Hard Enough

I dreamt of flipping the table.

That was all I could imagine as I sat around the small rectangle table as Tiffany methodically went through what I’m sure was a lovely tea ceremony.

I could feel the weight of social expectations on my shoulders to remain where I was, but it sat poorly. Moments like this where people demanded manners seemed like the most annoying aspects of life. I’d faced enough of it in my past life to recognise it. I’d also taken more than a little pleasure in ‘flipping tables’ back then as well. After the recent ambush ‘test’ I was way too amped to be sitting around drinking tea. My blood was running hot in ways that demanded action. Something I knew I wasn’t going to get here and now.

And so, I longed to flip the table.

Koga didn’t even react as I practically vibrated in place. Agatha stared at me with a raised brow in challenge that made it harder to relax. Karen… Karen inspired different reactions but I couldn’t be certain if that was by design or just how she was. Her choice of dress left little to the imagination. Her top clung to her chest while the jeans she wore would have to be peeled off her.

I gritted my teeth and inhaled through my nose before releasing it. This, I decided, was just another method of control set up by Agatha. She seemed to be the leader. Or at least the ‘face’ of the organisation. I’d have to keep my eyes open for more clues into their structure, but right now keeping my eyes open was likely to cause different parts of me to pay attention than I wanted.

Tiffany leaned over me to pour the tea. The weight of her breasts saw them brush against my thigh and it was all I could do to stare at Agatha's craggy face that I didn’t instantly harden like a Metapod. Agatha’s expression twisted into something mockingly cruel as I knew that she knew how my body wanted to react.

Tiffany, it turned out, was the Shrine maiden that had escorted me to the manor. The manor that I still had no idea who owned, but left partly collapsed. Tiffany was a classical beauty under her veil. She could turn heads and hearts wherever she walked I had no doubt. She had a wonderfully trim body with a large chest that was now stretching her maiden’s robes. I was certain that she had not worn something that tight when we’d walked up the path together. She had to have changed.

That thought led to me imagining her opening the front of her… I killed that thought ruthlessly as Tiffany leaned back. Her eyes searching my face before slipping to my pants helped me to verify what her game was. In another setting without the old man and woman in the room I’d be much bolder and shameless. The older part of me wanted to shrug it off while my feelings wanted to cringe and curl in for how my body was reacting to the feel of a beauty so close.

Instead of doing either I openly drew out a few pebbles from my pocket and turned my attention to them. The soft clatter of rocks pulled the women’s attention away from my lower region. I turned the pebbles over without any pattern in mind. Today’s rocks contained a few with some quartz in them that sometimes caught the light. The steady swelling of my own energy at the mnemonic trick caused my body to relax more and more.

I started turning the thoughts over in my mind. Each thought rose to the top eventually. Some of them should have alarmed me but I’d practised meditating enough that I was able to keep my thoughts tumbling and loose. Like happy little rocks rolling down the side of a hill or being carried along in a stream. Or like a child playing with some pebbles with innocent joy.

“Huh, I’ve never thought of Rock energy as anything so relaxing and free,” said Karen.

I considered Karen. She was no longer looking at my hands but rather at me as a whole. Agatha looked more relaxed, instead of goading. Tiffany had a startled expression but I could also see a flash of heat in her eyes just as I could feel the warmth of her body.

It washed over me, but not only as part of the room, not a flame that I had to pay attention to. When I remembered Koga was in the room I looked over to see him lifting his cup of tea to drink without commenting. He nodded seemingly at the taste but yet again I wondered if he was not in some way encouraging me like he had during our ‘fight’.

“Multifaceted… you’ve certainly contemplated the nature of your energy quite a bit, haven’t you Brock?” asked Agatha as she raised her own cup.

I hummed consideringly before leaning back on my hands to shrug.

It wasn’t a safe position to be in by any means. In fact, there were a number of blaring red flags such as not keeping my pokemon near me while we talked. Was the tea something I wanted to drink or was it potentially some poison that I hadn't heard of? Suddenly I was reminded that I was a small guy playing with much bigger stakes.

But I didn’t start freaking out. I was no longer heart-thumpingly tense. Now, I was calm. And the truth was that I was small, like a pebble. I always had been. I could try to be a mountain, but in the end, everything was small in one sense or another. I didn’t need to try to be more. I simply was. My mind was calm now. It wasn’t so much a move as a state of being.

The way of rock perhaps?

“Hmpf! Not going to drink your tea Brock?” Agatha prodded. I gave it a glance before shaking my head.

“Nah, not really a fan of green tea.” Tiffany slumped a little. The pout she levelled at me would make others want to drink simply to spare her feelings. I ignored her. Erika would have asked what I wanted and had a host of options available with her lunch box. Tiffany fell short in that regard.

Agatha sniffed. “Truly you’re acting more and more like a young brute. If I didn’t know any better I would have thought Bruno was sitting across from me.”

I tilted my head. “I’m honestly surprised he’s not here. He seems strong enough and I have no doubt he has access to Aura.” There was a question to my words that I opened to the room at large.

Koga set down his cup. “Bruno… is careless with his words and too open. He does not have an appreciation for the subtle need to keep some threats unspoken. He is too brash. He is also too invested in the League.”

“Sounds like a story there?” I put a pin in the question of what they had seen of me that didn’t inspire the same reactions.

Agatha tapped the table before speaking, “More of a history in truth.” She shifted for a moment and waved Tiffany to a cushion to the side of the room. “It will take a while to explain so I should get comfortable. This among other things needs to be told for you to have a better understanding of our purpose.”

Agatha shifted about on the cushion and I copied her as I got as comfortable as I could. I would have preferred an actual chair but alas Agatha had decided on a more traditional meeting place with hardwood floors. I could just feel my buttcheeks aching already.

“The war with Johto is something that most educational texts like to brush over quickly these days.” That had me perking up. “The reasons for the war are never explored in the books, only that the war was a great catastrophe.” Agatha’s face crinkled in disgust. “Revisionism at its finest. As if people will merely never go to war if they don’t know the causes.” When she looked up from the floor her eyes blazed.

“The war was over territory, but also the supposed capture of a Legendary pokemon when it was weak… Most blame a region known as Sinnoh, but there was also a Johto trainer claiming that they had captured a Legendary dog by the name of Entei… We never learnt the truth of that claim but it was enough to make a fragile situation where too many people were posturing. A Blackthorn Lady attacked in Hoenn is commonly thought to be the spark that lit the flame, but the kindling had already been set before that incident…”

“As it is known, the war ended just twenty-five years ago. While the history books of our own region like to discuss the conflict in a regional setting, but it was in fact a war that spanned much of the world. There are regions that entered the war only to find their trainers severely lacking. This resulted in them being wiped out from engagements.”

“Thousands of trainers entered the world stage only to fall short. The towns and people they left behind were thus weakened and exposed to both human enemies and nature itself!” She glared into the night.

“While wild pokemon were known to become more agitated from constantly being surrounded by battle, even when they themselves didn’t participate, we’d never had information on how they would react to an all-out war. Pokemon that had long slumbered awoke due to the turmoil. First in ones and twos which led people into not understanding how much of a threat they could be. It was a price some paid more heavily than others.”

Agatha gestured to herself. “That’s not even accounting for the issue of pokemon and people dying. How many experts do you think there were of the Ghost type before the war?”

“... a handful every city?” I glanced towards Tiffany.

Agatha shook her head. “There were less than two or three in each city in truth. Ways of life were different back then. Culture had degraded, and there was a push to modernise and drop the old ways. This caused other issues with pollution.” She nodded towards Koga.

Koga set down his tea cup. “Cities need to closely monitor their waste production, or else they cause a swarm of poison types to arise. This is well known, but was yet another factor that was overlooked during the war.” He raised his cup at that, and I wondered if he was going to say anything else. I felt there was a lot more that he could say. Perhaps I had to fill in the blanks myself though.

Agatha took over, “To this day some regions are still lost, either destroyed from the fighting, or still hidden away.” She sniffed, “Or they might still be dealing with the issues that arose for them during the wars. The wild pokemon were not easy to tame. Some areas around Kanto saw giant pokemon like that scam of a tourist trap pokemon island likes to show off! During the war we had giants like that appearing almost monthly!”

I nodded, keeping my thoughts to myself. There had been that episode where Ash and crew destroyed pokemon island accidentally after the St. Anne tragedy, but there had also been something to do with ruins and giant pokemon hadn’t there? I hadn’t recalled that little factoid until Agatha mentioned it. But that was interesting and potentially concerning.

The information on the precise time frame of the war was also interesting to discover. Twenty-five years and the world was still reeling. It might seem like a short period of time to lose access to people but it wasn’t in truth. Nature could reclaim areas of land much faster in this world due to grass pokemon. Water types could ruin trade lanes, and with Dragons and Flying types flight became much tougher. Psychic teleports over distances of entire regions was beyond rare. I knew of only one person that could achieve it, and she never did it back to back. She made it look easy but that was merely a testament to her prowess.

Agatha shifted. “Our own region was heavily impacted of course. At the time it was expected that trainers would have a one in four chance to survive to their twentieth birthday. I, among others, lost many friends and family. I was one of the strongest to emerge for Kanto. The others were people like Samuel, Koga, and Blaine. Together we formed the first iteration of Guardians.”

“Oak was part of the Guardians?” I said. I’d surmised as much from his earlier comments but it was good to have confirmation.

Agatha bobbed her head. “Indeed, Oak ended up being instrumental in giving us a fighting chance. We hadn’t had anything like the clans of Blackthorn. We lacked the Dragon’s natural predators with ice types, which were their own allies. Oak however was able to raise a Dragonite and demonstrate that Dragons were weak to themselves. He fought them to such a standstill they had to back off.”

She smiled fondly at that before scoffing, “Then he did something stupid enough to gain their respect.”

I tilted my head in question. “What did he do?”

“He learned that Raikou had grown enraged and attacked the town of New Bark. The fool didn’t even stop to gather the rest of us. Instead, he took off and fought with the beast for over an hour until others arrived. Then he stuck around and helped them get back on their feet!”

Agatha stared into the distance. “It didn’t make any sense to anyone at the time. That was a town that was positioned to be a threat to us, most of all Pallet! …But Oak still saved them… In doing so he brought Johto to the negotiating table. From there he stopped the war and our own headlong rush into annihilation.” Agatha stared off into the distance.

“He could have named himself a king of Kanto back then, and made it stand. The government, such as it was at the time, had all but collapsed and we were working more as city-states that identified as a ‘Kanto League’. So the Government back then was mostly ignored. People didn’t follow their orders but instead looked to their local strongest.” Agatha took another sip of her tea.

“A more aggressive man would have taken what was in front of him, but not Oak. Instead, he formed the initial framework for the League with the Elite Four. From there the League grew from administrative support for strengthening trainers and redeveloping our two states until we became Indigo. Then they snuck themselves into governance. Samuel’s dream took many years where he travelled far around Kanto and Johto, he won people over and had them let go of their anger. I served as his third back then, along with Pryce and Arthur. Eventually, people pushed for a higher position that he’d held for Kanto in truth.”

Agatha got a pleased look on her face at this and I wondered for a moment if ‘people’ included her. “Oak fought some contenders and then faced challenges from his fellow Elites. When he won he was crowned Champion with history recording his tenure as starting from when he took the Kanto Championship and through the war until he retired out of respect. He had everything at his fingertips back then!

“Again he remained light with his authority.” Agatha sniffed at this last point. “He did elevate Blaine however.”

“You think he should have done more?” I asked as she took a sip of her tea.

“...No…” She said slowly. “At the time I was, and I recognise I still am, a firebrand. I was all for pushing Kanto superiority… I detested Oak’s methods but…”

She got a fond look on her face. “I admired his strength among other things. In the end, I think he has created a stronger Kanto than I ever could have.” Her eyes became sharp. “That does not mean that I agree with everything the League would have us do! If they had their way, there would be caps on all trainers and lower pokemon limits. They’d see all of us weakened!”

“Sure, sure old lady, but do keep telling us about how hot Oak makes you under your petty coat yeah?” Said Karen. I was surprised to see her speaking ‘out of turn’ like that.

Agatha whipped her head around to Karen. “You’ll keep your mouth shut on topics you barely know of young Lady or I will discipline you and teach you why you respect your elders!”

Karen responded with a smirk that showed her teeth. “By all means old woman,” she said.

“Feh! Expect it when we’re done here, little miss!” Replied Agatha.

I hummed and almost reached out for the tea before realising I wouldn’t enjoy that so I aborted the action. Tiffany perked up only to droop when I stopped myself from drinking the tea. That… did make me feel a little bad, but not bad enough to drink something I knew I wasn’t going to like. I did enough of that at home.

Instead, I turned what I’d learnt over in my head. Oak’s actions almost resembled that of an anime selfless hero. He’d been larger than life and something so out of the ordinary it probably had been a huge dynamic shift. I found myself respecting the old professor a bit more. It was harder to be peaceful and helpful in a world so ready for fighting.

The news of the League didn’t surprise me, but it was good to know that the guardians were also aware of the sociopolitical issues that could arise from the League mandating a lower pokemon cap. I could count a few times where it was worth having a larger team of six even if it was just to have pokemon that could swim, fly, or traverse harsh environments. “Ah,” I made a noise of consideration. I decided to test the waters. “So why the Guardians then? If the league does a good enough job—”

“Good enough is not what people should allow themselves!” Snapped Agatha turning away from her staring match with Karen. She glared at me before huffing.

“Harsh times lead to strong people and that leads to peaceful times! I am aware of this. People have become complacent however and this is leading to weak people! To stop this cycle there need to be people pushing themselves and remaining strong so that others can be allowed to be weak!” She jabbed a finger at me. “One in four! The League does not acknowledge the sacrifice it took to get where we are, and it continues to do acts in the name of ‘good’ that is anything but!” Her finger closed into a fist that dropped to hammer at the table between us.

“The war itself pushed the world to a breaking point! During the war, it wasn’t uncommon to face wild pokemon. But as we continued to fight and kill each other, the pokemon we faced grew stronger until cities and entire people were being swept from the earth as we faced Legendaries! This continued for roughly three years after the war until the agitated pokemon settled enough that proper growth could be even considered. Legendary pokemon still rampaged about though. Most of the time it was caused by foolish men and women, certainly, but sometimes,” she raised a finger to underscore her point. “Sometimes they rampage for no discernable reason and it takes strong people to stand against them.”

I decided not to try and be reasonable and state that chances were more than likely it was again humans as the cause. “So you formed the Guardians?”

“The Guardians were something that was already created during the war. We simply have faded from people’s minds and memories as we have grown old. Few of us remain from the bad old days. Saffron might be the capital, but Lavender is where the Guardians were based from. This allowed us to block attackers from the east that came for Kanto, and on occasion strike out to sea on raids. We had members in Pewter, Pallet, Fuschia, and Cinnabar island as well though. We had a formal disbanding, after a few years of peace, but have actually been continuing to operate in secret.”

This made me think of another organisation from an anime I liked that had ‘supposedly disbanded’. Thankfully this wasn’t a ninja village, and we weren’t meeting in the sewers below the village. I glanced over to Koga and decided to remain vigilant. I didn’t want to wake up drinking from a skull one day and wonder if what I was doing wasn’t what a bad guy would do.

“Shouldn’t the locals know?” I asked. You could never underestimate the neighbours in a pokemon town after all.

Agatha waved her hand. “It is no secret to them. In fact the locals of Lavender are the best equipped to understand the situation with specialised meetings for people that have grown up here. Lots of them support us in their own way.” She smiled and nodded to Tiffany before lifting her now empty cup.

“The locals are also raised with a different curriculum than the others in Kanto with a larger focus on the costs of the war. With the graves of so many valued trainers and their pokemon around them, they understand.” She then gestured around the table at the four of us sitting down. “As deterrents, the Guardians have a duty and slight elevation in the hierarchy.”

She leered at me. “Don’t be surprised if some nubile young lasses come your way soon Brock. People will learn of you becoming a Guardian soon enough.”

I rolled my eyes at her. Pushing the issue of women being interested in me to the side for now. “If your issue is with strength, why not work with the gyms or the auditing group of the League, to make sure only worthy trainers get through?”

“We have been, but there were always arguments for the opposite. Or people with select interests pushing for certain things such as tax breaks or preferential treatment. A weaker trainer base means a stronger authority for the League. I was, and still am, being marginalised during meetings so we will need to make sure that the gyms remain strong.” She nodded to Karen. “Other trainers will need to step up.”

I nodded slowly thinking it over. Tiffany filled up Koga and Karen’s tea before looking at my own. I ignored her. “So where does aura training come into it?” I said after mulling things over.

“Naturally the guardians need strong trainers. Only those with natural talent have the ability to learn. Or, those that push themselves and their team notice how the link between the two is not just how well a pokemon responds. For type specialists, this is multiplied. The original ‘challenges’ that the Hero faced were all against type specialists for a reason beyond just being the most abundant pokemon type nearby.” Agatha gave Karen a look and the other woman sat up.

Karen coughed once and took over the conversation, “Pokemon trainers of that era all knew about Aura manipulation and many tried to develop it. It was, however, very, very rare. Using aura was a giant symbol of power and consolidated the local leaders. We have some tablets from that period that highlight this. Most notably was of course the hero that united the various city-states. The Hero back then was able to wield more than one type which made them beyond special however only after defeating an Aura wielder did they start to expand their range of abilities.”

I tilted my head and considered how that worked together slightly with the knowledge of the games. Trainers that completed various gyms became able to handle HM’s and various stronger levelled pokemon that had been traded to them. Perhaps there was something like that at play and still in play. You’d need to study an entire group to determine that however… or a population.

“Oak still works to maintain the strength of the regions,” I said, recalling Oak’s supportive comments and research when we’d met.

“Of course he does. He selects the cream of the crop, and hands them some of the best known pokemon in our region.” Karen raised an eyebrow at me, not seeing what I was referencing.

Koga spoke up, “He means that Oak is the best suited to observe the true level of trainers. He typically researches relationships between humans and pokemon, but gyms all feed information to the League that he has access to for his studies. He knows when trainers are lacking not just on an individual level but also on a population level.” Karen grinned, “He also has access to this information on a global level.”

I merely hummed at that.

Agatha set her teacup down with a firm click. “Yes, Samuel is still supporting Kanto as he blunders around with his studies. Not everyone will have access to that. There are more than just those that obey the law, as foolish as it can sometimes become!”

Agatha gave everyone a look. “Criminals for example, do not operate within the constraints of laws. Neither do wild pokemon or, indeed, Legendaries. What do pokemon care for the rule of mankind? Not a wit! Lance himself has had to face people that abandoned society and have taken to the wilds. There are yet more of them you can be sure!” Agatha tapped on the table once more.

“We need strong trainers. We need trainers that are able to unleash that strength without constraints to do away with threats before they can become too great! Or,” And she sniffed pointedly, “act as shields when the worst occurs. We need beacons within the community that act to raise the standard for people to aspire to!”

I could imagine that if Agatha had been standing she would have stabbed her cane into the ground to capitalise that point. “The Guardians serve in all these roles and more!” She jabbed a boney finger at me, “If you were to join with us we will seek to empower you more with your Aura development and support you in other ways; information, training methods for resistances and skills development beyond what you already possess.”

I nodded at that in consideration. I ran the conversation back over in my mind. “What would you do if I rejected your offer? Say I decided to run for Champion even? Would you stand in my way?”

Agatha threw back her head and cackled. “You? Ha! You wouldn’t be able to make your run against the Elite four as we stand boy! You’re strong, but we’re well aware of your tricks along with those pokemon you don’t show off to the public!” She shook her head. “But no, if you were to make a challenge we would merely fight you as our status demanded as Elite Four trainers. Should you emerge victorious or even on the Elite Four roster itself, we would ask that you take our advice seriously. You otherwise would be left alone unless you acted against us.” When I opened my mouth she held up her hand preempting my question.

“If you were to unknowingly act against our interest, an intermediary would present themselves to inform you, and depending on the situation either ask you to back down or possibly lend our support.”

I grunted at that and let silence retake the room. So they weren’t so secretive and all demanding that they’d work against me unless I worked for them. Not so bad, but still had the potential to be problematic. I waved my hand about. “Returning to an earlier point you made, is Bruno not here because he’s not supportive of your views?”

Koga nodded his head. “He’s supportive of the League and doesn’t want to bother with taking a larger view. The man is very focused on his own development and little else. He’s a wonderful patsy for some League officials, but more than strong enough to remain in his position.”

I prodded, “Lorelei is from Johto as well, no? How does she fit into the situation with the League right now?”

Agatha sniffed dismissively. “Pryce installed her before he was beaten by Lance. She’ll be removed after I will, no doubt. The Blackthorn clan might have been allied with the people of Snowdrift, but Dragon masters are always touchy when ice types are close to them. Lance is young and doesn’t see the value of keeping her close, but overall I am glad the girl is being removed. She was causing some damage with her good intentions.”

“Sounds like a story there?” I ask.

“Not for tonight,” Agatha waved me off.

I rubbed my chin. “Other regions must have similar groups surely? Aren’t you concerned that building up like this will cause them to build up as well? Sort of strength build-up?” I wanted to say arms race but guns were beyond rare in this world.

“Hmpf! As if that would stop them.” She eyed me for a moment before harrumphing once more. “We stay within our own region until we’re invited mostly. And we don’t shake the world too much. We shelter our region first and foremost. That’s why we’re called Guardians and not the Raiders or something equally as asinine.” She gestured again outside. “Kanto, Johto, Sevii, Orange, and Hoenn were regions that have obviously recovered the fastest and re-emerged to a ‘global’ status. This has been a boon for the trading of trainers, pokemon and ideas. Strength is required to reach this level, however. As more regions re-emerge there will be risks, have no doubt of that.”

“What will be expected of me?” I asked, tapping the table. What had been said so far didn’t sound unreasonable.

“Mostly to become a beacon of strength. You’ve already achieved this with your recent performance against Lance. You have a strong grounding in Aura but little beyond the foundations or channelling it within your body.” She leaned forward. “Tell me, have you yet managed an actual pokemon move yet?”

I shook my head. Her gaze intensified. “How did you first discover your aura?”

“I just worked with Titan a lot and meditated. I eventually felt something and started to move it around.”

Karen giggled. “Like with the comics kids like to read? Oh, are you one of those types?” she said with an amused snort.

I gave a bemused smile and shrugged a shoulder. “It worked.”

“So it did,” said Karen with a shake of her head.

I considered her. “Were you taught from the get-go about it?”

“Being Agatha’s … apprentice has perks like that, yes.” I wondered if she wasn’t going to say daughter… or Granddaughter. I decided not to voice the thought, it didn’t really matter right now. It was worth remembering when discussions like this occurred in future.

“Honestly it’s rather impressive how a trainer as young as yourself has such a strong foundation.” She tilted her head, “How old are you?”

“Sixteen.” I avoided saying that I would soon be seventeen as I knew that to be more child-like.

“Oh…” Her eyes swept over me before grimacing. “That’s surprising.”

I looked to Koga who had so far been the most neutral if tightlipped of the group. Something about the way he suddenly loomed over the conversation gave off the impression he would be speaking next. How he did that without moving a muscle I had no idea. “It is a wonderful accomplishment to have some control over your aura at such an age. That you have deep pools is impressive.”

I blinked again in surprise. “And how can you tell that?”

“Sensory abilities with aura are something that can be developed beyond the traditional channelling skills. You will eventually be able to feel sources around you depending on your training.” I had to wonder if that didn’t mean I’d be able to stop him sneaking up on me.

He gave me a look as if knowing where my thoughts were going. His lips twitched upwards into a smirk that almost seemed challenging before it vanished making me wonder if it hadn’t been a trick of the light.

“You will be given some primers on expelling aura from your body and retaining control over it. This will form most of the ‘moves’ you can learn and is the next step for you as an Aura wielder. From there you will have many different choices but know that it is not advised to try for all of the paths. Each path will take a long time to master and it is not advisable for you to attempt using them in actual situations unless you have mastery. Such sloppiness in the past has led to injuries or… deaths.”

I nodded my head at that. The mystical source of energy having drawbacks made sense, otherwise, it would be more commonplace.

“You have Dark-type and Rock-Type energy Brock?” Agatha asked.

“Yes, I’ve attuned myself to Titan more than anyone else so I ended up with a dual typing you could say.”

“It will be harder for you to advance but your early start will perhaps offset this. With most of the pokemon you spend time with being Rock typed, that should be the easier aura type to train up.”

I tilted my head at that, I hadn’t found that to be an issue. Sometimes it felt like Dark type aura came easier to me. Karen narrowed her eyes but Agatha didn’t notice my confused expression and instead barreled on with the conversation. “If you decide to develop the bond between your pokemon further, make sure you only channel the type of energy they have within them into the bond.”

“What would that serve to do?” I played ignorant even as I considered the possible applications. Was this what Mega-evolutions, Z type moves and gigantamax might require? Didn’t the anime show that you needed an item for both yourself and the pokemon? Was this a method to do it without either? Or was it something different? I had spent a lot of time frequenting jewelers during my travels or at crystal sellers, just in case such a strange rock fell into my lap.

Agatha frowned at me. “With you pushing energy into your pokemon they can be empowered beyond their current level to something stronger. They will hit harder, be able to endure more and be stronger in general. They will also be able to use what some texts refer to as ‘signature’ moves.

“That sounds pretty damn good.”

“Don’t think it won’t be hard work,” Agatha said seriously.

“I didn’t get where I am from laying around. I’ve been lucky, of that I have no doubt, but I’ve still worked hard.” This was true but probably undersold how lucky I was. Who could say they’d been granted another life with a general idea of what was going to happen and how to navigate the system? No one that I knew of.

Agatha nodded her head pleased. “Well then Brock I would like to formally invite you to join us. I will warn that once you join, you may be called on in the event of a Legendary going out of control. This is something of a heavier responsibility than is currently expected of gym leaders with the focus not being just your area, but the entire Kanto region.”

Koga stared at me. “You will also not advertise or tell others of us without our approval. It would require us discrediting you to protect ourselves along with making us distrustful of anything you were to do or say going forwards.” He bowed his head towards me with a small incline of his head. “Just so you are aware of the stick such as it were. If you are discovered through no fault of your own we will take measures to protect you as required.”

I nodded tightly at that.

Agatha leaned forward. “You will be asked to continue training any apprentices you take in leading them towards Aura awareness. This will allow for stronger trainers in general. If we ask, you will train a select trainer for us, this will not be an outright apprenticeship unless you wish it to be, and the person is open to the idea. Certain trainers have floundered in the past without someone to act as a support for them. We in turn will take any trainers you have for us into the same arrangement. You will be allowed access to our resources to better learn. The best of which is access to current aura wielders and to a library specifically for this.”

I nodded, extremely curious as to what I would find in the library and who would serve to teach me. I forced my eyes not to flicker hopefully to Karen. If my choices were an old woman, an old ninja and a beauty like her I knew who I was hoping for even as my mind pushed me for a different choice.

“How do you support yourselves? Financial and such?” I asked, interested.

“The war was good and bad.” Agatha watched me closely. “During this time I supported a number of people but I realised this was untenable. I eventually developed a network to get things where they needed such as supplies and mail. Don’t worry about financials or having to contribute there. I took care of the Guardians for this many, many years ago.”

I decided to let that issue rest for now. “Have you extended the offer to Sabrina yet?” I watched them closely. Agatha’s lips tugged into a smile. Karen’s lips pinched slightly and Koga remained impassive.

Agatha inclined her head. “She’s strong.”

Karen turned her head away and pouted, apparently annoyed at what had been said. Agatha clicked her tongue at the younger woman. “Don’t deny it. She is. She has all of us beat in her potential. Her use of Psychic energies is something that would be a massive boon for us all. It has sadly made her less developed in areas we would require.”

“She’s a brat!” Karen spat.

I glanced from Karen to Agatha with a raised eyebrow. Agatha smirked. “Karen waltzed into the gym expecting to face her father and trounce him during her own journey, only to come face to face with a young Sabrina. She expected to crush the girl and tried taking it easy on her only to be flattened in turn despite the type advantage.”

“She did not flatten me!” hissed Karen, her hair rising up as dark tendrils whipped around her. I bit my lips at the oddly childish reaction.

“How many attempts did you have at the badge?” Agatha said haughtily.

Karen clicked her tongue. “I won against her best team!” Agatha chose not to say anything and merely signalled to a giggling Tiffany for more tea. When Agatha had her refill she turned back to me.

“She’s shown remarkable development in her weaker areas of late. She also has shown greater finesse with her skills. Her pokemon roster is obviously strong, but there is still room for growth. It is understood she has not yet retained a pokemon from the Ralts line for example. We have long considered her, but you were judged to be the better offer. We typically make sure to only take in a few people at most a year. We space things out to help you acclimatise to how we operate. Too many too fast makes for things falling through the cracks and friction that doesn’t need to be there. We’re already very busy people.”

“Some of us busier than others,” snarked Karen towards Agatha.

“My retirement will be well earned, yes,” Agatha replied as if she wasn’t saying it just to ignore Karen’s needling.

I hummed to myself. The calmness of Rock still holding me in a very clear state of mind let me recognise that it wasn’t just for my benefit but also for the groups beyond the obvious. It was a method of controlling the culture. By ‘teaching’ their methods they made sure things didn’t change too quickly or for groups to form from the new inductees. It wasn’t a secret these days that I was friendly with Sabrina after all.

There was also the possibility that they didn’t have such an easy ‘hook’. I needed training for my dual typings. Sabrina was extremely advanced already. If anything they’d be coming to her asking for favours instead of the opposite. I’d have to watch how things progressed.

“She’d be perfect for being a strength within Kanto though. You should probably still make the offer,” I said, putting the choice in their hands.

Koga and Agatha nodded, Karen slumped, grumbled something into her lap but then nodded. I got the impression she resented that she had to respect Sabrina.

“Yes, yes we will be approaching her in the future Brock, don’t worry for her.” Agatha waved me off. “Do you have any other questions?” I shook my head. “Good. Now, do you accept our offer?”

I glanced around. “No old roll of parchment with a blood quill?” Koga snorted while Agatha laughed. Karen rolled her eyes.

“A verbal agreement is best. Words might be wind, but for us, it is more than enough. We will tell our people you have joined us and people will introduce themselves or be introduced to you. Nothing official is written down lest sloppiness results in more people knowing than we desire.”

I considered everything I had learned tonight. I wanted to grow stronger. I so far didn’t have anything glaringly of concern but that didn’t mean I would forget how this night started.

“When you make your offer to people do you do that to all inductees?” I doubted many would be able to stand against two, if not three Elite Four members.

“Again, it was a test for new potential Elite trainers within our organisation Brock. We needed to know you had the ability to walk the walk. You can’t avoid tossing people into the deep end sometimes in life.” I huffed at her.

“Going to do the same to Sabrina?”

Karen leaned forward. “Of course.”

“I’ll look forward to her destroying you then,” I said with a smirk that made her bare her teeth. Definitely, a rivalry there although I had no doubt Sabrina didn’t even remember Karen. That would be amusing.

“I accept.”