Hard Enough

I loosened a sigh of relief. Ticking another item off the shopping list was a good feeling. With that picked up, I was finally done with today’s shopping. Now I just needed to check out, go pick up Tommy and Cindy’s gift… and then I should be able to get some me time. I chuckled to myself at that.

And to think, for a moment there I’d entertained the idea of trying my hand at a Championship run.

Screw that. Life was already complicated enough as it was. I didn’t need or want any more pressure. I just wanted things to settle down.

“Brock! Getting ready for the circuit? Buying yourself some protein?” shouted a man I had never met. In my head, I assigned him the name ‘Rockclimber Chad’.

“As ready as I’ll ever be!” I said with a wide smile. This reminded me so much of a movie in my old life where the hero proclaimed his love to a random citizen. Ah Megamind, wonderful story.

It made everyone smile at least. For a second, I wondered if he was someone that was well-known in the city and if I was supposed to know him. I’d have to see if I could spend some more time doing community work to learn about any names or faces that I really should know. That, or sit down with the Granny cabal and ask them to bring over some of their family albums. They’d get me up to date like a student cramming for a final.

A ding from my transceiver indicated I had mail. I opened it to see Karen writing a message to me.

‘Brock. I’ll be looking forward to our rematch when I’m an Elite Four and you ditch the kiddy club. Watch Battlecast in a week’s time as I’ll be fighting Danica then. We got a prime-time spot for the match! Should have her wrapped up before your bedtime!’

Another message rolled in quickly.

‘Check your holopad for instructions to that rock-type trainer.’

I hummed. They had been alluding to him for a while. Karen had shown me a few tricks, one of which I was tempted to pull out with the Gym leader meeting but with so many high-end trainers they’d probably notice it. Blaine being the most prominent in my mind.

A final message came, just as I was lowering my arm.

‘Thanks for letting me claim the spotlight for that Rocket raid. Even if you stole a bit of my thunder announcing that Rocket raid on Giovanni. Wild how that happened.’ I chuckled. She probably suspected something but I wasn’t worried about her. While Agatha was cautious, Karen was typically more than willing to throw down.

I hummed. It really had cost me nothing to let her feature during the press conference. There were way, way more positives for me to take a step back. Then, I’d be able to let the focus of public attention fall on other sources. Like Giovanni and Team Rocket.

The news had run with a ten-minute piece on Karen’s raid, only to then spend an entire hour discussing the ramifications of the assaults on Pewter and Viridian. They never mentioned the war again, much to my interest. I suspected the League officials had gotten involved and put some weight on the broadcasting groups to not bring that out during any prime-time shows. I did see discussions of it breaking out on some forums that Rachel kept me appraised of though.

I hadn’t heard anything from Jenny, but then again it had only been two days since the raid so she might not have been able to ‘crack’ Proton yet. I knew that a Lawyer had appeared, and offered himself up for Proton and the other Rocket officials on a ‘Pro-bono’ deal which was far, far too clean to be anything but polished Tauros dung.

I’d been hoping to learn a bit more this afternoon when Jenny swung around for the party.

For now, I had to bake two cakes. One in the shape of a zubat — because apparently bats were in right now for Tommy—, while the other needed to at least attempt a castle set up. They would both be chocolate, however, as that was both twins' ‘most favourite thing ever’.

I had thankfully been able to hire a small pokemon circus with an attached petting zoo. Kids loved having the baby pokemon around as they were typically the most cuddly. There were also the speciality bred and raised mini pokemon such as the tiny Ponyta and Miltank. Tiny purse Growlithe were also considered adorable. Completely impractical for any fighting scene. But adorable enough for practicality to be thrown out the window.

“Gym Leader Brock! I challenge you to a—” My hand shot out and blocked a young trainer that was holding out a pokeball towards me.

“Come back in a week and a half when the circuit starts. Before that, I’m not accepting any challenges for recognition or badges.” I straight-up walked past the trainer. He stared after me cluelessly.

“Huh? Wait, you can’t do that!?”

“Check the League rules! You have to wait like everyone else. Wait until the Monday after next! The gym will be open from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon to accept challengers. Until then, you can rent, or challenge some of the staff for practice or accept patrol or clear-out jobs from us but that’s all the Gym currently offers!” I called back.

This was something I had strangely gotten used to. It was like remembering the way you answered or left a message on the phone. The first ten might be a bit clunky but you got the message across in the end. Since that first year, it had become my go-to response when I was challenged outside of official times.

Could I do more?

Sure.

But if there was one thing I learnt from my last life, it was to work when you were supposed to work and set aside time for yourself or your family for the rest of that time. This was not an absolute, however. They often intermingled.

In the offseason, I was much more focused on ‘me’ time. I tried to let things be as slow and relaxing as possible. I was both dreading the return of the circuit and super excited about it. It was easily the busiest period of the year for the gym. Then we’d slowly drop off until the last two months, when it wouldn’t be considered out of the norm to see a only single trainer challenge the gym a week.

The start of the season typically meant I’d end up facing off against around two to three hundred trainers in the first two months. That typically boiled down to seven matches a day on average.

These matches could be exciting, terrifying, boring, or any other emotion. It might be a bit of a snore-fest to schedule first badge trainers all in a row, but it was consistent. I didn’t have to alter my mindset. I had tougher days when I’d jump between various skill levels. Those took more out of me.

By the end of the circuit, you could typically chalk up something close to five hundred trainers having passed through the gym on the low end of things.

But this year promised to be much more different due to two major inclusions.

Gary Oak, and Ash Ketchum.

Both had officially registered and been accepted. As a gym leader, I had access to their unfinished trainer profiles, which would be filled out as they earned more badges and pokemon.

This was a new development by the League and something that was still being filled out for active trainers, but would hopefully see a lift in overall trainer skill levels as they became able to access more information.

I’d be checking on them at the start for the Squirtle and Pikachu that should be registered to each.

And then, well, I suppose I’d have to see Ash for myself. It would be weird to see the kid that I spent so many hours watching in a past life in person. I’d never been to Pallet Town before, but now it wouldn’t matter. Ash was going to be coming to me.

I unpacked the groceries and deposited the treats for the later party while my mind worked on other thoughts. My body preheated the oven, and I laid out the recipe card for today’s chocolate cake. Yolanda was going to be able to handle breakfast for me, so that was a task I didn’t have to worry about. The work distracted me enough that I was able to ignore the thoughts that nipped at me like a pack of growlithe.

I cracked the eggs, mixed the flour, poured in the cocoa, and deposited Tilly on a bench seat to watch. Tickled Billy, and sent him after Munchlax who’d had made off with the packet of chocolate chips. Then I reached in and grabbed another packet, knowing how that chase would end. I made sure to share one with Tilly, then I continued with baking.

When Billy returned with the empty packet and chocolate around his mouth, I gave him a pointed look.

“He was too quick for me!” he said as though the chocolate around his mouth wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

I stared harder at his mouth. Billy tried to whistle. I knelt down.

“Billy, are you lying to me?” He shook his head. “Billy… I’d be really sad if you lied to me, cause it would mean I couldn’t trust you. So I want you to reeeeeeally think about what you just told me.”

I gave him a moment to take in what I’d just said. “Was it a lie?”

I made sure to stay low and neutral. I didn’t want to stand over the little guy. It was also important to let him work through the process to reinforce good, ethical behaviour. I ignored the slight sound of rustling up on the bench for now.

Billy thought hard about it before slumping. “Sorry.”

“That’s alright, thank you for apologising. Can you go clean your mouth and help Yolanda set up for the party? And remember, don’t lie.” Billy nodded before going off to do as I asked. I stood and sighed to myself before patting Tilly. She had more chocolate around her lips.

“Did you eat the chocolate chips?”

“Yes!” she said without any guile. I paused at that. She hadn’t lied. Ummm, alright, she wins this round?

“"Well,alright then.” I grabbed one for myself and popped it into my mouth. “And now cause we ate something, we need to clean our mouths and hands. That way we’re clean while we cook!”

This was accepted easily, and she happily returned to the bench to watch me set up trays for kids and parents that were coming as the cake baked. I checked over the expected guest list and plucked a few small signs that indicated what was what for the people with allergies.

“Graveller!” I called out into the yard. The nanny-like pokemon trundled in with a small apron wrapped around her front.

“Grav?”

“Do they have the tables set up?” She nodded with her whole body. “Right, start taking this out and put the covers over it. Then I’ll get you and Sanchez to stand guard over it so no Pidgey make off with it before the guests turn up.” I got another full-body nod before she took two trays and ambled off. Tilly chose to follow her.

I swatted Munchlax away as I checked on the cakes. And now I was all set to hurry up and wait. I sat on the bench and I popped my lips. I had just enough time for it to be annoying but not so much time I could go off and do anything.

I grabbed Munchlax as he made another swipe at the food. “Hey, go check if everyone’s ready. If everyone’s ready for the party, I’ll give you a bag of veggies?”

Thankfully, Munchlax as a species mostly care about quantity rather than quality. If he had a choice he’d go for his preferred meal, but just getting food was a win in his book. This made it easier and cheaper to fill them up, at least temporarily.

With only a bit of time, I started doing some call-ups on my transceiver from the kitchen. First, I checked that everyone was settling in with the new hires.

Daniel was still moving in with his wife, a woman much like him, young and very skilled with pokemon. She was also very pregnant. She expected to have the baby in another two or so months.

Missy had already set up her room with posters featuring motivational quotes and rock stars. I’d been rather touched that she had a picture of me on the wall facing off against Lance. In high resolution as well, as our starter pokemon emerged from their pokeballs.

Rocko took the day off to visit his stepsiblings and assist them with their new pokemon.

Dennis was coming with his wife and their kids.

Granny Bethany, who I’d hired on as one of my receptionists, was bringing her grandchildren, some of whom were my age. If I heard the tone in her voice right, I was pretty sure she was going to be trying to set them up with me as some grannies were wont to do.

My other receptionist, Alexa, wasn’t coming today. She probably knew, correctly, she’d end up having to herd around the kids that had been in her care for the last few years. Apparently, they were rather devastated that she was not staying on and had taken to following her around town like baby Farfetch’d.

I didn't have to call Rachel because she marched in and reported on how things were going with the petting zoo and the performers. She also informed me that she’d wrapped the presents I’d gotten that morning from the shops. I sent her back out with some vague orders, but it honestly felt like she had things well managed.

Stephen had gone on a hike up to Rota. Bianca had stayed around, and it turned out was already at the party, but she was in the middle of questioning the circus on their petting zoo and how they managed the mini-pokemon.

Just as I was hanging up on by her, Munchlax reported in with a dirty Suzie and Timmy. “What were you two doing?” I asked as I eyed off their cobweb-ridden forms. Both had dirt all over them.

“We thought we saw a rare shiny Ratata run through some bushes so we chased it! But then we lost it…” said Timmy enthusiastically.

I nodded along. “Of course you did, well, bad luck, but now you both need to have a shower.” I said before letting loose a whistle.

Graveler returned, saw the trays and the dirty children, and picked up the easy option. I barked a laugh as she walked out with the two trays of food. The twins watched her go, starting to follow her, but when I clicked my tongue, they stopped and grumbled. I sighed and rolled my eyes at them, just as the oven timer went off.

Munchlax perked up from his stool, where he was happily crunching away on his veggie bag.

“Munchlax?” he said, pointing at himself and looking hopeful. I shook my head at him before looking at my two grubby little siblings.

“Do I…” I stopped to stare at them before looking at the clock. “Who am I kidding of course I need to go with you or else I’ll be pulling you out of the bath in an hour blue and shivering and in no way ready to play.”

“We’re just going to get dirty anyway!” They both cried at me.

“Yes, but I’m not having you filthy when the guests arrive! Now hup hup! Into the shower like good little Staryu!” I clapped my hands and then mimied hopping forward into the staryu position.

That got them distracted as they chanted the pokemon’s name and tottered down the hall with little hops.

Another reminder ding, louder than the first made me turn to get the cakes out. I then levelled a serious look onto Munchlax.

“Munchlax, I’m not going to tell you not to eat that cake. I just want you to know that if you do eat that cake, I will be stuffing you into a pokeball for the next month. No snacks and no scraps from the table.” Munchlax stiffened, his eyes watering and his lips quivering.

“Hey, I know it’s your instinct to eat what you can. So maybe you should go guard the food with Sanchez and Graveller? Hmmm?” Munchlax nodded at that and headed off, determined to avoid the cake at all costs, lest he lose his privileges.

Then I turned and began to toss my siblings into the showers. By now I couldn’t even remember what I’d been anxiously trying not to think about. I still had a cake to shape and guests to greet. I got my siblings dressed and started shaping the cakes after sending the twins out to help Graveller and Rachel.

“It’s a wonderful psyduck,” said Sabrina as she appeared behind me.

I held the knife a little tighter. For once startled by her sudden appearance. “It’s supposed to be a Zubat.”

Sabrina tilted her head and squinted at it before stepping around me to look at it from another angle. “Ah, of course.” She nodded seriously, and I stared at her before explosively sighing and taking a step back.

“Right… right… I really should have hired a cake decorator or just ordered out. What was I thinking?”

Sabrina shifted from foot to foot. “I didn’t mean to offend you… I merely didn’t know what to look for.”

I scratched the back of my head. “And I still have to try and make a castle.”

Sabrina tilted her head. “The castle should be easier. It is merely shapes stacked with supporting lattice and cream filling to cement it in place.”

“Have you ever made one?” I asked, suddenly hopeful.

Sabrina shook her head, dashing my hopes. "No, but I have observed my mother. She finds it… relaxing… at least she says it is.” Her eyes flicked to the bowl of icing. “She sometimes gives me the bowl to clean up.”

She shook her head. “It is quite lazy of her.”

I held up a finger. “Uhm… Sabrina… she wants you to lick the bowl … It’s meant to be a treat for helping out and as an early taste of what’s to come.”

Sabrina stared at me for a long moment. “That seems highly unhygienic. But perhaps it would explain things.” She vanished in a teleport and reappeared with a woman that looked like her only much older, and there were some grey hairs at her temples. She looked a little harried.

“Sabrina! I was talking with your father!” said the woman only to blanche when she noticed me.

“Oh! Brock! Hello! I’m sorry Sabrina… that is to say I was startled!”

I raised a hand and waved it off. “Hello Sandra, and no. No, I… I understand what is going on. Sabrina just wanted to help out and she’s uhm… cutting to the heart of the issue…”

I scratched the back of my head. Sandra shifted back and forth, and I held in a grimace. Sandra was still very wary around me. I suspect that had a lot to do with how I had upon talking with Sabrina the first time discovered she was practically raising herself.

I’d… said some heated words back then. Saul —Sabrina’s father— and Sandra had been stunned to have me as a pre-teen swearing my head off at them and demanding they try harder to raise Sabrina.

I remember saying something about them not having the excuse of there being so many other children to focus on. Merely one that they should love above anything. If Sabrina refused to do what they told her, they needed to improve their methods so she understood.

I rubbed my chin. Actually, maybe that dressing down was why Sabrina had appeared next to me a few days later and declared that she would be travelling with me?

Sabrina nudged me and I coughed as Sandra shot Sabrina and a look. “Right! Sorry for that. I was just uhmm having some trouble with this and Sabrina started telling me how she’s seen you make cakes. Then I was trying to explain the bowl of frosting.”

“Yes, Sabrina is very good at cleaning it,” Sandra said.

I blinked. “Uhm it’s meant to be a treat to give though?”

Sandra tilted her head. “That… that would be unhygienic though?” I had a moment of deja vu as I realised that Sabrina and her mother shared the same expression and head tilt.

I waved it off and coughed. “Oh! Sorry. Different house, different rules.”

Sandra made an ‘ah’ noise as her eyes dropped to my own cakes. “That’s a lovely… Bulbasaur?” she said.

I palmed my face. “It’s a Zubat!”

Sandra stepped to the side and squinted, and I was again struck by the similarities the two women had. Sandra shook her head. “Too bulbous.” She shot a glance at the other cake. “What is that going to be?”

“A castle!” I grunted out. I was starting to suspect that a lot of Sabrina’s mannerisms actually came from her mother. Was she this stilted with everyone? No wonder Sabrina had started so far behind socially.

Sanda shook her head. “Hmmm, Brock… would you mind… I mean,” she coughed. “Would you care if I did this? I rather like making cakes. And your attempts… Well they’re nice.” I stared at her for a moment before deciding to hell with it.

I stared at her as she unapologetically looked at me. “You know what? Fine.”

Sandra had the knife out of my grasp a moment later, whereby she started recutting the zubat into cleaner lines. I had been planning to rely on the icing to convey the zubat the most, but Sandra had it formed up in a minute. When she made up the icing for it, Sabrina stepped over to me.

“What did you mean by tasting?” she asked with the air of one interested in sampling a foreign cuisine for the first time.

I stared at her. Oh, Sabrina, you poor, poor child. I never knew.

When the bowl was finished, I snatched it up before it could be thrown into the sink. I then grabbed two spoons, one of which I gave to Sabrina. The other, I used to scoop out a bit of icing before eating it.

“Mmmm! This is really good Sandra!” I said happily. I then offered Sabrina the bowl. Sandra looked slightly horrified, but Sabrina tentatively took a scoop for herself.

She gave it a tentative taste and smiled. That seemed enough to stop Sandra from saying anything and I smiled as well, taking another scoop myself as Sandra seemed to understand something as she stared at the bowl of icing I shared with Sabrina.

“I think… I like this,” Sabrina said authoritatively as she took another swipe. I chuckled and knocked her spoon away from a spot I wanted.

She shot me a confused look, and I smiled. “Sorry, habits from a large family. We share the icing bowl in this house. But usually, a fight breaks out over the icing." I shrugged. “Different house, different rules.”

Sabrina nodded. “Mother makes cakes for her job, so I would be very fat if I were to clean every bowl in this manner.”

I chuckled and explained to Sabrina that we’d still clean the bowl properly after we were done with it. Sandra continued to make up the cakes but she did so while watching Sabrina and I with that oh-so-familiar tilt of her head.

Eventually, the cakes were done. I gave Sabrina a look as she stiffened. “I forgot to get your siblings a present!” She then vanished in a teleport.

I held out a hand, meaning to explain that she wasn’t required to do such a thing. That left me and Sanda in the same room. I coughed awkwardly, and Sandra didn’t even blink. I cast a look around for something to say. It had been… Uh, years since I’d last spoken with either of Sabrina’s parents, and that was over the transceiver to call in and make Sabrina talk with them.

Now… I found myself stuck in the same room, knowing I’d been very, well actually, way more brutal than they deserved back then.

“Did I ah… ever apologise for what I said?” I said, looking out the window at the now almost-ready party.

Sandra tilted her head. I rubbed the back of my head. “When we first met. I… I was out of line saying what I did.”

Sandra smiled and shook her head. "No, I understand that we... failed Sabrina and were still failing her. You stepping in like that... It helped. So I should instead thank you. You’re good for her.” She smiled and I was about to say she didn’t need to, only for a giant Gyarados face to emerge in front of me.

I lashed out with a punch hoping to buy room only for the face to compress and squeak in an adorable manner. Sabrina leaned around the giant doll. “I have found presents for your siblings,” she reported dutifully

I nodded slowly. “I can see that.” I noted the small bow on the Gyarados pokedoll’s head along with the much cuter looking Snorlax.

Sandra tapped her daughter on the shoulder. “Take me home, please. Then you should come back to enjoy the party.” She nodded in my direction as Sabrina shoved the giant toys into my arms telekinetically.

They vanished in a flash and I was left staring at the now professionally shaped cake and the toys that were as big as me.

Well, I think the kids were going to love this.

[/hr]

“—Happy birthday tooooooo you!” sang the group as a whole while Nurse Joy took some photos.

“Alright, blow out your candles and make a wish!” I announced. Tommy and Cindy blew with serious expressions before grinning in delight.

They turned and gave me a hug. “Thanks for the cake Brock! These are amazing!” they said into my hip. I grinned down at them. A flash indicated Joy had gotten that on camera.

"Well, be sure to write a nice letter to Sabrina’s mother, alright? She helped out the most!” They nodded and looked at Sabrina who was standing with Suzie in front of her like some shield. Suzie was happily leaning back into Sabrina who was actually looking rather tired. Then again, two hours at a small children’s party was a solid effort for her.

I clapped my hands. “Alright you two, start unwrapping your presents, and I’ll cut up some cake!”

Tommy paused in running away at that announcement.“I want to eat its head!” This started a chorus of his friends calling out what parts they wanted to eat.

I wasn’t surprised when one called out. “I want his butt!” This got a round of laughter and ‘ewww’ from some, before Tommy turned back to his presents.

I picked up the knife, ready to chop into them only for Officer Jenny to appear at my side. “You know you have to kiss the girl closest to you if you hit the base!” She then grabbed my hand and jerked it into the zubat cake, decapitating it. She smiled winningly at me only to to find herself cuddling up to the Snorlax doll a moment later. Sabrina coughed and presented Suzie who was making a kissy face.

I glanced over at the clearly confused Officer Jenny. “That…” was actually kind of smooth, I thought to myself.

I knelt down and kissed Suzie on the forehead before blowing a raspberry on her cheek making her squeal and throw herself back into Sabrina who was looking suddenly much more tired.

Jenny extracted herself from the snorlax doll and marched over. “Hey! I was there first!” Then she stomped over to me with a cross look on her face. She opened her mouth to say something only to be cut off.

“I want the cake now!” declared a very young voice from close to my hip.

For a moment, I had a different thought over what had just spoken. Apparently so had Jenny as she looked down only to see a much younger copy of herself, likely a cousin, that was staring up at me and pointing towards Cindy’s cake.

I nodded along and told her that I’d make sure she got part of it. Jenny smiled at me sheepishly before tugging little Jenny off to watch Cindy and Tommy unwrap their gifts.

Everyone was distracted as I quickly sliced and plated the cakes. I made sure to keep the head for Tommy and the moat with the princess on it fighting something that looked like a Dragonite for Cindy. Damn, Sandra was good.

My hand suddenly slipped as I chopped into the tower and I found someone else nestled next to me. I turned to see Sabrina standing innocently next to me.

“There are two cakes…” she said.

“Did you want me to kiss you?” I said, unsure of how to feel about this. Yes, she’d ambushed me but I was also kind of proud of her for doing it? Also… I was kind of looking forward to it?

She didn’t say yes or no, merely continued to look at me. I leaned down and pecked her on the cheek, causing her to gain a bit of red. “Are you alright with this many people around?”

“I’m probably going to leave soon,” she said.

The group of children all shouted as Cindy revealed her new bicycle.

Sabrina grimaced. “I need to get used to this. I don’t want to keep avoiding parties. Agatha dropped off a holopad for me and we have spoken of my… shortcomings.”

I huffed; I doubted Agatha was as polite with her point, but sadly, she wasn’t wrong.

“Well, try to not throw yourself in the deep end. You can take small steps. Taking on too much can’t be good for you. It’s your mind taking the hit, not something like your muscles.”

Sabrina nodded. “I know. It’s my mind after all.”

I watched on as both Cindy and Tommy tore into my gifts to them. Revealing rather nice necklaces with what appeared to be their birthstones in them.

“Oh! That’s a nice gift,” Sabrina said, only to perk up when the twins lifted up the giant toys they’d each gotten. They then proceeded to fight each other with the giant dolls.

I glanced at Sabrina. “Can they thank you for that? Or should we hold off?”

Sabrina’s grimace was answer enough. She shook her head minutely.

Sabrina continued to hang around for a while, she got part of the wing of the zubat and seemed to enjoy the icing the most. She must have been doing something to make people ignore her, as she was far too pretty to be ignored easily. She eventually tapped me on the shoulder and shook her head, signalling that she’d had enough before vanishing.

I shot her a message congratulating her on staying for l most of the party. She’d done well to last through the party with such a large crowd of excited children.

Eventually, the kids started to crash as well, and parents or older siblings moved in to cart them home. As the host, I had to deal with clean up instead of worrying about travelling home, but everyone left with a small treat bag that featured the child’s favourite pokemon from my gym.

The girls typically liked Lunatone, while the boys were divided between Titan, Knight, or Sanchez. I decided not to make a big deal of it when I spotted one or two parents taking more than one for their kids.

Jenny hung around and approached while her own cousin continued to play. “Hey Brock, great party, thanks for inviting us!”

“It’s no problem. Little Jenny…” I said leadingly. Officer Jenny nodded to show I had the right name. “Is pretty good friends with Cindy.”

Little Jenny stood next to Cindy as my sister coached her through a dance move. I snorted at their antics as they tried to make the snorlax doll do the move while Munchlax copied along.

Jenny laughed before coughing. “I also have news, sadly.”

I nodded and gestured for her to continue.

“Proton lawyered up and hasn’t said a word that isn’t vetted by his Lawyer. We held him and have been able to nail him with a large number of fines, but he’s going to walk with community service and minimal jail time if I’m reading the wind right. Someone has paid out big for him. I applied for psychic readings for truth detection that could lead into deeper investigations, but the lawyer was quick to file for a medical exemption.”

“That’s… a thing?” I said. This had never come up when I’d spoken with her before, but then again, I never really wanted to poke the issue of how legal or illegal it might be for Sabrina to read someone’s mind. Apparently, it was something employed by the police but only in certain circumstances.

“Yeah, mostly for people with mental disorders or illnesses as people claim the psychic energy can be felt and disrupt their ‘state of being’. For every study that is produced that disproves it, there’s another two produced that prove it!” said Jenny while gnashing her teeth.

I mentally held in the urge to correct her by stating ‘support’ and not prove but held it in.

“Why do I get the feeling it’s not just criminals that would prefer psychics aren’t able to gather evidence that would be admissible in court.”

Jenny snorted loudly and chuckled before nodding along sadly. “Politicians and businessmen… not that it stops some of them.”

I hummed thoughtfully. “Any chance of following the money?” I said.

Jenny shot me a thoughtful look. “It’s a shame you’re such a good gym leader, cause you’d make a great detective Brock.” I got a feeling that was high praise from a Jenny.

I shrugged at her, and she nodded. “We’re already on that, it just takes time to connect the dots. I got a front company footing the bill for the Lawyer which is something but not much. They're supposedly based out of Goldenrod but that’s baloney. These people aren’t lazy about what they do, and most of the time money is scrubbed and washed through intermediaries that still act according to Team Rocket’s orders.”

She shifted her weight and glanced around. “About ummm that raid… I did some digging on anyone that I told about moving on the Rocket warehouse… I think I found a lead on who sent the message.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And you’re not nailing them to a wall because…” Jenny got a sheepish look. “It’s someone important isn’t it?”

“No. They’re not important. Who they’re related to however?” Jenny grimaced. “Officer Andrews is the nephew of Saffron’s mayor and is currently a lieutenant on the force. It’s gonna cause some waves.” Jenny gained a determined glint in her eyes. “But I’m going to do it!”

I felt my respect for Jenny rise a few notches. “Well, I’ll be backing you,” I said with a smile while mentally making a note to send a note to Agatha and Koga to help Jenny not get sidelined for doing the right thing.

Jenny shot me an amused, if disbelieving look. Her little cousin marched up and yawned hugely. “I’m tirrrrrrrred Jenny! Can we go home now?” she said with a whine.

The older Jenny snorted and scooped her up, accepting the gift bag as she adjusted Jenny’s position on her hip. On her hip little Jenny mumbled something that could have been a sleepy thank you.

Jenny grinned at the girl before looking back at me. “Walk me to the front door?”

I glanced around, the pokemon could clean up most with Munchlax all but vibrating in anticipation. I pointed to some foodstuffs I wanted in the fridge before releasing Munchlax on the rest.

As we walked to the front, Jenny whispered to her little cousin and got some grumbles.

I hummed in thought, glancing at the little Jenny. “Probably shouldn’t say anymore now, should we?”

Jenny shrugged. “Jenny knows not to talk about mine, or any of my family's work.”

I glanced at her and her little cousin. “How is it there are so many women that look alike? You and Nurse Joy must have a shared secret.”

Jenny grinned before using the hand not holding her cousin to fan herself. “Why Brock, if you want to find out how Little Jenny’s come about you’ll have to do more than buy me a coffee~.”

“I’m not seventeen for another two months.”

Jenny wiggled her eyebrows. “I’m sure they’ll go fast enough for you with the circuit starting up. Anyway, I’m only eighteen!” She winked. “I’ll be in touch!” I watched her go before a thought that wasn’t how nice she looked in her short skirt popped into my head.

“Hey! If you see a homeless guy lurking about can you… Tell him to come back home?” I said, offering up one of the twin’s take-home baggies. Jenny gave me a searching look.

“That, is an oddly specific request.” There was an unspoken question there.

“Yeah, my… father,” I said stiffly, “has been hanging around, and we haven’t seen him in a while. We’ve gotten sick of waiting for him though and we’re going to talk.” I said the last few words with a clench of my hands and a glare to the side.

Something clicked in her head as she got a look of realisation on her face. Perhaps she’d seen him loitering? “Oh! I see.” Her look darkened. “If I see him I’ll bring him to you!”

“Yeah, well thanks, the others… they want their dad back,” I said waving behind me as I pointed glared to the side.

Jenny reached out and put a hand on my arm. “Hey,” she said in a tone that made me look at her.

“You’re an amazing gym leader and an even better big brother Brock.” I felt strangely touched by the honest statement. Maybe it was because I felt like I couldn’t brush it off like I would someone that didn’t know me. Jenny and I had worked together for a few years now. Which raised the question of how young had she joined the police force? I thought they only took sixteen year olds? Hadn’t she been on the force for a few years now?

Still… what she’d said. It felt nice to hear it.

“Ah, thanks.” I looked away and rubbed my nose. Jenny’s continued assessment only made me more self-conscious. I felt another pair of eyes watching me, and I looked down to see little Jenny watching our interaction.

I waved and stepped back with a cough. “I should let you go. Thanks for coming around, and thanks for the presents.”

I watched her go and settled my emotions before returning to the cleanup. By the time things were done, it was time for an early bed for most of my brothers and sisters with them having spent most of the afternoon playing with other kids. Eevee was likewise wiped out. When I gave her dinner, she’d almost faceplanted into the food before I’d cleaned her up and deposited her with Cindy for the night.

I returned to the lounge room to find that Yolanda had happily claimed the couch for some television with her egg at her side. Forrest meanwhile, was playing his Game Boy off to the side.

I lay down on Yolanda’s right, my body easily able to stretch out along the couch that usually housed five smaller bodies. My body was unclenched even as my mind continued to spin about, like a Hitmontop until I finally settled on one topic to ponder.

Yolanda perked up and began to tap me. “Oh! Oh! Your ad is on!” she said.

I looked up before chuckling. “It’s not my ad, I’m just in it.”

Yolanda shushed me and Forrest perked up as the ad that began with Lance standing atop a tower looking out monologuing about the next group of trainers being ready. He spoke of the challenges they’d face. On screen, wild pokemon attacked the trainer, then they swam across a river with a weak looking oddish in their arms. They raced into a pokemon centre. They scaled mountains and walked through caves. Then views that were majestic in nature opened up and quiet moments of having lunch with pokemon were shown. Lance monologued again about the ones that wanted more needing to rise to the challenge. The screen turned dark only for a single light to shine forth. I was shown looking away. I looked over my shoulder at the camera and grinned.

“So, are you ready?” I said with a cocky smirk as a pokeball enlarged in my hand.

The screen cut away, and a huge banner crossed over the screen announcing the start of the circuit in the coming week.

Yolanda bounced up and down. “You looked really cool!”

I rolled my eyes at her. “Thanks, they cut it down a lot more than I thought they would though.”

I remembered having Rachel approach me about this a few weeks ago. It had taken a whole day of filming, and they only used ten seconds of it? Urgh, was that show biz? I shook my head while Yolanda huffed at me as I continued to think.

What would the circuit bring for me?

Gary was a given but what should I do with Ash fast approaching?

I glanced at Forrest. He… really wasn’t going to step up and… well I should probably tell him that I wouldn’t be leaving.

The whole leaving or staying dilemma… I didn’t think I could leave now… Not if I wanted what was best for my family.

What of Ash? In more than a few movies, he had been called on to save either the world or regional areas. Wasn’t there something with time once as well? If he wasn’t strong enough would that mean he would fail? I couldn’t ignore that Brock in the series had served as an older voice that helped teach Ash the ropes. He also made sure Ash and co didn’t starve.

If I didn’t go with them would I be dooming the world by not acting as a supporting role to Ash?

I sat and thought over and over on this before eventually sitting up.

“I’m going to head to bed. Might as well grab some sleep. Circuits not far off. Might enjoy my sleep while I can.”

Yolanda paused with a look on her face for a moment. She looked like she wanted to say something but then settled with a wave and murmured "goodnight."

Forrest merely grunted.

I went to bed wondering if I was ready for what was to come and the decision I would have to make.