“Yeouch! Eepers jeepers Jess! Careful with them mitts you call hands! I’m roughed up goods!” Meowth whined as Jess hugged him.

He pushed at her for a bit only to squirm a little as he tried to look at her. “Are you wiping your face on…” He paused when he saw some tears in her eyes, settling and looking around as if for help.

I stopped approaching them to give her a moment to regain her control.

Meowth locked eyes with me and we shared a moment of solidarity. We both understood that this wasn’t a moment for any talk. So we just nodded at each other and let Jessie wipe her eyes. Meowth’s face twitched as she used his body to wipe her eyes. When she straightened she coughed once.

“Uhm thanks Meowth and sorry, I forgot you were hurt… you were pretty cool out there,” Jessie said while pointedly not looking at Meowth.

Meowth looked at the damp patches of fur on his chest that were only made worse by the amount of dirt he had on him. I raised a hand to the side, and a potion bottle and a towel were handed to me. I stepped closer and coughed. “Would you like a potion?”

Meowth made a face but Jessie snatched it up and began to squirt him. I noticed she aimed for the ‘evidence’ spots where she’d left some tear marks first. Meowth reeled back and would have darted away only to step back into the towel I had in my hands. I wrapped him up and began to work the potion through his fur in a gentle lathering motion.

“Hey watch your… oh this is pretty nice actually,” he said as he shut his eyes. He began to lean into the rub and Jessie continued to lightly administer the potion when I opened up the towel. I didn’t have to point out the bruises or cuts. Jessie if anything beat me to it. She worked efficiently and when she was done there was still at least half a bottle of potion left. She gave me a nod and watched me work the towel over Meowth.

“You’re… rather good at that…” she said softly, a question hanging on with her words as to how I’d gotten so gentle with pokemon.

I nodded. “Yeah, I have eight little brothers and sisters to look after. You have to learn to be firm while not being rough.” She frowned at that and swallowed.

“I forgot about that,” she murmured.

I hummed and finished wiping Meowth down. He leaned after the towel only to blink and look down at his fluffy appearance. Jessie snorted a laugh at him but kept her mouth clenched as he muttered something.

I raised a hand and bowed over it. “Sorry about being a jerk during the match, by the way, most people don’t mind that I come across as a bit of a jerk for the match. It makes winning for them all the sweeter.” I gestured at them both. “You both seemed a bit… well I think it got under your skin more than I intended. Sorry if I went too far, it's just an act.”

Meowth coughed. “Yeah, I knew that! You need to work on your acting.”

Jessie looked away. “I was pretty taken in by it…” We both ignored Meowth’s light kick to shut her up. I gave Meowth a look over before stepping in. I took Jessie’s hand in mine and she shot me a confused look as her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. I stepped back and turned to the crowd, her hand rising up with mine.

“Give it up for the challenger and her pokemon!” I shouted to the crowd.

The crowd roared their approval and Jessie blanched as she recalled that there were other people watching us. Meowth gaped as people waved and cheered. James led a small crew of what looked like local mothers through a cheering routine.

“M-E-O-W-T-H! MEOWTH! WAY TO GO!” they chorused.

James then shook his pom poms before starting up another chant.

“Give me a J!”

“J!”

“Give me an E!”

“E!”

“Give me an S!”

“S!”

“Another S!”

“S!”

Jessie ‘subtly started miming an A at James and he winked at her. “Give me an A!”

“A!”

“Give me a D!”

“—” Instead of performing the cheer the women that had until that point been following along fell over themselves giggling. I chuckled as James cluelessly tilted his head before gasping and shooting the women annoyed glances as they laughed at him.

Meowth and Jessie chuckled. They otherwise enjoyed the moment of watching a group of strangers that had never met them before this moment, cheer… for them. I’d seen it so many times before for the other trainers that came through my doors. Just as I typically portrayed myself as a barrier, I had also made sure to cultivate a group of enthusiasts that enjoyed watching pokemon battles. People that were active and supportive as a crowd. Missy and Rachel had both been good hires for their ability to hype up the crowds.

I’d given them ‘games’ and themes for the gym with people coming in on certain days getting to do ‘Pewter’ avalanches. Which were really just the Mexican wave from my past life.

When it was beach party day in a few weeks, I expected more than a few people to turn up in tropical clothes and I knew Jackson was already jockeying to be in the gym so he could bring out all the clothes he wore during his journey through Sevii and the Orange Islands. I fully expect beach balls and hammocks to be set up around the gym for that day. And I’d probably have Brawly back here again.

Still, that was for later. For now, it was time to enjoy the moment of a young trainer receiving adulation for their victory. For them to stand in the limelight and be praised.

For some people, it was a high they never forgot.

When you gave such acknowledgement to a young person it resonated with them. It was a defining moment, and better yet it was a moment that they knew could be repeated. When they did the right thing and fought tooth and nail. Using their brains and working as a team with their pokemon. When they displayed true empathy for their partners like Jessie had done just now?

The crowds I’d brought cheered as loud as they could as they tried to raise the roof.

I let the cheers continue for a long while. I got a good laugh when it started to die off only for a spirited group to raise the cheer back up again, only for it to die off again. Then James led another group in rousing the cheers. It reminded me of the antics we got up to with applause in my high school.

This wasn’t malicious, in any way. It was meant in only the best of ways.

Jessie laughed at the show, and eventually the applause died away. I took the small badge case and raised it up. “Jess…adia, Ekans, and Meowth, for your victory against me here I hereby acknowledge your right to display the Pewter City Gym badge. With this, you are one step closer to being able to register for the end-of-circuit tournament where the best trainers that have completed the Indigo circuit compete. If you continue to grow, I have no doubt you will be among them.”

I smiled at Meowth. “With a pokemon as intelligent as this Meowth I should imagine that the sky's the limit. I’d suggest deepening your move pool. I would also work with your Ekans to make it faster and more accurate with its moves. Your use of Glare was not wrong, but the execution left much to be desired.”

I nodded my head towards the back. “Now there were some details we needed to work on, such as which account to distribute your winnings to." I smiled innocently like nothing was wrong, and it was all part of the routine. “You paid in cash, no?”

Jessie and Meowth blinked in surprise. Then they shared a sly look before nodding.

“Oh! Yeah! We did! That was us!” they said happily. Meowth then coughed. “How much do we win again?”

I told them the number and Meowth coughed. “Maybe we should do some more pokemon gyms… if they all pay like that…”

I hummed. “It’ll give you a few nights at a good restaurant, certainly. But then again, most Pewter restaurants like to make it a point of giving a discount for trainers that have the local badge.”

Then again, they might just start with their prices marked up considering that most of the time it was a first-tier badge people were fighting for.

As Gym Leader, I got an even bigger discount when I went out to eat. But most of the places I went typically saw me, and nine other mouths considering Munchlax tagged along these days. I almost always saw the pokedollar symbols flash in people’s eyes.

I waved for James to join us, and he scrambled down. “What’s going on Jess…adia!?” he said.

I ignored the shot to the ribs Jessie gave James as I swiped my card against the door and passed through. Meowth explained to James what was going to happen, and I smiled like a host showing them the V.I.P area.

I led them to my office, where I claimed a seat after seating them and shutting the door. I spared a glance at the clock and hummed to myself.

I had enough time for this.

“So what account did you want the money transferred to?” I said conversationally.

James rattled off an account number and I wrote it down for later investigation. “Oh sorry, did you want me to pay out in cash instead?” I already had them in my trap after all.

Jessie and James stiffened. “That’s an option?” they said. I made a show of nodding. When they nodded back, I scrunched up the note and tossed it aside into an out tray. I made a special note of where it landed for later. I’d have the Guardians tap that account and put special watches on it and any other accounts feeding into it.

It might just be James; personal account but odds were it was linked to Team Rocket.

I opened a lock box and ‘ignored’ the way they watched where I had gotten the money from just as they ignored the passcode I used on the lockbox.

“Say, how did you know Daniel?” I said as I counted out the money and handed it off.

Jessie waved her hand about. “Oh, you know you just sort of bump into people like him.”

“Oh, really?” I said tilting my head to the side. “You were part of the expedition into the Northern wastelands he was on for the last few years?” I said with a sceptical tone. It was a lie but one they shouldn’t know. I knew what Daniel's time with the Ranger's entailed, I'd spoken with Hank about him before I hired him after all.

They didn't, and I could tell by the way they sat up and inhaled sharply. Jessie reacted the fastest. “Oh, we knew him before that but… well it was just a friendship from our hometown… I barely recognised him! The Northern wastelands you said? No wonder he looks different!”

“Barely recognisable!” Meowth chimed in.

James nodded quickly. “A completely different man!”

“Amazed he recognised us,” Jessie said with a nod, not realising how they were putting nails into Daniel’s coffin. With them not knowing him, he must know them. And they… they were interesting figures that stood out only in one organisation.

“Huh… that’s interesting… He must be a good friend to cover for you snooping around like you were,” I said turning the computer screen around to show Jessie ripping off her janitors' uniform to reveal her current attire while James did a more showy stripping number to take off his.

I laid my head on my hands and watched them realise that I knew they were up to no good.

They snapped to look me in the eyes and I smiled lazily. “I’ll have to ask him how he knows a pair of thieves. I’m sure he’ll be devastated to learn what’s become of you.”

James twitched but aborted the gesture. Jessie licked her lips and Meowth began to take in the room at large. When he glanced at the door and measured how far he had to get before looking at me, I could see him performing the math in his head. He was working out if he could get out that door before I could get to him.

He didn’t seem to like the result of that equation, as he sat very still.

“It’s interesting, you know? Most thieves know not to come around here. After the Team Rocket raid they understood just how much I train my pokemon. They understood that they’d have to fight for even a scrap of what I had worked to create here.”

I stared through them and channelled my dark and rock energy to loom over them like some shadowy mountain. Unlike some fantastical mountains though, they’d find no adventure or treasure from me.

“You are extremely skilled at what you do, and obviously have a high estimation of your skill to think you can come and take what is mine.”

They swallowed, and James’ hand inched downwards. I pushed aside the dark energy lest I decided to break the man for doing something ‘brave’. Still, if he touched that pokeball he’d learn how out of his depth he was. Jessie caught the movement though and her head twitched into a small shake that had James stopping.

Hmmm, interesting.

“Did you know before I took the challenge?” Jessie said quietly.

I locked gazes with her and hummed. She was holding herself so tight. I ran through my mind how things might look to her. Ah, did she think I’d thrown that match to facilitate this moment? I eyed her. I looked at her and could almost see how brittle she was with her confidence. Where moments before she’d been exuberant at her and Meowth’s victory, a malaise was taking over now. To me, it seemed like I’d offered a toy only to snatch it away in some cruel prank.

“I knew before the match what you were up to…” I let the moment hang as Jessie shrunk into herself. “But I still went through with it, because I was curious.”

Jessie remained staring at the floor. Meowth shot her a worried look before taking over. “Curious? About what?”

I relaxed a little more into my chair, leaning back and humming. “What sort of people you were. Beyond thieves.” I twirled a finger around. “Did you know that pokemon battles can tell you a lot about a person?”

James snorted at that. “That’s a myth. A silly fable based on old stories about people fighting Pokemon and each other with weapons to ‘carry the intent’ or some such nonsense."

I let my hand make a so-so gesture. “I wouldn’t discount it like that. I just think it would take a lot more…” I considered the implications of aura and what that would do to carry… I coughed. “Sorry, got lost in thought for a moment. But no. I was instead referencing how you treated your… companions. When Ekans was injured you didn’t force him to continue battling. You were also careful with them and they reciprocated that care with you.” I rubbed my jaw and huffed a laugh.

“If anything I was too rough with you for a first badge challenge. You impressed me and I pushed for more to see what you were made of.” I smiled. “Sorry, not sorry!”

Jessie blinked, her head shooting up to look at me incredulously. “What?! You’re… sorry, not sorry?! What does that mean?!”

“Means he’s not sorry that he’s not sorry…” said James who was tilting his head. “That… an apology with the words but no substance to them.” He sniffed and I saw a glimpse of all the lessons on etiquette that he must have endured growing up with his family.

“Hmmm, well regardless, don’t worry about that badge or that money,” I said pointing to the Badge that was in Jessie’s hands along with the money in Meowth’s paws. “You earned that.”

Meowth looked down at it and regarded it strangely. “Huh…” he said eloquently.

I rubbed my chin. “Why crime?” I said.

The trio blinked at me and I watched confusion and befuddlement paint itself across their faces. They opened their mouths and shut them only to frown as they struggled with the question. Perhaps they’d never asked themselves that question before?

I glanced at the clock and decided that I wasn’t going to get an answer. I wasn’t that interested in it to be honest. It was a whim. Nothing more. I sat up and loosened a groan like how rocks grind against each other when warning of an impending avalanche.

“Well regardless, you’ll be free to leave. I can’t hold you for what you did… If you’d gone to my house I might do something else but…” I let the dark rise up again and they shivered as they nodded quickly as they understood the unsaid threat.

“Good, then we understand each other.” I smiled. “Don’t ever try to steal from me or mine again,” I said firmly, drawing a line in the sand.

Their heads bobbed up and down like bobbleheads. I nodded and held my position. The video I had up on my computer showed a security flaw I wasn’t aware of. Meowth perked up when I toggled the sound on before his ears went flat to his head.

“Electronic lock. State of the art, thankfully there is a trick to these that was highlighted in locks monthly.” his voice played over the video and I hummed as Jessie started asking about Ice cream of all things.

“I hadn’t known about that… I’ll have to have that fixed.” I stared at Meowth before inspecting the others. Meowth was now drawn in on himself, with Jessie and James leaning slightly in as if to protect him.

“You’re part of Team Rocket as well, right?”

They shot each other a look. Knowing that confirming that statement was good enough to see me detaining them. “No, don’t worry about that." I shook my head. “I just want you to pass along a message.”

I held out a hand to let a sly smile slip out. “Tell your boss that if I find another attempt on my gym, I will hunt down Team Rocket. I won’t care where they commit their crimes, and I won’t care if it costs me a fortune. I will ruin Team Rocket for coming after me and mine.” I circled the air with a finger.

“This is my home, and I built it for my family. Coming in here means so much more to me than just theft.” I leaned in towards them.

“That’s a promise,” I said.

Perhaps for a moment, they glimpsed my aura. Usually, only those that had the capacity could ‘see’ it but that didn’t stop people from feeling it.

They nodded as one. I dropped the aura and brightened up. Adopting my usual persona as the friendly big brother that was more than happy to help out young, up-and-coming trainers.

“Well good, I’m glad we had this chat! I have a pokemon match to get to, so if you come on out I’ll see you back to the public area.” I said. “Don’t forget your winnings.”

I led a silent trio out to the stands, locking up as I went. They were as quiet as a group of Whismur. They were startled when the crowd shouted in greeting at their return.

I clapped them on the shoulders. “Think about what I said both out here, and back there.” I gave Jessie an earnest look. “I truly believe that you do have the potential to be at the conference at the end of the year if you so desire.”

Jessie opened her mouth, but no words came out. I smiled and waved towards the exit. “I’ll be watching for you… I just hope the circumstances are good,” I said before turning towards the podium where I would call forth the next challenger. The trio left, but they looked like someone had hit them with Confusion before sending them off.

Hmmmm, that was probably good, right?

I turned to the next pokemon trainer. Ready to get through them.

I hadn’t lied by mentioning that the next Team Rocket action against me that I caught would see me hunting down Team Rocket. I hadn’t lied about that. It was just that the trio didn’t know I’d worked something out about Daniel. So, I was already planning on doing that. They didn’t need to know that, just as they and their boss didn’t need to know I knew who their boss was.

Still, it would look rather reasonable to people looking in when I discovered their next move against me. Such as the Guardians.

How soon that happened would depend on the sort of answers Daniel gave me when I was done with these trainers. That could wait. I was good at waiting. I held my Rock Aura and relaxed into the rest of the day.

I faced a trainer that chose a Pidgeotto for his first pokemon. I started the match with a Rock Throw and stared them down when they blustered demands at me. They sent out an Oddish after that and regathered well enough for their first badge.

The trainer after that had a Growlithe that was quick, but that was it. They couldn’t weather my pokemon’s attacks and they couldn’t break through fire’s weakness to rock pokemon. If they’d been lucky they might have gotten an Aron but instead, I started off with an electrical Geodude.

The crowd was very appreciative of a rare pokemon like that making an appearance.

When I got a trainer challenging for the fourth badge level, I was able to go a bit harder on them. They immediately started off on the back foot as I unleashed Izumi in all her glory. Critical hit after critical hit made short work of his team and he was left gaping.

“But… but I prepared for this so much?” he said as he stared at his downed Nidorino. I clapped him on the shoulder.

“Turns out you weren’t fully ready this time. Some people will have pokemon like Izumi who are much more than they appear.” I rattled off a few methods to prevent such an incident from happening again before looking to the next trainer.

The next trainer sent out a Mudkip which actually broke me from my funk. I looked up to see them smiling broadly. I had thought for a moment that I’d see an auburn haired girl with a bandana on her head but instead I found myself staring at a blue-haired girl.

“Mindy right?” I said, taking a moment to recall her name.

She nodded. “Yeah! Present!” she said happily. I snorted and signalled to the referee to start the match. She ended up winning her first badge. When she got her feedback and winnings from me she lingered.

I cocked my head to the side. “Yes?” I said with a smile, wondering which of the most commonly asked questions she would ask.

“Could… could I ask after your geodude line? The variant typing? How does one go about getting one from you?”

I nodded. “Well right now’s not a great time, but we do have a batch of eggs that might hatch in a few months. I’m only going to sell them on to trainers that have proven themselves though.” I brought up her challenge. “See how you just came for the badge challenge. If you want to seriously attempt to gain the right to get a variant geodude from me,” I had to struggle not to say Alolan Geodude, “then I expect at least four gauntlet runs with nothing but victories, or better.”

“Or better?” she said with a tilt of her head.

“The Elite Challenges,” I said, answering her question.

“Oh… how long do I have?” she said while tugging on her hair nervously.

I shrugged. “How long is a piece of string?” She gave me a confused look at that. “Sorry, what I meant was that there are lots of interested parties. So you’re going to have four months before the eggs get close. I could give some out then, to help the bond trainers will get with the eventual pokemon, but that’s going to be tough.”

Mindy got a determined look. “I’ll be back! I saw your Golem’s performance and I want that! The dual rock-electric would be perfect to build a team with when I go pro Ace trainer!”

“Good to see you’re thinking of this early,” I said, happy to compliment her. She nodded and said her goodbyes. Vowing to come back soon. I waved her off and headed for the lounge to enjoy a break for lunch. There I ran into Daniel, and just like that everything that had been rubbing me the wrong way came rushing back. He raised his eyebrows and I gave a fake smile before grabbing some food. I didn’t want to create an incident now. Better to let everyone go home.

Or perhaps I could just cancel the day and use this as an excuse? I chewed my lip in thought while trying not to pay too much attention to the Donphan in the room. Just as I made sure to not pay too little attention to him. It was a tough balancing act.

I must not have been that good however as before the break ended he approached me.

“You alright Brock? The others are saying you were kind of brutal with that last fight?”

I held in the urge to grab him and demand he confess. Instead, I grimaced. “Urgh yeah, guess it’s just feeling like the start of the week.”

Daniel bobbled his head from side to side. Then an alert pinged us. I sighed. “People are getting too rough outside as well it would seem.”

“I’m on it Brock!” he said, stalking off.

I felt an idea form in my mind. As he walked off, I whistled to get his attention. “Hey, call Jenny around for me, will you? I think we need to have them toeing the line better. This is the start of the circuit. Let’s put everyone on notice to behave a bit more.”

Daniel grunted at that and nodded before heading off again. I smiled to myself, enjoying the moment of making him unknowingly tighten his own noose. It didn’t seem like he suspected anything.

When the final match finished —a rather spirited showing by a trainer with a very well trained Primeape— I pinged Daniel to come to my office. I also shot off a message for Rocko to bring Jenny around to the office and wait outside for me. Then after a moment’s thought, I sent out another message to Sabrina to meet them outside my office.

Daniel walked up the hallway and waved. “Hey Brock? Something happen?”

I made a show of rolling my eyes before remembering that he wouldn’t get what I was doing, so instead I shook my head. “Routine stuff. Wanted to go over your paperwork.”

He gave a grimace and stepped into the office. “Oh sorry, I didn’t get everything cleaned up cause I was uhmmm trying to get home quick?” he said.

Now that I was looking for it I could taste the lie. How had I believed that before?

… now that I thought about it, his ‘backstory’ of being a Ranger that had gotten over his head with his partner and was trying to do right for her and their kid… didn’t that just tug at my heartstrings? Like it had been pieced together specifically for me to just lap up.

I glanced at him and while he looked chagrined, I couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t laughing at me in contempt. I must seem like an idiot to this man with how long I’d been strung along. I stared into his eyes and saw something dark within. I considered that with a frown.

I sat on my desk instead of behind it. I didn’t want him to have even a moment’s lead if he decided to run.

“Brock?”

“How’s your wife?” I asked with a tilt of my head still wondering if, perhaps…

He rolled his eyes and waved his hand. “Urgh, the usual, complaining about the baby and her back pains. She’s alright.” the way he said it, now that I was focused on it…. It smacked of contempt.

I stared straight through him as I tried to come up with what to say to him after. I wanted to be sly and subtle in trapping him. Lead him by the nose, and before he could realise how deep a hole he’d dug, close it up on him.

I wanted to say something clever.

Instead, I found myself hung up on that prior thought of how he had seemed contemptuous when I mentioned his wife.

“You don’t love her do you?” I said, feeling unimaginably sad all of a sudden. Perhaps it was because I had wanted to believe in his attempts to do right by his wife… Or perhaps it was because I had such a glaring weak spot that someone like Daniel had looked at me and seen it clear as day and used that to get close.

Daniel blinked and for a moment his mask held. Then he snorted, and a sneer took over his face. I knew what he was about to say.

“Yeah, she’s just a girl I picked up.” He eyed me and said, “What gave me away?”

I sighed, hating myself for letting a man like this into my gym. Now, with his mask pulled away, I watched him like one would watch a wild Houndoom near the Mareep.

Still… Damn, I hadn’t wanted to be right about that. Perhaps that was the trick, making me want to believe in it?

Daniel smirked a little through his sneer, and I hated him for, in a way, spitting on something I held so important.

He sat there like he knew he was safe. Like I couldn’t hurt him.

I was going to prove just how wrong he was.