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He wasn't supposed to be here.
"Grima Mirton!" Came Georgia's outraged shout. The man in question nearly falling off his sharpedo at the call. A dozen or so youths on mantines all turning to look at the shore.
They saw a woman sprinting down the beach and into the waves with a posture that said there was going to be fury in her eyes when she got in close. She tossed a pokeball out in front of her and a large rocky turtle-like Pokémon appeared which she immediately jumped on.
"Oh this isn't going to be good." Uncle Grimsley murmured, pulling out a small multicoloured gem from underneath his wetsuit, hanging on a leather necklace. He clenched his fist around it and it started to glow. "Remember, trust your mantines and I'll see you all next-
"Sharpedo, I'm making Pecha Berry cookies tonight! If you don't help him escape I'll make an entire batch just for you!" She called out, along with a much quieter, "Grande, Aqua Jet." The glow in Grimsley's hand died down and his eyes widened as his sharpedo looked at him with a 'sorry not sorry' face.
"Nonono, Chance, please." He pleaded with the brutal pokémon but, true to its species' reputation, the sharpedo didn't move. Then suddenly the Carracosta riding woman was right there.
"You."
"Me." Grimsley agrees, "Hello Georgia." the gathered children's heads flicking between them as if watching a ping pong match. Georgia's eyes flicked to the mega stone hanging round the man's neck.
"Sharpedo darling, did he try to mega evolve you to get away? Silly Grimsley, he should know you're plenty fast without using it. Even Grande knows that." She stated with an affectionate pat on the Carracosta's shell. Ignoring Grimsley for a moment now he had given up on getting away.
Grande raised her head properly and looked at the Sharpedo for a moment with the air of an elder examining the young. Then she let out a grunt of agreement. The children watching this bizarre encounter couldn't be certain, but they could have sworn they heard a sigh of relief from the brutal pokémon.
"You know, if you hadn't been around when I first caught him you wouldn't have been able to pull this off." Grimsley complained for a moment. Which turned out to be the wrong call as it drew Georgia's attention back to him.
"As for you, who the hell do you think you are walking out on me like that." The woman said with half a growl.
"I told you I can't ignore calls from my boss!" He protested.
"And I get that, but normally taking a call from your boss doesn't mean a psychic Pokémon is going to teleport in out of nowhere, take you away and not bring you back!" Georgia stated indignantly.
"...Uncle G, you ditched her mid date?" One of the kids, all of them still watching this with rapt attention, said with wide eyes.
"No wonder she's mad." A young girl 'whispered' to her companion in the way that children did where they thought they were being much quieter than they actually were.
"Oh that's not why I'm mad." Georgia told the kids with a hint of reassurance.
"It's not?"
"It's not!?"
Came a chorus of voices that included Grimsley's.
"No?" Came Georgia's response, looking at Grimsley with a bit of confusion herself now. "Look you're cool, and kinda cute too. But three weeks of dating and hanging out only to be ditched and ghosted isn't the worst thing to happen to me. It sucked, but I wasn't particularly mad about it. Just disappointed." She told him plainly.
"But... Oh is it because I didn't mention the Elite 4 thing? None of us tend to talk about it in our private time if that helps." Grimsley tried.
"No, all that did was confirm that you probably had a good reason for leaving. I checked the unovan news around thedate once I figured out who you were, didn't see anything so I assume it was taken care of before it became too big?" There was a flash of something in Grimsley's eyes as Georgia said that, but nothing she could discern.
"You could say that." He said with a slightly shifty tone.
"....anyway, I'm mad because you took me to what you said was your favourite restaurant, and after I protested that I couldn't afford to go to a place like that you said you'd cover both halves of the bill. And then you ditched me to pick up the full tab by myself after ordering both of us some of the most expensive things on the menu and getting that bougie bottle of wine - which for the record absolutely was not worth the several hundred dollars the damn thing cost - you absolute arse!" She snapped, the Galar in her coming out swinging on that last word.
Which of course led to an outbreak of shocked gasps and laughter amongst the children. Meanwhile Georgia could practically see Grimsley forcefully throwing off years of wealthy lifestyle conditioning, regressing to the mindset of a more simple life to process how big of a deal that was.
"oh." The man said, sounding rather small as he did so.
"Yeah, 'oh'." Georgia said with a roll of her eyes. "Did you know my bank won't even let me make payments of that size with my card? I immediately got flagged for fraud. I had to leave my key stone as collateral as I spent literally days trying to get a hold of someone at the bank because it was a Friday night and they'd already closed for the weekend, having to explain to them that it was actually me and to let me finally pay the restaurant, and even once I had it wasn't all fine and dandy. It took over a year for me to accumulate enough savings to go home again!"
One of the children raised their hand, "Um, Miss Georgia? Couldn't you have called Uncle Grimsley?" She gave the kid a smile.
"What a great question!" She then turned the smile on the man in question, "Why don't you answer it Grimsley, why *couldn't* I call you?" She asked sharply.
"....it's confidential, and then it broke.” He said, in part looking like he wished he could say more and part glad he didn't have to.
One of the children, specifically one of the youngest, crept forwards from the crowd on her mantyke, having been too small for its evolved form. “Unca Grimmy should pay her back.” she said very seriously.
Grimsley glanced between the kids, Georgia, and Chance the Sharpedo. “Help me finish up this lesson first and I'll settle up with you.” He promised.
“With interest.” Georgia challenged, only for the notorious gambler to give her a smile.
“We’ll see.”
—
It was while helping the little one on the mantyke that she saw it first. A flash of light deep in the depths below them.
“Hey Grimsley?” Georgia called over to where the man was overseeing the mantine group.
“Yeah?” He called over his shoulder distractedly, keeping an eye on the youths he was teaching.
“Are Lanturn different in Alola?” She asked as watching the light carefully to see if it was getting bigger or smaller.
“Not really. Slightly different habits, but they don't have a regional form if that's what you're asking.” Grimsley stated absentmindedly, before realising the implications of her question and turning with alarm. “Wait–”
“We need to get the kids out of here now!” Georgia called out to him as she saw the light getting closer.
“Everyone turn to the shore and tell your Pokémon to use surf! Nuna tell yours to use tailwind!” Grimsley started calling out trying to remember if any of the Pokémon he'd gathered for this lesson had other useful moves.
In the meantime, Georgia went under. Diving down on Grande so the pair could get a better look. Immediately they saw a Lanturn bigger than most they'd seen, charging an electrical attack.
Quick as a flash Georgia drew a line on the back of Grande’s shell with her finger, and a rocky looking barrier shimmered into existence underneath the group of kids. Right as a massive forking bolt of lightning spread through the ocean towards the group. Thankfully Pokémon generated electricity has a bit more direction to it than normal. Stops it from immediately being absorbed into the ground when sent out in normal conditions, and stops it from freely dissipating into the water.
Which meant it collided with the barrier that had been put up and got absorbed into that instead. But it didn't stop. The lanturn kept sending the scattering charged bolts towards the school of mantine and their riders, and the rocky wide guard began to crack under the relentless barrage. Georgia’s teeth gritted behind closed lips as she watched the cracks spread through the barrier and felt Grande shaking with the effort required to maintain it. Wide Guard simply wasn't a move that could be used for long, the strain of it was too substantial, both human and carracosta knew that. The issue was, the lanturn seemed to know it too.
Seconds ticked by like hours as the barrier’s breaking point got closer and closer. There were a few ways to try and counter such things in a one on one but while she was on Grande’s back and they had kids behind them… they just. couldn't. move.
But then someone else moved.
In the instant before the guard shattered, with a gambler’s timing, a dark streak crossed through the space where the lanturn was and took the wild Pokémon down with it. Chance the Sharpedo had grabbed the Pokémon within its jaws as it pulled it into the depths. There was a tap on Georgia’s shoulder, she turned, throwing a punch in the process but Grimsley dodged handily due to the blow moving slow since they were underwater. There was a look of amusement in the man’s eyes for a moment before it sharpened and he nodded back towards the depths.
She turned and saw the silhouette of the pair flashing in and out of existence. The Lanturn repeatedly using discharge on its captor, as the sharpedo dug his teeth in deeper, despite repeatedly flinching as electricity danced over his skin. Georgia’s face hardened. She tapped on Grande’s shell and then drew a line down beneath the spot she tapped. Like an upside down exclamation mark.
Grit and sand drew themselves out of the water to coalesce into a rock in front of Grande. The old Carracosta beat her flippers against either side of it and the missile careened swiftly through the water with terrifying speed and accuracy towards the brawling two. At the last second, Chance the Sharpedo was surrounded by red energy as Grimsley returned him, and the Smack Down attack struck the Lanturn.
Typically, in league battles, the attack was used to deal with fliers. However for aquatic explorers, as Georgia and Grande had learned from a group of water experts visiting Unova from Hoenn, the attack could be used to send a Pokémon plummeting back down into the watery depths. Though typically not all the way to the ocean floor.
After a moment to check the Lanturn wasn't coming back up anytime soon, Georgia and Grimsley headed back up to the surface to go join the students of Uncle G’s Pokémon Surfing School on the beach.
—
Georgia sat on the beach by a campfire as the afternoon threatened to turn into the evening. Leaning against Grande who was enjoying lying on the sand as she watched Grimsley say goodbye to the last of his pupils to leave. Specifically the little girl who had said that ‘Unca Grimmy’ should pay her back, and seemed to be reminding him now before allowing her parents to take her away.
“What are you doing here Grimsley?” She asked as the man came over to join her. “Alola is lovely, but I wouldn't have thought it had the kind of excitement that you crave.” She said with a wry smile as she remembered the riskier activities they had gotten up to in Kalos together, and the way the dark type specialist loved to bet on anything and everything. He'd fitted in well in the many wealthy metropolises of the fanciful region. The islands of Alolan had their own rather fascinating adventures, but they weren't really the kind she expected Grimsley to seek.
The man in question took a seat in the sand and sighed at the question. “You know how I owe my boss a tonne?” Georgia nodded, remembering various times it had come up. “Well it turns out he owes Hala - the head kahuna guy - about twice as many. So I got packed up and sent out here to keep an eye on the trainers sent over to test the gym challenge, make sure there aren't any plants looking to skew the results in favour of Alola needing Unovan ‘protection’.”
Georgia raised her eyebrows, “So Alder is against it and your government still thinks it might be able to swing something?” She asked disbelievingly.
“Alder isn't the Champion anymore.” Grimsley countered, clearly playing devil's advocate.
“And? Him and Dryden might not be close but they're on the same side with most issues. His pupil isn't going to be manipulated that easily, and I doubt Alder is going to let the black or white dragons be used for it either.” She said bluntly. She hadn't gotten caught up in any of the Team Plasma stuff, but she had been around enough to know about the three kids who had shaken the region in quick succession. Albeit, not their names.
“Maybe so, but neither Iris, Hilda or N have anywhere near the influence over the masses to stop this. Unova is maybe three hundred times bigger than Alola. There are more people in Castelia City than these islands put together. If the government puts out a call for strong trainers, even without the backing of the league, they could drown these islands. It's a lot easier to discredit the political savvy of three teenagers then it is the government. Even these three teenagers. If they can find, or make, a good enough reason…” Grimsley pointed out, as Georgia’s face went pale.
“But that would be crazy! You're not talking about just politics anymore, that would be a war! There's no way that would happen.” She protested, clearly shaken.
“Couple of years ago, I would have agreed with you.” The Elite Four member said with a tip of his head. “But right now, that's not something I would bet on.” Coming from a man who had been nursing a gambling addiction for the majority of his life, that was dire.
“So you're here to, what? Stack the deck?” She asked.
“Not exactly, I'm more here to give advice about which cards were dealt honestly and which are traps. If I intervene too much I lend weight to the argument that they need help. Kahuna Hala made sure to lay that out for me quite clearly.” Grimsley explained, his poker face slipping into place for a moment at the memory.
“Did he threaten you?” Georgia said with a frown. “When I met Kahuna Olivia she was quite nice.” He waved his hand at the idea.
“I wouldn't say he threatened me, he just explained things in a blunt yet comprehensive manner.” He dismissed, though he didn't look at her face as he did so. “So you've met Olivia? What's your read on her? She's the only one I've not met yet.”
The galarian native shrugged. “I mean, she's nice and relatively understanding.” Georgia started, “Though I will admit, the ‘everyone's parent’ vibe the kahunas have feels a bit weird coming from someone who looks around the same age as me.”
Grimsley laughed. “Wait til you meet Hapu, she pulled off the same attitude while asking me for advice. Kid is new to the gig, something like fourteen - maybe sixteen? - years old but she sounds like a grandpa. All ‘Ho!’ and ‘I tell you’ and ‘I feel it in my bones’. Right monster in a fight too, her mudsdale has a mean right hoof too. Champ - my bisharp if you remember - is nursing a real grudge against that one.”
She stared at him, a smile creeping across her face. “Are you saying you lost to yet another teenager? Is that the trick to beating you? Being half your age?” She said with a laugh.
“First of all, ouch. Secondly, I didn't say she beat me. She may be a Kahuna, and I may be the worst Elite Four member of Unova, but that doesn't mean she can beat me. Takes champion material or a legend on the team for a kid to take me out.” Grimsley said, full of fake offence, “We had a draw.” He finished with a chuckle. “I assume Olivia beat you?”
“Nope.” Georgia said with a grin of superiority. Only to pout at her friend’s disbelieving expression. “Hey you could at least pretend to believe it!” She said with fake grumpiness.
“Georgia, I respect you. As a trainer and a person. But I've fought both against you and alongside you, you're not at that level.” Grimsley told her.
“It's been a while since we’ve fought. Things could change.” She stated with fake defensiveness.
“Alright. Did you beat her?” He played along.
“We didn't even fight. She showed up after I scanned one of those Ultra Beasts. A buzzwole I think she called it.” Georgia admitted. The dark type trainer’s eyes widened, and not just because a bug/fighting type beast would be a pain for him to deal with.
“You're the one that triggered the protocol change!” Grimsley exclaimed, laughing. “You and your Pokémon decided not to scan it in order to make it a ‘fair fight’!” He half cackled, clearly having heard the story a few times now.
Georgia buried her head in her hands and groaned, preparing to have to tell the story again. Grande slapped one of the pokeballs at her partner’s waist with a half hearted fin. Spook’s cackle practically being heard emanating from it.