Chapter 52.2- Oak

“That was incredible” THe second elite four member said as he covered the field in long powerful strides on his way to me. He stretched his hand for a shake which I regretted almost immediately as his muscles clamped down on me. The look on his face didn’t even show any recognition of what he was doing to my poor hand. Luckily, he let go after two pumps, and I did my best to act unfazed, even with my hand being one massive bruise of pain.

“Thank you, Bruno” I said, prepared to leave the hall. I could already see the vultures circling. The reporters had only bothered to begin streaming the battles about halfway through when things started getting interesting, but even with that every news channel seemed to choose a different battle to cover. I’ll give you three guesses as to what battle all the reporters had covered at the same time. If Oak was here, I’m sure he’d advise me to say a few words to them, but I couldn’t care less for people who would call me insane with one breath and ask me for my opinion on key matters in the other. THey seemed unable to make up their minds on what exactly was wrong with me.

Of course, my wishes were ignored as Bruno put an arm around my shoulder and led me straight to the vultures I’d been trying to avoid. We arrived at the reporters and they seemed to quiet down from our presence. Not our presence. Bruno’s. Something about his aura just made people want to submit and behave themselves. “We’ll be taking questions one at a time. I know most of you are dying to ask our young elite here a few questions, but I ask that you do your best to censor yourselves.” He said, at the last bit, looking down on everyone and flexing his abs like he was down for a fight.

The first reporter to ask a question kept it simple and sweet, sticking to the battle we just had. “Analysts are confused at your choice of pokemon. All the professionals who speculated at the battle expected you to use either your Gardevoir or Charizard for that battle.” He said, making a statement and acting like it was a question. If I was alone, I’d have told him to fuck off, but something told me the trainer with biceps large enough to crush my head like a watermelon wouldn’t be pleased with that.

“At a certain level, type advantages begin to mean less and less. Bruno has definitely trained his Machamp on the best way to approach psychics and flying type pokemon. Gai, my Kommo-o was the best choice because he wanted it more.” I said, moving on to the next reporter immediately, not giving him the chance to ask a follow-up. Just because I hated the press didn’t mean I had no idea how to deal with them. My education at Oak’s feet had been thorough.

“Do you think that contributed to your defeat here?” One of the reporters asked, and I quickly noted down his face to avoid in the future.

“There was no defeat. I’m sure we all saw the word ‘draw’ flash on the board” I replied, doing my best not to give them anything to latch on to.

“About your team, you possess a team of rare and unheard of pokemon, do you think it's fair on trainers who aren’t children of champions for your father to help you so blatantly?” The next reporter asked, and I was already beginning to curse Bruno in my mind. Not even a few months ago, I’d have exploded at the question, but I’d made my peace with things. Plus Sabrina was whispering calming words in my head. Can’t deny that she had some effect on preventing me from biting his head off.

“My father, Samuel Oak, has had no influence on the pokemon I caught or evolved. Every pokemon on my team was caught as a result of my own efforts and those of other members of my team. Luck played a factor, as luck always does, and I can’t deny my incredible luck in building the team that I have.” I said in reply.

“Surely, you don’t expect us to believe that you just got lucky and built a team like this. Charizard, Tyranitar, Gardevoir, Milotic. All these pokemon are incredibly rare, and to even come across one in the wild has been the crowning achievement of many a trainer’s careers. Not to talk of catching not just one, but all of them. Let’s not even mention the other incredibly rare pokemon on your team that no one has ever seen before. Rare evolutions, and rare species form your team, Donnell Oak. You can’t stand there and expect us to believe your father did nothing to aid that. Let’s not even mention your carry limit” Another reporter pounced on the topic like a starving hyena. I just looked at Bruno, promising revenge before formulating my answer.

“Yes. If your question is whether my father’s identity has affected my journey, then the answer is yes. I learned about pokemon before I could walk. I learned habitats, nutrition, training at the feet of the greatest trainer this region has ever seen. But that is the limit of his influence on my journey. I’ll be taking no further questions on this topic.” I said, neatly avoiding the question on my carry limit simply because there was no answer I could give that would change their minds on partiality.

“Your lawsuit against the league, will you be dropping it now that things have changed?” The next reporter asked, reading my mood and doing well not to dwell on the previous topic.

“What things have changed? The league still exists. The courts still exist, and what the league did to me hasn’t changed one whit. What happened happened, and the league will not be allowed to get away with such a gross abuse of power. In spite of what League representatives might tell you, I do not do this out of selfishness or anything equally ridiculous. If it could happen to me, it could happen to anyone of you, and I think you can all agree with me that the league needs to face the consequences of their actions.” I said in reply to that one and moving on.

“A bit of a personal one, Donnell” One of the reporters started out. Her use of my first name already told me that this would not be going in a very positive direction. “ I am Linda, from Linda’s Blog. You must have heard of me. My readers at home would love to know about your relationship status. Is the mighty Donnell Oak still single? Or has some lucky person caught your attention, maybe even the Gym leader of Viridian who you sat next to throughout the tournament.”

“My relationship status is, of course, a very private matter. Gym leader Sabrina and I started our journeys together and met at different occasions throughout. She is a close friend of mine, and I ask that you respect our privacy and her dignity in your publication.” Perhaps the nature of the question had made me a bit more flustered than usual, because that answer was shit.

“I’m Lois Lane, from Daily Pokenews” One of the reporters started out before continuing, “My question relates to the present situation. What do you think about the Tournament of Power, and what do you think Kanto’s chances are of prevailing?”

“The Tournament of Power is what happens when you mess around with forces beyond human understanding. My father and the League President might have granted Giovanni a temporary pardon to allow him participate in the selection trials and even represent Kanto if he manages to make his way through. But we must never forget that this is all his fault. He and his terrorist organisation created Mewtwo. They messed around with the power of the legendaries and now our very lives hang in the balance.” I took a deep breath before answering the second part of the question, “As for our chances, Miss Lane, I think things are altogether very positive. Lance of Johto, as well as Stephen and Wallace of Hoenn are large threats, but Samuel Oak still remains the powerful trainer he was in his prime. He might have aged like a human, but his team has aged like fine wine. Against them, our chances are good. But for the Champion of Sinnoh, Cynthia, I honestly do not know. Her Garchomp had no trouble matching up against all three of Lance’s Dragonite. However, if there is anyone who can match up against her, it’s Samuel Oak. I won’t say Kanto is a clear forerunner, but we have powerful trainers that can match up against the best of the other regions, like Bruno of the elite four, Agatha, also of the elite four, Gym Leader Sabrina, and even Giovanni the terrorist” I said, rounding up my answer with some name dropping.

“I noticed you did not mention your name. Do you not believe you will make it through the selection” Another reporter pounced on my perceived weakness nearly instantly.

“I just went through the first stage undefeated. I have the utmost confidence in my team and their strength. I didn’t mention my name, because I let my battling speak for itself” I said with a savage smile that I couldn’t quite stop from spreading across my face.

“What do you think of the chosen venue of the tournament? Do you believe it will aid or hinder the Kanto team?” Another reporter asked.