Hard Enough

Sabrina’s match, unlike many of the other matches so far, was set to take place during what was known as prime time.

That meant that it would be taking place at seven o'clock on a Saturday, making it the time that people would be sitting down to either watch, listen, or even attend the match in person.

The Saffron Gym stadium was the second largest stadium in the Indigo region, with the only larger stadium being the Indigo Plateau.

Unlike the Indigo Plateau, which was owned by the League and a key group of stakeholders, the Saffron Stadium was entirely owned by Sabrina.

The stadium had been referred to as an ode to the love of sporting events with its creation by architects who reviewed the structure. When Sabrina wasn’t using it for pokemon battles, Ace battles, soccer matches, athletic events, and martial arts tournaments had taken place here.

Standing in front of it, I was starkly reminded that Sabrina was terrifyingly smart, and while I was decently rich enough to do what I wanted, Sabrina was on another level. Where I’d made tenfold the amount of money a year after our Journey, she’d taken the same money and gotten a hundredfold return.

I watched as people started streaming into the stadium for the prematch fight, which would serve as entertainment before the main event.

It amused me that this featured Ace trainers and was usually a solid match by itself.

Tonight, they were merely preshow entertainment.

A ring tone made me look down only to frown as I caught the name. “Hello Howard,” I said, greeting the Vice president of Silph Co.

“Borck! I wanted to follow up after your tour the other day. I was hoping to also finalise the compensation that—”

“Now is not a good time,” I said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I said firmly before hanging up on him. He could deal with me and Lawrence if that was what he wanted.

A glance around revealed that a number of people had taken notice of me and my option of simply walking in was lost without being swarmed.

I could already see a reporter and a cameraman making their way towards me.

I hummed and released Selene to have her teleport into Sabrina’s house.

Saul looked up from his newspaper and greeted me with a grunt. “Sabrina’s in the gym picking out her pokemon.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” I said, “Thanks Saul, see you later.” I tapped Selene for another teleport. We vanished and appeared in Sabrina’s office. Sadly, Sabrina wasn’t present here either. I walked through the gym, noting the number of trainers there were out and about, walking through the halls with spoons in hand and at least two psychic pokemon moving with them.

They looked like an army that had been put to work patrolling the halls.

Part of me felt relieved that Sabrina was taking this so seriously, while the other part hated that this was necessary.

I found Sabrina coming out of the stables with her gaze on her pokebelt as she placed a sticker on a pokeball.

“Brock, Selene,” she greeted.

Selene warbled and hovered forward to nudge herself into Sabrina, causing Sabrina to giggle and give the floating moon a quick rub along her crest.

I, for my part, stared at Sabrina. Usually, she liked to wear short skirts with tights underneath.

Today she had a single-piece dress that molded itself around her body. It looked almost like a futuristic pilot’s outfit with how sleek it was.

Sabrina looked great.

“Like what you see?” she asked with an amused lilt to her words.

I nodded and shot her a smile. “Very much so,” I said before turning serious and flicking my eyes to the rooms she’d come from. I pointedly looked down at Sabrina’s pokebelt. “Did you get Stantler to evolve?” I asked.

Sabrina paused in her ministrations and glanced at me. A sly expression appeared, and she hummed. “Perhaps he did; perhaps he didn't; who could say?”

I shot her a flat look. “You could,” I said.

“Hmmm, I could.” She tapped Selene thoughtfully and chuckled at my put-out expression. “He did evolve, earlier today in fact… which… is wonderful… But…” she grimaced.

“He’s too late to be used today?” I said.

She nodded. “He still isn’t up to the level of strength that I will require for this match.” She wobbled her hand in a so-so manner. “For this match, I am going with only my strongest, or most versatile pokemon.”

I tilted my head in thought.

That meant Alakazam, Claydol, Hypno, Slowking, Espeon… and who would be her sixth? Starmie? Xatu? Jynx? Or Exeggutor? She had been training with Erika a lot, and I had little doubt that she’d picked up a lot of tricks for her pokemon, and with Erika’s recent showing, Will wouldn’t be as confident in his selection.

“Brock,” she said, drawing me out of my thoughts.

“Yeah?” I said, focusing on her. She was adjusting the bracer— no, it wasn’t a bracer anymore, it was a glove with a ring on the central finger. When had she had that refitted?

She looked at me for a long moment, and when she spotted my gaze, she smiled, running her fingers over the glove. “When Will cheats, let me handle it. But… when you go to confront that pokemon… take someone strong with you.” She looked to the side. “Even if it’s Karen,” she said tightly.

“I feel like I should stick around and observe you smacking Will around,” I said jokingly. While I was smiling I knew it was fake, just as Sabrina knew. “Should I ask?” I said.

“I think it will be fine, trust in yourself and your pokemon,” she said cryptically. Then she smirked. “As for Will’s fight with me? I’ll make sure it is recorded from multiple angles,” she said, flicking her hair.

I grinned, relaxing with what she’d said, pleased that she was so confident.

And she should be, she had an incredibly strong team as well as what had to be the ultimate Ace in the hole, with a Mega-evolution. I was so envious of her being able to do that already.

I was close—oh, so close—with Jormungandr. I knew that if it had been any of the other pokemon I had capable of megaevolving, I was sure that I would have managed it by now with how much closer we were. Then again, it was great training for me, so I shouldn’t complain too much.

“Think you can clean sweep him?” I said as we started to walk.

Sabrina giggled. “I might be confident in my pokemon, and my skills, but I am not so confident that I will be able to use only one pokemon… Not unless I opened with Alakazam, and that would be committing everything to one strategy. This is the first time I will be using mega-evolution in combat… When you manage it Brock, you will understand that it is a rather large rush.”

She frowned. “It is also rather delicate. I worry that Will’s support will interfere if I go for it too early.” She reached out and linked her arm with mine, resting her hand on mine as we walked towards Sabrina’s personal viewing box in the stadium. “I think I shall have to place my faith in you and the others to stop it.”

I grinned at her. “Well, I think you can trust in your friends.”

Sabrina made a face, and I heard her mutter something about Karen. I squeezed her hand as we led into the viewing box. “She’s not who I’m talking about,” I said. Indicating the full room before us.

Saul was standing with Sandra to one side. Erika, Brawly, Flannery, Roxanne, Daisy, Violet, Lily, and Sophia were also here. I was surprised by the last four members in the box with us, but then again, they were all Gym Leaders.

“Sophia, Daisy, Violet, and Lily,” I said with a polite nod as we walked past them. The Cerulean sisters waved, and Sophia grunted and nodded back at me. Erika bowed politely, and Sabrina disengaged her arm from mine to approach her parents.

I turned to Selene and considered returning her before deciding against it. It wasn’t like we were in the stands, and she’d do well to watch two psychic-type trainers fight.

Also, if I needed to move, Selene would be the best bet for me to get anywhere quickly.

I checked my transceiver to shoot off some messages to the Guardians before approaching Sophia and the Cerulean sisters to talk shop for a few minutes. When I’d given them a few minutes of my time, I excused myself and moved on to my friends.

Sabrina joined me to greet her guests, and I flicked my eyes around the room. “Surge?”

“I invited him, but it seems he didn’t want to come,” she said with a small frown. “I think he’s still upset about his loss against Will.”

I nodded. “Ah, yeah, he’s probably working on getting stronger. He’s probably embarrassed.”

Sabrina merely inclined her head and stepped towards the glass that overlooked the stadium. The fight below was winding up, and there would be a short intermission as people who came only for the main match took their seats. Sabrina had many performers set to move about the stands or claim the edges of the field while the field itself was repaired for Sabrina and Will’s match.

Another call came through, and I groaned when Howard’s name popped up once more along with a message asking to just have a few minutes of my time. I shook my head and dismissed the messages. There were no other messages or missed calls from important people, like my family, or the Guardians so I lowered it. I felt myself tensing up, and to help myself relax I reached out to give Selene some pats. She crooned in delight.

I wasn’t going to ask if Sabrina, of all people, was ready.

She was, I knew it. I just needed to be supportive. The next few minutes seemed to crawl past and I found myself more annoyed with the match that was taking place before me instead of enjoying it as I should have.

“They could have ended this match a few minutes ago,” I found myself saying with a wave of my hand.

“Yeah, that persian should be controlling this match. I’m surprised the trainer hasn’t given his pokemon more versatility than they’ve so far displayed,” Sophia said from next to me.

I grunted before glancing in her direction. I hadn’t spoken with her much earlier due to the Cerulean sisters being more vocal. “How are things going for you with the circuit?” I asked.

She sighed. “So many trainers are coming my way that I’m having to bike in and out of my Gym to visit the Celadon pokemon centre daily to get my pokemon through it.”

She waved her hand. “And that’s despite all of them getting strong! Bug type pokemon grow fast and with the matches I’ve been having, there are plenty of chances for them to get strong quick! I’m having to make them hold back deliberately!”

I nodded. “I’ve got a few pokemon like that. They’re useful to have in hand because you can use them across pretty much every tier of challenge.”

“Tier? You call the different badge challenge levels, tier?” she said shooting me a look.

I coughed, realising I’d slipped into my gym’s jargon. “Sometimes, it is a bit easier to say than first badge or second badge challenge. First tier, second tier, etcetera and such,” I said waving a hand.

Sophia nodded her head. “That makes a lot of sense… I’ve had some punks coming in wanting to challenge at the fourth tier they said, despite only really having pokemon capable of handling the third. They’ve been a pleasure to handle,” she said with obvious sarcasm.

“You’ve been able to handle them?”

Sophia nodded. “Oh yeah, I typically have a Beedrill swarm of my resting in some woods near where I set up my gym most of the time. That or I have pokemon like Scyther, Heracross, or even Yanmega.” She shot me a sly look. “Thanks for telling Erika about that, by the way; she shared it with me for free and said she was paying it forward like you’d done for her.”

“Oh, I hadn’t meant for her to do that, but I’m glad,” I said. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think to mention it to you,” I said while scratching the back of my head.

“Eh, we’re not exactly close; I know we share the same job but I think there’s a difference between my gym and yours… Or others,” she said, tapping the glass in front of her to highlight the stadium at large.

“I don’t think Sabrina and I are good standards to be compared to?” I offered, “I mean some of it is luck with how we got our starting funds,” I said with a wave of the hand.

“Hmmm sure, I’ve travelled around enough to know you need to make your own luck.” She then slapped my shoulder. I reflexively spiked my rock aura, and the slap sounded out much louder than Sophia must have intended.

She took her hand back and made a small, pained noise. “Fuck, what are you doing? Eating rocks?” she said.

“What?” I said, only to realise what I’d done. Sophia, a pokemon trainer who specialised in bug types had tried to playfully slap me while I raised my rock aura. She’d hit me, but it was probably more like a bug running into…a windshield, for lack of a better phrase.

“Sorry! I… eat well?” I said as I hovered my hands around in apology.

Brawly laughed uproariously. “Ah! My man eats good, but he works out!” he said, slapping his hand on my back. I made sure not to call up any rock, or dark auras for this slap. I knew what my typings were weak against. So instead, I only buckled a little instead of completely when Brawly hit me.

Sabrina drifted over and gave the three of us a raised eyebrow. “Having fun are we?” she said.

I smiled, and Sophia held her hand with a grimace, only to nod. Brawly, meanwhile, gave Sabrina a clueless thumbs up.

Sabrina tilted her head to the side. “Well, I thought I should inform you that the match ended just now, the intermission will play out, and then I shall be heading off.” Sabrina turned slightly. “With this facility's closed boxes, the League has asked that all of the corporate boxes, as they are known, include a pair of observers.” She indicated a rather portly, rotund man with a curly moustache and…

“Jenny?” I asked with a tilt of my head.

The woman, despite having different coloured hair and style, could only be a Jenny with how severe her expression was. If I had toured around more and been the canonical Brock, I might have even been able to narrow it down to which Jenny from which city, but that would be wasteful.

Jenny twitched. “No,” she growled tightly while her companion chortled. “I think you are mistaken. I am Agent… J,” she said tightly.

Her companion stepped forth. “I, sadly, am not one of Champion Lance’s G-men. No, I am merely Auditor Popo!” he said grandly.

He bobbed his head in an approximation of either a nod or a twitch. “I understand that both your parents are rather capable psychics, my dear girl?” he said sweetly.

I bristled at his words as the man nodded amicably at Saul and Sandra, only to then consider Selene. “It is of course, not illegal to have another pokemon out, but it will be recorded,” and in saying it, he pulled out a notepad and wrote on it.

I bristled. Lance’s people were observing us? I considered raising my Xtransceiver and snarling at him for this stupidity.

Sabrina reached out and touched my arm, and I looked up at her. She shook her head. “Don’t worry about them, they are merely here to observe.”

She squeezed my hand. “If you have to leave, they will not follow as their job is to observe that no cheating occurs. They are just as much here to prevent anything as to make it without doubt that nothing occurred. They are a shield more than they are a threat,” she said succinctly.

I huffed and relaxed, realising that I was agitated and acting out just so I could do something. It was probably because of this being Sabrina’s match with Will. I squeezed her hand back. “Right, sorry.”

“I don’t mind,” she said before turning her head towards the now empty field. “I believe it’s time for me to depart.”

She flicked her gaze back to me and leaned in to claim my lips. I had a brief moment of surprise before I kissed her back.

She broke the kiss with a small smile and nodded. “I’ll come get another when this is over,” she said with a playful smirk before vanishing in a Teleport.

I sighed before chuckling to myself. Brawly wrapped his arm over my shoulders. “Damn, you’re a lucky man bro; she’s a catch, but don’t worry so are you!” he said with a huge grin.

I snorted and dragged him up to the front seats with me. “Thanks Brawly, try not to dig a hole for yourself on my part though,” I said, flicking my eyes towards Roxanne who was smiling at us.

Brawly shot her a smile and chuckled. “Nah she knows there’s nothing wrong with making observations. Plus, you and Sabrina are just so cute together,” he said with a cutesy tone.

I huffed and raised a hand to shush him as I took in the now much fully Saffron Stadium. The crowd was a roiling mass of people, and despite us being rather high up, we still had a very clear view of everything that would take place on the field.

Both podiums were raised already, and the referee was toying with the central podium display, performing a final calibration check of the barriers. A look around the crowd showed several people circulating, and it took me a moment to realise that they were jugglers.

It took another moment for me to notice that they weren’t using their hands to juggle the balls, tenpins, and, in one memorable display, firesticks.

I felt something ripple through the air and was about to look around, only to notice all the people going still. Something had just happened that was psychic, but it had washed over me.

At the psychic signal, all of the entertainers snatched their props out of the air and sprinted up the stairs. The crowd stirred as one, resulting in a wave of shock that rippled as people noticed the odd actions.

A gong rang out, and the crowd settled. Saul stood and tapped me on the shoulder. "You might want to lower your defences a bit for this,” he whispered to me, tapping at his forehead meaningfully.

I tilted my head, only to realise what Sabrina had planned. I lowered my defences, trusting that Sabrina knew what she was doing.

“Welcome,” said Sabrina, her voice coming from seemingly everywhere at once. “Welcome to the Saffron Stadium. Tonight we play host to an Ace challenge between the Challenger Will and myself,” she said psychically.

Will’s podium began pulsing with light, and Will appeared in a flash of light, bowing and waving to the crowd. A smattering of applause came from the crowd, with one section cheering louder.

“Will has raised his challenge… a Challenge against myself. The regulars of my Gym matches know who I am, but allow me a moment to introduce myself.”

A quartet of searchlights activated as the rest of the stands darkened.

The lights searched the air and revealed Sabrina in all her majesty, reclining in the air. She seemed to look down on Will from her position on high. The big screens showed her face as she gazed down. It gave the impression that she was looking down on him from multiple levels.

“Welcome,” she intoned, now visibly demonstrating that her mouth was not moving to convey that she was speaking. “To my Gym. I am Sabrina, the Psychic specialist of Indigo.”

Flannery whistled. “Damn, girl, she is pissed!” She bounced in her seat. “This is going to be great!”

I nodded, watching as Sabrina stood up and walked on the air, only to let herself begin to descend.

“I understand what you are trying to do with this challenge. You wish to claim the title of strongest Psychic in Indigo.” Sabrina suddenly dropped out of the sky, and a few people in the crowd screamed.

I smirked as she arrested her flight mere inches from the podium. Wind whipped outward, causing a visible ripple of air to blossom from her.

“I will not allow that to pass,” Sabrina projected her voice for the first time as she stood on the podium. From her pokebelt, six balls rose up around her and began to orbit.

Sabrina turned her head slightly to the side and the referee stepped forward in time for the crowd to break into applause at Sabrina’s display.

It wasn’t the wild display I’d get or the polite applause of Celadon. Instead, it was that of a normal fanbase. It didn’t stop it from being loud, though.

The referee had to raise his flags and press a button to set off a bell. “Calm, calm, please, for the instructions!”

The crowd settled down, and I chuckled. “He’s lucky Sabrina isn’t one to whip the crowd up,” I said, leaning forward in anticipation as the referee went through the standard recitation of rules that were expected to be abided by.

When he asked for Sabrina and Will’s understanding and agreement, they both nodded.

The referee then raised his flags. “Very well, you may release and begin!” he said dropping his flags.

Around Sabrina, five pokeballs returned to her pokebelt while one shot forward in a dazzling display of skill. Will released a single pokeball of his own.

From Will, his Espeon took to the field; it appeared low to the ground and ready to fight.

The light that coalesced around Sabrina’s pokemon revealed a tall pokemon. When the pokemon formed properly I could only blink in surprise.

The long-necked… giraffe pokemon was revealed.

I blinked. That wasn’t a shiny Girafarig. The colours were all wrong, and the head on the tail wasn’t present. It also had a large black hood that formed another head around the much taller neck.

…

I had no idea who that pokemon was.

A round of gasps swept through the crowd, and a splutter could be heard from the auditor in the room. “My word!” he said.

Even Will seemed surprised.

Sabrina wasn’t though, and neither was her pokemon as it suddenly unleashed a Psybeam with zero warning.

“Dodge with Agility!” Will shouted, and I smirked.

Sabrina had him rattled right from the start of the match, that was a very good sign. He might be a tough person to fight against when he was calm, but it was painfully clear who the true strongest Psychic was with Sabrina flexing like this.

The powerful Psybeam, that the Giraffe pokemon unleashed tore up the battlefield even as Espeon vanished in a blur. I watched as a camera angle shifted to get a better view of the face within the head of the black hood.

The inner head tracked to the left while the outer eyes tracked to the right, with one of the eyes even shifting around the round head to the very back of the head.

Brawly clapped his hands. “Damn! And you just said she isn’t much of a showman? She just used one of your tricks! I’ve never seen a pokemon like that! What is it?” he said turning to me expectantly.

“Yeah she’s good like that.” I nodded sagely.

I chuckled as everyone leaned in expectantly. “I honestly have no idea. She pulled the wool over my eyes as well with this reveal.” I tilted my head. “I can only assume that this is a Girafarig evolution though.”

Roxanne leaned forward as Flannery bounced in her seat, her excitement reaching fever pitch.

“Eeee this! Just! This!” Roxanne said, pointing and watching as Espeon sprinted around the back of the still-unnamed pokemon.

The hooded eyes tracked the pokemon and Will, seemingly having regathered himself, swept his hand and gave a silent, mental command. Espeon appeared to the side of Sabrina’s pokemon with its fist coated in dark energy.

The eye on the hood swivelled and locked onto the oncoming pokemon. Then it glowed ominously, and the dark energy around Espeon’s paw dissipated.

The espeon carried through with the attack only to lightly swat her paw into the giraffe’s flank. It wasn’t an attack so much as a light swat that could be considered playful. Except the Espeon seemed stunned.

“Eh?! Disable?” Will cried out.

Sabrina merely smirked, her eyes glowing as her pokemon’s head snapped around and the hood with the suddenly sharp looking teeth snapped closed upon Espeon.

Espeon cried out only for Sabrina’s pokemon to reveal that it had a surprisingly flexible neck.

It whipped the espeon back and forth, slamming it into the ground, causing Espeon to cry out.

“CR!” barked Will, causing ghostly energy to shoot out and into the fanged face. The dark hood that resembled a head released, even going so far as to open its mouth wide, only to reveal the face of the giraffe-like pokemon beneath, its smaller mouth still locked onto Espeon’s paw with a determined glint in its eyes.

“Farigiraf!!” it growled—in doing so, revealing the name of the Girafarig evolution—trying to muster as much power as it had before with the outer head/hood to Crunch down on Espeon. It couldn’t muster up enough force to keep Espeon pinned down, but Sabrina didn’t seem bothered; instead, her Farigiraf’s hood snapped closed and cackled darkly.

Espeon limped away as Farigiraf used Nasty Plot.

The dual heads made for a rather interesting defence against what I suspect might have been Confuse Ray earlier.

“Tch!” Will said as his pokemon suddenly vanished in a burst of red light.

A stir went through the crowd as Sabrina’s Farigiraf matched Espeon. With both pokemon disappearing into a Baton Pass there was a moment of quiet before Will’s Exeggutor appeared on the field.

Then Sabrina’s Xatu appeared opposite it.

The giant palm tree pokemon towered above Xatu, but despite that, I pumped my fist in anticipation.

Sabrina had read Will like a book and now had two good matchups.

Will growled and raised his pokeball as Xatu’s eyes began to glow. With the traded Nasty Plot buildup and time to prepare I could practically feel Sabrina taking control of the match.

My wrist began to vibrate and chime, and I shot it an annoyed glare, slapping it. Howard might want to talk to me, but I didn’t want to talk about whatever new deal he had to offer. The man should know better after how often I’d rejected him now.

Will returned his pokemon, and I could see he was growling at the need to do such so early into the match. He whipped out his next pokemon to reveal the same Jynx that I suspected he’d used against me to trick out Tide, and then trap Knight.

Jynx glowered at Xatu, who merely raised her wings in readiness. A glow steadily built up around Xatu.

Jynx’s eyes glowed, and a flash appeared around her like a large set of eyes. I grimaced at the use of Mean Look and glanced at Sabrina to see how she was taking this move.

Sabrina merely raised her chin defiantly, her Xatua glowing as it used another buff-up move to make itself stronger.

Will sneered at the nonchalance and raised his hand to chop it forward.

Jynx copied him. Icey winds howled, and large spears of ice formed above Jynx’s head as she raised her hand. When she threw her hand down, they shot forward, only to be caught in the air as Xatu’s raised her wings higher and her eyes glowed brighter.

With the Blizzard caught, Xatua hurled the ice shards back upon Jynx.

The short pokemon did the same short hop-skip retreat she’d used in the past to evade. I’d learnt that this was Telekinisis with her physical hop to allow her to leap back further than she should. She faltered at the midpoint, however, as a psychic lash appeared and struck her making her cry out in pain.

Sabrina’s eyes shone as Xatu snapped her wings forward and unleashed a powerful Psybeam straight at Jynx.

“Protect!” shouted Will. Jynx snapped her hands up and a shell formed around her, protecting her from the powerful attack. Xatu cut off the attack immediately, and her pokemon glowed once more.

I grinned. One of the hardest things about fighting Sabrina, was that she could put together orders that flowed into moves faster than anyone else. She could halt attacks instead of having her pokemon overcommit, and she could redirect jsut as quickly. It wasn’t quite like she could get two moves in compared to one of her opponents, but in lulls in combat, she could already be shifting focus.

Perhaps one and a half to one would be accurate?

Xatu started creating a sickly grey-purple ball of energy in front of it that seemed to howl and moan.

My wrist buzzed again, and I almost outright growled as Howard tried to call me again. I stood and marched to a corner, keeping an eye on the match as I did.

Will had his Jynx match the Shadow Ball with an Ice Beam, but despite the attacks slamming into each other, Jynx lost out. It was blasted back into the wall, where it landed heavily.

It stumbled forward weakly, and I grinned, knowing Will wouldn’t be able to keep Jynx out. I was proven right as he used his second switch out to recall her.

All while Sabrina and Xatu built up for the next exchange. Sabrina had this match solidly in her grasp, and despite Will locking Sabrina into a bad matchup, she’d emerged the winnerr of the exchange.

I raised the transceiver, ready to growl at Howard, only for his terrified visage to appear. “Oh! Brock! Thank goodness!” he hissed quietly. “Please! You have to come quickly! Team Rocket have invaded Silph Co. and are seeking to steal the Master Ball!” he said.

I felt my gut drop. Of course, they wouldn’t try for just one target. Why would they?

“Where are you?” I said, knowing it was important that we secure Howard and the Keycard he possessed or make it to the door on the second highest level to stop Team Rocket getting in.

“I made it into the vents!” he said.

I groaned. That could mean anything. I was about to point out that it was a terrible place to be, only for a hand to wrap itself around Howard’s mouth, smothering him.

Howard bucked and squirmed against the hand, only for it to hold on his mouth. The video feed I had shifted and swayed for a few moments.

“Howard?!” I shouted, forgetting his need for me to be quiet as it appeared he’d been caught. “Selene!” I barked, drawing my pokemon away from the match and also the rest of the room towards my conversation.

Saul shot me a look. “Brock? What’s going on?”

“Team Rocket are attacking Silph Co. I need to get there now and defend them,” I said.

Agent J and Popo both hissed. “That is extremely concerning. We will contact our superiors!” Agent J said.

Popo nodded. “Hmmm Sabrina will need to forfeit the match…” This drew stares and in the ensuing silence you could have heard a pin drop.

“She’ll what?” I said. I could understand the sentiment, as Gym Leaders our City’s needed to be defended, but at the same time I couldn’t conceive how that was the right call.

“This is an Ace match… not a Gym challenge, which wouldn’t matter… her needing to depart will only cost her a few Ace points,” Popo said placatingly. I couldn’t help but feel like he was missing the point entirely. In what world would Sabrina ever take a loss to Will.

I felt a surge of darkness waft out of me. This. This had to be their plan. Force Sabrina to abandon the match.

“Brock!” said a sharp voice, drawing me out of my spiralling thoughts. I glanced down and blinked as a new face appeared on my transceiver.

“Koga?” I said.

The Gym Leader of Fuchsia and soon-to-be Elite Four member nodded. “Do not forget yourself! And do not despair! I have secured the Vice president. Janine has the President. We will keep them away from Team Rocket. We still need support! Agatha and Karen are on their way; I suggest you join us. I have alerted the League, and they will be sweeping the streets. Sabrina will not need to be called away from her fight!”

I exhaled and felt the darkness drop away from me. “I’ll help!” said another voice in the room before I could say anything else.

I looked up and found Erika standing with her fists clenched. “I’ll sweep the streets and clean up any Team Rocket groups threatening the City!”

Flannery, Roxanne, and Brawly all stood up with her, and I grinned. “I think the league is going to get some support,” I said to Koga. “Where do you need me?” I said.

“Teleporting won’t work; fly in and sweep from the top. Karen will join you,” Koga ordered. I merely nodded, reaching for a large poster that I tore off the wall, reversed, and scribbled a large note on it before marching to the window overlooking the arena.

I slapped the poster against the glass and then nodded to everyone else. The Cerulean girls surprised me by having gotten thesemvles another psychic pokemon from Saul to get them, and Sophia out and into the fight.

“Alright gang, it looks like it's Team Rocket hunting season. Sabrina can relax here,” I said firmly, shooting Sabrina another glance as her Xatu clashed with Will’s Alakazam.

I grimaced and turned away. I could trust her to smack Will down. I’d just need to support her so she could get the job done.

“Let’s go,” I said, laying a hand on Selene with everyone else to teleport to the front of the stadium. From there, I released Zephyr and took to the skies as the others took off running.

Team Rocket had picked the battleground, but I was going to make sure I got a lot more than they bargained for.