Chapter 76: Interlude – Gardenia

INTERLUDE - Gardenia

Gardenia sang with a smile as she poured water on her newly acquired Eucalyptus. The plant had evolved to live in harsh, sunny climates, but they still needed a healthy dose of water at first. She was very happy with the purchase, given that the plant wasn’t native to Sinnoh and the seeds she bought were of the best quality possible, but with her gym leader salary, that wasn’t a problem.

The woman twirled around happily, walking through her huge terrarium. Different species of plants were everywhere around her, filling the air with a distinct forest-like smell. This was her refuge. After a hard day of work, Gardenia always spent the rest of the evening in her terrarium, and sometimes even slept there. She had it built specifically on the highest floor so that the sun could shine down on the plants she kept. 

“La, la, la,” She sang. “Oh, your soil’s completely dry,” She said, looking into her cactus pot. She hurried and watered it.

Gardenia was in a great mood tonight. In another corner, Roserade was silently tending to her own little patch of flowers that she liked so much. Torterra was downstairs, whipping his sons into shape— two Turtwig and Grotle. One of the Turtwig was newly hatched, and Gardenia desperately needed him to use against trainers with no badges since the other one was getting too strong and probably on the cusp of evolving. The rest of her personal team was at the Pokemon Center. Today had been an especially fun day. She had battled a trainer that had gone to the Conference last year, and she finally got to almost go all out and beat him in the dirt. He would come back soon enough. She felt kind of bad because she had expected him to improve a lot more in between the Circuits, so she may have been too hard on him. Being a gym leader was fun, but it wasn’t every day that she got to use her actual team, which may have clouded her judgment. 

Still, that wasn’t all. The last two battles of her shift had given her a fantastic amount of fun that made her feel all giddy inside. It wasn’t every day that she could go all out with Sunflora, and that strategy the other teenager used to deal with her Hoppip had been impressive. Right now, Grace Pastel and maybe Denzel Williams were still like seeds that had barely budded, but if they were given time and care? She couldn’t wait to see them grow into full-fledged trainers. Every gym leader had at least a few trainers they kept an eye on during the Circuit if they particularly impressed them during a battle, unless they were always grumpy and couldn’t bother like Volkner.

Gardenia’s head whirled to the right as she heard her terrarium door open.

“Gardenia, it’s me. We need to talk.”

“Roro,” She started. “You look angry, what is it?”

Roland Patel was one of her most trusted gym trainers and Gardenia’s childhood friend. They had grown up together in Eterna and tried out to become gym trainers as soon as they turned fifteen and had one run through the Circuit. Roland had gotten to the sixth badge, which was very impressive for a trainer’s first attempt. Gardenia had reached the Conference finals and lost to Candice. Being from Snowpoint, she just had too many ice types for Gardenia to deal with. Her mastery of the type had been too much to overcome with her usual strategies.

Today? Gardenia could probably beat Candice every time if they were both going all out, unless the girl was having a particularly unhinged day. She was nigh unpredictable when she did.

Either way, Roland and Gardenia started working as gym trainers at the same time, and Gardenia eventually became gym leader when Mira, her predecessor, retired. Today, Roland was her right-hand man who kept the gym’s metaphorical gears oiled up and running while she mostly focused on what she loved doing the most: battling.

“Of course I’m angry,” He hissed. “The protests, Gardenia, the fucking protests are growing out of control, and you still haven’t put out a single statement.”

“No need to use that tone, Roro,” Gardenia said, dismissing him with a wave. “You already know my position. We had this conversation two days ago.”

“Your position is self-destructive to an extremely worrying degree,” Roland exclaimed as he paced through the terrarium.

“Watch the plants,” Gardenia warned. “I follow Cynth’s orders. She told me to stay silent for now, so that’s what I’m doing.”

“You’re supposed to communicate with Pete!” He’s been holding town halls, speaking to protestors, and trying to calm them down. You’re supposed to work together to help your people. The people of Eterna city, who I fear you’ve forgotten.”

Pete Delgado was Eterna’s current mayor. Gardenia had no hard feelings toward him, she was just doing her job, and he was doing his. The gym leader walked to her terrarium’s entrance and sat on one of the chairs.

“I answer to Cynthia and the League,” She shrugged.

“No!” Roland yelled. A few of the late-staying gym trainers turned their heads toward them worriedly, but Gardenia just waved them away. “That’s not the system Cynthia promised us when she made this. You answer to the people. You don’t just ignore them and treat them like children.”

“Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures,” Gardenia sighed. She hated seeing her friend so angry. The gym leader never got angry. She found the emotion to be a waste of time, and it made people think irrationally. Like Roland was doing right now. “You don’t know the danger Sinnoh is in.”

“Then tell me,” Roland begged. “Talk to me, Gardenia.”

The woman sighed. “The League’s arrested several agitators trying to escalate the protests into riots, and some have links to team Galactic,” She disclosed in a whisper. Revealing information like this wasn’t like her, but she had a soft spot for Roland. Plus, it wasn’t technically classified, and her gym trainers were trustworthy.

Her friend froze. “They want the protests to get worse? Is it just to keep you distracted?”

“To keep Cynthia distracted, mostly,” Gardenia said. “She’s been at the Directorate all week trying to save Vernon from getting fired, but it’s not looking good. The new opposition will screw her every step of the way, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if team Galactic had their hands in there too.”

“But you won’t verify it, right?” He asked, adjusting his collar. 

Gardenia felt a bit of emotional pain, but she expunged it as fast as it came. “Do you think we’re so far gone that we’d use memory extraction on anyone we suspect?” She asked.

“I don’t know, and it scares me, Gardenia. It scares me. I don’t recognize the League anymore. Even with the team Galactic agitators, the protestor’s concerns are still valid. You should still talk to Pete.”

Gardenia sighed internally. Roland still had no idea what team Galactic was, and neither did the public. To them, they had just had a fundamental right taken away after a short attack that resulted in no deaths and very few injuries. Attacks from people with Pokemon throughout the region weren’t particularly rare. Being a trainer criminal could be a lucrative job if you didn’t get caught.

So to them, it was just another Tuesday. So why was the League acting so rashly?

Team Galactic wanted to mess with reality, but they didn’t know that, and Cynthia wanted to keep it that way. Gardenia respected the Champion too much to question the way she did things. All of the gym leaders did.

“Civilians protest about the Circuit’s difficulty every year, Roland. Too many injured and dead trainers. They just changed what they were mad about,” She dismissed him.

“When we became gym trainers,” Roland started soberly. “We said we’d change the system from the inside. We were tired of the way the older generation did things. What happened to that?”

“When you’re a part of the system,” Gardenia started. “You start to realize why things work the way they do.”

Her friend’s shoulders sagged, and he hung his head. “I’m going to go, I guess,” He said. “Oh, and I had one more thing to say. It’s about Lily.”

“That new kid that works reception?” Gardenia asked.

“Yeah, I think she’d be a better fit for gym Pokemon training duty. Can I move her post?”

Gardenia nodded and watched her friend leave. The gym leader got up and walked back into her terrarium.

She’d sleep here tonight.

——

“I really don’t feel like working today,” Gardenia groaned, thinking of her argument with Roland. “I had a terrible night.”

“Well, you’re on in four, so I can’t do anything for you.” A gym trainer told her as he reapplied her makeup. “Ready?”

Gym trainers had all kinds of jobs, including being makeup artists. Gym leaders had to look their best during every battle, after all.

“No, I need to switch my Pokemon around,” Gardenia said, keeping her face still. “The kid has one badge, right?”

“Yeah, Chase Karlson, one badge, four Pokemon,” He said.

“Then I don’t think he’d want to face Tropius and Torterra, but that’s just me.”

“Alright, just a second,” Her stylist said. “There… there you go, you’re ready.”

Gardenia nodded and quickly grabbed some new Pokemon from the metallic drawer she kept in the waiting room. They were divided by badges, so she could easily sort through them and swap them out in between her battles. They weren’t all in there of course. Around half of them were out and about throughout the gym. Gardenia’s Pokemon worked in shifts. After all, existing and being released solely for Pokemon battling would be akin to abuse. Gardenia quickly grabbed a few Pokemon to choose from and stepped out onto the battlefield. The crowd roared, but there were also some boos here and there. People that disliked how the League was doing things were voicing their discontent, even though Gardenia had locked the gym to trainers only to keep the peace, or they’d never be able to work.

She didn’t really care for them. Her full trust was in Cynthia, and information about team Galactic would be revealed when the Champion deemed it fit.

Her challenger strode onto the trainer platform like he owned the place. Unbeknownst to most trainers, gym battles started before the first Pokemon was even sent out. Gym leaders analyzed the way a trainer behaved and held themselves to estimate the level of strength they should be at. Were they nervous? Were they confident? Could they tell that confidence was being faked through body language? Trembling, eye twitching and tense muscles all gave that away. Did the challenger have a plan? Gardenia could usually tell by the time it took for the challenger to send out their first Pokemon and the confidence they sent it out with.

Right now, Gardenia could tell almost all of her challenger’s confidence was being faked, and he was incredibly nervous.

“Welcome, challenger,” Gardenia said with her smooth voice. “This will be a four-on-four battle with two switch-ins allowed. I reserve the right to use any Pokemon in my arsenal that I deem fit, and killing any Pokemon will get you disqualified from the League Circuit. Now, send out your Pokemon.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” He said before immediately sending out a Zangoose. 

Gardenia’s eyes narrowed. That Pokemon was already poisoned, probably because of its ability. That was a double-edged sword, and it meant the normal type was on a timer.

Well, let’s keep it simple for now, Gardenia thought, sending out her Gloom. Ninety percent of the time, her first Pokemon was a means test. If the challenger dealt with it easily, she’d switch it out and send something stronger.

Immediately, her mind went to work.

Confidence issues, an aggressive strategy. He’s always going to be on the attack. Zangoose… Zangoose usually know Slash and other claw moves, and this one might know Fury Cutter. Keep your distance, kite, harass and try to get him angry.

Of course, to Gardenia, this was just work, so she only thought about the rudimentary scaffolding of the battle before letting her instincts take over. She didn't think of every single detail like she would have done if she was facing an opponent at her level, or she would have burned out at her second battle of the day. Unlike what most trainers thought, Gym leaders weren’t actually meant to never hold back and beat trainers relentlessly. If that were the case, almost no one would ever win— weaker Pokemon or not. The skill gap was just too large. They were meant to give their opponents a challenge to overcome. Trainers got better through adversity, and Arceus knew that they needed good trainers if this team Galactic thing grew beyond the League’s control. They couldn’t be everywhere at once.

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But enough about that. Chase Karlson had one badge, which meant that she at least couldn’t afford to be on auto-pilot like she usually was with the badgeless kids.

“Zangoose, Hone Claws, Quick Attack, and Slash!” Chase yelled. 

“Grassy Terrain, Leech Seed,” Gardenia smoothly ordered. “Then keep it away with Acid.”

Win or lose, this would be an interesting one.

——

Chase Karlson was good. More than good, in fact, but Gardenia knew the issues tormenting him held the teen back. She congratulated him and handed him his badge, his money, and his TM. The battle had gone in his favor until she sent out her Leafeon. Her hiding tactics in Grassy Terrain had almost made her turn the battle around, and unfortunately for Chase, she had already defeated his Houndour, who could have burned the grass down. That meant that it had taken both his Charjabug and Riolu to finally win. The fighting type managed to find Leafeon through his aura powers being able to sense emotions. That was something to work on in the future.

Chase clicked his tongue, grabbed his trainer ID, and started to leave.

“Good battle, kid,” She said. He didn’t turn back.

Gardenia had seen these types of trainers before. In fact, Roark used to be similar to this because of his problems with Byron. She smiled, imagining the rock type gym leader back when they had first met. Roark had changed a lot, and so had she. Being a gym leader changed people. Having so many people look up to you and work under you usually mellowed you out.

——

Gardenia grabbed the locked, nondescript box from the gym trainer and locked herself into her office. She grabbed a special key from a drawer, opened the box, and revealed a document that the League had sent her. There was a huge, red ‘CLASSIFIED’ stamped onto the front page.

The gym leader hummed and started reading.

‘Report 20192938: On the League Secret Service’s investigation of team Galactic activities in the Eterna region’

‘For Gym Leader eyes and up ONLY’

‘League trainers, in cooperation with the LSS have concluded their investigation of heightened Pokemon aggression in Eterna Forest. Remains of a device were found in the building known locally as the Old Chateau, and through reverse engineering, the LSS believes the machine to be emitting some sort of signal that agitates and lures out ghost types, but it also has an effect on all wild Pokemon. Evidence of this can be found…'

Gardenia carefully read over the examples provided by the LSS. The closer Pokemon were to the old chateau, the more aggressive they got. Even Phantump, who were usually non-aggressive, had attacked a few groups of trainers making their way through close to the Old Chateau, and a Mismagius had trapped the League trainers that had gone to investigate in an illusion.

‘The device was running from October 2nd to October 26th, and the LSS theorizes that due to the half-hearted attempt at deconstruction, team Galactic was forced to flee the scene by a belligerent Pokemon in the building. Regardless, the situation in Eterna forest has now been confirmed as stable…

“October 2nd?” Gardenia murmured. “That was before even the attack on the power plant at Valley Windworks.”

‘...actively disseminate misinformation through the Pokemon Rangers and create the narrative that the increase of trainers going through the forest was agitating the wild Pokemon. The LSS believes that team Galactic was looking for a specific Pokemon located in the Old Chateau or around its periphery, and the focus on angering ghosts all but confirms that the organization was looking for a specific ghost type. Further investigation is needed…’

“Holy shit,” Gardenia breathed out, eyeing the next part.

‘Team Galactic has been highly active in creating and organizing the protests. The LSS theorizes that they have a base of operations in Eterna and Veilstone since the protests are the most pronounced and originated from there. Countermeasures have been put in place to reduce the threat of infiltration, and contact has been established with the International Police, who will send their agents on the 17th of November. A new directive on how to deal with these protests will be issued shortly. LSS agents have been sent to supervise Maylene Suzuki, as she is considered too young to deal with the situation. Investigations into Directorate members Samuel White and Sophie Richards have also concluded. Suspicious deposits of 5,700,000 and 7,200,000 Pokedollars have been tracked in their accounts, and right after this money transfer, they defected from the coalition government and joined the opposition. There is no confirmation that team Galactic was behind this, but the LSS will continue to recommend Cynthia’s approval of the memory extraction procedure on non-Galactic members.’

‘For a safer Sinnoh.’

“This is bad… this is really bad,” Gardenia said, feeling a surge of fear. 

Gardenia didn’t care for the LSS lying and hiding information from the public. The Secret Service was an autonomous branch of the League that dealt with internal threats, such as terrorism, or in this case, investigating team Galactic. As she had said before, being in the system changed the way a person viewed it. She knew that information had to be carefully drip fed to the masses to prevent mass panic. 

No, what she cared about was that there was apparently a team Galactic base of operation hidden in plain sight somewhere in Eterna city and in Veilstone. Maylene was practically Gardenia’s sister, and she worried the young girl would get overwhelmed soon. The other gym leaders should have gotten the same document she did right around now, so they were probably just learning about it as well.

Gardenia sighed. “At least some progress is being made—”

Wait, that gym trainer who had given the documents to her… she didn’t recognize his face at all, and Gardenia prided herself on knowing all of her employees. Arceus, the Secret Service really had their fingers in every pie.

She heard a sudden knock on the door and hurried to hide what she had just read. Gardenia unlocked the door, and Roland greeted her.

“Roland, what is it?” Gardenia asked.

“Sorry, you were probably busy, but I needed to tell you something. I got a call from the League that said you were allowed to issue a joint statement with mayor Pete,” He smiled. “Looks like they’ve changed their ways somewhat.”

Oh, you poor soul, Gardenia thought with a pained face. Before this, she would have been fine with telling Roland… most of what she knew, and she was fine with speculating, but to confirm her thoughts that team Galactic was influencing civilian government policy? No matter how much she trusted him, that fact leaking would be disastrous for the government and the League.

I guess those are the new guidelines, then. At least the LSS works fast.

“Fine,” Gardenia sighed. “Let’s meet the guy.”

——

Gardenia didn’t come out of her gym too often. Most of the other gym leaders, like Roark and Volkner, liked to help out and were far more public than she was, but all of her work could be done in her gym. The gym leader stepped out of the black SUV, accompanied by a few of her strongest gym trainers that acted as bodyguards, including Roland. All of them combined were weaker than her, but she supposed that someone could never be too safe, especially with team Galactic running around.

“Haven’t been there in like six months,” Gardenia said, looking at Eterna city’s Town Hall.

“Which is an actual travesty,” Roland said. “Let’s go.”

Pete Delgado was still highly popular among Eterna city’s public, and he had been re-elected in a landslide a year ago. When they entered his office, the bald, bulky man nodded at her firmly and extended his hand. She shook it.

“Leader Gardenia,” The mayor said formally. “I’m glad the League is finally seeing reason and stepping out of their shell. Arceus knows they’ve been silent these days. Too silent.”

“There were a few internal issues to deal with, but we’re ready now,” Gardenia smiled, ignoring his verbal jab. “What’s going into the statement? I’m pretty bad at making speeches.”

It was at times like these that Gardenia remembered that the cooperation between the civilian and trainer branches of government on the city level was usually icy at best. This wasn’t like the Directorate, which used to be unified behind Vernon and Cynthia. Local governments bickered and fought over everything, from zoning rights to city expansion into wild Pokemon territory, to tightening restrictions around the Circuit. The entrance to Mount Coronet had been closed during Gardenia’s first year as a gym leader after trainers kept dying in there, but it was the civilian government that pushed for that policy.

“I figured,” Pete said. He nodded to his assistant, who handed Gardenia a sheet of paper. “Have a look at this.”

“Blablabla… sorry about our lack of communication… blablabla… we’ll do better from now on, yeah… yeah… protesting is your right, but keep it peaceful…” Gardenia rambled. “This seems pretty standard.”

“The way you’re being so nonchalant about this is concerning. If the situation devolves into riots, not only will it be more difficult to calm down the public, the city will have to pay tens of millions in damages.”

“Don’t they have insurance companies for that?” She mused.

“The insurers will sue and claim that the government is directly responsible for the damage due to our abysmal response to the protests, and I think they’ll win,” Pete explained. “This speech is just the start. We’ll have you attend multiple events, speak to the public, and answer their questions. It’s about time you start behaving like a proper city official and not some glorified battler.”

“When do I have to do this?” She asked.

“All day tomorrow, starting at eight.”

“I have work,” Gardenia protested.

“Close the gym down for a day. You owe us that much.”

“Can’t I have one of my trainers keep it going?” Gardenia asked.

“You could, but you could also show the people that you’re putting them above trainer business. It’s about the principle, Gardenia.”

Gardenia craned her neck and looked at the ceiling exasperatedly. “Fine,” She sighed. “I’ll close for one day.”

“You’re doing the right thing, Gardenia,” Roland nodded.

Gardenia’s loyalty was the League’s. She respected Cynthia more than anyone else, and she would listen to anything the Champion told her to do. She prided herself on the matter, often referring to herself as a ‘pencil pusher’. Gardenia kept her head down and listened to the League’s orders.

But still, at the back of her mind, she was relieved that they were finally allowed to speak up. The League needed the civilian population on their side if— no, when team Galactic was going to strike again.

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