Nanny Grav bustled around the kitchen preparing snacks for the family to take outside. Trays upon trays of food were assembled along with litres of drink.

She reached out and lightly bonked Munchlax on the head as he tried to swipe a tray of cookies.

“Ah! I’m hit! Retreat!” he shouted as he darted away.

Nanny Grav leaned around the corner of the table and found herself locking eyes with the young Togepi.

“I-i’m sowwy!” wailed the little egg pokemon. “I just wanted a cookie!”

Nanny Grav plucked a cookie and broke it in half, offering the tiny pokemon one along with a small sippy cup of milk.

Togepi stared at the cookie in one hand to the sippy cup in astonishment before looking back up at Nanny Grav.

Nanny Grav used all four of her limbs to give a thumbs up. “Remember to work on your rolls kiddo!” she said with some pep.

Togepi happily toddled off with her prizes chirping as she ran. Eevee who was laying on a cushion in the corner stood up and stretched. “You’re going to spoil her into thinking she can bat the baby doll eyes your way and get whatever she wants.”

“Perhaps she will be able to,” suggested Nanny Grav while pointedly ignoring Eevee’s glare.

“You’re not a true lover of cute things,” Eevee declared before trotting off in a huff. The fluffy pokemon slipped through the legs of Brock as he walked into the kitchen before being scooped up by a passing Cindy.

“Come on Eevee, let’s get some good seats!” said the girl as she ran out the front door.

Nanny Grav turned her gaze towards Brock expectantly, only to find him talking to someone on his wrist.

“—thanks for doing that tour and even spending time with those two for a little longer. We got some real progress done and most of the Trinity nations want to license this Fossil Technology.”

“That’s good to hear Lance but isn’t Steven just going to undercut us?” Brock said as he poured himself a glass of water before sitting at the counter top.

Nanny Grav set a cookie on a plate and slid it close to him but he didn’t appear to notice it.

“Ha! Steven can’t unless he wants to face serious reprisal,” declared the rather flamboyant-looking human from atop Brock’s wrist.

“It wasn’t something that was announced on mainstream media, Brock so I’m not surprised you don’t know, but the panel of judges overseeing the case ruled in Blaine’s favour…” The man coughed sheepishly. “Thankfully before he was proven to be a traitor as otherwise, our argument would have died in the water. With your site already established, Steven can’t pitch it to any of the new nations,” he proclaimed proudly.

“Huh, that’s pretty good news. I thought we were just trying to establish better marketing with the tour or some such,” Brock mused.

Lance nodded. “Well, it’s still a major talking point that everyone is interested in. I’ve been looking over some historical texts and Kalos has some serious potential.”

Brock smirked. “Cause of their fossils right? You realise anything that comes from the resurrection chamber is pretty much going to have a rock typing at this stage right?”

Lance made a conflicted expression before he narrowed his eyes. “Speaking of pokemon, how long were you going to wait until you told me about Gible? The dragon typed pokemon I handed you?”

“Never,” Brock said shamelessly. “I worked it out a few days after you gave him to me and I was just stunned, but he’s such an amazing little guy that I’ll legitimately fight you if you try anything,” Brock said.

Nanny Grav glanced up from wiping the bench to see that while Brock was smiling, his eyes told another story.

They were the eyes of a man willing to go to war. From Brock, Nanny Grav felt like she was staring towards a mountain, rooted and stable within the landscape.

And most importantly immovable.

Lance clicked his tongue. “You’re lucky I like you and that I’ve been able to source some other interesting types. I’d probably struggle with a ground-type pokemon. Unova and Kalos both have some very interesting dragon-type pokemon, although I can’t quite make heads or tails of this.. Goodra’ that they have listed in the pokedex they gave me.”

“Can’t say that I know what you're talking about. I got a briefing on some things but not a list of pokemon,” Brock said casually.

Nanny Grav twitched. Something about what Brock had just said made her ‘lying child’ sense flare up. Nanny Grav eyed Brock thoughtfully before deciding it wasn’t worth chastising him about. He was most likely telling a white lie if anything.

“Hmmm, I’ll send you the pokedex information that they’ve shared. They’ve markedly not mentioned anything to do with any local Legendaries which I think is suspicious, but it’s not something we can press them on.”

“Probably best considering the historical context of who some of their legendaries are, Sinnoh especially,” Brock commented idly.

Lance merely nodded. “Right well enjoy your evening and good work. You watching the match tonight?”

“Best believe it. I got a good look at some of Cynthia’s pokemon and her starter is a beast. It’s going to be very interesting when she sends that thing out. I’ve never had the chance to get close to Steven’s Metagross, but I can’t imagine he’s going to enjoy tonight,” Brock said.

“Alright, Lance out!” declared the man before his image winked out.

Brock exhaled slowly and relaxed on the countertop. He made small idle motions with a finger toying with the bench. “Now, if only all my problems were that straightforward,” he muttered to himself as he leaned back and stared at the roof.

Nanny Grav inched over gradually, making sure to not stomp as she moved. She moved with a precision and care that only a boulder pokemon could manage. She nudged the plate of cookies she’d made up earlier closer to him as he continued to stare at the roof.

She’d watched a rather interesting drama the other day and it had some people staring at roofs as though Arceus would appear and answer all their problems. Silly humans.

Brock rubbed his chin. “Maybe I could start some renovations. The kid’s rooms are getting kind of small…”

Nany Grav stared at him. She’d gone along to a few sleep overs and she knew for a fact that no other children had rooms as large nor as functional.

“Yeeeeeah,” Brock said to himself as he stroked his chin. “That could be a good excuse to claim I can’t let Lola back into the house. I could make a cabin… in the woods for her and Flint to live in. Yeah, that could work,” he muttered aloud.

Nanny Grav nudged the cookies closer. He was obviously deluded as while Nanny Grav had only spent an hour or two around Lola she knew the woman to be the determined sort.

“Grav grav, ler,” she chimed, giving Brock a fond pat on the shoulder that drew him out of his thoughts.

“Huh? Oh for me? Thank you Nanny Grav,” he said, claiming a biscuit.

“Hey what gives?” Munchlax said from the doorway. “I didn’t get to sneak one of those!”

“Do you handle the family or provide income?” Nanny Grav pointed out before leveling a stern look at him. “Also Brock didn’t try to ‘sneak one’ like you did,” she said.

Munchlax raised a finger only to lower it. “I don’t have a response to that… can I have some veggies then?” he said waving towards where his stockpile of food was. Nanny Grav waved him through and he happily made his way over to the cut up produce.

Brock shot Munchlax a fond look and chuckled to himself. “Well I think we should get this outside so everyone is set up for the match.”

Nanny grav helped him out the door but she made sure to stop in the doorway and reach up with one of her longer hands. She patted Brock on the chest. “Good work on securing your mate. You and her will have good eggs,” she said solemnly.

Brock tilted his head. “Thanks?” he said with an uncertain nod.

Nanny Grav gave him another pat knowing that he’d only gotten a bit of what she’d said while missing part of it. She supposed Eggs was the wrong term for humans but it was a heartfelt statement so it worked well enough.

Nanny Grav continued on her way marching into the back reserve that had already been set up with blankets, chairs and heaters. Some of the colder weather was starting to come in. While it hadn’t snowed yet, all the kids needed to be bundled up.

Which was a tougher ask for the smallest ones as they often attempted to wrangle their freedom.

Thankfully Sanchez was there distracting them already. Nanny Grav shot him a pleased look and he started to smile back before twitching and glancing around fearfully.

“Careful, she might be watching. I don’t want you to get caught in the crossfire!” he whispered to her.

Tilly and Billy both glanced from Nanny to Sanchez. “What do you think they’re saying?”

“Dunno? Want to make dirt angels?” repled Billy.

“Sure!” cheered Tilly and both twins sprinted off.

Sanchez watched them go with a chuckle before drawing out a small pink dagger. “I woke up this morning and I found three of these in front of my face!”

Nanny Grav reached over and patted Sanchez on the arm. “You should have been less charming. This is your fault,” she teased. Her dramas were good sources of comedy.

She almost giggled as Sanchez floundered at that response. “What? No! I’m the victim here! I was merely being myself!”

“Have you been able to talk to her about this?” Nanny Grav suggested.

Sanchez slumped. “No, she is a shadow that haunts me! I have no idea what to do!”

Nanny Grav hummed. “Well, in one human drama I watched they used letters to stay in contact with each other. Perhaps that could work?”

Sanchez perked up only to frown a moment later. “I don’t know how to write!” He rubbed his chin. “Nor do I know if she knows how to read…” 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He inspected the dagger. “Aha! I shall carve a message for her into the walls where I sleep so she can understand my feelings!” he said.

Brandishing the dagger in one hand he barrelled away with a cackle. Nanny Grav watched him go, enjoying the sight of his tightly compact body. She sighed and shook her head, turning her attention to the rest of the family she cared for.

They were watching another boy that had come around to the house several times.

“Go Ash! Come on! You made it out of the pool stage! Don’t lose now in the round of Thirty two!” cheered Yolanda with Terra in her lap.

Terra waved her little hands along with Yolanda. “Yeah make it to the thirty third!” cheered the little Larvitar.

Nanny Grav was quite certain that wasn’t how it worked but she decided to not correct the little pokemon, instead topping up Yolanda’s drink to keep her energy up.

Suzie was sitting with Togepi in her lap while the little egg pokemon continued to munch away at the remnants of her biscuit. At their side Sabrina was sitting with Kirlia on her lap. A set of brushes were floating in the air lightly brushing at each of the quartet.

“—how I’m feeling? Okay I guess. I’m kind of sad for Forrest cause he didn’t make it very far, but there are others I get to cheer for. Like Mia and Silly Mouse, or Flannery, or even Roxanne. She’s like Brock so that makes it fun!”

Sabrina nodded along. “That’s good to hear. Also I heard that there was a special egg found recently in the Growlithe den in the Volcano. Do you think anything’s going to emerge?”

“Well seeing as it was in the Growlithe den, it will probably be a puppy but Ms Bianca seems pretty happy about it for some reason. I’m looking forward to having more puppies running around,” she said.

Nanny rolled her eyes. Just what she needed. More puppies running around and getting underfoot. The current batch was bad enough! They needed to learn to watch where they put their paws and not sleep in doorways. If they got occasionally trotted on then Nanny Grav felt no remorse!

None!

Not a lick!

….

She continued to bustle around but paused to give Lady a discrete pat. Lady was her favourite.

“Snacks?” Lady begged, raising her front paws and sitting up perfectly.

Nanny Grav glanced around and checked for any other Growlithe of the pack before handing Lady a choice bit of pokechow she’d been saving to have for herself.

Despite her care, Nanny Grav was quickly surrounded. She had no idea how the little dogs did it. They seemed to know when another of their pack had been fed!

“Food!” “Food!” “Mine!” “Mine!” “Please! I’ll give you paw!” “Rub my belly!” “I promise to love you for the next minute until the food runs out!” “I will obey two commands!” chimed the pack of Growlithe as she bounced around her.

Nanny Grav pointedly ignored them while the children giggled at the pack following along.

Thankfully the pack quickly had to quiet down as Empress and her young family emerged from the caverns. Nanny Grav bustled over and handed each of the triplets a snack pouch that Brock had set aside earlier in the day for them, with a slightly larger pouch for Empress and Ursaring.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“Dummy! When I run out of food you better still have some!” snapped one of the triplets as she headbutted Ursaring who merely looked amused. Nanny Grav gave that one an affectionate pat on the crest before continuing her rounds as more of Brock’s Elite team showed up.

Titan settled next to Bertha with Gible sitting on Bertha’s shoulder.

Bertha nodded at Nanny Grav. “Things going alright in the house,” she asked.

“Brock is stressed but everyone else seems to have bounced back well,” replied Nanny Grav.

Titan and Bertha both gave their trainer thoughtful looks. Titan rubbed at his chin in thought as a rumble emerged from him. “I dislike when he is like this. We are fortunate that he is not due to face any true challenges with the season being over.”

Bertha huffed. “He might still enter us into the Ace Tournament that he was going to miss?” she said with a hopeful air.

Titan shook his head. “He will not do well, not with Lola back and their… issues unresolved. His mind will not be focussed. I am going to demand he meditate with me once more. We’ve fallen out of that habit with the early training sessions,” Titan mused.

Nanny Grav stepped away, amused that it was going to be the pokemon looking after the trainer. Then again, that was the way proper bonds worked.

Nanny could see that even Don, that bastard of an Aerodactyl who’d once defecated on her clean laundry was giving Brock worried looks.

It was good to see that Brock had more than just humans looking after him. Then again it was humans that were giving him problems, so it made sense that pokemon would perk him up and show their support.

Nanny Grav moved over to her own special seat and settled in to watch what was supposed to be a rather important fight.

She drew out some specialised knitting needles and thread from a pouch that Brock had given her and got as comfortable as she could as the show started..

She hoped everyone had fun.

I munched on snacks as I cast an amused look at my pokemon team.

They’d obviously been gossiping with what I called ‘the house pokemon’ as all of them were watching me carefully. Titan had an intense look that promised that we’d be ‘talking’ soon.

Knight had hugged me when I’d come outside to set things up out here. Bertha, having seen this, had gotten in on the action until Link, Gible and Zubat had also joined.

Cranidos had then announced himself by crashing into Knight’s ankle only for it not to be a headbutt but more of a tackle hug. He’d squawked a bit and I vaguely got the idea he had no idea what was doing but the thought was certainly touching.

When we broke apart, he’d shuffled up to Knight and glanced at the ankle he’d tackle hugged.

To me it was obvious that Cranidos was asking if he’d hurt Knight from the ‘attack’.

Knight had shaken his head and swept Cranidos into a hug of his own to ‘show him’ how to do it properly.

I’d merely walked away with a laugh, feeling better than when I’d emerged from the house.

We’d all set up as a family to watch Ash Ketchum attempt to advance past the top thirty two. The fact he’d emerged from the pool stage at all was impressive, but now he couldn’t rely on luck of the draw.

I’d gotten a bit of a look at how things had played out. Jessie had been knocked out of contention by Misty and some of my trainers like Humphrey, Silver, and Jules had all been knocked out in the pool stages as they’d ended up in much harder groups due to having to face people like Flannery, Brawly, Gio, or Roxanne. Kids like Blaire hadn’t even made it that far.

Not that there was any shame in it. Forrest hadn’t made it to the pool stage either. He still hadn’t come home as he was sticking around to cheer for Ash and Misty, which was probably for the best right now.

I pushed that issue off, not wanting to focus on it as right now I had to accept there wasn’t much I could do in the here and now.

I’d resolved myself to have a talk with Lola.

Which may or may not be the wisest idea but it was all I had. I did not want this talk taking place in front of the kids though as there were some things that needed to be said.

Mia was the only one in this year’s intake of Gym-Sponsored trainers who skated through, but I expected her run to end as she was scheduled to face Brawly in this round.

I still expected she’d put on a hell of a show.

Over in Hoenn, Celia had undergone her next match and absolutely flattened her opponent. Again I was eager to watch that but I wasn’t about to switch the channel for a replay of it as now it was time for two Champions to throw down.

It wouldn’t be a proper demonstration of their skills.

A demonstration match never was. It was usually more flare and pomp with big hits and big name pokemon coming out.

That didn’t mean there were stakes however.

I’d heard that the bookies for the match were having conniptions creating ‘accurate’ odds with this being an unprecedented event.

Never before had two champions agreed to fight each other without months of data on the other. The last time it had happened was during the previous World cup with Pryce representing Indigo.

I couldn’t recall who he’d faced, but he’d emerged victorious in that match only to lose in the semifinal.

When the prematch announcements and talking heads were done, a silence fell over the crowd as two heavyweights entered the ring.

Stevne Stone strode forward like he owned the Indigo Plateau, which, with a man as rich as him was possible, albeit only if the Indigo Government lost all good sense.

Across from him, Cynthia matched him in style and effortless grace.

She stepped forward and the coat that was synonymous with her flared gently. Her twin black hair decorations bobbed along with her platinum blonde hair with each step she took.

There was a glint in her eyes that hadn’t been present during the previous day that immediately had me sitting up.

Intent.

Cynthia had no intention of pulling her punches or going soft for the sake of a ‘good show’.

She was here to win it.

A piano song blared to the forefront of my mind.

Steven appeared to recognise that as he shifted into a more balanced stance and narrowed his eyes.

In the middle the referee raised flags and gave a brief run down of the rules more for form’s sake than either competitor. Cynthia might have been left in a bit of a lurch if she hadn’t been already told how Exhibition matches differed from straight six on six matches.

Cynthia cooly settled atop her podium as Steven matched her.

Both let their hands fall to their sides and a hush overtook the stadium as everyone awaited their choices.

“Show them our strength, Lucario!” Cynthia shouted.

“Let’s go Cradily!” shouted Steven as a pokemon I’d given him appeared on the field.

I sat up. Damn, I hadn’t considered there might be some blow back from the pokemon I’d given him but there was potentially an angle that Steven could use to drag me into this, wasn’t there?

How long had he been considering this? Was this the reason that he asked for a Cradily from me.

I eyed the revealed grass-rock pokemon with some worry, only to tilt my head.

Cradily had a sheen to the fronds that wobbled erratically around its head and the eyes that lurked within the shadowed recess glinted. The roots flexed quickly, loosening up the ground beneath itself.

All of this and more were signs of a highly trained, exceptionally strong pokemon.

Had Steven changed the moves that I’d sent it over with?

Damn it there were so many angles to this.

“Brock?” Sabrina asked. Having noted the intensity of my stare.

“Steven might be playing four-dimensional chess,” I replied. “That was the Cradily I sent him months ago.”

If that was taken at face value then this was an insanely powerful statement of support with him using a pokemon I’d given him. Or it could also be a flex. Pokemon got harder to empower the stronger they became.

This Cradily was vastly more powerful than when I’d handed it over, so potentially it could be a flex on me as much as it could be taken as a positive. It would all depend on Steven.

“Begin!” shouted the referee and I grit my teeth knowing that Cradily was in for a world of hurt.

Cynthia punched the air and Lucario matched her action with a punch of his own that unleashed Aura Sphere straight at Cradily.

Cradily threw itself backwards and flat to the ground like a willow in the face of strong winds only for Lucario’s attack to clip the ground and hammer Cradily.

Cradily rose weakly but quickly wiggled and seemed to revitalise itself.

Ingrain in the face of Aura Sphere, bold, I thought only to flinch as Lucario vanished in a blur of speed. It reappeared with a furry paw wrapped around Cradily’s stem.

“Atten!” barked Steven and Cradily responded to the command by making its fronds flaring outward while thrusting its face into Lucario’s unmindful of the fangs.

Lucario flinched and the fist that had been curling to the side to lay out Cradily suddenly became limp as the move it had been about to unleash failed.

Lucario snarled only for Cradily to lean further in and wrap itself around the fighting-steel type.

Lucario growled as its limbs became impossible to move.

“Break it off,” ordered Cynthia and Lucario, instead of continuing to fight, went limp in Cradily’s grasp. It even went as far as to shut its eyes.

“Seed!” commanded Steven with a frantic shout.

A moment later the arena erupted as Lucario unleashed an Aura Sphere not from its paws but seemingly… from itself?

The shockwave blasted outwards and Cradily was loosened from Lucario’s form but continued to hold.

I leaned forward and hissed. “It’s holding itself upright from the suction cups on its body. It’s already unconscious!” I declared, realising the risk.

Cynthia leaned forward, her eyes narrowed as she observed Cradily rather than order another attack.“Lucario… hold,” Cynthia said with a calm gesture. “Your foe is knocked out.”

I frowned. She’d also picked up on that so quickly?

How?

She’d never had a chance to see how Cradily reacted in fights before though. Sinnoh didn’t yet have resurrection technology.

Or was she bluffing and they did have access to that technology?

Steven also seemed a touch perturbed. “Hmmm you are correct,” he replied, having drawn out the pokeball to return Cradily.

I chewed my lip straining to hear what he’d say next. He raised the now occupied pokeball to his lips.

“You were up to the task, good work,” he stated and I relaxed knowing it would be much harder for him to walk that statement back and pin blame on me should he lose.

Sabrina squeezed my hand. “He got off Ingrain, Astonish, and Leech Seed at the end there.”

I rubbed my chin. “I hadn’t taught it Leech Seed as I felt Ingrain and Leech Seed were too much of a delay and set up.”

Salvadore, ever happy to talk shop perked up. “So what did you teach it?”

“Ingrain, Earthquake, Stone Edge, Stealth Rock, Energy Ball, and Astonish,” I replied. Which meant that one or more of the moveset had been dropped for Leech Seed.

“I can't say I agree with it even if it does give Steven a small advantage going into the next exchange,” I said with a grimace.

Sabrina nodded. “Stealth rock or something like Toxic Spikes might have been better.”

Steven sent out his next pokemon with a deft flick of his wrist and this time Sabrina perked up as a Claydol appeared.

Claydol went straight into an attack as it dropped into the ground to unleash an Earthquake onto the field.

In response, Lucario leapt high, and for a secon,d it almost vanished as it began to hover at the zenith of the leap.

I had to give it props, that was an amazingly powerful jump.

“If I didn’t know any better I’d have thought that was Aerial Ace,” I said which earned me a nod from Sabrina.

The leap proved to not be the only thing Lucario was attempting though as it cupped its hands and instead of a brownish-orange orb forming up a sickly purple with dark wisps of energy built up. “Cario!” snarled the jackal like pokemon as it launched a Shadow Ball straight at Claydol.

“Protect!” snapped Steven and his pokemon raised a defensive shell that negated the super effective attack.

Lucario hit the ground and ran forward only to stumble as wisps of green energy streamed off its form towards Claydol.

“Hold strong!” Cynthia barked and Lucario straightened up. “Repeat rather than close!” Cynthia ordered and Lucario shifted so that instead of charging to get close it adopted yet another cupped position.

It began channeling Shadow Ball once more and Claydol became vulnerable a moment later only for Steven’s hand to snap forward and Claydol to build up its own Psychic energy.

Psybeam was unleashed and Lucario responded by unleashing the Shadow Ball straight ahead causing the two attacks to clash.

The field was rocked with destruction, but what caught my attention was how Lucario skipped slightly to the side the instant it unleashed its attack.

The resulting shockwave helped knock it a little further which was just far enough to the side to make sure Psybeam missed.

“She preempted him?” I asked, noting that most of the announcers were stunned at the miss.

It had been a head to head beam attack that should have seen Psybeam hammering Lucario.

If not for that almost tiny hop. When Salvadore asked about what I’d seen I talked him through my thoughts even as a small replay screen appeared to the side showing just what I was talking about.

The match didn’t pause for this replay though as Lucario once again had some of its health sapped from Leech Seed while Claydol reorientated on it.

It rose slightly and I knew straight away that Steven was going to commit to another Earthquake. If he could get Lucario into the air again he’d come off stronger as this time he would simply match attacks and come off better.

Cynthia must have known that as she didn’t dodge the attack this time. “Life Dew!” she instead ordered and Lucario cupped one hand while charging through the shaking rumbling field.

It staggered and tottered but the shinying teardrop of water in its palm remained in place only Claydol to twist into the earth and release a particularly powerful shockwave that sent Lucairon flying.

The orb of water flew through the air and Lucario stared hopelessly at it only for a determined glint to enter its eyes as it tensed its legs.

It kicked out and accelerated into the water before it could hit the ground. The water, or rather Life Dew splashed over Lucario and it became revitalised right before it slammed into Claydol physically and both pokemon went tumbling into the ground.

Both pokemon locked eyes and began to thrash at each other.

Lucario exploded with what had to be Dark Pulse at close range, only for Claydol to hit back with Psybeam from close range.

Despite this Lucario dug in, clenching its paws hard on Claydol’s arms even as green wisps of energy radiated off its form inching it closer and closer.

I was impressed that Lucario was still fighting by this point but then again Cynthia had claimed that her pokemon were all able to endure more than most.

It showed.

Claydol unleashed another Psybeam as a second Dark Pulse exploded out of Lucario and this time Lucario was sent flying

As the dust settled Claydol tottered into a standing position only for Lucario to fail to rise.

The crowd roared their approval for the power and endurance on display and Cynthia gave Steven a small nod of acknowledgement.

I whistled. “Well they both have the skills to stand at that level,” I said.

“Awwww, I didn’t want the puppy to lose!” declared Cindy as she hugged into Lady, earning a snort from me.

I played back the fight in my mind and one move stuck out to me. “Life Dew is an interesting choice of move for a Lucario to have,” I said.

Sabrina hummed. “It might be that Lucario is actually a support pokemon that Cynthia uses for Team Battles more than one on one fights.”

I toyed with that idea for a moment before having to concede that Sabrina raised a good point.

“If that’s a support pokemon… what’s a specialised fighter pokemon going to be like then?” I asked.

I got my answer in the next moment when Cynthia unleashed a Spiritomb onto the field and the crowd reacted with screams as something dark radiated outwards.

I sat forward in fear, knowing that the crowd that was at the Plateau right now was mostly kids I’d trained or were there for the Circuit tournament.

The ‘aura’ of malevolence continued only for eight dark shapes to emerge around the arena and coalesce into Ghost pokemon.

Spiritomb stiffened and began eyeing the pokemon that had taken up positions around the edge.

Cynthia eyed the pokemon for a moment.

She gave Aegislash a much longer look before relaxing. “Spiritomb, calm yourself. Those Ghosts aren’t here to fight. They’re merely protecting the crowd from your mischief.”

Cynthia affected a bow to the crowd. “I must apologise. I am used to the stadiums at home being able to block emotional auras from the crowd.”

She turned to Steven.“If you would like I will recall Spiritomb and accept the loss of one pokemon.”

Steven blinked in shock at her, only to glance about. “No, I think the situation is well enough in hand. And don’t worry. Indigo likes to make the experience as authentic as they can for viewers,” he said easily.

One cameraman had the ‘good idea’ to switch shots to Lance. He looked like a man that was being asked to drink sand in front of a crowd and his smile was exceedingly forced.

I chuckled. “Oh man he’s pi—” I glanced to the side where Suzie was looking at me and corrected what I was about to say. “Peeved,” I said.

“He’s got two other Champions throwing down in his region and Steven just made a call that probably should have been deferred to him,” Sabrina pointed out logically. “Peeved is underselling it,” she replied while shooting me an amused look. She knew what I’d meant to say.

A cackle that echoed from everywhere at once only to solidify into a woman stepping out of the shadows next to Lance drew everyone’s attention. “Oh, don’t pretend they’ve never experienced it before. It’s no different than having my Gengy take to the stage,” Agatha declared.

She locked eyes with Cynthia, and Cynthia narrowed hers. “Ah, I’ve heard of you. You’re just as Bertha said you’d be,” she said.

Agatha tilted her head. “Hoh? That old bat is still around? Truly the good die young!”

Cynthia offered back a small smile. “You know she said much the same about you,” she replied before turning back to Steven. “My apologies. Shall we continue?” she said, ignoring Agatha entirely.

I chuckled. That was a pretty effective way to deal with Agatha, especially when she was trying to psych you out.

Steven nodded and the two once more focused on their fight.