Pokemon League meetings were pretty boring.
The was the thought running through the head of the Glaseado Mountain Gym Leader as Grusha was barely listening to half the stuff that Geeta was saying.
It wasn't that Grusha took his gym leader position for granted, behind the cold, frosty and cynical attitude he genuinely loved the thrill of Pokemon Battles.
It was just that he really didn't want to be here with a bunch of people he frankly didn't know that well.
It would have been hard already for Grusha to connect to the other gym leaders given his frosty and somewhat bitter attitude, but what didn't help matters was the fact most of the other gym leaders… were pretty eccentric.
The only ones he knew relatively well were Ryme, (which was wasn't a shocker given how close Montenvera and Glaseado happened to be) and Larry (given that they had similar attitudes though Larry was definitely more broody than he was).
As for the others?
Katy had tried to be nice, but Grusha found out that she was always busy. Whether it be at her bakery or with her gym leader duties.
Brassius always got super into art and tried to get Grusha's Pokemon to serve as models for him leading the Ice-type leader too promptly leave Artazon.
Kofu was a lot like Katy. He tried to be nice but often times he was too busy with his restaurant to actually hang out with Grusha. Not to mention, his voice was always so loud leaving Grusha afraid he might cause a avalanche at his gym.
And finally, there was Tulip who frankly seemed to be between either a model shoot or battling new challengers making her unknown to Grusha.
That just left one person: Iono.
Grusha knew who she was, frankly if you didn't know who Iono was you had the most oblivious person in Paldea in his opinion.
Not only was she the Electric-type gym leader of Levincia but a streamer and influencer who was a mega celebrity all across Paldea.
Frankly she could quit as a gym leader and Grusha would be convinced she would still pretty popular.
Grusha looked up to see to see how every gym leader was faring in this meeting.
Katy was certainly trying her hardest, but clearly she was having trouble keeping her focus.
Brassius seemed liked the most focused one with him nodded at everything Geeta said.
Larry, Kofu and Ryme seemed liked they were paying attention but the idle chit-chat they were engaging in was clear their attention was not a 100% there.
And finally Tulip was like him, utterly bored as he saw her swiping through somethings on her phone and chuckling to herself a bit.
But what was the most surprising thing was Iono herself. She wasn't goofing off like everyone else.
She was taking notes and writing stuff down, as if she was student at Uva Academy.
This floored Grusha so much that he didn't hear Geeta calling to him until it was too late.
"Grusha… Grusha! Are you listening to me?" Geeta said as she got Grusha's attention.
"Oh yeah." Grusha lied as Geeta continued the meeting until it was done.
Once the meeting was over, Grusha was intending to head back home to Glaseabo when he heard someone call out to him.
"Grusha! Hey Grusha!" Iono said she excitedly ran up to him.
"Iono what is it?" Grusha asked trying to hide the irritation in his voice a bit.
"Can I ask you a favor? See I was planning on bringing another gym leader on my show for tomorrow's stream and I was originally planning on bringing on Tulip but she had to cancel at the last minute so I was wondering if you would help out instead and come on the show!?" Iono asked while smiling brightly.
Grusha couldn't help but marvel at the attitude change with Iono. During the meeting she was so focused and even taking notes but now with him she was back to his usual preppy self.
As for her offer, well he was actually free for the entirety of next week. He could lie and say he was booked but then he saw how earnest Iono was being and released he couldn't do that to her.
"Alright I guess I can come on." Grusha said to her.
The Electric-type leader smiled and thanked Grusha a million times over as she happily ran out of the League Building leaving the former snowboarder wondering what he signed up for.
Levincia was pretty loud, but that made sense in a way. Outside of Mezagoza it was probably the most technological city in the entire Paldea Region.
It still didn't mean Grusha had to like as he made his way over to the Levincia Gym with Cetoddle.
Originally he was planning on leaving him back at gym but the Terra Whale Pokemon insisted on coming along with him and even used his cute charm aura to convince the Ice-type specialist to let him come along.
Anyways, back at the gym Grusha soon entered with Cetoddle as he saw people and gym trainers running and helping set up the stream as he saw a pair of assistants helping Iono and Bellibolt with them setting up for the stream.
Soon Iono saw him and ran over to him with her Bellibolt following behind her.
"Hey! Grusha I am so glad you made it. And I see you even brought along a cute guest!" Iono said as she hugged Cetoddle who hugged her back.
"Well truth be told, I was planning on leaving him behind but he wanted to come and I couldn't fight that." Grusha said before he petted Bellibolt a bit who yelped happily.
Soon both of them went to the couch where Iono usually did her shows and the stream began.
"Ladies aaand gentlemens! It's time for the Iono Zone! Today I have a special guest with me, the Sub-Zero Shredder himself and the Gym Leader of the Glaseado Gym himself, Grusha!" Iono said introducing the show with her usual energy that it nearly caught Grusha off-guard.
Grusha soon managed a small smile before Iono asked him to describe a bit about himself.
"Well, I am a former pro snowboarder, I specializes in Ice-type Pokemon and I always enjoy the thrill of a nice Pokemon Battle." Grusha said plainly though he could feel the sensation of a smile on her face.
Iono soon asked what type of Pokemon that he had, and seeing that there was enough space for them he soon let out his Pokemon: Forsmoth, Beartic, Cetitan, Weavile, Froslass and Altaria.
Iono's chat soon exploded over his Pokemon with some remarking on how cool Beartic and Weavile were while others asked why he had a Altaria before realizing that was probably his Tera Pokemon.
Soon Cetoddle jumped on his lap with the chat soon awing in unison about his cuteness.
"They're asking if Cetoddle is your Pokemon?" Iono asked with a smile on his face.
Grusha soon petted Cetoddle before saying "No, Cetoddle is just a Pokemon I befriended. He comes by often whenever I have a gym battle." Grusha said.
"That is pretty adorable." Iono said giggling before continuing on with the stream as Grusha began to pet Cetoddle more and more.
Soon the stream was over as Iono thanked her fans for tuning in as Grusha returned his Pokemon. As thanks for appearing on the stream, Iono offered to get Grusha a coffee at a nearby coffee store next to her gym.
They two of them soon went inside with Iono ordering a mocha frappe and Grusha getting a regular cappuccino.
"You know there is something I have been wanting to ask you." Grusha said to Iono as the warm drink soothe his frosty soul.
"Umm sure what is it?" Iono asked as she drank from her frappe.
"Why are you a gym leader? Surely with your streams you could sustain yourself without all the extra work." Grusha asked her wondering what her answer would be.
Iono sipped some more from her frappe before giving her answer.
"Well I think I am just like you, I love Pokemon Battles as well. That is why I was taking notes during the meeting so that I can spice up the battles at my gym even more!" Iono said energetically as Grusha was floored by her comments.
That was exactly like him, why even he: someone who looks so cold all the time enjoyed being a gym leader.
Perhaps he and Iono had a bit more in common than he realized.
"I see, well thanks for having me on but I should probably get going." Grusha said as he saw the sun going down.
"Wait! I have something for you before you go!" Iono said as she stopped the Ice-specialist.
Soon Iono came over and gave Grusha a little pecking kiss on his cheek.
"Consider this my thanks to you, I hope to see you around!" Iono said cheerfully.
Grusha blushed as he and Cetoddle made it out of Levinicia not expecting Iono to kiss him on the cheek.
I guess he had one more gym leader he knew pretty well.