It took all of a minute for Lance to land and end up staring at me. He had his hands on his hips, but I pointedly ignored him in favour of smiling at Sabrina who'd practically moulded herself to my side. A large part of me was just enjoying having her safe in my arms while another part was doing the male caveman equivalent of beating his chest as I resisted the urge to either go for a victory lap or challenge Lance.
Lance turned away from me to inspect the still kneeling crowd of Crusher tribesmen before pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Brock… what even happened in the space of five minutes that it took me to get here?" he asked.
"A lot," I replied.
"A lot he says," Lance shook his head. "That is an understatement. How on Indigo's green forests did you go from storming a tribal camp to becoming their Chief of Chiefs?"
"They prefer the title Overlord," I offered, earning me a scowl. "Go on, give it a whirl, Overlord Brock," I suggest with a slight mocking smile.
"Are you quite done?" he asked. "You're being very unhelpful."
"Lance, I just stormed an enemy encampment, fought my way through several powerful pokemon and their trainers, rescued my fiancée, and became Overlord Brock."
"I'm not calling you that."
I shrugged. "I'm just saying I think I'm entitled to being a bit out of sorts." I turned to the kneeling tribesman.
"Alright you can stand," I announced and they did so easily.
The elderly woman who'd 'proclaimed' my title dusted her pants off and raised an eyebrow towards Lance before looking at me like she was waiting for an order.
Ah? Did she think I was going to evict him or something?
"He's fine. He can stay. He's going to be important for…" I waved a hand vaguely, unsure what was about to happen. This had spiralled well beyond my understanding or control by this point.
"I'll go talk to her, you should probably take a seat, you used a lot of aura," Sabrina whispered. From how Lance twitches, he must have heard that.
I do as she tells me and take a seat and it's only as I'm uncapping my water bottle that I notice I have a slight tremor in my hands. Huh, adrenaline? Emotion? Or fatigue from… well everything that had happened over the last few hours? I flexed my hands and took a satisfying drink.
Rubbing my tongue over my teeth I replay the series of events and find myself coming back to the moment Granite had struck Sabrina. It still stirs something dark in my guts, and I'm half tempted to march over and kick him. But the initial response… that eludes me.
"I might have also blacked out for a moment there," I admit.
"Oh shoot, are you alright? Did you take a hit to the head?" Lance asked, suddenly worried for my health.
"Hmm? Oh, no. I was just that angry, I went a bit crazy." Looking back through the trail of destruction I'd left in my wake, I spotted the carved off part of the mountain along with the rubble from the avalanche I'd apparently decided to surf down.
I was going to have to check the footage.
"Don't think I've ever been that mad before, not even when you called out my gym as weak, or when Flint or Lola showed up," I mused.
Lance coughed. "I apologised for that."
"And I was allowed to get mad over that," I stated. "It was a normal healthy response, according to my therapist."
"Somehow I doubt that," Lance snarked. "You bet a lot of money on winning."
"And I won," I pointed out as I hid my smirk by taking another sip.
Lance scoffed before frowning as the sound of a bag being rustled for more snacks reminded us that we weren't alone.
Standing off to the side, Noland stood with Articuno, trying to get into a bag of chips while Lorelei held the bag and looked like all her dreams were coming true at once. Standing slightly further to the side were a trio of men wearing ninja garb who looked thoroughly annoyed at me.
They looked exceedingly dusty.
Which was fair. It wasn't a smart move to leave them behind in a sandstorm, only for them to catch up and find that all the fighting was over.
Which left the group of young trainers who'd been with Sabrina to alternate between staring at Lorelei, Noland and Articuno, my Regirock who was being poked and prodded by several children or watching Lance and I quibble like school children.
Lance and I shared a look and decided to stop bantering and instead try to resolve this issue like proper adults.
"Alright, so the Crusher Tribe has been a group that has been causing all sorts of issues in the various regions that it has interacted with," Lance began.
"Hmmm, not true, from historical markings they were quite synergistic until roughly…" I glanced towards Empress, who was standing over the woman Sabrina was talking to. Supposedly, she was Agate's grandmother which…
I really didn't want to think about it right now.
Her name was Jade anyway.
And Empress seemed very interested in smelling her for some reason.
Again, I didn't want to deal with it right now.
Definitely a problem for future Brock.
The problem seemed to be that I couldn't kick the issue down the road for much longer.
"You sure you're alright?" Lance asked.
I sighed. "Not even close. I think Flint might be related to the Crusher Tribe in some manner, which means all of my family are," I confessed. "I just… I'm really not looking forward to getting a genetic test to find out if my theory is right."
Lance stared at me. "So… your Overlord title might have a smidge of legitimacy is what you're saying?"
I shot him an annoyed look. That was what he was worried about? Still… I worked my jaw back and forth. "I don't know man, I don't know. This is way more than I signed on for when I was coming to the Battle Frontier. Thanks for that by the way", I said as Lance cringed.
"Brock, I think you are going to give the Elders of the Blackthorn clan heart attacks," he continued with the air of someone who hadn't worked out if that was good or bad just yet.
"Yeah, I'm not living my life wondering about them. Most of them sound like pricks…" I gave him a pointed look. "Some offence," I offered honestly, not wanting to get back into a verbal exchange.
Rather than becoming offended, Lance raised a hand. "No, I live with them. They're pricks, but you can't choose family," he said with a shake of his head before giving the kids and adults that were lingering nearby an exasperated look.
"Huh, now that you've pointed it out it's kind of hard not to see the resemblance," he muttered only to glance towards the pair of hulking figures that I'd punched, only for them to attempt to get back up before Sabrina had smashed him like a bug with a Rock Throw.
One's nose was rather flattened while the other had a more square head. Both of them looked like they'd run headfirst into a boulder and come off second best.
"Well, apart from these guys. They look more like they're related to Bruno than your family," Lance suggested.
"That's just the muscles doing the talking," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. "So, how much work is it going to take to…" I gestured at the Crusher Tribe encampment.
"No idea," Lance shrugged. "We're going to have to integrate them, seeing as how they surrendered. Driving them off isn't feasible, especially with them having a vested interest in linking up with you as their leader."
"Hmmm, we're probably counting our eggs before they're laid in this case," nodding towards where Sabrina and Jade were talking, I started walking over. "Best we find out what we're getting ourselves into."
Lance grunted in reply and joined me.
Jade noticed our approach and inclined her head stiffly towards me. "Overlord," she greeted me respectfully only to give Lance a look one would reserve for a piece of dung they'd found on their shoe. "Blackthorn," she hissed at him.
"Jade, right?" I began noting the hostility which might cause some issues going forward. When she nodded, I continued. "I'm going to have to be honest with you, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do now."
"I can advise you on that," she said firmly and I smirked.
Yeah, I bet she could. "Before that. What faction do you belong to? Claw, Spike, or Fang?"
"I was originally Feather, actually, and I was hoping one of the first acts would be to allow the return of the Feather faction."
"That's the faction that allows trade and for people to get along, right?" I asked, and when she nodded, I hummed. "Right, I'm going to need a more detailed description cause the cliffnotes might not cut it. Is there somewhere we can sit and talk in private?"
Jade nodded and led us all to a large tent that was the size of a house. My pokemon arranged themselves at the front flap comfortably.
Tribesmen watched on from a respectful distance and several seemed in awe of Titan and Empress, but even Jormungandr and Bertha were garnering some appreciative looks.
But Regirock took the majority of their attention with the Legendary pokemon moving to join my team only to go still. Before I entered the tent, I gave each of my pokemon some praise.
When we stepped inside the tent I was surprised to find that there were attendants stoking the fire and preparing food.
They turned at our entrance and bowed low.
Had they been in here during the fight? Or was Jade aware enough of what might happen that she'd prepared the room ahead of time?
"You may leave," Jade declared imperiously before sitting at a position just to the side of some cushions in front of the fire. I noted that there were a few other places arranged around the low fire in a circle with only a gap before the entrance flap.
Instead of sitting down as Lance did upon the cushions and thus earning an irate glare from Jade, I looked around.
I considered the tent, its layout and who was here.
Three cowed servants, an old woman and several areas made for lounging or gathering.
Jade had moved in here with the air of one familiar with the layout. She likely knew what was in each chest or tied off in each bundle.
"What are your names?" I asked, nodding to the servants who had their heads bowed and were shuffling out. I should be polite after all, doubly so if these people were… cousins or aunties or… My mind shut down that spiral of thought quickly.
The trio stiffened at my attention being turned towards them, and Jade had to take a moment to consider each of them.
"That is Pumice, Quartz, and Shale," she said before blinking rapidly.
Hmm, so she knew their names; that was one small test of her character passed but also failed. She hadn't let them speak for themselves. I still glanced to Sabrina to confirm that Jade hadn't made the names up. Sabrina nodded slightly, and I moved on with my tests.
"What would you say are the three greatest issues facing the Crusher Tribe, before I was… nominated as Overlord?"
Lance frowned at me. "Brock, is now really the time?"
"Now is the perfect time for this," I replied evenly.
When he tilted his head, I sighed. "Lance, what I know of the Crusher Tribe has been through secondhand reports, discussions, or heck, even cave murals depicting their encounters with the Legendary Birds that were thrown together something like a hundred years ago!"
I waved another hand. "I know that you want me to sit in and smooth things over, but I have no idea of the Crusher Tribe, not the people, not the traditions, nor the hardships they've endured to reach this point in time."
Jade received a pointed look. "I'm assuming that you have many traditions that have meaning in various contexts, but I won't understand, so… I'm wondering what the right step forward would be."
That had Lance turn his gaze to the fire as he considered the issue.
He worked his jaw. "Hmmm, that is a valid response."
Jade regarded me like a strange foreign pokemon that had just landed in the tent. "You… are much more considerate than I thought. Perhaps showing you the right way will not be so irksome as other young ones."
"Hnn," I snorted in reply, grabbing a seat near the fire. "And who is to say that I shouldn't just flip the board and demand integration into Indigo like I assume Lance wants?" I said, voicing the topic that was probably going to be danced around.
"Integration isn't a bad thing," Lance argued only for Jade to scowl.
"We are not a people to settle! We move with the winds and seasons! We follow the great herds of Tauros and hunt the mighty Pidgeot!" she claimed proudly.
"And we live in communities that see towering homes of metal and rock forged to last an age," I replied easily. "We also build upon ourselves, creating medical care for our pokemon and our people."
I leaned forward. "How many fingers am I holding up?" I asked, holding three to the side.
Jade squinted at me only to scoff. "What does it—"
"The answer is something that any eighty-year-old woman can answer within Indigo."
"Eighty-five at least, our health standards have improved drastically in the last five years," Lance interjected proudly.
Sabrina flicked his cape telekinetically to jerk him slightly, causing him to glance over his shoulder, only to shoot her an ineffective scowl, which she blandly weathered.
I rubbed my jaw as Jade considered my point. "There are things that both sides can offer each other," I declared slowly. "But for trade to happen, we will need to revive, and perhaps implement new… ideals.. Concepts…factions… frameworks?" I offered, unsure what the right term was.
"The revival of a faction is a simple affair, they have legitimacy, and everyone understands their desires. A new faction? That will not be taken well," Jade declared seriously
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that. Change is always scary," I wet my lips. "But I think the Crusher Tribe and, perhaps to a lesser extent Indigo needs to change."
"Why should we?" Jade growled.
"How many people are there in the Crusher Tribe currently?" asked Sabrina, cutting in on the conversation.
Jade tilted her head. "Over two thousand or so…" she murmured.
"Closer to two and half by my estimate," Sabrina corrected, "but I suspect there are more considering your choice of clothing," she pointed at the leathers and furs that made up the simple dress.
Lance whistled. "For a tribal society that's rather impressive," he murmured. "Historically they are rather…" he trailed off with a cough ."Excuse me, something of a hobby of mine."
I held back a small chuckle at him but still nodded. "It is impressive, for a tribal society. What is the current population of Indigo however?"
"Latest census has Indigo as a whole at over four million people," he announced proudly.
I nodded, not allowing thoughts of how ridiculously small that number truly was to show on my face. If the wars hadn't… no, I couldn't think like that. It wasn't like my past life didn't have multiple world wars that saw population numbers dip.
Still, the number had the desired effect on Jade as her face gained a sour expression before she adopted a thoughtful look. "And how many of those are pokemon handlers? Hunters? Fighters?"
"Hmmm professionally, there are roughly four to five thousand Ace trainers at any given time, while there are something like eight to nine thousand undergoing their Journey. Then there are the full time Rangers who number roughly ten thousand or so…" Lance began to rattle off.
"Huh I thought it was higher than that?" I asked.
Lance coughed and shot me a look, only to flick his eyes at Jade and then outside where Noland was. Ah, he didn't want true figures to be shared around.
Again, Jade didn't like how the numbers were stacking up.
"So you see, Indigo isn't going to bend as easily as the Crusher Tribe, but it doesn't have to be—"
"It is not our way!" she snapped, her hand fisting up on her skirts as she scowled at the fire. "I have lived sixty winters and summers and I have raised a family carefully! We must keep our ways or lose all sense of ourselves!"
I hummed slowly, considering her. "It sounds to me like you have endured much while enjoying much more." I offered her a nod and a smile. "The freedom of roaming the wilds and existing with pokemon sounds… rather wonderful."
"It can be," she said proudly.
"But as you have said, it takes much from you and more from your people. I imagine there are many who stumbled on this way of life and could not continue, no? What happened to them?"
"We provide for them to the best of our ability! I have a granddaughter who is unable to walk due to a climbing accident! We have carried her and included her! She is a marvellous singer of our histories and our tales!" snapped Jade.
That was actually rather heartening to hear as well as a dagger in my heart. Was she my cousin? How old was she? How long had she endured like this?
I was going to ask about how Granite addressed people like her granddaughter only for Lance to lean forward. "Indigo researchers have actually found ways to treat such conditions. Genetic or injuries like this have responded well to cell injections that revivify sections of the body. It is a new treatment, barely three years old but it has become a possibility for people. Would you like your granddaughter to walk again?"
Jade reared back like she'd been slapped. Then she swallowed and bowed her head. "I see your angle and I must—"
"No," Lance declared. "Our discussion of integrating the Crusher Tribe is one thing, and healing her and any others is something else entirely. I won't hold it hostage."
Jade considered Lance for a long moment. "Hmmm, I saw only a proud Blackthorn dragon and not the wisdom. Don't think I'm unaware of the effect such a declaration would have!" she said without any heat.
I shot Lance a nod. While Jade was right, it was something of a poisoned chalice, as once people learned such a treatment was possible they would probably agree to almost anything to try healing their loved ones.
Not making it a negotiation point made it no less potent a point of consideration. It also generated a good impression that was almost impossible to ignore when it wasn't being held against you.
Jade's words also felt rather pointed, perhaps she was referencing something? A saying or a common story of her people perhaps?
"Do the Crusher Tribe keep maps?" I asked.
Jade nodded, her gaze turning back to me. "We do, we have ranged far to the north beyond the lands of Kitakami an—"
"Kitakami is to the north?" Lance said, sitting forward with an eager look. "How far is it?"
Jade blinked in surprise, and I stared at the joyful look on Lance's face.
"I take it that you're interested in that region?" I suggested, recalling that Kitakami had been one of the regions which the League had historical notes from Cynthia. Lance probably also knew of them from some Blackthorn records, now that I thought about it. Sometimes when I spoke with him, he made reference to such archives.
Lance nodded. "The Blackt.." he coughed. "That is to say, the establishment of trade and cultural exchange would be greatly beneficial for Indigo!"
Everyone gave Lance a doubtful look at that.
"There's a bunch of Dragon type pokemon in Kitakami, isn't there?" I prodded.
Lance coughed. "Historical records indicate they had a rather strong presence there, but also quite a number of grass types. I'm sure there might also be some rock types," he replied leadingly.
The doubt continued to flow at Lance, and he grunted. "Other people can get lots of benefits! And new regions always have new technologies or older remedies."
"Hmm, true, Kitakami was a good trading partner for their alcohol and sweet buns," Jade murmured.
"Riiiight," I replied slowly.
Sabrina bumped into me. "It's obvious that you've had some contact with other regions seeing as you have pokemon that are not native to the local area. Your electric cats for example."
"Oh, the Luxray?" asked Jade. "Yes, those were pokemon that fought with our packs and won much respect. We added them to our arsenal and they have been honoured companions for some years now."
"What about contact with Indigo personnel?" I asked.
Jade frowned. "We have not been in the southern regions for many generations. We have only returned this far in the past and no further."
"But some of your tribesmen have interacted right?" I prodded.
Jade continued to shake her head, and I hummed. "So just Granite then?"
"No? Granite was a scout and hunter before challenging for the title of Overlord," Jade defended.
"Hmmm, well at some point in time he's interacted with criminals from Indigo," I announced while Sabrina nodded along next to me.
Lance hissed in surprise. "What makes you say that?"
"The pokeballs he used along with how he attempted to steal Titan from me at the end of our fight," I said calmly.
"Steal Titan? How would he do that?" Lance said.
Sabrina tapped on my mind gently. I allowed her in, and with a heartbeat, we had a solid alibi and way forward.
She took over the conversation. "Not all of our adventures have been publicised to the League Lance. During one such encounter, I met up with a pokemon that could easily be deemed a Legendary pokemon. A psychic legendary pokemon."
"Why would you not inform the League?" Lance asked with a frown growing, but he was obviously holding back any deeper suspicions for the moment.
"Because when this pokemon first came into this world, he was created for the purposes of serving a criminal mastermind." Sabrina gave Lance a pointed look. "One that had been fooling everyone for years and was only recently brought to light."
Lance blinked. "It has links with Team Rocket?" he asked.
"Former links," Sabrina was quick to state. Lance's lip thinned. "Perhaps it is best if it pre… no never mind that would be idiotic…" he shook his head. "It hasn't caused any further incidents since the Saffron situation, has it?" He leaned forward. "That was the pokemon you were referring to yes?" his eyes darted to me and I realised he was checking my reaction for this.
If he had footage then there were quite high odds that what he had seen was Mewtwo dangling me over the edge of the Silph Co. Tower.
I made a show of clenching my jaw and nodding slightly to convey that, while not happy with the situation, I could handle it.
Honestly, these days I considered my issue with Mewtwo well behind me.
"I suppose I can handwave it, it's not like that pokemon didn't abandon Giovanni when he might have otherwise been able to escape thanks to it," Lance admitted. "But what's the link between that pokemon and the balls Granite attempted to use?"
"Hmmm, well the balls were used when Sabrina and I later encountered the pokemon once more. During a… disagreement one of my pokemon had with Mewtwo that resulted in a fight between them, Mewtwo used a capture ball on the pokemon despite there already being a pokeball assigned to them."
Lance hissed. "That, really needed to be conveyed to me. Granite has had these illegal pokeballs on his person even now?" he asked.
I shook my head and drew out my pouch. I deposited his pokebelt before Lance. "He had six of these, but where there's smoke…" I trailed off leading.
"There's an innocent-looking ponyta," Lance finished. "Well, this just got a bit more muddy, that's for sure. We're going to have to see if the Team Rocket contact still exists or if it is a remnant of the previous group. Seeing how none of the former organisation had anything to say about the Crusher Tribe we might have some that escaped the purges."
"Those pokeballs," Jade said with horror in her tone. "You said they stole the pokemon despite the existence of the pokeball attributed to them?"
Lance, Sabrina and I all looked up to find her staring at the balls like they were Serviper that had just slithered into a daycare suddenly missing all its eggs and baby pokemon.
Ah, it wasn't just our side of the fence that was affected by this reveal, was it?
"That's correct. They're unregulated and criminal in our region," I supplied.
Jade slumped. "That would explain how several potential challengers across the other factions suddenly lost their voices, and Granite became so emboldened. People had assumed that they'd lost their pokemon in some manner… but to have them stolen…"
She shook her head, and suddenly she looked like she'd aged ten years, which for a woman in her advanced years, made her look a step away from death's door. "I truly have been blind to the goings on within my own tribe. Deaf too, apparently. That boy… how did he grow up so wrong?"
She shut her eyes. "This is not our way. For him to violate the bond of one, let alone three of the Tyranitar lines…"
Jade shook her head and looked up. "It is truly a good thing then that you stopped him when you did."
"Hmmm seems like a bad guy all around then if he's been stealing other people's pokemon," I murmured, only to tilt my head. "He had some skill though. You can't Mega evolve a pokemon without at least establishing a bond."
"Granite was one of the families that were allowed to raise Larvitar. To prove themselves worthy of ascension they had to fight among their peers."
"Hmmm, a bit archaic but…" I was about to move on when a niggling doubt settled in my mind. "What happens to those who lose?" I asked.
"They are denied the right to have a Pupitar," Jade explained.
I nodded slowly. "Riiiight, and what if it just happens naturally?"
"It does not. Those who fail the ascension rites have their companion fed a certain stone that we've noted to—"
"Everstone," I supplied. "It's called everstone."
I locked eyes with Jade, drawing from my energy stores to emphasise just how serious what I was about to say next would be. "That practice stops now! Unless a pokemon asks for it, don't forcefeed them Everstone. I might not know how this Overlord role works, but I will make sure that practice ends. This instant," I proclaimed.
Jade bowed her head. "It has merely been a method of controlling the growth of Tyranitar to select, proven bloodlines within the—"
"It ends," I commanded. "If you want to raise a Larvitar, that's fine. If you want to evolve your companion, that's fine. That is their choice. If they use their companion to commit acts against the tribe or others," I slashed my hand through the air. "That is an entirely different situation and will see them punished."
Sabrina nodded firmly. "While not all Larvitar will reach the stage of becoming a Tyranitar, stunting them is still harmful." Sabrina turned her head to show she was considering my team outside. "You may notice that Brock's pokemon were larger than yours, more muscled? That might be due to genetics not being repressed."
Jade blinked cluelessly but nodded in a manner that spoke more of pride than sense.
Running a hand over my face, I sighed. "That will have to be another thing we look into. What you have done to your pokemon…" I made a face, "as well as to yourselves, I don't like to think how a small pool of marriage partners would cause issues."
"Oh, we stopped any that were too closely related. Second cousins only, and even then the bloodlines were heavily scrutinised. Anyone who didn't have a viable match was told to steal a partner."
I put my head in my hands. I knew I wasn't going to like it but I still had to ask.
"Stealing?"
"We send the young ones into villages and towns and—"
I raised a hand, needing no more confirmation. "That too is going to stop going forwards. You can all just enter town and… I don't know, join a dating program or something."
Again, Jade nodded in a manner that let me know she had no idea what I was referring to.
From there, the conversation meandered and wandered with Lance eventually establishing a semblance of control by creating a timeline of what needed to happen to help integrate the Crusher Tribe into Indigo.
This saw serious push back from Jade with her stating adamantly that the other Faction heads would not allow such changes. Lance bulled ahead however and I was able to smooth some things over by pointing out that their nomadic lifestyle could continue but it might have more safety nets installed with ranger outposts along with Rangers accompanying them to learn their ways.
That seemed to be a somewhat attractive idea to Jade with the idea of 'new blood' causing her to perk up, along with the access to Nurse Joy outposts and trading markets that they could sell their wares and the land's bounty at.
In return, routes to the far northern regions, which sadly would take months to establish with the distances involved.
I had to admit that I'd relaxed after Lugia had approached us and mentioned that the current shifting would result in at least a year before new regions opened up.
When we'd been told that I hadn't accounted for the overland routes leading past Rota and Fiore.
Suddenly, the North looked much more promising to a lot of people, and I suspected the Blackthorn clan would have a vested interest in finding Kitakami and its bounty. Something Erika might also support.
When we stopped, it wasn't because we were finished but because the sun had gone down and noises from outside the tent were starting to increase to the point we couldn't ignore them anymore. There was singing and chanting occurring.
"Shall we end here for the day?" Jade suggested. "I would continue to talk, but these old bones could do with some rest after today's excitement," she murmured.
Lance nodded but Jade stared at me, causing my lips to twitch into a smirk. "Feel free to rest. I imagine there is going to be a lot to talk about tomorrow."
"The others will wish to join us, so we will no doubt retread old ground," she muttered, causing Lance and I to scowl at her. "Also, I should ask, do you consent to the reformation of the Feather Faction?"
"Yes, so long as you support my other points," I demanded, knowing that I was probably causing myself future headaches by giving Jade more legitimacy, but again, she'd been quite reasonable so far.
"Hmm, I shall," she agreed easily as she rose and bowed her head to me. "Overlord, High Lady," she said to Sabrina and I.
I held up a hand. "Wait, what was that last thing you said?"
"High Lady? Ah, that is right. In the Crusher Tribe we recognise your partnership with each other. While it wasn't obvious with you not being presented to us at the same time, your matching keystones are rather telltale signs."
She bowed her head. "May you both have many children together!" she proclaimed.
Lance chuckled as Jade departed. "Haha! You're married already under their customs!"
I rolled my eyes. "Heh, that's kind of neat," I mused, giving Sabrina a look as I waggled my eyebrows playfully. "So wife of mine—"
Sabrina leaned in and kissed me.
Lance coughed. "I'll leave you two alone then and pitch a tent elsewhere," he said, showing that he could read the room.
Sabrina broke the kiss after several more seconds and I blinked as I realised that at some point she'd set herself up in my lap.
"Brock, you were terrifying today, it's something I've never experienced before. Your fury was a palpable force to me."
"Oh, sor—" I started to apologise, only for Sabrian to put her hand on my lips.
"I'm not done," she declared seriously.
Nodding, I settled in to be chastised for a rather idiotic charge. What had I been thinking?
"Brock, it was one of the most heroic things I've ever seen, and it was even more impressive because you pulled it off."
She leaned in closer to me so that I could feel her breath on my lips. "I never knew I wanted to have someone kick in a castle gate to rescue me before but seeing you do it? I loved every moment of it and I want that intensity right here and now."
"Oh?" I said perking up.
I'd been expecting a tongue-lashing for idiotically storming the gate.
Turns out it was quite the opposite.
I grabbed my damsel and locked lips with her, delighting in the way she fit in my arms.
Sabrina didn't wait long to pull out a sleeping bag for us and before long I was glad that there was a lot of noise going on outside.
__________________
When we emerged later, Sabrina and I were thoroughly dishevelled, Sabrina was making sure to float rather than walk, and I had a huge smile.
Lance was sitting by a fire with several Crusher tribesmen.
"Chug Chug Chug!" they chanted and it was only as the tankards were raised and lowered that I caught sight of Lorelei behind a large tower.
She slammed her drink down and belched loudly while Lance came in a close second. "The champ!" she declared, earning herself several hoots and cheers from watching tribesman.
I spotted Noland passed out already with several tankards around him while Articuno sat on him like he was an errant chick.
Said Legendary was currently chugging down its own drink.
Wonderful, we were going to have a drunk Legendary pokemon… if that was even possible?
Looking around you wouldn't have known this was a camp that I and several others had stormed earlier today. It was transformed with large bonfires being lit and a party atmosphere.
Multiple people raised drinks or skewers of meat at my appearance.
"Overlord! Hail!"
"Good tidings!"
"Many blessings!"
Lance grinned as he caught sight of me. "Brock come! Have a drink with us! It's legal in the wilds!" he announced with far too much glee.
Sabrina and I shared a look and I shrugged after she nodded, indicating that she didn't sense anything untoward happening. "I think I can try some local drink," I replied while Sabrina settled for a drink from her pouch.
I took the offered tankard, took a deep drink like I remember from my past life only for the alcohol to hit like a mule and for me to splutter and spit the drink straight into the fire.
Rather than douse the flames, they instead roared higher while others hooted and laughed at my expense. Damm! That drink was potent!
"Holy hells! That's not hooch, that's moonshine!" I spluttered as I tried to spit the taste off my tongue.
Around the fire, people roared with laughter at my expense and I shook my head and shot Lance an annoyed look. He'd known.
"Ha! Overlord, while strong in body but it seems he's weak in tongue!" declared a rather tall woman.
I rolled my eyes at her ribbing and scoffed. "Overlord Brock is dehydrated from… activities," I muttered but apparently not quietly enough, as several people hooted in approval.
Lance and Lorelei received worried looks from me as they each took another splash into their tankards to perform a toast for Sabrina and I.
It looked like small amounts, but if they weren't keeping track…
Lance and Lorelei shifted and bumped into each other, only to blink and giggle drunkenly.
"Should we…" I gestured towards the two drunkards.
Sabrina sniffed. "No, they're both adults," she said.
I shook my head at them as I swapped drinks for a simple lemonade, ignoring the good-natured taunts people were shouting my way.
Tomorrow was not going to be gentle for either of them, but it was looking promising for a lot of people.
I amused myself by taking several pictures of Lance and Lorelei as they grew slowly closer together until they both passed out atop each other.
Sabrina clicked her tongue but I had her float them into a tent and a couples sleeping bag. I did nothing for their clothes but snapped a picture before assigning a pokemon from each of their respective teams to look over them.
With the blackmail secured Sabrina and I then found our own bunks while the revelry continued. It was rather nice if odd to think that some of the people I'd just shared food and a fire with might be uncles, aunties, or cousins.
I decided to let that also be future Brock's conundrum however as I lay down and let sleep claim me. Only for someone to arrive at my tent.
"Overlord? A mob is forming to kill the former Overlord! People are saying he stole pokemon!" declared a woman's voice.
I sat up, my mind lurching at being ripped from sleep. Sabrina rolled over, and buried herself deeper into the bedding making it all too clear she wasn't going to be roused for anything less than a Legendary pokemon attacking the camp.
Would it be so bad for me to just let mob justice play out?
I sighed as, against my darker nature, goodness won out.
"I'm coming," I muttered, rising to handle this new incident. Barely a few hours into my new role, and I was already hating my new job as Overlord.
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A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for your continued support!
It also goes to Twmmy for proofreading this chapter!