The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 21: 83-86

The New Normal – 5-2 – Political Sparring

Unfortunately, politics rests for no one. And the day after my meeting with the Waterflower sisters I found myself at the Indigo Plateau sitting in and listening to one of the committee meetings.

I guess I shouldn't be complaining that hard, as it was at least my proposal that they were currently discussing. And, considering the current mood of the members, it really looked like my proposal to reduce the number of badges was going to be passed. At least in Indigo.

"...While I am in full agreement that it would be beneficial to all parties that the number of badges required to travel and capture Pokémon from a different region from within Indigo should be reduced from 4 to 2, I am hesitant to approve of such a reduction for trainers travelling to and from Hoenn." One of the Committee members stated.

He continued, "These trainers, when on foreign soil, are representing the Indigo League through their behaviours and actions, and I believe that we should ensure that these trainers are at least up to a certain standard before we allow them to be sent off like this."

Many people nodded their heads at his words, which I too found was quite reasonable. It was a long shot for me to encourage more freedom of movement between Indigo and Hoenn, especially considering our recently deteriorated relationship, but I was happy enough with just lowering the restrictions for trainers when within Indigo.

Besides, this still worked towards my goal of creating a more united Indigo, so I considered this a win regardless.

I began zoning out as the political back-and-forth and posturing continued on for several more minutes, choosing instead to turn my attention to the other members of the Elite Four. That proved to be a far more interesting sight.

Agatha looked like she was about to fall asleep on the spot, with her face twisted with open regret of having attend this meeting in the first place. Perhaps if it was not for our agreement, she might not even have showed up at all! Lance was doing no better, despite him actually having a vote, and I could tell that his boredom was slowly growing as it looked like he just wanted to end this discussion as soon as possible.

Will and Walker were a story in opposites. Will actually looked interested, the only one out of the Elite Four to do so, and he seemed to be listening carefully to the arguments given by the other committee members. On the other hand, Walker while pretending to be interested, actually had a blank look on his face.

Unlike Agatha and Lance, his lack of attention likely did not stem from boredom, but rather it was probably due to his upcoming battle against Lorelei in a few days' time. Understandably, with his Elite Four position on the line, Walker had other things to worry about. I wondered how high he evaluated Lorelei's battling capabilities, and if he was confident about his chances of winning.

Out of respect for his previous apology, I had the tact to not ask him.

Eventually, the committee members finished their discussion and Lance stood up and finally announced that it was time for the Elite Four to give their opinions on the matter if we so wished. Since this was my proposal, I had to actually speak up and reaffirm my position. Agatha did the same, supporting me as per our agreement.

I reiterated my hopes that this would be a step towards properly uniting our two regions, and that we were finally setting aside our old grievances in favour of a brighter and more cooperative future. Agatha followed on from this and gave her support to my statement.

Will also took the opportunity to establish his political position within the Elite Four, and just like he brought up in his swearing-in ceremony, he stated how supportive he was of this reduction and how he hopes that with the greater influx of trainers between the two regions, he hopes that this would open the door to more 'welcoming' policies for businesses and foreign investment within Indigo.

With our speeches done, Lance began the vote count, with him in support of the reduction as per our previous discussion. Looking around, even without needing to count, it was obvious that the proposal was going to pass.

After Charles Goodshow went around and properly tallied up the votes, Lance spoke up once again.

"...and the committee has chosen. The proposal to reduce the number of badges required for trainers to travel and capture Pokémon from outside their originating region is to be reduced from 4 to 2 within Indigo. This proposal will be put into place within the following weeks. No changes will be made to the number of badges required for trainers to travel and capture Pokémon to and from Hoenn."

A polite round of applause broke out from his statement, and Lance eventually wrapped up the meeting with people eventually leaving. Lance stopped the Elite Four before we could do the same.

"Can the Elite Four please meet me in my office? I would like to speak to you all before you leave." We all nodded at this, and we all made our way to his personal offices at the top of the League building.

"Huh. It's a strange feeling to not see statutes of Ice Pokémon everywhere." Walker commented as we walked into Lance's office. True enough, it was filled to the brim with symbols and statues depicting Dragons. As expected of a Blackthorn.

"Can't let them forget who's in charge." Agatha mocked, "Men and their needs to always show off their egos. I hope you're not like this when you grow up, John."

I shrugged, "I wouldn't know. I still live with my parents after all. I don't really see the need for all this décor."

"You still live with your parents?" Will asked, his face etched with surprise. "Why? Why would you do that to yourself? As a member of the Elite Four, no less."

I turned to him in confusion, "Why wouldn't I? I like living near my parents, and they have a big enough training field to train my Pokémon. Why would I need my own house?"

Will looked like I had just slapped him in the face, but Lance spoke up before he could respond.

"Right, leave your conversation for later. I don't have much time until my next appointment, and I purposely scheduled this meeting just so that I could listen to the opinions of my Elite Four." We quieted down and nodded, "So, for the next proposal that the committee would debate about, do you have any suggestions that you would like to recommend to me?"

Of course, Lance knew, and agreed with, my next proposal about setting up more contest halls in Cerulean, but we still had to pretend that I was just presenting my idea to him so that our 'underhanded collusion' would remain undiscovered.

"Yes, Lance, I actually had the idea to set up a few contest halls..." I proposed, explaining for the benefit of the others my ideas about wanting to set up new contest halls in Cerulean and how that would benefit and improve our Indigo-Hoenn relations.

Lance expectedly agreed with my proposal and said that he would bring it up. What WAS surprising was that Will did the same.

"I'm in full agreement with John here. I think that this would be a great opportunity for my frie-, I mean, other businessmen to get involved into the creation of these contest halls. I think that this also be an encouraging sight for any foreign businessmen, whether they are from Hoenn or from the newly discovered region of Sinnoh, that Indigo is willing to adapt to their culture and their business. Opens up many business opportunities for the future." Will described.

"Is there a need to set up everything in Cerulean, though? Surely, we could develop these contest halls elsewhere. Perhaps in Johto?" Will added curiously, and I knew I had to speak up to defend my proposed location.

"Cerulean is well-known already to be the cultural center of Kanto. While Celadon can boast a larger population, it is far more of a commercial city than a cultural one. I think it's best if we set up these new contest halls in a city that is already going to be receptive to such an idea." I argued.

Will looked at me consideringly, his eyes flashing with interest and curiosity as he pondered my words. A hint of understanding flashed past his eyes, and his mouth widened into a knowing smirk.

"I see...well, I can certainly approve of such ideas, so long as these contest halls are going to be receptive to businessmen and investment." He said, "I'm sure such a large undertaking will generate plenty of very profitable opportunities, right?" In other words, Will was saying that if I wanted his support for the contest halls to be built in Cerulean, he wanted opportunities for his business 'friends' to invest into Cerulean City. Preferably with favourable deals.

I gave him a calm smile, "I'm sure there will be. Although I can't guarantee anything at the moment, I will hopefully be able to arrange things with the mayor of Cerulean."

"Perfect. Then I'm sure that your proposal will be passed with no problems." Will smiled back, our eyes met another as we both silently agreed to the deal. Inwardly, I was confident that, with Will's cooperation tentatively secured, the proposal would pass as per my expectations with no problems.

Agatha was on board, and Walker currently didn't have much influence to his name. And he was probably too distracted at the moment to even worry about these political matters.

"Well, I'm glad that's sorted." Lance interrupted, "If that's all, then I think I've taken up enough of your time already. If there's nothing else, you're free to leave."

With a quick by-your-leave, Walker quickly left. Agatha followed slowly behind him, and I was about to join her when Will tapped me on the shoulder.

"Elite John, would you care for a quick spar?" He asked me, his eyes filled with challenge. "You know, I don't think I've ever lost more than a few matches ever since I won the Indigo Conference last year, and I would really like to test out some of my newer acquisitions against some of your Pokémon. How about it, want to challenge yourself against me?" A hint of superiority leaking out of his tone.

My eyes twitched at his words; I felt condescended once again, even though I knew that he meant no harm. Still, inwardly vowing to knock him down a peg, I pretended to shrug nonchalantly at his proposal. "Sure, if you want to challenge yourself, who am I to stop you?" Also, I knew that this battle was a great way to test out Will's strength and to shake some of my rust off; it has been a while since my last battle against Drake.

However, my main motivation was to just to wipe that annoying smirk off his face.

"Excellent." His grin turned feral, "I can't wait to show off my talents. Come, let's make our way to the training field. Champion Lance, would you like to join us?"

Lance's eyes gleamed with interest, and after a moment of hesitation, he pulled himself out of his chair and accompanied us, saying that the meeting could wait. Considering the huge grin that he had, I felt that he just wanted an excuse to avoid the paperwork or that meeting of his. Not that I blamed him.

We took the elevator down to the basements, where the reserved training fields were located. Obviously, we were able to just walk right in without needing to occupy it.

"So, how do you want to do this?" I ask Will as we arrived.

"Hmm...let's make it more interesting. Let's do a quick double battle. 2v2. No switches. What do you think?" He suggested, to which I agreed.

We informed Lance of our decision, who agreed to referee for us, and took our places opposite each other on the field. Unlike Will, who had probably planned for such a scenario and had likely made battle plans already for our match, I barely had a minute to come up with something. Oh well, if all else fails, there was always a tried-and-true strategy that I could use.

I stared down at Will, who had a smug glint in his eye. As if he was about to win something big. Realizing his plan to use me as a steppingstone, my annoyance flared, and I carefully schooled my expression to not give anything away.

"Trainers, are you ready?!" Lance called out, and I grabbed both of my chosen Premier Balls as I nodded alongside Will. My plan already in place.

Lance counted down for us, "Three...two...one...BEGIN!"

"Klee and Klaus, become the wall!"

"Espeon and Gardevoir, show the world your majesty!"

Klaus and Klee emerged from their Premier Balls and faced off against Will's Espeon and Gardevoir. The first thing I noticed was just how immaculately groomed and majestic his Pokémon looked. Though behind that beauty was a font of strength that identified them as Elite Pokémon in their own right.

But I was going to make Will regret challenging me.

"Klee, go on the defense and Shadow Ball!" "Klaus, set up with Agility!"

"Blast them down with Psychic! Show off your power!"

With impressive reaction speeds, both of Will's Pokémon fired off powerful blasts of Psychic that would have knocked back a lesser foe. Unfortunately for Will, Klee stepped up in front of Klaus and shrugged off those blasts like they were nothing, hardly even flinching from the miniscule damage inflicted, while firing off her own Shadow Balls that Will's Pokémon nimbly dodged past.

I smirked at Will. Klee could devour Special Attacks like that endlessly.

In the meanwhile, Klaus, who was snugly hiding behind Klee and using her as a Pokémon-shield against the attacks, had used the space created to set up an Agility.

As soon as I saw the signature pink glow of the Agility fade from Klaus, I went on the offensive.

"Klaus, Megahorn the Espeon!" "Klee, cover Klaus with a Light Screen!"

Klaus shot out from behind Klee, abandoning his cover and charging straight towards Espeon using his boosted speed. A small shimmer of light formed in front of Klaus as he charged, forming a protective shield against opposing Special Attacks.

Will grimaced as he realized what my plan was, and he quickly barked out new orders.

"Espeon, Reflect and shield the two of you!" "Gardevoir, Focus Blast and blast that interloper back!"

Another shield of light flickered into existence in front of both of Will's Pokémon, while Gardevoir started firing off volleys of Focus Blasts against Klaus. But Klaus continued forward, undeterred by the incoming fire of Focus Blasts, fully trusting in the Light Screen that Klee formed to protect him from the brunt of the damage.

That faith was quickly tested as the Focus Blasts collided into the Light Screen, but they failed to halt Klaus' charge as a majority of the impact force was absorbed.

"Klaus, continue your charge!" "Klee, Helping Hand on Klaus! Boost him!"

"Gardevoir, switch to Will-O-Wisp and burn the Wyrdeer!" "Espeon, Brace and Protect!"

Small wisps of flames formed in front of Gardevoir in a circle, before they suddenly darted forwards and landed on the charging Klaus. The flames quickly spread and danced across his body, burning Klaus right before his Helping Hand boosted Megahorn crashed into Espeon's Protect shield.

The shield flickered as the force of the impact coursed through it, but it stood strong with the help of the additional absorption from the Reflect. Additionally, the burn inflicted on Klaus cut his attack just in time to save Espeon from the attack.

But at such close distance, it made it very difficult for Espeon to dodge Klaus' follow up move.

"Klaus, Thunder Wave the Espeon!" "Klee, Heal Bell and Shadow Ball the Gardevoir! Suppress it!"

A quick burst of electricity shot towards Espeon from Klaus, rapidly paralysing Will's Espeon as I hoped. I had been briefly worried about Espeon having Magic Bounce, which would have reflected back my Thunder Wave, but it looks like I bet correctly that Will might not have trained his Espeon to have that ability.

Of course, Espeon's Synchronize ability would have normally reflected the paralysis back at Klaus, but both it and the burn were soon purged by the rejuvenating chimes of Klee's Heal Bell.

Gardevoir wanted to come and help, but it was distracted by having to dodge the supereffective volley of Shadow Balls shot out by Klee.

This was an ideal position for me to be in. With Gardevoir slowly being cut off from assisting Espeon due to Klee's constant spam of Shadow Balls, I was free to overwhelm Espeon with Klaus. Especially with the paralysis, it was only a matter of time before the battle became a 2v1. And Will knew it.

But it seems like Will still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Gardevoir, Teleport and Helping Hand!" "Espeon, wait for the Helping Hand and Hyper Voice! Knock the Wyrdeer back!"

"Klaus, Protect!" "Klee, Softboiled and heal yourself!"

With a near-instant flash of pink light, his Gardevoir suddenly Teleported and reappeared next to Espeon, clapping its hands together to power up Espeon's Hyper Voice. With the boost from the Helping Hand, Espeon's Hyper Voice blasted back Klaus, who was unable to generate a Protect shield in time due to the surprise of the attack.

Klaus flew backwards and nearly slammed into the walls of the arena. That was far more damage than I was expecting, and Klaus struggled to pull himself back up. More importantly for Will, this also put both of his Pokémon together again, where they were able to fight together.

I frowned. If I was going to win this battle, I was going to need to separate the two once again and defeat them piece-meal.

I knew that, unlike my battle against Drake, I didn't have an advantage in support and utility moves. Will likely matched me one-for-one in terms of supportive moves, which was expected since he was a Psychic specialist. I didn't dare underestimate Will and think that I could simply outsmart him in a battle of wits.

Thus, I was just going to play to my strengths.

"Klee, Seismic Toss the Espeon! Get close to them!" "Klaus, run around and fire off Shadow Balls!"

"NO! Stop that Blissey at once! Both of you, Psychic it down!"

Will quickly caught on to what I was doing and frantically tried to knock down my Blissey, who had now begun her, admittedly rather slow, charge towards his two Pokémon. But with Klaus distracting them with his own barrage of Shadow Balls, the two weren't able to focus their attention at bringing down Klee and stopping her assault.

It was a brainless strategy, relying entirely on Klee's natural bulk to tank through the attacks. But it was working. Maybe I should have done this from the start.

And now Will's Pokémon were staring down an unstoppable pink and smiling juggernaut that met all of his attacks with the same unfazed expression. It was almost a comical sight to see the ever friendly and cute Klee terrify an Elite trainer like Will as she continued shouldering past his attacks like they were nothing. The blasts of Psychic continually blasting into her non-stop, but they all failed to halt her charge.

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"Gardevoir, switch to Focus Blasts! You have to stop it!"

With ramping panic, Will ordered Gardevoir to swap to the supereffective, yet more demanding, Focus Blasts to hopefully bring down the incoming Blissey. But in his state of panic, he forgot about Klaus, and I quickly pounced onto that opportunity.

"Megahorn, Klaus! From the back!"

While Gardevoir and Espeon were too busy trying to bring down my charging Klee, Klaus pivoted on the spot and suddenly charged in from behind, forming a pseudo-pincer attack with Klee to surround Will's Pokémon.

Realizing the desperate situation that he was in, Will was forced to go on the defensive.

"Gardevoir, Teleport away!" "Espeon, Protect and Endure!"

Gardevoir quickly blinked out and away from both of my Pokémon's strike zones, while Espeon once again began to brace and formed a Protect shield to withstand the incoming attacks. Will was clearly hoping that moving to pure defense would allow Espeon to Endure past both attacks and give Gardevoir the opportunity to counterattack.

Alas, it was an overly optimistic dream.

Klaus slammed into the Protect shield at full force, no longer having a Burn to cut his attack in half. This time, the shield fractured as it failed to block the entire force of the attack, causing Espeon to be exposed to the incoming Megahorn as Klaus brutally collided into it.

Espeon let out a cry of pain and was sent skidding across the ground from the super-effective move, right into the waiting arms of Klee, who expertly picked up the disoriented Espeon and jumped up into the air with surprising mobility, before slamming Espeon powerfully back into the ground in a well-practiced Seismic Toss.

Espeon whimpered painfully on the ground as it tried to recover from the attack.

To Will's credit, Espeon still wasn't out of the fight just yet, but the situation had turned from bad to worse for Will. He had a paralyzed Espeon with low health that was on the verge of fainting, and he had a Gardevoir that, while healthy and still capable of fighting, wouldn't be able to stand up against both of my Pokémon alone.

Sure, he had a lot of regeneration options available to him, but my next actions quickly put a stop to any of those hopes.

"Klaus, charge at Gardevoir with another Megahorn!" "Klee, don't let up on the Espeon and finish it with another Seismic Toss!"

"Gardevoir, keep Teleporting and Icy Wind! You have to slow it down!" "Espeon, Teleport and Morning Sun!"

Klaus immediately began a renewed assault as he began dashing towards Gardevoir, while Klee quickly pounced on top of the helpless Espeon, too injured from its wounds to Teleport in time, and leapt into the air with it before crashing down with it once again as they both slammed powerfully into the ground.

Klee may be the most motherly and kind of all my Pokémon, but she was as good of a fighter as the rest of them. And, in the end, the repeated Seismic Toss proved too much for the Espeon, and it was knocked out of the fight before it could restore its health.

With that, the battle became a 2v1 and I was confident that my victory was assured. Gardevoir, despite all of its mobility afforded by its Teleports, was not strong enough to overwhelm both of my Pokémon and would eventually be worn down.

Admittedly, I thought that Will had the right idea in mind. His plan was to have his Gardevoir repeatedly Teleport away from Klaus to prevent him from landing a decisive Megahorn, all while firing off Icy Winds in hopes of slowing down Klaus enough so that he could no longer continue charging towards her.

I realized that I could easily end the match by just having Klee charge once again into Gardevoir, and the combination of both of my Pokémon would definitely prove too much for Will's remaining Pokémon. However, I instead realized that this was a perfect opportunity to gauge Will's level of training.

With my mind made up, I decided to 'play with my food'.

"Klaus, swap to Shadow Ball!" "Klee, Softboiled to heal yourself then Shadow Ball as well!"

With both of my Pokémon firing off their own intersecting barrages of Shadow Balls, I was looking to push Gardevoir to its limits to see how much it could dodge with its Teleport, and how far its stamina went. I recognized that Gardevoir was not Will's strongest Pokémon, but I wanted to see how far it was able to go.

In a way, this was both equal parts revenge and research. Revenge, because his showing off rubbed me the wrong way, even if it was petty of me. Research, because I wanted to use this opportunity to learn more about Will. He was a showboat, that much was obvious, but I was curious to see if he could back up his words.

Returning to the battle, I watched intently as Gardevoir made an admirable effort at dodging the sweeping volley of Shadow Balls with its Teleports. To Will's credit, it was probably the most impressive display of Psychic skill that I had ever witnessed. Gardevoir's Teleporting barely had any charge-up time and didn't seem to disorient Gardevoir at all even while it blinked rapidly around the battlefield.

Gardevoir was never in more than one place for more than a second before suddenly reappearing elsewhere. It was practically impossible to pin down.

However, I noticed that Gardevoir seemed to struggle to form attacks in time to counterattack during the brief openings afforded by its Teleports. Perhaps Will hadn't been properly training his Pokémon under high pressure scenarios?

Either way, even with Gardevoir's impressive showing, it inevitably ran out of Psychic stamina and was unable to keep up its series of Teleports, quickly succumbing to the assault of Shadow Balls and quickly being knocked out.

Huh, was it me or did that Gardevoir seem quite frail? Was that another potential weakness? Something to make a note of later.

"ANNND...the fight is over. John wins!" Lance called out as he began to approach us with a pleased grin. "That was a great fight from the two of you. This was way better than sitting through yet another meeting."

We both withdrew our Pokémon and offered him our thanks, though Will's was far more subdued. Lance saw this and patted him on the shoulder, "Chin up, Will. Don't you remember what Walker said? You're in the big leagues now, you can't expect yourself to be as dominant as you were once before. Still, that was a great performance. Good job."

With his piece said, Lance waved the both of us goodbye as he rushed back to his office to attend his abandoned appointments. I decided that there was no need to rub salt on the wound and extended a hand towards Will.

"That was a good fight. Congratulations once again for making it into the Elite Four." I praised. Will paused as he looked at my hand for a bit, before letting out a deep breath as he shook my hand.

"Indeed. I apologize for my earlier words. They may have been...too boastful. That was well fought from you too. I see I still have a long way to go." He said, swallowing his desire to show off and his pride. "Thank you for the match. You truly are deserving of your position."

Without saying anything else, he gave me a complicated smile before he quickly made his escape from the training arena while I watched him curiously as he departed. That...went better than expected. I thought he would be more resentful. Hm.

Either way, I hope that the battle had reminded him to not test me.

I re-released my victorious Klaus and Klee and made sure to properly praise them for their victory. Or at least, I tried to, because as soon as I released Klee she immediately gripped me in a tight hug and refused to let go, ecstatic as she was about her own victory. Still, I didn't begrudge her for it and allowed her to indulge in the hug.

We spent some time like that as I made sure to acknowledge and celebrate their victory over Will's Pokémon. In all honesty, it wasn't a very close battle, as I was confident that Klee could have tanked all of their Special Attacks without much issue while Klaus repeatedly sought to hit hard with flanking attacks.

With that done, I made my way out of the training area and started heading home, pleased with today's events. Not only was I able to get a start on passing through my idea about the contest halls, but I was also able to reassert my strength in front of Will and Lance. Overall, a great achievement.

When I got home, I found my mom watching the news as they reported about the successful passing of the reduction to the 4-badge policy. My mom asked me a few questions about my involvement, and over dinner we chatted a bit as I discussed my intentions. I also made sure to text Whitney to inform her about this new opportunity.

Then, since it was already late, I made sure to send a quick text to mayor Henry to describe the discussions that took place today, and Will's 'proposal' towards him. Then, I was about to settle into bed when I received a text from Lance. Curious, since we had just spoken not long ago, I went to check it.

'John, I've got good news for you. The Sinnohians are sending over scientists to Indigo, among other delegates, to do some research on our Pokémon. But they've specifically asked to speak to you.' He wrote.

'Oh, that's nice to know. But why do they want me specifically?' I asked.

'Apparently, they want to speak to you about your Ursaluna and Wyrdeer discoveries. They said that they'll tell you more in person. They're going to be arriving the day after tomorrow, and they said that this is the beginning of them opening their borders to us. Make sure to be there.'

Ah, it seems like my Hisuian evolutions have attracted some attention after all.

The New Normal – 5-2 – Interlude – Devon Scientist

His frustration grew. Why was it so difficult for his colleagues to understand the potential of the evolution device that he created for Porygon? Science was all about discovering the unknown and furthering the gaze of humanity, so he failed to comprehend why his superiors and colleagues almost unanimously rejected his newly created evolution device for Porygon2.

When his colleagues developed an evolution device they called an 'Up-Grade', which successfully evolved Porygon into a Porygon2, he naturally took the device one step further. He felt it obvious that if he just took the data that triggered the evolution of a Porygon and extrapolated it even further, then he hypothesized that they would be able to trigger yet another evolution for Porygon2.

And yet, when he shared his very reasonable proposal to his superiors and colleagues, they all blabbered on about 'inherent risks' and 'reckless testing'. He just couldn't understand why no one else saw the things he did; this was the ONE opportunity to push the Porygon2 evolution even further!

According to the data that they were already receiving from Porygon2, it was already a rather formidable Pokémon already and was able to fight at the higher levels of Pokémon battles. He could just imagine how powerful an evolved form of Porygon2 would be, and what uses it could bring to both the battling and scientific world.

Which was where he found himself now. He had successfully 'persuaded' a colleague of his to grant him access to one of the Porygon2 scheduled for routine testing. He only had an hour, but that should be enough to do what he needed to do.

He didn't have a name for his evolution disk, but he knew that he would be dead before he allowed it to be called a 'Dubious Disk', like one of his colleagues had jokingly named it. Putting that out of his mind, he released the Porygon2 from its Pokéball and slowly approached it, evolution disk held in hand.

As he got closer, the Porygon2 seemingly backed away nervously, its eyes staring frighteningly at the disk. As he noticed this, a part of himself was warning him that this was a bad idea, and that he should stop and actually listen to his colleagues. But the more stubborn part of himself, the one that was endlessly focused on his ambition to prove himself as a great scientist, ignored this.

Thus, he thrust his arm forward and nearly punched the Porygon2 with the disk in hand.

"Pory! Pory! Pory!" The Porygon2 whirred in panic, but it was unable to run away in time before he managed to inject the data set from his disk into the Porygon2.

Immediately, his eyes gleamed with excitement as the signature white glow of evolution engulfed the room. Finally! He knew that his foolish colleagues were simply too cowardly and cautious. And with this success, he knew that his name would be catapulted to the heights of the scientific world!

He had already thought of a name for this evolution! It was going to be called 'Porygon-Z'; named after himself, of course.

As the bright white light of evolution slowly started to settle, a spherical cylinder toy shaped Porygon greeted him. He smiled happily as he saw this.

"Porygon-Z, you're going to be my legacy." He spoke to it, as he began gathering up some monitoring equipment. "Now then, let's see what you can do..."

Unfortunately, as he was distracted with collecting the monitoring equipment, he failed to notice the confused and almost frantic buzzing that was coming out of the Porygon-Z. The whirring and buzzing gradually intensified, and by the time he turned back to face the newly evolved Porygon-Z, the buzzing almost had a maddening edge to it.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" He asked confusedly, "And can you cut it out with the sounds, it's getting really irritating...Woah!"

He ducked out of the way when the Porygon-Z threw himself against a wall, creating a dent as it crashed headfirst into it. It was spinning around maddeningly and almost seemed like it had no control over itself.

"Pory! GON! GON! GONNN!" It cried painfully to the world, unable to break free from the corrupt data circulating through it.

Okay, he really was starting to worry now. He didn't know what in Arceus was going on, but the new Porygon-Z was acting very unstably and seemed to be plagued by something. He looked around desperately as he tried to think of something to solve this mess, something that could hopefully calm down this Porygon-Z and so that he could still classify his experiment as a success.

He refused to be ruined like this! He had worked so hard to climb the ladder of Devon Corp and to be assigned to this project. He would not let his career end because of one error!

And yet, despite his frantic struggling, he was once again forced to dive away as the Porygon-Z once again threw itself at him, this time smashing and destroying the monitoring equipment that had been brought in.

Which, of course, automatically triggered the safety alarms that were attached to them.

Red lights and sirens began flashing and blaring across the facility, and he knew it was over. Soon, the door to the room slammed open as the security guards burst in with their Machoke's and Kadabra's. One of them roughly grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him backwards, out of the room and into safety.

As he looked up in a slight daze from where he had fallen on his back, he was faced with the furious visage of his superior staring down at him.

"You fool." His superior spat at him, "I've already been told what happened. If you only could actually put aside your ego for once and actually LISTEN to what we've been trying to tell you, then this incident wouldn't have happened."

He stayed silent, bitterness warring with shame, as his superior continued, "Fortunately, these Porygon aren't trained for power. Otherwise, this incident might have caused far more structural damage. You're lucky that it didn't bring down the whole facility."

His superior grabbed him by the scruff of his coat, glaring at him furiously. "I want a full report on the incident detailing everything that went wrong and how to avoid creating an unstable evolution like it again. Hopefully we'll get something out of studying your new Porygon evolution so that this entire thing wasn't a waste."

Then his superior released him, pushing him back onto the floor, and he let out a colossal sigh. All things considered; it could have been worse.

"Also, you're demoted. Effectively immediately. You're lucky you didn't get fired." His superior added, before walking away.

Fuck.

The New Normal – 5-3 – A New Generation Arrives

I was joined by all the other members of the Elite Four, and Lance, as we waited at the Vermillion Ports for the Sinnoh delegation to arrive, since it was the closest port available for them to travel to. It had been a few days since my spar against Will, and while I saw that he wasn't exactly pleased to see me, he at least wasn't holding it against me.

Of course, he might have been a tad more annoyed if he knew that I had spent the past few days analysing our battle and relaying what I observed to both Karen and Agatha. Although I was only working with a small sample from Will's team, it was still a good piece of knowledge to have.

But I surmised from our battle together that Will's greatest strength was likely in his proficiency at making good use of the full range of Psychic moves available to him. Especially with the more common support moves like the screens and Teleport; Will's Pokémon were excellent at those. On the other hand, he was no brawler. In fact, his Pokémon seemed quite frail for an Elite Four member.

I concluded that it was probable that Will was unused to his Pokémon taking damage. He likely was used to overwhelming his opponents with skill and speed alone and hadn't really been focused on training his Pokémon to take hits. Likewise, his Pokémon seemed to struggle against opponents who could get in really close and force them into close-range engagements where they couldn't properly make use of their Psychic moves.

From our previous battle, I could see that once Klee got in close and was unable to be deterred by Will's Special Attacks, he suddenly wasn't able to deal with her and almost fell into a state of panic. Therefore, I felt that if I, or anyone else, could replicate my ability to get in close with tanky or fast physical attackers, Will would be put on the backfoot.

Of course, I shared these thoughts with Karen and Agatha as well, with an added warning to take my words with a grain of salt and to not tunnel-vision on such a strategy. If Karen was to ever battle will, it would be far into the future and there was every possibility that Will would iron out his weaknesses by that time. Still, they both thanked me for my information.

Returning back to the present, the distant blaring of a ship's horn let us know that the Sinnoh delegation was about to arrive. Before they did, Lance quickly turned to us.

"Right, I know some of you here would rather be somewhere else at the moment." He focused his look on Walker, who had his match against Lorelei scheduled for tomorrow, "But it's important that we are in full attendance today. I know that within the Sinnoh delegation is someone from their Elite Four, so I expect your full courtesy today."

We all nodded, and Lance continued, "Good. Don't worry Walker, you're all free to leave after we get through the diplomatic courtesies. I look forward to seeing your battle tomorrow."

Walker gave a small word of thanks before returning to his stoic expression, trying but failing to conceal his nervousness. Inwardly, I wished for him to give the best performance of his career. I too was looking forward to an exciting match.

Moments later, the ship had finally docked itself in the ports of Vermillion. A bridge was quickly dropped down over the side, and many very official looking people started making their way down the steps as the reporters, who had attached themselves to us, began snapping shots of them.

Among the sea of faceless League officials, I spotted a familiar old lady descending from the ship, followed by another less-familiar looking old lady. What's with today and old ladies?

"Champion Lance, may I have the honour of introducing to you Elite Bertha, of the Sinnoh Elite Four." One League official greeted before he stepped back to allow Bertha to take his place with her own greetings. She was looking rather similar to her in-game appearance, with her hair already fully grey.

"Champion Lance, it is an honour to meet you." They shook hands together and as they quickly exchanged introductions, "Behind me today, I have the honour to present a few of Sinnoh's prominent scientists and archaeologists that have travelled here today, both to learn more about your Pokémon and culture, but also to share ours as well."

"And, as thanks for hosting us and your lovely reception, we have also brought gifts for the Indigo League." She waved a hand behind her as a League official brought forwards a decorated box that was opened carefully for the wall of cameras, revealing a small assortment of stones cushioned in red velvet, "We offer a gift of Shiny stones and Dawn stones for the Indigo League to make use of. This is just a small sample size of them, more will be provided later."

Lance received the box with both hands, inspecting the stones inside for a moment before responding with a polite smile, "You have our thanks for this magnificent gift, Elite Bertha. Please, allow me to introduce the Indigo Elite Four." He then gestured to the four of us, each of us bowing politely as he did so.

Then came the mandatory photo session. Pictures were quickly snapped of us shaking hands and smiling for the cameras. I noticed that, amidst the Sinnoh delegation, they had brought their own reporters as well.

With the photo-op done, we moved out of the Vermillion Ports and were escorted to a reserved hotel that specialized in hosting diplomats where we would separate. I followed them silently as Lance and Bertha began a quiet conversation.

As we walked, I was approached by the other familiar-looking old lady in a lab coat.

"Elite John, it's so good to finally meet you. You don't know how many questions I have for you." She greeted excitedly.

I gave her a confused look for a moment before my eyes snapped to her lab coat and hair. It took me a moment, but I realized that these were the people Lance had mentioned to me before.

"Ah, yes, it's good to meet you too...?" I replied, the name just missing from the tip of my tongue.

"The name's Carolina, Professor Carolina." She replied, and I nodded as the pieces finally fell in place. "I'm the head of the Celestic Town Historical Research Center, where we specialize in researching Sinnoh's historical ruins and other archaeological sites. I'm not sure if your Champion informed you, but we were particularly interested in your Ursaluna and Wyrdeer evolutions."

"Yes, Lance did inform me, and I'm honoured to be meeting someone as esteemed in Sinnoh's scientific community as you." I said with a little flattery, "How may I help you?"

She looked around and saw that a few people were trying to eavesdrop on our conversation, "Not here." She remarked, "I hope you don't mind if we discuss this later, ideally in someplace more private."

I nodded and ended our conversation there. The rest of the walk went quietly before we all eventually arrived at the reserved building. As we all arrived, Lance spoke up.

"My thanks once again to the Sinnoh delegation for journeying all the way here with their gifts. For anyone with no further appointments, please feel free to rest and relax." He explained as he gestured to the many rooms of the hotel, "Otherwise, this hotel is specialized for hosting diplomats and comes with many conference rooms and other workspaces. It has been reserved entirely for your use, so feel free to make use of them."

With the announcement out of the way and the formalities properly adhered to, everyone began splitting up. I noticed Bertha accompanying Lance with a small delegation where they headed off somewhere, probably to discuss the possibility of the opening of Sinnoh's borders to Indigo. Most others, including the other 3 members of the Indigo Elite Four, chose to head home or to their new rooms.

I looked around to see if I could spot Professor Carolina before I was flagged down by one of her assistants and escorted to one of the private conference rooms. Inside, I found Professor Carolina and a few other lab coats were waiting for me.

"I think this is a better place to host our discussions, don't you think?" Carolina said to me as I entered before she gestured to the other members around the table. "These are my fellow scientists and assistants from the Celestic Town Research Center."

We quickly went through a round of introductions before Carolina got to the heart of the matter.

"Now, as I said, we here are all very curious and excited to learn more about your Ursaluna and Wyrdeer evolutions. You might not know this, but we have long-held evidence that your evolutions had once existed in Sinnoh but had gone simply extinct overtime. Thus, when I heard that a young man in Indigo had made such discoveries which proved our theories correct, we just had to meet you and see them for ourselves."

"Oh? Well consider me flattered." I said, trying to stay humble, "Well, I'd be very honoured to help you learn more about these long-forgotten discoveries. What would you need me to do?"

Carolina looked around at the other scientists before speaking, "We don't have any equipment at the moment do any large tests, but we do want to make our initial observations first. Not here though, there's not enough space. Today, we're just here to discuss the future of our relations with you. Am I correct in saying you want to work with us more in the future?"

I nodded, "Yes, I'm very interested in learning more about new Pokémon. One of the main reasons I was so excited for Sinnoh to open their borders was for the opportunity to learn about the unique Pokémon that you have in your region."

Carolina gave me a rueful grin, "Well, many of us in Sinnoh also want to open our borders to you for similar reasons, although those crusty traditionalists on the committee are being stubborn as usual." She grimaced, "Anyways, I'm glad that you're so interested in helping us. Of course, we won't be asking for your assistance without giving anything back, so what kind of compensation would you be seeking for your time?"

I frowned and contemplated about it for a bit. What DID I want for my time that these people could offer me?

I suppose my biggest interest would be to be able to explore and catch new Normal types in Sinnoh. Like I mentioned before, I was very interested in catching myself a Lopunny. Also, I was also very interested in seeing if I could 'discover' any more Hisuian evolutions. In particular, I would love to have a Hisuian Zoroark if I could find one; that would be an amazing addition to my team.

I inwardly nodded as I made my decision, "Well, I hope this isn't too big of an ask, but I would love to be able to explore more of Sinnoh when you finally open your borders. I would love to be an honorary explorer and be given supervised access to any ruins that you might have discovered."

Carolina's eyes widened slightly with surprise at my request, "That's...an unusual request. Truthfully, I thought you would have asked for something more monetary. Or perhaps a rare Pokémon from our labs."

I shrugged, "Money's not really an issue for me anymore." The family business was raking huge amounts recently, which my parents and I were very pleased about. "And I much prefer to catch my own Pokémon if I could. I find that it helps establish a closer bond between Pokémon and trainer."

"I see." She replied, before she looked around at the other scientists as she they shared a silent discussion, "Well, I don't think there'll be any problems on that front accommodating that request. Though, I am curious, what makes you so interested in exploring our ruins?"

"This is just a theory of mine, but I believe that, when Pokémon are left to their natural environment free from human interference, then we are more likely to see the true potential of the Pokémon." I explained.

"Could you elaborate on that?" A random scientist asked.

"Okay, let's look at my newest discovery of the D-Zigzagoon. I assume you've all read through my article on it." They all nodded, "Right, I hypothesized in that article that these 'alternate forms' are just undiscovered potential forms of the Pokémon. Thus, in the case of a D-Zigzagoon, if we had just placed a Zigzagoon in an environment where it would be exposed to Dark type energy over a long period of time, it might have naturally laid eggs that would have transformed into D-Zigzagoon."

"Using that logic, I figured that these ruins, which are often in areas of unusual or hostile environments, lend the most potential to creating alternate forms of Pokémon as they have to adapt to their environments." I continued, "This is why I want to be given an opportunity to prove my theory by investigating more ruins in Sinnoh."

This was a hypothesis formed from what I knew of canon. Obviously, I knew that regional and alternate forms existed, and they were likely created from their unusual environments. From that, I extrapolated that Hisuian forms were likely created from similar conditions. Thus, I figured that the best place to be hunting for Hisuian forms would be in those ruins.

I couldn't guarantee that my theory was correct, but anyways I felt that given the opportunity to explore the ruins would be a great trade for my time.

"...that's an interesting hypothesis, and something well worth testing out." Carolina admitted, "Truthfully, we've held on our theories that a few Pokémon that are currently labelled as extinct aren't actually extinct but are hiding in some undiscovered ruin in Sinnoh. We're hoping that some intrepid explorer could shine a light on our theories one day."

"Anyways, thank you for indulging this old lady's curiosity." She said, adopting a small smile, "Returning to the point, I would be very happy to grant you permission to explore the ruins under our supervision. Of course, you'd have to wait for those old fogeys in the Sinnoh committee to open up our borders first."

"It's not a worry. Thanks as well for granting my request." I replied, "Okay, so how are we going to work together? I assume that you've got a place in mind for setting up all your big research equipment?"

Carolina nodded, "Yes, I think our assistants and some handymen are hauling most of our equipment off the ship now towards our new lab. Your Champion has helped us obtain permission from Vermillion City for establishing a small temporary research facility here. We'll be staying in Vermillion for the time being, and maybe if our research proves fruitful, we might look into setting up a branch office here in the future."

"Oh, that's very interesting." I remarked, "So, I guess then I'll be meeting up with you at your new building when you've finished moving everything in?"

"Yes, that's the plan, at least." She replied, "From what we've been told, it's a repurposed office building, so it shouldn't take too long to set everything up. Please, let us exchange contact details so that we may communicate and decide when we should meet up."

With that, we exchanged contact details and a promise to continue our discussions at a future date.

"Oh, John, before you head out, do you have any theories on why you were able to discover Ursaluna and Wyrdeer?" She asked curiously, "I mean, there are plenty of regular Ursaring and Stantlers' in Indigo, and yet none have recorded to have evolved. So, how did you figure it out?"

"Luck." Was what I said immediately, obviously hiding my meta-knowledge, "There aren't that many Normal specialists out there, as many see Normal types as just one of your more basic types to let newbie trainers learn about training their Pokémon. But, since I was one of the few that actually took Normal types to the Elite level, I was able to train with my Ursaring and Stantler to practice high level moves that most others wouldn't bother to try."

"Then, it just a matter of luck to get the evolutions. With Ursaring, I wanted him to learn and master Earthquake and Rock type moves for general type coverage. That mastery of geokinesis ultimately triggered his evolution into an Ursaluna. Later, with my Stantler, he naturally knew a lot of Psychic types moves from his movepool. So, I ended up triggering his evolution into a Wyrdeer as I naturally began to train his Psychic moves."

Left unsaid was the fact that I deliberately trained my Pokémon specifically to trigger the evolution, but the Sinnoh scientists seemed to buy my explanation.

"That's a very lucky coincidence then, though I'm sure you were just being humble." Carolina remarked, "Hmm...that could mean that there are other evolutions that we've missed that could be evolved like this. Well, thank you anyways for that explanation. As usual, it's always better to actually speak to a person than to read through an article. I hope for our cooperation together to be fruitful and productive."

With that, I shook hands with each and every one of the scientists, before I said my goodbyes and exited the room. I started to make my way out of the hotel, and as I turned a corner, I suddenly stumbled as I bumped into one.

"Oh, pardon me." I said, apologizing. Then I paused as I recognised who I had just bumped into. It was Bertha.

"No worries." Bertha said, looking me over with scrutiny until her eyes widened with realization, "OH! You're the young Elite Four member. Champion Lance spoke very highly of you. It's a pleasure to meet you, Elite John. I'm Bertha."

I shook her hand, "Please, just call me John. And it's a pleasure to meet you as well. How have you been finding Indigo so far?"

"Well, it was a lot more pleasant than I thought it would be." She admitted, causing me to raise an eyebrow curiously, prompting her to explain, "You see, I had the displeasure of meeting your previous Champion when he spoke with our Sinnoh League about opening our borders. I didn't have the best impression of him and was worried that this trip to Indigos would be a terrible thing."

"Luckily, speaking to your new Champion has alleviated most of my concerns, and hopefully most of the concerns of the Sinnoh committee." She continued, "Champion Lance has been more than accommodating with our concerns, and I predict good things to come out of our two regions."

"Well, I'm very happy to hear that." I replied with a small smile, "Champion Pryce...wasn't the best for Indigo during his later years, and I've been hopefully optimistic about Lance's leadership. I was one of his greatest supporters, you see, and I'm glad he lives up to my expectations."

"Oh? Someone so young is so influential?" She chuckled as I hid a blush, "Ah, I think the other members of the Sinnoh Elite Four would have loved to meet you. Unfortunately, they're stuck back there in Sinnoh and sent me instead. Still, it would be great to show you around Sinnoh one day."

"I'm sure I would love it." I said truthfully, "I'll be looking forward to that."

The two of us parted ways after that, and I returned home with a slight spring in my step as I reflected on the discussions that I had today.

From what I've inferred, it seems like Sinnoh was getting close to opening their borders to Indigo, which I hoped meant that I would have the opportunity to explore Sinnoh soon. There were so many things I hoped to achieve there, and I really hoped that I was allowed to do so.

As I flew back home on Port, I made sure to text Giovanni about Bertha's comments about Lance and her confidence in him. I figured that I should reassure him that the new Johto Champion wasn't about to sink Kanto like Pryce was. He was already having a conniption over his fears regarding Lorelei; there was no need to add to the stress.

Idly, I also realized that with the closest Port between Sinnoh and Indigo being at Vermillion City, this did open up more avenues of investment opportunity for Kanto. I made a note of it and promised to discuss this detail with my parents. Who knows, maybe this would be another opportunity to expand the family Moomoo milk business?

Either way, tomorrow was proving to be exciting. Lorelei's challenge against Walker was tomorrow, and I really wondered if she was going to win.

If she did, how would she stir up the politics of Indigo?

The New Normal – 5-4 – A Battle for their Futures

Once again in under a month, the next day I found myself sitting within the VIP section of the spectator stands for the upcoming match between Lorelei and Walker. Obviously, unlike last time, Karen wasn't here as it was far from appropriate. Instead, her presence was replaced by Lance and Will, the latter of which seemed to be silently avoiding me.

I wonder how long it would take for his ego to recover from his loss against me. At least he was trying to hide it.

"Has anyone looked into Lorelei?" Lance asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"I have." I answered, accidentally cutting off Will who was about to speak. "Though I never fought her during my time in the Indigo Conference, my research of her previous matches shows that she's basically Pryce Jr., which isn't that surprising. She's been known to make great use of her Ice type Pokémon to control the arena and the fight."

"Yes, my contacts have said the same." Will added, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the blatant attempt to show off. "She failed to achieve much of anything during her short time as a Gym Leader, but many suspect that she's been secretly training for this match against Walker."

"Arceus! The youth these days really enjoy saying a whole lot of nothing, don't they?" Agatha scoffed, causing Will's eyes to narrow in anger or embarrassment.

"The both of you make good observations." Lance spoke up placatingly, "I myself also checked up on Lorelei as well after her announcement, and I've been fairly impressed with her battles. She is nowhere near as strong as Pryce, but she doesn't seem to make the same mistakes that he did."

"Hah! Yes, the girl's too young to have a stick up her backside like her uncle." Agatha chuckled, "Maybe that would be enough for her to overcome Walker."

Before she could say anything more, the announcer began his opening speech in his usual booming voice.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME ONCE AGAIN TO ANOTHER FANTASTIC OCCASION FOR EVERYONE IN INDIGO!! NOT LONG AFTER CHAMPION LANCE'S ASCENSION, WE HAVE A NEW CHALLENGE FOR THE ELITE FOUR!! AND IT IS A GREAT HONOUR TO ONCE AGAIN BE YOUR HOST FOR TODAY'S EVENT!"

I thanked Arceus again that I didn't need to be in the regular stands as the crowd began loudly cheering. I did not want to become prematurely deaf. And I felt bad for Karen for having to endure it.

"NOW PLEASE WELCOME TODAY'S DEFENDING MEMBER OF THE ELITE FOUR, THE ACE OF FLYING TYPES, ELITE WALKER!!" Despite his relatively poor reputation amongst the Elite Four, Walker still got a huge roaring cheer as he made his way into the arena. As the cameras got closer, it was evident that he was filled with stress and nervous energy. But upon closer inspection, his eyes were focused and ready, and his head held high. He might be walking to his defeat, but he would not simply fold over.

"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, PLEASE WELCOME TODAY'S CHALLENGER, THE NIECE OF THE PREVIOUS CHAMPION, GYM LEADER LORELEI!!" Unlike Walker, my eyes widened with surprise as the only reception that Lorelei got as she entered the stage was a stifling and condemning silence, with only sporadic clap from a few spectators. I thought I heard the occasional boo from the crowd as well.

The cameras quickly snapped to Lorelei to take in her reaction, but all they got was stoic acceptance and determination, as if she had anticipated and accepted her frosty reception.

"The girl's got spunk, that's for sure." Agatha commented as she stared at Lorelei, "She's definitely not the fan favourite between her and Walker. And I didn't think that was a sentence I would ever say."

"Well, I think she deserves the cold reception she got." Will said, crossing his arms, "The way she exploited her undeserved position as a Gym Leader to challenge the Elite Four without winning the Indigo Conference is disgraceful!" He turned to me, "Don't you agree, John? After all, you worked hard to win the Indigo Conference."

I shrugged, "Eh. I had time to think about it when I heard that she was making the challenge. Honestly, I'm indifferent. If she wins against Walker in this match, then I'd support her entry into the Elite Four. I'm fairly sure that this is something that was carefully weighed and planned by her, so she must have decided that the alternative was worse."

"Fully agreed." Lance added, causing Will to frown, "I was against her appointment as the Gym Leader of Mahogany because of how nepotistic it was. But, if she wins against Walker in a fair challenge like this, then who am I to hold her back? If she wins, then she has proven her strength, and thus deserves her position. Whether she can keep it though...that's another matter entirely."

The announcer's voice boomed out before Lance could say anything more. "AND TODAY'S MATCH WILL BE A SIX-ON-SIX BATTLE, THREE SWITCHES ALLOWED. STANDARD RULES, WITH NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS!"

"NOW LET'S START THE BATTLE!! COUNT DOWN WITH ME!!" I heard many of the crowd roaring in support of Walker. Personally, I had no idea who was more likely to win.

"THREE!" Both trainers looked ready. Walker had swallowed his nervousness, while Lorelei looked as stiff as a statue.

"TWO!" Their eyes both narrowed into glares, but Lorelei's was far more intense. It was as if she was putting her hopes and dreams into this match and would knock over anything in her way.

"ONE!" They both released their Pokémon.

A Pidgeot and a Cloyster emerged onto the field. At first glance, both appeared to be highly trained Pokémon that were obviously at the Elite level but compared to the Pokémon used by Pryce and Lance...they were honestly a little underwhelming. They lacked the presence of the Champions' Pokémon.

Regardless, it seemed like Lorelei sought to prove my thoughts wrong as she immediately started off the battle.

"Icicle Spear, Cloyster!"

"Quick Attack and make some distance, Pidgeot!"

Cloyster quickly began rapidly firing off a volley of Icicle Spears in 5-round bursts, forcing the Pidgeot to show of its impressive flight speed as it flew away just before the Cloyster quickly blanketed the area in sharp spears of Ice.

Seeing that the Pidgeot began flying away, Lorelei quickly gave a new command.

"Set up the Snow, NOW!"

Before Pidgeot could counterattack, Cloyster instantly started releasing a gust of cold air from its body that wafted towards the sky, forming dark clouds that began to snow.

Just by seeing her opening moves, I felt that I had pieced together Lorelei's plan. She was making use of her Cloyster's naturally high defenses, coupled with an intimidating salvo of Icicle Spears, to quickly discourage any close-range engagements from Walker. Then, using the opening provided, she would quickly set up the Snow for her team that hopefully would last for the entire battle.

With the Snow in place, I expected that she hoped to use her Snow-boosted Ice attacks and inherent type advantage to win in a long-range battle. It was a good plan, and honestly what I believed Pryce should have done against Lance in his battle.

Considering the grimace on Walker's face, I'm sure he had also comprehended Lorelei's plan as well. However, whether he was able to do anything about it was a completely different story.

But Walker seemed to be able to read my thoughts as he ordered his next move.

"Hurricane, Pidgeot! Overwhelm it!"

"Blizzard, Cloyster! Match it!"

Two huge pillars of swirling winds formed in front of each Pokémon, one made of powerful and cutting gales, while the other of chilling and freezing winds. As each Pokémon fired off their attacks, each of their own tornados threatened to consume the other, eventually colliding in the middle of the arena.

However, whether due to the boost from the Blizzard or from the inherent type disadvantage of Flying types against Ice, the Blizzard broke through the gales of the Hurricane and rushed towards the Pidgeot.

"Dodge and Air Slash, Pidgeot! Speed up!"

"Ice Beam, Cloyster! Keep up the pressure!"

Pidgeot let out a screech as it dove away from the speeding vortex of ice and frost, which spun dangerously close towards Pidgeot. To its credit, Pidgeot quickly showed off its speed once again as it dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the ensnaring gales of wind and firing off its own Air Slashes.

Wind blades met beams of Ice as both attacks smashed against each other in the air. This exchange of blows continued with some time, with Pidgeot making use of its superb mobility to fly circles around the stationary Cloyster. However, for all of its mobility, Pidgeot was unable to break through the superior power of Cloyster's Ice Beams.

It was an admirable display of all the training Lorelei must have done with her Cloyster for it to maintain such stamina and accuracy, where it still managed to track and pressure the Pidgeot with a constant barrage of precision shots. And a mobile Pidgeot, especially one as well-trained as Walker's was, was not an easy target. Not at such distances.

After the stalemate lingered on for some time, Cloyster's persistence finally paid off as it landed a lucky shot. A lone Ice Beam seemed to come at an unexpected angle towards Pidgeot, surprising it and clipping one of its wings with a glancing shot. Boosted by the Snow as it was, frost crystals rapidly spread across its wing, freezing it over.

With a panicked screech and deprived of one of its wings, Pidgeot rapidly began falling uncontrollably out of the air as it could no longer steady itself.

"Icicle Spear, Cloyster! While it can't dodge!"

"Dodge and Roost, Pidgeot! You need to recover!"

Lorelei was quick to pounce on this new opportunity as Cloyster fired a barrage of Icicle spears at the falling Pidgeot. Despite Walker's orders to dodge, Pidgeot's frozen wing ripped away all of its famed mobility, and it was unable to dodge out of the way in time before a hail of spears crashed into it. Pidgeot was subsequently buried in an avalanche of Icicle Spears, defeated and unconscious.

"AND WALKER'S PIDGEOT GOES DOWN! A DECISIVE KNOCKOUT BY THE CHALLENGER LORELEI, WHO NOW LEADS THE FIGHT 1-0!!" There were no boos coming from the crowd, but the audience's response to her victory was quite lacklustre. Still, the announcer continued on as if he didn't notice. "ELITE WALKER NOW HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON! WILL HE BE ABLE TO REVERSE HIS FORTUNES?!"

"Hmm...not a bad start." Lance commented thoughtfully, stroking his chin as he observed Lorelei's Cloyster, "Definitely than a better showing than I feared. Looks like she really put in work to it."

"Bah. Of course, she did." Agatha bit out, "You were going to kick her out of being Gym Leader soon enough if she didn't make the challenge. Of course she's going to go all-in on this match. This is her future, after all."

"I'm surprised she didn't ask for help." I said, "Maybe she could have offered something in exchange for help."

But Agatha shook her head at me, "No, think harder, boy. Then that would undermine the message that she's trying to show. Her victory must be achieved from her own merits to prove her strength to the public. Getting help would compromise that."

I nodded in understanding just as Walker sent out his next Pokémon.

"Avenge your friend, Pelipper! Start setting up with an Agility!"

"Set up the Snow again and Icicle Spear, Cloyster! Knock it out!"

As soon as the Pelipper emerged from its Pokéball, it started glowing with a faint pink glow as it began boosting its speed. Furthermore, Pelipper's Drizzle immediately caused rain to pour from above. But Lorelei was quick to act on this, choosing to make use of the precious seconds while Pelipper was setting up to reinforce her control of the weather by returning it to Snow. Then, Cloyster sent out another wave of Icicle spears that blanketed the skies once again as they began their deadly descent. But Walker seemed ready for them.

"Protect and rush them, Pelipper!"

Using its boosted speed, Pelipper immediately began rushing towards Cloyster while forming a Protect shield above itself to protect against the rain of Icicle Spears. The Protect shield managed to block a significant number of spears, and Pelipper's natural bulk allowed it to withstand against the rest.

"Get as close to it and Air Slash, Pelipper!"

"Make some distance, Cloyster! Drive it off with a Rock Blast!"

Walker cunningly capitalized on Cloyster's poor Special Defenses as his Pelipper began bombarding the Cloyster with a barrage of close-range Air Slashes. The blades of gale winds cut deeply into the Cloyster, causing the occasional flinch that interrupted its attempts to fire off its own volley of rocks.

This was Walker's favourite tried-and-true strategy that he frequently employed; making use of his higher mobility Flying Pokémon to doggedly harass and wear down a slower opponent. A simple plan that nonetheless remained effective at whittling down his opponents.

Here, Cloyster was unable to break away from the hounding Pelipper, the latter making use of its superior boosted speed to continue its assault endlessly. All the while firing off cutting bldes of winds with each flap of its wings. Things were going from bad to worse for Cloyster, as it rapidly began running out of options while it constantly was pummelled by an unending wave of Air Slashes that chipped away at its health as it was unable to back away and make space.

Perhaps Lorelei could have switched out her Cloyster earlier to prevent such a scenario, but it was too late now. Cloyster had taken too much damage to be useful in the future, even if it was swapped out.

Realizing the situation was doomed, Lorelei resorted to a final attack.

"Icy Wind, Cloyster! You NEED to lower its speed!"

Understanding the desperation in its trainer's command, Cloyster visibly braced itself as it fired off one last gust of freezing wind towards the Pelipper, just as the Pelipper fired off one more round of Air Slashes.

Both attacks struck their targets, and Pelipper was engulfed and slowed by the freezing Icy Wind. However, an Air Slash cut right into the core of Cloyster, landing a critical hit that Cloyster was no longer able to endure and was knocked out.

"OH, AND A QUICK RETALIATING KNOCK-OUT FROM ELITE WALKER'S PELIPPER!! OVERWHELMING THE CLOYSTER BEFORE BRINGING IT DOWN WITH AN UNRELENTING SERIES OF ATTACKS!! THIS PUTS THE SCORE AT 1-1!" The announcer's voice boomed out once more, the crowd cheering wildly at Walker's victory. "CAN LORELEI RESPOND TO THIS THREAT? SHE HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT-"

"Go, Froslass! As we planned!"

A small white Ghost floated on the battlefield, and the entire Elite Four, plus Lance, all jerked forwards with various degrees of surprise as we were all stunned by Lorelei's next Pokémon.

"Where did she get that?!" Lance half-asked and half-demanded, "She shouldn't have access to Sinnoh Pokémon so soon!"

"Perhaps she was gifted a Dawn Stone from her uncle? Or maybe she just had a Dawn Stone lying around somewhere." Will suggested, and Lance nodded after a moment to think. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Will smirking to himself, proud at the praise.

"Yes, that does make sense. Damn Pryce and his nepotism." Lance muttered angrily as he settled back into his seat. "His Abomasnow nearly humiliated me, and I'm displeased to see another 'surprise' like this showing up."

"Oh, calm it with your incessant pride." Agatha cut in with a scoff, "I thought all you cared about was if she deserved her title. Well, let her prove it to you."

Lance didn't respond, but he visibly calmed himself with a few deep breaths. "Fine. We'll see how she utilizes it."

And Lorelei seemed to have unconsciously heard Lance's words, because she started off with a bang.

"Thunderbolt, Froslass! Bring it down!"

"PROTECT! NOW!"

A small explosion rocked the battlefield as Froslass began the battle with a bang as she struck the Pelipper with a bolt of Thunder, who narrowly blocked it in time with a Protect shield. Then, with her vastly superior speed, she continued bombarding the slower Pelipper with an onslaught of 4x supereffective attacks, constantly crashing down Thunderbolts against her opponent.

Honestly, I think any Elite trainer could tell that they Froslass' Thunderbolts weren't that powerful, and that Lorelei had clearly used a TM to teach her the move. But that didn't really matter; Frolass was able to make use of her inherently superior speed and Pelipper's devastating typ weakness against Electric attacks to her advantage.

"Quick Attack and get out of there, Pelipper!"

"Keep up the pressure, Froslass! Chase after it!"

Pelipper tried to use Quick Attack to dash away with a burst of speed, but Froslass' insanely fast base speed quickly caught up with the fleeing Pelipper and chased after it with a stream of continuous Thunderbolts, targeting Pelipper's critical weakness. Pelipper valiantly tried to swoop and dive away from the rain of Thunderbolts, but Froslass was in hot pursuit and continued to pile on the pressure.

It was solely due to Pelipper's aerial manoeuvrability that allowed it to dodge the attacks. It seemed to know just when to fake a dive before swerving somewhere else, or when to suddenly adjust its speed and when to burst forwards. Even with a traditionally slower Flying type, Pelipper's surprising agility made it incredibly difficult to hit.

This was why Walker was a famed trainer, even if he was considered to be the weakest of the Elite Four. This level of aerial manoeuvrability was envious; Zephyr could not perform to this level with technique alone.

But, even with this display of skill, Walker remained in a bad position.

"Air Slash, Pelipper! Knock it away!"

"Dodge in the snowstorm, Froslass! And keep chasing it!"

Pelipper attempted to retaliate by firing a few Air Slashes backwards towards the chasing Froslass to hopefully buy some space, but Frolass made use of its own excellent mobility and speed, as well as the concealment provided by Snow Cloak in the Snow, to nimbly evade past the incoming attacks. All the while never letting up on the pressure and repeatedly firing off Thunderbolts.

The situation was ironic. Whether intentionally or otherwise, Lorelei had flipped the table on Walker and was now making use of his own preferred strategy against him. Walker likely never expected Lorelei to have an Ice type that could be faster than his own Flying types. Which wasn't an unfair assumption, considering how naturally slow most Ice types were.

Increasingly desperate, and realizing the situation was only going to get worse from here, Walker switched tactics as he realized that his Pelipper was unable to escape.

"Hydro Pump, Pelipper!"

"NOW! THUNDERBOLT!"

I winced as soon as I heard Walker's command. I knew it to be a mistake. And sure enough, as soon as Pelipper stopped to begin charging up its Hydro Pump, a devastating Thunderbolt crashed down from above, causing it to fall out of the sky, barely holding onto consciousness.

"Finish it off with another Thunderbolt!"

Despite remaining unscathed, Froslass had exhausted most of her energy with her constant spam of Thunderbolts. Still, she had enough left in the tank to fire off one last burst of Thunder that crashed down like a glowing spear from Arceus on the fallen and helpless Pelipper to knock it out of the battle.

There was no getting up from that one.

"OH, WHAT AN AMAZING SHOWING FROM THAT RARE POKEMON FROM LORELEI! I THINK I RECOGNIZE IT FROM SINNOH; HOW DID SHE GET THAT POKEMON!? REGARDLESS, SHE NOW LEADS THE MATCH 2-1!!" The crowd once again gave another half-hearted applause at her victory. Some were probably upset at her use of a 'unobtainable' Pokémon giving her an unfair advantage, which I personally felt that such sentiments were ridiculous. "AND NOW WALKER HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON!"

"Hmph. It doesn't look that well-trained to me." Lance muttered bitterly, though there was no heat in it.

"Oh, are you a child?" Agatha scoffed scathingly, eyeing Lorelei with interest. "She did fine with it. She made great use of its strengths to beat out a more well-trained Pokémon. Personally, I can't wait to see what she'd do next. Stop projecting your bitterness on her, she doesn't deserve it."

Lance frowned but didn't say anything more. I was amused at Lance's petulance but kept it to myself. Who knew that Lance could hold grudges like this? I didn't have a chance to dwell on this further as Walker sent out his next Pokémon.

"Crobat, it's your turn."

A large purple bat appeared on the battlefield, quickly swooping up in the air with powerful flaps of its wings, hinting at its well-trained speed and mobility. I saw Lorelei stiffen with a frown as she took in Crobat's appearance. She must have known that this was the fastest out of all of Walker's Pokémon, and he had likely sent it out now to out-speed and dominate Lorelei's Froslass. In fact, I was fairly certain that even my Zephyr would not be able to out-speed it.

I wondered what she would do in response.

"Steel Wing, Crobat! Get in close!"

"Aurora Veil, Froslass!"

With hardly a warning, Crobat shot forwards like a bullet, being little more than a blur with its wings gleaming in the air as it charged towards the Froslass. Amidst the Snow, Froslass cried out and became surrounded by a veil of rainbow-coloured aura, which gradually expanded outwards from it to form an intangible yet persistent shield around Froslass. The shield managed to form just in time before Crobat came crashing into it with a gleaming Steel Wing, mercilessly bashing the Froslass aside as she cried out in pain from the super-effective hit.

Froslass was barely able to recover from that attack, and I suspected that only the Defense boost from the Snow kept it conscious.

"Refresh the Snow, Froslass!"

"Steel Wing again, Crobat! Finish it off!"

My eyes bulged at the command. What was she doing?! Shouldn't she be making use of her high Special Attack to at least damage the Crobat? Why waste time idly setting up the Snow when the next attack threatened to knock you out?

But my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of Agatha's laugh.

"HAHAHA! What a clever girl!" She cackled, a hint of pride and satisfaction in her voice. "My...if I hadn't taken in Karen for an apprentice, I would be very interested in her." Her words elicited confused looks from Will, and a considering one from me and Lance.

I turned to Lorelei to see if I could gauge anything from her reaction. She was stoic, with fists tightly clenched as she stared at the approaching Crobat like a hunter waiting for its prey.

And then it clicked for me. The gears snapped in place. It was a trap!

"DESTINY BOND!"

"STOP, CROBAT-!"

Walker screamed out to his Crobat to abort the attack, but it was too late. Froslass' eyes glowed a menacing purple just as Crobat's Steel Wing smashed powerfully into her, promptly knocking her out. But from her fainted body, a ghostly energy emerged and wrapped itself around the Crobat, instantly causing it to faint.

Silence descended momentarily on the battle as the audience tried to comprehend what just happened. I could understand; I was in a similar state of shock.

Then, almost in sync, the crowd exploded in a mixture of jeers and cheers as the crowd didn't know what to make of Lorelei's strategy.

The announcer said it best, "OH, WHAT A SURPRISING DOUBLE KNOCKOUT PLAY FROM LORELEI! USING DESTINY BOND TO BRING DOWN A SUPERIOR FOE AFTER SETTING UP THE SNOW ONCE AGAIN! WAS THIS A CUNNING PLAN? OR A DISHONORABLE TACTIC?! EITHER WAY, THE BATTLE IS NOW 3-2!! BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!!"

"...An impressive strategy." Lance admitted slightly begrudgingly, though he seemed to be viewing Lorelei with a new light. "I was curious to see how she would bring down Walker's second strongest Pokémon, and this certainly was not what I was expecting."

"Hah! That's why Ghost types are the best." Agatha bragged haughtily, "Walker was a fool to not expect such a plan. After all, he's spent years hanging around a master like me. He should have known better."

Inwardly I shook my head, partially disagreeing with Agatha. Yes, it was a REALLY painful mistake for him to make, but considering the high-stakes circumstances that he was in, a lapse in memory could be expected. Especially from a non-Ghost specialist.

I turned to where Walker was and could see a bitter and angry expression on his face. I could sympathize; I would be mad as well if a 'rookie' mistake like that cost me my second strongest Pokémon.

"True enough, though I will give credit to Lorelei's plan." Lance said, tapping his fingers on the chair, "She made great use of her Froslass to both knock out two of Walker's Pokémon, and also refresh the Snow and set up the Aurora Veil for her future Pokémon. She's in a great spot and she fully utilised her Pokémon to the max. I approve."

I nodded in agreement; Lance basically took the words out of my mouth. Lorelei had clearly planned extensively for this battle, and the results spoke for themselves. If she could keep this up, then she might be able to surpass Walker and earn herself a position in the Elite Four.

I found that thought to be extremely exciting.