CHAPTER 33

That night, the Cherrygrove Gym was inundated with many different emails. It was to the point where I had the Porygon family either delete or politely reject almost all incoming messages due to their contents.

Spam, spam, more spam… there were also requests from wealthy collectors to buy the gym Pokemon off of me which was definitely not happening. I'd explicitly stated in the research paper's intro and outro that none of these Pokemon were up for trade or sale, but people weren't dissuaded by the numerous warnings and contacted the Gym's official email anyway.

They could try all they wanted. I would just ignore or block them in return.

Overall, I was quite happy with the amount of attention the research paper was getting. Academic circles and the general mass alike were going crazy over the new information. There were various articles about it within an hour of its release, and the paper was trending on every single social media platform. The Professors even video called me to express how happy they were over its reception.

"They're calling it the paper of the century!" Elm gleefully proclaimed. I refrained from chuckling when I heard him say that.

If the Professors thought these new Fairy types were mind-boggling, they would probably faint when and if they ever got the chance to personally study the rest of the new Pokemon from other regions. There were hundreds of species they had not yet laid eyes on and phenomenons they could only dream of.

Hopefully someday in the near future, both sides of the world could officially link up and establish diplomatic relations with each other. It would be difficult, but it would truly usher in a new age of knowledge and mutual cooperation.

After my brief conversation with the Professors, my own phone was bombarded with messages from friends and acquaintances both in and out of the Kinjoh sphere of influence. I received everything from congratulatory remarks to questions about the paper to inquiries about how I was doing.

I also unexpectedly got Wallace as a performer for my Gym's grand opening! I couldn't wait to see him again.

The details for the special occasion were still being worked on. I already had a general plan, day, and time in mind, but I wanted to wait until the Gym's construction was actually done to start advertising. There was so much to do. Invitations to send to the other Indigo Gym Leaders and Elites, merchandise to get ready and sell…

My heart practically threatened to burst out of my chest from excitement.

After dinner, I waited patiently in the living room. It wasn't long before I received my usual call from the president of Blossom Hall.

"Good evening, Arin!" Eric's cheerful voice filtered through the phone. "Let me update you on what we accomplished today…"

Like he had every day for the last two months, Eric walked me through the daily construction progress of the Cherrygrove Gym. He messaged pictures of what the Gym currently looked like to my phone and rambled on. Over the course of the project, we'd run into a few hiccups like delayed shipments of necessary building materials or additional costs incurred during the process, but everything had ultimately worked itself out.

"It's almost done," Eric finished. It was hard to miss the pride in his voice. "We'll finish ahead of our projected schedule… we just need two more days to make sure everything is perfect."

Two days. That was all that remained before the Cherrygrove Gym was finally done.

I thanked Eric for the status update and ended the call with a huge smile. The gym badges and TMs I'd ordered from the League were due to arrive in two days as well. I almost wished I could fast forward to that time already.

I stayed up a little longer chatting with friends in various group chats. Before I went to sleep for the night, I made sure to tell the security guards to stay alert. I doubted anyone was going to be reckless enough to try stealing the gym Pokemon so soon, but it didn't hurt to be careful.

I was out like a light in seconds.

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It was a pleasant night.

Distant cries from Hoothoot and Murkrow rang out intermittently, but they were more comforting than they were frightening. He didn't have any complaints about the weather either. There was nothing but clear skies and stars that shone like beacons. Compared to the humid, tropical conditions of Hoenn or the cold, blustery weather of Sinnoh, Johto's climate was quite mild. May was a month that spoke of the beginnings of summer, of trees swaying in warm breezes, cicadas chirping in quiet symphonies…

Or potential jackpots.

Taki idly ran a hand up and down his arm as he waited. There was a huge bubble around them that prevented sound from leaking out, courtesy of Taki's Grumpig. Kenta had taken a few other subordinates with him to run a sweep of the perimeter one last time. Earlier in the day, they'd discreetly mapped out the forest from afar using a variety of hidden Pokemon. They knew exactly how many guards they were up against and what kind of roaming Pokemon to expect. All standard Pokemon one would expect for security purposes: Luxray, Arcanine, other canines and nocturnal types…

It wasn't going to be easy getting past them, and there were still a lot of unknowns like what kind of Pokemon the guards themselves had, but Taki had faith in his gang.

They'd tried a lot of crap over the years: attempting to poach Dratini from the Safari Zone in Fuchsia City, rare Pokemon from Safari Zones in other countries, Eevee and starter Pokemon from certified breeding ranches across the Kinjoh Area, endangered Lapras from hidden research centers and coves… the list went on and on. They hadn't all been successes, of course, but they had a decent ratio of triumphs to failures.

This was the third year their gang of poachers had been in business. They'd been lying low after their last gig in Sinnoh, but the research paper that came out today had changed everything.

Pokemon never before seen in the Kinjoh area. Rare, exotic species that literally could not be found anywhere else on the continent.

That meant cash. So much fucking cash that if they pulled this off, they and their descendents wouldn't have to work a day in their lives again. He himself was going to retire to the countryside somewhere with a new identity after today.

It was risky of them to try stealing the Pokemon so soon — heck, they'd only had about four hours to scope out the premises and two to actually strategize — but they needed to make a move before other poachers did. Taki didn't want other people to nab these incredibly valuable Pokemon first.

Was it crazy trying to steal from a Champion-level trainer? Definitely, but Taki had taken that into account already before coming here. They would never be able to defeat such a strong trainer or his Pokemon in a straight-up fight, but they weren't here to battle. They were here to infiltrate, steal, and then get right back out. This was going to be a quick in, quick out mission with an emphasis on staying undetected. Plus, by striking so soon, they had the advantage of surprise. No one would expect thieves to act not even twelve hours after the paper came out.

At least, that's what Taki tried to convince himself. His men showed up a moment later and entered the soundless bubble before he could wallow in self-doubt.

"Report," Taki said immediately. He'd already slipped back into his role of leader.

"The guards are maintaining the set movements we saw earlier," Kenta replied. He jerked a thumb in the direction of the forest. "There's a Dark type barrier up further inside, so no Teleportation I'm afraid. Tio's Rhyhorn found movement underground, too. Probably some guard Pokemon. The rest of the gang is waiting at points two and three. We're ready to go whenever, boss."

Taki pressed a few buttons on his watch without looking. "We stick to the original plan then. Everybody goes in at 2:50. From the information we gathered online, our objective is the Watanuki house located further in the forest. Stay on guard. If you catch even a whiff of danger, abort the mission immediately and get the hell out. Money is nice, but it ain't worth getting locked away in jail over."

He barely heard the wave of verbal responses that followed. Everybody released Pokemon they needed for the mission, but Taki's attention was focused on the forest ahead of them. They were really about to do this.

The instant his watch hit the designated time, they ran into the forest. Taki's Grumpig wasn't much of a fighter, but his specialty lay in barriers. He kept the soundless bubble up around the group as they moved further inside. They'd already rubbed their clothes and skin with natural scents to throw off the noses of canine Pokemon, so that was one less thing to worry about. They didn't have to concern themselves over Psychics detecting them either thanks to Kenta's Shiftry. There was a faint layer of darkness covering them.

Even with all these protections in place, they still had to physically evade the guards and roaming Pokemon. They zigzagged left and right past areas Kenta warned them about. One of his men sent out their Kecleon up ahead as a scout which further helped them evade prying eyes.

They took a break by some boulders part of the way in. It felt like an eternity had passed, but in reality, only one minute went by since they entered the forest. They were now well within the Dark type blockade Kenta had mentioned, yet they were nowhere close to the house.

Talk about a stressful operation.

"The others seem to be doing okay," Kenta remarked out loud. "We haven't heard any commotion or gotten an alert from them yet."

Taki nodded absentmindedly to himself. That was one bit of good news at least. They were invading the forest from several different entry points since it was too dangerous to move around as one big group.

Zz.

Taki looked up so fast that it felt like his neck would pop right off. He could have sworn he heard something like faint buzzing, but he didn't see anything in the skies. Maybe it was just a wild bug like Weedle. Was his paranoia about the job messing with his head?

Regardless, they couldn't loiter around any longer.

"Let's keep moving," Taki declared firmly.

Everyone followed him without question. The forest was a lot thicker than their initial reports had stated. The trees here grew so close together that there were hardly any gaps between them. In fact, Taki couldn't see which direction they'd come from. That was strange considering he'd been keeping a close on their surroundings the whole time—

Something shot out, and Taki moved purely by instinct. He shoved Kenta out of the way, but some of the others with them weren't as lucky. Taki snapped his head up in time to see Arceus damned branches descending on two of his men like elongated claws. The branches wrapped around them in tight embraces and slammed them to the ground.

He felt the back of his neck prickle with an uncomfortable sensation and swung his head to the left.

Red.

Sinister red eyes lit up the darkness between the trees— no… the trees themselves were moving. Taki's face paled as freakishly tall trees lurched towards them. Shadows spilled out from large cracks in their weathered bodies. They'd blended in perfectly with the vegetation around them to the point that none of them had noticed, but these had to be Pokemon.

There wasn't any time to wonder what the hell these abominations of nature were. More branches zoomed towards them, and Taki screamed out just one word.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"RUN!"

Forget poaching Pokemon, this operation was clearly screwed already. It was now every man for himself.

Everybody bolted in different directions. Even though he was panicking, Taki still had enough sense left that his mind scrambled together some coherent thoughts. He let out his Houndoom and barked out an order.

"Flamethrower!"

He had no idea what kind of Pokemon these were, but they were trees. That meant they were probably Grass types, right? And weak to fire?

Taki almost laughed out loud when he saw the tree-like Pokemon flinch away from the intense wave of fire that Houndoom exhaled. He'd been right!

"Keep them off our backs!" Taki shouted as he began running. Houndoom and Grumpig followed while shooting off attacks behind them. Harrowing, furious screams pierced the night air. Taki didn't stop to look.

Trees everywhere were lit ablaze. Definitely a safety hazard, but the whole damn forest could burn for all he cared. Nothing was more important right now than getting out. He would have liked to just Teleport and call it a day, but they were still within the Dark type energy screen.

"Grumpig, how far until we make it back to a Teleport-friendly zone?"

Taki's heart flew up into his mouth when his Pokemon did not answer him.

He spun around with a sense of foreboding and only got a split second to take in the scene. Houndoom and Grumpig were both lying on the ground. A Mawile and one of the newly unveiled Pokemon, a Dachsbun, stood on top of them. How did he not hear them attacking—?

More important than any of that was the thing standing in front of Taki. The last thing he saw was a green-skinned demon staring down at him with a malicious smile. Then a fist decked him in the jaw, and the world went dark.

Never should have tried our luck…

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Grima wore a look of utter disdain as he looked at the human sprawled out near his feet. He'd held back, but the intruder was out cold anyway.

Tsk, tsk, the Grimmsnarl said as he wagged a finger disapprovingly. Not even a third-rate opponent. He had no idea we were closing in on him.

He'd wreathed himself and the other two in shadows before pouncing. Willow had easily dispatched the Grumpig with a Crunch, and Choux had all but slammed into the Houndoom with a devastating Play Rough. Their opponents were obviously not trained for battle but for utility and stealth instead.

The soundless barrier that Grumpig had put up was interesting, yet it didn't mean much when they had scouts who could see Aura. Grima looked up when he heard a distinct buzzing sound.

Cally flew loops in the air above. She and the other Cutiefly had been the first ones to spot the intruders thanks to their ability to detect Aura. They were small and fast enough that they'd remained undetected when they flew back to inform everyone else. Silque had set them all up with a telepathic link before they split ways.

Thus began a quick yet merciless hunt.

Two teams of human guards had gone to take care of the other intruders wandering around, so that was one matter dealt with. Grima now eyed the trees around them that were still on fire. The smoke was starting to irritate his lungs. Luckily, it didn't seem like the intruder's Houndoom was skilled enough to use the never-dying flames its species was known for.

We've got a situation over here— Grima began to say through his telepathic link, but he cut that thought short when gallons of water suddenly dropped down from the skies. The blazing trees were extinguished immediately. It came from none other than Yuno. The Milotic flew through the air above Grima's head with a weary expression.

I could practically see the flames from a mile away, Yuno said with a sigh. The Trevenant are highly displeased. I had to stop them from beating up the intruders they captured. Any further, and we'd have corpses on our hands instead of prisoners.

Grima barked out a laugh. He would have paid to see that. Well, this forest is their home now. It's good that they're protective. Did we get the rest of the intruders?

We did, Yuno confirmed, and he hovered mid-air to smile. One of the human guards Arin hired interrogated a few with his Pokemon. They're just ordinary poachers.

Great, Choux piped up, and he yawned loudly. The Dachsbun jumped off the Grumpig's back and wobbled side to side dramatically. Does this mean we can sleep now?

As soon as Yuno nodded, Choux dashed back towards the house with renewed vigor. The Milotic followed him after rolling his eyes fondly.

That only left Grima and Willow in the clearing.

You think we should wake up Arin? Willow asked him.

For these morons? Grima scoffed. No, let him sleep. We'll let the human guards deal with the aftermath and tell Arin what happened in the morning.

Got it, Willow said with a shrug, and he carelessly prodded the unconscious Houndoom with his jaws. They didn't even put up a good fight, ugh.

Honestly, their participation in this had been overkill. The human guards and security Pokemon would have found the intruders without their help long before anyone got close to the house. They all had useful Pokemon of their own like Lucario or Haunter that were specialized in this line of duty.

Oh well, it wasn't like he minded staying up. Grima had always been more of a night owl. He shooed Willow away and told his teammate to rest. Eventually, human guards came to pick up the captured enemies Grima was looking over. Meguri was with them.

I was told my services were required, the Meganium commented out loud. His gaze was fixed on the ruined trees. A snort of amusement left the hulking Grass type. I can see why now.

Grima stepped aside respectfully as the older Pokemon trudged forward. He and the rest of the team were well acquainted with the Pokemon of Arin's father by this point. Meguri stopped in front of a tree and leaned forward, breathing softly onto the charred bark. His antennae glowed brightly as Grass type energy was channeled into the air.

Life returned to the tree Meguri breathed on. Leaves grew exponentially from its branches once more, and its trunk regained earthy hues. The whole process only took a few seconds. Grima had no doubt that if this was done during the day under the light of the sun, it would have been instantaneous instead. He smiled to himself as he wandered off, leaving the Meganium to repeat the process with the other trees.

Captured intruders, check. Healed environment, check. And they hadn't dealt with so-called Rockets either.

Grima wondered what kind of reaction Arin would have when he woke up.

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The following morning, I learned exactly how reckless some people could be.

"Thank you for handling the situation," I said with a dip of my head, and I waved goodbye to my team of security guards. I couldn't hide an absolutely bewildered expression.

They along with my Pokemon had filled me in on the events that occurred around three AM. Some ambitious poachers had actually tried their luck last night, but they hadn't been able to get past the security measures in place. They'd already been transferred to a League holding facility a few hours ago. Since they were guilty of stealing valuable foreign Pokemon from other regions, their offenses were fairly serious. The Hoenn and Sinnoh Leagues had already been notified of the criminals being held in custody, and they would play a part in deciding punishments.

Lance had actually sent me a thank you note for the nice, yet unintentional, gift. I just awkwardly texted back a smiley face emote since I was fast asleep when the whole thing went down.

At least now our security measures had been tested and proven.

Today, I was heading into town for some business. I'd received an interesting email from local bakers, and I wanted to meet with them in person. What they had proposed had the potential to further boost Cherrygrove City's economy.

I hadn't been blind to the recent uptick in visitors. Over the last month, we'd gotten thousands of tourists from every part of the country and beyond its borders. Most of them came to try and see the Gym, but since that wasn't possible, they stuck around to enjoy the rest of what the city had to offer. I'd visited the mayor on a couple occasions. Every single time, Arthur gleefully told me about how business was booming. The townspeople were just as happy as he was.

When the Gym finally opened to the public, I imagined our visitor count would skyrocket further.

Fifteen minutes later, I found myself strolling through the streets of Cherrygrove. Vel and Choux walked with me. More than a few times, excited kids pointed at them as they walked past with their parents.

"Mom, Dad! Look! The new Pokemon from TV!" I heard one kid's voice fade in the distance. My lips curled into a smile. When I looked down, I saw Choux skipping along with a chipper expression. Vel tried to hide it, but there was a smile tugging at his own lips.

Yes, slowly but surely, the Kinjoh Area would come to know and love Fairies.

We walked along for a few minutes in silence. There were a few reporters who tried to talk to me, but I politely brushed off requests for interviews and walked along. When we crossed over to the next street, I made eye contact with a familiar person on the sidewalk.

"Oh! Good morning, Arin," Hazel exclaimed in surprise.

"Morning, Haze," I greeted back. Hazel and Yurie both had the day off today, but who would have thought I'd run into one of them in town. My eyes flickered to the person standing next to my gym trainer. It was a short older woman with blue hair tucked into a messy bun. Just from seeing the two of them stand side-by-side, I already had a guess as to who this was. "Is this…?"

"My sister," Hazel confirmed, and I nodded in understanding. I'd thought as much. Hazel had mentioned her a few times already.

"Beryl McMillon," his sister helpfully supplied, and her eyes crinkled with joy as she held a hand out. We shook hands. "I'm a doctor with the Department of Internal Medicine at Solaris Hospital. It's a pleasure to meet you, Leader Arin. I hope my younger brother hasn't been causing any trouble."

"Sis!" Hazel complained loudly, and Beryl and I both laughed.

"He hasn't," I assured his sister. A relieved expression overtook her features.

"Good, good. I worry about him sometimes. He hasn't figured out what he wants to do in life yet."

"Not everyone can figure out what they want to do at the age of ten like you did, sis. But thanks for encouraging me to apply for the Cherrygrove Gym," Hazel grumbled. He smiled fondly as he turned to me. "Beryl's wanted to be a doctor since forever. She's even done a lot of volunteer work over in Kanto."

His sister smiled in embarrassment. "It's nothing worth bragging over, Haze. I just like helping people. Oh, yes, Leader Arin, I'm sorry I couldn't come to your family's National Day barbeque party by the way. Hazel mentioned it already, but I worked too many shifts and…"

I chatted with the McMillon siblings for a little longer before parting ways. It was nice to finally be able to put a face to a name after how many times I'd heard Hazel bring up his sister in passing. She'd even given me her business card before they left. Having a doctor as a connection was never a bad thing.

Smiling, I tucked it away safely into my pocket as we continued walking. We made it to our destination before long.

Bourke's Bakery, one of the city's oldest stores that sold a variety of breads. I'd actually gotten melon and red bean buns from here as a kid, but that was before the current owner took over.

A pleasant sound rang out from the door chime when we entered.

"Welcome!" a teenager at the front called out. When he saw me, his face quickly morphed into one of shock. "Oh, Gym Leader Arin! Wait here a second please."

I looked around while the teenager darted to a side door and threw it open.

"DAD! MR. TAKAI!" he hollered, but my attention was focused on the breads displayed in the store.

They looked good. Judging from the hungry expressions on Vel and Choux's faces, I think they wanted to eat some, too. I resolved to buy a few after the meeting.

Just as I thought that, the people I was supposed to meet with finally appeared.

"Leader Arin! Thank you for coming," a man with tousled black hair greeted. He was accompanied by a much taller man with freckles. "I'm Keiji Bourke, and this is Alexander Takai."

After exchanging pleasantries, I followed them into a small meeting room. I cut straight to the chase after we sat down.

"I'm interested in the business proposal you sent," I began, and I drummed my fingers against my leg with a thoughtful expression. "It'll be something unique to our city."

The nervous bakers sitting in front of me had sent an email asking if they could borrow the gym Fidough, Slurpuff, and Alcremie for their stores. They were interested in producing unique breads with the help of the Pokemon, and these would be sold as local specialties exclusive to Cherrygrove City.

It didn't take a genius to understand that this would be an incredibly lucrative venture and do wonders for the city's prestige.

"I'd like to see ideas for the menu items you have in mind first," I told them. The two men were happy to oblige and pulled out sheets of papers, and they laid them out on the table for me to see.

The bread and cake designs they'd come up with looked delicious. Lemon champagne, marshmallow filling… the flavors got more and more creative the farther down the list I went. Two of the sketches caught my eye in particular.

"Blossom Bread and Cake?" I read out loud.

Alexander beamed at me. "Yes! We've modeled them in the designs of actual flowers, and we intend to incorporate the scents of local petals as part of their appeal. They're supposed to be a tribute to the city," he explained.

"What do you think?" Keiji asked after a moment's hesitation. Both looked at me with hopeful expressions.

I didn't even have to think.

"I'd love to collaborate with you two," I said with a smile, and I held up a finger before the other men could talk. "I need to make some things clear though. First, whenever you borrow the gym Pokemon, one or two of my own Pokemon will accompany them as supervisors. I just want to make sure they're safe at all times considering these are species that people may want to steal."

The bakers both nodded seriously, so I went on.

"Second, the time you have to borrow them will decrease vastly during the Johto League Circuit season. They'll be needed for gym challenges. Lastly, and this goes without saying, please treat them with respect. I already spoke with them before coming here. They're interested in helping, but don't overwork them."

I got more vigorous nods in return. Smiling, I clasped my hands together.

"Then let's discuss more specific details and negotiate a contract. Also, if you could please bake a large quantity of these Blossom Breads and Cakes for an event later this week…"

An hour later, I walked out with bags of bread and a new contract under my belt. Choux couldn't stop jumping up and down in excitement.

I snorted with laughter.

"Alright, let's go home and eat."

The rest of the day was peaceful. I half expected more poachers to visit in the middle of the night again, but nothing happened. The League was making progress with the Rocket investigation, too. They'd taken down a small base on their own apparently.

It seemed like everything was going smoothly.

That was why, when Lance unexpectedly called me in the morning, I clutched my phone with more than a little wariness.

"Arin, can you please come to the League HQ right now? It's urgent. I'll send a Kadabra to fetch you."

Lance hung up after that, and it didn't help that he'd sounded rather… anxious, something that was unusual for the normally calm Champion. Dozens of troubling thoughts spun around in my head as I ran out to the front yard. A League Kadabra was waiting there for me.

Had an issue cropped up with Team Rocket? Were all the Indigo Gym Leaders being gathered again for a major raid?

All thoughts careened to a halt when I was Teleported into a spacious meeting room.

There were no other Gym Leaders in sight. Not even the Elite Four was around. I only saw Lance seated at a circular table and…

"Hello, Arin," Geeta greeted, and she leaned back in her chair with a small smile.

Around her sat a beautiful woman in a stylish coat and dress, a man with a cocky grin and cape, another man with fiery red-orange hair, and a tanned male with a white coat. I didn't miss how the Champions of Hoenn and Sinnoh were seated at the table, too.

My jaw dropped open.