Hard Enough - Chapter 196: Talks and a return to old tricks

“—monitoring the Aqua submarine, but when we take into account their previous tactics there should be another two or three subs,” said Agent Wilkins, the man on the ground that we had in the Orange Islands.

I rubbed my eyes to work out some of the irritation. It’d been a long day and I was backing up story time with my family with another meeting. I sadly needed to be part of this to find out what the latest intel on Team Aqua was.

“What would you say they’re doing?” Karen said, speaking up first.

Wilkins hummed. “They came around Ascorbia before diverting hard north to evade being detected by the local firefighting team.”

I frowned. “Firefighting team?” I said slowly, my mind pinging with the memory of something.

“Captain Aidan,” Koga said. “He is a man who fought well during the war, retired there and has taken over training a dedicated group of pokemon. We butted heads a number of times, but his dedication to Fuchsia was never in doubt. He has since followed the flight path of a certain Legendary fire type and set himself up so that he will be one of the first responders.”

Agatha nodded her head. “He is also the source of many of the young starter Squirtles that trainers who excel in Kanto receive,” she said.

I blinked slowly. “We stopped there for a few days, didn’t we, Sabrina?”

Sabrina nodded. “Tide, Hypnotoad, Shin, Chou and my own Starmie received training there while the Captain ran us around.” She sniffed pointedly. “I did not appreciate volunteering for it and the Captain did not like the way I ‘lifted weights’ or got through his obstacle course,” she said.

 

“It got very… heated,” I said as I nodded. It was slowly coming back to me. A memory of a much younger, much less patient Sabrina outright disassembling the obstacle course and walking through it to prove a point. I lifted up my Xtransciever hoping against hope that I still had the video. I found it quickly and tapped it.

 

Sabrina inhaled and vanished on her screen in a teleport to appear at my side. “You took a video of that?” she said.

I chuckled and shut it down. “Yeah? It was pretty amusing to watch the Captain get all angry only for you to shut him down like that. I’d forgotten I had it.”

“Ahem,” said Koga. “As glad as I am for you two to have personal experience with the residents of Ascorbia, we need to continue our discussion of the threat of Team Aqua,” Koga said. “Did Captain Aidan not discover anything?” he said, dragging the meeting back.

Wilkins nodded. “He did detect something and we tried to assist him, but the submarine was too fast for Captain Aidan to get close despite using a Blastoise. He eventually had to return to his island, but he certainly gave them a fair chase.”

“Good, that will make Team Aqua more cautious in future,” Koga said.

Agatha sniffed. “They may react the other way, though, and see Captain Aidan and his pokemon as a threat, especially with the number of utility pokemon he will have transporting him and his team around. We will need more local agents with eyes on the island and funds allocated to support any… accidents that might befall the good Captain.”

Agatha narrowed her eyes. “We need people that are willing to move to tropical islands,” she said.

Everyone on the call bar Sabrina snorted in amusement. Karen went as far as to drape a hand over her head. “Oh dearie me, I’m being required to move to a tropical island for work! Whatever shall I do?”

Agatha shook her head despite her lips twitching. “Alright, we shouldn’t have any issues with people wanting to move to the islands. I am already aware of some channellers that want to move out as they feel like they have seen too much of the dreary cemetery-ridden landscape of Lavender Town,” she said with a haughty sniff.

Karen tilted her head. “Uhm, they aren’t kidding, you crazy old woman, they hate it there beneath you since you’ve started moving back,” she said shamelessly.

Agatha shot Karen a look. “You’ve grown cheeky since you left my tutelage, perhaps some remedial lessons are in order?”

Sabrina tapped me on the shoulder and I glanced back to find her offering me a small plate of cut up berries which she munched on while watching Agatha and Karen have a catfight. I bit my lip, amused despite myself.

“Bring it you old—”

I decided to cough and smile pleasantly. “Janine, as the host it might be best for you to mute Agatha and Karen while giving them a private chat channel for them to talk it out,” I said.

Janine typed quickly on her side and nodded. “Done,” she said.

Sabrina let out a little ‘heh’ of victory as Karen’s mouth moved but no sound came out. Agatha mirrored her. Lucy must have muted her own feed as she fell silent while her hand shot to her lips as she burst into giggles.

Koga flicked his daughter a look that shifted from amused to begrudging respect. “Continue, Wilkins,” he said, and the man detailed how it had taken him another two days to find the Aqua sub once again.

“The far eastern side of Butwhal seemed to have been assessed, but was passed over. The submarine then assessed Hamlin and Kumquat islands. I believe they have established a temporary base in Kumquat, as they have gone low into sea caves that I can’t access without giving away that I am observing them.”

I drew up a map. “Kumquat is a major city for the Orange islands, why would they settle there?”

“Proximity to Kanto seems to be the deciding factor,” Wilkins stated. “I believe that they will eventually ditch Kumquat, however, and go for the much easier option of Tarroco Island, which is a no-capture zone for trainers. It will be an easy site for them to set up in, with access to local water pokemon.”

Lucy cleared her throat. “Why wouldn’t they set up further south in islands such as Cleopatra, or even going as far as Mandarin Island? It offers the most room for them to disguise their activities,” she said.

Janine looked to her father, but he merely looked ahead. Wilkins made a noise of thought. “It’s probably operational ranges on their submarines, they need to come up for air every now and then, and the further they have to go through populated centres, the more risk they take of being spotted, especially if they’re operating as a standard submarine pod.”

I shared a glance with Sabrina. She nodded before speaking up, “It may also have something to do with the Shamouti current that runs through the centre of the archipelago.” She clicked on my computer and drew up the map which she shared with the others.

She started drawing different coloured loops.

“The current of Shamouti is considered treacherous due to how it shifts through the various islands. It always centres around Shamouti, but it never remains on the same course.” She demonstrated the various routes that the current could take, drawing murmurs from Janine and Koga.

Koga put a hand to his chin in thought. “Wherever did you learn of this?”

“Shamouti,” I said, “It is a known phenomenon there and well documented. They have watchers out each season to track the current, as it will dictate the flow of currents for the entire archipelago for the rest of the year.”

“What causes it?” asked Wilkins.

I drew up Wilkins’ file which I had access to in the Guardians’ information. I flicked Sabrina another look as I replied. “It’s thought to be influenced by all the water pokemon in the Orange Islands,” I said. In a more private chat, I wrote out a message ‘Classified above Wilkins’ clearance level. Upgrade?’

Koga, Janine and Agatha didn’t bat an eye while Karen and Lucy twitched in surprise.

Koga slowly nodded. “I think it might be wise to keep Wilkins in the loop. Wilkins, I am going to advocate that your clearance level be raised to the highest level, this will grant you access to much more sensitive information. Brock, Sabrina, it seems we have much to learn about Shamouti. I can only assume that the current is caused by energies given off from the nesting sites of the Legendary birds located around Shamouti?”

“Legendaries? Multiple? Sweet creator!” Wilkins hissed out a startled oath.

I wavered a hand back and forth. “That is one local theory, but it is poorly understood. The locals of Shamouti have a ceremony where they will ‘calm’ the local Legendary birds,” I said.

I frowned and brought up my Xtransciever. “There is a local tale they recite each year and it is retold as the Shamouti Prophecy,” I said, paging through the files I had. “I’ll have to upload the recordings I took from the ceremony years ago.”

“Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice or Lightning, lest these Titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash. Though the Water’s Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail, thus the earth shall turn to ash. O Chosen One, into thine hands, bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the Beast of the Sea,” said Sabrina reciting the Shamouti Prophecy perfectly, or at least the part that was relevant to what we were talking about..

Koga and the others blinked.

Lucy chewed her lips. “Fire, Ice, and Lightning are easy enough to draw conclusions on, unless it’s deliberately misleading. Urgh, I’ve read so many books with prophecies being brought up as a plot point and they’re never as good or straightforward as they seem!”

Agatha’s finger rose and poked at the video. I chuckled. “I think Agatha wants to speak again,” I said.

Janine unmuted Agatha and the woman shot her a cross look. “Well, thank you for allowing me to speak once more, child,” she said heatedly.

Karen mimed laughing as her video showed it had ‘raised its hand’. Janine did not unmute Karen but merely nodded equanimously. “It helped to keep us moving along,” she said.

Agatha’s scowl deepened before she huffed and dropped the matter. “The matter of course turns towards that of ‘Water’s Great Guardian,’ and that its song alone will fail. This clearly marks out another pokemon that we have not noted. Kyogre has never been noted to pass through this region. Kyogre… failing is also a concerning prospect,” Agatha said.

“It’s not Kyogre that we think is there,” I said.

I brought up some of the temple wall pictures and began to share them with the group. “Rather, we think it is a pokemon known as Lugia, an extremely rare Legendary that is known for calming other pokemon according to the legends surrounding it,” I said. The stone carving showed a very crude drawing of Lugia.

“It has a powerful psychic presence,” said Sabrina. “I could feel it at times when we were travelling through the Orange islands. It had a beautiful song,” she said, causing me to blink in surprise.

She’d never mentioned that, but there had been a few times when she’d wander off to stand with her feet in the water, staring out into the sea with a calm expression. That certainly explained those moments.

“Lugia, a psychic-water pokemon?” asked Agatha.

I shrugged. “It has large wing-like fins that might make it flying as well,” I suggested, just for the sake of accuracy.

The others dismissed this due to the words ‘Guardian of Water’, with only Sabrina giving me a momentary glance over. When I shot her a smile she merely nodded. Sometimes I had to wonder if she knew that I knew more than I should.

She never pushed for me to reveal anything, though, not since her initial freak-out over my arrival at her Gym when we were young.

I think that was one of the reasons that she was easy to love, she didn’t push me about things I was uncomfortable with.

Koga thanked Wilkins before dismissing him with a reminder to look over Shamouti when he had the chance and to establish potential sites where Team Aqua would set up bases in or around Tarroco Island.

“This marks another site we may need to keep an eye on,” Koga said thoughtfully, his face cast in a stern expression. “The Orange islands are becoming contentious sites.”

I paused to consider that. He certainly hit the nail on the head with that comment. “Perhaps there might be other organisations looking to move there as well? Remnants of Team Rocket?” I suggested.

“Very likely,” said Koga.

Agatha grunted at this. “We will need to shift some resources away and cultivate others, we will also need people that have a good understanding of the islands.”

I hummed in consideration. “We could increase our recruitment, I had considered three possible candidates already,” I said, deciding now was a good enough time to broach the topic of Team Rocket.

“Ho? You’d allow us to poach Jackson?” Agatha said with a pleased smile.

I blinked, having not considered him. He did rather fit the slot of a trainer who had experience in the Orange and Sevii islands… I frowned. “I’m not sure if he’s the right fit for induction into—”

“He is not,” said Koga firmly.

When I blinked at him slowly Koga waved a hand. “While Janine was there she performed some assessments for the older trainers with an eye towards potential recruitment… We sadly did not focus our attention on the new hires.” Koga bowed his head. “I apologise for this oversight on our part, Daniel… was not within our expectations.”

Janine also bowed with him and I sighed, understanding that this had probably been something weighing on him for a while now.

“I don’t blame you for that,” I said easily.

Koga rose and returned my nod. “If you want we can perform more reviews with your staff?” he said.

I considered that. Would it be useful to have people like Rachel, Alexa, Rocko, or Dennis as part of the Guardians?

I shook my head. “No, let them be, they have their own duties, but you’re not wrong in that Jackson could be useful for his familiarity with the islands. I’d be very interested in a few of them, along with some of the deeper ocean areas for their potential access to as yet unfound Rock pokemon,” I said. “I’ll mention it to him as an option to expand the Gym, now that things are calming down,” I said.

I then raised a hand. “He wasn’t who I wanted to raise up though. I know a trio of… well, misfits and delinquents. They all don’t really fit in any typical-sized hole if you catch my drift. They also… haven’t always been on the side of good,” I said, my eyes darting around to see if anyone reacted to this.

Agatha raised an eyebrow, as though telling me to get on with it. “They used to work for Team Rocket,” I said, “but they’ve also been involved in a number of incidents where they were critical in assisting the situation by making it less severe than it could have been.” I linked Jessie and James’s trainer profiles.

“Who’s the third?” Lucy asked as she squinted at the feed, showing that she must have been reading their trainer information.

“Meowth,” I said.

“You want to induct a pokemon?” Agatha said.

I nodded. “He’s an extremely clever cat, and can come up with a lot of cons. He reads and uses security magazines. He’d be a great… cat burglar if nothing else,” I said. Next to me Sabrina twitched and shot me a look, demanding I stop making puns.

I resisted the urge and shot her a wink to show I’d behave. She narrowed her eyes but relaxed against me, her hands shifting to pet Zubat who’d been asleep on my shoulder like some quasi-epulaet.

“A pokemon as a Guardian,” Agatha said with a shake of her head. “Well, it’s not like pokemon aren’t part of our teams already, so why not?” she waved her hand. “You have my support. They won’t be the first people that we’ve flipped for our purposes.” She smirked in an off-hand manner and I had a premonition of what was to come.

“During the war, I had a bit of a reputation for ‘flipping’ people, you could say,” she said with a glint in her eyes. “I had this move in the bedroom where I’d—” her voice fell silent as Janine muted her once again.

Karen, who’d yet to be unmuted, began laughing hysterically.

“You… are rather proficient at that, daughter,” said Koga, his words holding a certain level of caution to them. Janine merely smiled and I mentally attributed her with a wagging tail for earning praise from her father.

“So, you’re good with them? I’ll inform them they’re in,” I said.

Koga nodded. “I shall send a courier Fearow with a package only you can open Brock, take it and hand it to them.”

“That’s fine,” I said before scratching the back of my head. “I told them that I want them to keep doing what they’re doing right now, which is going around Kanto challenging Gyms and contests to get stronger. Make them a roving band of troubleshooters,” I said.

Koga blinked. “Unorthodox, but not unheard of.” His eyes flicked to Agatha. “What are your thoughts, Agatha?”

Janine unmuted Agatha just in time for her answer. “Feh! Let them be if they’re that small, but make sure they come around to Lavender, I want them to meet my latest protege,” she said. “I shall also test them myself! No doubt you were easy on them, Brock!”

I rolled my eyes and waved her off.

Finally, the topic turned towards the final item on our agenda. “New Island…” Koga began.

“It’s where Mewtwo was created and it seems to be where he has returned to,” I said, bringing up the information that had been compiled since we’d last had a chat about this with Koga. I turned my attention to Sabrina.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“You have the best understanding of Mewtwo,” I said carefully. “Do you have any idea why he’s gone here?” I asked.

Sabrina frowned slightly. “Mewtwo, was not a blank slate, he is like…” She considered her words for a moment before speaking. “Imagine that your memories form up a set of buildings and are organised into streets. Mewtwo is like a town that has been partially demolished, only for the ruins of the former town to be paved over with shoddy building material. It looks like everything is normal at a glance, but as soon as you start trying to dig up a basement or lay any true foundations, the previous memories are uncovered.”

Sabrina gestured in a vague motion. “When we were fighting with them, I made sure to implant a number of what would be deemed ‘core memories’ of mine. These core memories are fundamental and powerful. By exposing him to experiences like this, I caused a flood of emotion that washed away the mental constructs that Team Rocket had built.”

“Huh, so you just gave him a shock to the noggin? Doesn’t sound that hard,” Karen said with a sniff.

I raised an eyebrow as Sabrina shook her head. “I was using a metaphor that is barely adequate to give you some idea. What I did was infinitely harder than that, but I had to dumb it down for you to understand,” Sabrina said.

Karen narrowed her eyes, only for Janine to clear her throat and move her hand towards a button once more. Karen kept her mouth shut.

Sabrina nodded in thanks and continued. “I believe that Mewtwo has returned to New Island due to it being his birthplace and the place that he has the strongest resonance with. He is establishing a home for himself. I believe that we should give him some more time before attempting to visit him ourselves in a peaceful manner. Mewtwo is a young pokemon despite his power and will lash out if we come in too aggressively. I think that I need to be there to make… third contact,” she said.

The others all nodded at this and Agatha eventually sighed and bobbed her head in acceptance. “You are the expert in psychic matters, we shall default to your judgement.”

She then straightened. “Was there anything else that needed to be raised for this meeting?”

“I’m organising a group of geologists and scientists to look into potential sites for Mega stones,” I said.

“Hoh, that is something that we will need to con—” Agatha began only for me to shake my head.

“I’ve already mentioned it to Oak, and he’s too big a name. I’ll also be having Flint lead things up so best to let this be a more… public project,” I said.

“Tch, very well then,” Agatha said.

“This is something that we require,” Koga said. “With Steven Stone stealing a march we will need to facilitate discovering as much as we can about Mega stones.”

“I’ve already bounced some theories to Flint and I think we have some solid leads,” I said.

“Hmmm, well dibs on any of the dark-type stones you can find,” Karen said.

“Might be a bit tough as we’re looking into nesting grounds or swarm sites. With Sharpedo that’s going to be a tough ask. Houndoom might be easier?” I said carefully.

Karen snorted. “Easier to find? Yeah? To set something up that is dedicated? Yeeeeeeaaaaah this is going to be hard,” she said.

I shrugged. “We’ll be looking for investors,” I said.

Agatha nodded. “I shall talk to some people,” she said. “Good work taking the initiative on this,” she said. “Anything else to raise for discussion?”

When none of us had anything more to raise, Agatha bid us a good evening and we signed off.

Sabrina yawned and wrapped her arms around me. “Carry me to bed?” she said playfully.

“I think I can handle that,” I said, taking her in my arms and standing.

Sabrina smiled winningly at me, only for her expression to falter. “Brock, there is a Meowth that is… oh, he’s just testing himself against your security doors,” she said with a tilt of her head. “Ah, he’s the one you nominated?” she asked.

I nodded and Sabrina continued to stare at the wall where she could no doubt see him. “Hmmm, he can have his fun, let’s go have our own,” she said with a smile.

I returned Zubat to a pokeball and carried Sabrina to bed. When I took too long Sabrina teleported us to the room.

The next morning saw me scaling the plateau while Selene watched on. Gible clung to me while Zubat fluttered around me, getting in the way far more than she was assisting me. Her little wings flapped into my face more than a few times as she flitted in and out.

“You gotta work on pulling up sharper Zubat,” I said, as she smacked me for the fifth time in ten metres. “In and out darts, keep working on it for agility,” I said.

When she tried to go faster she ploughed into the side of my head, causing me to grunt in pain. I could probably reinforce myself with rock energy, but then Zubat would be like a bug hitting a windshield.

So instead I took the hits as part of the training and continued to climb the plateau, my muscles aching at the new morning workout that Trixie had dropped off for me before sprinting off.

It had been a while since I’d done some proper mountain climbing.

Beneath me, Yolanda led a cadre of trainers in her own workout, with Spot and Terra at her side.

At the moment the group were working through as many push-ups as they could.

Dennis and Rocko were leading the pack easily, while A.J. was doggedly working to catch them. Yolanda otherwise came in a solid fourth place with Greta in fifth. Crystal, who’d joined in, looked gutted when she failed on the twenty-eighth push-up, only to learn she wasn’t even in the same ballpark as Greta or Yolanda.

“I’m the weakest of us?” she whimpered with a twitch.

I glanced around, wondering for a moment if I hadn’t heard the noise of glass shattering.

I shook it off, must have just been Crystal’s understanding of the world breaking.

When Yolanda led the gang through a jog while carrying Terra with Spot at her side to keep her moving, Crystal was forced to scamper after her, her own pokemon jogging along with hints of exhaustion showing.

When I was done I scrambled down, the climb down working similar yet different muscles than the ascent.

I quickly jogged on to catch up with Greta. “Hey, good work during the Contest. How’s Ivysaur going with his evolution?” I asked.

Greta grinned through her fatigue and shot the faithful starter a proud look. He was shuffling along doggedly, but his new weight was making it rough for him. “He’s adjusting! I think he’s really gotten stronger, though! We tested out some of his moves late last night and he’s gotten faster and more powerful in a whole range of ways!” She then shot Ivysaur a small grimace. “He is a bit slower and larger, though, so we have to take that into account.”

“Nice, let’s you and I do some work together this week. I think it’s due time for you to challenge another Gym. You and A.J. can talk to each other and we can set something up later in the week, yeah?” I said.

Greta licked her lips and nodded. “Y-yeah! I mean yes! That would be good!” she said.

I clapped her on the shoulder only to accelerate and catch Cranidos before he could launch a sneak attack on Greta. I grabbed him by the neck and drove him into the ground.

“It was cute when you were a baby, but I think you need to learn to stop attacking out of nowhere like that,” I said.

I then lifted him up and flicked him on the snout. “If you want to fight, challenge them, but accept that they can say yes or no.” I tapped him on the nose when he started to look a little defiant. “Do you want to fight today in the Gym? We have a few first-badge challengers,” I asked.

That got him perking up and I wagged a finger in front of him. “Time to listen well then, ’cause you need to be on your best game,” I said, leading him off to do some obedience training that started with Simon Says.

I quickly had Cranidos following along until he was visibly growing frustrated.

Just before he threw a tantrum I let him off the chain. “Simon says Headbutt that rock!” I called and he leapt to obey, earning a firm pet and a reward treat from me.

“Nicely done buddy, you lured them in and then crushed them with a single well placed headbutt. That’s real strength,” I said, stroking along his spine and cleaning his dome. He crooned happily and I ran him through another round.

When Rocko approached I gave him some instructions, “Can you grab those trainers in the guest rooms from last night? Give me another twenty or thirty and bring them to me?”

“Roger boss!” he said as he continued to jog on.

I then turned my attention back to Cranidos. “Alright! Simon says stand on one foot!” I said to continue.

Zubat and Gible joined in, and I didn’t have the heart to tell them this was meant to just be for Cranidos.

I got a whole three minutes of him following orders before he started to twitch in agitation. “Alright, your turn,” I said, allowing Cranidos to lead the game for once.

“Cran?” he said before he grinned and chirped about lowering your head.

I did not need to be psychic to predict what he was going to do next. Thankfully he charged and I merely stepped out of the way with a grin. “Ha! You forgot to say Simon says!” I said as he slammed into a rock wall.

“Gibl—” I started to say before aborting that and pointing to Zubat. “Zubat’s turn!” I said, and for the next minute, we flapped around happily before hugging each other. When Gible hugged Cranidos, the hard-headed pokemon tried to headbutt the ground shark, only to get a nibble in response.

I snorted and Cranidos grumbled while Gible chattered happily.

I called that game to an end then before going through some basic moves with Cranidos. “Alright, show me your Rock Smash!” I said, letting Cranidos off the leash.

Cranidos sprinted at a rock before pummeling it. “Good! Now I want a Fake Out with a kick! Use your legs! They’re strong too!” I called, and this time Cranidos did as I ordered, spinning and smashing with his legs.

“Excellent!” I said, making sure to give out praise. “Show me your Leer!”

Cranidos straightened up and shot me a look that had me shivering. “Perfect!” I said. “Let’s get you cleaned up for today’s matches! Report to Chansey!” I concluded, calling the training to an end as I moved on to work with Tirtouga and Anorith, who I was also hoping to give some time to.

As I made my way to the pond Rocko intercepted me. “Morning Brock! Got those trainers you wanted to talk to,” he said, waving a hand to Jessie, James and Meowth. I thanked him and he trotted off to perform another task, leaving me with plenty of room to talk privately with the trio.

Meowth, I noted, looked very tired but pleased with himself. “So it took you a while, but you worked out a hack, eh?” I asked.

Meowth blinked at me before rearranging his features into a smug look. “What else were you expecting when you called in the best but success?” he said.

“Hmmmm, how long does your method take without knowing about it?”

Meowth coughed. “It took me half the night to stumble on it, and then another couple hours to verify it works… It only works on some of the doors, though, cause I saw you’ve gone for extra security with a two-factor authentication and transceiver tech.” He shot me a finger. “I wasn’t aware of that!”

“I’m not going to hand out my security specs to just any Meowth,” I said smugly, pleased that he hadn’t been able to get past that extra feature I’d asked for on my own office, the medical bay and pokeball storage room, and the ‘duck pond’. There was also the fact that the Porygon monitored the doors nowadays.

I’d woken up to a lot of low-priority warnings that featured camera snapshots of Meowth. It was good to see he was being honest with me on how long it had taken him to ‘break in’.

“So I spoke with the group I mentioned last night, and they’re for it, if you are,” I said, cutting to the chase.

Jessie, James and Meowth all shared a look. “We… talked,” Jessie said. “We’ve agreed that… a safety net would be nice and that our current… circumstances are good for us.” She made a face as though this was a difficult admission for her.

I smiled and James coughed. “They’ve been pretty incredible actually, we’re still waiting for the other shoe to drop,” he said.

I shot him a look. “Yeah, I get feeling that way,” I said.

Meowth coughed. “Not to ruin a good thing, but… what if our old… pals decide to reach out to us?”

I smiled, I had an answer for this already thought up. “You accept and go along while telling us. Keep your eyes and ears open. The group you’re going to be a part of from now on? We’re very interested in what Team Rocket is up to,” I said.

“Fearow!” shrieked a bird as it began to plummet towards me.

No less than eight rocks shot up from the ground in front of the Fearow, forcing it to pull up from its dive sharply. “Row!?” it shrieked as it darted its head around in fear.

I whistled. “All good! It’s expected! Fearow, come in more carefully!” I called, cupping my hands so it could hear me. It came down much more slowly with its head darting about.

Jessie, James and Meowth looked around and spotted three of the pokemon that had launched the preemptive air defense attacks. I knew from training that the first round was always just warning shots.

If Fearow had kept on coming, then they and others would have gotten serious.

There was a no-fly zone around most Gyms in Indigo due to their potential nature as military assets, after all. The only exclusions that I knew of were Celadon and Cerulean. Surge had been very twitchy about allowing people to watch his match against Will via pokenet due to old instincts, but had allowed it with so many eyes watching for trouble.

Fearow delivered a packet that had a code lock on it, and with a swift input of my Guardian code the case unlocked to reveal three matching holopads.

“Welcome to the Guardians,” I said, handing over the flashy pieces of technology.

The trio accepted them and blinked when three identical identification sequences began. Meowth dropped his, only for it to not interrupt the process.

“Jeez lewiz! Warn a guy first!” he said to me as the scan locked in his biometrics.

“Sorry, forgot about that,” I said, which mollified Meowth a little.

When the sequence was done and he unlocked the pad he whistled. “Wow! There’s some interesting little tidbits on display here!” I smirked. He’d gone straight for the morning news that was compiled for easy reading.

Jessie looked to be doing a deeper dive on what features it had, while James was personalising his to have a different colour scheme.

Meowth glanced up at me. “This is pretty nice!” He said, like a cat that had just discovered how to invest in Cream Co. He then tilted his head. “What comes next?”

I smiled, “Well, how about—” a rumble interrupted me and I took a moment to realise it had come from all of our stomachs. I shared a look of disbelief with the others before laughing as one.

When we were done I waved a hand for them to follow. “Let’s start with breakfast, from there? The world!” I said.

The trio cheered at this and I felt like everything was falling into place.

Over breakfast I prodded them into revealing the various adventures they’d had so far this year. Learning about the various holes they’d dug leading to Ash, Forrest, and Misty falling into them was a little amusing but also worrying. “Probably best to change it up. While they’ll probably walk it off, let’s not actually hurt them going forward, yeah?”

The trio considered this. James tilted his head. “You want harmless fun pranks that jerk them around?”

Jessie squinted while tapping her spoon on her empty bowl. “I feel like there’s a word for that?”

“Shenanigans?” suggested Meowth as he finished licking the cream off his bowl.

“Munchlax!” chimed Munchlax, indicating the dishwasher.

“Huh? Oh right, yeah I can do that,” said Meowth as he moved to collect the plates from the trio and myself before depositing them in the sink.

I hummed, glancing at Munchlax who was ignoring me as he bustled into the lounge room where he started putting away the younger twins’ toys. I considered Meowth.

Hmmm, why not? “Can you ask him if he’s happy here? Or if he needs anything?” I asked.

Meowth repeated the question to Munchlax when he wandered back and the little pokemon shot him a thumbs up before chattering away. “Munch! Lax Mun Munch! Munchlax Munch Munch Munch Lax!” he chirped.

Meowth nodded along. “He says that he likes his life here. He especially loves it when he gets to listen to story time, but that you haven’t been telling as many stories of late. He misses that.”

I coughed in surprise, feeling touched that all he wanted was more stories.

Jessie cooed at that and James shot the little pokemon a radiant smile.

I nodded at Munchlax. “Sure, I’ll try and read more to you and my siblings,” I said.

Munchlax darted in to hug me before running off with a happy “Munch!”

The trio shared a smile with each other.

“So? What next?” I prompted.

Jessie frowned. “I need to complete my pokemon team and get stronger.”

“Don’t forget I’ve given you access to a stable, not mine, but one that handles other pokemon to a high level,” I said, causing Jessie to blink in surprise.

“Oh? Really? I hadn’t realised our deal would encompass that,” said Jessie.

I smirked. “You’re going to find a lot of prior issues gone now, Jessie,” I said. “Maybe take your trainer I.D. to the bank sometime to get yourself some more supplies to start off, hey?” I said.

The trio quickly checked Jessie’s card and whistled at the amount on there. “That’s enough to get parts for me to build at least three Rocket blimps!” Meowth said.

I chuckled and was about to suggest they spend it on less flashy items, before clamping my mouth shut. If they wanted to do this their way, then I just had to trust in them to reach the milestone by shutting up.

A task that was much more difficult than it should be with how each suggestion grew more and more outlandish, leaving me to hold my placid smile while Guardian Team Three— formerly Team Rocket— grew more and more excited about the future.

When they departed, they did so with a much more upbeat spirit, while I could only rub my chin and wonder if I hadn’t just made a terrible mistake.

For an infinitely small moment of time, I empathised with Giovanni. Then I crushed that emotion ruthlessly.

I entered the Gym and swept through the morning’s paperwork, seeking a distraction.

When it came time for the first gym match, I had to fight the grin off my face as the lights went out.

The trainer entered and one light burst to full power, lighting them up and causing them to flinch.

Out of the darkness, I spoke lines that I’d said a hundred, if not a thousand times now to first-time trainers.

My voice, like the stone carving out its grove in the mountain, rumbled out, filling all corners of the room. “You dare challenge the Pewter City Gym?”

The boy, a young trainer by the name of Trent, flinched and turned in my direction, eyes wide with fear. He hadn’t been expecting this and it was clear to anyone watching he was crumbling.

“Well?” I said, prompting them to speak. “Have you come here to challenge me?” I asked, lowering my tone just a fraction.

Trent swallowed and straightened. “I-I have! I have come to-b-b-beat you!” he bleated out, turning cherry red.

“Ho? Is that so?” Another light burst to life above me. “I am Brock and this is my Gym, let’s see if you have what it takes!” I said, striding down before leaping across to the podium.

I locked eyes with the trainer and got to watch as a fire entered his eyes and he began to stand taller. The fear vanished.

I felt myself relax a little more and enjoy the moment as Cranidos’ pokeball enlarged in my hand. This was one of the things I’d been missing and getting to return to it felt like I’d come back to a favourite hobby more than a part of my job.

“Trainers! Are you ready?” called Jackson from the referee’s podium.

We both nodded and sent out our pokemon.

“Go Nuzleaf!” Trent called.

“Go Cranidos!” I said, interested that he had a second stage pokemon like this for his first badge. It was a good match up.

“Nuzleaf! Razor Leaf!” called Trent. A good move to start, and against Cranidos it would surely knock him out if I allowed it to land. Sadly for Trent, I didn’t want to let it be too easy for him.

“Cranidos! Charge to the right fast! Break up that boulder and get some dust coverage!” I called, surprising everyone with how hard I was going out.

Trent didn’t know any better, merely grunting and leaning in as his pokemon’s attack missed. “Nuzleaf! They’re afraid of that move! Let’s do some Growth!”

“Cranidos, lead with a Mudslap before closing in!” I called. Out of the dust a slap sounded out as Cranidos slapped some mud with his tail and launched it straight into Nuzleaf’s eyes, startling the pokemon as it was blinded.

Cranidos poured on the speed seeing his chance. He lowered his head and brayed in excitement.

“Fire on the nose! Slightly to your left! Hold firm!” Trent called out. His Nuzleaf listened and followed the order and Cranidos suddenly found himself having to charge through a wave of Razor Leaf that cut him down.

He brayed once and fell, sliding to a stop just before Nuzleaf.

“Nuz?” asked the still blinded pokemon as he listened carefully.

“Cranidos is unable to battle!” called Jackson. His voice startled Nuzleaf before he did a happy jig. Trent grinned but gave his pokemon a quick look over. “Best not to test our luck! Let’s trade out for Mankey!” he called, sending out said pokemon.

Mankey appeared and looked around with a deceivingly happy expression. I sent out my Onix and sure enough the happy-go-lucky Mankey’s smile dropped as it unleashed a pair of Karate Chop onto my pokemon as I only got off one Tackle in return.

Trent gaped when Jackson raised his flag. “Onix is unable to battle! Trent is therefore the victor!” he called.

“I did it?” Trent said hesitantly.

I grinned and nodded, returning my Onix. “That you did, young man!”

Trent blinked. “You’re not kidding with me? You didn’t go easy?”

I coughed, suddenly sheepish. “I went to the limits of and a bit beyond the first badge level,” I said. I eyed him. “You probably could have challenged at the second tier with the pokemon you have and comfortably won, third tier would have been a tougher match, but for your first badge? You had a very strong showing,” I complimented him.

“Oh! Anita must not have known about that! She always said I was too weak to fight you and I needed to keep training… with how things were with all those scary-looking trainers that came through for months at the start of the circuit, it made sense,” he said.

“Ah, yeah, this year is tougher with trainer battles, but the Gym itself is still the same. It’s different when you accept a fight out in the wilds or at the end of year circuit,” I said. I gave him a smile. “You’ll have to hustle if you want to make this year’s circuit,” I said.

“You think I could make it?” he said, with the air of someone who had spent so long being told he couldn’t, he didn’t have the confidence in himself.

Jackson and I shot each other a worried glance. “Yeah? With some work?” I said.

“Huh, I’ll have to talk to Anita about it,” he said with a nervous twitch.

“Anita?” I asked.

“TRENT! TRENT! YOU BETTER NOT BE GETTING A BIG HEAD DUE TO BROCK GOING EASY ON YOU!” screamed a voice from the stands.

I blinked and looked up to find a girl who looked to be of age with Trent. Trent flinched. “Ah! I won’t!”

“Good! Now come up here and cheer for me!” she shouted.

Trent scurried off and I stared. He’d forgotten to take his badge. I shot what I knew to be my next challenger a frown. “Right, this is going to be… different,” I said, as an idea of what was going on started to form.

I stepped over to the podium wondering what I’d find with my next challenger.

For better or worse it was time to throw a barrier or two at this young Anita and find out what made her tick as a trainer.