The World of Arceus
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the idea and OC's.
Author Notes:
-X-This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.
~xXx~ This will identify where each paragraph breaks.
"Human Speech" 'Character Thought' {Pokémon Speech}
The following is a side story taking place in the same world as the story "Watcher of Arceus".
~xXx~
Side Stories
Norva : Part 7
The month long Orange League Event was finally coming to a close. As usual, the current Orange Islands Champion had defeated the second place, third place, and runner up of the Orange League Finalists, but Orange League Championship Matches were always a pleasure to watch. It was a long and aggressive final match between this year's Orange League Winner and the Champion, and the entirety of the Orange Islands were on the edge of their seats for the match. In a very hard earned victory though, the Palace of Victory had a new Hall of Famer as the Orange League Champion was defeated and there was no shortage of parties all over the Orange Islands.
Now that the battles were over and all that was left were the closing ceremonies, Malcolm was going right back into training full time with Norva until the next order at Jordan's boat shop came in. The gyms through out the Orange Islands would be great places for Malcolm to train and would have had everything he needed, but figuring out which one would be best suited for him and Norva specifically was a task.
Currently, he was standing on top of the camper that Jordan had loaned him over the summer, and Jordan had simply not bothered to ask him to return it yet. It served as a decent imitation trainer stand that would look over a stadium for the moment and let them practice this whole sight sharing thing. Spread out of the sands of the beach were a collection training dummies, each one with a light up head. Norva was just barely in view below him on the ground. The difference in height was common place for Orange Island Stadiums and since most of their future matches would be in stadiums, getting use to this kind of view would help them both.
As one of the target dummies lit up, Malcolm quickly focused on it so Norva would. Immediately a shadow ball was thrown up into the sky and came down directly on it. The weakened attacks didn't even put a scratch on the training dummies, just lightly tossing them around the ground. Today's training was all just about control and getting in sync with each other. Using Malcolm's eyes alone made this a very different experience, but they were adapting well. Holding up the tablet, Malcolm checked the display.
Norva had just broke a new record. It only took her three and half seconds to hit the target from when the light had come on this time, which as far as Malcolm was concerned was great. After Norva had lost her eyes, and then learned to adapt, her entire strategy now revolved around throwing things. Sure, she could throw them directly at the target, but this whole throwing her attacks up into the air and bombing the target them with from above was what she was use to now and it certainly proved very helpful against Rivers.
Norva could even leave several such attacks in the air at the same time and that gave her an even bigger edge, making other trainers and pokemon have to split their attention between watching Norva and the attacks that were waiting to come down on them. Malcolm honestly felt a little lacking on his part in this right now. It was his eyes that let them both see, so it was up to him much more than before to notice danger. If he didn't see the arena well enough for Norva, then it put her at a great disadvantage.
Still, looking over the tablet, he couldn't help but still smile. Norva's average time to hit each target was now under five seconds to find the target in question, throw an attack into the air, and then come back down. Their last session had averaged almost four seconds a target now, which showed some great improvement over the past week. Two weeks ago, their average had been 10 seconds, so already they cut down time by over over half.
He was about to start another twenty target round, only for Christina to call out. "Malcolm! You need to tune into the news! Channel 14! You need to see this!" Christina yelled out quickly and from the annoyed and perhaps slightly worried tone of her voice, Malcolm and Norva both grew a little worried.
Norva turned to face towards Malcolm and focused more on him as he quickly pulled up his news apps on the tablet and flipped over to News Channel 14. Malcolm just grumbled seeing who holding a conference right now. Christopher Silverwinds was moving up to the center of the event and that already annoyed Malcolm seeing who it was, Malcolm still heavily hating his father even after more then ten years since the divorce with his mother. He wasn't exactly on speaking terms with either of them after they had both dragged him through the mud, abused him in their own ways, and tried to use him as nothing more then leverage to make the other suffer all through the divorce.
What set his blood to boil were the two images on display. One was his most recent trainer license photo, and the other was a very recent image of Norva, the photo that had been taken at the last P.A.R.C.A. event he had been a part of. Even before Christopher started to speak, Malcolm knew every word of it would be a thought out lie.
As Christopher walked up, he quickly looked over the crowd some, gave a small bow, and then started to speak. "Hello and welcome. It is my great honor to make today's special announcement. For almost five years now, my great company, The Silver Pride Consulting Firm has been proud to be a part of the Orange League, helping to secure favorable business and property loans and helping the Orange League as a whole expand in a very environmentally friendly and successful manor. During this time, we have always been a quiet non-participant in the Orange League itself." Christopher started as he slowly stepped a side bit, making sure that he got out of the way of the two large photos on the stage behind him.
"As of today, the Silver Pride Consulting Firm is as proud as we can be to announce the hiring of our newest employee, and our first sponsored trainer, my son Malcolm Silverwinds and the celebrity that you already know and love, Norva. The Silver Pride Consulting Firm is happy to announce our plans to have Malcolm enter next year's Orange League on our behalf. Please, stay tuned for further updates as Malcolm begins the next step of his long misplaced journey. We shall ensure that he has the everything he needs to train, and become one of the best trainers o-" Malcolm couldn't watch another word, almost snapping the tablet in half, before practically throwing it down after slamming his hand over the power button.
"That... insuf... ba... NO!" Malcolm snapped hard.
"Ballsy move..." Christina said. "I almost feel ashamed to share so much of a name with him. No wonder you hate him so much even after so long."
"I need a lawyer on short notice. That one who helped you sort the issues with your father... any chance they're for hire?" Malcolm asked, climbing off the camper in a partial rush. Even Norva was fuming a bit, and when a kingler began to walk up on the beach attracted to all of the noise from Norva's training, there was no saving it. It gave a loud cry getting their attention and starting to move forward in an aggressive manor, before it was swiftly dealt with.
A pair of shadow balls blasted right into its face, and then an energy ball slammed down from above creating a large explosive blast as Norva snarled at the now thoroughly defeated wild kingler was laying limp in a small crater on the beach, the waves slowly burying it in a little bit of sand.
"Whelp... not salvaging that kingler for dinner..." Christina stated slowly, before pulling out her wallet and looking through it. "I'll see if I can find their card again, thought I kept it in my wallet for easy access, but I don't see it. I know the contact information is saved my laptop, but I just started a mass of updates and restart on it."
"I'll need it as soon as possible... And do you have a phone on you or do I need to go in and get it. I'm about to tell Jordan to trespass Christopher and his lawyers from the property." Malcolm stated, Christina giving a small nod.
"Hope that goes smoothly. That was one hell of a way to try and box you into an employment contract." Christina stated stepping inside and quickly getting phone, right as it began to ring. Christina let it ring twice, long enough for the caller ID to kick in before answering.
"Let him get inside Jordan, Malcolm already needs to talk with you." She stated and as soon as Malcolm stepped inside, handed him the phone.
"Please tell me you didn't set that up." Jordan stated firmly as soon Malcolm had the phone.
"If you're talking about what I just saw on Channel 14 News, how fast can you trespass him and anyone working for him while I get a lawyer." Malcolm asked, trying to keep calm but it was hard.
"So that whole thing about you working as their sponsored trainer taking on the Orange League was his idea then. We both know that even if Norva somehow gets back into competitive battling, the Orange League is a flat no given the extra skill tasks that are required for trainers to compete. She'd never properly qualify to be allowed to compete and if you ever tried the Orange League without her... well I'm pretty sure she'd murder you." Jordan stated.
"Oh trust me. I know. I would have liked nothing more then to compete in the biggest league on the islands, but there's no way Norva would qualify. We're getting the hang of this whole thing, but its not like Norva's perfect at it, and I'm far from good at it myself. We'll be locked into just battles where I can give orders and be her eyes. And even if I could, I'm never working for that bastard... ESPECIALLY after that lying cheating attempt to force me into working for him. The only place I'll be involved with them is in court." Malcolm quickly stated as he moved to take a seat, Norva following along.
As much as Norva would have loved to partake in the Orange League, she knew that it was beyond her capabilities. Target shoots, races, a maze that needs pokemon assistance, obstacle courses, and then a few alternative battle types like double battles would all be difficult or outright impossible for Norva to help compete in given her condition. Just battling required Malcolm's direct involvement and focus on her throughout a fight.
While the target shoot practice was helpful, the lack of minds on the targets were still a major annoyance leaving nothing for Norva to track on her own. Without a target to follow herself in these training sessions, she couldn't help but feel slowed down relying solely on Malcolm's sight rather then her own. She didn't blame him at all for the difficultly, but having entirely missed a few targets since they had started training all because she wasn't in view of the target as well still her hurt pride some.
"I don't know if I can trespass him without a good reason first, and that announcement while immoral might not be enough on its own. I'm not even sure I can do much about it with it being a home, not a place of business. You're best bet is trying to get a restraining order as fast as possible, but I don't think you'll be getting an emergency order in place for this." Jordan stated quickly.
"I've got enough hassle with reporters and scouts as is... That bastard of a man just doubled my problems and I already know he won't easily take no for an answer. Listen, I'm hoping that the lawyer who helped out Christina with her father has time to take me on a client to sort this out, but you may need to find a second electrical engineer for a while until I deal with him. Norva and I have a shot to be league contenders and there's more then just Orange League out there Norva and I have a shot at being league contenders, I AM NOT letting that bastard ruin it. There are smaller leagues out there, more than enough of them to make a living. I'll still work for you as long as you need me, but I need time for all this." Malcolm stated, in some ways even asking for permission.
"I've already got the next line up of orders in place on hold, waiting for supply shipments to show up before we can start work on new projects, after we finish any major repairs that happened during the Orange League. I can try juggling things around a little bit to space out any major electrical work, but you're right. I will likely need a second electrical engineer. I'll put out some feelers at the engineering colleges around the islands and on the coast of Kanto for any potential recruits to have trained up to help you out, but we need to sort this out sooner rather then later... I hate to say it, but maybe you should take one of those larger interviews. People will want to know what's going with you and Norva, and you can use the chance to very publicly denounce Chris and any plans he has for you." Jordan suggested.
Malcolm just grumbled and even gave a small grunt of disgust. "Gonna hate every second of it... but you're right, this needs to be nipped in the bud fast."
"We... you need to do something and soon, before this has any time to settle in and people get the wrong idea. I'm all for you and Norva becoming league level trainers again, but this is going to be a problem for everyone." Jordan stated.
"Yeah... I kno-... hold on, someone else is trying to call me. Probably the first of dozens... Jordan, listen. I'm just gonna unplug the phone for a while. If you need to contact me, I'm setting my pokedex to ignore, but send me a ping anyway. I'll filter you and the other dozen or so people who matter to get through." Malcolm started as he looked over the number, it not being one he recognized.
"Yeah, I can understand that. Good l-" Jordan sighed some before Malcolm about threw the phone down and let out a very angry snarl. "Hey hey hey! What's going on?"
"Christopher is contacting my pokedex by business call. If you'll excuse me, I need to tell this bastard off." Malcolm quickly stated, and hung up before Jordan had a chance to speak more. Even Norva was about ready to smash something hearing that Christopher was calling.
Malcolm snatched up the pokedex while moving to the sofa and swapping the audio to speakers, knowing Norva would want to listen in. "-ster Silverwinds Jr. I... There seems to be a problem with your camera, or. Ah, this is strictly audio. Mr. Silverwinds Jr. Greetings from the Silver Pride Consulting Firm. I wou-" A secretary started, sounding quite delighted. Malcolm already knew the kind of people that his father often hired for his personal team. They would be just as quick to ignore anything he tried to stay if it didn't fall in line with his father's business requests.
"Put Christopher on the line already." Malcolm stated bluntly. Christina bit her lip while grabbing her coat, she knew how this was going to play out.
"I'll give you some time to speak freely." Christina stated as she quickly grabbed her coat and left, more than happy to give him some privacy.
"I-i... I'm sorry?" The secretary stated, some what confused.
"Christopher. On the line. Now. If he seriously set this whole thing up and didn't intend to talk me directly, hang up right now. This is a matter strictly between me and Christopher." Malcolm stated firmly.
"I'm... calling to make arrangements for your in person interv-" The secretary said slowly, before Malcolm cut her off.
"Hard no. Either I talk with Christopher now, or we don't talk about anything and I hang up. There are exactly two options here. A and B. I have nothing to say or talk with Christopher's company about otherwise. My sole conversation will with Christopher." Malcolm stated firmly once more.
"Mr. Silverwinds Jr, when would like to make arrangements to come the Silver Pride Con-" The secretary tried to ask.
"Are you connecting me to Christopher Silverwinds now, or did he have you call me with no intentions of talking with me himself?" Malcolm asked.
"I've been tasking with making arrangements to hire you, Mr. Silverwinds Jr. There is an employm-" The secretary tried to speak.
"I refuse Silver Pride Consulting Firm employment. I do not consent to being hired by the Silver Pride Consulting Firm in any capacity. I do not accept payments or work; freelance, contract, part or full time from Silver Pride Consulting Firm. I refuse to make arrangements for any kind of employment interview. I refuse to attend any interview you might make or set without my consent. By directly calling my pokedex, you have already accepted that this conversation is being recorded since it had to be listed as a business call and I will be requesting a copy of the recording by the end of the day. Last chance to put Christopher on the phone or this conversation is over." Malcolm stated.
"Mr. Silverwinds Jr, if you would just allow me to set up thi-" The secretary tried to continue.
"I know exactly the kind of people Christopher hires to fill the roles of his personal staff, like you being his secretary. Pushy, rude, aggressive, and or arrogant enough to do what he what he tells you, even when morally or ethically wrong. This is not a question of getting me to accept any role of employment with the Silver Pride Consulting Firm. I refuse to work with any company that Christopher or his employees have anything to do with my employment." Malcolm said, raising his voice to easily speak over the secretary.
"If you do not connect me to Christopher, I'm hanging up. The third time you call me and do not connect me to him, I have grounds to file harassment charges. This is not my first time doing this with people like you. Connect me with Christopher, or I hang up." Malcolm almost growled into the pokdex.
There was a short silence over the phone and Malcolm waited, before at last the secretary spoke again. "I have an opening a-" Malcolm didn't even let her finish before ending the call. Getting up and heading into the kitchen, he quickly went looking for his external pokedex to computer hookup.
Norva got up and followed him, trying to be careful of things, but it was that she was just annoyed as he was. She tumbled over the couch in her announce with a loud thud and Malcolm quickly rushed back to her side even as she slammed a fist into the floor, only to realize the mistake and clutch her hand, holding it to her chest.
"You okay!?" Malcolm quickly asked, almost throwing his pokedex to the floor when the same number popped up, but he didn't answer instead going for a potion. "Let me see it. Easy now." Malcolm said and Norva slowly held out her hand to let him apply the potion.
Malcolm waited a moment, making sure that Norva was fine before grabbing his pokedex off the floor. He took a seat and a breath before finally answering it. "I will talk with Christopher and no one else. This is not an question." Malcolm stated.
"Apologies Mr. Silverwinds Jr, the call seemed to have disconnected. I have a few times open next week t-" The secretary started again, and all it did was prove to Malcolm was show that they didn't care about anything other then the business that they wanted from him.
"It appears that you're refusing to listen to me to make this a one way conversation. I will not be accepting employment with Silver Pride Consulting Firm. You have five seconds to connect me to Christopher right now, or I will hang up again." Malcolm spoke loudly over her to make his point.
"There is no need to be rude about this. The em-" The secretary tried to speak.
"Five . . . Four . . . Three . . ." Malcolm began to count making sure to speak over entirely to prove his point.
"Employment opportunity will be a-" The secretary said getting louder to try and talk with Malcolm.
"Two. . . One . . ." Malcolm never stopped counting and when they failed to connect him to his father, Malcolm hung up again. Helping Norva to the kitchen table, he made sure that she was seated comfortably, and then went back to what he was doing. Malcolm put his laptop down before finding the cable he needed to hook it to his pokedex. After sitting down and connecting the devices, he started to sync them both to make sure any calls on it were recorded. He wasn't going to leave anything to chance this early on. Christopher would eventually take him seriously. When that happened, getting evidence after that would be nigh impossible.
Even before he was finished setting things, they called back again, and Malcolm wasn't going to play any games. "Alright Christopher, let's talk." Malcolm stated.
"Mr. Silverwinds is currently busy. The sooner we schedule your employme-" The secretary started, before Malcolm immediately hung up on the mention of employment again. Pulling up a few menus on his computer, he quickly started to request copies from the last three phone calls so he could get started with the harassment claim process.
He started compiling all the evidence he needed to build a case: recordings of the last three calls, a copy of the public announcement of his 'employment', and what he would follow in the coming call with Christopher, if the secretary would listen.
When the pokedex began to ring the fourth time, Malcolm picked up the call and then hung up in the same motion, not even giving them time to speak. He continued typing on his computer, making arrangements to build a case against them and gathering information. It was easy to see that Norva was about as happy with this as he was with her clenched fists.
"Norva... we can't throw things. Either of us, alright. Come on, deep breaths with me." Malcolm stated, muting the ringer on his phone right now. Both of them took a moment to try and slow down, taking several deep breaths while Malcolm just ignored his pokedex. Taking a few to try and calm down, Malcolm finally looked to his pokedex again, and the two missed calls with no messages. It didn't even take more then a few seconds for the pokedex to start again and Malcolm picked up.
"You make me do this all day and I'm going to start the process to get this number blocked one way or another." Malcolm stated harshly.
"Let's not be unreasonable Mr. Silverwinds Jr. Employment with Silver Pride Consulting Firm is hard but honest work and a gift. You're employment as o-" The secretary started, only for Malcolm to almost lose it entirely and Norva sat him back down in his seat.
"Unreasonable?! Unreasonable? I'm being unreasonable? You're the ones who announced my employment by a televised event to strong arm me into indentured servitude. No. NO! You want unreasonable, here's unreasonable!" Malcolm half shouted now.
"I'm muting you and here are my demands... Demands before I even consider being hired. To start, my weekly paycheck will be a minimum of 112,500 a week like clockwork, and that's just my basic paycheck. That's a minimum half million every month. Additionally, every event I attend will be another million on top of that, separate from the weekly paycheck. And I do mean every event is an extra million. And my payment requirement, if Christopher shows up, my monthly and event paychecks double, per event. That's my cumulative tolerance fee. For example, in July, if I choose to attend the Big Three; the Tangelo Beach Circuit, the Lagoon's Mash Up, and Wrecker's Hall, if Christopher chooses to attend all three, that's double pay for the Tangelo Beach Circuit, quadruple for the Lagoon's Mash Up, and eight times the rate for Wrecker's Hall." Malcolm started, making sure that he was very clearly and easily talking over the secretary.
"Additionally, my million for any event I attend, is my choice. I pick everything I go to myself, and the Orange League itself is right out and will not happen, Norva can't qualify, so I won't attend the main event. But anything, including the P.A.R.C.A. events I will keep attending is subject to my attendance fee paid for by the company. And speaking of P.A.R.C.A., every one I attend will have a generous six digit minimum donation solely paid for in my name, paid for by the company as well and I get all the credit for those donations. If Christopher want's any glory for donations, he makes his own separate donations. And finally, all travel, food, lodging, training, and advertising expenses are all your problems, and there won't be any budget deals involved in that." Malcolm continued.
"If my demands are not met, we have nothing to even remotely talk about." Malcolm half yelled as he finished, finally leaning back in his chair some, glad to let off some pent up rage.
While he never officially muted the secretary, he had easily talked so loudly over her that she never managed to get so much as a single word and was forced to wait for him to finish. "You do understand that as a first time sponsored trainer, you will be paid simple sponsorship fees with a far lesser paycheck rather then a professional sponsorship contract to start right?" The secretary asked.
"If you want me to cooperate with the type of corporation wanting to strongarm a trainer into employment, those are my demands. I will be very clear, I strongly dislike your company, I strongly dislike Christopher. I want nothing to do with him or any company he represents. I will not be giving up my current job to accept your unreasonable job offer no matter how many times you call, no matter how many times that Christopher personally or has a spokesman announce my illegally obtained employment on any form of news media, or however many you send in person to convince me. I WILL call the police of illegal trespassers by the way. I've have the police on speed dial." Malcolm countered.
"You're the ones demanding my servitude in employment, I get to the set the terms. And if you fail to connect to Christopher, or argue with me over my prices, my rates go up. And if at any point, there is somehow a case of me being listed as employed with Silver Pride Consulting Firm, I'm using these records calls in court to sue the company for failure to pay me the compensation I set in these calls." Malcolm stated, his voice rising again.
"As a first ti-" The secretary tried to state again.
"My rates just went up to 550,000 a month paychecks and 1,100,000 per event, all of which will remain my choosing plus my cumulative tolerance fee if Christopher attends. Connect me to Christopher now or my rates will continue to go up ten percent of the last amount." Malcolm interrupted her.
"We will not be accepting unreasonable de-" The secretary once more tried to speak.
"My rates just up to 605,000 a month paycheck and 1,210,000 per event, all of which will remain my choosing plus my cumulative tolerance fee if Christopher attends. Connect me to Christopher now or my rates will continue to go up ten percent of the last amount. Time is money and you're wasting both trying to illegally force me into employment. Now connect me to Christopher, stop wasting both of our time or my rates will go up ten percent of the last amount again." Malcolm repeated, quickly pulling up a pair of calculators on his computer to make sure his numbers would be accurate and he didn't waste time on math if this continued.
The secretary gave a loud sigh though, it was clear that she was getting the idea. She was starting to realize that dealing with Malcolm would just be the same as dealing with Christopher, this was indeed his son. "Attempting to connect you to Christopher now. Please hold." She stated, and the phone began to play some generic hold music.
"Ah, Mr. Boggs. Apologies for sh-" A new voice started and Malcolm instantly recognized the supposedly respectful tone laced with hidden undertones of annoyance and a slight hint of manipulation at the ready that was his father.
"Christopher, I'm going to be generous and give you one minute to explain what kind of drugs you have been experimenting with before making that false and very misleading broadcast." Malcolm stated.
"Malcolm... my son. I don't think that's a very generous way to talk with your father about the employment offer I have very graciously given you. Perhaps you should show a little gratitude and start to call me father." Christopher said after a small pause.
"Listen Christopher, I am no-" Malcolm started.
"I insist son. Please, call me father. Its time you started a r-" Christopher interrupted, before Malcolm cut him off.
"Listen, Christopher. . . I refuse any kind of employment with you unless all of my demands are met to even consider tolerating the fact I might have to so much as look at you." Malcolm once more raised his voice.
"You shouldn't disrespect your family so quickly. I raised you better then that." Christopher tried to speak again, but it only served to make Malcolm start to really lose it.
"Does the word hypocrite exist in your world? Would you like me to list the events in which you have disrespected "family" in rapid fire, or should I go into detail about the divorce and how much abuse I was subjected to while you slugged it out with 'family'." Malcolm's voice slowly began to rise again, bordering on shouting now.
Even Norva noticed how bad it was getting, there were only other two times that she had seen Malcolm like this. Once was in the aftermath when she lost her eyes, and the other was during the divorce. Getting up, Norva just pushed his hand down hard onto the table to keep him from possibly grabbing and throwing his pokedex.
"Norva what you... Stop throwing things... Stop throwing things, stop throwing things, stop throwing things..." Malcolm started, only to quickly start muttering the words under his breath. It felt weird having her calm him down now, but it wasn't unwelcome.
Christopher however had paused before speaking again after Malcolm had stopped. "Any talk of that woman is strictly forbidden. It is not up for discussion." Christopher stated very firmly.
"And so is my employment with Silver Pride Consulting Firm." Malcolm quickly added.
"I'm not canceling your employment that quickly. The contract has already been written out, and our lawyers are waiting for you to sign it. Its about time you joined the family business." Christopher said, entirely ignoring anything about Malcolm not working with the company.
"I refuse to work with you after that little stunt, Christopher. Given your highly unethical and immoral hiring announcement trying to trap me into working for you, you've made it very clear that you need me a lot more than I will ever need you. So your options are simple. Cancel everything immediately, or I'm in charge of my own employment. Which means I get to the set the terms including my paycheck which currently starts at . . ." Malcolm checked his computer for the numbers again just to be sure.
"My starting pay begins at 605,000 a month paycheck, paid in weekly installments and a 1,210,000 per event fee. And let's just be clear, there is no negotiation here regarding my paycheck which can only go up, much less my tolerance fee, where any event that I attend and you show up, my paycheck for the month doubles cumulatively for that month." Malcolm explained.
"Listen here you arrogant child. Your father has spoken. You chose to come here with me because of what that woman did to us both, I saved you from her. We can do this politely and you come down here to sign the paperwork and take the job I'm being generous for even providing for you and that pokemon I gave you, or we can do this the hard way, where I make sure you can't work here on the islands at any point. A few calls from me and no one will hire you again, and I'll make sure no sponsor ever signs anything with you aside from Silver Pride Consulting Firm." Christopher stated firmly.
"Threatening me on a recorded business line. Smart move there Christopher. But there are three things you don't understand. I already have a job I'm very happy with, and it has nothing to do with the Silver Pride Consulting Firm. Whatever sway you think you hold, whatever strings you think you can pull, you'd have to be calling for war against one of the best small ship yards on the Orange Islands, with a community who will never believe you." Malcolm grinned, seeing how easily his father still of him as just the little somewhat shy and timid boy he had been during the early years of his pokemon journey.
"Secondly, any attempts to start an investigation against me will have serious back lash against you. I'll just file a request of information, and any serious enough allegations against me will have to have a very large paper trail to follow. Anonymous tips can only go so far and will quickly be disproven since the Orange Islands are very big on public information and trust. I learned a lot from your own paranoia after all, making sure to cover myself in plenty of ways. With all the constant harassment I already get from others trying to get Norva and how many times I've been forced to file charges against others for that harassment, I already know my way through the legal systems quite well. I may not be a lawyer, but I've got enough of a brain for this to know exactly what paperwork to ask for, what questions to ask to request the information I want, how to get easy access to all of my recorded business phone calls, and exactly how to piece it together for a lawyer to present in a courtroom." Malcolm continued, unable to hide the dark smile he had now.
"And finally Christopher... We're not family. I refuse to just bend a knee to you. When I left the day I turned eighteen as an independent adult, I swore to myself and Norva we would never accept help from you again. The only interactions we have left will be settled in a courtroom, or with you bending knee to me." Malcolm said, his words filled with hate towards Christopher.
"I will destroy boy... unless you do as you're told right now." Christopher replied after a moment of silence.
"Recorded line Christopher... Recorded line. Please keep incriminating yourself and make this easier on me. New security feature of the Modern Age of the Trainer. All business calls on a pokedex are recorded and stored for two months on private servers. Too many cases of he said she said over the past ten years here in the Orange Islands. Sure its an opt in feature right now, and comes with a small monthly fee while they keep updating the servers, but that's the beauty of making sure to cover my own ass. If there's one thing you taught me, it's to always have insurance. I remember that lesson from you, more than any other, business 101 right... wouldn't you agree?" Malcolm didn't even attempt to hide the malice or mockery in his tone right now.
"You have to two weeks to get in here and sign the paperwork, or there will be consequences." Christopher stated and before Malcolm could argue, Christopher has hung on Malcolm. Malcolm couldn't help but smile though. He knew he had just gotten under Christopher's skin, that he had played Christopher as a fool.
The next major step would be to publicly denounce any employment rumors with Silver Pride Consulting Firm, and it needed to be done quickly. He was already on the computer accessing his trainer account to request copies of all of the recent business phone calls to be sent to him as soon as Christopher had hung up. That would take a few days for the request to go, but he was fine with it. It gave plenty of time to collect his thoughts and a chance to hopefully cool off. This would require a cool, calm head and that's exactly what Malcolm didn't have at the moment.
He thought about making them public, a news station would devour this whole, but they could also serve as his metaphorical silver bullet in a courtroom which would be Christopher's first choice of battle grounds. It was obvious that Christopher didn't believe him about the recorded business calls, but Christopher also rarely dealt with trainers in the first place. He probably didn't even know how sponsorship worked with trainer, and Malcolm could use that against him.
Malcolm began double checking the security features on his trainer account to ensure all bases were covered. He was thankful that every helpful feature was active, minus a few that wouldn't really help in this scenario. The next step would be something like a body cam in case Christopher tries something in public, and a few hidden recording devices.
Despite all the plans and evidence, stress and worry seeped into his core. Even if Christopher didn't have much pull, he could still make Malcolm's life a bit miserable for a while. He had to be careful with his options, otherwise he could lose the advantage. Leaning back in his chair, he had a gut feeling this would be settled in the courtroom.
Even with the minor victory of making Christopher hang up on him in rage though, Malcolm had to actively work to keep from balling up his fists and just slamming them on the table or worse his laptop. Even as angry as Norva was though, she couldn't help but feel a little strange about trying to keep Malcolm from hurting himself. Grabbing his hands the next time he balled up his fists, she held his hands still for a moment. Slowly getting up, she made him get up with her.
"Norva... I get it. Stop throwing things. I'm trying." Malcolm said slowly, taking a few more deep breaths. He wasn't trying to be mean, and Norva could tell that he really wanted to slow it down. None of his anger was directed at her, but she didn't like how he was acting regardless. Forcing him to get up, she made him look around a little bit, finding the dvd stand and making him walk over to it. Pulling the entire dozen top cases off the rack, it was a collection of all of Malcolm's favorite movies.
"Norva... what are you?" Malcolm tried to ask as the dvd cases were forced into his chest a bit. "I need to-" He started, only for Norva to about slap him.
She had raised her backhand as if to hit him, before lowering it, then jabbing one of her fingers into his chest and firmly shake her head no. She jabbed his chest twice more before pointing in the general direction of the television and the couch. She pointed to his eyes and then her own, before pointing back towards the couch. She made it clear that it wasn't a choice, and when he didn't move, she began to drag him along.
-x-
Christina came back late that even, slowly approaching the door to be on the safe side. Upon looking inside, she saw Malcolm and Norva on the couch watching TV. Given he wasn't yelling, she assumed the storm had passed. She quietly opened the door, going unnoticed by Norva who was distracted.
"I'm back." Christina called out. "Is it safe to enter?"
"Yes, its safe to enter." Malcolm replied, having calmed down by now fully. Norva didn't move, just leaning against him while popping another peanut m&m into her mouth. She kept Malcolm firmly planted on the couch under their comfy blanket. "I've been sat in a time out watching movies until I'm fully calm."
"That good a time wit-" Christina started to ask before Norva threw her hand up and did a strong almost slashing motion with her hand. She got the message, no talking about Christopher. "Alrighty then, understood." Christina stated with a nod.
"Well... uh, maybe some good news. You've been so distracted, you entirely missed the fact that the game stores started pre-orders on that new Legend of Zelda game, Twilight Princess. I ordered two copies, one for you, one for me." She stated.
"That's on... I got so distracted with Norva, I completely forgot. I don't even know if I'll have ti-" Malcolm started, before Norva just shoved a wii mote into his hands. She'd make sure he had time to game. "I think we'll make some time. When does it come out?"
"November, which is why I got two copies. I'll be spending plenty of time at the college, and there's going to be at least four scheduled week long trips I've got planned for college this year, so with how big Zelda fans both of us are, I thought that it would just be easier if we got two copies." Christina stated.
"As soon as I'm allowed to get up, I'll hand the cash for one of em." Malcolm quickly stated.
"Don't worry about it. Call it thanks for helping me out with my family issues." Christina smiled.