I approached Steven and offered him my hand. "Steven Stone, thank you for your gift. I'm sure the orphans and medical staff will likewise be effusive with their praise."
He caught my hand in his and shook it firmly. "I'm happy to see the money go to people that need it. I might have bid harder on a few more pokemon if I'd known that was the case. Alas, I thought I was merely working within my means."I snorted as he let go. "Your means? Aren't you listed as one of the richest men in the known world?"He waggled his hand in a so-so gesture. "Yes, but when I attend an auction like this, I set a limit on how much I am going to spend. I held back thinking that I would be able to nab the last Lileep for a rather substantial price and show off as sometimes that's what I get as much enjoyment from." He gave me a shrug with a 'what can you do look while I stared at him blankly. "I'm afraid auctions of rock pokemon combine my two vices, rare and powerful pokemon, and rocks.""I'm not sure I'd consider them vices," I said easily."I rather enjoy it for how I get to indulge another's struggle. I enjoyed Young Master Oak's attempts, but it was in vain. Erika was a surprise, but upon reflection, it seems obvious that there was more than meets the eye with her," he chuckled before shrugging it off."She has surprising depths, no?" I offered."Indeed," said Steven with a contemplative tone as he tapped his chin.I glanced to the side and noted that a number of reporters and photographers were avidly documenting everything we said and did. I chuckled. "We'll have to get one of those large cheques done for today's event. I think this has been the most successful auction we've ever had. All of the pokemon sold. I just hope they went to good trainers.""I suppose there is that risk with the method of sale," Steven said. "Not that you'd have issues with your current popularity. I imagine many people will have come due to your name being attached to the pokemon." He glanced towards the door where the Celadon contingent had departed. "The Lileep will be much higher value to come with both yourself and Erika showing interest in them."Rachel hurried up with a large camera and joined the throng of people taking pictures to claim some of her own to go up on the Gym's pokenet page. I made a gesture towards the photographers and clapped Steven on the shoulder while shaking his hand once again while smiling for the cameras.I was having a lot of deja vu with how things were playing out. This had happened twice now, and my choice of charity was being used to make me do something. Then again, Steven Stone had in one action, given ten times the amount that Mayor Jonathan had with his charity ball that had been a trap. I felt it was justified that I waiting for the other shoe to drop."Shall we put on a show?" I said, gesturing to the stage where the auctioneers were hurriedly making up two large novelty cheques. I was amused when they offered me a large calligraphy brush to sign my name. I made a terrible hash of it. The use of computers had ruined my handwriting. If I squinted, I could make out shapes in my ink blot of a signature that I really didn't want to read into.Steven, of course, had an immaculate signature that looked like a work of art.We held up both cheques, and the cameras went off like a firing line given free reign of their weapons. I was starting to feel my eyes water and my smile hurt after the first minute of holding the pose. The matron of the orphanage and the local hospital director trundled up, both of them looking pale. They accepted the cheque from me before the matron wrapped her arms around me and planted a huge wet kiss on my cheek.She wailed into my ear about how thankful she was and I blushed, returning the hug.When she broke off, she wiped her eyes quickly, only for Steven to offer her a handkerchief. She blushed as she used it only to lock eyes with him. More tears sprang up and then Steven found himself wrapped in just as strong a hug that he tentatively returned while murmuring comforting words to her.When she broke that hug, he produced another handkerchief from somewhere for her, and then we stood with her and the still-stunned Director once more for photos.I felt my smile relax and become more heartfelt. Steven might have been hitting a few pidgey with his Rock Throw by donating, but he'd done good with his act. I felt I couldn't ignore that.It took a while to wrap things up, along with another hug from the matron who sang our praises. I also had to handle a brief Q and A session with the media with Steven at my side.The media that had been present for the auction loved having access to Steven and I after something momentous like this."Brock! The Plateau has authorised you with the breeding colony for various ancient pokemon! Is this how you're going to treat them? As assets of the Gym to be sold off to the highest bidder?""The only pokemon that were sold were the excess pokemon for the colony with regards to the Lileep. Other ancient pokemon are still at the stage where there is a limited number that need to be used to establish a viable population. The Lileep that were sold today were merely the ones that have too close a genetic similarity to the rest of the colony. It is in fact, in our best interests to pass them along. Other Lileep are being paired with viable breeding partners.""Which are?!" said another reporter.I tapped on my transceiver. "Apologies, I need a moment to look up the report from our Breeding expert." I flicked my fingers a few times, and a small attached report that I'd been privy to along with Oak and Elm was presented."So far, the indicators are that Lileep is part of a water subset breeding group with them showing the most interest in my Omanyte, Omastar, and Corsola. At the moment, there is only a limited number of Corsola at the Gym. The others are of course, limited themselves, but there will be attempts to have them increase their numbers.""Steven Stone! How are you feeling after being beaten by Gym Leader Erika!?"Steven offered a pleasant smile. "I'm feeling wonderful. Erika played a wonderful game with her auction and I wasn't expecting such opposition. I might have played a different strategy if I had known how things would play out.""Couldn't you have just outbid her? Are you not considered one of the richest, most eligible men in the world?" said one reporter.Steven waved his hand back and forth. "I don't know about most eligible, but I know I'm not the richest. I know of a few gentlemen that have that pleasure."One reporter, a kindly local reporter directed their microphone towards the Matron who had gotten caught up in the press conference and wasn't sure how to leave. "Ma'am! What does it mean for the Orphanage to receive such large donations?""It means the world to us! We'll be able to renovate a number of facilities with an eye towards practicality and further improve the education of any child that enters our care! We'll be also looking to see if other establishments, such as Cerulean or Viridian orphanages, can also benefit!""Would you say this is thanks to Brock's work?" said one man. I narrowed my eyes. The question seemed innocent enough but the way he was leaning in and smirking rang alarm bells."Oh course!" said the Matron happily."So he does a better job than other Gym Leaders such as the Cerulean of Viridian Gym? Are they shortchanging their com—""I think now is a good time to talk about my upcoming match with Ace trainer Karen!" Steven said quickly.Instantly, everyone dropped their interest in the Matron and the line of questioning as they turned to Steven.I jolted in surprise. Had he just? Steven made a gesture towards the Matron behind his back and she nodded. She bowed politely and muttered something about seeing to the children and telling them the good news before hurrying off with her novelty cheque. The kids were in for a shock."I think I will need to use my Metagross against her; she's demonstrated through her matches in the past that she's a willy opponent, and I will need to bring my best pokemon.""Don't you think it is bold to announce which pokemon you're going to use?""It isn't a secret that my Metagross is my strongest pokemon. If I were to not use it, I would be snubbing her as a trainer," Steven said in a swift response."What do you say to the allegations that you don't train your pokemon?" said one reporter.Steven shrugged. "It's no secret that I have many demands on my time with being Champion, CEO of Devon corp, along with my numerous geological pursuits. My pokemon and I have an understanding, and I am able to have dedicated trainers on my staff assist with maintaining my pokemon at a certain standard. When I need to raise a new pokemon I cut back on other duties but I am the one that raises my pokemon to the required level. The maintenance is something others can handle, as my energies are best spent in other areas."I turned my head in surprise. "What?"The crowd of reporters twitched and made a shifting motion, which alerted me to the fact that I'd been the one to just ask that question. It took me a moment to recover. I made to wave my hand in apologies only for Steven to turn towards me."Surely you must have your Gym's trainers work with your elite pokemon no? I'd recommend it in fact!""No." I then shook my head. "I mean, no. That…" I licked my lips. "I have my Gym trainers work on the Gym's pokemon yes, as they're too many for me to maintain in the varying states of strength and awareness that are required of us as a Gym, but for my Elite team," I raised a hand and started ticking off my fingers. "I am the one that sets the timings, the periodisation, the planning, the nutrition, along with coming up with strategies. I do most of it with my starter Titan and he leads them through various training regimes on off or light days, but I work with them all the time, I don't hand it off to another trainer…""Hmmm, perhaps you should try it. Do you find you handle the strain well at the moment? I imagine it's rather stressful, with your family, the Gym and such." The words were innocent enough, but still rubbed me the wrong way.I bristled. "It's not a perfect solution, but I'm only human. I make plans and organise as best I can but I can't account for everything. The recent surge has put me under a lot more pressure but my processes are still intact."Steven assessed me before offering a nod. "I see, I apologise if I overstepped."The reporters jittered at that, and then there was a clamour of questions that made for an avalanche of noise. I hummed. Yeah, I was done here.I surged my Rock energy and clapped my hands.It was like having two boulders slam into each other as the clam resounded outwards, silencing everyone.In the shocked silence, I smiled and spoke up, "I think that about wraps up today's discussion. I'd like to thank everyone that came out, but now I must ask you, politely, to leave." I made sure to show some teeth.The reporters nodded and began packing away their things. I stood and thanked all the auction staff before giving Greta, Missy, Dennis, and Rachel their thanks as well for the day's work.Then I guided Steven to my office, where I sat. I wanted to exhale in relief, but I didn't think that possible with Steven. "Thank you for donating that money once again."He waved a hand. "It was no large loss on my part. Consider it a whim and greedy theft of prestige rather," he said with a shrug.I had no idea what to make of that, so I nodded. "Well, thank you anyway." I offered him an open hand. "Did you wish to discuss anything else?"I cringed internally. I was not handling this or the ending of the conference well at all. I needed to spend some time with Erika and learn some social grace. In social situations, I really was like a thrown rock.He hummed and considered me; the moment was drawn out as he took his time. "I won't broach yesterday's discussion more than commenting on respective positions. You say you won't accept money for a cave with resources of pink diamonds in it? I am not willing to give out more than a two Megastone for such quirks. Pink diamonds are nice but aren't as well thought of as their more pure white or yellow variants. It wouldn't be worth the exchange I'm afraid."I blinked. "Huh?" I said."Pink diamonds aren't considered valuable I'm afraid Brock," he said with a shrug."They're not?" I could distinctly remember them being worth a great deal. I had even been told about them as 'investements' at one time.Wait? Hadn't they also initially been looked down on by jewelers in my past life? Or was I mixing things up? It was such a subtle detail that I couldn't rightly recall what was true or just gossip, or was that just me forgetting something?"No, as I said. If you had yellow, they'd be worth more, just as white are worth the most. There is not much demand for pink. White are what are used in manufacturing."I nodded slowly. That at least made sense to me. I shrugged. "Ah well, no loss on either of our parts. I decided not to sell, and I have my reasons for that. If anything, I think I'm more adamant now about not selling so it's no matter."Steven tilted his head and considered me before shrugging. "As you say." He glanced around my office in the quiet, and I wanted to fidget at having another region's champion in my rather messy office. His gaze paused on my calendar, and he hummed."You weren't joking when you mentioned you keep things organised," he said while eyeing my weekly planner with the various notes scrawled into it. I shrugged and realised that I really should have offered him a drink. Damn, I really should talk to Erika… in the future, when I have the time for it."I'm sorry, I've been a poor host, would you like a drink?" I said mentally patting myself on the back.His lips twitched upwards before he shook his head. "No, I'm fine I assure you." He drummed his fingers on his chair for a moment. "I admit, I was hoping to speak to you about something, however. Your Lileep colony.""Very much not for sale," I said.He waved a hand. "No, no, there are numerous restrictions on that. I simply thought of an exchange I would be interested in. With the current market price of a Lileep I had a thought."He laced his fingers and locked eyes with me. I felt a pressure on me settle as he spoke, "I would be interested in a Lileep, but not a standard Lileep. I would like to purchase a Lileep that you Brock have trained. I would like to see what you can achieve. This would be an investment of time on your part, and I would pay for it." He reached into a bag he had on his hip and drew out a rock that buzzed in my senses. "I would pay with one Steelixite and one Keystone for this," he said.The pressure held, and I flared my dark aura. Steven blinked in surprise before shaking himself.I found myself confused. Had he, or had he not just tried something on me?Steven turned back to me and a suspicion formed. Sabrina said he only had a mild psychic ability. Perhaps he didn't have conscious control over it but rather it expressed itself as charisma… I'd have to ask Sabrina about that later. For now, I decided to point out that he had overstepped himself."Don't try mind tricks on me or mine," I said sternly. Steven nodded a for once serious expression on his face. The moment held until I glanced down at the rock he'd offered. "Wouldn't that go against what you said earlier of raising your own pokemon?"He shrugged. "I'm interested in seeing how strong you can raise a pokemon such as this. I also recognise that there is a limited supply for now. This, merely guarantees my claim on a Lileep. Also I am giving you both stones with this deal."I drummed my fingers. I was very tempted. I wasn't sure what to think on his apparent backtracking of his earlier statement to the press about training his own pokemon. It didn't sit right with me, but perhaps it was just something that as a rich person you could do. It reminded me of in the games training up a tradeable pokemon and using the game's inbuilt trades to get a stronger pokemon. It wouldn't really be the same, but then again, Steven was offsetting that by having me, a Rock Specialist train his future pokemon.I didn't like the concept of what it implied he did, but at the same time… This was a trade I could accept more readily than handing off the rights to my diamond cave.What was with the emphasis on both stones? Flint had found both together. Did that not happen all the time?I shrugged and stood. "Would you like to pick the Lileep you want trained?"Steven smiled happily. "Splendid! And yes I would!" He handed me the stones and a small glove that would be worn when using the keystone. "Congratulations on getting yourself a Mega stone! Make sure you spend a good amount of time training yourself with it. The strain can take a while for you and your pokemon. Also, make sure that you and the Steelix in question have a strong bond."I nodded. I didn't think I would have too much of a problem there but it would probably be something to work towards in the future. Honestly, if I had Tyranitarite I'd be much more sure in being able to pull it off. Jormungandr was only newly evolved and not that long for my main team."How long would a newly evolved Steelix take to develop the bond properly?" I asked as I led Steven out the back of the Gym and around towards my garden."That, is not a well understood area I'm afraid. It's already extremely rare for trainers to have a Mega Stone due to their scarcity. Only certain areas appear to have them and there doesn't appear to be a reason that we can establish as yet beyond pokemon habitats."I hummed and said nothing about the game's theory of the areas needing to have been graced with Xerneas or Yveltal's presence. Both were pokemon that hadn't been in any of the Guardian's documents or anything publicly available. "Well I think I know a few men and women that would love to make a study of such things. Even if I can only provide a case study they'd be interested.""Hmmm," said Steven neutrally. "It's up to you. It's your stone now. I'd ballpark at least a year."That brought me up short. A year? I considered it for a moment more before I nodded and wondered how much that timeline would shift for someone that actually trained and spent time with his pokemon. It would have to be shorter wouldn't it? I felt it would have to be shorter. How much shorter, though? Weeks, or months?"Well, that's certainly the most expensive garden I've ever seen before!" Steven commented as we entered my front yard. I blinked as I realised he was right. With today's sale prices each Lileep that had claimed a spot in my front garden was worth millions of pokedollars."Huh," I said intelligently."Hmm?" said Flint as he leaned around a hedge. He stepped out and revealed he'd been trimming it. He had a trio of Lillep poking him and I chuckled. HI knew he liked to keep treats in that pocket. Munchlax occasionally stalked him for them."Trimming the bushes?" I said only to smack myself at my lack of social grace. "Sorry! Flint this is Steven Stone. Steven Stone this is Flint.""Ah, your gardener! Excellent work you're putting in," said Steven.When there was an awkward silence as Flint relled in shock while I stifled laughter, Steven realsied something was amiss. He looked away from the 'flowers' only to pausewhen he saw me standing next to Flint. "Ah, my apologies! You must be Flint, Brock's father!""Indeed I am!" Flint said merrily."I must thank you for the highly detailed geological surveys you have done of the surrounding areas. They proved delightful to read when I discovered your pokenet page! You truly have travelled around some exotic locations! I know of a number of geoscientists that have followed your page! You should read the comments more!"I blinked and looked between the two men. "His what now?" I said. Since when had Flint of all people set up a pokenet page? I would murder him and then myself if he'd been posting his whereabouts for years without my knowledge. Oh, Arceus, the shame I'd feel if I'd fallen victim to not using the pokenet page like some of the locals.Flint smiled. "Oh! It's something I recently started writing up at Salvadore and Yolanda's insistence! I have started writing about where I've been and what I saw on a pokenet blog? Yolanda had Rachel teach me! That pokenet sure is impressive!"Steven Ston nodded amicably. "I've enjoyed being able to link up with new rock enthusiasts and pick the brains of experts. Your blog has been highly enjoyable to read!" He gestured to the south. "I had no idea that the Orange islands had such stores of phosphate! That resource will make a gigantic difference to farms everywhere!""Oh, I know! I've said as much to locals, but not many people paid attention back then!" Flint said effusively."Where else have you been in your travels?" said Steven with great interest."Oh all over! I have a map if you'd be interested! What do you think of the emergence of evolutionary stones? I know that Professor Birch's studies have—" Flint and Steven walked into the house, completely lost in their conversations about rocks and geology."Uhm? Did you want to pick a Lileep?" I said weakly, only to be ignored as they took their shoes off. I followed them in after tossing some treats to my garden. When I entered the hall, I paused when I noticed Gary Oak, Mia, Brawly, Roxanne, Flannery, Salvadore, Yolanda and Sabrina were all in various positions in the loungeroom.Gary pointed after Steven. "Was that the Hoenn champion just now?""Yeah," I said, scratching my chin. "We were talking about some things and well… that somehow turned into Flint and Steven talking geology.""Really?!" Salvadore said as he threw himself out of his chair "That's so cool! I want to hear what they're saying!" he said as he ran after them.I blinked and glanced around. Yolanda's face took on an extremely flat look. "Yaaaaay, rocks," she said in the flattest of flat tone of voice."Apparently, you started him on his blog?" And wow, didn't that feel weird to say aloud?She nodded. "Yes, it's about rocks in different regions. Other people write about the landscape, the pokemon, the people." He sighed. And shook her head. "My father writes about rocks he encounters…" She slumped and reached to the floor to lift up Terra that had been smothering Ralts with hugs.Ralts got up and hurried up to Sabrina leaping up to claim her lap and huddle away from Terra's… weight.Brawly laughed. "Your dad is wild!" he said with a laugh.Yolanda's face twitched, causing me to chuckle as I sat down. "Heh, sure Brawly, let's go with that."I looked at the others in the room. "So Gary and Mia I know about." I nodded at them. Gary gave a 'cool' salute with a smirk while Mia waved. I then looked forward to the new faces. "Sabrina mentioned you both as Brawly's friends? Roxanne and Flannery?" I asked as If I didn't recognise them."They are now my friends as well," Sabrina said offering both girls a small smile.Roxanne offered an equally small but no less happy one back, while Flannery beamed. "Heh! I don't think the same can be said of Erika! I introduced myself and my Camerupt really well to her Gym!" She offered her hand to me. "Flannery from Lavaridge Town! Future Gym Leader! Crazy nice place you have here!""Roxanne from Rustboro… I also hope to be a Gym Leader," she said fidgeting but not saying anything more."Thank you," I said earnestly back to her. "After today's showing I'd watch out for Erika. She might just be building up. I assume that means you challenged at a higher level?""Fourth badge level!" Flannery said firmly, "She was my first one!"Gary snorted. "Sounds like you need to hurry up! Some of us are up to our fifth badges!"Mia rolled her eyes. "You challenged Manny and Sophie for your fourth and Fifth badges, everyone knows the Big Eight are the ones to get Gary!"Gary huffed. "I'm working up to the big Gyms for a full set of twelve from Kanto," he said quietly."That's good to hear," I said. I nodded at him approvingly only to pause and look around. "Aren't there a bunch of ladies with you usually?" His bodyguards were being a bit lax… was that due to Mia being around? Was this a sign of trust from them?"His girlfriends!" teased Mia."Don't hate the player!" said Gary defensively. Brawly nodded seriously and offered Gary a fist bump while the girls in the room rolled their eyes.Gary coughed. "The girls are taking the time to get their hair seen to—something about needing to freshen up their look after being in the wilds for so long."This had the girls, minus Sabrina, nodding along. Yolanda noticed this and shifted. "Did you not go to the hairdresser when you were on your journey?"Sabrina blinked. "I had Brock cut my hair." I coughed and felt my face reddening as Yolanda turned with a vicious smile."That's soooo cute! What else did he do?""I had him brush my hair, and when we stayed in towns, we always stayed in nice hotels. After the Hoenn desert we even went on a couples spa day. Alakazam and Titan were even able to join in.""Titan sure enjoyed that heated rock massage," I said, remembering that trip. Flint had called part way into it…"Oh, we have that in Lavaridge! Hot springs and massage treatments are the selling point of Lavaridge apart from my family's Gym!""Raaaaaaaalts!" growled Ralts in my direction. I drew in my dark energy and pat her on the head which she tried to grapple with, only for my hand to retract too quickly.Yolanda giggled. "Why have I never heard of this?"I shrugged casually. "Never really got around to talking about it I suppose?""Huh," Yolanda said with a tilt of her head. "Maybe I should get you to write a blog as well?""I'm sure Rachel would love that," I said with a chuckle.Yolanda nodded. "Lots of people would be interested in reading it."More than a few people perked up and nodded along making me hum thoughtfully. I glanced down and noted that everyone had a drink and some snacks in front of them. I relaxed, man Yolanda was way better at being a host than me. I gave her a meaningful look and nodded while flicking my eyes at drinks and snacks.Yolanda blinked before stiffening. "Oh! Yeah! Sabrina helped me out as well!""Oh," now I really felt like I was lagging behind. "Well done. Sorry for not considering that myself."I eyed the trays of snacks that had been set up. This really was more than Yolanda would usually put out. Man, even Sabrina was better at this than me, was this Erika's influence?"You have a lot of demand for your time." Yolanda said, waving it off. "Thank goodness you have some free time this week.""Oh! Oh! Your journey! And this week!" Brawly said sitting up. "You've got this week for checking out new pokemon yeah?""Amoung other things," I said carefully.Brawly bounced around. "Like you have time for a mini journey yeah!? You should come with me and check out the ocean for pokemon like that Relicanth you mentioned once! Or that Corsola! Yeah!?""Hmmm I was actually thinking of getting caught up on some work, climb Mt Moon, head into Mt Silver on the way to Mahogany town, then check out the Diglett tunnel." I raised my transceiver and checked my schedule."Oh nice!" said Brawly. "How long you going to take for that?""Two or three days," I say casually."I will be going with him on a few trips," said Sabrina with a small puff of her chest."Ooooohhhh Brock and Sabrina~!" Yolanda said teasingly. I flicked some cake at her which splattered on her nose.Yolanda narrowed her eyes. "Don't try me big brother!"I opened my mouth to tease her back. "Humphrey~!"She grabbed some cake and threw it at me. I ducked only for Brawly to take the hit. The cake slid down his face and he licked it before grinning and grabbing his own slice. "Food figh—"An entire platter of cakes rose telekinetically and hit everyone as Sabrina perked up. "I win," she said.I snorted and channelled a small amount of dark energy into an eclair before smushing it into her face.Yolanda gasped. "Brock that's your girlfriend! You can't do that!""I just did," I said.Sabrina nodded as the cream slid down her face. "Indeed you did." She then narrowed her eyes and levitated into the air. "Which means this is war."Everyone scrambled to grab some food and hurl it at anyone else. I received the brunt of the attacks as Sabrina, Ralts, Yolanda, and Terra teamed up against me.Brawly likewise received a battering from Flannery and Roxanne, but Gary helped him out, only to be ambushed by Mia in turn.When Steven and Flint returned, we were still throwing food. Roxanne and Flannery stopped with handfuls of food held aloft. Their eyes bulged as Steven paused in the doorway. Brawly shot a half-torn cupcake at Flannery, hitting her in the face and making her twitch."Huh, looks like everyone's having fun," he said before nodding at me. "I'll bid you good day. Flint, let's stay in touch." He clapped Flint on the shoulder and nodded to Salvadore who was staring at the messy kitchen. And like that Steven Stone departed.Roxanne and Flannery slumped to the ground as soon as the door closed."I can't believe we acted like that with Hoenn's champion in the house! Ohhhhhh we look like children!" Roxanne said, mortified at her actions.Brawly laughed. "No way! You look like you've got personality! That's more important than being a stiff! Relax! He didn't mind at all!"Roxanne threw her handful of cake and the food fight restarted. Munchalx eventually investigated the commotion and was able to end the fight by eating all of the ammunition.
"Brock?" said Steven, poking his head back in and causing Roxanne to make a 'meep!' noise. He ignored her and instead held up a Lileep. "Is this Lileep alright?" he said holding aloft a rather lively-looking Lileep. I nodded, grabbing a small tag from the kitchen to wrap it around a frond to make it easier to pick out later. It wriggled and tickled my hands while I did so.Steven nodded amicably at me and the others once again. "Brock, Ladies, Gentlemen, Flint," he said in farewell.Everyone watched Steven leave once more. I felt rather bemused by how whimsical Steven appeared to be. Gary and Roxanne watched on enviously, their eyes locked on the Lileep until it was taken back to the garden and the rest of its brethren.Brawly, Roxanne, Flannery, Gary, and Mia left after that with the promise they'd be back later. Roxanne had looked like she'd wanted to say something more but had swallowed her words and instead left meekly. I watched them depart thoughtfully.I made a note to investigate how Gary was going. I had made a promise to him about earning a pokemon hadn't I? So far, he was the only one to inquire about earning himself one which was surprising.I hummed and turned back to the kitchen, which, while shiny, was not the sort of shiny you should eat anything out off. Munchlax groaned happily from the corner as Yolanda checked his fur for any stored food.I glanced at Flint who'd been quietly thoughtful ever since Steven left. "You alright?"Flint nodded seriously, and I hummed when he didn't say anything. Looks like I was worried over nothing.I shared a smile with Sabrina, tomorrow was going to be all about catching up on some odd jobs.Then I could go for a look around some caves to see about some new pokemon.
116
I blinked blearily as I heard some whispered shushing and a few tiny feet attempting to sneak past my door. I tried to sit up, only for Sabrina's arm to shoot out and drag me back down."No. Sleep," she commanded from her position in the bed. On the pillow behind her Ralts grumbled and murmured before settling.I spared a glance at my clock only to find it wasn't plugged in. A glance at my transceiver revealed it had been put on the charger and turned off. If I inched a little to the left, I could just—A single eye opened, and a sleepy glare was levelled at me that had nothing to do with pokemon moves and was entirely about a sleeping woman getting what she wanted."Brock, stop moving," Sabrina said firmly.I settled back and relaxed.The kids were probably just getting a snack or a drink. Sabrina would have alerted me if there was anything wrong. I heard Munchlax trip over his feet with a heavy thump and a sad moan of his name before he was dragged off by one… or multiple kids?I raised my head, only for a pillow to rise up and swat me down.I shut my eyes and ignored whatever was going on outside. I'd let it go on for a few minutes and get up soon.As I felt sleep reclaim me, I had the oddest thought about my transceiver not needing another charge. I hadn't taken it off last night, had I?I woke up three hours later with Ralts laying next to me and an indent in the bed."R-r-r-ralts~!" murmured the tiny pokemon as it rubbed its head against me like a cat. I stole a few pats, making sure to not touch the horns. Something must have given me away, though, as Ralts opened her eyes and smiled, only to stop when she realised it was me patting her head."RALTS!" she cried before trying to Double Slap me, but Ralts don't know that move, so it just came out as a weak, pillowy punch that squished into my face.I raised an eyebrow at her. "Where's Sabrina?"She hopped back and glanced around worriedly before shaking. I sat up and picked her up, drawing in my dark energies to pat her on the head. "Hey, it's alright. She won't have left you for long."The door to my ensuite opened and proved me right as Sabrina walked out. She toweled her hair off as she entered and paused when she noticed we were both awake. "Ah, good you're awake. If you'd slept any longer, I might have started to worry."I got out of bed and grabbed my transceiver off the charger."It's…. Almost ten o'clock… Sabrina what time did I wake up this morning?""Your normal time," she said, accepting Ralts from me. "I turned off your alarms and put your transceiver out of reach." She patted me on the cheek before kissing me on said cheek. "You needed to rest. And sometimes that means you need to be reminded..."I grumbled at her as she used her psychic abilities to wring out her hair. "Erika wants to do lunch sometime this week, by the way."I hummed. "That… would actually be nice but what about your Gym? Can you take today off?""I made sure to synchronise our time off. Alexa knows to give me access to your schedule." She then tilted her head. "Also, I know which trainers will and won't make it through the gauntlet that some of my trainers run. If something stops my prediction from being accurate, I can always get back to the Gym quickly enough."That got a chuckle and a shake of the head from me. "There are days when I wish I was born with your psychic abilities."The door to the mini fridge I kept in my room opened, and a water bottle flew into Sabrina's hand before the door shut itself without her moving. I rolled my eyes at her, "Now you're just showing off."I opened the laptop I had on a small desk to start checking over any jobs I had to do today. Sabrina teleported away before reappearing with a bowl of warm porridge with sliced berries and…. "Is that cinnamon?" I said, taking my eyes off my computer."Yes," She then scooped out a spoonful and offered it to me. I blushed and accepted it. Ralts whined, and Sabrina grabbed up a smaller spoon for Ralts to have a mouthful of the porridge. I turned away from the computer for breakfast, and Sabrina nodded at me approvingly.After breakfast, I inclined my head towards the computer, and she considered me before nodding. "Very well," she lay back on the bed and started playing with Ralts who was more than happy to loudly cheer and take up the game. I shook my head and instead booted up the laptop and accessed my work. A Porygon poked its head in only to peek through the screen at the noise of Ralts hoping after Sabrina's hand."Pory!" squawked the cyber duck as it emerged and joined in the game. Ralts cried out at the newly appeared pokemon only for Cypher the Porygon to nuzzle into her in a friendly greeting.I ignored the rest of their game and instead opened my task list to find that Rocko, Dennis and Alex had already decimated it. There were a few things that I had to sign off on, such as sending out the new trainers after a few weak geodude and onix but otherwise, there wasn't a pressing need for me to run the inventory on stock, pokemon, or check in about wages. It had all been handled with requests being outlined, with some more requests to have slightly longer breaks being the common consensus that everyone working for me was asking for.I hummed and wrote a quick email to Alexa, discussing shortening the day by an hour and installing a small break in the afternoon. It would cause roughly three matches to be dropped, but that shouldn't be such a loss.I tapped the table after doing that before considering the one item that I had to handle in person today. I glanced back to the trio on my bed. "Who wants to go see Crowley at the Museum?"Ralts perked up at that, while Cypher spun his head about in rejection. "Alright then, back into the intranet for you then," I said to Cypher. Porygon front flipped into the screen and waved a foot at Ralts before zipping off the side of the screen.Ralts gaped at the screen and tilted her head. "Ralts?!"Sabrina lifted Ralts and brought her over the screen so that Ralts could tap her hands at it, only for Cypher to rush back out and trill happily. Ralts leapt back into Sabrina's embrace at the shock."What's that feel like to you?" I asked as I realised it wasn't just sight that was at play with Sabrina and Ralts.Sabrina rubbed Ralts head. "It feels like a pokemon is literally leaping out of nowhere for us. While they are in the computer, there is no indication they are there. It is not until they exit the network that they can be felt. The security hub sometimes has them pop up to have snacks with the security guards. It must come as a shock to little Ralts." Sabrina tapped the screen where Cypher was happily dancing."Be nice," she said admonishingly. Cypher nodded contritely and then spun away once more. Sabrina looked up, "Ready to go?" she asked.I hummed and led her out; apparently, we were going to make a date of it. Sabrina laced her hand into mine as we left the house, and not even the trainers that tried to confront us for a two-for-one fight for multiple badges got under my skin. That might have been because Sabrina had the habit of teleporting them out of there.A reporter appeared in my field of view and swallowed before girding her loins and advancing with her microphone held out. "And here we have the Kanto League's power couple! Brock and Sabrina! How's the day going for you?"I smiled wide for the camera, amused that Sabrina would teleport others but not the reporter. I wondered how long that would last? Pushing that thought aside I said, "Rather well! I'm on my break week, and I think I've needed this.""What about all the trainers that are still waiting to face you? Are you worried about the back log you'll have waiting for you?""Those numbers were always there, and unless we just increased the difficulty of all the battles, I don't think it would be fair to the trainers that sought me out. A first badge gym fight for a new trainer is not meant to be a giant leap but a step in the right direction. If we're guarding the path too zealously, all we're doing is hurting people.""Where are you off to today?" the reporter asked politely."The museum," Sabrina said, speaking up for the first time. "It has nice exhibits.""Oh! A date at the museum! How lovely! Do you have any other nice dating spots?""Mt Moon, Brock's loungeroom…" Sabrina tilted her head. "Those are really the only places we've gone since we resumed dating.""Oh my, Mt Moon is certainly a trek for people, but I have no doubt it would be lovely at all times of the year! The loungeroom! That's so homey! Thanks for talking with us! I'll let you enjoy the rest of your day!" The woman stepped back and smiled widely at the cameraman. "And you've heard it here, folks, Kanto's power couple enjoying themselves during a well-earnt break! I'm Susan Surandan signing out!"The cameraman tapped something on the side of his screen and lowered his camera.Sabrina and I kept walking, but I still heard him ask, "Why didn't you ask for more questions?""Less is more Darrel! Sometimes you just need a few. I'm hoping they remember me next time and let me ask other questions, build up a good relationship with them as a professional, but not one that will overstep."I glanced at Sabrina, and she nodded. "She has a good method and is very reputable from what I remember seeing of her news articles. I will tolerate her more if she keeps her interactions short and minimally disruptive," Sabrina said without looking back.I nodded. "Hmmm almost conditioning them for what works best, yeah?""Indeed," she said. "She also kept her voice down so that Ralts didn't startle."I glanced down and found Ralts was slumbering on Sabrina's arm as a baby would. "Ah," I said, making sure to be quieter. "She's observant then, I hadn't seen Ralts falling off to sleep.""Ralts isn't asleep, just relaxed." Sabrina replied as Ralts poked her tongue out at me.When we reached the museum, I made my way to the front doors instead of just walking around the back. We entered, paid, and began walking around the various exhibits."Huh, they have some new features since the last time I was here," I said, noticing the various tribal artifacts that were laid out."The Crushers were an ancient tribe that inhabited the lands the Pewter now rests on. They roamed much of the Silver ranges and further north beyond what is now Rota. Numerous artifacts of their passage can still be found today. They were best known for their tactics for working with Mightyena to hunt food. They were otherwise known to have powerful Rock pokemon such as Onix, Graveler, Golem, and in very rare instances, Tyranitar. They survived by working with pokemon symbiotically as a large pack," I said, reading off a stand for the display.I looked up and found a hooded cape with a headpiece formed from what looked like a Mightyena skull. There was another that was obviously a Houndoom and then another that was a Tyranitar's skull. The Tyranitar piece had gold inlay into it and it looked very regal.The entire set-up sort of reminded me of the Lorekeeper style that appeared with Zinnia who I vaguely remember having something to do with the Legendaries of Hoenn. A few artworks with large cut-out sections of rock must have been hauled into the museum to complete the display."It makes for an impressive display," I said as we wandered through the ancient Pewter history of the tribal days. The displays then turned to a science section that highlighted the City's history of being one of the first locations to feature the Onix to Steelix and the Scyther to Scizor evolution on record. There was a whole wing that discussed the funding that went into discovering other pokemon that could evolve from methods such as Metal coat. I noted there was a small mention of Rhyperior also being something that was discovered in Pewter with a picture of myself and Bertha challenging Lance.There were a few interested murmurs from other museum-goers as I stood in front of a display that literally featured me. I decided not to linger, lest people start asking questions. The method of evolving Rhydon was still a secret I wanted to hold onto.From there, we went into the space exploration section, that had a wonderful discussion on the planets that surrounded our the pokeworld. There was even an observatory that supposedly watched for any space pokemon, with signs that Clefairy originated from the moon.I paused at another section that featured a pokemon I had some interest in but knew wasn't feasible for my Gym.The display showed off Minior.I blinked when a robotic voice chimed out next to me, revealing a young girl with a pokedex. I was surprised that it wasn't Greta.Minior, a pokemon thought to only exist within the stratosphere that was visible through telescopes. This pokemon is known to build up stray particles that come in contact with the pokeworld atmosphere.Over the course of many years, they grow heavier until they begin to descend. Their fall from atmosphere is often thought to be that of a shooting star. These pokemon were extremely hard to capture due to their natural habitat being the higher stratosphere. Once they are removed from this, they have a limited lifespan that can be measured in days. Storing them in a pokeball have been able to extend this to a few months. It is currently something being researched with environmental controls or pokeball development. This pokemon is considered a Rock-Flying type."Huh, that had to be the most detailed pokedex analysis I've ever heard," I said.The girl was startled. "Oh!? Ah! Yes, I've spent quite a while recording and expanding my pokedex so I am able to get a lot more detailed information on pokemon when I want it!" she said with a polite bow, only to pause. "Oh! You're Gym Leaders Brock and Sabrina!"I rubbed the back of my head. "That's us, and this is Ralts," I said pointing to the little pokemon in Sabrina's arms."Hello! I'm Lyra from New Bark Town! I'm also one of Professor Elm's assistants… or rather, an intern…" she said this while tugging on her ponytails and shrinking into her giant white cap. Her hair looked a little split, and she had some dark bags underneath her eyes, making me wonder what her story was.She yawned and blushed. "Sorry! I have been running errands for Elm all over… well the world… I only just got some downtime, and while I was in Pewter, I thought I'd take the day to look around.""Not doing the circuit?" I asked curiously."No, no! I did my circuit last year! Now I just run jobs for Professor Elm.""Hmmm do you know Bianca?" I asked as we moved further into the space exhibit, along with the first manned mission that was from Hoenn. The placard begrudgingly commented that they'd also claimed other milestones, such as being the first in space and having a manned space station being built for deployment in a year or so."Of her, I didn't have a lot to do with her," Lyra said before jolting. "Oh sorry! I shouldn't intrude on your date!""I didn't mind," Sabrina voiced, causing me to stop and glance at her as she considered a stand. "Your pokedex's insight was much better than what the museum had."Lyra scratched at the back of her head and giggled. "Yeah, I went really, really overboard in documenting any and all pokemon I encountered for Professor Elm. Most people don't usually get that level unlocked until their third year as a trainer supposedly." She then yawned again. "Oh! Sorry, but I think I should be going cause otherwise I'll fall asleep standing up! I still need to eat something, so I better go have lunch!"I waved her off, curious as to how she had gotten into Pewter and then not eaten. Perhaps she took after her mentor a little too much? Elm was, after all, the sort that would skip meals."She camped out all night and documented the clefairy dancing on Mt Moon," Sabrina said, anticipating my interest in the girl."Ah, that makes a bit of sense." I pushed it aside and turned back to my date. We walked around and enjoyed the scene for a bit before buying lunch from the cafeteria to enjoy together. Ralts jumped up on the table and stole a few bites herself, and when I tried to feed Sabrina she intercepted it and glared at me.It was rather adorable, in truth, especially when I made a game out of it. Sabrina giggled, which caused Ralts to turn, uncertain at the noise coming from Sabrina, allowing me to sweep a spoonful of pudding to Sabrina, who happily accepted it."Hey Sabrina, did you hear about the news story about the origami museum in Johto being raided?""No?" she said with a tilt of her head."Yeah, the news is waiting for more to unfold first," I said while smiling mischievously. Sabrina twitched, and Ralts hopped in her lap, interested in Sabrina's reaction."I went to the air and space museum the other day, man was I ripped off. It was an empty room!"Sabrina giggled and held up a hand to stop me. When I grinned and opened my mouth, she shot the spoon of pudding into my mouth. "No more for now, I do not want to make a spectacle of myself," she said.I swallowed and nodded. "Alright, alright. One more?" I said. Sabrina nodded slowly. I grinned. "You know I almost worked here?" I said indicating the history section of the museum. "Then I realised there was no future in it."Sabrina stood, her head shaking back and forth while her lips were pressed together as her shoulders shook. She buried her mouth into Ralts and giggles spilled out. I laced my arm through hers and led her around the back, pleased with how the date had gone. Sabrina leaned in and pinched me."I like it," she said, before smiling at me. I leaned down and pecked her on the lips, causing her smile to grow a little more. She leaned on my shoulder as we walked."Rrrrrrraaaalts," Ralts said in a defeated tone that let me know she understood that I wasn't some interloper in her and Sabrina's lives, but rather a solid part of it. I reached over and patted her on the head; this time Ralts accepted it, making me feel like I'd won a prize.When we reached Crowley's offices, the man was working on aligning a crystal. He stood and nodded before noticing us. "Ah! Brock! Sabrina! Good to see you both! I sent the last successful cases around to the Gym! More Lileep for you!""Good to hear," I said before nodding to the machine. "What are you working on?""I'm closing in on getting the machine to work on a proper pokemon with more complex PNA chains! I know I am close! Sadly it is an imperfect—""You miss carrying a zero point, oh, oh, oh seven," Sabrina said, eyeing his notes on a chalkboard. The man whirled about."Where? Show me! That will make significant shifts of a whole seven nanometres!""Is that a lot?" I asked.Sabrina nodded. "When dealing with cells, it is." I shot her a confused look. "Alakazam likes to read lots of books, he's been looking back through his medical notes recently," she said with a shrug like that explained it. I decided to just nod and accept it.Crowley inspected the chalkboard before nodding. "Thank you, my dear!" he said stroking his chin, "This is a new method that we're using to define the angle of focus that light will pass through, and the refraction rate is something I've only just started to wrap my head around."Sabrina shrugged and indicated an open book to the side. "It matched with this theory you had open here, and I noticed a difference."Crowley grinned. "Alright! Well, now I just need to make the corrections! Excuse me a moment!" He typed away on a laptop attached to the machine before bringing out a large magnifying visor that he used to look at the crystal. Then he hit another button on the computer and held his breath. "Perfect! I moved exactly the right distance!"I raised a hand, stunned that he'd been able to see it with his eyes and a visor, before shaking it off. This would honestly be small change to what pokemon tech could achieve if I really wanted to get picky.Crowley straightened once more. "Excellent! I shall be able to commence testing once we have confirmed the viability of it with Lileep!" Crowley then coughed. "Sadly, I will need another fossil for that Brock… we've used all the genetic data we can from the previous fossil.""Ah, about that," I said reaching into a bag I'd been carrying all morning. I reached in and drew out the four fossils from Celia. "Celia has been very successful in finding a number of new options for us. May I present the Skull, Cover, and Claw fossils. Along with an old favourite of ours, with one Root fossil.""Excellent!" crowed Crowley, "I was afraid I would have to use my Old Amber straight away, but with this we have so many more options! Let's do an assessment for what type of pokemon they will be!"I smiled, already knowing what types they'd be.Nevertheless, Crowley placed the fossils into receptacles that scanned the fossils and put up a display of what the pokemon would each look like along with the typing.The Skull fossil demonstrated a pure Rock type with Cranidos. The Claw Fossil showcased a Bug-Rock type with Anorith. And the Cover fossil showed Tirtouga as a Water-Rock type turtle."Hmmm another water type pokemon. I think I might have people thinking I'm dual-typed at this point," I said with a chuckle."You will have a sizeable number of ancient pokemon now Brock. In the future, it might be worth looking into having trainers have a novelty challenge with Ancient types only!" Crowley said while reading something off the screen.I chuckled. "Ha! I could call it the ancient challenge and also have people pay to come and look at the ancient pokemon and it would be like…" I paused as I realised just how many positives there were to that suggestion. "Crowley, you're a genius!"Crowley turned and adjusted his spectacles. "Yes? Thank you for noticing?" he said without a hint of shame."Oh! I'm totally pitching that to Rachel and the others! I might not get it done this year, but next year!" I said enthusiastically.Sabrina nodded along before leaning in. "Due to the bug pokemon's simpler PNA chains, will there be a chance of resurrecting it?"Crowley bristled. "Previous tests have only reached seventy percent accuracy! I dare not!""What about with the new method?" I asked."... Eighty nine percent certainty…" he said after assessing the calculations once again. "Give me the rest of the week to test it with the Lileep, and I will know more…"He fidgetted. "It… might be possible to have another pokemon for you to investigate by the end of the week," He said carefully. "I'm still not confident with the animal PNA chains that we have here but… these samples will put us closer! More samples will allow greater access."Crowley then turned and offered me a bow. "Brock, I've come to the conclusion that… no resurrection machine will have a true guarantee of success. Not even with the Lileep. I've had sixteen failures with the hundred we've so far raised… I think that number will grow as we get more complicated. I think this is something that is not advertised by the other groups resurrecting pokemon." He shook his head as though dismayed by the lack of scientific integrity."I will keep trying but..." He spread his hands helplessly."Crowley," I said, reaching out and putting my hand on his shoulder. "You've already done wonders by resurrecting Lileep from extinction. This entire venture has been a success already. Don't doubt yourself so much."He relaxed at that before nodding and turning back to the chalkboard. "Yes, well, thank you for understanding." He rubbed his nose. "Please excuse me; I'd like to focus on these next few tests. I will message you at the end of the week with my success or failure. Thank Celia for the samples."I patted him on the shoulder and moved off. "Ralts?" said the little pokemon that had been watching the exchange quietly, absorbing it all and taking it in.Sabrina rubbed Ralts head. "Yes, he was sad, but also pleased at being accepted. Emotions are complex things Ralts." Ralts made a thoughtful noise at this.I stretched and glanced at my transceiver. "So what should we do this afternoon?"Sabrina considered the questions and was about to answer when a robotic tone spoke up. "Rattata, the rat pokemon that has a normal typing. It will inhabit cities, forests, deserts, grasslands, and has been posited to be capable of living in any environment given time to adapt. Rattata is considered the most widespread pokemon but this is contested by Magikarp which is impressive considering the ability of Magikarp to traverse the world through the waterways. Rattata have long been linked with human movement, and it is thought that as humans moved, Rattata followed them! Rattata have been known to steal food from the hands of unsuspecting trainers."I frowned and looked around, not seeing where the voice was coming from. Sabrina stepped off the path, and there we found a sleeping Lyra sitting on a camp chair. In one hand her Pokedex was held in such a way that it was recording the Rattata that had approached to eat the sandwich the sleeping girl was still holding in her other hand."You know... If this is how she racked up her hours of documenting pokemon I have to admit to not being sure if I'm impressed or saddened," I said, causing Rattata to startle and leap away with the sandwich in his mouth. Lyra mumbled something before snoring loudly. I felt a little impressed that she had fallen asleep like that.Sabrina inspected the girl before turning to me. "It is not safe for her to remain here. Would you mind…" She considered the girl for a second before shaking her head. "If I teleported her to sleep in one of your Gym's trainer rooms?"I waved it off, and a second later, Sabrina teleported away with Ralts and Lyra. I started walking back home. For a second, I thought Sabrina was going to suggest we carry Lyra. Would that have looked awkward if I'd carried her?… Then again, Sabrina might have just telekinetically carried her behind us… which probably would have looked weirder, especially if Lyra slept through it.Sabrina reappeared at my side a little while later. "All sorted?" I asked. Sabrina merely nodded."She didn't even wake up when I tucked her in.""Heh, don't tell Suzie that you tucked another girl in. She'll get jealous.""Suzie would like me to tuck her in?" Sabrina asked.I nodded. "She'd love that.""Hmmmm, in that case, I would like to spend this afternoon at your home. Then we will have dinner as a family, and I will read Suzie a story and tuck her in." Sabrina nodded."Now, I'm jealous, do you want to spend time with me or Suzie?""Yes," Sabrina said before marching forward. I shot her a look and spotted the small, pleased upturn of her lips that let me know my girlfriend was teasing me.That said, I could flip the game on its head easily enough. "Wanna make out on the couch while we wait for them to get home?""Yes," she said, and a moment later I found myself teleported into my loungeroom with Sabrina straddling me. Ralts scoffed and waddled off to find Eevee and Munchlax.It ended up being a very good first day off.117I felt my muscles twitch in protest as an ache coursed through my body. I held the stretch and breathed in as controlled a manner as possible."Excellent work Brock!" cheered Trixie. "You're so close to getting your whole hand past your foot. Keep going; I know you can do it!"I exhaled and sank down a little further. "That's the spirit!" she said, happily shooting me a thumbs up while her Machoke mirrored her."How come your Machoke hasn't evolved yet?" I said through clenched teeth, trying, and failing to focus on something else beyond how my muscles were now burning in protest. Trixie glanced at her pokemon before shrugging."She wants to get as many gains as possible. She's hasn't plateaued in her weights for a while, so she's still pushing." Trixie raised her arms and flexed into a pose that Machoke mirrored. "It's only through truly overcoming something she considers insurmountable that she'll evolve."Greta raised her ever-present pokedex with her shaking arm to capture images of the Machoke, who noticed and started posing for the camera."Machoke, the super power pokemon. This pokemon is commonly known to be capable of lifting trucks with one hand. This strength sees this pokemon widely employed in heavy-lifting duties and tasks. They are common in construction, hospitals, and gymnasiums. Machoke are known to have incredible endurance and durability as well. This Machoke knows Scary Face, Dynamic Punch, Bulk Up, Payback and Fling.""Oh wow," said Greta, "Maybe I should look into getting one?"Trixie strode over and loomed over Greta's slumped form. "Considering a life of gains?" she said, flexing slightly.It took Greta a while to answer as she stared at Trixie's towering form. When she did, she looked down. "I don't think I'm cut out for that, I got tired just doing the yoga routine you had me doing," she said morosely.Stephen and Bianca, both of whom had decided to join in today, raised their heads. "Want to trade for running laps, weights, and battle ropes?" said Steven."You can do my burpees next time!" chimed Bianca.Trixie waggled a playful finger at the pair. "Now now! Don't forget that I set the intensity of the work outs of people based on the individual, not the group at large!" She smiled gently down at Greta. "As a youth, you shouldn't do more than light weights, or body weight routines right now. Going too heavy too often will stunt your growth."She then curled her arm and flexed her bicep. "And we want you to grow!" she said with a huge smile. Greta smiled hesitantly back.I felt a surge of envy at the boulder that appeared there before prodding my own toned muscles."Brock, are you jealous of Trixie?" said Yolanda from where she was leaning against a wall while Terra dutifully held a waterbottle and towel for Yolanda."It's envious, and… maybe," I said, flicking my hand at her and spraying some sweat in her direction. "Thinking of attending these more in future?"Yolanda nodded seriously. "It'll be good to have as much fitness as I can for when I go on my journey."I agreed with a nod and stood to shake myself off. "Alright gang! Hit the showers cause that's all we have for today beyond the usual tasks of checking over the pokemon! If you're interested in attending the training lesson that I'm going to be running for the young trainers that we sponsor, then stick around. Rachel…"I looked around only to frown. "Where is Rachel?" I asked only for a hand to be raised from the other side of where Stephen was lying. Rachel's much smaller frame made her hard to see."Here!" she said like it was a classroom rather than a Gym.I walked over. "You know you didn't have to take part in the trainer's workout, yeah?" I asked her. She nodded and flicked her eyes over to Trixie, only for me to raise an eyebrow at her. Trixie had pointedly not hung around Rachel too much. It almost seemed suspicious."You and her?" I asked quietly."She's being shy," Rachel said with a wink "I'll win her over soon." she said, then grinned impishly. "Trixie? My legs don't work!""You have more strength in you than you know!" said Trixie, instantly there to cheer Rachel on.Rachel huffed at her and made to rise only to collapse. Only instead of flopping to the ground, she fell straight into Trixie's abs with a thwack. Trixie giggled and patted the small girl on the head while Rachel shot me a thumbs up.I rolled my eyes at their antics, Rachel obviously wasn't shy about what she wanted, so I left it to them. "Shower and be back here in thirty minutes!" I tossed over my shoulder, jogging off to have a shower myself.I then collected up my notes and strode out to the reserve. "Jorm, Titan, Clefairy, Izumi, Quirinna, and Sanchez!" I said, pointing towards said pokemon. Clefairy hopped down while my Solrock floated from the top of the rocky plateau.Sanchez rolled up to me with Izumi, and then Jorm and Titan came over."I'm going to be doing some tutoring with the sponsored trainers today," I said explaining today's task. "After that, I'll want to put in some one on one training with all of you to work on some new tricks and keep developing what we have alright?"I pointed to Jormungandr, "Also, you and I will be going to Sabrina's Gym later with Shrek, Titan, Don, and Knight."Titan perked up at this, while Jorm tilted his large head. I pulled out the gauntlet I'd gotten from Steven Stone. "Steelix, congratulations! You're the first pokemon on my roster that I've found a Mega stone for; specifically, this is called Steelixite and will allow you to temporarily mega-evolve which will boost you considerably.""Ty!" barked Titan in surprise. "Ty-ranitar?" he said pointing at himself.I nodded. "Yup, you're also capable of it." I walked up and patted him on the stomach. "Sadly, mega evolution requires a stone specifically keyed to your species which is going to be tough to get, but we'll do some patrols of the silver ranges and see what we can find, I think if Tyranitarite is anywhere, it will be there."Titan nodded slowly at that. I turned back to Jormungandr, "For now, you have the honour of being the first that I will train with. I will let the others observe this, and we will build from there when we find stones that will work for them."I clapped my hands to redirect their attention. "For now, though, we have some trainers to work with." I returned them to their pokeballs except for Izumi and Clefairy. Clefairy hopped up onto my shoulder, and I had to laugh when Izumi kipped up to claim the other. Clefairy looked impressed when I didn't buckle at the slightest.When I returned to the main arena, I found the various Gym trainers that were employed sitting in the stands with small desk attachments added to the seats for today's session.Rachel was toying with a Magnemite that had a camera attached to it. She stood in front of it with an intense expression, working on the settings before walking around and checking the recording. She gave me a thumbs up and then toggled a few more settings.Then the large screen lit up, and faces appeared, showing the various trainers that I was currently sponsoring. I nodded to Mia, who I'd only seen recently, and then flicked over the others present. They all looked in good health, or indeed, better health than when they left. They'd shed some of their baby fat and had a certain maturity to them from living almost two months on the road.Celia waved on her link, and I waved back. "Hey everyone! Today we're going to run another lesson on developing our pokemon! This is going to be a two-parter with me going through building up moves with your pokemon."Greta and Missy's hands shot up like this was a classroom, and Rachel giggled as she rotated the magnemite to position the feed to show them.I gestured to Missy first. "Go ahead.""Is this how you build up combination moves?""It's part of the building blocks for it, yes," I said. "I've compiled a number of research articles that I read through while on my journey on this, which is part of the Gym's trainer server if you're interested. I hope you all remember your log-ins for that?"A few of the younger trainers squirmed, and I hummed. "If not, give the Gym a call and ask Georgina to help reset your account so you can access them. Some of them are dry, but that doesn't make them any less valuable."I released Jormungandr and raised up his pokemon with a disc that I showed the watching crowd. "Now, often Technical machines are great methods that can allow us to quickly teach our pokemon the moves that might be advantageous in certain situations. However, these moves won't typically be as strong right away as those that are learnt through natural growth or training. Can anyone list off another issue with these machines?"Mia waved her hand on her feed. "Oh! Oh! They're expensive!" she said. I nodded, knowing she would have the best idea, having scored herself a Thunder TM for Silly Mouse."Indeed, anything else?"People shifted about. I turned to Yolanda and she sat up. "Technical machines do not allow for the pokemon to widen the pool of moves. Sometimes they overwrite certain parts of a pokemon's brain and cause them to be limited to only four moves at most."Mia gasped, "What about Silly Mouse!?" She said reaching out of view and tugging said Raticate into view.I waved a hand. "It's only if you use it too much that such can occur. Stronger pokemon can get away with two in quick succession but you won't be able to do another for a few months. This is why it is important to not use it a lot. Be selective in what you're going to give your pokemon and how often. Often it's better to put in the hard yards yourself and train your pokemon towards a move. This can net more benefits by making the move divergent from how they might naturally operate. It also makes it more powerful initially.""Now, some of you will need to review what is considered normal for your pokemon to learn naturally and what has been seen from other pokemon, often you can build on natural moves to get more powerful variants."I gestured to Jormgandr before releasing Titan to stand next to him. "Now both Jorm and Titan here have the capacity to learn moves that see them throwing their bodies wholeheartedly into an attack. This can start at a simple Tackle, before building into Slam, and Double Edge."I smiled at the questioning looks I was getting. "Now Double Edge is not seen favourably by most due to it recoiling and causing your pokemon to take some of the damage as well unless they are particularly Hard Headed or well-trained. What most people don't understand is that you can use moves like Double Edge to train up to moves such as Giga Impact as your pokemon gets used to throwing their bodies into heavier and heavier hits. They learn to brace themselves better and also hit harder."I put a hand on Titan. "I did this with my starter initially when he evolved and it has had the benefit of his Giga Impacts being truly staggering in power and moves that almost always guarantee a K.O."On the screen, a montage of Titan roaring and leaping into Giga Impact played out causing Titan to grin happily. Jormungandr watched on hungrily, I could tell he wanted that power, that strength as well."Now the other benefit of 'building up' your moves instead of leaping to the higher tier movesets is that your pokemon will retain the knowledge of how to use the weaker moves. Moves such as Stone Edge grow from things such as Rock Throw, or Rock Slide.""What would be the benefit of using Rock Throw over a move like Stone Edge?"One of the sponsored trainers chimed in, "It doesn't take as much energy for your pokemon?""Perfect," I said encouragingly. "The use of less energy can sometimes make or break slug fests." I mimed some jabs and had Jorm shoot out some Rock Slides while Titan shot off a Stone Edge."If I want to keep up the pressure with a more widespread attack as well Rock Throw will see smaller rocks blasted out rather than a few heavier rocks," I said indicating Titan. "Once you have a higher tier move, the lower tier moves can also be shot out faster which some pokemon that are more technically minded will hugely benefit from," I said."Some pokemon also have a natural affinity to lower-tier moves. Learning higher tier moves therefore allow them to use the lower tiers faster while having increased endurance," I said alluding to pokemon with the Technician ability such as Meowth, Persian, or even Mr Mime."It might not seem like it but this Geodude is one of the strongest pokemon around thanks to her access to higher-tier moves. Some of you will know her as Izumi and she can hit hard when we need her to." I tapped Izumi, and she rolled forward before firing off her own versions of Rock Throw, Rock Slide, and then Stone Edge.I grinned. "Now let's talk about positioning, in this lesson, I'm going to send out some of my pokemon and play out some hypotheticals for you all to consider where might be the best for my pokemon to be released."I noticed more than a few eyes lose the shine of interest which made me tilt my head. "While it might not be as impressive or as fun as talking about pokemon moves I want you to know that this is one of the fundamentals that will help you win a lot of matches. Good, or bad positioning can often determine the match.""Let's start with something easy," I played out a match with an Onix deployed at the back of the battlefield against a Squirtle. "Good or bad positioning?" I asked.The group shifted and after a bit I prompted them. Raise your thumb up or down to indicate if you think it's good, or bad." I got a number of thumbs down with the others hurriedly copying.I nodded. "Yes, it was a bad position as the opponent wanted space and Onix typically needs to close in so a closer starting point might have worked out better." I played out the video and then led a round of questions on how this situation could be tweaked, changed, or turned to my benefit if I wanted that. The kids started to perk up and think, which was always fun to observe.I played another of an Aron in close proximity to a pidgey and wasn't surprised when it got a unanimous thumbs up. Again, I talked through the positives and made sure to get as many people as engaged and thinking about it as possible.I then played a clip from a recent match where I had Titan appearing directly in front of a Poliwrath. I paused it before the replay could play out."Who thinks this is a good position for a Tyranitar to be in?" I asked.Most shot their thumbs up and I chuckled. Celia and Yolanda, most notably, did not raise their hands. I pointed to Celia on the big screen. "Celia? Why was that a bad position for a Tyranitar?""For a Tyranitar," she said, making sure to emphasise what the question actually was, "it is bad as you've placed him into close range with a Water fighting type that wants to get in close. This is a trap question though, as the Tyranitar in question is Titan, who you've had training against a Poliwrath. You actually lulled the trainer into a false sense of security with your strongest pokemon and what on paper is a perfect matchup."I nodded and allowed the match to play out with it going exactly how Celia had said it would. "Exactly so. I'll apologise for the situation, but this highlights something we've discussed earlier by reversing the script. This was a bad position and the challenger recognised this but didn't know that Titan could handle a Poliwrath in close. It was still a gamble however."Titan huffed at my side in a manner that I knew was his way of saying, "Not much of a gamble."I chuckled and continued with the lesson with a few more examples. Eventually, I clapped my hands. "Alright! Your homework which I won't be checking but is more to help the lesson sink in, is to look through your pokemon and what moves they have that you might start building towards in the future or moves you want to incorporate. How long should you wait between TM usage, and finally play around with different positioning for some of our pokemon in some friendly matches where you don't have anything on the line!"This got a round of nods, and I was glad to see some very thoughtful faces. It probably helped that they could instantly set about applying the knowledge I was giving them. "Just make sure to be quick with any matches you take. You can be penalised if you take too long picking out the best position or if the delay drastically hampers the other trainer.""How long are we allowed?" asked one trainer."Sixty seconds, at most with escalating penalties from a free move to having to withdraw a pokemon from the match if the delay is too long," I said. This got some grumbles, but I wasn't too worried. No one I knew had ever triggered the second response. The first was rare enough, with referees counting down the limit and giving advanced warnings most of the time.I waved and thanked them all for attending before having Rachel count me out. I then turned to Missy in the stands. "Want to watch me work on doing some combination training?"She perked up at that and walked up to watch as I loaded up the Rest TM into Jormungandr's pokeball. "Alright buddy, we're going to work on this one today. I want you to go into a Dig and then go straight into Rest."He nodded as I loaded the disc into the pokeball before I recalled him. It would take a few minutes, and in that time I turned to Missy and the other Gym trainers that were sticking around, and Yolanda made sure to get closer."Alright, so this is a bit more of an advanced lesson, as what you want your pokemon to focus on when trying to combine a move or set up a one-two sequence is having the moves occur in rapid sequence. For Jorm, that is going to be pretty easy with him using Dig into Rest, a pretty straightforward sequence of moves. When I trained Bertha, I had to chain together Horn Drill, Fissure, Bide, and Endure. Admittedly, there was some trade-off with Endrure not lasting quite as long as it should, but the improved power of a combined Horn Drill and Fissure more than makes up for it."Missy nodded. "It's certainly impressive, and I'm surprised you're able to get it off as much as you do.""I have strategies about setting up the circumstances to allow it to happen usually, or force a trade-off at the very least, thus the Endure being added in." I rubbed my chin in thought. "When I originally started training it up for Bertha I was actually doing it for outside regulated pokemon battles and a wide area of effect attack in case I got in over my head."Missy blinked at that. "Oh? Were you targeted by pokemon thieves?"I shook my head. "Initially, no, but I was approached a few times by some people; Sabrina and I were too tough for them for things to get too heated, but I still considered it a possibility. This wider attack, however, does have some great utility in a pokemon match."Yolanda shot me a worried look. "They really targeted you?"I nodded. "I don't think they knew who we were, but yeah, there are some people that will try things like that." I shot her a grimace. "As my sister... and especially with how you carry Terra around, people are going to know you have some strong, rare pokemon. Sadly, pokemon like Larvitar and Pupitar are more popular now due to my match with Lance.""And if I threw out a Tyranitar, most people would back off wouldn't they?" she said after a moment's thought.I raised a finger. "Most would, but there are some that have just as powerful a group. Before you leave your journey, I want to show you how to escalate if you need to along with identifying bad situations and how to get out of them."Yolanda nodded seriously, only to gesture back at me. "Is that all you need to do for combination moves? Line them up one after the other?""Remember how I suggested getting your pokemon to channel pokemon moves?" I said referring to an earlier lesson. Missy and Yolanda both nodded. I nodded back. "Have them do that while working out where the energy is building up, moving to, or being released. Building up this body awareness takes a while but leads to you being able to combine moves as you build up energy in the required areas."I raised a hand and started ticking off my fingers. "Horn Drill requires a horn or a point for Bertha such as her fingers that act like drill bits for Horn Drill. Fissure is a sudden buildup of energy that can be released from her tail, feet, hands, or head. For the purposes of combining them, I had her practise using the move in her hand. For Bide and Endure it was a bit tougher as they both required total body coverage."Yolanda nodded slowly. "It must have taken a while to get to that stage…" she said thoughtfully."Yeah, when I was in Hoenn Bertha was only a Rhydon but she could do the combined moves for each separately, I decided to take them a step further after a while as I could get more. It was very harebrained and it took Bertha years, but she got there in the end."I rubbed my chin. "A lot of the inspiration I got for looking into combining moves was actually from Hoenn pokemon Contests; they are ripe with different examples of moves being altered, adjusted, or combined all the time. I'd give them a look over, as they're very skilled at it."I gestured to Missy, "Had any thoughts on what sort of moves you'd use in combination?""My Growlithe could use more power set up options. I was considering having him be able to perform a Flame Wheel into a Sunny Day."I nodded. "That could work, I think," I said, having her call out her pokemon so we could start working on it. Yolanda watched on with interest as we went through the steps of having Growlithe become aware of how certain energies built up and were then released with each move."One good thing about having your pokemon as a Growlithe would be that he'll learn this move faster than he might if he were an Arcanine," I said as Growlithe tore around the battlefield with a Flame Wheel.Yolanda perked up, while Missy merely nodded. "I'd heard that before; you've researched it?""Only for a few studies did it seemed fairly self-evident to me," I said. In honesty, I'd stumbled on the research articles and added them to the server that my trainers could access but it was soemthing I'd known from my previous life and seen play out during my journey. I hadn't thought I needed the articles.When Jormungandr's pokeball dinged, I started working with him to slip into the sequence of moves with a set command for a restful sleep at the lower arc of his Dig. It would slow him down immensely, but that wasn't the major concern I had."And now I need to teach him Sleep Talk," I said loading up another Technical Machine. I was pushing it and I wasn't going to be able to do this for a good while but having the setup was more important than just teaching him Dark Pulse. That I could do while he was awake with Titan.I spent an hour working with Jormungandr. I had Titan and Quirrina test him out before calling it a success when he launched out of the ground and started firing off Stone Edges, Crunch, and other moves against my other pokemon.I returned him and sent my other pokemon off before tapping my transceiver as it buzzed. I then walked out and collected the pokemon that I had listed off earlier to Jormungandr. Then I messaged Sabrina. She appeared behind me straight away."I'm sorry I only have five minutes, as the next trainer will make it through the Gauntlet and I will need to face them.""Ah," I leant in and kissed her on the cheek, "Have fun!" I said to her as she dropped me off in the training room. I glanced around and found Alakazam waiting with even more whiteboards set up and an eager expression on his face."We should get you a lab coat," I said. He rubbed a length of his moustache in thought, only to wink away in a Teleport."Uhm, hello?" I said to the empty room in surprise. Alakazam appeared a few moments later with a lab coat and a pleased look on his face. I huffed out a laugh before setting up Jormungandr with the Steelixite into his pokeball. Then I donned the gauntlet.It was a gaudy thing with. It made me think more of a Hoplite bracer from my past life, only it was lined with gold rather than hard metals."Urgh, I think I'm going to redesign this to just a necklace. Having it as a gauntlet is gaudy as hell," I said, adjusting the strap and feeling the cool touch of the Keystone on my forearm.Alakazam watched as I released the rest of my team. Don shrieked when he saw Alakazam only for Shrek to snatch him out of the air with a huge hand and have him settle down."Okay gang!" I said clapping my hands together to refocus them from Don's tantrum. "Today, we're going to be doing some observation training. Jormungandr and I are going to be working on something special that I potentially might be able to work on with all of you one day."Don perked up at that from where he was under Shrek, who likewise looked intrigued. Knight shifted in surprise at this, while Titan nodded."It will be something I am going to have to investigate for all of us but it would offer a serious power-up. I think it would be good for you all to sit in on a few of these sessions to get an idea of what it will entail if I do end up finding the stones we'd need." I pointed to the small Gem that was resting on the second thorax of his body.I'd be very hard-pressed to actually find any of these stones… but perhaps… Flint could be tapped. I shoved that idea aside for now. He'd probably do it if I asked but I wasn't sure I wanted to even ask. Things were fine as they were right now. My team was strong, and growing stronger. The diversity of my pokemon was also growing with Clefairy and the other Ancient pokemon I had access to."Kazam," said Alakazam, nudging me with one of his spoons. He indicated the first whiteboard which had notes on the first stage he wanted me to achieve with Jormungandr. As I watched, the pen hovered, wrote out more instructions, and created a graph he could fill in as he observed my session.I huffed and adopted a meditative pose. "Get comfy everyone, this isn't going to be a quick process. Try to feel Jormungandr's and my energy"Jormungandr looked worried, and he shot the others furtive looks. Or at least as furtive as a giant metal snake can when his eyes are the size of beachballs. I raised a hand and patted him on the snout. "Hey buddy, relax. It's going to be you and me you'll be the first on this."I then shut my eyes, leaving my hand on his snout as I felt his energies. I called up my Rock energy and started feeding it into the Keystone. I felt the energy I put in expand as the Keystone reacted."Zam! Ala!" barked Alakazam, making me glance up and recall that he wanted me to keep my energy as neutral as possible."Sorry!" I said, rubbing the back of my head sheepishly. He huffed, and I returned to filling the stone with just my energy. I didn't try to reach for either Rock or Dark type this time.This time I got to feel as the energy built and expanded, becoming amplified with how I was feeding it into the keystone. It built higher than I'd ever felt from myself before, and I could almost feel the area around me physically with the way it radiated out and then back in.I could feel my pokemon shifting in interest at the power I was radiating.It felt good. I tried reaching out to Jormungandr, but nothing happened. It felt like the energy was washing over him like a small stream rather than connecting.I frowned and recalled what Alakazam had set out as the second step he and Sabrina had determined. It matched what I'd read about the process from the Guardians, so I followed it.The first step was being able to call up your aura and feed it into the Keystone. It was naturally assumed that a pokemon could feed their own energy into their Megastone so the first step required the trainer to have aura training.The second step was to start developing a reservoir of energy. Oddly, the reservoir itself needed to be built of aura, and it needed to be something that was like adding a metaphysical organ to your body.I drew my energy back into myself and started to build the pool of energy within myself that I would be calling upon. I already had reserves that I associated with my Rock and Dark type energy pools. Creating a neutral pool of energy felt very odd like I was filtering my energy."Zam!" "tar!" barked Alakazam and Titan as they felt my energy starting to tinge into Dark.I nodded and tried to keep my focus on keeping my energy free of any—"Zam!" Alakzam poked me with a spoon, and I sighed.This, might be a bit harder than I thought it would be.When Sabrina returned to me twenty minutes later, she hummed. "Ah, you're struggling with keeping your aura neutral?"I nodded. "I'm making progress, but it is something that is counter to what I've been working on."Sabrina nodded and dropped onto a cushion as she regarded Alakazam's notes. "Continue," she said neutrally. I sighed and returned to building my reserve of energy. Damn, this would have been so much easier with Titan…After an hour, I was feeling stretched and tired in ways that I could only associate with aura usage. I lay back and returned all of my pokemon bar Titan."Urgh," I said while rubbing my chest. "This is so weird." A slight application of force saw me leaning back to laymy head into Sarina's lap. She threaded her fingers into my hair."You did very well; you made some progress, no?"I sighed. "Yeah, but I can feel it trickling away. It's going to take a while to get through this stage. I don't think I kept my Rock or Dark energy out of the mix very well." I licked my lips. "I need to get this right if I ever want to use it with my pokemon like Shrek."Sabrina continued to brush her fingers through my hair. "You'll get there."I shot her a thankful smile before glancing at Titan, who looked a little whimsical. "Sorry bud, I think I would have had a way easier time if it had been your stone I'd gotten from Steven."He smirked and nodded.Alakazam raised a hand. "Ala, Ka, Zam, Alakazam, zam, Ala!" he said with a thoughtful gesture before indicating to me. He then tapped a few points on his graph in thought. Titan tilted his head before agreeing with a huff.I shot Sabrina a look, asking silently for a translation.She continued to run her hands through my hair while a small smile played out over her lips. "He said that it is perhaps a good thing that you have something to challenge you instead of something easier. If you had gotten Tyranitarite first, you might have crippled, or at the very least, impaired yourself by having it too easy."I snorted. "So I need to do something I suck at for character development?"She smiled. "Of a sort, but he's right." She rubbed at my head. "Instead of deepening your dark and rock energies, it is a good thing to build up a properly neutral reserve."I shot her a look. "Have you been doing that?"She nodded with a sad sigh. "Indeed, even though there might not be much benefit for me."I shot her an amused look. "You could have a Mega evolution for Gardevoir, Gallade, Slowbro, Latias, or Latios.""You think I could gain one of the Eon duo in my team? They are considered extremely careful with the trainers they let witness them, let alone join with." She looked into my eyes."If they saw what I saw, I think they'd love to join your team," I said smiling up at her. She leaned down and kissed me. It was another good day.