Hard Enough

“Alright team, let’s focus” I said, drawing people’s attention to me with a clap of my hands.

A.J. had been glaring at Yolanda, Greta, and Crystal. The girls of late had been thick as thieves with their training and jobs. I wasn’t surprised they’d ganged up on A.J. to break his streak, but it seemed A.J. was still coming to terms with this being possible.

Rachel was here with Alexa and the other gym employees. Dennis and Rocko were also present with a number of the other casually employed gym trainers.

Jackson was very much the odd man out with how he’d taken his time off so as to head back to the Orange Islands. I’d granted him another day’s leave if he ferried back my Crystal Onix. With a week and change off in the Orange Islands, I had little doubt that he was living it up right now.

“So, Arthur?” I said to start things off. “He’s the current seventh-ranked trainer in the Ace circuit and he made it to the semifinals against the eventual winner in Bruce,” I said.

I brought up his image and also that of the current rankings list on the display.

1. Bruce
2. Carr
3. Kaede
4. Joshua
5. Corey
6. Mirea
7. Arthur
8. Karen
9. Brock
10. Neesha
11. Fergus
12. Masked Owl/Walker
13. Scarlet

I flicked my eyes over the list, finding several names that I recognised, along with some that were considered regulars for the top ten. “As you can see, I’m now ranked ninth in the rankings thanks to the result of the Celadon tournament. Interestingly, it seems Scarlet made a good jump up the rankings as well thanks to her placing second, while Walker has slipped out of the top ten,” I commented.

“Good, he was overhyped,” said A.J. firmly

Missy shook her head. “He’s still a skilled trainer and he has held out a long time in the top ten, but fourth has been the highest he’s ever reached, without ever getting a win against anyone in the top three.”

I waved a hand and decided to move the conversation along. “I’d have to say that Walker was well-ranked previously as he has a lot of skills, but we’re talking about Arthur today!” I clicked a slide.

“For pokemon that he has used at the Ace level, the following have appeared: Hypno, Ninetails, Aggron, Slaking, Absol, Gyarados, Electrode, Ursaring, Snorlax, Weaville, Mismagius, Slowbro, Marowak, Steelix, Chansey, Tropius, Mightyena, Fearow, Pidgeot, Swellow, Dodrio, Arcanine, with a Machamp who happens to be his starter,” I said rattling off the team list.

Everyone stared at the list. “That’s…” Yolanda started only to stop and lick her lips. “A really strong pokemon list,” she said.

I nodded and glanced around to find that several people looked worried. I had to give it to them. Arthur was a very strong pokemon trainer. Historically, it seemed he’d been hovering in the top twenty for the last two years, but this year he had exploded, with a lot more pokemon joining his Ace team. He had dropped any need for a ‘regular’ roster of pokemon, instead opting for a lot more variability.

This usually led to him having the upper hand against many trainers. He was however slightly older than most on the Ace circuit, barring Walker.

Crystal opened her mouth before shutting it, while Greta began toying with something on the display. “What would be an ideal team for him to bring against Brock?” she suggested.

I nodded in approval, liking this rational line of thinking. People started throwing out suggestions and we debated them or included them.

We quickly had a roster featuring Machamp, Slaking, Slowbro, Tropius, Mismagius, and Gyarados.

I stared at the list and shook my head. “I don’t think he will be bringing out Gyarados against me. He knows that I have too good a counter against it. Also, the flying type adds a weakness that’s too easily exploited.”

Missy raised a hand. “You’ve also demonstrated a lot of skill against water-type pokemon with any of your rock or water-type pokemon.”

“Point,” I said. Not that it should come as a surprise, I had made a point of covering that weakness in my pokemon as much as I could.

“I think Chansey is a likely enough pokemon as well myself, they are mean battlers when they get the chance and can be terrifyingly hard to counter if they get set up. They have several moves that keep themselves topped up while dishing out a lot of damage,” I said.

I searched the rest of the list. Tropius was another that I scratched off, as I’d again demonstrated that I could deal with such a pokemon from a specialised trainer. It would be rather bold of him to use that pokemon against me, despite the grass-type moves.

“We’ve got some time to go through everyone’s notes on the recent matches,” I said as I loaded up my notes from what observations I had from watching his matches over the last week during my downtime.

Instead of my notes loading however, a picture of Suzie, Munchlax and I playing a game of Dragonslayer was put on display. Yolanda giggled and I frowned. “Sorry. that wasn’t the file I wanted,” I said as I selected another, only to show me baking cookies with Cindy while Munchlax, Gible, Nanny Grav and Sanchez tried to sneak cookies from a tray that was cooling.

Again the girls started giggling. with a few more of the gym trainers joining in. I rolled my eyes and selected the last file, fully expecting it and therefore unsurprised when I found an image with me reading to Gible, Teddiursa, Anorith, and Zubat while Empress, Cindy, and Tommy watched on. Next to me, a large stack of books was on display.

“Awwww, you read to them?” said Missy. “I didn’t know you did that!”

I coughed. “That’s something I do occasionally for the young pokemon. They rather like the stories and it’s a good bonding activity,” I said.

I let people gush over the images before turning my focus on Yolanda. “Alright, where’s the actual file?” I said.

She stood and clicked through some folders to bring up where she’d hidden my actual notes. I huffed at her and ruffled her hair. “You’re starting to get a bit uppity, young miss,” I said faux-sternly.

She grinned and skipped back to her friends while I rolled my eyes. “Alright, so I know about some of the tricks his Machamp knows, but there is also his Ursaring and Snorlax, so I think those two along with his starter are more than likely to make an appearance,” I said, detailing my thoughts before asking for others’ contributions.

We debated back and forth for a while, before I sat down and compared my list of pokemon. It seemed almost inadequate after the number and different types of pokemon he had.

“I think I’m going with Titan, Shrek, Sanchez, Link, Selene and….” I trailed off on the last pokemon, unsure if I should go for Bertha or someone else.

“You’re not going to take Jormungandr?” asked Dennis in surprise.

I hummed, tossing the idea back and forth. Would Jorm offer me more than Bertha? Or should I go for a fighting-type pokemon here?

Sanchez was the only other that I could potentially drop, but he offered more defensive options for different situations.

Shrek was also something of a clutch fighter for me with how he could hold his own.

Titan was my strongest pokemon. He was able to dish out and endure more than any other pokemon while offering up a lot of different options for tactics.

Link… Perhaps Link needed to be dropped from the line up?

I switched around his name and instead inserted Bertha for some power with her versatile fighting style.

Then I went with Hypnotoad.

Arthur had a lot of pokemon that were normal type and would be problems to deal with if I didn’t have the right pokemon to counter them. Not unless I just wanted to power through.

Which… was still an option with Bertha and Titan on the team. I nodded my head at the new lineup.

Titan, Shrek, Bertha, Hypnotoad, Selene, and Sanchez.

“Hey Brock, what’s this about him being a ‘corporate trainer?’” asked Crystal, standing and tapping on one section of Arthur’s trainer profile.

Missy spoke up. “Ah, that means he has a locked-in contract to be sponsored and awarded pay from a set company. He is sponsored by Tough Steelworks, which is why most of his matches occur at Commerce City, as that’s their homebase.”

“A construction company?” asked Crystal with surprise.

“They have a lot more money to throw around at the higher levels of companies. They’re the ones that make stadiums, skyscrapers and other megabuildings. They’ve been very vocal about the Silph Co. Tower incident, as it was revealed to be one of their competitors who signed off on the additional top three floors that weren’t up to code.”

Yolanda glanced at me. “Did they do our gym?”

“No,” I said. “I went with a local firm. Steelix Industries to construct the building, after having another group design it to my specifications,” I said.

A.J. frowned. “So… that means he’s like Steven Stone right? With having a big company backing him up? That’s why he can roster so many pokemon, isn't it? He is paying other people to look after his pokemon rather than train them himself.”

I waved my hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. “I don’t think he does it to the same extent that Steven Stone does, but then again, if we start doing deeper dives into other trainers you will probably find a good number in the top fifty that employ Steven’s methods. Having a larger pokemon roster at a high level helps, but keeping so many pokemon strong is a tough task. I’m able to make use of my gym facilities, whereas others would need to fork out a lot for rental of spaces like these.”

“Hmpf, I still don’t like it,” grouched A.J.

I shrugged. “It’s something that you can hate, but make sure you don’t dismiss it, it has been shown to be a method that works.”

Missy shifted. “Should more people try it?” she said tentatively.

I hummed. “I think that Arthur, or indeed even Steven would only be able to Mega-evolve a small number of those pokemon. So there are drawbacks to it,” I pointed out.

Damn, I couldn’t wait for tomorrow afternoon. If I got lucky I might have Aerodactylite, which… Well, I had no doubt that of all my pokemon, Don would be one of the toughest to bond with. His temperament was typically just so much more abrasive and aggressive than my personality.

I’d probably spend at least as long with him as I did with Jorm should I find something. Still, it would be nice to have the option to Mega-evolve him.

I talked through a few more tactics I’d look to employ before bidding most of the staff farewell. Some would stick around to feed the pokemon and set up the big screen for the rest of my pokemon to watch the match, but then they’d have the night off.

I turned to my usual entourage with Rachel, Missy, and Alexa only for A.J., Yolanda, Greta, and Crystal to all stand up. Crystal fidgetted. “Any chance we can hitch a ride on your transport?” she asked hopefully.

I typed out a quick message to Sabrina and shot the girls a smile. “I think Sabrina can handle a few late additions,” I said.

Sure enough, it was no issue for Sabrina to Teleport them and while she couldn’t stick around, she gave me a kiss for luck before departing. I turned and found myself in front of a stadium that was equal to that of my own or Surge’s… that is, Visquez’s Gym.

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It was obviously more commercialised, with more room being made for seating as opposed to training pokemon or having administration or residential facilities. With this being Commerce City, that made a lot of sense.

“Stay close team,” I called, while waving them towards a side entrance where a security detail checked us over before letting us in. I walked along the tunnel with a number of doors branching off to the side, before finding a room that was basically a large lounge, set up for myself and Arthur.

As well as a number of other rather familiar faces that turned with my appearance. Names and faces of trainers that I’d made explicit note of all looked me up and down.

On one side of the large lounge, Corey, Neesha, Fergus, and Mirea had claimed a number of couches, with a few of their pokemon and some of their human entourages lingering around them.

On the other side of the room leaning against a wall and smirking was a young-looking boy with greyish hair.

I knew him as Carr, the current second-ranked Ace trainer.

My eyes paused as they locked with that of Arthur, a blond classically handsome young man who lounged upon his chair like a throne. Next to him was Bruce, the current number one on the Ace rankings.

Both of them nodded their heads, with Arthur even going as far as to tip the drink in his hand towards me in acknowledgement. I nodded back before giving some thought to where my… much larger entourage would sit.

“You know,” said a voice from off to the side. “It is considered poor form to bring so many assistants with you.”

I frowned, recognising the voice. I turned, only to find a woman with a veil hanging over her face looking in my direction, or rather, that of my entourage. The veil and the Furret resting atop the woman’s shoulder announced who this was.

“Kaede,” I said, nodding in her direction. “You were sorely missed at the Contest. How’d the movie shoot go?” I asked politely.

Kaede sighed. “The director was exacting, but my Champion was rather pleased as they are peas in a pod. They’re both perfectionists, you see?” she said lazily. The Furret on her shoulder nodded at this.

“I imagine that Furret would have to be, with you having reached third on the rankings,” I said with a nod of respect. When I got the chance to fight her, I knew I’d have to have a lot of different options with her extremely diverse and tricky team.

“Hmmm, it will do for now,” she said, her gaze turning towards Arthur and Bruce. “Look at them, lounging there like little kings. It’s rather disgusting, wouldn’t you say?”

I turned my head to give the pair another look. To me, they just looked like two people who were friendly with each other and who shared professions, which made them close.

“I’m not sure I see what you mean,” I said, before glancing between her and them. “Is it rude to ask if there is a history there?”

“It is, but you are not wrong that there is history between us,” she said. “And that is all I will say on the matter. My feelings would not dissuade you. I shall depart for now, good luck with your match,” she said as she moved off.

I nodded, eying her with some thought. Alright, there was definitely some bad blood there between her and Bruce Blackthorn. I’d need to look into her details through the Guardians' file to see what they knew about her if I wanted more intel.

I chewed my lip, it might even be worth doing it for the competitors. I’d done it by accident for Walker and that had certainly helped as I knew precisely what to expect from him, but some of these others? Well, their information was a bit more controlled on the pokenet.

Was it too much of an advantage to look into their histories and the unrestricted list of their pokemon before facing them?

Was such a thing possible?

I’d need to think about it some more.

Arthur and Bruce, who’d been watching me talk with Kaede, waved a hand towards me, beckoning me closer. I raised an eyebrow and waved for my entourage to claim some of the few remaining seats. “Hello there, this is rather different,” I said, indicating the shared space for trainers.

“Ah, some places prefer it to having singular trainer rooms. It helps to keep everyone honest, especially when you have so many matches a day,” said Bruce with an amused tilt of his head. His blue hair drifted across his eyes before he glanced back at me.

“I suppose no one mentioned limiting your group to three people? It looks like you’re running a school with the kids you’ve brought along,” he said with a chuckle.

“They’re part of my gym and looking to learn how this all works. They might be sitting here one day soon, after all.”

“Hmmm, is that so? Be a while for some of them,” he said dismissively.

I raised an eyebrow. “They might surprise you,” I said thinking of how hard they were all training and growing. Missy at least would be on the Ace scene by next year. Getting familiar with this sort of thing was very good practice for her.

I glanced over to Arthur only to catch his eyes flicking about my pokebelt. “Can I help you?” I said tersely. And just like that, the call to talk suddenly took on a sinister turn.

Arthur glanced up shamelessly. “You don’t hide your pokebelt? You should fix that,” he said with a smile, as though he hadn’t just done something morally wrong.

I flicked my own eyes down, only to find his pokebelt had dark receptacles around his pokeballs, hiding the type and any identifying markers on them from view. “Hmmm, thanks for the tip,” I said sarcastically as I stood. “If that’s all, I think I will be off,” I said, marching off.

“Brock, don’t hate the player! It’s just part of the game!” Arthur called after me.

I didn't look back at him. I was fuming. Of all the low-down tricks… I gave the room a quick sweep and frowned at what I found.

Everyone in the room who was a trainer was wearing the hidden pokebelt. It seemed everyone was aware of this little ‘trick’. I chewed my lip. “They have privacy protectors over their pokebelts,” I said with a scowl.

The kids all stiffened, their gazes flickering around. Missy blinked in surprise but nodded slowly. “That makes sense, it is something they could use to get an early potential read on an opponent and what pokemon he might be bringing to the field.”

I nodded along, watching as Arthur glanced at his transceiver. From this angle, I could see a list detailing pokeballs and pokemon that they corresponded to.

Damn, another aspect of being an Ace trainer I hadn’t considered, but which seemed obvious in retrospect. At this level, people would have more than good enough eyes to spot details like this. You either had to have the same pokeball or hide them in some way.

I considered my team, running my hand over my pokebelt before pausing as I realised something. I didn’t have a normal six pokemon carry limit.

I had ten due to being a Gym Leader. Most of my pokeballs were just that as well, pokeballs.

I had a number of my pokeballs hidden out of sight, as it wouldn’t do to rub people’s faces with the fact that certain people had the right to carry more pokeballs than others.

I felt a small realisation come over me. Arthur might have just given himself a disadvantage, instead of getting one over me.

I glanced down and noted which pokeballs were visible. Hmmmm, I could work with this. I glanced up and found Bruce talking with Arthur and gesturing in my direction. Hmmm, then again, perhaps I wouldn’t be able to trip him up.

‘Cause if anyone could recall that Gym Leaders had higher carrying capacity, it would be Bruce, Lance’s cousin.

I shot him a baleful look that he ignored with far too much ease. Must have been his practice with dragon-type pokemon.

Arthur nodded and muttered something that sounded like a thanks as he stopped flipping through his transceiver and instead wandered over to a transfer terminal where he started tapping away.

Another feature of the room that I’d overlooked upon entry, as I was too caught up in the people within. With the transfer terminal, the possibility of changing out your team went from a minor annoyance to an extremely viable tactic.

I glanced around and sighed. This shared waiting area was common enough to have sparked its own meta, it would seem. Other places wouldn’t have allowed such last-minute changes. How many places operated like Commerce City?

“I imagine it’s a bit of a shake-up for rookie Ace trainers that make it to this stage or fight here to learn they’re being sniped like that. If they don’t work it out, they might even end up losing a lot more matches than they should,” I said to Missy.

Missy nodded, drawing out her journal to write down her observations and thoughts about this. I hummed and glanced at the others who were likewise burning this lesson into their minds. If nothing else, today had been worth bringing them along so they would know.

I’d need to make a point of teaching this at my camp and to my sponsored trainers in the future though, as there had to be chances for this at the lower level in the circuit as well.

I watched Arthur walk back to his lounge with a mild glare. He tried shooting me a smirk as though he knew something I didn’t, but I just mirrored it right back, causing him to look away.

So, he was trying for some mind games as well, eh? Damn, but it was tempting to go over to the transfer system and bring out Empress, Jorm, Don, and Tide, to spam out my most powerful pokemon at him.

“Brock and Arthur?” called a pair of attendants.

We both stood, with our entourages being led off to their respective seating. I gave Arthur a look over and for the first time since I’d walked in he met my gaze properly.

There was no hint of shame or reluctance, merely an unwavering spirit that met my gaze head-on. To him, he’d done everything he could to win, and that was commendable.

We walked down the tunnel until we reached the end, where a branch led us away from each other, forcing us to look away from the other. I walked in silence, toying with the pokemon I had planned to use along with the moves they had.

The attendant led me to a door where they turned and raised a small computer. “Alright sir, if I could get your team locked in please?”

I rattled off my team, locking them in. The attendant nodded before frowning. “You’re not bringing… I mean.” He coughed. “I apologise, I overstepped my place,” he said, formally bowing his head.

“Not allowed to talk about the decisions?” I asked.

The man nodded. “Yes, I was hoping to watch a close encounter of your Steelix’s Mega-evolution tonight.” He shifted nervously. “I think I can settle for the rest of your team however,” he said firmly.

I chuckled at his admission. Overhead a small buzzer sounded out and the man coughed again. “That is your signal to walk through. You will be in an elevator shaft that will raise you up a level to the podium, where you will step off before it lowers back down. Good luck sir,” he said, giving a more practised bow to me.

I nodded my head and walked in. When the door shut behind me, the elevator began to rise and I soon appeared on a standard battlefield with a podium placed before me.

“—oooooock of Pewter City!” called an announcer.

I smiled and waved, my eyes still adjusting to the glare of the sudden bright lights after being in the elevator shaft. I walked forward onto my podium and looked for Arthur.

“And now! The hometown defender and the representative of Tough Steelworks, the home for the sturdiest constructs around! Give it up for Arthur of Commerce City!”

I made a face at the included advertising that had been worked into Arthur’s introduction. Were all of the trainer matches held here like that? Damn, now I had to rethink why trainers hadn’t wanted to come to face me.

Commerce City trainers might not have been pressured to ignore me so much as just outright not want to.

They’d have missed out on a major chance to shill their sponsors.

“Trainers, I remind you that this match is to operate under the standard Indigo rules for Ace Matches! Good conduct and competition are key components—” the referee came in with the usual spiel and I felt myself and most of the crowd switch off.

I instead monitored Arthur, noting how he had a necklace on display with what must have been the ball for his starter pokemon Machamp, Crowner. In his hand, another pokeball was being toyed with, and when he noticed me looking he smiled in what I’m assuming others would call a charming manner.

I saw through my peripherals the referee raise the flags. “Trainers, are you ready?” he called.

Both of us nodded, drawing back our arms. “Release!”

I sent forth Sanchez, hoping to play the odds.

My research concluded that he liked to start off with a statement pokemon like Snorlax or Slaking, or one of his flying type pokemon when he could. I very much doubted he was going to try that against me. So Sanchez was a good opener for me.

“Rule them! Crowner!” called Arthur, and at his side of the field his Machamp took to the stage, sinking any chances I had of a good start to this match. Worse yet, Machamp appeared right in the middle of the field.

Arthur met my gaze and grinned viciously like he’d just trapped me. Damn, he might have done just that. He’d done his research, knowing that his starter was his best option out of the gates.

I felt a wave of premonition wash over me as I understood precisely what was about to happen.

“Begin!” “Mach Punch!” bellowed Arthur at the exact moment that the referee called for a start.

His Machamp surged across the field, leaving me only one chance for saving this. “Protect!” I barked, and Sanchez curled up as a shield formed around himself, defending him from a quick one-two knock out, or at least some heavy damage in the opening exchange.

“Bulk Up in close!” Machamp flexed and shifted into a powerlifter pose while the hands at the top of Machamp clenched into fists just waiting to pulverise my pokemon.

“Dip,” I said, causing the Protect to vanish and Sanchez to bury himself into the ground.

“Earthquake!” barked Arthur as he kept up the pressure. His pokemon raised a single foot before firing it into the ground and causing a tremor to rock the field. Sanchez got out in just time and I sighed in relief knowing I’d made the right call to go for a simple Dip rather than a proper Dig.

I could try to call Sanchez back, but I knew it wasn’t going to work out well for me as Arthur was already mid-order. “Mach Punch!” he yelled.

Once again Machamp threw itself into an outright sprint, hurtling at Sanchez.

“Catch its fists and unleash Thunder,” I said, surprising everyone in the crowd as I refused to run with Sanchez.

Machamp slammed into Sanchez, only for my bombastic pokemon to catch the foremost fists in his arms and roll like I’d trained him to do against a fighting type coming at him.

Sadly Hypnotoad wasn’t a replacement for a fighting type with four arms and the top two arced down fast, slamming into Sanchez as he rolled onto his back.

I knew enough about wrestling to know that getting put on the ground was a bad position. Not a terrible position, but still not great. That is, unless you can unleash lightning from your body.

With Machamp locked into close quarters, Sanchez’s Thunder unleashed from close proximity and fried the powerful fighting-type pokemon.

“Drain Punch now!” bellowed Arthur, not waiting for the Lightning to vanish.

“Explosion,” I replied, and through the lightning a shadow of a form rose and lashed downward, only for a light to explode outwards with an odd ellipse shape.

It wasn’t anywhere near as powerful as it should have been.

A niggling doubt entered my mind and I was sadly proven right as the dust cleared to reveal Sanchez knocked out. Standing atop him, a slightly scorched Machamp towered, with two of its four fists extended into Sanchez’s face.

Damn, the punches had been strong enough to affect the Explosion. That… was very worrying.

Machamp raised its fists into the air and roared in triumph as the referee raised a flag.

“Sanchez the Golem is unable to battle, the score is now one-nil in favour of Arthur!”

Damn, this had not started the way I wanted it to. I swallowed and eyed Machamp.

I needed a fast response, thankfully I had just the pokemon for the job.

“Go Selene!” I called as my Lunatone took to the field.

Selene would be the start, and from there? I'd lock in my goal of making the midseason tournament.

Arthur was merely the next obstacle for me to get through.

I settled in for a hard fight.

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