I set up the projector and nodded to myself once it was aligned with the blank whiteboard. I had the room set up, the presentation set up, the powerpoint aligned and the clicker ready for the presentation. With this being my third start of the circuit proper I was feeling pretty confident in my ability to have my gym trainers hit the ground running. Or, at the very least avoiding a lot of the pitfalls that would come from dealing with trainers.
Rocko was the first to turn up and claim a chair at a halfway point for the seven I had laid out. Forrest came in after him, and then Dennis, Daniel, Celia, Missy, and Yolanda came in as a group. Yolanda bounced up to the front with Missy and Celia while the boys filled out the other seats. A knock on the door had me pausing.Rachel stuck her head in. "Hi! I thought this might be something that I could sit in on!?"I bobbed my head from side to side. "This is mainly the discussion on what they'll be encountering as gym trainers when they have to represent Pewter. There's not a lot of marketing I should think?""Heh! Even just a photo of this is something to throw up on pokenet for people to see!" she said."Oh, we have followers?" I said thinking of my previous life. Rachel blinked."Followers? Uhm no this isn't a cult…" She glanced around. "Right?"Dennis and Rocko shared a look before glancing at me. I thought I heard a muttered, "...Fanclub sometimes could be?" Pass between them but they didn't volunteer anything when I raised an eyebrow at them. So instead I turned back to Rachel."Ah sorry, it's a term I thought I read about for people that follow news releases or information about a set topic…" Rachel blinked slowly. I decided to shut up before I dug myself any deeper.Rachel tilted her head and rubbed her chin. Then she shot me a thumbs up. "I like it! I'll be sure to have it as a feature for people to 'follow' the news for the gym!"I gave her a nod and let her take some pictures before we got underway only for another knock to announce Stephen."Stephen, can I help you?" I said carefully.He rubbed his chin. "I was curious to sit in if that would be alright? Sort of a curiosity of mine to get a sneak peek into how things run at a gym like Pewter."I shrugged. "I don't think what I do would be representative for any of the other gyms and vice versa, but sure." Stephen grinned and trudged to the back of the room after waving to everyone. I glanced after him. "Bianca isn't going to join us is she?"He shook his head. "She had some equipment being shipped in from Elm that she is setting up in her office space. She sounded excited about it. Something about the virility of Don's—" I held up a hand."I'm good," I said firmly before clearing my throat. "Right! Thanks for getting here on time everyone! Today's discussion is going to be some of the first presentations that I need trainers to know about. Rocko and Dennis have sat through all of these before so for you most of this will be a refresher, but I have added some new information so make sure to follow along. With this being your third year I'll be relying on you for more senior trainer duties."I looked over the rest of the team. "While Forrest is officially my second in command he still has school so he will not be asked to run any of these sessions unless he wants to.""Uhm pass?!" Forrest said, making me roll my eyes. Not that anyone could see them. Yolanda and Forrest knew what I was doing though. They returned the gesture with smiles.I clicked the remote for the powerpoint and decided to start things off. "Alright, so as trainers for the Pewter city gyms there are going to be a lot of different people and pokemon coming through our doors that we will have to deal with." I clicked through a slide."The personalities of the trainers is something that we will deal with later and that will include the reception team that are learning the systems today instead of being here with us," I said as an explanation as to the lack of Alexa and Bethany."Based on previous years, the most common trainer that we'll see are those relying heavily on type advantages to carry them through. It's not a secret what type of gym we are and we don't have a rotating roster like some other… now failed gyms.""Heh suck it Commerce city," said Daniel in a carrying whisper.I wagged a finger at him. "Yeah, that was an organisation that had way too much money and not enough sense." Forrest groaned and I paused. "Oh, I hadn't even noticed that I was being punny…"Forrest sank further into his chair. "No more! No! I'm not listening to you make bad jokes again!"I wanted to point out I'd only ever done that once when I was trialling some jokes to see if they might be something Sabrina would like but Forrest in his oh-so-mature understanding hadn't enjoyed them. The younger twins had liked them well enough. While I'd never done it again I'd given Forrest the impression that I wanted to do stand-up comedy.I coughed to get things back on track. "Regardless! The trainers will mostly be dependent on using type advantages so expect to be seeing some of the following pokemon and their typing."On the screen, I flicked through Grass types with images of Oddish, Bellsprout, Bulbasaur, Chikorita, Treecko, Shroomish, Exeggcute, Paras, Lotad, and a Hoppip. Another click had evolutions of these pokemon appearing until the common grass-type pokemon we'd be facing were done."These are just some of the pokemon that we will be facing. At the lower levels expect to see vine whips, bullet seeds, razor leaf, leech seed and synthesis. If you're not thoroughly familiar with all of these by the end of the season I'll be amazed. Those are the grass types bread and butter. There are some interesting esoteric uses of all of these however that aren't as well known. When we get into the three badges and up be on the watch for energy ball and solar beam as the current signature grass type moves."Dennis and Rocko shared confused looks but didn't say anything else. I held in my grimace. Frenzy plant hadn't yet been discovered but I was more than ready for one of the strongest pokemon moves to appear.Not counting the Z-type moves that would come whenever we found the Alola regions. Bloom doom would then claim the strongest slot. But that was getting ahead of myself.I clicked the remote and showcased another screen, this one showing off the fighting-type pokemon I'd be expecting us to encounter. I went through them and then moved on to the ground-type pokemon. Then the Steel-type pokemon. And finally, the water-type pokemon.The room shifted in agitation or surprise that I'd been able to showcase so many pokemon that would have advantages against us. I merely smiled at them. "That's a lot of type weaknesses, no?"Daniel grunted, eyeing off the printed pokemon/summary lists I'd provided for them all. Yolanda chewed her lip and Forrest looked annoyed. The other trainers mostly watched me."In truth, Rock pokemon have the most weaknesses. We're only equalled by grass typing with our five different weaknesses." I stared around the room. "For most of the first-level badge that's all they need to demonstrate. An understanding of base typing interactions and putting those moves to use… barring the strange instances where their attacks are honestly not strong enough to last against a first badge pokemon.""Seriously?" said Daniel with a snicker.Rocko coughed into his fist. "Yeah, there have been instances of pampered pokemon that are more pets than battlers turning up and the trainers thinking they wouldn't have to do much for a badge. They were quickly disabused of this," said Rocko.I nodded. "The other strategy that you will see a lot of is pokemon using power-based attacks. What I mean by this is pokemon that have been trained to tough it out and shrug off hits as well as dish them out. Usually, this is from trainers that have been building up their team for the day their journeys began or they have been handed older more experienced pokemon. I have no doubt after Lance and my showing we will have a lot of trainers trying to emulate this."I waggled a hand and grimaced. "It's a valid strategy, to be honest, but if you see them just relying on power to win then force them to adapt or to use a different method. That doesn't mean making them use speed moves or otherwise but try to get them to maybe stop and rethink what they and their team are working on. Power can get them through most of the badge circuit all told, but I doubt they'll be getting a full big eight badge case. If they try to go the Ace trainer route they will be languishing for a long time unless they double down hard.""Technique, skill and having the right moves set up for a diversity of situations can mean a lot more in the battle club run tournament or in the open format." I clicked to a slide showing the local, rather humble, battle club with its smaller training fields. Since we'd set up a lot more trainers had started to run some of their challenges out of the outside training fields instead of just relying on the battle club fields.I clicked again showcasing pokemon using withdraw to attack and defend. I pointed to the screen. "Creative thinking is something that is tough to have trainers learn, but something worth us attempting. This is something I like to reward as it shows them thinking through situations more and having plans ready or being adaptable. Again this is on a scale. Those with too much technique and not enough power are going to seem too weak. If they have finesse they need to have the strength to make sure the hits they land are devastating."I began ticking off my fingers. "Good applications of environmental effects, traps, environment awareness, move set up, positioning during matches, or making the most of quirks of moves or pokemon are the things I look for when I'm talking about technique. Speed is something I consider to be more of a power domain as people think about it in just straight-line speed rather than speed of reaction or speed of a dodge. They think about crossing the distance between two pokemon or the arena battlefield and not what it would take to divert or break off. This cycles back around to positioning during matches.""Now there are going to be different levels of skill, power, or strength of pokemon in general that you should be expecting. If a new trainer is bringing something approaching an Ace team then they better be challenging at a four badge or higher level," I said firmly.I tapped the remote and the slide switched from video clips showing various demonstrations of pokemon showcasing speed to that of a pokemon belt featuring six pokemon. The six pokeballs were broken into three different colours."At Pewter gym you will only ever be asked to face a trainer with a run of one or two pokemon for the set badge level. I still expect you to also have pokemon for the four or higher challengers in case someone is trying to pull a fast one by claiming a badge that is way, way under their level."I stared out at them, my face locking into a stoic expression. "Trainer's claiming a first-level badge while having pokemon that are far stronger are the leading cause of injury and mortality for our pokemon. A young or not fully toughened up Geodude for example will not handle a hydro pump from a Blastoise well."I started looking around the room. Locking eyes with everyone present. "If it looks like your pokemon is getting overwhelmed I want you to pull it out and cede the match. I can give badges out all day but I can't just keep catching pokemon for them to go through what would amount to a grinder."A few of the girls got green expressions at my turn of phrase. I get them a moment before I bulled on. "If a trainer is being cheap then flag it in the system or with the next trainer if they've selected a gauntlet challenge, or with me if it's gotten that far. Do not keep it to yourself," I said firmly.I slowly made sure I met everyone's gaze. Even Yolanda and Forrest. There was a reason we had a medical wing and I'd spent so much money on getting a Chansey. We'd need her."What happens if we're still on our first pokemon and we work out what's going on?" Daniel asked carefully.I grinned and let a little darkness shine through. "Then you use one of the other two pokemon on your belt." I gestured back at the powerpoint with the pokemon belt that was colour coded."With your holding limit being at six pokemon you already will have two slots taken for that level of badge challenge. The other two are for stronger pokemon and the final two are for personal pokemon. If someone is not giving the challenge the respect it deserves then toss out one of your stronger pokemon and smack them around."I raised a hand as Daniel and Forrest looked very pleased by this. "Within reason!" I said to clarify and calm them down.Missy shifted. "What if they're bringing far stronger pokemon than even a fourth badge challenge?"I tapped on the final two pokemon. " If you have a personal pokemon that has a Rock typing then by all means send them out just like this was an Ace trainer battle instead of a circuit battle.""Nice!" said Daniel."You'll probably get a good number of fights for them as it is. This is thanks to Ace trainers being able to challenge a gym every three years for Ace points to boost their standings on the points board. Again, with Lance's fight I think those numbers will grow, so expect plenty of work for your best pokemon." I quickly jotted down a note to bring that up with Georgina. That would be something I'd have no issues raising the price of for the next circuit."Now some of these lower tier fights are places where you can still showcase a lot of finesse. You're limited in power and the number of pokemon you can call out but that doesn't mean you need to be dumb about how you fight. By the time a third badge is challenging you we're only a few steps down from an Ace trainer technically.""I'm gonna run so many rings around those kids!" Daniel said with glee.Forrest sniggered. "Roll rings around them more like it."I waggled fingers at one and then the other. "Hey, keep it reasonable. We're not here to bully the new trainers but to teach them alright? Forrest, I'll be watching you, because towards the end of the circuit some of your pokemon fights were getting a bit rough.""It had been a while since we regraded which pokemon went where!" he said, throwing his arms up in exasperation at my calling him out."Hmmm fair point," I said, conceding that he probably had a point. I clicked to the final few slides for this presentation."Now the pokemon typings that Rock types are strong against and therefore the pokemon that I expect you to be testing heavily if a trainer sends one out against us are Bug, flying, fire and Ice.""Testing heavily?" asked Daniel."Educating on the error of their ways," I clarified. "At the start if they bring a weak one of these pokemon into our gym then I will back you up should you order your pokemon to rock throw them and wipe them out or use something else to that effect. If they can't finesse or work through the type advantage then send them packing for not doing their homework!"Daniel glanced back at Dennis and Rocko, "Please! Tell me people are dumb enough to try sending those types against us!"Dennis snorted and Rocko grinned as he said, "We're right next to Viridian forest which is known for its bugs and flying types. What do you think?"Daniel pumped his fist. I shook my head at him. I kind of got the impression that he was the kind of guy that wouldn't mind hanging out around the Battle club for new trainers and doing some rookie crushing. It was rather interesting to see what he was like personally. I'd have to probably ride herd on him a bit but I wouldn't outright stop him.Young trainers needed to experience all sorts of trainers and it was better for them to recognise it in a safe setting. If he proved too harsh I could always assign him other tasks or the higher badge matches.I clapped my hands. "With that said, that's the last thing I had to talk about with this presentation. Get familiar with your typings for when you're using rock pokemon cause for the next… year at least you'll be using them a lot. If you're not familiar with what moves they have then I'd suggest doing some study of the gym register for what I and the other senior trainers will have the various pokemon know. Standouts like Izumi and Moxy from our Geodude groups will of course have a number of other tricks, but I usually keep them for my own battles."I ended the presentation there and pointed to the trainers as I reminded them of their duties for the day. "Small patrol around Pewter for Rocko and Missy, Dennis and Daniel you're on meals for the pokemon. Celia you have the rest of the day off. Yolanda and Forrest you have to go back to school from lunch. You only got the morning off for gym duties."Forrest grinned, there were still at least two hours before lunch and I could tell he was going to be goofing off. I tilted my head. "Got all your homework done?"When he nodded I shot him a thumbs up and left him to it. I gave Yolanda a raised eyebrow and she nodded as well earning another thumbs up."Which leaves me working with Rachel to discuss that magazine photo shoot, yes?""Yes!" she said happily, leaping forward to grab my arm. "To the office!" she said happily. I chuckled and led her on. It wouldn't be anything super interesting today. Merely a chat over the phone to schedule something in. Then I'd spend most of the afternoon talking with Alexa and Bethany on their duties and seeing if we needed anything else for their role to operate smoothly.The most interesting thing turned out to be when I was setting up for the Little League baseball training session. I had just sent out the Geodude to throw some baseballs to each other and warm up their arms when I spotted a very recognisable figure sauntering up."Hello Karen," I said as I straightened up from arranging the bats that the kids would be using."Brock, what the hell! You have a friendly match with freaking Lance and you don't think to invite me along!? I'm offended!" she said as she planted her feet and put her hands on her hips."Oh? You heard about that?" I said curiously. It had been a Rangers-only event apart from Claire, Lance and myself and I doubted they were going to talk about it. So that left the Rangers. Who… would be prime candidates to have agents of the Guardians seeded into wouldn't they?Karen sniffed and flicked her head to the side, "Of course I did!" She was trying to be dismissive but she couldn't stop a grin slipping into place as she vibrated in place. "I heard you laid an absolute smack down onto him!"I huffed at her "I wouldn't call it that, I still had my final pokemon from our match last time.""Yeah! I heard! What the hell! You saved that pokemon against Lance? Why?""I wanted to keep that one close to the chest. She was going to be my sweeper if things went badly," I said with a shrug."Feh! Well, I'm super bummed out that I didn't see that!" She shot me a sly look. "Heard you did it in front of Claire…" she said leadingly.When I merely raised an eyebrow at her she huffed at me. "She can be really hot or cold. We've looked into her and when she watched you beat Lance she was like an angry school kid that had just seen their idol beaten up in front of them."She looked down to her transceiver and began flicking through the apps until she got to a picture of Claire that had caught her looking…"Ouch, looks like I broke her heart," I said, feeling like a heel at the pain that was being shown.Karen snorted. "Please! She likes to get on a high horse from what I've heard of her. Seeing Lance lose will be good for her," Karen gave me a sly grin, " and amusing for me if I can get some more pictures of her like this." She looked at me hopefully like I might have said picture.I shook my head. "You know you can be…" I didn't want to offend her by calling her 'kind of a bitch' so I settled on, "Vicious.""Duh, I'm a Dark-type trainer and wielder." When I raised an eyebrow she rolled her eyes and cocked her hip to the side. "That means personality traits like taking pleasure from other people's suffering or 'schadenfreude' are right up my alley." she grinned hugely as she glanced to the side to see a Geodude miss a catch and get beaned in the head. "Arceus, I could watch videos of people being dumb all day for example."She waved her hand about. "You know those feelings that typically get labelled as bad or that we push to the side? Well, you can use those with Dark typing. Helps if you lean into it cause you can grow if your understanding of it is higher. If you use them when channelling energy the energy also responds a little better." She shrugged, "If that means I come across a bit 'mean' I have no problems with that.""Doesn't that run the risk of you developing narcissism or other extreme personality traits?" I said.She scoffed. "Please! You think I don't deserve to be adored?" She chuckled at my stern expression.The books had been rather apparent that you needed to not focus on just one emotion like that.She shook her head. "You just need to have a line. I have no problem leaning into the traits and being sinister or mean, life's meant to be lived after all. I have a team to help ground me as well as a regular touchstone session for checking how things are going up here." She tapped the side of her head."Really? The books said that was to be avoided, "I said, giving voice to my earlier thoughts.She waved her hand back and forth. "The books are good for building foundations and I'll acknowledge that there are some potential issues but it's worth it. I have some friends that understand me and help keep me in check… just like the old hag does sometimes."She directed a manicured fingernail at me as she pointed. "Now what about you?""Me?" I said in surprise. This was not how I was expecting things to go. I glanced around and saw that no parents or kids had arrived yet and that so far only my geodude were on the field.She nodded "Uhuh! You! Agatha might be an old hag and it comes across as her being an old crone when she assigned me to look after you, but there are some things you need to be reminded of to look out for."She waved a hand at me. "Your Rock energy is no less dangerous to you than mine is. You can become complacent and reactionary if you don't work against it. Reactionary isn't something you want to be when you're swimming with big fish Brock."I blinked. "Well, it's more that I'm in my off-circuit season. Most of my work comes during the circuit and that's when I have the biggest—"Karen held up her hands. "Bzzzzt! Wrong!" she said like some sort of electronic buzzer."See, you're strong, everyone knows that. The thing is you need to be able to make some waves yourself and be the driving force!" she punched the air."Have people react to you rather than you to them! You've taken a lot of people by surprise cause well even us Guardians had dismissed you until you threw down with Lance. But now they know to be aware of you. Coming out of nowhere only works when you're an unknown. You need to be predicting and throwing punches of your own!" She jabbed at the air again only to then direct another finger right at me."Doing your gym circuit like you have been is slow progression stuff! You're also looking at it wrong. Times like now? When you're not locked into the gym? That's when you can be the freest! Change up your line up! Teach your pokemon new moves. Go to a few battle clubs and utterly stomp them into the ground just cause you can!" She clenched her fists like she could imagine just that and she liked the thought of it.She slashed her hand through the air. "Or scrap that line of thinking entirely! Do not let yourself be chained down. You're the boss of your gym so act like it! Take a day off if you want it! Cancel on trainers!"The part of me that had been a health care worker in my previous life squirmed at that even as I agreed with her. I had been rather passive of late, hadn't I? Hmm Karen had mentioned friends but I already had a go-getter in my team for Pewter that could help make me get out there and make some waves. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea of being more driven and not letting the rocks land where they fell.I rubbed my chin. "Huh, this is not how I was expecting our chat to go. I thought you were just going to come around and be snarky while teaching the kids swear words.""I can still do that!" She grinned in delight. "but I'm also one of your contacts for aura training." She clicked her fingers. "Also, we need to talk about your dark energy."I tilted my head. "What about it?""You've got way too much of it. I got a look at your team and what you normally do for training, you only have the one pokemon that's dark typed." She held up a hand to forestall me. "Sure it's a Arceus be damned Tyranitar and your starter, but numbers count in this game!"She then clapped her hands together, "So! Just as you're now aware of how your Rock-type energy is showing itself you also need to be aware of those pesky dark emotions ." she grinned to show she was joking."This usually means that you don't get too gleeful and all that muck like you were telling me earlier yeah? The best way to track yourself is to be reflective or to have a touchstone you can use to centre yourself emotionally. Keep a journal, take a hike, all that jazz." She flapped her hand about but then got serious. "Also watch what you meditate on.""Like, where I meditate?" I said unsure if I was on the same wavelength as her.She shook her head. "Nope! Specifically what you meditate on. If you have a recurring thought that you associate with dark type energy it will cling to it and make it harder to ignore when a situation that with that happens to you. It's like if I channelled my dark type energy into the glee of when a clown fell on their faces if I encountered a clown I'd find myself either wanting to see them fall or even actively setting them up to fall." she then shook her head. "Not actually a thing for me but you get my point right?"When I nodded slowly in thought and didn't say anything in response she hummed. Then she huffed and stuck out her chest. "Damn! I'm not bad at this teaching shit!" She then winked at me as she tugged on her sweater and exposed a bit of her cleavage."Got any dark thoughts to get off your chest Brock~?" she said with a husky purr.I sighed as she slipped into teasing me. "No, Ms Karen," I said sarcastically. Sadly this only got a thoughtful look."Oh? I like the sound of that! Might get some fake glasses and steal Lorelei's school teacher look! Would you like that?" I groaned into my hands as she cackled in a way that made me think of Agatha.And suddenly, blood that had been rushing below my belt aborted its descent. "I'm good. Hey, what's up with Fiore?" I said as an obvious distraction.She gave me a faux sad look and toyed with her shirt a little longer but I didn't look at her. I just had to remember that she had Agatha's laugh and that made the old woman's wrinkled face appear and block Karen's teasing.She huffed and let go of her sweater. "Fiore's not going to be a problem, it's a backwards region that doesn't use pokeballs. It'll have some of the Rangers in a tizzy cause not many of them are able to use their little baton thingie.""Stylus," I said, correcting her.She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, They're going to be raided by criminal organisations and we're going to have to pay attention to them because of that more than anything else. There's going to be a lot of people poaching pokemon cause it'll be easier with most people only having companion pokemon compared to caught pokemon."I hummed. "What about their legendaries?""They got something like the Beasts of Johto… or well Indigo I suppose these days," she said while rubbing her chin."Hmmm? What's this?" I was surprised by her expanding the name."Oh, some people got evidence of a Suicine over near Cerulean. Which has all the locals in a tizzy. It's on some of the news channels," she said off-handedly. "Apparently there were sightings of some of these pokemon fighting with people during the war. Read about it in the texts we have, check it out on your holopad if you're curious.""Huh, interesting, I might do that. Interesting to know about Suicine showing up like that." That had happened during the games, hadn't it?Karen sniffed. "Yeah, I suppose. The recent sighting has the Cerulean sisters in a tizzy cause it was seen up at the cape that they like to go to for dates and when they capture pokemon."A chorus of voices announced the arrival of the kids and parents, making me glance at her. "So are you sticking around?" I said with a smirk, thinking she'd only come to talk shop with me.She grinned though, and from a pouch on her hip drew out a cap with the words 'Offense coach'. I raised a hand "Baseball doesn't have an offensive… oh wait I see what you're doing here," I said as I realised the play on words.She grinned. "Time to teach some kids some life lessons!" she said.I sighed. Then I smirked as I decided to enact what we'd been talking about. "Right, well I'll have you lead the kids on the warm-up runs and then you can do some batting practice against the good pitchers."I gave her a wink as I popped my whistle into my mouth and blew on it, the shrill tone had her grimacing and the kids sprinting towards me. "Three laps to warm up!" I shouted.She blinked at me in surprise as the kids started running. "Yeah, no, nice try, I'm not some kid who's going to fall in for you Brock," she said.I shrugged. "Geodude! Motivate her!" I said with a grin. The Geodudes that had been throwing baseballs to each other all turned as one and began chasing her. Karen hissed at the small avalanche approaching her.I grinned as she took off, joining the team in running laps much to the children's delight.I chuckled. "Alright I got her training with the kids like a proper assistant coach… now I just need to make sure she doesn't teach them any more swear words." I mulled that over as I watched Karen settle into the middle of the gaggle of kids.I grinned as I ran to catch up. Time to put those training sessions with Trixie to good use."Loser has to do ten push-ups!" I said as I ran past her. I laughed as she scowled and came after me like an angry ursaring.When the three laps were over I had her do her push-ups with the kids while I grinned off to the side. The kids had egged her into doing them at my urging and Karen proved to not be immune to social pressure as she pushed up and down with the kids. She shot me dark looks that promised retribution but I found myself smiling regardless. Karen had been right. It wasn't all bad to lean into some dark tendencies.I'd make sure to give Rachel more free rein to suggest and set things up. I had a whole other life to draw knowledge on and I could make some changes for good in the world. I could also set about working on some new pokemon for myself. And maybe it was time to draw some of my other pokemon out to train up for a line up shift for Ace battles. People knew about my Ace team. Maybe it was time to call back Hypnotoad from that fighting trainer that asked to work with her. She'd love to hang out with Shrek again and both of them would be great to have on my roster once more. Sort of like having my journey team once more.I'd have to be mindful of the energies going forward. I hadn't considered how rock energy was affecting me. I didn't want to become like a mountain, fixed and immovable.Still, I could address that. It hadn't gotten too bad I didn't think. Still, that was for future me to deal with.When physical training was done Karen shooed away the kids that lingered to hang out with the 'cool big sister type' and levelled a glare at me. "Cute, real cute Brock.""I thought it was pretty funny," I said as I took a sip from a water bottle. "Wanna let them practise catching with you?""What I want is to throw down with you. Which! We will be doing!" she said with a glare.I shot her a grin. "Cool, sounds like fun!" I blew the whistle and called the kids back for the next training routine. I realised she didn't have a response and a quick glance revealed that she was still drawing in breaths from the warm up."Are you out of breath from just that three-lap run?" I said incredulously."Shut up! You caught me by surprise is all! And good I can't wait to fight you! Lock in the date! You and I are throwing down!""Cool," I said, letting out some dark energy as a desire to fight came through me. I couldn't say I wasn't looking forward to it."Brock!" "Coach" shouted some kids only for a bespectacled kid to emerge at the front."Hey Brock and the weird lady! What do we do now!?" called Manny as the kids returned from their drink break. Karen spluttered and glared at Manny.I sighed. Sadly I had to be the adult in this situation and not throw down with her here and now. I assigned a training drill and considered what my calendar looked like. The next free space of time… well It wasn't for ages. There was perhaps that training session I could bump though…. There were still a number of days to go and a lot of work to get through until then. Oh well. Having something to look forward to for the end of the month always made it go faster.
48
"So we'll be doing this a lot then?" asked Daniel as we walked through the Viridian forest.I pushed aside a branch that had started to grow over the path. "Yup! We're out here because the routes leading to the city are something that should be checked and maintained as part of the gym charter. Walking them for any strange or unnatural behaviour is something we need to be doing. This is in conjunction with the Rangers. We work with them and help link things together with our jurisdiction," I said from memory.I'd had to teach this to most of the people that I took on as trainers for the gym. I didn't sigh but I wanted to. Daniel was merely the latest in the line of trainers that didn't like having to patrol the routes. He most likely didn't enjoy being away from the gym, or more specifically his wife I suspected."Scyther!" cried my bug pokemon who was more than happy to be out and in his element.I watched him dart around through the trees like a ninja, his shape blurring and reappearing on different tree branches. I whistled and signalled for him to return. He vanished and returned to me in a show of speed."Scyther!" he brandished his blades grin firmly attached to his face.I gave him a rub on his head. "Enjoying this bud? You're doing well with your speed drills. I've got some balls I want you to keep in the air while staying within ten metres of us. Think you can do that?"He nodded enthusiastically. I'd lucked out with his personality, as he was an enthusiastic and very upbeat pokemon. This made it a lot easier with motivating him to be a 'great warrior' like his ancestors before him. That had him puffing up in pride.Daniel and Missy watched him dart around."The training brace sure seems to be working on him," Missy said as she watched Scyther work at his drills."Yeah, shame he's going to wear it out so quickly. I'll be able to get him strong but if I want to keep him there I'm going to have to keep him training pretty hard.""Shame," said Daniel. When I raised an eyebrow he continued. "You won't be able to keep his training up when the circuit starts. He's a nice vanity pokemon.""Eh, I need a pokemon like him that I can dabble with. Either way, he helps to give me more insight into how some of the local pokemon trainers do things with their bug pokemon. He certainly grows in response to the training I give him a lot faster than most of the pokemon I've trained in the past. It also adds a new challenge cause he can take on bad habits faster than others. Bug trainers need to be rather well thought out in their training plan. They also need to have great eyes for detail." I rubbed my chin. "It's interesting stuff and exploring it has made me revisit a lot of what I have my other pokemon do."Missy nodded slowly. "Huh, I'd never thought of how that would impact a bug specialist. Interesting!" Missy glanced around. "If you don't mind Brock could I catch a caterpie today?"I gestured for her to go right ahead. "By all means." The sound of voices approaching had me whistle and draw Scyther back to my side. Soon enough a trio of young boys emerged. Each of them had bug nets over their shoulders and the eldest had a trio of pokeballs.The younger kids held a pokeball each in their hands, holding it like a prize they feared would slip from their grasp if they weren't careful. I raised a hand."Hello there!" I said waving in greeting.The boys' eyes looked to me and bulged only for Scyther to step up and wave a blade in greeting and their eyes to snap to him. "Is that a scyther!?" they cried out as one.Daniel snorted. "And the prize for the gifted goes to…" Missy coughed and shot him a look to behave but I ignored them."Hey kids, out to catch your starter pokemon?" I said drawing them back to me. They blinked and blushed when they realised they'd been staring. The eldest boy bowed his head, then realised he was alone in bowing. He rose, grabbed both of what looked like his younger brothers and dragged them both into a bow."Gym Leader Brock! We're sorry for staring sir!" as he did so his hat flopped off his head revealing ginger hair a similar shade to that of Celia."Hey, hey no need for that guys," I said, waving them off. They slowly straightened up, eyeing me carefully. "As you noticed, I'm Brock and this is Missy and Daniel," I said pointing at both as I introduced them "What're your names?""Mason!" "Blaire!" "Ron!" they said over the top of each other. The elder knocked both his brothers' heads and coughed. "I'm Blaire and these are my younger brothers Mason and Ron. They're going to try and do the circuit this year with me. I've already caught three pokemon and if we go together we'll have a better chance," he said only to wilt."That is… we would but the Beedril swarm has moved further north than usual… I don't want to hurt my pokemon by making them fight so many Beedril. I'd try for deeper into the forest, but again my starter is the only one that could handle it and it's too risky with all three of us… So we're heading home for today."I nodded. "Hmmm, that's a good call. I'll need to check in on the swarm to make sure they're not too large, but we'll probably be turning west to skirt around them for a bit of a check today before heading home. Want to come with us?"The boys all perked up at that, their eyes sliding to Scyther as they nodded quickly.I chuckled as they joined us. I kept Scyther close enough to let them fan over him and how cool he was as he traced their steps back up the route. As we did so I probed Blaire. "So how come you're out here and not one of your…" I didn't parent but Blaire understood what I meant."Mum works full time. She's been saving up enough to get us these pokeballs for today. But I'm the one with three pokemon so I'm taking my brothers out to catch something.""Ah, nice work then." I didn't ask after their father. That was something of a faux pas in this world. Sometimes people just left. For good or bad reasons.Soon enough we came upon the Beedrill swarm and I whistled in appreciation."Hmmm, looks like a lot of them are going to be migrating soon." A glance up saw a number of circling Pidgeotto and Pidgeot along with some Fearow. "Not sure how many will make it with the birds waiting for them but another swarm might form up if they make it." I wrote a quick message to the Rangers and shot it off. "Couple more days and things will calm down."I gestured to the west. "Let's skirt west for a bit. I doubt they'll go that way cause of the sea and the Silver range, but they might be feeling tough enough for it if they don't listen to the older beedrill.""Older beedrill?" asked Blaire. "I thought most Beedrill only lived a few years?"I pointed towards a particularly scarred Beedrill near the centre. "See that one? Those scars are from an Ursaring paw. If they have those they went west. That or there's an Ursaring that's moved east."The boys all shifted at that but I waved it off. "Most of them prefer caves and mountains so it shouldn't be an issue. It's more likely that Beedril went to them than the other way around."I glanced over Ron and Mason. "What sort of pokemon were you boys looking to get?""Heracross!" "Pinsir!" they said together.I chuckled, "Or a Scyther?"They nodded and Scyther puffed himself up. "What about Pineco, Spinarak or Venonat?""You can find those around here?" asked Daniel in surprise. I glanced at him and found him paying much more attention. It seemed he wasn't immune to 'cooler' bug types."They can be found throughout the forests of Kanto with special methods. You'd probably have better odds at night for Venonat or Spinarak but you could find them still. Otherwise checking trees for pineco would be possible." I caught a sweet smell and redirected us towards the smell. "One of which you can find by being clever, come on!"I led them deeper into the woods and found a tree with leaves that were a deeper red compared to the evergreens that typically made up Viridian forest. I pointed right at it. "Scyther, fury cutter on the tree to scar the bark."Scyther exploded forward and slashed the tree with speedy strikes. When he hopped away he did so with a pleased expression that he'd suitably marked the tree. I looked at Missy. "Can you mark this as a waypoint to return to for us on your pokenav? I can navigate us in and out of the forest but finding a specific tree is a bit of a tall task."Missy did that and I waved the group on, much to their confusion.We continued to trudge through the forest but perhaps with there being so many of us and Scyther being rather loud in his training, we didn't encounter any pokemon the boys were interested in. When we reached a small clearing with a shrine in the middle I called a halt for an early lunch.The boys approached the shrine tentatively. "What is this? I've spent a lot of time in the Viridian forest and have never seen this shrine before?" said Blaire.I chuckled. "Technically we're on the western outskirts of Viridian right now. We're fairly close to route twenty-three. We'll soon come into some plains and cliff faces. This is an old site for the guardian of the forest. There are plenty of sites like this that are said to honour the guardian. I know they're more prolific in Johto, but you can still encounter them if you spend enough time roaming the forests.""Who's the guardian of the forest?" asked the boys.I smiled. "Who can say," I said whimsically. Then I thought about it some more and decided to make this a little more memorable for them. The pokemon world was all about mystery and wonder after all. "Perhaps it was a strong Shiftry, or a Venusaur, or even something small and friendly like Bellosom, but know what I think?" I said. The boys shook their heads practically hanging off my words. "I think it might have been a Legendary pokemon."The boys all inhaled and I thought I heard something from Missy and Daniel as they too got caught up in the story."Which pokemon is that?" whispered Mason, as though afraid I'd not tell them.I smiled faintly and looked into the branches of the swaying trees. "They say it's called Celebi, a pokemon that makes trees and grass flourish wherever it goes. It has the ability to fly and is thought to be a psychic grass type pokemon." I let the group inspect the small little shrine for a while longer before opening a pocket on my backpack. "Make sure you leave something sweet for it alright?"The boys all nodded and deposited a candy that they unwrapped. I deposited a part of my doughnut — an actual doughnut mind you— and even Missy and Daniel joined in. Then we bowed as a group to the shrine.A wind blew through the clearing as a quiet held between us. Nothing strange or mystical happened however and we finished our lunch after that and began to track back the way we came. The boys all seemed a bit more thoughtful. I smiled and glanced back… but I didn't see anything.I sighed. A pity, for all that I didn't really expect a pokemon known to inhabit Ilex forest I thought… maybe… just possibly…I glanced around hoping to see it. When nothing came I shrugged it off. Oh well.We continued our poor showing and the boys, while disappointed, didn't seem to mind much as instead of catching pokemon they spent time with scyther. I traded some pointers with Blaire over how to train bug pokemon and was interested in how he strengthened up his Butterfree's gust without tearing the pokemon's much more delicate wings."Push ups with the wings are a good idea," I said, complimenting the young boy. He blushed and rubbed his nose."Thanks, it was just something I thought of trying after our teacher got annoyed with us in P.E and made us do jump push-ups."I nodded along. Missy checked her pokenav, "Should be just over this hill boys."I nodded and crouched down. "Alright gang from here on out we're going to go slow and quiet so as to not spook any of the pokemon off."Daniel and Missy nodded while the boys grinned as I made a hand seal like I was playing ninja. Scyther flapped his wings in a quick vibration and then whispered his name adopting the game of ninja happily. Then as one, we all slunk forward to spy the tree I'd had Scyther slash up.Around it, a number of pokemon were clustered. Some sat up in the branches and others jumped up from the ground, all of them ignored each other so they could focus on licking the leaking tree sap. I could see Pidgey chirping at Spinarak in the branches while a Mankey nudged other pokemon aside. Caterpie and Weedle hung onto the side of the trunk. On the ground a pair of Pichu hopped up and licked the tree one after the other."What the?" Missy said quietly. She looked at me. "What did you do?"I pointed at the tree. "That's a maple, trees like that in forests can be drilled into and the sap is extremely sweet. It draws in pokemon like now." I gestured for the boys to step up."Well boys? What pokemon are you going to catch?"The boys both pointed straight at the Pichu. I waved them onward. As they crawled forward I tapped Blaire and pointed in one direction. "Missy and I will go to the right, you go left with Daniel to stop them if they get away from the boys."He nodded and plucked a pokeball with a determined expression on his face. "Got it!"In the end, we needn't have bothered as both boys tossed their pokeballs and both caught the pichus. The other pokemon startled and broke away but we let them escape.Mason and Ron danced happily with their pokeballs held high. ""We did it! We did it!""We spent some time congratulating them. Before we left I collected some sap into a container as a treat for my scyther and other pokemon. Titan would enjoy it if I made it into a giant thick taffy syrup for him to enjoy. He'd have gunked up teeth for hours afterwards but he loved the taste of sweet things enough that he'd been one of the first pokemon I'd taken off childminding due to the kids being able to bribe him.The boys were a bundle of energy the entire way back to Pewter and they announced a thousand and one plans to make their pokemon the strongest of all Pikachu or Raichu ever. I gave them a few suggestions. They thought my idea of giving their pokemon lots of pancakes was a laugh, but agreed that it would be appropriate with how they'd used something sweet to catch their pokemon.I just smiled. Chances were it wouldn't change anything, but perhaps the old joke might hold just the smallest grain of truth? I had no doubt I'd hear about it in the future if my 'joke' resulted in big news of a new Pikachu evolution.When we parted ways with the boys I knew I had new converts to the fan club that I'd heard of in Pewter for the gym. They couldn't bow low enough to me and ran into Pewter literally singing my praise still. I watched them go with a fond smile.They'd been good kids.When we reached Pewter I gave Daniel and Missy a nod. "And that's about as good a day trip for the local routes as you can get. Think you can do the same for future trips? You'll be doing them alone of course but what we did with checking the route and the pokemon population is the main job. Sometimes helping out young trainers as well."Missy nodded and bounced back and forth. "It felt nice to do that! I never knew you could attract pokemon using tree sap before either!"I made a so-so gesture "It's not usually as effective as it was today but with winter coming to an end there were bound to be some hungry pokemon around. You'll notice we didn't stop and camp around there as well. We made the slashes and then left straight away. Wild pokemon can get skittish if you stick around but when you let them gorge themselves on something sweet like that they're easier to catch.""That's interesting," said Daniel rubbing his chin. Then he looked over to Missy. "Weren't you going to catch a caterpie?"Missy blinked before groaning. "Shoot! I got too caught up in helping the boys out! Urgh!" She shook her head and sighed "Oh well, I'll have plenty of time."I nodded at her before waving them on. "Right, now I'll show you how to write a report and file it. You'll copy that report and send it to the Rangers as well so that they're kept in the loop." The rest of the afternoon passed quickly from there with paperwork and scheduling.I returned home and found my family bouncing around the lounge room. Cindy saw me and cheered. "Yay! Brock's home!"The rest joined her only for them to stand and begin twisting their hips through their hands. It was rather adorable to see them flossing. When I'd first taught them this it had been in an attempt to get them to look after their teeth and to wash properly with a towel. They'd loved the silly dance immediately. Since then I'd learnt that it'd become very popular throughout Pewter schoolyards. It was even cuter to see Billy and Tilly trying and failing to synchronise their hips with their hands.They flubbed it horribly but they didn't care. Eevee stared at us all and began to run through our feet barking her name as she did so. Her soft fur tickling legs caused a lot of my siblings to flub the floss. I joined them, a huge grin splitting my face.Munchlax joined in and soon we were all giggling as he tried to throw his much too wide hips through his arms like the rest of us."Ready?" I said."Ready!" they chorussed back."Three, two, one! What time is it!?" I shouted to them.""PIZZA TIME!"" they shouted, stopping their dance moves to throw their hands in the air.Munchlax's eyes bulged and he leapt with glee. He didn't know how to floss but he obviously knew what Pizza meant.I called up the Pizza company and got our usual orders. Twenty minutes later a huge Rapidash stormed up to the gym with a saddle laden with pizza. I collected our orders, gave the Rapidash a rub on the nose and settled in for the night.A message on my transceiver from Sabrina had me glancing around. Hmmm she wanted to hang out? I could probably do that. "Hey, you guys okay with a friend coming around?"I got a general murmur of agreement from everyone. They were more focussed on their pizza slices. I sent off a message, telling her it was pizza night and she was more than welcome to come over.When Sabrina walked in she got mostly a disinterested greeting apart from Suzie who put her pizza down and waved her hands. "Hi! Hi! Sabrina!"Sabrina perked up at that and gave a more subdued response, "Hello… Suzie," she said carefully.Yolanda stared at her only to then turn her gaze towards me.I gave her a look in return. "What?"She grinned at me. "Nothing~!" she said before scooching over so there was a space between her and myself. She looked to Sabrina only to find Suzie had already claimed the older girl."What do you do with your hair?" Suzie said as she tried to sit up like a big girl and have a proper conversation.Sabrina smiled at her. "I wash it and brush it out. I also have a silk pillowcase." Sabrina was more than happy to accommodate the younger girl with 'big girl talk'."That is so interesting!" said Suzie. "Want… I mean" she coughed. "Would you care for some pizza?"Yolanda put her hands to her mouth and giggled. I chuckled as I took a bite of my pizza. I shot Yolanda a look. She'd been rather obvious about making space next to me just now. Had Yolanda thought Sabrina and I were dating? It seemed that way. I tapped Yolanda on the shoulder."Hey, we're not dating," I said, trying to be clear with her.Yolanda blinked, glancing from me to Sabrina. Then she gave me a smirk. "Suuuuuure you're not." She then took a big bite of pizza and made a show of obnoxiously eating it."We're not!" I said truthfully.Yolanda continued to chew on her pizza. "Uh-huh!" she said loudly.I huffed at her and made a face as I chewed my own piece of pizza back at her."Urgh! Show a little deck rum!" said Suzie loudly at us from where she was having a 'big girl' dinner with Sabrina."Decorum," corrected Sabrina gently before nodding in agreement with Suzie. She lifted her head to look down on us but I could see her lips twitching.It seemed like she was enjoying herself with how the kids were more focused on their food than different things around us. I picked up the remote and instantly eyes turned upon me."Oh! A love story!" said Yolanda smugly. I flicked a piece of Salvadore's pineapple pizza at her."Hey! Not my pineapple!" he said, dragging his pizza away from me.Forrest shrunk into the couch. "Can't believe we're related." Salvadore stuck out his tongue."Can we watch the Eevee and friends movie?" asked Cindy. Tilly agreed and I could see Suzie wanted to as well but she was watching Sabrina. Apparently, watching Eevee and friends the movie would seem too 'little girl' for her tastes right now.Our Eevee chirped up and bounced in excitement which made Suzie's desire to appear older obviously waver.The boys groaned aloud. "Urgh! Can't we watch Battlecast? They're going to have some good matches on replay!" said Forrest.I rubbed my chin not really wanting to watch replays. "Hmmm, maybe next time."Forrest groaned and reached over the couch to grab some gameboys which he handed out to the other boys. I rolled my eyes at him and set up the girls with Eevee and friends. Eevee was rather cute to watch as she darted about the room mimicking the pokemon on the screen with their attacks or how they ran away from certain attacks.When she eventually settled near Cindy she was close enough for Sabrina to reach over and stroke her fur.I checked in with Sabrina. She seemed to not be having any issues unlike last time with Erika and Janine. But then again the kids were more relaxed this time around and she seemed to be handling it well. Yolanda caught me checking Sabrina over and shot me a smug, knowing look. I shot her a shake of the head which she ignored.When the movie was done she watched me escort Sabrina out and I spotted Yolanda and Cindy, and Suzie watching us from a window as I said goodbye."Thanks for coming over to hang out… even if we didn't really do that much.""No we didn't, but I still enjoyed myself, " Sabrina said before inclining her head. "Thank you for inviting me."When she didn't say anything else I nodded. "Well good night," I said in parting.Sabrina returned the gesture and then vanished in a teleport. When I walked back in, Yolanda and Cindy both shook their heads at me."What?! We're just friends!" I said, trying to correct their assumptions. Both of them just sniffed.Suzie waved her hand. "Brock how did Sabrina vanish? Is she a ninja-like Janine? Only a better one?" The boys perked up at this.I bit my lips to not laugh. If Janine heard that comparison she'd be mad. I coughed. "Uhm no, Sabrina's a… she's a psychic so she knows how to teleport."Suzie blinked. "Oh! Wow, so she's really strong?"I nodded "Yup! One of the strongest people I know!"Suzie smiled and bounced to the bathroom at my urging. "I'm friends with her!" she sang.Yolanda stared after us. "Wait? She can teleport?!"I grinned, apparently, Yolanda had missed that little fact over her thoughts on our relationship. "Bedtime kids! I have some more work in the morning!" I said aloud.Forrest glanced over at Yolanda who shifted back and forth as the rest of the kids moved upstairs. Yolanda shot Forrest a pleading look after everyone else was gone.Forrest grumbled before straightening up. "So, uhm I have to come clean about something…" he started.I stopped cleaning the room and straightened. "Oh?" I said, expectations lurching to the forefront. Were he and his friends the ones spray painting parts of Pewter? Forrest suddenly looked much more nervous and I realised I wasn't being 'open' like the parenting book suggested. I coughed, "Sorry, I meant, alright, I'm listening?" I sat down and leaned onto my hands and laced my fingers to show I was listening and being neutral as much as possible instead of standing and possibly looming.Forrest swallowed. "Right well… I've been riding my bike around and trying to… uhm… run into Dad lately?"I blinked in surprise. "Oh," I said, feeling everything suddenly jerk under me. "What made you…" I rethought what I was going to say here. "Did you get to talk to him?"Yolanda and Forrest shared a look before shaking their heads. I relaxed a little and then wondered why I was relaxing. "Alright… so do you want me to talk to him?"Yolanda shifted back and forth. "Well it's… just that!" she bit her lip. "We had seen him around and we thought maybe we'd talk to him." She raised her hands when I turned to look at her. "But we only decided to do that over the last couple of days!""Okay, that's…" What was going on here? Did they think I was mad about them seeking out Flint? "I'm not mad."Yolanda searched my face and relaxed. "Oh… I was worried you might have been cause… Well Dad did make you come back so early from your journey and you might still be mad at him and…"I rubbed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Suddenly I felt like I was on one side of a divorce with the kids asking to see the other parent… which was pretty much how things were."Alright, you wanted to see him. That's fine. I've been mostly waiting for him to approach and talk but… well he hasn't been doing that." I felt that tickled my mind. Something about waiting being a bad thing… who had said that to me recently?Yolanda looked away, her eyes glimmering with tears. "We noticed that as well." I dismissed what I had been thinking to reach out and put a hand on her shoulder, staying low so she didn't have to look up at me."Hey, hey, it's alright. I… I get it. It's fine. Honestly, it's good that you decided to do something like this." Right. Karen had mentioned my waiting being a possible issue. I hadn't expected it to manifest this way however. Although with how Flint was also… hmmmm.I was starting to get a sneaking suspicion that I wasn't the only Rock aura user in the family. I had adopted a wait-and-see approach but the same could be said about Flint. He was known to have trained exclusively rock types for years before I was even on the scene. So it was technically possible if not highly probable.Yolana nodded and sniffled to get herself under control as I continued to pat her shoulder.Forrest coughed. "Well! Anyway, we ummm, have been looking for him, but lately, he hasn't been around… You… didn't happen to say anything to him did you?"I blinked in surprise. Did they think I had spoken to him? "No?"Forrest blinked back, just as surprised by my answer. "Oh? We thought you might have gotten angry with him and… chased him off… which now that I say it sounds dumb…"I opened my mouth before reconsidering what I was going to say and how things might seem to them. "I'm not going to say I'm not mad with him, cause I am!" I said quickly. "He shouldn't have run off like that again. Not with how things were. And a whole host of reasons but I haven't spoken to him at all."I worked my jaw around before shaking my head. "The last time I saw him was…" The hospital trip with the twins… I'd been pretty annoyed then, hadn't I?Yolanda wiped her eyes and smiled at me. "Do you think you can just ask him to come home?"I swallowed down the feelings that wanted to blurt themselves and smiled at her. "Sure, I can do that.""Sorry," she said, ducking her head.I rubbed the top of her head before planting a kiss on her forehead. "No, you don't have to be. I'll find him and we'll talk." I looked into her eyes. "I promise."Yolanda smiled and I felt myself relax. I looked over to Forrest to include him in the promise as well. "If you guys happen to see him first though then by all means. Talk to him and invite him back."Forrest sighed in relief. "Oh good, That's good. Really good even…" I shot him a glance and he coughed. "We were worried you might reject him."I snorted. "You guys do know that the bedroom at the end of the hall closest to you is not just an empty guest room right?"Yolanda beamed at me while Forrest made a slow face of realisation. I shook my head then deliberately rolled my eyes at him. When he rolled his back at me I ruffled his hair making him scowl and splutter. I rolled my eyes at him and signalled for them to come help out with the other kids.I felt a weight lift. I had a course of action and now I just needed to find Flint and talk.That shouldn't be too hard right?