Hard Enough-Chapter 240: Question time!

For a second I feared she was about to drop her shoulder and lay me out to make sure she got to treat me, only for her to skid to a halt in front of me and grab my shirt.

“You’re soaked through! Chansey! Emergency Hypothermia Blanket!” she shouted.

When she grabbed for my pants I darted back. “Hey! Woah back there! Nurse!” I said, eying the symbol on her bonnet. You were supposed to be able to tell where they were from from the colour of them, weren’t you?

Which one was vivid pink?

The other nurses reached me and before I could stop them, they teamed up to deliver urgent care check ups.

“His pulse is normal and I’m getting a good response with his pupils! No signs of concussion!” shouted one nurse as she shone a light in my eyes.

I felt a Chansey beginning to frisk me. “Chan Chan Chan sey!” she reported as she found no deformities over my body.

Had a rock hit me during the match?

I couldn’t recall anything significant coming my way… Well, nothing that I might have had to block or dodge, anyway. You didn’t sweat the small stuff, not when most of your pokemon could hurl boulders.

“Brock? Can you hear me? What day is it? What’re the prime factors of seven?” Another Nurse Joy demanded, grabbing my chin and pulling it towards her, I noted that her bonnet had a light blue symbol of care.

“I’m fine Cerulean Nurse Joy, I can hear you, it’s a Tuesday… and seven and one?” I said, the last response making me tilt my head, only for her to keep hold of me and stop me.

“Tch!” said the nurse that had led the charge and I recalled then that vivid pink meant Fuchsia. I blinked as a realisation occurred. Hey! Was she trying to commit me to the hospital?

“Please put your pokemon and their pokeballs on the tray here for healing,” said another Nurse Joy. This one I kept my eyes on as I recalled Empress and put my team on the tray. The table flashed white and red a few times before dinging.

The nurse looked over a screen and nodded. “Just exhaustion, in all cases. Keep them from fighting for a day or two at least and they should all bounce back perfectly fine!” she chimed, handing me back the tray of pokeballs.

Hmmm, that was going to crimp my chances.

I deposited them on my pokebelt, only to feel a tug on my other hand.

I saw a Chansey inspect the milk bottle, but my attention was drawn elsewhere as someone shouted. “Got a Whiteout over here!”

I glanced over and found that it was the team surrounding Kaede. “She’s overdrawn due to exposure and the length of the match!”

I turned, this time overpowering the nurse holding my head to look over at Kaede. Oh damn, she really was out cold, wasn’t she?

And length of the match? Had it gone that long?

I glanced at the display, which showed my image imposed over the screen with bright flashes of light. The words ‘Winner’ in large print, along with the greyed-out images of my knocked-out pokemon.

Only Empress, Don and Hypnotoad’s images remained colourised.

“We need an emergency—” Nurse Joy called only for Sabrina to Teleport to her side.

“Might I assist? Where do you need her to go?” she asked formally.

The nearest Nurse Joy flinched but regathered herself. “Her and my team, teleport us to Chrysanthemum Hospital Emergency Teleport Pad!”

Sabrina nodded, her Alakazam appearing as she turned her head to me. “Brock, I’m going to help out here,” she said, and I realised that her mouth was moving, but she was also projecting to me without there being a sense of pressure on my mind.

Huh, I was tired, wasn’t I? It made sense if Sabrina had that level of ease in transmitting her speech into my mind. Usually my dark energy meant it was much harder to get anything through, without me peeling back my energy.

She smiled. “You fought wonderfully. You reacted well to Kaede’s pokemon and endured all of her gimmicks.” I felt myself return her smile, a touch more giddy than normal. “You seem fine if a bit tired, but if you need me, call and I’ll pull you out. I will be back soon otherwise. Good luck with the reporters.” She finished.

I smiled, happy that she’d been watching, only to frown as she vanished with the team of nurses and their pokemon.

Then I paused.

What was the last thing she’d said?

A noise, not from the nurses and Chansey around me, broke through my musing.

I turned my head to slowly take in the crowd that was murmuring, with small cries were breaking out from kids. I straightened and made to drink another sip of my milk, only to find it empty.

I shot it a confused look. No way I’d drunk the whole thing in one pull, right?

A Chansey with a suspiciously white moustache burped and I shot her a glare. Damn! That was good milk. Damn! I gave the bottle another forlorn look before stepping out of the huddle of nurses.

I raised my hands to ward off their protests. “Ladies, I’m fine, if a tad tired. I think I need to defuse the situation with all the people out there watching on and who are confused.”

“If you even so much as stumble, buster!” warned the Fuchsia Nurse Joy as she pointed at her eyes and then at me to show she’d be watching.

I backed away, carefully. “Rigggght,” I said, dragging the word out.

I turned, making sure I steered clear of any rocks before marching towards the referee’s podium. “Mind if I say something?” I asked the man, who now that his role was done looked relieved.

“No, go ahead. Wonderfully fought Gym… I mean, Ace Trainer Brock!” he said, correcting himself.

I smiled and bobbed my head. “Great work out there, referee,” I said, offering him a handshake which he accepted.

I glanced at the podium, only to find it exactly like that of my gym’s set up. Excellent, that made this much easier. I toggled the microphone and directed people’s attention towards myself with a soft trilling noise.

“Hello Chrysanthemum City!” I shouted. It lacked my usual energy, but I think I could be forgiven for coming off as a bit empty.

The people stirred, noticing that I was still here.

“I’d like to assure everyone that Kaede is going to be in great care and that she will most likely be bouncing back by this time tomorrow! She might feel it a bit at first, but she’s merely whited out! This is a common occurrence for Pokemon trainers and nothing to be worried about, I assure you!”

I grinned. “That said! Let’s give it up for our care team!” This earned a wave of applause as the nurses and their Chanseys received a wave of applause. “And let’s give it up to the referee for this amazing match!”

Again, another round of applause.

“And of course, for all of our amazing pokemon who fought to their absolute limits!” I said.

This earned a much more hearty cheer, with more than a few people calling out names. Sanchez, Titan, and Empress all had their names called, while Samurai Furret was chanted by more than a few kids.

“Alright! Thanks for being a great crowd! I heard you make yourselves known throughout the match and you really helped make the moment! There are more matches to come, but I think the organisers will have a bit of work ahead of them, so let’s have a small recess! I’m going to be heading to the media room for questions, so if you’re watching on at home or while out and about, then please, stay tuned!” I said, offering the brightest smile I could to the closest camera.

The people in the crowd applauded and I handed the microphone back to the referee. “Thanks, I think that will keep things calm.”

The man smiled and nodded. I made to move off, only to pause as I realised something. I’d been pulled from my previous after-match media moments after the match due to the thieves…

I had no idea where I was going.

“Uhmmm, could I get some directions?” I asked sheepishly.

The referee was more than happy to lead me to the media room, but I made sure to take a slow lap around the field. I had Empress join me, with Hypnotoad also coming out to enjoy the applause from the crowd.

When we’d completed a circuit, I took the time to wave at everyone, before signalling the referee to lead on as I returned both of my pokemon.

I entered the media room only to find that it was filled with camera crews, reporters with recorders, bloggers, and… Carr? I continued walking, but gave the young trainer a confused expression.

What was he doing here? He was out of the tournament, so if he wanted to play at intimidation it made no sense. In any case, we wouldn’t have faced each other until the finals if he hadn’t been beaten by Karen.

Unless he was here at someone else’s behest. Was he like Arthur and close friends with Bruce? I might be tarring him with the same brush as Arthur, but that pair hadn’t exactly impressed me when I’d fought against him.

They’d seemed thick as thieves then.

So… perhaps? I’d wait until he opened his mouth, but judging from how he’d conducted himself against Karen, I wasn’t expecting too much from him.

People noticed my entrance and without waiting a deluge of questions poured forth.

“Gym Leader—” “Ace Trainer—’ “Brock!” “Why did you avoid the last media presentation?” “Does having duplicate pokemon not provide too much benefit?” “What do you have to say to the allegations that you’re using Ditto to trick people?” “Is Kaede going to be alright?” “How do you think you fought?”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

On and on they came.

I ignored them. Instead, I went about setting up the table and chair to my liking. To me, they were like children begging for attention, and if there was one thing I was extremely well versed in, it was handling younger siblings by the handful vying for attention.

I held up a hand, palm out, with my fingers extended.

Some people got the message and fell quiet. Others, if anything, picked up their volume and tempo of questions being fired in an attempt to fill the slack, like that would give them better odds at getting their questions answered.

I made a note of those people and decided to leave them for last.

When they failed to understand that now was not their turn to talk I sighed and pulled Hypnotoad and Empress’ balls from my pokebelt before releasing them.

Both appeared next to me, bracketing me.

They levelled a palpable glare each at the crowd of media representatives, which finally got them to fall silent.

“Good, that took a bit longer than I would like, but it will do for now. I’ll make things simple enough, I’m going to pick out people to ask questions. You get one question before I move on, so make it count,” I said firmly to the room.

I could see a few of them bristle, but I gave them a stern glare and they wilted.

When I relaxed I glanced at the empty seat to the side, where Kaede would have sat if she hadn’t whited out. Huh, Corey must have had to sit through a media presentation on his own last time. Ouch, that wouldn’t have been fun after a loss.

“I realise that yesterday and today have resulted in only one trainer being available, I will preempt discussion about yesterday with the statement that events surrounding my departure were personal in nature, and I will not be discussing it at all,” I said.

The crowd of reporters leaned in, their instincts alerting them to the fact that there was a scoop there, but I gave everyone a flat look. Most of them settled back, realising I was going to stonewall any questions about yesterday. If they wanted to dig, they could.

Carr shifted in his chair and narrowed his eyes like he was trying to weigh me up, but I decided to ignore him for now. He was an oddity for sure, but one I could address later.

“Alright, let’s start with a big name, Battlecast?” I asked, turning to one of the more excitable dressed reporters I’d seen in a while.

The woman who stood wore a studded leather vest with iron chains around her, with a plaque on it that read ‘badass bitch’. I suspected that before six PM Battlecast would have to blur the words so that young eyes didn’t catch them and ask certain questions.

Her hair was set in a Ponyta-tail with what looked like a spike affixing it into position.

“Brock,” the woman said, starting things off with a small smug smile. “What would you say of Kaede’s style of battling? Most don’t appreciate a switch out style that often occurs with her matches.”

“There’s a lot more depth to it than first appearances,” I said to start things off. “I did some research into her previous matches, and I initially thought her Furret’s trick was good, but it only took things one step. She has in fact built a number of her pokemon and their movepools around being able to cycle her pokemon. She works within the parameters of the current regulations and fights wonderfully. I think I saw more than a few contest-style fighting moves worked in as well, that add a gentler touch than most normal pokemon trainers are used to handling,” I said.

The Battlecast presenter nodded happily and sat down, showing that her gruff exterior didn’t mean she lacked manners.

I swept the room for the next person. “Lifestyle,” I said, and a man with a pink mohawk stood, dusting off his jeans to make sure they were straight. I had to wonder if he had a trick to get into such tight jeans with how they clung, there was little left to the imagination.

“Does it worry you that people have called your battling one-dimensional?” he said.

I blinked, having not expected such a hard-hitting question from the magazine that usually handled fashion and fitness articles. “Hmmm, one-dimensional, you say?” I asked slowly, allowing myself time to process how I was going to answer this question.

“I think,” I said, drawing it out. “That calling it one-dimensional might be a bit of hyperbole, but if you only observed a few matches of mine, I could understand that commentary. When compared to trainers like Kaede, I certainly come across as lacking depth”.

“I rely on set up that if disturbed, can be much harder to bring into play. I have a lot of very strong pokemon that work well together, but what I bring more than anything else is overwhelming power. This is something that I have realised and am trying to rectify with some up-and-coming pokemon,” I said thinking of Link, Zubat, Cradily, Teddiursa, and Gible.

Well, Gible was a bit of a poor example, as he’d end up being a powerhouse naturally. The challenge came with how I would need to cultivate his skills and his nature… which right now thanks to his Jolly nature, didn’t seem such a hassle.

I splayed my hands out in a ‘what can you do’ gesture. “These things take time however,” I prevaricated.

The pink-haired man sat down with a nod of his own back, before he took something from the person next to him. I felt my eyebrows shoot upwards. Had he just been paid to ask that question, or was that a bet?

I shook off my thoughts and pointed to the next reporter.

“Pewter News!” said the old man who sprang up enthusiastically.

I tilted my head. “Newspaper or Radio?” I asked. If he’d been younger, I might have asked if he meant podcast news or blogging. Instead, I had to differentiate between two older styles of news.

The man smiled. “Radio,” he clarified.

His microphone, a giant fluffy thing, swung towards me, only to extend suddenly. I dodged to the side so that I didn’t end up devouring it. The man sheepishly retracted it by a foot. “Apologies,” he said, eyes locked on me and not the trio of other reporters he’d brained.

Carr gave the pole hovering over his spiky hair a glower.

“Today marks another achievement for you, with this victory you’ve made it into the top four of the tournament. This will guarantee that you are placed at least top five come the new Ace rankings, a high for you. What would you say is your key to success?”

“A solid grounding,” I said easily. “I might not have as many tricks and adjustments as others, but I do have some of the strongest pokemon around. This has allowed me to cover a lot of gaps I possess. I think for now I will be able to continue, but I expect there are going to be a lot of people making up ground soon,” I said. “The Ace tournaments are something I expect will become closer as time progresses.”

The man nodded and retracted his microphone to speak into it himself. One of the reporters that had been hit previously didn’t account for the microphone pulling back and so he was hit again on the way back.

I bit my lip to hold in a chuckle.

Carr chose that moment to raise his hand and give me a smarmy smile. I raised an eyebrow at him. “Ace Trainer Carr?”, my tone was questioning.

Carr smirked and straightened out. I noted that this made him barely come up to the shoulder of the lady sitting next to him, who appeared to be of average height. So Carr really was just that short.

I’d seen it during the opening ceremony, but having him sitting next to someone normal just highlighted it.

“Gym Leader Brock,” he said with a tone that reeked of pubescent angst. I knew, due to having to deal with trainers younger than him challenging me and trying to deepen their voice to come across as more mature and be taken more seriously.

“Why do you think you should win this tournament over others?”

“End of the day?” I said, posing a hypothetical, “My team has better fundamentals and higher ceilings for strength. It takes more effort for others to take them down. I know there are pokemon out there that can match me, as shown by Kaede’s team, but we have enough versatility to endure or outlast them,” I said.

Carr narrowed his eyes and waved his hand again. With his size he looked nothing so much as like a student questioning his teacher in class.

I considered him and then looked to the others. All of them had eyes for Carr. They seemingly wanted this little drama to unfold. I mentally shrugged and pointed at him again. “You have another question?” I asked.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

“Yes,” he said smugly. I nodded slowly, considering him, maybe he just had an unfortunate voice? I hoped for his sake he outgrew it… along with some height.

“You feeling confident against Bruce?” he said, leaning forward.

“Bruce still has to win to—”

Carr waved a hand dismissively. “Bruce is winning that match, don’t kid yourself or pretend. The question is, are you confident that you can beat Bruce? You’ve beaten Lance sure, but in an exhibition match. Where there were rules and fun little breaks and moments where you could set things up to your liking. Lance never saw you coming. Bruce has had you monitored for months now. You can be sure he’s set up a team to fight you and your pokemon.”

I held my tongue for a moment. “I think I will do my best. I’m confident in my pokemon,” I said.

“Despite there only being a day’s turn around?” Carr said, baring a toothy smile.

I frowned. I hadn’t considered that yet. Sure, some of the pokemon I’d used initially would be recovered and I’d have Bertha back, but asking pokemon like Sanchez, Titan, Jormungandr, or Don, who’d given their all, would be a tough ask.

I’d be putting them at risk.

My silence must have been too long, as Carr leaned back with a satisfied air. “How about you and I do some business, care to trade some pokemon with me? Mine are top tier, and we can trade back after you win, if you need,” he said.

“No,” I said, without even having to give the offer any thought. “My pokemon and I have grown strong together, and trading them away would be actively harmful to our bond. Not happening,” I said.

Carr’s smile spasmed for a moment before he sniffed. “Fine, see how you do against Bruce tomorrow,” he said, standing and dusting himself off. “Consider my offer, though. You’ll need it,” he said menacingly.

I watched him go for a moment, before shaking my head. Nope, I have no idea what he was thinking, trying to offer that… unless he was the sort of trainer that merely trained pokemon as tools.

I frowned and considered what I knew of him. He trained a number of different pokemon to use Explosion or Self-destruct.

Perhaps he never had much of a bond with them to begin with?

I turned back to the crowd and pointed at one of the people I’d been leaving for last. “Your turn, PTN,” I said with a forced smile. Let’s see if they’ve learnt any manners yet?

“Brock, do you think anything of how cheap it is for you to be one of the only trainers around that have a Mega Evolution? Don’t you think that is unfair?” he said smarmily.

I held in a sigh. Nope, still douches.

I basically repeated that I was one of a select few who were ‘first’ to gain the ability, but that I expected others would soon be able to. “For that purpose, I have created a corporation that is looking into finding Kanto sites where Mega Stones and Keystones might be located,” I said.

Near the door, Carr paused and looked back at me with a hungry look. Ah, he wanted that, did he? He hovered for a moment on the threshold before sniffing and left.

I looked back to the next reporter. I pointed at the man next to the Lifestyle reporter.

“Battle Prime dot net here! Brock! Your Steelix, Jormungandr, has demonstrated the ability to heal itself in the past, why did you not do that against Kaede’s Walrein?”

“I felt that Kaede would be able to punish me if I decided to go for that option,” I replied easily.

A murmur broke out and a few people looked confused. “But… Walrein was a surprise pokemon, you couldn’t have known its move pool beforehand,” said one reporter cautiously as they spoke out of turn.

I considered him for a moment before nodding slowly. “Indeed, but if I had a Walrein, I’d teach it Earthquake. It makes too much sense not to, with ice pokemon’s big weakness being rock types.”

A few more confused looks were shared. “Can Walrein even use Earthquake?”

“Yes, along with Stomping Tantrum. It isn’t something they learn naturally, but with some tutoring? It’s quite possible,” I said.

“Do… how many pokemon move pools do you know like that?” asked one reporter.

I smiled, knowing that my list of notes on my phone that I’d compiled as a youth was worth quite a lot these days. “Oh…. a few,” I demurred.

When the question and answer session was over I departed, not for home, but rather for the hospital. A quick message to Sabrina had me teleported straight into the hospital.

The nurse on duty perked up when Sabrina and I flashed onto the teleport pad.

“Oh? Feeling unwell after your match, Brock?” said the woman in a kindly manner.

I opened my mouth to reject her, only for Sabrina to nod. “I would feel more comfortable if he got checked over by Dr. Gibson,” she said with a faint smile. She leaned into me and I could only blink down at her.

“What are you doing?” I asked quietly as I leaned into her, playing along even as I floundered in the dark at what she was playing at.

Sabrina merely smiled as the nurse bobbed her head. “Of course! He’s the foremost expert on Whiting out! I expect you know which rooms to go to?” she said to Sabrina and Sabrina bobbed her head, tugging me past a set of doors and into the hospital proper.

I had an inkling of a suspicion as to what was going on now. “Kaede is still in Dr. Gibson’s care?” I asked.

“It’s only been an hour,” Sabrina replied, “And yes, she’s conscious and feeling like she has exposure, due to being in the midst of her pokemon’s Sheer Cold twice. She didn’t have your resilience, nor the referee’s option of avoiding most of the effects,” she said.

“Ah,” I said intelligently. I didn’t have much else to say to that as I let Sabrina lead me through the halls of the hospital to a set of rooms where a set of shared beds were set up. I found myself walking past a cluster of boys and girls who were all staring at the ceiling in shock.

“She beat me with a Raticate?” one of them mumbled to themself. “So much lightning,” said another.

“How can that brat have a Dragonair?” whimpered a girl. I considered pausing for a moment but decided to shake it off and keep walking.

I marched on and Sabrina directed me to a bed near the back which was empty. I sat down and found myself locking eyes once more with Kaede’s now familiar blue orbs.

Sabrina sat next to me and nodded at Kaede, but the exhausted dark haired beauty only had eyes for me. She stared in disbelief.

“Hi there!” I said casually.

Kaede stared back with her eyes hooded, red veins visible in them. It reminded me of what people looked like when they had a heavy night of drinking, only to wake up the next morning with an intense hangover.

“Brock? What are you doing here?” she said slowly. Then she blinked and sat up. “Has a day passed already? You’ve already fought Bruce and lost?!” she asked worriedly.

I raised my hands and patted at the air, “Woah! Woah! Sorry no! It’s only been an hour or so since our match. I just finished up the media interview,” I said.

Kaede leaned back with a sigh of relief. “Good, that’s… good,” she said before frowning. “Why are you here? You didn’t white out,” she said, her eyes flicking over me.

“I felt the strain… a bit,” I said defensively.

Kaede stared. “I’m surprised that’s all you felt. Our match was rather prolonged.”

I chuckled. “Ah, I have had some rather intensive training sessions in the past,” I said, referencing the matches I had with the Guardians, along with Trixie’s fitness regimes. “Also, I am a Gym Leader, that means I sometimes spend all day battling people,” I said casually.

“Ah, I hadn’t considered that,” she said, only to scowl at me, “Stop dodging the question.”

“I wanted to check in on you?” I said. “I feel bad, I guess?” I said.

Kaede stared at me before groaning. “You Brock, are a very annoying man,” she said.

“Ah, sorry?” I said rubbing the back of my head as a nurse quietly approached and put a blood pressure cuff on one arm while looking in my eyes with a light. She wrote her observations down and moved along without even talking with me.

Further back, I could see a elderly man moving through the traumatised children that were muttering about a thunder rat, offering them lollies, sweets, and in one children’s case, strong smelling salts to get them up.

Kaede continued to glower at me from her bed. “I spent months working on my pokemon team, and you tore away most of their secrets!” she said. “I’ve been trying to get Bruce to fight me for weeks and I had settled for fighting him in this tournament, but now I know he’s going to avoid me like a Muk in summer, knowing that I’ve built a pokemon team to dismantle him.”

“Yeeeeeeeaaaah, with what I saw of your team roster, it is kind of obvious,” I said. “You have a rather large number of ice and fairy type pokemon so, it kind of stands out,” I said.

Kaede grumbled before falling back into her bed. “It wasn’t that obvious until you started tossing around fairy type moves and discussing them openly. The Blackthorns were of the opinion that only another dragon could truly challenge them,” she said.

“Heh, I think I showed them that’s not true last year,” I said.

Kaede smiled truly for perhaps the first time.

I title my head. “What’s up with you and the Blackthorns?” I asked, taking a shot in the dark.

Kaede sighed. “It’s an old story, and one that takes some time to unpack,” she said.

I hummed. “I’ve been told I’m a good listener,” I said, offering her the chance to unload.

Kaede considered me for a moment before sighing. “Very well, I’ll consider this the rights of the victor, shall I?” she said. “Be aware there is… quite a bit to this story,” she said.

Kaede shifted in her bed and cleared her throat. “When I was a young girl,” Kaede began to say.

I got comfortable, feeling like I was in for a long but possibly interesting story.