The next day saw me back to work at the Gym, which almost felt a little anticlimactic after everything that had happened, but in a way it was all I ever wanted to do.
It was nice, and normal, and for a change in my morning routine I led my pokemon into town before the Gym opened to take the kids to the park before school.
I was just helping Suzie with the mankey bars when I remembered why I didn’t do this as much during the start of the circuit.
“Gym Leader Brock! I challenge you!” called a young voice, causing me to turn and find a young trainer holding a pokeball towards me.
Huh, right. I keep forgetting that I’m a magnet for these sorts of kids.
I had precisely a few seconds to respond before the kids got involved.
You know what, I think I was going to have fun with this. Deciding to take a page from Team Rocket trio’s playbook I turned my head slightly while reaching into my handy satchel to draw out a fake moustache that I donned before looking back.
Adopting a terrible fake accent, I tilted my head. “Who is this Brock you speak of? I am Brook, humble manager of rock collector emporium on pebble street!”
The trainer faltered. “Oh… really? I could have sworn you were him…” he wilted. “Damn! There goes my plan to challenge him when he was weak…”
“Hmmm? This man Brock? Why you need to challenge him when he’s weak?” I asked, still heavily playing into my adopted persona as Suzie swung back only to gape at me.
“You look silly!” she giggled
I winked at her and tickled her before sending her spinning off to Cindy who was watching on from the sidelines.
Turning back to the young man I made a show of stroking my moustache as the young trainer shifted.
“Cause… like… He’s really strong… and I’ve only got a Caterpie and a Nidoran on my team.”
“Hmmmmm I see. You lack understanding of what you have then. Perhaps instead of running at the first milestone, you take some time to learn about yourself and your new friends, yes?”
“But I don’t want to be left behind! The pokenet… when it was working always said that you needed to get ahead! If you can get through the first two or three gyms in like a month you’re set!”
“Hmmmm people on this poke-net’ that you speak of, do you know them? How do you know they are offering good advice? Or for that matter advice for you?”
“I don’t…” muttered the kid.
I hummed. Were all the kids that challenged me when I was out and about like this? Just troubled youths?
For a moment I started to feel empathy for them and how I’d dismissed them.
Then I recalled that some of them were right brats and I crushed the feeling ruthlessly. It wasn’t my fault they were troubled, they were annoying to deal with!
That being said, this young boy could pretty easily be pushed in the right direction.
“I think you should go to the Battle club, learn what works and what does not, yes? Maybe go to Route four perhaps to hmmm?” If I just so happened to be pushing him towards a route known for oddish and Mankey living around there, well, what were the chances of that?
“That… might help yeah.” he nodded along only to squint at me. “You talk weird mister? Are you from far away?”
“Hmm? Yes!” I replied before deciding to hell with it. “I come from two streets away! That is long distance to some!” I said with a gruff voice.
The boy grinned and laughed. “Ha! You’re funny! If I find any rocks I’ll be sure to come sell them to you!” he called as he turned and walked away.
I watched him go feeling rather proud of my morning's work. I’d set out to troll the kid and instead given him some good advice.
It was then that Billy and Timmy ran past me, snatching the moustache off my face.
“I am hairy face man! Bleh!” Billy squealed.
“Oh you little rattata!” I called, giving pretend chase to them and setting off a new round of delighted squeals.
After dropping the kids off at school I happily walked back to the Gym. On the way, I passed the kid that had challenged me.
He looked at me, tensed up for a moment, only to relax. “M-morning Gym Leader!" he called.
“Good morning to you as well!” I replied with a wide smile as I tried to inject as much friendliness into my tone as possible.
The kid smiled back and I sighed happily. Yeah, that was a good start to the day.
When I returned to the Gym I meandered around, checking on the various pokemon and the reserve before moving to check in with Alexa.
“Any changes to my schedule?” I asked.
“No, just the five today. We haven’t had any more bookings as yet but your Thursday is looking rather full,” Alexa confirmed, causing me to hum.
That was how it was supposed to be. I checked over other small tasks that I had on my to-do list and nodded when I saw them listed on the schedule and locked into place.
“I’m also expecting some paperwork from the League to take on a potentially… dubious pokemon,” I said carefully.
“A ghost type?” Alexa asked with a slight tilt of her head.
“Former criminal’s pokemon. They’re too strong to be left to chance however, and I think it would be best if they were around their own species for a while,” I said.
“Ah,” Alexa replied. “Should I tell the trainers about this?”
“Probably best they are aware of the risks around this pokemon and to keep an eye on him.” a thought occurred to me. “Actually schedule a small meeting around that. I’ll be the one to address it, today if possible,” I stated as I recalled a method of discussing criminals, or rather those who had broken laws in an effective manner.
Alexa did as asked and after lunch I found myself at the front of the meeting room with various trainers and staffers of the Gym assembled. The only ones not in attendance were the security staff who worked the gym internally. I made sure to have the stablehands in attendance and then I released Titan, Bertha, Shrek, and Selene, who were perhaps my most level headed pokemon.
The sudden release of my pokemon caused a stir of confused mutterings, but I merely directed my pokemon to go sit down.
“Alright everyone, I’m going to get started!” I called out to the room and quickly had everyone quietening down, with Bethany the old lady receptionist, adjusting her hearing aide to actually hear me now that the noise had died down.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise that I took part in a recent police action against Blaine and was part of the task force to… take him down,” I said with a sigh. The official party line was that Blaine was in the ground, while specific people would be informed and told to keep their eyes open.
The room shifted and Rachel slowly raised her hand only for me to shake my head, indicating I wasn’t going to take questions on this right now.
“Now, what might surprise you is that during the fight a lot of Blaine’s pokemon were knocked out and were able to be taken into specialised care. Some have however been extremely helpful with law enforcement and will see certain benefits,” I stated.
“Others… have been released into controlled areas far from civilisation.” This was, in truth, only Moltres, but that didn’t need mentioning.
People shifted at this knowledge, and a few more people looked like they wanted to raise their hands.
“It is very, very, very far away from civilisation,” I repeated, making sure they understood that it was highly unlikely that we’d be encountering that Moltres again. Which wasn’t to say it was impossible.
Just to be sure, a tracker had been injected into it by one of the Guardian agents at my request.
I’d fought that particular pokemon enough times that I didn’t want to be surprised by another encounter. If it deviated or came near me, I’d know well in advance.
“Now the real reason I wanted to address you all is that one of the pokemon is going to be coming to me specifically for rehabilitation. I will not be owning it, but I will be retraining it to make sure that there are not any violent tendencies. After a period of six months this pokemon will be formally reviewed and another judgement on who is best to continue this pokemon’s care will be determined.”
That got a few people sitting up.
“Who’s that pokemon?” muttered someone.
“It’s a Rhyperior,” I stated. “Specifically a pokemon that has been trained to ape Bertha’s style of fighting. It knows one hit K.O moves so there is a serious risk if it were to lash out.”
I gave the room a moment to process that before continuing. “I do not expect that. I have been in contact with the pokemon in question, and he seems to be a straightforward sort. That doesn’t mean he won’t have hang ups. Now, I understand that some people would have concerns with a pokemon that was used in criminal activities joining us. These are valid concerns and if you wish to talk to me about them then please speak to me privately.”
“What I will say is that this pokemon has also been through a lot recently and I want to make sure that our treatment and even how we act around it is appropriate. Now this pokemon was an accessory to some crimes but that isn’t so much an issue with pokemon not really facing charges for things their trainers force them to do. That said it was still adjacent to crimes and needs to be handled properly. I understand that some people might have concerns about this. If you do not wish to be around this pokemon for certain reasons, talk to myself, Rocko, or Dennis and arrangements can be made later,” I said giving people an out in case they or their loved ones might have been impacted by Blaine. I doubted they’d carry over the general rage that wa Blaine had faced, but emotions could be messy things.
“Now, the point I want to make is that I want people to start thinking that instead of coming from a prison, this Pokemon has returned from a hospital instead.”
People tilted their heads.
“I assume some of you are confused by this approach?” I asked and was pleased to see that people were nodding. Thankfully, I had done a good bit of research to make sure what I was about to speak about was actually present in this world.
“Because there are lots of benefits to this approach for us and the being that is coming out of this type of ‘care’.” I made sure to twitch my fingers to emphasise the care statement.
“Now I first encountered this when I was talking with some of the professional baseballers within our own league. Some of them occasionally break the rules and are punished with stints where they are suspended from play. They serve their punishment and are then allowed to return but there are also studies on this being used with actual criminals and there are promising results.”
Here, I even went so far as to throw up a projection of the names of several studies along with key findings that stated readmission to prison, or reoffending rates along with acts of violence post-prison were sharply decreased.
“When we approach it with this particular mindset, the way we interact and even think about the individual changes. It causes changes to the words we use when talking about the individual, in his case Rhyperior.”
I shifted around and once more tossed out some written examples via projection of how people would talk using both scenarios.
“Also, our body language changes and with some pokemon that can mean a world of difference, especially for a pokemon that is going to be so cautious after his previous trainer did what he did.”
“Now my hope for this is that by the end everyone will be better off and these small shifts in communication will result in a better outcome for all. Remember the point is to keep everyone as safe as possible. Also, if you have any concerns feel free to raise them with me.”
Turning to my pokemon I gave Titan my attention. “Think you can handle that buddy?”
He raised a scaly thumbs up to me which had me grinning.
Bertha raised her fist. “Rhy Rhy rhyperior!”
“No fist of love if he steps out of line,” I said with a bemused expression. I knew she was mostly joking, but still, best to discourage that. Giving her a pointed look, I raised an eyebrow. “Should I have brought Link or Shin in here instead?”
Bertha waved her hand back and forth, denying that I needed to change things out, causing Selene and Shrek to laugh at her antics. I offered my own smirk and nodded.
Dennis approached. “That wasn’t what I was expecting to hear today,” he remarked as he drew closer.
Offering him a shrug, I replied. “I just realised that it was something that we needed to talk about with my desire to take on Rhyperior.” I gave him a look. “You know, there’s not a strong need for me to keep Rhyperior as I already have Bertha and a whole slew of Rhyhorn and the odd Rhydon. If you or one of the other trainers is interested, I could see about you spending more and more time together.”
Dennis considered that before shaking his head. “I wouldn’t be able to do it, but thank you for the consideration, sir!” he said, straightening out.
I sighed and nodded, still amused that he was so formal after all the years we’d worked together. “Well spread it around that such an option is available.”
Dennis nodded but remained close as others milled about and discussed what I’d just spoken about. Rachel was the next to approach me. “Shame this isn’t something we should really spread around. Might be a bit of blowback with you taking on Blaine’s pokemon, and a Rhyperior at that. People will think you’re getting greedy.”
Glancing towards Dennis with an amused look, I repeated the offer I’d made to him, and she blinked. “Huh, you’d just give it away?”
“It’s more about rehabilitating Rhyperior and making sure he’s safe, both for himself and others. Give it a few months and then I’ll reassess it. Probably just before the League comes around to make a call so we can make any transition as smooth as possible.”
“Oh… yeah, that I can work with,” Rachel grinned.
“Give it a month or two first, alright?”
“Sure, let the heat die down,” she murmured only to grimace. “That came out wrong. Sorry! With you being there you most likely saw it… and… I’m gonna shut up now!” she rushed to say before darting away.
I turned away, nothing unusual there, just Rachel putting her foot in her mouth.
Dennis blinked slowly only for his eyes to widen. “Oh that’s… that’s bad.”
I shot him a look and shook my head. “Slowpoke much?” I teased.
Dennis spluttered. “I missed my coffee this morning.”
“Eh, don’t see the hype, I’m a tea man,” I replied.
“You will once you have kids,” he muttered ominously.
“Eh, I got through raising my siblings well enough without it,” I pointed out.
Dennis grunted, conceding the point. While no one approached me I did notice that a clipboard being handed about with people growing excited when they saw whatever was on it.
“Do I want to know? I asked Dennis.
“Hmm? Oh, that’s the investment group. I spoke with Lawrence, he’s mad at you for not having that discussion in private by the way—” I grimaced, knowing he was right, “—and while we don’t have as much to throw around as you or Sabrina, we can still form an investment group and throw some money after you to cash in as it were.”
I pursed my lips. “I was just making an educated guess.”
“Lawrence said that as well. There is some attached legalese about not being able to come after you for matching your investment, but again, we’re confident in you.”
That made me chuckle. With most people more interested in the sheet being handed around than in approaching me after the talk, I stepped back out to continue facing challengers and allow them to win their badges.
It was looking like a pretty easy day with only two trainers to face me.
One of whom had chosen the gauntlet which I was happy to see.
“Cherry from Len Town, that’s interesting, why does that ring a bell?” I mused as I decided to do a bit of research. It only took a few minutes to find the travel advisory.
“A town haunted by ghost pokemon in the nearby woods eh? As such trainers that come to challenge the residents of Len town resulting in their specialty being psychic pokemon to counter the invasive ghosts.”
I chewed on that thought for a while, considering what it actually meant for Len town to have such an influx of ghost pokemon.
Deciding to give Cherry’s team roster a look over I was interested to find that she was channeling me with Slowpoke, Girafarig, and Exeggcute.
Which. Honestly those were some rare pokemon for me to face, especially for a first badge challenge.
When it came time for Cherry to enter I gave her the usual routine. Music blared, the small crowd that had assembled to watch stomped their feet and I loomed out of the darkness with my arms crossed as she held her ground on the podium.
“You challenge the Pewter Gym?” I demanded, deep in my persona.
“Yes! Hurry this up so I can move on! You’re nothing but a stepping stone for me!” Cherry roared as she pointed a finger at me and glared defiantly.
My lips twitched. Damn this girl certainly didn’t lack for confidence to throw that sort of statement out.
“Hmph, bold words for a girl challenging the gauntlet at merely the first badge level. Do you not wish for a challenge?” I taunted.
“Feh! I knew you’d say that!” she proclaimed as she puffed her chest out. “For you see I am a psychic type trainer and I am one day going to be a Psychic type master! I will defeat you and eventually your soon-to-be wife!”
Out of reflex, I let a trickle of dark energy filter through me.
Cherry paused and blinked in surprise at me, causing me to reconsider her.
Huh, she wasn’t just bluffing. She had actually been ‘reading’ me to some extent. She had true psychic potential.
Nodding, I smirked. “Bold words indeed. If I cannot make you rise to the occasion, then that is shame. I suppose you will need to pick your moment when you face Sabrina, or indeed others, as they will not rely on gimmicks.”
“It’s not a gimmick but my hard-trained ability!” she growled.
“Very well! Prove yourself!” I declared, feeling more than a little glee at getting to play up the bad guy angle.
“Your first challenge awaits!” I announced and from the side one of the Gym trainers stepped out and raised his pokeball.
“Rock ready!” he announced, making me cringe a little. I spotted Rachel shooting him a thumbs up that made me sigh. She was giving them catch phrases now?
Not sure if I liked that idea so much.
The first trainer went out and Cherry played her hand well with Exeggcute taking to the field.
The half dozen of eggs that were in truth one singular pokemon used Absorb to steamroll their way to victory in the first battle with the two Geodude that were used being easily dispatched by the type advantage.
I drummed my fingers and considered the pokemon roster I was going to use. I could stick with Geodude and Onix, the tried and true pair that represented the gym, but this girl… I wanted to give her some challenge.
Out the side of my mouth, I whispered to Alexa. “Can you get one of the young Lileep brought up?” I asked, making sure to keep my dark energy filtering through my body.
Alexa nodded and hurried off as Dennis stepped forward, sending out a Rhyhorn and sent it out with Rock Throw straight away.
This time, Exeggcute took damage but Cherry just grit her teeth. “Push through and continue with absorb you can win this!”
She was proven correct a moment later when the supereffective move drained Rhyhorn fully.
I hummed, toying with an idea of how I could… no, I shouldn’t be too harsh. She was just challenging at the first badge level after all.
Damn. I was hoping to get out a leech seed or two and make her fight through it with an Onix that had a sturdy ability. Then again, Lileep did know a lot of ghost type moves…
Perhaps it was the dark energy coursing through me, or just because I wanted to see this girl under some pressure, but instead of waving Alexa off when she returned with the pokeball containing Lileep I accepted it with a nod.
Denni’s pokemon fell soon enough and he stopped aside. Once more everyone turned their attention to me as I loomed.
“Hmmm, it seems you have some skills. Let’s put those to the test! I declared with a tinge of dark amusement.
Cherry swallowed as I marched down the stairs. When I reached the right point I bent my knees and leapt, soaring across the gap to land upon the podium with a boom that was entirely more theatrical than practical.
Didn’t matter, it was cool as hell.
I rose, smirked as I palmed the first pokeball.
The umpire for this match raised the flags and dropped them quickly causing us to send out our pokemon once more. I made sure to whip my pokemon out right to the line of where I could with Likeep emerging at the half way mark while exeggcute appeared right across from it.
Lesson one, positioning mattered.
Cherry stiffened. “That’s not what I foresaw at all…” she muttered.
“Heh, so this is what happens when you encounter hardship? You falter?” I taunted.
Cherry’s fist clenched and I mentally nodded as she whipped her hand out.
“Go for Hypnosis!” she commanded.
“Astonish,” I replied.
The fronds around Lileep’s hidden face twitched out wide and Lileep leant forward with a jerky motion only to catch the Exeggcute by surprise.
They took damage and flinched causing Cherry to once more to falter.
“Urgh! Ummm, use… Leech Seed?” she suggested.
Exeggcute, to give it credit, did as asked and seeded my Lileep as I waved my hand. “Confuse Ray,” I ordered, causing Lileep to weave about, spreading ghostly energy at Exeggcute who struggled and twitched only for the half dozen eggs to run in on themselves and smash into each other headfirst. They toppled back a moment later, knocked out.
“What? Urgh! You’re doing something!” she growled, glaring at me.
“I am; it’s called winning,” I taunted.
Cherry stomped her foot and I chuckled. It really shouldn’t be so enjoyable to rage bait children, buuuuuut at the same time…. It was.
Cherry returned her pokemon with a quiet, “Good job” to her pokemon before she chewed on her thumb.
It took her a few seconds but eventually her hand drifted to her side and she tossed out another pokeball, revealing her Girafarig.
“Gira!” it brayed at me.
“Future Sight and turn around!” Cherry ordered and I whistled, that wasn’t a basic move for most psychics, to pull off. The estimate I had for cherry and her pokemon rose slightly as her Girafarigs eyes glowed.
“Astonish,” I ordered. Once again Lileep shot forward only for Girafarig to twitch snort derisively and lash out with a back kick as the tail, or reverse head as it were, bounced side to side and triggered a response.
What was I… oh, right, Girafarig is psychic-normal, wasn’t it? Huh, that was an effective pokemon to use in a town beset by ghosts.
A green glow built around Lileep and a moment later energy drifted towards Girafarig, boosting it with energy.
“Go for Stomp!” Cherry ordered, deciding to commit her pokemon and I nodded.
This girl had proven she knew her typings twice over from this display.
Lileep was trampled under Girafargi’s hooves and I quickly recalled it, signalling its defeat to the umpire. I wasn’t going to attempt to drag it out with Ingrain and wrap even if I could.
I palmed my last pokeball and nodded to Cherry.
“Time for a classic,” I remarked as I tossed out Onix.
Cherry, if anything relaxed at the large snake pokemon roared at her.
“This is more like it,” she murmured, only to raise her pokeball and recall her pokemon. She then sent out another in its place.
“Slooooooooow,” moaned the iconically slow pokemon.
Sighing I shook my head, well aware of what would likely happen.
“Bide!” I ordered, going through the motions.
“Water Gun!” Cherry commanded.
Both pokemon held their ground.
I waited, knowing that Onix wouldn’t move for a while now, which surely meant that Slowpoke would strike soon.
I stared, waiting, only to sigh in exasperation. “Is it a particularly slow Slowpoke?” I asked as the glow faded from Onix’s form and Cherry grinned at me.
“...poke!” announced Slowpoke as it suddenly launched its attack.
Onix writhed in pain and I sighed and signalled Onix to attack only to be surprised when a flash of psychic energy lashed Onix and knocked him out.
“Huh… that was your earlier future Sight wasn’t it?” I asked.
Cherry grinned and raised two V for victories towards me.
I chuckled and dropped my Gym Leader Persona to show my delight. “That was well fought! You do have some potential!” I declared.
Cherry beamed at me when I presented her the Boulder Badge. “Good luck on your dream of becoming a psychic type master. It might not mean much, but I think you have a lot of potential.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you going to get any training from Sabrina?”
“I… don’t think it would be appropriate, I plan to beat her one day,” Cherry remarked.
I hummed. “Sabrina didn’t grow strong or stay strong by shying away from challenges. If you ask her, she will help you. She can be intimidating, but she’s a Gym Leader and that means we try to make people better.”
Cherry stared at me for a moment and then blushed. “Ah, you’re not just a rock head are you. I see that now.”
I smirked. “Don’t get fooled by the persona, if you come back for a Bejewelled challenge know that I’m not going to hold back,” I commented.
She nodded and bowed in thanks before striding out proudly.
I watched her go, feeling rather proud for her, and pleased with how things had played out.
Sabrina was going to love fighting her. I think I wanted to be in the stands when that showdown happened.
Deciding to send Sabrina a message about her future challenger Sabrina replied with a simple, “I know,” along with a date in the future.
I didn’t need to ask if Cherry had booked in yet, as I knew that chances were Sabrina had foreseen it. I didn’t ask the follow up question of if there would be another challenge later on.
That would be spoilers and ruin the fun.
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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!
Thanks got to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!