174-177

The New Normal – 9-1 – The Indigo Circuit

"It's so much warmer here." Will muttered to me as we stood near the railings of the boat, facing towards the docks of Vermillion City in the distance.

"I prefer the cold, but Sinnoh was a little too cold at times." I agreed, "You ready to return to your usual duties?"

"Of course!" He replied instantly, his head bobbing up and down, "Fulfilling the duties of an Elite Four is an honour!" He said pompously.

"…Though I admit that I might be a little out of practice with how long we spent in Sinnoh." He confessed sheepishly, "It's very different when you have less pressure on you."

"I get it." I responded, especially because Will must have known that he was due to be challenged sometime soon, but I didn't need to bring that up, "You got any plans for when you get back? Personal ones, I mean."

He rubbed his chin, "Not that I can recall. Most, if not all, of my plans revolve around business meetings and catching up with associates, especially with what's going on with the events at Sinnoh. I have a few friends I'd like to meet up with, but those aren't so urgent."

"You read about that Pokémon storage thing?" He asked me.

"I did." I nodded, "Very interesting stuff. I look forward to seeing it in use. What about you?"

"…I'm having a little trouble thinking about the possibilities right now, but I at least know that it opens a lot of new avenues for businesses in the future." He said, "I think I'm going to speak to a few of my associates to see what they think. Maybe we can hold a conference to discuss the implications."

I nodded, expecting nothing less from the business-minded Will. Before our chatter could continue, the blare of the ship's horn notified us of our arrival to Indigo. Now that we were closer, we could see many people had gathered along the Vermillion City pier and were waving huge banners at us, many of them congratulating us for our efforts and our safe return.

I couldn't help but smile. As nice as Sinnoh was, especially since Cynthia was there, it just couldn't replace the feeling of home.

A short moment later, the exit ramp from the ship descended, and we made our way off the ship, finally stepping on the ground of Indigo, of home, once again.

"Welcome back." Lance smiled at us, hosting the welcome ceremony once again.

But to my astonishment, there was one other person with him, "Yes, yes, enough with the sentimentality. Everyone knows how nice it is to be home blah blah blah. Let's get a move on." Agatha said sarcastically, "And John! You have visitors!"

I gave her a curious look before my eyes widened with surprise as four familiar figures walked up to me. Or, more precisely, three figures walked up to me and one immediately went and glomped me.

"WELCOME BACK BRO!" The cheery voice of my sister shouted out as she wrapped me in a tight hug. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her too as we shared a familial hug, one that we hadn't shared in quite some time.

"Whitney? What are you doing here?" I still had to ask.

But instead of Whitney answering, Sabrina replied in her stead, "Whitney knew that you were coming home, so since we were mostly in the area, she begged us to come so that she could see her beloved brother." She tried her best to maintain her usual stoic expression, but the slight twitch of her lips betrayed her smirk.

Whitney pouted, "Hey! I didn't word it like that!"

"But you don't deny begging us to let you visit your brother?" Janine challenged, joining in on making fun of my sister.

Whitney pursed her lips, but didn't respond as she instead chose to just bury her head deeper into my stomach.

"They all seem very excited to see you." Karen spoke up, chuckling over the antics of my sister and her friends, "You seem like quite the popular man."

Karen's appearance caused a complicated expression to form on my face. I owed it to her to provide an explanation, especially since I valued her as a friend, but it wasn't going to be easy.

"Indeed he is." Lance said as he walked up with Will and Agatha, unknowingly cutting off what I was about to say, "I was going to ask how you were doing, but I can see that you're quite preoccupied at the moment."

"Sorry." I said as I tried to extract myself from Whitney's grasp, "Was there anything you needed me for?"

Lance shook his head, "No, nothing so urgent. And definitely not anything we can't talk about over the phone. I'll leave you to your friends and family, we can talk later."

"Wait, Lance." I called out to him before he could walk away, "I have something to speak with you about, in private. But it's not immediately urgent and can wait for later."

He shot me a curious look, but then nodded slowly, "I see. I'll await our conversation then." Then he walked off with Will. Agatha lingered around and gave me a searching look, but otherwise just left me alone as she slowly hobbled after the two of them.

I turned to Karen, "Any idea what that was about?" I asked, but she just shrugged back.

"You think the hag tells me everything?" She asked sarcastically.

"…She is very scary." Sabrina suddenly whispered out, visibly shivering, "Her presence…how can you guys not feel it?"

"I did not feel anything out of the ordinary." Janine said, "It's not like you to be this unnerved, Sabrina."

Sabrina just shook her head, "…I envy you for not being able to sense it." All of us fell into an awkward silence at that, none of us really knowing what to say.

But fortunately Whitney decided to speak up, blatantly changing the topic. "Anyways, John! You need to hang out with us! It's been so long since we went out together! You don't have anything to right now, right?"

I shook my head, "Not right now, no–"

"Then that's great!" She quickly interrupted me, grabbing my hand and dragging me along, "Let's go then! There's this restaurant that I've always wanted to eat at. And since you're paying, I can finally go!"

"Since when was I paying?" I chuckled.

Whitney just rolled her eyes at me, "Of course you are! What kind of big brother lets their little sister pay for them?"

"She's got you there." Karen laughed, with Sabrina and Janine nodding sagely next to her. These brats – none of them even had siblings!

Obviously, I caved and just followed after my sister and her friends as they brought me to the restaurant that she mentioned. It wasn't nearly as expensive as I feared; my sister knew better than to make me treat her to something overly expensive. Even if I COULD afford it.

Over lunch, we got to chatting about what we all had been doing. They were most interested in my adventures in Sinnoh, so I started off with that, making sure to leave out anything that I wasn't allowed to reveal just yet.

"Wow!" My sister exclaimed, "I want to do some cave exploring too! It sounds so fun!"

"It's quite dangerous." I chided, "I wouldn't recommend it until you got stronger."

"I'm plenty strong." She pouted, "Just ask Sabie and Janine! We're looking to clear out final Gym badge, if we can." She then went on an explanation about how they went through all of the Gyms, with Sabrina and Janine adding bits and pieces here and there. Karen and I just nodded silently as we listened to her journey.

I did my best to not think about my upcoming conversation with Karen.

"I'm glad you're having so much fun, Whitney." Karen smiled at her, "You seem more energetic and confident than before you left. I mean you weren't bad before, but now I really feel like you're starting to come into your own."

"Couldn't agree more." I nodded, rubbing my sister on the head and messing up her hair, "I'm very proud of you, Whitney." I told her sincerely.

She blushed and looked away from me, "Thanks, bro." She mumbled. Both Sabrina and Janine just shot her cheeky smiles, but I wasn't done yet.

"And the both of you two, thank you for taking care of my overly energetic sister." I bowed to them, ignoring the "hey!" from my sister. This time the two of them joined Whitney as they also grew a blush.

"It's no problem. We've been very happy to travel together as well." They told me, "Whitney is a natural leader, and she helped us stay focused and determined on what we want."

"Speaking of which, what DO you want?" Karen cut in, "You mentioned getting the 8th Gym Badge from Giovanni, but what are you going to do after if you're successful?"

The girls shared a look, a silent conversation passing through the trio. Eventually, Janine spoke for the three of them. "We've agreed to try our hand at the Indigo Conference. We probably won't make it very far, since we don't know if we can even get past Giovanni…but we wanted to give it our best attempt. See how far we can go right now, and how far we still need to go."

Karen's eyes widened, "That's very early of you. While it isn't extremely uncommon for trainers your age to already have cleared 8 badges and get into the Indigo Conference, it certainly is rare enough for it to be noteworthy."

"I wasn't that young when I attempted it." I added.

Whitney rolled her eyes, "Yes, but you swept past your conference and got into the Elite Four." She said dryly, "I'm not quite at your level yet, John."

"I was also sixteen." I pointed out, "You're still just 11. You have time to catch up. In fact, I think you're already doing better than me."

"I feel like you're understating your achievement there, John." Karen said wryly, "I wasn't at your level a year ago, and I'm the same age."

"Hold on." I suddenly interrupted, "Is the Indigo Conference already starting up this soon? Time must have flown by when I was in Sinnoh."

Karen nodded, "Yes, the qualifiers are starting up in like a month or something." She looked at me weirdly, "Don't you remember? We even spoke about it."

"Must have slipped my mind." I shrugged, "Is it in the same format?" I asked, to which everyone nodded.

The format of the Indigo Conference was split into the open qualifiers, where it was an open invitation for all trainers that had collected all 8 Gym Battles at any point in their trainer career to participate in. For experienced and talented trainers, this stage was more of a chore to go through than anything else, as you had to take part in multiple 1v1 battles just to pass. To use Karen as an example, she should have no problems here, but it would be just a huge waste of time.

Then the next stage was the Preliminary rounds, with 256 trainers at the start. The preliminaries consisted of 2v2 (but not double) battles, where to head onto the next stage you needed to secure 3 wins. I felt that Whitney and her friends would likely struggle here, as any trainer that reached this level would be decently competent and may have a trick or two up their sleeve.

The final stage was the Finals. This took the top 32 and pitted them randomly against each other in 3v3 battles. Up until the final round, which was a full 6v6. This was the most intense part of the tournament, and the battles that attracted the most views since this was where all the high-level battles were at. I personally didn't struggle at all with the Indigo Conference until entering this stage.

But I was fortunate that my year didn't have that many powerful trainers. And due to the luck of the draw, I never faced off against Lorelei. Shin ended up defeating her, but if I was honest, he wasn't that much of a challenge either. Though I doubted Karen would get so lucky during her run. I suspected a few powerful trainers might be making another attempt this year.

I broke myself from my thoughts, "Anyways, so what are you three doing after the Indigo Conference? Got any plans for afterwards?" I turned back towards the trio.

Sabrina answered this time, "I think Janine and I are likely going to have to return to our Gyms and work on our duties there. Both of our parents have expressed their intention to train us to be their successors."

I was about to ask about Whitney, but Whitney spoke up first, "But don't worry bro! They said they'd speak to their parents to offer me a job there! I might get to work as a Gym trainer at one of their Gyms!"

My eyes widened, "Really?"

Janine nodded, "Both of us reached out to our parents. Unfortunately, Father said that they didn't have space within the Gym to accommodate Whitney so soon, but Sabrina's parents were happy to let her join."

"That's a great opportunity." Karen exclaimed, "Running a Gym isn't easy – I would know since Agatha dumped it all on me, but you'll get to learn a lot. Working with low level Pokémon can occasionally open your mind to creative new ways of fighting. And you'll learn some important leadership skills, which I've found to be plenty useful."

"My parents said the same." Sabrina agreed, "And it will be nice training if Whitney ever wanted to be a Gym Leader in the future too."

"That's not very likely." My sister said with a smile, though I could see that it was a brittle one. Maybe she was feeling left out because she wasn't a successor of a Gym like her friends?

Well that wouldn't do at all, "Hey, if you work hard, Whitney, then maybe you can end up being a Gym Leader too! I didn't expect to become an Elite Four when I started my journey, and look where I ended up!" I tried to reassure her.

Fortunately, it looks like my efforts had succeeded as my sister's smile turned more genuine, "Thanks, bro. I'll try my best."

"It'll be so nice if you three all became Gym Leaders." Karen chuckled, "What a power bloc you three would be." I laughed at that.

We continued to chat some more, returning to our forgotten lunches and quickly chowing through them. But eventually I had enough of beating around the bush.

"Karen, can we talk?" I suddenly asked, and Karen shot me a look of surprise at my tone.

"Something wrong, bro?" My sister turned to me, realising the serious look I had on my face.

"It's just between me and Karen." I tried to smile back, patting her reassuringly on the head. "Don't worry, I'll make sure it doesn't affect you."

Whitney stared at me uncertainly, but I ignored that and stood up from the table, walking a small distance away with Karen until I was sure no one was able to eavesdrop on our conversation.

"…So, what is it you want to talk about?" She asked, trying but failing to hide her nervousness, "It's not like you to interrupt your sister when she's in a good mood."

"Because I felt like I owed it our friendship to tell you in person as soon as possible." I responded.

I looked her dead in the eye, "I'm seeing Cynthia. Romantically, that is."

Karen physically took a step back as if I had hit her. "Wha–what?!"

The shock had hit her intensely. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open like a Magikarp. I didn't say anything as I allowed her to process my words.

It took a moment for her to steady herself, but she managed a response, "…And how long ago did you two become a thing?"

"Very recently." I admitted, "We had a conversation just before I left Sinnoh. I wanted to tell you then, but I felt like it was better if I did it in person."

"I see…" She mumbled out as she closed her eyes. She didn't look very happy about this, not that I was surprised about that.

It hurt to see her like this, especially since I still thought of Karen as a very close friend. But I had made my choice.

"Despite that, I still really value our friendship." I added, hopefully trying to reassure her. "I understand that things might be…awkward for a while, but I would really regret losing out on our friendship."

"…No, I understand." She sighed out, and I purposely ignored the tears that threatened to leak out of her eyes, "I…I'm sorry, John. But would you mind…if you gave me a moment to process all this? I'm…I'm not sure on what to say at the moment."

"You can have all the time you need." I said gently, "And to make things clear, this doesn't change my open invitation for you to visit my house or Whitney at any time. You are always welcome to spend time with my family."

The smile she shot me was brittle, but sincere, "…Thank you, John. I…I'll speak to you later, I guess?"

"Of course." I tried to smile reassuringly, "Let's talk soon."

I watched as Karen walked away, before she released her Honchkrow and flew off into the distance. As soon as she left, I let out a big sigh.

That didn't go as badly as I feared, but I still didn't like doing it. I didn't like seeing Karen upset.

I stood there for a moment, simply staring out at the open skies for a moment before I finally decided to return to Whitney and her friends with a complicated expression on my face. One that they instantly picked up on.

"Where's Karen?" Whitney immediately asked me.

"…She had to go." I began evasively, before letting out a sigh. There was no point hiding the truth. "Whitney, the truth is – I've began dating Cynthia."

"…Oh." Whitney exclaimed, and the looks I got from Sabrina and Janine were no less surprising, "Do you regret it?"

"…Not at all." I shook my head, "I'm just sad Karen was going to be hurt by it."

I thought Whitney was going to berate me for making her 'sister' upset, but instead Whitney just reached out and pulled me into a hug, "Then you don't need to feel sad. I know Karen. She's strong. She'll get over it."

Whitney turned to me with a brilliant smile, "Besides, I know that you both will stay friends. So don't worry about it, bro, everything will be okay."

This time I felt my own tears forming in my eyes. How in Arceus did I get such a lovely sister?

Unfortunately, our moment was interrupted as my phone started to ring. I gave my phone a look of annoyance that quickly turned to surprise as I saw who was calling.

"John here." I picked up.

"John, it's me." Professor Oak greeted, causing me to stand up straight, "It's nothing urgent, but would you mind coming over to my place in Pallet Town? It's the house next to the lab. I've got someone to introduce to you, following on from what we talked about before about you building up a team of assistants for you."

Oh yes! I nearly forgot about that, "Sure, I'll head there right away. Thanks for the reminder."

He chuckled, "Not a problem. See you there!"

I put away my phone and saw the questioning looks on everyone's face, "Professor Oak just wanted me to meet his granddaughter." I explained, "I've been thinking about finally putting a team of assistants together, and he asked me for a favour to recruit his granddaughter as an intern just so she could learn the ropes."

"Oooh! How old is she?" My sister asked excitedly, "Is she nice? Is she a good trainer? If she's the granddaughter of Professor Oak, then she must be strong!"

"In order, I don't know, I don't know, and that doesn't mean she has to be strong." I responded dryly, getting a pout from my sister, "But that's why I'm meeting her now."

"Aww….we wanted to ask you to battle us…" My sister whined.

I patted her on the head, "Maybe next time. I definitely won't be sent off on any overseas trips anytime soon, barring any emergencies. So I'll definitely be around."

"You promised!" My sister pointed a finger at me, though she quickly lowered it as she rubbed her chin, "Maybe we can get Karen to join? Make it a 2v3?"

I shot her a complicated look, "…Depends if Karen wants to. Maybe we should give her some time to herself for now."

"That's fine." Whitney nodded, "And don't worry bro, I'll talk to her and make sure she's okay. Leave it to me."

"Thank you, Whitney." I said sincerely, "Then I'll entrust her to you."

=====

​It didn't take me long to get there. I landed just outside the lab and walked to the nearby house. It was an unassuming place, looking like every other house in the small town. It didn't even have any extra security features or any obvious luxuries that a man of his wealth and status might have invested in. It was a very humble home that wasn't at all what one would expect for someone as legendary as Professor Oak.

But I suppose that's why he chose this house in the first place. The humbleness must have been part of the appeal.

I only had to knock on the door a few times before it swung open, and I was greeted with a very diminutive little boy.

"Elite John? Grandpa is in the back." The young Gary Oak greeted me. He was a small one, and didn't dare show me any of that arrogance and pompousness that he had in the show.

Maybe because he knew this wasn't the time and place for that.

"Thank you." I nodded towards him and made my way back to the back parlour. The house was more spacious inside, and it was well-furnished with rather luxurious furniture. Yet, it still didn't give off a feeling that it was overly gaudy, weaving a fine line between luxury and humble.

Entering the back parlour, I found Professor Oak sitting there calmly sipping a cup of tea while a girl, who could only be Daisy Oak, vibrated nervously next to him. She was young – still much older than Gary, but looked like she just entered her teens.

"Ah, John! Thanks for coming on such short notice." Professor Oak stood up and greeted me.

"It's not a problem." I turned to look at Daisy, "Is this Daisy?"

Daisy squirmed a little under my gaze, but Oak just laughed, "She is. She's just being a bit shy now. She's usually better than this when meeting strangers. It must be your status."

"…He's also going to be my first employer." I heard Daisy whisper.

"You've worked jobs for me before." Oak pointed out.

"Those don't count." Daisy denied, "Working with someone else is different….Uh, no offense, Elite John."

"Please, just call me John." I smiled, trying to not seem so intimidating, "And I'll be happy to have you on the team. Speaking of which, I do actually need to get that team sorted. I still haven't actually returned home to speak to my parents yet."

"Oh! I'm so sorry for dragging you away from that." Oak apologized, "I didn't realize."

I quickly waved him off, "It's fine, I was just having lunch with my sister anyways. And I did promise to meet and talk to you about Daisy anyways."

"Well, at least I hope I haven't bothered you too much." Oak responded a little embarrassedly. "Anyways, have you a plan for what Daisy is going to be doing?"

I froze. I hadn't actually really thought about that yet, "Uh…I don't think I've really thought things through. I just thought I needed a team of assistants to help me out with things, help take calls and keep a track of things. That sort of stuff."

Oak gave me a knowing smile, "It's okay, I didn't know how to administrate and lead people at first. Doing so in battle is one thing, but doing so in an office setting is a very different story."

I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks, but Oak continued, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. But you had the right things down. So what kind of calls did you hope for your assistants to take? What kind of things would you like to check up on?"

"I guess I realized with all my political connections I need some way of easily keeping in touch with what's going on." I answered, "I'm juggling quite a few things at the moment, and I would also like a finger on the pulse of what's going on in the Indigo League just in case I need to step in."

"For example, when I was in Sinnoh, I practically lost track of everything that was going on here. If not for Lance and his updates, I would have been completely out of the loop." I explained, "So, I preferably would like to have a small team or something just monitoring the Committee at all times and reporting back to me on their actions. Nothing too complicated for now." Daisy perked up at the last part.

"That could easily be done." Oak nodded, "I'm sure your parents could find you people for that quite easily. Just tell Lance that you're hiring a small team of assistants, literally one or two people, and just get them to work alongside Lance's own secretaries or assistants. He'll get the extra hands, and you'll get your information. That's what I taught my Elite Four to do."

"And even better, you could get them to set up a PO box for you for people to reach you with. You currently don't have anything like that at the moment, right?" Oak asked, and I shook my head, "Excellent! Then that'll give you the public a way to communicate with you in a way that gives a professional amount of distance between you and them. It's a great way to expand your influence and make you more likeable."

I blinked, "That's a great idea. I'll be stealing that." I chuckled, "Though, if my assistants were to shadow Lance's, wouldn't that come into issues with confidentiality?"

"You really overestimate how many documents a Champion gets that are for his eyes only." Oak said wryly, "And even then, his assistants are trained to separate those documents away from prying eyes. You'll be fine."

"Is there anything else you wanted to ask?" Oak asked with a smile, "I might be out of the political game, but I do enjoy the occasional discussion."

"No…not at the moment." I replied after thinking it over, "Thank you for all the advice. And Daisy, sorry for that display. I should have been more prepared."

"It's fine." She told me, "It's nice to know that even the Elite Four can also make mistakes."

I couldn't help but laugh at her bluntness, "Yes, that's very true. So there's no need to be afraid or intimidated when working for me, you got that? I'm human, just like everyone else." This time she nodded at my words, and I gave her a smile. I was glad that she had gotten over her nervousness.

I turned back to Oak, "Right, I think I should speak to my parents about who to hire on. But I'll get back to you as soon as I figure that part out. I won't forget about Daisy." I got up from my seat and began to leave.

"I'm sure you won't." Oak stood up with me and patted me on the shoulder, "It's good to see you making waves. Though, if I could give one last piece of advice." I nodded.

"Your integrity is THE most important thing you could have as a famous trainer and politician. Don't EVER lose it." He advised me seriously.

"I'll keep that in mind." I replied solemnly.

"Good. Then I'm reassured that Indigo is in safe hands." He smiled. "Keep up the good work, John, and welcome back home." I stayed over a bit longer over a cup of tea as we made some small talk while I got to know Daisy a bit better and vice versa.

But I didn't stay for too much longer. After finishing up with my drink, I thanked him once again before exiting his house, but only after waving good bye to Gary – who had been trying to eavesdrop on our conversation through the door – and made my way back home.

It was good to be back.

The New Normal – 9-2 – Building a Team

"Welcome home, son." My mother and father greeted me at the door. "How was your journey?"

"It was good. I made some new friends." We then moved to the dining table, where we continued our discussion over dinner. I wanted to ask about the list of employees that they had shortlisted for me, but that could come after I regaled them about my time in Sinnoh.

I should have expected this, but as soon as I mentioned my time with Cynthia it became all that my mother wanted to know about; and she ignored everything else in favour of asking more and probing deeper into my interactions with her.

A mother's intuition was a frightening thing.

Eventually, I came clean. I saw no harm in telling my parents about it, since I knew they were not one to gossip, and I would be impossible to hide the sudden awkwardness between myself and Karen when she next visited.

Plus, they were my parents. They deserved to know.

So I kept it short, summarising how Cynthia and I met and how we got close to each other and how our relationship developed. My mom stared at me all the while with a knowing smile on her face, which only grew larger after she saw the locket that I had of her.

"I'm very happy for you, dear." My mom eventually said as I finished my explanation, "Long distance relationships can be difficult, and it requires both parties to put in the work for the relationship to work. But if you truly care about each other, then distance is no obstacle."

"Be careful to not let your respective ambitions corrupt your relationship though." My dad warned, "Ambition can be a good thing, but make sure it doesn't taint your interactions with each other."

I nodded, "I'll keep it in mind, though Cynthia and I have already talked about that."

My mom smiled and patted me on the back, "It's good that you chose someone so mature and wise, then."

Then she sighed, "Have you told Karen?"

I frowned, "…I already spoke with her. She's…coming to terms with it. Whitney promised to check up on her on my behalf. I told her that I didn't want our friendship to end because of this, and that she's always welcome here if she wants, but I'm just giving her space for now."

"That's good." My mom said, "It's a shame, though. I don't doubt your choice with Cynthia – by all means I think she would be good for you, but I always thought you and Karen had potential."

My dad spoke up, "Never mind that. As long as you made your choice and don't regret it, then there's nothing to think about. Let's not burden John with more unnecessary thoughts like this." He told my mom, who nodded.

"Anyways, John, the new offices have been doing better than we hoped." My dad explained, blatantly changing the topic, which I appreciated, "Having an actual official place of office has really allowed us to centralize a lot of our administration, saving us a lot of time that we would have otherwise wasted. Of course, it helps that the business is growing at a steady pace as well – we even had to increase the capacity of the Johto farm to keep up with demand. Your uncle Milton was ecstatic at handling so many Miltank!"

"Everyone wants to buy the Moomoo milk from your brand, John." My mom grinned at me, "It seems your public appeal is increasing by the minute."

"It's hardly my brand." I disagreed, ignoring my mom's needling, "Any ideas about that expansion into Mauville?"

"We did consider it, but we think it's safer to wait a bit longer first. Especially with the new markets being opened in Sinnoh." My dad explained, "We want to see how the markets react to that first."

I nodded; that was an understandable explanation, "But I assume you have no plans to move to Sinnoh?"

"Definitely not." My mom replied, "We can't afford it."

We chatted away at a few more things about the business, but then we switched topics again and I told them about my plans to open up the Cerulean Cave for expeditions, and asked my parents about their opinion about it.

My dad laughed when he heard it, "It seems like you really enjoyed your time with Cynthia!"

My mom elbowed him, "Don't tease him like that." Then she smiled at me, "Anyways, I think it's a great idea. Neither of us are trainers or cave-explorers, so we don't know the slightest thing of how safe or how dangerous an undertaking like that would be, but it's definitely interesting."

"You have to make sure the right safety measures at in place though." My dad reminded, "But from what we've been hearing at the meetings, Cerulean City can definitely afford such an expansion."

"Cerulean City has been running more smoothly than we expected, and growing at a good rate too!" My mom added, "I think your idea would be a good way to diversify our city and make it be known as something more than just for the arts. It's a good plan."

With their support, I reaffirmed my decision to speak to mayor Henry about it, and called him straight after our dinner to arrange an appointment with him at his earliest convenience. With that done, I spent the rest of the night organizing through my schedule, familiarizing myself with my duties in Indigo once again.

I had a lot to do. My trip from Sinnoh had really thrown my schedule completely out of whack.

That being said, there was one thing I wouldn't forget to do before I headed off to bed.

"…I was waiting for you to call." Cynthia's beautiful voice came through the phone as she appeared on my screen. Even through the poor quality of the screen, in my eyes she looked as radiant as ever.

"Sorry, I was still settling back in." I replied, "How are things since your announcement?"

She groaned, "As busy as we expected. Big uproar, everyone's surprised, blah blah blah. The usual nonsense."

"I thought you would be more enthusiastic." I chuckled.

"I understand that being Champion is not a privilege, but a responsibility." She responded, "That doesn't mean I enjoy doing all the PR tours and interviews that come along with it. I would much prefer to be spelunking than dealing with those fake reporters."

"Speaking of caves, you know I'm trying to get the Cerulean Cave open up to be fit for exploration? I'm in the process of convincing the mayor." I informed her.

She laughed, "You couldn't stay in Sinnoh, so you decided to try to remake one of our best features back at home? How audacious!" She grinned, "But I approve. Let me know if you need any help with that. Wait, let me send you a few numbers you can call if you need help."

"Thank you, I'll let you know if that's necessary." I said, then I paused as an idea popped into my head, "You know, I want to do more with these phone calls than just catching up on our day. I know we have distance between us, but I want us to be able to interact and do more than just chat every night before we head to bed."

"I would love that." Cynthia replied, "What did you have in mind?"

"I was thinking that we could be more active with our calls, assuming the other isn't busy." I suggested, "For example, if you or I are training by ourselves – why not call each other and see if we're available? That way we can train and trade ideas with each other. I know that's not always possible, but I think it's something to try."

"Of course, that would be good." Then she smiled at me, "I'm glad you suggested something like this, John. I admitted that I was worried that our relationship might stall with the distance, despite my fighting words."

"I'm as invested into this as you are, don't worry." I chuckled, but inwardly was relieved that she was receptive to this as I was, "Anyways, anything else you want to talk about?"

We chatted a little more before we retired for the night. I told Cynthia that I had told my parents and Karen about our relationship. She said she was fine with it – though she would continue keeping it a secret from Carolina.

"Unlike your parents, I do not trust my grandmother to not talk about it to everyone she came across." She groaned, "I would still prefer our relationship to not be public knowledge – it's none of the public's business anyways."

"And if we were to reveal our relationship, I want it be on OUR terms." She added, "WE will dictate the narrative, not let the news and media twist it to their own ends."

I nodded in agreement.

We talked for a little longer, though eventually my eyes started to grow tired, so we both decided to end our conversation here. I went to sleep with a smile on my face.

========

​The very next day, I asked my parents about the shortlist, and they passed me a small folder of CVs and cover letters to read through.

After a brief scan through them, no one really caught my eye, but they all seemed competent enough. They all had experience with administration and/or as personal assistants, so I trusted them to all be of use. My parents wouldn't have picked bad options for me, after all.

After a moment to think things through, I decided that I could only really make a choice after interviewing them. I was about to call them directly to check their availability, but then I had an idea. Wasn't this a good way of introducing Daisy and getting her to settle in to her role, as I promised Oak? So I ended up calling Professor Oak and asked him to pass the phone to her.

"Sure thing, John. That's a good idea. It'll let the newcomers get more used to Daisy's position amongst your assistants." He said to me after I told him my plan, "Just pass their phone numbers to her, and I'll let her make the calls. I'll watch over her shoulder to make sure she doesn't get too nervous."

"Thanks. Maybe we can get her to sit in the interviews too." I said and placed the phone down, trusting Daisy to make the arrangements for me. Getting her to sit in the interviews would also give me a better idea of their personalities.

They might respect Oak, but there was no guarantee that their respect would extend to his granddaughter. And anyone who looked down on Daisy was unworthy to work for me.

With that handled, I headed to the city hall to speak to mayor Henry. He had cleared out his schedule as soon as I made the call.

Maybe it was a little vain of me, but I found that to be a nice feeling to have.

I arrived at the city hall, where I was quickly ushered in to avoid the reporters who had somehow caught onto my arrival nearly instantly. They were a persistent bunch.

"Hey, John! Welcome back!" Mayor Henry greeted me cheerily, "I hope this conversation isn't going to be too difficult, I already have enough to deal with just handling the more mundane matters! Who knew taking control of Mt Moon would be so stressful!" He joked.

I smiled, "No, nothing so serious. How is Mt. Moon doing anyways? Are we handling it well?"

"As well as could be expected." He replied, "We all knew what we were getting to when we took over authority of Mt Moon from Pewter City. It was always going to be a slight overextension of our resources. We're managing at best we can, but there are a few gaps."

"Fortunately, the fervour of collecting new Fairy types have died down significantly after people stopped overhyping it. So our current security arrangements are proving sufficient at keeping Mt Moon safe from overeager trainers and poachers." He explained to me. "Not that there's been too many of those after a majority of them got arrested from the initial craze."

"That's good." I said, relieved, "Anyways, about what I came here for. I wanted to propose an idea to you – but feel free to turn it down if isn't a realistic proposition."

"Sure, go ahead." Henry responded.

"I want to open up Cerulean Cave for expeditions. I know it's been hardly explored, mainly due to the powerful wild Pokémon living within that made it previously too dangerous to explore. But I feel like if we can dedicate the resources to keeping things safe, there's much we can utilize there."

"Ah, this must be something you were hoping to bring back from Sinnoh." He chuckled, and I nodded, "Well it is certainly an interesting proposal, but what would opening up Cerulean Cave bring to our city? It's not going to be a cheap undertaking."

"It would give the city some much needed diversity – rather than just being known as a city comprising only for the arts." I began and lifted a finger, "But not only that, I can guarantee you that the Cerulean Cave would be an excellent place for capable trainers to come and catch new wild Pokémon for their team. There aren't THAT many areas in Indigo with already powerful wild Pokémon, and I'm confident that this will be a popular destination for such trainers if they could capture wild Pokémon inside."

"Not only that, but Cerulean Cave must be a treasure trove of rare resources – think fossils, gems, and the like." I continued, "Sure, those resources are limited, but they'll help offset whatever initial costs that it takes to open up Cerulean Cave for the public anyways. And whatever's left over would be pure profit."

Henry thought it through for a while, "…Yes, that wouldn't be too bad. But where are you going to find all those trainers to serve as protection duty? We don't have of a cultural emphasis in cave diving as Sinnoh. And I'm reluctant to make use of Jennys and our rangers for this – we're already stretched thin as it is." He pointed out.

I frowned, "Surely it can't be that hard to hire on some trainers? There must be plenty of 8-badge trainers looking for a job, right? And this job doubles as training too. It's a win-win for them."

He shrugged, "I'll speak to a few of my assistants and see if we can get the numbers that we need. But we'd also need to properly scout out Cerulean Cave, from top to bottom, to make sure there aren't any unexpected surprises or dangers. No quicker way than to kill this project than through actual deaths of the visitors."

"Fair enough." I nodded, "There's no rush on this – I just thought it was a very cool idea that I wanted to bring back from Sinnoh."

"Maybe you can speak to those friends of yours from Sinnoh to help us out?" Henry suggested, "Might make things easier for us."

I chuckled, "Already ahead of you. Let me pass you a few numbers you can use." I sent over a text with the numbers that Cynthia provided, "Just let them know that I gave you their number."

"I'll do that." Henry nodded, "And John, it's a good idea – I just think we need to refine the execution. Cerulean City is growing very healthily at the moment, and there's no need to ruin that out of impatience."

I agreed with his words.

We chatted on a few more topics before our meeting wrapped up. I had to head to my next meeting, which was with the Committee once again. It had been a long time since my last one, but that doesn't mean I was looking forward to them.

Leaving the city hall, I dodged out of the way of the reporters and flew once again to the Indigo League. I skipped past all of the security and just walked into the Committee meeting, which had barely just started.

Lance sent me an acknowledging nod at my arrival, before returning his attention to the member that was speaking, where he was extolling the virtues of Lorelei's new organisation. I just sat myself down next to my colleagues in the Elite Four.

"…With the recent rise of widespread and daring criminal activity, the formation of an organisation dedicated to investigating our companies and ensuring that no nefarious actions are taken place is paramount!" The committee member said, "Ensuring fair competition in the market and equal opportunity for all is what the Indigo League should strive to achieve!"

The businessmen and those with similar interests had to hide a grumble, but they knew the odds did not favour them. I don't know what exactly Lorelei had done, but she had earned enough support to push this through regardless of their opposition.

Also, it helped that business was booming recently, so they had little to complain about in the grand scheme of things.

As the committee members continued making their speeches, I turned to Lorelei, interested to see how she was reacting. She looked calm, but I noticed that she was staring at all of the committee members with a calculating eye that she previously lacked. My gut was telling me that she radiated a different sort of confidence than before, almost as if she had found her path.

I wondered what had happened to her during my trip to Sinnoh.

Eventually, the committee members finished speaking, and it was time for the vote. The proposal passed unceremoniously – Lorelei had obviously stacked the deck heavily in her favour this time. I assumed she must have used most of her political capital to ensure that this passed.

"And the motion is passed. The formation of Lorelei's proposed organisation will be undertaken." Lance declared as the voting concluded, "However, we now have to move on who we shall appoint as the leader of this organisation, or simply have this organisation be run internally."

"I nominate myself." Lorelei instantly spoke up, causing the hall to break out in murmurs and whispers.

"You do?" Lance asked her, but there was a rehearsed quality to it that he failed to hide. Was this all planned beforehand? "And what qualities could you bring to the organisation?"

"I do not intend to micromanage every single element of this new organisation, but I believe it would be appropriate for such an organisation to answer directly to the Indigo League." Lorelei stated, "I plan to appoint a second, someone with the necessary experience and skills, to run the day-to-day operations. My role would simply to have oversight over the entire organisation, not to micromanage it."

The whispers grew even louder at her statement, and I heard a few Kantonians expressing their concerns about an organisation dedicated to investigating financial crimes to be run by a Johtonian. They feared that their businesses will be unfairly targeted because of Lorelei's bias. Some of the more daring Committee members even directly spoke out against Lorelei's appointment, claiming that she lacked the experience and fortitude to run the new organisation.

Lorelei took this time to shoot me a look, her gaze requesting that I honour our previous agreement. I nodded back to her as I stood up, "I believe that this would be a fantastic opportunity to build upon Lorelei's already existing skills and experience during her time establishing the International Police in Hoenn." I said in support of her, "With her plans to appoint an experienced second, I doubt she will run into many issues. I trust that her upbringing and her time in the Elite Four will make her a worthy leader of such an organisation."

"But, Elite John, wouldn't she be biased against Kanto businesses? She is a Johtonian, and Pryce's niece, after all." A Kantonian member idiotically asked me.

I rolled my eyes, "And if this was Pryce being nominated, then I would be against it. But Lorelei's obviously not like her uncle, or otherwise she wouldn't have distanced herself from his old policies, now would she?" I pointed out sarcastically, "Lorelei is her own person, who has clearly shown time and time again that she is able to be above the petty grievances and squabbles between our regions."

"Kanto and Johto are old expressions. There is only Indigo now. And the sooner that we are able to set aside our history, the better we will be able to get along as a singular region. I fully trust that appointing Lorelei to this position would help to root out the rot and disease that continue to hold back Indigo from greatness." I finished powerfully.

There was a smattering of applause at my speech, though I could tell no one was actually moved by what I said. These politicians had too much experience to be swayed like that.

But my speech was a mere formality to demonstrate my support for Lorelei. With Agatha following suit, that left Will as the only non-supporting vote. Will quickly saw how the wind was blowing and joined in – he might as well get in on the bandwagon.

Not like he would have been interested in the position anyways. He had WAY too many conflicts of interests to be appointed to that position. Come to think of it, with my many connections to powerful businessmen, so did I.

Huh.

Regardless, Lance moved on to the vote, and Lorelei was appointed as the leader with very little opposition. I saw Agatha giving Lorelei a knowing look, who acknowledged it silently. I was tempted to ask Agatha what that was about, but Lance moved onto the next proposal before I could.

The rest of the Committee meeting was taken up by discussions related to economic and business policies and taxation. It really wasn't something that I knew too much about, and only Will was interested in it. Though, unlike Lorelei, he didn't seem to have pushed very hard for any of them, instead he seemed to be using the policies as a means of testing the waters to see which way members of the Committee leaned.

Agatha did speak up one or few times when it came to discussing policy changes to local councils, but otherwise stayed silent. Lorelei did the same, not wanting to speak up after her success.

The discussion went back and forth, but ultimately nothing got passed. Not yet. The backroom deals still hadn't taken place yet.

The Committee meeting ended soon after that. But before we could retire, Lance asked the Elite Four to join him in his office.

"I'll keep this short, since I know we're all busy." He said to us when we all entered his office, "With the circuit coming to an end, I plan to host a summit with all of the Gym Leaders of Indigo to discuss things with them. I think we've given enough time for the inspections and the new Gym Leaders to settle in, and I want to remind them who they answer to."

"Is there anything you wanted to discuss in this meeting?" Lorelei asked.

"Yes." Lance nodded, "In light of the increasing threat of the hiding terrorists, I plan to start ramping up security measures throughout Indigo. This is something I have discussed with Wallace, and he will be doing the same in Hoenn. We want everyone to be ready and alert for any future infiltrations into our region."

We all nodded. Even though we all knew that the criminals had escaped to Sinnoh, there was always the chance that they could try to sneak their way back in.

"So what? You're going to gather everyone together for that one point? Seems like a huge waste of time to me." Agatha mocked.

"Clair pointed out to me that I've not actually hosted a formal summit with the Gym Leaders ever since my ascension, so I'm rectifying this now." Lance explained, "Aside from that, I also intend to use this opportunity to see how their cities are doing, and if they need any specific assistance from the League."

"Ah, so the Blackthorn wishes to extend a helping hand once again?" Agatha said sarcastically, "What a kind Champion you are."

Lance shook his head, "This is purely done from my position as Champion. You can be sure that I'm not here to extend my clan's interests. Not after what happened." He frowned tellingly, and I inferred that the rift that had appeared between Lance and the clan elders must not have healed since the Fairy incident.

I guess they took his abandonment of them harder than expected. But considering how prideful they all were, that shouldn't have been surprising in hindsight.

"And when will this summit take place?" I asked.

"I will be informing all of the Gym Leaders of my intentions by the end of the day, but I will leave the summit until the Indigo Conference begins." He said, "Participation is obviously mandatory. So I expect to see you all there. Feel free to use the opportunity to further your own interests, if you can manage it. I won't begrudge you for it."

We all nodded, all of us likely thinking the same thing. A gathering of all of the Gym Leaders, Elite Four and the Champion of Indigo in one place was ideal for making connections.

"Will the media be joining us?" Will asked prudently.

"No, but a minute of the meeting will be published." Lance informed us, "Obviously, that minute will be carefully edited before publication. We won't be painting anyone in a bad light."

"…If there isn't anything else?" Lance asked us, and I briefly played with the idea of introducing my idea to have Gym Leaders able to be appointed from both regions. But I figured that now was still too early for such a proposal, so I stayed silent.

Everyone else stayed silent too, so Lance just let us go. But instead of leaving, I stayed behind.

"This is what you wanted to talk to me about, isn't it?" Lance asked as I nodded, "Go on. Let me hear it."

I decided to rip the band-aid off now, "I'm dating Cynthia. The trainer who's currently making a challenge to become Champion.

"…Oh." Lance seemed shocked at my words, and he took a few seconds to process my words, "…And I assume this is recent?"

"Yes, very." I said.

There was another pause. Lance tapping his fingers as I saw his face twist in thought, "…Well I appreciate you telling me, I guess you're worried about a potential conflict of interest?" I nodded, and he paused again to think as he tapped his fingers across his table, "Well if you're worried about me kicking you out of the Elite Four then you needn't worry. I wouldn't resort to such extreme actions for something as little as this. Especially when nothing's happened yet."

That was relieving, but Lance wasn't done, "But I will have to restrict you from voting on any policies that directly involve Sinnoh – unless it's explicitly related to some joint cooperation with them. I won't make this a public announcement, because I presume you won't be going public with your relationship either, right?"

"We don't intend to." I replied.

"Good. Then outside of that, I won't be doing anything else to interfere." He stated, "If the public were to find out and make a fuss about it, then your consequences are for you to deal with by yourself. I won't condemn nor support you. It's on you to figure something out that will mollify the public. Are you happy with that?"

That was good enough for me, "I am. Thank you for this, Lance."

He waved me off, though he had a smirk on his lips, "I can't fault your feelings. And I trust your judgment enough to keep the good of Indigo in mind when it comes to policies. As long as you keep it that way, then you and I won't have problems."

"…And John, between me and you, I do hope your relationship succeeds." His smile turned a little more genuine, "Not only would it lead to immense political benefits in joining our regions together, but I do consider you a friend. I'd hate to see let politics ruin a relationship for you. I hope you can overcome the obstacles in your way."

I nodded, "Thank you, Lance. We will do our best."

He waved me off and I left the room, while also informing him of my intentions to hire assistants that would shadow his. He didn't have a problem with that, and told me he would inform his secretary on my behalf.

Finally, I made my way out of the building. But before I left, I felt an ominous shadow stalking my every move.

I let out a sigh and turned around, "I was just about to look for you, Agatha."

"Oh? I thought you would be trying to avoid me." She cackled, "So – you found yourself caught up in a romance with someone from Sinnoh. And for her to be potentially the new Champion of Sinnoh too? I don't know whether to praise or mock you."

"And how is Karen doing?" I asked, ignoring her words, "I hope she's doing okay."

"She came in with tears in her eyes if that helps." It did not, "But I always warned her that she should have grabbed onto the chance when it presented itself."

"I thought you would've been more upset with me." I admitted.

Agatha grinned, "And if you had truly done something wrong, then we wouldn't be talking right now." She shook her head, "But no. My apprentice brought this misfortune upon herself. She has my sympathy, but no more than that."

"Still, this mistake will serve as an excellent lesson for her to grow from. Hopefully she'll be a stronger person after this." Agatha remarked, then her eyes narrowed, "But don't expect me to thank you for it."

"I would never dare." I raised both my hands, "Still, I'm glad you're looking after her. Please let her know that I would be happy to talk to her when she's feeling better."

"I'll let her know." She accepted, "Oh, and one more thing, John. Despite this incident, our deal still holds. I assume you intend for your friendship with Karen to continue?"

I nodded.

"Then I see no reason for changes. My plans will still work regardless." Agatha stated, then before I could say anything more Agatha disappeared into her shadow, leaving me by myself once again.

I rolled her eyes at her dramatics before I realised that it was already evening. Even after a full day of running around Indigo, I was still nowhere close to clearing out my schedule.

The grind never ends.

The New Normal – 9-2 – Interlude – Steven & Bruno

(Steven POV)

Steven took a sip of his tea as he waited for his invitee to arrive. There were a few people fluttering around the restaurant at Cianwood, but he thought reserving the entire restaurant just for this meeting would be a bit overkill.

More importantly, it would give off the wrong first impression to the person he was trying to meet. And impressions were everything.

Plus, he enjoyed his brief stopover at Cianwood City. It reminded him greatly of Dewford Town, and he always appreciated any reminder of his home. At least he was returning soon.

The sounds of a chair scraping across the floor dragged him from his thoughts, and he looked up to see his that the person he was hoping to meet had finally arrived. Bruno plopped himself down in the chair, his large muscles making both the chair and table look comically tiny in comparison to him.

Wow, he really was a wall of muscle, wasn't he?

"Thank you for joining me, Bruno. As you know, I'm Steven Stone." He greeted and extended a hand to shake.

"I was surprised at the invitation." Bruno admitted while giving him a firm handshake. "But I am here, so speak."

Someone of his status might have been offended by the lack of politeness in his tone, but Steven had expected such bluntness. And he knew that everyone interacted differently with others.

To secure a working relationship, you had to be able to understand how the other person preferred to communicate and adapt yourself to match it. That was how you avoided stepping on any toes.

So he immediately dropped any intention of using his more 'fanciful' language, "Frankly speaking, I wish to challenge you."

"Done." Bruno said immediately, as he knew he would. It was why he started off with this, after all. "When and where?"

Steven chuckled, knowing he had his attention, "It could be now if you like."

Bruno let out a grunt and almost stood up from his chair, but Steven waved him down, "Just a second, if you please. I do have other topics I wanted to discuss with you outside of this battle."

Bruno shot him a quizzical look, but there was no impatience there. "Go on."

"I would like you to join me in my return to Hoenn." Steven stated directly, not bothering to sugarcoat his words, "I believe I have many opportunities available to you that would help both of us progress our mutual goals."

Bruno didn't react at his words, but he did say, "Explain."

"I would like to hire you as my personal trainer." Steven revealed, "I understand that your ambition is to pursue martial excellence, and I seek to be the strongest trainer in Hoenn. I believe we can help each other."

If Steven were a lesser person, then he would have missed how Bruno had been constantly watching him. Bruno's eyes were sharp; almost like they didn't miss anything. The man was seeing if Steven was worth his time. Just like Steven was judging Bruno.

Steven never understood how anyone could see Bruno and think of him as a mere dumb brute. This man was far more intelligent than his brutish appearance let on.

"Why me?" He asked.

"You are strong. But more importantly, you are one of the worst matchups for me to fight against." Steven explained, "My Pokémon are built on defense and wearing the enemy down, but I believe you will be able to overcome such tactics. If I am to defeat the Elite Four and the Champion in a clean sweep, then I must make myself as strong as possible."

The idea of a challenge must have resonated in Bruno's eyes, because Steven saw a faint of approval reach his eyes, "When is your challenge?"

"Before the end of the next circuit." Steven answered, "I must become strong enough to overcome them by then."

Bruno fell into thought, but Steven continued, "In return, you will have my full backing and resources to pursue whatever you require. I will fund all of your activities during your employ-"

"I want to fight strong trainers." Bruno cut him off, and Steven was about to respond before Bruno elaborated, "Indigo has become stale for me. I have exhausted the list of trainers that I am able to fight and learn from. I wish to expand my horizons and challenge new foes. Acquire them for me."

"…What kind of foes are you seeking?" Steven wished to clarify.

"Everyone. For the journey to better myself is without end." Bruno declared with utter conviction.

And in that moment, all Steven could see was the look of a man that had worked himself to achieve a singular goal, and demanded nothing less than perfection from himself as he sought to achieve it.

It reminded him of himself.

===============

​(Bruno POV)

The businessman was an interesting man. Even though Bruno was intentionally being difficult with his demands and his bluntness, Steven didn't seem bothered at all by his relatively rude way of speaking. Many of the richer scions that he had battled against would have already lost their temper and walked out of the meeting after Bruno failed to address them with the 'appropriate' respect.

The fact that Steven seemed different bought him his politeness. The fact that Steven seemed to understand to not waste his time bought him his attention. The fact that Steven had an curious offer bought his interest.

And Steven's offer did intrigue him. He knew about Steven's battling ability, and to be able to repeatedly test himself against a strong opponent like Steven was not something he would quickly turn down. But the ability to test himself against any and all trainers in Hoenn, within reason, was something he was quite interested in.

Sure, he could have made the challenges without Steven's help, but it would take considerably more time. He recognized that his reputation was still not at the point where trainers would come running for a battle against him just because he asked.

And he wasn't stupid. Money talked. While he wasn't a materialistic person, he appreciated the conveniences money could bring for him. Money that Steven had in boatloads.

Though it didn't show on his face, he inwardly chuckled at the image of all of Steven's net worth being gathered in one place. Would he be able to lift all that money?

The sounds of Steven's fingers tapping on the table drew his attention back. Steven was thinking hard about this, carefully weighing the pros and cons of his proposal.

It only took a moment though, and Bruno saw the flash of decisiveness appear in Steven's eyes. He approved – you needed to be confident in your decisions.

"I accept." Steven agreed. "We can get something more formal drafted soon."

"Let us hope this is the start of a fruitful friendship." Steven added, and a familiar glint of cunning flashed through the businessman's eyes. Most would have missed it.

He did not.

"Agreed." He replied as their eyes met and their hands shook.

As he stared into Steven's eyes, he imagined himself shaking his hands with a snake. But a snake with a steel spine, and one that understood the value of integrity. Steven had not once tried to manipulate him in this meeting, and the respect was obvious in his eyes.

Even in this brief meeting, Bruno knew what kind of man Steven was. A cunning and ruthless businessman, but tempered by his sense of responsibility and his genuine respect for integrity. Ambitious, but not obsessively so.

An interesting fellow. Maybe he'll learn more in their upcoming fight.

The New Normal – 9-3 – Interviews and Meetings

Even though I still had a several more meetings to go through, I didn't let that stop me from getting up late the next day. I was tired and exhausted, so I believed that I deserved to be able to lie-in for once.

That was why I found myself slowly chowing down my breakfast alone in the living room, idly listening to the news; my parents had already long gone to work by then.

"…With Elite Bertha now confirmed to be on her way back to Sinnoh, it's almost time for the first showdown between challenger Cynthia and Elite Four Aaron! After her momentous announcement earlier this week, stunning all of Sinnoh at her declaration to become Champion, our new challenger has been making the waves as she participated in interview after interview explaining her political objectives to the people of Sinnoh!

But now we're about to see if Cynthia can put her money where her mouth is. Elite Four Aaron has been a member of the Elite Four for some time, despite being the youngest and most junior member of the roster. His Bug type speciality, while often seen as weak by the uninitiated, has been able to tear through many a foe during his many battles to hold his position in the Elite Four. Pokémon like his Scizor and Heracross have proven time and time again why challenging him is a foolish idea, will Cynthia prove any different?

Of course, we've seen her draw over Elite John of Indigo in a friendly match, but that was all it was. Friendly. She has yet to prove her strength, beyond her 8 badges and her Conference win, in any recent official setting. So I believe I can say that Sinnoh is watching with growing excitement and anticipation to see what this challenger can really pull off."

I smiled as I listened to what the reporter was saying, glad to see that Cynthia was doing well. The news was doing their best to hype up Aaron, but I knew from my earlier research that he was going to be steamrolled by Cynthia.

That didn't mean he was weak – he had more than earned his position in the Elite Four. He fought like a powerful mix of Koga and Walker, with fast and agile Pokémon that relied heavily on speed and dodging to make up for their poor defenses while also hitting hard enough to harshly punish an opponent for overextending.

It was a good mix of a burst offense and evasive manoeuvrability.

…But that wouldn't be enough. I could see him putting up a good fight, but I was all but certain that Cynthia would come up on top. No, she wouldn't just win, she would dominate the fight. And the people of Sinnoh might actually lose their minds when they saw just how strong Cynthia actually was.

I couldn't wait to see that. She deserved every bit of attention that she got.

With that in mind, I made sure to send over some encouraging messages to Cynthia, wishing her all the best and telling her that I would watch her match when it happened. I had informed her about my conversation with Lance from yesterday regarding our relationship, and she was happy with the outcome.

She said that if it was only about getting the public on our side, then it was still manageable. She said she'd be brainstorming about a possible plan to win over the public and make this no longer a problem that we would have to worry about.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any more time to just idle about, and I had to quickly scoff down the rest of my breakfast that I had previously been slowly eating as I realized that I was about to be late for my next item on my schedule. I had to head to my family's offices to host the interviews to find the assistants that would be part of my team.

But more importantly than that, I had to meet Daisy early and explain to her the role I wanted her to play.

If I was lucky, then after this meeting, my new team of assistants should hopefully aid to alleviate my schedule a bit and free up more time. I didn't mind running around like this every once in a while, but doing so constantly would definitely wear me down.

So I flew over to where our offices were, not even bothering to conceal myself as I did so. The fact that I was hiring was practically an open secret in the news, and I had seen some of the less reputable 'news agencies' trying to speculate what the REAL reason I was recruiting them for.

They were really trying to play up the conspiracy angle, but no one with any common sense actually read that tripe.

I landed outside our company's offices, and quickly stepped in before I could get mobbed. Even though the office was still relatively new, the effort that my parents put in to expand the company was evident. Instead of the empty offices that I had seen before during my tour, this time the office was not only filled with proper equipment, but also employees. Many of whom gave me a nice wave and a nod as I made my way to the meeting room that was reserved for the interviews.

I made a mental note to show myself around the offices a bit more. I didn't want to be known as the heir to a family business that didn't actually do anything but reap the profits. That was a reputation that I DEFINITELY didn't want.

As I entered the meeting room, I spied a small figure that quickly shot up from where she had been sitting and run up to me, falling into a hurried bow.

"Elite – I mean, John! Welcome!" Daisy Oak greeted me.

"Thank you, Daisy. I hope you haven't been waiting too long." I said.

Her head swung from side to side, "Nope! I've just been talking to grandfather while I waited. He told me to make sure all my notes were in order and that I had read through a summary of the interviewees' files before you arrived. But I've already double checked that all of your interviewees should be arriving today."

I blinked, that was way more than I expected, "That's…quite diligent of you. Good job." I praised as I took a seat at the front of the table. "Have you memorised all of their info?"

"Mostly." She nodded as she took a seat instinctively to my right, "Grandfather always made me do memory exercises in my spare time, so this is quite easy for me."

"Huh." I guess Oak wasn't kidding when he said his granddaughter could handle it – maybe she would be far more of an asset than I realized.

"Well, anyways, let me run through what I hope you can help me with today." I began, but slowed down as I watched her take out a notebook to write down what I was saying. Very prudent.

"First of, let me just reassure you – you won't be expected to speak much to them. I'll handle the questions. But I do want you to observe." I explained, going through the plan I had already made in my head. "Given my reputation, it's expected that they'll focus their attention on me. They'll do their utmost to impress me, but I want to see how they interact with you."

"Don't reveal your surname to them, just introduce yourself as 'Daisy' and just say that you are just helping me out. Reveal nothing else." I told Daisy, "Before they come to meet me, I'll have them sit outside in the waiting room for a few minutes. You'll accompany them, but your role will be to observe them and see how they treat you."

"Take a note of their behaviours – if they're dismissive, nervous, haughty, arrogant etc. I want to know how they act when they're not face to face with me. You'll also join me in the meetings to do the same. I'll have you sit on that table further away from me so you can observe them in peace."

"Should I try to talk to them?" She asked while she continued to make notes of what I just said.

"You can try, but don't push yourself if you're not comfortable." I said, "Overall, just try to get an impression on them. Personality is harder to change than competence."

That was the plan that I came up with when I realized I had Daisy to help me. I needed assistants that I would be able to work well with – competence alone wasn't enough. And when they were effectively representing me on a day-to-day basis while they worked around the League, I needed to be confident that who I had chosen would not tarnish my reputation with their poor behaviour.

Hence why Daisy was so useful. Like I said, I was certain that they would all try to put their best foot forward when it came to meeting me, but would they do the same to an unknown girl? That was what I was looking for. You revealed a lot about your true personality when you dealt with people you thought were unimportant.

"Grandfather said the same before." Daisy nodded, "I can do this for you."

"Thank you, Daisy, you're a real help." I smiled, before turning to check my watch, "We still have a bit of time before the first appointment – so tell me about yourself, Daisy. What made you want to do something like this instead of becoming a trainer like most kids your age?"

Daisy tapped a finger on her chin, "I never really was interested in becoming a great trainer – not like my little brother. I know grandfather used to be Champion, but I never really got interested in becoming strong."

"I'm still going to go get my 8 badges sometime – since getting them opens many doors for me. But I probably won't go beyond that." She stated with surprising maturity.

"Nothing wrong with that." I replied approvingly, "So what is it that you want to do?"

She frowned, "I'm not sure yet. I'm kinda torn between being a Pokémon coordinator, Pokémon groomer, or just a doctor. But grandfather tells me not to worry and that I have plenty of time to decide. That's why he suggested that I should go explore a few different options and see what I liked doing."

"It's a good idea, and I'm thankful for your help." I nodded to her, "And there's no rush about deciding what to do. I never expected to make it into the Elite Four, for example, it just happened to me. So don't think your life needs to be decided at such a young age – there's still plenty of time to change course in the future. Even my sister, Whitney, doesn't know what she really wants to do yet. And that's fine!"

Daisy nodded, and I was glad that my words had gotten through to her. "You have any Pokémon that you're currently training up?" I asked.

She nodded again, but this time more excitedly. "I have a Clefairy! I think grandfather said it was part of the same group that helped evolve your Eevee!"

"Oh wow!" I remarked surprisingly, "That's quite the coincidence. Have you been training with her?"

"Sometimes, but I also like to practice my performing moves with her too!" Daisy replied, "We split time training for both."

The small talk continued for a while longer, as the two of us exchanged questions and got to learn a little more about each other. I thought that, out of everything that Daisy found out about me, she was most surprised by the fact that my sister had already gotten her 7th Gym Badge. Her reaction had been very amusing.

But the time for conversation was finally over as I checked my watch once again, "I think it's time that we get ready. The first interviewees should be arriving any minute now." Daisy nodded obediently and made her way out of the room, ready to welcome them in as per our plan.

I made sure to straighten out my clothes and blank out my face. Time to be a boss.

========

​I let out a tired groan as the last interviewee finally stepped out of the room with Daisy. Turns out hosting back-to-back-to-back interviews was a tiring and boring affair. It wasn't fun. Not for the interviewer. There were only so many carefully prepared and rehearsed answers I could listen to before they all seemed to blend together in my memory.

Fortunately, Daisy seemed to have picked up the slack. She was a very diligent worker, obviously inheriting many of her grandfather's positive traits, and was an able and efficient helper despite her young age.

She was a little nervous at first, but quickly learned to pipe in and ask the occasional question that would almost certainly throw the interviewee off-guard. They never seemed to be ready to deal with Daisy and her questions, and many of them kept shooting me confused looks as if they were puzzled by the interruption.

The ruder ones would visibly scowl or glare at Daisy, trying to intimidate her into silence. But Daisy was made from sterner stuff than that – and I was proud of her for not backing down in the face of their hostility.

Those who glared at Daisy weren't going to be selected. I had no need for those who would treat those they deemed below them with such disdain and hostility.

Admittedly, I had already decided on who I was going to select before the last interviewee even walked out. But I purposely waited for Daisy to return so that I could ask her about her thoughts. I wanted to test her judgment.

"Who do you think I should choose?" I asked her directly as she returned to her seat.

She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. I gave her a few moments to process her thought before she finally spoke up.

"I think I like Andrew, but…we can drop Michael. I didn't think he had the motivation." She concluded, "He seemed a bit too laid back."

I gave her an encouraging look to keep going, so she did, "…Maybe just keep Andrew and Emily for now? You mentioned you didn't need a huge team to start with, so maybe you can just see if they can work with you?"

I nodded, "Yes, I agree with that. Those were the options I had picked as well. Do you think you can work with them? It's going to be a very small team – so you might have more responsibility than you expected."

A brief look of uncertainty flashed over her face before it quickly disappeared into one of firm confidence, "I can deal with it. I won't disappoint you or grandfather."

"I'm glad for it." I smiled at her, before starting to wrap up my stuff, "Right, I'll get back to those two and will give them the good news. I'll also be sure to introduce you to them formally, if that's alright with you."

She nodded so I continued, "Try to get along with them. I'll be sending over a brief of my expectations and what I hope you guys can help with. Please study it and cooperate with them as best you can."

"But let me know if I'm putting too much on your plate and you're feeling too stressed." I reminded, "I don't want to push you too hard."

She bobbed her head once again, and we finally finished up for the day. I made sure to escort Daisy out of the front door of the office, but just before I could properly send her off, I suddenly stumbled into an ambush by a crowd of reporters that had been waiting outside our office building, waiting for me to come out.

"Elite John! What's with the sudden interviews? What are you looking to do?"

"Are you looking to build a new political team? Or are you hiring on behalf of your family's company?"

"Are you shifting your focus to politics ahead of your draw against Cynthia?"

"Are you taking a more active role in your family's company at last? Are you going to be taking direct control over the future of your company?"

They threw question after question at me, as if they were demanding me to respond. I was tempted to leave them to their questions, but then I realised what a good opportunity this was for me.

I knew that most of the reporters were here to try to stir up drama by bringing up my draw against Cynthia. They were trying to provoke a reaction from me, but I wasn't going to play their game. I had my own way to change the topic.

I stepped into the crowd of reporters, my gaze sweeping over them as I signalled for them to quiet down.

It was only after they did that I began, "Thank you for your questions. I will begin by stating that yes – I am hiring a new personal team that would help and support me with my political adventures. This was something that I should have done some time ago, so I'm grateful that I finally have taken this step. This should help me keep up-to-date and informed even when I'm out and away from Indigo."

"Are you looking to take up a bigger part in Indigo politics?" One asked.

I gave that person a weird look, "My team will help assist me with ensuring that I receive the necessary information to make the right decision." I clarified, "That should have been obvious."

"Is this an attempt to recover some of your reputation after you draw against Cynthia?" Another asked.

"This and that have nothing to do with each other." I replied firmly, being careful to make sure they couldn't dramatize anything I said, "This just seemed like the logical step for me to advance and aid my political ambitions."

"What kind of policies are you hoping to enact? Are you going to continue pushing for your international agenda?"

"I have always been aiming to improve the relationship between the regions, yes." I nodded, "I think we've seen time and time again that there are many benefits to fostering international relations, from Hoenn to Sinnoh. Indigo continues to reap the benefits of our mutual cooperation, so I fully intend to continue down this path."

"As for specific policies – I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see." I said, "Revealing them now would undermine my plans, so I won't be doing that. And don't try to push me for it."

"Who's that little girl next to you?" Someone asked a little rudely as they shoved their microphone next to Daisy, "Is she a friend of your sister that you're helping out with?"

I was about to answer for Daisy, but to my surprise, she bravely stood her ground and mustered her confidence as she spoke loudly and clearly, "My name is Daisy Oak. And I've been asked to help out with John and his new team."

Namedropping Oak seemed to have sent all of the reporters reeling for a moment, before they doubled down and ramped up their intensity of the questions towards Daisy, "What made you work with John? How did Professor Oak introduce you? Are you representing Professor Oak's interests here? Does that mean Professor Oak is planning to make a comeback into the political world—"

I cut them off before they could go down that line of questioning, and I could see that Daisy was starting to get overwhelmed, "Enough of that." I said sternly, "Have you no decency to behave yourself properly instead of like a pack of starving Carvanha in front of a young girl?"

"But to answer your questions, Daisy is here because she wants to learn. Nothing more, nothing less. She is not here to represent Professor Oak's interests, and I accepted her because I wanted to return the favour to Professor Oak for his help with the Fairy project. There are no political implications here." I answered, with Daisy nodding along in support.

I could feel the disappointment radiating off the reporters at my answer.

I had to firmly and clearly state that Daisy's involvement did not mean that Professor Oak was getting back into the political scene. THAT was not something I dared to imply. A comeback from Professor Oak would upturn the political scene in an instant. Lance – for all his current popularity as Champion -would have a very uphill battle keeping his position.

But luckily that was not something that we had to consider right now.

However, the reporters were quick to recover from their disappointment, "You've spent some time in Sinnoh speaking with the now-challenger Cynthia. You even fought and drew against her. If she does succeed in her path to becoming Champion, does that mean you would have a connection to the future Champion of Sinnoh?"

"I won't deny it." I revealed, seeing no reason not to, "After spending so much time with her in Sinnoh, I am very confident in her chances of becoming the next Champion of Sinnoh – and I believe that she is eminently suitable for the position. I believe the world will be pleasantly surprised with what she is about to show."

"Are the two of you friends?" I was also asked.

"I would say so." I replied vaguely, "We have kept in touch with each other since my return to Indigo. And I consider her to be a good friend. I do hope that our friendship will allow for an easier time for our regions to form friendly relations with each other as well. As I said, I am always eager to promote internationalism."

Well, she was far more than that. But these reporters didn't have to know.

"Wait!" A reporter suddenly shouted out, "Doesn't that mean that you'd have strong political connections between yourself, Hoenn, and Sinnoh? And with your public friendship with Lance, doesn't that mean you'd be connected to many of the leaders of the known world?! From every region!?"

The reporter's statement caused the crowd to erupt into a shocking realisation – while I just simply smiled, not saying anything else. But it was enough of an implicit admission that sent the crowd into a frenzy of additional questions. The reporters instantly stared at me with a different light.

I wasn't just some influential Elite Four member in Indigo; I was far more than that.

The realisation had hit them – that I had successfully put myself in a position where I had the friendly ear of all kinds of movers and shakers from around the known world, just by being their friend and ally. While that didn't translate to direct influence, the soft power that I held in my hands was newsworthy.

And if Cynthia became Champion, then my influence would skyrocket even further.