A sneer can do incredible things to a face. Typically, none of them beautiful.
Daniel's sneer made his face sharper and more angular. His eyes seemed to sink into his face and become like dark gems that glitter out at the world. His lips twisted and thinned to display all his teeth without an inkling of joy.The most drastic change, however, was his nose.It physically remained the same, what changed was how I wanted to push it through his face. I drew on rock energy as heavily as I ever had before and let myself be the mountain in front of the breeze that was this tiny man."Yeah, she's just a chick I had a fling with. Kid's not mine, useful though isn't she?" He tilted his head, scrutinising me. "What gave me away?"His words resounded with me for a long moment as everything started to click into place properly. Ah, he still doesn't know how many connections I've formed. I decided to let this play out. With Sabrina nearby, I'm going to be interested in what I can get. Jenny will no doubt be confused about my asking her to stick around. Until she suddenly won't be.I hummed. The words themselves slid off me easily enough, but I felt a deep sadness at my core from the meaning behind them."I think… pretty much everything from the past five minutes. I always thought it weird how you'd have those little offhand comments about your wife, but then again I figured each to their own. Plus, you seemed like the type of a guy who liked to play the field so I could understand that you needed time to adjust to the thought of suddenly having a family."I tilted my head. "But… you never actually wanted to change your ways, did you?" I don't specify that I mean for his fake family, and I don't feed his lie. He can do that well enough.I raised a languid hand and traced the lines of his face in the air. "For just a moment I saw something that made me realise… that you can't stand her."His sneer falls away into one of confusion before it becomes more neutral. A mask that he's become apt at holding, but now I know it for what it is. I look into his eyes and I can practically see the emotions conveyed that he tries to hide. It helps to know what to look for, I suppose.He had been very good. I could see how it all must have been laid out.A good infiltrator with a very good cover story. Not perfect. Certainly not. But good. Certainly good enough to get in the door.He must have spent years working in the Rangers as a plant for later assignment. Or perhaps that had been the assignment until an opportunity arrived. He would have funnelled information to his superiors in Team Rocket with the Rangers none the wiser. Then he got the chance to sign up with my gym.So he does some research on what I'm like. My media appearances. What I say, what I do. What I don't say and don't do. Professionals would tear apart what I've put out into the world and my comments on certain aspects of the world.So he deepens his appeal by appearing to be a man caught in a tough situation with a kid on the way. And he's trying to do right by them.Now where have I heard a story like that?He must have felt really clever when he set that up. He would have been patting himself on the back for playing on my heartstrings like a damn guitar. And there I had been thinking I was being oh so benevolent in offering this man a place in my gym.I'd fallen for it hook, line, and sinker, easier than a magikarp with a stick and a string attached to it. Or as the old timers called ' an old rod'. And now he had a ton of information that he has likely already passed on. Things like what composition of pokemon I had. The moves I prioritised training. Where I got my pokechow from. Hell, some of the pokemon at the gym would have happily followed him out the gates and into the waiting arms of Team Rocket if he wanted by now.I'd let him closer than any threat I ever wanted to me and mine. For Arceus sake, he'd offered to feed my Elites, and escort my family to school.It made my skin crawl.I found myself hoping, wishing, he'd try something right now. I might not be a fighting-type trainer, but I'd gladly break him in two.The smallest flinch from him lets me know I've dropped my own mask. I smile. Like nothing was wrong but he must know that I'm less than pleased."Guess I'm just not cut out for it like you are, eh?" he said casually like he wasn't too worried about being caught.I suppose if I hadn't known about Jessie and James and their connection, it might not be something I'd make a leap of logic to. I just had to ignore the previous signs and red flags… like that damn phone call on Mt Moon.I narrowed my eyes and sighed. "Hmmm, I think I'm going to have to call you out now cause I'm not sure how much more I can stomach of you pretending to not be a sack of shit."He blinked in surprise. I don't often swear. You can't with so many little siblings running around or else they'll all be cursing like sailors. I let the mask drop fully and glared at him."Let's put our cards on the table. If I confronted your 'wife' over what she's doing here and that I knew you were full of it. What would she do?" I stared right through him.He searched my face, looking for the answer. I could see he understood I knew something more than just his hate towards his "wife", but he was still in the dark as to what it was. "She'd be devastated… the baby…" I glared harder. As if this man cared for the woman he had been using as his… his prop to evade further investigation.I decided to rip the band-aid off the conversation. "When the raid failed cause you gave your superior faulty information. How mad was your boss?"He gapes at me for a long moment. He makes to deny it only to catch my look of derision. Yeah, I wasn't going to buy whatever Rhydon shit he tried to sell. He snorted and relaxed into the chair. His posture shifted until he was more sprawling in the chair than sitting in it. It reminded me of an Ekans I'd watched once lure a rattata into its clutches by playing dead.Perhaps he still thought he had some control of this situation. Now that was interesting."So you know it all, huh?" he said with a jutted-out jaw, there was a gleam in his eyes like he was still laughing at me internally.I got the impression that he was thinking things over. Reviewing how he'd played things out. Where he might have erred. I still got a glimmer of amusement from him. Like he was certain he'd tricked me.'Please try something, please.'"Yeah, when you take that into account, there's no reason that you wouldn't have stuck it out. And while a gym job is good I doubt you'd have stuck around with a family. You don't care for it. Not unless you were ordered to." This was assuming that his wife, Helen, wasn't also part of Team Rocket.It struck me as odd that a criminal organisation wouldn't have any women in a similar state. Unless they practised safer sex or support for those that found themselves in a family way. Somehow, that struck me as incongruous.Imagine a world where criminals got better health care than everyone else… Hmmm, now there was a thought that would be worth thinking about later. For now, I remained focused on Daniel."Tch, I thought that having her around would be a risk. But I figured people would prefer to see she existed instead of just lying. Always knew she'd be the weak point of my plan."I grunted. "So how angry was your boss with you?" I said, restating the question he'd rather niftily dodged. I'd have to watch out for that."..." he stared at me. "They wouldn't bother with me even if I did give that information.""Soooo," I drawled, "you don't think it was a coincidence that I gave you heads up on the date of the bonding exercise that just so happened to be when we got raided?"Daniel worked his jaw. I sniffed. "Guess you weren't that clever then."He narrowed his eyes at me. "It would have worked." I held in the smirk and instead raised an eyebrow in disbelief at him.He sat up. "It should have been easy. You've never mentioned training your pokemon like you had and no one had seen your Swampert in months if not years! It didn't even come up on the audit register they got a hold of!" He shot me a stink eye like he was put out by my —now-justified— paranoia.I sniffed dismissively. "And still you're fishing for information." I shook my head at him.He shrugged confidently, as if he knew I couldn't do anything against him.I didn't correct him.Let him think the law was on his side. He really should have known better than to try this on a gym that had been raided before. If this had been a corporation, they would have made sure the law never factored in. But it was different for this situation, and now I could use the Law like a bludgeon or a scalpel, whatever I so desired."Where are your bases located?" I said with a glare.He huffed at me. "Why would I ever answer that?" he said with an amused lilt to his voice."Are there any more bases in Pewter that you know of? Cells of Rocket operatives?"He shook his head but I continued. "What about Cerulean city? Any Rockets you know of there?"He raised his eyebrows at me."Celadon? Saffron? Vermillion? Lavender town? Cinnabar? Hophophop town? Gringey city? Hollywood? Neon Town?" I said, giving each location a small break. I watched him carefully but only got mild flickers when I mentioned places like Vermillion, Gringey city, and Neon city."I'm not going to talk!" he said, happy to sit there. I continued to stare him down."Viridian? Any cells there?" That got a twinge and I leaned forward. "Oh?"He shook his head. "Nope, you're playing a game you can't back up any more Brock. Read me my rights and open the door to let Officer Jenny in." He rolled his eyes. "It's obvious you've got her waiting out there for me by now. I worked out that little trap of yours. You're not booking me, so she can't read me my rights and stop you from pestering me."I smirked at him, my amusement no longer able to be contained. "Is that what you think is happening right now?" His look of superiority flickered for a moment as uncertainty crept in.I hummed. "Where is the Rocket Academy located?"He blanched. "How the hell do you…" He clamped his mouth shut like a Cloyster under attack from a Squirtle. "Not! TALKING!" he said suddenly looking murderous."Ah good to get that confirmed. I'd heard rumours," I said drawing on my prior life's knowledge of the training that Jessie, James, Butch and Cassidy had to go through."Who the hell breathed a word of that place?" Daniel stared at me in shock. I smirked at him."Hmmmm, who knows? But what I do know is that I'll be able to put out word of it and have people know that I've got you locked up as a Rocket member. And if people start to link you and that little slip up together in their minds, well that's just a logical connection, right?" I tilted my head."How big was your class at the academy? Twelve, twenty students that were all fellow Rocket grunts? How many classes do they hold each year?"Daniel glared at me. "Fuck no, I ain't talking no more! Get Jenny in here and cuff me already!" He made to get up and march to the door.I barked a laugh, unable to stop myself. "Haha! Oh it's hilarious that you think you're not deep in it."He frowned at me. "What do you mean?""Oh it's just that… well this isn't like being a spy for the Rangers. In the Rangers unless you had been around some of the senior rangers family there wouldn't be a similar level of action brought to bear."I raised my hand and started ticking things off. "You fed information to outside parties which is first a breach of your contract with the Gym."A second finger. "You fed information to a party that damaged and injured pokemon on the gym's property."A third. "You once asked to walk my family to school." My gaze promised him he would not like what I was going to do to him."I can fill in the gaps about what might have happened now if you'd ever been allowed to do so." Kidnapping was escalating in the worst of ways, they'd have me over a barrel… If that was on the cards, I'd need to draw a line in the sand in someone else's blood. Thankfully, I had a system in place that hadn't included Daniel. Yolanda and Forrest were very good at making sure one of them was walking the other kids to school with two of my Elite team ready to be called out.Daniel swallowed. "That's… that's not provable!"I stared him down. "Daniel, I did some reading since the last Team Rocket Raid. Did you know there's a difference for people attacking a Gym and people infiltrating one according to Indigo law? Were you aware that the Gym, should another war break out, is to be designated as a military outpost that is deemed vital to Kanto's defences?"Daniel blinked. "What? But there's no war?" For some reason, something I'd said had made him go white.I waggled my finger. "Ah! But that's not important. What matters is that as a spy caught red-handed, you will not be granted certain privileges, such as the right to counsel." I smiled darkly at him as his face turned green."Just as you are not going to be allowed to claim any right to not being interrogated by a Psychic."His eyes were huge as he stared at me. They involuntarily darted around the room. He sucked in a breath of air. Then he snapped his head to me and he snarled, "Haunter! Take him out!"From his shadow, a purple form shot towards me. I had half a second to gasp in surprise before the pokemon was on me.Then I punched out with my arm and let my emotions out. My fist connected with the smirking Haunter's face and hurled the ghost pokemon to the opposite wall where it hit and slid down.Daniel had taken a step back and was reaching for the door. His face was caught half in a smirk and half in shock as I strode up to him, darkness roiling out of me. I felt a deep anticipation for what was to come now well within my rights to do as I wanted."Wha? But you can't punch ghos—" I raised a leg and kicked him square in the sternum.He rocketed back into, and then through the door. The door shattered into splinters at the impact and he slammed into the wall on the other side of the hall. I strode after him as he struggled to draw in a breath through suddenly empty lungs."You!" It came out as a wheeze. "Can't!" Another pained sob. "Do this!" he said."This is my home." I stood over him. "I think you'll find I'll do anything to protect it." I so wanted to lift my foot and stomp down on him.It'd be so easy.Like crushing a bug.He stared at me in fear as I stepped forward again. Then Jenny and Rocko grabbed me."Woah! Woah! Brock! Calm down!" Rocko said."Gym Leader Brock he's no longer a threat! Let me take over!" I still inched forward despite their grasp. Then I felt something else draw me back.I looked back and noted Sabrina standing to the side. "Brock, relax. Your family is fine. I can feel them all with your father right now."I relaxed at that, exhaling out my dark energy. Jenny patted me on the shoulder. "Wow you're strong. I'm going to have to start working out with Trixie as well if this is the result she produces."Rocko shook his shoulders loose and huffed before turning to glare at Daniel. "Damn man… you were an Ekans all this time?" He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair.I inhaled and took the moment to work out my next step. "Jenny you're going to have to only let people you'd trust little Jenny with have access to him."Sabrina coughed. "Actually, you're going to have to include a League Agent in that list."I frowned. "Why?"Sabrina stared straight into Daniel's eyes. "Because he wasn't just a Rocket spy, but also a spy from a Hoenn organisation called Team Magma." Daniel's eyes shot wider at that and this time he turned green."H-how?!" he said through his injured lungs."Your mind is like a book to me," she said as her eyes glowed. "Now, sleep." she said, tapping him on the forehead. Daniel's head fell to his chest.Jenny gave a small chuckle. "Damn, you're scary Sabrina.""Good," Sabrina replied.I pinched the bridge of my nose. Damn it. This just became so much bigger than I'd planned. Not that I'd planned anything beyond nailing Daniel through a wall. Heh, I'd actually gotten to literally do it. Still, things had developed further than I expected; I just needed to break it down into manageable steps. "Right, right. Jenny, you can hold him here right?" I glanced back into my office. "There was a Haunter in here…"She nodded firmly. "Don't worry! Arcanine and I can handle him no worries!" She glanced into the room "A Haunter?"I glanced back through my splintered door. Hadn't that been made of solid wood? How hard had I kicked Daniel? "I thought it was down for the count?" I said.Sabrina's eyes glowed. "... Interesting," she said, tilting her head to the side. "I usually can't detect Ghost types but this Haunter is fleeing and leaking energy… You must have hurt it. It is currently running away." She tilted her head for a moment. "You terrified it Brock."Rocko snorted. "Now there's a joke waiting to be told. What're ghosts scared of!? Brock!"Sabrina tilted her head considering it before nodding. "It is more a factual statement in truth than a joke, but it was a nice attempt."Rocko blinked at her and then eyed me. "Uhm… yeah actually you're right…" He rubbed his jaw. "Still feel like there's potential there though," he said under his breath.I sighed, happy that I didn't need to get one of the channelers in to run around my gym after the pokemon. Although I probably could have just gone the nuclear option on it and asked Agatha to come flush Haunter out if it'd tried to hide. Actually…. Hmmmm.I pointed at Rocko. "I need you to call Nurse Joy and get her up here to… monitor and hold Dani… Helen." I clicked my tongue. "I don't want her freaking out. She's… she's not in trouble but… she's going to have to answer some questions for us."Jenny got a pinched look on her face. "Procedure is to not stress out a pregnant woman.""Yeah, I can understand that, but I also don't want her hanging about the gym unsupervised knowing what we do now." I glared up at the ceiling. There wasn't really a cut-and-dry answer in this situation.Jenny swallowed. "Right, well I'm glad you're still thinking like that. I was worried."I looked down at her. "Hmmm?"She shifted and straightened up having just cuffed Daniel's hands after frisking his unconscious form. "Well it's just seeing you kick Daniel through that door and march out. It was kind of scary, I have to admit."Rocko made robotic movements. "It was like watching the Magemiteman! Part steel, part man with how on a mission you were to mess up Daniel!"Jenny coughed in surprise before nodding. "Well, yes, but it wasn't something I expected to see from you.""Guess he got a reaction from me."Jenny chuckled. "I'll say."She gestured at Daniel. "I think I'll keep him here until Joy can look him over, but no rush. I've seen these sorts of injuries before and they shouldn't be an issue for him. Bit of rest and we'll have him singing." She smirked, "Have to admit I'm looking forward to having full access to a psychic interrogation for once!"I nodded. "Best make sure no one else gets access to him before that." I rolled my shoulders. "He just became a very important prisoner."I glanced at Sabrina and she nodded. I relaxed. Excellent, my baiting and poking at Daniel before I told him how deep in it he was had gotten some information.Jenny and Rocko made their calls. I stepped back into the office and sent a message of my own off to the Guardians to inform them of what had happened. I made sure to ask to have Koga and Agatha present to lock things down. I was going to take this as far as I possibly could. Team Magma had a long-term spy with Daniel? Damn, I hadn't seen that coming.Joy arrived quickly, her Rapidash was perfect to see her blazing a trail up to the gym on the security cameras. I had no doubt that there would be a number of reporters knocking on my door, but Nurse Joy rushing up to the gym would be small news with what was to come.I shot off a message to Alexa to cancel all my gym matches tomorrow and escorted Joy to Daniel and Helen's shared room. I paused when I heard young voices still up.Great, Ash, Greta, Misty, and Forrest were in the common area as we strode past. They waved only for Forrest to bolt upright."Bro!? Is something wrong?" he said.I held a hand for Joy to stop for a moment. "Hey guys there's been something that's gone down and I'm going to have to ask you to steer clear of it."Ash of course only stood up. "Need any help?! Me and Pikachu can help out!" Pikachu nodded firmly at that, and I chuckled."Afraid not. I just need to have a chat with Helen." At Forrest's clueless look, I rolled my eyes. "Daniel's wife," I said. Next to me Joy, having been read in, clicked her tongue.I shot her a look before looking back to the young trainers. "Hey tell you what? How about you go over to our house and set up the sixty-four in there. We're going to need some space."Forrest nodded and started packing up the games and console to lead Ash away. Ash scratched his head. "Why's he need space to talk to some lady?"Misty's agonised sigh lingered as she followed Ash and Forrest out. Greta lagged behind and shot me a worried glance. I smiled as best I could and shooed her away.Then I led Joy to the family apartment and knocked. Helen opened the door. "Hey Helen… we need to talk," I said.This was not going to be fun."Please!" she gasped as her eyes widened. I could see the realisation setting in for what was going on. "I just wanted what was best for my baby!"I felt any residual darkness that had been latched onto me vanish. Memories of another life as a health care worker making me empathise, with and understand her. "I can understand that… Let's just talk and we'll go from there," I said as I closed the door.When I was done, I was glad to have Helen settled in the rooms under watch with a tentative agreement not to run away. Joy had agreed to stay with her for the night and keep her calm so that nothing happened to Helen or her baby. In the morning Jenny from Viridian would be here to look after her throughout the investigation.And eventually, when Helen was ready. She'd move back to her parents with whatever pay Daniel had accrued in his time 'working' for the gym.I had almost not wanted to give her anything as crime shouldn't have been rewarded. She likely would have already gotten a payment if she was smart but I wanted her gone. While we'd talked with her Sabrina had cleared her of any active or passive issues. Thankfully it turned out she hadn't wanted anything but a pay check to set her and her newborn up with. She hadn't been involved in spying on me.Just acting as a patsy.Sabrina walked with me back to the office. "Are you alright?" she said carefully.I sighed. "Yeah… just… just annoyed. The whole issue with single parents isn't usually something that bothers or affects me, but seeing Helen used like this just kind of highlights how it can make people vulnerable. I thought there was a system of support for this?"Sabrina nodded. "There is, it is just that she wanted more than a basic government allotment." Sabrina shook her head. "Women will do many things for their children," Sabrina said with an odd lilt to her voice that I couldn't place."Oh," I said eloquently.Well, that was better than her just being greedy, and I couldn't fault her for wanting better for herself and child. It just struck me as sad how the issue of single parents wasn't an issue until it suddenly was. Single parenthood would obviously affect women far, far more than men. I might have to do something about that as it left a foul aftertaste even with it being handled in the best way I could stomach."Brock, there was something I think I should mention," Sabrina said, coming to a halt.I stopped and turned towards her. "Yeah? What's up? Is there someone else I need to investigate?"Sabrina shook her head. "I investigated the others while you were busy with Helen and her… tears. They are safe but no, this is about something else… during the investigation, I felt something in your office. Something that was giving off psychic energy.""Oh?" I led her into said room. Had someone snuck something into the room? My mind jumped to Will. He was a psychic.She made a beeline to my desk and opened the drawer with the lock with a flex of psychic power. I almost had a heart attack when she lifted the folder with the collection of fan mail only to set it aside without looking through it. I only relaxed when she reached in further and pulled out the tawny, brown, and yellow rock that Flint had given me."What is this?" she said with wonder. I blinked as I made the connection to what this meant.It was a psychic Mega stone.
92
"Brock…" Sabrina stared at the rock that I had laid out on my table. With how she was staring at it in open wonder I knew this had to be resonating with her. It had to be a psychic-type pokemon megastone.And the first psychic type to come to mind would be—At her hip a pokeball opened and Alakazam appeared in the room. He nodded in greeting to me before leaning forward to inspect the rock with Sabrina."I think that clinches it as Alakazamite.""Alakazamite," Sabrina said, her fingers gently rubbing over the edges. She tapped at where a small marble like gem was set. "There are two resonances?"I nodded. "I think these types of stones grow in pairs. It helps to link the trainer and the pokemon that it is attributed to."Sabrina nodded long, still entranced by the stone. "Where did you find such a thing?"I rubbed my cheek. "I didn't. Flint found it and thought it would be useful for me to have."I watched her. "But I actually think that you might be a better person for this."Sabrina didn't say anything so I tapped her hand. "So? Do you want it?"Sabrina snapped her head upwards. "You're going to give this to me?!""Sure, I don't have an Alakazam and you… this would be amazing for you."Sabrina shifted from foot to foot and I tilted my head. She was that uncomfortable with it?"Brock, you do realise that Lance got his Megastone due to you defeating him during your friendly match?"I blinked. "No… I hadn't made that connection." Did… Did Lance feel threatened by me? That, kind of made sense actually.Sabrina nodded. "Usually Lance has a disciplined mind. During the meeting we had in the aftermath of the Rocket raid Lance noticed you had seen his bracelet. He thought about you noticing it specifically and thought you might understand that it was a new trump card.""Oh," I said. Everything she'd said… It made perfect sense. I scratched the back of my head. I kind of felt bad that Lance was obviously feeling threatened by me. I hadn't meant to do that. Well… not back then…"Brock, why are you smirking?" she said with a tilt of her head.I coughed "No reason!" I said. Okay, so I found it a bit amusing! It was kind of a compliment."You're still smiling," she said."Yeah let's not worry about that!" I said defensively.Sabrina huffed at me but she obviously thought it was amusing. Her lips were twitching as well after all. She tapped the rock. "How does it work?"I grinned. "Well we'll need to get a jeweler to work the stones out without damaging them. Then we'll fit a bracelet for you or a necklace that you can use to link up with Alakazam." I then tapped Alakazam on the shoulder. "Alakazam will get a slightly larger gem that he will have to carry with him. From what little I know, there will be a synchronisation period for you both but eventually, you will be able to mega-evolve your pokemon.""What about a rin—" Alakazam's eyes glowed and Sabrina stopped talking, turning her head to her pokemon as he stroked his moustache. Sabrina nodded grimaced at him before gesturing towards him, "Alakazam wants to know what Mega-evolution is.""It's a temporary empowerment that boosts every trait a pokemon has. In some cases it even changes the typing of the pokemon," I said, thinking of Charizard and Gyarados as merely two examples."Do you know how many pokemon can mega-evolve?" Sabrina said after conferring with her pokemon once more."Uhmm." I started counting them off to myself and Sabrina's eyebrows shot up in surprise. I decided to just give a best guess. "I think there's at least… thirty mega evolutions?" I had no idea if that was still true.Alakazam stared at me as his eyes glowed. "What Pokemon do you know of that can Mega-evolve?""Alakazam obviously," I said before leaning back. "Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Gengar, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Tyranitar, Steelix, Aggron, Swampert, and others like Beedrill."Sabrina stared at me. "I can't help but notice that your own team happens to have alot of pokemon capable of mega-evolution."I scratched the back of my head. "Well I think that has more to do with rock types and Mega stones but yeah I got lucky like that I suppose." She continued to stare. "I know you have Alakazam, Slowbro, Metagross, Gallade, Gardevoir, and Medicham as possible mega evolutions for psychic types though, you now have three of those potentially." I stared at her. "Isn't that going to be a good portion of your team?"Sabrina sniffed. "I only learned about Mega evolutions now. You?" she tilted her head."I keep my ears to the ground pretty well, I like to think. Steven Stone is big into investigating mega stones as aggressively as he can get away with, or so I hear. Among corporate espionage, apparently."Sabrina tilted her head. "Where did you hear that?"I waved a hand back and forth. "The radio, the television…" I grimaced. "Not great sources of information I have to admit as it will be skewed, so I'm not really sure about Steven Stone."I shrugged. "Apparently, Blaine sued him. I haven't heard how that's been going on but apparently Steven Stone is in Kanto because of it.""Hmmm, I see." Sabrina nodded her head. "What are we going to do about Team Rocket and Team Magma?"I leaned past her and plucked the holopad that I used to talk with the Guardians. I prepared the record section and got ready to send out a message.I took my seat and Sabrina came and leaned on the chair. I rolled my eyes but she merely shot me an amused look as she tapped the record function forcing me to begin talking."Team Rocket sent a spy into my gym. We were able to learn some surprising facts about him. Apparently, he wasn't just an agent for Team Rocket but also for a foreign team from Hoenn known as Team Magma. I want his cell as secured as possible. Officer Jenny is currently holding him at the gym. This makes three attempts at my gym now by Team Rocket. I'm going to act on the intelligence of Team Rocket's bases before they have a chance to escape those sites."I stopped recording and sent the message off. As it was sent it played back for me and I realised that with Sabrina lounging next to me and with the room not lit I looked a bit like a mob boss calling for a hit to be made.I didn't have time to linger on that however as a videocall from Agatha came in."Brock," she said in greeting before she turned her eyes to Sabrina. "Young Sabrina… we still haven't performed your initiation test.""I think with the circumstances that can wait Agatha. I trust Sabrina more than anyone." Sabrina psychically squeezed my shoulder and I shot her a small smile."Hmmm, how quaint," Agatha said.A moment later another screen popped out and Koga appeared sitting on a leather couch while Janine stood behind him.Agatha sniffed "I see even you have given up on tradition Koga!"Koga merely shrugged. "I merely agree with Brock's idea. We should not wait. I will point out that I find it rather amusing that the Rock wielder is the one to be the most proactive of us though."Janine shot her father a look like she couldn't believe he'd just made a joke. Agatha merely huffed only for another screen to appear and Karen to appear with tousled hair. "Yeesh! Marking your territory much girl?" Karen said.Sabrina merely hummed. I glanced at her positioning and realised that it was a bit of a 'power-move' wasn't it? I decided I should probably double down. Sabrina was the one I trusted the most after all. I patted her hand and she shot me a smile while Karen's eyes narrowed. Janine merely tilted her head.Agatha scoffed. "Urgh! Children!" she said before slamming her cane on the ground. "Moving on, I agree with Brock that securing his prisoner just became top priority. Daniel of Gringey City just became a person of extreme interest. I'm glad you had the good sense to not let him be carted off to the police station. We shall take custody."I considered that. "Perhaps it would serve our purposes best if the 'League' were to take custody of him officially.""Yes, then lose him in the bureaucracy of—" Agatha began, only for me to shake my head."No…I was thinking more along the lines of using this to boost Koga's strength and allow him greater sway on Lance's dream of forming an international police force."Koga nodded but Karen and Agatha both looked uninterested. "While this is going on we could lead raids on the Rocket bases that Sabrina was able to glean from Daniel. Team Rocket will eventually learn of Daniel's traitor status and this will be a gigantic hit to them." Karen perked up at that but Agatha merely sniffed.I considered her. I didn't really need to win her over but I could play the game and keep everyone happy. So why not keep her on her good side. I was obviously already ruffling her feathers with how I was going about accelerating Sabrina and subsequently Janine's inclusion into the Guardian's Leadership meetings."Why should we settle for one objective when we can have it all Agatha? We can weaken Team Rocket. Empower our agents within the League. Truly get Koga a seat at the table if not the first seat at the table of international policing. And what does it cost us? The dubious control of a foreign agent that we're already going to get information from? Sabrina is already the strongest psychic in Kanto. They can't overlook her."Karen hummed. "Heard a rumour~! Some little boy is trying to claim otherwise!"Koga and Janine huffed with Koga even shaking his head. "Those claims are trumped up paid rumours at best! Janine's… agents have said as much!"I tilted my head. Janine's agents? Did Janine leave a spy network in my… wait! Did he mean the grannies!? I shot Janine a look and she refused to meet my gaze. Janine! What was going on here!?Agatha shook her head and stabbed it forward. "Urgh Karen! I thought I taught you better than this. To think the next generation will be led by that flaky boy's son! …" she grumbled but I got the impression it was more for the sake of it rather than any true objection. I was proven right when she grinned."Very well! I shall arrive with a League official and take custody of Daniel! Koga you will lead the raids on the Rocket facilities! While it's good to see you young ones being so proactive you need to temper yourselves with the wisdom of your seniors!" She stomped her cane into the ground."Prepare to shake up Kanto!"Sabrina coughed and Agatha glowered at her. "Yes, initiate Sabrina?" she said, tacking on a title I'd never read of or heard being used. Apparently, she wanted to remind Sabrina she still wasn't officially part of the Guardians.Sabrina ignored it though. "I learnt of six Team Rocket Bases along with possible sites of interest. Each will require a team to detain the Team Rocket agents that Daniel knew to always operate there. We will need the police. We best bring Jenny and other forces into the plans."I blinked. Sabrina hadn't mentioned specific numbers before. I had tossed out a few locations, but I had to wonder which locations she had learned about."The most concerning base is in Celadon. The local Games Corner is a front for Team Rocket where they launder money and pokemon."I stared at Sabrina. Oh damn. I'd been to Celadon once and hadn't found anything iffy, despite knowing it was possible. This location alone would be a huge dent to them. I had hoped Daniel had known about it and it turns out I was really swinging for the back fence with how lucky I was getting."You mentioned six facilities? Where are the others?" Agatha said pointedly."There is the Games corner in Celadon, the radio shack next door to the pokemon fan club in Vermilion, a warehouse on Chrysanthemum island. There are recruiting facilities in Hollywood, and Pokemon Land. As for the Team Rocket Academy… sadly I don't know the location of it yet as all Daniel knew of was that it existed as he was transported there while blindfolded and the journey took hours from Cerulean.""Hmmm that is what our agents have determined so far as well. We have not been able to hide trackers on anyone going to that facility as of yet," Koga said with a scowl. "Investigations are closing in however and we suspect that they are within the mountain ranges north of Cerulean. The secret route has not yet been discovered.""Damn, that'd be a proper kick in the teeth if we got both the money laundering site with their Games Corner, and the trainer facility," said Karen dreamily."Indeed," Sabrina said stoically from next to me.Agatha hummed. "Koga will need to take the lead with the League. We'll need to have you at Indigo headquarters so that Lance can 'happen upon' you for the purpose of recruiting you."Koga nodded. "He shall think it is his own idea," said the man firmly.I hummed. That was mildly terrifying to think about. Being led around by the nose without ever realising it. I considered Agatha and Koga. They probably had done it a bit with me. Then again… I'd also gotten them to start paying a lot more attention to Team Rocket. When I'd first brought up Giovanni and Team Rocket I doubt they would have worried about Daniel.Now? They were more than willing to sack some Rocket bases. And speaking of Rocket Bases, I might know of one that I would be interested in investigating, albeit with a lot of back up."I ran across a secret base last weekend as well," I said.Koga and Agatha stared at me. Agatha huffed. "And you didn't present this then why?"I worked my jaw, "'I got very busy… that and the base, it gave me the creeps. It was a secret base and I only happened upon it due to catching a supply truck coming in."Agatha stiffened. "Where was this?"I opened my pokenav and started toying with the saved point before flicking the details to the holopad to present to the others."Curses!" Agatha swore, causing Karen to blink in suprise. Koga groaned. "I recognise that base. It is one that we used as a supply depot during the war... "Koga looked to the side. "It seems not all of the bases were decommissioned properly… that is not a site that can be messed with. I will investigate it in my own time." Koga locked eyes with me, "Do not approach it." His tone made it clear this was not something for me to stick my nose into."Alright," I said. "I can't say I know what an old war base would involve but if you're reacting like this I expect it's serious."Koga inclined his head and loosened up slightly."Any other business?" Agatha pointedly stared at me as though daring me to say I'd not presented something else for the Guardians."Erika should be informed and included in the raid on the Celadon site," Sabrina said firmly."Well, I second that then," I said, understanding that it would be rather important to avoid making Erika look bad. I leaned slightly forward. "For that matter, we'll need to tell Surge the news as well."Janine raised her head slightly and coughed to indicate she wished to talk. Koga nodded without looking back at her. "Yes, daughter?""I can deliver the message to Erika!" she said with a hint of excitement.Agatha drummed her fingers on a table near her as she considered everything. Eventually, she gave a stiff nod. "Very well. Janine will inform Erika and have her ready any trainers she can trust…" Agatha then made a face.She considered that before correcting what she'd said, "On second thought, it might be best for you to take along some trainers from your own gym." Sabrina coughed and Agatha scowled. "Yes yes! We'll let the little flower girl not lose face!" She looked to Janine. "Make sure they are female or can pass as women! Erika's little socialite club caters to the wealthy daughters most of all. Some of those girls are so vapid they'll think they had to have had some part to play. But don't take any that will lose their heads. Erika's trainers are more for show, remember!"I tilted my head. "Maybe we need to find some serious trainers for Erika?"Agatha snorted. "Please! That little girl has a wonderful web of networking set up and she is one of the best off gyms around. If gyms were merely rated on income, hers would be the best gym in Kanto!" She stabbed a finger straight forward. "Never underestimate how much people will pay to have their daughters happy and safe in a good environment that their little darlings don't want to run screaming from! There are lots of businessmen that bid viciously for the right to have Erika host their daughters each year."Karen made a noise of surprise. "Huh, well surprises never end. I always thought she was kind of weak but she's got half a clue it turns out. Shame she can't convert that into anything."Sabrina shifted and I got the impression that Erika would be getting some pointed conversations about how to wield her wealth in the future. Money wouldn't carry her to the strongest position. But it'd certainly make things a lot easier."Very well! I shall be in Pewter soon and from there we will work to curtail some of Giovanni's excess! Brock, Initiate Sabrina! We will be talking soon!" she said before hanging up.Koga nodded and Janine gave a small wave in farewell. Karen remained on the line."Hmmmm I didn't get a job… not sure if I can justify nosing my way into this one…""I'm sure we can handle this," Sabrina said before I could offer anything else.Karen scowled at her and I decided to get ahead of the argument. "You could watch a hot spot perhaps? Maybe try to watch Giovanni himself or another site like Cerulean? We know the Academy is around there but imagine if, due to the pressure we're about to apply they got sloppy and revealed more? That'd be big, no?"Karen settled down like a Persian that had just been complimented and stroked the right way. Her eyes glinted. "I like the idea of that. Very well, I'll watch for something worth my time. See you soon Initiate."Sabrina clicked her tongue. "She and Agatha are very annoying."I nodded. "Yeah, they're acquired tastes, that's for sure. But they're damn good to have when you need some back up."Sabrina tapped me on the shoulder and I looked up. "Brock? What sort of Grass mega stones are there? I think Erika will need more help. I dislike people talking badly about her."I chuckled. "You're a good friend Sabrina." that had her perking up as I leaned back in my chair. "So for Grass types I know of Venusaur, A…" I paused about to say Abomasnow, but that pokemon hadn't been discovered and wouldn't appear until Sinnoh was found.Which reminded me. "When you're interrogating Daniel…" I grimaced at having to say that once more. "Find out what he knows about that Glameow.""Glameow?" Sabrina asked curiously."Yeah, that cat pokemon that Proton had when he raided my gym. It was a pokemon from somewhere the League either doesn't have access to or they're not telling us they have access to… I still haven't heard anything as yet though so chances are it's the first. Which raises the question—""Of how Team Rocket has access to it," Sabrina said, finishing my sentence for me.I nodded seriously. "If they have access to another region there are going to be pokemon we have no idea about.""Does the reopening of a route to a new region not cause that? What happens when a region is discovered?"I raised a hand. "Actually I looked into that cause I was kinda curious with the recent unveiling of Fiore to the public. It turns out that the pokedex entries are gifted to the region to keep them up to date on the recent pokemon that are found within the region. It actually works against the other region if they don't share because the League was able to retain some of the regions information prior to the war. So if they don't reciprocate it, it's seen as a point against them, with the added bonus that it doesn't cost our officials all that much.""Hmmm sneaky," Sabrina said neutrally. I felt something cold sweep through me and I shivered. Sabrina straightened up. "Agatha is here."I sat up. "That was fast, does she have a pokemon that knows teleport?""She apparently employs a trainer for that purpose. They have a decently strong Xatu… they need to work on containing their thoughts though."I nodded noncommittally at that. If I wasn't so adamant with training dark energy I suspected that I wouldn't be considered 'controlled' with my thoughts either. I stood before I could go down that Sentret hole and waved for Sabrina to follow me. I met Agatha in the reception area with Alexa standing next to my receptionist Bethany.I blinked when I realised Bethany was talking with Agatha like they were old friends."—and my Charles is doing quite well I'll have you know! How about yourself, Agatha? Found yourself a silver fox to play around with?"Agatha sniffed. "I'm too busy for such foolishness!"Bethany tutted and shook her head consolingly. "I remember you being such a flirt! And remember the celebration when we cleared out Viridian? I remember waking up in someone's arms!" Bethany said with a laugh."Hmpf! You live too much in the past," said Agatha before looking to me. "Ah Gym Leader Brock, I was informed that I should make my way here with all due haste. What do you require this old woman for?" she said.If I hadn't spent so long interacting with her, and if this was the first time I'd met her, I would have believed her act of 'innocent old woman'. I had to wonder who she was putting on a show for. Bethany apparently knew her in ways I didn't want to think about. I glanced at Alexa and found her smiling warmly at the Elite Four member.I wasn't sure what to make of that and so instead I played my part and invited her in to help with the transfer of Daniel to the Plateau. Alexa blinked in surprise."Eh?! Daniel has been detained?!" she said.I nodded, my face set in stone. "Yeah, turns out he was a plant from Team Rocket. Keep that to yourself. He's got a lot of questions to answer and I don't want it getting out."Bethany nodded seriously and glanced at Agatha. "We won't say a word… in fact perhaps we'll depart now instead of finishing up that paperwork… Was there anything else you required from us Gym Leader?""You rescheduled tomorrow's matches?" I said."Yes most of them were your new sponsored trainers and very understanding!" said Alexa. I grimaced at that."Urgh… I might have to break my no fights on days off rule to get them through in a timely manner…" I sighed. "I'll deal with that later though." I waved Alexa and Bethany off and led Agatha into the gym.I guided her to a room that I was surprised to find an Arcanine sitting in front of. He dropped into a guard position and his growl was low and menacing.Agatha actually stopped and assessed him rather than marching forward like I sort of expected from the old woman. The door opened, and Jenny peeked out with her arm raised. I noted the active transceiver."This is Officer Jenny reporting that it appears to be Gym Leaders Brock and Sabrina escorting Elite Four member Agatha to the prisoner. Please advise!"The voice on the other side said something quickly that I couldn't catch. Jenny continued to watch us carefully. She then nodded."Gym Leader Brock! Identify using your trainer ID number and answering a personal question!"I rattled off my number and tilted my head. "What's the personal question?""During a birthday party I attended with my cousin, what action figurine did you give me?" she said seriously.I huffed. "You were randomly given a Selene, but then you learnt that other parents got more than one and came back to ask for a Quirinna and a Sanchez figurine."Jenny nodded her head, the faintest blush appearing as she turned to Sabrina. Sabrina sniffed. "I teleported you onto a Snorlax toy because you tried to steal a kiss."Jenny stiffened. "I knew it was you!" She then stiffened and coughed. "I mean! Alright you pass. Did you perform a check on Aga—"From the depths of Agatha's shadow, three Gengar emerged. The Arcanine yelped and took a step back. Jenny lost all the colour she'd gained and she swallowed. "Yeah… yeah, that'll work as identification."I approached as she urged Arcanine back. I just caught her muttering to herself and Arcanine, "Who the hell keeps three Gengar in their shadows! Crazy old woman!"I shot Sabrina a smile but she was eyeballing Agatha's shadow. I paused in the entrance and let Agatha go through while the three Gengar floated through the walls. Then her shadow winked at me.Damn, she really was crazy.When I entered the room I found Jenny blushing once more. "Uhm sorry for the method of detaining… I didn't have more than my rope and cuffs on me… so I improvised…"I stared at Daniel as he glowered back at us. He'd been duct taped to the wall in a spread-eagle fashion. It made me think of my past life where this would occur after a wild night of drinking.Agatha merely nodded. "Excellent improvisation! Jenny, you, Daniel, and I shall be going to Indigo headquarters. There we will conduct an interrogation with Gym Leader Sabrina's assistance.""I know my rights!" screamed Daniel.Agatha tutted and shook her head side to side. "No, clearly you don't young man otherwise you would know how monumentally bad an idea it is to infiltrate a Gym. Gym Leader Brock is correct in the charges that you can face and the rights that you have voided. We will get the information we want. For now though," she raised up and squeezed into his shoulder with her thumb. "Sleep!"I felt a spike of something shadowy and cold pulse out of Agatha. A moment later, Daniel's eyes rolled into the back of his skull, and he flopped down, unconscious once more.Jenny whistled. "I'd heard rumours that you knew how to do that… damn that's cool I mean! Sorry, Lady Agatha!"Agatha waved her off. "Not a worry, not a worry. Now Gym Leader Sabrina, care to teleport us?"Jenny frowned. "But Brock has an anti-tel—" her words died off as Alakazam, who'd spent the last twenty minutes studying the megastone in a corner of my office, appeared in a flash of light before nodding once at me and flashing away with Jenny, Agatha, Daniel and Sabrina.I hummed. "Alright, that leaves me at loose ends… I could join Janine and Erika in raiding the Games Corner…" I chewed my lip. Vermillion having a Rocket base worried me. It hadn't been a priority target but I'd noticed it perhaps more than any of the others bar the Games Corner.I gave the gym a sweep and checked in with Forrest only to find him sitting in the kitchen with Flint who… Actually looked different with how he assessed me as I walked into the room."The gift I gave you?" he said firmly.Forrest blinked and shot him a confused look. I startled, realising that he was mimicking Jenny's identification call response method. "A rare stone. A mega stone."Flint blinked in surprise. "Is that what it is called?"I nodded. "I… kind of forgot that you'd be here."Flint frowned before opening and then shutting his mouth. "What happened?""One of the Gym trainers, Daniel," I said at Forrest's curious look, "was a spy for Team Rocket.""Hnnn, that's one of the reasons I never took Gym Trainers on. Too many people are mucking things up and making it chaotic. Didn't need that, didn't want it!" he said while staring at the bench. Forrest glanced between me and Flint quickly, a worried look on his face.I shook my head. "The gym's different now Flint. I need the support and they bring a lot to the table. They also just happen to have some risks associated with it. I'll have to be more careful in the future." I huffed. "That being said we learnt some things from him and I need to go talk with Surge.""Surge? Why do you need to talk to that maniac?"I frowned. "When you left he was one of the only gym leaders to approach and check that I had any idea what I was doing. I…" I was about to say I didn't need his help but that wasn't completely true. "He helped me out a lot more than people realise. Now I think there's some trouble coming his way and I want to help him out."I looked at Flint and Forrest. "Can you hold down the fort here for the night and possibly tomorrow?"Flint nodded. "Yeah, I can do that. There going to be any matches tomorrow I need to step in for?"I shook my head. "No. I cancelled those. This is more important." Forrest stared at me and I tilted my head. "What?""Just… You never cancel matches if you can help it." he swallowed. "Guess it's really serious."I snorted. "If anything I'm underselling it. Keep the family close. Keep Sanchez out. I'm taking the others with me."With that done I marched out the door. I was about to release Zephyr and take wing to Vermillion but then I considered the distances. I could do it with Selene but then she'd be exhausted… I sheepishly sent a message to Sabrina and she appeared a moment later in a flash of light.She put a hand on me. Then we vanished and reappeared on the road leading up to the Vermillion gym. "I need to go back to deal with the League officials. Agatha is having to threaten people to get through the red tape. Lance is on his way and Koga has reached the Plateau. Should I tell Agatha you're here?"I shrugged. "Sure thing." She vanished and I lifted my transceiver.It dialed up and after five rings it clicked as Surge answered. "Blugh! What the? Brock? What's happening?""Hey Surge… we need to talk, I'm outside."On the screen Surge narrowed his eyes at me and tried to look over my shoulder. "Are there a gaggle of women behind you? Cause I swear I ain't dealing with no ex-girlfriends! Don't be suckered into their sob stories! I broke up with them fair and honest in a cafe and everything so they could throw water in my face!"I chuckled and shook my head. "Not what I wanted to talk to you about actually. It's about Team Rocket."Surge went still. "Oh? Well I'm all ears, I'll be out in a second."I hummed and got ready to deal with an irate Surge. As the doors opened I remembered I'd need to enlist the local police. I shot Jenny a message to see if she could do just that while I spoke to Surge.I suspected I'd have no trouble getting him pointed at the Rocket base.If there would be anything left of it when Surge was through with it would be another matter. One I'd probably need the police for more than actually helping take down the Team Rocket members.I was strong… but Surge was a big guy that I had no doubt I wouldn't be able to stop if he went too far.I messaged Jenny again, urging her to send them around without giving the game away too soon. I took a deep breath before heading inside, I was going to have to control Surge in the meantime, and that would be half the battle.93I told Surge why I was there. It was a long and rather shameful handful of minutes admitting my own failures.Surge's grin only held for a few seconds.Then it morphed into hard lines. It wasn't a scowl. It was something more calculating. There was an edge there that I wasn't used to seeing in my once mentor/now friend. He rubbed his chin."So, Team Rocket set up a base in my city…" He rolled the words around in his mouth as though tasting them. He eyed me. "How sure are you of this? The intel good?"I sighed. "Yeah. Positive. You know Daniel?"Surge shook his head. "Nah, he that one you thought would have been good down here with me?" he said. Starting to pace back and forth.This time it was my turn to shake my head. "No that's Dennis. Daniel… he was a new recruit that I got from the Rangers. He'd been with them for years, so I figured he was a safe bet. He had lot of the skills I wanted and… well he had some good reasons to hire him on." Surge's pacing became a little too distant to hold a conversation with so I started pacing with him.He must have been agitated to force it into this sort of action. "Turns out he was a plant for Team Rocket, and they saw a chance to slip him into my Gym. They even got him a fake wife."Surge shot me a look. "Shit… they really crafted him to hit your buttons just right didn't they?"I grimaced and nodded tightly. Surge shook his head in a faux consoling way. "See this is why you have big shiny issues like being a playboy! The bad guys want to get information out of you, so they send hot chicks!" He made a show of slapping his cheeks. "Oh no! Whatever will I do with these women!"I rolled my eyes, not missing how we hadn't stopped pacing during the entire tirade. Surge sniffed."Still this situation is fucked, I tell you. They're damned close enough to roll some damn Electrode down the hill at me! Damn City giving me a gym located on the water! This is a terrible defensive position! I'm a sitting duck!" He scratched at his arm irritability.He shot me a look. "Do they know that we know? Suspect anything at all?"I shook my head. "Everything has been kept in house. We got Jenny to hold him in the gym while we got him moved."Surge whistled. "You must be treating her good. Jenny's are hot for justice and not much else. Surprised you got one to break protocol like that. Usually, she would have marched him into the police station, which I remember having some… staffing changes recently."I grunted, having to stride to follow him through to a long hallway. "Yeah. Thing is I was well within my rights to have him locked there. Just like I was within my rights to have Sabrina there."Surge stopped dead and stared at me for the first time in the evening, stumped. "You got Sabrina there as well? She's… Kind of not going to…" Surge tilted his head. "No you wouldn't have done that and gotten away with it with Jenny there to bag him. You play the good honest man. The aww shucks family man to the public, but you can throw some sneaky punches when you need to." He eyed me. "What gives? There's something more going on with this Daniel beyond him being a stinking Rocket. What did you learn?"I hummed. "He already qualified as breaking the Espionage Act." Surge tilted his head and opened his mouth, but I continued. "Vermillion is rated as a central Gym. Pewter is still a border Gym, so different laws come into effect." Surge stared at me before I shrugged. "But we also found out he's a foreign plant."Surge hissed. "The fuck!? Who? Unova? Kalos? I tangled with those pricks during the start of the war, and they're messed up!"I blinked. "You did?"Surge merely sniffed and nodded. His jaw working tightly. "Didn't start out as a Lieutenant Brock. I started things as a Private. In a war? You can get a lot of promotions if you're in bad situations."I blinked, nodding slowly. I didn't really get what he was saying. "I… don't really follow."Surge opened and shut his mouth before shaking his head. "Never mind…" He started walking again and led me through another door. He marched into a room that had tesla coils and a number of pokemon lazing about.Surge pursed his lips and trilled a whistle, and instantly, pokemon were up and moving about the room. Some formed up into what I could only describe as 'ranks' while others bolted outside. Surge watched them go before looking at a single line of pokemon.A Raichu held pride of place, followed by a Jolteon, Electrode, Electabuzz, Magnezone, Ampharos, and then oddly enough a juvenile-looking Graveler. I stared at the Graveler. Surge huffed at it and clicked his fingers."Straighten out that spine soldier! Damn private, I should bust you to cleaning latrines for a month looking that sloppy!"Graveler stood slightly taller, as much as a boulder could anyway. Surge sniffed and continued on.I glanced at the other pokemon and noted that he also had a small pond with Lanturn and Chinchou present.Surge turned to me. "Who'd you bring with you?""Zephyr, Titan, Bertha, Knight, Shrek, Hypnotoad, Don, and Shin." Surge continued to stare at me blankly while nodding as if he had any clue who I was talking about. I rolled my eyes at him. "My Noctowl, Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Aggron, Swampert, Poliwrath, Aerodactyl, and Kabutops."Surge nodded once. "Oh yeah, of course! You, you, you, you, you and you." He said turning as he did so to point at his Raichu, Magnezone, Jolteon, Lanturn, Electabuzz and Electrode.I lingered on his Electabuzz. That sort of pokemon needed a special, most likely man-made item to evolve. Perhaps I could experiment with a voltage converter or socket set to create one? I'd have to talk to someone at the powerplant in Pewter for where to start. It wouldn't be as simple as AC to DC would it?Still… I looked over to the other pokemon that was 'early' in terms of its arrival if this were a mere pokemon game. Magnezone, which required a specialised magnetic field which in an electric gym probably wasn't that hard to fall into. I had no idea if anyone else had seen it before but no one had commented on it in the past. I'd need to review some of Surge's matches to see if he ever used it.That made me pause.Surge had walked me into the seat of his power which wasn't something a lot of people typically would do. I was looser with letting people into the area at the back of the gym, but much more selective with who entered the cave system where I kept my elite team.Surge hadn't even batted an eye when I followed him in.Surge withdrew his chosen pokemon, and selected a number of other electrodes for his team. Then he nodded. "Alright, so we have good intel about some punks that have set up in Vermillion next to the Pokemon… Fanclub. That might make things a little tricky, but as long as we don't get too frisky with our area of effect attacks then there's going to not be all that much backlash."It took a moment for me to recall that there were a lot of very rich men and women that happened to sponsor such clubs. If we did something against their club, I'd probably need to call Agatha for help.Then again, this would probably be something she'd gladly leave me out to dry for just to mess with me.Still, I nodded. "No damaging the next-door building, got it!"Surge grunted. "Let's go kick their teeth in." He said as he cracked his neck by rolling it from side to side, then he broke into a jog out the back door.I had to hurry to keep up with his frankly huge stride. "I was going to have the police join us to have the place locked down properly?!""Nah, I got my scouts roaming the gym and some circling us. I'll have them lock the place down when we get there." We jogged up the hill and I could instantly tell which building was which. One building was done up with privacy hedges and dark shutters. The grounds happened to have a number of secluded alcoves that were roofed over from what I could see as well if patrons of the club wanted to go outside. The large gate on the front door with the sizeable security lock made it clear that you had to know someone to get in.The burlesque house in Pewter had less features to keep people from seeing inside.Not that I'd been inside. I'd merely patrolled past it.Surge whistled again and broke into a faster jog. Around us, a pair of Raichu and a small pack of Manectric sprinted out and surrounded the building neighbouring the fan club's manor."Alright, I'm going in the front! You back me up Brock!" He then broke into a sprint. "Gonna getcha! Gonna getcha! Gonna getcha!""Surge wait!" I called as he bolted away from me.Surge wasn't listening. His pokemon shot forward in blurs. I cursed and hurled Zephyr and Don's pokeballs overhead. "Aerial blockade!" I ordered them.Surge pounded up the entrance, and when he reached the door, he stomped one foot into the ground while rocketing the other into the door right at the side of the lock. The door splintered inwards and hung like a wreck on its frame."Knock knock!" roared Surge as he loomed in the doorway.A young woman hesitantly walked up. "Uhm! Sir, we're part of the pokemon club… You… You can't do this!"Surge stepped into the house. "I'm the Vermillion City Gym Leader I think you'll find I can! Also!? I ain't ever seen you at a club meeting!"The woman blinked in surprise, and I skidded to a halt behind him.Then I registered what he'd said. "Wait what?"The woman reacted by reaching for a pokeball on her belt. Surge proved faster on the draw though. However, instead of releasing his pokemon he hurled a pokeball of his straight into her gut, knocking her flat. "Ha! Gottcha! Get good, ya baby!""Team! Out! And clear the house!" he barked. A moment later, his pokemon were out of their balls and partnered up. They went through the room before two of them broke off to a door to the side. I stared at the coordination."Damn, you'd be the Champion if things were done with duo battles," I said, impressed with how he had trained his pokemon. I glanced down at the wheezing woman. "Nice fake out with Pokemon fan club!"Surge tilted his head at me. "Huh? Fake out?"I stared at him a moment before deciding to let that lie. I didn't want to get into that conversation with him. Instead, I walked through the room that his Jolteon and Magnezone had cleared. At a window, I wrenched it open and tossed out Bertha and Knight to start roaming the grounds."Also, don't touch the fence," I said seriously. Bertha glanced at the fence and sniffed at it. I knew her well enough to know she was calling it 'weak looking'."Seriously, just don't." I then turned back and grimaced. "I should have brought my Geodude line instead.""Your Kabutops and Poliwrath should work out for you," Surge said as he opened another door only for his Raichu to dart in while his Lanturn stayed on his shoulder."What the hec—" said a voice before a zap and a thump announced that Raichu had found someone. Surge opened the door carefully all the way."Clear," he said after inspecting the room. I followed him in to find the room to be merely a bedroom with a set of binoculars and what looked like a radio dish with an antenna sticking out of it.Surge picked it up and growled. "Damn listening devices! They musta known that I inspect my Gym for devices like this! Instead of putting something in the Gym, they had an external team monitoring me."I whistled. For a moment I was about to ask why they would do that before remembering that Surge was a veteran of the last war. It would have been more surprising if they didn't have people monitoring him.I would be paying extra attention to, if Cinnabar-rated surveillance teams. …Or Pallet Town, for that matter."Shin, Hypnotoad, come on out," I said releasing them. They both appeared and took in the room. I waved them into the building which had an annoyingly twisted hallway with a number of doors. "We're clearing rooms," I said.Surge coughed pointedly. I glanced at him and he shifted. "Uhm, listen Brock maybe have your team at the rear.""Huh?" I said.Surge grimaced. "They trained to clear out rooms?""Ah, no. They're not," I said, now understanding where he was coming from.A boom from outside had me running to the window. There I found Knight pounding on an Arbok that was hissing furiously while Don had tackled a Fearow and rider out of the sky. "Maybe I should go outside?" I offered.Surge shook his head after checking the window. "Nah, you're good here, just let me take point. Have them guard our six." he winked. "Watch and learn. This guy's got some tricks!" he said while pointing at himself.I snorted at his bravado but followed along. I had to admit that it was actually extremely interesting to watch Surge and his pokemon go room to room. When a room didn't receive a 'clear' from one of the pokemon Surge had me send in Shin to start stabbing walls."Got a basement there!" Surge said when I ordered Shin to flip up a rather suspicious-looking carpet.Surge studied it before clicking his teeth. "Urgh… is it trapped or is it an escape tunnel…" he clicked his teeth and nodded to me. "Have him cut around it if there's a trip wire we should be able to avoid it."I nodded, agreeing with his take. Shin tapped out the grove for the door before cutting around it. Hypnotoad stood next to him and lifted the entire door piece out of the ground. We were greeted by a smirking white and red pokemon rolling up the stairwell. The pokemon spotted us and then grinned wider as it began to flash white across its body.Surge turned and leapt at me. "Trap! Buckle up!" he said as he tackled me out of the room. I had enough time to call up my rock energy before I hit the ground. The Lanturn that had been on his shoulder fired off an electric wave back at the Electrode but I failed to see what it did to the other pokemon. Then the explosion detonated.Surge lay over the top of me as the explosion rocked the building. A concussive wave hit us and Surge was tossed a little but he clenched harder down ontop of me me.A moment after it was done I was shaking my head and Surge was kneeling and looking into my eyes."BROCK! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?"I nodded. "I can hear you," I said before shaking my head to clear a slight ringing.Surge nodded. "THAT'S GOOD CAUSE I CAN'T HEAR SHIT! GLAD YOUR OKAY SOLDIER! DON'T WORRY! WE'LL WALK IT OFF!"A door to the side, that Electabuzz and Electrode had been approaching to clear before the explosion went off, was kicked open. A Rocket Grunt stood behind it with a Raticate snarling. It leapt forward only for Surge to once more throw himself into the fight. He grappled with the Raticate only to be pushed back when the pokemon swatted him."FULL AUTO!" roared Surge as he hit the wall. His pokemon stilled for a second before leaping to attack both the pokemon and the trainer. The trainer gasped in shock as a sparking fist from Electabuzz slammed into him. The Electrode blasted lightning at the Raticate and kept up electrocuting it even as the rat pokemon screamed in pain.I grabbed Surge's arm and tugged on it. "Surge! Cool it!"Surge snapped to look at me, and his eyes were slightly unfocused. They were both different sizes. I relaxed my grip and waved my hand slowly. "Surge? Hey! Calm down buddy," I said.Something must have gotten through to him, as he blinked and his eyes returned to normal. "SAFETY ON!" shouted Surge. Instantly his Electrode stopped roasting the Raticate and the Elctabuzz paused. It gave us a glance before dropping the lightning from its fist.The Grunt slumped in the Elecktrabuzz's grasp. "Oh thank good—" Then it cold-cocked the Rocket grunt one more time to knock him out. I shot it an unimpressed look but the pokemon merely dropped the Grunt and continued clearing the room.Surge stood up shakily. Then he looked at me. "YOU ALRIGHT?" he bellowed. Lanturn hopped up onto his shoulder and began forming up a small ring of water that lapped at Surge's ears.I nodded at him and he smiled. "THA'S GOOD!" shouted the man.I pat him on the shoulder. "Thanks! But maybe next time just focus on yourself; I can handle an explosion or two." His eyes watched my lips closely and there was a long delay as he worked through what I'd said.He snorted and pat me on the head. "LITTLE ROOKIE IN HIS FIRST BATTLE THINKS HE'S HOT SHIT!" He rubbed me harder and I grumbled.I shook my head at him and checked quickly on Shin and Hypnotoad. I found them dusty but otherwise unbothered. The section of the floor they'd been holding up was in pieces but it apparently served as a barrier for them better than the wall had for me.Then the ringing in my ears cleared fully and I realised it wasn't ringing so much as it was sirens.Then came the sound of running feet. A moment later, police poured into the building, with Vermillion's Officer Jenny leading the charge."Vermillion Police! Freeze!" she screamed while holding out a pokeball in front of her. At her feet, a Growlithe snarled. Then Jenny blinked and sighed. "Alright Surge what have you—""Got a Team Rocket member here!" called one of the policemen from another room.Jenny lost her exasperated look and stiffened up. Her pokeball was released and revealed a Graveler. A normal rock-ground type. Surge sniffed pointedly."HEY JENNY! WE'RE BUSTING UP THIS BASE! CAREFUL OF THE BASEMENT THERE WAS AN ELECTRODE TRAP!"Jenny's eyes widened before she had her radio in hand relaying the news. "All units be advised! Team Rocket base with potential booby traps! All units be advised!"Surge chuckled. "Heh, booby!' he said at what he assumed was a whisper but carried clearly throughout the room. I sighed and shook my head.Jenny nodded. "Got the message from my cousin in Pewter. She said you'd need us at the gym but we found that place locked up tight with pokemon blocking any entrance. Then we heard the explosion. Couldn't you wait?"I shrugged. "Turns out I needed help holding back Surge."Jenny gave me a look before sighing. "He started pacing and it seemed innocent but he secretly was walking to an objective of his?"I tilted my head and recalled that, yes, Surge had done exactly that. Huh, I hadn't even realised what he was doing. Surge grinned widely and winked at me."Yeah, that," I said. Surge winked again."I WASN'T WAITING AROUND WHILE NO ROCKET PUNK WAS OPERATING IN MY HOME TURF!" Surge shouted.Then Lanturn dropped the watery ring and Surge blinked. "Oh, the sound's back!"Another explosion rocked the building and Surge stiffened. "SHIT!" He snapped his fingers and instantly Jolteon and Racihu tore down the room to the back room only for a Rocket grunt to step out with a smug grin. Surge pointed at her and before she could say anything Raichu was launching into her gut and she was convulsing.Jenny marched up. "Enough! Surge!"Surge whistled and the Raichu stopped zapping the woman. She lay on the ground gasping.Jenny cuffed her and read the woman her rights. Surge sniffed. "Shame I can't pull what you did with this being their base instead of them infiltrating my Gym Brock."Jenny glanced up at that having heard what Surge said. "Your Gym was infiltrated Brock? Is Jenny there?"Surge grimaced. "Oh shit! Thought she knew!" he said sheepishly. I shot him a look and rolled my eyes."Keep that close to your chest. This is the first raid of many that are happening tonight," I said. Jenny and Surge stared at me.Surge whistled. "You got other sites to raid?" He grinned. "I'm down!"I snorted at him and then caught Jenny's hopeful look. "Ha, no sorry, other people are getting involved. I'd say more but…" I flicked my eyes around the room, "I'll wait until we're out of the probably bugged house."Surge gave the room a look over and clicked his tongue. "Yeah good call, she must have fried all the equipment to stop us, but that doesn't mean they can't still be watching and listening to us."A buzz on his wrist had him raising up his transceiver. "Can't talk baby girl I'm busy cleaning house with my favourite rat." Raichu who'd been patting down his fur bristled at the name.Surge winked at the pokemon before leaning in. "Listen snookums I have to go. I can come around in a day or two. There's a lot going on kay! Love you bu-bye!"He hung up and coughed. "Nothing to see here." I shook my head and moved back into the building to poke around a little.A number of policemen were poking around downstairs and I trailed in after them to find a room with a few trays of pokeballs.Onix, Geodude, Graveller, Rhydon, Nidoking. I whistled. "Looks like this was a room with pokemon that were prepared to fight against Surge," I said aloud. The police grunted their agreement and continued to take photos of the scene.One approached me and coughed. "Gym Leader Brock? We're going to need a statement."I nodded. "Yeah sure. No worries, best we do this outside though we're worried the place is still bugged." That got a reaction as instantly the nearby police officer stopped taking photos and began inspecting the room much more thoroughly."Got one!" "Got another!" announced two people, one after the other.The man that had approached me nodded and gestured back out the door. I signalled for my pokemon to follow and soon we were outside on the lawn. The building had been sectioned off by a number of Machoke that stood behind two onix that had been painted in yellow and blue along their sides. The words "Police" were also prominent on their bodies.Behind them, reporters were already dashing up with cameramen following after them. I could see a number of red lights glimmering already. I suddenly wasn't sure if giving a statement out here would remain private. The policeman seemed likewise as unsure.Then the gates from next door opened, and a very dapper-looking gentleman with a magnificent white beard sauntered out of the manor. He gave the police a curious look and then made a beeline for the reporters.The reporters looked at him in annoyance as he approached them one by one. Then their faces morphed into looks of worry. They each made a chopping gesture at their necks and the cameramen dropped their cameras to their hips.When one reporter tried to continue the man leaned into her space and whispered something while dropping a card into her hands. The female reporter turned white and ran for it, leaving her highly confused cameraman, who the gentleman merely nodded to.I stared at the suddenly empty space beyond the onix. The gentleman approached the onix and gave them both quick pats. He nodded at the policeman and then sauntered back to the manor he'd come from.The gates closed without a sound behind him. In the space of not even five minutes, he'd cleared out the reporters.I pointed at the gates. "Who the hell was that?" I said incredulously.The policeman coughed. "That was uhm… well he is the Chairman of the Kanto Pokemon club. Big name. Very… influential. He founded Silph co before he gave it over to his nephew… Big mover. Reclusive gentleman that likes to not be bothered." The policeman glanced at the empty space where the reporters were."Apparently he doesn't want trouble with people snooping around. The news will do a piece later, but they'll make sure not to mention where it happened or what's next door like some of those houndoom reporters would have."I scratched at my temple. "I'm not sure that answered my question or raised more… Soooo I'm just gonna leave it be."The man nodded. "That's a good call. Now could you tell me—"I wrapped up the talk quickly and then sought out Surge. He was talking with Jenny and the woman seemed highly unimpressed."—Can't go nuts like that! I know it must have set you off with the explosion but that's more of a reason for us to get involved instead of you haring off like you did! You dragged Brock into it as well! Did you think about him?!"Surge didn't meet her gaze. "Yeah, sorry, just… I kept him close, alright?"I was tempted to step in and defend him, but held back. He certainly didn't need my support in this.Jenny sighed. "Urgh stop giving us heart attacks. Can't you just be like other Gym Leaders?""Which ones? Koga? Blaine?" He leered. "Or should I be like the Cerulean sisters? Dress in drag and do the hula? Want me to shake what my momma gave me?!"Jenny groaned. "Alright, so that's a bad example! Just don't fly off the handle and wreck a place!""This place warranted it!" Surge said. Then he got a sly look. "Say you doing anything now? Wanna get a beer?"Jenny shot him a highly unimpressed look. "I literally, not ten minutes ago, heard you talking to your girlfriend.""Nah she was my side girl. I got a slot for a main girl!"Jenny groaned into her notepad. Surge glanced around, spotted me, and waved.I waved back only for a pokemon to call out. "Jynx~!"I glanced behind and found a Jynx waving from the gates of the manor at us— no actually at Surge. He coughed and waved at her before marching into the house. I marched up to him and gave him a look."Hey! Don't give me that look!" he turned to the side to find Officer Jenny giving him the same look. He walked faster. "Damn punks judging me!" he said.I sighed and shook my head only to pause as my transceiver buzzed. "Sabrina?" I said.Surge spun about and nudged Jenny sending the much smaller woman stumbling. "Heh! He's getting called by his girlfriend as well!"I shot a look at him… But didn't deny it. It was… true.Sabrina looked at me. "Brock I see you have already raided your site. Well done. I am at the Plateau and we have begun interrogating Daniel. We're getting a number of facilities but are starting to get all that we can.""That's good,. Are you feeling alright?" I asked carefully.Sabrina nodded her head. "I am fine. I can do this with no issues." A small groan to the side made me know Officer Jenny — from Pewter— was listening in. Sabrina's eyes flickered off screen for a second before she said, "Thank you for asking after me though. I appreciate it."I snorted. "That's good to know. Surge and I took the Listening outpost with all the Rocket members but the last one destroyed some equipment. The police are still combing through the building."A huff announced Agatha entering the conversation. "Gym Leader Brock, you and Gym Leader Surge should make your way to League headquarters to debrief. A teleporting pokemon will be sent your way."A moment later a familiar Alakazam appeared."Debrief and then meet up with us," Agatha ordered. I nodded and hung up. I waved goodbye to Jenny — from Vermillion — as well as calling back my pokemon. Then I vanished in a teleport.When I reappeared, I did so in a new clean building that just screamed high-tech and rich. Clear strips of metal ran along the floors and walls. With a number of signs indicating what room was in what direction."Gym Leader Brock we meet again!" said a voice from my nightmares.I spun about my hand landing on my belt. "Auditor Timothy!" I said.Next to me, Surge jumped backwards. "Oh, shit where!?" He spun about and took a defensive position.Timothy laughed. "It's wonderful to see you again. Sadly, this isn't a social visit though. I have been asked to compile a report. Shall we?""Urgh," I groaned. "Do we have to?" I said as I felt my heart rebel about being questioned by this Gengar puppeting a human body.The man laughed jovially. "Hahaha! Oh, yes, yes we must." Then he smiled, evilly, and indicated a possibly booby-trapped couch. "Let's begin shall we? Get this all sorted out and filed away quickly!"I sat down and sighed. This was not how I expected this night to go.