Chapter 2 - 6

An Exhibition match.

Something that was used to highlight the abilities of two trainers without anything of worth at stake. Merely reputation. They're supposed to be used to highlight the trainers. Bolster attention and bring revenue for the League with television rights.You only got offered Exhibition matches in certain instances. Matches could be set up between gyms. Between Elite Four. Or sometimes if you were an Elite trainer, with enough of a following, and you wanted more attention you could set up an Exhibition match. These were the ones that people typically knew of when asked about Exhibition matches. Charities could, and did, set up matches for trainers to take part in. Corporations sponsored tournaments with advertising and ludicrous titles or prizes on offer. People watched them avidly, and a good showing could see support building. Or it could do the opposite if you crumbled under the spotlight.Merely reputation.I lay in bed considering that for a good long while. I liked to think I was a pretty relaxed guy. In another life, I might have been a water bender for wanting to just go with the flow. Family had meaning to me, nothing like a certain infamous street car racer, but it was still important.I kept thinking back to that moment of silence and how aware I had become of it. I scrutinized it so much that I could almost paint a picture of each of my sibling's reactions as they understood what had happened. Even my youngest siblings had been aware to some degree that something had occurred. Something significant enough to see them go quiet.My mindset often worked the wrong way with this world. The Pokeverse followed certain anime tropes you could even say. Calling someone out as weak was a direct challenge. There were more people around that would fire invectives and denials before demanding an instant battle with pokemon.There were more hot-blooded people out there then there were calm rational types. I liked to think I was the latter. I wanted to simply roll over and ignore this. It shouldn't bother me if Lance was hot-headed and prideful. He was a Dragon Master. With the training he probably underwent, there would have been a greater shock if he was controlled and reserved in his mannerisms.Ideally, the Champion was supposed to be someone that was looked up to by all the young trainers. An example for all to aspire to while standing as a shield against criminal elements. They represented the best of the League. In this case that meant the Johto-Kanto region. Or as it was more widely known. The Indigo League.When powerful pokemon rampaged that caused emergency situations, Lance and the Elite four were the best responders. Not necessarily the first. That typically came down to roaming pokemon trainers. Then Gym trainers if it was within their shire.The world of Pokemon wasn't always fun and games. So far, I had only been called in for such situations twice, but both felt more like natural disaster containment than merely pokemon battles.The best of the pokemon world. That's what the Elite Four and the Champion were supposed to be. To a lesser degree, this applied to the gym leaders of course, but we were more like favorite local trainers. It was rare that other cities favored another's leader over their own. Loyalty like that was almost taught at the schools. Not formally of course, but word of mouth had more impact than a lot of people understood. Repeat words enough and they held a place in people's minds. Back that up with actions? Gym Leaders were celebrity super cops in a way. It was a poor analogy, I was aware, but it merely highlighted how nothing in the original earth had anything quite like being a Gym Leader.Heck, I'd even heard versus debates about gym leaders versus different regions. Maybe it even went as far as war deterrents or guarantees. That was something I never really liked to consider. Not many did.The Indigo region hadn't always been one region after all. It was only through bloodshed and war that unity had been forged roughly thirty years ago. Surprisingly few people had first-hand experience with those fights. Then again, unsurprisingly, few survived when Pokemon and Elites threw down.Nowadays, things are different. It hadn't even been taught all that much at school. There was a lot more to it of course but that wasn't my issue right now. Everything running through my mind was just a distraction.I had to deal with an upcoming match with Lance.Had this happened to the Canon Brock? I tossed it over. I needed to get out of that mindset. The emergence of what was supposed to be canon was plaguing me, and it was pushing my thoughts away from the real issue at hand.Lance had called me weak on live television.Meh, so what? I've had worse from worse. I knew I had a thick skin in more than the literal sense. So what if Lance didn't think anything of the gym? So what?That got a twitch from me. Alright, so I liked what I had done. But that shouldn't be enough to keep me up at night. I've been in pressure situations before. Could it be that it didn't just affect me?Who else would his declaration affect?My Gym trainers for sure. The sponsored trainers as well would face scorn for this. Pewter gym had gotten slapped with the title of 'weakest'. That stung. I worked hard as a trainer. For that, I wanted him to apologize. But that wouldn't be enough would it?I played with that thought. That niggling thought. Lance's apology wouldn't be enough.You couldn't retract words like that. You had to do something. What would be an appropriate reaction though?I recalled the quietness of my siblings. They'd looked stricken. Ashamed and saddened. I ground my teeth remembering that. The way they'd looked down and away. They had been so excited before that. Then that energy had been sucked away. When I'd voiced my own nonchalance they'd not believed me.The sting in my chest got worse. So that was probably a big factor. My family didn't think I could do it. They were some of my most diehard supporters and they had been stunned into silence. It hurt more than just my pride as a trainer, I could handle that, the wound to my pride as a big brother though? I was their rock. Their shelter from the storm. And they thought I'd not be enough.Something within my chest wanted to burst out, march to the top of Mt Moon and roar out a challenge with bloody hands thumping on my chest while lightning crackled overhead.I snorted at that before toying with the idea. It was entertaining in a manner that relaxed my snarling spitting hindbrain. It made me smile. Slowly my body unclenched, and slowly sleep took hold. That night I dreamt I was an Onix, surging out of the earth to snatch up a bird of some sort in my maw before disappearing into the cool earth. I woke up and knew what I needed to do.I did my normal morning rituals, if I was a touch sharper in my actions training with my pokemon, no one commented. Some of the pokemon merely stepped forward with more eagerness. Pokemon were typically marvellous battle junkies after all. It was their way. I used that to work through my frustrations alongside a plan. Then I stepped into my cave and walked up to the towering form of my Starter."Hey Titan, something happened—" I talked through it with my starter and he listened. He probably didn't understand all of it, but the act of talking through my thoughts helped. He was a good listener. Grumbling in anger with me when I was annoyed and he gave a large fanged grin when I laid out my plan.Then I left his cave before frowning when I noticed Forrest wasn't out doing his chores. I sighed and marched to his room. "Forrest! No sleeping in, you have chores!" He stumbled out blearily. For a moment I considered stopping him then and there, reminding him in some way that I was his big brother and that he should have more faith in me! I let him go instead.I didn't need to tell them so much as show them. So I left Forrest to it before marching to the kitchen to feed my siblings. Their quieter, subdued morning antics tugged at my heart and I felt surer than ever of what I was going to have to do. While it wouldn't be as meaningful, I decided to announce my intentions to them first and foremost.I clapped my hands. "Hey gang, about last night." They looked up, some of them with food stuck to their faces but universally all eyes locked on me. I took a pose and gave them a thumbs up. "Your big brother is going to take care of all of this." The younger kids all grinned, relaxing as I made my declaration. That was enough for them.The more knowledgeable of them, Salvadore, Yolanda and Forrest bit their lips. I gave them a look and raised a fist towards them one after the other. "Your big brother promises. Big time promises even. I'm going to take care of this."They thumped each side of their own fists against my own before giving a hesitant smile. "Alright but you know he's Lance right?" I didn't let my smile falter.I scoffed, "Salvadore! Your lack of faith disturbs me! For that you get to clean the dishes. Yolanda and Forrest! You deal with Tilly and Billy!""WHAT!?" came their response as they both shouted at me. "WE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!""Your betrayal was clear on your faces! I can read minds! It's a big brother power!" I declared as I marched out before they could voice any more protest. I'd probably need to swing past later to clean up after them, as they'd do a bad job of it in rebellion. I'd just make them have to do it again. It was a learning opportunity, is what I would claim. Character building and such.I entered my office and activated the computer before toggling a video call. Two windows opened up and a dial tone rang out as I waited. After a few minutes, not a bad waiting period, all things considered, one call connected."Little man! Twerp! Ha! I thought you were going to call me. I take it you heard the big bad Lance talking smack last night then?" Said the boisterous voice as on the screen a tanned face leered back at me. His blond tips shot straight upwards in a way that just had to be gelled. I likened it to Guy Fieri.I inclined my head in the face of his more bombastic greeting "Lieutenant Surge." I ignored the way the man swelled slightly. He loved being referred to with that title, even above his gym leader title."Heh, yeah thinking of talking shop about this, yeah?" I nodded my head again."Yeah, I was hoping to get your thoughts but I made this a conference call.""Eh who else did you—""Gym Leader Brock. Gym Leader Surge."I nodded, ignoring Surge's slight wilting as I looked at my — I supposed ex was most appropriate?— and greeted her, "Gym Leader Sabrina, thank you for taking the call. I need to plan how to demolish him."

7

Sabrina was easily considered one of the toughest gym leaders in the area to secure a badge from. The others were Giovanni of course, Blaine and Koga.She had a known policy of not accepting anyone with less than three badges, which made all of her matches mean a lot more. It also meant that she faced far fewer challenges than other gym leaders. This made her no less popular to face however, and most sought to add the Marsh badge to their collection if for no other point than a point of pride. It was a mark of a good trainer if not a great one.She wasn't alone in having a slightly different set of requirements to challenge her gym. Again, however, more often than not it was those seen as the 'toughest' that had their quirks.Blaine was technically the toughest opponent to face. Which was to be expected as a retired Elite Four member. He'd taken over the old Gym upon his retirement and also taken up a research facility. One that was highly restricted according to the gossip and news surrounding the man. He was held in the same regard as Professor Oak though. Which said things to those that understood that Oak was a class of his own.Koga was a ninja with poison types as his speciality. He was ruthless in his battling style and the smallest of slip-ups in his matches were capitalized on. Fuschia enjoyed the multiple attempts that it took trainers to secure his badge as the man typically became a roadblock with trainers needing to set aside weeks if not months to work on bettering their skills. Koga also typically knew each trainer by name before they even reached his city. You typically were greeted at his gym with a profile on yourself along with all of your weaknesses made abundantly clear. It was highly unnerving, to say the least. Then they asked if you wanted to continue your challenge. It reminded me of the Black ops psychological warfare methods I'd read of in the past. Needless to say, everyone respected Koga and his information network.Giovanni had Earth pokemon. His other quirk was that he had limited availability at the start of the circuit. It annoyed everyone, but he was seen as a 'Philanthropist' and he got away with things like that thanks to his charitable contributions to the local community. I always made sure to be very relaxed around him. You couldn't always tense up and watch him too much. I suspected that I wasn't the only one in my circle of Gym leaders that at the very least suspected he was not on the up and up, but proving that was much tougher. He also paid out more handsomely for any takers of his gym challenge, with certain caveats. Caveats, such as wearing helmets that monitored vital signs or taking part in experiencing the pain that pokemon go through during fights to throw you off. He then would take handsomely from you if you lost.By comparison, the other four gyms —Pewter, Cerulean, Vermillion and Celadon— accepted any and all takers who entered our doors. This made us seem 'weaker' in some eyes. Less exclusive. Being comparable to Cerulean as it currently stood wasn't a good thing. The Cerulean sisters were great performers. They had the best Contests around by far. But their battling aspect was sadly lacking. They didn't have enough depth for their gym with dedicated trainers or with pokemon to handle more than four to five trainers a day.The other four gyms were invariably standoffish to the big gyms despite any attempts on our part to reach out to them.Of all the gym leaders in the Kanto region however, I seemed to click best with these two.Sabrina, the Psychic mistress of Saffron, and Lieutenant Surge, the Thunderbolt of Vermillion.Surge had been one of the only people to reach out to me when I had taken over my father's gym. He'd been brash, arrogant, and altogether way, way too loud for my liking at the time, but I'd realized after the fact that he had taken time out of his schedule to come over and give me pointers in his own way. Some of it was not really applicable and some of it was gold that had seen me not faltering… as much during my first circuit as a gym leader.Weird to think that had been almost three years ago now.Sabrina… well I'd just have to mark our interactions as 'complicated' and leave it at that for now. I respected her despite any previous annoyances and emotional issues I had with her. She just operated differently."Gym Leader Sabrina, thank you for taking the call. I need to plan how to demolish him."She inclined her head, a usual behaviour for her. She usually disliked talking at all, and forcing her to talk by using the phone usually resulted in short calls. Her usual form of communication was thought projection, which had initially not worked on me. Which had made my challenge for her gym rather awkward and educational for both of us at the time."Heh! So you've called both of us huh? Well I suddenly feel like a third wheel!" Sabrina and I both said nothing to that which merely encouraged Surge to fill the void. "You need to meet this challenge Brock! Lance might be the Champion but there's a way to speak to gym leaders, and that was way out of line!" Surge started to build himself up. One of his pokemon must have been nearby as sparks started to fly as he spoke. "You need to step up to the plate and swing for his jaw!"I ignored the mixing of sports metaphors. "I agree, thus the call."Sabrina's gaze intensified on me and for a moment I thought I felt an itch in my mind flare-up. I shook it off. Sabrina was too far away to link with, wasn't she? Surge leaned forward. "Ho? It sparked something in you did it? Made you feel the pulse? Get your blood running hot!"I rolled my eyes. "No, I was watching it with my family. They heard everything."Surge leaned back, a spikey Pikachu hopped onto his shoulder and growled. "Huh yeah, that would get me out of sorts as well. Just thinking about those snot-nosed little brats tearing up and sad cause of what Lance said. That's starting to make me fired up!" He launched out of his chair and started yelling about how he wasn't going to stand it. He would march down to the League office at Indigo and demand Lance fall on his sword and apologize for disrespecting me and my family like that. His pokemon again got caught in his wake and between breathes a growl of 'Chu!' punctuated his tirade."Surge! I have a plan. I don't need the league to arbitrate for me. You know how that would go anyway."Surge sat down at that, suddenly quiet but the gleam in his eye gave away his interest. "Oh got a plan? Let's hear it then." He settled but there was a certain twitchiness that spoke of him wanting to act. Or ambient current from his electric types forcing him to move."Well first off, I thought I'd bounce my thoughts off you both as sounding boards. You're both… objective on this topic," I almost said level headed but with the pseudo-American Surge, you could never really say such a thing. The man was a livewire. Sabrina merely tilted her head to show she was listening."Lance is new as Champion, so that's why he wouldn't have made the challenge the way he did. He's also Johto region raised, so he's biased towards them. I was going to run a meeting with the press later where I'd say how happy I am to get the exhibition. I'll play along as a simple trainer but also make no comments about his statement. I'll need to placate the mayor. Then I'll meet in front of Lance before the tournament and demand he puts up or shuts up.""How?"Surge halted, his mouth open, likely to ask the same question only to realize Sabrina had beaten him to the punch. He stayed quiet.I worked a thought over in my mind. Here, Surge was right. Go big or go home. "Ten Million poke dollars as a wager enough you think?"The video call went dead quiet. Surge swallowed as his Pikachu gaped before rolling backwards as if stunned. It landed with a dull 'Piiiikaaaa'. I smiled at the reaction. That was a lot of money. Enough to run a Pokemon Gym for at least two years with a full trainer complement."It would suffice," said Sabrina in her typical toneless manner. You had to watch her closely for the small twitches and tremors that were her 'emotes'. She'd twitched when I announced the sum and now seemed pleased judging by the small twitch of her lips."That's… a lot of moolah Brock," I noted Surge hadn't called me kid this time. "You gotta be good for it. Don't gamble it if you can't afford it. The banks don't gamble like that. I can get in touch with some people if you need?"I raised an eyebrow. "I can afford it. And it shows how serious I am. I can liquidate some assets and take the money along. I'll need to go to the Conference with my sponsored trainer Celia. Then I'll make the announcement the day before the match. They'll keep our fights to the start of it, no?""It is what they have done in the past," Sabrina said. She then tilted her head back. "You should merely say 'No comment' when a reporter talks to you." She paused again before nodding. "You will require a sparring partner.""I'm down for that!" shouted Surge before nodding as the Pikachu leapt back only to be knocked off by a much larger Raichu that punched the air. "Reckon you'll ask anyone else?"I shook my head. "I trust you two the most with this. I'm going to go into training with a few of my pokemon before setting up the best six that I can. I already have somewhat of an idea though. Sanchez could use your support Surge.""Yeah, an Electric and Rock type Golem is something I never thought I'd see. Heh! I should get me one of his kids it'd stump a few people seeing me throwing down something they'd expect from you.""As to any other gym trainers…" I pressed on, "I'm not sure about Blaine or Koga… Giovanni would only make money off me, but he does have some powerhouse pokemon." I looked to Sabrina. "Sabrina, think you can put the pressure on some of my pokemon?" She inclined her head with a small twitch of her lips upwards.The talk went on for a few more minutes, hashing out dates that they could come to the gym to help me train. I wanted to hit Lance for all that he was worth and I'd only get one shot at this. I signed off and sat back only to stiffen when a flash of light erupted in the corner of my office."Brock," said Sabrina as she stepped forward. I blinked in surprise at the dark-haired beauty. She was wearing what had become her signature style with red shirt and miniskirt over tights that covered almost all of her skin. Her ruby red eyes swept over me."Hey Sabrina." I glanced back at the talk we had literally hung up from just a moment ago. "What's up?""I wanted to check on you. Are you… well?""Mostly annoyed and a bit angry I guess. I just didn't like the way it made my little brothers and sisters act. Heck, they're still acting a little out of sorts." I sat forward in my chair only to huff a laugh when Sabrina stepped up and placed her hands around me. "You're… Are you hugging me?""Yes, I am hugging you.""Thought you didn't like touching like that?" In any interactions we'd had, I'd always had to initiate, which made things slightly weirder even when she'd asked for it. Holding hands and hugs weren't supposed to make you cringe."It is something I am working on. I understand that this helps as you are emotional. Hugs help."I smiled, enjoying the moment of having some support, both emotionally and physically. Eventually, I had to speak my mind. "Did you read that in a book?""...yes. I have been working on my social skills." There was a moment of hesitation that I interpreted as 'do you think I am improving?'."You're getting really good at it. Funny how social skills can be weak or strong no? Before long, you'll be a socialite at all the fancy Saffron parties."Sabrina physically shuddered and I had to hold in another chuckle. She wouldn't appreciate being 'laughed at'. She did like laughing though. "Hey what do Haunters eat for lunch?""I have no idea?" She said, leaning back to see me.I grinned. "Boo-longa sandwiches. Get it?" She bit her lips and looked away. "How do you get a Pikachu onto a bus?""Stop it!" She said while stepping back and hunching in on herself."You poke'em'on!""Pfft!" She said while hunching in on herself further."Did you hear of the pokemon pirate? It was an Arrrrrr-bok!""Pu! Hahaha!" Sabrina gave up on holding in her laughter as I grinned and mercilessly continued to tell her worse and worse jokes. She eventually sat on me and buried her head into my shoulder. "Those were terrible jokes."I hugged her and rocked her back and forth. "Yeah, they were. But they made you smile."She touched her face and nodded, "Urgh. You're not supposed to find such jokes funny.""Said the books?" I asked. She nodded, getting a shrug from me. "Who cares? You shouldn't. If you find them funny then laugh. You're cute when you're enjoying yourself."She sat back and stared into my eyes. "Are you flirting with me?""A little. Mostly I'm just enjoying myself with a friend."She sighed and stood. "I feel like I have made a fool of myself acting this way."I merely smiled at her. "Thanks for coming Sabrina. It means a lot." I offered a hand towards the door. "Want to stay and have an early lunch with my family?"Sabrina shook her head quickly. "No. I have duties to perform. I will speak again with you soon." She vanished in a flash of light and I sat back in my chair. I pushed aside the disappointment and glanced towards my computer.She was right. I also had jobs to take care of, beyond just plotting Lance's defeat

8

"There." I paused the video of Celia on the computer and tap her eyes. "See how you're projecting your intent? When you have your Marowak dig, you begin looking to where you want them to come out.""No way people can notice that!" Celia exclaimed. "We're over a hundred metres apart and there is no way people can see where I'm looking!" She crossed her arms shaking her head to emphasize her disbelief.I shake my head back. "You'd be wrong. Lots of trainers have had to go through living in the wild where their instincts are honed and their sight picks up more. It's not so much where you're looking, as your focus that they're picking up." I drum the table before snapping my fingers. "Micromovements, is what they're called. Small tells that others can read into and detect what you're going to do before you do it. It mostly comes up in professional sports players but it can still appear for pokemon battles. Watch some of the semi-professionals, and then watch the Elites for the difference."I load up a few more videos and pause them before asking her what would happen next. I made sure to mute the sound. She got only a few right but she now sported a more thoughtful expression. "You and other gym leaders typically strike a pose and hold it for the duration of the fight…""I don't strike a pose," I said. Celia stared at me then stood and adopted an 'at rest' position with her arms crossed just under her breasts. I had to avert my eyes. Once again, I caught the smirk with its double meaning."You pose. I just never realized it had more meaning than looking cool." I chose to grunt at that, pleased despite hearing that holding my body still had appeared to be me posing. "I'll have to think on this… Will the people at the Indigo League go this far? It seems a little niche." Celia considered the video of herself and how much she revealed through simple actions.I wave my hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. "It's about giving you as much information as possible. If you're aware and studying it I think that will be enough for this year. You could also learn to abbreviate certain commands with your pokemon for more advantages. Announcing what you're going to do all the time isn't the best strategy.""You realize you're the only person who does that right?""Only for the higher badge challenges," I said back. "It's all about getting those small advantages. You'd be surprised how they pile up eventually. It might be milliseconds of advantage but often our victory can be determined by the smallest of windows."Celia nodded at this reasoning. "Right I can work on that.""Don't try it on all your moves and only throw them out sparingly to start off with. Too much will confuse your pokemon. Keep it simple—" "Stupid," Celia finished the phrase and I nodded. She wrote this down in a small diary that she kept on her for our tutoring sessions before fidgetting with her pen. I knew Celia well enough that she had a question on her tongue. Typically, it took a while for her to voice them though. I busied myself with looking up research articles by a few pokemon professors regarding Dragon pokemon. They hadn't yet gotten around to fully legitimizing that 'Fairy typing' was a thing but there was some serious research being put into that. There had already been a lot of anecdotal evidence but it seemed funding had only just come in for this recently. I grinned to myself as I clicked through the articles.I couldn't wait until it came out that certain puffballs that were floating around as only 'Normal' were actually super effective against Dragon typings."Doesn't it bother you?" Celia said.I closed the computer and looked towards her. "I was wondering when you were going to ask me that question, you know?" She flushed but I waved off her stammered apology. "It's fine. It's fine. I normally would merely ignore it. You have to grow a thick skin as a Gym Leader. There are tons of people out there that will say terrible things. Heck some of them might even be justified. Some will just say it though regardless of if it's true. There's now a lot of people out there saying how weak I am.""What!? No! You're really good as a Gym Leader! Don't believe those idiots!" Celia stood and clenched her fists as though she was ready to beat confidence into me. I merely waved her back to her chair."Celia. I can't always present myself at my best. Nor can my pokemon. Sometimes I make mistakes. I try to limit the frequency and the severity as much as I can but I'm not perfect."Celia mumbled something that I couldn't hear so I merely shrugged at her. "Lance's words shouldn't bother me.""Shouldn't?" she said."Yeah. Normally I'd have ignored him. Gone about things business as usual." I glanced to the shut door before looking Celia straight in the eyes. "Celia, I'm going to apologize now but I'm going to have to make a spectacle of myself for the Exhibition match. A lot of attention is going to be dragged away from you and the other trainers.""You're going to fight for real?!" She sat upright at that, a gleam entering her eyes at my words."Yeah, I'm training just as much as you these days. I've called in some favours and also have two of my fellow gym leaders working with me.""Oh wow. Good, I can tell people to back off from being such Houndooms to you."I shook a finger. "Don't do that.""But! But they're putting down the reputation.""Sometimes it's moments like this that help to let you know who will have your back in tough times and who are fair-weather friends that will float off like Drifblim as the wind changes. It's good to know now rather than in an actual emergency."That drew a smirk from her before she got a thoughtful look. "If you need to, you don't need to waste—" "Ututut! Nope. You're not wasting my time. Sometimes teaching others helps to remind and deepen the lesson.""Huh?" Celia said with a cute head tilt."If you have to teach something, you typically need to make sure you know what you're talking about enough to impart it. It's a great way to learn content for anything really. You set yourself up as a teacher and you really need to broaden your understanding cause sometimes you'll get questions. Sometimes you'll have never even considered the questions and have to do more research resulting in you widening your understanding of a topic even more.""Huh, wow. I never thought of that before."I gestured around us. "For that, I blame the hyper-specialization that occurs with most fields. There is some great technology but there isn't as much crossing of minds and broad education for people unless you go into that field. We speed through our initial education to get to our pokemon journey before setting into something." I shrugged. "That's the way it happens for most people. It has its upsides but also its downsides.""You're really smart Brock." She said while twirling her hair in between her fingers. I merely shrugged."Nah I just think about things and am fortunate I guess."Celia was about to say something else when a phone buzzed on the wall. I plucked it up."Gym Leader! The Mayor is looking to talk to you again!" I groan while Celia began to giggle her head off having obviously heard the loudspeaker that is Dennis. My ear canal would feel this for a while."I'll be with him as soon as I can Dennis.""Sir!" I rubbed my ear after hanging up before tapping my nose."Fair weather friends?" I prompted."Ooooooh the Mayor?" she said.I nodded and headed out the front of the gym. A microphone was instantly in my face."Brock! What are you going to do with the Champion of the League shining a highlight on your failings!?" "How long do you expect to be Gym Leader with this level of scrutiny!?" "Do you have any hope of giving a good showing?" "Is there any truth to the rumors of your gym charter being revoked?"I raised a hand and narrowed my eyes. Instantly a lull fell over the crowd as they suddenly found themselves swallowing their tongues. "As I have stated previously, no comment." I paused on one of the reporters and pulled open the bag I had grabbed before departing the gym. From within I pulled a form."PTN reporter Joshua, this is a restraining order for harassing my little siblings at school. I am fair game as Gym Leader. Do not harass my family, if you fail to comply with this restraining order the police will be informed." I swept my gaze over the rest of the reporters before nodding at them as Joshua's sudden paling was caught on camera. "Good day ladies and gentlemen." I extracted myself as the piranhas turned on one of their own for the story.I jogged on toward the center of the city where the large marble building that served as City Hall was located. I waved at some of the Pewter City residents that noticed me but used the old trick of wearing headphones to make it seem like I couldn't hear their questions that had begun to get repetitive a little under a week ago when the match had been announced.When I entered, I made a show of taking off my headphones. The receptionist ignoring me as I waited for her to notice my arrival let me know how this was likely going to go. I merely adopted a polite expression before checking my watch. I turned towards the door and instantly she whipped her head up at me."Gym Leader Brock, please take a seat. The Mayor will be with you soon."I returned her fake smile. "I have twenty minutes before I have other business to attend. If the Mayor needs me, he can make an appointment. I've got room in my schedule in a few days."The receptionist's nostrils flaring let me know enough about her to know that I'd just ruined her little potential threat. She'd have later locked this moment away in her dusty cupboard of a mind only to be recalled, polished and gleaming as a moment that she'd gotten to flex on a Gym Leader which would have made it all the sweeter. By rejecting the concept of social superiority that I should bow and scrape to the Mayor, I'd probably made an enemy in her. She'd find all the petty ways she could to hurt me later on. I didn't have time for her and the Mayor's little games though.I glanced again at my watch. "Is he free now or should I have my crew send a time I'm available?"I could see her furiously working through her options, leafing through her procedures and manners to find some way to restore her little world. She sniffed pointedly when her speaker buzzed and the Mayor's voice called through, "Trixie, send through the good Gym Leader. I can talk now."I merely nodded as she gestured towards the doors. I then almost ran into them as she failed to unlock them. I took a deep breath in and considered escalating. For a moment, I tapped into the pool of energy. My hands opened into flat palms. It was so tempting. It'd be so easy.A harsh thunk of the door unlocking sounded out and I pushed the door again. The energy within was exhaled out as the door closed behind me. I refocused towards the actual person I'd come to see.The Mayor of Pewter city had chosen to sit at the lounge instead of behind his desk. The man was the quintessential 'hiker' from the Gen I iteration. The only difference was that he was a solid wall of muscle. The man didn't have hands as much as he had twin mauls. His hair wasn't so much a beard as a mane. And yet, the man had coated himself in fur to the degree that I had to wonder if Hagrid from Harry Potter had fallen for a Discworld Dwarf."Mayor," I said as a greeting, watching as the muscle and hair twitched in greeting."Gym Leader," he said back. He rubbed his chin causing some parts of his mane to stick out oddly. His eyes searched me from the dark caves of his face before a smile stretched his face. "So, you're not just a good battler eh Brock?"I considered that for a moment before replying, "I suppose I haven't had many chances to prove myself before have I… Jonathan?" I used his name as a test. He merely nodded his head."Indeed you've done well as Gym Leader since your father abandoned you with your family. If anyone has been paying any attention to you, they'd be mad to call you into question," he gestured at the seat to show I could sit. "You've taken a disaster on so many fronts, and turned it into a shiny gem. Your playing coy sort of gives the game away though." He tapped a newspaper section that highlighted the odds of the match. "How much should I bet on you?"I rubbed the back of my head in consideration. For a long minute, neither of us spoke before I considered the man that seemed so in his element. Like an old lion in the savannah, he was in his element. I liked that thought, the old lion of Pewter, it should be a nickname for the man. I had to admit it was a pleasant surprise after the last week I'd had to hear him being open."How much have you got to bet?"His smile turned feral before nodding at me. "Anything the city can do for you? We have some Rangers that I'm close with. Ones that head out to the silver mountains and north in the wild ranges even. They'd have some pokemon that could test you.""I've already got some plans in place. Thank you for the offer though. I'd prefer if you could get the reporters to stop hounding me as much.""Not an undoable task. I can certainly talk to their managers about how they've been lingering." He rubbed his chin. "You alright if I have some support pieces made up? Start a grassroots surge before you do your thing?""Do my thing?" I asked curious about how much he suspected.He smirked. "You got a look about you. You're not defeated or letting it tumble over you. If you'd come in here looking like you were just out for a stroll, or at the park letting the kids play on you, it'd show. Instead you got your hackles up.""Is the receptionist deliberate?"He clicked his tongue. "Nah she's a hire that I had to do cause of," he waved around at the office, "politics." I made a noise of understanding before agreeing to the idea of some articles slowly filtering into the public. It felt rather strange planning such things regarding myself but perhaps this was a sign that I wasn't just anyone anymore.Later that night, after dealing with the Mayor, I turned the conversation over in my head. Despite coming in as nominal social equals, I couldn't help but feel slightly worried about how the man had taken control of the conversation. He hadn't shown any of his cards before peeking at mine in a way. He might have been bluffing for all that I knew.He'd agreed after my initial comment to 'bet all that he had and more', very well. He'd also made a good show of getting some Rangers in to take over gym duties. That might have seemed like a harmless gesture but I understood that you needed duties to justify certain things. It might help now but it would hinder me later with what I could have a voice in. If I couldn't win while doing my job properly, I didn't deserve the victory. Also, I shouldn't allow that sort of behavior to creep in.I wasn't sure if that had been like a Tentacruel feeler testing the waters before diving in with other 'helpful' suggestions, but my mind couldn't help replay the talk over in my head. I eventually sighed, sitting up and turning on the computer to write down my thoughts. I'd need to handle myself at least this well or better, in future. Being a Gym Leader meant rubbing elbows with the Movers and Shakers. That meant politics. I wondered for a moment if I needed to hire or have someone train me for that. How did I currently 'score' in such a setting? Did I even want to blend in or should I force them to flow around me? I wrote all of this down in my virtual diary for later reflection.I paused every now and then to play with a handful of pebbles that I left near my bedside. I let the feel and sound of them clacking into each other wash over me before writing another section.After an hour of jotting down my thoughts and toying with my Rock-type energy, I found I had no issues falling asleep. I knew tomorrow would be better. That alone made things seem brighter for me. I also had a lot to look forward to with it being a training day with Surge and Sabrina.

9

In a field, well out of view from any prying eyes, Lieutenant Surge swaggered. It made one wonder about life. Sadly this was no 'if a tree falls in the wood' situation. Surge made sure there was someone to hear him before he got started."You ready for the pain Brock! I'm bringing the thunder!" He held a pose and leered while I stared. Then an idea came to me. A terrible, horrible, no good idea. I checked around in case anyone else was actually here. Specifically Sabrina. Before adopting a counterpose. "You think you're tough enough to handle the avalanche?"Surge's grin grew and his hand swept out. "Nice! But words won't save you from the sparks I'm sending out! Go Raichu!""Match him Shin!" I selected my own pokemon. From the pokeball, an ancient pokemon emerged and brandished his scythes at the orange electric mouse. Raichu growled, tail whipping back and forth.Surge whistled obviously wanting to say something but holding back. He settled for clicking his fingers. "Toss a rock to signal the start?"I nodded, raising a rock and lobbing it up well within our field of vision. Neither of us bothered to turn our heads to focus on it. We tracked it more from the movement in our peripherals. When it touched the ground, Surge swept his hand forth and bellowed his command, "Raichu Thunder!""Stab your blades into the ground! Metal Claw!" I countered. Shin's blades sank into the ground just before the electrical attack impacted. It didn't negate all of the damage but it did help out. "Rock Polish Shin!" I added just as the attack dissipated.Surge slashed his arm, "Thunder wave!""Dig!" Shin obeyed before the attack had any chance of threatening him.Surge grimaced before he snapped his fingers. "Swift!" Stars formed up above Raichu. I grimaced at that, but had to accept it as Raichu's attack hit. I couldn't block it with another move this time. Before Raichu could launch any more. Shin popped up behind it though and slashed for all he was worth.Raichu was launched across the field before rolling to its feet with an angry growl."Rock Polish," I said once more."Urgh, again?" said Surge as he eyed his Raichu. "Extreme speed!""Match it," I ordered only to find my Kabutops current top speed to be well short of what I need to keep him even with Raichu.Raichu slammed into Shin and I grit my teeth as small sparks zapped into Shin. "Dig!" I said while reprimanding myself for the sloppy play. I should have just gone for another dodge with dig rather than trying to match up. So what if Surge got off a swift? It wasn't more of an irritant.Surge nodded his head and as I had expected ordered another swift before bellowing. "Extreme speed to the other side of the field!" This saw him dodging the attack from my Shin. I clicked my teeth at that before eyeing the field. "Shin! Metal Claw into Hydrojet! Drag your blades along behind you!"Surge frowned at me as my pokemon surged forward with a watery envelope surrounding him. I could tell he was tempted with the water in play but I could also see him judging the metal claw attachment. "Use swift again!""Go into Dig!" I ordered once more. Now that the field had large gouges across it, I knew Raichu couldn't rely on speed to escape this hit. Surge's follow up swift again did little before his Raichu took another solid hit that saw it tumbling across the field.He clicked his tongue and raised his pokeball. "Good match, wasn't sure you were serious with your pick of Kabutops." Shin happily crowed at that praise before hustling over to me. I plucked a rag off my belt to rub his already glossy rock shell. Surge chuckled as Shin crooned into the cloth. "Hell of a pokemon to have in your roster.""He's not the only of his type that I have," I revealed."Seriously?" Surge stared at me and I grinned. His expression turned into outright gaping as I popped two more pokemon to show off my Omaster, and Aerodactyl. Omaster glanced around before waving her arms about happily while Aerodactyl snorted and took off to circle the area."Don! Circle up high and see if there is anything I need to be worried about. Pokemon or people alright?""Aero!" screeched my flying type as it caught a thermal to soar."Damn Brock. You going to use all of them?""Shelly's not up to the others in combat strength." I leaned down and rubbed at Omaster's shell. "She's alright for the four and up matches but she's not one of my top six." Shelly merely nodded at this before tapping Shin for his attention. The two pokemon began to talk to each other and I turned to Surge. "I think if anything, Don is going to be the one that Lance is most jealous of.""Is it Dragon typed? I assumed Rock-Flying.""It looks close enough though, no? You know Lance has a Gyrados and a Charizard right?""Yeah, beast pokemon, both of them. Gyrados knows thunder so watch out for it yeah?""I have an easy matchup for that. I'm hoping he tries to bring it out first. If not, I have someone that can set up for me.""Heh that Golem of yours?"I nodded before holding out a pokeball. "Speaking of which, I had an egg hatch the other day."Surge perked up. "That what I think it is?" I nodded and handed him the ball. Like a kid at christmas Surge instantly opened his present to reveal a Geodude."Geo-dude!" Surge looked over the pokemon appreciatively before rubbing a hand over the rougher top. He drew it back and tilted his head in thought before drawing back his hand."Magnetic rock?""You'll need to feed him some electrically charged rock in his diet and keep him in a charged environment." I smiled at the little guy, "Think that's going to be an issue for you?""Heh! No way! Thanks! How am I gonna pay you back for this?" He gestured to the pokemon that was happily thumping his chest and demanding a fight from Shin. My Kabutops spat a tiny glob of water only for the Geodude to flinch before roaring as the 'challenge' was accepted. "Heh! I like this punk's spirit! He's an electric type that's for sure!"I grinned at Surge's pokemon before handing him a sheet of paper. Surge read through it before frowning. "Hehe Shiny types or King variants? Yeah, I can see this guy being worth one of them. Corsola? You don't have one of them?" I shook my head in answer. "Nosepass, Bonsly and what the hell…. Roggenrola? Rockruff? Carbink? Never heard of those pokemon before, where the hell'd you hear of them?" He looked up from the list."I keep an ear out. Their original regions might not have opened their borders officially yet so the League won't have announced them.""More like your psychic girlfriend knows and told you?" Surge said leadingly."I have done no such thing," said Sabrina appearing at my side with her teleport. Surge flinched back, his arms pinwheeling before he fell onto his backside. From the ground, he gave her a scowl."You been lurking long?"Sabrina didn't deign to offer a response for that, outright ignoring her fellow Gym Leader. Don screeched and plummeted from the sky at Sabrina's sudden arrival."Don! No! Friend!" I said, shouting as loud as I could.Sabrina eyed him for a moment before popping a pokeball to reveal an Alakazam who hovered in front of Sabrina."Don!" This time he listened and wheeled away. I sighed before shaking my head. "Sorry about him, I'll need to use him in a fight today. He's very aggressive when he's brought out and with Shin getting a chance, he probably wants to throw down himself to prove he's still strong.""I would be fine with that." She placed a hand on Alakazam's shoulder and the hyper-smart pokemon nodded to her before smirking upwards."Before that, think you can set some time up for my Selene and Quirina? I need to work out which of them will be fighting.""Selene is better," Sabrina didn't even hesitate to voice her opinion. I opened my mouth before nodding."Yeah actually, Quirina wouldn't work well with Lance's matchups. Selene is in then.""My Alakazam wants another rematch against Titan." The Alakazam in question didn't turn but I felt its attention focus on me nevertheless.I smirked, "After he fights Don, and if he's still up for it, sure." The challenge in my tone made the Alakazam snap to look at me before scoffing as he redirected his attention up towards the circling Don. "First let's train Selene." With a press of a button Selene floated upwards."Luuuunatone!" greeted the pokemon. Sabrina smiled as her eyes glowed slightly as a link formed between her and my pokemon. Surge walked up to me before nodding."Reckon I'll head off before someone spots I'm missing from Vermilion.""Thanks for coming Surge, Shin needed the match up.""Yeah, didn't seem that way. Your Pokemon are going to shock a lot of people. I'm surprised at how much depth you've got for all of them having a rock type.""People underestimate them cause they only see Geodudes and Onix, with a lot of trainers facing them for the first badge challenge. They think they're weaker than they are in truth.""Reckon Lance will know about Titan?""I'd love for him to be that proud, but I don't think he got to be Champion from not crossing his t's and dotting his i's.""Shame. It'll be a shock for a lot of people that didn't track you beyond your Kanto circuit. They probably think your Rhydon is your starter."I grinned at that before nodding. "Sure… my Rhydon."Surge squinted at me before shaking his head. "I won't satisfy my inner Meowth right now but I know that look." I merely nodded and tapped my nose. Surge chuckled as he opened a Pokeball to reveal a Fearow that had a saddle which he swung up into."See you at the conference Brock!" He said before taking off. I waved him off before turning back to the next round of training I had lined up for today."So what should we be working on with Selene?"Sabrina gave me a look. "We will be working on her versatility with her psychic powers." Selene bumped into Sabrina with a happy trill before straightening when Sabrina gently pushed her away."You may begin by levitating as many items as you can, nothing can be the same shape or size." I watched for a few minutes before understanding that I was very much superfluous. It was still interesting to watch the three psychics train themselves.Selene flagged first. Alakazam nodded at her efforts but you could tell she was exhausted with how she wavered with her hovering. Sabrina stared at Selene for a moment before nodding herself. "You have done well. Rest and consider what you've learnt today." She glanced towards me then before looking at her Alakazam. "I believe Alakazam was promised a fight?"I tugged out a whistle and blew it. Sabrina placidly watched me as we waited for Don to return. With anyone else, this would be very awkward. I'd grown used to silence with Sabrina. She was a very deep thinker. You could say something offhand and she'd contemplate it from a variety of different angles for hours. Sometimes she'd dredge up something you said days ago. Or she'd just sit and think. It was one of the things she liked about having me around.She'd told me once that I was good for that. A comfortable quiet. Apparently being able to hear people's thoughts made her life rather frustrating. I could only get a vague idea of what that might be like. She likened it to having a constant crowd shouting over themselves in a small room. In this case, the room just so happened to be her mind. As a child, it had pained her.And then along had come a boy with an inkling of an idea regarding Dark-type energy that made him a 'quiet' mind. Soothing almost.At the time, I had been focused on beating her with my pokemon. Then she had marched up and given me the Marsh badge only to announce she was going to join me for the rest of the circuit. And from there, I had been trying to lessen my footprint on what was supposed to be canon.I shook my head before looking her over.The small smile was enough to let me know how she was doing. "Anything planned for when the circuit is over?""I will be joining you at the Plateau," she said firmly before brushing her hair over her shoulder. "Otherwise I have nothing of note.""Your family isn't doing anything?""Mother thinks it would be a good idea to go to the beach together as a… Family…""Don't like that idea?""It's very bright at the beach and I don't like the looks and thoughts I get when I go there.""Ah, shame you'd look…" I trailed off before my tongue could talk me into a trap. Sabrina arched an eyebrow."I'd look?" Sabrina of course didn't relent."You'd look very nice.""Nice," her voice had gotten flat and I knew she was fishing in her own way but that didn't stop me from tripping myself into the trap."You'd look… attractive. You're a very attractive woman Sabrina alright?"She stared at me for a moment before nodding her smile back in place before she looked away. "Thank you." The quiet returned.I squatted down and watched a slowly growing black dot form into Don. I now found myself willing him to speed up for the coming fight."You are also quite attractive."I looked back to her studiously not looking at me. "Hmmm thanks Sabrina." I half turned before looking back only to shake the idea off. She wanted me to go to the beach with her, didn't she? I turned that over in my head. I really shouldn't encourage her. I was still squeamish having 'dated' her as children. I didn't want to encourage her or offer something that I couldn't give. Don arrived and thankfully ended my mental torment.He hovered and eyed the Alakazam with hate filled eyes. Alakazam made things worse by huffing and dismissing him. I grinned knowing what the hyper-intelligent pokemon was doing."Keep your cool Don, he's toying with you before the fight. This is just banter." Don glared at me before recalling our own training sessions. He growled before flapping and waggling his legs in a provocative manner. I had no idea how that translated but I didn't expect anything too refined from an 'Ancient' pokemon.It got a narrowing of eyes from Alakazam so it must have done something."Ready?" I asked Sabrina.She nodded once. "Alakazam, Psybeam."And like that the next match began. Sabrina had not bothered with any 'fair start' like Surge had been.Don folded his wings but the attack was fast. Knocking him out of the sky with a mere grazing blow."Get off the ground! You're a sitting Farfetch'd there!""Gravity," Sabrina continued her onslaught making it harder for Don. I'd asked for as much but I knew Don was going to have a tough time with this match up. He struggled to get his legs underneath himself."Stone Edge! Make him move!" Don glared at the Alakazam that was holding him down with the power of his mind. For a moment, I thought he was going to launch himself forward to attempt a take-down instead of listen but rocks formed and fired off."Teleport," said Sabrina tonelessly.Rocks flew into the spaces Alakazam had been, only for him to dodge easily. "Don you need to act faster! Lance's Dragonite is one of the best pokemon around! If you can't handle an alakazam, I won't be able to use you!" I said. Mentally, it was a much different story. Alakazam with teleport would technically be harder to fight. I'd need to make sure Don fought some speedy flying types but right now was about getting him faster in his firing sequence. Don responded like I knew he would, Rock Blasts flying faster.I swung my arm into a blank area. "Fire there!" Don did as I asked and he was rewarded as Alakazam teleported into the hit. He took the blow and was hurled back. When he rose, he made a show of dusting himself off and scoffing.Don growled. "Leap up now while he's distracted!" This time, Don was able to leap for the skies, unhindered now that Alakazam wasn't focussing the gravity onto him."Dragondance Don!" My pokemon tipped himself into a tailspin before alighting with a small growl. Sabrina made a gesture and her pokemon formed a barrier in front of himself."Stone Edge again!""Psychic," replied Sabrina. This time, the attack came in the form of Alakazam grabbing the stones that had formed Don's attack and hurling them back at him."Evasive maneveurs Don! Go Lo—" I cursed as he went high. In doing so he made it easier to spot his profile. "Don get low! You're easier to hit in the sky! Close to the ground, you can throw up dust and obscure yourself with turn about!"This was not something I would be able to do in my match with Lance. I obviously had a lot of small kinks to work out to get Don's battling up to snuff. Don took a stone to the wing and dropped before regaining control. He adopted the new dodging pattern and while he didn't have the thermals to work with, he was able to throw up dust and rocks as chaff for attacks meant for him. This meant Alakazam had to work for it more. "Dragon dance again!""Psybeam!""Drop to the ground! Create a sinkhole!" Don hit the ground this time dodging the attack before glaring at the alakazam. I was quick to follow up before Alakam's attack ended. "Go close while using Stone Edge around the area!"Alakazam suddenly found it much harder to teleport as Don closed on him. "Psybeam again!" ordered Sabrina."Ice fang before he hits!" I bellowed. Don's jaws snapped onto the alakazam's shoulder and ice flowed down the limb making the super-intelligent pokemon flinch. "Again!"Don got in another hit. "Finish it, Psybeam." Sabrina stayed calm. Her Alakazam raised a hand and pointed the palm right at Don. Don was blown off and landed hard into the ground.I looked down into his crater as he weakly struggled before slumping down. "Good fight buddy. We both need to get better."Across from us, Alakazam must have used recovery on himself. Sadly for him, the ice didn't vanish revealing he'd been partially frozen from Don's attacks.Don might have ended up losing but he put up enough of a fight to deny Alakazam his rematch against Titan. Which set Don in a nice frustrated state and much more pliant for the next week —at least— of training that I could put into him. I had multiple points of information that I needed to address for both of us.It might have seemed cruel to set Don up like this with a match I didn't expect him to win. But sometimes, it was important to crush a pokemon's pride to get them to listen to you. It wasn't a method I liked to use but one of the best to use to get some serious training in with Don in the lead up to the fight with Lance.I didn't have time to be nice with Don's pride. I needed him working hard, not strutting around with a chip on his shoulder.He might have lost but that was all according to plan. I toyed with the spreadsheet to play with the gym's earnings and expenditures. If I accounted for the amount of food that I could save with an expedition while trading off human resources required I might come out slightly ahead which would be worth it for a few planned trips. I could enlist a few of my siblings to trade out for Rocko who had put in for leave and then—My door opened up and a voice called out to me."Big brother?" I looked up to find Suzie rubbing at her eyes and yawning hugely. "You're not asleep?"I resisted the urge to give a sarcastic reply before nodding. "Yeah, I had some work for the Gym to catch up on. Got a lot on my plate Suzie. What's up? How come you're still awake?" I almost asked if she'd had another accident but knew that would only anger her. She hadn't had any accidents in a few months now."I had a bad dream," she said directly to the floor. I huffed."That's alright. We all have those sometimes.""Even you?" She peeked up at me. I nodded."Want some warm milk to help you relax? Then you can brush your teeth again before bed.""I don't have to brush my teeth if I drink milk! It's white like my teeth!" Her logic was probably perfect for a five-year-old."Ha! I wish it worked that way, but no you brush your teeth if you eat or drink anything.""Even water?" I paused, stumped before shaking my head."Ah, actually not water. Water gets a pass." She considered that deeply for a long moment before eventually nodding."I want a cookie as well!"I sighed. "Milk and no cookie.""Milk and cookie, otherwise it's just weird!" She waved her arms about to emphasize the 'weirdness' of no cookie and milk. I caved and gave her another nod.After giving her the cookie and her milk, which I enjoyed alongside her I led her up to the bathroom. There, I oversaw her brushing her teeth atop a stool just for her while I did my own. Then, I settled her into bed in the room she shared with Tilly. Before I got a chance to leave, she spoke up again."Can I have a story?""Another story?" I said pointedly while staring at the Detective Pikachu's adventure book I had read earlier."I want a real story. One about pokemon!" she said while crossing her tiny arms. I noted the emphasis on 'real'. So nothing that would qualify as 'little girl' material but still age-appropriate.I considered that before moving back and sitting down with my back against the wall. "Would a story about the prettiest rock type pokemon be enough?""Graveller?" she said, likely thinking of the maid like pokemon that was probably asleep in the older girl's room."No, even prettier. It's so pretty that this pokemon is known as the Jewel pokemon, but it is also one of the toughest pokemon out there. It has to do with the diamonds that make up its body.""Diamonds! Really? Wow, that must be a pretty pokemon!" Her eyes widened as her little mind began to imagine what such a pokemon must look like."Yup! If any trainer had it, they'd do great at contests just from how pretty it is!""What's its name?" Suzie said, snuggling down into her blanket and watching me."Diancie. Diancie the Rock Fairy type pokemon.""There's not a Fairy-type pokemon. I know, I learnt about that in school!""Really? They taught you that at Pre-school? I'm impressed!" Suzie puffed up her chest before nodding. I made a show of looking left and right, "Well I'm going to tell you a secret. Can you keep it for me?""Yeah!" She said seriously. I smiled, not really minding if she blabbed like I expected her to a friend. People wouldn't take her too seriously until the official position statement from the League was released in a year or so."There's going to be a new typing announced soon.""The Fairy type!?" She said, understanding what I meant immediately. I nodded."Yup! Pokemon like Clefairy aren't just Normal-type.""Wow! What are they strong and weak against?" I nodded, pleased at her serious question."They're weak to Steel, and poison, with Dark, fighting and bug not being as effective. But guess what?""What?""They're super strong against Dark, Fighting and… Dragon types which they're immune to damage from."She gasped. "You could use Diancie against Lance and beat him up!" She shot up. "We need to get you a Diancie! Where do we go to get one?!"I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Hey It's alright. My pokemon and I have been working hard. And I'm sorry to say that Diancie are super, super rare.""As rare as Legendary pokemon?"I shook my head. "Not that rare, but they're up there." Technically with the games, Mythical pokemon were tougher to get but Suzie didn't need to be told that. She needed dreams and thoughts filled with potential rather than cold harsh truths."Do you think you'll ever get a Diancie?""I'd love one but I think I'd have to give it to someone.""Who?""You, " I said before bopping her nose. "Then I know you'd always be safe. If I ever get one, I'll make sure to give it to you alright?"Suzie grinned and gave me a hug. "Sure big brother.""You'll go to bed now?""Alright, thanks for the story."I stroked her hair before stepping out of the room. "Good night Suzie, love you.""Good night Brock, I love you!" she said before shutting her eyes. I watched her for a moment before moving to the office.For a moment, I thought I saw a light flicker on around a corner but none of them seemed to be fluttering. In the office, I reviewed the spreadsheet. It was as good as I was going to get it. I had everything as ready as I could get it. Now I just had to go to the Indigo Plateau for the conference that was coming up and throw down my challenge to Lance.

10

I made a show of plucking a sheet of paper, "Ah here it is 'Rock Types? They wouldn't be able to last against my Dragons. I have pokemon in my arsenal that could clean sweep that gym alone'." I gave him a flat look. "Champion Lance, I find your words go too far. They are then an insult I cannot let stand. I will be accepting your challenge. Be sure that I have brought my strongest pokemon to this match between us. I can't accept you merely retracting your words. So, the question I have for you is if you're willing to put up."