Red Button Shenanigantery: The Youngest Professors

(b)Rock em, Shock em

After calming Vivi and Gengar down we took the time to explain what had happened, though it was kinda hard to believe ourselves. Sure we had blamed Arceus for everything that happened but we had been assuming that the one who sent us here wasn't them. To have that confirmed was both shocking and anticlimactic after blaming them so many times.
At the news that we were being watched, Vivi and Gengar switched from panicked to protective, scanning our surroundings and checking everywhere for potential onlookers, including Gengar sticking their head in each of our shadows and looking around before finally settling down into it. Apparently there was a whole world hidden within and connected to the shadows that only certain entities could connect to or pass through. Technically speaking if Gengar knew both of our positions at all times, they could hop in my shadow from anywhere and pop out of Missa’s shadow. Figuring out all of this through charades was quite a lot of work.
It would have been easier if Gengar could enter our dreams like they did the first night and use the manipulated dream space to talk but thanks to Arceus, and this time it was an accurate blaming, that couldn’t be done last night which had led to the start of the panic.
After the long game of charades, we took a late start to the day, ate a light brunch, and headed off toward the small shopping district. Most likely we wouldn't be able to get what we wanted here but if there was a chain shop we could reach out to the Celadon department store through them and place an order to have some things delivered. And we could also probably find a local shop that had something interesting.
I won't get into the details of the shopping because let's face it, I hate the process. It’s long, it’s boring, it’s tiring, and it feels more like work than fun. At least I didn't have to carry the bags… most of the time, of course, I had to take them every time we started to get dirty looks from onlookers until they were out of sight, and then Missa would just take them back.
We got some new camping gear, a new set of cookware, and a fire-starting kit since we didn't have a fire-type pokémon, yet, though I wonder if Gengar’s hex flame could start a fire… sounds like a fun experiment. And relying on Vivi to use Sizzly Slide is running a 50/50 chance of accurately getting a campfire or suddenly starting a forest fire, so best not to rely on them. Knowing their disposition it was probably closer to a 90% chance that it was a forest fire and done on purpose.
With the shopping done I swung by the mayor's office and got a copy of a map for the territory we bought so we could start drawing up plans for how to use it. Though we had talked about it for years, we never bothered to put it to paper since we didn't know the exact details of what we would be working with. The map was detailed enough, it had a couple of lakes marked, some clearings within the woods, the mountainous section clearly marked, and a few rivers and their offshoot creeks. From my memory I sketched a dotted line on the map to indicate the divide of territories, though we couldn't guarantee its accuracy since Pokémon territory could shift daily, it would at least let us know who we had to work with the most to get what we were after.
As I had expected, the spot we wanted the lab to be at was completely within Golem’s territory so having their approval would work out for the best. But that was a job for the night when we were winding down. We still needed to talk with an architect and a construction company. We also had to talk with Nurse Joy, and Brock about the idea of keeping an eye on the property while we went on a journey. Of course, we would also notify Officer Jenny and get her familiarized with the forest bosses and establish a protocol that if she introduced any officer personally then they were trustworthy but not to trust random people even if they were other officers.
It was a lot to do but we now had a time frame to work in. That was what we did for nine days, we shopped for what we needed, ordered items we couldn't buy locally, set up plans, made introductions, established protocols, and during our downtime, we hung out with Brock and his family. During the introductions we did receive a funny surprise, when I introduced Joy, Jenny, and Missa to the three bosses, deciding not to waste their time with three separate visits I brought them all at the same time, Machamp was very touchy and just generally affectionate with the girls. At first, I thought it was odd and Missa was a little put off by it too but before long Joy exposed a detail that the two of us had missed, apparently Machamp was a female, one that was happy to see other women in charge.
With that revelation, all awkwardness connected to the affection disappeared and Missa went straight to treating them like any other pokémon. And by that, I mean hugging and giving snacks and offering to paint her nails. She just wanted to pamper all pokémon, so long as they weren't creepy, like a certain few Malabar.
Either way, introductions were made alongside discoveries. With our nine days spent quickly, we decided to spend our last hanging out with Brock, who surprised us with even more unexpected information.
As we told Brock that we were going to probably be leaving soon since Ash should have arrived in town by now he made a slightly concerned face.
“What is it?” Missa asked.
“I already faced an Ash from Pallet, and if this is the same person you’ve been talking about, I don’t think he is cut out to be a trainer.” Brock gave a hard but honest opinion.
“Yeah, that’s probably him. But you’ll see, the answers he comes up with for problems can be surprising. This is the kid who suggested trying to catch a Tauros by its horns to subdue it. And while I can comfortably say people can’t do that, it is a method that could be used by someone with a strong pokémon like Machamp.” Missa rambled like she usually does, she gets annoyed when I point it out but I find it adorable. Plus I have no room to judge because I do the same.
“He is overconfident to the point of arrogance, doesn't know type matchups, doesn't think about size difference, and just relies and blind luck, he has no business being in a pokémon battle if he doesn't take the time to understand his pokémon and their strengths and weaknesses. His journey will probably end before it even begins.”
“Well, don’t say I didn't warn you. Either way, he should be back tomorrow knowing him. He doesn't take losing sitting down, he is probably out there training his butt off in order to beat you.”
“One day won’t make much of a difference.”
“We’ll see~,” Missa said in a sing-song voice before heading up to the audience seats, she will probably just want to nap there for a bit, though I’m not sure why she wouldn't just go back to the pokémon center. When I asked about it before she said that she didn't want Chansy to judge her or something, I really didn't understand. A little judgment had to be better than these uncomfortable plastic seats.
Oh well, either way, we wound up hanging out at the gym for the day and followed Brock back to his place, where we knew Ash would probably be peeking in on them with Flint later that night. We helped entertain the kids, played games, and let Gengar, Gari, and Vivi entertain the kids. Missa patched up the dress for the fifteenth time. That kid really plays rough. It’s a good thing Missa’s project was almost done.
Once dinner was had we went back to the pokémon center knowing full well Ash had seen us at Brocks, though knowing him and his one-track mind it was still processing in the background.
In the pokémon center, we ran into Misty who was flopping back and forth between wanting to go help Ash and wanting to go tell him off. I chose to keep my distance from the situation but Missa spoke to her instead.
“You’re flopping more than a magikarp.” She said as she approached.
“Who are you?” Misty asked, turning toward the voice.
“Marissa Star, pokémon professor, nationally famous, mother of a problematic Eevee. But you can just call me Missa.” She said with a smile and a bow of greeting.
“I’m Misty, a water-type pokémon specialist from Cerulean City. But why did you say I was flopping more than a Magikarp? What did you mean by that?”
“Well it was obvious that you were struggling with a decision, and sometimes making someone aware of the struggle helps them through it. Did it help or do you need to talk?”
“I can’t decide whether I should help someone I know with their problem or if I should tell them to solve it themselves. They looked so broken when they lost to the gym leader earlier but he is always a pain to be around and picks fights. I already tried to lend him a pokémon before but he stubbornly refused and insisted on using his Pikachu.”
“Oh, you mean Ash? Yeah, that boy is a problem. You don’t know the half of it. Do you have any idea how many times I had to save him from a swarm of mankey because he decided to pull their tail as revenge for stealing his hat? You would think it would be once but no, that kid does not learn.”
“You know Ash?”
“Yep, grew up with him, but he refused to mature so I call him a kid.”
“That sounds like Ash.”
“Wanna swap stories about him? I have some doozies.” 
“That sounds fun, and maybe later, but it just processed with me, how are you a professor at such a young age?”
“Me and the boy hiding in the corner over there doing his best to imitate Gengar and disappear into shadows grew up in Professor Oak’s lab and were training for it almost constantly. We were in the news about a month ago now because we are the youngest professors in history.”
“Wow, that’s actually amazing. So you must know a lot about water pokémon.”
“Well, a lot about a lot of pokémon but I do know the biggest and most beautiful magikarp ever.”
“Really? I always thought that Magikarp looked a bit weird.”
“Eh, they can, most of them are just giant and useless red fish with as many brain cells as whiskers, but this one is special, wanna see it?”
“Of course I would, I’m guessing you have it on you?”
“No, my boyfriend has it. Andrew, come on, she wants to see your magikarp.”
“Boyfriend?”
I came as I was called and looked between the two of them.
“That better not be a euphemism, we are not old enough for that crap.”
Missa backhanded my chest for that joke and then gave me a look.
“No, she wants to see Gari, can we go out to the battlefield and show her off?”
“Sure, sure,” I said and just handed the pokéball over. “Do as you please, just make sure you give her a wash before returning her to the ball, she needs to have her scales moistened at least twice a day.”
“Aye aye captain, anything else?”
“If you keep her too late you get to feed her, one meal off her regimen shouldn't be a problem. Don’t give her too many berries though, she eats them until she gets sick.”
“Yeah yeah spoil sport, see you in a bit.”
And with that, she grabbed Misty and ran out of the pokémon center.
Going forward is what Missa relayed to me before we went to bed.
She dragged Misty around to the side of the pokémon center to the small battlefield for trainers to practice or for patients to get a little bit of exercise if they had a longer recovery.
No one was there except them so she happily tossed out the ball in the waning light of day and out popped Gari in her golden glory. She landed with a dull thud, probably from the training weights that she wore but that's a detail I will talk about later.
Misty was immediately entranced by Gari, which is fair considering she is large, intelligent, and a shiny. I mean I really lucked out with that accidental catch, now I look like an idiot for being upset at getting a Magikarp.
“Wow…” was about all Misty could get out as Missa started giving Gari a once over before deciding how to move forward. Whether she needed a bath immediately or should get some pampering and treats first apparently. I don't know why order mattered so much to her but it did.
“This is Gari, the ‘gargantuan golden Magikarp’ as Andrew likes to describe her. And she seems to like the title so I choose not to remind him how rude it is to call her gargantuan.” Missa explained to Misty while letting Vivi out of the baby carrier so they could start doing what they usually do when caring for Gari.
“She’s huge, how did you get her to grow so large? Normally magikarp are small compared to this, and look at that color and sparkle. How did you manage that? She is so pretty.” Misty was all over Gari at this point.
Vivi for their part was hopping around to various spots that we had only recently determined to be pressure points on Gari and was kneading at them. Whether for a response or to actually help we aren’t quite sure, but at least Vivi wasn't hurting Gari or causing problems so we will consider that a win.
“For size, well Andrew caught her only a bit smaller than this, and growth I would assume is from her diet, she gets a highly nutritious diet formulated specifically for her and it is adjusted monthly to match up with any increase in needs due to environmental or physical changes. The sparkle is because of my hard work, I buff her up nice and pretty when I bathe her, not that I volunteer often, she is Andrew’s pokémon after all. But he has been busy running around and handling the boring parts of setting up our lab so I have been providing the care for Gari the last couple of weeks. As for her coloring, that is a genetic abnormality. Any magikarp can hatch golden, but you don’t tend to see them because gold scales reflect light so their ability to attract food or sneak past other pokémon protecting the food is diminished. But it is pretty.” Missa explained as she pulled out a collapsable bucket that we had bought and started filling it with water.
Soap wasn't necessary for giving Gari her twice daily baths, it was more of a quick wipe down to get any accumulated dust off and if she chose to give Gari an extra shine, Vivi’s bouncy bubble provided more than enough purifying properties to do so.
“What’s this lump over here?” Misty asked while circling the group and just taking in the water pokémon before her.
“Oh, that? Yeah we don’t know, we have run tests and whatever it is, it isn't any deeper than the scales, but we can’t get her scales to part enough to actually get a good look. We think a rock got stuck under a scale at some point, and it doesn't seem to bother her, she tries to fight if we even try to look at it, so we just leave it alone.” Missa didn't even bother to look up from her task as she explained, she had a routine to it all.
“Oh, but it's probably bothering her, maybe she is aggressive because it’s in pain,” Misty replied, reaching for the edge of the scales around the lump.
Before Missa or even Vivi could try to stop her, Gari in a flash lifted her tail and slapped Misty with it. Not hard enough to send her flying, but enough to send a clear message of don't touch.
“I told you she doesn't like us messing with it. Our specialty in research is friendship and affection in pokémon, if we couldn't recognize the difference between pain response and protection response we would be failures as professors and better off working for Team Rocket.” Missa chided to Misty who was now holding her cheek in shock. Of course, Vivi didn't take kindly to the mentioning of Team Rocket and retaliated by baping Missa on the head.
We were used to this by now, Missa just reached up and rubbed Vivi’s head before returning back to work. “I know, I know, don’t work with criminals.” She muttered, apparently not loud enough for Misty to hear though.
“Who is Team Rocket?” She asked curiously.
“Bad guys, thieves, poachers, kidnappers, and murderers. No matter how hard the international police come at them, they still manage to find a way to survive the little…” Missa was interrupted by another bap and she took that as her signal to stop talking.
There was an awkward silence before Misty finally spoke up “So you would work for them?”
“Not even if they were the only people paying. I would rather work for charity and barely survive than side with them. Team Rocket is unforgivable.”
“Good.” Was all Misty said, as if it had removed a weight from her mind. Maybe she thought the offhand comment was stating some kind of allegiance but it was far from that.
“Well, the washing is done, and her scales are sparkling again. So, time to give her some berries.” Missa announced as she stood up and dusted herself off. She took off her backpack and rummaged through it a bit before pulling out two pecha berries and an oran.
She knelt by Gari’s mouth and held them out, Gari gobbled them down immediately, leaving the usual question of whether she chewed them or just vacuumed them up.
“Did you even taste them? I even tried to pick out your favorites.” Missa said with her hands on her hips only to be met with an expectant stare.
“Sorry but no, last time I gave you a bunch you got sick and I had to stay up all night to take care of you. I’m not doing that again, if you’re lucky you might be able to mooch some off of her.” Missa told Gari and jerked a thumb toward Misty.
Gari went through a series of emotions, from joy to puzzlement to curiosity to disappointment and then back to joy as she flopped toward Misty.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have any berries,” Misty replied, holding up empty hands. Garri immediately went limp, depressed that they only got three berries.
“You want to give her some?” Missa asked.
“But I don’t have any.” Misty reaffirmed.
“But you want to.”
“Of course I do, but I don’t have any.”
“Okay then, here.” She pulled out two more pechas and an oran before tossing them to Misty.
Misty caught them but immediately tried to deny taking berries just to feed them to Gari.
“We have a pretty stable supply coming from Hoenn and Sinnoh, for now, they go to Professor Oak and he forwards them to the next pokémon center we plan on stopping at, later it will go to our lab and our assistants will do the same. Either way, we have plenty and won’t be running out any time soon.” Missa effectively shut down the argument of them being a precious commodity.
We had established the trade routes with the various regions in order to create a better method of pokémon care in Kanto in the first place. And while it wasn't at that level yet and we were still in long-term negotiations with places like Alola we were still able to personally benefit from it. Plus the local Nurse Joys tended to appreciate the introduction to more herbal treatment methods since synthetic medicines were subject to supply and demand and often had the question of side effects.
It fits nicely with the background we had fabricated, and it was a solid source of income with the benefit of making us look even better in the public eye. Who is going to turn on the people handing out essentially free medicine that their pokémon love? And then we get kickbacks and tax rebates on all of our trade deals from the various regions involved, win-win.
“Now give the pretty fish a proper apology for trying to touch her without permission, and give her the berries.” Missa jabbed playfully, she wanted to be Misty’s friend but she also needed to establish that spoken boundaries have consequences when crossed. It seems everyone in this world needed that lesson. They also needed a lesson in looking at the obvious answer right in front of them but once again that's part of future problems to address.
Misty did as instructed and fed the berries to Gari with a smile on her face. After each berry was consumed she would hold out another until all three were gone. Gari looked disappointed for a brief moment but then composed herself, she was smart enough to understand the reasoning why, she didn't have to accept it but she at least understood it.
By this point it was already dark, time seemed to move oddly in the pokémon world, something neither of us was really adjusted to. Missa started preparing Gari’s food but she was well aware of what needed to be done to keep things on track.
“Could you do me a favor and go check on Ash? Knowing him he is doing something stupid like trying to power up his Pikachu by overcharging. If I’m right I’ll get after him later. Speaking of which don't tell him we are here, we want to surprise him after the inevitable rematch against Brock.” 
“Do I have to? He is really annoying.”
“I am aware, he can be annoying if you just want to control him or be in charge, but if you learn to go with the flow and have faith he tends to be pretty inspiring. At least when he hasn't angered a pokémon and is currently running in fear.”
“I’m not saying he doesn't have good points but he is just so infuriating.”
“Just don't let it get to you, he has no control over you, so why let him affect you so much?”
After a lot of clear internal struggle Misty eventually gave in and headed off to check on Ash. She never gave a reason as to why she was so bothered but we both knew why. 
After Gari finished eating, Missa called them back to their ball and returned to me in our little room. We were really overstaying our welcome at this point. Either way, she updated me on everything that happened with Misty, gave Vivi some special attention since she had been focusing on Gari up to that point, and we finally went to bed.
The next day we delayed our start so as not to run into Ash, even knowing that he likely stayed out overnight and was headed to the gym first thing, it was better to avoid him until after his match. That way we wouldn't throw him off for his match. Before long there was a knock on our door as we were getting ready and Missa opened it to find Misty looking a little impatient.
“Yes?”
“Hurry up, he is already heading for the gym. If you don't head out now, his battle might be over before you get there.”
“No worries, we were already ready, just waiting,” Missa responded with a Vivi now air-swimming in the baby carrier.
“Oh what an adorable little Eevee, I never thought about carrying one like that.” Misty reached out to pet Vivi’s head and before Missa could warn her, Vivi nipped at the air causing her to yank her hand back.
“Yeah, you gotta ask to pet him, he is adorable and loves attention but has been through some rough stuff before I got him.” Missa patted Vivi on the head and scratched between his ears.
“May I pet him?” Misty asked.
“Don't ask me, ask him, he is the one who nips, I just carry him and explain things.” Missa sighed in exasperation.
“May I pet you?” Misty finally asked, looking directly at Vivi who happily nodded and looked down to offer a good spot to scratch. Misty started scratching in the same spot that Missa had been scratching earlier, resulting in Vivi leaning into the scritches.
“Weren’t we supposed to be in a rush?” I called out from behind as Gengar was also trying to get a move on and had pointed to the window several times as a potential exit route. I was already tired of trying to explain why that was a bad idea so I just wanted to leave the normal way.
My statement managed to pulley Misty’s attention back to the original problem and she immediately started trying to rush us out to the gym. On our way out I waved to Nurse Joy to signal that everything was fine, she was operating as our security as well since we had been staying here. This was outside her job description, but she seemed to take great pleasure in having Chansey double-slap a would-be thief and send them packing so we just accepted it and worked with it. After seeing her wave back with a smile I turned my attention back to getting to the gym with the girls.
We ran down the road at a breakneck pace, dodging other pedestrians on our way to the gym, making the admittedly short trip in record time. We caught our breath outside and snuck through the entrance and up to the viewing seats.
The battle had just begun, Ash sent out Pikachu, and Brock sent out Geodude.
“Oh, that’s great, Geodude finally got past the rafters incident,” Missa whispered.
“The what?” Misty asked also in a whisper.
“Oh just some stuff that happened a couple of weeks ago, I’ll explain later, I am surprised he is sticking with Pikachu against a rock type though.”
“He should have just swallowed his pride and accepted when I offered to lend him one of my water pokémon.”
“That would technically be cheating, do you want him to give up on his dream before even trying? Besides, I don’t think he needs it. Pikachu seems to be overflowing with energy.” I chimed in.
“No, but how would anyone find out?”
“He’s too pure for something like that, lying isn't in his nature, it would eat him up inside.”
“He still shouldn't have been so aggressive about it.”
I just chose not to push it, she clearly didn't want to admit that she was in the wrong here and it really wasn't my job to point it out. Unlike Ash and his purity, Missa and I were far from such, lying, cheating, hell, even stealing were on the table if it meant doing what had to be done, so choosing to let her believe what she wanted for the sake of a few moments of peace was simple.
“Here we go” Missa whispered as Ash shouted the command for Pikachu to use Thunderbolt. And the results were astounding. Not just the singular bolt but also branching arcs flew from Pikachu and impacted with the newly confident Geodude who intended to just shrug off the shock.
Unfortunately for the Geodude this shock was on the same level as actual lightning and unleashed so much energy that it carbonized their outermost layer of rock. Needless to say, it was enough to knock them unconscious. Even having memories from the anime, witnessing it in person was a much deeper experience.
“Aw, that one is going to send him into another spiral, poor baby,” Missa commented, watching the Geodude drop to the ground before being called back to its pokéball. Brock was probably shaken too but didn't respond to it, instead sending out his Onix.
Pikachu who had been confident moments ago was now looking to Ash for guidance, clearly not wanting to battle the Onix as well.
“Come on Ash, see what is written on your pokémon’s face, it doesn't want to battle, it’s traumatized and terrified,” Missa whispered, mostly to herself. She knew she couldn't yell it, it would be interfering with the match. But she really wanted to.
Vivi was trying to cheer her up, or get attention, I’m not sure which, by licking under her chin.
Ash of course didn't notice and insisted on Pikachu continuing by using Thunderbolt. In its panic Pikachu closed its eyes and didn't aim, resulting in bolts going everywhere, damaging the battlefield, but missing Onix for the most part. And just like it had originally gone, Onix picked it up in a bind and started to put the squeeze on the tiny mouse. Still, Ash chose not to give in, trying to command his Pikachu to push even further, telling it to use Thunderbolt on Onix again.
As Pikachu struggled, several of the wild bolts flew into the rafters above and I took that as my cue. I quietly pulled out a couple of ponchos that we had bought earlier for rainy weather, handed one to Missa, and handed a tarp to Misty, then put mine on. Missa had fashioned a little hole in the poncho for Vivi to stick his head through, and a flap that covered that hole for when he didn't want to be in the rain.
During all of this, Onix released Pikachu in a moment of mercy from Brock.
“What’s this for?” Misty asked, but still followed along and covered herself.
“That,” Missa replied, pointing at the sprinkler system that was now on fire from one of the stray bolts, and moments after we all got covered up the sprinklers went off.
As water drenched the area to put out the flames, we stayed dry but Onix was soaked through and significantly weakened. 
Misty chose this time to help and point out the weakening from the sprinklers and Ash jumped right on it. Disappointing to watch it in real life. He had become so consumed by this rivalry with Gary and needing to be the best that Ash was violating the principles he had conveyed to us while growing up.
As Pikachu’s blow landed Onix tensed up and the whole room was filled with the flashing of electricity. It was only then that I noticed Brock’s siblings watching from the opposite side.
Onix dropped to the ground and was clearly in pain, not even able to lift itself up as it groaned. Consumed by that need for victory Ash called out to Pikachu again, commanding it to finish the fight, but in a flash he was being restrained by all of Brock’s siblings, unable to lower his arm to fully give the order.
Finally, he seemed to snap out of it and believed that it was his conscience holding him back. Of course, after going on about it for a few seconds, Misty had to crush his overly underactive imagination and point out that it wasn't his conscience holding him back it was actually Brock’s siblings.
A bit of conversation later Ash called back his Pikachu and forfeited the match under the excuse that the sprinklers were just a fluke and he wanted to win fair and square.
Without hearing any more argument he turned and left with Pikachu on his heel. He didn't listen to what Brock had to say, and didn't acknowledge Misty or us, he was just gone. So once again his head was firmly planted up his own rear. I’m gonna have to ask the lady Machamp to pull it out, aren't I? I would make an Excalibur pun but I honestly can’t think of one.
“Well, it seems the twerp didn't even notice us. We may have to attract his attention in more forceful ways.” I muttered to no one in particular while getting up.
“Forceful? What do you mean by that?” Misty asked as she watched Brock run out of the gym after leaving Forrest in charge.
“Nothing terrible, he won’t come to any permanent harm, just a surprise of sorts.”
Misty and Missa sighed, both clearly already accepting that there was no stopping me. To be fair they could stop me, but there was no stopping the plan once it was in motion, and before they could say any more I had already released Gari from her ball.
“Gari, stop Ash.” I commanded, and with a ‘Karp’ of confirmation she launched herself from the stands and through the roof of the gym, disappearing into the sky with the same twinkle as a team rocket blast off.
“I hope she misses,” Missa said with a giggle, understanding full well what kind of damage it could do if she landed on target.
“H-how did it jump like that?” Misty asked looking from the spot that Gari had been and then to the hole in the ceiling.
“Special training. She’ll be fine.” I responded while heading down the stairs. I paused to shove a handful of money into Forrest’s hands and say that it was for the damages before heading out. Probably should have set her loose outside.
Pulling out my phone once outside I showed the nav system to Missa and asked her to swing by the pokecenter and let Joy know that we were headed out and probably heading for the next town with a stop at Mt Moon, then catch up at a position I pointed to.
She agreed and split off from us as Misty and I ran to catch up with Brock and Ash. Likely Brock was trying to give Ash the badge and that was where Flint would show up and try to play the role of responsible father again to let Brock head off on a journey of his own.
As expected, Missa caught up with us before we could even make it to where Brock and Ash were so the three of us arrived together just as Flint took off his disguise and Ash quite accurately called him out for being the no-good deadbeat dad, which both Missa and I had to avoid laughing at.
“There you are, why’d you have to run off like that?” Missa called out to Ash as we approached, cutting the tension that had built.
“What? Mis- ah!” Ash didn't even get to finish before Vivi had wiggled out of his carrier, lept off of Missa, and used his face as a springboard to land by Pikachu.
As the two of them ran around in circles greeting each other I waved to Ash and Misty kinda took up a place further behind, trying to separate herself from the boy. She couldn't be more obvious but that's a problem for the future.
“So, let me guess, you ran off full of pride, Brock caught up and gave you the badge anyway because you would have won if Pikachu hadn’t freaked out, and then this old guy is who helped you power up Pikachu for the victory and it turns out he is the guy that abandoned Brock and his siblings. Do I have everything correct?”
“Y-yeah that about sums it up.” Ash seemed a little hesitant to reply to such a pointed description but at least he was honest to a fault.
“Well, we can handle the greetings later, as always business comes first, Missa, do your thing.”
While we had spoken to Ash, Flint had been trying to tell Brock to go on his own journey and own up to mistakes of the past. Of course, neither of us would let that slip by so easily.
“Excuse me, so how is this going to go forward? I mean I understand Brock is probably going to come with but that leaves a lot of things up in the air. Like who is going to run the gym?”
“Who are you, little lady?” Flint put on a stern face as he turned his attention to Missa.
“She is a friend of mine and has been helping care for my siblings, she tends to point out things that feel like they should be obvious after the fact,” Brock explained.
“Well, I would take over the gym,” Flint responded.
“Ah, see there is the problem. You quit as a gym leader and abandoned your gym, and now that you have shown up again, the clock only starts at this moment for the waiting period before you can claim the title again. Per League regulations at least.”
“And what would you know about league regulations?”
“Plenty considering that is part of the test to become a professor certified by the league and my boyfriend and I are league-certified professors.”
Flint grumbled a little bit at this, choosing not to question it outright, which was for the best because Vivi and Gengar were getting tired of people questioning us and were just waiting for an opportunity to take action.
“So who is going to take over the gym?” Missa pressed.
“Forrest can do it, and he can learn how to do the role well from my father.”
“I don’t think he can learn how to do anything well from that man unless it's abandoning children to their fate.”
“Hey!” Flint shouted in argument.
“Shut up before I involve the international police in this, child abandonment is a serious crime.”
“They had their mother.”
“Who also abandoned them the first chance she got, you are both horribly irresponsible parents. Do you want to keep arguing?”
Flint hung his head in shame.
“That's what I thought, here, take this,” Missa replied, holding out a notebook.
“What is this?” Flint asked, flipping through the pages.
“Dossiers on all of your children, what they like, don't like, visual differences for the twins, their overall personality, favorite food and color, favorite pokémon, what they want to be when they grow up, and a whole lot more. Along with that a list of all the tasks that Brock has been doing, detailed instructions on how to do them, recipes that he used, and that we introduced to him. There are also food blends and care instructions for the gym pokémon, oh, and a letter of recommendation for Forrest to become the next gym leader in Brock’s absence because he shows the signs of being an amazing one. And lastly is an itemized bill for everything that we have done in the care of your children over the last two weeks, including custom tailored clothing for the girls that will not wear easily thanks to it being made of caterpie and weedle silk.”
“I thought you said that all of that was free of charge when I offered to pay,” Brock argued.
“No, I specifically said at no cost to you, this deadbeat isn't you, so he can pay the cost.”
“I can’t afford this.”
“Since this is a personal debt it can be paid in whatever manner the debtor agrees to with the debtee, which lucky you just means that you have to stay this time and not abandon your kids again. Also, you need to help Nurse Joy keep an eye on our property, do a walk around it once a week, and let the kids play on it when they wish. The only rule is to stay out of Scyther’s territory, if you can’t tell where it is, just ask one of the pokémon near the dirt road you should always arrive on. They will show you where is good and where is bad.”
“I think I can do that.”
“Good, now sign this document that is legally binding saying that you will follow those conditions for at least 8 years, and should you violate those conditions we are within our rights to multiply the value owed to 100 times its original sum and start charging interest.”
“You what?!”
“It's just extra incentive to make sure you follow the rules, Mr. Flint, just have to make sure there is a hefty price for violating the conditions of our agreement so you don't traumatize your kids again.”
Flint practically collapsed in defeat, not able to argue anymore.
“Aren’t you taking this rather far?” Brock asked, looking concerned.
“Oh I don’t think I am taking it far enough, but I chose to go easy on your behalf. He won’t have to pay a single Pokémon Dollar if he adheres to the rules. After his behavior, he can’t be trusted not to run off again, and honestly, your mother is worse, she disappeared so quickly that your siblings think she is dead. So I have to make it actually hurt more to leave than to stay.” Missa had her hands on her hips and Gengar was barely sticking out of my shadow and looking between her and Flint, waiting to see if they needed to take action.
Eventually, Flint got up and signed the form which Missa then stuffed in her backpack.
Brock had no argument against any of this anymore and after what seemed like forever we were on our way with Flint shuffling back toward town, notebook in hand and a copy of the document he had signed stuffed in it. Where did the copy come from? Always create in triplicate when it comes to legal forms.
Either way, we had joined Ash and strong-armed our way into his journey by just following along, not that he really argued against it. Brock had joined us to start his journey to learn how to be a top-notch pokémon breeder. And Misty was still following along and harassing Ash about her bike. Once things calmed down on that front we would probably pay her back for it but until then Ash needed to learn the hard way not to take or damage people’s stuff. And so our journey finally begins, much later than we had anticipated from our original miscalculations.