93-96

The New Normal – 5-9 – Concerns and Preparations

"Are things going to be alright for you, dear?" My mom's worried voice snapped me out of my thoughts, "Do you think you can win?"

I fiddled with the letter in my hands for a moment as I pondered my mom's question. Did I think I could win?

Admittedly, I was VERY taken aback by this sudden challenge. I would have thought that my strength within the Elite Four was cemented enough that none would challenge me. And yet, I had overlooked a few things in that assumption.

One, the only Elite Four members available to be challenged at the moment were myself and Agatha, as Will and Lorelei were still under their 1-month grace period due to their new appointments. Secondly, I bet Bruno was the type of guy that looked to challenge himself against what he saw was the strongest target around to test his strength.

Sure, Agatha might be considered by some to be stronger than me, but her way of fighting was so different from most trainers that, for a Fighting specialist likely focused on brute strength and discipline, she wasn't a target for a test of strength. Therefore, I realized that I was the only good option for him to choose.

"I don't know yet, but I intend to find out." I stated firmly, "I've too much riding on my position in the Elite Four to lose it now, so I'll be making use of these 2 weeks to know everything I can about Bruno. And crush him."

"Good." My mother nodded, "Do your best. We're cheering for you." She then waved me off from cleaning duties since I had already eaten, and I quickly returned to my room and began to do some research on Bruno.

Quite quickly, I managed to find videos of Bruno's previous battles, as he seemed to spend much of his time wandering around Indigo and participating in unofficial and official tournaments alike. Expectedly, Bruno's team was very straightforward, and assuming that he didn't make any new captures, then his team consisted of pure Fighting types with no dual types.

More specifically, I found that he favoured the use of primarily 6 Pokémon, a trio of Hitmonlee, Hitmontop, and Hitmonchan, as well as a Primeape, Hariyama, and his starter Machamp. He also had two Onix, but I was fairly certain that he mostly used those as weights rather than as actual battlers.

Still, despite how seemingly straightforward his team appeared to be; I knew that they were undoubtedly very well trained. I knew from my meta-knowledge that Bruno made it into the Elite Four, and managed to STAY within the Elite Four, so his strength must be formidable.

I also knew that he was the stereotypical martial artist, enforcing a very strict sense of discipline for him and his team. I was willing to bet that most mental attacks wouldn't work on him unless they were particularly potent. My initial assessment of him was that he really was the ultimate close range fighter, and against most opponents the match was over if his Pokémon managed to get close.

With that in mind, I began to form a simple two-pronged plan to deal with his team. Since his team had no ranged attackers, beyond the use of thrown rocks, I could use my ranged attackers to slowly wear down his team and blast them down from a distance. Pokémon such as Zephyr, Luna, and Klaus are particularly good choices for this.

Then, my remaining 3 Pokémon should be ones that should be able to win in a close-range fight outright, which were obviously Smough, Vordt, and Tyrant. I was confident that, despite their type weakness, they should be able to hold their own even against Bruno's stronger attackers. Although, ideally, those stronger close-range attackers should be dealt with by my ranged attackers first.

And hence, with a plan in mind, I laid down on my bed and began jotting it down in my notepad so that I could refine it later. I did this for a few minutes before my phone began buzzing incessantly as I started receiving texts from people.

I reached over to check it and found out that practically everyone that I knew had texted me, wishing me luck for the upcoming battle. Apparently, the challenge had found its way to the relevant news channels and was now being broadcasted all over the world.

I ignored the temptation to turn on the TV and just quickly sent out replies to everyone thanking them for their words before I stared at the last message I received from Karen.

'U better not lose. Or else how would I show my face if I was trained by a failed E4 member? Call me if u want to train together.'

A small smile formed across my face at her concern, before I put everything away and tried to go to sleep.

…And of course, that was when my sister decided to ring me up.

"John! Bro! You there?!" She shouted out into the phone, causing me to wince.

"Yes, yes, no need to shout. What do you want? It's late." I replied, slightly irritably due to my fatigue.

"No need to be grouchy, bro, it's not even that late." She remarked, and I could feel her sticking out her tongue at me. "Anyways, heard you were going to fight against Bruno. You ready for that?"

"Why, you worried?" I smirked, even though she couldn't see it, "Don't worry, I'm going to get to preparing soon. I won't let myself lose like this."

"Good! I don't want to see you lose. But make sure you train up well, though, Bruno looks really tough! Maybe even Drake tough!" She replied, some concerning leaking into her voice. And I chuckled at her use of Drake as a descriptor. Honestly, it fit.

"…You're right, Bruno is tough. But I'm going to be ready for him. I won't let him get the better of me." I reassured, before changing the topic, "Anyways, I heard from Koga that you've joined up with his daughter Janine. How did that happen?"

"Well…she just wanted to join! And I really wanted to spend time with a new friend as well and..." My sister began her signature enthusiastic rambling, spewing out whatever came to mind. But I was used to this at this point, and I simply listened to her speak about her new friend as I relaxed on my bed.

Eventually, she tired herself out and hung up. But I was already well asleep at that point.

========

​Despite my upcoming battle, I couldn't just neglect my duties to the Elite Four, and so I reluctantly dragged myself to the Indigo Plateau to report on my observations of Kanto's Gyms from yesterday.

This must have been what Walker felt like when he was waiting for his challenge against Lorelei. I just hoped that mine wouldn't end up the same way.

Still, I forced away thoughts about my upcoming battle as I entered into the building and made my way to Lance's office. He immediately greeted me when I arrived.

"Ah, John, good luck once again for your upcoming battle. I would certainly be disappointed if I lost access to your wise council. Though, from what I've seen of your previous battles, I'm sure you'll do fine." He joked and we shared a small chuckle before he continued, "Anyways, Lorelei came in earlier to report about the Johto Gyms, but I want to hear what happened on your end. Anything interesting to report?"

"Yes, but not all of it is good." I replied, and Lance frowned slightly as he gestured for me to proceed, "To start with the good news first, most of the Kanto Gym Leaders are either indifferent or warily supportive of you. They can see that you've done good things for Kanto's economy, and you've made their jobs easier as the economic conditions of Kanto improve. I believe that so long as you continue with this, you'll be able to earn their trust."

"I see…" Lance said thoughtfully, "But you said MOST of the Gym Leaders were either indifferent or supportive, was there any that disliked me outright?"

"Blaine and Surge, though the former seems to like you more than Pryce and the latter seems to just dislike Johtonians in general." I informed him.

"Ah, those two…Well, that's okay then, I was never going to get on either of their good sides, so it's no matter." He said dismissively with a wave. "Well, either way, I'm glad to hear that I'm more well-liked than Pryce, even if that isn't a very high bar to clear. Are there specific requests or concerns that they wanted to address?"

I went through my conversations with the Gym Leaders before shaking my head, "No one had any specific requests, aside from general comments to keep up the good work. Like I said, I think most of them had similar comments about how an improved economy benefits them, as a better and happier populace means less complaints aimed their way, and also allows them access a larger budget to ensure that their Gyms could be run properly. For now, they seem to just want more of the same."

"Right, I'll make a note of that. Though, like I promised you, I have no intention of chucking Kanto to the wayside like Pryce did. Now more than ever, I can clearly see how foolish Pryce's decision was to do so. We are stronger together. As Indigo." He stated with a shake of his head.

Then he clasped his hand together and leaned forwards on his chair, "So what's the bad news? Because I've had some pretty unfortunate news from Lorelei too, and I REALLY hope that you're not about to add to that headache."

I gave him a rueful smile, "Unfortunately, I probably will." I ignored his groaning, "I'm not sure what your inspectors are going to tell you, but I can safely say that just from my preliminary observations alone, I am VERY concerned about the state of the Pewter Gym, which only worsened after speaking with Gym Leader Flint."

Lance let out a sigh, "How so?"

"I can list a few reasons." I raised a finger, "Firstly, the Gym itself looks like someone stuck boulders onto a rundown shack, and it looks horrible and unprofessional." I raised a second finger, "Secondly, Flint was a nervous wreck when he met me, and I don't think that it was due to nerves alone. His paperwork looked extremely unorganized, so I would be very surprised if his paperwork was actually in good condition." I raised another finger, "Thirdly, when I suggested that he asked for help from the League, he firmly refused such an offer and claimed that he could handle it himself, which I sincerely doubt."

"Overall, I am almost certain that the Pewter Gym is not currently running to the standard expected of a Gym, and the League will likely need to step in to rectify this issue." I finished.

Lance let out another sigh and dropped his head into his hands, "…Stubborn and incompetent. What a terrible combination…thanks for letting me know in advance. I guess this is likely the third Gym that's going to need some assistance from the League."

"Wait, THIRD Gym?!" I asked, my eyes bulging slightly.

"Yes. THIRD!" Lance growled out, "I don't know what Pryce was doing when he was Champion, but he clearly didn't keep an eye on the state of his Gyms. Lorelei informed me yesterday that, similar to your report on the Pewter Gym, the state of the Olivine Gym and the Mahogany Gym needs work and likely assistance from the League."

Ah, I wasn't that surprised about the Mahogany Gym, considering that it didn't have a Gym Leader at the moment with Lorelei moving up to the Elite Four. But I WAS surprised to hear about Olivine Gym being such a mess; was that why Team Rocket was able to sneak away to Hoenn?

Unaware of my thoughts, Lance continued, "I'm probably going to have an urgent committee meeting to discuss the likely results for the inspection…in fact, I'm going to rush the inspectors to prioritize those problematic Gyms to see if they truly need the help."

He turned back to me, "Anyways, thanks for coming in. I won't hold you for any longer since I know you'd rather be training. Check your messages though, we might have a committee meeting soon."

I nodded to Lance and made my way out, deciding to quickly return home so that I could begin my preparations for my fight against Bruno. I only had 2 weeks to prepare, and I intended to use the most of it.

As I quickly flew home, I sent a quick text message to Karen on my way back.

'Are u free to duel tmr, have to train up for Bruno.' I sent her.

'K. Will see u there tmr. Have lunch ready! ' She wrote back.

With that sorted, as soon as I got home, I quickly made a beeline to the training fields and released my Pokémon there. They already knew about the upcoming match against Bruno, so they were all pumped and ready to go.

As I still needed to do more research about Bruno, I just set my Pokémon to engage in some high intensity general training for the time being while I continued researching Bruno's previous battles. Thus, I found a nearby tree to lie back on and began browsing through his old battles on my phone.

From my research, I quickly confirmed my initial plan to use the same Pokémon that I used against Drake, namely Tyrant, Vordt, Smough, Zephyr, Luna and Klaus, an equal mix of bruisers and long-range fighters. However, unlike my battle with Drake, my priority right now was not to think of strategies to overpower Bruno.

While Drake and Bruno were fought similarly, Drake definitely leaned more into overpowering his opponents with the sheer power of his Pokémon, as befits a Dragon type trainer. However, Bruno differed from that as his Pokémon, while they certainly were formidable attackers, weren't traditionally the strongest Pokémon around.

Instead, I found from my research that what set him apart from so many other Fighting type specialist was his Pokémon's technique, honed extensively by almost insane levels of training. Despite first appearances, Bruno's Pokémon were all surprisingly nimble fighters that were quick dodgers and were capable of using strategies other than just 'hit the enemy as hard as you can'. Clearly, Bruno was more than just a musclehead.

Thus, my concern was not whether I could overpower Bruno's Pokémon, since I remained fairly confident that my trio of bruisers were physically stronger than his, but rather if my Pokémon could win despite being not as technically skilled as his.

I needed to find some way to nullify Bruno's technical superiority over me. If I could find a way to take him unawares, then that would be ideal.

Fortunately, I did have a few tricks still left that I had yet to show in my battle against Drake. And the most powerful of which was the fact that Luna was a Fairy type that was actually RESISTANT to Fighting type attacks. If I could nail him with a surprise Moonblast at just the right time, I might swing the tides of battle into my favour with a quick knockout.

Of course, using Luna in this way in such a public battle would definitely raise suspicions about her true typing, since a 'Normal' type should be WEAK to Fighting Type moves. But I figured that now was the best time to begin revealing this secret to the world, since I also knew that Euphie was getting close to being able to evolve into a Sylveon with her developing ability to manipulate Fairy type energy.

Once Euphie does evolve into a Sylveon, I was confident that it'll prove beyond any doubt that Fairy types are a real thing. But that was an issue for later.

Deciding that I had done enough research for now, I got up and performed a few quick stretches before I walked over to where my Pokémon were just finishing up with a round of intense Gravity Training.

"Right, Luna, you're going to be center stage for the battle." I said to her as she squeaked in acknowledgement, "It's time to show the power of your true type to the world. But first, I need to make sure you're able to tank through even the most powerful of Fighting type attacks."

Luna nodded and prepared herself, so I pointed towards Tyrant, "Tyrant, use Hammer Arm on Luna, full power."

"SLAKINGGG!!" With a powerful roar to the skies, his fist descended like an anchor onto my braced Luna. Luna staggered backwards with a cry of pain, but she managed to stop herself from falling over entirely. That was good, but I needed it to be better.

"Good job, Luna." I praised, "That's a good start, but we're going to need to keep practicing. Bruno is probably THE Fighting type specialist in Indigo, so I'm not going to take any chances. You're going to be my trump card in this battle, Luna, so I hope you can step up to the challenge."

Luna let out a cry of affirmation as she nodded solemnly to my words. She proceeded to quickly heal herself up with a Soft-Boiled and prepared herself for round 2. I nodded to Tyrant as he crashed down with another Hammer Arm into Luna, with similar results.

I allowed this to continue for some time before I moved onto my other Pokémon. Later, if Luna proved capable of comfortably tanking through Tyrant's Fighting Type moves, I was going to make Luna try to endure against a Guts-Boosted Vordt. If she could comfortably tank through THOSE attacks, then I was confident that Bruno's Pokémon should pose no issues.

In the meanwhile, I turned my attention to focusing on Vordt and Zephyr and had them pair up. For Vordt, his job was to try to hit a mobile Zephyr, while Zephyr's job was to evade as many rocks as he could. This served two purposes. One, it allowed Vordt more practice in hitting a nimble and small target, which I suspected many of Bruno's Pokémon would be, and two, it allowed Zephyr to get more practice in dodging past incoming rocks, which I was absolutely certain that Bruno would make use of.

My last pair consisted of Smough and Klaus, where I had Smough try to catch up to the much quicker and more nimble Klaus while Klaus tried to fend off the incoming Smough with only using Psychic. Once again, this was done for two reasons. One, I needed to make sure to make Smough have as much training as possible with fighting against a more mobile opponent, and two, I wanted to ensure that Klaus' Psychics were as powerful as possible. Smough was the perfect training dummy for such purposes.

Of course, I made sure that my other Pokémon received attention too, even if they weren't going to be used in the fight. In the distance, my trio of new Pokémon, Pixel, Euphie, and Ornstein were all sparring against each other.

It was a surprisingly even battle, though since Pixel was an evolved Pokémon with access to powerful moves, it was holding back a little. Ornstein had gotten quite good at wielding his secondary Dark typing and was trying to setup situations where he could strike with a boosted Payback or Assurance. On the other hand, Euphie was steadily getting the hang of manipulating Fairy type energy, and I could see a very dim pink aura surrounding her when she launched herself forwards with a Tackle.

I knew that her evolution into a Sylveon would trigger as soon as she was able to infuse her attacks with Fairy type energy. I couldn't wait for that.

And Pixel was also starting to diversify its movepool too; it was beginning to make use of powerful supportive and regeneration moves so that it was no longer just a pure attacker. Pixel was making repeated use of Recover during his 2v1 battle during moments where Ornstein and Euphie were unable to attack him.

I could tell that this was the beginning steps of transforming Pixel into a mobile long-ranged artillery that was also able to sustain itself with a plethora of regeneration moves. And even better than that, I imagined that when it mastered the use of Conversion to freely switch its typing, it would be an impossible Pokémon to defeat.

Regardless, I reserved those thoughts for the future. Seeing that it was getting close to dinnertime, I spent the rest of the time primarily focused on my main fighters against Bruno and making sure that they were training properly.

I still wasn't quite sure why Bruno had decided to challenge me, but I honestly couldn't care less for his reasons. If he wanted a battle, then he was going to get one. My team and I would be ready-and-waiting to crush him and any other challengers for my title.

I WOULD NOT roll over for anyone.

The New Normal – 5-10 – A Practice Duel

I continued working on training my Pokémon for my upcoming battle the next day. Naturally, I had also texted everyone to not look for me unless my presence was absolutely necessary, as I was going to be devoting all of my time to train up.

Of course, Karen was the one exception to my 'not meeting anyone' rule, since she was here to spar with me. This was where I found myself now, idly walking to the training fields with Karen after a shared late breakfast. We had to walk extra far today, because of the potential property damage we might accidentally inflict through our moves.

"So, how are we doing this?" She asked as we were walking, "I assume you had an idea of which of my Pokémon you wanted to practice against."

"I did." I confirmed, "Obviously, I want to simulate conditions that would be similar to battling against Bruno, so I've already chosen the matchups. They're going to be your Weavile vs my Snorlax, your Houndoom vs my Wyrdeer, and your Pupitar vs my Ursaluna."

"Okay…I can see the logic behind that." She said with a nod after thinking through my proposed matchups.

"Also, I don't want you overly relying on your tricks against me today." I told her as she looked at me curiously, "Bruno isn't one for it. I've studied his previous battles, so it won't be an accurate practice fight if you rely too much on it."

"Plus, weren't you trying to focus slightly more on making use of your Pokémon's raw strength?" I continued and asked rhetorically, "This would be a good opportunity. Remember, don't hold anything back. Treat this as a proper 3v3 fight."

Karen just smiled, "That's fine. I've been training a lot outside of my tricks anyways. The old hag has been running me dry...You're lucky you're not related to her."

"My condolences for your suffering." I deadpanned. "Anyways, we're here. Let's get into positions."

The two of us stand opposite each other as we stared each other down. We had done a few practice duels during our time training together, but those were mostly just one on one spars between partnered Pokémon to train a specific move or aspect. But this was going to be the first time we would have a proper spar without holding anything back.

I could see Karen's eyes narrowing in determination, and I braced myself for the onslaught to come. I knew she would be taking this opportunity to push me as far as she could.

"On the count of three." I said, "Three. Two. One. GO!" We both threw out our Pokémon.

"Weavile! Show off your training!"

"Smough, time for another beatdown!"

Weavile emerged from his Pokéball with a running start, immediately trying to circle around the newly emerged Smough and hit him in the flanks. I knew that the speed difference was too much for Smough; Weavile was just too fast for him to hit without him slipping up.

Thus, I had to go wide.

"Seismic Eruption, Smough! Shatter the ground!"

"UP AND ROLL, WEAVILE!"

Weavile leapt up into the air just before the ground shook and shattered as Smough's Earthquake ripped through the ground. Weavile quickly transitioned into a roll as huge pillars of rocks erupted from the ground soon afterwards, impaling the spot that Weavile was in moments ago.

"Brick Break, NOW!"

"COUNTER, SMOUGH!"

Smough's outline rapidly turned orange, which flashed brightly just as Weavile landed a powerful chop to the head. Quickly retaliating, Smough converted the damage into energy and threw one of its arms forwards in a devastating counterattack.

However, Weavile's agility proved its use once again as he nimbly dived under Smough's arms and hopped backwards out of his range. But my counterattack wasn't over yet.

"Heavy Slam! Forwards!"

"Ice Spinner and fall back!"

With an agile twirl, Weavile flung himself backwards while firing off small chunks of Ice that embedded themselves in my charging Smough, who barely missed the Weavile with his Heavy Slam. I grimaced at Weavile's dodges, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Karen shooting me a smug smirk at Smough's inability to just LAND A HIT.

I knew that if I could just land one good hit on her Weavile, then the round would be over. Her Weavile was extremely fragile, but I had just been reminded that he compensated for that by being so nimble that he was near impossible to hit.

It was likely going to be the same with Bruno's Pokémon as well. I was certain that his Pokémon would be able to outmanoeuvre Smough, and so I needed a way to force them to overextend themselves and provide an opportunity for Smough.

However, Karen obviously wasn't going to just give me an opportunity to think.

"Step back and Swords Dance, Weavile! Set up!"

But then, as I watched Weavile begin setting up, an idea popped into my head.

"Belly Drum, Smough! ALL OR NOTHING!"

Karen's eyes widened with surprise as Smough started beating his belly like a drum. Anyone familiar with setup moves would know that Belly Drum was the ultimate high-risk-high-reward move. With Smough now at maxed attack, I was confident that even a glancing blow from Smough would be enough to end the fight.

However, Smough was also now at half health, and so could be taken out with a powerful enough hit from Weavile, especially with his Swords Dance boost. And I was banking on Karen to know this.

I had chosen to go this route to bait Karen into attacking. I couldn't do anything to her if she continued slowly whittling down Smough with short bursts of attacks before retreating. However, now that Smough's attack was maxed, even such attempts would be extremely high risk. Just a single glancing blow from Smough might be enough to take Weavile out.

And yet, I knew that she would be tempted to go for the decisive blow against Smough. One supereffective hit was likely enough to finish off the wounded Smough. And if Weavile really committed into his attack, then he might be able to achieve it.

Which was what Karen did.

"GET IN CLOSE AND BRICK BREAK, WEAVILE! YOU CAN FINISH THIS!"

"COUNTER, SMOUGH! BRACE AND GET READY!"

Karen's eyes grew sharp and she narrowed them at me as she heard my command. We both knew what this meant. I was betting on the fact that Smough could tank through her Brick Break and land a decisive counterattack, and she was betting on the opposite.

But I had faith in Smough. After all, he frequently had to take hits against Tyrant.

Both of our eyes locked onto the charging Weavile, who was blazing forwards with ruthless determination as he approached my waiting Smough. Weavile let out a sharp cry as he got close, before he shot forwards in a blur of colour and crashed into Smough with a devastating Brick Break, chopping down powerfully onto Smough's center.

Smough let out a long painful groan as the attack landed and stumbled backwards from the sheer power of the attack, leaving trails in the ground. A lesser Snorlax would have crumpled immediately, but I knew Smough was made of stronger stuff.

He wobbled uncertainly on his feet, clearly woozy and disorientated from the pain, but his eyes suddenly flashed with rage and resolve as he let out a vengeful roar. A roar to declare to the skies above that he would not fall.

Weavile immediately tried to backpedal and get out of Smough's range, but he had committed too much into the attack and wasn't able to react in time. Using all of the accumulated energy from the Counter, Smough brought one of his arms down in a powerful Hammer Arm that just barely glanced off of the fleeing Weavile, but that was enough to cause Weavile to stumble over in pain.

Seeing Weavile trip over himself, Smough let out another roar as he charged forwards without needing me to say anything and smashed into the exposed Weavile with a Body Slam, sending the Weavile tumbling through the air as it was blasted backwards from the force of the attack. His body skidded across the ground, unconscious.

But not a moment later, Smough collapsed onto his knees as the fatigue and damage caught up with him, panting heavily with exhaustion. Understanding that he had pushed himself to his limits, I withdrew Smough and patted his Premier Ball gently. He had done well.

"Feh, I knew that was a bait." Karen sighed as she withdrew her fallen Weavile. "Still had to go for it though."

"Why?" I asked curiously. I knew she was more patient and cunning than that.

"This is just a practice match, after all." She explained with a shrug, "Might as well test out the limits of my Weavile's strength. Seems like it still isn't enough though."

"It was still very impressive." I reassured honestly, "Just a little bit more and the outcome would've been reversed."

But instead of feeling disappointed, she only shot me a mischievous grin, "Well it's a good thing I have just the thing up my sleeve for if we ever got into a real battle."

I looked at her curiously, "What do you mean? And why didn't you just use it?"

"Well…you're practicing for Bruno after all. So I thought I'd stick to Fighting type moves since those would be more helpful." She explained, "But…I do have a much more powerful move that I've recently come up with that would have likely brought down your Snorlax. It's a Dark type move that reverses the enemy's buffs to do more damage."

…That sounded very familiar, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it yet. Still, I didn't let my smirk drop, "Sure, whatever you say. We both know that my Snorlax is on a different level. Perhaps it would've managed to tank it as well."

She rolled her eyes, "Okay, show-off. Why don't you send out your next Pokémon so that we can actually continue."

I shot Karen another smirk before I wiped it away as I grabbed hold of Luna's Premier Ball. Honestly, despite what I said to Karen, the battle was far closer than I'd like. But it did reaffirm the fact that I needed to continue training with Smough so that he could become even more resistant against Fighting attacks.

Right, enough of that. It was time for the next fight. I signalled to Karen with a nod that I was ready.

"Houndoom! Blast them away!"

"Klaus! As we practiced!

Her Houndoom emerged with a menacing howl, letting out a stream of flames that scorched the air around her. She quickly locked eyes with Klaus, looking every bit like a predator about to pounce on its prey.

In return, Klaus just let out a snort as he regally raised himself to his full height, easily towering over Houndoom. And yet, despite his appearance of arrogance, his eyes were wary as he recognized his old rival. But he was not intimidated. He would never be.

I decided to end this stare down before it could go on for any longer, making the first move.

"Earth Power, Klaus! Shatter the ground!"

"Circle round and Dark Pulse!"

Klaus raised his two front legs and stomped the ground, creating a large crack in the ground that snaked its way to Houndoom. However, just before she was caught in the eruption of power, Houndoom leapt to the side as she fired off a pulsating stream of Dark energy towards Klaus.

But Klaus showed off his own mobility by easily dodging to the side while stomping on the ground once more, firing off yet another Earth Power to where Houndoom was. I was hoping to catch Houndoom with a supereffective attack to injure her so that she would be less mobile, but Karen wasn't giving me that opportunity.

"Dark Snarl, Houndoom! Weaken it!"

"Swift, Klaus! Hit it fast!"

Houndoom let out a terrifying howl into the air, which seemingly transformed into visible dark sonic waves that launched towards Klaus. Evidently, Karen was trying to make use of her new custom move, combining both Snarl and Dark Pulse, to hopefully weaken Klaus' Special Attack so that her Earth Power's wouldn't hit as hard.

Klaus tried to cut her off by firing a quick burst of starry rays that shot towards Houndoom. Houndoom tried to dodge out of the way, leaping off the ground as she tried to put distance between herself and the attack, but the starry rays still found their way and struck at the Houndoom.

Houndoom let out a grunt of pain, but the attack was not enough to disrupt her concentration. With another roar, she let out a vortex of Dark sonic energy that seemed to corrupt the air that it travelled through, its dark tendrils spreading along the ground as it flew.

Klaus instinctively formed a Light Screen to block against the attack, but the attack still slammed painfully into him as the malignant energy forced its way into him.

I frowned. I needed a way to stop this.

"Disable, Klaus! Shut it down!"

"TAUNT! NOW!"

Almost as if she was waiting for me to do so, Karen quickly moved to prevent me from disabling her attack as Houndoom fired off a near instantaneous shroud of Dark energy that enveloped Klaus. His eyes narrowed, and I could tell that, while he was making an attempt to fight off the sudden surge of impulses with his mental training, the Taunt had still taken hold.

But I had expected that too.

"EARTHQUAKE, KLAUS! PUNISH IT!"

"RUSH HIM DOWN, HOUNDOOM! CRUNCH!"

I tried to take advantage of Klaus' sudden anger to fire off a quick Earthquake to catch Houndoom off-guard, thinking Karen wouldn't be ready for it. But even as the earth shook and tremors shattered the ground, Houndoom had the presence of mind and the reaction speeds to dash forwards, narrowly avoiding the main focal point of impact, and rushed towards Klaus.

Damn, and I knew that with Taunt in effect, I had no way to just back away. There was only one option.

"Double Edge, Klaus! Slam it hard!"

Klaus let out a roar as his antlers started shining a brilliant white, before he slammed them into the charging Houndoom. Both Pokémon collided together, with Houndoom managing to land a vicious crunch into Wyrdeer's neck while Klaus' horns found purchase into Houndoom.

Both Pokémon's faces contorted in pain as they exchanged blows, breaking apart from each other to recover. Their injuries were significant, but it wasn't over yet. I knew this was going to be the best opportunity I had to bring down Houndoom. Klaus was very likely outclassed everywhere else.

"AGAIN, KLAUS! BRING IT DOWN!"

With a determined snort, Klaus channelled his anger into more power as he went on the offensive, galloping towards the Houndoom with horns bared threateningly.

But then I saw the smirk on Karen's face, and I knew I had gotten myself into a trap.

"Torment."

"Megahorn instead, Klaus! Quickly!"

Another shroud of Dark energy emerged from her Houndoom before it wrapped around my approaching Klaus. Instantly, the charge broke as the effects of Torment took hold, Klaus letting out a confused cry as he was suddenly unable to attack with Double Edge.

Despite my instructions, the second that it took for Klaus to reorient himself was all the time that Karen needed.

"Fire Blast. Full power! INCINERATE IT!"

A scorching swirl of flames exploded out of Houndoom's mouth, surging forwards and detonating on Klaus. Klaus whined out in pain as the flames danced across his body. I winced; Klaus had taken the full impact from that Fire Blast. He couldn't have been doing well.

And I knew a follow-up attack was coming, and my mind raced for options. Unfortunately, being unable to make use of Klaus' Psychic moves offensively against Houndoom was really limiting my options here.

Not having enough time to think things through, I settled with the first available path that I thought of.

"Take Down, Klaus! Bring it to the ground!"

"Sucker Punch and finish it off!"

Klaus let out a defiant roar and was about to charge forwards once more before Houndoom suddenly burst forwards in a flash of speed and used her front leg as a fist and jabbed a paw into his side, turning that defiant roar into one of pain.

"THRASH, NOW!"

"CRUNCH AND BRING IT DOWN!"

I had expected the Sucker Punch – it was one of Karen's favourite tactics to employ in situations like these. And now with Houndoom and Klaus so close to each other again, I had hoped to bring her down with a Thrash, making use of Klaus' superior strength to smash down Houndoom before she could take Klaus out.

It was a risky move. And one that didn't pay off this time.

Despite Klaus' maddened thrashing, where he tore up the ground with wild and brutal swings of his antlers and hooves, Houndoom nimbly ducked down under a savage swipe of Klaus' horns and struck at his exposed neck with a precise Crunch.

Klaus let out one final howl of pain before going down. Unable to get back up. I let out a sigh and moved to return Klaus to his Premier Ball

"You did well." I whispered to Klaus's Premier Ball, "You'll beat your rival one day. It might not be today or tomorrow, but I believe you will be able to defeat Karen's ace. You had a wonderful showing, so don't feel bad."

I turned back to Karen, "I know I've seen her in action a bunch of times, but your Houndoom's strength still managed to catch me off guard with both how agile and powerful she is." I admitted, "And it's not even a well-known 'powerful' Pokémon either."

This time it was Karen's turn to be smug as she gave off a shrug that was filled with false humility, "To put it in your own words, my Houndoom is just on a different level. Try harder next time." She shot me a grin full of teeth.

"Haha, very funny." I deadpanned, "Anyways, it's not over yet. Mind withdrawing your Houndoom? I want our final battle to be a 1v1."

She nodded at me and withdrew her Houndoom, before switching her Pokéball out for a different one as I did the same. Then, almost in sync, we sent out our last Pokémon.

"Come, Vordt!"

"Pupitar, you can do it!"

Once again, Vordt thundered onto the training field with an intimidating roar. The first time Pupitar had encountered him, he almost flinched back in fear. But now, they had trained together so much that Pupitar stared blankly at Vordt's display of power, utterly unaffected.

Instead, Pupitar's eyes narrowed with determination towards his training partner. He must have known that Vordt was stronger than him, but Pupitar was determined to prove himself and his power today. Vordt must have liked what he saw, since he responded with an amused huff at Pupitar's determined glare.

I played right into that determination with my opening move. I wanted to see just how far Vordt could go with his geokinesis.

"Stone Edge, Vordt!"

"Do the same, Pupitar!"

The arena instantly crumbled like a cookie as the ground was ripped apart by both Pokémon. Rocks hovered briefly in the air from both sides before launching themselves against each other. Rocks crashing against rocks as both Pokémon vied for dominance, and both Pokémon rapidly escalated as more and more rocks were torn up from the ground.

Both Pokémon were rapidly pushing their geokinesis to the very limit, and the arena quickly looked like a warzone as both sides endlessly fired off volley after volley of rocks at the other.

But it was obvious that Vordt was winning handily. His rocks were larger, thrown faster, and managed to smash through more of Pupitar's without much difficulty. Even while Pupitar strained himself to his limits, making use of every single bit of training that he tried to muster up at this very moment, he still couldn't match the sheer firepower from Vordt.

He was gradually being pushed back, and there was little he could do about it. It's face morphed into one of sheer frustration as his efforts were betrayed by its relative lack of power. Vordt was just so much more powerful than him on a baseline level, and Pupitar's body was just too weak to fight at such a high level.

Pupitar had hoped that all of his time training and practicing with Stone Edge would have granted him some level of parity with Vordt. Vordt had always dominated their training sessions together, and he had hoped that he could prove himself to his training partner today. Pupitar had hoped to prove to his trainer that the time and investment that she put into him wasn't wasted.

But even then, it seemed like his training proved fruitless because of his inherently weaker body. It was never enough. Pupitar was always going to be limited by his comparative weakness, compared to the raw power of Vordt. If only he could push himself further. If only he could gain the strength to match up against Vordt. If only he just had a LITTLE! MORE! POWER!

And then, all of that frustration and determination unleashed the inner energy from deep within Pupitar, which began coursing endlessly throughout his body. Power that had always been yearning to be manifested, to be used. And now, the time had finally come.

I stepped back almost involuntarily as Pupitar began shining with a blindingly white light, my eyes widening with surprise even as I was blinded by what was about to come. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Karen grinning wildly as she stared excitedly at her evolving Pupitar.

Within that bright white light, Pupitar's form shifted and grew, transforming himself from a once small grey cocoon to a towering monstrous beast of green that lumbered onto the field with an audible thump each time it took a step.

The newly evolved Tyranitar bellowed to the skies, showing off its newfound frightening power and might as if he was announcing his increase in power to the world, before he locked eyes with his opponent. Vordt met his eyes with a challenging glare, as if demanding Tyranitar to prove his strength.

Tyranitar smirked at the non-verbal challenge before he roared once again, only too happy to oblige, as a sandstorm immediately forming around the arena. Vordt met Tyranitar's roar with one of his own, and both Pokémon resumed their previous duel as they tore up more of the field for ammunition.

Vordt actually grunted in concentration as he fought to match up against Tyanitar's newfound power. Though Tyranitar lacked training with his new body, the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) that he had helped balance the scales against Vordt's more refined barrage.

Before long, it was obvious that the two were evenly matched. The training fields were going to be completely destroyed before either one of them could overpower the other. Thus, I knew I had to change tactics.

"Headlong Rush, Vordt! Get close to it!"

"PROTECT NOW!"

Vordt immediately became nothing more than a blur as he tore through the field, charging forwards straight towards Tyranitar. Tyranitar managed to form a Protect shield just in time as Vordt slammed into it. The shield flickered rapidly as cracks quickly formed and spread across it, but it managed to hold and block the attack.

Still, I knew that I had the advantage here. Tyranitar was undoubtedly very strong, but it was still unused to its body and had no training with physical attacks since it was previously reliant on long ranged attacks as a Pupitar.

Thus, I took advantage of this weakness mercilessly.

"Hammer Arm, Vordt! Stay close and pressure it!"

"Crunch, Tyranitar! Fight Back!"

Tyranitar tried to grab hold of the incoming Vordt with its arms, but it proved futile. The more experienced Vordt smashed his arm supereffectively into Tyranitar's center, causing him to roar out in pain as stumbled backwards. Without letting up, Vordt followed up the attack with yet another Hammer Arm, this time striking downwards directly onto Tyranitar's head.

"Dark Pulse, Tyranitar! Drive it away and make some distance!"

To his credit, Tyranitar proved his determination once again as he endured past the pain and unleashed a burst of Dark energy that blasted into Vordt. But Vordt hardly even flinched from the attack.

He had Tyranitar on the ropes, and we both knew it.

"Finish it off Vordt!"

With one last thunderous roar, Vordt's arm descended like an executioner's blade onto the fallen Tyranitar, striking it one last time straight in the neck. Tyranitar couldn't even emit a roar of pain as he instantly collapsed into unconsciousness, his injuries proving too much to handle.

Vordt bellowed triumphantly to the skies as he stood victoriously over Tyranitar, and I smiled despite myself.

"Damn, I was hoping that it would be like on TV." Karen said with a small smile as she withdrew her fallen Tyranitar, "You know, where the protagonist gets a power up at just the right moment so that they win the battle? Normally, an evolution is that powerup."

"I guess you're just not the main character." I quipped, "Maybe you're just one of the supporting cast."

"Please, as if someone like me would be side-lined." She fired back with a chuckle, before her eyes turned to Tyranitar's Pokémon with a soft smile, "He did very well. I always knew he was close to evolving, but he must have really wanted to push himself today."

"He did." I nodded, "I can't imagine what he'd be like when he finally gets used to his body and when you start properly training him to be a Tyranitar rather than a Pupitar. He'd be a true monster." Inwardly, I wondered if Tyranitar would ever become stronger than Vordt to beat him in a 1v1. That would be a day to see.

Karen smiled brilliantly, "Yes, he would be. And I couldn't be prouder of him for it."

After that, we had to spend quite a bit of time repairing the destroyed training field. Luckily, we hadn't exhausted all of our Pokémon, so the ones that didn't participate in the match were drafted as labourers to help repair the damage.

I was sure that Agatha would be very pleased to hear about the evolution. Both her and I had nagged Karen incessantly to train up a proper frontliner, and now she finally had one. And a Tyranitar at that.

It was really looking like Karen's goal of joining the Elite Four were actually going to be achieved.

The New Normal – 5-10 – Interlude – Brock

They were abandoned. Again.

He had just woken up one morning to find an empty bed with a note on it. There was no explanation written on it, other than a simple "I'm sorry."

Brock didn't even bother to show that letter to his younger siblings; he had just ripped it apart and disposed it before they could see it. He didn't want to break their hearts any further. At least he could spare them from this.

Brock supposed that he should have saw it coming; his fath- Flint had been acting strangely over the past few days after they had announced the League inspections. But he had bought into his…Flint's reassurance that they everything would be fine. That Flint could handle it. Brock now realized that he had just tricked himself into believing the lie.

Brock knew that the Gym wasn't in a good repair, and that Flint's management of it wasn't exactly ideal. It hadn't been in good condition ever since his…mother…left the Gym behind. But he had bought into the Flint's lie that things were being handled and that no one had really complained, and that the other Gyms were in similar conditions.

He should have known better. Over the years, he had glanced at some of the paperwork that Flint accidentally left hanging around, and even though his young mind couldn't understand everything, he knew that things weren't running nearly as smoothly as Flint wanted him and his siblings to believe. But he ignored it, even when his gut was screaming at him to DO SOMETHING, because he wanted to think that everything was okay.

That he and his siblings could still be okay even without a mother.

But now, the illusion had broken, and Brock was forced to grapple with the harsh reality. Flint had abandoned his family, just like their moth-Lola did, leaving him and his siblings to fend for themselves, with only a ruined and failing Gym to support them.

At first, Brock remained optimistic. 'It will be fine' he told himself and his siblings, 'I'll just become the new Gym Leader and work to improve the Gym. I'll make sure that everything will be fine.' He lied to himself and the others.

However, he quickly realized the crushing weight on his shoulders when he arrived at Flint's old office and began digging through the paperwork. That was if he could find the paperwork that needed to actually be completed! The office was in such a mess that it was as if Flint alone knew how to navigate it. There was no way he could get any work done in this sorry state.

Files were organized without rhyme or reason and important documents were left scattered around randomly. Brock KNEW that they had just submitted these documents for review for the League inspectors, and if THIS was the state of the Gym's paperwork, he could understand why Flint had panicked.

There was no chance in Arceus that this Gym would pass the inspection, not in the terrible state that was in. In fact, Brock swiftly realized that the situation was a lot worse than that. Since he couldn't actually decipher Flint's terrible organisation, Brock didn't know the first thing about how to handle the administrative side of the Gym.

And to make matters worse, the Gym was behind in Pokémon acquisition for the first badge challenge too. The Pewter Gym still had a stockpile of Geodude and other common Rock types to use, but they would eventually grow too strong to handle the standard first badge challenge. And Brock hadn't a clue where to acquire more, or where they would find the funds for it.

There was just too much he didn't know, and no one around that was available to teach him. Self-learning and determination could only go so far.

The other Gym Trainers and staff members around the Gym were of no use either. Brock KNEW that they were there only for the paycheck and little else; his attempts to befriend them over the years were met with cold nods and terse greetings. Brock was fairly sure that Flint garnered very little respect from them, if he got them at all.

Fortunately, the circuit was already well underway, meaning that the busiest periods had already passed. But, after spending the better half of an afternoon trying to understand the inner workings of the Gym and how to be an effective Gym Leader, he finally gave into despair as he realized that he couldn't possibly hold the Gym together. Not like this.

And so, refusing to follow in Flint's footsteps, he told his younger siblings about the disastrous state of the Gym and his inability to manage it. There was an outcry at that, and Forrest, as the second oldest, was angry at Brock for his 'failure', but Yolanda managed to calm him down. Still, the hurt and frightened faces of his siblings tore at Brock's heart; it pained him to see his younger siblings like this.

All he ever wanted was for them to remain a happy family…how hard of a wish was that? Why couldn't his pare- Flint and Lola just understand that? Why did they have to run? Why would they abandon them like this? Why was he asked to stay at home to run the Gym instead of going on a journey? Why? WHY? WHY?!

But before he could lose himself to his rage and despair, he felt Yolanda's small hands grasp his shoulders comfortingly. He opened his eyes and, seeing the worried expressions on their faces, let out a deep breath as he forced himself to calm down.

He couldn't give up and react emotionally. His family was depending on him now, and he couldn't fail them any more than the adults already had.

He gave off a small thankful smile to Yolanda before he started to go through his options one more time in his head. He couldn't possibly run the Pewter Gym; he simply didn't know enough to fix the myriad of problems plaguing it. And the Gym Trainers weren't at help either-

"Can we ask for help?" His younger brother, Salvadore, asked. "Didn't dad say something about that?"

"Oh, that's right! He did!" Forrest exclaimed excitedly, "He was talking to me about how the Cerulean Gym might need to ask the League for help since they weren't doing so great…I guess we aren't that much different, huh." He finished bitterly.

Yes, they could ask for help from the League. But to do so might cause them to lose ownership of the Pewter Gym if the League found them incompetent at running it. A part of him, the part of him that shared Flint's pride, wanted to refuse immediately. Surely, he could run the Gym by himself, and therefore convince the League that everything was fine. They didn't need to suffer through the humiliation of asking for help.

But, as he stared at the faces of his siblings, he threw away his pride. If they lost control of the Gym, so be it. He would not follow in Flint's footsteps; his priority would always be to protect and provide for his family.

And right now, the best way to do that was to lower his head and be at the mercy of the League.

The New Normal – 5-11 – Gym Troubles

As exciting as Tyranitar's evolution was, it didn't change the fact that I still had to train up for my match against Bruno. We spent the next few days continuing to train together, and Karen discovered with increasing joy just how much of a powerhouse her Tyranitar had become.

As soon as he got used to his new body, it was easily THE most powerful member of Karen's team. Sure, her Houndoom might be more versatile and nimbler, but in terms of raw power, nothing hit as hard as her Tyranitar. Over many consecutive spars with my own bruisers, Tyranitar managed to hold his own against all but Tyrant, which was definitely a very impressive accomplishment.

It truly was a terrifying Pokémon.

The best part was that he was nowhere close to reaching his limits, and still had much to grow. Once Tyranitar got more proficient at fighting in close range, I was sure that he would become even more fearsome.

On that note, I had intended to pair off Tyranitar against Tyrant today to see how far they could push each other, but Karen was called away by Agatha in a very last-minute phone call last night. Apparently, something very important had come up and Agatha wanted Karen to be able to take advantage of the opportunity.

When I asked what it was about, Agatha just said that I would be informed very shortly and that it wouldn't be bad news. I spent the whole night pondering about what it could be, and it was only this morning when I received a call from Lance that I realized what it was about.

"John, we need you at the Indigo Plateau as soon as possible." He said urgently, "The Committee is hosting an emergency session about the Gyms."

Oh shit. "Is it as we feared?" I asked while I dashed out of my house.

"Yes. Actually, it's worse than that." He growled, "Come quickly. I'll explain when you get here."

Hanging up the phone, I quickly got on Port and flew quickly towards the Indigo Plateau. I suspected that whatever was troubling Lance likely involved the Pewter Gym, and if canon serves, then I could understand why he had called an emergency meeting. Damn it Flint!

One quick flight later, I landed outside the League building and quickly made my way inside before I was greeted by a very annoyed looking Lance.

"Thanks for coming here so quickly." He said to me hurriedly, "The meeting is starting soon, but the gist is that Gym Leader Flint has apparently run out of his Gym, leaving it to his 13-year-old son, Brock for the time being. And things aren't going well."

That was a colossal understatement if I ever heard one, but I kept my mouth shut considering how mad he currently was.

"So…what's the plan?" I asked.

"No idea." Lance admitted with a frustrated frown, "I pity Brock, but the last few days have seen a surge of complaints from the trainers at the Gym's mismanagement. The Committee is meeting to decide what to do next. Anyways, make your way to the committee meeting, I'll join you in just a moment."

I nodded to him and made my way to where the committee meeting was being held. Looking around, I could see practically everyone had arrived by now, including the other Elite Four members.

I gave a few quick nods to my colleagues in the Elite Four, but Lance arrived before I could say anything to them, the room quickly quieted down as he did.

Lance spoke up from the lectern, "Right, let's not waste any time here. You should all have been briefed about the issues concerning the Gyms, which is why we are hosting this emergency meeting. My apologies if you didn't; we've been trying to move very fast on this and I haven't had the time to inform everyone."

He received nods from around the room and continued, "Firstly, we're starting off with the problem concerning the Pewter Gym, since it's more urgent. To summarize, the supposed current Gym Leader of Pewter, Flint, has run off from the Gym for unknown reasons. I do not care WHY he has run off, but interviews with his 13-year-old son and the current Gym Leader, Brock, suggest that this isn't a temporary thing, and he is unlikely to come back in a short period."

Many people began grumbling, but Lance ignored them, "Worse, the report from the Inspectors have come back, and the Gym has been horribly mismanaged even before this disaster. This issue is only being compounded by the fact that Brock, to no fault of his own, is utterly unable to run his Gym. We have received a mountain of complaints from trainers about the Gym, and thus we must act NOW to resolve this issue."

Lance turned his gaze to the committee, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we need a solution. Putting aside Flint's irresponsibility for now, standard procedure indicates that the League appoint a regent to the Gym to oversee and support the Gym until the Gym Leader turns 16 and reaches their majority. Once there, the committee will once again decide whether to entrust the Gym to their continued hands, or to pass on the Gym to someone more suitable. Do we all vote in favour of this? As a reminder, as this matter involves a Kanto Gym, only those representing Kanto may vote."

Many hands went up at Lance's suggestion, which was unsurprising. What was going to be more debated was WHO would be appointed as regent to the culturally significant Pewter Gym. It was a prestigious position to have, and I was certain there would be a fight over it.

As expected, the vote easily passed through. "Good. Now then, we move onto the matter of WHO we should appoint for this position. Does anyone have any suggestions? And please, one at a time."

The committee almost immediately descended into chaos as everyone from the Kanto contingent of the committee instantly began nominating themselves or someone that they were politically connected to. It was almost like watching the beginnings of a brawl, with how the committee members were glaring each other and vying for Lance's attention.

I rolled my eyes and began to tune things out before I heard a very familiar quiet cackle from my right. Turning to the noise, I saw Agatha staring at the committee members with an evil grin on her face.

Then she slammed her walking cane against a nearby chair, toppling it over and drawing the gaze of everyone in the room.

"My word, you lot truly are rude aren't you. You wouldn't even let an old lady speak. Look at what you made me do just to get your attention." She cackled mockingly, ignoring the glares that she was getting for her interruption. She turned to Lance; her voice laced with sarcasm. "Oh, Champion Lance, if you could allow this old Elite Four member to speak."

Lance raised an amused eyebrow and gestured for her to proceed, which she did with a large and confident smirk on her face, "It seems like the committee, as usual, is unable to decide and choose instead to waste everyone's time by squabbling over it." She received more glares, "However, instead of having them fight over it and creating more unnecessary delays, why not give the position to me, at least temporarily?"

"You?!" Lance asked with surprise, which was likely shared by everyone in the room, me included. "YOU want to be become regent of Pewter? Why?"

"Not just me alone, but I'll be getting my apprentice to assist me." She said, and this time my eyebrows rose to my hair, "As for the reason, who else is it going to be, Lance? Everyone here knows that I'm more than experienced enough, and it prevents these idiots from having to fight over it and wasting more of everyone's time."

"And it's not like the others could do it. They don't have the experience." She pointed out, "No offence intended to our dear new Elite Four members." She said, shooting false smiles at us. We all brushed her off.

Lance looked curious, "…That may be true, but are you sure you want the position? Especially because it's only temporarily. It just seems quite sudden. And will you be able to handle both your duties as an Elite Four member and as regent?"

"Of course. I might be old…" She gestured to her walking cane for emphasis, "But I'm not about to quit the Elite Four just yet, even if many within the committee probably want me to fall down a flight of stairs." She cackled, receiving more unamused glares from the committee.

She continued, "As you said, I'll just be holding the position temporarily. A few months at most to make sure that the Gym doesn't fall apart before the committee makes a decision. In the meanwhile, you lot in the committee would be free to bicker and shake whatever hands you need to before you all can agree to appointing a more permanent regent to the position."

"And how do we know that you're capable of running the Gym?" An unknown committee member spoke up, rather foolishly in my opinion.

"Are you deaf? Do you need your ears fixed? Or perhaps you should get a new pair of eyes as well since you clearly seem to be blind." Agatha retorted with a mocking sneer, "And you all call me old. I know how to run a Gym, I can guarantee you it's much easier than what I've been doing with Lavender Town all this time."

She tapped her cane on the floor, "Besides, if that fool Blaine could run a Gym where he always has his head in some project or another, then I can guarantee you that I could do it too. And since you clearly weren't listening properly, my apprentice will provide the necessary youthful energy and enthusiasm where I lack. The Gym will work fine underneath our oversight."

"But you aren't even a Rock type trainer!" A different committee member said, equally foolishly I thought.

"Bah! If you think that I need to be a Rock type trainer to handle a first Badge Gym, then you need to reconsider re-entering schooling. Or is the old rumour true that many committee members earn their positions without having ever fought a Gym battle in their life?" Agatha scoffed dismissively, "Any other foolish questions, or can we move the discussion back to Champion Lance so we can finally vote and get this out of the way?"

The committee grumbled, but they eventually went silent, and a satisfied Agatha turned back to Lance and gestured for him to continue.

Lance gave her a nod before he addressed the committee once again, "As per Elite Agatha's words, we'll be moving onto the voting stage. Does the majority agree to appoint Agatha as the temporary regent of Pewter for 2 months until a more permanent one can be found?"

At this point, I felt that the Kanto portion of the committee understood where the winds were blowing, even if it bristled them to do so. Even though Agatha's appointment to regent was unusual, the fact that it was ultimately a temporary appointment likely soothed a few ruffled feathers. I bet they would have fought against it much harder if Agatha's appointment was to be permanent.

Regardless, after a few more murmurings from the committee, a majority eventually agreed and voted for Agatha's temporary appointment as the regent of Pewter Gym, to very tepid applause. Then, in an attempt to limit the inevitable political gridlock that comes with fighting over a position, Lance stated that if the committee failed to agree on who would become the permanent regent after those 2 months, then Lance will be given authority to appoint whomever he liked.

This put an effective deadline on the discussions, since I was certain that no one from Kanto would want a Johto Champion to be making decisions regarding a Kanto Gym. And I idly wondered who would become the new regent afterwards. Plus, I hoped, for Brock's sake, that he would be given the opportunity to learn as much as he can to hopefully salvage the Gym's reputation ever since Flint left it in the dust.

I turned to Agatha, wanting to speak to her, but she signalled to me that now wasn't the time and that we would speak later. I just nodded.

With the discussions regarding the Pewter Gym over, Lance moved on to the next topic. "Unfortunately, the Pewter Gym was not the only Gym in need of League intervention. The next topic is regarding the newly vacated Mahogany Gym, and what we should do with it."

Many eyes snapped to Lorelei, who seemed to shrink into herself in embarrassment. However, as if a switch had been flicked, her expression changed and she forced herself to stand tall, staring down haughtily at all those questioning gazes, as if to dare them to speak out against her or question her decision. It worked, and many within the committee averted their eyes elsewhere.

But with me standing so close to Lorelei, I knew that her haughty façade was just that, a façade. She seemed like she was desperately trying to project strength; likely from understanding how shaky of a position that she was in and was trying to deter those from questioning her position and strength within the Elite Four. I approved.

Which reminded me of the fact that Lorelei was sent to inspect the Johto Gyms. I wondered how that went? I doubted many of her interactions would have been friendly as mine were with the Kanto Gym Leaders.

Regardless, I refocused myself as Lance continued speaking, "With Lorelei having moved up to the Elite Four with no immediately apparent successor, a replacement Gym Leader MUST be found. Does anyone from the Johto section of the committee have any suggestions?"

It was amusing to see how the Johto members of the committee darted their eyes around nervously as they all seemingly tried to avoid answering the question. Some even shot Lorelei expectant glances, as if hoping that she would speak up on their behalf.

The reasons for their actions were obvious; no one wanted to be the person to suggest Pryce to become the Gym Leader. Not because he wasn't suitable; he clearly had the reputation and the experience to handle a Gym. But rather, it was because no one wanted to be seen as the person to support Pryce, not after his reputation was torn to tatters after his fall from grace. After all, many in the public still hadn't forgiven Pryce for his gross mismanagement of Indigo.

It was so bad that many of Pryce's ex-supporters, at least those who hadn't been already voted out and replaced, were refusing to raise it up. None of them were fanatical enough with their support of Pryce that they were willing to risk their political careers like this.

Even Lorelei was staying silent, which to be fair wasn't all that surprising considering how badly she was almost screwed over by her uncle's actions. I guess she was very reasonably nursing a grudge against him.

After a moment of silence, where no one volunteered to say anything, Lance let out a huge sigh. "Fine. I can guess the reason for your hesitance, so I'll be the one to say it. I may have my differences with him, but I cannot deny he is suitable for the position. Therefore, I am willing to put aside any previous animosity with him, and thus am nominating ex-Champion Pryce to become the new Mahogany Gym Leader. Please vote on it."

I raised an eyebrow, impressed by how Lance worded it. The way he phrased it made it seem like he was willing to put aside his grievances in order to acknowledge his former rival and offer him a prestigious position. Furthermore, I figured that giving a position like this to Pryce would help placate his older supporters, both within the committee and the public, since Pryce still had people who even now were hoping for his reinstatement as Champion.

He probably did this intentionally so that if and when this gets released to the news, it would likely show Lance in a very positive light for being forgiving and not holding on to unnecessary grudges.

Likewise, now that someone else had nominated Pryce, the Johto committee members all jumped to vote in favour of his appointment. With Pryce's appointment having the Champion's blessing, none wanted to miss out on the bandwagon. They likely wanted to be similarly seen as being 'forgiving' and 'soft-handed'; all good adjectives for any politician seeking to stay in power.

I noticed that Lorelei wearing a complicated expression on her face. Maybe she didn't want to leave her uncle in the lurch, or did she fear a resurgence of her uncle's authority over her?

Either way, Pryce was easily voted and appointed to become the new Gym Leader of Mahogany. Hopefully he had learnt his lesson after his eviction from being Champion and had or was in the process of turning over a new leaf.

With those 2 more urgent emergencies out of the way, Lance also announced a few more positive news to the committee. "Finally, I have some more positive announcements to make for the committee. Fortunately, the report from the inspectors regarding the Olivine Gym have not been as bad as initially feared, so League intervention is not directly at such a time. Instead, with the Gym Leader of Olivine stepping down, they have nominated young Jasmine as their replacement, as per the previous wishes of the Gym Leader."

The committee broke out into hushed whispers, but Lance continued, "As Jasmine has already reached her majority, the League need not send and observer to oversee their management of the Olivine Gym. Instead, we will be monitoring the Gym regularly to ensure that it has not received too many complaints. We wish Jasmine all the best as the new Gym Leader."

That got a few polite claps from the committee. As for me, I was pleasantly surprised to see Jasmine appointed as Gym Leader; I liked what I saw when she bravely helped me out during the attack at Olivine. I wished her all the best.

Lance waited for the applause to die down before resuming, "Lastly, there have been no other concerns or complaints, beyond some very minor paperwork errors, from the other Gyms of Indigo. I am proud to say that the Indigo Gyms are running optimally, and that we at the League see no concerning issues regarding this year's circuit."

That got another round of applause from everyone. "And that's all I have to say regarding today's Committee meeting. Thank you all for coming."

With that done, everyone started making their way out. Before I left though, I approached Agatha to ask her a few questions.

"Was this why you pulled Karen away so urgently?" I whispered to her as we began leaving the League building. We had stayed back for long enough that none were around to overhear us.

"Of course." She replied, some exasperation in her tone. "Once I overheard from a few sources of mine that Lance was about to host an urgent meeting like this…well the idea just sprung to mind. It seemed like a waste to let this opportunity go. Besides, it'll be better for the Pewter Gym if we were assigned to them over some fool picked by the committee. They run things too by the book." She smirked.

"This is a fantastic opportunity for me too." She continued, "Taking control of a Gym like this – even if temporarily, is great optics. I have plans for this regarding Lavender Town – but you don't have to know about that." Her smirk turned into a mysterious smile; obviously hiding more than she was saying.

"And I won't actually be doing much of the work – I'll leave it to Karen to sort things out. It'll be a good test to see if she can learn on the fly." She added smugly. "Besides, the position is only going to be held for 2 months anyways. That's short enough that she'll be free to pursue other things before the Indigo Conference occurs. It's not a big commitment."

"And I suppose the fact that it allows you to train up Karen in things other than battling is just a perfect coincidence which just so happens to be useful for a potential run for the Elite Four, isn't it?" I replied rhetorically, rolling my eyes. I left out the fact that Agatha was practically dumping all of the work on her. That was just a given, knowing Agatha.

"Naturally. We don't want people to think that Karen is undeserving of her position because she won based on pure strength alone." Agatha said, "I intend for her to be my successor in every way that matters. No doubt such a task would stress her out significantly, especially as I will be doing little else but observing her actions, but that is the price that she agreed to pay when she said she would follow in my footsteps."

"She'll be the de-facto regent for a majority of the Gym's decisions." Agatha continued explaining, "She'll either make something or herself, or she won't, and I'll take up the reins in her place and readjust my plans to account for her incompetency. Either way, I'm able to advance my own plans."

I nodded, unsurprised at the harshness of her words. In Agatha's eyes, time was running short, and Karen had to be whipped into shape sooner rather than later. I expected future preparations to follow a similar path.

"It does mean that Karen will have less time to train, though." I pointed out.

"You say like that is a concern." Agatha shot back with a grin, "I heard from her about her newly evolved Tyranitar. It's about time she got something that could actually stand up and take a hit. Good job on that, by the way. You helped her evolve it earlier than I expected."

I quickly accepted her thanks which she waved off, "Don't think anything of it, boy. It was part of our deal, after all. Your help in exchange for my support. Speaking of which, I was fully expecting your relationship to have progressed by this point. And yet you and Karen still aren't making kissy eyes at each other. What went wrong? Or do your eyes wander elsewhere?"

I bristled at her words, though at this point I knew she was intentionally trying to rile me up, "We actually spoke about it." I said, meeting her stare as I tried to project a sense of calm. "I'm not sure if she told you the reason, and I won't be the one to disclose it if she hasn't, but we've come to an understanding about how things will proceed in the future."

"Ah, it's to do with that nonsense about her hang-ups, isn't it." She bit out with an annoyed sigh, "No need to respond, I already know all about. Unfortunately, despite my sage advice, she stubbornly refuses to listen to me and continues holding on to her past experiences." Despite the harshness of her voice, a hint of worry lingered in her tone. She still cared.

But I couldn't help and let out my own sigh, my true feelings coming to the fore. "I can't say I'm completely satisfied with that response, but it's not like I have my eyes on anyone else at the moment." I admitted, and Agatha sported a devilish grin at my words. However, I thought I spotted a glint of relief as well.

"HAH! She must have been glad to hear that." She barked out a laugh, "Well, as her guardian, I won't deny that I'm pleased to hear it, though I personally wouldn't blame you if you looked elsewhere. Obviously, I'd prefer you didn't – both of you are my greatest investments, after all, but my plans are adaptable for a reason. I can work with whatever happens."

"How do you mean?" I asked, though by this point I had an idea of her intentions.

Agatha just shot me another mysterious smile before her shadow elongated and she disappeared into it, leaving me all alone at the entrance to the League building.

I let out another sigh. At least whatever she was intending likely wasn't malicious. With that small comfort in mind, I flew back home and got ready to continue my training and preparations for Bruno.

Today's meeting about the Gyms were undoubtedly important, but I was honestly more concerned about winning my match. The match was only a week away, after all.

And I had a title to defend. And a challenger to crush.