Hard Enough - Chapter 327 - Flint

Flint:- Brock’s father. 

Lola:- Flint’s wife, and Brock’s Mother. 

Yolanda:- Eldest daughter of Flint and Lola. Trainer to Terra. Musician.

Crystal Glass:- Yolanda’s friend and hotheaded trainer. Daughter to Georgina Glass

Greta:- Oak’s sponsored trainer. Has an Ivysaur. Friends with Crystal and Yolanda. 

Nanny Grav:- Nanny Graveler who decided she preferred helping out around the house to fighting. 

___________________

Flint walked through his home with a giant stack of laundry in his arms. 

“Gravel!” declared Nanny Grav as she nudged him towards the right room, causing Flint to chuckle. 

“I had it, I had it!” he teased. “I might not have been here as long as you, but I remember how many steps it is from the laundry to the twins’ room!” he teased. 

Nanny Grav huffed and kept marching with her own stack of laundry which she quickly deposited in the children’s various rooms. 

“Hmph!” Lola said from behind him. “I don’t like how she’s taken my spot!” she grumbled. 

“Lola dear, please she’s just making things easier for us. Think of her as a live-in maid,” he said, careful to not mention how she most likely grew up with such servants when she was younger. 

Perhaps that was why she disliked Nanny Grav so?

“Hug Nanny attack!” shouted Billy as he and Tilly ‘ambushed’ Nanny Grav and the rock type crumpled to her knees and collapsed, careful not to land on the children. 

The twins hugged her for a few seconds and Flint took a moment to glance at the annoyed look on his wife’s face. Ah… this might be the actual reason. The twins, or indeed, most of the children were quick to show Nanny Grav or the various pokemon that entered the house affection. 

It wasn’t odd to find any of the girls sitting atop Bertha sharing some snacks while they watched Magical girl shows, each with small wands or a ribbon. Or Munchlax sitting with the children sharing a treat. Eevee could usually be found on someone’s lap unless it was playtime in which she’d weave through people— Flint felt something wind through his legs, almost causing him to stumble only to adjust. 

“Whoop! Careful there Eevee!” Flint called down to his legs.

“Eevee!” replied the little pokemon as it wove through the group hug, tickling everyone involved only to sprint away. 

The twins decided that served as a sign they’d hugged Nanny Grav enough and so they broke off and sprinted down the hallway. “Hiding time again!” “Yeah! Nin nin!” shouted Billy and Tilly. 

“Nin nin?” Lola asked.

Flint coughed. “Earlier in the year, before things got chaotic with the trainer surge, Brock had been giving Janine, Koga’s daughter an internship at the Gym to show her how a large Gym operates.”

“Koga did that? The Master of tradition and stiff neck shinobi? The Champion of hide and seek? That Koga?” Lola asked.

“Uhmmmm, I’m not so sure about those last titles, but he is now an Elite Four Member for the League with his daughter running the Fuchsia Gym.”

“It is him then!” she declared. “I can’t believe he actually sent his daughter into the world, especially to train under our son!”  she gushed. 

“Well, Brock has one of the most impressive gyms around these days. The only competition would be Saffron in terms of how many facilities and support areas they have,” Flint mused as he started packing away folded clothes.

Lola bounced around the room, inspecting toys and playing with them for a few moments only to toss them to the side. 

When she picked up a particularly meaningful toy Flint made sure to have her put it where the kids could see it clearly. 

“Really? The giant Snorlax and Gyarados doll?” Lola asked.

“Sabrina got it for them for their last birthday. We’re going to have to find something for them ourselves,” Flint replied. 

“Huh? Oh right, cause their birthdays are coming up again, aren’t they?” Lola glanced around. “Where’s the cheat sheet?” she asked. 

Flint coughed, recalling how they’d used to ask the kids what they’d wanted for their birthdays ahead of time. That… hadn’t worked out so well as often they’d ask for things that neither Lola or Flint could afford. 

Although that probably wasn’t going to be an issue anymore, what with Flint drawing a good wage from Mega Rock Inc, along with Lola getting a huge payout for the discovery of the Trinity nations. There was also their veterans’ stipend but that wasn’t all that much these days as the League tried to reduce that each year. 

“Say, did the League pay you yet?” he asked as he finished up and moved on to the next child’s room.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, paid out alright. Mummy is a megabucks gal now!” Lola crowed as she adopted a cutesy pose. Then she winked at Flint. “Play your cards right and I’ll treat you to something nice~” she teased as she slid her hands down her sides. 

Flint blushed and glanced around. Safe! No children nearby! He made to step forward and smooch his wife only for her to dance away with a giggle. 

Flint huffed, knowing she liked to play like this. Hopefully she’d still feel this playful later tonight once the kids were all in bed! 

He coughed and continued with his self assigned task of dispersing the clean laundry.

“Well I think this year we’ll be able to do the cheat sheet and get them what they ask for for once!” he joked. They’d of course need to temper it so they didn’t spoil it but it would be nice to do that for all their kids!

Lola blinked at him. “But we always got the kids what they wanted?” 

Flint paused. “Oh, uhm, no we didn’t?” he replied. “Remember we—”

Lola was suddenly close to him. “Flint honey, you’re getting confused. We always provided for our children. Remember? They wanted trips away and spending time with us at the park? Our kids are angels!” she whispered to him.

Flint nodded. Their kids were angels and they had gone on those trips… was that something they’d asked for instead of material presents? Maybe he should check in with the kids, see what they remembered? 

That was something his therapist had mentioned a time or two now…

He outwardly nodded and Lola smiled beatifically up at him only to dance away. 

Flint watched her prance away, only to shake his head and continue his task. It was tough work some days being a househusband, but thankfully, he had a lot more support. That and the kids were at a much easier age to wrangle, or take charge of each other. 

The other factor that played a big role was their home itself. Brock had obviously had it designed with an eye for nurturing a family. 

And wasn’t that a thought? Less than a year here and he felt content enough to call this modern dwelling home.

“Well it certainly beats the old run-down Gym quarters,” he muttered to himself as he recalled the shabby old house that had seen them staking kids in bunk beds in multiple rooms. 

By comparison this house was a mansion with each child having room to grow. Multiple bathrooms which Flint knew was going to be vital to surviving when the kids grew older and spent more time in there. 

He wandered past an open area which served as another play area for the kids to find Tilly and Billy ‘fighting’ each other with a figurine of Titan and Jormungandr. 

“Mega Evolve!” shouted Billy.

“Heart power!” countered Tilly as she thrust Titan forward crashing against Jormungandr as the snake-like figure twisted into his Mega form. 

Flint had to give the toymakers serious props they had created a wonderful toy. He couldn’t wait to see how they adapted to any other Mega Stones he found for Brock in their toys. 

Flint chuckled and left the children to their play, but gave the room itself a passing glance. 

He could absolutely see them adding a couch and another television when the kids were older, but Brock would probably make that decision, as this is his home, literally. 

It was an odd situation Flint found himself in, living with his children rather than them living with him.

His ears perked up as the sound of singing trickled out of Yolanda’s room. Flint paused by the door to peek into the room where he found Yolanda sitting on her bed with Greta and Crystal sitting on the floor. 

“—colours are beautiful, like a rainbow!” Yolanda crooned, holding the words to the tune of her strumming on the guitar, before giving it a final flourish and falling silent. 

Greta and Crystal grinned as they clapped while Terra wiggled with glee on the bed beside Yolanda. 

“Urgh! You need to go get recognised or something! Seriously! Doesn’t Pewter have a record label or something! Just go there, sing a few songs, wham bam thank you ma'am you’re a rock star!” Crystal declared. 

She stood and did some chopping and punching to eliminate the excess energy. “Gah! I have goosebumps just thinking about it!” 

“I think she’d be more of a pop star, but Crystal’s not wrong Yolanda. You’re seriously good. And I’ve never heard those songs, so you’d be very popular,” added Greta only to giggle when Crystal tried to do a spinning kick only to falter.

“I mean, I don’t really need the money. Brock pays me well enough as you both know, I’m set for my Journey next year and I have a pretty good plan of how to approach it” Yolanda’s eyes flitted to a map that she had tacked up on the wall with pins denoting points of interest along with landmarks that she had numbered. 

Flint had sat through more than a few question and answer sessions on certain areas around Kanto such as Mt Moon, the Rock tunnel, or the cave systems above Cerulean. He’d listened to her speak at length about the objectives and team of pokemon she hoped to assemble along with that of her ‘dream team’ which would honestly take a ridiculous amount of luck. 

Greta hummed. “Money, as the saying goes, is useful to make lots of things run smoothly. Can you ever have too much?” she offered. 

Crystal jabbed a finger at Greta. “Yeah! What she said! Just give it a shot! Go get picked up by a record label and go superstar platinum!” 

Yolanda giggled. “I think you’re overhyping it. Also these songs aren’t that special. Brock sings them all the time to us, so they’re not exactly anything new.”

Crystal clawed the air. “So they’re remixes from like ten years or something ago! Who cares! It’s about the delivery sometimes! If you do it well enough no one will mind!” Greta nodded along and Terra joined in. 

Yolanda rolled her eyes. “You guys are ridiculous.”

“They’re not wrong. I think you could be amazing,” Flint stepped forward to announce himself. “I think your voice is wonderful and your guitar playing is perfect!” His chest was practically swollen with pride at this point as he beamed at his daughter.

Yolanda rolled her eyes harder. “You’re just saying that. You’re my dad and dads have to say that.” 

Crystal tilted her head. “Do they?” she said cluelessly. “Huh guess I missed out.” 

Greta grimaced as Yolanda looked contrite. “Sorry.” 

“Eh, don’t know what I’m missing, it’s all good!” replied Crystal easily. 

Flint coughed and forged ahead. “I think the girls have a good idea, though. Why not try playing your songs to some musical folk?” 

Greta and Crystal both coughed and mouthed ‘musical folk?’ to each other before shaking their heads while Yolanda giggled. 

“No one calls them that dad. And I don’t know. I didn’t pick up the guitar because of that, I just… did it to enjoy myself.” 

“No reason you can’t earn something at the same time!” cheered Lola as she appeared behind Flint causing him to stiffen before relaxing. 

Lola beamed at Yolanda. “How long have you been able to play guitar?”

“Oh, like two years or so? I had to work at it for ages with the drills, but I started doing it more this year cause I realised something I could do with it,” Yolanda murmured. 

“Oooooh? What’s that?” Lola teased, weaving around the girls on the floor to sit next to Yolanda. 

Yolanda smiled, a twinkle in her eyes. “Secret~!” she replied. 

Greta and Crystal both booed and gave her thumbs down. “Urgh! She’s always like this when we ask her!” Crystal moaned. 

Lola smiled benignly and leaned in. “Oh come on now dear. Can’t you let Mummy in on your secret?” 

Yolanda shook her head and Lola pouted leaning closer, her eyes starting to water desperately. 

Yolanda leaned away. “I’m not falling for that. I’m the one who teaches the other girls how to do that mum,” she huffed. 

“What?! No! They just saw that I do it to your father enough times to pick it up!” Lola said with a bemused smile.

Flint tilted his head in thought. He had spotted Yolanda and the other girls standing in front of the bathroom mirror a few times… was that what they’d been doing? 

“Oh daughter of mine you just don’t understand— Lola continued talking but instead of focussing on her Flint spotted Yolanda’s face shift. 

It was like watching Brock sometimes when he was just with the family, hanging out and playing around. 

And then Lola would walk in the room and everything shut down. Like a portcullis on his emotions, he would become flat and inhospitable while Lola was around. It would usually take a few minutes after she left for him to lower his gates as well. 

Lola finished talking and planted a soft kiss on Yolanda’s temple. “You’ll see. Sometimes a mother simply knows best.” Lola then sauntered out of the room, leaving an awkward silence in her wake. 

Flint coughed. “She… means well,” he said carefully. 

“Does she?” Yolanda replied. “Sometimes I wonder what she means, and that… it isn’t how things should be.” 

Flint nodded, acknowledging the point with a sigh. “Still, I think you should listen to your friends. Don’t be afraid to try,” he offered a wink. “Fifty-fifty chance they say yes, you know?” he teased. 

Yolanda rolled her eyes. “That’s not how percentages work dad.” 

The other girls laughed at their interaction and Flint smiled, glad he’d returned the previous cheer to the room. He shifted and glanced at the guitar. “Any chance I could hear a full song?” he asked. 

Yolanda beamed at him and turned to a folder with plastic sleeves and what looked like handwritten notes that had been slid into place. Flint stared. It was a very thick folder. 

“You know all those songs?” he asked, trying to count how many there were. He noted that Yolanda had multiple little notes stacked to the side of the actual lyrics. 

When she paused on a song called Not Pretty Enough, Flint caught some words about Brock mocking her and the girls once when they’d been talking about… a boy named Humphrey?

Wasn’t that one of Brock’s sponsored trainers? 

Yolanda flipped the page and Flint caught a few more titles. 

Hero, Walk the Line, Greedy, Red like Roses, Mirror, and a song called Hard Enough which for some reason was highlighted in gold. Yolanda caught him looking and coughed, flipping quickly to another page deeper in the folder before nodding, only for her to stop on a page that listed two songs. 

One was titled, I Wanna Rock, and the other was Gym Song - We Will Rock You. 

Yolanda grinned as she stood on her bed and raised her hand. Terra began to wiggle as Yolanda roared out a song. 

“I WANNA ROCK!” she screamed only to repeat it, leaning forward with an intensity in her eyes that had Flint leaning back in surprise. “I WANNA ROCK!” 

Terra bounced on the bed up and down every time from there on Yolanda shouted Rock, like a reverb added to the song. It sort of worked but that might have been that the song itself was more a roar than anything that required specific harmonics. 

Greta reeled back in shock had Yolanda going so loud only for Crystal to jump up and start thrashing around. 

Within seconds most of the children had sprinted down the hall to find what the noise was about only to join Crystal in her ‘dancing’. Lola came back with a grumpy look and opened her mouth to chastise Yolanda but Flint intercepted her, dragging her into the impromptu mosh pit.

That got Lola to relax and play along. 

As Yolanda wound down Terra took a running leap at the crowd, arms extended wide. Flint blanched, realising she was about to crush some of the children only for a set of strong arms to sweep out and catch Terra. 

Brock made a show of holding her aloft with a smirk. “That is not how your crowd surf Terra, and maybe rethink that cause most crowds won’t be able to handle you when you evolve.” 

“Tar! Tar! Larvitar!” giggled the little pokemon. 

Brock snorted and popped her back next to Yolanda on the ‘stage’. 

“Yeah I suppose getting it done now might be valid,” Brock replied. He glanced around and then back up at Yolanda with a bemused expression. “You remembered that song?” he asked. 

Yolanda grinned cheekily. “You mentioned it once to Rachel and then wrote it down before discarding it in favour of we will rock you for the Gym song.” 

Brock chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. “Huh, yeah I did, didn’t I?” his eyes darted towards the folder only for Yolanda to snatch it up and hide it. “That’s private!” she declared. 

Brock hummed but gave an accepting nod. “Fair enough.” 

Brock gave everyone a look before coughing. “Uhmmm right, Flint I wanted to talk to you about helping me out with somethings, if you wouldn't mind?” he asked, nodding his head to the side.

“Oh! Father-son pair joining forces!” Lola proclaimed with a grin. 

Brock’s face turned expressionless. “Hmm something like that.” 

Lola grinned, unperturbed. “Oh! Maybe you can show him a thing or two with your team Flint? Have a fight hmmm?” 

A few of the kids perked up at that. “Dad has pokemon?” asked Suzie as she gave him a dubious expression.

Flint coughed. “I do, I just don’t get them out all that much.”

“Well that’s not right!” Suzie proclaimed as she hugged Togepi close to her. “Pokemon like being out with their trainers!” she declared with all the authority of a child. 

It was not that Flint could refute her logic; it was just that old habits died hard. It was always better to keep your pokemon close at hand. Just in case. 

Brock coughed. “I do actually need you to spar against Regirock. I need to test him out. Bit of caution though he’s been unable to dial back his attacks, they’re all extremely powerful.”

Flint straightened. “Well count me in!” he declared firmly. 

He might not like fighting but fighting a Legendary in a safe setting? A rock Legendary as well? He had the best shot at that and also could equate it as an honour rather than a threat. 

Yeah, that worked well, he thought as the itch that sometimes came over him at the words ‘fight’ triggered. 

He gave himself a mental pat on the back. This plan hit a few points that his therapist had mentioned, albeit in a much larger way. He’d got to spend time with Brock in a friendly manner. He brought his pokemon out more. And, he got to have a ‘safe’ fight. 

It was the perfect set up. Multiple Pidgey with one rock!

What could go wrong?

____________________

“Go golem!” he called as he sent out one of his pokemon. 

The rock-ground type appeared with a heavy thud, glancing around only to stiffen when it caught sight of the pokemon it was facing. Golem glanced behind himself at Flint.

Flint raised a hand. “We’re just helping out Brock. We need to stay fast is all.” Flint stated. He waved towards his family who were shouting their own praise down. 

A few of the Gym trainers who’d been working today had joined the family, and several of Brock’s pokemon in observing the match. The pokemon themselves had taken up two rows with Brock having to fold down the seating in that area so they could sit and watch. 

Brock toyed with a few items on his podium and the barriers flickered to life. “Alright, barriers are at full charge and the podiums are protected.”

Flint blinked. That… didn’t sound good. “Uhmm you mentioned Regirock had an issue with restraint?” he said.

Golem shot him another pointed look that Flint ignored. 

“Yeah, he does. I’d suggest you start things off with boosting up for a move or three before we start. If the barriers go down we’ll stop things for a bit,” Brock stated. “I will be focussing on just getting Regirock an idea of how pokemon matches go and I need a challenger that can handle a few hits,” Brock stated casually. 

Golem turned completely around this time and gave Flint a hugely unimpressed look. Flint coughed. “I’ll make it up to you?” he offered. 

Golem sighed only to shift and adopt a fighting stance. 

“Alright, you go ahead and start boosting,” Brock said. He then turned to Regirock. “So Regirock, how this works is that two pokemon will typically be given orders on how to fight with moves being called out along with directions and suggestions. The orders can vary but we’ll keep it simple today. We also wouldn’t give our opponents time to boost up but today is just about getting a feel for fighting in a stadium.”

Flint frowned. “Iron Defense,” he ordered of his Golem. “Double down,” he ordered a moment later. “Now Rock Polish.” 

When he’d gotten off four moves Brock made a sign, indicating that he was about to start. Flint swallowed down the growing worry. 

This was it, time to show his family that he could do this. His heart began to hammer as a dryness filled his mouth. Oh no not now, he needed to focus on the—

“Regirock! Stone Edge!” Brock called, announcing his move clearly. 

Flint wasn’t sure why initially, but seeing Regirock tilt and swing its arm caused some instinct in his mind to blare a warning. Without considering it, he snapped his hand to the side. “Roll Out!” he barked.

Golem tucked and rolled to the side, evading a small avalanche launched at him a moment later. The rocks slammed into the barriers at the back of the battlefield and Flint turned, noticing how the barriers had flared orange.

Usually, they were transparent unless hit by a particularly powerful attack… Flint had seen some pokemon’s Hyper Beams fail to trigger that, while also knowing that some of Brock’s team could break through the barrier given the right motivation.

For a Stone Edge as a starting move to trigger that…

The barriers faded to yellow, green and eventually transparent within a few seconds. 

“Nice shot Regirock but we need to work on the speed. No delay if possible.”

Flint blinked. “There had been a delay?” he muttered to himself. Had he gotten that sloppy?

“G-golem! Roll Out circle raiding!” he called using an old set of orders he’d had established with all of his pokemon since his days in the reserves. 

His Golem tucked and rolled but rather than attempting to close with Regirock it instead dug slightly into the earth, leaving a furrow like a tractor would in the field. 

The trick was to have your Golem spiraling rather than merely rolling. This created a drill that hurled the rocks and mud sideways while allowing Golem to keep moving, minimising the danger it was in. 

Flint crouched slightly as he sank into old habits, his eyes tracking to watch Brock. Brock was watching golem but there was also a flicker of his eyes in Flint’s direction.

Hmmm Brock was aware of him, so he could try for a take… Flint shook his head. No, no. No need for those habits. This was just a friendly match, showing off what he could do while serving as a sparring partner for Brock to work with his own pokemon…. Which just happened to be a Legendary pokemon. 

Flint was suddenly less confident in giving a good showing. Maybe he should bring out Sandslah or Kangaskhan instead of sticking to his Rock pokemon team... 

“Stone Edge ahead,” Brock ordered once more. 

Regirock’s eyes light up in a brief, one to two-second sequence before swinging again. Flint frowned. That was what Brock called a delay? 

It was there certainly, but with the power that Regirock was unleashing most pokemon would have a tough time dodging it. 

Golem did it, barely by ducking back instead of committing forward with its roll. 

“Hmmm alright, Earthquake!” Brock commanded with a steely tone. 

Regirock lifted a foot and once again the flaring of old instincts had Flint tensing up as he called out his own order. 

“Double jump!” he shouted. 

Golem popped out of its tucked up form, still spinning as it grasped the ground beneath it to heave up a rock and toss it high into the sky.

Regirock’s foot came down and Golem groaned in pain only to squat and leap high up into the sky as Flint felt the world fall out underneath him. Around the stadium most of the barriers flared up again and in the stands the kids cried out as the chairs rumbled to give the children a mild impression of the power being unleashed. 

Flint tensed down harder and clenched with his core, knowing it would help only to frown as he felt parts of himself jiggling. 

He really had let himself go, hadn’t he? 

Golem landed on the soaring rock, riding it down only to line up the boulder and kick off, both extending the time in the air and therefore away from the Earthquake while also attacking. 

The boulder slammed into Regirock as Golem fell. 

Dust circled around Regirock’s form as the Earthquake dissipated. 

“Regirock, Stone Edge,” Brock declared through the dust and the boulders flew freely once more, hammering into the airborne Golem who gasped in pain before landing heavily. 

The dust cleared to show Regirock had nothing more than dust over its form. 

Brock peered at Golem. “He’s going to be able to keep fighting?” he asked.

Flint inspected his pokemon and shook his head. “Best to withdraw him now,” he replied. 

Two hits, the first being a minor connection with Earthquake… Sure it was super effective but Flint thought he’d negated most of it… that was rather worrying. 

“You want to keep going or?” Brock trailed off as Flint returned Golem. 

Flint swallowed only to straighten his spine. He was afraid, but he wanted to be better. He locked eyes with his son and decided to try. 

He shifted so he was no longer huddling down in fear of having his head shot off, instead standing tall with his arms crossed over his chest. 

Brock smirked at him, spotting what he was doing. 

Flint hoped there was approval glinting in his eyes, when Brock nodded slightly Flint felt his heart swell like when he heard Yolanda sing. 

He selected his next pokemon. “Go! Onix!” he shouted, sending out his starter, old and powerful as he was. 

Onix didn’t last more than two hits despite undulating and twisting as quickly as it could to avoid the blows. It still landed a powerful Bulldoze against Regirock.

Only for Regirock to stomp forward afterwards, apparently no worse for wear. 

Flint’s second Onix and third followed in quick succession only to meet similar fates without leaving even that impact on Regirock. Brock got smarter with his placings, anticipating the way his pokemon would move, and to be fair to his back up Onix they weren’t as fast as his starter. 

They were mainly useful for misdirection in combat where they could act together or distract and give the impression that a single Onix was much faster than it actually was. 

In the reserve corps it was known as the Battle Hydra technique. 

With his Onix out of the fight he switched to his last pokemon, thankfully Brock had advanced his pokemon with a few forward steps which made what he was about to do viable. 

“Go Sudowoodo!” Flint shouted and his last pokemon took to the field. 

“Go Hammer Arm!” Flint roared, hoping to get in another hit.

Brock changed things up however. “Bulldoze but keep it slow!” he ordered. 

Regirock, a pokemon that had been a stationary sentinel the entire fight suddenly lunged forward and sudowoodo who’d been charging forward found himself on the receiving end of a powerful attack that sent him flying. 

Sudowoodo hit the back wall and slid down, defeated. 

Brock pumped his fist up and down. “Nice work holding back on that last one!” 

Flint stared. “That was Regirock going slow?”

“Slow for inertia. It can hit a lot harder than it did just now,” Brock stated. “I also had it hold back on moving and creating furrows filled with Stealth Rock but I don’t think I will hold off on that. This was purely to get a feel for this situation!” Brock called. 

Flint returned his pokemon and sighed. “Well that’s me done.”

Brock opened his mouth only to shut it quickly. “Ah, fair enough. Can you move everyone behind me I want to test a move of Regirock’s to see how it holds up?” 

Flint nodded, moving up to join his family as they shuffled around to watch whatever Brock was about to unleash. 

“Well done Dad! You held up pretty well against a Legendary!” Salvadore exclaimed. 

Flint huffed. “I think my pokemon’s ability to handle hits and keep fighting kept me in it longer than I otherwise would have been,” he murmured. “Also I think we’re about to see just how much Brock was holding back.” 

Brock for his part was putting out large dolls. A nidoking doll was wheeled out on a large forklift. Flint noted that it had sensors attached to it while on the podium a mannequin appeared with a similar apparatus across its body. 

Brock returned to his podium and took a breath. “Alright! Recording start test one of Regirock using Sandblast!” 

“Sandblast!” Brock roared and Regirock took a single step forward that saw it swinging its limbs together in a punch, spraying a huge wave of sand across the field. 

Flint only swallowed as the field slowly became visible once more. The Nidoking doll had been knocked back ten metres and there were tears all over the doll. The human mannequin on the podium was likewise knocked over and the barrier in front of it was flickering red. 

The barriers at the back of the hall were orange. 

Brock hummed as he made some notes on a file. Flint could tell he was muttering something but it wasn’t being picked up on the microphone system. The words ‘possibly fatal’ did get muttered once though. 

Once the barriers returned to full strength Brock reset the field and resumed his position. 

“Test one of Regirock performing Hyper Beam!” Brock declared.

Flint stiffened, knowing that such a move was likely to be much more powerful. He opened his mouth to demand Brock call it off, only for Brock to be too quick.  

“Regirock! Hyper Beam!” Brock commanded.

Regirock’s eyes flickered and then an orb of energy appeared only to disgorge a powerful beam that tore through the earth as it hammered into and then through the Nidoking doll. 

Beyond that Flint could just make out the podium being torn apart as the weaker barriers failed. Then a warning klaxon sounded out and Brock shouted something only for Regirock to ignore it. 

The Hyper Beam continued and a shrill tone sounded out along with foam shooting up over the stadium seating. 

Flint had just enough time to wonder what it was when a tearing sound heralded the Hyper beam punching into the actual wall and ripping it apart. 

Thankfully a moment later the Hyper Beam cut off. 

Everyone stared across the smoking field at the torn apart podium and the wall of the stadium that looked like a bomb had gone off. 

In the silence that followed in the wake of the Hyper Beam, Brock’s next words rang out clearly. 

“Huh, and Titan beat that.”

Everyone stared at the destroyed section before slowly glancing towards Titan who looked unbothered at the casual destruction that had occurred. 

Brock didn’t notice as he started writing things down. “Exceptionally lethal, to be avoided in any friendly matches.” Brock then paused. “Oh! Hey look, the foam safety system worked like advertised!” he said. 

Salvadore perked up. “Oh neat!”

Flint coughed. “Uhmmm could you explain that son?” he asked. 

Salvadore grinned. “It’s the final fail-safe to keep people out of danger. When the barriers start to break, a small secondary barrier deploys along with a wave of foam that pushes everyone in the front two rows of seating up and back. It might cause a few people to be slightly injured from the sudden push, but it will stop them from taking a dangerous attack!” 

Salvadore bounced up and down. “Brock was always dubious if it would ever work, as no one has ever seen it in effect, but it looks like the technicians who built it weren’t lying! It does as advertised.” 

Flint glanced towards the destroyed section. When Brock returned Regirock and rejoined them he got a lot of praise for his fight and how Regirock held up. 

When the little kids returned home Flint raised a question. “Brock, wouldn’t it have been better to perform these tests outside? This will cost a lot of money to replace, no?” 

Brock chuckled. “I don’t mind paying that. This was a test I needed to run. Now I know without a shadow of a doubt that the system worked as advertised. It took a head on strike from a Legendary pokemon for it to fail.” Brock locked eyes with Flint. “A legendary pokemon that I now possess and need to be mindful of. I can’t just unleash it on anyone.” 

Brock rubbed his jaw. “Makes me seriously wonder about Brandon… if his Regi are this strong…” Brock trailed off before shaking his head. “Anyway I can play this as research for the company that created the Barrier system. I think they’d be very interested in this information and if that doesn’t work…” Brock smirked. “I still have an IOU from another company with deep pockets.”

Flint nodded slowly, unsure what to make of that only for Brock to adopt a softer smile. “You were impressive out there. You handled facing Regirock really well. I think I have another job I’d like to talk to you about.”

Flint allowed himself a smile. Today had been interesting in a lot of different ways while also being terrifying, but he felt like he’d made serious progress as well. 

Better yet, it sounded like his son had noticed, which made it feel all the more precious. 

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A.N. Thanks goes to my Patreons for your continued support! 

Just going to tease a potential spin off that might occur one day with a Yolanda PoV story where she’s a singer/pokemon trainer on her journey with her friends.

I mentioned it once on discord idly as a thought. What would people expect to see that story called if it ever went ahead? - Rocker Girl? Rocking Hard?

Thanks also go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!