Hard Enough-Chapter 294 - Preparing for politics!

—and finally, congratulations on completing the inaugural Pewter Training camp!” I said from my podium.

In front of me people were walking up to their Team Leaders and receiving certificates for their attendance which would only matter for those trainers looking to enter the workforce or apply for certain academies next year. For everyone else, it was just a piece of paper that would serve as a reminder of what they got up to for this week.

I gave my usual round of praise to the staff, the pokemon, and anyone and everyone who had been involved with applause filling the arena each time I paused.

As much as I was looking forward to the break, part of me was sad that the camp was over. I had loved every moment of teaching people new things or seeing them apply the lessons they’d learned only minutes before.

While the romance drama had soured some things at the start, it would take a lot more than that to make me not want to run this event again. It was too worthwhile for everyone.

That being said, several changes were going to be made.

“Thanks also go to those trainers who filled out the questionnaires at the end of the camp about how we can improve.” All ten of them…

Next year, I was just randomly assigning people to their teams. I wasn’t going to assign them based on personality types with a questionnaire that most of the kids hadn’t taken seriously.

The ones who had were all sorted into Team Mystic, which surprise surprise meant they were all methodical in their approach and had read through it.

“I have had a look through them, and I can see a lot of people asking to have it earlier in the year with everything that you learned being much more applicable.” Some people had wanted it right at the start but that would mean more people were dying to get out and start their Journey. They didn’t want to be cooped up right when freedom beckoned.

They also might not retain as much without some experience in the field to compare against.

“Hopefully, next year’s event will be able to be held in the middle of the season rather than the end. I may also schedule it around the time of the Pewter Contest but that’s something we’ll work on,” I said.

As soon as I said it, I felt regret mixed with dread pool in my gut.

The kids were already whispering. They were going to expect that, and coordinating two events like that was going to be a bit of a logistical nightmare.

Damn my big mouth!

I kept smiling while ignoring the looks of amusement my employees were giving me along with the urge to kick myself.

“Now! As you have all no doubt been wondering! Who has won the camp’s overall points tally?” I gestured to the screen.

“In last place with two hundred and one points are Team Instinct!” I declared.

Team Instinct dutifully groaned while the other two teams perked up. I grinned. “They all win themselves a pokemon grooming kit provided by our sponsors Poke Beaut!”

“Now, in second place sitting on two hundred and eighty points!” I took a moment to build up tension before sweeping my hand to the side. “Is Team Valour!”

Team Valour groaned while members of Team Mystic all shot to their feet and cheered.

“Meaning that Team Mystic wins the overall camp prize! But first Team Valour have won themselves a set of licensed Pokemon caps and merchandise to wear!”

“The prize for Team Mystic however,” I smiled, and everyone leaned forward. “Is a specialised set of Luxury balls provided by Silver Silph Corp! The refreshed face with cutting-edge tech!” I dutifully read off the merchandising slogan that I’d been required to say each time I mentioned them.

As Platinum sponsors, it was the least I could do beyond plastering their new logo everywhere around the Gym.

The kids all gasped in surprise as each of them received a very handy ball that I had no doubt would result in pokemon being switched around.

“—I’d have wanted to come second,” muttered a familiar voice and I held back a laugh as Ash’s voice carried to my ears.

“And finally for those people that scored the most points for their teams! Congratulations on earning yourselves a cash prize provided by the Local Pewter bank where your savings accounts can lead to everyday saves!” I chimed cheesily.

I was going to be happy not to have to do those anymore, but I suspected the sponsors would at least be happy with the uptake of business they were likely to see.

“Congratulations to Silver for Team Mystic! From Team Instinct, Ritchie! And finally from Team Valour congratulations Jane Gemfield!”

The trio of named trainers happily trooped up to accept a small cash prize from me.

When I was done I coughed and gestured to the front of the podium. “Your Team Leaders have also had the following small medallions made up so you will remember who you teamed up with going forward. Enjoy your Instinct, Mystic, and Valour pins but remember that each of you took part in this together!”

It had come as a bit of a surprise when Dennis had approached me about having done with but apparently I wasn’t the only one who’d enjoyed teaching the kids. He’d gone out of his way with Rocko and Missy to get the pins made.

It kind of snookered me into keeping the Teams the same going forward but that was a bridge I’d cross next year.

“Collect your pins and join us outside for a final lunch! I look forward to hearing about your endeavours going forward!” I said, letting the kids off the chain.

As I expected, they all swarmed their Team Leaders, with the trio all laughing and handing out pins.

I walked out to the awaiting barbecues and got myself an apron that said ‘world’s best chef’, on it. I dutifully got the Tauros patties sizzling and shared a few laughs with the other Pewter employees who were working with me.

When the kids came out, they oddly remained behind Gary, Ash, and Misty. Each of them had something behind their backs and they approached me with a determined glint in their eyes.

“Gym Leader… No! Brock!” Gary announced, clenching his fist in front of himself. “We really appreciated you running this course, and we asked around and pooled our money… some more than—” Misty shifted, and her foot slammed onto Gary’s shutting him up.

Ash stepped forward. “We got you a thank-you gift for everything you did… or rather, we had one made up!”

He then produced an album with a crude collage on the front declaring it ‘Pewter Training Camp year of twenty-one!'

I opened it and found a picture of everyone standing together with goofy expressions. There were bunny ears and victory signs galore, and more than a few fights were about to break out, but it was perhaps the perfect encapsulation of people's personalities and how the camp had been.

I grinned, feeling oddly touched. Damn, they were good kids. I flipped through and found several silly photos with various trainers locking eyes and getting into serious fights along with the much more slapstick antics I’d arranged, such as the pokemon balloon keepy uppy game we’d had run one afternoon.

I looked at the album slowly and nodded. “Thank you; this is the perfect gift,” I said, pleased by their gesture.

Ash grinned. “Ha! Told you he’d prefer this!” he crowed as he postured in front of Gary.

I rolled my eyes, well used to their antics by now. “Seriously you two are you really going to end the training camp without having fought each other even once?” I asked.

Both stiffened, realising that what I’d said was in fact true. Each time they’d locked eyes in the last week there had been tasks to complete or they’d ended up competing in other side games or their own personal competitions.

The number of times they’d engaged in eating contests, extreme tag, scoring the most points in a day, or even trying simple games of one-upmanship was staggering. And yet they’d never gotten directly into a fight with each other through some strange turn of fate.

“Ash! Don’t! If you reveal any tricks now you’ll be showing everyone what you have! Most of the people here are going to be competing against you in two weeks' time! Play it smart!” Misty shouted.

Ash stiffened. Before Gary could needle him Mia was at his side. “You being dumb?” she asked bluntly.

Gary spluttered. “Dumb? I’ll have you know I was only two points behind Silver for most points scored and that’s probably because he was sucking up!”

“Feh, the words of a barking Growlithe can’t reach the mountaintops,” Silver cooly declared.

I shook my head, amused at how Chuuni this kid was. I was also kind of surprised to find that John was a dead ringer for the rival who stole a pokemon in the Gold/Silver games. His declaration of renaming himself ‘Silver’ was rather on point.

I had no idea who ‘Gold’ was but I had Crystal running around underfoot so I had an idea of who to keep track of next season. Any time any of the kids that I’d put on my watch list got close to an Unown ruin site alarms were going to blare.

For now, I relaxed and went back to flipping burgers. I had as many measures in place and I was tracking for as many threats as I could realistically expect.

Jennifer, my representative in local politics rode into the compound on the back of her Arcanine and drew attention when she slung her wheelchair out before plopping into it.

“Hiya everyone!” she said with a large wave only for the growlithe that she’d raised to spring out from where they’d been cuddling up to trainers to make a show of inspecting her.

The Houndour that I’d added to their number were much more standoffish and I pat myself on the back for all of a few seconds.

Then Jennifer noticed the Houndour hummed thoughtfully and made a ‘come’ gesture with her hand while whistling sharply. Both Houndour’s ears swivelled forward in an alert position, and they tracked Jennifer before glancing at me.

“Huh, well trained pups those, you get them from Angie?” she asked, making another gesture which had them trotting over to her to sniff her hand and accept treats that the Growlithe whined at not receiving.

When they tried to nuzzle Jennifer, she gave a sharp whistle and had them lined up. “Hmph! Someone’s been spoiling you!” she commanded. “There will be drills in store for all of you!” she barked before snapping her hand in a dismissive gesture which made the pack disperse and go back to patrolling instead of loitering around.

“Lady? Where are you going?” asked Cindy, chasing after the prettiest Growlithe.

“Patrolling!” shouted Tommy gleefully, giving chase to the pack.

Jennifer snorted a laugh before wheeling her way into the line leading to me. When she reached me she grabbed a burger and parked herself next to me as I continued to hand out meat to those who wanted it.

“I just came around to tell you the good news. Things have been progressing well in Town Hall. Everyone’s keeping their heads down and working as they’re supposed to. You’re still Pewter’s golden boy with your projects leading to a lot of local money trading hands so everyone’s happy with you and there aren’t any agendas that I’ve been able to pick up on.”

She then told me everything that had been worked on with recent meetings ranging from making sure potholes were filled to zoning restructures not unfairly targeting anyone. I found it mildly interesting that the forge district was getting a wider buffer zone, with people housed close to it slowly being phased out to reduce the risk of lung diseases. It was already sparsely populated due to the noises of the forge, but the Council needed to compensate those who were required to move.

I nodded along, humming at various points but otherwise kept quiet. When I’d sat down and thought about threats I had jumped to a lot of the big ticket items and it was only upon review of the year with the issues the Mayor had caused for me that I decided that I needed to touch base with Jennifer.

Jennifer finished off her burger and took a drink from a water bottle attached to her saddle. “What’s up with calling me in? Unless I flag it with you, you are usually happy to ignore whatever happens at Town Hall. Still happy with our arrangement?” she said carefully.

“I am, and I will be keeping it. I’m just trying to be proactive on some things to make sure there aren’t any Arbok lurking in wait for my attention to drift.”

“Ah, makes sense I suppose with the Gym shutting up shop for a while. You looking to have your Farfetch’d in a row before you make a run at the Ace Finals?” she asked.

I raised an eyebrow. “I recall telling everyone I wouldn’t be taking part as I promised Celia to attend the Hoenn tournament. I’ll be over there for at least two to three weeks.”

Jennifer stared at me. “You know I’m both surprised and not that you’re sticking to your promise. Other people wouldn’t dream of missing out on securing the big Ace trophy, but not you eh?”

I smiled and shrugged. “I’ve gotten what I wanted from that. Honestly, I might let my Ace Ranking drop a bit and then try again in a year or two. Or I’ll just play it by ear.”

“The lower ranks will both hate that and love it. Lots of the ones you fought advanced at least twenty to thirty ranks after fighting you. You know they were referring to you as the disaster cash out. They’d get wrecked but then come out better off from facing you.”

I raised an eyebrow at that and Jennifer brought up her transceiver. “What? It’s true! Get on the pokenet battling chat sites and you’ll see!” she said, offering up the site in question.

I waved her off. “No, I believe you. It’s just kind of funny, is all. It makes me sound like an immune booster shot. It sucks getting the jab, but you’re better off for it, ” I said.

“Ho! I’m using that one,” she said, quickly typing something up.

I snorted and shook my head glad that I could count on her to have my back in local politics. “So what are you going to do with the upcoming Gym Leader Meet up? Word in backrooms and around the water coolers is that Lance is pissed that Steven is dragging out negotiations with Fiore. Lance is being forced to sit in on a lot of meetings that have at first glance nothing to do with him or Indigo.”

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I paused to flip the patties and blinked slowly. “Huh, I knew I forgot something,” I said.

Jennifer just sighed and shook her head in fond exasperation. “Of course you did Brock, don’t worry there are two with a brief meet and greet aligned with the actual serious meet-up later during everyone’s downtime once the Tournament is finished.”

I relaxed. Good, that was easy enough.

Jennifer looked at me. “Make sure you work the room. If you show enough interest in them, people might let slip their plans or agendas, so don’t discount a simple meet-and-greet.”

I gave her a look. “How many parties do you need to attend monthly?”

“At least three. Sometimes I deliberately snub them though and stay at home and watch bad cop action movies with Arcanine. It’s all posturing to make sure they don’t get too comfortable with me being predictable.”

“Sounds like something Sabrina would appreciate,” I replied.

Jennifer smirked at that before glancing down. “Your meat is cooked by the way.”

I nodded and chucked it off into a platter only for Munchlax to claim the fresh well-done patty and any other stored patties I had.

“Munchlax,” he said with a nod before continuing on to the salad bar where he began making a tower burger.

He trooped over and sat with the rest of our family. Togepi merrily waved at him from Suzie’s lap, and Yolanda nodded in greeting.

Munchlax ignored them, focusing entirely on his meal. He shifted left and right, considering his burger with the air of a critic. It was rather ridiculous considering he ate table scraps.

He added some salt and pepper, and sat back to inspect his towering burger.

“Uhm, Munchlax, it’s tipping over,” Yolanda pointed out.

Munchlax held up a hand towards Yolanda, not bothered by the lean. He waited and around him, everyone leaned forward, wondering what was about to happen only for Munchlax to hop out of his seat and position himself beneath the toppling burger. He tilted his head up and opened his mouth wide.

The entire thing disappeared into his maw. He chewed a few times and then swallowed causing everyone to blink.

“Huh, should have had a talent show during one of the evenings,” I said, causing Jennifer to laugh.

“That was kind of cool,” murmured Ash and Gary surprisingly agreed with him.

They locked eyes, and I sighed, knowing something extremely dumb was about to happen.

“See who can fit the most food in their mouth?” Ash challenged.

Gary nodded only for Forrest to grin and nudge Bugsy. Before long I had most of the boys along with Dora and Mia looking around for something to stuff in their mouths to prove themselves.

Misty faceplamed and I laughed. “Someone go get the marshmallows!” I called. Kids just being kids were a pleasure unto themselves sometimes.

One good thing about wrapping up with this event? I didn’t have to handle a bunch of kids on sugar highs. I could just set them loose upon Pewter.

As soon as the giant bags of marshmallows arrived, Munchlax perked up and without even seeing the first marshmallow eaten I knew who the victor was going to be.

I whistled and called for Jormungandr to put these pretenders in their place.

Munchlax would put up a good fight, but when it came to who could fit the most in their mouth, there would be no contest.

Size mattered.

Bertha and Titan put up good fights and a trip to the local pokemart to buy out their entire stock of Marshmallows had been required but in the end Jorm had won.

Munchlax had conceded, but only after multiple attempts which resulted in him swallowing his mouthful of sweets.

With the kids loaded up on sugar I knew I needed to send them off.

“Race around Pewter go!” I shouted and caused a minor stampede when the kids took off. I noted that even the ‘clever’ kids of Team Mystic took off.

I hummed and watched Gary elbowing Ash. And there was a kid I was going to entrust a pokemon to.

Jennifer just shook her head in amusement, having remained to talk with me about the upcoming Gym Leader meeting. “My cousin and her fellows aren’t going to enjoy chasing after those hoodlums.”

“Eh, they’re kids. They’ll be fine,” I said with a dismissive wave.

I nodded inside. “While you’re here, let me bounce some thoughts off you about the upcoming meeting with the major Gym Leaders for this meet-and-greet before the major event,” I said as I led her into the Gym.

I smiled winningly at the visage of the mayor. “The entire park? Ruined due to overactive children you say?” I repeated. “Hmmmm can’t say I know anything about that.”

The mayor gave me a gimlet look. “I know you did something! Your representative kept giggling like a schoolgirl when the matter was raised in council.”

I hummed and glanced towards the opening doors. “I can’t say I know anything about it,

I repeated. “I’m terribly sorry, but I have to go.”

“Brock wait I—” He started to say before I hung up and marched into the hall housing the Gym Leaders meeting. Sabrina hovered along at my side, her gaze boring into the side of my head.

“What did you do?” she asked.

“I did nothing!” I denied.

“Is that the truth or is that the truth, and therefore the problem,” Sabrina said.

It took me a moment to parse her meaning and I coughed. “Alright I probably should have anticipated that letting a bunch of kids get hopped up on sugar and letting them loose on Pewter was a bad idea.”

Sabrina raised an eyebrow in amusement at my admission and I coughed. “And it might have been more than just a little bit of sugar…” I murmured to the side.

“How much? A few servings? Or similar to a Channelers eve serving?”

I coughed. Indigo didn’t have a halloween technically, but they did have a Channeler’s Eve which was effectively the same thing with kids dressing up in scary outfits and approaching people’s doors to knock on them.

Considering that candy was cheap, there was usually a huge haul of sugar and the typical result that came of it and I’d known having taken my entire family around, usually as poison type pokemon.

“About a bag’s worth,” I said.

Sabrina’s stare intensified. “What was the damage at the end of the day?”

“Well, someone decided that the playground needed tunnels underneath it and went to the hardware shop and got the kids to help dig big tunnels underneath everything.”

“Aren’t most playgrounds cemented in?” Sabrina asked.

“They dug under that. It was an impressive effort and they were pretty successful until they stopped for a break and the entire thing sank. No one was hurt thankfully,” I said.

“Hmmm child labour can be surprisingly effective if that’s the result of a bag of sugar,” Sabrina commented.

“Sabrina… we’re the good guys. Just stop whatever it is you’re thinking about right now.”

“It would have been harmless,” Sabrina said with a wave and a slight twitch of her lips.

I rolled my eyes knowing she was mostly joking. It was the part that wasn’t which worried me. There was also a small part of me that was interested in what she was proposing.

Hypothetically there was— “Ha! Nerds!” shouted a booming voice.

Sabrina and I looked up to find Visquez marching in with Erika and Janine.

“Visquez! Don’t call them that!” Erika admonished.

“Eh, they’re nerds, bigger nerds than this girl even!” Visquez waved a hand towards Janine who stiffened only to relax. “She’s obviously a ninja nerd but that makes her cool. What isn’t cool is showing up first to a meeting or showing up early! The cool thing to do is always be a few minutes late! First people to a party are always the squares!”

I blinked slowly at her. “If we hadn’t been here would that mean you’d have been the square?” I pointed out.

Visquez waved my comment away. “Nope! Cause you weren’t! Therefore you’re the squares and we’re fashionable late and cool!” she said, dragging Erika and Janine into her side.

Erika shot me a pleading look that I merely smiled at. Heh, and she thought she was going to teach Visquez how to be a lady.

“What in Johto is this about?” Clair said as she marched in, leading what looked like the Johto delegation of Gym Leaders.

I was glad to see Whitney. Interestingly enough another new face was present in the form of who could only be Jasmine. Bugsy wasn’t yet Gym Leader but his uncle was and he locked eyes with me and flicked his to the side, indicating a desire to talk.

I nodded in response, indicating my willingness.

Pryce merely nodded and drifted past everyone to claim a seat at the table where he brought out a thermos of tea, which he sipped from. Visquez was quick to lock onto him.

“Hey, Father Time, you know they provide buffet-style meals at these things, yeah? Are you going to turn your nose up at the spread for whatever you packed from home?”

Pryce merely stared at her as he took a slow sip of his tea, uncaring of how she towered over him.

He made a point of clicking his cup on the table before replying, “Old habits die hard or rather, they don’t. Your father understood,” he said cryptically.

Visquez’s smile shrank, and she nodded. “Ah makes sense… Hey Janine, the food any good?” she said, diverting from Pryce to Janine.

“Why would I know that?” Janine leaned back so she could look into Visquez’s eyes.

“Come on, you’re the poison specialist!” Visquez said, dragging Janine towards the buffet. “Just sample some of this stuff and tell me if it’s poisoned or not!”

“That’s not how it works!” Janine refuted.

“Just think of it as ninja training! Poison resistance or some such!”

“That’s not how it works!” Janine repeated.

I stepped to the side with Bugsy’s uncle as Sabrina moved to follow Janine and Visquez. “This about what I offered to Bugsy?” I prompted the man.

“Indeed, we wanted to thank you for not extorting him as others might have. We are interested in the project but there are some points that will need to be… amended, “ he said to which I merely nodded.

“Good,” I said, handing the man the page that I’d torn out of Bugsy’s contract which listed not just the contact information but also the signature to make the document legal. “Here’s the contact information of who to talk to with the League. I’ll step back but once I get the nod I’ll be more than happy to hand over the Stone for Bugsy,” I said quietly.

The other man nodded, pleased and moved away.

I had no doubts that by the end of the week I’d get the nod from all parties to loan out the stone.

The rest of the major Gym Leaders from Kanto wandered in drips and drabs with Kaede in the company of Daisy from Cerulean.

I nodded at them both while claiming my seat, my eyes still on the door and sure enough as they began to swing closed Noland walked through.

I hummed in thought. I’d sat with Jennifer and talked about the state of the various Gyms in the lead up to this meeting, informal as it was, and one of the implications she’d pointed out was that should Noland appear, then the League was up to something.

Kaede could be understood as she was locking herself in.

Norman hadn’t come and Whitney, as his true replacement was here.

Noland however? He wasn’t going to be permanent.

“Noland wasn’t it?” I said in greeting, and the man nodded as he surveyed the room before pausing on the sole seat left open for him.

Daisy giggled and waved with a flutter of her fingers as her eyes tracked the exposed muscles of his arms.

“Hmph, I wasn’t aware temporary Gym Leaders would be joining us,” Pryce eyed Noland as he claimed his chair.

“Temporary Gym Leader? Yes, but I’m also likely to be something of a familiar face you could say,” Noland replied as he winked at Daisy who giggled.

I pursed my lips. That was a telling response. So, the League hadn’t just been looking to deny Bruce a spot as a Gym Leader, had they? They also had an eye for the future.

“You’re referring to your role as for the upcoming Battle Frontier?” I asked.

Noland nodded. “As a Frontier Brain, which is the agreed upon term, There are going to be additions to the Gym Leader meetings as a new region is opened.”

I clicked my tongue. “There’s a few problems with that.”

“Those being?” Noland asked, swivelling his eyes towards me. I felt a thrill as something passed almost physically hit me as I locked eyes with Noland.

Ah, he was aware of aura was he? That explained his presence and ability to weather Pryce’s glare. Then again, this was also a man that had an Articuno on call.

Pryce could just be envious.

“You’re not part of the Indigo League. You’re a representative of Fiore,” I said starting with the most salient point.

I added a second finger to my arguement. “You are not Gym Leaders with their responsibilities.”

“And it isn’t part of Indigo bylaws for non-Gym Leaders to attend. Your attendance will ruffle a lot of feathers,” I stated thinking of Kong, the Fighting Type Gym Leader of Saffron.

Pryce inclined his head. “Well spoken Brock,” he said.

I caught Clair giving a conflicted look which let me know that there was going to be some difficulties with her. If she was walking a party line handed to her by Lance then there was going to be some potential issues with leaving her to ‘guide’ Whitney and Jasmine.

I glanced at Erika and saw that she understood the implications.

The League was probing us to see if there was a chance to dilute our influence and ability to self-govern by introducing more people who’d they’d get to tap.

If we weren’t careful Jasmine, Kaede, Whitney and Noland might just be tipping points.

I was suddenly glad that I’d attended tonight’s chat, informal as it was. I eyed Bugsy’s uncle and Daisy. I hadn’t second-guessed the League’s agreement with allowing my proposal to pass.

Now? Well, it had a smell of dirty politics all over it.

I made a mental note to pull both of them aside again and raise the issue of the League using this as a negotiating point when they tried to negotiate.

Visquez snorted. “Damn y’all made things get real heavy there! This is supposed to be a chill event where we meet each other! Calm down!”

I chuckled, amused that the bluntest of us was smoothing things over. Erika however merely sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

Still I had to give her credit where it was due. It worked to have everyone relax back in their seats. Daisy was more than happy to pick things up from there.

“Well let’s start things off! I’m Daisy from the Cerulean Gym and I love—”

Sabrina leaned into me, and she grimaced when I shot her a confused look at what appeared to be a show of affection.

“Daisy is thinking rather loud graphic thoughts,” she said, and I nodded in comprehension.

Ah, the true weakness of Sabrina, being around thirsty women.

I held in a laugh and introduced myself. When we stood to relax, I made a point of talking with all the new faces and feeling them out. Sadly, Clair stuck to Jasmine and Whitney quite closely, but a quick word with Pryce saw him hovering, which quickly made Clair retreat due to his icy aura.

I flicked my eyes to Erika, and she collected the girls to begin to understand things while I spoke with Bugsy’s uncle again.

Daisy, sadly didn’t unglue herself from Noland until right at the end when he nodded and departed, but not before handing Daisy his contact information.

“Hey, I need to talk to you about the offer the League made to you,” I said approaching Daisy after Noland left.

Daisy didn’t look up from her transceiver. “Hmm? Oh, we’re happy to go with it as it stands. We’ve combed through Grampa’s stuff, and sadly, he never left any notes or hidden messages for us. Just his Gyarados.”

I opened my mouth to tell her it was a bad idea before pausing to reconsider.

The League couldn’t really argue or bargain for anything political if the girls just straight up accepted their bargain.

Huh, I’d never thought of just blindly walking through the trap as how to get out of it.

“Fair enough,” I said, offering her a nod. I cast around for something else to say before just blurting. “Misty did well for herself when she faced off against me, although I have to worry how she’s got my brother wrapped around her little finger.”

Daisy paused only for a glint to enter her eyes. “Oh?” she purred. “Do tell.”

I chuckled, of course, that would be what actually gained her attention. I shared some stories of Misty and my brother during the camp with Daisy looking gleeful by the time I was done.

I turned to find Sabrina only to find her and Erika conferring.

I offered them a nod as I approached. “Hey you two, interesting get-together no?”

Erika nodded slowly. “Interesting is a term for this… certainly… It’s just… well.” Erika fidgeted. “This whole situation stinks. Someone is making moves but I’m not sure if this is a smokescreen that we’re not supposed to see through or the actual goal they’re aiming for.”

“Hmmm it’s been something the League might have been working to for a while with the whole ‘evaluation matches’ Kaede and Bruce apparently had to go through,” I suggested.

Erika snorted. “They were never going to want to let Bruce be a Gym Leader, doubly so because he owes Steven stone so much.”

I paused, having not considered that angle. I was suddenly glad that I’d gotten off so easily with my deal with Steven Stone, I didn’t have a nebulous ‘favour’ hanging over my head.

I was about to nod and mention this when I paused. Bruce hadn't been the only dragon trainer to get a Mega Stone from Steven... Huh, Lance you hypocritical ass.

Erika continued unaware of my thoughts, “I’m going to talk to some people. I think this whole thing with Fiore is a play for something else but I can’t tell what yet. I can’t believe the League wouldn’t expect us to close ranks when they introduced Noland like that.”

I shrugged. “Lots of new Gym Leaders they can replace if they don’t tow the party line?”

Erika shrugged. “Too heavy handed. Leave this with me, it won’t be something we’ll have to address for a month so I should have a solid answer by then,” she said.

"Erika, wait... Lance also has a mega stone from Steven," I said. If she was going to poke her nose into this she deserved whatever information I could offer.

Erika pursed her lips. "It grows more muddied, not less," she muttered before giving me a bow of thanks.

Sabrina teleported back home, and I settled in for bed. I was glad that Erika was eager to chase that radiate down its hole.

Now I just needed to face off against a few more trainers and close up and I’d be home free to face whatever happened when I arrived in Hoenn.

I was already drawing up plans for when Team Magma poked their noses into my business. It wasn't paranoia if they were out to get you after all.

Sadly I knew that when I got back I was going to be facing some political drama, but at least I had Erika on the case.

I could count on her, and if not, I’d send Visquez to back her up.

Heh, Erika would hate that, doubly so if it actually worked.