Hard Enough

“Alright, the Grannies are coming to pick you up this afternoon,” I said to my siblings as I locked the door. I waved to Graveller, Munchlax and Eevee through the window. Graveller was having to hold Eevee as she’d started to try and sneak after the kids when they went to school. I’d been halfway home from dropping them off when I’d come across her last time.

Since then it became Graveller’s duty to hold onto her.

The little fluffy pokemon whined and made pawing motions after us and my siblings made their own whines. “Big brother I’m sure the teacher won’t mind…” said Cindy.

I shook my head. “You’re going to school to learn, not play with eevee. There are going to be days you can bring her but those are special days.”

“I have one next week!” announced Suzie proudly.

“Yeah but you’re a little baby! You only have Kindergarten lessons!” said Cindy.

I coughed pointedly. “Let’s not fight over Eevee. Alright? Cindy you’ll get your chance to take Eevee to school just as Suzie has her chance. She wasn’t teasing you—”

“Yes I was!” said Suzie primly.

I sighed and continued on. “Alright so she was teasing you, but that doesn’t mean you should react to it. It’s water off a lapras’ back. No problem for you! Right?”

Cindy considered this as Suzie pouted at me. I gave her a firm look and she ducked her head. “Sorry, Cindy!”

“Hmph! No problem! Want to see if we can make it to that tree before Timmy!?” Cindy said, showing a modicum more maturity than her little sister.

“No you can’t!” shouted Timmy as he began to run with all the grace a four-year-old could muster. He fell over at the halfway point. Then he looked back to me to see if he should be crying. I gestured for him to keep running and he remembered what he’d been doing.

I hummed and walked my family into town. This was merely part of the routine for the off-circuit. Most of the time I had to send in a pokemon to escort them during the circuit. In the early days that had resulted in a lot of incidents as the pokemon didn’t know to ignore some of the firmer commands my siblings could give. I’d ended up with Jenny tapping me on the shoulder due to Onix being ordered to give rides, only, not to the school but rather to the local playground. I’d ended up having to make Yolanda and Forrest walk them in.

Forrest zoomed past on his new bike grinning from ear to ear. On days that I wasn’t able to, he still had to walk them in but on days like today? He got to race up to a friend's house and go on from there. What did that mean? With there still being half an hour before he needed to be at school? That meant he had almost enough time to go anywhere he wanted on his bike.

Somehow thirty minutes as a kid seemed like an eternity compared to thirty minutes as an adult.

I drew in a breath before continuing my walk into town. I felt the urge to whistle as I watched the kids tumbling and bumbling down the road. The snow had mostly all melted away. It was only briskly cold now which gave me hopes that this winter wouldn’t be too bad. We’d had some snow but I don’t think any more was predicted in the forecast. Hopefully the cold winds coming from the north didn’t linger into spring.

The kids all became professional pokemon spotters as we walked. But it was pretty easy when it was mostly pidgey and rattata with the occasional caterpie running around. Suzie practised her pidgey song for the fifth time that day and I rolled my shoulders and smiled.

Yolanda trundled along next to me getting used to the scooter she’d gotten over the weekend with her own pocket money. “You’re chipper this morning?” she said as she worked at scooting along with a concentrated look of determination.

“Got to have a full night’s sleep, got the gym jobs all done for the moment. I got in a good workout, threw a cheeky onix…” I took another breath and looked up. “Just seems like today’s going to be a good one.”

“Hmm if you say so,” She said as she kicked off the ground only to bunny hop a little on her scooter. When we reached the outskirts of town my siblings called out to the people they knew that were setting up shops/stalls for the day and the occasional jogger still running about.

Some of the joggers had pokemon themselves with Growlithe, Meowth and Poochyena all following along or being led. The occasional pokemon fight broke out but it was usually handled with a command to return or an acceptance of an early morning battle. It was for this purpose that the running tracks had small battle areas set up every few hundred metres.

One stall owner had objected to a growlithe snatching a nice scarf and not paying only for the jogger to reject their claim. So they were resolving it with a pokemon battle. I watched the aipom dish out a wonderful iron tail to earn his trainer the ‘winnings’.

“Hey scooter girl!” shouted Crystal as she rolled up with her own scooter. Her smile was huge as she stared at Yolanda’s. I made an ‘ah-ha!’ noise that Yolanda shot a look at me for. Now I knew why she’d wanted to buy a scooter of all things.

Yolanda smiled back. “He-hey! Crys!” she stumbled a bit on the scooter, obviously not as used to working it as Crystal.

Crystal pouted. “No! You have to call out to me as ‘hey yourself scooter gal!’ like we’re in a gang!” She performed circles around Yolanda and showed her how it was done. I watched her. Hadn’t her mother threatened her about a bike? Was this her method of flouting her mother or her mother finding something else for her daughter to do? I’d have to ask Georgina later on.

“The scooter gang?” Yolanda said. I chuckled as she rolled off to spend time with her own friend leaving me with Salvadore, Cindy, Billy, Tilly, Tommy, Timmy, and Suzie. They all watched Yolanda scoot away enviously. Almost as one, they turned their heads towards me.

“When can we have a new bike/scooter?” most of them said.

I chuckled and shook my head. “When you’re eleven or when you can buy it yourself! Or have you forgotten you already all have bikes? You just don’t like riding them during winter.”

“That’s soooooo long!” Suzie said sadly, ignoring my earlier comment.

I shrugged. “Guess you’ve gotta get good at running then.” I pointed to another tree. “Race! One, two, three!” She turned and sprinted off with most of the other kids chasing after her. The rest of the walk passed with everyone playing among themselves as we dropped them off. Thankfully the kindergarten and daycare for Timmy, Tilly, Billy and Suzie were the first stop.

Then we came to the school for Salvadore, Cindy and Tommy. I stood at the gates and waved at them as they wandered in. A few kids waved at me but otherwise moved on, my fame in town has long since gone back to normal levels since the victory against Lance.

I had barely turned around when a police siren whirred once. I glanced over to find Officer Jenny giving me an amused look that she quickly schooled into a stern expression. In the sidecar, she had Forrest and his friends all tied up together.

“Gym Leader Brock? Do you know how fast your brother was going through the market?” she said.

I gave him and his friends a look. “Not fast enough if they got caught,” I said cheekily.

Jenny’s eyes narrowed but I merely locked gazes with her. No one I had met so far could outglare me thanks to how naturally narrow my eyes were . It also helped that her lips were twitching at my joke but her ‘cop face’ was good.

I gave her a smile. “Shall we lock them in chains in the square and order people to throw fruit at them for their crimes?”

Jenny’s lips twitched fully into a smile in amusement. “Hmmm, I think it would have to be rotten fruit. Then it wouldn’t be wasted.”

“Oh hahaha! Very funny Brock!” said Forrest from where he was tied up. “Can you please have your girlfriend let us go?”

“Yeah!” Said another boy before squirming. “I gotta pee!” That got some more shouts and squirming from the crowd which I was sure would only make things worse.

I looked at Jenny and offered a fake look of remorse only to find her blushing at their tease. I bit my lip and coughed to cover a laugh. “Ahem! I’m sure it would be a shame to have more mess to clean up would you say? How about you let them off with a warning this time and save the public punishment for next time?”

Jenny tapped her lip as though considering it. “Fine! But you’ll owe me one Brock!” She grabbed a knot and with a flick of her wrist, the entire coil of rope loosened. The squirming gang of boys flopped over the side like suddenly limp spaghetti. They then scrambled over the sides and towards the large carry case that let them draw out their bikes or, in one case, made a sprint for the nearest bathroom. Huh, so he hadn’t been making it up?

Before Forrest could ride off I caught him in a headlock. “Don’t go riding through the market even if it's not full of people! You can’t use that there!” I said fully enjoying the irony of getting to use Oak’s most annoying memo from the games on someone else.

“Alright! Alright! Get off me! I promise not to ride my bike in the market!”

I almost tacked on a few other locations that he shouldn’t ride his bike as well but the school bell gave its first warning chime and suddenly children were streaming into the school like water through floodgates. I even spotted Crystal and Yolanda tearing into school before dismounting their scooters.

When the flood of kids was over I gave Jenny a smile, “So, did they damage anything?”

“No, they were just being hooligans!” she said with a growl, “They need to learn to obey the road rules if they’re going to be riding their bikes around!”

I glanced at her motorbike and then at her. “How’d you catch them?”

She blushed and coughed. “I was in hot pursuit! That makes it different!” she said.

I nodded sagely, not bothering to hide my amusement at her claim. “No problem from me, no problem.” I waved her down. “So how should I pay you back?”

Jenny opened her mouth and from the glint in her eye, I could tell she was going to say something along the vein of teaching Forrest proper rules. Instead, a dull roar sounded out from her stomach making her blush so red I almost thought she was trying to mimic a Mr Mime with how red her cheeks were.

I pointed to a nearby stand that was selling coffee, and breakfast-like foods for parents. “How about coffee and some food?”

She coughed and regathered her dignity from the dirt. “That would be nice,” she said primly. When we got to the front of the line she got a breakfast burger and a black coffee that she then dumped milk into.

“What?” she said as she sat on her bike and tore into her breakfast like a starved woman.

I shrugged, my own hot chocolate bobbing up and down with me. “Nothing really, just watching you eat that like you were starving. Have you been busy?” I said leadingly.

She grunted and waved her hand side to side in a so-so gesture. “Sort of, we’re getting some on and off work but a lot of it is just small-time stuff. The cold has most of the usual crooks tucked up from what we can tell. Got everyone a bit squirrely cause we know something is coming up, but we can’t tell what. If you hear or see anything be sure to pass it along alright?”

“The usual crooks?” I said.

“Team Rocket mostly, although there are some kids doing dumb things like egging stalls and being brats around. It's why I chased after your brother and his friends so hard.”

“Ah…” I said slowly. “Makes sense.” I took another sip of my drink. “And yeah, if I do hear anything I’ll be sure to pass it along. I certainly don’t want Team Rocket sniffing around.”

She nodded. “I got your gym on my patrol route so expect to see me around!”

I flicked my eyes up and down before I could even stop myself. Jenny sat up in surprise before grinning at me. I hummed, oh well in for a pokecent, in for a pokedollar. “I’m sure I could stand to see more of you… Oh, that actually sounds way worse than I intended it to be.” I scratched my head and felt a blush coming on. I’d meant to tease her a bit but somehow I’d flubbed the tone and made it sound kind of …desperate.

Jenny grinned at me, leaning forward like a Meowth that had just seen a choice Ratata. She was just opening her mouth to say something when her radio chirped to life. “Hey Jenny! Got some reports of people spray painting the mayor’s office!”

She huffed and answered, “Copy that, Jenny, on my way!” She gave me a small grimace. “Well this was fun, we should do this again.” She leapt onto her motorbike and swung her well-toned leg over her bike grinning at catching my wandering eye once more. “What’re you doing today?”

“Got Gym training with the new guys. Trixie’s coming over to keep us in shape. Then I have a little league match against Cerulean this afternoon.”

Jenny grimaced. “Ouch Trixie? You train with her?” She ran her eyes up and down my body. “Well guess it had to come from somewhere. Thanks for the coffee, maybe you should offer me another one?” She shot me a wink and throttled her bike. It didn’t stop me from spotting the light dusting of red across her cheeks as she tore off towards the Mayor’s office.

I hummed to myself only to stop. This… had almost been a date, hadn’t it? I turned that over in my head. That was rather nice. Jenny was a nice lady and I didn’t think I would mind spending more time with her.

But did I even want to date someone right now? It might sound bad, but I’d learnt from my past life that to properly ‘date’ both parties really needed to be invested in it or understand that it was just something fun.

Jenny seemed fun, but I had only interacted with her in a work setting or during small moments like this where we crossed paths. Would that change if I tried dating her? It could potentially be awkward with us having to work together occasionally. At eighteen years of age she was doing well to have risen from a junior officer position from when she'd joined at sixteen, following her stint in the police cadets.

We were obviously both workaholics. So we wouldn't have time for serious dating.

Also, I totally had other things to focus on.

Still… My mind couldn’t help recalling the way she’d mounted that motorbike or the way her smile got sheepish or boisterous. I tossed my empty drink and decided to jog back to the gym, hoping to clear my head.

I arrived just in time to catch another jogger knocking on the front door. Instead of wearing jeans or a windbreaker like many of the other people out and about, she was wearing form-fighting yoga pants, a sleek jacket that strained to hold in her upper body and a sweatband on her forehead that kept her shoulder-length auburn hair out of her face.

She jogged on the spot and glanced at her wrist. I knew her well enough to know she was not checking the time so much as she was checking her heart rate. She was a tried and true fitness fanatic.

While I had gone on my journey, she had been training. When I’d undergone tournaments, she’d been training. When I returned and began running the gym, she’d been training. While I’d dropped off my siblings and had a coffee date with Jenny?

Trixie had been training.

“Hey Trixie!” I called out. She rotated her jogging on the spot and beamed a megawatt smile at me.

“Brock! Wonderful morning we’re having aren’t we!?” While she wasn’t wrong, it was actually a nice day, Trixie was a happy person. But not just a normal everyday happy person. Trixie was the type of person that could be neck deep in mud, with rain coming in sideways and she’d still be smiling and telling everyone how great the day was.

“Yeah, ready to run the training session with the new trainers I picked up? Rachel asked to join in so go gentle on her alright?”

“Hahahahaha!” Trixie giggled. Something that was deeply disconcerting for such an amazonian. “Oh Brock, I’m all about working people within what they’re capable of, I don’t push past that!”

I smiled. Oh well, I’d tried. The front doors of the gym opened to reveal Rocko grinning up at Trixie.

“Trixie, what’s up girl?” he said before stepping back out of a chilly wind. His chosen training gear of a loose singlet and basketball shorts not at all suitable for the still brisk morning.

“Oh, my new clean and jerk record!” said the girl happily as she bounced into the gym, taking the words literally.

“Nice!” Rocko said without batting an eyelid. He gestured in towards the arena where everyone that was taking part was assembled. I held up a hand for Trixie to wait for me to introduce her and she nodded. Then she dropped into single-leg squats in the trainer tunnel.

Rocko shook his head. “If a Gengar ever gets me I’m going to think of this to scare them off,” he said out the side of his mouth to me. I chuckled.

When I got to the field proper I spotted Dennis, Daniel, Celia, Rachel, Missy, and surprisingly both Stephen and Bianca in sports attire. I gave them both a surprised look. “Uhm? Are you sure you want to take part in this?”

Bianca nodded. “It would be good for me to stay fit!”

Stephen agreed amiably. “I’ve been getting a little flabby and will need to do some proper hiking soon!”

Rocko and Dennis looked at each other and laughed. They then stopped laughing to drop into stretches. The others looked at them in confusion.

“Well just to warn you but Trixie’s not like other personal trainers. She guarantees results but her guarantee is…”

Dennis grunted as he flicked his leg up behind himself to stretch his quads. “It’s carved from steel and plated. You’ll be the fittest you’ll ever be and only death’s sweet embrace will free you otherwise.”

Rocko snorted. “Nah Brock got a chansey this year. We’re screwed.”

Celia who’d had the luck to avoid the fitness regime sessions last time stared in surprise at Rocko’s tone and how worried Dennis looked. “Uh? Is she mean about it?”

“No. Trixie could never be described as mean,” I said as I swung my legs through an active warm-up. Rachel and Celia sighed in relief at that while Bianca looked more confused.

Missy tilted her head and glanced around while Daniel rubbed his chin.

“Where have I heard the name Trixie?” he said.

“Well she’s won Miss Mountain Indigo the last four years in a row, so maybe from a magazine?” I said, taking off my jacket. I looked at my shirt before shrugging and stripping out of it as well. Rachel, Celia, Missy and Bianca stared at me. I shrugged at them. “I’ll get a towel and another shirt during the breaks she gives but no point getting something dirty. Plus, you know, chafing.” I turned and cupped my hands to call back down the tunnel. “Alright Trixie! We’re ready for you!”

I ignored Dennis’ muttered, “I’m not.”

Two pokeballs popped out from the tunnel and discharged a Machoke, and a Breloom that glanced around. When they spotted us they flexed their muscles.

And then Trixie emerged from behind them.

In the space of time since I left her, she’d discarded her top to reveal she was wearing a tubetop underneath to preserve her modesty. Each step made muscles ripple that I knew the name for from a previous life’s field of work in health.

Trixie advanced like a tectonic plate moved, certain of its trajectory with the knowledge nothing would stop it. She had a light sweat up now.

While I’d been checking in with my trainers. She’d been training.

Trixie was the sort of fitness fanatic that people of my previous life could only dream of being. In a world with aura and the ability for belief to produce results, Trixie had made a temple with her body. She had to have been cut from the same clothe as a certain leotard wearing ninja.

“Oh sweet mama,” said what might have been Rachel.

Trixie grinned at us. “Ready to start? Good!” a fire entered her eyes as she clapped her hands together causing a tiny clap of thunder. “Now... Run!”

Dennis, Rocko and I turned and ran at her command. The others were startled at our reaction only for Trixie to suddenly be among them urging them on with good cheer while her pokemon prodded and poked people into running. “Let’s go! G! O! Let’s go team run, run, run! I want ten laps out of all of you!”

I tried to get as much of a lead as I could. While it was dragon types that were known for it I still had my pride and it was demanding I push myself.

I ran a lap around the arena and was three-quarters of the way around for my second when I overtook Daniel who was being hounded by Breloom. Trixie was urging Rachel and Celia on and Machoke was cheering Stephen on. Surprisingly Bianca was with Missy and Rocko as the next group and Dennis was running madly behind me by a few paces. I continued to run, settling in as much as I could, even drawing on the slow steady energy of rock and stone to make it easier.

Trixie worked her way through everyone and I had run four laps before she suddenly started lapping everyone with a smile on her face. “You’re all doing wonderful!” She made sure to clap each person on the back in encouragement. I tried to pour on the speed to keep her off but I could tell she was still closing in as I spotted her catch Dennis who I’d lapped a while ago.

Then she turned her sights onto me and began to open up with her long muscular legs. With each step she took, dirt kicked up behind her. I spared a glance back and realised I was also leaving small gouges in the ground as I ran. I dug in. Just ten laps! I could stop in five more laps!

With two to go she caught up to me and smiled. “Oh! Wow, you’re doing really well Gym leader Brock! You’ve gotten really good since we last did this! I’m so happy that you kept up your training!” Then she was past me and I was cursing up a storm. She had to be using fighting-type aura! She had to be! I tried to feel for any energy like the books had mentioned but I was obviously lacking in my sensory skills. That had to be the reason I told myself

She continued to loop around and she continued to cheer people along as she passed them. When she caught up to me she smiled. “On your left!”

I grit my teeth, was this how Sam felt when Steve Rogers overtook him?

Trixie didn’t have a mean bone in her body. But on some level she understood that when you challenged someone in the right way in this world they simply had to respond. It was like she could flip the switch of having a pokemon challenge initiated only to make you do your best with training with her.

You couldn’t do anything else.

Some part of the brain just activated and you found yourself sprinting for all you were worth… and it still wasn’t enough to match her.

She competed with the other fitness junkies in a world with aura and had claimed the national title four times in a row. She only had to do it another two times to claim the all-time record.

When she was about to complete her tenth lap, instead of crossing the finish line she jogged backwards and caught up with each person to help cheer you across the finish line. I wished I could hate her in that moment, but somehow she was just too pure in her support.

Also, she always guaranteed that you’d come out fitter than you went in.

I staggered across the line and she cheered me on for finishing before pointing to a set of towels and drinks that she’d somehow had set up while we’d run.

“Make sure to breathe and stretch out after your warm-up!” she said as she darted back to Dennis who was looking red in the face as he pumped his arms to finish. I staggered over to the towels.

Most of the people still running jerked at her words. Daniel even screamed. “WARM UP!? THIS IS A WARM-UP?!”

Trixie just smiled. “Why sure! You’ve got me for the next two hours!”

Everyone shot me hateful looks. I shrugged. They could hate me, but they’d also love the results that came with this sort of training.

Rocko and Dennis hadn’t been lying, results were guaranteed. Just not in the way most people thought they were.

Still, I was so planning on having a nap once Trixie was done. I’d need some extra energy this afternoon for when I coached my team. Today’s match was against our “rivals” in Cerulean.

“Come on David! Swing for the stands!” I shouted to the boy. He gave me a hesitant thumbs up as he trudged out to the plate with his baseball bat. I returned the thumbs up and felt my muscles ache. I took a sip of the shake Trixie had left us with. It tasted like warm celery mixed with some berry. It helped muscle recovery… Somehow.

I didn’t question the woman that had been crowned Muscle mountain champion. If she told me to eat something I’d eat it like I was Deku being offered one of All Might’s hairs.

It did helped quell the tremors that ran through my body, so it must be doing something right.

Next to me the next batter twitched and muttered to himself. I glanced at him and listened in when I realised he was muttering something.

“It’s a mistake sending David in now, we’d be better off with George or Julia. They handle fastball throwers like this much better. Julia has a better average…” He continued to mutter to himself while I stared at him.

“—ike three!” called the umpire. I glanced up from the kid to see David’s dejected form slouch his way back to me.

“Bad luck David you’ll get him next time!” I said.

“Doubtful,” said the boy next to me.

I stared at him. His name was Manny, and he’d been a late addition to the Little League team. His mother had marched him to team practice and begged me to start training him. He’d initially refused until I’d made him the ‘rest’ point for the geodude if he started to slack off. He’d spent the entire time muttering darkly at me and I’d thought he was doing the same now.

I’d thought he was a kid that preferred video games or reading only to be forced into the daylight by his mother. I could sympathise, but with his mother pushing him onto me I had to make him participate. He’d gnashed his teeth, dragged his feet and gotten into practise. He’d eventually taken part in conversations with the other kids. Honestly, he’d seemed surprised to get them talking with him.

Sadly his performance in catching, throwing, batting and more made him easily the least skilled kid. He’d taken to watching the others kids intently. I’d thought he’d been trying to learn how they were doing things.

Instead, it looked like he’d done some research and gone another route.

He glanced up at me only to realise that I was watching him. “Urgh! You expect me to go out there don’t you?”

I hummed. “Eventually…” I looked past him to the bench where George and Julia were sitting. “Julia! You’re up now!”

Julia grinned, grabbing her bat and trotting out. I gestured to the home plate and she ran up. She swung at the ball. She missed on the first throw. Then the second. And on the third… CRACK!

She didn’t get a home run but she did send it ripping along the field forcing the fielders to scurry. By the time they had it, she was already on her way to third base.

“Nice one!” I called to Julia.

“Woooooooah!” screamed a woman’s voice from the stands. I glanced back expecting to see Julia’s mother. Instead, I found Karen standing and cheering wildly. I stared at her, the aviators on my nose sliding down a bit.

What the?

She had a big drink in one hand and a large hat to shade her features but… that was Karen wasn’t it? This seemed… well I couldn’t say out of character because I didn’t really know her did I? Not beyond meeting up with her in a pitch to join a quasi-secret society and fighting her and the other big names of the group.

I wouldn’t have thought her to be someone to turn up to a Little League match though. She grinned at me and waved as she pulled down her own sunglasses to wink at me.

Then again if she was here to mess with me… Yeah, that made a lot more sense.

The boy next to me nudged me in the kidney. “Stop staring at our mums and sisters!” he growled. At his words, my eyes flicked to said women in case they thought I had been staring at them— “No! Stop that!”

I stiffened before glowering at him. “I wasn’t doing that. That woman just now… She’s someone I know.”

“Well stop staring at her, and send in someone else!” said Manny. He gestured to the team. I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I should send you out,” I said, pointing out that he had a helmet and a bat ready to go.

He stiffened, apparently having forgotten they were even there. “Uhmmm please don’t? I don’t think I can hit those pitches!”

I snorted and looked to see that while I’d been gawping like an idiot at Karen. A new kid had been sent out. One that threw harder and faster than everyone else on his team. I’d been having trouble with this kid but he only had like eight good pitches in him before he tired out. Probably less now.

Not that I’d let it get that bad. I had an answer to him. I checked my clipboard first though. So far Manny hadn’t batted, just as Tomas, Wayne and Tracey were all still waiting for their chance.

I tapped Tomas’ name. He’d be my answer for this kid in a second but first I called out for Wayne. He raced out with a huge grin. His swings were equally as enthusiastic and on his second swing he connected and sent it rocketing right back to the pitcher. I was impressed when the kid plucked it out of the air.

“Damn it,” I said before coughing when Manny giggled next to me. Julia was sprawled out atop third base having thrown herself atop it when she had to abort her sprint for home.

“Damn it huh?” said Manny snidely

“I didn’t say that. I said Blastoise it!” I said, lying like a pro. “You should get your ears checked.” I cupped my hands to call out some encouragement as Wayne realised that his getting to first base meant nothing.

“Woooooah! Next time just aim for his head kid!” shouted Karen from the stands. This got a round of chuckles from the Pewter parents but the Cerulean parents that had come grumbled. I saw one woman standing and glaring back at Karen who shamelessly waved.

Wayne returned with a huge blush on his face. “Sorry Coach,” he said. I pat him on the head.

“Nah it’s all good, nice job hitting that throw.”

Manny rolled his shoulders. “Time for Jaimie?” he said, taking off his own helmet.

I stared at him and let a small, evil-looking smile form on my face. He blanched. “You can’t send me out! My weedle-like arms can’t hit those throws!”

I snorted and looked away from him. “Just messing with you Manny. Tomas! You’re up!”

“Tomas? He can’t hit that!” Manny practically shouted.

“Oh he will,” I put up two fists and Tomas nodded seriously. When he stood on the plate he took up most of it with his larger frame. He made a grand show of swinging as if he was going to aim for nothing but the back fence. His swings caused loud wooshes of air and a few of the fielders backed up at their own coach’s urging.

Manny bit his lip, holding in the giggle.

“Yeah! That’s it tubby! Save yourself the running and just walk it in with a homer!” Karen gave another shout. This got a bit more laughter from the crowd on both sides. I shot Karen a glare along with a shake of my head. She really shouldn’t tease him about his body. He was a growing lad.

Tomas blushed but stepped up to the plate.

When the pitcher wound up he stepped in, choking up the plate and grabbing the end of his bat. I could see the Cerulean coach’s eyes bulge as he realised what was about to happen.

“It’s a bunter!” he called. Thankfully he was way too late and despite his pitcher's fast throw his speed meant nothing in the face of Tomas’ soft hands and sharp eyes. The ball dribbled forward and the pitcher had to scurry forward. I saw Tomas lumber into a run and slide into first base. When I turned to see Julia home I was surprised to find her once more sprawled out but this time only a little away from third base once more. The third baseman slid his foot back and I knew what he’d done. I knew, but I couldn’t believe it. She scrambled back to third base and safety.

“What the?” I said in shock.

Manny scowled as he spoke, “Their third baseman tripped her.”

“The hell he did!” I said. I stormed up to the umpire. “Hey!!? What the hell was that shiii…” I stopped the words as he stood and narrowed his eyes at me. “What was that!?” I gestured towards Julia who was scowling at the boy standing next to her.

Instead of the umpire speaking another man in pinstripes stepped up. “Nothing there. She tripped,” said an official. The umpire shot the other man a surprised look only to get a look that carried a message. I glowered at the man

“Tripped! She tripped because he—” I pointed at the boy trying to act far too innocent, “—tripped her!” I shouted. The crowd behind me roared their approval.

The official shook his head. “Calm it down before I give you a warning Coach.”

I turned to the other Coach only to see him very much not looking in my direction. I glared at him and marched over Julia. “You okay?”

She nodded and shot the third baseman a venomous look. “I’m fine.”

I nodded and for half a second I wanted to say something to the brat that had tripped her but that wouldn’t be good. Instead, I pushed down the dark urges. It was hard. And only made harder when the Cerulean crowd heckled me as I walked back to my side of the field. Manny was watching me. When he saw my expression he swallowed. I turned back and took a deep breath to control myself.

I knew what I thought should happen now but…” I shot a glance at the scrawny kid. “Who now?”

“... you’re asking me?” Manny said.

I shot him a challenging look, one I’d perfected at the Gym. “We’re two bases loaded, a bit down and our team is spitting mad. This has got everyone rattled. What do you do?” I said playing up the situation. For me, it really should be a schoolyard scuffle of kids but the parents and the umpire acting like that had my blood up. Still, it would feel big for the kids. That meant it was a pressure situation. What could Manny come up with when he was feeling the pressure?

“...” He licked his lips and swallowed again watching me. Then his eyes looked over the team as they bristled. Then his gaze stopped on one that had kept her cool. She was annoyed, but it was focused.

“...Jaimie. Send her out,” he said.

“I agree,” I said, pointing at her. “Jaimie! Need you out here!”

The team all cheered as Jaimie stepped up with her baseball bat. The Geodude I had with pom poms raised their arms and shook them like cheerleaders heralding the return of the golden girl. Which Jaimie really was. I smiled at her and showed her some teeth. “Think you can get us out of this pickle?”

She chuckled and nodded. “Yes!” I waved her up to the plate and she trotted up. When she swung the bat it didn’t sound impressive but there was a crispness to her movements that had people that were watching sit up.

“She looks good up there,” Manny said. I gave him a look and he blushed. “For a girl that is!”

I chuckled and patted him on the head. “You’re a smart kid Manny, don’t worry if some things confuse you.”

A pitch was hurled down and Jaimie watched it come without twitching.

“Strike one!” called the umpire.

Manny twitched. “Urgh! She didn’t swing… oh… she’s getting her eye on the ball, isn’t she?”

I nodded, my grin growing. “How would you like to try being the team’s manager? You’ll still have to train with us, but I’ll have you focus on some different things like getting info on us and the opposition.”

“Strike two!” called the umpire as Jaimie swung this time. She missed but I got the idea that she was once more testing herself. I’d seen her do it against the Geodude when I restricted her to only three pitches.

“Ha! Here we go Cerulean!” cried one woman shrilly. I grimaced and rubbed my ear.

Karen stood up. “Come on girlie! Send these cheaters packing!”

“What’d you call my baby?!” cried the shrill woman.

“A cheater!” shouted Karen.

I couldn’t turn my attention from the next pitch. This time when the pitcher wound up Jaimie shifted ever so slightly into them. Her shoulder rolled and her grip shifted. I could see her relaxing into it as her eyes locked onto the ball.

When she swung through this time the ‘crack’ of a bat striking the ball sweetly rang out. I watched it soar right over the back fence.

Julia grinned, made to run off third base. Stopped, and then she pushed the third baseman over while everyone was still watching the ball.

“Homerun!” cried the umpire as it landed past the fence.

Manny jumped and whooped and the kids that had been sitting leapt up to run up to the home plate. Julia grinned as she trotted home. Behind her the third baseman was standing back up from the ground. He sadly got in the way of Tomas as he jogged around, resulting in him being bumped back into the dirt by the larger boy.

Jaimie followed right after him and when she hopped onto the plate the kids roared their approval. Manny charged up to clap everyone on the back and get amongst the team. I watched them carry on before whistling sharply. “Oi! we’ve still got another two innings to go and we’re still batting!” I pointed at Manny and then to my side.

“George, you’re up now!” I said as I ushered the kids back to their seats.

I handed Manny my clipboard so he could do some notes of his own. I was just settling in when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I glanced back to find a rather sheepish-looking umpire.

“Uhmm, you’re Gym Leader Brock right?” he said.

“I’m on the field, it’s just Coach Brock,” I said.

“Oh, well see, we kinda need the Gym Leader right now? The parents have broken out into a fight behind the stands and there’s a woman with a Houndoom. Think you can go calm things down?” he said, wringing his hat.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Arceus damn it Karen…” I said as I wandered around the back to save some hapless parent that had decided that challenging Karen of all people would be a smart move. I came around the back of the stands to find Karen laughing as another woman was gaping at the flattened Delcatty and a Nidorina, both unconscious.

“Karen…” I give her a flat, unimpressed look. “What are you doing here?”

“Enjoying myself!” she said with a smug grin.

I sighed. “Alright you’ve proven you’re the big girl on the block, can you return your pokemon?”

She eyed the worried-looking woman for a long moment. The woman swallowed and licked her lips. Karen sniffed, “Return boy.” the Hounddoom returned in a beam of light.

The official that had skulked after me decided to lean out from behind me. “You can’t return to the stands! Supporters that get into fights aren’t allowed back!” He glanced at me and whimpered when he saw how very very unimpressed I was with him.

Karen growled. “Gonna try and reinforce that—” I held up a hand.

“He said you can’t go back to the stands, come sit in the dugout,” I said as I waved her to follow me.

“Wait! No that’s…”

I shot the man a glare. “What? It’s what you said. Don’t worry about it. It’s not like she tripped anyone.”

Karen chuckled as she trotted up to me. “Nice one, so are we winning? Cause I only cheer on winners.”

“We’re winning,” I said, turning to see that despite my being called away the game had continued. It should have paused. I shot the official a glare as he slinked back into the stands to whisper with another man. I led Karen over to the kids.

“Here, take a seat.” The kids instantly closed around her and kept her occupied. I looked at Manny after taking a peek at the scoreboard. “We’re up five?”

Manny grinned and tapped his head with a pen. “I got us another two… but now we’re out of batters…”

I shrugged, “Time to field then.” I made a sign and the call was made to switch things out. Karen watched the kids toddle out. I took the change over time to talk with Karen.

“What are you doing here?” I said.

“Checking in on what our newest recruit does when he’s not training. Never thought I’d enjoy sports, but there’s something about heckling brats that just warms the heart.” she propped her chin up and gave me a wicked smile.

“That’s… kinda evil,” I said with a judgemental tone.

She shrugged. “Eh, that’s how people like to see Dark types. I have no problem living up to the stereotype. Makes life more fun.” She picked up one of the spare uniforms.

“The Pewter Tyrants… cute.” She grinned at me. “I think I can get behind cheering for a proper dark type. Need an assistant coach?”

“No,” I said firmly.

“I’ll only come to matches and don’t bother calling me for training sessions,” she said, continuing to talk as if I hadn’t spoken up rejecting her.

I rubbed my forehead. “Seriously? What are you doing?”

She shrugged. “Not much, sadly. I’m mostly boosting my Ace trainer rating for now.”

She winked. “Bit of a ‘dark’ horse you could say. I have come up from nowhere and am now in the top fifty for the Ace division. By the time the circuit comes around, I’m going to be making a name for myself. I’ve got it planned out. To get some hype I’ll be announcing challenges to the big gyms through radio and on Battlecast but I’ll get in the small gyms' faces first up to get a ‘grass root’s following as it were. With the gym leaders having to use their best pokemon and not just their limited best I think there’d be some real interest.”

“Ah, is that so,” I said. “Well, maybe you should go fight some people that will raise your points, rather than annoying parents.”

“Nah, this is more fun. I’ve just gone through eight matches this week. My pokemon need some rest and I’m running kinda flat myself.” She kicked her legs. “You should really treat a woman nicer, you know.”

“Yeah, pass, I’m good,” I said as behind me Manny directed the kids to close up on the current batter. I assessed it and patted him on the head. Manny looked away from the field and around me.

Karen grinned at Manny and stretched. Manny stared openly and then blushed when he was caught staring. “Oh, he’s cute,” Karen said teasingly.

Manny lifted his clipboard and hid his face. “Brock? Who is that woman?”

I sighed. “I think she’s going to be our mascot or something like that…”

When I didn’t get a shout of denial I turned my head to find her with a finger raised, but her face was locked into a half-annoyed half thoughtful expression. I clicked my tongue. Damn it she actually liked that idea! It’d probably even incentivise her to come and get into fights! I facepalmed as Karen grinned at me. If she wasn’t a dark-type specialist I would have thought for a moment that she’d somehow just read my mind.

Perhaps I was just too in sync with her and could tell what she’d do. In this case that meant the most troublesome thing she could.

“How old are you again?” I asked

“Nineteen? Why?” Karen said with a tilt of the head.

I turned away. “No reason.” Well, it was safe. Also she couldn’t get drunk at the game with this being a public space. As if to prove me wrong she took a swig from a small flask. I stared at her and she grinned in challenge.

“Want some of this?” I wasn’t sure if she was offering the drink… or something else. I turned away and tried to smother the feelings that were coming from something much lower than my brain.

Manny, who’d been watching all of this play out, shook his head. “Adults are weird,” Manny muttered aloud.

I could only agree. Damn, I missed being twelve and on the open road. I waved Karen to sit back and not annoy me, she just took another swig of her flask and grinned. In the end, Karen only taught the kids three swear words and affirmed herself as a ‘cool older sister’ to all the girls. The boys might have gotten an inkling of puberty rearing its head.

Oh, and we won, which was nice. But I was pretty sure the most talked about thing from this match would be how Karen got into a fight with a parent behind the stands.

The best part of my team winning for me, however? That was getting to shake hands with the opposing coach, then the umpire, and then finally the official. I made sure to squeeze extra hard on those last two and stare right into their eyes as I did so.

Karen then trotted up next to me. “So Agatha wanted me to check in on you and make sure you’re training your aura. Been reading the books and putting them to use?” she said while the kids accepted praise from the supporters that had come along.

“Yeah, with how easy Dark energy has been coming I’ve been trying to incorporate more Rock energy into tasks. Makes carrying things around pretty easy I have to say.”

Karen sniffed. “Yeah well, Dark energy is better for subtle effects and beguilement.” Her grin didn’t change and yet I found myself liking it for— her hand brushed against my jawline.

“Hmmm? You sure you’ve been reading those books?” she said with a teasing tone.

I spiked both dark and rock-type energy. The feeling of being drawn into her rather fetching— I cycled my energy and then switched up the direction of the flow. The smile was still attractive but then again Karen was rather pretty. I couldn’t deny that. She grinned as I huffed, pulsing my energy again.

“I’ve been reading but putting it into practice is a bit harder.” What on earth had that been? Had that been a pokemon move? A dark-type attraction move? What even would that be? Beguilement? I wanted to call it Foul Play or Dark Plot, but for all that the wording amused me the effects didn’t match to… whatever she’d done.

Karen raised her hands and waved them in front of herself. I pinched the bridge of my nose. “And that’s why you’re really here.”

She chuckled. “That, and to entertain myself. The off-circuit is kind of boring you know? Lot less trainers of worth or interest around. It’s why it takes so many matches to raise my Ace rating.”

“Well, it was nice catching up and all, but I’m going home to finish up a training program for my new trainers now,” I said feeling exasperated.

“Bleh! This is why going straight to Elite Four is going to be so much sweeter! None of this organisational muck. Whatever! Later!” she waved and walked off.

I watched her go. Or more specifically her backside. She turned around quick enough to catch me, or she would have if it weren’t for the aviators. It didn’t stop her from winking at me though. I inhaled and spiked my energy again. Damn it, another thing to work on.

I shook my head and turned to the kids. “Who wants ice cream!?” I said loudly, earning cheers from the kids.

Karen twitched to a stop. She was stuck turning around and losing her cool exit or not getting to needle me. She shot me an annoyed glance over her shoulder and kept walking. I chuckled to myself. I might have lied to Karen.

But then again, I was part dark type as well.