Hard Enough

When I sent out the call to all the Kanto gym leaders about this meeting, I knew I would have a strong response. But I hadn’t expected everyone to message or call me back almost immediately upon receiving the message with their confirmation.

I had all three Cerulean sisters—Violet, Daisy, and Lily—, Erika, Surge, Kong, Grey, Koga, Blaine, Giovanni, and the two gym leaders I’d yet to meet in person—Manny and Sophia—respond within half an hour. Sabrina, of course, had already committed herself to attend. She’d been my sounding board for my plan.

She’d been the one to throw three giant boulders through Giovanni’s gym doors. She really was the best friend a guy could ever want. Need a giant boulder thrown through your eternal enemy’s only known residence? Done. No questions.

That girl… Damn.

I shook my head and focussed on what I should be focusing on. I had a few hours before the gym leaders came. Now the issue with what I had planned was that I needed a space to house the meeting. I didn’t want to have it in a hall or room away from the Gym. I wanted it to happen at the Gym so I could convey a sense of strength, something that was especially important with Blaine and Giovanni attending.

It was just that none of the rooms were naturally set up quite the right way.

So instead, I was planning to compromise. I had my pokemon clear out the rock field in the center of the arena and instead have them raise up a round, circular table that I had polished and cleaned up, with Shin and Scyther styling the table. The chairs were slabs of stone that I had formed into something like thrones. Rachel had added small pillows atop each.

I then set the fifteen thrones around the rim. While I waited, I finished up all the jobs I had to do. This now included reassuring my siblings that I was fine and that the gym was fine. They’d been very anxious upon learning that the gym had been attacked. That had almost caused me to call Sabrina up and demand that she teleport me into the middle of Giovanni’s gym, but I retained my cool and focussed on the plan.

The kids had departed for the day after I’d pinkie-promised them that everything was fine. Missy and Celia, as one of her last duties for the Gym before she departed for Hoenn, took the kids to school. So I was able to stick to the plan.

It was a good plan.

I’d spoken with a number of people after announcing the Gym Leaders’ meeting. I’d also written down my thoughts into a… hopefully concise and compelling argument about Giovanni to Koga and Agatha while attaching it to the documents I’d been reviewing about said man. Hopefully they’d read it and agreed. If not, I’d need to find other options.

For now, I focussed on setting the stage. When the table and chairs were ready I had the usual light snacks and glasses of water set out in case anyone needed something. Then I had Rachel set up in the reception area to meet and greet and lead them in.

Twenty minutes before the meeting was set to start, Sabrina teleported to my side and claimed her seat to my right.

"Hey, Sabrina,” I said, having expected her.

“Brock, I’m sorry for being late. Mother was... well, she was rather anxious with everything that happened yesterday.”

“Oh, but you’re not late?” I said, tilting my head to the side.

Sabrina shook her head slightly. "No, I was supposed to be here much earlier, but as I mentioned, my mother. She was being very emotional... I had not known that I used to have an uncle…”

I noted the past tense and gave a grim nod. “Well, thanks for coming and for, well, yesterday.”

Sabrina ‘perked’ up. And by that, I meant she straightened and gained a certain air of smugness. “I was happy to help. You should call on me for such issues more in the future.”

I chuckled. “Alright, alright, you’re right. I will try to remember in the future.”

Sabrina stared at me. I could see the disbelief written plainly across her face. I coughed and looked away. "Yeah, alright, I will! I won’t just try!!” I said.

She made a satisfied noise and I shot her a smile which she returned. She was getting good at ‘bantering’. She must be spending a bit of time with Erika. I just hoped she wasn’t… no… it wasn’t for me to say what she could and couldn’t adopt for herself. I’d been with her for years and she’d barely had as much progress as she’d had of late.

Her development and growth were good.

“BOOM BABY!” shouted Surge as he kicked in the doors leading into the arena. Rachel trailed after him, flapping her arms about.

“Ah! You didn’t need to do that!” she said, gesturing toward the doors, only to be ignored by Surge.

Surge grinned at me, his face now cleanly shaven instead of sporting his off circuit beard. “But I wanted to! Hup!” He jumped over the side instead of taking the stairs. I wanted to roll my eyes at his dramatic entrance, but then again… I did pretty much the same thing during the circuit to create a drama-filled moment for the trainers.

Sabrina frowned at him. “Surge,” she said in greeting.

“Yo Sabrina!” He waved at us as he rose from his crouched position. “Brocko! Long time since we all got together!” He shot finger guns at us both. “Sabrina, you should come hang out in Vermillion some time since you’re pretty close!.” He turned to me. “And Brock! I know I sent you invites to my world-famous smoked barbeque!”

“Your weekly barbeque?” I asked with a tilt of my head.

He dropped into the chair on my left and grinned. “Yup! World famous!”

“In a good way?” asked Sabrina flatly.

Surge frowned. “It’s world-famous!” he said, as if that should obviously mean good.

Sabrina merely stared at him languidly, as if she shouldn’t have to explain herself. I snorted at them both before speaking, “Well, regardless, things here have kept me busy. I’ve been cloystering up certainly, but that’s part and parcel these days.”

“I’ll say!” Surge made a show of looking around the vast room with the seating areas and large doors leading to the gym proper. “Damn sure looks better than that old boulder gym you used to operate out of. Fancy without being too slick or.. What do they call it? Gucci?” he said, rubbing his chin.

“Garish I think you mean,” I said.

“Eh!” Surge shrugged. “Same, same!” He waved me off.

He then sat up and adopted a more serious pose. “But for real, Brock, are you alright? I heard in the news that Rocket didn’t get anything, but is that for real? Or just a stunt? Giovanni claimed pretty much the same.”

I nodded. “They never got into the buildings or stole any pokemon away. I’ve done the counts and checked all the areas. They didn’t get anything beyond a swift kick in the backside and then some.” I considered it for a moment before continuing. “What about Giovanni? Heard anything there?”

Surge leaned back .”I ain’t heard nada about it. Which has me worried… those reporters weren’t wrong that multiple gyms, and big ones at that, haven’t been attacked like this since the war.” Surge ran his hand over the top of a few scars on his hands and his eyes got a faraway look.

“I don’t think it will get that bad Surge. That’s what today’s meeting will be about mostly. Team Rocket are getting too brazen,” I said, reaching over and patting him on the shoulder.

He gave me a tight smile before nodding. Then he swept his eyes around the room. “... got a few too many chairs don’t you there Brock? Or are you inviting the unofficial gyms Like Kaz and Yas as well? Is everyone showing up?”

He grimaced. “You didn’t invite Manny, did you?”

“He did indeed!” called out a gleeful voice as a man that was brightly dressed followed Rachel out. Sabrina perked up, and it took me a moment to realise why she was reacting so positively to the man.

He was a middle-aged man with a huge bald spot, rosy red cheeks and nose, and brightly coloured clothes… He looked somewhat like a clown. He walked with an unusual gait, almost swinging his hips around. I half expected him to tumble and rise up juggling some pokeballs or something else, but he did no such thing.

Much to Sabrina’s disappointment, I suspected, judging by her tiny slump when he sat down.

“Hey Manny,” said Surge with a very reluctant tone, like he’d rather not have to sit across from the man and was forced to be polite.

Manny grinned at Surge. "Hello, hello from Cremini town! Thank you for the invite, and I’m terribly sorry for the need to have this meeting!” He looked at me. “Is there anything I or my pokemon can do to help?”

I shook my head. “No, things are handled.” I tilted my head. “Sorry for the question, but what sort of gym do you run? It’s rare that we get to speak in person, and you didn’t attend the last meeting.”

“There was a meeting? I never heard of it? What was it about?” said the man as he leaned from side to side.

Surge glanced to the side and whistled childishly, as though his feigned innocence didn’t make him look more guilty. I shot him a look. “The audit that a lot of us went through.”

“Oh, I had my accountant and lawyer handle that. No issue. Auditor Timothy was rather quick and straightforward about the whole thing. Very complimentary of my gym!”

“Which is in Cremini town, but what sort of gym is it?” I asked, trying to nudge him back to the other question I had asked while tucking away that we’d had the same auditors. Had that been by chance, or was it Agatha at work once again?

“Oh sorry! Normal type! I have a team that features the Meowth line, Ratata, Lickitung, Cleffa, Igglypuff, Eevee, Tauros, Teddiursa, Sentret, Snubbull and such. It makes for a pretty fun fighting style with me being able to whip out so many moves with my pokemon!” he said with a chuckle.

I nodded at him while noting that a good number of his pokemon would probably be re-categorised in the future as fairy-type and not normal-typed. If he stayed in Kanto, he might end up as a fairy gym rather than a normal type. If he got some Marill, Mr. Mimes and Ralts he’d have a fairly strong lineup.

The other pokemon line he’d mentioned that sparked a memory was otherwise Teddiursa. Get that pokemon some peat block and a full moon and he’d have a variant for himself. But that might end up as one of Giovanni’s pokemon and I was loath to hand him any potential information/advantage.

Which reminded me of another pokemon with interesting evolutions that I wouldn't mind giving to people I trust.

Stantler would need to be taught Psyshield bash and then trained for speed. Something that might be possible if I bought one of the young racer Stantler that were used for the winter races… hmmm I liked the idea of that. Perhaps I could make it work. I’d already shown that variant evolutions weren’t dependent on residual energy as some would claim in my old world. I’d just have to try and see if it worked for Stantler.

Sabrina telekinetically nudged me and I shot her a small nod for drawing me back into the conversation.

“—falling for your tricks?” Surge was saying to Manny.

The brightly coloured bald man smiled whimsically. “Oh indeed! They have no idea how to handle it when I use Trick Room, or Gravity, or Baton Pass!” He laughed to himself. “ I have an entire wall of people’s reactions when I use it on them the first time, and I go from a simple Jigglypuff coming down on them under gravity to a Snorlax!”

Surge winced before nodding. “Oooooh, I like it!”

“Oh!? Well be my guest and come on over… any time Surge,” said Manny with a slight tone that I couldn’t put my finger on.

Surge’s eyes widened as though he’d just remembered something. I suspect it was linked to why he didn’t invite Manny last time. “I’m actually super busy! Maybe some other time!” Surge blurted out.

Sabrina leaned forward. “Perhaps Manny can come to your ‘world-famous barbecue’ Surge?” she said neutrally.

I stared at her. Sabrina was acting too innocent. She’d picked something up from Manny. I knew she couldn’t read Surge, but if she had his reactions and Manny’s thoughts... What was going on here?

“I think I’d love to try that! I do enjoy my meat!” said the man as he laughed and smiled happily at Surge who now looked a little ill.

Oh. Surge was being flirted with.

Manny shot me a wink, and I realised Manny understood what was going on and he was messing with Surge. Heh, turns out Surge couldn’t handle a little compliment and teasing. I looked away and bit my lip so I didn’t give the game away.

Sabrina glimmered with amusement, and I smiled. It was nice to have Surge, ever the bombastic one in our group, on the back foot. I was so inviting Manny to these things in the future.

“ORA!” shouted a voice as my tunnel doors were punched open. They slammed harshly into the walls and I rolled my eyes as Kong announced himself. Sabrina gave a little huff of annoyance as he strutted in, glowering at her. He set himself down across from her and right next to Manny. The bald man happily watched Kong huff and flex at Sabrina impotently.

He apparently wasn’t going to turn down a free show.

Following directly after Kong, and notably more quiet in their approach, Erika led the Cerulean sisters into the arena with a polite bow of greeting. She claimed the spot next to Sabrina, leaving Daisy, Violet, and Lily to claim the next seats on Erika’s other side.

“Hey Brock~!” Daisy and Lily waved at me, and I nodded back in greeting. Sabrina leaned forward slightly, and her eyes narrowed at the pair, but they didn’t notice as they smiled at me. Lily played with her hair.

“Like thanks for all the help you organised for us!”

I waved my hand through the air. “I really didn’t do anything. I spoke to the Rangers once and mentioned talking with you and the Lapras reserve but that’s it.”

“Yeah but I got a super cutey in Babe! She’s such a darling pokemon! We went down there last month to talk with them and I saw your Tide! He’s huge!” Lily tilted her head. “Any chance we could get him on loan? We can talk about it later!”

“Psst Brock!” Surge leaned in ‘subtly’ to whisper at me but his giant frame made it obvious what he was doing.

I glanced at him. He nodded slowly, mouthing behind his raised hand. ‘Do it and her!’ He shot me a thumbs-up. I shook my head at him and he narrowed his eyes. It didn’t stop a stray gust of wind causing some dust to blow into his face. I turned back to find Daisy and Lily likewise having to clean their faces.

I wiped the table and ground, checking for dust. “Sorry about that, I thought I cleaned the room.” Oddly, on both swipes, my fingers came back clean. I sat up and frowned before shooting Sabrina a look. She was pointedly not looking at me. I rolled my eyes at her before looking at Lily as she finished wiping her face for dust.

“Sorry, but I’m thinking of maybe featuring him this year in my Ace Challenges along with some of my other pokemon that don’t get as much battle time.” I shot Sabrina an unamused look when she telekinetically pat my head. “How are your new trainers otherwise?”

Daisy bobbed her head up and down a few times and started commenting on how things were easier with the older Ranger helping them out and riding herd on the newcomers from Erika and Giovanni. Daisy turned to Erika. “I have to say it is just so nice having so many other girls to train with! It just makes it so much more enjoyable!”

Erika beamed like someone had just performed Sunny Day on her and she was collecting the energy. “Yes! Some of the girls still keep in touch, and they are really enjoying the posting! Perhaps we should set something up for you like I have with my gym?”

Daisy, Lily and Violet all nodded. I tilted my head as I recalled something else while also noting that Violet hadn’t had dust thrown into her face.

“How’d the date go?” I said quickly, before any girl talk could start up. It had been Violet that had decided to date the man who came as an auditor. I was a bit slow with it being months since she’d told us but eh.

Her sisters smirked at Violet as she squirmed. “He’s like, not that bad, alright! He’s really sweet!”

Lily and Daisy shared a look before sing songing, “She put out on the second date~!”

I blinked. Wow these girls were rough on each other. With sisters like this it was no wonder Misty was shown to have a hair trigger. Violet turned on her sisters and I could practically see the hate boiling in her eyes.

“I told you that in confidence! Now everyone thinks I’m loose!” she roared.

Surge leaned forward and in a carrying whisper said, “Well that boring conversation now has my attention!” He leaned forward and grinned at Lily and Daisy. “Hello Ladies!”

Sabrina scoffed and I chuckled. Sometimes he made it hard to remember that he was a highly observant, battle-hardened trainer when he talked like that. The cerulean sisters gave him strained smiles that made it clear Surge was not in their strike zones.

The opening of a door had us turning to find Grey entering only to pause at our collective focus settling on him. He fidgeted and glanced around only to note all the free seats. He claimed a spot on the end next to Kong and swallowed, but I couldn’t help but notice how his eyes quickly slid over to the door.

“Grey! Ready for the coming circuit?!” barked Surge as he spotted his previous hazing target. I snorted, just happy he wasn’t trying to hit on the Cerulean sisters anymore.

When Giovanni came in, he did so with Blaine by his side. Giovanni stalked with a straight face that was set in stone. Blaine seemed distracted, but he had enough presence of mind to nod at us all. I hummed, surprised he wasn’t trying to strike up a deal to visit my variant golem site or my ancient pokemon. I’d been gambling when I decided to host the event here, but ultimately decided not to shy away from claiming home turf advantage.

Blaine didn’t seem to want to talk with me, but he claimed a seat on the open side, and Giovanni claimed the seat next to him. When Grey got up to sit next to them, my eyebrows shot up. Now that was a tale I was very interested in. I glanced around and saw a few people eyeing Grey suspiciously.

Three seats remained empty.

The door opened once more, and we looked to see a rather thickset woman stomp her way in. She wore biker leathers with patches that were actually kind of cute to look at. She had Flareon, Jigglypuff, Weezing, a Pidgeot, and a number of other pokemon over her arms and shoulders. She notably had a fray along the stitching of her Butterfree patch like it’d been torn at. I looked into her eyes and saw they were red and puffy.

“Sophia? …Are you alright?” I asked. This was not territory I felt prepared for. I’d barely spoken with her over the transceiver perhaps four to five times in the past. To see her in person and see her upset… Had she been raided as well?

She swallowed and nodded at everyone. “Don’t mind me. I’m just… Had to let Chilli go yesterday, and I’m still a bit torn up bout it.” she sat with a slouch. “I’m alright, this is important, and I need to be out doing stuff.”

I tilted my head. I hadn’t dealt with her before, but Chilli sounded like a pet name. Grey leaned forward from next to Giovanni. “Isn’t Chilli your old Butterfree? Don’t you go through them like every couple of years cause they’re bug pokemon?”

Sophia sat up, her hair left long on the top while being shorn along the sides hung over one eye as she straightened. Despite that I could feel the intensity of her gaze as she settled it upon Grey.

"Grey, shut the fuck up about things you have no idea about. I barely speak to you during the little gym leader meetings we hold so don’t think you can mouth off without me smacking you across the chops.”

Grey reeled back and became aware that everyone was giving him stink eyes. Manny laced his fingers together. “I think you should be considering an apology, young Greyhold Stern,” he said with a tone that made me want to take notes.

It was perfectly paternal without being overly familiar. It was polite and stern all at once. Interestingly ‘Greyhold’ swallowed and blushed.

“I’m sorry for my words Sophia,” he said quickly.

Sophia sniffed. “I’ll punch you in the throat or the dick next time. Consider that your only warning.”

With that, I sat up as I glanced at the suddenly full chairs, bar one. Koga nodded once in greeting. Giovanni opened his mouth but I was ready for him.

“We're still going to be waiting on one person. I have, as is my right, invited another interested party to this discussion.”

Everyone, barring Sabrina and Koga, shot me curious looks. I smiled innocently as the doors opened once more and Lance stepped forth.

His cape flapped dramatically behind him and he stood with the light of the entrance as backlighting. “Gym Leaders of Kanto, greetings,” he said as he stepped forward.

Koga looked at me. “You’re invoking the rules of invitation to the Champion as this is a regional issue, yes?”

"Indeed, I am; according to official meeting minutes, the Champion has been invited in the past to discuss issues that will affect all of Kanto... or indeed more," I said, alluding to the magnitude of what I was about to discuss.

Giovanni’s gaze bore into me and despite his stoic expression, I could tell that he was less than pleased with this development. Perhaps he wanted to just sweep it under the rug or downplay it. With the Champion present and with an agenda on the cards he’d have to work twice as hard to do so.

Lance swept down to the round table and claimed the final spot but did not immediately sit. Instead, he remained standing and put both hands down on the table as he turned his head around to look each of us in the eyes for a moment. My own eyes dipped to a new bracelet he wore on his right arm. In the middle, a small gem that reminded me of a red and blue catseye marble sat. Was that…

Lance spoke, and I looked up to find him gazing in my direction before he turned to Sabrina next to me. “I know of all of you. I do not know you. This is perhaps a failing on my part, and one I will be seeking to rectify. I understand that recent events have fragmented our unity as a nation. Indigo is something more than just Johto and Kanto. The recent audit is an example of something poorly executed, and I would like to take this moment to acknowledge it was wrong and that the parties responsible have been dealt with.”

He continued to survey the room. “I feel I have failed you and for that I am sorry.” He bowed his head, and I found myself appreciating him a little more. I’d knew he was capable of it, but to see it in action was something else. When he raised his head I bobbed my own back.

Others, such as Sabrina, Blaine, Giovanni, Surge, Sophia, Grey, Manny, and Koga, did not nod back, for what I assumed were different reasons. The Cerulean sisters waved it off, while Erika had to abort her own bow so that she didn’t headbutt the table.

I caught the smallest colouring of pink energy on the table in front of Erika and re-examined that statement. Apparently, she may have done so only for Sabrina to catch her. I shot Sabrina a small smile, but her eyes remained locked on Lance.

He straightened and retook his stance, this time not leaning forward but still standing. “If any of you have any personal misgivings, my door is always open to Gym Leaders.” He nodded again before coughing.

“With that out of the way, I would like to address the issue that has brought all of us here today.” He looked at Giovanni and me.

“Two gyms of Kanto have been attacked in a short amount of time. People have always seen Team Rocket as an organisation that was more a nuisance than a real threat, but with this recent attack there needs to be a… re-examination of priorities.”

Grey leaned forward. “What’s that mean? Is the League going to pay us more to do more patrols and catch crooks seeing as the police obviously are not enough?”

Giovanni shook his head. “The League doesn’t give out funding like that. They could loosen restrictions on us though, and allow greater sovereignty over our areas. Before yesterday, Viridian had a perfect track record with the police and my own gym trainers handling any scuffles or incidents. If Team Rocket has grown, I need to be able to investigate.”

Koga barked a laugh. “Sovereignty!? You speak of the old times before Kanto was even an idea! I suppose as the Viridian representative you would raise that as an option!”

I frowned before recalling how the Viridian ‘state’ had been the last to join with Kanto as a nation according to the founding Hero story.

Blaine leaned forward. “I find that I too would not mind greater… freedoms to enact justice.” Blaine, I noted, was staring at the bracelet on Lance’s arm. When he looked up, there was a flash of something in his eyes, and I almost wanted to grasp a pokeball and send out Titan to defend me. But the expression passed as if it had never been.

Sabrina and Erika had seen it. Erika didn't seem to understand what she'd seen, and Sabrina's eyes narrowed slightly. Lance looked at Blaine before huffing.

“It is not freedom to enact ‘justice’ or a greater burden that I wish to speak of. It is the fact that Team Rocket, and indeed many criminal elements have become widespread across the world. Granting you greater authority would be a bandaid. We need something that will encompass the world. It is something I have long considered that we’re in need of! My work with the Rangers highlighted the shortcomings of having the many nations that make up our world not working together!”

He raised a hand as others sat up in fear. “I do not speak of further uniting of nations or anything that could lead to conflict, but rather evolving the law and order of the world. I speak of creating an international police force.”

I’d known this was something Lance in canon had been involved with. I had known of his past and even looked through his records since I’d gained access to them as a member of the Guardians. When he had to attend dinners or give speeches there had been an underlying trend of him advocating law and order.

Lance sighed hugely and let his body droop. “This will be something that I will not be able to enact for quite some time.” I almost saw Giovanni relax in his seat at that, but it was minute and you had to be looking for it to tell.

Blaine adjusted his glances and sniffed. “It would take more than us agreeing to it.”

Lance nodded. “I am going to formally announce a Grand Conclave of Gym Leaders and Elite Four Trainers for this purpose at the end of the next Indigo conference. I will start small and link up the Johto and Kanto police jurisdictions, but I will also be in talks with the Orange and Sevii islands. Hoenn, and other nations that we encounter in future, will need to be discussed at a later date. I hope to broach the topic with Steven Stone once our own region is structured for international policing.”

Blaine snorted loudly at the last comment, drawing more looks. He gritted his teeth and waved our attention off. I tilted my head but didn’t say anything about how Blaine was acting. Blaine was being very touchy about this. More than I would have thought. Or had something just been said that set him off?

Giovanni set a finger on the table firmly. “It’s all well and good as an ideal, but in practice, it can just as easily be a noose for us.” He planted his hand on the table firmly. “I won’t agree to anything until I see all of the fine print.”

Surge grunted in agreement. “I can’t say I’m going to be jumping in at the idea of it either.” He worked his jaw. “Bit too much history of you Johto types pulling sly ones on us Kantonians.”

Grey laughed and slapped the table. “I thought you made a killing recently on Johto bookies?”

Surge glanced at him and grinned with all his teeth on display. “Yeah, yeah, I did.”

Lance raised his hands. “I understand this is ambitious of me, but I thought I should be open. In the wake of Pewter and Viridian being raided, we need an appropriate response.”

I leaned in. “I think the first step we need to be taking is increasing our patrolling and having more information regarding Team Rocket. We’re talking even bigger than them right now. Ultimately, their raid on me didn’t just fail, we were also able to capture one of their sites with them still in the act. I know there are still going to be some lawyers quibbling over the details of the arrests but thanks to Ace Trainer Karen, we were able to stay in hot pursuit.” I turned to Giovanni and channelled my rock energy to hold in the grin that threatened to tug at my lips.

“What happened at your gym? Was everything accounted for?” I said it like I was actually concerned for the man’s well-being. I hope he choked on his cigar when he heard his gym had been trashed.

He leaned back. “My gym merely had cosmetic damage, I assure you. Nothing was taken from us.”

“Good that you were there to stop them then,” I said with a nod. When Giovanni didn’t say anything, I tilted my head. “You… weren’t there? How do you know nothing was stolen?”

“My trainers were able to reach the gym within minutes of the alarms going off.”

Sabrina tilted her head. “That makes it sound like something could have been taken or changed around… It is still early days yet. If you need assistance, I would be happy to help.” She then nodded towards the Cerulean sisters. “Or indeed others that you have shown kindness to.”

Giovanni’s jaw twitched. “That won’t be necessary, I assure you.”

Lance sat back and watched the byplay with interest. “Very well, I understand that recent events will have strained you, so I will be increasing the police presence in both Viridian and Pewter to assist… I will also be allocating further funding to the police and pushing for advancement and development skills with a special task force for Team Rocket.”

Sophia raised her hand in a strangely timid gesture for such a large woman. Lance nodded towards her. “Yes, Sophia?”

"Well, that’s good and all but it still doesn’t stop the big issue that I came to talk about? What can we do if our Gym is attacked? I can’t just accept that the answer is to wait for the police!” she said loudly.

The Cerulean sisters, Manny, Erika, and Kong all nodded. Kong stiffened when he realised he’d nodded along and brushed his nose to try and cover up that he’d agreed with the others. He defaulted to glaring at Sabrina like she’d made him do it.

I hummed. “Perhaps it’s a matter of preparation as well then?”

When everyone looked at me, I shrugged. "With our responsibilities, we're so caught up in the dueling challenge mindset that we forget we don't have to fight them with just one of our pokemon. We can use more just as they do. This is not a nice exchange but rather a true fight.”

I allowed myself a grimace. “When they attacked my home they weren’t restricting themselves to just using one pokemon for each of themselves but rather two or three per trainer in most cases. I had strategies for my pokemon to follow in such an event as I deemed such a raid possible.”

I waggled my hand in the air. “If highly unlikely at the time… now? Not so much. I’ll be keeping up their training and maybe developing more methods to stop raids on my gym.”

The room took a moment to process this, and the thickset biker woman was the first to speak up.

“You… used more than one pokemon against them?” Sophia asked with a tilt of her head, like that was a foreign concept. For some people, it would be, with how regimented matches are. Two on two matches had only become possible in the last five years and were still rare for the average trainer to take part in.

“During my journey in Hoenn, I ran into some trainers that had encountered bounty hunters there. Often, they would strike hard and fast. When I spoke with the people that had pokemon stolen from them, I learned that they needed to be able to get out of the blocks with everything they had earlier instead of waiting until it was too late and they’d lost their pokemon.”

I tapped my head. “It takes a bit of awareness training to be able to keep track of what’s happening, but it pays in situations where there’s more pokemon in play.” I looked to Koga. “You understand what I’m talking about, yeah?”

Koga inclined his head. “Indeed, I often keep my skills sharp by performing not just teamwork tasks but tasks that are different for all of my pokemon when I train with them. Young Brock is correct that we have let ourselves grow lax in how we fight.”

Lance drew in a breath. “That…” He sighed, “ I won’t gainsay anyone that needs to train different methods of fighting to protect themselves or loved ones, but I do not want to hear of others using this method in common battles. I don’t want it adopted with more trainers as it has the risk of more damage to areas. It is too dangerous and too reminiscent of the old times.”

Lance gave me an appraising look before continuing. “It is not an escalation to meet them with an equal level of pokemon, but remember that using more pokemon at once will put you at risk of whiteout should your pokemon faint. This means that not only will your pokemon be helpless, but so will you. If you wish to pursue this as your option, then train for it.”

He raised his off-hand, “Or invest in more security or trainers to support your gyms. I will be increasing police presence, creating a task force, and hopefully developing an international body to deal with such criminals in future.”

Koga laced his fingers together. “This… seems a wise course of action.” He glanced at Sophia. “If you are unsure how to train your pokemon and yourself in a more… chaotic style, then by all means drop in for a chat. I have much experience in this.”

Surge sniffed. “I’m more used to shock and awe with fewer pokemon but I’ve got some tricks if you want em.”

Sophia, Erika and Manny relaxed at this while the Cerulean sisters all shared looks. “Like uh, we’ll talk about it ourselves, but we might go with another option.”

Rather than looking disappointed with the sisters, Lance seemed relieved that not everyone was going to be ‘arming up’. He nodded, and the girls all preened at his attention.

“Lance,” said Koga before any other items could be raised.

Lance glanced at the leader of Fuchsia gym. Koga inclined his head and hummed before nodding sternly. “I will tentatively voice my support for your international police force. I think there is a need. I would like to work with you on this.”

Lance grinned and I smiled. I had thought that Koga might not enjoy the idea with his position on the Guardians, but it seemed he was going a different route by making sure he had a say in how things developed. At least it seemed that way to me.

I leaned forward. “I’m not great at investigative work, but if you need someone to break open some doors I’m more than willing to help out.” I held in the smirk as I made sure not to look at Giovanni.

Surge slapped me on the back. “That makes two of us! But like Giovanni said. I’ll be reading all the fine print!” he said, pointing two fingers at his eyes before turning them onto Lance.

He chuckled at Surge and nodded. “I hope to make this as transparent an organisation as I can, I assure you.”

“Yeah we’ll see.” Surge leaned back and crossed his arms while shooting me a wink.

I held up a hand. “Is there any chance the cap on Arcanine in the Police force could be raised from five per city?”

Lance considered that before nodding. “I can look into that. That would help I think. Johto will of course see the same with Houndoom or other equivalents.” He gave that some thought. Blaine grinned at that and it took me a moment to remember that with the Cinnabar islands he’d probably be the primary seller of fire stones.

There was a moment of quiet where no one else spoke up. I leaned forward, deciding to prompt things along. “Well, I think we have covered a lot of potential solutions so recent events don’t repeat themselves. Was there any other business to discuss?”

Lance shot Koga a look and the man nodded once.

Lance coughed. “I may as well use this moment to make the announcement that with Shafner’s… retirement from the Elite Four,” started Lance, only for Surge to cut him off.

“You mean he didn’t run off all butt hurt cause you beat the pants off him with just one pokemon?” Surge tilted his head as though asking innocently, but I could see the way his lips were twitching.

Lance coughed while the Cerulean sisters giggled. Erika shot Surge a glare that was about as effective as a normal move on a ghost.

“As I was saying, due to Shafner stepping down, there has been a position available on my Elite Four.” A few notable eyes shot towards me, and I felt a stirring of pride at that response.

Lance however, turned to Koga. “I can think of no one better suited to upholding the position than Gym Leader Koga from Fuchsia, and after this circuit, he will become one of the Elite Four officially. I will also be looking for other trainers that have the skills for another, future opening.”

Blaine leaned forward and leered at Lance. “Getting rid of that little ice maiden are we?”

Lance stared for a moment, but shook his head. “Not… as yet. Lorelei is a strong trainer and will remain with us. I was instead speaking of Agatha’s desire to step down.”

Blaine snorted so loudly that the sound echoed for a moment. Everyone stared at him.

He waved his hand across his face. “My apologies, the dust in here must be affecting my sinuses.” The Cerulean sisters all nodded in understanding, but I thought I heard Blaine whisper under his breath. “That or all the Tauros dung he’s shoveling at us.”

Lance gave Blaine a pointed stare that the bald man had no trouble matching. When it looked like they weren’t going to stop, I coughed pointedly.

“Well, I for one think that deserves a celebration both for Koga’s accession and another for Agatha’s retirement. Will there be a party for Agatha?” I said, deciding to give Agatha another chance to needle some people. The girls in the room, excluding Sabrina, all perked up. Sabrina did so after glancing at them and reading something.

I looked to Koga and started to clap, resulting in the others following suit. Surge took it a step further by standing and punching the sky. “Wooooooh! Yeah, Koga!” he bellowed.

Koga inclined his head. “Thank you for your kind words.” He shot me a look before nodding again to Lance. “I assure you I desire no… party.”

Lance gave a noncommittal hum that had Koga narrowing his eyes. When Koga shot me a look, I pointedly looked to the side, not meeting his gaze.

Surge, having stood up, clapped his hands on the table. "Well, that’s a good enough ending to this meeting. If anyone wants some tips to shock some punks getting too frisky with you, by all means call me. Otherwise, I should be getting back.” He winked at me. “I got a Graveller to keep training!”

With nothing else keeping us there, the meeting broke up. Lance made his way around to my seat.

“Thank you again for inviting me today, Brock. This has been something I have been hoping to present for a while but the climate never seemed right.” He bobbed his head. “I’m sorry that it took your gym coming under attack for people to take Law and Order funding more seriously at the League.” He softened slightly. “I have heard it said that everything was fine apart from cosmetic damage, but that does not mean it hasn’t affected you or your family. Are you well?”

I stared at him for a moment before smiling. “The kids are fine. I spent a good while talking with them yesterday afternoon. Forrest was a bit freaked out as was Yolanda but everyone else was just like ‘of course Brock chased them off!’.”

Lance laughed. “It must be nice having such support.”

I returned a wry smile. “Just gotta keep working hard to live up to it I suppose.”

He reached down and squeezed my shoulder. “You’ll do more than that, I have no doubt.”

A small squeal of delight had Lance and I looking away from each other to find the Cerulean sisters lingering and shooting us hopeful looks. Sabrina stood up, and the chair that should have been unmovable scraped loudly on the floor. When the girls glanced at her, she shook her head before inclining it to Erika.

“Erika, Sophia,... and Daisy, Lily and Violet, we should have something to eat, together.” She looked to Sophia who looked startled at the sudden attention.

Erika perked up. “Oh, tea perhaps?!” She glanced over to Sophia who still had slightly red eyes. “Would you like that?” When Sophia nodded the Cerulean sisters formed up around her. The group of girls then all looked at Sabrina.

“Uhmm, are you not coming, Sabrina?” Erika said.

Sabrina offered a small smile. “I need to discuss something with Brock first. I will try to come along soon.”

The girls accepted that and left. I glanced around and noted that everyone else had also departed.

Lance clapped me on the shoulder. “My thanks once more, Brock. Call me if you need anything.” He then made his way out with a wave over his shoulder.

“Good vigilance,” said Koga from next to Sabrina. Sabrina didn’t react, and I held back my twitch. Sabrina put a hand on my forearm as I stood up.

“I have realised I need to keep an eye on what’s important,” she said while looking at me.

I coughed and blushed at her attention. I pat her hand. She meant that in so many more ways than just that she was going to help me out, didn’t she? I… did not want to open that can of weedles right now.

Instead, I directed Koga and Sabrina to my office. Agatha and Karen were seated comfortably in front of my desk, with the screen turned towards them. On it, the arena we’d just come from was shown from multiple angles.

I stepped around the table after nodding at each of them. Sabrina came with me instead of claiming a seat and leaned on the wall behind me. Koga smiled while Agatha tittered. Karen narrowed her eyes.

Yeah… I was positive Sabrina had meant what she said in so many different ways now.

“So? What’re your thoughts?” In a way, I was ceding control of the conversation, but in another, I was prompting them for their thoughts while keeping my own as close to my chest as I could.

Agatha smiled and inclined her head. “Very well played. When you contacted us with your plan for this meeting, I thought you were being a touch too daring, but…” She tapped the screen. “I don’t think Blaine or Giovanni suspected a thing. Lance appears to think this is all his idea even. You have them thinking of many things, but certainly not you.”

She sat back. “After all, everything you raised was perfectly reasonable and justified from what they understand of you.” She exuded satisfaction.

“Willing to admit you were wrong about Giovanni and that he is an issue?” I said, popping a water bottle open and taking a drink. Sabrina grasped the bottle when I was done and took a sip herself. I rolled my eyes at her and left her to her little games with Karen. The other woman seemed to be locked into a staring contest with Sabrina who wasn’t deigning to acknowledge her.

I decided to remain focused on Agatha.

Agatha sniffed. “Wash your mouth out! Me? Wrong? The sky will turn green before that day!” I got the impression she’d still deny it even if the sky shifted through all the colours of the rainbow and more.

She sniffed. “Still, just because I was not wrong doesn’t mean you don’t also have a valid point. I will revisit my previous decision regarding Giovanni. I will be slipping a few more operatives at Team Rocket and having some people try and rise up the ranks to keep tabs on what is going on.” She tapped her cane on the floor.

“Giovanni has gotten too bold… or he’s losing control of his organisation. Both are unacceptable.”

I brought up an image that had been caught on camera during raids. “ What do you make of this pokemon? I don’t recognise it. Do you? Does this mean that Giovanni has access to another region than just Fiore or was this a pokemon from Fiore?” I knew it wasn't, but they didn’t know I knew that.

Agatha shook her head. “No, and that’s another telling sign of his growing influence.” She glanced at the screen. “Lance is certainly showing his draconic nature by trying to establish an international police organisation. Hnnn, it was good that you gave us a lead on what you were planning Brock. Now Koga will be at the forefront of the organisation.”

I smiled. “I'm surprised you didn’t try and stop me.”

“I'm not going to try and stand in front of an avalanche Brock, even with my mastery of Ghost-type energy.”

Karen broke off staring at Sabrina to shoot Agatha an incredulous look like she couldn’t believe what the woman had just said. I caught Sabrina perking up in the reflection of my monitor at ‘beating’ Karen.

Agatha turned her attention. “Usually we are also the ones inviting others into our organisation.” She flicked her eyes at me and then Sabrina.

I shrugged. “She got tired of waiting for you.”

A cough sounded from Koga that sounded like a laugh.

Agatha sighed. “No respect for traditions.” She tutted before grinning. “I shall have to organise a match against you and Karen. Or perhaps I’ll step in myself! What do you say to that, girl?”

Sabrina raised her chin. “If you must amuse yourself, don’t expect me to go easy on you.”

Agatha laughed. “Good, good! Well, with things being rushed along I might as well do that.” She glanced at Koga. “We’ll need to start inviting your daughter as well. Get her ready to swim in the deep dark waters.”

Agatha stood at that. "Well, these old bones have had too much excitement for today. I shall be off.”

She paused in the doorway and glanced back at me. “You’re riding a wave of success right now Brock. Don’t let it get to your head. The crash is worse the higher one goes after all. “

With that final warning tossed out she departed. Karen followed her out. She nodded to me and sniffed at Sabrina. Koga sketched a bow before vanishing in a blur. A moment later the door closed itself quietly.

I sat back and sighed.

That… had pretty much gone to plan. I could chalk that up as a win and a very convincing one at that. There were just some loose ends to tie up.

“Sabrina… can you sense my father at all in Pewter?” I didn’t want him wandering around Pewter anymore. He’d become a potential liability if he was kidnapped by Team Rocket. I didn’t think they’d go to those depths but still... It was possible.

Sabrina’s eyes glowed and her lips turned downwards and I sighed. She gave me a grimace. “I’m sorry Brock… I… I can't sense your father at all within my radius. I’ve only sensed him a few times but he did stand out to me in the past. It is more difficult with distance involved.”

I leaned back. “Was he like me? With his aura showing through?” I had to wonder if what Karen had warned me about with rock-type energy didn't also apply to him. Sabrina had been able to notice certain things such as Blaine’s mind being particularly poor to read as it could burn her with his energy.

“To a degree… from what I can recall. I… I didn’t pay any attention to him when I visited in the past.”

I leaned forward and put my head in my hands. “Damn it Flint.” I stared down at the table for a long moment. A hand slowly patted my shoulder before it stopped awkwardly.

“Brock… would you like… a hug?” she asked carefully.

I leaned back and turned. “Yeah, yeah, I think I would.” She stepped in and gave me a hug. It was still as awkward as I remembered. She could cuddle, but hugs still seemed to come off wrong with Sabrina for some reason.

It was still nice.