When Sabrina arrived at my home, she had been flushed with victory only to find me nursing a headache and a cough. She'd seen to nursing me back to health with warm food, medicine and a quick visit from the Gym's resident Chansey.
She'd flounced in, taken one look at me and pressed a softly glowing hand to my head.
It relieved a lot of the ache but did nothing for the cough.
So she tucked me back into bed, grabbed a remote and turned on a television show before marching over the calendar and tapping tomorrow and the day after.
"Chanse!" she barked as she crossed her hands over her chest and shook her head.
"She doesn't want you to do anything but rest for the next two days to make sure you recover," Sabrina translated.
"I gathered," I stated. "Listen I can still do some work I'm not feeling—"
Chansey chopped my lightly on the throat and I heaved a huge cough. "Sey!" she growled.
Sabrina blinked. "She says a healthy you would have dodged that. Also such a light tap shouldn't be causing you issues."
"Sey! Chansey!" continued my nurse pokemon.
"She also says that with how hard you train your pokemon and yourself, you're only going to run yourself into the ground. So, two days rest."
"I—" a cough ripped through me again. "I can't just lay in bed!" I said.
Chansey raised her hand once again, and I glared at her. This time, I was more than ready to catch it if she tried anything. Her eyes narrowed, and I prepared myself.
Like two gunslingers eying each other off, we were ready to draw at the slightest—
A glow of psychic energy surrounded us, and Sabrina shook her head.
"Brock, Chansey, you're both being ridiculous right now, but Brock, she has a point. Take the rest. The Gym is set up to handle things while you recover. It's honestly surprising that you haven't fallen sick before now."
That had my fighting spirit vanish in an instant. Chansey sniffed and drew out some cold and flu medicine which she laid out with a stern. "Chanse!" before shuffling out the door.
"Urgh…" I grumbled as another cough rocked through me. My eyes slid to the small office nook I had in the corner with a computer. "I suppose I could—"
Sabrina put a hand on me as the television turned itself on. The channels shifted quickly until I found myself on one of the cable channels. "Have you been staying up to date with my series?" she asked.
I lay back in consideration. That… did seem like a pretty good way to spend a few hours. "I mean I've seen all of the first five episodes. How many more are there?"
"We've been having great success filming as thanks to investors updating the filming equipment along with more progressive techniques to help actors slip into the right mindsets, we've filmed two whole seasons. One has aired with another to be released next week."
That got a blink out of me. "How many episodes a season?" I asked, thinking she was going to say something like six.
"Twenty-two. With set control, actors permissions and reduced need to reshoot scenes we've become a powerhouse series," Sabrina declared proudly.
"Sabrina… are you mind-controlling the staff at your acting career?" I asked.
"Oh? Oh, nothing like that. We're using Hypno to induce specific emotions to bolster actors performances. There are still bloopers where people trip but bad performances where they forget lines is a thing of the past."
"Isn't that still mind control but with extra steps?" I asked.
"No, it's not," she denied. "Most of the improvements have come from the better equipment that an investor contributed."
"You're the investor, aren't you?" I asked, knowing fully well I was right.
Sabrina pursed her lips. "They were using lots of outdated systems, computers, cameras, and even loading principles. With more psychic pokemon various sets can be made easier. I just… sped things up a touch," she said.
When I made to point out she had probably rode roughshod over her director and the others she glared. "Just watch the episodes and eat some snacks!" she growled as she slid in next to me.
That got a chuckle from me. "Alright, alright. Last time you'd solved a case involving a stolen house that turned out to be a wronged group of Machoke that were part of a union."
Sabrina shook her head. "You're so far behind. You haven't even learned about season one's big bad," she murmured.
"I mean it's pretty straightforward case solving without too much danger or violence seeing as it's a family friendly show. How are you going to get a 'big bad' in there without putting that at risk?" I asked.
Sabrina smirked. "You'll find out."
A grumble was her response as I got comfortable. Watching my soon-to-be wife strut around and solve various criminal cases in interesting manners was certainly not a bad way to spend a day or two.
And she and Chansey were right. Taking a day or two off would be good for me.
_______________
By the time I'd finished the first season, two days had passed, and it was rolling around to lunch.
I had to admit I was hooked. Even more than I had been previously. I just hadn't sat down and watched it, but now I found myself wanting to lock in time each week for when the episodes aired.
"How did you get away with flipping a trope on its head? You make the baddies talk stupidly with them deliberately doing it so that everyone underestimates them? And then the reveal that everything is caused by a Muk of all things trying to spread toxins and litter across the city?"
I shook my head. It should have been childish. It should have been ridiculous.
And yet it made all too much sense and was rather compelling.
I had to give Sabrina and the other writers for the show their props. She'd slipped in messages of staying yourself and the area around you clean in a clever manner.
There were tons of small, family-friendly messages shown through each episode that made it worth having young kids watch, but it was also fun in a lot of ways.
"I can't believe you had Kirlia ride a surfboard to rescue a Gyarados that was being tricked into flooding a river so toxic chemicals would spill into it. How was that something you sped up? It would have taken days!"
"Good organisational skills," Sabrina declared with a proud tilt of her head.
I narrowed my eyes at her and tilted my head. "Hmmm something I noticed, about a third of the way through the series the…not so much tone, as the style of storytelling changed."
Sabrina blinked. "Oh?" she said in a bland tone that if I hadn't been watching out for, I might have ignored.
She'd been too perfect with her delivery. Something was going on! My instincts for her antics were blaring!
On a hunch I rewound the show so the credits rolled once more.
Watching them carefully, I wrote down a few names in thought, such as the producing company, which pretty much meant investors.
Then I shifted episodes back to the fifth, which was where I'd left off since I'd last gotten to sit down and properly watch a full episode.
It was there I noticed something had changed with the credits. The producing company that later appeared was missing, as was another name
"Howard Stern, the Director gets replaced…" I muttered. "By a Resanata Nimbus? What an odd name."
Sabrina pointedly didn't look my way. Following my hunch, I began rearranging letters.
I drew out a pen and paper and began to scrawl out the name.
"Sabrina…" I muttered slowly, drawing a line through the letters. "Natsume…" I said, completing the anagram. "Did you oust your Director?" I asked.
"They were slow and annoying to handle. I saw multiple methods to improve the show and suggested them to him. He threatened to replace me."
"Poor move," I replied, knowing that Sabrina wouldn't have allowed that. "How do you still have enough time to direct, act, invest, shop for Dolls, and run your Gym?"
"I also am still organising things for our wedding," she added pointedly.
"So… you had your Director replaced, improved the equipment, writing, and acting methods all in… eight or so episodes?" I asked, checking a later episode to see Howard Stern's name still in place. It wasn't until the ninth that he vanished.
Sabrina coughed. "I used the first four to learn everything I could and do my own research."
At that specific phrase, I wanted to scoff, as it usually never led anywhere good. But then again, Sabrina was brilliant and had access to resources that others in her situation could only dream of.
"So you created a whole new way of doing things and improved things while you were mid-season… damn," I murmured.
Once again, my fiancée was terrifyingly competent.
"This is crazy impressive, and I still can't understand how you manage it all," I said.
"Good organisational skills," Sabrina repeated. "I control when the shooting occurs, storyboard extensively, and can create scenes where we go through at least half a season's worth of recording in a day's work for myself for the acting side of things. I also have other people I've employed to help streamline everything. As for money on this? I'm not really making much at all," she declared with a shrug. "This is a passion project of mine so while others collect a paycheck, I'm just funding something I enjoy," she stated.
Which wasn't the same as not getting anything or spending more than she earned. That comment hadn't escaped my notice where it might have a day or so ago.
"And you're also taking filming and acting to another level, apparently," I muttered.
I clapped my hands. "Well, that was a great two days spent in bed binge-watching your show, but I really should check in on the Gym," I declared.
Sabrina levitated a document towards me. "Just remember that you agreed to all of this," she stated.
I hummed, recalling that this document had been given to me by Rachel about Bertha's event.
Straight away I had a feeling of dread sweep through me. Oh dear, what had past me done now? He was always messing things up for me!
I started flipping through the documents, spotting more detailed notes about each part of the event that I'd blanket-approved in my haste to avoid a building migraine.
Once again, due to past me's brilliant idea to dance around almost topless in the cold.
The events… were rather over the top, and I sighed. "If I go outside I'd have seen this, wouldn't I?"
Sabrina nodded and I shot her a speculative look. "Were you…" I trailed off before shaking my head. No, Sabrina wouldn't have tricked me like that. She had just been looking after me and spending time with me.
"Alexa and Crystal have been keeping things controlled," she announced. "They know you well enough to know not to let Rachel and Bertha get too carried away."
"Too carried away?" I asked.
Sabrina raised an eyebrow at me. "It's a Magical event," she deadpanned.
"Point," I conceded as I rose for lunch.
When I made it to the kitchen Nanny Grav had a pair of sandwiches made up so I could take my meal on a walk. I snatched them up only to turn and find Nanny Grav holding out a coat and scarf to me.
"Oh, uhmmm thanks Nanny Grav," I murmured in surprise.
Nany Grav shook her head at me and clucked before popping a beanie on my head and sending me on my way. It felt kind of nice for her to fuss over me for the last few days.
"Thanks for all the treats," I said with a small nod.
She flicked her four hands dismissively, like it was no trouble. She marched back to the kitchen where she began scrubbing a pot while listening to what sounded like a radio drama.
"Is it just me or is Nanny Grav becoming more like an old grandmother the more she hangs out with us?" I asked Sabrina as we trudged around the reserve to inspect the Rhyhorn race course.
"She's always wanted to be domestic. I think her time spent with the old Grannies and watching drama shows on television have made her copy certain mannerisms."
"Huh, when does she hang out with the Grannies?" I asked, thinking that Nanny Grav might have a secret meeting in the park.
"She takes Billy and Tilly to the park and plays checkers and knits with the other old women."
"Isn't she only like three years old? " I asked, recalling her medical notes.
Sabrina shrugged.
"Hmmm, must just have an old soul," I murmured only to pause as the back of the Gym came into sight. There were a lot of construction workers marching in and out of the back entrance with various supplies.
"That's for the obstacle course, isn't it?" I asked.
"Yes," Sabrina answered. "I foresee the creation of many memes," she declared.
"Is that a good thing?" I asked uncertainly.
"For us it will be entertaining," Sabrina stated.
I grimaced, hoping there wouldn't be too many spinning wheels with a Geodude incidents. I still saw the infamous-fail meme popping up every now and then.
A quick check of the documents showed that they had stressed applicant safety into the build with there really only being a mirror maze, a small obstacle course that was more spinny jenny over a small pond, a race up a ramp with several safe zones while 'boulders' rolled down hill at them that reminded me more of basic donkey kong games and then a quick game of magical toss which was just throwing a softball through some hoops.
Quick, simple, and something that most people should be able to manage with a basic level of well being. It looked quite fun.
From there I trekked to the side of the reserve that had several people standing around wearing hard hats while my Onix and some Machoke worked on what looked to my sensibilities like a large BMX track with the slopes, logs, and a winding path that led back around onto itself in a large loop.
A woman with brown hair stood to the side with Alexa watching the progress and when Alexa waved she looked up. "Ah! The Gym Leader at last! Good to finally meet you! I'm Grace!" she declared, marching forward and shaking my hand firmly.
"Nice to meet you as well, as you said I'm Brock and this is my fiancee Sabrina," I said, introducing Sabrina.
Grace chuckled. "Ha! Like you two need introducing!" she winked at Sabrina." Especially you Sabrina, or should I call you Natsume?" she asked.
"Or Nimbus?" I suggested quietly, which earned me a slight telekinetic nudge from Sabrina.
"Nice to meet a fan," Sabrina replied easily.
Grace laughed boisterously. "Yeah! I've watched the whole season with my family! My daughter is a huge fan! We've got some theories about the second season if you don't mind?"
"Hmmmm I won't be revealing anything but I can listen later, for now," Sabrina inclined her head towards the work and Grace nodded easily, accepting the change of topic gracefully.
"Right! Well this here is not quite your standard Rhyhorn racing track but that's cause every site is a little different. What I decided to make sure of with this one was that you had room to grow with stands, stables and a few other points of interest cause I assure you once you get into it properly Rhyhorn racing will claim you!" she grinned.
"With you being the Rock type Gym Leader, I figure you having a dedicated track would all but guarantee you eventually join the circuit!" she declared.
"The circuit?" I asked.
"The Rhyhorn Racing Circuit!" Grace declared, planting her hands on her hips as she puffed her chest out proudly. "We're tougher than the sissies at the Rapidash courses but we have our own charm I can assure you!"
Her eyes practically had stars in them as she stared at me. "I'm glad you reached out to me! You and me together will really be able to grow the sport!" she declared.
"Riiiiiiight," I murmured slowly. I wasn't all too sure about committing to such a thing, even if it did sound interesting with how it synergised with my rock pokemon.
Still, there was something about Grace that was tickling my brain. "You mentioned a daughter?" I asked.
"Hmmm? Oh Serena? She's in school right now but she's going to be here tomorrow for work placement!" she declared offhandedly. "She and my son, Calem, are about to begin their Journey. Sadly, they already have a pokemon from Professor Elm, otherwise I would have told them to make a run for getting your Rhyhorn egg."
"Serena and Calem?" I muttered, glancing towards Sabrina.
Sabrina shot me a knowing look, aware that Serena was a girl of particular interest due to her future as one of Ash's travel companions and therefore someone who might get involved with Legendary pokemon in some form.
"Well, I will look forward to meeting her," Sabrina smoothly said before things could get weird.
Grace grinned and gestured to the track. "So with an almost free license to make my dream circuit, I've created a unique course for the participants of your Rhyhorn rider challenge!"
Having no idea what I was looking at I could only really nod politely. "It looks great!" I offered.
Something in my tone must have been off as she turned and gave me a searching look.
"Great? Great is for the best of the best to eat up and spit out! I trample greatness under my Rhyhorn! This is the pinnacle of racing!" she declared with a fist raised to the heavens with her eyes almost brimming with fire.
"Well, I just don't have the eyes to see what you see," I offered with a helpless shrug.
Grace blinked, her passion vanishing like an inferno in the face of Tide's Surf. "O-oh?" she stuttered. "Oh that's actually a good point," she muttered.
She glanced at the track. "Right! I'm going to run the course with my big boy after explaining it!" she whipped out a map of what was being made up.
"This course is perfect for serious racers! We've got everything you want in a race with destructible pylons that can be used for speed breaks along with bumpers on certain corners that people can slam and ricochet with! These S bends create a great chicane where you have to control your speed! Then there's all the essential straights where you build up a head of steam and power! To make things interesting, I've made it so that you can drift around those corners if you have the skill!"
She continued to point out subtle touches like having a hill followed by a descent.
Almost all of it went over my head.
"Got that?" she asked when she'd reached the point of explaining how, after ten laps the course would be extremely different due to being torn up along with most of the bumpers being out of use.
The entire event sounded like a crazed version of pinball that involved heavyweight tanks rather than cars.
But I suppose that had its own sort of appeal.
"As much as I think I was going to get without experiencing it myself," I replied.
Grace grinned. "That's the spirit! Here! I'll show you!" she tapped a pokeball on her necklace and from it emerged a rather large Rhyhorn with an impressively shiny coat.
The earth gave a solid rumble as he hit the ground.
"Rhy?" he rumbled, glancing around.
I noticed that he had a sturdy looking saddle on his back and Grace quickly mounted up without throwing on any extra protective equipment.
"Let's ride!" she crowed and Rhyhorn shot down the straight.
The Onix that had been building up various parts of the track rose to watch as Grace and her Rhyhorn thundered down the straight into the bend where they did a little hop skip that saw them sliding around the curve.
"Oh? Drifting?" I murmured. It wasn't anywhere near as graceful as watching a tokyo drift but it was still impressive, especially with a pokemon I knew would have weighed in at around two hundred kilograms if I was any judge of that Rhyhorn's increased size.
"It's rather agile for a Rhyhorn," Sabrina said as he watched the trainer-pokemon pair roar through the 'chicane'.
"You know these races must be absolute bedlam when it comes to a proper race. How many ride at once?"
"From what she said I believe twenty racers at a time," Sabrina pointed out.
I squinted at the race track, noting how one Rhyhorn already created issues with blocking up corners when they slowed.
"Damn, it must be nuts. I wonder if people prefer Rock Head or Reckless Rhyhorn?" I pondered, considering the abilities that came with that species.
When Grace thundered back up the finish she and her pokemon skidded to a stop next to us. "There! How was that? It won't be a proper course record without my proper gear but It's not bad to finish a lap in under two minutes I think!" she crowed.
Sabrina and I gave her some polite applause, still out of our depths on this one.
"I'll look forward to when we have twenty proper racers," I offered.
Grace shot me a thumbs up only to grimace as one part of the race track caved in. "Oops! Looks like we need to do some more earthworks before we let anyone else run around on here! Hey! You lot! No tunnels around the race track! We're going to have to get some steel girders down there if you keep that up!"
I coughed. "Metal underground would actually work against yourefforts," I said.
"Huh?" she asked.
A jerk of a thumb over my shoulder made her look over to find Knight along with several Lairon and Aron watching on. "Metal is something they're going to nibble on when you aren't watching them. We had to specially treat the Gym to make it not tasty for them. Specific tunnels that I've reinforced had to have wooden or hard plastics so they didn't eat them," I informed her.
"Huh, cheeky little brats," she murmured. "Guess I'll have to account for that when I build the stands, stables, and concession stands," she muttered.
Sabrina and I share a look. It sounded like Grace really wanted to lock down a race track here.
I was still unsure if it would last beyond Bertha's event. I'd reserve my judgement on how the race went. A single pro racer tearing up a course wasn't a good indicator for what it would actually be like.
"You mentioned your children applied for Professor Elm?" I asked, noting the difference for Calem and Serena.
"Yes!" Grace cheerfully replied. "They're very happy to have gotten a Cyndaquil and a Totodile!" she giggled. "I heard some of their plans however and they are looking to go to Hoenn for the coming circuit and want to get Torchic and Treecko as well."
I whistled. "Ambitious, those are not easy pokemon to find in the wild and are usually restricted for purchase."
"Well they have their dreams and I'm not going to stand in their way!" Grace waved her hand about. "How's the saying go? Be the wind in their sails and not the spray of the ocean?"
Sabrina and I shared a look. "Never heard that one before, but I guess the point stands," I offered. "I'm going to have to leave things with you so I can check in with the rest of this project."
Grace shot me a huge thumbs-up as we departed.
"So, that is the mother of one of the game's protagonists no" Sabrina asked after we'd gotten clear of the builders.
"Yeah, she also appears in the cartoons but… she's supposed to be in Kalos.
"Hmmmm so they'll be worth monitoring when the travel routes open up to the Trinity nations," Sabrina mused.
"Yup, just another thing to be on the look out for," I said. "I'll need to keep reading up on those other regions and any Legendary pokemon I don't know about. I'm honestly surprised we didn't have as much information on those regions as Cynthia did."
"I think that might indicate that some regions were already lost to us before the previous war," Sabrina suggested. "It might not have been something discussed by many people, but perhaps there are always some regions that have been lost."
"Hmmmm it's not how a world would act normally, but I suppose with Groudon and the other Legendaries in play, who's to say what could be considered normal?"
"Legendary pokemon do work in mysterious ways," Sabrina agreed with a nod.
"Speaking of, have you heard anything from Mewtwo?" I asked.
Sabrina's lips twitched. "While communication lines are spotty to Orre, he has been able to send some messages. He's rather confused by Ash as an example of humanity."
Sabrina drew out her transceiver and smirked at the screen as a message was displayed. "I am vexed by him. He is an exemplar of both human kindness and stupidity… somehow he manages to get away with this however and has yet to be injured or have any serious incidents occur due to his involvement."
I chuckled only to catch a follow-up message. "Karen is pulling her hair out over him?" I read aloud.
Sabrina smirked. "Indeed. Did you know that Lance is thinking about making a big deal of her when she returns? She and her entourage are all going to receive medals and awards."
"Oh, she's going to hate and love that," I murmured.
Sabrina hummed. "I think I'll have to work something like that into my show. Maybe I can make her a recurring villain that stumbles into greatness?"
"Savage," I offered with a shake of my head. "You sure you want Karen to know you get to her though?"
Sabrina shot me an annoyed look before clicking her tongue. "Fine," she huffed.
I decided to chalk that up as a win for the good guys. "Anything else I missed while I binged your show?" I asked.
Sabrina hummed. "With Erika joining us as part of the Guardians she stormed Saffron demanding to talk to me. I spoke with her and laid things out after Janine's talk. I had to calm her down by pointing out all the good we've done."
That got a frown. "She was upset?" I asked.
"Erika is a big believer in Indigo as a nation, not just Kanto. She's going to be pushing for other Gym Leaders as people to join the Guardians. She thinks a lot of our resources could be used with the League. I decided to educate her on the inefficiencies of government departments and how they allow more corruption. Team Rocket's success in infiltrating Indigo rather helped my argument."
"Hmmm, on one hand I don't think she's wrong about including other Gym Leaders from Johto to truly make it a force for Indigo, but her idea around the government…"
"She's an idealist," Sabrina said casually.
For some reason that made me think of Padme from the Star Wars series. "She's an idealist that can still stand up when she has to and throw down," I pointed out.
"With that in mind I suggested she link up with your Mega Rock Inc and investigate specific sites where Bulbasaur or Venusaur are known to frequent. She needs a Mega stone of her own after all."
"That's true, but those aren't her only options," I said.
"She doesn't own a Sceptile, nor an Abomasnow," Sabrina replied. "Yet," she added after a moment's pause.
"True, but we shouldn't discount other pokemon like Meganium, Shiftry, Vileplume, Victreebel, or something like Exeggcutor possibly having Mega Stones that we haven't encountered yet. It is up to Legendary encounters after all."
"Perhaps next time we're about to get into a fight with so many Legendary pokemon we can seed the area then hmmm?"
I snorted. "Yeah, that'll be the day. The only incident that could even come close to the Shamouti incident would be… the Deoxys-Rayquazza fight that happens in the…sixth? Or is it the Seventh Movie?"
Sabrina hissed. "That would do it. From what I recall from your notes, that is LaRousse City?"
"Yup, and there's no indicator that it won't happen tomorrow… Hmmm there was something of a Meteor falling that was a key point of the plot," I muttered. "I'll need to make some inquiries, maybe even point Celia in that direction to ask around," I suggested.
"So that's another major incident to be aware of. Anything else?"
I snorted. "Only if you think Palkia and Dialga brawling in Sinnoh is beneath your notice, then there's a follow-up incident featuring… the big G," I said before I could utter the name of a pokemon that had multiple warnings about just that.
Sabrina pursed her lips. "I'll start preparing to fight a Ghost then, shall I?"
"I think we all should," I chuckled, knowing she was serious. I sighed. "Truth is there is a lot of incidents that could potentially spill over if left ignored."
"Well, we're certainly not going to be bored in the coming years," Sabrina murmured.
"You know, expanding the role of the Guardians could be a way to mollify Erika's concerns," I said. Sabrina shot me a look that made me clarify my point. "She can't complain about a secret group saving the world from Legendary incidents like we've been doing, or handling Criminal elements now, can she?"
Sabrina nodded. "No, she can't," she admitted. She leaned into me. "But that can wait for now. Let's just enjoy the next few days. We're about to change someone's life in a big way."
"Heh, I kind of hope we'll do more than just that," I replied thinking that even if there was only one 'winner' at the end of the day, there could be a lot more people positively impacted by this event.
For all the issues and dangers of the pokeworld, the ability to turn a dream into a reality was something that made it worth fighting for.
________________
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!
Thanks also go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!