Chương 87

"That was mean!" I whined to Zelos who just ignored me as she grabbed some of the treats left out on the buffet.

"Zeloooos."

"Vicky stop complaining." She snapped back and then bit into something that looked tasty. I grabbed one and tried it.

"Yuck." I decided even if I swallowed it down.

"If you didn't like it why grab it?"

"I've never had one before so I didn't know." I answered back and she blinked before scoffing.

"Farm girl."

"City girl." I responded back with a smirk and she glared at me in turn.

"So, you're leaving huh. Good luck on your Conference. I believe in you!"

"Ugh. I don't need luck." She said repeating what we'd said to each other during the conference, she stilled when she realized it and took a breath.

"I won't lose like that again. I'll get stronger and win."

"I believe you." I said earnestly.

"You can go all the way."

"Mhmm. What about you? You beat the conference… Will you become the Kanto Champion?" She asked, and I sighed, slumping a bit.

"I don't know." I grabbed a different snack and tried it. Better, I swallowed it and decided to actually answer.

"I don't want to become Champion, but… Politics."

"Yeah your weird Indigo thing."

"It's not so different from Unovan's old relationship with Galar." A new voice, one I didn't want to hear spoke up and I turned.

"Gym Leader." I greeted him flatly and he nodded to me, but Zelos spoke up first.

"That's ridiculous! Galar were tyrants and we broke free from them!"

"The civil war of the Indigo region had similar reasons." Giovanni offered with a smirk. Zelos looked like she was going to argue history with Giovanni, but honestly I wasn't interested.

"Can I help you?"

"You don't seem to like me Ms. Ferrous." He responded back just ass quickly, looking down at me. His left hand held down and his Persian holding position at his side. Despite the fact I could see how much he wanted to come over for more attention.

"You battle poorly." I said back, and the way his face twitched a bit told me I hit a nerve.

"Hmm. Just like you did in your final conference match. For similar reasons. You aren't the only one that faces the Elite Four from time to time. I rarely like giving away my training secrets." It sounded genuine, but I also knew this was the leader of Team Rocket, and he never tried to become Elite Four. Not really. No, that was a lie to hide his actual reasons for keeping his pokemon mostly hidden away.

"That seems a bit… Rude." Zelos cut in to my surprise.

"The role of the Gym Leader is to train the young trainers to the best of their ability… If you need to hide your training from the Elite Four in order to have any hope of winning, maybe you should focus more on just being a Gym Leader?" I looked at her in shock and felt myself fighting back laughter. Zelos, you don't even know Giovanni is a bad guy but just roasted his ass! Hell yeah! It obviously irritated Giovanni, even more than my own words, and when he spoke it made a bit more sense.

"I saw your match against the one who came in second. Terrance was it? He created a perfect strategy to defeat your strongest pokemon from your previous matches. You showed your rare Unovan sourced Pokemon, and in doing so showed their strengths and weaknesses. A common failing to forget that knowledge is power." Zelos went still, and I saw her face flushing in anger at his words.

"You-""Giovanni, bullying children again?" The voice cackled and the entire area around us went still.

"Agatha." He said, speaking calmly, but obviously controlling himself.

"Hey Agatha. Hey Gengar." I greeted waving at her, and looking at her shadow, where a little hand slipped out and waved back"Go on boy, I think the children want someone else to bother them." Giovanni once again looked irritated but turned to me and simply gave me a long look before walking away.

"I don't think he likes me much."

"Oh, it's probably the opposite. That boy has always been interested in strong trainers. He's probably annoyed that he can't seem to get you on his side." Agatha offered and I frowned at that idea.

"Heh."

"Good evening. Zelos Bia." Zelos offered, introducing herself formally. Agatha looked her up and down and shrugged.

"Weird kid."

"She is, but she's my friend!" I agreed and Zelos of course got red in the face again as she glared at me.

"MInd giving me a few minutes with the brat?" Agatha said looking at Zelos who glared but shot her head up and walked away.

"I was trying to talk her into a going away party." I muttered, but I turned back to Agatha, noticing her look.

"What's up?"

"Congratulations on your win, brat." She said simply, and I just blinked at her for a minute. I kinda expected something more?

"Don't give me that look. It's good to tell children they've done well when they succeed at something." She said huffing irritated at my uncomprehending look.

"Thanks?"

"Good. Now, when will you begin your challenge?" She asked, her smile turning sinister.

"Not for a while." I said honestly after a moment of thinking on it.

"I'm going to take some time to just… Decompress." I said with a shrug. She looked me over with her sharp eyes, practically drilling into me.

"Is that it? The extent of your desire to win?"

"Pretty much yeah. The only reason I want to fight Lance is because he was mean to Dragonair. You already know that. I don't care about becoming Champion or anything Agatha."

"Pfeh. You have a lot of hopes pinned on your girl. Are you going to give up before even-""I didn't say I wasn't going to face him. Or that I wasn't going to try my best Agatha." I cut in, actually a little irritated, but.. I swallowed that fiery bite Agatha had always helped me.

"I love Pokemon, and I love battling, but I worked hard on my Journey… There are things I want to see and do without the time limit of the Conference hanging over my head." Agatha seemed to swallow back her own irritation.

"Fine. I shouldn't push. You've certainly made your own way up until now." She admitted and I felt my own tension ease up.

"I still need to train my pokemon, like Mimikyu…"

"That you do." She agreed, which turned into a wicked smirk.

"I expect to see that Ghost of yours teaching Lance the error of his ways when you battle him."

"He'll probably be on the team. I don't have a better anti-lance Pokemon. Besides Dragonite I mean. She's still irritated."

"Good. Train him well… If you need any assistance, don't hesitate to reach out."

"I have to beat you too, you know?"

"If you can't beat me girl, then there is no point in even discussing you fighting against the Champion." She replied, locking her eyes on me.

"And if that's the case… Well you'd still need my help regardless."

"Thanks Agatha. I think I'll be okay. I have some ideas of what to do, unless you want to teach me how you do that walk through walls thing?"

"Never." She said her smile breaking into a wide evil grin.

"Evil!" I hissed at her, but that at least broke the tension. Eventually she left, heading out to see Gram Gram, leaving me once remembering that just because I won the conference doesn't mean that the pressure on my back was gone. Koga, Agatha, most of the Gym Leaders, and more all expected something from me. A fight against Lance ending with his loss. Giving the Kanto half of the Indigo region an advantage. Ugh. Politics. It was so annoying. I shook it off, it was water off my back.

Other people could have all the expectations they wanted, the only thing that mattered was my own opinion. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Lance needed an asswhooping to make him realize his Blackthorn Breeding program was nothing compared to the power of a well trained Dragonite! And if that made me Champion… Well that would suck. —--"And then this move right here is what won Mr. Kissa the battle.

That final overwhelming strike was prepared the whole time!"

"Which is nice to say, but it was obviously a desperation move! That Machoke was on its last leg, if it had missed, that would be it!"

"If! As always with you, pulling out if!" I watched the talk show hosts talk about a battle as I lay on my bed.

"KuukKKuk?"

"I've got no idea." I answered Mimikyu honestly. That move looked like a desperation move, but he had been preparing it during the match, so maybe it was a bit of both?

"Vicky! You got a mi-You comfortable?" Mama asked as she entered my room and looked at me, her lips twitching into a smile. I blinked up at her. I was laying on my back on my bed with my head off the bed so I could watch TV with Mimikyu on my stomach as he worked on some sewing project. Pillow was laying on my feet, mostly because after a while I'd stuck my feet under him, cause he was warm, but he didn't mind. He was laying on his back sleeping too.

Jangmo-o and Dratini were both watching the TV with happy noises as the battles went on. Both of them practically bouncing at the action.

"Very." I admitted with a smile and Mama just snorted at me.

"Rio?"

"Oh Riolu, can you drop that off in the laundry room. Lucario is folding it."

"Rio rio!" Riolu walked by carrying a laundry hamper full of clean clothes. I'd already done my chores this morning so I was resting, but Riolu really liked helping, and Lucario was basically a house Pokemon now. Our eyes met as she walked past and she shot out her tongue at me, which I returned.

"Really Vicky?"

"What? She started it!" I defended myself, but Mama just gave me a look, before shaking her head.

"I need some detergent, mind taking a run to the store to pick some up for me?" Mama asked me and I nodded, as I helped Mimikyu move his stuff off my belly without damaging anything.

"Sure I can do that." I yawned a bit as I stood up and stretched.

"Thanks, I'll get you a list." Mama said smiling and I stilled as she disappeared because that wasn't the deal! Ugh, I'd just been conned into doing a full grocery run. Oh well. I'd been mostly lazing around the last few days. Everything had calmed down enough that I could finally just be lazy. Not that I was telling Mama that. For her I made sure to tell her all the tasks I'd done that day so she wouldn't find out I was being lazy. The perfect crime. I looked around my room at my friends and finally asked.

"Who wants to come with?"

"KkuKuku!"

"Tini!"

"Jang Jang!" Heh, I guess that's all of them. Pillow of course didn't even notice, continuing to just sleep, his belly open to the sky and dreaming puppy dreams. I started pulling on my boots, and grabbed my outer shirt, and a jacket, it was cold outside. As I was doing that Mimikyu came bouncing over with my hat, and landed on my head.

Dratini instantly whirled up my leg and into my jacket, wrapping a few times around my neck like a scarf but inside my jacket so he could stay warm, but his head was poked out to see what was going on. Then Jangmo-o just wiggled and made a leap towards me, as I caught him in my arms.

"Comfy?" I asked him flatly, as he shifted in my grip until I was holding him back to my chest and he was looking forward.

"Jang!" He barked eagerly, his tail twitching in excitement.

"Yeah I thought so." I sighed and headed out double checking I had my wallet and everything. I stopped at the kitchen to see Mama turn with a list in her hand. She gave me one look before laughing.

"Maybe a pokeball would help?"

"Nah, it's more fun this way." I told her as I hefted up Jangmo-o, his little feet tippy tapping the air in his excitement.

"Besides, it's not very often my team gets to see a Human Mart."

"It's just Kito-Yokada. Not a human mart. We don't call them that." Mama said, tiredly. Heh, not an argument she was going to win.

"If Pokemarts are for pokemon stuff, obviously Human marts are for humans stuff." I informed her of my perfect logic, with a naughty smirk on my face.

"Go on!" Mama said not willing to let me tease her anymore! She thrust the list at me, and I took it.

"Yep! Let's go! To the Human Mart!" I called out laughing as Mama threw a towel at me as I raced out the front door.

"Mimikyu? Can you hold the list?" I asked as I held it up, and soon his shadow claws grabbed the paper and sucked it under my hat. I walked a bit out onto the lawn and reached for a pokeball. Dragonite and Milotic were at the stable today, so I couldn't use Dragonite to fly there, and Arcanine was also at the stable. Not that I couldn't just call her or something. It wouldn't be a very long run to get here after all. But… Hehe! I pulled out a pokeball and threw it.

A rumble echoed out as Gyarados looked around his throat preparing a roar in case of battle, but when he saw me, and nothing else he lowered his head down. I could see his eyes looking towards all the pokemon I was carrying.

"I need to go to the store, want to fly me there?" I asked him, and he blinked looking almost sleepily with his eyelids half way down, but that was just his relaxed face. He clicked out a rumble like purr. And I grinned as I adjusted Jangmo-o and started climbing. With a bit of work with only one hand I was settled up on his horn held tight as he flowed into the beginnings of a Dragon Dance.

"That's right! Blue Heart! Claim the sky!" I roared out in delight as he roared along with me, as he shifted and his body left the earth, the sky opened up the moment we lifted off and there was nothing but beautiful blue skies and light clouds, as we floated up and away from home over Viridian City. With a bit of adjusting I was able to get a hand free.

"It's that way!" I told him and he shifted his angle and then we were off. I relaxed, settled down onto his horn, even as Dratini cheered at the fact he was getting his first Gyarados flight, and Jangmo-o was tippy tapping against my arm with his paws as he looked out over the world. Blue Heart was a much more relaxed ride than Arcanine, and Dragonite. He wasn't fast, but that was actually a benefit in a lot of ways.

So we flew gently and slowly over the city, the cold wind in my face wasn't blasting me with freezing cold, and so it was actually pretty nice. Just a slow drive across town. Just you know, in the sky.

"There it is. The one with the sign." I called out and Blue Heart shifted lightly, his flight taking us slowly downward, as we flew over the roads and towards the strip mall. The old Kito-Yokada sign glowed lightly, and I could see some Pidgey nesting on top of it from this angle as we shifted down.

"That's a good spot." I called out and Blue Heart moved towards the open area of the parking lot near the back, where no cars were. Just a series of open spots. Most Parking lots in Kanto were really small, since people didn't tend to drive much, and this one was the same, but it also had enough space that Blue Heart could settle down on the asphalt without crushing any cars, or getting in any parked cars' way. Once he settled in, I jumped off since climbing down with Jangmo-o in my arms would be hard.

"Thanks Blue Heart. You want to rest here, or come with?" I asked him, normally it probably wasn't a good idea to leave a pokemon in the parking lot outside a store, but… Who exactly was going to pokenap Blue Heart? He gave a humming noise as he brought his head closer, and I couldn't help but smile at the happy noise as I leaned in and pressed my forehead against his cheek.

"Should have shown you off sooner, but we'll fly together way more often now. I promise." I told him as I stepped back and brought up the pokeball. With him returned I headed for the Human Mart, and walked across the parking lot to the strip mall. I could see plenty of people already staring at me. Well, staring at where Blue Heart used to be. Viridian City still wasn't used to flying Gyarados after all. As I got closer, and people saw who it was, I could see them talking all the while staring.

I felt a little cheeky so one of the little boys standing beside his mother with one of the little Kanto shopping carts got a wave, which had him wave back. Mimikyu of course joined in as well, earning some surprised looks from that. But I ignored that and walked to the little cart area. Seriously, these things were tiny. I wonder if Unova had the big shopping carts like America? I'd have to find out.

I settled Jangmo-o in the cart which he very quickly spun around to examine and then squeaked out in delight as I started pushing him along.

"Okay Mimikyu, list?" I asked, and it was pulled out of my hat and held out in front of me.

"Jeez Mama wanted a lot. Let's go!" I called out, and my Pokemon all cheered as I hurried into the store speeding up a little to give Jangmo-o a bit of excitement as I walked down the aisles. Sure I was getting a lot of attention, but Kanto had that Japanese Culture thing where most of the time they'd just stop and stare, maybe whisper to someone but not actually confront me.

"Detergent. Some veggies for tonight, Oh! We're having that for dinner? Nice." I whispered as I collected everything from the list. Dratini's cooing in my ear as he continued to look around at all the amazing stuff.

"Tini?"

"Oh sure." I reached out and grabbed a box of… I think it was some sort of baking thing? Yeast or something? But it had a cute anime picture on the box that Dratini wanted to see. Once he was satisfied I put it back and carried on, grabbing this and that. Once I had everything on the list I grinned and headed down another aisle.

"Tini!"

"J-jang!?"

"It's the snack aisle!" I told them, as I wandered down it.

"Now let's find some treats to try out okay?" I asked, and got lots of cries of delight from my little ones. Of course I still had to check the package, some things were just no good for Pokemon, but if it had a Pokemon Mark on it on the back where the nutritional facts were, it would be at least okay for most pokemon to eat. Considering I was dealing with a pair of Dragons, and a Ghost I was fairly confident they'd be fine with everything on the aisle, but I still checked.

"Okay one box of Icey Crunch for Dratini, and a package of Starmie Cookies for Jangmo-o, and Mimikyu wants these." I held up a pack of Gummies that were made to look like Pokemon. The fact it had a big Pikachu on the front made me wonder if he liked them, because of his own disguise, or if he just wanted to chew up Pikachu shaped gummies. He wasn't aggressive against Pikachu like Jessie's Mimikyu had been, but I also never really asked him about how he felt about them.

With my baby's treats stored away I finished shopping and headed to the register which once again earned me a lot of staring.

"W-welcome to Kito-Yokada!" The cashier offered stuttering a bit at looking at the Pokemon she probably never saw before staring up at her. Jangmo-o did a little tippy tap on top of the laundry detergent bottle thankfully leaving it unharmed. In the end I had to cough a bit to get the cashier to start ringing me up as she was in a stare off with Jangmo-o.

"Sorry!" She yelped and got to sorting my items across the scanner, but she kept glancing up to meet Jangmo-o's eyes as he was staring. Huh. I reached down and picked him up which only gave me a little struggle as I brought him forward.

"He's Jangmo-o. A dragon type. He's a sweety though. Say hi Jangmo-o."

"Jang!" He barked and the cashier blinked her big purple eyes and smiled cutely as she reached out before hesitating.

"It's okay." I assured her, and her hand went the rest of the way scratch at his cheeks, exploring around as she tested his big scale crest and then his chin which earned her a purr.

"He's adorable."

"Yep, super cute. But also very strong and fierce." I said pointedly as Jangmo-o stiffened a bit but he relaxed when I assured him how strong he was. The cashier girl obviously picked up on it and giggled.

"Oh I'm sure he's a big strong Pokemon, and he'll grow to be the strongest! Especially since his trainer is a conference winner." She said a little breathlessly, meeting my eyes, definitely testing boundaries.

"Hehe!" I offered, scratching at the back of my head a little.

"Yeah."

"What was it like? Winning in your first year?" She asked almost pleading.

"A lot of work, and a year of basically living in the forest training." I said honestly.

"I'm hoping to actually get some more fun exploring done this year."

"Will you challenge the Elite Four? Do you think you can win?" She asked, and I couldn't help but laugh at how excited she sounded. Even a Cashier in Pokemon world was obsessed with Pokemon battles.

"I have to at least get to Lance. It's a challenge I have. So…" I trailed off, and she nodded excitedly.

"Good luck!"

"Thank you." I returned with a bow, and gathered up my stuff. I headed back out, and ignored the cries of surprise when Gyarados was released. I had a lot more people watching now of course, but I ignored them. Instead I smirked and had some fun as I had Blue Heart bend down and start tying the grocery bags to his horns. Once I was able to just hold the last bags. I put the cart away and jumped on, and we flew back home. When I got home I quickly rushed to my pokedex journal to add a new entry.

"Gyarados are excellent at carrying Groceries. S+ Grocery assistant Pokemon."