Hard Enough

“Brock…” Sabrina stared at the rock that I had laid out on my table. With how she was staring at it in open wonder I knew this had to be resonating with her. It had to be a psychic-type pokemon megastone.

And the first psychic type to come to mind would be—

At her hip a pokeball opened and Alakazam appeared in the room. He nodded in greeting to me before leaning forward to inspect the rock with Sabrina.

“I think that clinches it as Alakazamite.”

“Alakazamite,” Sabrina said, her fingers gently rubbing over the edges. She tapped at where a small marble like gem was set. “There are two resonances?”

I nodded. “I think these types of stones grow in pairs. It helps to link the trainer and the pokemon that it is attributed to.”

Sabrina nodded long, still entranced by the stone. “Where did you find such a thing?”

I rubbed my cheek. “I didn’t. Flint found it and thought it would be useful for me to have.”

I watched her. “But I actually think that you might be a better person for this.”

Sabrina didn’t say anything so I tapped her hand. “So? Do you want it?”

Sabrina snapped her head upwards. "You’re going to give this to me?!”

“Sure, I don’t have an Alakazam and you… this would be amazing for you.”

Sabrina shifted from foot to foot and I tilted my head. She was that uncomfortable with it?

“Brock, you do realise that Lance got his Megastone due to you defeating him during your friendly match?”

I blinked. “No… I hadn’t made that connection.” Did… Did Lance feel threatened by me? That, kind of made sense actually.

Sabrina nodded. “Usually Lance has a disciplined mind. During the meeting we had in the aftermath of the Rocket raid Lance noticed you had seen his bracelet. He thought about you noticing it specifically and thought you might understand that it was a new trump card.”

“Oh,” I said. Everything she’d said… It made perfect sense. I scratched the back of my head. I kind of felt bad that Lance was obviously feeling threatened by me. I hadn’t meant to do that. Well… not back then…

“Brock, why are you smirking?” she said with a tilt of her head.

I coughed “No reason!” I said. Okay, so I found it a bit amusing! It was kind of a compliment.

“You’re still smiling,” she said.

“Yeah let’s not worry about that!” I said defensively.

Sabrina huffed at me but she obviously thought it was amusing. Her lips were twitching as well after all. She tapped the rock. “How does it work?”

I grinned. “Well we’ll need to get a jeweler to work the stones out without damaging them. Then we’ll fit a bracelet for you or a necklace that you can use to link up with Alakazam.” I then tapped Alakazam on the shoulder. “Alakazam will get a slightly larger gem that he will have to carry with him. From what little I know, there will be a synchronisation period for you both but eventually, you will be able to mega-evolve your pokemon.”

“What about a rin—” Alakazam’s eyes glowed and Sabrina stopped talking, turning her head to her pokemon as he stroked his moustache. Sabrina nodded grimaced at him before gesturing towards him, “Alakazam wants to know what Mega-evolution is.”

“It’s a temporary empowerment that boosts every trait a pokemon has. In some cases it even changes the typing of the pokemon,” I said, thinking of Charizard and Gyarados as merely two examples.

“Do you know how many pokemon can mega-evolve?” Sabrina said after conferring with her pokemon once more.

“Uhmm.” I started counting them off to myself and Sabrina's eyebrows shot up in surprise. I decided to just give a best guess. “I think there’s at least… thirty mega evolutions?” I had no idea if that was still true.

Alakazam stared at me as his eyes glowed. “What Pokemon do you know of that can Mega-evolve?”

“Alakazam obviously,” I said before leaning back. “Venusaur, Blastoise, Charizard, Gengar, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Tyranitar, Steelix, Aggron, Swampert, and others like Beedrill.”

Sabrina stared at me. “I can’t help but notice that your own team happens to have alot of pokemon capable of mega-evolution.”

I scratched the back of my head. “Well I think that has more to do with rock types and Mega stones but yeah I got lucky like that I suppose.” She continued to stare. “I know you have Alakazam, Slowbro, Metagross, Gallade, Gardevoir, and Medicham as possible mega evolutions for psychic types though, you now have three of those potentially.” I stared at her. “Isn’t that going to be a good portion of your team?”

Sabrina sniffed. “I only learned about Mega evolutions now. You?” she tilted her head.

“I keep my ears to the ground pretty well, I like to think. Steven Stone is big into investigating mega stones as aggressively as he can get away with, or so I hear. Among corporate espionage, apparently.”

Sabrina tilted her head. “Where did you hear that?”

I waved a hand back and forth. “The radio, the television…” I grimaced. “Not great sources of information I have to admit as it will be skewed, so I’m not really sure about Steven Stone.”

I shrugged. “Apparently, Blaine sued him. I haven’t heard how that’s been going on but apparently Steven Stone is in Kanto because of it.”

“Hmmm, I see.” Sabrina nodded her head. “What are we going to do about Team Rocket and Team Magma?”

I leaned past her and plucked the holopad that I used to talk with the Guardians. I prepared the record section and got ready to send out a message.

I took my seat and Sabrina came and leaned on the chair. I rolled my eyes but she merely shot me an amused look as she tapped the record function forcing me to begin talking.

“Team Rocket sent a spy into my gym. We were able to learn some surprising facts about him. Apparently, he wasn't just an agent for Team Rocket but also for a foreign team from Hoenn known as Team Magma. I want his cell as secured as possible. Officer Jenny is currently holding him at the gym. This makes three attempts at my gym now by Team Rocket. I’m going to act on the intelligence of Team Rocket’s bases before they have a chance to escape those sites.”

I stopped recording and sent the message off. As it was sent it played back for me and I realised that with Sabrina lounging next to me and with the room not lit I looked a bit like a mob boss calling for a hit to be made.

I didn’t have time to linger on that however as a videocall from Agatha came in.

“Brock,” she said in greeting before she turned her eyes to Sabrina. “Young Sabrina… we still haven’t performed your initiation test.”

“I think with the circumstances that can wait Agatha. I trust Sabrina more than anyone.” Sabrina psychically squeezed my shoulder and I shot her a small smile.

“Hmmm, how quaint,” Agatha said.

A moment later another screen popped out and Koga appeared sitting on a leather couch while Janine stood behind him.

Agatha sniffed “I see even you have given up on tradition Koga!”

Koga merely shrugged. “I merely agree with Brock’s idea. We should not wait. I will point out that I find it rather amusing that the Rock wielder is the one to be the most proactive of us though.”

Janine shot her father a look like she couldn’t believe he’d just made a joke. Agatha merely huffed only for another screen to appear and Karen to appear with tousled hair. “Yeesh! Marking your territory much girl?” Karen said.

Sabrina merely hummed. I glanced at her positioning and realised that it was a bit of a ‘power-move’ wasn’t it? I decided I should probably double down. Sabrina was the one I trusted the most after all. I patted her hand and she shot me a smile while Karen’s eyes narrowed. Janine merely tilted her head.

Agatha scoffed. “Urgh! Children!” she said before slamming her cane on the ground. “Moving on, I agree with Brock that securing his prisoner just became top priority. Daniel of Gringey City just became a person of extreme interest. I’m glad you had the good sense to not let him be carted off to the police station. We shall take custody.”

I considered that. “Perhaps it would serve our purposes best if the ‘League’ were to take custody of him officially.”

“Yes, then lose him in the bureaucracy of—” Agatha began, only for me to shake my head.

“No…I was thinking more along the lines of using this to boost Koga’s strength and allow him greater sway on Lance’s dream of forming an international police force.”

Koga nodded but Karen and Agatha both looked uninterested. “While this is going on we could lead raids on the Rocket bases that Sabrina was able to glean from Daniel. Team Rocket will eventually learn of Daniel’s traitor status and this will be a gigantic hit to them.” Karen perked up at that but Agatha merely sniffed.

I considered her. I didn’t really need to win her over but I could play the game and keep everyone happy. So why not keep her on her good side. I was obviously already ruffling her feathers with how I was going about accelerating Sabrina and subsequently Janine’s inclusion into the Guardian’s Leadership meetings.

“Why should we settle for one objective when we can have it all Agatha? We can weaken Team Rocket. Empower our agents within the League. Truly get Koga a seat at the table if not the first seat at the table of international policing. And what does it cost us? The dubious control of a foreign agent that we’re already going to get information from? Sabrina is already the strongest psychic in Kanto. They can’t overlook her.”

Karen hummed. “Heard a rumour~! Some little boy is trying to claim otherwise!”

Koga and Janine huffed with Koga even shaking his head. “Those claims are trumped up paid rumours at best! Janine’s… agents have said as much!”

I tilted my head. Janine’s agents? Did Janine leave a spy network in my… wait! Did he mean the grannies!? I shot Janine a look and she refused to meet my gaze. Janine! What was going on here!?

Agatha shook her head and stabbed it forward. “Urgh Karen! I thought I taught you better than this. To think the next generation will be led by that flaky boy’s son! …" she grumbled but I got the impression it was more for the sake of it rather than any true objection. I was proven right when she grinned.

“Very well! I shall arrive with a League official and take custody of Daniel! Koga you will lead the raids on the Rocket facilities! While it’s good to see you young ones being so proactive you need to temper yourselves with the wisdom of your seniors!” She stomped her cane into the ground.

“Prepare to shake up Kanto!”

Sabrina coughed and Agatha glowered at her. “Yes, initiate Sabrina?” she said, tacking on a title I’d never read of or heard being used. Apparently, she wanted to remind Sabrina she still wasn’t officially part of the Guardians.

Sabrina ignored it though. “I learnt of six Team Rocket Bases along with possible sites of interest. Each will require a team to detain the Team Rocket agents that Daniel knew to always operate there. We will need the police. We best bring Jenny and other forces into the plans.”

I blinked. Sabrina hadn't mentioned specific numbers before. I had tossed out a few locations, but I had to wonder which locations she had learned about.

“The most concerning base is in Celadon. The local Games Corner is a front for Team Rocket where they launder money and pokemon.”

I stared at Sabrina. Oh damn. I’d been to Celadon once and hadn’t found anything iffy, despite knowing it was possible. This location alone would be a huge dent to them. I had hoped Daniel had known about it and it turns out I was really swinging for the back fence with how lucky I was getting.

“You mentioned six facilities? Where are the others?” Agatha said pointedly.

“There is the Games corner in Celadon, the radio shack next door to the pokemon fan club in Vermilion, a warehouse on Chrysanthemum island. There are recruiting facilities in Hollywood, and Pokemon Land. As for the Team Rocket Academy… sadly I don’t know the location of it yet as all Daniel knew of was that it existed as he was transported there while blindfolded and the journey took hours from Cerulean.”

“Hmmm that is what our agents have determined so far as well. We have not been able to hide trackers on anyone going to that facility as of yet,” Koga said with a scowl. “Investigations are closing in however and we suspect that they are within the mountain ranges north of Cerulean. The secret route has not yet been discovered.”

“Damn, that’d be a proper kick in the teeth if we got both the money laundering site with their Games Corner, and the trainer facility,” said Karen dreamily.

“Indeed,” Sabrina said stoically from next to me.

Agatha hummed. “Koga will need to take the lead with the League. We’ll need to have you at Indigo headquarters so that Lance can ‘happen upon’ you for the purpose of recruiting you.”

Koga nodded. “He shall think it is his own idea,” said the man firmly.

I hummed. That was mildly terrifying to think about. Being led around by the nose without ever realising it. I considered Agatha and Koga. They probably had done it a bit with me. Then again… I’d also gotten them to start paying a lot more attention to Team Rocket. When I’d first brought up Giovanni and Team Rocket I doubt they would have worried about Daniel.

Now? They were more than willing to sack some Rocket bases. And speaking of Rocket Bases, I might know of one that I would be interested in investigating, albeit with a lot of back up.

“I ran across a secret base last weekend as well,” I said.

Koga and Agatha stared at me. Agatha huffed. “And you didn’t present this then why?”

I worked my jaw, “‘I got very busy… that and the base, it gave me the creeps. It was a secret base and I only happened upon it due to catching a supply truck coming in.”

Agatha stiffened. “Where was this?”

I opened my pokenav and started toying with the saved point before flicking the details to the holopad to present to the others.

“Curses!” Agatha swore, causing Karen to blink in suprise. Koga groaned. “I recognise that base. It is one that we used as a supply depot during the war... “

Koga looked to the side. “It seems not all of the bases were decommissioned properly… that is not a site that can be messed with. I will investigate it in my own time.” Koga locked eyes with me, “Do not approach it.” His tone made it clear this was not something for me to stick my nose into.

“Alright,” I said. “I can’t say I know what an old war base would involve but if you’re reacting like this I expect it’s serious.”

Koga inclined his head and loosened up slightly.

“Any other business?” Agatha pointedly stared at me as though daring me to say I’d not presented something else for the Guardians.

“Erika should be informed and included in the raid on the Celadon site,” Sabrina said firmly.

“Well, I second that then,” I said, understanding that it would be rather important to avoid making Erika look bad. I leaned slightly forward. “For that matter, we’ll need to tell Surge the news as well.”

Janine raised her head slightly and coughed to indicate she wished to talk. Koga nodded without looking back at her. “Yes, daughter?”

“I can deliver the message to Erika!” she said with a hint of excitement.

Agatha drummed her fingers on a table near her as she considered everything. Eventually, she gave a stiff nod. “Very well. Janine will inform Erika and have her ready any trainers she can trust…” Agatha then made a face.

She considered that before correcting what she’d said, “On second thought, it might be best for you to take along some trainers from your own gym.” Sabrina coughed and Agatha scowled. “Yes yes! We’ll let the little flower girl not lose face!” She looked to Janine. “Make sure they are female or can pass as women! Erika’s little socialite club caters to the wealthy daughters most of all. Some of those girls are so vapid they’ll think they had to have had some part to play. But don’t take any that will lose their heads. Erika’s trainers are more for show, remember!”

I tilted my head. “Maybe we need to find some serious trainers for Erika?”

Agatha snorted. “Please! That little girl has a wonderful web of networking set up and she is one of the best off gyms around. If gyms were merely rated on income, hers would be the best gym in Kanto!” She stabbed a finger straight forward. “Never underestimate how much people will pay to have their daughters happy and safe in a good environment that their little darlings don’t want to run screaming from! There are lots of businessmen that bid viciously for the right to have Erika host their daughters each year.”

Karen made a noise of surprise. “Huh, well surprises never end. I always thought she was kind of weak but she’s got half a clue it turns out. Shame she can’t convert that into anything.”

Sabrina shifted and I got the impression that Erika would be getting some pointed conversations about how to wield her wealth in the future. Money wouldn’t carry her to the strongest position. But it’d certainly make things a lot easier.

“Very well! I shall be in Pewter soon and from there we will work to curtail some of Giovanni’s excess! Brock, Initiate Sabrina! We will be talking soon!” she said before hanging up.

Koga nodded and Janine gave a small wave in farewell. Karen remained on the line.

“Hmmmm I didn’t get a job… not sure if I can justify nosing my way into this one…”

“I’m sure we can handle this,” Sabrina said before I could offer anything else.

Karen scowled at her and I decided to get ahead of the argument. “You could watch a hot spot perhaps? Maybe try to watch Giovanni himself or another site like Cerulean? We know the Academy is around there but imagine if, due to the pressure we’re about to apply they got sloppy and revealed more? That’d be big, no?”

Karen settled down like a Persian that had just been complimented and stroked the right way. Her eyes glinted. “I like the idea of that. Very well, I’ll watch for something worth my time. See you soon Initiate.”

Sabrina clicked her tongue. “She and Agatha are very annoying.”

I nodded. “Yeah, they’re acquired tastes, that’s for sure. But they're damn good to have when you need some back up.”

Sabrina tapped me on the shoulder and I looked up. “Brock? What sort of Grass mega stones are there? I think Erika will need more help. I dislike people talking badly about her.”

I chuckled. “You’re a good friend Sabrina.” that had her perking up as I leaned back in my chair. “So for Grass types I know of Venusaur, A…” I paused about to say Abomasnow, but that pokemon hadn’t been discovered and wouldn't appear until Sinnoh was found.

Which reminded me. “When you’re interrogating Daniel…” I grimaced at having to say that once more. “Find out what he knows about that Glameow.”

“Glameow?” Sabrina asked curiously.

“Yeah, that cat pokemon that Proton had when he raided my gym. It was a pokemon from somewhere the League either doesn’t have access to or they’re not telling us they have access to… I still haven’t heard anything as yet though so chances are it’s the first. Which raises the question—”

“Of how Team Rocket has access to it,” Sabrina said, finishing my sentence for me.

I nodded seriously. “If they have access to another region there are going to be pokemon we have no idea about.”

“Does the reopening of a route to a new region not cause that? What happens when a region is discovered?”

I raised a hand. “Actually I looked into that cause I was kinda curious with the recent unveiling of Fiore to the public. It turns out that the pokedex entries are gifted to the region to keep them up to date on the recent pokemon that are found within the region. It actually works against the other region if they don’t share because the League was able to retain some of the regions information prior to the war. So if they don’t reciprocate it, it's seen as a point against them, with the added bonus that it doesn’t cost our officials all that much.”

“Hmmm sneaky,” Sabrina said neutrally. I felt something cold sweep through me and I shivered. Sabrina straightened up. “Agatha is here.”

I sat up. “That was fast, does she have a pokemon that knows teleport?”

“She apparently employs a trainer for that purpose. They have a decently strong Xatu… they need to work on containing their thoughts though.”

I nodded noncommittally at that. If I wasn’t so adamant with training dark energy I suspected that I wouldn’t be considered ‘controlled’ with my thoughts either. I stood before I could go down that Sentret hole and waved for Sabrina to follow me. I met Agatha in the reception area with Alexa standing next to my receptionist Bethany.

I blinked when I realised Bethany was talking with Agatha like they were old friends.

“—and my Charles is doing quite well I’ll have you know! How about yourself, Agatha? Found yourself a silver fox to play around with?”

Agatha sniffed. “I’m too busy for such foolishness!”

Bethany tutted and shook her head consolingly. “I remember you being such a flirt! And remember the celebration when we cleared out Viridian? I remember waking up in someone’s arms!” Bethany said with a laugh.

“Hmpf! You live too much in the past,” said Agatha before looking to me. “Ah Gym Leader Brock, I was informed that I should make my way here with all due haste. What do you require this old woman for?” she said.

If I hadn’t spent so long interacting with her, and if this was the first time I’d met her, I would have believed her act of ‘innocent old woman’. I had to wonder who she was putting on a show for. Bethany apparently knew her in ways I didn’t want to think about. I glanced at Alexa and found her smiling warmly at the Elite Four member.

I wasn’t sure what to make of that and so instead I played my part and invited her in to help with the transfer of Daniel to the Plateau. Alexa blinked in surprise.

“Eh?! Daniel has been detained?!” she said.

I nodded, my face set in stone. “Yeah, turns out he was a plant from Team Rocket. Keep that to yourself. He’s got a lot of questions to answer and I don’t want it getting out.”

Bethany nodded seriously and glanced at Agatha. “We won’t say a word… in fact perhaps we’ll depart now instead of finishing up that paperwork… Was there anything else you required from us Gym Leader?”

“You rescheduled tomorrow’s matches?” I said.

“Yes most of them were your new sponsored trainers and very understanding!” said Alexa. I grimaced at that.

“Urgh… I might have to break my no fights on days off rule to get them through in a timely manner…” I sighed. “I’ll deal with that later though.” I waved Alexa and Bethany off and led Agatha into the gym.

I guided her to a room that I was surprised to find an Arcanine sitting in front of. He dropped into a guard position and his growl was low and menacing.

Agatha actually stopped and assessed him rather than marching forward like I sort of expected from the old woman. The door opened, and Jenny peeked out with her arm raised. I noted the active transceiver.

“This is Officer Jenny reporting that it appears to be Gym Leaders Brock and Sabrina escorting Elite Four member Agatha to the prisoner. Please advise!”

The voice on the other side said something quickly that I couldn’t catch. Jenny continued to watch us carefully. She then nodded.

“Gym Leader Brock! Identify using your trainer ID number and answering a personal question!”

I rattled off my number and tilted my head. “What’s the personal question?”

“During a birthday party I attended with my cousin, what action figurine did you give me?” she said seriously.

I huffed. “You were randomly given a Selene, but then you learnt that other parents got more than one and came back to ask for a Quirinna and a Sanchez figurine.”

Jenny nodded her head, the faintest blush appearing as she turned to Sabrina. Sabrina sniffed. “I teleported you onto a Snorlax toy because you tried to steal a kiss.”

Jenny stiffened. “I knew it was you!” She then stiffened and coughed. “I mean! Alright you pass. Did you perform a check on Aga—”

From the depths of Agatha’s shadow, three Gengar emerged. The Arcanine yelped and took a step back. Jenny lost all the colour she’d gained and she swallowed. “Yeah… yeah, that’ll work as identification.”

I approached as she urged Arcanine back. I just caught her muttering to herself and Arcanine, “Who the hell keeps three Gengar in their shadows! Crazy old woman!”

I shot Sabrina a smile but she was eyeballing Agatha’s shadow. I paused in the entrance and let Agatha go through while the three Gengar floated through the walls. Then her shadow winked at me.

Damn, she really was crazy.

When I entered the room I found Jenny blushing once more. “Uhm sorry for the method of detaining… I didn’t have more than my rope and cuffs on me… so I improvised…”

I stared at Daniel as he glowered back at us. He’d been duct taped to the wall in a spread-eagle fashion. It made me think of my past life where this would occur after a wild night of drinking.

Agatha merely nodded. “Excellent improvisation! Jenny, you, Daniel, and I shall be going to Indigo headquarters. There we will conduct an interrogation with Gym Leader Sabrina’s assistance.”

“I know my rights!” screamed Daniel.

Agatha tutted and shook her head side to side. “No, clearly you don’t young man otherwise you would know how monumentally bad an idea it is to infiltrate a Gym. Gym Leader Brock is correct in the charges that you can face and the rights that you have voided. We will get the information we want. For now though,” she raised up and squeezed into his shoulder with her thumb. “Sleep!”

I felt a spike of something shadowy and cold pulse out of Agatha. A moment later, Daniel’s eyes rolled into the back of his skull, and he flopped down, unconscious once more.

Jenny whistled. “I’d heard rumours that you knew how to do that… damn that’s cool I mean! Sorry, Lady Agatha!”

Agatha waved her off. “Not a worry, not a worry. Now Gym Leader Sabrina, care to teleport us?”

Jenny frowned. “But Brock has an anti-tel—” her words died off as Alakazam, who’d spent the last twenty minutes studying the megastone in a corner of my office, appeared in a flash of light before nodding once at me and flashing away with Jenny, Agatha, Daniel and Sabrina.

I hummed. “Alright, that leaves me at loose ends… I could join Janine and Erika in raiding the Games Corner…” I chewed my lip. Vermillion having a Rocket base worried me. It hadn’t been a priority target but I’d noticed it perhaps more than any of the others bar the Games Corner.

I gave the gym a sweep and checked in with Forrest only to find him sitting in the kitchen with Flint who… Actually looked different with how he assessed me as I walked into the room.

“The gift I gave you?” he said firmly.

Forrest blinked and shot him a confused look. I startled, realising that he was mimicking Jenny’s identification call response method. “A rare stone. A mega stone.”

Flint blinked in surprise. “Is that what it is called?”

I nodded. “I… kind of forgot that you’d be here.”

Flint frowned before opening and then shutting his mouth. “What happened?”

“One of the Gym trainers, Daniel,” I said at Forrest's curious look, “was a spy for Team Rocket.”

“Hnnn, that’s one of the reasons I never took Gym Trainers on. Too many people are mucking things up and making it chaotic. Didn’t need that, didn’t want it!” he said while staring at the bench. Forrest glanced between me and Flint quickly, a worried look on his face.

I shook my head. “The gym’s different now Flint. I need the support and they bring a lot to the table. They also just happen to have some risks associated with it. I’ll have to be more careful in the future.” I huffed. “That being said we learnt some things from him and I need to go talk with Surge.”

“Surge? Why do you need to talk to that maniac?”

I frowned. “When you left he was one of the only gym leaders to approach and check that I had any idea what I was doing. I…” I was about to say I didn’t need his help but that wasn’t completely true. “He helped me out a lot more than people realise. Now I think there’s some trouble coming his way and I want to help him out.”

I looked at Flint and Forrest. “Can you hold down the fort here for the night and possibly tomorrow?”

Flint nodded. “Yeah, I can do that. There going to be any matches tomorrow I need to step in for?”

I shook my head. “No. I cancelled those. This is more important.” Forrest stared at me and I tilted my head. “What?”

“Just… You never cancel matches if you can help it.” he swallowed. “Guess it’s really serious.”

I snorted. “If anything I’m underselling it. Keep the family close. Keep Sanchez out. I’m taking the others with me.”

With that done I marched out the door. I was about to release Zephyr and take wing to Vermillion but then I considered the distances. I could do it with Selene but then she’d be exhausted… I sheepishly sent a message to Sabrina and she appeared a moment later in a flash of light.

She put a hand on me. Then we vanished and reappeared on the road leading up to the Vermillion gym. “I need to go back to deal with the League officials. Agatha is having to threaten people to get through the red tape. Lance is on his way and Koga has reached the Plateau. Should I tell Agatha you’re here?”

I shrugged. “Sure thing.” She vanished and I lifted my transceiver.

It dialed up and after five rings it clicked as Surge answered. “Blugh! What the? Brock? What’s happening?”

“Hey Surge… we need to talk, I’m outside.”

On the screen Surge narrowed his eyes at me and tried to look over my shoulder. “Are there a gaggle of women behind you? Cause I swear I ain’t dealing with no ex-girlfriends! Don’t be suckered into their sob stories! I broke up with them fair and honest in a cafe and everything so they could throw water in my face!”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Not what I wanted to talk to you about actually. It’s about Team Rocket.”

Surge went still. “Oh? Well I’m all ears, I’ll be out in a second.”

I hummed and got ready to deal with an irate Surge. As the doors opened I remembered I’d need to enlist the local police. I shot Jenny a message to see if she could do just that while I spoke to Surge.

I suspected I’d have no trouble getting him pointed at the Rocket base.

If there would be anything left of it when Surge was through with it would be another matter. One I’d probably need the police for more than actually helping take down the Team Rocket members.

I was strong… but Surge was a big guy that I had no doubt I wouldn’t be able to stop if he went too far.

I messaged Jenny again, urging her to send them around without giving the game away too soon. I took a deep breath before heading inside, I was going to have to control Surge in the meantime, and that would be half the battle.