The New Normal – 12-8 – Interlude – Brock
The new Kabuto that Karen got for him was currently splayed out across the grass of their training fields, looking very cute as it struggled to flip itself off of its back.
"I thought fossil Pokémon would be more intimidating." Forrest said amusedly from next to him, "This is hardly how I imagined they would be."
"Oh who cares?!" Yolanda giggled, carefully rubbing her hand over Kabuto's soft underbelly, "Look at the cute little thing! It must be so happy to be outside for the first time."
"Be careful of its sharp legs!" He called out, "Don't hurt yourself!"
Despite his warning, he didn't think Yolanda was listening to him as she continued to play with their new Kabuto, and he let out a sigh. Seeing his exasperation clearly amused Karen, who had been content to watch them play around.
"I'm glad you guys seem to enjoy it so much." She said, "Honestly, you don't know how long I agonised over between getting you guys an Omanyte or a Kabuto."
"You didn't need to get one for us anyways." Brock said again, though he knew that his words wouldn't find purchase with Karen, "Besides, we would have been happy with either of them."
They had gone over this before when Karen had first revealed her gift to them. He had tried to refuse, but eventually was forced to accept it as Karen wasn't about to return the Kabuto of all things. Still, he had balked when he finally got Karen to confess how much she paid for it, and he didn't trust her word that she got a discount on it thanks to her connections.
That was way too much money to spend for a single Pokémon. It just added another tally to the things he owed Karen.
"You say that, but I know your team desperately lacks a fast attacker. A Kabutops would fill in the gap for you, and it could punish Water teams if they try to set up the Rain with its own Swift Swim." Karen advised, "Sure, an Omastar would be useful for its Special Attack, but I believe a fast attacker is more valuable to you than a slow Special Attacker."
Brock nodded, seeing the value in Karen's analysis. He agreed that, once properly trained up, Kabuto would make for a very powerful, and needed, part of his team.
"Your team has really grown though! You're even starting to give me a run for my money in our battles! Your Golem and Rhydon have gotten pretty strong." Karen complimented, "Keep it up, and I know your efforts will be rewarded soon. The other Gym Leaders have nothing bad to say about you, right?"
He shook his head, "No, they treat me well, and they've even complimented my management of the Gym a few times – saying that I've done a good job. Plus, Giovanni gives me advice from time to time, and Surge looks out for me too. They've offered to send over a few Gym Trainers if things get too busy, but I've turned them down for now. I'm confident we can handle it."
Surge being so nice to them was a little surprising. The man gave off quite the harsh impression, but he was always gentle to him whenever they spoke, and was always ready to give advice.
"Giovanni even offered to buy me a Protector for my Rhydon, but I said no." He revealed, "I...I'll earn the money for it myself."
"You don't have to force yourself to do so. It's okay to ask for help from time to time." Karen reminded him gently, as she always did. But he wouldn't allow himself to rely solely on other people's generosity like this.
Even though he was grateful for it, he wanted to prove that he could handle himself even with them abandoning them.
"Are you sure you're okay to spend time with us right now?" Forrest suddenly asked Karen, "I thought you were battling Agatha soon. Shouldn't you be training for that?"
Karen smiled indulgently, reaching down to rub his hair, "I can't be training all the time. My Pokémon and I need to take breaks too you know! Besides, you think the old hag is going to be spending every waking moment training up? She's getting on in years; she'll collapse without her sleep!" Karen cackled.
"It's fine, Forrest." He patted his brother on the shoulder, "If Karen thinks she's ready then there's no need to bug her. I'm sure she's nervous enough."
"You're nervous?" Yolanda asked, turning away from the Kabuto with a shocked look.
"Of course I am." Karen replied with a casual shrug, "Why wouldn't I be? Not only am I going to finally be challenging the Elite Four – a goal that I have dreamed of doing for years now – but I'm also going to be fighting against my teacher and mentor. I have every reason to be nervous."
"You don't look nervous though." Forrest pointed out.
"What kind of big sister lets the younger ones worry about them?" Karen chuckled, giving Forrest another friendly squeeze, "And besides, once you're at my level of experience, tough trainer battles are just something you'll going to have to learn to get used to. Everyone's nervous when it comes time for a big battle like this, but you're just going to have to put on a brave face and tough it out. You owe it to your Pokémon to do so."
Brock nodded; Agatha had said something similar before. It was something that he was starting to get used to as he continued taking on more duties as a Gym Leader. He knew he had to adapt before the circuit started up; there would be no more time for failure once it did.
Then Karen spoke up again, "Actually, Brock, I do have something important to speak to you about, which is actually why I came over today."
That was concerning, "What's the matter?" He asked, hoping it wasn't bad news.
"You know, once I do make it into the Elite Four…it might be difficult for me to spend so much time with you." She explained slowly, "At least, not so openly."
"Wait, why?!" Yolanda immediately exclaimed, "Why would things change if you join the Elite Four?"
"Is it because the public might think of you as overly favouring us?" He guessed.
"That's right." Karen confirmed, "Right now, I'm technically an unaffiliated individual, even if I might be Agatha's apprentice, but that's not an official title. However, if I become an Elite Four, my responsibilities are to the region. The public won't like it if I openly favour you, and therefore the Pewter Gym, as I'm expected to be impartial."
"But Elite Four members show favouritism all the time!" Forrest protested, "I mean, even John heavily favours Cerulean City! He does everything he can to improve it!"
"That's true, but the public doesn't see it as favouritism because it's his city. They see that as normal – it's weird like that." Karen explained, "So for me, while the public won't bat an eye if I start favouring Lavender Town, they won't have a problem with that because I'm from there. However, the same doesn't apply to Pewter, because technically I have 'no reason' to be favouring you the way I do."
Brock could understand Karen's reasoning, but it looks like his siblings were still a little confused.
Karen sighed, "Look, politics is complicated and doesn't always make sense. Just let me be clear on something; I'm not abandoning you. I will continue visiting you, it's just that my visits either are going to have to be more private, or less frequent. I won't be giving you guys up just because of some negative PR, but I'll do my best to balance both sides so that any PR hit would be minimized."
The knowledge that Karen wasn't about to walk out of their lives (like them) was enough to placate his siblings, who quickly ran up and gave Karen a big hug. He knew that they had gotten a small fright at the thought of Karen leaving them behind as well; that would be too big of a blow for them.
"No, we understand." He said on behalf of his siblings, "Just tell us if there's anything to do to help, and we'll do it."
"Yeah, we obviously want you over as much as possible!" Yolanda said brightly, "Oh and speaking of which, we should totally have a party once you do win! You can invite your friends as well!"
"If I win." Karen pointed out, "Agatha's not exactly going to let me roll over her."
Then she smirked, "Though if I do win I'll be sure to bring her along to my victory party just so I could rub it in her face a bit more."
Despite her saying that, he couldn't really imagine a world where Karen didn't win. Not because he thought that Karen was stronger than Agatha, but simply because he felt that she deserved to be rewarded after everything she had done for them.
There was no way the Gym would be as prosperous, or his siblings as happy as they were, if not for her efforts to take care of them.
And even though she said that she would have to distance herself from them for political reasons, he knew full well that Karen would choose them over any political considerations. There's no way she would stop visiting them. More than anyone else in the world, she had his full trust.
Because Karen saw them as family, and so did they.
"…By the way, have you heard anything from Flint?" Karen asked slowly, visibly wincing as she felt the mood suddenly plummet at her question, "Sorry. I know you guys don't like it when I bring it up, but I just wanted to ask."
He forced away the feelings that suddenly arose, "…No, no, it's fine…the Jennys have told me that he's been sighted once or two times around Pewter, but he's never attempted to approach the Gym."
"I see…well if he ever does visit, and you don't feel comfortable talking to him, then call me immediately." She stated, a dangerous gleam flashing in her eyes, "I'll come and sort it out. You won't have to worry about a thing."
The siblings all shared a look, but when before the topic of Flint would cause a wave of uncertainty to pass through them, hearing Karen's firm declaration had helped reassure them a little bit.
"Thank you, Karen." They all said.
She chuckled darkly, "No need to thank me. Just know that if I ever see him, he'll get what's coming for him."
A.N. It's been some time since we checked up on Brock, so I thought he and his siblings deserved an Interlude. As you might expect, things are going well for them, and I wanted to highlight the sheer level of trust that is shared between them and Karen.
Like Brock said, Karen would never abandon the family, and Brock (the most mature among them) knows it. And he's mature enough to understand that, while politics might get in the way, that doesn't change how they feel. Hope you enjoyed!
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