"...No, I really think you should sleep in your room tonight." I groaned at the young girl wearing pyjamas, standing obstinately outside my room in the dimly lit halls of the Pewter City Pokemon Centre. "We have a really big day tomorrow!"
Chee shook her head avidly at me. I don't wanna be alone!
This argument had gone on for about 10 minutes already, and it was now well past midnight. I placed my face in my hands in annoyance. "Chee... It's 1 AM, please just go to sleep."
I will once you let me in!
"Chee... It's perfectly safe here!"
It's not safe!
"The Pokemon Centre doors are locked and secured, what are you even scared is going to happen?!" I raised my voice in frustration.
The girl's eyes widened, and she instinctively reached for her left shoulder, falling just short before stopping. Even as she forcibly pulled her arm back down to it's usual position, she continued to shake lightly. ...I'd rather not think about it.
I was quiet for a moment, my rising temper simmering back down to a regular level. "...I'm sorry Chee, I didn't mean to shout at you." I spoke just above a whisper.
It's okay. She shook her head, staring at the ground. I know you're right, I just... I'm just scared.
I took a step closer, placing a reassuring hand on her arm. She looked back up at me.
"I'll still be right next-door to you, you know? If you need something, I'm right here." I offered soothingly, but it didn't seem to be enough.
I can sleep on the floor... Just don't leave me alone... She knotted her fingers together, shrinking to look as small as possible as she turned her gaze upwards at me, giving me what appeared to be the roundest sweetest look she could manage. ...Please?
I sighed, withdrawing my hand from her arm, and she looked at me expectantly.
"No." I dashed her hopes. She was very obviously trying to look cute to sway my judgement, but I wasn't having any of it.
I saw a flash of shock fly past her face as I went to close the door to my room, but she tackled her way onto my arm and tugged at me, keeping me from properly locking her out. I was about to pry her off of me by force, when I spotted tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
"...Are you really that frightened of being by yourself?" I asked after a small pause.
She nodded silently.
"...Fine, but you need to learn to sleep by yourself eventually." I relented. "And you sleep on the floor today, I did it last time." I added as she walked through the door.
I'd have to find some way to make her relax in a room to herself. She'd been fine at Oak's Lab, so I pondered what the difference could be as I drifted off to sleep.
Day 47:
I slowly came to as the morning sun rose into the sky. I turned my to see Chee lying on her knees and elbows looking up at me. She didn't look tired, but she had seemingly been awake for longer than me.
No nightmare tonight? Her eyes asked as she tilted her head to the side.
"...It's not like I have nightmares every night." I grumbled, sitting up and stretching my arms.
Lucky. Chee rested her chin into one of her hands, staring at the ground.
I let my gaze hover over her for a minute, debating how to approach the subject. Finally, I clambered to the floor and sat in front of her.
"...Did you have a nightmare tonight?"
The black-haired girl raised her finger and thumb, putting them a short distance apart. Just a little one.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Chee was subdued for a moment, an internal debate taking place in her brain. A moment later she shook her head. I don't want to think about it.
I nodded with understanding, then got to my feet. "Well, what say we go take care of that Gym Challenge then?"
I offered a hand to the girl, who used it to pull herself up. Let's do it!
...
When we showed up to the Pewter Gym bright and early, there were a handful of disappointed trainers already leaving, showing signs of muscle fatigue and exhaustion.
As we passed them, we came face to face with Brock. "Ah, it's you two again?" He smiled at us. "Ready to take on the Gym Challenge?"
I nodded. "Yeah, if you can squeeze us in."
"Sure, but if one of you manages to clear the battle, I won't be able to do the battle portion with the other until tomorrow." He spoke professionally, with his back completely straight. "Everything else can be done at any time, but you'll have to decide which one of you is going to battle first."
Chee and I shared a glance, but it was clear to see that we both agreed. She pointed to me as I spoke up. "I'll do the battle first."
Brock nodded curtly, and returned to a more casual demeanour. "Well, not that it matters if you can't pass the test!" He placed his hands on his hips and let out a hearty chuckle.
The obstacle course was made of softer materials and mats, so that even if someone fell they wouldn't get hurt. The course was suspended over a large pit of loose foam blocks to catch the larger falls.
Brock jumped into the foam pit, offering a hand to us. "You guys are still kids, so you can skip the first half of the course. It'd be pretty unreasonable to expect you to be as fit as us adults."
I glanced over the course. It started with a large set of jumps, a balancing beam that was at least 10 meters long, a climbing course, and more... If I was still in my physical prime from the war it would probably be easy enough to handle, but my body was still that of an 11-year-old.
Chee thrust her bag into my arms.
"...Chee?" I looked at her with confusion, as did Brock.
The girl shook her head, eyes filled with excitement. No, I wanna try!
A moment later she cheerily hopped over to the start of the course, pausing at the start to do her imitation versions of my morning stretches.
"Hey, kid!" Brock called out. "This isn't a trick, that course is designed for the adult trainers to..."
He trailed off however, as Chee began to gracefully and rapidly ascend through the entire obstacle course, deftly clearing jumps twice her height, easily swinging from poles and weaving through difficult terrain.
Brock and I just stared in silence as she easily powered through the entire set of obstacles, climbing walls in a set of simple leaps, running full tilt over a balancing platform...
Brock's gaze met my eyes, and I felt the need to speak up. "...Just so we're clear, I will be taking your offer to skip the adult course."
About 10 minutes later, we'd both cleared our respective courses. Chee was breathing a bit heavier than usual, and there might even have been a bit of sweat covering her forehead, but she looked very fulfilled.
That was fun! Cyan, you should try it too!
"...Maybe later." I answered noncommittally, already worn out from my journey through the much easier 'kids' course.
"Well," Brock coughed into his fist, drawing our attention. "You may have cleared the obstacle course but agility isn't all there is to being a trainer!" He gestured to an arcade-like punching machine. "If something goes wrong, you're gonna find yourself wrestling with a Pokemon using nothing but your own strength, and that's a dangerous situation to be in!"
Chee glanced at me, and I could tell she was thinking back to when I'd had to fend off the Raticate with my bare hands to cover for her. ...I'm sorry for putting you in danger.
Well, she did save us from that in the end, so I actually wasn't upset at her. I still wasn't too sure why she got so distracted though. I tried to answer her with my own thoughts. It's fine. We both got away safely.
"I can't let you carry on if you can't score at least 100 on this machine." Brock continued, oblivious to our silent conversation. He began to spin his shoulder a few times, warming up his muscles. "Let me show you an example..."
With a sudden vicious force, Brock threw a powerful right hook into the machine, which almost seemed to recoil at his attack. The machine made some beeping noises before displaying his score on the screen.
'341'
"Well, there you have it." Brock let out a heavy breath, relaxing his muscles. "Highest score we've ever seen on this machine is about 400, but most regular adults clock in somewhere around 180." He turned to us. "Who wants to go first?"
"Well," I began, winding up my own arm. "I might as well give it a go."
I walked up to the machine, eying it carefully. I'd been taught how to throw a proper punch in the army. A lot of it is down to making use of your body weight and energy efficiently, but in a case like this the optimal strategy might be slightly different from normal, since I didn't have to worry about recovery.
I decided to open with a regular army punch to test the waters, since I had no idea how the machine calculated strength. I twisted my torso and threw as much weight as I could into my fist as I punched the machine. It gave a few beeps before displaying it's score.
'88'
"Wow, not bad kid." Brock stroked his chin thoughtfully. "For a kid without any proper training, that's a pretty high score. It's still not a pass I'm afraid."
I stared at the score for a moment, almost surprised. I actually did a fair bit of training every day, and I'd expected that if it was a score that a kid could pass I would be able to pass the test, but...
"Hang on, can I try again?" I felt slightly insulted, and I was already considering ways I could make my attack register stronger on the machine.
Unfortunately Brock hit me with unfortunate news. "You can try, but unless you were holding back the result is unlikely to change. The machine is surprisingly unaffected by things like posture." He shrugged. "My own score usually only varies by about 5-10 points, even if I feel like I messed up the swing."
Despite his warning, I decided to have another go at the machine while putting all of my weight into the attack-Almost like pitching a baseball. I even tried jumping at the machine and using the inertia or a running start, but I was only able to increase my score to 89 at best, and it continued to mostly display 88.
"See?" Brock grinned at me, crossing his arms proudly. "But if you keep improving your strength in my Gym with the equipment I've provided then-"
"I won't be able to get the badge for at least a month." I cut him off, dusting my shorts as I stood again. I eyed the machine again, something about the number 88 felt familiar, although I wasn't quite sure why.
"Ah." I realised, and Brock looked at me curiously as I saw Chee inquisitively peak at the punching machine.
...Status.
[Cyan Hughs
Status:
HP: 20/25
Atk: 8
: 1
Def: 10
Sp. Def: 5
Spd: 12
Stat Points (15)
Skills:
Eye to Eye
Regression System
Pokemon Status Lv 2
Type Proficiency 21% {Tap to Expand} ]
As I thought, my attack was 8. It looked like the machine used a similar measuring system to the Regression System, but on a more in-depth scale. To test this hypothesis, I opened a menu I hadn't used for quite some time.
[Allocate Stat Points:
HP: 20/25 + -
Atk: 8 + -
: 1 + -
Def: 10 + -
Sp. Def: 5 + -
Spd: 12 + -
15 points remaining
Confirm
Cancel]
Quietly, I used two of my precious Stat Points on 'Atk' and pressed confirm. A moment later I felt a tight gripping feeling in my body, like my muscles were pushing out against my chest. It wasn't exactly painful, almost ticklish, but it was uncomfortable nonetheless. A few seconds later, it subsided.
...Status.
[Cyan Hughs
Status:
HP: 20/25
Atk: 10
: 1
Def: 10
Sp. Def: 5
Spd: 12
Stat Points (13)
Skills:
Eye to Eye
Regression System
Pokemon Status Lv 2
Type Proficiency 21% {Tap to Expand} ]
I took off my light blue cap and jacket, discarding them as I stretched my arms in preparation. "One more chance. I think I can do it."
"Listen kid..." Brock sighed. "You're not going to change it by trying the same thing over and over. You can come back another day and try again."
"I think it'll be different this time." I smiled at him.
He shook his head, but gestured to the machine, indicating I could go ahead. I wound up my punch, did a powerful swing and-
'110'
"...Really kid? Were you holding back that whole time? That's just wasting our time, you know." Brock sighed. "Alright, girl, you're next."
My score had immediately increased after I added to my Atk stat, just as I'd expected. I needed to remember that I had stat points, since being able to drastically increase my ability in an emergency situation could be extremely useful, and the degree was staggering even with just a few points.
I vaguely wondered if, with proper point allocation, I would finally be able to physically overpower Chee.
Chee quietly hopped over to the machine, imitating the fist wind up that both Brock and I had done earlier, although with telltale signs that she didn't know the actual purpose of the motion. Shortly afterwards she threw a simple punch, lacking in both form and finesse.
'286'
...Mm. Yeah, I got overconfident for a moment there. I took a moment to reflect on this, remind myself that Chee was a genuine genius and that I shouldn't compare myself to her, and then smiled and clapped for her happily.
"What?" Brock murmured. "Is the machine broken?" I saw him walk over and fiddle with it for a moment, before testing it himself and getting the same score as before. He glanced at me, then at Chee.
"...Are all the kids from Pallet Town monsters or something?" He raised at an eyebrow at me. I just shrugged.
...
The physical trials ended up being pretty easy apart from the punching machine, and after a few more tests Chee and I finally found ourselves on the battleground. The battleground wasn't entirely typical, like the ones at Oak's lab or the Pokemon Centres. It was larger than usual, and featured multiple jagged rocks and higher ledges for Pokemon to take advantage of.
"Well, you both made it. As promised, if you can win the battle with me I'll hand over the Pewter City Gym Badge, and give you directions to the next city on your challenge." Brock explained professionally.
"As I mentioned before, if I lose a battle I can't do any more battle challenges until tomorrow-Give the team time to recover." He posed, crossing his arms over his bare chest. "Who's going first?!"
I glanced to Chee for confirmation, but she gave me a gentle nod. Go get him!
Yeller ran out onto the field in front of me, and I took up my position in the battler's box of the battlefield. I felt a little uncomfortable in the knowledge that I couldn't run out into the field to interfere like usual, but that was exactly why I'd spent so much time practicing with Yeller.
"A Rattata huh... Alright!" Brock grinned, drawing a Pokeball from the pockets of his shorts. "The clock starts now! Battle, BEGIN!"
The Pokeball burst into a ball of white-blue light, revealing a creature that looked almost like a living rock face with arms-A Geodude.
"Defence Curl!"
Without waiting for me to get ready, Brock immediately ordered his Pokemon to begin bolstering it's defences. The Geodude wrapped it's arms around itself and began to shine slightly.
My eyes drifted to a TV on the ceiling, slowly counting down from five minutes. Based on the information I'd gathered yesterday, if I ran out of time I would be counted as failing the challenge.
"My rock hard defences are impossible to penetrate! If you can't get past my Pokemon in 5 minutes, you'll never become a trainer worthy of the title of 'Champion'!" Brock goaded me.
"Yeller, we're going straight to quick mode!" I commanded, and Yeller flashed with white energy, streaking across the field.
"Fast!" Brock recoiled in surprise.
"Triple Tail Whip! Go!"
Brock's Geodude was entirely unprepared for the onslaught of tail whips it received, it's defences being drastically lowered as Yeller continued to go in for the kill.
"Bite!"
A jaw made of purple energy materialised in front of Yeller as he opened his mouth and bit down with devastating force. The Geodude took the brunt of the hit, recoiling in pain.
Yeller backed off immediately afterwards, the white energy of Quick Mode dissipating as we both considered our next move. I'd hoped that single attack would be enough to defeat the Pokemon, but without Focus Energy stacked on top it evidently wasn't enough damage.
"...I see." Brock answered with a strange tone in his voice. "Looks like we can't just be tough today, we need to be quick too! Geodude, Rock Polish!"
The Geodude let out a deep growl as it began to rub itself all over, becoming cleaner and shinier as a silver energy poured off of it's rocky surface. Finally it posed dramatically.
I... Wasn't actually sure what it had just done, until it started to float at a vastly increased rate.
"First you increase your defence, then you increase your speed, huh?" I thought aloud.
"If we can't resist your attacks, then we just have to be faster!" Brock posed dramatically. "Geodude, use Rollout!"
The Geodude curled into a ball, spinning in the air faster and faster until it suddenly dropped to the ground, the spin launching it forward at an incredible speed. I saw the strategy, but I felt a smile cross my lips as it careened towards my Rattata.
"Yeller! Ground it with an overhead tail-whip!"
As the rolling ball of rock made a bee-line for Yeller, the agile Rat slammed it's tail down onto it, holding it in place with all of the strength Yeller could muster. The Geodude eventually used up it's spinning momentum in the dirt, and was now pinned under the yellow tail of my partner.
"Finish it with Bite!"
A flash of purple energy, and the Geodude was defeated. I'd hoped to only have to use one instance of Bite in the first phase, but two was still an acceptable result. I just hoped that 18 uses would be enough for the strategy Chee and I had devised to deal with Onix.
Brock reached down, pulling his second Pokeball out of his pocket. The ball was ordained with a sticker designed to look like a stack of rocks, and he threw it out into the field. A large trail of white and blue energy burst from the ball, congealing into a behemoth creature made of rock. The giant rock snake let out a roar as it loomed over us.
I swallowed the saliva in my mouth, staring up at the terrifying monster. "Yup... That's an Onix..."
The Onix was a creature made of several large boulders, all connected to form a gigantic rock snake that was easily 8 meters long. The frontmost boulder was a wedge shaped more like the head of a shovel, with two mean-looking eyes poking through the rocky exterior.
And I had to defeat that monster, in under 5 minutes, with a Rattata. It was hardly a fair battle, but I hadn't expected it to be one either.
"Alright Yeller, remember what we practiced last night!" I called out. "Just avoid the giant beast! It's less agile than it appears!"
It was true, Onix was very flexible, but it was a lot slower than it appeared to be at first glance, and it had less power than you'd expect too. Still, it was going to be a difficult Pokemon to defeat.
"Onix! Use Tackle!" Brock commanded, and the rock snake lurched through the air, the full weight of it's body flying directly towards the body of my small Rattata.
Without the need for communication Yeller propelled himself out of the way with a Quick Attack, the stone snake missing it's head-on collision by a matter of inches.
"Get on top of it!" I commanded, and my partner did his best to climb the living mountain of stone, his tiny claws desperately digging into the hard surface as he leapt from rock to rock. Unfortunately Brock had seen that plan of attack before, and was ready to intervene.
"Onix! Shake it off!" The Gym Leader ordered, and the Onix immediately flexed it's muscles, flinging my Rattata into the open air.
I watched Brock out of the corner of my eye, and I saw an assured smirk of a trainer who saw the path to his victory ahead. He swept an arm excitedly to his side and gave his command. "Onix! Use Rock Throw while it can't dodge!"
All without realising he'd completely fallen for my trap.
"Yeller! Bite-Launch!"
The Onix swung it's huge tail, flinging a large rock manifested from it's energy flying into the sky towards my Rattata. In the next instant, two large purple jaws of energy bit down firmly onto the rock, digging into it's surface.
And in an instant, all of the upwards momentum of the Rock was transferred into Yeller's body, and with a forceful push of the Rattata's head Yeller released the move, flying high into the Gym ceiling, out of reach of all participants.
"Focus Energy!" I exclaimed, and the Rattata began to glow with a bright blue energy as it ascended into the sky. "Remember our plan!"
"What!? Why didn't it get hit?!" Brock exclaimed, as Chee quietly smiled and placed her hands on her hips. It was a strategy she partially came up with, after all.
-Bite Launch
By digging the bite energy into a moving projectile or Pokemon, Yeller absorbs all of their momentum into his own body. Normally this would be a pretty dangerous tactic for a Pokemon to use, but the Rattata line of Pokemon have ridiculously strong teeth that can withstand the technique, and the energy ends up being transferred without the damage of the impact.
By utilising Bite this way, Yeller effectively blocked the Rock Throw, as well as getting a boost into the air for a free Focus Energy.
Yeller started to fall towards the ground again, and his energy had reached the peak of it's focus. He fell faster and faster, the impact with the ground would almost certainly be enough to knock him out if handled incorrectly.
"Onix! Back off and make sure the Rattata can't land on you!" Brock came to the same conclusion as me, fortunately Yeller had been well trained enough that it didn't matter in this battle.
The Rattata fell faster and faster, reaching an unbelievable speed. I trusted Yeller, but it was still a worryingly difficult task. Yeller fell faster and faster, until he was falling faster than I'd ever seen him move. He was just out of reach of the Onix, meters from the ground, then a meter, then a foot, then inches.
I watched with bated breath as if time had slowed down, until the very tip of Yeller's outstretched paw made contact with the earthen ground of the battlefield...
And suddenly he was replaced by a line of white energy, drawn from where he was standing to a large pillar of rock, back into the head of the Onix which had backed away to safety. There was a deafening crack as the Onix recoiled in shock from the collision, it's head falling back as it just barely managed to stay upright.
And a mere moment later, the blue energy hit, doubling the impact. The Onix was blasted clean onto it's side and it's head fell to the ground with a painful-sounding crash. Yeller had successfully redirected all of the momentum from falling into a devastatingly powerful Quick Attack, which had then done even more damage thanks to a fully charged Focus Energy.
"Yes! Great job Yeller! Use Focus Energy again while it's distracted, and then go for the finish with Bite!"
"Onix! Get back up and finish it with Rock Tomb!" Brock exclaimed in a fluster, but the rock snake was too shaken by the prior attack to register the command before Yeller had built another Focus Energy.
Yeller dashed over to the Onix with his regular speed, which felt almost scarily slow compared to the fall-boosted Quick Attack he'd used moments earlier. As the Onix got back upright, Yeller dug a purple energy jaw into it's rocky hide, and it let out a roar.
"Bite Barrage!" I ordered, and Yeller immediately dismissed the previous bite without even letting go, forming another set of purple jaws and chomping down.
This was the true potential of Bite that Chee had awakened me to. With it's early cancel point and the fact that it erased the entire move, Yeller only had to slightly open his mouth to use the move again, allowing him to easily get in four or five bites before the Onix could react. At this rate we should be able to-
"Stop! Stop!" Brock called desperately as he ran into the field. "Onix already fainted!"
I froze suddenly, my eyes drifting to the Onix's head, which lay unconscious where it had lain once it roared. I realised all too late that it had fainted a single attack after that roar, and was now simply being tormented by Yeller for no reason.
Brock ran over to his Onix, aggressively tossing my partner away from the snake as he checked the wounds Yeller had caused. Chee and I shared a glance, concern filling me.
...That was a lot easier than I expected.
I heard Brock breathe a sigh of relief after looking over the bite marks Yeller had left, then he turned back to me with a frown. "Good grief, I thought I'd be able to handle you when I saw you with a Rattata, but I guess kids from Pallet Town really are something else, huh?" He shook his head, returning the Onix to it's Pokeball.
He stood up and dusted his pants, walking over to me. He held out a small badge, shaped like a boulder. "Here, the Pewter City Gym Badge. Don't lose this, okay? Otherwise you won't be able to take part in the Champion challenge later."
I accepted it gratefully. While putting it in my hand, he also handed me a small brown box with the number '39' written on it. I frowned, holding it out to him. "What's this?"
"Oh, that's TM39, you can use it to teach a Pokemon you have the move Rock Tomb-If it's able to learn the move. I don't think it will be very helpful to you, but I'm contractually obligated to hand one of those out to each trainer that beats my challenge." Brock answered diligently he then turned away, holding the Onix's Pokeball while looking at it forlornly.
I nodded quietly, stowing both the Badge and the TM into my bag for safekeeping. I then turned and began to leave, but I stopped after a few seconds when I realised that my black-haired friend had stopped, and was staring at Brock intently.
"...Chee?"
She turned to look at me, and I caught a glimpse of what was going through her brain. Hey, it doesn't make sense.
"...What?" I grumbled, unsure what she meant. "What doesn't make sense, Chee?"
She didn't answer. Instead she trotted over to Brock, poking him in the ribs a few times.
"What is it kid? I can't do your battle challenge until tomorrow, Onix needs to rest."
She shook her head, and Brock raised an eyebrow at her. She stamped her foot in frustration.
"Use your words kid." Brock sighed. "I don't know what you want from me otherwise."
Chee shot me an exasperated look that felt like it meant something along the lines of Talking to people other than you is so frustrating! but then pulled her Pokedex out, tapping away on it for a good few seconds before showing it to Brock.
Brock jolted in surprise before regaining his composure. He crossed his arms and turned his head away. "That's none of your business kid. Just carry on with the challenge and forget about it."
Now curious, I wandered over to see what Chee had written. I glanced at the Pokedex, and was surprised by what I saw.
'I don't understand. Why do you need money?'
I frowned at Chee and she met my gaze with a surprising eye of determination. He's a good person. He must have a reason. I want to help.
I sighed, eying the girl with pity. "Listen, Chee, sometimes people just want money, or power. Not everyone is a good person."
She shook her head strongly in response. Brock is good. I can tell.
I hesitated for a moment, I had to confess, his behaviour didn't add up to me either. "Well, I admit I'm curious too... Are you dead set on this?" I leaned forward, making meaningful eye contact. We could get in trouble if we push too deep. Are you sure? I tried to communicate to her.
She nodded, unfazed.
I turned my attention back to Brock, who was busily directing some Gym hands to clean the battlefield in an obvious attempt to ignore us.
"Brock." I spoke up, and he glanced at me in frustration. "I'm interested in the Gym Membership, could you tell me more about it?"
He stared at me dumbfounded for a few moments. "But... You already cleared the Gym, so you don't need it, right?"
I shrugged. "Never hurts to be fitter, right? And now that I have the first Gym Badge, I don't have to worry about being unable to get it. I never heard out the full pitch before, so I'll hear it now."
Brock scratched his chin uncomfortably. "Yeah, I suppose so, uh..."
He paused and took a deep breath, winding up into sales pitch mode. "We offer a variety of helpful services for young trainers looking to build their physique! We have running machines for building stamina, lifting machines for building strength, and everything in between! Building muscles with our machines may be much more painful than normal, but the results speak for themselves!" He flexed his abs again, flashing us a smile.
"For just 1000 Poke, you can get access to our services for an entire month, including a personal assistant who will ensure that you exercise each day to the fullest, even if you don't feel like it!" He grinned, and I felt a bit of a chill crawl down my spine. "You won't be able to earn my badge while you're still a member at my Gym, but the muscles that you build here will last you a lifetime! Everybody who has used our services say they never forgot the time they spent with us! Just don't sign up if you're too much of a wimp to work out, some of the trainers aren't too fond of lazier kids..." He finished, posing proudly as if he'd just given a magnificent recruitment speech.
Chee looked aghast. That sounds awful! Who would wanna do that?!
But for me, I was beginning to form a new theory. I opened my mouth. "...Brock. I asked you to sell me on the membership, why do I feel like you're secretly trying to talk me out of it?"
Brock crossed his arms, making a small 'hmph' noise of indignation. "I'm sure it's just your imagination, kid."
"But-"
"Somebody get these kids out of here! The Gym is closed for the evening!" Brock cut me off, and a group of his employees threw us out of the building.