The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 13: 50-52

The New Normal – 3-12 – Interlude: Proton

Proton entered the facility's basement, which was surprisingly well-lit for a so-called 'secret' facility, with an unusually thoughtful expression on his face. He knew that he wasn't one for circumspection, but even a self-proclaimed brute like himself realized that the meeting that was about to happen would require plenty of thought and consideration.

As Proton seated himself at the cheap wooden table in one of the steel chairs, he thought about his escape from Indigo and into Hoenn.

When he realized that his mysterious, now ex, boss was no longer planning on making use of him and his Team, Proton was livid. Oh, he knew that his ex-boss probably had some big scheme that he previously needed the muscle for, but Proton never really cared about that. He was self-aware enough to recognize that all he valued was for the freedom to rob, steal, and indulge in whatever struck his fancy that day, which was usually violence.

So, when he realized that his boss planned to retire his services for the near future? Proton couldn't have that. In hindsight, it was probably very impulsive of him to just leave like that without knowing if they would have the resources to maintain their operations for the future, but the original founder, that cunning old lady, had stashed away enough resources for them to hang on for a little while.

Initially, Proton believed that in order for Team Rocket to continue maintaining its operations, he needed to secure resources by stealing Pokémon and selling them on the black market to receive a steady supply of funds. At first, this succeeded, and Proton naively thought that they were able to continue doing this until the end of time.

He also had plans to extort his ex-boss and blackmail them in order to ensure a steady supply of resources from them, but then Proton realized that he never actually knew who his boss was. Sure, he could have recognized his face, but he had no idea what his name was or what he even did. As far as Proton was concerned, his ex-boss was a nobody that appeared out of nowhere and just gave them money and Pokémon.

However, everything started going to shit when that nosy Gym Leader Giovanni and his Elite Four pet of his decided to ruin everything by rallying the people like they were heroes of some historic drama. Giovanni's involvement also killed Proton's plans to recruit a few Gym Leaders secretly into his ranks. He thought that a few Gym Leaders would be pliable with sufficient persuasion, and he thought that Giovanni was one of those that could be corrupted! Oh, how wrong he was! Giovanni was easily their biggest public threat!

Who did they think they were trying to eradicate crime in Indigo? Crime was always going to exist, and if anything, Proton was doing everyone a favour by attracting all of the criminals to his cause.

Alas, his fun had to end sometime and the crackdown in Indigo and the mass arrests of his subordinates had caused huge problems for Proton. His subordinates were becoming too fearful to continue, and Proton could feel the discontent slowly rising through his ranks towards his leadership as the arrests mounted.

At the time, Proton knew that his worries would have been solved if he could just find someone who could provide funding for Team Rocket. Then, they could easily just lay low for some time and focus on actually training up his grunts so that they'd be much more capable at completing their objectives. Of course, Proton had no idea where to find said financial backer, so he simply made pleas on the black market and hoped for the best.

And Proton's luck would turn for the better as an anonymous figure reached out to him and promised Proton everything that he wanted. Proton was naturally suspicious of this sudden turn of luck; it seemed too good to be true. However, the figure was quick to reassure Proton and invited Proton to hide out in Hoenn for some time to get away from all the heat in Indigo. Faced with no better choice, Proton warily accepted.

With that in mind, Proton made his way to Hoenn in disguise with only his most loyal subordinates. Once there, he was introduced and shown the vast facilities that they had for his Team's use, and Proton was instantly sold.

Oh, he knew that he was probably just a pawn for a greater purpose, but Proton didn't care. He was too busy salivating over all of the violence that he could do with this new backing, and he would happily play as the loyal soldier if that was what this person needed him to be.

With facilities and living quarters properly secured, Proton decided to move all of his operations to Hoenn and ordered his Team to start making his way here too. Although there was that one incident where his subordinates were caught by that boy of an Elite Four member who thought himself a hero, most of his subordinates managed to arrive safely and unnoticed in Hoenn.

Truthfully, Proton was glad that guy was caught in Indigo; he was one of Proton's more ambitious rivals and was always eyeing jealously at Proton's position, so seeing him removed and out of the way was a net positive in Proton's eyes.

With his Team well-hidden in one of the facilities, the figure finally decided to invite Proton to a meeting where they would be discussing their operations in the future. Which was where Proton found himself now, sitting in a steel chair too small for him and leaning across a cheap wooden table and waiting for an unknown amount of people to arrive.

Just before he could begin grumbling, the door opened behind him once more and two people walked in. Just by looking at their shadowed silhouettes, it was obvious that both of them were large and muscular individuals, though one appeared to be almost purely made of muscle. As they entered the light, he realized that they were both strangely dressed like pirates, which Proton inwardly scoffed at.

If his bosses proved to be the nutcases that they looked like, then he was going to take the money and run.

The two of them sat down in chairs as well, before the smaller one on the right spoke up first.

"The name's Archie, and I'm the boss." He introduced himself, "The guy's over there my friend and admin, Matt. It's good to meet you, Proton."

Proton greeted them both with a silent nod, and Archie accepted that before he kept going. "Now, I'll skip over the pleasantries since it's obvious that you're not one for chit-chat. We recruited you because you had what we needed, an already organized Team that would serve as additional muscle. It was a bit of a coincidence that you reached out when you did, because it was just about the right time when we decided to go looking for someone like you."

Proton nodded again; it was what he expected. "Okay, I understand, so what do you need me to do, Archie? I can see that you clearly have the resources, and from the guards just standing outside I'm fairly certain you have your own muscle to make use of, so why do you need me and my Team?" Proton asked, as he locked eyes with Archie.

"Heh. Well, we're quite the ambitious lot you see." Archie chuckled before his face turned serious. "We need all the muscle that we can get for our new goal."

"...and that goal is?" He questioned.

"You see, our original goal was to harness the power of Kyogre to flood the world and remove all traces of humanity from it for the betterment of all Pokémon." Proton's eyes must have revealed his shock because Archie chuckled at his expression. "Yes, in hindsight, that was a short-sighted idea. But recently, we had a new backer that made me reconsider our goals. Now, our goal is to harness the power of Legendaries to remake the world so that it can be made perfect."

Proton noted the fanaticism in his eyes, and he seriously was reconsidering whether he had made the right call joining up with his team, but he decided to force down his instinct to just leave and start asking some more questions.

"And why would you want to remake the world?" Asked Proton snidely, "I like it the way it is."

"Do you?" Archie challenged, his smile not breaking, "I've done my research on you, Proton, and I know you're a violent man who would love nothing more than to act on those impulses. But aren't you here in Hoenn because you couldn't act on those impulses in Indigo, and were forced to flee?"

He bristled at Archie's words but couldn't deny them. Archie seemed to take Proton's silence as agreement and carried on.

"But could you imagine a world where you didn't need to hide and run? A world where you were free to act out your every desire and impulse, free of consequence? With just a snap of your fingers, you could indulge yourself in whatever vice you choose. Violence? Women? Both? All at your fingertips."

Proton allowed himself to be suckered in by that glorious vision for a moment before he dragged himself back down with reality. He sneered at Archie, "Is that why you're so bent on creating a new world? Because you just want to indulge in women and violence like I do? There are easier methods for that, you know. Unless you're having trouble getting it up."

Matt grunted angrily at Proton's disrespect, but Archie's smile never faltered, "No, I don't indulge in that kind of thing, as hard as it is for someone like you to believe. I truly am looking to create a new world for the betterment of all Pokémon."

Proton scoffed at Archie's idealism, "And how do you plan on re-creating the world to whatever you want it to be? Everyone knows that Legendaries are impossible to control."

"Are they?" Archie challenged again, this time with a knowing smile. "Yes, it is common knowledge that Legendaries are beyond the control of man. But I can assure you that we are making progress into finding a way to control them. And when we do, the world is ours to reshape!"

He sneered again, "And what if I don't believe you?"

"That's perfectly fine." Archie remarked easily, surprising Proton. "I understand that simple words were not likely to persuade you to understand our goals, but it is not understanding that I seek with you. Even if our final goal doesn't work out, what do you have to lose? You'll still be receiving the funding for your time here, and you're too smart to be used as a pawn to be sacrificed. No, you'll bolt and leave as soon as you catch wind of anything like that."

Proton nodded, that was exactly the sort of thing that he would do. Archie continued, "If I wanted a dedicated fanatic, I would have looked to recruit someone else. But no, I chose to recruit you, because you are a practical man with experience leading a Team of grunts to complete an objective, and perhaps indulge in those desires of yours on the way. Again, you do not need to believe in our final goal, you just need to serve as our muscle. Leave the thinking to me."

Proton thought about it for a moment and realized that Archie was right. There was truly no downside to him accepting the deal. His boss may be a fanatical lunatic looking to reshape the world or some nonsense, but so long as he remained paid, and could act out his desires through his raids, then why did Proton even care? Also, Proton was smart enough to realize that, if he declined this deal, he truly had nowhere else to go and he would be monumentally screwed. No, he had to accept this offer.

Besides, this would just be like his time leading Team Rocket, except with an additional safety net and funding. Proton truly saw no downsides to this agreement. Even if his boss was a nutjob.

"Alright...I understand. I'm willing to join our Teams' together and be your muscle." Proton said carefully, "But first, where am I in the pecking order? Who am I going to be in charge of?"

Archie smiled as he heard Proton's agreement, "You'll be made an Admin once you join, sharing your authority with Matt here. We originally had a different candidate, as you might have expected, but she is now unavailable. So, you've taken the spot."

"Fine. And what do you need me to do?" Proton asked.

"For now, you're going to have to lay low for the time being." Proton frowned at being told that he had to sit still once again, but Archie was quick to placate him. "It's too risky to go out at the moment, especially with all the heat that's been focused on Team Rocket. We can't risk stirring the pot for the time being. I don't want to see you arrested after you've just arrived, after all."

Proton was angry but accepted Archie's reasoning. He agreed that the Hoenn League would also be like starving Houndooms looking to eat whatever scraps of Team Rocket they could find just so that they could fill a headline and prove to the public that they were actively doing something. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

"Hey, Archie, why don't we sacrifice a few of our own grunts to the League?" He suggested with a malicious smile, and Archie gave him a questioning glance, "Well, like you said, the Hoenn League are currently baying for Team Rocket with everything they have. So, instead of risking them finding something you don't want them to find, why not we throw some grunts out and allow them to get caught. They'll play it up as a big win, and we get to protect our more valuable assets since they'll likely not be looking as hard after they get some good headlines."

Archie pondered his suggestion for a moment, before he turned to Matt and received a nod from the man. "That does sound like a good idea. I agree. Why don't you go arrange that, after this meeting?"

Proton accepted with a nod, and then returned to his questions.

"So, besides that, what do you need me to do specifically? Spending so much time lying low sounds like a huge waste of time. And I'll get antsy." He asked.

"I'll need you to be training the grunts up to be up to standard." Archie replied instantly, "I understand that you didn't have a lot to work with, since you were running on limited resources and had to act fast to secure a steady stream of income to survive, but your grunts aren't exactly at the level of training and discipline that I hoped for."

Proton frowned but didn't correct Archie and stayed silent, "From what I've seen, your troops are decent enough at smash and grab jobs, but with our steady source of funding from our backer, we don't actually need to do too much of those anymore. What we'll be needing is precision strikes on high value targets to secure a specific resource, asset, or person. And THAT is what I hope to train the grunts to be able to do. To help you with this, our backer has secured you extra resources and Pokémon that have already been distributed to your team. You may check them out yourself after this meeting."

"Fair enough. I can understand that." Proton remarked before gesturing to Matt. "So, what's your friend going to be doing? He hasn't said a thing this whole meeting."

"Matt will be doing the same with the grunts under MY Team, Team Aqua." Archie explained, with Matt nodding in agreement. "I recognized that our two Teams may not respect the authority of a stranger, so you'll be training your own Teams individually. Later on, as our two Teams get more familiar with each other, we can start arranging training sessions together."

Proton nodded, accepting the explanation. At least it gave something to do with the downtime, and he could always beat up some unruly grunts to satisfy his violent desires if he wanted.

"Oh, and one more thing." Archie spoke up again, interrupting Proton's imagination where he was brutalizing a random grunt. "I should let you know of our allies. There's a Team called Team Magma, they used to be our enemies, but we've recently joined under a common banner. However, I suspect there will certainly still be bad blood between our two groups, so keep an eye out on them and make sure that they're actually behaving as they should; I still don't fully trust them. Though if they need some disciplining, I'm sure you'll win out easily. After all, they're mostly the nerdy scientist type. I'm sure you would have no problems." Archie finished with a smirk.

Proton shared his boss' smirk and nodded, before asking if there was anything else. Archie shook his head. "No, I think that's everything that I wanted to cover with this meeting. Listen, I understand that you aren't much of a believer towards the ultimate goal of our Teams, but I hope that one day you'll be able to see that what we're doing actually has a great chance of success and that it IS possible to remake the world."

He scoffed, "Hah! I don't think so. I'm not as na?ve as you two. Nor am I some bright-eyed idealist. No, I'll follow your plans, but if you expect fanaticism out of me, then you'd best pick someone else."

"No, and that's fine. Just remember my words. I hope you can come to agree with me in the future." Archie said, before he extended his arm. "Let's shake on our newfound friendship."

"Yeah...'friendship'..." Proton remarked sarcastically but shook Archie's hand regardless. Archie and Matt then said their goodbyes, stating that they had something else to do, and wished him well on the training before they left the meeting room.

Proton himself got up from the chair moments after they left, and quickly inspected the room for any secret recording devices or microphones that may be used against him. He didn't find any, though that could just mean he merely failed to spot them. After that, he finally made his way out of the facility to where the remaining members of Team Rocket were training up.

As he observed them, he noticed the 'gift' that Archie's backer must have provided, as his grunts were now training with a much larger and diverse group of Pokémon. He even saw Pokémon that he had never even seen before, such as some big grumpy cat thing, which he thought were from the newly introduced region of Sinnoh. Although there weren't many Pokémon that were from Sinnoh, it still made him wonder how Archie or his backer were able to secure these Pokémon already. Still, so long as it made him and his team more powerful, he wouldn't question it.

And, with a bit of training and discipline, Proton could really envision that Team Rocket would transform from a team of general thugs and lowlifes to a proper army that would loot, plunder, and steal on his command.

Seeing the new additions for his Team reminded Proton that, despite the unhinged fanaticism of Archie and his insane goal of trying to remake the world, his resources were still very much appreciated. Proton could tolerate working for a nutcase if that nutcase gave him everything that he needed to indulge and sustain his vices.

Now, Proton went over which of his grunts and captains were recently expressing their displeasure for his leadership. He had some garbage to dispose of...

The New Normal – 3-13 – INTERLUDE: Pokenet Reactions

[TEAM ROCKET STRIKES AGAIN IN THE WORST ATTACK TO EVER HAPPEN TO INDIGO! MANY INJURED IN TERRIBLE ATTACK IN OLIVINE CITY! MANY TEAM ROCKET MEMBERS ESCAPED TO HOENN!] by The Indigo Post

[Collated pictures from the scene, including injuries suffered]

Unfortunately, today was almost one of significant tragedy as Team Rocket has made an appearance once again and terrorized the ports of Olivine City. The air of a peaceful afternoon at Olivine City was shattered by the screams and shouts of innocent civilians trying desperately to get away from Team Rocket's attacks.

According to many eyewitnesses, Team Rocket seemingly showed up out of nowhere and began to indiscriminately attack everyone at the pier. Many were injured in this initial assault as the people frantically tried to scramble away from the assailants.

Fortunately, Elite John was there at the scene within moments of the outbreak occurring and immediately rushed into the fray and began rescuing civilians while his Pokémon dealt with the threat. A security guard that was rescued by Elite John confirms that the Elite Four member had positioned himself between the fleeing civilians and a large group of Team Rocket members, blocking the Team Rocket members from leaving the ship and preventing further damage.

In an act of great bravery, many civilians also joined in the fighting and began helping the Elite Four member by battling against a few Team Rocket members that Elite John missed. As soon as he realized he had backup, Elite John took command and began giving out orders to better coordinate their efforts while corralling the members of Team Rocket into more manageable groups so that they could be more efficiently defeated and detained.

As the dust settled and the battle was over, many civilians were found to be injured by Team Rocket's acts. Those same civilians had to be sent to the nearby Pokécenter to receive treatment, while others were tended to by the Nurse Joys. Elite John himself received no injuries, though he did manage to capture the leader who led this attack and detain all of the Team Rocket members that were onboard the ship. Unfortunately, there are still no reports regarding who and where the true leader of Team Rocket is.

Furthermore, the damage to the ports of Olivine were significant. With the docks torn up due to collateral damage from the fight, and with many other ships similarly damaged, the ports of Olivine are in serious need of repair. Officials have stated that, while the ports don't need to be completely shut down, citizens should expect reduced activity from Olivine City while the ports undergo repairs.

To make matters even worse, Elite John confirmed that the Team Rocket members in Olivine were looking to escape and relocate their operations to Hoenn, and that there were many other groups like this one that had been undoubtedly missed. Already, we have received reports of outrage from the Hoenn League as this news was announced.

Despite this, in an interview after the battle, Elite John emphasized his thanks for the volunteers who helped him and participated in the battle, and he stressed that he was pleased with the Indigo Police's performance and response in this incident. He did not indicate who should be blamed for the incident when asked.

On the other hand, in the midst of all the messages of sympathy from important figures across Indigo and Hoenn, there were also many within the public that placed the blame of this incident solely on the Indigo League, and Champion Pryce, for their complete mismanagement of domestic policies that allowed such a tragic incident to occur.

We at the Indigo Post express our deepest sympathies for anyone caught or injured in the attack. And, readers, what are your thoughts on this terrible attack on Indigo? Please let us know in the comments!

Comments

ILoveGoldenRod

Had a friend that was injured (luckily, only minorly!) in the attack, and I'm enraged by the fact that this happened at all! Why couldn't the Indigo Police react faster and contain the whole situation?!! Why didn't Elite John do more to protect the civilians?! How did the entirety of the Indigo League miss such a large group of Team Rocket members???

What the fuck are we spending our tax dollars on if they're unable to handle something like this?!?! Disgraceful!! We need to see some resignations and arrests over this for such mismanagement!!

ANormalFan

@ILoveGoldenRod

This chapter upload first at NovelUsb.Com

Arceus, you need to think over about your priorities! Why are you placing the blame on Elite John when he was the only Elite Four member or Gym Leader that actually responded to the scenario?! Sure, he couldn't keep everyone safe, but no one could! And he clearly did his best! Read through the article again CLEARLY this time and you'll see that he positioned himself to block Team Rocket members from harming the civvies!!

Go point fingers somewhere else next time! And check out your reading skills beforehand!!

EDIT: Holy shit, John's 'Fear and Cowardice' line hits so hard. Those grunts better be scared!

FutureAce

Hey, did anyone see that video of the fight! Wow it looked like complete chaos out there!! There were so many cool Pokémon just fighting it out against so many Raticates, Golbats, and Arboks!! I would have loved to be there, not for the attack of course, but just to see all those cool fights!!

EDIT: Also, anyone else notice how powerful John's Blissey and Clefable were as bodyguards?! Never thought about those Pokémon as strong before, but they did work! They smashed those grunts like it was nothing!

DragonPower

@ANormalFan HAH! If it was Elite Lance with his Dragons, I can guarantee you that there'll be no casualties, AMONGST THE CIVVIES AT LEAST! Lance would probably Hyper Beam them all to death with his Dragonites! No mercy to the scum who steal dragons!

DarkManager

I'd like to thank everyone that was there who helped out in the fight when you didn't need to. Like John said, thank you for being brave and stepping up. You guys were the true heroes.

AlluteNinja

About time Team Rocket suffered a setback like this. And what does it say about the Indigo League that the biggest loss ever suffered by these criminals was due to the coincidence of having an Elite Four there?

On the one hand, I'm pleased to see Team Rocket finally getting what they deserved, and yet I'm upset that it they almost got away with it due to the League's inefficiency.

FearTheRat

Ok before the comments inevitably go down some random tangent again, I would just like to express my sympathies for anyone caught up in the attack, like your friend @ILoveGoldenRod.

But the article is right that there needs to be someone to blame, or at least, be held accountable for what happened at Olivine today. How did this even happen when everyone was hunting for Team Rocket? Why was Champion Pryce's administration so poor at handling the situation?

I want answers!

RockGetGrunt

Man, I'm so glad I wasn't there! Hope you guys get out soon! Those remaining among us give our sympathies to those that were caught up in that!

SlugmaBalls

You mean to say that those scumbags are coming over to Hoenn?!? WTF is wrong with you guys at Indigo that you have to spread your problems here to Hoenn! We already have enough shit to deal with! We don't need yours added to the pile!

FlyingHigh

@RockGetGrunt ...who are you referring to?

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?["GET YOUR SHIT SORTED!" ELITE DRAKE SLAMS THE INDIGO LEAGUE FOR THEIR INCOMPETENCE AND MISTAKES!] by The Hoenn Times

With his trademark gruff and tough mannerisms, Elite Drake once again slammed the Indigo League for their latest mistake, and this time he was not holding back with the comments! This is what Elite Drake had to say about the issue:

"Congratulations, Champion Pryce. You have now dropped another pile of shit into Hoenn. And this time, the shit will spread and multiply, and if we don't handle this right then all of Hoenn will be covered in the shit that YOU sent over. If you wanted to fuck us over, then well done."

"Now, I will have to ask the Hoenn League to pull their heads out of their asses and start organizing our police to clear out this Team Rocket before they can harm our citizens. Arceus knows how difficult it's going to be to actually get them to spend money to keep the public safe. But now, you have all the warning you need, so DO YOUR JOBS! Also, get the fuck out of your office Pryce. You don't deserve to be there. I hope Lance at least has a brain."

Expectedly harsh words from our experienced Elite Four member. And yet, Elite Drake is right that the spread of Team Rocket into Hoenn will inevitably be a further drain of Hoenn's resources and may even undermine the safety of the public.

Following on from his Elite Four's statement, Champion Wallace had this to say.

"The events at Olivine are a tragedy. That cannot be denied. And yet, it was a preventable one. The secret relocation of Team Rocket into Hoenn is greatly unfortunate. And yet, it was preventable. I can only hope that any further incidents from the Indigo League may be preventable. This cannot happen again."

This writer hopes that the Hoenn Police are able to rapidly respond to this new threat on our shores.

Comments

NotTooMuchWater

Can't believe the Indigo League dropped the ball this hard. I hope you guys in Indigo really kick out Pryce. I'm mad as hell that he was indirectly responsible for causing us problems. Hope Lance or whoever is more capable than this.

AreYouSlowBro

Is Drake always so foul-mouthed? I feel like he swears at least twice per sentence. Not that I mind, of course, swearing is cool!

SlugmaBalls

I'm pretty sure Drake was born with a potty mouth. I couldn't imagine him NOT swearing, to be honest.

KantoRepresent

I truly hope that the Hoenn League is able to deal with Team Rocket better than the Indigo League. If it weren't for our Gym Leader Giovanni, we would have never been able to fight back against Team Rocket! Giovanni truly is incorruptible and the best person we have to destroy Team Rocket!!

ILoveGoldenRod

I'm not happy about the situation as the next guy, but I still can't tolerate Elite Drake's rude manner of speaking. He's an Elite Four member, for Arceus' sake, he needs to be held to a higher standard! How are our two regions meant to cooperate if all we hear from your Elite Four is a constant slew of insults and swears?!

TangelaThoughts

I hope that tensions don't get any worse between our two regions. As unfortunate as the circumstances are, I sincerely doubt that any of this was intentional by our government. Perhaps it was negligence, but not malice.

NotTooMuchWater

I think we in Hoenn understand that; but it's still aggravating when we have to clean up what was supposedly YOUR mess. I can't speak for the others, but I do hope that we in Hoenn see some attempt to repair or compensate us for the damage that we have received based on your region's actions, intentional or otherwise.

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

?Topic: [I, ELITE LANCE, AM MAKING A BID TO BE THE NEXT CHAMPION!] by DragonKnight (Verified POG)

I am releasing this statement in conjunction with a press announcement, but as the title of this post says, I am seeking to replace Champion Pryce and become the next Champion of Indigo.

I have spoken to the Blackthorn Clan, and they have all agreed with my decision to commit to this course of action. But, most importantly, I have spoken to my own heart and decided that I could not tolerate my inaction any longer!

Everyone has undoubtedly seen the recent attack in Olivine, which was just a culmination of all of the Team Rocket attacks so far throughout Indigo. And, while I must express my thanks to those who have rallied against these terrorists, it is certainly clear at this point that the Indigo League has failed to do enough, and the people have suffered for it!

AND Champion Pryce is the one responsible for all this chaos! He is the one to blame for all those injuries! Champion Pryce, in his obsession to maintain the status quo, has allowed the economy of Indigo to stagnant and fester in his negligence. It's no wonder that Team Rocket managed to source so many members when Pryce was in charge, since they had no other alternative but crime!

To make matters worse, not only has Champion Pryce purposely side-lined a member of the Elite Four, but also, he has embarrassed us on the international stage when he sent Elite John over to Hoenn without informing anyone on their side of things just to fuel his petty agenda. This risked years of carefully cultivated friendship with Hoenn in his foolish attempts to maintain the status quo.

These are not the actions of a Champion! And it is due to this that I, with a heavy heart, am seeking to challenge Pryce and replace him as Champion! I hope that I will have your support!

Comments

DragonLady (Verified POG)

Elite Lance has the full support of the Blackthorn Clan to replace Pryce as the next Champion and wishes him all the best! We in the Clan have been greatly dissatisfied with Pryce and cannot allow him to remain as Champion any longer!

SkyWalker (Verified POG)

Champion Pryce advocates for everyone to not act on their immediate emotions and recognize that, under the leadership of Champion Pryce, peace has been achieved and maintained throughout Indigo throughout his entire reign. Champion Pryce has served in his capability as Champion dutifully, and his stable and experienced leadership is what is needed during these trying times!

ChuckNorris (Verified POG)

I DON'T CARE WHO BECOMES THE NEXT CHAMPION I JUST WANT TO SEE A GOOD FIGHT! BUT I WANT LANCE TO WIN MORE BECAUSE DRAGONS ARE MORE OF A CHALLENGE TO FIGHT THAN ICE TYPES HAHAHAHA!

EDIT: HOW DO I TURN OFF CAPS

TangelaThoughts

Arceus – that's a stacked comment section. But yea, saw this announcement coming ever since Lance was making those statements two weeks or so ago. Definitely predicted that the attack in Olivine was finally going to light the fuse for Lance. Very excited to see what happens next.

EDIT: Also, noticed that in the other news articles that most of the Johto Gym Leaders seem to be supportive of Lance's attempts, and so am I!

EDIT2: Elite John declared his support as well!

ANormalFan

JUST SAW ELITE JOHN ANNOUNCING HIS SUPPORT LANCE TOO! Well sign me up then! All hail Champion Lance!

DragonPower

[This user has been banned from this thread. Please do not ask Gym Leaders to send pictures of their Dragons]

FightClub

[This user has been banned from this thread. Please do not ask Gym Leaders to send pictures of their glute spread]

IceColdSimp

[This user has been banned from this thread. Please do not join in and randomly ask the Gym Leader of Mahogany for nudes]

FearTheRat

...Again, wtf is wrong with you people?

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?[AD: Premier Balls now being sold at the new Devon Corp branch in Viridian City! Pick them up now while stocks last!]

As used by Elite John's heart-stopping match against Elite Drake, Devon Corp's newest high-tech Pokéball design, the Premier Ball, is now on sale! For the Elite Trainers that want to show off their skills outside of battle!

"I'm John Smith, and this is my favourite Pokéball in Indigo." – Elite John

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

?[TEAM ROCKET CRIPPLED! MANY MEMBERS ARRESTED IN JOINT RAIDS OF KNOWN FACILITIES! AMAZING FEAT BY THE HOENN POLICE!] by The Hoenn Times

Ever since it was announced that Team Rocket had made their new base here and were planning on continuing their operations on Hoenn soil, our brave and daring fighters in the Hoenn Police have worked hard day after day, leading up to today's simultaneous raid against multiple of their bases.

Our Hoenn Police force successfully stormed into their buildings, and quickly detained all of the Team Rocket members inside without suffering a single casualty. A huge success for the Hoenn police, and as a result of the Hoenn's Police hard work, we can be sure that the Team Rocket numbers have been significantly whittled down from all the arrests!

This writer hopes that the Hoenn Police will be able to put an end to these terrorists once and for all. Make Team Rocket a problem of the past!

Comments

KantoRepresent

Definitely happy for you guys in Hoenn for your success! I just wish the Indigo Police were as efficient as yours were...

NotTooMuchWater

@KantoRepresent Thanks for your thanks, but you gotta know that all news agencies, in Hoenn and Indigo, like to exaggerate their success for the headlines. So, while I don't doubt that they made arrests, why did they not announce the leader of Team Rocket has been arrested?

Probably because they haven't caught him yet. The threat is not over.

AlluteNinja

Well, exaggerated or not, I'm happy to see the Hoenn Police initiate their raids on Team Rocket. They belong behind bars!

SlugmaBalls

Yeah, the news probably just exaggerated it to make the Hoenn League look good. Typical corruption!

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

?[NEW HOENN-KANTO RESEARCH FACILITY FINALLY BUILT IN PETALBURG! A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT! AND A SIGN OF COOPERATION?!] by The Hoenn Times

After a surprisingly quick and efficient building process, the new joint-research facility promised by both Devon Corp and Kanto's Viridian City has finally been constructed and is now in use! Scientists from both regions have already moved into the facility and begun researching the new Pokémon, Porygon!

After speaking to a few of the scientists, we were able to find out that the intention of the facility is to discover if this completely new Pokémon has any potential to evolve, and whether it can be mass produced since it is a Pokémon made of pure data! They even told us that since they had managed to make use of the time when the facility was still under construction, they had gathered quite a bit of data already and hope to see results soon! A very interesting development, and this writer wishes them the best in their endeavours.

For more information regarding the new Pokémon Porygon, click here.

Comments

NotTooMuchWater

This is some great news after hearing about all of the scandals and criminals that have been brought over here from Indigo. It gives me hope that the recent incidents were just caused by a few bad apples and that the majority of citizens in Indigo do appreciate Hoenn and want to actively cooperate with us. Hope this works out, we don't need more bad news.

TangelaThoughts

@NotTooMuchWater Don't forget about that new Devon Corp branch in Viridian City! The current Indigo League might be screwing up, but I guarantee you that the common Indigo Citizen is more than welcoming of our friendship with Hoenn!

ANormalFan

Hey doesn't John have a Porygon of his own?! Maybe if they discover any future evolutions they'll give one to him! Hope John gets even stronger by this WOOOO!!

FightClub

Why are these nerds wasting time on researching a stupid Normal type. Why can't they use their time better like finding out new Fighting types! Productive Fighting types > Useless Normals. SMH all these nerds don't know anything about Pokémon.

DragonPower

^Agreed! Why couldn't they discover more Dragons! There's only 5 evolution lines of Dragons right now! We need more! Or make Charizard into a Dragon already!

==========

?[AN ANALYSIS OF ELITE LANCE AND CHAMPION PRYCE! WHO WOULD WIN THEIR UPCOMING MATCH?!] by BattleCast

[Cool graphic of the two of them staring down each other]

Everyone and their mother are talking about Elite Lance's recent challenge against Champion Pryce to become the next Champion. However, we here at BattleCast don't care about all this political nonsense! We just care about WHO WOULD WIN IN A POKEMON BATTLE!!

Now, a more novice reader may immediately assume that Pryce would be the eventual winner, due to the fact that Pryce's Ice types are supereffective against Lance's Dragon types. However! More experienced readers of BattleCast should know that at such high-level battles, type matches matter a lot less!

Now, Champion Pryce hasn't actually had a Pokémon battle in a long while, but we can go through our old records of his battles and look at his team. His old team consisted of a Glalie, Dewgong, Glaceon, Sneasel, Jynx, and of course, his starter Mamoswine. Now, this team may be outdated, but we can assume that Pryce will be using most of these Pokémon in his upcoming match.

On the other hand, Lance's team is very well-documented and well-known. His team of 'dragons', include a Gyarados, Charizard, Salamence, and of course his trio of Dragonites (including his starter!). Those are some serious powerhouses! No wonder Lance was chosen to be the Blackthorn representative on the Elite Four.

Now, while Lance's Pokémon are typically stronger...(Click here to continue reading)

Comments

DragonPower

LETS GO LANCE LETS GO! LANCE WILL WIN WITH HIS DRAGONS! ICE TYPES BE DAMNED!!

IceColdSimp

HEY SHUT UP YOU IDIOT ARE YOU BLIND BECAUSE ICE TYPES BEAT DRAGONS EVERYONE KNOWS THEIR TYPE MATCHUPS! LORELEI'S UNCLE IS GONNA WIN!

DragonPower

ICE TYPES WIN??! HAVE YOU SEEN ALL THOSE DRAGONS!? Did you think that Lance wouldn't have trained his team to resist Ice type attacks??!? Keep dreaming kid.

Also, those Ice types are all so fragile! One attack and Lance is going to break them apart. So, get ready to cry kiddo!

FearTheRat

Yea, politics aside, I definitely am rooting for Lance to win. I feel like his team is a lot better and more well-rounded than Pryce's, and I just think that, individually, Lance's team is more powerful than Pryce's. Of course, Pryce has that type advantage over Lance, but I'm certain that Lance has his own countermeasures for that.

TangelaThoughts

@FearTheRat Mostly agree, although I'm also willing to bet that Pryce has his own secrets up his sleeve that he's hidden from the public up until this point. Unlike Lance, who openly shows off his team at basically every opportunity he gets, Pryce is much more secretive of his team, and like the report said, we haven't really seen him in a full Pokémon battle in a while.

My money's still on Lance, but I think that Pryce might surprise us a bit.

FlyingHigh

Does anyone realize that all of Lance's Pokémon are Flying types? In fact, he has more Flying types than Dragons. Weird huh. Maybe we should reclassify him as a Flying type specialist.

FearTheRat

If we do that, then Flying type specialists everywhere are gonna cry. Lance's standards for 'Flying' types are way too high. Dragonites should not be counted as a 'Flying' type, they are most certainly Dragons.

DragonLady (Verified POG)

@FlyingHigh No.

FlyingHigh

...yes ma'am.

The New Normal – 4-1 – The Road to Champion

"I can't believe that they're still discussing the attack at Olivine, haven't we caught all the stragglers anyways?" My mom spoke up at the lunch table as we all gathered to eat, "It's already been a week and a half, surely we don't to focus on all the doom and gloom."

"I was surprised they weren't talking more about Lance's announcement that he was going to be Champion." My dad muttered, "Did you know about that, John?"

I swallowed my food, "He gave me a heads-up two days before he made the announcement, though as I said before I was helping him behind the scenes."

Which was smart of him. It allowed the Team Rocket attack to gain sufficient traction in the news, and THEN made his announcement when the attack was still fresh in everyone's minds.

This way, Lance was able to capitalize on the Team Rocket attack as a means to prove Pryce's incompetency and provide a legitimate justification in the public's eyes for his challenge against Pryce. Furthermore, emotions were high days after the attack by Team Rocket, and so Lance was able to benefit from the public's outrage and funnel them into support for himself. The final showdown between Lance and Pryce would take place exactly a month after Lance's announcement, plenty of time for both of them to shore up support from the public.

It was a shrewd plan, and I truthfully didn't think Lance was capable of such political manoeuvring. That was not to say that Lance was dumb or political unaware, but I personally believed that this plan of action was probably thought of and put into play by the wiser elders of the Blackthorn Clan, and Lance was simply following their instructions.

"Hmm..." My dad frowned, "I hope you and him know what you're doing. It's a big risk to aim to replace the Champion." He said with concern. "Say, John, since you've actually spoken to Lance, is he just a puppet for the Blackthorns? Or is he his own man?"

"Definitely the latter." I replied instantly, "I'm sure he has Blackthorn's interest in mind, but he's too arrogant and strong to be anyone's puppet. That I can be certain of."

"Will you be the Champion one day, John?" My sister cut in. "Maybe one day you can challenge the Champion and beat them up with Tyrant and become the Champion."

I chuckled at Whitney's innocence, "Being a Champion is a lot more trouble than it's worth, Whitney. I'm happy with my current position, and I don't want to get too greedy. Maybe someday I'll try for it, but not now. I wouldn't even be able to gather up the support for it."

"Speaking of support, I was surprised that Gym Leader Giovanni chose to support Lance as the next Champion." My mom added, "I'm not surprised that the Johto Gyms would support Lance, but I never thought a Kanto Gym Leader would vote for a Johto Champion after all of the shenanigans with Pryce. I remember it was a pretty big deal on the news."

"True enough, dear." My dad remarked, "The Blackthorns were always very popular and influential in Johto, so gaining the support of the other Gym Leaders wouldn't have been too difficult for them. Though yes, seeing the Viridian Gym supporting Lance too was surprising. But I think Giovanni's support of Lance probably swayed a few Kantonians to Lance's side."

My mom's eyes narrowed suspiciously at me, "Did you have something to do with it, John?"

"Perhaps." I answered, refusing to say more. Though I was certain that my parents had inferred that I had advised Giovanni to do so since they knew of my friendship with him. "He'll probably be the only one to support Lance though. The other Gyms won't be as keen. But at least they won't support Pryce either!"

"Hah! Certainly not." My dad spat out, "After everything Pryce has done leading up to the attack at Olivine, there'd be riots in the streets! It's about time that fu-...rascal finally got removed as the Champion!" My dad censored himself as he realized that Whitney was still here, who just rolled her eyes at the obvious censorship.

She probably knew her swears, which was probably due to me. Whoops!

Then the phone in the living room started to ring, and my mom quickly got up to get it while the rest of us continued to eat our food. She came back hardly a minute later with a slight scowl on her face, causing us to all stare at her.

"It's another one of your fans, John." She answered our silent question, "You have more reporters looking to speak to the 'Hero of Olivine'." She said that last bit in a teasing tone, knowing how much I hated the nickname.

"Hehehehe...When I start my journey I'm going to tell everyone that my big brother is a Hero! They'll all be so jealous!" My sister joined in, twisting the knife even further as I groaned. That caused everyone to laugh.

Terrible nicknames aside, I couldn't deny the benefits of helping out at Olivine, not that I did so for such mercenary reasons. My popularity had been steadily on the rise ever since my return from Hoenn, but after my efforts to defend Olivine port and shutting down the Team Rocket attack, my popularity skyrocketed even further.

I was lauded as a hero in the news, and my reputation in the Elite Four, at least temporarily, couldn't be higher. Thus, when I announced my support of Lance and claimed that he was someone who would be able to regain control and stability against the tide of criminals, THAT brought Lance a lot of support and credibility.

Likewise, Lance was also making claims that he would enact proposals such as the International Police in order to prevent future crime waves from occurring again. This was unsurprisingly extremely popular in today's political climate, and I'm sure that Lance was very happy with the amount of support that this got from the public.

"...Anyways, changing the topic a little bit." I spoke up, trying to move away from embarrassing nicknames, "Any thoughts about the chances of Pryce getting impeached by the 80% public vote?"

My dad thought about it for a moment, "Unlikely. Not because Pryce's still popular or anything, but simply because I think the public would like to see if Lance has the strength to beat Pryce in a battle first." He said, unconsciously mirroring what Giovanni had also told me.

"I agree." My mom added, "Besides, Pryce probably still has a few loyal supporters that would save him from the 80% public impeachment vote. He's been Champion for too long to not have sycophants."

I nodded to my parents' statements. I also thought that a vote would not be held at such time, as it was far more common to allow the challenger and the Champion to battle beforehand rather than by removing existing Champion through a public vote. This way, the public would use the current Champion as a sort of test for the challenger to test and evaluate their abilities in a Pokémon battle.

In the world of Pokémon, winning a Pokémon battle was everything and would heavily influence public opinion. While there were democratic elements to our government, such as the 80% public impeachment vote that remained as an eternal threat to all sitting Champions and Elite Four members, that vote was never actually used in practice. As far as Indigo and the wider Pokémon world was concerned, the most important element to see in a leader was their ability to defeat any and all challengers.

To the public, the candidate's Pokémon team's strength was always the most important aspect of their candidacy.

Thus, all of the support that Lance has received from the Gym Leaders and from myself, while undoubtedly useful at reassuring the public that Lance was a suitable candidate to be the next Champion and deterring any future potential challengers, would all be for naught if Lance failed to defeat Pryce.

"But what if Lance loses to Pryce?" Whitney remarked, unknowingly mirroring my thoughts. "Who would be the Champion?"

"...That would be the worst-case scenario." I replied, getting nods from both my parents, "If he won, then he might get to stay as Champion since the public still respect strength, and his victory would prove that he still had sufficient strength to hold the title."

"I doubt that though. He's public enemy number one at this point. Even his own sycophants are starting to point fingers at him to avoid the blame." My dad interrupted me. "They'll probably impeach Pryce afterwards even if he wins. But Lance would also be seen as weak and be discredited for not being strong enough to beat Pryce."

"That would be really, really, bad." I said to Whitney, who still looked a bit confused. "If that happens, then the new Champion would likely be decided by the Committee, which I am certain would cause complete chaos that no one would want or benefit from."

Of course, Giovanni and I did discuss contingency plans for this extremely unlikely scenario since I had every reason to be confident in Lance's ability to defeat Pryce from my research. Obviously, due to my relative inexperience and lack of political connections, I wasn't a realistic candidate to be the next Champion in the event of a vacancy despite my temporary surge in popularity, but I hopefully should still be able to position myself to be a powerful influence on whoever that next Champion would be.

Still, there was no real need to worry about all this yet. It's only been a week and a half since the Team Rocket attack in Olivine, and there was still two and a half weeks before the final showdown between Lance and Pryce. I had mostly done my part for Lance, and so long as he could beat Pryce his ability to remain as a Champion was a shoe-in.

"That's true, Whitney." My mom continued, "If it wasn't for the foresight and leadership of Champion Oak to ensure a stable transition of power, Indigo would have likely shattered before Pryce, the chosen successor of Oak, could even take up the mantle as Champion."

My sister listened to all this with an 'O' on her face. I guessed that she probably understood most of what was being said but was finding it hard to process. Still, I was glad to she was actually putting in the effort to learn more about the politics of Indigo. It would serve her well in the future on her journey.

The thought of my sister starting her journey put a frown on my face as I remembered the still-in-hiding Team Rocket. They were still unaccounted for despite running away from Hoenn, and while they did make a few arrests, I was concerned that Proton still hadn't been located. The Hoenn news agencies were playing it up as a massive success by their police force, but I knew that they were severely exaggerating their achievements.

I wouldn't be satisfied until all of Team Rocket's facilities and funding were completely dismantled, and Proton arrested. In my eyes, that was the only way to stamp out the Team Rocket threat. Sadly, I couldn't just head over to Hoenn to do that, and I wouldn't even know where to start finding them!

Even though I suspected that more things were at play, especially with the still 'undiscovered' Team Magma and Aqua, I couldn't just go through a fruitless manhunt through Hoenn. I needed information before I could act. Still, I vowed to keep a close eye on what was happening over in Hoenn for any big incidents just in case.

Giovanni was equally unable to do anything about it as well. But at least he was thoroughly converted to my side and was fighting back hard against Team Rocket; he realized the benefits of doing so and was now seen as one of the leading figures of Kanto! He was very happy about that.

"Come, let's table the discussion for now and finish up lunch." My mom exclaimed, cutting through my thoughts. "The food's getting cold. So, eat up." And we all obeyed.

After lunch was over, Whitney and I went back to the fields to continue training with my Pokémon in preparation for the upcoming regime change. Giovanni had advised me that it was very common for Elite Four members to receive challenges whenever there is a new Champion, so I followed Giovanni's advice and began training up my Pokémon even more. Our mom also joined us to help milk the Miltanks.

Not that I felt like my Pokémon were going to lose to anyone, but I wasn't about to rest on my laurels and risk losing everything just because of my overconfidence.

As we arrived at the field, I saw Eevee being playfully chased around by Klee, who was purposely running a bit slower to give Eevee a chance. Eevee was too distracted running away from Klee and bumped into a grunting Vordt. Despite Vordt's menacing visage, he merely let out a snort and patted the smiling Eevee gently on the forehead, before turning around and continuing to train up its new combination move of Earthquake + Stone Edge. It was a move I called Seismic Eruption, where Vordt would unleash an Earthquake that would also cause rocks to erupt from below and impale the enemy.

It was still very much a work in progress, but with Vordt's proficiency with geokinesis, I was certain he could manage.

Speaking of training, I needed to focus on my new Eevee.

"Euphie! Come over here!" I shouted out, using the new nickname that I had for my Eevee. I gave it to her as I felt that it matched her kind innocence and eventual pink appearance when it evolved into a Sylveon.

Euphie heard my shouts and came dashing over, an Everstone properly secured around her neck on a nice and sturdy chain.

"Okay Euphie, I want you to continue your spars with Pixel and Whismur. Are you up for that?" Euphie's head rapidly bobbed up and down, so I chuckled and let her run off to do that.

I had ideas of evolving her into a Sylveon, though I knew that would take some time. She and Pixel were getting along very well as sparring buddies, as they were about equal in terms of their level of training, and they often included Whismur in their spars as well.

When I first showed Whitney my new Eevee, she immediately cooed and awed over my new Pokémon, and she threatened bodily harm towards me if I ever hurt Euphie. I repeatedly swore to my sister that I would never do anything of the sort, and only then did she nod to me. I suspected that a part of her wanted to ask me to get her an Eevee of her own, but she was determined to stick to her previous promise of not asking for any more Pokémon. I was proud of her for doing so.

I knew that discovering Euphie's evolution into a Sylveon would make the Fairy type impossible to hide anymore. Yet, what better way would there be to prove the existence of a Fairy type than with a new Eeveelution? Plus, I figured that it was as good of a time as ever to 'discover' the Fairy Type, as when Lance replaces Pryce as Champion, there will inevitably be a major reshuffling of all of the Elite Four positions.

Not only would having another big discovery put me back into the center of the public eye at such a critical moment, but it would also cement my scientific mind and my reputation as a researcher. That was a respected attribute in Pokémon society, which should hopefully open doors for me to build and reinforce future political connections, thus giving me a larger say in the discussing and creation of new policies.

Similarly, it will make it much more difficult for any League official to ignore me if I continue to maintain my popularity within the public eye. If I got particularly lucky, I could be the right-hand man of whoever will be the next Champion. It would also provide an additional layer of protection to prevent me from suddenly getting kicked out of the Elite Four. I just needed a good opportunity to do so.

Also, my first cheque from Devon Corp finally came in, and the amount was quite a bit higher than I was expecting. I quickly put that into my personal account for emergency use.

Likewise, as I idly watched my new Euphie spar with Pixel, I reflected on one of the surprisingly mundane changes to my life. Karen's return.

Unsurprisingly, we weren't always hanging around each other like we did in Hoenn, as she frequently had to return to her place in Lavender Town and discuss some things with Agatha. I wasn't privy to most of their conversations, nor did I expect to be.

I just presumed that Agatha was just preparing Karen for a potential run at the Elite Four, if she felt that Karen was ready for it. This did mean that we didn't get to spend much time training and just hanging out each other like we used to, though we texted often, and she did have an open invitation to my house. I obviously much preferred to actually see her in person, but nevertheless was still thankful for our continued friendship.

Traitorously, Karen told me that she wanted to meet Whitney and "show my sister the ways of Dark type Pokémon" and try to convert my sister away from being another Normal type specialist like me. I scoffed and replied that I was confident that Whitney was strong enough to resist the temptation of the dark side.

However, just as I was reminiscing about that, I received a sudden text from Karen stating that Agatha was inviting me to speak with her in Lavender Town. I frowned, but nonetheless accepted the invitation with much curiosity swirling about in my mind.

Why was Agatha inviting me there?

==========?I hated Lavender Town. It had nothing to do with the people, but there was this presence to Lavender Town that just gives me the creeps.

I figured that it was because of all the Ghost type Pokémon living here, but it was very unsettling regardless. I also hated their speciality food, something they called 'Creepypasta', some kind of black garlic pasta with a ketchup and pumpkin sauce that tasted awful. I really didn't want to be here, but I wasn't going to turn down a rare invitation from Agatha for such a stupid reason.

I suspected that Agatha wanted to speak to me about Karen about her opportunities to join the Elite Four, but I couldn't be certain. So, it was with curious interest that I stepped into the large, yet surprisingly undescriptive, mansion where Agatha was staying at.

"Ah, you took your time getting here, didn't you boy?" Agatha's gravelly voice sounded through the entrance. "I would have thought that you would have tripped over yourself trying to see my apprentice again."

I ignored her barbs as I looked around her mansion. Despite the size, it was sparse of décor. There were no gaudy displays of wealth. Just an empty, and old, mansion that seemed to be slowly falling apart. If I had paid closer attention, I would have noticed that some of the furniture moved on its own, but I missed this as I made my way to where they were.

I found Agatha seated next to Karen on a pillow while sipping tea from a coffee table. This very mundane sight was ruined by the fact that there was literally nothing else in the room besides the two of them, three pillows, and the table, which actually made the sight rather spooky. Still, I didn't let that deter me.

"Thank you for your invitation, Elite Agatha." I greeted, ignoring her earlier comments. "I hope you're well-"

"Yes, yes, I'm well enough that I'm not just about to fall over and die if that's what you're hoping for." She interrupted me while waving her hands dismissively. "Now enough with the pleasantries. Sit down and let's talk. I don't have much time left in this world and I don't intend to waste any of it." She gestured to a spare pillow next to the table.

Despite her macabre bluntness, I was getting used to her mocking mannerisms, and found that they lacked any cutting power. Agatha wasn't trying to insult me; this was just who she was. Sort of like how Drake swore like a sailor; often times he didn't mean any offense. So, I just seated myself in the pillow silently, waiting for her to tell me what she wanted to say.

"Now, as you probably guessed, we're going to be talking about Karen here." Karen winked at me when I turned to her, but otherwise kept her hands on her legs and didn't say anything else as Agatha continued. "Since Pryce still has his head up his rear, he'll be losing to Lance, and Walker's going to be kicked out soon enough after that. Therefore, we're going to have two openings in the Elite Four since I don't plan to fall down a flight of stairs just yet and you're obviously not going to be leaving. So, I want to discuss about how Karen will make it into the Elite Four."

I nodded at her explanation; it was what I expected honestly. Lance's move to Champion meant that there will be two spots available in the Elite Four since Walker was inevitably going to be moved out of the way either by Lance or by a challenge from someone else. What Giovanni had previously explained to me when I asked was that the only reason Walker remained in the Elite Four as long as he did was that Pryce wanted a yes-man in the Elite Four and buried all potential challengers using a mixture of bribes and threats before they had an opportunity to challenge Walker.

This was all kept very hush-hush to the point where I doubt Lance knew about it, but I suppose Giovanni had alternate information sources to rely on. I wasn't even sure if Walker knew about how Pryce was keeping him in the Elite Four!

"But that's actually not as easy as it sounds." Agatha continued. "Unfortunately, many other ambitious challengers will inevitably decide to stick their noses in and try to compete for the positions as well. As you know, anyone who wins the Indigo Conference may challenge the Elite Four or Champion within three years of their victory, meaning that we'll probably have at least two challengers for Walker's spot since you're already in the Elite Four. Karen hasn't won the Indigo Conference yet, meaning that we'll have to wait until the next circuit for her to have the opportunity to join."

"What about the committee-" I tried to ask before Agatha cut me off again.

"I will not suffer the embarrassment of relying on the committee vote for Karen's entry into the Elite Four, nor would it be a reliable method for Karen to be selected." Agatha told me, "It is very likely that the committee will choose a Johtonian to join the Elite Four, since with Lance's upward promotion to Champion, the committee members will quickly realize that you and I will be the only members of the Elite Four left after Walker gets the boot. And we are both from Kanto. Thus, those busybodies will scramble to find a Johtonian to fill in the ranks."

I nodded. That was a very reasonable prediction. "Do you have any idea of who they'll choose from Johto, then?" I asked.

"Do I look like I can just Will the answer into existence like a Psychic?" Agatha replied sarcastically. "No, I do not. Knowing how incompetent the League always is, I doubt they'll know about it either until the day that the committee is held." She paused and took a sip of her tea. "Moving back to Karen. It is unfortunate that Karen has not yet won the Indigo Conference before Lance challenged Pryce, as this would have been a perfect opportunity for her. However, I didn't expect Lance to make a move so quickly, so now we have to work with what we've got."

"Well, it's not like the situation is that bad." I remarked thoughtfully. "Karen's still going to have a good opportunity to join this League season as well."

"True, and that is why I've invited you here today, John." Agatha explained. "Whatever happens, Karen MUST win next year's conference. No exceptions. I am already delaying my retirement until she can replace me, but eventually the public will catch on to my frailty and weakness and vote me out. If that happens, then the committee will have a free hand at picking my successor, and I refuse to leave the Elite Four to someone not directly picked by me."

I was shocked by the admission. I didn't think that someone as strong in spirit as Agatha was going to be voted out. She must have seen the shock on my face as she began to explain.

"Yes, I can see your surprise. But, the Indigo League and the Champion, whoever they may be, won't like an Elite Four member that is unable to act on their orders or help out in times of crisis." Agatha informed me. "I may have a strong team, but my ability to direct them wanes with each day that passes. Truthfully, I do not think I will be in the Elite Four for much longer." She admitted bitterly, and I could see that Karen was giving looks of sympathy to Agatha. I guess Karen did care for her, despite not always getting along together.

"Therefore, John, I want you to do everything that you can to ensure that Karen wins the next conference. Of course, I will also be helping out where I can. However, I am not blind to your miraculous ability to find discoveries and hidden Pokémon evolutions that others missed. I want you to use that brain of yours to train Karen to be the strongest she can be. And in return, during my remaining time in the Elite Four, or until Karen makes it into the Elite Four, I will back you in everything that you need. Karen has also agreed, written if you'd like, to not challenge you for your position in the Elite Four as well." She proposed to me.

"Not that I would fight you anyways, that would be stupid." Karen added.

"Yes, yes, I didn't raise an idiot. You don't need to let him know." Agatha fake-grumbled, "Now stop distracting your friend and let him think."

I was surprised at her proposal but didn't allow it to show on my face. Still, I wondered why Agatha was even offering me such a proposal; she must have known that Karen and I were close and that I had helped her train in the past. My parents had taught me to always question deals that were too good to be true, and I spent some time thinking about whether this was one of them.

"Do you intend for Karen to beat you in a challenge?" I asked, but Agatha shook her head.

"No, that would be unnecessary. So long as she makes it into the Elite Four through a successful challenge before I retire, then I will be satisfied. The public will know that the torch has been passed and my legacy will be safe." She replied.

"Aww, do you not have faith in me to defeat you?" Karen teased, only to get shushed by Agatha, causing her to laugh. I ignored their byplay and continued to think.

After some time to think, I ultimately decided to accept Agatha's deal anyways. I didn't think that my friendship with Karen would be cut anytime soon, and I did want to help her train and get stronger even before Agatha's proposal. Ultimately, she was still my friend. All this proposal did was solidify my decision to help Karen.

I also appreciated the line about Karen not challenging me for my title in the Elite Four, since it reduced any conflict of interests. Obviously, such an agreement would never hold up to any scrutiny, but I was close enough with Karen to know that she was not someone to go against an agreement like this even if Agatha ordered her to. Thus, I was relatively assured of the fact that training Karen wouldn't bite me in the ass down the line.

I was less certain about how much Agatha's political sway was going to help me in the Elite Four, since by her own admission she was on the way out and was unlikely going to be of much help otherwise. Additionally, Agatha already had a reputation of being an ornery and aggravating person to work with in the League, so I doubted she had many friends there.

Still, it was better than nothing, and she was still considered a wise and experienced member of the Elite Four with a lot of influence over Lavender Town. Plus, it wasn't like I was about to stop training with Karen. So, there was only one real thing I could say to her proposal.

"I agree."