My warm up was much faster today, but no one could blame me. Today was the next step in my plan to force Will’s hand.

I’d been looking forward to this all week. When I’d laid down the challenge against Gavin Glady, he hadn’t been able to back down, not after what he’d been saying.

Will had the excuse of having already faced me. I couldn’t drag him into another fight with how slippery he was being, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t drag others into a fight.

I surveyed my pokemon as they ran through drills, eying them carefully. Judging if anyone was injured or nursing a wound they hadn’t announced to me.

“Bertha, rest up! Knight, you come in as well! I want both of you for the fight today!” I then pointed at Selene and Titan. That would make up two more, with only two left over. I considered the rest of my pokemon.

Don postured aggressively, and Shrek shifted back and forth.

I glanced at Yolanda. “Gavin is known for some of his electric, fire, and poison-type pokemon, yes?”

She nodded her head, and I played with that thought. “Zephyr,” I said, causing my Noctowl to hoot and hop forward.

“Zephyr?” Yolanda said as I walked through the rest of my pokemon.

“Yeah, Zephyr has a few moves that help mitigate Electric-type attacks and he has a great diversity of moves available to him.”

Teddiursa raised his hands and growled in a display of strength. I snorted and patted him on the head. “Not today buddy,” I said before shaking my head at Clefairy as well.

I considered the water-type pokemon I had available, before eventually pointing to Shrek. “Shrek, I want to bring you in again. You came in clutch last time, and I think you deserve some time in the sun. Everyone else? I want you to work hard and watch today’s match-up as you will be cycled in soon.”

Don shrieked in annoyance and flapped up before dive-bombing Shin. I’d probably need to pull Don into line soon or give him a match he could sink his teeth into. The same was true of Shin. I considered the pokemon and my eyes paused on Empress.

Hmmm… she’d do for now.

“Don! Stop harassing Shin, and I want you to do some harassment fighting against Empress. Empress, try not to hit him too hard.”

I indicated the six pokemon I was going to use for today’s Ace match. “Light workout today.”

Yolanda jogged along next to me. Cranidos, as he’d started to do, tried to swipe out our ankles as we ran. Yolanda and I skipped over him or dodged him lightly. When it came time to stop, I caught him up and put him to the side. “That’s enough of that training!” I said firmly, before depositing him in front of Terra who snorted and smacked her hands together like she was a tiny sumo wrestler.

“Brock?” Yolanda said.

“Yah?” I replied as I had Clefairy use Gravity on Jormungandr and Sanchez, who were having to weave their way through an obstacle course.

“Why have you chosen those pokemon?” she asked. Indicating the six pokemon I had.

I considered Yolanda for a long moment before shrugging. “How about you tell me?”

She shot me a highly unimpressed look, before chewing her lip. “You don’t really have to worry about fire-type pokemon thanks to the rock typing most of them share. Knight is perfect as a poison type counter if Gavin gets a Toxic Spikes move out or sets up any poison mist.

“Bertha, is a one-hit super-heavy pokemon that is one of your strongest but she also knows Surf, so she can take out some pokemon that won’t expect it. You’re looking to bait Gavin in with Zephyr. As for Titan, well… He is your strongest pokemon by far.”

“Good reasoning,” I complimented. “I’m also taking into account that some of these pokemon need victories. I could probably sub Titan out for Tide without too much risk, but I need the safety of Titan to fall back on. Selene hasn’t had many fights despite deserving them. She’s been on the bench too long and merely had to watch others fight. She’s who I’m worried about the most, as if I didn’t use her, she’d be frustrated and taciturn with me.”

“Knight had a rough go of it against Will despite doing great against that Perish Song. Now I could have swapped Don out with Zephyr, as Zephyr isn’t as proud, but it is also good to sometimes not give Don his way. Don, could have fought in the match against Will except for being injured when I went to Mt. Silver. He has only himself to blame for that, as I did not order him to pursue like he did. I instead needed to back him up and catch him.”

Yolanda nodded thoughtfully. “Right, that makes sense.” She then leaned down and scooped Terra off of Cranidos. Cranidos hopped to his feet and cried out in protest.

“Oh hush now!” she said before giving me a look. “No fighting until you run around that rock!” she said, pointing to the rock that we ran around.

Cranidos twitched his head around to the rock and then back before, narrowing his eyes. He lowered his head to charge Yolanda, only for Terra to laugh and hop out of Yolanda’s hands, flattening Cranidos in the process. She then waddled quickly towards the rock, cheering her name the entire way.

Cranidos shot upright and squawked indignantly, before charging past Terra and crowing smugly back at her, before faceplanting into the rock he was supposed to run around.

I turned away. It looked like Yolanda had things well enough in hand. I instead worked through my pokemon and refreshed myself on what I could do with my pokemon. I paid special attention to working Selene through some tests.

When she tried to show off with a Moonblast into a Teleport, I whistled. “Woah, back off there, girl; I need you fresh for this fight. Don’t tire yourself out like this, alright?”

She nodded, and I chuckled. “Let’s get you running some aura drills with Titan and Clefairy yeah?” Selene bobbed away to them and I turned my attention to Zephyr, who ran through a series of sweeps and dives with Steel Wing.

“I want you to do a corkscrew into the ground to finish off, make sure to stab your wings forward to bleed off momentum as well.”

“Noct!” barked Zephyr as his wings glowed once more, before he tucked himself into a tightly controlled yet still fast-twisting drop out of the sky. He landed facing the ‘target’ position I’d assigned earlier, with his wings stabbed into the ground without a scratch on him. “Hypno!” I barked, causing him to fire off a wave of Hypnosis at the rocks.

“Nice, let’s call that there, Zephyr; after breakfast, head in to Chansey for a final checkup, and I’ll collect you later!” He hooted happily and floated towards the rocks that other pokemon in the Elite team were hanging around.

I glanced around and didn’t see much of a need to continue training with anyone else, so I clapped my hands and signalled for Titan to lead a cool-down routine. Then I reached into a backpack and started distributing their food into bowls and plates with pictures of their faces.

Empress still didn’t seem sure what to make of this raised eating, but Teddiursa was quick to plonk himself down and practically bury his face into his food.

“Someone make sure he breathes between bites,” I said, causing Empress to lean forward and tug Teddiursa out of his food, where he gasped hugely, only to try and push his face into it again.

“Ty!” Empress barked at Teddiursa, causing him to curl up and whine at her, only for her to glare at him. He proceeded to use his hands instead of just throwing himself face-first into the food.

With my team all fed, I waved for Yolanda to follow me on a jog around the perimeter. She frowned. “Why are we doing this? You usually do it during the warm-up?”

“Good to shake things up and not get too into a routine, plus it’s good training. Nice work with Cranidos, by the way. You’re handling him well,” I complimented.

“Had to toughen up a bit,” she said, making a fist.

“Yeah, he can be hardheaded, can’t he?” I said, grinning at her. Yolanda made a face and I chuckled as I led her back around for breakfast.

From there, the morning was rather typical; with the gym taking on a handful of challengers, most of the trainers that I faced these days being so well versed in their pokemon that they could earn the Boulder Badge, and the few that couldn’t? Well, they’d either learn or continue to struggle.

When it came time for the Ace match, the stands saw a surge of people filling them. When I walked up from the medical bay with my selected Elite team, more than a few season pass members waved at me. I paused to talk with them.

“Oh Brock, I have to admit this year’s matches have truly been worth getting the season pass,” said one man, before sheepishly scratching his neck. “I’m… sorry to say that I’ve used up my year’s worth of free tickets, as well as my allotment for early access for purchasing. However, is there any chance I could top up my membership? What with the news that you’re going to rise up the Ace rankings, I think I’d like to come for a lot of those!”

I tilted my head, considering him. I noticed that a good number of the people around him were also now paying close attention to what we were talking about.

I eventually gave a slow nod. “I think that could be arranged; I’ll talk with my team and see what we can come up with.”

The people listening in leaned back, and a murmur broke out as the rumour mill went to town spreading what I’d just said. I was amused when I saw Granny Harridan stand from her seat and move to another elderly woman to loudly whisper what she’d just learned.

And like that, the news spread.

I shook my head in amusement and strode up to the trainer area, where A.J. stood with his arms crossed, listening in on Missy explaining how the Ace circuit worked differently to some Gym trainers.

I quickly jotted out a message to Rachel, Alexa, and Georgina about the idea of allowing an extension for more member priority options, so they would know about it before the rumour mill reached them.

Rachel sent back a smiley face with her tongue out, which let me know that the grannies had gotten to her first. I merely huffed and ran my hands over my pokebelt, checking the position of each of my pokemon before relaxing. I selected my first pokemon and toyed with the Luxury ball.

I settled back and let the noise of the crowd wash over me, while spinning the ball about in my hands.

I knew what to expect with Gavin. He had some strong pokemon with power behind them, but also had some neat tricks that could trip me up. In a way, it would be somewhat like fighting against Will, but I liked to think I was ready for most of them.

I doubted he would start things off with his Raichu. It was more likely that he’d come with one of his water pokemon. Gyarados perhaps? Although after the showing Lance’s Gyarados gave, I doubted anyone was going to be looking to repeat that against me. Then again… people might think they had cracked the code. And it wasn’t like I had Sanchez on the team.

Not that Gavin would know that. The threat would be there, however. So chances were he’d go with another pokemon. Tentacruel seemed to have good odds. Gavin had a history of enjoying setting up Toxic Spikes, so a poison pokemon would make sense, and out of all his pokemon Tentacruel would suit him the most.

The lights began to flash, and I stood. I rolled my shoulders and stretched myself out. Then I clapped my hands together and pushed away all the thoughts of the world. Instead, I focused on the effort of will that came with pushing my left hand against my right.

Then I released them, inhaling and enjoying the rush of air that came with the mental reset.

I nodded and stepped up to the front of the trainer partition. Rachel went to work hyping up Gavin, but I could tell she wanted to do anything but.

“Here he comes,” I said to myself as Rachel finished introducing Gavin.

The swarthy man swaggered out and grinned when he got boos and jeers. He seemed to feed off the negativity. I noted he’d styled his hair into pointed tufts today, and he was wearing a leather jacket that made me think he rather looked like a Cueball style trainer from the games.

That merely cemented the idea of him using a poison type pokemon first.

I tucked the Luxury ball out of sight and crossed my arms, and the lights overhead boomed into life.

“And in this corner! Your Gym Leader and challenger for today! Please give it up, for Brock!” Rachel cried out.

“Show time,” I said, with a smile.

The crowd responded like a well-oiled machine. The stomp-stomp clap rang out, and I held my position. People had mentioned how much they rather enjoyed the experience of being more than a lone voice and part of something greater, when this started each match.

It might have been an accidental masterstroke to reintroduce the song, ”We Will Rock You!”, to the pokemon world.

I held my position as the lights roamed the crowd, and that merely made them more enthusiastic. I grinned. Rachel was always finding new ways to make this memorable.

Once it seemed like the entire crowd had been lit up at least once the lights raced to my position and shone down on me.

With the crowd making the stadium rock, I strode forward and locked eyes on Gavin.

My grin grew when I saw him shift in place on his podium.

That’s right, you messed up, and now you’re going to learn what that means.

I performed my normal leap across the gap, and landed in the classic superhero pose as the crowd roared and the song that we’d had a local band record for us faded.

In the referee's stand, Jackson stood tall and raised his flags to go through the usual Ace briefing. Within what felt like moments he gestured with his flags. “Trainers! Are you ready!?”

“Ready!” “I’m good,” said Gavin and I.

I locked eyes with him as my hand brought out Selene’s Luxury ball. Gavin’s eyes darted down. Ah, he was trying to read which pokemon I was going to send out first?

I noted that he relaxed when his eyes fell on the necklace that prominently held Titan’s Greatball. Hmmm, so he wasn’t confident against Titan eh?

I’d have to show him that I had a lot more tricks up my sleeve.

“Begin upon the release of your pokemon!” Jackson ordered, dropping his flags.

“Go! King!” barked Gavin.

“Go! Selene!” I shouted, a heartbeat behind him.

“Lunatone!” On the field, Selene manifested and hovered upward with a trill.

“King! Nido!” roared ‘King’ the Nidoking that Gavin had released.

I smirked. I’d been right—a good matchup straight out of the gates.

“Set One!” barked Gavin. Nidoking braced and began to unleash a barrage of poisonous spikes into the surrounding battlefield.

“Blast him!” I ordered. Selene’s eyes glowed, and from the point of her arc, a beam of psychic energy was launched forth.

“Dig!” screamed Gavin, forcing his pokemon to abort the set up that he’d tried for. Gavin had some solid forms but I had done enough research to know that ‘set up one’ was standard fair for him and his pokemon to poison the field, poison the opposing pokemon and then set up stalling options.

Personally, I preferred his set up two which went for the opponent pokemon first.

It was a sign of good training but at the same time, it was entirely too predictable for an opening move. And thus, I had Selene unleash a super effective Psybeam at his pokemon.

King threw himself into a headfirst dive that saw the Psybeam missing, but I merely gestured down at the ground.

“Quake,” I said straight away. Selene crashed into the ground, like gravity had suddenly increased tenfold. Instead of her being injured, however, the ground underneath her buckled as an Earthquake was blasted out, rocking the field and causing Nidoking to be launched out of the Dig.

Nidoking shook itself and staggered back onto his feet, but I could tell it had felt that move.

“Psychic!” I said, deciding to keep on the pressure.

“Throat Chop!” Gavin said. His pokemon raised its arms in front of itself, and dark energy emitted from its body, resulting in the Psychic failing to grasp or do any significant damage.

I tilted my head, watching as Nidoking charged forth, arms glowing ominously.

“Approaching me, hmmm? Selene, you know what to do,” I said lazily.

Selene began to glow; her eyes locked on the charging Nidoking.

“Got you!” Gavin shouted as King closed in on us, only to gasp when Selene vanished in a Teleport. “What?!” he bellowed.

“Finish him,” I said. Selene unleashed another Psybeam from right next to Nidoking’s blindspot, nailing the powerful pokemon and hurling it out of the fight.

Gavin glared at me. “I call interference! Lunatone don’t learn Teleport!”

Jackson nodded and raised a flag. “Ace trainer Gavin has raised a claim of interference regarding Lunatone’s Teleport.” Jackson indicated a hand in my direction. “Sadly, I can confirm that Selene, aka, this Lunatone, is capable of Teleport. It has not been used publicly except for a friendly match against Lance that was witnessed by the Rangers!”

Gavin’s stunned face was far too enjoyable, and for a moment I felt my dark tendencies rearing up, as I delighted in the reveal of how skilled Selene was.

“She’s got both skill and power,” I said proudly. Selene swivelled back and forth in delight, and I chuckled before turning to Jackson. “I believe that grants me a move due to the disruption?”

Gavin snorted. “Oh, so it’s cheap when Will does it but not when you do it?”

I leveled a dark look at Gavin, but instead of quivering, he jutted his chin.

I held his gaze for a long moment before shaking my head. “I can say we’re nothing alike until the Miltank comes home, but it would never be enough for some people. Selene, Calm Mind, also Gavin your timer is ticking down,” I said, pointing to the clock that had reached twenty seconds for his next pokemon release.

Selene trilled happily as a glow lit up around her once again, but this time she was buffing herself rather than attacking, or moving with Teleport. Gavin eyed her, and his hand slipped to another pokeball.

“Alright, if you want to play things that way!” Gavin said as he selected another pokeball. He hurled it out and released a large Arcanine that released a deep growl that rumbled forth like thunder.

“Speed!” Gavin ordered.

“Quake!” I responded instantly. Selene once again crashed into the ground, only for Arcanine to vanish in a blur as dust was kicked up.

The battlefield rumbled with force, and I snapped my eyes around looking for a hint of the Arcanine before shooting my gaze up. There I found Arcanine at the zenith of its leap; it was right above Selene and I knew I didn’t have enough time for another Teleport.

“Crunch!” Gavin howled as dark energy glowed around Arcanine’s maw.

I snapped my fingers up at the threat and responded with my best option. “Hyper Beam!” I shouted. Selene tilted herself like an artillery cannon, still embedded in the ground. A large orb of energy formed at the tips of her crescent before unleashing it straight at the descending Arcanine.

Arcanine, instead of catching my pokemon, was instead caught in the air and blown away.

Arcnine slammed into a barrier in front of the stands, where the Hyper Beam continued to push against it. When it ceased blasting Arcanine, the powerful pokemon fell.

I watched it fall and was stunned when it landed with a dull thump instead of landing on its feet.

When Arcanine didn’t stir, I leaned forward in concern. Had Gavin sent out a pokemon that weak against me?

Gavin raised his pokeball and then I joined the crowd in exhaling in relief when the pokeball returned the pokemon.

I eyed Selene who was hovering with a wobble. That had been a strong attack… but that Arcanine shouldn’t have been dropped just like that… Had she gotten a critical hit?

Nice.

I decided to capitalise on the stunned disbelief. “Nice shot Selene! Let’s give the others a chance to shine!” I said loudly as I raised her Luxury ball to return her. The crowd responded with a wave of applause.

I smirked as I put her back on my belt. That would have been the best result, given how things might have played out. She would have won herself some fans with that performance.

I eyed Gavin, who seemed locked in hesitation.

If I wanted to, I could wait him out and respond to his pokemon, due to his pokemon being returned first, but I had other options. Sadly, I couldn’t send out Zephyr and bait Gavin as I wanted to; Gavin had gotten off a Toxic Spikes after all.

“Go! Knight!” I ordered. Knight landed, and with his appearance, Gavin inhaled in surprise before grinning.

“Go Rapidash!” he shouted, releasing the pokemon. The fiery horse snorted in disdain as it eyed Knight.

Knight wasn’t bothered by being looked down upon. Knight wasn’t a pokemon with a lot of pride; he was a simple soul housed in a powerful frame, with an earnestness that made him strong.

“Stone Edge,” I said, causing Knight to lash out with his tail and hammer some slabs of earth straight at Rapidash.

“Dodge to the side and Inferno!” Gavin responded. Rapidash performed a small hop and then whipped its head, its mane flaring and unleashing a wave of fire that crossed the field quickly.

“Dig dip,” I said, resulting in Knight ducking under the wave of fire and evading the danger.

As Knight rose up out of the ground, Rapidash, much like Arcanine, blurred in a sudden display of speed. It appeared behind Knight, leaning forward with its rear legs raised to unleash a kick that I knew would be devastating.

“Protect!” I barked.

“Low Kick!” Gavin said, only to glower as Knight raised a shield instantly as Gavin punched forward. “Flamethrower!” he ordered. Rapidash hopped back a few metres to give itself some room as it inhaled.

“Sandstorm! Scrub the field” I shouted, causing Knight to raise a foot as his Protect dropped.

The Sandstorm swept the field as sand roared to life. Rapidash suddenly had to back up and shake itself in the face of the grating winds.

“Blow it away with Inferno, commit!” said Gavin. His pokemon this time spun with its entire body, its mane and tail brightening as flame swept the field.

“Dig dip into Earthquake!” I said. I might not have damaged Rapidash much, but I trusted I’d gotten rid of the Toxic Spikes with two Infernos and a Sandstorm scrubbing the field.

The sand and fire died away, only for a rumble to shake the field as Knight erupted and slammed a fist into the ground.

Instead of buckling in the face of the Earthquake, however, Rapidash reared up and began to dance on surprisingly deft feet.

Gavin punched the air. “That’s the way! Use your training!”

I had to admit I was impressed with how Rapidash was dancing. It was a down right hypnotising display of dancing, mixed with bucking to land that resulted in always having a stable point that allowed Rapidash to evade a lot of the damage.

I played out a few options and decided I wanted to avoid letting this fight get stalled out as it had. “Return!” I said, surprising many in the crowd and even Gavin as he blinked.

He still had the presence of mind to order out a quick “Agility!” to his pokemon as I selected another pokemon.

“Go Shrek!” I shouted, unleashing Shrek onto the field, where he landed with a thud and a loud ribbit.

Gavin stared and looked around. He must have been expecting his Toxic spikes to do something, only to realise how I’d negated the environmental threat earlier. He swore and raised his own pokeball, not willing to allow this match to play out apparently. “Return Rapidash!” he growled.

“Bulk Up,” I said happily. Shrek flexed, and his muscles swelled up as Gavin selected his next pokemon.

“Go Gyarados!” he said, releasing a Gyarados that roared and had Shrek stepping back, only to step back with a loud ribbit as he refused to be intimidated by the threat display.

I hummed. This might seem like a good idea for Gavin to send out a water type against another water type. Especially when compared to the fire type Rapidash.

But he was making critical errors, especially when in my Gym.

“Rock Slide,” I said without missing a beat. Shrek dug his hands into the ground and then hurled rocks straight at the Gyarados.

“Hydro Pump,” said Gavin. His pokemon responded quickly and blasted the flying rocks out of the air.

“Hop to the side and repeat,” I said, more than happy to fire off another round of Rock Slide at the Flying type pokemon.

“Surf!” Gavin said.

“Surf,” I said with a shrug, more than happy to match him, Surf to Surf.

Waves rose from each side of the battlefield before surging straight at each other. Both waves slammed into each other. Gyarados and Shrek became locked in close combat, with Gyarados curling itself around Shrek only for Shrek’s fists to lash out.

Despite the larger pokemon wrapping around my pokemon, I knew I had Gavin right where I wanted him as our pokemon slammed into the ground.

“Stone Edge,” I said. Shrek croaked, and his arm twisted out. He grabbed up a large fistful of rock and slammed it into Gyarados’ side, causing it to roar out in pain.

“Again!” I said gleefully. Shrek repeated the action, and this time Gyarados went down. I looked up to find Gavin looking rather glum at how this match was turning out.

He pursed his lips and returned his pokemon. Once again, I decided to match him with another return. This time, however, I whipped out a pokemon that had already been sent out.

Selene reappeared, and she hovered up to her normal height, albeit a little slower than normal.

“Tch!” Gavin clicked his tongue. He raised a hand to his mouth, where he rubbed it worriedly in thought. I watched as he toyed with two pokeballs, his decision apparently not as clear as it had been moments before.

“Go Raichu!” he said with a tight expression.

“Quake,” I said, without a moment’s hesitation. Raichu, much like Rapidash, responded quickly, its tail stabbing into the ground and allowing it to bounce through Earthquake.

“Extremespeed into Iron Tail!” Gavin ordered, as soon as the Earthquake ended.

“Protect!’ I replied immediately. The Protect rose and caught that Iron Tail just as Raichu reappeared with its tail whipping around, instead of slamming into Selene. Selene locked eyes with the fast rodent, before it darted back and gained some room.

“Trip up!” I said as the Protect dropped away. Selene perked up and once again crashed into the ground.

“Avoid it!” Gavin said quickly, only for no Earthquake to appear. Instead, Selene’s eyes glowed and energy surrounded Raichu.

“Chu!” the electric mouse pokemon cried out in surprise. Selene had no mercy for it, however, as she promptly slammed it into the ground like she was trying to nail it down.

“Use Thunder to get out of there!” Gavin ordered.

“Toss it through a boulder!” I said to Selene. She did just that, and Raichu continued to be hammered with Psychic, as Selene refused to let go.

“Raichu, hang in there buddy!” said Gavin imploringly.

I shot him a look of disbelief. Had he almost sobbed just now?

His Raichu tried to regather itself with another blast of lightning, only to crumple as it seemingly took too much damage. “Raaaaaaai,” it whined, going limp in Selene’s Psychic grasp.

Selene paused and was about to let it go.

I was about to allow it, but with my eyes locked on Gavin, I caught the smirk that appeared on his features. “Hit it again, it’s faking with Fake Tears,” I said. Selene paused in lowering the pokemon and Gavin gained an ‘oh shit’ expression.

Raichu’s head snapped up, and it tried to grab the ground only to be just out of reach. Selene’s eyes glowed once more, and this time she slammed Raichu through a boulder with feeling.

This time, Raichu went down.

When Raichu fell, Gavin’s shoulders slumped. He returned his pokemon and eyed me before raising a hand to the referee. “I am going to concede; I haven’t brought the right pokemon to match Brock today,” he said.

I raised an eyebrow in disbelief. He’d only fought three of my pokemon! I still had tricks and plans to use! The crowd murmured in surprise at this while Jackson straightened up and raised a flag.

“Very well, this match will end at four to zero, with Ace Trainer Gavin conceding early.” He then gestured to me, declaring “That means that Brock is the victor!” that got the crowd on their feet and cheering.

Selene warbled her joy at this unexpected boon, and I laughed before waving her over to share in the crowd’s praise. I lowered the podiums and turned, starting to walk over to Gavin. Gavin hurried forward quickly, his own hand raised.

“Guess you got me a good one, Gym Leader,” he said with a nod. Then he smiled, waved to the crowd,and walked away.

I blinked in surprise, used to a much longer discussion post match with my opponents. Well, apart from Will that is.

Sure I had called him out on his behaviour, but it didn’t speak well of him that he’d conceded so quickly. I eyed the score. Or had he been avoiding a total wipe with six to zero officially registered on his record?

I shrugged and decided it didn’t matter. Instead, I turned and waved to the crowd. With this victory, I’d gain a few more Ace points and climb up the Ace rankings. It wasn’t much, but it was a start.

This time, I walked straight up to the reporters. They grinned at my approach, and I prepared myself for a different sort of battle. I made sure to keep Selene out during the entire post match interview.

“Brock! Does it feel good to face one of your naysayers like this?” started one reporter.

I grinned, more than happy with how this was starting.

By the time I was done, my smile was still firmly in place, despite the tough questions I’d been asked. I made sure to remind everyone that I was very interested in a rematch with Will, which got some nods of approval from the crowd that had remained behind.

When it was over, I gave the crowd a final wave and departed for the medical bay to get my pokemon checked over. Chansey merely sniffed at them before nodding at me as Knight, Selene and Shrek all lay on their tables. When I released the other pokemon I’d selected, they all called out their own praise for the three that had fought. I was amused to see Selene warbling happily while Knight ducked his head. Shrek merely croaked happily.

It might only be a few points, but I knew this was the first serious step into something more.

Will, and indeed any that came after him, would not be able to ignore me in the future.

I’d make sure of it.