Hard Enough

Despite not having a match the next day, Brawly, Roxanne, and Flannery all turned up at the gym. They made for an interesting group. Roxanne looked tired, Flannery was perky, and Brawly was his usual laid-back self.

I led them into the break room behind the reception and raised an eyebrow at Roxanne. "You went straight into fighting at the Battleclub I take it?"

Roxanne nodded, and I chuckled. I wasn't surprised that she'd throw herself right into following my advice. It was what I expected from her. "How many matches did you have?"

"Four today that were worth my time," she said, sighing and leaning back into the couch. I tilted my head, but Flannery was the one to speak up.

"She had a whole bunch of brats challenging her! It was like she was running a kindergarten with how she was schooling them!" Flannery cackled.

Roxanne huffed. "Don't say it like that. They showed admirable courage, and if I want to take over as the Rustboro Gym, it was a good experience."

"So how many did you actually end up fighting?" I asked.

"Ten," Roxanne said with a sigh.

"Good numbers," I said casually.

"Ha! It's probably nothing to what you faced at the start of this circuit!" Brawly said with a laugh.

I shook my head. "The start of the circuit, and by that I mean the first week? It's usually pretty quiet as trainers get familiar with their pokemon. Then I get the usual rush for the first month or so… this season… yeah it's been nuts; it's only starting to slow down now."

I waved a hand around. "I've started blocking out later starts, earlier finishes, and longer lunches, which is so nice after the crunch period where I was pretty much just hanging in there."

"Sounds stressful. We should go surfing," Brawly said with a nod, like that would solve all my issues.

Roxanne sighed, and Flannery laughed. "You say that for almost everything!"

Brawly shrugged but lolled his head around to smile at me. "Come on, admit it; it worked that one time, didn't it?"

I nodded somewhat hesitantly before tilting my head. "I was actually considering going up to Mahogany Town again to do some skiing."

Brawly nodded his head. "Yeah, true. Snowboarding would be pretty choice!" I chuckled, that hadn't been what I said but I decided to ignore it as Flannery looked like she was going to burst.

"None of that matters, though yeah? You're still hoping for that Will rematch yeah?" she said heatedly.

I nodded. "Yes," I said.

Flannery stood. "Then what we need is action! We need to find that punk, make him regret cheating like he did, and expose any ties he has with Team Rocket!"

I raised an eyebrow at her and she groaned. "Or we can wait for him to slip up, I guess."

I waved a hand. "No, no. That look was about your Team Rocket comment. What made you think that?" I said. I hadn't said something in front of them, had I?

Flannery huffed. "The guy is obviously bad news! In Hoenn, people like him are usually linked with Magma or Aqua! In Indigo, you only have Team Rocket, ergo!" she said as though that explained anything.

I raised a finger before shaking my head and lowering it. "We are putting things in place, Flannery," I said, trying to calm her.

Brawly frowned at me and Roxanne tilted her head thoughtfully. Ah, crap, I hadn't refuted Flannery, and while she'd missed it, her friends hadn't.

Flannery grumbled and kicked her feet up. "I know that! It's just! Urgh! It's frustrating!"

I nodded. "Yeah, it really is. I've been toying with the idea of storming into a press conference of his to demand a rematch but…"

"He's a slippery one," said Flannery as she slumped onto a couch.

Roxanne coughed. "It also might be taken poorly…" she mumbled, only to blush as everyone looked at her. "That is, I meant to say it might be best for him to let the other gyms fight him such as Erika, Sabrina, or likewise… He is mirroring the circuit's big gyms, and it might be seen as you not having faith in them if you step in."

I rubbed my chin. "I hadn't considered that but… I'm not too sure it would go like that. Also, I don't think Will is going to try himself against Blaine or Giovanni," I said in an off-hand manner.

That made everyone pause, and I grimaced as I realised I might have misspoken again.

Flannery narrowed her eyes. "Why not those two Gyms? Because they're the last two traditionally?"

"That would make him more likely to challenge them, wouldn't it?" Brawly said with his head tilted to the side. "Before everyone watched your match against Lance, most people would have assumed it was a straight first-to-last Boulder to Earth badge in terms of strength." Brawly pointed out.

I waggled my hand as an acceptable dodge occurred to me. "He also needs to try and beat out others that are going to challenge for the position. Karen started before him and has already knocked over six of the Johto gyms, and she has done so convincingly. I think that if he delays, she's going to make a run at the Elite Four position first and beat him to it."

"Oh!" said the others, nodding along to that. "So he needs to increase his publicity?" said Roxanne thoughtfully.

"And his Ace trainer rating," I grunted, mentally praising myself for the dodge. "He needs to have reached the number one position to at least launch a challenge. Something he has apparently been getting a lot of, but he hasn't been challenging people for big televised matches much. The ones that everyone are showing are the Gym matches, with Sabrina being the showdown everyone is anticipating."

Brawly nodded. "The face-off of Psychic types, huh? Sort of like how you and Roxanne got a lot of attention due to being Rock specialists going head to head."

He snapped his fingers. "Then again, you'd get a lot of publicity with people going for a rematch." He posed with his thumb and forefinger around his chin. "I know we're getting a lot of people's attention with the announcement that I'm having my rematch after all."

Flannery snorted loudly at that. "Please they're just hoping that you're going to dunk water on Brock again so you and he end up fighting shirtless!"

Brawly grinned at her. "You saying you won't enjoy the show?" he said with a wink. Flannery scoffed but a dusting of red appeared on her nose.

Brawly then grinned in my direction. "What do you say Brock? Opening move this time? Wailord sent out for some Surf?"

That made me pause. Around us, others snickered while Roxanny squirmed. I eventually rolled my eyes. "Do what you will if you think it is going to help you. I'm more interested in seeing how things go with your starter this time around."

Brawly nodded his head. "He's fighting fit and so ready for this match! Trust me!"

"Hmmm good. I'll be looking forward to seeing how you fight." I then directed my attention to Roxanne. "Speaking of strong pokemon, when are you thinking of evolving your Nosepass?"

"Oh! I've been having some trouble with that; Usually people think it is best to use a thunderstone, but that doesn't always work."

"Thunderstone or electrically charged environment, isn't it?" I said.

At Roxanne's stunned look I waved a hand. "I've looked into the Nosepass pokemon group before but hadn't been able to secure any. They're not the easiest of pokemon to get your hands on, and they're not super popular. Celia, one of the gym's trainers, has caught one and is looking for another while she's in Hoenn. I've sent her a thunderstone and told her to use it while training near a powerplant or talk with Wattson about using his gym."

"Old man Wattson?" Flannery said, smiling fondly. "He'd be interested in helping her out if she explains herself. He's such a kooky old guy! Great Gym leader, he's one of the most popular gym leaders around, but I think that's more to do with his attitude when dealing with people than how strong he is."

"Rustboro is popular as well!" Roxanne said staunchly before coughing and sitting up straight. "I was actually wondering, Brock, if I might ask to use your own facilities here. I understand that you need an electrical environment for your geodude variants to gain their typing, no?"

I waggled my hand in a so-so gesture. "Among other things such as diet, breeding for certain traits, and such, yes." I smirked as I started to see what her angle was. "Ah, you want to borrow it for evolving your Nosepass?"

Roxanne nodded, and I responded with a nod of my own. "Sure! But I think I better wait until this afternoon." When Roxanne tilted her head, I scratched the back of my head. "This is the sort of thing that would be great for Salvadore to witness; he loves it. I'll tell Bianca about it as well; assemble the brain trust to observe the whole thing."

Roxanne accepted that easily enough, and when the Gym matches were done for the day, I met Salvadore walking into the house. "Hey Brock!" he said as he unloaded his backpack onto the couch.

"Hey, can you come with me? I have a pokemon that is going to evolve, and I wanted to see—" he sprinted away, causing me to grimace as I heard him slam into a few walls on the way to his room. On the way back, he was no less loud. He then skidded to a stop in front of me with his notepad and a camera slung around his neck.

"I'm ready!" he said, rather unnecessarily.

I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. "No… running in the house, little bro."

He nodded, entirely unrepentant and too excited to care. "What pokemon is it?"

I chuckled and waved for him to follow me. "Come on, and I'll show you."

I led him into the reserve, where we found Brawly paddling around with my Corsola while Roxxane was happily sitting on the side, stroking Tirtouga on the head as Lileep cuddled up to her. Greta, Yolanda, and Crystal all watched on.

I glanced around looking for Flannery, only to spot her wrestling with Cranidos. "Brock! How is this a baby pokemon? It's as hyper as a Pikachu that's been sucking on a power socket!"

I cocked my head to the side. "Is that a thing that happens?" I asked as she was dragged along.

Cranidos crowed happily. He'd been putting on weight, and with how he'd started dashing around to challenge various pokemon he'd been gaining muscle. Muscle that he was now using to drag Flannery around.

"Cranidos! Here!" I said, kneeling down and offering myself as a target. That had Cranidos charging straight at me.

"Brock you big dumb lug!" Flannery howled as she refused to let go.

Just before Cranidos got too close, I shifted and reached out, snagging Cranidos behind the head and twisting my body so that I moved with him before swinging him around me. I then tumbled him over himself, causing him to squeak in surprise.

While he was thrown off balance, I tucked him into my side and locked my elbow in. I made sure to start flowing rock energy through my body as I grinned down at Flannery.

"There, like that!" I said, ignoring how Cranidos was now slamming his head into my side and whining at my not being knocked over.

"Ha ha ha," Flannery said flatly. "Little sucker blindsided me while I was inspecting your Slugma and that hill you're building for him and his fellow."

I flicked my eyes over the 'hill' that was in truth a large earthworks project that even now some of my pokemon were building up under Bianca, Jennifer, and an engineer's directions.

"You must have startled him," I said shamelessly, like it wasn't something he did all the time.

Flannery glowered at me for that, while Cranidos gained a smug look. Then he went back to headbutting me, and with the rock energy protecting my ribs, I barely felt it.

Roxanne rose to meet me with a serene expression on her face. "Brock, I think I'm even more envious of this place since the last time I was out here! You've gained another group of ancient pokemon?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we're working at it. It helps that we have the research lab in Pewter and the League's approval."

Flannery clapped Roxanne on the shoulder. "No fear, Roxy; you'll get there once you're a gym leader! Just give it time!"

"And Money," I said. "Money helps; I'd suggest getting as much built up before you become a gym leader, that way you can snowball it if you need to."

Roxanne nodded at that. "Any advice on how to do that?"

I shrugged. "Win a lot of matches—more than you lose anyway. Fight enough, and you can make some serious money."

I nodded my head towards the cave system. "Shall we?" I then nudged Cranidos off to see if he could beat Knight in a wrestle. The little pokemon charged off, and I chuckled, knowing he had run in the wrong direction to find Knight. I then waved to Bianca, and she joined us to observe the process.

When we reached the electrical cavern, she directed us to a small cupboard that had been installed,holding rubber gloves, shoes, and coats, which we all donned.

"Observation diary one hundred and twelve! Evolution in action!" Salvadore said as he set up the camera to record.

Roxanne released her Nosepass which perked up as electrical energy sparked off the walls. Nosepass nosed at the walls before turning to Roxanne when she whistled for its attention. "Hey boy! It's time to evolve if you're ready?" she said.

"Nosepass!" intoned the pokemon before hovering forward and into the offered thunderstone. Everyone held their breaths as Nosepass touched the stone. The stone lit up, and then a huge spark from the floor of the cavern arced up into Nosepass, causing it to spasm.

The thunderstone clung to Nosepass, and another arc of electricity entered Nosepass making it twitch again.

Before anyone could freak out, however, a glow encompassed its entire body as the evolution took hold. When the lights faded, everyone else blinked their eyes to witness the new pokemon.

"Probopass!" intoned the now much larger pokemon. It had gained a red hat-like structure on its head along with what looked like a moustache under its large red nose.

A digitised voice spoke up. "Probopass, this pokemon is a Rock-steel type pokemon. It was commonly used in sailing expeditions and is a common sight on seafarers that traverse the oceans to this day, thanks to Probopass' ability to act as a compass that will always know where north is.

"Its body is highly magnetised, and the units on the sides and back are considered mini-noses. It is debated whether these smaller features improve the Probopass' ability to perceive its surroundings and make it much harder to sneak up on. It knows Lock-On, Zap Cannon, Stone Edge, Earth Power, Iron Defense, and Body Press."

Greta whistled at that while Roxanne ran forward to hug her pokemon.

"Is that her starter?" I asked Flannery. Flannery nodded proudly and I hummed. It was always a good day when any pokemon evolved, but it was just a bit more special when it was your starter pokemon.

"Well sounds like we're going to have to celebrate then!" I said with a clap of my hands. I happily sent Salvadore off to join the others for dinner as I led my friends to a more upscale restaurant. I messaged Sabrina, and she joined us when we reached the restaurant. I touched her hand as I noticed that she looked a bit tired.

"You alright?" I asked.

"I'm just tired; I've been working with Erika a lot and also with my father," she said, squeezing my hand.

Flannery chose that moment to speak up. "Hey Sabrina! I'm totally coming for your badge next! My pokemon team got a lot stronger after fighting Brock!" she said with a cocky smile.

Sabrina nodded her head. "That is good." Her face lost all emotion. "You will need it."

She then tilted her head as her eyes glowed. "Sadly I see only disappointment in your future." Flannery stiffened at that and opened her mouth only for Sabrina to smile. "The special that you are hoping to order tonight has run out of stock."

"Snrk!" Brawly said. "Hah! She got you there, Flannery!"

Roxanne giggled while Flannery huffed in annoyance but nodded at Sabrina. "Well played." She then deposited herself next to Sabrina and leaned in to whisper about something. I decided to ignore it and instead speak with Roxanne and Brawly about the sort of gyms they wanted to set up. I was rather amused that Brawly was hoping for a small gym while Roxanne seemed frustrated with his lack of ambition.

He merely shrugged. "Eh, I'll see what floats my way," he said, causing her to sigh and shake her head.

The evening passed like that, with suggestions and a few plans tossed around. Brawly tried to get me to go surfing with him, and Sabrina surprised me when she supported the idea.

In the end, I succumbed, resulting in all of us, plus Rocko and Jackson, joining us on the ocean the next morning. Roxanne happily accepted Brawly's coaching on how to surf, while Sabrina merely floated out and ordered a wave for herself.

I chuckled when she stood atop her surfboard like a queen surveying her kingdom. When the wave rose she surfed it without a hint of a wobble, causing me to laugh.

"You know you're supposed to use your balance and ride it, not control the board with your psychic powers," I said, splashing some water at her.

"I like my way," she said simply before smiling innocently as she kicked out with her foot and sent a giant wave to topple me off the board.

Jackson laughed as I spluttered my way back onto the board. I shot a splash at him, and he paddled out to show off his own Orange Island-acquired skills. I hooted at him when he crashed out after riding the wave for ten seconds. Rocko took his own turn and if anything, he'd gotten better since the last time.

Flannery revealed herself to be very experienced at surfing, much to my surprise.

"Thought you were a fire type!" I called out to her as she glided through the water towards us.

"That doesn't mean I can't hang ten!" she called back.

Brawly led Roxanne out into the water, only for her to tip over on the way out to the wave. In the end, he got a larger board and showed her how it felt while holding her steady.

"Oh! Smooth Roxy! Very smooth, the helpless maiden ploy!" Flannery whooped at her friend causing Roxanne to shoot her a heated look only to smile back at Brawly who was grinning.

I chuckled. "Think they're going to date?" I said to Sabrina

Sabrina shrugged. "I'm not sure. I believe Brawly is looking for something casual, while Roxanne wants a boyfriend. I am not certain, but I believe usually the boy caves to the girl's demands in this situation, or the girl's feelings are hurt."

I raised an eyebrow at that. And Sabrina shrugged. "It is my observation from the discussions when I am with Erika. They are quite informative," she said casually, like she hadn't just admitted to listening in on a lot of gossip and what sounded like heartbreak if she'd created a 'consensus' on how these things usually went.

"How's she going?" I asked.

"She is doing wonderfully. I think she will make a good showing of herself."

"Will she win?" I asked, to which Sabrina remained silent. I sighed and took another turn at surfing. I lasted all of three seconds before crashing out. I think Sabrina might have helped me stay on the board even that long with how stable it felt. I shot her a thankful look, and she winked at me.

When it was time to go, Sabrina teleported me and the other Pewter trainers back to the Gym where we had enough time to scoff down some food before meeting the day.

When lunchtime came around, the Gym began to fill up, and Sabrina returned to claim a seat in the trainer's box. She smiled enigmatically at me while holding a large soda for herself and Ralts. I shot her a confused look, but ultimately I shrugged it off, turning to watch as Brawly was announced.

"And now! He's tasted the sting of defeat once before, and now he's come back with a vengeance! The surfer-bro that we all love! Let's give it up for Brawly!"

I watched Brawly step forward. Unlike the last time he'd entered my gym, he did so with a smile and a wave. Gone were the sheepish expression and slightly jittery frame of mind. He strode forth now, chest out, head raised, and a surety in his eyes.

Last time I'd faced him, he'd gone straight into a match against me, albeit at the highest level available.

Today, he challenged the fourth tier with a gauntlet challenge.

Yolanda stood in the middle of the field, her flags at the ready and the barriers shimmering. A.J. stood on the podium, looking slightly nervous but composed.

I frowned, and a vague recollection occurred to me. Last time… it was Daniel standing in as referee. Daniel the traitor.

I felt my mood darken, and I shook it off as A.J. released a Graveler onto the field. Brawly countered with a Machamp.

It landed and flexed, causing A.J. to narrow his eyes and lean forward. Instead of giving an immediate command, Brawly glanced up at me and winked.

Huh, he remembered the first pokemon he sent out last time as well, did he? I chuckled as A.J. decided he'd given Brawly enough time. "Graveler! Defence Curl!"

"Focus Machamp," Brawly said easily, his pokemon raising its hands and holding them palm out to Graveler.

"Tch! Earthquake!" A.J. ordered, causing his pokemon to punch the ground and send out a powerful rumble.

"Leap!" Brawly said, punching his hand up high. Machamp tensed, and then, just before the shockwave hit him he leapt. The jump carried him in an arc up and straight towards Graveler.

"FB!" Brawly ordered punching out and causing Machamp to chamber his fists before unleashing a devasting round of punches with all four fists.

"Dig!" A.J. said. Graveler burrowed, only for the concussive wave of force to hit it just after it disappeared. A.J. himself stumbled, as his podium shook from the force of the blow. Graveler popped out of another hole to the side and shook itself.

It might have gotten away, but it didn't appear to have done it cleanly. "Rollout!" ordered A.J., making me frown.

"Focus!" ordered Brawly again, his pokemon having landed and raised its fists up again. I could see the Machamp's muscles twitching even as it held its ready pose. Ah he was using Focus Energy during those little gaps now? Brawly had gotten wiser.

A.J. waited until his pokemon was right on top of Machamp before he shouted a new command. "Explosion!" he barked.

"Protect!" Brawly screamed, not even hesitating as his pokemon knelt and raised a shield in the face of a glowing Graveler.

Graveler detonated, and it took a few moments for the fans to blow aside the smoke to reveal Machamp had been unaffected.

A.J. glanced up at me and I bobbed my head from side to side. Not bad. It was a good attempt, but it hadn't worked out.

A.J. returned his pokemon and almost stashed it away. Instead, he twitched and flicked his eyes to Yolanda who was watching him intensely. He whispered something to the pokeball, and then put it away earning himself a nod from Yolanda.

He then whipped out his second pokemon. "Go Graveler!" he ordered again. Once more the rocky pokemon landed on the ground, only this time it shifted back and forth with small black spikes on its side twitching.

"Roll!" A.J. said, sweeping his hand to the side.

"Line it up Machamp!" Brawly said firmly, making his Machamp slide his feet and keep a pair of fists raised in readiness.

I leaned forward and watched the Graveler roll, noticing that it was starting to spark up as it did so. A.J. once again chopped his hand in. "Close for Heavy Slam!" he yelled to his pokemon before stopping right as he got close. "Discharge!"

"FB!" Brawly ordered, causing the fists of Machamp to rocket forward, ignoring the lash of electricity that shocked him.

"Roll to the side!" A.J. ordered only for Graveler to not be quick enough. It dodged but was still clipped. "Tch! Again but circle it!"

"Machamp go for CC!" Brawly shouted. His pokemon leapt forward and, with two hands, grasped the sparking Graveler.

The other two fists then slammed into Gravler in a furious tempo that ended the match after a flurry of blows. The Machamp stopped with his fists held in front of the Graveler's unconscious face, threatening to continue but otherwise holding back.

Gravler slumped forward, unconscious, and the Machamp lowered him.

Yolanda raised a flag. "Graveler is unable to battle! This means Brawly is the victor for this round." A.J. returned his pokemon and once more whispered something to it, this time flicking a glance up and spotting Yolanda beaming at him. He retreated up to me amid a smattering of applause, looking like a grumpy wet Meowth.

I waved him close. "Hey, you did good out there. Nice try with the Explosion point-blank. I don't think you had a good match up, but you made the most of it."

"Still lost," he said angrily.

"Yeah, that's true, but remember, the point of being a Gym trainer isn't to win but to challenge trainers and grow. You certainly had Brawly sweating out there with that sequence of moves. He was only a bit more sure of himself on your second Graveler because he knew that he could advance without you exploding due to the rules about last pokemon explosions," I said.

A.J. nodded. "Graveler should have been able to dodge that Focus Blast; it's not the most accurate of moves!"

I wobbled my hand in a so-so gesture. "Yes but also no. It's not normally an accurate move, but Brawly is a type specialist, so with that in mind. He'd have higher odds of hitting a move like Focus Blast. He'd also have had his pokemon train it a lot more, as it's a very useful move for fighting types to have."

I waved my hand. "I think your idea of building up a Charge with your second Graveler was good, but you might have also achieved a better result if you'd used Rock Polish for your hit-and-run tactics like you tried pulling off."

"Hmmm, can I work with these two Gravelers a bit more?"

"Sure thing, just remember that if you evolve them, you should only use one of them during your matches at the fourth tier. We're trying to challenge our trainers, not beat them down."

A.J. nodded and stomped off, causing me to hum. I decided to leave him be for the moment. I'd send someone to bring him back to watch my match against Brawly, though; he might notice something he wanted to copy or expand on after all.

I turned back to find that Jackson had just sauntered down to an extremely popular song while the crowd laughed and sang along. He'd popped the collar on his floral shirt. Brawly himself was smiling and having a great time of it as Jackson danced his way down to the podium.

He then locked eyes with Brawly, and they grinned as one.

"You ready for this, surfer boy?" Jackson said as he expanded his choice.

"You know it!" said Brawly as he selected his own pokemon.

I tapped Sabrina on the shoulder. "Did he do anything with his Machamp during the break?"

"He used a Full Restore on it," she said, taking a sip from her soda.

"Ah, seems he's doing well for himself if he's got that sort of free money," I said.

"He has his seven badges already, having challenged the minor gyms. This is for his eighth." Sabrina took another sip. "Roxanne is very annoyed with him as he plans to just train and surf for the rest of the circuit if he has his way."

"That sounds like him," I said, chuckling.

"He could be a very strong Gym Leader for Hoenn." Sabrina eyed me. "Perhaps even an Elite Four if he tried for it."

I smiled at her and shrugged. "Guess it will be up to him and what he wants. I think right now he just wants to have good times with his friends, which mostly involves surfing."

"Any idea what he will do after that?" she said with a tilt of her head.

"Who's to say? That'll be for Brawly to decide."

I watched as Jackson sent out an Onix only to have it smashed up by Brawly's Breloom.

I snorted as a thought occurred to me. "He must have been winning a lot of fights, having qualified as an Indigo trainer on his first circuit while having a team like he does." I chuckled. "He's one of the only people out there that aren't facing team restrictions."

Sabrina inclined her head. "If he was more aggressive or less honest, he could have amassed himself a lot of wealth."

I hummed, knowing he wouldn't have done any such thing. If anything, he probably helped coach anyone who caught his fancy during this circuit. Still… I watched his Medicham unleash a barrage of hits onto Jackson's Lairon before it smashed it back with an Iron Head.

The thought of Brawly's prowess made me wonder… was I watching the future winner of the Indigo Circuit? He had all the time in the world to build up his team, which was already powerful from his years as an apprentice under Chuck.

If he pushed himself… he could go far.

I shook my head as the match was called, and Brawly waved Jackson off with a laugh. Then he turned his attention to healing up his Breloom.

I straightened up and limbered myself up. "Alright, time to see how much he's changed."

Sabrina nodded and indicated the seat next to Flannery in the front row. "I will cheer you on from up close," she said, standing and kissing me on the cheek.

I tilted my head as she did so. "Uhmmm, it's a Gym match, not an Ace battle, Sabrina?"

She nodded. "Yes, but you're going to try your best." She tucked Ralts into her arms and teleported into the seat with her soda bottle still in hand. I laughed when Flannery twitched in surprise before shaking my head.

That had been odd, I thought to myself.

Oh well. I shook myself out and instead focused on the coming match. I knew exactly what pokemon I was going to use this time, but I wasn't going to play things out the same way.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Brawly has demonstrated that he has shown remarkable growth since the last time he entered Pewter Gym! He has a battle record of two hundred and eighteen victories to fifty-eight losses on the circuit so far!"

I whistled at that. Damn, Brawly was a bit of a silent assassin. That was better than… what? Seventy percent as a win rate? Hmmm, I'd need a calculator to work it out properly.

Brawly was doing way better than I expected. If my match with him and his match against Will were taken away, how well would he be doing? Actually, just retracting his loss to Will would mean that he would not have lost to me. And how many of his losses had to do with not having his starter?

Damn!

Rachel continued to hype him up, and Brawly seemed embarrassed by the praise. I hadn't expected her to do this sort of research on him, but it was a good addition and had the crowd perking up and getting very interested in the upcoming match.

I hummed. Alright, so I could probably stop holding back. I'd known that last time, this time I was going to start out strong.

"—back to face our Gym Leader! Let's welcome him now! Give it up! For Gym Leader! BROCK!" Rachel shouted, swinging her arms around before launching herself into a full-body hop, hop, clap that made the crowd join her.

When they had a good tempo and the air was shaking, I began to walk down, my eyes locked onto Brawly. He straightened up and matched me, his smile holding despite the tension in the air.

As with Roxanne, I leapt from further back and slammed into the podium, rising with a darkness sweeping out from me as I'd done against Will.

"Brawly, welcome back," I said flatly. I enlarged a pokeball and held it out. "Are you ready?"

Brawly smirked as he selected his first pokeball. "So ready for this!" he said.

I whipped my arm forward. "Go Quirina!" I said, deciding to go for my psychic pokemon straight away to counter him.

"Go Wailord!" Brawly shouted.

His giant water-type pokemon landed with a thump that echoed.

I had a sudden feeling of intense deja vu that wasn't helped at all as Brawly's grin stretched his entire face. "Sorry! Not sorry!" he called out to me.

"Wailord! Surf!" called out Brawly.

"Oh you shithead Brawly," I said, knowing this had to be by design as I watched his pokemon call up another gigantic wave all while Brawly laughed like a maniac.

Working on autopilot, I pressed a button on my podium to make sure the barriers were working properly.

Rachel stepped in front of the crowd and smiled hugely, "All crowd members currently in the stands, please be aware that drying facilities are available in the communal parts of the gym and laundry services can be provided. Thank you! Please remain seated and have a nice day." She then scurried to sit next to Sabrina while other people in the crowd whooped and cheered the wave as it rushed onward.

"Protect," I said with the driest of tones possible.

The wave slammed over me, and the world was lost for a few moments of tranquil wailord song that I thought might sound like it was giggling before the wave was drained away through the grills on the side of the battlefield.

When I didn't need goggles to see I waved a hand to Rachel to check that no one was injured or startled by the wave, not that it looked like any action needed to be taken as people were all standing and cheering.

"Take it off!" shouted someone, and I blinked as I realised that Brawly was peeling himself out of his wet shirt. When he was done, he tossed his shirt to the side, raising his arms out wide, and locking eyes with me. Was he making the 'come at me bro' pose?

I shot him a flat look. "Did you serious…" I sighed knowing he had. I turned my head around to find Sabrina watching me with a straw in her mouth as she drank her soda. She wiggled her eyebrows.

Et tu, Sabrina? I thought to myself.

I shook my head and took off my shirt to the cheers of the crowd and more than a little screaming. More than a few cameras started flashing, but I ignored them.

"Alright, you've had your fun," I said to Brawly. "I think that's enough time, don't you Quirina?"

My Solrock responded by unleashing the Solar Beam he'd started channelling as soon as the Protect had dropped away.

Everyone had been a little too occupied with my taking off my shirt to notice how pissed off he was at being dunked on again from the same pokemon.

"Protect!" said Brawly, crossing his arms over his chest as my Solar Beam slammed into the barrier his pokemon raised. He grinned at me, and I nodded. Good, he had thought this through more than just playing around.

"Sunny Day!"

"Rain Dance! Not letting you get that off like last time, Brock!" Brawly shouted as his pokemon countered my environment move. I hummed. Alright, if he's going to do that…

"Rock Polish," I said easily.

.

"Hydro Pump!" Brawly said, punching forward.

"Rock Polish again, avoid it!" I said forcing my pokemon to spin like a wheel on the loose as it evaded the attack before spinning back to avoid the follow up strikes.

"Close in on it!" I said.

Solrock swept forward and gained a glint in its eyes as Brawly narrowed his eyes.

"Now!" He ordered unleashing a fierce barrage.

"Spin up and come back down!" I said, making my pokemon shoot up. As it did this, I raised up another pokeball. I knew this wasn't a guarantee but it still worked better to have a closer pokeball offered up. Brawly's eyes widened at the pose.

"Baton Pass!" I said, causing my Solrock to vanish and be replaced by a much thinner pokemon.

"Wood Hammer!" I shouted as my Sudowoodo swept down with a glowing green arm.

"Pro—" was all Brawly got the chance to say before my pokemon slammed into Wailord's face with the super-effective move. Wailord wailed in pain at the impact before tilting to the side as my pokemon flipped end over end to land in the middle of the field.

I pumped my fist. Nice! That had been a critical hit, by the looks of things!

Brawly swept a hand through his hair and laughed. "Ah man! This is what it was like last time too!" he said as he returned his pokemon. "I thought I had you back then as well."

I shrugged and smiled. "Eh? What can I say? You bring out my fighting spirit?" I said. I groaned as some ladies screamed with delight. Ah, I'd forgotten to not feed the local fan club. I shot Brawly another annoyed look, but he laughed unrepentantly.

He then gained a serious expression. "Alright, I don't want to play things too much the same way, but my man has been chomping at the bit for this rematch. Let's go Machamp!" he said as he tossed out his Machamp.

Machamp instantly locked eyes on Sudowoodo, and his left and right hands slammed together in a bow that had to be a martial arts pose.

Sudowoodo responded by raising up on one foot with his other in the air. "Wood!" he said teasingly.

Machamp's eyes narrowed, and I knew right away that my pokemon had himself a proper rival.

"Advance on him Machamp!" Brawly ordered.

I knew it had to be a hidden command, so I pointed forward. "Copy him, Sudowoodo," I said firmly.

Both pokemon marched forward, and Machamp had a look of intense focus that somewhat gave the game away of Brawly using Focus Energy as his pokemon stalked forward. In comparison, my pokemon just looked comical, advancing with a smirk on his face while flexing its twiggy arms.

When they were within touching distance, they stopped and glowered at each other. Machamp looked down on Sudowoodo. I could tell he wanted to destroy his rival.

"LK!" Brawly said.

"Quake!" I said, not willing to get stuck in this game.

I'd humoured him last time but I planned to play it smart. As Machamp dropped to one arm to spin about to knock Sudowoodo off its feet, my pokemon stomped its foot and unleashed a close-range Earthquake.

"Kip over into Mach Punch!" Brawly said as his pokemon began to flounder.

His Machamp then twisted and sighted on the ground before unleashing a barrage of punches that slammed into the earth, holding Machamp aloft like some overpowered anime protagonist going turbo.

Sudowoodo had to stumble back in the face of the barrage. "DP!" I said, causing Sudowoodo to leap forward with a glowing arm once more.

"Counter!" Brawly said, making his pokemon sweep its body around once again and catch the punch with its feet before stomping Sudowoodo into the ground.

"Kick it off!" I shouted. Sudowoodo grunted in pain before spinning into a perfectly timed Low Kick that knocked Machamp off its feet. Machamp landed awkwardly this time but bounced up a moment later, already swinging.

"Cross chop!" Brawly ordered, causing his pokemon to slash its hands down.

"Counter again!" I ordered him to make the most of the force of the attack as Sudowoodo danced back only to lash out with a foot into Machamp's face.

"Scary Face!" Brawly ordered, realising how precarious the situation was with my pokemon keeping up and evading so much thus far. Sudowoodo stumbled and glowered only for Machamp to grin.

"Quake!" I said, making the most of Machamp standing up against my pokemon.

"FB!" barked Brawly.

Both attacks were launched, and I saw both impact the respective pokemon. Sudowoodo toppled like a tree, while Machamp was shaken and thrown to land hard once again. Both pokemon struggled into a standing position before suddenly falling to their knees.

"Sudo…" said my pokemon as he fell into the dirt.

Machamp growled and forced himself up into a standing then stood, trembling and defiant, over my Sudowoodo. "Ma Champ!" he said, shouting his victory for everyone.

"Sudowoodo is unable to battle!" Yolanda called out, causing a tidal wave of applause to rise from the crowd at the great match.

I returned Sudowoodo to my pokeball and smiled at it. "You still not interested in joining the Elite team buddy? You'd have a place on there, you know?" I said to him before pocketing his ball.

On the other side, Brawly returned his Machamp with a smile. When he raised his eyes to look at me, he grinned. "Heh! They did great! You shook things up once again!" he said, shaking his head. "Machamp won't be able to come back into this fight and you took out Wailord with that Baton Pass trick… If I don't show some change, this match will end like last time!"

I inclined my head in agreement, and Brawly laughed. "But things are different this time." He raised another pokeball and I mirrored him.

"Let's go Hariyama!" said Brawly, revealing his starter. It slammed down onto the ground and shifted on the still slightly muddy field its eyes shifting before locking onto my pokemon.

"Let's go Quirina!" I said, much happier with this match-up for him. "Psychic!" I said, pointing straight at Hariyama.

"Taunt!" Brawly said. His pokemon twitched as Psychic wrapped around him to throw him about, only for Dark energy to surge outward. Hariyama raised a huge mitt and shook his finger back and forth as Quirina flinched like he'd been stung.

Huh, that was certainly a way to use dark energy defensively. So I couldn't directly grab Hariyama with Psychic then eh?

"Psybeam!"

"Detect!" Brawly said with a grin as his pokemon leapt to the side only for Quirina to arc the beam around and yet miss again as Hariyama dove under the beam and slid through the mud to close in with my pokemon.

"Heavy Slam!" said Brawly with a grin, his pokemon leaping up to tackle my pokemon.

"Protect!" I said, hoping to block the super-effective move. As Hariyama descended I exhaled in relief as a Protect barrier formed around Quirrina just before impact.

"Hariyama! Use Belly Drum!" he said, causing his pokemon to slap its own stomach.

"Hari-yama!" it shouted as it slapped its own stomach. The sound of flesh being struck caused me to grimace. That move came with the issue of lowering a pokemon's health to halfway. Brawly was dancing a fine line here.

"Confusion!" I said, putting my hopes on getting off a quick move as my pokemon's Protect faded. A pink aura surrounded Hariyama and he flinched, but then he merely narrowed his eyes on Quirina and leapt forward.

"Drain Punch!" said Brawly as the move slammed home into Quirrina.

Quirrina was flung back from the power of the attack and fainted as he struck the wall. I whistled in awe.

That was the other benefit of Belly Drum. A maximised increase in attacking power. I raised my eyes to Hariyama as he skipped back and forth with much more energy now.

A Belly Drum into Drain Punch. That was a good combination, if you got the chance to use it.

"Nice work buddy!" I said as I returned my pokemon. I then plucked out another and sent it as far away from Hariyama as I could. I did not want him to get too close.

"Go Shelly!" I shouted, sending out my Omastar once more.

"Headlong Rush!" Brawly said. I hissed in surprise as his pokemon burst into a straight-out sprint at my pokemon before an idea occurred to me.

"Ice beam in front of you!" I said. Shelly fired off an Ice beam directly in front of her and as Hariyama came on.

He leapt to carry himself as far as he could, only to land and instead of cratering the ice, he slipped, causing him to spin off to the side like a loose puck on an ice rink.

"Mud shot!" I said to follow up.

"Detect!" Brawly said, causing his pokemon to once again avoid the attack and advance.

"Surf!" I clicked my tongue in annoyance. I wasn't game to use dig but I didn't have a lot of room to work with due to being forced onto the far right side already.

"Endure it Hariyama!" Brawly called as the wave descended towards his pokemon.

It slammed down and only caused the heavy sumo-like pokemon to rock back a little and when it emerged it was still in good health and now sadly, Shelly was within reach.

Brawly had played that out rather well.

"DP!" he said, ordering another Drain Punch. His Hariyama rocketed forward.

"Dig!" I said, unwilling to not use every chance I had to avoid Shelly being taken out. Shelly dodged under the attack but Brawly merely pointed straight down.

"Stomping Tantrum!" he said. Hariyama stomped and a shockwave of force radiated out.

In another instance, it wouldn't have done much, but with Shelly barely dodging Hariyama's attack, it would have been right on top of her. Sure enough, she crawled out of her tunnel a moment later and wiggled her tentacles weakly. Hariyama knelt and stroked her once while nodding his head in respect.

I returned her and huffed. "You're a different battler with your starter on the field Brawly!" I said, feeling happy despite trying my best to put his pokemon down.

"Hariyama is my main man!" he said, raising a fist to his pokemon who punched back in reply.

I raised my last pokemon. "Let's go Onix!" I said.

My Onix landed and roared in greeting. Hariyama nodded his head but then raised his fist.

"Sandstorm!" I said, making visibility difficult and edging things into my favour.

"Charge in with Detect buddy! Let's end this!"

"Drag it out! Dig buff special!" I said, rolling the dice with a combination of moves while deciding to test if Brawly had anything but Stomping Tantrum to match my pokemon.

Brawly clicked his tongue and shot me an annoyed look. "Return Hariyama! Let's go Poliwrath!" he said, deciding to instead return his pokemon.

I hummed, that would play well in my favour. Poliwrath emerged and groaned as the Sandstorm caused a bit of damage.

"Earthquake!" he said and just as his pokemon started to raise its leg to stomp down, my Onix emerged with an extremely shiny coat.

"Leap forward for Iron Tail!" I said, causing my pokemon to hurl itself across the gap to swing its tail around, thereby avoiding the Earthquake.

"Hammer it with Hydro Pump!" Brawly said, making his pokemon tank the hit but unleash a super-effective move that saw Onix flying back.

Both pokemon stumbled into a fighting stance and groaned. Poliwrath shook itself again as the sandstorm caused more issues.

Brawly bobbed his head from side to side. "I'm game to trade off again, Earthquake!" he said.

"Go for the High Horsepower leap," I said, causing my pokemon to coil and surge over the space between his pokemon and mine with a mighty leap.

Brawly nodded and pointed. "Protect!" he said with a smug grin. I laughed, knowing he had me there as my pokemon slammed into a barrier. Onix took the hit poorly, shaking its head in an obvious sign of distress from missing, only for the protective shell to drop away a few moments later.

"Iron Ta—" I started to say, only for Poliwrath to blast Onix back with a devastating punch that ended the match.

Yolanda raised her flags. "Onix is unable to battle! Brawly is the winner!"

The crowd rose to their feet and cheered. I lowered the podium, and Brawly moved to clap his hand on his pokemon's shoulder. Then he locked eyes with me and walked forward, his hand raised.

I laughed and raised my hand to clap my hand with his in a powerful grasp that echoed as we slammed together. Both of us grinned as our arms tensed up. "Congratulations," I said to him "You have demonstrated more than enough skill to earn yourself the Boulder badge."

"I accept!" he said with a huge grin. Then he wrapped an arm around me and turned us. "Now let's smile and wave to the crowd!" he said,I shook my head but did so. He smiled. "Doing anything tomorrow?"

"For once, I have the morning free."

"Cool," Brawly said, and then, much to my surprise, he said. "We found a Rocket base that could do with some masked good samaritans to kick its doors in before you go and make sure Will doesn't try cheating. You in?"

My smile grew as I nodded. I most certainly was up for some stress relief.