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Hard Enough - Chapter 264 - Rodeo Round ups!
🕑 Added 2024-10-08 19:00:05 +0000 UTC“Looking good,” I said as I adjusted my belt buckle and nodded at my reflection. While my hair was the same as always, albeit cut into a ne
“Looking good,” I said as I adjusted my belt buckle and nodded at my reflection.
While my hair was the same as always, albeit cut into a neat trim, I had gone and gotten myself some proper leather riding boots that went up my shins, a cream-coloured shirt with stylised patterns stitched in, a pair of brown jeans, and finally a belt with a belt buckle the size of my hand.
It had been made with a golden trim with a Tyranitar glaring out from the centre of the buckle and it looked fierce.
I mimed drawing guns with my fingers and blowing off the smoke.
Heh, yeah it was goofy but I was enjoying myself.
I marched out, enjoying the way my boots stomped and echoed with each step I took as I reached the hallway in the kitchen.
I entered the kitchen to find my family in their own outfits. The girls were varying with long skirts with tassels to help weight the fabric down or jeans.
They all looked extremely adorable, especially with their little hats.
“Brock! Dad bought us hats!” said Tommy as he waved his own hat back and forth in the air while kicking out his feet like he was riding a bucking Tauros and not a chair that was teetering over. “Woah!” he said as it tipped too far only for Nanny Grav to catch him before I could.
I blinked, noticing that instead of a hat, Nanny Grav had gone with a bonnet for herself.
“Good catch,” I said as I considered what to say about her outfit. A compliment couldn’t go wrong. “That looks… rather fetching on you Nanny Grav.”
“Graveller Grav!” she said, waving a hand at me in a ‘oh stop it manner’, like she was a blushing maiden.
Flint walked in with a handful of boxes. “Brock! I put in an order for the family so we can all wear matching hats!” he announced.
I blinked and was about to ask him where he got the money for that before rethinking it. “Oh wow that’s a great gift,” I said out loud.
Huh, what was this made of? We didn’t have access to Bibarel or Bidoof so that really only left Sentret or Furret but this fur was too dark for that. A quick glance at the tag inside the hat Identified it as Mightyena fur.
Huh, sustainably hunted apparently? Alright, that was different.
I moved up to Flint and caught his eye as I tried on my Stetson hat. “This didn’t break the bank for you did it?” I asked as I fingered the brim, enjoying the feel of the soft fur.
Flint jerked his head slightly in a no. “I’m flush don’t worry, whenever I need money it’s easy to wander Pewter and get into some fights,” he said with a wink.
I chuckled as I adjusted the position of my hat. Only in a pokemon world was it normal for the father of a family to wander the city getting into fights as a normal source of income.
“You’re not rookie-crushing are you?” I asked offhandedly.
Flint snorted, “No very much rookie crusher crushing, they have the best wallets,” he said with a smirk.
“Huh, good to know, I said. I’d have to ask how he was getting them to fight him, it wasn’t like the older trainers wouldn’t recognise him as the former Gym Leader. Instead, I asked, “That going to last much for you?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I’m also collecting a handy cheque for being the Lead Surveyor of Mega Stone Inc,” he reported proudly.
“We just got the rights to investigate Squirtle Island by the way! We’re already anticipating some very good finds thanks to geological dating showing that Squirtle island has been a Squirtle habitat for at least two centuries. With this in mind, we might be able to lock down a period of time for when certain sites were exposed to the… Mutanious energies that create the Megastones. This will help us out in future identifying more potential sites!” he stated proudly.
“Huh,” I said. I hadn’t considered the implications of getting a lock on when exactly Xerneas, or in my personal opinion, Yveltal, had swept over the land and caused the formation of Mega Stones.
“—but we’re going to have to be careful with the pokemon there as we don’t want to displace them,” Flint continued to say, not realising I’d stalled on the idea of using carbon dating for narrowing the search parameters.
“Still, that is excellent news,” I said. “It means that sites that have a strong history of housing specific pokemon will have better odds which means places like the Lake of Rage, Silver Ranges, and perhaps even the Charicific Valley might be sites.”
“Hmmm, Charicific Valley is actually what I was talking about earlier. It has a history dating back three centuries, but it has actually moved around a lot in that space of time,” Flint replied.
I blinked. “I… hadn’t known that,” I said. “Wouldn’t there be—”
Flint smirked, holding up a hand. “We’re investigating the old sites where the Charizard were housed, don’t worry. We already thought about that and are investigating,” he said.
“Nice, what about Grampa Canyon,” I asked, watching as Munchlax swaggered out with a small popgun on his belt. He lined up against Tommy only for Tommy to beat him on the draw.
“Bang bang!” shouted Tommy, causing Munchlax to give an acting performance worthy of the most overdone comedians I’d seen around.
He flopped to the ground only to twitch when Tommy chose to open a packet of chips. “Hehe! You’re dead you can’t eat—” Munchlax pounced, uncaring of his ‘death’ and instead snatched the chips and darted away.
Tommy gave chase, but this only led to a stampede as the other kids also pursued. Each of them were shouting at Tommy and Munchlax to ‘not run in the house’ while doing that themselves.
I sighed. “Think that rule will ever get followed?” I said to Flint.
“When they’re older maybe,” he said with a shrug. “and as for the Grampa Canyon things are progressing well enough I suppose. The biggest news is of course Dr Rebecca’s work on the temple you found. She’s discovered several rooms and has taken to documenting them but she has run into a roadblock due to the puzzles being much more complicated and needing someone who can read the Ancient Language. Until then Dr. Rebecca is decoding it herself but it is slow going.”
“She’s been alright?” I said, wondering if Agatha knew anyone who could read Ancient. She could help ut quite a lot with a temple like that.
“She has, since she realised we can evict her. Even minds her manners quite well, but I think that has to do with all the progress she is getting. Each item she finds that she can link with Pokepoolis I swear she is able to write at least a ten-page document about. The girl is smart, if rough in her people skills,” he said.
The stampede of kids ran past the kitchen and a small fight broke out in the lounge room, only for a flash of light to silence things.
I raised an eyebrow only for Sanchez to waddle into the rooms with a stetson of his own on his head. He tipped his hat to Nanny Grav before presenting Tommy and Munchlax to me, both of them blinking blearily.
Ah, he must have zapped something to cause a flash to shock them for a moment.
“Sheriff,” I grunted while tipping my stetson back at him.
Sanchez grinned, tickled pink at being addressed in such a manner. Cindy must have heard this and liked it as she had a small golden paper star made up which he had stuck to his body proudly.
Suzie ran up to me and bounced around. “Oh! Oh! When is Sabrina getting here?” she asked. “Or is she already here? Is she still getting ready?” she asked insistently.
I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her from running off to my room. “Suzie, Sabrina has Gym matches to take care of first. She’ll join us when she can later this afternoon. Until then we need to go inspect her pony club as they’re presenting at today’s rodeo with racing and pro buckjumper Rapidash events, remember?” I asked.
Suzie blinked and slowly processed this information. She started to glower only to perk up. She then oscillated between these two emotions in a rapid-fire sequence as her young mind struggled with the idea of Sabrina not being here, but the Ponyta club being here.
“Does that mean Tinkerbell is here?” she eventually said.
I sighed and nodded. “Yes and so is his sister Dewdrop who’s just a Ponyta at the moment,” I said.
“Eiiiii!” Suzie said. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!” she ordered, trying to push me out the door.
“Alright gang! Let’s round things up and roll out to the rodeo!” I announced causing all the little squabbles that were playing out in the lounge room and kitchen despite Sanchez breaking it up.
The entire family with the addition of Sanchez were soon front and centre. When I walked outside I quickly discovered that it hadn’t just been Sanchez that the kids were watching old-timey westerns with.
Titan had a pair of belts crisscrossed over his chest in an X sharp along with a small, for him, neckerchief that hung down from his neck.
Bertha was wearing a giant pink frilly bonnet and had a small, again for her, pink umbrella that she twirled in her fingers. When she saw me looking she opened and closed it like she was a shy maiden.
I chuckled. “Smooth you two, very smooth, come on, let’s go,” I said, urging them to join us.
As we exited the front garden a familiar voice called out to me. “Haha! I knew your tricks wouldn’t keep me down for long Gym Leader!” shouted a young voice.
I glanced over to find a rather roughed-up-looking youth glaring at me. He had twigs in his hair and dirt smudges.
“Oh?” I said automatically, wondering what he was on about.
“Your teleporting trick that sent me to that blasted Samurai who gave faulty directions on how to navigate the Viridian forest! If you’re looking at the sun rising then north is—” he started to say before he yelped as Bertha swept him up and put him on her shoulder.
“Help! I’m being abducted!” he screamed.
“Nah,” I replied casually, watching as Bertha merely held him on her shoulder. “You’re just being taken for a ride, come on, the Gym’s closed, we’re off to the rodeo,” I said. I eyed him again. “Although it might be best if we drop you off at the pokemon centre on the way so you can freshen up.”
The kid sniffed at his armpits and grimaced at what he found. I didn’t hear anything else from him for the rest of the trip. When we dropped him off at the pokecenter, I reminded him to book in at the front desk or via the pokenet webpage and left him to it.
I had to wonder what he meant about the misleading Samurai I had in my employ. The only person I knew of that was a Samurai was the kid in the forest that had a Metapod and Pinsir who showed up in one of the cartoons but I certainly wasn’t paying him or even in contact with him.
I discarded that and instead focused on more important things, such as how the rodeo grounds now had a sprawl of tents and what looked like RV’s around them for all the various people and their pokemon. I could see lots of people had claimed stakes of land and they had their own Ponyta or Rapidash in a small enclosure but there were also Tauros and the occasional Miltank in the enclosures as well.
I suppose when you could train your own buck jumpers or bulls to be docile outside of the arena it made for a very different spectacle.
The rodeo grounds themselves had the feel of a carnival with how everyone was strutting around in denim or some form of rougher clothing. People rode their pokemon through the crowd and didn’t look out of place.
The main arena had huge stands that reminded me of a normal pokemon stadium, only this arena was dustier and there weren’t any large-scale barrier emitters lining the edge.
Hmmm, that was something I’d need to pay attention to.
“Brock, can we go to the sideshow? They have popgun games!” said Tommy, pointing to where a line of RV’s had lined up to make up a sideshow to the actual rodeo.
They also appeared to have a host of different riding courses with various pokemon ranging from Rapidash, Tauros, Kangaskhan, to watery courses with pokemon like Seadra, Starmie, and a rather placid-looking Gyarados.
The last pokemon earned a longer look from me as it took a moment to spot all the paint that had been done on his scales to make him appear more friendly. It also helped that the giant pokemon was wiggling along like a giant goofball to a kid with a Pokeflute who must be his trainer.
Huh, neat.
Having lots of experience with these sorts of things I knew the games in the sideshows were mostly scams, unless you knew the trick or you had an ace up your sleeve. “Let’s wait until Sabrina’s here cause I know she wants to have fun with all of you,” I replied.
That proved to be enough to mollify the kids and they settled down to sit in the stands and watch the buck jumpers.
When that show was over cowboys and cowgirls marched out with lassos in hand. They twirled and skipped and tossed and flicked the piece of rope about themselves in a display of dexterity that was incredibly impressive.
Sanchez and Nanny Grav both stood to applaud the showing while Titan nodded along.
After that show a whip-cracking spectacle took place and I perked up, watching as the specialists went from performing whip cracks that were fast, to showy, to loud. They then released a Rapidash and stood on the fiery horse’s back where they performed whip crack after whip crack without a single flinch or break in Rapidash’s stride.
It was another impressive display and they earned a wave of applause.
Then they looked to the crowd with a smirk. “I hear Pewter crowds are known for their courage! What say you? Anyone dare hold a piece of paper for me to crack?” said the gal with a confident cocking of her hips.
Before anyone else could raise their hands Bertha was on her feet and waving her giant arm around. “Rhyperior!” she bellowed, silencing any other would-be volunteers.
The crowd turned and took in the single volunteer.
Then anyone else who might have volunteered sat down as a unanimous decision was made.
Usually, these sorts of shows made it so that everyone feared for the volunteer.
Now people were watching because should the whip cracker miss and flick Bertha?
It would certainly make an entertaining spectacle, that’s for sure.
Everyone leaned forward in their seat and watched the Specialist search desperately for another volunteer, only for there to be none.
The male specialist with her had a huge grin on his face as the woman pointed at Bertha. “Alright, come on out there lass, what’s your name?” she said perhaps more out of reflex than actual consideration.
Bertha happily trotted out. “Rhy Rhy Perior Rhy!” she chanted with a twirl and a spin. She leapt into the air and came down next to the specialist with a pose I just knew she’d copied from a magical girl show.
With her bonnet, she looked ridiculous.
I sighed and shook my head in fond exasperation. The Specialist blinked. “Oh ummm, I don’t speak Rhyperioroise,“ she said in an attempt to seem witty.
“She called herself Magical Majesty Maiden Rhy girl!” I called out loud, not expecting how the sudden lull in the noise from the crowd was making my voice clearly boom out to everyone. I coughed into my hand and quickly sat down.
People giggled at this as Bertha pointed a finger at me happily. I had no idea if that was what she actually said but it seemed it was close enough for her to not care.
The whip sadist, I mean, specialist, nodded at this before offering Bertha a slip of paper that looked miniscule in her huge digits.
Bertha inspected the piece of paper and in doing so made it look even smaller with how large the rest of her was.
Whatever she was looking for must have passed muster as she nodded and skipped a few steps off to the side and then stopped.
While everyone else was laughing my own eyes were locked onto the way the dust shifted and drifted at her steps. It might not seem it but that right there was crucial information that was extremely handy to have before tonight’s match.
Now I just needed to work out if the rodeo had a concrete base which was only a few feet down, or anything else that might act as a barrier to my pokemon performing their usual Dig evasion tactics.
Bertha held her hand up above her head and the whip specialist’s smile turned even more plasticky. “I’m sorry but I don’t have a whip long enough for striking up there, can you hold it off to the side?” she asked politely.
Bertha did so and the specialist unlimbered her whip to give it a few practice strikes, her eyes watching the very tip before she judged the distance between herself and Bertha.
“Alright, folks! Here we go! Ready! Count with me!” she called.
“One!” Everyone leaned even further forward.
“Two!” the whip arced around behind the specialist in preparation for the strike.
“Three!” the woman flicked her wrist and the whip arced around.
I tracked it and smirked as all around me people stood or leaned in as they attempted to get better views.
A loud ‘crack’ sounded throughout the arena. People held their breath, watching and waiting for Bertha to react.
To them, I could only imagine that if she flinched there were strong odds she’d cause an Earthquake.
People held their breaths only for two small pieces of paper to flutter on the breeze away from Bertha’s fingers as she released her hold on the paper with a smirk.
Bertha grinned and then raised her hands and clapped loudly, triggering most of the crowd to cheer along with her. I thought I heard a few people muttering in disappointment, but I couldn’t be sure who wanted the ‘bad ending’ to play out.
The whip specialist herself exhaled and slumped in relief before perking up and brandishing her whip above her head. “Thank you thank you! That’s all for our show tonight!” she announced.
She then moved over to thank Bertha only for Bertha to put her arm around her and hug her into her side. It looked a little like she was getting crushed but I knew Bertha was merely congratulating her.
Bertha then happily ambled back over to our group. I joined my siblings in congratulating Bertha.
Tommy grinned up at the large pokemon. “Wow Bertha, that was brave of you!” he said cluelessly.
Salvadore cleared his throat. “Actually Bertha wouldn’t have felt any pain from a mere whip crack thanks to the thickness of her plating around her fingers,” he lectured only to be ignored by most of the kids. He huffed in annoyance only for another voice to compliment him.
“That was well reasoned Salvadore,” said Sabrina as she strutted towards us.
I whistled. Damn, she looked good in dresses, she looked good in a bikini, she looked good in her normal Gym attire, was there anything Sabrina didn’t seem to pull off wearing?
“Thank you Brock,” she replied. At her side, Kirlia tiptoed like a ballerina with a hat on her head and a denim pleated skirt.
“Eiiiii you look so cute!” cheered Suzie as she caught sight of Kirlia.
I nodded, agreeing with my little sister but that only got a smug smirk and toss of the head from Kirlia as if she was saying, ‘I know that!’.
Sabrina levitated up to sit next to me. “So, ready for tonight’s match?” she asked.
I hummed. “As I’ll ever be,” I said. During the one training session I’d had with the guardians in the last week, Agatha hadn’t taken any pains to steer clear of me or even act any different. For her this was merely business as usual I supposed.
“How many Gengar do you think she’ll use?” I asked.
Sabrina considered that. “One or two,” she replied. “The usual tactic of tricking people out by making them expend their more powerful moves or tactics against a Gengar won’t work against you as you’re familiar with ‘Old Gengy’.”
I hummed and watched as a team of Rapidash came out to perform synchronised movements that were timed perfectly with music.
Below us, I saw several rather beautiful-looking women working their way through the crowds. Invariably a pair of them would lock onto a youngish-looking male and sit themselves next to the man.
It appeared like they were flirting if you hadn’t seen the flash of calculation enter the women’s eyes and for a moment I thought I was watching some sort of scam taking place. “The group of women,” I said, nodding my head to the crowd.
Sabrina didn’t even turn her head to look. It only took a moment for her to frown, however. “Ah, those appear to be ladies that are employed to help garner… volunteers for the next event,” she informed me.
I frowned. “Next event?” I asked, searching for a schedule. The schedule merely pronounced the event as a ‘game of Bull poker’. I frowned and was about to ask what that was before a memory of my past life surfaced from the depths of my mind.
“Oh,” I said, glancing at the ladies. “They’re there to help motivate the men, aren’t they?” I asked.
Sabrina nodded. “A few of them are suspected to have been trying to drink alcohol in public as well so this will help… remind them of the follies involved,” she said.
“Hmmmm,” I said, glancing down at the kids. “Hey kids, want to go to the sideshow?” I asked.
Some of them perked up but others like Billy and Tilly shook their heads. “No! The clowns are out there now!” said the twins indicating the gaggle of human clowns mixed in with the Mr Mime who formed barriers or, in some instances, faked out the Tauros.
I considered the show and then glanced at Sabrina. “How bad does it look?” I asked and Sabrina looked away from me toward the grounds.
Her eyes glowed for a few seconds before she rose to a standing position as her divination into the future ended. “It’s not pleasant, let’s go to the sideshows so I can win everyone some prizes,” she announced.
I rose. “I’ll talk to the organiser. We don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
Sabrina shook her head. “No there isn’t going to be any injuries, the organisers are too well versed in this show to let that happen. It’s more… it will be disgusting,” she said.
I blinked, wondering what she could mean by that.
She gave me a look and I rose to join her in fleecing the sideshow games of prizes for the kids. When we returned to our seats for the next event more than a few people looked green around the stands.
Salvadore obviously had no clue about this as he tapped Flint, who’d stuck around to watch. “So? Did we miss anything?” he asked.
Flint shuddered. “It was like watching a Staryu get thrown while performing Water Gun,” he said.
I tracked my eyes towards a line in the sand that was damp. Hmmm, that wetness was no Water Gun.
For one Water Gun didn’t leave chunks of hot dog behind.
I rubbed my chin to help quieten my voice so the little kids didn’t hear me. “The guy that got tossed, he’d had a few drinks had he?” I asked. Sabrina’s head bobbed up and down while she tapped on her own giant novelty drink cup.
“Three of these,” she replied. “The organisers noticed and sent the showgirls to get him, and in his state…” Sabrina flicked her fingers towards the wet sand.
I grimaced. “Think if I ask they’ll clean the arena a bit before my pokemon get sent out there? I have no problem facing off against pokemon moves or getting splashed, but I don’t think I’d like to have some of that splashed on me.”
Sabrina and I both shuddered as we imagined that scenario.
Thankfully it wouldn’t be an issue as during the next show a handful of Vaporeon along with Blastoise were released onto the field to dampen it up some, washing away the flecks of spew I could see.
“—give thanks to the Ironworks pokemon crew for tightening up the field for the next event! Please give it up for our challengers for this year’s Rodeo Rapidash Race!”
Sabrina perked up and tapped Suzie on the shoulder. “One of the older girls in Saffron is riding in this event,” she commented and that got everyone perking up and paying attention even closer.
The event itself seemed to be a mishmash of obstacle courses with traditional horse racing with how a course was marked out but at set intervals, there were jumps, winding barrels, and even a frozen patch of ground that the pokemon and riders would have to traverse.
Instead of it being a neat, orderly starting event however, there was going to be one large group with fifty laps of the course needed to complete it.
Interestingly every five laps the last ten racers would have to drop out.
“Huh that certainly adds an element to it,” I said. “An odd blend of events where it’s not just who comes first but who comes last you have to pay attention to.”
“It’s supposedly quite popular in Fiore which is an interesting point of consideration considering that they haven’t been a region open to us for some time now. It’s interesting to note that such a cultural event has stayed true to itself in both regions,” Sabrina nodded her head towards a box in the centre of the stands where a gaggle of League officials were standing around with men and women in turquoise-coloured clothing.
“Fiorians?” I asked.
Sabrina nodded. “They heard about this event and demanded the League let them come. It also has allowed people to talk with the ‘newest arrivals’ to the international scene outside of the halls of power.”
“Huh, interesting,” I said as I took a moment to wonder why I hadn’t heard the official announcement of the region being opened up, only to recall that Lance’s speech had fallen on the night my family and I all went to the circus.
“Heh, whoops accidentally Karen’d Lance with his announcement,” I said.
Sabrina twitched and laughed. “Karen’d? I approve,” she giggled.
“I thought you would,” I responded, watching as the racers took off. Watching the RRR event I had to give it to the racers, it was an extremely interesting event as even the large number of contestants played a role with people dropping out due to injury, fatigue or being too slow to stick to the pace needed.
In the end, a field that had started with nearly eighty racers came down to a mere twenty due to the various dropouts.
Sabrina’s Gym’s Ponyta club representative had held in for the last few laps only to drop down to fifteenth.
“Shame,” I said and the others nodded along.
Sabrina merely shook her head. “No, actually that’s a tremendous achievement for a first-time racer. Most of the Rapidash on the field are at least three or four years older than her Rapidash. They have better experience and speed for now but give her time and I think she’ll be collecting medals,” Sabrina announced only to frown. “Barring any Fiorian racers apparently.”
I quirked an eyebrow and Sabrina shook her head. “They are being rather dismissive of our pokemon and racers saying that Fiorians are better by at least a minute’s pace which… is a rather bold claim.”
I hummed, not really understanding what a minute’s difference would mean but I mostly understood it as nationalistic pride and chest beating so I just let it whiff past me.
“I imagine the officials are rightly affronted and want to prove them wrong,” I said after a moment’s thought.
Sabrina nodded and I knew someone on the Fiorian delegation was used to playing the game of getting what they wanted.
A buzz on my Xtransciever alerted me that it was getting close and I should make my way towards the box where the officials were.
I rose bidding the kids and Sabrina farewell while my mind turned towards the interesting new development of Fiore being here. Had Agatha known this was going to happen and manipulated events? Or was this just chance?
I frowned, the inclusion of the Fiorians was going to be a bit of a curve ball but hopefully, they wouldn’t…
I stopped that line of thought right there. No need to tempt Murphy any more than that.
Oh who was I kidding, I could already feel my well-justified paranoia flaring up.
The Fiore officials were going to be an issue, weren’t they?
I marched up to the box only to breathe a sigh of relief when it turned out I wasn’t going to be asked to interact with them. I wasn’t sure if I should read into that or not but I decided to instead focus on the event coming up.
Agatha of the Elite Four.
With her knowing well and truly in advance that we were going to throw down.
I knew this wasn’t going to be like Lance so I took a deep breath and settled my nerves as best I could.
I sat in the waiting area that had been prepared for me alone and allowed myself to just focus on my breathing. I shut my eyes and got as comfortable as I could.
In and out.
Over and over until the mind was still.
I had just reached a point of excluding all outside thoughts—
“Hello Brock,” called a voice, stirring me from my meditation.
I blinked my eyes open and found Agatha hovering a foot off the ground with her signature smirk.
How… perfectly in character of Agatha. “How long have you,” I started to ask only to drop that line of questioning.
“You do realise we’re about to fight in a few minutes right?” I asked, wondering if Alzheimer’s had finally set in.
Was Alzheimer's a thing in this world? I suddenly had a vested interest in it not being so.
Damn, but she’d be a terror in a nursing home with her abilities.
Ghosting through the walls…
“We have more important things to discuss such as your recent escalation in skill,” she responded lowering herself until a soft tap sounded as she touched the ground.
“You can now command your pokemon without words and this has increased your skill level above that of the common trainer.” She raised an eyebrow at me. “You’ve also achieved this feat at an extremely young age,” she complimented.
“Huh, is that so? I hadn’t thought about it,” I replied.
Agatha stared at me for a long moment. “Let me put it in clear terms, if I had your level of skill at the same age there wouldn’t be an Indigo League but instead a Kanto Kingdom with myself as Queen.”
“Ah,” I said, understanding her point. What could you say to something like that. “Why didn’t you take Lance’s spot if you have a higher skill level?” I asked.
Agatha scowled at my question. “I promised an old friend I wouldn’t break his toys,” she said cryptically.
I tilted my head. She had to mean Oak and the formation of the League, didn’t she?
Agatha sniffed, tossing her head. “Don’t get too big a head, there are higher levels yet to reach. I want you to pay attention to this match. You can attempt to win of course but know that it won’t be the sole focus you should have. I shall show you a higher form of combat that you’ve only dipped a toe into.”
She announced before turning to walk towards the wall. “We’ll talk again after the match,” she said right before she stepped through the wall.
I stared at the wall.
Yup, that right there was exactly why she’d be a nightmare in a nursing home.
An attendant stepped into the room a moment later and smiled. “Anything I can get for you Gym Leader?” they asked.
I waved them off only to pause. “Can you answer some questions about the arena? Specifically the soil?” I asked.
I would need to know the depth, the soil typing and even if there was a concrete or metal base under the arena as this would impact me a lot.
When I got my answers I tried to calm my mind. I was regretting agreeing to an Exhibition style match against Agatha, but the constraints of the field added new elements that created new and unwelcome limitations for me.
I should have demanded some caveats from Agatha but I hadn't thought about it at the time with all of my focus being on the mid-year Ace tournament.
Urgh, I was going to regret that, I could tell.
Still, it wasn't like tonight was just about victory. I'd done it to stand up for Yvonne, Agatha's new protege. win or lose I was doing the right thing.
which... didn't help me with calming my mind at all.
It especially wasn’t easy with how Agatha had teased a mental puzzle before cutting and running.
A higher level of combat with aura?
I’d bonded with my pokemon to a crazy strong level!
What came next?
Perhaps this was just one of Agatha’s games? Urgh! Damn her!!
When my name was called, I marched out with a mind still buzzing with questions.
Across from me, Agatha was already in position on her podium.
Interestingly as I walked across the sands of the arena floor I caught sight of a familiar face sitting directly behind Agatha.
Yvonne, the young lass that had triggered my challenge, waved shyly at me and I nodded before turning my gaze to the awaiting Agatha.
I locked eyes with her making sure to keep a firm hold on my dark energy as I did so.
I felt something connect with me then and there and for a moment I felt something ethereally cold reach into me and stroke my soul.
Urgh, damn ghost specialists, I thought as I resisted the urge to shudder. That would have done nothing but earn a cackle from Agatha.
Instead I held her gaze and let her know that at any moment I was ready to drop a mountain on her.
She held her smirk and when we reached our designated spots the presenter went through the typical hype.
With this being an exhibition match, there was to be no changing of pokemon and certain moves such as Earthquake were to be limited in intensity, which meant Bertha’s Seismic Twist was ruled out but I might still be able to use Impact Driver if I got the chance.
Just as Agatha was not to use Hyper Beam or other overpowered attacks, not that I expected such from her.
When the referee walked to the central podium, there was a palpable tension in the air.
Neither Agatha nor I had looked away from each other and people were noticing it. They obviously thought there was bad blood but really it was just stubborn pride on both our parts.
Still, I wasn’t going to look away and give her the satisfaction.
“Trainers! Release your pokemon!” the referee shouted.
I didn’t hesitate to reach for Titan’s greatball. I was going strong from the start. I whipped him out and he emerged to unleash a powerful roar.
Across from us Agatha whipped out a duskball.
The normal play of lights occurred as her pokemon formed up only for the form that coalesced to cause my eyes to widen.
A single sword and shield took shape and I felt my mind stutter a half step.
“Aegislash!” barked the pokemon and I whipped my eyes from the pokemon that shouldn’t be possible to find in Indigo to Agatha who was smirking.
She mouthed ‘made you look’ and I held back a grimace.
Of course, that’s what she cared about more than her unveiling of a rare pokemon.
Somehow I knew this wasn’t going to be the only trick up her sleeve.
___________________________________
A.N. Thanks go to my Patreons for your continued support! Please post any thoughts you might have as to how Agatha has an Aegislash. I will give you the heads up that she didn’t own this pokemon prior to their fight with Mewtwo.
What fan theories do you have? Bragging rights await those who record their theories and are later proven right!
Thanks go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!
Comments
KarmaA
TFTC help ut > help out
fireball77
Aegislash being found in Kanto isn't too crazy to me tbh Aren't they just formed from the souls of warriors who's souls bonded with their swords or something? Arguably you should find Aegislash in any region tbh Though ig in Kanto it'd be a Katana instead of a Great sword or something
Mike
That’s good. Old war base for Rota Kingdom.
Focus Armstrong
Naw, keep predicting, that's part of the fun!
Donald Bagwell
Kaede didn’t make sense to us in the narrative, Karen winning made sense or at least more sense to us. I honestly saw a draw happening. My prediction? Agatha slaps Brock around, he does a slight turn around BUT! Agatha planned it and last second destiny bond that will take out Brock’s last pokemon because Agatha wanted to nominate Brock for her/ Lorelei position. This kinda forces it or for him to at least consider it. Maybe a Yolanda pov with her replacing cannon forest. Etc etc
Donald Bagwell
Rota knight base?
Matt H
All excellent points. However, after Brock (initially) losing to Kaede when I thought he'd win and then beating Karen when I thought he'd lose, it's clear I suck at predicting the outcome of fights these days. So I'll stick to just throwing my hands in the air and seeing what happens.
Donald Bagwell
Alt idea, that Rota noble is one of the dudes Agatha rolled to their side
Donald Bagwell
So I think Brock is mostly thinking: sorry lance these are your monkeys While lance is thinking: yes fuck Brock distracted my monkeys, okay back to the gf spreadsheet list. Now can I add the orange islands to it? That one girl has a seadra?
Donald Bagwell
Okay, fair point. Other points? Brock is seen as a huge ass scientific mind. Agatha is the equivalent to an old guard. Sabrina could be champ if she wanted it (my opinion). Brock, being seen as a Pokemon expert and possible professor who has revived Pokemon might be of interest to fiore as that seems to be the main thing I can think of. If he has shin, don or something with him I can see fiore attempt to have access to the revival machine and crowly for their own. Fiore would either see revival as an abomination or look at non trainer Crowley as the second coming of that time traveling ranger from the anime That's not mentioning Brock being an example of allowing Pokemon to roam free because if they point to the geodude or other varied types as examples then straight up say “SEE LET THEM ROAMING AND BEING IN NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS! STRENGTH OF NATURE” and double standards Agatha is an old guard and someone they should know about. Sabrina? Yeah Sabrina scares them For mega evolution though I can see lance begging Brock and Sabrina to explain it in a press conference and explain the bond, the needed connection and more. Can you imagine the political debate between fiore and the indigo scientists who go over the research papers? Agatha trolling fiore sounds amazing Now here is a new idea. Brock and the gym leaders vs the battle frontier brains. Have each of the brains have matches against the 16 kanto gym leaders. How Erica and the sisters grew, Vasquez and how she stacks up as a gym leader, etc etc Also what better freaking way to announce the battle frontier than having Brock, Sabrina and Price against them. Also best idea for loreli after elite four if lance is still petty? Have her be a frontier brain or the like or maybe replace price so he could be away from lance as one of the brains Either way I am looking forward to seeing them, but also that we HAVE to see Paul and regi soon for that whole storyline
Focus Armstrong
Agatha implied she's at or above Champion level, and is partially holding back to help usher in a new generation. She's also a war Veteran at a level where she's capable of surviving encounters with legendries and is at a level of aura Brock has just began to scratch the surface of. Currently, her protege Karen is undoubtedly Elite four level, however, Agatha is still a step beyond that.
Focus Armstrong
Brother, Agatha saying ‘Go, giratina’ is the same as saying ‘Go, Satan’
Rhett Sellers
Looking forward to the rest of the battle
Mike
My own take: she followed Karen’s footsteps. Found it while chasing mega stones for her pokemon. Or she was looking into decommissioned war bases.
Matt H
We'll see. I expected Brock to lose against Karen, but he, surprisingly, ended up winning by a decent margin. From a pure Type perspective, Agatha should be an easier fight given Titan and Empress than Karen was, but that's counterbalanced by Agatha being significantly more experienced. The way the chapter was written it seems like Brock is set to lose this fight, but it's a little hard to rationalize why Brock should do meaningfully worse against Agatha than Karen considering Karen is intended/expected to replace Agatha in a matter of months at this point.
CentaureHeart
Here's that loss that everybody wanted
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
Fiore: Free your pokemon! Brock: ? Fiore: Break the balls! Brock: Uh... why? They're super useful? Fiore: It's slavery! Brock: *shares a look with Titan in bafflement.* No it isn't? Fiore: SlAvErY!! Brock: I can prove it isn't. Fiore: ?!?!? Brock: If I prove it, you owe me an Ultra Ball. Fiore: Pah! Deal! You can’t prove it! Brock: *deadpan stare at Fiore reps* Brock: *Glances at reporters* You got that? Reporters: Yeah! Brock: Okay Titan, let's get to a field. Don't want to make a mess... *Brock & Titan go to the now empty Rodeo arena* Brock: *loud enough for everyone to hear* Okay Titan. You're going to try and break your Great Ball. Anything goes! No limits! Titan: Why would I want to break my Great Ball?? Brock: If you get past me and succeed at breaking your Great Ball, I'll upgrade you to an Ultra Ball. Titan: Eh, not necessary. But I'll take it. Titan proceeds to fight Brock to break Titan's Great Ball while Brock tries to stop him. Brock really does try. But... human vs Tiranitar on a mission? Winner is obvious even when the pokemon is blatantly holding back. Fiore: This proves nothing! Brock: Titan, well... any of my pokemon really, could have broken their pokeball at any time. *shrug* They chose not to. Fiore: There are locks on pokeballs to keep pokemon trapped inside! Brock: Their are-? hang on. Do you mean the medical emergency locks?!? Those only engage when the pokeball notes that the pokemon inside is in critical condition. They can't even be overwritten or released by the trainer, only medical staff have the key. *haunted look as he recalls his Onix's death* I have... first had experience with that lock. Fiore: What about criminals like Team Rocket?!? They keep pokemon trapped! Brock: Yeah... and it's to overwrite pokeballs to do that. Fiore: *squints* How do you check for that? Brock: You... you do realize that every time a trainer registers for a league event they have to have their poleballs scanned right? And that the pokeballs are checked for overwritten code or glitches that would allow a trainer to lock a pokemon in a pokeball without medical need or the pokemon's consent? Fiore: *Pikachu shocked meme* Brock: Yeah. We do the same thing during *shudders* Registration Season. Fiore: Why did you just shudder? Are you hiding something-! Brock: No. I'm a Gym Leader. Registration Season is when trainers have to verify all new captures, releases, and sales of pokemon they have participated in throughout the year. *whispers* This year is going to be a nightmare.
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
I'm just picturing Fiore reps trying to approach Brock about Pokémon Rights and Brock misunderstands. Brock: I've been *trying* to make them understand their inate right to equality but they just don't seem to understand! Fiore rep: ??? Brock: I give them toys, custom built appartments, individually structured meal plans- Fiore rep: ?!? Brock: But what do they do?!? Fiore rep: ...? Brock: They break into my house to become the family nanny! *Gestures to Nanny Grav* Fiore rep: O.O Brock: Don't get me wrong, Nany Grav is Arceus sent. But the kids broke her pokeball years ago and I only found out ten minutes ago-! Fiore rep: !!! Brock: Not the point. Point is that Nanny never even comprehended that she could have walked out at any time. She straight up insists that leaving for the wilds would be a death sentence! Why does she think the wilds are a death sentence?! It's her natural environment! *Behind Brock, Nanny Grav stops one of the kids from trying to jump off a balcony to see if they could fly.* Fiore rep: I, uh, I don't think she meant it was a death sentence for her... Brock: ?? You mean she was worried about killing other pokemon for survival? *thinking* Yeah, that makes sense. She has a soft heart. *Behind Brock Nanny Grav drop kicks a Rattatta that tried to bite one of the kids. The Rattatta goes so far no one sees where it lands* Fiore rep: Right... kind hearted... Brock: Anyway! How do you get your pokemon to understand they have a right to equal rights?? I can't even get mine to eat at a table unless it's to appease my human sensibilities! Fiore rep: ... this might be outside my paygra- I mean, expertise. I'll get back to you on that.
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
So... anyone else just Not Get Fiore's deal with Pokeballs? Like, they are anti-pokeball but it doesn't really make sense? In the games, sure. You can't exactly ask pokemon in the games "Do you want to be free?" And they can't exactly fight you for their pokeball or freedom. But in the show? Movies? This story? Titan could 100% take Brock down and break his own Greatball to run off into the woods if Titan wanted to. Even if a trainer doesn't ask their 'mons if they want to stay, like Brock has done (see when we first meet Empress and Brock asks Titan if he wants to be released), the 'mon can still leave. Yes, you get pokemon like Forrest's Skarmory or Ash's Charizard. But those are just pokemon who want all the upsides (free food, free Healthcare, plenty of fights) with none of the downsides (having to listen to directions from a midget who is as durable as Styrofoam).
Glitched Knights
Cofagrigus is from Unova
Virtue
I believe it was to somewhat distract Agatha from going hard on Yvonne due to her loss against Brock's gym challenge.
the pyro stick figure 76
Golurks are from Unovan, aegaslash is from Kalos the other ghost from that region are Hoopa, and the ghost tree, and jack-o’-lantern.
Pamela Gillespie
See chapter 199
Thomas Brusilovsky
Well, she sure is opening up with possibly the best ghost type. Especially against someone like Brock. I guess ‘Go, giratina’ is still a bit beyond her.
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
@Rinaldo BUT IS SHE JUST CLAPPING IN THE STANDS THOUGH?!? I mean, Brock noted that they didn't appear to have any barriers setup for this match. And yeah, this is an exhibition match in a location not typically used for matches, but you're saying they don't have some sort of portable barrier? Because Brock and Agatha are both top tier; I highly doubt they will keep kiddy gloves on for *every* move. Seems irresponsible not to have barriers. THEREFORE! I propose that SABRINA is providing the barrier! We've seen her do it before, so why not now? Why not flex on Fiore in one more way? Oh, what's that Fiore? Brock and Agatha don't seem that strong? What about our Psychic specialist over there who is single handedly holding back the power of those S-tier moves from hitting the audience??? Does she seem weak to you? No? Yeah, that's what we thought you'd say. Because Fiore's officials can and will scoff over how "This trainer we have could totally take on your trainer." But no one can argue that Sabrina is THE psychic. And what's scarier: the guy who can punch really hard or the woman who can make you think you're a little teapot for the rest of your life? Brock and Agatha *look* like they're the display for Fiore, but if Viva uses Sabrina as the barrier stand-in? Sabrina is going to be the real threat display.
Pamela Gillespie
Pretty sure Brock suggested it to Agatha as a distraction cause Yvonne was worried about something that would've gotten targeted by Agatha
Michael Ox
Another hype fight so soon! So exciting!!! I think she has aegaslash because of the lineage Agatha has. I imagine she isn't the first ghost type user in her family, and they come into being by having the weapon and over time forming that bond. I think she and her family have probably accidently created it! She mentioned queen of Kanto, the desire to be a ruler, ghost typing, and power, all these things would be what an aigeslash would need to come into being!
Glitched Knights
Golurks came from Kalos? Huh, learn something new. Makes sense with the Giant Death weapon there though
Glitched Knights
Okay, when it came to giving older Pokemon new evolutions, I haven't been keeping much track of WHEN they were given them. Thanks for the tidbit
Rinaldo
Plus his gym leader girlfriend, who is the strongest psychic and was first to mega evolve in a generation and did so in dramatic fashion, is politely clapping the match in the stands.
the pyro stick figure 76
Two things Mismagius and other generation four evolutions have already been shown to us, and are known. Not Unovan Kalos you’re one generation off.
Wildebranch
I think one of the things Agatha is talking about is the Aura sharing that Brock thought of before. With how many Ghosts she have with her, I can only imagine how devastating giving Gengy that much energy would have ment during the War.
Donald Bagwell
Other part is a not so subtle surge buffer. Brock has basically got another surge as soon as a new region opens up Also lets face it. We all want a new freaking lance v Brock fight
Jericho Rising
I almost expected it
Jericho Rising
Definitely feeling the rota line of thought.
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
Fiore being there is 100% a political move by Indigo. It's a "fun" and "safe" event that showcases Indigo pokemon and, oh yeah, HAS A DEMONSTRATION BETWEEN #1 ACE TRAINER AND AN ELITE FOUR MEMBER!!! This is 100% a not-so-subtle flex of Indigo's power and a not-so-subtle threat to NOT break the peace between their countries.
Glitched Knights
If she's so blatantly going to use a Unovan Pokemon, there is no way Brock isn't gonna expect possible Golurks, Cofagrigusi, or Mismagius
Glitched Knights
FUCK UP THE UPITY EXCUSE FOR A GLADIUS BROCK!
HoldTightAndPretendItsAPlan
Brock: Why is Fiore here? *shrug* Not my circus, not my monkeys, and not my problem. Me: Yeah, but it is your neighbor's circus monkeys who have a history of climbing into your yard sooo... probably going to be your problem soon enough
Matt H
Complete long shot: Oak's had the Aegislash for a while since it could sense his leadership. I'm not sure why he would give it to Agatha/let her borrow it now, though. As for where it came from originally, my money's on the Rota Kingdom. It's geographically close enough and had a history of knights, royalty, etc. that fits thematically with an Aegislash.
Singa_pore
And so it begins. Agatha’s Aegislash is interesting! Lets see how this goes haha
John Schultze
Can anyone jog my memory on how this match got set up because of Yvonne?
MaliMi
If there is a match I would not mind Brock losing, it is this one. Especially if Agatha uses some advanced aura techniques.
Rinaldo
Did Agatha just clock that Brock recognized an Aegislash? It's possible it was in the computer they found Gibile in, they never kept going they stopped when they saw the baby and let him out. After that Brock was busy taking care of him and then went home, so he wasn't around if they kept looking. Second idea is Agatha just jammed a Gastly into an old sword.
Jaxer30
If she's talking about using aura In combat, the other battle gimmick that uses it is z-moves. With the Alolan immigrants that we got recently, maybe it's not that crazy of an idea.
Antony Wilson
I love how much of a menace Agatha is
AlecG
Marshadow ftw.
PiezoVolt
The only thing I can think of is she got it from the Roa Kingdom with it either being seen as haunted by natives or underground in ruins. Oh she might have a spirtomb if she has this. Great chapter
MrMarauder
2 of my favourite pokemon battling it out in one of my favourite stories? Exquisite!
