"Ms. Waterflower, how many times are we going to have this conversation?"
Daisy leaned back in the cushioned chair, a dismissive frown on her face, cell phone up to the left side of her head.
"I don't understand what the big deal is," Daisy replied, putting her right elbow on the armrest and resting her head on her hand. "When a trainer beats us, we give them the badge, and if they don't beat us we don't. That sounds like good documentation to me."
The man on the other end of the conversation sighed. "We've been through all this before, Ms. Waterflower. We need detailed data on the battle for our trainer statistics. Pokemon used, knockouts, battle progression, time, video recordings...this is not the 1960s, badges alone don't cut it anymore. And that's to say nothing of badge forgery. This is the fourth month in a row we haven't gotten your report, and without those reports we are entirely at the mercy of forged badges, plus our entire operation looks unprofessional without the complete set of data!"
A small, skinny man came up to Daisy and tapped her right knee. Slowly, Daisy pulled her right bare foot out of the hot, bubbling basin of water in front of her chair and placed it up on the cushioned bar in front of her. The man picked up a medium sized towel and started drying her foot and lower leg off.
"Well, like, we're very busy!" Daisy insisted. "I mean, gym leader is just part of what we do. We have all the shows, the modeling, the...the-"
"That's really not our problem," the man cut her off. "None of the other gym leaders have this problem. I've been working here for eight years and the Cerulean Gym is the only Gym in Kanto to ever submit so much as a single report late. You are now four reports behind, and I'm sure you remember our conversation about a majority of your previous reports not being up to standard."
The man at Daisy's feet started to scrape dead skin off the left side of her right big toe. Daisy sunk back into the chair slightly.
"Look. We know the rules of pokemon battles, we follow them, and if a trainer beats us they get the Cascade badge. I really feel like, in light of all of our other activities, many of which do contribute to the Pokemon League in terms of money and recognition, little problems with the reports-"
"Perhaps so," the man interrupted yet again. "But there's a big difference between reports with small problems and reports that don't even exist. You've told us a dozen times that you're almost done with the report from four months ago, and it's very important that we get that data before the tournament starts next month. We are not some mom-and-pop organization. Hundreds of millions of dollars go into the league, and any gaps in our data make us look bad."
Daisy grunted. "Well, like, it's really hard to go back and-" Daisy stopped to jerk her foot back as the man ran his small nail file against her sole, just below her big toe. "Hey, careful. I'm really ticklish," she whispered, smirking as she put her large foot back.
"Don't like it?" the man asked in a thickly accented voice.
"No, I hate it," she said, nevertheless smirking and sticking her tongue out at the man as he went back to work.
"What are you talking about?" The man on the phone said irately. "Hello?"
"Calm down, I'm still here," Daisy said. "It's hard to go back and find all the data from months ago, okay? You have to go all the way back in the video logs, watch the whole fight, take notes, snip the video clip out...it's a real pain."
"Then start making the reports right after the battles!" The other snapped. "Look, I'm getting the sense that you're not taking this very seriously. Being a Gym Leader is a responsibility and a privilege, and for your services as one the Pokemon League does pay you and your sisters millions of dollars a year. I know you don't want to lose that money or status."
"I'm not too worried about that," Daisy said casually, looking down at the nails of her right hand. The man tapped her right knee again, and she raised it up towards the ceiling so her foot was flat against the cushion. The man started to paint her toenails a bright red. "I've seen the polls, the Cerulean Sisters are the most popular gym leaders in Kanto and it's not close."
There was a long pause on the phone as the man started work on her toenails. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you keep talking about money, and I'm sure you understand that you'd lose a lot of money if you suddenly got rid of your most popular gym leaders. I do read those pamplets you send out every month, you know. Fifty-eight percent of trainers polled say that we're their favorite gym, and sixty-five percent say we're the ones they'd like to see more of in promotional material regarding the league." Daisy switched the phone to the right side of her face. "I know you think I'm just some dumb blonde, but I know what our leverage is, and it's high."
Another long pause.
"So what are you implying?"
"You'll get the reports when you get them. Me and my sisters are all very busy, and most of our work is good for the league. And pestering me three times a week about it is not going to help get it done any faster." The man at her feet grabbed her lower leg gently and pulled it out so her sole was pointed outwards again. "Now, I'm in the middle of something, so I really need to go."
"Very well, Ms. Waterflower," the man replied coldly. "I'll report your responses to my superiors and we'll take whatever action we deem necessary."
"You do that," Daisy said, hanging up as the man picked up a flat stone with steam coming off it from the table next to him and pressed it against her bare sole. She sighed contentedly, sinking further into the chair and closing her eyes. "Anal-retentive pencilnecks," she said to herself. "Life's too short for reports."
-----
"Red," Lily deadpanned as Daisy kicked her white slippers off by the door. "How creative."
"Just because it doesn't look good on you," Daisy replied. "The geeks at the league called me again."
"Was it Warren again?" Violet asked. The two younger sisters of Daisy were seated on the couch in the middle of the room, Lily playing with her smartphone and Violet reading a magazine.
"Who else could it be?" Daisy said, raising her arms up into the air and bending her waist to her left, stretching.
"That's six times in ten days," Violet said. "I think you two are now officially dating."
"The tournament starts in a month," Daisy said, stretching to her right. "They want all our reports by then. We might want to get on that. Tomorrow?"
Lily shook her head. "I'm doing a photo shoot in the morning and I'm going on a late night show."
Violet looked up at the ceiling. "I've got a date."
Daisy shrugged. "A month is a long time, it won't be a big deal. Just whenever you can."
"I'm booked up for awhile," Lily said. "I'm starting dancing lessions three times a week."
Daisy smirked. "Dancing? Why?"
"Seems like it might be fun," Lily replied. "So I dunno, we'll see."
Violet cleared her throat. "I don't have much going on this weekend, maybe I'll punch some win-loss data into the system. After this weekend I'm starting horse-riding lessons so who knows?"
"That'll be great," Daisy said, giving her a double thumbs-up. "It should at least be enough to shut the pokemon league dweebs up." Daisy walked over to the fat chair to the left of the couch and plopped down into it heavily, propping her feet up on the ottoman.
-----
Daisy wakes up...
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