Erika knelt in her garden. Golden light split through the trees that had been artfully arranged to allow for optimal light while keeping the clearing temperate with the chance of small gusts of wind. She'd altered her garden this season. Not a large change, merely the addition of the small bridge that rose and fell over a ditch that was currently being dug with trowels.
She was getting some heated looks for ordering it done and assigning it to a group of rather unruly girls. They'd thought she'd wilt in the face of their animosity. Some ladies forgot that Roselia had thorns. Sometimes Erika didn't give out gloves to protect the delicate hands."Julia," Erika said to her oldest aide, "I think we could do with some goldeen in the water, don't you?"Julia's lips twitched as she noted the casual tone Erika had. "I think that would look lovely. Perhaps we could even get some Milotic from the Cerulean sisters one day? It would make the newest feature even more pleasing."Erika nodded her head in a slow, exaggerated fashion.The girls who were digging stopped as they realised what was being discussed. The heated looks turned into glowers as Julia gasped in faux surprise. "Why! That will mean it needs to be deeper! And wider! Girls add an extra half metre in each direction!""This is tauros dung!" shouted the youngest girl— Tanya —on trench duty. She hurled her trowel to the side. "It started as a little water feature but now we're digging a damned moat! Is this so you can sit on high and be a Princess Erika! Quit trying to heap more onto us for punishment!" snapped the girl.The others nodded mutinously, but Erika met the looks calmly. She stared the girls down, and a few of them started to fidget. Tanya however, didn't flinch. She held the girl's glare before inclining her head minutely. "I should apologise for teasing, however Julia is not wrong."Erika flicked her eyes up and down. "This is a task I have assigned you and the other girls for a reason. Yes, it is certainly more physical than others but lately, you have all been… lacking in your duties to the Gym. I enjoy having a Gym that is beautiful, that is certainly correct. But saying this is a punishment is not entirely correct. This is a task that needs to be completed for our newest pokemon. It is a task I have given to your group of girls specifically as you have slacked in other tasks and I can no longer trust you with other basic duties."Erika swept her hand to the side where a few other girls were sitting enjoying tea."I don't have to stand watch over those girls when I ask them to feed the pokemon. I don't have to remind them to change out the flowers at the Gym's entrance. I don't have to follow up on any of their chores. I don't have to waste mine or Julia's time."Tanya slumped, but her eyes were still defiant."Tanya, you are being trusted with duties in my Gym as a trainer and your performance is not meeting expectations. You give jobs only half the effort you are supposed to. You never asked how deep the water feature needed to be. You merely decided to put in the least amount of effort you could from the start. You also made the task much harder than it needed to be."Erika reached out and clasped Tanya's hand, inspecting it. "You didn't go to the garden shed and get the gloves, wheelbarrows, or shovels this job needed. You simply grabbed the nearest tool. Some of the tasks here will not be spelled out. It is up to you to stop and think."Tanya stared petulantly at the ground. "I can't think cause I'm tired!""You won't think because it involves effort," corrected Erika gently.She once more indicated the girls enjoying the shade with their pokemon. "If you wish to enjoy the nice things in life you will have to put in effort Tanya. I hope the rest of you girls understand that."The girls wilted, and there was some sniffling. Julia stepped up, well used to being the much more vicious Vine Whip to Erika's soft Stun Spore. "Hey! No sniffling! I don't care for Totodile tears! Stop moping and think about the job! Are you going to stand here doing nothing or start acting properly! Use what's between your ears girls!"A pair of girls hopped out of the small divot of earth they'd dug and made for the garden shed to collect the right tools. Erika nodded, pleased that some were taking the initiative. Tanya kicked some dirt and grumbled as she followed the group of girls. Erika watched her go with a fixed smile.Why was it that with every new batch of trainers she took on, there were so many young girls like this? A high-pitched giggle made Erika turn and catch sight of the surprise that had also come with this latest batch of girls to enter her Gym.Jo and Zoe were twin girls that were barely able to own and train pokemon, but despite that, they were delightful young girls with wonderful attitudes. They cared deeply for each of their pokemon and that showed in how both of them had strong grass types in Victreebel and Vileplume by their tenth birthdays.It also helped that their father— a single parent working as the Director of Internal Communications at Silph Co— doted on them. Somehow, the girls had not ended up ruined by how he showered them with gifts.It might have had something to do with how each weekend the girls made sure to head out to pay their respects to their mother with him. They truly kept the grave site bright with flowers. A tragedy to be sure, but one with fresh new flowers growing in the aftermath with the twins.Both twins danced with a Lileep of their own while older girls watched on.The flowers truly were in bloom around her. Erika let herself breathe in and take in the scents of so many petals floating about. A Fearow swept overhead, and Erika could swear she saw a body leap off it.She shook her head. That wasn't right, surely no one would… she stopped and reconsidered that. There was a trainer surge going on at the moment, wasn't there? And trainers weren't known to respect her days off for Gym training and maintenance."—can't go in there!" shouted a voice.Erika wilted. Urgh! She had been right. Oh well, the girls would take care of it. They knew what to do."Stop her!" shouted another girl's voice. That had been a bit closer…"Jumpluff! Stun Spore!" shouted Michelle. Erika could recognise her voice, making her frown and turn to where the voices were coming from only for a figure to burst into her garden at a sprint. Julia stepped in front of Erika and raised a pokeball to release her Parasect.The form skidded to a halt and sketched a bow. "Greetings from Fuchsia! I am Janine! I beg your forgiveness for the intrusion, but I must speak to Erika! I have a message from my Father! Priority Black!" said the girl that was clad in dark purple cloth like a ninja.Erika could only stare at her. There was an actual ninja in her garden? Priority Black? That was old speak for something important! She remembered this! She'd gone over it once… but that had been years ago, when she'd taken over the Gym for her uncle… Oh dear, this was going to be like the audit, wasn't it?Julia jutted her chin, "How do we know you are who you say you are?" Her challenge raised.Erika had to concede that it was a good point—this could be a girl dressed up as Koga's daughter. Then again, there was a very easy way to tell who it was. After all, she'd appeared on a Gym Leader call behind Brock a few weeks ago. "Who is Brock—""Sabrina," said Janine instantly.Erika blinked, and Janine rolled her eyes. "It's obvious what you were going to ask. Everyone knows, try another question.""Knows what?" asked Julia looking between Erika and Janine.Erika smiled. "You will find that it is not something widely known actually… but yes, you did predict my question." She then shifted her feet back and forth before looking away. "I'm afraid I can't quite recall what a Priority Black entails."Janine sighed, and her whole body slumped as tension seemed to drain out of her. She gave Erika a sad look that Erika wanted to hide from. She just knew that she'd failed to live up to the other girl's expectations of her somehow. She instead had to shift awkwardly, only to recall that this wasn't the time. It was obviously important. So she took a bracing breath and stood tall, like a mighty Exeggutor."What is the message?"That had Janine straightening up. "A foreign agent has been detected within one of the Kanto Gyms and subsequent interrogation has determined key sites of criminal activity that need to be locked down immediately!"Erika blinked. Around the garden, various girls that had been listening in shouted in surprise. "Foreign Agents?!" "One of the Kanto Gyms?" "What does that mean?" "Shouldn't the police be informed?"Erika laced her hands. "It's Brock isn't it?"Janine twitched. "I'm not at liberty to say. The investigation is ongoing…"Erika nodded. That pretty much confirmed it. It seemed everything these days had something to do with Brock.Ever since he'd been challenged by Lance more and more people had been looking his way and lots of people had been worked up. Which… wasn't really fair as Blaine had been in the news of late as well… Even Cerulean had made the news recently with their increased workload and efficiency being commented on. Erika couldn't help but pat herself on the back for that. Two of her more senior girls had reported back that they'd integrated really well into the Cerulean Gym. The Cerulean sisters were even set to send a pond of Goldeen and Seaking.Erika shook her head, forcing herself to stay on topic. "You must be here due to something else then. The criminal activity, no doubt? What do I need to do?""My father has ordered that we liaise with the local police force but move with all haste to secure the location! You will have to secure your own Gym, and bring a team with me as the site is in your city!"Erika swallowed. "I-I see." She glanced at Julia her mouth opening to tell her to come with her only to pause. With the two other aides at Cerulean Julia was the best she had and person she most trusted. "Julia… I need you to take care of the Gym and the girls I leave here while I head out with Janine."Julia blinked. "Erika, I'm honoured, but are you sure you'll be alright? I know you don't like going out and arresting people or seeking out fights like this."Erika puffed herself up, "I must! As Gym Leader I need to see to the care of my city!" She swallowed. "You see to the Gym." She then turned to the girls that were with her and surveyed who she would take with her."Tina, Mary, Tamia, and… Lina. You will come with me." She then pointed to a few others. "Mai, Kay… Jo and Zoe," she said pointing at the two little girls. "You will work under Julia."Tanya, who'd returned with her shovel had obviously heard enough to have an idea what was going on, leapt forward. "What about me? Erika? I'm one of the best trainers here! I can help out!"Erika grimace. Perhaps she had misspoken when assigning others to work with Julia… She was now regretting it but she would have to push on as Janine had made it sound vital that they move as quickly as possible. Erika decided to rip the wax strip off. Yes, it would hurt but she would be better afterwards."I am not sure I can trust your work ethic," she said firmly. Then she flicked her eyes to the poorly dug creek. Tanya shrunk back at that, and Erika wanted to reach out to soften the sting of her words.Janine, however, coughed, cutting short any further discussion. "Very well, we have our team, let us be off."She turned and began jogging out leaving Erika to blanche and realise she'd need to keep up with her geta shoes and her much longer skirt. She stumbled for a few steps before popping a pokeball. An extremely large Parasect emerged, and Erika hopped onto his mushroom back so she could sit side saddle and continue after Janine.Once she had caught up she asked, "Where are we going?"Janine flicked a look over her shoulder and then eyed the other girls that were either running to keep up, or like Erika, had started riding a pokemon capable of taking their weight."We are going to a den of vile debauchery! A place of wicked intentions that is a parasite on any good and proper community! It grows through simple intentions and becomes something so much worse!"Lina tilted her head, riding her Dodrio alongside Erika. "Like the discount beauty salon that uses cheap goods?"Janine frowned. "What? No! The Games corner!"Erika blinked at that. "The Games Corner? That's a gambling…" She considered what Janine had said, and she considered it. You never really considered how much people paid into slot machines. They were always just there. People associated Celadon with three things, The Grass Gym, the department stores, and the Games Corner. "Who's running it?""Team Rocket, they have a huge basement establishment." Janine then raised her wrist. "Father, this is Janine reporting in. Oscar Mike, I have secured Erika and we are a block away from the Games Corner. Inform the police."Erika jolted. "You haven't yet informed the police?""Observers are in position to watch for any that delay, waylay, or send out information about this raid," Janine responded back coolly. She then eyed the girls. "None of you have done so despite having been told the target. This is good." she said, then ran backward and eyed them more seriously. "But, do not think I am lax in my vigilance!"Tamia ran up with a scowl. "Like! We're tots loyal to Celadon Gym and Erika! Don't disrespect us like that!""Yeah!" said the others with only the other girl faltering, but that was due to tripping on a loose rock. Erika blushed at their show of loyalty but felt raised up like a Jumpluff on the wind.Janine merely turned. "We shall see!" she said before raising her fist and suddenly stopping. Erika and the girls ran past her before realising that she wanted them to stop. They sheepishly moved back while Janine eyed them. She then shifted. "When I hold out my fist like this, that means stop…" she said with what Erika thought might have been an embarrassment in her tone.Hmmm, perhaps Janine wasn't as confident and self-assured as she showed herself to be.Janine coughed and gestured toward the building that was just visible now. The Games Corner was itself a misnomer, as the actual building was a series of buildings that were interconnected. In reality, it took up almost an entire block, with only one small old lady's home stopping them from claiming the entire block. Erika knew Mrs Grace quite well, she had been adamant about not selling and had faced a good deal of pressure to sell out only to beat back any and all attempts.Suddenly, those pushy lawyers had a much more sinister tone to them. She had to wonder if Mrs Grace hadn't also had some less-than-legal pressure placed on her? Erika fidgeted atop her pokemon causing him to glance back at her. "Para?""I'm fine Parasect," she said with a quick pat of his mushroom to calm him down. She coughed. "Right! Janine! You've informed the police and we're here outside the building. What do we need to do?""We need to secure the building. The main risks are high-value targets fleeing, or risks to civilians. Some of the civilians might also be Team rocket members so we will need to detain them all. The roof will also need to be secured but anyone that we encounter there will likely have a Flying Type pokemon." Janine frowned. "I should perhaps head to the roof and work my way down from there."Erika was about to nod before Tamia spoke up, the dark-clothed girl shook her head. "No need for that, If we get there first we can set up clouds of Stun Spores, Sleeping Powder and other areas that will capture anyone trying to flee via the roof." Tamia glanced at Erika. "We could also just flood the Games Corner and any buildings associated with it with Sleeping Powder no?"Erika considered this before nodding. "T-that would work?" she said looking to Janine, despite the mess up with the raised fist the girl still seemed the more experienced in this sort of operation. Janine tilted her head."What pokemon does this group have?""Parasect, Venusaur, Victreebel, Vileplume, Tangela, and Exeggutor." Erika rattled off."Cacnea, Shiftry, and Ivysaur," said Tamia."Gloom, Bellsprout, Pidgeotto, Charmeleon," said Tina."Exeggcute, Oddish, Skiploom, Roselia, and Nidoqueen," Mary said.Lina squirmed, "Tangela, Dodrio, Hoppip, Bellossom, and Meganium."Janine nodded her head. "Those are good pokemon…" She rubbed her chin. "Tina, can you get to the roof instead and lock it down? I would then be able to infiltrate and get as deep as possible. Tamia, I need you to come in with Erika while the others lock down the front and back."The girls, apart from Tamia, all shifted about with Erika chewing her lip. Janine turned and looked at her. "Does this sound acceptable to you? I need your team but I also need to get as deep into the Rocket base to stop any executives from escaping with pokemon."Erika nodded. "Very well, how will we remain in contact?"Janine raised her transceiver. "Set them to silent and vibrate. I will message you when I am in position or I have no choice but to make a move."Erika swallowed but nodded. "V-very well, we will come in as quickly as we can! Girls, to your positions!" Tina nodded and released her Pidgeotto, allowing it to carry her to the roof where Erika saw her release the rest of her pokemon. Tamia stayed with Erika. When the other girl reached out and squeezed Erika's hand. Erika stiffened before relaxing, glad for the show of support."Hey, it's going to be fine. I'm here for you. Nothing is going to hurt you. Your uncle would be irate with me if that was the case.""Ah, that's not the issue," Erika said squirming like she couldn't root herself properly to the ground. "This is something I should be able to handle as Gym Leader but I've never taken part in raids before. What must it look like with Janine, someone barely two weeks into her tenure as a Gym Leader being so much better at this than me?""Not all that much considering that she's Koga's kid," said Tamia.Erika nodded after a second's consideration, and Tamia continued. "Also, if we're comparing you to other Gym leaders, you have to account for the Cerulean sisters. They don't even police their city, just run shows. Brock and Sabrina are workaholics… You're more like Falkner, he's pretty normal.""Hmmmm," Erika said feeling slightly mollified.Tamia grinned. "Anyway, Grass types are best indoors and for capture!"Erika considered that only for an urgent buzzing to make her look at her transceiver and spot that Janine had been spotted."Janine's in danger! Let's go!" she said, sweeping her hand in front of herself and clicking a button to send out a distress beacon that had the other girls locking down their sides of the building. Erika pointed and Parasect surged forward. Just as they reached the door a wave of people met them and shouted in surprise at her sudden appearance."Parasect! Sleep Powder!" she cried out causing her pokemon to exhale a cloud of white dust that swept over the crowd and had them slumping over to the ground. Erika tossed out her Tangela. "Protect these people, but don't let them leave until the Police detain them!"She then swept into the Games Corner atop her pokemon with Tamia releasing her Shiftry and Cacnea. They instantly saw Janine, who was engaged in a one-on-three battle, with, what had to be, Team Rocket members and their pokemon against Janine. She leapt over a row of slot machines as a wave of sludge slammed into it."Idiot! Those are expensive! Don't ruin them!" said one man as he slapped the other over the back of the head.Further conversation was cut off when a Venomoth shot above the machines and retaliated, only for a Tentacruel to follow after and smash another pokemon."Shiftry! Leaf Blade!" ordered Tamia making her pokemon join the fray. Cacnea stood in front of Erika and Tamia reminding Erika she wasn't to simply watch. This wasn't a sanctioned pokemon fight but a battle."Go Venusaur! Use Vine Whip!" Her Venusaur emerged and roared before a thick vine snapped out from beneath her flower. The Vines cracked as they swept through the men and pokemon knocking them down and resulting in all of them losing the chance to fight back as they had pokemon ready to put them down if given the word. Erika swallowed but held a stern expression even as she wanted to check no one was hurt.Janine reappeared. "My thanks! I noticed that the wall had a door behind it but when I tried to investigate, I discovered they had a pressure plate and a security system.""So, we need to get through the wall?" Erika asked, pointing with her hand towards the wall.Janine shook her head. "One of these men should have a key—" Venusaur's vine snapped out, and with a bang the wall bent. In one section, it completely crumbled inward and crashed as the door was knocked off its hinges.Tamia giggled. "That's one way to do it! Nice one Erika!""Hey! No! You can't go back there!" said one of the men as he tried to stand. Janine appeared behind him and chopped at his neck, causing him to crumple to the ground.Erika gasped. "Did you just!?" she could barely finish the thought let alone speak it."Hmmm no, this is a ninja trick." She then proceeded to chop her hand into the necks of the other two men, making them slump. Janine released a Muk to loom over the men. "Detain them," she commanded before gesturing to the newly revealed base. "Let's go! Every second we tarry will result in more information being lost!"Erika eyed the door before returning her pokemon and hurrying after Janine. Tamia followed her with her pokemon able to walk down the stairs. When they reached the bottom there was no sign of Janine once more making Erika nervously look around.Tamia tapped Erika on the shoulder. "You should send out your pokemon once more."Erika nodded and released her Vileplume and Victreebel before glancing around at the oddly spaced room with a number of what looked like cubicles. The floors were tiled in large ceramic slabs that were strange with how they pulsed different colours."Where is everyone?" Erika whispered."Probably around. They're most likely trying to destroy evidence if they know we're coming," Tamia said as they crept forward. Erika couldn't help the fear creeping up on her. She inspected each cubicle but only found a few documents and the rare still active terminal. On each of these, a code sequence was spooling out. Erika knew nothing about computer coding but it looked like they were being scrubbed of information. She sat at one and tried to stop it only for none of the actions she took to do anything! She even tried control-alt-delete!Tamia solved the issue by unplugging the terminals which became their answer to any terminals they found still turned on."It's still odd that we haven't run into anyone… Where do you think Janine went?""Probably ran off on us again," said Tamia."Well, well, well!" said an oily-sounding voice that made Erika's skin crawl. "Looks like the boss lady was right! There are a few weeds in our garden!"From around a corner, a group of men stepped forward with grins. Alongside them, a host of pokemon were also present, ranging from Golbat, Arbok, and even the odd Growlithe. Erika frowned. They had pokemon that were rather well-suited to fighting her, but regardless she would fight! She had methods for dealing with such disadvantag—Before she could order her pokemon to engage, the tiles underneath everyone's feet flashed, causing the men to blanche, and their pokemon to shout in surprise creating a cacophony of noise. Erika just made out one man's shout of, "The security system! Someone has activated it on us!"The tiles then blinked to life and showed a number of arrows that created odd patterns. The men began to spin and were pushed around and around in a row of tiles that had them moving in a large circle with their pokemon. Erika snapped her head down and breathed a sigh of relief when she realised she wasn't standing on any such tile… but that might change at a moment's notice. She glanced towards what had to be a camera and frowned in thought. Then again, perhaps it wasn't a coincidence that they hadn't been targeted like the men?Tamia laughed, "Ahahaha! Those idiots got caught in their own trap!""Ahem," Janine said as she suddenly appeared at Erika's side causing Erika to eep and leap to the side.Janine smiled at the men. "Actually you will find I activated their security system. Come, I was able to infiltrate deeply into their system. I have stopped the crash of their systems as well!" Janine led them to a room with a number of computers and a large wall with lots of cables leading into it. Erika wasn't sure what it was."Oh! A serverbank! Wow, I didn't know Koga taught you to hack things like this! You're really good!" Tamia said.Janine blinked and nodded. "The ways of a ninja are many and varied." Tamia nodded and turned to the camera feeds, missing how Janine kicked a pulled power cable out of sight. Erika bit her lips and pretended she hadn't seen."I was just unlocking the elevator to the next floor, which should be the executive suite. I will need you for that! Come!" Janine said, leading them to yet another elevator, that she produced a keycard, which she swiped."Let's go!" she said before stepping in only to have to stand and wait as the door closed. Janine fidgeted in the elevator as the doors slowly closed, all while tranquil music played in the background.Erika bopped along to it even as Janine glared at the speakers. Tamia smirked, "How come you didn't just shimmy down the elevator?""That is impractical and only suited to movies!" snapped Janine.Erika tilted her head. "There weren't stairs we could have taken were there?"Janine shook her head. "They are criminals in every sense, including their building codes! The city will have a tough time reconciling with or ever using these facilities in the future!" she said heatedly, as though the idea of Team Rocket not building safe hideouts annoyed her.The doors dinged open, revealing a long hallway that wouldn't have looked out of place in a corporation's penthouse level. Numerous doors were open and obviously pulled apart with the faint smell of smoke wafting through a few rooms. Janine raced into those rooms and her Tenatcruel quickly saw to them as Erika and Tamia advanced on the last set of doors. They swept the doors open only for a pair of Rocket members to stand in front of a table with a chair. The chair was turned away from Erika but she somehow knew someone was sitting in it. Janine stiffened as the pair facing them released a Kangaskhan and a Flareon."Sunny Day Kangaskhan!" "Flamethrower!""Exeggutor out and use Confusion!" shouted Erika before she even knew what she was doing. Her palm tree pokemon emerged with angry looks on all of its faces. Its eyes glowed at the oncoming flamethrower only to take control of it and swept it back at the pokemon who staggered."Boss! We need to go!" shouted the woman as Tamia's Shiftry entered the room. Janine darted forward only for Kangaskhan to screech, making her drop to one knee."Very well," said a woman's voice only for a finger snap to cause the room to shake as Kangaskhan stomped its feet. Shiftry and Janine were thrown off their feet and Erika had to brace herself against her Exeggutor."Better luck next time Gym Leaders," taunted the woman's voice as she and her assistants vanished in a flash of light."NO! Dark Pulse!" shouted Tamia ineffectively after they had escaped. Shiftry only just got back to his feet and pointed his arm only to wilt when he had no target.Erika patted Tamia on the shoulder. "There, there. Let's check her computer and unplug it if there's anything on there."Janine was instantly behind the computer, nodding seriously, only to be stymied by a screen demanding a password that blanked out a moment later. "Tch! Damn it! Too slow!"Tamia nodded with a sigh before reaching out and unplugging the computer. "Might be something left on it?"Erika and Janine could only nod their heads sadly before making their way back out. When they reached the group of men caught in the tile trap there were police trying to fish them out. They did so with long sticks and very pinched expressions.A group of water pokemon were waiting to wash the men that now sported brown and yellow uniforms instead of their black rocket uniforms.The police gave the girls their space very respectfully."Sure did a number on them!" said one of the lead detectives, nodding to the Rocket men that were covered in vomit and other body fluids."Oh," Erika said. She'd forgotten about them.Janine puffed her chest out. "Erika was instrumental in defending her city!"Erika smiled fixedly as the men around them gave her a worried look. One even muttered something about "it's always the quiet ones," with a carrying whisper.Erika sighed and looked to Janine, who looked oh so proud of herself. "Do we need to talk to anyone at the League?" she prompted.Janine blinked before sweeping up her transceiver to report to her father. Erika listened in as it was recommended that they make an appearance at the League headquarters to debrief. Erika bounced on the spot as they waited for a Teleport. "At least you didn't find any corrupt policemen!" she said happily.Janine blinked at her and checked her transceiver. "No, we found six and have detained them.""Oh," Erika wilted at the news. Janine patted her on the back but Erika ignored it. It seemed she still had areas in which she needed to improve."I will improve!" she vowed to herself as she clenched her fists!Janine made a funny noise and Erika blinked. "Oh dear… I said that out loud didn't I?" she asked Tamia, who was biting her lips and shaking. Erika wilted into herself, today was turning out to be a very odd sort of day.
95
I could say one thing about Timothy: he was quick about his business. I tried to shield Surge from any issues by pointing out how I was with him the entire time, but Surge was quick to denounce me as merely being dragged along in his wake.Timothy hummed and didn't write anything down. "Hmmm, perhaps we'll just say you were enthusiastic in performing your duties while assisted by Gym Leader Brock. It appears that you were able to take as many precautions as you could and you may actually have been the best suited for the task from what I gather. The business with the Electrodes… I haven't heard anything like that since…" He shook his head and clicked his tongue.He then made a few notes which left Surge and I to share a sceptical glance.Timothy finished his report with a flourish. "Very well, I do believe that about covers all of the questions I need to have answered. I believe Lady Agatha of the Elite Four wanted you to come and speak to her after that was done?"He shot a glance at the clock before checking his own watch. "Oh! And we wrapped it up in twenty minutes! Look at that!" I shot the clock a disbelieving look. Hadn't it been hours?"Oh wait! My mistake! The clock is wrong!" The man stood and adjusted the clock on the wall as I mentally screamed that I knew it. "Just need to correct this…It's two minutes out, can you believe it?" He shook his head again before waving his hand to a set of doors. "You both head down the hall, I need to get this reading properly!"I stared as he set about correcting the clock. I mentally made a note to myself, run the clocks in my house slightly wrong so if he ever comes again I will have time to escape as his obsessive-compulsive disorder trapped him.Surge dragged me out of the chair. "Right! Thanks, bye!" he said as he led the tactical withdrawal.When we reached the doorway he pushed it open and paused when instead of Agatha we ran into a wall of muscle that flexed in preparation to knock us back. I looked up, half of me wondering why Trixie was here, while the other part of me remarked that she was most likely doing some form of training."Hmpf!" said a much deeper voice. There was also disdain there which was something I'd never heard from Trixie. I peered up and found myself staring into Bruno's face."Bruno! Baby! How's it been?! When was the last time we hung out?!" Surge said with a jovial grin. From behind Bruno a Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee swaggered out to inspect us. I inspected both and found them impressive specimen. Both pokemon were held in the same regard as Scyther as 'cool' pokemon to own. But then again they were also all pokemon with a deep well of potential for any trainer. Bruno's pokemon were pros. Hitmonlee stayed light on his feet and Hitmonchan had his hands slightly raised while his body bounced from side to side.Bruno stared, like a rock wall. Then he spoke, his voice rumbling from the depths of his throat, "We've never, hung out Surge." He then pivoted his head to look at me. "Agatha said to expect you." He turned back to Surge, "Surge." His eyes narrowed. "... You can go in as well.""Great! Great! Good to see you!" Surge said as he walked around Bruno who was pointedly standing in the middle of the hallway watching the door we'd come through."That guy is nuts," Surge said as soon as the door closed behind us. I shot him a look."Bruno? What's wrong with him?""Just a meathead. And I've seen enough meatheads to be a pro at judging them. Sadly this meathead is damn good at what he does.""Which is?" I said glancing around at the room we found ourselves in. There were a number of other entrances. So why was Bruno standing in front of that one and not another? I practically knew where to go based on the Machamp standing in front of one of the doors. It practically announced that something important was going on behind that door. We approached slowly."He's a gatekeeper, or a guard. Ask him to hold a position, and he'll do it until he's ordered to stop." Surge gave me a look. "He does after all have the best record against challengers against the Elite four. Then again all he does is train and fight strong pokemon in the wilds. He doesn't do any of the other duties of the Elite four.""Isn't he the second in the roster for Elite Four?""Yeah but way I hear? He'd prefer to be first so he gets to face everyone. Lance wants to keep him second though. Doesn't stop Bruno from throwing himself against Agatha though. When she's gone, he'll be the longest-serving Elite Four member."I frowned at Surge. "Do you respect him or disdain him?"Surge worked his jaw back and forth. "Eh, I can do both." He put a hand under his jaw. "I'm a rare breed of man. Complex and mysterious and such!"I stared at him. "You read that out of a comic book didn't you?"He sniffed. "I plead the fifth," he said before pausing in front of the Machamp. It sniffed at us and tossed its head to the side, indicating a door to the left. A shadowy arm reached out of the wall and beckoned us forward.Surge swallowed and eyed the hallway we were in. "Listen, if the lights flicker and the walls start bleeding I'm blasting my way out. Fuck this horror show vibe I'm picking up."I blinked and stared before considering how, if you weren't used to Agatha's antics with her ghost pokemon, that would be rather unsettling. I merely nodded as I noted that Surge would be the person most likely to survive in a horror setting. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea.""Good idea? That's how I got out of at least three death traps back in the war!" he said as he scratched at his elbow, eyeing the walls, ceiling and floor with furtive glances.I raised my hand. "Hey, it's cool. I understand." Post-traumatic stress was something that could lay dormant for ages until triggered after all.Surge grunted and edged up to the room. This time, he was much more cautious when he opened the door.Inside we found a room that I could only describe as an interrogation room. Or at least the viewing room. We had an obvious one-way mirror that we were on the viewing side of. In the room with us was Agatha, Koga, Lance, Officer Jenny —who was looking way out of her depth— along with what appeared to be a man. It was tough to judge due to how he was hidden from the neck down in a trench coat. I assumed it was a man due to the five o'clock shadow stubble that featured on his face. He didn't look at us as we entered but remained locked on the scene on the other side of the glass.I glanced in and found Sabrina sitting behind Daniel. Daniel was trying to peer over his shoulder at Sabrina, but Sabrina was just out of sight. Not that there was much to see. Sabrina was as stone-cold as I'd ever seen her.I hummed. In fact, was this the least expressive I had ever seen her? When had she ever been so flat and emotionless? When I first met her perhaps? That almost sounded right to me, but also made me rather concerned.The man across from Daniel was a solidly built man. With his coat off and no tie, badge on his belt next to two pokeballs, he announced himself as cop to anyone with eyes. He also looked like a man for whom this was merely another day at the office. Like this was just routine. A simple chore. He occasionally made an aborted gesture to reach for the cigarettes in his top pocket before stopping. His eyes had shadows but there was a spark of intelligence that made me wonder how carefully curated this entire procedure was.I took it all in before I spoke. "How's it going?" I said to the room at large. Jenny swallowed, her eyes darting at the other people in the room. Lance grunted and nodded. The man in the trenchcoat ignored me. Koga stroked his chin.Agatha gave me a smile. "Oh, we're learning quite a lot more than we thought we would. Daniel is quite the catch it would seem." She flicked her eyes to Surge who was glowering at Daniel through the one-way glass."Want me to go in and make him squeal? I know how to do it," Surge said tightly.Jenny stiffened. "What?!"Lance gave Surge an assessing look. "There won't be any need for that Surge."The trenchcoat-wearing man grunted. "Wouldn't be effective. I've seen the results from such methods. You end up frying the captive and only getting a portion of the actually actionable information. This method…" He waved a hand towards Sabrina and the man in the room with Daniel. "It's slower but we'll get more."He continued to watch Daniel. "There! He just lied again, mark that for later playback."Jenny hurriedly noted it down on a notepad but I spotted that the man also marked it off for himself. So, a discerning man with interrogation and investigation skills. One that had lived through the war? Or just studied the restricted documents?I hummed. "Should I ask for your name?" I said pointedly.The man flicked his eyes to Lance and Lance hummed. "This… This won't be something I want to be spread around, but I am thinking of enacting code names so that agents in the field are better protected." His eyes flicked to Agatha's shadows and the door we'd come through. "For now call him… Agent… Coat…" That got a few looks as he coughed.Surge snorted. "Just call him Agent Brown and be done with it. Any attempts on this punk by Rocket or otherwise?" his eyes lingered on the cameras in the rooms. "Got the vents covered?""We've had two Haunters come and a Mr Mime we thought was just on cleaning duty try to break into the room," Jenny offered up. She glanced at the vents nervously.Koga chose to answer the question Jenny wasn't sure of. "I have some Muk in the vents in minimized forms waiting. The vents are secured."I whistled, impressed at the security they'd laid out for this, before tilting my head. Something had just occurred to me about the layout of the hall. "What door do you have Bruno's Machamp standing in front of?""A meeting room that we have filled with security pokemon," Koga said, his lips twitching. He seemed to enjoy the ruse, perhaps it had been his suggestion?"Why have Bruno standing at the door leading into the corridor?" I said as a flaw presented itself.Agatha cackled. "Hehe! Oh Brock this hallway only has two normal points of entry and the other is guarded just as well."I considered that and then shot Lance a look. "You have Lorelei standing guard?"Jenny coughed. "I offered…" she said quietly but was ignored. Lance coughed and didn't meet my gaze. Was he still making her do annoying errands? Was this bullying?"She understands the importance of what we're doing. She took down the Mr Mime in fact," Lance offered up. He almost sounded begrudgingly complimentary.I huffed and looked back at Daniel. My stomach clenched as I remembered how close he'd been to my family. I felt a dark urge rise up before I sated it with the memory of kicking Daniel through a door. I smiled a little and listened as Daniel was grilled about his involvement.The man in the room was completely relaxed about the entire thing. He merely asked his questions and when Daniel got agitated he merely shrugged.Daniel snarled and tried to twist around to spot Sabrina. "I know what you're trying to do! I'm not going to just give you that information!"The interrogator paused. "Hoh? Not just, so you do want to do a deal then?" he said while lounging in his chair, his hand inching towards his cigarettes before stopping once again. "Well, that'd be fine and dandy. You've gotten yourself in quite the pickle after all. You're Magikarp with no puddle and the Houndoom are circling young man. We want everything you can offer. Any intel and sources, names, faces. We want the lot."Daniel twitched to look behind him. But he could only just see Sabrina. With how he was cuffed he couldn't twist to face her. "Aren't you just taking it?"The man across from him smirked. "Oh? That? Now that's just our little… guarantee that you'll give us what we want. See that's the beauty of having a psychic in the interrogation process." the man leaned in and his next words were spoken with a carrying whisper. "You really have no idea what we know. But we'll have lists, names, places, and faces that we can work from. You? You won't know when we know for sure you're lying. But that'd take time and a bit of effort, which we honestly have plenty of. Don't know about you but I'm getting double pay for this so I'll happily sit on my hands."The man snapped his fingers. "Oh wait you're worse than fired, you're burned. No sweet paycheck waiting for you… Unless you talk."The man scratched his chin. "So, much easier all around if you start talking."Daniel remained silent and the other man sat lower in his chair. I noted his chair was much more comfortable looking than Daniel's."Is this—" I started to say only for Agent Brown to shush me."Quiet now, he's close… we've got him right where we want him. Just… Stay quiet."I shut my mouth. We waited five minutes and eventually, Daniel collapsed in on himself. "I… I want a deal!"The man sat up. "Well you start thinking about how you're going to tell your life story and I'll go deal with that pesky paperwork and get you something to sign. You sit tight." He got up and walked out. Sabrina most pointedly did not.Daniel relaxed in his chair only to frown and glance behind himself and realise that he could just make out that Sabrina was still behind him.Waiting, and watching."Why are you still there?! I agreed to talk!" he said.Sabrina didn't say anything. She merely sat and waited. Daniel continued to try and glance back at her as the man that had left them marched around the corner to our group.Agent Brown handed him a sheaf of papers. "Nice work in there Agent Blue," he said.Blue blinked and shot a look around. "Thanks? What's with the name?" His hand reached to his cigarettes and he opened it to reveal an assortment of lollipops and not, in fact, any cigarettes."A layer of anonymity for you on official reports," Lance said. He inclined his head to the trenchcoat-wearing man. "He's Agent Brown.""Huh, right then." He shoved a lollipop into his mouth and sucked on it a bit for humming. "Reckon we let Sabrina sit in there for another five then she teleports out to debrief on whatever she has so we can compare notes before we get into it more with him. Maybe don't have her visible at all for that part to make him relax even more."Brown and Blue went back and forth on how they planned to proceed and I found the entire process fascinating in a morbid fashion. Jenny started taking notes so I had to assume this was like getting a play-by-play explanation from a pro. It was a literal experience on the job for her and she looked delighted to be sitting in for this part of the talk.The room rocked suddenly and the lights flickered. Sabrina appeared next to me. "Bruno has started fighting a pair of ghost pokemon.""Ho?" Agatha said, "He only noticed two of them?"Surge started searching the room only for a shadow to slip out behind Agatha and to raise through the wall where it formed up into Gengar. It then lunged straight at Daniel who reared back. Instead of the Gengar biting him though it tackled something in the air and a new ghost pokemon was formed.Agatha frowned at the pokemon that was revealed. "My my, a Dusclops, I haven't seen one of those in years."The Dusclops' body unravelled slightly. A gap appeared at the front that looked sort of like a mouth opening. It tried to 'bite' at Gengar only for Gengar to jump back and form a ball of shadowy energy that it shot into Dusclops. The Dusclops wailed and collapsed."Tch, I'll have to scold Bruno, he missed one." Agatha said as she strutted around to open the door for her Gengar.Sabrina shifted from foot to foot in agitation. I patted her on the elbow, knowing that there wasn't anything she could do to detect a ghost that was hiding like that. Agatha was literally the best person for that. It must have stung her pride though.Gengar grabbed the slumped Dusclops and dragged it out behind himself while Daniel watched on with a horrified expression. Agatha merely tutted and shook her head. "Sloppy. They're getting sloppy if they think I'd miss this pokemon sneaking in. Let's see if we can find where it came from though." She walked off without even looking to Lance.Koga gave Lance a look and Lance nodded his head. "Yes, you're right, Koga, sweep the building."Agents Brown and Blue watched him then turned and gave each other identical nods "Yeah I think he's ready to talk now. Sabrina can you review these notes? Then we're going to get him talking so you can get what you can. Stay out here and press this remote if he's evading, lying, or otherwise."Sabrina gave me a look before she went off to divulge as much of Daniel's secrets as she could. I had to wonder what she'd learnt about him. That look made me more nervous about having him around my family.Surge started inching towards the door into the interrogation room. Lance pointedly stared at him. Surge whistled innocently and took another sizeable step to the side."I can see you. You do realise that you're not fooling anyone here right?" Lance said.Surge sniffed. "Was hoping you'd demonstrate good sense and have a moment of temporary blindness." Surge waggled his eyebrows. "Come on, sometimes you gotta let these sorts of things play out."Lance's frown grew. "I want you to understand that I consider that entirely unethical and I'm offended you would think I would consider such methods acceptable."Surge grumbled and stopped inching towards the door. Instead, he came and stood next to me. "Sorry Brock, was gonna slug him one for you. I know how you wou—""He tried to resist. I kicked him through a door," I said.Lance and Surge blinked in surprise. Agent Brown, who'd remained in the room gave me a thoughtful look. Then his eyes darted to Jenny. She nodded at his unasked question, her hands moved apart to indicate how wide the door had been, which gained a hum as he watched me.Koga returned before Agatha or Sabrina and Agent Blue. "They must be long-range sniping us… or it is possible they are merely putting up feints.""They can't use Psychic pokemon to scry us can they?" I asked.Sabrina, Jenny, Agent Brown and Lance all shook their heads. I accepted it with a nod, my gaze focused on Daniel."What's going to happen to him?"It took me a moment to realise I'd been the one to voice the question.Agent Brown shifted. "He'll be secured here for a while. Held as we extract information from him. The process will take a while, however. After that… if he's co-operative enough we will probably place him in protective custody with the understanding that he remains close to his assigned home." Agent Brown shrugged. "Maybe give him a nice mountain to brood on, or a secluded island. Plenty of those around. It's… It's not going to be something you should know Brock."I turned and locked eyes with him in challenge. "Oh?"He matched me undaunted. "You're too close to this." He glanced around. "In fact, we should clear the room of anyone none essential to this investigation for the next part. Narrow the potential points of weakness in our information security."Surge, rather than grumbling and throwing up a stink like I expected, gave a tight nod. I blinked as I once more remembered that he'd been in a war. Information security probably wasn't a foreign concept.Surge instead turned to me. "You want to say anything to him?"When I tilted my head Surge huffed. "You know, make sure he knows that if you ever see his face again you'll thrash him."I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah I'm good. I don't need anything like that." I jerked my head to the doors. "They've got our report and know where to find us Surge. I think we should get back to our Gyms. We've got other things to see to."Lance clapped me on the shoulder. "I'm glad Brock. I know this would be tough but I'm happy you're not consumed with needing to do something ill-advised."I rolled my eyes. "I got him to you, you know?" I paused as though something had just occurred to me. "... I guess I shouldn't ask about any other raids that might be being conducted from what we found should I?"Lance smiled. "Erika and Janine were able to lock down the Games Corner that you uncovered. The executives escaped but Erika has a number of rare pokemon and a lot of money that will be held securely. They did miss out on the Executives however due to the Games Corner's… structure." Lance drummed his fingers on his forearm. " They did well but for us in the League not noticing this? This is going to be a costly mistake Brock, but it is a victory I am going to tout for all Law enforcement as soon as it is advisable to do so."Agent Brown shot Lance a pleased smile and Jenny straightened up.I nodded back, then, oh so casually, I said, "Might be worth putting out a notice for any trainers that pick up suspicious behaviour to report it. With all this pressure on Team Rocket, they might make some other mistakes and show more of their hand."Koga pointedly didn't react but I got the impression he was mentally tipping his hat to me as Lance nodded. "That's something we already considered but good to see you've considered this. Keep this in-house at your gym for now, and don't answer anything if any reporters ask questions."I nodded and made for the door where I marched out past Agatha in the hall with the Machamp glowering at the Dusclops. She was prodding it with her cane to wake it up. Her shadow notably was not lined up with the lights. I offered her a wave of farewell."We'll be in touch," she said, as she inclined her head. Her shadow smiled at me.I gave her a grunt of acknowledgement but didn't break stride as I made my way out. Bruno watched us march out, his hallway bore marks of fighting and his pokemon were both bouncing around with far more energy than they'd had before.He didn't say anything and neither did we. When we got outside Sabrina's Alakazam was levitating and waiting for us. I nodded and started to relax, ready to put this day behind me."Guess I'm proud of you too," Surge said suddenly.I glanced up at him. "Hmmm? What's this about?"He stared pointedly away from me. "You not being all gung-ho to tear Daniel apart. Guess it was wrong of me to suggest you threaten him."I snorted. "Please, if Daniel ever appears in front of me he'll just disappear, but I wasn't going to say anything like that there." I rolled my eyes and offered a joking wink. "That'd be possibly incriminating."Surge turned back to me grinning. "Heh! That's the way Brocko." He glanced about and offered me a less-than-subtle wink and thumbs up. "Still proud of ya!" He tapped Alakazam on the shoulder. "Gonna steal a ride first, Vermillion good for you?"Alakazam nodded and vanished in a flash. I sighed and looked up at the distant stars.I didn't do anything else out there but wait.The doors of the building opened and running feet announced someone racing after me. I whirled around to find Jenny red-faced. "Wait for me! Sorry! Sorry! I just got reminded that I wasn't need to know!' she stopped when she saw I was still here. "Oh good, you haven't left yet.""Nope not yet, Alakazam will be back soon."Said pokemon reappeared with a flash and eyed us both. I nodded at the unasked question and a moment later we vanished only to reappear in front of my gym.Jenny shook herself like a growlithe shaking off wet fur. "Brrr! That always feels weird for me."I shrugged. "You get used to it after a few teleports," I said mildly.Jenny shot me an incredulous look. "Well, this ended up being a much longer, and way more interesting evening than I bargained for." She looked up and for a moment I thought I saw fire in her eyes. "But so good! Watching those detectives work on Daniel? That was incredible!"She smiled hugely at me. "Thanks for trusting me Brock, that was amazing to sit in even with me missing some of it!"I nodded. "Well, I doubt you'll be asked to sit out for much longer. The Champion knows your name now and will know you're trustworthy."Jenny practically floated at that and I chuckled before a yawn escaped me. "Well on that note I think I should get to bed." I almost offered her a bed at the gym before considering how that might come across.Jenny didn't seem put out as she was still buzzing from thinking about Lance noticing her. "Yeah, yeah. Night, Brock," she said distractedly as she turned off to the space that was set aside to park her bike.I started walking around to the side entrance for my home. I made it to the front door when running feet once more had me turning back. I was turning around, ready to reject a challenge when I found a worried-looking Jenny running up."Hey uhm Brock? Any chance your gym trainers moved my bike? I know I left it parked in my spot is all and… it's not there?"I hissed at that, knowing that no one in my gym would have touched a police bike. "Let's check the cameras." I offered.Jenny's head bobbed up and down and I opened the door and led her through the house. When we passed the kitchen we found Forrest passed out on the kitchen bench with a blanket wrapped around him. Munchlax was likewise slumped over next to him and across from them was Flint. He straightened up."Is everything…" He trailed off when Jenny peeked around the door. "Oh." then he blinked. "Oh! Right well have a good night you two!" he said as he picked up Forrest to carry to bed.I stared after his retreating form. Then realisation set in. "It's not what it looks like!" I hissed after his retreating form.Flint shot me nod that showed he totally didn't believe me along with a thumbs up. I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. How the man thought I could be like that I had no idea."Let's just… come on," I said to Jenny who was blushing crimson.We entered my office and I toggled up the cameras and clicked through them. When I got to the three that looked over the entrance Jenny leaned in closer."Where's this one from?" she said tapping the third camera feed."The hill overlooking the gym. It's a good vantage point and the camera is hidden, it'll pick up anyone watching the gym too closely. Also it's new." I expanded the camera and ran it in reverse until the bike suddenly appeared on the screen.Jenny hissed as she caught sight of two small forms creeping up to the gym. I frowned at their covered-up forms. They were obviously up to no good with how they had face masks and hoodies. They'd have been sweating buckets in that get-up.Jenny and I watched as they crept up to the bike, a few times vanishing from one of the cameras only for the third to keep them in sight the entire time. They were making… What I could only deem amateurish attempts to avoid the first two cameras' arc points of vision.They only stood out thanks to the third.Out of curiosity I toggled the internal security feed and found out why this hadn't been flagged. The security team I had chosen to have someone outside the Gym's door and had been in the middle of securing another door. They were going above and beyond while also dropping the ball simultaneously. I clicked my tongue at how fortunate the kids that had done this had gotten.Jenny glared at the screen. "Some punk kids have stolen my bike…""Yup," I said. Jenny swore and I pat her on the shoulder only to have her storm off. I watched her march back out to the front of the Gym with a thunderous expression on her face. I toggled the sound as she unleashed an Arcanine."Smell! Find!" she ordered firmly. Instantly the giant fire dog dropped to smell the ground before sitting up and nodding. Jenny hopped onto the pokemon's back and slashed her arm forward."Arcanine! Hunt!" she shouted. Arcanine took off in a burst of speed with Jenny riding atop.I whistled as I watched Jenny disappear from the camera feeds. "Those kids are screwed." The next morning I was extra glad that I had had the foresight to cancel the gym matches for the day. A number of reporters were quick to appear and claim I was being negligent.Rachel was quick to appear at my side while I was cooking breakfast."Brock, what's the situation? Alexa messaged me that all the gym matches were cancelled last night and I've been freaking out! There are media all over this cause of how many trainers have been put out by this!? What's happening?" she said fluttering from foot too foot like a started pidgey.I plated up the pancakes and gestured for her to walk with me into another room while the kids were distracted. Yolanda tracked me with an assessing look but I just waved her off. "Don't worry about it," I said as I swept past her.When we reached the room I shut the door and sighed. "Daniel was a spy for Team Rocket," I said deciding to go straight for ripping the bandaid off.Rachel gaped at me a whispered. "Oh shit," escaped her and I nodded."Needless to say when I discovered this we had… words…"Rachel swallowed, "Is he in police custody or…"I huffed. "He's at League headquarters due to this being a serious crime." When Rachel shot me a confused expression I continued. "Spying on a gym that is on the border of Kanto like we are is considered a national crime with the charge being espionage against a defence asset. As such—""He's in it deep isn't he?" Rachel said with huge eyes. I nodded and she considered that. She licked her lips and looked me over. "How are you feeling? Must have been a bit of a blow to learn he was a traitor?"I inhaled and exhaled. "Yeah," I said simply.I waved a hand towards the front of the gym. "I need you to go out there and assure the media that I did what I did after careful consideration with an ongoing event affecting the Gym. The League is aware of this incident and working with us, but as yet we cannot offer more to the public due to the nature of the incident. Ask for people's forgiveness but know that we will be back in business as usual tomorrow with the displaced trainers having some temporary slots offered to them."Rachel nodded seriously. "I'll take care of it!" she said clenching her fists in determination. She then hopped from foot to foot. "He made a mistake you know?"I raised a brow wondering what she meant."Just that working here should have been a dream job for anyone. Him spitting on that… He really thumbed his nose at something great." She chewed her lip. "Does that make any sense or am I messing this up?"I snorted. "Well, thanks for trying," I said before nodding my head towards the door. Rachel turned and marched off, a woman on a mission. I smiled, happy that despite being betrayed I still had a lot of people willing to stand with me that I felt I could trust.I considered that for a moment before slowly nodding. Yeah, I'd still extend them my trust. I didn't need to demand Sabrina or Jenny interrogate them. I wasn't going to let one bad egg ruin what I had here.I checked my watch and walked back to the kitchen to get ready for the day that was to come. I'd have a gym meeting to clean things up and then I'd reshuffle Daniel's duties to other people. I'd be behind on trainer matches but those could be handled on the short term. I'd just need to adjust the rest period for my gym and pokemon to much earlier.Yet another flow-on effect of the Trainer flood coming into play.But we'd be back in business the day after, just as good as ever, I vowed to myself.