Hard Enough - Chapter 323 - An empty Automaton

Staying at the Cameran palace took on a decidedly different air. It had only been a single night since we’d departed and returned and yet…

The staff for one treated us better. They almost fawned over us with their desire to please us. Sabrina didn’t have to so much as raise a finger and people were offering options for what could be done with a room to stylise it to her tastes. Sabrina had gone along with this and even entertained herself by walking through various rooms to see what could and couldn’t be done. 

I’d sat back and just shaken my head as I got a overview map of the palace. The Queens had made the Palace available to us and they’d meant it. The only wing that wasn’t going to be able to be drawn into our plans was the Royal residence but that was entirely reasonable. 

Sabinra had a bounce to her that hadn’t been there previously. Apparently offering a Megastone had very much been the right decision. 

“You know you’re going to have to tell Erika in front of me right?” I said as we settled down for brunch. 

“She’s going to be so excited. We’ll have to talk with the groundskeepers to liaise with her for the spring wedding.”

I coughed. “Spring? That’s only four months away!” I said. 

Sabrina nodded, a faint smile in place. “Hmmmm yes it is,” she replied.

I nodded suddenly unsure if this had really worked out, but then again there didn’t need to really be a delay did there? I loved Sabrina and she me… so why wait? Previously it was because we’d needed to make plans around a venue and then the guest list… speaking of which.

“How many people can the Cameran Palace hold? For the Ceremony and then the reception?” I asked. 

The butler who introduced us to the Queen glided forward. “The Cathedral is able to sit two thousand guests and dignitaries, good sir,” he said easily. He reached out and flicked a few pages to bring up a picture of the banquet hall. “The Banquet hall, for the main room can only fit two hundred, but with the adjoining rooms opened, we can easily fit that many and should we allow guests to ‘spill out’ into the gardens we can fit another thousand for three in total!” he declared proudly.

Sabrina looked pleased. 

“Sabrina, we don’t know three thousand people,” I pointed out. 

“I will make more friends then!” she said with a giddy tone. 

“Sabrina… I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work…” This was very much not how typical weddings were supposed to be held. 

Sabrina finished off her meal and floated away, pointedly ignoring me. 

I huffed at her playfully and glanced down. “It seems we’re going with all of the above options,” I said to the still hovering butler.

“Very good sir,” he responded with a chipper tone.

I eyed him. “I can’t help but notice that you and the other household staff have really gotten into this. Why is that?”

The man shifted. “Well you see Queen Ilene hasn’t really been out as much as she should, but that is also sadly because the noble gatherings have rather fallen out of vogue since the war ended. Most families in Kanto or Johto that the Royal family might have interacted with have been stripped or given up their titles. This has left the Royal family in somewhat of a quandary. Her majesty needs suitors, but she should not seem desperate.”

I blinked. “So… you’re all hoping that the Queen attending our wedding will result in her finding a suitor for herself?” I asked. 

The man nodded. “Hopefully several!” he said with a certain gusto.

I nodded slowly feeling very out of my depth. This sort of reminded me of a period drama that some women rather adored. “Huh, the more you know I suppose. Should I make a point of directing Lance her way?”

The man nodded. “As well as young Bruno I should think! Or maybe even your Gym Leader friends. Kong I hear, is still unattached hmmmm?” 

I stared at the man. “And if he married her he’d be what King Kong?” I said with a cough. 

The man shot me an amused look, “Oh like the movie? Hahaha very clever but no, there will be no Giant Primeapes here! This is serious business. He’d only be consort Kong!” the man declared.

I chuckled at the thought. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind,” I said. This was starting to become a Period Drama. I had no doubt that by the end of the night the Queen would have several suitors vying for her hand. 

I shook my head and rose. “Is there anywhere that I can train my pokemon? I caught a pokemon recently that I really need to check in with. I couldn’t do it yesterday while in the wilds as there was a risk of drawing local attention our way.” 

The butler nodded and snapped his fingers. Within seconds, another butler had appeared who led me towards the training grounds where I was surprised to find Yvette and Ilene both in training wear with pokemon around them.

Lucario was standing to the side with a stick shaped like a sword. “Concentrate on your breathing! Standards have fallen greatly if a mere ten league run is enough to tire you out! For shame!”  

“Hello there!” I called out. “Am I interrupting?” I asked. 

“Yes! Please do!” shouted Yvette. “My old bones can’t handle this young pups training regime! I’m not too proud to give up now!” With that said the older woman marched off leaving Ilene alone on the field with Lucario.

Lucario stared at her for a while only to gesture. “You may also finish here today. Tomorrow we will intensify your training!” 

He offered her a bow. “I must now perform my own training.” He picked up a huge backpack, nodded at me and then took off at a sprint back down a pathway. 

Ilene slumped to her knees. “Ooph! Getting strong enough to wield this stone is going to be tough Altaria!” she said towards a greatball that hung from a necklace.

I hummed. “Is that what you were doing?” 

Ilene nodded. “We tried tapping into the Mega stone last night with our starter, Altaria and we couldn’t achieve anything… Lucario offered his help with accessing our Aura.”

“So you do have an Altaria?” I asked, surprised at how well that had ended up.

Yvette snorted. “Don’t tell me you gave her the stone without knowing it was her starter pokemon?”

I smiled. “Alright I won’t tell you,” I replied, causing both of them to giggle at me. 

“I suppose you didn’t know that my daughter Journeyed around Johto, either?” yvette said pointedly. 

“Huh, no I didn’t, must have been before I took over things at Pewter.”

“Hmph, it was precisely because Pewter was the closest on the Kanto side of things that my daughter went to Johto first.” 

I nodded. It made sense. If your starting type was a flying type facing a rock gym wasn’t going to be too attractive. 

I gestured towards the training field. “Do you mind if I try some things with my pokemon? I need to see how one of my newest captures is taking things,” I asked.

Both queens nodded and moved off to the side. 

I decided to play things safe and therefore let out Titan, Jormungandr, Bertha, Sanchez, and Hypnotoad first. 

Only then did I tap the release button on Regirock’s pokeball. 

Regirock emerged much like any other pokemon but when it emerged it did so while standing upright, the typical slouch not present. This allowed it to stand slightly taller than me. 

It stood for a moment, only to start chirping and beeping in the manner that all other Regis had done so far. They didn’t speak with their names like other pokemon might have, but rather trilled and beeped almost like they were talking in binary instead. 

Regirock didn’t move so much as a millimetre as it stood there. I could hear the Queens straightening up behind me but I ignored them.

“Uhmmm, Hello Regirock. As I said before, I’m Brock, a Rock type specialist trainer.” I gestured to the surrounding pokemon. “These are some of the pokemon on my team… a team that you’re now a part of.”

Regirock remained standing, and gave out a single chirp in response. I waited for more or some form of reaction from it, only for nothing to occur.

I shifted. “Are you angry that I captured you?” 

It chirped once and again remained perfectly stationary. I waited for some other response, motion, or sign of its feelings only for nothing, not even my aura sense, such as it was, picked up on anything.

I glanced towards Titan. “What did it say?” I asked. 

Titan shook his head, letting me know that Regirock had literally just said ‘no’. That and nothing more. 

I turned back to Regirock. Again it hadn’t moved, even when I’d turned away from it, a gamble to be sure, especially with a pokemon that had displayed such power when we’d fought.

“Regirock, do you want to be released back to Mew?”

It chirped twice. 

Titan rumbled in response, already slotting into the role of translator to tell me that ‘if you order it’ was Regircok’s response.

I pursed my lips and stared. Then I took a step forward. 

Nothing about Regirock changed. But now that I was closer though I could see that in place of eyes Regirock had seven small gems that must have served as its points of vision. 

There was no indication that it was watching me but I did get a vague sense that it was doing so. Perhaps it was aura, or just my knowledge of Rock types. A pokemon getting close to them was cause for concern due to the risk they might have some fighting type move in their move set. 

Rock Types only liked you getting close to them on their terms. 

It probably also didn’t help that during our fight I’d demonstrated something adjacent to a ‘fighting style’ with my rock redirection. 

“Hey there,” I said, exuding as much calm as I could. “Can I check you over for any injuries?” I asked.

Regirock chirped once and Titan huffed out a ‘yes’ for me. 

I raised my hands slowly and began testing each rock on Regirock’s body like I would test a handhold I was about to climb up. I didn’t feather my touches as that would just irritate Regirock.

I watched it for any reactions and it was only as I got close to its core that I even saw a shift of discomfort and it only presented itself as a few of the rocks that made it up twitching.

“It hurts here?” I asked, drawing out a potion spray bottle. 

Titan confirmed Regirock’s response and I began spraying down the area. I watched as a sheen came through the rocks for a moment and veins of minerals within the rocks that made up Regirock’s body sparkled with vitality. 

Then I moved on, testing various parts of its body and slowly spraying it down. When I got closer to its eyes it reacted a little more strongly and by that I mean its eyes flashed quickly but didn’t beep. 

I hummed. “Titan went for your eyes a bit huh?” I asked.

It didn’t respond to that but I didn’t let the topic drop. I was starting to fill in the patterns. Regirock wasn’t a conversationalist but it did react to certain things. 

“Titan, the tyranitar over there is my strongest pokemon. Although now that I’ve captured you that’s up for debate,” I teased. 

Titan huffed, knowing that wasn’t true. I’d first have to get Regirock to accept taking orders from me and then I’d have to make them quick to follow. That was before we even started thinking about how I’d establish a bond with Regirock.

It would be possible, but I suspected it might take a bit more time. 

I sprayed around its eyes and used a small polishing tool I had to clean it off. When I was done the eyes all sparkled radiantly. 

“Hmmm that looks good,” I replied. I gestured to myself. “So, as you know I’m Brock and I’m marrying the woman who you might have briefly seen before our fight. Her name is Sabrina. I also have a really large family.” I paused. “Well large for humans anyway at nine siblings with two… parents.” I decided to move along quickly. “Pidgeys or Rattata wouldn’t think so,” I said, attempting some humour.

It wasn't very effective on Regirock who remained stoic and unmoved. 

“Hmmm tough crowd,” I replied, shooting my pokemon a pointed look.

Bertha cupped her hands and ‘boo’d’ me with a “Rhy!” 

Sanchez cackled. 

I found a third spot to spray and gestured at the crowd of pokemon. “These are some of the pokemon I consider part of my Elite team.” I introduced them and gave him a brief overview of each of them.

I mentioned some of their feats and even warned him about Bertha’s penchant for attempting to make things ‘Magical’, earning me a protesting bark from her.

Again Regirock didn’t react. 

I moved to Regirock’s back, working slowly and keeping up a flow of chatter with it as I worked, talking about little things like the places we’d been and the people we’d seen. I even spoke of how I was looking forward to growing the reserve and building it up for rare pokemon. 

I mentioned the discoveries I’d found at the Tree of Beginning carefully, wondering if that might finally elicit a response only for nothing to change.

“I spoke with Mew about you, you know?” 

Regirocks eyes brightened. 

I licked my lips. “It said I could keep you. That you’d done well.”

The eyes remained brighter, then the rocks that made up its body shifted slightly, almost compacting in on itself. It chirped once and settled. 

I glanced at Titan and found him frowning. 

“Tar…” he said carefully. 

I turned back. “Really? Acknowledged? That’s all you have to say?”

It chirped once more and perhaps I was starting to get an ear for the various chirps but I knew without Titan telling me that it had said yes.

I rubbed my head, unsure how to progress with a pokemon that was acting more like a stone wall than a living being. Was this why Mew hadn’t cared and had let Regirock go?

“Is there something you’d like to be doing?” I asked, deciding to test the situation.

“No,” Regirock chirped. Then its eyes flittered only to go blank. It beeped a few times more in a manner I wasn’t able to make heads or tails of but I considered it progress with how it had just ‘said’ more in that brief exchange than anything else. 

I glanced at Titan and he had a tilted head. “What are my orders?” he rumbled through the bond. 

I blinked. “Your new orders?” I repeated. “What… what were your old orders?” I asked carefully. 

Regirock chirped some more and I waited. 

When Titan filled me in I had to tilt my head to the side, Regirock had been ordered to guard the Tree of Beginning. 

Nothing more and nothing less. 

That… sort of matched the forming theory I had regarding the Regis. They were pokemon that sadly were created to serve a singular purpose.

Typically they were only ever found in areas that either were once, or were currently significant. The Tree of Beginning, as a natural wonder had three which was a sign of favour. 

Mew’s comments about getting in trouble if it had to reform more than one was also interesting. Did it have the ability to make Regis? Or was it that Mew still had a direct line to Arceus to create new pokemon?

I… wasn’t sure of that answer and I’d been a little distracted at the time. Urgh, maybe if I hadn’t had such a headache I might have been able to ask those types of questions!

Like would Mew have been able to confirm the theory I had about Xerneas or Yveltal? Were there any other Mega stones it knew of? What about rare pokemon? How long had it been alive?

All that and more, I should have asked, but I didn’t.

I huffed. It might be years before I could go back and ask or poke around.  

I hummed giving Regirock another look over. “Regirock, I’m about to ask you to do something harder than you’ve ever done! Are you ready for your order?”

Regirock straightened, its eyes gleaming. 

Interesting. “Tell me if there’s something you want!” I declared.

Instantly, Regirock slumped, its eyes dimming like it was a computer falling into low power mode.

I wasn’t daunted by this reaction though. “I would also like you to spend time with us! Help me look after my family! Protect the reserve from people that would seek to harm us, or steal, and maybe even battle with me when the time comes!”

The eyes lit up at this and I smiled. It appeared like it was able to grasp those ‘orders’ a little better. 

I hummed and signalled the other pokemon around me to come in closer. Regirock was sort of like a Golem in form and function. It had been given an order and had followed it, potentially for hundreds of years, but I believed there was more to it than that.

In a way it would sort of be like when I met Sabrina. I’d just need to tease out the real Regirock, first by showing it new things, and then learning who it was that emerged. 

I smiled as Sanchez and Bertha started to chat quickly while Regirock watched on. It should be an interesting adventure, albeit not a traditional one. 

I chuckled. I’d also need to learn new things with the new pokemon that I’d found at the Tree of Beginning. 

I… had probably best give Bianca a call to check in with her. 

“Sir Brock… This is Regirock?” asked a polite voice, causing me to remember that yes, I had actually had spectators for the last few minutes.

“Oh! Sorry about that, Your Majesties!” I said with a quick bow. 

Queen Ilene waved me off. “No no, it is entirely understandable that you didn’t notice us. This… My goodness it is a little different getting to stand in front of a Legendary giant like Regirock, isn’t it?” 

Yvette sniffed and made a point of measuring her own height against that of Regirock. “While it’s taller than me by half a head I would call it a giant by any means!” she declared. “I thought it would be taller!” 

I hummed. “Perhaps in Ancient times the Regis might have been able to become empowered and become larger? Which… would be possible if Regirock could Gigantamax… Which, according to my game knowledge it shouldn’t be possible but at the same time… Glimmet was a clear indicator that the world was bigger than what it had been. 

Heck if it could, what would it be like? 

I chewed my lip in thought. The ancient times might have been truly wilder places with something like a Giant Regirock or Regice stomping around.

It kind of reminded me of an old game, Shadow of the Colossus.

Huh, that might not be a bad name for Regirock… I shook it off and found Yvette and Ilene were both inspecting Regirock. Bertha in turn had made a game of inspecting them in a parody of what they were doing while Sanchez was howling with laughter. 

Yvette caught on first and snorted before waving Bertha off. “Cheeky pokemon!” she admonished playfully. 

Ilene leaned back. “Well, we must say, our curiosity is greatly assuaged watching you work with Regirock.” she nodded to both of us. “I hope you continue to show such care for Regirock Sir Brock.”

“I’m no knight,” I pointed out. “I don’t think Sir Brock is quite right.”

Ilene hummed. “I think we will have to change that then,” she said thoughtfully as she turned and walked away with a smile. 

I turned to Yvette. “She’s joking right?” 

Yvette grinned and marched away leaving me unsure if they’d been joking. I rubbed my chin. “Sir Brock huh?” I mused aloud.

A loud thud surprised me and I turned to find Titan of all pokemon kneeling before me. He bowed his head and rumbled lowly. “My liege!” he proclaimed with an absolute serious expression.

Then he looked up and smirked, breaking the illusion. 

Sanchez and the other pokemon howled with laughter. 

I reached out and pushed Titan so he fell to his side. “Yeah, you’re a regular jester! Laugh it up!” I said, shaking a fist at him while trying to hide my own chuckles. 

Bertha was quick to copy Titan, sketching a bow towards me and the others joined in.

Regirock watched on, not reacting but still a part of the fun as I started walking around with my head held high, like I was a snobbish noble. The pokemon pretended to bow and simper. I made a show of pretending to bow back, calling them Sir, and Lord such and such with each title becoming more and more elaborate which drew laughs from them.

We goofed around like that for a while just enjoying ourselves only to be interrupted by a ringtone.

I glanced down at the Xtransciever and coughed to regather myself. 

“Hi there Bianca!” I answered the call.

Bianca stared back, her gaze fluctuating in a way that only someone that is fond and yet at the same time exasperated with another could do. 

“Got the new pokemon I caught?” I asked, causing her to twitch.

“I did and they…” she trailed off as her gaze flickered past me on the video feed. “Brock? What is that?” she asked, pointing behind me.

I made a show of glancing behind me. For a solid moment I seriously considered toying with her, but then again she’d been a faithful employee for me so I turned and answered her question properly. “Oh that’s Regirock I caught him as well!” I said proudly. 

Bianca twitched. Then her head jerked to the side only to jerk back. Then she sighed. “One moment,” she said as she marched over to where I could see Stephen inspecting Armaldo as Chansey watched on.

“Stephen?” Bianca said, reaching out to him.

“Hmm?” Stephen asked, turning towards me. “Oh hey there Brock I…” he trailed off as his gaze slid past me. 

Huh this was kind of fun. 

“Brock what is—” Stephen started to ask only for Bianca to twist away.

“Good, it wasn’t just me. I thought for a second there I was dreaming and I’d have to pinch myself or something.”

I shrugged. “Eh, it’s a solid base point,” I offered. 

Bianca sighed with exasperation. “So, you caught a Legendary.”

“I caught a Legendary,” I repeated proudly.  

Her brow twitched. “This… you realise you’re going to have researchers storming the gates now right? You’ve not only found a bunch of Ancient pokemon, in the wild I might add, you’ve found a never before seen pokemon in this… Glimmet, but also a Legendary pokemon?”

I hummed. “I also took a bunch of videos of a unique ecosystem!” 

Bianca rubbed at her eyes. “Of course you did, you wonderful person you,” she drolly replied. “I correct my earlier statement, we’re going to have students, graduates and professors storming the gates.” She shook her head. “It’s going to be like a Tower Defence game in the later stages,” she muttered.

“I mean… we could just let them in and…” I trailed off as Bianca gave me a scorn filled gaze. 

“No, we’re not giving them anything! Some may be allowed in but I’m not letting every keyboard monkey with a dream in!” she growled.

I hummed. “That, might be a good point,” I conceded. 

Bianca huffed. “Well I certainly look forward to seeing you when you get home. Glimmet, I can confirm, is a Rock-poison type. So you might also want to reach out to Koga and Janine as previously this mixture of typings hasn’t been observed before.” Bianca stared. “Please tell me you got some video of it in the wild?”

“I did!” I replied. I then went into detail as to how I’d actually found the pokemon due to its ambush tactics with pidgey. That had Bianca rubbing her chin as she thought over what I’d just told her.

Behind her, Salvadore strolled through the shot only to notice me. 

“Hey Brock how’s… Oh my gosh! What is that behind you?” 

I spun. “What? Where?” I said playing with him the ‘background’ shifting to something completely different. 

“No go back!”  Salvadore begged as I continued to shift about only for me to realign with Regirock.

“Oh you mean this?” I asked, watching as Salvadore’s eyes lit up. 

“Wooooooah!” he gasped, leaning right in until the feed was full of nothing but his face. “Is that?”

“It is!”

“Did you?”

“I did!” 

“Wooooah,” Salvadore returned to gushing over the pokemon. 

“When are you coming back?” he asked.

I rubbed my chin and glanced around. “Probably another day or two at least. We’re up here to relax.” I recounted how things had gone, editing the fact that we’d interacted with a Legendary… from the start of our adventure at least, or that we’d encountered Mew.

“Woooah. No one’s going to believe me when I tell them!” he gushed.

“I mean, I think they will,” I replied smugly. “I’m pretty impressive no?” I teased. 

Salvadore grinned only for Bianca to cough and for him to withdraw from her personal space. “Sorry about that.”

I chuckled. “Hey Salvadore? Maybe don’t tell them yet alright? Let’s keep it a secret until I get back.”

“I can do that!” he announced loyally. 

I gave it fifty-fifty odds that he blabbed, but I wouldn’t hold it against him. I had no doubt their reactions would be just as funny to witness when I released Regirock in front of them. 

From its temperament, I didn’t feel like I was going to have any issues with doing that straight away. 

If anything I expected it would just be like a statue to them, I’d be careful but yeah, I didn’t get the sense of it being a problem except if I tried to fight with it at an Elite level.

I reconsidered that. Then again if ‘orders’ was all it wanted well, it would probably be a powerhouse to unleash on the competitive scene.

Although I might not use it for my Elite Challenge at the Gym. It might be a touch too strong for such young trainers.

“Brock!” snapped Bianca causing me to come out of my stray thoughts. She nodded when she saw I was looking. “Question time! Does Regirock have genitals?”

“What?” I said, suddenly unsure of the change. 

Bianca leaned into the camera, an intense look in her eyes. “Does Regirock have genitals? Can it be bred?”

I blinked, “Uhmmm I think Regirock is genderless…”

“I need you to check!”

I stared at Bianca, knowing that she was dead serious. Behind me, Bertha began to laugh.

I decided to do the only smart thing I could. “Oh no bbzzzt! The connection is getting bad! I’m losing you!” I declared before hanging up quickly. 

Bianca immediately tried to call me back but no way I was picking that call up. 

I turned and offered Regirock a bow. “I’m sorry for what you will have to endure when you make it back to the Gym but… bear with it… for science,” I asked only for Regirock to beep once in acceptance. 

I coughed, shot Bertha a dirty look and hummed as I gave my Xtransciever another look.

It had been kind of fun to see people react to Regirock. 

I glanced about… I just needed… “Excuse me?” I called out and a butler emerged from a nearby bush causing everyone to twitch in shock.

I stared. “What the hell man? Are you a butler or a ninja?”

“I attended Koga’s training camp for several years before becoming employed with The Cameran Palace,” replied the man before lacing his fingers together. “I am very, very sneaky sir!” he proclaimed proudly. 

“Riiiiiight,” I said. “Think you can get something for me?” I asked as I rattled off a short order for him.

When he returned with everything I grinned. Oh yeah this was going to be amusing.

I set my Xtransciever to record, knowing I’d get some laughs about this later. 

______________________

Lance stretched, feeling rather pleased with himself for finishing up all his paperwork before the two in the afternoon. It was a sign that things were looking up after all the interruptions and distractions that had been taking place.

Even with Lt. Surge out and about ‘enforcing Justice’ in the Indigo Islands as one of the G-men there hadn’t been any negative feedback… which made Lance suspicious. That man was like a walking magnet for finding trouble. 

But then again he was also the sort to make sure no issues ended up on Lance’s desk.

Which… was part blessing and curse that Lance didn’t want to dwell on right now. 

He was looking forward to ending the day early and was just about to depart when his transceiver buzzed.

Lance answered and was surprised to find Brock reclining on a park bench with a drink in hand. “Oh hello Brock I heard you were on holidaaaaaay….” he trailed off as something glinted in the background causing Lance to look at it.

Behind Brock was a Legendary pokemon with three of Brock’s pokemon gambolling around it, clearly at play and not at all concerned by the Legendary pokemon.

Lance would have dismissed it as merely a statue… but this was Brock. 

Lance’s temple began to throb as a twitch came over his eyebrow.

“Brock? What is that?” Lance asked politely. 

Brock blinked and lifted his drink. “Hmm? This? It’s a smoothie.”

Lance felt the twitch grow in intensity. That cheeky prick knew! Lance could see the glimmer of amusement in his eyes as he smugly took a sip of his smoothie. “Listen here you son of a bitch!” Lance shouted, chopping the air. 

Brock adopted a shocked expression. “You know, someone else might be offended by that.”

Lance snorted. “I dropped in to talk to you a few days ago! I’ve met your mother! I know I’m right!” He retorted, earning a chuckle from Brock. 

“Point, so how have you been?” he asked.

Lance chopped the air. “Don’t try and change the topic! Tell me about that Regirock!” 

Lance just knew that Brock was teasing him deliberately!

Brock smirked, practically confirming Lance’s thoughts. 

Lance growled. “Yooooouuuu!” He shook his fist. “This is not how you treat your Champion!” he said with a twitch of his lips.

Brock chuckled and Lance slumped into his chair.

He was absolutely seeking Bruno out after this to blow off some steam, and that was before he heard whatever story Brock had for him. 

______________________

A.N. thanks got to my patreons for your continued support! Expect more reactions as we will be returning to Pewter next chapter!

Thanks also go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!