Pokemon Fan Fiction / Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ The Satire ❯ Rival Arrival ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter II

Rival Arrival

Sam Taan put an arm around Damien Nemo's neck but that was a means to an end. The end was to put his hand on Damien's shoulder.

"Please don't do that ok?" Damien said in reference to this. The hand was withdrawn and so therefore was the arm, although it in its self was unimportant.

"The thing I would be most ok with right now is the notion of you telling me why you don't want me to put my arm around you" Sam answered. It was not a conventional answer of course nor even an answer to the question Damien specifically asked but it told him much non the less. It was even a breach of etiquette since it was almost a question it's self and you should never answer a question with the same thing but Damien accepted this and its other faults.

"Well you've got this whole coach thing going by now. You act like you're my friend and my teacher and my brother together and I've never been found of that whole approach to management you know? Your not my Dad, your not my favourite uncle and what I really need in a leader is someone who knows they can tell me many things and I can tell them no things. You just don't have that but I certainly do need and want that."

"Let us assume for the moment that I put my arm around you in the guise of a friend not a mentor. In that case…"

"…I would feel the same? Well that is correct."

"Unfortunately it was not what I was about to say but since what would have been my question, had I the time to ask it, would have already been answered, there seems little point in continuing my earlier sentence."

"And I would thank you then for desisting your speech."

"And yet I am still troubled about the fact that you would rather I didn't make these…familiar jesters towards you."

"Then I will tell you this: you are my friend. You are my mentor. You are close to me and I'm grateful for that. You've helped me train for over a decade to become what I am now and I know you wish to be rewarded for it by treating me in this manor. Since I'm uncomfortable with this let me reward you in a different way. The way of telling you how much gratefulness I have for everything you've done for me. Thus: thank you. I've really appreciated all this. I've liked having you around."

"That will suffice kid."

"As I thought it would."

Sam wondered as he walked along what attracted him to the Pokemon world so much and as he looked ahead of himself he saw the answer gratifyingly standing before him. A block ahead of him was the Pokemon League Headquarters building. This in its self although impressive was not the answer Sam sought however. It was what the building represented that gave him his answer. Of course the building could represent many things to many people. It was the tourist attraction that kept Viridian City alive, it was the seat of power for the Pokemon world, it even represented what every trainer strove towards being some day. To him it represented something else however. It represented variety. Everything about the Pokemon world was filled with a variety of varieties. At the most basic level the Pokemon themselves were all utterly different. The current number was five hundred different species, and unlike

say, species of birds, the Pokemon did not all have certain features to them that linked them all. They did not have beaks, or feathers, or tails and they did not all lay eggs. Of course many creatures did not have these features but all birds did and all mammals had a different set of similarities and all reptiles did and so on until you realised that all animals on the planet did. But Pokemon didn't. Then, once you got to the next level, you realised all Trainers were not the same. They were all human of course but apart from that they all looked and thought and acted differently. Then you saw that all Gyms looked different too. All Pokemon labs were different. All of the Pokemon islands were different. Finally the Pokemon League looked different. It was larger than all other buildings of Kanto; it was extremely brightly coloured and designed with an art deco feel. It was also the only building with the name "The Kanto League Headquarters" of course. In fact the only thing that connected all of these things was the concept of Pokemon and it was this variety that Sam liked so much.

He had found his answer now and was happy. In fact he was about to start whistling when Damien said something to him.

"I'm worried about this meeting."

"Well I can see how some people might find cause to agree with you. You are about to meet your personal heroes, the greatest players of a sport you love and anticipate in and the most important people in this country all at the same time, for the first time. Plus other people have tried this scheme before and they've been spotted by the Elites and then exposed. We know if they found out what you wanna do they won't like it and although we don't strictly know they'll find out, the chances that they won't are astronomically small. However such people would be wrong. You have nothing to worry about. Since an assessment of your personality from the point of view of someone who knows you as well as I do suggests your about to ask, I will tell you why that is. You are an outstanding trainers who's gotten all five hundred know Pokemon and beaten every League on the islands so far to prove it. You've got a good sense of humour and you certainly have self-confidence. How could they not like the person I just described? Your you. Of course they'll like you."

"In which case I am re-assured."

"I seem to have done a lot of re-assuring to you about various things today kid. I believe that's a good thing."

"One good thing that you haven't done is resisted the temptation to call me kid."

"Oh here we go! Why don't you want me to call you `kid'?"

Soon Loleta was engaged in leading Damien and Sam through the lavish interior of the League building.

"Wow" Sam said at various intervals, "I've been here once before but it still looks amazing" at others and "I'm impressed" the rest of the time. A typical reply by Loleta was: "Yes. I still can't believe I get to live here." A typical response from Damien was "My sentiments exactly."

Soon they were waiting on the staircase that ran down from Lance's office to the library, in which guests at the headquarters were often greeted.

Lance was proud both of the carpets in the rooms of the League building and on the stairs linking most of them together. That same carpet extended to every room in the building except Bruno's office, which it had been removed from. The reason for that is Lance tread carefully on the floors he was so pleased with whilst Bruno seemed to trample everywhere with a total disregard for the impact his footstep created. The fact that Bruno was proving his lack of care as he stumped down the stairs for the meeting with Sam and Damien made Lance's resentment of him for the actions he'd performed since his return even worse. So much so that he abruptly said: "I want to talk to you about your conduct since you got back here and the time I want to do it is when Malcolm is meeting with Mr. Nemo."

"Surely Malcolm's own actions warrant the same discussion."

"Then such a discussion will begin when I say it will and I will only say such a thing when I am ready."

"Understood."

"Also I'd appreciate if you didn't speak of me as if I wasn't here."

Bruno turned to Malcolm.

"I believe it was equally easy to use your name as to use the word `You.' Don't read more into this than is actually present."

Within seconds of this exchange they spotted their guests.

"Loleta welcome back. And you must be Mr. Taan and Mr. Nemo" Lance said.

"Thank you. You've got what goes far enough beyond a wonderful building to give those words a bad name" Sam said.

"Thank you. I must admit I thank whatever being is responsible for good fortunate in this universe that I was aloud to end up here."

"You might not be here for long of course," Damien said.

"Forgive my friend his…personality. I taught him to have a sense of competition the optimal word of which is `Healthy' but he seems to have gone beyond that now" Sam said.

"Please reprimand me in front of these people like I'm a child as often as possible. I need it to feel fulfilled."

"I make my apology now. If yours exists when will you make it?"

Damien turned to the Elite Four.

"I apologise. That was insensitive of me."

Everyone fished around for something to say and Loleta hooked the perfect phrase.

"Are you ready to go to the meeting now?"

Both Damien and Sam rose.

"If it is ok with you Mr. Taan I would prefer it if you stayed here to avoid…crowding within all my partner's offices. I hope you agree to this because frankly I would prefer it if stayed here even if you did not wish to."

Sam's reading between the lines at that moment revealed Lance's true meaning even if neither of them expressed their knowledge of it. Damien would be well guarded by Sam if they were both together. However if they were separated Damien would have no one to protect him against his own openness and so he might reveal more of his true plans without realising the damage it might do. He considered protesting but within less than a second his mind came up with a counter argument against this idea. If he did protest he would reveal his knowledge of Lance's true aim in separating him from Damien. This would affirm Lance's suspicions as to Sam's shrewdness. It would lead to Lance taking even greater steps to block that quality in him in whatever way possible. Within seconds of Lance's request he had weighed up his options.

"How could I resist staying here with all these beautiful surroundings to study?"

"Thanks. Damien…I can call you Damien can't I?" Loleta asked.

"I've been called much worse than that," Damien answered with a foolish grin. Sam shook his head in wonder. How did Damien manage to survive before they met eleven years ago? The boy practically had a crush on her just a few minutes after meeting her and he would probably tell her anything and everything about his Elite Four strategy. Damien was honest, open and friendly and that was his duel strength and weakness. It made people open up to him but only because he become overly open with them. The problem was particularly severer with ladies in their twenties to thirties. Damien had a Brock complex, making him fall in love with almost every beautiful woman he met. Thinking such thoughts Sam began to cast his mind back un-purposefully towards the recent past. Specifically to the approximate time at which he made his decision to make a suggestion to his pupil. The suggestion that they attempt to gain publicity through minor subversion of the Elite Four. Sam had his plan in mind long before that but he knew his charge was too nice to merely accept the plan from the moment it was conceived. Sam's strategy was to wait till the deadline for arriving at the League HQ was so close it would be incredibly full hardy to dismiss the idea. Sam's continual war campaign on behalf of Damien was to win him the admiration of the public through the eyes of the media before the start of every match. Thus making him popular even if he lost. The Elite Four idea was the inevitable conclusion of that scheme. Damien was standing on the balcony of his suite at the "Hotel California" as his residence at the time was know despite its obvious location just outside Viridian. It was the day before their arrival at the League HQ. Sam stood with his student. It was getting dark. This was a typical but not boring scene from their lives since they went "On the road" eleven years ago. It was then that Sam explained his scheme and the inevitable argument went on for some time. Both eventually and reluctantly Damien agreed but he continued to act guilty about it from that moment on. He was paranoid that he would be caught too. He was his own worst enemy.

Once Damien left Sam tried to engage the other Elite Four members in communication. However Lance's replies were monosyllabic if polite, Malcolm's were angry and rude despite continual warnings from Lance and Bruno was just silent. So Sam began the duel processes of examining the hallway he was in and being bored.

If Sam had stepped into Loleta's office with her he would have discovered that it was yet another piece of evidence agreeing with his variety theory. If it had not been so cluttered with paper work and not so small as it was it would have proven a marked contrast to the majority of the rest of the HQ's interior. It was decorated not with the fine furnishing evident outside. It was not hung with portraits done by any artistic master. It had furniture from home instead. It had the personal effects that Loleta would have kept on her mantelpiece if she had one. It had drawings by her clearly young children. Loleta had to grab Damien's attention in fact when they first came in because he was intent in studying a room so different from what he expected. Once she had his concentration however Loleta began to talk business: "Normally you'd get loads of small talk from me before we get down to business. I talk too much and I admit it but what I am about to say will prove this time to be abnormal even if only for my style of communication."

She was leaning towards Damien across her office's desk.

"Please begin your abnormal style of communication then."

"You've come here to make your self look good in the eyes of the media. If you protest it will make no difference in regard to my belief that the statement I just made is true. We are intelligent enough to guess this and when I use the word `We' I mean it in its narrowest possible sense. Every member of the Elite Four knows and we are all, needless to say, unhappy about it. Fortunately you are talking to me first so I can warn you of how my partners will react to that unhappiness they feel towards you. I am the most forgiving of my brethren. Let me tell you about the reactions that everyone else will have to you when you meet them each separately. Bruno will be polite but cold. Fortunately he has that subtlety but he will make sure you know what he thinks of you however he behaves. Lance will tell you outright that he hates everything you stand for and that he is considerably more morally justified in his behaviour than you are. He will then try utilising any emotion he can to persuade you to alter your attitude. He will be angry, he will plead with you, he will persuasively argue with you. He might even threaten you. Finally Malcolm will become furious with you. He might even try and hit you. You must watch out for him more than for any of the others. Whilst all I'll do is say this: if you forget your plan now then I'll tell them that. They'll be much kinder towards you. Well do you want to stay in here in silence for a few minutes to put on a show of talking with me or will you just leave now? I personally have nothing more to say to you."

"I'll just leave now."

"Please listen to my advice."

"I'll consult Sam about it ok? I'll do something. Just get off my back."

"If you feel I'm being unfair to you now you'll love how my friends treat you."