Hard Enough - Chapter 405 - Notes review (Patreon)

I have four Mega Stones.

It sounded absurd when taking into account that most trainers throughout the world had none, and here I was with the ability to call forth more power in a fight.

I might have slipped into my office and arranged them in a row to stare at them in glee and cackle.

But, like, a normal amount, not too long that I felt I’d gone unhinged, just enough to indulge my inner child. 

This was starting to feel like playing a pokemon game with the mechanic being unveiled and suddenly there being megastones seemingly popping up everywhere that I looked.

Whereas in the past there had been nothing. No hints or signs, and then one day, what? Steven Stone cracked open a rock, and Mega Stones were a thing again?

That’s not how it happened, of course, I know that scientifically, but it felt a little ridiculous to have gone from nothing to four in less than a year.

Steelixite, Aerodactylite, Tyranitarite, and now… Clefablite. Which wasn’t a stone I’d been aware of being possible, not from my knowledge of the pokemon franchise. 

It all pointed to the fact that there was more to the pokemon world than I knew, or that the games continued to grow past my time on earth.

“Wild, absolutely wild,” I breathed to myself, now done with my fit of private mania that I would only tell Sabrina and my therapist about.

Both would approve of it as a healthy quirky little outlet of stress, which, after the events of Celebi entering my life, I was overdue for.

My therapist had put her head in her hands and shaken their head a little when I told them about Celebi interfering with time and sending me into the past.

“Brock… you have one of the most colourful lives I have the pleasure of knowing. I don’t think I know anyone who’s encountered as many Legendaries as you have.”

“Want to trade?” I’d asked.

“Pass,” she'd said before prompting me to continue my tale.

If my therapist were way less reputable, I’d worry about her bundling up all the stories I gave into a novel for the public. But from talking with her, I knew she was more loyal than that.

It also somewhat helped that Sabrina gave her approval to talk with her about things, having passed a psychic check that they probably suspected they’d undergone but had no knowledge of, due to Sabrina not really needing to be in the same building to read a person’s thoughts if she truly wanted to.

With the extra mega stone, Don had unsurprisingly been more insistent about securing training time to make sure he was the next to be able to Mega evolve. 

Especially before someone like Link who had only joined my Elite team of pokemon last year. That and I think Link’s cheery disposition was something he couldn’t allow to ‘beat’ him to a goal he’d been slavering after for ages now.

As a Dragon I knew his pride couldn’t take it, so I met his desire head on and made sure to spend morning and afternoon training sessions solely with him. Which… I actually had a little more time in the morning now that I wouldn’t be overseeing Yolanda…

Huh, weird, sad feeling, but, yeah, Yolanda was a big girl and she was gone from home for now.

So I’d just knuckle down and focus on what I could.

We’d made progress; we both knew it. I could almost feel the evolution ‘clicking’ into place now. It just needed the right mindset, and we’d be in action. 

On the other side of the spectrum.

Link didn’t mind waiting, which didn’t surprise me at all. He was affable and happy to hold off in favour of another, even don, Megaevolving before himself.

I had to give it to him; he truly embodied the name Link well with his unshakeable faith in me, and himself.

As much as some of the big moments he did could be inspiring, sometimes the little gestures stood out all the more for their silent affirmation of his values.

I sat back in my chair, my attention shifting from the stones to the company that had taken over searching the various sites most likely for their appearance. We had a frankly huge intake of rare stones and other items that were beneficial that were coming in at a steady pace across Indigo.

He’d also found another stone.

We were by no means rubbing elbows with the likes of Devon, or Silph, but Mega Rock Inc had me quietly surprised with its level of success. 

While they were on my mind I began clicking through various reports from Indigo land acquisition agencies, noting that there didn’t appear to be any new purchases for Devon Corp, which struck me as odd. 

A quick look through other online registries such as Rota, the Battle Frontier, and even the Orange Archipelagos hadn’t produced anything. That… struck me as very good. We’d started to have notable success in our digs and explorations to date. For Devon, and therefore Steven Stone to have made no moves at all? That… no. That didn’t match with what I knew of Steven.

Hmmm, I was going to have to call… no, that was thinking about it the wrong way. I was the CEO of a company and a Gym Leader, I had better things to do. I fired off a message to one of the secretaries managing parts of Mega Rock, informing them to have someone call up the various registries.

Following up with some emails to other parties, I got some questions sent out through formal, and also through the Guardians to investigate if there were any secondary parties involved. Perhaps Steven had started using Shell companies to buy up land that he’d later resell on to Devon.

If done right most landowners might even think they were selling to a local corporation. That was worth watching for…

With that done I turned to the other aspects of Mega Rock Inc.

The secondary parts of our company, while not as profitable or as attention-grabbing, were still interesting. The various archeological dig sites allowing us to discover several buildings like Pokemonopolis temples and even fortresses. While in other sites we were finding entire towns that had been thus far gone unnoticed.

In most of these sites there were a marked uptick in ghost pokemon, causing us to employ more Channelers.

Dr Eve had started sending in updates on her progress and her findings and thoughts on the various sites were rather interesting, especially how they continually referenced the unification of the region thanks to a single person.

A chosen child that grew into the role if you will, much like the founding tale of Kanto.

Seems the myth might have an origin and a touch of history to it.

Funny how history often rhymes with itself like that, I thought to myself as I got an update of Ash, Forrest, and Misty arriving in New Bark Town.

Huh, I was going to have to walk through there one day… I frowned and enlarged the image Forrest had sent to me. In the foreground the trio were all smiling and posing happily, but in the background.

I sent a message back. “Is that a statue of a knight in the background?” I asked.

Forest replied quickly. “Yeah it’s something about a Rhyhorn knight riding to their rescue during a fire that claimed most of Old Bark Town,” Forrest replied, sending an image of… shit that was me and Rhyhorn wasn’t it?

“Neat,” I replied. I was going to have to show this to Rhyhorn. He and his parents would be tickled pink knowing that we’d earned ourselves a statue from what we’d done.

I locked up my computer and files, making to do just that only to stop dead in the hallway and glance around. It took me a second but I soon spotted a presence lurking around a corner.

“Ja… Oh, it’s you Glimmers,” I corrected when I realised who it was.

She blinked in surprise at me, her differently coloured eyes causing me to glance between them uncertainly.

“You… are very perceptive Overlord,” she remarked.

Hmmm, alright, that was weird she usually didn’t give out compliments like that. Quirking an eyebrow at her I shrugged. “I mean I have to be, what with having friends that are ninja and a psychic fiancee.”

“Wife,” she corrected, causing my lips to twitch.

“I’m sure Sabrina would agree with you,” I remarked. “Why were you… hiding around the corner like that?”

“No reason,” she stated in a manner that let me know that she indeed had a reason, but wasn’t willing to tell me.

“Hmmm, alright then keep your secrets,” I replied, knowing that she shouldn’t be able to get into anything too sensitive with the access level she had been granted. “Was there something you needed from me?”

She nodded and produced a stack of pamphlets. All of them were from various dancing groups that taught different styles. “I wish to enrol in these,” she stated. “I need money. May I have some?”

Blinking, I began to leaf through the stack. “Hmmm, should be doable. Which ones were you…” I trailed off as understanding settled in. “You want to attend all of them?” I asked, knowing her answer.

“Yes,” she nodded firmly and I stared into her eyes, noting the conviction.

“This is why you were complimenting me earlier, wasn’t it?” I asked, my mind connecting the dots.

She nodded again, completely devoid of any shame. “Yes, Cindy, Alexa, Georgina, and Bethany all agreed that it was the best way to get something from you.”

I considered that and applied the idea to the various females she’d just listed. Cindy I could completely understand, whereas the others used it to ask for small things that were well within their scope to ask for, like time off, sick leave, or even just asking me to cut back on certain expenditures.

“Yeah, I don’t think they meant it in this way,” I offered to Glimmer.

“She rubbed her chin. “I will take that into consideration. So, the money?” she asked again.

Instead of reading the actual costs listed per studio, I merely counted the stack as a whole. “So twelve different studios, averaging around… huh, forty pokedollars a week… plus any equipment that you’re going to have to pay for like shoes, leotards, and such… hmmm. No, I’m going to pass on this. You can have two.”

“I want to attend them all,” she stated firmly and I was suddenly reminded of Cindy more than anyone else with her childish desires than a grown woman.

“Well, wanting is all good and well, but you need to be able to manage your time. There’s no way you can attend all of these classes for starters,” I pointed out.

“I have danced without stopping for—”

“Yes, your achievements are impressive, but the thing is these classes aren’t going to match up. You’re not going to be able to…” I searched for the best way to explain this to her. “Line them up and nail them like a flock of Pidgeys. They’re going to be competing for time and attention for classes and then any practice you need to commit to. Two is manageable. Plus I don’t want you to just get the money from me.”

“Why?”

“Because I want you to integrate a bit and experience life outside the tribe,” I replied honestly. “You need to… have some common ground with people to understand them.”

“Hmmm, you could pay for these classes,” she muttered only to tap them. “What of… private trainers? Like Trixie is for your Gym?”

I stared at her, surprised she’d thought of that idea. I wouldn’t have believed her capable of applying the logic but that… well it just went to show that uneducated didn’t mean dumb.

“That… would eliminate some time constraints, yes, but once again you have the issue of not establishing common ground.”

Glimmer tilted her head. “People threw money to me for my performances during the Knight event where you fought with your lance atop Rhyhorn.”

“Oh, how much did you earn?” I asked.

“Three thousand pokedollars Rachel told me,” she replied with a blank expression. I twitched, and she perked up. “Is that a lot?”

“Yes… huh, maybe we don’t need to get you a normal job so much as a busking licence," I replied. “Then you might be able to attend more of these classes," she made to speak and I beat her to the point, “or yes, hire an instructor.”

Glimmer beamed at this and her smile was so bright I found myself copying her. 

“Excellent, please do that for me and I will talk with Rachel to make arrangements for the instructor,” she stated, turning and skipping away, her hair clacking behind her.

“Huh, performing arts seems like the flavour of the month,” I muttered to myself, thinking on Yolanda’s performance. “With all the singing going on we’re going to get a Meloetta around here.”

That amused me more than it should, but I did rather like how it would slot into place. Then I recalled the pokemon that canonically showed up to sing and I gave my surroundings a quick look.

It had been a while since I’d last encountered Jigglypuff, and she had taken me out. Best to be careful.

I shared the image that Forrest had sent through with Titan, Bertha and Rhyhorn who all cheered at the image. 

“We’ll have to go look at it this weekend,” I suggested, earning me a round of eager nods.

With that distraction handled I walked around the gym clicking my fingers and humming until I encountered Alexa. “Anyone signed on to fight?” I asked.

“Not this week,” she replied from behind her desk.

“Huh… I guess I was just expecting a walk in or something. What about the Pallet and Viridian trainers? None of them have rocked up yet?”

Alexa gave me an amused look. “Brock, it’s the first day of the circuit. Most of them are just getting out the door I should imagine and most people have issues with navigating Viridian forest. Thankfully rangers and that helpful Samurai point them the right way.”

I paused and considered that. “The kid is still out there?” I asked. “Also his directions are… kind of terrible from what I’ve heard. I should probably go meet with the guy at this stage and give him a compass to show him—”

“Brock, stop looking for work and let the kid be. He’s happy running around the forest with his bug type pokemon and challenging young trainers. It’s fine if people get bad directions at the start of their journey. Teaches them to double check their information,” Alexa replied easily. 

“Hmmmmm,” I hummed. “Is that really why he stays out there? Just his love of bug types?” I asked. If so he’d be a shoe in for Azalea Gym.

“Yes, and before you try and shuffle him off, know that he’s also doing it to honour the old stories of the knight in the woods that emerged and helped Pewter during the dark times.”

That got a cough from me. “O-oh?” Damn, I’d actually heard stories of that before but I’d never thought about how it applied to my recent trip through time.

Damn, they were coming hard and fast today.

I shook it off and set off back to my office to work on something else while spinning my wheels. 

Hmmm, I guess I could review and update my personal notes for what I could recall of pokemon.

Heading back into my office I activated the dark emitters within my room, setting them to a higher emission rate. Only then did I open the safe, only to then slide away another fake wall that revealed a dark emitter with another smaller safe built into the wall. A quick tap of the pattern I used and a chirp let me grab a stack of papers. 

When I’d first devised this system I’d done it to stop Sabrina from being able to see the information I had. She knew all about it now however, and instead it was for pokemon like Mewtwo, Mew, or Celebi. The later of the three I wasn’t so sure I’d be able to keep out of my safe if they really wanted.

Not with time powers they’d displayed.

Flipping through the pages of notes I hummed, drawing out a red pen and adding to it. Clefablite was added to the list of mega stones that I knew to exist with a question placed at the end of the list. 

There would obviously be more to discover. Instead of lingering on that I turned my attention to the plots of the pokemon movies that I remembered.

Movies one through four were now finished, as was the eighth movie regarding Lucario and the Kingdom of Rota.

I’d taken part in four of them with the third movie apparently taking place in Orre with Karen and Ash playing the major roles.

Was it wrong to be relieved that I wasn’t the central figure every time these took place?

That was probably arrogance speaking more than destiny. I’d known about the events ahead of time and therefore been able to step in to either handle them or limit the impact.

Ash had apparently retained much of his protagonist energy, what with taking part in the second, third, and fourth movies.

The fifth…

I smiled. Chances were that it would probably be triggered with Sabrina and I’s arrival to Alto Mare. We’d already established a watch list for Anne and Oakley, who were still running free despite Team Rocket being shut down. 

Wait, in the fourth movie it wasn’t just the poacher that was a bad guy in the movie but also a masked Marauder… What had happened to him? He had access to the Dark Orbs, or Dark pokeballs as they were being referred to.

Wait, the events of the fourth movie, or at least, Ash’s part in that hadn’t occurred yet, had it? The Iron Marauder was still active… And so were the Dark orbs in his possession. Which were pokeballs that were much stronger than the type Granite had displayed with the Tyranitar he’d stolen.

I dialled a number as I stared at the sheet of paper detailing the man’s ‘powers’. The fact that he had an empowered Tyranitar was enough cause for concern. The other facts, such as him being a member of Team Rocket with better tech… that indicated an escalation… but also an opportunity in the future.

Oak picked up after a few rings. “Brock? Hello there, what can I do for you?” he asked as behind him a Muk attempted to creep up on him.

“Muk on your six,” I said first, pointing behind him.

Muk leapt for Oak’s back only for Oak to dodge to the side. 

“Haha! Too slow today Muk!” he declared triumphantly. He then produced a spray bottle. “Now! Out with you! Or I’ll use dish soap on you!” he threatened. 

Muk retreated out the door quickly and I chuckled. “That’s a unique way to handle a poison type.

“Muk are living sludge. They dislike cleaning products on principle,” Oak lectured. “Now, what did you have for me?” he asked eagerly, obviously expecting me to unveil some new discovery.

I didn’t have anyth… Oh, wait, I did. “A Clefable on Mt Moon handed me Mega Stone a few days ago,” I said, causing Oak to begin vibrating.

“It was the sickly one that we met once as a Cleffa, remember?” I prodded, giving him a look.

Oak blinked slowly before making an ‘Oh!’ face. 

“My goodness, just the knowledge that Clefable lives that long is interesting in itself! The oldest we’d seen before had been thirty years! For it to be over forty? Astounding!” 

“Huh, showing your age a bit, no?” I teased and Oak stuck his tongue out to show just how childish he was.

I shifted and adopted a more serious expression. “But seriously, I needed to talk about the second Celebi event that happened to you.”

At that Oak’s expression firmed up. “What in particular? You need to be careful with that situation. I wouldn't interfere with it if I were you and would stay well clear."

"I know, and I plan to, but there is still some potential there for us to use your past/future knowledge. Celebi threw you forward in time on the second go around no?"

“Yes, he did,” Oak replied with a fond smile. “It was most interesting being thrown forward in time and meeting Ash before I ever had a chance to know him.”

“What happened to the people chasing Celebi?” I asked.

“Eh? The people chasing it?” Sam replied, tilting his head. “Well, they were… well one was the poacher that had attempted to steal Daisy’s Bulbasaur if you recall him?”

“For me it’s only been a few days, so yes,” I replied, earning another blink and slow nod as Oak slotted in the time difference. 

For me it was days, but for him, it had been decades. Heh, must have been a weird concept for him to grapple with.

“I’ll have to plot that out one day as it makes for a most interesting thought exercise—” Oak began muttering to himself as he sketched something on a notepad. I let him go for a few minutes before clearing my throat.

“Oak? The bad guys? Was it just a poacher?” 

“No, no. There was another man… a man with pokeballs the likes of which I’d never…” Samuel Oak’s eyes hardened and it was at that moment I recalled just how sharp he was.

“He was a member of Team Rocket with Dark Orbs,” Sam murmured thoughtfully. 

“Dark Orbs? You’re sure of that? So the pokemon he had on him were stolen, or might have been?” I probed, happy that we were heading in a constructive direction.

“Oak nodded. “Yes, they were pokeballs that he seemed to gloat about being able to take over any pokemon. Thankfully he had a limited supply of them… Damn, if those are still being produced then Fiore…” we both shuddered at the thought of Fiore invading Indigo due to the ‘Masterball schematic’ being raised once more.

“Dark orbs have only been witnessed once so far, but you said the next Celebi event… it’s still months away, yes?” I mused, stringing Oak along.

He nodded. “Yeeeees, they have only been witnessed once before, as experimental tech that the Crusher tribes was being made to use,” he muttered. “You think there is a link there?”

“I suspect that yes. What happened to the man using the Dark Orbs?” I asked.

“He was captured by the residents of Arborville, it’s a small village hidden north of Olivine City in the forest there… the events of that time are still to occur,” he murmured.

“Which gives us a unique opportunity. We know where and when he will be, and we can capture him and interrogate him.”

“Or it gives us a deadline,” he replied, his expression deadly serious. “If Team Rocket improves upon their Dark orbs to the point that they can do what the Iron Marauder did in a few months, then the only hope we have is to find and destroy them before they can begin production of the pokeballs.” 

He swallowed. “Or else it might be for the best for Fiore to invade us,” he stated.

That… well that was an ominous statement.

“Right, we’ll need to light a fire under the task force investigating Team Rocket’s break away group,” he muttered, earning a grunt of approval from me.

He looked off to the side. “I’ll need to speak with Agatha as well,” he muttered. “Or perhaps you can for me?” he suggested and I blinked.

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

Samuel Oak, Professor of Pokemon and the first Champion of Indigo looked at me like I’d said a very funny joke.

I coughed. “You’re scarily smart,” I said, not confirming or denying the implication.

He chuckled. “I know my old friend very well. You’re doing well Brock, so don’t second guess it too much. Agatha will have created an organisation, what it does I have no doubts about. The protection of Kanto no? Well, that’s not a terrible goal.”

He raised a hand to forestall any comments from me. “What she won’t have accounted for is how it will evolve due to the people within it.” He nodded once. “I have a great deal of faith in you Brock.”

I blushed a little. “Ah, what happened to the good little lad that tried to help me by setting me up with my grandmother?”

This time it was Oak’s turn to blush. “There was no way I could have known that! I was just… being a good wingman like my cousins sometimes needed!” he proclaimed, earning a snort.

“So I’m supposed to blame Samson for back then?” I mused.

“Yes! It’s his fault!” Sam proclaimed shamelessly. 

We stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting out into laughter at the silliness of it all. When we both took a breath to regather ourselves he nodded. “Well, I’ll talk with some contacts, you do the same. Was there anything else you wanted to ask about?”

Having been reminded of how terrifyingly smart Oak was I coughed sheepishly. “I was thinking, with us knowing where a Legendary pokemon was going to be, along with a rough time, that it might be a good idea to plant some evolutionary stones around.”

Sam blinked at me, then chuckled. “That… should be possible, I will see to it and when Ash and your brother reach Olivine we can move to detain the Iron Marauder if we haven’t found any leads on Team Rocket’s new group.”

“That sounds good,” I replied and only once the call disconnected did I relax. 

Huh, it seems there was another terrifying friend in my circle. Funny how I’d surrounded myself with people like that.

Turning my attention to the list on the table I tapped the fourth movie synopsis once more. Yes, there was an opportunity there.

The fifth would hopefully also provide another chance to nab some Team Rocket grunts. The sixth… 

Well it could be tied to a meteorological event. I’d need people to start tracking the stars if I wanted a chance to know about that. 

It was, after all the only time I could think of Groudon, or in this case, a false Groudon, being involved in any movies. 

If anything happened like the games where Groudon and Kyogre got into a fight… I shuddered to think about it. 

I’d have to start praying to Rayquaza to shut the pair down in that instance.

From there… well Battle City and Deoxys for the seventh.

After that… I hadn’t actually seen any of the pokemon movies… I knew they existed and could guess at which pokemon they involved, but I had no true idea of the ‘plot’. Hopefully they could be resolved if I did end up encountering them.

It would probably pay to read up on the various Legendary pokemon of each region however.

With that in mind I packed away my hidden reference book about pokemon and opened the files Cynthia had sent through.

Kitakami… hadn’t the Crusher Tribe mentioned that region, I thought to myself as I opened the folder and found it staring at me.

Hmmm, worth a look. If it was reachable it would be worth a trip to.

Despite the portents of future turmoil I found myself smiling as I read through the historical texts of a different region. As Rhyhorn had proven during our recent adventure, as long as I had hope, and the support of my friends, we’d make it through.

I was just packing up for the day when Yolanda called me causing me to chuckle.

“It’s only been one day and you’re calling?” I teased.

She grinned back and held up a fossil. “Look what we found!” she proclaimed, causing me to blink.

Huh, damn. She was certainly producing results. 

“You’re such an overachiever," I fake-mocked as I shook my head. “Tell me everything!” I declared as I jogged to the house, knowing our siblings would want to talk with Yolanda as well.

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It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading!