My return home took longer than the planned week that I'd allocated for my trip to the Battle Frontier.
I hadn't gotten anything that I'd initially planned when I set off for the Battle Frontier done beyond meeting Bradon, Noland, and Lucy. Spencer, the representative of Rota, hadn't left his palace and instead sent a trainer to act as a diplomat for Rota in the discussions that were still ongoing.
Which I had come to learn, was pretty much par for the course with diplomatic talks.
The top Growlithes, or in this case, Lance, myself, the Elders, and even Noland had discussed various issues and concerns and created a roadmap.
From there, it was up to the diplomats to paint in the nitty-gritty details.
There'd be some sticking points, I had no doubt. But before I'd departed with Sabrina and my family, a trio of Lawyers with a focus on indigenous people's rights had appeared, thrown off their suits and asked the Elders about how to 'join the tribe; to help protect its interests and understand its values.
I had to give Lawrence and Jennifer a lot of praise for finding such proactive specialists. I hadn't known such things existed, and that they'd found three that were willing to dive right in.
"Ooooohhhh, so this is your home? Shiny!" declared Glimmers-on-the-cliffs as we marched over the small hill leading to my home.
I'd thought about teleporting directly to the Gym, but I'd wanted the trio of tribesmen who had decided to come with me from the Tribe to experience what it was like to walk through a city openly. To grasp just how many people there were and the difference.
The walk to my Gym, and the wide open space was also a notable contrast, showing that while we could have lived in smaller houses, or towering skyscraper apartments, I'd instead chosen to stake a claim and have a reserve that featured a lot of nature.
"Yeah, it's relatively new, with it only being three years old now. During my Journey, I was able to secure a lot of money and poured that into the infrastructure," I bragged. Just as I was about to start pointing out the various features, Salvadore leapt in and did it for me.
"This hill is actually the boundary of the land Brock owns! This helps to create a divide so that people don't try building things right up flush with the Gym. It goes from here alllllllll the way to that mountain over there!" he announced, pointing at a distant mountain that had a large snowcap on it.
Cindy perked up. "Brock's thinking of creating an ice type zone up there for pokemon that need cold environments all year round!"
I coughed. "That's something I'm still investigating," I stated carefully.
Cindy didn't even look at me. "It's going to be great! Then Aurora can come stay!" She clenched her fists. "I made Lorelei pinky promise."
Glimmer gave Cindy a thoughtful look. "I'm not sure what this oath entails, but it sounds very serious indeed!" she declared.
I sighed and looked to the three other Crusher tribesmen who had demanded to follow me.
Shale, the male… cousin, of the group, was a plant. At least, according to Sabrina, who wanted to see how much of what we were saying was bluffing. Needless to say, a short stroll through Pewter had shattered his worldview.
Hopefully, I could adjust him into someone helpful going forward. If not, I could at least scare him into understanding just how out of their depths the Crusher Tribe had been.
He and Agate were still a bit gobsmacked about walking through Pewter City.
"... not even the biggest city in Kanto… let alone Indigo…"
"Scouts didn't tell it properly!" muttered Agate with a shake of her head.
Yolanda approached and gave our… cousin a light pat on the shoulder.
Hmmm, alright, I might have broken their spirits a little more than I had been aiming for.
Ruby, in the meanwhile, had been rather gobsmacked at the wheelchair we'd provided for her. She was still marvelling at moving under her own control by performing wheelies, stop starts, and even making the wheelchair jump over a curb at one moment.
Which I knew they weren't intended for, but the giant grin on her face made me reluctant to curb her delight. When her treatment had been proposed to begin straight away, I'd obviously offered up lodging at the Gym. I just hadn't expected three adults to come with her. An oversight on my part.
Turning away from them, I decided to just chalk that up as a critical success and leave it for later to handle.
"So we have some rooms set up that you will be able to stay in, I'll show you how to get around and then leave you to get settled," I said, deciding to give the room while also giving me time to just crash out.
We drew closer to the Gym and Glimmer paused to inspect the obelisks that were placed along the path. Her eyes flickered across the writings, the photographs, and even the informational suggestions that were all about helping young trainers stay safe.
"These pillars," she gestured carefully. "They tell stories don't they?"
"Yeah, some of them have brief blurbs about some local heroes and historic figures that were influential in Pewter's development. Others give advice on what trainers need to be on the look out for and why. Those are safety briefs."
Glimmer made a humming sound, tilting her head back and forth only to nod. "It would seem I need to learn to read!" she declared seriously.
That had me pausing. Ah, right. I had made plans for the tribe with teachers coming in, but I hadn't really considered the literacy levels of the adults.
"We can get you a tutor," I suggested.
"Is that unusual?" she asked.
"A little. Most learn when they're children, either from their parents or from schools."
"School?" Her head tilted the other way.
Before I could say anything, Suzie bounced forward. "It's a super fun place to spend time with your friends and learn things!"
Tommy groaned. "It's a drag! The best part is the sports and P.E. sessions!"
Cindy coughed. "Music is alright, but sometimes it just drags on."
Yolanda giggled while Salvadore bristled. "It's an important stepping stone that you need to complete to be able to progress! If you want to go to University, you need to do well!"
Glimmer observed this. "So, it is some form of punishment, a nursery area for children and campfire? I assume adults use the free time given to them from child rearing to see to their work for the day? It is also not the highest level I have heard of. You will have to explain the purpose of university to me later; one of your diplomats was rather proud of losing four years of his life to it."
That made me purse my lips. "Yeeeeeees," I said, finding nothing technically wrong with what she'd said. "It's something most people do. It creates a shared base of knowledge that people can build off of. Some people just click with it, while others…" I gestured to Tommy who was stomping off to our house. "They find smaller parts to enjoy. Schools try to account for everyone, but it's kind of tough with how many kids there are."
Flint moved off to talk with Tommy while Lola led the rest of my family away. I buzzed into the Gym and led the trio of Crusher tribe additions with me to the communal areas.
"So to enter and exit the doors around here you'll need these keycards; otherwise, the doors won't open." I directed a look at the male of the group. "Don't try to force the doors. Alarms will go off if you do and these doors are rated for fairly strong pokemon, so even a pokemon attack will at most dent them."
I led them around, only to chuckle as I entered the lounge area to find Rocko sitting on the couch playing on the console against Rachel who looked like she was raging at her defeats.
"Nooooooo! Not to Jigglypuff!" she snarled as Rocko flattened her once again.
"This is normal," I said, moving past the room only for Rachel to perk up and ditch the game in favour of inspecting the new people. Definitely not to escape another beat down by Rocko.
"Hiya! I'm Rachel Raul! I run the media side of things for the Pewter Gym!" She waved a hand to Rocko, who nodded back as he settled in for another game. Hmmm, was that the Legend of Link: Reversed world? Nice.
"Do you not stand for your Overlord?" growled Agate.
Rocko blinked slowly, then glanced at me. His lips twitched upwards. "I'm on break," he replied with a slight tinge of amusement as he sank back into the couch.
Agate made a sound like not unlike the sound of a confused Growlithe and I put my hand on her shoulder.
Right. How was I going to explain employment to a person who lived their way of life? You didn't just… hmmm, maybe that could work?
"Yeah, we don't do that around here. Rocko is my second in command of the Pewter Gym, but he only has to do that when he's at work. Otherwise he is free to do anything he wants, including ignoring me unless there is a good reason."
This drew blank expressions from Agate and Shale. Glimmer looked interested but was obviously lost with the details right now. I suspected she was going to be the first to 'map out how things slotted together' in this different world they now found themselves in.
"Right, so, instead of always being your job here, like a hunter, or a mother, or a Singer for example, you can switch it up somewhat. People will still know that you have that job, but you don't always have to be a hunter, or in my case, a boss to people. This is sort of in reverse. He doesn't need to follow my orders right now cause he's relaxing."
"A strange way of approaching it."
I shrugged. "To be fair. Overlord isn't something you set down casually, but for Rocko and the others, they don't have to worry about it." I gestured to them. "You don't either by the way. I'd prefer to just be known as Brock, alright?"
This had Shale and Agate shuffling nervously but they joined Glimmer in nodding slowly.
"Alright so in summary, jobs in developed regions can be picked up or put down, depending on time and place. In this situation. Rocko doesn't need to stand or follow my orders, make sense?"
I got a trio of blank looks like I'd just fired off a Confusion at them.
Ruby wheeled closer to the television, intrigued by it.
I nodded slowly. "This is going to take a while, but yeah, it's a strange new world you're stepping into, alright?"
They nodded slowly, and I led them to the rooms before handing them keycards to unlock their doors. I demonstrated everything for them with the rooms, like the en-suites and toilets which they seemed to appreciate. When they discovered the folded up track pants, shirt and shorts with the Gym Logo on them, they stiffened.
"Is this how you show your allegiance?" Glimmer asked, unrolling the shirt to see the Boulder Badge stitched in as a brand label.
I raised my hand to deny her, only to lower it. "Somewhat. It's a touch more loosely defined. Most people in Indigo have a Gym they show support to. Pretty much all Pewter residents support me as a matter of pride as I'm their representative in some governance decisions, while also being the standard people use to compare their skills."
The group looked lost, and I nodded. "It's gonna take a while. Just relax. There's no need to push yourselves to fit in. Just don't be violent, and ask questions if you're unsure of something."
They all nodded at this, and I sighed in relief. "Alright, other than that I'm going to my home to crash," I told them where it was and how to get there, along with where they could go if they wanted to exercise themselves or their pokemon within the reserve.
"Make sure you keep your Keycards close!" I called as I departed.
When I left, Rachel intercepted me. "Eeiii!" You found your old man's family! This is so exciting! You're going to have to tell me all about it!" She twitched towards the rooms. "Can I talk with them? They seem like interesting people!"
"I think it's best to give them space for now. If they approach you just stick with explaining things as simply as you can. Stay calm. Treat this like a wild injured pokemon situation, alright?"
"Ah, alright then."
Rocko paused his game. He was mid-boss fight, against what looked like Ganondorf with Princess Zelda wielding the Hero's bow to my eyes. "Need anything from me?"
"Just be there, calm any issues down, or get me." I hummed. "They might be strong enough to give you a run for your money, so don't try to beat them down… At least Agate had some decent pokemon."
"How'd you meet them?" Rachel asked.
"Oh, Agate was part of a hit squad that came to kill me during my tour of the Battle Frontier," I replied glibly.
Rocko and Rachel stared at me.
"Bye!" waving over my shoulder, I marched off, only for Rachel to scramble after me.
"Oh no, you don't!" she roared, chasing after me for the full story.
I gave her the cliffnotes version, not wanting to bore her with the minutia of the meetings that I'd had to sit through over the last few days, but instead pointing out all the interesting situations.
"So, they're like angry foreign exchange students, or in this case, trainees?" she suggested thoughtfully as we walked towards my house only to find Lola was chasing Sylveon.
"Give me back my cake!" she growled. "Don't try to frame Munchlax! I know it was you!" hissed Lola.
I decided I wanted none of that and ignored it. "Yeah, pretty much," I replied. "If you don't mind, I'm going to crash out for a bit. Need anything before that?"
"Nope! Alexa rescheduled things for you when you sent through that you were going to be delayed. Man, I knew something was up, cause Lawrence and Jennifer took over the meeting area in the gym, but this is crazy!"
She got a sly look on her face. "Heh, I'm gonna introduce those tribesmen to the internet and soda pop!"
A half-formed thought of denying her rose only for me to cast it aside. They were going to learn about the internet soon enough.
"They don't know how to read or write, so good luck with that," I replied, causing Rachel to twitch in surprise.
"Woooooah, they really are tribals, aren't they?" she said, now understanding what it meant.
"So it would seem. If you want to lose an hour or three, ask Glimmer to tell you a story. She literally knows the Crusher Tribe history by memory and can sing, dance, or just tell it."
Rachel whistled at that and broke off when I opened my door. Now alone in my room, I happily collapsed into it. When I rolled over my hand nudged something warm, causing me to peel back the sheets.
I wasn't at all surprised to find Sabrina hidden there.
"Thought you said you were going to Saffron?" I asked.
"I lied," she replied sleepily.
"Good call," I said, patting her lightly as I luxuriated at being back in my bed after roughing it for the last week. Sabrina replied with a tired grunt and I suspected she was already back asleep.
Proving you were the strongest around had taken a bit of a toll I suspected and she was probably going to be catching up on the sleep she'd missed.
I lifted my head and glanced towards my computer where I no doubt had a large tray of emails waiting for me.
Eh, it could wait. I grasped her within my arms and became the big spoon before my eyes closed. I deserved this.
______________
Rocko set the controller down after Brock had left. He drummed his fingers on his knuckles and considered what he'd just seen.
Three new people and a kid wandering into the Gym. Tense, and rough in a way he hasn't seen in years.
Like rectangles that were being shoved into circular holes. They weren't going to fit, and things were going to be bad.
He'd kept an ear on the conversation and while he hadn't made it obvious, he had watched them. They were wearing leathers and furs and had small knives on their bodies. The only people he'd seen living like that had been rangers that came in from long shifts in the wilds. They… usually had issues returning to civilisation after being wild for so long.
It didn't match perfectly, but Rocko trusted his gut to do right by him.
These people were outsiders now in a civilised world with rules and social structures they wouldn't understand or even know existed.
That was going to cause more tension. People could be proud, and having their problems constantly rubbed in their face, especially when they were away from home was going to make things worse.
Instead of continuing to play his game and ignore the issue, 'cause he was on break', Rocko sauntered up to the room that the guy, Shale, had taken.
He knocked and the sound of someone scrambling around inside came first before a scuffling at the door. It took a minute, but eventually the door opened with Shale looking a bit flushed.
Rocko smiled easily. "Sup man, I'm Rocko, want a drink?" he offered.
"Ah?"
Rocko hummed. "It's a way to make conversation. I'm checking in on you."
"Did Overlord Brock ask you to do that?" Shale asked.
"No, but I respect him enough to see he wants this—" Rocko made a gesture at Shale and the room around him, "— to work out. So he didn't have to. So, want a drink?" he offered again, gesturing back out to the lounge room.
Shale nodded and Rocko moved over to the other two rooms only to find Agate and Glimmers-on-the-cliffs whatever, were in one room talking.
"Yes?" growled Agate.
Rocko just smiled and made the same offer. Before long the trio were arrayed in the loungeroom with various drinks in hand while others lay opened and poured into cups for them to sample at their leisure.
Rachel swept in with a bounce in her step and her girlfriend Trixie following in her wake.
Shale spat his drink. "She's gigantic!" he shouted.
Trixie glanced over her shoulder only to stiffen and turn back while pointing at herself. "Me?" she queried.
Rachel slapped her on the back. "Don't worry about him! You're great how you are! Huge and muscular! That's Trixie!"
This caused Trixie to brighten up and Glimmers leaned forward.
"Interesting," she said succinctly, like the two women were a new puzzle to work out.
Rachel opened her mouth to say something only for her eyes to catch on to the drinks laid out in front of their new colleagues. "Awwww, no fair I was gonna do that!"
Rocko just smiled, knowing that Brock wouldn't have to worry too much. "Beat you to it." He waved a hand at the trio. "Also, I think they prefer not being set up with you getting them to chug a soda can without prior warning."
He directed a look her way which she avoided with a practised efficiency. "What else did you bring as a welcome present?" he prodded, knowing Rachel well enough to know it wouldn't have all been about playing a joke.
Rachel produced several items to help children learn to read, tablets, a few books. Even better, they were battery-operated to announce the word when you pressed on them. There were letters and numbers laid out simply. "Oh, nice, that'll work," He said only for Glimmers to lock onto the new item.
When she began playing with them her eyes dilated and her smile grew. "Hmmm, yes, this will work wonderfully," she announced, even as she pressed the word for 'oran' over and over, her eyes locked on the page.
Rocko shot Rachel a thumbs up. In reply, Rachel began laying out a wide array of snacks for the newbies to try which had Rocko relaxing even more.
Things might get a bit rough, but they'd work it out.
Ruby chose that moment to point at the controller for the Nintendo sixty-four. "I'd like to learn about this. What is it?" The others perked up, also showing signs of interest while Glimmer mashed the button for 'Tauros!' for the first time.
Yeah, that was going to get old fast," Rocko thought to himself.
Leaving Rachel to deal with that he began teaching the others how to play video games.
Rocko's smile grew into an easy grin. Yeah, this was gonna be just fine.
______________________
When I woke up I set about my discarded tasks like a well oiled machine falling back into its slot.
Emails and questions were answered that I'd been ignoring. Purchases were paid for and training plans I'd had the gym trainers complete was reviewed.
Sadly a randomised quality check Dennis had performed on some of the meats were indicating that trace amounts of everstone were being picked up. Nothing too damaging to our pokemon, but enough that I was going to flag it with our supplier or Magikarp meat for some of the carnivorous pokemon.
If they wanted us to keep purchasing their goods then they needed to lower the content back to the standards we'd demanded. I toggled a mark that would go out to Rocko and Dennis, announcing that the quality checks were about to become locked in, rather than randomised, like they had been while attaching the report from earlier.
I didn't want more cases of Izumi building up.
While lacing ponds with Everstone was an effective method for raising magikarp long term it also needed to be carefully monitored as you could have build ups like this that would impact the consumer.
Something to monitor for going forward.
Alexa and Georgina had a rather lengthy report regarding how the auction that we'd had organised had gone off without a hitch. Excellent. There was both a sizable uptick in our income along with some of the pokemon that hadn't been suited to being Gym pokemon long term being shuffled along. Those rare cases where being a gym pokemon was not enough for them, so they went to trainers that would compete.
Notes had been compiled for several young trainers who were set to start their Journey and had purchased a pokemon from us.
Rhyhorns, I noted, had sold extremely well. Almost as well as the few Lileep, and Electric Geodude's that I'd offered up for sale. Which was rather surprising. I'd expected an uptick, but not to that extent. Supply and demand should have come into effect with there being ten Rhyhorn that were being offloaded, while only two Lileep, and two Electric Geodudes.
After all the hype we'd generated around Rhyhorns with Bertha's magical give away I'd sat with my staff and come up with several plans. Notably, what to do if young trainers, just starting out, bought a Rhyhorn from us.
They'd be flagged for any Gym Challenge they underwent, within Indigo, or internationally, to make sure people weren't caught off guard by the rookie training pulling out a Rhyhorn with a lot more power than they should have.
A quick perusal of the notes revealed that the bidding hadn't just been from young trainers but also pokemon racers. Apparently several Pewter locals were going to give the sport a whirl and with the established racing track… Huh, it looked like that really was going to take off like Grace had predicted.
Speaking of which, she had a few emails here asking about setting up a racing academy, a racing schedule and… hmmmm seems like way too much work and something I'd need to offload. I flicked a message back to her asking her if she was interested in a job or knew of anyone that she would recommend. Future Brock problems were an amazing way to offload issues… Until they became mine.
With that done, I followed up with an email warning the Safari zone to expect greater traffic this year.
Before I could even finish my inbox a reply appeared from the managerial staff thanking me for the heads up.
Finishing up with some emails to Xander about scheduling in time for him to come in for some training and to check over his egg with Bianca.
Sabrina sat up with a yawn at that point and hummed as she squinted at me. "Always so proactive," she murmured as she stretched, giving me quite the eyeful.
"Let me have more time for things I enjoy doing," I replied while my eyes locked on her body.
She rose from the bed, choosing to float to the bathroom. "Hmmm that's nice. I'm going to have a shower."
I was just about to sigh in exasperation when she passed me.
"Care to join me?" she asked.
I was up and out of my chair in moments.
_______________
With some business and pleasure seen to, I happily swept out of my house in time for lunch to inspect the reserve and the pokemon milling about.
I wasn't surprised to find my new… employees wandering about, inspecting all the little homes and basins that my pokemon had claimed. Stephen was leading the 'tour' with Rachel bouncing along with them at the back.
Rather than interrupt I moved on to the area behind the plateau. Sure enough, there, my elite pokemon were gathered with Orion, the newly evolved Ursaluna happily sitting front and centre with the others inspecting him. The Larvitar Trio looked rather smug as they stood to the side with the little hands on their hips, like his evolution was all thanks to them.
Don I noted was ignoring the main focus and from what I could tell through the bond, was regaling Shin, and the other fossil pokemon about his 'amazing take downs' during the brief scuffle against Granite.
My pokemon quickly noticed my approach and offered nods, waves, or in Link's case, a full body hug in greeting. Bertha, not to be outdone in exuberance, stood and knelt like she would to a liege lord, proclaiming her fealty loudly.
"Perior!" she shouted, while the others laughed.
Shin, Gawain, and Knight all quickly copied her, forming an 'honour guard' for me.
Sanchez began to shimmy and shake, throwing his hands about like he was heralding my arrival.
"Alright! Alright!" I called. "Enough hamming it up you lot! You're all hilarious!" I shouted over the laughter of my pokemon.
My team settled down and I hummed. "So, with Sakura, and Orion now fully evolved, there's going to be some switch ups. Gabite is slowly coming into his own, but further improvements are going to take months, if not years more to see him fully evolved."
Gabite nodded happily, not at all daunted by the timeframe. He was going to be a powerhouse and he knew it.
"Now, on a more interesting side, I think we need to queue up a friendly match. We beat Clair in the team battle convincingly, so nice work team," I called. I made sure to turn and give Cradily a pointed nod. "Cradily, your inclusion worked great for tripping her up so nice work, everyone else delivered to their usual high standard. Now the next friendly will either be a Gym match up which will lock me in for Rock types, or I will pull an Ace friendly for someone who'd be interested."
"Tar! Tyran!" barked Titan.
"Why not both?" I repeated, tilting my head. My pokemon all leaned in and I barked a laugh. "Alright alright! We can do that!" I replied.
My team broke out into cheers and I just shook my head. "With that said, the Ace match will be for anyone I want to test out, so Sakura, Orion, Link, Shin, Tide, and Hypnotoad, you're going to be getting priority on that."
"Perior!" grumbled Bertha petulantly.
I just rolled my eyes. "Please! You got plenty of chances to smash pokemon, just like Knight, Shrek, and Regirock got a chance to show their stuff."
Two of the listed pokemon perked up at this. The team victory against Brandon had been well earned and an uphill battle for them, but something they would definitely take as a highlight for themselves.
"Regirock, I also meant to say this earlier but never got the chance, great work defending the Crusher tribe tents and people during our fight against Granite and his brothers."
Regirock bobbed its head slightly forward, eyes flashing briefly in acknowledgement even as my team made a show of praising his efforts.
Eyeing the chalk drawings that featured more rough scars and 'tough' looking colourings on his legs I had to conclude that the kids had rather appreciated Tilly and Billy giving them the go ahead to draw on a Legendary pokemon.
The memory of the scandalised Elders and parents had been glorious.
When they'd tried to complain to me about the sacrilege of chalking up a Legendary pokemon I'd pointed out that it was one of the few things Regirock showed approval for. I'd also mentioned to the parents that having their child close to Regirock was one of, if not the safest place to be within the camp.
Despite the Crusher kids having access to its legs and arms, I noted a familiar style of drawing on its body around its eyes and back that indicated Tilly and Billy held 'exclusive rights' to decorating those areas.
"Alright gang, until we organise anything else, light training only for the next few days."
"Go-lem Golem?" asked Sanchez, pointing a finger at me questioningly.
"Me? Oh, I don't have anything major planned I don't think," I replied with a frown. "Cause of the Crusher Tribe incident we missed the Fight Knight that Salvadore had been looking forward to, but that just gives me more time to practise jousting," I replied with a laugh.
"Rhy! Rhy!" chanted Bertha as she 'suggested' that I enlist her eldest child as my mount.
"I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to use a Rapidash," I pointed out with a small twitch of my lips.
"Ooooor!" Bertha waved a hand dismissively, causing me to chuckle.
Promising to look into the rules of the next available event earned a fist pump from Bertha.
"I didn't agree yet!" I called as she trundled off only for her to very pointedly ignore me. I huffed and turned to Titan, a slow smile forming on my face.
"Wanna Mega evolve?" I asked and he grinned back at me.
It might be overkill and completely childish, but feeling the power coursing through my starter had been better than a great many experiences in my lives thus far.
Within seconds we'd megaevolved, and Titan and I set about demolishing large boulders and laying waste to the training field like kids on sugar highs let loose through a lego display.
The light display did draw Stephen and the Crusher tribe over and initially I had considered being serious, only to dismiss the idea and keep playing around.
"Titan! Go!" I called with a gleeful grin.
It might have destroyed any concept of me being a 'dignified' higher than thou' Overlord, but I found I didn't mind it.
Better they understood me than build up a false impression of me.
Stephen started taking notes, Shale watched on with delight, and the girls… wandered off to do something more interesting than watching Titan and I smash things in different ways.
Joke was on them, it was a ton of fun, and therapeutic.
A small beep on my wrist drew a sigh from me as an appointment reminder synchronised with Titan's Mega evolution timing out.
A wave of fatigue washed through me but I wouldn't need too much energy for what came next.
Zephyr thankfully, was more than happy to ferry me to the office, and I entered right on time for my appointment.
My therapist directed me to the couch to get comfortable. She had a small pad in her lap, and I could see the email I'd sent her about my recent adventure on display.
"Soooo, you've been busy," she began and I couldn't help the laugh that escaped me.
What an understatement.
Still, it felt good to lay back and take a load off.
Being home helped with that.
When I was done I was lighter again with several thought exercises to work on along with a highly bemused therapist wondering about my life. I could only nod and agree. My Life was pretty nuts.
I was just rounding the plateau on Zephyr when I spotted the Crusher Tribe, still being led about by Stephen. I raised a hand to wave, only for a shrill tone to begin blaring out from my wrist. It took a moment to silence it, and it was only after doing this that I caught on that I wasn't the only one getting a message.
My eyes snapped back to my wrist and I read the message that had come through.
The war between Fiore and Orre was considered won with the facilities that housed Masterball plans destroyed. Team Cipher were either captured, or driven so far out of Orre, that they were lost to the wilds.
The message was confirmed by several Legendaries appearing to 'bless' the victors and urge peace, which I had to admit, was a damn effective method of a war being called to an end.
The next message that came through drew a chuckle.
A medal ceremony was planned in a few days' time with the League while putting Karen as a major contributor to the war's conclusion.
Well, this was certainly a good start to my return home. Karen was definitely going to be happy just getting away from Ash.
___________________
A.N. Thanks go to my patreons for their continued support. For those curious, we're about to begin Arc 17 - The Time Arc. which… will be playing out a lot more differently than in the movie, I will warn you now!
Look forward to something different.
Thanks also goes to Twmmy, for proofreading this chapter!