With a quivering hand, Nickel slowly reached up to grasp the handle of the utensil that had been thrown at him like a bullet, as a drop of warm, crimson liquid dribbled down his neck and stained the collar of his white top. Tears began to well up in his eyes, and the blue and white bird with a large beak that he had just sent out- Pelipper- landed on the ground and watched him silently, having no drive to attack Sanji on its own without any instructions.
"Why would Sanji do that?" Vivi wondered.
"It's not his usual style." Nami admitted.
"That was weird." Timothy said.
Tears had begun to prick at the corners of Nickel's eyes as he slowly dragged the spoon out of his mouth. His tongue tingled, his mouth flooded by spiciness and sweetness and sourness that had been there and then had been gone all too soon, and he was salivating. How could soup do this to him? How could a single spoonful reduce him to such a state?
"Darkness cannot exist without light. Cold cannot exist without warmth." Sanji droned, picking up the bowl from which he had taken the spoonful from and carrying it over towards Nickel, "Sadness cannot exist without joy. Hunger cannot exist without food."
There was a steely look in Sanji's eye as he stood over the kneeling Nickel, casting his shadow over him. He held the bowl of soup out for the Admin to take, who stared at it with teary eyes for several seconds, both his hands shaking as he seemed to fight himself over whether or not he would take it, because he knew what would happen if he had any more of it.
"Tamato and Salac Soup." Sanji said, "Eat it. Drink it down to the last drop, and then you'll understand that agony perfectly."
Nickel snatched the bowl of soup from Sanji's extended hand, and he didn't even bother with the spoon as he raised the bowl to his lips and gulped it down with all the vigour of a man in the desert coming across water. It was almost boiling, and combined with the spiciness, he felt like the inside of his mouth was on fire, but that pain was drowned out by the euphoria brought about by the divine taste- a perfect blend of sweet, sour and spicy. To Nickel, the soup both lasted an eternity and was gone in a single instant, leaving him with nothing but the burning sensation in his mouth mingled with the lingering aftertaste, not to mention his own tears which continued to stream down his face.
"I-I… Oh, Arc-!" Nickel choked, dropping the empty bowl to the ground in front of him, "I get it now… I get it n-now…"
"That is the joy and fulfillment that food brings into our lives." Sanji said, taking the bowl and the spoon from Nickel and returning to his cooking setup, where he placed them among an assortment of dirty dishes.
"All this time, all these years, this is what we were fighting for…?" Nickel mumbled, returning Pelipper to its Pokeball as he spoke, "This is what we were doing to the people? This is what we were denying them? Violence and malice and endless conflict… it was all pointless! TEAM STEEL WAS WRONG! MERCURY WAS WRONG!"
"All that because of a bowl of soup?" Usopp muttered, raising an eyebrow at the dramatic display.
"Awesome…" Timothy whispered reverentially, watching as Sanji returned to cooking as he had been doing before, seemingly ignoring the poison that still remained in his leg.
"He… he cured the darkness in a Team Steel Admin's heart… with nothing but a bowl of soup!" Tiffany gasped.
"P-Please…" Nickel said, going from kneeling to prostrating before Tiffany and all the other villagers who were bearing witness to this momentous occasion, "PLEASE FIND IT IN YOUR HEARTS TO FORGIVE ME FOR WHAT I HAVE BEEN COMPLICIT IN!"
"Forgive him?" Vivi murmured, striding towards him with a fire burning in her eyes.
"Vivi, what are you-?" Nami began.
"FORGIVE YOU?" Vivi yelled, drawing the attention of everyone present to her, including Sanji, who continued to cook even as he adopted a lovestruck expression at her presence. Nickel raised himself from the ground and looked back at her, only to be promptly met with a slap to the face.
"Vivi-!" Nami said.
"Wow!" Timothy exclaimed.
"A RULER'S DUTY IS TO THEIR PEOPLE!" Vivi raged, "HOW CAN YOU DO SOMETHING AS OBSCENE AS MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR THE PEOPLE TO FEED EACH OTHER, AND THEN REQUEST FORGIVENESS WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING TO EARN IT FIRST?! PEOPLE DON'T NEED EMPTY REASSURANCES, THEY NEED MEANINGFUL ACTION FROM PEOPLE WHO TRULY CARE ABOUT MAKING THEIR LIVES BETTER! THEY… They… they…"
The princess trailed off as her rage began to subside and she actually processed the situation that she was currently in, along with the fact that the majority of the village's residents were all listening and looking right at her. Nickel, likewise, was looking at her with an awestruck expression and a stinging red handprint on his cheek.
"SHE'S RIGHT!" One random villager yelled from amongst the crowd, "IF YOU WANT OUR FORGIVENESS, GET THE OTHER ADMINS TO APOLOGISE LIKE THIS!"
"YEAH!" Another villager chimed in, "IF THAT SOUP WAS REALLY SO GOOD, GET MORE BERRIES SO WE CAN TRY IT OURSELVES!"
"You're right." Nickel said solemnly, turning around to bow his head to Vivi, "Outlawing the kindness that arose in response to our greed… it is not enough to ask for forgiveness, I must work to earn it. I may be the weakest of the three Admins, but…"
He looked up to meet Vivi's eyes through the tears that were being shed.
"BUT I WILL NOT REST UNTIL I HAVE RIGHTFULLY EARNED THE FORGIVENESS OF EACH AND EVERY PERSON HERE ON IRON ISLAND THAT I HAVE WRONGED!" He declared, rising to his feet, "And the first person I must start with… is the chef!"
"Hm?" Sanji said. Nickel placed Pelipper's Pokeball back on his belt, and then returned the fainted Golbat to its own Pokeball and put it away as well, before reaching into the pocket of his pants and retrieving a pink, heart-shaped berry, which he took over to where Sanji was cooking.
"Eat this." Nickel instructed, "It's a Pecha Berry. They're used to cure poison."
Though the chef was slightly sceptical, he took the berry from Nickel and raised it to his mouth. With two bites, he finished the entire thing off, and his eyes promptly widened as the veins of poison on his leg disappeared, and his entire body relaxed slightly in response to the alleviated burden.
"You mentioned having a crew, didn't you?" Nickel continued, "You and that blue-haired girl aren't from this island. Somehow… you overcame that ferocious weather and arrived here."
"We did." Sanji nodded, "I'm the chef of the Straw Hat Pirates, and our captain is 'Straw Hat' Luffy."
"I… I have never been the superstitious sort." Nickel said, "But for the first visitors to come in as long as anyone can remember… for a chef like yourself to be among them… this can be only destiny. Is your captain like you?"
"Like me?" Sanji said with a raised eyebrow, "There's nobody like our captain."
"I… I can't fight the other Admins." Nickel admitted, "But I'm going to go to the other villages, and I'm going to spread the word to every Team Steel grunt I can find. The only way for you to avoid battling the other Admins of Team Steel would be to flee the island."
"No chance of that." Sanji deadpanned.
"No, a man like you would not do that…" Nickel said, "In that case, when you and your crew defeat the leaders of Team Steel, I will be waiting with every grunt who can be made to see the error of their ways. And those who cannot… will not trouble you."
"Do whatever you want, as long as you let people eat." Sanji said dismissively, "Now go away. The only people I want distracting me while I cook are beautiful women."
"Yes, of course!" Nickel said, bowing his head gratefully and beginning to walk away, before stopping and turning back to Sanji one more time, "When we Admins boast about being the strongest trainers here on Iron Island… it's not completely truthful. There are two other trainers who are as strong as we are, and who would almost certainly fight as your allies if you opposed Team Steel."
With that last piece of advice given, Nickel went on his way, taking his leave of the village and heading elsewhere in his pursuit of redemption. In his absence, the two Straw Hats present were quick to approach where Sanji was cooking, along with their royal entourage and Timothy.
"Hello Nami-dear~ and Vivi-darling~!" Sanji gushed, his face going all lovestruck again.
"We, uh, came to warn you." Usopp said, "About Team Steel."
"For all the good it did us." Nami added with a roll of her eyes as she helped Tiffany back to her feet.
"MISTER! THAT WAS SO AWESOME!" Timothy yelled eagerly, standing right in front of Sanji's bench, "IT WAS EVEN COOLER THAN THE COOL THING YOU DID BEFORE! YOU STOPPED THAT GUY WITH JUST SOUP!"
"That's just the kind of effect that good food can have on a person." Sanji said with a smile, "Now, can I interest you and your mother in the next serving?"
"YEAH!" Timothy nodded, "I'm hungry!"
"Timothy!" Tiffany scolded, "Don't forget your manners! You can't just… Oh, what the hell? I'm hungry too!"
"Then I'll feed the both of you!" Sanji declared, quickly getting back into the zone. While he busied himself cooking, Usopp, Nami and Vivi all huddled together.
"That Admin mentioned there were two other strong trainers who we could ally with." Usopp said, "One of them is probably Spruce, but who could the other be?"
"Spruce?" Tiffany interjected, "Magnus Spruce?"
"Huh?" Nami said, "You know him?"
"Makes sense, the island isn't that big." Usopp said.
"Spruce is the reason that the law against serving food exists in the first place!" Tiffany said, "He's the only person on the island who can go in the Eterna Grove without being attacked by the wild Pokemon."
"The Eterna Grove?" Vivi said.
"It's the forest around the western end of the island." Tiffany explained, "It and Oreburgh Cave are the most populated areas with Pokemon."
"A forest around the west…" Usopp repeated, before looking at Nami, "That's the direction Luffy was heading in, wasn't it?"
"It's hard to tell with the Grand Line being how it is." Nami said, "But with our luck, I'd say so."
"One of your friends is going to the Eterna Grove?!" Tiffany gasped, "You have to stop- Actually, they'd probably be fine if your chef is anything to go off."
"Anyway, if Spruce is one of these strong trainers, do you know who the other one is?" Vivi asked.
"If I had to take a guess…" Tiffany began, "The only other trainer on Iron Island who could possibly be on par with the Admins would have to be old Fisherman Walter."
"An old fisherman?" Usopp said, "That doesn't sound like a guy you'd expect to be strong."
"To be honest, he doesn't seem like much nowadays." Tiffany said, "And a lot of people have forgotten how strong he really is. But before Mercury, and before Mercury's predecessor… Walter was the Leader here on Iron Island!"
-O-
Having since left behind a trio of thoroughly beaten Luxio in their wake, Spruce and Walter both finally arrived at Pastoria Village after having to delay themselves not only to fend of their attackers, but also to not force Walter to overexert himself. His Floatzel had been returned to its Pokeball, though Ria continued to walk alongside both her trainer and her trainer's mentor.
"I can sense the Auras of several members of the Straw Hat pirates." Spruce noted as they walked into the village, "The chef, the long-nose, the violent ginger, the duck, and the blue-haired lady."
"But not Mister Roronoa or their captain?" Walter said.
"No, they're not here. They're probably somewhere else, but I don't have the patience to search… wait a second." Spruce frowned, "I can sense the Straw Hats, I can sense the villagers, but I can't sense any of the Admins here."
"Ohoho!" Walter said, "Unless the Admins are running seriously late, then I think that can only mean that these Straw Hats have successfully defeated an Admin! Must be an entire crew of troublemakers, you'd fit right in with them."
"Don't give their captain any ideas." Spruce said, "He already tried to recruit me earlier."
"Most people would jump at an invitation to get off Iron Island." Walter said.
"Sick of me eating your food, gramps?" Spruce retorted, "You of all people should understand why I'm sticking around."
"With the way things are turning out today, you might get your wish sooner than you expect." Walter said, "I don't think it's a coincidence that the first visitors this island's had since before I was born are stirring up trouble like this."
"When you heard that Team Steel sent an Admin to Pastoria, you were all in favour of shooing them off the island." Spruce pointed out.
"And since then, I've had a minor health scare and quite the long walk to put things in perspective, not to mention they already did away with an Admin." Walter said, "No, I have a feeling in this feeble, elderly gut of mine that these pirates are going to bring an end to these very long, very miserable eight years."
"Would you be okay with that?" Spruce said, "Would you be okay with some brute coming along and just smashing Mercury's face in and being on his way? Just like that? JUST LIKE-!"
"Yes, Magnus." Walter interjected firmly, with the kind of tone a parent might scold their child with, "I know just what it is that you're fighting for… what he fought for… but sometimes, you don't get the perfect happy ending. Sometimes, you have to take what you can get. If Team Steel is deposed, I can be satisfied in that, and I know that he would be as well."
"Speak for your family all you want, you don't speak for mine." Spruce said coldly, "As far as I'm concerned, beating Mercury won't mean anything if we can't beat her poisonous mindset while doing it."
"Don't be so selfish, brat." Walter chastised, "All this ideological warfare doesn't mean anything to the children with empty stomachs."
"Yeah, well-!" Spruce began, only for an energetic and familiar voice to interrupt him.
"HEY, SPRUCE! HEY, OLD MAN!" Luffy yelled as he ran over to them from the opposite end of the village, with Zoro following behind him, and Pex flying above the both of them. At the sight of them, Pex flew ahead of Luffy and over to Spruce, hovering in front of his face and rubbing affectionately against it.
"Ravia! Staravia!" Pex said.
"Looks like I misjudged you." Spruce remarked, "Here I was thinking you flew off to go grab something to eat."
Pex's eyes suddenly widened and he froze up, and Spruce just crossed his arms.
"You did fly off to go grab something to eat, didn't you?"
"Staravia!" Pex said, descending down to Spruce's belt so he could poke his beak against his own Pokeball and return himself. The sight of the ball opening up and the bird being converted into red light elicited looks of surprise from both Luffy and Zoro, though the former seemed to get over it pretty quickly.
"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, "We found your bird eating a bunch of fruits in the forest, and then he guided us here to the village! Also we passed a tree that had these really colourful fruits on it, but they didn't taste any good…"
As the pirate spoke, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a blue fruit that looked somewhat like a very large acorn. Walter and Spruce both stared at it in shock as they noted the very large chunk that had been bitten out of it.
"That's an apricorn, Luffy." Spruce said, "You're supposed to eat it without the skin."
"Oh. That makes sense." Luffy said, taking another bite of the apricorn with its skin still intact.
"Old man, what's the situation with the Admin attacking this village?" Zoro asked, "Did swirly-brow deal with it or what?"
"Erm, swirly-brow?" Walter said, tilting his head slightly.
"As best we can tell, someone defeated the Admin." Spruce said, "But I'd still recommend you get going while you've got the chance."
"Huh? Get going?" Luffy said after he swallowed the piece of apricorn, "Why?"
"So you can leave this island without fighting Team Steel!" Spruce said, "You said that you wouldn't fight them!"
"We can't leave! You have to join my crew first!" Luffy protested.
"Plus, I still need to one-up swirly-brow." Zoro interjected, "Not like we'd run away from a fight, anyway."
"But you said-!" Spruce started.
"I said I wouldn't fight Mercu-lady." Luffy interrupted, "So instead, we're gonna beat the crap out of everyone else in Team Peel and let you beat Mercu-lady yourself!"
"OHOHOHO!" Walter guffawed, throwing his head back with laughter, "Now that is quite the troublemaking attitude! Oh, I'm lucky I didn't have to deal with brats like you all while I was in my prime."
"I already told you that I can't beat her!" Spruce said, "I- I wish that I could, but I'm not strong enough! We're… not strong enough."
"Riolu…" Ria said sadly, bowing her head.
"Tch. So you won't let anyone else beat her, but you're too weak to do the deed yourself?" Zoro scoffed, "Pathetic."
"Well if you're not strong enough, just get stronger." Luffy said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Or let me beat her up for you! I'm gonna be your captain, so you should be able to count on me for that kinda stuff!"
"I CAN'T!" Spruce roared, "I CAN'T LET ANY OF YOU PIRATES BEAT MERCURY BECAUSE IF YOU BEAT HER BEFORE I DO, THEN MY DAD DIED FOR NOTHING!"
The outburst silenced everyone else in an instant. Walter's brow was furrowed with concern as he glanced at Spruce, while Zoro and Luffy both looked impassive. Gazing up at her trainer, Ria pressed herself against the side of his leg in a gesture of comfort and support.
EIGHT AND A HALF YEARS AGO…
"MACHOKE, USE MACH PUNCH!"
"LUXIO, USE SPARK!"
The battle that was raging between the two trainers and their fighting and electric types was only one of almost a dozen that were all going on simultaneously. Some on the wide battlefield located in the Iron Island Gym's backyard, some going on around it, and a pair of particularly stupid trainers were even battling each other inside and being absolute nuisances who would most definitely be told off for it later.
For now, though, the one who would tell them off was busy overseeing the various battles. A tall and muscled man, with spiky burgundy hair and black eyes. He wore a tattered grey cloak over a sleeveless white shirt along with light grey cargo pants, with his belt having three Pokeballs affixed to it. His name was Jasper, and his title was Leader, and he was the single strongest trainer on Iron Island.
Despite how many there were to keep track of, Jasper nonetheless observed each battle simultaneously, analysing each and every attack and tactical decision made by the trainers, as well as watching to see even the minute details in each Pokémon's responses. The hesitation that came from a Pokemon that thought it knew better, the laziness in a Pokemon that didn't respect its trainer enough to try, the ruthlessness of a Pokemon that would keep attacking past the point of what was acceptable for a simple training battle, he saw all of it. And as he saw it, he committed it to memory and kept a mental track of all the feedback he would be giving, positive and negative alike to the trainers. All of the yelling and the noise melted together into an auditory mush, with only a very select few sentences being able to stand out among them.
"KRICKETUNE, USE FRUSTRATION!"
That was one such sentence.
As soon as Jasper processed what he had just heard, he was off. Moving across the ground with a speed that one could mistake for a Pokemon, his hand darted out and wrapped around the throat of the trainer who had just issued such a command, and he choke-slammed that trainer into the ground without a shred of mercy.
None of the other trainers watching were the least bit surprised. Most of them just kept battling, paying no mind to the idiot who was getting punished for being an idiot.
"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!" Jasper roared in the trainer's face, while their Kricketune stopped in its tracks mid-attack. Across the battlefield, a red-haired trainer and her Meditite both crossed their arms in unison and waited for the whole ordeal to be over with.
"I-I told Kricketune t-to use Frustration!" The trainer managed to choke out with the hand around his throat, and his answer led Jasper to raise him up off the ground by his neck, which he then promptly released, only to wind back a fist and punch the trainer in the stomach. Hard.
"FRUSTRATION IS A DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A MOVE!" Jasper bellowed while the trainer doubled over in pain, "TURNING A POKEMON'S OWN DISLIKE FOR THEIR TRAINER INTO AN ATTACK SPITS IN THE FACE OF WHAT BEING A POKEMON TRAINER IS ALL ABOUT! ANY TRAINER WHO'S NOT A BOTTOM-FEEDING WORTHLESS PILE OF GARBAGE WOULD NEVER USE THAT MOVE! ANY TRAINER WHO'S WORTH ANYTHING WOULD BE FRIENDLY ENOUGH WITH THEIR POKEMON THAT FRUSTRATION WOULD BE USELESS!"
"Hey, ease up on him, Leader!" The redhead- Mercury, Jasper recalled her name being- piped up, "He just taught his Pokemon a dumb move, I don't see what you're so up in arms about!"
"DID I ASK YOU TO SPEAK, MERCURY?!" Jasper snapped, turning his attention from the wheezing trainer over to her, "Hrngh. If you can't understand why that attack would make me react like this, you don't understand what it really means to be a Pokemon trainer."
"Really? You wanna bet?" Mercury retorted hotly, as Meditite got into a fighting stance, "You wanna put your money where your mouth is? How about we have a little battle and see which one of us is a real Pokemon trainer, huh?"
While Jasper's discipline hadn't interested anyone, Mercury's challenge did halt most of the other ongoing battles, as the other trainers turned their focus towards her. Sensing the attention, she straightened up slightly and turned her fiery gaze back at them. Some were intimidated, others weren't. Among them, a tall and lean trainer with a gaunt face and a short, muscular trainer whose arms were perpetually crossed shared looks of bemusement.
"She's gonna get her butt kicked by Jasper again." Brass snickered, "What is that? Fifth time this month."
"At least this time she didn't say she wanted to take the title of Gym Leader for herself." Copper replied, "ACHOO!"
Back where he was standing, Jasper just rolled his eyes at Mercury's challenge and reached down to grab one of the Pokeballs from his belt. A lazy toss onto the field out in front of him, and it opened up to release bright light that coalesced into an enormous snake-like Pokemon with a shiny metal exterior.
"STEELIX!" Jasper's Steelix roared. The Kricketune hastily scurried over to its trainer and dragged them both out of the way of the battle that was about to transpire, and many of the other trainers returned their own Pokemon to free up as much room as possible for Jasper.
"Wow, not even your ace?" Mercury sneered, "Meditite, return!"
"I didn't realise we were allowing substitutions." Jasper quipped, "Is this a three-on-three or what?"
"Shut it, Leader!" Mercury growled, "Meditite was already battling that loser Kricketune before, so of course I'm gonna send out a different Pokemon for this one-on-one battle of ours! Burn this trash to a crisp, HOUNDOOM!"
On her end of the field, Mercury sent out a black canine Pokemon with a pair of white, curled horns poking out the top of its head. The instant Houndoom's feet touched the ground, it threw its head back and let out a murderous howl. Jasper wasn't impressed, and neither was his Steelix.
"Hey, one of you." Jasper said, nodding to the trainers who were now spectating this match, "Officiate this match."
"Right!" One of the trainers nodded, running over to stand to the side of the battle, "Ahem! This is a one-on-one battle between Leader Jasper and Trainer Mercury! Whoever can faint their opponent's Pokemon first will be declared the winner! BEGIN!"
-O-
Strolling down into Pastoria Village, a weary groan escaped Jasper's lips, and he idly stretched his arms out behind him. Steelix's Pokeball had since been returned to its place on his belt beside the other two. At his arrival, the villagers who were flitting about and going about their days all took a moment to give him an enthusiastic wave or other greeting, and he returned them in kind, smiling as he headed for one house in particular.
"Hard day?" Came the voice of Jasper's friend, Percival Spruce. The smith was sat in front of his house in a rocking chair, a chisel in hand which he carefully hollowed out a yellow apricorn with. Percival had a few years on Jasper, with light brown hair that was already thinning, and he was not at all helped by the rather traditional blue gi which he wore.
"Mercury challenged me to a battle again." Jasper grumbled, taking the vacant seat beside Percival and allowing himself to relax into it, "And I had a trainer who taught Frustration to their Kricketune."
"Hmm… Frustration on a Kricketune…" Percival nodded, "An interesting strategy for diffusing an opponent's Counter. Though I'm guessing that such a niche wasn't what the trainer had in mind, was it?"
"Uh… I choke-slammed them as soon as they used it." Jasper admitted sheepishly, "B-But! They were battling Mercury and her Meditite! And it doesn't know Counter! So no, they weren't using it for that reason."
"Oh, you choke-slammed them?" Percival said with a raised eyebrow.
"And then I punched them in the stomach." Jasper added.
"My, what kind of example am I allowing you to set for my son?" Percival said wryly, "For that matter, what kind of example are you going to be setting for your own daughter?"
"I'm gonna be setting a cool example!" Jasper said, "When all the kids are getting in arguments about who has the strongest daddy, she's gonna know she does!"
"Are you sure you're not a fighting-type trainer?" Percival muttered, finally finishing hollowing out the apricorn and setting it to the side in a basket of them.
"Dunno, I guess I was until Riolu evolved." Jasper said, "Where is your son, anyway?"
"HEY UNCLE JASPER!"
"Running right this way, I believe." Percival said, beginning to hollow out a black apricorn. Across the village from where the two men were sitting, a young boy with auburn hair and numerous scratches and grazes to decorate his face sprinted towards them. Jasper grinned as the boy, Magnus, rammed into his leg full-force and promptly fell back on his posterior.
"POKEKEKEKEKE!" Magnus laughed, hopping right back up, "Uncle Jasper! Uncle Jasper! Are you here to give me a starter Pokemon? Can I come train at your Gym with you?"
"Hey." Percival said sharply, snapping his fingers at Magnus, "What did I tell you, Magnus? You have to wait until you're ten years old, just like every other kid does."
"Hohoho!" Jasper chuckled, "You should listen to your father, Mack. Being a trainer is a lot of responsibility."
"My name's not Mack." Magnus said.
"Yeah? Blame your dad." Jasper said, "Really, what kind of name is Magnus, anyway? People under the age of thirty-five shouldn't be named Magnus! It's stupid! It's to be expected from a guy whose parents named him Percival, though…"
"Oh, shut up." Percival scoffed, smacking Jasper in the arm lightly with the chisel.
"I'm responsible, though!" Magnus said, "I always go to bed when I'm told, and I do my chores!"
"Those are bald-faced lies." Percival deadpanned.
"Nuh-uh!" Magnus protested, "It's your fault because I don't hear you the first few times whenever you tell me to!"
"There it is!" Jasper snickered, "Ah, I guess I'll be able to share in your pain soon enough, Percy."
"And since I'm responsible, that means I should get a Pokemon!" Magnus continued, his eyes lighting up, "I want a really strong one! So then I can-!"
"MAGNUS!" His father roared, silencing the boy in an instant with a rage in his voice that no amount of ordinary childish mischief ever elicited from him. Magnus already knew that he had messed up, and so he bowed his head to try and hide the tears that were forming.
"I'm sorry…" Magnus mumbled.
"Geez, I think I'm nicer when I choke-slam trainers." Jasper muttered, leaning slightly away from Percival.
"There are no strong or weak Pokemon, Magnus." Percival said sternly, "There are only Pokemon. It is the duty of a trainer to train their Pokemon to be whatever they want it to be. It is the duty of a trainer to learn and understand battling so they can guide their Pokemon to victory. When we view Pokemon through the lens of battle, we lose them for what they are- our friends. It is only through the friendship and respect shared between people and Pokemon that we can stride towards a better world together."
"Yes, father." Magnus said.
"Go wash up, and put on some cleaner clothes. If you really want to be a Pokemon trainer, there's more studying to be done." Percival instructed, and the boy went inside to do as he had been told.
"Not even gonna ask him what he was up to?" Jasper said.
"By now, it's quite the achievement on his part to come home with an injury that actually surprises me." Percival said, "If I had to take a guess, I'd say that he pestered a Luxio until it got mad and chased him off, and then he tripped and fell through some bushes as he was running away."
"You're lucky most wild Pokemon are willing to leave it at just scratching." Jasper said, "Those ruffians in the Oreburgh Cave wouldn't be so generous."
"Magnus could outrun the Pokemon in the cave." Percival said with a wave of his hand, "Though I suppose I have you to thank that that's the worst he tends to come home with, don't I?"
"Hohoho! Finally, some gratitude!" Jasper chuckled, "There is a bit of method to my madness after all, isn't there?"
"I suspect that if you treated aggressive Pokemon the same way you treated your trainers, this island would devolve into anarchy in less than a month." Percival said dryly, "How did that battle with Mercury turn out, anyway?"
"Ah, total write-off." Jasper said, "Beat her down in thirty seconds and it was all over and done with. She's a smart girl, good at battling too, but she can't train her Pokemon for the life of her. If that Houndoom of hers really cared about her, it could have pushed itself to make the battle at least two or three times longer."
"Sounds like the exact type of trainer I don't want Magnus to end up as." Percival commented, "And you've put up with her this long?"
"You mean that you're conditioning him not to end up as." Jasper muttered, "Mercury's gonna figure it out eventually. She's bashing her head against a wall right now, trying to take my title, but at some point she'll have to get tired and try something else. Once she finally figures out just what it really takes to be a great trainer, I think she might have the potential to surpass me and Pops."
"Is that hope I detect in your voice?" Percival said.
"Is it wrong for a man to want to retire and get to spend more time with his darling baby girl?" Jasper retorted, "This rising generation, Percy… there's just something special about them, I can feel it."
-O-
Although it may not have been one of the main responsibilities of an institution that was called a 'Gym', it was nonetheless their most vital duty to maintain the expansive berry garden that had been cultivated on their grounds over multiple generations. As the various Gym trainers all busied themselves with their respective tasks, watering and tending to the plants, harvesting the berries ripe enough to be eaten, and then sorting those berries, Jasper made his rounds through the garden, supervising everything while also looking over the contents of the clipboard in his hand.
"Alright, says here we've got a family expecting in Pastoria." Jasper noted as he approached where the harvested berries were being sorted and organised into various packages, all with labels on them listing both which village they would be taken to, as long as which specific household.
"Really? That's great!" One of the trainers sorting the berries said, "Bluk Berries for a pregnant lady, I think. Bluk, Pomeg and Cornn."
"Aw man, the Cornn Berries too?" Another trainer who was picking berries nearby complained, "Copper was gonna make jam outta them!"
"If you'd like extra portions, you could always try eating for two yourself, Mike." The berry sorter quipped.
"Nah, we've already got Reggie eating for three. Don't wanna eat us outta Gym and home." Mike replied, jerking his head over in the direction of another trainer picking berries, who threw a glare back at him.
"Not all of us can burn through calories before we've finished eating." Reggie said irritably.
"Yeah, and not all of us pig out while we're meant to be picking berries." Mike said, "You've got a little something, uh…"
Reggie raised a hand to his chin to flick off the sliver of Oran Berry skin that had been left there. Both Mike and Jasper gave him pointed looks, as well as the Oran Berry tree he was currently picking from.
"Heh… leftover from breakfast?" Reggie suggested nervously, and then swallowed as Jasper's look turned into a glare, "You know, I'm really not that hungry today for some reason! I'll have to, uh, skip out on lunch! Yeah… skip out on lunch…"
"The weather's warming up as well, and we've got Timber and his boys coming along to do repair work later this week." Jasper said, turning his attention back to the berry sorter, "I'm thinking Wepear Berries. Gina?"
"Right, Wepear Berries, I'll make sure we set some aside for them when they show up." Gina nodded, How about some Nanab Berries too?"
"Sure, sounds good." Jasper nodded.
"Because of course everyone else gets considerations for their hard work…"
At the sound of Mercury's signature snide muttering, every other trainer in earshot either groaned or rolled their eyes, or did both, while Jasper let out an exasperated sigh at the complaint that he had gotten far too used to hearing from the exact same person each time. Her voice had come from behind him, so he just stood there for a couple of seconds with his back to her as he debated whether or not to actually indulge her tantrums as he often did.
"If you have any complaints about the way that I run the Gym's berry garden, Mercury, you're more than welcome to fight me for the position of Leader." Jasper said flatly, "Now we can take it to the battlefield, or you can get back to work."
"Back to work cultivating food for everyone on this island except myself?" Mercury snapped, "We spend so much time every day tending to the garden, harvesting these berries, and then we send out all the spoils of our labour to everyone else on the island! Everyone else who didn't do any of the work we did! They get enough to be well-fed, and we get whatever's left after we're done. We get SCRAPS!"
"You get enough to be well-fed." Jasper cautioned, "As does everyone in my Gym. If everyone has the same, and everyone has enough, then you wanting more at the cost of another is nothing more than greed. I won't capitulate to greed."
"Then at least let us go harvest from the Eterna Grove too!" Mercury complained.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Jasper said, "I have told you time and time again why we cannot go about harvesting the berries in the Grove."
"Psssh, dangerous wild Pokemon?" Mercury scoffed, "That's a joke, Leader. Everyone in the Gym is strong enough to defend themselves if they need to."
"But everyone on this island is not, Mercury." Jasper said sharply, "If people invade the Grove and gorge themselves on the berries which the Pokemon have come to view as their own, they will come to view humans as their enemies. Not just you, not just the other trainers here, they will view all humans as enemies, and they will defend their food and their territory and their offspring accordingly from all humans. Children who play in the Grove, adults who have business there, and novice trainers seeking to catch Pokemon will all suffer as a result of your selfishness!"
"So what? If they can't get strong enough to deal with some wild Pokemon, then that's their fault!" Mercury said.
"That's enough, Mercury." Jasper said coldly, "I've made my stance clear, time and time again. If you want to do anything about it, you can challenge me on the battlefield."
"Yeah, maybe that Houndoom of yours can last a whole minute if you try really hard!" Mike jeered, with quickly elicited more jeers and snide comments from the other trainers. Amongst all those spectating, Copper and Brass were both stony and silent, neither one being willing to mock a fellow trainer they agreed with, but also not being willing to speak up and deal with Jasper's abuse themselves.
Mercury, on her part, scowled and clenched her fists, but otherwise just threw herself back into her work and tried to ignore the mockery coming from all around her.
'Soon. Everything's gonna change soon.' She vowed to herself, glancing at the surrounding trainers, and taking note of the two who weren't lambasting her in any way. She smirked.
-O-
Anyone who had been a part of the Gym for any amount of time could spot Mercury's absence from the battlefield during training hours the way that a person could spot the absence of a limb from someone's body. It was unfortunate that the only time she had to take for herself was the time where she could actually show up every other trainer and make them regret laughing at her, but the sooner she put her plans in motion, the sooner she could make them permanently regret it. And so, under the guise of a training expedition, she'd ventured to the Oreburgh Cave with Copper and Brass in tow, both of whom were curious to hear what she had to speak with them about.
Only when they were deep into the caves, having fought off a whole slew of wild Pokemon to get that far, and confident that there was no chance she could possibly be overheard by a third party (and confident that neither of them would be able to escape if their discussion turned out poorly), did she stop and speak to the two of them.
"I'm not going to beat around the bush with the two of you." Mercury said, "I hate Jasper's guts. He's a self-righteous thug with strong enough Pokemon that he intimidates everyone else into following his dumb self-sacrificial way of living."
"And you're going to preach to us about how you're so much better than he is?" Copper drawled, "That you're not a thug who wants to use her strength to intimidate those around her? ACHOO!"
"HA!" Mercury huffed, "Naw, I said I wouldn't beat around the bush. I wanna pummel Jasper into the ground and then take his place as Gym Leader, and then I'll pummel anyone who disagrees with me. The difference is that I'm not so self-righteous about it. I'm willing to take what's rightfully owed to me, and I'll be willing to let other trainers fight for what they're rightfully owed too."
"Heh. Can't deny that your arrangement does sound better than what we've got going on with Jasper." Brass said, "Might makes right is a stance I can actually get behind. But while we're being all honest, don't pretend that you taking down Jasper is something that'll happen anytime in even the next few years. Maybe if we all battled him together, we could pull it off, but he's got more than enough support from other Gym trainers."
"Obviously if I was going to simply battle him and take the title fairly, I wouldn't have brought us here to talk in secret." Mercury said, "No, as much as I hate to admit it, taking Jasper down from his position isn't going to happen on a regular battlefield. But he's not invincible, and if you both go along with the plan that I've devised, it won't even take a whole year for us to give him exactly what he deserves."
The two trainers listened intently as Mercury laid out the steps of her plan, and neither of them could stop the devious grins from growing on their faces as they did.
-O-
Days like this were what made Jasper genuinely consider the pros and cons of simply abandoning his post and leaving it for trainers like Mercury to squabble over in his wake. Sitting out the front of the Gym building at his desk, struggling to focus on the people talking in front of him enough so that their words didn't melt into auditory mush, all while trying to project an air of actually caring about the utterly inane conflicts that could be solved without him if the offended parties were willing to act their own age.
"Is it too much to ask for my son's birthday cake- his tenth birthday cake, mind you- to be his favourite flavour?" A haughty mother snapped at both Jasper and at the burly, middle-aged man she was arguing with, "He wants Mago Berry icing! Not Pecha Berry, not Bluk Berry, Mago Berry! Jasper, you understand, right? This is his tenth birthday, he's practically a man! He's getting his starter Pokemon, for Arc's sake!"
Jasper understood, he just didn't care. But saying such a thing would have made things a dozen times worse than they currently were. Luckily, he had the burly man to speak up in his stead.
"Geez, lady? Carry the tyke around on a palanquin, why dontcha?" He said, rolling his eyes, "At least he gets to eat a cake in the first place! May as well teach him now to put up with life not always going his way."
"Excuse you?" The mother said, recoiling in offense at his statement, "I will not have some uneducated brute trying to-"
"UNEDUCATED? I SPENT TWO YEARS AS AN APPRENTICE!"
"-lecture me on how I go about raising my beautiful darling boy!"
"ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!" Jasper roared, rising to his feet and quelling the argument in an instant, "I cannot emphasise enough how trite this argument of yours is. If you want a certain type of berry, you put in a request with Gina in the garden and she weighs it against everybody's needs. If you can't get the berry that way, there are other Mago Berry plants in people's houses, and you're welcome to go ask them nicely."
"Exactly!" The man said gratefully, "Damn self-entitled-!"
"I said enough." Jasper interjected coldly, "I should also add that my time is valuable, especially these days for whatever reason. I expect a certain level of maturity from the adults on this island, a level of maturity which neither of you were exhibiting with this petty argument. I am not your father, and I will not baby you like I am."
"I, uh… yeah." The man mumbled, "Sorry about wasting your time, Leader."
"Like, whatever." The mother huffed, only for the man to elbow her not-so-subtly, "I mean, sorry. Sorry for trying to be a loving and doting mother, anyway…"
That last part was said under her breath as she turned and took her leave, but the other two simply allowed her to get the last word in. The man, at least, looked a bit more embarrassed by the whole debacle as he likewise took his leave, and Jasper sat himself back down, collapsing slightly into his chair.
"How many more people are coming to complain to me about stuff?" Jasper asked wearily, looking over to the berry gardens, where Mike was busying himself with work. The trainer glanced over to the leader, and then over to the open gate, and he squinted at the very large line of people who were waiting.
"You'll be happier if I don't tell you the answer." Mike said after a brief pause, and Jasper let out another groan as he sank further into his chair. Had Mike mentioned then that several of the islanders coming to complain to him were Gym trainers, Jasper may well have packed up and decided to call it a day.
"What is it about this time of year that's making everyone devolve into children?" Jasper whined.
As things were, the Leader's visible exasperation was matched by the invisible jubilation of Copper and Brass, who were watching the very first step of Mercury's plan unfold completely successfully, and completely secretly to boot. The answer to Jasper's rhetorical question would have been that the three of them had been stirring up as much conflict as they possibly could on Iron Island, including conflict amongst the Gym trainers.
The embers of conflict that they stoked were growing into an inferno, one which Jasper's typical blunt instrument-style of conflict resolution could only further exacerbate. For every squabble between Gym trainers that he carelessly broke up, he created a dissatisfied trainer who could be brought around to Mercury's way of thinking and turned into additional manpower for the next steps of her plan. And thanks to Jasper being kept busy with the human conflicts on Iron Island, he wouldn't be able to notice those next steps going on right under his nose.
No, by the time that Jasper finally saw what was truly happening to the island, the inferno would have grown into a full-blown wildfire, and those flames would swallow him up whole leaving behind nothing but ash.
-O-
Just as the embers of conflict were stoked amongst the people on Iron Island, so too did Mercury's plan require them to be stoked amongst the Pokemon- to an even greater degree, too. It was that stage of her plan which brought Mercury, along with a trio of trainers who had been convinced to join up as extra cogs in her machinations, to the Eterna Grove. Most of the time, it would be just the trio or another group like them who carried out the job, as it would be too conspicuous for Mercury herself to venture to the Grove on a regular basis, but today was one of the few times when she could do the job herself.
"LUX! LUXRAY!" The wild Luxray roared defiantly in the face of Mercury and her group, baring her teeth and snarling at them. Behind her, shielding themselves behind her legs, were a pair of small Shinxes, too small to be any older than a few weeks. The mother's shows of intimidation were enough to unnerve a couple of the weaker trainers Mercury had brought along, but she didn't even bat an eye at any of it. Instead, she grabbed a Pokeball and held it out in front of herself.
"MEDICHAM! USE FORCE PALM!" Mercury yelled, with the ball opening up to release her Medicham. The Pokemon manifested out of light on the ground between the trainer and the Luxray, and it wasted no time in charging forwards to thrust a palm out that sent Luxray flying back to crash into a tree.
"Shinx! Shinx!" One of the babies gasped fearfully, and they both tried to turn and run. Whether they were trying to flee the battle, or trying to run to their mother, it didn't matter because two of the trainers accompanying Mercury darted forwards and snatched them both up off the ground. The Pokemon flailed about and clawed at them, but they were too weak to defend themselves. Their mother let out a pained groan as she tried to rise to her feet, only for Mercury's Medicham to dash over to her and thrust a palm out to slam her against the tree. It knelt down beside the struggling Luxray, clamping a hand around the top of its head and pinning it to the ground so that it was forced to watch happened next.
Gripping the baby Shinx tightly- too tightly- by the stomach, one of the trainers turned and swung it face-first against a tree. Ignoring the cry of pain that drew from the youngling, as well as the enraged yell from the mother, the trainer continued to abuse the baby Pokemon right in front of its mother, beating it and bashing it without mercy or remorse, all while the Luxray was pinned and unable to do anything about it. The other trainer holding onto the other baby did the same, brutalising the Shinx with a blank expression on their face.
"LUXRAY! LUX, LUXRAY-RAY!" Luxray screamed, struggling against Medicham with all her strength but ultimately being unable to overcome the fighting-type. As the torture dragged on, its screams and roars of rage became mewls and whines of despair.
"Uh, Mercury?" The trainer without a Shinx in hand piped up nervously, "I know that this is, um, all part of your plan and all. But this, uh… well, it um…"
"It seems cruel? Inhumane?" Mercury said with a raised eyebrow, indifferent to the cries of Pokemon in the background, "That's the idea. After all, these are just a bunch of wild Pokemon. Clearly they're not strong enough to be worth catching, so I don't see why I should trouble myself to care about what I do to them. Do you have an issue with that?"
The trainer swallowed, and looked from Mercury to the other two trainers, who were busy abusing the younglings to care, and then to Mercury's Medicham, which stared back at her with a hint of bloodlust in its eyes.
"No. I don't." They said.
-O-
The hour was late as Jasper allowed himself to take a seat in one of the deck chairs outside Walter's shack and truly relax into it, staring out at the sight of the tranquil ocean and its reflection of the night sky. Sitting next to him on the other chair was his father, Walter, who looked like he hadn't a care in the world compared to his exhausted son.
"It really is so great being retired." Walter quipped, "So much free time to laze around and not have to do anything, so much free time to go dote on that beautiful little granddaughter of mine, you should really give it a try, Jasper. Maybe then you can spend all your day taking care of your daughter and then coming to relax here with me, instead of spending all day at the Gym and then coming to relax here with me."
"You're so funny, Pops." Jasper deadpanned, "Really, you missed your calling in comedy."
"Maybe I did, but it's too late for a mid-life crisis." Walter said, "Gotta stick with fishing as my old person hobby."
"I just don't get why everything's gone to the dogs all of a sudden." Jasper bemoaned, "It's like all of a sudden, every single person on the island has a fire that they all need to bring to me to put out, day in and day out. I'm beginning to suspect this is some kind of cosmic joke because I was wishing that Mercury would stop pestering me."
"Mercury… that feisty upstart that wouldn't stop challenging you?" Walter said, "Did the fifty-third defeat to you finally make something click?"
"I can only assume so." Jasper said, "These past couple of months, I haven't heard a peep out of her. She just works, does her training, and doesn't complain or try and challenge me for my position. Honestly, I'd go back to the way things were if I could."
"No chance she's finally taking those lessons of yours to heart?" Walter said.
"If I should be so lucky." Jasper scoffed, "Damn right there's no chance she took them to heart. Nothing about her way of training actually changed, she's just clued into the fact that bashing her head against the wall isn't the secret to breaking it."
"Well it's no wonder she hasn't changed her attitude with the way you go about it." Walter said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jasper said irritably.
"Here I thought that I wouldn't have to keep spelling everything out for the younger generation because I was retired…" Walter said, "Perhaps it was my fault as your father and your mentor, but the one thing that you are not, Jasper, is nuanced."
"That does sound like your fault, yeah." Jasper said.
"Brat." Walter said, "After I gave the position up to you, it stopped being my business how you ran that Gym, and you've run it well and you've run it fairly since I retired. What you don't do, however, is approach the nuance in every situation."
"Sometimes things are black and white! When a trainer-!" Jasper began.
"Don't interrupt me." Walter cut him off sternly, before continuing, "All trainers are different. People and Pokemon are both unique, and so you need to recognise that and take a nuanced approach to every problem. No matter how many times you beat Mercury in a battle, it would never make a difference because it wouldn't prove anything to her. You were stronger than her when she became a trainer, and so all she can see whenever she loses to you is that same strength. She can't see that the path to beating you is elsewhere, she just assumes it's longer than she thought. No, if you want Mercury to actually change her ways, she needs to lose to someone weaker than her."
"You're saying I need to train one of the Gym trainers to surpass her?" Jasper said, "That… actually does make a lot of sense. I wish I'd figured it out six months ago when I had the kind of free time for a project like that."
"Make time." Walter dismissed, "Kill two birds with one stone while you're at it and see if you can't groom the trainer into your replacement."
"And here I was thinking that Kiki would replace me." Jasper chuckled, "A strong and courageous Steel-Type trainer, just like her daddy."
"I'm the one who's meant to be senile." Walter said, "Kiki's obviously going to turn into a graceful but ferocious Water-Type trainer like her granddad!"
"You are senile if you think that!" Jasper said, "She'll be the Shining Steel-Type Gym Leader of Iron Island!"
"More like the Wonderful Water-Type Gym Leader of Iron Island!" Walter retorted. The pair glowered at each other, before their glowers collapsed into laughter.
"Probably can't be either of those with a name like 'Kiki'." Jasper admitted, "If I had to peg her for a monotype trainer, I'd guess electric."
"Tell me you're not one of those star-obsessed weirdoes who thinks a trainer's name determines what kind of Pokemon they prefer." Walter grumbled.
"Aren't we proof enough?" Jasper said.
"Can't argue with that, I suppose." Walter admitted.
"Either way, if I do pick up a protégé, it'll have to be someone who can actually call out attack names." Jasper said, "I could always subvert Percy's parental authority and start training Magnus in secret, give him a starter Pokemon early and everything."
"It's better if you pick a trainer who Mercury's familiar with, rather than someone completely new." Walter said, "They can't all be worse trainers than a boy without a starter Pokemon, can they?"
"No, there are plenty of good trainers at the Gym." Jasper said, "I suppose if I have to pick a protégé, I'd probably pick… Gina."
"Never heard you talk about her." Walter said, "Which is probably a good thing, considering what brings you around here most of the time."
"She's a good kid. Maybe even too good in some areas." Jasper said, "Though maybe I'm just too bad in those areas. That's part of why I'm having this problem in the first place, isn't it? Ah, whatever. Once I've managed to organise this mess of a schedule of mine, I'll take her under my wing and whip her into shape to be able to give Mercury a thrashing that will actually get her to change her ways. And if she doesn't, I'll come whine to you some more about it."
"Hohoho!" Walter laughed, "Not like I've got anything better to do these days than listen!"
Jasper grinned back at him, and felt some of the tension in his body actually ebb away. Despite how everything seemed to be burning down these past couple of months, it finally seemed like he had a clear sense of how to go forward. The fires on Iron Island would die out.