Interlude – Gardenia

Interlude – Gardenia

INTERLUDE - Gardenia

Gardenia sang with a smile as she poured water on her newly acquired Eucalyptus. The plant had evolved to live in harsh, sunny climates, but they still needed a healthy dose of water at first. She was very happy with the purchase, given that the plant wasn’t native to Sinnoh and the seeds she bought were of the best quality possible, but with her gym leader salary, that wasn’t a problem.

The woman twirled around happily, walking through her huge terrarium. Different species of plants were everywhere around her, filling the air with a distinct forest-like smell. This was her refuge. After a hard day of work, Gardenia always spent the rest of the evening in her terrarium, and sometimes even slept there. She had it built specifically on the highest floor so that the sun could shine down on the plants she kept.

“La, la, la,” She sang. “Oh, your soil’s completely dry,” She said, looking into her cactus pot. She hurried and watered it.

Gardenia was in a great mood tonight. In another corner, Roserade was silently tending to her own little patch of flowers that she liked so much. Torterra was downstairs, whipping his sons into shape— two Turtwig and Grotle. One of the Turtwig was newly hatched, and Gardenia desperately needed him to use against trainers with no badges since the other one was getting too strong and probably on the cusp of evolving. The rest of her personal team was at the Pokemon Center. Today had been an especially fun day. She had battled a trainer that had gone to the Conference last year, and she finally got to almost go all out and beat him in the dirt. He would come back soon enough. She felt kind of bad because she had expected him to improve a lot more in between the Circuits, so she may have been too hard on him. Being a gym leader was fun, but it wasn’t every day that she got to use her actual team, which may have clouded her judgment.

Still, that wasn’t all. The last two battles of her shift had given her a fantastic amount of fun that made her feel all giddy inside. It wasn’t every day that she could go all out with Sunflora, and that strategy the other teenager used to deal with her Hoppip had been impressive. Right now, Grace Pastel and maybe Denzel Williams were still like seeds that had barely budded, but if they were given time and care? She couldn’t wait to see them grow into full-fledged trainers. Every gym leader had at least a few trainers they kept an eye on during the Circuit if they particularly impressed them during a battle, unless they were always grumpy and couldn’t bother like Volkner.

Gardenia’s head whirled to the right as she heard her terrarium door open.

“Gardenia, it’s me. We need to talk.”

“Roro,” She started. “You look angry, what is it?”

Roland Patel was one of her most trusted gym trainers and Gardenia’s childhood friend. They had grown up together in Eterna and tried out to become gym trainers as soon as they turned fifteen and had one run through the Circuit. Roland had gotten to the sixth badge, which was very impressive for a trainer’s first attempt. Gardenia had reached the Conference finals and lost to Candice. Being from Snowpoint, she just had too many ice types for Gardenia to deal with. Her mastery of the type had been too much to overcome with her usual strategies.

Today? Gardenia could probably beat Candice every time if they were both going all out, unless the girl was having a particularly unhinged day. She was nigh unpredictable when she did.

Either way, Roland and Gardenia started working as gym trainers at the same time, and Gardenia eventually became gym leader when Mira, her predecessor, retired. Today, Roland was her right-hand man who kept the gym’s metaphorical gears oiled up and running while she mostly focused on what she loved doing the most: battling.

“Of course I’m angry,” He hissed. “The protests, Gardenia, the fucking protests are growing out of control, and you still haven’t put out a single statement.”

“No need to use that tone, Roro,” Gardenia said, dismissing him with a wave. “You already know my position. We had this conversation two days ago.”

“Your position is self-destructive to an extremely worrying degree,” Roland exclaimed as he paced through the terrarium.

“Watch the plants,” Gardenia warned. “I follow Cynth’s orders. She told me to stay silent for now, so that’s what I’m doing.”

“You’re supposed to communicate with Pete!” He’s been holding town halls, speaking to protestors, and trying to calm them down. You’re supposed to work together to help your people. The people of Eterna city, who I fear you’ve forgotten.”

Pete Delgado was Eterna’s current mayor. Gardenia had no hard feelings toward him, she was just doing her job, and he was doing his. The gym leader walked to her terrarium’s entrance and sat on one of the chairs.

“I answer to Cynthia and the League,” She shrugged.

“No!” Roland yelled. A few of the late-staying gym trainers turned their heads toward them worriedly, but Gardenia just waved them away. “That’s not the system Cynthia promised us when she made this. You answer to the people. You don’t just ignore them and treat them like children.”

“Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” Gardenia sighed. She hated seeing her friend so angry. The gym leader never got angry. She found the emotion to be a waste of time, and it made people think irrationally. Like Roland was doing right now. “You don’t know the danger Sinnoh is in.”

“Then tell me,” Roland begged. “Talk to me, Gardenia.”

The woman sighed. “The League’s arrested several agitators trying to escalate the protests into riots, and some have links to team Galactic,” She disclosed in a whisper. Revealing information like this wasn’t like her, but she had a soft spot for Roland. Plus, it wasn’t technically classified, and her gym trainers were trustworthy.

Her friend froze. “They want the protests to get worse? Is it just to keep you distracted?”

“To keep Cynthia distracted, mostly,” Gardenia said. “She’s been at the Directorate all week trying to save Vernon from getting fired, but it’s not looking good. The new opposition will screw her every step of the way, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if team Galactic had their hands in there too.”

“But you won’t verify it, right?” He asked, adjusting his collar.

Gardenia felt a bit of emotional pain, but she expunged it as fast as it came. “Do you think we’re so far gone that we’d use memory extraction on anyone we suspect?” She asked.

“I don’t know, and it scares me, Gardenia. It scares me. I don’t recognize the League anymore. Even with the team Galactic agitators, the protestor’s concerns are still valid. You should still talk to Pete.”

Gardenia sighed internally. Roland still had no idea what team Galactic was, and neither did the public. To them, they had just had a fundamental right taken away after a short attack that resulted in no deaths and very few injuries. Attacks from people with Pokemon throughout the region weren’t particularly rare. Being a trainer criminal could be a lucrative job if you didn’t get caught.

So to them, it was just another Tuesday. So why was the League acting so rashly?

Team Galactic wanted to mess with reality, but they didn’t know that, and Cynthia wanted to keep it that way. Gardenia respected the Champion too much to question the way she did things. All of the gym leaders did.

“Civilians protest about the Circuit’s difficulty every year, Roland. Too many injured and dead trainers. They just changed what they were mad about,” She dismissed him.

“When we became gym trainers,” Roland started soberly. “We said we’d change the system from the inside. We were tired of the way the older generation did things. What happened to that?”

“When you’re a part of the system,” Gardenia started. “You start to realize why things work the way they do.”

Her friend’s shoulders sagged, and he hung his head. “I’m going to go, I guess,” He said. “Oh, and I had one more thing to say. It’s about Lily.”

“That new kid that works reception?” Gardenia asked.

“Yeah, I think she’d be a better fit for gym Pokemon training duty. Can I move her post?”

Gardenia nodded and watched her friend leave. The gym leader got up and walked back into her terrarium.

‘...actively disseminate misinformation through the Pokemon Rangers and create the narrative that the increase of trainers going through the forest was agitating the wild Pokemon. The LSS believes that team Galactic was looking for a specific Pokemon located in the Old Chateau or around its periphery, and the focus on angering ghosts all but confirms that the organization was looking for a specific ghost type. Further investigation is needed...’

“Holy shit,” Gardenia breathed out, eyeing the next part.

‘Team Galactic has been highly active in creating and organizing the protests. The LSS theorizes that they have a base of operations in Eterna and Veilstone since the protests are the most pronounced and originated from there. Countermeasures have been put in place to reduce the threat of infiltration, and contact has been established with the International Police, who will send their agents on the 17th of November. A new directive on how to deal with these protests will be issued shortly. LSS agents have been sent to supervise Maylene Suzuki, as she is considered too young to deal with the situation. Investigations into Directorate members Samuel White and Sophie Richards have also concluded. Suspicious deposits of 5,700,000 and 7,200,000 Pokedollars have been tracked in their accounts, and right after this money transfer, they defected from the coalition government and joined the opposition. There is no confirmation that team Galactic was behind this, but the LSS will continue to recommend Cynthia’s approval of the memory extraction procedure on non-Galactic members.’

‘For a safer Sinnoh.’

“This is bad... this is really bad,” Gardenia said, feeling a surge of fear.

Gardenia didn’t care for the LSS lying and hiding information from the public. The Secret Service was an autonomous branch of the League that dealt with internal threats, such as terrorism, or in this case, investigating team Galactic. As she had said before, being in the system changed the way a person viewed it. She knew that information had to be carefully drip fed to the masses to prevent mass panic.

No, what she cared about was that there was apparently a team Galactic base of operation hidden in plain sight somewhere in Eterna city and in Veilstone. Maylene was practically Gardenia’s sister, and she worried the young girl would get overwhelmed soon. The other gym leaders should have gotten the same document she did right around now, so they were probably just learning about it as well.

Gardenia sighed. “At least some progress is being made—”

Wait, that gym trainer who had given the documents to her... she didn’t recognize his face at all, and Gardenia prided herself on knowing all of her employees. Arceus, the Secret Service really had their fingers in every pie.

She heard a sudden knock on the door and hurried to hide what she had just read. Gardenia unlocked the door, and Roland greeted her.

“Roland, what is it?” Gardenia asked.

“Sorry, you were probably busy, but I needed to tell you something. I got a call from the League that said you were allowed to issue a joint statement with mayor Pete,” He smiled. “Looks like they’ve changed their ways somewhat.”

Oh, you poor soul, Gardenia thought with a pained face. Before this, she would have been fine with telling Roland... most of what she knew, and she was fine with speculating, but to confirm her thoughts that team Galactic was influencing civilian government policy? No matter how much she trusted him, that fact leaking would be disastrous for the government and the League.

I guess those are the new guidelines, then. At least the LSS works fast.

“Fine,” Gardenia sighed. “Let’s meet the guy.”

——

Gardenia didn’t come out of her gym too often. Most of the other gym leaders, like Roark and Volkner, liked to help out and were far more public than she was, but all of her work could be done in her gym. The gym leader stepped out of the black SUV, accompanied by a few of her strongest gym trainers that acted as bodyguards, including Roland. All of them combined were weaker than her, but she supposed that someone could never be too safe, especially with team Galactic running around.

“Haven’t been there in like six months,” Gardenia said, looking at Eterna city’s Town Hall.

“Which is an actual travesty,” Roland said. “Let’s go.”

Pete Delgado was still highly popular among Eterna city’s public, and he had been re-elected in a landslide a year ago. When they entered his office, the bald, bulky man nodded at her firmly and extended his hand. She shook it.

“Leader Gardenia,” The mayor said formally. “I’m glad the League is finally seeing reason and stepping out of their shell. Arceus knows they’ve been silent these days. Too silent.”

“There were a few internal issues to deal with, but we’re ready now,” Gardenia smiled, ignoring his verbal jab. “What’s going into the statement? I’m pretty bad at making speeches.”

It was at times like these that Gardenia remembered that the cooperation between the civilian and trainer branches of government on the city level was usually icy at best. This wasn’t like the Directorate, which used to be unified behind Vernon and Cynthia. Local governments bickered and fought over everything, from zoning rights to city expansion into wild Pokemon territory, to tightening restrictions around the Circuit. The entrance to Mount Coronet had been closed during Gardenia’s first year as a gym leader after trainers kept dying in there, but it was the civilian government that pushed for that policy.

“I figured,” Pete said. He nodded to his assistant, who handed Gardenia a sheet of paper. “Have a look at this.”

“Blablabla... sorry about our lack of communication... blablabla... we’ll do better from now on, yeah... yeah... protesting is your right, but keep it peaceful...” Gardenia rambled. “This seems pretty standard.”

“The way you’re being so nonchalant about this is concerning. If the situation devolves into riots, not only will it be more difficult to calm down the public, the city will have to pay tens of millions in damages.”

“Don’t they have insurance companies for that?” She mused.

“The insurers will sue and claim that the government is directly responsible for the damage due to our abysmal response to the protests, and I think they’ll win,” Pete explained. “This speech is just the start. We’ll have you attend multiple events, speak to the public, and answer their questions. It’s about time you start behaving like a proper city official and not some glorified battler.”

“When do I have to do this?” She asked.

“All day tomorrow, starting at eight.”

“I have work,” Gardenia protested.

“Close the gym down for a day. You owe us that much.”

“Can’t I have one of my trainers keep it going?” Gardenia asked.

“You could, but you could also show the people that you’re putting them above trainer business. It’s about the principle, Gardenia.”

Gardenia craned her neck and looked at the ceiling exasperatedly. “Fine,” She sighed. “I’ll close for one day.”

“You’re doing the right thing, Gardenia,” Roland nodded.

Gardenia’s loyalty was the League’s. She respected Cynthia more than anyone else, and she would listen to anything the Champion told her to do. She prided herself on the matter, often referring to herself as a ‘pencil pusher’. Gardenia kept her head down and listened to the League’s orders.

But still, at the back of her mind, she was relieved that they were finally allowed to speak up. The League needed the civilian population on their side if— no, when team Galactic was going to strike again.