Hard Enough-Chapter 281 - Prison

I watched Missy float around her newly evolved Magnezone like a girl who had just gotten the keys to a flash new car. “Ohhhh! Look at the sheen of your metal! You’re so glamorous! So shiny! Eeeeee! We’re going to rock the Ace Rankings next year with this!” she squealed, dancing back and forth.

Magnezone wobbled happily.

“Heh, she’s like a girl just handed a shiny new bazooka!” laughed Visquez.

I raised an eyebrow. “That’s a very… interesting turn of phrase,” I commented.

Visquez blinked at me. “Oh right, normal people didn’t get those sent in the mail. Surge was a bit of an oddball wasn’t he?”

I nodded slowly. “Yeeeeeees,” I said, eying her off. Why did I suddenly feel the need to frisk her?

Visquez shifted. “I’m licensed if that’s what you’re thinking,” she stated quickly. I blinked in surprise and she smirked. “You got that look that cops get when I mention things like that.” With an all too practiced gesture she drew out some official-looking paperwork with one hand and waved it in my face.

I inspected the papers. “Licensed to carry up to and included anti-tank weaponry,” I read aloud with growing disbelief.

Visquez tucked the papers away. “Yup! For self-defence!” she claimed happily.

I raised a finger. “Where do you even get such a thing?” I asked, too curious for my own good.

“Oh there’s people around that can still give you such licenses. It’s just that selling such items is illegal. Owning them ain’t though!” she grinned.

I huffed. “You’re just like your dad,” I said.

Visquez’s fist shot out, and cause of my long familiarity with Surge I leaned away from the blow, softening it. “Awww shucks! You say the nicest things!” she chirped happily.

“Ahahaha, sure,” I said, rolling my shoulder to loosen it up some. Damn, she’d deadened my arm a little there.

Visquez was already shaping up to be an Amazonian woman who’d tower over me. While I doubted she’d be as gigantic as her father she was still going to be a statuesque woman, and with that came strength in spades.

I glanced back to Missy who was gushing over her new pokemon while Bianca and Stephen ran the pair through a battery of tests.

“Thanks for coming over for this,” I said waving a hand at the cave in general.

“Heh! No problem! This is right up my alley! More than sitting around trying to drink tea with Erika anyhow!” she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Ah? Is something wrong?” I asked.

“Nah, just feel like a Tauros in a china shop whenever I go around there. They have fancy tea parties, and I feel like I’m gonna crush the fine china or step in her garden and crush something is all,” she replied.

“Hmmmm, makes sense, I suppose. Erika is more about the finer arts. She’s going to have to learn to accommodate you I think,” I stated.

“Hmmmm,” she replied, copying my earlier thinking pose with a slight smirk. Her eyes flashed cheekily showing she knew what she was doing as she glanced at me.

“We’ll see. It ain’t all bad cause we talk shop and trade-off patrol routes. Things are still pretty hectic with the surge happening but things are improving somewhat. Sabrina and Koga are the ones being hit with Koga facing a lot more cause people know that he’s about to become an Elite Four member,” Visquez said.

“Only got like another month before things relax,” Visquez said.

I smiled happily, imagining the three months of time off from having to face proper challenges. “Yeah, I’m looking forward to it after this season,” I said.

Visquez nodded before flicking her eyes at me and watching me through her peripheral vision. “Sooooo,” she started leadingly. “I heard through the gossip chain you got into a fight with a Zapdos!”

“Sabrina and I did yes, after one of my sponsored trainers got into a dangerous situation,” I said.

Visquez whirled on me, hands shooting up into a begging pose. “Can you show me where? I’d love to see a Zapdos in real life.” her eyes darted side to side, taking in the cave. “You didn’t catch it in the end… did you?” she said with a tinge of something approaching hope in her tone.

I shook my head. “I realised it wouldn’t be a good fit for me.”

Visquez blinked. “You… realised it wouldn't be a good fit for you?” she parroted back at me.

I nodded. “Zapdos? Catching it was possible, highly likely even, but it was a prize too big for me to handle. I’d have needed to put serious work into it and myself to be able to command it. In the end, I think I got more from fighting it off.” I stated.

I wasn’t about to mention the loot it had given me nor how another Legendary had dropped in to voice his approval, but I could probably mention one thing.

“I think it enjoyed getting into a fight with me. If I ever do go back there, it might want to spar with me. Think I could get some support if that ever happens?” I asked.

Visquez turned fully, her arms swung up and clamped around my shoulders. “Brock, if you don’t call me up the next time you get into a fight with a Legendary Electric pokemon I’m going to be so pissed with you.”

I chuckled only for the laugh to fade in the face of her serious expression. “You’ll be the second,” I commented. “Sabrina will always be the first.”

Visquez nodded. “Yeah she’s cool and that makes sense.”

I chuckled properly at that reply. “So I just need to call in case I run into a Zapdos or a Raikou huh?”

Visquez nodded firmly only to gain a far away look. “Imagine having both of them on a pokemon team,” she murmured to herself dreamily.

I smiled, knowing I’d had both such pokemon in another life, albeit as part of a game, but I’d still had them, along with hundreds of other pokemon. I looked around. Now, as a Gym Leader, I had over a hundred pokemon to my name, but they were all for the purpose of running the Gym.

The only people that could seriously have hundreds of pokemon were the uber rich who were serious collectors. The idea that in the future someone like Goh, could be running around in an attempt to ‘catch them all’ was rather laughable.

“Speaking of electric types, have you…” I trailed off leadingly.

“Spoken to Pops?” she replied, guessing where I was leading correctly.

I grunted and nodded.

“Yeah, he’s doing alright. It would mean a lot I think if you visited…” she said before tilting her head and considering me with a sly smirk. “Actually I have a care package that I think he’d like if you could drop it off for me?” she said.

“You need to work on your poker face,” I said, watching her carefully.

Visquez blushed. “Ahaha! Alright! You got me! I just want to send a joke gift his way. Think you can do it for me?”

I continued to stare. “If you’re going to send him a file or something like that,” I said leadingly.

“Eh? Nah fuck that. He’s in prison for a reason he can serve his sentence,” she said firmly.

I stared up at her for a long moment before nodding slowly. “Alright, but I’m going to tell the guards to inspect it,” I said.

For some reason Visquez bit her lip. “Please do,” she said which only made my gaze narrow further.

“Hey Brock, want to test out Magnezone’s strength?” called Missy forcing me to look away.

I nodded, deciding to slot in the weekend for when I’d finally check in with Surge

Until then I had a bunch of trainer matches to face and at least three more elite challenges which were starting to heat up as more and more people took up the gauntlet I’d thrown down.

No one had been bold enough to request Titan like Brawly had, but that was fine, all the better to share the experience and work around to my other pokemon. They were all looking forward to proving themselves and the Pewter crowd were extremely appreciative of their efforts.

The challenges should have been a chore, but I found myself enjoying the thrill of dancing on the edge and experiencing the self enforced hardship with my pokemon.

Despite facing weaker trainers I could tell that we were growing stronger.

I just needed to make sure to push myself and make sure that each of my pokemon developed together.

Vines slashed through the air and caught Jormungandr earning a groan of pain, but with our foe attached I saw the path to victory reveal itself to me.

“Jorm go!” I shouted, and he leapt, vines still wrapped around him as she barreled forward, slamming into his opponent and hammering them into the wall.

When he withdrew, it was clear they’d been knocked out. I punched the sky. “Yes! Great work Jormungandr!” I shouted for everyone to hear just as the crowd rose, adding their own voices to the cacophony that erupted as understanding set in.

“Weepingbell is unable to fight! Brock and Jormungandr are the victors!” Jackson announced with a flamboyant flag flourish.

As the crowd’s applause washed over us, I exhaled, relaxing as the fight drained out of me.

On the field, Jormungandr groaned as he allowed his Mega Evolution to fade. He swayed dangerously from side to side. I could only chuckle. Francine was a young trainer who had some serious potential.

For this match, I decided to hold off on using it, and that proved to be the right call. Francine was a skilled fighter who must have been taking notes of my matches with and against Mega evolutions.

The podiums lowered and I made my way up to Jormungandr quickly to assess the extent of the damage. A few of the metal carapaces that made up his body were dented, and it would take him a while to recover from that. Thankfully it was the weekend however and with Saturday being my half day there weren’t going to be any more fights.

But just to be safe, I’d probably keep him off the potential roster of pokemon that could be faced for the next three or four days. “I think you’ve earned a well-earned rest buddy,” I announced as I brought out a cloth, which I sprayed potion into before gently rubbing it into the marred parts of his body.

The metal absorbed the potion greedily and I quickly went through the entire body.

Jorm still wasn’t anywhere near what I’d call healthy, but it was still an improvement. The medical bay’s doors opened, and Chansey leaned out with an expectant look on her face. I signalled for her to wait a bit.

It was important that my Pokemon enjoyed their time in the spotlight with applause and joy. It made all the hard work they put in worth it.

“Great job out there bud,” I commented before finally turning my attention towards Francine allowing my gaze to sweep over her.

She had slightly bloodshot eyes and looked out of breath but otherwise she seemed to be holding up well. No signs of any whiting out from her.

Hmmm, it really did seem that people were taking to this circuit and adapting. For a girl this young to have the resilience needed to endure having her entire time knocked out and only be this tired?

“I have to say I’m impressed. I looked into you before our match, and you’ve got a lot of fights under your belt,” I commented.

Francine snorted. “Are you kidding me? This is my second year on the circuit, and it’s a damned sharpedo fest travelling around!”

Francine chopped the air in front of her. “If you so much as stop to fight one person, you better be ready to face down another three or four before half the day is out! It’s not impressive; it’s just the way things are right now!” She shook her head.

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“You must be doing alright for yourself as you had a seventy percent win ratio,” I pointed out.

Francine smirked. “There’s a lot of fighting but there’s also a lot of money to be made. I’ve been pretty careful with things, but I’m also lucky that I got in and had five of my badges last year. I’ve been able to make good on the restrictions placed on other second-year trainers as well with early wins before stronger pokemon could be used more.”

She looked towards Jorm. “That being said, there’s definitely not been as many win streaks for me in the last month or so. But I’m staying on top of it. You just need good financial advice, which is something my dad made sure to teach me before I went on my Journey!”

“Heh, that was good of him,” I replied. In another life I might have asked her what her mother gave her but in this life I knew better than to assume.

Statistically it was men who ran off to keep journeying around instead of sticking around and caring for kids, but there was the odd woman who gave birth and ran. ‘Cough Lola cough’.

Enough to be a statistic anyway.

Francine coughed. “So, I missed out on an event you ran earlier this year,” she said leadingly.

“Oh? The Pewter Contest? I’m sorry to say we’re only going to run one of those a year, but I think you can lock in a repeat performance. You should get down to Commerce City; they’re running a Contest next weekend.”

Francine blinked rapidly at me. “Oh, uhmm good to know, but that wasn’t the event I was referring to.”

I tilted my head. Not the contest? The only other event was… “Oh! You mean the auction?” I asked.

Francine nodded. “I couldn’t help but wonder if you’re going to hold another event like that any time soon?” she prompted. “Or… if possible, I’d like to express my interest in taking a well-trained rock type on from the Gym,” she asked.

I considered her. “You’re not pushing for something like an Aron or ancient pokemon I take it?” I asked.

Francine rocked back and forth on her heels. “I mean, I wouldn’t say no if you were offering,” she said cheekily.

I snorted. “Well, you’re the first to have the brains to ask. I know we’re not fighting as much as we were, but there are still a number of pokemon that we have in the Gym that have gotten a bit too strong to be used anymore.”

Francine straightened, energy returning to her form. “Oh seriously you’re going to allow it? Sweet I thought I was just going to get shown the door!” she said.

I chuckled and shook my head. “Well, you were polite about it, so that means I

need to consider it.” I rubbed my chin. Hmmm, it was probably best not to make any promises, but I could send her Georgina’s way and get her a small list of pokemon she could take on from us. I personally would have just given them away, but Georgina would be kicking in my door for making such a decision after all the work we’d put into them.

Best to hand it over to Georgina and maybe Rachel.

“Off the top of my head, there should be about ten or twelve pokemon. These are going to be Rhyhorn, Geodude, Graveler, Zubat, and maybe,” I made sure to repeat myself. “Maybe, an Aron.”

Francine grinned. “Heh! I’m glad either way! Thanks for listening!” she said as I told her Georgina would be in contact early next week.

I drummed my chin in thought. Francine raised a solid point however, should I run another auction? I probably could and there would no doubt be a lot of interest with the Lileep once more being available thanks to all the success Crowley was having.

I also needed to block out a day or two for some of the trainers to catch some weaker variants of our current roster.

Not that we’d had any first badge fights in a while now. This, too, was something I suspected was a result of the trainer surge. You had either started in time or been crushed early and were struggling along, or… you’d dropped out.

Hmmm, that statistic would bear looking at. Typically, only ten to fifteen percent of trainers drop out of their Journey a year. How would this year’s numbers compare?

Questions for later anyway.

I shot off a message to Georgina about the situation and left it for her to work out on monday. The only work that needed to be done over the weekend was the standard training and feeding of pokemon.

I sighed and rolled my shoulders. That fight had ended up being a bit more of a work out than I’d planned for. Anytime Jormungandr took to the field these days there was an expectation that people would get to witness Jorm mega evolve which people came to expect.

It was something I knew I didn’t have to comply with… and yet, it felt like a snub if I didn’t use it.

I rolled my shoulders and inhaled. I needed to work on my aura reserves. If I wanted to continue to grow strong, I needed to keep pushing the boundaries of what I could do further and further out.

Was it possible to run two Mega Evolutions at once? I mused to myself. If I asked Agatha I had no doubt that she’d laugh and call me a fool but she wouldn’t stop me from trying, it was just that the drain of such an act would be colossal.

I penned a quick note into my training to begin pushing the length of time I could hold Jormungandr’s Mega evolution while commanding him and another pokemon about the field.

I’d need to keep such training to days when I wasn’t going to get into big fights, but Sundays should be possible at the very least.

I made my way to the transport hub where I found a package from Visquez awaiting me for collection. I gave it a look over. There were a bunch of soaps, some cigarette packets, a case of non alcoholic beer, packets of instant ramen, a box with ribbons all over it and a giant pack of mega XL Rapidash sized… oh, that’s gross.

I shuddered.

There were some things that a daughter just shouldn’t be forced to buy for her father, even one in prison.

No wait.

Especially for a father in prison.

I narrowed my eyes, feeling like I should throw the damn things out before deciding to just go with it. Surge would just be receiving an extremely judgemental look from me for this.

A quick trip to the transport hub and a Teleport to Kanto’s prison saw me entering a basic visiting room shortly thereafter.

Despite being a Gym Leader I still had to pass through several security checkpoints that saw my identity tested along with scans and even coercion checks. My care package for Surge was likewise taken for review.

When the guards brought it back the box with ribbons on it had been opened and the guards all had huge grins on their faces.

“Nice Brock, nice!” one said to me with a wink.

I stared at him and gave the box another look. Alright Visquez had obviously done something to the cake which made me want to peek. Before I could however, the door to the visiting room buzzed open and Surge lumbered in wearing orange coveralls with his numbers printed out on them.

“Brock! Good to see you, how’s it hanging?” he barked as he sauntered up and claimed the seat opposite me. He spun it around so he was sitting in it in a reversed position.

I was glad I’d been seated and that Surge had swept in so quickly. I hadn’t been sure what to do for a second there. Should I have shaken his hand or hugged him? Or punched him in the face?

They all had felt appropriate in the moment while also being wrong for various reasons.

I decided to just nod my head from where I was sitting. With him sitting opposite me I felt like a child sat down at a desk scaled to me while my teacher squatted.

“Couldn’t get a chair suited for your size?” I asked.

“They got them in my room; they’re taking care of me, don’t worry.”

“Surprised they don’t have you in a more private facility,” I said, giving the rather public prison a look over.

Surge shrugged. “They don’t know the reason, just the sentence. I told everyone I got sloppy with a firearms license, there’s more than enough gun lovers in here with the same story and with my history? Ain’t no one questioning it.”

“Or reporting on it?” I asked.

“Ain’t big news. With my official retirement, I’m a washed up has-been that ain’t gonna sell papers. Also, I think the League’s leaned on a few editors to not say anything,” he leaned in to whisper conspiratorially.

“That sounds a bit more likely,” I replied, locking eyes with him properly. “How… have you been?” 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Eh, food sucks, bedding ain’t great, and my housemates are all pricks, it’s pretty much being back in the army. Only I don’t have to worry about anyone bombing us, so all in all, I’ve had worse,” he said with a shrug. “Just sucks. I don’t get to spend much time with my pokemon. Visquez brings them around twice a week though.”

“Huh, that’s kind of her,” I said, having not considered that angle of his imprisonment. In retrospect it was obvious that he’d miss his pokemon just as much as people.

“Yeah, she’s a great gal, that girl of mine, if you end up ever ditching…” He tilted his head and considered me. “Eh forget I was gonna say anything. You’re already a kept man at this point,” he said with a wave of his gigantic hand.

I made a show of rolling my eyes at him. “Har har har, you’re a real comedian,” I said flatly.

Surge grinned. “I got a solid ten minutes. During the last talent night I had people in stitches I did with my comedy routine!”

I blinked in surprise. “That… oddly sounds like you,” I said.

Surge chuckled and let his eyes fall to the care package to the side. “Awww, did you get something for me?” he said.

“I’m going to bring you down to earth there Surge, Visquez asked me to bring these,” I replied. Although in hindsight it was obvious that she could have waited if she came around twice a week. She obviously wanted me to come bearing gifts.

I waved a hand and Surge started going through the package. “Cigarettes, always good for gambling and bartering, same with instant ramen noodles.” He made a face at the non alcoholic beers. “Urgh may as well piss in a bottle and drink that for all the good this will do,” he said crudely.

His face lit up when he saw the condom pack. “Oh sweet I was running out!”

My expression became like an arctic mountain. “You have your daughter buy you those?” I said, my tone flat as I could make it to let him know I wasn’t impressed by this.

“Huh? No usually the girls that visit know to bring their own,” he replied all too calmly.

I blinked. “Girls?” I said making sure to stress the plural.

“Oh yeah, chicks dig a prison man, know he’s wilder than the rest. There’s more danger to everything. I’ve got to say Brock I’m scoring better in prison than I was out of prison! I have to keep a schedule of which girls are coming and when!”

I facepalmed. “I think if I come again, I’m going to get you an STD checker,” I joked.

Surge just grinned at me and opened the final box to reveal a large cake shaped like buttcheeks. Surge and I both blinked in surprise only for our eyes to slide down to the writing that had been added on the side.

The condoms are for your boyfriends! Hope you enjoy eating ass Dad! Love Visquez!

I stared at the message.

Surge stared at the message.

For a long moment, neither Surge nor I moved.

Then, Surge began to twitch.

The twitch soon evolved into a full blown roar of laughter. “Hahahaha! What did I tell you? That girl of mine is one in a million! Arceus I don’t deserve her! The cheek on her! She’d have made a great two I.C!”

I blinked before mentally translating the military speak of two I.C into second in command.

Surge continued to chuckle as he reached out with a giant paw and ripped a section of cake out to eat. “Ha! Cheeky bitch! It’s fudge!”

I shuddered. “I think.. I just threw up a little in my mouth,” I informed Surge, which only got a laugh out of him.

I shook my head and pushed the discomfort aside. “Tommy was asking after you as he’s noticed your absence,” I stated casually.

“Heh, kid’s going to be a officer for sure with that sort of attention to detail,” Surge complimented. “Tell him I’m on holiday. I’ll get some fake postcards made up and maybe him and I can be penpals.” Surge put his icing coated hand down and eyed me. “How’s Flint?” he asked.

“Good… He’s doing everything I ask of him and he’s recently gotten a proper job that lets him pursue his passions with geology and rocks. We’re the first Indigo exploratory Mega Stone company,” I said.

“Nice, I have to say, you’ve done well for yourself since I’ve been in here. Been watching all your matches and it’s been good stuff except for one issue,” he said crossing his arms as he suddenly became serious.

“Oh? What’s that?” I asked.

“You fucking went easy with Agatha and let her dictate terms. People should have seen you cut loose and you relaxed,” he stated leaning forward.

I shrugged. “It didn’t mean all that much to m—”

“It don’t mean nothing!” Surge snarled.

He thumped the table. “It means you got sloppy against another. And it wasn’t a kiddy Gym Match. It was against Agatha! If she’d decided to fuck you over she could have turned on you in an instant! You allowed yourself to walk into that fight like a Farcfetch’d into a shooting gallery!”

Surge leaned forward, looming over me as he stared into my eyes. “And now you’re rationalising it after the fact. You don’t always get to walk away from fights you get sloppy with Brock! You’ve done good, but watching you get sloppy really stung!”

I stared at Surge for a long moment.

No one, and I mean no one, not Koga, or Agatha, Sabrina, or Flint had called me out on being sloppy with that fight.

I looked away, feeling like a chastised child before Surge and his experience. I knew I couldn’t fault him, not with what he must have endured in the past.

“You’re right, I relaxed too much,” I said. “It’s hard staying at my best all the time though and not relaxing.”

Surge snorted. “Living is hard, tell me something new,” he said.

A weighty moment passed between us and I nodded to show his words had sunk in. He nodded back and palmed one of the drinks Visquez had sent. He cracked it open and took a drip only to spit it out instantly.

“Argh! Shit! This is horrible! People pay for this shit?” he growled.

I snorted and shook my head at his antics which got a smile from Surge.

We spent the next hour simply talking over what had been going on. When I informed him I’d fought Zapdos he became like a school child, bouncing in his seat gleefully as I recounted the fight to him.

He laughed when I told him we’d pulled out on Zapdos.

I spoke at length about what was going to happen in the coming weeks and how I was looking forward to shutting up the Gym for the holidays.

Surge smiled. “Ah, those were the good times,” he replied before straightening up. “What are you gonna do when old Lola rocks up by the by?” he asked casually.

I exhaled. “I’m not sure… She’s… an ongoing issue that really only grows worse the longer she stays away.”

“Might be worth keeping her at arm’s distance Brock, she’s gonna be a handful I can tell you that much. I ain’t got any advice as to handle her though.” Surge took a spit from a flask at his hip. “I ain’t usually good at that whole thing.”

I nodded. A droning buzz had me sitting up and Surge grinned. “Visiting time is over for the afternoon period. Thanks for coming and thanks for the package. I’ll have to find a way to reward my cheeky daughter for this!” he crowed.

I chuckled and rose only to linger. “This… it’s been nice,” I said. As strange as it was to say that about someone who’d reprimanded me, it was good. Surge said it how it was, even if he did it a bit crudely.

Surge raised a fist and held it up.

I chuckled and reached out with my own to bump his fist with mine.

Yeah, that worked pretty well.

“Keep rocking on Brock, I’m cheering for you,” Surge said.

“Keep it up here, it sounds like you’re doing alright for yourself,” I replied.

Surge nodded. “It’s life and the right thing which makes it doubly hard but also worth it,” he said as his gaze swept up and down me one last time before he rose and sauntered out. “Later Brock!” he shouted, tossing a wave over his shoulder.

“Later Surge!” I called, making my own way out.

I departed, making straight for home where I found my family playing in the garden with Sabrina wearing a flower tiara.

I chuckled, enjoying the way my spirit felt so much lighter from today.

I settled in with my family to enjoy myself.

I still had no idea how to handle Lola when she returned but I could work on that. I had people that supported and loved me, and that always helped.

For now, I just wanted to see past the end of the circuit, run my training camp, and go to Hoenn and watch Celia kick some major butt.

Simple, straightforward goals like that were all I needed right now, but Surge was right, I shouldn’t stop moving forward.

I had sunday to myself and a new plan to wrap up some loose ends.