I lay in my bed, my hands laced behind my head.
I'd gotten in very… well I couldn't actually call it late, or early, as I'd ended up not coming home until Monday afternoon.There were only a few annoyed trainers waiting for me but they'd accepted a reschedule easily enough. My team of employees had handled it well. They were getting quite used to adjusting for schedule shifts. I mentally marked them all down for another bonus.When I'd gotten in I hadn't been in any state to accept challengers and instead had retired to bed. Sabrina had turned up an hour later with Ralts tucked into her arm like a teddy bear to collapse on my bed."How'd it go?" I asked.Sabrina sighed. "Giovanni has one of the most disciplined minds I have ever had the unfortunate desire to read. He keeps his thoughts very tightly leashed and has been given top military training to this effect." Sabrina ran her hands through Ralts' hair."The League knows there are a lot of other resources that we should be locking down but as yet we're not able to. So far anything that Giovanni has had a hand in either forming or supporting is being extensively reviewed," Sabrina said.She shook her head, causing her long hair to flick about. "They've so far had to raid eight charities that were only charities in name, two Battleclubs he sponsored, and a breeder."I grimaced at the last site, only to pause and wonder if there weren't more breeders under Giovanni's payroll."That... sadly enough tracks with what we know of him. He's no slouch when it comes to spending big on himself. And as for the facilities… I'm surprised that there aren't more," I said."Those are only the ones that they've found so far," Sabrina said."Ah," I said. I reached over and began stroking Ralts' hair as a yawn rippled through me. "I'm honestly amazed that he didn't escape, or that he hasn't escaped yet.""He's had Lawyers trying to bog things up despite Lance's declaration the other day as well. But you are correct, there are as yet no attempts that have been made. Lance is getting very concerned, considering that other Rocket members had people trying to break them out.""What?' I sat up at that as alarm bells rang in my mind, my hands shooting away from Ralts' horns. "That doesn't make any sense! Daniel got hit squads and people trying to spirit him away within hours." I stared at Sabrina incredulously. "Giovanni hasn't had anyone?"Sabrina nodded. "Yes, it is very unnerving, and making the security around Giovanni tighter if anything." She put a hand to her chest. "I got asked for identification and verification at least twice while I was there.""Huh…" I rubbed my chin. "Do you think I should head back up there?"Sabrina pursed her lips before shaking her head. "I think Lance can handle it." She eyed me for a moment and I knew that whatever she was about to say wasn't something I would like. I metaphorically got ready to sit on my hands."Brock," she said hesitantly. She considered what she'd say for a second before firming up. "Brock, how are you feeling about Surge?"I clenched my fists. "Betrayed," I said hotly."Yes, I gathered that. Surge was your mentor as a Gym Leader."I started to turn myself away only for Sabrina to put her hand on my shoulder. "No, please don't close yourself off. I'm sorry, I'm… handling this poorly.""No, I am," I said, before clapping my hands and exhaling slowly.Sabrina didn't rush me and instead allowed me to inhale and force myself to let go. To unclench. I took the pressure off my hands and then simply took slow, deep breaths.I allowed myself to flop back on the bed where I could stare at the ceiling as the fight went out of me.Sabrina set herself next to me while Ralts moved into a position out of the way. I glanced at her and found her merely inspecting Sabrina and me. She must have been curious about all of this. It was a lot of drama, and as a young pokemon much of it would be foreign to her.I chuckled, it felt like I had one of my siblings watching me. It made me want to be better. To do the right thing.I hadn't had a feeling like this since…The Draw with Will.I hummed. "What's the right thing to do in this situation?" I said."What's right is whatever you decide. It needs to be right for you before anything else." Sabrina said her hand rubbing at my shoulder.I stared into her eyes, a swell in my chest helping to keep me calm. "I love you," I said before anything else.Sabrina smiled and leaned down to kiss me. "I know," she said smugly.I waggled my eyebrows and waited.She hummed, keeping me waiting for a moment more. "And I love you." She then tapped my nose. "But I also know that you meant to say, how did you get so good at this?" she said, lifting her head faux imperiously.I chuckled, Sabrina had seen right through my next question. If I wasn't so sure she couldn't predict me using her Psychic abilities, I would have sworn she read my mind or looked into the future.I knew better though. She just knew me that well.I grinned. "Oh, I know how you got so good at all this. It was Alakazam…" I considered the other options before shaking my head. "I would have said Erika as well, maybe not for this point…" Then I frowned. "Actually, with what we've learnt about how things went down with her father and uncle and Silph Co. she might have a unique insight."Sabrina nodded and kissed me again, not in a manner that would ignite any passion but in a simple romantic gesture of love.We let a quiet moment linger between us as we just basked in knowing that… our bond was strong? I wasn't sure what to call this. I just knew that it was good.Eventually, Sabrina circled a finger on my shoulder, drawing me back to the conversation we'd been having. "So? What is the right thing to do with Surge?""What's happening to him?" I asked, deciding that I wanted to know how harshly the book was being thrown at him for being caught supporting Team Rocket. "There must be a lot of charges levied against him.""Yes, although the League is also flummoxed by him.""Yeah, I can't say I expected to have him there." I counted off on my fingers. "That makes four of the Kanto Gyms that will be out of…" I trailed off as Sabrina shook her head."It seems… once again that Surge has taken a good number of people by surprise," she said.I frowned. "Has he escaped?" I said, with that being the first idea of what was going on coming to mind.Sabrina merely shook her head.I tilted my head and waved a hand. "Alright, what's Surge done that's got everyone so out of sorts?" I asked.[/hr]"HE WHAT?!" shouted President Kruger, coincidentally upending the last three hours of paperwork that he'd done as he flipped the table.Lance gave the paperwork an amused glance before giving the League's President a raised eyebrow. "I said, he abdicated before he went to assist Giovanni," Lance said.Kruger stared at Lance. "And he thinks that will hold up? That's nothing! No it's worse than nothing! It's intent!"Lance nodded. "It should have been. But… well." Lance shook his head. "He made sure to document everything, down to the minute of his changing Gym Leader for Vermilion and how he was being called to assist Gym Leader Giovanni, who he, coincidentally, had no idea was the leader of Team Rocket. He set up multiple fail-safes and made sure that the Gym remained within his clutches through some proxy Gym Leader," Lance said."And his lawyers were at the League before we even knew he was being taken in!" Lance said with a dead-eyed stare of one that has had to endure the cost of unparalleled success. Paperwork neverending."We're doing a deep dive on him! Aren't we?" Kruger said, jogging Lance out of his waking nightmare. "He has to have known! He has to have willingly colluded and set out to impede the police from detaining a criminal!""Until we arrived, that is not clear as nothing was announced publicly and we even called him in, but he said he couldn't come… which now seems extremely suspect in retrospect," Lance said.Lance shook his head. "As for the mental deep dive? Surge was the recipient of a number of military… additions that made it unwise to attempt to do anything mentally with him. There are chances that it will kill him, or him as well as the psychic that attempts it." Lance rubbed his eyes. "Or, potentially, evencause an explosion that will take out the room at the very least."Kruger sank back into his chair. "He was one of the volunteers for the deadman button? I'd seen reports on that but hadn't known he was one of the blacked-out names… it makes sense that he'd have been given a Gym if he was one of the survivors," Kruger said, rubbing an old scar on his hand. "I wonder whatever happened to the other three…"Kruger shook himself before coughing. "So, he's put up a paper defence. Are we going to allow it?""Effectively… Yes, we need Vermillion Gym to stay open.""And what about the person who has inherited the Gym? Who is it?" Kruger asked. "If they're not suitable we will have grounds to strip them."Lance sighed. "Her name is—"[/hr]"—Visquez," Sabrina said. "You may have encountered her in passing at Surge's Gym, but it is doubtful."She waved a hand back and forth. "From what I have learned, Surge had her taking various tasks that saw her outside of Kanto quite a lot and she only came back recently. She was there to witness Surge's battle against Will but we didn't meet her."I rubbed my chin and considered what I'd been told. For Surge to pull off what he'd done, he'd have needed to make her the new Gym Leader, and if he used the same old inheritance laws that impacted the older style Gyms… "Visquez is his daughter then?" I said aloud.Sabrina nodded. "Indeed. She will be called in." She held up a hand. "Surge… he has asked for my own, and if you can, your support in helping Visquez take over the Vermillion Gym."I blinked at that. "You spoke with him?""After the difficulties with Giovanni, I was assigned to look over Surge but from what they implanted into his brain… I wasn't confident I could do it without serious ramifications," she said."Ah, right," I said. I now had a good idea of what was going on. I now knew what Surge had done. I didn't believe for a second that he didn't know in some manner that Giovanni was the Leader of Team Rocket.Too many small moments in the past, such as where Surge sat during Gym Leader meetings or small innocuous comments were making my mind itch.I had thought nothing much of it last time, as he'd been trying to haze Grey, but he had still sat with them. Had he done other things as well? I worked my jaw. "I think I should have punched him in the face while I could get away with it," I said aloud.Sabrina nodded. "Sadly, time didn't allow for that. You did get a rather good punch in on Will however, did it feel good?"I glanced away. "...yes," I said."I rather enjoyed watching him get his due," Sabrina said, causing me to bark a laugh. Why had I felt like she was going to judge me poorly for hitting Will again? She knew what I'd had to deal with."Am I going to get any trouble over that?" I said.Sabrina shook her head. "Surge won't say anything, Will was resisting arrest and you needed to put him out of action with how he was. Some people might realise it happened, but no, you're not going to have any issues. You only hit him once." She shrugged. "If you wish, you should be able to talk to Lance about it and have him officially clear you."I hummed and waved my hand back and forth. "I'll play it by ear," I said. "I guess… now I need to work out what I should do with Surge."Sabrina remained quiet and let me think.I…had respected him, and looked up to him for ages. He had been like a loud braggart of an uncle that had stepped in and shown me the ropes. There had been things I'd picked up when I'd first arrived here and before I departed for my Journey, but there had been a lot of little things to be aware of.Pewter Gym wouldn't have gotten as big as it had, without Surge's guidance helping to smooth things out. I'd had one year to get the feel for it before I went for something more ambitious that I could call my own.Surge had been there, as had Sabrina, for the planning, building… Surge could have told them the layout and any weaknesses I had… but they'd sent in Daniel…"Surge… he wasn't out and out Team Rocket, as otherwise Team Rocket would have had an easier time infiltrating my Gym," I said.Sabrina nodded. "That is not to say that he didn't hand over information though, or to say that he did. We simply don't know."I pursed my lips and sighed. "I think… I think I need to talk to him, face to face, to get it out.""Are you certain?" Sabrina said worriedly.I nodded. "I got a lot of my feelings worked out by fighting him and then with the battle against Giovanni, but yeah. I want to tie that up. Also, I want to see if I even should help out Surge's daughter."I stared up at the ceiling for a long moment before voicing a thought that kept playing across my mind. "It's strange to think with such certainty that he won't lie to me, right after he has betrayed me by helping Giovanni. Is that not betrayal? How am I supposed to trust anything that comes out of his mouth?""Surge… that is not an inaccurate assessment of him," Sabrina said, she shifted on the bed and watched me. "Will you go today?"I shook my head. "I don't think I need to; I'll give it a day or two, get things sorted here, read the gym trainers in, and bring my family up to speed regarding the situation." I gave Sabrina a sardonic look. "You know you're bound to get a lot more attention sent your way," I said.Sabrina sighed. "I know. Three of the Gyms in Kanto will be out of operation for at least a few weeks. Neon City will be the easiest to replace but Cinnabar and Viridian?" Sabrina shook her head."Well, good thing that's not really our problem," I said cheekily. "That's for Lance, the league, and the Elite Four. We will need to focus on our own situations after all."Sabrina paused and a wide smile blossomed onto her face. "I hadn't yet considered that."I raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. "I've been rather busy with assisting the League. They might have gotten me to commit more time, if I hadn't stopped when I did.""Good thing then," I said firmly. Sabrina nodded and we lay down again.A yawn ripped its way through me and escaped causing my jaw to crack and my eyes to squeeze shut as I got comfortable."Brock? Are you still going to fight in the Ace battles?" Sabrina asked before I could fall asleep.I blinked and considered that. I'd been doing that to stop Will from merely ignoring me with his bid for Elite Four status. I'd been doing it to force the issue of a rematch if things didn't come to pass.In hindsight, I really should have known that Sabrina would put him in his place.My decision to advance up the Ace rankings, had been a guarantee, nothing else.And despite that…"I think I enjoyed it…" I said, testing the words. "I liked how my pokemon have been more motivated and we've been improving together. My pokemon team is the strongest it's ever been," I said."So will you continue?"I thought about it for a while and thought about how much time it cost me. I had the Gym, my family, and no doubt the Guardians would intrude with some issue in the future.But… despite that, I had enjoyed it."I think I want to keep going… but this time I'm going to do it for me and my team. I want to see how far we can take it," I said aloud, feeling the conviction sink home.Sabrina smiled. "That's a good idea," she said, then giggled. "The people that challenge for your Elite challenge are going to have a much tougher time of it this year."I grinned. "With Brawly and the others, I think I will need to push myself more than usual to make sure I keep my streak going," I said. I shut my eyes, deciding to have a nap before heading out to train with my pokemon.It was strange to not have any looming threats with Giovanni no longer lingering around.He'd been an ever-present itch to such a degree I felt like I had a phantom desire to scratch an itch. But now, with him locked up? I no longer had to deal with him and for that, I knew the world was already a better place.I stretched out and sighed, allowing myself to enjoy a moment of peace.[/hr]Later in the afternoon, I walked through the reserve, checking on the various pokemon and observing my Elite team resting after the chaotic battles they'd taken part in.Shin and Gawain were sitting together as Bertha regaled them with wide expansive gestures. Sanchez was digging himself a small recess to lay down in so that his chin was supported while his hands and legs were splayed out.Link was sitting with Titan, the both of them simply relaxing in the sun.I walked towards them, with my bucket filled with wire brushes, polish and other care products. Sanchez waved at me but didn't rise.Bertha, the giant menace, saw me coming and ran for the pond that Corsola and other water types enjoyed. She leapt and caused a great tidal wave to surge and deposit most of the smaller pokemon up onto the opposite bank as she got dirtier.I pointed straight at her. "I'm leaving you until last," I said firmly.She grinned and dove into the muddy bank, where she proceeded to roll. I huffed at her and turned my attention to the other pokemon.I did Sanchez first with his position making him rather easy to scrub clean. When I got a few troublesome pebbles out of the cracks in his body he groaned with relief and sank further into the recess. I eventually had him roll over and he spasmed and giggled as I got some other rocks from his armpits.When I was done he merely lay back, in a blissful coma.Jormungandr was surprisingly clean. "Huh, that's something to note; maybe Mega-evolution causes the small stuff to get crushed up or absorbed?" I settled in for a quick polish instead and after a few minutes of work Jorm glistened.When I reached Don, he made a big show of preening and wiggling in the towel, much to his daughter's amusement. Was he being a good example for his daughter? That… was kind of hilarious, considering how much he usually played up for me. For him to mellow out thanks to his daughter? Just ridiculous.The Lileep and Cradilly both got a pass over with a special nutrient blend that Erika had recommended. Both of them squirmed happily and trilled their names before I moved on.Over the span of the next two hours, I picked, plucked, ground, polished, brushed, and jackhammered my pokemon into a state of relaxation. When I was done, my hands jittered slightly.The water pokemon were the easiest to clean, with most of them needing a simple wipe with a specialised oil that I'd learnt about through reading Lola's notes. Lapras needed a combination of rough sanding for his shell, before having other parts wiped off.Zephyr required the use of a small squirt bottle and enduring his shaking off the water before I dried him with a small handheld blow dryer.Empress went after Titan. Her dubious expression watching as I cleaned up Titan's carapace which had him sighing in pleasure as small aches and pains were handled.She was stiff throughout the grooming, but as soon as I was done, she stretched out a little and seemed pleased with how much freer she was and she nodded at me before nudging Teddiursa forward.I worked him over with a brush, and when I was done I made a show of standing and dusting my hands off. "Well, that's the last of you!" I said loudly.At my feet, Teddiursa shook himself out, his greatly puffed-up body looking more like Froufrou than a small bear.Bertha, who'd been waiting for this moment, emerged from the water covered in mud. "Rhy!" she said proudly.I gave her a look. "I don't own a Muk?" I said, playing along with her game. Bertha raised her arms and roared in a fake Muk cry, advancing on me playfully.Then I grinned. "Tide, Shrek, Hypnotoad! Bubblebeam!" I stabbed a hand forward and lunged, grabbing Bertha before she could retreat, in the process getting myself covered in mud.Bubbles soon washed over us as I 'dragged' Bertha to a point where I could have her lay down so I could scrub her clean. I made sure to work a small pick into the gaps in her armour without digging too deeply. This in truth was the proper cleaning that she needed and was the equivalent of flossing for an armoured pokemon.When I was done with that I worked over her with a towel.Bertha stood at my prompting and grinned. She posed a little for the other pokemon, earning a few appreciative grumbles and roars from the others.She then grinned evilly and dashed back into the pond, where the water types began hammering her with gentle water attacks. She was quickly worn down until she was clean once more. She then retreated to flop down next to Titan, who grumbled as she thumped into the rock he'd been lying on."Alright that's enough games, I wanted to talk to you all. Today is going to be spent just resting and tomorrow will be light duties but first I have two new pokemon to introduce you to!"This had sleepy eyes widening with interest.Bertha perked up and her fingers twitched. "Rhy! Perior?" she asked in the manner of a schoolgirl, asking if their new classmate would be cute or not. I chuckled and popped open the first pokeball."Most of you will remember the following little chap, say hello to our newest trainee and aspiring Elite member, Zubat!" Zubat flapped overhead for a few moments before settling on a rock where he raised a wing in greeting.The others turned interested glances towards the next pokeball even as Bertha started inching towards the small golden Zubat.I released this one and Gible appeared with a shake of his head."Gible?" he said with a tilt of his head.Bertha stopped inching towards Zubat and gasped at the tiny shark pokemon.I reached down and picked up Gible as Bertha leapt. She slammed into the ground and slid past me with a whine as Gible stiffened in fright. His eyes roamed across the huge pokemon that had just crashed into where he'd been standing."Don't mind her little guy, she's just excited to meet you is all," I said, petting the Sinnoh pseudo-legendary.I shook my head to Bertha and she slumped and settled for a wave at the tiny pokemon. "Everyone, this is Gible, he's a new addition and I had him with the family. He was picked up during the raid with Team Rocket, where it was discovered that they've been able to make contact with another region, so that will probably be something that happens… soonish. We don't have a date on that however and it was determined that I would look after this little guy."I held him out. "Gible are known as the starting evolution to some powerful pokemon in their region though and if he is interested I would be happy to have him join us."I gestured to Bertha and Don causing both pokemon to tilt their heads. "I'm already well experienced with strong ground, or draconic temperament pokemon after all. When he fully evolves, which will take a while as a dragon pokemon, he might be a match for some of my strongest pokemon," I said, indicating Bertha, Titan, and Empress who perked up in surprise.Gible waved his arms and gnashed his teeth in excitement at this, and I smiled. "He's still months, if not years off from that thought. But if he's around during training sessions don't mind him. He will need to know what he's signing up for after all." I put him on the ground, and Gible advanced, only for Bertha to try and snatch him up again.Gible dodged this and instead dove towards Empress who had Teddiursa sitting next to her.Gible hid behind Empress and my second Tyranitar shot Bertha an unimpressed look. She then smirked as she reached down and stroked a single claw across Gible's head with intense focus. When Gible nuzzled into the claw firmly and didn't seem bothered, Empress became very pleased with herself. Bertha collapsed onto her hands and knees dramatically."Rhhhhhhhhy!" she said sadly.I let my other pokemon greet the newest additions in their own way before continuing with what else I wanted to talk about."Right! The other news I had was that I wanted to tell you all that I would like to continue the Ace battles we've been undergoing of late. I know I started doing these as just a method to keep ourselves sharp while running the gym, but I think we can do more.""Ty? Tar?" Titan asked."Yes, this means more high-end battles," I said, understanding what Titan meant."We're going to be shifting around some of the pokemon that I use for this as well as continuing the training that we have had in the past. With Giovanni out of the picture I want us to be stronger than ever instead of watching our backs all the time."I adopted a stern expression. "That is not to say that we shouldn't expect some tough fights, however. There are still a lot of pokemon and trainers out there that will take us down if we let ourselves grow complacent."I locked eyes with many of my pokemon. "We've tangled with two Legendary pokemon now, and so far we've driven each one off with assistance. I want that to be the bare minimum goal from now on, alright?"The group nodded, calling out their names in agreement as they did so. Gible and Zubat gasped in awe and their gaze tracked around the others, taking them in with more respectful gazes.Bertha made a punching gesture. "Perior!" she said with a fanged grin.I chuckled and signalled for her to wait before she could get too caught up in retelling the story of how she punched a Moltres out of the air."The reason I want to keep going with the Ace battles is… well it's mostly for me; I want to keep getting stronger, and I enjoy the higher tier battles."I once again looked around. "I think I also want to make sure that I have a very large say in whoever wants to become an Elite Four using this method. I have a bit of a say in the rookie entrance method, with most people seeking out my badge. I don't have any say for those that are to be in the tougher regions with the Rangers, but I can impact this."I grinned. "So, are you all interested in that?"I got a resounding roar of approval from my pokemon with Link, Teddiursa, and Gawain all hopping forward to punch their arms into the air.I had thought that would be their response. I looked at Titan and saw him smirking.He gave me a thumbs up and I chuckled. "Alright, rest up today, light session tomorrow; we might find another Ace battle this week, but otherwise we're getting ready for the Ace tournament next week."I looked around. "All of you will be fighting," I said firmly, "I will make some time and have something set up, have no doubt. Just don't expect it to be every time," I said, eyeing the almost twenty Elite pokemon I now had.I marched back into the Gym and rounded up the Gym Trainers, receptionists, and assistants I had with a group message. While I waited for everyone to come in, I toyed around with my new Xtransciever."Ooooh that's shiny!" said Rachel as she locked onto the new watch immediately after she walked into the room."Thanks, I got it from that tour with Silph Co.," I said with a shrug. "It's pretty neat; it's got a few more features and seems to be smoother with the user interface."Rachel stared at me. "You realise that means that you likely have one of the only models right now yeah? That watch won't be sent out for like…" Rachel waved her hands around as if searching for the word only to make a frustrated noise. "Urgh! Like months or years even!"I was about to wave her comment off before I paused. Silph Co. was under investigation for a number of issues following the raid by Team Rocket. So, chances were that Rachel wasn't wrong."Huh, neat," I said after thinking about it a little more.Rachel twitched. "You have one of the must-have items before anyone has one, and that's all you can say?" she said."Yes?" I said, tilting my head.Rachel sighed. "Don't let too many people know, or they will try to steal that just for how much of a power statement that is."I considered that. Would this be like getting the latest iPhone in my previous life before the latest model came out only for… I sighed. Yeah, it was pretty much exactly like that."Right, I'll be careful," I said.Rachel gave me a dubious look and I frowned. "What? What's that look for?""Brock, you let things slip all the time, maybe just don't mention it to your siblings?"I sucked my lips in and looked away. "Yeeeeeeah? Salvadore was there, and he got one with me."Rachel slumped. "You're doomed; prepare to be challenged by some tech dweebs or something for your watch."I chuckled, knowing that was probably going to play out. I glanced around and noted that everyone was here with Bianca walking in with Jennifer."Brock! Great news! The volcano is ready for ignition!" Jennifer said. This drew an appreciative round of murmurs from everyone and I nodded."Thanks, can you shut the door? I need to read everyone in on what happened and why I wasn't here today."Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose. "Brock… should we know about this?"I shrugged. "You work for me and were impacted by this, also, it is going to be in the news very soon." I pointed right at her. "You and Jennifer more than anyone else need to know what happened."Rachel perked up, adopting a serious expression as Jennifer wheeled herself over and closed the door before returning.I rolled my shoulders and decided to just dive in. "Alright, so things have been building since Team Rocket tried to break in and Daniel's reveal as an Agent of Team Rocket but things have come to a head." I smiled. "Thankfully the good guys won."Rachel bounced in her seat and I grinned."It started yesterday when Lance approached Sabrina and I—" I then detailed how the last twenty-four hours had gone for me, barring some additional information, such as the Guardians leaking information about Giovanni to the League, or how I'd battled a Legendary pokemon.The reveal that Giovanni, Blaine, and Grey were all Team Rocket members was a shock. When I told them Surge had been there, Dennis groaned."Noooo! Not the Lieutenant! He was a pillar of Kanto!" The muscle-bound man shook his head. "I'm so tearing his poster down!" he said. "I can't believe he was a Rocket!"I raised a hand. "The League is a bit confused on that, as while he moved to assist Giovanni he has stated he isn't a Team Rocket member. His daughter has also stepped in to take over the Gym."This caused a round of murmurs that were mostly versions of "Surge had a daughter?"When I finished there was a long silence. "You will hear some of this in the news as it is too big not to be released. It is also a gigantic win for the League but there will be some shifts. We will anticipate some of this—""Holy shit! Mayor Jonathan is fucked!" Jennifer who'd been quietly listening, suddenly swore and I soon realised that she was correct."Huh," I said. "I hadn't thought of that but yeah, he's going to be politically toxic now isn't he?"Jennifer nodded. "Him, and anyone that accepted cash or support from Giovanni or his intermediaries." Jennifer licked her lips. "There's going to be a huge shake-up across Kanto due to this.""Indigo," I said offhandedly, my mind elsewhere. "They also caught a few others in Johto affiliated with Team Rocket acting as Gym Leaders," I said.This caused another stir and Rachel whistled. "Alright, seems like we've got some work ahead of us planning how things are going to go." She tilted her head. "Are you still going to do the Ace tournament next week?""Yes, I want the points, I've decided I'm still going to go for as high a position as I can in the rankings," I said.A.J. grinned at this and Missy perked up. This would be very good news for them due to their interests. I waved a hand."Make some time for Missy this week, another Ace match, a visit or two with the League, and then the Ace tournament next week.""So keeping busy hmmm? It will be good to have the Gym closed for next week though," Rachel said.I hummed and tilted my head. "Why's that?" My eyes scouring the schedule and pausing on next weekend.Rachel rolled her eyes. "The contest you set up months ago? That is scheduled? We've had flyers and posters set up around town and in nearby towns along with posting on the pokenet. We have a lot of interest so far in the 'tough' contest."Rachel waved a hand at my sheepish expression. "It makes sense you forgot with everything that's been going on, don't sweat it."I nodded and swept my eyes to the week after which had been blocked out for students from the Pokemon Technical Academy followed by a lecture there."Brock, you also have some requests from Celadon University?" Alexa said."Hmmm do that the week after," I said. It seemed I would be returning to being quite busy after the tournament. I would still have some time to build points though with the dedicated slot for Ace or Fourth tier challenges around lunch.I nodded and turned my attention to other things, my mind already turning with everything I had to do this week. Somewhere in there, I wanted to start returning to walking my siblings to school occasionally, but that would be out of work hours.I chuckled. Despite Team Rocket being gone, I was still as busy as always.I rolled my shoulders and felt myself shift into the flow of running my Gym. It was good that I was busy.I wouldn't have it any other way.
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"Muhahahahaha!" shouted Yolanda from atop the volcano.I stared long and hard, having been told about this behaviour but fully expecting it to be a lie. A ruse. A fallacy that they'd used to lead me astray."Yes, good, but make sure to get the lean back right," Sabrina said, correcting my little sister's posture so she was leaning back slightly and looking just that slight bit more unhinged."I also like this pose," Sabrina said as she slashed her hand across her mouth. "Ohohohoho!" she said, staring into the magma depths like someone she detests—probably Karen— was being slowly lowered into it."Ohhhh!" said Cindy and Yolanda; both of them clapped their hands and then turned to me."Outsider!" they cried. I tripped on a rock trying to flee only to lurch as I found myself laying on the floor next to my bed.I sat up and glanced around. "It was a dream?" I said, checking to make sure Sabrina wasn't standing just out of sight. I checked the clock on my bedside table and shook myself in frustration.It was three o'clock in the morning, I had hours before I needed to be out doing anything.I settled back down and tried to sleep, but the dream lingered. If Sabrina had been seen doing something... No, that wasn't a question, I'd caught her doing plenty of embarrassing things during our journey.She'd initially tried to hide it but she was an avid doll collector. When we'd gone through towns it wasn't unusual for her to linger and find if there were any doll shops in the town. She'd usually buy out every doll she could find before sending it off. Initially, she'd tried to do this without me knowing about it.Then I'd caught her, and she'd tried to whack me with a stick hard enough to make me forget, saying that she didn't want me to think she was weird or childish. That had resulted in a ten-minute game of keep away with me shouting at her how I thought it was a fine hobby.These days, Sabrina had a room that was more like a giant showroom for her dolls. She also had contacts with the dollmakers for direct orders for any limited edition dolls they made these days.I quickly sent off a question to Sabrina to ascertain if she still bought dolls. Then I remembered the hour and realised she was probably asleep.I blinked and stared at the ceiling. Why had I been thinking about her doll collection?Oh right, Sabrina knew not to be embarrassed by things like this. She'd just own it.Yeah, there would have been no reason for her 'forget me stick' or delete the memories if I caught her teaching my siblings to cackle maniacally into the volcano. She'd have just taught the girls to own it.I nodded to myself and settled back down, safe in my logic.I had a strange sense of deja vu as I marched up around to the back of the reserve to find Yolanda standing atop the volcano rim with Missy. Both of them were sipping something while they stared into the lava that bubbled up.I approached cautiously. Sabrina, I could be sure of, but if Missy was doing it…Missy noticed me and waved her hand. "Morning Brock! This is quite the engineering feat!" she said.I nodded. "Yeah, it takes a specialised engine to turn the magma… or is it lava?"Both girls tilted their heads. "Huh?" they said."It's something to do with one of them being above ground… Eh, never mind it's not important, but yes, Jennifer did get some people that were very good at their work to set this up." I blinked as I realised both girls were lying on a pair of Graveler, while Growlithe lay across the girls' laps."Hey, you dogs are supposed to be patrolling the perimeter," I said with a fake grouchiness.Both Growlithe shot up and barked before dashing away."Nooo Sir Barksalot!" Missy said.I rolled my eyes. "You're not calling them that," I said.Yolanda nodded along with me. "Yeah, Missy, I've already ordered tags for them, and we're setting up a naming pool with my little brothers and sisters. They're all super excited for it!"I shot a finger at Yolanda. "Please tell me you didn't," I said knowing that there would be no way I could break my little brothers and sisters' hearts if I denied them.Yolanda shrugged. "Blame the timing of the Growlithe's arrival. Jennifer was putting the final touches up on the volcano while you were out helping the League and she released the Growlithe. They patrolled the area and found our siblings."Yolanda tilted her head. "Or our siblings found them? Anyway, one thing led to another and then Jennifer was calming things down by suggesting that we each get to name a puppy.""Ah," I said. I lowered my finger. There wasn't much I could say about that, then, was there? That had been rather well handled, all told.And speaking of pokemon. "How's Munchlax and Eevee been since our trip up to Mt Moon? I know they kind of got beaten up."Yolanda bobbed side to side only to fall back as the Graveler she'd been resting on rolled away."Bluh!" she said as she fell to the dirt. She huffed as she stood up and coughed. "They've been well, I spoke to them about how things went down. Munchlax was a bit sad at first but then I pointed out all the ways that he helps by being a companion. Whenever Suzie, Billy, or one of the others is sad he's there to give them a hug and help out."I nodded, only to then tilt my head. "How often… has that happened recently?""Not as much since Dad came home, but I think it was a really good idea catching him and making him part of the family," Yolanda said.I scratched my cheek. "I was half expecting them to be making their way out here for morning training sessions," I said, ignoring the first part of that comment."Eevee might, but I think Munchlax is happy with his role in the family right now." Yolanda shrugged. "I will talk with Eevee again, just to be sure. She doesn't need to do anything if she doesn't want to.""I should do that as well," I said as I looked over at Yolanda. "Otherwise, good job. That was really considerate of you."Yolanda nodded and then sighed loudly. "I'd… kind of hoped that she would have been interested in getting stronger with how she came along with us.""Hmmm?" I said, prompting Yolanda to keep talking.Yolanda waved her hand expansively. "It's just… imagine if I could be one of those trainers that starts off with almost a whole team ready to go? Terra will take a while, but if I had Munchlax and Eevee, along with a Growlithe? I'd be unstoppable!"I hummed. "I can't say my first reaction is positive for that with the traditional start being one pokemon, but… you're not wrong in that plenty of people do start that way." I tilted my head. "It would be a good idea to look into… Actually never mind." I shook my head, only for Yolanda to perk up."What? What's your idea?" she asked."Well you could always try to catch a strong bug-type pokemon to offset Terra's slow growth," I suggested."A bug pokemon?" Yolanda said, blinking slowly.I nodded. "Yeah, there's plenty of trainers around that would be able to help you, plus they're pokemon that grow quickly, so you'd have something strong when you set off."Yolanda frowned and then looked to the side. "You know… I never really thought about bug pokemon, I guess I just assumed I shouldn't get one because some of my friends might find them creepy."It was my turn to tilt my head. "Crystal and Greta would be creeped out by a bug?"Yolanda shot me an unimpressed look. "Hahaha," she said flatly. "You're sooooo funny," she said. "I have more friends than just them!" she said, chopping her hand in my direction."Hmmm, I've never seen them?" I said jokingly."Just for that I'm organising a sleepover this week, and we're all going to camp out in the loungeroom!" she said."Sounds great," I said, amused at how annoyed she was. "I'd love to meet your friends."Missy giggled, reminding me that she was here. I glanced at her only to find that she'd been swarmed by four Growlithe. "You two are so cute!" she said, glancing between Yolanda and me.I merely chuckled and waved to Missy. "So, you ready to form up the hood? I have the components all set, we just filter it into a mould and then bake it over with… magma before putting it on Rhydon and having him take a dip."Missy sat up, Growlithe still hanging off her. "Let's do it!" she said as she released her Rhydon and set out the mould we'd had made up to fit. Rhydon happily sat as we attached small pieces of the armour onto him. As it took shape I had to whistle in surprise."Playing to his strengths with defensive power?" I said attaching another segment of armour to the neck. We'd gotten the helmet put together and now we're creating an interlocking weave around his neck.Missy nodded. "Yup, oh! Careful! I want him to still be able to turn his neck, but the idea of the positioning there is to create better odds that hits going for his head and neck just won't have as much impact as they should.""Critical resistance?" I said, surprised.Missy nodded. "There are quite a few trainers in the top ten who have pokemon like Izumi that are fully evolved and aim for such attacks. I'm covering my bases early," she said."Nice foresight," I replied. I made a mental note to find out which Ace trainers had such pokemon.Yolanda, Terra and a few Growlithe pups watched us for a while. When we were done we stepped back and gave Rhydon a serious look over."Alright! Like we practiced, I need to see if you can do all the movements I hope for!" Missy said. She then led him through a series of callisthenics as I watched on. I rubbed my chin and considered the actions, or more specifically, the ranges of motion.I then turned away and walked to the edge of the volcano. In hindsight, I should have done this earlier. "BERTHA!" I shouted. "I need you up here!" I called.A rumble announced that Bertha had heard me and she stormed up the volcano. As the dust settled I blinked and sighed. "Put the Growlithe down," I said patiently.Yolanda giggled. "I was wondering where Spot and the other two were!"I raised a finger. "You called a Growlithe, a pokemon known for its stripes…" I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I'm not sure I want to know," I said firmly. Part of me actually liked that name."It was Sabrina's idea!" Yolanda said with a grin.I chopped a hand in her direction. "That makes too much sense!" I said, my faux-seriousness making her break into giggles.Bertha put down the puppies and I directed her to stand next to Rhydon."Hmmmm, copy his movements please Bertha," I asked, settling in to see what was and wasn't accounted for. With a comparison point to what Rhydon would be evolving somewhat into, we'd have a better idea of what ranges were possible and I made sure to point out areas that I found were useful."The hands, large as they are, act as both shields and hammers, also the tail can be a highly useful point to reinforce without too much issue. Your pokemon has gone through gravity training so once he evolves the increased weight on these structures shouldn't bother him.""Oh! Good point!" Missy said as she laid on a few more armour segments. Bertha watched for a few moments before realising what was going on. She then started pointing at all of the exposed parts and poking her finger into them."Rhy! Rhy Rhy!" she said.I chuckled. "We're not just slapping these on him willy-nilly Bertha, we're going to be applying them in these points."Bertha huffed and sat down, acting like Suzie when she didn't get second dessert. I chuckled and turned my head away only to pause."I should probably call Bianca and Stephen for this… shouldn't I?" I asked, somewhat rhetorically.Yolanda grinned. "Yeah, I think they'd like to see this!" Then she smirked. "Salvadore as well."I coughed. Some days they were always around and I just seemed to forget about them. Guess that shows how well they'd slotted in. I tapped out a message for all three of them with Salvadore being the fastest to arrive. The other siblings and Flint wandered in after him.By the time the other two researchers had come, it was well and truly morning with the sun rising up and more than a few gym trainers having come by to feed the pokemon in the reserve.When they were done they joined us.Missy finally declared that she was happy with the protector arrangement and I glanced over to Stephen and Bianca, who each had a trio of cameras set up and were documenting the process while Salvadore had his Xtransciever out.."All ready?" I called."Ready!" called the researchers. I waved Missy on and she swallowed fearfully."Alright Rhydon, take it slow wading into the—" Missy started to say only for Rhydon to roar and charge into the magma/lava.I shifted over to Stephen. "Is it Magma or Lava?" I asked from the side of my mouth."Magma is below the surface, lava is what is exposed to the surface," said Stephen absently."You didn't know that?" said Salvadore, suddenly popping up next to me."What? No! Of course, I did!" I said coughing and looking away."Obviously Brock!" said Yolanda cheekily.I huffed at her and turned my attention back to watching Rhydon wade into the lava with a grin as Missy stood as close as she possibly could to scold him.Bertha merely laughed and waded in herself, her hide extremely resistant to the lava.She hissed a little before sighing and grinning as she sat down, watching as Rhydon got lower and lower. Just as his neck was the only part of him left unsubmerged, he began to glow with the light of evolution."It's working!" Missy said, her chastisement vanishing."Submerge him fully!" I said. "We don't know if the work on his neck and head will need to be submerged to properly bind!" I called out."Oh! Shoot! You're right! Rhydon! Kneel!" she called. Rhydon dipped down and vanished under the molten rock, but the glow lit up the lava making it obvious where he was.I glanced around and hummed. "We should all step back and get some fire-resistant pokemon ready!" I said.I tossed out a trio of pokeballs and released Shin, Shrek, and Selene. All of them rotated towards the light and they locked onto the target.Everyone took a number of steps back and eyed me. "Why?" said Bianca.I glanced at Bertha. "If he acts anything like Bertha then his evolution reveal is going to be rather… abrupt," I said.My pokemon leaned forward as everyone took another step back.The glow died off and my pokemon leaned forward and inhaled, ready to blast any eruption of lava.Rhyperior, Missy's newest pokemon, gently stood. His grin stretched his face as small interlocking armour plates clicked together while he stretched his neck. He waded forward out of the lava. I tilted my head."Huh, alright it must have just been Bertha that erupted out when she evolved," I said."Rhy!" Bertha chimed shooting up to her feet only to receive a pair of light blasts of water that caused her to stumble. She shot a betrayed look at the water pokemon and put a hand to her chest while pretending to be innocent.They all snorted, not buying her act.I whistled and jerked my head to indicate she should get out. Just because she could endure lava baths didn't mean it was something she should do long-term.She grumbled and wadded out, a clump of the lava having stuck to her due to the water solidifying it. She slammed her fist into a rock and shattered both rocks.The newest Rhyperior emerged a moment later and I had to reach out and snag Missy to stop her from burning herself. "Careful, he's fresh out of the oven, let him cool off first," I said, waving a hand towards Shin.Shin sprayed a light deluge of bubbles that burst upon contact and sent large plumes of steam up into the air.Rhyperior shook his head and rumbled at the contact, annoyed but able to endure the weak powered move until he no longer steamed. I released Missy and she skipped forward to grab her pokemon by the arm. "Eeeeeee! Look at you! You're so big now!" she said."He is!" said Bianca. "Quick! Bertha! Come over here and stand next to him. I want to compare the two of you!" she said eagerly.I watched Bertha march up to the newest Rhyperior and inspect him.Rhyperior preened at the attention, causing Bertha to pause and do a double take. Rhyperior jerked his head up and down a few times while crooning."Oh, I've seen Bertha do this before," I said, feeling a sudden weight sink into my gut.He would probably find Bertha attractive, wouldn't he? I hadn't thought about this. I glanced over to Bertha to see how she reacted.Bertha blinked, only to throw her head back and roar with laughter.I grimaced. "Oh, ouch," I said, feeling bad for Rhyperior.Stephen tilted his head. "Did he just—" he shot a glance to my watching siblings. "Solicit... her?"Missy blushed and nodded, only for Rhyperior to jerk his head at Bertha. Bertha stopped laughing and shot him an amused look. She wagged a finger back and forth before pointing towards Titan.Rhyperior looked over and started sizing up Titan.I hummed at this new development. It seemed the new kid wanted to see how he matched up.Titan snorted and flexed a claw. He then leaned down and picked up a pebble, then while looking Rhyperior dead in the eyes, he flicked it as hard as he could into the lava on the other side of the pool.It caused a huge burst of lava to shoot into the air and made Rhyperior pause in his aggression and re-evaluate his chances. He picked up a pebble himself and flicked it into the lava.He got a much smaller ripple. I held in a snort.Yes, Titan had thrown it harder, but he'd also known where to throw his pebble to get the maximum effect.Bertha patted Rhyperior on the shoulder and then skipped over to Titan.I grimaced. "Double ouch," I said, feeling bad for Rhyperior.He sank to the ground and Missy patted him on the head, now within her reach."There there, we'll find you a nice…" Missy glanced to Bianca for cues."Well Rhyperior is part of the Monster and Field egg group so he will have a surprisingly large number of potential mates that are available to him! There's Snorlax, Blastoise, Feraligatr, Arcanine, Arbok, Raticate—" Bianca then proceeded to rattle off a large list of pokemon leaving Missy reeling, while Rhyperior perked up the longer the tirade went on."Well, as long as he's got plenty more Magikarp to fish for," I said with a laugh.A chime and a robotic voice made me look to the side where I spotted Greta had arrived and had her pokedex raised. "Rhyperior, the Drill pokemon! Not much is known about this pokemon but it is a known evolution of Rhydon! The first modern discovery of this pokemon was thanks to the Pewter Gym Leader, Brock. It is a Ground-Rock typed pokemon that boasts tremendous power and endurance. Rhyperior has been shown to be capable of shooting smaller pokemon out of the holes in its palms, allowing it great range. Small drilled borings inside the palm holes improve accuracy! This Rhyperior knows Stone Edge, Protect, Earthquake, Megahorn, and Hammer Arm."Missy perked up. "Oh! Wow, you learnt Megahorn! You didn't know that before!" she said proudly."A bug-type move," I said. "That'll help give him some versatility against a number of different pokemon."Missy pumped her fists, "Yosh! With this, we are so ready to kick things up another notch!" She turned to me. "After we're done with the tournament coming up, can I take two weeks off?" she said bowing and clapping her hands above her head."Just file for it, you've got the time built up from the last few months for leave, I have no doubt," I said with a wave of my hand.Missy grinned and pointed to a flat patch of land. "Rhyperior! Let's test out your new form!" she said. "Let's destroy that training area!" she shouted gleefully.My siblings cheered at this only to whine when I snatched them up. "Oh, no you don't. You kids have school!""No we don't!" said Cindy.I snorted. "Ha! Fool me once, shame on you! I checked your school calendar." I nudged her towards the house. "Go have breakfast! You can tell all the kids about what you witnessed!" I said.That got her to trot away quicker. The others followed her quickly, just as eager to tell their friends about what they'd gotten to observe.I turned back to my pokemon and waved for them to follow me down to the Elite training area where I led everyone through some light stretches and activities. The pokemon that hadn't fought against Team Rocket and Mewtwo got to fight freely but others merely went through slow gliding motions.Empress, I had paired with Titan to keep an eye on her as she worked through the poses.I otherwise had to work with Lileep and Cradily more today, getting them up to snuff with powerful defensive moves while also having as much versatility as possible."Remember when you are making an explosive movement, you want to put your whole body into it suddenly. It's not enough to just do it, it needs to be fast. The faster the action the less time a pokemon will have. You might not be quick in a race but you can still have explosive reactions. You want your body to be like a willow tree in how it can whip around."I raised up some baseballs that I had from training the kids during the off-season. "We're going to practise catching these with a few Geodudes throwing every now and then, and then I am going to call for you to leap and I want you to do that fast. Don't think, just react," I said.I then stepped back and joined the pokemon throwing baseballs at, or past the grass-rock pokemon.A few times the baseballs hit but most of the time they were swatted down or ensnared well enough that I had no doubt that both pokemon would be great grapplers given time. I'd need to start matching them against larger pokemon to give them practice coming to grips with and disengaging pokemon on the fly."Leap!" I called and both of them twitched violently before leaping in different directions."Excellent!" I said, not commenting for now on the twitch of hesitation. That would come later.I signalled the Geodudes to return to throwing. When Cradilly and Lileep were worn out I waved for Teddiursa to move into the middle. Empress shot me a pointed glare and I waved her off before working Teddiursa on some dodge training."We'll start with two Geodude along with myself alright, bud?" I said tossing up a baseball."Tedd!" he said, clenching both fists.I grinned and set him through his paces. For the next five minutes, he dodged, ducked, dived, dipped, and dodged as best he could. Empress gave me very pointed looks whenever I got in a hit, but I ignored her.When I was done Teddiursa was huffing and puffing but seemed very proud of himself. "Nice work little guy, that was some good dodging out there. I think you'll be up to four throwers next round, hop up on Empress' shoulder for this next game," I said.I then marched back to the shed and got a very specific bag. Every single one of my older pokemon perked up and wandered over upon seeing the giant bulging bag."Alright gang we have twenty minutes to play tag with these! The pokemon with the least paint on them by the end is the winner but there is no soaring off or hiding underground or underwater. You have to stay in the open and on the reserves."Rhy! Rhy! Rhy!" Bertha said, nodding quickly and making a gimme gesture.I very specifically did not give one of the balls to her.Instead, I opened the bag and spun, sending balls soaring through the air in great arcs around me. I then bolted for cover, snatching up a ball and hurling it at Sanchez as I passed him.His spherical body was making it tough for him to lean down.An older golem rolled past him and laughed as they swept up the ball Sanchez had been trying for before throwing it at an Onix. I paused, wait, had that been Dwayne?Onix caught the ball in its mouth and then spat it back.Out of instinct, I dodged to the side and a cluster of balls that were meant for me sailed past.I shot Bertha a smug look only to have to throw myself out of the way of another ball.Izumi barked a laugh and nailed me with her next throw, only for Titan to basketball bounce a ball off her.He grinned as he dribbled a ball around, leaving a trail of bright blue marks with each bounce.It almost looked like he was trying to emulate a basketball player with his dribbling, except he tried to bounce the ball off smaller pokemon as he moved.His little game resulted in him taking on an absolute riot of colours with the hits he was taking.Empress only had a few colours as it seemed not many were willing to hit her.Teddiursa was unhit.I grabbed a nearby ball and lobbed it overhand to bop him on the snout.He whined at the bright pink colouration and Empress whipped around and smacked a ball with her tail to nail me back.I skipped to the side, dodging the ball. I exhaled in relief, that had been close."Teddi!" growled Teddiursa, pointing with a claw.His 'mount', Empress, nodded and stormed after me, grabbing a ball for each of them to toss at me as they closed leaving me green and red for my efforts. When they tried again I leapt behind a boulder and found myself face to face with a mohawk touting Sanchez."Go! Go Golem!" he said.I nodded and opened my mouth to form a plan only for him to slap a purple ball into my face.I gave him a highly unimpressed look. "Et tu?" I said, making him tilt his head slightly. I snatched the ball from him and bopped him in the face.He just cackled.His cackling resulted in Dwayne, my former Elite Golem, rounding the corner with a set of balls in each hand.The next ten minutes passed with many softballs being thrown my way and a lot of colour being spread around the reserve.More than a few times I had to remind my Elite pokemon to ease up as this was supposed to be a game.My new Zubat ended up having to give up on her attempts to tag Zephyr.The larger flying type was easily able to keep the harassing Zubat from landing a hit.Zubat ended up laying on a rock gasping for breath while Zephyr landed and lightly tagged her with a yellow ball before he flew off.I might have been mistaken, but I thought I saw Zubat twitch with annoyance. If she'd had eyes, I would have assumed she was glowering. It seemed she'd found a target for herself though so I hoped that helped to motivate her.By the end of the game, Cradily, who'd escaped being hit by a ball at all, was declared the winner. I then set my water-type pokemon to clean up with judicious uses of Surf. A few of my pokemon however wanted to keep the colour and I decided to roll with it for the day.When I later unveiled Izumi in all her rainbow glory, one trainer had a fit thinking I was sending out a rare geodude against him. I just smiled and sent her out. When my next coloured pokemon came out it earned a small laugh from the crowd that had gathered for the lunchtime show of a fourth-tier challenge.A colourful Sudowoodo was a rather amusing sight after all, and when he threw punches small bursts of chalk powder burst off him causing an accidental staggering of his foe.The Ivysaur he'd been facing had been, until that point, doing rather well. Then, with the powder splashing over them they got blinded long enough for Sudowoodo to bash them into unconsciousness.The trainer ended up having to send out a Seadra to sweep the field clean."Impressive," I commented, eyeing the powerful water-type pokemon."Thanks, she took a lot of training!" the proud trainer said, her chest puffed out as far as it would go.I chuckled. "Are you going to try and get her to evolve further?" I asked.The girl wilted. "I want to but the only one that people know of is Lance's, and what am I supposed to do? Just walk up and ask him?" she said.I made a so-so gesture. "It isn't the worst idea, but remember that most pokemon only evolve through a few methods," I said.The girl blinked up at me before reaching out and grabbing a notepad. "I'm listening," she said eagerly.I chuckled and set about detailing the methods of evolving most pokemon to her. I made sure to lean a little into the item description with examples of dragon-type items that might help and also how Kingdra was water-dragon typed.The girl furiously scribbled all of this down like it was gospel before peeking up at me. "Uhm, I've heard that you're doing an end-of-year camp for Pewter trainers… is there any chance others could join that?"I smiled. "Yes, they just have to ask," I said, tapping the side of my nose. "Talk to the receptionists about having your name put down but keep that a secret alright? I only have limited space," I whispered to her.She nodded seriously and I laughed before directing her to have a photo taken.Later that afternoon Alexa walked up to me and handed me a small stack of papers. "What's this?" I asked.She smiled slowly and widely, in a manner that promised me great suffering. "The applicants for the camp at the end of the circuit," she said. "At least the ones that have applied so far.""Ah," I said, realising that once again I really, really should have kept my mouth shut.Ah, hello, past actions; you've come back to bite me in the backside, I see.I sighed and let my head fall forward. Alright, time to try and sort through this mess.