Hard Enough - Chapter 148 - Flannery's fiery fight! (Patreon)

I scratched my head as most of my Elite team made their way through the warm-up run. Yolanda noticed my worried expression and paused next to me, jogging on the spot.

“What’s up Brock?”

“Empress and Teddiursa haven’t come up for training,” I said, scratching at my head. “They might not have known to wake up with the sonata, however, so I better go check up on them.”

“Want me to come with?” Yolanda asked.

I waved her off and made my way down into the tunnels. Teddiursa had a little cubbyhole near the entrance… but that was empty. I frowned, feeling a moment of worry, only to pause and consider who I was looking for.

Teddiursa... and Empress.

I decided to hold off on any worries until I checked with Empress’ cavern first. I’d had to have my pokemon dig out a new cavern that we’d then shore up. Empress’ choices mirrored a lot of what Titan liked to have in his cave. Like shelves dug into the walls, so any interesting rocks, pictures, or small nick-nacks could be put on display.

I made sure to scuff and make a lot of noise on the way down to Empress’ cavern.

“Empress! You awake in there? You missed the morning wake-up call?” A soft rumble made me pause before I continued forward. That had been a rumble of agreement instead of a threat growl.

I stepped into her cave. “Oh good, you’re in there. I’m also looking for…” I trailed off as I noticed that Teddiursa was curled up with Empress, still fast asleep.

I hummed in consideration as Empress watched me. I raised up my transceiver and snapped a picture before nodding at her. “Alright, I’ll let you be. If he’s still tired, it's best to let him rest; he’s a growing boy after all.”

Empress huffed and lay back down. I decided to leave her be and instead made my way back out to my team to train with them. When I caught up to Yolanda on her jog, she shot me a look, and I raised up the picture of Empress and Teddiursa cuddled up with each other.

“Eeeee!” Yolanda squealed in delight. Terra leapt up and pulled my hand so she could see. I started to hiss in a breath of concern. Was she about to get angry?

Instead, she giggled and clapped her hands, letting go. “She doesn’t mind that Empress is showing affection to another pokemon?” I asked with surprise.

Yolanda shook her head and poked Terra on the nose. “Nope! She’s not one to get jealous, she’s rather cheerful all the time. I think she’s glad her mother is helping out Teddy!” she said grinning at me.

“Hmmmm, alright, and still no, we’re not calling him that.”

Yolanda pouted. “You could! Look at him! He’s the perfect little teddy bear! He loves to cuddle!”

“He’s a rough, tough guy that has a soft side. So what? That doesn’t mean he just needs to be called Teddy! He could be a Yogi, a Smokey, or maybe a….” I waved my hand, trying to think of another name while putting on a fake macho persona.

“Teddy,” said Yolanda with a resolute nod.

“Ty!” Terra agreed. I huffed at them and waved them off to complete their training.

I returned my focus to find A.J. running after Rocko, of all people. It was an amazing display of contrasts. A.J. ran with short, speedy steps, his face locked in a rictus of rage.

Rocko lopped along with his much longer legs carrying him further with each step. He looked like he was considering what he’d be buying from the shops later for dinner, rather than training.

His longer limbs allowed him a degree of ease that made it look like he was merely extending his legs rather than running. He waved and angled his run towards me.

“Brock! Hey man! How you going, man?!” he said as his and A.J.’s pokemon rounded the plateau. He glanced back and whistled once. Rocko’s pokemon broke into a sprint, and suddenly there was a clear gap between his pokemon and A.J.’s.

A.J. could only gape in shock at the sudden burst of speed that the more experienced pokemon displayed. The only pokemon of his that could keep up was his Beedrill, but that didn’t surprise me too much; they were known speedsters.

Rocko approached and offered me his fist. “Good to see you, man. It feels like two weeks went by pretty quickly.“

“I’ll say,” I said, looking him over. “You enjoy your break?”

Rocko bobbed his head up and down. “Oh yeah, my little bro and sis are a riot. They’re so…”

Rocko rubbed his chin and then he shot A.J. an amused look. “Precocious. They felt like they needed to do everything right away. They were like puppy Growlithe off a leash for the first time. Raring to go everywhere with no idea which way they really wanted or needed to go.”

“Yeah? What did you do?” I said, flicking a hand to Don to bank left away from Hypnotoad’s attack.

“Took them to the bicycle road outside Celadon, rented a bike, and let them challenge Sophia, then rushed them further down toFuchsia,a where they got to fight Janine. They won and were thinking of continuing on.”

He chuckled “Only to realise they would have to backtrack for Erika, where the surge was starting to build up, or they’d need some cash for a trip to Cinnabar.”

Rocko bobbed his head. “I sat them down and told them a few options before asking them for other things they could be doing, and they told me they were thinking of catching and training some Goldeen to get them trained up to swim them across to Cinnabar.”

I snorted at that. In the games, it wasn’t all that far or all that hard to reach.

In reality, it was far, far different.

It wasn’t a matter of just hitching up a pokemon and swimming out there in a few minutes. The trip could take days, and recognising this, the League had long since realised that they needed to set up piers rising out of the water for pokemon trainers to rest at during the trip.

Rangers in the southern seas ran a constant life-saving patrol route with either water or flying type pokemon and were known as the busiest of any ranger branch.

They also had the highest burnout rate, as Rangers invariably got sick of dealing with people who were determined to hurt themselves or drown.

Rocko chuckled. “Had to sit on them a while and remind them to check the city out. They’d forgotten about the safari zone.”

“Ho?” I said, intrigued with this early inclusion. “Did you help them find something in there?” I asked.

The Safari Zone was also a much bigger area than in the games, with multiple climates built into various zones while also having preservation aspects to it that allowed unrestricted pokemon capture in certain areas. The Safari zone typically made bank, with trainers underestimating how difficult it would be to move through multiple zones without the aid of pokemon and serious preparation.

Rocko smirked. “I let them struggle for a bit, then I helped them out. Got them something real nice.”

I chuckled. “Real nice, hmmm?” I flicked my eyes towards Rocko’s Kangaskhan, Mr Bighead. Rocko noticed and winked at me.

“Alright, I’ll play your game. If it’s as good as Bighead that leaves….” I waved my hand about, “Something crazy like a Chansey, Dragonair, Tauros, Scyther, or a Pinsir… and that was if you didn’t get them a pass into the international section of the Safari zone.”

Yolanda and A.J. both gaped. I almost laughed when A.J. drew out a notepad and wrote down what I’d just said. Yolanda pointed at me. “That’s where Kangaskhan can be found?!” she almost shrieked.

I blinked at her languidly. “Yeah? Did I not tell you that?” I said, scratching my chin in thought.

“No! And Chansey?! Chansey can be found in the Safari zone!?”

I nodded. “Oh yeah, they’re extremely hard to catch, but they do exist in there,” I said nodding sagely. Then I shot Rocko a wink. He chuckled, but A.J. groaned.

“Was that an eye-roll, an eye spasm, or a wink? I can never tell with you people.”

“You people?” Yolanda said, rounding on him. “You! Just! Oooooooh! When Terra is big I’m going to have her sit on you!” she growled pointing at him.

Yolanda stormed off, and A.J. watched her go. When he didn’t move to follow after her I coughed pointedly and nodded towards her.

“Hmmm?” he said tilting his head.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “That means go after her and apologise. Just because you can’t tell when I wink or roll my eyes doesn’t mean you should call it out and not expect it to upset people like my sister.”

“Urgh!” he said, slouching as he turned and stalked off to apologise.

Rocko watched him go. “He seems fun.”

He glanced over at my team and did a double take when he noticed Empress, who’d joined us with Teddiursa sparring with Clefairy. “So, new additions all around,” he said, eying Empress.

“Yeah, like you said, a lot happened in two weeks.”

“I’ll say,” Rocko murmured. “What’s the kid’s story? He found me in the Gym and tried to threaten me with security. When I laughed and waved my security badge, he got funny with how he tried to frisk me. He’s an uptight little kid.”

I barked a laugh at that and had Rocko follow me through my Elite team’s training while I explained everything that had been going on.

Rocko whistled and shook his head. “Damn! Sounds like I missed a lot of excitement.” He mimed wiping his forehead. “Phew!” he said jokingly.

Then he turned so that he was facing me directly. He reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey.” He smiled softly at me. “How are you doing man?”

I sighed and let some of the fatigue show. “Yeah, not great. Super annoyed that Will slipped through my fingers.”

“Like you told me, man, you weren’t at your best, and it's not like anyone could predict that you’d end up having to fight a Legendary pokemon!” Rocko shook his head. “Man Team Rocket are scarier than I thought they ever were.”

“We’re trying to deal with that,” I said.

Rocko nodded. “Yeah, I have no doubt you are.” He flicked his eyes over Empress. “Damn bro, people are going to go nuts when they find out you have two Tyranitars  on your Elite team!” he said waving his hands about excitedly.

I chuckled and waved for him to follow me to help feed my elite before dragging him and A.J. to breakfast with my family. On the way I collected A.J.

“You eaten?” I asked.

The growl of his stomach was answer enough, and I waved for him to follow along.

“Hey family!” Rocko shouted when he entered the house.

“Rocko!” cheered my family when they noticed him.

The boys leapt off the chairs and surged at him to tackle him, causing him to tumble to the ground with a laugh. The girls charged in afterwards and flopped onto him to hug him with Yolanda pausing as she noticed the other addition I’d brought to today’s breakfast.

“A.J.,” she said tightly.

“What?! I said I was sorry?!” he said in the clueless fashion only young boys can.

Flint noticed how Yolanda was glaring at A.J., and just chuckled, earning himself Yolanda’s ire before she shot me an unimpressed look. I just smiled and claimed my mug of tea from Munchlax

The boys and girls quickly set about grilling Rocko for where he’d been. Salvadore informed him, again, of all the developments that had occurred with the Gym, and how I’d gained some pokemon.

“And Brock is building a volcano!” chimed Cindy, cutting off Salvadore’s spiel, much to his annoyance.

“Cindy!” whined Salvadore.

Rocko sent me a look. “Huh, cool, you told Prof Oak yet?” he said.

I blinked and picked up my transceiver to do just that. I had been expecting Stephen to do that but he might have let it slip his mind. I finished my breakfast and then moved on to link up with Alexa.

“Morning! What’s up for today?” I asked.

Alexa smiled at me and handed me the schedule. It looked pretty normal until I got the match around lunch.

“Flannery from Lavaridge town eh?” I said with a grin.

“About time those Hoenn kids came around,” I said, feeling my interest spike. It was a fourth-tier badge match as well. I shut my schedule with a snap.

“Alright let’s get it done,” I said marching out to start the day’s challenges.

[hr][/hr]

The gym ran so much more smoothly with the return of my true second-in-command. I found myself with a lot more time as small jobs that I had needed to pick up were suddenly freed up.

I found Rocko talking with all of the trainers I’d taken on to handle the surge of trainers every time I came off the field. He led discussions and prodded the younger trainers into thinking of each fight as a learning opportunity. Where I’d needed to do it in the breaks, I suddenly had Rocko back and was doing it once more.

While Rocko was doing this, Dennis would appear with the next round's pokemon I’d preselected for me, so I didn’t need to walk off and could instead weigh in on the discussion.

Dennis himself got tapped by Rocko at one point, and I found them talking quietly off to the side.

I could only smile as a heart-to-heart occurred over what I suspected was Dennis’ referee calls with Will. Dennis seemed to walk a bit taller after the talk, and I almost felt envious that Rocko had been the one to help out before Rocko approached with his casual manner.

“Can you believe he thought I was going to chew him out over that match?”

I snorted. “I think I could, actually, with how he is.”

Rocko smiled. “We’re a pair, ain’t we? Your two senior trainers?”

I laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “You keep that up, and I’ll give you another pay raise!” I said, teasing him. He mock-shuddered and raised his hands before glancing at the field.

“This the Hoenn girl?” he said, nodding as Rachel introduced Flannery who stalked out with the tunnel flashing red behind her.

“Oh yeah, that’s her,” I said.

Dennis and Rocko shared a look, and Dennis marched to the top of the stairs, indicating he’d go first to meet Flannery as the first gauntlet trainer. I wandered up to the front of the trainer's observation deck.

Around me, the other trainers who were off duty or lingering from earlier gauntlet runs stood around. Yolanda waved from her seat next to Crystal and Greta.

I focused on the coming match. I had high expectations of Flannery, and I hoped she lived up to them.

A quick glance around revealed Roxanne and Brawly in the crowd cheering for Flannery.

Flannery reached her podium and grinned as Dennis locked eyes with her.

“Ready for the heat, old man!”

“Ready for the crash, kid?” Dennis replied, causing Flannery’s grin to merely widen. I chuckled. She would be someone who would react better to banter.

A.J. raised the flags as today’s referee. “Ready?” he shouted.

Both trainers selected their trainers and released them.

“Go Magcargo!” Flannery shouted, her grin flashing as the crowd hissed in surprise at the fire-rock type being called up first.

“Go Rhydon!” shouted Dennis. The Rhydon landed with a heavy impact and locked eyes with the fiery snail across from it.

A.J. dropped his flags. “Begin!” he shouted, tapping for the barriers to rise up.

I tapped Rocko on the shoulder. “During the break, can you remind A.J. to not wait until the pokemon are on the field to raise the barriers for the crowd?”

Rocko nodded quickly as Flannery ordered her first move. “Smog!” she shouted, causing a purple haze to blow from Magcargo’s maw.

Dennis replied by having Rhydon charge in with Bulldoze. Magcargo hadn’t been able to move very much, and so the attack saw it hurled back. Despite this, I noticed that Flannery wasn’t frowning. Instead, she was grinning like she’d just won a prize.

“Inferno!” she shouted causing me to grin as I realised her plan.

The smog she’d left around Rhydon earlier ignited and then exploded outwards, leaving Rhydon staggering and stunned. I nodded my head. “That’s a one-two combination I’d like us to adopt with our Slugma.”

Rocko nodded. “I’ll pull the video for her fight we’ll get a lot from watching how she uses its typings.”

With Rhydon disoriented and burned, Flannery had time to unleash a Sunny Day that saw her pokemon perking up.

I rubbed my chin. Did Magcargo have a special ability like Chlorophyll? I was quite certain that specific ability was only found with grass type pokemon, so perhaps it just liked the empowerment of the Sunny Day coming into effect.

Rhydon shook its head only to grimace in pain.

Dennis punched forward. “Earthquake!”

“Endure!” barked Flannery, causing her pokemon to curl in on itself as it braced against the super-effective move.

She then whipped out her finger. “Solar Beam!” she ordered, causing her pokemon to erupt with grass-type energy that saw Rhydon blasted out of the field.

It slammed into the wall, and Dennis returned it with a nod. He considered Flannery for a second before pulling out a second pokemon which only made her narrow her eyes.

“Go Golem!” he said, throwing out one of the Golem aside from Sanchez we had.

This was a traditional, rock-ground type variant rather than the alolan version. “Dig!” he said as his first move.

“Lava Plume!” Flannery ordered straight away, causing her pokmon’s slug-like body to widen and flare up. Cracks of magma spread out from its position and caused golem to surge out of the ground with a cry of pain. The magma obviously stopping golem’s tunneling.

I rubbed my chin in thought. Would that have occurred earlier if Sunny Day wasn’t in effect? Would the golem have been able to power through the lava plume? I’d have to test that later with some sparring between my Slugma and another equal-levelled pokemon. Although there was a chance that Flannery possessed pokemon that were well above the fourth-tier badge level.

It would make sense, with her being the future Gym Leader of Lavaridge, for her to have stronger pokemon.

Golem fired off a barrage of Stone Edge to knock out the barely hanging in there Magcargo.

I hummed in thought; With the Endure set up from earlier and the block… hmmm, “Flannery overplayed her hand; she should have withdrawn her Magcargo during the match and used the time between trainer fights to give it a potion.”

Rocko bobbed his head up and down. “Is she used to gauntlet rules? If she isn't, it might be something she didn’t account for. It might not have occurred to her.”

I shrugged. “She’s not taking a longer look at her matches. It’s an obvious enough solution in situations like this. It’s always better to have more pokemon in hand.” I checked her record. “She should be used to this with this being one of the last badges she needs.”

“Might just be confident in her other pokemon,” Rocko said easily as Flannery hurled out a Rapidash.

I inspected the horse and found it to be an impressive specimen. “That’s a big horse,” I said watching the fires roar to life as the Sunny Day empowered it further.

“Solar Beam!” said Flannery with a grin.

“Dig!” barked Dennis.

The beam of green energy swept over the hole that golem burrowed into, only for Flannery to sweep her hand to the side. “Agility! Make it work for it! Zig zag pattern evasion!” she ordered.

Rapidash responded by accelerating into a sprint that saw it blur around the field as its speed increased. It hopped and skipped a few times and outright changed directions, and Dennis watched all of this with a scowl.

“Now!” he ordered to his Golem.

“Leap into the sun!” Flannery responded, causing her Rapidash to soar right up into the dying embers of the Sunny Day. The fire type flashed with greater light as it did so.

“Woah!” cried out the crowd. Startled by how it looked like Rapidash had just absorbed the hovering orb of fire.

Rapidash landed, and despite the Sunny Day being snuffed out from being plunged through, Rapidash looked more powerful now than it did moments before.

“Ah, clever,” I said as I realised she’d once again set herself up for this.

“What’s clever?” asked Missy. Her eyes locked onto the battlefield. I held up a hand as I knew the fight was about to be decided.

“Flare Blitz!” Flannery yelled, clenching her fist and punching it forward.

“Earthquake!” responded Dennis causing the battlefield to shake as golem stomped its feet.

Rapishash came on despite this, with the fires blazing around it as it tore its way forward. It leapt when the shaking reached a peak and locked its legs in close before lowering its head.

“It’s not going to make—” Missy started to say, only for Flannery to scream “Now!”

Rapidash kicked its legs for one final push that carried it over the gap to slam into Golem and knock it back.

Golem stumbled and cried out as a fire lashed it. It had been burned from that exchange.

Rapidash on the other hand was standing within striking range and shaking slightly. It obviously hadn’t escaped the Earthquake move unscathed like Flannery might have hoped.

A pattern was starting to form with how Flannery fought, which felt right. “She relies on a lot of the inherent power that her pokemon have to carry her. She sets them up but she’s overly reliant on it…” I twirled a finger around. “Use Protect and Detect a bit in your match if you can.”

"I'm thinking of tripping her up with some water moves, actually,” said Rocko, playing with a pair of pokeball with a sticker on them. I chuckled before nodding, knowing that both pokemon he’d selected would certainly do that.

I flicked my eyes over the field, which was a bit torn and smokey with patches of condensed magma.

“Might be a good idea,” I said as Rapidash strode in and spun about to use Smart Strike to mule kick golem with a steel-type move as Dennis slammed another Stone Edge home into Rapidash’s flank.

Both pokemon went down and I shook my head even as Flannery was called the victor.

“Flashy, but she’s not controlling herself.” I rubbed my chin and wondered how I could make her realise this during our match. Protect or a move like it that would allow me to negate her big one two combination moves would help, but I’d need to drive it home.

With her being a Hoenn fire-type specialist I suspected she’d have a certain fire-type starter pokemon in her team. And if I not forgetting, she was known to have a fondness for Torkoal.

I’d need to watch out for any other pokemon that would know Solar Beam. They’d be wonderful counters to most of the pokemon that would provide type weakness against her with a water-rock combination.

Dennis waved to the crowd as he marched back up drawing a smattering of applause. Rocko stood and stretched as Rachel tumbled out energetically with a microphone in hand.

“That was a fiery showing, wasn’t it folks? Will things continue to heat up, or will our next Gym trainer rain on this girl’s passion? Ladies and Gentlemen! Fresh from his two-week vacation! Give it up for Rocko!”

Rocko sauntered forward and grinned as he got a round of applause and some cheers. As a well-known face in the gym, the regular spectators knew he was a dependable trainer.

He wandered to the podium and tapped a few buttons before discreetly keying in the private channel to the referee.

I saw A.J. stiffen up and a moment later the barriers shimmered up, earning a nod from me and Rocko. Rocko then keyed the line back to the open channel.

“You ready for an avalanche, chika?” he said teasingly.

Flannery flicked her hair. “I’m ready for you!”

“Go Torkoal!” Flannery said, sending out what I had to think of as one of her signature pokemon.

“I might not be the boss, but show me some love, Helix!” shouted Rocko as he released my Omantye onto the field. The small pokemon wiggled its tentacles shyly while eying its opponent.

Flannery groaned; she obviously knew what was coming her way next.

She clicked her tongue, bit her finger, and growled as she raised her pokeball. “Return Torkoal!” she ordered, causing a susurrus of surprise to sweep the crowd. I too, had to blink. She didn’t like that matchup?

“Go Houndour!” she shouted as Rocko had Helix spin about, causing a Sandstorm to whirl up.

“Roar Houndour!” Flannery screamed over the howling winds.

The small dark-fire dog pokemon leaned into itself and then snapped its fangs forward, causing a thunderous roar to echo around the stadium. Helix shivered and to my surprise flinched before triggering his recall to his pokeball.

Rocko swore and struggled to get another pokemon out only for a different pokemon to answer the challenge.

“Oooooh,” I hissed in surprise as Bighead, Rocko’s Kangaskhan, took to the field with a snarl.

“What? No that’s not who… damn it!” Rocko said, cursing to himself.

Flannery opened her mouth to say something snarky, only to pause as she inspected the pokemon across from her. “That’s… a strong-looking Kangashkan you have.”

Rocko smirked. “Yup, she has trouble holding back as well.”

Both pokemon shifted uneasily as they eyed each other. I could tell the Sandstorm Rocko had gotten off earlier was also causing them some discomfort. Despite this, Flannery clicked her teeth again.

“Damn it, I brought this on myself! Houndour return!” she said for the second time this match.

The crowd stirred restlessly at this, but Rocko shrugged. “Rain Dance, Bighead,” said Rocko casually, causing the Sandstorm to die off as water fell, drenching the field.

Flannery grimaced as the steaming field sizzled and cooled off as she pulled out another pokeball. “Need your fire, Combusken!” she said, releasing her third pokemon of this match and the fifth so far of the gauntlet.

I tilted my head. “Huh, that’s interesting.”

“What’s that?” asked Missy.

“I was expecting she’d have a Blaziken with her having grown up in a fire-type gym and being my age,” I replied.

Missy slumped. “Don’t say things like that. I feel bad when I compare myself to you.”

I coughed. “Sorry! You’re right, I shouldn’t compare situations like that, and neither should you.”

“Thunder!” barked Rocko on the field, causing Missy and I to pay attention as Bighead lit up with electrical energy and unleashed it.

“Dig! No!” screamed Flannery as the lightning descended onto her pokemon. Combusken leaned forward to start burrowing, only to be tagged.

It cried out in pain but pushed through and burrowed down to avoid the last part of the powerful lightning move.

“That had to take the wind out of her sails a bit,” said Missy.

I nodded. She’d gambled for a better matchup, but now she had to face a much stronger pokemon. Bighead grumbled and eyed the field, shifting so that it was in a steadier position, ready to react in any direction.

“Rise up!” ordered Flannery, causing her pokemon to shoot out of the ground before it could attempt a close encounter with Bighead. Bighead snapped around to focus on the Combusken.

“Giga Impact!” barked Rocko, causing Flannery’s eyes to bulge.

“Shit! Detect!” she shouted.

Combusken responded instantly, glowing before it kicked the ground twice. The clever use of Double Kick resulted in it practically throwing itself parallel to the ground as it evaded the charging Kangaskhan.

When it missed, Flannery released a huge sigh of relief. “Focus Blast!” she ordered, causing her pokemon to whirl about on the heaving Bighead.

Bighead absorbed the hit and stumbled, only to turn with a snarl on its lips. Flannery gritted her teeth. “Close in!”

“Outrage!” said Rocko sternly. His pokemon erupted with draconic might, blowing Combusken backwards.

It wavered for a moment before shaking itself and standing upright with a challenging cry.

“Rocko’s really pushing her,” Missy said quietly.

“Yeah, but that is also more her own bad luck. She went for Roar, and it’s biting her in the backside. Usually, when Rocko uses one of his pokemon he only uses one of them. With him declaring two earlier and having Helix out on the field, she’s in trouble.”

“Oh! I forgot about Helix!” Missy said.

I nodded. “Yeah, and I think so will Flannery. She’s not taking the longer view after all.”

“Close in again!” Flannery said with a focused expression.

“Outrage again!” barked Rocko.

“Aerial Ace to evade and close!” said Flannery, revealing she still had the option to close as her Combusken vanished in a blur of speed to appear at Bighead’s side.

Bighead whirled about, only for Combusken to grab it and spin it into a throw. “Reversal!” yelled Flannery with a whoop as Bighead was slammed into the ground hard.

I whistled. That had been a strong move. I flicked a glance at Rocko and saw him smiling. He raised Bighead’s pokeball and returned it before whispering something into it.

A.J. twitched, causing Missy to frown. “What did he say?”

I chuckled. “Bighead knows Endure. If Rocko had wanted to, I think he could have dragged the match on more, but he doesn’t want to be too rough with Flannery. If this wasn’t a gym match, I think Flannery would be walking away with from this fight at least one more pokemon down.”

“Ohhhhh,” Missy said thoughtfully.

Crystal, who’d been hovering nearby, chimed in. “Even though Endure would leave Bighead with barely any strength?”

“Combusken’s pretty much on its last legs as well, though. Another move would make a world of difference,” Missy replied for me.

Crystal nodded thoughtfully while Greta wrote something down in a diary she had on hand. Yolanda merely nodded as though she already understood the importance of fighting for the small victories to earn the big win. I suspected she knew it intellectually, but whether she had ingrained it would be another matter.

Flannery groaned when Rocko returned Helix to the field while her Combusken drew in heavy breaths. Helix waved his tentacles once again in a shy hello.

Flannery returned her pokemon and released another. “Let’s go Camerupt!” she shouted.

Her last pokemon emerged with a snort and a shake of its head. It eyed its opponent and huffed, only to bray when Rocko punched forward. “Surf!”

“Camerupt! Eruption to counter it! Full power!” Flannery roared, causing Camerupt to kneel down and tremble as the volcano upon its back ignited and unleashed plumes of lava that shot out.

Fire and water clashed, and a huge gout of steam exploded outward, causing vision to become extremely difficult. Despite this, I knew Helix’s Surf had won through as Camerupt abruptly wailed in pain.

“She won’t be able to use Eruption again like that,” said Greta with a firm nod. Yolanda and Crystal glanced at her.

I flicked my eyes over and noticed that she had her pokedex out, recording the match and also reviewing the moves that were being used. When prompted, she explained the known mechanics of Eruption to the girls as we waited for the field to clear up or another move to—

“Hydro Pump at its last location!” Rocko ordered.

“Hop to the side and Fissure!” roared Flannery.

“Protect!” Rocko shouted to Helix, only for a heavy stomp to ring out.

It was then followed by a sharp splitting noise, heralding a one-hit K.O. move being used. Rocko cursed as he tried to peer through the fog. “Helix! If you’re still in the match, use Surf again!”

When no wave rose up, Rocko raised Helix’s pokeball, pressing the return feature, resulting in a red beam shooting out.

He took a moment to inspect the pokeball, pressing a small switch on the side that displayed a small bar of lights that indicated the health of the pokemon within. When only a few red lights were shown, Rocko nodded and raised his hand to indicate he was done.

Flannery exhaled hugely.

Missy considered the match. “Flannery got lucky at the end there, didn’t she?”

I nodded. “Yes, she did.” I watched her hurriedly grab out a potion and begin applying it to her extremely tired-looking Combusken. “So she’s got a Combusken, Houndour, Camerupt, and a Torkoal.”

“She’s fuc—” Crystal started to say only to cut off with a yelp, when her mother, Georgina, appeared and grabbed her by the ear.

“No swearing, young lady! I’ve talked to you about this at home!” said Georgina, dragging her daughter out.

“What! No! Girls! Back me up, I was going to say something else!”

Greta adopted an innocent pose. “She’s a terrible influence on us Ms Glass.”

Yolanda giggled as Crystal shot Greta a betrayed expression. Her mother dragged her off at that, and I shook my head, turning to the coming match. I toyed with the pokemon I had before settling down, sure of my selection.

It was going to be rough for her, but Flannery was a big girl; she could deal with the ditch she’d put herself in with her earlier choices.

“— give it up! For Brock!” shouted Rachel as she finished her introduction.

The lunchtime crowd dutifully performed the stomp-stomp clap entrance as rock music played out over the speakers. I felt my ears twitch as Yolanda called out after me. “Yeah Brock you!” she shouted teasingly.

I grinned as I advanced down to Flannery. When I got close, I leapt over the divider to land on the podium making it rumble with my landing. As I rose I saw the barriers shimmer into place. I flicked A.J. a nod before directing a stern gaze upon Flannery.

“I’ve been waiting for this match,” I said evenly. “Think you’re up for it still?” I said, crossing my arms.

“I know it!” Flannery said, raising up a pokeball.

I merely nodded before tossing out my first pokemon. “Go Onix!” I said, deciding on a classic to start things off.

“Let’s go Camerupt!” Flannery replied, sending out her previous pokemon.

A.J. raised his flags and dropped them.

“Camerupt Earthquake!”

“Sand Tomb!” I responded. Onix swept his tail and caused a burst of sand to snake around her Camerupt and latch onto its legs.

Both pokemon groaned at the attack, only for Onix to be hammered much worse off. Bighead had probably caused Flannery’s expectations for some of the pokemon to be much higher.

“Onix mourn,” I said, giving out a code I had prepared for this onix specifically. It glanced at me before nodding its head and wailing. Sickly purple energy swept through it before shooting out to impact Camerupt who shook its head.

“Camerupt Earth—” Falnnery started to say, only for Onix to suddenly faint.

Flannery blinked. “Huh? Oh… guess I hit it harder than I thought?” she said aloud.

I smiled, knowing that wasn’t the case as Camerupt shook its head and bellowed. I eyed its legs that were still surrounded in sand and tossed an idea around. “Onix good work!” I said, recalling it before tossing out another pokemon. “Go Lileep!”

My small rock-grass type appeared with a wave of its fronds before locking onto Camerupt. The much larger pokemon snorted heavily. Flannery gained a huge grin.

“A rock-grass type? I’m gonna have to punish you on that Brock!” she said happily. “Lava Plume!”

“Earth Power to knock yourself up into the sky!” I ordered causing Lileep to knock itself up into the sky. Flannery gaped as the Lava Plume missed and Lileep rose into the air. A move that one wouldn’t expect from the typically land-locked pokemon.

“Lileep! Brine straight shot!” I ordered to my pokemon who fired off a burst of water while in the air.

“Hop to the side!” Flannery barked, expecting her pokemon to repeat its earlier dodge, only for it to shift and fall on its side. The Sand Tomb I’d used on it with Onix earlier in the match to still encasing its legs.

With the earlier Lava Plume, Flannery had glassed her own pokemon unknowingly.

Brine slammed home causing the super-effective move to rock Camerupt hard.

“Again!” I barked as Lileep landed. Lileep fired off another Brine and Flannery wasn’t able to get her pokemon out of danger.

“Flamethrower! Blow that attack out of the air!” Flannery said, causing her pokemon to unleash a powerful gout of flame that saw the rather weak water attack break apart.

Lileep landed and waved its fronds about as Camerupt snorted. It was breathing heavily, but Flannery looked like she was thinking about how to get out of danger.

“Stealth Rock!” I ordered quickly, causing Flannery to twitch in surprise.

“Eh?” she said, only to gasp as Camerupt cried out as a purple glow reappeared. “Huh Camerupt! What the heck is wrong?”

Instead of answering, Camerupt fainted, leaving Flannery stunned. “Huh?” she looked at me stunned.

I raised my earlier pokeball, more than happy to explain. “I sacrificed onix earlier to use a ghost move earlier. Ever heard of Curse?”

“Onix can learn Curse?!” Flannery said.

I nodded. “Yup! And thanks to that, your strongest pokemon is out while my Lileep is still in play,” I said teasingly. Lileep preened at this and waved at me. Then it went a step further, curling in on itself and starting to glow. The glow engulfed its entire body, and before everyone’s eyes, Lileep evolved.

“Cradilly!” cried out my newly evolved pokemon.

“Hah! Nice one Cradilly!” I said as punched the air. Cradilly waved its fronds around as the crowd cheered in support. Despite this, I could still hear Brawly and Roxanne shouting their own support for Flannery.

Flannery straightened. “Alright! Your plant powered up! I’m not backing down though! Combusken! I need you once again!” she shouted releasing her pokemon.

Combusken returned, still looking a bit roughed up but otherwise in good health. It kicked out twice and eyed Cradilly only for the earlier Stealth Rock to slam into it, causing Flannery to growl.

“Damn it!” she cursed.

“Cradilly! Brine while it’s staggered! I said.

“Double Kick to get out of danger!” Flannery shouted. Her pokemon kicked both legs and hurled itself to the side. “Good! Now use Aerial Ace to close!”

“Hold for it!” I said carefully as Combusken sprinted in. Cradilly waited as ordered, and just as Combusken vanished into a blur I ordered my next move. “Astonish!”

“Combus!” cried out Combusken as it appeared behind Cradilly, only for my pokemon to bend like a vine and its eyes to glow causing Combusken to flinch.

“Brine while we’re in close!”

“Dodge it with Detect!” ordered Flannery.

Her pokemon shook itself and lunged in close, before twisting as Cradilly arced its head around like a hose, spraying water everywhere, only for not a single drop to land on Combusken.

“Good! Now use Double Kick!” Flannery barked.

Cradilly was sent flying as it was slammed first in one direction before the other leg snapped up and saw it rocking back in the other direction. Despite this, it held on and glowered.

“Astonish again into Wrap!” Cradilily once again startled Combusken and caused it to flinch backwards only for Cradilly to wrap itself around Combusken’s body and restrict it. I opened my mouth to give another order to use Brine but Flannery beat me to the punch.

“Tch! Blaze Kick! Use that flexibility we’ve practised for to knock its head off!” snarled Flannery as her pokemon’s left leg ignited and rocketed up to slam into Cradilly’s head, knocking it off and out of the fight as it went tumbling.

I huffed before chuckling to myself. She’d surprised me with that. “You worked flexibility with your Combusken?” I asked as I withdrew my pokemon.

“Yup!” she said proudly as she kicked her leg up and winked at me. “That and some martial arts. It has taken years, but it’s going to pay off!” she said only for her smile to morph into a giant grin as her Combusken started to glow.

“Hell yeah!” she shouted as her pokemon evolved.

“Blaziken!” announced the now fully evolved Hoenn starter.

The crowd rose and cheered causing me to chuckle.

“You’ve certainly given them a show!” I said before tossing out my third choice. “Let’s keep it going Sudowoodo!” My fake tree pokemon appeared and flexed at the fire-fighting type causing the large chicken to narrow its eyes.

Flannery still had a huge grin on her face, however. “Ha! Today’s already been a huge win for me with Blaziken but I’m going for the W! Blaziken feeling up for it?” I paused, noticing the odd inflection on the last word. Blaziken nodded its head, making me wonder what else she had planned.

“Do your master proud!” shouted Flannery. Blaziken cupped its hands together behind itself and then shot them forward.

“Dig!” I barked, my instinct warning me about what was coming.

Sudowoodo didn’t question me and dove into the ground, which was what saved him from taking an Aura Sphere to the face. I could only stare at the flattened earth in surprise.

Flannery stomped her foot while Blakizen huffed in annoyance.

“You had your Blaziken train with a Lucario?” I said in astonishment.

Flannery blinked. “I… yeah.” She tilted her head. “How’d you know that?! Lucario are super rare!”

I chuckled. “They’re also very… noticeable in how they perform Aura Sphere. Although that reminded me more of one of their signature moves, Vacuum Wave. I’ve read enough history to respect what you were trying to do.”

Flannery stomped her foot. “Urgh! That was supposed to be a super cool reveal!”

I snorted, feeling a moment of deja vu. Hadn’t Sabrina done the same to me? “I’m under no obligation to let you show off on me.” I then pointed at the ground. “Hammer Arm by the way,” I said as Sudowoodo shot out of the ground with a rising fist.

Blaziken leaned back, bending over, before plating its feet into a bridging position that allowed it to dig its hands into the ground and whip its legs up. In one quick counter, it evaded the strike from Sudowoodo and unleashed two deadly strikes from its powerful legs.

Sudowoodo went flying, and Flannery grinned at me. “I hadn't forgotten about our match Brock! Try again Blaziken!”

Blaziken adopted the pose and unleashed its Aura Sphere causing Sudowoodo to be hurled out of the field. I returned him when he staggered and fell flat on his face. I chuckled as the crowd roared their approval at the skill Blazkien had displayed.

I raised my final pokeball. “I almost feel like a heel sending this guy out.” Then I shrugged and sent out my Solrock. “Go Quirina!”

Flannery growled at my last pokemon. “Quick close—”

“Psychic,” I said, not willing to play around any more. Quirina engulfed Blaziken in psychic energy and then shot it back before Blaziken could escape the move.

Blaziken slammed into the wall, only to land on its feet and bounce back in, kicking and punching, ready to keep fighting. “Detect! Use it to get close!” ordered Flannery.

“Calm Mind,” I said casually as Blaziken charged in.

“Aerial Ace!” Flannery barked.

“Hypnosis,” I responded as soon as her pokemon vanished and appeared in close range. Blaziken once more staggered as another attack came into play, only this time it was taken out of the fight.

I was about to order another psychic when a red beam impacted Blaziken, returning it to its pokeball. Flannery raised a hand. “Sorry! I withdraw him! I’m not going to let my pokemon get beaten up like that so soon into evolving. He powered through some strong pokemon so I know he’ll be happy, but I’m not risking him any more.”

A.J. raised a flag as some people from the crowd applauded the move.

I nodded, satisfied at Flannery’s foresight. “Good to see you’re looking further than just this match,” I said pointedly. Flannery rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

She selected another pokeball though. “Let’s go Houndour! This is your fight!” she said.

Quirina shifted in agitation as the small dark-fire type grinned.

I could only sigh. While Quirina was a perfect answer against Blaziken, he wasn’t such a good counter for a Houndour, especially due to not being able to learn Miracle Eye. Oh well, I’d have to rely on rock type moves.

“Stone Edge!” I said trying to capitialise on the Stealth Rock that slammed into Houndour.

“Jump to the left!” barked Flannery allowing her pokemon to evade the strike. “Sunny Day!” she said.

In another situation, I’d have used a flamethrower to punish her, instead I pointed straight ahead. “Solar Beam!”

“Shit! Solar Beam in reply!” Flannery hurriedly said.

Both attacks slammed into each other, and the small hound stepped forward doggedly as Quirina held its position.

Houndour continued to stalk forward, its whole body straining at the effort while my pokemon held its ground. Both attacks eventually petered out with Quirina glowering at the suddenly much closer Houndour. Flannery grinned at me and I chuckled as I realised what she had been building towards.

“Dark Pulse!”

“Protect!” I said in reply, causing a barrier to rise up and defend against the move that would have been super effective.

“Close in with Crunch!” shouted Flannery, undaunted by the move.

Houndour leapt and just as my Protect started to drop away, Houndour caught him and dragged him to the ground. I smiled and returned him, not willing to let him go through being savaged.

I raised my hand, signalling my withdrawal and A.J. raised the flags. “Brock’s pokemon is unable to battle! Flannery is the victor!”

Flannery punched the air. “Yes! Way to go Houndour!”

Houndour raised its head and howled in victory. I smiled at the scene. I started to lower the podiums, only to be taken by surprise when Houndour started to glow.

When the glowing died down, a Houndoom stood wagging its tail. It turned and leapt into Flannery’s waiting embrace.

I rubbed my chin. “Hot damn, three evolutions in one match? That’s got to be a record,” I said.

Regardless of the outcome, today was a very good day for both of us.