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Hard Enough - Chapter 300 - The world grows smaller
🕑 Added 2025-02-11 19:00:35 +0000 UTCI stared at the Swampertite for a long moment before looking up into Wallace's glinting eyes.
My mind raced as it began to connect the dots.
From the way he’d made a flashy entrance to sweep us along in his flow to this very reveal. The man wasn’t an idiot.
He knew Sabrina and I were Indigo’s pre-eminent Mega Stone and Evolution experts. I had a company literally engaged in looking into them.
Wallace was someone who, according to the games, eventually would become Hoenn's champion. Ostensibly, it was after Steven ‘stepped down’, but that phrase could be applied for a great deal of situations.
If Wallace wanted to become Champion of Hoenn, he had to be strong and smart.
I ran my rock energy through myself, making me stop and slow down instead of reacting straight away.
Celia gaped. “A Mega Stone! Woah! That’s an awesome find Wallace!” she said, leaning forward in her seat only for Juan to cough and give her a pointed look. She sat back and resumed her earlier poise, her eyes locked on the stone.
I held back a smile at her rather normal reaction to having something so valuable laid out before her. It was interesting that Juan didn’t bat an eye.
Neither did any of the staff, now that I considered it…
I eyed them and the room for a moment.
There were a lot of different ways this situation could play out. So many of them in fact that I found my mind soaring through ‘leaps of logic’ so quickly I felt like I was flying. How long had Wallace planned for this? Was it luck as he claimed or was there a longer con going on here?
Or was I letting my paranoia take hold?
I wasn’t seeing any Team Magma outfits crop up which was a good start I supposed.
Speaking of which… Juan’s file from what I’d read from the Guardian notes had marked him as a serious defender of Sootopolis during the war. He’d been something of a noble knight going where the people needed him.
Wallace was only a few years older than Sabrina and I as a young adult so he wasn’t scared by the war.
I eyed Juan and Celia for a moment. I hadn’t precisely been able to take a true measure of the man from the bare hour that we’d met, but I had read numerous testimonies that marked him as an honourable man.
I felt the chances of this being an ambush or potential dangerous situation begin to drop as I replayed what I knew of him.
I decided to push those thoughts to the side as they were a Furret hole my mind couldn’t afford to race down right now.
What did I know?
Wallace was approaching Sabrina and I about a Mega Stone. One that would fit him perfectly as a water type trainer.
Wallace was a potential rival for the Champion position against Steven Stone.
I picked up my sparkling water and took a sip to buy myself more time to think. I eventually determined I needed more information to act.
I inclined my head towards the stone. “I have to assume you know what it is. Do you know which pokemon it is for?” I asked to get things underway on an easy enough footing.
Wallace’s eyes glinted. “Indeed, I have had a rather strong reaction to it from my Swampert,” he declared without a hint of concern at the reveal. “But you knew that didn’t you?”
Wallace smiled as I nodded, not bothering to deny it. “Where did you get it from?” I asked, knowing that the answer to that question could change several things.
“Steven did not give it to me if that is what you are asking,” Wallace said with a certain bite in his tone that I noted with interest.
“I located it… well, I found it in the wild let us say,” Wallace stated. “I’ve had to move rather quickly on some sites of interest before Devon Corp could acquire them.”
I nodded. Everything he’d said made a good deal of sense so far.
He raised a glass and swirled it so that the liquid within caught the lights. “It has been a berryless project of mine until just this morning when I made this discovery. When I learned of you both being here well, I wasn’t going to wait around.”
Sabrina narrowed her eyes. “Why can’t you afford to wait around?” she needled and Wallace gave her a searching look.
“It is not that I couldn’t… but, I’d prefer not to. I can’t exactly approach you in public while you’re here and as I understand it you have your own goals while here,” he said. He raised a hand. “I would be careful of your movements as they will be closely monitored due to you both being persons of extreme interest to Hoenn, Devon, and Steven. Lots of different parties will be observing you,” he stated seriously.
I considered that for a moment before inclining my head. “Thank you for the warning.”
He bobbed his head back, a smile flitting about his features. “I’m glad that we understand each other. Now I was hoping to talk with you in private about your understanding of Mega Stones.”
I gave the servants and staff around us pointed looks. “I wouldn’t exactly call this situation ‘in private,” I stated.
Wallace shook his head. “The staff will not run their mouths,” he stated before giving the staff the first proper look of the night. “They have been with me and Juan for years at this point and have yet to fail me in keeping anything they learn to themselves.”
“That you know of,” Sabrina stated, giving each of them a pointed look before tossing her head. “It depends on what is being discussed at any rate.”
Wallace shook his head. “They wouldn’t betray me or Juan. I’ve known them since I was a child and Wallace’s ward.”
I tilted my head. That hadn’t been part of his profile.
Juan coughed pointedly and Wallace smiled slightly. I glanced between them in thought. Hmmm, perhaps it is not so much a relationship of mentor and pupil between them but rather that of parent and child?
“What do you need to talk to us about?” I asked as an idea started to form in my mind.
“My bond with my pokemon is second to none! But that being said, if there is wisdom that can be shared would I not be a joke to not seek it out? Why rely on trial and error when there is tried and true?” Wallace gestured to Sabrina and I.
Wallace made an expansive gesture. “I am currently the Gym Leader of Sootopolis, but I have to admit that I have higher aspirations. I desire to be Hoenn’s next Champion. The only issue is, for that to occur I must topple Steven, a task that has become harder with the hoarding of information and Mega Stones.”
I hummed.
There was a certain degree of irony at what he was proposing.
Here Wallace was asking for Sabrina and I’s help, while Steven had started influencing Indigo with cherry picking who would receive his Mega Stones. Some of them were causing a good deal of political tension with people like Bruce. Then there was also the issue of Lance owing a favour.
I’d gotten out lightly but there was still the potential for mischief if he whispered a rumour into the right ears. My own reputation would take the hit easily enough but it would still be something to adjust for perhaps.
Especially if it was used at the right, or wrong time, depending on your perspective of things.
Hmmm, interesting.
I relaxed my mind and settled my energies so Sabrina could connect with me. “Thoughts?” I projected to her.
“He has a limit on what he will grant us, it is more about time that he is seeking to save like he said. That being said we should extract something from him,” she stated.
“Mining rights on lands he has? Mega Stones? Information? Specific pokemon like more Ralts for you? What would be appropriate?”
Sabrina sent me the equivalent of a headshake. “He might be flamboyant, but he’s no idiot. He can’t restrict Ralts as it’s too popular and widespread by this point as a companion.”
I considered Wallace. “He’ll do it, you know? According to the games I played at least,” I said.
Sabrina gave Wallace a searching look. “He has an interesting aura. His emotions shine through brightly but his mind is perfectly controlled. It is unique. He has control of his energies as well. A favour from him will be worth a lot, especially if we want to empower someone like Misty further in future.”
“We could get more perhaps?” I projected back as I considered what I knew of Mega stones within Hoenn.
There was Aerodactylite at Meteor Falls, Gyaradosite somewhere around Route one hundred and twenty three, Kangaskhanite in Pacifidlog Town, Pinsirite on Route one twenty-four. Mewtwonite—
My thoughts were interrupted and everyone at the table flinched as Sabrina’s head snapped to the right to stare at me.
Oh… I’d projected my thoughts just now to her, hadn’t I?
“Yes,” Sabrina’s voice said within my mind. “Mewtwo can Mega Evolve?”
I squirmed at the intensity of her look as everyone else looked from Sabrina to me, aware that we were conversing now but not commenting.
“Technically he can evolve like Charizard, in two different ways. One into a more empowered Psychic state, and the other as a fighting-psychic type.”
Sabrina turned, her expression vacant as she became lost in the idea of a Legendary pokemon being able to Mega Evolve of all things.
I withdrew my mind, deciding it was perhaps kinder to not give her any more revelations about potentially broken Legendaries, or weird pokemon quirks like Pikachu and Eevee being able to Gigantamax.
That way led a broken Sabrina.
“Sorry about that,” I said, deciding to cover Sabrina. “We were discussing your proposal. We’d be interested in offering what we know for a favour to be delivered at a later time. Or some specialised Mega Stones which can be traded around.” I drew out the notes I had from the research Sabrina, Alakazam and I had conducted.
I lay them on the table. “I’d also suggest calling this number,” I said, deciding to lay some groundwork now as I wrote down a specific transceiver number with the Kanto identifier at the front.
“Hmmm and who does this connect to?” Wallace asked.
I laced my fingers together. “That belongs to Misty of Cerulean, a promising trainer that is going to be the future of the Cerulean Gym,” I stated confidently. “I think you’d both benefit from just talking.” I made a chopping gesture, “but that is separate from our agreement, I just thought to mention it,” I stated.
Wallace took the number and gave it an interested look while Juan pointedly put down his knife and fork. “That would be Misty, the granddaughter of Percy of Cerulean?”
I nodded, interested by the respect in Juan’s tone.
Juan nodded. “A family worth acknowledging for its heritage among other feats.” His eyes turned to me. “A shame Indigo as a nation did away with their nobility,” he said cryptically.
Celia gained a confused look but I just waved my hand back and forth.
“I am aware of my… family’s history. We’re better off,” I said.
Juan merely inclined his head before turning to Wallace. “Well, I think with business out of the way we can enjoy ourselves now, no?” He raised a glass towards Wallace and I. “To new friendships.”
When we all drank at his toast I smirked, raising my own glass and turning towards Celia. “To your first victory tomorrow,” I declared, knowing I was going to enjoy watching her advance.
Celia beamed, and from there the rest of the evening was spent on much lighter topics. Wallace, as melodramatic as he was, was a wonderful host, which was still a rather amusing state of affairs considering it was Juan’s home.
I ended up just chalking it up as a quirk of their relationship.
We departed with a much better understanding and the potential for a lot more waiting for us in the future.
Sabrina didn’t bother with the Limousine, merely Teleporting us back to… the desert?
I shot her a confused look as she pulled a blanket out which she draped over us as Kirlia got comfortable at her side.
“You are going to tell me everything you know about Mega Stones,” she said.
Before I could start Alakazam suddenly appeared with a notepad and pen floating in front of him.
I snorted and sat back. I should have expected this when I told Sabrina my secret. I looked up at the stars and smiled fondly. “There’s a lot to say,” I said as I tried to come up with a point to start from.
Sabrina wiggled, cushions appearing beneath and around us as she got ready for the long night. “We have all the time in the world,” she said softly.
I ran a thumb over the back of her hand and nodded. I released Titan who blinked in surprise before locking eyes on me.
“Sabrina knows,” I said calmly and Titan perked up. I nodded as he questioned me through the bond.
“The others on our team?” he said.
“Soon,” I said, knowing they’d be rather interested at my reveal. I gestured for Titan to sit. “I’m talking about Mega Stones and what I know,” I said.
Titan got comfortable and I settled in for a long talk.
“Mega Stones,” I began slowly, “Were thought to be linked to two Legendaries from a region known as Kalos. Xerneas, a large deer-like pokemon that is fairy-type, and Yveltal, who is dark and flying. Both pokemon are linked with the warping of evolution stones into that of Mega Stone with their ambient energies. They can achieve this throu—”
I began laying out what I knew to Sabrina and her pokemon. I knew it would take more than just a night to talk about this topic. There was honestly a lot that I needed to talk to Sabrina about, but rather than dreading it, I found myself looking forward to it, especially if it led to moments like this where we just stayed close and talked.
The future was looking promising.
_______________
“—and down goes Jigglypuff! Celia’s on the ropes now with her opponent one to two in the three on three rounds!” the announcer gleefully shouted.
I bounced my knee. “Cheating Hoenn families,” I growled as I glared towards a group of blond men and women looking rather smug. I noted that Chaz was front and centre but he looked to be very unsure of his position being paraded in front of his family.
He’d looked my way once and all but flinched at the glare I’d leveled at him.
“It is rather fortunate for the trainer,” Sabrina replied mildly, gesturing to the Hoenn trainer who, in the space of a few hours had gained three highly trained pokemon who just so happened to be tailored to fighting certain pokemon on Celia’s roster.
I eyed the Manectric that was easily strong enough to be what I’d expect to face against Visquez if she was throwing down seriously. Watson… might have a pokemon this strong but that was judging him a bit low for my tastes.
Thankfully I had a very firm idea of what was about to happen. Celia, for all that she’d lost two of her pokemon to bad matchups and surprises, still had her best girl to bring out.
“Let’s go Lizzie!” Celia roared, sending out her Nidoqueen.
Lizzie stomped the instant she was on the field, causing an Earthquake to rip out and catch Manectric by surprise.
I pumped my fist as the electric dog went down while Chaz’s family gnashed their teeth and railed at the trainer for not acting quickly enough. Heh, poor kid was in over his head with those pokemon and as long as Celia kept her head she was going to cruise home.
The trainer put his hand to his pokebelt and considered his options only to grit his teeth and pull out an Ultra ball. “Go! Gyarados!” he shouted and from the ball a powerful and very angry pokemon emerged.
The kid stepped back, giving away the game that he had anything to do with training that pokemon.
There was no way you had a Gyarados on your team and you faltered when you sent it out.
I looked over at Chaz’s family. They looked smug, like the result was all but forgone.
I smirked right back, knowing exactly how things were about to go down.
Celia beamed. “I get to do the Lance Special!” she said, dancing back and forth.
The trainer blinked. “The Lance Special?” He tilted his head only to tense as his eyes shot to me. “Gyarados! Use Surf now!”
“Lizzie! Take him down!” Celia shouted.
Lizzie charged straight forward, undaunted by the emerging wave that threatened to sweep her away. Instead, she performed a perfect front flip that saw her grasping at the ground before she came up with a picture-perfect Rock Throw to Gyarados’ face.
Gyarados flinched and tumbled off the Surf that had been forming only for the wave to still rush on, signalling that Gyarados hadn’t been knocked out. Stunned from what looked like a critical hit? Yes, but not out of the fight.
Celia didn’t blink. “Evade!” she simply called even as Lizzie fell into the ground and dug. I felt a surge of pride, knowing I’d taught her that.
Juan had obviously added the grace and deftness of her commands and movements with all of her Pokemon thus far, but the basics, like using Dig to evade Surf, were all mine.
Next to me, Juan merely raised his hands in readiness to applaud as Lizzie leapt out of the ground and lay into Gyarados with a pair of rocks she ripped from the earth on her way through.
And just like that Celia had won her first match.
I rose and applauded loudly. “Way to go Celia!” I shouted, and she grinned as she advanced on her opponent to shake hands.
I sat down and shot Chaz’s family a smug look. “Think they’re going to keep that up?” I asked tersely.
“Most assuredly,” Juan replied. “They’re going to reveal themselves to be the sorts of people that lack sense I suspect. More money will be thrown into this to salvage their standing not realising how much they are the ones damaging it further and further.”
I rubbed my chin. “I almost wish they wouldn’t, they’re going to be making it too easy for Celia to win if all her opponents don’t have any degree of familiarity with their pokemon.”
Juan gestured to the area where Hoenn's trainers were sitting, watching matches. “There are more than a few that will see the poisoned chalice for what it is, so Celia will still be able to develop her skills.”
Sabrina offered me some water. “Until then, it is best to sit back and let them continue to repeat their mistakes,” she said.
Juan nodded as he rose to his feet. “I shall go and confer with Celia about her match. She was too shaky with her start there. I don’t expect it to repeat going forward, but she needs to be more willing to adjust,” he said.
I waved him off and relaxed in my chair as I watched the next match start-up. The matches, after what I’d seen in the Badge circuit in Kanto, was definitely a step-down. I’d watched a few news articles on specific trainers and while they did a good job hyping up various trainers I couldn’t help but notice that Celia stood head and shoulders above the others.
It very much felt like this tournament was hers to lose.
As soon as the next match was finished, the crowd filtered out. People who had only bought morning passes were asked to leave while those with full-day passes remained in their seats. Our section was soon nearly empty.
Sabrina and I remained where we were. If we wanted to go anywhere, Sabrina could easily teleport us.
“So, watch her match after lunch and then how about we do some scavenging for the rest of the afternoon?” I suggested to Sabrina.
“I already have Alakazam searching around the League Headquarters for any trace of the stone you suggested might be here. I’ll have him shift to searching Littleroot town soon after,” she replied.
I hummed. “I seriously doubt that one is going to exist or we’re going to simply find it. Lore wise it doesn’t make sense as Mewtwo is an artificial construct that’s only… maybe a few years old.” I waved a hand back and forth dismissively. “There’s no way the two legendaries were able to apply his energies to an evolutionary stone.”
“But you also mentioned that time travel is potentially possible, didn’t you?”
I held up a finger only to slump. “Point,” I said as I grappled with the idea of how precisely that would work. Did they come forward, back? Or was Mewtwo going to go on an adventure sometime in the future?
I scratched at my head. That… kind of would explain a number of the oddities of certain stones being found in locations that typically didn’t feature that pokemon population.
It made a little too much sense actually.
The afternoon crowd began to filter in. Sabrina’s breath hitching was the only signal I needed to begin searching faces.
I instantly didn’t like what I was seeing.
Lots of young men and women. All of them with pokebelts full of pokeballs, signalling they were all carrying the maximum limit.
Worse? All of them checked our position before moving to their seats.
Then a broad, jolly looking man swaggered into the seats behind us.
He leaned forward but I spoke up first. “To what do we owe the pleasure of Team Magma approaching us?” I said, eyes locked on the display board that listed off who would be going next.
It seemed Sabrina and I weren’t going to have to wait. Celia’s match was first up in the afternoon. This normally might be seen as a disadvantage, as you had less time to rest your team, but knowing Celia’s team size, along with her skills, I wasn’t worried.
Celia herself didn’t look phased as she strode out, waving as the crowd cheered her name.
Tabitha of Team Magma paused, shifting in his seat for a moment as other grunts set themselves up along the row from us. “Nothing sinister I assure you. We’re merely… checking the situation over as it were.”
His eyes flicked from me to Sabrina before assessing Kirlia next to Sabrina. “I have to admit the rumours surrounding you don’t do you justice. You had us made much faster than I thought you would. Kind of forced me to approach you so you didn’t do something silly like attack us.”
“And why shouldn’t we do that? You are members of a recognised terrorist organisation, no?” Sabrina said, turning her head and levelling a piercing stare at him.
Tabitha shifted again. “H-ha well, it would be ‘he said she said’ situation over here you see. You’re Gym Leaders in Indigo certainly but you don’t have the same weight over here.”
“Which is why you approached us when Juan wasn’t here,” I said. I hummed. “You do know my…” I stalled on what to call Sabrina for a moment before smiling. “Fiancee is one of the world’s strongest Psychics, right? What’s stopping us from forcing the issue and making you talk?” I said with a touch of dark glee in my words.
Tabitha licked his lips. “I can see why Team Rocket didn’t last long once they got themselves on your radar,” he said carefully. “It would be a waste of political capital, for everyone involved, trust me. We’re just checking in, that’s all.”
He coughed. “Also as a show of good faith, we’re declaring ourselves hands off from your student. We can’t speak for Team Aqua, but they don’t usually act in such a manner. But They shouldn’t move against Juan, a few too many people respect him.”
I nodded slowly. That did actually help to ‘sooth my annoyance. Still, there was an implied statement that if we didn’t play nice they’d switch their stance on Celia if I ‘forced them to’.
On the field Celia dispatched her first foe and went one up easily only for an alarm to ring out.
Around the stands a murmur of confusion rang out. Tabitha frowned. “That’s not a warning siren… what is that?” he said quietly.
A moment later, we found out.
The big screens that were showing the match were overtaken by what appeared to be a news anchorman.
“This just in! Breaking news from the port of Fuchsia city! An unidentified vessel bearing markings never seen before in the known regions has just started pulling into port! This vessel passed through all patrols within the region of Kanto with Ranger escorts only just catching sight of the vessel as it came into view of the port!
“Tensions are high within Kanto as the entire super region of Indigo has gone into instant Code Red with police, Rangers, and trainers being drafted to provide defense! The Current Gym Leader, Janine, is unavailable for comment!”
“We go live to our reporter in the field!”
The viewpoint shifted from that of a news desk to the port of Fuchsia, where a reporter was wearing a helmet.
“Thank you David! Tensions are high, and members of the public are being urged to take shelter in this unprecedented scare! Never before has Fuchsia been snuck up on so closely, and some of the public are already decrying Janine for not being able to follow her father’s track record!”
Sabrina and I shared a look. Both of us realised that something big was about to go down.
“The vessel has just made it to the docks!” the reporters said and the camera swivelled to show off a huge black vessel with markings along the side along with what looked like a crowd of people standing near the railing.
There were four people within sight but even with the camera’s zoom only sparse details could be made out.
My heart caught in my chest as despite that I recognised them.
“We need to get closer!” the reporter shouted, and moment’s later they and the cameraman were sprinting to get close. They were quickly pulled up by what looked like police with rangers who were forming a cordon around the port, but it didn’t matter, they were close enough now to get visuals and sound.
The clack of the gangplank hitting the ground caused everyone to lean forward in anticipation.
“Shit,” I said aloud as a familiar figure pranced down the gangplank.
“Hello! Kanto! I’m home! Hello babies! Mommy is home! I can’t wait to see you all again! Look what I found! I did it!” cheered a brown-haired woman with features that made her look a lot younger than she actually was.
“Fucking Lola,” I growled through grit teeth.
Brock’s mother continued to wave her hands back and forth like a child, or an idol at a fan convention, completely missing the point that she’d just caused all of Indigo to collectively have a heart attack with how she’d gotten that ship into port without anyone noticing it.
She continued to wave as people stared at her in shock, only for three more figures to walk down the gangplank.
Lola paused, perking up to gesture to them. “I made some new friends that everyone’s going to love!”
She reached out and grabbed an older-looking man with a mane of red hair who was wearing a poncho of all things. “Everyone, this is Alder! He’s the Champion of the Unova region!”
Lola then twirled to the side, ditching Alder to catch a woman wearing white everything. “And this is Diantha who’s just a doll! Say hi Diantha!” Lola said only for Diantha to turn a frosty look upon the other woman.
“Personal space Lola, we’ve spoken about this many times,” Diantha declared icily.
Lola flapped a hand at the other woman. “Oh you kidder, you!” she said before stepping to the side and wrapping her arms around the shoulders of the final member of their group.
“And this is my BFF! Everyone, I want you to be extra nice to her! She beat the pants off me when we fought!” she continued like that was just normal for her.
Unlike the others, Lola didn’t introduce her, which allowed the blonde to look straight into the camera and smiled
“Hello world, I’m Cynthia Champion of Sinnoh, and it is my honour to be here!” She gestured to the other two Champions with her.
“I along with my fellows were nominated as representatives of the Trinity Nations accord. We offer our greetings and intent of goodwill. Please, treat us well as we look to a brighter tomorrow! I greet Indigo, Hoenn, and Fiore along with the Island nations!”
Cynthia giggled. “I know you all must have a lot of questions, I too have many myself. I look forward to the coming exchange of knowledge!”
She glanced around. “Uhmmm take me to your leader?” she prompted of the Rangers.
A laugh escaped me at her use of the phrase.
There was a lot to unpack from this new revelation but the biggest one that stuck out to me?
Lola was back.
________________
A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support.
Thanks also go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter.
This has been something I’ve been building towards for a long, long time! I hope it paid off!
As you might expect, this is going to cause huge ripples. Many people suggested that another region might be contacted soon.
Instead of going that route, I’ve decided to flip the applecart and introduce not one, not two, but three major regions with what amounts to a shared governing body, aka the Trinity Nations which is somewhat like the EU rather than being something like the UN.
Now, one other point I’m going to make now for people to consider. Cynthia in canon, is an avid historian. She loves knowing people’s pasts.
Indigo however has tried to bury a lot of its history from the war.
Might cause a bit of tension, me thinks.
Toss out any other thoughts and potential ripples or sticking points you can think of! There are a boatload that doesn’t even take much time to think about.
Post your thoughts in the comments, or on Discord I will try to look them over. I imagine there’s going to be a few.
Comments
KarmaA
TFTC! Great way to make the world feel alive. Not every reveal has to be dramatic but this one was very fun. Edit: looks like their vacation will be cut short. If so that’s a huge bummer. I wanted to see some more honeymoon type stuff, them delving into Brock’s knowledge and theorycrafting, and exploring Hoenn.
GucciG
Three champions is overkill and would seem like security concerns for their own home nations. It would’ve been more plausible to send an elite four or trusted trainer of their respective regions instead
Aisea Havea
Feels like waaay too much. 3 Champions just have the time of day to go on a diplomatic venture to an uncontacted region. That's toilet flushing levels of diplomacy, we barely even have any info on Hoenn and its situation as it is.
Robert Lemanski
Gotta say, not loving the introduction of 3 regions at once. It seems far too ambitious, in a story that already seems to struggle with the bloat of too many characters that never get moved past and keep returning even though they're unimportant to the plot, with boring minor characters of the day like Pete Pebbleman getting POV sections. Also really hesitant at the idea of a super-nation EU type thing. Unova's Team Plasma and Sinnoh's Galactic and Kalos' Team Flare have always been my least favorite things about the series as well by FAR, so now with them potentially been in play all at once? Ugh. One of my favorite parts of Hard Enough was that it didn't involve the nonsensical dumb plot that is all three of those team's goals- those Teams are truly a low point of Pokemon. Any fic that doesn't have those teams is automatically a strong candidate for my all time favorites list. Was really looking forward to Brock and Sabrina's Hoenn vacation too. Like, for the last 50+ chapters I was really excited for it, only for it to be cut short with no real adventure to it.
Rhett Sellers
Lights! Camera! Drama!
Dylan Tuma
especially since he's going to have so much explaining to do when he gets back home.
Dylan Tuma
And in some cases, not done.
rezo42
Everyone who knows Brock well is going to look at Lola's stunt and think. "So that's where he gets it from." Then promptly resolve to never vocalize the thought around Brock.
BaconDragon
Somehow I knew in advance that Brock leaving for hoenn would cause Lola to show up in Indigo. Also such a big event happening on chapter 300 is somewhat fitting. Now to wait for someone to get the chance to tear into Lola for all she’s done.
Boobby hill
Lola what the fuck? I'm impressed the cluster fuck i imagined was going to be much more tamer than this. Curious what she did to make them agree to this Man Lance is going to be buried in paper work by the end of this Good stuff can't wait for next week
Jordan Lopez
I mean we all know it's going in the direction of Brock becoming the future champion with Sabrina being his Agatha who locks him down lol
Jordan Lopez
Your worried about the jaw fossil lol, what about the special fairy rock pokemon Brock has been telling his siblings bedtime stories about lol
Rinaldo
Who is gonna split? The youngest who don't know or care who Lola is? The older kids, who do want her back but also are aware of how much shit Brock had to deal with keeping the family afloat? Brock? He's the Gym Leader, he specifically had lawyers ensure it's his now and Lola has no claim on it. He has spent a lot of time, effort, and money to build up Pewter while enmeshing himself in the community and he's not just going to leave in the near term with no plans in place to have somebody he trusts take the reigns. Pewter itself has watched Brock recreate the gym and turn it into one of the jewels of Kanto while Brock himself has risen to be one of it's rising stars. They're not going to side with Lola, party girl who ran off on her family while Brock came back and became one of the most famous and powerful people in Indigo.
Rinaldo
Giovanni get's sprung from pokey in a Faustian bargain because while he is an evil criminal, he is an INDIGO criminal who actually feels patriotism and has connections to wage a shadow war.
Donald Bagwell
I just want the two to agree to water gym only for yolanda to grab them by the ears and remind them that everything there belongs to brock, and not a thing belongs to either of them or lola as lola got rid of all her stuff.
Donald Bagwell
I can see them directing her towards the old gym. The kids and flint coming in asking wtf, then the staff pointing out she wrecked the entire area, flooded it, commandeered the whole area, declared herself the leader for all of 10 minutes, quit and gave it back to flint, took back the position in 30 minutes later to be responsible, quit again because of one of the twin sets doing something cute and “needing supervision” then wanting to replace nanny gav with a dewgong I can fully see some of the older kids being worried/ terrified, the younger ones annoyed/ amused, and flint being just happy to have her back
Donald Bagwell
OH GOD LANCE IS GONNA FIND OUT HE GAVE BROCK A BABY DRAGON TYPE! I want cynthia to slap down lances dragonite and titan so badly
Donald Bagwell
Dont worry man, we’ll wear him down eventually
Donald Bagwell
Evil author is evil. Stop tempting us!
Donald Bagwell
CONFIRMATION! I want them to take one look at brocks tired face, hear he just proposed to Sabrina before this, and offer to have their weddings in their regions to help out in keeping the crazy away Before Cynthia calls dibs as a fellow history nut
Donald Bagwell
Cyrus and Lysander are owners of large companies as well. Lysander owns Kalos media, Cyrus has a huge company as well but forget what they do in cannon. Also the great whatever grand kid of an original settler Basically all three and giovani are hella connected
Donald Bagwell
No i say he keeps his cool for all of an hour, uses flint as a distraction for a while till they get home. Go to the gym first. Lay into her like Dio throwing a roller, enough to see the water aura effects then throw her to agatha to deal with before he goes through sabrina therapy
Donald Bagwell
I always saw that as Giovani stealing stuff from galactic to do that. Makes the most sense to me
Donald Bagwell
Can you imagine Lola trying to set brock up with a girl, talking him up, the girl finding out lola hasnt seen brock in a few years, brock is freshly engaged and better than lola left him Ps, i wonder wtf lola told them together THREE CHAMPIONS to come along
Pamela Gillespie
No
HonorBound Fate
I pity Brock’s therapist
Donald Bagwell
Am i the only one wanting a mini series of just lolas adventures?
Bat
There she is. I am so excited.
Orbnet
Awww, man :(
Mike
Brock’s paranoia will return in full force now.
Mike
This is actually tamer that what I had pictured. I assumed Lola would gate crash Brock and Sabrina’s wedding.
iceknight90
Holy crap I wasn't expecting her to turn up so suddenly. And in such a dramatic way.
Squeeky602
Brock should just stop going to Hoenn, it never goes well for him.
Glitched Knights
That might happen if a few things happen. To begin with, there is still the Giovanni that makes Team Rainbow Rocket in another dimension. If that doesn't happen, then there is still the government letting him out because he was free in Gold/Silver but he wasn't running Team Rocket there. I believe there is a year or two gap between Red/Blue and Gold/Silver
G 21
Let’s gooo
Ice fox
Yes yes I would
Michael Ox
Daydreaming about a full 6v6 guardian-esque brawl between brock and Lola, televised or in front of the champions to add another layer of threat/power for the champions to see
Ice fox
Well now I really wish Giovanni was still in action I'd love to see Team Rocket have a proper gang war with Pokémon PETA like the show should have showed
Oblivious Bookwyrm
You’d prefer to read another Tournament Arc following a tertiary character battling and inevitably winning against no-name competitors, and Brock and Sabrina’s downtime that already concluded with Brock telling her his big secret and proposing to her, over the emotional rollercoaster that is Lola, and the sudden introduction of three “new” regions AND their respective regional champions? To each his own. I, for one, welcome this development
Jorge Moreno García
What a way to end the 300th chapter.
Glitched Knights
"Oh shit. Team Plasma is in play now. Alongside the Region that wants Pokeballs done away with. And the two teams that want to change the global environment for people AND pokemon." Stares blankly at the emergency glass with Pokemon Colesium and XD: Gale of Darkness. "I'm gonna need to get to Orre before all of the bullshit starts. I'll take Shadow Pokemon over a potential multi-regional gang war anyday."
ReadAthon45
This is going to be wild with the meeting between Brock and Lola and the Champions . Also congratulations on 300 chapters.
QuazarKMax
Brock’s gonna break his promise of letting Lola back in. I can easily picture him throttling Lola on live television like Homer throttles Bart Simpson for all the political headaches she’s just caused.
Reikon67
Wtf was this chapter after a nice couple of slice of life chapter you come swinging with a banger cliffhanger. What has lolla done and under how's orders? Also why couldn't this come up after aqua and magma were dealt with you know they would use this moment to mess up any plans that might come up with any talks with the other champions.
Matt H
Not... necessarily. While the older generation of Guardians may not be fond of Johto, they may view the existence of the Trinity Nations as an existential threat. I can easily imagine a scenario where existing powers in Indigo put aside their differences to try to quickly subjugate Hoenn to create a sort of parity between the two super regions. After all, just because a water specialist along with 3 Champions could make the trip, that doesn't mean that the super regions are immediately going to open up to each other. People in Indigo may (reasonably) think they have some time to work with.
Ricardo
Is there a patreon for the patreon? like a papatreon? cause this cliff is evil. xD
Retribrutus
Well by this point the power dynamic between Brock and Lola can arguably be questioned since she managed to bring 3 Regions together to talk. Although this revelation was exciting, I personally felt that it was little sudden. Sure, it built up hype for the future, but it now sort of diverts the fun away from Brock and Sabrina's budding time away in Hoenn. Like...was Regirock on the table for Brock or would Brock finally get to fully explore Dewford Cave's depths that he was denied in the past before Flint called him home? That sort of stuff. Anyways, I enjoyed the chapter and you just leveled up Lola's danger meter with this chapter. Personally working with the mentally ill, I'm exceedingly cautious around those who seem mentally gone but are super knowledgeable of how the system to avoid getting whisked away to a locked down facility or facing legal consequences. Now usually this means if they have voices/delusions that push them to violence or maliciousness, they can get away with it by momentarily saying or doing the right thing. In Lola's case, this stunt brought loads of benefits that may outweigh the headaches of integrating three whole new regions and this means she'll be REWARDED for her efforts and looked at favorably thus dashing most of her consequences with a good chunk of Indigo along with some of her family (barring Brock) of course. IDK man, you really showed out a lot but now you're putting more on your plate with the politics and the unavoidable family drama about to arise with Lola. I mean we just got shown the Blackthorn Elders quarreling along with the Indigo League trying to consolidate powers through the Battle Frontier and stand-in gym leaders. I'll just keep reading and see how you manage all of this. Also a thought, would Ghetsis (should he be a prominent figure in Unova) somehow uncover and reveal Blaine's Flare state research to push his agenda for Team Plasma? He'd publicly admonish it with support from professors like Oak while slimly using it for his own team's goals of ruling Unova.
Ice fox
Right well I am extremely disappointed I was very much looking forward to Brock and Sabrina's Hoenn vacation and to seeing Celia win the whole tournament. I don't want to deal with the fucking family drama right now because that particular land mine is going to take at least 20 chapters to simmer down. And we'll probably end up with a split in the family of Brock on his own way if he doesn't take his siblings with him
Viva01
Lola has been hunting for the other nations for a while. We also knew that a route existed as Team Rocket had a Gible and a Glameow but nothing locked in that Indigo was aware of.
Viva01
no
Viva01
shock is a reaction
Viva01
It can also be a cultural difference. Indigo isn't the same as Hoenn, just as Kalos and the others are the same. It's sort of like a situation the french encountering the chinese. there are different cultural values at play. I'm going to try and highlight this. The big glaring issue is that Cynthia is a bit of a history nerd and Indigo has a blanket ban on anything to do with the war.
Viva01
this made me laugh. But also... you're not wrong.
Viva01
Muhahahaha suffer in speculation!
Vikteren
the champions are here to make sure Lola gets home and in a mental asylum as she is a costal menace. first thing they are going to do is ask Lance to save them from the crazy lady.
Chopper4ever
Viva I need to know what happens next!!! This is such a cliffhanger 😭.. this should be a crime!
Rinaldo
Also lol nothing to inspire unity than three nations with whom you have been at war with in living memory showing up im an alliance. Kanto supremacy prob not so good an idea now Koga/Agatha?
Rinaldo
Brock gonna be making so many phone calls.
Jericho Rising
Brock can't even be dismissive of her anymore because she came back with The Biggest Bang .
J H
Lola finally arrives! Shit is really hitting the fan! I have to say though, it doesn't make sense for the champions themselves to come to Kanto instead of ambassadors. Three champions from other regions arriving together, unannounced and unexpected, by sneaking past security no less is an act of war. One champion is basically a walking (flying?) nuke. Three together? Lance, Brock, and Sabrina together aren't guaranteed to be able to beat them. Especially Cynthia, who as far as I know is the strongest champion in the world. And Lola, the paranoid PTSD fucked up warrior, willingly brought them to the shores of her home? I know shes fucked up, but that seems unbelievably stupid. I can see sending at least one very powerful trainer with Lola to keep her under control since she's crazy, but this is a diplomatic disaster.
Jericho Rising
They're connected mate, like the indigo region. At least in this AU
Jericho Rising
The staff at Pewter gym are Very much aware of Brocks family issues though. I doubt they'd just step down.
Thanatos
Ngl I was expecting more of a reaction from Brock. He just started therapy, can’t have helped that fast. Maybe it just hasn’t sunk in yet
Jericho Rising
Sabrina over here like "I know where he gets it from now" *the savant like luck*
Jericho Rising
Kaboom! Seems we've finally hit the tipping point and oh boy is there a LOT to unpack. Thanks again for a great chapter and best of luck keeping all of this under wraps, theres just soooo much on the table now its crazy to think where it'll all go.
Alex Horsey
Brock can’t catch a break
Orbnet
I demand 3 chapters a week! :P
Orbnet
You can't keep doing this to us. I need to wait until Monday to get the rest of this cliffhanger? And knowing my luck it's going to be a multichapter cliffhanger so it's not going to be resolved and stuff untill the week after xd
Docnox
I expected lola or aqua…. The other nations is completely left field and nothing comes to mind forshadow wise, very bait and switch
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
What a great chapter! Love the reveal of Lola finding 3 nations at once. It makes sense too; if someone found Indigo, they would find Hoenn and the other nations Indigo knows by default, so the reverse whould also be true (find another nation = find several other nations). The idea that nations would be completly isolated after almost two whole generations from the war is crazy. Especially when they know other nations are out there and thus, would be looking or looked for.
Chris
…. Alexa, play Cynthia’s theme. Full volume.
Homeless One
And if Cynthia wanders around and finds a baby Gible and demands an explanation, things could get wilder
Big ToFu
Brock over thought a lot of his situations, also Lola is turning out to be that brilliant savant who just doesn’t have a clue about normal society, wonder how Brock’s going to deal when he’s all about logic and Lola is gut instinct and swoosh’s.
White Neko Knight
I'm looking forward to Brock punching Lola.
Matt H
It'll be interesting to see what the effects of this will be on the villainous teams. On one hand, it could become much easier to recruit personnel and capture Pokemon, but on the other there could be more unified oversight and efforts to stop them. For example, now that Sinnoh has been officially rediscovered the Indigo League may coordinate with the Sinnoh League to follow the trail of the remnants of Team Rocket since they know (or will soon) about the connection to that region with the Purugly Proton had or the Gible that Brock has. I wonder if all these ripples and changes will end up meaning the Mewtwo from M16 doesn't get created and the Mewtwo from M1 remains the only of his kind.
carebear90
I hope Brock's Gym is still standing when he returns to Kanto. I'm kinda scared of what Lola does with it while he's away. Flint is a push-over, and I don't see the Gym Staff and Trainers rebelling all that much.
carebear90
I still have no clue why Team Magma suddenly showed up here.
carebear90
As much as I like the world opening up... How exactly did Lola go from finding absolutely nothing for years to connecting to three regions in a... few months? When did we see her last? Or did she 'merely' find Sinnoh and Cynthia called Alder and Diantha to come with? I'm assuming the Regions in this world are completely shuffled around now. Not merely 'out of contact because the known routes between them broke down'. Like... 'tectonic plates moved halfway around the globe'-shuffled...
ShinLupin
Well, I expected Lola to return with a bang. Maybe even with a notable impact, like finding Alola. Basically discovering 3 lost regions, in an alliance was way beyond any prediction I had. And what regions to boot. One that has the (maybe undeserved) rep of triggering the great was, one that had already some contact due team rocket and what might be the biggest bang: the region with a supply and working knowledge of Mega-stones. Brock's phone is about to nuclear. ...Brock himself might too. Unless his talks with the theraphist have already helped? At least he has the space to house 3 Champions and their pokemon, I am certain Lola already offered to house them.
Crimson Grave
And all this in the middle of 'talks' with Team Magma. XD
PiezoVolt
Brock is never going to get his vacation. So much shit hit the fan for Indigo and I think most will hit Brock's family cause of Lola. Hopefully Yolanda will be able to hold the fort cause Flint and Forrest are going to fold so quick. Congrats on 300 chapters was totally thinking you were going to do a time skip and give a summary of other regions being discovered.
Seanfrks
Honestly, I am hoping that Diantha doesn't have her fossils, as there had been a slow buildup and many mentions of Brock wanting to find a jaw fossil since almost the beginning of the story, and that would be a disappointing payoff for that to just end up that way.
SailorOfHouseThunderBird
Happy 300!
Zax
I think you meant to say Juan's ward not Wallace
HonorBound Fate
No, the Portley magma is Tabitha.
Raptor
Oh wao did not expected that at all LOL
PitrPatR
It'll be interesting to see how Hisuian variants are handled. Based on how Brock has justified his plan to breed Hisuian Growlithe with statues outside of temples, it seems likely that they were just as lost to Sinnoh pre-war as they were to the rest of the world, although Sinnoh would probably be the most likely to have records of them having existed. Gawain's existence will invite a lot of questions. It's also interesting to see that three generalist champions are part of an EU-style government. Alder kind of leans towards bug, but the rest of his various teams seem pretty varied. I don't know much about him as a character outside of the games. Whether or not Diantha already has her fossil pokemon will also be a point of interest. Dealing fossils with one's one champion/league is one thing, I imagine it could get complicated at the international level. Two of the three champions have potential points of interest that Brock may address directly (AFAIK). Things are going to get very interesting.
Crimson wolf
Damn what a cliffhanger
Kminttech
Thanks for the chapter. I believe the last instance of Wallace in this line (Wallace's ward) is supposed to be Juan (Juan's ward) since it is Wallace that is speaking. "Wallace shook his head. “They wouldn’t betray me or Juan. I’ve known them since I was a child and Wallace’s ward.”"
TheDudeAbides
I've been waiting for this for so long lol
Qweku_v
Fuck!!! A nuke has arrived at the doorsteps of Kanto and Brock.
Matthew Nichols
I think u got Tabitha and Maxie switched.
Alex Matheny
Love that this happened on chapter 300. I hope we Brock shocks Cynthia with his Gibble
I_WANT_SOMETHING_ETERNAL
Lordy... Uh Oh!
David Green
Fucking lola
Petrox
Holy shit! The world turned twice as big with that announcement. Can't wait for Lance to find out that he gave The dragon to Brock. Also poor Lance. Many sleepless nights are coming. He might beg Brock to challenge him
acaBeast
Well that was unexpected
Munsu
* sigh * Lola... * Shakes head * What a complete pain, she is. And of course, she can't be back quietly...
ReiRini
Oh hell yeah Lola drama I've been waiting for this!!!
Lenny XinHua
Three whole ass champions
Thomas Keller
Oh shit
MrMarauder
What the fuck Lola.
HyruleChampion
I can't wait for Lola's reaction to Brock's and Sabrina's anger
Singa_pore
May you live in interesting times indeed haha. Brock is in for it for the next few weeks.
Antony Wilson
Can't wait to see the effects of the return of lola
CB-Otaku
Oh dear, the Lola bomb finally went off
BlackRazaras
Thanks for the 300th chapter!
