Empress stared at the crowd of people.
She'd never seen so many people all at once in one place.She'd watched the television that Brock had set up, but that was different, the people didn't have the scents, the feel, the noise of the crowd.She'd even observed the Gym entrance from atop the plateau and seen people coming and going, but never in such numbers.The tribe had been only a few hundred and while they had been larger than her they'd never clustered around her or the girl when she'd been a part of them. They'd been present in her life but not loud towards her.Never loud towards her. Always careful, quiet and respectful.If the occasion had called for it they would celebrate around a fire loudly, but that was different.The applause reminded her a little of that with how much emotion was being shown.But it was different.They were cheering for her. Such acts had only been given to her by her fellow pokemon at the Gym, Brock when she'd demonstrated her Hyper Beam, Terra… and the girl.The girl had praised her a lot for tiny things in truth, but it had meant everything to her back then.Now? She wasn't sure what to make of a crowd of strangers shouting for her and Brock. She glanced back to see the podiums had lowered and Brock and the masked individual had shaken their hands.The masked man had reminded her of some of the old wise men with his style of dress. They liked using the feathers from powerful Fearow, that the tribe had hunted down for meals for their outfits. He'd looked very similar.The girl had only ever interacted with the wise men once, to present Empress to them just after she'd hatched.From there Empress could scarcely recall seeing them around the tribe. She'd seen the old woman more, but then that had everything to do with the girl and the old woman being kin.The old woman had good stories about how things had come to be.The pokemon she lived with now said Brock filled much the same role for his own family, without the feathery outfit.He told them stories of how Legendary pokemon acted within and upon the world around them. He told them stories of how to be good, earnest youths. How to navigate the land. How to secure food. How to judge bad men and women. All of this in the form of stories if you were wise enough to sit and listen, which the children were.It was good to be part of a small tribe once again, even if things were different now.The pop of pokeballs announced more Pokemon joining her and Empress blinked when the two youngest pokemon on Brock's Elite team were released.Link and Gawain both blinked uncertainly only to perk up when they noticed the battlefield they stood upon.Gawain slumped when he noticed that the fight was over. "Ah, I wasn't picked for this fight." The Kleavor glanced over at Brock who smiled encouragingly."You three are currently the most popular pokemon that people want to see, can you do a slow circuit around the stands? Let people take photos and just look cool?"Empress blinked, she had no idea how to do that.A subtle glance towards Gawain showed that he was also floundering and unsure. Link was nodding."Ah! Of course! I'm the newest pokemon and Gawain is the new evolution! Empress is the new powerhouse!" he said with a rub of his chin. He turned towards Empress. "I'll be in your care! If you can stand tall I'll feel much more assured!" he said earnestly.Empress stared at the little pink pokemon. He was honest and straightforward in everything that he did. Whether that be training or rest, Link was always eager to have a go and push himself. Now, when none of them had a clue what to do, he was more than happy to simply stand around and follow her lead.She shifted nervously, was that all she had to do? Walk a loop and stand around? Or did they want more?For her to growl?Or perhaps use a Hyper Beam again?Brock looked from Gawain, to her, and then paused on Link who was bouncing excitedly. "Ah, on second thought." he released Titan and her son appeared with a shake of his head.Her son smiled easily. "Hmmm? Ah, excellent fight mother, I was able to witness most of it, excellent showing."Empress merely grunted and waved a claw towards Brock. "He wants us to pose for the…" she waved a claw towards the people that had crowded around the edges of the stands looking down into the field.Titan chuckled. "It's not meant to be a chore or anything. This is just to show ourselves off. The people that come want to see Brock and us. We are sort of…" Titan scratched his chin in thought, his eyes darting between the three pokemon watching him.Titan opened his mouth, only to shut it as he continued to think on what to say. A moment later he perked up.Titan raised a claw. "Brock said that us walking among the people that come to watch the matches helps to reassure them. We are strong but not feral. We are like champions representing him and the other pokemon in our team. We are protectors of peace," he said.Gawain vibrated in place. "I love it! He should have mentioned that when he called me out in the past!""Yah! He should have! I like it!" Link vibrated in place, his head bobbing up and down.Empress snorted. She shot Brock a look. He'd tried to pair her up with the two youngsters for their enthusiasm, hadn't he? Only they hadn't known how to act on their own. She shot her son a respectful nod. He was good at what he did.Still, what he'd said made sense to her. So she strode to the edge of the stands and stared at the suddenly quiet crowd. The scent of fear wafted towards her and it took all she could not to snort in derision.It would be too much for these beings.Funny, that a child had more bravery in him than a host of other humans.To this date, no other human had approached her as fearlessly as Brock had.Empress looked away from the crowd and watched Brock inhale once before stepping towards a crowd of loud people with flashing equipment and small soft sticks. Bertha had told her what these were but she hadn't much cared for them then. Now she found herself wanting to know more.She turned back and nodded to the section of the crowd that she'd loomed over before stalking to another section where she loomed tall causing another burst of silence in front of her.She huffed and once again felt the wave of fear grow.She held, eyeing various people before her again before stepping away disappointed in them. She was about to stalk over to Brock and demand he return her to her ball when she overheard the people she'd just left talking."She was so regal!" "So powerful!" "Oh Wow! I think I get it, she's just on another level isn't she?" "It was so cool getting to see her up close like that!" "I almost peed myself!" "Me too!"Empress tilted her head. What was going on?"They're bonding over the shared experience," said Titan as she moved up next to her. "They're not used to pokemon like yourself. Some pokemon exude a certain level of strength," he said."I know this!" hissed Empress, chastising her son. You didn't rule a mountain without knowing about the aura that strong pokemon exuded.Titan nodded. "Yes, but most humans aren't used to experiencing it, facing down you causing them a thrill as their bodies war with their emotions. Brock calls it their conscious mind with flight or fight responses," he said with a thoughtful rub of his chin.Empress sniffed, unsure what to make of it. "They like it?"Titan shrugged. "Some people do," he said. "That said, you can reduce it," he said."How?" asked Empress.Titan smirked and nudged her to the side, causing her to turn her head and notice her daughter in the hands of Brock's sibling."Mum! Mum! Mum! Oh wow mum, you were so cool! Will I be able to do that? When can I do that? Oh! Can you see me! Hiiiiiii!" Terra waved her stubby little arms frantically to be seen even as she shouted for all her worth.Empress felt herself soften at the sight and a smile began to stretch her facial scales."Yeah, just like that," murmured her son from behind her. "Go say hello," he said.This time the people around Empress didn't smell of fear. More of them took pictures and if anything, more of them praised her for various body features she had."Look at her scars!" "She's taller than Titan?" "Thinner too, think that factors into her strength?" "She's got a sheen to her scales doesn't she?"Empress smirked, as she saw Titan straighten up and pat his body.Empress, channeling this new 'soft' feeling, approached other groups and eventually linked up with Link and Gawain to inspect people in the crowd. For the most part, Empress loomed in the back while Gawain and Link flexed and waved at people drawing more positive responses while her own presence caused a silent awe.When they had finished a lap around the stadium, the four pokemon found themselves behind Brock. The cameras turned towards them and Empress found her 'soft' feeling vanishing in the wake of the annoying lights. She growled and a silence swept over the people.The men and women all shot each other looks before packing up their gear. 'I think we got enough!" shouted one before they darted over to the other man who was being harassed by people like them.Brock chuckled and glanced up at the three 'new pokemon' "How'd you go? Have fun?" he asked."It was great!" shouted Gawain."I feel like I achieved a lot! I think the people will feel a lot safer now!" said Link happily.Brock chuckled at their responses before his eyes paused on her.She sniffed but nodded her head slightly. It had been interesting, and rather fun to spend time with Gawain and Link. Brock grinned. "Alright, well let's get the others healed up, and go have some ice cream!"Titan was suddenly at her side and looked attentive causing her to blink and glance at where he had been. Had he used his Giga Impact to get over here?She shook the thought off as ridiculous and walked with Brock through the crowds of people to a trio of females who all had similar scents and faces. There was a clinical, clean smell to them that stung at her nostrils, and when empress leaned in to inspect the 'Nurse Joys' a Chansey appeared before her."Hey! No hassling the healers! Don't you know anything?" said the pink ball waspishly.Empress narrowed her eyes and snorted. "Whatever, I was just seeing why they smelt strange. They are all practically the same scent."The Chansey stiffened before growling. "Don't ask those questions!" she barked.She then scooped up the pokeballs that the Nurse had finished handling for Brock before shoving them into Brock's hands. "Now get out of here! We don't like your kind around here!" snapped the pink fluffball.Brock palmed the balls and shot Empress and Chansey a confused look. "Bad interaction?" he said casually to Nurse Joy.The woman shrugged her shoulders. "Must be, sometimes pokemon just don't like each other on sight for some reason," she said.Brock patted Empress on the flank. "Hey, leave it. I don't want you brawling with a Chansey. They might seem weak but they can be nightmares cause they'll take a hit, heal up and then come at you again and again. They're monsters for endurance battles," he said as they walked away.Empress gave Chansey another look and had to conclude that Brock might just be correct. It was a hidden powerhouse. Not that it would be enough to threaten her. If that puffball tried anything she'd flatten it.She turned her head away, interested in experiencing this ice cream. She'd noticed how her son's tail had wagged slightly at the mere mention earlier.Yolanda and Terra joined them and as they moved into the city a cold sweet smell wafted on the breeze making Empress, Titan, Terra, Gawain, and Link all perk up. Titan licked his lips in excitement and Empress felt herself speed up a little.Brock noticed. "Ah? You can smell it? Yeah we're close," he said, waving a hand in the direction they were walking.When they reached the 'ice cream shop' Empress found that it was an open table with a glass display that allowed her and other larger pokemon to walk up and survey the selection of iced creams.She stepped to the front, pushing aside the weaker pokemon and looming over the human at the front.People started to protest only for their words to die as Empress shot them an imperious look.Brock coughed. "Sorry, everyone! My treat to make up for this! She's never had ice cream before!"That seemed to mollify some people and Brock joined her with a shake of his head. "Should have realised you were going to do that." He glanced towards Link who had his face pushed up against the glass mesmerised with what was within.Empress snorted, dismissing the others before looking at the sweating attendant."H-hello maam! What flavour will you be wanting today? We have Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Dry, and Spicy!" said, the pimply faced human.Empress narrowed her eyes and looked towards Titan. "I like Sweet and Sour!" he said pointing at two tubs, one yellow and one pink.Empress pointed sternly and the clerk quickly assembled two scoops and presented them to her. Empress leaned down, her nostrils flaring as she inspected the offering before taking it into her mouth.An explosion of flavours occurred in her mouth and she swallowed before she could control herself.She found the taste lingering and without meaning to, her tail began to sweep from side to side, knocking Link and Gawain off their feet and batting them to the side.They cried out in surprise before laughing as they got over their shock."Is it really that good?" asked Link as he hopped from foot to foot, dodging her tail nimbly.Empress cringed. That was embarrassing, she was not some Larvitar! She was a Tyranitar! She'd ruled a mountain!Brock patted her on the side. "You liked it girl?" he said.She nodded, still feeling shame at her lack of control.Brock grinned. "I'll take ten premade tubs of the mix and match and three of sweet and sour!" he told the attendant, causing Empress to perk up as much larger portions of ice cream were presented to Brock.He shot her a grin and a wink as he packed them away. "We'll get back to the hotel and share them out with the team, along with some for later. But you can have another double scoop for the road if you'd like?"Empress found herself perking up, her tail shifting slowly back and forth as she found herself looking forward to this new experience. She rather liked this ice cream. She pointed to another two, this one a blue and the other a green before she tasted them. She found her mouth drying out even as a bitter taste took over.She found she rather enjoyed it.Later, when she was enjoying another double-stacked cone of ice cream with the other Elite pokemon, she listened attentively as Bertha spoke of other delicacies they'd gotten to try on Brock's Journey.Empress licked her lips and claws clean of what remained of her fifth helping of the treat. She turned towards Betha. "What other sorts of treats did you get to try?" she asked.Bertha perked up. "Oh there are these things called Lava cakes that are just amazing!" said Bertha, as she began to loudly proclaim all the different tastes in foods she'd experienced on the Journey.For the first time ever, she found herself oddly envious of her son and daughter. They'd gotten to, or would get to go on a Journey, where they'd taste and see new things.Maybe she'd have to find a way to travel with Brock more?Or at least get included when he brought around good food.The pizza and ice cream had certainly been nice.Humphrey sat in a dim room watching his mentor on the television as he handled a wave of questions from reporters with an ease that was enviable.For a moment Humphrey considered heading to Celadon itself but then shook his head. He didn't want to become too dependent on Brock. The sponsorship had been a lifeline, one he hadn't been expecting to get after having to beg Spearow to help him out with the junior tournament for the sponsorship.Humphrey still didn't know how to face Mia. He owed that girl so much it was…crazy to think about. Around him, the pokemon he'd acquired over the course of the last few months shifted. A wet splash announced his water pokemon getting excited.None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for Mia speaking up.The girl had waved it off when he'd approached her, still high on emotion at being given another chance, a huge chance all told from Brock thanks to Mia. She was too kind.And she didn't want anything from doing it.Humphrey sighed, putting the issue of how to repay Mia to the side for now. He had other things to focus on.He'd wanted to watch this match for any insights he could gain for Flying types as Masked Owl, or rather Walker had been known to use.He'd learned a lot from the match, around him a small forest of notes had been laid out with brief commentary notes, or thoughts. His pokemon nudged a few into line or shifted so they wouldn't trudge on them.Next to him, Lairon growled softly. "Yeah, it was a strong match buddy," he said, rubbing an oiled cloth over Lairon's head."Lair!" agreed, his pokemon. "Ron," continued the pokemon dejectedly."Yeah it would have been nice to see Knight be used today, but oh well. We got to watch champion Steven use his though," Humphrey said.This mollified Lairon as he leaned into the rubs.On the other side of Humphrey, Pidgeot leaned in as replays of the fight were broadcast showcasing how swift Walker had been while Brock had blanketed the sky or laid traps where he could.Walker's Pidgeot was strong, and one day Humphrey hoped to be just as strong with his pokemon.Pidgeot was the first pokemon to fully evolve and while it still had a lot of growing to do, Humphrey was hopeful he'd be able to ride his pokemon for longer trips soon. Then he'd get a lot more mobility.Sadly he'd been too slow to get to Cinnabar before it got shut down, but with his recent match against Sabrina he now had enough badges to cover his inclusion into the circuit at the end of the year pending a victory against Janine, Sophia, and then Manny.Humphrey had done his research and he also hoped that he could spend some time training with the minor Gym Leader. The man had a lot of insight and tactics that Humphrey wanted to make use of.He didn't like his chances at getting other Gyms to work with him so he didn't ask. He'd have to rely on whatever insight could be garnered from the training camp towards the end of the circuit.For now? He needed to consider his team, in a few months he'd have the best chance possible of earning a huge payday, enough that he wouldn't be dependent on Brock if the worst happened and he lost his sponsorship.He glanced over his team.Lairon was a strong pokemon that offered a lot of versatility.The Technical Machine containing Shadow Claw had come in big when he'd needed to face off against Sabrina. It had been money, hard earned money at that, that had been well spent.Lairon had done great, knocking out two of Sabrina's pokemon. He'd stood up that day.As had Pidgeot, Nuzleaf, Houndour, Starmie, and Nidorino. All of them had been forced to endure power and precision with psychic type moves that could only come from facing a master of their typing. Reflexively Humphrey popped open his badge case to check the five badges he currently had.It had been Nidorino that surprised him the most, with how he had held on to edge out a victory against Sabrina's Kadabra.He hadn't been confident, no, he'd actually been ready to call the match when he'd had to send in Nidorino as his sixth pokemon.The Poison Sting actually poisoning Kadabra had surprised him.In the end it had felt like he'd won more through luck than skill but Sabrina had been quick to affirm his victory, stating that it was well earned.Luck.Wasn't that a rub.He continued his ministrations against Lairon and when he must have gotten a bit too hard with the pressure Lairon opened an eye and rumbled a question."No, I'm just… I'm fine buddy, just thinking is all. I don't like that we had to rely on luck for our last victory," said Humphrey quickly."Lairon!" said, his starter firmly nuzzling into him."No, I want to be stronger. We need to be stronger!" said Humphrey as he glanced up at the worn temporary rental they'd gotten. It was a cheap place, almost as cheap as the pokecentre but nowhere near as nice.Still, with the surge of trainers coming in Humphrey had to be careful with who he fought and how often. The pokecentres, unless you got… lucky, were usually packed with people and pokemon.It rubbed at Humphrey that he had to scrimp and save, then fight for every scrap he could to get for his pokemon, to just get a bit more of an edge. He'd been ambitious when he'd asked for Aron as his starter, but thankfully the extra costs of Lairon's meals was something Brock was more than happy to cover.Still, it felt like seconds were ticking down until Humphrey wouldn't have that safety net to fall into. He needed to get stronger.His pokemon needed it.Humphrey laid out his team roster. It had been ambitious to catch certain pokemon, he knew, but he'd still done it.Lairon, Pidgeot, Nuzleaf, Magikarp, Machoke, Houndour, Venomoth, Nidorino, Starmie, Exeggucute, Rhyhorn, and Graveler.Twelve pokemon, with only six more spaces before he would have to start paying for more stable space, which was typically the biggest expense a trainer could accrue.From the lessons Brock had given Humphrey, he knew there was a trick to evolving Machoke and Graveler which he'd need to work out. Nidorino required a special item which Brock must have supplied to Celia as the older orphan had mentioned using something to get her Nidorina to evolve before the final tournament.Which just left Lairon and the others to evolve the normal way, through strength.Well, Magikarp would also require some special circumstances but Brock had been firm in the lessons on Magikarp and Humphrey had listened intently. Magikarp were tough pokemon to evolve.Brock had said as much, but he'd also mentioned that the payoff of having a loyal, well trained Gyarados made up for it.Humphrey hoped that Magikarp would become a pillar of his team, but that would depend on getting his pokemon there which still looked like it would take a while.Humphrey glanced at the final six pokeballs he had, all laid out before him. All of them were empty.What else should he get to give himself the best chance?Humphrey glanced up at the screen once more, watching as Brock laughed with his two Tyranitar.That would be a great addition, that or a pokemon like it.Humphrey sighed and shook his head. Who was he kidding, he wasn't that lucky.Then again, few people were."Yes! Suck it birdman!" Forrest shouted as he fist pumped into the air. "Rock beats bird!" he bellowed, drawing more than a few amused gazes from the others in the Fuchsia pokemon centre.Next to him Ash was also jumping up and down.Misty had been smiling along with him only to sink down as people's attention turned to them."Forrest! Ash! Sit down! You're embarrassing me!" she growled as they continued to dance around.Forrest sat down while Ash huffed and paced back and forth. "Argh! I can't believe that fight! I mean! I can so believe that Brock won but! But! Two Tyranitar!? Since when has Brock had two Tyranitar?""I know!" Forrest said. "He didn't mention that when I called him last!""And when was it that you called him?" Misty prompted.Forrest coughed. "I called him the last time we were in… He calls me? It's the same thing!" he said firmly. "The point is he could have mentioned it!" he said.Ash bounced on the spot. "Think he'd trade? Having a tyranitar is my dream!" said Ash plaintively.Misty shot him a dubious look. "You forgot he had one until you started watching some of his Ace matches!""Yes, so what?" said Ash shamelessly.Misty groaned and shook her head. "The pair of you are just… urgh!"Forrest huffed only to perk up as the television continued to show the match. "Hey! Woah Masked Owl is taking off his mask!"Ash and Misty locked their attention back on the television only to blink cluelessly as an older man was revealed. Ash tilted his head. "Who's that guy?""I… think I know him from somewhere? Was he in a movie?" said Misty.Forrest scoffed. "You guys are dumb! That's Morty's uncle!" he said smugly only to twitch as a banner of text rolled underneath the reveal man to state his name as 'Walker - former Gym Leader for Violet Gym, son to former Elite Four member Shafner, and father to Falkner'.Misty smirked. "Morty eh?""I…! The Johto Gym's aren't my strong suit, alright? They're on the other side of the Silver range and not that relevant!" Forrest said even as Ash, Pikachu and Misty all laughed at his excuses."So is he a big deal, or not?" Ash said, after a moment only to blink as commentators appeared, both of them looking shocked."Walker must have been trying to rise up the Ace Ranks to challenge the Elite Four!" announced one."Couldn't he have done so using his Gym Leader status?" said the other sceptically."Ah! You never saw that match, I take it?" the other said quickly. "It was an off season match and the thing is, Lance accepted. He set up the match for the usual gauntlet with Walker going up against one of the Elite Four members, he drew Bruno.""... shouldn't that be a good thing?""It would have been but Bruno destroyed him on live television with his Hitmonchan alone! That thing is a beast!""Why do I not know this?" asked the second announcer.Ash, Misty and Forrest all nodded their heads. This felt like a big deal! Why hadn't it been shown?"It was during the day, and more specifically it occurred during the same time as the Kanto cup racing event! Quite literally! It ended so fast that people thought Walker had fled the fight with the actual result being much worse, Bruno obliterated him!"Misty and Forrest nodded. "Of course! The Kanto cup! That makes so much sense," Misty said. Forrest nodded along.Ash coughed. "What's the Kanto cup?"Forrest sighed. "Did your mum not let you watch the Rapidash races, these are like those, only better?""No, it's got a lot of gambling and she's kind of against it. She had me go out and play with Professor Oak's pokemon during the day," said Ash.Misty hummed. " Oh guess that explains it. The Kanto cup is like the Rapidash races. But only the fastest pokemon and their riders in the word can compete! The races usually only last like ten minutes so yeah beating a six pokemon team in that time is kinda of crazy"So something else must have been up I guess." Forrest said with a shrug. "Doesn't seem like you're the only one to miss it."Video clips of the match began to play and they watched with a critical eye."His pokemon are a lot faster and stronger now, no?" said Misty after a few minutes.Forrest nodded. "Yeah, it seems that way, I think the Ace challenges might have made him stronger. Shame he's going to drop down the rankings after today's loss," Forrest said as he brought up the rankings chart. "He's currently tenth on the standings going into this tournament.""Where's your brother?" asked Ash."Twentieth," said Forrest.Misty grinned. "Not for long! It seems like he's going to jump a number of rankings, right?"Forrest nodded. "Yeah I'm pretty sure he'll win this. His biggest competition is out of the way and he'll go the distance," he said firmly."Speaking of distance, where are we going to go next? I've only got to get one more badge, but Cinnabar and Viridian…" Ash made a gesture and shook his head. "I'm glad we got to challenge Neon Gym before it got raided, that's for sure."Forrest crossed his arms. "Cerulean, Vermillion, Celadon, Fuchsia, Sophia's Gym, and the Neon City make six for me.""Heh, you're one behind me!" said Ash smugly as he displayed his own badge case with the Boulder badge proudly on display."That's only cause I'm going to go for the Bejeweled badge first off!" said Forrest. "I'm not taking it easy like you did by just challenging Brock! But challenging him at his strongest!"Misty hummed. "Does that mean you might be facing off against that new Tyranitar of his?"That caused Forrest to blink as the idea settled in. "Oh, yeah, you're right. It's… really strong, I've never seen a Hyper Beam break through stadium barriers like that before," he said, chewing on his thumb nervously.Ash waved his hand "Don't sorry about that! It just means you have to get stronger! Heck! Show it to your pokemon team and it will motivate them!" Ash said, a fire in his eyes now."Pikachu!" said Ash's starter pokemon, backing up his trainer.Ash grinned and bumped his fist against Pikachu's raised paw. "See? Pikachu's not worried! He'd be able to fight against that tyranitar if he had to!"Pikachu's smile became very wooden as he nodded slightly. "P-pika," he said.Misty giggled. "Don't worry, chances are you'd face off against someone else," said Misty. She then turned to Forrest. "How does Brock actually determine who he'll use for the Bejeweled Challenges?""Elite," said Forrest reflexively. "They're called Elite challenges, and he calls up a big spinning wheel that has all his Elite pokemon on it. You randomly draw from that as the wheel spins around. That is unless he feels you have to face off against a certain pokemon."Misty tilted her head. "So it's not completely random then?"Forrest frowned. "He only did it once… It was against the kid that… Well he and Brock had a history, cause the kid used pokemon too strong for even a basic fourth tier challenge… Brock used his own Onix who he never really rated as Elite, not yet anyway. Onix… didn't recover from the match," Forrest said."Oh!" Misty said sadly, as she realised what that meant.Ash took a bit longer before he shrunk into himself. "Oh, that's… what did he do to the other trainer?""Smashed him with Tyranitar as far as I can tell, when the guy came back the next year for the Bejewelled badge. Apparently he still qualified for the Gym circuit with only gaining seven badges for the end of year circuit. He placed third in the tournament two years ago," said Forrest glumly."I'm surprised Brock didn't do worse to him," Misty said heatedly."Brock said he considered it, but knew it wouldn't do anything beyond damage his own reputation. Brock proved he was stronger and has since gotten a lot more careful with certain matches. You might not notice it but Brock really works hard to be able to judge a pokemon's strength from very little insight into them."Ash nodded. "Yeah, I got that impression when we were at his Gym." Ash looked at his badge case. "I think I'd like to upgrade my badge, when does he allow challengers?""He starts from the halfway point, but honestly it's not a good idea to challenge then.," Forrest said with a shake of his head. "Most people leave it to the last few weeks so they have the most time to train up their pokemon. We should be able to secure our badges first."Ash nodded at this, "Yeah, I think I want Charizard to get a bit stronger, and I know that Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Pikachua and I can do more.""Don't forget Primeape," Misty said snidely.Ash blinked. "Oh yeah! I should be able to collect him from Anthony for a bit!" Ash chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "I can't believe I forgot about him!"Forrest shook his head. "I still can't believe you handed him off like that, but it's worth probably keeping him back there for now.""What? Why?" asked Ash.Forrest shot Misty a knowing look before looking to his other traveling companion. "Ash? Are you going to want to finish out your badge case with only five of the major gyms, or are you going to go for the final Big Gym and get a six two split?"Ash narrowed his eyes. "I want to show everyone how strong I am! Bring on the big Gym!""So then you're going to have to beat Sabrina," said Forrest smugly. "And you're going to have to do it with the best team she fields against trainers looking for her badge."Ash blinked at that before scowling. "I'm not afraid! We can take her!" he said standing tall.Forrest smirked. "Alright, your funeral, still it'll give us all something to work towards for the next month or so."This caused Ash to scowl even harder. "We won't take that long!" he said.Forrest just shrugged. "All told, I'm amazed we got ahead of so many people. I think I'm going to spend some more time in the battleclubs working on my team. I think if I do I can get Beldum to evolve."Misty nodded at this, "I might be able to get the same with Wartortle, Psyduck, and Horsea then."A glint entered Ash and Forrest's eyes, causing a sigh from Misty as she realised she'd sparked the boy's competitive natures.Falkner turned off the television, a tornado of emotions swirling through him as he registered what had been shown.He'd… suspected for a while now, who masked Owl was.The man had a lot of the patterns that matched up with his father.But to see it revealed in this way?It was unfortunate and it stung Falkner's pride that his father hadn't felt willing to share his goal with him.It made sense to him, people needed to not look down on them due to how Grandfather had been ousted.His father was doing something noble.Except he hadn't included Falkner in his plans, and that stung. Falkner glanced at the stack of letters that signified the only news he had from his father for the last few years. It had helped getting the letters and having some form of communication, even if it hadn't been enough some days.Still, Falkner was beyond that. He wasn't the boy from years ago.He was the Violet City Gym Leader.Falkner stared at the blank screen for another hour before sighing and making up a pot of tea.It was cold by the time his father flew in on his mighty Pidgeot, but Falkner had no compunctions with serving his father cold tea.His father voiced no complaints knowing that if he did he would merely open himself up to rebuke. Part of Falkner wished he would so he could fight, but that was not the way they had been raised.They were better, more aloof. More poised.Falkner adjusted his kneeling position on the small cushion and inclined his head in greeting. "Father, you have returned, do you wish to stay or do you wish to continue your goal to demonstrate that our family is strong?"Walker blinked. "You… are not demanding that I come back?""I have things well in hand here… but i would like you to come back and help train me and my pokemon more if you could, I… can't do most of what you did against Brock, I thought it was a good showing but I am envious," Falkner said firmly, his back straight.Walker smiled. "That… I'd be happy to help you son," he said."And I would be happy to provide my support, in whatever manner I can to you father. You want to represent our family? Do so with our facilities at your command."Walker blinked and swallowed as a suspicious dampness appeared at the corner of his eyes."My son… you have grown," Walker said, and Falkner felt his heart warm at the admission."Thank you for noticing, father." Falkner said hoarsely as he felt his throat tighten with emotion.Walker beamed before launching himself forward to hug his son.Father and son leaned into each other ignoring how their upbringing demanded them be stoic and calm. To be leaves in the wind, flying free.In this moment they were not that.They were just human.They were just father and son, reunited once more.If there were tears neither noticed.When they released each other they shared a smile and Walker laughed. "You have grown well my son, I'm sorry I didn't witness it myself." He swallowed. "What should we tell the press when they seek us out tomorrow?"Falkner smiled. "I have an idea," he said easily, feeling suddenly much lighter than he had been.
184
"I always knew?" Yolanda read aloud.She lowered the gossip magazine that had a photo of myself and Walker shaking hands after our match. His face was bare to the world. In the corner of the front page, a picture of Falkner was shown looking towards the reader with the quote hanging above him.He looked remarkably composed.I scratched my chin and nodded. "Even if he didn't know, that's a good call he made. I have to give it to him, I'm impressed he went for that option," I said.Yolanda looked up. "What do you mean?"I wobbled my hand lazily. "What he tells the public doesn't need to be the truth. It shows a level of maturity to know that he doesn't have to present the truth.""So he's a liar," said A.J. with a huff.I nodded. "Possibly. I think chances are that he is lying, but honestly? That's not a bad call on his part.""It's a white lie?" Yolanda said with a thoughtful frown.I nodded and made a so-so gesture. "It doesn't hurt anything and it allows him to save face, while making Walker's… transition into Ace challenges look more planned. That might not be the truth, but so what? Some personal things like what's going on between him and his father? They don't need to know."Yolanda tilted her head. "Is there any reason we couldn't do something—""Not until she comes back. And our situations aren't completely the same," I said, feeling like a heel as I saw Yolanda's hope shrivel."Why?" she said, clenching the magazine like a paper shield before her from my arguments."Because we have a much larger family. Everyone knows that Flint left with a large family to look after. There's much more…" I paused to consider my words carefully. "Acceptance for any excuses and rationales for Falkner might offer up more than there is for Flint or Lola. There is a sticking point for Flint, as it wasn't just the Gym but the entire family to look after.""Oh," said Yolanda. "That… makes a lot of sense."I hummed and considered what else I could say. I could easily beat down on Flint or… her, if I wanted to but that wasn't what I should go for. Instead, I sighed and sat up. "Things might have been tough for a little while Yolanda, but Flint's back now.""When do you think Mum will come back?" she said quietly.The rest of the people in the tent all shifted so that they were busy with something else.Amazingly even A.J. realised he shouldn't listen in on this moment as he stood and strode out, dragging Missy, Greta and Rachel with him.Yolanda blinked, having apparently forgotten that they were even here with us.I sighed.With the canonical knowledge I had of Lola. I wasn't expecting her back until the end of the second year of Ash's Journey. But I had no justification for that.I stared at my hands. "I… I'm not sure Yolanda. I think she will come back, and Arceus, when that happens?" I shot Yolanda a suffering look. "Things are going to be weird when she does return.""..." She opened and closed her mouth."I will let her come back Yolanda." Despite how much that felt like a mistake, I thought to myself. "But, I think I need to draw some lines in the sand so to speak that she shouldn't cross. Flint… he got a lot of my ire but he was here for us for a bit. … Lola, I'm not even sure what to think with her running off like that." I gestured from Yolanda to me. "Normal families don't have to talk about stuff like this."I held up a hand. "That said, like with Flint, when she comes back, I'm not going to ignore it. I'm going to tear into her for deserting our family. We should be her top priority. Ignoring what she did is just inviting her to do it again and that's not healthy for us. And I don't want our brothers and sisters to learn to be pushovers. Sometimes the people we love can hurt us the worst, so respect must be part of the relationship." I felt myself tensing up just talking about her but I tried to control myself. Getting terse with Yolanda wouldn't help.Zubat must have somehow detected my stress as she crawled out of my vest's top pocket to nuzzle at me. I took her in my hands and started to rub her head, the action soothing my nerves."I kind of hate that I understand what you're talking about," Yolanda said quietly while looking at the ground.She then shot me a sardonic look. "Did you ever talk to Forrest about this?"I snorted. "Heh! Please! Who are you kidding? Forrest likes to pretend to be a man's man! He wouldn't talk about things like this! This is soft, sissy stuff," I said with a fake macho-sounding voice.Zubat's ears wiggled from me to Yolanda and her mouth stretched as she smiled. Hmmm she was a very aware little pokemon, wasn't she?"Hehehe, that does sound like him," Yolanda said as she wiped at her eyes.I felt a stab in my chest at the sight before sighing. "Yeah, he's being dumb. It's not sissy, it's moments like this that often are some of the toughest situations you will find yourself in. It can be stressful and while you can be strong in other situations, you might be brittle when it comes to moments like this.' I waved a hand around. "You can lash out, or leave or do something most of the time. In really tough situations? You just have to be there and endure, talk it out where you can."I gave Yolanda a sad smile and returned to petting Zubat. "It's not very fun," I said. "It can be hard though to learn to allow yourself to be soft when you need to."I waved a hand outside. "Common consensus is that this will be something learned through your Journey. It usually manifests with needing to ask for help from people. There are usually trainers that are wandering around keeping an eye out just to offer new trainers support.""What happens if people don't go on their Journey?" she asked.I tilted my head. "Where'd this question come from?""I just, never really thought about it till now, but not everyone gets to go on their journey, do they? A lot of people talk about their Journey and how great it will be but then, some of them can't go, or they pull out after a while."I grimaced. "Hmmm good point, I am a bit biased as I had a good start and that can mean the world for a young trainer. But you're right. There are plenty of folk that don't or can't go."I rubbed my chin and considered how it went for me in my past life. It wasn't a one-to-one comparison, not with the lack of pokemon but… "Maybe they sort of float around a bit more and struggle. Some of the life lessons would be missed that some people are going to assume you know."I looked up. Yolanda had potentially hit on a rather large sticking point for a lot of our society. Not everyone wanted to or could be pokemon trainers through no fault of their own. Some jobs didn't require it, but being a pokemon trainer was held up as the golden standard."I think I'd need to ask around a bit more to learn about it, which might be a bit odd as a pokemon Gym Leader," I said."Ah, I just thought of some of the kids in my class, and also our siblings. What happens if some of them don't want to go on their journeys."I opened my mouth to jokingly say something crass-like, 'We push them out the door with a handful of pokeballs and a random pokemon', but that wouldn't go over well. So Instead I shrugged. "We just support them as best we can, I suppose. It might be a different sort of support than you, or Forrest have received. but that doesn't mean we'll leave them behind."I stood and moved over to her to put a hand on her shoulder, Zubat shifting to my shoulder to watch. "Hey, this is some pretty heavy stuff we're talking about here. You shouldn't have to worry about it.""I kind of feel like I have to somedays, otherwise people just ignore it," she said bitterly. I leaned down and hugged her."Don't be looking too shouldering too much. It's not a good thing to have to grow up too early. Keep some childishness and wonder of the world.""Wonder for the world?" she said with a chuckle. "What does that even mean?""Well, allowing yourself to feel wonder can be important. I've been taking you older kids up to Mt Moon for ages and usually, I just sit there and don't really feel much at the moment." I blushed and broke the hug looking away. "Then I took Sabrina up there and got a reminder of just how… special moments like that are, and I relaxed. Then Link walked up and said he wanted to be my pokemon.""Oh," Yolanda said. She shot me an amused look. "I knew that you and Sabrina going up there had resulted in you getting Link, but you hadn't mentioned that part. Did you and her smooch?" she said gleefully.I sighed. And with that statement, I knew that my little sister was feeling fine now. "Yes, we did," I said with a roll of my eyes."Awww!" Yolanda said happily.I made a show of rolling my eyes at her again and she stuck her tongue out. Terra, who'd been sitting quietly waddled up and bumped herself into Yolanda to show she was happy her partner was feeling better. The little Larvitar shot Zubat a thoughtful look, hmmm she might have learnt a thing or two just now.I walked to the tent flaps to see if the others were lingering only to find Rachel rocking back and forth on her heels while chatting up the towering form of Trixie."Rachel, Trixie," I said with a nod to both of them. I was a little surprised to see Trixie here, but then again she was Rachel's girlfriend. The girls waved back as I looked around for the other three. "They went and got into some fights?" I asked."They went and got into some fights!" confirmed Rachel with a nod."Even Greta?" I said with a touch of surprise."Especially Greta!" said Rachel with a huge smile.I huffed, amused by this turn of events. I waved to the two girls. "Come on in, we're going to talk shop about the next matches I have coming up."Initially, Trixie stood in the back performing what looked like calf raises as she shifted from foot to foot keeping her mouth shut. "You can join us if you'd like?" I prompted, gesturing to a spare seat.Trixie liked her lips. "I'm not a trainer for the Gym though?""Eh, I employ you and you're good people," I said casually. I very much doubted anyone could copy Trixie's constant need to perform some form of exercise. She took a seat and even as Rachel sat in her lap to keep her down she pulled out a grip strength trainer from her pouch.Trixie looked over Clarence's roster of pokemon and chewed her lip. "A fighting type pokemon or two would work?" she suggested, earning a giggle from Rachel.I shook my head, having expected as much. Still, it wasn't a bad suggestion and Hypnotoad was a good addition.In the end, I went with Zephyr, Hypnotoad, Gawain, Knight, Shin, and Shrek. An unusual assortment to be sure but I was confident in Shrek holding down the anchor if I needed it from him. It was a fairly good diversity of pokemon as well.I decided to roll with it. The next match wasn't as high stakes with Clarence being even lower than my first two challenges.He'd had a lucky run so far.When we reached the stadium I could see that he knew it as well. There was a slight slump to his shoulders and no spark in his eyes when we locked gazes.The referee performed the usual pre-match routine and I hefted my first pokeball."Go Sunflora!" he said, sending out the best chance he had at this match first. I had to give it to him. He might not have the will to fight, but he still had good insight. Chances were that they'd usually do very well against the majority of my pokemon.Just not this time. "Go Zephyr," I said with a slight grimace of apology sent to Clarence.His eyes widened as he instantly recognised how terrible this match up was. "Sunflora! Return!""Calm Mind," I said placidly.Clarence held his pokeball for a long moment. His hand switching from pokeball to pokeball, before he growled and went for one at the back. "Go Graveler!" he shouted.I whistled in surprise. That, had been one of the pokemon we'd assumed he would avoid using. With it coming out I knew what I had to look out for."Hypnosis," I said quickly. Zephyr's eyes started to glow and Clarence stiffened."No! Go for Self Destruct!" he called only for his pokemon to fall on its face as it fell asleep. "Urgh! No!" he called. "Wake up buddy! I need you up and fighting!"I felt a little bad for him but that didn't stop me from pointing at the downed pokemon. "Feast," I said to Noctowl and he beat his wings and hovered as psychic energy built up and swept from him to Graveler before coming back. Gravler twitched in pain but remained sleeping."Again," I said, committing Zephyr to Dream Eater. He devoured yet more energy from Graveler and a moment later the other pokemon stopped snoring and very calming rolled over to show that it was well and truly out of the fight."Return buddy," said Clarence. He ran his hands over his pokebelt for a few moments as he lost himself in thought.For my part, I called Zephyr back to my side of the field. That… hadn't been a great showing on his part. I glanced about, eying all the people watching.Was one of them noting down anything specific, my mind couldn't stop itself from recalling earlier matches that had been…No.That situation wasn't playing out. People were probing me, but it was nothing like what Will had set up with his specialised challenges."Go Flaaffy!" he said, sending out another pokemon that would do well against Zephyr.I nodded, respecting the choice. I'd seen this on his roster and once again thought it had a low chance of appearing. It was a pokemon that wasn't fully evolved. Also, I had a lot of video recordings of Zephyr beating down and enduring electric-type pokemon."Thunderbolt!" said Clarence, starting things off quickly."Steel Wing into Psychic," I replied. Zephyr happily dove into the ground, his wings glinting as he stabbed them into the earth before the electricity could impact him.With his body earthed only a fraction of the damage was done with the thunderbolt. Zephyr quickly snapped his head up and fired off a Psychic that resulted in Flaaffy being hurled across the field.I blinked in surprise. That had been a lot faster and harsher response than I'd been expecting from Zephyr. Zephyr himself seemed surprised. I hummed. Ah, Clarence's Flaffy wasn't up to strength, its thunderbolt was weak compared to a lot of what Zephyr was used to dealing with from Sanchez."Moonblast," I said, deciding to work Zephyr through a different move than he was used to. He didn't falter from the unexpected command and a moment later had a powerful pink orb launched at Flaaffy."Dodge!" called Clarence and his pokemon leapt only to be struck by the edge. It flailed and hit the ground with a tumble before shooting back to its feet, baaing angrily."That's it! stay in the fight—" Clarence started to say only for a white light to shine up around Flaaffy."Oh damn," I said in surprise as Flaffy started to evolve in response to how tough a fight Zephyr was putting up. A moment later a glistening Ampharos stood ready to keep fighting."Yes! That's the way boy! Show them your strength with Power Gem!""Dust off! Now!!" I called instantly, well aware of the danger that move could have on Zephyr.Zephyr kicked his feet into the ground and flapped hard to escape the buckshot of rock. Some still hit him and he cried out in pain but kept rising up.When he had a good position I stabbed my hand forward."Moon Blast!" I said and this time with the power of gravity backing it up, Moon Blast didn't knock Ampharos around but rather hammered him down like a nail.When the dust cleared Ampharos staggered to its feet disorientated and out of sorts. I shot Clarence a look and was pleased to see that he had his pokeball raised already. "I withdraw my pokemon from the match!" he called.I nodded, happy that he valued his pokemon. I could have easily dispatched his pokemon with how out of it it was.Clarence locked eyes with my pokemon, a thoughtful frown appearing there. Hmmm he was smelling blood was he? Well time to quash that. Zephyr was a bit injured now, so I raised his pokeball and returned him. "Come back boy, you've done well."Clarence twitched before he shook his head and sent out his fourth pokemon, his slump returning in full."Go Golduck," he called revealing a pokemon that wasn't on his known pokemon roster."Hoh? You've been holding this one back," I said.Clarence nodded. "I want to see what he can do against one of your rock pokemon."I tilted my head. "Hmmm, I'm curious myself but… I have no reason to oblige you. Go Hypnotoad," I said, sending out my next pokemon and the one Trixie had advocated for.Clarence perked up and I knew straight away what he was going to go for. "Ps—""DL," I said, feeding my intent into the bond I had with Hypnotoad.She sprinted forward and just as Golduck started to unleash a powerful Psybeam, she spun over and over, dark energy wafting off her form and helping her tank the psychic attack.Golduck and Clarence were completely taken by surprise when she reached Golduck, only to slam her arm into the other pokemon's neck.She bore him to the ground and with Golduck flat on his back it was all too easy for Hypnotoad to go to town with punch after punch.After she'd unleashed a quick one-two combination she cocked her fist back and energy built up around it.When she next struck down she finished the fight and stood tall, not a lick of damage to be shown."Poli!" she roared to the crowd, flexing and posing like a bodybuilder.I chuckled and glanced towards Trixie, who was sitting with the others, a happy expression, as always, on display. I paused. Was she sitting, or doing a squat hold on the stairs?Damn, while I was winning matches, she was training.That woman was terrifying.Almost as much as Sabrina.I'd beat her one day in a running race. I had vowed to myself as much. It wouldn't matter if it was a day she was sick, it would still count.I turned back in time for Sunflora to take to the stage once more. I, suddenly feeling no mercy, pointed. "Hypno!" I said, and Hypno turned her body and flexed at the Grass type pokemon as her body swirl rotated catching Clarence and his pokemon once more off guard with Hypnosis."Ah no! Not again!" he said.I started to feel a little bad as he was forced to watch his pokemon take a proper beat down as Hypnotoad slammed home blow after blow. Sunflora was quickly recalled leaving Clarence one last pokemon.He hesitated as Poliwrath beat her chest and fired off punch after punch. I hummed and decided to give him a better shot with a less powerful pokemon. I returned Hypnotoad and instead reached for another pokemon that needed more experience."Go Gawain!" I said, sending out my Kleavor."Kleav!" he said, brandishing his axes and settling into a ready position."Urgh!" said Clarence as he revealed his last pokemon. "Go Victreebel! Start out with Vine Whip!" he said.I coughed. Ah, he'd have had better chances against Hypnotoad. Whoops? I thought to myself as I pointed straight ahead. "X-scissor, cut your way to that pokemon and let's wrap this match up!" I said.And Gawain did just that, sprinting straight ahead, his axes raised and ready like a lumberman in a forest that had somehow offended him. He tore through the Vines that tried to slam into him making Victreebel screech in pain only to then be smashed back as an X-scissor swept through it.Victreebel fell back and stood tall only for me to make another chopping gesture. I didn't let up and Clarence had to use Vine Whip this time to evade my pokemon's pursuit."Speed up!" I said, ordering Agility to get Gawain to go even faster."Sunny Day!" called Clarence.I hummed and decided to go for it. "Charge in and get ready to block the attack!"Clarence perked up, obviously sensing a chance for his pokemon. "Blast it!" he called as Gawain closed, much faster than before but still not fast enough to stop the Solar Beam that erupted from Victreebel.The beam almost reached Gawain before he crossed his axes, and a Protect formed."Ah damn it!" called Clarence as he watched his last shot fizzle out.It was a quick matter to have his pokemon swept from the field with another hit and just like that I advanced to the semi-final without breaking a sweat in this match.I leaned forward, pleased by my pokemon's showing. A cheer from a section of young boys made me glance over. The boys unveiled a huge banner pronouncing themselves as Bug Catcher's Chapter house five of Celadon.Gawain waved at them happily and I moved to give Clarence a shake before offering him some advice. He'd had some good instincts, and it looked like he'd tried to anticipate me, but I sadly had a relatively good roster with my Rock, Ground, Water, and flying types.They did a rather remarkable job covering for each other and tripping people up who were aiming for my weak points with water, or grass-type pokemon.I went straight back to the tent finding A.J. with a scowl, Missy with a smile, and Greta with a huge grin. Hmmm, it seems like they had productive sessions."Alright team! Time for review of my next opponent!" I glanced around for the pad and brought up the tournament brackets. "Who is… Fifi, currently ranked seventieth on the ladder," I said with a soft nod.When I brought up her roster I found it littered with water and grass pokemon that she surely had to useWith barely any discussion I laid out a team consisting of Sanchez, Tide, Don, Gawain, Bertha and Titan.Yolanda whistled. "You're going hard at her there," she said. I grunted an odd sense of unease building as I stared at the brackets. One more victory and I'd be in the final… This was the best result I'd had to date.I licked my lips, shaking off that thought instead deciding to focus on something more productive. "Let's see some of her former matches. We're the last match this afternoon and I want to be ready for any tricks she might have."I found myself leaning forward and bouncing my knee as Missy began outlining some specific tricks she'd noted."Her Donphan has this trick with his Earthquake where he knocks pokemon off their feet before going in hard so watch for that!"I nodded trying to keep my attention on the here and now, even as I began to imagine what it would be like, lifting the trophy.I shook it off and focussed on the here and now. It wouldn't be long before the next match after all.[/hr]"Go Vaporeon!" called my opponent in the semifinals.I frowned, alright. It seemed like more and more people had done their homework and were bringing pokemon with type advantages against me.Sadly for them, I had their counters ready to go. "Sanchez," I said and my eclectic rock type happily appeared with a laugh and a wave."Tch! Baton Pass!" said Fifi, my opponent for the match.In the stands, I could see the girl, Scarlet, who had been pointed out watching on with her own group carefully documenting this fight. It made sense for her, she'd advanced to the finals and the winner of this match would face her.Sadly my match had been held till last as the draw card for more people.The stands were packed and there was an air of wonder with a lot of media starting to probe me for my next 'reveal'. It was almost a given at this point that I brought something new to the table and I had jokingly pointed out that they weren't satisfied with the reveal that I had two Tyranitar in my roster to be enough?That had gotten them to stop and consider it while I'd smiled and mentally patted myself on the back for dodging the question.I had to wonder how telling it was that I did in fact have something to reveal to the public.I'd started to have doubts though. I wasn't sure if it was the smartest move for me to send out Jormungandr and make a statement.The important people knew, of course, but other Ace trainers? They had no clue what I could call up."Stealth Rock," I said just as Fifi got her swapped pokemon onto the field to reveal a Donphan.Ah, that was a good match up. I whipped out Sanchez's pokeball and got him out of there with a quick withdrawal. Fifi perked up and I spotted Scarlet leaning forward with interest."Go, Tide," I said, sending out a much better option for this exchange as Donphan got off a Defense Curl.Tide smirked across at Donphan, his flippers twitching in readiness.Fifi didn't return her pokemon and instead leaned forward slightly, her intent all but being announced to me. I knew what she was going for having reviewed some of Fifi's matches prior to my match against her.She was a solid opponent, she had a good pokemon roster and she had good ideas for how to use them, but you could also anticipate her."Go!" she called trying to keep her command hidden but I knew what was coming as Donphan curled into a ball, spun up and then jumped. When he slammed into the ground it rumbled into an Earthquake.Usually, this was a great one-two combination for her, even against pokemon that she had a disadvantage against such as Tide.She first disrupted their footing, and then hammered into them with a Rapid Spin resulting in a knockout that could take people by surprise.I had been counting on it however and instead, I had Tide lead with a Surf at the very last moment. Tide rose above the shaking earth and caused Donphan, expecting an off-kilter pokemon to start charging into a towering wave with Tide riding it."Break off!" shouted Fifi but it was too late.Donphan skittered to a halt but the wave came on sweeping Donphan aside.And like that, I went one up into the match with her Donphan out of action.That didn't stop Fifi from sending out her next pokemon quickly. "Go Vileplume!"Her pokemon appeared only for a singular Stealth Rock to race out and smash into it. Hmmm the Earthquake and Surf might have wiped them out earlier.I felt a bit bad for her as I gave the next command. "Ice Beam!" I called, stabbing my hand forward.Tide happily disgorged the powerful attack."Protect!" shouted Fifi. Her Vileplume tilted its flower so that it was lined up towards Tide.The Protect formed up and stopped Ice Beam in its tracks.I whistled and had Tide cut off the attack rather than keep trying to hammer his way through something that wasn't going to give. Not on the first use of it anyway. He was no Empress.The Protect dropped quickly and Fifi was fast on the uptake. "Leaf Storm!" she ordered, sending her pokemon on the attack.I stabbed my hand at her pokemon. "Hyper Beam," I said, committing to having this exchange over fast. Fifi blanched as Tide opened his maw, and this time unleashed a much more powerful beam attack."Protect!" she called, and this time, as I'd expected the defensive move failed to manifest resulting in Vileplume being hurled from the field where it was held against the wall. This time the barriers held, only gaining an orange glow from Tide's attack.He tossed his head and took deep breaths to recover.It took long moments for the dust to clear only to reveal a Vileplume that was still, just barely able to fight. Fifi perked up as I hummed in consideration. She had a strong pokemon there."Leaf Storm!" she called, and this time it was Tide's turn to endure the move, which was sadly super effective.Just as Hyper Beam hadn't ended the match for me though, Leaf Storm wasn't enough despite the type advantage. Tide was too strong and was more than able to tank the blow. He emerged damaged but more than ready to keep going. So I committed him fully. "Ice Beam," I said, causing him to once more shoot a beam.This time Fifi didn't try to block the attack. She instead went for a dodge. "Vine Whip Leap!" she called. Her pokemon smashed its vines into the ground and launched it into the air.Tide merely tilted his neck, correcting his angle of firing and kept up the Ice Beam, coating Vileplume in ice as she was unable to dodge.I exhaled in relief. That… had been a bit closer than I'd perhaps wanted but then again I was brute forcing this match.I wasn't sure why, but I had a tension in my shoulders that came with an itch in my neck.Like I felt something was going to go wrong, so I had to get through it as quickly as possible.With that in mind, Tide had suffered.I frowned at him and decided now was a good enough time to call him back. With Vileplume down and out Fifi had to send out her next pokemon. She chose her Vaproreon once again and I just knew she was going to switch out to get a more favourable match up if I didn't send out something favourable.So I decided to tempt her."Go, Don," I said, sending my rock-flying type out.Fifi paused at this and seemed pleased to let this play out.I smirked. She wouldn't know what hit her."Rise into DD!" I called, Don flapped his wings to ascend and begin twisting as a glow of energy built up around him."Hydro Pump!" shouted Fifi, stabbing a finger towards Don."Evade!" I called, and thanks to the height Don had, he was able to twist and tuck evading the long-range attacks. When Vaproen stopped he made sure to waggle his legs and screech obnoxiously, obviously taunting his foe. "Dive into Stone Edge!" I called, and Don plummeted out of the sky. With his wings tucked up he was able to blitz Vapoeron, peppering it with a wave of large rocks causing it to flinch."Skip around and catch him with Surf!" Fifi called, eagerly apparently seeing a chance.I also saw a chance as her pokemon committed the attack."Ascend and be ready to dodge!!" I called, letting Don know I had a plan. I watched carefully and just as Don was about to avoid the oncoming wave Fifi made her move.Vaporeon blended with the water of the Surf but it was child's play to fly over the attack close enough to tempt Fifi."Take him out with Aqua Tail!" she called.Vaporeon leapt from the wave, its tail arcing around with glowing blue energy."Tuck a wing," I said lazily. Don did so, evading the strike and leaving Vaproen to fall back to the ground, no longer in the water.I pointed and didn't even need to give the command.Don opened his maw, eyes glinting malevolently. From his mouth another Hyper Beam swept the field, blowing Vaporeon away.This time when the dust settled Vaporeon was revealed, but unlike Vileplume she wasn't getting back on her feet."Damn! What is this a Beam show or something? Calm down!" Fifi called as she tugged on her hair in irritation, her hand questing for her next pokemon as she eyed Don who was quickly regathering himself.I smirked. I did still have the option of other pokemon still. If I'd wanted to make a statement I could have used Empress.Fifi went with a Persian next but I, feeling the niggling doubt come back, returned Don."Huh, if you're going to oblige me like that, then Nasty Plot!" Fifi said, boosting her pokemon's special attack."Go Sanchez," I said, glad to send him out once again and keep things controlled."Seed Bomb!" said Fifi, quickly disabusing me of that idea."Dig!" I said, making Sanchez dive to avoid the explosive seeds that Persian spat out. Unlike Exeggutor's attacks, the blasts were much smaller.Sanchez was able to get under Persian and flick her into the air with a loud call of. "Golem!"Persian, caught in the air, yowled. Fifi snarled, and punched her fist forward. "If you want a Beam Attack take this! Hyper Beam!" she called.Persian, still falling, locked its head onto Sanchez and opened its maw to reveal a glowing build-up from the back of its throat.I didn't panic, despite the pressure I felt I was under. "Protect," I said, happy to let this exchange play out. I could probably dodge with Dig, but it might also shake up the ground enough to hurt Sanchez.Better to go for the guaranteed denial.The Hyper Beam scorched a circle in the ground and shook the stadium causing a round of gasps from the crowd but I merely leaned into the shaking.When Persian was done it landed lightly and panted only for Sanchez to march up to the Persian with a friendly smile. "Go lem!" he said encouragingly, like they weren't in the midst of a fight.He clamped one hand on the exhausted pokemon and the smile vanished as he lit up with a Thunder from point-blank range, knocking Persian out of the fight."Urgh! Damn you're being brutal today!" called Fifi. I blinked and found her looking at the scoreboard with the time passed indicating that we still hadn't reached five minutes despite all the change outs of pokemon we'd had.I'd also yet to lose a pokemon compared to her four pokemon down. By this point the match was a foregone conclusion.Huh, I was sort of forcing this wasn't I?I shrugged. "Sorry, guess my eyes are just looking past you," I said.For some reason that didn't feel right though. It wasn't a lie per se, but something about this situation had me on edge.It took me until Fifi sent out a Starmie with a scowl that I realised what it was.I was expecting something to go wrong, something to get in the way of my advancing.This… it would be the furthest I'd ever made it through an actual tournament… I knew that though so…Oh.I shook my head and refocused on ending the match, the sense of impending certainty that something, anything, had to be about to go wrong causing me to push Sanchez for a fast close."Discharge! Let's end this match!" I called, going for Fifi's throat."Surf, but slide back and use Ice Beam! Don't let that Golem get you!" She responded. Her pokemon moved quickly only to still be clipped as she hopped backwards a wall of water forming up only for a Ice Beam to freeze it solid.Hmm she must have done her research enough to know that Sanchez could dodge Surf, so instead she was going for another tactic.I decided I didn't care. I punched the sky and barked out, "Thunder!" to Sanchez and he cackled as he launched a bolt of lightning up and over the frozen wave."Damn it no!" shouted Fifi, with enough heartfelt emotion to know that I'd gotten it down to the final pokemon.Feeling whimsical I returned Sanchez, and called out Tide for the last exchange.My large lapras appeared with a clap of his flippers and an excited gleam in his eyes, it was rare that he got to be the last pokemon out, usually he tanked out other pokemon.Fifi sighed, and sent out her last pokemon. "Go Nidoqueen! Use Sludge Wave!""Counter with Surf," I said, not missing a beat. From Nidoqueen a purple wave of poison shot forth whereas Tide unleashed a huge wave of water.Fifi stared at the oncoming wave as her move was washed away. "Now!" she called and her pokemon dove into the ground.I whistled in appreciation. It was rare that a trainer who hadn't been a part of the Gym could pull off a Surf dodge with Dig. "Nice," I said before pointing at her pokemon. "Ice Beam," I countered, catching the still surprised Nidoqueen from behind.When she froze over, Fifi was quick to shoot her hand up. "I withdraw Nidoqueen!" she called and I nodded.I gave the crowd another look over and tried to relax but found I just couldn't.I kept looking for what would go wrong soon. I searched the skies and the stands, expecting a splinter cell of Team Rocket to attack, or Mewtwo to descend only to blink as I recalled that Nidoqueen was Fifi's sixth and final pokemon.I glanced up and realised I'd just swept her without losing a pokemon.I looked down to find Fifi looking sad but still standing tall.I'd… barely given it much thought, merely calling orders out distractedly.When it came time to shake hands I found myself wondering what I should say to her.The girl shook her head. "Damn, that was fast," she said.I merely grunted. My heart not in it.A flash of hurt crossing Fifi's face made me pause and shake my head. "Sorry, this is the furthest I've ever made it in a tournament, having never reached the finals before…" I licked my lips. "I kind of expected something to go wrong."Fifi blinked at that before tilting her head. "I mean… I guess for a Gym Leader this season, that's valid?" she said.I nodded, talked a little shop with her and then marched back to my group. Yolanda met me, her expression showing that she knew something was wrong but not what."What's going on Brock? You were kind of out of it there at the end," she asked.I grimaced and told her what I'd said to Fifi.Then I perked up. My family!Of course! Something would go wrong there that would require me to come home! Flint would have split town again.I quickly called home only to find the family all waiting for me with huge grins."Brock!" called my siblings. All of them looking healthy and hale. Flint was in the background with an apron on as he mixed up a healthy snack for the kids.Oh, huh, they were fine.I spoke with them for a bit, hiding my anxiety throughout the mundane chatter.When I was done I felt a small amount of relief. Alright, things were fine at home, for now at least."Brock, I think you need to do your clap thing," Yolanda said.I blinked at her and realised that her suggestion had merit. I was being anxious, something that hadn't happened, but rather a probability of something happening.I clapped my hands and exhaled slowly. Then when I felt a bit of a burn I opened my hands, releasing the pressure and exhaling.Yolanda licked her lips. "Better?" she asked.I nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I guess I just got in my head a bit." I rubbed my chin. "This is the furthest I've ever gotten before," I said.Yolanda nodded and I elaborated. "Guess it just got to me a bit."A.J. snorted. "Your mental game is off! From what I've read, that's one of the most important parts of a match! You need some distractions!" A.J. said.A.J. grabbed the others and pulled them into a huddle. "Team, what we should do is keep him busy and away from stress for the final match!" he said, far too loudly.I chuckled and shook my head as they, rather cutely, in my opinion, workshopped methods to get me ready and on my best form for tomorrow.I found myself rather looking forward to whatever they would attempt, and they weren't wrong either.I did need to have my head on straight.Tomorrow I'd be fighting for the trophy, and a small giddy part of me delighted in that.