Hard Enough - Chapter 221 - Kirlia curbs crime! (Patreon)

Sabrina and I appeared back at her home’s lounge room. Sandra and Saul were both there along with Ralts whom Sabrina approached.

I gave the little pokemon a quick once over. 

I wasn’t clued in on all the cues that a psychic pokemon had for evolution and honestly, that would be something I probably would never possess with how I contained the anthesis. 

Still, there were some universally known markers such as growth physically. Ralts had grown at least double since she hatched from her egg. I’d say she stood at roughly half a meter tall which was a good size for a young pokemon, especially a Ralts. 

Her horns appeared to have a deep hue to them that made the light glint softly when the little pokemon turned her head. 

The only other physical indicator that I could notice was that her hair had gotten longer. In some parts, it was no longer a bowl cut but rather more like she had bangs.

Sabrina knelt in front of her… I wasn’t sure. It had started with Sabrina hatching Ralts so it would have been a parental bond, but then there was also the tidbit from what I’d felt from Sabrina’s memories, which made it almost seem like Ralts was more like a sister.

Which was good. She had the foundations of a very strong bond. They obviously had a lot of fun together if the small toys that sat behind the couch were any indicator. 

“Ralts? Mother informed me that you wish to evolve? Is this true?” Sabrina asked softly. 

Ralts nodded her head causing her hair to rock back and forth with the gesture. 

Sabrina nodded slowly. “I’m rather surprised. You were rather happy with how things were progressing this morning when we finished our training.” Sabrina brushed a hand gently through Ralts hair carefully skirting around the horn. 

“Is this because of Mewtwo’s appearance?” 

Ralts stared up at Sabrina for a long moment before pushing her horn into Sabrina’s hand. Sabrina stiffened. For a few minutes nothing seemed to happen with either Ralts or Sabrina speaking. I shifted from foot to foot. I’d seen Sabrina do this. 

Whenever she ‘spoke’ with her pokemon she never actually had to use her voice. 

I frowned as I considered the memory. Sabrina hadn’t needed it then with Mewtwo either. 

Ah, that might have been why some of the pokemon came back as quickly as they did. Sabrina and Mewtwo, while powerful, had both been almost perfectly still and silent. Like two people merely watching and not a part of the ecosystem they’d teleported into. 

As the minutes dragged on I shifted my gaze from Sabrina to that of Saul and Sandra. “You two doing okay after Mewtwo showed up?”

Saul’s mouth tightened. “I… had never considered what it would feel like for there to be a Legendary Psychic pokemon here.” Saul gazed at his daughter, still locked in silent conversation with Ralts. “For so long Sabrina and her Alakazam has been the bar that we measure strength by, to feel something stronger…” 

Sandra swallowed loudly. “It was startling but we’re fine. We had to assure the weaker pokemon that had been meditating in the Gym along with one or two of the more sensitive psychics, but otherwise things were fine.” 

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said, my eyes flicking down to Sandra’s hands where she continued to nervously wring them back and forth. “If it means anything, Mewtwo doesn’t want to hurt anyone.”

Which as I said it, I realised it was probably true. This Mewtwo was completely unlike the one that had been presented in the movies. He wasn’t as jaded. He’d been broken free not through his own efforts after growing fed up with Giovanni, but rather through others helping him.

That had to count for something.

He hadn’t tried to destroy us despite our invasion of his home.

The more I considered it the more upbeat I was. I just hadn’t been able to really stop and consider it. Sabrina was right, Mewtwo wasn’t a villain or some raging beast that would lash out like others. He was an intelligent being in his own right who was trying to understand the world and his place in it. 

“I’m not sure I ever expected to feel a Legendary pokemon’s power,” Sandra said. “I hadn’t really considered what the old legends spoke of as being true. Legendary pokemon truly are on a different level. During the war we were so far off the front lines that… well there was never any chance to feel them.”

She shook her head. “Not that the Legendary birds or dogs that roamed Kanto and Johto would have triggered the same response.”

“Not Kanto, no,” I said thinking of the other variants of the Legendary birds that existed in Galar. For Psychic pokemon there was also Lugia. I suppose I could consider the Eon duo as strong psychic types as well, but they weren’t held up on the same level as others. 

Mostly because they were seen as benign spirits. 

For that matter I doubted many people properly associated Mew, Uxie, Mesprit, or Azelf as being ‘Legendary’ pokemon that would ravage the lands. Most people saw destruction as the thing that defined a pokemon. 

I wonder what people thought about Cresselia? It would be fun to do a deep dive into the Guardians' notes and see what knowledge they possessed about other regions' legendary pokemon.

It would be an interesting way to spend an afternoon. It wasn’t something I’d done in a while with how busy I was, but I rather missed getting the chance to sit and read up about mythical and dangerous pokemon. It was fun seeing how they were perceived in this life compared to what I knew of them from my past life. 

I wonder what people thought of Solgaleo or Lunala? When we eventually found the other regions I so wanted to go for a holiday to a few places. Alola sounded the nicest even if there was a risk of tripping into issues with the evil Aether Corporation with Lumanise. 

Then again there was the Ultra Sun/Moon storyline where she had to defend the Alola region from Necrozma. 

“Very well, I understand your reasoning, and I’m happy but please don’t feel you need to rush to the next stage,” said Sabrina to Ralts. 

I blinked. Oh, right! I’d forgotten about that. Sometimes you could accidentally end up secluded when Psychics spoke with each other. 

I shifted and Sabrina glanced in my direction. Without any verbal prompts she said, “Ralts feels like I need more protection and she feels too weak as a Ralts so she is going to evolve. We had been holding back to allow her the most growth mentally and… also I’d been enjoying our times together,” she said. 

Sabrina gave Ralts a fond smile. “I suppose I will have to get used to carrying you around when you are bigger,” she said. 

“Raaaalts!” whined Ralts in such a way that my parenting ear twinged to the tone alone. I knew what was being said straight away. Some version of ‘Sabrina/Mum!’ that only the young will actually use. 

Sabrina merely smiled and gave the little pokemon a hug. 

When they broke the hug Sabrina stepped back next to me, giving Ralts some room. 

Ralts glanced about at the people around her for a moment before nodding, pleased. Then she tilted her head forward and took a deep breath. 

Without any prompting, she began to glow with the light of evolution. Controlled evolution was an interesting spectacle. It was one of the more interesting forms of evolution that I rarely got to see.

The most common method was typically a mid-battle evolution that was attributed to the stresses and desires mixing within a pokemon. A mid-match evolution was typically in response to a powerful challenge and resulted in the pokemon ‘powering up’ with the increase in adrenaline. 

I’d been on the receiving end of such evolutions a lot. If you wanted to win you typically had to ride out the empowered pokemon while accounting for the fact that they were going to hit harder and typically be faster. 

Well, except in a few cases such as Ivysaur to Venusaur. On paper, they had better bursts of acceleration with their being able to leap short distances faster but their overall speed was terrible. 

The next most common evolution was post-match evolutions where victory usually led to a feeling of exultation sweeping through a pokemon, promoting more power and pushing them that little bit more. 

Next were the controlled evolutions. 

This technically included when a pokemon was introduced to an item that triggered it or an activity that induced it in the transformation with pokemon such as Graveler. 

There must have been a trick to it for Alakazam and Gengar as well. No doubt Sabrina and Agatha knew. I might ask them one day and see what they said. Then again Agatha would no doubt have a harrowing tale for how Haunter’s evolved. 

If I was a gambling man it had something to do with the mass of Haunter that typically lingered around her. 

Why did she need three of them when she already had Gengy and another Gengar in her back pocket?

Regardless, they were uncommon, and it took a highly skilled trainer to get those sorts of pokemon to that level and experiment with what was required. 

Ralts’ body began to grow and rise upwards. From half a metre in height she began to shift until she was roughly a metre tall. Then again a quick eyeball wasn’t great as a measuring tool. As the light died away Kirlia appeared in all her glory. 

She looked as I’d expected but the markers of good physical health were still there with the shine on her horns which had shifted to the sides of her head instead of being front and back. 

Her long dress had split to form a sort of ballet tutu that notably curled down more than the other few Kirlia I’d seen before. She also had slightly longer hair than others with her cut not being anywhere near as straight-edged and instead, some small edges stuck out. 

“Kirlia! Kir!” she said with a twirl. 

She spun into a leap that saw her soaring up into Sabrina’s arms and the older girl giggled and allowed herself to float back as though Kirlia had knocked her over. Instead, they merely hovered off the ground. 

Sabrina righted them after a little bit and put Kirlia down, presenting her quickly to Saul and Sandra who gushed at the little pokemon as she posed in what I recognised from the few times I’d taken Cindy to some dance lessons as poses. 

The little pokemon turned and smiled at me. “Looking good Kirlia, feeling stronger as well?” I asked. 

The little psychic bobbed her head up and down and a glow took over her body. Pillows about the room rose as one and I quickly counted at least ten, which included the much larger couch cushions. When the couches started to rise up I whistled, impressed.

When Kirlia tried to raise me up I flexed some dark energy and disrupted her. She pouted at me and I just shot her an amused look.

It was a nice try, but only Sabrina got to sweep me off my feet like that.

I also didn’t trust that she wouldn’t try something and then try to get away with it using some ‘little sister energy’. 

Kirlia didn’t stay disappointed for long though as she quickly lowered the items and began to twirl around us. “Kir! Kirlia! Kir!” 

Saul and Sandra laughed at how exuberant she was being. “Looks like someone’s full of beans!” said Sandra. 

She clapped her hands together. “I will have to make a cake!” the older woman ducked out of the room and I realised that she didn’t mean, tomorrow like someone else would, but rather right now. I glanced at the clock. It was closer to dinner but I guess a late dessert wouldn’t go down too poorly. 

This had Kirlia twirling faster if anything. Sabrina merely shook her head. “Cake is only going to keep her up more, I think we’ll need to find a way to burn off some energy Kirlia,” she said. 

Kirlia beamed. “Kirlia?” she said hopefully then her eyes widened as though an idea had come to her. She pointed first at Sabrina, then at me, and then at herself. 

Sabrina’s smile became rather plastic. “You… want to go and fight crime?” she said. 

I blinked. That… wasn’t what I’d been expecting at all. 

Kirlia’s head bobbed rapidly up and down. “Kir! Kir! Kir!” she said firmly. She pointed at a nearby clock and excitedly chattered something at Sabrina. Sabrina for her part nodded along. 

I raised an eyebrow, once again on the outs with what was being actually said. I gave Saul a look but he was nodding along. 

Sabrina huffed. “It seems Kirlia wants to spend her first night as a Kirlia fighting crime. Specifically with Hero Yellow and Hero Black,” she said. 

I looked at Sabrina. “Really?” 

Sabrina merely nodded. “Really.”  

I stared. I’d been wondering how Kirlia would mature, but it turned out she was still a kid. Worse she was a kid with ideas and enough power to get herself into some trouble.

Saul chuckled as he rose up. “Well you kids have fun!” he said. “Don’t stay up too late! You’ve got work in the morning!” he said cheerfully. 

Sabrina shot him a glare that had him scurrying quicker. 

She huffed as the door closed. “There are times when I wonder if it would not be better to simply dump my duties on him once again and take you and Kirlia on a trip.”

I sighed whimsically. “We could complete our Hoenn trip,” I said dreamily. 

A glint appeared in Sabrina’s eyes and I realised she might not take it as a joke like I had been doing. “Not that I want that right now, I just you know?” I said, waving my hands back and forth. 

Sabrina nodded, still eying me. 

“Lia!” said Kirlia plaintively as she was accidentally ignored. Kirlia tugged on her shirt only to pause as she realised she could now reach that high. She tugged again happily. “Kir!” 

Sabrina and I shared a smile and then with a flash of light a pair of wrapped-up packages appeared in the room. I eyed the black clothes. “You keep these in your storage facility?” I said, knowing it to be a redundant question. 

“With a few other of your clothes,” she said casually. 

I paused in putting on the pants only to decide not to ask which clothes of mine she had. The answer could range and give me a bit of a glimpse into her mindset that I wasn’t sure I wanted to know about. Better to just ignore it and assume she had some spare clothes for me if I ever needed them. 

It was so handy having a psychic girlfriend. 

Kirlia got a green helmet with a visor which she donned while posing on the couch as Sabrina and I suited up. 

“Green ranger?” I asked Kirlia and she beamed, adopting another series of poses. I held in a chuckle. Such a kid.

Sabrina drew the hair back from her neck. “Zip me up?” she said. 

I eyed her. She didn’t actually need my help. Not as a psychic, so she must have wanted it. I put my hands on the zipper and slowly drew it upwards. In close like this Sabrina turned when it was done and gave me a pleased peck on the lips. “Thank you, now? Shall we find some crime?” 

I grinned and donned my helmet. 

It was time to make Kanto a safer place. 

“Kirlia!” chimed the little psychic. 

And also fulfil a little girl’s dream apparently. 

We vanished in a teleport and reappeared in a much brighter area. Or rather, a city. I took a moment to gather my bearings. A quick look around at all the flashing signage, the lights shooting up into the air and the busy streets below told me enough to know where I’d come. 

“Neon City, that actually makes a lot of sense,” I said. 

Sabrina nodded. “With Grey being a plant they had to shut down his Gym. Several issues have since then come up, with crime increasing being one. I’ve had to divert more and more trainers from the Gym doing patrols to assist the police.”

“Seems it’s time this place could use this sort of treatment then,” I said. I looked at Sabrina. “What have you got for us?” I said. Kirlia perked up and looked at Sabrina, her large helmet cutely tilting at the action. 

Sabrina inclined her head. “I have some people peddling X drugs for pokemon matches against me which aren’t licensed. They are likely dangerously synthesised.”

I hissed. X drugs were a bit of a touchy topic. Some people liked to try and use them for matches but the temporary boost had been shown to only be short term and when they weren’t regulated carefully, could lead to harm to the pokemon or even berserker states depending on the mix of drugs. 

“There’s also a deal taking place on the river docks that seems to be about some pokemon smuggling, seems that got missed by the League and police as it has or had affiliations with Team Rocket from what I can pick up,” said Sabrina. 

“Let’s get them first and then get the X drug peddlers,” I said. In the scope of things, the peddlers were small change compared to the trafficking ring. “Anything we need to watch out for?”

“A pack of Primeape have been captured along with some Tauros. A stampede or break out from either inside a city is going to cause damage,” Sabrina said firmly. 

“Roger, need something to keep them calm,” I said, palming Zephyr's pokeball along with that of Zubat. 

Sabrina inclined her head and took another moment to ‘look around’ with her psychic sense. Kirlia bounced around a little and I chuckled at her antics. She shot me an affronted look. 

“Sorry, it’s just that the part before a fight can sometimes be the worst. You’ll get used to it, but seeing you so jittery is kind of funny,” I explained. 

“There doesn’t appear to be much else going on, apart from a rather glaring oversight in the city’s light pollution,” Sabrina said with a sniff. 

I merely hummed, giving the flashing lights and billboards a glance. They had modelled this after Las Vegas in the cartoon and I could see the stylistic choices. Large strips of land with walkways and wonders. 

People frolicked up and down with a much laxer style than anything I’d seen in a while. More than a few looked tired. 

“The city that never sleeps,” I muttered, recalling how in the anime it literally was a city full of irritated and messed up people who really just needed a nap courtesy of Jigglypuff.

I watched the people a little more and didn’t see anyone acting too rudely. If anything it looked like I imagined Las Vegas at night looked like.  

There were entertainers, cosplayers, and pokemon of all sorts that had been styled and primped.

There was a large raised pool of water where people could swim with Milotic, Staryu, Horsea and even Goldeen while a handler stood off to the side. Other people rode Tauros along the roads, while limousines had people practically spilling out of them. 

Interestingly enough, I spotted no less than three women and one possible man dressed up like Sabrina. I was about to point them out to her for her thoughts on them before I spotted a giant hulking man wearing a familiar orange jumper with brown pants. His hair was spiked up. 

Ah… I had Brock cosplayers… huh, neat. 

“Brock?” said Sabrina.

I coughed. “Best we refer to each other by our Hero code names,” I said. “And sorry, I got distracted by… myself,” I said, indicating the much taller, broader man. 

Sabrina glanced in his direction and giggled. “He is much louder than you are,” she said. 

I shot her a glance, wondering what she was picking up. 

Sabrina caught that and waved in the man’s direction on the street below. “Dressing up like you gives him more confidence it seems. For such a large man, he is rather timid.”

“Riiiiight,” I said, eying the mountain of a man. Hard to think a guy that big could be timid. “Let’s go break up that smuggling group, yeah?” I said. 

The longer I looked about the street, the more weird things I was finding and the harder it all was forcing myself to look away, the show people were putting on or merely existing in this place. 

I pointedly glanced at Kirlia whose head was whipping back and forth like an excited child. No doubt the smorgasbord of emotions she could pick up would be a heady mix for such a young pokemon.

Sabrina got us out of there before Kirlia could get too far along. 

We reappeared at the docks with a small flash and found ourselves now looking down from a warehouse, that was off the main strip enough to make the floodlights bathing the walkways feel dark in comparison. 

I pulled up some dark energy and felt myself settle. A quick tap on Zephyr and Zubat’s pokeballs had them released. Both pokemon took flight only to arc around. Zubat shot right into my face for a hug, but I caught her before she could splatter herself on my helmet. 

“Easy there girl,” I said. “We’re going to be fighting some bad guys so I think it’s a good chance for you to use your Supersonic. I eyed the docks for a moment before another idea came to mind. 

“Let’s start things off with Haze. Think you can coat the entire docks?” I asked.

Zubat nodded ecstatic to be part of a fight. I nodded and sent her out. 

“How do you want to do this?” I asked. 

Sabrina considered the docks as they slowly became less and less visible. “I think we can focus on saving the pokemon while you take out the people above deck,” she said. 

“Gotcha!” I said. 

“Kirlia!” said the little pokemon, putting her hand out. I blinked and Sabrina coughed. “She wants to do a ‘hands together’,” she said, putting words to action. 

I put my hand on top of hers only for Kirlia to put her other hand on top. “Uhm that not—” I started to say only for Sabrina to match her. I sighed and put my second hand on top. Kirlia bounced her hands down and then up before cheering. 

I chuckled and waved as the girls vanished to secure the loading bays which were still wide open. 

I whistled sharply and Zubat returned to me. The noise didn’t go unnoticed. 

“Hey! Who’s whistling?” said a gruff-sounding voice. 

I hopped off the roof and landed on the gravel before rising tall right in front of one of the gang’s toughs. 

“Me,” I said with a deeper voice than usual as I tried to mimic another franchise’s dark knight.

“What the!?” screamed the man only for Zubat to swoop down and blast him with Supersonic. He groggily wobbled about before collapsing. “No, gotta tell the guys,” he murmured, reaching for a radio on his belt. I took it from him and pointed. 

Zephyr landed in front of the man, his eyes already glowing causing the man to slump as Hypnosis took hold. 

“One down,” I said, cracking my neck and making a ‘move out’ gesture to the two pokemon with me. On silent wings they circled me and we began clearing out the various street toughs. 

When we finally stumbled on a group of four gangsters they all blanched as we emerged from the mists like wrathes. 

Two of them released pokemon to reveal a pair of Mightyena, a Weezing, and a Skarmory.  

“Confusion,” I said, directing Zephyr to take out the Weezing. No way I was letting that pokemon get off something like a Self Destruct. 

Zubat I moved against the Skarmory despite the terrible match-up. “Harass it!” I said and Zubat flapped in close while waves of Supersonic shot forward to disrupt the metal bird. 

The Mightyena turned to me with slavering jaws only to be taken by surprise as Zephyr, having torn through Weezing, hurled the downed pokemon at them. Barks and snarls shot out but Zephyr merely raised his wings and began to harry them back.

“Take out the freak!” called one guy who I noticed was at the back of the group. 

Then two of the men charged forward while another held back to snap open a nightstick that crackled with electricity. 

I couldn’t keep my attention on him though as I had to deal with the first guy to reach me. He stepped in hoping his greater size would mean he’d be able to grapple me easily. I launched out a hard punch just like Surge had taught me and I’d continued to practise under Trixie’s focus. 

The blow rocked him and he collapsed to the ground bonelessly. 

The second man, seeing how deadly my fists were, stayed back and tried to swipe at me with his own larger reach. 

“Careful! He’s a boxer! Watch his fists!” the man said as he tried to fake me out with a lunge only for me to shift positions. 

I held my nerve and waited for him to properly try and knock me back with a set of his own punches.

I batted one punch aside and snapped a low kick into his knee before snapping it up into his head, knocking him out. 

“I don’t skip leg day,” I said. In truth, I had Trixie to thank for that.

The third man lunged, having seen this as his chance. I twirled bracing to take the hit of electricity with my body filling with Rock energy only for the baton to slam into my shoulder and snap.

The man stared at his broken tool while I merely reached out to put my hand on his shoulder like I was about to console him.

The man looked up and had a bare moment to spot my forehead racing into his. My helmeted head slammed into his and he joined his friends on the ground. 

I turned my attention to the last man who was already backing away. “Damn cheap shit! Louis is gonna hear about this! “ he said as he turned and began to run. 

“Take him!” I said and Zephyr, having beaten his foes, took wing after the fleeing man. I turned my own attention to Zubat who was holding out if barely against the enraged Skarmory. 

“Hit and run with Supersonic! Its metal body makes it more receptive to the noise!” I commanded and Zubat did just that. When Skarmory growled and tried to turn its attention to me it flicked its eyes down to one of the downed men and it screeched. 

“Astonish,” I said, making Zubat get between us while making the larger pokemon baulk in shock. Skarmory were still affected normally by Ghost type moves, interestingly enough. 

I made use of this to keep shocking and surprising the larger pokemon and while it took a few minutes, Zubat eventually whittled down the enraged bird. When it collapsed Zubat spun towards me happily and I caught the exhausted little pokemon. 

“You did great,” I said, more than happy to praise it. “That had been a tough match up and you emerged the winner,” I said. 

I glanced down at the beaten men as Zephyr deposited the runaway. They’d have done better if they used their actual pokemon and didn’t just unleash them on me expecting results. Ah well, I shouldn’t complain about the lacking quality of my foes, merely be happy. 

“You can’t do this! I’m just an innocent bystander!” the man whined. 

“You’re anything but,” I said. “For now, go to sleep,” I said and Zephyr leaned forward with glowing eyes. 

I glanced around, noting that the Haze I’d used to obscure my approach on most of the thugs was breaking up now that a few minutes had passed. I couldn’t see anyone else and there wasn’t any sounds of fighting occurring on the ship—

A moment later a trio of men were launched from the ship and into the waters below. Kirlia, in her little helmet, trotted up to the side of the boat where she put her hands on her hips and scowled down at the men. 

“All secured?” I called up to her. 

Kirlia shot me a thumbs up and I nodded, reaching for my communicator to call it in. 

The police were there much slower than usual and I glanced at Sabrina. She shook her head and I relaxed glad that they weren’t crooked. “Busy night for you?” Sabrina prompted. 

The officer just sighed and nodded glumly. “Neon City is a place that never sleeps. I had to break up a few acts of hanky panky taking place around some alleys and bust an X dealer,” he said with a shake of his head. 

He nodded to the gang. “These ones have been given us a bit of a run around so I’ll be glad to see them behind bars for a while,” he said. He gave us a lazy salute. “Thanks for the assist Heroes Black and Yellow,” he said, only for a small cough to make him look down towards Kirlia who had adopted a proud pose with her hands on her hips. 

“And you too… Hero… Green?” he said hesitantly. 

Kirlia bobbed her head happily and waved for us to follow her out. I chuckled and did so. Amused when a few of the Police took some less than subtle pictures of us. 

With the job done my stomach decided to announce itself. Sabrina scooped up Kirlia and led me to a deserted alleyway. “I think mother’s cake will be ready by now,” she said as we vanished. 

It turned out Sabrina was right. Kirlia happily plowed into the cake as her dual victory celebration, only to collapse like a kid that had run out of steam. I chuckled as Sabrina lifted her up and moved her to her own room in the house where she was tucked in. 

I gave the decor a look over. ‘You’ll have to get ready to change it,” I said. “She’s a big crime-fighting girl now,” I said with a chuckle. Sabrina just nodded. 

The next morning I had breakfast with my family who’d insisted we have it outside. I kept one of the windows open to hear about last night’s escapades. 

“—and the police in Neon City had an interesting encounter with body cam footage revealing that Heroe black, Heroine Yellow are once more active only this time with a sidekick in Heroine Green!” footage played revealing us all with Kirlia in her green helmet talking with police while Kirlia posed behind us in vaguely heroic poses. 

“The police praised the official Heroes of the Indigo league and hope to see more of them!” said the reporter. 

I chuckled only to feel a shadow fall over me as Bertha loomed. ‘Rhy,” she said flatly, pointing at Kirlia on screen and then at herself. 

I huffed. “Are you envious?” I said only for my Xtranscier to start pinning as messages flooded in.

 I gave it a glance only to see Brawly, Flannery, and Professor Oak were all demanding that I inform them of the next Hero raid. 

I sighed, mentally throwing up my hands in amusement. It seemed like envy was a common factor with both my pokemon and my friends.

I sent back a message stating I wasn’t going to commit to anything all while I ignored Bertha’s stare. 

“What?” I said. “You had your time in the sun yesterday!” I said to her. 

I shook my head and turned my attention to the day’s jobs. I had another Elite Challenge, and some more Pewter Academy kids to handle. 

Should be simple enough.

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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their continued support!

It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!