With the two-hour gap I had at the end of the day, I decided to invest that into some training with my elite team.
Specifically, the pokemon that would be fighting in the Elite Challenge.Sadly, not all of them were confident of their chances.Gawain stood to the side, shifting back and forth as he eyed Missy, Greta, and A.J., all of whom had smirks on their faces.Greta in particular made me pause. She'd created a combination move with her Ivysaur, perhaps it was time I did some work for another myself.Bertha was the main Pokemon known for combination moves, but nothing was stopping me from training others in this feat. Perhaps a Stone Axe into a Sand Attack or Stone Edge? Agility into Stone Axe? Tilling the field so to speak? What about other pokemon? They'd need some moves to give them further edges beyond their power.Jorm loomed next to Gawain while my other elite pokemon watched on from the side. I nodded, ideas already forming in my head. I might not get time today, but I could make time for future sessions.The other pokemon shared a look when I shot them a grin. They'd get their turns tomorrow for me to officially test them out but for now, I was going to just focus on Gawain and Jorm. With how Jorm could Mega-evolve he seemed unphased, which left Gawain as the newest pokemon on my roster to feel like he was out of his depth.I rubbed my chin in thought. I needed a way to reassure him, but first I needed his attention. "Let's ignore them for the moment," I said to him.Gawain continued to watch the other three and I sighed, putting a hand on his rocky shoulder and tugging him to turn and look at me. "So the thing about the Elite Challenge is that I will only be able to use pokemon that can represent the Gym. In this case, that means rock type, or former rock types. So, Titan, Bertha, Knight, Don, Jorm, Selene, Shin, Sanchez, and you will be representing the Gym."Gawain nodded slowly, his eyes beginning to dart to the side before he locked onto something. He perked up and waved an axe to the side. "Kleav?" he asked, indicating Empress.I coughed. "I don't think she'd be able to hold back as well against some of the weaker pokemon. I want them roughed up, not permanently injured. Now the others have all had experience with this and know what it entails, but this will be new for you," I said, making sure to keep our discussion calm for his sake.I held up a hand. "Now, it's true that you don't have anything close to the others' experience in fighting like this, but you're not as at risk of losing as you might think!" I said firmly."Stone Axe is a wonderfully versatile move that is strong as both a weapon but also a set-up move. No one else in my pokemon roster apart from Titan has this, and for him it's very visible when the Sandstorm gets going. It's not subtle, which can make a lot of difference," I said.Gawain lifted his head up a little. "Vor!" he said.I nodded, more than ready to continue to sing his praises. "You also have X-Scissor which is going to be great against grass-type pokemon, a common enough type that people will try to use against us. Only Don has as much ease thanks to his flying typing."To the side, Don raised his wings and screeched happily at being included in the praise. I didn't mention how Bertha also had Surf and Ice Beam, but instead kept building up Gawain.With his Agility, Protect and Stone Edge, he had some good moves which I could possibly build on with some fighting-type moves. The only other move he'd learnt thanks to his friendship with Link and tutoring under Quirrina was Baton Pass, which sadly wasn't applicable in the Elite challenge.Once Gawain was out, that was it, he was the pokemon slated to face down six others.His biggest issue would be facing off against Steel or Water type pokemon. Hopefully, the fear of Sanchez and Bertha would keep most people away.I rubbed my chin. "I might also cap the number of people that can take the Elite Challenge a day to only three," I said, causing Gawain to perk up.I nodded, liking the sound of it, as otherwise I could end up with a lot of fatigue in my pokemon. I'd also have to block one of the pokemon off the wheel of chance after they fought.It really depended on how many people we faced.I sighed and considered something I hadn't thought about in a while."Hey gang, gather up for a second," I said, indicating that everyone, pokemon and people, should gather around.They did so, with the humans forming an inner circle, the larger pokemon looming. In the middle, much smaller, younger pokemon looked up at me. Gible, Zubat, Tirtouga, Cranidos and Cradilly all looked up to me. Gible did so with a toothy smile which was mildly terrifying when I stopped to count how many teeth he had.I cleared my throat, drawing my attention away from the maw of teeth staring at me and back to what I was supposed to be doing. "The Elite Challenge… I didn't design it to be unbeatable," I said sheepishly."When I first took over the Gym I had created, the Elite Challenge was a way for young trainers to understand that there was more to gyms than just the badge challenge. This was mainly because we were the first badge gym and that was it. They'd come through once and then think they were done with us."The Elite Challenge was a way of bringing them back later in the season when they were more experienced. It was meant as a way to keep things moving a little in the gym, and yes," I nodded towards Bertha and Titan. "It was also meant as a way to keep our skills sharp."I locked eyes with my pokemon, before looking to the humans. "The Elite Challenge is not something that I expected to remain undefeated in. We can perhaps thank our prior ignominy. Most people didn't want to 'return' to the starting Gym for a better badge. Those that did were the proud few that either pushed themselves or wanted the best for themselves and their pokemon.""As it stands?" I clenched my fist a few times. "We've exceeded any expectations I had on that, and this year is going to be tough. There are a ton of great trainers that are extremely aware of us and the challenge we have, which no one has yet won. I don't think that we'll be able to outlast them this year, some of the trainers are just that good," I said.This caused a ripple to move through the group and I nodded sadly. "So, if the defeat comes from any of you, it doesn't matter who it comes from."I made sure to lock eyes with each of the relevant pokemon as I said their names. "Titan, Bertha, Gawain, Jorm, Don, Knight, Shin, Sanchez, or Selene, if any of you fall this year, I won't be mad. This is going to be a tough end of the year coming up for us, but our objectives for it were and will remain to staysharp and to be a very tall cliff for some trainers to experience so they understand that there is a serious difference between the Gym Circuit, and the Ace or Elite Four trainers.""If I lost my undefeated streak I'd be kinda miffed," admitted A.J. and I knew that coming from him that was an understatement. The boy prided himself on going on win streaks. It was how he measured his growth.I nodded my head, conceding the point. "I think in the moment, I will be a little sad when it comes time for us to hand over a Bejewelled Badge, but not that sad. I know that I can be proud of my team and that the odds are going to be heavily stacked against us. There are that many trainers this year and there is so much attention brought our way that it won't be possible to skate past with only thirty or forty trainers coming back.""We, both you," I said, gesturing to my pokemon, and then to myself, "and I, are going to have to be at our best for quite a while. I will do my best and I hope you will too, but don't be surprised when it's not enough. This Challenge was meant to be tough for them and us. I designed it that way," I said firmly."Now, in the coming weeks, I just want you to try your best, we've come a long way since last year, and I think we'll go far. Give me your best here and on the battlefield, and we'll do great."I then shot them a smirk. "But remember, that this is just training again for us, for pokemon and trainers. We're in this to work at the process of getting stronger. The things we do here are not just because you're gym pokemon but also Ace pokemon, you are my Elites."I swept my hand to gesture at all of them. "This training is to give us the edge in higher-tier matches. To give you endurance and power beyond what any other pokemon has. This more than anything else is what made us capable of standing up to Lance and smacking him down last year!" This declaration earned a cheer from my pokemon and a straightening of spines. By shifting the objective I would also hopefully take the sting out of any loss.I'd just need to repeat this mantra to myself when I lost. This was a process, not the end result, and with the calibre of trainers coming my way, I knew there were going to be some tough times ahead.There was no way I was going to have it easy with trainers like Brawly, Bugsy, Ritchie, Ash, Gary, Roxanne, and Flannery to name a few. This would be the gauge with which I found out who had the best odds of taking on the end-of-circuit tournament.I swallowed and waved my hand. "For now, we have a match coming up that will lock us into the tenth position against Arthur, that is what these training sessions and the Elite challenges are for. Matches have been easy lately, but that was because we slipped back into a tournament where we were against people way beneath us. They still gave us some trouble, though, so we'll need our A game against Arthur."I locked eyes with the trainers who were sitting in the middle. "You'll be all helping me with this as well, I know it's going to be tougher than the usual training you take part in with the Gym's pokemon, but it matters a lot."I grinned and clapped my hands, breaking up the serious moment. "Now! Let's throw down with some battle training! Jorm and Gawain? You're up for today, we're going to cycle through fighting six pokemon and work on it from there. Missy, Greta, and A.J? You can use any of your pokemon or the Gym's pokemon, alright?"That got some smirks from them with A.J. getting an extremely predatory look in his eyes. He was totally going to try and one-shot me with Fissure, wasn't he?I waved Gible and the younger pokemon to the side while setting up Titan, Bertha, and Shin to observe the match that was about to unfold. The others would be running their own gauntlet of endurance and power drills off to the side with my non-rock type having an almost easier time. Then again seeing their counterparts working hard always seemed to motivate them to work harder themselves.I cracked my neck, getting ready for a harsh round of training. It would be rough for everyone, but it should help A.J. and Greta for tomorrow as well, so it was a win-win in my book."Let's go Gawain!" I called sending him out against Missy's Rhyperior. "Huh," I said, "maximum effort straight out of the gates huh?" If nothing else, this would work wonders for Gawain's endurance.I stabbed my hand forward and sent Gawain into the fray.Tomorrow A.J. and Greta would face Cerulean. Today we trained.When we teleported into Cerulean the next morning, Greta had a confident smile on her face whereas A.J. had a surly scowl. Yolanda and Crystal were also along to support their friend.I ignored the girl's chatting away to give A.J. a look before turning my attention to Greta."Has he seriously been like that since yesterday's training session?" I asked."Yup!" said Greta with a giggle. Yolanda huffed, whereas Crystal shot him a smug look and tried to fade into what she must have assumed was a blind spot to poke her tongue at A.J. She really hadn't taken losing to him the other day well.I turned my head and shot her an unimpressed look, making her whistle innocently.I sighed and turned back to A.J. "Hey, come on, it was a legitimate move to stop you from getting away with a Fissure against Jorm," I said, clapping A.J. on the shoulder."You weren't supposed to block it," he said with a growl."Yeah, but I did," I said. "You need to get used to people having Protect, Detect, and Endure more often. Protect wasn't the only way I could have gotten out of that situation and you know it. You're mad that you fell for the bait and got punished." I dragged him in close. "You need to stop thinking about yesterday and start thinking about today!" I said firmly. "Out of you and Greta, you're the one I'm more worried about.""What?! I'm the better trainer!" he said furiously.I raised my hand and made a so-so gesture. "You haven't caught any more pokemon since you joined me, you've evolved a single pokemon. Your pokemon move list has mostly stayed the same apart from learning a few moves for your Raticate. If we were judging by growth? Greta has come a lot further than you," I said easily.A.J. gave Greta a look I'd seen all too often to ignore. "No fighting her today," I said, jerking him into lock step with me and closer to the Cerulean Gym. "We're going to let you go second to give you the proper—""I want to go first!" he said heatedly. I locked eyes with him and for a moment a battle of wills played out, before I decided not to fight him on this if he was going to be this passionate about it."Alright, Greta? You got an issue with going second?" I asked."Nope! Then they'll be warmed up for me!" she said.I paused and glanced over to find the girls all biting their lips while A.J. now sported a highly conflicted look. Did he go first and lead the way, or allow the Cerulean Gym to 'warm up' first against Greta.I rolled my eyes at them, amused and exasperated at how they were toying with the boy. I made a light chopping motion in the air at them and signalled for them to ease up on him."Sounds good! You're up first A.J.!" I said, leading him through the doors of the very flashy Cerulean Gym only for an extremely scarred man to meet us in the foyer."Brock," the man grunted at me. His eyes flicked over the kids and landed on Greta and A.J. He pointed at them. "You two, with me, we'll get you posted for your matches," he said. He then waved a hand. "Spectator seating is up those stairs," he said dismissively.Yolanda tilted her head. "Well, that was certainly… different?""Rude, more like!" said Crystal.I shook my head. "We're here before they're open to the public so they wouldn't have receptionists here to greet us. Remember, for them the surge is over and they've been able to really drop back their opening times," I said."Oh, that makes more sense," Yolanda said."Still doesn't mean he needed to be that rude!" said Crystal, determined to be grumpy it seemed.I led the girls up into the stands, finding it rather amusing to be the one in the stands rather than on the podium fighting for once. Before too long Daisy, Violet and Lily sashayed their way out. "Like, hi there to our fellow gym trainers from Pewter~! " said Daisy with a grandiose wave.When neither of the girls reacted I cupped my hands and decided to be 'that fan' by shouting, "Yeeeeeeeeew! Pewter City! Let's go!"Yolanda blanched, not expecting me to be so boisterous while Crystal laughed and joined in, my reaction giving her licence to play around. "Yeah! Kick their butts! Let's go Greta … and A.J. too I guess!"The Cerulean sisters shot us amused looks but then directed their attention to Greta and A.J. "So, Daisy is going to fight you both, are you both ready?""Yes! If you have a Gauntlet I want to do that!" said A.J. firmly.The girls scratched the back of their heads sheepishly. "Uhmm, we've only just started doing that cause Uncle Jeffrey was getting left out, but if you think you can handle Uncle before us then that's fine?"A.J. turned his head to lock eyes with the old man who had met us in the waiting room.I sighed. "That kid, he always has to take the hard way, doesn't he?""Do you know that man?" asked Yolanda."He's a former Vice Commander of the Cerulean Coast in the Rangers, extremely well-read on water types. Without a doubt he's probably the strongest water-type trainer in the Gym," I said.Yolanda facepalmed. "And A.J. just demanded a fight with him."I nodded, watching as the two males went to their podiums.Violet stepped into the referee's podium and glanced at both of them. "You know what to do, right?" she asked as she raised the flags.I chuckled while 'uncle' facepalmed. "Just because they're gym trainers doesn't mean you should slack off, Violet," he ground out.I shook my head in amusement as Violet, now chastised, started listing off the typical pre-match rules. When she was done she raised her flags. "Let's do it, to it!" she called, causing Jeffrey to sigh but select a pokemon nevertheless."Go Butterfree!" called A.J.I smiled nostalgically, remembering when I'd been a child in another life and I'd use Butterfree as one of my early game pokemon. Sadly it and Pidgeotto always would struggle against the Cerulean Gym, at least in Red and Blue, but that didn't make me like them any less."Go Starmie!" growled Jeffrey, revealing a blue and red Starmie instead of the typical purple, gold and red colouration of the pokemon."Oh nice, " I said as the revealed shiny pokemon glinted in the lights of the Gym.A.J. wasn't deterred though, if anything he seemed pleased with this. "Go for Bug Buzz!" he crowed. Butterfree snapped its wings forward and shot out a wave of greenish energy that Starmie cartwheeled away from, all the while staying on the platform."Hmmm good grouping of attacks, if a little slow," said Jeffrey. "Counter with Thunder!"Starmie sparked up and unleashed a powerful bolt of electricity at Butterfree. My mind instantly conjured up ways I'd avoid the attack with Protect, or by having Butterfree attempt to divert the attack with Confusion.A.J. did neither of those. "Dive hard into the platform and flip it!" he called and Butterfree dropped faster than a stone straight into the platform that Starmie was on, flipping it over and making the floating platform into a barrier against the thunder.Butterfree swept out the other side before the platform could fall back to the ground without a hint of damage."NICE!" I called loudly.Yolanda and Crystal nodded along, even clapping.Stamie, who'd been launched into the air, wasn't idle however, as Jeffrey chopped his hand down. "Bubblebeam denial of space!" he called, and Starmie merrily projected itself back while creating bubbles about, making it harder for Butterfree to fly."Gust! Blow them away!" called A.J.. Once more the attack was denied easily and I had to applaud his cool head.He'd been exposed to this tactic before with some of my water-typed pokemon, but with the earlier Thunder and lack of traditional space to move it would have been easy to flub things."Bug Buzz again!" called A.J. keeping on the pressure."Minimize!" said Jeffrey. His Starmie vanished as it shrunk in size, becoming a much tougher threat.A.J. growled at this before sweeping his hand out. "Blanket the field! Stun Spore!" he called and Butterfree quickly swept back and forth in quick darts casting green spores under it.I leaned forward, interested in how he'd handle this issue. He had been highly vocal about my handling it, now the shoe was on the other foot.When nothing seemed to happen A.J. clicked his tongue, "fly low and hover, watch for it!" he called. Butterfree did just that, hovering in the air with languid wing beats.Then, it suddenly twitched and fired off a round of Bug Buzz.Jeffrey clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Get in the water and heal up some!""Stop it with String Shot!" barked A.J. and his Butterefree surprised everyone with how fast it unleashed its string, firing it straight from its mouth to nail what must have been Starmie, as a second later Starmie was tossed into the air and nailed with another Bug Buzz.A soft plop announced Starmie hitting the deck and with the line of String Shot still attached, I could just make out it standing up once again. I had to give it to Jeffrey, that was a strong Starmie."That's enough Starmie, he's shown enough skill to advance past us," Jeffrey said, returning his pokemon.A.J. stiffened. "Hey! Wait! I don't want your pity, old man!"Jeffrey turned and shot A.J. a singularly unimpressed look. "You're good for your age, kid but if I wanted to I could crush you." Jeffrey walked away, dismissing A.J.. "Come back when you've had another year or two and I'll spank you properly then, until then I won't face you properly."A.J. growled at this, annoyed despite Violet announcing his victory. I just knew that A.J. was forming a list of people he'd be returning to face when he was stronger, and Jeffrey had just made it.I had no doubt I was on that list too.By the smirk on Jeffrey's face, he knew he'd earned A.J.'s enmity, but was playing a longer game. It seemed Jeffrey was fitting in well as a gym trainer with how he was motivating youngsters to get stronger.When Daisy stepped past Jeffrey, the older man paused and whispered something into his ear. She tilted her head before nodding."Alright! Like, you're facing me now!" she said with some bounce. Other boys would have been lost in her… assets, but A.J. just scowled."Whatever, let's get this over with.""Go Dewgong!" said Daisy, causing me to cough in surprise. That was a bit stronger than a two or a three-tier challenge.A.J. narrowed his eyes, obviously aware of this, and opened his mouth to give a command, only for it to not matter as Daisy swept her hand out. "Icy Wind!" she called.Dewgong unleashed a wave of cold that locked up Butterfree and ended the first exchange.Yolanda and Crystal sat up in shock.A.J. openly gaped, having not expected to have sweet little Daisy give him so much trouble."Damn, Daisy got herself some claws," I said.A.J. returned his pokemon and frowned before shaking it off. "Let's go Beedrill! We need your speed!" he shouted."Like, repeat!" called Daisy with a wave of her hand, unknowingly committing an error as Beedrill was not Butterfree with the weakness to ice moves."Assurance," said A.J., before following up with, "stay in close!"Once more the arena was scoured with Icy Wind, forcing Beedrill who'd charged forward to take some damage, only for the bug-poison-type pokemon to push through the damage and slam an effective move into Dewgong's face."PJ!" snapped A.J., and Beedrill raised a glinting stinger before hammering it into Dewgong repeatedly.Dewgong cried out in pain and Daisy much to my surprise leaned forward. "Sheer Cold," she said, and I could only gape."She's taught her pokemon a one-hit K.O move?" I asked aloud.A.J. must have recognised the threat he was in as he snapped a hand forward. "BEEDRILL GO!" he shouted.Beedrill stopped hammering its stingers into Dewgong, who'd been ignoring them anyway, and drew back, stingers primed for the next attack.Dewgong for its part created a small snowflake that formed up above its nose where it started to pulse.For a moment, the battlefield held its breath.Then Beedrill went from standing still to accelerating a second later, as it caught Dewgong around the throat and shot across the battlefield before slamming Dewgong into the barrier where it slumped.I shot A.J. an amused look. Yolanda, who'd stood during the final exchange, looked at me. "Was that Giga Impact?"I nodded. "He's been learning more than he's been letting on," I said, pleased that this was the case and that he'd shown my earlier words to be false."Kid is going to be a monster if this is what he's been hiding. That was a good call, Dewgong would have had a one in three chance of pulling it off at base level but depending on its strength it would have greater odds. It was still a serious threat that he neutralised well."Yolanda nodded and sat back down.A.J. turned from the fight for the first time and sought out my eyes. A look of fear flashed across his eyes, which made me wonder a little about what he had to worry about. Was I missing something here? What was making him react that way?I decided to just smile and nod for now"Way to go! Great call!" I called.A.J. relaxed and turned away from me quickly, but not quickly enough to hide the pleased flush that had come over his face.Poor kid forgot about the big screen most gyms had these days."Like, nice one! I wasn't expecting to have Dewgong go down like that!" Daisy said as she returned her pokemon."Let's see how you handle this one!" she said as she sent out a Seaking." Water Gun!" she called, going straight back into the fight.Beedrill, who still hadn't quite recovered from Giga Impact, hovered and took the hit. It shook itself off, but it was obviously on its last legs.A.J. grimaced. "String Shot! Like we planned!" he called, crossing his arms. From each of the stingers, String Shot out and bound up the trio of platforms, creating a slightly larger island in the middle of the battlefield.Doing this sadly left his pokemon open for another Water Gun, which knocked Beedrill out.I considered the set-up before nodding my head. "He's got this," I said easily.Yolanda frowned before nodding her head. "He's copied Mia and Silly Mouse?" she said. I nodded and Crystal, who'd never met Mia or Silly Mouse, snapped her head from me to Yolanda with a growl."Who're they? And what did they do that's so special?" she asked.I signalled for her to wait a moment, and A.J., as I had expected him to, sent out a Rattata onto the central island."Dive down and surge up with Horn Attack!" called Daisy. Her pokemon dove down, vanishing under the water and becoming a dark shape."Stack up the platforms!" A.J. called, a plan in mind.Rattata, with the String Shot attaching them, reeled in the platforms and had them haphazardly stacked up. Ratata then positioned himself atop the central point where the three platforms overlapped.When Seaking shot up, instead of a thump and a hurled platform, this time a soft whump sounded out as Rattata was lightly bounced upwards."Huh, they weigh enough to float, but also act as barriers from attacks above and below. I never thought about using them that way," I said."A.J. and Greta have been talking about this fight a bit over the last week," Yolanda supplied. "Greta… might have looked into things a bit more, and A.J. has been using that knowledge.""Huh, teamwork for the win," I said, hoping that A.J.'s good showing wasn't going to cause Greta to crash and burn.I glanced over and found Greta staring at the platforms fixedly, a notepad out that she was scribbling in with Ivysaur at her side."Dip your tail in and light it up!" said A.J. and just as I'd predicted, A.J. made the most of Rattata's normal typing to dip its tail into the water before lighting up with Thunder.I nodded. "He got Seaking to commit to an attack only to get it in close before doing that, nice."A moment after the lightning stopped Seaking emerged to the side, belly up and passed out.Daisy sighed and returned her pokemon. She considered A.J. for a moment before smiling. "I think that'll do it for now! Like, great work! Those were some tricks we haven't seen before!" she said and a banner emerged on the screen, announcing A.J. as the winner.I leaned back, pleased at this turn of events. When Daisy began to lower the podiums A.J. waved her off. "I want to wait until after Greta's match… if that's alright," he said tacking on the last bit after catching Greta facepalming.Daisy giggled. "Sure thing, you little cutie! Your girlfriend can have her turn now!""She's not my girlfriend/He's not my boyfriend!" said A.J. and Greta over each other.Daisy and her sisters giggled at this and Greta stormed up to the podium to take her place. When she reached the top A.J. leaned in and whispered a few things.Greta relaxed and gained a thoughtful look.I leaned forward. "Proper teamwork, eh?" I said, happy to see them trading notes and making the most of A.J.'s experiences. It said a lot that despite the banter and back and forth they had, A.J. was sharing and Greta was listening. They wouldn't have done that a few months ago.A.J. departed from the podium and made his way up to us. Crystal was in his face instantly. "What did you tell her?""My observations for the water and the podium. I think it's possible to judge distance and speed. It's not like a creek or the ocean where things darken and become murky.""Oh, that's 'cause of this battlefield doubling as a show aquarium for them. Their shows are very nice. Lots of skilled choreography that you could learn a thing or two from," I said.A.J. blinked. "Oh, we… hadn't considered that."I snorted and turned back to the match. Greta was bouncing from foot to foot nervously with her pokeball in hand. Across from her, Daisy still stood, making this a straight Gym Leader challenge instead of a gauntlet like A.J. had gone through.Jeffrey was to the side, directing a pair of Krabby to snip up the String Shots to not impede either trainer and give Greta a standard start with three platforms.Greta waited until Violet ran through the same starting spiel as usual before asking the trainers to send out their pokemon.Greta released her Ivysaur, making me confident, but Daisy surprised me by sending out a Golduck.Huh, I don't think she got the memo that this was supposed to be a fourth-tier match, not a second-tier match.Oh dear. I glanced over to find Greta not looking too worried however, if anything she seemed cool and collected. I decided not to shake her confidence and keep quiet for now."Golduck! Aqua Jet!" Daisy said starting things off instead of waiting."Ivysaur! Vine Whip on the front of the platform!" Greta called and her pokemon did just that, causing her platform to buck. Ivysaur timed it perfectly to use the buckling platform to jump, causing it to be launched up and over the oncoming Golduck. Golduck swept past where Ivysaur would have been, only to come to a stop having done nothing."Turn and go again!" Daisy said and Golduck spun, ready to repeat the attack."Vine Whip again!" Greta called and this time, from the central platform, Ivysaur slapped a platform, only this time it slapped the platform Golduck was on, tripping up Golduck and causing it to crash into the water with a hard splash."Slap it hard when it emerges!" called Greta and Ivysaur raised its vines up, coiling them like snakes.Golduck burst out of the water with a gasp, having not been ready to dive like it had, only for the Vine Whips to lash it, smacking it around and dealing significant damage.When Greta realised this wasn't going to do Golduck in, she switched it up. "Grab it and launch it high!"Ivysaur wrapped Golduck before it could dive and hurled it up high, causing the evolved duck pokemon to quack furiously. Greta stabbed her hand forward. "Razor Leaf!" she cried out, and Ivysaur unleashed a barrage of leaves."Blast them with Water Gun!" called Daisy desperately, only for it to not be enough. Golduck fainted in the air, only to be returned before it could even hit the water."That was a good showing Golduck, but our opponents have done their research" Daisy said to her pokeball.Daisy raised another pokeball and nodded her head. "Let's see how you go with something a little more your style?" she said. She then released a Cloyster.Greta hissed in worry. "Sunny Day!" she said, causing Ivysaur to unleash a small orb of reddish-hot energy into the air above the battlefield. I could feel the heat even from here and Ivysaur perked up as the leaves on its back began to twitch.Daisy had to know what was coming next as she smirked. "Hmmmm, alright then, if that's how you want to play it!" Daisy said. "Cloyster! Aurora Beam!""Solar Beam!" came Greta's response and I grinned as both pokemon unleashed powerful beam attacks. For a long moment, both attacks held in the centre, only for Greta to begin screaming her support."Come one Ivysaur! Remember our training! I know you can do this! This is all you! You have this!"Ivyssaur braced itself and leaned forward, and a moment later the Solar Beam blew through the Aurora Beam and landed a super effective attack straight into Cloyster's surprised face, blasting it back and slamming it into the rear wall.Daisy sighed as her pokemon fell to the ground. "Well, it looks like it's two for two, you kids sure are something!"I chuckled in relief, that… hadn't been how I'd expected things to go. I felt my heart hammering in my chest as I took a moment to inhale and exhale. That could have gone bad pretty quickly, but it had worked out.I shook my head and stood to applaud and watch on as Greta and A.J. got their Cascade Badges together.When they were done we made our way down to talk with them and the Cerulean sisters. I had to give it to them, they'd really stepped up their game if this was how they greeted challengers these days.It was a welcome surprise.As was Greta and A.J.'s growth. I hadn't been sure about sending them out now, but seeing them in action and how they'd grown? I knew I'd made the right call. They needed to spread their wings a little and show what they'd been working on.When Greta presented the Cascade Badge to us I nodded happily. "I'm surprised you didn't use your new combination move?"Greta coughed. "I wanted to test out other methods while I had the chance. I felt like using the Power Leaf move was too… easy," she said.I nodded, mentally noting down the name she'd settled for."Nicely done," I commented before nodding to the front doors. "I think there's a cake and some other people that will be interested in finding out how you di."Yolanda swatted me. "Brock, they weren't supposed to know about the cake!" she said and I chuckled.Whoops, I shouldn't have let that slip.When A.J. and Greta blinked at me I just winked and led our group back to the teleport facility. When we returned home most of the gym trainers were there with cake and banners to celebrate the pair's victory.The kids all lit up and I grinned at getting one over them with this surprise. I rather enjoyed how they took to gushing, or in A.J.'s case, calmly recounting the battle he'd had with Jeffrey and then Daisy to Dennis and Rocko, who both nodded along attentively.When I produced a cake, both Greta and A.J. blushed but were happy to take a slice each.They might have grown a lot in the last few months, but they were still kids.Then again, there was nothing wrong with enjoying a party.With that in mind, I released my pokemon roster to share in some of the good vibes."Oh, that's why you ordered such a big cake," said Alexa as suddenly the room filled with pokemon who all happily lined up for some cake. I chuckled and nodded.With my own cake in hand, I settled in to enjoy myself with a well-earned break.Tomorrow could wait, today was too good to not enjoy.I lifted a spoon of cake to my mouth only to pause as a whine escaped a small pokemon. I glanced down and found a messy-looking Gible staring at me with Baby Doll eyes.Damn my sisters were scary. Somehow they'd taught a dragon type a fairy type move.Too impressed to care, I handed over the rest of my cake, amused at this turn of events.Rocko saw this and just laughed, but I was too amused to care. So what if I was soft in some places?I didn't always need to be hard. I lifted Gible up and grabbed another slice of cake, this time to share.
201
Doctor Eve tore her gaze away from her work with an audible groan. She was close, she just knew it! She had multiple sources of information from ancient rhymes, stories, artifacts, and even petroglyphs that all referenced the ancient city.Well, the word 'city' was a misnomer. Pokemopolis was potentially a kingdom, and with how widespread reference of it was, potentially an empire.Doctor Eve knew she could find more and establish herself more if she could access some of the sites that already existed. Sadly the Ruins of Alph were considered heritage sites and after her previous… enthusiastic explorations, she wasn't allowed there… for multiple reasons.On her last attempt, she approached, only to find multiple posters with her own face staring back at her with warnings that she needed to be escorted away or denied access.You try to access one hidden room with a controlled detonation, and suddenly you are barred from access without a chaperone!The other sites that had reference to Pokemonopils had sadly been destroyed.The most recent lead, a petroglyph supplied by one Doctor Crowley, had been interesting, as it had showcased one of the nomadic tribes known to live as part of Pokemopolis.Sadly, like the other sites, it was restricted, or most likely destroyed. She had tried to get access, but the Rangers were extremely leery of allowing anyone access to the Silver Ranges of late.There were too many people trying to get access and the recent destruction had allowed them to rebuff her. Hah! As if petroglyphs that had survived an age of wear and tear would fade away in the face of something as pathetic as a bit of fire!And so what if they were within the cave of a known alpha predator? She could handle it. You just distracted them with something and did a quick in and out. Take some pictures, secure the artifacts, record some photos of herself in action so she gets credit, and bam! Instant success!It would take five minutes, tops! In and out adventure!Sadly she was held back.It was vexing!She was close to a breakthrough. She knew it.Her stomach rumbled in agony and she grimaced. It seemed her weak fleshy body would need sustenance. Time to check the fridge!She opened the fridge only to find a Grimer gnawing on what she swore had been a perfectly acceptable sandwich just yesterday. She reached for the berries only to find them gone. The Grimer burped a little and Eve huffed. "For eating my food, you're going to be joining the team," she said, plucking a pokeball from a nearby stack of papers and tapping the little poison type on the head. The Grimer blinked in surprise at the action and when the pokeball wobbled Eve gave it a few whacks on a nearby table. She'd always been a firm believer that by smashing the pokeball a few times you had better odds of securing the pokemon within! From her research, she had a fifty percent strike rate.This time at least, the pokeball went still and she breathed a sigh of relief. When she inhaled, she gagged a little on the smell the fridge was giving off.She released her newly acquired assistant. "Clean up the smell and the mould for me," she said and the little Grimer seemed more than happy to comply. She closed the door with a happy nod.Excellent, she'd gone to the fridge for sustenance and returned with a new easily paid assistant. She whipped out her recorder and made a log."Mission log seven, of day one hundred and thirty of the year. I have captured a new recruit for exploration purposes. Hopefully, his gelatinous body and poison typing will allow him to last longer on future explorations. Spike traps and acid shouldn't prove an issue, unlike other, more squishy assistants. I also hope that he leaves the fridge clean so I may continue to use it. I remain optimistic about my task and will make a breakthrough on Pokemopolis soon! Doctor Eve, future discoverer of Pokemopolis' main city signing off!"Her stomach rumbled a little more and she grunted. Hmmm, she might have to head out to secure supplies for herself soon. She began securing her 'going out clothes' while giving her pits a small sniff. Within acceptable tolerances.Grimer certainly hadn't complained.A hammering on her door caused her to stop collecting her going-out items. "Eve! I know you're in there! The rent was due two months ago! I'm not a bad person wanting you to pay for that! I know you're struggling, but you're kind of taking me for a ride!"Eve coughed and approached the door. Damn! The Landlord! She tentatively unlocked it to find a large man staring down at her."Landlord, sir," she said with a fearful swallow. She made sure to make her eyes as big as possible while trembling slightly.The man sighed heavily. "Eve, I'm not being unreasonab—" whatever he was going to say was stopped when he caught a whiff of the room. "Gak! Oh Arceus, what have you been doing in there? Wrestling a Muk?"Eve paused her primary plan to escape paying rent, which was to use her good looks to charm the Landlord. It had worked a few times already. The man was a bit of a sucker for young girls, having seven daughters himself.It should have been child's play to escape paying one or two more instalments. More than enough time to pay for a new piece of cutting-edge equipment that would be sure to help her find the motherload with Pokemopolis.Eve gave herself another discrete sniff. "It's not that bad?" she said tentatively.The Landlord pushed open the door only to visibly recoil. "Oh Eve! You need to open a window or three in here!" he cried as tears began to form in his eyes.He retched a few times and Eve huffed. "The windows cause my research to be blown about!"The man shot her a confused look., "I thought you young ones were all about going paperless and using clickbait and that?"Eve gave him a flat look. "It's not clickbait, and I need a high-resolution scanner to do that.""Which you don't have the money for," sighed the man as he scratched at his beard while peering into the room. "Eve… I'm worried about you. You're a young girl living in an apartment and it really seems like you can't look after yourself. I thought you went on a Journey?" he said.Eve nodded. "I did! I even won five badges!" she said firmly. So what if those had been the Cycling Road Gym, Celadon, Gambol, Fuchsia, and Dark City gyms? They counted! Even if Gambol and Dark City's gyms were no more.She'd gotten enough to allow her to get back into the lab and work! Sadly her drive to excel in the academic field might have been a touch short-sighted. Perhaps it might have been easier for her if she had gotten the full eight badges. Then she might have some actual sponsors…Well! That wasn't going to change, and if people couldn't understand academic drive she wasn't going to spoon-feed it to them. Honestly! It still surprised her how often people asked her about her Journey results!That should have stopped mattering years ago, once she secured her first job as a research assistant working on the Bell Tower study group in Johto!"Alright, let's do some cleanup first! I'm not having one of my tenants living in squalor!" said her Landlord.Eve blinked. "Eh? But I haven't charmed you yet?" she said, only to pause as she realised she said that out loud.The Landlord eyed her and shook his head. "Just like my youngest," he said as he tied back his shaggy hair into a bun and pulled out a neckerchief that he wrapped around his nose and mouth. He then pulled out cleaning supplies from his pouch and took a fortifying breath."Eve! From now on I'm going to be checking in weekly on you! I think we're going to have to have a serious intervention!" he said seriously."Oh, I don't think I need that," she said with a dismissive wave.Her Landlord stared at her. "Ever heard that a clean workspace leads to a clean, productive mind?"Eve glanced to the side. She had in fact heard that a few times… from a few different colleagues. She just got a little too… engaged with her reading and writing. She'd have another journal article to present from what she'd read, sadly not about her primary focus, but it should garner her some attention and a bit more government funding.The Crusher tribe was a somewhat interesting topic and Pewter Museum was interested in learning more, so there should be some money to spread around.Eve coughed. "I'm going to put in another journal article this afternoon… after I proofread it. Can I pay next week?""Sure thing! For now, have some pocket money, and go to the grocers." said the man far too casually as he scrubbed at a stain that had once been some spilled takeout. Then he paused and glanced at her with narrowed eyes. "Actually, on second thoughts, go to the baths first," he said.Eve sniffed— but not too deeply— in indignation. "Fine! I will!" she said, marching off with her "allowance". She paused in front of a small garden of Bellossom that the Landlord liked to water."I don't smell that bad. do I?" she asked the little grass types.They took one look at her and half fell over in shock, wilting in on themselves. while the other half blasted her with Sweet Scent.Eve reeled back. "Argh! My eyes! My beautiful eyes! How am I supposed to find a handsome husband with lots of money that will support me without my eyes!" she wailed, rolling back and forth on the ground before sitting up and blinking slowly. "Oh, it only tingles a little," she said.The Bellosom waved her away from their garden and Eve shot the little grass types a dirty look. See if she ever shared any of her sweets with them in the future!She marched towards the baths, on her way she at first attracted pokemon to her and then repulsed them. She grumbled the entire way and didn't stop until she was relaxing in the baths.What she needed was a sponsor. Someone willing to give her a real shot in the arm. Someone like Brock… sadly he was already sponsoring Crowley, and if there was one way to cause a scientific turf war it was to try and edge in on another researcher's sponsor.She needed to find someone rich, and willing to spend big.Sadly, idiots with more money than sense weren't going to fall out of the sky."—blasting off again!" shouted a trio of voices, and Eve blinked as she saw something blur past her.Eve frowned. Was she seeing and hearing things? Auditory hallucinations should only come in after three days without sleep. As she was only two days in, she should be fine.She continued walking and found a gaggle of kids arguing with each other."—and I'm saying we didn't need your help Gary!" chimed one of them with a Pikachu on his shoulder."Sure sure," said a snotty-nosed-looking kid, his head tilted up as if he was about to sneeze or something.Eve avoided them. Nothing good came from dealing with brats.She returned home to find her Landlord wiping his brow while piles of garbage were piled up next to the front door."Thanks Mr Landlord sir!" she chirped as she began to skip past him, only for his meaty paw of a hand to shoot out and catch her."Young lady, I think it's time we had a long overdue chat about financial responsibility," he said with a stern expression. Then he blinked. "Did you forget my name again?" he said with a disappointed lookEve stiffened. Damn, she had forgotten to charm the man! … and maybe also remember his name.She'd need to make a note about it somewhere.For now she smiled as innocently as possible and prepared herself to endure for the sake of research.[/hr]
Rachel Raul happily skated around the Gym on her newest purchase. Roller blades might not be the coolest item these days, but they were retro, so that meant they'd eventually make a resurgence. UNtil then, they were fun, and she didn't need any reason more than that to wear them.She glided past an arguing A.J. and Crystal before shooting Dennis and Rocko a cheeky salute as she skated around them in a circle. "Hey guys! What's shaking?" she said.Rocko gave a lazy wave. "Hey Rachel, nothing much. Most of the gym is settling down these days with the number of challengers dying down.""Where's bossman Brock?" Rachel asked as she continued to circle, enjoying the way Dennis was adjusting to track her, but in doing so making himself dizzy."He's out back working with his Elite team, I think he's getting them ready for the Elite challenges that will be coming soon."Rachel nodded her head, only somewhat understanding. "So he's not really relaxing? Man, bossman likes to find work for himself, doesn't he?" she said.Rocko shrugged while Dennis stiffened. "Brock isn't the sort to rest on his laurels!" said the man loyally.Rocko and Rachel shared a smile before Rachel nodded consolingly. As she skated around Dennis she patted the man on the back. "Of course, of course! He just created a rather heavy workload from the get-go, plus all the other duties he has. He gets to relax a bit during the off-season, right?"Rachel tapped her lips theatrically. "He only has, what? Gym duties, off-season training, debriefs with gym trainers, facility repairs and maintenance, oh, and the kiddies club for baseball?" she said.What she didn't mention was the other business that Brock was obviously involved in. He must be running something for the government, most likely with the 'Coloured Hero' group. While they hadn't been as active recently, that didn't discount other tasks. Brock too often took secretive calls and it wasn't just that he had a girlfriend that he was hiding.Sabrina, if anything, was more than happy to talk about Brock and her relationship, and Brock wasn't shy about smooching her in public.Dennis scoffed. "Most of those duties aren't as bad as you make them sound!"Rachel crossed her arms and came to a stop in front of Dennis, who kept turning for a second only to turn back and waver as his inner ear caught up with him. "Urgh," he said as he wobbled a bit.Rocko shot Rachel an amused look before playfully chopping at the air."I suppose he doesn't need to worry about the kids as much these days," Rachel suggested. This earned her a pair of nods."Yeah, Flint is… doing well, and seems like he's going to stick around," Rocko said.Dennis sniffed. "He better," he said, only to shut his eyes and reach out to the side to support himself. Rachel frowned. She hadn't meant to make him that sick."You… uhmmm, alright there, Dennis?" she said carefully."Got little kids at home, which means you don't always get great nights' sleep," replied Dennis. He shot Rocko a sheepish look. "I might have to actually support you on the nap room idea you raised."Rocko grinned. "Do it man! Do it! If there's one thing this gym needs, it's a siesta time booked in!" he said passionately.Rachel giggled and decided to keep moving. She passed by the various gym trainers and even poked in to say hello to Bethany and Aubrey the receptionists, before having a drink in the break room with Alexa.From there she skated through the gym, belting out a song."Rock you! Yeah!" she sang, hopping up and skidding to a stop in front of her bossman Brock who was wandering in with a scowl and a red letter in hand."Heya boss! How're you doing today?" she said in a chipper tone."Hnnn," responded Brock, his gaze locked on the red letter in his hands.Rachel skidded to a halt next to him, making good use of the height the rollerblades gave her to lean in and see what the issue was. She made sure to be super obvious about it so that if Brock really wanted to, he would stop her.Lines of text jumped out at her.Tough! Tough is not a style of Contests and it shall never be! Contests are about style, grace and cuteness! Not the farcical display that you put on that was all brute force which contained the style of a caveman scratching at a wall for the first time!It appears that the organisers abandoned all semblance of taste and sophistication, opting instead for a crass celebration of the popular! The gaudy! The plebian!She held in a giggle, only to blink in surprise when Brock released a loud, exhausted-sounding sigh. "Man, this is a real bummer," he said, shaking his head.Rachel tilted her head. "I mean… yes? If you want to take it that way?" she answered slowly.Brock glanced up, frown set in place. "Take it that way? Rachel? There's no other way to take it! This is one of the best in the business of Contests saying we were terrible at it!" he said.Rachel held in a chuckle. It wouldn't go down well, even if she really, really wanted to. "Alright, he's the big boss of the Hoenn scene." Rachel held Brock's gaze, feeling suddenly like a tiny pebble that had been rolling around at the foot of a mountain, ignorant of how small it was.Rachel shook the feeling off, so what if she was small, she still had her shine to give! "So what?" she said quickly. "So what if he's the Hoenn big boss? So what if he's denouncing us? You know what? I'm glad he is! It just proves how out of touch he is! Our Contest? It was popular! People loved it! We have reports from Battlecast that they got a viewer count three times what they were expecting at the start and it only grew as word spread how fun our event was!"Rachel cast her hand out wide. "Hoenn can take their stodgy, boring outdated contests! We're bringing something fun! Something modern! Something people can be excited for!""A denouncement from the Hoenn big bad? Great! I love it! It's not a bad thing unless you let it be!"Brock shifted, eyes glancing down at the red letter. Rachel sucked in a breath as the weighty feeling of pressure vanished. Damn, but she pitied some of the trainers Brock must get serious on if that was the sort of pressure they found themselves facing just from locking eyes with him!"Not a bad thing… unless I let it?" he repeated thoughtfully.Rachel nodded her head. "Yeah! Think about it this way, even! You didn't go to him for advice, so why listen? People are always giving out harsh criticisms, but they weren't here. They don't understand what we've done!"Rachel put a hand on her chest. "I can't say that we delivered a perfect event, but it was good, great even! People will be locking in the next Pewter Contest on their calendars, I can guarantee it!"Brock nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're right, I guess I just got caught up having such a big name of the scene denouncing us like this," he said, indicating the letter.Rachel giggled. "I can't believe he sent a letter! That's so old school!"Brock shifted. "It arrived on a Dodrio rider with a golden outfit," he said.Rachel struggled to maintain her balance as she threw her head back and howled with laughter. "O M A! That is so, so corny! Hahaha," she wiped at her eyes and gathered her breath. "Any chance I can take that Brock? I might get it put into a nice frame behind my desk."Brock snorted and handed over the letter. "Heh, alright, if that's what you want to do. Do we need to respond to this?"Rachel paused, ah that was right, they could do more than just laugh it off, couldn't they?An idea formed, and a grin stretched across her face. "Oh, I have a wonderful idea!" she said as she turned and began to rollerblade to her office."Tell me if you need me!" called Brock after her, and she waved over her shoulder.When she reached her office she slapped her card against the lock and accepted the entry on her transceiver. Sadly the security measures made it tough for a girl to 'dramatically enter her space', but she managed by kicking off her rollerblades into a handy bin and skipping onto her office chair. She slapped the letter into her scanner and set it to work before turning her attention to the computer in front of her.She stretched out her neck and rolled her shoulders. Then she laced her fingers and cracked them, enjoying the way they popped and settled into place. Then she flexed and clenched her hands, preparing them for what was to come.With her three screens loaded up she entered multiple chat forums and created a thread on all of them tilted 'Keyboard warriors ho! Pewter news!'The sound of a keyboard beginning to fire sounded through her office as she felt her anticipation grow. So, old man Darren Sukizo wanted to start a flame war?He was about to find out that he was way too slow, and not even in the same ballpark as her!A ping announced the first responder, quickly followed by another. Rachel grinned as she reloaded the forum and found that six new posts had appeared.Welcome to the Pewter Fan club online!You are currently logged in, RainbowpebblepersonYou are viewing:Threads you have replied toAND Threads that have new repliesOR private message conversations with new repliesThread OP is displayed.Twenty posts per pageLast ten messages in private message history.Threads and private messages are ordered chronologically.
♦ Topic: 'Keyboard warriors ho! Pewter news!' Rainbowpebbleperson posted:- Hey yo! I'm going to need some people to check out what just came in the mail cause I am just totally speechless rn! Look at this old man hating on something wonderful![LINK]Like how out of touch do you have to be to look at the Pewter Contest and not love it?I'm just shaking! Such a shock! I think I need to either touch some rocks or Rage, you know? (showing page 1 of 1)Atalkingcat replied:- Huh, who is this guy and why should I… oh I just reached the end.TLDR- guy is old Hoenn President for Contests and he is getting his tail out of joint with how Pewter Contest went down. He pretty much calls everyone basic.Nastiestperson1 replied:- eh, who cares about what a gasbag like that says! Good is good! But I see that Rainbowpebbleperson is calling for keyboard warriors, eh?Cypherquack replied:- Quack!Dogsbody the 2nd replied:- Oh I see what you're asking for! And I see you're cross-posting! Oh damn! It's time for a good old flamewar! Cue the fireworks!Waterloverthree replied:- Urgh Dogsbody, it can't be called an old anything! Don't make the pokenet sound all old and fuddy! Let's flame though!Rachel grinned as more and more pings sounded through the room. Excellent. Her keyboard warriors were assembling. It was time to wield the rage of pokenet people against an old grumpy man.This was an avenue of attack Brock would have never considered. Sometimes he was just such an old man with his methods. He probably had no idea how useful the pokenet could be!Which was hilarious considering how much of a meme he was these days.The 'I feel your pain and I don't want to' meme was her current favourite, but the 'nice flock of flying types you got there' sure came in a close second.Rachel happily blasted away on her keyboard, content and very smug in the knowledge that unlike a lot of other people, she was getting paid to do this.[/hr]
Sabrina repressed the urge to yawn mightily.The girl in her arms didn't have such strong willpower, and her yawn echoed through the house as the other girls trampled around, getting their gear in order and packed away for their trip.Suzie snuggled into Sabrina's shoulder and Sabrina felt, not for the first time, that if anything happened to Suzie, she would make the reckoning Legendary in proportions."I'm all packed," said Cindy as she presented herself, fully dressed, with her riding helmet under her arm. A few moments later Yolanda also emerged with her own gear."Ready," said the eldest of Brock's sisters. At her feet, Terra and Spot stretched and yawned.Cindy rubbed at her eyes. "I can't believe people get up this early willingly!" she whined. She looked up at Sabrina. "How do you do it, big sis?" she said.Sabrina smiled enigmatically. "I have exceptional willpower," she said proudly. When neither Yolanda or Cindy projected any doubt of her prowess she shot them a secretive smile. "I also know the best early morning coffee shop in Saffron. We have a deal," she said with a wink. "It's what helps me function this early," she said, opening her hand and teleporting her travel mug into her hand.Cindy stared while Yolanda giggled at the show of power being used so casually. Sabrina took a sip. "It's one of the best ways to wake up."Behind them, a door opened and closed before Brock jogged past. "Morning girls, Sabrina, thanks for looking after them, enjoy your club!" he said, jogging past, only pausing to ruffle their hair and kiss Sabrina.Sabrina smirked when he departed, smacking his lips due to the strong coffee flavour.Cindy tilted her head. "Brock drinks tea…"Yolanda coughed. "It has a little bit of caffeine in it… but nothing like coffee."Cindy took a moment to blink slowly at this. "Urgh! Big bro is a—" she paused to shudder, "morning person?"Sabrina's lips quirked up even as she adjusted her telekinetic hold on Suzie to keep her in a comfortable and supported position."Your brother is not a natural morning person, but he has forced himself to become one." Sabrina stared after her boyfriend, noting where the feeling of blank space moved, blotting out her perception slightly around himself. "He has cheated by using a number of mental tricks to make sure he ends with either an endorphin high, or a mental positive."Yolanda tilted her head. As the sister with the most exposure to Brock's routine it took her a commendable short amount of time to come up with the answer. "His work outs and his little sunrise watching sessions on the plateau?" she asked.Sabrina nodded, releasing her Hypno to assist with the Teleport. "Both help him think positively about the day." They also helped push back darker moods. It was also highly effective and well documented as providing benefits for depression, anxiety and anger issues in a healthy manner.The quartet of girls vanished in a flash of light that had Suzie grumbling, but it did make her open her eyes. "Are we there yet?" she mumbled."Yes, we're in the pony club foyer," whispered Sabrina.Suzie nodded and gave Sabrina another hug before releasing her hold and letting herself be lowered. She then smacked her cheeks a few times and put her hands on her hips. Sabrina quirked an eyebrow. This was new behaviour."It's going to be a great day!" announced Suzie as she collected her own, much smaller pack, only to march into the pony club stables.Cindy groaned. "Urgh! She's trying to be a morning person! Can't she just join us in sisterhood as morning haters?"Sabrina put her hand on Cindy's shoulder and held in a giggle at the younger girl's antics. "Let her do things her own way," she said, parroting one of the things she'd picked up from some idle reading of the books on parenting in Brock's room.Cindy huffed and Yolanda clapped her on the other shoulder. "Come on, she's going to be in a pile of Ponyta if we don't supervise her," advised Yolanda.Both girls scampered into the club. Terra rumbled after them, but Spot only went as far as the door before curling up, a single eye open while a single ear remained perked up in readiness for an order. Sabrina stroked its fur telekinetically as she passed.Within the club several girls and a few boys were already milling about, seeing to the needs of the various Ponyta and occasional Rapidash for the older children or teenagers. In Sabrina's case, she walked past the initial stables to where the girls were. On the way she passed by a number of psychic pokemon that were ambling about, using their psychic abilities to assist the various children or performing their own duties.For the purpose of Alakazam's study, none of them knew that they were in fact part of an experiment. A double-blind for the purposes of assisting the accuracy of the end study. Alakazm, along with a select breeder, had been working to increase psychic energy saturation within the stables. The only safe option they'd come upon beyond the low levels offered by the stables being part of the gym was to make psychic pokemon part of the staff.The trick had been finding psychic pokemon with the right temperament. More than a few Hypno and Drowzee enjoyed spending time with children, but there was sadly a horrible stigma associated with them due to the actions of a few unscrupulous sorts.Chimecho were actually the most prolific in the stables, as the little pokemon helped to keep everyone relaxed and the pokemon at ease with the children's often enthusiastic ministrations.To further the children's level of understanding and kindness, Sabrina had also distributed a number of Slowpokes around the stables that the children had to work around or assist out of hazards. It worked rather well in Sabrina's opinion.More than a few children grew frustrated at first, but they slowly learned to be more patient.They, along with the few Starmie that lived in the troughs, also served as handy fire extinguishers should the need arise."Oh Beauty, your mane is so warm!" gushed Suzie as she brushed out her pokemon."Are you going for a ride today?" prompted Sabrina.Suzie nodded, turned and gave Sabrina wide, tear-filled eyes. "Can you help me saddle her up?"Without a word, the saddle on the wall with Beauty's name on it rose up and deposited itself on the little Ponyta's back before clinching and tightening itself. The bridle quickly followed."Thank you!" chimed Suzie as she led her Ponyta to a mounting block where she stepped up and into the saddle. "All ready!" she said, holding the bridle like she'd been shown.Sabrina made a show of inspecting her hold before nodding. "Alright, trot her out to your sister's stables and you can all go for a ride around the arena."Suzie turned her pokemon to do that, only to sigh when she spotted a Slowpoke that had made its way in front of the door. Sabrina pretended not to see it and Suzie grumbled for a little bit before hopping down and moving to gently guide the Slowpoke to a tasty stack of hay that Suzie had set up. Beauty tossed her head at this and Suzie then had to placate her ride."It's alright! I can get you some tastier hay, with oran berries in them when we're done!" she said as she mounted back up, her little legs kicking at the air as she wormed her way up.Sabrina walked with Suzie to her sisters before making her own way towards her own Rapidash, Prancer, who was a beautiful shiny type, as Brock liked to call them. Sabrina rather hoped the psychic type Ponyta would be just as pretty, but only time would tell.They were already on their first batch of eggs that would hatch. She'd need to recruit some more assistants with little girls to look after them all.She didn't even need to look around to know that it wouldn't be hard to get more girls to come look after the baby Ponyta.When she got to Prancer's stable, the proud pokemon tossed his head and sent a wave of amusement her way. Prancer was a smart horse, and that made it all the easier to bond with him. Sadly he wasn't very good at fighting. But he was extremely fast and very pretty, so she could forgive him.When she needed to make an entrance at some of the galas Erika liked to invite her to, Prancer was perfect.Although she might just make as much of a wave if she arrived on Farigaraf's back… or even Wyrdeer. Sadly she hadn't yet found a suitable foe to reveal her latest Elite pokemon to the world. Samuel Oak knew and was happy to document the pokemon but otherwise, it wasn't even on her Indigo profile that she had him.She just needed the right opponent.She put aside such thoughts as she joined the girls trotting around the sandy arena, causing all the people riding pokemon to perk up. She could feel their concentrations slip as more than a few shot her furtive glances, even as they redoubled their effort in keeping proper riding positions.The instructors were always amusing to observe, as waves of chagrin and bemusement radiated out whenever she rode out. One of them observed Sabrina's own position in the saddle only to give up when they found nothing wrong. As they should, with Sabrina holding herself perfectly with her own telekinesis.As she passed the other riders she made sure to nod, say hello or offer some simple advice where she could.She found her new habit of a morning horse ride rather suited her, even if the hour that she had to wake up for it was rather horrible. The smiles and emotions of joy that came from the various children were a very nice way to start the day.It was especially nice to lead the girls to her own family house to share breakfast with her family. The girls happily regaled Sabrina's mother with tales of the morning ride, with Yolanda prying psychic training tricks out of her father.When it was time to return the girls to Pewter she made sure to lock eyes with Flint to remind him of the pecking order. If a shovel levitated out of the garden and floated in the window like a deranged serial killer, that was just the wind.When Flint actually looked the shovel vanished.With Flint suitably reminded, Sabrina Teleported to where Brock was to spend a few minutes with her boyfriend. She made sure to bring with her some of the bagels that had been prepared.Munchlax would be confused for a few minutes but then shrug it off as having either already eaten them or rightly assuming someone in the family stole it.He'd forgive her when she apologised later.Family was good like that.