The New Normal – 10-6 – Interlude – Drake
Drake fiddled with his phone for a while before he finally managed to dial up the Waterflower sisters' correct number.
He had no idea why all these newfangled phones were all determined to make their buttons even smaller than before. What was so wrong with bigger buttons? What was this obsession with making everything 'sleek' and 'minimalistic'?
He put aside his grumblings as he heard the call connect.
"Hello? Elite Drake? I think you forgot to switch to video mode." He heard one of the sister's voice come through the phone. Damn, how was he supposed to turn the damn thing on again?
"You need to press the button on the screen, sir." A surprising male voice suddenly interrupted his frustrated flailing – who was that? But whoever he was, at least he was right. Drake smiled as his camera finally worked and the image of the three Waterflower sisters that served as Gym Leader of Cerulean appeared on his screen. There was also a lone man standing in the corner, who looked to be some assistant of sort.
"Hah! Got the fu-damn thing to work." He had to remember to censor himself, "Greetings, Gym Leaders of Cerulean. I do apologize in advance if I do get your names mixed up."
"Uh…that's okay! We're used to it." The younger of the sisters said, "And…uh…we hope you aren't too mad about being paired up with us. We know we aren't very strong…"
Drake barked out a laugh, "HAH! That was the least of my worries. I already heard all about your efforts to improve yourself from John. And that's already enough for me. Don't go beating yourself up about your strength. You're still very young; you've got plenty of time to grow."
"I did say to not worry." The man said to the sisters, getting sheepish looks from them. "You have my thanks, Elite Drake, for your quick acceptance of them. The sisters have been tripping over themselves in worry that you'd be upset with them."
"Oh and I do apologize for not introducing myself earlier." The man fell into a formal bow, "My name is Petrel. I serve as the main administrator of the Cerulean Gym – and unofficial caretaker of the sisters."
"Hey! We can take care of ourselves!" The middle sister called out indignantly.
"…Please remind me who does the shopping again? Who buys your daily groceries? Who reminds you to clean up after yourselves?" Petrel said dryly, "Who helps you when–"
"OK OK WE GET IT!" The oldest of the sisters scrambled to cover Petrel's mouth, "PLEASE stop embarrassing us!"
Drake shot them all an amused smile, "What a pleasant Gym environment you guys have. I'm almost jealous."
He shook his head, "Anyways, enough faffing about. It's time to focus on our preparation." At his words, the sisters all stopped their antics and turned to him with a determined look on their faces.
Good. He could work with this.
"Let's run through your team first." He said, "I'm also very familiar with the Water type, so I think I can give out a few pointers about how you could improve your team."
The sisters nodded and began their explanation. Their team consisted of a Golduck, Vaporeon, Dewgong, Starmie, Slowbro, and their Gyarados, which Drake had heard that they were still having problems controlling.
A plan immediately formed in his mind when he listened to their lineup of Pokémon.
"Right, I have a plan." He announced, "We're going to be the Water type duo."
"Duo?" The younger sister asked, "Do you mean that we both will be using Water types?"
"Exactly." Drake nodded, "We're going to be making full use of the Rain to powerup our Water type moves. Your Pokémon all have good supporting movesets that will prove useful in setting up the Rain and also providing support for my Pokémon. In the meanwhile, leave all the damage to me. With the Rain, my Pokémon will blast through all our opponents."
He paused, then remembered something important, "…That is, if you don't mind me taking the spotlight. I can try to work something else out if you want to challenge yourself."
"No, no, it's totally fine–" The oldest of the sisters tried to say, but she was interrupted by Petrel.
"But it would be appreciated if you could give them an opportunity to show off their strength as well." Petrel cut in, "I don't mean for you to adjust your plan to accommodate them, but please give the sisters a chance to be the one making the big attacks. It would help their reputation massively."
"…Petrel…you don't have to push for that…" The middle sister whined.
"I do apologize, Violet, but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. It would not be received well should you rely purely on Drake's strength." Petrel insisted. Violet huffed, but ultimately acquiesced to his advice.
On Drake's part, he was surprised at Petrel's actions. Over his many years, he had met with many different people. Both good and bad. And he had initially marked Petrel as one of the shadier types that got away with their actions using their silver tongue. He had thought that Petrel was taking advantage of the sisters somehow.
But now, that thought had been completely reversed. The more he watched them interacting, the more he realized the parental role that Petrel had likely inadvertently taking up in the sisters' lives. How did this happen? How did a man like Petrel be swindled into caring?
Though Drake managed to keep his amusement to himself, "Look at the man looking out for you. But I agree that it'll be good for you young lasses to show off your strength. Can't have people saying that this old man's doing all the work for you! HAH!"
"Thank you, Drake. We really appreciate it." The sisters all bowed slightly towards him, "…Though, now that we have you, do you have any tips for training our Gyarados? We've made some progress with training with it, but it still doesn't fully listen to our commands in battle. It's okay outside of battle, but it sometimes gets too consumed by the haze of battle and loses control."
Drake smirked, "Gyarados problems? Ah, not the first time I've heard of something like this." He chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll help you out. I know a trick or two."
"Really?! That'd be so cool!" The younger exclaimed excitedly, "We've had problems with Gyarados for soooo long."
"Not a problem for me. But I can't do anything over this dumb screen. I'll help you out in person." The sisters all nodded eagerly.
"Now, since we still have some time, why don't we both REALLY show off what our Pokémon can do." He grinned, "If you're going to show off your Pokémon in battle, you better believe I'm going to make sure that they're in shape."
Drake suddenly clapped his hands, startling the sisters, "SO, LET'S GET A MOVE ON! GO GO GO! TIME'S A WASTIN'!" The girls scrambled out of the room, likely dashing for the training field. But they had left their phone behind.
With a resigned sigh, Petrel slowly picked up the phone and carried it with him to the training fields. Drake just let out another bark of laughter. These kids were hilarious!
A.N. Drake enjoying himself. But I also wanted to show off the Waterflower sisters once again – it's been some time since we've really caught up with them. And yes, Petrel has accidentally become a parent. Whoops.
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