Hard Enough

I’d beaten the champion, but I found the looming audit of my books a far more terrifying challenge. Instead of sleeping I chewed my lip and rolled over and over in bed.

I’d lost more sleep wondering if a misplaced decimal was going to spell my doom than calling out the Champion for a duel in two days.

Was that arrogance or practicality? Or was it a mania caused by lack of sleep? Was this what Flint went through after the twins were born? Why did the man keep having children? I twitched in bed before standing from my sleepless position.

What other options did I have? Could I contest this? I’d need to ask my lawyer tomorrow when they came around.

Was this something I should talk to Surge about? He’d been a solid friend to me in the past, giving me a shoulder to lean on while I weaned into the responsibilities of being a Gym Leader.

… I didn’t want to run to him every time I had a problem though. I wanted to be able to stand on my own.

Sabrina… was much the same. She’d definitely be able to help; she was so terrifyingly smart I couldn't imagine her not having a solution. On the other hand, she might just resort to intimidation with her psychic powers if she knew I was stressed out. I didn’t want her getting in trouble… and much like with Surge I also didn’t want to trouble her all the time. She hadn’t come around since the Exhibition match and most messages she sent were short. In Sabrina language that meant she was probably still tired from dealing with all the thoughts at the match.

Erika, I didn’t know well enough.

I just needed to trust that I had this. Now if only I could go to sleep.

I tried stretching. I tried my normal anxiety management methods of methodically pressuring myself and releasing tension. None of it helped; I was left frazzled and out of sorts.

I ended up stalking out of my room and into the kitchen, where I made myself a messy snack, glancing around guiltily when I mixed up the vanilla ice cream with some chocolate toppings before devouring it. It was amazing I hadn’t had Munchlax storming in demanding some when I’d opened the fridge.

I mentally patted myself on the back for getting away with it. I dropped the bowl off and made my way into the lounge room where I found Munchlax passed out. He reminded me of my dog from another life, lying spread-eagled on the couch with a dopey smile on his face. Not a care in the world.

He kicked out a little. “Mun! Munch! Munch!” he said in his sleep.

I snorted and sat down on another section before turning on the television for some late-night program.

The pokemon world had different shows at night than during the day. It was very much a restriction on appropriate television and content as I understood it. Anyone could learn about some very dark truths that were occurring in the world, but they either had to subscribe to receive an email each day about what was going on or they had to stay up and watch the late news.

“—an unlicensed fishing operation was seized today off the coast of Fuschia after the Carvanah nets broke and a nearby beach became dangerous for swimmers. Thankfully, a team of Rangers and Fuschia’s own Gym Leader were able to stop the pokemon swarm before anyone was fatally injured. Twelve were rushed to hospital and are expected to make a full recovery.” On the screen, an aerial shot of water near a beach with a facility that reminded me of the old tuna fish farms rested, only this one appeared to be attached to a boat that had broken down. I narrowed my eyes. Or had it been sabotaged? It was dumb of them to enter Koga’s territory.

“Devon stock was shorted on today with international investors betting against Steven—”

I changed the channel.

“—when your woman isn’t enough for a man’s nee—” Another change, I didn’t like the look of that Jynx winking at me. I knew what late-night ads for those typically meant.

“—the mating call of the—” I twitched and changed the channel again. I especially didn’t want to know anything about what that Tentacruel was doing.

I ended up settling on what was the equivalent of the Pokemon history channel.

On the screen, a large Arcanine was shown in a cage. It paced around the small space before slumping down and whining lowly. I watched it for a moment, wondering what this show was talking about. I was just about to change the channel, but then I recognised the articulated voice of the narrator. Professor Oak.

“During the latter half of the war, it was realized that pokemon trainers' deaths were not just affecting their families and communities, but also that of their pokemon. When their trainer died during the war, unless they were claimed by a person the pokemon recognised, they were usually aggressive to captors.”

“Or if the captors were rivals that the pokemon knew to be enemies?” On the screen, the Arcanine narrowed its eyes as a shadow of a person fell over it. You could see the muscles ripple in preparation for the leap.

“They became violent,” Oak said just as the Arcanine attacked.

I settled back and watched the show. It wasn’t as well understood by the layman, but pokeballs operated on linking in with people’s aura to capture and keep pokemon contained. When you ran out of pokemon you also typically found yourself passing out as the energy you invested in keeping them stable in their balls caused you to go into shock.

It was why it was always best to keep at least one strong pokemon on hand in any situation. If you went through a complete team wipe it typically left you dangerously exposed. If you could limp into a pokecenter with one pokemon? You could sleep it off.

It was interesting to see the issues this dilemma created during a war.

I’d never thought of what might happen to my pokemon if I was… taken out. I swallowed and continued to watch. Apparently, a lot of the pokemon, if they didn’t get claimed, would pop out of their pokeballs and discover their trainer’s body.

“Normal behavior for pokemon that have lost their trainers is very similar to most humans. They mourn the loss. Some struggle to understand it. Their minds are initially unable to comprehend the concept, but like children, they learn the harsh truth.” On the screen, the Arcanine howls mournfully at the moon with tears trickling down its face.

I continued to watch as Oak outlined how entire teams of pokemon attacked trainers from any side of the war after a while. This led to large disturbances to the ecosystem they had found themselves in. As more and more pokemon trainers fell, more and more powerful pokemon eventually found themselves in the wilds.

“This created pokemon that were wise to trainers tricks in capturing them, and often nature became the greatest hindrance against humanity's attempts to tear itself apart.” Oak’s voice was overlaid to a forest on fire as eyes that I could only describe as evil glinted out from the shadows.

And then the credits rolled. “Muuuuuunch!” said the pokemon that had crawled into my arms at some point during the show.

“Mhm,” I absently replied. I now saw why these shows were only shown so late at night. This was graphic horror fuel. It was meant for adults. It was darkly interesting. I now felt like I had a new reason why I wasn’t going to fall asleep tonight.

I turned the tv off and carried Munchlax up to my room where I cuddled with him. Something about having the small pokemon in my arms helped me to relax. I felt a little bad that I’d accidentally scared him, but I made up for it by helping him relax and going to bed. At least I felt that way.

He got me back by eating my shirt during the night. Apparently, there had been some chocolate on it.

It didn’t bother me all that much. I was just thankful I had been able to get a halfway decent night’s rest. I’d made do on less before, but I was little better than a Slakoth as a result. Thankfully I had four hours in me and could now get on with my day productively.

I had slightly less time than before to deal with the looming audit.

I had a lawyer.

Not one on retainer, or anything as serious as that, but I did have a man that I consulted with. When I’d originally returned home from my journey I had needed someone to investigate the legal status of the gym, and my right to take it over as Gym Leader from my father.

This had led me to the office of Lawrence Wright. I’d almost dismissed Lawrence when I’d first met him.

In my defence, I’d never seen a lawyer with a mohawk.

It hadn’t struck me as acceptable in a courtroom for one. But I was quickly proven wrong. In fact, no one else batted an eye at the man in a tailored suit with his outrageous mohawk when we walked from his office to my Gym to review my paperwork. He’d actually been highly recommended, and when the Grannies asked who was making sure things run smoothly they patted me on the head for hiring him and thought better of me.

It had been a very strange experience as a then thirteen-year-old. I’d won approval from very tradition-bound grannies by hiring a man that looked like he enjoyed roaring up and down highways in leather and chains. It really hadn’t made any sense to me.

I ended up just chalking it up as anime logic and shrugged it off.

I called the day before, but he sadly hadn’t been able to come around yesterday. Instead, they booked him in to come to the gym today after lunch. This suited me wonderfully, as it gave me enough time to watch Celia’s next match.

He swaggered up the path, his mohawk bobbing with each step before rapping his knuckles on the front door. I opened it and gave him a wave. “Yo Lawrence, thanks for coming.”

“Not a problem Brock, not a problem. As you should know, I’m happy to help out.”

“I’m sure your rate has nothing to do with that.” I snarked at the man as I gestured for him to follow me to the office.

He put a hand on his chest in mock affront. “You wound me Brock.” He winked. “I don’t charge that much, don't worry. Although I certainly wouldn’t mind having you sign a retainer for my services. Need some solid locked-in work. Then I could hire on others like you’re going to be.”

“Who told you I was hiring anyone?” I asked, thinking that the employment agency had yet to send out the advert.

Lawrence rolled his eyes at me. “You’re young with a huge, state-of-the-art Gym. You don’t dream small, Brock.” He gestured towards the Gym properly. “You’re making something big here.”

I scratched my check self consciously. “Ah well, I think I just had a case of my eyes being bigger than my stomach when I designed the place.” Lawrence snorted at me.

“Suurrre you did. Still, I’d love to have a proper contract set up if you’re interested. Now show me what your concerns are.”

It took all of ten minutes of looking through my accounts for him to drop two files on the table. Then he stared at me before speaking, “Brock, I can tell something has been plucked from these files. They’re very sparse on details, and they’re also notably different from everything else here. Both are land titles outside of Pewter. They’re not investments and there is no rent or returns listed in your accounts.” He stared at me, his mohawk now pointed right at me. “What are you trying to hide?” My hesitation to speak made him sigh. “Client privilege Brock. If it’s something illegal—” “No, it’s just sensitive information I don’t want to be known.”

“Well that’s good to hear. I was worried for a second that you might not be as ‘aww shucks’ of a good guy as you appear!” he said with a laugh. He leaned back in his chair amused as I shook my head.

“I’m not seen that way by people am I?” I said with a splutter.

He shrugged. “By some around town. You’re like a slice of nice apple pie. Humble young man that listens to his elders, while still looking out for his family. Good local lad. The ‘stains’ on your record are more others making than your own. And yet you’ve held up mighty fine indeed.” He tapped the paperwork, “Now, no more diversions. Care to read me in?” He raised one report that I had redacted. I relaxed a little at that, not too worried about that site. I didn’t own it after all. It was Ranger preserve land.

“Mt. Moon… It’s got a colony of Clefairy and also fairly often has meteors that hit. I’ve gained a number of Moonstones that I occasionally sell off. I had previously listed off the site as I take my family up there and also check in on the local pokemon.”

“Huh. Yeah, I can see how that getting out would be troubling. Lots of trainers and bounty hunters would sweep the place if it got out as common knowledge. Still got the documents for how much you’ve earned?” I nodded and sent the nanny Graveler out to get the files from my cabinet. Lawrence snorted at that. “At least it’s not as cliche as under your bed!” He tapped his chin. “Anything else at Mt. Moon?”

“Nothing I’ve actually profited on, from Mt Moon. More of a hope for the future.” Lawrence considered that before clicking his tongue.

“Usually I would consider that good enough, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to push. You have two land claims here Brock.” He raised both deeds up to me. “The first one that is glaringly obvious to me as being something different. That’s due to its location. So, Brock. What is on this tiny bit of land on Sunburst island?”

I worked my jaw back and forth. I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to be as secretive with this as possible.

“During my travels I discovered that pokemon can have larger variations than most understand,” a lie, but a plausible one. If I was going to confess to owning some land I was going to establish an alibi now.

“Sunburst island is where I found a rare cave that is entirely made of crystals. I discovered an Onix there that was entirely made of said material. I have since been keeping female onix there to mate and lay eggs with the other Onix. I own it, but I keep it in the area. Any eggs that I can hatch I raise in the area so that they can develop with hides made of crystals. It’s something I’ve only been able to get one crystal Onix from as yet, however.”

“Lower fertility rates?” he asked. I shrugged. Lawrence nodded his head. “Alright, that’s actually a damn good idea.” He made a circle with a finger. “I’d bring in a professional on the matter however, for all you know it might be an easy fix.”

“Yeah,” I nodded slowly. If I looked at it a little, perhaps this audit could be a good thing by forcing me to be more active with Sunburst island.

“So,” Lawrence tapped the other plot of land I had. “What’s this one? It’s actually local so it might not get as much attention.”

I coughed. “... diamonds…” I said quietly.

Lawrence leaned forward. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch that, did you say Diamonds?”

“Ahahaha yeah I have a theory about some pokemon that I’m keeping an eye out for.”

Lawrence sat back and whistled. “Damn, right well I can see how you felt so comfortable throwing out your bid like you did.” I frowned at him.

“Can you ever be comfortable bidding that much money?”

Lawrence laughed at me. “Ha! You obviously haven’t gone to the Celadon casino before! The high rollers throw down that sort of cash nightly for things way less sure than a pokemon battle!” I nodded slowly.

“Lance said something like that.”

“Brock, my young friend, you are moving up in the world,” he said with a smile. He sat back and laced his fingers. “Brock, I’m going to be honest. You’re a big name now. Your Gym is not small by any measure. I can easily see you being the big Gym. I’d have to check the publicly available information so bear with me. But I think that based on the numbers, you’re already there with the number of trainers walking through your doors. More than any other Gym due to the prestige of being the first traditional Gym, along with being one of the few that will face all challengers regardless of badge level.”

He pointed at me. “You need a lawyer full time, and you need an accountant full time. It makes the most sense for me if you have me on retainer for that. I can expand with your backing, and I will in turn be backing you, Brock. I need to look into any land claims and possible disputes of previous sites with valuable goods. Is the land at least closed off?”

“Yeah, I have it marked off and I have put out signs stating that it is a testing site for Pewter Gym pokemon attacks.”

Lawrence nodded. “Alright, that should be fine for now. I’ll look into it. Have a think about my offer as well, but get yourself a full-time accountant, free yourself up.” He put the form down and laced his fingers together. “Now, when this Auditor returns… what did you say his name was?”

I opened my mouth before closing it. Lawrence raised an eyebrow before sighing. “Really leaning into that aww shucks image Brock. Always get their name, and if possible get a picture of their credentials so you or I can look them up. They’re not common, but masters of disguise exist. Professional sneaks can slip in if you’re not careful. Your recent match with ‘Agent Joy’ could have been a fake-out by dressing up as her. Unlikely as it is, with you being highly familiar with Nurse Joy. Some criminals are dangerous like that.”

I bit my lip, remembering all the wacky disguises that Jessie, James, and Meowth used in the anime. They’d seemed so innocent in the show, but now they potentially were people trying to steal from my family.

Urgh, how was I going to handle them? I actually enjoyed some of their antics and felt bad about their personal situations, but still, they were Team Rocket. I pushed that off for future Brock to deal with and instead continued to work through tightening up my accounts for the coming audit.

When Lawrence had looked things over enough that he didn’t have any issues that he could see he sat back. “Alright, like I said, I’ve covered things as well as I can. We’ll need an actual accountant to look things over.” He rubbed his chin. “Mind if I recommend someone to you? She’s a whiz with numbers and she’s been out of work for a while now, but is looking to start building up a nest egg for when her daughter begins her journey.”

“Think she can get through my accounts by the time the auditor comes back next week?”

Lawrence sits back and smirks. “She’s a whiz. You’re good with pokemon, she’s good with numbers.”

“Alright, I’ll let her come talk with me and I’ll go from there. Got her number?” He handed me the number and informed me that he’d spend a bit of time working on reviewing claims. I glanced down at the contact information. Georgina Glass, accountant. He waited for a moment before reminding me that he will be dropping a contract for retaining his services long-term my way soon.

“Joy, I’m looking forward to that.” He smirked at the comment before tilting his head.

“How have you been otherwise? All recovered from your match with the Champ?”

I huffed, “Yeah, just annoyed with this popping up out of nowhere. I have better things to do with my time.”

“I can imagine. The circuit is just ending and this comes rolling around? The League can’t even be faulted for it, as they will just claim that they were making sure everything was clear.” He stood and clapped me on the shoulder. “Give Georgina the accountant lady a call soon, yeah?”

“I will after I watch Celia’s next match,” I said as I rose from my office and made my way towards the lounge where my family and I sat to watch Celia’s quarter-final match.

My family trickled in and claimed spots around, or on top of, me to watch Celia's upcoming match. Forrest came in last with a bag of treats almost as big as him and a morose-looking Munchlax. When Forrest handed out a handful of treats to start things off Munchlax was quick to give each recipient a look of absolute sadness.

His eyes watered and his lip quivered. His ears were tucked back and a sad croon of hunger escaped him. “Muuuuuuuuuunch.”

He got treats from five of us before realizing he was now looking at me. He gave me a wink before moving onto Yolanda only to get a tap on the nose. “Nice use of babydoll eyes, Munchlax but it’s not very effective!”

Munchlax recoiled at that before turning onto the other two siblings to find Salvadore and Forrest both impervious. He grumbled at that before sitting next to Forrest. He’d have gotten smaller, more constant meals from sitting next to Suzie or Tilly but he obviously had his eyes on the prize in Forrest’s lap.

“Don’t let go Forrest!” Salvadore warned. I chuckled at them, not all that bothered and instead watched the announcers talk through the trainers before their match up.

“Celia’s been red hot as a trainer, Henry! I think she’s coming into this match strong! She’s the leader of the pack from the Pewter City gang. I'm backing her!” announced the female presenter.

The man nodded along. “A nice conclusion, but you’re wrong!'' This drew some boos from my family. The man snapped to the camera. “Celia’s a young trainer and she still has a long way to go! She’s shown she’s got tricks, but her pokemon don’t have the legs in them for this match! She’s fought a lot and I think her pokemon are running low on energy! You need more to proceed!”

Yolanda tapped me. “How many pokemon does Celia have? Does she have enough depth?”

I clicked my tongue and counted off the pokemon she had in my head. “She’s got ten pokemon but only nine of those are at the level to fight at this tournament. Her Phanpy is a bit young right now. She could have gotten away with fielding it in the earlier rounds and I think she should have, to give her younger pokemon some easy experience.”

“But wouldn’t that mean she wouldn’t have done as well?” Asked Forrest.

I wave my hand in a so-so gesture. “It’s something you can do if your goal is beyond just the tournament. It’s honestly incredible that Celia has gotten as far as she had. She’s now in the top eight trainers this year. Most of the others are trainers that have at least three years under them, and at least eighteen to twenty pokemon to pick from that have all fought in tournaments before.” I gestured to Celia as she marched out.

“Celia is doing herself a bit of a disservice by thinking she needs to win this tournament. She's pushing herself hard, and that’s not a bad thing. I just think she isn’t enjoying the process enough. But then again this is her first major tournament as well.” I shrugged, “I think she’s got good odds today.”

“But didn’t you bet on her to win the whole thing?” Salvadore chimed from his spot next to Forrest. Munchlax glowered at him, having been nudged away from the food by Salvadore’s arrival.

“Yeah, but that was to show my support. It wasn’t anything too serious.”

“Are… No. How often do trainers win tournaments in their first year?” Yolanda said.

“Well, some tournaments are around only for first-year entrants. Those are good to enter so technically you can win a few tournaments, but the big internationally recognised tournaments like the Indigo Conference? I think there’s been one first-year winner in the last decade.”

“Was it you?!” said Billy excitedly.

I snorted and shook my head. “No, actually it was a trainer by the name of Lance.” I smirked at them. “Lance Blackthorn? You might have heard of him?”

My family reeled back. “Eh!?” They said as one realizing that I was speaking about the trainer that I just so happened to beat a while ago.

“Lance won on his first circuit!? When was this?” Forrest said.

I grimaced. “It was around three years ago.”

The younger members of my family tilted their heads in confusion. Trying to, and thankfully failing to remember what had been going on three years ago. Yolanda, Salvadore and Forrest all nodded slowly. They had been rather withdrawn back then, and more worried about things closer to home. When I’d come back they’d returned to their previous selves, but it hadn’t been a quick process. I wasn’t surprised they hadn’t watched the tournament that year.

“So, if Lance won three years ago how come he didn’t try and become Champion then? I thought if you won you gained the right to challenge the Elite four?” Forrest said with a frown.

I threw some popcorn into my mouth and munched on it before tossing Munchlax a kernel. “That’s right, you have the right to challenge the League’s Elite Four if you win. What’s not commonly known, is that you don’t have to do it there and then. You have three years before your right to challenge is revoked. Lance used the entire three years to travel Johto, Kanto and then do a tour of the frontiers with the Rangers before returning with his team. In that time he got to watch every other challenger that went against the Elite Four. This wasn’t just the other victors of the Indigo Plateau, but also the Masters Battle club tournaments, any of the Elite Rangers who complete a tour of service, Gym Leaders, or even the Elite trainers that had won enough prestige to earn a wildcard invitational right to challenge.

“He got to work out how Shafner fought with his flying types. That the old man loved being evasive and forcing engagements at extreme distances which suited him best.” I ticked off one finger.

“He got to watch how Agatha tricked people and poisoned them. Confused and beguiled them into sleep before draining them away.” Another finger rose.

“How Bruno clobbered people into submission with powerful pokemon that could take hits only to dish them out.” a third finger. I raised the fourth finger and twitched it about, every set of eyes, even Munchlax’s, focused on it. “Then I think he got really fortunate.”

“How so?” Yolanda said, ever quick off the mark.

I twitched the finger again. “Instead of keeping on Bruce who was an electric type master, the previous champion dismissed him and gave Lorelei his spot in the Elite Four.”

Forrest nodded. “I think I remember something about that? Wasn’t it a big deal?”

“Yup! Now I think he did it for a few reasons, but most people like to point out that Lorelei is his Granddaughter so they claim nepotism but that’s—” “What’s nepotism?” said Suzie, cutting me off. I scratched my head. Right, I wasn't giving a speech to a group of academy students, but my family. Some of them were only just learning some of these words.

“Nepotism is showing favour to someone that you’re related to. Like, if I gave Forrest all the easy jobs in the Gym and left the hard stuff for the other trainers that would be nepotism.”

“You could show me some nep—” I leaned over and flicked him on the forehead lightly. He grumbled at me while Yolanda and the girls giggled.

“It’s character building,” I said, falling back on the tried and true reason for not going easy on him.

“Urgh!” he groaned loudly. That only got more laughter instead of commiserating looks. I smiled at the rest of my family. Their time would come eventually.

On the screen, the presenters were going over Howard and Celia’s teams. They were doing a wonderful job of analysing Celia’s pokemon thus far. They had her Nidoqueen, Wartortle, Jigglypuff, Gloom and Ninetails all on display with video.

“So what were you saying about Lorelei being Pryce’s granddaughter being a bad thing?” Salvadore said.

“Hmm?” I said, turning away from the tv towards Salvadore. “What was that?”

He rolled his eyes at me. “Brock! Don’t play dumb! Why was it a bad thing that Lorelei was his granddaughter!?”

I replayed what we’d been talking about. I had gotten distracted explaining nepotism, hadn’t I?

“Oh right! So instead of holding her back later, he put her as the first trainer that anyone would face in the Elite Four roster. That was where he made a big tactical error. See Lance got to watch everyone have a run at her. And she fought with a lot of pokemon extremely similar to that of Pryce so Lance realized he needed to focus his scouting on her the most, cause she was giving away a lot of Pryce’s tells.”

“So he had been able to watch all of the Elite Four and the Champion’s fighting style before he challenged them,” Yolanda said. I nodded at her and made a ticking gesture she smiled.

“Right in one. When he challenged, he came through like a hurricane. He had them all planned out and had a method ready for each of them. He even predicted the adjustments that Pryce was going to make to his team after he thrashed Lorelei.” I splayed my hands out. “Which resulted in him becoming the champ a couple of months ago, right before his right of challenge would have expired.”

“And then you beat him!” cheered Billy which most of my siblings cheered at. I grinned at them and thought about mentioning all the tricks I’d used to come in stronger.

Forrest shot me a look. “So are you going to be a champ or an Elite Four? As a Gym Leader you have the right to challenge once every two years, yeah?”

I nodded at him, pleased he’d been doing some reading on what came with being a Gym Leader. “Yeah I could.” I shrugged. “But I don’t want to, I’ve got enough on my plate looking after the gym and you guys. I’m happy riiiiiiight here!” I grinned at them and reached out to tickle Billy and Tilly who squealed and rolled away. Munchlax hoovered up their dropped candy before running away as they gave chase.

For a moment the living room got loud as they shrieked and ran about. I watched them fondly only to feel a gaze boring into me. I looked over to find Yolanda staring at me. I wiped my mouth. “Got something on my face?”

She gave me half a smile and shook her head. She looked to the tv without saying anything.

I tapped her on the shoulder. “Something wrong?”

“No, nothing is wrong,” she replied before glancing away. She glanced at my side before tapping Cindy who’d claimed the spot to my left. “Can I sit there for a bit?” Cindy leaned over and pushed Timmy out from my right. Once she had secured that spot she clambered over without a care for her foot placement. Yolanda slid into a cuddle at my side.

It would have been a nice sweet moment, if not for Tilly and Billy shrieking loudly and for Cindy having stepped on my groin.

Being a pseudo parent really had a lot of drawbacks sometimes.

“Are you okay?” Yolanda said when she saw me biting my knuckles to keep in a groan.

“Never better,” I said hoarsely. “Billy! Tilly! Sit down, the match is about to start!” They broke off chasing Munchlax and hopped onto the couch. Munchlax staggered to the front of the couch and collapsed tiredly in front of us all, too tired to beg for scraps. I’d give him some more treats later. A small soft pokemon like him was great for burning off my siblings' energy.

Charles Goodshow, much like he had for my match, took center stage with two flags in hand. “Alright! On the northern side of the arena, Celia Shardness from Pewter City!” The crowd and my family cheered loudly as she rose on her podium, her ginger hair was tied into a ponytail today and she had a stern look on her face while she held a pokeball in her hand ready to be thrown forth.

“On the southern side, Howard from Bluefinland!” My siblings sat down and didn’t clap but the crowd on the tv continued to cheer.

A teenager with long wavy blue hair appeared and smiled widely. He waved at the crowd and received a louder cheer and a scoff from Forrest for his efforts. He selected a pokeball from his belt after eyeing Celia for a moment.

“Trainers!” Shouted Charles with both flags raised. “Are you ready?” Both nodded and Charles dropped the flags. “Begin!”

“Go Boomer!” Celia called revealing an Electrode as she released her first pokemon.

Howard was halfway through his toss but I could already see him flinching “Go Tentacruel!”

Yolanda shot to her feet. “Yes! Nice match up to start with!” I nodded along with the other siblings while Yolanda sat back down on the edge of the lounge.

“Boomer use T W!” She called.

“Screech to weaken it up Tentacruel!” Commanded Howard. Tentcruel opened its beak and released a shriek that was only mildly annoying to listen to across the tv. Celia grit her teeth, revealing it was more than just an annoyance on the field. You could almost see the air ripple as soundwaves radiated towards Boomer, only for the grinning white and red sphere to blast out electricity with a harsh ‘zap’ that reminded me of a noise from lightning hitting a faraday cage.

The blast of electricity overwhelmed the supersonic scream and cancelled out the noise only for the electrical waves to continue out and zap Tentacruel. It spasmed before growling and standing upright.

“Rain dance!” Declared Howard. His pokemon twitched but released a gout of water that exploded above the pokemon’s head to cause rain to fall over the entire field. The tentacruel notably relaxed as the raindrops touched it.

“Must have a restorative ability if it’s gaining health from being in the rain.”

“Thunderbolt!” Was Celia’s answer.

“Wait! Wait! Now! Throw yourself to the side Tentacruel!” the pokemon leapt to the side only for the paralysis to kick in. Instead of trying to stay upright however the pokemon let itself fall which served to help as it flopped to the ground, avoiding the attack.

“Water pulse!”

“Thunderbolt again!”

This time Tentacruel shot three rings of water at the Electrode as lightning raced across the field. Both attacks slammed home. Boomer shook off the attack and leered at his foe. I leaned forward and stared into the electrode’s eyes. Was one a slightly different size than the other that would mean…

“Fight on Tentacruel!” Tentacruel rose slowly with trembling limbs that grew more controlled as the rain continued to fall.

“Finish it with thunderbolt Boomer!” Shouted Celia. Boomer nodded and shot a bolt of lightning. It missed. “Eh? Boomer again!”

“Tentacruel use Toxic spikes!” While Boomer fired and missed, Howard made the most of the situation and began scattering spikes all over the field.

“What’s going on?” Shouted Salvadore. Yolanda chewed her thumb in annoyance leaving me to point out what I’d noticed a few moments ago.

“Boomer is confused. That water pulse has knocked him around and he’s not able to accurately judge distances right now like he should. Notice how his eyes are different sizes?” Everyone in the room leaned forward; Munchlax lifted his head up slightly.

“Eh?! That’s wrong! He’s an electric type!” said Forrest.

“It happens sometimes, pokemon can take a bad hit. It’s why you have to go through a lot of toughening up. It can still happen in the higher ranks of pokemon battles.”

I gestured towards Celia’s look of annoyance. “But it’s rare and you’re rolling dice when you try it. You have better consistency with your victory percentage if you don’t rely on lucky hits disorienting your foe.” It was actually supposed to be better odds but I knew Boomer should have been strong enough to shrug that water pulse off.

Howard had gotten extremely lucky and he knew it. “Toxic spikes!” He called as he ordered the field filled. When he ordered another round I shook my head.

“He should have tried to put more hits onto Boomer instead of going for a fourth round of spikes. Three field effects are more than enough before it drops away.”

Yolanda and Forrest nodded seriously; Salvadore drew out a notepad and wrote what I’d said down.

“Thunderbolt!” This time Celia’s order resulted in a hit. And this time Tentacruel went down. Howard wasn’t worried though. If anything he looked very pleased with how his pokemon had performed. I sighed and sat back. That… Had not been a good start for Celia. Unlucky? Extremely so.

It seemed her foe was going to take that tiny moment though and run with it. When Howard called out a Dugtrio, Celia answered perfectly with a Gyroball. It would have worked out wonderfully as Dugtrio were typically speedy pokemon and that would have resulted in a smaller gap for more damage with the gyroball.

“Earthquake!” Sadly Howard had the moves to stop it dead in its tracks.

Boomer went down. Celia growled and weighed up two pokeballs in her hands. The decision of which pokemon to throw out right now playing out in her mind. I sat up. “Come on Celia, you can do this.”

“Go Spunky!” she called out. I sniggered as a gloom took to the stage. Yolanda and Forrest huffed at my sniggers.

Salvadore gave me a confused look. “What’s so funny about Spunky?”

“Spunky’s Rocko’s friend!” I said, aware that they wouldn’t get the reference. I had no doubt Celia thought I might have been teasing Rocko when I had suggested the name. It was anything but a tease against Rocko in truth. Sometimes knowing shows from a past life was amusing, but referencing such shows only ever got you strange looks.

Yolanda shook her head. She probably thought I meant Rocko the gym trainer and his habits with his own gloom that I’d spoken to her about a few months ago.

Salvadore looked confused. Forrest just patted him on the shoulder. “Big Bro is weird sometimes.” And that seemed enough of an answer for Salvadore as he turned back to watch the toxic spikes have no effect on Spunky.

“Sleep powder!” said Celia.

“Dig!” Dugtrio vanished into the ground. Celia leaned forward. For all intents and purposes, she appeared to be studying the field but I could see from her body language she was paying a lot of attention to where Howard was looking on the field.

“Wait for it! Wait for it!” Just as some rocks shifted near Spunky she swept her hand out. “Leap up with Vine whip!”

“Gllllloooom!” shouted Spunky as he leapt upwards. Dugtrio followed after him for a bit revealing its mole-like body, only to startle as it realized it had left the earth. It scrabbled at the air to no avail.

“Spin to constrict your vines!” Ordered Celia making her still soaring Gloom turn about. The vine closed around Dugtrio. Spunky landed roughly, but Celia merely grinned. “Use Megadrain while it’s in your clutches!”

That was enough to take out the Dugtrio.

“Yes!” Yolanda pumped her fist. “She’s got this.”

I nodded. Not willing to voice that I thought it would have been better to send out Lizzie, her Nidoqueen. Both Lizzie or Spunky could ignore the toxic spikes, yes, but Lizzie had the moves in her arsenal to handle the field-effects permanently. She might have fallen into the trap of a trainer holding back their starter pokemon too long out of pride.

I hoped I was wrong.

Sadly I wasn’t. Right as the rain gave out Howard tossed out a Rapidash to blitz through Spunky. Instead of sending out Lizzie to answer, Celia held back her starter and sent out Stylish, her Wartortle. The little guy took a face full of spikes only for Howard to withdraw his pokemon and send out an Ampharos which the announcers reported as his starter pokemon.

I clicked my tongue at that. Forrest scowled. “Is that allowed at this level?”

“In the finals, yes. It’s no restrictions on withdrawals. It’s clunky but you can still do it. You can’t do it to dodge a move, but if you’re quick and set up a lull between moves it is allowed.” I said. In truth, there was a lot more to it, but Howard was using his right to change out his pokemon well.

Well enough that he was able to beat Celia.

Lizzie held out against the Ampharos, and the Rapidash, only to fall to a still fresh Victrebell.

Celia slumped down with the loss and a collective groan went through the room at her defeat. Tilly and Billy both threw themselves onto Munchlax. “Noooooooo! It’s not right! She’s not supposed to lose.”

Munchlax instead of crawling out from under them to eat their dropped food, consoled them as they cried into the pokemon. I mentally gave myself a reminder to give the little guy a big treat later on as I let him continue to soothe them. They eventually calmed down and watched Celia accept her defeat by shaking hands with Howard.

Both of them looked spent. I doubted Howard would advance past the next round, unless he had some stronger pokemon still in reserve. Celia waved to the crowd and they cheered her on despite her loss. She walked out and I stood from my seat.

It wouldn’t be good to leave her to stew in her loss.

I made my way to the office to let her know we were all proud of her.