Hard Enough - Chapter 105 - Finding the way forward (Patreon)

Lawrence coughed delicately. “Would you like to address it now?” He glanced around the room with a careful expression. “We can come back tomorrow if you would like?”

I sucked my teeth for a moment, I’d need to shift some of my matches for tomorrow. Then I could make some calls, maybe get the Guardians to go to work for me. I was about to say just as much to the group only to chastise myself as I started to make plans without considering Forrest. I rolled my head towards the person this would impact the most. “Forrest? Feel up for it now?”

Forrest grunted. “I think… I think it would be best to do it now while I’m feeling numb to what just happened.” He sat up and shook his head. “I… I can’t…” He shut his eyes and scrubbed his face. “No, actually I can see them selling me out. Ugh! That’s so messed up!”

Flint hummed. “Perhaps it's an indicator that on some level you already knew that they were friends of convenience only.”

I merely grunted and kept quiet.

Forrest looked up to speak, only for the door to slide open and Yolanda to peer in. A look of relief took over her face, and she beamed at Forrest. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright!”

She darted over and wrapped him in a hug. She squeezed him tight for a few seconds before releasing him. She stayed within touching distance as she checked him over again. “I might tell the others? They were pretty worried, but they weren’t sure what was wrong. They were a bit tough to get to sleep, but Salvadore is still up.”

I checked my watch and grimaced. We’d been at the police that long? I glanced at the window and shook my head at the darkness outside. Forrest shook his head at Yolanda.

“No, I think I need to have a talk.” He glanced at the others. “Sorry, we, need to have a talk.” He licked his lips and glanced at me. “What was up with how you reacted when you heard that posh guys voice?”

I tilted my head and considered. Forrest swallowed. “I’ve never seen you so mad or move so…” he tilted his head. “No actually there was that time Tilly was dancing on the bed and she fell and you were just across the room in an instant to catch her.”

I shuddered, remembering the incident from when I had just come back from my journey. I’d only just started baby-proofing our home.

“I think I broke that bed doing that,” I said vaguely.

Forrest snorted. “Yeah, you were really quick.” Flint’s eyes darted back and forth but Forrest kept watching me. “What was up with that guy that had you acting like that?”

“That was Will, he’s challenged me to an Ace challenge battle where he intends to use my recent wins to highlight himself as a contender for Elite Four.”

“Woah? He’s that big a deal?” Forrest said.

I clicked my tongue. “He wants to be. He’s not yet. He needs to do well first and after today there’s no way I’m doing anything but crushing him.”

“So he and the mayor shouldn’t have been there?” Flint said with a glare towards the window.

Lawrence shook his head. “No, while Jonathan is a former public prosecutor, he had no reason, but Will being there was a particularly dangerous insinuation. Will is after all a psychic specialist and I have no doubt he has some psychic abilities.”

“Like Sabrina?” Yolanda said, speaking up.

I shook my head. “Sabrina has morals, and she wouldn’t have lurked around the police station unless it was serious and she’d been specifically requested. Jonathan having Will there was a threat. That or they thought they could get to you and pressure you before you had a chance to speak with us.”

“He looked surprised when I answered the door. He had been pulling out a key as if to open it,” Lawrence said. “He also reacted very harshly when you…” Lawrence licked his lips. “What did you do back there Brock? I didn’t see you release a pokemon? Do you have a ghost pokemon in your shadow?” He eyed my shadow

I shook my head as the others suddenly looked worried. “No, I don’t. It’s something I’ve been able to do… well not for ages, but I’ve always had the fundamentals to do it.”

“What, are you talking about?” Yolanda said, glancing at Forrest and Flint for answers.

Forrest perked up. “He was all rawr! Like he was standing in front of us all like they would have to get through him to get to us! That Will guy was really freaked out!”

Yolanda nodded slowly, but it was obvious she didn’t understand. Lawrence continued to eye me thoughtfully from his perch on the couch.

Flint squinted at me.  “You’re dark type attuned?”

I tilted my head. “Yeah, I have it and Rock type. It’s what Titan taught me to use.”

Flint got a surprised look. “Two energies? That’s… incredible. I encountered people… well when I was younger that had access to just one!” He shook his head. “They were all incredible people!”

Yolanda perked up. “Oh? Old friends? You never have people over. Where are they?”

Flint grimaced as a shadow passed over his eyes. “They’re not with us anymore… they were priority targets during the war…”

“Oh,” Yolanda said eloquently. I stared at Flint. Sometimes, with how suppressed discussion of the war was, it was hard to remember that Flint’s generation would have been smack bang in the middle of it.

“You have Rock-typed energy don’t you?” I said, leading the conversation away from the depressing line of inquiry it had been shunted onto.

Flint waggled his hand. “Only a little, I… I was trying my hand at it and have been trying to develop it while I was away. I have a bit of a handle on it.”

“Hmmm,” I said noncommittally. “I’ll need to talk with you about that later, you’re aware of the effects it can have though?”

Flint huffed. “Of course I am!” he said with the air of one that thought they had it well handled.

I merely hummed and pushed it to the side. I’d been in a similar state of mind with regards to my energy. That I had a good handle on it.

And then tonight had shown me that no, I really didn’t. I’d need to talk with him as well as put in some work on it. I shook my head. “Right well, again we’re getting sidetracked. Lawrence, I’d suggest not making any inquiries about it as it is a delicate topic that has holdovers from the war.”

I glanced at Yolanda and Forrest. “You’re a bit too young to try your hands at it. I’d suggest forgetting about it for now unless you plan to pursue pokemon training to a very high level where it can help.”

Both of them gained very interested looks, and I chuckled, realising that if anything, I'd fed their interest rather than dampen it. I waved a hand at them. “Later, We can talk about it later. Right now, we need to talk about what we’re going to do to help Forrest out.”

Yolanda nodded and moved away from Forrest to claim her own seat. I tilted my head before shrugging. She was more than mature enough for this discussion. I held in the smirk. In some ways, she was more mature than… I grimaced. Yeah, it was not a good time to think that considering how things had played out.

I sighed and looked at Lawrence. “So, Jonathan and the Police can't raise any protest due to having Will there like that.”

Lawrence’s face was set in stone. “If I’d had half a clue that Will was there and that he could read minds... Urgh! I even saw him at the party and saw him come in. I dropped the ball on that one.” Lawrence ran a hand through his mohawk. “Sorry Brock if I’d been on my game I would have made the connection and sued on the spot.”

I opened my mouth to forgive him, only for Lawrence to perk up. “Wait! I still can sue them for you!” He grinned like a Mightyena on the scent of a weakened Tauros calf. “It would even be in our best interest to do it!”

I hummed and rubbed my chin. “That… well seems a bit cliche.”

“It’s a cliche because it works! They overstepped themselves, and if we set the state of events and control the tempo we might get to file for a more lenient judge!” he stood and nodded firmly. “It’s one of the first things we should do! I don’t want them controlling any aspect of this!”

Part of me squirmed at the ‘sue them’ option while the majority of me had me opening my mouth. “Screw it. Sue em, you’re right.”

Lawrence looked like all his Christmases had come at once.

Flint had a look of distaste that I ignored. Just as I ignored that part that agreed with him. I just… didn’t want to agree with him!

“That’s not going to make things calm down though, is it?” Forrest said quietly.

Lawrence lost his bloodthirsty smile in an instant and adopted a careful expression. “Yes, it’s not going to calm anything down. The situation will be… delicate.” he settled for. “There will be a lot of attention on your family due to this.” He nodded his head. “You in particular, Forrest.”

Forrest sunk into the couch, his eyes stared off into the distance as he processed that. For a long moment, no one spoke before he nodded. “I guess that’s fair considering I messed up.”

“You didn’t mess up.” “This isn’t your fault,” I said only to realise Flint had also spoken up. I didn’t share a look with him this time and instead kept my gaze on Forrest as he looked up at us both. It took me a moment to realise we’d both moved. When had that happened? Now we were standing side to side next to him.

“I did though… I got suckered into hanging out with people that were using me.”

“Using you?” I asked, confused. “Have they done something else?”

Forrest sighed. “I think I accidentally told them where the cameras are in the gym that face outwards. They might have always been planning to do something… hopefully just ‘tag’ the Gym.”

“Ah,” I said. “That would explain how they got so close to the Gym and how they made sure to not face any cameras when they were too close to not be on camera.”

“That’s on them! Not on you!” Yolanda said firmly. “Don’t blame yourself for them!” I nodded but Forrest shook his head.

“I… I don’t think I have the best judgement in people… or just good judgement in general.” He waved a hand towards Yolanda. “I mean, I gave up a chance at a Pseudo-legendary!”

Yolanda opened her mouth and held up a finger before shaking her head. “This and that aren’t the same thing!”

“Aren’t they?” Forrest said tightly. “I’m obviouslt an idio—”

“They’re not,” I said cutting in before it could become an argument or he could beat on himself more. “Forrest. Your reasoning for not taking Terra was a decision that I thought had a lot of good reasoning behind it. I actually respected you more for making that call.”

Flint glanced between us, not understanding what we’d meant.

I didn’t choose to fill him in and instead ploughed on. “Anyway, we have to allow ourselves the right to be wrong sometimes otherwise we are stubborn stagnant people. Growing mostly comes from failing our way forwards.” I put a hand on my chest. “I hired Daniel Forrest. That, is a mistake I’m not going to forget in a long, long time. It had the potential to go very poorly. But it didn’t, just like your situation didn’t go all the way bad like it could have. We can both learn from our mistakes.”

Forrest smiled. “Thanks that… helps?”

“I think you don’t have much to worry about Forrest,” Flint said patting his own chest. “You’re still a long way off reaching the lows I reached with my own choices. Brock is right. You’re going to be alright, there’s just going to be some rough patches coming up because of what happened.”

Lawrence coughed. “I have some suggestions for that as matter of fact.”

We turned to him. He raised a finger. “So firstly, we can continue as things stand and ignore the flak this causes. Those parents and Jonathan will probably be running damage control, which will involve some whispers I have no doubt. Especially with the social circle always with an ear out for any juicy rumours. They won’t care if it’s true, they just care if its salacious. There will also be some magazines that print some things so expect a few hits there regardless.”

“A lie can run a lap around the world before the truth has a chance to get its boots on,” I said from memory.

Lawrence nodded and pointed at me. “Precisely so. They won’t get to smear you through any official channels and anything said will be conjecture. Anything beyond that? I’ll be on them faster than a champion Pidgeot at the races.”

Forrest nodded slowly. “Is there any other options?”

“You could probably make yourself scarce for a while,” Lawrence said carefully, his eyes flicking from Flint to myself. “Without you around, the rumours and muckraking will probably only last half as long. It will also give you time to work through all of this.”

“Like… on a journey?” Forrest said thoughtfully.

Lawrence nodded. “That would work well, or perhaps joining the Rangers for a stint. More than a few young men and women run into trouble and choose a distant base to work at to escape awkward situations that have arisen at home.”

Yolanda shifted. “But… we only just got Dad back…” She swallowed and I pivoted to deal with the new issue.

“Hey, hey, Forrest isn’t going to abandon us.” Flint stiffened from where he’d been about to join me on consoling Yolanda. He rubbed the back of his head and gained a downcast look.

Yolanda didn’t see Flint’s reaction as she stared at the ground. “Yeah, yeah! I know, It’s just it feels like every time things get better for us…” she wiped at her eyes. “Sorry! I’m being a silly girl!” she said.

I frowned. “You’re never just silly, and a girl has nothing to do with itl,” I said firmly. I turned and gave Forrest a pointed look.

“No! You’re not! It’s just that it might be best for us if I didn’t hang around. Plus, it’s not like we were all going to stick around. This is the journey I was always bound to take but had been delaying cause Brock needed me to help out!”

I didn’t point out that I barely needed that after the first year. Most of the said help came in the form of Surge as well but decided not to voice that thought. Recent events had shown that it might have been better to send Forrest out into the world on a journey earlier but as Yolanda had said, I’d been hesitant to split the family up earlier.

That, and my own hubris in thinking I knew what would be best.

“The other option is paying things off… but—” Lawrence started to say only to stop as I glared at the ground before pinching the brow of my nose. I inhaled. Oh how the world changes when the shoe is on the other foot. I worked my jaw and inhaled before exhaling slowly.

“How much would that—” I started to ask only for Forrest to stand and stomp his foot.

“No! I don’t want to be that kind of person! I don’t want to make you that sort of person either!”

I nodded at him, pleased that and oddly glad that he didn’t want me reaching into that poisoned option. Instead he’d rejected it out of hand.

I then gave Lawrence a sly grin. “So more than fifty pokedollars for him?” Forrest stared as Lawrence snorted loudly at my poor attempt at humour. He then cast a critical gaze at Forrest before winking. “He’s worth at least a hundred.”

Forrest stuck his nose up. “Urgh! I’ll have you know I’m worth way more!”

I chuckled and rolled my shoulders around. “Alright, so…” I stared into Forrest eyes. “You’re going to go on a journey?” He nodded and I sat back down. “Right… alright.”

I laced my hands together and gave him a serious look as an… idea came to mind. “You should probably go with a group.”

Flint inhaled sharply. “He is not going to be gallivanting around with those two-faced punks that called themselves his friends!”

Forrest swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a good idea Brock. I don’t think I should be near them right now. I’d probably beat them up or try to.”

“Oh you’d definitely beat them up if you got into a fight little bro,” I said with a smirk. “None of those kids have worked out with geodude or onix or even Rhyhorn like you have. You’re worth a hundred of those boys.”

Forrest blushed, but he sat a bit taller.

I sighed. “Unfortunately, my success is not something that I should ignore. I have had more than enough incidences of people attempting to steal from me or attacking my interests to learn my lesson.”

I inclined my head. “You are my brother,” I said with weight and let him grasp the depth of what that meant. “That comes with perks, but as you learned tonight, it has its own downsides. Some of these are, for instance, that you shouldn’t be sent out into the wild on your own. You’re far too tempting a target. It’s why I have people looking out for… our mother,” I said, the words tearing out of my throat. Yolanda, Flint and Forrest all blinked in surprise. I shifted, uncomfortable with the looks I was receiving. It had been a spur of the moment thing, but I’d still set it up with the same group that protected my cave of daimonds.

I pushed aside the feelings I had about the whole… Lola issue and instead continued to speak, “She is potentially in danger with people no doubt looking into her and if a group like Team Rocket were to get hold of her…”

Forrest and Yolanda went pale. I glanced at Flint only to find him shaking his head and smiling. “Ah, actually your mother is a bad example of that. If anyone were in danger, it would be the people attempting to kidnap her.”

Lawrence tilted his head. “How so?”

Flint shifted and shrugged. “It’s not my story to tell. Just trust me when I say she can handle herself… she’s not in danger. If push comes to shove… she is the danger.”

I stared at him and felt my brow twitch. “You’ll find I really can’t just accept it as easily as that Flint,” I ground out.

Flint shook his head. “I only poked into it a little but she can handle herself. We met during the war, and it wasn’t me saving her, that’s all I’ll say.”

I rubbed at my forehead. Alright, that opened up so many questions. Perhaps it was time to open the files the Guardians had on Flint and Lola. It seemed like it would be much more educational than I anticipated. I’d deliberately ignored those files in the past…

“Right, well.” I shook my head and got us back on track. “Forrest can’t be sent off on his own. Pokemon thieves alone will be a threat to him looking to use him to get to him or just outright expecting him to have rare pokemon.”

Forrest nodded, his focus shifting away from Flint and back to me even as Yolanda shot Flint a penetrative stare that he fidgetted under. “Alright, but… I still don’t trust the guys and I don’t know anyone else… or were you going to call one of the sponsored kids back?” He said while fidgeting.

I hummed. “That’s another option, but I have another.” I sat forward and grinned at him. “Want to hang out with Misty from Cerulean a bit more?”

Forrest blushed furiously even as he got a smile on his face. Yolanda sighed before giggling as Forrest rubbed his nose.

Now I just had to talk with Misty and Ash and get them to agree. I’d probably also need to give Forrest some stronger pokemon and get him a small boost to his holding capacity, but those wouldn’t be issues. Just busy work that I could knock out before bed.

“Forrest and Misty sitting in a tree!” singsonged Yolanda all of a sudden. “K, I, S, S, I, N, G!”

I laughed as Yolanda teased Forrest, with him unable to mount a serious response. It felt like things were slotting into place. Like a strange puzzle piece, I hadn’t known where to place had settled home. I stood and clapped Forrest on the shoulder. “Right, well I’ll go talk to them now.”

I pointed to Yolanda and Flint. “You both need to make sure he packs his gear up and has enough socks and underwear! You can never have enough underwear!” I said casually as I left Forrest to his fate.

I signalled Lawrence to follow me. “Make sure the police and Jonathan get what’s coming to them. Will should never have been allowed in there.”

Lawrence nodded at the reminder before looking me over. “You alright?”

I nodded before shaking my head. “Yes in some ways, no in others. I think this is going to sting for a while.”

Lawrence clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re making the most of a shit situation for your family. I think Forrest will come out of this stronger.”Then he smirked. “You’re just going to come out of it richer.”

I grunted. “Donate anything we earn to the police widows, the Rangers, and the orphans. I don’t want money… at least not earned that way.” Lawrence nodded, a curious smile on his face that made me tilt my head as I walked into the Gym. “What? What’s with that look?”

“Nothing. It’s just, you’re still the aww shucks guy.” I snorted at him and huffed but looked away to scratch my cheek.

He nodded, chuckling to himself. “I’m glad.” He then broke off when we reached the arena. I made for the trainer area and temporary lodging we had. I knocked on Ash’s door and stood back. The door opened to reveal a sleepy Ash while Misty blearily watched on from her bed on the bottom bunk.

“Gym Leader Brock?” Ash said sleepily. Then his whole body jolted. “Ah! No! Did I sleep through my alarm again and miss our match!?” He turned as if to lunge back into the room for his pokebelt. He leapt up onto the top bunk and caused it to jolt and wake up Misty in the bottom bunk bed.

“Ash! What gives?” she said sitting upright and shaking off the sleep while reaching for a nearby pokeball. I hummed, pleased at her reactions, as Ash reappeared in front of me, still in his pyjamas but obviously ready to fight.

“Ah, no,” I said confused for a moment before I remembered that Ash had in fact done so on his first day as a trainer, which had resulted in Oak giving him Pikachu… which was actually not the case but regardless… I shook my head again to clear it from the stray thoughts.

“No, I have had something personal happen, and I think you might be able to help out. It’s—”

“Sure thing!” Ash said without a moment’s hesitation.

I stared at him, amused at his reaction. “You don’t know what I’m about to ask.” I pointed out reasonably. “What if it’s shovelling the onix’s leavings?”

“I’ll do it! I’m a man of my word!” he said as Pikachu shot him a worried look. Ash licked his lips. “It’s… not that though… is it?” he said, obviously hoping for a different answer.

“No, it’s not,” I said, amused as he sighed in relief. On the bottom bed, Misty groaned in exasperation.

I chuckled. “You’re on your journey right? I need my little brother to… well experience more of what life has to offer and mature. I think I’ve caused a bit of a stir of late, so much so I don’t think sending him off on his own would be a good idea. Can he journey with you?”

“Sure?” Ash said. Behind him, Misty tilted her head before a look of realisaiton occurred.

“Is it that risky for him?” she said.

I hummed and shrugged. “I don’t expect so but I’ve been bitten a bit too much lately to not have a precaution in place. I’d feel better if he went with people I knew were of sound character.”

Ash puffed his chest up. “No problem! I’ll look after him and teach him all that I know!”

I nodded slowly, glancing at Misty who was facepalming. When she looked up she mouthed ‘it won’t take long’ to me. I chuckled at their antics but then adopted a straighter pose. I then bowed my head to them. “Thank you, I appreciate it greatly.”

I held it for a moment and enjoyed Ash spluttering in surprise while Misty stiffened.

I stood and shot them a smile before jerking a thumb over my shoulder. “I know that you Ash were going to challenge me tomorrow but if you want I can make another exception and also give you a slot Misty?”

Misty blinked. “Eh?” I blinked, realising I’d misstepped. I’d just said it because there was the two of them, but Misty had never challenged the Gyms during the cartoon had she? She tilted her head and seemed somewhat agreeable to the idea now that it had been offered to her though.

She smiled and shook her ead. “No… I have decided that I’m going to challenge my sisters for my first badge.” She stood and punched out in front of herself. “I’m going to come for your badge last Brock! Prepare yourself for me at the Elite level!”

Ash stared at Misty. “Who are you and what did you do with Misty?” he said cluelessly.

I chuckled as Misty shot him a furious look. I raised a hand and calmed Misty, saving Ash from a beating it seemed. “Alright, I’ll look forward to that then.” I then glanced at Ash. “Don’t think that doesn’t mean I won't be expecting the same from you later this circuit. You both will only get one shot at the Elite challenge regardless if you take the lower tier badge now.”

“Pi! Pikachu!” said Pikachu as he hopped onto Ash’s shoulder and joined Ash and Misty in shooting me a determined look.  His cheeks sparked with lightning. “Chuuuuu!”

I stared at them.

“Huh, I think you guys will go far.” I rubbed my chin. “You’d really depart without the badge?” I said to Misty.

“I’ll come back! Like the hero did in the story with his first Gym challenge!” she said firmly. I chuckled, someone must have told her the myth. It sort of tracked if you rotated the starting position as Cerulean instead of the Viridian forest. I nodded, liking the symbolism.

“Well alright then. I’ll be looking forward to your challenge Misty from Cerulean.” I looked back to Ash. “Get your sleep, you have another few hours till your match with me.”

Ash grinned, and Misty beamed at me. I nodded at them. “I’ll tell Forrest the good news.”

“We’ll win and then leave straight away!” Ash shouted, only for another door to open and a sleepy-looking Rocko to stare out.

“Little man, it’s eleven o’clock go to bed!” He then shut the door firmly as Ash grimaced. I chuckled and left them to return to bed. Tomorrow would bring a lot of changes it seemed. I hoped they'd be changes for the better.