Hard Enough

Forrest stood between us. Behind him, on the stands, the rest of my family and any of the trainers that were in the Gym were seated. Rocko had made some silly-looking little flags with a drawing of Janine’s face and was using the flags to draw my siblings into cheering for Janine.

I shot him a flat, unimpressed look that was not very effective as he waved the silly-looking flag about.

“You know you want one too!” he said teasingly. I pointedly looked towards Sabrina, who I’d messaged. She had taken one look at Rocko’s flags and made some featuring me which she had Suzie hold in her lap and wave. Munchlax sat on one side, lured by some snacks Suzie had in her lap while on the other side, Yolanda smirked at me.

I huffed and turned my attention to Janine, who was blushing furiously. “Get rid of those things! They’re ridiculous!” she hissed like an offended Meowth.

Rocko tossed the flags aside, allowing Janine to relax, only for him to rip out some purple and yellow shirts, with the same badly drawn face on it and the words ‘poison for life!’ on them.

Janine gaped. “How long have you been preparing for this? No! Wait, how did you sneak this past me? My network should have informed me!”

I spotted Sabrina’s shoulders shaking in amusement. She seemed to approve of the comedy act that was playing out.

Rocko snorted, “If you mean the old grannies? Ha! Then that’s because I’ve known them longer! I know how to bribe them! They’ve all got these shirts as well!” he said leaning back like a terrible cartoon villain now revealing his masterful plot.

Sanchez, always one for a bit of drama, popped out of his ball and rolled up to Rocko. He examined the shirt before pointing to himself.

Janine glowered. “Do. Not. Give. Sanchez. That. Shirt!” she said through clenched teeth.

Rocko conceded with a nod. “Well, alright, but only because I don’t have a shirt in his size right now.” Sanchez slumped.

I chuckled at their antics, imagining Janine and Rocko fighting while he was wearing a shirt with her face on it, before coughing.

“Well, as amusing as this has been, I think we were gathered for something a bit more serious,” I said as I returned Sanchez to his pokeball.

Janine straightened up, and her face switched into a stoic mask. ”Indeed! I said I would face you before I left, and I shall!”

I inclined my head in response. “Alright, do you think you can mount a full six-on-six challenge or would you prefer a three-on-three with Ace rules?”

Janine thought that over for a moment before a look of distaste appeared. “The three on three. I have six pokemon on hand, but not all of them would give me a good showing compared to only using three of them.”

“Lot of them bug types or flying as well, yeah?” I said, mentioning the likely Golbat, Venomoth, or Ariados that she was known for in the games. Unless she’d evolved her Golbat and was feeling more confident with its speed, but I had answers for agile pokemon.

She nodded tightly. “I have other options, but yes. I believe I will be seeking to expand my pokemon roster when I have the chance.”

“Might be worth talking to Erika,” I said before nodding towards Forrest.

Forrest raised his arms. “This is a three-on-three pokemon battle, you may only withdraw and return your pokemon six times! Doing so to dodge an oncoming move is a violation and will be treated as withdrawing the pokemon for the duration of the match! Trainers, are you ready?”

We both nodded as pokeballs appeared in our hands. I narrowed my eyes and thought over what pokemon Janine likely had. With her potential pokemon roster limited, I had good odds of her sending out her Tentacruel.

“Go Bertha!” I said, deciding to switch things up by sending out my Rhyperior.

“Go Venomoth!” shouted Janine. Her pokemon took wing, and I blinked in surprise.

“You’re really going to try it?” I said.

Janine nodded her head. “Venomoth is my pokemon! I believe in him despite his disadvantage against rock pokemon!”

“Ven!” chanted the pokemon.

Bertha shook her head and rumbled while grinning at the much smaller bug pokemon.

“Well alright then,” I said. I glanced at my family that were cheering for both of us. I hoped she knew what she was doing.

Forrest dropped his hands and we both called out our orders.

“Bertha, Rock Throw!”

“Quiver Dance! Dodge those rocks Venomoth!” shouted Janine as her pokemon buzzed on the spot. When the rocks shot forth it had to duck and weave in tightly controlled shifts. It looked like she’d trained her pokemon to dodge by the narrowest of margins. I nodded impressed.

“Bertha, we're going to build up your power!” I said deliberately.

Bertha adopted a locked-in pose and Janine hissed in surprise.

“Venomoth, use Stun Spore! Stop her!” she said, guessing that I had Bertha building up for a K.O move that she was famous for.

Venomoth shot forwards with green spores trailing behind him. I grinned. “Ice Beam,” I said.

Janine gasped as Bertha revealed she hadn’t locked herself into a Bide combination move and had instead been carefully watching and judging Venomoth’s speed.

The Ice Beam was blasted out and Venomoth ducked to the side only for the attack to just clip it. It didn’t crash, but had to back off quickly. I eyed the field and hummed. There were still some spores that could harm any of my pokemon if they took to the field. It wasn’t a true field effect but it was best to clear them away. It would also be good to deny Janine.

“Surf!” I said, sweeping my arm wide. Bertha stepped back and adopted a balanced pose. Water was drawn to build up a surging wave that Bertha rode to the top.

Janine hadn’t been idle during this and had her pokemon build up another quiver dance to make her pokemon an outright speedster.

“Get behind it and use Confusion on the wave!” said Janine.

Venomoth practically buzzed behind my pokemon and I hummed as the wave collapsed.

“Fall backwards and use Icebeam on the wave, build it up some,” I said. Bertha obeyed, more than happy to roll backwards and fire an Ice Beam into the wave as it buckled only to solidify and form a partially collapsed ice wall. I nodded. I could use that.

Bertha hit the ground and caused a quake from her impact. She snorted as she stood up fully. I glanced at the Venomoth and made a call. “Return Bertha.” I then plucked out another pokeball quickly. “Let’s go Don!” I said, eager to let him out.

Don appeared with a screech and instantly locked eyes with Venomoth, the pokemon buzzed away only for Don to sweep after the Venomoth. It had to use the ice walls and stay in tight to avoid his snapping jaws but it was clear that he wouldn’t be denied.

“Use Stun Spore!” shouted Janine.

“Back off and use Steel Wing on the ice!” I said, not willing to chase after it into a trap.

Venomoth had to buzz out of the way, and then when he tried to soar above Don it didn’t work out. “Ice Fang,” I said as Don finally got a hold of Venomoth, who cried out as Don shook it like a toy.

Janine clenched her teeth. “Giga Drain!” she ordered. Her near-down and out pokemon fired off a weak grass attack. I grunted before shrugging my shoulders. “Ice Fang again,” I said unmindful of the grass move. If it had been another of my team I’d have been worried, but Don’s Flying-Rock typing made it easier to shrug off Grass-type moves. If I’d gone with Shin this might have been a very different exchange.

“Sludge Bomb!” ordered Janine, her Venomth fighting through the pain to give another move despite being tossed around in Don’s grip. Purple sludge oozed out of Don’s mouth but that only made him madder as he bit down harder.

“Tch!” Janine said as she raised her pokeball and returned her Venomoth, conceding that she didn’t have a way out of that situation.

“Don’s not the type to give up what he catches,” I said. “It might work on another pokemon but yeah, I’ve seen him clutch onto rancid food before just as a point of pride.”

I glanced at the purple ooze in his mouth. I needed to get rid of that so it didn’t poison him properly. Because it was in his mouth, there was a good chance it was already in his gut and possibly circulating.

“Go Tentacruel!” she said, tossing out a blue and black jellyfish like pokemon.

“Cruel! Tenta!” cried the pokemon.

“Use Scald!” barked Janine.

“Don dive behind the ice wall!” I said, making Don get behind cover. “Good! Now Dance!” I said. Don glowed with golden flames from within and then he shuddered.

“Toxic Spikes!” said Janine.

I grimaced. I’d been right, he was poisoned. I had a limited window of time now. I reached for another pokeball before shaking my head. No, he could take the damage for now.

“Dance again!” I said.

“Toxic spikes!” said Janine again, layering the field and her chances obviously for my next pokemon.

Don snarled and did as commanded, drawing on more draconic energy to empower himself. When he was done I swept my hand up. “Go! Get low and use Stone Edge!” Don hurtled down to the ground before banking hard to swing around fast.

“Scald!” said Janine as my pokemon charged straight ahead. I grinned as the Stone Edge rock that he’d picked up shot forth and intercepted the watery bullets. Then Don was slamming into the Tentacruel at speed.

“Iron Wing,” I said just to make sure it hit as hard as possible. It wouldn’t be very effective but I was counting on inertia a lot here to boost the impact. Tentcruel was hurled back but not put down.

“Scald again!”

I punched forward, done with this Tentacruel and not willing to make Don endure more. I was taking this win. “Hyper Beam!” I said.

Janine flinched as Don built up a ball of energy and fired before she could give a reply. Tentacruel was hurled away and then went still in the furrow of earth Don’s attack had caused.

I nodded as Don shrieked out a victory cry. Janine returned her pokemon with a grimace. She assessed Don for a long moment before nodding to herself. “Go Weezing,” she said, announcing her final pokemon.

I nodded and simply raised a pokeball to return Don. He protested, but I ignored him. Janine faltered as I selected another pokeball and tossed it out.

“Come out Knight,” I said, revealing my Aggron. He landed with a heavy impact the Toxic spikes that Janine had set up triggered and shot straight into him, only to ping off his steely body. Knight roared in challenge, probably feeling pretty hot after ignoring the attack completely.

Janine clicked her tongue. “And now you reveal your best pokemon against me!” she said.

I shrugged. “I wasn’t going to treat you with kiddy gloves. I always had him on the cards for if I fought a poison-type specialist. With your Tentacruel gone and your Venomoth having taken up the other slot, you don’t have another option.”

Janine's face switched between a grimace and a smile before shook her head. “I will not yield! As a Defender of Fuchsia I won’t sully myself or my pokemon! Weezing, use Toxic on the ground in front of you!”

I frowned, what was she planning? “Knight, close in with Iron Tail! Let’s end this!” Knight roared once and charged forwards as Weezing shot a line of noxious liquid in front of itself.

With how the gunk made the air shimmer I knew straight away what Janine’s plan was. “Drop into Dig!” I said, countermanding my earlier order.

Knight lurched forward like he had tripped, only to vanish into the ground. Janine clicked her tongue. “Use Will-O-Wisp!” In front of Weezing a blue flame appeared and shot into the ground causing a spark in the Toxic and igniting it but also shooting down into the ground. I heard Knight groan in pain before shooting up at where Weezing had been.

Weezing instead shifted to above the roaring flames and used its gaseous body to float higher than normal. I blinked in surprise. “Huh, I didn’t know Weezing could do that,” I said.

Knight glowered up at the Weezing as it leered down at him in turn. “Knight, Stone Edge!”

“Flamethrower!” said Janine. Both attacks slammed home into the other pokemon but Knight shrugged his off easier. Then he fired off another powerful burst of rocky bullets and Weezing went down.

Knight shuddered as the burn hurt him, so I withdrew him instead of keeping him out.

Forrest coughed and raised a hand in my direction. “Weezing is unable to battle, therefore Brock is the winner!”

The crowd of my siblings and the Gym trainers all cheered.

Stephen and Bianca must have wandered out at some point as they politely joined in with the applause. I grinned and marched over to Janine and offered her a handshake. “Good match; I learned some things,” I said.

Janine nodded despondently. “I thought I would acquit myself better.”

“Did you think you would win?” I said.

“No,” she said.

“Well, there’s one problem. You need to believe that a win is possible. Then find a way to make that belief reality,” I said.

Janine tilted her head and repeated what I’d said quietly to herself. “I need to believe the win is possible and find a way…”

She offered a bow. “My thanks Brock. I have learned much under your tutelage.”

Sabrina and my siblings approached, and surprisingly, Sabrina spoke up first. “For what it’s worth, you did fight well.” She gave Janine a small nod. “If you would be interested, I would… enjoy sparring against you.”

Janine gaped in shock and made to bow in thanks only for Sabrina to grimace. “After you train up your Venomoth’s psychic abilities some more. That Confusion… it needs work.”

Janine’s face flattened like a snorlax had just rolled over it before she sighed and glowered at Sabrina. “Thank you, Gym Leader Sabrina,” she said tersely.

Suzie, ever the Sabrina loyalist, nodded. “Sabrina’s nice!” she said. Then she turned to Janine. “That was a good fight! Better luck next time!”

I smiled as the rest of my family congratulated Janine. Yolanda pointedly thanked Janine for giving her some pointers on how to train Zubat which earned a surprised hum of pleasure from me. Forrest thanked her for showing him how to do a backflip which he then tried to demonstrate only to have the ground slip as he kicked off.

I reached out to grab him, only for Sabrina to beat me to it and hold him in midair with her telekinesis.

Janine coughed. “I remember teaching you to practise on good ground or mats as well!” she said primly. Forrest coughed sheepishly, and I patted him on the shoulder.

“It looked kind of cool, maybe you can show me how to do it?” I offered, which made him straighten up. Sabrina shot me a look and I shook my head slightly. She knew I knew how to do it but it wasn’t something I had ever done in front of my family. It’d give Forrest some good feelings.

Janine received some more praise from the Gym trainers and when Daniel offered a hesitant goodbye to his ‘neighbour’ she offered back a polite bow. “Thank you for having me, and I hope your child grows up well!”

Daniel gave her a smile and relaxed before stepping back so Rocko could step forward. He did so with a hug. Janine glared at the shirt he was wearing.

“I have also learned much from you. By appearances, I did not expect much from you, Rocko. You appeared lazy, unmotivated, and uncouth.”

She slumped. “But you are in fact hard-working when you need to be, wise, and very caring. Thank you for your teachings.” She said with a bow.

Rocko straightened up, taking off the shirt so only a plain white shirt was underneath. He sighed, rolled his eyes, and bowed formally much to Janine’s shock. He grinned at her. “I know it’s important to you, little kunoichi, but learn to live a little.”

He winked. “Or a lot, up to you! I’m bringing my little bro and sister around this circuit, don't doubt it!” he said with a grin.

Janine smiled at that before coughing and stepping back. “I will depart then.” She made a show of raising a pellet only to grin and blur suddenly away. The kids and others all gasped but Sabrina, Rocko, and I were all able to track her as she darted around to the back door of the Gym.

I leaned into Sabrina. “Think she forgot to pack before announcing she needed to leave?”

Sabrina nodded, and I chuckled before I noticed I had a bunch of mopey kids to deal with. Alright, I had an easy solution to that. “Who wants ice cream!?”

“Munchlax!” “Stephen!” shouted two poke— I paused and looked at the grinning research assistant. I chuckled and waved everyone towards the kitchen. “Alright, the more the merrier! Let’s go!”

Munchlax led the charge as I sedately followed.

I was sad to see Janine depart so quickly. I’d hoped to keep her around another few months, but with how things were, it made all too much sense. Using her as a lower badge-level challenge would work great to integrate her into running the Fuchsia Gym for Koga’s eventual promotion.

I had to wonder what would change from the lessons she’d learned while here. I eyed Yolanda and Forrest before humming happily. She hadn’t been the only one to learn a thing or two.

I rubbed my chin. I wonder if I could get any other future Gym Leaders to do a stint with us. There were quite a few in Kanto right now. Sabrina tapped me on the arm and I shook my head pushing the idle thought aside.

I could consider that later. First I had to feed Don some antidotes and everyone else some ice cream.

With all of my family, Sabrina, Stephen, and Rocko eating ice cream, we were fairly crowded in our arrangement. Not that it was a problem with most of the smaller kids claiming various laps as their seats. Forrest tilted his head after a little while.

“Why didn’t you throw out Knight straight away?” he asked.

“Cause I wanted to see what she had first off, I had a decent all-rounder that had a vague threat in Bertha, Don, Sanchez, or maybe even Shin. So, instead of hard committing and showing my hand with Knight, I went for a more vague but no less dangerous opening. Don was able to work out well against her team. Janine needed to be more dynamic with her team which can be tough as she’s currently Pidgey holed herself into only poison types which are good but there's a lot of ways to counter them.”

I waved a hand. “The ideal optimised choices for each of us would have been Tentacruel first to set up Toxic Spikes, and probably Knight but we were anticipating each other I suspect and so we didn’t do that.”

“Huh,” said Forrest with a thoughtful look.

“Hey Brock?” said Yolanda. “Didn’t her picking three on three play more into your favour?”

I waved my hand in a so-so gesture. “A lot of her pokemon are weak to mine with Ariados, Beedrill, Venomoth, and Golbat being some of her strongest pokemon. She needs to bolster her team up a lot with other options.”

“Such as?” asked Cindy.

Sabrina chose to weigh in there. “Venusaur, Vileplume, Victrebell, Gengar, Nidoqueen, and Nidoking.”

Forrest and Stephen whistled. Stephen wiped his mouth. “That’s a strong list of pokemon!”

I shrugged. “I imagine there will be other options available to her when we open up more regions,” I said, thinking of the Galarian forms of the slowpoke evolutions. Or of the Hisuan Sneasel.

Heck, she’d have a perfect option against me in the future with a Croagunk.

I then pretended to be interested in stealing Suzie’s bowl of ice cream. She gasped, and Sabrina telekinetically defended my little sister with a spoon. I let myself be fought off before grabbing up all the dirty bowls from the kids and adults.

Rocko stood with a stretch and waved good night. Stephen followed himself a moment later leaving me with a group of drowsy children. I checked the clock; today had sort of stretched on with all the people turning up.

“Right! Bedtime, I should think!” I said to the kids. They groaned as one, and I remained unmoved.

Then Tommy smiled. “Only if you tell us a story! A long one!”

“Oh?” I said, amused by this show of cunning.

He nodded quickly. “Yeah! Like, can you tell us the story of the hero! We learned about it in class today!”

“Doesn’t that mean you already heard it today?“ I pointed out reasonably.

Tommy’s face shifted before he grinned. “I forgot it!” I stared at his proud expression for a moment before sighing.

“Of course you did.” I rubbed my forehead. “I’m not super familiar with it, I will need to look it up.”

Sabrina, who’d been staring at Nanny Grav in her apron, spoke up. “I know it.”

I hummed and eyed my family. “Did you want to tell it to them?”

Sabrina turned her head and inspected the sea of suddenly interested faces. Their eyes pleaded with her and she remained stoic. Then their lips started to quiver. Sabrina remained unmoved. The girls put their hands together and begged “Pleeeeeeeasse Sabrina!?”

Sabrina glanced at me and I realised now was the time to teach Sabrina how to get the most out of bargaining with kids. I made a show of brushing my teeth and plucking at my shirt.

“You need to brush your teeth and change,” Sabrina said. “Then I might—”

My family burst into action, running for the bathroom or their rooms in a well-choreographed division of resources. The eldest helped change clothes while the middle children brushed their teeth. Then they rushed to their rooms to get changed as others traded places.

I made up some tea to enjoy as bangs and stomps rattled through the house. Sabrina listened with a tilted head. “Are they always like this?”

I shrugged. “They know how to deal like a bicycle salesman.”

“Ah,” Sabrina said. She collected her own tea and we relocated to the lounge room. A minute later the kids swept in like a tidal wave. I made a show of walking around and inspecting their teeth and their pyjamas.

I sniffed haughtily and nodded. “It’ll do, I suppose,” I said.

Sabrina smiled and floated to the front of the room. Around the room blocks and toys floated after her. She quickly assembled a series of buildings while toys were placed in various junctions.

It took a moment for me to realise she’d assembled a barebones map of Kanto with the major sites of the gyms before us.

Sabrina coughed. “Alright, listen well for I shall now tell you the story of the Hero,” she said with the air of one reciting something from memory.

On the map one of the toys started to dance about, drawing everyone in.

“Long ago, there was much suffering in the land, for the people were divided. They were many, and all had hopes and dreams and loves and fears. But they did not recognise that in each other. Rather, the different people stole and fought each other.”

Two dolls from different ‘cities’ rose up and started smacking each other around. The kids giggled and I smiled. They stopped laughing when one toy tore at the seams and fell to the ground.

“There was much pain across the land,” Sabrina said simply as other dolls rose from the cities and attacked each other.

“Then, a child from the forest emerged one day and saw all the suffering in the world. All the pain, and realised that the land would not heal as it was. So he set out to change that. To do so he sought to change the hearts and minds of people.”

A brave toy stepped forward on wobbly legs and moved south to what would be Viridian.

“He approached the leader of the people south of his village first and asked that they stop fighting. He was dismissed and laughed at. When he challenged the Leader the man laughed as he did not have any companions of his own. The boy stormed out, ashamed, and found a Bulbasaur that he captured and made fight for him. The Leader was challenged again, but the man was mighty. He beat the boy and his Bulbasaur.”

The toys fought and the smaller toys were cast down.

“The boy returned to the forest where he was found and tended to by a Beedrill of all pokemon. The pokemon nurtured him and Bulbasaur and fed him honey from their hives. The boy was greatly depressed as he had thought he would win and he wasn’t sure what he had done wrong. At first, he blamed his Bulbasaur. But being a kind boy he could not fault the pokemon. He vowed instead to make it strong!” The little toy curled an arm and leaned back as though making a vow.

“And so, he trained, and trained, and trained his Bulbasaur to become strong!”

“However, things did not go well for the boy as their training eventually caught the attention of a mighty Pidgeot! The bird attacked them and the boy was terrified as he knew his pokemon was weak. He tried to flee but the Pidgeot was too fast! It cornered him, and his pokemon. His Bulbasuar stood strong only to once more be beaten horribly.”

“Then, just as the boy feared his pokemon would be eaten, the Beedrill appeared and attacked the Pidgeot! They fought in teams and never did one pokemon go in at once, and despite their disadvantage in power and type, they drove the Pidgeot away.”

The kids cheered at this and I chuckled.

“The boy was ashamed that he had once more been beaten but he was also inspired by the Beedrill. They had been weaker than the Pidgeot by themselves only to overcome the greater foe by working together. He asked the Beedril to come with him but only one of their kind listened and joined him, along with a Butterfree that happened to pass by and hear his desire to stop the fighting. And so, the boy now had a Bulbasaur, a Beedrill, and a Butterfree.”

The boy’s doll looked around for a bit before pointing north. “The boy decided not to go back to the first tribe until he was stronger. It was obvious they only valued strength, and that wasn’t what he now valued. Instead, he marched north to the Rock tribe!”

“Oh! That’s us!” Tilly whispered.

“Indeed,” said Sabrina. “When the boy reached the Rock tribe, he was met with suspicion and fear. The Leader came out to the boy, and demanded to know what he wanted. The boy spoke of healing the land and working together now, no longer would he seek to dominate and control.”

The Leader was sceptical and asked the boy what dream he thought he was living in. To which the boy replied, this dream called life. Should it not be my and every being's desire to make it better?

“The leader then asked how many others agreed with the boy. The boy smiled and held out his hand to the Leader. He said, if you agree, you will be the first.

“This caused the Leader of the Rock tribe to laugh and dismiss the boy. The boy asked again and said that surely he could see that there was potential there. The Leader said he could not chase a dream.

“The boy said, then make it real.

“The Leader snorted and said, prove yourself.

“This time when the boy fought, he did so by working with the pokemon that accompanied him. When the Leader of Rock sought to smash and crush, the boy evaded and teamed up with his pokemon until finally, the Leader’s pokemon were laid low. The Leader was in shock, he had never seen this before. What a marvellous way to fight, said the man.

“No, it is a marvellous way to live, replied the boy. And so the boy earnt the respect of the Leader. It is said that he also was gifted a symbol of their support in the form of a jewel from their home. The boy took this and stayed with the rock tribe for a while to learn more about them, and in turn teach them how he lived with pokemon, instead of fought with them.

“The people took to the teachings well, and soon their land thrived. The boy, emboldened by this, considered turning back south only for his Bulbasaur to grow sick. The Leader of Rock informed him that the only medicine in the land was thought to be controlled by the people of water to the east. And so the boy departed. But as with the forest, he did not depart alone. This time a boy from the Rock tribe came with him.

“When he reached the people of the water he was once more met with suspicion especially because of the Rock tribe boy. The boy made his plea once more, and this time the people paused to listen, as he had another tribe’s symbol. They wondered if this was not a trick, and so they denied him. The boy asked for medicine, and they apologised because they themselves did not have the herb to make it. They could see the boy cared greatly for his Bulbasaur.

“The boy was directed by a girl to the north along the cape where the herb was found. There they ran into a great number of grass-type pokemon that the water tribe could not overcome or calm. The boy could though. Once he had beaten the pokemon he asked that they live with the people and the pokemon listened. When the boy returned with the herb, the girl that had gone with him told of what had happened. The next day the boy’s pokemon was healed and the tribe was willing to listen as the grass pokemon were calm and let them pass through now.

“They demanded that the boy fight their leader and prove himself, which he did, earning his second symbol and tribe’s support. Once more the boy stayed with the tribe and showed them the way to live with pokemon. But he also showed them how to live with the Rock tribe. Soon, the two people were moving back and forth and becoming friends.

“The boy was greatly gladdened by this and decided to continue meeting with the tribes. Having already come so far to the east he decided to head south to where a great many tribes. There he was met each time with suspicion, and fear, only to emerge after showing them how his way was better. By the time he had four tribes working together, he had caught the attention of another tribe that approached and challenged him.

“This tribe was strong. Strength was all that mattered to them. They had many powerful pokemon and had raided other tribes often for the best resources and pokemon. The boy fought, he fought long and hard with his pokemon and he pushed back many of the tribe only to be greatly weakened. He was about to be hurt when his Butterfree threw itself in front of a blow meant for him. The butterfree fell and the boy was thrown into a river that sent him far to the east, leaving him without any of his friends, pokemon or people.”

“Nooooo!” wailed Tilly.

I glanced up to find a number of shocked faces at the news that the boy had lost once more and his pokemon had been killed. I grimaced. I’d forgotten most of the story but I knew it didn’t get any worse than this.

Sabrina continued her story, the small doll that represented the hero tumbling to the west only to stop with a slump. Then he crawled slightly. “When the boy staggered out of the river he found himself in another tribe’s lands but this time he had no support and a wound no bandage or potion could heal. He staggered into the tribe’s village saddened but instead of fearing or rejecting the boy as an outsider they saw his pain, and knew he was no threat to others.”

I cocked my head. That particular line had evaded my notice when I’d first heard the story but it stood out as very telling now.

“The boy cried for many days and when the Leader, a wise old man, approached him to talk of what had happened the boy spoke of his pokemon and the journey they had been on to unite the people and stop the pain. The boy called himself a fool and now he understood the pain that people went through. He understood the thoughts of fighting back and hurting others as he had been hurt and he was greatly saddened. The leader stayed silent for a long while before asking if that meant he had given up on his dream of healing the pain.

“The boy wasn’t sure what to think but he nodded and the leader smiled and gave him a jewel from his people. Tell my people your story, said the leader. And so the people sat and listened to the boy and were captivated by what he had done. When the boy’s story was done they all began to talk amongst themselves. It was then that they agreed, that they too would like to join the boy’s way of life. They said that they knew pain and were tired of greeting it as an old friend, having been beaten by the strong tribe many times.

“The boy was not sure what to think when they gave him their symbol without a fight but the Leader had laughed it off, saying that if they can only get support from fighting, then the way of healing would not work.”

The boy on the map straightened up once more and once more he turned back to the centre of the map. “The boy returned with the new tribe and found the strong tribe once more fighting with the united tribes. With the boy returned to them the united tribes gave a great cheer!”

On the floor, the dolls representing the united tribes all raised their arms while the strong tribe whirled about and leapt at the boy.

“The boy and the leader once more fought. This time the boy was more careful and controlled and this time it was the leader of the Strong tribe that was beaten. The Strong tribe demanded that the boy end him then and there only for the boy to put his hand on the other's head and tell him he forgave him as the man did not know any other way to be strong. The boy then offered the man a new way to be strong.”

“How? Said the strong leader.”

“Together, replied the boy.”

“And so the boy united all of the central plains. He swept around the coast and the tribes were fearful at first of the great united peoples shown before them but they were offered their place.

Some challenged the boy to show he was strong, some demanded he complete tasks for them thought impossible.

Some merely accepted him and the new way, curious at this new nation that was forming.

“The boy sailed with his pokemon around to the west where he fought an island people, joining them with his nation. And then, finally, he turned for home, and the last tribe, but also the first tribe that had rejected him. The Ground tribe.

“They had seen him coming long before he arrived and the leader was dismissive as he had been training his pokemon for a long time now knowing that the boy would come for him eventually. The boy asked if he would not see another path only to be rejected. The boy accepted this and said ‘such is your way now, but I hope to open your eyes’. The boy then sent out his pokemon, his first pokemon, now no longer a Bulbasaur but a Venusaur. The boy did not send out any other pokemon. Instead, he marched forward with only his Venusaur at his side.

“They fought as they lived, together, and in doing so brought all people together.

“When the Leader had fallen, he accepted the boy as the greater leader of all leaders, the champion of all peoples he was called. The boy reminded them that he had not done so alone and that they had in truth done it together. And so the nation of Kanto was formed, from the dreams of a young boy and made reality.”

For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Billy clapped. “Wow! That was great!”

“Best story ever!” said Timmy. The others joined in and thanked Sabrina.

Suzie though was pouting. “Why’d Butterfree have to die?”

Sabrina brushed her hair, “He didn’t have to but he did so because he loved the boy and believed in him.”

Suzie nodded glumly and I patted her on the back. “It’s something that takes a while to understand,” I said delicately.

“When I’m older?” she asked.

I shook my head. “No, you can think about it now, but it might take a while to work out how you feel about it and what it means. Or don’t. It can just be a story if you want it to be.”

Suzie slowly nodded at that, and I relaxed, glad that I hadn’t accidentally traumatised her by giving her a story that was too mature for her.

“Munchlax!” said Munchlax as he lifted up one of the toys and trotted them around only to pick up another. He shot Sabrina a huge grin.

I chuckled. “I think Munchlax liked the way you used the dolls.”

“I liked how the boy fought the Leader at the end!” said Timmy.

“I liked the way he beat the strong guy up!” said Tommy.

“I liked the different lessons it teaches!” said Salvadore.

“I liked that he cared, and that was what helped him win in the end,” said Yolanda while hugging her egg.

Forrest was frowning. “Is that story why we can give away badges to people that don’t beat us?”

I nodded. “It becomes a judgement call. If you’re working with your pokemon and demonstrating the skills needed, we can award them. Just as if you perform enough tasks, or one singular impressive task, you can earn the badge from an area if they think you deserve it.”

Yolanda eyed me. “Do you give out many of those?”

“Not really, no. There are lots of people that are more interested in earning them through fighting.” I rubbed Munchlax’s head as he came in for some cuddles. “Which, now that I think about it, is a shame.”

“Hmmmm,” said Yolanda as she rubbed her egg while looking at me.

I looked at Sabrina. “You ever give out a badge that way?” She shook her head.

Salvadore perked up. “Oh! The Strong tribe! They were the Fighting Type Gym nowadays weren’t they?!”

I hummed. “It seems that way, doesn't it? The story doesn’t really say. They might have been any sort of place or type of pokemon honestly. I don’t think the Gyms were really big concepts back then.”

Tilly kicked her legs as she accepted a hug from Munchlax. “I liked that story!”

When no one else spoke up I grinned. “I like how it got you all to go to bed.”

“Awwww Brock!” they all said to me while Sabrina giggled.