The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 27: 104-107

The New Normal – 5-17 - Fairy Odd Discoveries

After a moment to think things through, I decided to stick to my previous plan and take the initiative to publish and announce the Fairy typing on my own terms. However, even with my notable scientific reputation, a discovery of this scale would be even greater than when I had created the PIT technique. This was something that was going to need plenty of verification from many esteemed scientists if I didn't want to be tied down with academic debates and naysayers.

Fortunately, these limitations would also apply to other scientists as well, so at least I wouldn't realistically have to worry about anyone 'discovering' this before I could act on it. Definitely not anytime soon.

But I still wanted to get ahead of the curve. And to do this, I figured that I needed to share my 'ideas' with some very reputable scientists so that they could back my observations up. It would mean sharing the credit, but I didn't care much about that. This was going to be a huge discovery, with plenty of glory to go around once it gets out.

To that end, I made the decision to write out a few invitations to some of my scientific friends for them to come over tomorrow afternoon. And I chose my selection carefully.

First, I invited Shelly via text. Not only did I think of her as a friend, but she shared important connections to Devon Corp, a leading entity in the scientific community. Her approval would mean a lot for getting the Hoenn scientific community on board.

Then, I sent another text to Carolina. Similarly, we had a developing friendship, but she was also a very important, if not the only, scientific representative from Sinnoh. Getting her involved would go a long way at ensuring that the publication of the Fairy type won't be stifled in Sinnoh.

After that, I sent out a much more formal email to invite Professor Oak. With his gigantic reputation, and his genuine interest in science, I felt that he would be an essential person to have onboard to give undisputable legitimacy to my observations.

Lastly, and I hesitated a bit before sending it, I also sent out an invitation to Gym Leader Blaine. Despite not having previously interacted much with him, I felt that inviting him would prove to be a good idea. Firstly, it would allow me to establish connections with an ex-Elite Four member and a prominent Gym Leader, and it would show that I was an Elite Four member that didn't forget about the importance of Gym Leaders.

Inviting Blaine was definitely more of a political decision than anything, but he also had a robust scientific reputation that would be appreciated.

It was already pretty late, so after sending out those invitations, I went to bed and hoped that they would be free to come over tomorrow. It WAS fairly short notice, but I hoped that my invitation would be interesting enough to attract their attention away from their busy schedules.

=========

?Fortunately, my luck turned out for the better. When I went to check my phone the following morning, I had received responses back from everyone stating that they were free to come over. Also, Lance had given me the thumbs up to go and explore Sinnoh on behalf of Indigo, but the when and how still needed to be arranged.

Which was why I found myself standing in the fields under the bright sun, waiting patiently for their arrival. I had already sent out a message to everyone informing them of my address and how to get here, and I made sure to clear out any of our new farmhands to prevent them from accidentally disrupting any observations that we made.

And suddenly, the signature flash of white from a Teleport heralded my first arrival. Professor Oak casually walked out of the light with his Alakazam and greeted me with a smile. He seemed to not be aware of the sheer Psychic energy that his Alakazam was radiating.

"John! It's good to see you again." He began as he withdrew his Alakazam, extending his arm for me to shake. "I've heard great things about you from others. Glad to see you're doing well."

"Thank you, Professor Oak, and I am very thankful that you chose to accept my invitation." I replied with a slight bow.

"Nonsense! I could tell by your words that this was likely something very important. And from what I witnessed during your battle against Bruno, I think you're about to reveal something VERY interesting." He predicted, his eyes observing me intensely.

I didn't let myself be intimidated, and simply nodded, "That's right. I think this would definitely shake up the paradigm of what we know about Pokémon, but do you mind if I wait till the others get here before I explain myself? Saves me from having to repeat it."

"No worries." He waved me off. "Anyways, if you don't mind, could we discuss more about possible alternate forms that could be discovered through your PIT technique?"

The two of us then began an animated discussion on the possible undiscovered alternate forms of Pokémon as we waited for the others. Of course, I was careful to ensure that I wasn't giving away more than I should know and kept my commentary on a purely hypothetical basis.

A short while later, and another flash of light appeared, revealing the second representative of Kanto.

"John, I was very surprised by the invite-" Blaine began to say as he stepped out of the light, before cutting himself off as he was taken aback by Oak's presence.

"Oh. Um, Samuel, it's good to see you again. I didn't expect you to be here." Blaine greeted with a respectful bow.

"Haha! Blaine! It's been a while!" Oak said jollily, slapping Blaine on the back. "I hope retirement has been treating you well."

"Not as well as yours." He smirked with a fond smile, before turning to me. "And John! How could you leave out the fact that Samue- Professor Oak was going to be here? I would've definitely came earlier!"

I rubbed my head embarrassedly, "Whoops? I sent those invitations pretty late...must have forgotten it."

He grumbled good-naturedly, "Rookie mistake. Anyways, now that Professor Oak is here, I'm sure that this wouldn't be a waste of my time. Very interested to see what you've invited us all here for. You could say I was burning in excitement!" Only he laughed at that.

Blaine then returned his attention back to Oak as they began making small talk and catching up. From the outside, they definitely seemed to be good friends and looked like they knew each other well. Considering Blaine was an ex-Elite Four member during when Oak was Champion, this wasn't very surprising.

I joined in on their banter occasionally, and eventually after another short wait the remaining invitees arrived together, which was a nice coincidence.

"Sorry we're late." Shelly said, brushing her fingers through her hair, "Turns out the Kadabra used for Teleporting provided by your League are shared between us, so we ended up just going together coincidentally." Carolina nodded in agreement.

"Don't worry about it." I waved her off, "Anyways, now that you're here, let me introduce everyone." We all moved to exchange brief introductions.

Shelly look a bit starstruck at the presence of so many other scientific giants, but she managed to remain calm and professional. After that round of introductions, I finally explained why I had gathered everyone here.

"Firstly, thank you once again for coming. I appreciate you taking your time out of your busy schedules for something like this. Now, onto why you're here." I released both Luna and Euphie from their Premier Balls. "It's to do with something I had noticed over time with both of these Pokémon."

Except for Oak, they all shot me looks of confusion. Oak instead stared fixedly onto Luna, as if trying to piece together a puzzle in his head. I kept going, "Ever since I caught my Clefable, I noticed that during our training sessions together that she was unusually resistant to Fighting type moves. And for those of you who saw my match against Bruno, she was able to brush off even the greatest of Fighting type attacks with unusual ease."

"And while I'd like to believe that I'm a good trainer, I know I'm not THAT good. I started to realize that there may be other factors in play here that are the cause of this unusual resistance to Fighting." I explained, "And, after some time, I've come to the conclusion that we may have had a new type that has always existed, but we've previously not looked into."

THAT caused everyone to gasp in surprise, Oak included, though his was significantly more subdued. A new type was a BIG deal, and it spoke to their professionalism that didn't instantly bombard me with questions. I gave them a moment to digest what I had just said before continuing.

"I realized that I had discovered something more than just a generic resistance to Fighting because my Clefable was able to generate attacks with a different sort of Energy. One that I hadn't seen before." I gestured to Luna for her to start generating Fairy energy around her, and a small pink orb formed in her hands.

"At first, I thought that pink energy was just Psychic energy, especially considering how similar their colour palette is. But, after I did some tests with Dark type moves, I found that it wasn't nullified by it. Instead, whatever this energy is, it crushes through Dark types, as if it was supereffective towards it." That got more noises of surprise.

"Then I remembered that I've seen my Clefable take damage from Ghost type attacks back when she was a Clefairy when she really shouldn't have. Individually, each factor alone wouldn't have roused my suspicions. But a combination of all 3 factors? I started to realize that I might have something here. I'm not exactly sure, which is why I've invited you all here to go through my observations and bring up any questions you might have." I finished, opening the floor to the others. Inwardly, I was pleased with my explanation that should hopefully be logical enough to not trigger any suspicions about my otherworldly knowledge.

Oak spoke up first, "And I assume you have brought your Eevee here because you intend to see if you can evolve it with this new type, right?" He glanced at Euphie who had been running around playfully while we talked.

I nodded; Oak was very observant. "Yes. I felt that a good way to prove a new type would be to get Eevee to evolve using it. After all, Eevee are well-known to be very adaptable and to have many evolutions with different types, so I felt that this might be a good way of proving it in addition to whatever other research and evidence we are able to provide."

"Have you tested anything else with your Clefable? Other types of moves?" Blaine asked curiously, his eyes observant.

"Yes. I've made some observations that whatever this type is, it's practically immune to Dragon type moves. It's even more effective against it than against Fighting or Dark." I told them.

Oak's eyebrows rose to his head as he looked at me with surprise. On the other hand, Blaine started laughing loudly. "If that's true-" He took a second to wheeze, "Then we finally have a type to crush those pesky Dragons! Imagine the look on the Blackthorn's face if this gets published!" Blaine laughed even harder.

Oak looked away and muttered something about "if we had this during the war...", which shut Blaine up really quickly. Fortunately, Carolina spoke up before an uncomfortable silence could descend.

"This is all well and good and all, and while I'm not fully doubtful of your suspicions, John, I would really like to see more evidence of your claims first." Carolina said to me. "After all, the fact that we somehow missed a type for all this time is a rather extreme claim to make."

"Certainly. Let me show you what I mean. Professor Oak, could you release a Dragon type Pokémon for this demonstration?" He nodded, and casually released a Flygon. I blinked, taken aback. I wasn't expecting him to have a Flygon of all things.

But upon closer inspection, the Flygon evidently wasn't trained and was likely used for research purposes only. Still though.

"I was looking into Flygon recently because I thought it was actually a Bug/Dragon type." He said, pre-empting my question. "Sadly, I am highly doubtful that it is actually the case."

He shook his head, "Well anyways, what do you need me to do? Fire off a Dragon Pulse?" He confirmed, and I nodded.

"Yep. It'll be a good demonstration." I replied, and Luna let out a supportive cry.

With a quick gesture towards Flygon, it unleashed a respectable Dragon Pulse that slammed into Luna. However, besides a slight stumble, Luna managed to shrug off the Dragon Pulse entirely, completely devoid of any injuries. Seeing the attack be nullified, Oak gave off a satisfied nod and withdrew his Flygon.

"Fascinating." Shelly muttered, looking over my unharmed Clefable, "More data is definitely needed, but if it's true, then the implications of this would be staggering."

"Yes, it would be." Carolina agreed, "But how much of this resistance is due to your Clefable's status as an Elite Pokémon? Surely a less trained and wild Pokémon sharing this type would not be able to shrug off an attack this casually."

"Sure, which was why I wanted to do further testing before making such an announcement." I responded with a shrug, not minding her skepticism. "After all, we need to still confirm the other resistances and strengths of the type."

"Do you have a name for it?" Shelly asked, "We can't just keep calling it 'the type', after all."

I nodded, "Considering the pink energy that it gives off, I thought calling it the 'Fairy' type would be a suitable name."

Blaine let out another bark of laughter, "FAIRY! THE TYPE THAT BEATS DRAGON IS CALLED 'FAIRY'?!" He snorted loudly, "Oh, John, I'm liking you more by the minute." He wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.

Oak stifled a smile of his own as he spoke, "I admit to finding it a very...fitting nickname. I quite like it, in all honesty." But then his face quickly turned serious once again.

"You know, John, the idea of a hidden type isn't a remarkably surprising concept to me." He admitted, "I've long thought that it was the height of arrogance for us humans to believe that we knew everything there was about Pokémon. There will always be more to find, more to research, and more to discover."

We all stayed silent and listened with rapt attention as Oak spoke, "While I was in the process of creating the Pokédex, I had spent a lot of time doing research on a large variety of Pokémon to ensure that the information would be as accurate as possible. However, I admit to being unable to verify everything, and with my reputation, many were unfortunately more likely to accept anything I published as the truth."

He sighed, "It was here where my reputation actually backfired on me. After my release of the Pokédex, I noticed that research on already existing Pokémon stalled, with none wanting to challenge my conclusions about Pokémon. No matter how many times I repeated myself that my research was not as detailed as I wanted it to be, it fell on deaf ears as people blindly sang my praises."

"This 'Fairy' type must be something that slipped through the gap due to a lack of comprehensive testing for each and every Pokémon for all the Pokémon between Hoenn and Indigo, which was what was available when I created the Pokédex. Regardless, I'm thankful that someone has managed to catch this slip-up. If we can receive accurate confirmation that such a type exists, then I'll be sure to scrounge through the Pokédex and update each and every Pokémon that this new type actually applies to." He said as if making a vow.

I was thrown for a loop at Oak's explanation. He was seemingly putting the blame on himself for our collective failure to discover the new type. While I could see where he was coming from, I felt that he was being far too harsh on himself. I was about to speak up before Blaine cut me off.

"Bah! To put all this on your shoulders is going a bit too far, don't you think Samuel?" He snorted, "This is something we all missed. And who could blame us? How often do you see people pitting a supposed Normal type against a Dragon anyways?"

"Yep. Even in Hoenn, it was our decision to simply accept the Pokédex information we received from you without accurately checking through it." Shelly added, "Our failure to find out about the Fairy type comes from our COLLECTIVE negligence. Not from any fault of yours, Professor Oak."

"Not only that, but even in Sinnoh, we don't often do tests with Dragon types because of how rare the Garchomp line are, which are practically the only Dragon type that we experiment with." Carolina concurred, "It's no surprise that there may be Fairy types that exist within the Sinnoh Pokédex that we similarly missed."

Oak let out a breath, "Yes, I can see that. Anyways, I think I might have distracted you all enough with my tangent. Let us get back to the subject at hand."

We all nodded and returned to the matter at hand. I coughed and spoke, "Does anyone have a Dark type? I wanted to demonstrate Fairy's type supereffectiveness against one."

Shelly nodded and sent out her Sharpedo, which snarled menacingly as it appeared. It was to everyone's credit as professionals or Elite trainers that none of us flinched.

"Dark Pulse, Sharpedo." Shelly ordered, causing Sharpedo to launch a wave of Dark type energy towards Luna.

"Moonblast, Luna. Make it weak." I returned. Luna nodded and shot a small orb of Fairy energy towards Sharpedo, managing to rip through the incoming Dark Pulse like it was nothing, before blasting the Sharpedo backwards supereffectively. It looked like it was about to faint from the one attack.

Shelly frowned, "Return, Sharpedo. I think that was enough of a demonstration." Then I heard her mumble to herself, "Probably should train up my Pokémon more. That was a pathetic showing."

Oak stepped up once again with a thoughtful expression on his face, "That was a good example...but I can't help but think that I've seen your other Pokémon use similar moves like this before. Even your non-fairy ones." He pointed out observingly.

"Yes, they do." I nodded, not bothering to hide anything, "I suspect the move Play Rough that my other Pokémon use is also Fairy type-"

"Which is how you did so much damage against Drake and Bruno!" Blaine finished for me, looking astounded at the discovery. I nodded again in confirmation.

"Yes...I pieced that together too after your demonstration." Oak commented, his eyes sharp as a Noctowl, "...You've been sitting on this for some time, huh?"

I moved to speak up, but Oak waved me off. "I'm not accusing you of anything if that's what you're worried about. I can appreciate keeping cards close to your chest for an advantage in battle, especially when the information overturned what we previously knew about Pokémon's types."

I could only nod in response. Oak shot me a knowing smile before moving on.

"...Anyways, we've gotten distracted again, and we definitely should be doing more testing. There's only so much we can do with just a single Fairy type Pokémon to test with. John, do you have any ideas on how you want to proceed?" He asked.

I went through my pre-arranged answer in my head before I spoke up, "I do. A part of the reason why I invited all of you here today was so that we could set up a joint-research project on the Fairy type. Collectively, you are all important representatives from the 3 regions. If we were to publish our joint findings together, people would be hard-pressed to outright deny such claims, as surprising as they may be."

They all nodded, so I continued, "To that end, I was hoping that this project could be run by you, Professor Oak, since out of everyone here you are the one with the greatest access to the necessary scientific facilities as well as an ample supply of Pokémon." I also wanted to make sure that his name would be front and centre of this project.

I didn't need to hog the glory; I just wanted to make sure that such a discovery would actually be accepted by the public.

Oak nodded, "I can see where this is going. Yes, I'm happy to take the lead with such a project. You may all consider that my laboratory in Pallet town to be open for you." He declared. "I assume you want us to undergo tests on this Fairy type to accurately determine what resistances, weaknesses, and strengths that it possesses?"

"Yes. That's exactly right." I confirmed, "It's not going to be a cheap project, or one that could be done in the short-term, but I'm willing to contribute whatever resources I can to help out if necessary."

Oak waved me off, "No need. I assure you that funding won't be a problem. I have tons of grants lined up that I could easily accept if I wanted to. Leave that to me."

I let out a sigh of relief, "Well, that's good. One less problem to worry about. Oh! And one more thing." I gestured to Euphie, who throughout our discussion had been running around playfully in the field while being happily chased by Luna, "I've already spoken to my Eevee about this, but I would also be happy to lend you my Eevee for the time being so that we can study more about to see if we could trigger her evolution with the Fairy typing."

"And how far have you come with that?" Blaine asked.

I shook my hand in a 'so-so' manner, "I think I'm halfway there. I've had Eevee train with Clefable to learn to manipulate Fairy energy. I'm not sure if she'll also need a specific stone to trigger the evolution, but for now I'm hopeful that just being proficient enough at using Fairy energy might be enough."

I wasn't entirely lying. Unlike in the games, where the method to trigger an evolution to an Umbreon or Espeon was just with Friendship alone. Here, friendship was insufficient, since you actually needed your Eevee to be proficient at using Dark or Psychic type moves respectively before it could evolve. Hence, this was why I assumed the same for Sylveon, though I couldn't confirm it until the actual evolution triggered.

"Well, I'm more than okay with that, so long as you're happy." Oak replied as he shot Euphie a smile, "It's been a while since I've worked with an Eevee, but I'm sure I'll manage. Don't worry, she'll be in safe hands."

"Let me help out with that as well." Blaine cut in, "I work with Eevee all the time since I'm often the guy people come to for Flareons, so I should be an old hand at this."

I nodded towards the two of them, before Carolina spoke up, "So, what would our roles be?" She gestured towards herself and Shelly.

"I was thinking Pokémon acquisition, unless you have the time to help out with the researching." I suggested, before turning to Oak, "What do you think, Professor Oak?

"Hmm...I'm confident that I can handle most of the research by myself or with my assistants, but yes, having someone on hand who could have easy access to Hoenn or Sinnoh Pokémon would make things much easier. Of course, an extra pair of eyes and hands wouldn't go amiss either."

The two ladies nodded. And then the discussion devolved into talking about the finer details about how we would tackle such a project. In the end, Professor Oak suggested that we should first focus on identifying the type matchups of the Fairy type, which shouldn't take too long. That would involve capturing a few Clefable or Clefairy to test with, but luckily Oak had a few already on hand.

After that, he explained that we could use those results as a guide to identify other Fairy types. Which would also have to be tested to ensure that their type matchups prove the same as Clefairy's. Then it's going to be a long slog of going through the many Pokémon in the Pokédex and checking through each one manually. There were a lot of Pokémon to check through.

We also unanimously agreed to uphold secrecy as far as possible. While a project of this size was impossible to keep a secret, the finer details should be kept under lock-and-key so that no one could steal credit. Oak informed us that rumours were undoubtedly going to spread, and at a certain stage of our research we could afford to confirm some of it, but for the time being he urged everyone to keep quiet about this.

Still, with that plan sorted, and with the sun slowly started to set, we all shared our numbers with each other before we all split up. Interestingly enough, Shelly opted to stay behind for a while.

"Hey John, wanted to speak to you for a bit." She spoke up after the others left.

"Oh? What's up? Something the matter? Unhappy with the project?" I replied curiously.

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"No, no, no, absolutely not." She quickly denied with as she waved her hands, "I don't think you really understand the grand opportunity that you've just given me. Compared to everyone else here today, I'm just some head of a branch office."

"Technically, that's not too different from Professor Carolina's position." I responded, trying to reassure her. "She's only the head of one of Sinnoh's research laboratories, after all."

"That's different. It's...never mind, that's not what I wanted to say to you." She changed the topic, "I just had something to bring up regarding the Porygon project. There's been an incident."

"Oh? Tell me more." I asked, suddenly curious.

"One of the other scientists working for Devon Corp got a bit too overeager and tried to force an evolution on a Porygon2 with an unapproved evolution item." My eyes widened, "It worked, and we're calling this new evolution a Porygon-Z, but we quickly realized that the new Porygon-Z was completely unstable."

She sighed, "It was just like you feared. New evolution or not, it wasn't a Pokémon that we could make use of with its current insanity. Fortunately, it was quickly contained before it could do too much damage, but we're currently going through everything to make sure there won't be a repeat."

"Ah...well I'm glad that this incident didn't escalate any further." I commented, inwardly sighing in relief that my Pixel wasn't subject to such a fate. "Still, good to know that such an evolution exists."

"Yes...that's the silver lining. Now we just have to find a way to trigger such an evolution WITHOUT inducing insanity. It's harder than it seems." She frowned, before she shook it off and reformed her smile. "Oh, and on better news, I think I'm coming close to creating a functional replacement to the Premier Ball. Funding has been coming in easily recently, especially with the success of the Premier Ball."

"Hm? What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, it will be a Premier Ball that actually lets your Pokémon remain in a more luxurious state while they're inside. So, instead of just LOOKING luxurious, it actually WILL be luxurious." She explained.

"So...a 'luxury ball'?" I replied.

"Yes! That's the name I was going to go with too." She bobbed her head excitedly, "Once I do have everything finalized, I'll be happy to show you the prototype."

"Sure, I'm excited for it." I nodded.

"Great! Anyways, I really do have to be off. Thanks once again for inviting me. See you soon!" She waved me goodbye before she released a Kadabra and Teleported out.

I let my hand fall back to my sides. Then, figuring that I still had a few moments before I had to start making dinner, I started ruffling Eevee's fur as I idly went over everything that had happened today.

I was VERY pleased with being able to secure the joint-cooperation of so many esteemed individuals. With such a stacked roster, I was very confident that my goal of revealing the Fairy type would be a success.

The New Normal – 5-18 – Following Up

I dragged myself out of bed early the next morning because I wanted to spend a bit more time with Euphie before I had to drop her off at Professor Oak's. After hastily putting together a quick breakfast, I met with the rest of my team in the training fields.

There was no training session today. It was just an opportunity for all of them to frolic around and enjoy the morning breeze. And of course, to say a temporary goodbye to Euphie, who I estimated would be gone for at least a few weeks.

Obviously, we could visit her any time we wanted. But it was still a separation of sorts. And Klee and Luna looked the most devastated.

"Blissey..." Klee whimpered sadly as she embraced Euphie, almost unwilling to let go.

"Clefable. Clefable." Luna stood to her side, patting Klee comfortingly on her shoulder. The scene WOULD have been very sad, if not for the fact that Euphie didn't appear sad at all, and instead was excited about having the opportunity to meet new friends.

"Eevee! Eevee!" Euphie replied reassuringly, trying her best to comfort the sullen Klee. She brought her tail up and wrapped it around Klee's arms in a tight hug, which seemed to soothe Klee's spirits.

I continued to watch as my Pokémon continued to spend some time together. After being sufficiently pampered by the two females, Euphie broke away and tried to rush up to her sparring partner and friend, Ornstein. The two of them immediately started chasing one another in what looked like a game of tag.

"Snorlax...Snor..." Smough said as he waddled up to me. I nodded at his words; I was happy to see that Euphie's temporary departure wouldn't put a damper on my Pokémon's moods. Though, according to Smough, Ornstein was a little upset at losing his friend and partner, but it was buried deep beneath his usual enthusiasm for a good scrap.

I guess this was the type of thing that you notice when you spend so much time around Ornstein, and Smough was easily the one who accompanied him the most as Ornstein's designated 'rival'.

"Slaking." Tyrant suddenly spoke up, and I must have been too distracted to notice his approach. "King...Sla...King."

I chuckled at his words; Tyrant was grouching like an old man and saying how all this was too much excitement for him, before making his way over to where Luna and Klee were cheering Euphie on. But I knew he was really just watching over everyone, and like Smough, was just making sure that my team wasn't going to be too despondent about the temporary separation.

An excited cry caught my attention, and I turned back to see Klaus running around with Euphie on his back. Euphie cried excitedly as she held on to Klaus, who seemed to be picking up speed as he galloped around the fields. In the air, Zephyr hovered protectively over the two of them, ready to catch Euphie in case she accidentally fell off.

"Ursa..." Vordt grunted, creating small pillars of stone that acted as steppingstones for Klaus to leap off of. Klaus shot Vordt a thankful nod, before he leapt from platform to platform before leaping into the air, Euphie cheering enthusiastically all the while as she clung onto Klaus.

"Eevee! Eevee!" Euphie chanted, begging Klaus to go again. Klaus gave off an amused huff, but then broke out into another gallop as he prepared to leap into the air once again. Then, with a sudden burst of inspiration, I decided to film this cute scene and send it to Karen and Whitney.

Hopefully it would be a nice distraction for Karen from her work at running the Gym. She had been complaining recently about Agatha practically dumping all of the work on her. From what I heard; she was practically running the Gym by herself. But at least she was doing a good job of it, even though she was severely overworked.

I guess those management training that Agatha drilled into her wasn't for nothing.

Thus, the rest of the morning flew by as I gave my Pokémon the opportunity to enjoy themselves before Euphie's temporary departure. In the end, the fun times came to an end, and I picked up a satisfied Euphie and headed over to Professor Oak's laboratory in Pallet Town.

A short flight on Port later, I landed safely on the outskirts of the Town. It really was a quiet place, with just the right number of buildings to give off a cosy, yet not depopulated, atmosphere. Honestly, I could see the appeal. Pallet Town was very idyllic.

I put aside those thoughts as I made my way to the gleaming white building, the odd one out int the entire town. As I went inside Oak's lab, I was immediately greeted by the receptionist and quickly ushered into one of the testing rooms, where Professor Oak was busy on his computer typing something up.

"Oh, hello John, thanks for coming." He greeted, "Blaine was just here a moment ago. I think you just missed him."

"Oh? That's a shame." I said, before settling down into a chair. "How're things going?"

"Since yesterday? It's been good." Oak replied, gesturing to his computer. "I already got started on collecting data on the Clefairy that we already had at the ranch. And I'm trying to secure lots of Pokémon for testing to update the Pokédex. It's why Blaine was here earlier; he was helping me acquire some harder to obtain Pokémon."

"Thanks for being so productive." I said, "I'm just here to drop off Eevee for you and pass you some notes I jotted down yesterday. Maybe this will help." I was careful to make to seem like my notes were done by someone who had no idea of the type's existence beforehand, only revealing moves like Disarming Voice and Play Rough alongside Moonblast.

"Fantastic." He smiled, getting up from his chair. "I need to take a break anyways. Let's head to the ranch where she'll be staying for the next few weeks."

I nodded and followed after him. As we walked through the lab, I felt that many of his co-workers were staring at Oak with curious stares. And I felt a question bubble to the top of my head.

I waited till we were outside before I sprung the question, "Does anyone else in your lab know what we're working on?" I asked, making sure my voice was barely above a whisper.

"Inevitably, yes. But they know better than to blurt this kind of stuff out." He whispered back, "Though I do intend to bring some of my assistants and former students on board once we made some more progress, just for their added expertise. Not to worry – I'll ensure they're all trustworthy."

I nodded, agreeing with his words. And I sincerely doubted anyone working here would go against Oak's orders. I could tell from what I saw that they likely respected him too much to do so.

We continued walking further into the ranch, and I marvelled at the sheer size of it. Everywhere I looked I saw a huge variety of Pokémon from all regions casually hanging about. I thought that it was easily larger than Pallet Town itself. I wondered if anyone else in Indigo had a ranch that was larger or matched the size of Oak's.

"We're here." He said as we entered one of the many fenced off areas of the ranch. Once again, I was stunned by the horde of different Pokémon just casually milling about the area.

"How do you keep control of all these Pokémon?" I asked distractedly as I looked around, "Surely you're going to run into discipline issues eventually when you have so many Pokémon interacting with each other."

Oak just shot me a smile, "A Dragon goes a long way in keeping the unruly pacified. After a while, they all learn to not cause too much trouble. And those who don't cause a fuss are rewarded. It's win-win."

That was an understatement if I ever heard one. I could imagine that Oak's Dragonite was a VERY large stick. If I hadn't seen Lance's Emperor before...I shook myself from my thoughts as I released Euphie into the ranch.

"Eevee...?" Euphie muttered confusedly as she took in her new surroundings. In the distance, a few of the other inhabitants of the ranch stared at Euphie curiously, obviously trying to learn more about this newcomer.

I was about to speak up, but Euphie shot forwards before I could, running excitedly towards the onlooking crowd. They were hesitant at first, but they quickly accepted Euphie into their ranks, and they all began chatting happily.

"Well, she sure is lively, isn't she?" Oak chuckled as the two of us watched Euphie chatting animatedly with the others.

"She is." I replied, "I'm sure she'll get along well with the other inhabitants of the ranch."

"Definitely looks like it." He smiled, "Anyways, I'll give your Eevee a day or so to get comfortable with her new living conditions before I introduce myself to her properly and get started on the testing. She knows what we're doing, right?"

"Yep, already told her. She knows and is comfortable with it." I confirmed. "I hope she enjoys her stay."

"I swear on Arceus that no harm will come to her." Oak says solemnly, "I will inform you as soon as possible when Eevee can be returned to you. You have my word."

I nodded, accepting the oath. The two of us made some small talk regarding the project, but everything important had already been discussed yesterday. So, he just went through once more about the kinds of testing he would do with Euphie, including testing her ability to Fairy energy and practicing using Fairy type attacks. Basically, the same as what I was doing before, just in a more 'professional' environment.

So, after just a bit, I started making my way back to Cerulean City where I had to attend my next appointment for the day.

From what I saw, Euphie was in good hands. I hope she'll be happy making new friends.

===========

?I had totally forgotten about lunch, so after a quick stop at the house to make myself a quick sandwich, I swiftly made my way to Cerulean City, fortunately still with enough time to spare. It wouldn't do to be late.

I landed just outside the city hall, and I quickly made my way inside before I got mobbed by the rapidly gathering horde of spectators and fans that had seen my arrival. Fortunately, none were reckless enough to try to force their way into the city hall just to get my picture.

Then, I entered the meeting room and was greeted by mayor Henry, accompanied by a small number of strangers, and my parents, who were also there.

To clarify, this meeting was a gathering of many important individuals within Cerulean to discuss the latest developments of the city. Hence, those in attendance were either important figures, like myself, the Waterflower sisters, and mayor Henry, or individuals who were of significant prominence within the community. This latter group included many affluent businessmen, which my parents were now a part of.

"Ah, John, thanks for coming." Mayor Henry greeted me with a smile. I responded in kind before shooting my parents a quick nod, to which they returned with a smile of their own.

I was about to initiate some small talk when the door swung open once more, revealing the three final members of this meeting.

"Hope we're not late!" Daisy said for her sisters as they all made their way in.

"Yeah! The Cerulean Gym Leaders are here, reporting for duty!" Lily chimed, before getting swatted by Daisy to keep it down. The newly arrived Gym Leaders exchanged cheerful greetings with everyone for a moment before we all settled down. I noticed that some were giving approving looks towards the Waterflower sisters, which I hoped represented that their new reforms have begun improving their reputation.

"Now that we're all here, I think we can safely begin today's meeting." Mayor Henry began as he swept his gaze across the room. "Firstly, I would like to greet all our newcomers. For those unaware, this gathering is to gather up the opinions of those with significant influence with Cerulean City to discuss matters related to the city."

It was flattery, but I could see many pleased smiles from his words. He continued, "As for today's meeting, our agenda is to discuss how we will move forwards with the nearly completed construction of the first new Contest Hall. Then, we will be moving on to discussing any future actions that you all think the Cerulean council should consider."

"Let's start with the first item." He declared, "With the first new Contest Hall nearly finished, the most important matter is about sending out the invitations." He turned to me, "John, could you send them out on our behalf for those in Hoenn? You're most suitable for it."

I nodded; I was going to do it anyways even if didn't ask. "Sure, that's no problem." I said, "I already planned to send them out to Elite Drake of the Hoenn Elite Four, amongst others."

"...you think Drake is going to come and participate in a Contest?" A businessman asked me, only to cause me to laugh. The absurdity of that image was too much.

"Of course not." I said after I calmed down, "I'm only writing it to him because he's a friend. I fully intend for him to pass it on to whoever in the Elite Four is interested. I'll probably also send one to Gym Leader Norman, even if he can't come."

"...Having someone within the Elite Four attend would definitely boost the prestige quite a bit." Mayor Henry commented, "Please let us know if that's the case. We'll have to prepare for such an arrival."

Then he turned to the Waterflower sisters, "Next, if I could ask the Gym Leaders to send out invitations to known Contest participants in Indigo...I understand that you are familiar with some of them?"

Daisy nodded on behalf of the sisters, "Yes. We're friends with a few of them, and many others can be considered our acquaintances. Leave that to us."

Henry smiled, "Good. Then I'll arrange for the city hall to send out an open invitation for the grand ceremony for residents of Cerulean. We'll make an event out of it. John, if you're able to participate?" He asked me.

I gave him a 'so-so' gesture, "I'll have to see. I would love to, but I have many other commitments that I might have to attend. I'll let you know."

"Of course, no worries. We all understand that you're a busy Elite Four member. Don't worry about this." He reassured.

"Hey, John." Lily spoke up, "If you have the time, would you like to participate in our show? We would really welcome it!"

Daisy looked at her sister in horror, "LILY! You can't just ask that!" She turned to me apologetically, "We're sorry John, you can ignore what my stupid sister just said. We understand that you're busy."

I chuckled, "No, no, it's fine." I waved her off, "I don't particularly mind, but like I said, I might be busy. I'll let you know in the future." I was about to leave it there, but the growing frown on Lily's face made me reconsider, "...And if I can't make it to the first event, I might join in on a future one."

Lily shot me a beaming smile, "REALLY!? That would be so cool! Thanks John, we'd love to have you." Daisy tried to calm down her rowdy sibling but shot me a grateful smile as well.

Admittedly, I didn't think I was a good fit to participate in Contests. However, I felt that doing it as one-time thing could be interesting. And I knew that Klaus, with his tendency to preen and show off, might be interested in this kind of thing. I'll have to ask him later.

A cough drew our attention back to the meeting, "Sorry to switch the topic, but what about our sponsorship and advertisement opportunities?" One businessman asked, and the meeting quickly devolved into a discussion about business opportunities. I mostly tuned them out, but I kept an eye out to make sure that my parents didn't need any assistance. They didn't.

Interestingly, Daisy was also an active participant in the discussion. I guess she was fulfilling her old promise about wanting sponsorships for their own show. I mentally wished her luck.

Several minutes later, and the business talk finally began to wind down.

"Great, I'm glad we got through that." Mayor Henry stated, "For now, let's table any further discussion until later. You can always reach out privately to discuss terms at a later date."

He took a swig of water before continuing, "And now, to the second topic on our agenda, the future of Cerulean."

He gestured to me and the Gym Leaders, "Recently, our status within Indigo has risen significantly as a result of these few individuals. Obviously, John's influence on us need not be stated, but the recent improvement of the Cerulean Gym in the public eye has been a boon for the city. We have benefitted greatly from their actions, so now let us discuss what we should do with our newfound prestige."

A local councilman raised his hand, "We could push for sole authority over Mt. Moon." His suggestion was met with gasps of surprise from nearly everyone, except for me and the Waterflower sisters. We were just confused.

Seeing our confusion, the councilman explained himself, "For years, we've been sharing authority over Mt. Moon with Pewter City. That's because Mt. Moon is unfortunately located right between our two cities, and we could never argue for holding sole authority over it as a result. And it's led to much inefficiency and communication problems."

"But now that Pewter City is having trouble with their Gym, and with our own high prestige, we could push for it. Finally bring it all under our jurisdiction." He finished.

Mayor Henry stroked his chin as he thought about it. "...Hmm. It's ambitious, but I see your point. We've been locked in a stalemate for so long that now is the best chance we have to break free from it. Arceus, even the Indigo League wants this over with."

"Are we able to patrol it and manage everything?" Another councilman asked.

"Easily." Mayor Henry replied, "The Cerulean police have received plenty of new funding recently. They should have no problems managing the entrance to Mt. Moon. The rangers can take care of the rest like they've always done. What does everyone else think?"

Many immediately signalled their agreement with the plan. Apparently, getting jurisdiction over Mt. Moon was a very popular topic amongst the Cerulean council. The purely businesspeople were rather apathetic, but they still saw the benefit of a more prestigious Cerulean City.

In the meanwhile, I took a moment to think about what I wanted to do here. But ultimately, while I didn't want Cerulean to overreach, I decided that this was the probably the next step forwards for ensuring the continued prosperity of the city. There were plenty of valuable resources and Pokémon that would be under our authority.

Eventually, I spoke up, "I agree with this. So long as the Indigo League doesn't disagree, I think pushing for sole authority over Mt. Moon is worth it." Others shared similar sentiments.

Mayor Henry nodded, "Then it's agreed. I'll speak with the Indigo League soon to see if we can successfully push for it. I'm sure that they'll be persuaded..."

He was cut off by the sound of a phone ringing. Embarrassedly, I realized it was mine. With reddening cheeks, I turned to turn it off before I saw who it was. It was Drake.

"Drake, how can I help you?" I said out loud, causing everyone to turn to me as they realized who I was speaking to. They all turned silent as they tried to listen in on our conversation.

"John. It's Team Rocket. They've struck again." He growled out, with unmistakable rage in his voice.

"Where?!" I demanded, my own anger rising at his words. The other members in the room were now looking at me with concern as they as they heard the tone of my voice.

"Devon Corp. No deaths, some serious injuries. They've stolen some stuff and a few files." He told me. "I'm at the crime scene now. The Hoenn Committee is panicking and thinks that this was just an act of corporate espionage, but my gut tells me that it's more than this. Call Lance, I want you over here as the expert. I'll let Wallace know; he won't say no. Get here as soon as possible. I'll meet you at Rustboro."

"Done. Talk to you soon." I quickly hung up. I quickly apologized to everyone before hastily leaving the conference room before I dialled up Lance.

"This is Lance speaking." He picked up.

"Lance, Team Rocket has just resurfaced and struck at Devon Corp. Drake is calling me over there to investigate with him." I told him without preamble. "He's getting permission from Wallace as we speak."

"...Understood. I approve. Head over there as soon as possible and let me know about the situation as soon as possible. You have my full support to crush this scum." He said seriously, a slight hint of his anger showing through.

Thanking him, I hung up the call and proceeded to take to the skies on Port to fly my way over to Hoenn. Normally, I wouldn't do this because flying such long distances places a lot of strain on your Pokémon, but in emergencies like these where time was of the essence then I had no other choice.

On my way there, I texted my parents that I was needed over at Hoenn for an emergency before I called up Giovanni.

"Giovanni, it's John. Team Rocket has just struck at Devon Corp, and I'm on my way there now with permission." I relayed to him.

"What?!" He shouted in surprise, "Right, okay, I see. Good luck out there. I'll try to see if I can find out anything for you, but you might be on your own. Please keep me informed."

"Will do. Talk to you later." I hung up and focused on maintaining Port's flight speed. Fortunately, I was confident that Port was able to sustain this speed for quite a while. He had far more stamina than your average transport Pokémon.

Still, as we flew over, my mind remained riddled with thoughts. Wasn't Team Magma or Aqua supposed to be the main villains of Hoenn. What was Team Rocket doing there instead?

Unless...unless one of those Teams took Team Rocket under their wing and enlisted their services. I could reasonably seeing that happening...but that also meant that the situation was DEFINITELY far more serious than just your average corporate espionage attack. Not that I bought that reasoning for even a second.

I just hoped that I would be there in time to stop their plans, whatever they might be.

The New Normal – 5-18 – Interlude – Drake

Drake had rushed over to Devon Corp as soon as he heard about the attack. Fortunately for Hoenn, Joseph Stone had the decency and integrity to not let such an attack remain secret, even if it might hurt his stock prices. A couple of shareholders may have complained, but Joseph seemed keen to find the truth.

Drake could respect someone who valued the greater good over their personal needs. Drake always believed that it was only in adversity that a person's true character would be revealed. And here, his respect for the long-time businessman only grew. Turns out there WERE businessmen that could be respectable and weren't just in it for the money. Go figure.

Still, that small silver lining was not enough to cover over the attack, which was, politely speaking, a disaster in the making. Sure, Team Rocket had actually minimized their damage, only inflicting several injuries and relatively minor property damage, but the idea that Team Rocket was resurfacing was one that Drake was imminently concerned about.

Unlike the rest of Hoenn, he wasn't surprised at Team Rocket's reappearance. He always knew, from his own gut instincts and from John's warnings, that Team Rocket had yet to go to ground entirely. He KNEW that they were simply biding their time until the right opportunity presented themselves for them to strike once again. Because idiots like these would not simply go away with one ass-kicking. And, just like he predicted, they had shown up once again.

What was concerning to Drake, which the Hoenn League seemed to be blindly ignorant about as usual with their incompetence, was the fact that Team Rocket were acting with far more precision and professionalism than they had previously seen from their time in Indigo, showing off a remarkable sense of discipline that they previously lacked. Moreover, this attack at Devon Corp was more akin to a precision strike than anything else, and the military man in Drake was deeply troubled by such realisations.

They had gotten in somehow, raided the storage facility where Joseph said valuable files were being stored, and then left before the Hoenn Police could catch them. They left no stragglers and very little evidence to go with. It was nothing like how they used to act, which was obviously very haphazard and undisciplined.

In fact, their operation was clean enough that Drake heard that some within the Hoenn League were looking to try to sweep this whole incident under the rug. Once he had heard that, it had taken every little bit of self-control for Drake to not explode into a furious tirade. He would have quit the Elite Four ON THE SPOT if the Hoenn League tried to cover up an attack like this for something as stupid as POLITICS!

Fucking imbeciles and their greed to stay in power. He always said that the Hoenn League would function better if they could get rid of the layabouts in the committee pretending that they were important when all they did was contaminate the air with their existence.

Fortunately, Wallace was quick to jump to his defense. He argued that with people hurt, they had to do right by Joseph Stone and his wounded employees so that the Hoenn League is seen doing something. Privately, Wallace had informed Drake that he was on his side, and that Wallace would use his position as Champion to support Drake in his pursuit of Team Rocket.

Drake was proud of his Champion for his support and fighting back against the committee to do the right thing. Their Champion might be a little too interested in Contests and competitions, but he was undoubtedly a good leader and had Drake's respect. The other Elite Four were similarly supportive, which he was thankful for.

And hence, this was where Drake found himself now. He had the unofficial backing of the Champion, but many in the Hoenn League were against further escalation. They had demanded that Drake and the other Elite Four members to not act out in a way that might cause a public scare, stupidly tying their hands.

But Drake was a military man. He fought in the war as part of the navy. He wasn't about to let some pencil pusher forcefully order him around.

He would protect his beloved region no matter what. He would be the guardian that shielded Hoenn from the rot that was Team Rocket, and he would root out the source of this rot and corruption and purge it from Hoenn entirely. He was not about to let some two-bit thugs spread their poison around Hoenn like they did in Indigo.

The problem now was that he hadn't a clue where to start. Drake knew he was good in a fight, one doesn't get into the Elite Four without being a good fighter, but the problem now was trying to FIND Team Rocket so that they could destroy them. Their cowardice frustrated Drake; he was a man that was used to using mass destruction techniques against his enemies, not precision strikes.

There was a reason he favoured Draco Meteor and Hyper Beam over something more precise, after all.

The other members of the Elite Four might have been more suited to this but getting them actively involved would really be stretching the tolerance of the Hoenn League. It was frustrating, but even the Elite Four couldn't simply disobey the committee so easily. Not without being able to influence public opinion firmly to their side.

But he knew that this was more than some corporate espionage, no matter what the committee tried to stupidly push for. Even Joseph agreed with him when he shared his suspicions. While Devon Corp was a very big company, this kind of direct attack from another company just didn't happen; nor would they hire Team Rocket to do it. Something was definitely fishy, but Drake didn't know what.

That was why he had called in John in hopes that he had more insight, and for the backup. Out of everyone, John was given the firsthand opportunity to learn about Team Rocket's movements from his time in Olivine, and Drake hoped that he would have insights here. Plus, with his reputation for intellectual activities, he hoped that John would do a better job than he could to parse through their plans, whatever they might be.

And once their plans were unravelled, then Drake would be there, ready to crush these defilers back into the dirt where they belonged. His Salamence would not be merciful.

He clutched at one of the sleeves of his old uniform, a reminder of his glory days. Nowadays, he mostly wore it out of tradition, but perhaps it may be time for Drake to remind the world WHY he wore such a uniform, and what it truly represented.

Team Rocket would regret making an enemy out of him. And Dragon fire would be their fates. This he vowed.

The New Normal – 5-19 – INTERLUDE – Pokenet Reactions

[HUGE CHANGES REGARDING THE PEWTER GYM AFTER INSPECTION RESULTS FALL FLAT! AGATHA APPOINTED AS TEMPORARY REGENT TO THE PEWTER GYM!] by The Indigo Post

For those of you who are more aware of the current status of the Indigo Gyms, you may have saw that Lance had recently dispatched the Pokémon Inspection Agency to undergo inspections with all the Indigo Gyms. In most cases, the inspectors found nothing of concern, but this was not the case when it came to the Pewter Gym.

The inspectors ruled that the Pewter Gym was "...wholly inefficient, completely disorganized, and utterly incapable of handling the duties that is required of a Gym Leader." Normally, such a damning report would see flocks of reporters and news agencies being sent to interview Flint for his response, but that would not happen this time.

Because upon hearing the damning results, Flint had already fled the Gym, leaving authority over the Gym to his 13-year-old son, Brock.

According to insider sources within the Indigo League, this sparked an emergency meeting as the Champion, Elite Four, and the committee immediately tried to resolve this scenario as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, we weren't able to discover the specifics of what was argued, but the end result was equally as surprising.

Lance made the announcement the next day, appointing Elite Agatha as the temporary regent to oversee the Pewter Gym and to ensure its' continued running. All the while, the committee would continue to deliberate to decide who they would appoint on a more permanent basis as regent.

But for now, Elite Agatha is running the Gym alongside her apprentice, and newest rising star in Indigo, Karen. We managed to snag a quick interview with the busy apprentice to ask her a few questions about the Gym under their new management, since Agatha has expectedly denied us an interview.

"The League Inspectors ruling definitely understated the problem." Karen said in the interview, "I've been running around ragged for the past few days trying to sort through all of the paperwork and to fill in the blanks when documents were missing. Fortunately, Agatha is here to assist and oversee all matters regarding the Gym and is more than experienced enough to run a Gym. We should see improvements to the Gym very shortly."

We then asked her a few questions about Brock, and about his capabilities to run the Gym in the future if Flint never returns. Karen had this to say, "No 13-year-old should reasonably have been given the responsibilities that he had, but Brock acted decisively and made the praiseworthy, yet very difficult, decision to ask for help. He alerted the League to the Gym's problems before they could grow worse, which was an extremely mature decision that he should be praised for. Ever since then, he's been an attentive helper that is eager to learn more about how to run the Gym. If he keeps this up, I am confident that he would make a great Gym Leader once he reaches his majority."

This writer is keeping a watchful eye on the Pewter Gym to see more about its future developments. Although the future might look bright, it's undeniable that the current state of the Pewter Gym is a disappointment in the eyes of many. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

Comments

FutureAce

I knew it! When I made my run through the Pewter Gym all that time ago, I commented about how rundown it looked. But at the time I tricked myself into thinking that it was part of the rustic appeal. But no, turns out the Gym's deterioration was not intentional. Shame on Flint for failing to keep things running!

The first Gym is important!

FearTheRat

@FutureAce Big agree. The first Gym is often the first impression many trainers get of the circuit and the League. It's supposed to be an amazing moment that fills you with awe. Although I haven't visited the Pewter Gym in a while, for it to receive such a negative denunciation by the inspectors is a terrible sign.

The first Gym is meant to spark your enthusiasm as a trainer. But that isn't possible when it's as rundown and poorly managed as the inspectors say that it is. Shame.

KantoRepresent

Is everyone sure that the League inspectors aren't just overplaying this? I mean, they could just be exaggeration because they want to pin the Pewter Gym as an enemy, you know? Don't trust everything you hear! The Pewter Gym might be totally fine.

FlyingHigh

@KantoRepresent ...yeah no. Not in this case. It's good to be sceptical of what you read in the news but considering that I've walked past the Pewter Gym recently with a friend, I can say for certain that they haven't been exaggerating.

Unlike the Cerulean Gym, which at least has a pristine exterior, even if the Gym Leaders aren't the best at running the Gym, the Pewter Gym doesn't even try. The inside of the Gym, both in its trainers and appearance, is just as bad as the exterior.

The League wasn't lying here.

DarkManager

Karen here. Like I said in the interview, the Gym isn't in a good condition right now, but it WILL be. Agatha and I are hard at work at repairing the Gym after Flint made a mess of it, and Brock is an eager learner that I have no doubts would be a far greater successor than his father.

Please look forward to seeing the Gym improve. And I thank you all you for your patience.

TheRealBoss (Verified POG)

@DarkManager Wishing you all the best here from Viridian. The Pewter Gym is an important staple of Kanto, and I sincerely hope that it can be quickly restored to its former glory. But I'm sure Agatha has a firm hand on the situation.

TangelaThoughts

Woah, surprised to see both of them in the comments. But yes, I agree with the Gym Leader. The Pewter Gym might be in a poor state now, but with Agatha's competent hands at the helm, I expect it to get better soon.

Hope Brock is able to be a better Gym Leader than his father.

ILoveGoldenRod

I mean...if Brock proves to be a bad Gym Leader as well, then surely we can just remove their titles and replace them with someone more competent. Of course, I'm hoping it won't come to that. But just putting it out there...

==========

?[SINNOH BORDERS ABOUT TO OPEN? FOLLOW-UP LEAKS RECEIVED FROM THE SINNOH GOVERNMENT?!] by The Indigo Post

Previously, the Indigo Post reported about how there were unconfirmed and anonymous reports from Sinnoh that their administration was seeking to open their borders. While we did report on it, considering the unverified source of the information, we here at the Indigo League were rightfully sceptical of such reports.

However, it seems like the rumours and reports were more factual than we suspected, as we have now received another round of, again anonymous, reports that the Sinnoh League is under heavy pressure to open up their borders.

According to the report, which we here at the Indigo Post believe that it must have come from someone from within the Sinnoh League, the previous leaks discussing the possible opening of Sinnoh's borders have sparked widespread enthusiasm within the Sinnoh populace. Apparently, the people of Sinnoh are seeking to open their borders as soon as possible and are pushing back against the stubborn insistence of the traditionalists within the Sinnoh committee.

And as the pressure mounts, the report states that protests have broken out as the populace cries out for their demands to be heard. Though this might be an exaggeration of the situation.

Unfortunately, while we are unable to keep a close eye on what is going on over in Sinnoh, we here at the Indigo Post promise to keep you informed about any progress as soon as possible. This writer personally hopes that the border between our two regions will open soon; there are plenty of Pokémon and wonders to explore and see!

Comments

FearTheRat

Woah! What a surprise to see. Would be absolutely thrilled to have Sinnoh opening their borders sooner rather than later. A whole new region, with new Pokémon?! How exciting!

Hope those in the Sinnoh League stop being so stubborn! Give the people what they want!

SlugmaBalls

Yeah, I can remember when Indigo was open to us in Hoenn. I was much younger then, but it was an incredible time filled with excitement. Always an amazing time when new regions get discovered and open up.

Fully agree that the borders should open soon. Hurry up! I can't wait to catch some of those Sinnoh Pokémon!

TangelaThoughts

I'm just curious when the Pokénet will be linked to Sinnoh. I know they still haven't been linked yet, but for me personally I would love the opportunity to be able to speak to those in Sinnoh about their experiences and the differences in their culture.

And of course about their Pokémon as well. Very interested in that.

ResearchMagnet

Agreed. It would be best if the Sinnoh League would stop doing their best to stop the progress of science. We NEED access to their scientific research as soon as possible, and these stubborn fools are actively hindering the progression of humanity by continuing to deny us an opportunity to do research.

AreYouSlowBro

I want a penpal in Sinnoh. I had a penpal in Kanto when it first opened up to us in Hoenn, but I forgot to respond to their letter...and then I forgot about their address...oh well.

DragonPower

Still can't believe that there's only one new Dragon type in Sinnoh...at least it's powerful. Can't wait to see people fielding Garchomp in the battles. I guess being a Ground type is pretty cool too, but the Ground type is more like a poor man's Dragon type.

GroundedForLife

@DragonPower How dare you! I'm excited for Garchomp too, though. Hopefully Gym Leader Giovanni gets his hands on one! Might become his new ace!!

==========

?[STEVEN STONE SPOTTED IN INDIGO!! AIMS TO CLEAR THE INDIGO CIRCUIT!] by BattleCast

Steven Stone, the heir to the illustrious Devon Corp, has recently been spotted in Indigo. Though he initially made no public announcement for the reasons for his arrival, he has been very forthcoming with his reasons to any reporters that approached him.

In the interview, Steven said this. "Many of you know me as the son of one of the wealthiest businessmen in Hoenn. Indeed, that is what I am. I cannot deny the luxuries and opportunities that my wealth has provided me. But what many do not know is that I am also an aspiring trainer looking to make my mark on the world like so many others have."

"As a result of this, I am seeking to prove to the world that I am more than just the son of a businessman. My team and I have been training for years, and now we seek to prove our strength to the public. I am officially announcing my participation in the upcoming Hoenn Conference and am here in Indigo to tour and challenge all of the Gyms at their best to both prove my abilities and to shore up on any weaknesses in preparation for the Conference."

When asked about the order that he would pursue the Gyms in, Steven replied, "I'm not going to be challenging the Gyms in any order. Otherwise, if I were to go with the standard route, I would be challenging either Agatha or her apprentice first. I would prefer to challenge myself on a softer target first before I challenge that hurdle."

After that interview, we here at BattleCast were quick to dig up Steven's old battle records from his time in Hoenn, and we were fascinated by what we discovered. Looking at his previous battles, Steven is evidently a powerful Steel type specialist with his starter Metagross, an infamous powerhouse known for its ability to completely dominate their opponents.

With that in mind, it looks like Steven's boasts were unlikely to just be hot air after all. This writer is extremely excited to see more about Steven's journey and how he will overcome the many battles ahead. Stay tuned for more!

Comments

NotTooMuchWater

No way...You mean to tell me that the boy with born with the biggest silver spoon in his mouth is looking to become a trainer? And that he's ACTUALLY strong?! WTF!

Most rich kids of businessmen are often spoiled brats. Wonder if he'd be any different?

SlugmaBalls

@NotTooMuchWater Yeah I was pretty surprised by this too, but didn't you see Steven's previous battles in Hoenn? His Metagross (Metang at the time) was no joke. Like seriously, he breezed past the Hoenn Gyms like it was nothing.

Frankly, I'm not surprised by his announcement.

NotTooMuchWater

I mean, I knew that he had fought the Hoenn Gyms, but I really thought that it was money carrying him through. Never knew he was actually a good trainer. Huh.

I guess first impressions can be wrong. He still might be a spoiled brat, though.

GeneralistGeneral

Ooooh a Steel Specialist. How exciting! We haven't seen much of those in a while. Though honestly, with all Steven's money, I was hoping he would be a more versatile trainer so that we could finally have a high-ranking generalist trainer like many of us hope for.

I mean, surely he has the money to just buy/acquire whatever Pokémon he'd like right? So I'm a bit disappointed he's choosing to stick to one type.

AlluteNinja

Steven's challenging all of the Gyms in Indigo at the 8 badge level right? Well then, he's definitely going to be in for a challenge for some of them.

As a Steel specialist, he might be naturally immune to Poison type moves, but I have full confidence in Koga's ability to fight around that. If Steven's expecting a clean sweep of the Indigo Gyms, then he's about to be disappointed.

KantoRepresent

YEAH! Time to show off the Kanto Gym supremacy. We have the BEST and TOUGHEST Gyms in Indigo. Don't look to those pansy ass Gyms in Johto. We're the greater challenge.

ILoveGoldenRod

Don't listen to @KantoRepresent usual propaganda. After all, isn't the Pewter Gym currently being held by a regent because of how badly the last one managed it? Don't cash checks you can't pay for.

GroundedForLife

Gym Leader Giovanni for the win!! His Ground types are definitely going to put an end to Steven's winning streak! I promise!

DragonPower

No, Clair is going to do it! Her Dragon types are simply too powerful for those dull Steel types to fight back against. Clair will put Steven in his place!

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?[An insightful analysis into John vs Bruno. How did John win?] By BattleCast

Previously, we here at BattleCast published an article describing, in broad details, the many factors that led to John's victory over Bruno. However, like many have pointed out over the past few days, John's Clefable was able to perform to a level beyond many reasonable expectations, even by the standards of an Elite trainer, which was instrumental to John's final victory.

But if we look carefully into Clefable's performance, we can see that it was able to tank through many Fighting type hits that would usually be supereffective against it. His Clefable was able to shrug off repeated impacts from Bruno's Mach Punch, and even a Close Combat, which were from Pokémon that have proven themselves to be devastatingly powerful fighters. An opinion that is similarly supported by the comments from many Ace trainers that also spectated the battle.

Not only that, but the pink energy, which we assume was Psychic energy, was also somehow able to cut through the Dark type energy from Bruno, which should normally have nullified the Psychic energy entirely. And yet...[Click here to continue reading]

Comments

FutureAce

...Surely this is just the typical conspiracy nonsense being peddled out by the news for views. Pretty sure most of these so called 'anomalies' could be just explained by good training. We've seen Elite John surprise us so many times that we shouldn't be surprised at this point. And Elite Pokémon are KNOWN to be able to take attacks like that repeatedly, its part of why they're so strong.

Don't fall for it guys. It's fake news.

DetectivePikachu

Don't listen to the naysayers in the comments! BattleCast is right! There IS something fishy going on here. AND THE ANSWER IS SIMPLE!

John's Clefable is clearly cheating. He must have had done some preparation beforehand to allow Clefable to resist against attacks like this. Tut tut. Naughty Elite Four member.

FlyingHigh

@DetectivePikachu No...just no. You think a high stakes match like this wouldn't be heavily supervised beforehand? Any attempts to cheat would be caught and called out ages ago. With their strengths and status, the two of them wouldn't risk everything to cheat like this.

Also 'preparation' is also known as 'training'. You should try it sometime.

ANormalFan

Yeah that's right! Don't you dare accuse John of cheating! He's too honourable for that anyways! Don't try to make something up when the answer is clearly just 'good training'. SMH these people sometimes...

EDIT: Also, it's weird not having FightClub screaming his head about Fighting types. I swear this would be one of those moments where he would use this as validation for why his precious Fighting types lost. Glad he's gone!

TangelaThoughts

Hmm...definitely an interesting observation here. I'm no scientist or researcher, so honestly, I haven't a clue what it could be. Perhaps someone with more battling or research experience could come up with something?

ResearchMagnet

Without access to better equipment to properly scan and analyse John's Pokémon, I couldn't say. However, I believe that John should immediately allow a qualified scientist to investigate his Pokémon and find out the reason for such an anomaly.

The world DESERVES to know. Science should never be held back. No secrets should be allowed. They should be ripped out and exposed for all to see.

FlyingHigh

...You're really going to be like that, huh.

=========

?[The beginnings of a new project? Professor Oak sends out acquisition requests for many Pokémon!] by The Eye of Science.

Something of interest that has popped up on our radar recently was unusual activity from our esteemed Professor Oak. According to reliable sources, Professor Oak has begun acquiring a huge variety of Pokémon on a temporary basis so that he may run tests on them.

The last time Professor Oak did something like this, he ended up creating one of the most important inventions of our time, the Pokédex. This writer is extremely excited to see what Professor Oak comes out with this time, and what he's trying to investigate. And I'm sure many within the scientific community have been thinking similarly, with many trying to seek out the reason for Professor Oak's sudden actions.

Has this got anything to do with the PIT technique, which has been making rounds around the scientific community for being THE thing to research at the moment? If so, then it is very likely that Professor Oak will be able to discover a new alternate typing, considering his achievements thus far. We wonder what he will be able to come up with.

This writer is eagerly watching this space to catch any future developments.

Comments

ResearchMagnet

Interesting...Well whatever it is I can safely say the project is in good hands. Leave it to Professor Oak to continue making advancements to improving our understanding of the world and Pokémon.

And if anyone in this project is reading this comment thread, please send me a direct message if you would like my involvement. A critical project needs a critical eye, which I do possess.

Gardevoir34

Hmmm...it might actually be something to do with the Pokédex. I mean, it's been a while since he has updated it. And with Sinnoh coming around the corner, maybe Professor Oak is just getting ready for the incoming influx of Pokémon. I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

Or perhaps he's just discovered a new alternate form via the PIT Technique. That works too.

ResearchMagnet

@Gardevoir34 ...From your previous comments on the Pokénet, I thought you were the type of person that didn't even have enough braincells to rub together. I'm honestly speechless. Since when were you interested in this?

Gardevoir34

Hey! Just because I like to fantasise about inappropriate topics doesn't mean I'm not smart! I just like to keep my personal and private lives separate. I'm a scientist too! Don't judge a book by its cover.

ResearchMagnet

...That's true, but when the cover is about two men in a relationship, it's hard to not think the book is going to be focused on romance...