CHAPTER 26

This was both a party and a meet-and-greet for the new staff members. We would be working together for the foreseeable future, so it was important to learn who everybody was.

Well… some people already knew each other.

"Haze," Yurie said flatly.

"Yurie," Hazel greeted with a dip of his head.

The two of them stared at each other with what appeared to be mutual caution. I couldn't help but feel interested and drifted away from where Neil was talking to Murata.

"Are you two familiar with each other?" I asked, one brow raised in curiosity.

"Leader— I mean, Arin," Hazel quickly amended. I'd already told everyone to drop titles with me since I hoped for us to become a tightly-knit crew someday. Hazel smiled sheepishly, eyes darting back and forth between me and Yurie. "You already know I fought her in the Ever Grande Conference last year, but we actually met before that—"

"A lot of times at a lot of different places, in fact," Yurie interrupted with a sage nod of her head. She started holding up fingers as she continued talking. "Run-in at Rustboro Tunnel, checking out a Master Rank Contest at Lilycove City, training in the desert on Route 111… heck, sometimes Haze even signed up for gym battles when I did! It was almost like he was following me."

"What?!" Hazel's eyes widened with absolute horror as he spun back to face her. "Are you kidding me? It almost felt like you were following me—"

"Not to mention!" Yurie instantly cut him off, her face morphing into a horrified expression of her own. "Every time we met, something awful happened!"

Both of my brows flew up as I stared at her. "As in…?" I prompted.

"This one time we ran into each other, his Spinda was in the middle of training and backflipped right onto my Mightyena! Mind you, Haze's Spinda actually hits like a truck!" Yurie ranted.

"It was an accident! Listen, I ran into Yurie one time on the outskirts of Slateport. She was training with her Altaria, right? Well, he sang so terribly that a bunch of angry wild Pokemon ended up chasing us around for thirty Ho-Oh forsaken minutes!" Hazel shot back with a grimace.

"Okay, now that was an accident! Nimbus was just trying his best!"

"Let's not forget how your Magcargo evaporated the pond my Qwilfish was in and left him stranded—"

"What about how your Dodrio chomped on my hair when it was still long, remember—"

"I apologized for that like fifty times already, and so did they!"

I watched them banter with a faintly amused expression. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed they were childhood friends or something from the way they interacted with each other. There was definitely a feeling of rivalry, though, which made sense given their Conference history and relatively similar levels of strength.

Halfway into their arguing, Yurie and Hazel finally realized what they'd been doing in front of me, their employer. They hurriedly apologized and promised they wouldn't let anything get in the way of work. I just waved their apologies off.

Having a rival was a good thing. It meant both parties grew faster with someone to spur them on.

The pair went back to bickering with each other not even ten seconds after they apologized to me. I left them to… foster their bonds and went to get a refill of cranberry juice. While doing so, I heard snippets of conversation coming from somewhere to my right.

"…to meet you, Haru. I'm Souta Ishimoto."

"Oh, are you related to the Head Gym Trainer?"

"Yeah, that's my dad. He actually worked for the previous Cherrygrove Gym Leader, too."

"Wow…! That's so cool. And you said you went on a journey before?"

"I went on one two years ago before they raised the minimum age again…"

I found myself smiling when I saw Souta and Haru talking animatedly to each other. They were the youngest gym trainers I had and the same age, so I hoped they would be able to rely on each other and become fast friends. Luckily, it seemed like they were getting along pretty well already. I even heard them sharing fond memories of raising Snubbull and Mimi from the time when they were still Eggs.

"Arin!" An exuberant voice piped up at that moment. I turned around and found Kari staring at me with shining eyes. In her hands was an expensive looking camera, and her brother stood beside her carrying a small tablet.

"Can we take pictures of you?" Kari all but blurted out eagerly.

"To update the website and social media pages with," Yulian quickly clarified for his sister. "We'd like to snap some shots of your current staff members as well."

"Oh," I blinked a few times. "Sure."

I carefully set down my drink on the table behind me and donned a relaxed smile. Kari was really into the impromptu photography session and flitted all around me to get pictures from multiple angles. Once she was satisfied, she flipped the camera around to show me what she'd taken.

She was good. The shots had all come out looking very professional.

While Kari cheerfully ambushed Souta and Haru next, Yulian stayed to talk.

"I'll have the new website design ready for you to view in just a few days," he informed me. "But that's not what I wanted to ask about. While I was working last night, Kari actually came up to me with an inquiry. We wanted to ask you how you felt about gym-related merchandise."

I hummed thoughtfully to myself.

Merchandise.

It wasn't something I was unfamiliar with, that was for sure. Dad actually used to sell some Grass themed T-shirts and pins back when he was Gym Leader (little me had even helped pitch a few ideas for designs). It wasn't just him, either.

Every Gym Leader sold official merchandise. It provided extra revenue for their gym, but more importantly, it was a crucial method to connect with supporters. Merch was a way for fans to show their support for a gym by wearing or bringing them to matches or even just for everyday purposes.

I wasn't too concerned about the money aspect. Even after the vastly expensive gym construction fees had been deducted from my account, I still had enough left over to live comfortably for a while. I was, however, motivated to get more people interested in the Cherrygrove Gym. I needed fans who would come watch gym matches in the fall and help make each challenger's experience feel special.

"Merchandise is necessary," I finally said in response. "We need to keep people talking about the Cherrygrove Gym and build up our fanbase."

"Great!" Yulian beamed. He tapped on the screen of his tablet as he spoke. "Kari and I actually drafted some—"

"T-shirts! Posters! Rally towels, flags, and banners!" Kari interrupted, apparently done taking pictures. She popped up next to her brother so suddenly that he jumped a bit in fright. That only made Kari giggle with laughter. "And more. Come on, Yulian, show him!"

Out of all the new staff members, Kari was by far the most bubbly. There wasn't a trace of that nervous girl from the interview.

Her brother rolled his eyes but wore a fond smile as he obliged, turning his tablet around.

"These are digital mockups I made of our ideas…"

He scrolled down the list slowly, but I already liked what I saw just from the first two rows of images. True to Kari's word, there was everything from T-shirts to backpacks to keychains and more. They had Fairy themed colors, patterns of Pokemon like Wigglytuff or Azumarill slapped over them, or even—

I barely stopped myself from choking on my drink when I saw some hoodies with quotes from me printed on their fronts or backs.

Believe in yourself, and you'll go far.

Just watch me. I'll show you how far I can go.

Those were from my social media biographies! And my first press conference!

I felt the back of my neck growing hot when I spotted another hoodie with a silhouette of me striking a victory pose. It was an image of my back and one fist held high up into the air. Was that… was that from my promotion match against Pryce?

"What do you think?" Kari asked in a breathless voice. I snapped back to reality to look at her. She looked absolutely excited as she waved her hands at the tablet Yulian was still holding up for me. "The hoodies are nice, right? We actually got requests for them from the Arin Fan Club on Chatter. I saw their DMs when I logged into the Cherrygrove Gym's account. Oh! And I'm in talks with their management team. We're thinking about coordinating posts from now on to maximize support and viewership for you and the Gym…"

She chatted on endlessly, and I could only give Kari an impressed look. She was certainly taking her job very seriously already which I appreciated.

Kari only stopped to take a breath once I cleared my throat. "They're great," I said, referring to the merchandise she and her brother had come up with. Slightly embarrassing, perhaps, but the designs were admittedly quite cool. "Go ahead with production. You can charge everything to the account I told you was for gym-related purchases."

Kari clapped her hands together in delight, squealing. "Thank you, Arin! We'll add them online once we have some items in stock. Oh gosh, I can't wait until I graduate in three weeks. I'll have so much more time to come up with stuff once I do…"

I ended up talking a bit longer with the Chester siblings before taking my leave.

Thank Arceus I'd hired them. I truly felt like a load had been lifted from my shoulders already since they were taking care of gym promotion for me. That meant I had more time to focus on other matters.

After sneaking a piece of sushi into my mouth, I drifted back to where Neil and Murata were still talking. Dad had joined them at this point.

"…Two little princesses?" I heard Neil say as I approached. He even made a little aww sound. "So precious!"

Murata smiled into his drink. "Not a day goes by when I don't consider myself blessed. I'm so grateful for my wife and daughters."

This made both Neil and dad smile in return.

"What a lucky man," Dad said softly. "Did you say your wife is from Johto?"

"Yes," Murata nodded. "Azalea Town in fact. I met her when I dropped by Johto for a small vacation. It was tough for us at first while we dated. Her family didn't approve of me, so I had to spend a year winning them over. Then, we had trouble when we finally married and my wife moved to Kanto with me. A lot of the older neighbors made a… fuss, to put it lightly, when they found out she was from Johto. Took a couple years to gain their trust, and even then, we still faced opposition."

I frowned as I stepped into place next to dad. That was…

"Terrible," Dad murmured. "I'm so sorry you went through that."

Murata shook his head, exhaling quietly. "It's alright. My wife and I have learned to not care about what others think. So long as we have each other and our children, we can take on anything. I just think it's a shame there are still lingering feelings of resentment within Indigo considering we've long unified as one country…"

He trailed off when he noticed how quiet we were. After seeing our somber faces, Murata quickly waved a hand through the air. "Sorry. Didn't mean to bring the mood down. I'll tell you what, my family and I are really liking Cherrygrove so far. Great community here, and my daughters already made friends at the local kindergarten! My wife's getting along with the neighbors, too."

The former Ranger paused to flash a small smile at me, raising his cup. "It's a new start for us, so… Thank you again for accepting me as part of your staff, Arin. I'm looking forward to what's to come."

I smiled back, lifting my own glass. "Same here."

While Neil talked with Murata (he even invited him to come over for dinner sometime so their wives could meet), I found myself lost in thought.

The rift between Kanto and Johto… We'd come together under the flag of Indigo a whole fifty years ago, but there were still underlying tensions within the country despite all the progress that had been made since the War of Ashes.

A lot of people had died on both sides of that conflict. So many, in fact, that they still didn't know the exact number due to the sheer devastation and the lack of technology back then. It was estimated at least three million had perished.

The people who had lived through that catastrophic War all blamed different sources. Johtonians blamed Kantonians, Kantonians blamed Johtonians, or both blamed Legends. In the end, there was only bitterness and sorrow for everything they'd gone through even after peacetime was achieved. Some people moved on. Others did not.

The Rocket War had helped further unify the country because of a common enemy, but like Murata had briefly touched on…

Sometimes, it was not easy to forget the past.

I shook myself into thinking of happier thoughts. This was not the time nor place to dwell on such dark topics. We were still in the middle of a party, one that I had hosted to celebrate the present and what was to come.

So celebrate I did. I talked, drank, and ate until I was near bursting from the seams. Judging by a cursory glance around the room, I think everyone else was suffering from a similar problem. I gave us all thirty minutes to rest before clapping my hands together meaningfully.

Class was in order.

The tables were cleared of empty plates and drinks. Yulian and Kari didn't need my so-called first gym lecture, but they were interested enough to stay and watch. Dad and Neil were also in attendance even though they already knew everything I was going to cover today. Everybody else dug out notebooks and pens like I'd asked them to bring. They opened them to fresh pages and got ready as I clicked a remote. On the huge TV in our living room, a presentation I'd used during my teaching days in Paldea popped up. I'd edited it a bit to suit today's purposes, but it was pretty much the same. The opening slide had a picture of the Fairy type symbol, a butterfly-esque shape.

I turned to my new gym trainers with a smile. Yes, today was going to be part one of a crash course on Fairies. I needed to start teaching these people everything they needed to know to work at my Gym.

"Alright, let's begin our first lecture on Fairy types," I began. My audience focused their gazes on me. "We'll start with the very basics: type advantages and disadvantages. What are Fairy type Pokemon weak to?"

As soon as the question left my lips, three people raised their hands. I chuckled, pointing at Souta. "Go ahead, Souta. By the way, everyone, please feel free to just say the answer next time instead of raising your hand."

Souta looked very much like a model student as he rattled off, "Poison and Steel types."

"Very good," I nodded approvingly, clicking to the next slide. The symbols for said types were shown on the screen. I was about to move on when Haru spoke up.

"Um, may I ask why Fairies are weak to them?" he asked hesitantly. The other gym trainers looked at him with varying degrees of confusion or interest. Most people didn't typically think about why certain types were weak to others. They just memorized type matchups and rolled with them during battle.

That was why I appreciated Haru's inquisitive mind. As an aspiring Fairy Specialist, he was taking this very seriously. I offered a short nod to his inquiry.

"Before I get into either weakness, let's think about Fairies first. The Fairy type is all about belief," I emphasized. One hand was raised in front of my face and clenched. "Faith or acceptance about something that is so strong it becomes real and true… essentially belief given tangible form. The most skilled Fairy type Pokemon are able to defy the natural laws of the world and manipulate reality to their liking."

"So what about the Steel type?" I raised a brow.

Nobody answered, so I went on. "Steel is resilient. It represents an unyielding nature, the refusal to bend or break in the face of anything. A determination to remain absolute, which is why Steel types are strong against Fairies. They stay the same even when the world changes around them."

"Then… what about Poison?" Hazel ventured to ask.

"Poison represents corruption," I answered. "Long does it fester, and long does it rot. Physically or mentally, Poison consumes whatever it touches. Poison types can disrupt Fairies from shaping the world around them by corroding even their beliefs."

I clicked to the next slide while people hurriedly wrote down notes. The image for the Dragon type element was displayed now.

"Since we're on this topic already, I'll explain the relationship between Fairies and Dragons. It's common knowledge that Fairy types are immune to Dragon type moves, but let's think about why," I said. "The Dragon type is about authority. Power. Sheer domination. Dragons exert their pressure on the world and demand everything to bow to their wills. What they want, they take by force. And when matched up against Fairies?"

I smiled, tapping a foot against the ground. "Like I mentioned before, the core of the Fairy type is inherent belief. How can authority stand up to belief?" I paused only briefly after my rhetorical question. "It can't. Fairies cannot be oppressed by the overbearing nature of Dragons, and they cannot be cowed into submission. Authority means nothing to them because Fairies have their own beliefs. They can just make and play by their own rules."

I paused to take in my audience. The more intellectual individuals — Haru, Souta, and Hazel — seemed the most fascinated, but everybody else wore thoughtful expressions at the very least.

"It's interesting, right?" I smiled. "We could talk more in depth about the different types of energies and how they interact, but let's save that for another time and continue the lesson. What are Fairy types strong against?"

"Dark, Fighting, and Dragon types!" Yurie answered this time for the group. Three new symbols came up on the screen right after she spoke.

"That's right."

I flipped through two more slides to show them what types resisted and were resisted by Fairy type moves before moving on.

"Has everybody followed along so far?" When I received a sea of nods in return, I clicked my remote. Pictures of Pokemon appeared. "Good. Please try to have these offensive and defensive properties memorized as soon as possible. We'll move onto actual Fairy type Pokemon now. You'll need to learn how to care for and use these Pokemon in battle as a Cherrygrove gym trainer, so… let's start with species native to Kanto-Johto. These are the ones you'll need to become most familiar with because we will be using them a lot especially for the low-tiered gym challenges."

I pointed at the screen. Three Pokemon faces stared back at the room. "Snubbull, Jigglypuff, and Marill. These are what I'll call the Big Three for Kanto-Johto. Jigglypuff is common across both Kanto and Johto while Snubbull and Marill are found primarily in Johto. All three of these species can actually be found on Route 30 just north of Cherrygrove."

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Nobody seemed very surprised at seeing these images. I would have admittedly been concerned if they did not recognize these very iconic Pokemon.

I rattled off some basic traits of these species while everybody faithfully listened and copied down what I said. Souta and Haru were particularly interested since they either had one of these Pokemon or one that could evolve into them. I went over their first and final forms as well, but only briefly since I wanted to concentrate on first stage Pokemon today.

After the Big Three, I talked about other Pokemon from Kanto-Johto like Clefairy, Togepi, and Mr. Mime. From the other regions, I mentioned Pokemon like Ralts or Mawile.

Once I had finished, I adopted a serious expression as I clicked my remote to the next slide. Two words were displayed in bold: CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION. All my new staff members tensed up.

I was pretty sure I even heard someone audibly gulp in the silence that followed.

"What I am about to share with you is highly confidential information for the time being. This is because I am currently collaborating with Professors Oak, Elm, Birch, and Rowan on a research study that will be released soon. Until then, I don't want any of the detailed information I am about to share to somehow be leaked, so please keep it to yourselves until the paper is published," I said in a very firm tone.

Seven very surprised faces stared back at me from the reveal I'd just dropped on them. Hearing the four top Professors casually get mentioned was not an everyday occurrence. I waited until I got physical nods from everyone before holding up my remote again.

"Great. Then I'll now begin covering Fairy types outside of the Kinjoh Area. You'll get to meet them all after the lecture ends," I said cheerfully, and I was not oblivious to the mouths that dropped open one after another like Magikarps.

Nope, it was quite clearly displayed.

I simply clicked my remote to a slide filled with pictures of Fairies from Unova and Kalos, and suddenly everybody looked like Gyarados instead from the way their mouths dropped further.

I merely smiled to myself.

"I'll start with this fluffy looking Pokemon here," I said as I gestured to said Pokemon with a laser pointer. "This one is called Cottonee, and it's a Grass and Fairy type Pokemon…"

I went on for another hour. My audience frantically wrote down everything they needed to know and flipped pages left and right. Already, their notebooks had dozens of pages filled from today's presentation alone, and this was just me covering the basics.

They'd need to get new notebooks soon for the other lectures I had in store.

By the time I switched the TV off, every single new employee looked like their brain was fried from a combination of shock and wonder. I chuckled and clapped my hands together.

"That's the end of today's crash course on Fairies. Next time, we'll cover gym trainer know-hows. I don't expect you guys to remember everything I taught you today right away, but please try your best to slowly get it all down. I'll be quizzing you throughout the next week," I explained, and I jerked my hand to the backdoor. "Now for the fun stuff: we need to get you guys adjusted to the gym Pokemon. Part of your duties as gym trainers will be helping to feed and take care of all the different species. It's just about lunch time, so you can observe me, my dad, and Neil feed them. Let's go."

This seemed to bring people back to life as they hopped out of their seats and followed me like Duckletts trailing behind their mother. I could sense their excitement even without looking.

When we finally made it outside and off the back porch, I turned around. Souta, Haru, Yurie, Murata, Hazel, Kari, and Yulian… every single one of them had frozen in place as they stared at the huge expanse of land my family owned. The Professors and their aides were all spread out doing different things.

"Fucking awesome…" Yurie breathed out loud. She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide with embarrassment. "Oops. Sorry."

I barely had time to chuckle before Oak called out to me.

"Oh Arin, these must be the new staff members you mentioned hiring," Oak cheerfully greeted. He walked up to us with a Fidough in his arms and swept his gaze over our little party. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. Don't mind me and the other researchers, we'll just be studying the Pokemon off to the sides whenever you need to train or feed them."

Oak didn't get any verbal replies. Everyone just looked back at him with eyes as wide as saucers. My youngest gym trainers, Souta and Haru, seemed like they would just blow away in the wind any second now from how faint they looked.

I don't think any of them had been prepared to meet the legendary former Champion of Indigo.

I cleared my throat, gesturing to some outdoor sheds. "Thank you, Professor. Alright everyone, please follow me. Those sheds are where we store Pokemon food and equipment…"

Feeding all the gym Pokemon took a bit longer today because we had to explain diets, dos, and don'ts to everyone.

"The Swirlix only eat sweets. If they don't eat enough, it can also affect their mood later on. You can tell if they're in good health or not by the stickiness of their fur."

"Be careful with the Impidimp. I already told them to be nice, but some of them still like to play pranks. They may or may not throw a fake tantrum just to get extra servings of food to hoard…"

And so on and so forth. I gave severe warnings in particular for two different evolutionary lines: the Ralts family because of how timid they were, and the Hatenna line because of the oath I had made to their protectors, their sensitivity, and… ability to lash out when startled.

"You see these Pokemon right here with the hats and ponytails?" I pointed to the few Hattrem we had. I'd made everyone else stand back further as a precaution. "They highly dislike strong emotions and will move to silence anything or anyone that disturbs them. One punch from their ponytails can instantly send you into an unconscious state. Until you guys grow closer to them and get approval from me to handle them on your own, I will take care of feeding the Hattrem. Do I make myself clear?"

Everyone nodded and eyed the innocent-looking Hattrem with newfound caution. Yurie in particular had furrowed brows as if she couldn't believe such Pokemon were capable of violence.

That was exactly why I'd warned them ahead of time so as to prevent any accidents from occurring.

Once all the gym Pokemon were fed, I led everyone back in to order lunch. I snapped my fingers to get everyone's attention while we waited on delivery.

"Two quick announcements. First, we'll be getting you guys started on patrols after lunch. Today we'll show you around the city, the beach, and then Routes 29 and 30. From now on, you'll need to help patrol these places as gym trainers. Luckily, the surrounding areas are very peaceful. These are some of the safest routes in the region… provided you don't go too off-route," I said. When everyone nodded, I went on. "Second, I have a gym leader meeting in the morning, so I'll be gone for up to a few hours. Follow Neil's instructions when you show up here tomorrow for work."

While everyone chatted excitedly about what they'd seen and learned so far, I couldn't help but smile to myself as I leaned back in my seat.

I was finally going to meet all the Gym Leaders soon.

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

Night fell, and morning came.

With Neil and dad around to supervise the gym trainers, I left for the gym leader meeting with peace of mind. Zuri sped through the lovely morning skies towards our destination.

She slowed down as Johto's oldest and most prominent city, Ecruteak, came into view.

Sprawling forests cradled the city on all sides. In the fall, tourists would flock to Ecruteak when the ginkgo trees transformed into brilliant shades of gold and orange. Inside nature's embrace, buildings featuring traditional Johtonian architecture spread out across every inch of the land, each with sloping roofs and layers of dark tiles covering them. Some of these buildings had withstood the test of time and been there for centuries, yet none of them held a candle to the Bell Tower.

Even from here, the millennium-old pagoda rose up towards the heavens and cut an imposing sight. Across from it were the remains of its once grand twin, the Burned Tower. Not a single soul in Johto did not know the story of these two structures or the tragedy that had befallen the city years ago, the Great Fire of Ecruteak.

I had Zuri fly towards the southwest district. She flew past several notable buildings, the Ecruteak Dance Theater and Pokemon Center among them, and landed by the backdoor of the Ecruteak Gym.

Morty was already there waiting for me.

"So good to see you again, Arin!" the blonde-haired man beamed. We had occasionally texted each other in a private group chat that we had with Jasmine, but we hadn't actually seen each other since the swearing-in ceremony two weeks ago.

"You as well," I greeted back cheerfully, and I recalled Zuri. "Is Jas here already?"

That was Jasmine's nickname that she had allowed me to use. I had to admit, I was equal parts looking forward to and dreading this gym leader meeting. I hadn't forgotten Morty and Jasmine's previous warning, but I couldn't wait to officially meet the other Gym Leaders.

Much to my delight, Morty gave a nod of affirmation. "She is! Jas arrived five minutes before you in fact. You can head in first, my gym trainer will show you to the meeting room. I have to stay out here to greet the last few arrivals."

I waved a temporary goodbye to him and entered the Ecruteak Gym. There was an assistant waiting right inside, and she guided me to a sliding door in the building's east wing.

With some sense of trepidation, I slid the door open and walked inside.

The meeting room was not particularly spacious, but it was cozy. Scented candles burned brightly in the corners. Off to the side, there was a small cart with refreshments like water or juice if anyone got thirsty. In the center of the room, a large circular table had been set up with nine cushioned chairs around it.

Five of those were occupied already.

Jasmine was there facing the doorway. She perked up when she saw me and offered a small yet energetic wave. There were empty seats on either side of her, presumably saved for me and Morty.

The other four occupants were people I had not met in person yet, and one of them came bounding up to me with an excited expression.

"Hi Arin! It's so nice to meet you," a girl with pink hair greeted. She stuck a hand out with a wide, charming smile. "I'm Whitney, the Goldenrod Gym Leader."

I smiled back politely, grasping her hand with my own. She surprised me by nearly shaking my arm off from enthusiasm. "Pleasure meeting you."

Whitney Akane, a sixteen-year-old who had taken up her post as Gym Leader this very League Circuit season. In less than a year, she had endeared herself to the public and challengers alike due to her friendly personality. Her ace, Miltank, had become an iconic Pokemon. Not many of them were seen in high-tier battling.

I was about to take a seat at the table when Whitney suddenly leaned in. Her grin reminded me of a Meowth that had gotten the cream.

"I enjoyed your battle with Clair," she remarked casually. Her voice dropped to a low and serious whisper, but the corners of her lips stretched further. "Clair said something that led to it, didn't she?"

The gleam in her eyes told me Whitney knew more than she was letting on. Then again, Morty and Jasmine had already implied that Clair, Pryce, and the last dissenter had made clear their reservations of me to them and the others, so I just shrugged with a small smile.

"Nothing that couldn't be handled," I said back quietly.

Bright, appraising eyes measured me as Whitney leaned back on her heels, hands clasped neatly behind her back. "Hmm… you're pretty strong," she finally acknowledged. "Anyway! Welcome to the team. Oh, and before I forget, can you please follow me back on Chimegram and Chatter? It's good exposure for both of us if we support each other on social media."

The whiplash I had from Whitney's serious demeanor to her more bubbly exterior made me blink a few times. There was definitely more to this girl than met the eye. After humoring Whitney's request, I finally sank into the chair to Jasmine's right.

"Hi Arin," she said softly. "Don't mind Whitney too much, she's a very smart and enthusiastic girl at her core."

"I could tell as much," I whispered back, chuckling.

We would have conversed more if a new voice hadn't spoken up then.

"U-Um… nice to meet you, Arin," a teenage boy said in a voice so quiet it almost went unheard. I smiled kindly at the person who had greeted me.

"You as well, Bugsy."

Bugsy Tsukushi, Leader of the Azalea Gym. At fifteen years old, he was the youngest of all the Johto Gym Leaders and had recently taken up office just like Whitney. He was a master of Bug types. People seemed to think he was weak, but that was the worst assumption one could make based on a type specialty. I'd seen a video before of Bugsy absolutely thrashing an unsuspecting challenger in an Elite tier challenge. He was young, but he and his team were strong.

He smiled abashedly, only managing to hold my gaze for a few seconds before he looked away and fiddled with his hands. I wondered if he felt intimidated being around much older and more experienced Gym Leaders—

"WAHAHA!"

Jasmine, Bugsy, and I all jumped a bit when a boisterous laugh filled the air. It came from a man sitting just two chairs down from me.

"Hey there, Arin! Glad to have you around, though I'll admit it's weird not seeing Adriel around anymore," the man said in a loud, booming voice. "Name's Chuck of the Cianwood Gym. You wanna train together sometime? I'd be interested in seeing how that Azumarill of yours got so strong."

Chuck Shijima, the forty-three-year-old Leader of Cianwood. He'd been in office for two decades already. He was one of the more… eccentric Johto Gym Leaders. Similar to Bruno, he was known to seek out and enjoy good battles, but he also had a tendency to bury himself in training after a loss. Still, his Gym was a popular one. I heard they gave challengers the option of having a commentator. If they chose to have one, then the emcee went all out and made the match feel more like a show or a fight to the death instead. Chuck was a guy who knew how to hype up the experience for his challengers.

In response to his earlier inquiry, I offered a grin. "I wouldn't mind. I'm sure my Azumarill would enjoy sparring with your famous Poliwrath."

Chuck laughed again, this time with a huge grin of his own. "Excellent! He and I have been wanting new training partners. Come visit Cianwood sometime after this season ends, alright?"

"Sure."

Whitney, Bugsy, and Chuck all seemed normal or nice enough. I turned now to the last person in the room I had not yet greeted.

A young man in traditional garb stared back at me. One of his eyes was almost completely covered by his dark blue hair.

Falkner Hayato, the Leader of the Violet Gym. He was a new Gym Leader who had sworn in at the beginning of the current League Circuit season, and he was the same age as me. His father, Walker, had been a member of the Elite Four. When he eventually lost his position to another challenger, he took over the Violet Gym from his then dying brother and trained Falkner to be the successor. Walker had passed down everything he knew about Flying types to his son before passing away last year.

Falkner himself was a bit intriguing. He and his bird Pokemon apparently helped deliver mail around Violet City in their free time. His Gym had… an interesting mix of reviews from what I'd seen online already. Apparently people thought he went too hard on challengers sometimes, both with the battles he gave and his manner of speaking.

I had admittedly been interested in meeting Falkner since we were the same age and our respective Cities happened to be very close to each other. A part of me hoped we could be friends, but a sinking feeling had already started to bloom in my chest from what I'd gathered so far from the other Gym Leaders.

"Greetings, Falkner," I said with a dip of my head. "It's nice to meet you."

"You as well," Falkner replied stiffly. I got a curt nod in return, and then Falkner's lips snapped shut into a thin line again. He crossed his arms and looked away. Clearly, he did not want to talk further with me.

…So, based on this interaction, I had to assume Falkner was the third Leader who held reservations about me and my Gym.

I glanced at Jasmine hoping to catch her attention. She caught on and fished her phone out, waving it a bit at me from under the cover of the table. I pulled out my own phone and began to type.

Me [9:25 AM]: Jas, just to make sure… Clair, Pryce, and Falkner. Are these the three Gym Leaders who don't like me?

Jasmine [9:25 AM]: umm… yes. sadly.

Me [9:25 AM]: Clair, I already understand. Pryce, I have some guesses about, but… why is Falkner included?

Jasmine [9:26 AM]: he cares a lot about tradition. stickler for rules, old-fashioned… you get it.

Jasmine [9:26 AM]: he's also, uh, trying to live up to walker's legacy. don't get too mad at him, i think his first year as gym leader didn't quite go as perfectly as he hoped…

Me [9:26 AM]: Ah.

We put our phones away when we noticed Whitney begin to lean over the side of the table with interest. My short conversation with Jasmine had helped shed some light on Falkner. I eyed the very traditional Johto clothing he wore with renewed understanding.

Falkner respected Johto's history. He also seemed to have a lot on his plate as a newly appointed Gym Leader.

Did that excuse the animosity? No, but at least I had a slightly better idea of who he was.

Plus, I still wanted to be friends with him somehow.

I chatted with Jasmine while we waited for the other Gym Leaders to arrive. Occasionally, I even exchanged some words with Whitney or Chuck. Bugsy seemed too shy to say anything, and Falkner of course stayed silent and out of the conversation entirely.

Another five minutes passed before the doors opened once more. Morty walked in with both Pryce and Clair in tow. Pryce ignored me when he walked past, but Clair surprisingly offered a short nod of acknowledgement. Her eyes were cold, though.

That was better than nothing.

Both took empty seats around the table, and Morty slid into the empty chair on Jasmine's other side.

He clapped his hands together, smiling.

"Thanks for coming, everyone. I'm sure we're all eager to go back to our Gyms and get work done since there's only two weeks left in the Circuit, so… let's begin this meeting without delay," Morty began. He clasped his hands together on the tabletop. "Are we all in good shape for the last two weeks of the Circuit?"

He received a sea of affirmative words in return. Pleased, Morty leaned back in his seat.

"Great. No problems then? What about anything to report regarding challengers you've seen? It can be good or bad."

Nobody spoke up with any problems, but Bugsy did raise a hand.

"Chuck, you should expect, um, a challenger named Ruth Sakiru to come sign up for your Gym soon. She's looking to get her eighth badge," the teenager said quietly. "Very promising second-year trainer. She has a Scizor, Dugtrio, Magneton, Golem, Linoone, and Golduck. Also a Machoke that she didn't use against me. She focuses on brute offense."

"Oh!" Chuck brightened, smiling. "Thanks for the heads up, Bugsy. I'll get started on crafting a counter lineup for them then."

That started a whole discussion where everybody warned each other of last-minute challengers looking to get their final badges at certain gyms. For the eighth badge level, Gym Leaders needed to go hard on trainers and test them on everything they knew.

I felt a bit left out listening to them, but it was still interesting. I knew I would be in their position next Circuit season anyway, plus it was good to hear what my peers thought and how they interacted.

Morty continued leading the conversation and brought up more points of discussion such as whether each Gym's records were still up to date, if anyone needed more Kadabra loaned to them by the League for barrier and Teleportation purposes, etc.

Once they moved onto preparations for next year's League Circuit, I actually got to join the conversation a bit. We discussed things like ordering more TMs and physical gym badges from the League (something I had yet to put in a request for), whether or not to allow challengers to book match reservations before the season started, and more. I made sure to copy down some advice my fellow Leaders had for me on running the Gym and keeping tax and Pokemon health records up to date. I already knew most of what they were suggesting to me, but they were good reminders.

Pryce and Falkner basically ignored me throughout the whole meeting, but Clair at least offered short yet polite responses to inquiries or comments I made. Better than I could have hoped, I supposed.

When we started talking about staff members and whether we had enough, Morty turned to me.

"Arin, how is the Cherrygrove Gym doing? Did your gym trainer recruitment go well?" he asked.

"Construction work on my gym will finish in a month. I plan on having a grand opening for it sometime after, and I'll extend invitations to all of you," I said with a smile. There were looks of interest or nods from various Gym Leaders around the table.

As for the second part of Morty's inquiry… I wore a neutral expression as I drummed my fingers against the table.

"I successfully hired five new gym trainers and have already begun teaching them. But…" I trailed off. "I had one of my Pokemon screen the emotions of interviewees. There were over a dozen suspicious individuals who applied for my Gym."

Tense silence flooded the room in an instant. Every person had stiffened upon hearing what I said, and they looked at me now with varying degrees of grim expressions.

Chuck spoke up first.

"Team Rocket?" he asked quietly.

Those two words of his caused the atmosphere to become even more stifling.

Team Rocket.

A terrorist organization that had first shown up twenty years ago, and the worst one the world had ever seen thus far. They had committed numerous evil acts over the course of five years, everything from stealing Pokemon to Pokemon experimentation to mass murder and more. And fifteen years ago… things came to a head when Team Rocket declared war on Indigo.

The entire country was embroiled in a week-long conflict that became one of the deadliest in history, second only to the War of Ashes. Many trainers and innocent citizens were caught in the crossfire and died from the hands of Rockets. Our Champion at the time, Samuel Oak, had also experienced great tragedy and retired as a result.

The Rocket War should have been the end of that organization. The mastermind had been caught and killed. The rest of Team Rocket had been rounded up and sentenced to life imprisonment or death sentences based on the degree of their crimes, and the League had spent up to a whole year looking for remnants and destroying every last one of them.

Yes, it should have been the end.

A year ago, there had been sightings across Kanto-Johto of members wearing dark uniforms with the letter 'R' emblazoned on them.

Nobody, not even a fool, would try to imitate Team Rocket after the overwhelming atrocities they had committed and the fate they had suffered. To imitate them was to become the target of the League itself and be eliminated on the spot.

So, the League treated them as real remnants of Team Rocket and sought them out. They couldn't even do anything. The supposed Rockets had disappeared without a trace. No more sightings of uniformed members had appeared within the last year.

That did not mean Indigo was not wary. The League had eyes and ears peeled for news, and the public was restless even now.

We all wondered the same thing.

Had Team Rocket actually revived?

It made sense that the Johto Gym Leaders would think I meant Rockets by suspicious interviewees. Even now, the League was concerned about a potential comeback after those initial sightings. And as pillars of Indigo, us Gym Leaders were considered part of the country's first line of defense.

"No."

Just that one word from me was enough to relieve the tension in the room, but only slightly. I saw shoulders sagging a bit with relief and fists unclenching. Even Jasmine, who was sitting next to me, let out a shaky breath.

"Then… who were they?" Whitney asked with narrowed eyes.

"They were spies from Blackthorn," I replied carefully.

The room went quiet again.

Just because I was willing to put up a unified appearance in public did not mean I was willing to do the same in private. I stared across the table, eyes boring into unflinching turquoise orbs. Everyone else followed my gaze and looked at Clair questioningly.

"As Blackthorn City is your jurisdiction… Do you know anything about this, Clair?" I asked.

We all stared at her expectantly. I myself wanted to know if she was in on this or not. If she was, well…

Being disappointed would be the least of what I felt.

Clair clenched her jaw. After a long pause, she finally shook her head. "I swear by Radiant Ho-Oh that I was not involved," she declared in a slow but firm voice. "I do not know anything about those applicants you have mentioned or why they were there, but I will apologize for trouble having come your way from Blackthorn City's borders."

My eyes narrowed. It… didn't seem like she was lying. And for someone so stuck on pride like her to apologize and even swear by the name of Johto's reverent deity?

She was being honest in all likelihood. That meant her Clan had moved on their own.

"I see. Thank you for the clarification," I said.

An awkward silence descended upon the meeting room. I was pretty sure the other Gym Leaders had put together by now that there were tensions and less than friendly feelings between me and the Blackthorn Clan.

Morty cleared his throat loudly, waving a hand. "Let us move on," he urged. "Before we end this meeting, I'd like to remind everyone that Memorial Day and Indigo National Day will be upon us after next week. Like every year, we'll be expected to be there for the festivities on National Day. Lance will probably send out reminders to each of us soon."

Everyone unfroze and nodded, including me.

Memorial Day was a national holiday held on the last Monday of April. It was a day where Indigo honored fallen soldiers and loved ones who had perished throughout our history, and the holiday had gained even more significance after the War of Ashes and the Rocket War.

As for Indigo National Day… it was held on the last Friday of April. Like the name suggested, the nation celebrated the unification of Kanto and Johto as one country under the flag of Indigo. This was the day the War of Ashes had ended and when the Indigo Peace Treaty had been signed. The Indigo League hosted a grand celebration at the Plateau to commemorate our history. Parades, choir singing, maneuver demonstrations… they did a lot. Tickets to the event usually sold out a month in advance, and everybody else watched it on television at home without fail. It was our country's biggest holiday for obvious reasons.

I was looking forward to being there and witnessing everything in person. Dad had attended in the past, but he had never been able to bring me because of how exclusive tickets were even for League officials.

Nobody had any questions or remaining comments, so we wrapped up the gym leader meeting there. People got up and started leaving. I wanted to say something to Pryce and Clair, but both of them vanished quicker than I could blink.

I swung my head toward a familiar mop of blue hair next. Maybe I could at least try talking to Falkner—

"Arin!" Whitney smiled, popping up in front of me. "Would you like to join a group chat with me and some other new Gym Leaders? There's quite a few of us. Bugsy's in it, and so is Janine from Kanto— oh, she's Koga's daughter if you didn't know…"

I was so distracted by this suggestion from Whitney that by the time I glanced back up, Falkner was long gone. I refrained from sighing. Perhaps I'd be able to speak with him next time. Clair and Pryce were going to be hard to befriend if I ever — by some blue moon — even wanted to, but I felt like Falkner would not be as difficult.

"Sure, here's my number."

Maintaining good relationships with all the Johto Gym Leaders seemed like a far off dream.

At least I had holidays at the end of the month to look forward to.