Harris Saga Chapter 13
“So Devon, how was your trip?” Professor Stroak handed him cup of tea. Devon handed the cup to Kathryn and poured one for himself.
“We had a bit of trouble with some Buzzbreasts, but nothing really worth recounting.” Kathryn just glanced at him over her teacup.
Devon had decided that they shouldn’t discuss what had happened with Jennifer and Sexmet. If he were lucky, anyone who heard the story would decide it was a pack of lies. If he were unlucky, they would believe it.
“You might be interested to know that Soun Tendo called me and Makoto’s story adds just a bit of spice to your bit of trouble. According to her you could have been killed.”
Devon shrugged. “I did something stupid when I decided to take on a hive of Buzzbreasts, so I’m not eager to recount such a boneheaded act.”
Stroak disagreed gently. “All modesty aside, you did a good thing there. The local rangers were at their wits end about how to reduce the numbers of that hive, and I understand they are singing your praises loudly. In addition there was a bounty on that hive and I understand that your account has already been credited with it. It’s not much, but it all spends.”
“Thanks. I still think next time I’ll run away instead.” Kathryn snorted gently.
Stroak chuckled. “I understand you are here on a courier assignment. What are you bringing me?”
Devon produced the package. “I don’t know what it is.” He produced his pokedex. “It’s a Theta level package, so I’ll need your retinal print, DNA sample and code word to release it to you.”
“Theta level. My, my, we don’t see much of that here anymore.” He took the pokedex and scanned his right eye. Then he pressed his finger against the sample port where a small bit of epidermis was snipped off and tested against his DNA. Finally he whispered into one of the many microphones built into the pokedex and then handed it back to Devon.
“We’ve recently started using it a lot more in the Blue League to transport sensitive information. With Video Girls, encryption is a thing of the past. The only safe data is data that isn’t on the nets.”
“With all of the trouble we’ve been having with Team Rocket perhaps we should start using something similar.”
“You might also talk to Poppet. At the Conservatory we’ve started using a new type of protection system that appears to be able to repel Video Girls.”
“Oh, really? Do you know how it works?”
“Only in general terms, and I must caution you it is a fairly bulky piece of hardware. What we do is we take the incoming signal and split it into discrete bits. Each of these is routed through one of a large number of transmission lines and reassembled on the other side.”
“It is analogous to taking a sausage and chopping it up into sections and then having a number of people each carry one piece through one of many different doors. When you get to the next room you put the sausage back together.”
“Our setup was designed for vast overkill. We have over twenty thousand transmission lines.”
“How will this stop a Video Girl?”
“If she doesn’t know it is there, it should chop her up as well. We’re hoping it will kill her.”
“That sounds pretty extreme.”
“So is having your enemy know what your every move is.”
Devon didn’t mention the next step in the security system since it was still classified. The original data never made it into the Conservatory’s system. Instead it was sent into a series of dead ends where the data was mirrored. Only the mirrored data was actually sent into the household systems. The catch was that each dead end only copied a small portion of the data during its mirror event, like RNA would only copy the part of DNA needed to make an enzyme. These parts were later reassembled inside the household system.
They didn’t know if it would work, but they’d asked the Blue League Video Girl to look it over from the inside and out and she’d had a panic attack when she’d seen it from the nets. Once the Video Girls got used to the idea they might find a way around it, but by then the Conservatory would have moved on to something else.
It certainly slowed down data transmission speeds, but for some things security was the overriding issue.
The pokedex beeped and Devon checked to see if everything matched. When satisfied he handed the package to the professor.
“Now that I’ve discharged my duty, I’ll be heading back.” Devon glanced at his pokedex. Fall would be coming soon. He’d need cold weather gear.
“Now Devon, what kind of host would I be if I let you go running off. You’ll stay for dinner and leave in the morning. I insist.” He gave a smirk. “I know. Over dinner you can tell me all about the Conservatory.”
Ahh, yes the old get Devon alone and ply him about any supposed secret Breeding techniques until he gives in special attack. Like I haven’t seen that one before.
***
Kathryn was bored. It was early morning and Devon was busy taming Dima, leaving her alone. They’d spent several hours after dinner in the professor’s library planning out the equipment list they’d need now that winter would be soon arriving. Since it was one of the few places she knew the location of, she went there looking for something to read.
She puttered around the stacks of books for a while, not really finding anything of interest until she found a door that lead to another room of books. The door was locked, but hadn’t been pushed enough to engage the latch. Briefly she wrestled her conscience, but any good Scottish girl can rationalize a little snooping.
The room was much smaller and there were much fewer books. Most were on technology and the printing dates claimed they were very old.
Then she noticed the bundle up on a tall shelf. She couldn’t get to it from the floor, so with a smirk she took to the air and moments later had the package down on the table.
They were silk scrolls, like the ones Hatsumi had described to her. She opened the first one and started quickly scanning it. Then she moved on to the next. When she was done with all of the scrolls she sat for a moment in thought. Then she bundled the scrolls up and returned them to their resting place.
As she left, Kathryn carefully pushed the door back to exactly where it had been. Then she zipped back to Devon’s room and grabbed his PDA. Then she began entering what she’d read, using her total recall. She couldn’t wait to show these to Devon if only so he could use them on her. The Saotome Secret Sacred Taming Techniques looked like they could be a lot of fun.
The next morning, Kathryn showed Devon what she’d entered. Devon reviewed it briefly. “Where did you get this?”
“I found it in the library.”
“Well, you can keep putting it into the PDA, if you’d like.”
“What do ye think of the information?”
“It looks fairly sound, but for some secret techniques it actually seems rather median in level. Some of the Ki focus techniques may be of use, though. Give me a couple of minutes.” Devon did some quick research into the Saotome family. What he found helped to explain the techniques.
“It looks like the Saotome family has been one of those roving Tamer lineages for a couple of generations. They still exist but are a lot fewer in number than they used to be.” He chuckled. “Taming is a young man’s pursuit and many of these older Tamers stay on the road because of some personal issues. Some of them are pretty oddball.”
“If what you’ve transcribed from these scrolls is typical, it looks like the Saotome clan needed some pretty specific instructions in how to Tame. Perhaps they were all idiots.” He shrugged. “I will review the entire set when you get done, if only to glean what I can use from them.”
“Do ye think it wrong for us to be taking this information with us?”
“Why? If it were sensitive, Stroak would have had it locked up.” Devon glanced at her. “Was it?”
“I wouldna go picking any locks, even if I knew how to do it.” Kathryn sounded offended.
“There you go then.” Devon shrugged. “If they weren’t locked up then they were fair game.”
“My thought exactly.” Kathryn gave him a broad smile. “Can I ask ye for a favor?” When he nodded, she continued. “I’m asking ye to use these techniques on me first, before any of the others.”
Devon considered it briefly. “Sure, you found them; I guess that would only be fair. If you like, I can even password the info to keep the others from finding it, since I know Hatsumi’s been reading my journals.”
“Does that bother you?”
“Not really. It has recently come to my attention though, that perhaps I should be more careful about my private notes, so I put a password lockout on them. “He smiled. “I wouldn’t want one of my enemies to be able to read them.” His smile turned to a thoughtful frown. “And sometimes you never know the strange places an enemy might pop up from.”
Kathryn nodded and changed the subject. “Where are we going now?”
“Back to the Blue Continent.”
“So we’re looking at a week so back to port and twenty something days back to Ireland, at least once we find a ship headed there. I wonder how long we’ll be at the port before actually finding one.”
“Actually I thought that after we leave Stroak’s we’d teleport back to the port, trade the Buzzbreast for something I want and teleport back to Belfast. From there we’d travel back to Glasgow, training the whole way, and take on the Gym there.”
“How did Taming the Buzzbreast go?”
“Ok. My biggest problem with her is that she’s dumb as a stump. I think she was a Bimbo before being transformed.” He sighed. “I really wish I’d thought to try and bag that BuzzQueen. Now she would have been a catch.”
“I reviewed the pokedex recordings of that little adventure, me husband, and I think ye were a mite busy at the time, what with trying to stay alive and all.”
“Perhaps.” Devon pulled his mind from the past. “I wonder what the professor will serve for breakfast.”
***
Tossing the pokeball from hand to hand, Devon considered his options. His trading choices for a freshly caught Buzzbreast had been limited, but he’d finally found someone willing to trade. Now he had to decide what he was going to do with his shiny new Eva. He did know that her name was not going to stay Fuzzbutt.
He looked over at Hatsumi as he stuffed the pokeball in his pokepack. “Let’s get to the restaurant where we’re supposed to meet everyone else.” He flashed a grin. “We’ll be a little early, but that just means we get to pick where we sit.”
Hatsumi looked at him as they headed out. “Perhaps it is time for Hatsumi to go into long term storage in your pokepack.”
“Why do you think that?” Devon was startled. This was the last thing he’d figured on.
“Master needs to train up his other pokegirls. They are not anywhere nearly as powerful as Hatsumi. If you are going to be a serious competitor you are going to have to level up the rest of your harem.” She chuckled.
“You appear to live in interesting times and will need a powerful harem to proceed. Most Tamers go through the battling circuit for a few years and then retire, but Hatsumi does not believe that is the fate that lies in store for you.”
“You think Sexmet is going to listen to your suggestion that she make me an agent of hers and I’m going to need a much more powerful harem do deal with the brushfires she may want me to put out.”
Hatsumi stopped and stared at Devon in shock. “What makes you think Hatsumi would do such a thing?”
“Actually I wouldn’t think you would do such a thing. However, the fact remains that you already did.”
He laughed at Hatsumi’s expression. “I really want to keep taunting you without revealing how I know what I know, but I can’t do it. You and Sexmet had your little conversation not too far from where I dropped my pokedex after Jennifer evolved.” Hatsumi went white. “With some enhancement and filtering, it was like I was there with you.”
Hatsumi refused to meet his eyes. “What are you going to do with Hatsumi?”
“Nothing.” Her head jerked up to stare at him and then jerked back down to look at the ground again. “Look at me.” She met his gaze. “I’m fairly sure that you were acting out of a sense of devotion to me, even though I must admit I thought it was pretty bizarre.”
“You saved my life, and I’m willing to overlook a lot for that.”
“I would like to now more about all the mysterious stuff you were saying about Poppet and Ming Die, but I respect your privacy. If nothing else you probably had a good reason for letting everyone think that you were dead, and if Poppet thinks you are giving away her secrets, maybe especially to me, she just might correct that little omission.”
“You are right, master. Poppet would not lightly take anyone divulging her secrets, especially to you.”
“Does she intend to kill me or plan to turn me into a pokegirl?”
“No, master. Hatsumi would warn you if that were the case.”
“Would she kill me if I knew her secrets?”
“No, but she might ensure that you are not in a position to either use that knowledge or pass it along to others.”
“Mind wipe or prison, then. I think I’ll be better off if I avoid both. I really don’t want to let this drop, but I’m not sure how to safely proceed. Maybe I should just start running and hope I die of old age before Poppet finds me again.”
“Hatsumi is not sure that would work. One of the things Poppet wants to place in the Harris line is the Longevity Blood Gift. It is possible that you may possess it.”
“Well wouldn’t that be dandy. I’d get to try to dodge Poppet for the next three hundred years until she dies of old age. And I thought fifteen was young before. Now I’m still wet from the egg.”
“I only have one question/complaint: Do I really have all of those faults you listed?”
“Hai.”
“Crap.”
Devon went back to walking to the restaurant with Hatsumi falling in by his side. “So I have an aversion to authority that makes me predicable. I’ll have to work on that.” He sighed. “Enough of that. I was thinking about getting the badges I’d need to enter the Blue League competition, but I’m never going to be a great Tamer. I’m not willing to be ruthless enough with my pokegirls. So why should I bother?”
“You will get experience battling the gym leaders and start building a foundation of contacts as you travel. Hatsumi thinks that is an excellent reason to visit the gyms.”
“Maybe you are right.” Devon looked ahead. “There’s the restaurant.” He grimaced briefly. “The strange names Indigos name their places.”
“Hatsumi remembers that this name was in use before Sukebe attacked. Perhaps they keep the name out of nostalgia. Or perhaps it was the name of the owner, like pubs are sometimes named in Blue.
“Maybe, but I would change such an odd name. Who would be named Ihop1?” He shook his head and pushed the door open.
The place was smoky and raucous laughter was coming from the bar. Devon was headed for the restaurant section when a loud drunken voice slurred something from the bar. Devon froze.
Hatsumi watched as he turned to look and the blood drained from his face. He stared for a moment, and then turned and pushed past Hatsumi and out the door. Puzzled, Hatsumi followed him. “Devon?”
“I can’t stay here. You wait and gather the others.” Devon started down the street.
“Where will you be?”
He stopped and looked back at her. Tears streaked his face. “I..” He turned and stumbled off.
Hatsumi wanted to follow him, but she had her orders. She settled against the wall to wait, praying for the others to hurry.
It seemed forever before they put in appearance even though according to Hatsumi’s watch only fifteen minutes had passed.
“Hey Hatsumi!” Seraphina was in good mood. Kathryn looked around and became suspicious.
“Where is Devon? Ye were supposed to be guarding him.”
“We went into the Ihop and he saw something in the bar and went back outside. He said he couldn’t stay here and ordered Hatsumi to wait for you. Then he left.”
“And where did he tell ye he was going?”
“He did not. Seraphina should be able to find him quickly though.”
Lamya shook her head. “I want to know what spooked him. I’ll be just a minute.” She pushed into the building.
Hatsumi looked at Kathryn. “He was not frightened. He was crying.”
“Crying? Devon?”
Lamya came back out the door. She was pale. “I think we need to find Devon right away.”
“Is he in trouble?”
“I really don’t know.” She shook her head as if trying to erase something. “Maeve is in there. Or at least her body is.”
“Oh my god!” Kathryn looked shocked. She spun to Seraphina. “We need to find him right away! GO!”
They found him not very far from the Ihop. He was sitting on the sidewalk as if he’d run out of energy and collapsed. He stared off into space and the tears ran down his face like rain.
Kathryn sat down next to him and pulled him into her arms. He continued to look into space. “She comes to me in my dreams.” He sniffled. “Not as much as she used to but she still does. She always accuses me of failing to protect her and she’s right.” He blinked and wiped his nose on his sleeve. “I couldn’t protect her. And now she comes to me when I am awake.” His voice died to a whisper. “She’s dead but she’s not.” He turned an anguished face to Kathryn. “It hurts so much.”
“It’s not yer fault, Devon. Ye must accept that.” Her voice was soothing. She kept soothing him until he was quiet. Then she looked up. “We’ll be needing to get him back to the hotel.”
Dima stepped forward. “I carry.” Kathryn nodded.
Carefully, Dima picked Devon up and nestled him against her. Tess leaned over to Lamya. “Is he going to be all right?”
She shrugged. “He’s shocky. We’ll need to keep him warm and comfortable. He should be ok.”
“I don’t understand why, but Maeve has always held a special place in his heart. You know how much he blames himself for what happened in Glasgow.”
Tess gave a quick nod as they headed for the hotel, the rest of the harem moving to surround Dima as she carried Devon. “She was his first. I think losing your first pokegirl always hurts the most.”
A whisper came from Lamya’s right. “Hatsumi disagrees. Master Devon will blame himself every time one of his pokegirls is lost. He loves each of us.” She glared into the darkness. “He is special and we must protect him. None of us would easily go to another harem now. We’ve been spoiled by him. That’s what happened to Maeve. Hatsumi knows that she hurt her new master badly when he tried to Tame her and that she tried to escape his harem to return to Master Devon.”
Her voice was a hiss out of the darkness. “That is when her new master killed her mind. He should have killed her body too. If Hatsumi knew where he was Hatsumi would kill him for hurting Hatsumi’s master so.”
Dima shushed them.
When they finally reached their hotel room Kathryn had Dima stand the bed against the wall as she piled the blankets on the floor. Then everyone climbed onto the makeshift bed with Devon and they stayed with him for the rest of the night.
***
The next morning Devon looked better. Kathryn stroked his cheek while the others hovered around the two of them. “Husband, how are ye?”
“I’ll live.” His voice was rusty. He cleared his throat loudly and tried again. “I’m sorry about last night. Did you get to eat?”
“We’re fine, Devon.” Seraphina nuzzled his hand and he smiled. Then he pushed himself up to a sitting position. “I don’t remember exactly what you ladies did, but thank you.” He took a deep breath. “If any part of Maeve is here, then we shouldn’t be. Let’s get some breakfast and get out of here.”
“Are ye sure that yer all right?”
Devon gave her a slightly cross look. “Kathryn, I know that you are worried about me and I appreciate it, but you are not my mother.”
She gave him a pert smile. “Of course not. Ye would na have to put up with your mother, unlike me.”
Devon just shook his head and got to his feet. “Fine. Ladies, where are my clothes?”
***
“So this is the Belfast gym.” Lamya gave Devon a curious look. “I thought we were going to be hitting the gyms in the Scotland region.”
“We are. But only three of my five badges have to be from Scottish gyms, and since we’re in Belfast already, this is a good a place to start as any.”
“We’ll hit the gym, pick up a quick badge and find a hotel so I can Tame my Eva, whom I should have Tamed last night.”
“You were a bit distracted.”
“No, I was pretty pathetic.” He gave a grim chuckle. “I can’t stop what happened to Maeve, but I can work to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
“Now let’s hit this gym and see how we stack up.”
As soon as they stepped inside they stopped by a young man who sat behind a desk. He smiled and stuck out his hand. “Welcome to the Belfast Gym. I’m Kevin. Are you here to challenge the gym?”
Devon shook his hand. “I am.”
“Let’s see your pokedex and update our records on you.” Devon offered up his pokedex and Kevin synchronized it with the Gym’s computer. Kevin’s display lit up.
Harris, Devon Jamie
Age: 15
Residence: Highland County, Blue Continent
Region: Scotland
Status: Active
Rank: 22
Security Clearance: Theta
Licenses: Tamer-Y, Master Tamer-Y, Researcher-N, Watcher-N, Breeder-Y
Active Harem:
Ladyien Level: 24 Name: Kathryn
Armsmistress Level: 36 Name: Tess
Enchantress Level: 23 Name: Lamya
Baleena Level: 22 Name: Dima
Foxx Level: 27 Name: Seraphina
“Our gym leader is Karen Cooper. Since you come from a PokeRanch she will want to battle you personally.”
“Your battle will be a two on two standard pokegirl battle with no time limit. You will be allowed one substitution. Do you agree to the conditions?”
Devon nodded. “I do.”
Kevin pushed a button on his desk and a Belle Awesome came into the room. “Just follow her and she’ll take you to your arena.”
Devon politely motioned the Belle Awesome ahead of him. She smiled and swept from the room.
The arena was nice and roomy. The Belle Awesome pulled a small card from amongst the leaves of her skirt and showed it to Devon. It said, “Please wait here. Your battler will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you very much for taking the time to show us here.” The Belle Awesome dimpled and gave him smack on the lips before leaving the room.
“Looks like you made a friend.” Lamya sounded amused.
“Just trying to treat people nicely,” came back the serene reply.
A short while later a tall twenty-something brunette walked into the arena. She smiled at Devon. “I’m Karen. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Her smile grew. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Brandon over in Glasgow.”
Devon sighed. “I’m perfectly safe to be around.”
Karen laughed. “I know. I’ve done some research on Tamer’s Disease.”
“I apologize but the reason I’m amused is that Brandon has been trying to get me to marry him for a couple of years now and he’ll be terrified that you violently raped me as soon as you laid eyes on me.” Her eyes glittered with more laughter. “Brandon just doesn’t realize that he’s not up to my standards and that he’s pursuing a pipe dream.”
“I apologize but the reason I’m amused is that Brandon has been trying to get me to marry him for a couple of years now and he’ll be terrified that you violently raped me as soon as you laid eyes on me.” Her eyes glittered with more laughter. “Brandon just doesn’t realize that he’s not up to my standards and that he’s pursuing a pipe dream.”
“This ought to be fun,” Devon remarked. “I’m planning to visit the Glasgow gym next, assuming I ever defeat you.”
“You’re sweet. Do you really think you won’t win with some of the pokegirls from the Conservatory?”
“That doesn’t matter. I didn’t take any pokegirls from there. I’d like to do this on my own merit, not that of some veteran pokegirl. I’ve been collecting pokegirls as I go, just like anyone else.”
Karen gave him a look of approval. “That’s a rare attitude in a Tamer. Most of them want the strongest pokegirls they can find and would jump at the opportunity to use rare pokegirls from the Conservatory.”
“That’s not the way Devon is,” Lamya said proudly. “In fact, he put the strongest of his pokegirls into storage so as not to get any easy wins.”
Karen gave Devon an appraising look. “Is this true?”
Devon gave Lamya a sour glance. “Yes, but it wasn’t supposed to be common knowledge.”
“Oops. Sorry master.”
Karen gave Devon a wink. “I’ll just have to let you win so you don’t come back tomorrow with this super pokegirl and level my gym.
Devon just sighed. “Can we get on with the battle?”
Karen smiled broadly. “Sure. You’ll need to put up this one up, though.” She slipped an earpiece on and touched a stud on her belt as Devon returned Lamya to her pokeball. “Todd, we’re getting ready to go in arena one. I need you to come and referee.”
The two combatants moved to opposite ends of the arena. Todd, a pleasant, moon faced young man came in and moved to the referee’s box.
“This two on two pokegirl battle has no time limit. The challenger may use one substitution. Are you ready to begin?” At the nod from each of them, Todd dropped a green flag. “Begin.”
Karen threw out two pokeballs. “Connie, Donna, go.”
Devon released Tess and Seraphina as he watched a Murkunt and a Hooter appear and take to the air. “Tess you’ve got the Murkunt, Seraphina take the Hooter. Hit them hard, ladies.”
Karen was using her radio to give orders to her pokegirls so Devon didn’t know what she was telling them. But the results were obvious.
The Hooter hammered Seraphina with a feather shuriken. The Foxx staggered but responded with a flamethrower attack that narrowly missed.
Tess dodged the feather shuriken that the Murkunt unleashed and replied with a chi blast which knocked the Murkunt spinning. It recovered and came in for another attack.
The Hooter switched tactics and accelerated, hitting Seraphina with Mach Breaker. As the Hooter struck, Seraphina locked her jaws in the Hooter’s throat with bite. Intertwined, the two pokegirls went tumbling across the floor.
The Murkunt slammed Tess with a dark bomb, but the Armsmistress weathered the hit to charge underneath the Murkunt and leap upwards, unleashing a point blank chi blast. The Murkunt wobbled away.
Fire lit up the arena as Seraphina, still with her jaws locked in the Hooter’s throat, unleashed a flamethrower blast that engulfed them both. When it died down, neither pokegirl was moving. Devon and Karen recovered their unconscious pokegirls.
The Murkunt moved up near the ceiling, unwilling to come to grips with Tess again. Its eyes began to glow as it started a confusion attack.
“TESS THUNDERBOLT!” Karen’s eyes went wide as Tess summoned her wings and lightning filled the air. The Murkunt went stiff and fell out of the air.
Karen returned it before it hit the ground.
Todd formally intoned. “Karen has no pokegirls able to battle. Devon has won the match.”
Karen met Devon in midfield and watched as he checked Tess over and then returned her to her pokeball. “Sneaky, I like that. Most people wouldn’t be expecting an Armsmistress that evolved from a Valkyrie. I also didn’t expect your Foxx to sacrifice herself to take out Connie. Congratulations.”
“Thank you. To be honest, however, I didn’t expect Seraphina to do that either and I intend to have a little talk with her about scaring me like that. I thought she’d disengage and I’d have substituted her out with someone else.”
Karen was watching him thoughtfully. “You sound like you believe your pokegirls are people. You need to watch that. Most don’t believe that way and they’ll make your life difficult if they found out.”
Devon shrugged. “They can sod off.”
Karen gave him a sudden grin. “Think you’re up for another battle?”
Devon eyed her curiously. “I would like to get my pokegirls some rest first.”
She dimpled. “Not them. Us.”
Devon looked her up and down. “With all due respect, you don’t look like a martial artist and I’ve been practicing my whole life.”
“That’s not what I meant. How about a sex battle?”
Devon was dumbfounded. “May I inquire as to why?”
“You’re a nice guy and they’re few and far between. Also my pokegirls can’t satisfy all of my needs, and I’m not stupid enough to sleep with any of my staff or students.”
She ran her hands slowly down his shirt and looked at him with heat in her gaze. “Besides I’ve never been Tamed by certified sexual monster. It’ll be fun.” She gave him a wink. “Brandon will have a heart attack when he finds out.”
“What makes you think I’d tell Brandon about anything we do?”
She gave a sweet laugh. “I’ll tell him myself. So?”
Devon smiled slowly. “I’ll see if I can give you the Taming of your life.”
She snickered. “Don’t worry. I’ll grade you. I am a gym leader after all.”
They walked off hand in hand.”