Pokemon: A Gym Leader's Rise(SI)

Chapter 300 - 299: Thorny Blackthorns and Beldums

Gladion was back to his regular duties after the Deoxys mission. The battle with the legendary Pokémon felt like they had happened a long time ago now. Life in the gym had returned to its usual busy pace.Papers, meetings, and training schedules filled his days once again.

The Kanto Aura Guardians had asked many questions about what happened during the mission. They were pleased with the results and welcomed the new cooperation with Hoenn.

With these developments, both groups of Indigo Aura Guardians and Hoenn would now collaborate on future missions. It was a strong step forward for protecting the regions from bigger threats.

Their current goals were clear. They wanted to eliminate international terrorist organizations active in both regions. Team Rocket, Team Aqua, and Team Magma remained high priority targets. Gladion reviewed reports about their movements while sitting at his desk. He felt satisfied knowing that real progress was being made.

Currently, Gladion was busy preparing for the new start of the league season. But this time he was much more relaxed than before.

With Kai and Mira both experienced enough and having grown up, he could delegate some of the responsibilities to them. The two had become reliable and skilled, taking care of many daily tasks without needing constant guidance. This gave Gladion more time to focus on bigger issues.

He focused on other matters like Lance and the Blackthorn clan. And they were literally being a thorn to him. The Dragon clan from Blackthorn City had been causing headaches with their demands and political moves.

Gladion sometimes joked to himself that their name suited them perfectly because they kept poking at him like sharp thorns in his side. Every meeting or message from them brought new complaints or requests that wasted his time.

Lance had reached him after the auction to tell him that he knew the Blackthorn clan would press him for the Mega Evolution stones after not getting any during the event.

The conversation had been serious, but Gladion could not help finding some dark humor in the situation. The champion of Kanto was warning him about his own family clan acting like spoiled children who did not get their favorite toys.

Gladion thought carefully about the situation. 'There is definitely something going on with Lance and the Blackthorn clan. It was not shown in the anime though. In the anime Lance and Claire were all cozy. So whatever happened was because of me.'

He continued thinking deeply. 'Lance even told me that he would not act against me because of the issues I have with his clan and he would support me. So that means he believes that his clan will try to act against me at least he believes. But what for... definitely they would not be petty enough to trouble me for a Mega Evolution stone.'

The idea seemed ridiculous the more he considered it. 'That would be beyond stupid since I had made clear I have more Mega Evolution stones that I would be auctioning soon. Besides the Blackthorn clan had tried to search for Mega Evolution stones but couldn't find any of them and had to buy it from me while also paying the mammoth fine that I asked them for insulting grandpa and me. So stones cannot be the reason then what else....'

Gladion narrowed down the possibilities in his mind. 'There is only one thing that I could think of that would hurt the ego of Blackthorn elders so much to go against me even against their own clan's champion. Latios and Latias. But they would not be stupid enough to think about that? Don't they know the power of legendaries or their ego is just that big that there are ignoring it? Well let's handle them when they make a move.'

He then focused his attention on the beldums. He had received the five Beldum from the deal that he had made with Steven Stone. Gladion already knew exactly what he was going to do with the five Beldum.

Two of them would be given to his little brother and sister Milo and Lila as their starters. 'Pseudo legendaries as their starters just like me and Collosus would give them a good start. I should hand them over on their birthday. It would make a perfect gift since they have been asking for a Pokémon for ages.' Gladion thought with a warm smile.

He imagined the excited faces of his younger siblings when they would receive the Beldum. Milo and Lila had waited patiently for their own Pokémon, and now they would get incredibly powerful ones right from the beginning.

'I would then definitely be the better of the brother sister duo. Take that, Gwen.' Gladion thought with a satisfied grin. He could already see himself winning the sibling award in his mind.

While Gwen was busy with her own adventures and sometimes acted too cool, he would be the one giving epic birthday surprises. Maybe he would even make a small ceremony with ribbons and a speech about responsibility and becoming strong trainers.

The kids would love it, and Gwen would hear about it later and feel a little jealous. Gladion chuckled quietly at the thought. Being the favorite big brother had its own satisfaction.

The third Beldum would go to his dad. 'A Metagross would help him in his research and his Alakazam could use a buddy to lower his workload.' Gladion thought.

The fourth one would be trained for gym battles at the seven or eight badge level. 'Ultron is too strong for those battles and thus someone else would be good.' Gladion thought.

It made sense to have a solid Pokémon that could provide good challenges for trainers without being completely overwhelming.

'And the last one, well Sabrina was always wanting a Metagross but with them being very rare and the only known place to find them is Devon Corporation, she did not get one. It would make a perfect gift for her to start her first season of the league.' Gladion thought with a smile already imagining the delighted expression she would have.

Speaking of Sabrina, Gladion realized he should prepare for their exhibition match that would kick off the league. 'I wonder how much she has grown as a trainer since we last fought.' Gladion was excited at the prospect of a good Pokémon battle.

If anyone saw the wide grin on his face right now, they would definitely call him a battle maniac and not some smart cool businessman.

-----Author Notes------

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