Alex's POV
Morning on Cinnabar always arrives with heat.
Not harsh or choking like the eruption years back—just a warm, slow embrace that creeps over the island like a living thing. The sort of heat that bakes into your bones and stays there.
I woke up feeling it immediately.
Infernape sat cross-legged at the foot of my bed, meditating in that oddly serene way he had picked up during our time in Johto. Pale blue sparks danced around his forearms—residual energy from last night's mental balancing exercises.
He opened an eye when I sat up.
"Morning," I muttered.
He gave a low, acknowledging rumble.
By the time I finished getting dressed, I could already hear voices outside the house—multiple people, talking over one another. Then something metal crashed.
Kai shouted, "DID YOU BREAK IT?!"
A man yelled back, "NO! PROBABLY!"
Lila groaned, "Theo, stop touching things!"
Ah.So the League support team had arrived early.
I stepped outside with Infernape at my side and took in the scene:
A fleet of League-marked trucks had been parked along the shoreline. Crates of materials sat in the sand, already being unpacked. A trio of Machoke carried heavy beams toward the Gym site.
And dead center of the chaos stood a man with bright orange goggles, messy blond hair, and the energy of a toddler on sugar.
Theo Brant—one of the Gym's old assisting trainers.
He waved enthusiastically when he saw me.
"ALEX! WELCOME BACK!" he yelled. "I ALMOST BROKE SOMETHING!"
"You don't say," I replied.
Lila shot me a look that clearly said please take him away.Kai was laughing harder than he should've been.
Before I could even greet Theo, another voice cut through the air—calm, clipped, familiar:
"Brant. Stop shouting."
Standing near the front of the main supply truck was Rina Hoshino—my mother's former right-hand trainer. Same sharp posture as always, same stern eyes. She looked like she hadn't aged a day.
When she walked toward me, Lila straightened like a soldier.Kai hid behind Arcanine's Poké Ball.Theo saluted for some reason.
Rina stopped in front of me, arms crossed.
"Alex Hale," she said. "You grew."
I blinked."That's… how time works."
Her lips twitched. "You're still impertinent."
"And you're still terrifying."
That actually made her smile—just a tiny one.
Then she bowed deeply."You have my condolences. Your parents were the finest leaders I ever served."
My chest tightened. "Thank you, Rina."
She rose. "I'll serve the Gym again, if you'll have me."
I didn't even hesitate."We need you."
She nodded once, sharp and sure, then turned toward the ruins of the building with the air of someone already planning structural reinforcements.
Theo crashed into a crate nearby, yelled that he was okay, then tripped again.Rina sighed deeply.
"Alex," she said, "why did I return to this?"
"Because you missed us," I answered.
"I missed your mother's sanity," she corrected.
Fair.
Before I could respond, another set of footsteps approached—this time lighter, quicker, accompanied by furious scribbling.
A woman in a lab coat and round glasses skidded to a stop in front of me.
"Hi—hello—sorry—Dr. Mira Lane, League Research Division." She shoved her glasses up her nose and held out a hand. "You're Alex, right? The Interpol agent with the anomalous Infernape?"
I blinked."Uh. Yes?"
She started circling me immediately, mumbling:"Fascinating musculature… good posture… but I'm more interested in the Pokémon—"
Infernape drew back, confused.
"Mira," Rina said sharply. "Personal space."
"Right! Sorry!" Mira jumped back and bowed. "Fascinating Pokémon though. Could I—um—study him? Strictly observational at first. I have forms."
I raised a brow. "You brought forms?"
She held up a stack of paperwork thick enough to use as a weapon."Twenty-seven pages."
Lila whispered, "Alex, she's scary."
"She's enthusiastic," I corrected.
"I study anomalous move interactions," Mira said proudly. "Your Infernape is the only documented primate-fire-adaptive morph in the region."
"I have no idea what that means," Theo said.
"It means," Mira sighed, "he's cool."
Theo gasped dramatically. "SICK."
Mira grinned despite herself.
Another shout echoed from the Gym's direction.
"HEY! WHOSE CHARizard IS BREAKING THE SCAFFOLDING?!"
A teenager sprinted around the corner, followed by a fiery lizard trying and failing to stop its wings from knocking over equipment.
Jax Calder—young rising star, prodigy, and living embodiment of "I know what I'm doing" energy.
He spotted me and froze.
"A-Alex Hale," he said breathlessly. "Y-You're really back?"
I raised a hand in greeting."Hey."
He bowed so hard he nearly broke his spine."It's an honor. I trained here as a kid! Your mom taught me how to use proper stance—and your dad showed me how to pivot footwork—and I just want to say I'm ready to help with anything you need—anything—"
"Jax," I said calmly. "Breathe."
He inhaled sharply.Then exhaled.Then bowed again.
Lila groaned identical to Rina. "Please stop doing that."
"I—I'm sorry!"
"You're doing it again."
"SORRY!"
Theo whispered to Kai, "He's like a Growlithe puppy."
Kai nodded sagely.
Then, from the direction of the half-ruined Gym entrance, someone cleared their throat loudly.
We all turned.
A woman with auburn hair tied in a high ponytail stood with a clipboard in her hand. She looked entirely unbothered by the chaos around her.
Hana Reed—the administrative backbone of Cinnabar Island.
"Good morning," she said, addressing everyone. "I'd like to announce I have already cleaned the entire front office, color-coded the request files, reorganized the battle logs from the past four years, and created a roster schedule."
Theo blinked."We have battle logs?"
Rina pinched the bridge of her nose. "They were under your bed, Theo."
"Oh. That's where I left them."
Hana turned to me with a smile just this side of polite exhaustion.
"Alex," she said. "I'll be handling your scheduling. And your mail. And your finances. And the children's school forms. And the Gym's registration paperwork. And the League's home renovation approvals."
"That's… a lot," I said.
"Someone has to do it," she replied. "And you look like the type to forget to eat if left unsupervised."
Lila snorted.Kai nodded vigorously.Infernape jabbed a thumb at me in agreement.
Traitor.
Hana clapped her hands sharply."All right, everyone. Positions. We need to begin external assessment and internal damage cataloging before noon."
That single command sent everyone scattering like trained soldiers—well, everyone except Theo, who tripped over a rope and fell flat on his face.
I stepped forward, looking at the assembled team:Rina, precision incarnate.Theo, chaotic enthusiasm wrapped in muscle.Mira, brilliant and frazzled.Jax, determined and respectful.Hana, the quiet backbone.
The new heart of Cinnabar Gym.
My new team.
I exhaled slowly.
"Okay," I said. "Let's get to work."
The next few hours were a blur of dust, heat, and shouted instructions.
Kai helped Mira catalog old training equipment.Lila shadowed Rina to learn structural stability basics.Theo attempted to lift a beam he couldn't possibly lift until Torkoal waddled over and helped him.Hana organized contractor schedules.Jax apologized to every League worker his Charmeleon accidentally startled.
And me?
I walked the perimeter of the Gym with Infernape, scanning damage patterns, identifying weak zones, assessing potential hazards. It felt almost like an Interpol investigation—minus the crime scene tape and villains.
At one point, Mira approached with a tablet.
"Your Infernape's aura fluctuates in response to emotional shifts," she said. "It's fascinating."
Infernape tilted his head.
"Fluctuates how?" I asked.
She showed me a graph that meant absolutely nothing.
"It spikes when he's near family," she said gently. "Your siblings. The Gym. Home."
I looked at Infernape.
He gave a soft, warm rumble and bumped his forehead against my shoulder.
I smiled. "Yeah. Makes sense."
Later, near midday, I found Lila sitting in the old arena stands, knees pulled to her chest. Arcanine rested beside her, head in her lap.
"You okay?" I asked.
She nodded.Then shook her head.Then nodded again.
"Everything's happening so fast," she said. "It feels… big."
"It is big," I admitted, sitting beside her. "But you're handling it."
She leaned against my shoulder."Are you scared?"
"Terrified," I said.
She laughed softly. "Good. Means you're human."
Arcanine huffed in what I assumed was agreement.
By late afternoon, the first stage of restoration was complete: debris cleared, hazard zones marked, structure stabilized.
Hana walked over with her clipboard."We're ahead of schedule," she said. "The League will be impressed."
"Good," I said. "We'll keep going tomorrow."
Then, as the sun dipped toward the ocean, casting the Gym in orange light, Rina stood beside me.
"You have your parents' strength," she said quietly. "But you lead differently. More adaptable. More… compassionate."
I blinked. "Are you… complimenting me?"
"Don't make it weird," she said.
She walked off.
Theo shouted that he found a baby Magmar egg (he didn't).Mira chased him with paperwork.Jax trained quietly in the corner.Hana dragged Kai away from climbing the scaffolding.
And I stood in the middle of the Gym's skeleton, Infernape beside me, watching the team work.
For the first time since arriving home—I felt like this was possible.
Not easy.Not without pain.But possible.
A Gym is more than a building.
It's the people.The fire inside them.The will to keep going.
This Gym would rise again.
And so would we.