The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 22: 87-89

The New Normal – 5-5 – INTERLUDE – Lorelei

'Three down, three to go. Halfway there.' She thought to herself as her eyes remained locked onto Walker's figure in the distance.

Everything else didn't matter. Not the cheers or jeers that were being shouted out from the crowd, nor the obnoxious calls from the announcer. Her target was remained stubbornly in her way, and she refused to lose to him. It wasn't personal, but her future depended on this victory.

She had a great start, with everything mostly going to plan. She had utilized her Froslass excellently, knocking out two of Walker's Pokémon, one of which was his powerful Crobat. She didn't intend for her Cloyster to go down to his Pelipper, but at least she knocked out Crobat with her Froslass. That was a key knockout.

Now it was just about securing her victory using the advantageous position that she was in. She was not about to let victory slip through her hands.

Absently, she heard the announcer say something about the need to send out her next Pokémon. She quickly ran through both her own options as well as Walker's likely choices in her head before she eventually grabbed hold of her next chosen Pokémon.

They both released their Pokémon at the same time.

"Jynx, you have the advantage!"

"Tropius, shut her down!"

As soon as her Jynx emerged on the field, she held back a smile as she watched the Aurora Veil slowly wrap around Jynx. Similarly, she felt a sense of relief wash through her as Walker chose to send out his Tropius against her Jynx; it would have been far more problematic if she had chosen her Slowbro instead.

Putting that aside for the time being, she mentally dove into her research. Remembering what she had noted down, she was confident what Walker was likely intending to do with his Tropius, which was...

"Sunny Day, Tropius! Get rid of the Snow!"

"TAUNT, NOW!"

A quick pulse of Dark energy shot out from Jynx, enveloping the Tropius before it could finish dispelling the Snow and setting up the Sun. Tropius' head snapped towards the Jynx as its expression reddened with rage.

That was good. Denying Tropius the ability to fight underneath the Sun was critical for her chances of victory. She knew that Walker loved to make use of the Chlorophyll boosted Tropius to out-speed and overwhelm opponents with a spam of Solar Beams. Denying him this was an essential part of her plan.

"Fine then. Tropius, Steel Wing! Cut through them!"

"Ice Beam, Jynx! Strike it down!"

The Tropius roared out into the air as it began its rage-fuelled charge towards her Jynx. Its large frame exploded forwards, causing Ice to collide with a reinforced Steel blade as the Tropius tried to cut through the Ice Beam with his Steel Wing. Tropius continued its charge forwards; its Steel blade deflecting the Ice Beam harmlessly to the side.

She grimaced at the sheer speed shown by Walker's supposed 'slowest Pokémon', even without the Chlorophyll boost. Whoever had given it that misnomer was seriously misrepresenting things. Even with its large size, it easily outpaced most Pokémon, with a level of agility that you wouldn't expect from such a commonly slow Pokémon.

This was Walker's training at its finest.

Her frown grew as the two battled it out in a contest of strength. She cursed as she regretted not training her Jynx harder to bolster her Special Attack. She had thought that her Jynx would be strong enough to blast it backwards, but clearly not.

Her fists clenched painfully as she watched on with increasing worry as her Jynx pushed herself to the limit to try to beat back the approaching Tropius. The Ice beam grew more intense, causing small crystals of frost to form on the ground below. But his Tropius appeared like an unstoppable juggernaut, his Steel Wing continued to cleave endlessly through her Ice Beam as Tropius continued to push forwards.

Ultimately, with her Jynx's strength slowly waning as time went on, Tropius's Steel Wing suddenly sliced though the remains on the weakening Ice Beam before descending on Jynx with a supereffective crushing Steel Wing.

Jynx cried out painfully as the Steel Wing slammed into her, sending her flying from the impact before eventually just landing short of the psychic barriers. Fortunately, as she watched Jynx scrap herself off the ground and pull herself back up, she was thankful that Jynx was spared from some of the damage due to the lingering protection from Froslass' Aurora Veil. However, Lorelei knew that the Aurora Veil won't last forever, so she had to make the most out of its provided protection before it went away.

Thus, she decided to take a risk and made use of the sudden distance between their Pokémon.

"Nasty Plot, Jynx! Boost yourself!"

"Air Slash, Tropius! Interrupt her!"

It was a huge risk to put her Jynx in such a vulnerable position, but she trusted in her Aurora Veil to protect her Jynx from at least being knocked out. It wasn't the best place to be, but she realized her Jynx really didn't hit hard enough to bring down the Tropius, despite her 4x type advantage.

...she really needed to train more.

Jynx began to channel Dark energies within herself. But what took Lorelei off-guard was that, instead of a singular Air Slash that she was used to, Tropius retaliated with a volley of Air Slashes that were fired off two at a time that ripped through the battlefield as they shot forwards, gale wings blowing heavily in their wake, leaving a small trench that cut through the length of the arena as the attack flew. Tropius was making full use of its giant wingspan to maximize the power of the attack.

She winced as the Air Slashes shredded through Jynx, and her fists clenched once more as she hoped that Jynx wouldn't flinch. But, as if to add insult to injury, the gale wings generated from the Air Slash was so strong that it actually began carrying rocks along too, causing Jynx to be peppered by these additional small projectiles.

But her long hours of training had paid off, as Jynx was able to hang on using the waning strength of the Aurora Veil. Lorelei inwardly cheered as she saw a Dark aura settle within her Jynx, signifying that Jynx had successfully channelled her Nasty Plot; the onslaught of Air Slashes being just barely insufficient at knocking her Jynx out.

Her Jynx was injured; cut up with a litany of wounds with her 'hair' now sliced and damaged. But now that they were on a more even field, it was time to retaliate.

"Blizzard, Jynx!"

"Charge up a Hyper Beam, Tropius! Annihilate her!"

Both Pokémon immediately began charging up their most devastating moves. Yet she knew that if Tropius ever fired off that Hyper Beam, it was going to be the end for her Jynx. There was no chance she was going to be able to endure past such a powerful attack. Thus, Lorelei knew that her only hope was if Tropius got knocked out by the Blizzard before it could fire off the Hyper Beam.

Fortunately for her, with the Snow still set up, her Blizzard was able to form instantly as freezing winds barrelled into Tropius, who was forced to remain stationary and charge up its own Hyper Beam. The Blizzard, boosted by Nasty Plot, quickly blanketed the entire arena in snow. Tropius roared in anguish as the Blizzard dug painfully into it, taking full advantage of its 4x weakness, with the freezingly cutting winds slicing endlessly through Tropius.

But it frustratingly refused to fall, continually charging up that damned Hyper Beam from its mouth. Lorelei clenched her fists tightly as she stared at the Tropius, wishing to Arceus that it would JUST. GO. DOWN!

But her pleas to Arceus were once again unheard, as the Tropius fired off its Hyper Beam, ripping right through Jynx's Blizzard like a glowing lance. The beam of energy radiated with such energy that the snow rapidly melted around it, causing small pools of water to form on the arena.

Unable to dodge, the Hyper Beam slammed mercilessly into Jynx, launching her poor Pokémon backwards and pinning her helplessly into the arena's psychic shields. The shields cracked and flickered at the impact, barely holding on as they continued to withstand the power of the Hyper Beam. The beam of energy was so intense that even while pinned to the wall, Jynx gradually caught fire as she was ignited by the Hyper Beam.

Lorelei was biting her lip so hard that it nearly bled. She couldn't afford to have Tropius stay up and replace the Snow with a Sunny Day! That would be the worst-case scenario.

Eventually, the Hyper Beam came to an end, revealing a huge crack in the Psychic shield from its impact. Her Jynx came sliding off the wall, her form completely scorched from the attack as she fell limply onto the ground. She was knocked out.

Luckily, Arceus finally showed its mercy, as right after knocking out her own Jynx, Tropius eventually succumbed to its wounds and fell over unconscious as well. Lorelei let out a huge sigh of relief as she saw the fainted Tropius.

That meant that things were still salvageable, and another one of Walker's larger threats were down. She hadn't wanted her Jynx to fall, but she could adapt.

"OH! ITS ANOTHER DOUBLE KNOCKOUT FROM THE BOTH OF THEM! WHAT A NERVE-WRACKING FIGHT THAT WE'RE SEEING! THE SCORE IS NOW 4-3!" The announcer shouted out, with the audience beginning to boo and cheer at her in equal measure. She forced out the crowd and the announcer from her mind, as usual, and focused tightly on what Pokémon to send out next.

Walker only had two Pokémon left. One of which was his Skarmory. But she knew that he preferred saving it for last, as did most trainers with their starters and ace. That meant that his next options were between a Gligar and a Swellow.

She bet he would choose to bring his Swellow over a Gligar, considering the latter was extremely weak to Ice. If so, then her Slowbro would be a better choice over her Dewgong, considering it had much greater Physical defenses.

Decision made; she threw out her next Pokémon just as Walker did the same.

"Slowbro, it's your time!"

"Swellow, I choose you! Into the air!"

Her Slowbro slammed lazily into the ground, its derpy face hiding its surprising ability to tank and dish out damage. In the meanwhile, Walker's Swellow began circling around it menacingly with its eyes locked onto Slowbro like a hunter scoping out its prey. Unfortunately for her Slowbro, the Snow wouldn't be beneficial to it here since it wasn't an Ice type, meaning that it wasn't going to get the Defense boost.

She shook away those thoughts; she knew that this was just the calm before the storm that was Swellow would begin its unrelenting series of attacks. She had to get ready.

"Iron Defense, Slowbro! Start setting up!"

"Focus Energy, Swellow! Do the same!"

Her Slowbro became momentarily outlined in white and its body briefly shined as a thin layer of Iron seemed to surround it for a moment, boosting its Defenses. However, she frowned as she watched the Swellow close its eyes midair and start channelling its own internal energies, which would boost its critical hit chances. If Walker landed a powerful critical hit on her Slowbro, it might just be enough to knock it out despite the Defense boosts.

But what she was more afraid of was if Swellow started buffing its Special Attacks with Work Up before unleashing a barrage of Special Attacks towards her Slowbro. Her Slowbro was not trained to dodge attacks, preferring to rely on its natural bulk to just tank through most attacks. However, if Swellow buffed itself enough, then Slowbro would have no chance at being able to endure through them.

She needed to start putting pressure on Swellow so that it couldn't set up any further. She couldn't afford to stay passive.

"Blizzard, Slowbro!"

"Heat Wave, Swellow! Disperse it and ignite yourself!"

Slowbro opened its mouth and unleashed a field of snow towards the flying Swellow, who retaliated with a threatening squawk of its own and expelled its own scorching wave of heat that blasted over the incoming Blizzard, instantly melting the incoming Blizzard, and causing pools of water to form on the ground as the attack was mostly nullified.

However, more concerningly, the Heat Wave also successfully set the Swellow on fire, triggering its Guts ability.

Lorelei didn't need to rely on her research to guess what was coming next.

"Brave Bird NOW, Swellow! Full power!"

"Blizzard again, Slowbro! Bring it down!"

Swellow screeched into the air as it performed an aerial somersault before it started glowing a bright silver as it transitioned into a meteoric descent towards her Slowbro, cutting through the sky like a sword as it blitzed downwards in a freefall. Lorelei barely had time to blink, and her Slowbro was just able to fire of another powerful Blizzard that threatened to engulf the descending Swellow in a freezing coffin of ice.

Lorelei hoped that the supereffective attack would be enough to knock out the Swellow before it could land a hit, but alas, that didn't happen.

But, once again, Walker proved that his mastery of speed as Swellow shot straight through the tomb of freezing winds like a missile. The supereffective winds ripped and slashed through the speeding Swellow, but it preserved and maintained its momentum with its dive, its flaming body helping offset some of the damage, and it cut straight through the Blizzard as if it wasn't affected by it. Lorelei's eyes widened in alarm as she underestimated Swellow's capabilities.

"PROTECT, now!"

But her order came too late. Her Slowbro didn't have time to form a Protect shield before the Swellow slammed straight into its center, unleashing all of that built up energy that it accumulated during its near-suicidal dive.

A small, yet audible BANG erupted as Swellow smashed into Slowbro with a critical hit, striking him right in the center and kicking up a small cloud of dust.

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Slowbro stumbled back with a groan of pain as the momentum of the attack caused it to skid backwards, looking like it was moments away from falling over. It tried to steady itself, but it was panting heavily and was clutching painfully at its stomach, and even now was continuing to wobble uncertainly on its feet. Its previous Iron Defense proving futile as the critical hit ignored its boosted Defenses.

On the other hand, and luckily for Lorelei, Swellow wasn't fairing much better. Not only did the recoil damage from its Brave Bird result in a lot of self-inflicted damage, but having to tank through the supereffective Blizzard wasn't good for its health as the freezing winds ripped through it. In fact, when she observed Walker's Swellow, it looked like it was favouring one of its wings very heavily and wasn't able to turn very easily in the air as she spotted lingering crystals of frost scattered across its wings that refused to melt.

To make matters worse for Walker, Swellow was still suffering from its Burn, continuing to take damage over time. Both trainers knew that it was only a matter of time before Swellow would be knocked out.

In that brief pause when both Pokémon stabilized themselves, Lorelei understood that she had two choices before her. One, to push onwards and try to land another hit on Swellow, which would most certainly knock it out. Or two, to try and heal up and outlast the Swellow before it succumbed to its Burn.

Similarly, Lorelei knew that Walker couldn't make use of his favourite hit-and-run strategy anymore. Not with Swellow so badly injured and with its mobility severely hampered. He too needed to choose between unleashing an all-out final attack or try to heal up Swellow with a Roost.

She paused for a moment due to her indecision, but Walker showed no signs of hesitation.

"Brave Bird again, Swellow! END THIS FIGHT!!"

Not giving Lorelei any chance to think things through, Swellow fell into one final dive that was infused with all of its stored energy, shooting towards Slowbro like a missile. But, just before the attack landed, her body moved on its own.

"FROST STEP!"

She didn't know what made her command her Slowbro to perform a move that it hadn't perfected, but it was too late to take it back. It was all up to her Pokémon now.

Slowbro's figure blurred slightly, before it dashed backwards a small distance so quickly using a burst of Ice energy that it left an icy mirage in its previous position. Swellow, completely taken by surprise by this sudden manoeuvre, tried to adjust its dive at the last minute to avoid hitting the ground.

With a herculean effort that once again showed off its mastery of flight, Swellow pulled up at the VERY last moment and narrowly avoided crashing into the ground. However, this put it right in front of a waiting Slowbro.

"ICE BEAM!"

Her command was ultimately unnecessary, as Slowbro had already fired off a piercing beam of Ice before she could order it to. The Ice Beam struck Swellow in the chest just as it was trying to recover from its failed attack, and frost crystals rapidly spread across its chest as a wave of frost enveloped it. Nearly completely frozen, Swellow tumbled out of the air and crashed unceremoniously onto the ground, defeated.

Walker blinked at her, surprised etched on his face. He clearly hadn't been expecting that. Yet Lorelei herself was in the same position, not having expected Slowbro to be able to pull off the mood. Yet she was very glad that it did.

It was supposed to be last-ditch defensive move for the normally immobile Slowbro, and she was so glad that it paid off here. And as soon as she saw Walker withdraw his Swellow, she instinctively released a huge, relieved breath as the threat was finally removed from the battle. His Swellow hit harder and quicker than she had ever expected.

But then, turning back and seeing the rampant injuries on her own Slowbro, she then quickly grabbed Slowbro's Pokéball and withdrew it, announcing that she was retiring it from the battle.

"AND IT LOOKS LIKE THIS IS YET ANOTHER DOUBLE KNOCKOUT FROM OUR TRAINERS TODAY! IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN A SHORT BATTLE, BUT LET NONE SAY THAT IT WAS NOT A BRUTAL ONE! THE SCORE IS NOW 5-4!" The announcer hyped up over the screaming crowds, "THIS LEAVES ELITE WALKER WITH HIS FINAL POKEMON! ARE WE FINALLY GOING TO SEE HIS STARTER IN ACTION!? BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!"

Lorelei was absent-mindedly listening to the announcer's words before his last few sentences pulled her back together. This was it. Walker was down to his final Pokémon. The final obstacle between her and the position of the Elite Four.

She didn't even know if she was going to be able to keep the position in the long-term, but she reminded herself that she wasn't doing it for power. Or for fame. Or for family. No, the only reason she decided to push herself this far, to force herself and her Pokémon into a gruelling and unrelenting training regime where she barely survived on over 4 hours of sleep per day, was all for this moment.

To triumph over Walker and to show that she wasn't just some silver-spooned trainer coasting by off the power and influence of her now disgraced uncle.

No, she was here to prove to everyone watching, especially those in the VIP booth, that she was more than just Pryce's niece. She was a master of Ice in her own way too.

And the stage was now set to instil this image into everyone's minds, using her most beloved and trusted starter.

"Lapras, just one last push! Show the world your glory!"

"Skarmory, it's all on you now. Remind the world of your strength!"

Her Lapras emerged with a noble roar, slamming its huge weight into the ground of the arena, and knocking up a small cloud of dust with its weight alone. To an outsider, the first thing they would notice was that her Lapras was far larger than most wild Lapras. And, if they looked closer, they would be able to tell by the intense and battle-hardened look in its eyes as well as the numerous scars on its shell that it was clear that this was no transport Pokémon like so many other Lapras were.

No, this was a Pokémon trained to battle. To bring glory. To win.

On the other hand, Walker's Skarmory emerged and screeched menacingly as it spread its wings wide, forming an intimidating visage that almost caused Lorelei to step backwards. Furthermore, the armoured carapace on Walker's Skarmory looked shined to a mirror's sheen, its head ever so angled to give off a sense of aggression and danger. This all reinforced the image of a Pokémon with a perfect mixture of mobility, aggression, and endurance.

Still, her Lapras responded with another proud roar, settling Lorelei's nerves and reminding her of the plan that she had made just for this situation. If it were allowed, then a small part of her would have treacherously taken the win by making use of Perish Song. Yet the rules stopped those temptations; it was forbidden to use moves like Perish Song or Destiny Bond if your opponent was on their last Pokémon.

But that was fine, she didn't want to win like that anyways. It would only worsen the criticism being levied against her. No, she had her own plan ready. One that would prove her abilities. She took a very quick breath to stabilize herself before her eyes refocused and she immediately started giving out orders.

"Rain Dance, Lapras!"

"Sword Defense, Skarmory!"

Her Lapras raised its two front flippers into the air, causing the once snow-filled clouds to transform into ones heavy with rain and water. The once Snow-filled sky quickly changed as a torrential downpour began to set in, greatly buffing up Water attack moves.

In the meanwhile, Skarmory rapidly shined a mix of white and blue before it encased itself in another layer of Iron. She knew that this was one of Walker's custom moves where he had successfully combined both Iron Defense and Swords Dance together, allowing Skarmory to quickly boost both its Attack and Defense simultaneously.

But that was fine. Allowing Skarmory its boost was still a worthy trade in exchange for setting up the rain. It meant it allowed her to do this.

"Hydro Pump, Lapras! Fire in short bursts!"

"Iron Head, Skarmory! Get close and pummel it!"

A huge torrent of water gushed out from Lapras' maw like a laser beam, which Skarmory was able to dismissively dodge by tilting slightly to the side. But this was all within Lorelei's prediction.

Thus, instead of firing the Hydro Pump in one continuous torrent, Lorelei had ordered her Lapras to fire in short bursts so that it had a better chance of sniping the diving Skarmory out of the air with a rain-boosted Hydro Pump.

Her Lapras transformed into a pseudo anti-aircraft cannon as it constantly fired volley after volley of devastating Hydro Pumps that always narrowly missed the Skarmory, who was able to dodge past the attacks through a mixture of impressive last-second dives, rolls, and swerves. And this was all done without any speed boosts, instead all achieved through incredible amounts of training and pure technique alone.

It was a truly praiseworthy performance, and Lorelei would have been similarly impressed if she currently wasn't facing off against it. Skarmory's mobility and evasiveness was become more than a growing concern, as her Lapras still failed to land a hit as it got closer.

But that was fine, she still had a back-up plan in mind. It was far riskier, but as Lapras continued to miss with its Hydro Pumps, she steeled herself for what was to come.

Unaware of her intentions, Skarmory continued its dive towards her Lapras, its head glowing as it prepared to smash into her Lapras with a powerful Iron Head. It dodged past yet another Hydro Pump, before it angled itself forwards and committed itself fully into the attack to do maximum damage.

Exactly what Lorelei had been waiting for.

"Icy Wind, Lapras! Tank through the attack and slow it down!"

Moments before Skarmory crashed into it with an Iron Head, her Lapras quickly changed attacks and released a huge fog of Icy Wind that swiftly surrounded the incoming Skarmory. The freezing fog was so cold that the falling droplets of water instantly turned into Ice as they contacted the fog. The ground itself froze over as the surrounding temperature rapidly plummeted.

Frost crystals spread rapidly across Skarmory's carapace, but contrary to her expectations, it seemingly ignored it and pummelled her Lapras with a brutal boosted Iron Head, causing Lapras' head to snap back as it groaned in pain from the attack. Not allowing it to recover, Skarmory let out an angry Screech to lower Lapras' defence as it used its other wing to bash Lapras across the head with another Steel Wing.

Then, Skarmory continued its onslaught of attacks by pivoting in the air while repeatedly slicing into it with Steel Wings and Iron Heads, keeping as close as it could to Lapras so that it could not have the time to fire off an attack. It also managed to mix in the occasional Screech into its attacks, adding further vulnerability to her Lapras.

Not being proficient at close range fighting, Lapras was unable to fend off Skarmory's aggression. Its feeble attempts to fend it off with its flippers were no match for Skarmory's skill and speed.

While she had not underestimated Skarmory's abilities, she didn't realize how her Pokémon would be unable to deal with just how oppressive Skarmory could be at close range. Lapras simpl wasn't used to being pressured like this, and its injuries rapidly started to build as Skarmory repeatedly slashed it with its wings.

It was not a very destructive way of attacking, but the constant defence drops through Screech meant that it was having a devastating effect on her Lapras as each hit landed progressively harder. Obviously, her plan had backfired. She knew that she had to do SOMETHING before her Lapras eventually went down.

And then, as if it was getting used to Skarmory's attack pattern, Lapras just barely managed to deflect one of Skarmory's Iron Heads with one of its fins, throwing the Skarmory wide as it was pushed aside.

THIS WAS HER CHANCE!

"Thunder! STRIKE IT DOWN!"

"PROTECT! AND DODGE! NOW!"

Her Lapras roared into the air, before summoning huge bolts of Thunder that crashed down from the sky like huge spears of light. To its credit, Skarmory took the opportunity to Slash at Lapras with its sharp talons before forming a Protect shield just in time to block against the first volley of Lightning spears, but the attack wasn't over yet.

"Keep going, Lapras! BRING IT DOWN!"

"Double Team, Skarmory! Get out of there and make some distance!"

Skarmory screeched in the air as its figure started to flicker and blur before a few illusionary copies of itself appeared in the sky, making it hard for Lapras to determine which was the real one. Instead of staying to fight, Walker had instead chosen to pull his Skarmory back, hopefully to safety, to lower its chances of being struck out of the air. Thus, he likely hoped that the illusory copies would distract Lapras enough to build distance so that it could reposition and recover.

But that just gave Lorelei to make use of what she was good at.

"Switch to Blizzard, Lapras! Wipe them all out!"

The bolts of Lightning stopped, only to be replaced by an enormous Blizzard that almost covered half of the arena. Even without the Snow, her Lapras so proficient in the attack that, even through its injuries, it barely took a few seconds for an all-consuming vortex of snow to form.

The true Skarmory revealed itself as it squawked in pain when all of its illusions were promptly destroyed by this tidal wave of frost. And yet, the Blizzard only continued to grow, engulfing the entirety of the arena in an Ice Age that threatened to freeze everything over.

Despite herself, she found herself grinning as she witnessed the sheer scale of her attack as Ice blanketed everything in a field of frost. THIS was why she became an Ice specialist, after seeing her uncle accomplish this exact feat with such ease in the past. She was not close to her uncle's full strength in his prime, but she knew she was slowly getting there.

This was her statement to all the naysayers. No matter their jeering, she WAS a master of Ice. And this attack would prove it!

In the distance, Lorelei could see Walker gritting his teeth in desperation as Skarmory slowly froze over and was battered by this unrelenting storm of ice, with thick frost crystals spreading rapidly across its frame. He realized that he had misread the situation and things had gone from bad to worse.

"Agility, Skarmory! Tank through the attacks! You MUST increase your speed!"

"Thunder again, Lapras! Now's your chance!"

But even with the unyielding Blizzard in place, she knew she could not allow Skarmory to get any faster, or else the tables would be quickly turned on her.

Fortunately, just as Skarmory began glowing a faint pink as it began recovering its lost speed, a humongous boom shook the sky as a singular bolt of Thunder violently pierced through the clouds of snow and crashed brutally into the Skarmory, forcing an unhealthy amount of electricity through its body, paralyzing the once mobile Pokémon, and causing it to begin its involuntary descent.

"Roost, Skarmory! QUICKLY!"

"FINISH IT OFF, LAPRAS! WIN IT ALL!" She screamed out loud, her heart beating out of her chest as she realized that her victory was close. Thunder was a demanding move, and she wasn't sure if her Lapras could sustain many more attacks like this.

But she didn't care. All she could hear was her heart was screaming out VICTORY! VICTORY! VICTORY!

With one final roar of power, another spear of lightning came crackling down from the rainclouds above, critically striking the Skarmory as it fell out of the air as an unhealthy amount of electricity surged through it, smoke wafting from its body from the impact. Her eyes remained locked to the falling figure in the distance, her fists clenched so tightly that she feared that she might break the bones in her fingers.

But she NEEDED to know if Skarmory was knocked out or not. Her entire future was riding on this, and she was willed with every bit of strength that she had for the Skarmory to stay down. She knew that her Lapras was running on fumes at this point and couldn't sustain another assault. Unknowingly, blood dripped down from her mouth as she was biting down hard on her lip.

She looked around idly to see that the entire battlefield was covered in a layer of frost, with various spears of Ice decorating the landscape. The consequences of her earlier Blizzard and a testament to her power.

And then, after what felt like an eon of nervous waiting, the announcer finally said the words that she had been yearning to hear for so long.

"AND WALKER'S FINAL POKEMON GOES DOWN TO A DEVESTATING THUNDER! LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A NEW MEMBER OF THE ELITE FOUR! PLEASE APPLAUD FOR THE NEWEST ELITE FOUR MEMBER, ELITE LORELEI!"

She wanted to cheer, she wanted to scream, she wanted to throw up. But she did neither of those things as she forcefully crushed down on those feelings and tried to calm herself.

She had won the first battle. But she knew that if she was going to keep her position in the Elite Four and slowly repair her reputation, she needed to keep winning. But for now, she could take a sigh of relief as a heavy burden was lifted from her shoulders.

She had done it.

The New Normal – 5-6 – A Frosty Transition

The sound of polite applause reverberated throughout the VIP room as we all clapped for Lorelei's victory.

"It looks like Walker's finally on his way out." Agatha commented with a smirk, "Shame, he was such an easy target for my barbs."

"I'm sure he would be happy enough to escape from your tormenting." Lance replied sarcastically as he stood up. "Come, we should make our way down to greet our newest Elite Four member. Remember, whatever disagreements you may have with her personally, it is our duty to welcome her into the Elite Four. Don't let the reporters whip up a scandal." He reminded.

After that, we all followed Lance and made our way to the arena, where a sullen Walker was shaking hands with an ecstatic Lorelei. The latter looked like she was doing her best to restrain her displays of enthusiasm.

As soon as Walker saw us approaching, he said a few more words to Lorelei before he separated from her, walking away to confront the line of reporters that were waiting starvingly to question the two.

"Congratulations to you, Lorelei." Lance greeted the winner with a smile, "I hope you are ready for the new responsibilities and duties that you have just earned yourself."

"My thanks, Champion Lance." Lorelei replied formally with a slight bow, trying but failing to conceal her excitement, "I am most honoured to have won myself this position."

"Indeed, I should hope so." Lance said. "Admittedly, I was concerned about the method by which you used to challenge for the Elite Four. It reminded much of what I disliked about the latter period of your uncle's reign as Champion. However, I have witnessed your determination and struggles through your battle just now, and I can safely say that I approve of your drive to free yourself from the pit that you found yourself in."

Lorelei gave off a small smile at the praise, "...I'm glad you don't hold my uncle's mistakes against me, Champion. I...was not the biggest fan of my uncle either, and would never intend to follow in his footsteps. At least, not politically."

"Does that mean you've no intention to reach out to his ex-supporters in order to solidify your political base?" Will quickly cut in with a curious look on his face, "I'm sure you would be a great rallying figure for them if you wanted to be."

She shook her head, "No. To be fair, I haven't really given much thought to the politics of being in the Elite Four." She admitted shamelessly, "I've been far more focused on preparing for the actual match against Walker."

"That's-! Sure, I can understand that you might have other priorities, but why would you not-" Will spluttered out before being cut off by Agatha.

"Because most people have other things in their minds besides politics, young man." She said before laying a comforting arm on Lorelei. "Ignore the bluster of men. You did very well, dear. And you should be proud of your efforts."

Lorelei stared in utter surprise at Agatha's gesture of kindness but recovered quickly and nodded softly towards her. "Thank you, Elite Agatha. There is...much that I need to learn now that I'm in the Elite Four. Unfortunately, my uncle never really got the opportunity to inform me about how I should act, so I'm really learning as I go."

"Ah, don't worry about it." I said to her, "I didn't really know what I was doing either. I flew by the skin of my teeth for the most part, and sometimes I still think I'm just making stuff up as I go. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it."

"You better get a hang of it fast, though." Lance added seriously, "Your victory over Walker was a good one, but it was also a very close thing. I'm not sure if such a victory could deter any future challengers looking to make a name for themselves in the Elite Four. I hope you don't forget that your position here is only determined by your ability to hold it through your own strength."

Lorelei nodded firmly at Lance's words, a steely look coming through her eyes. But before we could talk any further, a League Official hesitantly came up to us and told us that they had finished speaking with Walker and now it was time for the winner's interview. Nervously, Lorelei was escorted onstage as it was time for her to face the horde of reporters.

As Lorelei was tasked with herding off the hungry reporters' questions, I walked over to where Walker was standing by himself.

According to the rules, any fallen Elite Four member was allowed to make one challenge within a month of their defeat to any other Elite Four member. This was a one-time thing, and a subsequent loss meant that you had to re-challenge the Indigo Conference to re-earn your challenge rights.

Thus, Walker technically had the opportunity to challenge any other Elite Four member to regain his old position, though I sincerely doubted that would happen.

"Walker, I'm sorry that your time in the Elite Four is over." I said to him.

"Oh, John? Didn't expect you to be speaking to me." He turned to me with slight surprise, "But yes...I'm afraid that my skills just weren't good enough. Maybe there were some truths in all those slanderous rumours after all..." He sighed, but he didn't seem too bitter. If anything, I felt a sense of relief from him.

"Well, try not to linger on it too much." I comforted, "After all, you still have a Gym to return to, right? I'm sure your brother would be happy to welcome you to help out around the Violet City Gym if you need something to do."

"That's true enough. I guess it's not like I'm returning to nothing." He said, slowly forming a fond smile, "I guess I could use my newly found free time to start training up my son, Falkner, for when it's his turn to be the Gym Leader. He just started his journey a few weeks ago, but I'm sure now that I'm out of the Elite Four that I can find more time for him."

"Are you going to be speaking to the others before you leave?" I asked, gesturing to where the other Elite Four were standing.

Walker shook his head, "No...I don't think I'd be welcome. Agatha would probably say something cutting again, and Lance never hid the fact that he disliked me. I'll make my way out myself."

"I see." Was all I said, "Well, in that case, I wish you all the best. Maybe we'll see each other again. And, for what it's worth, your few words of kindness to me when I was first introduced in the Elite Four helped me more than you knew. So, thank you for that, Walker." And I truly meant that.

He looked surprised for a moment, before a small, yet genuine smile slowly formed on his face. He took a step forward and patted me on the shoulder. "You're welcome, John. And I was just doing what I felt was right at the time."

He looked around at the stadium, as if he was trying to imprint the view into his memory. "I've been an Elite Four for quite some time...and yet I've never really enjoyed the dirtiness of politics. I just wished that we could all get along together – that kindness should be something that is given freely whenever possible. I know this sort of thinking has not served me well...but I do stand by it. Hold on to your kindness, John. That's all I ask of you."

"I will." I promised, giving him a firm nod.

He nodded, then fell silent for a moment as he simply took in the atmosphere of the crowd for a moment. Eventually, he turned back to me, his voice laced with a sense of finality. "Good luck John. I wish you the best. And I hope to see you again one day."

We shook hands, possibly for the final time, before the two of us separated. Walker went away, likely going home. I watched his retreating back for a moment before I turned around and reconvened with the remaining Elite Four members.

"I miss anything?" I asked them as I returned.

"You missed something fairly interesting." Agatha replied with grin, "Lorelei openly stated that she wasn't going to be following Pryce's old policies, and she openly distanced herself from Pryce's old supporters. Those idiots are in for a nasty surprise."

"Oh, wow. Huh. That's interesting." I commented, "So, that means that we aren't going to get a resurgence of Pro-Pryce policies. Thank Arceus." I thought aloud.

"Indeed, I'll be looking forward to seeing what she proposes in the future." Lance said with a nod, "Though, this definitely has turned out better than expected. I respect her more for not just following in Pryce's footsteps. Oh, speaking of which, where's Walker?"

"He left. I just said goodbye to him." I answered.

"Oh? He just left? Well, okay then." Lance dismissed with a wave before he turned his attention back to Lorelei. "Come, I think it's time to rescue our newest member from those nosy reporters. Let us reconvene at the VIP room, I have some small announcements to make."

Several minutes later, the five of us met up once again in the VIP room.

"Right then. Unfortunately for you Lorelei, you're going to have to pick up about how we do things here pretty quickly." Lance said as Lorelei frowned worriedly, "We're going to be having the next committee meeting tomorrow. I expect you all to be there."

Lance turned to Lorelei, "That does mean that you won't be able to have any time to gather up any political support or make deals before the meeting, but it does mean that you'll have the opportunity tomorrow to start making yourself known. It's up to you to start building yourself up. Otherwise, I'll see you all there. Thanks for coming today."

After that, we all split apart. But before I left, I caught in the corner of my eye Agatha beginning to converse with Lorelei about something. I was curious about what they were speaking about, but ultimately left the two of them alone as I made my way out as well.

Perhaps I'll find out more during the committee meeting.

==========

?The next day, I found myself waiting inside the committee conference room for the meeting to start when Lance came up to me with a concerned expression on his face.

"John, I have something I may need you to do in the future." He began.

"Uh, okay. What's up?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, Lorelei's victory over Walker has generated some criticism from a few of the more prominent members of Indigo last night, mostly from Johto. Nothing overt of course, and you certainly won't see any of this on the news, but my sources from Blackthorn tell me there is some rising discontent at her victory." He explained.

"What? Why is that? She won fair and square." I puzzled. "Don't they have other things to worry about?"

"Yes, and I agree with you." Lance nodded, "But apparently some people were upset that Lorelei made use of a loophole to earn her chance to fight Walker in the first place. Mind you, it is a very small minority, but as a new Champion, it's something that I need to be concerned about. I hate dealing with these whiners as much as you do, but it's part of my job now."

"I see, so what do you need me to do?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I figured that this might be a good opportunity to hit two Pidgey with one stone and hopefully smooth over any possible dissent before it gets worse." He replied, leaning forwards, "You see, I've always intended to do a quick inspection of all the Gyms in Indigo as soon as I had settled in as Champion. And now that I am, I thought why not use this opportunity to scout out the Gym Leaders and see if they're discontent with anything; see if we can try to resolve any issues they have with my leadership."

"I plan for you to be assigned to the Kanto Gyms, and Lorelei to the Johto ones. It'll give her the opportunity to make nice and prove herself to them. I'm sure she'll welcome the opportunity." He continued, "You'll likely be accompanied by a few League Officials so that they can actually do a preliminary inspection of the Gyms while you're at it."

Thank Arceus I checked up on the Waterflower sisters before Lance did something like this, "Yeah, sure, I have no problems with that. Let me know if you're going through with it." I replied.

"Good, and thanks. I'll owe you one for this. I'll speak to Lorelei and make the announcement soon. Thanks for this. And I do hope the committee passes the proposal as you hope. It'll do great for our relations with Hoenn." He nodded to me before walking off, finishing off his preparations to host the committee meeting.

With that done, the committee meeting fortunately proceeded with no big issues. Lance proposed for the Contest Hall idea to be implemented, and there must have been a lot of backroom dealings because it was almost unanimously approved.

The more debated topic was about where these Contest Halls would be established. That moved us to the discussion phase, where people began mingling around to secure and reaffirm any agreements.

I already made all the deals that I needed to, so I ended up just observing how our two new Elite Four members interacted with the Committee. Unsurprisingly, Will proved himself once again to be an eager politician as he began speaking to a few members that I recognized were all representatives or Indigo's larger business interests.

On the other hand, Lorelei, true to my expectations, was not approached by anyone. Her denunciation of Pryce's old policies isolated her from would-be supporters, and many others likely were hesitant to approach who they saw to be no more than Pryce's niece.

Ironically enough, Lorelei's lack of support for Pryce's ex-supporters probably was the final nail in the coffin for them. And I expected them to be relegated to political obscurity and be voted our shortly.

Feeling bad, I decided to approach her.

"Hey, how are you settling into the Elite Four? Must be a lot to take in at once." I said to her. "Did Lance tell you about your upcoming trip to visit all of the Johto Gyms?"

She blinked, surprise colouring her features at my approach, "It's fine, and yes, he did. Besides, my position now might look bad, but I can guarantee you that my victory over Walker has opened up many opportunities to me that weren't available before. This is nothing."

"Well, it's good that you're able to see the bright side of things." I replied with a smile, "Oh, and in case I didn't say so yesterday, congratulations on your victory. I hope we can work together well in the future. Good luck dealing with the Johto Gyms." With your poor reputation was left unsaid.

"Thanks John." She said, before a nostalgic smile formed on her face. "You know, you were partially the reason why I decided to challenge Walker in the first place. I saw how successful you became, and I asked myself why I couldn't achieve the same. From then on, I trained and prepared for my battle, and did everything that I could to ensure my victory."

"Hah! That's very good of you." Agatha interrupted with a bark of laughter, stepping into the conversation, "Don't let yourself be held down by the idiocy of others. Pave your own path. That's what I did. How else did you think a female Ghost specialist like me managed to make it in the Elite Four?"

Agatha then gestured towards me, "If you're looking for political support, this young man over here is probably your best bet. He doesn't have the ego the other two have. I'm sure he'll be willing to help."

Lorelei looked surprised at the offer of support as she looked between the two of us, but a nod from me seemed to reassure her. "Um, okay. Thank you very much for this, both of you. But what is it that you need me to do?"

This time I answered, "Honestly, this would be like an investment for me. You have no political support now, but that's not going to be true forever. If you manage to hold on to your position, then you'll eventually become a political powerhouse in your own right. Thus, I'm looking to 'invest' into you by sharing my power with you to earn your support and favour so that I may make use of your power and connections later."

In other words, I would hang around Lorelei and introduce her to a few committee members that were friendly with me, so that she could advertise herself and start making acquaintances. In exchange, when she does have some power of her own, I'd hope that she would be more favourable with me thanks to my earlier support.

Demonstrating that she had inherited more from her uncle than just his love for Ice types, she readily agreed to my offer. "I accept. I definitely need to get my foot in the door, so I'm more than happy you introduce me around. Uncle never really talked about this aspect of running the League."

"Just don't seduce him!" Agatha mocked with a grin, "My apprentice has already marked her claim! And I won't let her lose!"

I only rolled my eyes at her comment and ignored her, gesturing for Lorelei to follow me. Lorelei chuckled at my expression, and the two of us started walking around where I helped introduce Lorelei to a few friendlier committee members.

Those mostly consisted of those who approved of my ideas of further unity with Indigo. In fact, Lorelei's origin as a Johtonian actually endeared her more to them, and they mentioned that a political friendship between a Kantonian and a Johtonian to work together for a united Indigo was good optics. I agreed, though time will tell if such a thing could work out in the long-term.

Surprisingly, Lorelei said that she was also very much in favour of working to unite Indigo. She said that the continued divide between Johto and Kanto would only make things worse in the long run.

And even more remarkably, she also began speaking about her goals to make use of her position in the Elite Four to root out corruption and other blatant acts of nepotism.

"Corruption and nepotism has been commonly associated with my uncle's time as Champion, and I am sad to say that I have been similarly affected by such claims." She said to the committee members, "Therefore, I hope that by proving to the public that I will take a firm stand against such acts, I will be able to scrub off the stigma of nepotism from my own reputation and earn back the public's trust once again."

That was well-received by everyone, and I similarly agreed with her thoughts. I didn't want Indigo to be brought low by rampant corruption and nepotism, so I was happy to support a full cleanse. And I figured that going down this route was a good choice for her. As she said, she wanted to distance herself as much as she could from her uncle's fallen reputation.

Although, that might put her at odds with Will since pro-business policies and corruption were often found in bed together. But that was no skin off my teeth. Besides, despite all his posturing, my gut told me that Will was a pretty honest person. I didn't think he would be against such policies either. I couldn't say the same for business 'friends', though.

After a quick round of pleasant introductions and discussions, Lance called for the end of the discussion phase and moved on to the speeches and voting. I gave my own standard speech about wanting to support inter-regional relations, and the other Elite Four joined in on my comments.

Lance evidently came through with his end of the agreement, as Cerulean City was proposed and agreed upon by a good majority. Perhaps seeing that it was likely to pass even without his contributions, Will also made sure to get his money's worth and joined in on the agreement. This both ensured that the proposal to construct the Contest Halls in Cerulean were guaranteed to pass, but also so that he would fulfil his end of the bargain, meaning that I would have to fulfil mine as well.

That wasn't really an issue. I had already informed mayor Henry about what Will wanted, and he was more than happy to allow for more investment into Cerulean.

Anyways, I was very happy and relieved to see my first 'big' idea passing like this. Since it had foreign policy implications, Lance was off to inform his counterparts at Hoenn about the idea, and to start issuing invitations for anyone who wanted to come over when the facilities were built.

In the meanwhile, the Indigo League had their own specifications for what they wanted to be built. Since the Contest Hall was supposed to be a grand display of Indigo's cultural history and wealth, it needed to be a grand and spectacular building which would be able to accommodate any and all visitors from Hoenn.

It was going to be an expensive undertaking, which fortunately meant that the Indigo League was going to foot the bill. That was relieving; I was worried that Cerulean City might not have been able to afford to build such a structure.

Furthermore, Lance also informed the committee that he would be making a public announcement shortly after, where he would be announcing an inspection of all of Indigo's Gyms, overseen by Elite John and Elite Lorelei for Kanto and Johto respectively. Since this was something that didn't need the approval of the committee, they couldn't do anything to stop it.

That caused many to break out in hushed whispers, and some were looking around nervously. I wondered what that was about.

Lance said more details would be shared in the announcement itself, but aside from myself and Lorelei, we were all free to leave.

As people started to leave, Lorelei and I made our way to Lance.

"Okay, as I said, you two will be overseeing the inspections of the Gyms." He said to the both of us, "But, you don't really need to do anything. The League inspectors will do the heavy work. Instead, I want you two to try to talk to the Gym Leaders, and hopefully identify any grievances they may have." We nodded.

"Now, there is a reason why I chose to send the two of you." He turned to me, "John, you're very well liked in Kanto. Even a blind person could tell that. And I figured that you would be best to send to speak to the Kanto Gym Leaders about what they think about having a Johtonian Champion once again. They were burnt by Pryce before, so I hope to not follow in his footsteps."

I nodded understandingly, and Lance turned to Lorelei. "Lorelei, you're the opposite. You're not liked at all." Lorelei grimaced at his words, but Lance kept speaking, "But, frankly, I find that quite ridiculous. I enjoyed your battle against Walker, and I was pleased to see your determination. Thus, I am giving you an opportunity to prove yourself to both the members of the League and the Gym Leaders of Johto that you aren't the villain some are making you out to be. Are you able to do this?"

"Yes sir." She said firmly, eyes blazing determinedly once again. It reminded of the look that she had during her battle against Walker. "I won't disappoint you."

"Excellent. Like I said, you'll be sent off tomorrow early in the morning. Don't worry, you won't be expected to stay at each Gym until the inspectors are finished, since they'll be doing most of their investigations off-site." He explained, "They told me that they shouldn't take too long per Gym, so it won't be long before you can move onto the next Gym. Of course, if you want to stay for longer to chat or to look up something yourself, you may."

"Try to get all this done within the next few days before the next Committee meeting. Anyways, that's all. Good luck." I nodded once again and began making my way out, though Lorelei was stopped by Lance before she could do the same.

"Oh, and Lorelei, let's exchange contact details so you can forward me any ideas you might want to propose for the next meeting." I saw her nod out of the corner of my eye as I left.

I left the Indigo Plateau and sent out a quick message to mayor Henry, informing him that the proposal had passed just like I hoped and that the Contest Hall would be built in Cerulean City, paid for all by the League. I also let him to know to expect to be contacted by some construction workers in the near future.

He quickly responded back with a thankful message and seeing that he didn't need me for anything else, I made my way home to wind down after another day of politics.

As I got home, I quickly changed and joined my parents at the dinner table, who had just come back from their little trip from work, where I discussed the latest events with them.

"So, how was Lorelei?" My mother asked curiously, "She seemed stiff and unfriendly on television."

I rolled my eyes, "They were probably trying to villainize her so that it could fit their narrative. She's actually quite nice in person."

"Oh? Really? That's interesting." My dad commented as he chewed on his food, "Is she better than Walker?"

"Dunno about that one yet." I shrugged as I swallowed some rice, "Walker was actually a good man, despite our differences. I'm actually a little sad to see him go."

"Hm...he looked much stronger than I thought he would be." My mom said, cutting through some vegetables, "Thought he'd lack that little bit of 'oomph' in his fight. But he seemed to fight quite hard."

"Everyone made him out to be a weakling because he was compared to the likes of John and Lance." My dad remarked, "But he still made it into the Elite Four. That counts for something."

Then he continued, "Oh speaking of which, we got invited to a luncheon with some other big businessmen of Cerulean. Was that your doing, John?"

"Uh, no. Not directly, at least." I answered with a shake of my head, before shooting them a smile. "But congratulations! Is there something you'd like to achieve there?"

My dad shrugged, "Not really, besides just introducing ourselves. If it goes well, we'll have an in with the big movers and shakers."

"I'm quite nervous about that, to be honest." My mom admitted, "We were only poor farmers a little while ago, I'm not sure-"

"You can." I interrupted, a little more forcefully than I intended. But she was about to say something I really didn't want to hear from my mother. "You are NOT just poor farmers. You are more than that. We've all worked hard to do so. You can stand up to them and be proud of all you've accomplished with the family business."

"Our son's right, Angela." My dad added with an approving nod, as he patted my mom gently on the shoulder. "Now, no more of that. Let's just finish this dinner and head to bed early. We have a big day tomorrow."

My mom nodded, and with a small smile, she continued with her dinner. We continued making some idle conversation before dinner eventually wrapped up and I made my way back to my room to get some rest.

I had a full day of Gym Inspections coming up tomorrow, and I needed to be well-rested for it.

The New Normal – 5-6 – Interlude – Flint

The TV remote clattered to the ground as Flint listened with growing horror to the announcement being broadcasted by the news.

"In light of my recent ascension as Champion, I have just ordered a full inspection of all Gyms within Indigo to ensure that they live up to the high expectations demanded of them by the Indigo League. It is my hope that, through these inspections, we will be able to root out any source of corruption before they can take hold and ruin this year's circuit."

"In addition, Elite John and Elite Lorelei will be deployed to the Kanto and Johto Gyms respectively to oversee these inspections as soon as possible and to..."

Flint wasn't able to hear the rest of the announcement as dread slowly built up from within, almost causing him to puke from the stress and nerves.

This was his greatest fear come to life. He always knew that he wasn't suitable to be running the Gym; much of his earlier success was due to Lola's support and assistance. However, when she ran off for reasons unknown, he desperately tried to hold everything together using his meagre abilities.

But alas, it wasn't enough, as was expected from a failure like him. Lola was always the smarter one, the one that knew what to do, and honestly, she was the true guiding hand behind the Gym. It was through HER actions, not his, that the Gym survived and ran as well as it did. He was simply the figurehead. And now, with her running off, everything was starting to fall apart.

However, for years, even with the continued deterioration of the Gym and the mounting complaints from trainers, no one ever really did anything about it. Flint assumed that Pryce just wasn't interested in what his Gyms' were doing, and he was more than happy to bury his problems for a future date.

But Lance was clearly less willing to be ignorant of his Gyms' activities, and now all of the problem and mistakes that Flint had hoped to bury forever were about to be brought to light.

In a panic, he rushed back to his Gym's office and hastily scrambled through his paperwork. He hoped to Arceus that he had done enough due diligence over the years to satisfy the League inspectors. It was at this time that Flint really regretted not hiring a personal assistant or a secretary to help him with these tasks, but he had foolishly and stubbornly held on to hope that Lola would return and resumed her duties, so he continued to leave that position open.

And now, he was forced to frantically gather up everything to be presented to the inspectors.

A part of him was tempted to call up Brock and ask for his assistance, but he knew that would shatter the fa?ade and the image of competence that he hoped to present to his children. He knew it was all a lie, and couldn't be maintained in the long-term, but he didn't want them to worry about further troubles when their mother left them.

And it wasn't like Brock's help would matter at this point. It was far too late.

All he had wanted was to prove to them that he was capable of filling the hole caused by Lola's absence, even if he knew that it would never be the same without her. It was impossible for him to fill in both the role of a father and mother, but he felt that he owed it to them to try. Even though he knew that it was little more than putting tape on a leaking pipe.

He knew that his image of competence as a Gym Leader was nothing more than a thinly held-together lie that was likely about to be exposed, but if he could shelter his children them for one more day, then it would be worth it in his eyes. Perhaps when it was time for Brock to inherit the Gym, he would do a much better job than a failure like himself.

After over an hour of scouring and gathering old paperwork, he set them all down in a messy pile on his old office desk. He knew that a few documents were likely missing, but there wasn't any time to do anything about it. Nor would he be able to dig through the years of paperwork to find out what was missing.

Maybe he could get lucky, and the League inspectors might not look through things too deeply? Besides, surely he couldn't be the only Gym having problems. He knew that the Cerulean Gym wasn't run as effectively as they should be ever since the role was passed to those trio of sisters. And he was pretty sure that there must be a few Gyms in Johto that were having similar issues.

Perhaps, the Gym might overlook his failures as other Gyms might be worse off? Pryce WAS negligent to all Gyms as a whole, after all. And also, maybe the standards might be lower for him as he was responsible for the first-badge challenge. Since it's supposed to be the 'easiest' Gym.

Flint hoped to Arceus that was the case, and that the League would be lenient on him. He didn't know how he would face his children if the League clamped down on his Gym and exposed him for the failure that he was.

From the depths of his own heart, he apologized to his children for being unable to take care of them as well as Lola could. He apologized for not being the Gym Leader that they hoped he could be. He apologized for all the burdens that he might leave onto them if his failures were exposed.

And ultimately, he apologized for wanting to do the same as Lola.