Chapter 23: Returning home

Chapter 23: Returning home

Brock! Brock! Brock! Big Bro! Brother!

One after another, the rest of the family piled in. Timmy, Billy, Tilly, Cindy, Yolanda! I replied in turn. My hands went up over my head so the egg that I was carrying didnt get crushed as small bodies impacted me. Like a Growlithe with a treat in sight, their heads tracked the object.

They gasped as one. IS THAT?!

Its a pokemon egg. I got it from a friend and was rather surprised, but they told me I could give it to one of my siblings.

They squealed in glee. What is it!? I grinned at them before looking around. I turned to Yolanda. Wheres Forrest?

Something flickered in her eyes for a second and I worried something had happened before she gave me a smile that didnt look right for some reason. Hes in the gym, Ill go grab him. She ran off quickly. Had I said something wrong?

Brock! What sort of pokemon egg is it? Salvadore asked. He approached with a notepad in hand, already busy sketching the pokemon egg onto paper.

I smiled and winked. Lets wait until everyones here first. I led them into the lounge room and claimed a spot in the middle, keeping the egg in my lap. My siblings crawled over the back of the cough and crowded in on me. Tilly reached out and I watched her carefully stroke the egg. Thats good. You have to be careful with it, Tilly. Eggs are delicate.

Her actions emboldened the rest of my siblings to reach out and touch it. Slowly, more and more of the family came in until finally Forrest was led in by Yolanda.

Hey big bro, congra He stopped when he saw the egg. Is that an egg?!

I snorted at the obvious answer. Instead of firing off something obnoxiously sarcastic I nodded. Yeah. I got this from Titans mother. This egg will be one of his siblings.

Oh wow, Forrest said quietly.

I nodded my head before raising it out to him. Forrest, I want to offer you the chance to have this pokemon. I watched him as he blinked and blanched. Do you not want it?

I dont! I mean I do but I He trailed off and sighed before shaking his head. I mean I want a pokemon as strong as Titan but an egg?

I frowned. I know itll take a long time to hatch. It doesnt yet have the minor tremors to indicate its out of the first stage, sure. And a pseudo legendary egg will take longer than pretty much any other pokemon to get up to their true potential peak, but the pay off with pokemon like Titan outweighs the wait a hundredfold. I offered him the egg. Trust me on this, I know.

Forrest took the egg awkwardly and shifted from foot to foot. ...Thanks Brock.

Yolanda shifted next to him before stepping closer. Forrest glanced to her, momentarily taking his attention off the egg. Right as he did this his grip shifted enough to have the egg wobble. I tensed and began to throw myself across the ground to catch it. Images of it shattering like a mere Doduo egg for breakfast filled my mind before horror even had a chance to set in.

Yolanda must have sensed the problem before I saw it as she whipped her hands out and snatched it from Forrest, leaving him gaping. He never had the option of even doing more than twitching wrong before Yolanda had it in her arms. I had already committed to the action though and had to bite back a curse as I landed on the floor belly first only to skid forward, knocking Forrest off his feet as I careened forward. Yolanda skipped backwards with the egg held firmly in hand.

Forrest lay on top of me groaning as I tried to work out what had just happened. I glanced at the floor spotting my own reflection on it. I replayed the moment in my mind and wondered how I had skidded so far before inspecting the glistening floor closer. Oh?! You guys mopped the floors without me reminding you! I grinned at them before looking at Yolanda who was now carefully holding the egg to her midsection. Good save Yolanda!

She gave me a tremulous smile as I rolled onto my feet and stood. Forrest thumped onto the ground and squawked before he scrambled up to his feet. I gave him a sheepish smile. Sorry about wiping you out like that. Leapt before I could stop myself, little bro, you scared me. You need to have a more careful grip and never let the chance of slipping them come up.

Yeah well, I had it. He coughed and thanked Yolanda as well. Then he held his hands out.

Yolanda eyed him dubiously. Brock was right. You were holding it wrong Here, hold it like this in the future. Yolanda, I noted, looked extremely conflicted as she handed over the egg to Forrest.

I felt my stomach twist as realisation set in. I hadnt had the chance to get anything else. The offer had been a surprise to me but now it created an issue in that Id accidentally snubbed everyone else by having a gift for only one of them ready upon my return home. I had already decided to do something for the family as a whole, but perhaps I should also consider giving something more personalised to Yolanda. She did a lot and deserved recognition.

I clapped my hands together to try and drag everyone out of a depressive funk, my younger siblings mimicked me before continuing to clap like Id started a game. I chuckled. Alright, maybe I was just projecting my mood.

Alright! Forrest getting this egg was a surprise even for me! That doesnt mean Im not going to do something for everyone else though! So lets find a way to celebrate by having some food and you can all start telling me your thoughts ''THE CAKE! gasped Suzie as her eyes widened. Then she snapped to look at me. She slapped her hands over her mouth as if thatd stop me from hearing what shed said.

Yeah! Cake! Tilly and Billy cheered ignorant that this was obviously supposed to be a secret. I bit my lips to hold in my laughter. Cindy sighed while Salvadore tilted his head in thought.

Salvadore tapped his lip with his pencil. Hey did anyone cover the cake before we all came into the lounge room?

I blinked at that before remembering that wed recently added a new pokemon to the family. It took the family a bit to register what he meant. Yolanda hadnt heard due to triple-checking that Forrest had a proper hold on the egg. I got it Yolanda! Leave me alone. he muttered at her; she ignored him.

Cindy and Tommy understood what Salvadore was talking about first. They turned together and sprinted towards the kitchen. Munchlax! No! This time I couldnt stop the snort of laughter that escaped my lips.

I laughed harder when a dramatic wail echoed from the kitchen followed by a content-sounding Munchlaaaaax!

I followed the others in and found the destroyed remains of a large cake on the island. In a corner, slumped against the cabinets, with frosting smeared over his lips, Munchlax lay. Tommy and Cindy stood over him berating him but he looked far too content to be bothered by their words. When Tommy raised a fist as if to strike at Munchlax I cleared my throat pointedly.

No hitting Tommy. Munchlax didnt understand that he couldnt have the cake now. You can tell him what he did was wrong but you cant do something wrong yourself. And why is that? I said with my best big brother voice.

Sincerely,

Mary-Sue Lonlon

I felt that same warm fuzzy feeling in my stomach. It had been a simple gesture, but it meant the world to someone and it seemed to have changed a lot for them. I glanced through the big sponsorships. For a moment I considered moving them to another folder that Id marked to be replied to. That folder held emails from people like the Mayor, the Chief of Police, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny and other acquaintances. I decided to hold off for now.

I would wait until I had a Media influencer? Is that what Sabrina had called it? That sounded wrong. I had a feeling I was associating it with an old-world memory but I couldnt recall what. I shrugged.

I think Id just hire someone on as a Public Relations Manager and call it done. Then Id have them to bounce ideas off. My criteria for hiring might make it tricky. They would need to be local and someone passionate maybe? I wasnt sure, but perhaps someone with Surges energy would be good? I hummed for a bit but then nodded. That felt good. Right in a way, I couldnt always coast along.

I sat that aside for now having outlined what I wanted. Id send it to the employment agency later. For now, I continued to work through the emails.

Spam, spam, sponsor deal to look over later, copy-paste reply for thank you to local businesses for knowing Id come through. Email from League to read later, another sponsorship deal, fan mail to be sent to folder for later response with signature and advice reminder... I quickly worked through the stack making headway while writing notes with my right. When that was done, I repeated the action, only this time on the pile of mail. I once more found some letters that were heartwarming to read over. I also read some letters that I could only dub as hate mail, decrying me for what Id done to Lance.

The language was colourful and I learnt some interesting insults. Id never been called a dung throwing pokemon-trainer-opportunist before. It was interesting how many complimentary letters could also slot into hate mail if read from a different perspective. It was all about the way they had worded things. I stacked such letters to the side. Id fold them up into paper aeroplanes and have some of my pokemon practising Fire type moves use them as target practice after letting Rocko and Dennis read some of the letters.

I continued to note down any letters that needed responses on a pad with my right hand while my left opened and flicked through them. Eventually, I unfolded another letter only to stare at its contents.

I stared long and hard before glancing to the side to make sure no little siblings had crept into the room. Then I checked behind me that Sabrina hadnt flashed in behind me either. With the coast clear, I reached under my desk for a hidden key to unlock the middle draw on my left.

There I opened a very different folder. On the front of the folder, in large emboldened text, the words CONFIDENTIAL DOCUMENTS! rested. Inside sat numerous other pictures, anything but innocent. I plucked the picture out and put it with the others of its kind. I noted the stack and my mind idly counted as I leafed through them. After going through the entire stack of mail I now had exactly twenty such fans along with some serial supporters. I felt a twinge as my self-restraint beat back the primal part of my mind that was demanding I send a more aggressive letter back. That was probably the teenager in me. Or perhaps it was something more in line with the canonical Brock?

I promised myself Id only send the proforma letter I had created which thanked them for their strong feelings on the matter and that I would think about their letter fondly. Id do so after considering their letter in private for a while. Maybe Id give it a week or so?

After taking a moment to centre myself and hide the evidence on a corner of my desk I got back to work. Right Fan mail, more thanks to copy-paste, fan mail she certainly drinks her milk. Another photo was inserted into the folder before I returned to working through my stack. I mentally tallied everything up as either being fan mail, congratulations, sponsorship deals, Fan mail, some hate mail and finally My hand clutched the last letter only for the notable weight to register. I glanced at the package and was surprised to find that it was a finely pressed charcoal paper.

There was no sender address and the front only said Brock. I frowned. This was giving me some bad vibes but I couldnt quite put my finger on the why. Perhaps it was because it was so different from the other letters Id received?

Unlike the other letters, I opened it with a penknife. One Id gotten from the Pewter Museums gift shop, shaped like a miniaturized Kabutops claw. A thick pad of metal fell onto the table when I tilted the letter down. My feelings of worry grew as I recalled old memories of hologram pads like these. Had it been that old hero movie? The Incredibles? The front of the pad pulsed with light before words appeared.

Place on a flat surface. Do not stare directly at the screen on startup. Strobe lights starting in: Three. Two. one. On two I had the pad flat on the table and when the counter hit one a bright light pulsed upwards before it steadied into a figure that began to lift off the screen.

Huh. I was right, it is a hologram. Instantly my mind began to whirl. Holograms were not something that was typically seen in public, not even from large corporations. They were known to exist but few people used them as the technology base simply wasnt there right now. The only time I had seen a hologram used in the show was I felt my gut drop as I recalled the first pokemon movie. Was this Mewtwo? I thought that wouldnt happen for a year or two at least! Suddenly my decision to merely watch the areas around Viridian seemed to be far too little, too late.

The hologram thankfully did not resolve into a poorly disguised Nurse Joy, but rather a much older female.

Greetings young Brock. You may know me as Agatha of the Elite Four. I am the Ghost Mistress and have served on the Elite Four for decades now. You must be wondering why I am contacting you? She smirked at me for a long moment as the video kept its silence.

The small form of Agatha remained quiet before nodding slowly as if coming to a decision. Your recent match with Lance has caught a number of figures attention. Chief among those are the people that truly make decisions within the League. Your ability to control and use your Aura is impressive for one so young. I am also an Aura user of some skill. She nodded her head seriously, while for a second her shadow played out behind her, despite her body not moving an inch. I swallowed out of reflex as the shadow leered out at me from the tiny hologram.

However, it was by no means good control.'' She raised her stick and jabbed it forwards. You are very brutish in your application of Aura. For that purpose, I would like to invite you into a selectgroup.

I noted the way she paused on group. Did she mean an organization or something else?

We are not a well-known group, and it is not advised that you advertise knowledge of us in any manner. Overt or subtle. To extend a hand however, I will inform you of our name. A name you will not find in any textbooks for very specific reasons.

We do not want most people to know we exist. She thumped her stick into the ground. Our group is known as the Guardians. And our duty is to make sure that societys walls remain strong.

I was getting an old-school Freemasons vibe now. I wasnt sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

We will reach out to you further in future. Keep this pad. It works as one of the ways we communicate with each other. As you advance, more features and perks, will be made available to you, should you join us. She smirked at me. We will be in touch.

With her message delivered, the hologram vanished. The room felt darker, and not just with the sudden absence of light. I sat back and swallowed.

That had implications.

Agatha of the Elite Four In the games, she was merely a barrier to overcome but in the comics, she represented something much darker. Hadnt she? I wasnt as familiar with those. I knew the comics werent as nice as the other media forms of pokemon. Then again, the world seemed closer to the anime in structure than the comics or games. For whatever that was worth.

I groaned, rubbing my eyes in frustration. I wasnt going to achieve anything right now. This was important. Extremely important. But it didnt sound like it would need an instant response. Not that I seemed to have an option to respond, I thought as I toyed with the hologram pad. It definitely sounded like they would come knocking soon but I had time to think about the offer.

That let me relax for now. With the other letters and emails, it basically became important, but not urgent. I chuckled at that thought before standing; Id done enough for the evening. I clapped my hands and made my way back to the kitchen to check in with my family.

Hopefully, I might even have a cake waiting for me. Id have some more work later on but for now, I was happy and I wasnt going to let tomorrows work affect todays mood.

I tucked the fanmail away and hid the hologram pad in another, secure drawer.