Lola was tiring to deal with.

This was a surprise to precisely no one.

I’d seen even Yolanda start getting a bit fatigued from being around her and Yolanda was practically a saint when it came to patience.

Lola was tough to manage in most situations but she had a manic energy to her that allowed her to play with the kids and I still hadn’t seen her get worn down before the kids usually collapsed for a nap or some more quiet play.

Since I’d given her a ‘time out’ she had been more careful with me which was a plus, but she was also watching me in a way that let me know she was constantly toeing the line and watching for my reactions.

I suspected that if I wasn’t typically around her when the kids were around, I’d have come home to a very different dynamic or later learn that she hadn’t kept to our deal.

I’d had to pointedly remind her not to neg on Flint a surprisingly high number of times, and the looks of gratitude the man shot me were honestly… kind of nice but also weird to receive.

Thankfully, there were large breaks throughout the day during which I could claim that I was engaged in work and thus didn’t have to engage with her.

It quickly became apparent that I should be thankful that there were still school periods that the kids needed to attend, thereby limiting how much time I needed to use to monitor her interactions with them.

That said, she still poked her nose into the reserve, but that was mainly due to the two children who didn’t attend school regularly.

Tilly and Billy attended daycare to get used to socialising with other kids, not their family. Suzie and Timmy attended kindergarten, while Cindy and Tommy were at school.

Salvadore and Yolanda took up an apprenticeship deal with the Gym, Which allowed them a set number of hours each week without classes. This program was designed to allow kids to garner experience in fields of work that they were interested in pursuing in the future.

They still had to complete their tasks and assignments, but as long as they maintained at least a B-plus average, they were allowed to go out to further their understanding of the field they might be interested in.

For Savladore this meant he either served as a referee or an aide to the trainers when they cared for the pokemon. Or, as was becoming more frequent now that the circuit was closed, he shadowed Bianca or Stephen in their duties as pokemon researchers.

Yolanda spent most of her time working around the gym for her apprenticeship, which saw her spar with the other trainers, such as Greta, A.J., and most notably Missy, who was going to be leaving at the start of the Ace season.

For that reason, I’d given her leave to seek out new pokemon for her roster with the understanding that she would need to train them at the gym with the other younger trainers to show how it was done.

It was a nice, two Pidgey one stone situation that had me patting my back as it helped out everyone.

I had to say I was extremely amused when one of her new pokemon was revealed to be Woobuffet.

She’d grinned at me cheekily and I’d sighed. “If we ever face each other, don’t expect me to fall for trying to blow through that pokemon,” I stated flatly. “I am very aware of its capabilities but… good job on doing the reading and discovering it yourself. That’s a very handy pokemon to have in your roster.”

Missy clicked her tongue. “Argh! Of course, you know all about it!” she said.

I chuckled and waved her towards the back reserve. “Go teach A.J. all about it. Kid needs to know people are going to see him coming with that Sandslash when the circuit gets serious, or he attends some tournaments,” I asked.

Missy nodded, more than happy to do just that. I cupped my hands. “And give Greta a workout with that Jolteon and your Arcanine! She’s been getting lazy!” I shouted after her.

Missy waved back at me with a skip in her step.

I relaxed back against the boulder I was using as a chair, making sure not to jostle Golbat who had draped herself over my shoulder. Hmmm, I needed to start thinking of some names for her…

Overhead Zephyr, Don, Don’s daughter— who was another Aerodactyl and not one of those… sea rattata that he often indulged himself in— and one of the newest additions to my Gym, an Archen fluttered about

I grinned up as the young pokemon struggled to keep up with the game of tag that they had going on.

Zephyr was playing nice, but Don was being a touch harsh with the new ancient pokemon.

I suspected he was feeling a bit put out that another rock-flying type had joined my roster.

He didn’t need to worry, however. Archen and its evolved form, Archeops, were only known to have one ability attributed to them, which manifested itself after the fight got tough.

Defeatist was a frankly horrible trait for any pokemon to have and would make using Archen in any fight something of a challenge.

If I wanted to seriously consider it, I’d need to find a way to teach Archen something like Role Play where Abilities were swapped between the user and a target pokemon.

Or perhaps Entrainment which changed the target pokemon’s ability to that of the user. Which had some potential, especially if I was facing a significantly powerful pokemon. In a big match, it had its uses… it was just that the niche for using such a rough ability was extremely slim.

I couldn’t recall there being a secondary or Hidden ability for the Archeops line which… didn’t spell good things for Archen.

But then again the world wasn’t a perfect one-for-one with the games. It was possible that I just needed to keep Archen motivated and in a good headspace and he wouldn’t fall into a defeatist mindset.

That or I’d need to train him up so much to the point where he never got into a tight situation. Which… didn’t sound like an appealing prospect. Especially not when I had a pokemon like Don, Zephyr and a soon-to-be Crobat on my team already.

Archen was sadly going to be relegated to mere Gym battles as something of a curiosity and Gym battler for those who brought grass types to my gym.

I turned my attention to the other new addition. Shieldon wuffled at me playfully and nibbled at my jeans only to tug them a moment later before braying in annoyance.

“Crani!” cried Cranidos as he kicked sand behind him in a show of challenge.

Shieldon turned and gave Cranidos a confused look but that was enough for Cranidos to decide that his challenge had been accepted.

I whistled sharply, deciding not to put the young Shieldon through a trial by fire.

While I knew Shieldon had the defense stats to probably shrug off Cranidos’ attack I also knew that Cranidos had a decided advantage in terms of strength and training.

Cranidos whined at me as he aborted the attack, stomping his feet like a toddler having a tantrum. I waved him off towards where Knight was playing with a Lairon. “Go play with them. You’re too strong for Shieldon right now,” I suggested.

Crandios did just that with a pleased wiggle at being called ‘strong’ and left me to enjoy sitting in the shade with no work that needed doing. I continued to play with two of my pokemon.

A flash of light heralded Sabrina’s arrival.

“Found you,” she said as she plopped down next to me. She gave Shieldon a thoughtful look before casting her gaze skyward.

“Diantha supplied a fossil to Crowley?” she asked.

“She apparently supplied four fossils. Two Plume fossils and two Sail fossils.” I gestured towards Archen. “She’ll get an Archen for herself along with what will eventually be an Amaura, a rock-ice type pokemon,” I said forlornly.

Sabrina glanced at me with a questioning tilt of her head. “You say that like you’re disappointed,” she replied.

I nodded. “I was hoping that she’d have a Jaw fossil to give over. That contains a Tyrunt, which is a powerful rock-dragon type pokemon.”

Sabrina’s lips quirked up. “You want to tweak Lance’s nose again?”

“... a little” I admitted with a smirk.

Sabrina huffed. “Bullying Lance? How dastardly,” she said with a teasing tone.

I chuckled. “Amaura is still nice. I think it will be a very popular pokemon. If nothing else, I’ll be able to train up a frankly gorgeous pokemon for Contests.”

Sabrina nodded. “I think I will look forward to seeing it when you take possession of it then,” she replied before allowing a comfortable silence to grow between us.

We sat for a while, simply watching the pokemon on my reserve playing and frolicking.

Occasionally, a Gym trainer would amble past, invariably with a pack of pokemon hounding them, even if they didn’t have any treats. Some of the pokemon here were absolute battle maniacs and demanded training to grow stronger.

Sabrina sighed. “I didn’t just come to relax with you, sadly.”

“Damn,” I replied, earning a smile from Sabrina.

“The League reached out once more. Cynthia has been going through old matches, and she became adamant she should come back here to talk with you about Gawain. Apparently, Kleavor is something of a symbolic hero pokemon that Sinnoh used to venerate,” she said, shooting me a knowing look.

“Ah,” I replied. “That… is correct.” I glanced down at the Xtransceiver that I had switched to mute to allow myself a quiet period.

Important people knew where to find me if they wanted something.

Which was pretty much just Sabrina.

Others must have been wising up to that trick however as they went to her when they couldn’t get hold of me.

I saw the messages Sabrina had likely also received waiting in my message inbox. “Hmmm so Cynthia wants to come around once more, as does Diantha to check on the fossil pokemon,” I read aloud. “You realise that probably means that you should bring Wyrdeer and Farigiraf as well right?”

“Hmm, I suppose I can be convinced to show them. You mentioned that Diantha is known to have a Gardevoir capable of mega evolution?” she asked.

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s like her signature pokemon I’m pretty sure.”

“I might discuss some specifics with her then,” she said.

I glanced back at the message. “Hmmm there’s no mention of Alder, seems kind of odd that we’re only getting two of the Champions. I feel like we’re missing the set,” I joked.

Sabrina hummed. “There’s probably other old people that he is catching up with.”

“Somehow, I don’t see Agatha inviting anyone around for tea and scones,” I pointed out. Then again, if she did it in a haunted house… yeah that would be more likely.

Sabrina shot me an amused look. “I like how when I say old, you immediately think of Agatha. No, he’s spending time with Koga. Fuchsia is well regarded due to Koga’s actions during the war, and lots of people respect him. But also, I wouldn’t be surprised for Janine to tell me that Agatha crashed her father’s drinks with Alder. I suspect Oak will as well. Apparently, one Professor Rowan is attending.”

“Huh, a Professor that specialises in pokemon evolution, I wouldn’t mind crashing that event and picking the man’s mind. He’d have an…” I trailed off as I caught sight of Sabrina’s bemused expression. “Ah, sorry we hadn’t gotten around to talking about which pokemon professors I know of, had we?”

Sabrina shot me a wry smile as she lifted a notepad and pen from her pouch and began adding to the list. I coughed sheepishly.

“Do we have time to go through some of the list you’ve compiled since last time?” I asked.

Sabrina nodded and pulled the notepad down to see where we’d left off from our last talk only for her to snort. “I’m going to ask about Legendary pokemon later and instead follow up on what you know about other pokemon Professors,” she asked.

I leaned back and got comfortable. “Right so the ones I was familiar with were Oak, Elm, Birch, Rowan, Juniper, Sycamore, Kukui, Magnolia, Sonia… and I think their name was Laventon but there’s a bit of oddity with the whole time mechanics coming into play with Hisui that I don’t rightly understand.”

Sabrina shot me a questioning look, but I waved it off. “Sorry, I don’t have a great grasp on it. Let’s focus on the Pokemon professors themselves. Technically, Oak is supposed to be known for studying Pokemon Ecology, but we all know he does way more than that,” I said.

“Elm is known as the breeding specialist,” Sabrina said with a twitch of her lips as I snorted. The man had a one-track mind but was also the butt of many a joke among researchers despite his academic credentials.

I continued with my thoughts on pokemon professors. “Birch is an up-and-comer that I’ve kept an eye out for. He’s going to take over Hoenn’s top spot soo and will be known for studying pokemon habitats.”

I ticked off four fingers as I got to Rowan. “Rowan is known for Pokemon evolutions and form changes as Sinnoh has an interesting trait of certain pokemon evolving in different ways, depending on where or when or what conditions they were exposed to at the time.”

“Sort of like Eevee?” Sabrina asked.

I nodded.

“Juniper is looking into the Origin of Pokemon which… is going to have some interesting implications with Arceus, Mew and other such beings,” I stated. I continued to tick off my fingers as I listed off the other fields of interest.

When I mentioned Professor Magnolia, Sabrina twitched. “Dynamax?” she asked.

I smiled. “Riiiiight,” I said, knowing I’d just given Sabrina a whole new line of questioning that I knew was going to feed into Gigantamax.

It was kind of weird how passively absorbing a lifetime of pokemon trivia could translate into multiple hour-long conversations where I still skipped over things for other, more interesting points.

By the time Cynthia and Diantha arrived, Sabrina had a thoughtful look on her face as she contemplated the various pokemon that were still out there. I suspected that once Galar was discovered Sabrina would be quite interested in talking about getting a Hatenna for herself.

I waved towards Cynthia, who practically vibrated as she walked along. “Hello there! Congratulations on your victory!” I offered up easily.

Cynthia smiled a little wider at that. “Oh! Thank you! It was a good match!”

I snorted. “Please, I think you just exposed Steven’s weak spot rather wonderfully. That Spiritomb of yours took control of the match for you and didn’t let go.”

“Ah, Spiritomb is a Pokémon that many trainers have difficulty facing.” Cynthia nodded.

Diantha shot her fellow champion a pointed look. “Most people that get around to challenging Cynthia try and work around that pokemon. Not that it works out for them,” she informed us before offering a slight bow of her head in greeting.

I mentally reeled a little. Huh, that greeting was like night and day from her initial introduction where she was all spikes and bristles.

“Hello to you as well, Diantha,” I said.

I glanced down. “While we don’t have the second line of fossils yet decanted, this is one of the new fossils,” I said, directing her attention to Shieldon who barked out a greeting.

Cynthia knelt down and offered her hand with Shieldon shuffling up to her and nuzzling into her. “Dawww! He’s adorable!” she cooed.

I chuckled and turned my attention to the sky only to find that Archen had dropped out of the game and was watching along from atop an Onix’s head.

“Archen! Come over here!” I called.

The little feathery fossil pokemon flapped over to us with a squawk and circled until I adjusted Golbat from her perch, offering another arm. It came down awkwardly on my outstretched arm and batted me a few times with its wings before settling.

“Arch!” he squawked, twisting its head back and forth to observe everyone.

“Hmmm it is much prettier than your other fossil pokemon,” Diantha said, stepping forward and stroking at the plumage causing Archen to purr.

“Hmmm, if that’s your metric I would hold out for the next pokemon, I have been told some good things from Crowley.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Diantha nodded. “I will look forward to when they come into my possession. I understand the Archen assigned for me is currently going through several health checks,” she stated.

I nodded. “Yeah, we didn’t want to potentially snub you by offering a weaker or injured pokemon,” I said. “Especially with this being a new breed. We have a Flying Type specialist also looking into it.”

“Falkner, I assume?” prompted Diantha with a thoughtful look.

“His father, Walker, actually,” I replied. I caught sight of Cynthia as she shifted from foot to foot, her gaze swivelling in a deliberate attempt to spot a certain Pokemon. I handed Archen to Diantha. “Here, why don’t you spend some time with this Archen to see what you think of him, seeing as you’ll have his… brother soon?” I said.

I gestured a hand deeper into the reserve otherwise. “Come on in, we didn’t really get a chance to do an in depth review of the facilities last time you were here and I doubt you got much of a chance the first time,” I said, mostly to Cynthia.

Cynthia coughed. “I mostly spent time with Yolanda.”

I led the group around, showing off the various pokemon and the facilities we had set up.

The various pokemon that made up the reserve poked their heads out to inspect the guests provided for amble talking points, with the care and unique peculiarity of each species being something I could talk all day about.

Things were progressing quite well until Sanchez caught sight of the procession and decided to tag along. I eyed him, watching for him to pull his usual attention-grabbing antics, but instead, he fell in at my side and followed along.

“So this is the specialty Golem that you were able to breed? Rock-electric typing no?” Cynthia didn’t leave it at that, however, and began remarking on his unique features, which quickly had him preening. “I have read several articles on your reveal. He’s rather impressive!”

“He was crucial in my match plan to smack Lance down,” I stated, giving Sanchez a proud pat on the head. I ignored the slight zap that came from contact with him from ease of practice.

“Just be careful around his—” I had a warning about the static discharge he now naturally possessed on my lips only for Cynthia to step up and cup Sanchez’s face in her hands.

“He’s rather dapper with—” a zap arced out and Cynthia jolted back with a shock as her hair puffed up. “Oh my, that was quite an experience!” she said with a shake of her head.

Sabrina levitated a comb up to Cynthia. “For your hair,” she said placidly.

Cynthia reached up and touched her hair only to find it had shot out into a huge afro from the static shock. “Oh my! Quick, Diantha get a…” she trailed off as she turned only to find Diantha already had a camera out and was recording.

“How long have you been recording?” Cynthia asked.

Diantha smirked at her fellow champion. “Oh, not long,” she said as she set the camera away.

Cynthia shook her head and huffed a laugh, only to turn and pamper Sanchez ignoring how more and more of her hair puffed up.

She eventually stopped, which allowed her to take Sabrina’s offered comb and set her hair to rights. “That happens a bit to you?” Cynthia asked Sabrina as she offered the comb back.

Sabrina shrugged. “Depends. Sanchez doesn’t get used against my team when Brock and I spar, but he gets used enough that some static shocks do sneak through. Not as much of late as I’ve gotten used to avoiding them,” she said.

I ran through Sanchez’s history before moving the tour along to other pokemon. “—and I decided to trial it with a specialised facility with electric generators,” I finished.

“Hmmm interesting. I wonder if a saturated electrical environment such as a powerplant would work or if an electric type gym would work well enough?” Cynthia mused.

“I suspect both might be options,” I stated. “It depends on the type of pokemon you are trying to move towards however. Certain typings can’t be mimicked by anything but pokemon.”

Cynthia tilted her head. “Where do you get your ideas from?” she asked.

“I went looking into a lot of ruins and historical pictures of old temples. There are lots of old ruins with lots of very interesting murals and statues but there are also some old recordings if you look hard enough,” I said cryptically.

“Yes! That’s how some archeologists learned as much as they did about Kleavor! They didn’t make the connection that it was an evolution of Scyther, however, until roughly two years ago! They still don’t know what conditions it needed or if it was possible!”

“Ah, it’s possible it’s just that some of the conditions were lost due to the resources being used up while there were mounting ecological pressures from locals. Stephen, an Aide from a local Pokemon professor, wrote a paper on it to my understanding,” I said easily.

Cynthia tilted her head. “Could I get a summary of what it detailed?” she asked as we let a pack of Aron run in front of us.

“Basically Kleavor’s specific evolution was something that became too niche for it to maintain, especially when a bug type would have issues entering the mountains and looking for the specific rock it needed. This creates pressure on it that stops its evolution naturally until it eventually passes from memory. Scyther adapted to this loss of resource in a different manner that then resulted in the evolution of Scizor.”

I coughed. “He then links this to the Electric variant of the Golem line that requires large amounts of electricity over large periods of time being something that is caused by longer-term effects. Again, in nature, this is difficult to pull off without ecological pressures making Geodude unable to hold their habitat long enough as other pokemon might favour that habitat. However, the potential is always there to unlock the different typing. It is just a matter of time and unlocking specific PNA strains over generations,” I said.

I waved a hand back and forth. “That’s it in a very simplified manner. I’ll send you the actual report if you're interested,” I said, only to find that Cynthia was lost in thought.

“So other Guardian pokemon could potentially be revived from history with your methods?” Cynthia perked up. “Perhaps something similar could be used for Typhlosion and Sneasel?”

I shot her a look. I hadn’t really given too much thought to those two, but it was interesting that she knew of them. “Those might be tougher asks,” I replied carefully.

I knew Typhlosion needed ghost energy which wasn’t going to be pleasant to experience for long terms and also impacted rates of eggs being laid and subsequently hatched. Ghost energy was not friendly for eggs after all.

I hummed. “We’re working on something currently with a pack of Growlithe.”

Right as I said it, three of the Growlithe pack trotted past in a patrol circuit, with one breaking off to assess our group before barking that everything was fine and continuing.

Cynthia beamed at me. “It’s good to hear that there are going to be more variants of pokemon. It is rather saddening to look back through our histories and see how much we have lost out on with certain pokemon no longer calling Sinnoh home.”

I shrugged. “Again, that might be due to the method of their evolution being too niche. Certain timings and items are required, or even specific energies that just aren’t as easy to find anymore.”

I paused near the pond and stopped to pat the water. Within a few moments a blue scaly head popped up along with a pair of Corsola.

“Tirt?” asked the little blue turtle pokemon. I waved at Tirtouga.

“Hey buddy, we’re showing our guests our fossil Pokemon,” I said before waving a hand towards a patch of Lileep and Cradily relaxing near the pond’s edge.

Tirtouga got a bit of interest as yet another fossil pokemon, but both Diantha and Cynthia took a longer look over Cradily. They even shared a look between themselves.

“Hmmm so you have a pokemon like Steven does?” Diantha asked carefully.

I coughed. “Actually, Steven got his Cradily from me. He traded me a rare fossil pokemon for a mega stone.”

Diantha and Cynthia glanced at me sharply, with Cynthia speaking up first. “Your Steelixite, correct?”

I nodded, understanding that they were feeling me out for any other potential mega stones I had. They’d no doubt done a bit more research on me since the last time, so the revelation of me having another mega stone wasn’t too farfetched.

I knew my team had a lot of potential for further Mega evolutions but I had to wonder if they did as well? “Do you have any beyond the Garchompite or the Gardevoirite?”

Cynthia and Diantha both shot me confused looks. “What makes you thin—”

“You have a Keystone attached to a Lipstick container that flashed when you adjusted your make up one time during our tour of the resurrection facility. Your Garchomp also had a small Mega stone attached to the back of its neck,” I said, laying some idle observations I actually had seen.

I might not have known to look for them if it weren’t for my previous life’s knowledge but I’d noticed them idly the other day and hadn’t thought much of them.

“Your Lucario didn’t have one,” I continued.

I glanced over at Diantha. “I also got access to some information about yourself and during a match featuring you and your Gardevoir against a Duke you used it in the match.” My eyes dipped to the neckline of her shirt where her necklace was just visible. “Mega Gardevoir is rather gorgeous I have to say.”

Cynthia gave me a piercing look. “My, you’re much more perceptive than I gave you credit for. I don’t think many people caught onto that. I still have to use my Garchomp’s mega evolution outside of sparring or training exercises.”

“Huh, I wondered about that,” I remarked. I hadn’t actually seen any video footage of Mega Garchomp.

“Well, your observations didn’t seem to do Steven Stone any good,” Diantha remarked brusquely.

I blinked and stared at her. “Huh? I don’t follow.”

Diantha blinked back at me. “You…You want me to believe that you didn’t tell Steven Stone about Cynthia having a Mega Garchomp?” she said carefully.

When I shook my head, she continued. “His team was rather well structured to face off against a ground-type pokemon… and he was ready for Lucario,” she pointed out.

I blinked again. “Yeah, I didn’t tell Steven anything. From the information he had available, he probably assumed that Garchomp was your biggest threat. I’m not sure what was up that caused him to overlook Spiritomb because it kind of wrecked him. It might have been an overreliance on his scouting team,” I said with a shrug.

“He seriously uses a scouting team?” Cynthia gaped at me. “I assumed that was a hit piece media article.”

I shrugged. “Steven does a lot of things like that. It’s… not viewed so well, but it has gotten him a lot of success as a trainer, so people couldn’t argue with the results… until you showed up. Bit of a misread is my take on what happened. Certainly didn’t help that you got off what three Calm Minds?”

Cynthia’s lips twitched into a smirk. “Ho? You caught that, did you? Hmmm yes, three Calm Minds,” she said with a tone that made me frown.Had I missed something else?

Sabrina and I shared a look, and a suspicion formed in my mind.

Had she doped her pokemon beforehand?

That surely would be frowned upon in Sinnoh as well, wouldn’t it?

Suddenly, I was much more uncertain than I had been. Was it possible that it was a cultural issue, and she might have boosted her pokemon before the match?

I doubted that but I was going to give the match another look over later to see what I’d missed.

Had she gotten in a fourth move somewhere? It was kind of tough to judge because the only tell that anything had happened was a flickering of Spiritomb’s gaseous form, which… happened a lot.

Hmmmm, it didn’t help that I had nothing to compare it to for its species. Was that a baseline or an indication something was up?

Cynthia nodded and stretched her arms above her head. “Well some of my questions about Steven’s performance have certainly been answered now. I didn’t have the context that others did. It still surprises me that people have assigned such importance to a one-off match, but I suppose the same happens in Kalos and Unova, except with more build-up before you face off against a Champion.”

I shrugged. “Yeah it’s an assumption. I’ll say again I didn’t give Steven anything, for one he isn’t my champion and even if he was I would expect him to do his own research.”

Diantha shot me a pointed look. “So you wouldn’t have stepped in for Lance?”

I made a wobbling gesture. “I might have told him it was a bad idea, but again. He’s a big boy. He made a mistake with me like that once, so I doubt he’d be so eager to repeat it with you.”

I waved a hand towards another part of the reserve. “My Elite pokemon are usually lounging around here at this time of the day,” I said as I led everyone towards the sound of blades clashing against each other.

As we approached, Cynthia grew increasingly jittery until we turned around the plateau and found ourselves at the Elite training area.

There, Gawain and Shin were revealed.

Both were trading blows at a frantic pace. Gawain used his heavier weapons in his aves to great effect, while Shin had to rely on finesse.

He parried and countered were possible, only for Gawain to tuck and use his rocky protrusions to catch any strikes that got past his axes.

Giving the match a critical look over I could tell that Shin had the advantage. He was landing more blows and fading away from any counters that Gawain tried to mount but that was to be expected. Shin was the far more experienced pokemon.

A flash of colour made me look to the side, and I found Link pulling out what looked like water balloons while Dennis stood to the side.

Dennis nodded at me, and I returned the gesture. Ah, I’d forgotten I asked him to do some awareness training with them.

“We might want to step back,” I said as I put words into action.

Cynthia blinked and only had a moment to question why before catching sight of the flurry of water balloons arcing through the air.

Both combatants tensed and disengaged from each other.

Dennis cupped his hands. “Close again! If you can, try to use smaller movements! Remember, we’re working on your dodging and awareness skills. Another objective of this training is to attempt to catch your opponent in the attacks that you dodge!”

“You have one of your trainers working with your pokemon?” Diantha said.

I nodded, knowing it was a bit rich that I’d disparaged Steven for that not long ago.

“Yeah, Dennis is something of a workaholic. This was some basic stuff that I had set up for… well, my holiday in Hoenn, but I came back faster due to events,” I said lamely.

I waved a hand. “Dennis wouldn’t hear otherwise and Link… if I don’t give him a task, he will throw himself into some of the most punishing training he can. He’ll get a lot stronger from it but… well sometimes you need to find creative ways to make him rest. The best I’ve found is for him to help in the training of others or assign ‘play’ periods for him.”

Link merrily tossed balloon after balloon in random throws that caused Gawain and Shin to float back and forth between attacks.

This continued for a minute or two until a familiar Geodude rolled up, took one look at what was going on and put out her own hand for some ammo.

I twitched, realising what was about to happen. “Izumi, maybe you should let them keep—”

Izumi didn’t listen. Too incensed by all the imprecise throws, she built up a small stack of water balloons before rapid-firing them at Gawain and Shin.

Both Pokemon took a hammering and staggered, only for Izumi to show how deadly she was with projectiles. She accounted for their flinches. I gave her an impressed whistle. She’d gotten better.

They began darting back and forth, forcing actual misses from Izumi, which only increased her intensity.

I huffed when Link scuttled out to join in on the fun. Sadly, as a much slower pokemon he was soon soaking wet, not that he minded with the huge grin on his face as he bounded back and forth from the starting line.

I put a hand over my mouth and chuckled before turning to the visiting Champions. Cynthia seemed amused, while Diantha merely observed with a neutral expression.

Diantha noted my gaze and nodded towards the training that had devolved into a game. “My pokemon take part in non-standard training. I have many of them dance to music in their own way to gain better self-awareness and proprioception. Sometimes, we do it in different environments.”

She waved a hand. “Your pokemon appear to be enjoying themselves,” she said neutrally before Sabrina stepped up and the pair began discussing the Gardevoir line and their experiences thus far.

“Do you mind if I let two of mine join in?” Cynthia asked, ignoring the chatter of the other two girls to address me.

I shot her a surprised look but nodded.

Cynthia tapped two pokeballs and her Lucario and Togekiss appeared. “Join in the fun, you two!” Cynthia said.

Togekiss trilled happily and dove into the fray while Lucario gave the game a thoughtful look before moving to join Izumi in throwing water balloons.

Cynthia huffed. “That’s not what I meant Lucario!” she called, only to sigh and give a fond shake of her head, which sent her hair swishing back and forth. “He can be so stuck up, but I think he’ll enjoy this at least.”

I nodded, watching the game as it grew. Togekiss darted in and landed a ‘point’ on Lucario only to dart back to the starting line, Dennis was at the back furiously making up new water balloons by the dozen to keep up with demand but he seemed happy to be helping out in his own way.

“Well, this isn’t what I thought would occur when we were talking about showing off my Kleavor,” I said.

Cynthia shrugged. “Not, but I think I prefer this. Kleavor isn’t just a relic of the past. Here, he is dynamic and engaged in the world around him.”

She smiled. “I have to compliment you. Your Golem, your Kleavor, and your Fossil pokemon. I must say, you’re quite the pathfinder regarding pokemon evolution and rediscovery.”

“Ah,” I blushed at the heartfelt praise she was offering. “Thank you for that. I don’t think of it as anything special. I just noticed links and historical links.” I replied.

Cynthia nodded slowly. “If you ever wanted to stop being a Gym Leader have you thought about taking up a role as a Pokemon Professor?” she asked.

I laughed at the thought of Professor Brock being added to the list of famous names only to realise she was serious.

I scratched the back of my head. “Ah, I think I’ll stick to my day job for now. I’m enjoying it too much.”

“Brock still has lots of insights to draw from,” Sabrina said and when Cynthia glanced at her a pokeball floated off Sabrina’s pokebelt and Wyrdeer appeared.

Cynthia made a squeal of delight and raised a hand. “Another Guardian pokemon of ancient Hisui alive and well? Ohhhh this day just gets better and better!” She whipped around and stared at Sabrina hopefully. “May I?” she asked.

Sabrina nodded and instead of putting her hand out to rub Wyrdeer, Cynthia threw herself face-first into Wyrdeer’s fluff. “Soooooo soft! This is comparable to Altaria down!”

I chuckled at her antics. Well I had to conclude that this was shaping up to be another successful cross region event.

I hoped the other event with Alder was going just as well.

Rachel chose that moment to make an appearance, and she sprinted around me straight to Sabrina.

“Eeeeeeiiii! It’s true you’re engaged! Oh my gosh! Please tell me you’ll let me post about this on the Gym’s pokenet page and socials!” she squealed as she held Sabrina’s hand aloft.

Sabrina and I shared a smile. Sabrina was about to nod when I remembered something.

“Uhmmm Sabrina, have you told your family or friends yet?” I asked.

Sabrina blinked. “Ah, that’s right.” She vanished a moment later in a Teleport.

I chuckled and shook my head as I turned to settle Rachel down. “She’ll do it, just let’s give our friends and family heads up first, yeah? Wouldn’t want them finding out on the pokenet first, would we?”

Rachel slumped. “I guess,” she whined. Then she shot me a look. “Have you told everyone yet?” she pointed out.

I coughed and brought out my Xtransciever as I started typing out a message to send to people who deserved to hear it from me.

When I was done I looked up to find Kleavor and the other’s game had finished up and he’d approached close enough for Cynthia to look him over.

“How much longer will your group be staying in Indigo?” I asked.

Cynthia slumped. “Only another few days. We’ve already been away from our nations for a few weeks now, so it’s best we head back and give the good news. We’ll be dropping comms buoys off as we go and leading a flotilla of Indigo ships as well to help develop the trade route but…”

Cynthia stepped back. “Urgh, there are times I wish I wasn't Champion! Then I could just wander the world and investigate all the interesting history!” she declared.

I chuckled. “I know that feeling. Who knows, maybe some young up-and-comer will knock you off your perch?” I said.

Cynthia shook her head. “While I hope that happens soon for Alder, I won’t allow anyone but the best to take my position,” she stated firmly.

“I can respect that,” I said. I gave Cynthia and Diantha thoughtful looks. “So I suppose I won’t be seeing you for a while with you both going back to running your Leagues?” I asked.

Diantha nodded while Cynthia slumped.

I chuckled. “How about I get your contact information so once the pokenet links up, we can message each other? I’d certainly be interested in learning more about your nation,” I said.

Cynthia beamed at me. “You can come on holiday!”

I hummed. “Maybe, if I’m lucky,” I said, feeling like it might be a long while before I got the chance to do something like that.

The two Champions gave me their contact information.

Before it was time to depart, Rachel got us all lined up for a photo for the Gym’s page, and then I bid them farewell. Cynthia did so sadly, while Diantha bowed formally while also thanking me for the new Pokemon she was to receive.

I reminded her to look for any other fossils. I was still waiting for the Jaw fossil.

Rachel sighed as they Teleported away. “Shame, I liked them both.”

“Even Diantha?” I asked.

Rachel nodded. “Oh yeah, that girl photographs damn well!” she said, showing me the images that she’d taken.

I snorted. “Sabrina’s better, “ I said loyally.

Rachel grinned at me. “You two are so cute together!” she gushed.

I snorted. “And you and Trixie aren’t?” That got a pleased blush from Rachel.

I waved her off and turned my attention back to home, a slight tension building up in my shoulders.

Hmmm, I had to say I did not like the feeling that coming home gave me these days.

Sadly, I knew precisely why that was the case, but it wasn’t something I could easily fix.

I took a breath and forced myself to relax. I walked into the house only to find people shouting as Lola tried to fix something her way only for it to backfire on her.

I sighed. Time to be the adult, I thought as I ran the mantra through my head.

Small steps, day by day, I reminded myself.

“Who wants to watch Bruno’s match!?” I shouted over everyone else.

That instantly got people’s attention, and they swivelled on me to fix the issues. Lola pouted, and Flint tugged her to the side to talk with her while I settled everything down.

Somehow, I knew this was going to be my new normal for the foreseeable future.

At least it was better than a few alternatives, I thought as I calmed everyone down to watch two fighting-type masters throwdown.