"I'VE FAILED YOU!" wailed Celia over the video.
I could only stare back and chant one thought over and over in repeat. Don't laugh. Don't laugh. She didn't mean to quote that silly Dexter cartoon from your childhood."I'M SOOOOO SORRRRRYYYY!" She continued, unaware that I found her hysterics amusing. She certainly wouldn't find it funny if I said as much. I opened my mouth to remind her how proud I was, only for her to continue shouting self-castigations. "I should have sent out Lizzie earlier and swept the field! I should have evolved my Wartortle before reaching the League! I should have used some field effects of my own! I didn't prepare enough!""CELIA!" I eventually shouted over the top of her. That got her to quieten down. She stared at me in a mix of fear and some other indecipherable emotion."I'm sorry I talked too much. I'm a waste of a trainer!" she said."Celia, don't you dare hang up on me or I will fly up to the Plateau right this moment! Don't see if I won't, young lady!" I promised, channeling my best big brother voice.It was super effective as she remained on the line and watched me like a small frightened animal. "...sorry," she murmured, shrinking in on herself.I huffed. "Celia…" I said. "You did incredibly well. Not many trainers in their first year make it out of the group stages, let alone advance through the knock out matches to make it into the top eight of the tournament. That other trainer was also seeded second for this tournament, and has a team that possesses way more tournaments and years of training under their belt." I grinned at her."Your problem isn't that you didn't go far enough, it's that you've forgotten how far you've come from.""W-what d-d-do you mean?" She asked with a hiccup."Celia, let's rewind to what you were doing for yourself precisely one year ago? You weren't a sponsored trainer yet. What would you have been doing?""I was researching your sponsorship tournament…" She said quietly."Exactly. You didn't get to start training with Lizzie until two weeks before the circuit started, where you had to build up trust and work with her. Since then you've travelled all over Kanto, made a ton of friends, won a lot of battles, and grown up wonderfully.""B-but I didn't win!""And that's not a problem. You're learning, and it's never guaranteed like people might presume.""I just wanted to make everyone proud," she said while looking down at the floor. Her bangs hid her eyes but reflected the small tear tracks on her cheeks."Everyone is proud of you, Celia. You're putting too much weight on your shoulders. There's probably going to be a parade for you when you get back. You may even have to make a speech to inspire the orphans. Everyone knows your name more than they did two weeks ago." I chuckled. "But don't live your life for other people's praise, find your own reason that works for you, alright?"I propped my chin up and leaned on it lazily. "Did you think you were going to go all the way when you started out last year? What were your goals? Do you remember them?" She chewed her lip and frowned to the side. I hummed and leaned over to a folder detailing Celia's training record that I'd created. On the first page, in her own messy scrawl, her goal was written down."Remember this?" I turned it around so she could read her own goal. "It's been a while since you set them.""I wanted t…to... To make ten friends… and, make Lizzie strong… and earn all eight badges…""This last one was written after you tried against Sabrina. Remember how badly she beat your team back then? But you wrote it down and were determined, 'cause it meant Lizzie wouldn't be weak."I tapped a finger on the first goal. "You've made a ton of new friends this last year. Both with pokemon and people. Heck, you organised the Pewter trainers so well the organisers thought I had been running a boot camp. You kept working on this goal right up until now! The number of friends you had in the last week alone has probably skyrocketed!"She nodded, a small smile appearing for just a moment. I let my finger slide down to the second goal."Make Lizzie strong. Lizzie is a powerful, fully evolved Nidoqueen now. You asked me three times how to evolve her and I held you back twice until you displayed more depth and understanding of how Lizzie would change with her evolution. When I told you about the method you didn't run off and force it, but made sure Lizzie was ready. You worked with her and set a goal with and for your starter. That's a great sign.""Do I need to mention this last one?" I tapped the 'collect eight badges'. She shook her head and giggled to herself. "You made it to the top eight in the Indigo region, Celia. You didn't fail me, or anyone, or your pokemon, and especially not yourself. You've done fantastically."She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "I'm kind of being ridiculous, aren't I?""No, not at all." I shifted in my seat, gathering my words. "You're caught up in the first loss that has meant something in quite a while. These sting, 'cause you think you're used to handling loss, but those losses didn't hold the same meaning. Just like you remember your first official loss, you also remember these significant losses. You've been on a real streak, so this might be worse for you.""Eh? What do you mean?"I flipped through her rather dense folder and selected a page that showed her League sheet as reported to the public. "You have a seventy-four percent win ratio Celia. That's huge. If you wanted to, next year, you wouldn't need to rely on my sponsorship."Her breath hitched. I raised a hand to stop her from jumping to a bad conclusion. "I'd like to extend the sponsorship to you once more, but I thought I might point out that you don't need to just rely on me. You've built up a very, very, tidy nest egg, and you have a lot more options. I imagine there's going to be a lot of corporations asking for a private word when you're out and about so get ready for that." I prompted her with the hand again.She loyally stayed silent."I just wanted to highlight that you had options. I'd like you to stay, but you should definitely talk with some people, and consider their offers. Enjoy the Plateau. Think about what you want, we can discuss more later. Today was rough with your loss, and that always sucks. But at the end of the day, it won't matter too much. You did fantastically and you don't need to be sad because you think you let us down. You could never let us down."The sound of small feet running up the hall towards my office had me smiling. "Ready for your fans?""Huh?" Celia said just as the door to my office creaked open. Three heads peeked around and I waved for them to approach. Salvadore, Tilly, and Billy all bundled in, only to have the rest of my family follow them in. Tilly claimed my lap and waved at Celia."Silly! You did great!" "Yeah! You were amazing!" "Your pokemon were so cool!" "You looked good on tv!" said my family all over each other. Celia laughed and wiped the last of her tears away and began talking with them.There was a small chance that Celia might find an enticing deal or sponsorship from someone else, but I doubted it. Even if she had a better deal she'd probably stick with Pewter just because of how I gave her the start into the circuit.She really had come a long way from being a small orphan of Pewter City.Eventually, Celia was found by her friends on her side of the call and she had to beg off as they dragged her out to start the night's celebrations. I had the opposite problem, with the night supposed to be ending for most of my little brothers and sisters."Rawr! I'm a Nidoking!" roared Billy towards Tilly only for her to push him back."I'm a Machamp! Guoh!" They then proceeded to push each other around in a play fight. Suzie and Timmy sprinted off towards another part of the house, and I sighed to myself.I gave the clock a glance. Then I chuckled. It wasn't a school night. I stepped up to the tousling twins who paused as I loomed over them."I'm a Tyranitar! RAAAAAAAAA!" I said loudly.Both of the twins shrieked and ran for it. I turned on the still lingering little brothers and sisters. "I'll gobble you all up!"Yolanda giggled and ran for it, joining in while Salvadore blinked and looked to Forrest who scoffed. I grabbed him and spun him around before charging into the lounge room. I tossed him down into the cushions before pointing down at his unamused face."PUNY HUMAN!"His face shifted from unamused to annoyed at being called puny. He threw himself into a tackle only for a pillow I had snatched up to whip around and club him. Yolanda peeked in, to laugh at our antics. She eventually joined in on my side to swat at Forrest. When he fell over she betrayed me without a moment's hesitation."Raaaaa! I am too strong for your puny blows to hurt me!" I roared through her hits.She stepped back with a determined glint in her eyes before undulating a warrior's cry and tossing multiple pillows at my face before shoving herself into my midriff. I stood against her, and grabbed her around her own stomach before lifting her up.Then I spun around. And around again."Brock! No! I'm going to be sick!" She panicked. Her shouts and my laughs served to draw in the rest of the family that had hidden away. The two sets of twins peeked in and found Forrest swatting at me as I spun Yolanda around. Salvadore stood nearby laughing at our antics.They charged into the fray thinking it was great fun.Eventually, I was toppled with the combined might of Tilly, Yolanda, Suzie and Cindy, much to Suzie's delight. While I was 'down and out', she began weaving ribbons into my hair. I lay still and allowed it while the other kids bounced around like wild children of a lost tribe, rather than my normally calm little brothers and sisters. When Suzie was done she patted me on the head."Good boy!" She said before gesturing for me to rise. I stood up, planted my feet and put my hands on my hips in an authoritative pose."Alright, you children! No more play! There is only time for bath and bed now!"I only got laughter and jeers like I had expected. I grinned at them knowing that I had other tricks up my sleeve. "Oh? No bath! No ice cream!"There was a sudden rush to the bath at that, with Munchlax appearing in the bath before anyone else. He got a little shower cap for his troubles. Timmy watched on and nodded."He's sticky!""I think you mean stinky, Tim," I said as I lathered up the hairy little stomach on legs."Munch!" He said as Suzie began to play patty cake with him. I kept an eye on the youngest twins as they lounged in the bath."Magikarp!" "Goldeen!" They both said to each other; continuing their earlier game but much more passively now that they'd burnt off their energy."Time to hop out and dry off!" I announced as I washed Munchlax off with a shower hose. "Cindy, think you can use the hairdryer on Munchlax?""Sure!" said Cindy. Suzie stayed close to 'help'."You missed a spot! No, here! No, there!" said Suzie.I dumped a towel on her before she could annoy Cindy any further. When all of the youngest were cleaned up, I led them back out of the bathroom and into the kitchen where temporary peace awaited me. For the next five minutes the only sound was the clinking of bowls and Munchlax begging for just one more scoop.I hummed and shared a bit of my ice cream with him. Instead of indulging in the ice cream myself, I watched my family. When I put them to bed I ended up having to read at least four story books, but that wasn't an issue. Cindy and Tommy had put themselves to bed but I made sure to swing around and tuck them in. Then I checked in on Salvadore to find him reading a textbook."Twenty more minutes, then go to bed Sal," I declared from his door."Kay!" He said, his eyes not lifting from his book.I found Yolanda checking in on Forrest and his egg. When she was happy with it she bid both myself and Forrest good night. I patted her head when she walked past me.Forrest played with the incubator for a little, shifting it about minutely before leaving it be. I didn't say anything but I kept catching a complicated expression when he looked at it. "Hey, everything alright?" I interrupted."Yeah, just… it's nothing.""You sure? If it's bothering you it's not nothing." In reply Forrest just shook his head."It's nothing, night Brock.""Night," I said. I left him be for the moment but I certainly wouldn't forget that something was bugging him. For now, I'd let the issue rest. I'd deal with it when it came time. For today, things had gone well enough.I went to bed that night with a lightness that made sleep come easily."Good morning… is it Miss or Mrs?" I said to the older woman. She smiled gently at me and tucked an errant lock of blue hair behind her ear."Miss Glass, but please just call me Georgina. How should I address you, Gym leader?""Brock's fine," I said, waving her off. I glanced to the side to find a shrunken down version of the woman only instead of her loose bun of hair, this girl had two pigtails that draped over her shoulders. She didn't have anything else of note, but my mind leapt across a gap and added a missing yellow cap on her head and stuck up her hair in a cartoonish method that some hairstylists were renowned for.I knew this girl… or at least I had known her… vaguely."And this is your daughter?""Yes! This is Crystal!" Georgina said, putting her hands around her daughter and smiling beatifically.Crystal grinned at me. "You can refer to me as Lord Kris!""Crystal!" said Georgina. "I'm sorry about her. She thinks she's a little comedian, but she isn't funny!" She growled at her daughter. A tinkling laugh caught our group's attention.Yolanda leaned out of the front door. "I thought it was pretty funny?""Heh! See Mum? You're just old!""Young lady, if you think acting like this is going to help your cause for that bicycle, you are sadly mistaken." Crystal just huffed before marching over to Yolanda. "Call me Kris.""Yolanda, want to come see the pokemon?" Yolanda asked, opening the door. I coughed and jerked my head towards her mother, an obvious prompt to Yolanda. "If that's alright with you Miss Glass?""Please Mum!" Instantly all traces of rebellion vanished from Crystal as she turned watery eyes to her mother, her hands collapsed together.Georgina stared at her for a long moment, until Crystal began to fidget. "Very well but don't make a nuisance of yourself.""Sweet! Lead the way!" said Crystal. I watched the girls run off to the back of the gym before gesturing in another direction."Shall we?""Yes! Please, lead the way." I led her to the office and made some idle conversation. "I was able to review the information you sent me, and I can only assume you have been using accounting software for your Gym's needs?""Yes, it seems to have been enough for me.""I find it handles most nuisances but with the audit, you also need to have everything sorted. One aspect that stood out to me, from the questionnaire you filled out, is that you don't have separate legal entities for the gym and yourself. I believe you need to create a degree of separation."I scratched my head bemused at how that had played out. "I hadn't been expecting you to send me a questionnaire when I sent a message that I'd be interested in having a talk about potentially hiring you."Georgina gave me an amused smile. "you will find there's more to accounting than just making sure numbers add up or divide properly.""Huh, is that something you learnt from your work in the bank?" I asked, recalling her resume. Her document had been very professional and no-nonsense but she boasted a number of different experiences."Any interesting stories from being a bank clerk?" I asked, assuming it would be rather tame but deciding to avoid diving straight into what was to come."Oh, one time Team Rocket robbed us. That was rather terrifying as they had to fight their way out with the police appearing. I think they lost most of the money when the bank's security team also started to arrive from other parts of Kanto. It was rather scary, all told, but then we had to go through a long round of interviews to make sure there wasn't any inside assistance." Georgina leaned in. "Turned out there was! They had some new hires replaced!""Huh, that's something…" I then stopped and eyed her. "Would you think less of me if I asked you for some identification right about now?" I joked, mostly in jest. Georgina merely laughed and showed me her valid trainer permit which entitled her to have six pokemon, along with her driver's license. I eyed the second one. "Don't see these often. Go driving much?""I might own a sports car that I take out to the track," she said with a quiver that seemed to energise her.I nodded at that unexpected affirmation. "You like cars?""I like going fast! I had a hard time with slower pokemon when I was a trainer since I always wanted to be running places or flying! I had a Rapidash, Dodrio, Pidgeot and a Fearow!""You got rid of them?""Oh! No sorry, they're all a little old now. I rent a spot at the ranch for them to live out their twilight years. They're only good for taking Crystal on little adventures now."I opened the door to the office and gestured to my seat behind the desk. I stood behind the chair and adjusted the screen. "Alright so, Lawrence recommended you to look over my books and see if there were any irregularities. He also suggested I might look into hiring you on a more permanent basis, due to the gym getting more hires instead of sending information out quarterly like I have been."She raised a hand to the computer. "May I?"I leaned in, hitting enter on the keyboard before tapping the screen. Georgina gave me a confused look. It was obvious that this wasn't a touch screen so my tapping on the screen shouldn't have done anything. She got the answer to her unasked question when a Porygon zipped onto it. It glanced at me with a digital eye before squawking. It promptly broke apart and vanished over the screen. "Alright, you're good now. Go right ahead.""You have Porygon cyber-security?" Georgina asked as she clicked open the spreadsheet. Her eyes began to flick through them and suddenly she was working the mouse as hard as a professional Korean gamer. Numbers began to float through as she selected panels and tracked invoices. "Where are the invoices? Is this the complete set of books?" She asked casually.I directed her to the scanned or emailed documents. Then I pulled out two folders that had some documents that had yet to be scanned in for the end of the quarter but that had been accounted for in the spreadsheet."That's all of the accounting information. We haven't had to do anything but pay expenses since the closure of the circuit."She nodded and tapped at a few numbers asking the occasional question."Are your accounts in accordance with accepted IGAAP?" That drew a blank stare from me which caused her to huff and make a mark on a notebook. I shifted in my seat. Had Sabrina mentioned that the other day at the cafe?Georgina clicked through the accounting software. "... Yes…your software is up to date. So if this has been used correctly you should have been compliant."More questions followed on from there such as "This is how much you charge for the basic challenge?" and "Where do you keep your pay… ah I see it, yes you pay weekly with holiday allowance set aside."She worked through the spreadsheet and teased at it until she had everything she apparently needed. She began to work through it with her hands shifting to the keyboard, prompts and calculations occurred in shorthand that went far over my head. She created a graph and 'tsked' at the display before reworking it. She clicked her tongue again and continued to work through the numbers. It seemed she was tightening things up.She continued to flick through the various sheets before nodding to herself. "Alright, where are your last three tax returns? Also from what I can see here, you are the sole proprietor of the Gym?""Yes. I made sure to transfer all the deeds when I took over." I directed her to a file that was listed for each financial year.Georgina paused in her work and gave me a searching look. "I'm sorry to hear what you went through. I wasn't paying much attention but when you reached out to me I looked into you." She nodded, "You appear to have handled yourself remarkably well. Also from a financial standpoint, it makes things much cleaner for everyone involved."I coughed at the praise and looked away from her. Feeling self-conscious, I redirected her attention back to the work. "So how long do you think you'll take? Lawrence only needed ten minutes to find a few issues."She continued to watch me for a moment. Her eyes tightened with displeasure before she took the prompt for what it was and returned to work. "He was most likely glancing through it for anything glaring. He's showy like that, but you might be surprised to find how much time out of sight he'll spend doing lots and lots of research on the potential issues you might face. He just likes to have the answer and appear all-knowing." She pursed her lips. "It's rare when he admits he doesn't have the answer on hand.""Land claim rights and disputes had him stumped for me," I said in an off-handed manner. That drew a hum of interest from her but she didn't pursue it, instead teasing out some more information and following a trail before dropping into a sum calculation and dividing by nine in some eldritch approximation of common sense.When a number appeared she perked up. "Oh, very good!"I stared at the number in complete incomprehension. She ploughed on without stopping.Within two hours of her arrival, she had things squared away but her hands flipped through the folder I had prepared. That… had still seemed insanely fast. "Did Lawrence give you any heads up?" I asked, prompting her for why she had been able to dismantle and work out my spreadsheets so quickly."Hmmm? Oh no, it's just that I have worked with this layout before… or, well, you could say I had a voice in designing it while I was working for that bank. Your accountant created a few errors in how they were using it that I've corrected and adjusted." I coughed and mumbled to myself. That had mostly been me, Georgina seemed amused by this."So am I right to assume you did most of the paperwork prior to this?""Yeah, I took over and found that we already had the software and all I needed to do was expand on it with paying for employees, and then the stable usage." I scratched the back of my head. "With things growing and the increased income, I think I will be looking to have someone hired on at least part-time to handle the work.""Very well. I also noticed some other points that I think would be worth reviewing, such as creating more separation with your revenue streams. Your Gym, your stables and indeed you yourself, should be individual entities for tax purposes. This will require you to have an accountant on to keep everything straight lest it overwhelms you, along with your expected growth, but in the event of an audit the League would also only ever be able to audit the Gym.""Huh," I mused, appreciating the distinction. She nodded at me."We can get to work on that over the off-season, if you'd like? More options for making sure you're getting the best value for your work would be another part of my job." She tapped the number that represented the initial cost of challenging the Gym. "This number is something I believe could come up, but I'd need to do some more research to tell you anything more specific.""Like Lawrence, eh?" I teased.She nodded, not at all ashamed. "Just so." She chewed her lip for a moment before raising a hand. "Brock… I know this is a tough question." She wet her lips. "You don't have to answer it either… But have you considered setting up funds for your brothers and sisters should anything happen to you? Or perhaps even a trust fund for them to use for their own journeys?"I sat there, and part of me recoiled at the idea of leaving my family to fend for themself. Still, it was a good question. I had fallen into the trap of thinking I'd always be around for them. If I wasn't here… it'd fall to Flint. I stayed quiet and eventually nodded tightly. "I think that would be a good idea."I hurriedly waved my hand. "Find anything else?" I said, trying to move things along. I didn't want to linger on this with the woman."Yes. the Pokemon League owes you money," she said with a softer smile."Heh, I'm sure they will rush to return that.""I know a few people that work in the accounting department," she said. "I can make them correct their figures and reimburse you." She then turned to me and smiled. "Otherwise you should have nothing to worry about with your books.""Huh." I glanced from the spreadsheet that was now much easier to run my eye over to the woman merrily sitting in the chair after taking a plastic surgeon's scalpel to my seemingly healthy spreadsheet. "What are your hourly rates? And are you interested in joining the team?""I'd love to! I'll send through an email with my rates depending on what you need, it might be better to set up a salary eventually? I assume you want me to come here?" She tapped the screen. "I don't have anything quite up to the standard of a Porygon network at home.""Hmmm, best to come in then, if that's alright. We'll have to see how many hours I need you for each week. I sometimes run some meetings and I think it would be good to have you weigh in. I have a meeting coming up in a few days and I think it would be good for you to meet Rocko and Dennis, as they're effectively my management staff when I'm unavailable."Georgina nodded. "Well, I shall keep the date free. I'll review the contract when you're ready to send it my way." She stood and waved to the door, "Could you lead me to my daughter?" I once more led her out but this time I headed right to the back. We didn't find Yolanda or Crystal in the open area at the back of the gym that served as the feeding and communal space for the pokemon.I walked into the free-range area and listened as a voice rang out."MUUUUUMMM!" I looked up at the small rocky outcropping that stood above the cave leading to Tyranitar and the ancient pokemon's area.At the top, Crystal and Yolanda grinned down at us with Selene and Quirina floating next to them. Both girls leapt off the heights and Georgina stiffened."Crys—!" was all she got to shout before pink and blue energy surrounded Yolanda and Crystal respectively. Both of my pokemon used their psychic powers to catch and lower the girls to the ground. Yolanda and Crystal giggled as they landed.I walked over. When Yolanda grinned up at me I raised an eyebrow. She blushed furiously but smiled and shrugged. "Sorry!? I got carried away?""We're going to talk about this later," I said firmly. This was different for the usually reserved Yolanda but… she was smiling in a way I hadn't noticed before. I looked over to find Crystal frozen on the ground while her mother loomed over her."Am… Am I in trouble?" asked the girl. Georgina answered by snorting out a gust of wind from her nostrils that would have had a Tauros backing down."We. Will. Talk. About. This. Later." Her mother said through clenched teeth.Crystal stood and contritely moved to her mother's side. "Sorry Yolanda, I got us in trouble.""No! I also went through with it… So I'm to blame as well! Or more so 'cause Crystal didn't know about Selene and Quirrina… and I told her about how cool they were and…" She bowed to me and Georgina with her hands clapped in front of her in apology. I put a hand on her shoulder."Yolanda. I'm not mad. You scared Georgina more than me. I know that Selene would have made that catch a hundred times out of a hundred. She did so while we climbed Mt. Moon many times. I know you know this, but that doesn't mean you should have done it without giving Georgina a heads up. You got a bit caught up in showing off to your new friend, and leapt before thinking everything through." I turned to Georgina and bowed. "Sorry for my sister. She's very mature more often than not, but sometimes she acts her age.""Oh, no! You don't need to, Crystal is exactly like how I was and I have no doubt she would have pushed Yolanda to let her do something crazy!" I rose into a standing position only to find Georgina bowing to me."Mum!" Said Crystal before offering her own bow. "Sorry! I was having a lot of fun! Don't get mad at Yolanda because of me!"I shared a glance with Georgina before we both smiled faintly. "Well… maybe remember to ask before leaping the next time, okay?"Crystal and Yolanda bowed. I chuckled at them. When I turned to lead them back inside I found Georgina squirming and her eyes darting up at Selene. I blinked and recalled that she was something of a self-confessed thrill-seeker herself. An obvious solution presented itself. "Would you like to have a go, Georgina?"She answered with a half-hearted nod. "Oh- well, I suppose I could have a go. Just to make sure it was safe for the girls."She didn't jump but outright backflipped off the edge. She laughed the entire way down. This was met with huge applause from the audience. I chuckled only to have my sister and Crystal push me to also "jump off the cliff". I merely laughed harder at their word choice. I made a show of hemming and hawing but I eventually scaled the rockwall."Ready?" I shouted down to them. They waved and whooped. I walked away as if I was backing out only to then run right off the edge and keep running with a classic running man to start things off.By the time they left, I think Yolanda and Crystal had become fast friends. I sent the contract through to Georgina. It was promptly signed and returned before the end of the day.Two days later she met me with Rachel at the Gym. The new Accountant and Public Relations Manager seemed to be getting along alright. I led them in and got them both log-ins for the system and key cards for physical access to the Gym. "Alright, we're about to run a quick end-of-circuit meeting for some things. Mostly a meet and greet.""Ahem!" Rachel coughed pointedly. I raised an eyebrow at her and she bounced excitedly. "I have some items I have been reviewing for the Gym that I'd like to mention!""Alright, we can handle that in a bit." I led the two into the meeting room that had a large open space, with chairs around a set of many little desks that connected together to allow for the shape and orientation of the table to change as needed. Dennis and Rocko were both there so they were quickly introduced.I then pointed to two pictures. "The small ginger girl is Celia, she's the gym's sponsored trainer this year and in the photo next to her is Jackson. He was last years. Neither of them are here right now. Celia finished up at the Indigo Plateau and Jackson is down touring the Southern Islands.""Oh? Sevii or Orange?" asked Rachel"Both," I said. "He's got some errands and tasks to do for the Gym down there, but he's otherwise enjoying the different vibe.""What sort of jobs do you have him performing?" asked Georgina."Investigating potential pokemon that we might be interested in, such as Relicanth that are known as deep-sea pokemon. The islands are the best place to get training for diving operations. Also, there's always some interest in investigating fossils. I have an agreement with the Museum Curator, in fact, for specific fossils." I didn't mention that the man had also gotten a sizable donation for future access to another machine the man was building right now.I decided to shift topics. "Rachel, you had something for us?"She grinned and her eyes gained a gleam as she gestured towards a projector that hung from the roof towards a blank wall. "Can I get access to that, please?"Rocko chuckled. "Dang, new girl has a presentation for us on her first day? Good bye my lazy days!" He said with a laugh as he claimed a chair.Dennis sat next to him in a much stiffer position. He didn't say anything, but his alert position made it clear that he was paying avid attention as he laid out some papers and pens on a desk, ready to take some notes.Rachel connected a small laptop and then set herself up with a powerpoint titled 'Image development for the Pewter Gym! The first steps!'"Oh dang," Rocko said, sitting up despite himself as Rachel's highly detailed powerpoint was shown for a few moments. "I was kidding about giving up my lazy days!"I chuckled at his antics before waving for Rachel to get started. The room darkened and Rachel began to lay out her pitch to improve the image of our Gym.Rachel stood in front of a small projector with a laser pointer. Her eyes gleamed as she finished, I clicked a remote and the room brightened.Rocko scratched his head. "So? I need to make up a feature piece about myself on pokenet?""Yes! We need the long-term personalities on display! Continue to let people new to the region know who is representing them!"Rocko glanced at me and shrugged. "I guess I'd have no problem with that."I waved my hand about. "It's usually a method I see more used for medical settings…" At least it had been in my old world? I gestured for them to continue. "Keep it personalised though, I don't want to have it read like a corporate-approved introduction of their CEO or something like that.""Hmmm, 'kay," he said. Rachel bounced in place, happy that her suggestions so far had been met with general positivity. She'd created a group share file for employees to send images of interesting moments that occurred around the gym or their lives for later marketing or to create a Pewter Gym picture gallery. Now she was updating the pokenet webpage for us, so that it was a much more substantial site in general.She'd gotten everything about the story of how I had designed it, and what had inspired the aesthetic. She'd even gone and gotten thoughts from the builders. Rachel turned off the projector so we could talk normally.At shoulder height, her newly arrived Magnemite floated happily. It bumped into Rachel on occasion and she gave it fond little looks before nudging it back.Apparently, it had been a while since they'd hung out openly.Rachel turned her attention towards me. "Alright! So now that we have the webpage planned out, I think we need to get you out in public on some radio waves and tv screens!" She tapped on a page and gave me a copy before dropping one in front of Dennis, and Rocko."So! I put some feelers out and got some interest from Battlecast, Lifestyle, and PTN for a television segment."Rocko grinned at me. "I double Doduo dare you to go on Lifestyle Prime boss!"Rachel brightened up. "Brock could really raise his appeal if he went on that channel, especially as a young male! It would be great for everyone!""But mostly the ladies that watch it, no?" Rocko said back with a lazy smirk. Rachel huffed at him. Rocko nudged Dennis, "Hey, you like watching the Lifestyle channel, don't you?"I glanced over, surprised by this little tid-bit. I would have thought he enjoyed watching other shows. Dennis stiffened and his eyes dimmed a little. "From three to seven the channel will not be changed in my household from the Lifestyle channel." I blinked as the light returned and Dennis looked away. I was impressed. I'd never seen a long-range possession but just then I had almost seen Dennis's wife manifest through him to state the rules. I held in my amusement as he shifted uneasily. "It is highly advised to be quiet during this time as well when around my house."Rocko made whip-cracking noises and Dennis flushed. "My wife has only a few rules, but that's one of them. I'm sure she'd love to see you on there, Brock."I coughed, "I think I might pass on that for now. I can't say that I'm too interested in appearing on tv at all." Part of me squirmed at the idea.Rachel gained a determined glint that made me think she was about to challenge me for a badge. "We'll talk about this more," she said instead. She then offered up another page."Radio chats then! We can let people do call-ins, and it will feel far more casual. No glaring spotlights or cameras on you." The unspoken 'for now', somehow echoed.I looked over the list. "Radio seventy-sixer FM, Pewter, and WPR?""Yes, I think it would be best to go with Seventy-six as they're the most local for Kanto. You could also do a spot on Battlecast, but for their magazine department. We should use your natural good looks to our advantage." She grinned widely at me.I blushed and waved my hand. "That's just silly."Rachel stopped, blinked and then slowly tilted her head. "Brock… people would love to see you on the cover and read your take on it. Let me line it up for you, okay?""Argh, alright. Set up the magazine and the radio chat. When will they—" "Tomorrow! I can have it set up tomorrow!" I gave Rachel's response a flat stare."I do have… something of a life, you know?"Rachel squirmed. "It is just that it's best to strike while the iron is hot and you are present in people's minds. You've already let it lapse more than you should have! Can you do it?"I grumbled more for show than anything else. "Very well, but the day after I can't 'cause I've got that PIA accountant coming through." Georgina sniffed."He won't find anything wrong with your books."I gave her an amused look before waving to Rachel. "Get me the time I need to go to… where is Seventy-six?""Celadon!" said Rachel before she whipped out her transceiver. "Hi, Franko? It's Rachel Hi! Yeah, I'm great, I got Brock to agree! What time!?" I stared at her as she rapid-fired a conversation. A few seconds later she hung up and rounded on me. "Eight o'clock! I'll get you some talking points we can go over, shall I?" she said.Rocko turned to me and clapped his hands together before bowing over them in fake condolences. "Goodbye to your lazy days boss."I gave a weak laugh at that. I had wanted to do this, hadn't I?
28
"Goooooooooood morning listeners old and new! Today! Huge news! Our old friend Rachel Raul has set us up with one of the hottest topics around! Today, we're joined by Gym Leader Brock of Pewter City! Listeners! Can you dig it or what!?" The scruffy-looking radio host grinned into his microphone.When he turned in his chair he made sure to drag the microphone with him. "Brock! Loved your fight during the lead-in to the Indigo Tournament! Weren't you worried about stepping up against the Champ? Lance had an amazing showing when he ascended for the championship, that had to be playing on your mind! How did you do it? You had to be sweating buckets, right my man?"I played with the microphone before speaking, "I didn't let the situation go to my head. That gets more people than most will understand. I just went in with a goal to accomplish."I put my hands together in front of me and pushed them forward like a spear. "I had a trainer that I needed to win against. In a few ways, Lance is easier than some of the challengers I get, because I could research a lot of information on his team and his methods. He had plenty of tricks that I hadn't planned for, but I was confident in my ability to adapt.""I imagine Lance is going to be cursing that you forced his hand so much, no?""Not really, I got the chance to talk with Lance and he was really relaxed after the fight. The fight was tense, yeah, but, it helped bleed the poison, to use a metaphor," I said in reply."You mentioned not letting the situation get to you, but you were very aware of the crowd, no? How'd you shift from battle to crowd like that, or was it all just acting?"I chuckled. "I like to think a lot of them were cheering for me. When you have a crowd like that, it's all noise, energy and emotion. There was one moment that they made it clear, but… it was easy for me to twist.""Which… Oh! The moment with Dragonite getting called out?""Yeah, it got this huge lead-in. Super hyped up, but the way they did made me laugh, and that just made it easier.""Laugh? Why was that?""Well, the crowd did this thing where they stomped twice then clapped. They meant it for Dragonite, but it felt like a rock song opening which is something I'm kind of all about."The radio host laughed at that. "Hahahaha! Nice one! I'll have to check with my producers 'cause I don't think there's a song like that?""Nah, more's the shame but there should be, I imagine that as a rock song intro." I couldn't help but lay the breadcrumb trail. I really wanted some good music like 'We Will Rock You'."Heh! Any aspiring rock stars out there, you heard it here first! Make us a song for that beat!"A few more questions were bandied about before the host began to get to the 'meat' of the questions. "So, Brock, the circuit's over, your Gym's trainer is done with her running of the tournament, ah- an amazing run by the way.""Thanks, she really impressed me out there," I said."What's next?""Next is the down period for us at the Gym. I get to give my trainers time off, and I get to do other things like let my pokemon recover. Run some maintenance around the place and also spend some time in the community.""Ho? What's that entail for you?""I like to train youths with Little League Baseball."The host raised his hands up and tamped down the air. "Wait, wait, wait, you? Brock, you train pokemon most of the year and during your off-season train kids?""Coach them, it's got a lot of overlap and some of my pokemon can throw a mean curve ball or fastball. Makes for great training for the kids. I only get them for a few months but it's a ton of fun.""Ever thought of trying your hand at some of the major leagues?""Ha! No, I'm not good enough for that. I went the pokemon training path instead of the athlete. I like where I'm at right now."The host shook his head back and forth. "I never understood the whole training and playing during the winter months.""Blame the pokemon circuit. It runs longer than any other sporting season but it's not such an issue for us, even in northern Kanto, thanks to the indoor training facility that we have.""Lucky~! There's actually an early snow predicted this year I believe, so if you're listening from northern Kanto, I'm talking Cerulean and Pewter, make sure you button up next week!" The host turned once more to me. "So? Baseball for the off-season? Anything else planned?""Probably a trip down to Fuschia for some warmth. Might even go down to Cinnabar with my family.""Nice!" The host grunted as a stick appeared from the side to prod him. I tracked it back to its origin to find Rachel holding a broomstick. She held up a whiteboard.'Talk about what's new and coming up for the gym!' was written in large letters.The host grinned. "You got a big payout from your match with the Champ, anything new coming to Pewter Gym?" Rachel lowered the broomstick."Ha! There are going to be a lot of changes. I'm happy to announce Pewter Gym is expanding the stable capacity for trainers ready to start their journey, starting at competitive rates for the applicants next year. I also will be taking on at least two additional sponsorships instead of the one in past years. With these expansions, I'm also on the lookout for pokemon trainers looking to sign on for employment at the Gym, along with stable handlers and some receptionists to make things run smoothly for next year's circuit. There are also some long-term plans to perhaps one day run a contest out of the Gym.""Wow! Looks like you're about to become a Super Gym! And contests? Bleh! I'm sure the Hoenn trainers might like that but I'll stick with the tried and true pokemon battles.""I think Pewter needs to be big, as it's the most frequented Gym. Lots of trainers start their journey with us. I know in the past we've always touted Pewter as the first challenge and that should be something that is really memorable for anyone challenging us. I'm all about making the experience a great one for people on their journey."I decided not to push on the topic of the pokemon contests opening up trainers to a wider dynamic than just fighting. I could see it being much more popular than most people stuck with their traditional mindset might realise.The host nodded, "Cool, cool, cool my man. Now! Listeners, it's that time of the day! With Brock as our guest, our producers will begin screening calls. Call in now and you, lucky listener, might get the chance to ask Brock a question! We're going to a song now, it's the hottest hundred songs count back with, 'That Ain't My Wool, That Ain't My Mareep!" He then held up three fingers and counted down. When the last finger dropped the light signalling we were on air turned off.The host leaned over his screen before waving for a glass of water. "You need a drink, man? This is good stuff, don't let yourself go dry from talking too much.""Tea?" I said. Rachel nodded and rushed up with a thermos."Yolanda mixed it up when I asked her what you drink," she said when I hummed in appreciation"Heh, thanks."The host grinned. "Ah, I remember when you all used to keep me good to go with snacks and coffee. You just don't get the same help like the old days!" This earned him a round of jeers from the producers that could cut in when they wanted. He ignored them and winked at me. "You take care of little Rachel for us Brock!"I smiled at him, but any further conversation about Rachel's past work at the radio channel had to wait as he raised up his fingers and began counting down slowly. He then flicked a switch and a red light above him announced silently that we were 'on air'."Welcome back listeners! Isn't Alisha Shepherd something special with that hit song?! We're back live with Brock and now we have some call-ins crossing to…." he looked at the screen, "Joel, hello! Joel, what's your question for Brock?""Hello, Seventy-Six! My question for Brock is this: what pokemon would be best to start out with?""Oh, the classical starter question to start things off!" said the radio host as he swivelled to me.I chuckled at the joke before leaning into the microphone. "Professionally, any pokemon can serve as a good starter. Personally, I prefer if the pokemon has the capacity to grow with a person starting out. If you're inheriting a powerful pokemon or having it fall into your lap you're doing yourself and the pokemon a disservice, because there are a lot of little things that you learn early on with a fresh starter that you don't with older, stronger pokemon. So start small and plan to grow rather than going out hard.""Thanks for your question Joel! Now we have Chelsea!""Hi, there! Long time listener of seventy-six! Wooooh!" called the woman before she settled down and asked her question. "Which pokemon is the prettiest you've ever encountered?""Ah, I've had the pleasure of fighting a Latias actually. It was a real treat as afterwards, the trainer was nice enough to stick around and let me pet it."I found myself relaxing more and more as the radio show continued. I wasn't sure why I'd been worried about this, it was just talking, and Rachel had covered most of the questions that would be asked to me already.There were some really good questions being asked. Such as; "Brock, how do you find the time necessary to train and take care of such a large cadre of Gym pokemon, your own personal pokemon, and your Gym? I struggle to find the time with only four pokemon!""Wow, that's a well-thought-out question with a lot of parts to it. In the early days when you're starting out as a trainer on your journey, things are hard because you don't have a great handle on how best to train your pokemon. You don't have an idea of how your team will work or not work together. I find that it's great to have a team that is synergistic or willing to work together. Sometimes I will have my pokemon train with themselves or in set patterns. I admittedly have it easy with most of my pokemon being the same typing which makes a blanketed training approach highly appropriate. Type specialists will always have this as a benefit but there are lots of considerations. I find setting out a plan for the week can be one of if not the most important thing I can do. It's like anything, it's always better with a plan. Put in the important items for you and plan your exercises or your discussion time depending on what's coming up. That's the easiest way thing to implement."Another asked more personal questions."If you or your family couldn't run the gym for whatever reason who would you pick to be your stand-in?""Oh! Now, this is an interesting question as I have a delegation of authority if something were to stop me from acting as Gym Leader. Forrest my younger brother is currently listed as Vice-gym leader in the event something put me out of action however after that it would pass to Rocko, who's our senior gym trainer."Things were going quite well in my opinion until one lady called in."Are you a playboy?" she giggled. I sat there dumbfounded."I'm not sure what you mean?" I answered with a bemused cough."Well it's just that I heard a rumour about a number of ladies coming around to your room, and then there was that date with Erika, and then you had two young girls in your trainer box during the match with Lance! So you must be rather popular, no?"I stared at the blinking light that signified that we had a caller on the line.For a long moment, silence filled the room until the host leaned forward, causing his seat to creak. I could tell he was extremely interested, in a way his interest probably reflected everyone listening in. I licked my lips realising that I had probably let that go on too long."Ah well, I'll have to dash your image of me, sorry! The meal that got ordered was because of Surge, a fellow gym leader and close friend, who called around to hang out. He also brought Erika to introduce her to me as she wanted to meet me properly. We ended up going out as a group but Surge got called away. The news didn't mention him being there but it had started out that way. Erika and I are just friends." I took a sip of my drink to wet my tongue."And lastly, the two girls that came into the bunker were Celia, who was my gym's sponsored trainer and a close friend of hers. I thought I'd treat them to front row seats to the action.""Hoooooo," sighed the woman sadly. I quirked an eyebrow and glanced at Rachel. Had the woman wanted me to be a playboy? I looked over to the radio host but he had a huge smile on his face that seemed to be his default expression."Thanks for the question! Next we have—" before the caller was even identified I felt a sliver of premonition. The next questions were going to be about my love life, weren't they?"Got a special someone?"Called it.The questions continued until the next small break for a song. This time it was Electric Exploud Evolution playing out over the waves. I was about to ask Rachel how she thought things were going when my transceiver rang. I glanced down at it and frowned. I was about to hang up on the call when I noticed who it was that was calling."Hello! Gym Leader Brock? This is Lapras Cove over on Chrysanthemum Island. We just had someone claiming to be acting on your behalf to secure your Lapras?"I stiffened at that. "I most certainly did not authorise anyone to take Tide away from the cove!" A dread formed in my stomach. Someone was making a play for one of my pokemon."Not to worry! They didn't seem to know which Lapras was Tide, and then they tried to say you wanted him to come along with a few of his ladies! They got greedy so we kicked them out."I stared at the transceiver and felt my eyebrow twitch. "So you were initially going to let them take Tide if they hadn't messed up and tried for more?" The music in the background and the very pointedly eavesdropping radio host and producers were distant concerns for me."..." There was silence on the line as they realised they'd given themselves away. "Oh! I think my manager is calling for me! Please swing around when you have the chance!" The worker said quickly before hanging up. I glowered at the transceiver on my arm and exhaled hugely."Rachel, I think something has come up," I said to my PR manager. She nodded and stepped in, handing me a few things. I glanced at the radio host. "I'm sorry, but—" "Brock you can't go now, we're getting into the good stuff!"I inhaled and exhaled slowly. "I need to go." I felt my annoyance spike as the host raised his hand only to stop when I directed my glare unto him. "I'm very sorry but I have to go. Rachel, I'll let you handle this," I said, dumping the task of dealing with the fallout of having to duck out from my radio show only about halfway through."Yup! You, ah, go take care of that!" she said as she marched towards the producers.I nodded, feeling my annoyance spike. I charged through the building and when I was outside a pokeball was flicked out. Zephyr appeared and I expertly leapt onto his back. "We're going to Chrysanthum Island buddy! Let's go!" It took a minute for me to realise that I had probably been channelling Dark-type energy with how annoyed I'd been at the news.This made three strikes. I hadn't needed more than one to know that someone had it out for me. This felt different though. More targeted.This stunk of Team Rocket.The Cove's manager, a portly older man, must have been warned as he was waiting for me upon my arrival at the cove. Hiding behind him was a very sheepish-looking worker. I gave them both glares."Is Tide alright?" I asked before I had even landed on the beach."Tide is fine, thankfully we ran them off before they could try to claim him or any other pokemon." I looked over his name badge."Alright. Vincent, where is Tide?" Vincent led the way to part of the shore where a number of Lapras had deliberately beached themselves to get pampered by what looked like some local kids. Their shells were being scrubbed and their necks were being massaged. A lone female lingered on the water and a dark shape rested in the water underneath her. She trilled a greeting at me but kept an eye on the open water.Looking at the Lapras on the beach I quickly realised they were much younger due to their smaller size. "Baby pokemon?" I asked."Yes! We were able to incubate a new clutch recently and these Lapras are now roughly two months old. Give them another six and they'll be up to size with their mother."I hummed before smirking. "Any of them likely to reach their father's size?" I eyed the dark shape in the water realising what it was. The man shook his head before I put fingers into my mouth and whistled out a tune that Tide would recognise.Bubbles shot up from the dark mass and a few seconds later a large blue head emerged, water cascading as it continued to rise. Tide was a large pokemon for his breed. Not an alpha variant, or with a king gene as some researchers and rangers referred to the huge pokemon that occasionally appeared in reserves.Lapras sang in greeting and I eyed him off as he swam to shore. His head was easily the size of my entire torso and when he pushed his head into my I slid back in the sand before giving him some scratches.The part of me that had been worried fully relaxed now that I had my Lapras in my arms acting like a giant puppy.The kids that had been cleaning the smaller Lapras were all staring in shock. Even the smaller Lapras were staring. I grinned and continued to scratch. I paid special attention to where he had some scars along his neck and down towards his shell.Vincent watched on with a chuckle and the worker that had been hovering stepped hesitantly forward. "Sir! I am so sorry I let those people proceed like I did! I won't let it happen again!"I continued to scratch Tide's neck as I answered. "No, certainly not, 'cause we're going to do an overhaul of your security from now on. Also, you're going to tell me everything about the people that came in. If you have any pictures or videos that would be even better."One thing I learned from watching the cartoons, Team Rocket weren't usually the sort to give up unless you —sometimes literally— blew them away.When I had talked through the security measures I wanted put in place I had spent an hour riding around the cove on Tide. The big lug had been more than happy to frolic around and, despite the circumstances of me being called down here, I found myself relaxing as I recalled the summer where I had glided through the islands down south with him. We'd spent long days surfing the waves and even the odd night on the water. Tide enjoyed it as well, and we must have made for a sight swimming slow laps around the entire cove. Tide's kids followed us in their tiny school with a trio of the mothers following along, always with a careful eye kept on open water.When I was satisfied I returned to shore and extracted a picture of a man and a woman that had come to claim him in my name. I stared long and hard at it.I'd never seen these two before. I had no idea who they were.But I'd remember their faces."I'm going to do a sweep of the island," I announced eventually, not willing to leave things at just a review and update of security.The manager nodded, understanding where I was coming from. "Very well, but just be aware that the north-eastern side of the island is currently undergoing a lot of construction. There are plans to build a large resort.""I thought they couldn't build on the nature preserve? Isn't the inner part of this island all-natural rainforest and vegetation?""That's the draw, or at least one of the draws. The people funding it are hoping to make Chrysanthemum into a town of the future, with an eye for tourism and nature retreats while having amenities close by. There will be established nature hikes, swims of the reefs and some rock climbing along the coast. All of that, and we're only ten minutes boat ride from Fuschia."I raised an eyebrow at the man's pitch. "The cove will stay safe for the Lapras?""This is private land that is donated to us under the direction of seeing to the nurturing and maintenance of re-establishing the Lapras population. We will be working with a few conservationists but the hotel shouldn't impact us much. Might see some more traffic. The owner of the land is committed to making sure Lapras are no longer endangered."The man rubbed his chin. "Probably needed to update our security as you told us in the future anyway. Today's incident was just a wake-up call, we're isolated but not separate from the outside world here."I merely grunted, released Zephyr and waved goodbye to the cove. Tide saw me off with a loud sonorous call.We performed a long slow sweep of the island. I could see the construction as the manager had said. It looked like in a few years there would be a well-established town, at the very least. I could see it becoming a popular site for tourists.I performed three carefully measured laps of the island in the next hour.Sadly, nothing jumped out as being suspicious.There were no large mechanical constructs lumbering towards the cove. There was no secret base within the rainforest. There was no naval base hidden along the coast line or even a convenient ship at anchor nearby.I could only growl in annoyance. If only the people were more like the cartoon, and more determined to have another run straight away, but it seemed they were at least competent and had gone to ground at the first sign of push-back. I clicked my tongue and tapped Zephyr on the back. "Home time I think, boy." It'd take a few hours but we'd get there.I couldn't linger around, not with the audit I'd be facing tomorrow. I rolled that over in my mind. Did they know I was being audited and assumed I wouldn't be able to follow up if they'd gotten away with the theft? Did they know I had been busy with the radio show? I stewed on those thoughts all the way back home.No answers presented themselves.My paranoia was justifiably spiked with all that had happened in the last few days.When it rains it pours, is how the proverb goes. I was expecting the auditor to be someone out to get me in a way that I couldn't deal with. When the day arrived I sat in the kitchen after feeding everyone, fidgety and completely unable to relax. When the doorbell rang early, I panicked a little. I wrenched it open only to find Lawrence bemusedly smiling at me."On edge?"I grunted and quickly waved him inside before outlining what had happened since we'd last spoken. He drummed the kitchen countertop and nodded. "Hmmm, yeah, I see why you're so worked out. Think it's the same official trying something?""Doesn't feel the same. If anything, this feels like a Team Rocket probe."He raised his eyebrow. "You've tangled with Team Rocket before?" I flapped my hand, not willing to explain that I only had peripheral experience. Lawrence let it sit. But he still watched me as I cleaned the countertop for the third time that morning."Brock, you signed the retainer, so I want you to know that even if the worst were to happen,—" His hands shot up to pat the air in a relaxing gesture, "—which it won't, you will have me here. This is standard procedure and that's all that's going to happen, alright?""Sure," I said tightly."Very well. Now when this Auditor returns—"I listened to Lawrence, his calm tones helping to relax me until the doorbell rang once more causing the tension in my body to ratchet up."He's here!" I said. Lawrence held up a hand and I remembered to stop and breathe in and exhale loudly. Then, once I had relaxed I stepped up and opened the door to find the same boring little man smiling up at me blandly."Hello there! Ready for your audit?"I know he was just being polite, but… "No?" I coughed, "Could I check your credentials first, if you wouldn't mind?""Certainly not!" Said the man, as if pleased I had asked for such. His briefcase popped open and a folder with his credentials and a license to operate as an auditor for the Pokemon Inspection Agency, for the accounts and assessment division, were clearly pronounced with the number and the name of his supervisor."Agent Timothy?" I said, reading over the paperwork. The man merely nodded affably. I made sure to get a picture of his official credentials, much to Lawrence's approval. Timothy then produced a signed 'Order of Investigation'. My mind shortened it to 'warrant'. Lawrence intercepted the document before I could do more than read the top line. He glanced over it and took his own photograph before handing it to me."Everything appears to be in order," Lawrence said to me. I grunted, looking at the man happily standing at the front door.My own eyes glazed over the document only to sharpen when I came to the section where the official signature was recorded. "Who's Helga Masken? Oh never mind she literally wrote her title…"I stared at the form proclaiming that the Secretary of the Pokemon League had ordered this audit. I felt a little piece of information lock itself into place.It felt good having a name. Perhaps if I had been more aware with Joy I might have gotten this information earlier. Sadly I had no idea what to do with it but I made a note of it nevertheless. Who was the secretary of the pokemon League was that like a C.E.O's assistant or was it something much more grandiose?"Ahem?" said a polite but intrusive voice. I glanced up to see Timothy smiling blandly at me."Shall we, Auditor?" I asked with a pained smile, gesturing up towards my office."Certainly!" said the man that surely must have fed on others' happiness to be that gleeful. My mind ascribed all the world's evils to him. Surely a man like this must kick Growlithe puppies when no one was looking? His mild manners had to be a front! Or, I just wanted him to be evil.Lawrence followed along and mimed taking another deep breath. I grumbled at him but tried to force myself to relax and not glare too much at Timothy. I claimed my seat behind my desk while Lawrence sat down next to Timothy as the auditor began reviewing my accounts.It wasn't a quick process.The man drew out a notepad that was probably stolen from an orphanage somewhere while using a pen that probably used distilled tears and burnt dreams as its ink. I sat and watched him like a Noctowl, when I got bored I tried to find something else evil about his horribly bland appearance.Occasionally, he would ask for some clarification or tap away at his calculator to do some sums. Lawrence observed and occasionally shot me some reassuring looks."Hmmm, I can see the receipt of sale for your Onix here. The impressive sum of money for such a pokemon. For what reason… Ah, I see it was a variant of Onix that's never been seen before. A crystal Onix?"
I nodded from my seat."The sale was done on an international account?""That's all I was informed of from the auction house. The buyer paid them extra to remain anonymous," I said, not willing to voice my suspicions.Across the table, the Auditor happily made another note on his file as he cross-referenced my earnings and expenditures with receipts of sale. His questions made me wonder if I was failing in some manner.It was worse when he didn't say anything. Merely tapping his pen and making a note. Each scratch of his pen made me feel like I had a Weedle crawling up my back. The stinger on its head glistened as it readied itself to drive into soft, exposed flesh.It brought back old memories of tests I'd undergone at university in my old life. I'd hated those tests at the time, and the memory of them slamming to the forefront of my mind only intensified my feelings of anxiety. I wanted to walk out and leave him. Part of me thought that would make it easier.It probably would have been less emotionally taxing. I could go and do things like train pokemon or work with my Gym's trainers but another part of me railed at the idea of leaving this man alone with my records. Lawrence made it slightly better. It helped settle my nerves having someone nearby 'in my corner'."You chose to auction the Onix instead of training it? That seems to be an odd choice for a Rock-type trainer. It would have been a large boon for your gym.""My client was able to use the earnings to establish his Gym much further than by keeping the pokemon. He already had a number of powerful or unique pokemon."Timothy noted this response down before asking his next question. "I noticed the unique pokemon you displayed in the recent fight. I see here that you've started up a breeding program along with the sale of these pokemon?""Those pokemon do not count towards the cap that all Gym Leaders have to deal with of having less than one hundred pokemon at any time.""Eh?" I murmured, surprised by what Lawrence had just said. "I can only own a hundred pokemon?"Lawrence nodded "It's an archaic law from when wars with pokemon were more common. The treaties that were signed between regions state that there is a hard cap on the number of pokemon any one Gym Leader can own for their roster. Even with the pokemon you have on hand and that others hold for you in trust, you're only up to seventy-four. The pokemon you have in your breeding group don't count."I leaned back at that. Huh, that kind of made sense. More pokemon meant more ability and influence to exert power. "What's my holding limit allowed to reach?" I asked out of curiosity."Ten, like any other Gym Leader. Only Elite Four members or Champions are allowed to carry twelve pokemon on them at any point in time.""Your 'Shin' and 'Don' will of course not be discounted from the counting of your pokemon, viable as they are to the breeding roster. They are still listed as part of your strongest team," Timothy said as he made a note of the pokemon in my gym."Which still leaves Brock at seventy-four," Lawrence calmly stated.I decided to lean back and let Lawrence do his thing. It was an odd feeling being thankful you'd spent your money well."Your Omanyte, Kabuto, and Aerodactyl were previously extinct pokemon, however. As previously extinct pokemon, these pokemon are supposed to be granted to reserves that the League has set up, do you understand?" Timothy said without inflection.I was surprised that this actually was something I knew, having read about it in what little law books I had perused before initially hiring Lawrence. Lawrence still spoke up first though, experience at this sort of verbal sparring leaving him quite prepared to counter."Those pokemon were encountered in the wild during Brock's journey. They were not resurrected from labs as some others have attempted for their own profit and therefore incorrectly labelled. It was merely that people hadn't encountered them yet. Brock's pokemon are therefore not subject to release to the League unless he voluntarily does so of his own volition." When Lawrence paused to look at me at the same time as Timothy I shook my head. "And there you have it. The League may purchase a breeding set of the pokemon for their own purposes, but Brock's pokemon will not be subject to the Resurrection Act.""Jolly good, then!" The auditor didn't even seem phased that he'd been rejected, carrying on without missing a beat. Lawrence gave me a smile and a nod. I settled back trying to get comfortable as the man continued to scrutinise my work.Eventually, he turned over the last page, made another note on his pad and then began to efficiently pack his things away into his briefcase. "My thanks for your work here, and for streamlining the process. I dare say this has been one of the most straightforward audits I have had to do!" He said with his signature wide smile. He reached across the table and shook my hand before repeating the gesture with Lawrence. "I shall submit my report to my superior.""You're done?" I said in surprise. That felt completely anti-climatic. Shouldn't he grow frustrated and try and slip in some information or a document that would work as a 'gotcha!'? I'd half expected someone to call me up and announce that Tide was in danger from a small platoon of Team Rocket. I glanced around and clicked my transceiver to make sure it was working."Indeed I am. It has been a pleasure working through your books. Very well kept, I might add! Timothy merely packed away his things in an officious manner."We would request a copy of said report be sent through to our office, for our records," Lawrence interjected. I felt my stomach lurch. I both did and did not want a 'report card' but trusted Lawrence on his reasons."Of course!" With that said, Timothy waved once and was led out.Lawrence and I retreated to my kitchen where I slumped onto a stool. Timothy made a note. "Alright, I'll write up the notes and make some calls to make sure everything progresses smoothly. Any more questions before I go?" Lawrence said while checking his watch.I considered him for a moment. "How do you think it went? Is that it?""As well as it could. He didn't take any of your pokemon or point out any large irregularities. With a copy of his report, we will know more and also be able to make sure no one misrepresents his findings."Lawrence steepled his fingers, "And for as mild-mannered as it was, the financial audits can be just as deadly to some Gyms Brock. You handled this correctly by requesting I consult with you along with having Georgina square everything away. "I nodded, pleased but still feeling like something else was lurking around the corner, ready to jump out at me. I chewed my lip. "Joy could only audit me once a year… does he have any such restrictions?"Lawrence drummed his fingers on the counter. "They should only do that with probable cause, or with something suspect being clear to them. None of your accounts were, as we had them all sorted before his arrival.""But they still can if they want?" He nodded and I grimaced as a potential worry was confirmed. "What's stopping them from bugging my Gym with further audits?"Lawrence's face twitched. "I could make a case for harassment if they did such an action within the next two years. There have been previous cases in the past where things got political with local councils. The ruling is currently highly in favour of the Gym Leaders in such cases as everyone wants the Gym to operate seamlessly. Something you are known to be very good at." He waved his hand around. "They can't just walk in and take away your hard work, Brock.""And if they dragged things out? Made it costly?" I waved my hands towards the lounge room. "Couldn't the League throw their weight around?""It would raise serious flags. From what has been described to me, they'd flush themselves out if they chose to pursue such an action and then Lance or others could step in. Also, there would be public outcry so I think we'd be safe over that course. You're very popular and known as a good Gym Leader. The fight with Lance has only cemented that." He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder, "You don't have to worry about that, alright?"I sighed before nodding my head. "Well at least I know it was worth putting you on retainer.""Lawyers are always worth having on retainer," he said with a serious expression.I gave him a flat look. "Said the Spinarak to the Caterpie." He snorted and patted me on the shoulder. At that moment Tilly walked in, stopping when she spotted Lawrence."Well hello there, little one!" he said in a friendly manner.Tilly put her hands to her mouth and started giggling like crazy. I turned to watch as she giggled manically. "Never seen her react like that to someone before," I said when Lawrence winked at me.Tilly got control of herself to shoot off back into the house. "Yolanda there's a big Pidgeotto man in our kitchen!" I snorted as Lawrence ran a hand over his mohawk with a pleased expression."Ah, kids always react that way. My nieces and nephews all love it when I visit." He nodded at me before walking to the door. He didn't escape before Tilly led more people in to see the 'Pidgeotto man'.The next day he called. "It seems dear Auditor Timothy is an efficient sort of man. Open up the file and see what he's written." I gave the video image of Lawrence a dubious look but did as asked when I reached my office computer.I began to look over the report and felt my eyebrows climb upwards. "He's… actually complimentary of the Gym?"Lawrence nodded, "Oh yes! Quite by the book. So by the book, in fact, he's found the points where the League owes you money and agreed!" I blinked and scrolled further before finding out that Lawrence was right."Huh, I was not expecting that," I said.Lawrence gave me a fanged smile, "While it might be chump change for the League, it's still a bit of egg on their faces. Certainly a good result, no?"I agreed and felt my stomach unclench. With that out of the way and plans in place for other situations, I felt back to even footing after the recent events that had come hard and fast. I might now be able to move on and enjoy a bit of breathing room.Somehow I doubted it'd be that easy.