Knight surged forward with intent blazing through him.
He'd always been a passionate pokemon full of heart. His emotions had only grown stronger with the introduction of Link, and Gawain, who were steadfast friends with him.
But the biggest change had been when Empress started to 'court' him. From casual observation she'd witnessed his ability to interact with much younger, weaker pokemon with ease and through a desire to interact with her future eggs she had observed him enough for him to notice.
She wasn't able to 'ask' for his help. She was too proud for that.
It was ridiculous but her weakness in some ways was that she was too strong, but that was perhaps an aspect of her environment more than anything else.
She'd been forced to survive on her own after being left behind by what I suspected was a branch of the Crusher Tribe during some great calamity dozens if not even a hundred or so years ago.
She'd been left in one of the roughest areas in the pokemon world with the Silver Mountain ranges requiring a pokemon to be lucky and strong during their early life to emerge.
This would have only been worse for her when she became a Pupitar.
Then as a Tyranitar she would have faced multiple challengers for her peak, a peak that obviously held a lot of sentimental value for her.
She'd held that place for generations during wars and hadn't left until a Moltres fighting Mewtwo had forced her out.
And this proud, ancient pokemon had seen something wonderful in Knight.
Something that was honest and strong in a way she wasn't and he'd offered it to her.
I wasn't going to rush it, but I heavily suspected that in the next few months we were going to see another clutch of eggs from her but that would be for the future.
Right now Knight was stepping onto the field with pokemon that looked up to him and even loved him watching on.
He wanted to impress.
The only issue was that I was setting him up against one of the strongest Steel type pokemon around.
I wasn't worried however, and I slipped into the bond with him and let my energy feed into him. I felt the thrum of his heart and the focus locking him into this fight.
On my belt Regirock offered its own support.
I smirked and locked eyes with Brandon.
So many people got caught up with Titan, Bertha, Jormungandr, and even Empress.
Now it was time to show the world just how great my other pokemon were.
"Earthquake!" barked Brandon.
Registeel lifted its leg and stomped, causing the field to once more buckle.
Instead of speaking, I fed Knight what I wanted from.
He leapt into the air, tucking into a ball even as his plate began to clunk and click into place all over his body, shifting in strange ways and becoming more streamlined while also reducing his weight.
It would help to limit the damage that an Earthquake would do to him while also keeping him airborne just a little longer.
Meanwhile, I had to deal with the Earthquake.
I bounced up and flexed, only to jump a moment later when the podium's shock absorbers shrieked in protest and gave up.
It hit the ground but stood up a moment later, knowing I was going to have to deal with a lot of those in the future.
As Knight began to descend he tucked and braced harder. I had him spin up and begin powering his own Earthquake all the way down.
He hit the ground like an angry metal meteor, causing it to boom out and slightly negate the Earthquake Registeel had triggered.
I felt the pain and shock spike through Knight as he unraveled and stood.
I took as much of the pain as I could off him, grinding my teeth so hard I started to feel my muscles in my jaw lock and my vision blacked out for a moment.
I pushed through it and glared at Registeel as Knight stood tall, uniting my intent with Knight to win this fight.
Our point of impact had rocked the ground around Registeel, and it was just lifting its leg for another stomp.
Something that we absolutely could not allow.
So I had Knight jump him.
Knight leapt once again, and with his lighter, faster frame he rocketed into Registeel with a perfectly executed Brick Break to the face of Registeel.
Registeel beeped out in shock at the hit and I grinned, knowing that had to have been a critical hit.
Both pokemon hit the ground but Brandon scowled. "Another Earthquake!" he roared.
Registeel twitched on the ground and caused a weak Earthquake to rock the arena.
From where I was standing I barely felt it, but once more a wave of pain washed through Knight.
He tilted his head and groaned in pain before teetering.
I stabbed myself into him trying to mentally hold him up. "Come on Buddy! You got this Legendary on the ropes!" I barked through strained jaw muscles.
"Do this for you and them!" I called.
Knight twisted, and while he didn't take his eyes off his foes, he still registered my shout, and that of the shouts coming from the Larvitar Trio.
He also registered the quiet gaze of Empress observing his fight.
With Knight flagging from the double super effective hits I decided to push for a hail mary.
Reversal.
I shoved it into the forefront of his mind and gave him the best way to set it off.
Knight must have agreed as instead of resisting the fall that was claiming him he slammed his tail into the ground and propelled himself forward and down.
He descended upon Registeel as it was just starting to rise, hitting it with a perfectly executed elbow drop that would have been banned in a fighting tournament.
In a pokemon match it was anything goes, and we slammed into Registeel's head once more and sent a clang through the arena as fighting energy knocked Registeel back onto the ground.
The golem of metal hitting the ground caused another minor quake and what little bracing Knight had vanished as his footing slipped out from under him.
He slammed into the ground and his vision swam.
This was not good.
"Stand up!" I urged. "Stand up buddy! That's all I want!" I called, knowing that it wouldn't matter anything for the match, but would make the biggest of differences for him.
His heart ached even as his body coursed with pain and fatigue that was threatening to claim him.
Failure loomed within his mind and I pushed as hard as I could through the fog, feeding him energy with Regirock backing me up.
I shoved a feeling of grit into him and something ignited in his heart.
With a mighty roar, he rose, armour dinted, his heart thundering and legs threatening to give out, he stood.
He was Knight and he was mighty!
He stood tall and locked eyes with Registeel, who rose like some slab of metal, tilting from the point of contact with the floor.
It looked unnatural, but for a pokemon like Registeel, natural laws sometimes didn't apply.
Like how it had also taken two super-effective hits and was still standing.
Legendary pokemon were just built stronger.
In front of us, Registeel twitched and its eyes glowed.
"Metal Claw!" Brandon commanded, and Registeel took a swipe at us.
"Reversal!" I commanded once more and, without really thinking why, I ducked and twisted my body along with Knight as we dodged the oncoming Metal Claw.
Then we grabbed hold of Registeel, and with a roar that tore through both of our throats, we threw Registeel with a judo style toss that had us slamming our shoulders into Registeel.
I felt Knight's shoulder give at the action but he still carried through.
Registeel soared through the air and slammed into the ground.
Once more, the earth rocked. Knight felt a wave of pain wash through him.
He stumbled as the pain became too much, and I had to work to stay with him as our bond fluctuated from the agony he was in.
He slammed a fist into the ground and fell to his knees, where he heaved in huge breaths of air.
Registeel twitched on the ground, then with a long beep it rose to a standing position, its eyes blinking weakly.
"Hmmmm I have to admit I didn't think you'd be able to stand against one of those, let alone three," Brandon mused.
He considered his pokemon. "Humph! I think this makes us two all now, no?"
I huffed, recognising that he was throwing me an olive branch but for Knight's sake I tested Brandon's patience.
"Are you kidding me? We can do this all day!" I said and Knight clenched before standing tall.
Brandon smirked. "Young men and their bravado," he said with a shake of his head. "Ahhh, it's a strange mix of making me feel old and yet young to fight you Brock!" he called.
He raised his pokeball and returned his Registeel which had me sighing in relief. I raised Knight's ball and copied Brandon.
"Excellent work buddy, you held off a Legendary pokemon," I stated, pushing my pride in him through the bond.
With two of our pokemon out of the fight, both Brandon and I turned to our last pokemon.
Shrek marched forward, a glint of desire in his eyes while a weight of expectations clung to him.
Hmmm that wouldn't do at all.
I drew in a breath to rally my own energies. That last one had taken a chunk out of me. "Shrek! Deep breaths!" I called as I took a few solidifying breaths myself to get myself under control.
I kept my eyes open but just the act of settling myself helped both me and Shrek as the calm washed through Shrek, helping him to relax.
Brandon's expression softened as Regice took centre stage.
Unlike with Regirock, or Registeel, I noticed the shift in the temperature with each metre it moved.
Unlike the others that stomped forward on heavy limbs, Regice hovered when it moved. Or perhaps it was a glide? The ground underneath it cracked and froze and my own breath suddenly exploded out of my mouth in a long plume, like I was exhaling mist.
I felt my exposed skin prickle at the sudden shift.
"And you kept that pokemon behind you?" I asked out loud.
Brandon nodded. "You get used to the cold, handling such a pokemon."
"I'm sure Lorelei or Pryce would agree," I replied as I rolled my shoulders. With a small incline of my head Brandon nodded, and just like that we began the final fight of this match.
Shrek dug his hands into the broken rock at his feet and hurled Stone Edge straight at his opponent.
"Ice Beam evasion!" he barked, causing Regice to unleash a beam of ice that howled forth only to slam into the twin boulders.
Regice twirled like a figure skater, albeit a sumo figure skater, only to twist and level another of its stumpy arms at Shrek.
Another Ice Beam tore its way across the field from a slightly different angle, but we were ready with Shrek hopping to the side and firing back with A Trio of Hydro Pumps that forced Regice to continue skating.
Instead of firing all straight at Regice however we lead the shots, causing one to slam into Regice and stagger it slightly. Sadly, the third shot passed wide but a hit was still something on the board.
"Lock On!" Brandon called and I grimaced, knowing that it would create a serious threat for us going forward.
It meant we'd have to block rather than evading going forward.
Or…I did some quick mental calculations and made a call.
Shrek made as if he was tucking low to the ground only to suddenly dive into it.
We did this right as Brandon ordered another Ice Beam.
With Shrek underground thanks to Dig we 'evaded' the attack once again.
Better still? The attack froze over the hole and caused Brandon to frown as from his angle he couldn't see how Shrek had evaded.
"Huh? Shit! Undergroun—" he started to order as he realised what I'd done only for shrek to launch out of the ground and slam into Regice.
The contact caused a frost to coat Shrek's arm however and a chill feeling radiated through the bond.
Was mere contact with Regice causing us to become Frozen?
Shit!
I acted fast and ordered Shrek to slam a Hammer Arm into Regicie, blowing it away with a super effective attack and shattering the ice that had started to form.
The chill stuck with Shrek however and I grimaced as Regice twirled back into an aggressive stance.
"Blizzard!" Brandon called, and the temperature dropped further as snow began to whip around the arena.
Eh I'd felt worse, however and instead of balking, I had Shrek perform another Dig to evade the attack only for the huge icicles to slam into the ground and cause a rumble that had the ground shift slightly.
It was enough to pinch Shrek but little more.
Regice didn't appear to know Earthquake, unlike Registeel and Regirock which was making this a much easier battle for us.
We were getting away with tricks and shifts that would have been punished heavily against others.
"Stop hovering and use Bulldoze to tear up the ground!" Brandon called, switching tactics.
It once again caused a quake to crush Shrek slightly but we pushed on as Regice rampaged. It swung its arms about and prepared to unleash a Superpower at the ground only for Shrek to launch out of the ground behind it with a glowing fist.
"Spin!" ordered Brandon and Regice spun quickly.
It wasn't fast enough, with Shrek once more slamming into Regice and sending it hurtling back.
Only for Shrek's arm to fully frost over as we touched the frozen ground.
"Shit!" I swore as Shrek tugged at the frozen stuck limb.
"Ice Beam!"
"Stone Edge!" I ordered, both verbally and through the bond.
It might have seemed like I was delaying but in truth I had Shrek rip the rock from underneath his frozen limb and hurl that, causing the ice holding him down to fracture and break.
With that done we had half a second to dive into the ground with another Dig as the Ice Beam consumed the boulder and ploughed on.
Cold washed over Shrek and I grimaced at the stabbing pain that he felt for a moment. Then he pushed on, digging as quickly as he could to warm his body up.
"Rest," Brandon called, causing my head to snap up.
Regice's eyes dulled and it slumped like it was sleeping. The damage it had accrued over the course of the fight began to fade as the healing effects took hold.
A murmur went through the crowd as they believed Brandon had me now, only for Shrek to shoot out of the ground well away from Regice with two boulders held in either fist.
"Stone Edge!" I intoned as Shrek launched his projectiles.
They slammed into Regice and caused it to spasm back.
When Shrek landed he followed up again, and again, and again, smashing into the resting form of Regice.
Regice's eyes brightened for a moment only for another boulder to nail it in the face and send it toppling to the ground where it crashed out with a loud boom that reverberated through the arena.
Shrek kept his arms raised, more than ready to hurl his next attack.
Huge gouts of mist bloomed from his lungs.
We both watched, ready to act. Another pokemon I might have thought, we'd done enough to win. If this wasn't a friendly match I might have had Shrek strike the downed pokemon, but I held him back.
Regice twitched and I started to give the order to continue only for a red beam to shoot from Brandon's side of the field.
I blinked in surprise. He'd returned his pokemon?
Brandon nodded. "Well colour me surprised. You do live up to the stories. I think you've done enough to prove that you can close this match out. I concede," he declared.
I blinked in shock and barked a laugh of surprise only to glance down at Shrek who was shaking in fatigue.
"You did it buddy!" I called.
I gave the two pokeballs on my pokebelt a soft stroke. "You all did," I murmured. Knight responded with a deep feeling of fatigue and gratitude that shifted to pride while Regirock just seemed… pleased with itself?
Hmmm, interesting.
The bond flickered out a moment later with Regirock, but I kept smiling. I'd made some serious progress.
The podium on Brandon's side lowered while my own whined before smoking. Brandon sighed. "That'll make the fifth one this week," he muttered. "They need to build those things stronger."
"Maybe you should bill the companies for the chance to experiment against a Legendary?" I joked as I jumped over the edge to land on the frozen ground.
I skittered for a moment before spiking my rock aura into the ground to hold steady. The ground cracked a little but then held as I straightened up.
Brandon marched up to me and shoved his hand out to me. "Here as promised, the Brave Symbol."
I took the symbol and shook my head. "You know I didn't expect this, right?"
"Eh, like it matters. You proved yourself and respect where it's due. You earned it, so it's yours." Brandon smirked. "But now that we've done this, expect other Brains and Kings or whatever their titles are to challenge you, yeah?"
I stared at him, and then glanced around at the various cameras and members of the crowd recording our match. "Why do I get the feeling you've cursed me?" I asked as my hand reached for Shrek's necklace.
Hmmm, no change to the water stone. Damn.
Brandon raised an eyebrow at me but I shook my head slightly, indicating that it hadn't worked.
Brandon just shrugged. "Eh, I felt it was a long shot honestly. I've had my pokemon for a while now and they've been around stones and I haven't seen anything like that develop spontaneously.
"Hmmm, interesting. If you don't mind me asking, how did you find yours?"
"Ruined temple in the wilds that used to be a place of worship. It no longer caters to anyone and the place is run down. I think once upon a time it held meaning but now?" Brandon shook his head. "I found Regirock and Registeel there as defenders but they were sluggish and dare I say it, depressed?" He grimaced. "They looked wrong to me, I can't quite say what it was about them but they didn't look healthy. So I offered to look after them instead of fighting them."
Brandon shook his head. "Somehow that was enough," he said.
"And Regice?" I asked.
"Found them in the dead of winter in a deep cave… again, guarding what appeared to be a destroyed series of items. They'd torn apart, and worn down by the passages of time."
Brandon stared off to the side. "I remember there being the faintest feeling of… Well I'm not sure what it was. But the items were like smashed marbles."
"... what colour was it?" I asked.
"Pinky blue," I tried collecting the fragments but they blew away like dust in the wind when I interacted with them." He shook his head. "I even tried using a psychic pokemon to help but again it dissolved. I only got a few pictures of the set up. Again, Regice agreed to follow me."
"Purpose," I mused. "You gave them purpose again where they had lost theirs."
"That's what I suspected as well. They're good pokemon to have to defend an area I've found, but simple, oddly so. They don't need food or water and they barely react to anything."
"Try letting them interact with children or young pokemon," I replied.
"Hmmm? What makes you say that?"
"I've seen and felt my Regirock react strongly in those situations. It harbours a strong urge to protect, especially if young children or pokemon are in danger. Through children I think my pokemon has… grown out of its shell."
"Hmmm," Brandon murmured. "I won't ask about where you found yours as I checked your record. Best I don't mention it aloud," he said, eyes flicking to the crowd.
I nodded in thanks. I didn't want adventure-seeking trainers to try raiding the Tree of Beginning. That would only end in problems all around.
Sabrina floated down with all of her pokemon while my own team stalked down the stairs to join us. The triplets were quick to approach me and bounce up and down at my feet.
I shot them a look. "You want to see Knight?"
"Tar!" "tar!" Tar!" they all squeaked eagerly,
"Alright but be gentle, he just fought a Legendary and is pretty weak right now."
"Tyran," rumbled Empress with a tone that made me rethink releasing him at all.
"Maybe save that for later tonight?" I asked, earning a snort from Titan that sounded like a laugh while the other pokemon apart from the triplets coughed.
Empress just huffed and waved for me to release Knight. I did so and straight away started spraying him with potion to heal him up as much as I could. He swayed despite this, but Empress was quick to step in and offer him support.
I shot her a look. Was this her plan all along? She just wanted to nurse him?
I took the cap off another potion bottle and handed it to her to apply only for her to splash it into his eyes.
I bit my lip and stepped back, I mean. It worked but…
Knight shot her a thumbs up while clenching his eyes shut.
Stepping further away from that I turned to find Sabrina giving Brandon a stern look. "—just be a patrol. Now I'm going to have to step in on a few of them."
Brandon shrugged. "Eh, good experience all around I say. The other young ones will want to show off and try and force Brock to use a stronger pokemon like his Tyranitar, Rhyperior, or that Steelic of his."
"Makes me think I should only head into Palace Town for the next few days," I replied.
"Heh, you think Old Spenser won't try to throw down? He will."
"We're only here for a week," I said, rubbing my forehead in exasperation.
"Don't worry if he challenges us, I'll handle him," Sabrina announced before glancing at Shrek and Knight. "Hmmm, it didn't work."
Brandon and I both just nodded sadly. "Yeah, we'll have to keep an eye out for the long-term method, but I doubt it will work," he stated with a shrug. "Speaking of Legendary pokemon. Watch out for Noland. He's Fiorian through and through but he won't hold back with that Articuno that he has in his back pocket."
"Noted," I replied. With all this talking of getting into fights I decided that it would be best to cherry-pick where we stayed.
The Battle Pike sounded the most reasonable next stopping point. Lucy shouldn't be too caught up in this crazy of fighting us just to prove herself. She knew where we stood.
Sabrina gave the crowd a long look. "I couldn't help but notice that there are several members of the Blackthorn Clan in attendance."
Brandon smirked. "Caught that did you? Wouldn't you believe it, they booked in to challenge me right after Lance sent that report of yours my way. Think I'll have to use different pokemon for their challenge though, cause Brock's team fought so hard they tired my pokemon out."
That… had to be by design.
For all that I'd thought Brandon rather simple, it appeared he had multiple irons in the fire with this little gambit of his. He knew I had the potential to fight and beat a Legendary pokemon, and he earned respect for pushing my team as far as he did, but even win or lose he'd set himself up to win at another objective, which was to not be made a pawn.
That got a slow nod from me. I could respect the hustle.
Sabrina shot him an unimpressed look. "Next time just challenge someone like Koga to a duel," she muttered before waving a hand to the exit.
"Nice to meet you, anyhow Brandon, I'll look forward to any results that do present themself," I stated as I offered my hand.
"Hmmm, you're a good man Brock," he replied as she shook my hand firmly. "Don't get lazy on the road. Things are dangerous out there even if they look civilised," he warned.
With the battle done Sabrina and I made for the local pokemon centre so my pokemon could recover. I decided to trade Regirock for Don, and Shrek for Hypnotoad, feeling like I'd need some fresh pokemon soon.
I gave the triplets a long look. "Tomorrow we're going to keep the others in their pokeballs so you can get some experience, alright? Otherwise, we're not doing what we aimed for."
That got firm nods from the triples who shot Knight looks of reverence. He rubbed the back of his head and I hummed. "Sabrina and I are going to stay in a room attached to the park. You all.. Have fun," I said firmly.
"But some distance from our room," Sabrina tacked on pointedly.
Knight chuckled nervously and I held back a laugh. Empress hadn't taken her eyes off him since he'd emerged.
I gave him a pat on the shoulder. Time to learn about the price of success buddy I thought even as I mentally moved up the timetable for 'appearance of next Larvitar on the reserve' by a few weeks.
The next day saw us once more patrolling the roads, only this time I had the triplets out and fighting battle after battle with Kirlia swapping in occasionally to take some heat.
By the time lunch had rolled around, they'd worn themselves out and we needed to release the bigger threats with it being Ursaring's time to shine.
When we made it to the Battle Pike, four of my pokemon were exhausted which was a good sign of progress being made. We'd also cleared a good swathe of pokemon away from the road.
We had just checked into our hotel when a polite cough sounded behind us.
Sabrina growled and I blinked in surprise when we turned to find Lucy smiling at us sheepishly.
"Uhm Brock! Hi there! Nice to meet you!" she declared, her eyes flitting to the side where a small crowd was already starting to take shape.
I ignored them and gave Lucy a disappointed look. We'd come to the Battle Pike because we thought we'd escape this.
And here she was blushing and stuttering like a girl about to confess… urgh! Poor girl must have been forced into this.
"I was wondering if I could—" Lucy was saying only for Sabrina to step in front of me and lock eyes with Lucy.
"I accept," she said.
I tilted my head, staring at the back of Sabrina's head as Lucy cringed away from us.
I wasn't an expert on body language but I suspected a lot more was being 'said' right now.
Ah, well, seems like it was Lucy's turn to learn a lesson about messing with the Tauros.
"Neat! I'll join the crowd this time!" I declared, not caring for the desperate looks Lucy was sending my way.
Sabrina just smiled. "Yes, it should be fun," she said, having not taken her eyes off Lucy.
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A.N. Thank go to my Patreons for your continued support!
Cue the meme of that guy waving at a girl only for another to lean and and shake their head.
Hope you enjoyed Brandon and what he was doing here! A little bit more two-dimensional than I first demonstrated, hey?
Thanks also go to Twmmy for proof reading this chapter!