Hard Enough - Chapter 255 - Put humpty together again?

A.J. knew that there were reasons that he shouldn’t rip Melvin’s rotten tongue out of his mouth to feed it to him. Beyond the mess it would make that was.

It was just, that it was really hard to remember what those reasons were, especially when Melvin was evading him. The man scrambled this way and that, his stupid little hat clutched to his stupid egg-like head while he evaded any of A.J.’s attempts to break him.

“Stop running from me!” A.J. roared as Melvin sprinted around the big top tent, hurling equipment, some of which A.J. angrily noted still bore his old family’s inscriptions. 

“A.J.! Calm down We can take this to the authorities!” called Forrest as he clambered over what was supposed to be a stand for Mightyena to sit upon only Melvin didn’t have the guts to command any Mightyena in his circus so it was just a prop.

A.J. ignored Forrest, focusing solely on Melvin as he reached into a pouch on his side and began to hurl out various pieces of equipment. 

They’d already wasted time finding the circus after A.J. had rushed to Dark City to join in with Forrest and his friends. 

In the space of time that they’d been waiting for him to arrive Melvin had packed up the tent and moved on. Which somehow Forrest and all of his friends had missed!

That had led to even more time being wasted as they had to search for the rotten man.

 Thankfully it turned out that while Forrest and his friends couldn’t keep an eye on a giant tent being packed up and moved, they knew a lot of people and that caused the search net to be cast very far indeed. They were able to find the miserable little man quickly by dividing their friends up while the core group stayed the same.

A.J. hadn’t wanted to admit it, but he’d lost hope for a moment when he learned of Melvin escaping him once again. 

Finding Melvin…. It wasn’t something that A.J. had been able to do in the past and reminded him a little of what Brock liked to talk about with bonds being not just between pokemon but indeed everything a person did. 

When they’d found the circus, A.J. had stormed inside and the vile man had greeted them with a smile and claimed the circus as his. 

Then he’d locked eyes with A.J. and known that he was in boiling water.

A.J. had leapt only for various items that made up a clown’s purse to be used against him. 

Horns that honked or gave out shrill noises when they hit the ground went off as A.J. wove around them only for Ash and Misty to step on them as they tried to keep up. 

Marbles followed along with a balloon full of oil that wobbled through the air.

It sounded like a Clown Alley was following after him with the chaos that erupted. A.J. leapt just before the balloon hit the ground.

When it went off with a loud splash and a squawk A.J. realised that someone behind him must have run into it or made the mistake of trying to kick it out of the way.

“Ash! No! Keep your hands to yourself!” screamed Misty as Ash skated atop a carpet of marbles to crash into Misty who’d fallen atop the oil slick.

“I need to wipe this oil off somewhere!” replied Ash right before he crashed to the ground. 

A.J. almost smiled. That had been a favourite gag of Hendrick’s. The older man would fill up a ball with oil and send another clown running practically on the spot as they tried to get traction.

It never failed to make the crowd laugh.

The trick was controlling the landing so that the oiled-up clown didn’t hurt themselves. 

Not that Melvin seemed to care if Ash or Misty hurt themselves. 

A.J. seethed. Having his families bag of tricks used against him by Melvin of all people made A.J. burn from within unlike anything he’d felt in his life. The phrase, waving a red cloth in front of a Tauros was a silly statement. 

A.J. felt like he’d been a Magikarp that had been kicked one too many times.

Now he was looking to do some kicking of his own.

“Just stay still!” he bellowed, his voice hurting with how it tore its way out of his throat.

“Police! Help! Oh dearie me help! Exeggcute! Use—” Melvin cried combining pathetic wailing with an order to no doubt smooth things over with any observers. 

A.J. snapped his fingers twice a pointed at Exeggcute. The clutch of eggs all wailed as Beedrill swept in and began lancing them with Pin Missile. 

Melvin whimpered but kept running, reaching deep into the clown purse for his next gimmick. 

He withdrew a large net that he cast with an expert flick of his wrist. 

Damn! He’d been practising! 

Usually, as the fool clown Melvin had been on the receiving end of this treatment. For him to practise the other side hadn’t been something A.J. expected. The Net soared through the aid and caught Beedrill while Exeggcute tumbled out the bottom without being captured.

A.J. unleashed Butterfree to help out his pokemon and keep Melvin’s pokemon under pressure only to have to throw himself into a combat roll reminiscent of his Sandshrew as Melvin unleashed a bout of ‘joke’ fire.

“D-dragon’s Breath!” shouted the rotund man with a manic gleam in his eyes. 

It wasn’t tinged purple any more and was just a basic red flame A.J. noted. 

Melvin must have been cheaping out on the proper chemicals. If Gino, the flame juggler, saw this he’d have been rolling in his grave.

When Melvin realised that wasn’t going to work he grabbed a nearby rope that unravelled and swung him around the inner circle of the big top, letting him land up on a built-in stage. 

A.J. pursued, not losing sight of his target. “The running is just making it worse for you!” he shouted. 

That got a whimper from Melvin but if anything merely inspired him to try throwing more things as his hand dipped into the pouch to hurl his next implement, unmindful of the history he was tossing.

A.J. sprinted past hand-carved joke juggling props that had a personalised weight in them that made them perfect for learning the craft of juggling. If this was another time A.J. might have snatched them from the air and begun a routine himself. 

Instead, he dodged prop after prop, counting them as they came while watching for one in particular. When he spotted it he shut his eyes as the red prop came sailing through the air. 

The last prop in Melvin’s bag was hurled right at it but A.J. was ready.

The inbuilt flashbang went off when the two props collided.

That had been Sarah’s big trick. 

She tossed up the props before adding more and more until finally, they gave off a flash of light that blined most people which allowed for a set change. 

A.J.’s mind raced. A set change was something that usually meant the current performer needed to change out. There were plenty of ways of doing it with most circus simply having their performers walk off to the side. 

But… A.J. knew that it hadn’t been that way for his family. They’d made everything a show and a spectacle. Segments of the show flowed from one right into the other without any pause.

For Melvin to try such a thing as a one-man show was laughable.

But what he could do was get out of the big top. 

A.J. lunged at where Melvin had been only for his hands to slam into hard wood that buckled slightly. 

A hysterical giggle could be heard on the other side. “Too slow!” taunted Melvin right as something large clicked into place.

A.J. blanched. The only thing that could make such a noise was… “You wouldn’t!” he shouted as he slammed his fist into the floorboards to test where the join was that would reveal the hidden trapdoor. 

“When you’re chasing a Furret always aspect they know how to escape!” crowed Melvin as something began to sizzle. 

A.J.’s mind raced as Forrest, Misty and Ash clambered up onto the stage. “What’s going on?” Forrest called. 

“He’s armed the cannon and is going to launch himself to escape,” A.J. said coldly. 

Misty and Ash flinched back. “What! Should you be standing there then?” shrieked Misty as she made waving motions for A.J. to get away. 

A.J. shook his head. “Melvin’s a coward, he’s not actually going to launch himself,” he said firmly, standing and crossing his arms. He stared down at the floorboards, imagining Melvin’s cowering form as he sweated next to the cannon.

Forrest frowned before shaking his head. “Yeah, no,” he said. Whipping out a pokeball and releasing a Metang. “Metang, get A.J. to safety now!” 

Metang glowed and A.J. found himself bound in psychic power and raised off the ground. He hovered for a second before being drawn away. A.J. heard something shift beneath the floor and he growled. 

“What? No! Stop! You don’t understand!” A.J. had enough time to shout before the cannon went off. The floorboards that he’d been standing next to shattered as something was launched up and away. 

A.J. tracked it, his eyes the only part of him that could move. He lost sight of the flying object after a second while his mind tried to furiously work out if that had been Melvin or not. 

He struggled against the psychic bind only to slowly be brought down next to Forrest. 

The instant A.J. was released he snarled and threw a punch right at Forrest’s dumb face. Forrest twitched to the side avoiding the attack only for A.J. to find himself blown back by a tiny Horsea that Misty was holding. 

“Hey! Don’t be a jerk! Forrest was saving your life!” she snapped.

A.J. rose, drenched and still feeling hot all over his body. “I wasn’t in any danger,” he snapped. “Melvin is a coward he would never have gone through with it!”

Forrest stepped in front of Misty his hand rising up. “You don’t know that A.J. and even if you were right so what? Your risk-return analysis was off. You stood to lose a lot more than you gained.”

Ash and Misty stared at Forrest but A.J. could only clench his fists. “I was right,” he ground through clenched teeth.  

“You may have been,” said Forrest with a slow nod,” but that doesn’t mean you need to lose sight of the bigger picture.” 

Forrest waved to the side. “Ash, get Pidgeot and Charizard out there looking for Melvin, A.J. do you know how to run a grid sweep with your pokemon?” asked Forrest.

“Of course! Your brother taught me it for search and rescue operations,” A.J. replied. He snapped his hands and Beedrill and Butterfree swept up to him. “Pattern search, if you find that man that escaped us… paralyse him,” A.J. said.

Misty stepped slowly around Forrest her eyes flicking back to him every now and then. “Uhmmm we should also make sure he didn’t fake out us out like a dark type.”

“Huh?” said Ash only to brighten up. “Oh right! Like that time with Team Rocket!” he said thumping a fist into a palm. “Let’s go Pikachu! Check that tunnel for any clues!” 

Before anyone could gainsay him he dove head first without a care in the world into the tunnel. 

Ash got stuck on the entrance for a moment before he wiggled his way in, the earlier greasing helping to ease his passage.

A.J. felt his anger clear as the tio of trainers that had led him to Melvin and his… big top circus continued to help out. 

Their suggestions were good even. He looked around and frowned. There was something he was missing.

All around the tent, there was damage and leftover props. One part of the ring had oil and marbles still skittering around it while drag marks were present on the barrier showing how Ash and Misty had escaped the trap.

“How’d you get up here?” he asked Forrest idly.

Forrest grinned and pointed at the trapeze, “Climbed up and swung in behind you,” he said proudly, as he mimed the action. 

“Huh,” A.J. said.

That was quite impressive actually. 

He hadn’t expected another kid his age to have the arm strength to do that. But, then again, Forrest was related to Brock and if he did any of the workouts that A.J. had started doing with Trixie it would make sense that he was stronger. 

He was also surprisingly level-headed for a kid that supposedly ran into some trouble with the police as some other kids in Pewter would have people believe. 

A.J. hadn’t given it much stock but when it was some of the only things you heard about another, apart from that of his own family, it was tough. It seemed Yolanda had been right, her brother wasn’t an idiot, he had his head on straight and was a good guy.

“Say, where’s that Exeggcute gone?” Forrest asked, head swivelling left and right.

A.J. stiffened. That! That was what had stood out to him. Melvin might have been a coward but surely he wasn’t such a coward he’d run off without his pokemon!

A.J. and the others quickly began searching the area only for another trap door tunnel to reveal itself leading under the stage where an entire network was revealed. Ash popped out of one with cobwebs all over him. “There’s a tunnel outside with what looks like tyre marks! I think Misty was right he was trying to fake us out with the cannon blast!” 

A.J. growled. “We need to give chase!” he said already turning and dashing towards the tent flap. 

“A.J. we need to recall our pokemon! We sent out all our flying types after all!” Ash called. 

“Well… not all of our flying types,” said Forrest, scratching at his cheek self consciously. 

“Your Fearow!” said Ash happily only for Forrest to glumly shake his head.

“Not Fearow… Sharpie,” Forrest said with some dread lacing his words.

Misty shivered. “You know Sharpie still hasn’t bonded with you as well as you’d like since you traded that Kangaskhan, right?”

“You caught a Kangaskan!?” shouted Ash. “Where was I? How did I not know this? We spend all our time together!” he said, his arms waving about. 

Forrest coughed. “Well, not all the time. You ran off during the trip aorund the Safari zone remember? I just decided to keep walking along the path instead of charging off. There was this Scyther that was slashing at a tree and I tried baiting it in with some treats but it ran off when Kangaskhan came to steal the treats. I got annoyed and threw a safari ball at it,” he said. 

Ash blinked. “Just like that?!” 

A.J. would have at another time probably interrogated Forrest alongside the cap-wearing trainer but he had bigger magikarp to fry. “That doesn’t matter send out this pokemon and if it’s unruly we’ll just make it follow orders!” he said preparing to reach into his every present satchel for his whip only for Brock’s voice to sound out in his mind. 

‘Would you enjoy being whipped? There is no basis for a positive relationship using such a tool even if you’re not hitting the pokemon the implication is there. For a deeper bond with your pokemon you need to use methods with more meaning with your pokemon.’ 

A.J. pulled his hand out of his satchel. “Maybe if we… ask it politely?” he suggested a moment later. 

Forrest nodded and pulled out an ultraball. “Sharpie come out we need your help!” he shouted releasing the pokemon to reveal Sharpie to be a Skarmory.

The metal bird shrieked as it swung aorund before coming down to land where it glared at everyone. 

“Skar!” he barked. 

Forrest stepped forward and met its gaze. “Skar-no, sharpie! We’re hunting for a bad man that has been hurting people and we need you to track him down!” Forrest gestured to a nearby poster that bore Melvin’s appearance. “This is him, can you help us?” 

The Skarmory stayed perfectly still for a long moment and Forrest tacked on a “Please?” to his request. 

Slowly the steel type bobbed its head before looking around. Forrest quickly had it pointed towards the road where he, Ash and A.J. all mounted up on their bicycles. 

Flashing red and blue lights had Misty pausing as she stood next to her own, very shiny, almost new-looking bike. “Ah, I better stick around and smooth things over,” she said folding her bike up. “We need to let the police know the situation and not have them hounding us. As a Gym Leader qualified trainer I will be able to handle this!” she said. 

A.J. nodded and sped off after Sharpie leaving Ash and Forrest to stare at Misty. A few moments

 later Ash caught up with Forrest joining in a a minute later. 

“She all good?” Ash called as they furiously pumped their legs to keep up with the bird soaring ahead of them. 

“Yeah! She’s got this!” Forrest said, “I think Sharpie has found something!” he said as he indicated that his pokemon was diving harshly. As they continued to speed along they caught sight of a motorbike with a passenger seat attached on the side veering wildly. 

It dodged Sharpie’s dives and attacks and when it failed something in the side seat fired off a pink wave of something to knock the Skarmory back. This only caused Sharpie to double down on its efforts to attack. 

“Sharpie!” Forrest gasped as he watched his pokemon push through another attack to slash at the side carriage’s tyre. 

This caused the entire bike to kick up only for the side carriage to be kicked off in a desperate attempt to save itself. From the side carriage, a cluster of eggs threw themselves onto the back of the main bike’s rider. When all had landed the biker glanced over his shoulder and A.J. saw red as he caught sight of Melvin’s furrety face.

It warmed his heart a little to see the man pale only for him to then speed away. 

“Damn it! We need to catch him!” A.J. shouted pumping harder only for the bike to continue to gain distance on them. 

“Stay on them Sharpie you had them!” called Forrest. “Use Tailwind!” 

The Skarmory flapped harder and it sped up a little but nothing like what A.J. would have expected. “What’s its problem?” A.J. shouted. “Is it really sandbagging on you right now?” he called. 

Forrest pursed his lips for a moment before groaning. “Damn it! It mustn’t know Tailwind!”

A.J. shot Brock’s younger brother a flat look. “You don’t even know what moves your pokemon uses!” he shouted incredulously. Just when he thought nice about this kid! 

Forrest glared right back. “I’ve had other things to worry about and a lot of trouble with Sharpie alright! She’s doing her best so just lay off! We confirmed where Melvin is so relax!” 

“Guys that’s his bike up ahead!” shouted Ash drawing both of the boys out of their argument. 

Both of them snapped their heads about to find that Ash was right and that the bike was abandoned. “Ha! He must have cheaped out on paying for gas! He’s on foot now!” crowed Forrest as they came up upon the motorbike. 

The skarmory was perched atop it and Forrest had to pedal hard. “No! Don’t eat that! It’s got chemicals and toxins in it! Here! I’ll give you some metal flake treats!” he shouted as he almost crashed in his haste to stop his pokemon eating soemthing it shouldn’t. 

A.J. huffed and puffed as they reached the bike. He ignored the antics with Forrest. It seemed like everythign this group did was full of drama, so it wasn’t worth commenting or watching. 

Instead, he turned his attention to the side of the road where a very clear track had been cut through the long grass by a body sprinting through it. 

“He’s running still!” A.J. shouted as he caught sight of Melvin scrambling up a hill a few hundred metres away. 

He instantly whipped out three pokeballs. “Raticates! Clear the way forward so no wild pokemon try anything! Sandshrew! We’re going after Melvin!” he ordered and his pokemon leapt into action with Sandshrew curling up and tumbling along as they ran.

Behind A.J. a phone began to ring with Forrest answering it. “Huh Brock? Sorry we’re busy!” he shouted as he tried to keep up. 

Apparently, Forrest had been keeping up his endurance training like Trixie urged A.J. to do as he kept pace while Ash struggled. Instead of falling back though Ash grit his teeth and pushed on, ignoring his rasping breaths as he pumped his arms.  

They quickly caught up to Melvin in a clearing next to another road that appeared to double back on the big top. Was this his plan all along? Was he looking to double back to the Big Top?

Melvin whirled about and groaned. “Can’t you just leave a man in peace! You’re nothing but a ruffian! A brute! You have no style! You have no grace! Just accept that your former ringmaster had to retire with egg on his face!” 

A.J. felt his blood boiling as he finally locked Melvin down. “I don’t want to hear that from you! My family trusted you and let you into the circus and you repaid them by stealing the circus out from under them! Like a rotten Spearow that tricks others into caring for it instead of doing the right thing!”

Melvin raised his hands up and shook his head in a what can you do expression. “Ha?? Listen to yourself! Family? In a circus? No one shares any blood or actual connections! We were all just free spirits making our way in life! They gave up when I acquired the rights to the circus instead of staying on! If they were really family it wouldn’t have mattered that I was ringmaster over the old man!”

“You!” A.J. snarled, red taking over his vision. He stalked forward only for Forrest to step in and grab him.

“No, you’re being baited by him to do something like assault him so he can claim to be the aggrieved party! That’s your plan, isn’t it?” Forrest said. 

“Tch!” replied Melvin. “Well by hook or crook, Exeggcute use Hypnosis on them!” he shouted casting his hand while the egg cluster pokemon all swivelled and began to emit waves of psychic power. 

Forrest released his Steel-psychic type once more. “Metang get ready to counter it with—”

“SA,” A.J. said beating everyone to the punch as his Sandshrew unleashed a powerful wave of sand right into Exeggcutes’ many faces. They all reeled back with a cry of pain causing the Hypnosis to fail. 

“Tch! Fine you’ve forced my hand!” Melvin said releasing three pokeballs all of which unleashed Exeggutor that locked onto Ash, Forrest and A.J. 

Before any of them could act another voice rang out. “Houndour squad Bite!” 

From the side a pack of Houndour sprinted out and slammed into the Hypno while another two emerged from the other side to pincher Exeggcute and Melvin. 

From the bushes, a pair of policemen appeared. 

Ash tilted his head. “Who’re they?” 

“They’re the police?” Forrest said incredulously. Ash stared at him for a long moment in disbelief.

“Are you sure?” Ash asked to which Forrest nodded. Ash frowned. “But the police are Officer Jenny? And they’re… men?” Pikachu mad ea noise of disbelief and fell off Ash’s shoulder while Forrest facepalmed but kept his other hand locked on A.J. so the green haired boy couldn’t close on Melvin.

The policemen’s expressions soured and one man sighed. “Damn Jennys and their fame,” he muttered. 

Forrest sighed aorund his own palm. “Ash, there are more police than just Officer Jenny. They’re just…. The most famous part of the police force.”

“Huh… is that the same for Nurse Joy? Are their other pokemon healers?” he asked. 

Forrest frowned, his mouth working soundlessly. “I’m not sure, but this isn’t the time for that.”

Melvin swept his hand around. “Officers! No, you don’t understand I’m being assaulted by these hoodlums! They were chasing me and even damaged my circus!” he shouted.

“It’s not your circus!” A.J. snarled. 

“It is! It has my name and everything! I’m Melvin! Me! Melvin!” the egg-faced man said, his small amount of hair flapping about as he hopped from foot to foot. 

“Melvin Eggturner? The man wanted to multiple for multiple counts of fraud, theft, and illegal usage of pokemon Hypnosis?” said one man firmly. 

“Urk!” said Melvin. “That’s my cousin! He’s a bad egg I swear! I’m different!” Melvin said waving his hand back and forth. 

“So you don’t own the rights to the big top in the field back there?” asked the policeman with jerk of his thumb. 

“No that’s me!” Melvin said quickly. 

The Policeman nodded and stepped forward. “Ah, I see then.” 

With one deft motion that was so casual no one reacted to it, the policeman cuffed Melvin’s hands in front of him. “You are under arrest Melvin Eggturner,” he said. 

“B-but—” Melvin started to stammer only for Misty to emerge with an Officer Jenny. 

“Give it up Melvin! We have your name on the transfer of property files! Which I might add has clear signs of wobbly text that don’t stick to the form’s template! This file doesn’t hold up to standards for any transfer of ownership! In fact the Circus is still legally registered in the last Ringmaster’s name due to this sloppy paperwork!” 

“But but but! It’s just paperwork?” Melvin whined. 

“No, it’s not it is in fact, evidence in your ongoing case for Hypnosis usage!” announced Officer Jenny grandly. 

Melvin’s eyes bulged as he looked from left to right, seeking escape. “It wasn’t me! The Exeggutor made me do it for them to give them a good life!” he said pointing at the palm tree pokemon around him. 

The trees barely reacted and Jenny snorted. “Nope, nice try. They wouldn’t have the idea of traded ownership like this! They’re not alakzam after all!” 

“Did I say Exeggutor I meant that pokemon!” Melvin said as he was dragged away by the police. “I’m innocent! I swear!” he shouted. 

A.J. watched him go, unsure about what was going on. 

The other boys looked to Misty for an explanation.

Misty winked and held up her fingers in a v for victory. “While you boys were running around I led the police to the files cabinet as there was a legal dispute over the claims of who actually owned the circus. We got into Melvin’s records and discovered that all of the ownership records weren’t legal!” she said gleefully.  

Ash crossed his arms and tilted his head to the left, while on his right shoulder, Pikachu mirrored him. “I don’t get it?” 

Misty sighed and held up a form. “See how this form has set areas for writing responses with there being a demand to use block text in certain areas?”

“Yeah? So what? Most forms are like that?” Ash said with a shrug. 

Misty nodded. “Yes, but what you might not know is that there is a set reason beyond convenience at the administrative end for that! You see, if someone were to Hypnotise another the affected person can’t write as well as they would normally! This would then lead to a lot of illegible text and even wonky signatures that make the form ineligible to file!” 

A.J., Ash, and Forrest all blinked at this. The other two boys turned to Forrest. “Did you know this?” Ash asked. 

Forrest waved his hand back in forth in front of his face. “No way! I had no idea that was even a thing!” he said. 

Misty sighed. “I’m a Gym Leader… or training to be one so I looked into scenarios like this. The Cerulean Gym needs a knowledgeable Gym Leader after all!” she said while cupping a hand around her bicep with a grin.

A.J. wondered if she know how bad an example of ‘knowledge’ it was for Misty to grab at her arm instead of tapping the side of her head. 

“What are you trying to do? You don’t have any muscle?” Ash pointed out flatly. 

Misty’s brow twitched and she marched up to thump Ash on the head. 

Forrest turned his attention to A.J. “So… not the solution you were looking for I take it?” 

A.J. shook his head. “I… don’t know what to make of this,” he admitted, at his feet Sandshrew nuzzled into him, offering affection. 

A.J. stared at his starter. 

A few months ago Sandshrew would never have done that. 

Forrest hummed. “What did you think was going to happen?”

“I’d thump Melvin within an inch of his life and make him confess to what he’d done,” A.J. said flatly.

“Proooooooobrably a good thing that you didn’t do that. Then Melvin might have been able to wiggle his way out of it as duress. As it stands… it sounds like the former Ringmaster is going to have to be found?” Forrest said quickly. 

“They passed away a few years ago,” A.J. said dejectedly. 

“Huh…” Forrest said as he bowed his head in a show of respect. When he came up he carefully asked. “Who’d they entrust most of their belongings to in their will then? Maybe we can find them? They’ll need to be informed they now own a circus, no?” Forrest said with a small smile. 

A.J. blinked.

Then he barked out a small laugh before a shiver broke over his body. “I don’t need to find them,” he said through tears that he struggled to hold back. His body quaked as he swept his hand up to hide his face as emotions he’d long repressed. Despite the tears, a smile took shape on his lips. 

Forrest blinked in surprise before he allowed himself to relax. He stopped slowly into A.J.’s personal space. “Congratulations,” he said softly. “I’m sure the Ringmaster’s happy you have it back.” 

A.J. continued to twitch and sniff only to relax after a ew moments as he let the tears flow out of him. 

When he regathered himself he scrubbed at his face furiously. “Urgh! Sorry for that!” he said. 

“Don’t be, big brother says that tears aren’t meant to be held back, otherwise they go to your gut and make everything in life taste sour,” Forrest said while adopting Brock’s signature crossed-arms position and stern squint. 

“I haven’t heard him say that one,” A.J. admitted, still rubbing at his face. He was glad Ash and Misty had made themselves scarce for the moment. 

It was shameful enough to do this in front of one person… and his own pokemon, A.J. added when he noticed Sandshrew hugging his leg tightly. 

Forrest coughed self-consciously. “Ah, he might have only said it to my siblings then?” Forrest glanced over to find Ash and Misty leaning around a still vacantly staring Exeggutor. 

Forrest considered the big top tent that was even now looming over the treetops. “How long do you think it’s been since a proper show got put on in that tent?”

A.J. blinked and looked at the tent. “Years now,” he said with a derisive sniff to cover his still wet face. He continued to wipe furiously at his face, trying to hide it.

Forrest continued to ignore any wetness on A.J.’s face as he rubbed his chin. “I think I could do some tricks with my bike, Misty has a great aquatic routine she could pull off. Buggy has some rare pokemon that he could use and he’s a dab hand with juggling…” Forrest considered Ash. “Him and Ritche would make for great clowns,” he said with a carrying whisper. 

A.J. grinned. “And I’d be Ringmaster,” he said with a gleam in his eyes. “I think that would be great. I could call back the old gang as well to show things are back on!” he said. 

Forrest grinned. “That’s the spirit!” he said clapping A.J. on the shoulder as the other boy marched back to his big top tent with a certain relish. 

Behind him, Misty bumped herself into Forrest’s hip. “Nice work,” she said with a grin. 

Forrest smiled with a small blush before nodding back. “You as well, smooth work with those files,” he said, happy to trade compliments. 

Ash gagged and Forrest chuckled while Sandshrew trotted along, watching his trainer with wide eyes and a happy smile of his own. 

A.J. reached the front of his tent and took another shuddering breath as memories came back to him of happier times. 

He smiled and looked down at his ever-faithful starter. “You… don’t need this anymore,” he said as he reached down and pulled off the Everstone necklace.

The light of evolution heralded a change for the circus and A.J. felt something within him close over and heal.

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

This chapter sort of got away from me! It was meant to be half A.J. and half Celia but well… things just kept running and the opening scene was too fun as I kept playing Yakety sax in my head as I wrote it. 

Hope people enjoyed seeing the growth present in Forrest and A.J. along with some smarts from Misty on a niche subject.