The area that had been selected for Sabrina's 'initiation' with the Guardians couldn't have been any different from mine if they tried. Instead of it being a dark and foreboding manor at night, it was a wide-open meadow away from any signs of life during the middle of the day.
I felt a little put out that I'd had to go through a few more hoops. Then again, I didn't want to push Sabrina into a bad position just because the Guardians had been rougher on me. Also, Janine had probably had it even easier by being raised with the understanding of what her father did and what would be required of her.I stroked Zephyr and relaxed a little. Really I should be happy that there were signs the Guardians were adapting.A few shapes appeared on the far side of the meadow and I watched as Karen rode up on a large Houndoom. Then Agatha arrived with a flash of dark light that chilled me slightly. Next to her, a Hypno was standing with a fearful look.Agatha spared it no mind as she returned it to its pokeball. With those two here I started looking around only for Koga to appear next to Agatha while I was looking the other way. Janine, I caught popping out of some long grass.Agatha inspected the group before turning her attention to myself. "Alright Brock, I've given Sabrina the time, now you can give her the place. We won't jump her all at once and keep it manageable. This is just to test what she's capable of."I nodded and stepped slightly away from the group before firing off a message to Sabrina as to my whereabouts. She appeared a few moments later. "Hey you," I said happily.She perked up and shot me a smile in reply. "Hello yourself." Then her eyes narrowed as she noticed the others standing around behind me. She nodded towards Koga and Janine. The younger girl was taken aback at the polite gesture but offered back a bow.Sabrina merely inspected Karen and Agatha, before she floated around me. Agatha rubbed her chin. "You can teleport so far without having ever been to a location before? Or was it that you had something to focus on? You shouldn't be able to lock in onto Brock like that. He is a dark type after all."Sabrina tilted her head. "I lock onto his transceiver's location though? It's a feature the new models have showing geographical location to friends."I nodded in agreement. It had made things a lot easier when that model had come out and I'd been able to share locations with other people.Karen groaned. "Darkness you're such an old woman at times Agatha, need Janine to come show you how to plug the television in too?"Janine blinked and her head turned to Agatha and Karen, one of whom was glaring while the other was smirking. I suddenly had the image of Agatha calling on Karen all the time for those odd little chores that so often confused elderly people.Janine offered a bow to Agatha. "I would be more than happy to assist the eld—" Karen started laughing and Agatha's scowl intensified."There will be no need. Thank you for your offer Janine," said Agatha through clenched teeth.I glanced down when I felt Sabrina slipping her hand into mine and when I looked up at her I found her floating up to peck me on the cheek. Only with my head turned it had become a peck on the lips. She blushed and floated back to the ground. I chuckled and gave her one back on the cheek."Oh! Young love, how wonderful for you both!" said Agatha with a leer, probably happy to have something else to focus on. Koga merely glanced away as though embarrassed by the display of affection. Janine openly watched like she was taking notes. Karen glowered.AH, was Sabrina staking her claim? Hmmmm. I shot Sabrina a look before nodding. It was probably the kindest way of dealing with it. There was no point in drawing it out for anyone.Koga coughed once. "Well if we're quite done. I wanted to get this sorted out today. Sabrina you will be—""Facing me!" crowed Karen as she cut off Koga. The man shot her a look that she ignored as she only had eyes for Sabrina.Sabrina tilted her head. "I've faced you before… you were…" She considered the word before nodding once. "Loud."Janine coughed once in a manner that made me think she was stifling a laugh, but she adopted a stoic expression when I glanced over at her.Agatha merely nodded. "I had thought to face you myself Sabrina, but if we're going to let the young ones start taking over our duties then this is a good point to start."Karen smirked but Sabrina wasn't cowed as she lifted her chin.Sabrina teleported into position and Karen stalked forward to claim her own spot, with them both posturing and having moved out of earshot I glanced at Agatha and Koga. "How are we doing this today?"Janine nodded seriously, looking to her father for how she should proceed.Agatha eyed the group. "To start with seeing as we're doing this so… irregularly," she shot Koga a look, which I took to mean he had pushed for this to happen quicker than Agatha had wanted. "With Sabrina being evaluated, I doubt we will have too many issues. That being said I want to deny her psychic abilities as much as we can to see how she reacts in such situations. If she falls to pieces we need to know. I'd rather know now.""She doesn't," I said firmly.Agatha tilted her head. "Hoh? You've trained with her on that have you?""During our journey actually. I had Titan working on his Dark Pulse a lot. It stopped a lot of things Sabrina was used to doing and she used to have a tantrum over it until she got used to managing it.""Hmmm, good to know." Agatha mused.Koga sniffed. "Keep your pokemon under control and follow normal battle rules. Leave testing Sabrina's responses to personal attacks to me. Unlike when we did our exercise in Lavender we don't have a convenient medic on hand if something goes wrong."I tilted my head before considering the only other person I'd met that night. "The shrine maiden?""Indeed, Tiffany is adept at healing living pokemon and dealing with the departed ghosts," said Koga.I glanced at Janine. "So how come you weren't part of that little expedition?""I have only recently been promoted to this level of the Guardians…""She did well in her fight against Team Rocket," said Koga and Janine straightened up and beamed like she'd just won a prize. Koga sniffed. "She still has much further to go as shown by her fight with you. The Game Corner showed that in a fight against people willing to not follow the rules, I have no fears for her." Janine wilted at first but then puffed her chest out slightly at her father's praise.I chuckled at her reactions and turned my attention to Karen and Sabrina. "I think Karen will want us to let her fight for a bit before we step in."Agatha merely cackled at my suggestion. A moment later a shadowy mass appeared behind her in the form of a chair which she sat upon smugly. The Gengar transformed into said chair winked at me.Karen and Sabrina selected their pokeballs and both released their pokemon."Let's go Umbreon!" shouted Karen."Espeon," said Sabrina far more sedately.Both pokemon appeared and both eyed the other with the Umbreon adopting a cocky pose. I bit my lip knowing how this first exchange was going to go down."Nasty Plot!" Karen said to start things off."Miracle Eye," said Sabrina firmly.As with their appearances, both pokemon once more almost parodied each other with their moves as their eyes glowed. Karen glowered at Sabrina who looked unaffected by the dark move."Psybeam," she ordered, causing a beam of energy to be unleashed straight at Umbreon."Quick attack out of the way and use DP!" barked Karen. Umbreon skipped to the side and then fired off a blast of dark energy.Sabrina shifted and sighed before her eyes glowed and she fell completely silent.Espeon skipped backwards without a word and fled what would be a full length of a battlefield to evade the Dark Pulse.Karen scowled but clicked her tongue in acceptance. Technically they should have set boundaries but it was an unspoken rule that in a field you could let your pokemon have the full area to maneuver if needed. It just made it slightly harder.Janine tilted her head. "What, oh!" She eyed Sabrina thoughtfully. "She's giving commands with her telepathy isn't she?"I nodded. "Yeah, one of the hardest things that happens when you challenge Sabrina at the Ace level is that she will stop verbally communicating with her pokemon if she wants to get serious. It's extremely disconcerting to realise how much you depend on your opponent to make the right orders or adjust. When you eliminate that it can throw off the tempo."Koga nodded. "Sabrina is ranked in the top thirty trainers according to the Ace points board. Lots of people challenge thinking to earn lots of points having beaten her during the Gym circuit. She is the strongest Gym Leader according to Ace championship points."I blinked. "Oh wow, that's amazing. Great work Sabrina," I said happily.Koga snorted and Agatha cackled. Janine glanced between them both but I spoke up. "What's wrong?""Is she even trying?" Agatha said. She jutted her chin. "Brock, Karen isn't weak. She's been stomping her away around Johto. Her hardest challenge on paper, Chuck, she dismantled with ease. Now here she is having to work for any advantage against an opponent who should be at a significant disadvantage.""Hmmmm, alright, what's your point?" I said knowing Agatha must be building towards something.In front of us, Espeon charged in to engage Umbreon. Karen clicked her tongue and had her own pokemon meet it head-on with a Crunch."She's wasted as a Gym Leader," Agatha said with a sigh."I'm not sure she wants more than what she has right now though." I pointed out. Agatha grumbled at that and I settled in to watch the fight.Sabrina had her pokemon match Karen's by lowering her head but I narrowed my eyes when I saw the gleaming jewel atop Espeon's head. Espeon had to twist to the side to avoid Umbreon latching on with a Crunch to her body only for the jewel on her head to erupt in a prismatic beam."Protect!" shouted Karen to stop the oncoming beam. I nodded. It had been the right move.The beam slammed into Umbreon's shield and a moment later died off leaving me blinking back stars at the sudden loss of light. Karen glowered at Sabrina before turning a gimlet eye upon me. "Fairy-type moves?"I smirked. Sabrina had gotten a lot from helping me against Lance. Both from betting big, and working with Selene and her Moonblast. I hadn't known she'd gotten to the stage of having her pokemon manifest it yet.I was pretty sure that would have been a Dazzling Gleam move. Sabrina's Espeon vanished in a flash of her pokeball and another pokemon emerged from her belt.A large black bulbous form emerged and from its head red eyes peered out. "Claydol!" it said energetically. I waved at it and got a wave back."Did you name him?" I called to Sabrina.Sabrina shook her head and pointed forward, her eyes locked on Karen's Umbreon. I coughed and shut my mouth. Oh right, I wasn't here to cheer on Sabrina or distract her."Umbreon blast it!" From Umbreon's maw a purple ball formed up and was shot forward quickly only for another ball to follow rapidly after.Claydol put a nub on the ground and spun away from the oncoming attacks. The Rapid Spin move was rather well-suited for Claydol. The jolly Psychic-Ground pokemon evaded the Shadow Balls easily and then teetered backwards only to slam another nub into the ground where it caused a shockwave. I pulsed some Rock energy into the ground around myself and stopped the Earthquake from affecting us but Umbreon was tossed from its feet and took some damage. Sabrina took the time to toss her hair dramatically, causing Karen to glower. More Shadow Balls were the response and once more Claydol was kept on the move as he twirled and spun like a ballerina."Confuse Ray!" ordered Karen, deciding to change it up.Sabrina responded by making the area brighter with Sunny Day. I frowned. That move didn't make a lot of sense for her. She had to know that Karen was known for her Houndoom. I'd mentioned it in the past hadn't I? I was suddenly worried that Sabrina's 'joke' of forgetting Karen wasn't a joke.Karen grinned and returned Umbreon straight away, knowing that this was a perfect moment for just that Houndoom. Sabrina inspected her own pokemon and returned it as well after a moment.As Houndoom took to the field for Karen. Sabrina responded with Starmie."Well, we should intercede now," said Agatha. I blinked and Janine stiffened."Do we have to?" I said only to find that I'd been copied by Janine quietly. We exchanged looks and grinned before looking back to find Agatha sighing exasperatedly at us. Koga seemed amused."Indeed, we should," he said. "There will be time enough for these two to fight again in the future I have no doubt." He waved his hand. "I shall probe her physically, Brock and Agatha will stop her movement. Keep things contained." He slashed his hand to finalise the order and I nodded before darting to the side.Sabrina stiffened as I selected two pokemon and tossed them out. She snapped her head at me and looked annoyed. I shot her a helpless smile."Sorry Sabrina! You looked like you were having fun but we're not here for that today!" I said as Titan and Knight took to the field. Sabrina responded by teleporting back ten metres with her Starmie from the battlefield. This forced myself and the rest of the Guardians to be slightly out of position and have to sprint after her.As we closed she tried again only for Karen's Umbreon and a Gengar to appear with glowing eyes that I knew to mean Mean Look was being used to stop her from teleporting away again.Titan stalked forward with a huff and growled while Knight shifted and jerked his head. He wanted to charge forward recklessly but I barked an order for him to move in line with Titan and he did so. We closed around Sabrina in a loose circle once again.Sabrina glowered at me some more and tossed out her Exeggutor and Espeon to one side. Then she threw out her Slowking behind her. He blinked guilelessly and his eyes started glowing. What was she planning?"I'll make it up to you?" I said as she continued to glower at me, she obviously wasn't pleased about my joining in on the attack. She nodded slowly, and from her belt, her Alakazam and Claydol emerged.I hummed. I knew that her Claydol was likely still feeling the effects of the Confuse Ray so he'd be an easier match-up against Knight.Alakazam had locked eyes with Titan straight off though and suddenly it was on."Titan, Dark Pulse now! Knight, match it!" Both pokemon blasted out dark energies as Sabrina's team of pokemon all glowed with psychic energy.Some of them flinched as Agatha took to the field with her Gengar shooting in to attack Espeon who was thrown to the ground with a cry. Watery eyes were leveled at the ghost only for the cat-like pokemon to smirk and blast Gengar with Dazzling Gleam.I saw Janine sending her Venomoth over to Sabrina only for a Xatu to appear and engage it. Sabrina's Exeggutor turned on Titan and suddenly it was all I could do to shout "PROTECT!" as a Solar Beam was unleashed on him.Knight charged in against Claydol with a sweep of my hand. Titan shook himself only to have to counter a barrage of rocks ripped from the earth with a Rock Throw of his own. Sabrina's Alakazam seemed more than happy to make the battle a stalemate with his Psychic ability. I kept a sharp eye out on Titan's footing."Hop!" I said, making Titan hop to the side as some ground shifted underneath him, a subtle trick by Alakazam we'd gotten used to dealing with as he'd adapted to us and our Dark Pulses during our journey together. His answer to not being able to deal direct damage had initially been to use the environment.Knight got close enough that I felt sure I could get off my next move. "Knight, blast them all! Dark Pulse!"Sabrina stumbled as a few of Karen's pokemon all fired off Mean Looks at her pokemon, stopping any teleporting tricks.Sabrina snapped her head up as she held her head in pain. "Xatu, Future sight! Alakazam, keep it up! Espeon, use Baton Pass with Slowking now!" she said, now forced to use her voice as the dark energies disrupted her telepathy.Espeon and Slowking changed places and a hit that Espeon had been about to take slammed into Slowking. He stepped back and glanced down. "..." He didn't react.Espeon darted out from behind Sabrina with a glimmering jewel atop its head and Sabrina smirked. "Knight! Use Dig!" I said not wanting to be on the receiving end of whatever Sabrina had planned."Gengar, use Destiny bond—" ordered Agatha only for a giant beam of psychic power to lance out of Espeon and blow the Gengar away.I could only stare in surprise.That had been powerful! Way more powerful than I'd ever seen from her Espeon.I played back what Espeon had just done and realised the key set-up. She'd used Baton Pass on Espeon and Slowking who'd looked like he was doing nothing the entire time only to most likely be using Calm Mind to increase his Special Attack. Using Baton Pass would have allowed a short-range teleport and then the transfer of built-up power to Espeon. Interesting that Baton Pass got around all the Mean Looks tossed out earlier. I made a mental note of that for later."Espeon, Morning Sun," said Sabrina, causing her pokemon to hop back to her side and use the earlier Sunny Day for an empowered heal."Fire Blast," said Karen, aiming to take advantage last boost she could from the weakening Sunny Day. Starmie and Slowking tried to handle the attack from Houndoom only to get blasted back all the same. Slowking took some damage and to my surprise his eyes rolled up into his head as he fell unconscious. He must have vastly underplayed the damage he took when he switched with Espeon.Sabrina returned him, only for Knight to emerge underneath Alakazam. The moustached pokemon had a look of surprise at the interruption but if he was alright with Exeggutor stepping in on Titan then I'd play the same switching game of targets.Alakazam was thrown back only to regain control of himself a moment later. Sabrina clicked her tongue as her gaze swept the field. Then she stiffened as Koga appeared behind her."You left your back exposed," he said stoically as he put a finger on her neck to indicate the overstep.Sabrina slumped slightly and made a gesture for her pokemon to not react. "You waited until I couldn't sense you," she said to Koga as I called Knight back. He patted Alakazam on the shoulder cheerfully before returning to my side.Koga nodded his head. "Indeed. It has been many years since I have been able to get the drop on you. Sadly if this were not a friendly setting you would be gravely injured or worse." He stepped back and surveyed the field. "But I am glad that it takes this sort of response to see you pushed that far." He narrowed his eyes. "Still, I would advise practising self-defence and being more aware when you are in such situations to always guard your back. You had Slowking in position until you traded him out and had Espeon move to attack. If you do this you need another pokemon in position. You are not like Brock or Janine or myself with physical skills to ward off opponents when your psychic abilities falter."Sabrina nodded her head in acceptance and then began checking her pokemon over, her hands being used in place of her usual psychic check up. I stepped up and patted Titan on the flank as he rumbled at Alakazam in greeting. Alakazam nodded at something that had been said, and the two began talking amiably.Karen looked rather conflicted as she recalled her pokemon. "Hmmm I'm glad that you got shown up but urgh, I wish that match had gone longer. I was so ready to start blasting you with my Houndoom before the others got in the way!"I rolled my eyes at her and Janine glared daggers. "I was not in the way!""I would have hit your Venomoth at one point! Sabrina was dragging you into my line of fire little girl!"I clapped my hands and adopted a stern smile. "Alright, so we're not used to fighting together. That's just how things are. It might not be a bad idea to practise working in teams in the future. Agatha and Koga I noticed didn't get in anyone's way." I rubbed my chin. "Not that I saw Koga use any pokemon but he made good use of the Dark Pulses and Mean Looks and your Fire Blast nevertheless."Koga inclined his head. "Indeed. Brock has the right of it. While we were testing Sabrina's response to an intense and highly unlikely event, we also should reflect on our own performances. In the past, it has been easier as our group has been smaller. Nowadays we need to work with others."He pointedly stared at Sabrina and Karen before continuing. "There may be instances where we will need each other's support on missions.""Speaking of missions," I said leadingly. "Any news about that—"Koga shook his head. "The base near Viridian has not been infiltrated yet. It will not have lowered its guard based on previous wartime protocols. This is not for new members to attempt," Koga said firmly.Agatha tilted her head and squinted into the sky. "Speaking of new members, I had invited another of your generation to this gathering but it appears she's only just now arriving."Agatha clicked her tongue. "I'll have to teach her to bully psychic pokemon to get them to teleport you properly."Sabrina stopped checking over Slowking and shot Agatha an unimpressed look. I walked up and offered her a potion bottle and cloth to use. I rubbed my chin as I watched a Pidgeot approach. "Does your Slowking know Heal Pulse?""No, why?" Sabrina said as she cared for her downed pokemon."It's just with your positioning he'd have been perfect as a backline support, shooting out Heal Pulse to keep all your pokemon up to good health. Or maybe another pokemon like a Chansey could do that. How you used him was incredible."Sabrina looked up and smiled at me. "Thank you." She flicked her eyes to Karen. "I'd been aiming for Karen's Houndoom with that last attack of Espeon's." I frowned and considered the angles. I hadn't seen it from my side, but had that Gengar who took the hit been making a sacrifice play? It seemed that way at least.I gave Agatha a considering look. That move just now. It was actually a supportive and selfless play for the team, which surprised me given how abrasive she was normally. Then again, her and Karen probably got on the best, albeit for a given value of 'best' out of everyone here.From the sky, a new figure arrived. I frowned up at the girl. Karen waved at her and none of the others seemed worried about her, but I couldn't help but feel a niggle in my mind.I knew this girl from somewhere, but where? I really hoped this wasn't another Solidad situation.She had dark black hair that featured red highlights that fell over her shoulders and a long ponytail that trailed down to her hips. She wore close-fitted pants and a purple top that looked to be strongly made.She glanced in my direction as she hopped off the Pidgeot, only to stumble to a halt and stare. I checked myself over. I hadn't spilt something on myself, had I? Sabrina stepped up next to me.I shot Sabrina a look before smiling at the new girl welcomingly. "Hello there! I didn't know we were going to have someone else join us today, I'm Brock!" I said earnestly while Sabrina sighed in annoyance for some reason. The new girl continued to stare at me.I pointedly shot a look at Agatha only for her to scoff.The new girl jolted "Oh! apologies! I just! I was…" She trailed off and coughed when Sabrina twitched. I frowned which caused the new girl to cough again to clear her throat. "I'm Lucy! And you have lovely—" Sabrina stepped in closer to me and Lucy paused. "I mean!" She shifted and looked away, biting her lips and clenching her eyes.I blinked, what was going on here? Had I met her before?"Oh I've heard of you, Lucy right? You're a Ranger," I said aloud as a suspicion of who this was formed in my mind. Agatha had mentioned her, but I hadn't looked into it any further.I looked her over as a memory rose. Hadn't she… Oh.In the cartoon, she was one of the notable exceptions to Brock's terrible attempts at dating. In fact, she'd been rather receptive to Brock's... cartoonish attempts at romance. Something notable considering his usual strike rate. In a sea of rejection, Battle Pike Lucy, Brain of the Battle Frontier had stood out.And now she was here and I had to deal with her in front of my girlfriend. Quick Brock! Do something!I wrapped an arm over Sabrina and smiled goofily. "Nice to finally put a name to a face! Meet my girlfriend Sabrina. She's officially joined us now!" There. How had that gone down? It should calm things down right?Lucy snapped her head around as Sabrina seemed to mold herself into my side. Lucy slumped with a despondent look on her face. Oh. It seemed it was super effective but also a critical hit? Now I felt a little bad. Lucy shook herself off and offered a polite nod to the others. "Koga, Agatha, Karen.. Hello Janine," she said much more casually and with a smile.Janine nodded. "Greetings Lucy. It is good to see you again!"Lucy nodded at this. Then she adopted a serious expression, "I have news regarding the Brains of the Battle Frontier. Fiore and the Rota Kingdom have put together their representatives."Agatha and Koga straightened expressions turning serious. "Go on," said Agatha.Lucy nodded. "From the Kingdom of Rota an elderly man with a long flowing beard by the name of Spenser has joined us. He was apparently something called a Palace Maven from the Kingdom of Rota.""It means he was one of the Elite guards for the royalty," Koga said seriously. "What pokemon did he showcase?""two Slaking, Arcanine, Crobat, Lapras, Dusclops, and an Azumarill, but he hinted at something stronger."Koga and Agatha nodded. "Continue," Agatha said."Noland from Fiore has a veritable army of pokemon that follow him and his commands. The most notable however was an Articuno."Koga hissed in surprise. "That… is very good to know." Agatha and he shared a look before Koga nodded. "I suspect it is juvenille… or else this Noland is much more skilled than we believed he would be."Lucy nodded slowly, understanding that this would be for her to determine. "Trainer Tucker had Charizard, Swampert, Salamance, Metagross and a Latias," reported Lucy."Greta from Johto, has a large number of fighting type pokemon and she trains them all physically herself. She has no major pokemon that are out of the ordinary that I have discovered."Karen laced her hands behind her head. "This is all super interesting, but how come it wasn't sent as a report?""Oh? Does news of which trainers have Legendary pokemon at their beck and call not interest you Karen?" said Agatha. Karen bowed her head at the rebuke and offered Lucy a twitch that might have been a bow in apology. Agatha sniffed. "You're getting to big for yourself girl. You haven't seen a Legendary in action yet. Feh!"Agatha turned her attention back to Lucy. "Continue, this is vital intelligence."Lucy licked her lips. "I actually thought of sending this as a report initially but… well… I did so in person because I... am not confident that I will be able to keep my position due to the last Fiore representative," She shifted on the spot. "Annabel is a skilled pokemon handler, who claims to be a simple Salon maiden."Lucy rubbed her arms. "I… I approached her to get a haircut and during the haircut, she picked up on my curiosity despite my not showing any outward responses." She nodded towards Koga. "I used your lessons but she was still highly aware. It went beyond intuition as I observed her predicting and reacting to various people's emotions before anything was visible."Lucy straightened out. "I believe Anabel is one of the rare few people that are gifted as a psychic and I am worried that she will be able to read my thoughts eventually. I am not confident in my role. I apologise for failing you!" she said in a rush, bowing at the hips towards Koga and Agatha.I hummed and tapped Sabrina on the shoulder and inclined my head towards Lucy. Sabrina pouted at me and I smiled nicely at her.She huffed and cleared her throat. "Well it is a good thing I became an official member today then. I can teach you to stop psychic intrusion or detect it at the very least. If you are willing to learn."Agatha tapped her chin. "Hmm it is fortuitous. Lucy, you are to be commended for picking up on this. It might be that this Anabel is still developing her gift or is as of yet unaware of it. I suggest you learn under Sabrina for a time, as using other methods… is not advisable for a number of reasons mostly due to the sudden suspicion you will be under if she can't detect you where she once could."Lucy offered Sabrina a bow. "I would be in your debt!"Sabrina nodded seriously. "Very well. I have some conditions though."Lucy straightened up. "Name them and I shall follow them to the letter!"Sabrina pointed straight at me. "Mine."I chuckled and blushed while Lucy sputtered denials. Agatha merely threw her head back and cackled. Even Koga made a noise of amusement much to Janine's shock.When we were done, Sabrina had herself a new apprentice to work through during each of the girls' spare time, and we had a lot more knowledge about the Battle Frontier's development.The world was moving on it seemed and we needed to move with it. It felt weird to be working against Anabel who had been such a positive force. Didn't she become one of the police officers working with Agent Looker?"Brock, I understand that Mayor Jonathan has been giving you some issues?" Agatha said before she departed.I clicked my tongue. "You could say that. Some people think he's making a bid for Kruger's spot.""Ambitious of him but not uncommon in his sort." Agatha tapped her fingers on her cane. "I will send some recommendations to you. Review them at your leisure." She then clicked her fingers and a Hypno appeared. It offered Agatha a hesitant hand before teleporting away.I sighed but when Sabrina gave me a look I shook my head. "Seems like everyone has something to say about it. Not sure what will be best right now is all."Sabrina accepted it with a nod and placed her hand on my shoulder. "You can work on it later. I'll help." She tilted her head. "Home to watch television?"I grinned and said goodbye to the others before vanishing in a teleport to spend time with my girlfriend. It was a better way to spend my afternoon than worrying about politics.
101
"So, want to go watch a movie?" I said when we arrived at my house.She nodded and started walking towards the loungeroom, she dragged me along and I laughed. "I meant, go to the movies!" I said before jerking my head outside. "You know, something different."Then I paused. Ah, actually the movies might be a bit rough for her. Although she'd been handling larger and larger crowds so maybe—"Brock's home!" said Timmy before I could get a reply. Sabrina's lips twitched as the smaller kids flooded out of the loungeroom to pile onto me."Brock!" "Bro!" "Big brother!" "You were gone for forever and a year! I counted!" "Come play with us!" They started tugging at me, but like a mountain, I remained unmoved.Flint was the next to emerge, looking bedraggled, only to straighten up and tidy himself up when he saw us. "Brock! Welcome home!" He then smiled timidly at Sabrina. "Sabrina, lovely to see you as well… You're looking nice?" he said.Part of me was cringing at his compliment, while the other was wondering what was happening here. There had to be a subtext that I wasn't picking up on. Sabrina merely nodded back."Flint," she said succinctly.She then smiled down at Suzie as she wiggled in front of her. "Hello Suzie, you're looking pretty today.""Oh Sabrina!" she said with a flap of her hand. Suzie then inspected Sabrina. "I like what you did with your shoes!" Suzie then perked up. "Oh! Can you tell us another story!? You tell the best stories!"The kids stopped tugging me and swivelled onto the new target. They rounded on her but still gave her a bit of room as they adopted begging poses. "Pleeeeeeaasssssseeeee!?" they said as one.Sabrina tilted her head. "Hmmm, I'm not sure. Your brother wanted to go on a date."Yolanda's head snapped around the corner. "Brock and Sabrina are going on a date?" In her hands, Terra waved hello. The little baby pokemon smiled and trilled a greeting.Sabrina dipped her head once. "We were considering it."I inspected Yolanda's Larvitar. "How's she doing?""Pretty well, she still has the bad habit of giving some of her food to Munchlax, so I'm having to feed her away from him."Forrest rolled his eyes. "Just tell him off." Flint nodded, and opened his mouth to say something only for his eyes to pause on Sabrina. His mouth snapped shut after that.Yolanda shrugged. "Eh, it's fine. I don't mind spending more alone time with her."The other kids continued to plead with Sabrina and Yolanda stiffened as she recalled what had called her out here. "Oh! Uhm Dad was going to make a cake!""I was?" Flint said with a tilt of his head."Yup!" Yolanda said as she started pushing siblings towards the kitchen. "First one there gets to lick the bowl?!" she said as our siblings stared at her doubtfully.They didn't want to leave us, only for Munchlax to charge out of the loungeroom and spring over their heads. "Lax!" he said as he ran ahead, only to trip on Eevee as she came the other way to find out what was going on. They fell to the ground with a thump and the kids giggled before the boys straightened up."I'm not going to be last!" they said as they gave chase. This led to an exodus of kids around us. Even Suzie only stopped to toss us a wave."Haha! Suzie's last!" crowed Timmy loudly."I am not! Forrest is last!" said Suzie primly as she entered the kitchen."What?" Forrest said, from where he'd been leaning. "I wasn't even trying to get in there?" he said as he stalked in to defend himself from a bunch of children. I shook my head. Poor Forrest, he'd learn one day.I shifted my attention back to Sabrina now that we were alone. "So? Movies? Go for a walk in the gardens? Or something else?"Sabrina hummed. Behind her head, I noted the calendar was open and there was a marking for the phase of the moon. "Oh, but we need to be finished before the moon is in the sky." She considered me. I gave her an innocent smile. "It's a surprise, a good one! Promise!""Very well, how about we simply hang out until then?"I huffed. "Alright, loungeroom, my room, or go do something with our pokemon?""Hmm, our pokemon I think," she said. "I'd like to see what has changed since I was last in your reserve." I nodded, pushing the slight disappointment aside as we headed out to release our pokemon. My pokemon all appeared and relaxed happily while Sabrina's took a moment to inspect their surroundings.Alakazam was the quickest to relax, as he adopted a hovering meditative pose before bobbing over to Selene who led him up to the top of the plateau. Claydol followed them along cheerfully, and the rest of Sabrina's pokemon moved about to explore the reserve causing a number of my Gym pokemon to poke their heads out at the new arrivals.I walked around with Sabrina and watched some fairly amusing reactions such as Hypno getting squirted in the face by my Corsola. Slowbro stood among the Lileep looking rather lost. I imagine he had no idea where the small trees had come from and how he had a grove grow around him. Eventually, he seemed to just shrug and accept it.When we came around to the Elite training area Sabrina frowned slightly. "Why do you have a Stantler?"I sighed and gestured for him to come over. The deer bounded over happily and barked once before butting his head into my hand. I rubbed him. "I've been trying to work out if I can make Stantler evolve. I've been studying them for an idea I had. See, I came across something interesting with there being previous fossils and records of another deer pokemon. One very similar in build and size to Stantler."I had actually gone through what data the Guardians had and discovered this information. It was not something many people had reviewed and there was actually very little commentary on it, but I knew it was something I could use."So Stantler can evolve into a rock type?"Stantler snorted and shook his head about before nudging Sabrina. "Antler!" he said as he nudged into Sabrina. Sabrina tilted her head. "Psychic?" she said in surprise.I nodded. "I think it needs a different method to evolve, namely a move to be performed in a certain way. The pokemon images had the pokemon being very long-legged. I think if we have Stantler using agility regularly and work on Zen Headbutt something will eventually happen. That or we need them to be immersed in an energy-rich environment.""A psychically rich environment?" she said. "You were trying to evolve this pokemon… for me?""Yeah, sorry it has sort of fallen by the wayside." I scratched at the side of my head. "It will probably take me a while longer as well, with this not really being a psychically rich environment.""I would like to take this over." Sabrina declared as she rubbed Stantler's head. "Send me the notes you have, and I will continue Stantler's training along with giving him a small herd to breed with." Stantler snorted and for a moment I thought I saw hearts enter his eyes before he brayed happily and rubbed his head along Sabrina. She laughed. "He is open to that idea." He rubbed his head back and forth and Sabrina laughed again. "Very open to it."I snorted. "I can see that."She eyed me. "Did you know of any other potential psychic evolutions or variants." I hummed and her gaze sharpened on me. "You do?"I waved a hand back and forth. "It's a silly thought, but I just wondered, if Stantler can do it, why couldn't another pokemon like Ponyta have a Psychic evolution?""Hmmm horse and deer pokemon…" she said thoughtfully."Seemed logical," I said, defending my future knowledge. It would be great to see Sabrina with a psychic Ponyta or Rapidash. But then again, she'd probably become the most popular trainer with little girls everywhere if she pulled it off. Those pokemon were disgustingly cute.From what I could remember of the shiny variant? Sabrina would have little girls swearing eternal loyalty to her for a chance to pet one, let alone own one. The only other pokemon I could think of with a variant to psychic was Slowpoke but I wasn't going to advocate for a poisoning Slowpoke. Nor was I going to have Sabrina raiding an Articuno nest to raise one, as incredible as it would be."So have you been getting many challenges?" I asked.When I got no reply I looked up from petting Stantler to see Sabrina was ignoring me. Instead, she was looking into the distance, lost in thought."I will pursue this." she eventually declared. "I can set up the facilities without any issue." She stroked Stantler's snout. "I would like to have those pokemon around the gym as well.""Well alright?" I said, realising she was still thinking about what I'd said. Or more likely giving it even more thought than I had "Sorry I couldn't take it any further.""You have already given me a wonderful gift. I shall be sure to list you in any research papers I need to post once I am successful."I shot her a smirk. "If you're successful, don't you mean?"She stared at me. "I have faith in your discoveries, Brock. They have proven true enough over the course of our journey, no?"I chuckled. "Got me there!" I said. Our journey must have seemed ridiculously lucrative with all the pokemon I discovered along with the various areas or items that I happened upon.We left Stantler to frolic around in a much happier mood. I was glad for him, he'd been rather downcast with how we hadn't had any success of late in developing the Psyshield Bash that he needed to evolve. Handing him off to Sabrina felt like a failure on my part, but then again she would have the best chance at getting him to evolve, so it wasn't that big an issue."Will you require me to help prepare you for Will's challenge?" she said.I considered it before shaking my head. It would honestly be overkill with the team I had. I doubted Will would be able to mount a proper challenge. That had been why I'd felt so confident demanding a fight then and there at the Mayor's ball.We rounded the plateau to witness her pokemon lounging around with some of mine. Slowbro was still not sure what to do with the Lileep but now Zephyr was sitting on his head peering down at him. Sabrina didn't notice though as she was staring at me.She coughed pointedly, and I glanced at her. "Hmmm?""I said, did you want my help to prepare?"I blinked at her and was about to tell her that I didn't need it, only to realise what she was really getting at. "Oh! Yeah, I'd love to have your help."She perked up at that. I coughed to hide a sheepish chuckle. I'd dropped the ball there initially before catching on. I mentally patted myself on the back, nice save me.Sabrina eyed the setting sun and then turned to me. "What did you have planned for us?"I gestured to Mt Moon. "Ever seen a Clefairy evolve naturally?"Her eyes gleamed with interest, and I knew I'd thought up something interesting. I considered it a pretty big win when we got to sit on a rock on top of a mountain under a full moon as a tribe of pokemon danced their special dance. Sabrina was captivated. I'd seen it a few times, so I didn't watch them.Instead, I watched Sabrina.She had a look of open wonder that I hadn't seen since our time journeying together. It made me feel good inside that I could still make her feel that way despite us having grown up.She also had this look of glee that made it all the more special. I knew she was getting more expressive these days, but these looks were especially precious as they were some of the ones I enjoyed the most when we were kids."Brock," Sabrina said as she tapped me."Hmmm?" I said, noticing she'd caught me staring at her. She had a lovely blush now that made me want to lean in and kiss her. I started to do just that only for her eyes to dart to the side."Clefairy!" chimed a voice, making me turn to see that we had a voyeur at our viewing show. A small Clefairy was laying on a rock kicking up its heels and smiling at us. It waved and stood before bouncing up to us when it noticed we were now both looking at it."Cle! Clefairy!" It said, tapping on itself before grinning. Then it pointed right at me before nodding seriously.I glanced at Sabrina. "What'd it say?""He wants to go with you. He wants to get a strong female like you have," she said, her blush returning.I turned back to the clefairy to find him nodding his head. "Huh…" I thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "Sure thing."I plucked a pokeball and held it out. The clefairy bounced forward and headbutted the ball resulting in his body being absorbed. The pokeball chimed once for a successful capture.I stared at it. "I've been coming here for years and that's the first time one of them ever wanted me to catch it.""Apparently you lowered your dark aura for once, and he got a better view of you. He said you were very kind-hearted." Sabrina continued to blush and not meet my gaze."Was that all he said?" I leaned forward and peered past her bangs.She huffed and a second later, she was kissing me furiously.I didn't know what I did that caused that reaction but I'd take it. At my waist my newly caught pokemon emerged and sat down to watch us kiss. I was conscious of it, and weirded out for all of a moment; then Sabrina grabbed my face and made me pay attention to more important things.When we returned, I was feeling pretty good. Yolanda took one look at my dopey smile and giggled to herself. Clefairy chose that moment to emerge from his pokeball to inspect his new home."Oh my gosh! You caught a Clefairy!" she said, causing the heads of every girl in the room to snap onto the new pokemon like a Pidgeot onto prey.Flint took one look at the Clefairy and chuckled. "Another pet pokemon? Don't you have enough of those with Munchlax and Eevee?"I raised an eyebrow. "Clefable are strong pokemon if used right."Flint shook his head and I hummed, not all that mindful of his criticism. Clefairy was glaring at him though, apparently a little miffed. I knelt down next to my new pokemon. "Hey, ignore him, I have a plan to make you a superstar of my team. If you can handle the training, I've got a spot for you."Oh, did I have a plan for him."Clefairy!" said the little puffball with fierce determination in his eyes. I grinned. I couldn't wait to introduce him to the gang.After the excitement of a new family member wore off, it was off to bed for the little ones and myself. Sabrina pointedly walked into my room and settled in to sleep with me much to Yolanda's amusement. She continually knocked to 'check in' with me on some training point I knew she knew. Worse, she knew, I knew, that she knew. She still smirked at me until Sabrina bid her good night, apparently she enjoyed the comedy act Yolanda and I had put on.The next morning, I woke up with Sabrina cuddled up to me. "Good morning," she said, sitting up and yawning as I got ready. "This is for you," she said, while lifting a card up for me to read. I opened it and blinked."Oh… it's my birthday today?" I said, surprised. Sabrina yawned again and blinked blearily. I leaned down and kissed her on the lips. I hid the grimace I wanted to show at her morning breath before thanking her. "How about you get ready on your own time. I have a few surprises I want to set up for today."Sabrina nodded and glanced back at my bed, obviously considering it before shaking her head. "I need to check in with Ralts. I will return to train with you soon." I nodded and waved as she teleported away. I glanced down at the card. I'd forgotten about the date with all the excitement of the past few days.I shook my head and chuckled before heading out to meet up with my team for the start of the week's training. And to introduce Clefairy to the elite team.I released him and he appeared with a shake of his head once my team had gathered. They all stared at the tiny pokemon. Don opened his maw, obviously expecting this to be a meal rather than a new teammate."Team, this is Clefairy, he's a pokemon I plan to train up to take on a utility role in our roster. He'll be able to learn a lot more moves than most of you, but as a Fairy-type pokemon he will also serve as a Dragonslayer.""Cle?!" said Clefairy in shock. Titan rubbed his chin thoughtfully and nodded while Bertha inched closer to the startled Clefairy. I could tell she just wanted to snuggle but it was amusing watching her 'sneak up' on the smaller pokemon.Don looked annoyed. "Reeeee!" he screeched, before snapping his jaws in Clefairy's direction. He made to stalk forward to correct my mistake, only for me to step right into his path and glare at him."Clefairy isn't here by mistake," I said firmly. Don locked eyes with me. Titan shifted slightly, probably ready to smack Don if he tried anything. Which wouldn't help this situation."Don, decisions on this team are not yours to make. I am the trainer due to understanding that there is more to fighting than just using power. Clefairy will fill a niche that we are seriously lacking. When I said Utility, I meant he will provide support with healing moves, both for himself, and others."Don blinked at that. "Aero?" he said, tilting his head.I nodded. "There is a move that can heal other pokemon. It's called Healing Wish."I looked down at Clefairy and knelt. "Clefairy, the training I have planned for you is something that will be tougher than anything I've done with any of my pokemon. I plan to make you master a move, that if successful, will knock you out. That's when you use it successfully. It will then confer health to the next pokemon that reaches where you were knocked out."Clefairy gasped before looking down. Before I could say anything else he nodded. "Cle! Clefairy!" he said before glaring at Don. I huffed in amusement."I wasn't done Clefairy." I slapped Bertha on the shoulder, who was now in grabbing distance of Clefairy. She stiffened at the slap, realising she'd been caught. "This is Bertha, my Rhyperior. She's special in that she's smart enough to have learned how to combine powerful attacks." I pointed straight at clefairy."You are going to learn the same trick with Healing Wish. I don't want you passing out. I want you to be a ghoulish nightmare that simply will not let any of my pokemon go down, yourself included. That is my plan for you. I won't lie, you more than any other pokemon on my team will have it tough. Most won't appreciate your arrival until that moment when you showcase yourself. It will not be a quick process either. It took Bertha years to—""Cle! Clefairy!" he said, swiping his hand forward as though rejecting what I was saying. He pumped his fist and glared up at everyone, his fiery spirit back. "Fairy! Cle! Clefairy! Fairy! Clefairy! Fairy!!!" he said with another slash of his hand before he stood defiantly and waited for a response.Don looked shocked. Hypnotoad, Shrek, Scyther and Shin all grinned before sharing pleased looks. Titan leaned down and stared straight into Clefairy's face before snorting. Clefairy tried to stand his ground, but the breath from Titan was too strong and blew him back."Cle!" said Clefairy as he clicked his tongue. He stalked straight into Titan's face and glared harder. Titan barked a laugh and stood tall before bellowing something then he shot Clefairy a thumbs up that had the rest of my team trumpeting their own approval.I raised my whistle. "Alright gang, training time! Will's coming up soon and I plan to put the hurt on him! Bertha, Scyther, stick around!" My pokemon moved off with an eagerness that I hadn't seen since I'd announced I was going to challenge Lance. I eyed my new puffball that was squirming in Bertha's grasp."Fairy!" he said with a whine as Bertha stroked him.I snorted. "Better get used to it Clefairy, she's going to be your mentor in how to combine moves.""Rhy! Perior!" Bertha said like all her dreams had just come true.Clefairy wilted for a moment before bowing as deep as he could to the giant Rhino pokemon that was still patting him. I shot my head over to the side where there was a large free space. "Clefairy, hop up on her shoulder and let her demonstrate her Seismic Twist, a move that combines Horn Drill with Fissure."Clefairy gaped and bowed again as Bertha marched off with her new shoulder puffball.I turned to Titan who hadn't moved off before addressing Scyther. "What did he say?"Titan rubbed his chin and made a clenching fist of determination. "He accepted my challenge?" Titan clenched his fist harder, and Scyhter's wings buzzed excitedly. Something Clefairy had said had them all pumped up. I considered what could have been said to get such a response. I huffed a laugh and decided to jokingly say the most anime response possible."He rejects my claims that it will take him years and that he'll learn it in months, not years!" I said faux-heroically.Scyther nodded but Titan made a narrowing motion with his claws. I stared at him before looking over to the hyper-focused Clefairy as Bertha demonstrated her combination move."He said weeks didn't he?" Titan narrowed his claws further."Days?" The claws got narrower as Titan's smile got bigger."By Today?" I said in shock.Titan gave me a thumbs up with a smirk as he looked approvingly at Clefairy. I whistled. Damn, what a gutsy little guy. I suddenly was reminded that, in truth, I had no idea just how strong this little pokemon was. I'd seen cute and cuddly and thought that meant he was 'low leveled', but that might not be the case. Did he already know Healing Wish?I glanced at Scyther. "Alright, change of plans, you go get Chansey out here now, cause this is going to kill him otherwise. I'll need to ride herd on this guy or he'll kill himself without understanding what he's trying to do. His pride is good and all but I want an able-bodied pokemon, not a suicidal pokemon."Beneath my feet, the earth bucked once making me stagger. Titan caught me and chuckled before waving me towards Clefairy who was already on the ground and putting his hands together with a pink bubble forming up in front of himself. Part of his body twitched and he suddenly fainted, his eyes going slack as he collapsed face-first into the ground, leaving a pink floating orb where he'd been standing. I sprinted over to him as Bertha reached through the pink orb to check on her student.She snorted in shock as the pink orb was sucked into her and she suddenly became slightly more energetic as she shook Clefairy. I had to stop her as I was worried she'd injure him worse.I started running through a rudimentary health check only for a new cry to make me look up. I did so in time to see Chansey switch from jogging to outright sprinting at me to get to Clefairy. She arrived in the blink of an eye and a dust cloud was about to follow her before Titan swept his tail through it and disrupted it. I nodded in thanks only to find myself pushed back as Chansey made me give her some room.She tapped her hands about Clefairy's face for a bit before nodding to herself and lifting up her egg to hand feed it to Clefairy. A moment later, he blinked awake. "Clefairy?""Tch!" said Chansey as she sniffed disapprovingly. She opened her mouth to start giving him a dressing down only for him to push himself to his feet and shake his head."Clefairy," he said simply before marching up to Bertha and barking a question. Bertha sheepishly rubbed her head and said something back that had him gaping. He then sheepishly walked up to me and said some words. From the gist of the situation I guessed he was asking about what two moves he needed to combine."I was going to teach you Endure through a TM and make you combine that with Healing Wish."Clefairy had a shocked expression before he coughed and nodded seriously. I stared at him. "You're the sort of idiot that jumps before the thought of even looking comes to mind aren't you?"Clefairy rubbed the back of his head and laughed as though I'd complimented him. Chansey stared daggers at the little puffball only to be ignored.I sighed. "Alright, let's get you that move and we'll work on it together." I said, stressing the together. I waved at Titan. "Teach him about controlling his energy channels." Titan sat down with a crash and raised two hands so he started to teach. He was an old hand at teaching this lesson by now so I left them to it. I jogged into the Gym and passed a few of my trainers that were feeding the other pokemon."Morning! Nice day isn't it?" Missy said.I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm suddenly very glad we have some gauntlets to run cause I need a little more time to ride herd on my pokemon." When she tilted her head and looked around for Don I chuckled. "I got a new pokemon.""New pokemon?" said Missy, clearly interested. "What's he like?"I hummed as I kept jogging. "A surprise, for everyone I think." I returned with the TM and found Clefairy once more holding up a pink orb, the others waving at him frantically. I snapped out his pokeball and returned him, making him abort the move.When I returned him, I glowered down at him. "Damn it Clefairy you don't even know Endure yet!"When he tried to ignore me and return to talk with Bertha about his attempt I put my foot down."Stop," I said, drawing on the depths of mountains and the darkness of the abyss to convey just how unamused I had become.Clefairy stopped and looked up in shock. I stared down at him."Clefairy, I know you want to be gung ho about this, but I'm going to lay down the law. You are not going to learn this move without seriously hurting yourself, possibly permanently."A glint of defiance entered his eyes and I snorted. "It is also incredibly selfish of you."That made him baulk. "Cle?"I nodded. "If you were to continue this training, I'd need to hover around you, Titan would need to spend some time teaching you about using different energies, Bertha would need to constantly show you how to merge them with moves, and finally Chansey, who is the on-call healer for all of my pokemon would also need to stick. None of us would be able to do anything else while we watched you kill yourself."Clefairy lost his defiance and stared at the ground with droopy ears. I felt like a heel, but I also needed to set some ground rules. "We will help you Clefairy. I, and everyone who heard you speak, know that you have a lot of heart. I want you to show that it isn't a selfish heart. Cause otherwise I'll release you back onto Mount Moon."Clefairy looked up at me and searched my gaze before bowing his head. "Clefairy!" he said, bowing his head up and down before he jogged over to Titan and repeated the bowing. He did the same to Bertha, Chansey and even Scyther. Then he dropped to his knees before me and bowed his head.Huh, where had he learnt the dogeza from?I knelt down and patted him on the shoulder. "You impress me for a lot of reasons Clefairy, but taken too far those positives can be big problems. I'm glad you're willing to listen, I think you'll go a long way." I pointed to Titan. "Let's teach you Endure and get you to master it first and then start working on energy manipulation.".I stood up and nodded at him. "A month," I said with a nod as I set the TM against his head. He perked up. "You'll do it in a month." I activated the TM and it flashed as it pushed the knowledge of the move into Clefiary. When it was done it turned a dull grey to show it was now empty. I'd return it for a partial credit to the pokeshop, but that would be for later.Chansey snorted and marched off primly but I noticed she shot a considering gaze at Clefairy before she left. Seems she'd also been moved by his guts.I set Titan off to work on the move with my new pokemon before patting Bertha on the side. She looked a little sheepish. "Hey, it's alright, we stopped him before he did any permanent damage. Kid's got heart." I tilted my head. "He's got a whole lot of heart…"I shook my head to stop myself from remembering something about a movie from my past life. The teasings of a potential name presented itself before I shook it off. I clapped Bertha on the shoulder. "Go train Knight. He's a bit tougher and can take your enthusiasm. Don't let this get you down. This is all part of being a teacher. Sometimes the student is too eager. You did good otherwise."She snorted and marched off.I huffed and tilted my head. What was I about to do again?Sabrina appeared in a teleport and blinked when she noticed the group of hyper-motivated pokemon along with the group looking slightly morose. "What's been going on here?"I sighed. "Well it started like— By the time I'd finished recounting the story Sabrina was staring at the Clefairy, who was currently meditating with Titan and her Alakazam, with interest mixed with concern. I nodded. Then I turned to Scyther who I'd now remembered what I wanted to do. "Hey, weren't you going to show me your rock collection?" I said leadingly.Scyther tilted his head before perking up and dashing towards a frankly huge pile of rocks. Sabrina must have sensed something was happening, as she stopped looking at Clefairy to focus on Scyther."Brock he thinks he's about to—" she was cut off as Scyther dove into the pile of black, shiny rocks that he'd been collecting. He submerged himself in the pile and a moment later, a blazing white light that any trainer would recognise shone out.I grinned. "He's evolving."From the rocky pit, a new pokemon emerged. "KLEAVOR!" he said as he crossed his axes across his chest and knelt like a knight swearing to a lord. I grinned."Kleavor, I hereby name you Gawain, a knight known for wielding an axe with great skill and valour."The newly named Gawain shot up and cried out in celebration. The rest of my pokemon swarmed him. Clefairy hung back, but I picked him up to put him on my shoulder.Sabrina stared before shooting me a suspicious look. "You... knew about this didn't you?"I grinned at her. "I certainly hoped I was right." I tapped Clefairy on the side. "Today will be Gawain's day, as he spent a lot of time working towards this. You'll be just the same in time. Trust in me, and I'll make you strong."Clefairy nodded, his gaze locked on my new pokemon. I grinned, Bianca and Stephen were going to freak out when I told them. I tilted my head. Actually, so were Oak and Elm when they heard. I couldn't wait to see that reaction.Heh, their dumbfounded faces would be yet another present for my birthday.