Hard Enough - Chapter 114 - Hoenn represent! (Patreon)

I approached Steven and offered him my hand. “Steven Stone, thank you for your gift. I’m sure the orphans and medical staff will likewise be effusive with their praise.”

He caught my hand in his and shook it firmly. “I’m happy to see the money go to people that need it. I might have bid harder on a few more pokemon if I’d known that was the case. Alas, I thought I was merely working within my means.”

I snorted as he let go. “Your means? Aren’t you listed as one of the richest men in the known world?”

He waggled his hand in a so-so gesture. “Yes, but when I attend an auction like this, I set a limit on how much I am going to spend. I held back thinking that I would be able to nab the last Lileep for a rather substantial price and show off as sometimes that’s what I get as much enjoyment from.” He gave me a shrug with a ‘what can you do look while I stared at him blankly. “I’m afraid auctions of rock pokemon combine my two vices, rare and powerful pokemon, and rocks.”

“I’m not sure I’d consider them vices,” I said easily.

“I rather enjoy it for how I get to indulge another's struggle. I enjoyed Young Master Oak’s attempts, but it was in vain. Erika was a surprise, but upon reflection, it seems obvious that there was more than meets the eye with her,” he chuckled before shrugging it off.

“She has surprising depths, no?” I offered.

“Indeed,” said Steven with a contemplative tone as he tapped his chin.

I glanced to the side and noted that a number of reporters and photographers were avidly documenting everything we said and did. I chuckled. “We’ll have to get one of those large cheques done for today’s event. I think this has been the most successful auction we’ve ever had. All of the pokemon sold. I just hope they went to good trainers.”

“I suppose there is that risk with the method of sale,” Steven said. “Not that you’d have issues with your current popularity. I imagine many people will have come due to your name being attached to the pokemon.” He glanced towards the door where the Celadon contingent had departed. “The Lileep will be much higher value to come with both yourself and Erika showing interest in them.”

Rachel hurried up with a large camera and joined the throng of people taking pictures to claim some of her own to go up on the Gym’s pokenet page. I made a gesture towards the photographers and clapped Steven on the shoulder while shaking his hand once again while smiling for the cameras.

I was having a lot of deja vu with how things were playing out. This had happened twice now, and my choice of charity was being used to make me do something. Then again, Steven Stone had in one action, given ten times the amount that Mayor Jonathan had with his charity ball that had been a trap. I felt it was justified that I waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Shall we put on a show?” I said, gesturing to the stage where the auctioneers were hurriedly making up two large novelty cheques. I was amused when they offered me a large calligraphy brush to sign my name. I made a terrible hash of it. The use of computers had ruined my handwriting. If I squinted, I could make out shapes in my ink blot of a signature that I really didn’t want to read into.

Steven, of course, had an immaculate signature that looked like a work of art.

We held up both cheques, and the cameras went off like a firing line given free reign of their weapons. I was starting to feel my eyes water and my smile hurt after the first minute of holding the pose. The matron of the orphanage and the local hospital director trundled up, both of them looking pale. They accepted the cheque from me before the matron wrapped her arms around me and planted a huge wet kiss on my cheek.

She wailed into my ear about how thankful she was and I blushed, returning the hug.

When she broke off, she wiped her eyes quickly, only for Steven to offer her a handkerchief. She blushed as she used it only to lock eyes with him. More tears sprang up and then Steven found himself wrapped in just as strong a hug that he tentatively returned while murmuring comforting words to her.

When she broke that hug, he produced another handkerchief from somewhere for her, and then we stood with her and the still-stunned Director once more for photos.

I felt my smile relax and become more heartfelt. Steven might have been hitting a few pidgey with his Rock Throw by donating, but he’d done good with his act. I felt I couldn’t ignore that.

It took a while to wrap things up, along with another hug from the matron who sang our praises. I also had to handle a brief Q and A session with the media with Steven at my side.

The media that had been present for the auction loved having access to Steven and I after something momentous like this.

“Brock! The Plateau has authorised you with the breeding colony for various ancient pokemon! Is this how you’re going to treat them? As assets of the Gym to be sold off to the highest bidder?”

“The only pokemon that were sold were the excess pokemon for the colony with regards to the Lileep. Other ancient pokemon are still at the stage where there is a limited number that need to be used to establish a viable population. The Lileep that were sold today were merely the ones that have too close a genetic similarity to the rest of the colony. It is in fact, in our best interests to pass them along. Other Lileep are being paired with viable breeding partners.”

“Which are?!” said another reporter.

I tapped on my transceiver. "Apologies, I need a moment to look up the report from our Breeding expert.” I flicked my fingers a few times, and a small attached report that I’d been privy to along with Oak and Elm was presented.

“So far, the indicators are that Lileep is part of a water subset breeding group with them showing the most interest in my Omanyte, Omastar, and Corsola. At the moment, there is only a limited number of Corsola at the Gym. The others are of course, limited themselves, but there will be attempts to have them increase their numbers.”

“Steven Stone! How are you feeling after being beaten by Gym Leader Erika!?”

Steven offered a pleasant smile. “I’m feeling wonderful. Erika played a wonderful game with her auction and I wasn’t expecting such opposition. I might have played a different strategy if I had known how things would play out.”

“Couldn’t you have just outbid her? Are you not considered one of the richest, most eligible men in the world?” said one reporter.

Steven waved his hand back and forth. “I don’t know about most eligible, but I know I’m not the richest. I know of a few gentlemen that have that pleasure.”

One reporter, a kindly local reporter directed their microphone towards the Matron who had gotten caught up in the press conference and wasn’t sure how to leave. “Ma’am! What does it mean for the Orphanage to receive such large donations?”

“It means the world to us! We’ll be able to renovate a number of facilities with an eye towards practicality and further improve the education of any child that enters our care! We’ll be also looking to see if other establishments, such as Cerulean or Viridian orphanages, can also benefit!”

“Would you say this is thanks to Brock’s work?” said one man. I narrowed my eyes. The question seemed innocent enough but the way he was leaning in and smirking rang alarm bells.

“Oh course!” said the Matron happily.

“So he does a better job than other Gym Leaders such as the Cerulean of Viridian Gym? Are they shortchanging their com—”

“I think now is a good time to talk about my upcoming match with Ace trainer Karen!” Steven said quickly.

Instantly, everyone dropped their interest in the Matron and the line of questioning as they turned to Steven.

I jolted in surprise. Had he just? Steven made a gesture towards the Matron behind his back and she nodded. She bowed politely and muttered something about seeing to the children and telling them the good news before hurrying off with her novelty cheque. The kids were in for a shock.

“I think I will need to use my Metagross against her; she’s demonstrated through her matches in the past that she’s a willy opponent, and I will need to bring my best pokemon.”

“Don’t you think it is bold to announce which pokemon you’re going to use?”

“It isn’t a secret that my Metagross is my strongest pokemon. If I were to not use it, I would be snubbing her as a trainer,” Steven said in a swift response.

“What do you say to the allegations that you don’t train your pokemon?” said one reporter.

Steven shrugged. “It’s no secret that I have many demands on my time with being Champion, CEO of Devon corp, along with my numerous geological pursuits. My pokemon and I have an understanding, and I am able to have dedicated trainers on my staff assist with maintaining my pokemon at a certain standard. When I need to raise a new pokemon I cut back on other duties but I am the one that raises my pokemon to the required level. The maintenance is something others can handle, as my energies are best spent in other areas.”

I turned my head in surprise. “What?”

The crowd of reporters twitched and made a shifting motion, which alerted me to the fact that I’d been the one to just ask that question. It took me a moment to recover. I made to wave my hand in apologies only for Steven to turn towards me.

“Surely you must have your Gym’s trainers work with your elite pokemon no? I’d recommend it in fact!”

“No.” I then shook my head. “I mean, no. That…” I licked my lips. “I have my Gym trainers work on the Gym’s pokemon yes, as they’re too many for me to maintain in the varying states of strength and awareness that are required of us as a Gym, but for my Elite team,” I raised a hand and started ticking off my fingers. “I am the one that sets the timings, the periodisation, the planning, the nutrition, along with coming up with strategies. I do most of it with my starter Titan and he leads them through various training regimes on off or light days, but I work with them all the time, I don’t hand it off to another trainer…”

“Hmmm, perhaps you should try it. Do you find you handle the strain well at the moment? I imagine it’s rather stressful, with your family, the Gym and such.” The words were innocent enough, but still rubbed me the wrong way.

I bristled. “It’s not a perfect solution, but I’m only human. I make plans and organise as best I can but I can’t account for everything. The recent surge has put me under a lot more pressure but my processes are still intact.”

Steven assessed me before offering a nod. “I see, I apologise if I overstepped.”

The reporters jittered at that, and then there was a clamour of questions that made for an avalanche of noise. I hummed. Yeah, I was done here.

I surged my Rock energy and clapped my hands.

It was like having two boulders slam into each other as the clam resounded outwards, silencing everyone.

In the shocked silence, I smiled and spoke up, “I think that about wraps up today’s discussion. I’d like to thank everyone that came out, but now I must ask you, politely, to leave.” I made sure to show some teeth.

The reporters nodded and began packing away their things. I stood and thanked all the auction staff before giving Greta, Missy, Dennis, and Rachel their thanks as well for the day’s work.

Then I guided Steven to my office, where I sat. I wanted to exhale in relief, but I didn’t think that possible with Steven. “Thank you for donating that money once again.”

He waved a hand. “It was no large loss on my part. Consider it a whim and greedy theft of prestige rather,” he said with a shrug.

I had no idea what to make of that, so I nodded. “Well, thank you anyway.” I offered him an open hand. “Did you wish to discuss anything else?”

I cringed internally. I was not handling this or the ending of the conference well at all. I needed to spend some time with Erika and learn some social grace. In social situations, I really was like a thrown rock.

He hummed and considered me; the moment was drawn out as he took his time. “I won’t broach yesterday’s discussion more than commenting on respective positions. You say you won’t accept money for a cave with resources of pink diamonds in it? I am not willing to give out more than a two Megastone for such quirks. Pink diamonds are nice but aren’t as well thought of as their more pure white or yellow variants. It wouldn’t be worth the exchange I’m afraid.”

I blinked. “Huh?” I said.

“Pink diamonds aren’t considered valuable I’m afraid Brock,” he said with a shrug.

“They’re not?” I could distinctly remember them being worth a great deal. I had even been told about them as ‘investements’ at one time.

Wait? Hadn’t they also initially been looked down on by jewelers in my past life? Or was I mixing things up? It was such a subtle detail that I couldn’t rightly recall what was true or just gossip, or was that just me forgetting something?

“No, as I said. If you had yellow, they’d be worth more, just as white are worth the most. There is not much demand for pink. White are what are used in manufacturing.”

I nodded slowly. That at least made sense to me. I shrugged. “Ah well, no loss on either of our parts. I decided not to sell, and I have my reasons for that. If anything, I think I’m more adamant now about not selling so it’s no matter.”

Steven tilted his head and considered me before shrugging. “As you say.” He glanced around my office in the quiet, and I wanted to fidget at having another region’s champion in my rather messy office. His gaze paused on my calendar, and he hummed.

“You weren’t joking when you mentioned you keep things organised,” he said while eyeing my weekly planner with the various notes scrawled into it. I shrugged and realised that I really should have offered him a drink. Damn, I really should talk to Erika… in the future, when I have the time for it.

“I’m sorry, I’ve been a poor host, would you like a drink?” I said mentally patting myself on the back.

His lips twitched upwards before he shook his head. “No, I’m fine I assure you.” He drummed his fingers on his chair for a moment. “I admit, I was hoping to speak to you about something, however. Your Lileep colony.”

“Very much not for sale,” I said.

He waved a hand. “No, no, there are numerous restrictions on that. I simply thought of an exchange I would be interested in. With the current market price of a Lileep I had a thought.”

He laced his fingers and locked eyes with me. I felt a pressure on me settle as he spoke, “I would be interested in a Lileep, but not a standard Lileep. I would like to purchase a Lileep that you Brock have trained. I would like to see what you can achieve. This would be an investment of time on your part, and I would pay for it.” He reached into a bag he had on his hip and drew out a rock that buzzed in my senses. “I would pay with one Steelixite and one Keystone for this,” he said.

The pressure held, and I flared my dark aura. Steven blinked in surprise before shaking himself.

I found myself confused. Had he, or had he not just tried something on me?

Steven turned back to me and a suspicion formed. Sabrina said he only had a mild psychic ability. Perhaps he didn’t have conscious control over it but rather it expressed itself as charisma… I’d have to ask Sabrina about that later. For now, I decided to point out that he had overstepped himself.

"Don't try mind tricks on me or mine," I said sternly. Steven nodded a for once serious expression on his face. The moment held until I glanced down at the rock he’d offered. “Wouldn’t that go against what you said earlier of raising your own pokemon?”

He shrugged. “I’m interested in seeing how strong you can raise a pokemon such as this. I also recognise that there is a limited supply for now. This, merely guarantees my claim on a Lileep. Also I am giving you both stones with this deal.”

I drummed my fingers. I was very tempted. I wasn’t sure what to think on his apparent backtracking of his earlier statement to the press about training his own pokemon. It didn’t sit right with me, but perhaps it was just something that as a rich person you could do. It reminded me of in the games training up a tradeable pokemon and using the game’s inbuilt trades to get a stronger pokemon. It wouldn’t really be the same, but then again, Steven was offsetting that by having me, a Rock Specialist train his future pokemon.

I didn’t like the concept of what it implied he did, but at the same time… This was a trade I could accept more readily than handing off the rights to my diamond cave.

What was with the emphasis on both stones? Flint had found both together. Did that not happen all the time?

I shrugged and stood. “Would you like to pick the Lileep you want trained?”

Steven smiled happily. “Splendid! And yes I would!” He handed me the stones and a small glove that would be worn when using the keystone. “Congratulations on getting yourself a Mega stone! Make sure you spend a good amount of time training yourself with it. The strain can take a while for you and your pokemon. Also, make sure that you and the Steelix in question have a strong bond.”

I nodded. I didn’t think I would have too much of a problem there but it would probably be something to work towards in the future. Honestly, if I had Tyranitarite I’d be much more sure in being able to pull it off. Jormungandr was only newly evolved and not that long for my main team.

“How long would a newly evolved Steelix take to develop the bond properly?” I asked as I led Steven out the back of the Gym and around towards my garden.

“That, is not a well understood area I’m afraid. It’s already extremely rare for trainers to have a Mega Stone due to their scarcity. Only certain areas appear to have them and there doesn’t appear to be a reason that we can establish as yet beyond pokemon habitats.”

I hummed and said nothing about the game’s theory of the areas needing to have been graced with Xerneas or Yveltal’s presence. Both were pokemon that hadn’t been in any of the Guardian’s documents or anything publicly available. “Well I think I know a few men and women that would love to make a study of such things. Even if I can only provide a case study they’d be interested.”

“Hmmm,” said Steven neutrally. “It’s up to you. It’s your stone now. I’d ballpark at least a year.”

That brought me up short. A year? I considered it for a moment more before I nodded and wondered how much that timeline would shift for someone that actually trained and spent time with his pokemon. It would have to be shorter wouldn’t it? I felt it would have to be shorter. How much shorter, though? Weeks, or months?

“Well, that’s certainly the most expensive garden I’ve ever seen before!” Steven commented as we entered my front yard. I blinked as I realised he was right. With today’s sale prices each Lileep that had claimed a spot in my front garden was worth millions of pokedollars.

“Huh,” I said intelligently.

“Hmm?” said Flint as he leaned around a hedge. He stepped out and revealed he’d been trimming it. He had a trio of Lillep poking him and I chuckled. HI knew he liked to keep treats in that pocket. Munchlax occasionally stalked him for them.

“Trimming the bushes?” I said only to smack myself at my lack of social grace. “Sorry! Flint this is Steven Stone. Steven Stone this is Flint.”

“Ah, your gardener! Excellent work you’re putting in,” said Steven.

When there was an awkward silence as Flint relled in shock while I stifled laughter, Steven realsied something was amiss. He looked away from the ‘flowers’  only to pausewhen he saw me standing next to Flint. “Ah, my apologies! You must be Flint, Brock’s father!”

“Indeed I am!” Flint said merrily.

“I must thank you for the highly detailed geological surveys you have done of the surrounding areas. They proved delightful to read when I discovered your pokenet page! You truly have travelled around some exotic locations! I know of a number of geoscientists that have followed your page! You should read the comments more!”

I blinked and looked between the two men. “His what now?” I said. Since when had Flint of all people set up a pokenet page? I would murder him and then myself if he’d been posting his whereabouts for years without my knowledge. Oh, Arceus, the shame I’d feel if I’d fallen victim to not using the pokenet page like some of the locals.

Flint smiled. “Oh! It’s something I recently started writing up at Salvadore and Yolanda’s insistence! I have started writing about where I’ve been and what I saw on a pokenet blog? Yolanda had Rachel teach me! That pokenet sure is impressive!”

Steven Ston nodded amicably. “I’ve enjoyed being able to link up with new rock enthusiasts and pick the brains of experts. Your blog has been highly enjoyable to read!” He gestured to the south. “I had no idea that the Orange islands had such stores of phosphate! That resource will make a gigantic difference to farms everywhere!”

“Oh, I know! I’ve said as much to locals, but not many people paid attention back then!” Flint said effusively.

“Where else have you been in your travels?” said Steven with great interest.

“Oh all over! I have a map if you’d be interested! What do you think of the emergence of evolutionary stones? I know that Professor Birch’s studies have—” Flint and Steven walked into the house, completely lost in their conversations about rocks and geology.

“Uhm? Did you want to pick a Lileep?” I said weakly, only to be ignored as they took their shoes off. I followed them in after tossing some treats to my garden. When I entered the hall, I paused when I noticed Gary Oak, Mia, Brawly, Roxanne, Flannery, Salvadore, Yolanda and Sabrina were all in various positions in the loungeroom.

Gary pointed after Steven. “Was that the Hoenn champion just now?”

“Yeah,” I said, scratching my chin. “We were talking about some things and well… that somehow turned into Flint and Steven talking geology.”

“Really?!” Salvadore said as he threw himself out of his chair “That’s so cool! I want to hear what they’re saying!” he said as he ran after them.

I blinked and glanced around. Yolanda’s face took on an extremely flat look. “Yaaaaay, rocks,” she said in the flattest of flat tone of voice.

“Apparently, you started him on his blog?” And wow, didn’t that feel weird to say aloud?

She nodded. “Yes, it’s about rocks in different regions. Other people write about the landscape, the pokemon, the people.” He sighed. And shook her head. “My father writes about rocks he encounters…” She slumped and reached to the floor to lift up Terra that had been smothering Ralts with hugs.

Ralts got up and hurried up to Sabrina leaping up to claim her lap and huddle away from Terra’s… weight.

Brawly laughed. “Your dad is wild!” he said with a laugh.

Yolanda’s face twitched, causing me to chuckle as I sat down. “Heh, sure Brawly, let’s go with that.”

I looked at the others in the room. “So Gary and Mia I know about.” I nodded at them. Gary gave a ‘cool’ salute with a smirk while Mia waved. I then looked forward to the new faces. “Sabrina mentioned you both as Brawly’s friends? Roxanne and Flannery?” I asked as If I didn’t recognise them.

“They are now my friends as well,” Sabrina said offering both girls a small smile.

Roxanne offered an equally small but no less happy one back, while Flannery beamed. “Heh! I don’t think the same can be said of Erika! I introduced myself and my Camerupt really well to her Gym!” She offered her hand to me. “Flannery from Lavaridge Town! Future Gym Leader! Crazy nice place you have here!”

“Roxanne from Rustboro… I also hope to be a Gym Leader,” she said fidgeting but not saying anything more.

“Thank you,” I said earnestly back to her. “After today’s showing I’d watch out for Erika. She might just be building up. I assume that means you challenged at a higher level?”

“Fourth badge level!” Flannery said firmly, “She was my first one!”

Gary snorted. “Sounds like you need to hurry up! Some of us are up to our fifth badges!”

Mia rolled her eyes. “You challenged Manny and Sophie for your fourth and Fifth badges, everyone knows the Big Eight are the ones to get Gary!”

Gary huffed. “I’m working up to the big Gyms for a full set of twelve from Kanto,” he said quietly.

“That’s good to hear,” I said. I nodded at him approvingly only to pause and look around. “Aren't there a bunch of ladies with you usually?” His bodyguards were being a bit lax… was that due to Mia being around? Was this a sign of trust from them?

“His girlfriends!” teased Mia.

“Don’t hate the player!” said Gary defensively. Brawly nodded seriously and offered Gary a fist bump while the girls in the room rolled their eyes.

Gary coughed. “The girls are taking the time to get their hair seen to—something about needing to freshen up their look after being in the wilds for so long.”

This had the girls, minus Sabrina, nodding along. Yolanda noticed this and shifted. “Did you not go to the hairdresser when you were on your journey?”

Sabrina blinked. “I had Brock cut my hair.” I coughed and felt my face reddening as Yolanda turned with a vicious smile.

“That’s soooo cute! What else did he do?”

“I had him brush my hair, and when we stayed in towns, we always stayed in nice hotels. After the Hoenn desert we even went on a couples spa day. Alakazam and Titan were even able to join in.”

“Titan sure enjoyed that heated rock massage,” I said, remembering that trip. Flint had called part way into it…

“Oh, we have that in Lavaridge! Hot springs and massage treatments are the selling point of Lavaridge apart from my family’s Gym!”

“Raaaaaaaalts!” growled Ralts in my direction. I drew in my dark energy and pat her on the head which she tried to grapple with, only for my hand to retract too quickly.

Yolanda giggled. “Why have I never heard of this?”

I shrugged casually. “Never really got around to talking about it I suppose?”

“Huh,” Yolanda said with a tilt of her head. “Maybe I should get you to write a blog as well?”

“I’m sure Rachel would love that,” I said with a chuckle.

Yolanda nodded. “Lots of people would be interested in reading it.”

More than a few people perked up and nodded along making me hum thoughtfully. I glanced down and noted that everyone had a drink and some snacks in front of them. I relaxed, man Yolanda was way better at being a host than me. I gave her a meaningful look and nodded while flicking my eyes at drinks and snacks.

Yolanda blinked before stiffening. “Oh! Yeah! Sabrina helped me out as well!”

“Oh,” now I really felt like I was lagging behind. “Well done. Sorry for not considering that myself.”

I eyed the trays of snacks that had been set up. This really was more than Yolanda would usually put out. Man, even Sabrina was better at this than me, was this Erika’s influence?

“You have a lot of demand for your time.” Yolanda said, waving it off. "Thank goodness you have some free time this week."

“Oh! Oh! Your journey! And this week!” Brawly said sitting up. “You’ve got this week for checking out new pokemon yeah?”

“Amoung other things,” I said carefully.

Brawly bounced around. “Like you have time for a mini journey yeah!? You should come with me and check out the ocean for pokemon like that Relicanth you mentioned once! Or that Corsola! Yeah!?”

“Hmmm I was actually thinking of getting caught up on some work, climb Mt Moon, head into Mt Silver on the way to Mahogany town, then check out the Diglett tunnel.” I raised my transceiver and checked my schedule.

“Oh nice!” said Brawly. “How long you going to take for that?”

“Two or three days,” I say casually.

“I will be going with him on a few trips,” said Sabrina with a small puff of her chest.

“Ooooohhhh Brock and Sabrina~!” Yolanda said teasingly. I flicked some cake at her which splattered on her nose.

Yolanda narrowed her eyes. “Don’t try me big brother!”

I opened my mouth to tease her back. “Humphrey~!”

She grabbed some cake and threw it at me. I ducked only for Brawly to take the hit. The cake slid down his face and he licked it before grinning and grabbing his own slice. “Food figh—”

An entire platter of cakes rose telekinetically and hit everyone as Sabrina perked up. “I win,” she said.

I snorted and channelled a small amount of dark energy into an eclair before smushing it into her face.

Yolanda gasped. “Brock that’s your girlfriend! You can’t do that!”

“I just did,” I said.

Sabrina nodded as the cream slid down her face. “Indeed you did.” She then narrowed her eyes and levitated into the air. “Which means this is war.”

Everyone scrambled to grab some food and hurl it at anyone else. I received the brunt of the attacks as Sabrina, Ralts, Yolanda, and Terra teamed up against me.

Brawly likewise received a battering from Flannery and Roxanne, but Gary helped him out, only to be ambushed by Mia in turn.

When Steven and Flint returned, we were still throwing food. Roxanne and Flannery stopped with handfuls of food held aloft. Their eyes bulged as Steven paused in the doorway. Brawly shot a half-torn cupcake at Flannery, hitting her in the face and making her twitch.

“Huh, looks like everyone’s having fun,” he said before nodding at me. “I’ll bid you good day. Flint, let’s stay in touch.” He clapped Flint on the shoulder and nodded to Salvadore who was staring at the messy kitchen. And like that Steven Stone departed.

Roxanne and Flannery slumped to the ground as soon as the door closed.

“I can’t believe we acted like that with Hoenn’s champion in the house! Ohhhhhh we look like children!” Roxanne said, mortified at her actions.

Brawly laughed. “No way! You look like you’ve got personality! That’s more important than being a stiff! Relax! He didn’t mind at all!”

Roxanne threw her handful of cake and the food fight restarted. Munchalx eventually investigated the commotion and was able to end the fight by eating all of the ammunition.

"Brock?" said Steven, poking his head back in and causing Roxanne to make a 'meep!' noise. He ignored her and instead held up a Lileep. "Is this Lileep alright?" he said holding aloft a rather lively-looking Lileep. I nodded grabbing a small tag from the kitchen to wrap it around a frond to make it easier to pick out later. It wriggled and tickled my hands while I did so.

Steven nodded amicably at me and the others once again. "Brock, Ladies, Gentlemen, Flint," he said in farewell.

Everyone watched Steven leave once more. I felt rather bemused with how whimsical Steven appeared to be. Gary and Roxanne watched on enviously, their eyes locked on the Lileep until it was taken back to the garden and the rest of its brethren.

Brawly, Roxanne, Flannery, Gary, and Mia left after that with the promise they’d be back later. Roxanne had looked like she’d wanted to say something more but had swallowed her words and instead left meekly. I watched them depart thoughtfully.

I made a note to investigate how Gary was going. I had made a promise to him about earning a pokemon hadn’t I? So far, he was the only one to inquire about earning himself one which was surprising.

I hummed and turned back to the kitchen, which, while shiny, was not the sort of shiny you should eat anything out off. Munchlax groaned happily from the corner as Yolanda checked his fur for any stored food.

I glanced at Flint who’d been quietly thoughtful ever since Steven left. “You alright?”

Flint nodded seriously, and I hummed when he didn’t say anything. Looks like I was worried over nothing.

I shared a smile with Sabrina, tomorrow was going to be all about catching up on some odd jobs.

Then I could go for a look around some caves to see about some new pokemon.

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A.N. Thanks to all my Patreons. My usual team of Betas have been busy with IRL so this is unbeta’d.

Sorry for any errors that seem obvious!