Breakfast on Monday was slightly different than usual. The family were still eating at around the same time, and I had a few newspapers laid out which I was reading through to keep abreast of the latest developments regarding Lance's announcement.
On a local newspaper, the headline read 'Vote of no confidence passes for Mayor Jonathan! Time for a change!'.Jennifer had kept me informed of this and I'd happily told her to go for the throat when news broke. Mayor Jonathan had made his bed months ago and was now having to lay in it.None of this was too unusual. The unusual part was how my siblings clustered around Yolanda."You're going to come back with presents, right?" asked Cindy, as she tried to adopt a cutesy tone of voice.Yolanda stared at her sister. "Does coal count?"I snorted and I caught Flint's lips twitch upwards before he smothered it and coughed. "Now Yolanda, that's being unkind.""Is it?" Yolanda said with a tilt of her head. "Where's my favourite hairbrush? My hair ties? My limited edition clefairy jumper?"Cindy reeled back. "T-that! This and that aren't related! I said I had no idea where those were!"Yolanda snorted. "And if I checked the bottom of the clothes pile in your cupboard, they wouldn't be there?"Cindy didn't meet her older sister's gaze. "No?" she said with a dull whimper.It twinged my heart to see her acting like this.It wasn't very effective on Yolanda who merely snorted. "I'll have to see about getting a gift for you," she said."What about me?" asked Salvadore."I'll find something interesting in Celadon, I'm sure," replied Yolanda confidently. I nodded. Beyond the huge department store, there were a number of boutique bookstores that Sabrina and I had enjoyed visiting on our way through Celadon.I hadn't needed to stop thanks to already having the badge from Erika's predecessor, a woman named Rose that may have been an auntie, I believe.I leaned forward. "What about me? Anyone going to ask me to get them something?" I asked.My little siblings turned as one with blank expressions. "But you're going to do it anyway?" said Tommy.I blinked. "Well… I might not?" I said.My little siblings stared at me. I could see the disbelief clearly in their gazes. They turned their attention back to Yolanda. I slumped. Was it a good thing, or a bad thing that they were so sure of themselves with me?Flint's shoulders hitched up and down a few times. I huffed at him only to pause as I felt someone tug at my shirt. I looked down to find Munchlax staring up at me with Baby-doll eyes."Munch?" he said while pointing at his open mouth.I snorted. "Sure, I'll get you some good food," I said deciding, that I'd make a point of making it extra nice just for his asking.A rocky fist slammed onto the table next to me and I looked down to find Nanny Grav with a magazine cut out about a clothes steamer that could be deployed in a cupboard thanks to miniaturisation technology.It was on sale.I glanced up at Nanny Grav and she nodded seriously. I had to blink. "You can read this?" I asked.Nanny Grav pinched her fingers together and made a so-so gesture. Salvadore leaned around Yolanda. "She watches the educational channel while we're at school or she watches it with us. She's picked up a lot!""Huh," I said, impressed with her. I looked at the cost and had to whistle in surprise. This certainly wasn't something that you'd find in any run-of-the-mill house. A quick glance at the other products on sale had me tilting my head."Hey? Who ordered this magazine?" I asked, glancing around and discovering a small stack of other magazines on a side table that I hadn't really paid much attention to until now."Oh! I set that up for Nanny Grav!" Salvadore said.Flint and I stared at him. "When?" we said as one.Salvadore, suspecting he might have blundered, stepped back slightly and coughed. "I did it when you… gave me your card to buy those scientific journals and magazines? She was with me and found one about household goods and cleaning supplies…"Flint and I shared a look. I twitched my head in a 'do you want to explain it to him' gesture, only for Flint to shake his head slightly and wave me on.I coughed. "Right, well, what you did was nice first off, but you should have asked first. That wasn't your money to spend, and you shouldn't have just assumed that you could spend it. What if I needed that money, or had plans for it?""But you don't? You're rich?" Salvadore said. Flint shifted at that and I could see a flash of worry forming in his eyes. I felt the same way. I didn't want Salvadore, or indeed the rest of my family to become entitled. While they weren't going to need anything, they needed to be grounded in their views on money, I felt."Yes, but again, that's not the point. Let's say I saw that charge and thought someone had hacked my account. I cancelled my card and cancelled all payments to the magazine company." Then you and Nanny Grav would be waiting around for magazines that wouldn't come and you might blame the magazine company where it's been an issue of something not being expressed clearly."I moved my hands so they were apart. "It is a gap in communication that starts small but can play out bigger. As it is, I might rethink handing you my card in the future as I'm not sure you might buy something else with it."Salvadore blinked and considered this. "Oh, I... didn't think about it like that."I nodded, pointedly not looking at all the other eyes watching this interaction and noting down how it went. I was sure they were forming their own opinions of it. I made sure to turn to Nanny Grav who was contritely crushing her magazine as she wringed it in her hands."I'm not mad, Nanny Grav, it isn't an issue, and I think you should keep getting magazines, and if you'd like other things, then ask me or anyone else in the family. It's just that if I'm paying for it, I don't want to have it snuck past me."Nanny Grav nodded at this, and I shot Flint a look. He nodded and mirrored me."Hmmm~," hummed Yolanda happily as she watched me and Flint share a proud parent moment.I rolled my eyes and stood. "You done? I think it's time to meet up with the others so we can be teleported to Celadon.""Yup!" said Yolanda, as she picked up her backpack. It had enough clothes in it for a week and then some. As an official pokemon trainer backpack, she could store a staggering number of items in there if required. A bare week spent in a hotel wasn't going to test her too badly.I said my goodbyes, making sure that Gible was well situated with my fourth badge team before finding Rachel, Greta, Missy, and A.J. all set to depart. Zubat fluttered down onto my shoulder and for a moment I considered making her stay at home before shrugging. She was small enough to not be a bother and it would be good for her to watch the matches in person so to speak."You're late!" said A.J. grouchily.I shrugged. "Sorry about that; you can't really rush little kids sometimes." Yolanda hummed knowingly but didn't say anything about how it was, in fact, me being too slow with some of the tasks I needed.A flash of light stopped any further probing of who was at fault as Sabrina appeared and looked us all over. "Ready?" she asked."Yup!" I said, and with another two pokemon being released from Sabrina, our group vanished in a Teleport for Celadon city. Celadon City was set up for the tournament, with a good deal of the hotels being booked out. With our Teleport points, we didn't really need to stay in Celadon, but I wanted to give Missy, Greta, and A.J. the most authentic experience of being at a tournament.There was also more to gain from staying with the chance to spend time talking with fellows. I had no doubt we'd learn a lot from the immersion with the various trainers."Hey! Fight me!" said A.J.Or in A.J's case, get into a lot of fights to test himself against some trainers that were well out of his weight class.I stared as A.J. used his newly evolved Raticate to tangle with one of the Ace trainers. Yolanda stared with dead eyes while Missy just laughed.Greta sighed. "I'd heard about this, but I hadn't thought he was this bad," she said."It'll make some great photos and video content!" Rachel said as happily took some video footage to create a montage reel for A.J.. When she wasn't doing that she wandered around gossiping with other people.At first, I thought she was just talking about fashion and other things that Celadon was known for, but by keeping my ears open, I picked up that she was subtly prompting conversations to learn who was around for Ace trainers.With that in mind I took to watching, A.J's rather onesided fights with a new light. He might not have meant to do it, but there was information being picked up from these fights with how people fought.It wasn't a true indication of their skills, by any means, A.J. for all that he was a gifted trainer, didn't have the diversity, experience, pokemon, or tricks that Ace trainers had picked up. But that didn't stop me from garnering an idea of how some people fought, or how they acted. Most telling was their general character with how they responded to being challenged by someone that they saw as so beneath them."So, what are you looking for when you make your challenge?" I asked after his next defeat."Hmmm, oh, well you have to take in their clothes, their posture, the glint in their eyes, also if they have a hardness in their eyes. Also when you call out to them, they will sometimes give themselves away. Here watch—" He started to move towards one trainer only for my hand to shoot out and grab him."No more fighting; I wanted you to talk through your method. Yolanda and Greta have been missing what you're doing," I said, eying his twitching hands and giving his eyes a quick look into."I haven't missed anything Brock!" said Yolanda, perking up straight away, "He's been charging in to test himself and his pokemon for the last hour and slowing our progress to getting checked in!"I waved a finger. "He's not just doing that. There's a bit of an art form to challenging the right people if you can. Now, I've been watching his fights and picking up some small details from the Ace trainers that he's been fighting, but before that, and more specifically for yourself, his process of picking a match needs to be considered."I waved a hand about us. "Some people ignored A.J., some accepted him, and some sought to crush him." I held up a finger, "But, and this is important, those rookie crushers were surprisingly rare."Yolanda tilted her head and glanced towards A.J. who had his hands stuffed into his pockets and was looking away with a faint smirk. He was obviously pleased I was complimenting him. Greta rubbed her chin knowing that this was something she'd be dealing with soon. I expected her to challenge or accept some challenges while we were here after all.I had included her to deliberately take her out of her comfort zone."Now, A.J. had to have some cues to look for. Care to repeat them?" I said, gesturing towards Yolanda.A.J. repeated himself and for the rest of the walk to the registration tent Yolanda, Greta and A.J. played a game of 'guess if this would be a good match for you'."That one?" Greta said pointing causing the man being pointed at to perk up."No, he's got an eagerness to him, also don't point," A.J. said while lowering Greta's hand. "Just point with your chin or use clock directions like the one at eleven o'clock," he said.Yolanda nodded. "Seems solid, I don't think I could win but I'd learn a thing or two and it looks like they wouldn't push things too far."I nodded, pleased that they were all getting into the nuance of making the right challenges. In the games, it had all been about locking eyes with a trainer. In a real setting? Things like that could still play out but there was also the need to approach someone or accept their challenge.I was happy to have achieved my two goals.I'd gotten Yolanda and Greta to think a little more about this aspect of being a pokemon trainer, and I'd also distracted A.J.. With him distracted he wasn't challenging people and slowing us down. Or, more importantly, he wasn't passing out. He'd fought and lost a lot of pokemon within the last hour and he was rather close to whiting out having lost five straight matches like he had.I caught Yolanda's frown while they were talking and her eyes roaming his body, noting the pale colouration in his face, the slight tremor, and the creeping lethargy. When we passed by a cart selling food, I made sure to buy everyone something warm for them to eat and drink which had A.J. perking up.When I reached the registration tent, we drew a few eyes with people pausing in recognition. I hummed, an idea of what was to come being hinted at as some people raised cameras or transceivers to snap up pictures. I tapped Yolanda, Greta, and A.J. before handing them a map of the tournament grounds."Can you two meet up with Rachel and set up the tent for us? We'll be representing Pewter so I had a tent made up."Yolanda gave me a flat look and I coughed. "Alright, I asked Rachel and Alexa to get one made up!" I said with a huff.Yolanda nodded before accepting the bag with the Gym's emblem on it. A.J. perked up only for Greta to grab him by the back of the shirt and drag him much to his shock. I chuckled, pleased to see Yolanda wasn't the only one for whom training was paying dividends to."That's Sabrina's boyfriend!" said a few people, making me pause before the entrance of the tent.Well, that hadn't been how I was expecting people to recognise me, but… well, with Sabrina's star blazing so bright, it wasn't surprising that people might have that view. I stepped into the registration tent and a hush fell over the people inside as I lined up.It didn't stop the whispers though."Shit! Brock's here!""That makes seven of the top thirty!""I thought Chrysanthemum would have drawn more away!" said the first voice."It's invite-only! Not for plebs.""And people like Brock, Masked Owl, Julia, Leo and Scarlet?" said the other.I hummed, so those were the other top thirty trainers? There were one hundred and eight spots and seven of us were from the top thirty spots? It might be hubris, but I wasn't worried about facing off against trainers in the top thirty to twenty position. I'd noticed that the difficulty increased significantly with my last two matches which were both top twenty.I felt like the top ten… or even the top five would be where the strongest Ace's would be.When I reached the front of the line, the attendant asked for my trainer number, and I rattled it off easily. With a few clicks and a clatter of keys, I had officially completed my registration."You will be notified in half an hour when registration is finalised. You may attend the randomisation in person, or you may watch it through the link sent to your transceiver!" chirped the attendant, handing me a lanyard with my trainer ID and the words ' Tournament trainer' printed in gold letters."Nice," I said, turning and walking out of the tent and straight into an ambush from the media."Gym Leader Brock! What are your thoughts on Sabrina's Mega evolution?""Who's running the Gym while you're fighting in this tournament?""How involved with the Team Rocket action were you!?""Where's Sabrina?""Are you thinking of proposing anytime soon?""Do you have any commentary on Lt Surge's injury!?""Which pokemon are you going to be using?""Are any new pokemon going to be revealed during the tournament?"A wave of questions washed over me and a firing line of cameras went off, snapping pictures of me and almost causing me to stagger in the face of the sudden onslaught. Zubat opened her mouth and screeched, silencing the wave of reporters and making a few sound men grab their at their headsets and rip them off.I shot my hand up and put a hand on her. "Easy girl!" I said. "Sorry! You startled her!" I said.A few of the reports shot me dirty looks but I felt like they'd deserved that ambushing me like they had."Good work girl, I'm only pretending to be mad, you're making them mind their manners," I whispered quietly to her. I might just have to keep Zubat around more often if this was how she reacted.I reached for my Xtransciever and tapped a button three times. With the ping sent out I knew that I'd get some backup in a few minutes, or potentially moments if Sabrina was free. That or Rachel would close in on me.I smiled widely until then and saw to the needs of the crowd."Hello there! Thanks for coming out today!' I said, only to catch sight of a harried-looking woman who was trying and failing to shift the crowd of reporters. "I might have to ask that we relocate to the side however as we're blocking the main entrance and exit of the registration desk. I don't want anyone to miss out so, let's just shift a bit," I said, miming a shove to the side.The attendant shot me a thankful look as I led the crowd of reporters to a small green space where a few picnic tables had been set up. I claimed one of them and smiled gesturing for others to set themselves up.Within a few moments the media circus had reestablished itself, and they had returned to attack positions with their microphones posed.My Xtransciever pinged and I shot it a hopeful glance only for Sabrina's message to confirm she'd just started a match and wouldn't be able to bail me out for another twenty minutes at least. I huffed. She must have been facing someone with skill if it was going to take twenty minutes. Sabrina could dispatch people who weren't up to standard within five minutes if she needed to and that was accounting for after-action talks with the trainer.With the nebulous knowledge that I would have to rely on Rachel saving me. I decided to dip my toes into the pool of questions by starting with the easy ones."I want to assure everyone that the Pewter City Gym is still in operation and is being managed by some of our best trainers. For the duration of the Celadon Tournament, we have blocked ourselves out from accepting Gym challenges. This is to allow, myself and other Gym trainers to experience what a true ace Tournament is like, and to also allow the Gym to go through some repairs, refurbishment and decorating for this weekend.""What's next weekend?" asked one reporter."I'm glad you asked," I said, slipping into the rhythm of being interviewed. "Pewter Gym, if you have not been paying attention, will be hosting a Contest!" I said."What about Sabrina attracts you to her?!" shouted one frantic-looking reporter.I almost chuckled. Perhaps Sabrina had used some foresight with her questions. I smiled straight into the camera, gave my true, and practised answer."She's got many attractive points about her beyond the obvious. Her mind and her body are amazing but pale in comparison to the depths of her heart. She's an extremely kind individual and I'm fortunate to have her in my life.""Where were you during the recent League action?""I was in the thick of it," I said. While raising a hand. "For operational security, I can't divulge many details but I can tell you that fighting was fierce," I said."What do you say about rumours that people were injured and killed? Guns were reported to be used?" said one reporter.I hummed, surprised about the news of deaths, that little factoid hadn't been revealed to me but it also hadn't been something I'd looked into."I wasn't aware that people died," I said."Even though they were mostly Team Rocket?""They were still people." I sighed. "I imagine there were more pokemon on that list as well?" I said and when he nodded I shook my head. "A shame," I said, bowing my head and remaining silent.The reporters copied me for a moment before the man coughed. "What about the guns?" he asked."I'm surprised you learnt about those, many have been seized," I said neutrally. I wasn't about to reveal I'd been shot at. This was a question we hadn't considered and I might have failed to mention it to Rachel or my family."What are your thoughts on Steven's revelation of his Mega-evolution?" The questions continued to come and I wondered how many they'd get before I could leave or I'd be rescued. Rachel eventually saved me by dint of merely stepping in with a clipboard and a claim that she had serious Gym business. By that point, I was starting to get into the more hard-hitting, or particularly 'fluff piece' questions from the reporters, so I was glad to have an out.I waved to the crowd and stepped away, spotting more than a few envious looks from other Ace trainers. I stepped back towards the microphone. "I'd sure be interested in what other Ace trainers' takes were on the tournament," I said, throwing a potential bone towards some of them.Hopefully, they'd get a bit of screen time and turn that into something.I marched off with Rachel. "Did you catch much of that?" I asked, stroking Zubat to calm myself down. It had been rather nice having a pokemon with me during the ordeal and her species notoriety for reacting to bright lights and noise had forced the reporters to keep calm and not shout.Rachel nodded, raising up a small screen. "—you've heard it here from Brock! Now let's hear from other Ace trainers! Hello there madam!" said a perky-looking Battlecast presenter.I snorted and Rachel grinned. "You were handling yourself great. Nice work building up with the easy lobs first and then working on the other stuff.""I suppose I shouldn't be so surprised that people are more interested in Sabrina and I's relationship," I said.Rachel just giggled. "The power couple of Kanto!" she chimed, leading me towards the tent that Yolanda, Greta, Missy and A.J. had assembled while I'd been registering. "Are we going to attend the randomisation?" she asked.I hummed. "I think… it might be a good idea," I said. "I heard a lot of people talk about the Chrysanthemum tournament that's on about now, so maybe we need to help draw some attention back."I pointed at Yolanda. "Care to stick around here with A.J.? Missy, Greta and I will go sit for the ceremony and see who I'm going to face."Yolanda gave me a salute and I grabbed a drink to keep myself fresh. "Rachel, someone asked me about a catalogue of Mega stones, has that been circulating already?" I asked.Rachel hummed. "I heard that question but wasn't sure what to make of it, give me a moment." She quickly began scrolling on her transceiver before making an 'ah-ha!'"Here! There's a forum with some anonymous people citing that Steven is selling Megastones to the highest bidder or to people that he wants to do business with. They're unsubstantiated but claim to be part of his former pokemon training team," she said.A.J scoffed. "Pokemon training team! Urgh! I hate that he's a champion and can get away with that!" he said.Greta shrugged and Yolanda looked thoughtful before turning to me. "Any truth to those claims?"I sighed. "Yes he has a catalogue, I don't think he showed me all of it when I came around but…" I sighed. "He did try to trade me a Mega Stone for something I wasn't comfortable with, but he lowered his asking price quickly enough."Yolanda looked worried. "What did he ask for and what did you give him?"I considered not telling her before shrugging. Yolanda was mature enough to tell. "That special cave," I said, causing Yolanda's breath to hitch in surprise. I waved a hand. "He asked for that but I worked him down to one of the Cradily that I personally trained.""Hmmm typical he doesn't even train his pokemon!" said A.J. with a scowl. I shrugged, usually it wouldn't work but when you had that many demands on your time, perhaps you delegated.I finished my drink and waved for the girls to follow as I made for the central tent.Once again, people perked up with our arrivals and when I marched up to the front and claimed a seat it was only a few moments before someone had placed a camera in front of my face to catch my reaction. When I looked around the room I found only one face, or rather mask, that was familiar to me.Masked Owl, or rather, Walker, was standing with his back to a wall glowering, at everyone. When we locked eyes, tension formed and I knew I was in for a good match if I drew him.A man wearing a flamboyant suit strode onto the stage. It took me a moment to recognise him as the official who had been the master of ceremonies for Erika and Will's fight. "Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and pokemon of all ages, types and regions! Today marks the seventh annual running of our fair city's tournament. I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the staff, volunteers, and trainers taking part! I hope to see this continue to grow, and I know that you will do us proud!" he said with a huge smile."And now! The moment you've all been waiting for!" the man gestured and a large orb filled with balls was shown. "For a true and unbiased randomisation, we are going to be running a lottery-style pick, with the balls falling into one of various channels that are visible!"I hummed. I could already think of a few ways to cheat such a system with heavier balls, or the use of psychic pokemon but then again that was the sceptic in me. It didn't mean they were doing anything of the sort.I watched as the orb spun up the huge number of balls, all of them with numbers on them. Soon enough they fell into a host of tubes forming a chaotic order that was then projected up onto the listings.Within a minute all one hundred and eight balls had been registered and the format was listed out on a large screen."Thank you for bearing with me! Trainers will soon be sent their matches but you can, if you're keen-eyed, pick out your number from the back of your registration slip!"I glanced at mine and hummed. Sixty-four. I waited and soon enough the lists autofilled with names.The Master of Ceremonies continued to smile as the list was finalised. I felt my transceiver buzz and I opened the message file to find a name with an Ace trainer profile linked to it.Carlos Goldman? Ranked one hundred and thirty on the Ace rankings? I tilted my head and looked over his pokemon. Hmmm, he had been active for a few years and he didn't seem all that impressive. I clicked on some other links and found the bracket listings and within a few minutes of work, I had a good idea of who I'd potentially be facing.Rachel squinted at the list. "Any big names on your side of the bracket?" she asked.I tapped a name low on the bracket list. "If things go as I hope? I'll be facing Masked Owl in the round of sixteen," I said with a pleased expression. "He seems to be the highest-ranked person here as a top-ten-ranked trainer," I said before a thought occurred to me.I tilted my head. "How come he wasn't invited to the Chrysanthemum tournament if it is considered more prestigious?" I asked.Rachel hummed. "From what I have picked up. Masked Owl is a bit aloof and something of a loner. He doesn't have any support crews like most Ace trainers or us, he just comes to his fights himself. So no one is really hyping him up or helping him. He is also not well respected by the rich money types that frequent that tournament. His whole Mask gimmick is not well received.""Hmmmm," I said, contemplating how I felt about Walker doing what he was.I didn't like the mask either, but that was mainly because it seemed he was hiding in plain sight with it. I had little doubt Lance knew… actually, on second thought. Lance probably had no idea what Walker was doing in the hopes of getting to challenge him. Lance had other things on his plate."Well, it's a bit of a shame that we'll fight in the preliminary matches and not at the final, but I suppose that's the hazard of these types of draws. The two heaviest-weighted trainers can end up fighting each other." I scratched my chin. "Shame they didn't do seeding."Rachel coughed. "Actually due to Masked Owl's flying type specialisation, he wasn't seen as the favourite. There are a number of electric-type specialists in the round before your match with him and people have been turning their attention to a dark horse by the name of Scarlet!"I tilted my head, intrigued. "Let's talk back at the tent," I'll do some prep work on Carlos and decide which pokemon I will be using." Rachel merely followed along. "Just send out Titan, Empress, and Bertha from the get-go!" said A.J. with a firm nod.I sighed. "I don't think I want to bully Carlos, that seems a bit… unfair, to send out my literal strongest pokemon," I said.Yolanda hummed. "I would have rated Shrek as one of your strongest due to his showing against Will actually."Greta shifted and glanced around, not comfortable enough with her own thoughts to offer them up. Hmmm, I'd have to work on that, get her used to offering up suggestions.Missy made a circle gesture. "A Tyranitar is a Tyranitar, and Bertha is Bertha." she said with a firm nod."Hmmmm, I think I want to try testing myself a bit more." I held up a hand to forestall any complaints. "I think I will send out some pokemon that haven't been getting as much chance to shine. Like Shin, Hypnotoad, Jorm, Or…" I considered my options."Bertha?" prompted Yolanda.I frowned. I had used her… Well, I hadn't actually used her in a while to be honest, which rather surprised me. "Huh, I haven't had to use her all that much, have I?" I blinked in surprise.With how loud she was as a pokemon I was always aware of her but I hadn't used her all that often."Yeah, I think I will use her in the first round if I get the chance to. Might use these first few rounds to give some pokemon that haven't had much fight-time just that," I said, liking the sound of that.A round of fireworks boomed, signalling the start of the first matches. I glanced towards a map that we had pinned up, double-checking where I would have to go later this afternoon. The map showed that the grounds for the tournament had eight battlefields, along with the main stadium.On each battlefield matches would be running nearly constantly to make up this rounds sixty-four matches that were to take place."There are going to be a lot of matches, aren't there?" Yolanda said, somewhat mirroring my thoughts."Yeah, but things will get lengthened out again when they reach the round of sixteen, there will be a lot more strategy and that also opens things up for longer matches. They will double, if not triple in duration on that day.""How many fights do you need to win to reach that?" asked Yolanda.I opened my mouth only to pause as an idea flashed up. "I'm not sure," I said with a smirk, "How many matches do I need to win to reach the round of sixteen?" I said.Yolanda rolled her eyes and started working on the math. When I could see she had the answer I held up a hand and made her write it down. I then turned my eyes open Missy and A.J. Greta's hand shot up and I shook my head. "Let them answer sorry Greta," I said knowing she was clever enough to have worked it out already.Missy huffed. "It's like being back in school!" Missy said.A.J. scowled. "I don't need to know that! I just need to win!" he said.I shook my head. "But it will impact your strategy if you don't know this. How many matches do I need to win before I am able to use six pokemon? This is important to know as when I use one pokemon I can't use them with there being a carry over for the first round of six," I said firmly. It also served as a good test of his mathematical ability.If he couldn't answer this I might have to send him to school a few days a week.A.J. raised his fingers and started muttering under his breath. "Alright one hundred and eight, each round halves it…" Fingers started to drop and soon enough he had his answer."Three rounds to get to full team matches?" he asked.When I raised an eyebrow, he coughed and straightened up, "You need to win three matches," he said more convincingly.I nodded. "How many matches do I need to win to take it all?""Seven," A.J. said much more firmly."I like the sound of that, seven matches. Makes it lucky, no?" I then turned my attention to Rachel. "You were saying earlier that Masked Owl isn't the favourite despite being the highest ranked here. Who is the favourite to win it?""Well until you arrived people were talking up Scarlet, who's a generalist but she has an Ampharos that knows a good spread of moves and has won this before. She has a number of different pokemon such as Vilplume, Pidgeot, Hitmonlee, Seaking, Starmie, Seadra, Raichu, Fearow, Tauros, and even has a Chansey.""A fighting Chansey?" questioned A.J. with a tilt of his head.I nodded. "Well, that's a potential threat then. Chansey can be powerful pokemon with the right set up, just like some of those other pokemon." I drew up the brackets and saw that she was on the opposite side to myself and Masked Owl. "If everything goes right for both of us she will have six matches to review, my fighting strategies and pokemon as well."Missy nodded along but coughed. "Let's focus on Carlos first. I wouldn't want you to go out the first round because you weren't aware of some things, like the reduction to only three substitutes instead of six that a full match would allow."I nodded at that and started doing what I could in readiness. In truth, I was confident I could sweep the first few rounds. My first challenge would come with Masked Owl, but before that, I had to endure a few quick matches to reach him.I found myself smiling as a small dream I'd long forgotten about rose to the forefront of my mind.We'd never won a tournament during my Journey.I licked my lips, it had been years, and my team was a lot more established now.Could we do it this time? I sat forward and began getting serious, the others responding to my shift in posture to stop joking around as much. We still had our fun, but by the time my match with Carlos was called, I was determined to take the fight to him and then keep going.It had been a long time since I'd wanted something.But here and now? I wanted to win, and that felt damn good.I gave the board with Carlos' pokemon roster.Poliwhirl, Magmar, Fearow, Beedrill, Butterfree, Machop, Breloom, two Vileplume, Raticate, Dugtrio and Graveler.I crossed off some pokemon as terrible options for him to use and came up with an idea of what he'd use. Or rather, what I'd use against me as my best team of three."Bertha… Gawain…" I licked my lips. "Shrek," I said, deciding on a strong team to start things off.It was time to see how well I'd do.
180
"Trainers! Are you ready?" shouted the referee.Across from me, Carlos clenched his hand hard around his pokeball. A look of solid determination met my gaze and I felt my respect for him increase with how he didn't falter.I held a pokeball in my hand, ready to throw. The referee dropped the flags. I missed both the command to release and begin, to the cheering of the crowd.It didn't matter, I knew to react and not wait to hear the actual command by now.My pokeball whipped forward, right up to the very front of my side of the field, and the light exploded around a huge form.Bertha blinked in surprise and shot me a confused look only to brighten considerably.It had been a long time since I'd ever sent her out first. She was better as a clutch fighter, or as someone that could turn the tide.She shifted her attention to her foe who turned out to be a Poliwhirl.The smaller pokemon raised its fists and I had to give my team props. They'd predicted this pokemon as Carlos' first pokemon against me.With this being a do-or-die fight for us both he had to send out his best options here and now. He didn't have the luxury otherwise."Earthquake," I said.I reached out for the bond that I had with Bertha and felt it pulse a little as I tapped into it. I hadn't done this in a while, but these fast matches would be the perfect training grounds for me to build up my aura reserves and to work on enhancing my bond.It would also make my pokemon hit, and take hits, just that bit better."Leap up and use Bubblebeam!" Carlos shouted, making his pokemon soar over most of the Earthquake before unleashing a barrage of bubbles at Bertha."Charge in," I said to Bertha in response, making her duck under the barrage of bubbles.Poliwhirl landed and for a moment both pokemon were facing away from each other."Use your tail and skip back!" I ordered before Poliwhirl could react.Poliwhirl spun about and looked ready to unleash another Bubblebeam, only for Bertha to jump straight back, her tail raised threateningly.When she landed, she landed just shy of crushing the Poliwhirl, only for her tail to follow and crash down atop Poliwhirl.Poliwhirl buckled and then slammed into the ground face-first.The attack might not be super effective, but that didn't mean it wasn't powerful. I'd seen Bertha destroy boulders from idly swinging her tail about, with actual momentum behind it, Bertha had practically one hit K.O'd the Poliwhirl.Sadly this was proven to be a lie with Carlos swiping his hand to the side. "Bubblebeam to get out of there!" he called, and despite her tail still pushing him down, Poliwhirl was able to rocket out of close range using Bubblebeam to blast away.I nodded. I had to give it to him, that was a good variation of the move, it might not work for a Poliwrath, but by then you'd expect that pokemon to have Hydro Pump instead.Before Poliwhirl could land I gestured. "Earthquake again," I said calmly. Bertha didn't even turn around. She merely raised her tail and her foot and slammed them into the ground, causing the field to quake and several spectators to fall over themselves as barriers set up where we fought could not absorb everything.I softened my knees and absorbed most of the shaking but Poliwhirl stumbled as it landed, resulting in the pokemon falling down once more. This time it didn't get up and Carlos had to raise his pokeball to withdraw his Poliwhirl."Bertha!" I barked, making her turn to me.I raised my hand, palm out to indicate that I didn't want her to move and she nodded before turning back to face the front.With her well and truly still on Carlos' side of the field, he faced a choice. Did he try, and give his pokemon as much room as possible for a long-range specialist, or did he try and close with another fighting type?By staying in close I was making the choice tougher for him. Bertha had already demolished his Poliwhirl, a pokemon that if both were equal in strength, should have favoured Poliwhirl.But that was the point, his Poliwhirl wasn't on the same level as Bertha.Bertha, by my estimate, was easily at an Elite Four, if not Champion tier strength these days.In game terms, I liked to think that meant high fifties, if not level sixty. For all that she liked to goof around and play, she was a dedicated pokemon when it was time to put her giant nose to the grindstone."Go Breloom!" shouted Carlos sending in his best hope in close."Earthquake!" I said straight away. I didn't want that pokemon to get too comfortable.Breloom shuddered as Bertha unleashed her third Earthquake and once more people shuddered and shook. An idle inspection showed that more of them were able to stay on their feet this time around having been expecting it.Breloom twitched for a moment only to hop up onto its tail to ignore most of the damage."Bre! Loom!" shouted the fighting-grass-type pokemon as it glared at Bertha."Mach Punch!" barked Carlos and his pokemon rocked back further on its tail only to spring forward at a startling speed."Stone Edge!" I responded, having Bertha blast a giant boulder right into the oncoming Breloom. It smashed its way through the boulder and then slammed into Bertha's flank making her groan in pain.Breloom landed and shot Bertha a smirk as Carlos punched the sky."Sweep low!" I ordered, not willing to slow down.Bertha swung herself in a tight arc, whipping the tail around."Leap!" replied Carlos haughtily. He seemed to think he was being clever here by avoiding the tail this time.Before his pokemon could land, I stabbed my hand forward once more. "Ice Beam!" I said.Bertha's grin stretched her face as she inhaled and then exhaled a beam of blue energy that slammed straight into the surprised Breloom.I hummed and shot Carlos a surprised look. I had been expecting a Protect from him but instead, he'd just had his Breloom taken out of the fight with a one-two combination he should have been expecting.Bertha rubbed her side and twitched as Breloom was recalled. "How are you feeling girl?"Bertha straightened up and fired her massive fists into a furious one-two combination as she ducked her head and snorted. I shook my head. "There are going to be plenty of fights girl. No need to try and do it all yourself. I'm going to be using you again soon, don't worry," I said.And with that said, I decided to withdraw her. She had enough time to lace her hands above her head and theatrically twirl as she was recalled, resulting in her looking like a boulder pretending to be a magical girl with her exit.I heard the crowd that were watching our match laugh at the display and I shook my head.Cindy must have watched some Magical Girl cartoons with her when Bertha slept inside. I hadn't noticed as usually if Bertha was released inside, she'd make a lot more noise. Also if she got excited by a TV show she usually caused more destruction and left a lot more dirt inside.I resolved to get Nanny Grav another magazine if she'd handled it. That or I'd have to get Flint something nice.Carlos sighed, and sent out his last hope. "Go Vileplume!" he said with gritted teeth."Go Gawain," I said, countering him and feeling particularly pleased with how our pre-match assessment had gone.Carlos groaned. "You seriously chose those two as two of your three pokemon for this match?" he said with a shake of his head. "Who was your third? Your Tyranitar?"I was about to shake my head and deny him, only to pause.He was fishing, and there were enough people around that even if it didn't matter for him, it would matter for my next opponent.I frowned at Carlos. He hadn't lost the spark in his eye that told me he'd given up. He was trying to judge how to play this match in case the next match was favourable to him.As for other trainers? They'd get to look at my roster and cross three pokemon off that were guaranteed to not be possible for their match-up. By only using two and not giving the third away I didn't show my entire hand.I decided to just shrug. "Sorry, them's the break sometimes," I said. I then pointed straight ahead."X-scissor," I said. Gawain sprinted straight at the Vileplume, axes raised in a cross position, preparing for the strike."Toxic!" said Carlos.Gawain closed, and just as he was slashing out, Vileplume squirted a burst of purple gunk right into Gawain's eyes making him cry out as he shut his eyes and dropped his head.His training showed through however as before he staggered, he carried through with the strike and sent Vileplume soaring.Sadly Vilplume got back up with a grint and a shake of its giant fronds. "That's it Vileplume! Stay in the fight! Use Mega Drain!""Rock Slide at your eleven o'clock!" I shouted and despite being blinded and shivering from the effects of the poison, Gawain carried through with the move, launching a wave of rocks into Vileplume causing it to wail in pain once more.Despite the Rock Slide getting in first, Vileplume still didn't go down. Kleavor twitched as the Mega Drain pulled from him and the poison sapped him but I knew he could handle it. Neither move would be enough to see him drop.This match, unlike Bertha's match, was much closer in 'level' with Gawain being only one of the newest additions. I'd have to rate him at a solid forty-five. "Again! Aim a touch higher for distance!" I shouted.Gawain once more swept his axes forward and sent another wave of rocks soaring into Vileplume. This time it was enough to clip and knock Vileplume out of the fight, much to my relief.Carlos sighed. "Urgh! A Bug pokemon against my grass type. Damn it! You read me like a book."I nodded. "We did that, but…" I coughed sheepishly. "You do realise that Vileplume isn't weak to bug type pokemon, right?"Carlos blinked at me a moment before his eyes widened. He facepalmed a moment later before perking up. "So that means my Toxic was the right call? Ha! My instincts are better than I thought, now I just need to train up my pokemon and we'll go the distance."I grimaced. He obviously hadn't accounted for Rock being resistant to poison typing.Vileplume versus a Kleavor was a rather neutral affair in truth. Toxic wasn't bad, but that was more because he'd gotten it into Gawain's eyes. I decided to just shake Carlos' hand and take Gawain to the healing area where a trio of Nurse Joys were handling the influx of injured pokemon for the tournament.I got the impression they were happy that in the early stages, they only had to deal with three pokemon from each trainer rather than full rosters.I handed over Bertha's pokeball and Gawain's pokeball before sitting back and waiting.Missy, Greta and A.J. joined me and when my pokemon were returned to me I led them back to the tent. "So?" I prompted.Missy made a complex expression. "He… was better than I thought he might be?""He was a scrub," said A.J. "We predicted which pokemon he was going to use and he got lucky with his Toxic actually doing something worth a damn by blinding Gawain. You could have kept Bertha out for that match I think."I shrugged. "Well, I decided to switch it up. There's no need to risk her in the first match. She did well though," I said.This got a grunt on confirmation from A.J. and a nod from Missy. I toyed with the final pokeball that had remained on my belt, Shrek's Ultraball. If things had looked bad, I could trust in him as one of my most certain pokemon in a tight situation.Yolanda jogged up and waved. "I got a video of your next opponent!" she said happily.I dragged her to my side, for a quick hug before releasing her. "Nice job! We will know which pokemon to discount. What were your thoughts otherwise?" I said.Yolanda happily talked my ear off on her observations regarding the match and I quickly had a plan being worked out for my next opponent that would be coming this afternoon.Hazel seemed better than Carlos, but only by a few steps up the ranking. I let the others theory craft before I turned my attention to the next pokemon I could use."Gym Leader Brock! How do you think the event is going so far?" called out a reporter as they jogged along next to us.I shot them a look and realised it was the woman that had been rather polite with Sabrina and I in the past, so I slowed down and answered some questions before signalling I was done. I watched her sign off even as I strode away wondering for the first time if it was a case of us teaching her, or her training us to accept her approach.When we reached the tent we set up the whiteboard once again and laid out Hazel's information."Rapidash, Raichu, Linoone, Roselia, Staryu, Seaking, Azumarill, Seadra, and Ludicolo are her pokemon," I said. I tilted my head and had to frown. "That's a rather short list," I said.Missy coughed. "She's new and she only had the one circuit so she hasn't done that poorly. I think she's funding herself as an Ace Trainer right now.""Ah," I said. "That was rather a bit elitist, wasn't it?" I said, earning myself some nods from Greta and Missy while A.J. just snorted.I looked over her team with that in consideration and nodded. It was a relatively solid team all things considered, if a bit water-heavy.I set up Yolanda's video and watched it through for an idea of how she fought."She's uhmmm," I said carefully, only to grimace as her Rapidash took a heavy hit that I felt could have been dodged."She's trash!" announced A.J. earning himself a few swats from the girls before they looked back."She's not as experienced as I thought she'd be?" offered up Greta.Missy sighed. "She got four badges from the big gyms and then went after the small gyms so she only really got pushed hard once instead of five times is my take." She shook her purple hair. "She's been too careful with herself but I think she's not been able to afford a big set back," she said.Hazel's first fight had been a poor match but with pokemon like Raichu and Rapidash she hadn't played to her strengths as much as she could have. My expectations for the next match dropped a little.I hummed for a moment and opened up Battlecast on the television, curious what they'd show me."—nthemum stadium! It's Karen against her opponent!" said the presenter. I huffed and changed the channel to Battlecast two. Karen was going to win that match up, I could tell with just a glance.On it highlights of the matches that had been so far started to show with my own match getting a bit of attention with Bertha and Gawain. The talking heads confirmed what Yolanda had already brought to me, but only showed snippets of the match.Hazel had sent out a Raichu, Azumarill and a Rapidash to secure her win meaning I could scratch those from consideration.I rubbed my chin in thought and selected two pokeballs. Zephyr, Tide… and I let my fingers dance on the Ultraball before nodding and picking it up with a spin. Sanchez.It was probably overkill, but I wanted to advance with the least hassle which meant I should play it smart.With that all done I just had to sit back and wait.By the time the match came around the media had set up a small presence outside my tent to pepper me with questions on occasion. I got the impression that the further I advanced, the more media would be present.I had a few of them tag along, dogging me as I made my way to face Hazel. They only broke off when I stepped onto the field and marched up to shake her hand."Gym Leader," she said in greeting.I nodded back. "Ace Trainer," I replied with a smile.She perked up at that and nodded. "Huh, I am, aren't I?" she said to herself.I just kept smiling. A bit of the research I'd done on her had shown that she was considered a strong trainer thanks to her rise up the ranks despite this being her first year. To make the top hundred in your first year of being an Ace trainer was considered very good.I was obviously an outlier as a Gym Leader, not that I counted for such acclaim as I had been registered since my second year as a Gym Leader. It was only now, in my fourth year that I had started to advance up the ranks.We broke apart and I entered the box marked out as the trainer area on my side of the field. When I turned a referee was in position in the middle of the field. The woman gave the field an intense inspection before bowing in each of our directions. "The field is up to standards, and the battle may commence!" she said, straightening up and marching to her spot.Hazel and I shared a look. It would seem we had a stickler for the rules in this referee. I made a note to not linger on any of my tradeouts.The referee raised her flags, ran through the standard set of instructions and before too long, she dropped her flags while shouting, "Begin!"Hazel and I both hurled out our pokemon.On my side, Sanchez took to the field with a loud cackle and a wave to everyone present.On Hazel's side, a Linoone took to the stage. Hmmm, we hadn't guessed she'd use that pokemon first, or indeed, at all during this match.What did she have planned sending out a normal type?"Stealth Rock," I said, setting the field for my purposes."Baby-doll eyes!" chirped Hazel, causing me to nod as Sanchez gained a goofy grin and waved towards Linoone. Okay, so that was her strategy? Lowering Sanchez's attack stat?"Again," I said, unimpressed by this turn of events."Now! While their guard is lowered! Double-Edge!" Hazel cried.I had to respect her pokemon knowing that move, but at the same time, I was disappointed that she didn't know what Baby Doll Eyes actually did. Then again, to the layperson, perhaps that's what they thought it did?"Match it," I said, causing Sanchez to exaggeratedly throw himself into a sprint before starting to roll. With Linoone having taken off before this and Sanchez's mucking about the impact happened closer to our side.Both pokemon slammed into each other and there was a solid whump of displaced air only for Linoone to come off worse from the hit. Sanchez shook his head while Linoone staggered and growled in pain."Thunder!" I said going for the kill on the first battle. Sanchez sparked up and Hazel stiffened."Evade with Dig!" she ordered. Linoone dove into the ground and dodged a huge bolt of lightning.I nodded in respect at the move before snapping my fingers. "Earthquake," I said.Sanchez stomped his feet and clapped his hands like he was doing a war dance, albeit with a lot more hip sway than I'd ever seen. Sanchez had a huge silly grin strewn across his face as Linoone was hurled out of the ground, beaten and broken."No! Linoone, hang in there with Rest!" Hazel called.I shifted. I had half a mind to end the match with a shot to her sleeping vulnerable pokemon, but then I realised I had better options to close out the match. By not withdrawing her Linoone now, and instead going for Rest, Hazel had made a huge error."Stealth Rock," I said and for a third time Sanchez got off his field effect.Linoone surprised me by being a quick sleeper as just as the rocks formed up it opened its eyes and locked back onto Sanchez."Thunder," I said again, deciding to put the pressure on Hazel."Charge in! Dodge it with Double-Edge!" she cried out, punching her hand forward.Linoone charged in but this time Sanchez wasn't to be denied.His Thunder struck from the sky like a bolt from the heavens slamming into and ending Linoone's charge.It slid closer towards us only to regather its feet and surprise me with a sudden faster burst of speed even as lightning coursed around its form.Linoone once more slammed into Sanchez and this time Sanchez was the one to fall back in surprise. He quickly bobbed up however and shook himself off. "Go go golem!" he shouted encouragingly to Linoone."Discharge," I said, making Sanchez erupt in lighting around him and locking Linoone with volts of electricity.When the Discharge finished Linoone was revealed, laying on his back with his paws in the air twitching as electrical jolts arced through him.The referee inspected Linoone and hurled out a flag, "Linoone is unable to battle! Brock is the victor!" she cried.Hazel wilted. "Urgh, that didn't go how I was hoping," she said.I quirked an eyebrow and had to wonder how she was hoping for that match to play out.It was honestly a rather terrible choice for a three-on-three match for her opening pokemon against me."Let's go Ludicolo!" cried Hazel. Her next pokemon took to the field only to get a welcome of three Stealth Rocks slamming into it from various angles.I felt a little bad as I pointed straight at the stumbling pokemon. "Thunder," I ordered.Once again Sanchez lit up, and once again, I could tell Sanchez's aim was on point.So could Hazel. "Protect!" she screamed.Ludicolo reacted just in time to raise a shield to deflect the powerful electric attack and I had to click my tongue in annoyance. Damn, that had nearly been a one-and-done showing for her. Still, she had the answer she needed.It was just a shame she hadn't started with this pokemon.Ludicolo dropped the Protect and took to bouncing around merrily. Sanchez joined in the other pokemon hopping from foot to foot like this was merely a game."Astonish!" shouted Hazel.Her Ludicolo hid its hands like it was doing peekaboo and a monet later opened its hands to reveal its eyes were in different locations and a truly huge tongue was stuck out of its mouth as it leapt forward at Sanchez."Go?!" he said, startled by this odd turn of events."Discharge," I said firmly. Sanchez reacted even as Lucicolo closed, zapping the other pokemon as it made an impact.Sanchez stumbled back and fell on his backside as Hazel got lucky with the flinch effect."Yes! Now use Mega Drain!" she said.I held in a sigh. Someone really needed to teach these kids that there were better-draining grass-type moves, such as Giga Drain to use.Green energy shot into Sanchez and then back to Ludicolo as I shot my hand forward. "Thunder!" I said.Sanchez rocked up onto his knees and let loose a powerful blast that shot up and then down into Ludicolo causing it to buckle under the power of the attack. When the lightning vanished Ludicolo tottered back and forth before falling to the side, having fallen unconscious.Once more the Referee shot their flag up towards me and I had to frown. Hazel was making a lot of mistakes, it seemed to me. I felt the Gym Leader within me wanting to sit her down after the match for a review, much as I had for Carlos. Some of these mistakes seemed simple to me.I wasn't sure what she was thinking, using the Linoone choice. On a whim, I glanced away from the field and instead looked around for anyone in her section of the stands only to find them empty.Hmmm, she didn't have a support team or anyone to workshop ideas with.Not surprising considering she was only in her first year as an Ace trainer, but it might start costing her more going forward."Go! Roselia!" Hazel shouted sending out her final pokemon, and the pokemon that I had been expecting first from her. The only reason I could think she had held back on it, was that this Roselia, was her starter pokemon."Earthquake!" I said as the Stealth Rocks shot towards Roselia."Petal Dance!" screamed Hazel. "Dance through the attacks and stay light!" she screamed.I, and all the spectators watched as she unleashed a powerful wave of petals while stepping lightly around the Stealth Rocks that should have been guaranteed to hit.The only hit Roselia took ended up being when it buckled with Sanchez getting off his Earthquake and forcing Roselia to take a shot to the arm with the final Stealth Rock.Then the petals that had been swirling around Roselia swept forward and slammed into Sanchez, dropping him with the powerful storm of pink."Return Sanchez," I said surprised that Hazel had some power in her pocket with her Roselia. I hadn't been expecting it to be so strong that it could weave its way through Stealth Rocks while under pressure like that.I ignored the referee announcing the score as I selected my second pokeball. "Go Zephyr!" I said, revealing my answer to the Grass-poison type pokemon.Hazel grimaced and shot me a look. "You were expecting him?" she asked.I nodded. "I was expecting him earlier honestly, I thought I was going to get off a single Stealth Rock." I shrugged. "You didn't play that game though," I said before waving towards Zephyr. "Air Slash."Zephyr swept his wing and unleashed a cutting wind."Bend under it!" said Hazel, surprising me once again as her pokemon.Instead of taking the hit, blocking it, or leaping away, Roselia leaned all the way back, like a willow tree in the face of a raging storm to avoid the Air Slash.As It bent back up Hazel punched forward. "Leech Seed!" she commended, resulting in seeds shooting up into the air towards Zephyr."Dive into a Hurricane!" I commanded, feeling a small spark. This was more like it, I thought to myself as I felt my focus intensify and the link I had with Zephyr being tested. Hazel was pushing back despite the type advantage being in my favour and making me fight her properly.Zephyr dropped, spinning as he did so, causing a Hurricane to form and throw off any seeds that had been threatening him. Then, with his defense sorted, he swept the Hurricane forward straight at Roselia, turning back on the offensive."Roselia! Dig your heels in and Endure!" called Hazel.Roselia did just that, curling in on itself as the Hurricane swept over him, battering and tearing at his huddled form.When the Hurricane was spent, Zephyr turned to assess his foe. Around where Roselia had been a wave of detritus had built up with the pokemon twitching and shivering in the middle, mostly hidden from view.Another person, one not good friends with Erika, might have hesitated and waited a moment. I merely chopped my hand down again. "Aerial Ace!" I barked.Roselia, hearing the order twitched, throwing off the loose leaf litter that had covered it as it turned to face Zephyr. It had to bend its body as its feet, or roots rather, remained Ingrained.Endure, with an Ingrain, resulting in Roselia not truly reaching the dredges of energy it otherwise might have."Toxic!" shouted Hazel as her pokemon lined up its two roses that acted as arms to fire a noxious substance at Zephyr, or rather, where he'd been.Just before the Toxic was about to impact, Aerial Ace activated, and Zephyr blurred in a sudden acceleration to the side where he swept in and finished off the exceptionally strong Roselia.Roselia was hurled and rolled back only to lay flat after a soft cry and a rose being extended towards Hazel. Hazel returned him with a forlorn sigh. "You did great buddy.""Roselia is unable to battle! The match goes to Brock!" The referee shot her flags up as she pronounced me the winner.I approached Hazel and shook her hand. "Good match, That last pokemon is seriously strong. It's impressive that your Linoone knows the moves that it does as well.""Ah, yeah… he wasn't my first pick but a number of my other pokemon are fatigued cause we had a hard match on sunday… that I'm sort of regretting, but at the same time not," Hazel said with a sigh."Hoh?" I asked.Hazel rubbed the back of her head. "Even with those pokemon I don't think I would have won today's match."I waved a hand. "Never discount yourself. You and your team could be firing on all cylinders or I could be feeling flat you know?""Hmmmm, I had a friend challenge you… do you want to talk about the match?" she asked.I grinned. "I would be happy to!" Holy heck but I wanted to correct some misconceptions this girl had!I happily led her back to the Pewter tent with my entourage. Yolanda was highly amused at how I was discussing the match and giving Hazel insights into things she could do better. With the knowledge that Hazel had come into this match with limited options, her Linoone first choice… made a bit of sense, but it was honestly a bit ambitious.She must have been expecting her Roselia to carry her through the first day to give her other pokemon time to rest. Sadly, she got caught out.When I was done I sent Hazel off to enjoy herself before spending an hour going over the match, and my own next match up against Han from Ecruteak City. Apparently, Han had spent some time training with the Gym there so I already knew to expect some Ghost pokemon and it showed with his pokemon roster being mostly dominated by them.Sadly he seemed to have a penchant for using very annoying tactics such as switch-outs to gain himself favourable matches up as much as he could."Should be an easy win for you," said A.J.I nodded. "Yeah, I have to wonder though, this has kind of caught me in a whiplash situation with last week's matches being something I had to really struggle and be on point with… today's matches… they kind of…" I trailed off and searched for the right word."Suck?" said A.J. bluntly."Aren't up to your standard?" said Greta cautiously.I pointed at her. "Yeah, it's kind of odd. If you aren't careful you could get caught off guard I think because for some of these matches I'm really just overpowering my opponent's pokemon. Carlos was a good example, but there are some outliers. If Hazel had more pokemon like that Roselia she'd be in the top twenty easily I think."That made A.J. lift up Hazel's information with a bit more interest. "Her Roselia was that strong?" he asked.I nodded. "Yeah, but the point I'm trying to make is… there's a skill to staying sharp and watching for strong contenders in matches like these, cause you can sort of get lulled into dropping your standards."The others nodded at this and Missy even went as far as to write it down in a journal that looked like it was overflowing with notes. "Been a good day for you?" I asked.She bobbed her head up and down quickly. "Yeah! Fantastic! My head is just swimming with everything I just… I don't know if I can take any more in though," she said, looking up and revealing she had a slightly dizzy look."Ah, time to go outside and just blow off some steam, yeah? You have your keycard for the hotel room, right?" When she nodded I directed her out the tent flap. "We'll clean up here. Go relax, do some shopping, whatever you need to do, alright? Yolanda, Rachel, how about you girls go with her?" I prompted.With that seen too A.J. and I packed up the tent and then moved on to the hotel we were staying at. When I opened the door, I was greeted by Yolanda in a pink fluffy robe with a towel around her head. Terra was next to her with a towel around her horn."Can I order room service?" Yolanda asked. I chuckled and waved my acceptance while asking for a burger. With her checked in, I moved down to a specialised area where I laid out my pokemon's food on plates. My team appeared in a flash of light and I sat down to talk with them about the day for an hour or so.Sanchez was full of praise for Roselia and Zephyr got a round of cheers for beating the strong pokemon. Tide looked a bit sad that he didn't get to fight but I was quick to assure him that I'd appreciated having him in my pocket as a pinch-hitter."Alright, anyone want to watch some movies with Yolanda and I? We got the penthouse so you can watch with us?" I asked. That got them to all chirp up and when I returned and released them Yolanda laughed and settled in for a few movies with me.I made sure not to spare a thought for my next match. I already had done what I needed, so I didn't spare it any more thought.When I awoke I went through a quick breakfast to get to the grounds early. Yolanda jogged out with me and we set up the tent before sending off a message to the others to join us when they were free. I then led Yolanda around the grounds, buying some goods that were being sold by stalls about the tournament grounds."We'll have to make a concerted effort to go to the department store tomorrow depending on what time my next match is," I said to Yolanda.I returned to the tent to find an amused Rachel staring at Missy as a much larger crowd of reporters clamoured for her attention."So are you going to be the new heir now that Forrest has been pushed aside?!" called one reporter.I blinked at that and stepped up. "What's going on here?" I asked.Missy curled in on herself. "I was still feeling a bit out of it so I decided to have a match and I used… Rhyperior… and people think that means I'm the heir now?" she said, shooting me a plaintive look.I hummed. "Hmmm That doesn't… actually," I considered it from an outsider's perspective. It would have been a huge concession for me to hand over how to evolve Rhydon. It could be construed that way.I coughed into a fist. "Right, to clarify, Missy, as skilled a trainer as she is, is not the Pewter Gym's heir. At this stage, it is still being held by my family. We will decide among ourselves who is the best suited. Forrest, may or may not want to, just as Yolanda here may, or may not want to," I asked.As though sensing maximum drama potential, the bag that Yolanda had been carrying over her shoulder opened and Terra poked her head out. "Lar? Vitar?" she said innocently.The reporters went into a frenzy."Is Yolanda the next heir?" shouted one."The next Brock! She's following in his footsteps!" cried another.I raised a finger and then lowered it. I shot her a look, "Well, she sort of is, but I think she'll do herself very proud, she's got a lot of potential and I am going to be very interested in it when she goes on her Journey."The reporters paused at this and then turned back to their cameramen. "You heard it here first folks! Brock has an heir in Yolanda! An inheritor of will that will one day rock the League with her arrival! Her Journey will be one we eagerly await!" cried one reporter.I pinched the bridge of my nose. "I didn't say that… but.. Sure, whatever makes you happy."At my side, Yolanda stared, with open eyes. "Are they always like this?"I sighed. "I think they were just extra excited with Missy's reveal, and then things sort of spiralled from there," I said.I waved my hand towards the tent. "Let's just ignore them, we have better things to do," I said.Such as running through final preparations to face a ghost specialist.I doubted Han would hold up against Agatha, whom I'd sparred with quite a few times now, but it wouldn't pay to get sloppy.I swallowed down my hesitation and got ready to fight.