Hard Enough

“Can I have a Ponyta!?” Was the first thing I heard upon calling my family in the morning.

I’d lucked out with my younger siblings all falling asleep long before I had gotten around to talking with them last night. Forrest had looked tired but he’d held out for me to call. I’d still promised to call again in the morning after the grannies that were staying with us got everyone up.

I should have known that calling during breakfast would result in anyone but Granny Baux answering the phone. Cindy was practically vibrating in place as she stared through the video link at me. I opened my mouth only for her to cut me off. “Oh! Oh! Or some technical moves for Munchlax to make him super strong! Or! Or! An Eevee! I’d love an Eevee! Please Big brother I’ve never ever, ever asked for anything before and I want an Eevee so bad!” She then dipped to the side.

“Cindy, dear, perhaps I should—” I heard before a blur took over the phone as Cindy clambered up the cupboard we had in the kitchen.

She came back flushed but rattled off her next list of demands. “And new dresses! And can I have a bicycle!? I need a new one! Also! Also! I need more sweets! Suzie and Yolanda ate them all on us last night while we were cheering you on! Oh and a Lapras! I’d love a Lapras!”

“You know I have a Lapras already. You met Tide when we took a trip to Sevii last year,” I pointed out reasonably.

Cindy blinked in surprise before huffing. “I meant my own Lapras! Not your Lapras! I don’t want your hand me downs!” I snorted. She’d have been better off with Tide. Even if I’d not been able to keep him for the battles with my Rock Gym, Tide had the potential to be one of my strongest pokemon.

I’d ended up allowing him to stay in a cove that had a focus on breeding back up the endangered pokemon species. I’d first heard of the cove due to the rather lovely story of how a young man and his wife had realized that Lapras were in danger of falling extinct due to the war and predations from pokemon like Sharpedo and Gyarados. They’d gone out of their way to create an ideal breeding area that sheltered their young before letting them out into the world.

Cindy’s demand for a Lapras would actually be the cheapest thing I could give her seeing as I had contributed a breeding male to the cove. A highly popular breeding male, to hear the conservationists working in the cove speak of Tide.

“Tell you what Cindy, I’ll think about what you’ve told me but only for a day before forgetting about it.”

“Brock!” She cried in horror that I could be so cruel.

I tutted. “Utut! Little sister! You need to make up a list of what you want from me so I can’t forget. I’ll need it to be really, really detailed!” I considered her level of school. “With pictures even! Of you and the pokemon! And I need you to tell me where you’re going to keep them cause I can’t just take in any pokemon, cause if we don’t have the right areas for them they’ll be sad!”

Cindy nodded her head seriously. “I also need you to get down from the cupboard for the Grannies. That’s not nice of you. I will be asking them if you’ve done this on them again, and I better not hear you’ve been running off. You need to be nicer to them!”

“...Okay Brock,” she said as she moved to climb down.

“Good girl. Now you have a report to do, but I also want you to help the Grannies out before that! Can you give the phone to them now? I love you,” I said before she could hand me off. This got me a muffled ‘luv you’ back.

“Brock, dearie! Well done yesterday! You were magnificent against the champion!” Granny Dorris' lined, smiling face appeared in the video. I didn’t miss the grasping hands that were also appearing with her. A quick lift of the receiver and a tut from her had everything settling down.

“Granny Dorris, how’re things going for you? I’ve given Cindy a chore. She needs to write up a report for me, I feel like I might need to have the others do something similar.”

She chortled at this before surveying her surroundings. “Hmmmm well I suppose I could let Timmy talk next as he has finished his meal and has cleaned up for himself. Timmy! Would you like to talk to your brother?” Instantly there was a clatter of cutlery and scrambling feet. I had no doubt Dorris had just capitalized on my sibling's desire to talk with me to ensure good behaviour. Much like I was going to do with them getting presents or pokemon in the future.

“Hey big brother! I can’t believe—” and so the next hour passed with me slowly going through all of my siblings. Listening to their desires for new pokemon, or a new room, or some other aspect of their life. When I’d told Suzie I’d consider her desire for an Eevee —now the fifth such request— she dropped the transceiver and performed a happy dance. Her little feet lifted and stomped while her fists clenched together as she tucked them in.

“YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!” She then dashed away hollering how I was going to get her an Eevee. This led to a round of me denying any such promise and restating that I was merely considering it.

None of them believed me.

I tried to tempt them towards saving the money for their future journeys but for so many of them, they seemed unconcerned about having money then. Part of me despaired that they would be so lax when only a few years ago we might have been living in an old gym, practically on top of each other. The other part of me was happy that this was perhaps the most normal reaction of children their age.

Before I could question these contrasting emotions my siblings tossed me to another to begin proclaiming what they wanted on their list. I got the impression the grannies were having a nice quiet sit down while my siblings burnt off some energy with me. When I finally reached the eldest siblings, who were supposed to be the most responsible, I had to explain that I would be talking with a financial advisor regarding the money and that I wasn’t going to simply spend it on whims.

This was met with silence and a furtive shared glance between Forrest and Yolanda. I let my eyes fall shut. Don’t sigh. Don’t sigh, they can see and hear you, I thought to myself. I licked my lips instead, bracing. “Did you have some suggestions as well?”

Yolanda coughed. “Uh, well I was hoping I could maybe… possibly… ask for a pokemon for myself?”

I chuckled and rubbed my brow before nodding. “Write me up a list. It’ll be like a school report for why you want it, how it will impact you and the family going forward. What it will eat and what sort of environment it needs to be comfortable.”

“And if I wanted Technical Machines or items like stones?”

“Well, that’ll depend on what you want them for? We’ll talk more when I’m back home.” This at least sounded more like a set-up for her journey. If she had the right pokemon lined up for a starting roster with some time before even starting her journey she’d do very well for herself.

I raised a brow at Forrest and he scratched the back of his head. “A bicycle?”

I hummed before nodding my head. Another good choice. As long as he didn’t want the top of the line bike. Some of the top tier bikes were seriously expensive, what with being foldable and shrinkable to make them similar to pokeballs. Then they came with motors that subtly made you way faster than most people could match. These were typically used for rangers in the wild with the ability to stealthily move over long distances.

“Depending on the type we should be able to look into it.” I take a more serious stance and look at them both. “Any issues with your patrols? Have you been checking in with the local pokemon?”

“Yes!” They both said while adopting military-like poses, their chests puffed up like I was possibly going to award them medals for their service. By the time I’m satisfied with their answers that nothing has tried to sneak in on us I say my goodbyes before promising to be back in two more days.

“That long?” Forrest asked.

“It’ll give everyone time to do their little reports properly. And It will give me some time to just decompress.” I released a sigh and wiggled back into the lounge chair. Forrest gave me an unreadable look before opening his mouth.

“Hey, Brock did…” He glanced at Yolanda while I raised a questioning eyebrow. He blushed and shook his head. “Forget about it. I’ll see you in two days?” I nodded before signing off.

I lay back onto the couch, resting my head and just relaxing. I stayed like that for a moment before glancing to the side. It was early enough to see some of the opening matches if I wanted to. I didn’t have to head out until this afternoon for Celia’s first match, but I still had hours until then. I could watch talking heads probably still arguing over my win on the television. Or I could head out and do something else. I let my head fall back to think on it. I hummed, shutting my eyes to weigh up my options.

A flash of light made me open an eye to spot a new option appearing. “Sabrina,” I said in greeting.

Sabrina nodded her head at me before marching up to the lounge next to me. She plopped down without concern. I frowned and lifted my head only to have a muffin shoved into my face.

“I got you a muffin.” Is all I get. I grunted in thanks as she swung her legs up into my lap so she could claim as much room on the couch as possible. She then gave me an imperious look.

“Good morning Sabrina. Are you well? I’m well, want to come in? Oh sure, come right in, sit here, make yourself comfortable,” I said, the sarcasm outright overflowing in my tone.

Sabrina merely nodded. “I am well. I’m also pleased. You continue to be observant of my moods Brock.” She gave me a ghost of a smile with a tiny nod, turning her attention to her muffin. The television remote floated up in front of us. “What are we watching?” She asked between bites while turning the appliance on.

“Talking heads I presume.” I settled back and watched what was being pushed as the ‘mainstream’ perception of my victory. It was pretty much as I expected. Lots of praise but pertinent points on how I had been able to effectively sucker punch Lance by keeping calm and not commenting after his remarks more than a month ago. The footage of Lance and I chowing on burgers with our pokemon made it into the news to show everyone that ‘all is well’, with us. I watched the image placidly. I had been aware of the scene coming across that way, that I had no surprises over. What did surprise me was how good the image was. I hadn’t been that caught up talking with Lance had I?

Sabrina cut through my thoughts before I got lost in them. “They are right, you know? You fought very well. I’m happy that you won.”

I glanced to the side. “Thanks, Sabrina.”

“I would have preferred to see Selene beat his Dragonite though. You know she could have.”

I shrugged. “I was pretty amped up. It felt right to go starter versus starter. She could have, but I don’t think she would have done so with the same statement as beating Dragonite with Titan did.” She hummed, but didn't say anything more.

A knock distracted me from the show as they shifted to talking about the impact of Lance losing ten million pokedollars. I moved to stand only for Sabrina to press her legs down. “Sabrina someone’s at—”

“It’s not important, they’ll leave.” I gave her an amused look.

More knocks tap out and I once more find that I couldn’t get up. I heard some muffled words being called out but again couldn’t make out who it was at the front. Instead of calling back out I directed my attention to Sabrina.

“Who is it?” I asked Sabrina. She had to know with her psychic abilities.

“No one important,” she repeated.

Another three rounds of knocking occurred with me getting slightly more anxious, while another part was thoroughly amused as Sabrina kept me pinned on the couch. I experimentally tugged at her legs only for the weight of her body to be way off for a woman her size. Alright, she was telekinetically weighing herself down to stop me getting up. There was something going on here, now what was it?

The knocking stopped and I assumed that that would be the end of it. The first sign that it was not over was a scowl breaking out on Sabrina’s face. Then she narrowed her eyes before sniffing pointedly. “Surge is coming.”

“How can you tell?” I asked just as the door unlocked and Surge sauntered in with a bellboy with a keycard in his hand. Behind him, Ericka tilts around the door to peer into the entryway.

“Brock! The man of the hour! Nice victory last night! I thought you would have been up and at’em way earlier though! You need to be out showing your face, not hiding away with your little lady!” He bounced into the room, his huge form practically skipping as he bobbed back and forth while throwing a few punches.

“Good morning Surge.” I glanced at the clock before rolling my eyes. “It’s still eight. This is normal for some people and is frankly a treat for me.”

Surge claimed another chair before tugging it forward to get a better view of the tv. Ericka hesitantly stepped in before bowing to me in greeting before turning to the bellboy that was looking slightly ashamed. “Thank you, for letting us in?”

“He shouldn’t be doing that at all, don’t thank him,” Sabrina cut in, causing the bellboy to swallow and start babbling apologies. Surge waved it off.

“Hey! Hey! Don’t sweat it. I made him do it cause I wanted to see you.”

“If you were looking for me, why are you here?” Sabrina said tightly.

“Cause this is where you’d be.” Surge said as if that was the only reasonable answer. Sabrina twitched in annoyance before glaring at the bellboy. “Oh sorry about that kid. Thanks for your service!” Surge plucked a small clip of pokedollars and tossed it to the kid. The boy quickly snatched it out of the air before mumbling his thanks and beating a quick retreat. Sabrina’s scowl intensified. Erika also gave Surge a mildly disapproving look.

Sadly, it wasn’t very effective.

Sabrina wasn't deterred. “And now you reward poor behaviour? He is only going to be worse about peoples’ privacy.”

Surge laughed, “Were you two gonna do something? You need to leave a tie on the door next time!”

I rolled my eyes as Sabrina huffed. Ericka stiffened, glancing from Sabrina to myself before blushing and shaking her head about. “Ah? Oh, did you?!” I waved my hand back and forth in denial.

“Surge is being himself, don’t mind him Erika. Good morning by the way.”

“Ah, good morning?” she said dropping into a bow before repeating it towards Sabrina. “Good morning Sabrina!”

Sabrina coughed. “Morning,” she said. I blinked. Ooookaaaay something had happened. She actually acknowledged Erika? Had something gone on last night that I’d missed?

Surge likewise was looking between the two of them with a confused expression before shrugging.

“So! Brock? What’re you gonna do today? Hope you didn’t plan to just lounge around all day!”

I waved about, gesturing at the Plateau at large. “I was going to head out but…” I nudged at Sabrina’s legs but she continued to hold me down. I huffed again. “I seem to be too lazy to get up right now.”

Ericka tapped her hands together, nervous as she shot furtive glances between Sabrina to me. She eventually swallowed and said what was on her mind, “I didn’t know you two were…”

“We’re not—” “We’re taking a break,” Sabrina said over the top of my explanation.

I sighed, loudly, before waving my hand at Sabrina. “It’s complicated.”

“It’s the meowth’s mother!” chimed in Surge, apparently not liking not saying or doing something in the past five seconds. Sabrina bristled like the aforementioned cat.

“Calm down, he’s just teasing you Sabrina,” I said, patting her calf reassuringly. Surge merely chuckled and winked before looking back at the tv as they finished talking about which sponsors would still be interested in buying in with Lance. His defeat had given some people colder feet while others had apparently continued making offers.

“So what are you going to do with the ten million?” Surge asked.

I roll my shoulders trying to get more comfortable only for Sabrina to nudge me back. I gave Erika and Surge both confused looks. This was very touchy for Sabrina. She had no problem sharing a bed but she was usually far more reserved in front of others. Had she ‘upgraded’ Surge as a friend? If so, how had Erika shot up to being such a friend that Sabrina was comfortably relaxing around? “Well first I should pay you two—”

“You don’t need to do that!” “That is not necessary.” Surge and Sabrina said at once.

“I’d still like to,” While I said it I watched Sabrina out of my peripherals. She was just the slightest bit tense. So she wasn’t super comfortable right now, but she was pushing herself to be? Or appear to be at least? Regardless, that was still serious progress for her. I decided to not make a big deal out of it. This was a good thing for Sabrina after all. Instead, I focussed on the conversation.

“Heh, well shucks I appreciate it, but it was nice to get you trained up! You were able to step up and smack that sissy Johto boy a good one! Made sure everyone knows Kanto is where the strong come from!” Erika directed a much sterner look of disapproval at Surge but once more he ignored it. He sat forward. “Anyway, I already got a sweet variant Geodude for my efforts. And I made sure to bet big on you Brocko.”

Sabrina nodded her head. “With how you were, it is a poor companion that isn’t able to understand how you would perform. Profiting off of your victory is something only an idiot would not consider.”

“Heh! I sure did! I bet a hundred grand on you! I made two million cold hard cash!”

“Which you use to bribe bellboys.” Sabrina pointed out neutrally.

“I’m just sharing the love!” Surge claimed with wide hands. He grinned then. “How'd you do?”

“Well enough for my bet certainly,” she said.

“Heh got in too late? That’s alright, I got in when you first started training with me! Ten-damn-near-twenty to one odds back then!”

For those who hadn’t spent long hours in her company —of which I and only a small handful of others could claim— Sabrina’s words would have seemed dismissive. As if she had only bet a small amount. However, I knew her too well to believe that. She was far too smart not to exploit something like the information I had given her by training with her while talking through my strategy.

The gleam in her eyes and the matching pleased expression as she lay against the couch spoke of a meowth that had just aggressively performed a take over on a cream company. Forget the cream truck. She owned the entire she-bang. I was half tempted to check the pokenet to see if any corporate takeovers had occurred just from how pleased she appeared to be.

Surge must have seen into Sabrina’s reaction as he was giving her a thoughtful look. Meanwhile, Erika merely tilted her head and chewed on her lip while glancing between us all. When I glanced at her she sat straighter before coughing. She made soft ‘ahem’ to draw attention to herself.

“While I won’t condone betting, I think I will have to work harder going forward so I can also be someone you call upon in tough times.” Ericka clenched her fists adopting a cute ‘fighting’ pose. “I will train to get stronger!”

Sabrina nodded. Surge coughed in surprise. “What in Kanto did I miss?” He said to himself.

I once more forced down the urge to pry as to why Sabrina was being friendly—by her standards— to Erika. Instead I offered the Celadon gym leader a helpless shrug. “Sorry, but training against you wouldn’t have set me as well up against Lance. Bad matchups.”

For now at least, maybe things will be different once that one grass-dragon type pokemon appeared. Which region was that with? Galar? Or not unless she had an Alolan variant of Exeggutor.

I considered that for possible future discussions with her. Perhaps if she let a few of them grow up in the Sevii islands on a reserve she might get a natural variant after a few generations of breeding like I’d done to get Sanchez? Then she might have been way stronger with her Grass-dragon type pokemon.

A telekinetic nudge reminded me that just as I am versed in Sabrinaisms, Sabrina is versed in Brockisms. She gave me a raised eyebrow, but I only returned her a smile before glancing at the tv. “I don’t think I’m going to get anything more from this. I think I should do as Surge said and show the flag for a bit.”

Surge pumped his fist at this before launching to his feet! “Alright! Gym leaders of Kanto represent! Let’s go strut our stuff!” I chuckled and this time when I moved to stand, Sabrina didn’t stop me. Instead, floating up to her own feet and moving to walk next to me.

Ericka joined in when I offered an open hand. She seemed happy to be included and for today it felt like more people would make things way better.

I turned the tv off and headed out more than ready to start the actual day properly.