Hard Enough

Lorelei had been asked to wait in the trainer lounge, something that hopefully wasn’t taken as a slight. Then again, it was a nicer space than sticking her in my office and asking her to wait. I paused at the entrance to observe her.

Lorelei was seen as the ‘cool beauty’ of the Elite Four. It was also well known that she and Lance didn’t get along. Not since Lance took over from her grandfather, Pryce, as Champion. I could only imagine that it caused her a lot of stress to be waiting for her official step-down order. I wasn’t sure if that translated into the tension in her jaw or the way she tapped her finger on the chair as she flipped through a magazine with her other hand.

I swallowed my worries and stepped forward. “Lorelei,” I said in greeting.

Lorelei raised her gaze from the magazine she’d been reading through. I noted that it was not one of the magazines that we supplied to the Gym’s trainers. I paused. “You brought your own magazine?” I said in surprise.

Lorelei nodded, not at all bothered, as she packed the magazine away into her purse. “I’ve gotten used to being sent on errands and kept waiting,” she said with a clipped tone. She assessed me critically, “I understand that you’re rather busy, Brock, so thank you for agreeing to meet with me so quickly.”

I blinked in surprise, still hung up on the point she’d raised earlier. “People are making you wait?” I said. “But you’re an Elite Four member?”

She narrowed her eyes, shooting a frosty look at me through her glasses. “Let us not pretend that I am favoured by Lance. I know of his hang-ups with me. Any complaints I have, fall on deaf ears.”

“I kind of expected better from Lance,” I said sternly. Then again, he’d have to overcome his distaste for her as an Ice trainer, which meant she was also a threat to him, so it made sense he would naturally be antagonistic or evasive. I could feel the room was a few degrees cooler than it should be, and the only difference was that Loreli was sitting in it. That, more than any I.D badge she had, served as her credentials.

I imagine a number of people could have copied her red hair and schoolteacher vibe to a tee. But they’d fall short of exuding ice-type energy.

Lorelei inspected me critically, and I could see her lips narrowing. She opened her mouth only to be interrupted by another voice.

“Broooooooock!!!!” wailed Cindy as she raced into the lounge, uncaring that Lorelei was here. “I accidentally tripped and tore my homework while I was in the playground! Miss Spencer is going to be so mad!”

“Ah?” I said, finding myself caught in a lurch as I shifted from Gym Leader to Big Brother Brock. “What was your homework?” I asked before I could stop myself.

Cindy shoved a sheet of paper that was ripped into two parts which I looked over critically.

“Okay, calm down.” I was about to say it didn’t matter all that much, but then I recalled that that would never work with distraught kids. “I’ve got an idea! How about we use the photocopier to line up the torn sheets and then print them out like new.”

Cindy sniffled as she got herself back under control. “She won’t mind that it’s all dirty?” she said.

“No, any teacher worth her chalk won’t care,” said Lorelei suddenly, making me startle. I’d forgotten about her, or rather, I’d been expecting her to not get involved.

Cindy glanced at Lorelei. “Oh! Sorry Brock, I should have realised you were busy!” She sniffled again, and I handed her a handkerchief which she blew into. When she handed it back to me I grabbed a corner and shoved it into a pocket in my pants that was well used to receiving such gifts from my siblings.

“No problem, I’m going to get Alexa to help you out, I’m sure she won’t mind alright?” I said gently, leading her to Alexa who’d been hovering outside the door. I handed Cindy over to get her homework seen to and then returned back to school. I gave her some more assurances that all would be well before I turned back to Lorelei.

“Sorry about that!” I said with a slight chuckle.

Lorelei stared at me for a long minute. “You… you were telling the truth about not wanting or being able to take on the Elite Four position, weren’t you?” she said suddenly.

“Huh? Oh that, yeah.” I waved a hand behind me. “I have way too much going on to worry about something like that.”

Lorelei nodded slowly. “I see. I…” She worried at her lip before sighing explosively.

She rubbed at her forehead. “I should apologise. I came into this expecting Lance to be shoving you in my face. So I delayed and dragged my feet.”

I tilted my head. Two days was her dragging her feet on a job?

Lorelei kept talking, not noticing my conduct. “With how the media won’t stop talking about you potentially joining, I thought this was supposed to be a very different trip.”

“Oh! Well, that actually makes a lot of sense,” I said with a smile.

She tilted her head as if confused before shaking it off. “Well, regardless, how would you like to proceed with my review of the ancient pokemon and the resurrection machine?

I scratched my cheek and then glanced at my watch. “Would you like me to reschedule my afternoon? I only have half an hour for lunch, and that might not be long enough for your needs,” I asked.

Lorelei stared at me. Did… Not many people do that for her or something? It made me wonder more about her. I’d… well I’d not really considered how she was treated, but now I empathised with her a bit.

It always sucked being stuck waiting for things to happen. When the Pokenet got more solidly filled out and useful, I had no doubt that if her circumstances were the same she’d be carrying a laptop around instead of magazines.

“That won’t be necessary,” she said while adjusting her glasses, “I merely wanted to inform you that I am following up on the task that Lance assigned me. We can meet up at another time or—”

“You just need access to the back reserve right?” I said, cutting her off. She nodded her head and I grinned. “Alright, easily done! Did you also want to talk with Bianca, our resident breeding specialist?”

Lorelei once more considered me before nodding slowly. “That would actually not be a bad place to begin. I will inform you that I am going to document your facilities and will be applying the League’s standard for breeding facilities. If you don’t have certain levels or are missing facilities, you will need to reapply at a later date with the error or errors fixed.”

I opened my mouth to point out that it sounded like her job could have been done by an auditor but then my mind kicked into gear and shut my mouth. I didn’t want… Auditor Timothy back here again. I repressed a shudder.

I nodded. “If those are still the same from a few months ago, I know Bianca saw to that first when she moved here.”

I ticked off my fingers. “Resident certified specialist, care facilities, suitable habitat, nutrition plans and…” I chewed my lip. What was the last one?

“Options for genetic diversity, for the pokemon with matings witnessed,” said Lorelei distastefully.

“Oh, that’s the one I always deliberately forget,” I said, more to myself than her. She nodded though and I found a companion for the ick factor of breeding. Damn Don and that flock of Wingull.

“That should be agreeable. Then after you’re finished with today’s challenges, would you be available to visit the resurrection machine itself?”

I considered my timetable. “I don’t think I have any pressing details I need to see to, so yes.”

Lorelei nodded again, this time with a pleased expression. “Excellent, this might be wrapped up by tonight.” She stood and offered me her hand. “My thanks Gym Leader, I will get to work reviewing your proposed breeding facility, and we can talk again this afternoon.”

I shook her hand, pleased that she had been for all intents and purposes, easy to work with. A thought occurred to me. “Oh, if you see a younger version of me running around named Salvadore, would it be alright for him to shadow you? He’s really interested in being a researcher, so maybe what you’re doing will catch his attention.”

She nodded. “That should be fine. I’m used to dealing with students from my time as a teacher before I became Gym Leader at Mahogany.”

“You were a teacher?” I said with surprise.

She nodded. “Yes, I actually still give lectures at the Indigo Academies, such as Pokemon Tech outside Pewter.”

“Oh, cool. I deal with them to set up badge challenges to demonstrate skill level during their coursework.” I recalled something about them. I glanced over my shoulder to where Alexa was lingering in the doorway, apparently having seen Cindy back off to school. “Hey Alexa? Did Pokemon Tech rebook their matches for this year’s accreditation?”

Alexa shook her head.

Lorelei pursed her lips. “That will be a problem for them. Hmmm, I will ask around. Perhaps they are going to another Gym this year?”

“Hmmm, I’d usually be bothered if they did, but I’m honestly busy enough to not notice if that was the case,” I said with a grimace. “Terrible attitude to have though,” I said rubbing my chin. “I might send them a message to check in.”

Lorelei straightened up only to pause and look me over. “Have you ever considered lecturing?”

“Me? Yeah, I do it sometimes, but only at Pokemon Tech.”

Lorelei tapped her lips thoughtfully. “Would you be open to talking at other schools?”

I shrugged. “Depends how busy I am.”

Lorelei bobbed her head up and down once more. “I will make some inquiries at my alma mater, Glacier College, in Mahogany. With your rare pokemon you would be a welcome addition to their list of speakers. Also, as a predominantly ice trainer facility, I imagine having a Rock specialist come and speak would be something novel for them and offer valuable insight.”

I chuckled but agreed with her. A buzzer went off on my wrist and I clicked my tongue. “I need to see to some tasks before the next match, but here’s a guest pass.” I said, handing her a lanyard with a guest pass attached to it. “I’ll have Alexa lead you to where Bianca is. Also, watch out for Don, my Aerodactyl. He’s the most likely to take a swipe at you.”

“Noted,” said Lorelei as she strode up to Alexa. Interestingly, Lorelei’s icy aura had vanished. I frowned. Had it been there when Cindy ran into the room? Interesting.

Lorelei gave me a smile. “My thanks for meeting with me so quickly Brock.” She then departed with Alexa, leaving me to a speedy lunch.

I mulled over what had been said. That had been perhaps one of the easiest interactions I’d had with a League representative in a good long while.

The initial reception had been, heh, frosty, but she’d relaxed when Cindy came into the room. Hmmm. I made a note to myself for later. For the time being, I had a first badge challenge, two gauntlets, and another first badge challenge.

I’d have this dealt with in no time.

[/hr]

“Go Oddish!” shouted the gleeful lad as he hurled out his pokemon against my Onix. I held in a smile at his correct choice in pokemon only to falter with the next words he spoke. “Use Tackle!”

“Bide,” I said to my pokemon, more than happy to let it build up power and give the kid another chance.

His pokemon smashed into mine and then bounced off only for the lad to punch forward. “I believe in you Oddish! Keep up the attack, and we’ll break his pokemon down to size!”

I glanced up at my pokemon and made a mental comparision of just how many times bigger my Onix was to his Oddish. By committing to Bide I now had to watch as the kid gave his pokemon head trauma. Onix glanced back at me slowly due to the effects of the Bide, but even she seemed to be less than impressed with this showing.

I made a mental note to set this Onix aside. She was showing a lot more restraint and intelligence. Hopefully, she could become like Izumi and be a strong fighter that I could use at all levels.

“Onix, do it,” I said after seeing that the kid wasn’t going to make the smart choice. His pokemon was promptly swatted across the arena where it slammed into the podium he stood on.

It slid to the ground with a sad little “Oddd!” before it slumped to the side.

The lad gaped at me. “My pokemon?”

I pointedly looked down and he leaned over the podium before returning his pokemon. “Hahaha! Very well! I have a new plan! Go Pidgey!”

I stared at the tiny bird and it gazed up at the giant rock snake it was facing. It fluffed itself up and cried out cutely. Well, his pokemon certainly believed in him? Or had he had them slamming into things so often that they all had some form of brain injury?

I waited for the flags to drop before pointing right at the Pidgey. “Rock Throw,” I said flatly.

Onix unleashed a barrage, and Pidgey flew up into the air only to get tagged by a few and be sent crumpling to the ground. I turned my attention to the kid only for him to smirk.

“Pidgey! Use Sand Attack!” he said loudly.

From the dust his pokemon shot out and blasted a spray of sand into my pokemon’s eyes. Onix reared back in shock. “Huh? You trained it to overcome Rock attacks?” I said with surprise. That would have taken some serious effort.

The lad grinned wider. “I won’t tell you my secret!” he said in the tone of one that was dying to tell another person. I decided not to pry and instead shrugged.

“Alright, suit yourself. Rock Throw again Onix,” I said, interested if I could work out what had happened. Perhaps a Steel Wing at the last minute?

A rock slammed into the flying Pidgey, the other rocks in the barrage missing easily. With one rock hitting though, the Pidgey was flattened. I tilted my head. “Where was its trick?” I turned to the lad, who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

“Ahahaha!” said the kid while rubbing at the back of his head. “Turns out it could only take the one hit?”

I tilted my head. “Huh?”

What item did that? Was it a talisman or a type of rock? I felt a twitch in my forehead. Flint better not be hanging about selling rocks that negate super-effective rock-type attacks. I vowed to send out Janine to do a search of the area when I was done with this—

“I don’t have any more pokemon. I forfeit!” said the lad.

I blinked and shared a surprised look with Onix. “Oh, well alright then.” I hopped over the edge of the podium as the match was called. I checked over Onix before turning my attention to the kid. “So, can you tell me what you think you did wrong?” I said to start things off.

By the time I was done with the kid I had a serious desire to talk with whichever teacher was letting some of these kids pass. How had they not learnt the typing charts and the basic moves of pokemon that they caught. You could have them checked at the pokemon centre if you didn’t have a pokedex!

Thankfully, the kid had actually been receptive to my information. When I asked him about the item he used he got evasive though. I decided to drop it for now. Hopefully it was just a one-off item that wouldn’t be an issue. I’d need to read through my notes and find out if I had ever written down an item that might cause such an effect.

Nothing was springing to mind though. I shrugged and returned Onix but made sure to put a marker on her pokeball. This girl had potential that I’d be looking into for the future. Then I waved to the crowd and thanked those that had stuck around before I walked away. With the trainers seen to for the day, I had some quick paperwork to check over, sign off on, and then I was out into the reserve only to find that Lorelei wasn’t out there any more.

Bianca swirled something white in a beaker— I hoped that was a soil sample— and shook her head. “No, we finished up a while ago. She ended up talking with Salvadore and Yolanda while they were feeding your pokemon. They went to your house to talk a bit more and wait for you.”

“Huh, cool,” I said, pleased that they’d taken the initiative like that. Before I went home I ducked into the caverns to check Bertha’s cave. The cave itself was clean. Bertha, lounging in the middle with her food, was a muddy bog monster.

“You look like a brown Muk,” I said from the entrance of her cavern. She lolled her head around and I got the impression she was being deliberately indolent. “You know if they haven’t found a mud pig pokemon yet I will have to submit you as one right?”

She put a hand over her forehead and swooned. “Urgh, Sanchez is a bad influence on you.” she flicked a finger and sent some mud my way which I dodged away from. “Fine! Fine, enjoy your filth, but remember to shake it off before you hang out with Titan. You know he hates it when you're filthy.”

She rumbled at that and returned to lounging and eating her meal.

I huffed and headed for home. Well, I could confirm that Forrest had done as asked and that it had probably lasted all of a day before Bertha got to it.

When I entered the kitchen I found Lorelei surrounded by my family. Sitting opposite to her was Tommy and Cindy who were teamed up against her with what looked like a card game.

“I use Rock attack! It’s super effective against Ice, Fire, Flying and Bug! Can you match it?!” said Cindy causing everyone to nod along before watching for Lorelei’s response.

“Well in that case I use Water. Which is super effective against you. And that should win me the game,” said Lorelei cooly.

Cindy and Tommy squawked and counted out the damage tokens only to slump when they worked out she was right. The other kids gasped. “She’s strong!” some of them whispered. I chuckled at their antics and the kids all turned to me.

“Brock! Brock! We’ve been playing with Lorelei! She’s really good at the trading card game!” Tommy said at a dull roar.

“Inside voice pal, and I can see that.” I paused when I noticed Lorelei was frowning.

I considered what I’d done and coughed. “Sorry for laughing,” I said to Lorelei. “It’s just funny to hear them calling you strong considering, well” I tilted my head and gestured at her. That got her to relax.

“Ah I see,” she said.

The younger kids all had confused expressions. “What’s that supposed to mean?” said Suzie.

I glanced at Salvadore only for Yolanda to beat him to the punch. “I told you before! She’s part of the Elite Four! She’s one of the strongest trainers around!”

The kids gasped, and then Billy and Tilly copied them. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing at their antics. They still looked confused but Billy decided he should congratulate Lorelei. “Good for you!” he said with a pat to her thigh.

She chuckled. “Ah, children. I certainly miss this from my teaching days,” she said whimsically.

“How’d that work? You being a teacher that is?”

“Well, Mahogany Town, due to its location, sees the least amount of trainers of any Gym in Indigo. This allows for me to have a lot more time to myself. I had a system where I would teach classes in the morning and any Gym Challenges could be run in the afternoon.” she looked out the window with a fond expression.

“I had three classes each year, two of children and one of teenagers. It could get rather chaotic though,” She said, her tone laced with nostalgia.

Yolanda grinned. “You sound like you loved it!”

Cindy nodded, “She was really nice to me today.” This drew her sibling’s attention and she recited her accident and how she’d run all the way home to get it fixed. Unsurprisingly, Lorelei’s role in her version of the story was greatly expanded. Apparently, she’d been riding a Lapras while I’d been riding Onix in preparation for battle before we’d dropped what we were doing to help her.

“You were about to fight each other?!” said Billy, sounding hopeful.

“We were not about to fight each other,” I said before pausing and looking straight at Lorelei. “Were we?”

She shook her head, and the kids groaned. “Awwwwww, why not!” I felt a flicker of disappointment. Fighting an elite Four member would be fun. I laughed it off though and pushed the feeling to the side.

I was about to apologise to Lorelei for my siblings, only to find her laughing into her hand.

Then Yolanda perked up and shot me a sly look that I knew spelt trouble. “Hey Brock, remember how it was my turn to clean up around the house?”

Alarm bells were ringing in my head at her innocent tone. I knew something was up. Like a soldier stepping onto a field with possible planted Electrodes throughout, I advanced warily. “Yeeeeeees?” I said.

Yolanda rocked back and forth on her heels. “Weeeell Nanny Grav and I,” At Lorelei’s confused look she elaborated. “That’s the name we call Graveler.” She pointed to the Graveler who hung around the house and… acted like a Nanny.

“Ah, Nanny Grav, I understand.” She eyed the apron-wearing Graveler before shaking her head and dismissing it.

Yolanda nodded and continued. “Well, me and her were cleaning the hall and me, being such a good little sister, decided to clean your room for you!”

I narrowed my eyes at her. The true translation of what she’d said read as ‘I felt like snooping and needed a reason that you can’t fault me for.’ “How nice of you, I might return the favour.”

She grinned widely. “I know, that’d be nice! But I had a problem see… I wasn’t sure how to do your laundry.” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “For a silk pillow case!”

I smiled back. Damn, she’d noticed Sabrina’s pillowcase on my bed! “That’s just a delicate spin cycle. Thanks though. If you had wrecked it I wouldn’t have such silky smooth hair,” I said, lying like only an older brother can.

She stared long and hard at me before clicking her tongue. Then she played her next card. “Why do you have two brushes in your bathroom?”

“I use one toothbrush for my top teeth and the other for my bottom teeth,” I said, doubling down.

“Tch!” she said, this time clicking her teeth audibly. I turned and coughed into my fist. It seemed like a good time to tactically relocate before she found anything else.

“Lorelei, we should probably be going if we want to review the resurrection machine?”

Lorelei accepted this with a highly amused expression, and we left despite my sibling’s protests. When I released Selene and she released a Jynx we teleported away. When we arrived she spoke up. “She’s not going to be fooled for long~,” she said.

“Urgh, she doesn’t need to involve herself. It’s already complicated enough!”

Lorelei rolled her eyes and walked into the museum. “It sounds like you’re the one making it complicated. It seems cut and dry from what I’ve heard, and that’s only knowing you keep a pillow and toiletries in your house for her.”

I huffed. “Let’s just, review the machine!” I said. Damn it, why was it that people picking fights were easier to deal with than actual nice people?

[/hr]

Crowley slammed down his hand into the byzantine calculations that he’d been drawing out for us with his ‘brief’ explanation.”— and that is why there will need to be at least ten thousand sample cases before I consider this machine fully operational!” said Crowley.

I was startled awake and wiped some drool from my chin as I nodded. Nailed it.

Next to me, Lorelei bobbed her head and made a mark on her page. “Hmmmm.” I glanced at her, impressed that she’d been able to take in that… I glanced at my watch. Huh, thirty-minute lecture. Then I noticed her vacant eyes. I coughed and the focus returned to her eyes, it was like watching a computer screen turn on as she awoke. “Thank you for that explanation. I will take that into consideration.” she collected her papers. Then she patted the assistant on the head, nodded to the Lileep amicably, and walked out the door.

I followed her out and found her looking back with a confused expression. “I think I pat the wrong thing back there, I was in such a hurry to leave.”

I tried to remember what she’d done before barking out a laugh. “Yeah, I don’t think they’ll mind though.” I rolled my shoulders. “I should have warned you not to ask too many questions. Crowley is pretty good as long as you keep the questions low. If you start showing lots of interest he will explain everything and then some.”

“Noted,” she said as she looked at her notes. “There was a lot he said there, but it seems to be close to getting to an alpha testing stage soon which will be enough for a lot of interested parties.” She adjusted her glasses and then turned to face me properly.

“Brock, would you be interested in further licensing rights for the use of the machine?”

“I would tentatively, yes.” I then rolled my hand about. “It would depend on the details but I think that’s something I can push onto my accountant and Lawyer. What would the League be interested in?”

Lorelei bit her lip. “For this I’m not acting in my role as a League representative but rather a representative for my grandfather Pryce.”

I blinked. “Oh, right. He has an interest in ancient pokemon?” I said, my mind flitting to Amaura or Aurorus.

“Indeed,” Lorelei said before glancing about. She nodded to herself before tossing out two pokemon, one was her Jynx and the other her Glaceon. She waved her hand in a circle. “Perimeter, me and him only,” she said to them. Both pokemon bobbed their heads. Jynx stayed close to us with her eyes glowing while Glaceon darted away and started circling in a patrol pattern, its eyes scanning around. I almost opened my mouth to ask why she didn’t use a Frosslass before what I was about to say caught up with me and I shut my mouth.

Lorelei coughed into her fist. “It’s not a huge secret, but it’s also not one that we give out very often. Mahogany Town is known for its icy caverns and crystals. What it isn’t as well thought of is that the ice can preserve as well as any fossil can. At Mahogany gym we have a sizeable store of pokemon that we’ve dated to ancient times. We’d be interested in collaborating with you on this. You could then claim the pokemon for your breeding facility.”

“After paying you for the genetic samples,” I said, pointing out what she hadn’t said.

“Of course. If, however, my grandfather’s hopes are proven true and due to the difference in preservation method the resulting pokemon share an ice typing, we would like your support in establishing our own breeding license.” She watched me carefully. “A new line of pokemon would be a large draw for the Mahogany Gym.”

I nodded. “Yeah, it would be, and I think I agree there’s a lot of potential for an ice-typed ancient pokemon.” I tilted my head. “What if they’re rock-ice typed?”

“We will have to set up terms for that,” she said. I nodded my head and hummed. “I see no issues. There might be difficulties with going from fossils to frozen samples but I’m not willing to ask Crowley that right now. I’ll inform my team, and we’ll make this work, I think.”

Lorelei beamed at me, “Excellent, grandfather will be pleased with your willingness to help even if we don’t end up getting a new pokemon for our Gym.”

“Ever do any mining up in Mahogany?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“No, the environment makes it tough to do so and the caves we have are mostly heritage listed for their cultural significance to our Town. why?”

“No reason,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I just thought you might have some rare rocks, what with you being so high up. Ice rocks and things that come from getting as much sun as they would.”

Lorelei watched me. “I will have to make some inquiries, perhaps there has been something found that I am unaware of.”

I shrugged. “It never hurts to keep an eye out. You might have treasure sitting under your nose,” I said while looking up at Mt Moon.

“Hmmm, quite, well thank you for working with me and tell the children I said good night to them. It was… it was nice meeting you Brock,” she said, offering me a handshake that I gripped and shook once.

“It was nice meeting you properly as well Lorelei,” I said. I chewed my lip before smiling in as charming a manner as I could, “Sure I couldn’t interest you in a casual one-on-one?” I offered, feeling my pulse race at the prospect at fighting an Elite Four member.

She shot me a cool look. “Another time perhaps,” she clicked her fingers to call her pokemon back before she teleported away with her Jynx.

I returned home to find the kids eating with Janine sitting at the table. When I entered, she offered me a bow. “Brock! I must apologise for I will not be able to complete my term as your apprentice! Father is in dire need of me at the Gym!”

“No need to be like that,” I said with a wave before sighing.” I can’t say I wasn’t expecting this but… not for a bit longer.”

I pursed my lips and looked her over. She looked different in her more rocky colour gear than how she’d arrived. “I hope you got to learn a lot from how we run things here,” I said.

“You can’t leave!” shouted Cindy.

Salvadore nodded. “Yeah! You said you were going to teach me how to throw kunai!”

Janine went from casual to alert in a second. “I made no such deal!” she said quickly. Salvadore grinned at her and she avoided looking at me. Forrest chuckled. “Well, I got her to teach me to do a flip!”

“So cool!” said Billy as he looked up at his older brother.

I chuckled. “This, I think I’m going to have to see.”

Forrest paused at that. “Oh…”

I snorted at him and looked back to find Janine still being mobbed by my siblings. The kids all complained at her departure. Then they whined as one, in a move I knew they practised.

“I am unmoved by such acts!” she said firmly. I noted she wasn’t meeting any of the girls' eyes as they used their baby-doll eyes. I chuckled.

“Come on, gang, that’s not fair to Janine. Her father needs her back and that’s fine.” I grinned. “I believe you wanted to have a spar with me before you left though?”

Janine’s eyes widened and then she locked eyes with me. “Yes!!”

“Let’s take this outside then!”

My siblings cheered as I led everyone outside with a grin. I might have been rejected by Lorelei, but I still had a fight to look forward to tonight.