Hard Enough - Chapter 314 - The Kingdom of Rota

Despite already having many plans in place, I still had to wrap some things up and make plans before I could depart to the Kingdom of Rota.

I had to sit Lola and Flint down and tell them where I was going and what I was going to do.

“Oh? That’s a shame. And I only just got home! You’re already breaking the family up again!” Lola simpered into Flint’s shoulder.

“It’s not the same,” I said firmly so as to shut that line of thought down as quickly as I could.

“I have contact details and return dates,” I said calmly. “So that means I will be trusting you to look after the kids for a while.” 

I gave Lola a pointed look. “I have also called around and placed denial orders on various companies. There will be no remodeling the house or repainting rooms,” I said. That had been something I’d actually done days ago, after Forrest had mentioned the whole remodelling idea Lola had. Then I’d set up contracts with a few of them to start liaising with Bianca in preparation for the expanded reserve and a few other buildings I was going to have made up that we were starting to need.

Lola flapped her hands. “I’m in nesting mode!”

I blinked. “It’s far too early for you to know you’re pregnant,” I said flatly. Dear Arceus, I did not need any more siblings.

“Huh? No, I mean I’m finally back home?” Lola blinked slowly, unaware of what I meant.

I decided I was done touching on that topic and instead laid out the other requirements. “No taking the kids from school. The term will end soon, and there will be some events in the town square that the kids would like to attend. Make sure they stay warm, as we don’t need them getting a chill,” I stated.

“No having parties while I’m gone,” I said, causing Lola to pout. 

“I’ll have some grannies swing by to check in on everyone,” I finished up, causing Lola to bristle. 

“I don’t need to be checked up on!”

I shrugged. “I did the same with Flint before he showed he was going to stick around and I’ll do the same to you.” I offered a smile. “It’s fair, no?”

Flint nodded. “Indeed. It’s wonderfully fair.” He put a hand atop Lola’s. “If we coordinate with the Grannies, we can go out for a date night. There are quite a few restaurants and sights that have sprung up around Pewter that I’d love to take you to!”

Lola swooned. “Oh, you old Ninetails you! You know just the right things to say!” She cupped her cheeks and shook her head. “Sometimes I think I left so you would stop seducing me and knocking me up!” she said.

Flint frowned which let me know that once again, Lola was spinning a tale here, but this wasn’t something I wanted to ever touch. 

I stood, more than done with the conversation. “I’m going to check in with my pokemon and make up some preparations,” I declared as I departed. 

My pokemon honestly barely needed to be checked over. My trainers were still rostered for the Holiday I had planned, so reinstituting that plan was actually rather simple with training exercises, games, and nutrition plans being followed. 

With it being Winter and my pokemon not about to take part in the Ace tournament, I was more than happy to allow a little more rest and relaxation into their normal schedule. I still planned to work the younger pokemon as I needed to up the training times to get them used to handling what would be expected of them if they made it into the Elite team.

So far, that was only Gible, Ursaring, Golbat, and the Larvitar trio however. 

Due to my return to Pewter I still also had to front up and talk with my local Baseball club. 

I wandered over to find a few kids hanging out already. I waved at some familiar faces only to have them rush up to me.

“Mr Brock! Are you going to be coaching us again this season?” asked a few of them.

“Ah, sorry kids, not right away. I wanted to let the club manager know that I was still off for a while and that they’d need to…” I trailed off when a familiar face sauntered out of the clubhouse. “Karen?” I asked.

Karen grinned. “I heard you were too busy to teach these shit gremlins how to go the distance, so I’ll be taking over them as Head Coach this season!” she declared. 

I nodded slowly only to turn and put a hand on the nearest kid’s shoulder. “Remember, no matter what happens for the first three games, I still respect you,” I said. 

The kids all giggled while Karen glared only for it to not be very effective. “Oi! Screw off! I’m an amazing coach!” 

I nodded. “Yeah, you’re not too bad when you’re not deliberately trying to teach the kids bad habits like swearing.”

“I like learning new curse words!” declared one of the kids. “I made one kid who tried to bully me cry this year by calling him a shit nugget whose family got him as a cereal box prize that couldn’t be sent back!” 

I stared at the kid.

Karen roared with laughter and offered the kid her fist. “Pound it! Oh, that’s amazing! I think I just found the team captain!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose before chopping the air in Karen’s direction. “Don’t do that. Only villains do that!” 

I gave Karen a disappointed look. “If that’s all you’re going to teach the kids I’m not lending you my Geodude for catching, and batting practice,” I declared. 

“Fine!” Karen said with a roll of her eyes. She shooed the kids off and leaned against the fence. “I read the message you sent through to the Guardians. Are you seriously going to be third wheeled by fucking Mewtwo of all pokemon while you and Sabrina are in Rota?” 

“It would appear so,” I said as I looked up and around. I started to channel a bit of dark energy around me and Karen matched me a moment later. 

“Huh, I can really notice that these days,” she replied and I blinked. “Seems the training is working out for both of us. You been able to read intent from just looking at people and their aura yet?”

I shook my head. “Haven’t had much time to train it as I’d like,” I said.  

“Your dark energies seem stronger,” Karen observed, her eyes flicking over my form. 

I huffed. “Yeah, funny that,” I said, knowing what the likely cause was. 

Karen shifted. “Also heard that you and Sabrina are getting hitched. Congratulations to you both, but if she asks tell her I said fuck her and also fuck her again for not inviting me to her bitches gettogether. Heard it was loose.”

I gave Karen a pointed look. “Are you just trying to swear as much as you can around the kids?” 

Karen shot me a smirk, “Nah, but it’s a bonus.”

I rolled my eyes. “How long before things settle down with all the turmoil of the Trinity Nations discovery?”

“It’ll smooth out quickly enough. Things won’t get too wonky until people can move about and that will take a couple of months yet. All the diplomats and big businesses need to establish themselves first, you know?” 

I shrugged not really knowing, nor caring all that much at the moment. Karen hummed and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. Just know that The Trinity nations linking up with us is damned good for us. Hoenn were pricks to deal with due to the trade agreements. A lot of that is going to have to be rewritten now so new deals are going to come about.”

“I gathered as much,” I replied. I relaxed my darkness and shook myself out. “Had a look over any of the pokedex information to earmark any pokemon you might enjoy gaining?” I asked.

“Spiritomb for one,” Karen said without any hesitation. “Purrloin, Zoroark, Scraggy, Pawniard, Vullaby, Skuntank, Krookodile, and Hydregion while we’re at it with the Pickster game,” she rattled off.

“Pickster game?” I asked. 

“Yeah. It’s the new fad that is sweeping through all the people with the new pokedex information. Everyone’s pouring through the new information and designing dream teams for themselves,, and I have to tell you Brock, I am seriously going to be one of the first people visiting the Trinity Nations if I have my way!” she said with a grin.

I nodded. The fourth generation games onward had introduced a lot more dark-type pokemon. 

Interestingly, I knew there were a lot there that she hadn’t mentioned, either from them not being listed in the information we received or not being known to Trinity Nation trainers.

Karen nudged me with her fist. “Hey, you should beef up some of your team with some more dark types.” 

I nodded. “That’s a good idea. From what I read, Zoroark would be a bit of a game changer for a lot of people due to its disguise ability,” I said, remembering a lot of gameplay being pretty fun with the trickster pokemon.

Karen grinned. “I know right? That pokemon above all others is a must-have for me!”

“Hmmm, like you said though, a few months no?” 

Karen sighed. “Yeah, unless I can finagle something with the League when I become an Elite Four member.” She stared at me for a moment. “You still going to miss the Ace Tournament?”

“I said I would and I’m sticking to that,” I declared. 

“Lot of people are thinking you’ll recant now that you’re back already,” she said leadingly. 

I shook my head. “Not going to happen. I just want to relax. I honestly took that as far as I wanted to during the circuit, I might have another run at it later next year, but I’ve got no motivation right now to chase another win.” I glanced up at the blue skies and allowed myself a moment to relax. “I want to just kick back and relax for now.”

I suspected there would be enough significant events coming up soon anyway.

Shamouti was only a month away after all.

Hopefully, a quick visit up to the Tree of Beginning now would nip the issue there in the bud so I wouldn’t have to double back.

Somehow, I felt that would come down a lot more to our third wheel in Mewtwo.

“Hey, any clue what Agatha is on about with asking Sabrina and I to report to the Palace when we first get there? She’s being all cryptic about it,” I said. 

Karen hummed, and a flicker of amusement flashed in her eyes before she shook it away. “Eh it’s not something she advertises but one of the only nations to actually look favourably towards her is the Kingdom of Rota.” Karen smirked and waved a hand. “You know, when Aerodactyl and shit were around?”

I snorted and waved for her to get on with her story. 

Karen grunted and proceeded. “Right so the Princess of the time tripped and fell into a ravine and no one could find her until Agatha showed up on holiday or some shit with her mother. Agatha apparently made friends with the Princess and rescued her which led to them getting declared friends of the Royal family for life.” 

Karen smirked. “This actually worked out in their favour as during the war Agatha never raided the Kingdom of Rota, she instead led assaults on every other nation but there. She even went out of her way to negotiate a ceasefire with Rota. It was very impressive to the people running the war at the time. It’s also one of the reasons Oak promoted Agatha into the initial Elite Four.”

Karen coughed. “That and all the terror she inspired in a lot of people.”

I chuckled. “That would help for a fledgling nation I would imagine.”

Karen nodded. “She probably wants you to introduce yourself and show that you’re going to play nice, cause the old woman is still friends with the Dowager Queen who was the princess when Agatha was young.”

“Huh, that’s… maybe one of the nicest stories I think I have ever heard about Agatha,” I said thoughtfully, pointedly not eying Karen, nor mentioning the young girl who had turned up at my Gym as Agatha’s new mentee.

Agatha did have some soft spots it seemed, it was just that she hid it from the world. 

I stood and dusted off my hands. “Alright, I better get going. You enjoy the time with the team but if you lose those games I’m not going to forgive you when I take over as Head Coach.”

Karen flipped me off. “Piss off! I’m Head Coach this season! When you get back you’re on ball boy duties if you’re lucky!” She smirked and puffed her chest out. “Also, by then you’ll be looking at your newest Elite Four, trust me! So you better be ready to salute me.”

“Hmmmm yeah no,” I said as I moved away. I tossed a wave over my shoulder as I sauntered back to the gym, to finalise what I was going to take with me.

Surprisingly, the biggest thing would actually be the new pokeballs I planned to take for the new pokemon I was hoping to pick up.

As I moved through Pewter the usual characters called out to me with residents waving and cheering at my passing. 

One reporter even jogged after me and got a brief interview while I was on the move. 

“Betty Boulder PTN news! Brock, how do you feel about Gio coming from nowhere to win the Indigo cup?”

“He earned that, I got a chance to see him last year and he’s changed a lot since then. He’s knuckled down and I think his victory a few days ago was all thanks to the work he put in for the last two years. He’s got a great record that lots of people didn’t see until late in the tournament,” I replied as I continued to stride on, causing the reporter to keep jogging.

“Ho-hold up jeez, you’ve got long legs! Uhm! Thoughts on the success of Indigo trainers this year?” 

“It’s been a tough year, stick in there if you can and you’ll be in a great position for the start of the next season,” I said simply.

“C-celia, your Gym’s sponsored trainer from last year, is now in the finals in the Hoenn tournament! How proud of her are you?”

“Very, I’m also saddened that I won’t be there to witness her match, but I know she’s going the whole way,” I stated firmly. 

The Reporter chose that moment to come to a halt and swivel to her cameraman who was looking just as tired. “T-there you h-heard it folks! Celia’s going the whole way! Tune in to watch the match live at two am tomorrow morning! Or catch the replay at six am on Battlecast!” 

I almost paused in my jog then and there before shaking it off. I wasn’t planning on staying up that late, I’d have to have an early night and wake up early to watch the match so I could send Celia a message. 

As I trotted towards the Gym I caught sight of Sabrina along with another person waiting around the front. 

They were wearing knight armor, which was already an oddity. That and that the type of armor they were wearing had no exposed skin while also having a rather mail skirt that fell to just above the knees. 

All of that, along with the way they triggered a suspicion of just who this was. 

“You’re joking, right?” I asked as I drew closer, catching sight of a familiar shade of purple eyes looking back at me through the visor. “That’s… What is going on right now?” I asked as I pinched myself.

Sabrina coughed. “Brock meet Sir Twain,” she said. 

I blinked “Twain?” I asked.

“It means two in your language,” rumbled Mewtwo.

I stared at him. “Right, okay, setting that to the side… how does this seem like a good idea to you?”

Mewtwo shifted and the metal plates clacked lightly at the movement. “While wearing this I will be able to move more freely within the Kingdom. I have investigated and there are still knightly orders and it is not uncommon to see humans dressed like myself.”

“But… you’re a pokemon?” I pointed out. “What are you going to do when someone asks you to take off your helmet?”

“I will not take off my helmet,” Metwo replied firmly. 

I raised a finger only to lower it a moment later. I turned to Sabrina. “Please tell me you can see that this is a bad idea, right?”

“He wants to do this,” she said with a shrug. There was a glimmer of something in her eyes that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. 

I rubbed my forehead and flexed some dark energies just in case Mewtwo was using Confusion on me. This… none of this made sense. “I thought you were just going to be doing your usual lurking out of sight thing,” I muttered. “Somehow this seems so much worse.”

Mewtwo tilted his head, and I got the impression that he was observing me. “Sabrina, he is much more emotional about this than you were,” Mewtwo stated. 

I coughed out a laugh. “I’m sorry, it just feels like the world just turned sideways or something's wrong with me, cause this just does not make any sense to me,” I said as I waved a hand up and down at Mewtwo’s armored form.

“I thought you liked being a recluse on that island of yours. Only now that Sabrina and I are going to Rota, not only do you want to come along, but you want to do so while cosplaying as a knight.”

Sabrina nodded. “That about summarises it, yes.”

“It is a whim,” Mewtwo stated.

I waited for him to say anything else, but he didn’t. 

I rubbed at my forehead. I wasn’t sure if I needed to lay down, take some medication or both but this… this was easily the strangest thing that had happened today and it wasn’t even midday yet. 

“I’m going to get my stuff and then we can Teleport to the border for processing,” I stated. “Are we…” I eyed ‘Sir Twain’. “Are we still planning to walk into the City?”

Sabrina nodded. “Yes, that way we get to relax and enjoy the environment,” she said with a clenched fist.

I nodded and moved off, still unsure where things had turned weird. Or was this supposed to be the new normal?

Knight Mewtwo?

Yeah, there was no way this didn’t turn bad for us.

I bid goodbye to my family and we vanished into a Teleport, only for Sabrina to have to do it two more times to reach the northern border. 

When we arrived, one of the Rangers who had been sitting in a chair reading a magazine toppled over. “Arceus crackers!” the man bellowed, only for me to lean forward and catch him. 

“My thanks!” he gasped as he stopped floundering and blinked at me. “Oh! Gym Leader Brock!” He shot to his feet and dusted his pants. “We’ve been expecting you!” he said.

I gave the chair he almost collapsed back into a flick of my eyes. 

Mewtwo shifted. “It shows,” he declared, making sure to make his voice echo from the armor.

My head snapped around to stare. Was that sarcasm from him? I shook my head and looked back in time to find the Ranger giving Mewtwo a confused look. 

“Well yes, Camie! Our guests have arrived!” he declared.  

A young woman leaned out of the hut and inspected us. She gave Mewtwo a long look. “Are you really one of them knights of Rota?”

“I am a Knight aspirant!” Mewtwo declared grandly, flexing the gauntlet he wore up to his chest. 

“So I see,” Camie said. We produced our papers and once again I was a bit stunned to find Mewtwo had his own. 

I gave Sabrina a pointed look but she didn’t meet my gaze. 

“I’ll need to see your face to verify—” Camie started to say only for Mewtwo to raise his hand and swipe it in front of her face. 

“You do not need to see my face,” he declared like a certain jedi.

Camie nodded seriously. “No, I don’t,” she said.

Part of me was extremely amused by this interaction while another couldn’t help but feel a touch peeved. Did we even need papers or Mewtwo to cross the border with us if he was just going to do that?

Soon enough we were waved through and I led our group at a brisk pace. As soon as we were out of sight and hearing I whirled to face Sabrina. “Are you serious? Papers? He doesn’t need those! Look what he did! He could have just Teleported past the border without any issues!” I said incredulously. 

Sabrina nodded. “He needs them if he wishes to wander around the Kingdom. If someone questions him he will need to produce some form of identification. It also limits the risks if we encounter on the road towards the City,” she declared. 

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Sabrina, he could just Teleport away if anyone wanted to question him!” I eyed her. “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

Sabrina shot me a slightly contrite look. “Yes.”

I eyed her. That wasn’t right, she had a spark of what looked like anger as well.

I narrowed my eyes. “Is this your pay back because I forgot about Alto Mare?”

“Yes,” Sabrina repeated, this time with a slight twitch of her lips. She then gestured towards Mewtwo who had paused to observe a nearby Pidgey who seemed just as confused to be looking at Mewtwo in turn. “But also this is good for him,” she said honestly.

I groaned and shot Mewtwo a look before deciding to just throw my hands in disgust. “Screw it! I don’t care. He’s Sir Twain from now on and I’m not committing any more mental power towards this!” I said as I stomped forward. 

Within a few minutes I relaxed enough to enjoy myself and by the time lunch rolled around I had made peace with this strange situation I found myself in. 

We paused for lunch on a mountain side that overlooked part of the valley that swept down towards Rota City. The city was situated on the banks of a sizable lake with a small island playing host to Cameran Palace where the royalty of Rota lived and held galas. 

I munched on my onigiri and flipped through a small brochure listing off some of the key features of the City. “Huh, we missed a Lantern festival,” I said. “With that lake that would be a beautiful event to witness.”

“Perhaps next year,” Sabrina replied and I nodded, making a note of the date in my calendar for that very purpose. 

Mewtwo I noticed didn’t have any lunch.

I looked down at my onigiri before smirking and offering him the lunchtray I’d packed them in. “Donut?” I said with a straight face. 

Sabrina snorted as Mewtwo observed me only for two of my ‘donut’s to float towards him. His helmet lifted off his head and he nodded towards me. “...thank you,” he muttered.

I stared. 

Well, that was certainly not what I’d expected. I nodded back at him. “Yeah, no worries,” I said. 

It was one thing to know Mewtwo was learning, but another to experience it first hand. Sabrina looked very pleased with herself.

We continued on our way and made good enough time to reach the walls of Rota City by mid afternoon. The entire walk had been spent in silence, at least for my part. 

I knew there was a good chance that Mewtwo and Sabrina might have been conversing but I didn’t mind if they were talking. It was obviously good for his development.

Any situation that meant Mewtwo was less inclined to attempt any sort of world wide destruction was a win in my books. 

I rather enjoyed myself simply walking along, observing the tamed wilderness that ran along the path to Rota. No niggling fears about what Lola was up to. No more challengers seeking to ambush me if I stepped out of my Gym, and no expectations. 

I stretched as the guards looked over our paperwork at the walls. 

“Looks fine,” said the guards, nodding to Sabrina and I before turning to ‘Sir Twain’. “Will you be looking to take part in the Joust that is happening tomorrow?”

Sabrina and I shared a look. Neither of us had known about this. 

Mewtwo adapted quickly. “If I can still apply,” he said with a slight hesitance that made me almost think he was a blundering human underneath his armor. 

The guards nodded. “Well no fear. Registration doesn’t end until an hour before. You get provided a trained Rapidash if you don’t have one yourself, and six lances to use over the duration of the event.”

Mewtwo nodded. “Sounds perfect,” he said, knocking his fist against his chest piece once more. 

We were waved through and I quickly noticed that Mewtwo’s attire was in truth going to be rather common with there being a few knights riding around the City with their Rapidash. They nodded and called out to each other loudly and made the streets seem a bit livelier than they otherwise would have.

Kids waved and laughed. 

A young girl ran out in front of us and offered Mewtwo a crown of flowers and a stripe of cloth. “Will you wear this tomorrow for me Brave Knight?” she said with all the bravery she could muster as she held the items out.

Mewtwo paused to look at the crown and clothe for a long moment. 

“Please?” said the girl, only to gasp as a stray gust of wind blew her large hat off her head. 

Before any of us could react Mewtwo caught it in his hand only to stiffen as the girls long blue hair billowed in the wind. 

The wind died down and a moment later the hat was back on her head. 

“Ehehe! Thanks Sir Knight! Mama would have been mad if I lost another hat!” she declared only to glance down at her cloth and flower crown. “I… if you don’t want to I understand it’s just.

She licked her lips and shifted only to look up again with soft blue eyes into Mewtwo’s purple. “It’s considered good luck for girls to get their favours accepted… and if you were to win I’d get to brag about it to all my friends,” she admitted quietly. 

I coughed, an excuse on my lips to spare Mewtwo any more awkwardness he might be feeling, only for Mewtwo to kneel down and take the offered cloth. “Would you place it upon my helmet for me?” he asked seriously. 

The girl beamed as she placed the crown atop his helmet and bowed in thanks.

“What… what is your name young child?” Mewtwo asked and I tilted my head. What was going on here?

The girl grinned. “I’m called Amber Mr Knight! Good Luck tomorrow!” she said before skipping away. 

Mewtwo watched her go and I got the feeling something significant had just happened, but It was nothing I could recall seeing anything about in the movies. Was there something about that girl?

I glanced down at the ribbon in Mewtwo’s grasp. “You’re not seriously thinking of…” I trailed off as Mewtwo rose, a gleam in his eyes. 

“I shall!” he declared with a passion that took me by surprise. 

“Me.. Sir Twain?” Sabrina asked carefully. 

Mewtwo nodded towards the girl who was with another group of girls her age. She pointed at us and Mewtwo raised his hand to wave. “That girl… she… reminded me of something I had forgotten,” he said. 

Sabrina and I shared a look. Apparently that was all we were going to get. Mewtwo clenched his fist and the metal creaked slightly. “I shall win tomorrow’s event… for Amber,” he said with a slight hitch. 

I wasn’t sure what was going on but I decided to nod. “Sounds like fun!” I said, knowing it wasn’t quite the right thing, but for the life of me I had no idea what was going on.

I led Sabrina and a distracted Mewtwo towards the hotel I’d booked for the duration of our stay. Sabrina surprised me by revealing she’d added on an extra room just for Mewtwo. 

When we were in the privacy of our own room I gave Sabrina a look. “Sooo, that was weird right, with the girl this afternoon? Do you have any idea what it was about?”

Sabrina pursed her lips. “I got vague impressions from Mewtwo that the girl caused an old memory to dredge itself up. Mewtwo had forgotten it until that girl stood before him.

Sabrina stepped towards a window and looked up into the night sky. I joined her to find a distant figure hovering far up in the sky, staring at the moon. 

Sabrina hummed. “Apparently Mewtwo, when he was very very young, wasn’t the only clone that was raised in the facility on New Island. One of the researchers’ daughters were also cloned, only the clone’s health didn’t stabilize and she passed away. That girl was one of the happiest memories he had in his early life, but it was also very tragic.”

“Huh,” I said. “Is he… going to be alright?” I asked carefully. 

Sabrina nodded. “I think so. He’s just… processing it right now.” Sabrina turned and put a hand on my bicep. “Thank you for not raising a fuss with him and accepting him on our adventure,” she said. “I think it’s helping him.”

I shrugged. “Apart from the start it… hasn’t been that bad,” I said only to smirk. “I’ll probably laugh about this later. It’s not often you get to say you went on an adventure with a Legendary pokemon after all.”

Sabrina nodded only to gain a sly expression. “You do know that as a Knight, Sir Twain will require a Squire,” she said.

I met her gaze and smirked right back. “I know a guy who’d love that job,” I said. 

Sabrina blinked, having not expected that reaction. 

Joke was on her, Sanchez was perfect for this. The only reason I wasn’t sending Gawain out was because he had axes for hands. 

It was oddly very heartening to think of him fighting for the memory of a young girl he once knew. 

“For all amber is going to be a happy little girl, I feel sorry for the other knights,” I said knowing that Mewtwo wasn’t going to hold back.

In my arms Sabrina started to giggle.

We went to bed early so I’d have a chance of catching the final of the Hoenn cup.

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Nimbus, Celia’s Altaria, disgorged a torrent of blue flame as Dragonbreath seared the Shelgon. 

Shelgon leapt to the side only for Nimbus to twitch her wings and adjust marvellously and seemed to drift across the battlefield to maintain the pressure on her opponent. 

A moment later, Shelgon collapsed, done after the brutalising that Nimbus had unleashed. 

I pumped my fist and whooped with glee. “She did it!” 

On the television, the referee was shown raising his flags and announcing the final verdict that was plain for everyone to see. 

The screen cut to Celia who was dancing with glee. She held her arms out and a moment later Nimbus was sweeping into them, knocking Celia to the ground as they celebrated the win. 

I laughed and sank back onto the couch where Sabrina was coolly sitting, watching both the fight and my own antics. “Did you doubt her?” Sabrina asked.

“Not for a minute!” I said loyally. 

Sabrina arched an eyebrow, and I coughed. “Alright, so I thought there might still be a few strong trainers in Hoenn. I can’t say their League was anywhere near as difficult as ours was this year but for Celia to win a regional tournament in her second year!” I stated. 

I stood up and started marching back and forth. I was too full of energy to simply sit and talk. I need to be moving! I quickly typed out a message congratulating Celia on her victory that quickly turned into a rambling post about how proud I was of her achievement. 

I sent and received some other messages from Rachel and Celia herself as the Hoenn League prepared for the final ceremony.

I returned to sit on the couch only to bounce on it with nervous energy as I waited for Celia to accept her trophy.

I jittered with energy, far too worked up to go back to sleep. I’d probably need to go for a run or use the gym upstairs, or…

“Ahem,” Sabrina cleared her throat. 

I glanced over to her only to find that she’d slipped the strap of her nightie down her shoulder. The bare flesh wasn’t anything lascivious, but the way she had done it activated something in my mind.

Sabrina smiled and gave me a look that let me know exactly what she had planned to bleed off my excess energy.

I had to admit, it was a pretty great way to celebrate my student’s success and the start of our holiday. 

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A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support.

It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapters! 

I mentioned this to Twmmy when I sent him the chapter for proofing cause this was not part of my plotlines that I had sketched out. I thought of this in the spur of the moment and was like… hell yeah. (=

I actually really like how this chapter comes together as well.

Hope people enjoyed reading it!