29-33

The New Normal – 2-18 – Victory Ceremony

After the conclusion of our battle, I was barely allowed to bask in my victory and give Vordt a nice tight hug before I was quickly escorted away from the arena and asked to make my way onto the stage.

I had wanted to speak to Drake and thank him for a battle well fought, but the League officials insisted that there would be time to mingle later and that it was more important for me to give a winner's interview. At least they allowed me to heal my Pokémon before they made me have the interview.

A part of me wanted to tell them to stuff it; I was tired and way too excited and just wanted to calm down and celebrate my victory with my Pokémon. However, I knew that it wasn't worth it kicking up a fuss at this stage, so I stifled a groan and sigh as I reluctantly followed their instructions.

My instinct to just run away was made even stronger as I saw the veritable sea of reporters and cameras that were aimed my way when I got to the stage. I was instantly blinded by the continuous flashes of the cameras, and I almost stumbled over a small step on the stage that I couldn't see because of all the flashes. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Drake was also being dragged onto the stage, but he looked like he was about to pop a vein.

As I finally settled down in my seat, I adopted a blatantly false smile as I braced myself for the barrage of questions that I knew were coming; I could hope that they didn't ask anything too sensitive or controversial.

Although that hope was slowly dwindling as I saw the hungry expressions on the faces of the reporters who swiftly swarmed me like unfed Snorlax with their microphones outstretched.

"ELITE JOHN! How does it feel to win against Elite Drake?" The questions began, "Did you expect yourself to win?"

"I feel elated, and very pleased with my Pokémon." I answered as humbly as I could, I really didn't want to see articles appear on the Pokénet about me bragging about my victory. "Of course, I have the fullest of respect for Drake's team and was very thrilled and honoured to be given the opportunity by the Hoenn League to fight against such a strong opponent."

I made sure to placate the Hoenn League and give them the credit for hosting the event. I didn't want them to cause problems for me in the future.

"But were you confident in your victory against Elite Drake?" Another reporter pressed, "After all, you did win 6-3!"

"I was confident in my Pokémon to perform to the best of their ability." I answered evasively, "And I was in no doubt that they would provide a good fight against Drake. But luck played a heavy factor in my 6-3 victory against Drake today, and if events had happened slightly differently, then perhaps today's victor would have been Drake."

That was true, Zephyr was very lucky that his final Hurricane was able to confuse Kingdra, which then allowed Smough to quickly knock it out. Also, if Flygon had decided to fly higher off the ground, then there was no way that Tyrant would have been able to knock it out so quickly.

And it was the quick defeat of Flygon that was the most important factor in securing my victory. I didn't really have any good options for defeating Drake's Flygon, as it wasn't susceptible to my most common method of using rocks to knock down opposing Flying Pokémon. Thus, I would be forced to use Special Attacks like Ice Beam to hopefully snipe it down, but my Pokémon weren't the most proficient at that.

Strangely enough, looking back with hindsight, Drake's Flygon might have been the most problematic Pokémon on his team for my Pokémon to fight against. I made a mental note to see if I could train my team to be more able to fight against Flying type Pokémon who are resistant to Rock-type moves.

"Elite John! What did you think of Elite Drake's performance in today's battle? Do you think he might be unsuitable to be part of the Elite Four?!" Wow, I could feel the malice in that question. I turned to the reporter who asked and answered with the most serious expression as I could muster.

"Elite Drake is absolutely deserving of being a member of the Hoenn Elite 4." I locked eyes with the reporter who asked, "The battle against Elite Drake just now was by far the hardest battle that I have ever had to fight in my career as a trainer, and I know for a fact that if I hadn't gotten as lucky as I did, Drake would have been the one who won, not me."

That reporter frowned and gave me an angry look as I clearly didn't answer the question as he had hoped I would, but I ignored him. Besides the fact that Drake was a friend, there was no doubt in my mind that he deserved to be in the Elite 4.

Then, another one of the more excited reporters almost shoved their microphone into my mouth. "Are you going to be doing anything else this exciting while you're in Hoenn?! Maybe another battle against another member of our Elite 4?! Who would you like to battle the most among the remaining three?!"

I politely pushed the microphone away from my mouth because I wasn't sure that the reporter wouldn't shove the microphone down my throat if I started talking. When I made sure that the microphone was an appropriate distance away, I responded.

"I'll be very honoured if I ever got the opportunity to battle against another member of the Hoenn Elite 4." My smile turned genuine for a moment as I said that, before returning to the fake one that I often adopted for the cameras, "However, as much as I would love to have another great battle like the one I just had against Elite Drake, my Pokémon very much do need to rest and recover from their gruelling battle. However, if I was offered the opportunity to battle the Hoenn Elite in another show match sometime in the future, I would be very happy to accept."

As soon as I finished answering that question, another round of microphones were pushed forwards. This time, I just selected one at random.

"Elite John, why were you sent to Hoenn in the first place? Did you just come on vacation like the Pokénet rumours suggest?"

This time, I gave myself time to think before I responded. I knew that the official reasoning by the Indigo League for my trip to Hoenn was never disclosed to the public, and I also knew what a shitstorm I could cause if I told them that I was here on an official visit for diplomatic reasons.

Since the Hoenn League has made it very clear to me that they didn't receive any notice that the Indigo League was sending me on a diplomatic mission, it wouldn't be long before the public realized that that the true reason that the Indigo League sent me here was to side-line me to Hoenn and keep me from interfering with the political affairs of Indigo.

I was so tempted to kick the hornet's nest and stir up the shit for Pryce. The more vindictive part of myself, the part of myself that held my pride, wanted to get revenge for Pryce by telling the world about how he fucked me over. A part of me wanted to watch Pryce get the comeuppance he deserved. For the dishonour and the humiliation of sending me away to Hoenn.

But the more rational part of myself started to weigh the pros and cons of such a decision. I knew that the moment I did this, I would make an enemy in Pryce for life. There would be no going back for this, and I would irreparably damage my relationship with Pryce and a few other members of the Indigo League that supported my 'trip' to Hoenn.

Also, I felt like I would come off as whiny and immature if I ratted on Pryce at this moment, since many could simply say that this was 'not a big deal' and that I was just making a childish tantrum. Airing out the dirty laundry of Indigo like this might breed resentment and be seen as traitorous by those who supported Indigo, and many would say there would be more mature ways of handling the situation.

I clenched my fists as I had to hold down my anger and my need for revenge. Once again, I found myself needing to restrain myself for the sake of not making unnecessarily enemies. I hated the fact that I agreed with my more rational arguments compared to my more instinctual and emotional response.

But, for the sake of a united Indigo, I needed to not inflame tensions between Kanto and Johto and airing out Pryce's dirty laundry right now would also create negative implications for Johto. Furthermore, it could shatter my political aspirations of fostering closer relations with the two regions.

On the other hand, I knew that my patience and resolve was waning quickly. I promised myself that the moment I got home to Indigo, I would speak with the right people to see if I can my revenge against Pryce. I wasn't going to allow this humiliation to be swept under the rug and be conveniently forgotten.

No, now was not the time to expose Pryce. Today was one of celebration, to honour my victory against Drake. I wouldn't ruin the festivities by stirring up a shitstorm right now; that would also end up annoying the Hoenn League as well. However, that didn't mean I couldn't throw out some hints in my answer.

"Thank you for that question. Champion Pryce sent me here." I said without elaborating, setting up the bait for the follow-up question.

"If Champion Pryce sent you here, does that mean that you were here on official reasons? If so, why weren't we informed about it?" The reporter asked the question that I was hoping for.

"I'm afraid that I wasn't privy to the details as to why I was sent to Hoenn so soon after my appointment, I only followed their orders." I answered technically truthfully, before deciding to twist the knife a little, "I'm sure Champion Pryce will be able to answer those questions if needed."

The reporter backed away, seemingly satisfied with my answers. I had to fight down a smirk that threatened to appear on my face; I thought that I had given a very carefully crafted response that avoided immediately exposing Pryce's misdoings while also leaving enough hints to imply that there was something nefarious going on in the background.

"Elite John! What were the special Pokéballs that you used for your Pokémon? Where did you get that from?" One reporter asked.

I grinned inwardly at the question, and I adopted what I thought was my most marketable smile as I answered, "Ah, these special Pokéballs are called Premier Balls. They were designed and created by Devon Corp, and they gave me a few when I visited them a couple of days ago."

I took one of the Premier Balls out and started showing it to the cameras, "I really like their design, I think it looks really sleek and minimalistic. I believe having their Pokéballs with this design is a great way for more elite trainers to show their status by having their Pokémon in these Premier Balls. As you can see, I replaced all my old Pokéballs with these new Premier Balls and all my Pokémon are stored within." I gestured to the other Premier Balls on my belt.

With that, I felt that I had marketed the Premier Ball sufficiently enthusiastically to fulfil my portion of the contract with Devon Corp. I hoped that these Premier Balls would sell well, as I'd get a nice chunk of income from my 5% of sales as per my contract with Devon Corp.

Afterwards, the next round of questions was comparatively mundane and were all focused on my match against Drake. Some asked about how I managed to get so strong, some asked if there were any training techniques that I could share, and another one asked if my family's Moomoo milk business had anything to do with my success.

To the last one, I gave them a proper response by saying that my family's Moomoo milk business was invaluable in providing support throughout my journey to being a member of the Elite 4, and I doubted I would make it to where I was without it.

While nothing I said was technically false, I only really meant that they had supported me emotionally, but if the public misconstrued my words and assumed something different…well that would only prove beneficial for the family business.

A few more questions later and we finally wrapped up my winner's interview, and I was told to pose for a few pictures with the 'trophy' before I was finally allowed to leave, and Drake was forced to take my place and be the victim of the next barrage of questions. I gave him a pitying look and a smile as I left.

Finally free from the hound of reporters, I slumped slightly against the nearby wall and let out a sigh of relief. At this point, all I wanted to do was to find some Pokécenter and just relax and wind down in one of their rooms. Of course, just as I was thinking about this, my phone started ringing. I quickly forced down my annoyance though when I saw that it was Giovanni that was calling.

"John speaking." I began.

"John, it's Giovanni." He sounded strangely happy, which was a bit unnerving. "Congratulations on your victory against Elite Drake. I think all of Indigo had their eyes glued to the broadcast, me included, and I could say that we were all very happy about your victory."

From the tone of his voice, he was legitimately congratulating me and seemed happy for me. I was seriously weirded out by a happy Giovanni, but I tried to not let it show as I responded.

"Thank you very much for your congratulations, Giovanni." I replied, "But I did get quite lucky with my match against Drake, and I'm not sure that I could secure another victory if I fought him again."

"As humble as ever I see." Giovanni chuckled, "Well, John, I didn't call you just to congratulate you on your victory, but also on your restraint in not exposing Champion Pryce for his true reasons for sending you to Hoenn."

I grinned as I heard this, glad to see that my decision to keep silent for the time being was not wrong. "Thank you, I didn't think it was the right time to do so either, but could you elaborate on why you thought I shouldn't have done so?"

"Of course." Giovanni answered smoothly, "You see, John, if you had decided to expose Pryce's actions at this moment, I guarantee you that while some of the public would have been sympathetic to your plight, many other members of the public would have just seen it as a childish outburst that ultimately demonstrates that you were unsuited for your position as the Elite 4."

I nodded at his reasoning, since that was what I was thinking as well, before staying silent as he continued, "More importantly, as you still aren't back in Indigo, you wouldn't really be able to control the narrative and influence public opinion as well as the Indigo League and Pryce could. You would be at a huge disadvantage in the war for public opinion, and your reputation may be very quickly tarnished and irreparable."

I grimaced, but understood what Giovanni was telling me. Fortunately, my patience had won out today and I hadn't started a war against Pryce that I wasn't sure that I would be able to win.

Seeing my continued silence, Giovanni kept going. "However, and I would like to applaud you for doing this, your response was vague enough to not immediately warrant a response from Pryce, but also hinted to all those starving reporters that there might be something to investigate. And, better still, even if they do discover something, you'd mostly be in the clear because you weren't the one who 'deliberately' brought it up."

Well, this is one of those times where I thank myself for not being ruled by my temper. Still, I reigned in my relief as I refocused myself and responded to Giovanni.

"Yes, thank you for your explanation, Giovanni, it was very helpful." I remarked, "I'm very glad that I managed to avoid making a huge mistake."

"Mmh, you did." Giovanni replied before pausing slightly for a moment before continuing, "John, you've proven to be a valuable ally for me to have, and I could definitely see us maintaining our friendship for a long time." My eyebrows shot up with surprise, "With that in mind, I have some important news for you."

"What is it?" I asked, unable to stop my curiosity.

"Ever since your journey to Hoenn, Lance has been making moves to replace Pryce to be the new Champion of Indigo. He's still in the preparation stages, but he's been making it increasingly obvious that he intends to challenge Pryce. Just the other day he openly called out Pryce for trying to appoint Lorelei to be the next Gym Leader of Mahogany Town."

"That's quite the move." I answered with open surprise; I didn't think Lance would be making his move so soon. "Thank you for telling me this, Giovanni, but do you have anything in mind about what we could do about this?" I deliberated emphasized the word 'we' so that Giovanni could know that I was with him on this.

"Thank you for your support, John, I'm glad to see you understand the value of this information." Giovanni spoke, "I wanted to discuss this with you more when you get back to Indigo, but I want to know what your preliminary thoughts are about this?"

I carefully thought about the issue for a few moments, Giovanni staying silent as he allowed me to think. A short while later, I stated my thoughts.

"I think that this is an opportunity for us to gain some important influence within the Indigo League." I explained, "I think that, if Lance proves to be worthy of our support, we should support his challenge against Pryce so that we may extract more favours from him and increase our own influence in the Indigo League. We should especially prioritise extracting a promise from him that he would ensure that Kanto doesn't stagnate and fall behind Johto like it has under Pryce."

Giovanni remained silent, so I continued, "Also, while Lance is also from Johto, I feel like he would be more supportive of a united Indigo and is not in favour of the current status quo. Overall, I believe that he would be a better Champion to have for our goals of an improved Kanto."

Giovanni gave out a considering hum as I finished, and I allowed him to think over what I had just said. After thinking it through, he replied.

"Though I am not as optimistic as you about Lance's views for a united Indigo, I do agree that Lance would most likely be a better Champion to have than Pryce." He admitted, "Of course, I am hesitant to act so quickly without knowing more, but assuming that my investigations into Lance prove fruitful and positive, then I see no reason why we shouldn't follow through with your plan."

"Thank you, Giovanni, I'm glad that we could see eye to eye on this matter." I said with concealed relief, I really didn't want Giovanni going against Lance, "Perhaps we should discuss this further when I return from Hoenn." I suggested.

"Yes, we should." He affirmed, "And with that, I think I have taken up enough of your time. Congratulations once again on your victory, John."

I thanked him again for his words and we politely hung up on each other. As I hung up, I smiled down at my phone, happy to see that my connections to Giovanni had only strengthened during my time in Hoenn. I still didn't fully trust him and would continue to remain cautious during any of our interactions, but the conversation we just had was another reminder of how useful Giovanni was as a friend, since he had a vast network of connections that I could make use of.

Knowing that Lance was going after Pryce's position so soon was definitely a big surprise, but it also presented a huge opportunity for me to hopefully make use of. I quickly took out my notepad and reminded myself to at least speak with Lance when I returned so that I could get a better measure with him.

Just as I finished writing down my reminder, my phone rang again. My eyes shot up with surprise yet again as I saw who was calling, Champion Pryce.

"Champion Pryce, how may I help you?" I answered politely, keeping any hint of frustration and annoyance out of my tone.

"Elite John, well done on winning." He said as coldly as ever. Though I didn't manage to detect any hint of anger or frustration in his tone. "You did well in Hoenn, but now I need you back in Indigo."

"Thank you for your words." I replied, maintaining my politeness, "I'll be happy to return to Indigo. Can I ask how I will be returning?" I was tempted to ask why I was being returned, but I didn't want to risk aggravating him at the moment, so I kept the question to myself.

"A private ship will be chartered for you." He answered blandly, "It will be departing the day after tomorrow in the afternoon. Don't miss it."

At this point, I could tell that Pryce genuinely wasn't angry at me at all for winning against Drake or from my interview. He was just his normal unpleasant self, which was somewhat reassuring. And surprising.

"Of course, I'll be there. Is there anything else that you need of me?"

"No. There'll be a welcome committee to meet you when you get back. I'll speak with you then." Then he hung up.

I frowned as I put down my phone. I was more confused than angry at the conversation we just had. What was that about? Why wasn't he angry? Why did he want me back so soon? I had a few guesses, but did it have something to do with Lance's actions?

I mulled over it in my head for a moment, before deciding that I didn't have the answers and would only be able to find out more when I got back. So, I pushed those thoughts about politics of Indigo to the side and allowed myself to relax once again.

I quickly texted Karen telling her to meet me at the Ever Grande City Pokécenter, and I strapped myself onto Port as I started making my way there.

As I enjoyed the short flight from the stadium to the Pokécenter, it hit me that my journey in Hoenn was at an end, for now. I thought back over the many things that took place during my trip here, and I felt that I had accomplished much throughout my pseudo-exile. Obviously, I wasn't about to thank Pryce for side-lining me here, but I did come to enjoy and appreciate my time in Hoenn.

I hoped that one day, I could return.

The New Normal – 2-18 – Interlude – Giovanni

Giovanni sat back and watched the re-run of John's winner interview against Drake. He was being truly genuine when he gave his congratulations to John about his victory, and he was very pleased to see that John wasn't someone who let their anger guide them into making bad decisions. He wasn't lying when he said that John's decision to not announce Pryce's failings at the moment was the correct one.

And yet, even then, he was taken aback by John's victory over Drake.

Despite all of the information that Giovanni had compiled about John, somehow the fact that John's battle prowess was so high seemed to slip under his radar. This obviously had Giovanni rearranging his evaluations about John's team and power. He remembered previously asking Petrel if he had a chance of beating John in a fight, and now he realized that Petrel's cautious estimation of John's strength was actually a vast understatement! Giovanni knew that he had no chance to win, not unless he played dirty.

Giovanni felt that it was very fortunate that they discovered John's true strength like this; it would have been disastrous if he had made an enemy of John without realizing just how strong he truly was. Of course, he never intended to break his friendship with John, not when they had accomplished much together, and Kanto's future was, for the first time in a long while, looking very bright.

He was very pleased about their cooperation together as it brought the both of them many benefits. John was very active in making new connections with important figures in Hoenn, and he never forgot to share some of that credit back with Giovanni too. It was good that John understood the need to pay back his debts.

The joint research project that they established in Petalburg was already in the process of being set up, and the fact that he had indirect control over the entire project through Ariana could only be a good thing for Kanto's future. Obviously, he would ensure that any new discoveries and inventions made there would be sold and distributed in Kanto first.

However, the real winner in Giovanni's eyes was the building of the new Devon Corp branch offices in Viridian. International cooperation aside, so long as Johto never gets their own Devon Corp branch, anyone looking to purchase Devon Corp products will be forced to come to Kanto to do so. He felt that it would do wonders for our balance of trade.

Not only that, but with the new branch's inevitable success, more foreign businesses will look to Kanto as a means of increasing profits and set up their own branch offices here as well. The more that foreign businesses invest in Kanto, the more jobs that can be potentially created in Kanto. Thus, the more businesses get established here, the better for Kanto.

An unintentional benefit for Devon Corp's new branch offices that John would likely never realize is that it provides a legitimate reason why Viridian City remained so prosperous despite Kanto's poor economy. Before the new branch was set up, Giovanni had to be very careful about how he used his less legitimate funds into improving Viridian City and its infrastructure.

He knew that savvy investigators would realize that the amount of money flowing around Viridian City was unusually high, and they might unravel Giovanni's schemes as a result. However, with the new Devon Corp branch being created, Giovanni thought that many would just see how successful the Devon Corp branch was and immediately assume that they were the reason for Viridian City's prosperity, not bothering to look further into Giovanni's underground funds.

This also meant that Giovanni would be able to increase the amount of underground funding into Viridian if he wanted to, but he didn't see the need for that at the moment.

He went to pour himself another drink and thought carefully about the future of his cooperation with John. With Lance making a move to be the next Champion, he remained cautious that a Johtonian like him would make for a good Champion, though he certainly would be better than Pryce. Likewise, he agreed with John's assessment that this would be a perfect time for the both of them to capitalize on the political turmoil to grab some extra political capital for themselves.

As a 'mere' Gym Leader, his actions were far more restricted than John's, so he hoped that John would be able to fulfil what he said he would do. He would wait and see and guide John if that ever became necessary. As always, his guiding hand was always ready to steer Kanto in the right direction. Giovanni let out a content smile as he leaned back in his chair and enjoyed his drink.

However, just as he did that, his phone pinged as someone sent him a text.

Giovanni took one look at the message and shot out of his seat with his drink long forgotten. He grabbed his coat and hat and hastily made his way out of the office.

He bumped into Petrel on the way out, and he simply told Petrel to handle his calls and inform everyone that he would be unavailable for some time. Petrel saw the uncharacteristic alarm on his face and immediately nodded without questioning his orders.

Giovanni then made his way out of the Gym in a rush and into the night.

The New Normal – 2-19 – INTERLUDE: Pokénet Reactions

[DEVON CORP TO SET UP NEW INDIGO BRANCH IN VIRIDIAN CITY! Is this the start of something special?] by The Indigo Post

Dear readers, just moments ago, Devon Corp and Gym Leader Giovanni of Viridian City have made joint announcements announcing the establishment of a new Devon Corp branch office that will be set up in Viridian City! Interesting enough, they both openly thanked our newest Elite Four member, Elite John, for being a vital intermediary to facilitate and approve the cooperation between the two. Gym Leader Giovanni especially stressed how this new branch would create new jobs for the residents of Viridian, and he hopes that this is one big step into helping out those who remain unemployed despite their best efforts.

Although some initially feared that the establishment of the new offices would be met with hostility from our local Silph Co., it appears that the two rival businesses have somehow managed to resolve their differences and there appears to be no signs of protest coming from Silph Co.

Not only that, but the two have also reported that, with the help of Elite John, they will also be sending their scientists to cooperate on a joint research project to discover the potential evolutions for a recently created Pokémon, Porygon. This new research facility will be built in Petalburg City, with the blessing of their Gym Leader Norman.

This writer believes that this newfound cooperation between Devon Corp and Viridian City will be the beginning of a series of foreign cooperation and investment from both regions, which this writer hopes should prove prosperous for both regions. What do our readers think? Let us know in the comments!

Comments

KantoRepresent

Interesting to see Viridian City cooperating with Hoenn's Devon Corp. On the one hand, I'm concerned that this expansion from Devon Corp into Kanto may eventually be revealed to be exploitative and hurt Kanto's economy. On the other hand, I'm cautiously optimistic that Gym Leader Giovanni knows what he's doing and won't allow Devon Corp to just take advantage of us.

Hope this will all turn out well! I'm staying hopeful.

ILoveGoldenRod

…can't you just be happy that Indigo will have more access to Devon Corp products instead of being paranoid over every little thing? Also, when is Johto going to get a Devon Corp branch?! It's unfair that only Kanto gets one.

ANormalFan

Hell yeah! John's doing work while he's in Hoenn!!!

TangelaThoughts

Huh. I admit to being very surprised that this newfound cooperation was facilitated by Elite John. Never thought that he had the political maturity and skills to pull something like this off. Colour me pleasantly surprised.

ANormalFan

Hah! That's what you get for looking down on Elite John! Just you wait! He's going to do something even more amazing while he's there, I'm sure of it.

NotTooMuchWater

About time we got some foreign investment and cooperation into Hoenn! Despite having integrated with Indigo all those years ago, it did seem like Hoenn wasn't really attracting much foreign cooperation. Glad to see that's no longer true though, and I agree with the article that I hope to see more inter-regional cooperation in the future!

AreYouSlowBro

You know, this is probably what happened. Elite John beat Norman, and then used his victory to get Norman to agree to the proposal! Like, they must have bet before their match that the winner could order the loser to do anything!

Gardevoir34

OMA that's so romantic! I need to write this down!!

NotTooMuchWater

…it probably wasn't as dramatic as that. But I do agree that Elite John probably met up with Gym Leader Norman after their match to discuss this. Proud of the both of them for being able to work together despite not coming from the same regions!

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

​[AN ELECTRIFYING BATTLE! AGATHA'S APPRENTICE DEFEATS GYM LEADER WATTSON IN AWE-INSPIRING DISPLAY OF SKILL AND POWER!] by BattleCast

[Edited video of the fight]

Today we were blessed with an unexpected fight between Agatha's apprentice, Karen, and the Mauville Gym Leader Wattson! What was supposed to be a relatively mundane 8-badge fight between the two ended up transforming into an all-out match filled with excitement and skill!

In their final round, Wattson's Magnezone really showed off why it deserved to be called his Ace as it unleashed a blistering fast onslaught of attacks that would have overwhelmed and devastated most Pokémon. But to the surprise and cheers of many, Karen showed the world why she was Agatha's chosen apprentice as her Houndoom managed to not only endure through Magnezone's barrage but also fight back and even secure a decisive knockout against it.

This is Karen's second Gym badge at the time of writing that she has won in Hoenn, on top of the full roster of badges that she has already earned from Indigo. Is Karen going to be challenging the remaining Hoenn Gyms? This writer is excited to see more from Karen in the future!

Thanks once again to our many dear readers for providing us their video clips for us to compile together. We at BattleCast are always grateful for your support.

Comments

SlugmaBalls

Holy shit!! That final round was so coooool!!!! Never thought that Wattson had it in him to be so strong! Since when could his Magnezone do that? Why has he never done it before?!

NotTooMuchWater

Agreed. That was a surprising performance by Wattson even if he did end up losing. But I'm honestly more surprised at the power of Karen's Pokémon. After reading through this article, I went back and looked over her performance against Gym Leader Roy, and she completely dominated him. Makes me think about how strong Karen truly is.

FightClub

Another fanboy of a type weak to Fighting…it's like you guys never learn. Watch, Karen is going to get it in her head that her Dark types will be able to take out the mighty Fighting type Gym in Dewford before her Pokémon gets smashed to the ground where they belong.

GeneralistGeneral

Although I wouldn't put it as harshly as @FightClub, I do wonder why more people don't use generalist teams with multiple types to prevent their Pokémon from all being weak to a single type. Surely that would make more sense?

FearTheRat

It's because it's easier to train more Pokémon together and to maintain cohesion within your team if they all share a type. Referring to Karen's match against Wattson, even though her Pupitar wasn't a Dark type, she obviously trained it well to prepare for its evolution into a Tyranitar, as you can see her Dark Pulses are very much well-trained and powerful.

That's why a huge majority of our Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champion, all specialize in one type. It's not only easier to just have all or most of your Pokémon sharing a type, but also because it allows you to pass and share training techniques between your Pokémon. It's just much more efficient that way.

GeneralistGeneral

@FearTheRat - Sure, I get that. But, in theory, wouldn't a trainer who could train up a full Elite level team with Pokémon of different types be the strongest trainer we've ever seen? I mean, that way their Pokémon could cover each other's weaknesses and they'd be unstoppable. That's what Samuel Oak did, and he became Champion. Just curious why we don't see more generalist trainers at the Elite level.

FearTheRat

@GeneralistGeneral – In theory, yes, but that's MUCH easier said than done. In the history of Indigo and Hoenn, besides the Legend that is Samuel Oak, I don't think we've ever seen a generalist trainer rise high and become a member of the Elite Four or higher. It's just too difficult.

But Ex-Champion Oak definitely proves that if you can manage to train a generalist team to that level, then yes, you'd be likely one of the strongest trainers in the world. Heh, now that you mention it, maybe one day there will be another generalist trainer that rises to be the Champion.

BeautyIsFree

OMA yesssss we need some girls getting in on that Champion position!!! Hope one day we get a hot blondie to be Champ!

ANormalFan

Ok enough with the tangent. Didn't everyone forget that Karen was travelling with Elite John? Does that mean John saw Karen's potential and is now trying to train her up as well to join the Elite Four!? How exciting!! And did you see Elite John in the stands holding up that new Pokémon of his?! I think he's training it up to add to his team!

EDIT: Why do I hear piano?

FightClub

Hah! Weaklings training weaklings. Couldn't be a better pair.

TangelaThoughts

Just looked up the Pokémon that John was seen carrying during the match – it's a newly created Pokémon by the Viridian City scientists called a Porygon. It's also what the newly created joint research project in Petalburg is going to be researching. Exciting news!

And pleasantly surprised to see John carrying one around – probably means that he's cooperating or involved with the research project too! Good to see an Elite Four member taking such initiative.

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

​Topic: [ELITE JOHN SPOTTED TRAVELLING AROUND HOENN WITH AGATHA'S APPRENTICE! ROMANTIC GETAWAY TO HOENN AND THE START OF SOMETHING SPECIAL?!] by Baby Doll Eyes

[Collection of photos of Karen and John]

Look at this!!! They've been travelling around Hoenn together and spending time together! They even trained their Pokémon together and they both watched each other during their Gym battles. It's so romantic!!! I'm pretty sure they've already gotten together. What do you guys think?!?!

Comments

BeautyIsFree

OMA They look so cute together!! I hope they both get into the Elite Four together – they'd be such a power couple!! <3 <3 <3< p>

Gardevoir34

NOooooo I was hoping John would get together with Norman after he defeated him…They would have made such a good BL relationship….

AttractIsNotConsent

Anyone think they're getting together too quickly? Feels unrealistic…Their relationship needs more build-up…

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

​[HOENN INDIGO LEAGUE ANNOUNCES SHOW MATCH BETWEEN ELITE DRAKE AND ELITE JOHN! HOSTED NEXT WEEK!] by BattleCast

The Hoenn League has just made an exciting surprise announcement declaring that they will be hosting a show match next week between the Indigo Elite Four member, John, and the Hoenn Elite Four member, Drake. This is guaranteed to be a fantastic opportunity for trainers all over the world to witness the techniques and strengths of the most highly trained Pokémon in the world – an absolutely must-watch match.

For those among us that are unfamiliar with either of their teams, here is a nice graphic that displays the Pokémon that the two of them have used in their previous matches.

[Graphic that lists John's and Drake's Pokémon]

As for our predictions regarding the match, as an Indigo-based newspaper, of course we will remain supportive of Elite John's chances. As many of you should remember, we had recently witnessed the power of John's Slaking and Snorlax, and hope that we can see another strong repeat performance from the two of them.

Of course, Drake's mix of Dragon and Water Pokémon are no slouches either, and each of his Pokémon are proven powerhouses of their own. Drake is rumoured to be the strongest of the Hoenn Elite Four, and we at BattleCast are certain that this will be an uphill battle for our youngest Elite Four member, but we hope he can prevail regardless! Go John!

Comments

FutureAce

HOLY SHITTTTT! THIS IS GOING TO BE SO COOOOL!!!! I'M SO MAD THAT IT'S IN HOENN WHY CAN'T THEY HOST IT IN INDIGO SO I COULD BE THERE IN PERSON?!?!

ANormalFan

OMA JOHN IS GOING TO FIGHT AGAINST DRAKE!?! HELL YESSSS, it's about time that John gets the opportunity to show the world just how strong his Normal Types are!! GO JOHN!!

DragonPower

HAH! Can't wait to see Drake's Dragons stomp John's puny Normal type team into the ground. Everyone knows that Dragon types are the best type! Too bad that Drake has a few Pokémon that aren't Dragon type – waste of team space if you ask me. He could be so much stronger if he just had a full roster of Dragons…

NotTooMuchWater

Oh wow! Drake's widely considered to be the overall strongest amongst the Hoenn Elite Four despite his losses to Glacia. Wonder how Elite John is going to match up against him? I know John is a strong trainer in his own right, but Drake might just be on another level. Very excited to see what happens!

DragonPower

You're delusional if you think that John has a chance. Just get ready to see Drake sweep his whole team.

SlugmaBalls

HELL YEAH DRAKE IS HERE!!! The coolest of the Hoenn Elite Four is here to battle!! LETS GO DRAKE KICK HIS ASS!

FightClub

YEAH can't wait to see your Normal fanboys cope and seethe as Drake crushes your favourite poster boy.

FearTheRat

So…what do people think about Elite John's chances are against Elite Drake? I personally think that there's a lot we haven't seen from John yet and we might be pleasantly surprised in the upcoming battle.

TangelaThoughts

I've been mistaken about my thoughts about John over the past few days – so I'm definitely curious to see how John measures up against a tried and tested member of the Elite Four. He hasn't really been in many high-level battles yet, so this would be a true test of his power.

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

​[ELITE JOHN BEATS ELITE DRAKE 6-3!!! AN UNEXPECTED VICTORY FROM THE UNDERDOG! ELITE JOHN PROVES HIMSELF WORTHY OF THE TITLE OF ELITE!] by BattleCast

As any loyal reader of BattleCast should know, we were blessed with a surprise announcement last week that there would be a show match between Indigo's Elite John and Hoenn's Elite Drake. Although many of us were supportive of Elite John, it was within the common consensus that Elite Drake would be the ultimate victor because of his longer experience and powerful Pokémon.

But the result shocked us all! After a devastating and shocking final exchange of attacks between Drake's Salamence and John's Ursaluna, John walked away with a 6-3 victory! John's team managed to catch Drake's Pokémon off-guard twice, leading to very decisive knockouts for Drake's Kingdra and Flygon.

This time, we have managed to compile our own highlight reel of the event here:

[Highlight reel of their match]

And now, moving on to a more detailed analysis of the fight, we'll be starting with the first round where Drake's Blastoise went against John's Wyrdeer…(Click here to continue reading)

Comments

FearTheRat

R.I.P all those keyboard warriors saying that Drake would sweep John. See you in the next life!

ANormalFan

HAHAHAHAHHA SUCK IT HATERS!!! I TOLD YOU ALL THAT JOHN'S TEAM WOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO TAKE ON DRAKE! AND JOHN ABSOLUTELY CRUSHED DRAKE 6-3! WHO'S LAUGHING NOW HAHAHAHA!!!!

DragonPower

This is why I said that Drake was wasting spots on team by not filling them with Dragon Types!! If Drake had a full team of Dragon types instead of wasting 3 team slots for stupid Water types, then Drake would have won!! I demand a refight with a team full of Dragons!

FearTheRat

To be fair, the final result was more like 6-4 than 6-3 since I think everyone could see that John's Ursaluna was in no condition to continue fighting after knocking out Drake's Salamence. Not that winning 6-4 lessens John's achievement here, this really was an incredible match, and I was really surprised (but in a good way) to see just how strong John's team was.

He's definitely earned my support at this point – keep it up John!

FightClub

Can't believe that a team so weak to Fighting types would manage to beat a team of Dragons. WTF is Drake even doing?!!? Is he starting to lose it?? Absolutely fucking shameful from Drake.

TangelaThoughts

With John's recent victory and his previous efforts at facilitating cooperation between Devon Corp and Viridian City, I'm really turning around on my initial scepticism on having John appointed to the Elite Four. I used to think he was unsuitable and too young – but I'm now starting to be cautiously optimistic about him.

I hope that he's able to keep up his good work, because if he does, I'll think he'll be one of the staple members of the Elite Four in the years to come.

SlugmaBalls

…Drake Lost???...I mean I watched the battle like everyone else, and even though the situation looked bad when Drake was down to his Salamence I still held on to hope that he would win…but it didn't happen.

Honestly still shook by Drake's defeat, never thought that he would lose to someone outside of Glacia. John didn't even have a type advantage on him…

NotTooMuchWater

A very surprising defeat by Drake – but I'm confident that this loss wouldn't negatively affect Drake's reputation too much. Besides, I don't even think that Drake cares that much about this loss, I've always seen him as someone who was secure about his position in the world and wouldn't allow himself to be affected by this.

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

​[AD: Exchange your Smith farm MooMoo milk bottle caps for exclusive posters at your nearby Pokéshop!]

Starting today, all future purchase of MooMoo milk produced by the Smith family will come with a small sticker on the inside of the bottle caps. Next month, if you managed to accumulate 10 stickers of the same type, you can trade them in at the nearest Pokéshop to acquire an exclusive poster!

Each sticker can be traded for a different poster, currently consisting of specially taken photos of the Pokémon on Elite John's team! Start collecting those bottle caps today!

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

​[CRIME WAVE IN INDIGO! REPORTS SHOW A HUGE SPIKE IN POKEMON THEFT AROUND MANY MAJOR CITIES OF INDIGO!] by The Indigo Post

Dear readers, we have been alerted by the Indigo Police and by our hardworking Officer Jennys that there has been a huge spike in Pokémon theft throughout the entirety of Indigo. Many suspicious individuals have been spotted banding together to engage in criminal activities, normally targeting weaker trainers and stealing their Pokémon after overwhelming them with superior numbers. Beyond that, the reports show that these individuals have been targeting people indiscriminately and seem to be solely concerned with the theft of Pokémon.

The Officer Jennys are issuing a warning to all individuals to keep a lookout for any suspicious individual wearing a black shirt with the letter R being displayed on them, as this seems to be a symbol that connects the many criminals together. Is this shared symbol a sign that the spike in Pokémon thefts is related to organized crime? If so, what is their purpose of stealing all these Pokémon? Why have they just appeared now?

This writer is filled with questions, and he hopes that the Indigo Police can provide answers to soon and is curious to see what the readers think. Please comment down below!

Comments

ILoveGoldenRod

WTF are the Jennys even doing!?! How could they even let this happen! We spend so much of our taxes to fund the Indigo Police and they still let this happen?! Disgraceful!

KantoRepresent

Can't believe I'm agreeing with @ILoveGoldenRod but yes, wtf are the Indigo Police even doing to allow these thugs to continue their criminal activities like this. Shame!

TangelaThoughts

Anyone have any idea what that 'R' symbol is supposed to stand for? I understand that it is highly likely that these criminals are linked to organized crime, so perhaps understanding the symbol on their shirts would be a clue in identifying them?

RockGetGrunt

Hi all! Just thought I would finally show myself after years of lurking around in the shadows. Hope you guys are all well off!

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

​[ELITE LANCE SLAMS CHAMPION PRYCE FOR NEPOTISM! CALLS OUT INAPPROPRIATE APPOINTMENT OF NIECE TO MAHOGANY GYM LEADER!] by The Indigo Post

Elite Lance recently called out Champion Pryce for acts of nepotism for appointing his niece as the Mahogany Gym Leader! Elite Lance is quoted to have said, "This type of behaviour is unbecoming of the Champion of Indigo. Gym Leaders are titles with much honour and responsibility, and they must be carefully selected for their positions! Appointing one based on familial relations is irresponsible and disgraceful!"

When one reporter asked what the difference was between Pryce's appointment of his niece and the appointment of his cousin, Clair, as the Blackthorn Gym Leader, Lance answered,

"For one thing, I did not choose to appoint Clair as the Blackthorn Gym Leader. Nor did I use my position as a member of the Elite Four to influence the decision. The elders of the Blackthorn clan decided that Clair was the best candidate available to take up the position, and I had nothing to do with the decision. However, Champion Pryce has directly intervened in the selection process, which is a blatant display of nepotism."

Lance refused to talk anymore about it, but this writer is speculating that…(Click here to continue reading)

Comments

IceColdSimp

Lance should go and mind his own business!! Why does he have to stick his stupid head into matters that don't concern him! Besides, everyone know that Lorelei would be able to handle the job of being a Gym Leader! You just need to look at her performance in the Indigo Conference!!!

GO LORELEI!! YOU'LL BE A GREAT GYM LEADER!!

FlyingHigh

…The point isn't whether Lorelei is going to be a good Gym Leader or not (though I have my doubts as she's definitely unproven), the problem is that Champion Pryce deliberately disregarded the common methods of appointing a Gym Leader and directly appointed his niece. That's just not done.

KantoRepresent

Absolutely horrid behaviour coming from Pryce. Can't believe our Champion is condoning and engaging in this blatant act of nepotism. Lance was right to call him out for it!

ILoveGoldenRod

Not that I'm against Lance's actions here, but why couldn't Lance have confronted Pryce privately about it instead of announcing it on the news? Now it's going to look like there's discord between the high rank members of Johto. Like, why couldn't Lance just have kept silent about it…

KantoRepresent

Hope this is going to force Pryce to step down as Champion, he's been Champion for too long and Indigo needs some change! I wouldn't even mind Lance stepping up to replace him – I feel like he'd be a much better candidate, even for a Johtonian!

The New Normal – 3-1 – The Return

While I was travelling in a much more luxurious boat than the one that I was in when I first came to Hoenn, I spent some time reflecting over my trip to Hoenn and the goodbyes that I had to make in the past two days before my departure. It really was as busy as I expected it to be.

To start with, I was able to speak to Drake after he apparently got annoyed and flew off midway during his interview and asked him if there were any problems that he anticipated regarding his most recent loss. Fortunately, Drake simply laughed that off and he said that he wasn't and wouldn't be bothered by any 'shit they give me' but thanked me for my consideration regardless. I was just happy that there were no hard feelings between us.

I also made my way back to Petalburg City so that I could speak with Norman. On the way though, I called Joseph Stone and informed him that I would be leaving Hoenn and returning to Indigo. He said that it wasn't a problem and thanked me for informing him, and he also praised me for fulfilling my side of the contract and promoting the Premier Ball. He predicted that the Premier Ball would become a very well-known and popular design in the future.

Joseph also let me know that the branch office was already set up in a temporary building in Viridian already, and they had a few staff members over there who were still setting up and establishing themselves. He said that, by the time I returned to Indigo, they should be free to talk to if I had anything to discuss with them. I thanked him for that and told him that I would certainly visit them in the future.

As I arrived in Petalburg, I went around to speaking with Norman before I left just to make sure everything was going well with the establishment of the facility for the joint research project. He told me that everything was fine and that things were running even smoother than he expected.

We chatted for a bit, and he asked me a few questions about the situation about the egg, to which I honestly said that we weren't making much progress at the moment but that we were being very careful, and I was sure that the egg remained unharmed, which reassured him. He asked me if or when I would be back to Hoenn, but I had to tell him that I didn't know and that it would be up to the Indigo League. He accepted that and wished me the best.

Most importantly, I met up with Karen at Fortree City since she was going to be challenging Winona for the Feather Badge. We spent a lot of time discussing what we would be doing with the egg, since I would be returning to Indigo and Karen wanted to stay in Hoenn for the time being as she challenged the remaining Gyms.

Ultimately, we decided that she would keep the egg with her and rely on the Chansey/Blissey provided by the PokéCenters to monitor the egg and make sure that it wasn't harmed by the dark infusions, since she was the only one who could infuse the egg with Dark energy. To ensure that the Nurse Joys would be cooperative, I went to them and issued a letter signed in my name requesting their cooperation and explaining the nature of the experiment.

Luckily, the Nurse Joy I spoke with was eager to accept and to help out, and she told me that she'll let the other Nurse Joys know as well if Karen would provide her travelling plans in advance. They also agreed to keep it hush-hush, which was fortunate. Karen was, of course, more than willing to do so and I let out a sigh of relief as I no longer needed to worry about delaying the experiment because of our temporary separation.

With that sorted, I spent my remaining time with Karen as we trained our Pokémon together as usual. By the time I needed to leave, I wished Karen the best of luck with her remaining Gym challenges and that I was hoping to see her again. She returned my sentiments, and that she said that she hoped she would be ready to win the Indigo Conference and challenge the Elite Four the next time we saw each other. We hugged each other for a brief moment, and as I parted ways with her on Port, I admitted to being sad about saying goodbye to her, even if it was only temporary.

The time we spent together in Hoenn wasn't really that long, looking back in hindsight, but considering that we nearly did everything together it was a bit lonely to suddenly being by myself again. Still, I comforted myself with the fact that I'd soon be seeing my family once again, and I definitely did want to spend more time with them.

Exiting from my state of reminiscence, I looked around my luxurious private room abroad a private ship and, since there was no internet access on the ship, I didn't have access to the Pokénet and really didn't have any way to kill time. I even asked Pixel if it was up for some light training while we were travelling, but Pixel said no as it was tired.

Failing to think of anything else I could do, I finally decided that I might as well get some shut eye before I arrived in Indigo so that I would be fully rested. And being fully rested was going to be important, as I predicted that once I arrived, I'll be immediately greeted and bombarded by reporters coming along with the welcoming committee.

Though it wasn't the reporters that I was worried about, no, I was far more concerned about my inevitable conversation with Pryce. He had to have called me back for a reason, and while I suspected that it was due to Lance's badly hidden challenge for the title of Champion, I didn't know for sure what Pryce wanted from me. Though I was certain that I was about to be thrown into the deep end of Indigo's politics.

Deciding that thinking about it now was just going to add to my stress levels, I leaned back and allowed my head to rest on the soft and fluffy pillow and relaxed. I wasn't a very materialistic person, but after spending so long living between Pokécenters, it was quite nice to be able to actually sleep on a deluxe bed for once.

And, without realizing it, I ended up sleeping for the entire journey.

==========​I woke up to the blaring of the ship's horn, signalling that we had arrived at Indigo. After fighting against the instinct to just wrap myself in the comfort of the bed, I managed to pull myself awake and started to make sure that I was presentable for the inevitable welcome committee.

At least I was getting one this time, although I still wasn't sure if that would end up being a blessing or a curse.

Once I finally thought that I looked presentable, I made my way down the walkway and into the waiting crowd of the Indigo Welcome Committee. I could see cameras had been set up along the sides and they were rapidly flashing to take my picture. I tried to ignore this as I glanced around to see if I could spot the more important figures that should be here.

And sure enough, the entirety of the Indigo Elite Four and Champion Pryce were in attendance, even Agatha! I could see that Champion Pryce was standing ahead of the others and was clearly waiting for me to approach.

Of course, the moment that I did, a circular wall of microphones instantly surrounded me as the reporters eagerly began to fight to get their microphones closer to my mouth. Luckily, I didn't have to say anything to them as Pryce was the one who greeted me.

"Elite John, welcome back to Indigo." He began with his typical cold demeanour as he extended his hand for me to shake. I observed him carefully as I reached out for his hand, cameras flashing as photos were taken, but it really did seem like he had no issues with me currently.

"Champion Pryce, thank you for welcoming me back." I answered politely, not letting any of my inner sarcasm leak out in my tone. I was very much aware of the cameras that were currently pointing at us at the moment, and I didn't want to give off a bad impression. "I very much enjoyed my time in Hoenn."

"Yes, I can see that." He noted, before he gave off a very begrudging smile that was clearly for the cameras, "I would be remiss if I did not say that you did good work in Hoenn as a representative of Indigo, so with my position as Champion, I thank you for your hard work."

Wow, that couldn't have been more forced and stiffer if he tried. Of course, I'm sure that the headlines would report on this favourably for Pryce, which I supposed was the point. I knew that Pryce was eager for some good headlines at the moment.

Regardless, I wasn't going to burst his bubble at the moment, so I just gave him a polite nod of thanks and turned to the reporters who were waiting impatiently to ask me a few questions.

"Elite John! How did you feel now that you're back?!" The nearest reporter asked me, and I inwardly hoped that all future questions would be this mundane. "What are you going to be doing first?"

"I feel great to be back." I answered truthfully, "And the first thing I'm going to do when I'm free is that I'm going to be heading home to visit my family. It has been a while and I've been longing to see them."

"How did you arrange for Devon Corp to set up a branch in Viridian and for the joint research project to be established in Petalburg?" Another reporter asked, and since that was a legitimately good question I decided to think through my answer before speaking.

"A bit of it was luck, admittedly. I had just fought Gym Leader Norman, and after our battle we both wanted to discuss a few things about our training techniques together." I replied while stroking my chin. "During that discussion, I brought up the fact that we could collaborate on a joint research project, and we started to put the details in place. However, Norman told me that I'd have to visit Devon Corp to procure the scientists on Hoenn's side, so I went there."

"And because of that, I visited Devon Corp to ask them about if they were interested in lending their scientists to participate in the project. And while I was doing so, I asked whether they were interested in setting up a branch in Indigo, and they agreed." I continued. "So, as you can see, it was quite a bit of luck and a string of coincidences. But I'm certainly happy with the results!"

My answer glossed over a lot of the finer details, and I made the decision to deliberately keep Giovanni's name and his actions out of my answer. I didn't want to seem like I was just a puppet of Giovanni that was doing his bidding, that would be bad for both of our reputation's. I feared that, if I had told the truth about Giovanni's involvement, many would see him as being far too powerful for a Gym Leader and it might bring unwanted suspicions to him.

At the moment, I didn't think either of us wanted that to happen, so I downplayed his involvement. I'm sure he would understand.

The rest of the questions asked very similar things, and fortunately most of them revolved around my match with Drake. I gave them similarly inane and inoffensive answers, mostly repeating what I had said in the winner's interview, and before they could ask me another round of dumb questions, I was rescued from them by an unexpected saviour.

"Alright, that's enough attention for you, young man." Agatha's cackling voice cut in and I could feel her surprisingly strong grip on my arm. "I need this young man for something, so shoo, shoo, go away." She shooed away the reporters with repeated waves of her walking cane. A few of the braver reporters almost wanted to protest against this, but then I felt a wave of pressure suddenly emerge from Agatha that finally drove away the reporters.

Agatha seemed satisfied at finally having some peace and quiet, but her face turned into a frown as she addressed the remaining Elite Four members that were standing there impatiently. "Off you go, gents, I have something to speak to with young John here. You can bother him about your problems later." She mocked.

I saw that Walker simply shrugged and walked away, but both Lance and Pryce both scowled at Agatha. Ignoring both of their stares, she forcefully gripped my arm and pulled me aside.

"So, tell me about Karen." She began once we were out of earshot. "Did you fuck her?"

I coughed and spluttered at just how blunt Agatha was. I gave her a questioning look to see if she was simply mocking me, but I could see that she was fully serious. Seeing that she was actually asking a serious question, I decided to match her gaze.

"No, I didn't." I replied uncomfortably, and she stared at me with discerning eyes that felt like they were seeing through me. "I'm telling the truth. I won't deny that there's probably something between us, but we never acted on it yet. We both thought it was too soon."

Agatha stared at me for a few more moments, as if trying to determine whether I was lying or not before she nodded and gave me a devilish smile. "Good, glad to see the both of you aren't as controlled by your hormones as I feared."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I kept silent. Agatha saw my silence and continued her questioning.

"What do you think of her skills as a trainer? She told me you trained together frequently."

"Yes, we did." I confirmed, happy to be talking about anything else besides our relationship status. I took on a more wistful tone as I spoke about our time together. "I could see that her Pokémon were all very well-trained, and even her non-Dark type Pokémon were all extremely proficient in their use of Dark type moves. She certainly lives up to the title of a Dark type specialist."

"Yes, yes, I know how good she is with her Dark types." Agatha waved her hands dismissively, "But is she ready for the Elite Four?"

I frowned and thought about it for a moment. A part of me wanted to tell Agatha that Karen was ready, and that I believed her capable of being in the Elite Four right now. But the more rational part of myself realized that Karen's team was too lacking in heavy hitters to really secure her position in the Elite Four in the long run. She needed to win decisively and unquestionably to deter any future challengers, and I wasn't sure she could do that at the moment.

Sure, she had a bunch of tricks and tactics that could make up for that deficiency, but sometimes as an Elite Four there are situations where raw strength is all that's needed, and Karen currently doesn't really have that and was overly reliant on her tricks. Even her Houndoom was more of a jack-of-all-trades Pokémon than an actual heavy hitter.

With that realization, I decided to stick to the truth while still painting Karen in as positive of a light as I could. "Karen could most certainly take on Walker. And, she just needs to add a heavy hitter into her team, and I would be confident in her chances of making it into the Elite Four for the long-term." I told Agatha.

But Agatha just snorted, and gave me a mocking smile, "You think I can't see through what you're saying?" She cackled to herself, "Almost half of the Gym Leaders in Indigo can take on Walker, it's no hard feat. I can see what you're trying to do, but don't think I can't see through it."

I shrugged shamelessly at that, and I stayed silent as I watched Agatha ponder something. A few moments passed by before she spoke up again.

"Well, it's not like I didn't know this already. After all, I did watch all of her matches in Hoenn." She told me, and I gave her an annoyed look. Why did she ask me all that if she already knew about it anyways?

Agatha clearly read my thoughts from the annoyance that was on my face, and she cackled once again. "I asked you those questions because I wanted to know how you would react to my questions." She admitted with a sardonic grin, "It's not like I would have trusted your judgment on her strength anyways."

Her mocking response only served to further frustrate me. I felt played with and used, and I was about to walk away from her word games towards where the remaining Elite Four were before Agatha interrupted my thoughts once again.

"John, a word of advice." She said uncharacteristically seriously and without a trace of mockery in her voice. I turned back to her and gave her a look that told her to get on with it. She continued with an enigmatic smile, "Pryce is distracted right now, and he's more worried than he's letting on about Lance. The recent scandal against him has really unnerved Pryce, and he'll be looking for support from various important people to secure his position as Champion."

My eyes widened with astonishment at the information. Why was she telling me this? Before I could think about it, Agatha resumed her explanation, "I also know that Lance is looking to seek support from those same people against Pryce. And while I personally do not give a whit which egotistical person remains or becomes Champion, I just thought I'd let you know as a favour of sorts and as thanks for helping out with Karen."

Before I could even respond, Agatha suddenly snapped her fingers and a Gengar revealed itself out of nowhere and the two of them were abruptly covered with a large shadow before they both disappeared.

I stared blankly at where Agatha disappeared from, both mildly confused and impressed by that display. I then quickly shrugged off those distracting thoughts and focused on what Agatha had just told me. I didn't know why she had chosen to tell me this, but it was undoubtedly useful.

I went over her words a couple of times before I realized that the rest of the Elite Four and the Champion were still waiting for me. It was definitely unusual that they were just waiting there and, considering their personalities, I fully expected them to have tried to interrupt our conversation. Yet the fact that they didn't only gave credence to what Agatha had told me; that they wanted my favour and were trying to play nice with me.

Not wanting to keep them waiting any longer, I turned around and started making my way back. I could see that Walker was off to the side just standing there idly, he was obviously uninvolved with the matter but didn't want to leave while the others were still there, and Lance and Pryce were visibly glaring at each other. I supposed that it was no secret that they both knew what the other was planning.

Like I told Giovanni, I wanted to support Lance over Pryce. I knew that he would end up being Champion as per canon, but I couldn't be certain that I hadn't accidentally butterflied canon away through my actions. Also, I definitely wanted to hear from the both of them before I decided on who to support.

Lance was the first to see me approach, and I could tell that he was about to say something before Pryce rudely cut him off and spoke first.

"Elite John, I would like to speak with you about some important matters regarding the safety of Indigo and her future." He said while ignoring the hole that Lance was glaring into the back of his head. "Let us make our way to my office and discuss this further. Come."

I hated the fact that he made it sound like a command, but I gave Lance a quick glance and he subtly shook his head to signal that he wasn't willing to speak up now. Having no other choice, since refusing Pryce at this moment would be basically saying that I was going to be Pryce's enemy, I followed Pryce as he summoned one of the League provided Kadabra's to Teleport us back to his office.

Just before we were Teleported to Pryce's offices, I briefly saw Lance giving me a considering look. I didn't have time to realize what that meant before Pryce and I appeared in his immaculate office.

Pryce casually made his way and seated himself on his fancy and very expensive chair before he gestured for me to sit down opposite him.

"Please sit, John." He said as if it was a command rather than an offer. "We have much to talk about."

The New Normal – 2-19 – Interlude – Lorelei

Lorelei knew accepting the title of Gym Leader of Mahogany was a mistake, even before all of the backlash occurred towards her uncle, Pryce. She knew that she was certainly unqualified for this prestigious role, but she was going to do her best running the Gym anyways. It's just too bad that the public, justifiably, weren't willing to put their trust in her just yet. Or ever.

She supposed she could redeem and prove herself over the next circuit, although she was pessimistic about her chances about gaining the public's favour. She expected to be labelled as a Gym Leader who was undeserving of her title for a long time, and she anticipated that she wouldn't be able to scrub the mark of nepotism off of her.

What was worse than the negative public opinion was that she didn't garner any respect from her Gym Trainers either. Many of them had worked very hard and dedicated themselves to the Mahogany Gym for a long time before they were able to earn their positions, and they saw Lorelei being 'gifted' the title of Gym Leader to be a massive insult to all their efforts. And since her uncle didn't deign to give her any help in the form of loyal assistants and Gym Trainers, she had to manage all of this by herself!

That was far more problematic to solve. She needed the help of her Gym Trainers to be able to effectively run the Gym, but most of them either treated her with polite disdain or outright hostility. And none of them were willing to respect her authority as a Gym Leader.

Lorelei desperately hoped that she would be able to reign them in and assert her authority by the time the new circuit revolves around. She would have no hope of salvaging her public reputation if she couldn't manage her Gym properly, which she needed the assistance of her Gym Trainers to do. It was a vicious cycle and certainly an uphill battle that Lorelei wasn't looking forward to, but she willed herself to at least try.

But with every day that passed, it was increasingly apparent that becoming the Gym Leader of Mahogany was far more trouble than it was worth.

Of course, she couldn't exactly say no to the position either. Despite their best attempts, her parents weren't the greatest of trainers, and neither were most of her extended family, so her uncle dismissed them as useless for helping him maintain power as Champion. However, once she came along and started showing off her potential in the Indigo Conference, that was when she caught the attention of her uncle. But only as a pawn to be used.

Although she was unable to win the Indigo Conference, settling for a 'mere third place' according to her uncle, he was satisfied enough that he could make use of her to further his own interests. Much of Pryce's support base was located in Mahogany, and he pressured them into accepting Lorelei as the new Gym Leader after the previous one stepped down. She didn't really have a choice to refuse, unless she chose to leave Indigo entirely, but that was never a realistic option.

He had made her a Gym Leader in order to assert a further level of control over the Johto Gyms, but that seemed to be an overly ambitious idea from Lorelei's perspective. And to make matters worse, her uncle was getting raked over hot coals on the Pokénet and the news for appointing her as a Gym Leader anyways! Lance was really trying to drive a stake through her uncle's cold dead heart, and on some nights, she wanted to help him!

She knew that her uncle wasn't always like this. Her parents had told her that he used to be a bright and capable trainer that many in the family saw as an inspirational leader. But that was before he became the Champion. That was before the power of his title went to his brain and rotted him from inside out. That was before it was rumoured that he turned to bribery and intimidation to maintain his position. Lorelei had serious trouble reconciling her parents' description of a younger, more innocent Pryce, to the stern, cold, and uncaring uncle that she always knew.

She sighed as she leaned back in her seat in her new office; she didn't even have the time to redecorate it with her personal items, so it was still as the old Gym Leader left it. She looked and the clock and saw that she had already spent ten minutes just moping about. She sighed once more as she pulled herself out of her chair as she adorned her haughty façade once more.

It was time to confront the world.