at that and I grimaced. "I spent way, way too much time chasing my tail today."
Alexa nodded seriously and I continued. "I'm doing this to try and take some work off my shoulders as I need to be either out and about or in the gym taking challenges. I can't keep trying to call up the League or other people. We'll talk about an increase in salary and if this needs to be permanent in a month's time."
Alexa smiled happily. "Should I schedule in the talk for you?" she said teasingly.
I nodded at her before lowering my finger to the next names on my list that I'd jotted down while waiting on hold. "Rocko, Dennis? You're going to be the point of contact for trainer-related issues. I want you to talk to any newcomers about duties and roles that well need to be taken over. I expect with this surge that we'll need another four trainers taken on temporarily to cover our duties."
"Janine," I said and she shot to a standing position. "You… you might need to talk to your father. I'm not sure if he's going to want to recall you with this surge occurring as he will be under strain as well. We'll have to talk with him. Otherwise, perhaps I have you doing security work?"
She got a conflicted look but slowly nodded her head. "I will mention it to him tonight." I gave her a tight smile and moved on.
"Lastly, and this is for everyone, we will be blocking out three days of the gym's schedule in a month's time as we will need to catch new pokemon."
"That soon Brock?" asked Rocko, sitting up with a worried expression. I scratched my cheek.
"I'm hoping I'm being over dramatic here, but yeah it looks like it'll be that soon. We'll need to block out at least one day specifically for evaluating where we're at with our pokemon roster. How strong they are, what badge level they're appropriate against and if the Gym's roster is spread out enough for our needs. As always, I know we'll be short on first badge challenges but we might get lucky with some pokemon like Izumi and Moxy."
"Actually, Moxy is pretty close to evolving I think? She's been putting on mass lately and is being picky with what rocks she devours for her evolved form." Rocko said. Dennis grimaced at that.
I shared a look with them before shrugging. "That's fine. She's wanting to grow steadily but she might be a pokemon that we look to hand off to or sell to a trainer"
I gave the group a glance. "There will also be a number of pokemon that will be too strong for certain challenges but those can always be sold unless any of our trainers form bonds with any pokemon in particular. If you have a favourite or notice a pokemon whose disposition stands out to you, by all means, make a note and bring it up in later meetings." I glanced at Rachel.
"Can you post a notice on our pokenet page that we'll be doing a sell-off on the last day of the break?"
"Oh yeah! That'd be popular! I could do it like an auction if I get enough hype for it!" Rachel jotted down my suggestion along with her own thoughts.
I coughed. "Make sure to also put up some flyers on the community notice boards in the city and local towns."
Rachel grumbled to herself about people not knowing how good they had it with pokenet access and I nodded in silent agreement while Rocko and Dennis rolled their eyes.
I made a circle in the air. "I will be scheduling more meetings that I hope are short at the end of each week. I want you to consider any issues that you're encountering and bring them up even if they seem small. If they're urgent I want you to tell Rocko or Dennis as soon as possible alright? The earlier we identify an issue, the earlier we fix the issue. Any questions or items to raise for now?"
No hands were raised, so I clapped my hands together. "All right people! If you want to head out for dinner, I'll reimburse you, otherwise, you're free to head out."
"Keep your receipts! If you want reimbursement, get receipts!" Georgina was quick to chime in.
"To Mr Mime's house!" proclaimed Crystal loudly. Rocko laughed while Daniel rolled his eyes. Janine lingered at the door until I gestured for her to stay for the next meeting. As the others bounded off for a night at Mr Mime's finest family restaurant, I chuckled before stacking some sheets of paper together.
Alexa approached me and laid out my schedule as it currently stood. I pointed out a few people that needed to be rescheduled along with some blocks of time I wanted her to block out for other duties or, more importantly, family time.
"Oh, can you also call the Pokemon Academy and tell them they need to book in now due to the large numbers of trainers we're facing right now?"
When we were done, she headed off, and I leaned back into my chair and rubbed my face. A vibration on my wrist had me sighing loud enough to echo through the now-empty room. One meeting down, two more to go.
I clicked accept on the video link. The link held everyone in a lobby until all eight invitees were logged in before opening the video and sound. My image appeared to the side as nine other faces appeared before me.
I started things off, "Good evening, this is Brock from Pewter, with Janine from Fuchsia shadowing me as an apprentice." Next to me, Janine bowed stiffly to the transceiver.
"Like Daisy, Lily and Violet are here!" "From Cerulean of course!" "Yuh!" chimed in three voices as the blonde Daisy, the red-haired Lily, and the blue-haired Violet waved into the camera.
"Lieutenant Surge from Vermillion! How's everyone this evening?!" crowed Surge. On his shoulder, Raichu smirked into the camera.
"Good evening to all from myself, Erika at the Celadon gym," Erika said with a small bow. Behind her, the gardens that featured throughout her gym could just be made out as her background.
"Sabrina, Saffron city," Sabrina said. She had no special features to her video and said her words quickly with a flat tone.
"Koga from the Fuchsia gym. Good evening." The ninja-styled expert inclined his head, his eyes searching over his daughter before relaxing minutely.
"Hmmm yes, hello everyone! Blaine here!" said Blaine from a room that looked to be full of other computers and items that seemed to belong in a mad scientist's lab.
"Giovanni here, Viridian, Surge stated that this meeting was being called by you Brock? What seems to be the issue? The circuit is only a week old? Issues already?" Giovanni didn't bother to let anyone else talk and instantly took control of the meeting.
I inclined my head. "Yes, I've been facing a surge of trainers and I know from records that the League has allowed roughly four times the normal amount of trainers to undergo the circuit this year. This is straining our resources as lots of people have arrived at Pewter."
"A surge you say?" Giovanni said. "Have you ever experienced a surge in trainer numbers? I believe the last was during your father's stewardship of the gym."
"It was. He recorded having to face roughly twelve trainers a day and that took him three weeks to work through." I glanced at my schedule and grimaced, "I am reporting that I currently have all of the next month booked full, with sixteen trainers a day booked in." I leaned forward. "That's included half days on Saturday for an extra six battles."
Daisy tilted her head. "Sixteen by five, plus six… you're going to face… over three hundred, nearly three-fifty trainers in the next… month…" Daisy blanched "And then they're going to be coming here!" Lily and Violet stiffened at that, glancing at their sister.
"What?!" They both said. "You're pulling our leg right, Brock? You can't have that many trainers in the first month! That's way too many! Right? Brock?"
I gave them an apologetic look. "I'm expecting more to turn up. If the worst case occurs I might face close to seven hundred trainers before the third month this year."
Daisy, Lily and Violet began hyperventilating. "Like, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! That's way too many trainers!"
Koga clapped his hands. "Girls! Control yourselves! You are Gym Leaders! You are also in a much better position as you will be able to bolster each other and process the trainers much faster!"
The Cerulean girls nodded before swallowing. "We're going to need more pokemon… like way, way more… and some more trainers to help out… Can any of you—"
"I would be happy to assist you ladies in this time of need," said Giovanni.
I felt a chill run down my spine as Giovanni smiled like a Persian that had just ransacked the cream warehouse. Visions of all the ways that could turn out terribly ran through my mind. I glanced at the girls and saw them relaxing. Like Pidgeys thinking the Persian was going to keep them safe.
"I might be able to send someone over," I heard myself saying. Giovanni looked at me and for just a moment his brow creased.
"Same here girls!" shouted Surge.
Erika shifted. "I'm not sure some of my girls would be able to help out as much. But I can send you three of them! Or five! I have quite a few!" That had me stopping and reassessing. Erika had that many Gym trainers?
"Like thanks so much guys!" "Yeah, you guys are the best!" "Thank you!" cried the Cerulean sisters into the camera as they slumped into their chairs.
I mentally wondered if it was worth asking about Misty. Was she still with Ash? Had they met each other or had events drifted enough to not have them meeting each other? Would she get called in to handle the gym now?
I wasn't sure but I knew that I certainly did not want Giovani helping out the naive trio of sisters. I had no doubt that would result in Team Rocket all but running the place in name.
"Hehehe," chuckled Blaine, cutting off any further discussion. Everyone frowned at the man but he waved his hands back and forth. "Hehehe! Ha! Well, this certainly wasn't something I expected to occur when you defeated Lance Brock, but then again, success breeds its own problems!"
"It seems a bit ridiculous for my victory to cause this level of response," I said reasonably.
Blaine huffed. "Oh you simple child, your match was televised to the international community! The world is a larger place than you understand!" he said with a chuckle. "I have no doubt a huge number of people would have seen it and young trainers had the entire off-season to make plans. It's not every day that you get to challenge a Champion. But a man that has beaten a Champion?"
He leered at me over the top of his glasses. "Brock, Brock, Brock, there are going to be lots of trainers interested in wanting to say that they've beaten you. Your badge has a lot more value these days."
He grinned "I hope you raised your prices at least! You're in for a long start to the circuit!" He threw back his head and cackled. When he was done he grinned. "I only take challengers with four badges that can reach me and make it worth my time. Good luck to the rest of you!" And just like that, he disconnected.
"That was rather…" Erika mumbled aloud.
"That is how Blaine is," Giovanni said before tapping his desk to signal he had more to say.
"Brock, what Blaine said is correct. I have been looking through the information you sent to Surge earlier and it shows a large spike in Johto, Hoenn, Sevii and Orange region trainers coming here. This is going to be a tough period, but we'll get through it. I will not be lowering the challenge level as I wish to preserve my badge's value but it may be worth reaching out to the four minor gyms along with the Admissions Exam Board to notify them of the issues that will be arising. Does anyone have any issues with including the four minor gym leaders in future meetings?"
None of us raised any complaints and Giovanni nodded once. "Very well, I will get in contact with them. Brock, how long can you handle the current workload? Do you need any more trainers like the Cerulean gym?"
"We're coping," I said, resisting the urge to glare at the man for having the gall to attempt such a thing with me. I'd need to watch for any plants coming my way and make sure to keep security as tight as I could. Challenges like this would lead to tough times but also the occasional opportunity. I just had to make sure I wasn't someone else's opportunity.
Erika voiced her support of drawing some trainers away as did Surge. Sabrina chewed her lip only for Koga to speak up. "I will lower my own gym's standards for now, but I will shorten Janine's time with you. It might be a good test run to have her handle the first, and second badge challengers." He turned to his daughter, "Janine, make the most of your next week."
"Yes, father!" she said.
A buzz on my wrist had me glancing down and grimacing. It was late already, and I still had other people to talk with. "I'm going to have to sign out as I have to talk with the Mayor. Thanks for attending and for doing what you can everyone."
"Thank you for alerting us to the situation. We will remain in contact," Giovanni said as others chorussed their own goodbyes. I hung up with a nod. I stood and shuffled some papers into a folder before stuffing it into a backpack. "Thanks for that Janine… would it be possible for you to occasionally poke over to Cerulean to check up on the—" I was cut off as Sabrina appeared in a flash.
Janine reared back and threw out a pokeball with Beedrill punching forwards only for Sabrina to arrest the Beedrill's attack with psychic energy. Beedrill buzzed harshly and broke out, reading to strike again only for Janine to call the pokemon back. Sabrina stared at the younger girl.
"Oh, I apologise, I didn't mean to startle you," she said.
Janine bristled. "I wasn't scared!"
Sabrina merely glanced at the Beedrill still in the room. Janine flushed and returned the pokemon. I hummed, a small note of concern rearing its head. If Beedrill had gone for a bug-type move would Sabrina have been able to stop it? Or a dark-type move?
I pushed the thought aside and instead shook my head. "Alright let's calm down. Sabrina, I assume you just wanted to check up on me?" Sabrina nodded and I gave her a smile. "Right, give me a moment?" She nodded again and I turned to Janine.
"Hey I'm going to talk with Sabrina but could you check in on the Cerulean girls later? I don't trust Giovanni."
Janine nodded. "I know why, I will do so!" she said before offering me a bow. Then she pulled out a smokebomb. I raised my hand to stop her; I didn't want smoke lingering in my office.
"Don—" was as far as I got before she threw it. Instead of it exploding it was caught in a psychic grasp.
Janine was already dashing out the door but she stumbled when she realised she was clearly visible. "What?!" she said as she skidded to a halt only to whip around to glower at Sabrina. "Stop that!" she said, her leg twitching like she wanted to stomp it.
I bit my lips to stop myself from laughing. I coughed. "Uhm, please don't throw smoke bombs in my office in future, Janine."
Janine blinked before blushing. "Ah, that is reasonable."
I nodded and gestured to the door. When the door closed, I huffed a laugh. Sabrina tilted her head at me as though curious about my reaction.
I wagged a finger at Sabrina. "Don't bully her."
Sabrina hummed before stepping up to me. "Brock? Are you alright?" she said, her eyes checking me over.
"I'm fine." She narrowed her eyes and I held up a hand. "Just harassed. I have a lot to deal with with this whole trainer surge… or well I'm calling it a flood honestly." Sabrina stayed quiet before looking to the side.
"I could lower my challenge level and allow…"
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Sabrina… No offence, but I think you'd scare a lot of people off because you don't exactly hold back when you fight."
Sabrina tilted her head. "Why should I?"
I chuckled. "Nah, you shouldn't. You do you. If a trainer challenges you then they should be ready for a tough match. I'll talk to Sophia, Manny, Kong, and Grey, they already see first-badge challengers and a bit more attention sent their way might be good for them."
I tilted my head. "Think you can drop in on the Cerulean sisters when you're able to?"
"… " Sabrina watched me with narrowed eyes.
"I'm just worried they might pick up some people that won't have their gym's best interest at heart."
Sabrina continued to stare at me. Her eyes felt like they were boring into me. "You want me to look into them? You've usually wanted me to refrain from looking into people's minds."
I worked my teeth back and forth. "I… I don't want you to stop, just not be flagrant about it. Be mindful I guess? I can admit that I don't like the idea of you doing it with no regard, but for certain scenarios," I opened a hand up and shrugged, "it's a warranted tool. You don't have to if you're not comfortable with it, but I just…" I scratched the back of my head searching for what to say.
"Is there any reason you're asking me to do this now?"
"I trust you," I said simply. Sabrina blinked before a light dusting of red appeared across her nose.
"Ah, I apologise I thought you might have…" I glanced away from the wall to her, "Never mind!" she said quickly at my curious look.
It took me a moment to realise why she was acting strangely. I'd asked her to look into the potential trainers for… "Oh, I'm not interested in the Cerulean sisters. I just don't trust Giovanni."
Sabrina nodded. "I understand. I will investigate them if I find anything."
I clicked my teeth. "Alright, just be careful, you know what I'm worried about with Giovanni."
"I know, but I'm not garnering as much attention. They didn't detect me when I threw those rocks through his gym," she said. She flicked her hair. "Don't worry, I will let you know if I discover anything. If they attack me or mine, however, I will not hold myself back." She squeezed my hand once before stepping back and disappearing in a flash of light.
I ran my hand over where she'd squeezed. She'd counted me in that, hadn't she? Part of me wanted to call her back to clarify while another laughed at the willful ignorance I was trying to use.
Another part then tagged in and reminded me that I was now very, very late with meeting with the Mayor.
I started to run only to pause as I recalled I too had a psychic pokemon capable of teleporting.
"Selene! I need to be teleported to the mayor's house," I said.
"Luuunatone!" she cried before bumping into me. The world vanished as she wrapped me up in psychic energy. I held in my dark energy so as to not disrupt the teleport. We appeared a moment later in front of a fancy manor. I could see a light on in a room.
I rapped smartly on the door with the knocker. A few moments later I heard shuffling from inside and within a minute a woman's face peered out at me.
"Gym Leader Brock? This is a late call out for my husband."
"Ah no, I called him to meet up. I need to fill him in on something."
The Mayor's wife tutted at me. "Oh silly! It probably could have waited or been done over the phone. Don't let him string you along now." She gestured to a door. "He's through there. I'll bring some snacks if you're going to be here long."
I watched her glide away, amused at how very different she was from the rather forceful personality of the mayor. I opened the door and stepped through.
"Mayor Jonathan, we've got a situation."
Jonathan looked up and snorted. "You're late Gym Leader!" His words were harsh but his grin took the sting away. The words also felt like he was quoting something but I couldn't place it having not watched all that many pokemon movies.
"I think you'll find I arrived precisely when I should have," I said, twisting an old quote to my own needs. Jonathan observed me before snorting.
"Feh! You're learning at least. Very well, tell me what the situation is."
And so I spent the next hour laying out the issues that would likely arise from the coming trainer surge. Within a few minutes, Jonathan's wife — Who, I learnt was named Caroline— came in with milk and cookies. She then glided on out leaving me to take up the story once more.
Jonathan listened intently throughout; When I was done he drummed his fingers on his desk.
"You're projecting four times the trainer volume to come through Pewter cause of how you kicked Lance in the tail? Heh! Nice, we'll be rolling tourism!"
I shok my head. "Mayor, idle or frustrated trainers are known to cause damage if they can't get access to what they want. They're young, headstrong people that are more likely to find their own entertainment."
"Pewter City can supply that!" Jonathan said while expanding his hands. "We have attractions! Natural ones even! Mt Moon! The canyons and hot springs! We've got the tunnels and the forests to the south. People should want to spend more time here as it is!"
His chest puffed up, and I could almost feel him rattling off those exact words at some town hall meeting to sway the people that turned up to such events.
I hummed, not taken with his plan. "I think we need to process what we can and get the other trainers to move on."
"Move on!? No way! Get 'em to stick around! I can come up with distractions! Heck, you should capitalise on it and run that Contest I heard people talking about."
"It'll put a strain on the hospital, the police, the pokecenter, even the food market," I said before addressing the second point. "That is only in the early stages of concept planning. We barely have an idea on how to run such an event." Part of me wondered who had mentioned it to the Mayor as I hadn't said a word of it in months.
"I'll have someone swing around for you to talk with. I know a young lass whose family were avid Contest goers in Hoenn. As for the other issue? Don't you worry about the civil side of things, you just handle the Gym and its duties." He gave me a sly look, "Any chance you want some of them taken off your plate?"
"No. Thank you for the offer, however, I think I will be able to handle things sufficiently," I tightly said as if he wasn't trying to entrap me. This wasn't how I was expecting this to go.
"Brock, you have to see things from my perspective. This is your first surge and it sounds like it's going to be rough. I think for the moment—"
"I said I'll handle it." I glared at him but the man gave me a mulish look.
"How?"
"I'm hiring more staff and have systems in place. Not, that it's your business. Perhaps you should handle the civil side of things. I thought it courteous to inform you of something that would affect you."
Jonathan patted at the air. "Brock, Brock, Brock, I apologise. I've pushed too far. I can see that. Thank you for the information, we'll be able to handle it better knowing it's on the way. I'll schedule a talk with the Chief of Police and the other services to give them a heads-up. Was there anything else you wished to discuss tonight?"
"Not unless you were interested in setting up routes for trainers to move to other cities, to space things out"
"I think that means I should see you out then," he said affably. I nodded tightly and made my own way out. Caroline who'd apparently been staying close perked up when she saw us leave the office.
"Oh Brock! I was thinking you might appreciate an invitation to my gala in a few months. I could never quite get your father to…" My face must have turned to granite as she stopped talking for a moment.
Her tongue darted out and wet her lips and Jonathan moved to her side, suddenly much more aware of me. Caroline smiled tightly. "Oh, well never you mind that! I'd feel terrible if I didn't extend the offer to you. You'd be a hit with some of the young ladies making their debut this season!"
I made a noncommittal noise, unaware that we'd had such events while also feeling that agreeing would mean I'd be like a Meowth on show for Caroline.
I beat a hasty retreat home and reviewed the day to come. Thankfully when my head hit the pillow I was quick to fall asleep.
The next morning I was up and running hard on the outside perimeter inspecting the fences and warning signs that were up. I had very different terrain to both sides. On my left a swamp haunted the land with willowy trees and fronds while to my right rocky landscapes proved perfect for my rock pokemon. Some of whom were running along the fence. In front of me, the road was well maintained which allowed me to somewhat keep up with my pokemon as they rumbled along.
A honk had me turning around to find a motorbike approaching. When it neared it slowed down and I waved to Officer jenny.
"Jenny, morning!"
"Morning Brock! How're you doing today?"
"Pretty good, gotta get a few things done though with the trainers coming in."
Jenny relaxed. "Oh good, the Mayor told you about the surge coming your way?"
I blinked at that, something about the emphasis of the words stood out to me. "The Mayor, told me?"
"Yeah! He got some figures of incoming trainers and spoke with the chief and a few other community leaders last night. I assume he spoke to you?"
I stopped and spat to the side of the road earning me an unimpressed look which I ignored as I felt dark feelings stir. "I told him about the damn surge. Urgh! Politicians!"
"Oh… well yeah, that is what politicians will do. Next time, just tell the Chief of Police yourself."
I sighed and exhaled the darkness. In a way, Jonathan had spared me a lot of time. It rubbed me the wrong way that he'd stolen the credit for himself. But… I had to agree with Jenny.
"Yeah, I'll remember that," I said.
Jenny nodded, "Well, I wanted to come out and check up on you. Good to hear that things are on the up and up. The rest of the squad and I are going to be on patrol. Who should we touch base with if we have any issues?"
"Probably Rocko, Dennis or Alexa." I wiped some sweat off and stared into the swamp.
"Alexa?" asked Jenny in surprise. "Thought she was acting as a receptionist for you?"
"Promoted her to PA."
"Ho? Good for her, hope it sticks. Say I was—" before she could finish her radio squawked and she snatched it up.
"Jenny here!"
"......"
"Trainers are doing what in the park?"
".....!"
"I'm on it!" She slammed it in before whipping her bike around the road she'd just come down.
"Gotta go Brock! Trainers are fighting in the middle of the memorial garden, and someone's painted graffiti on the hospital!" Before I could even respond, she roared back down the road. I coughed at the dust cloud I found myself in.
A loud croak from the swamp made me turn to see large yellow eyes watching me. I nodded amicably. "Morning Shrek." My Swampert ambled out and nuzzled up to me. I patted him and sighed.
Somewhere in the next month, I had to deal with Ash and… my father. Compared to them, Jonathan stealing credit and being himself really was a minor detail.
I still had chores to do and trainers to handle. Most notably this morning was teaching Missy how to handle gravity training and Janine with aura training.
I also needed something. … A response to the League. At this point, I didn't care if it was negligence or something targeted.
A.N. Special thanks goes to my patreons for their support!
Special thanks goes to Raikor, Ab9999 and Elnoorz for betaing and editing this chapter.
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I hadn't done anything formal to start the meeting and instead dove right into the nitty-gritty. I laid out how things were looking for the next month or two as it currently stood.
"—in light of the frankly huge surge of trainers we're going to need to have everybody on deck and active," I said to the trainers in the meeting room.
Crystal was in the corner happily petting Selene as the moon pokemon ate her dinner. Georgina sat next to them happily watching on.
"I honestly feel like we're going to need more than just our current team can deliver. So there's going to be some shifting around that I will be discussing tonight." I pointed to the daughter-of-my-accountant turned pokemon-trainer-wrangler.
"Crystal, great work for handling the trainer courts. Damage was kept to a minimum?"
"Yup!" she said, petting Selene.
I pointedly didn't ask her to clarify if she meant property damage or damage done to trainers. Georgina waggled her hand in a so-so gesture and I resolved to assign some money to fix them up by tomorrow.
I flicked through the notes I'd made from a quick walk-through of the gym. I still needed to patrol the actual area but that would have to wait until the morning. With more people testing us, I might need to hire on more staff for security. I already had two people on at night and one on during the day but perhaps another on each shift wouldn't be a bad idea?
The patrol outside the Gym I could do during a morning run with my pokemon before the day started.
"As I mentioned to Alexa, I'm extending the gym hours to work through more trainers so we can get them out of Pewter and on the road."
I looked around. "I know it's going to be difficult but with the extended hours, you will all be earning the bonus rate for overtime hours at time and half-pay. That includes the entirety of Saturday so make some plans for when it's time to pay your taxes cause you're going to be in a much higher bracket."
I waved towards Georgina, "See Georgina if you need it explained to you." I'd mentioned it offhandedly at lunch, while waiting on hold with the airport, and she'd taught me things about taxes.
She really was a terrifyingly smart woman with how she somehow taught you things you had no interest in.
"I'm going to be posting some more temporary jobs as well. Alexa, I need you to get in contact with the list of trainers that I'm sending through to you. They reached the shortlist last time but didn't make the cut. I need them now to run gym duties, and also fulfil patrols of Pewter to assist the police."
I flicked to another page and sighed, "Along with also making sure the wilds are safe for the new trainers wandering about the routes for the first time." The room at large shared a grumble at all the duties that were expected of a gym trainer.
"How come we don't just have the Rangers and the Police take that over?" asked Daniel.
"These are duties that we as a Major Gym are expected to take care of. This is to allow us to continue upholding the Gym's agreement. Failing to uphold them can create tension with the league and could even lead to a review of our gym license. It's by no means easy for the League to strip us of our license, or even renegotiate, but it's not something I'm going to allow to be counted against us." I glanced around before smirking. "It also comes with some privileges."
"What sort of privileges?" Daniel said while scratching his neck.
Janine bounced in her seat. "Oh! Your gym signed on under the old charter?"
At my nod Janine beamed. "Excellent! With how new your Gym's facilities were I thought you were under the new agreement! So that means you get preferential tax rates, a roster of pokemon that act as a reserve for the city in emergency times, and a political voice."
I nodded. "Yeah, my family earned the Gym charter after the war. Though I have no idea what they did to deserve that," I grumbled to myself.
Forrest looked interested, but I made a gesture to show we could talk about it later if he wanted. Instead I waved the issue away. "Anyway, that's beside the point."
I coughed to reset people's attention.
"We hold a prestigious position in the Indigo conference, and that means we have duties to perform alongside it. If things lapse, lots of people look to the Gym before the Rangers or the police. We're the first point of contact for a lot of trainers who further serve to keep things calm… most of the time." I added on at the end.
"We do have some overlapping responsibilities with other regional organisations, such as the Police, Rangers and local government, but that is by design. We work with them, we're not and never should be antagonistic towards them and vice versa. We're not beholden to them though, and they can't order you about any more than a civilian. In some instances, you actually have better legal standing than civilians as long as you're acting in good faith. I might have Lawrence come in and talk to us about that one day."
I tapped the stack of papers in my hand, "Until then, our focus is on dealing with this surge. The influx of trainers is going to put a strain on us. We need to be ready for what that will mean."
I pointed to Alexa. "Alexa, I'm promoting you to be my personal assistant. Your duties will remain the same until we can get another receptionist or two, they will work under you and alongside Bethany. You'll be in charge of the receptionists along with getting my schedule streamlined and making calls while I'm busy." A few people blinked in surprise at that and I grimaced. "I spent way, way too much time chasing my tail today."
Alexa nodded seriously and I continued. "I'm doing this to try and take some work off my shoulders as I need to be either out and about or in the gym taking challenges. I can't keep trying to call up the League or other people. We'll talk about an increase in salary and if this needs to be permanent in a month's time."
Alexa smiled happily. "Should I schedule in the talk for you?" she said teasingly.
I nodded at her before lowering my finger to the next names on my list that I'd jotted down while waiting on hold. "Rocko, Dennis? You're going to be the point of contact for trainer-related issues. I want you to talk to any newcomers about duties and roles that well need to be taken over. I expect with this surge that we'll need another four trainers taken on temporarily to cover our duties."
"Janine," I said and she shot to a standing position. "You… you might need to talk to your father. I'm not sure if he's going to want to recall you with this surge occurring as he will be under strain as well. We'll have to talk with him. Otherwise, perhaps I have you doing security work?"
She got a conflicted look but slowly nodded her head. "I will mention it to him tonight." I gave her a tight smile and moved on.
"Lastly, and this is for everyone, we will be blocking out three days of the gym's schedule in a month's time as we will need to catch new pokemon."
"That soon Brock?" asked Rocko, sitting up with a worried expression. I scratched my cheek.
"I'm hoping I'm being over dramatic here, but yeah it looks like it'll be that soon. We'll need to block out at least one day specifically for evaluating where we're at with our pokemon roster. How strong they are, what badge level they're appropriate against and if the Gym's roster is spread out enough for our needs. As always, I know we'll be short on first badge challenges but we might get lucky with some pokemon like Izumi and Moxy."
"Actually, Moxy is pretty close to evolving I think? She's been putting on mass lately and is being picky with what rocks she devours for her evolved form." Rocko said. Dennis grimaced at that.
I shared a look with them before shrugging. "That's fine. She's wanting to grow steadily but she might be a pokemon that we look to hand off to or sell to a trainer"
I gave the group a glance. "There will also be a number of pokemon that will be too strong for certain challenges but those can always be sold unless any of our trainers form bonds with any pokemon in particular. If you have a favourite or notice a pokemon whose disposition stands out to you, by all means, make a note and bring it up in later meetings." I glanced at Rachel.
"Can you post a notice on our pokenet page that we'll be doing a sell-off on the last day of the break?"
"Oh yeah! That'd be popular! I could do it like an auction if I get enough hype for it!" Rachel jotted down my suggestion along with her own thoughts.
I coughed. "Make sure to also put up some flyers on the community notice boards in the city and local towns."
Rachel grumbled to herself about people not knowing how good they had it with pokenet access and I nodded in silent agreement while Rocko and Dennis rolled their eyes.
I made a circle in the air. "I will be scheduling more meetings that I hope are short at the end of each week. I want you to consider any issues that you're encountering and bring them up even if they seem small. If they're urgent I want you to tell Rocko or Dennis as soon as possible alright? The earlier we identify an issue, the earlier we fix the issue. Any questions or items to raise for now?"
No hands were raised, so I clapped my hands together. "All right people! If you want to head out for dinner, I'll reimburse you, otherwise, you're free to head out."
"Keep your receipts! If you want reimbursement, get receipts!" Georgina was quick to chime in.
"To Mr Mime's house!" proclaimed Crystal loudly. Rocko laughed while Daniel rolled his eyes. Janine lingered at the door until I gestured for her to stay for the next meeting. As the others bounded off for a night at Mr Mime's finest family restaurant, I chuckled before stacking some sheets of paper together.
Alexa approached me and laid out my schedule as it currently stood. I pointed out a few people that needed to be rescheduled along with some blocks of time I wanted her to block out for other duties or, more importantly, family time.
"Oh, can you also call the Pokemon Academy and tell them they need to book in now due to the large numbers of trainers we're facing right now?"
When we were done, she headed off, and I leaned back into my chair and rubbed my face. A vibration on my wrist had me sighing loud enough to echo through the now-empty room. One meeting down, two more to go.
I clicked accept on the video link. The link held everyone in a lobby until all eight invitees were logged in before opening the video and sound. My image appeared to the side as nine other faces appeared before me.
I started things off, "Good evening, this is Brock from Pewter, with Janine from Fuchsia shadowing me as an apprentice." Next to me, Janine bowed stiffly to the transceiver.
"Like Daisy, Lily and Violet are here!" "From Cerulean of course!" "Yuh!" chimed in three voices as the blonde Daisy, the red-haired Lily, and the blue-haired Violet waved into the camera.
"Lieutenant Surge from Vermillion! How's everyone this evening?!" crowed Surge. On his shoulder, Raichu smirked into the camera.
"Good evening to all from myself, Erika at the Celadon gym," Erika said with a small bow. Behind her, the gardens that featured throughout her gym could just be made out as her background.
"Sabrina, Saffron city," Sabrina said. She had no special features to her video and said her words quickly with a flat tone.
"Koga from the Fuchsia gym. Good evening." The ninja-styled expert inclined his head, his eyes searching over his daughter before relaxing minutely.
"Hmmm yes, hello everyone! Blaine here!" said Blaine from a room that looked to be full of other computers and items that seemed to belong in a mad scientist's lab.
"Giovanni here, Viridian, Surge stated that this meeting was being called by you Brock? What seems to be the issue? The circuit is only a week old? Issues already?" Giovanni didn't bother to let anyone else talk and instantly took control of the meeting.
I inclined my head. "Yes, I've been facing a surge of trainers and I know from records that the League has allowed roughly four times the normal amount of trainers to undergo the circuit this year. This is straining our resources as lots of people have arrived at Pewter."
"A surge you say?" Giovanni said. "Have you ever experienced a surge in trainer numbers? I believe the last was during your father's stewardship of the gym."
"It was. He recorded having to face roughly twelve trainers a day and that took him three weeks to work through." I glanced at my schedule and grimaced, "I am reporting that I currently have all of the next month booked full, with sixteen trainers a day booked in." I leaned forward. "That's included half days on Saturday for an extra six battles."
Daisy tilted her head. "Sixteen by five, plus six… you're going to face… over three hundred, nearly three-fifty trainers in the next… month…" Daisy blanched "And then they're going to be coming here!" Lily and Violet stiffened at that, glancing at their sister.
"What?!" They both said. "You're pulling our leg right, Brock? You can't have that many trainers in the first month! That's way too many! Right? Brock?"
I gave them an apologetic look. "I'm expecting more to turn up. If the worst case occurs I might face close to seven hundred trainers before the third month this year."
Daisy, Lily and Violet began hyperventilating. "Like, oh my gosh. Oh my gosh! That's way too many trainers!"
Koga clapped his hands. "Girls! Control yourselves! You are Gym Leaders! You are also in a much better position as you will be able to bolster each other and process the trainers much faster!"
The Cerulean girls nodded before swallowing. "We're going to need more pokemon… like way, way more… and some more trainers to help out… Can any of you—"
"I would be happy to assist you ladies in this time of need," said Giovanni.
I felt a chill run down my spine as Giovanni smiled like a Persian that had just ransacked the cream warehouse. Visions of all the ways that could turn out terribly ran through my mind. I glanced at the girls and saw them relaxing. Like Pidgeys thinking the Persian was going to keep them safe.
"I might be able to send someone over," I heard myself saying. Giovanni looked at me and for just a moment his brow creased.
"Same here girls!" shouted Surge.
Erika shifted. "I'm not sure some of my girls would be able to help out as much. But I can send you three of them! Or five! I have quite a few!" That had me stopping and reassessing. Erika had that many Gym trainers?
"Like thanks so much guys!" "Yeah, you guys are the best!" "Thank you!" cried the Cerulean sisters into the camera as they slumped into their chairs.
I mentally wondered if it was worth asking about Misty. Was she still with Ash? Had they met each other or had events drifted enough to not have them meeting each other? Would she get called in to handle the gym now?
I wasn't sure but I knew that I certainly did not want Giovani helping out the naive trio of sisters. I had no doubt that would result in Team Rocket all but running the place in name.
"Hehehe," chuckled Blaine, cutting off any further discussion. Everyone frowned at the man but he waved his hands back and forth. "Hehehe! Ha! Well, this certainly wasn't something I expected to occur when you defeated Lance Brock, but then again, success breeds its own problems!"
"It seems a bit ridiculous for my victory to cause this level of response," I said reasonably.
Blaine huffed. "Oh you simple child, your match was televised to the international community! The world is a larger place than you understand!" he said with a chuckle. "I have no doubt a huge number of people would have seen it and young trainers had the entire off-season to make plans. It's not every day that you get to challenge a Champion. But a man that has beaten a Champion?"
He leered at me over the top of his glasses. "Brock, Brock, Brock, there are going to be lots of trainers interested in wanting to say that they've beaten you. Your badge has a lot more value these days."
He grinned "I hope you raised your prices at least! You're in for a long start to the circuit!" He threw back his head and cackled. When he was done he grinned. "I only take challengers with four badges that can reach me and make it worth my time. Good luck to the rest of you!" And just like that, he disconnected.
"That was rather…" Erika mumbled aloud.
"That is how Blaine is," Giovanni said before tapping his desk to signal he had more to say.
"Brock, what Blaine said is correct. I have been looking through the information you sent to Surge earlier and it shows a large spike in Johto, Hoenn, Sevii and Orange region trainers coming here. This is going to be a tough period, but we'll get through it. I will not be lowering the challenge level as I wish to preserve my badge's value but it may be worth reaching out to the four minor gyms along with the Admissions Exam Board to notify them of the issues that will be arising. Does anyone have any issues with including the four minor gym leaders in future meetings?"
None of us raised any complaints and Giovanni nodded once. "Very well, I will get in contact with them. Brock, how long can you handle the current workload? Do you need any more trainers like the Cerulean gym?"
"We're coping," I said, resisting the urge to glare at the man for having the gall to attempt such a thing with me. I'd need to watch for any plants coming my way and make sure to keep security as tight as I could. Challenges like this would lead to tough times but also the occasional opportunity. I just had to make sure I wasn't someone else's opportunity.
Erika voiced her support of drawing some trainers away as did Surge. Sabrina chewed her lip only for Koga to speak up. "I will lower my own gym's standards for now, but I will shorten Janine's time with you. It might be a good test run to have her handle the first, and second badge challengers." He turned to his daughter, "Janine, make the most of your next week."
"Yes, father!" she said.
A buzz on my wrist had me glancing down and grimacing. It was late already, and I still had other people to talk with. "I'm going to have to sign out as I have to talk with the Mayor. Thanks for attending and for doing what you can everyone."
"Thank you for alerting us to the situation. We will remain in contact," Giovanni said as others chorussed their own goodbyes. I hung up with a nod. I stood and shuffled some papers into a folder before stuffing it into a backpack. "Thanks for that Janine… would it be possible for you to occasionally poke over to Cerulean to check up on the—" I was cut off as Sabrina appeared in a flash.
Janine reared back and threw out a pokeball with Beedrill punching forwards only for Sabrina to arrest the Beedrill's attack with psychic energy. Beedrill buzzed harshly and broke out, reading to strike again only for Janine to call the pokemon back. Sabrina stared at the younger girl.
"Oh, I apologise, I didn't mean to startle you," she said.
Janine bristled. "I wasn't scared!"
Sabrina merely glanced at the Beedrill still in the room. Janine flushed and returned the pokemon. I hummed, a small note of concern rearing its head. If Beedrill had gone for a bug-type move would Sabrina have been able to stop it? Or a dark-type move?
I pushed the thought aside and instead shook my head. "Alright let's calm down. Sabrina, I assume you just wanted to check up on me?" Sabrina nodded and I gave her a smile. "Right, give me a moment?" She nodded again and I turned to Janine.
"Hey I'm going to talk with Sabrina but could you check in on the Cerulean girls later? I don't trust Giovanni."
Janine nodded. "I know why, I will do so!" she said before offering me a bow. Then she pulled out a smokebomb. I raised my hand to stop her; I didn't want smoke lingering in my office.
"Don—" was as far as I got before she threw it. Instead of it exploding it was caught in a psychic grasp.
Janine was already dashing out the door but she stumbled when she realised she was clearly visible. "What?!" she said as she skidded to a halt only to whip around to glower at Sabrina. "Stop that!" she said, her leg twitching like she wanted to stomp it.
I bit my lips to stop myself from laughing. I coughed. "Uhm, please don't throw smoke bombs in my office in future, Janine."
Janine blinked before blushing. "Ah, that is reasonable."
I nodded and gestured to the door. When the door closed, I huffed a laugh. Sabrina tilted her head at me as though curious about my reaction.
I wagged a finger at Sabrina. "Don't bully her."
Sabrina hummed before stepping up to me. "Brock? Are you alright?" she said, her eyes checking me over.
"I'm fine." She narrowed her eyes and I held up a hand. "Just harassed. I have a lot to deal with with this whole trainer surge… or well I'm calling it a flood honestly." Sabrina stayed quiet before looking to the side.
"I could lower my challenge level and allow…"
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Sabrina… No offence, but I think you'd scare a lot of people off because you don't exactly hold back when you fight."
Sabrina tilted her head. "Why should I?"
I chuckled. "Nah, you shouldn't. You do you. If a trainer challenges you then they should be ready for a tough match. I'll talk to Sophia, Manny, Kong, and Grey, they already see first-badge challengers and a bit more attention sent their way might be good for them."
I tilted my head. "Think you can drop in on the Cerulean sisters when you're able to?"
"… " Sabrina watched me with narrowed eyes.
"I'm just worried they might pick up some people that won't have their gym's best interest at heart."
Sabrina continued to stare at me. Her eyes felt like they were boring into me. "You want me to look into them? You've usually wanted me to refrain from looking into people's minds."
I worked my teeth back and forth. "I… I don't want you to stop, just not be flagrant about it. Be mindful I guess? I can admit that I don't like the idea of you doing it with no regard, but for certain scenarios," I opened a hand up and shrugged, "it's a warranted tool. You don't have to if you're not comfortable with it, but I just…" I scratched the back of my head searching for what to say.
"Is there any reason you're asking me to do this now?"
"I trust you," I said simply. Sabrina blinked before a light dusting of red appeared across her nose.
"Ah, I apologise I thought you might have…" I glanced away from the wall to her, "Never mind!" she said quickly at my curious look.
It took me a moment to realise why she was acting strangely. I'd asked her to look into the potential trainers for… "Oh, I'm not interested in the Cerulean sisters. I just don't trust Giovanni."
Sabrina nodded. "I understand. I will investigate them if I find anything."
I clicked my teeth. "Alright, just be careful, you know what I'm worried about with Giovanni."
"I know, but I'm not garnering as much attention. They didn't detect me when I threw those rocks through his gym," she said. She flicked her hair. "Don't worry, I will let you know if I discover anything. If they attack me or mine, however, I will not hold myself back." She squeezed my hand once before stepping back and disappearing in a flash of light.
I ran my hand over where she'd squeezed. She'd counted me in that, hadn't she? Part of me wanted to call her back to clarify while another laughed at the willful ignorance I was trying to use.
Another part then tagged in and reminded me that I was now very, very late with meeting with the Mayor.
I started to run only to pause as I recalled I too had a psychic pokemon capable of teleporting.
"Selene! I need to be teleported to the mayor's house," I said.
"Luuunatone!" she cried before bumping into me. The world vanished as she wrapped me up in psychic energy. I held in my dark energy so as to not disrupt the teleport. We appeared a moment later in front of a fancy manor. I could see a light on in a room.
I rapped smartly on the door with the knocker. A few moments later I heard shuffling from inside and within a minute a woman's face peered out at me.
"Gym Leader Brock? This is a late call out for my husband."
"Ah no, I called him to meet up. I need to fill him in on something."
The Mayor's wife tutted at me. "Oh silly! It probably could have waited or been done over the phone. Don't let him string you along now." She gestured to a door. "He's through there. I'll bring some snacks if you're going to be here long."
I watched her glide away, amused at how very different she was from the rather forceful personality of the mayor. I opened the door and stepped through.
"Mayor Jonathan, we've got a situation."
Jonathan looked up and snorted. "You're late Gym Leader!" His words were harsh but his grin took the sting away. The words also felt like he was quoting something but I couldn't place it having not watched all that many pokemon movies.
"I think you'll find I arrived precisely when I should have," I said, twisting an old quote to my own needs. Jonathan observed me before snorting.
"Feh! You're learning at least. Very well, tell me what the situation is."
And so I spent the next hour laying out the issues that would likely arise from the coming trainer surge. Within a few minutes, Jonathan's wife — Who, I learnt was named Caroline— came in with milk and cookies. She then glided on out leaving me to take up the story once more.
Jonathan listened intently throughout; When I was done he drummed his fingers on his desk.
"You're projecting four times the trainer volume to come through Pewter cause of how you kicked Lance in the tail? Heh! Nice, we'll be rolling tourism!"
I shok my head. "Mayor, idle or frustrated trainers are known to cause damage if they can't get access to what they want. They're young, headstrong people that are more likely to find their own entertainment."
"Pewter City can supply that!" Jonathan said while expanding his hands. "We have attractions! Natural ones even! Mt Moon! The canyons and hot springs! We've got the tunnels and the forests to the south. People should want to spend more time here as it is!"
His chest puffed up, and I could almost feel him rattling off those exact words at some town hall meeting to sway the people that turned up to such events.
I hummed, not taken with his plan. "I think we need to process what we can and get the other trainers to move on."
"Move on!? No way! Get 'em to stick around! I can come up with distractions! Heck, you should capitalise on it and run that Contest I heard people talking about."
"It'll put a strain on the hospital, the police, the pokecenter, even the food market," I said before addressing the second point. "That is only in the early stages of concept planning. We barely have an idea on how to run such an event." Part of me wondered who had mentioned it to the Mayor as I hadn't said a word of it in months.
"I'll have someone swing around for you to talk with. I know a young lass whose family were avid Contest goers in Hoenn. As for the other issue? Don't you worry about the civil side of things, you just handle the Gym and its duties." He gave me a sly look, "Any chance you want some of them taken off your plate?"
"No. Thank you for the offer, however, I think I will be able to handle things sufficiently," I tightly said as if he wasn't trying to entrap me. This wasn't how I was expecting this to go.
"Brock, you have to see things from my perspective. This is your first surge and it sounds like it's going to be rough. I think for the moment—"
"I said I'll handle it." I glared at him but the man gave me a mulish look.
"How?"
"I'm hiring more staff and have systems in place. Not, that it's your business. Perhaps you should handle the civil side of things. I thought it courteous to inform you of something that would affect you."
Jonathan patted at the air. "Brock, Brock, Brock, I apologise. I've pushed too far. I can see that. Thank you for the information, we'll be able to handle it better knowing it's on the way. I'll schedule a talk with the Chief of Police and the other services to give them a heads-up. Was there anything else you wished to discuss tonight?"
"Not unless you were interested in setting up routes for trainers to move to other cities, to space things out"
"I think that means I should see you out then," he said affably. I nodded tightly and made my own way out. Caroline who'd apparently been staying close perked up when she saw us leave the office.
"Oh Brock! I was thinking you might appreciate an invitation to my gala in a few months. I could never quite get your father to…" My face must have turned to granite as she stopped talking for a moment.
Her tongue darted out and wet her lips and Jonathan moved to her side, suddenly much more aware of me. Caroline smiled tightly. "Oh, well never you mind that! I'd feel terrible if I didn't extend the offer to you. You'd be a hit with some of the young ladies making their debut this season!"
I made a noncommittal noise, unaware that we'd had such events while also feeling that agreeing would mean I'd be like a Meowth on show for Caroline.
I beat a hasty retreat home and reviewed the day to come. Thankfully when my head hit the pillow I was quick to fall asleep.
The next morning I was up and running hard on the outside perimeter inspecting the fences and warning signs that were up. I had very different terrain to both sides. On my left a swamp haunted the land with willowy trees and fronds while to my right rocky landscapes proved perfect for my rock pokemon. Some of whom were running along the fence. In front of me, the road was well maintained which allowed me to somewhat keep up with my pokemon as they rumbled along.
A honk had me turning around to find a motorbike approaching. When it neared it slowed down and I waved to Officer jenny.
"Jenny, morning!"
"Morning Brock! How're you doing today?"
"Pretty good, gotta get a few things done though with the trainers coming in."
Jenny relaxed. "Oh good, the Mayor told you about the surge coming your way?"
I blinked at that, something about the emphasis of the words stood out to me. "The Mayor, told me?"
"Yeah! He got some figures of incoming trainers and spoke with the chief and a few other community leaders last night. I assume he spoke to you?"
I stopped and spat to the side of the road earning me an unimpressed look which I ignored as I felt dark feelings stir. "I told him about the damn surge. Urgh! Politicians!"
"Oh… well yeah, that is what politicians will do. Next time, just tell the Chief of Police yourself."
I sighed and exhaled the darkness. In a way, Jonathan had spared me a lot of time. It rubbed me the wrong way that he'd stolen the credit for himself. But… I had to agree with Jenny.
"Yeah, I'll remember that," I said.
Jenny nodded, "Well, I wanted to come out and check up on you. Good to hear that things are on the up and up. The rest of the squad and I are going to be on patrol. Who should we touch base with if we have any issues?"
"Probably Rocko, Dennis or Alexa." I wiped some sweat off and stared into the swamp.
"Alexa?" asked Jenny in surprise. "Thought she was acting as a receptionist for you?"
"Promoted her to PA."
"Ho? Good for her, hope it sticks. Say I was—" before she could finish her radio squawked and she snatched it up.
"Jenny here!"
"......"
"Trainers are doing what in the park?"
".....!"
"I'm on it!" She slammed it in before whipping her bike around the road she'd just come down.
"Gotta go Brock! Trainers are fighting in the middle of the memorial garden, and someone's painted graffiti on the hospital!" Before I could even respond, she roared back down the road. I coughed at the dust cloud I found myself in.
A loud croak from the swamp made me turn to see large yellow eyes watching me. I nodded amicably. "Morning Shrek." My Swampert ambled out and nuzzled up to me. I patted him and sighed.
Somewhere in the next month, I had to deal with Ash and… my father. Compared to them, Jonathan stealing credit and being himself really was a minor detail.
I still had chores to do and trainers to handle. Most notably this morning was teaching Missy how to handle gravity training and Janine with aura training.
I also needed something. … A response to the League. At this point, I didn't care if it was negligence or something targeted.
A.N. Special thanks goes to my patreons for their support!
Special thanks goes to Raikor, Ab9999 and Elnoorz for betaing and editing this chapter.
If anyone would like to show support, outside of being a patreon, is to vote on the SV's User choice Awards! Hard Enough has been nominated for Best ongoing fic and Best New fic! Please vote for us!
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- Location
- Miami
I'm so looking forward to how you handle Ash in this. Between the changes already made and the difficulty Brock leaving would cause I'm excited to see how it goes.
I really don't want Brock to leave, I feel like he's happy where he is and with what he's doing. Maybe his little brother could go instead, he hasn't had his journey yet.
TimEd
Meteor maker
Yeahhh, that mayor is showing his colors. He KNOWS the surge will be bad but still wanting to retain as much "business" to Pewter because he knows he won't be the one getting shit for it.
If this really is still politics, then Brock's first impression of the Mayor is more true than he thinks in that he is a cutthroat politician to the core who looks to #1 first, with Pewter being a distant second, and the PARTS of Pewter (like the police, gym, etc.) lower than even that.
If this really is still politics, then Brock's first impression of the Mayor is more true than he thinks in that he is a cutthroat politician to the core who looks to #1 first, with Pewter being a distant second, and the PARTS of Pewter (like the police, gym, etc.) lower than even that.
- Location
- Canada
Doesn't seem to be a very far thinking politician though.
If you want to maintain power over a government, you need to have the support of key people below you. Brock is a goddamn rockstar in Pewter these days, the people love him. And he also seems quite friendly with the police. If Brock disliking him becomes known, that would hurt re-election chances significantly.
TimEd
Meteor maker
It would, but only if the Mayor didn't get anything for allowing this thing through. And even then, he still managed to cover his ass enough to make it at least seem benign.
And lastly, I think the Mayor still doesn't see Brock as a Major Gym Leader just because his dad damaged their rep that badly, though this is merely conjecture with just how little support he is getting.
I think it's a combination of him thinking Brock while extremely competent at what he does is still a kid/young man and the fact that this has so much potential rewards for himself and the city. So he thinks Brock is overstating the amount the Surge will bring and how chaotic it will get because he doesn't want to see it.
Chapter 64 - Training pokemon and people
Viva01
Uncomfortable with all the hugs he is given
- Location
- Australia
Missy was working with her Rhydon and her Growlithe as I emerged from the gym. Chansey was on my left and Janine flickered into place on my right. She jabbed at me but I stepped to the side out of habit.
She brightened up at my reaction. "Excellent! You can also follow up by sweep—"
Her advice had to be dropped as Chansey reacted poorly to Janine's sudden appearance by unleashing a Double Slap that Janine wasn't expecting. She rocked back onto her heels from the first hit only for the follow-up backhand from Chansey to knock her off her feet.
I put a hand on Chansey's side. "Woah, easy there girl," I said while trying to hold in my laughter. I hadn't known that Chansey reacted so poorly to surprises.
Apparently, violence was her go-to option.
Janine bounced up to her feet into a fighting position and glared at Chansey. They both locked eyes and Chansey raised her tiny arms in preparation. I considered, for half a moment, just stepping back and letting them fight.
Then the responsible adult within me reared its head and I stepped between them.
"Alright, alright, we should just calm down. Janine, the issue with your training method just made itself very clear I think, no?" I held up a hand and she blinked before scowling.
"That! That was just… a lucky shot!?" she said but I could tell even to her it was a weak excuse. Her gaze was locked behind me though.
I shook my head, then turned to Chansey who was still bobbing back and forth and shooting her tiny arms out with the occasional 'come get some' at Janine.
"Chansey, that's not helping."
"Chansey! Chan! Chan!" she said as she shot out punch after punch.
"Chansey," I said firmly.
Chansey settled down and sighed. I almost turned away only to stop as Chansey started to twitch into throwing her fist upwards while the other slapped it in an offensive gesture.
"Chansey, do you want to help train Missy's pokemon with Gravity or not?"
Chansey dropped the aggressive stance and bowed politely to Janine only to skip past me and wave happily to Missy.
"Morning Brock!" Missy said as she noticed us. She glanced at Chansey and then at Janine. "Uhm? Is everything alright?"
"Just Janine learning how people react differently and one method of teaching isn't a guarantee of success," I said, summarising without restarting that little spat. Missy watched me and I realised that my lips were twitching.
I coughed to reset my mood. "Right! Let's talk about your training methods. I reviewed what you've been doing and noticed the gap with no gravity training. That's going to be especially important for pokemon that you're looking to evolve such as your Growlithe and your Rhydon. Increasing their muscle mass prior to evolution can make things a lot easier than waiting."
"Why is that?" Missy asked with a tilt of her head.
I glanced at Janine and gestured for her to take over. I wanted to test her and see how she would answer the question and any subsequent questions.
Janine straightened up. "Yes! Gravity training increases muscle density, bone mineral density and ligament strength! This allows for an earlier development for pokemon so when they undergo their evolution there is a greater mass for the multiplicative effect to come into play."
Missy blinked. "Wait so my Rhydon has missed out because I evolved her already?!" she said with a shriek. Next to her, her Rhydon gasped theatrically and put her hands over her shoulder and chest where the most prominent musculature of a Rhydon was.
I had to resist the urge to step in as Janine scowled. "Don't be ridiculous! Your pokemon still has the chance to regain the mass she missed out on. She has a range of growth, it is just something you will have to work out and increase her nutrient intake. Her growth factor will resolve all of that!" Janine crossed her arms and nodded.
Missy notably did not look relieved and in fact, looked more worried. "But my Rhydon has been evolved for a year and a half now… wouldn't that mean her growth factor has stopped?"
Janine raised a finger before perking up. "Her next evolution will restart her growth factor!"
Missy considered that and slowly nodded. "So how long will it come into effect for her?"
"It typically lasts a month after the evolution takes place so it is important that if you want certain physical characteristics such as size or unusual arm reach for your pokemon then you should have training that will facilitate this!"
I decided to interject. "There are supplements that help induce more growth but these are expensive. It will depend on if you actually want the size increase or if you're trying to stay quick and nimble! As a gym trainer, this will be covered by the Gym. It is recommended that you hold off evolution for at least a month with this training to get more from it." I then rolled my hand to show Janine I wanted her to continue.
Janine stepped forward once more. "That concludes what you need to know!"
I coughed, and Janine and Missy stared at me. I sighed. "The risk factors and considerations for this type of training also need to be explained, Janine."
"Oh! Yes! Stay within your limitations, and when your pokemon is tired, you should stop!" she said.
I facepalmed. "That explanation is missing a lot of details," I said lightly. "In the future, it is best to explain all the details. For instance, why is gravity training not used extensively?"
"It… causes bulk up in pokemon?" Janine said.
I nodded. "Indeed. Some pokemon you will want to stay small and nimble. Also some pokemon, such as bug pokemon, won't react well to having their wings suddenly weigh a lot more. There are benefits to getting them used to gravity training, but this is more so that they can handle the strain if they encounter it. Sustained gravity training will also negatively impact their ability to dodge. It is better for Pokemon that you want to hit with physical attacks or be able to handle heavier hits."
"Like Flamethrower!" said Missy.
"No," Janine and I said over the top of each other. Missy reeled back.
Janine glanced at me and checked to see if I wanted her to say anything, but I decided to take over. "Right, so I haven't gone into this yet but Flamethrower has a physical component certainly, but it mostly uses energy. So Flamethrower is not an example of what you could improve from Gravity training. Gravity training is best for improving a pokemon's vitality, or its physical stats. So in this case attack and defence or how hard it can punch or how hard it can take a punch."
"What about speed?" Missy said.
I held up a finger. "Speed has had…" I rethought that. "Well honestly, the whole classification system has been something that researchers get into fights over." I said scratching my head.
"There hasn't yet been something more applicable ,so yeah I'll put a pin in that whole conversation. But with regard to your question? Speed, as people use it for stats with pokemon, refers to both agility —aka the ability to change directions and control acceleration— and what is known as straight-line movement or velocity. There is a marked difference between these. This is also where people can get into a lot of trouble with gravity training. It's also where all the warnings about gravity training mostly come from." Missy nodded, looked intently at me to show she was listening.
I circled my hand about. "Now! Forgive me for dropping this on you but if you want to look it up, it is in the Gym network files that are for trainers to use."
Missy nodded slowly and Janine tilted her head. I pointed to her. "Sorry, forgot to grant you access to it. Ask Alexa later alright?"
I then paused as I regathered where I'd left off. "Right! So when we stand, gravity is naturally pulling us down. Our joints come under normal body weight pressure. What happens when we start moving, even at a slow walk, is that the amount of force a joint is under increases in multiples, which can then be compounded with gravity."
"Huh?" Missy said.
Janine nodded. "The amount of pressure placed on joints, ligaments and muscles increase when we move."
I pointed at her and nodded. "Correct! Now when we move faster this pressure increases until it can easily reach over two times the normal pressure when factoring in our body weight at a quick walk."
I pointed to Rhydon. "So, if we think about a pokemon like Rhydon running, there is a rather large force being placed on her joints, and when we add in Gravity? The risk of injury increases."
Missy glanced at Chansey. "So she's here for that? Healing any injuries?"
"And to increase her Gravity control. For today you are only going to be moving around slowly. You should never rush straight into the higher levels of agility drills with your pokemon as that will result in torn muscles and ligaments. We want muscle hypertrophy to occur. Don't worry though, those levels will come but give your pokemon time and proper care. You just need to get over an initial hurdle that makes Gravity training dangerous."
Missy nodded seriously as her pokemon eyed off Chansey excitedly. Chansey, for her part, merely smirked, knowing how much this training was going to suck.
"What about special attack and special defence?"
I wavered my hand. "We'll touch on that another day," I said, not wanting to get into the whole 'aura education' that such a conversation would require today. "Just pay as much attention as you can to how your pokemon uses their energy reserves. The more they attack and the more powerful the attacks are, which is a good indicator of their reserves, and also that their special attack stat is increasing."
Missy nodded. I quickly glanced down at my watch, relaxing as this talk had only taken ten minutes. I still had time before the day's challenges started. I exhaled some of the tension that had built up and clapped Janine on the shoulder. "Right, you're with me today." Janine perked up as Missy began to order her pokemon to 'endure the Gravity' as Chansey laid it upon them.
I gestured to the cave system at the back and led Janine into the darkness. "So you wanted to see how I trained my aura you said earlier," I said, referencing a talk we had had over the weekend.
"Indeed," Janine said seriously while furtively glancing backwards. "Are you sure we can leave Missy' and her pokemon with that… Brute?"
I shot a glance back to find Chansey shooting Janine a glare. "Chansey is probably the best for this. She understands how far she can push and is extremely professional."
"Her tendencies aside?"
"Her tendencies mean she understands the breaking point a lot better. When she's working there's no issues from her. Trust me!" I said with a grin.
Janine hummed before nodding. "Very well. And, yes I wanted to discuss Aura development as it is something I…" She stopped at the cave entrance and kicked at a rock. "Have not yet developed."
"Oh?" I said surprised at the admission. "Are… Are your fathers training methods not working for you?"
"My father's training methods are wonderful!" Janine said with a snap of her teeth like an ursaring that had just been poked.
I waved a hand, turning to face her front on. "I didn't say they were bad, merely that they haven't worked for you is all."
Janine worked her jaw and nodded tightly. "Tis true… I have not responded to them. I… I was hoping that your method might have some clues into helping me unlock my poison."
"Hmmmm alright then."
Janine bowed. "My thanks… For your guidance and discretion." She fidgetted. "I have read all of the books that my father has supplied and found that I still have not been able to manifest or control my own energies."
Janine faded from sight, using the darkness of the cave to hide. "It is most shameful," she said from somewhere off to the side in a whisper.
I channeled dark energy to my eyes and she became… Well not easy to spot. But certainly possible to see. She glared at me when she noticed I was watching her move from rock to rock as quietly as possible.
She huffed and returned to walking at my side. "I feel like using your dark aura is cheating…"
I shook my head. "I think it is using what is natural to me. Also, it's probably best if you don't wander off down here." I gestured for her to hurry along. While I still had time, I didn't have as much as I normally would have.
Before she could ask why, a bolt of lightning lit up a cave nearby, revealing Sanchez sitting among a crowd of much smaller geodudes. The larger pokemon had his hands splayed out to the side and was catching bolts of electricity that were being shot at him from the five electric-rock geodude variants that the Gym now owned.
"I see," said Janine carefully.
"Yeah, Sanchez's area would knock you out. But he'll bundle you up to the gym pronto if it happens. No, the big threat down here is from loose rocks and turning your ankle honestly."
"That's the worst thing that can happen?" Janine said incredulously.
I grimaced. "Ah no. If you get caught out of place by Don he'll rip you apart. He's very territorial."
"Doesn't the researcher… Bianca? Come in here all the time?"
"Yes, and she's been introduced a number of times and knows exactly how touchy he can be. She is a trained professional. She's not someone slinking around that's new."
Case and point as soon as I walked past the grotto that housed the ancient pokemon, Don shrieked a challenge. "Go back to sleep!" I called out to him, tossing a few pokeblock snacks into the cave as I did so.
I rolled my eyes as he continued to growl and make a loud showing of how fierce he was. I heard the other ancient pokemon join him in enjoying the snacks as well.
When we reached the deepest cave I paused. "You sure you're going to be alright in the dark?"
"I am a trained Koga ninja and the future Gym Leader of Fuchsia! Darkness is not enough to deter me!"
"Ah," I said intelligently, I'd put my foot into it again. "Right, sorry. Come on then." I stepped forward and whistled to Titan to let him know I was coming in before speaking. "Hey buddy! Got a friend coming with me today for training!" I moved to the open area that had been worn down by Titan constantly moving to and from the small rise. I claimed a seat and indicated a spot for Janine to claim as we waited for my 'darkness guru'.
Two mighty bodies shifted within the darkness. Bertha trudged out with a huge yawn and moved back to her own cave. Another yawn sounded out and the entire structure of the cave seemed to quake for a moment.
Then Titan shifted and the grinding of stone rang out as he dragged himself out of bed.
"Have an eventful morning?" I said, teasing the mighty pokemon.
"Tyyyyy," said Titan as he sat heavily. Then he shook himself and a cloud of dust and sand exploded outwards. I had my eyes shut, having experienced Titan when he had only just woken up more than enough times to know what would happen.
"Bleh!" said Janine as she spat dirt out of her mouth only to snort as she realised she'd inhaled some as well.
Titan stared at her. I could just make out the glint in his eyes as he roused fully and became aware of her and what I'd said. Usually, he woke up much earlier. It was rare for Titan to sleep in. Then again he and the other elites usually had a training day, then a rest day scheduled in. Titan on the other hand usually trained seven days a week in the morning.
As my strongest pokemon, I'd spent long hours talking with him about how he would embody much of what my pokemon team was to become. He'd taken these discussions very seriously. Then again, unlike a lot of other strong pokemon, he was required to go through the second evolution dependent completely on me for mobility.
He had nothing to do but sit, watch, and listen. His first evolution had occurred just a week into the start of my journey. I'd had to get a lot stronger and a lot faster to be able to carry him around.
Bug pokemon trainers had it easy in that their second evolution for Caterpie, Weedle, and such only took a week or a month at most. Titan's had lasted roughly eight months. Eight months of not being able to move without someone or something else acting upon him. He got very good at tanking hits.
He got very good at being patient and listening.
He got very good at controlling the flow of his energy. He'd had nothing else to do with all the time stuck immobile. That perhaps made Tyranitar as a species unique among other psuedo-legendary pokemon. None of the others had to endure complete immobility. The closest in comparison was Shelgon wanting to fly but being stuck in a chunky, heavy form. It could still run though.
In a lot of ways, Tyranitar reminded me of Gyarados. They both had that awkward phase of growth where they were weak and they could easily grow to be resentful, spiteful pokemon if the wrong circumstances occurred to them.
Titan warbled a greeting to me and Janine before putting his hands together, the claws clicked as they tapped against their opposite. Then he repeated the gesture with his feet. He'd picked it up from watching me work through some stretches and Tai chi moves with some grannies for pocket money during our journey a few times.
He'd been rather taken with it and I'dcarted him to a few around Kanto while he'd been trapped as a Pupitar. It always seemed to interest him, even if I'd thought it slightly cruel.
He'd shown me after evolving that he'd been paying a lot more attention than I'd realised at the time.
Titan inhaled deeply, and then slowly exhaled. He was perfectly in time with a three count for his inhale before exhaling rapidly. I made sure to copy, breathing out and in at the same time so as to not be going opposite and inhaling any of the dust he was stirring up.
Janine coughed and spluttered causing Titan to drop his serene pose. "Ty!" he barked at her.
"He wants you to copy him. It's best to follow as if you're wrong you end up getting some of his exhale instead which is what's causing you so much trouble right now."
Janine took another minute to cough before she got control of herself. "I-I r-read-y!" she said wheezily.
Titan hummed and slowed down even more. His breaths were careful and controlled with Janine in the room. He focussed on her. His hands rose and fell with his inhales and exhales.
Janine fell into sync with us, and we continued this for another five minutes before Titan stopped, his claws unlaced and he bobbed a greeting. He then pointed to me. "Ran? Tar? Tyranitar?" he asked.
"Hmmm, I'd think it would benefit her mostly if we did a sensory training drill. Or at least let her watch one."
Titan considered this, his claws tapping on his chest before he nodded. He then raised up both hands. Nothing outwardly changed but I closed my eyes to pay as much attention as I could to what I felt. Sight wasn't what I wanted right now.
"Your left… middle, no! Hey don't change it mid-drill!" I said snapping my eyes open and growling at him.
Titan merely shook his head back and forth. "Ty, ty, ty!" he said, clicking his tongue in mock disapproval.
"You were too fast!"
Titan snorted and gestured that we would start again. I shut my eyes and tried to feel it out faster.
"Left middle finger, dark, right pointer, rock, your… Tail? Rock?"
Titan grunted out a 'yes' and we continued with him varying the position, energy type, and amount of time it would remain around himself.
When he held a ball outside his body of rock I had to call out what move he was using. Janine watched on and didn't comment until maybe twenty minutes in.
"So… you let him run the session?" she asked.
Titan stopped the training and glanced at her with a tilt of his head. I scratched at mine.
"You know that pokemon are going to be the first point of reference for energy awareness yeah? Especially for specialists like us, yes?"
Janine fidgetted. "I knew that it was just… I was expecting you to tell him how things would go, not to have him training you."
I shrugged, an old lyric coming to mind as being much more appropriate than the writer likely intended. "I teach him and he teaches me."
Janine chewed her lip. "My Venomoth… I might be able to train with him like this…" She frowned into her "I wouldn't have thought of doing this," she said glumly.
I shrugged. "I hadn't thought of using dusk stones for dark type training." I scratched my head and worked some of the dust out of it, well used to how dirty hanging around rock-types would get me.
"Say what items do you use when working with Poison types?'' The only 'rock' poison-typed item I could think of was the poison gem of poisonum z which I wasn't sure she'd have access to.
"We have an old plate that was said to be found in the sludge and slurry of a ruin. We also have the sludge remains of a number of Muks that are… very pungent," she said with a grimace.
"Ah… that might actually make it tougher on you as you're getting a stimulus that might distract you. Can you ignore it or is it too potent?" I considered for a moment that it might be like pepper spray with the ability to cause issues through the skin and eyes without being smelt. Then again, I had very little experience with the 'old sludge' and had no desire to in any event.
I shook my head. "How have you been thinking of poison energy by the way? What do you associate it with?"
"Protection! Poison-type pokemon are the defenders of Fuchsia, and have been for generations!" she said straight away.
I shot a look at Titan and he tapped his chest in thought. I hummed. "That uhm… was not how I thought you were going to answer."
Janine sniffed only to inhale some dust and sneeze. Titan barked a laugh at her that had her glowering ineffectively at the much larger pokemon.
"Hmmm any other things you meditate on when trying to feel the energy?" I asked not wanting to offend her more.
"... medicine," Janine said. I found myself stunned. She'd obviously wanted as many good associations with poison as possible.
"Huh yeah, poison in the right dosages can be medicine."
"And vice versa," said Janine with a pleased smile. "I happened upon an old scroll that details such a pokemon move but I have yet to make it work with any of my pokemon."
I tilted my head. Was there a pokemon move like that linked to poison type? It wasn't an area I had much, if any knowledge of. I knew of Toxic Spikes, Acid, Sludgebomb, and Toxic as the most commonly used moves but was there something like Janine was describing? I wasn't sure.
I opened my mouth to mention that she should perhaps consider the 'core commonly thought of' concepts of poison types, but Titan shook his head slightly. He flicked his finger between me and him with a slight nod before flicking it between me and Janine. I frowned.
"Not my place?" I said after thinking about what he could mean for a while.
Titan nodded, his maw breaking into a happy smile.
Janine tilted her head. "What's not your place?"
I huffed. "I was thinking about what you'd said, and how that isn't the association I'd have made but… Yeah, I think Titan is right on this. I shouldn't pidgey-hole you into a specific mindset. What you come up with for poison as a concept works for you, it's just about harnessing it."
I shrugged. "Maybe, just keep walking your path."
Janine smiled. "Thank you, I shall. I will also consider what you have shown me today. I think it could be very helpful."
I nodded and unbent my legs. Then a thought occurred. "Hey, your dad also knows normal type energy as well doesn't he?"
Janine didn't even bat an eye. "What makes you think that?"
"When he gets close to me he's using a quick attack or something like that yeah? That'd require normal type energy, no?"
Janine snorted. "Or, perhaps he is simply a Grandmaster in ninjutsu?"
I searched her expression but didn't find anything but smug amusement. Alright, so I wasn't going to pry their secrets of how they did it from her. I still thought I was on the right track. Somehow I doubted I was the only dual-wielding aura user. It made sense that Koga kept an ace like that up his sleeve.
At least, I believed so.
Admittedly a little less as I stared across at Janine's amused expression. I stood and dusted my hands off. "Right well, I have to go raise a fuss soon with the League. So I need to give the team a heads up before I head off. Are you good to shadow Daniel today and have him show you around Pewter city?"
Janine nodded her head. "I shall enjoy the tour from a local!"
I nodded and moved to clap hands with Titan. He did so happily and warbled his own goodbye before resuming his meditation pose. I left with Janine looking over her shoulder. "He's very dedicated," she said, her tone laced with approval.
I chuckled. I'd never questioned Titan's desire or dedication to becoming strong. Titan had been strong when he'd evolved into his Tyranitar form. This was thanks to the nutrition plans I had fed him, training, and the sheer determination he had to grow from what he had been. Whenever people saw him these days they assumed he'd been a big Larvitar. They wouldn't have guessed he'd been a runt.
I suspected that had played a bit of a part in Titan's mother handing him off to me, but not much of one. Whenever we went back, she always seemed glad to see him and never dismissed him.
Janine continued to walk alongside me for a while before coughing. "Brock, before I leave I would like to have a match with you. I know it would help my team more than yours at this stage, but facing pokemon as strong as you would help my team grow immensely."
I chuckled. "Oh I'm sure they'd enjoy it and find it aggravating, no doubt. But the experience would be good for them. They don't get enough Champion tier trainers challenging them usually. Think that might change with all the Ace challenges I see coming in. It's not like we're going to be crazy people chasing the next most powerful pokemon."
Some people were known to get a bit crazy and attempt to challenge people increasingly stronger than them in a quest to increase their pokemon onwards and upwards. There were stories about trainers trying for greater challenges only to find themselves across a field from a Legendary, and realise how wide a gulf there was. Or worse they did something that caused a Legendary to rampage.
That was one of the biggest issues of raising champion-tier pokemon. You needed worthy foes to raise them up. Technically as a gym leader, I had a lot of options to get those. While my training would see them gradually improving the best improvements would come from fighting.
Thankfully these days we didn't lack for challengers.
Lance and a lot of other people would need to watch out with how my team was bound to be stronger by the circuit's end. I couldn't wait to show them off when Rachel and I finalised a proper exhibition match.
Sabrina already wanted first rights to such a match.
That was a rematch I was looking forward to.
Until then, I had the League to growl at. This was the second time they had interfered with how things were operating. It might be different but the theme seemed the work of the same architect.
I checked my watch and grimaced. I just barely had enough time to jump in the shower, check to confirm the kids were on their way and make it to the first match. I jogged up the stairs, running my hand through my still-wet hair. Jackson, watching over the current gauntlet fight taking place, tapped his watch in amusement.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know, cutting it close." I clapped my hands and did my reset ritual.
Then I inhaled and shook myself. "Alright, go time!"
The day's matches actually ended up going much quicker than I'd planned. Which I felt worked perfectly for me. Rarely would I get so much free time at the end of my day to catch up on the various bits and pieces of being the Gym Leader. Not now that the circuit was underway anyways. I doubted the last two Gym Challengers for today had been expecting quite as hard a match-up as they did when Rocko and Jackon beat them but that sometimes happened when we had gauntlet runs.
Daniel had been annoyed that I'd tapped him to lead Janine around the city. With nothing to do I'd closed off the main arena and let everyone relax after they saw to their pokemon. People could still reserve the battle courts for matches, but I wasn't going to see any more challenges.
Then I'd departed for my house where I'd sat at the kitchen counter with a wad of paperwork. Munchlax sat across from me with a bowl of cereal I'd made up for him. Eevee was sitting curled up in my lap as I finished up the paperwork
"Brock I need your signatures on these," Alexa said as she handed me a few hiring forms. I looked them over, recalling the people that had made it through the last round of hiring. Some of them had been ecstatic about a temp job with us. I signed the forms and handed them back along with a few others.
"Alexa?" I said as a thought occurred to me.
"Yes, Brock?"
"How many people have put down for the Elite challenge right now?"
She frowned and tapped on her handheld computer. "None," she said after a while. She tapped a few more times. "Usually you don't see any takers for that until after the third month."
I hummed. "Put a sign over the Elite challenge out front. Say that we're holding off on accepting that challenge until… let's say four months into the circuit? Then people that are international trainers will have a chance with their stronger pokemon if they're confident. I'll keep the attention otherwise on single, double, gauntlet and Ace trainer fights for now."
Alexa shifted. "It might streamline things if we had the gauntlet challengers start on the battle courts as well and then be escorted in."
I considered that before shaking my head. "No, I want people challenging for the badge to have an experience here. Changing courts might cheapen that." Alexa hummed as though she thought otherwise but nodded to show she understood my reasoning. I drummed the table. "Should I cancel the Ace challenges as well?"
Alexa promptly deposited a page that detailed how much the Gym made for 'reserving Brock the arena along with television rights for matches'. I also pocketed part of this as a separate entity. I tapped the figure. "Ah, yeah best not drop the Ace challenges if we want to handle the increase in costs we'll be facing then," I said.
Alexa made an agreeing noise before she departed.
With her gone, I could focus on other things. Like making some very pointed inquiries at the League. I drew out a notepad to jot down some thoughts.
While Giovanni had been right about my showing and advertising drawing more people in, there was a limit to how many trainers I could face and someone had to have been ignoring things at the League for it to get this bad. Someone wasn't doing their job and I felt like I needed to make my point clear. This after all was another problem for the gym that could have been handled better.
So, I'd probably need to go to Lance and give him the heads up that I wasn't happy to have so many challengers. I might even have to lay out the ramifications of this many trainers being let through. I just needed to jot down my thoughts.
"Alright, so what sort of—" I started to say to myself.
"Gym Leader Brock! I challenge you!" cried out a voice through the window.
Eevee startled out of her nap and ran off with a cry. I glanced up and saw a trainer standing with his pokeball extended towards me. I also noted he was standing in the middle of the flower garden.
"Get off my petunias!" I shouted at him as I wound the curtain down.
"What? Oh! Sorry! Hey! You can't just hide behind your curtain I saw you!"
"No, you didn't! I'm just a recorded hologram!" I shouted back.
There was a moment of silence. Then the trainer said, "Really? That's kinda coo… Wait a second! You saw me in your flowerbed!"
I clicked my tongue. I should have known he'd be one of those pesky not a complete idiot sorts. Then again, he was, after all, standing in my garden shouting challenges. "
Read the signs kid! I don't accept challenges like this, go around the front!" I was already turning to the Graveler that served as the nanny. I jerked my thumb towards the kid. She bobbed her whole body once and marched out.
"Your signs won't stop me! Ahaha! So you accept my—" there was a moment of scuffling and an aborted shout. A few minutes later Graveler walked back in, dusting her hands off. I shot her a thankful look. Munchlax merely handed her his empty cereal bowl before toddling off. The cheeky pokemon patted me on the side as he did so. He certainly had it good living under my roof. Six meals a day by my count and his choice of places to sleep when he wanted to.
I grumbled as I made another mark on the tally for trainers that had challenged me so far at home. That had been the tenth… I was only two weeks into the circuit…
I looked down at the points that I would be able to raise in argument with Lance. The need to give my pokemon rest was a serious concern and the increased strain on infrastructure were good, solid dependable points. They sadly had no zing to them.
I needed points with punch. I shot a message off to Rachel and she mentioned the two I'd already come up with.
'Got anything the League would be interested in? Also, don't you have a Lawyer for this?' she messaged back.
I paused at that. She was right! … On both counts. I sent a message to Lawrence and he shot me a picture of a slowpoke. I grumbled some more before he sent me a message that he'd start looking into the issue straight away. I flicked through my address book on my transceiver and called the first number that might have some potential for something 'the League' would be interested in. "Hey Bianca, got any fertilised eggs from Don yet?" I said to the in-house breeding specialist.
"Yes actually! Good timing! I was going to talk to you when you had a chance, as there has been a clutch laid!" she said.
I grinned through the screen. "Enough to send one to Professor Elm and Professor Oak as per our agreement?"
"Oh yes! Don has been most vigorous with my team of Ditto!" Bianca said happily.
I nodded, not really wanting that imagery, but having it now despite my best attempts to push it away. "... Right. Got another left over? I happen to know someone else interested in buying an egg."
Bianca turned to the side. "Three, four, five… Yeah I think with six of them now you'll have a good start on a breeding population that we can expand on slowly… one of those to a seller should be no issue. Are you going to be putting any restrictions on your sale to others?"
I blinked at that. Not expecting to be asked that by Bianca. I considered it before shaking my head. "No, I'll allow them to breed as they want. I'll just make sure they know and charge them extra for it. Alright?"
Bianca nodded. "That's perfectly fine with me! I'd prefer there being more options in breeding partners out there in fact!"
"Any other eggs?"
"Not as many no. I have a Kabuto egg and an Omantye egg but no one so far has been as wonderful as Don with his ardour."
I nodded again. "Alright cool. I'll swing around to talk with the seller this afternoon, so can you put the Aerodactyl egg in an incubator for me?"
"Can do!" Bianca said as she signed off.
I hummed, considering the next number. It would probably be overkill, but I hadn't heard anything from the man recently and it might be nice to have another arrow in my quiver.
"Afternoon Crowley!" I said as the dark haired man answered my call.
"Brock! Yes, good morning!"
I tilted my head and glanced at the clock. Crowley blinked blearily at me. I had an idea to ask him what day he thought it was, but decided against it.
Crowley nodded again. "I am pleased to hear from you… I'm sorry to say we've stalled out on making the leap from plants to animals in resurrecting ancient pokemon… I…" The man licked his lips.
"I might need to ask for another extension of funds?" he said, cringing away from me like he expected this to be an issue.
I stared at the video in thought. It had been an idle thought with some loose money when I started funding them. I knew in the games, that after you lose Cinnabar as an option, Pewter Museum had become the site to resurrect pokemon, but perhaps I was throwing money down the drain.
On the screen, Crowley fidgeted. Oh well, I wasn't hurting for money and I could back myself a bit longer. I was about to open my mouth to say I had no issues with that before a pink flower pokemon inched its way along a shelf behind Crowley's shoulders. It turned and inspected Crowley, its dark eyes shining out of its hidden face as its fronds waggled about.
"Lileep!" it chanted as it tickled the back of Crowley's head.
I pointed at it. "Crowley. Who's that pokemon?"
Crowley glanced back to see what I was talking about. "Oh! This is one of the plants we resurrected. We've gotten very good at resurrecting plants but we're still not to the animal phase quite yet." He glanced back and some atrophied social instinct he had must have twitched as he tilted his head. "Are you… Interested in them?"
I sighed. "Crowley, consider your funding requirements a thing of the past. I, and at least one other trainer I know, would love those in our roster."
"Consider them yours!" he said.
I nodded before tilting my head. "How many did you resurrect?"
"Fifty!" said Crowley happily. "I had to make sure the process was viable and repeatable! Sadly we ran out of genetic samples before we proved what the success rate truly is. It's an untested hundred percent so far!" Crowley, rather than looking pleased, shook his head sadly.
"How many tests are you thinking you need to conduct?" I said before I could stop myself.
"Oh?! Well Brock, as a Gym Leader and not a scientist, I'm sure it must come as a shock, but proper research standards dictate at least a few thousand!" He then panned his screen around to show his lab with a number of Lileep inching around it with an intern shooing one off some paperwork.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'll be over to pick them up, along with depositing some money to you soon."
"Excellent!" said the man in a totally normal and not at all maniacal way. He hung up quickly.
I sighed. "Why… why is this my life?" I said to the air. I shrugged, it could be way worse actually.
I called Lawrence and he spat what looked like coffee over himself when I announced Crowley's failure to him. "I'll be right over there in a few minutes!" he said before hanging up.
I stood to walk outside and ride Zephyr over. Then I stopped as I considered something. I opened my transceiver and dialled Sabrina. Sabrina appeared next to me instead of answering.
"Yes Brock?" She considered me. "You have a look of exasperation on your face."
I pointed at her. "Correct," I said. Sabrina nodded and walked forward to pat me on the head.
It was nice and I relaxed into being pat.
Then the doorbell began to ring obnoxiously.
"Gym Leader Brock! I, Vandal Vicenzo challenge you—" Graveler stormed to the front door only to open it to reveal no trainer. I frowned. Had I been rang and dashed? Then I remembered Sabrina.
"What did you do with him?"
"Deposited them in the pond in the middle of Pewter city," Sabrina said neutrally.
I felt such a surge of emotion I almost blurted out how great she was. Instead, I hugged her. She returned to patting my head.
It was nice.
"Hey, I was surprised the other day." She tilted her head and I grinned. "The stationary store moved," I said.
Sabrina's shoulders twitched.
"I went to the bank and saw a woman with a stain on her blouse, should I teller?"
Sabrina giggled and I enjoyed the sound before telling her how things were. Then, because I liked her smile more than her serious face, I told her another joke.
"There's a really annoying guy going around. He thinks that just cause he's the only chimney sweep in town he can raise his prices through the roof."
I continued to tell some jokes for a few minutes. With all my farfetch'd in a row, it was time to go poke a sleeping Dragon master.
A.N. Special thanks goes to my patreons for their support!
Special thanks goes to Raikor, Ab9999, Kurlinni, and Elnoorz for betaing and editing this chapter
I'd have to look up the research article for exact values (This is a disclaimer that please DO NOT CITE ME for exact values) but there is an interesting fact that the pressure/forces placed on our joints when we move increases greatly.
So, at slow walk we can increase by 1.5x and at a jog I think off memory it was 3-5x. A sprint can be 10x. Now it's been honestly years since I read the research paper so if you have encountered it I'd love to know. It is something I consider a lot when I hear people just throw themselves into gravity training. I go hmmm, bit too simple.
Now, thanks to anime land rules it will eventually work for them, but to ease it in, it's better to know how gravity can spike pressures and forces our bodies already come under.
Bit of a nerd out with my work IRL rearing its head. Hope people find it interesting!
She brightened up at my reaction. "Excellent! You can also follow up by sweep—"
Her advice had to be dropped as Chansey reacted poorly to Janine's sudden appearance by unleashing a Double Slap that Janine wasn't expecting. She rocked back onto her heels from the first hit only for the follow-up backhand from Chansey to knock her off her feet.
I put a hand on Chansey's side. "Woah, easy there girl," I said while trying to hold in my laughter. I hadn't known that Chansey reacted so poorly to surprises.
Apparently, violence was her go-to option.
Janine bounced up to her feet into a fighting position and glared at Chansey. They both locked eyes and Chansey raised her tiny arms in preparation. I considered, for half a moment, just stepping back and letting them fight.
Then the responsible adult within me reared its head and I stepped between them.
"Alright, alright, we should just calm down. Janine, the issue with your training method just made itself very clear I think, no?" I held up a hand and she blinked before scowling.
"That! That was just… a lucky shot!?" she said but I could tell even to her it was a weak excuse. Her gaze was locked behind me though.
I shook my head, then turned to Chansey who was still bobbing back and forth and shooting her tiny arms out with the occasional 'come get some' at Janine.
"Chansey, that's not helping."
"Chansey! Chan! Chan!" she said as she shot out punch after punch.
"Chansey," I said firmly.
Chansey settled down and sighed. I almost turned away only to stop as Chansey started to twitch into throwing her fist upwards while the other slapped it in an offensive gesture.
"Chansey, do you want to help train Missy's pokemon with Gravity or not?"
Chansey dropped the aggressive stance and bowed politely to Janine only to skip past me and wave happily to Missy.
"Morning Brock!" Missy said as she noticed us. She glanced at Chansey and then at Janine. "Uhm? Is everything alright?"
"Just Janine learning how people react differently and one method of teaching isn't a guarantee of success," I said, summarising without restarting that little spat. Missy watched me and I realised that my lips were twitching.
I coughed to reset my mood. "Right! Let's talk about your training methods. I reviewed what you've been doing and noticed the gap with no gravity training. That's going to be especially important for pokemon that you're looking to evolve such as your Growlithe and your Rhydon. Increasing their muscle mass prior to evolution can make things a lot easier than waiting."
"Why is that?" Missy asked with a tilt of her head.
I glanced at Janine and gestured for her to take over. I wanted to test her and see how she would answer the question and any subsequent questions.
Janine straightened up. "Yes! Gravity training increases muscle density, bone mineral density and ligament strength! This allows for an earlier development for pokemon so when they undergo their evolution there is a greater mass for the multiplicative effect to come into play."
Missy blinked. "Wait so my Rhydon has missed out because I evolved her already?!" she said with a shriek. Next to her, her Rhydon gasped theatrically and put her hands over her shoulder and chest where the most prominent musculature of a Rhydon was.
I had to resist the urge to step in as Janine scowled. "Don't be ridiculous! Your pokemon still has the chance to regain the mass she missed out on. She has a range of growth, it is just something you will have to work out and increase her nutrient intake. Her growth factor will resolve all of that!" Janine crossed her arms and nodded.
Missy notably did not look relieved and in fact, looked more worried. "But my Rhydon has been evolved for a year and a half now… wouldn't that mean her growth factor has stopped?"
Janine raised a finger before perking up. "Her next evolution will restart her growth factor!"
Missy considered that and slowly nodded. "So how long will it come into effect for her?"
"It typically lasts a month after the evolution takes place so it is important that if you want certain physical characteristics such as size or unusual arm reach for your pokemon then you should have training that will facilitate this!"
I decided to interject. "There are supplements that help induce more growth but these are expensive. It will depend on if you actually want the size increase or if you're trying to stay quick and nimble! As a gym trainer, this will be covered by the Gym. It is recommended that you hold off evolution for at least a month with this training to get more from it." I then rolled my hand to show Janine I wanted her to continue.
Janine stepped forward once more. "That concludes what you need to know!"
I coughed, and Janine and Missy stared at me. I sighed. "The risk factors and considerations for this type of training also need to be explained, Janine."
"Oh! Yes! Stay within your limitations, and when your pokemon is tired, you should stop!" she said.
I facepalmed. "That explanation is missing a lot of details," I said lightly. "In the future, it is best to explain all the details. For instance, why is gravity training not used extensively?"
"It… causes bulk up in pokemon?" Janine said.
I nodded. "Indeed. Some pokemon you will want to stay small and nimble. Also some pokemon, such as bug pokemon, won't react well to having their wings suddenly weigh a lot more. There are benefits to getting them used to gravity training, but this is more so that they can handle the strain if they encounter it. Sustained gravity training will also negatively impact their ability to dodge. It is better for Pokemon that you want to hit with physical attacks or be able to handle heavier hits."
"Like Flamethrower!" said Missy.
"No," Janine and I said over the top of each other. Missy reeled back.
Janine glanced at me and checked to see if I wanted her to say anything, but I decided to take over. "Right, so I haven't gone into this yet but Flamethrower has a physical component certainly, but it mostly uses energy. So Flamethrower is not an example of what you could improve from Gravity training. Gravity training is best for improving a pokemon's vitality, or its physical stats. So in this case attack and defence or how hard it can punch or how hard it can take a punch."
"What about speed?" Missy said.
I held up a finger. "Speed has had…" I rethought that. "Well honestly, the whole classification system has been something that researchers get into fights over." I said scratching my head.
"There hasn't yet been something more applicable ,so yeah I'll put a pin in that whole conversation. But with regard to your question? Speed, as people use it for stats with pokemon, refers to both agility —aka the ability to change directions and control acceleration— and what is known as straight-line movement or velocity. There is a marked difference between these. This is also where people can get into a lot of trouble with gravity training. It's also where all the warnings about gravity training mostly come from." Missy nodded, looked intently at me to show she was listening.
I circled my hand about. "Now! Forgive me for dropping this on you but if you want to look it up, it is in the Gym network files that are for trainers to use."
Missy nodded slowly and Janine tilted her head. I pointed to her. "Sorry, forgot to grant you access to it. Ask Alexa later alright?"
I then paused as I regathered where I'd left off. "Right! So when we stand, gravity is naturally pulling us down. Our joints come under normal body weight pressure. What happens when we start moving, even at a slow walk, is that the amount of force a joint is under increases in multiples, which can then be compounded with gravity."
"Huh?" Missy said.
Janine nodded. "The amount of pressure placed on joints, ligaments and muscles increase when we move."
I pointed at her and nodded. "Correct! Now when we move faster this pressure increases until it can easily reach over two times the normal pressure when factoring in our body weight at a quick walk."
I pointed to Rhydon. "So, if we think about a pokemon like Rhydon running, there is a rather large force being placed on her joints, and when we add in Gravity? The risk of injury increases."
Missy glanced at Chansey. "So she's here for that? Healing any injuries?"
"And to increase her Gravity control. For today you are only going to be moving around slowly. You should never rush straight into the higher levels of agility drills with your pokemon as that will result in torn muscles and ligaments. We want muscle hypertrophy to occur. Don't worry though, those levels will come but give your pokemon time and proper care. You just need to get over an initial hurdle that makes Gravity training dangerous."
Missy nodded seriously as her pokemon eyed off Chansey excitedly. Chansey, for her part, merely smirked, knowing how much this training was going to suck.
"What about special attack and special defence?"
I wavered my hand. "We'll touch on that another day," I said, not wanting to get into the whole 'aura education' that such a conversation would require today. "Just pay as much attention as you can to how your pokemon uses their energy reserves. The more they attack and the more powerful the attacks are, which is a good indicator of their reserves, and also that their special attack stat is increasing."
Missy nodded. I quickly glanced down at my watch, relaxing as this talk had only taken ten minutes. I still had time before the day's challenges started. I exhaled some of the tension that had built up and clapped Janine on the shoulder. "Right, you're with me today." Janine perked up as Missy began to order her pokemon to 'endure the Gravity' as Chansey laid it upon them.
I gestured to the cave system at the back and led Janine into the darkness. "So you wanted to see how I trained my aura you said earlier," I said, referencing a talk we had had over the weekend.
"Indeed," Janine said seriously while furtively glancing backwards. "Are you sure we can leave Missy' and her pokemon with that… Brute?"
I shot a glance back to find Chansey shooting Janine a glare. "Chansey is probably the best for this. She understands how far she can push and is extremely professional."
"Her tendencies aside?"
"Her tendencies mean she understands the breaking point a lot better. When she's working there's no issues from her. Trust me!" I said with a grin.
Janine hummed before nodding. "Very well. And, yes I wanted to discuss Aura development as it is something I…" She stopped at the cave entrance and kicked at a rock. "Have not yet developed."
"Oh?" I said surprised at the admission. "Are… Are your fathers training methods not working for you?"
"My father's training methods are wonderful!" Janine said with a snap of her teeth like an ursaring that had just been poked.
I waved a hand, turning to face her front on. "I didn't say they were bad, merely that they haven't worked for you is all."
Janine worked her jaw and nodded tightly. "Tis true… I have not responded to them. I… I was hoping that your method might have some clues into helping me unlock my poison."
"Hmmmm alright then."
Janine bowed. "My thanks… For your guidance and discretion." She fidgetted. "I have read all of the books that my father has supplied and found that I still have not been able to manifest or control my own energies."
Janine faded from sight, using the darkness of the cave to hide. "It is most shameful," she said from somewhere off to the side in a whisper.
I channeled dark energy to my eyes and she became… Well not easy to spot. But certainly possible to see. She glared at me when she noticed I was watching her move from rock to rock as quietly as possible.
She huffed and returned to walking at my side. "I feel like using your dark aura is cheating…"
I shook my head. "I think it is using what is natural to me. Also, it's probably best if you don't wander off down here." I gestured for her to hurry along. While I still had time, I didn't have as much as I normally would have.
Before she could ask why, a bolt of lightning lit up a cave nearby, revealing Sanchez sitting among a crowd of much smaller geodudes. The larger pokemon had his hands splayed out to the side and was catching bolts of electricity that were being shot at him from the five electric-rock geodude variants that the Gym now owned.
"I see," said Janine carefully.
"Yeah, Sanchez's area would knock you out. But he'll bundle you up to the gym pronto if it happens. No, the big threat down here is from loose rocks and turning your ankle honestly."
"That's the worst thing that can happen?" Janine said incredulously.
I grimaced. "Ah no. If you get caught out of place by Don he'll rip you apart. He's very territorial."
"Doesn't the researcher… Bianca? Come in here all the time?"
"Yes, and she's been introduced a number of times and knows exactly how touchy he can be. She is a trained professional. She's not someone slinking around that's new."
Case and point as soon as I walked past the grotto that housed the ancient pokemon, Don shrieked a challenge. "Go back to sleep!" I called out to him, tossing a few pokeblock snacks into the cave as I did so.
I rolled my eyes as he continued to growl and make a loud showing of how fierce he was. I heard the other ancient pokemon join him in enjoying the snacks as well.
When we reached the deepest cave I paused. "You sure you're going to be alright in the dark?"
"I am a trained Koga ninja and the future Gym Leader of Fuchsia! Darkness is not enough to deter me!"
"Ah," I said intelligently, I'd put my foot into it again. "Right, sorry. Come on then." I stepped forward and whistled to Titan to let him know I was coming in before speaking. "Hey buddy! Got a friend coming with me today for training!" I moved to the open area that had been worn down by Titan constantly moving to and from the small rise. I claimed a seat and indicated a spot for Janine to claim as we waited for my 'darkness guru'.
Two mighty bodies shifted within the darkness. Bertha trudged out with a huge yawn and moved back to her own cave. Another yawn sounded out and the entire structure of the cave seemed to quake for a moment.
Then Titan shifted and the grinding of stone rang out as he dragged himself out of bed.
"Have an eventful morning?" I said, teasing the mighty pokemon.
"Tyyyyy," said Titan as he sat heavily. Then he shook himself and a cloud of dust and sand exploded outwards. I had my eyes shut, having experienced Titan when he had only just woken up more than enough times to know what would happen.
"Bleh!" said Janine as she spat dirt out of her mouth only to snort as she realised she'd inhaled some as well.
Titan stared at her. I could just make out the glint in his eyes as he roused fully and became aware of her and what I'd said. Usually, he woke up much earlier. It was rare for Titan to sleep in. Then again he and the other elites usually had a training day, then a rest day scheduled in. Titan on the other hand usually trained seven days a week in the morning.
As my strongest pokemon, I'd spent long hours talking with him about how he would embody much of what my pokemon team was to become. He'd taken these discussions very seriously. Then again, unlike a lot of other strong pokemon, he was required to go through the second evolution dependent completely on me for mobility.
He had nothing to do but sit, watch, and listen. His first evolution had occurred just a week into the start of my journey. I'd had to get a lot stronger and a lot faster to be able to carry him around.
Bug pokemon trainers had it easy in that their second evolution for Caterpie, Weedle, and such only took a week or a month at most. Titan's had lasted roughly eight months. Eight months of not being able to move without someone or something else acting upon him. He got very good at tanking hits.
He got very good at being patient and listening.
He got very good at controlling the flow of his energy. He'd had nothing else to do with all the time stuck immobile. That perhaps made Tyranitar as a species unique among other psuedo-legendary pokemon. None of the others had to endure complete immobility. The closest in comparison was Shelgon wanting to fly but being stuck in a chunky, heavy form. It could still run though.
In a lot of ways, Tyranitar reminded me of Gyarados. They both had that awkward phase of growth where they were weak and they could easily grow to be resentful, spiteful pokemon if the wrong circumstances occurred to them.
Titan warbled a greeting to me and Janine before putting his hands together, the claws clicked as they tapped against their opposite. Then he repeated the gesture with his feet. He'd picked it up from watching me work through some stretches and Tai chi moves with some grannies for pocket money during our journey a few times.
He'd been rather taken with it and I'dcarted him to a few around Kanto while he'd been trapped as a Pupitar. It always seemed to interest him, even if I'd thought it slightly cruel.
He'd shown me after evolving that he'd been paying a lot more attention than I'd realised at the time.
Titan inhaled deeply, and then slowly exhaled. He was perfectly in time with a three count for his inhale before exhaling rapidly. I made sure to copy, breathing out and in at the same time so as to not be going opposite and inhaling any of the dust he was stirring up.
Janine coughed and spluttered causing Titan to drop his serene pose. "Ty!" he barked at her.
"He wants you to copy him. It's best to follow as if you're wrong you end up getting some of his exhale instead which is what's causing you so much trouble right now."
Janine took another minute to cough before she got control of herself. "I-I r-read-y!" she said wheezily.
Titan hummed and slowed down even more. His breaths were careful and controlled with Janine in the room. He focussed on her. His hands rose and fell with his inhales and exhales.
Janine fell into sync with us, and we continued this for another five minutes before Titan stopped, his claws unlaced and he bobbed a greeting. He then pointed to me. "Ran? Tar? Tyranitar?" he asked.
"Hmmm, I'd think it would benefit her mostly if we did a sensory training drill. Or at least let her watch one."
Titan considered this, his claws tapping on his chest before he nodded. He then raised up both hands. Nothing outwardly changed but I closed my eyes to pay as much attention as I could to what I felt. Sight wasn't what I wanted right now.
"Your left… middle, no! Hey don't change it mid-drill!" I said snapping my eyes open and growling at him.
Titan merely shook his head back and forth. "Ty, ty, ty!" he said, clicking his tongue in mock disapproval.
"You were too fast!"
Titan snorted and gestured that we would start again. I shut my eyes and tried to feel it out faster.
"Left middle finger, dark, right pointer, rock, your… Tail? Rock?"
Titan grunted out a 'yes' and we continued with him varying the position, energy type, and amount of time it would remain around himself.
When he held a ball outside his body of rock I had to call out what move he was using. Janine watched on and didn't comment until maybe twenty minutes in.
"So… you let him run the session?" she asked.
Titan stopped the training and glanced at her with a tilt of his head. I scratched at mine.
"You know that pokemon are going to be the first point of reference for energy awareness yeah? Especially for specialists like us, yes?"
Janine fidgetted. "I knew that it was just… I was expecting you to tell him how things would go, not to have him training you."
I shrugged, an old lyric coming to mind as being much more appropriate than the writer likely intended. "I teach him and he teaches me."
Janine chewed her lip. "My Venomoth… I might be able to train with him like this…" She frowned into her "I wouldn't have thought of doing this," she said glumly.
I shrugged. "I hadn't thought of using dusk stones for dark type training." I scratched my head and worked some of the dust out of it, well used to how dirty hanging around rock-types would get me.
"Say what items do you use when working with Poison types?'' The only 'rock' poison-typed item I could think of was the poison gem of poisonum z which I wasn't sure she'd have access to.
"We have an old plate that was said to be found in the sludge and slurry of a ruin. We also have the sludge remains of a number of Muks that are… very pungent," she said with a grimace.
"Ah… that might actually make it tougher on you as you're getting a stimulus that might distract you. Can you ignore it or is it too potent?" I considered for a moment that it might be like pepper spray with the ability to cause issues through the skin and eyes without being smelt. Then again, I had very little experience with the 'old sludge' and had no desire to in any event.
I shook my head. "How have you been thinking of poison energy by the way? What do you associate it with?"
"Protection! Poison-type pokemon are the defenders of Fuchsia, and have been for generations!" she said straight away.
I shot a look at Titan and he tapped his chest in thought. I hummed. "That uhm… was not how I thought you were going to answer."
Janine sniffed only to inhale some dust and sneeze. Titan barked a laugh at her that had her glowering ineffectively at the much larger pokemon.
"Hmmm any other things you meditate on when trying to feel the energy?" I asked not wanting to offend her more.
"... medicine," Janine said. I found myself stunned. She'd obviously wanted as many good associations with poison as possible.
"Huh yeah, poison in the right dosages can be medicine."
"And vice versa," said Janine with a pleased smile. "I happened upon an old scroll that details such a pokemon move but I have yet to make it work with any of my pokemon."
I tilted my head. Was there a pokemon move like that linked to poison type? It wasn't an area I had much, if any knowledge of. I knew of Toxic Spikes, Acid, Sludgebomb, and Toxic as the most commonly used moves but was there something like Janine was describing? I wasn't sure.
I opened my mouth to mention that she should perhaps consider the 'core commonly thought of' concepts of poison types, but Titan shook his head slightly. He flicked his finger between me and him with a slight nod before flicking it between me and Janine. I frowned.
"Not my place?" I said after thinking about what he could mean for a while.
Titan nodded, his maw breaking into a happy smile.
Janine tilted her head. "What's not your place?"
I huffed. "I was thinking about what you'd said, and how that isn't the association I'd have made but… Yeah, I think Titan is right on this. I shouldn't pidgey-hole you into a specific mindset. What you come up with for poison as a concept works for you, it's just about harnessing it."
I shrugged. "Maybe, just keep walking your path."
Janine smiled. "Thank you, I shall. I will also consider what you have shown me today. I think it could be very helpful."
I nodded and unbent my legs. Then a thought occurred. "Hey, your dad also knows normal type energy as well doesn't he?"
Janine didn't even bat an eye. "What makes you think that?"
"When he gets close to me he's using a quick attack or something like that yeah? That'd require normal type energy, no?"
Janine snorted. "Or, perhaps he is simply a Grandmaster in ninjutsu?"
I searched her expression but didn't find anything but smug amusement. Alright, so I wasn't going to pry their secrets of how they did it from her. I still thought I was on the right track. Somehow I doubted I was the only dual-wielding aura user. It made sense that Koga kept an ace like that up his sleeve.
At least, I believed so.
Admittedly a little less as I stared across at Janine's amused expression. I stood and dusted my hands off. "Right well, I have to go raise a fuss soon with the League. So I need to give the team a heads up before I head off. Are you good to shadow Daniel today and have him show you around Pewter city?"
Janine nodded her head. "I shall enjoy the tour from a local!"
I nodded and moved to clap hands with Titan. He did so happily and warbled his own goodbye before resuming his meditation pose. I left with Janine looking over her shoulder. "He's very dedicated," she said, her tone laced with approval.
I chuckled. I'd never questioned Titan's desire or dedication to becoming strong. Titan had been strong when he'd evolved into his Tyranitar form. This was thanks to the nutrition plans I had fed him, training, and the sheer determination he had to grow from what he had been. Whenever people saw him these days they assumed he'd been a big Larvitar. They wouldn't have guessed he'd been a runt.
I suspected that had played a bit of a part in Titan's mother handing him off to me, but not much of one. Whenever we went back, she always seemed glad to see him and never dismissed him.
Janine continued to walk alongside me for a while before coughing. "Brock, before I leave I would like to have a match with you. I know it would help my team more than yours at this stage, but facing pokemon as strong as you would help my team grow immensely."
I chuckled. "Oh I'm sure they'd enjoy it and find it aggravating, no doubt. But the experience would be good for them. They don't get enough Champion tier trainers challenging them usually. Think that might change with all the Ace challenges I see coming in. It's not like we're going to be crazy people chasing the next most powerful pokemon."
Some people were known to get a bit crazy and attempt to challenge people increasingly stronger than them in a quest to increase their pokemon onwards and upwards. There were stories about trainers trying for greater challenges only to find themselves across a field from a Legendary, and realise how wide a gulf there was. Or worse they did something that caused a Legendary to rampage.
That was one of the biggest issues of raising champion-tier pokemon. You needed worthy foes to raise them up. Technically as a gym leader, I had a lot of options to get those. While my training would see them gradually improving the best improvements would come from fighting.
Thankfully these days we didn't lack for challengers.
Lance and a lot of other people would need to watch out with how my team was bound to be stronger by the circuit's end. I couldn't wait to show them off when Rachel and I finalised a proper exhibition match.
Sabrina already wanted first rights to such a match.
That was a rematch I was looking forward to.
Until then, I had the League to growl at. This was the second time they had interfered with how things were operating. It might be different but the theme seemed the work of the same architect.
I checked my watch and grimaced. I just barely had enough time to jump in the shower, check to confirm the kids were on their way and make it to the first match. I jogged up the stairs, running my hand through my still-wet hair. Jackson, watching over the current gauntlet fight taking place, tapped his watch in amusement.
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know, cutting it close." I clapped my hands and did my reset ritual.
Then I inhaled and shook myself. "Alright, go time!"
The day's matches actually ended up going much quicker than I'd planned. Which I felt worked perfectly for me. Rarely would I get so much free time at the end of my day to catch up on the various bits and pieces of being the Gym Leader. Not now that the circuit was underway anyways. I doubted the last two Gym Challengers for today had been expecting quite as hard a match-up as they did when Rocko and Jackon beat them but that sometimes happened when we had gauntlet runs.
Daniel had been annoyed that I'd tapped him to lead Janine around the city. With nothing to do I'd closed off the main arena and let everyone relax after they saw to their pokemon. People could still reserve the battle courts for matches, but I wasn't going to see any more challenges.
Then I'd departed for my house where I'd sat at the kitchen counter with a wad of paperwork. Munchlax sat across from me with a bowl of cereal I'd made up for him. Eevee was sitting curled up in my lap as I finished up the paperwork
"Brock I need your signatures on these," Alexa said as she handed me a few hiring forms. I looked them over, recalling the people that had made it through the last round of hiring. Some of them had been ecstatic about a temp job with us. I signed the forms and handed them back along with a few others.
"Alexa?" I said as a thought occurred to me.
"Yes, Brock?"
"How many people have put down for the Elite challenge right now?"
She frowned and tapped on her handheld computer. "None," she said after a while. She tapped a few more times. "Usually you don't see any takers for that until after the third month."
I hummed. "Put a sign over the Elite challenge out front. Say that we're holding off on accepting that challenge until… let's say four months into the circuit? Then people that are international trainers will have a chance with their stronger pokemon if they're confident. I'll keep the attention otherwise on single, double, gauntlet and Ace trainer fights for now."
Alexa shifted. "It might streamline things if we had the gauntlet challengers start on the battle courts as well and then be escorted in."
I considered that before shaking my head. "No, I want people challenging for the badge to have an experience here. Changing courts might cheapen that." Alexa hummed as though she thought otherwise but nodded to show she understood my reasoning. I drummed the table. "Should I cancel the Ace challenges as well?"
Alexa promptly deposited a page that detailed how much the Gym made for 'reserving Brock the arena along with television rights for matches'. I also pocketed part of this as a separate entity. I tapped the figure. "Ah, yeah best not drop the Ace challenges if we want to handle the increase in costs we'll be facing then," I said.
Alexa made an agreeing noise before she departed.
With her gone, I could focus on other things. Like making some very pointed inquiries at the League. I drew out a notepad to jot down some thoughts.
While Giovanni had been right about my showing and advertising drawing more people in, there was a limit to how many trainers I could face and someone had to have been ignoring things at the League for it to get this bad. Someone wasn't doing their job and I felt like I needed to make my point clear. This after all was another problem for the gym that could have been handled better.
So, I'd probably need to go to Lance and give him the heads up that I wasn't happy to have so many challengers. I might even have to lay out the ramifications of this many trainers being let through. I just needed to jot down my thoughts.
"Alright, so what sort of—" I started to say to myself.
"Gym Leader Brock! I challenge you!" cried out a voice through the window.
Eevee startled out of her nap and ran off with a cry. I glanced up and saw a trainer standing with his pokeball extended towards me. I also noted he was standing in the middle of the flower garden.
"Get off my petunias!" I shouted at him as I wound the curtain down.
"What? Oh! Sorry! Hey! You can't just hide behind your curtain I saw you!"
"No, you didn't! I'm just a recorded hologram!" I shouted back.
There was a moment of silence. Then the trainer said, "Really? That's kinda coo… Wait a second! You saw me in your flowerbed!"
I clicked my tongue. I should have known he'd be one of those pesky not a complete idiot sorts. Then again, he was, after all, standing in my garden shouting challenges. "
Read the signs kid! I don't accept challenges like this, go around the front!" I was already turning to the Graveler that served as the nanny. I jerked my thumb towards the kid. She bobbed her whole body once and marched out.
"Your signs won't stop me! Ahaha! So you accept my—" there was a moment of scuffling and an aborted shout. A few minutes later Graveler walked back in, dusting her hands off. I shot her a thankful look. Munchlax merely handed her his empty cereal bowl before toddling off. The cheeky pokemon patted me on the side as he did so. He certainly had it good living under my roof. Six meals a day by my count and his choice of places to sleep when he wanted to.
I grumbled as I made another mark on the tally for trainers that had challenged me so far at home. That had been the tenth… I was only two weeks into the circuit…
I looked down at the points that I would be able to raise in argument with Lance. The need to give my pokemon rest was a serious concern and the increased strain on infrastructure were good, solid dependable points. They sadly had no zing to them.
I needed points with punch. I shot a message off to Rachel and she mentioned the two I'd already come up with.
'Got anything the League would be interested in? Also, don't you have a Lawyer for this?' she messaged back.
I paused at that. She was right! … On both counts. I sent a message to Lawrence and he shot me a picture of a slowpoke. I grumbled some more before he sent me a message that he'd start looking into the issue straight away. I flicked through my address book on my transceiver and called the first number that might have some potential for something 'the League' would be interested in. "Hey Bianca, got any fertilised eggs from Don yet?" I said to the in-house breeding specialist.
"Yes actually! Good timing! I was going to talk to you when you had a chance, as there has been a clutch laid!" she said.
I grinned through the screen. "Enough to send one to Professor Elm and Professor Oak as per our agreement?"
"Oh yes! Don has been most vigorous with my team of Ditto!" Bianca said happily.
I nodded, not really wanting that imagery, but having it now despite my best attempts to push it away. "... Right. Got another left over? I happen to know someone else interested in buying an egg."
Bianca turned to the side. "Three, four, five… Yeah I think with six of them now you'll have a good start on a breeding population that we can expand on slowly… one of those to a seller should be no issue. Are you going to be putting any restrictions on your sale to others?"
I blinked at that. Not expecting to be asked that by Bianca. I considered it before shaking my head. "No, I'll allow them to breed as they want. I'll just make sure they know and charge them extra for it. Alright?"
Bianca nodded. "That's perfectly fine with me! I'd prefer there being more options in breeding partners out there in fact!"
"Any other eggs?"
"Not as many no. I have a Kabuto egg and an Omantye egg but no one so far has been as wonderful as Don with his ardour."
I nodded again. "Alright cool. I'll swing around to talk with the seller this afternoon, so can you put the Aerodactyl egg in an incubator for me?"
"Can do!" Bianca said as she signed off.
I hummed, considering the next number. It would probably be overkill, but I hadn't heard anything from the man recently and it might be nice to have another arrow in my quiver.
"Afternoon Crowley!" I said as the dark haired man answered my call.
"Brock! Yes, good morning!"
I tilted my head and glanced at the clock. Crowley blinked blearily at me. I had an idea to ask him what day he thought it was, but decided against it.
Crowley nodded again. "I am pleased to hear from you… I'm sorry to say we've stalled out on making the leap from plants to animals in resurrecting ancient pokemon… I…" The man licked his lips.
"I might need to ask for another extension of funds?" he said, cringing away from me like he expected this to be an issue.
I stared at the video in thought. It had been an idle thought with some loose money when I started funding them. I knew in the games, that after you lose Cinnabar as an option, Pewter Museum had become the site to resurrect pokemon, but perhaps I was throwing money down the drain.
On the screen, Crowley fidgeted. Oh well, I wasn't hurting for money and I could back myself a bit longer. I was about to open my mouth to say I had no issues with that before a pink flower pokemon inched its way along a shelf behind Crowley's shoulders. It turned and inspected Crowley, its dark eyes shining out of its hidden face as its fronds waggled about.
"Lileep!" it chanted as it tickled the back of Crowley's head.
I pointed at it. "Crowley. Who's that pokemon?"
Crowley glanced back to see what I was talking about. "Oh! This is one of the plants we resurrected. We've gotten very good at resurrecting plants but we're still not to the animal phase quite yet." He glanced back and some atrophied social instinct he had must have twitched as he tilted his head. "Are you… Interested in them?"
I sighed. "Crowley, consider your funding requirements a thing of the past. I, and at least one other trainer I know, would love those in our roster."
"Consider them yours!" he said.
I nodded before tilting my head. "How many did you resurrect?"
"Fifty!" said Crowley happily. "I had to make sure the process was viable and repeatable! Sadly we ran out of genetic samples before we proved what the success rate truly is. It's an untested hundred percent so far!" Crowley, rather than looking pleased, shook his head sadly.
"How many tests are you thinking you need to conduct?" I said before I could stop myself.
"Oh?! Well Brock, as a Gym Leader and not a scientist, I'm sure it must come as a shock, but proper research standards dictate at least a few thousand!" He then panned his screen around to show his lab with a number of Lileep inching around it with an intern shooing one off some paperwork.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'll be over to pick them up, along with depositing some money to you soon."
"Excellent!" said the man in a totally normal and not at all maniacal way. He hung up quickly.
I sighed. "Why… why is this my life?" I said to the air. I shrugged, it could be way worse actually.
I called Lawrence and he spat what looked like coffee over himself when I announced Crowley's failure to him. "I'll be right over there in a few minutes!" he said before hanging up.
I stood to walk outside and ride Zephyr over. Then I stopped as I considered something. I opened my transceiver and dialled Sabrina. Sabrina appeared next to me instead of answering.
"Yes Brock?" She considered me. "You have a look of exasperation on your face."
I pointed at her. "Correct," I said. Sabrina nodded and walked forward to pat me on the head.
It was nice and I relaxed into being pat.
Then the doorbell began to ring obnoxiously.
"Gym Leader Brock! I, Vandal Vicenzo challenge you—" Graveler stormed to the front door only to open it to reveal no trainer. I frowned. Had I been rang and dashed? Then I remembered Sabrina.
"What did you do with him?"
"Deposited them in the pond in the middle of Pewter city," Sabrina said neutrally.
I felt such a surge of emotion I almost blurted out how great she was. Instead, I hugged her. She returned to patting my head.
It was nice.
"Hey, I was surprised the other day." She tilted her head and I grinned. "The stationary store moved," I said.
Sabrina's shoulders twitched.
"I went to the bank and saw a woman with a stain on her blouse, should I teller?"
Sabrina giggled and I enjoyed the sound before telling her how things were. Then, because I liked her smile more than her serious face, I told her another joke.
"There's a really annoying guy going around. He thinks that just cause he's the only chimney sweep in town he can raise his prices through the roof."
I continued to tell some jokes for a few minutes. With all my farfetch'd in a row, it was time to go poke a sleeping Dragon master.
A.N. Special thanks goes to my patreons for their support!
Special thanks goes to Raikor, Ab9999, Kurlinni, and Elnoorz for betaing and editing this chapter
I'd have to look up the research article for exact values (This is a disclaimer that please DO NOT CITE ME for exact values) but there is an interesting fact that the pressure/forces placed on our joints when we move increases greatly.
So, at slow walk we can increase by 1.5x and at a jog I think off memory it was 3-5x. A sprint can be 10x. Now it's been honestly years since I read the research paper so if you have encountered it I'd love to know. It is something I consider a lot when I hear people just throw themselves into gravity training. I go hmmm, bit too simple.
Now, thanks to anime land rules it will eventually work for them, but to ease it in, it's better to know how gravity can spike pressures and forces our bodies already come under.
Bit of a nerd out with my work IRL rearing its head. Hope people find it interesting!
- Pronouns
- She
I love weirdo scientists guy being enthusiastic about their research
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Brock and Sabrina at the end there? Yeah, that was adorable. Absolutely adorable, and I love it.
I was initially thinking this guy was doing you know, reasonable research, but research that may not be as blatant and out there as other things. Resurrecting plants? In some ways seems more reasonable than ancient pokemon (or the odd other creature. I know Pokemon world is really set on pokemon being mainly there and animals not mentioned, but I imagine base insects are a thing in the Pokemon world to at least start establishing a small food chain.)
Then he fucking reveals he has fifty ancient plant pokemon running around his labs and a resurrection rate that has been highly successful so far. Sure, not statistically proven, but his prototype resurrection process is promising as all Hell.
- Location
- Miami
And so Brock gets another ancient Pokemon. At some point Cinnabar island is gonna come sniffing around about it, and I can't wait to see the fallout.