Trixie huffed and puffed as beside her, the Chansey from Pewter Gym lazily slurped on a smoothie while riding her motorised scooter.
“You know Chanseys are supposed to be endurance maniacs!” Trixie gushed. “I’m sure if you gave it a try you could—”
The weight that was bearing down on her intensified, and Trixie groaned as she found herself having to work much harder to move.
The smile on her face only grew. Ha! She wanted it to be harder, so Chansey being so touchy about not wanting to get in shape only worked in her favour!
“Think that’ll stop me?” Trixie challenged, causing Chansey to snort dismissively and begin to pull away.
Oh, that just wouldn’t do at all!
Trixie dug deep and gave chase, her eyes locked on a distant marker that would signify the end of the run. Digging deeper again, Trixie felt her body warm up as she pushed harder and harder.
These days whenever she truly broke through she always got the same feeling of power coursing through her veins, which made her only want to chase the high that came with it more.
It was an addictive feeling, and she knew that while her body was hurting, it would be worth it as she wouldn’t be able to stop smiling.
Which… considering the state of Indigo right now, was a good thing. Sometimes you had to approach the day with a huge grin!
Charging after the speeding, Trixie’s smile only grew wider as Officer Jenny joined the chase.
“Halt! You’re speeding in a residential area!”
Chansey twitched, and rather than slow down, flicked a switch on her handlebars that caused a red button to be exposed.
“No! Trixie, stop that chansey!” called Jenny, and Trixie tried to be a dutiful citizen and follow the policewoman’s order, only for Chansey to punch the button and roar away, leaving them in her dust.
Trixie felt something spark within her chest as a primal instinct to give chase rose.
She lowered her centre of mass and braced only for her transceiver to buzz with a reminder and cause her to ease up. “Tch! I’ve gotta finish this warm up and get to the Gym!” she declared as she hit her end-session mark and slowed to a jog to stay warm.
Jenny coughed. “Warm up? Also, while you’re at the Gym can you talk to Brock about taking that scooter away from Chansey? It’s dangerous!”
“Is it against the law for a pokemon to ride a scooter?” Trixie asked only for Jenny to make a face.
“...not as such,” she growled, causing Trixie to giggle and wave farewell to her friend as she headed towards the gym to lead them through their weekly routine.
Rocko met her around the side, already in his exercise attire. “Morning Trix,” he greeted her as he began to limber up.
“Morning!” she greeted loudly, causing him to flinch. “Ah, sorry, indoor voice!”
Rocko sighed, shaking his head. “You only do that like every time we meet this way, though.”
“Hmmmmm true, true, now how have—” Trixie flinched as from the side a small clatter of beads rang out, announcing her greatest rival and challenge to date.
Glimmer emerged with a set of headphones. “Up, up, up like a pigdeot—” she sang as she stared at a small screen showcasing an idol group’s recent release that had begun to take off.
Trixie found it to be great workout music, but nowhere near as good as something with more bass.
“Hello Glimmer!” she shouted, causing Rocko to flinch again.
Rather than respond, Glimmer walked past, a small step-shuffle-twist in her steps as she copied the dance moves of one of the idols. “Hmmm no, she messed up. She should have done, hop,skip twirl not—” muttered the music-obsessed woman.
Trixie sighed. It wasn’t nice to be ignored, but sometimes that was just the way of it.
Still, it was weird being ignored. With how tall she was and how she was always in motion, she usually drew some attention.
Glimmer skipped forward only to lose her balance, and before she could stop herself, Trixie reached for the other woman.
Only for Glimmer to abort the trip, lean forward with her core and then reverse the motion she’d just done in a supreme display of body control.
Glimmer skipped backwards and did the dance in reverse, only to spin back around and repeat in a forward manoeuvre, pausing right in front of Trixie.
She then shut off her transceiver and nodded. “Hmmm, yes, a rewind,” she muttered before blinking. “Ah! Trixie! Well met this morning! What are the Gym trainers doing today? My cousin Shale has been looking forward to it! He said he will not be last in the rankings!”
Trixie giggled. “Oh! He’s got some work to do cause even Rocko won’t make it easy.”
“I’ll have you know I was perfectly proud of being the least physical. It’s your fault that even the lowest bar in our gym is still pretty high for others,” remarked Rocko casually, only to nod his head towards the weights room.
Trixie giggled and followed the man’s lead walking in to find Shale watching as young Ruby performed some hops and skips.
“— see I’m feeling perfectly fine!” growled the young girl. “I can walk and jump and everything!”
“That doesn’t mean you should be lifting weights!” barked Shale.
Trixie hummed. “He’s right Ruby!” she stated. “You’re young and only just recovered your legs. You need to be careful with any weights.” Looking around for a light weight she grabbed up an eight-kilogram weight.
“Here, this is fun-sized!" she gushed as she moved down the rack towards the forty-five-kilogram weights. “Now I’ll show you how to do an arm curl which won’t impact your legs too much!”
Shale stared at her while Ruby struggled with the kiddie weight. “I can’t—” she cut off as Shale shot her a triumphant look.
A flare of indignation sparked in her eyes and she began to slowly curl it. Trixie beamed at her as Brock walked in, only to pause as he caught sight of Ruby’s arm curl.
“...right, it’s a pokemon world not…” he shook his head while muttering something that Trixie didn’t catch.
“Gym Leader! Good to see you!” she greeted loudly, only to pause. Brock was usually quite tan and had a pep to his step. Said pep was missing and he looked ot be moving rather stiffly. There was also a notable pinkness to his skin that was odd.
“Brock… are you alright? If you’re ill, perhaps we can lighten your load,” she offered.
“Hm? Oh, I’m not sick, I’m just feeling a bit cooked. I was part of the policing action for Blaine’s assault the last few days. Ended up fighting him and a bunch of other pokemon in a caldera.”
Brock drew his transceiver out and stared at the image being reflected back at him.
“Huh, I do look kind of down, don’t I?” he mused.
Trixie tilted her head in thought. “Perhaps you should do some hydrotherapy today?”
“Swimming?” Brock asked, causing Trixie to bob her head from side to side.
“Feh! Sounds weak!” barked Shale as he sauntered up to where Trixie was pumping iron. Trixie subtly nodded to the thirties, only for him to attempt to grab the fifties.
He couldn’t shift them and turned red in the face from exertion while Ruby giggled at his antics.
“What’s hydrotherapy?” asked Ruby.
Adopting a lecturing pose with one dumbbell extended out so she could wave her hands about, Trixie said, “Hydrotherapy is water-based exercise and is good for situations where your joints are stiff and locked up, as they don’t take as much impact. You can also work on explosive power really easily in the pool!”
“Hmmmm, you know what? After yesterday, a pool day would be nice,” remarked Brock as he rose. “Everyone got their swimsuits on them?” Brock asked.
When Ruby, Shale, and Glimmer shook their heads, Brock hummed only for other trainers to offer up spares for the adults, while Brock offered Yolanda’s old swimsuit for Ruby.
From there it was a light five-kilometre jog as a warm-up to the pool!
On the way, Ruby collapsed at the first kilometre only for Brock to scoop her up and rejoin Trixie at the front of the pack. “Make sure to put those weights back when you’re done,” he commented, causing Trixie to blush as she realised she’d forgotten to rack her weights and had instead run off with them.
“Ah, I’ll keep them out of the pool, but yes, I’ll drop them off when I catch up with Rachel.” Glancing around for her missing girlfriend, Trixie looked at Brock. “Where is Rachel anyway?”
“She’s drafting a bunch of news releases along with reviewing the plan I have to establish the media library we had. The Porygon attack caused some of the older videos to become corrupted while newer ones have been left alone. The worst hit was our library of pokemon fights that took place in the gym.”
“Ah,” Trixie replied. “You realise giving her open licence on that is going to keep her busy for days, correct?” Trixie pointed out, knowing her hyperactive lovebug was kind of a fiend for that sort of thing.
“I do, but we did lose dozens, if not hundreds, of videos. I’ll probably have to invite in some Ace trainers or other Gym Leaders to fight them to showcase specific tactics.”
“Oh, that actually sounds rather fun!”
Brock’s gaze tracked the weight moving up and down while Ruby glanced around from his back. “Yeah, if done in small bites.”
Trixie led the ladies off to their own change room, and when they were ready, led them out to find the boys were already in the water.
Rocko and Brock were both floating on their backs, sighing in contentment. Dennis was on the side of the pool running through stretches while Shale was staring at the pool.
“Don’t worry!” Trixie called only for Shale to slip and fall into the water.
“Arrrrr!” he screamed, thrashing about and causing large waves to ripple about the pool. “I’m not a strong swimmer!”
“So stand up?” Trixie suggested.
Shale paused in his thrashing to do just that. “Oh… I thought it was deeper,” he muttered.
“Wrong end of the pool,” Trixie supplied, pointing to the diving area where some local athletes were practising from high boards while others simply enjoyed diving down with their pokemon.
Brock looked extremely relaxed, and on a whim, Trixie decided to leave him and Rocko to relax as she led the others through the routine they’d be doing.
A decision she felt vindicated on when she spotted Rocko slipping small inflatables under Brock to let him snooze while floating.
Feeling good about her decision to give Brock the rest day he sorely needed, Trixie turned away, but not before snapping a few pictures for her girlfriend to add to pokechat when it was brought back online.
Everyone needed a day of rest after all.
Some of Brock’s pokemon obviously agreed as they had followed along and were either swimming about, floating with swimming aides, or lounging on the edge of the pool.
Link, Brock’s Celfable was performing stretches while chansey sat in a beach chair behind him, watching on.
Ruby giggled. “For such big pokemon they’re cute! It’s a shame they’re fully evolved. Imagine if they were a Clefairy and a Happiny?”
Salvadore lifted his head from where he was swimming, opened his mouth to correct her, only to take in some water and begin spluttering.
“Clefairy?” Brock muttered, stirring from his sleep. “Why does it feel like I’m still forgetting something?” he muttered sleepily.
[hr][/hr]
Pryce let loose a groan of delight as he slipped into the hotsprings of Mahogany town.
“Hmmmm that’s wonderful,” he moaned. The feel of the hotsprings was made all the better by the knowledge that he didn’t have any serious gym duties today. That meant he’d be able to rest up and get some other jobs that had been sitting on the back burner for a while finished up.
Reaching for his special herbal blend of juice, Pryce took a long pull and exhaled in relief. Soon enough, the ache all over his body would vanish, as would the throbbing headache that had dogged him since waking up.
Damn, Surge and his drinking contest!
Damn, Oak for dragging him into it!
And damn, Lola for winning! To make matters worse, he’d subtly placed a bet on Bruno winning before being dragged in! How could a man with that much size be so weak to alcohol?
A splash of water and an equally loud groan announced that Pryce wasn’t alone in the hot springs.
Which shouldn’t be the case as he’d booked a private pool.
“Agatha, if that’s you, I swear to Articuno I will freeze this—”
“It’s me Pryce,” muttered Oak from across the pool.
Pryce paused, considered that for a moment and then asked the next relevant question. “Are you wearing swimwear?”
There was a long silence.
“Oak!” Pryce barked, opening an eye and glowering at the man only to flinch as the sound of his own voice drove a spike of pain into his skull. Damn hangovers!
“...yes,” replied Oak.
Pryce stared at him, his eyes pointedly not dipping below the neckline in the water to see what shape his body had, and instead deciding he was merely going to accept it.
A soft ripple and a sigh of contentment that could have been the wind caused Pryce to stiffen.
“Koga?”
“Yes?”
“Why are you both in my pool?” Pryce grit out.
“It’s bonding after a hard battle, it’s all the rage these days with the young ones Pryce. Didn’t you know that?” Oak opined.
Pryce narrowed his eyes. “I don’t care for young people trends.”
“Hmmmm, you should spend more time around the young ones. It makes you feel younger,” Koga suggested.
“I mostly just feel older,” growled Pryce.
Koga nodded. “It will do that as well.”
Pryce snorted but let the conversation lapse. For a few minutes, none of them spoke, content to enjoy the warmth of the pool.
Eventually, an idea wormed its way into Pryce’s mind and no matter how much he attempted to ignore it, he had to ask, "Weren't you supposed to be helping Lance with Blaine’s fortress?”
“Is that what it’s being called?” Oak murmured only to be ignored.
Koga opened an eye. “I’m a shinobi.”
Oak chuckled at the blunt answer while Pryce nodded; yes, that did make sense.
“What do you think will happen with Agatha?” Oak asked before they could get truly comfortable again.
Pryce felt like clicking his tongue. Yes, that woman would ruin the moment, wouldn’t she?
He considered saying something acidic but knew that neither man would take it in jest so instead he sighed. “She’ll probably get a slap on the wrist and folded into Lance’s G-men that he’s so fond of.”
“It has merit,” said Koga.
“Hmmm,” Oak murmured. “I should have been the one to—”
Pryce snorted. “You? Please! You would have shackled him if you had the chance. Blaine was counting on it, which is why he made sure to stay close to you. You were his last-ditch effort to get out!”
“That!” Oak sat up and glared down at the water before sighing and nodding. “That is probably correct. I’m still shocked that…” Koga and Pryce both raised their eyebrows at him. “Alright, I’m not all that shocked at all that Agatha did what she did! Happy?”
“Hmmm, I am, yes,” remarked Prcye, only to understand that he wasn’t lying. He was in fact rather enjoying himself. What did the young ones call it these days?
A lad's get-together?
It felt rather nice.
“Excuse me, but I had an order for some milk to be delivered at an hour into your float sir?” chimed a voice.
Before Pryce could tell her to leave it at the door, Oak chimed in. “Oh! Wonderful! Bring it in please!”
There was a long moment of quiet before the attendant replied. “A-alright sir!”
With a slightly red face, the woman slipped into the enclosed room and placed a tray at the edge of the pool. Pryce stared at her. Why was she so flustered?
“Is the heat of the hot springs getting to you my dear?” he asked with a kind tone.
The woman’s eyes darted about at the chests of the bare older men. “Ah! No! Sir, I'm just surprised that there are three of you in here is all! Enjoy your session!” she replied as she hurried away.
“... almost as good as Brock v Lance,” she muttered as the door closed.
Koga spluttered suddenly, causing Oak and Pryce to glance at the usual stoic man. “Are you alright?” asked Oak, inching closer to check on the other man.
Koga shifted away. “I’m fine! Just… glad the pokenet is down for a while! It will give youngsters time to clean their brain rot!” he muttered.
Pryce nodded. “Indeed!”
Oak hummed. “I rather like how it brings us all together. I’ve joined a few groups and societies! We share pictures and poems!”
“How many have you been kicked out of because of your poetry?” Koga replied, causing Pryce to chuckle.
Oak barked a laugh. “Ha! Two so far…” he admitted, causing the other two to join him in a brief laugh.
A buzzing noise caused Koga to sigh, and he rose, revealing he was wearing a fundoshi of all things. Oak and Pryce grimaced. As Koga stalked towards a small bag that until now had gone unnoticed.
“Koga here,” answered Koga.
“Ah Koga, I called to inform you of Agatha’s fate,” replied Lance, causing the other two men to straighten and their ears to twitch. Lance cleared his throat. “I have decided—”
[hr][/hr]
One hour ago -
Lance’s temporary office in the taxation department was nothing like the Champion’s tower. It barely had a window, and the lights flickered occasionally.
It made Lance feel rather ashamed. He’d been living in the lap of luxury for so long while people within his own government had to work in much drabber conditions.
“I’ll need to renovate these buildings,” he mused as he shifted a request form to the completed pile.
A polite cough made him glance over to find Timothy smiling. “That would be a bit of a waste of funds, sir. Most of the tax and inspection agents don’t really mind. Most of the work gets done in the field, as it were, in other people’s offices, so it’s not going to be an issue if our home office is drab. Modernisation might also slow us down due to moving everything around.”
Lance stared at the man. “... that was a weirdly compelling argument for not receiving better working conditions.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t call it that, but if you did want to renovate something, perhaps an industrial coffee machine?”
That drew a smirk from Lance. If there was ever anything office workers liked to see in an office kitchen, it was a good coffee machine.
“I think we can manage that,” Lance replied easily.
Timothy did a happy wiggle, collected the completed forms and marched out to see them dealt with.
Leaving Lance with no more paperwork.
And no more excuses for the conversation that he’d been putting off since yesterday.
He’d been hoping a night’s sleep would allow him to better judge the situation. The five hours he got was a luxury in the aftermath but he’d paid for it by returning to work to find a full inbox and multiple people demanding meetings of him.
It was a small comfort that Kruger was working just as hard but still.
“Agatha, are you ready to talk?” he asked the empty room.
A flicker was the only warning he had before Agatha appeared in the chair opposite him. Lance licked his lips, forcing his heart to slow down as much as he could. Damn her and her horror movie tactics!
“Champion Lance, are you ready to place me under arrest?” she asked formally.
Rather than respond straight away, Lance sighed heavily. This… this was going to be a clusterfuck.
“It’s not a hard choice, Lance,” Agatha suggested. “I’m an old woman.”
“No,” Lance replied. “I’ve decided that I won’t be making a deal for you, but I won’t be punishing you either. Not after all the grief and hardship Blaine unleashed.”
Agatha stared. “You are a man that has set the foundation of his championship upon law and order.”
“Yes, and that is that. Blaine however is a man so far beyond the system of laws to deal with that I don’t think I should try to bend the system to fit him in. What would have been a fair punishment? Life imprisonment? Life of servitude? No. He set the plateau on fire. The bedrock of our government and symbol to all of Johto and Kanto’s union!”
Lance leaned back and sighed. “Now he is dead.”
Lance stood. “That will have to do.”
“It will cause some people to question you.”
“Good. If they say it to my face, I will remind them that even a good man when pushed can do terrible things.”
“Hmmm, I’m not sure if I like this wiser, more pragmatic Lance, or I should worry about you.”
“Why not both? Wasn’t that a lesson you were teaching me from the day I challenged for the role of Champion until you retired?” Lance asked. When she snorted, he nodded and offered her a smile. “Would you like some tea?”
Agatha scoffed. “I’ve seen the shape of the kitchen here. I’ll pass.”
“Ah, is it really that bad? I honestly have been sending runners to fetch my drinks,” Lance asked.
“Did they bring take-away cups or actual mugs to you?” Agatha asked pointedly.
“I see,” replied Lance as he eyed the bin near his desk. On closer inspection, the name on the side listed a Pewter City cafe. “Did Blaine burn down the coffee hut on the plateau as well?”
With a single raised eyebrow, Agatha gave him the answer, causing him to grunt. “Well, that alone would make a number of people want him dead, I could imagine.”
Snorting, Agatha waved her hand. “You had best call the other old men who were with me. They’ll be worried over my fate.”
“Hmmm, I’ll start with Oak then,” Lance said only to make the call and for it to go unanswered. When he changed to Koga he got through.
“Koga here,” answered Koga.
“Ah, Koga, I called to inform you of Agatha’s fate,” replied Lance. “I have decided—” He paused as he noticed that there were vague shapes in the steam behind Koga. Was he… a glance at Koga revealed he was actually shirtless.
“Ah… I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” Lance stated.
“You’re not!” called Oak as he strode out of the steam, likewise shirtless.
Agatha made an odd croaking noise. “Don’t tell me Pryce is also there,” she growled.
The camera shifted to show the gym leader of Mahogany gym reclining on the edge of the pool.
“Agatha,” he greeted.
Agatha made an odd noise before turning her head away. “So, this is what you boys get up to when I’m not around. It explains some things.”
Koga grunted. “It is not like that. This is just male bonding.”
“Riiiiight, well Lance is letting me off so you can all go back to your circle je—”
“Agatha!” shouted Lance his face now a sickly green only to shake his head, avert his eyes and shift awkwardly. “That’s out of line and highly inappropriate."
“Is it untrue though?” she grunted out of the side of her mouth.
Oak ignored her comments and approached Koga and wrapped an arm around him from behind. Koga accepted the touch without comment, but Agatha coughed sharply as Oak grinned at her.
“That’s wonderful news! Come around to the lab later I’d love to have some tea with you! With you retired, I feel we should meet up more! Like old times!”
Agatha blinked slowly. “I’ll consider it,” she eventually said before nodding to Lance and shimmering away.
Lance shook his head. “Right, well I’ll leave you to your leisure. Make sure you’re free in two days time however as the Trinity Nations delegates are arriving in Fuchsia, and you’re the best man to welcome them.”
“I’ll be there,” remarked Koga stoically before signing off.
Lance shook his head. Wow, those old guys were lucky. If he had been caught in a spa like that with some of his male friends… yikes.
He’d have to go on so many public dates afterwards just to make most of the rumours die down. Turning back to his work he picked up his speech for the welcome to Indigo that he would be giving. The delegates were being cagey on who they would be sending, but Lance suspected he knew from keeping an ear to their chatter.
Now he just needed to select his own representative to go to the Trinity nations as the head of the trainer contingent.
Hmmm, who deserved the honour? He thought to himself. Karen, he’d need to keep close; Koga was too useful. Bruno… could never serve as a foreign ambassador.
Which left Lorelei.
Hmmm, this might be the first thing she’d thank him for.
He was just lucky that the Trinity Nations circuit started later than their own. He didn’t think Lorelei would forgive him if she missed outBrock and Sabrina’s wedding.
[hr][/hr]
“Stop scratching at it; let it do its work,” Gary growled at Mia.
Mia stiffened, her hand inching towards her arm before pulling back. “Sorry,” she muttered quietly.
Gary pinched the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to apologise. It’s just… let the cream do its work. Gramps swears by this stuff and if he’s serious you won’t have any scars to worry about.”
“That’s good,” Mia replied, her hand brushing over her left arm which had a long wrap of bandage.
Gary clenched his jaw. It sucked that there was nothing he could do. Then or now. He felt so… weak. The bastards had come for him and cause Mia was with him she and her pokemon team had been caught up in the fight.
It wasn’t supposed to be that way. If gramps hadn’t come when he did… Gary licked his lips only to jump when something cold pressed into his face. He snapped his head around to find Mia offering him can of lemonade.
“You’re looking grumpy again. I’m alright. Professor Oak said I’ll be fine, and even Brock said the same after checking in on me. I’ve had everyone hovering and I’m getting sick of it. Can you just be yourself instead of super emo Gary? It’s too much,” she said with a shake of her head.
Despite himself, Gary smiled and snorted. It was good to see a bit of Mia’s usual spunk coming back.
“Alright, I suppose I need to look my best. I am the prettier of the two of us after all.”
Mia smiled and shook her head before gesturing to a nearby camera crew that was growing excited. “Come on, let’s get close so you can be on national television.”
“They couldn’t afford my rates—” Gary started to say only to get dragged by Mia towards the camera.
They arrived just in time for the introduction segment.
“And if you’re just tuning in, you’ve done so at a wonderful time, as the flagship diplomacy-first has just come into Fuchsia harbour! I’m Abby, your host with the most, and lets talk Indigo today!” announced Abby with a wide smile.
Overhead, several flying pokemon and riders released confetti through the air.
“And here comes the SS Diplomacy-first!” Abby cheered, causing Gary and Mia to lean forward slightly to catch a sigh of the large vessel as it powered into harbour.
Behind them, Abby gestured towards the pier where there was a small stage set up. “Welcoming the new arrivals from the Trinity nations, Champion Lance is joined by Elite Four Koga, and his daughter, the current Gym Leader of Fuchsia, Janine!”
“President Kruger is also here,” murmured the cameraman, causing Abby to blink and glance over her shoulder.
Mia giggled. “Fight on, President,” she whispered in support, causing Gary to snort.
Abby ignored the comments and continued with her spiel. “Aboard the vessel are three Elite Four from the Trininty Nations!”
That had Gary and Mia straightening up with interest as they both tried to spot who it was.
Their gaze quickly fell on three individuals at the front of the ship.
“—Bertha of Sinnoh, Marshal of Unova, and Drasna of Kalos are arriving and will be touring around Indigo for the next few weeks, while fifty young trainers will be taking part in the Indigo circuit for the rest of the season!”
Gary raised his transceiver and used the camera function to zoom in to get a better look at the strongest trainers in the Trinity nations. Each of them had a signature look to them.
Shifting his target, Gary swept his camera down the side of the ship, spotting both different pokemon and trainers. He paused on one purple-haired trainer that had his hair pulled into a ponytail and also had a transceiver out with an image projected on it.
It was Gary and Mia.
Lifting his gaze to the distant figure, Gary locked eyes with the other trainer.
Despite the water between them, a spark ignited. “I want to fight that guy before we leave on our ship,” he announced.
“Hmmm, sounds like fun,” murmured Mia, causing Gary to glance at her only to find her scratching her arm. He sighed and flicked her on the forehead.
“Be serious! We need to win! We’re represent Indigo! This might be the only chance we have to get intel on what styles of fighting Trinity Nation trainers like before we set sail ourselves.”
A nasally voice spoke up from further down. “You know guys? That brat ain’t wrong.”
Gary turned only to have to lower his gaze. Instead of a short person he found himself gazing into a pokemon’s eyes. “A talking Meowth?”
“A talking brat! Wow! Silence the press!” bit back the Meowth as he scoffed. “Come on Jessie, James. We gotta set up a stall or something to get some team touring money before we ship out!”
“Right!” cheered the red and blue-haired humans accompanying the Meowth.
“I wonder if I could set up a stall for trading a Magikarp for one of the newcomers pokemon?” mused the red-haired woman as they walked away.
Gary watched them go, confused. “They’re also going with us to Sinnoh?” he murmured.
Mia hummed. “Looks like we’re in for an interesting trip!”
Gary nodded; it certainly looked that way. Hopefully, this trip wouldn’t be a mistake. He had a month to prepare and he planned to gather as much information as possible. If the Trinity trainers thought they were going to sweep Indigo, then he was going to do the same for one of their regions!
At the very least, most people wouldn’t know he was Sam Oak’s grandson in Sinnoh, but that didn’t mean he was going to get sloppy.
Recent events showed that if anything, he needed to knuckle down and get stronger than ever.
[hr][/hr]
A.N. Thanks got to my patreons for your continued support!
It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!