Sabrina felt her brow twitch as a trio of small presences trundled their way down the hall towards the master bedroom.
A knock on the door caused Brock to pause in his morning ablutions.
Sabrina sighed, "It's for me," she groaned from the bed, sitting up.
Brock considered her for a few moments before nodding. "Ah, Ponyta club?" he asked.
"Ponyta club," Sabrina replied as she shut the bathroom door so he could continue unmolested while she sat up. A moment later the door to the bedroom opened, precisely a second before Cindy could knock.
"Hello girls," Sabrina yawned out.
"Big sis! Are you ready to go?" Suzie asked, skipping into the room and ignoring all the subtext that indicated that Sabrina was in no way, shape or form 'ready' to go anywhere.
"When I reminded you about the Ponyta club meet up this week, girls, what time did I mention we'd be heading off?" Sabrina asked.
Cindy gained a sheepish expression while Suzie and Tilly blinked cluelessly. They turned to their older sister. "What time did she say?"
Cindy coughed. "I forgot!" she wailed.
A small spike of irritation entered Sabrina, only to be crushed by her inner discipline. She wouldn't show how much it bothered her, or let herself scare the girls, despite it being annoying when they did something like this.
It wasn't that big a deal.
"Well, next time let's set our alarms properly. You're all going to have to wait for me to have a shower and coffee first. Only after that will we leave," Sabrina declared.
She knew suggesting the 'threat' of manual labour where the girls saw to cleaning the stables was both too much for the girls, while also being a chore they'd happily perform as it gave them more time around the Ponyta.
Ergo, they'd be more willing to approach and infringe upon her sleep.
"I'll wait on the bed!" chimed Tilly as she hopped onto the bed.
"I'll watch you shower!" shouted Suzie, without a hint of shame for how odd that might seem.
"I'll go get your cof—" Cindy started to say, only for Sabrina to hold up her hand.
"No, you're going to sit and read the story of the clock thief and Detective Pikachu to your sisters," Sabrina informed her, deflecting both Suzie and Cindy easily.
Both Tilly and Suzie beamed, very happy with this arrangement. Cindy groaned.
"Is this because I forgot what time we were supposed to come get you?"
"Precisely so," Sabrina said as she floated to her feet and walked across the soft carpet. She knocked on the door. "Are you done?" she asked and Brock opened the door a few moments later, his face still slightly damp from where he'd shaved.
"Yup, all done!" he replied with a wink.
She entered the bathroom only to blink when she found a pair of roses waiting for her on the sink. "Oh," she said, glancing at Brock. "Thank you," she murmured.
Brock smirked and stepped back from the doorway to give her a kiss. "Realised I hadn't gotten you flowers in a while."
The girls cooed from on the bed. "Oooooh! Did you do something wrong?"
"Anniversary?" chimed Tilly.
"It's not Sabrina's birthday is it?" gasped Suzie, her eyes shooting wide in horror.
"Nope! It's just a normal day," Brock said.
"But why the flowers?" asked Cindy.
"Just cause," Brock replied as he moved past his sisters. "Enjoy Ponyta club girls!" Brock called as he departed. Sabrina watched him go while sniffing the roses.
"You loooooove him!" sang Cindy giddily.
"Yes, I do," replied Sabrina without a lick of shame. "Now, read the book." With a flick of her will a door down the hallway opened, and a book sailed in to land on Cindy's lap.
With the girls distracted for a few minutes, Sabrina enjoyed her shower.
From there it was a quick dry off, dress, and sweep through the bedroom to pick the girls up before depositing them on the kitchen stools as items around the kitchen began to float.
"Be our guest!" sang Cindy as the salt and pepper shakers began to dance a jigg along the counter top only for Salvadore to walk in and roll his eyes.
"No, not that song! I like the miner song!" he called as he scooted into place.
Sabrina tilted her head and caused the kitchen to mostly stop moving and dancing.
"Miner song?" she asked, having not heard this one before.
Salvadore grinned as he grabbed a fork and knife and began to bash them onto the countertop with a steady rhythm.
"Blunt the knives, bend the forks
Smash the bottles and burn the corks
Chip the glasses and crack the plates!"
He sang before petering out. He coughed. "I forget the rest," he admitted.
"Brock only sang that once!" chimed Cindy firmly.
Sabrina hummed, chalking that up as yet another song that Brock had heard before from his previous life. She'd have to ask him about it. There was obviously a story there if he could recall it. From what she'd heard, it had a folksy tune to it.
"Well, it was a nice tune, Salvadore," Sabrina complimented, causing him to duck his head shyly.
"Thanks," he replied.
The kitchen returned to their previous dancing with the girls singing their song.
Within a few minutes, the children had food, she had coffee, and there were even some leftovers for the others to claim.
A minor flex of her psychic ability allowed her to determine that there would only just be enough for the children.
Hmmm, shame about that she thought as she smirked into her coffee.
"Ponyta! Ponyta!" cheered Suzie as Sabrina's coffee cup deposited itself in the sink.
Sabrina straightened as the girls approached her. A moment later saw them all within the Saffron Ponyta club's teleportation pad.
"Morning girls!" called the lead teacher as she trotted past atop a Rapidash.
"Good morning, Miss Madison!" the girls replied as they raced to see to the chores all girls needed to do before their lesson.
"Good morning Tinkerbell! Good morning Blueflame!" called Suzie as she rushed past the stables of the various Ponyta.
Sabrina could hear Tilly and Cindy repeating the same greetings as the older girl escorted her youngest sibling to her own ponyta, an older, gentle mare by the name of Honeyflower.
Sabrina allowed herself to drift through the stables, greeting the various workers along with the various members of the Ponyta club that spotted her.
'Miss' Madison, who was not just a teacher but also the head of the club slid up next to her. "Sabrina I wanted to ask if you still insis—"
"Yes," Sabrina stated, cutting her off. "I do insist on having the girls practise using Agililty with all of their pokemon. It's a move I want the Ponyta and then the Rapidash to internalise."
Madison's lips thinned and while Sabrina could cut her off again, she knew that the other woman needed to say the words to feel heard. "And you're not going to sell any of the pokemon to the racing circuit? Agility is the bread and butter of those people!"
"I am not going to sell any of my Ponyta. You're also forgetting that I'm not just having them use Agility but also Rest, Charm, and Play Rough," Sabrina pointed out clinically.
"Yes… But, the thing is we were worried that you were laying a false trail. It's not like others can't change those moves, and in the right situations, those could be quite effective in a Rapidash race."
"Madison," Sabrina turned so she was facing the other woman. "I have no plans to sell any of the Ponyta. While I will not be leveling my true intentions for them, I will state that the secondary and tertiary benefits of hosting this club have great enough meaning that even if the primary target fails to be realised," Sabrina raised a finger. "Which, from the research I have conducted and reviewed, is highly, highly improbable, I will be keeping all of my Ponyta and any of the eggs they lay."
Madison's face twitched once then she slumped her shoulders. "Very well Sabrina. I'm sorry to ambush you like this."
"No, you're not," Sabrina replied as she turned and continued to walk, nodding to a nearby Hypno that was mucking out several stalls with a practical use of Psychic.
Starmie and Slowpoke trundled through the stable, filling up water troughs, or lazing about to give some Ponyta companions that wouldn't mind their fiery nature.
Sabrina passed one Slowpoke that was being used as a training prop for how to brush hair for several young girls.
The slowpoke looked rather pleased with this turn of events and it hadn't even registered the full lesson. By the end Sabrina knew it would be a blissed out pokemon.
At the back of the stables more stalls were dedicated for Girafarig with a much taller stall set aside for Farigiraf who towered over his fellows.
Madison continued to march along next to Sabrina, trying to catch her eye to talk about other points, but as far as Sabrina was concerned, their discussion on Madison's fear of sale was done. She'd take a few more days of thinking it over before accepting it as truth when the next few eggs hatched and a construction crew arrived to expand the stables.
It was a good thing she was one of the best Ponyta handlers and riding teachers around, as she was terrible at paperwork and working under someone.
With how Much Sabrina was paying her, she knew it would only be a year or two more before the woman departed to create her own stable.
Which would be right around the time that the first case of a variant Ponyta should come around.
Everyone's eyes were still turned towards Brock and his fancy new research lab, unaware that Sabrina had both a few months on the Growlithe experiment, along with a much more saturated environment for the promotion of specific typings in pokemon.
Sabrina ducked into a sealed off room without so much as waving a keycard. The pokemon manning the door knew her psychic signature well enough to open the doors for her and allow her into the dual turned triple purpose room.
Spread through the room multiple eggs rested within incubators while around the room various psychic pokemon meditated.
Powering the room along two walls, several Pikachu, Pichu, and single older Raichu sat talking among themselves.
To everyone, they were a whimsical purchase to give a few retired fighting pokemon a good home while cutting down on electrical bills, which was somewhat true.
It wasn't the whole truth, however.
An Alolan Raichu was something Sabrina desired greatly alongside the Galarian Rapidash. It would be a perfect threat to Karen along with expanding on a niche of fighting for her.
Sabrina marched to the middle of the room where a mat was laid out. The Meditite and the journeymen psychics within the room looked up as she claimed a seat.
She nodded her head.
"Today we will be developing our psychic abilities by creating Barriers and Reflects. This is considered an advanced skill but I know that everyone within this room…" Sabrina trailed off and gave Madison, who was still lingering a pointed look.
The trainee Psychics turned and stared at her.
Madison gave the eggs a quick glance, fretting like a mother Kangaskhan.
"Madison, I believe you have a seven o'clock class waiting for you. For the last time, do not worry about the work we're doing here. It is important."
"But must you do this in the hatchery?" Madison asked.
"Yes. It helps emphasise control," Sabrina replied. "Each of these students of the psychic arts has enough control to be here, otherwise they would not."
It was even the truth. It did force the students to be more controlled. Surrounding them by eggs which while protected by hatcheries, were still fragile and at risk for psychics that weren't in control of their abilities.
Not that any of the trainees here had that issue.
Journeymen trainees had enough of a grasp on their skills that they weren't ever going to be a problem.
But, the show of faith by Sabrina helped them with their confidence, as did her personal attention, sporadic as it was.
Most of the time, her father ran this class.
Sabrina liked to have a personal touch to this however, as she and her Elite pokemon, whenever they trained within this room, typically caused a notable uptick of psychic energies that lingered for a few hours.
Sabrina didn't have any conclusive evidence for her theory, but she still hypothesised that by being present they were shortening the period of time it would take for a Psychic Ponyta to emerge by a few days.
Which might not seem much, but it time more and more training sessions that figure grew.
If she suspected a proper Psychic Ponyta was about to hatch, she'd expedite Madison's departure to stop her sticking around.
Just because she didn't want Madison still around for that.
Because she didn't like Madison, and she didn't have to justify that to anyone.
Was it evil?
Possibly.
Did she care?
No.
Suzie, Tilly, and Cindy would be sad for all of a second when Madison departed only for a newer, better teacher to emerge that they'd love.
Who that was Sabrina wasn't sure yet, but she'd find them.
If she had to, she'd build someone up. It wouldn't be hard. Sponsoring a few promising young girls was already underway with several of the club members having potential.
She had time, and several other objectives that would hold her focus, which wasn't to say that she was ignoring her development of variant pokemon.
She had many irons in the fire, but more than enough skill to juggle them all.
She offered her students a faint smile to boost their confidence as Madison left the room..
"Let's begin shall we," she began, her smile growing as she noted a few Pikachu moved closer to listen in.
As Brock sometimes said, it was all coming together.
And that wasn't even getting into the work she was doing with Kirlia, and some Ralts that she'd acquired.
Male Ralts, for reasons she didn't want to think about, were only slightly less sought out than their female counterparts.
Femboys were apparently quite popular in certain circles of society.
It wasn't as if male Gardevoir were any weaker either.
Their popularity would probably spike with what she was going to unveil in the coming year.
Finding a Dawnstone had been as simple as asking Brock about which pokemon evolved using them. That had resulted in a small lecture as to his theory regarding the nature of the Snorunt that plagued Mahogany Town's mountains.
A ghost-ice type would be perfect for escaping rangers and being able to phase through the walls. A short trip up there with her team had seen a few knocked out Snorunt along with several rather haughty Froslass.
And just like that, she'd been able to find a sizable chunk of Dawnstone that she was looking forward to converting into several unique pokemon.
Oak would be rabid with another new pokemon being revealed.
Kong would probably rupture something with the knowledge that a potent fighting type pokemon required that he expand his methods into taking in what was arguably one of the weakest pokemon around with Ralts and Kirlia, both pokemon that were polar opposites to his style.
Karen… Sabrina couldn't wait. With a Galade, a Galarian Rapidash, and a Medicham she'd have so many options to use against her.
Even better was that two of those additions were capable of Megaevolving.
Sabrina truly was glad that when Brock had come around and smashed through her badge team with Titan in his Pupitar form, that she'd decided to follow him.
Best decision of her life.
_______________
Missy had to hold back tears as around the gym people raised glasses of drink to her.
"Here's to a wonderful student, employee and friend!" Brock declared. "We're sorry to see you go but excited for the future that you're heading towards! Give the Ace tournament hell!"
Missy beamed as the friends she'd made throughout the year, both humans and pokemon roared their approval.
With the end of the year approaching a new Ace Circuit was about to begin.
It would be the perfect time for her and a lot of others to debut.
Despite having not faced any Ace trainers before, she already had a lot of people interested in her.
She'd thought she'd gone unnoticed with her work in the background but apparently there had been multiple scouts watching her for big brand names.
Before the new season even started she had several of them contacting her, offering what seemed like favourable deals for stabling rights, coaching support and housing as long as she promoted their product.
She was honestly a bit overwhelmed with their offers. During a quiet period after the cake had been cut and various groups had formed to talk with each other Missy broke off her own group and bobbed her head to the side, asking quietly to have a final private word with Brock.
Brock had followed along to the side. "Everything alright? Don't tell me you're having second thoughts about leaving."
"No, not that. I just have a bunch of offers from some corporations already. I didn't really have any idea what to do with them and I was hoping you could give me some insight?" she asked hopefully.
"Hmmmm, not as much as you might think," he said, shooting down her hopes. "That being said, it's both good and bad that they're offering deals this early. They think you've got potential but they're not sure how much. Some of them are trying to get you while you're not as expensive."
Missy nodded thoughtfully.
Brock watched her for a few moments before shrugging. "If you want my honest opinion? I don't think they don't know what you're truly worth. Sure it seems good but don't sell yourself short, alright?"
"But some of them are really good deals," she murmured.
"Eh, if that's what you think I won't say don't sign on, but… what do you want?" he asked.
That got Missy really thinking about what was to come. She'd learned a lot and seriously grown as a trainer. Her pokemon team was now bristling with power, skill and wisdom.
The question struck her and she found herself holding back from answering off the cuff.
This wasn't a leap before you looked situation.
When she'd first come here she'd wanted to learn how to evolve her Rhydon to the next level and from there take her Ace career as far as she could.
But now that she was about to begin she felt… more than a little lost. She'd known what came next last year, but now she didn't have a clear road map.
For several moments, she didn't say anything. She just thought about what she wanted.
Was stabling rights, a nice house and support the extent of her desires?
Brock hummed. "I think that you have the work ethic and skills to take this as far as you want. So, what do you want? Think about it and consider these offers they are giving you. Is it enough to set you up with what you want or allow you to take that next step? Make sure that anything you sign isn't going to weigh you down.
Brock shrugged. "This is something I couldn't show you too much of. The Gym is too successful." He rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe that's something I should get a guest lecturer on?" He mused only to shake his head.
"Ah well, no more training wheels once the season starts."
"Heh, you make it sound like I'm going to crash," Missy chuckled only for Brock to give her a long thoughtful look.
The silence said more than words could have. She swallowed.
"You'll get back up, and don't expect it to just come from lost battles. Life has a way of knocking you around," Brock replied seriously. "If you do need to come talk, my door and that of a lot of other people will be open."
Then he'd grinned at her, "Still, life's meant to be lived so make sure you enjoy it. Sooo, at the end of the day, I guess my advice is to go for what is going to make you happy."
An old memory flared up from when she'd set off on her journey. It had come back to her a few times during the last year when training with Brock or even when she was just working in the Gym.
It was probably because every now and then Brock would hum an old tune about 'being the very best… like no one ever was,' and that stuck with her.
"... I want to be the best," Missy announced slowly, tasting the sound of it.
Brock hummed, leaning in and cupping a hand around his ear. "What was that? I couldn't hear you? Were you whispering just now?"
She straightened her shoulders as the spark ignited in her chest. She locked eyes with Brock and felt their spirits, or aura as she'd come to learn from him clash.
"I want to be the best I can be. Sooo, I'm going to aim for the top of the Ace rankings," she said firmly.
Brock grinned. "Nice, I hope you're going to be up there when the Qualifiers for the World Cup comes around in a year or two," he said.
Missy blinked only to perk up. "Oh right, it's not just Gym Leaders and Elite Four of each region is it?"
"Nope! When the world cup comes around only sixteen people from each Region are allowed to represent," Brock said, adopting his lecturing pose.
Missy would have giggled in another situation but she was too interested in what he was telling her.
"So when we're in the lead up to the World Cup, we will have the Qualifiers which sees the top sixteen Ace Trainers fight against Elite Four, and the Gym Leaders to determine who is the best to represent our region," Brock said.
He made a show of dropping one finger. "Now, one of those sixteen places is always going to go to the Champion so that only leaves fifteen spaces in truth. So, you've got slightly less than two years before the qualifiers come around."
"What happens then?" she asked.
"I was a bit too young to know this at the time, but each of the regions usually run a boot camp with the top sixteen training against each other to help bolster their strengths and give their region a better showing. While some of the trainers might end up facing each other, they have a better chance of advancing through this while also increasing the quality of the matches that occur."
Brock smirked. "Considering how the 'world' just expanded, there might be some reworking of the qualifiers and how many come through for the event in truth. It's still up in the air, but it's being discussed. Lots of people want to know who the best is so it's going to happen."
"Neat, guess it would be kind of cool to snag one of those spots, just have to get lucky and not face you or Sabrina neh?"
Brock snorted. "Hey, where did your earlier confidence go? Don't be afraid to face us. Seek us out instead," Brock said as a fire entered his eyes. "You're not going to be the best by avoiding those fights. If you want to be the best? You gotta beat the best."
Missy blinked and while outwardly she giggled she inwardly made a note of that. It was a cool saying and she was totally going to use it during an interview to hype up interest in herself.
It was also a good mantra to live by.
"Well, don't regret it when I come knocking with a challenge for you," she said with more bravado than she felt.
Once again Brock turned serious and the air became charged. "I'll look forward to it," he replied with not a lick of hesitation.
Then, as quickly as he turned it on he turned it off with a smile and a bob of his head to the side. "Come on, let's get you back to your party," he said and Missy followed in his wake.
Walking behind him, Missy found herself rather surprised at how tall he was, and it struck her then that this was probably one of the last times she'd follow after him.
Although… considering their discussion right now…
Missy sped up and overtook Brock, bursting forth to rejoin the party, causing Brock to blink in surprise only to chuckle as he caught on to what she was doing.
He gave her a nod and moved away to talk with Chansey who shot her hand at Brock and began to examine him for any lingering effects of his recent cold.
Dennis and Rocko nodded as she approached. "Missy, getting some last minute wisdom?" Rocko asked with his usual lazy drawl.
Dennis nodded firmly but said nothing.
Missy chuckled. "Yeah, she did, and I wanted to try talking you both around again to signing on with my entourage if I could. I think you'd be great steadying voices for me."
"Ho?" Rocko said, glancing towards Dennis. "That's kind of shameless, you know? Asking for both of us!"
Dennis shook his head stiffly. "I will not be doing that. I belong here aiding Brock in the running of this Gym! Also my wife and family rely on the steady income with how big our family has become. While I might get more from signing on with you should you advance security matters."
Rocko chuckled and waved a hand to show he didn't mean anything cruel by it when Missy's expression dropped. "Sorry, sorry, it's just that was such a Dennis answer. He could have just said no."
Dennis shifted uneasily and Missy felt her smile coming back. "Well I thought I had to try. I would offer the same to Jackson as he's extremely knowledgeable but…" she shook her head and waved a hand at the other party goers, indicating his lack of appearance.
Dennis shook his head. 'It's not a mark against you that other people have different paths in life Missy. While I'm sorry I won't be there to help you, that doesn't mean I don't think you can't find others."
"Ah well, at least Alexa is going to help me with interviewing for some support crew once I debut," she announced.
"Nice, she's got a talent at that," Rocko offered and Missy nodded only to bid goodbye as she moved to another group to talk.
By the end of the afternoon she'd spoken with everyone she could and made sure to give each of Brock's little siblings and his Growlithe pack several cuddles farewell.
From there, she picked up her gear and departed for a house that was built to handle large pokemon outside the city limits. She'd gotten enough money together to rent thanks to Sabrina taking her aside during Brock's last tournament to give her advice on which bets she should make.
It kind of stung to realise that if she'd gotten fully behind Sabrina's advice she might have been able to outright buy a house like this, but sadly it was a lesson learned about missed opportunities.
For the rest of the week Missy trained, waiting for the season to start. She still got several agents approaching her, but each time their offer remained the same while they continued to apply pressure.
They spoke of walking away and her not playing it smart but she just smiled and guided them to the door.
They might have tried to linger if it wasn't for her Rhyperior and Magnezone looming over her shoulders while Arcanine curled around her.
As soon as the season officially began she went hard, directing picking challenges as high as she could go.
As an unranked Ace trainer she wasn't able to go straight for the big names like Joshua, Corey, Mirea, Arthur, Neesha, or Boss Doug, but she could go after anyone under the rank of four hundred until she established herself. Then she could go upwards of twenty ranks with each win granting her Ace points that would advance her ranking.
She queued up the match and arranged the match to be as quick as possible, then she put down the only bet she was allowed to.
Her to win, all in.
Was it foolish?
Perhaps.
But it also made her focus as she put everything on the line. She drilled her pokemon in preparation.
When the day of the match arrived she got a small card from Brock, signed by all the people she'd had at the party.
'Rock em!' the card declared and she giggled all the way to the battle zone.
It was only when she stood across her opponent that she settled her nerves and got serious.
She locked eyes with her foe and found them wanting with how lacking in presence they were.
She barely felt a spark from them.
"Begin!" called the referee.
"Go Magnezone!" Missy shouted, sending out her first pokemon. She sort of wished that she could start things off with her starter but that would be opening herself up too much.
If they'd done their homework, they would know her Arcanine and her Rhyperior would be the stand out pokemon on her roster.
Sadly it seems she could have sent her Arcanine out as instead of a water or a ground or rock pokemon, they had instead sent out Grass type with Victrebell.
"Tch FC!" she barked straight away to get things rolling.
She'd need to adjust for her pokemon's moves not being as effective and perhaps either do a build—
Her Magnezone's Flash Cannon blazed across the field and slammed into Victrebell who was sent flying with a shriek of surprise.
Victrebell hit the far hill and slumped, out cold from a single hit.
Missy blinked.
Her opponent blinked.
The ref blinked.
Then he raised a flag to indicate that Victrebell was unable to battle, and the first exchange of the match was going Missy's way.
Missy continued to blink as her mind processed what she'd just seen.
Had… had Ace trainers always been this weak?
She was left more confused when she utterly dominated the rest of the match with only Magnezone having to take to the field as they proceeded to wipe though her opponents bug, flying and water type pokemon.
She left with a sizable prize for winning the match, her bet, as well as several useful Ace points to start her career.
It was only after several more matches in the lower rungs of the Ace tournament that she started to cotton on to what was happening.
The Ace trainers weren't weaker than she remembered. She'd just gotten used to watching or fighting against Brock herself.
When Brock had told her to aim high he hadn't been joking.
It was a strange realisation to come to when you understood that you were strong.
Suddenly that idea of making it to the World Qualifiers didn't seem so ridiculous.
She made sure to send a card back to Brock, thanking him for all he did when she bought a house after her fourth straight victory.
With her early showing the companies that approached her also changed their tunes.
While she was still sad about leaving the Pewter Gym, she had to admit that she'd come out the better for it.
And if this was how she fared, she couldn't wait to watch some of the other youngsters coming through like Greta, Crystal, A.J. or Yolanda fare with the coming circuit.
The future certainly looked promising.
_____________
A.N. thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!
I decided to show a bit of what Sabrina is up to with the various pokemon she's soon going to have on her roster. Aka Gallade, while Alolan Raichu, and Galarian Rapidash as still works in progress.
As for Missy? Well, people have pointed out that I have trouble letting characters go.
Considering how we're in a break period, now is a good time to shed a lot of the side characters that aren't going to be affecting anything while still showing them striding off into the world having grown stronger at Pewter.
Thanks also go to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!