Looking at Brock's attitude, Alex couldn't help but be a little disappointed.
He felt that Brock's character was quite imperious. It was really no wonder that, after a few years, he would become the weakest Gym Leader despite no longer having the title of "Youngest Gym Leader".
Alex also felt that Brock didn't have much growth left. His Pokémon seemed to be at their limit. Alex knew that Brock got his Onix from his father, Flint, at the age of 10. That gave him a great headstart.
He had the feeling that Brock wasn't training much after seeing the potential of Brock's Pokémon. He didn't think Brock would ever be anything but a weak Gym Leader.
Gym Leader's strengths in this world range so much that you can find a Gym Leader with Elite Four strength to a Gym Leader like Brock.
A regular Elite trainer may find Brock's strength unrivaled. But for Alex, he was just a mediocre person in this world full of powerful men.
If an Elite Four member can defeat your entire team with only one Pokémon and your Pokémon don't have any room left for improvement, you would never be a part of the big league, according to Alex.
Even Misty is way better than Brock in terms of talent or character.
Alex is sure that after two years, Misty will be as strong as Brock even though she is much younger.
"So, what are you doing here in such a dangerous area?" Brock continued his haughty demeanor as he said, "Trainers like you have no business here. Without having, at least, the same strength as me, you are as good as dead here, 'rookie'." Brock said the last word filled with mocking.
Alex couldn't believe what an arrogant prick this guy was.
'Why is this third-class trainer addressing me as "rookie" even though he clearly knows my name?' Alex thought, 'And this tone... What is up with that? Does he think of himself as some prodigy? Does he think everyone started training at the same age as him with the same resources? Without the help of his father, this untalented bastard wouldn't even be able to talk to me.'
Alex knew that he shouldn't anger this guy. But he also wanted to protect his pride. Especially since his family was present here. Disrespecting him in front of his family is like disrespecting his family to him. He can't allow that.
Alex stopped with his fake smile and looked straight into Brock's eyes, "No offense, but that's none of your business. Also, I find the term rookie very inappropriate for me. So I would suggest you call me by my name, Alex."
Normally, Alex wouldn't stay so humble and formal around such guys. But because he doesn't want to make unnecessary enemies with someone with such a high position, he tried to suppress his emotion.
Although his position in the Alliance is good enough that he doesn't have to worry, it is always advisable not to make powerful enemies unnecessarily.
Brock looked angry when he heard such words from Alex. He felt as if he was being looked down on even though he was so high in the sky.
He found Alex's way of winning in his last tournament very despicable and thought that the fame that Alex got was very unjustified.
Alex gained sudden popularity because of his victory, and it was many times more than the winners from previous years.
The reason was, of course, that he was the first participant to win this tournament despite not being in the top 3 of the power ranking. He had done something that was considered impossible and was often used as a joke.
Brock gave Alex a stern look and said, "I called you "rookie" because you are a weak trainer... A rookie trainer. When you get strong enough, I will call you by your name, ROOKIE. And I would decide whether it is my business or not that you stay here or not. I'm the one who has the power here. So you better understand your position."
"Now that you understand who's the boss here, you better show some respect. And, an apology would be VERY appropriate."
Alex couldn't help but feel the irony here. Just when he tried to be diplomatic and be as humble as he can in a long time, the situation escalates. This guy just wanted to show off his power and push around the trainers weaker than him.
All the Pokémon were looking at Alex with tense faces. They were wondering what will he do. Scizor and Crobat, in particular, had grim faces. Gardevoir kept a calm demeanor, but she was worried for her father. Blaziken was fuming with anger and was gritting her teeth. Bastiodon was prepared to tank an attack if such a situation arises. Eevee just wanted to kill this guy, but she remembered her promise to her father. But her aggressiveness couldn't be hidden. But no one would blame her this time. Vulpix was curious to see how Alex would handle the situation. She was also angry at this guy, who came out of nowhere and insulted her father. While Shuppet was wondering whether he should go and hug Alex. And well, Ditto... he was Ditto. You couldn't see any emotion on its face. But he shared similar feelings like others.
You are reading story Pokemon: Master of tactics at novel35.com
Everyone thought about how after going through all of this struggle to get strong in such a short time, this guy shows up from nowhere and pushes down Alex. And why should they be the ones to apologize?
"Mr. Brock, I don't like being pushed around," Alex said in a threatening voice, "So, I would recommend you to not offend people. Especially the ones who can be a threat to your life in the future. To be honest, I wonder how you have survived so far without offending the wrong person. Maybe, it's because you only threaten people weaker than you. Quite bold of you, huh!"
Brock was arrogant but not stupid. So he understood that if he said something wrong now, this Alex guy would be an enemy in the future. Normally, Brock wouldn't care. But because Alex has a "good position" in the Alliance and is rather talented, so he hesitated a bit.
He himself didn't know, exactly, why he was so rude to Alex. But somehow, he couldn't stand Alex.
And the last words of Alex didn't help in calming down his emotions either.
"So, let me get this straight. You're giving a Gym Leader a death threat. You know that I can arrest you for it, right?"
Alex starts to laugh when he said, "Haha, use a method like that to scare kids. Please, don't insult my intelligence with such a stupid threat."
Hearing Alex's reply, Brock felt an urge to go down and beat the respect into this guy. The way Alex was looking down at him as if he was better than him... The arrogance... The contempt... It just bothered him too much.
"One thing's for sure, you have a big mouth. Real men fight with their Pokémon, not that you can understand something like that."
Brock showed a proud face, almost on the edge of turning into a smug one, as he said, "So if you are you a man, fight me. Or are you one of those cowards who can only blabber with their big mouth?"
Alex, who heard so many stupid statements in a row, felt more and more... should he say, disappointment (?) from Brock.
He felt like he was talking to an arrogant, stupid, stubborn kid and not a person who has power in the Alliance.
'*Sigh* Nepotism is apparently just as much a problem here as it is in my old world,' thought Alex when he started to find this situation funny.
Brock saw that Alex only sighed in the reply and said with an arrogant smile, "What's going on? Why the sudden silence? Did you finally realize who you are up against?"
Alex's good mood vanished right there, and he couldn't help but facepalm.
He said telepathically, 'Gardevoir take us out of here. The longer I talk to this idiot, the more brain cells I lose.'
Gardevoir gave a small smile and nodded. The next second, Alex and his family vanished from there.
Brock saw Alex and his team teleporting away and thought that he got scared and ran away.
"Heh, I knew that this Alex wasn't half as good as everyone says."
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