Hard Enough

The Grampa canyon was rather disingenuously named. For one part it wasn’t just a single canyon, but rather an entire stretch of desert. It seemed to favour a lot of fire-type pokemon. Said fire types being mostly the Ponyta herds which scorched their way across the landscape. There should also be the rare Magmar hiding in caves that dotted the various canyon walls and cliff faces.

It made for a very stark shift in climate with Saffron being a shaded cool cityscape, only to enter a scorching desert with a handy Teleport from Selene. Selene herself perked up with the condition of the surroundings, no doubt reminding her of the Hoenn desert where I’d found her.

“Hey girl,” I greeted, giving her a rub. “Want to stay out?” I asked.

She bobbed up and down in an affirmative. I hummed and looked around while adjusting my attire so that rolled-up sleeves were extended, sunglasses and hat were donned, and sunscreen was applied.

In other terms, I slip, slop, slap, and slid. Feeling playful, I put a bit of pink zinc across Selene’s side causing her to trill a laugh before she smirched it back on me.

Gramp Canyon was located just outside Neon Town and on the upper border of the Safari zone. Depending on the route that you took you could end up in a number of different biomes.

The Safari zone mostly used forested areas and plainlands. Neon Town itself was a rather glamorous urban development. Then there was the large expanse of flat rolling hills and plains that were actually an artificial creation in the cycling road.

Most people when they went on their Journey, followed the route that players might have if they played the games. Places like Neon Town, Dark city, Gringey City, or Gardenia Town to name a few.

Lots of places, I knew, were trying to increase the foot traffic that was happening with trainers on the circuit. They’d done this in the past in a myriad of ways but with the trainer surge I’d heard that there was a lot more effort being put into it this year. It made sense, the pie they were trying to get a bite off was much bigger.

Various tournaments, festivals and contests were all springing up around the place with a number of trainers being diverted or held in certain cities.

According to some of the forums, a few people were even getting turned around with a few… Ambitious folk changing up road signs to have people walking in long looping circles. It sort of reminded me of a few plots that Team Rocket were responsible for, only this time it was townsfolk seeking to wring out a few more pokedollars.

I wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse.

I shifted, taking in the wide expanse of barren land only to spot an anomaly towards the mouth of the main tributary for the Grampa canyon. This link, or scar in the earth led to a much deeper canyon that was similar to that of the Grand Canyon from my previous life.

I took a moment to enjoy the vista with Selene.

The arid wind wasn’t so fierce yet that it was stinging the eyes or nose as it blew across the desert. Small dust swirls raced about the landscape.

I knew there was a lot more to this land than what was readily apparent. It was a place that had only just started to be tapped into.

I gestured towards the anomaly, which was in reality a basecamp for the business that I’d created when I’d tossed about the idea of finding Mega stones and creating a methodology for it.

The rest?

Megarock incorporated. Name pending further review.

I wasn’t in love with it, but perhaps it would grow on me. Like moss grew on some boulders when they were dampened enough.

Selene Teleported me in closer to the set of tents and I appeared only to find that the tent town was a hive of activity. Before I could even step into the row of tents however, a woman shot to her feet and raised her pokeball.

“Hold it right there! This is a restricted site as per the Indigo League explicit instructions! You need to be—” Officer Jenny, for who else could it be, barked. She continued a long tirade about the legalities and what would happen to me should I attempt to press onward.

I waited politely for her to draw in a breath, which turned out to be a mistake as this Officer Jenny had an impressive endurance when it came to pulmonary function.

“—but not limited to months in prison or community services!” she said, before pausing to take a huge breath of air.

I resisted the urge to applaud, just barely, and instead nodded politely. “Hi Officer Jenny, good to see you’re taking the security of the site seriously. It’s me, Brock, I’m one of the founders of Megarock Inc?”

Officer Jenny blinked at me like a Noctowl that had been awoken far too early in the day. She reached for a notepad. “Oh, I… had a note about you turning up,” she said before coughing. “You shouldn’t just Teleport in however! Next time make sure you call it in first!”

I nodded along and Jenny, seeing that I wasn’t giving her lip or an excuse to be arrested for now, she waved me on. I smiled and did so. I was amused to note that a number of the tents were small dig sites where man or woman or even a psychic pokemon wearing a white lab coat were observing others digging. I noted that some of the diggers were rather young. In a few sections there were scientists with gloves and fine brushes dusting at what looked like a bunch of rocks.

Occasionally a large rock would be pulled out carefully only to then be thoroughly inspected. The site it was pulled from was then documented before it was set aside.

“Hey! I have a patch of sand here that isn’t like the other patches!” shouted one of the diggers. “It seems different in some way?”

“It’s sand! It’s all the same! It’s hot and irritating and gets in places it’s not supposed to!” shouted another red-faced man.

“You really don’t like the desert do you?” said the first.

“What’s there to like? I’m here for the money! I find a fossil or a mega stone and I’m rich!” declared the second. “All I’ve found so far is a weird flat plate! Useless!” declared the digger.

I glanced over at the haul laid out to the side and noted that there was a Stone Plate on the table. I walked over and gave it a closer look. From this close I could feel the Rock energy that saturated it. I made a note of what it was and that it was worth at least a bit of money.

I probably could have lied and gotten it for cheap, but there was no need to cheat people working for my interests. At least I assumed that was going on here.

“Sir you shouldn’t… Oh! Hello Gym Leader Brock!” chimed one of the girls that were wearing a whitecoat.

I gave the diminutive girl, only just a teenager in truth, a look over, before gesturing at the Stone Plate.

They furtively inspected what I’d written down only for their eyes to widen. “Ah? This Plate really contains Rock energy? That’s… well I wasn’t expecting that sort of find today,” she said, chewing her lip and tugging on her hair.

I eyed her before giving the other white coats a secondary look. “You’re rather younger than the others,” I said before coughing. “Sorry… Miss?” I said leadingly.

“Oh! I’m Jade!” she said with a hurried bow, which caused her hair to flip over into her face. “I’m part of the interns doing some additional study from Celadon university! Professor Oak reached out for interested parties and well… it’s not often you get this sort of chance!” she said breathily.

I nodded slowly. Ah, that made sense. Oak would have other avenues than just money. It still didn’t explain all the tents and supplies I could see about the place. I’d need to find Flint to learn a bit more, it would appear.

“Well, I hope you’re learning a lot and enjoying this,” I said offhandedly to Jade before nodding and departing. As I walked I continued to inspect the various tents. There were a number of protected dig sites set up under some of the larger tents, but there was also a canteen and what looked like a trailer with a dedicated communications satellite on the roof. Around that trailer at least three police officers were standing guard.

They eyed me as I walked past and we exchanged nods of greeting. So there was also a security detail with at least four police here.

Interesting.

This was a little more than what I’d been expecting, but at the same time I wasn’t surprised to find that Lawrence had taken my idea with Flint, and run with it. No doubt with other parties like Sabrina, Oak, and the League getting involved. Megarock Inc had transformed into something much greater than I’d been anticipating

Megarock Inc wasn’t just an idea and a few rock enthusiasts anymore. It also seemed we had a motivated workforce with how many people were out here in the desert. We must have gotten a lot of funding for this level of development.

If there was one truth of the world, throwing money at a problem could usually produce results.

The main tent, which in reality just meant the biggest, most open tent in this sea of tents, was located not in the centre, but rather right on the edge of the canyon.

Which… struck me as odd for some reason. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I walked around to the side of the tent. Some part of my mind didn’t like the placement, but I couldn’t consciously figure out why.

A moment and a glance down told me what the issue was.

The Tent’s position afforded it a grand view but not much safety. The drop off the side of the canyon wall was extremely steep and not at all stable. Just standing near the edge like I was had resulted in a small section of earth subsiding and beginning to trickle down.

It was a potential landslip waiting to happen.

Something that a Golem, Onix, Rhyhorn, and Kangaskhan were already handling, which had me relaxing.

It took a moment for me to recognise them as Flint’s.

He didn’t give them the same treatment I did to my pokemon where I kept them out of their pokeballs most of the time. Nor did he give them much time with the family.

Which was a shame as Kangaskhan looked like it had some good paternal instincts with how it looked after the smaller Kangaskhan in its pouch well. It glanced up and spotted me watching it and nodded in kind, before jutting its head towards the tent to indicate Flint was inside.

I nodded back, giving their work at shoring up the foundations of what looked like a retaining wall. It was solid, but then what else could you expect of pokemon that worked with someone who regularly went diving into caves and canyons. They’d have to be good at judging wall stability.

I walked into the tent feeling a little better about not finding myself suddenly sliding into the canyon.

Just to be sure I kept Selene out.

I found Flint scowling at a table in the middle of the tent, which had a number of survey maps that featured what was known of the topographical, cross-sectional, and structural make up of Grampa canyon.

I could recognise them with him having shown them to me earlier.

A glance at the people surrounding him revealed a surprising divide with some people wearing what would have been deemed ‘hiker’s attire’ according to the early games with their rough denim and overalls with hardhats fastened to their belts.

On the other there was a mishmash of scientists and what looked like clerks. One woman was standing at the back curled in on themselves and giving off the air of someone trying to avoid as much attention as possible.

There seemed to be a story there, but one I couldn’t pay much attention to as Flint was talking about the ‘corporation’s goals’ plans.

“—the main target of any of these excavations is that we procure any Mega Stones. Now the procurement is one part, the real goal is to establish if there are any geological conditions for the formation of said stones. Is it pokemon related? Or is it shaped by the land? Or is it something that is entirely random? This is something we need to establish going forwards so that we’re not just blindly groping around in the dark!”

Flint smiled and barked a laugh. “Or at least, pretend like we’re not groping around in the dark!” he said, causing the miner/hiker types to laugh at the joke.

It didn’t seem that funny to me, but then again maybe it was miner humour?

One of the miners raised a hand. “Is this here pamphlet right? We take a base rate and any rocks that are listed on here like evolutionary stones, or gems of a certain grade are ours to keep?”

Flint made a wavering hand. “For the most part. You’ll make sure to document the site before extracting any resources. We want as clear an image as possible.”

A polite cough that sounded familiar made me lean forward where I spotted Georgina glass standing next to Flint. She offered him a clipboard and he read it over.

“Oh! Right!” he said before coughing into a fist. “I’ve just been reminded that any discovery of metal veins will see remuneration that is standard for miners and explorers but that Megarock Inc will also take their fair share,” he said.

This got a number of nods from the miners with only one or two huffing. “We should get more for working in this heat,” muttered one.

One of the older men cuffed another over the head. “Shut yer trap it’s still better. Just hope you find a bunch of fire stones, they’re the most likely thing out here,” said the older man.

A wrinkled man with skin that looked like old leather wobbled out next to Flint. “Damn straight! I can’t believe you young ones! You think this is hot? Wait until you work in the fires of Mt Cinnabar! I’m only forty three!” he proclaimed.

He earned a round of gasps from the civilians while the miners scoffed. “Pull the other one Old willy! It’s got tassels on it!” cried a towering woman that might be able to give Trixie a run for muscle mass if not size.

Other miners nodded along while the scientists and admin staff looked at each other sheepishly while ‘Old Willy’ laughed.

“Heh! Just kidding! I’m seventy!” he said.

I whistled. Damn, and he was still out digging? I guess it might be a bit easier in a pokemon world with the ability to direct your ‘digger’ so to speak, but that didn’t mean the men and women didn’t also join in.

A grumble rose from one of the scientists. “Damn miners always the jokesters,” he said, earning a round of nods.

I hummed to myself. It looked like there were two ‘parties’ forming up within Megarock Inc. The Miners, and everyone else. Flint seemed unaware of this as he shared a joke with another miner before tapping the maps and giving out sections of land to groups of miners.

“—you can each cut small shafts but go no lower than ten metres and stay at least forty away from the edge of the canyon. At any diggings there are to be only topsoil investigations.” Flint waved a hand at the tent around him. “I don’t want another almost fiasco like the set up that was here when I arrived,” Flint muttered offhandedly.

The woman who’d been at the back hiding flinched and decided to make herself scarce by finding something pressing in another tent. I felt a bit bad for her as she wasn’t to know but I thought I had a rough idea of what had happened.

She, or others like here that were more administrative, must have beat the miners out here and set up a ‘forward base camp’, or in this case, tent’ right where they thought was a good idea. Sadly they had no idea of what they were doing and that had been very obvious to people like Flint who lived and breathed geology and earthworks.

I’d need to make sure Flint hadn’t said anything too scathing, but… I’d also not countermand him. He knew far more than I how risky such a mistake might have been. One thing that stood out to me however, was how he hadn’t moved the tents.

As the miners trooped off to start up their own digsites Flint raised his head and noticed me. “Son!” he said with a wide grin.

I held in a twitch but something must have shown on my face as his smile lost a watt or two of luminosity to it. “Flint,” I replied with a nod, my gaze sweeping over the maps once more to find them fairly well divided. “This seems a bit more than I was expecting for a simple spelunking session,” I said.

Flint’s smile returned. “Ah, that’s because we wanted to do things a little more thoroughly. I secured enough interest and funding that I was able to get something more happening.”

“Ah,” I said suddenly unsure if I was needed here. He seemed to have everything fairly well in hand.

He raised his hands quickly. “The spelunking is still important however as the cave you spoke about is one of the highest points of interest within the desert!” he said.

“Oh, that makes sense,” I said easily before a yawn ripped through me. I blinked quickly and shook my head. “Excuse me,” I said, giving my eyes a quick rub to get rid of the gritty feeling. When that failed I reached into my bag and pulled out some eyedrops. My eyes stopped stinging almost straight away and I loosened a sigh of relief. Damn, I needed that.

“You’re tired?” he said rather redundantly like it needed to be stated.

I waved it off. “I had a… disturbed sleep,” I said.

Flint gained a smirk and I shot him a look. “Not like that, Billy woke me up in the middle of the night with… well-wet issues,” I said.

“Oh? He’s still doing that?” Flint said. “He hasn’t come to me…” he started to say, only to trail off in the face of my flat look.

“He’s only three,” I said. This was normal for a young boy.

Sadly due to the number of young boys that we had in our house you had to stay on top of the toilet cleaning…

Not doing so didn’t bear mentioning. Things were better nowadays that most of the kids could clean up after themselves a bit, and with Nanny Grav on the scene but those early days… yeesh, it was a miracle we hadn’t had a Grimer turn up.

Flint, unaware of my inner monologue rubbed his chin. “Well, he’s soon to be four actually… Well most of them are going to be older soon. Then it will be Salvadore, then Yolanda, then Suzie and Timmy,” he said, ticking off the kids on his fingers. “Then Forrest, and then you!” he said with a pleased smile.

I rolled my eyes at them but made a note to check the fridge for the lists that I’d gotten the kids in the habit of posting. It would have their ‘desired’ birthday presents so I could grab or guess more accurately. It would just depend on how practical it was.

“So? We’re still going to do that spelunking?” I prompted moving the conversation along.

Flint jerked his head up and down. “Certainly!” Only to slump. “Ah… I actually need to wait until my pokemon finish shoring up the canyon wall.” he shook his head. “The first people out here were the administrators and students from Celadon University. They started digging all willy-nilly and when I arrived with the miners; well we just about had a collective heart attack.”

“You didn’t get too passionate about that did you?” I said carefully. It sounded like they’d been right to fear but the method in how it was handled would matter.

“Oh yeah! We got them taught up real quick!” he said with a grin.

I hummed. “Hmmm alright, but be careful with that. I noticed that there was a pretty clear divide between the miners and delvers and anyone else,” I said, waving a hand at the table.

Flint nodded. “Ah, don’t let it worry you too much, that’s just how some organisations are. People form groups.”

I held up a hand. “I’m aware, but for best results it should be one group. They are all a part of Megarock Inc after all. Not different parts of Megarock,” I said pointedly before flexing my fist. “As much as it makes me shudder to say it, the company culture should be something positive to make people want to be here.” And didn’t that feel like such a ‘corpo line’. Hopefully if I made sure things were done for the right intentions, we’d stop any soullessness from creeping in. I made a mental note to keep an eye on things. The Gym was easy as a small operation by business standards, we had at max thirty people.

Megarock Inc looked like it already had a hundred people and that number would only grow as more dig sites were investigated.

Flint nodded slowly. “I’ll have a word with the lads,” he said.

“And the women,” I said, recalling the statuesque woman in miner overalls before shaking my head. “Maybe say it to the others as well. Make them aware that you were talking from a place of fear due to a knee jerk reaction from seeing such unsafe practises.”

Flint nodded. “That would be a good idea. We’ll have to have a better handle on things next time. Have some surveyors be the first to make it to a dig site instead of white coats and admins,” he said.

I grunted in agreement before walking to the edge of the canyon and looking down. It looked like Flint’s pokemon had made good progress since the last time I’d looked. Flint joined me, his eyes flicking over various points. He whistled and directed his pokemon to a few points before nodding. “Right, that should be enough to hold things pretty in case a pokemon battle breaks out,” he said.

“Even an Earthquake or a Fissure?” I said with a raised eyebrow my eyes running along the firmed up rock critically. They’d packed it well and reinforced a number of critical points. It was impressive that he’d reached that level in what had to be only a few hours work.

Flint huffed. “Not from one of your pokemon no!” he said with a laugh. “But if anyone else gets a bit heated things will be safe,” he said.

I nodded. “Maybe we should think about getting Erika onboard for environmental concerns like this in future,” I said thinking of how tree roots could help avoid landslides.

Flint grinned. “That’s thinking outside the box!” he said with a clap on my shoulder. “Most miners always just want to reinforce the earth but don’t think of methods like that! Ha! You’ve got some talent with geology and landscaping Brock!”

I snorted in amusement at how pleased he was for me to recite some offhand knowledge from my past life. It didn’t seem that impressive to me, but then again how many seventeen-year-olds in this world would have the same knowledge?

“Mr Flint sir? We have some more trainers looking to assist with the dig site!” said a man’s voice.

I turned around and felt a flicker of recognition at the whitecoat standing in the doorway. Whatever he was going to say however was lost as my eyes alighted on Gary, his cheerleaders, Mia, Silly Mouse, and Humphrey of all people standing in the entrance.

I grinned. “Hello there!” I said channelling my happiness into the words.

The kids all perked up when they locked their eyes on me and Mia bounced forward to hug me as she called my name. “Brock! I didn’t know they had called you and Flint in for this!” she chirped.

Selene nuzzled into her and I laughed. “Called me in? You’re looking at the two founders of this enterprise!” I said.

Gary stepped forward. “I heard from Gramps about this! Is it true you’re looking for Megastones for study?” he said.

I nodded, smiling at how interested he was before looking towards Humphrey. “Yes, that’s the main thrust,” I said.

Humphrey licked his lips. “Is it also true that any fossils we find are ours to keep?”

I hummed. “If we can get genetic samples for them, that would be best. It will depend on the type of fossils found. Any from the Kabuto, Omanyte, or Lileep line are fine, but you can also trade for an actual pokemon,” said Flint. “Aerodactyl or new fossils will however result in a simple, if large cash payout.”

I shot Flint a look; this was news to me. He waved a hand at me. “The League and Crowley have signed off on it. They want more genetic diversity and feel that trading pokemon is acceptable. Only the Aerodactyl line has such protections on it as do Tirtouga, and Anorith.”

I grunted. That made sense but I feel like I was owed a courtesy email. It seemed I had another thing to follow up on. It might have been an honest mistake but I’d been burned a few too many times letting things lie.

I turned back to the young trainers before me. “So? How’s your journey been so far?” I said with a wide grin.

Mia beamed at me while Gary rubbed his nose in a cocky manner. Humphrey shot me a small smile.

“It’s been great! I have all the badges I need now to make the circuit, so everything else is just training matches for me now! I’m doing really well in the Battleclub! Did you know they are offering pins and tokens these days? I have like six for beating their local boss!” she said proudly.

Silly mouse raised up two fingers on both of his paws in signs of victory and I chuckled.

Gary nodded to himself. “I have completed all of my Badges as well! Expect me to come around after I beat Sabrina with her Gauntlet run!” I have found the perfect pokemon team and I’m training them up before I challenge her!” he said with his chest puffed out.

“Impressive, I will be looking forward to hearing about that,” I said.

I glanced to Humprhrey and his smile seemed a bit plastic compared to the others. “I’ve… slowed down a little and have been working on my pokemon. I lost against Kong but I beat Sabrina... it just... didn't feel as clean as I wanted it to be...” he trailed off. “I’ll bounce back!” he said straightening up and looking into my eyes only to glance to the side.

Hmmm, it seemed like he was a bit rattled from his losses. Best I spend some time talking with him. These things happened.

I decided to settle for reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. “You’re doing amazing as it is. It’s only halfway through the circuit and you’re almost locked in. You might not feel like it, but you’re in a great position to do well this year. I know a lot of trainers that have only just secured their fourth badges with how many trainers there are this year.”

“Tell me about it,” Humphrey said. “I had eight battles in one day yesterday! My pokemon were exhausted. I was looking for something different to do and Mia bumped into me and dragged me along for this,” he said.

I smiled warmly at him and Mia. “Well, I’m glad to see you both.” I’d need to follow up on the others. While Humphrey and Mia were the standouts that didn’t mean I’d drop the others. Then again they’d all been logging in for the online lessons that I ran via the Gym trainer’s pokenet portal and they had been collecting their own badges.

Then again the entire point of letting them loose was to garner experience in the real world. I had no doubt that they’d end the year much wiser than they had been.

The man that had brought them shifted to leave and I caught a nametag on his coat. “Foster?” I said.

He turned back. “Yes?”

“You’re… a student at Celadon University, “I said slowly. He nodded slowly. “Yes?” he repeated slowly, apparently nervous as to why I was asking after him.

“You’re one of Oak’s student’s aren’t you? He mentioned you,” I said, recalling that this was one of the named cartoon characters, and that Oak had in fact spoken of this young man during his frequent trips to Pewter’s trainer lounge to play Smash.

Foster perked up at this. “He did? Oh wow that’s great! I didn’t think I had a chance of getting a formal apprenticeship from what contact I had with his online course but if he’s talking about me that’s great!” he said as he practically began floating on the spot.

Before I could say anything else another familiar whitecoat appeared with Jade entering the tent. “Mr Flint? These trainers said they know you?” she said, stepping into the tent.

Following her, Ash, Misty and Forrest appeared.

I grinned at my little brother and he mirrored the feeling right back at me.

“I thought I smelt something!” said Gary before anyone else could get a word in.

Ash snapped his head to the side. “Oh! You! Gary!” he growled his hand shooting to his pokebelt.

I laughed, it seemed that Flint had been right to firm up the canyon wall to absorb pokemon battles.

Cause if there was anyway to start a fight it was by having Gary and Ash in the same room.

I could only conclude that this was turning into a very interesting day.