Sorry for the wait folks, it's been a rough month. More details after the chapter.

Ben's Team:
Ogrim - Golett
Dart - Beedrill
Cleo and Lacy/The Twins - Doduo
Gauss - Alolan Geodude

Chapter 19: Food for Thought

"With the unrest that has pervaded Unova of late, it's more important than ever for our Pokémon League to show the absolute best our region has to offer," Caitlin says to a room full of reporters, "The number of trainers in this year's Unova League may be small, but I fully believe that those trainers who showed the bravery to follow their dreams to this point are the best of the best. Every one of those competitors should consider themself the peak of not only Unova, but what the Pokémon League as a whole has to offer. And I know this year's tournament will prove that."

"A strong statement from one of Unova's most prolific trainers," reporter A declares from behind the desk.

"Other members of the Elite Four had stronger words, however," Reporter B remarks, as another clip starts playing.

"I don't know that it really matters, as far as the results go," Shauntal says with a shrug, "I agree that there was an unusually high rate of trainers to drop out this year, but how many of them would have made it far if they had shown up? If they had what it takes to go all the way then their story wouldn't have ended so soon in the first place!"

I grit my teeth at the remark, turning my attention back to the stove and flipping a pancake. Damn. Scorched it. I'll let Axel take this one for Tokeru, that charmeleon won't eat anything unless it's blackened anyway.

"Unova's trainers seem to have lost their nerve lately." This time the comment is coming from Grimsley, who is eyeing the reporters hounding him with an expression of amusement, "Many long time veterans of our League seem to be fleeing for greener pastures. A safe bet, one could say."

"Grimsley, sir, are you suggesting that you support the mass exodus of trainers from Unova's League?" A reporter asks.

"Support's not the right word, I think," Grimsley replies, looking thoughtful, "I certainly don't blame them for playing safe, but…" His gaze intensifies, a slasher grin cutting across his face, "If you want to play in the Big Leagues you can't be afraid to run away from a little danger. You can't win big unless you're willing to gamble big."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't have a criminal organization breathing down your neck when you first started training," I grumble, flipping another pancake. Damn, this one's looking pretty overcooked as well, though it's at least salvageable. I gotta focus up here.

"You might want to change the channel to something less distracting Sara," Keith comments as he watches me cook, "At this rate Ben's gonna burn through every pancake we've got!"

"Not much I can do about that; every news station I've checked is talking about Unova right now," Sara protests from the couch, "And honestly I can see why. Last night's opening ceremony was kinda…"

"Small? Lackluster? Underwhelming? Anemic?" Keith supplies, his usual grin looking a bit halfhearted. After a moment he turns back to me, looking a bit worried, "Don't get me wrong Ben, your friends looked like they were bringing their A-game, but most of the others seemed a bit dead inside. And not in a ghost trainer kinda way."

I frown at that even as I keep my attention fixed on making breakfast properly. There's no denying that Keith and Sara are right. We watched the opening ceremony for Unova last night and the number of trainers was honestly just… bad. Really bad. Almost less trainers than our rookie tournament bad, and we're talking about the biggest sporting tournament in the whole region. They should have at least triple our numbers. It's so bad that the organizers announced that they would only be operating half of their arenas during the preliminaries.

A terrible situation for the Unova League, to be sure. And probably one that will lead to even more pressure for Hilda if the tournament ends the way I expect it to. The Unova League is going to be absolutely desperate for good PR after this mess, and I have little doubt they'll do everything they can to make use of their new champion candidate in order to get it.

With all that in mind it is with a grave expression that I slide the first plate of pancakes over to Keith. And the ninja responds with his usual response: teasing. "Hey, that's a grim face you're making over breakfast. Should I be worried you did something to these pancakes? Trick question, I'm trained to detect poison! I'd know better than even you whether these are safe!" He chuckles a bit at his humor, but it's not enough to cover up the concern in his eyes, "Seriously though, you alright?"

"Just… worried, is all," I sigh, sliding another plate over for Sara to come collect. Then I pile up a third for myself and grab the syrups (we couldn't pick a single one to agree on, so we each got our own and started having pancakes for breakfast a lot more often).

"I know things are rough back home, but there's not much you can do about it," Sara says, walking over to Keith and I, "You should try to focus on more positive things instead."

"Yeah!" Keith chimes in eagerly, "Come on man, we're eating badly disguised junk food for breakfast, we've got the next three days off from battling while the rest of the preliminaries are going on, and we're staying in one of the best luxury suites in Kanto! Unova may be scary right now but over here things are good!"

"Is this the part where I teach you guys all about survivor's guilt?" I comment dryly. The two of them squirm for a moment while I savor a bite of pancake, before I give them a small smile, "I'm kidding. Mostly. You two are right, it won't do me any good to dwell on things. No point wallowing in something I have no control over."

"That's the spirit!" Keith nods eagerly, "So, you have any special plans for the next few days, or are you just going to keep watching the preliminaries?"

"Think I'll watch the matches tomorrow, but for today I'm going to take some time with my team," I reply, "Dart and the girls need some time to exercise since they haven't been in any battles yet. And me and Ogrim still have something we're trying to practice right now."

"Ooh, secret plans! Spicey!" Keith gasps dramatically, "Myself, I think I'll keep watching the matches. I've still got a few of the better trainers there that I'm trying to come up with proper strategies for."

"Let me guess: Zachary?" Sara asks.

"Zachary's the big one," Keith nods along with a wince, "That guy's Pokémon can teleport way beyond what anyone at our level should be capable of. Though there's a few others good enough to worry me too: Kaz, Natalie, whichever one of those Queens twins is left, I keep forgetting. Also Vlad. I don't actually know if he's good or just crazy but there's no denying that he's winning his battles pretty easily and I don't understand how nearly as well as I'd like to."

"Vlad's not complicated to beat," I remark, "His fights may have been one sided, but his fundamentals are mostly crap. The reason he's winning is because he's weirdly good at mind games. Don't get caught up in his weird calls and start playing at his pace; just focus on your own strengths and he won't be able to match you." I let them stew on that for a moment, before remembering to add, "Do watch out for his gumshoos though, that one's definitely stronger than the rest."

"Huh…" Keith replies eloquently, "You got a breakdown like that for Zachary too?"

"Trap the field to limit how his kirlia can teleport, and overwhelm his natu and flittle with pure firepower until they've exhausted themselves using psychic power to dodge. Try to keep at least two mons in good health to deal with his noctowl." I say, listing off the strategies I was brainstorming last night when I looked his team up.

"Impressive work," Sara comments, looking surprised.

"Not that impressive," I reply, "It sounds easy when you put it like that, but actually implementing those strategies against a trainer that clearly favors a methodical battle style? Not easy in practice. He's like a flashy rookie version of Sabrina."

"Makes sense, I'm pretty sure she's his sponsor," Keith nods.

"Kinda makes you wonder why he wasn't seeded like we were," Sara frowns.

"Eh, there's only ten seeded slots. A few talented people were bound to be left out," Keith shrugs, before turning back to me with a playful look in his eye, "Alright Ben, final round! What's your counterplay for Mint?"

"I'll tell you once I come up with something," I reply, unenthused.

"Geez, nothing?" Keith frowns, "What, do you need more info on their team or something?"

"You kidding? Mint's team is public knowledge, their PR team put all their Pokémon online. Emolga, Galarian Ponyta, wartortle, vulpix, and of course that damn lucario," I list. "Their team is a perfect fucking mix of balanced, powerful, and disgustingly marketable."

"It hardly seems fair," Keith says, looking forlorn, "Since when are the trainers whose parents buy their Pokémon for them allowed to have actual skills? Surely that's against the rules?"

"Better be careful Keith, they'll probably come for you first," Sara jokes, "I mean, a scyther, a growlithe, and a roselia? That's way too many popular Pokémon on your team too! What if Mint's parents think you're muscling in on their precious child's marketability?"

Keith looks a little disturbed by that, "See, I know you're joking, but I honestly wouldn't put it past them to try to take me out early like that."

"Nah, they'll try to have you placed as far from Mint as possible," I declare, "That way they can put your marketable team against Mint's for the ultimate marketable final battle! Think of the ratings!"

"Screw that," Keith replies, looking a bit annoyed, "After all the work we've put into our training I want a Fuchsia City sweep in the final four."

"Seconded," I reply without hesitation.

"Thirded," Sara immediately follows up.

"Fourthed," Axel comments, as he finally emerges from his bedroom. He turns to the three of us with a mildly confused and extremely sleepy expression, "What am I agreeing to right now?"

"Kicking ass," Keith explains succinctly.

"Yeah alright," Axel's head bobs, before he lets out a truly monstrous yawn, "I don't suppose anybody made coffee?"

"I made some earlier, but the pot's probably gone cold by now," Keith says apologetically.

"It has," I confirm.

"Can't count on you lot for anything," Axel jokes. Well he's probably joking. Man's not a coffee connoisseur like Keith but he probably goes through more of the stuff in the morning than our resident ninja ever could. Bit of an addict, really.

"Sorry man," I shrug, "You know me, can't stand the stuff. If you'd like though, I can offer you a pancake in this troubled time."

Axel sits himself down at the counter next to Sara and lets out a truly powerful sigh, "I suppose I'll take what I can get."

After breakfast our group all splits up. Keith and Axel head for the stadium, Sara for the beach, and I make my way north, outside of the city. It takes me a little while to find a nice secluded spot, partly because a few dipshits with cameras seem determined to follow me, but a passing kadabra steps in and helps out by teleporting them all away… somewhere. I don't ask questions, I just give my rescuer a few pecha berries for their service and wish them a good day.

Little moments like that are what make this world so fantastic. Back home if I said I saw a wild animal teleport away some people for harassing me, it would mean somebody spiked my drink. But here it's just… a thing that can happen. And that's awesome.

Once I do manage to find a good spot in a nearby wooded area I let everyone out to do their thing. Ogrim gets to practicing his new technique, Gauss starts target practice, and Dart and the twins spend some time with physical training. For Dart this means an exercise I call sting lunges; the goal being to land with all three stingers and launch into the air again. Good for training the arms, along with the thorax muscles that control the wings and abdomen. The twins are taking a break from their usual obstacle running, instead practicing the long-jump.

"No wings, ladies!" I call out as I catch the two flapping to gain some distance, "It gets you farther, sure, but it kills all your momentum. Remember, the point of the exercise is speed! Once you've mastered this technique it will be key to several new moves that will make your hit and run tactics far more dangerous."

"Wark wark!" Lacy snaps irritably as the two come around for another pass at the jumping point I marked for them and fall well short of their target.

"Tough it out Lacy," I reply unflinchingly, "You need to be able to do this to use your talons in battle. High level opponents aren't going to let you stop to line up your attacks. If you can leap at them without losing your speed you'll be able to put those powerful legs of yours to use without leaving yourselves wide open!"

Lacy continues to grumble at the exercise but Cleo looks a bit more determined after hearing my explanation. When it comes to these two it really is like Janine told me back in Saffron: the clashing personalities of the girls goes a long way towards making them stronger. Lacy doesn't have a lot of interest in training, but in an actual battle she always takes point with her viciousness and need to win. Meanwhile Cleo doesn't enjoy fighting half as much but always responds well during training so long as I make sure to explain the goals we're working towards.

Though when I look at the level of intensity between the girls and Dart… there's still a wide gulf in the effort being put out. It's not like the girls aren't trying at all, Cleo's definitely making an effort to do the exercise properly… But the drive isn't there.

Ogrim throws himself wholeheartedly into every exercise I give him. He's a simple guy and can find joy in pretty much everything he does no matter how repetitive. Gauss isn't the best with physical exercise but he does clearly feel a constant need to improve his techniques, to claim dominance through his incredible skill and even more incredible mind. And Dart is Dart, a veritable battle maniac who continues to soak up technique after technique like a sponge.

The twins are strong. Of that I have no doubt. They're talented, vicious, intelligent, hate losing, and have a keen grasp of their strengths in battle. Looking at it objectively they're probably the next strongest on my team after Dart, and with their type advantage they can frequently beat the superbug when they spar. It's not a large gap between first and second place. But if the girls continue like this, it could easily become one.

The question is then, how do I deal with the problem? How do I tweak at my doduo's considerable pride without going too far and having it blow up in my face? If I handle things poorly enough then I could see the girls deciding that battling is too much of a hassle to deal with and going full 'you don't have enough badges to train me!' Not an ideal situation since the girls are basically training to be one of my team's primary win conditions.

Well, lucky for me one of the best resources I have access to for training advice is staying in the same hotel as me. I pull out my Pokégear and send a message to Koga asking him if he has some time to talk in the next few days. Hopefully he'll get back to me in between rounds.

In the meantime, everyone's been going for a while now… "Alright guys, break time!"

Ogrim and the twins need no encouragement, immediately heading over to me. Gauss follows a moment later after taking his last shot and nodding at the results. Dart sounds absolutely crushed though, protesting loudly as he launches off the ground.

"Come on Dart, don't be like that," I shake my head at him, "We're not supposed to be going all out right now. This is just exercise! Exercise! You push yourself too hard right now and you won't be ready to battle when the time comes!"

The comment works on him of course, as it does every time he gets too into training. Dart knows he's getting played, but he always lets it happen. The thought of missing a battle because he didn't listen when I tell him to stop is just too horrifying to bear, I guess. He's not happy about stopping, but he still flies over to wait with the others while I get food ready.

First up is Ogrim, who doesn't actually get food. Little guy can't eat, after all. Instead, I give him his modelling clay and let him go to town. If you can't have food then meal times might as well be play times. Makes for a good alternative reward. Ogrim happily accepts the clay and immediately walks off while twisting it into crazy shapes in his hands. He's gotten pretty good at playing with that stuff since I first bought it for him.

Then comes Dart. His meal of choice is honey, as one would expect from a bee pokémon. Of course honey on its own wouldn't be enough for him, so I also add some special protein mix meant for bug types, as well as pulped occa and tamato berries for flavor. He's developed a taste for sugars since evolving but he's still a big fan of spice. Once I have everything mixed right I spread it on the bark of a nearby tree and let him go to town. It's similar to how beedrill eat in the wild so I try to replicate it whenever I get the chance; with his big stingers Dart really doesn't perform well or enjoy himself at a table.

The twins are actually fairly easy to keep fed despite their temperament and all our food-based negotiating when I first caught them. Their required diet actually isn't that far off from mine: meat, fruit, veggies, and grains. The real trick is keeping things balanced. Never been a specialty of mine. Thankfully there's a massive variety of types of Pokémon food you can buy, packed with nutrients and easy to serve. The girls are my biggest eaters, getting two medium sized bowls of Pokémon chow made for large omnivores. They also get some berries added into the mix, mostly bluk berries with some pecha slices. Their favorites are micle berries but those are expensive enough that I've only bought them one time.

The hardest one to deal with is definitely Gauss. Rock types are pretty much all omnivorous, but also need an unsurprisingly heavy intake of important minerals to go with their meals. Something like three parts rocks to one part regular food. They also benefit from taking in small amounts of certain chemicals that would be straight up poison to a person, since it helps them with digestion. This all culminates in a mix that is very tricky to work with into a proper meal, and the difficulty only increases when you add Gauss' pickiness into the mix. This geodude is a stickler for proper presentation.

Thankfully I managed to figure it out in the end thanks to some tutorial videos I found online. There's a website sponsored by the Pokémon League that exists to host all kinds of videos for proper Pokémon care, and it turns out Gym Leader Brock is one of their most frequent uploaders. He's a big name in the world of pokémon dietitians, and definitely the best source for meals for rock types. Once I had his instructions making meals for Gauss went from an impossible challenge to merely very difficult.

It takes a little while to make sure everyone on the team is sorted out, but once it's done I finally get the chance to take care of my own meal: cold leftover pizza. Lunch of champions. Back before I was isekai'd into this world I practically lived off the stuff. Yeah, I spend enough time worrying about my team's diet that I'm not really good at focusing on my own. Works well enough when I'm staying here in the city, though I've been going through a lot of granola bars when traveling the routes.

I finish my meal first and move over to Dart's tree to give it a second coating. Three's the normal amount for him, he's a big guy and his more natural method of eating isn't particularly efficient. He buzzes at me in thanks as I finish smearing the honey and I give him a pat on the head before letting him get back to it.

"Wark," Cleo calls to get my attention, nudging the empty bowls my way with a talon. As I move to gather them she and her sister move to the edge of the clearing to preen themselves after their meal. I leave them to it, knowing they prefer not to have much attention on them until they've cleaned up.

I glance over at Gauss, who is slowly but surely working his way through his bowl. He seems pleased with it, and with the new cutlery I got him. He insists on using proper utensils to eat, and accidentally crushed my spare set the first time he tried using it. This kind is more heavy duty, made with fighting types in mind, but it seems to work on rock types with a firm grip just as well.

Good that we were able to get all that sorted out through little day trips like this. Would have been a real pain in the ass if I'd had to learn all this stuff about keeping Gauss fed properly while in the middle of a route.

I start packing away my lunch supplies and glance over at Ogrim. He seems to have expanded on his materials. The clay is still there, but he's also drawing dirt up from the earth around him as he sculpts. The sculpture is… well maybe it's because dirt makes a pretty terrible material, but it's just an indistinct blob. Ogrim doesn't seem to mind though, happily humming to himself as the dirt shifts around the clay center he's moving.

Makes me want to see what he can do with a good supply of a proper sculpting material though. Ogrim's reaching a point where the modelling clay is practically flowing like liquid before his hands. I haven't had a real need to check this, but I feel reasonably confident that Ogrim is well past the point where he could use his earth manipulation to heal his own injuries after a battle. Possibly during a battle too… I should look into that. Ogrim's handle on ghost abilities are still trailing well behind what I'd like to see but his ability to shape the earth is honestly already incredible.

I apply the last coating of honey for Dart and finish packing everything away. Which is more of a hassle than you'd expect. One definite downside to the overall major benefits of this hammerspace bag I use is that cleaning it out is a serious pain in the ass. If you get food bits in your bag you will almost certainly be dealing with it until your bag is replaced. This means all my dirty dishes and food supplies need to be very carefully sealed away in containers before I put them in my bag. I can get the dishes later once I'm at the hotel. I should probably look for a good water type soon so I can just hose them off wherever.

"Alright, that's lunch all sorted!" I declare with a smile as I tuck the last container into my bag, "You all enjoy it?" I grin at the enthusiastic response from Gauss and Dart. The twins don't bother answering, since all three of us know what would have happened if they thought their meal was lacking. "Glad to hear it. Alright Ogrim! Time to put the clay away!"

"Gooooo!" Ogrim groans in disappointment.

"I know you like sculpting buddy, but it has to wait for now. We can let you guys spend more time on stuff other than battles once the tournament is over, okay? Until then I need you to keep practicing like before," I reason, walking over and patting Ogrim on the shoulder.

I really should make sure I book a proper bit of vacation time for this journey. It would be good for the team, I think. For me too, honestly. I've kinda been going nonstop since arriving in this world. It's not a problem for me yet, since I'm doing something I genuinely love, but it could be if I try to maintain this pace of work for too long. A little bit of time without training could be just what I need once this is all over. Time well wasted is time well spent, after all.

"Alright Ogrim, you can start practicing again. As for everyone else…"

"Bee lee dee!" Dart shouts, flying into the air and jabbing eagerly with his stingers.

"Nope, you know the rules Dart, no training immediately after lunch," I say firmly. "You'll give yourself a stomach ache."

"Dree…" Dart groans.

"Tough luck bud, now bring it in!" I wave him over, "Time to talk tactics!"

A change immediately falls over Gauss and the twins at my declaration. Gauss' eyes sharpen with a predatory gleam typically only held by the twins, while the girls' gazes seem to gleam with sudden interest. These three are the big thinkers of the group, with Gauss in particular sharing my passion in systematically dismantling our opponents. Dart on the other hand is… decidedly less enthusiastic about these discussions. But on the rare occasion where he does absorb information properly he has a tendency to bust it out during a battle in ways I hadn't even begun to consider, so I still consider it worth the effort teaching him too.

As for Ogrim, he's just not a thinker at all. I love the little guy to death, but anything more complicated than a straight brawl tends to overwhelm him immediately. There's signs that this is beginning to change, such as his little maneuver against that meditite yesterday, but overall he clearly prefers to just follow my commands in a fight. Hence why he's training his moves while everyone else huddles up.

"Alright, so first thing's first…" I say, which is as far as I make it before I'm distracted by the buzz of my pokégear. I hum to myself and grab for it. Looks like a text message.

Cloyster's Call, 8 PM tonight. Your bill will be covered.

Huh. Looks like Koga had some free time for me sooner than I thought. I do a quick search for the Cloyster's Call and am directed to a fairly well regarded restaurant on Vermillion's boardwalk.

"Cool beans," I comment, sending a brief acknowledgement and putting the pokégear away, "Now then, where were we?"

The Vermillion boardwalk is by far the busiest place in the city, a long row of businesses facing the beach which proves to be packed with people even in the evening. I've visited a few times since arriving in Vermillion, but never found it to be all that interesting. It's definitely built more with tourists in mind than trainers.

Most notable building is the Pokémon Fan Club, the place to go if you want to brag about your Pokémon without actually… doing anything with them. Full mostly of rich trainers who have declared themselves too good for battling, coordinating, or other Pokémon sports. A bunch of self-important showoffs, basically.

Thankfully my destination is at the far end of the boardwalk from that place, a restaurant set up on a pier over the water. Last time I went to a place like this was back in my home world, and it had some of the best seafood I've ever eaten. Hopefully this place will live up to that memory.

There's a line outside the place, but there's also a rather harried looking guy at the doors running crowd control. I guess with the tournament going on business is much higher than usual. I walk past the line and up to the guy at the door, drawing a mixture of angry grumbling and surprised muttering. From the looks some of the people are giving me I think I'm being recognized. I smile and wave to a few, mostly the kids.

"Sir, please move to the back of… oh," the man at the door blinks as he stops to regard me properly.

"I believe I have a reservation?" I say, giving him a friendly smile, "My name is-"

"Ben Wilson," the man nods, "I was told to watch out for you. Saw your match on tv, with that geodude of yours. It was really impressive"

"Thank you for saying so, I'll be sure to tell him he has a fan. Anyways, can I…" I nod towards the door.

"Oh! Yeah, sorry. Right this way," The man leads me inside and shows me to a waitress who leads me further in. There's a booth at the back of the place, slightly separated from the rest of the dining area, where Koga is already seated. Not alone though; to my surprise Surge is there too, already diving into a bowl of some kind of chowder. There's also a couple of Pokémon as well. Surge's raichu is tearing into a bowl of its own next to its trainer, Koga has his crobat perched on top of the seat behind him, and hovering high above the table is a flickering pink and blue pokémon that hurts a bit to look at.

"Ben, welcome," Koga nods to me as I hang my jacket.

"If it isn't Mr. Fourth Seed!" Surge booms out, looking up from his food, "Welcome to the adults table, rookie!" His raichu snickers beside him at the comment.

"Thank you kindly," I reply dryly, taking a seat.

"Can I get you something to drink?" the waitress asks.

"Just ice water for me, thanks," I reply politely.

"Eh? You sure?" Surge raises a brow at me, "This place sells some of the best beer in Kanto, you know!" He gestures to his glass, "It's a local brew! They've got a deal with the guys who make it."

"Tempting as that sounds, I've never been much for alcohol," I reply.

"Huh. Your loss. Hey, get me another helping of this chowder while you're at it, will you? This one ain't gonna last much longer," Surge comments, scooping out more from a pot on the table and refilling his bowl. The waitress bows her head and scurries away.

"I notice you don't have your team with you," Koga comments once we're alone.

"Didn't think this place allowed Pokémon, so I left them with Keith," I explain.

"They usually don't. Special privileges," Surge gives me a cocky grin, "I'm a bit of a big deal around here, in case you didn't know."

"Never would have guessed," I chuckle. "Just as well I didn't bring them. Dart and Ogrim don't behave well around strangers, and the twins don't have much patience for them either. Gauss might have been alright, I suppose, but I doubt this place caters to rock types."

"Eh, probably best I don't push my luck with the owner anyways," Surge shrugs, "First rule of the military: never mess with the guy who makes your meals."

"Surprised you're keeping a porygon-Z out then," I comment, looking up at the Pokémon floating above us and wincing as my head protests. "That guy's not exactly good for public settings."

"Necessary evil," Surge grunts, "If folks like Koga and I want to eat in public we've gotta have a mon like this with us to stop anybody snooping around."

"Indeed," Koga nods, sipping from a cup of what I think is some kind of saké, "Porygon-Z have the ability to emit a sort of field that scrambles any attempts at digital recording. Should anybody here attempt to record our table, they will find that their camera has captured nothing but visual white noise."

"Wild. And useful!" I comment. It's a shame that the porygon line are all considered tier 5, because that seems like a good ability to spread around. I never did care much for paparazzi.

"Yup, there's a reason I took the time to earn the qualifications for training these guys," Surge says with a grin. "They're essential if you want to keep a tight lid on information these days. Which means you can tell us all about this problem you're having with them birds of yours without worrying about it!"

"Wait, you're here to help with that?" I blink in surprise.

"I'm here because the food's good and Koga's paying!" Surge says, waving my attention away dismissively, "Speaking of which, grab a bowl and get some of this chowder before this little glutton eats it all. It's good stuff!" He nudges the soup pot my way, ignoring the protests of his raichu. Didn't think raichu could eat seafood. Ah well, I'm sure it's fine. Surge said he's a regular here after all.

I take Surge's advice and start scooping the last of the chowder out of the pot and into my bowl. As I dig in, Koga finally deigns to explain, "After reading of your concerns I thought it prudent to ask Surge for his advice. He's something of an expert in dealing with Pokémon that have strong personalities."

"Not like you, that's for sure!" Surge guffaws, "Your whole team is as stiff as your public image!"

"Well, thank you both for your time," I bow my head gratefully, then start eating. And man oh man, this is good stuff. I polish my bowl off in record time, by which time the waitress has returned with a second pot which Surge absolutely inhales with only a little help from Koga and I. Just as well, since the chowder is meant more as an appetizer of sorts, and my appetite can't nearly match up to the burly gym leader's.

As we wait for the main course to arrive I take the time to explain my difficulties with the twins to Surge and Koga. And to my surprise Surge laughs most of my concerns off immediately.

"Easy problem to solve, rookie!" Surge declares, "All you've gotta do is add another girl to the team!"

I blink in surprise, "How do you figure?"

"It's about rivalry. Rivalry!" Surge waves his hands in emphasis, "If it's just you and your pokémon, these stubborn, prideful types can definitely be a problem, just like you're thinking. But that's why you have to challenge them indirectly! Bring a rival Pokémon into the team, and you can work up that competitive instinct they've got while not damaging the relationship between you and them."

"Okay, that makes sense, but it's not like Cleo and Lacy don't have competition already," I point out, "They're strong, but they're not the strongest I've got."

"You're just not thinking about the team dynamics properly," Surge says dismissively, "These doduo of yours aren't as strong as other team members, sure, but it's easy for them to shrug that off. They're the only girls on your team, right?"

"Yeah…" I say slowly, not sure where Surge is going with this.

"Well there you go! Basically the team is split into two groups as far as they're concerned. Your doduo are the only ladies on a team full of boys. With some Pokémon that doesn't matter too much but birds have a tendency to form cliques. They can take even minor differences pretty seriously, and that's a big part of where your attitude problems are stemming from. The rest of your team might be beating them in certain aspects, but why should they care? It's all boy stuff anyways!"

I manage to hide my amusement at seeing Surge use the phrase 'boy stuff' in a sentence, but only barely. Koga seems a bit more straight-faced, but that sip of saké he's taking seems suspiciously well timed. "So that's why you said I needed to add another girl to the team," I continue.

"Exactly. Get those birds of your a rival, one which they can't easily dismiss," Surge nods, "Of course it's also possible that this'll stop being a problem once they evolve, but that's more of a gamble."

"Indeed," Koga adds, "Part of the reason why dodrio is not a commonly seen pokémon in high level battles is because raising a dodrio to that level requires a careful balance. I believe my daughter informed you of some of the difficulties involved already, yes?"

"She mentioned it, yes," I confirm, "She explained a lot about how the different personalities are meant to clash to improve their mental connections."

"Precisely," Koga nods, "But that clash can quickly grow far more difficult to manage once another personality is added to the mix."

Yeah, that is… certainly a worrisome angle to consider.

"Hadn't thought of that, huh?" Surge notes my expression with some amusement, "Thought you were supposed to be the brainy one of Koga's group?"

"No, I have thought about it, just… Well I try not to think about it any more than I have to. It's not like there's anything I can do to influence what kind of personality the new head will have, is there?"

"Nah," Surge shrugs, "Like I said, it's a gamble. There's plenty of eggheads out there who like to make theories, but nothing concrete I've ever heard of." Despite how confident he sounds he does look over to Koga though, silently asking for a second opinion.

"One of Professor Oak's grandchildren trained a dodrio, as I recall," Koga notes thoughtfully, "Through observing their evolution closely they theorized that the newly developed personality often draws on traits from the Pokémon and people around them. The internal telepathy that dodrio possess effectively draws on as much information as possible from the other minds in order to ensure that the new mind doesn't suffer from being less developed than those it shares a body with. But while the idea is compelling, it is impossible to humanely prove."

"So, yeah. Basically what I said," Surge declares, "Scientific consensus is: 'who the hell knows?' So don't count on the new personality to magically solve all your problems. Just pick your next Pokémon with those doduo of yours specifically in mind, and solve the issue with something you can actually control."

The main course finally arrives at this point so I take some time while eating to think Surge's advice over carefully. I kept it simple with fish and chips. Koga ordered sushi, because despite the restaurant's decidedly Unovan style of doing things every restaurant in Kanto that sells fish has sushi. And Surge gets 3 different dishes and inhales all of them so fast I barely have time to see what's in them all.

Despite Surge's effort to eat fast enough to outpace the average munchlax though, the weirdest moment of the meal actually comes from Koga. Halfway through dinner his pokégear starts getting flooded with messages, and when he pulls it out to see what the fuss is about he goes wide-eyed and says, in a very flat tone: "Shit."

Which for Koga is the equivalent of a screaming tirade.

Surge looks every bit as startled as I am, straightening up and immediately looking the most serious he's been all day, "We got trouble?"

Koga sighs tiredly and shakes his head, "Not of the kind you're thinking. It's a PR matter."

"Oh," Surge comments, looking immediately disinterested. His gaze sharpens again a moment later, "Wait, with the tournament?"

"With the Johto League," Koga says, shaking his head, "Apparently Ethan Gold has finally decided to take Lance's cousin to court. And he's being rather public about it."

"Of course he is," Surge snorts, "Gold's public about everything."

I glance back and forth between the two for a moment, before deciding that this sounds way too interesting not to be a nosy bugger, "So Ethan's taking Clair to court? What for?"

"Being a sore loser, I'll bet!" Surge grins, "This is about their gym battle, isn't it?"

"Indeed," Koga sighs, still scrolling through messages, "To answer your question Ben, when Ethan defeated Clair in a gym battle several years ago, she took issue with his attitude. Declaring his win to be a fluke, she refused to give him a gym badge, and told him that she would only change her mind if the elders of her tribe accepted him. This was something she believed to be impossible for him, as the elders of the Wataru clan spend all their time in the depths of a cave system known as the Dragon's Den."

"AKA: the most dangerous place in Johto other than Mount Silver," Surge adds.

"Quite. Unfortunately for Clair, despite having just lost to Ethan, she failed to account for his tenacity. He and his team easily snuck into the Dragon's Den and had befriended the elders within a week. They quickly set the matter straight, and everything was thought to be resolved…"

"Except they failed to account for one thing: Ethan is a jackass," Surge points out, a massive grin on his face, "Big thing to miss, honestly, he doesn't do much to hide it!"

"Okay, so Ethan's finally taking Clair to court," I nod along, "Does he have a chance?"

"Depends what he's after," Surge shrugs, "Winning the case? Not likely. Publicly humiliating Clair and destroying her reputation? Practically inevitable."

"I will need to leave early," Koga decides, pulling away from the table, "They won't be able to pull me away from the tournament for a matter like this, but I will need to be briefed on the League's official response for tomorrow. Please excuse me." There's a flash of light as his crobat is swapped for a venomoth, and the two teleport away in the blink of an eye.

"Well, that's exciting," Surge comments, once Koga's gone, "Good for the tournament, too. With Koga already in the spotlight as my announcer we'll be drawing in reporters like crazy!"

"You don't need to go with him?" I ask.

"Nah, this is a Johto matter. The Kanto League is connected, sure, but only at the very top. Our Gym Leaders don't really mingle. As long as I don't say anything too wild I got no reason to worry about it."

"Alright then," I comment. Interesting bit of an addendum to the events I recognize from the games, but other than getting some more reporters on the scene it doesn't look like it'll affect me much. So clearly the only sensible thing is to not worry about it and just eat my fish.

From the way Surge has resumed tearing through his plates he seems to agree.

We finish our meals and head for the door, with Koga having thankfully sorted the bill out in advance. The sky's gotten properly dark out by now, and Vermillion's boardwalk is practically glowing with lights.

"Thanks for the advice," I say to Surge as we prepare to go our separate ways.

"Don't mention it," Surge shrugs, "Think of it as payback for taking that geodude off my hands. Good to see you two getting along. Figured you would. You're both the brainy type."

"He's been good. More than good," I nod along, "A regular mad genius."

"I saw," Surge gives a feral grin at that, "That magnetic cannon is a fun trick. I'll be sure to steal it once this tournament is over and I have the time to train properly again. Keep coming up with shit like that and you might have a chance to win this thing."

With that vote of confidence, he recalls his raichu, gives his Porygon-Z a tap, and vanishes into thin air. Forgot those guys can teleport.

Thankfully the business of the boardwalk's bustling nightlife actually makes my trip home easier. The usual nightlife attractions are interesting enough that nobody pays me a moment's notice. Which suits me fine, as for all the effort I've put into maintaining a good public image I'm really not all that comfortable with the attention I've gotten lately. I'm able to walk back to the hotel with no attention, no reporters, and nothing following me except the smell of salt in the air.

The quiet trip is appreciated. I know full well that things will be getting all too busy soon enough.

Alright folks, it's been a while! Much longer than I was planning at first. Unfortunately things have been extremely rough on my end this past month. I am now unemployed. Yup, lost my job. We got a new manager a few months ago, younger fellow, who did what a great many younger managers do and went on a wild power trip and started going after everyone working below him who had more experience than him. And I seem to have made the cut. So now I have to take some time and figure out exactly what the hell to do with my life so I don't end up in another dead end shitty job like the last one was.

Seems like an appropriate time to mention that, hey, I have a page on the Patron website! I know I usually do a quick thing at the top of every chapter but right now I'm in a situation where I could really use some help so I'm shilling it extra hard today. People who support me get to read my updates early! Your support is greatly appreciated!

Now, for some actually fun news, I've got a cool project I've been working on that I'd like to tell you all about! Some of you may be familiar with the Discord group I'm a part of, the Fanfiction Treehouse (discord .gg/u89gs745fn). It's a fun group, good for anyone looking to write a fic of their own and unsure of how to start, or for people looking to find new fics. I've been recommending it to people for years. But now some of the members of the group have decided to take some time to work on a side project that I find very exciting: we're attempting to create a Pokemon Fan Game. It'll take place in the Leios Region, which we are basing on Greece, and has a whole mess of new Pokemon.

But while we have a lot of dedicated people to making this thing work we have some pretty big gaps in our team. Our production team is very small, so if you have any knowledge of RPG Maker and Pokemon Essentials in particular your talents are desperately needed. Also in high demand is artists, as the only concept artist we have at the moment is... myself. And for obvious reasons I've been fairly inactive for the past month. So if you like drawing Pokemon or using RPG Maker then please feel free to join the project here: discord .gg/bHPj7QDS

Alright, that's all for now. Time to get back to trying to sort my life out, wish me luck!