Hard Enough

Meowth fidgeted as we walked. “Soooooo uh, couldn’t help but notice that there were some cops back there?”

I nodded, “Yeah, some people thought it a good idea to attempt to steal something from me, only they were extremely… broad in their search, so they raided a lot of my family’s things.” I paused near a window and saw a small mob of people and pokemon marching back with proud looks on their faces. I recognised most of them as parents of the friends or the friends themselves that had accompanied us.

Jessie, James and Meowth tracked my gaze and frowned for a moment.

“There’s obviously something going on here, with the police and that mob over there,” said Jessie, her gaze flickering to me and beginning to assess me.

“Forget that! Why do they have two Meowth strung up? Am I in danger?!” Meowth said worriedly.

I coughed in surprise, realising that the mob, or parents and friends group, did indeed have the Meowth strung up like criminals. It actually looked rather cartoonish, with how the Meowth were wrapped in rope so that they were bound to poles held between two adults.

In another setting, this might look like sacrifices being presented to a temple rather than two pokemon that were accessories to crimes.

“You know. if anything they’re getting treated better than the thieves that directed them,” I commented. “But no, you’re fine Meowth. Those two were just involved is all. They ran off with two sacks of my family’s things.”

The stolen sacks were thankfully present. I could see them at the front of the mob, held by Olga’s parents.

It was rather… humbling, to see such support. I’d always heard people would have my back as Gym Leader, but to see a mob form and give chase to people that had attacked my family? Well, I hadn’t really ever factored for it or thought about what it actually meant.

I’d always thought it was more quiet, like the grannies of Pewter helping out when I’d been taking over the reins of the gym with nursing and caring for my family while I was busy.

Not… defending my family or chasing down any that harmed them. That seemed a step beyond anything I’d been expecting.

“Huh, and they got caught? Amateurs!” he said with a scoff and shake of his head.

I shot him an amused look and was about to turn away only for Zubat to slam into the window.

“Zuuu,” she said painfully. She then squeaked as she began to slide down the pane of glass.

James tilted his head. “Does this happen to you as well?” he said, indicating Zubat, who was trying to get to me.

I sighed, aware of the antics some of his pokemon would sometimes get up to with their affection for him. “Yeah, with her it is,” I said.

“Zubat girl, you really need to stop trying to rush me,” I said, opening the window and grabbing her before she could slide much further down. “Are you alright?” I asked, carefully inspecting her. I raised each wing and checked for any tears or breakages, only to find a few scuff marks. “You fought the Meowth to stop them getting too far away, I take it?”

Zubat nodded and puffed herself up. Then she noticed Meowth next to me and twitched around into a fighting pose on my hand. “Zuuuuu!” she growled.

Meowth scoffed. “Please! I’m not some plebeian pokemon! I’m a pro! Don’t think you could handle me!” he said.

I eyed him thoughtfully and nodded. “He’s probably right Zubat, but regardless he’s a friend, so let’s be nice,” I said.

I waved the hand not carrying Zubat and indicated the trio should follow me. I led them into the conference room where Missy, Greta, and A.J. were, having returned under their own power while I’d been engaged in the drama upstairs.

“Hey guys, I’m just going to be talking with these guys for a bit,” I said.

Greta was quick to leap in. “What’s going on? Is everyone alright? You had to leave so quickly!” she said.

I grimaced. “There was an attempted break in, it’s been handled and no one was hurt beyond getting a scare off it,” I said.

“Thieves?” A.J. and Missy said. Greta’s eyes widened and I patted the air to signal for them to calm down.

“It’s being taken care of by the appropriate people, I have a few avenues to follow up on some things regarding this. If you want, Greta, maybe go talk with Yolanda for me? She might need a friend right now,” I suggested.

Greta darted off and A.J. shifted. “I’d… also like to make sure she’s alright.”

I nodded, pleased that A.J. would do so. He really was a mature young man. He squirmed. “Not that I think we’re friends, but… maybe she’ll need some way to destress and I can offer her a fight!” he added hurriedly.

Meowth grinned. “Careful kiddo! You’re not as sly as you think!” he said teasingly.

A.J. stared. “A talking Meowth?”

Jessie sniggered. “Trust me, the trick isn’t him talking, it’s him shutting up,” she said snidely.

James joined her only for Meowth to turn and extend his claws. “You looking for a haircut, lady?”

Jessie locked eyes with him, undaunted. “Depends, do you want to see the next day?” she said firmly.

Both of them smirked at each other and backed down, leaving A.J. to nod slowly. “I’m… going to go check on Yolanda and see if she needs anything,” he said.

Missy giggled when A.J. was gone. “Oh, that was cute! Think he has a crush?” she said, shooting me a smirk.

I snorted. “A.J. is extremely focused on getting stronger, another boy his age, I might have thought like you, but A.J., I think he honestly just wants to offer her a pokemon battle to get her mind off what happened.”

James snorted. “He’s that transparent?” he said.

I shrugged. “He has some secrets,” I said before waving a hand. “Anyway we need to talk, so Missy, can you—”

“Work through Kaede’s known combinations and pokemon teams?” she asked, before shooting me a nod. “Can do boss! I’ll have my summaries done before dinner!” she said.

I paused, recalling that I really couldn’t get too distracted by this incident, not if I wanted to advance in this tournament.

I nodded slowly, “That would be good, please and thank you,” I said.

I waved for the trio to follow me to the side. “So, as I’ve mentioned, a pair of thieves, known as the Splash Bandits, tried to steal from me,” I said. Zubat bristled on my shoulder before puffing her tiny chest out.

“Terrible name,” Jessie commented.

“Very unfashionable,” agreed James.

“Watery names never have the right gravitas,” said Meowth to round out their little peanut gallery. Zubat turned and I got the impression she was watching Meowth very closely.

I rolled my eyes and gave them a golf clap to show my amusement at their witticisms before I moved along with my explanation. “The thing was that what they were looking for doesn’t exactly leave my side,” I said, drawing back my sleeve to reveal the forearm protector that bore my Keystone.

The Megastone was likewise attached to Jorm with a secure magnet so that the gem was in contact with his body but in a position where it wasn’t possible to have it knocked off or damaged.

“They were after my Keystone or Megatone, or both. Now, this creates a number of suspects as you can imagine.”

“Lotsa people with motive,” said Meowth with a nod. “That’s the problem with being such a big public figure, though,” he said sagely.

I rolled my eyes. “Right, thanks for that. The thing is, I’d like to know what sort of contacts there would be for this, along with you putting out feelers for anyone that is trying to source a Megastone like this, or that has a bounty on mine or others,” I said.

Technically with Sabrina staying with me, there was a possibility that she was also a target, but whether that would be a target of convenience or not was up in the air.

Then again, Sabrina like me always wore her keystone, albeit in a ring she’d gotten the gem fitted into.

“Ho,” said James with a rub of his chin. “That does sound like something we’d be uniquely suited to finding out.” He glanced at Jessie, who nodded firmly.

Meowth grinned. “You sure came to the right folk! We have contacts all over! I’ll have them feeding us the info you want in a matter of hours, I’m sure!”

I nodded, pleased by their enthusiasm.

Jessie coughed. “We… actually weren’t just seeking you out by chance though, Brock. We have our own news,” she said.

I raised an eyebrow at this. “Really?”

Meowth hopped from foot to foot. “Yeah! We’ve been doing what you asked and occasionally messing with your kid brother and his twerpy friends, which resulted in us finding this really good—” Before Meowth could give away what they’d found, Jessie nudged him out of the way so that she could give me the good news.

“We found you a Relicanth!” she said quickly. She presented me with a pokeball, and both of my eyebrows shot upwards.

“You somehow ended up in the depths of the ocean?” I asked, eying the three of them. I took a long moment to pause on Meowth, who I was certain would have despised that. Was their joke of a submarine that was shaped like a Magikarp that good?

Then again, hadn’t it gotten them… somehow to New Island in the Mewtwo movie?

James and Jessie nodded while Meowth twizzled his moustache. “I supervised the situation,” he said.

Jessie rolled her eyes at this and scoffed before waving a hand at the pokeball. “Go ahead, see for yourself! You had a bounty on anyone that could find this type of pokemon, no?” she asked giddily.

I tossed out the pokeball, expecting to see a mud-brown fish pokemon floundering on the carpet.

Instead, I found myself staring in the dull eyes of a Feebas. “Feeb?” it said slowly.

Jessie stiffened and laughed maniacally. “Hahaha! Oh dear! Wrong pokeball!” she said, glancing at her belt before frowning. “Uhmmm, James… do you have it?”

James offered me up a pokeball, only for it to release a battered-looking Magikarp. I shot them both looks. What were they playing at? The frantic searching of the two humans of their team made me frown. They didn’t look like they were trying anything, if anything they seemed genuinely worried.

I glanced at the oddly silent Meowth and found him holding a pokeball in his tail with a smirk. Ah, he was messing with them.

Stolen story; please report.

I nudged him. “Alright Meowth, I think you’ve had your fun with them,” I said.

Meowth coughed and Jessie whirled on him, spotting the pokeball in his tail. “Why you little fleabag!” she said, making grasping motions in the air as though she was going to strangle him for his joke.

He just grinned impudently back.

He tossed me the pokeball and this time it revealed the expected pokemon.

It was a hard-shelled pokemon with brown colouration. Instead of floundering on the hotel floor it shifted and caused a clacking noise with its movements. “Reli?” it said slowly.

I leaned down and tapped at its scales whistling at how hard they felt. “Huh, you’re a healthy-looking pokemon, aren’t you?” I said before nodding in satisfaction and returning it.

“Thanks a lot, gang, I have been looking for this pokemon to add a bit more depth to the gym’s roster of pokemon. Good work, I’ll send you the money today,” I said.

The trio all beamed at this and James even went as far as to squirm.

“Urgh! It’s nice to be appreciated,” he said happily.

I chuckled at his display before turning to the other two pokemon they had revealed to me. “So what are you going to do with these two? I have to say they’d make great additions to your team, if you are willing to put the work in,” I said.

“Eh?” said Jessie, James and Meowth as one. The pair of fish pokemon blinked at me, before looking at their trainers with a vaguely hopeful expression.

“What do you mean?” Jessie said carefully.

I considered her for a long drawn-out moment before I decided to gift them some knowledge they otherwise might have lacked. “Feebas evolve into Milotic, which are otherwise known as the most beautiful pokemon in the world,” I said. I pointed at Jessie who’d gone wide-eyed.

“Something an aspiring Coordinator would find useful, no?” I said.

Jessie nodded. “This little fish?” she said.

I nodded. “Yeah, the trick is that you need to make Feebas beautiful both inside and out. If Feebas feels beautiful in appearance and is also in a good headspace it will reward you. Most Feebas have a lot of self-loathing though, so don’t be surprised if it’s an uphill battle,” I said.

Jessie dropped to her knees and hugged Feebas. “I didn’t realise you had self-confidence issues! Oh, Feebas! I’m going to give you the world’s greatest makeover so you feel beautiful! Trust me!” she said.

I nodded and turned to the rather beaten-up Magikarp. “Magikarp, on the other hand, are known to evolve into Gyarados.”

“Oh,” said James, his eyes widening at this information.

I nodded. “Yes, ‘oh’. The most known method is to really, really, make Magikarp angry or hurt. but I will tell you right now that is perhaps one of the worst things you can do. as the Gyarados that evolves will never listen to you or trust you,” I said firmly.

James nodded. “Sooo, what would you recommend?” he asked hopefully.

“Make it strong, and try for the fable of the Magikarp that could, “ I said.

“The Magikarp that could?” echoed the trio as one.

“A Magikarp one day found himself stuck in a pond,” I said with a lecturing tone, like I wasn’t just spinning this story out of thin air wholesale.

“Due to the position of the pond. Magikarp couldn’t see or experience much. He was stuck in a deep hole which was fed by a waterfall. Above him, he could hear a number of pokemon enjoying themselves each and every day. He called out, but no one could hear him to help. So he started trying to climb the waterfall. Each and every day he would try, only to fail. But each and every day he got a little further, until he eventually climbed the waterfall and joined the other pokemon. On that day, he evolved,” I said.

“Zuuuuuu!” said Zubat with a happy cry and a sniff. Huh, she must have liked that story.

“Was that a kid’s story?” asked Meowth suspiciously.

I just smiled enigmatically, patting Zubat to increase my air of mystery. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t contain a kernel of truth,” I said, nodding at Magikarp’s hopeful gaze. I lifted Magikarp up and looked it over. It had a lot of scars, and one fin was shorter than the other.

“This pokemon is scarred, but that’s not a reason it can’t keep growing,” I said. “It will depend on you though, James. Do your best,” I said, handing him his pokemon.

James accepted it with a look of worry before he firmed up and he met Magikarp’s gaze. “If you want to evolve Magikarp, I won’t let you down,” he said.

“Neither will I, Feebas!” declared Jessie loudly.

Both pokemon burst into tears and I chuckled as Meowth had to start hot-footing it to avoid getting wet, as James and Jessie tried to drag him into their group hug.

“No way! I might like fish, but I don’t want it smeared into my coat!” he said as he hurried to use me as a shield.

I shook my head and was about to send them on my way when a buzz on my wrist had me stopping to answer the call.

“This is Brock,” I said, waving as I saw A.J. marching back into the room. He nodded and moved over to join Missy with helping out for my fight against Kaede.

“Brock! This is Misty! We’ve run into some trouble!” she said.

I stiffened. Ah, right. There it was.

The follow-up punch.

Someone had tried to steal a powerful item from me, and at the same time they’d also targeted my family. More specifically, the one family member that wasn’t close by.

“Are you alright? Where’s Forrest?” I said hurriedly.

“He’s fine, he just… he’s being silly about not wanting to disturb you,” she said quickly.

I relaxed slightly. So, whatever had happened, Forrest thought he could handle. I worked my jaw. I was very much in two minds about this. Forrest should be independent and call his own shots, but with this most likely being something caused by me, I did need to make sure he was adequately shielded.

It would depend on what had happened to prompt this call. “Tell me what happened,” I said.

“Well, there are these two trainers and their pet Meowth that always bother us and we fought with them and sent them flying, but immediately afterwards we got attacked by another three trainers and these guys didn’t say anything but that there was a job placed on Forrest. They were… stronger, but nothing we couldn’t handle.”

Behind Misty the door opened to reveal Forrest and Ash walking into the room. “Hey Misty, what are you… Hey Brock!”

“Little brother,” I said with a nod. “Ash.” I then directed a stern look at Forrest. “So, there were people that specifically said they had a ‘job’ out on you?” I said.

Forrest coughed. “We handled it! Challenger and Metang were all over it!”

Ash coughed. “Well actually, it was thanks to my Charizard!” he said proudly. “He saw how strong those other trainers Quilava and Magmar were, and he got all fired up!” he said.

Misty shook her head. “They also had some grass and ground-type pokemon. I think they were a professional team, as they had pokemon that were able to target all of our usual pokemon rosters,” she said.

“I don’t have a typical roster!” said both boys behind her in unison.

Misty sighed. “Ash, you’re known for your Pikachu more than anything else. Pikachu literally rides on your shoulder. And Forrest? You’re practically a steel-type user,” she said.

Forrest squirmed and shot me a guilty look. “Well, I mean… it sort of just worked out that way, but rock type is my primary type!” he said quickly, like I’d disapprove.

I waved the issue away. “Experience what works for you little brother,” I said. “If steel types are your thing, more power to you, there’s a lot of overlap if nothing else with rock types, but don’t get too hung up on that,” I said.

I then dropped the friendly look for something much sterner. “Forrest, this is literally a prime example of things getting hot. Now, while you wouldn’t know it yet, our family just had thieves break into the apartment we were staying in.”

“Say what?!” said Forrest, rushing to get closer. He peered through the projected image at me as though trying to discern if there was anything wrong before shaking his head. “What am I doing, of course Brock’s fine,” he muttered quietly, but not so quietly that the microphone didn’t pick it up.

“Forrest,” I said, making sure to let the tension in my voice show. “I came back from my fight with Corey to find that the thieves had gotten into the apartment, which is pretty scary. If they… “ I decided to cut off those thoughts with a shake of my head.

In the end, they’d only been thieves, not kidnappers or murderers or something.

If that had been the case, I’d have to go for a nuclear option in response.

“Regardless, it’s not about me shrugging things off. I got scared hearing how far they’d gotten, to hear that you’ve also been targeted?” I exhaled heavily. “I just want to make sure you’re safe, because chances are that this might not be a one-off event, with the police that have been involved suspecting that this is linked to my place in the Golden Week Tournament.”

Forrest and Misty both pursed their lips at that, but Ash perked up. “You’re in the Golden Week Tournament? Wow, that’s awesome! How’d you do?” he said.

I blinked, before barking a laugh. Of course, that was what Ash would prioritise. “I won my match and I’m now through to the quarterfinals against Kaede from Blackthorn City,” I said.

Forrest tilted his head. “I know that name. Why do I know that name?” he asked. Misty and Ash both had clueless looks.

I smiled. “Kaede is the trainer for the Samurai Furret. She is also something of a dark horse this tournament, with her last showing being a perfect six-nil match,” I said.

Ash gasped. “Woah! She must be good!”

Misty tilted her head. “Or her opponent was rubbish?” she offered.

“It was the first,” I said. “I’m going to have to bring my best against her,” I said. I then sighed. “It will depend on how things go with you,” I said.

Forrest stiffened. “I’m not going to let myself be used to drag you down!” he snarled. I offered him a smile and a nod, knowing that this was bringing up some past issues for him.

Forrest worked his jaw and stared away, only to smirk after a moment. “What if we went to ground and made it hard for people to find us?” he asked.

I raised a brow in question. “I’m listening,” I said, willing to hear him out.

Forrest grabbed the transceiver from Misty and carried it over to the window to give me a look outside. “What if we, for the next couple of days at least, ‘ran away to join the circus’?” he asked with a chuckle.

“You want to clown around?” I said jokingly as I leaned in to inspect the image of the bigtop that was being projected to me. “Melvin’s Bigtop Circus,” I said aloud.

A bang and a crash made me blink and glance over to find A.J. staring at me, having crashed into a table. “What did you just say?” he growled.

I blinked. “Melvin’s Bigtop Circus?” I repeated.

“That sneak thief, no good Raticate!” A.J. snarled.

I stared along with the others in the room and on the call at A.J.. To say it was unusual for him to express himself like this was an understatement for the normally stoic young man.

He’d grumble and growl a bit, but never outright rage like I was seeing right now. There was obviously a story there. “What’s going on, A.J.?” I asked.

A.J. worked his jaw for a moment before clapping his hands and taking a breath. I felt my lips twitch, pleased to see that he’d taken on something like that from his time in the gym as a trainer.

When he was calmer, he spoke, “Melvin… He, I.” he said his fists clenching before opening themselves.

I stared for a moment before deciding to move over and help calm A.J. down. I put a hand on his shoulder and knelt down. “What did he do?” I asked carefully.

A.J. made a final twitch before looking to the side. “I used to live with a circus… I don’t know who my parents were. The trapeze acrobats supposedly found me. The Ringmaster took me in and the whole circus was like a family to me,” he said.

I nodded slowly. Some of the suspicions I’d had of A.J.’s rather eclectic knowledge gaps while possessing other skills were now making a bit more sense. “I’m guessing something happened, though?”

“Melvin happened,” he said, turning and staring at Forrest, Ash, and Misty. “Do not join that circus!” he said firmly. “That man will present himself as a hapless fool, but he is a predator that lies in wait until he sets things up to his liking. Then he strikes,” he said.

Ash, Forrest and Misty nodded their heads. “We won’t!” they said.

A.J. nodded and then clenched his jaw. “Brock… I need to go and see if that is him. Melvin, I mean. He… If he’s like he was then… I want to confront him. Melvin is the reason that my family broke apart as they did. I… I.” He worked his jaw. “I need to see this done. He stole the circus out from my… from the Ringmaster, and all the supplies and tricks, I have no doubt,” he said.

I nodded slowly. “Alright,” I said, earning looks from everyone that was listening in. “Do you need me to—” A.J. shook his head and I nodded after a moment. A.J. was mature enough to handle this.

“Go and do what you need to, but A.J., don’t lose yourself to whatever you’re planning against this Melvin. Remember, if you go too far, you are not righting a wrong. You are just making things worse for everyone.” I squeezed his shoulder and made A.J. look me in the eyes. “You most of all,” I said.

“You have a bright future ahead of you A.J.. Don’t let this Melvin character drag you back into a bad place,” I said.

A.J. nodded. “I’ll… pack some supplies.” he glanced at Forrest, Ash, and Misty. “Where are you now?” he said.

“We’re in Dark City,” said Ash quickly. “Hey… how about we help you out, make sure he doesn’t get away?”

Forrest and Misty nodded. “Yeah! If he’s a crook we can’t just let him be!”

A.J. gritted his teeth. “It won’t be something a policeman can work with. It is… well, it’s something you wouldn’t understand if you didn’t grow up in the circus,” he said, looking away as though ashamed.

“I understand that it’s important to you,” I said. And at the end of the day, that was enough. “Do you want me to—”

A.J. shook his head. “I’ll see to this… with a bit of help, it seems,” he said, eying the three on the call with me. “Watch him. I’ll be there by the end of the day at the latest,” he said.

With that said and with my blessing given, A.J. nodded to me before marching out, on a mission.

I watched him go, worried about what might happen, but knowing that I needed to let him handle this on his own to a degree. “Well, it looks like you’ll be doing something else,” I said. “The idea of laying low is still good though, see if you can do that until A.J. get there. Him being there will add another factor in making it harder for you to be targeted, at least.”

I tilted my head. “Any people you know nearby?” I asked.

“Bugsy and Ritchie are,” said Ash, perking up. “I’ll call them!” he said.

I chuckled, amused that they’d met already. “Sounds good, with six of you there won’t be many willing to take you on,” I said. “Until they get there. Stay safe,” I said.

I ended the call and rubbed my forehead. Today... Was just not going the way I thought it would have.

First the match with Corey… well, that actually went about how I expected, but since then… Urgh.

“It makes so much sense A.J. grew up in a circus,” said Missy thoughtfully. “I mean, have you seen his camping supplies? It’s literally a bigtop circus tent! Who knows how to assemble those without experience!” she said with a laugh.

I nodded and turned back to Jessie, James and Meowth. “Sorry about that, think you can still handle the task I had for you?” I said.

Jessie nodded, a frown on her face. “Sorry if we… might have made things tougher for your brother and his… friends,” she said.

I grimaced. “Part of that lay at my feet. I wanted you to keep challenging them to make them stronger and more dynamic. Sometimes good intentions like this can bite you in the backside,” I said, waving them off.

I rubbed my face and sighed. I felt like I needed to lie down to process everything that had happened today.

Instead, I was going to have to stay up and do some serious research into my opponent for tomorrow, while information about who was pulling the strings trickled back to me.

I worked my jaw and reached for the file I’d asked the Guardians’ assistants to create.

It had Kaede’s unrestricted pokemon team list.

Furret, Scizor, Heracross, Ninetails, Dugtrio, Exeggutor, Blissey, Miltank, Munchlax, Ditto, Lanturn, Ledian, Ambipom, Granbull, Piloswine, Delibird, Froslass, Linoone, Shiftry, Delcatty, Sableye, Mawile, Medicham, Roselia, Gardevoir, Zangoose, Whiscash, and Walrein.

Damn. That was a team, and it would have a lot of potential against me. Heck, just Gardevoir and Blissey had alarm bells ringing.

Interestingly enough, comparing the list to the publicly known team, Blissey was missing, as were Froslass, Shiftry, Mawile, Whiscash and Walrein.

This girl had some serious depth and powerhouse pokemon that she could call on.

I suddenly knew that what I’d said to Forrest before wasn’t a lie.

I really was going to have to bring my A game tomorrow.