I found Forrest at the back of the Gym with what looked like his starter, Onix.

Gathered around him were Salvadore, Ash, Misty, Greta and Stephen. Stephen appeared to have donned his “professor” hat and was leading a group discussion on how the younger trainers felt about their starter pokemon. Greta, I could see cuddling Bulbasaur, Forrest was polishing Onix, Ash was patting Pikachu; Misty had a fond look on her face. Salvadore could only look on longingly as the older kids discussed their pokemon.

Stephen asked a few more questions as I approached, but he paused when he spotted me. “Ah, Brock! I was just asking about starter pokemon! It’s rather interesting to see the bond that is forming between trainer and pokemon even in the early days!”

I nodded. “Yeah, the more you go through, the stronger it’ll get.”

“Huh? How? Will Pikachu and I eventually just know where the other is?” Ash said with a tilt of his head.

I shrugged. “Well, it’s possible for some pokemon and trainers certainly,” I said, referring more to Sabrina and Alakazam than ‘normal’ trainers.

Misty tilted her head. “Who was your starter pokemon Brock?”

I grinned and nodded to the side where Titan was walking through a group of Aron that had gotten too rough in their games. “Titan, my Tyranitar, or as he was back then, a Larvitar.”

Ash spun around. “How could you not know that Misty!?”

Misty bopped her head. “Oh, sorry, it just slipped my mind. With all the pokemon you have around here, it’s sometimes easy to forget who your starter is.” She smiled towards where Shrek and Hypnotoad were playing with the Gym’s Corsola.

Ash shook his head and shared a look of disbelief with Forrest and Salvadore who both nodded in commiseration. Stephen made a show of busying himself as Greta and Misty shot the boys stink eyes.

I chuckled. “So, I notice you’re all enjoying and making good use of the reserve?” I said to the group at large.

Ash nodded. “There are so many cool pokemon out here how could I not like it!” he whirled around and grinned at the various clusters that were currently in the reserve. “Are you sure I can’t just have one?”

I nodded. “Very sure.”

“Awwww,” he said with a slump.

I rolled my eyes. “If you want one of my pokemon you need to prove it and earn the right for it.”

Misty stiffened. “Wait!? Does that mean you’re going to give away some of them?!” Ash’s eyes lit up with hope and I chuckled before nodding once.

“For some trainers that prove themselves during the circuit that will be an option. I will hold pokemon for them exclusively. There is also the option of buying some through the auction we will be having in a few weeks.”

Ash tilted his head. “How do you prove you’re a good enough trainer to earn one of your pokemon?”

“Win the Gym Challenges convincingly. I usually demand they challenge a number of Gyms with the Gauntlet challenge, which is going to be a tough ask for some.”

Ash grimaced while Misty looked away, a frown on her face as she thought on my words. Greta slumped in on herself and patted Bulbasaur’s head.

I felt a little bad so I pointed out the other option. “Another option might be through recommendations. Service to the community should be rewarded after all. It’s usually a slower path than the other two, but sometimes people can find that slowing down is better for them and their team. Slow and steady versus being trailblazers “

Ash snorted, showing what he thought of that while Greta gained a thoughtful look. Misty still seemed troubled. She chewed her lip before speaking. “Most of those will be on the Gym circuit though, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, most of them.” She nodded and sighed. When the others shot her a worried look she shook her head to show that she didn’t want to talk about it.

I coughed and turned to Forrest. “Hey, I wanted to have a chat. Got a minute?”

Forrest glanced at his Onix only to turn to Salvadore. “Think you can keep seeing what foods he likes little brother?”

Salvadore beamed as he turned and ran for the private shed where I kept my pokemon team’s berries and supplements. All of which was notably better than the usual pokechow.

I hummed, considering if I needed to remind Salvadore not to go too crazy. I turned away, letting myself trust him…for now. If he used up too much, I’d just let him know what he’d done and then parade him in front of Sanchez while the great ham of an actor cried Totodile tears about not getting enough premium sitrus berries in his meal.

I gestured off to the side and led Forrest over to the top of the plateau. It would do for a private chat and give us a nice view while we did so. In a way, it took me back to when I’d skirted around this conversation with Forrest so many months ago.

“So,” I said, starting things off strongly.

“So? What’s up?” Forrest sat lazily on a rock, and I had to repress the urge to not remind him to sit up tall as he slouched.

I scratched at my head as I searched for the right words to say. I…didn’t think there were any to be perfectly honest. So instead, I swallowed. “I was talking with Flint earlier today and he mentioned something that made me realise I’ve been sort of ignoring you… Or more specifically, ignoring asking about what you want.”

Forrest tilted his head. “Huh?”

I sighed. “I said ages back that I was going to possibly drop the Gym on you and have you take over for me. I’ve since realised that was too much to demand of you and that I shouldn’t have done that.”

I waved my hand vaguely. “I never actually asked you what you wanted to do. I just assumed that you wanted it. I dictated instead of asking… I’m sorry.”

Forrest scratched the back of his head and stared at the dirt. “I mean, it was a huge honour to hear you say what you did but… Yeah. I don’t want to be Gym Leader I guess?” He chewed his lip and shifted about. “Is… that alright?”

I nodded immediately. “Yeah. Perfectly fine. I was in the wrong cause I had this idea of what you wanted and… Yeah. I was demanding too much. I obviously made things worse with pushing Terra’s egg onto you as well. I should have picked up that things were off back then.”

There was a long silence before Forrest nodded. “Well, yeah I guess. Thanks for not being mad about that. I… I didn’t want a Larvitar as my starter and I know that… disappointed you, didn’t it?”

“I was sad I wouldn’t get to share something like that with you, but it’s not a problem. I think if anything, Yolanda is over the moon with your choice to hand Terra on to her.”

“She’s going to be so crazy strong when she goes on her journey,” Forrest said with a chuckle.

I nodded, laughing as I remembered how I’d been in much the same position with Titan. Yolanda was in a good spot.

Forrest and I spent a few minutes watching the Gym’s pokemon roaming about before Forrest narrowed his eyes and chewed his lips, a thought apparently playing on his mind. “Why did you think you’d need to drop the Gym on me?”

I sighed explosively. “Flint.”

“Dad?” He cocked his head to the side. “Why would Dad coming back cause that?”

I waved a hand back at the Gym. “Forrest. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re still tripping over each othe…” I fidgetted and twitched before relaxing as much as I could. “There are times when…” I grimaced. Should I mention this to him? I decided to open myself up a little.

“There are times when I have to not shout at him and constantly remind him that the way he ‘thinks’ he once did something isn’t the best way. I’m just glad he accepted that I didn’t want him taking part in the Gym because, urgh, it just rubs me the wrong way. I… I thought I could trust him with the family, but I didn’t feel confident in his ability to run the Gym as well. You know how it operates and have been here with me the entire time. So, I was going to have you run it cause I thought, again, that’s what you eventually wanted to do.”

Forrest nodded with a frown, showing he didn’t fully agree with what I’d said. “So you were going to leave, yeah? To do what?”

“Mostly to give you all space. Things are rough right now, and I thought it might be better to remove myself from causing too much friction. Give Flint time to just be a dad with you guys.”

“That’s stupid. Then you’d have been just like him!”

I glared at the landscape, not willing to turn it onto Forrest and cause him to flinch. “It would have been nothing like what he did,” I said firmly.

“Same result…” Forrest muttered sullenly. I clicked my tongue and nodded, conceding the point. It wouldn’t have been something my youngest siblings could understand.

I sighed. “Our family is very, very messed up. We’re the definition of atypical.” Forrest shot me a confused look, and I twirled my finger around. “Forrest, usually I’d have moved out by now instead of being the primary caregiver.”

Forrest shrugged. “Not like you’re still living at home with Mum and Dad.” I gritted my teeth at the mention of her. Forrest continued, not noticing my reaction. “It's the opposite. I don’t think being untypical is so bad for us. It worked great.”

I huffed. “Atypical, not untypical,” I corrected.

Forrest rolled his eyes at me. “Urgh, whatever.”

We enjoyed another moment of quiet. Then I tilted my head. “So, I guess I should actually ask you, but do you have any thoughts on what you want to do?”

Forrest chewed his lip. “I… No? Is that alright?”

I snorted and recalled how many jobs I had gone through in my past life. It was considered normal in my past life to have at least gone through a handful of different roles. “Honestly? That’s fine. Perfectly normal, in fact."

Forrest glanced at me. “What about you?”

I blinked, surprised to have the question turned back around on me. “You know… I hadn’t thought about that in a while.” Again, I’d built up an idea of what I was ‘destined’ to do with Ash and in the meantime, I’d been the best Gym Leader and Parent I could be.

“You don’t know what you want to do?” he said incredulously.

I shrugged. “I’m only sixteen Forrest.” And didn’t saying that feel weird?

“Going on seventeen next week!” he said. I held in a snort. It was such a childish thing to say but I remembered it being so important as a kid to be taken more seriously that adding sixteen and a half seemed right.

“Well, regardless, I haven’t really thought about what I wanted for a while. Guess I should start thinking about that more.” I leaned back before chuckling. “Huh, that was actually an insightful question. Nice one, Forrest.”

Forrest grinned. “I’m not just a handsome face!” he said smugly as he posed.

I gave him a flat look. “Please, don’t fool yourself. I’ve seen your report cards.”

Forrest scowled and threw some dirt at me, which I threw back. This prompted a dirt fight with no real goal beyond getting the other person dirty. When we were done, we both lay there watching the sun slowly creep downwards.

“I think I want to travel some more when I can,” I eventually said.

Forrest glanced at me. “Huh?”

“What I want to do. I loved my journey.” I sighed. “You’ll probably have this experience next year with you having a starter now, but a journey? It’s tough, fun, life-changing, and so much more.” I felt a tickling of an idea. Forrest could take my place with… I crushed that thought. It wasn’t a good idea to force something on Forrest. No, I didn’t want to make that mistake again. Forrest could be Forrest, and Ash could sort himself out.

I sighed and reached up into the sky, as though trying to grasp it. “The world we live in is pretty amazing, you know? I was pretty sad when my journey got cut short, but coming back here and looking after you all? I’ll never regret doing that.” I watched as below us Knight and Bertha locked eyes and charged at each other like linebackers from my past life.

They slammed into each other and held as both powerhouse pokemon nullified the other’s charge.

Titan came to see what the noise was and found the pair play wrestling which he huffed at and turned his back on. I grinned as Bertha and Knight chased after him to play.

“I loved travelling, but I think I’ve made something really great here with the Gym. So I’m not going anywhere any time soon.” I could recall how far I’d taken things in the last few years. I still had a lot of plans I wanted to implement.

“I think I could make the Gym something special, so I’m sticking around. You’ll be leaving before I will I should think.” I said with a wink. “We’ll have you super ready to take the world by storm with your journey.”

Forrest looked away, I suspected the conversation had gotten too emotional for him and when he spoke next he did so with a slightly husky tone. “That’s nice to know. Thanks, I guess big bro.”

I leaned over and nudged his shoulder. “No problem, little brother.” He then shot me a look. “So what do you want for your birthday?”

I smirked. “For you to keep your room clean and do your own laundry for a month.”

“Brock!” he groaned as I laughed. “Urgh! You’re so old sometimes! You’re as bad as dad with your jokes!”

I snorted at him but didn’t say anything else.

He shifted and shot me a few side eyes. “So… want to show me some tricks with Onix?” he said after another few minutes.

I grinned. “Sure thing!” Then I jumped to my feet and started running down the access ramp of the plateau. “Last one down is a rotten egg!” I called over my shoulder. Forrest scrambled after me but with my superior legs and cunning, I easily reached the target first. I charged up to my Onix and slapped him on the flank.

“Goal!” I shouted. Onix turned and gave me a confused look. I just smiled at him and he rolled his massive eyes.

Forrest gasped as he staggered up to his own Onix. “G-goal!” he said as he slapped Onix’s flank.

His pokemon spun around at the slap and roared a question which Forrest waved. “Sorry! Sorry, I was racing my brother, first to our pokemon was the winner. I was this close I swear!” he said to his pokemon.

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My Onix shot me a disbelieving look, and I huffed, making him chuckle.

Ash, it turned out, was still around as he ran up as I started working with Forrest.

“Alright Forrest, as you know, Onix’s greatest strength and weakness is their size. It makes them slower initially but gives them great physical offence and defence.”

“I know this!” Forrest said with a growl.

“Physical offence and defence?” said Ash.

I hummed and turned to Forrest to see if he was alright with me including Ash in our training. Instead of nodding Forrest raised a finger. “There are a number of basic stats used to give summarized information when discussing a pokemon. These are Health, Speed, Physical attack, Defence, Special attack, and Special defence. Each pokemon will usually have their strengths and weakness.”

I patted my Onix. “And what does Onix have?”

“Super high defence!” Forrest said.

I nodded. “And that’s been seen as a detriment with the recent method of battling that people have been using. Onix are more about taking hits and taurosing their way forward.”

“Soooo how are they supposed to be used in battles?” said Ash.

Once more Ash’s question was answered by Forrest. “Onix have a great set of moves and it comes down to ingenuity! You can lay down traps with Bide, or use them as setups for control effects like Sandstorm or Stealth Rock!”

I nodded. “I’m thinking of teaching my Onix Rest, and Sleep Talk to make the most of his strong defence. It might not be a move to prioritise, but they’ll be good to have.”

“Prioritise?” said Ash with a tilt of his head. At his feet, Pikachu copied him.

Forrest nodded quickly. “Yeah! Most pokemon when they’re young only really remember four moves really well. These are their most effective moves. As the pokemon and us as trainers get better we’re able to get them to use more! It’s all about getting stronger!”

I smiled, happy to see Forrest rattling off facts like he was. “There are the rare pokemon trainers at your level that have trained their pokemon to have five or even six moves at a high level, but they’re rare and it takes years of work to get beyond that.”

I tapped my chin. “There’s an older gentleman that frequents the local battleclub that has a Primeape that knows ten moves. He goes there and teaches people with his fights. Well worth a look.”

Ash slumped. “I went there this morning…the trainers were all really strong… I had to take my entire team to Nurse Joy.” Ash rubbed his head and shook his head. “Felt really sick for an hour afterwards.”

I grimaced, understanding that Ash had been closing to whiting out. “Yeah, that happens. As for the battleclub? You need to find the tells on who’s strong and who’s starting out. Age is usually a good place to start.”

Forrest and Ash both bristled at that, and I huffed at them. Ash gained a thoughtful look, and his attention dipped to Pikachu.

“How do I learn what my pokemon are strong in for stats?”

Forrest rubbed his chin thoughtfully. I was finding it adorable even as I refrained from stealing the moment from him. Eventually, he said, “You need to make observations for yourself… Or you can look things like that up online with what the norm is for that pokemon. They have averages calculated out.”

I coughed pointedly. “Ash, you have a pokedex which might give you some insight. You’re able to use it to record and it has an analysing feature for pokemon that are yours.”

Forrest shot me a look. “Huh!? Really! That’s so broken! I want one!”

Ash stuck his nose in the air. “Heh! Only really skilled trainers get these from Professor Oak!”

“What!? Gary I can understand! Greta seems smart, but you and Damian? Please!”

I snapped my head around. “Say what?”

Forrest blinked at me. “Say what about what?”

I waved my hand. “What did you say about Damian? We had another of Oak’s sponsored trainers at the Gym? Who was he? I thought I would have noticed him.”

Forrest huffed. “He was all wind. He had an Oddish and Poliwhirl and he tried stomping me into the ground with them, but I used Rollout to evade them for a while. Doofus kept throwing out Waterguns and Absorbs but I dodged them all and knocked his pokemon out. He had no variability in his moves.”

I frowned. “Damian would have had Charmander wouldn’t he?!” I said, suddenly worried I’d messed something up horribly by not paying attention to a minor detail that would prove oh-so-important.

Ash startled. “Yeah? Greta got Bulbasuar, Gary got Squirtle, Damian got Charmander.”

I clicked my tongue and glanced towards the east where Cerulean lay. That had happened after Ash got his second badge hadn’t it? He’d gotten Pidgeotto, Caterpie who evolved quickly to Butterfree, then Bulbasaur, then Charmander…

“When did you beat Damian?” I said.

“... couple days ago?”

“Seen him around at all?”

“Yeah, actually. I ran into him with the guys after the match. He was really peeved at losing, and he tried to challenge me again to advance, but I ignored him.” He rubbed his head and I tilted my head. There was something he wasn’t saying there.

“Something else happen?”

“My friend fought him with one of their pokemon and got beaten and he got all high and mighty. But then he lost against another of them and got angry as a mankey. It was so dumb.”

I clenched my jaw. “... Keep an eye out for him and tell me if he’s still around. I have this weird feeling about him.”

“Weird feeling?” Forrest said.

I nodded. “Yeah, in a bad way though.”

Forrest nodded. “Alright?” He shot Ash a confused look before shrugging, “I’ll keep an eye out for him.”

Forrest glanced up at his starter. “Me and Onix can fight him without using Gym pokemon now.” I nodded only half listening. There was no guarantee that things would play out the same way now. Damian hadn’t swept through and gotten cocky. He’d probably run face-first into a ton of strong trainers lingering around.

Would he be dumb enough to abandon a Charmander though? That just seemed so ludicrous to me. Everyone knew that Charmander took longer to train to their full potential. If Damian did as I suspected he did in the cartoon I’d be talking to Oak about him.

“Me and Pikachu will as well!” Ash shouted, not one to be left out of something that sounded serious. I nodded and glanced down at his belt.

Hmmm, that reminded me. I waved a hand inside. “Speaking of you battling with your own pokemon, I think we need to get you some pokeballs so you can start creating a proper pokemon team.”

Forrest beamed. “Thanks, that’d be great! Dad was going to buy me some, but he said he needed to sell some rocks first!”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Course he did.”

I waved my hand and led him and Ash into the office, where I opened up a locked cupboard. “Alright, take six of any that you…” Forrest raced straight towards the yellow and black pokeballs making me sigh. “Aaaaaaaand you’re just going for the Ultra balls.” I pinched the bridge of my nose in exasperation.

“Course! They’re the best!” said Forrest, like he had any clue.

I sighed. “Some of the others have better features like the speed or heavy ball you realise?”

Forrest tapped the Ultraballs to a chip that was on his belt. The balls chimed as they registered to him, and he shot me a grin. “Yah I know! I’m good though!”

I rolled my eyes and locked the cupboard as Ash watched on enviously. “So many… pokeballs… I could catch an entire herd of pokemon with those!”

I chuckled. “While that sounds good and all, it’s a bit irresponsible to do that unless you’re going to release them after checking over their stats with your pokedex. But that weakens the ball and makes it more likely to shatter when you next attempt to catch a pokemon.”

“Oh? People do that?” said Ash with a frown.

I nodded, remembering not just Paul from the cartoon but also the numerous trainers I’d encountered during my journey doing just that, albeit with less success than simply using a pokedex.

Forrest kicked the ground. “Any chance I could get one of those pokedex?”

"You can also speak with pokecenter staff about analyzing your pokemon for information. It just takes a bit longer and more set up.” I then hummed and was about to say I’d mention it to Oak when he came around when I noticed a familiar face walking past with Yolanda.

“Daisy?” I said, wondering at the luck of Daisy Oak being here when we had just brought up her grandfather.

Daisy stepped back into sight in the doorway. “Brock! Forrest! Oh! And Ash as well, hello! Has the map been treating you well?”

Ash blushed and muttered something that I think was ‘when I remember it’. Yolanda inched back in to see what Daisy was doing. I shot Yolanda a questioning look, but she merely smiled secretly.

Daisy sighed while shaking her head. “Oh dear, you’re just like Gary.” She then glanced from Ash to me. “Oh? Did you have your match for the Pewter badge already?”

Ash shook his head. “I have another week before my slot!”

“Oh well, just make the booking and go to Cerulean!” said Daisy easily.

Ash sighed. “But that’s not the way you’re supposed to gain the badges!”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Oh well, just use one of the other methods of getting a badge that Brock has.”

Ash jerked his head up. “Huh?”

I coughed. “Battling is one way, but Gym Leaders are allowed to set up tasks that trainers can do to prove themselves."

I considered Ash and Forrest for a moment before continuing, “Or even demonstrations. If you’ve ever read or listened to the Hero’s journey, you’ll recognise it from there. It’s something only a few gyms with older charters can do these days, but for me, it’s about completing jobs around the community.”

“The demonstration of skill will be entirely at the Gym Leader’s discretion, and relevance to Hero’s Journey is preferred!” said Daisy.

I blinked. “You know the exact wording?”

Daisy nodded. “It’s how I earned my Earth badge. I had Giovanni recognise me cause he was way too hard to beat in a pokemon battle.”

Yolanda tilted her head, “I’ve never heard of you giving out a badge in that manner Brock?”

I snorted. “That’s cause the Journey doesn’t mention much about the Pewter challenge beyond fighting and growing to know the leader’s family. I’m not going to entertain heaps of trainers in my house just to let them have a freebie for my badge. It’s already a low enough hurdle as the first badge typically.”

Forrest snickered. “Still trips some people up!”

I nodded but noticed Yolanda had a thoughtful look on her face. “What are you planning?”

She smirked at me. “Nothing!~” she said in a way that made it all too clear it wasn’t nothing.

I eyed Daisy and her. “What are you two up to?”

Daisy perked up. “Oh! Yolanda felt like she needed an older girl’s advice with helping out your—” Yolanda covered Daisy's mouth.

“It’s a secret! And you’re not allowed back into the house for another hour!” she said with a glare.

I frowned. “I’m not allowed in my own house for another hour?” I said testingly.

Yolanda squirmed. “Yes?”

Daisy was quick to come to her rescue as she slid up with a disarming smile. “Brock, this is going to be a nice surprise I swear. Can’t you just go play with my Grampa in the meanwhile?”

I considered it but quickly relented. I could trust Yolanda. She was a smart girl, even if she was setting something up. I nodded and waved Ash and Forrest on to the Gym common room after grabbing up some paperwork.

“Sure Yolanda,” then I had an idea. “If this is a girl thing, maybe ask Greta and Misty to join in?” I said, causing Yolanda to consider it before nodding easily. I left her to it and jogged to catch up to Ash and Forrest just as they walked into the common room. Ash’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he spotted the man playing on the nintendo.

“Professor Oak?!” said Ash, his words echoing through the room. Had he not encountered the Professor before today?

Oak ignored him and swerved to the left with his racer. “Not falling for that one,” said Oak.

I snorted and waved the two younger boys to the couch to let them join him and Rocko after they were done.

I set up to finish off the work that Alexa had piled up after I’d thought I’d finished it all. I got stuck in and listened to the banter that started to be thrown around.

----------------------------------------

For the rest of the week, things progressed normally at the gym.

At home… things were tougher. I constantly had to remind Flint about certain jobs that he insisted on doing and when the kids got fed up with him they usually turned to Forrest, Yolanda, or myself to get the job done, leaving him shamefaced and me feeling… well, I was pretty smug.

I hadn’t realised how much malicious enjoyment I got from simply asking Flint to read the kids a story, only for them to tear into him about it not having voices. It wasn’t long enough. Did he know any ‘Brock stories’? I tried not to be too pleased. Or rather, I tried not to show it too much.

Flint was doing… well, he was doing the job, which was good considering that he hadn’t had to do this in years. He had some of the basics down, but there were constantly small things that were tripping him up. Such as where the laundry in our house was. Or where the vacuum was.

Meal times became an effort of gritting my teeth and not snapping at him as he asked where pots and pans were and why we didn’t have things arranged in certain ways. Or, and what was only the second time, why we had a Munchlax.

That last question had not earned him any favours when he’d said it in front of Munchlax and the rest of the family.

“Munchlax is part of the family,” I’d said. Munchlax happily threw himself into a hug with me before hugging anyone else he could reach, causing some giggles and the tension to break.

Flint had rubbed his head. “So, you’re not being put into debt feeding him and all the other pokemon?”

I stared at him. “No. I’m not. I’ve got things well in hand with expenses and income.” I reminded him pointedly.

That got a nod, and he backed down, he meekly took up his plate and started looking around for anyone else that had finished their breakfast.

Yolanda had sensed the tension and decided to change the subject. “So, Brock, are you looking forward to the Mayor’s party?”

Flint, who’d started cleaning up the bench, jerked and sent bowls flying to the ground. My youngest siblings, seeing their chance, copied him, uncaring of their still full bowls of cereal.

I winced at all the spilled milk. “I’ll get a m—”

Our resident Nanny Graveler bustled in with a mop and bucket like she’d been expecting this to happen. She had the broken plates gathered and the spilt liquids mopped up in moments. Then she posed and tapped my youngest giggling brother and sister on the nose before rumbling off.

“I should pay her,” I said aloud to myself.

Yolanda nodded but shot her gaze back and forth to Flint, knowing she’d said something to set him off but not sure what.

Flint didn’t say anything. Just put his head down and helped out before leading the kids off to school.

Later, when I swung around the Monsoule’s Haberdashery to collect and pay for my suit I spotted Yolanda and Daisy sitting in front of the dressing area.

“Yolanda?” I said.

She shot to her feet, looking startled. “Brock! You’re not supposed to be here!” She must have been panicking as she grabbed a magazine from a seat and hurled it at me. “Go! You’ll spoil the surprise!”

I opened my mouth to protest only for her to continue glaring at me. I frowned. “We will be having words about this,” I said before I left with my suit.

Before I departed the shop, Monique approached me. “Don’t worry about her, she’s just eager to help out your date for the Mayor’s ball.”

“My…” Oh! Sabrina was over there?

I blinked and turned, suddenly much more interested in what was happening in the dressing room. Monique put a hand on my shoulder. “No no! Let girls have their mystery! You’ll like it better that way!”

I hummed and eventually nodded. Monique beamed and saw me to the door cheerfully.

She paused in the doorway, about to close it before peering up at my face. “You’re going to get a haircut right?” she said, in a manner that made me know it wasn’t a suggestion.

I coughed and she raised an eyebrow before pointedly looking two shops down where a hairdresser was still open. I made my way down there and felt Monique’s approval the whole way.

On the walk home, I spent a lot of it considering how things were. I also made a call to a certain pokemon rental company but that would be my surprise for the night. The rest of my mind considered what going to the ball would mean.

I’d said I wasn’t going to date until Flint came back, and Sabrina said she’d accepted that at the time. Then I’d gone with her to Monsoule’s Haberdashery with her. So it was, for all intents and purposes, me giving signals… Or had she been leading me around?

I rubbed my chin as I considered that.

With Sabrina, that actually sounded more likely.

I found I didn’t mind.

When I opened the door, I found Flint folding laundry with Nanny Graveller. He smiled at me until he noticed the suit. Then he scowled. “You’re going to that woman’s ball?” he said.

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s important that I go and chat. I’ll make some connections, talk with some friends, and be seen rubbing elbows with Kanto’s big names.”

Flint snorted. “Urgh, I never could stand that woman’s need to showboat.” He worked his jaw, opened his mouth, and then shut it. “I… I can’t tell you not to go… But Brock. Those people? They only say they’re the best. Don’t be fooled because of all the pretty clothing. They’re as rotten as any junkyard Muk you’ll find.” He roughly folded the last shirt and then stomped off.

I hummed in consideration. There had been some issues with Flint and her about balls hadn’t there? I couldn’t rightly recall all the details, but then again, I had spent most of my time working with Titan and trying to get out from under their feet.

I shrugged and put my suit away.

When the big night finally arrived, Yolanda had demanded that I get dressed and be ready by six. So I suited up and stood around in the lounge for her to inspect me.

Then she’d run off to her room for a bit.

Forrest had been rather amused by the entire affair. “You look weird in a suit,” he said from the couch.

“Eh, I like it,” I said as I posed in front of the hallway mirror.

“Ahem!” said Yolanda as she walked up to me with Suzie. “Your date is ready!” she said before shoving a bouquet of flowers into my hands.

I didn’t have time to question why I needed them as Sabrina walked around the corner in a shimmering dress, and suddenly my mouth was dry. Part of me was thanking Yolanda for being the best little sister ever.

The rest of me was watching Sabrina walk towards me and thinking one word.

“Daaaaaaaammmmmnnnnnnnnnnn.”