Hard enough - Chapter 328 - Future growth

I tossed Flint a can of soda as I clambered up onto a boulder. Beneath us, my siblings were showing some of the pokemon how to play hopscotch. 

Or, in the case of Bertha, helping to primp her for what looked like a photoshoot. 

Flint grinned rather than opening his can, his eyes stuck on how everyone was playing around. 

For a few moments, I considered mentioning it only to shake my head. It didn’t need to be pointed out, just experienced. Instead, I cracked open my own can of drink and enjoyed the sweet tang on my tongue. 

When Bertha started skipping around and posing for the various angles of photos that were being taken I could only shake my head. “I blame Cindy for her antics,” I stated. 

Flint blinked and shot me a confused look. “Oh? What did Cindy do?” 

“When Bertha was still a Rhydon Cindy used to sneak her into the lounge room at the old Gym and watch television with her. Started this whole Magical girl thing with her. When Bertha evolved into Rhyperior later she was initially worried she couldn’t be magical as in the cartoons. Magical girls are all skinny and tall and Bertha…”

“Looks like she could take on a pack of Tauros by herself?” Flint offered. 

I scoffed. “Please! She could do that easily.” I waved a hand only to cough and nod. “But yes, I spoke with her a bit but Cindy was the one who didn’t bat an eye about her still being a ‘Magical Girl’.” I watched as Billy and Tilly continued to draw on Regirock.

“It’s kind of amazing how much my family has helped to build up my pokemon,” I said. 

Flint played with the can. “It’s not that unusual,” he replied. “Even Lola has, in a way, had a positive impact, remember?”

I sighed and decided to give him the point. “Yeah I suppose you’re right on that point. Her notes on water type pokemon did come in handy for me.” 

I huffed. “Anyway, that wasn’t what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Flint shifted so he was facing me. “Oh? What did you want to talk about… Brock,” he added carefully although with how he was scrutinising me I got the impression he was checking to see if he could call me son. I carefully kept my face neutral.

I still wasn’t comfortable with that and he picked up on that. 

I waved a hand towards where some of my pokemon were. “I’ve picked up a lot of pokemon recently.”

“Yes, people have noticed,” Flint pointed out. 

I rolled my eyes at him. “Yes, yes, but that’s the issue. I’ve got so many pokemon that I’m not sure I can do all of them justice.”

I started ticking off pokemon. “Shieldon, Anorith, Armaldo, Tirtouga, Archen, Glimmet, Omantye, Lileep, Cradilly, Cranidos, Golbat, Gibble, Ursaring, and the Larvitar trio makes for a bit of a heavy docket.” Then I tilted my head. “Oh and there’s also Don’s daughter, so another Aerodactyl.”

“What do you want to do with them?” 

“I want to keep them as part of the Gym’s roster of pokemon. All of them add a great deal of prestige and have their own quirks. Some of them are specifically going to be for me, for my Elite Team. I don’t think I’m going to grow the team any more however as there are a lot that need to be worked on to reach what I would consider battle ready for my Elite Level.”

“Your Elite pokemon are certainly strong,’ Flint complimented. 

“Thanks. It’s been the work of years to get the core members up to the level they’re at.” I surveyed the pokemon nearby with a fond smile. I coughed. “Right, anyway! There’s been an idea I’ve been tossing around for a while to sort of expand the Gym Leader role by offering people a different challenge. In some ways, it will actually be tougher than the normal challenge.” I pointed to where a cluster of fossil pokemon were interacting with each other. 

“I want to run an Ancient Gym Challenge where the only pokemon that can be used are those from Fossils or roughly that era but I don’t want to run that side of the Gym.”

Flint blinked. “Who do you want to run it?”

“I was wondering if you’d like to return to battling at a lower badge tier level, maybe up to third tier at most while the pokemon are built up? I imagine by the end of the season you’d be capable of fielding a team that could handle fourth tier.” 

“You want me to run that part of the Gym?”

“Just the Ancient aspect,” I clarified. “I could set you up with a fun theme for it. Maybe run a few days a month with the Ancient pokemon being the main feature. I think it could be quite popular and it would also highlight what we’ve been doing here at the Gym with resurrections.” 

Flit swallowed and nodded. “I think I’d like that actually,” he said with a hoarse voice.  

I chuckled. “Don’t thank me just yet, it’s going to be a lot of extra work. I will also be tacking on the handling of sales when it comes to auction time.”

“Heh! Sounds like it’ll be fun, with a bit of a learning curve!” he declared. “And if I have my way, I happen to know some fossil maniacs that would love to be involved with what you're talking about!”

I tilted my head. Hadn’t there been a pokemon trainer archetype of Fossil Maniac in the games? Or was that something else? I knew there were all sorts of pokemon fans both in the games and in reality so this tracked. 

Flint glanced around. “Which pokemon would I get to work with?” 

“Lileep, Cradily, Aerodactyl, Omanyte, Kabuto, Kabutops when they evolve, Anorith, Armaldo, Archen, Shieldon, Tirtouga and Cranidos.” I smirked. “So you’d be picking up water, flying, grass, and bug type extras instead of your typical ground typing or pure rock type pokemon.” I locked eyes with him. “Think you can handle that?”

“That’s a big pool of pokemon to draw from,” he mused only to chuckle. “I almost feel sorry for the first trainer that comes in expecting an easy match with a grass, fighting, or water type pokemon if I have all those options.” 

I smirked. “Yeah, I’ve only used a few of the Cradily, but they have some serious potential.” I paused as I considered the way the world was going. “They actually really suit a situation where there is a double or greater battle.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

I chuckled and told him about how some of the Lileep line had a noted ability to draw water attacks to themselves during a match. Flint was well-versed enough in pokemon battles to understand what that would mean. 

He whistled. “Impressive, especially when paired with those new Glimmet. Think they’ll get any stronger?”

A chuckle escaped me. “I have no idea if that is their base form or if there is a higher evolution. No one has a clue in fact!”  I grinned. “It’s honestly kind of exciting!”

Flint laughed at my reaction. “Haha! You’re right it kind of is! It’s an adventure of a different sort!” 

"There has been a stray thought that I've been contemplating, do we have any Eviolite?"

"Ho, now there's a rare mineral... most people that buy it are collectors that like to keep their pokemon at certain levels." Flint narrowed his eyes in thought. "I see where you're going with it. Eviolite only responds to unevolved pokemon that have the capacity for further evolution. If Glimmet responds..."

I snapped my fingers and nodded at Flint like he'd won an award. Flint puffed up. "I'll ask around," he replied.

I hummed and shifted the conversation to the fossil pokemon who I began pointing out. Flint would need to know them along with their quirks that I’d worked out. “Now, you’re going to have to watch Cranidos as he always wants to charge wherever possible. He can hold back in fights and will watch for a moment, but if given half a shot at it or if you don’t have a firm enough hand…” I shook my head. “You’re going to want to invest in some ankle guards, or if he evolves… you probably want to train him out of it as if you wear anything too obvious he’ll take it as an invitation to Headbutt you.”

“Hmmm good to know. What about the new flying type pokemon you got?” 

“Ahh, Archen? Once it gets hurt a decent amount, expect it to throw in the towel. I’m not quite sure why it does that but it gives up on fights and its attacks become weaker. Sadly there isn’t a trade for it like its speed increasing, which makes me think it isn’t an evolutionary result of the environment it grew in, but some mental block it has.” I raised my hands in a clear ‘I have no idea’ gesture, which caused Flint to hum.

“Another quirk…” 

I started listing off the other potential quirks that the fossil pokemon might have like how Shin, my Kabutops, had the ability to go faster when he was submerged in water, meaning Surf became a strong amplifier for him while also being useful in a lot of other situations. 

Flint pulled out a notepad and began jotting down my points. Before long we had moved on to toying with how the Ancient badge would differ from that of the regular template Boulder Badge. I toyed with the idea of a gem around a small model of a fossil.

“Seems a bit morbid, perhaps we could add a tattered backing to it? Make it more chipped and worn looking in the actual badge’s housing?” he suggested instead. 

“Hmmm,” I rubbed my chin. “We could go for a clear gem badge with something inside it? Perhaps referencing how some fossils have been found in old amber?” I said. I rather liked the idea of it considering how it also played into the jurassic park like setting. 

Flint pointed at me. “I like that! It’s not rock but it certainly plays into the theme!” 

“What about setting up some decor changes for the Gym on the days we run the Ancient challenges?” 

I directed a thumb towards the Gym. “I was honestly toying with the idea of setting up a different facility but that wouldn’t be such a good idea. We may as well use what we have and establish the Gym having different challenges like it already does. It would work great as it will give other standard trainers more downtime as well.”

There would also be other side effects to consider. “It might also cause some trainers to stick around longer to earn both badges, or even all three,” I said. If we could make them slot together to look something like a three-piece jewel set that would look extra impressive for people’s trophy cabinet. I’d have to talk with the jjewellers that we get the badges made from to recreate them to be able to do it. 

The trick would be to make them not look tacky. 

This idea was sounding better and better the more I workshopped it. Maybe something like the Spirit Stone of Water from the Legend of Zelda? The housing for the badges would mean they take up a lot of room though… but that wouldn’t be an issue. In fact it would become a centre point in their badge case.

A silent declaration of skill for those capable of doing it that would stand the testament of time.

“Let’s run with this,” I said, grabbing Flint’s pen to jot down my thoughts along with a small drawing of the idea I had regarding the badges and how they’d slot together.

 Flint hummed as I wrote only to whistle and nod a moment later. “That does look goo—”

“Oh! Look at my two men working together!” cooed a voice that caused me to jolt and lean away from Flint. I glanced down and found Lola’s head was propped up on her forearms as she leaned onto a boulder that was below us. “I knew Brock wouldn’t stay mad!” 

My brow twitched at this and my lips firmed into a harder line as I eyed her. 

Flint slumped slightly, only to adopt a smile a moment later. “Hello dear,” he replied to Lola. 

I just grunted and nodded at her.

She grinned at us, unmindful of how she’d just interrupted. She rolled her head from side to side in a playful manner. “Did I hear you’re going to get your dad to run some things?” 

“In a limited fashion,” I stated tightly. “He can run things for a while but honestly it is something anyon—” I coughed and adjusted what I was about to say, “Most of my family could handle being in charge of, as they get older.” 

Which was actually a good idea. If Forrest, Yolanda, or indeed anyone in our family wanted to step into the role of Gym Leader I could allow them to get a feel for it with a soft ’take over’ of the Ancient challenges.

“Mmmmm I saw you working together~” she teased. 

An exhausted sigh escaped me. “Can you just not?” I asked. 

Lola blinked at me. “What’s the matter baby?” she asked only for me to raise a hand and cut her off.

“Just… no. I don’t see you or Flint that way. Learn to accept that alright? You’ve been doing well respecting my personal space now let’s work on the next step, alright?”

Lola’s face spasmed as a myriad of emotions warred for place only for sorrow to take hold. 

If I hadn’t already shut the gates of my emotions I might have felt guilty about what I’d said, but logically, I could recognise that I wasn’t in the wrong for wanting what I did. I rose and clapped Flint on the shoulder. “We’ll talk more about organising the Ancient Challenge for the gym, alright?” without really waiting for a response I hopped off the pile of boulders. 

Yolanda shot me a look that was part worry and part understanding. It seems she’s been getting a good insight into what it is like having Lola back in the week that I’d been gone. 

I suppose as the eldest now that Forrest was off with Ash and Misty handling Lola and her antics would sort of fall on her. 

I adjusted course and made my way over to wrap an arm around her shoulders. “Hey you,” I offered as I gave her a light squeeze. 

She beamed up at me. “Hey you back at’cha!” she replied with a smile. 

“You holding up with Lola and Flint alright?” I asked, jerking my chin to where Flint and Lola were talking quietly. 

Yolanda sighed in a manner that felt all too familiar. 

I chuckled. “Yeah that’s a valid feeling sometimes.” 

Yolanda grimaced. “I just want her to be better, but she can be so… frustrating. She sees there are issues sometimes but will never take ownership of them!” 

I gave Yolanda another squeeze. “People can be like that sometimes. She comes across as having been that way for quite a while.”

Yolanda nodded only to giggle. “Our little brothers and sisters have started up this game of ‘you needed to be there’ which is sometimes funny but they also sometimes trick Lola into giving them things or taking them places.”

I raised an eyebrow and Yolanda explained how the kids might be in the middle of doing something and Lola would ask why, only for them to throw why they did something that way only for myself, Sabrina or in Tommy’s case, Lt. Surge to be offered up as examples. 

I grimaced at that last example. “Hmmm that can help hammer the issue with her not being here for a lot of their development, but if they’re tricking her into getting stuff they shouldn’t then… that’s not as good.”

“It’s mostly demanding to go to the park or toy store,” she shrugged. “Kid stuff,” she said with the air of one trying to convey they were above such trivialities. 

My knowing look was avoided with Yolanda finding Archen and Aerodactyl flying overhead to be more interesting. I chuckled and offered her a nod. “Right, well I need to go talk with Koga and Janine.” 

Yolanda nodded and gave my torso a quick squeeze. “Nice work with dad. I think he really enjoyed getting to show off his pokemon, even if you did flatten them.”

“He needs to bring them out more,” I replied before offering a respectful nod in Flint’s direction. “He surprised me with some of his tricks. I think he’ll do well with taking up some Gym duties.”

Yolanda shot me an inquisitive glance but I waved off. “I’ll tell you later once we have it ironed out.” 

I marched into caves under the plateau and past a few openings only to come upon a cluster of warning signs and fences that interlocked so that a flat but tall surface was presented that went all the way to the ceiling. I could see numerous vents in the roof and off to the side a cupboard stood with rebreathers and a full body suit that I quickly donned. 

The cave itself was a touch different than most other branches of the cave system so far as rather than being naturally formed by the passage of Onix and reinforced by pokemon packing it down, beams and braces were present along with various light fixtures to make it well lit. 

There had also been patches of crystal that were embedded into both the various surfaces to replicate the environment that the Glimmet have been captured within. 

I marched in to find Stephen talking with another young scientist in full protective equipment. 

The younger man was waving a wand through the air that led to a device that chirped and squawked as it was moved through the air. It reminded me of a Geiger counter.  

As the man drew closer towards one of the Glimmet the machine chirped more frantically causing the Glimmet to bristle.

The man still only had to glance down. “Whew still within the saf—” he was saying only for the Glimmet above him to pop out of the bulb and lunge with a long neck.

I stiffened as my instincts warned me that the man was about to be struck only for Janine to dart from further down in the cave and catch the head of the Glimmet before it could bite the scientist. 

Janine I noted, was wearing her usual ninja attire without any of the PPE that everyone else was. 

Then again, that was to be expected of a Poison type specialist. If she didn’t have an outright immunity then I was expecting at least some resistance. 

“Aide Fred!” Janine growled. “My father warned you about not relying on the markings on the floor! These pokemon can and will move about so the markings you put down are worth less than nothing! Some of these pokemon can also launch poison globules!” 

“R-right! Sorry Gym Leader Janine! And thank you!” gushed the man who’d fallen onto his backside. 

Janine preened at the title and apology, only to toss the Glimmet back and give it an annoyed look. “Behave,” she commanded and Glimmet retracted itself into its bulb with a quiet squeak. 

Janine eyed it for a second only to turn back to Fred. “You will leave and attend another session with the Occupational Health and Safety supervisor! If you did not take in the lesson the first time, a review is required!”     

“B-but ma’am I was only a litt—” 

“Not buts!” snapped Janine with a small stomp of her foot. “Go now and report your failings to heed safety standards!” there was a glint in her eyes that let me know she wasn’t going to budge on this. 

The urge to chuckle at her antics was repressed as Fred slumped away. He shot me a pleading look only to get nothing more than a flat look causing him to redouble his pace. 

Janine perked up at seeing me. “Brock! Good of you for coming down here after your match against your father! He held up… Decently against a Legendary..” The narrowing of her eyes followed. “I don’t agree with your idea of field testing your barriers like you did however!” 

I stopped trying to hold back and allowed myself a chuckle. “Hehehe, I should have known you’d be watching that match and that would be your reaction.” I waved a hand. “It was my call and I wanted to put them to the test.”

Janine huffed and shook her head. “Very well. I can at least say that you took precautions… Although I’d still have a structural engineer going over your building in case anything shifted!” she snapped. 

I raised my hands in a placating manner and nodding. “I will, I will.” 

She nodded firmly, pleased that I was taking building maintenance seriously. 

Speaking of which… I glanced around at all the beams and light fixtures. “I have to say you really went to work in the day and a half since I was last down here. Are we not worried about the artificial nature of this cave with the lighting and supports?” I asked. 

Janine shifted. “It needed to be braced properly.” Her hand shot up as I opened my mouth. “And I know rock and ground-type pokemon will naturally reinforce caves they live in but this is not just a rock type!” She patted a nearby metal beam. “These are solid steel that will resist the corrosive air that Glimmet create! Also, there is a mesh underlayer in the rock that will keep other pokemon away from the caves!” 

I coughed. “You accounted for Aron as well? They’ll be interested in eating that metal and these Glimmet… Aren’t really going to be an issue for them,” I pointed out. 

Janine slumped. “I hadn’t taken them into consideration… Are we not deep enough?” she asked hopefully. 

A shake of the head caused her to slump further. 

She rubbed her chin. “We need a way to contain the Glimmet without allowing other pokemon into the cavern… Aron and their line could be a natural predator for pokemon like Glimmet with their immunity to poison and resistance to rock type attacks.”

Stephen, his pen blurring over a notepad, coughed. “We could electrify the wires which will make them slightly less desirable to Aron. Otherwise we’d need to create some sort of magma pockets above and around this cavern. Magcargo could work there?” he suggested. 

I hummed. “Bit of a pickle but it could work as Magcargo are pretty content to remain within a set network of caves. I can organise something.” 

Janine remained slumped and I moved over to pat her on the head. “Hey, don’t sweat it. So you didn’t account for Aron. They’re not exactly native to this area and steel types are something of a weakness of yours no?” I teased. 

Janine gave me a less-than-amused look for that before huffing. “I will need to review steel types and their interactions with other types to account for this oversight,” she proclaimed. 

I hummed. “That’s the spirit. Learn from it. Who knows? One day, there might be a steel-poison type pokemon so you might need that knowledge!” 

Janine hummed. “If you’d said this before your return from Rota I would have dismissed it.” she glanced up at the Glimmet with a soft smile. “But then again the world is much larger than it would appear,” she said whimsically. 

“That it is,” I replied. “Do you have any interest in heading up to Rota for any of the expeditions I think are being planned?” 

“Perhaps. I know something will be set up within a few months.”

I raised an eyebrow only to nod. “Ah, funding for the scientific equipment?” I asked, earning a nod. I hummed and glanced around. “So are you going to set up a similar cavern at your home Gym?” I asked. 

Janine nodded. “We’re waiting for confirmation of these pokemon remaining healthy for at least a month before we make any moves on building it. The early signs so far are all positive.”

I nodded. “If you need an Onix of a Golem to help out I am more than happy to lend you one,” I offered. 

Janine smiled. “We may well take you up on that. Father is certainly looking forward to seeing what this new pokemon can do.” Janine shifted. “I must admit that having a pokemon that is more… Static in its fighting style will certainly be a shift in our normal methods of fighting.”

“I imagine its response to physical attacks makes up for it though, no?” It was an attractive prospect, doubly so as Glimmet, as a rock type, would have some decent defences. 

Janine smirked. “In many, many ways it does.”    

I glanced around, knowing it wouldn’t do any good but still doing it. “Your father around?” I asked, glancing over my shoulder as I said it, almost expecting Koga to step out of a shadow corner. 

Janine smirked, knowing exactly what I was doing. “He has League duties to see to.”

“Ah, I see,” I replied, not believing her for a moment as I peered into another shadowy corner. Janine smirked at me and I stopped looking after that. “Soooo, you happy with one of them and a couple eggs from a ditto?” I asked, repeating the offer I’d made to Koga when he’d come around a few days ago.

Janine snorted. “For now that will suit our needs but if we require more we can always come back.” 

I knew she was joking, but I wasn’t going to let that stand. “Yeah I’m not letting you borrow any more than that.”

“Oh? You truly believe you can stop us? You’ve never been able to stop us before,” she stated with the air of one who was far too pleased with herself.

“That’s because I’ve never tried. You’d be surprised at what I can manage when I’m motivated,” I stated. 

Janine narrowed her eyes at me and I smirked right back at her causing her to huff in annoyance. “Previous success is not indicative of future results.” 

“But it does offer greater certainty,” I replied easily. 

Janine kicked the ground lightly. “I suppose you would be familiar with investing quotes with how you are engaged to Sabrina.”

“I mean, yes but no?” I replied. “What’s that got to do with anything?” 

Janine shot me a look only to blink. “Oh, you don’t know? Sabrina is considered the investor to follow. People believe that she uses her psychic abilities to get glimpses of the future and purchase high-performing stocks and options so lots of people have taken to matching her when she puts in an order for stocks.”

That caused me to blink with surprise. There had been that one guy in my past life like that hadn’t there? What was his name? Baron Muffet or some such? I knew I was garbling that but still. If Sabrina was getting that level of attention… It made a lot of sense. 

“Huh good thing she doesn’t have to report how she places sports bets,” I replied.

“She mentions having an insider scoop on those has helped her out a lot,” Janine stated, reaching into her pouch to draw out a magazine with Sabrina staring back at me.  

 “Undeniable investments… Taking the world by storm?” I read off the magazine front page a few of the quotes of professionals that surrounded Sabrina’s pleased expression.

I took the magazine article and paged through it to find a well-written article featuring an interview Sabrina had apparently sat through. “Huh, you know she didn’t actually mention this,” I replied, noting that this article had been released while we were in Hoenn.

No wonder I hadn’t seen it. 

I lingered on a few of the pictures that had been added to the article with Sabrina posing like a boss in a lot of them. She exuded confidence and intelligence in each one. 

Janine tilted her head. “You don’t happen to get Home gardening magazines either do you?” I shook my head and Janine drew out another. “Erika gets featured in a few of these fairly regularly.”

I chuckled. That made a lot of sense. When Janine reached into her pouch once more I tilted my head. Who else… I blinked in surprise as Visquez stared back. 

She hadn’t claimed a spot on the front page but she did have a few pages dedicated to her and her take over of the Vermilion Gym. She looked proud but slightly nervous. 

“Huh, guess I’m going to have to go buy some copies.” 

“Oooooor you can borrow these and I can—” Janine started to offer only for me to give her an unimpressed look. 

“Tch!” she clicked her tongue before smiling to show she didn’t mean anything by it. I chuckled and returned the magazines.

“So when are we going to see you on the front page of an architecture or building magazine?” I teased. 

Janine blushed. “Oh, I could never…” she waved a hand only to cough. “I need to finish my degree first before I’d feel confident building anything significant.” 

Huh, well this was turning into an afternoon for reveals wasn’t it? I hadn’t known Janine was studying on top of being a Gym Leader. 

“Respect,” I nodded at her and she straightened up.

“Thank you, now, shall we work through the plan for Glimmet’s training?” she asked, nudging me back onto the actual reason I’d come down here beyond escaping Lola. 

“Let’s,” I replied, turning towards the Glimmet as I began to list the points of consideration. Thankfully with Lileep and Cradily I had already started to grasp how a slower, if not outright stationary pokemon could be more mobile or be viable in a fight. 

Outside the box thinking was key. I returned two of the Glimmet and Janine and I hurried up to the training field to give both pokemon a whirl. 

Janine and I locked eyes, both of us had goofy grins plastered over our faces as we pointed at our opposing Glimmet. 

“Ancient Power/Acid Spray!” We called at the same time.

I smirked, knowing that rock attacks would work better in this instance as poison attacks would be resisted. A fact that Janine quickly realised after the second exchange of moves. 

“Flip yourself and propel to the side!” Janine commanded only for Glimmet to give her a confused look seconds before it was nailed, but with yet another Ancient Power which knocked it out of the fight. 

I trust a fist into the air. “And the champion and undisputed best Glimmet around goes to Glimmet!” I shouted with an over the top macho sounding voice. 

My Glimmet swayed back and forth happily at this while Janine sprayed hers with some potion to get it back into the fight.

I walked up and gave mine a few sprays of a potion as well then rolled my shoulders. “Bit too soon to try throwing in some dodge moves, no?” I suggested which only got a grumble from Janine. 

“Yes, I realised that. I have been somewhat spoiled with previous pokemon having chances to observe the training we perform at our Gym.” Janine snapped her fingers. “You shall copy only you are to use Acid Spray to propel yourself instead of using hands? Ready? Watch!” 

She then flipped into a handstand only to dip and launch herself into the air where she spun into a tightly controlled pirouette. She landed in a three point stance and dutifully applauded. 

She coughed and gestured to Glimmet. 

“Your turn,” she suggested. 

Both Glimmet shared a look, then as one they headbutted the ground. 

I coughed and repressed a laugh. “We might need to work on their neck strength first?” I suggested, knowing this was going to be a learning curve for both of us. Worse, if this was a base form we also had no idea if our training would be useful for later evolutions. 

I smiled, undaunted, knowing that it would be a different experience regardless. It only took ten minutes before both Glimmet were exhausted from training in a manner they were used to. 

Janine and I left them out though and allowed them to rest near us to help them grow more familiar with us as their trainers. 

We sat, watching the sunset only for Yolanda’s voice to call me in for dinner. I glanced at Janine and inclined my head in silent query.

She nodded her head only to vanish as her Glimmet was withdrawn. I rolled my eyes and withdrew my own.

When I walked into the house I noted that Janine hadn’t revealed herself. One thing that instantly stood out to me was how Lola was standing over Tilly and Billy while her eyes flickered around. 

“Hey gang, Janine is going to join us if that’s alright?” I asked.

Cindy and Tommy both perked up. “Where?” they cried only for Janine to pop out from under the table. 

“Here! Nin nin!” she declared, causing the kids to squeal with delight. 

Lola, rather than being impressed, launched a butter knife at Janine. 

Janine caught it and nodded. “Impressive accuracy, but poor manners!” she declared. 

Lola relaxed. “Hmmm just like Koga I see,” she replied. 

Huh, so she did know Koga then? 

Janine nodded neutrally, her eyes roaming up and down Lola’s in a manner I knew meant she was evaluating how much of a threat someone was. I’d seen her do it a few times during Guardian training sessions.

When she shifted into a slightly more ready stance I had to raise a brow only to spot the second knife hidden behind Lola’s hand. 

One that was very much not a butter knife. 

I coughed. “No playing during dinner!” I announced, to cut the tension that was starting to form between Janine and Lola. 

I sat at the head of the table, wondering what I’d do if they did start a fight.

Ah, I suppose I could always tell them to take it outside or keep it to a pokemon battle. 

Might be worth watching.

Sadly both women played nice, offering mildly cutting remarks and false smiles to the other that let me know Janine and Lola very much should not be seated next to each other during the wedding. 

Then again… 

I pushed plans for wedding entertainment to the side in favour of smiling at the other people in the room. “So? Who’s ready to celebrate Celia’s homecoming tomorrow?” I asked which earned a loud cheer from everyone.

Thanks to Celia’s victory in the Hoenn Tournament, Pewter’s City Council had declared that there was going to be a day off for everyone to celebrate. 

As a sponsor and mentor of Celia it was going to be a big deal and one of the major reasons I’d only allowed myself a week in Rota despite the desire to stay for longer.

It was amusing to think that a year ago we’d held a small celebration for Celia, but this time around it was going to be a city wide event with people coming from other cities as well. 

With the League chipping in for a solid part of it I knew I was going to be seeing Lance as well.

Hope he wasn’t still annoyed about how I’d messed with him with Regirock. 

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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support! 

Thanks also go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!