Forrest looked straight ahead and tried to ignore what was going on behind him. Ash was loudly opening and shutting his mouth, while Misty was glaring Ash into silence.
This hadn't been how he'd thought he'd be setting out. He always imagined it would be with his entire family seeing him off and his team fully assembled, ready to make waves throughout Kanto. That had always been the dream, to stick around until Mum came home and then give it some time to settle before he went on his journey.Only, it hadn't gone that way at all, had it?Instead, he had to leave because of something stupid that wasn't his fault but should have been something he avoided. At least, he thought he should have. All he had to do was be firmer with the guys back home. Instead, he'd wavered. He'd had an idea they were spray painting stuff around the City but he hadn't realised they'd gone further than that into outright theft.Forrest chewed his lips. If they'd felt secure enough to steal Officer Jenny's bike then what else had they felt confident enough to do?He really hadn't known them as well as he thought he did. He certainly hadn't been expecting them to turn on him… No, the sad part was probably that he wasn't all that surprised to learn they were putting the blame on him. Forrest wasn't sure that creep Will even would have had to be involved.Forrest shuddered when he remembered how furious Brock had been when he heard Will's voice. He'd never known Brock could make a face so cold and rigid."Forrest, you alright?" Misty asked, stepping in and peering at him.He sighed. "Yeah, just… Thinking about stuff I guess.""Well, that's good! If you need to talk, I'm here," she said easily.He glanced at her and found her watching him. He smiled halfheartedly at her, and she smiled back.He felt like he should have enjoyed that more, but for the life of him, he couldn't work out why that was. He trudged along in silence trying to get the answer.She was watching him. Which was good. He liked her looking at him. But, it was the way she was looking at him. It wasn't in admiration but in pity and worry. It felt like she was watching him cause she expected to see him trip. Like he was fragile.He didn't want to be fragile. He wanted… he wanted to be like Brock. Brock could be immovable and know where he was going. He always knew where he stood and Forrest… didn't have that.Brock had mentioned it before when they'd gone hiking or been taking care of pokemon together. He'd said it stemmed from knowing yourself and what you wanted. Plans were goals with the steps mapped out.The problem so far was that he didn't know who he was now. Things had changed so rapidly he felt like… well it felt like he'd built up on faulty ground. You could walk on it, thinking it was firm for ages only for it to one day collapse under you. Then you'd need someone to bail you out.That's why you tested the ground you were on when hiking with poles or had different grips ready when climbing a mountain.Forrest chewed his lip. That… kinda made sense.He rubbed his forehead. Which would mean he needed to… Urgh! He wasn't sure where he was going with now."Charmander! Char!" said a pokemon in front of him. Forrest blinked."What's a Charmander doing out here?" Ash said stepping forward."This isn't the right terrain for them," he said, remembering what he'd learnt about them from Brock."Why's that?" Misty said as Ash jogged up closer."Charmander's pokemon line prefer dry climates such as deserts, arid planes or light but robust forests that can handle them walking through it." He pointedly glanced around at the pathway that was densely packed with vegetation that was yellow and brown in some patches that would go up if Charmander was to walk through it."So… what's that mean?" Ash said.Forrest glanced at the flame on its tail and scowled. "Nothing good." He shook his head and dropped the scowl, instead adopting a small, toothless smile that was as neutral as he could go. "Hello there, Charmander! I'm Forrest from Pewter city!""I'm Ash from Pallet Town!" said Ash loudly while pointing a thumb at himself. On his shoulder, Pikachu waved before hopping off and approaching the fire type cautiously."Misty," said Misty with a small bow."Char-mander," said the little reptile, giving them all a searching look before laying down.Forrest chewed his lip unsure what to do. Ash glanced up at the sky and down at the little Charmander. "Pikachu, can you ask him how long he's been out here?"Misty tilted her head. "Why not ask him yourself? Most pokemon can understand us when we talk can't they?"Forrest spoke up, "No, it's a good idea Ash. Most pokemon are more open with other pokemon. Especially if the pokemon has a reason to be a little bit more suspicious of a human.""Hmmm? What do you mean?" Ash said now glancing at Charmander worriedly.Misty gasped and her eyes widened. "Oh! I see! You think someone abandoned it here."Ash lurched back. "What? Who'd ditch a Charmander?""Someone that doesn't care about their pokemon," said Forrest as he recalled a trainer that had fought against him with… He released his Onix and it shook its head before lowering itself to Charmander."Onnnnnn!" shouted Onix in greeting.Charmander stood and growled lowly, its tail flickering feebly. Ash whirled on Forrest. "Hey! What are you doing? You're scaring it!"Forrest shook his head. "No, I wanted to confirm something. You were Damian's Charmander weren't you. You've faced Onix before. You remember him, don't you?"Charmander nodded and glared sternly ahead. Forrest smiled. "Yeah, you weren't going to have much of a chance against Onix back then. Damian was pretty stupid to send you out when he—""Char! CHAR! CHARMANDER! CHA—" Charmander silenced Forrest, only to be cut off in turn when he gasped and shook. Small embers burst out of his mouth, that he hacked up with a faint cry of pain.Forrest stepped forward, his backpack swinging around so he could rifle through it. "Ahah! Here we go!" he said as he pulled out a book."Common pokemon maladies?" Ash read aloud off the title. Forrest nodded, not saying anything as he flipped through the pages."What are you looking for?" Misty asked leaning in.Forrest paused on the Charmander page. "This," he said tapping a section. "When a Charmander doesn't receive proper nutrition, their lungs can weaken leading to a weaker Ember and weaker Flamethrower until their intake improves. Recommended foods include spicy meals with lots of natural oils." Forrest returned to his backpack, pulling some berries and cooking oil out to place into a bowl.Charmander turned his nose up at it only for his stomach to growl.Forrest inched forward, the bowl still held out. "Pllllleeassse Charmander? You need this to get your health back."This made Charmander reconsider the food. Pikachu cheekily appeared on the other side and made a show of grabbing a piece for himself, causing Charmander to growl and push his snout into the food and begin devouring the food."Hehehe, nice one Pikachu!" Forrest said to the little yellow mouse. Ash shot it a thumbs up."Pika!" said Pikachu with a wink before popping the piece of food he had stolen into his mouth. Then he stiffened up and exhaled like he was trying to breathe fire. Forrest chuckled, and Charmander looked up and stiffened as it realised how close it was to them, only to decide to not leave the food until it was done.They all stayed close and quiet as Charmander finished his meal. Misty fidgeted, but soon enough, Charmander was done and back to his rock in the middle of the road.Forrest chewed his lip at that before turning and gesturing for the others to lean in close. "Hey guys, we can't leave Charmander here. He needs more food and some medicine to clear up any further issues he has.""Other issues?" Ash said, peering at the curled-up Charmander. He eyed the rock and the area around it. "How long has he been out here?" he asked, eyeing some melted parts of the rock.Forrest shrugged. "I think he's been out here for a day and a night at least… which isn't as bad for a fire type but exposure will get him if he stays here.""But, that's not what you're worried about?" Misty prompted."No, this area is pretty rife with Pidgeotto and Spearow, both of which are territorial. Even some of the grass-type pokemon aren't going to like having Charmander around." Forrest glanced over his shoulder. "Also, I wouldn't be surprised if a trainer tried to catch him and ended up driving him into the shrubs…""Oh, that'd be bad," Ash said cupping his chin in thought. "What should we do? Catch him ourselves?"Forrest rubbed his chin slowly. "We'd need to get him to a pokemon centre and checked over. As an abandoned pokemon he can have his pokeball deactivated with a process they have, or if we encounter Damian…" Forrest clenched his fists. "We'll sort him out."Ash nodded. "So first we have to get Charmander to leave with us…"Forrest rubbed his chin before perking up. "Say Ash! Didn't we meet Damian a while ago?" he said loudly.Ash tilted his head but then realised what Forrest was getting at when Charmander perked up. "Oh! Yeah! Yeah, we did!"Misty blinked. "Oh right! He asked us to find his Charmander and lead him to the pokemon centre cause he messed up!" Forrest gave her a gesture to 'cool it' which she rolled her eyes at. Charmander was already off his rock and tugging at Forrest's pants and pointing to himself."Char! Charmander! Char?" said the little lizard. Forrest made a show of considering it before nodding."Yeah! We want to take you to Damian! Can you walk with us?" The little lizard nodded quickly and Forrest shot Ash, Misty, and Pikachu a thumbs up before he paused and considered his pokemon. "Who wants to ride in style?" he asked, pointing towards his starter.Soon enough, they were all seated on the large rock snake and racing towards the nearest pokemon centre.Misty tapped Forrest on the shoulder. "Why didn't we do this yesterday?"Forrest coughed. "It uhm… slipped my mind… also isn't it traditional to walk?"Misty huffed. "I think I can deal with some sore legs from riding a snake rather than sore legs from walking for hours if we get more chances to do other things each day!"Forrest nodded before he considered what Misty just said. He looked away from her and coughed. "Yeah, let's all ride your Onix to save time from now on Forrest!" chimed Ash.Forrest shuddered as the mental image he'd had changed with the inclusion of Ash. Urgh.Thankfully, it only took ten minutes of riding Onix to reach the next pokecentre. Charmander and Pikachu hopped off with happy cries while Ash tumbled. Misty received a hand from Forrest and he got a smile and thank you as she slid off daintily.When they entered the pokemon centre they paused in the entrance at the number of trainers present. Forrest spotted Damian sitting on the nearby couches that had their backs to the door.Charmander perked up and started running towards Damian. Only for Damian's voice to carry, "Heh! Powerful pokemon are the way to go. You need to make sure you catch good ones straight up! Thanks to the scanning feature on my pokedex, I can pick up on which pokemon with great potential! I scanned the pokemon Oak gave me, and he must have given me a dud Charmander! It was soooo weak!"Charmander stopped just behind Damian and stared up in shock as he continued, unmindful and uncaring of those who heard him. "I ditched it in the wilds if anyone wants it!"Another trainer that had been listening sat up. "Are you like… an idiot or something? You ditched a Charmander? In the wilds?" "What of it?" said Damian, glancing at the trainer that wasn't part of his group.The other trainer shook his head. "Just amazed at how stupid you are. Charmander's are great pokemon, anyway, all traditional starter pokemon start off weak and grow with the trainer. If Charmander was weak it was your fault!"The raised voices had drawn the attention of everyone in the room, and everyone was now watching with interest."Get lost! No one asked you!" Damian said only for Charmander to have apparently heard enough. The little lizard whirled around and ran from Damian, tearing up only for Ash to sweep him up. "Hey, let's get out of here, little guy," he said, turning and marching out of the Centre.Forrest and Misty came with him, both of them watching on as Ash comforted Charmander. When it finally regathered itself Ash set it down and knelt. "Hey, I'm sorry about Damian… turns out he's a bigger idiot than we thought...But, just cause he doesn't want you doesn't mean you're not worth something though. You're a really great pokemon for anyone to have.""Charmander?" The pokemon looked up with watery eyes and shook his head.Forrest nodded, "Hey! Trainers are lucky to get a Charmander, you realise? You? You're small now, but you just need time to grow. By the time this circuit ends I wouldn't be surprised if you were a super strong Charizard if you wanted to be!"Charmander nodded its head before opening a hand, it's head swiveling from Ash to Forrest, "Charmander?" it asked with watery eyes.Forrest blinked. Was Charmander asking him if he wanted to be his trainer? Forrest remembered a time when he'd been really young. Before even Brock had left, he'd asked which starter was best and Brock had said any of them were good, but he remembered Brock saying Charmander was the coolest. Forest's… old friends… had agreed with him when he'd asked them at school the next day. For a month then, he'd thought of getting himself a Charmander as a starter, only for him to realise he'd get something like an Onix or Geodude. If he'd asked, though… he could have had one… couldn't he? Brock had the connections, after all.Forrest opened his mouth only for Ash to speak up first. "Sure thing Charmander! With you on my team we can go all the way!"Forrest shut his mouth. Right, yeah, that worked out better, didn't it? He was going to be a Rock-type specialist, wasn't he? Only to watch on as Ash captured the pokemon, a stirring in his heart like he'd missed out on an opportunity… another one. His mind retreated back to Brock offering him Terra's egg first.Ash stood, and Charmander walked at his side as they made their way back into the pokemon center. Only to walk into a tense situation with the trainer from before glaring at Damian while Damian glared back. The room took notice of their entrance this time, the hiss of the doors opening during a lull apparently.Damian saw them and sniffed, his eyes falling on Charmander, "Oh, you found my pokemon Whoopie; I'd misplaced it," he said flatly.Ash clenched his fists and stepped forward, a fist rising. "I was in here before and Charmander and I heard everything you said! You don't deserve Charmander. I want him! Give him to me.""Nah, I've heard how much they're worth!" Damian said sneering towards the trainer that had reprimanded him before and who had been arguing with him moments ago. The white-haired boy scowled at his words being used in such a way.Ash's mouth twitched before he nodded. "How much do you want for him?"Damian grinned gleefully, and Misty and Forrest turned in surprise at what Ash was saying. Forrest knew Ash wasn't that well off, in fact of all of them… he had the best funding… "Ash! You can't pay him after what he did!"Ash held up a hand. "How much?""...one… no! Two hundred thousand pokedollars!" said Damian with glee.Ash's fists clenched hard, and his arm twitched. He started to move to draw out his wallet, only for Forrest to put a hand on his shoulder and step forward. "Don't do it, Ash.""Forrest! I'm not leaving Charmander with Damian!"Forrest nodded. "And you shouldn't, but I just remembered something." He turned on Damian, "I just remembered that I'm still registered as an official Pewter Gym trainer." He fished out his own wallet and flashed the ID to show his face and details. This was not a simple id, but rather one that identified him as being deputised for certain duties."... oh? I remember you, you're that punk that cheated with a too-strong Onix!" Damian said with a snap of his fingers, spotting the boulder badge symbol next to Forrest's picture.Forrest hummed. "That's how it seemed to you, I'm sure, but I bring this up because before Ash pays you anything… I have to fine you.""What?" said multiple voices in surprise. Forrest blinked, had he just heard a man laugh and clap once? He shook it off, ignoring the urge to see who'd done that. Forrest smiled, feeling like, as Brock would say, the Meowth slinking into the cream factory."You abandoned a fire-type pokemon with an open flame in a highly flammable environment instead of transferring it back to Professor Oak like you should have. This endangered the local environment, pokemon, and people that might have been passing through. That comes with a fine." Forrest smiled. "But there's also the issue of pokemon abuse. You see, the way you abandoned your pokemon, also comes with a fine attached to it.""Fine! Just take the stupid defective thing!" Damian said tossing a pokeball with a flame etched into it at Forrest.Forrest stabbed his finger into Damian's chest. "I think you still need to be fined! So that way it's on your record that you're a terrible trainer!"Damian enlarged a pokeball. "I'm not a terrible trainer, and I can prove it! That Charmander is just defective!"Before Forrest could respond, the local Nurse Joy suddenly appeared between them. "Please! No fighting with pokemon to resolve personal conflicts! It's not the way it's done!" she said.There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at her.Forrest tilted his head only for the white-haired trainer that had been harassing Damian to cough into his fist and mutter. "Since when?"Joy flushed. "No pokemon battles in the centre I mean!""Ohhhh!" everyone said in understanding.Damian sniffed and returned his pokeball. "Well, you can't make me pay a fine then, cause I'm just going to split!"He pushed past Forrest, causing Forrest to almost step on Charmander, who'd been behind him and Ash throughout all of this. Charmander snarled and lashed out with his tail causing Damian to hop back and knock Misty backwards. She cried out and Forrest turned to growl at Damian only to realise Damian had pushed his hand into Misty's chest to stay standing.Forrest clenched his fist and started to turn only for Misty's hands to snap onto Damian's and an evil glint to shine from her eyes. "Nurse Joy only said we can't fight with our pokemon." Then she raised her fist and sent Damian soaring backwards.She didn't leave it at that though, and knelt on Damiain's chest before he could understand what was happening; he was being pummeled by an enraged Misty. "This is for Charmander! And this is for those things you said! And this is because it's a Tuesday!" she roared."Wuh? Does! That! Have! To do with anything?!" wailed Damian as Misty pummeled him.Forrest stiffened. Oh wow, she was incredible… and scary. He wasn't sure how those two went together, but they did.Nurse Joy made a show of slowly dialling for the police. "Hello? What's that? It will take you an hour to get here? Oh, don't worry then. They'll have sorted themselves out by then," she said before hanging up.The same laugh and polite clap rang out. Forrest looked away from the beating, expecting to find an older suit-wearing gentleman. He was right about it being an older man… but he wasn't that old…Forrest and the silver-haired man locked eyes, and Forrest knew, without knowing how or why, that this man was strong. Stronger than anyone he'd ever seen before. Forrest blinked in surprise. Was he stronger than Brock even?The man nodded politely. Forrest wasn't sure what to make of that. He turned his attention back to Damian, who Misty was now done with. He already had a pair of black eyes and looked wretched. It didn't stop Forrest from officially lodging a report against him and what he'd done. He said the fine had been paid through community service on the report to the police.Damian wouldn't have to pay any money, but people would know what he'd done. Heck, Professor Oak would most likely revoke his pokedex for this.When he was done, he returned to his friends and watched Ash pet his latest acquisition enviously. If he'd just… A polite cough shook him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see the silver-haired gentleman from earlier smiling at him."Well done with handling that situation. I have to admit I was considering stepping in but you had it handled…" He eyed Misty and her hands. "Very aptly at that."Misty blushed, and Forrest chuckled, only for Misty to shoot him a look that had him shutting up. Forrest turned his attention back to the silver-haired man. "Well thanks, I guess?" He tilted his head. "You look familiar…"The man chuckled and waved a hand. "Oh, I get that all time. He waved a hand. "I'm not all that interesting. Actually I'm just a humble man passing by for the local mountains.""Fan of the mountains?" Forrest said feeling like he should be asking about the man's name for some reason. But, the man had said that wasn't important hadn't he? He decided not to press. It didn't matter. Even if his face looked oddly familiar.The white-haired boy from earlier stepped up, staring at the man. "Wait, Are you—"The man waved his hand again. "Quite busy talking to my new friends right now." The boy stiffened for a moment, blinked as though he wasn't sure what he'd been doing only to then nod and walk off with a dazed expression.Forrest opened his mouth to ask what that had been about only to decide not to push when the man smiled at him. "I was rather impressed… and more than a little entertained by the show that was put on." He hummed. "You know, too often good behaviour passes us by unrewarded… I think… no, I know you'd do well given the chance, young man," he said, raising a simple pokeball. "Take this pokemon young man, I'm curious as to how you develop in the future."Forrest looked down at the pokeball. "You're giving me a pokemon?""Yes, yes I am. I'm eccentric like that!" said the silver-haired man, turning and walking off.Forrest stood, "Wait a second I don't even know your name! I have to thank you for this!""No you don't that's the point of a gift!" The man waved over his shoulder. "And my name is Steven!""Thanks Steven!" shouted Forrest at the man's back as he walked towards Mt Moon. He sat back down with Ash and Misty. They both stared at the doors.Ash frowned, and he tilted his head. Then he sat bolt upright. "Was that Steven Stone! Champion of Hoenn!?"A groan made them look to the side and spot the boy from earlier. "Urgh! I knew it! Damn it my own region's champ, and I flubbed it!"Forrest stared, open-mouthed. "How did I not recognise him? I have his poster and his fight with Karen is coming up soon!"The boy rubbed his forehead. "Steven has this… way of avoiding people's attention when he doesn't want it. He somehow just… skates under your notice, or you have more important things to deal with."Forrest tilted his head. How would he do something like that? Ash nudged him. "What did he give you?"Forrest released his pokemon and stared as a Beldum revealed itself.Jay set up his stall near the end of the gorge of route one hundred and eleven. It was a good spot for people coming up from Mauville City. he liked it for the view, which was particularly good with the Hoenn desert currently experiencing a rather intense sandstorm."Morning Jay!" called a Ranger as he moved to his post in front of a large sign."Morning!" Jay said waving back as he finished setting up his stall. The Ranger came over and looked over Jay's produce before picking out some berries for people and their pokemon. Jay took the man's money and glanced at the sign. "Think you'll start to see many trainers today?" he asked probingly.The Ranger sighed. "Lots of people went to Kanto this year, so trainer numbers are down, but I think this week will see some more people shooting through here and heading north towards Fallarbor Town or coming to us.""They should have the badge restriction now, no? It's been a whole month," Jay said worryingly. His sales were well down for the circuit so far and he was projecting sales to stay that way. Which, wasn't the end of the world for him. This was just something he did in his retirement these days. He grew berries at home and set up his stall to get out from under the feet of his wife.Others around Hoenn were going to feel the pinch, however. There had been much grumbling about it of late but that was something for the League and Steven to handle. Not old man Jay and his simple stall along route one eleven.He set up his chair under an umbrella, sat and raised his book to start idling the day away. Across from him, the Ranger sighed and stood near the sign that stated you needed at least two badges to go through the desert.Occasionally, the Ranger would pull out some binoculars and glance at pokemon flying overhead to make sure that no one was being too clever. Trainers always thought they might be the first to consider using a flying type to evade a barrier.Jay liked this spot, plenty of entertainment on busy days.A noise made him look up to see a cheeky Cacnea approaching his stall slowly, its eyes on his berries. Jay popped open a pokeball and his old friend Torkoal appeared with a cry of its name, scaring off the Cacnea. Torkoal came and sat near him, and Jay returned to reading his book, keeping an ear out for anything different as he did so.Around lunchtime, with the sun blaring down overhead, the sandstorm ended and Jay could see further out into the desert. He could see the shifting sands, the moving dunes, and the shimmering mirages that sometimes tricked people into seeking out the heart of the desert.He squinted as a shape appeared."Hey, Ranger? That a pokemon or a person?" he asked, causing the Ranger to jerk up from the sandwich he'd been munching on. The man spun about and raised his binoculars."Huh, got a trainer coming in… with a Trapinch?" said the man, lowering his binoculars.It took a few minutes, but eventually, the shape resolved itself into the form of a young girl, her body covered by a large hat with a scarf around her face, googles about her eyes, and a poncho over her shoulders to cover her body.At her side, a small trapinch marched along resolutely.When she reached Jay, the Ranger across from Jay's stall coughed. "Hello Miss! I'm sorry to—"The girl raised a hand and stopped the Ranger before lifting out a water bottle and draining it with long fluid gulps. When she was done, she gasped. "Whew! Sorry about that! I'd been holding out with the last of my water to make the trek so I could pick up anything that changed! That place shifts around a lot!"Jay nodded his head. "The Hoenn desert is a dangerous place indeed, young lady. Well done on traversing it!"The girl tilted her head. "Traversing it? I've been there for three weeks now?"Jay blinked. The Ranger leaned forward. "Did you get the required two badges before entering? Or skip over the blockade?""I came in through Slateport and got the minor Gym for Dockyard badge, and then fought Wattson for the Dynamo badge during the first week!" said the girl as she started to pluck her desert wear off. She shook out her ginger hair and shuddered. "Urgh! I can't wait to get a shower!" She shook, and a cascade of sand went over her and the Ranger who was inspecting her Gym badges. "Oops! Sorry!" she said sheepishly.Jay tilted his head. "If you already have the Mauville Gym badge, why come back this way?""And walk uphill to Lavaridge? No thanks! I'll double back and check out the Verdanturf Contest coming up. Then I'll get my third Gym badge there before trekking on to Rustboro for my fourth badge!"Jay laughed. "Well, you're confident in yourself! I hope you do well!""Thanks old man!" said the girl as she took back her badge case. She eyed the berries he had and opened her mouth, only for a gurgle to echo through the gorge. The girl blushed, only to pause and look down when the gurgling continued."Oh! Nipper! Did you want some berries?"The little trapinch nodded once, its eyes never leaving the tray of berries.The girl chewed her lip. "Shoot, I don't have much money on me…" Before Jay could suggest using her trainer card for a credit payment, she reached into her bag. Jay saw a few rocks with strange shapes imprinted on them that took him a moment to realise were fossils before the girl pulled out a pink jewel the width of his thumb. It sparkled in the light, and Jay gasped."How many berries will this give me?" she asked.Jay gestured at all of his stock, and the girl happily released all of her team. " Lizzie, Hime, Stomper, Trumpet, and Tropo! Meal time!" she said releasing her team to reveal a Nidoqueen, Ninetales, Golem, Phanphy, and a Tropius on top of her Trapinch.Jay whistled in admiration. "You have a good team assembled here, young miss! What is your name so I know who to look out for at the conference this year.""Celia! From Pewter City!" she said with a pleased grin as her pokemon devoured his entire day's stock. By the time they were done, Jay had learned the girl had spent the last three weeks combing the desert for fossils—successfully, it seemed—but she'd also been looking for something more. When he tried to warn her off looking for the Mirage tower, she got a stubborn glint in her eyes that made him sigh.She at least had taken all the precautions she could and had handled the Hoenn desert at its worst. Coming back in a few months' time shouldn't be a problem for her.When she was done, he rubbed his chin at his empty stall and the jewel he now possessed. It would make a wonderful thirty-year anniversary gift… well, a make-up gift at least.The Ranger looked at him enviously. "Gonna pack up for the day?"Jay chuckled, pocketing his jewel and flipping a sign to simply say his stall was closed. Then he sat back in his chair and lifted his book. "Nope!" he said, reaching out and patting his Torkoal.It was, after all, never about making money that brought him out here.
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"A Beldum? He gave you a Beldum?" I said incredulously.Forrest bobbed his head up and down. "Yeah! It's so cool! I was speaking with a trainer from Hoenn, and did you know that Beldum is considered one of their strongest pokemon!? It's a steel type as well which will match my Onix when I eventually decide to evolve him!"Salvadore bounced on the spot next to me. "Oh! Does that mean you want to specialise into steel types? If so, there are a number of strong pokemon like Magnemite, Skarmory, Aron…" Salvadore gained a pinched expression before perking up. "Scizor!"I chuckled and patted him on the head. "Steel types have a good showing with a number of pokemon." Mawile, Goodra, Registeel, Bronzong, Aegislash, and Empoleon were also pokemon that would be possible off the top of my head if Forrest decided on such a route.Forrest nodded. "Yeah, I know." Then he shrugged. "But I don't know anything about making myself into a type specialist right now. I think I'm just going to look into making up a strong team." He locked eyes with me. "I'm coming back as strong as I can, and then I'm going to announce myself at the conference this year!"I raised a brow at that. He was certainly feeling more upbeat than he had when he left.Yolanda giggled. "Nice to see you got your spark back! Good luck with that first goal, big brother! You'll need it!""I'm training every day; I'll have you know! I'll get there before the end of the circuit!"Cindy leaned into the camera. "Brock's gonna win~!" she said with a teasing tone.Forrest set his jaw. "I'll show you! I'll have a super cool team!""I'm sure you will," I said placatingly. "Where are you now?""Cerulean! We're getting ready to face Misty's sisters for our badges. Misty is joining us for her first match." He scratched the side of his cheek. "She's also uhmmm… helping us skip the line a bit."I raised an eyebrow. "A bit?"Forrest coughed something that sounded like a week's worth, which made me snort. Ah well, if that's how they wanted to run things, that was for the Cerulean sisters to handle. Their gym, their challenges, and their rules."Well, good luck against them. Got a plan?" I said.Forrest nodded firmly, and I hummed. With Cerulean being so early, he'd have a chance against their weaker team. By the time he got against Erika, he'd have a tougher time with a type advantage and Erika using much more advanced tactics. Then I paused. Actually, Forrest could take Erika as his second badge if he was smart about it. "Well alright, where are you going from there?""Surge next; I'll challenge him at a higher level.""Not Erika?" I said.Forrest rolled his eyes. "Ash has been adamant about following the traditional path ever since he heard about the story of how the badges are laid out. That, and he forgot to try and challenge Giovanni.""Yeah, Giovanni wouldn't have entertained him anyway," I said with a chuckle. Forrest nodded and I grew serious. "Tell me when you are headed towards Cinnabar or Viridian. They're not going to be easy on you, and you need to be careful in those matches." When Forrest nodded and huffed, I gave him a stern look. "I'm serious about this Forrest."Forrest paused at that, searching my face as he registered that I was deadly serious. "Alright… why though?""Cause I think those are areas where you'd be at risk. Giovanni and Blaine might be Gym leaders, but they also have fingers in some shady business. You present an opportunity in many ways."I then coughed. "Sorry to remind you about that. It sounds like you're doing great.""Yeah, sure, thanks bro," he said thoughtfully.I caught Yolanda eying me. Salvadore had a far-off look, and the message had passed over the rest of the family's heads. Flint nodded at me from off to the side. I signalled for Salvadore to take over the call and waved Forrest goodbye.I surreptitiously slipped over to Flint. "You also had some trouble with Giovanni and Blaine?""Blaine was a nightmare to fight against from what I've heard… And he wasn't much better with him on your side… His fiery attacks could devastate entire battlefields, but you had to stay out of his way. The man was chaotic. I know of a lot of good people and pokemon that got burned badly by him."Flint rubbed at his stomach. "Giovanni… he had a reputation for being a dirty dealer among the rank and file. If you were in his good books, you had good supplies… if not… sometimes you ran short and had to scrounge around.""Hmmmm," I said. "I can't say I'm surprised to learn about that." I shifted and worked my jaw. "Bosco told me about Lola's situation."Flint hissed in surprise. "Ah… that." Flint scowled at the ground. "Yes, she had to fight her own family. It has made her very… touchy about all of you. She doesn't trust herself around—""I don't buy that," I said, shutting off that line of conversation. "She had more than enough time to work on her issues." I almost said 'or not have us' but I shut my mouth before then. Instead, I huffed through my nose. "What happened to her family and her leaving us are not events that can be compared.""Brock that's not fai—" Flint said only for me to raise a hand and walk off. I didn't want to hear it.Before I walked off fully, an idle curiosity occurred to me. "Where was Lola's family house?""It used to be called the Granite Mansion and was out of town… Nowadays, it's the pokemon academy… Lola donated it when it passed to her, as she couldn't stand to live there or see it."I blinked at that. I'd been into the newer part of the pokemon academy but I'd never heard that she'd been the one to… I shook it off. It wasn't important. So what if Lola could be charitable? She's still abandoned her family.I huffed and marched off.I walked past my other siblings and patted Yolanda on the head. She continued to eye me thoughtfully, her gaze shifting to Flint as I passed her by. Had she been listening? I wasn't surprised when she got up and approached Flint with an intensity that told me she wasn't going to be deterred from asking questions.The sound of the fridge being opened made me adjust my course from my room to the kitchen. I found who I expected, with Munchlax caught in the fridge. The surprise, however, came in the form of a shocked-looking Eevee who had some cream around her face. She stiffened when she saw me and chirped a warning to Munchlax. Munchlax jolted and shot me a sheepish look."Munch… Lax, Mun mun munchlax?" he said.I merely huffed and pointed to the lounge room. "Go report yourself to the rest of the family and Nanny Grav. No more free access from now on." I shot a glance at Eevee. "No leading him astray like that. He'd been doing well with controlling himself. If Yolanda or Cindy are too busy to feed you, then be patient or ask someone else. No raiding the fridge like that."She curled in on herself and whimpered. "No Baby Doll Eyes on me either," I said firmly. "If that's your fallback, you need to get way stronger." Eevee looked up at me and squinted fiercely at me. I smirked at her, only to chuckle as she stuck her tongue out and ran off.I paused when a thought occurred to me. Had she been teasing me and my family about our narrow eyes or inspecting me?Now I wasn't sure…A buzz on my wrist made me glance down to see a message from Sabrina.'I will be attempting to start training with the Megastone. Can I have you observing me?'I fired back an affirmative, and she appeared in the kitchen and put a hand on my shoulder. I smiled and kissed her. When we broke the kiss, we were at the entrance of her Gym in Saffron, and she was sporting a delightful blush.I inclined my head to gesture inside the gym, "Shall we?" I said. Sabrina nodded and led me through the front doors. I hummed. It wasn't normal for her to lead me around like this. Was she showing off her Gym to me?Or was I being shown off to her Gym?The main doors opened into a foyer that hadn't been here when I'd challenged her during my journey. I noticed that there was a reception desk off to the side with a number of tasteful double-sided couches for people to rest. A number of trainers perked up at our entrance only to blanche when they noticed I was walking at Sabrina's side. We walked past the line of trainers and made our way straight down a large hallway that could have easily allowed Bertha and Titan to walk next to each other without stooping. I could see the seating of the arena that I'd sat in a few times since Sabrina had it installed.Along the sides of the hallway, training rooms were visible through long panels of glass.I noticed a number of people in one room staring fixedly at a spoon in their hands with pokemon like Hypno, Drowzee, and even Kadabra walking among them. Sabrina's father, Saul, was amidst them, giving out pointers. I watched one older man glare at a spoon, only for it to slowly bend in his fingers without touching it. He shot to his feet and cheered, causing others to flinch and glance over."Excuse me," Sabrina said, vanishing in a teleport to appear in front of the man, startling him.Sabrina glanced at the spoon and then at the man. She nodded once and then teleported back to me. "Sorry, I needed to give him some praise. He's been working on that for quite a while."I heard some more congratulations ringing out from behind me, and it seemed Sabrina's actions had sparked the rest of the group to heap praise on the man. I shot her a smile. "That was well handled.""Charles is an able trainer, but he has struggled with psychic abilities. It is a small thing but marks an improvement for him.""It must help to have both your father and you to talk to about it," I said leadingly."I don't have a lot to do with that aspect of the Gym… Or rather, I didn't use to… Erika suggested it to me, and I have noticed a small uptick in progress with my involvement."She made a thoughtful noise before smiling. "It's nice." She then shot me a look. "It is not something I would have felt comfortable with before this year, however.""Ah, well, it sounds like everyone is making progress then!"She nodded happily and led me into another room. I paused as the smell of horse pokemon registered, and I paused when I realised I was in a large room that was part stable, and part… dressage arena? It led out into a meadow where I could see a number of Stantler, Ponyta, and even Girrafarig frolicking. The last pokemon, must have been there to create ambient psychic energy.Sabrina walked to the fence, and I blinked when I realised there was a small class for young girls on how to care for Ponyta. "I took your advice, and I have expanded upon it," said Sabrina from beside me. I shot her a look and found her fondly watching the young girls brush their Ponyta. "I discovered that the local Ponyta club was struggling and have taken them on. If any of your sisters wish to come over and participate, tell them they have but to message me.""You realise they won't want to leave if they learn you have this sort of setup." I said it as a joke, but Sabrina nodded."Some of the local girls have said as much."I hummed and nodded. Yeah, that made sense. "So you've become a lot more popular, I take it?""Very."That single word conveyed how pleased she was by this occurrence. When we reached another room, it was a simple room with a number of pendulums and silver spoons. Alakazam was sitting in the middle of the room with his legs crossed. At his side, Ralts knelt and looked suitably serious in her attempts to charge up her psychic energy. I didn't say anything as we approached.Alakazam nodded in my direction but kept his gaze on Ralts. "Zam," he said after a minute, and Ralts' aura of psychic energy dispersed."Raaaaalts," she said as she slumped tiredly."Ala!" said Alakazam with a firm nod. He then indicated Sabrina and I. Ralts perked up and beamed at Sabrina, who opened her arms and Ralts leapt into her chest for a hug. Ralts sang her name a few times, and Sabrina nodded seriously."Yes, I did see. It was very impressive. You are breaking lots of records and are very dedicated." Ralts squirmed at the praise. Sabrina then tapped Ralts on the spot where a nose would be, and Ralts wiggled. "I need to do some training with Alakazam now, though."Ralts wilted, and Sabrina giggled. "You can stay in the room and watch, but I need you to stay with Brock so your psychic emanations don't get mixed in with what we're trying to do."Ralts nodded, only to pause and register what Sabrina had said. Ralts then turned her head to find me standing to the side. I waved in greeting."Ralts!" said the little pokemon with a slump. She then raised her hands in my direction and accepted me holding her, albeit with a put-upon look and crossed arms. I very much got the impression of a small child that was accepting the deal but wasn't liking it.I sat with Ralts in my lap and watched as Sabrina brought out a wristguard with the Keystone that I'd gifted her embedded into it. Alakazam adjusted his own pokeball to hold the Megastone and then withdrew into the pokeball before coming back out. I noticed straight away that the pokeball had made the Megastone attach itself to the base of one of Alakazam's spoons like a small trinket.Alakazam inspected the stone before nodding.Sabrina and Alakazam then both shut their eyes. I could feel… something happening, but I wasn't sure what that was specifically. Perhaps psychic energies were being built up between the two of them? For many minutes, nothing seemed to happen.A frown appeared on Sabrina's face, and the feeling of energies shifting about grew stronger. I noticed sweat starting to bead her brow.Another few minutes passed, and Sabrina slumped before shaking her head. "This… is much more difficult than I had believed…" She rubbed at her forehead and I hummed, considering how the anime had shown Ash or any of the others training for Mega-evolution. I doubted it would have as much accuracy in real life, but it would have a sliver of fact in there. The difficulty would be in discerning it."What are you doing? Care to walk me through it?""I am focusing my energy into the Keystone and attuning it to synchronise with Alakazam's.""Hmmmmm," I said nodding along. I had no idea what that felt like to her, but perhaps it was like matching energy as I did with Titan?Sabrina tilted her head and shut her eyes. "I can feel the energy passing back and forth, but it feels like lots of it is being lost.""Alak, Zam! " said her pokemon while stroking his moustache. He made a few gestures and then teleported away. He reappeared with a large whiteboard. He repeated this act three more times before nodding to Sabrina."Ah, of course," she said, adopting her meditative pose once more.I raised a finger, curiosity begging for me to ask what was going on, only to lower it and huff. I glanced at Ralts. "Any chance you know what's going on?"Ralts started to shake her head, only to pause and adopt a haughty look. "Rrrrralts!" she said teasingly.I nodded. "Gotcha, you have no idea."Ralts softly swatted me with her arm and grumbled, but eventually nodded. Another few minutes passed. When Sabrina opened her eyes, she found me playing patty cake with Ralts. It made for an adorable sight as the small pokemon's mouth was scrunched up in furious focus."I see Brock is teaching you a game; I look forward to playing it with you," Sabrina said making Ralts falter and miss the sequence of claps we had going. Ralts shot into Sabrina's hands and nuzzled her. I glanced over to find Alakazam hovering in front his whiteboards with a pen floating and writing various diagrams and graphs that I couldn't make heads or tails of."What's… what's he doing?" I eyed the numbers and diagrams with some trepidation. The anime hadn't said there would be what looked like… well beyond high school math. Would I need to go back to school if I ever wanted to mega-evolve one of my pokemon? I… I could make it work, I'd just need to set aside some time to…No! I mentally shook my head. That wouldn't make any sense. Otherwise, how would people like Ash ever do it? … That line of 'logic' didn't assuage my sudden doubt."Alakazam is documenting his observations from this training session. We both were channelling energy into our respective stones but the energy seemed to be going both into us and into the space between us. It wasn't dispersing, which is of great interest, but there seems to be a needed tipping point or linkage that has to be developed first. We made good headway, however." Sabrina rubbed at her temples and blinked a few times."Need the nurse?" I had barely ever seen Sabrina react like this before.She shook her head, but it looked like she regretted that. "No, no the amount of psychic energy we used together is just…" She shut her eyes. "It is making me rather woozy." I reached out and put a hand on her, and her breath hitched for a moment as her eyes glowed. I felt something wash over me, only for my own dark energy to smother it.She blinked rapidly and straightened."Sabrina?" I asked, concerned."I am healthy now. I think I just needed to release the pent-up energy it would seem."I watched her carefully for any hints that she might be lying to me, but she smiled up at me. "I am alright now, Brock; I just wasn't used to that much energy being thrown around. I will have to get used to it if I want to Mega evolve Alakazam.""Hmmm, alright," I said carefully. "I suppose you scoured the Guardians' digital library?"Sabrina nodded as she leaned into me. "I did, but Alakazam wishes to make this an experiment. He wishes to create a hypothesis and test a few theories himself before checking what is considered the common consensus.""So this is like a puzzle for him?""Indeed. He has also been involved in testing and creating the conditions for the various pokemon we hope to see develop variants that are psychic-typed. Thanks for your suggestions."Alakazam shot me a happy look. I couldn't recall ever seeing him look so joyful. He flipped a whiteboard around, and I spotted a trio of drawings with attached graphs and some extremely small text about the Ponyta, Stantler, and Girafarig. I nodded along, not understanding a thing that Alakazam was indicating but not at all game to question a pokemon that was likened to a supercomputer.He'd be very pleased when he got Ponyta and Stantler to breed/evolve into psychic types. He seemed to be sure that was merely a matter of time before meeting a certain psychic saturation.I blinked. Wait, had I somewhat understood his gestures? I tilted my head and rubbed my chin. Alakazam nodded happily. "Kazam!" he said.I shot Sabrina a confused look, and she merely smiled. "He's very intelligent," she said as if that explained it.I suppose it did, so I nodded. Alakazam beamed at me and was about to return to educating me—somehow— on his research when the door opened with Sabrina's father walked in."Saul," I said in greeting, nodding to him. He paused and got a worried look, only to relax when he checked Sabrina and me over. I blinked for a moment. Wait—what had he thought we were doing in here?He tried to shoot me a glare, only for me to ignore him as my attention slipped to the other person that walked in slightly behind him. "Oh! Hello Erika!" I said.Sabrina nodded at both. "Father, Erika, it is good to see you."Saul searched the room, his gaze was still suspicious, like many a father across the universe that just walked into a room that their daughter and boyfriend had been in. "What were you up to in here?""We were training," Sabrina said.Erika stayed quiet while Saul eyed me. I rolled my eyes, but he didn't understand the gesture. Sabrina did, though, and when she copied me she did so with glowing eyes, which was an interesting effect.Saul gained a sheepish look. Ah, it seemed Sabrina had chastised him and told him we weren't doing what he was thinking psychically.Erika bit her lip. "Is now a bad time?"Sabrina shook her head. "Brock can stay; I believe he has some things that might be good to discuss with you. I can train your pokemon on their psychic moves."I tilted my head. "Grass-Psychic? Oh you mean Exeggutor?"Erika shook her head back and forth. "Not just him! I have been working on a few of my pokemon and some of them have moves that would help them a great deal such as Rest!"I tilted my head. "Wouldn't Synthesis be stronger?"Erika wobbled back and forth once again as she tapped some pokeballs, revealing her Exeggutor, Budew, Seedot, Bellosom, and a Chikorita. The last pokemon made me pause as it tippy-tapped on the spot only to lock its eyes on Ralts."Chiko!" It cried, darting forward and running around Sabrina's feet while looking upwards. It obviously wanted to play with Ralts. Ralts tightened her grip on Sabrina's shirt and shot Sabrina a look."No play for now, Chikorita. You need to work on your Rest," said Sabrina with a small twitching smile.Chikorita chirped at that and hopped into position. The other grass pokemon trooped up, and I hummed. "Why these ones?" I asked.Erika gestured at them. "Synthesis is a good move for Grass types but it can also be affected by if the pokemon can deploy roots, and the landscape itself. Grassy terrain that is bountiful gives the best results, but some environments make it tougher, or outright impossible to regain health. The only pokemon that I have that can ignore this are Cacnea and Cacturne…" Erika licked her lips and looked a bit sheepish. "They'd… try and get into fights if I brought them here… they also don't need this training."Sabrina coughed once and then nodded her head to Alakazam. "Alright, would you like to take it from here?"Alakazam nodded and flipped another whiteboard to reveal a number of pictures of various pokemon and what looked like… "Is that a list of moves that they have learned?" I asked incredulously.Sabrina and Erika nodded. "Alakazam is very meticulous."I could only nod. Sabrina turned to Saul. "Would you mind getting our guests some tea and snacks?"When Saul held his position, eyeballing me, Sabrina coughed, her eyes glowed, and her hair lifted up. "Father, our guests are thirsty; we don't wish to be poor hosts, do we?"Erika coughed, and I suspected she was hiding a giggle as Saul nodded hurriedly and ducked out, only to return a minute later with a tea tray and a few cookies and crackers. I smiled politely at him, and he grumbled a little as he retreated, understanding that Sabrina didn't want him hanging around.Sabrina set the tea up to heat on a small cooktop that came with the cart and then turned her attention to Erika's pokemon which were all focused on using psychic abilities. "The Chikorita is an interesting new acquisition."Erika nodded. "I was able to get one from a Johto breeder recently. I think she has a lot of potential. She's very upbeat and eager to train whenever I work with my pokemon. She's already up to a second badge level.""Huh, she might be part of the team that will fight my little brother when he comes around," I said with some interest. Chikorita, sensing our attention, glanced in our direction only to receive a light tap on the head from one of Alakazam's spoons."Chiko!" she said as she looked ahead and returned to the 'class'."Your brother is going to be challenging soon? I will be on the watch for him!" she said.I nodded and took a bite before recalling how Ash had been forced to challenge Erika. I chewed slowly as a thought occurred to me. On the one hand, I should just let things play out…. On the other… "Say, think you could mess with him when he challenges you?"Erika tilted her head, and when I made my suggestion, she tittered and nodded. "Do you want photos?""Yes, yes I do." I said evilly. The work of a big brother is never really done.Sabrina smiled at our plan and then tapped my hand. "Wasn't there something else you wanted to talk to Erika about?""Oh, right! So lately there has been this issue with Mayor Jonathan, as you know. But since then—" I detailed what had happened to Bosco and what he had suggested. I then mentioned I was considering some candidates for the position of Gym representative.Erika nodded slowly. "It sounds like you have some prominent candidates from that list." She considered me. "What will you do to determine who will be best?"Oh, was she testing me? I put down my teacup and gave her question some serious thought. I started to feel like I was drawing a blank until I had a lightbulb moment. "Oh! I know I interview them all and then have them offer up suggestions for the others! Like do a fake out on who they think would be better than them! I'll get lots of informa—"A small silver spoon tapped me on the nose, with Erika holding the other end. She sighed and shook her head. "Oh, Brock, no, just no."I pouted with the spoon still on my nose. "It's... not a bad idea? I think it has potential…""No Brock. This is not a spy thriller story or movie where these people will not talk with each other. Some of them are friends, and they will talk with each other. It's ridiculous."She shot Sabrina an exasperated look. Sabrina nodded seriously, and I frowned. Why did I feel like I was being bullied?Erika coughed, "You don't need to interview all of them." I nodded slowly to show I was listening."You can eliminate a few of them straight away. I'm going to state some points. Lawrence is too busy with the League, and the Gym right now. Mrs Harridan and Madam Pennywrong are a touch old, and that will bring with it some views that are going to be different than you might like. And Judge Howard? He will have a potential conflict of interest if his son runs for Mayor next year."I considered what she'd said. "Ah," I said eloquently. "So that leaves Jenny… or I search for some others."Erika shrugged. "Meet with Jenny first; that's my suggestion."I bowed and clapped my hands together. "Thank you, Erika Sensei!" She bonked me on the head with the spoon again with a giggle, and I straightened up with a grin. "If I have some more questions, can I come around this coming week?""Yes, you can. I will look forward to it!" she said happily.A moment later, Alakazam announced that the training was finished by teleporting to the spare teacup Sabrina had set aside for him. Chikorita wasted no time charging in to throw Ralts on her back before cantering away.Erika giggled at the sight before giving me another look. "What else will you be doing for your rest week?"I sighed happily. "Catching up with friends." I then smirked. "Also, I have an auction coming up for some rare pokemon.""Oh?" said Erika with a feigned nonchalance that had me looking at her closely. "I hadn't realised that was this coming week."I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah… yeah it is… you might be interested in some of the pokemon I'm putting up for auction.""I'm sure I'll make an appearance," Erika said innocently.I stared at her and then rounded on Sabrina to fill me in. Instead of smirking and spilling Erika's secret, however, she had a stoic expression and lightly shook her head. Alright… girl club secrets?Alright then. I'll just see what happens. Deciding to drop it, I instead teased what I was going to do tomorrow. "I'm also going to be visiting the foundry. It's time to evolve my Onix and truly make him part of my Elite team."That sparked some more interest. I grinned, detailing how it was going to go, I had it all lined up and ready to go. It was time for Jormungandr to become a Steelix.