The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 32: 125-129

The New Normal – 7-2 – Interlude – Steven

Steven let out a huge yawn as he got back to his hotel room, a pleasant sense of exhaustion coursing through him after today's victory against Karen. He knew that they were both holding back, but she was excellent practice for him for his eventual battle against Sidney when he returned to Hoenn.

He wasn't ready just yet, but he hoped that his time in Indigo would refine him into a diamond that truly could match up against the greats. This was something money COULDN'T buy, and for that he was determined to prove that he was more than just a Mr. Moneybags with a silver spoon.

It wasn't like he was going to deny the fact that he was rich. That was indisputable. But he wanted to be known for being more than just the heir to Devon Corp. While he was aided by his substantial wealth, his team had worked and pushed themselves to great lengths to get where they were now. And he had been smart in his training, making full use of the resources available to him to achieve the strength that they had now. Yes, he had an undeniable advantage over others, but his team's strength was still earned through his own hard work and strategy, not something that he was given freely by his birth.

It was why he stood above the other spoilt heirs and their lacklustre Pokémon. They thought money could compensate for a lack of hard work and effort. It couldn't.

Of course, that was when an old man made his presence known as he stepped out from the corner of the room, a metal detector in his hand.

"There are no recording devices in this room, Mr. Stone." The old man said respectfully with a bow of his head, "You are in the clear."

"Thank you, Samwell, but you know that this is unnecessary." He replied to his bodyguard slash butler. Really, he insisted to his father that he didn't need to bring Sam along, but both Sam and his father were insistent.

Well, it was not like he minded that much. Samwell was practically a second father to him.

"It always pays to be cautious." Samwell replied as Steven knew he would.

"And, if I may, how did you find that battle against Karen, sir? You must have known she was holding back." Samwell continued.

"I knew. It wasn't like she was trying to keep that a secret." Steven replied as he rested his head against the back of his chair.

Thinking about it, Steven guessed that Karen had actually fought against him with the weakest of her Pokémon. Inwardly, he let out a wry grin; it seems like they both had the same idea of just using their weakest Pokémon to fight with, aside from his Aggron.

He wondered how a match between him and her would go if they fought at full strength? His Aggron performed well against Karen's Umbreon, but he knew she had far stronger Pokémon than that. Further, he knew she frequently sparred against John and was trained up by Elite Agatha. And he KNEW how strong those two were.

He expected to see more of Karen's exploits on the news in the future. Oh, and that reminded him that he had a match to organize.

"Sam, could you contact the branch head of the local office here in Kanto? I have a charity match to arrange." He asked.

"Certainly, sir. I'll speak to Director Shelly tomorrow morning to make the arrangements for her to speak to you." Samwell responded with a slight bow. "But sir, could I inquire about why you decided to set up a charity match on such short notice?" Sam always liked asking questions about his intentions, but not out of curiosity.

In the world of business, you weren't allowed to be 'caught up in the moment' when making decisions. And this was Sam's way of ensuring that for Steven.

"Like I told them, I just felt that this would have been a great opportunity. I wasn't lying when I said I wanted to establish a charity match. Marketing has informed me that now would be the best time for any kind of PR moves. We already have the public's sympathy, and now would be a good time to make use of it." Steven explained.

Not that he was doing it PURELY for PR reasons. He was genuinely sympathetic towards all those that were affected by Team Rocket's evil actions, and felt bad that the innocent public had been caught up in all this. He had already privately made substantial donations to charities, but a charity match like this would likely prove to be more effective.

"Prudent as always, Mr. Stone. Your father would be proud." His butler complimented loyally while he placed a cup of tea on Steven's desk.

"Thank you." He replied as he took a satisfying sip of the tea. Just how he liked it. Then he moved to switch on his laptop. Opening up his to-do list, he browsed through the many items on that list that he hoped to achieve while in Kanto.

Aside from market research, one of his main goals while he was here to challenge and sweep through the Gym of Indigo to show off his strength. Even if some or all of the Gyms Leaders were holding back they were still useful challenges to test himself against. He wanted to set the stage for his upcoming participation in the Hoenn Conference.

However, now that he was almost at the end of his Gym run, he needed to find other strong trainers to test himself against. And as he went over his research files, he found just the man he was looking for.

"Sam, if you still have some time, could you put me in contact with this guy?" He swivelled his laptop so that the screen was facing his butler.

"Bruno? Ah...you wish to test yourself against him?" Samwell asked knowingly.

"I do." He confirmed.

"...That may prove difficult. Bruno is not one to...stay on the grid, so to speak." Samwell replied hesitatingly.

Oh, right. Steven frowned, having just read that Bruno was someone who frequently absconded into the wilds to train himself and his team. The man was very dedicated to his training, more than anyone else he knew, and that was something Steven could admire.

If only it didn't make him so hard to find.

"Just do your best. I won't be upset if we can't contact him." Steven remarked.

"Understood. Though, if I may, I think he is a great choice for you to test yourself against, Mr. Stone. His physical condition is a testament to his dedication to training. And in all honesty, I am uncertain if I could take him in an actual physical fight." Sam admitted.

Steven shot his bodyguard an incredulous look, "Really? YOU would lose to him?" He knew Bruno was strong, but for his bodyguard to state something like that was extraordinary. He had seen his bodyguard slam someone INTO a wall with just a kick, so that spoke volumes about Bruno's own strength.

Samwell nodded, "Anyone who possesses even a hint of knowledge in martial arts would be able to recognize that Bruno was the real deal. I have yet to seen him fight personally, but I am very confident that Bruno is by far one of the most martially talented and disciplined people that I have ever seen. Even if he transfers a portion of that dedication to training his Pokémon, he will be a very difficult battle for you." Samwell warned.

Steven nodded, "I understand, but that is exactly why I am looking to battle him in the first place. If I am afraid to fight someone like him, then how would I achieve my ambitions back in Hoenn?"

"Too right, Mr. Stone. Your courage is admirable." Samwell responded with a nod. "Then do you think you will win?"

"I haven't the faintest idea." He admitted, "But that's the thrill of it. We both know that my current win streak here in Indigo has been inflated by the fact that I'm at a level slightly above most of the Gym Leaders here, or that they've been holding back for one reason or another. If I do want to make my run for Champion back in Hoenn, I must be able to refine my strength even further. The Elite Four are certainly no pushovers."

And that wasn't even including his old friend, Wallace. Sometimes, Steven felt that his goal of becoming the Champion of Hoenn was doomed to fail when he thought about how he would surpass his long-time friend. But those thoughts were always swept aside.

There were no impossible opponents. Only difficult challenges.

"And you believe Bruno to be the one to help you?" Samwell questioned, though he likely already knew the answer.

"Exactly." Steven confirmed, "Although I do hope to get better acquainted with a man like Bruno. He has great potential that others seem to not have picked up yet. He may be a simple-minded man, but I could see many potential uses of a disciplined and straightforward man like him."

"I see. I do hope that whatever plans you have for him work out." Samwell said with a small encouraging smile.

"Thank you." Steven said as he put down his cup of tea, "Now, I do apologize for cutting this conversation short, but I believe my father has a few reports he wants me to read through."

"Of course, Mr. Stone." Samwell bowed and erased his presence from the room, leaving Steven to focus on his own work. Even though it was already pretty late at night, he knew that he would likely be burning the midnight fuel today once again as he started reading through the reports.

Sometimes, being the heir to one of the largest businesses in the world wasn't easy. But he wouldn't trade it for the world.

The New Normal – 7-3 – Psychic Revelations

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for much longer after Karen and Steven had finished up with their match, as enough time had passed that I had to head to my next appointment with mayor Henry.

That meeting went far smoother than I had hoped. When I asked about how we managed to get Mt. Moon under the authority of Cerulean, he told me that it had been quite simple and that no major issues really cropped up. Apparently, the leadership of Pewter City knew a losing fight when they saw one, and folded quite quickly.

As such, they didn't put up much of a fight trying to hold on to their authority over Mt. Moon. In exchange, we promised some concessions in terms of discounts and priority purchasing rights for the resources found in Mt. Moon, which seemed to placate them.

I asked for more information regarding the security arrangements of Mt. Moon, and whether there was any strain on Cerulean for handling it. Henry assured me that there was a sizeable contingent of Jenny's and rangers patrolling the entire region of Mt. Moon, always on the lookout for any poachers or trespassers.

But I wasn't comforted by that just yet. I KNEW just how much of a big deal the Fairy reveal would have regarding Mt. Moon, and how it was bound to be swarmed by eager trainers hoping to get their hands on the 'new' Clefairy. The current security arrangements just wouldn't be enough.

And I repeated that thought to him. Without getting into any details, I told him that the security of Mt. Moon WILL be tested to its utmost limits very soon, and we had to be ready to ensure that we wouldn't lose control of Mt. Moon to a horde of rabid trainers.

He gave me a very curious look, and it looked like he was holding back the desire to ask me why I thought so. However, he was shrewd enough to heed my warnings without asking any more questions. He said that he trusted me to not feed him bad information; that if I had decided to warn him, then the situation was serious enough to warrant such a response.

Unfortunately, simply knowing about the upcoming situation was a very different matter to actually being able to prevent it. Despite his earlier words, Cerulean just couldn't manifest more Jennys and rangers out of thin air. They would have to be obtained from other places.

Luckily, as a member of the Elite Four, I had more than sufficient authority to relocate the Indigo Police, so long as those arrangements were reasonable, and if I explained my reasonings to Lance. That I had to slightly delay – I wanted to ensure that Oak and the others were okay with it before informing the Champion. I didn't want to step on any toes, after all.

And with that, another day of meetings came to an end. I spent whatever remaining time I had catching up with my family and getting some training in, just so my Pokémon had something to do. I particularly wanted to test out Euphie's new strength as a Sylveon, and she seemed eager to continue her sparring matches against Pixel, especially now that it seemed like she was its equal in strength.

It became clear that, with her evolution, Euphie was far more powerful than she was previously. Not only did she gain a plethora of fairly hard-hitting Fairy moves, which gave her a ranged option that she previously didn't have, but her physical attacks had an added 'oomph' that really allowed her to hold her own against Pixel.

Of course, she was not anywhere close to being an Elite Pokémon yet, but this was still a significant step forward. Now with her evolution and her ability to use Fairy type moves, we could really begin to knuckle down with more specialized training in order to gradually get her up to a level where I could reasonably use her in my proper fights.

Sadly, Euphie's evolution into a Sylveon meant that poor Ornstein was the only one left that hadn't evolved. Not for a lack of trying, but it just seemed like he couldn't get past whatever barrier it was holding him back from evolving. That's why, outside of training with Euphie and Pixel, I made sure to dedicate time towards Ornstein to make sure that he didn't feel neglected or left out.

I reassured him that his evolution was soon, he just had to not give in to despair and continue training hard. Which shouldn't be a hard ask considering he had enthusiasm in spades.

With training done, I finally retired for the day, deciding to rest early. For some reason, I felt that tomorrow would be one of the busier ones.

==========

?My gut instinct was quickly proven correct. As soon as I woke up, I received a call from Lance telling me to head to Cinnabar Island. It was where the prisoners that I had delivered from Hoenn were being kept, and today was the day that they would be going through the Psychic interrogations.

Lance wanted the entire of the Elite Four there to oversee it and to give our opinions. Lorelei would also join us over from Hoenn through video.

Thus, steeling my heart with a grim expression on my face, I made my way to Cinnabar Island as I prepared myself this necessary evil. I had never seen a psychic interrogation before, but I knew that it could not be pleasant.

In the back of my mind, I thought that the only reason that Lance was able to get away with ordering this was because of how fresh the memory of Team Rocket's acts of destructions was in the minds of the public and the committee. It was no wonder that the Hoenn League refused to employ such methods.

I didn't let my mind wander too much as I landed on the outskirts of Cinnabar Island, where Lance had told me to be. It seemed like I was the first to arrive, so I spent a quiet moment just looking around at my surroundings, where there were still buildings aplenty. In the distance, I could see an unassuming building that, upon closer inspection, was actually heavily reinforced, with a small army of Jennys and their Pokémon patrolling the perimeter. That must be the prison.

However, the volcano was what really drew my attention. I knew that it was bound to erupt sooner or later, forcing a complete evacuation of the island, but that was not something I could prevent. I considered warning them of the impending eruption, but not only did I not know WHEN the eruption was going to take place, I didn't have a single bit of evidence to back it up. And evacuations weren't just things you could order without evidence.

Still, I resolved to bring up the possibility of an eruption to someone in the future. I didn't know if any lives were lost from the eruption when it happened, but I hoped to at least give the public somewhat of a head start this time.

The distinct flash of light of a Teleport suddenly appeared next to me, and I turned to see who had arrived. It was Will.

"Greetings, John! Welcome back to Indigo!" He said with a smile, "Let's hope today will reveal some important information! We've been led on by these crooks for far too long."

He seemed a little too excited for this, but I returned his smile anyways, "Let's hope so too. Letting them get away leaves a sour taste in my mouth." I admitted.

He nodded, "I understand. Many of my business friends wish for the same. It's bad for business. It's fortunate that you managed to root them out both here in Indigo and in Hoenn, though a part of me wished to join you in your efforts. It must have been a glorious thing."

My eyes twitched slightly at his words. I wasn't offended, far from it, but I felt like he had some overly romantic ideas of what dealing with criminals was like. Sure, the fame and admiration you got for doing it was real enough, but it was often not a pleasant thing to have to do.

Before I could say anything else, a long shadow extended from one of the nearby rocks and Agatha spawned out of it. She looked around for a brief moment before clicking her tongue.

"Che, Lance still isn't here yet." She grumbled, before turning to me, "John, hope you've steeled yourself. This isn't the most pleasant of activities."

"You've been through this before?" Will interrupted, looking curious, before he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, of course you have. You've been in the Elite Four for some time, after all. It's no doubt you have plenty of experience to share around!"

Agatha ignored his flattery, but still gave him a short nod, "I have. And it would be wise for you to heed my words. Psychic interrogations are a...necessary evil, but they are certainly not for the faint of heart. Hopefully, nothing goes wrong today, if only to spare you younglings of the more horrific possibilities."

Will seemed taken aback for a moment, but he quickly nodded in understanding, his previous carefree smile dropping into a serious frown. Good, it was better for him to go into this with realistic expectations.

The conversation fell into an awkward silence after that. Luckily, it only took a few moments later that a large shadow emerged from above and Lance landed on the back of one of his Dragonite.

He looked at us with a scrutinizing expression before speaking, "Thank you all for coming here today; distasteful as this task might be. I have Lorelei ready to join us through video, and the facility has already informed me that psychic interrogations are ready to begin. So let's get this over with. Daylight's burning."

No one said anything else as we silently followed after Lance into the facility. The one thing that immediately stood out to me was the level of security that surrounded the facility; even WE had to submit to security checks despite our status as Elite Four. Only Lance got a free pass. The rest of us had to submit all but one of our Pokémon. Obviously, I kept Tyrant on hand.

Still, it was almost amusing to see Agatha scowling heavily at being told to surrender her Pokémon, only for the Jennys to completely ignore her glares. They weren't intimidated.

With the security checks done, we were escorted to a viewing area that had multiple Alakazam and Gardevoir standing about. Just below us was a single, small room that only had a steel chair as its sole furniture, where plenty of restraints and shackles were attached to it.

The entire room gave off an unpleasant sensation of inhumanity. And, looking around at my colleagues, they all sported grim expressions as well. Lance was in the corner of the room, speaking with the Jennys and fiddling with something on a secure computer before the image of Lorelei suddenly appeared on the computer screen.

"Hello all." She greeted from what appeared to be the office of a Jenny, except the room was heavily soundproofed and had what appeared to be tinted windows. It must have been a room specifically created for secure calls like this. We exchanged short greetings before we fell back into silence once more; none of us feeling like making casual conversation in such an environment.

And before long, the first prisoner was levitated into the room by another Alakazam. He looked scruffy, but there was no obvious sign of mistreatment. I was just glad that we didn't go that far, and hoped we stayed that way.

As soon as the prisoner was forced into the chair, the many restraints and shackled clamped down on him, locking him in place. He struggled, but there was no chance of him breaking free from this.

Then the questions began, blaring through the speakers attached to the corner of the room. All the while, a small group of Psychic Pokémon were staring intently at the lone prisoner, their eyes glowing a bright blue. In another room next to us, a small group of Jennys accompanied by Alakazam were all scribbling down notes that their Alakazam was retrieving and interpretating.

The list of questions began fairly standardly. They asked general questions like who their leader was, what they hoped to achieve in Hoenn, and what their future plans were. Unfortunately, this particular prisoner was likely one of the lower ranking grunts, because he didn't know a thing.

Then came the more non-standard questions, such as what type of Pokémon he used, and questions about their training schedule and what it was like. After that, the Jennys asked us if we had any other questions before moving on to the next prisoner.

That kept going for a while. Fortunately, there were no 'incidents', and the prisoners managed to leave the room with their mind intact. And while the first few prisoners didn't know much, we still managed to learn a few things.

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For one, the existence of the three evil teams working together were confirmed, as the prisoners revealed that they were working in unison under a united banner. Thus, this proved my earlier suspicions to be true; Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Rocket were working together.

We also got insight into their training program, which was a lot more disciplined than we had been expecting. Their procedures made it seem more like a military program rather than anything typically expected of thugs and criminals. Even the way they used Pokémon were specialized to some extent for hit and run attacks and precision strikes.

This revealed two concerning things. First, the leaders of these teams were far more than just your usual street criminal, though by now it should've been fairly obvious already considering their scope of activities. Two, the amount of financial backing they must have to be able to fund all this was far greater than we had anticipated. Sure, we knew they were well-funded, but now we actually had a good idea of the scale of their operations.

Will was most taken aback by that. He remarked that the amount of funding that it would all take would be more than most businesses were able to afford. On the other hand, Lorelei remarked how lucky it was that they had to abandon most of it, which I agreed with. But I knew that until we really hit Team Galactic, they'd have it all back in time.

And thus, the process kept going, with more prisoners being brought in and psychically questioned. There were a few incidents where some of the more fanatical grunts, often from either Team Magma or Aqua, tried to resist the mental probe, leading to painful side-effects.

One prisoner thrashed painfully against his restraints as he tried to fight off the psychic incursion, but another Alakazam stepped in to forcefully hold him down so that he could no longer resist. I saw his eyes turn from defiant to glassy after a moment, and I was concerned that we had pushed a little too hard.

Fortunately, we didn't, he just mentally shut down for a moment. He was probably in for a major headache, but the doctors we had on hand said he'd be fine.

Next to me, Will and Lorelei were both sporting uncomfortable looks on their face. Lance and Agatha were more stoic, though I could tell that they weren't completely unbothered by what was happening in front of them either. I was probably in the same boat.

Still, that particular prisoner netted us plenty of good information. He had apparently been one of the higher up grunts on the ladder, which meant he had actually spoken to and knew about the upper leadership. He didn't know who a few of the admins were, either because he never met them or because they were wearing masks, but he managed to name Maxie and Archie as the boss of Team Magma and Aqua respectively. His mind was also able to form a basic description of their appearances.

"That's good news, right?" Will commented, "Now that we know who they are, we can track them down and nab them before they do anything else!"

"No, not exactly." Lorelei denied, "If there's one thing I've learnt since coming over to Hoenn, is that these criminals are remarkably good at not leaving a digital trail to follow. Their source of funds is always heavily disguised, and I doubt that chasing after their identities will lead anywhere. I've learnt that, to these criminals, knowing their identity doesn't help that much. They're not the type to hide in plain sight, and they've long since abandoned their legal identities."

However, it was the next reveal that was more alarming. We had routinely asked every prisoner about the Pokémon that they used, and they mostly answered with Pokémon commonly found in Hoenn or Indigo. Yet, this particular prisoner revealed that they also had access to a whole variety of Pokémon from Sinnoh as well, such as Purugly and Skuntank. They just were not deployed in Hoenn.

And for good reason, because that was a very important clue that we had towards figuring out the identity of the backer.

"That just reinforces our theory that they're from Sinnoh." Lance concluded, in line with my own thoughts, "There's no way that they would have access to Sinnoh Pokémon unless they were."

"They could be getting them from the black market." Agatha challenged, but Will shook his head.

"Not with these kinds of numbers." He stated, tapping his finger against his elbow, "The logistics would be impossible, not to mention the cost and the unreliability of relying on black market vendors. It just wouldn't work."

"And we've already done a thorough search of potential black-market sellers here in Hoenn." Lorelei added, checking through a few of her notes, "The few we've located had never come into contact with anything from Sinnoh. With their borders not open, getting THIS amount of goods to and from there is impossible at the moment."

"Damn it all." Lance grumbled, rubbing at his face tiredly. "I guess I have to inform Bertha as soon as possible then. And probably Sidney as well. They need to be told so that they can be prepared."

Then, an idea popped into my mind, and I reached out to a nearby Jenny. "Hey, can you ask the prisoner if they have ever spotted any identifying logos from their backer?" I hoped that they would have used the signature 'G' that was the logo of Team Galactic.

She relayed the question, but unfortunately there was nothing. I guess I should have known better than to expect the criminals to just leave out things like that.

Then the prisoner was escorted away, and more took his place. That carried on for a while longer, and we mostly received repeats of what we already knew. Fortunately, there was another prisoner that seemed higher up in the ladder too, as he knew that they were planning to move to Sinnoh as soon as the operation was over, confirming our earlier thoughts.

He proved to be another font of information, but it was information that all of us wished we didn't hear. He was someone who was partially aware of the true purpose behind why they targeted the Orbs, and they revealed that whatever the plans they had with the orbs involved making use of the Legendaries to remake the world.

"...What the fuck." Agatha blurted out, uncharacteristically shocked. There was no sign of her usual crassness. Her shock quickly turned to anger, "Are these madmen INSANE?! That'd doom the world!"

The rest of us were doing no better. Even I, with my meta-knowledge, had a bitter taste in my mouth with my suspicions confirmed.

"Maybe things won't be as easy as they make it sound?" Will suggested, trying to stay optimistic, "After all, it should not be that easy to gain control over a Legendary."

"Even the idea of awakening a Legendary itself is a terrifying prospect." Lance disagreed, unknowingly channelling my own words to Drake from back in Hoenn, "The Blackthorns have always described Legendaries as forces of nature, mostly uncaring to human nature and laws. Who knows the destruction that they could unleash? Especially if angered."

"How do we beat a Legendary?" I dared to ask. Obviously, the methods of just beating them up with our own Pokémon weren't going to work. Legendaries were on a vastly different level than regular Pokémon. Even Tyrant and Emperor, Pokémon that I consider to be at the very top of a Pokémon's achievable strength, would be like ants to them. Especially for the creation trio, which I suspected they intended to make use of.

"With another Legendary." Lance replied seriously, getting nods from the others, "And you don't 'beat' them. You just placate them. There is no 'winning'."

"...Then I guess we better stop them before we get to that point." I stated. "We really should make this our top priority."

"Naturally. This supersedes everything else." Lance agreed, nodding. "I think I better inform my counterparts as soon as possible in both Hoenn and Sinnoh. This isn't something we can cover up."

"The public needn't know, though." Agatha commented with a frown, "No need to scare them and cause panic."

"Is there anything I should focus on in Hoenn? While I'm here?" Lorelei asked seriously, looking around at all of us.

Lance thought it through for a moment, but eventually let out a sigh. "Even though we know the threat these teams represent, we can't do much about them unless we can locate them. Just keep doing what you're doing in Hoenn with the International Police; now more than ever we need to make sure that we're all on the same side."

Lorelei nodded firmly, and Lance turned back to us. "Right, this has been an enlightening session. I'm going to have to do some damage control as soon as possible, so I'll be contacting you all shortly. I'll have the Jennys fill me in on anything important, which I will pass on to you all when necessary."

His eyes narrowed into slits, "And, I do not think I have to remind you of this, but you are NOT to tell ANYONE of what you informed here. Not your friends, not your family, not the Gym Leaders, and not your counterparts in other regions. This is to be kept TOP SECRET! AM I UNDERSTOOD?!"

His voice flared at the end, and we all nodded solemnly, all of us recognizing the importance of this matter. Satisfied with our response, Lance thanked us again before making his way out.

We followed suit, though we had to take a detour to pick up our Pokémon from when we had surrendered them earlier. All the while, my mind was a mix of opposing emotions.

On the one hand, I was pleased that the psychic interrogation revealed to my colleagues the true threat that these evil teams represented, and that they would be acting seriously to stop them. On the other hand, I hated the fact that we had to deal with a threat such as them in the first place. The prospect of facing a Legendary was a nerve-wracking one.

I just hoped that we could stop them before it ever got to that point.

The New Normal – 7-4 – Putting on a show!

To the public, and to even most high-ranking individual within the League, the next few days were one that were filled with the usual normality of life. To them, everything was the same. There were no threats to Indigo, and there certainly was not the possibility of a world-ending threat around the corner.

Naturally, as a member of the Elite Four, I knew things were very different. Lance had kept us informed about how he spent the last few days running around speaking to his counterparts in Hoenn and Sinnoh about the dangers that these criminals truly posed to the world. He told us that he had spoken to Wallace, Sidney, and Bertha respectively about everything they had learnt and the true goal of the what these criminals were planning.

I was not there when the discussions were held, but Lance said that both Wallace and Sidney took the news with grave and serious expressions. But the results were evident. Immediately after being read in on the situation, Wallace swiftly pushed to establish their own branch of the International Police, where the groundworks would be established by Sidney.

They both, thankfully, stressed the need for international cooperation to combat such a threat. Regional interests mattered less at the moment, and dealing with the criminals was going to be considered the highest priority. However, due to the fact that the public COULD NOT be informed about such a situation, for fear of mass panic, they had to work behind the scenes and be as prepared as possible for stopping whatever future insane plans they had.

On the other hand, Bertha, while sympathetic to our cause, could not offer a blanket search throughout Sinnoh to hunt down the remnants. Not that she didn't want to, of course, but doing such a thing with foreign police members would be an act that trampled all over the regional sovereignty of Sinnoh. Thus, just employing the International Police there would not be a viable option, and any operations there would have to rely solely on the Sinnoh Police.

It was painful, but Bertha simply could not justify that to their committee. Furthermore, with how well-funded as these criminals were, there was no telling the true extent of the backer's infiltration of the Sinnoh League. Any kind of information could be easily leaked to them. She promised to at least speak with the other members of the Elite Four and their Champion, but she couldn't promise anything else.

To make matters worse, Bertha regretfully added that the Committee were still digging their heels and delaying the opening of their border for whatever reason. The public were in outrage about it, but the Committee remained stubborn for whatever reason. Bertha suspected either idiocy, or some foul play was involved, but either way had no evidence. Thus, with the other regions not allowed to enter Sinnoh yet, that just frustratingly gave the criminals more time to continue building up their resources.

It was a bitter fact of life, but we were all forced to accept the situation. Lance mentioned how there was a lot of grumbling from everyone involved due to the need for secrecy and the fact that they could not really be proactive. Still, at least the parties all agreed to cooperate and that they were on the same page. Overall, it could have been much worse.

In the meanwhile, I spent my time over the last few days on something that I had nearly forgotten about if not for a timely reminder. Since I had been so busy over the past week or so dealing with the evil teams, I had neglected my promise to participate in the opening act for the grand opening of the Cerulean Contest Hall with the Waterflower sisters.

And so, with the Contest Hall opening very soon, I had rushed over to the Waterflower sisters, apologized profusely for forgetting, and spent the last few days hard at work with practicing. Karen had teased me incessantly about my participation, constantly asking if I would be part of the performance myself. Fortunately, I wouldn't be, if only because I thought I had no intention of being on stage like that.

Only Klaus would be participating, as he was the most interested out of my Pokémon in doing something like this. He was always one for the spotlight, even if he tried to hide it.

Hence, I practically spent most of the afternoon's training with the sisters whenever they were free. It was a very enlightening experience; the type of moves they practiced with were very different from regular training for battles. There was a much greater emphasis on timing, coordination, and teamwork.

In a normal training scenario, you often didn't care about timing beyond how fast an attack could be delivered. But here, attacking too quickly can put you out of sync with your teammates. Then there was a matter of creativity, which had some overlap with regular training, but it was unusual to think of ways to make your moves less efficient just to show off a particular effect.

I actually struggled quite a bit with this, but luckily the Waterflower sisters were very patient with both me and Klaus. It helps that Klaus was already very well-trained, so it didn't take him too long to pick up the new moves.

Eventually, after many hard days of training, we had come up with a basic routine. It was short, and honestly rather run of the mill, but that was because I was only going to be a small part of the overall routine. The entire performance would not only be done with the Waterflower sisters, but also a few famed contest performances that would join in as well.

My participation was really only for the name recognition and the uniqueness, as it was explained to me by Daisy.

"Everyone knows you're an amateur, so they'll have lower expectations." She lectured, "That's why your part is so short. You'll do a few moves, dazzle them with the fact that you're new and unique, and then back out before they realize you aren't up to their usual standards. Trust me, you'll be fine."

It was a little disheartening, but I accepted that I couldn't be the best at everything. I had always known that contest performers made use of an entirely different skillset to common trainers, but now I really appreciated the level of work and dedication that they had to put into this rather niche activity.

For their sakes, I really hoped that Contest Halls and performances could really take off here in Indigo. They deserved the recognition.

Besides all of the training for the performance though, the Waterflower sisters did ask if I could throw in a few tips on how to get better at battling. THAT was something I was eager to help out with.

More specifically, they needed help training up a Gyarados. It was far and wide their most powerful Pokémon; it just didn't obey them. After listening to their explanation, I felt that their issue mostly stemmed from the fact that none of the sisters had very firm or authoritative personalities; instead, they were friendly, kind, and personable.

Unfortunately, that meant that it was difficult to reign in their Gyarados. My suggestion to them was to challenge their Gyarados to a battle with their other Pokémon and beat it until Gyarados learns to at least respect your strength as trainers. Getting rid of any lingering arrogance was an important step to getting it to obey you. They had listened, but progress was naturally slow-going. Though I wished them all the best; a Gyarados was an unbelievably formidable opponent when it was well-trained.

Just look at Drake and Lance. There was a reason they both fielded one.

And now, it was finally the day of the performance. A huge crowd was beginning to gather outside the Cerulean Contest Hall, now named the 'Grand Fountain Theatre'. As part of the performance, I was there early just to make sure there were no problems and to welcome the more prominent figures that would arrive.

Karen was there, of course, since she said she'd never miss out on something like this. Naturally, I had spoken to her privately about my experiences training up for this performance, and now she was excited to see what had come up with.

"It's a shame that you're not in it yourself." She said to me, egging me on once again, "If the Waterflower sisters are participating personally, why can't you?"

I sighed, "I'll leave the performance to the ones actually good at this. No one wants me ruining their entire performance because I flubbed on stage."

She looked at me with an incredulous expression, "You're kidding, right? If you mess up, people will DEFINITELY be talking about it. Of course, you'll be the laughingstock of Indigo, but think of the attention you'll get!" She laughed.

I ignored her. Fortunately, before she could continue her ribbing, two very opposite-looking individuals arrived side-by-side, deep in conversation. That conversation ended as soon as they spotted me.

"John, pleasure to see you again." Sidney waved, "Still can't you're going to be participating in this. I'm excited to see what you can bring to the table."

"Indeed! This is a most wondrous opportunity." Will agreed, "I admit to being slightly envious; I wish I had my own opportunity to show off my Pokémon on such a large stage as well!"

I gave Will a wry smile, "Seems like you'd be a great fit as a Contest performer." I remarked a little sarcastically.

Surprisingly, he nodded. "Yes, I did consider it. But unfortunately, Contest performers were not as prestigious or popular as they are now. That was why I am excited to see this activity grow and spread throughout Indigo. Who knows? I might take it up as a hobby in my free time. Reignite some of my old passions." He said enthusiastically, with a look in his eye that suggested that he was legitimately considering this.

I could really see it. Will was a showboat, but it was like he was trying to put on a performance. I felt that he would be an excellent fit as a Contest performer if he really put his mind to it.

I put that thought aside for now, turning to Sidney, "What were you two talking about? If I could ask? It's not always that you see two Elite Four members from different regions talking together like this."

Sidney smiled, "Just some discussion over extra cooperation with businesses between our two regions. Will here was very knowledgeable, and we felt that something could be done together." He explained.

Then he turned to address Karen, who had been standing next to me, "And it's great to see you again Karen, I do look forward to our match."

"Likewise. I have been training hard for it." Karen bantered back. "Has Steven gotten back to you yet?"

"Not yet." He shook his head, "But he promises the arrangements will be done soon enough. Turns out there's some red tape to cut through, even with his position."

The three of us nodded simultaneously. Red tape was the bane of urgency. In the meanwhile, Will was looking at the both of them with a surprised look. He was about to speak up before someone else cut in.

"Oh? This is quite the unusual group. Any luck I can join in on this?" A smooth voice interrupted our conversation, and we all turned to see Giovanni walking up to us. But what was more surprising was that Giovanni was accompanied by a familiar red head that I knew was Ariana, as well as a small kid that I was EXTREMELY astonished to see.

Silver was here. And he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but here. In truth, he looked like a brat. At least he didn't have the signature arrogant sneer on his face that he had in the games.

I managed to hold in my surprise from showing on my face as I faced Giovanni and co., "Giovanni, it's nice to see you. And you must be Ariana?"

"I am. And it's a pleasure to meet you too, John. Gio has said wonderful things about you, so forgive me for taking an interest." She smiled while I was caught off-guard by the pet name that she used for Giovanni. Since when was this a thing?

She ignored my surprise before rubbing her son on the head, "And this here is Silver, our son. Come on, say hello."

Silver grumbled a bit and tried to shake off her hand, but a stern glare from her forced him to submit. "...Hello." He said shyly, like the young kid that he was.

"Hello Silver." I said kindly, which was echoed by the others, "How are you finding Cerulean?"

"...It's nice." He said softly after a small pause, "But Viridian is better."

I chuckled, "Maybe so, but I hope that Cerulean will eventually be Viridian's equal."

"And you're making good progress thus far." Sidney added, "The city feels very much for the arts, which I'm sure it's something you tried to cultivate. And with this new Contest Hall, that feeling is amplified even more so."

"Which is why we're here today." Giovanni stated, putting a hand on Silver's shoulder, "We thought that it might time for a family outing for once. And what better than to witness Kanto's finest perform on their latest stage?"

"Too true! Contests are all about exploring the beauty of Pokémon." Will agreed, "I myself am very looking forward to witnessing today's performances. I am confident that they will be most inspired."

"...I prefer battles." Silver spoke up suddenly. Giovanni immediately turned to berate Silver for his rudeness, but I waved him off.

"So do I. And I'm sure most people do as well. But Contests have an appeal of their own. Who knows, you might like it." I remarked.

"You could always learn something from today." Karen smiled at Silver, "There are going to be some cool Pokémon on display today. Are you interested in cool Pokémon?" That got Silver's head bobbing up and down, and Karen easily dragged Silver into a conversation about his favourite Pokémon, setting him at ease.

The rest of us smiled at that interaction, before breaking out into our own conversations where everyone got to know each other and made small talk. In particular, Will was especially excited to meet 'such an esteemed businessman as Giovanni' and was almost bending over backwards to learn his ways.

Giovanni seemed amused by the situation; Will technically outranked him as a member of the Elite Four, and yet he was treating Giovanni as if he was his superior. Considering the pleased smile on his face, that must have been good for his ego.

In the meanwhile, having finished up her conversation with Silver, Karen joined in with Sidney and Ariana and the trio fell into a discussion about Dark types. Ariana, as an experienced scientist, seemed to be able to follow the conversation and pitch in on a few topics as well.

Which was just left me and Silver, who was staring at me with a curious expression on his face. He seemed to want to say something, so I made sure to stay silent while giving him an encouraging smile.

After a moment, he finally spoke up. "Father says you're strong."

I nodded, "I am."

"Then will you fight me?" He asked with all the seriousness of a young child. That seemed to catch the attention of Giovanni, who now had turned to listen in on the conversation.

I really had to fight the urge to grin at Silver's words. Somehow, I managed to not laugh as I nodded back seriously, "I will, if your father approves."

Silver broke out into a wide smile as he failed to contain his excitement, "Then let's fight now!" He almost reached for his Pokéball before a sharp cough from Giovanni stopped him.

"Silver." His voice echoed, "There is a time and place for everything, but not now." He said sagely.

But Silver was clearly in no mood to heed his words of wisdom, "WHAT?! BUT I WANT TO FIGHT NOW!"

"Silver..." Ariana warned with a glare, "Apologize right now! You're making a scene!"

"NO!" Silver refused, "He said yes! I want to fight!"

I realized that was entirely the wrong thing to say, and Giovanni looked like he was about to blow up on his son. I quickly moved to try to defuse the situation.

"Silver, your father is right, I'm not able to fight with you now." Silver shot me an angry look, but I continued forwards before he could say anything, "But I promise you I will give you the fight you want later. But can you promise me that you'll be a good boy till then?" I kneeled down as I said this so that I reached his eye-level, doing my best to make myself as non-threatening as possible.

My words seem to have struck a chord with Silver, as he quickly calmed down and was giving me a thoughtful expression. After a moment to think, he acquiesced.

"Fine. But you promised!" He said, trying to sound authoritative. But to me, and likely everyone else, he only sounded cute.

"And I'll make sure he remembers." Karen said from the side as she walked up to Silver, "Don't worry, Silver, you will have your fight. I won't let him forget."

That seemed to satisfy Silver, as he quieted down with a big smile on his face. Ariana shot me a grateful look, while Giovanni just let out a huge sigh.

"Parenting is much harder than I thought it'd be." He whispered quietly to me so that Silver couldn't hear him. "But you have my thanks once again for indulging him."

I waved him off, "It was nothing. After all, I've plenty of experience with this when I had to help raise Whitney. She was not always the kind girl that you know."

"If Silver could be half as well-behaved as Whitney then I'll be most thankful." He said exhaustedly.

"At least you're trying to be a good father. That's better than what most others would do." Karen added with a hint of bitterness in her voice. Almost unconsciously, I patted her on the shoulder comfortingly.

"...Thank you, Karen. I suppose you are right." Giovanni replied with a small, complicated smile.

The conversation once again turned away from more serious topics after that. Unfortunately, Silver's earlier outburst seemed to have drawn in a crowd, who had now realized just WHO was in our small group talking to each other. Almost immediately, many people started to crowd around us as they clambered to try to get our attention.

Not wanting to deal with them, I offered them a way out by escorting them into the yet unopened Grand Fountain Hall. Technically, we weren't supposed to be allowed inside, but no one was going to stop us. Not when our group consisted of 3 Elite Four members and a Gym Leader.

Was it an abuse of power? Definitely. Did I care? Nope.

Not long after our relocation, I had to leave the conversation to get ready for the opening ceremony. I had to release Klaus backstage so that he could start preparing for his performance, while I had to head to the front to participate in the ribbon cutting ceremony.

That was a fairly standard affair. Mayor Henry and I made some short 'inspiring' speech to the crowd, saying a few meaningless platitudes, before we both cut the big red ribbon together while the cameras flashed rapidly.

With the necessary ceremony completed, everyone made their way to the large amphitheatre which was purpose built for hosting water shows like this one. The seats, while minimalistic, were built of high quality and fast-drying material that could accommodate the occasional splashes of water from the performance.

And yes, the audience were expected to get wet occasionally. But that was part of the fun of sitting at the front!

Despite being part of the performance itself, I wasn't actually needed there. So, I joined back up with the earlier small group in the VIP section, where they had coincidentally all booked seats in.

We made some small talk for a moment before a large gong rang through the speakers surrounding around the amphitheatre. The audience quickly fell silent as the show began.

However, as if teasing the audience, the silence seemed to extend out for some time. Until suddenly, a few Pokémon burst out from the waters.

Two Seaking leapt out of the water, the water trailing behind them flowing in a perfectly crescent arc. Then Klaus dashed out into the crowd, staying in the air evenly with the use of psychic barriers, with a Solar Beam charging up in his horns, lighting up the trail of water into a perfect rainbow that framed his entrance.

There were a lot of 'oohs' and 'aahs' from the audience. With Klaus emerging out of a rainbow-coloured arc of water; it looked like something straight out of a fantasy novel.

Then, Klaus fired off his Solar Beam into the air, just in time for another pair of Mantine to swoop down from above with a synchronized Hurricane that was so finely controlled that they managed to surround the singular beam of light with their two tornadoes. They must have infused some water into their Hurricanes as well, because what was created was a swirling beacon of light that bathed the entire amphitheatre in its warm, sparkling light.

As soon as the light faded, the act continued as 5 rings of water formed in the air. Then, Klaus took off with a running start, leaping into the air and through one of the many hoops. Before he could fall out of the air, the two Seaking from earlier reappeared and fired off a huge geyser of water into the skies, providing a makeshift platform for Klaus to leap off and through yet another hoop.

And while that was going on, the two Mantine began to fly about, forming two water trails behind them as they circled around Klaus. As Klaus continued to leap through the hoops, the two Mantine would fly as close as possible to him with flawless timing, surrounding his figure with twin trails of water that served to emphasize his movements and add a sense of gracefulness and serenity to them.

It was beautiful. It was a very different spectacle to the battles that I was used to; but that didn't diminish what I was seeing at all. It truly was something special.

And if that wasn't enough, two huge tidal waves suddenly formed from each side of the pool, crashing together just as Klaus leapt through the final hoop. He landed on top of the backs of both Mantine and let out a noble roar as he was carried along by the waves.

Seeing the huge tidal wave of water about to crash into them, some of the audience members began to panic. However, they would prove to be in perfectly safe hands, as just before the tidal wave threatened to slam into the audience stands, Klaus' horns shined a magnificent pink as the entire wall of water seemed to stop in place by his power alone.

Of course, I knew that it was just for show. There many other Starmie in the background assisting Klaus; but it looked really impressive nonetheless.

Finally, in an inspiring display of hydrokinesis, the entire wall of water was levitated off the ground, before it started to transform into a huge orb of water. The orb of water split, shifted, and changed slowly, until it morphed into the signature form of the Cascade badge. It was held in the air in a way that made the light shimmer off it, giving the entire thing an aura of majesty and prestige.

And then it collapsed, forming a huge waterfall of water that covered the entire stage and blocked the audience from seeing through. Yet, even then, not a single droplet of water splashed onto the audience.

The curtain of water fell away to reveal the Waterflower sisters, with Misty riding on top of Klaus, posing on the stage next to their Pokémon. Daisy had a microphone in her hand.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I WELCOME YOU TO THE GRAND OPENING OF THE GRAND FOUNTAIN HALL! DID YOU LIKE WHAT YOU JUST SAW?!" She hyped up the crowd.

The crowd roared back their approval, with many standing up in their seats cheering for the performance. With a happy smile, Daisy continued.

"THEN LET'S NOT KEEP YOU WAITING, BECAUSE THAT WAS JUST THE OPENING ACT!"

The cheering from the crowd was deafening.

The New Normal – 7-4 – Interlude – Misty

Yesterday was so cool, Misty decided as she skipped around the Gym. All of the performances, both from her sisters and the others, were just so awesome to watch! She knew Water types were cool, but she never knew that all the other types had such potential to fire off so many bright colours as well!

Of course, her sisters were the coolest. She never realized it before, but they really did work hard. Their Pokémon had never looked so amazing until yesterday, and Misty realized that she wanted to be like them too.

No, she wanted to be better than them. Her sisters were good performers, but she knew they were average trainers who needed help getting better. She wanted to be better than that. She wanted to be both an excellent trainer and performer.

Though she would never admit it to her sisters, naturally. They still fussed over too much and never let her have any candy, even though they ate more themselves. Even Lily, who was only a few years older than her, was able to have more candy.

She was seriously mad about that. She was almost 10 years old! She was old enough to have as much candy as she wanted!

And it was not only the candy, but they always tried to stop Misty from doing anything cool. She knew that her sisters had a Gyarados that they were trying, and failing, to train. But when she asked to try it out, they all said no and pushed her away from their Gyarados.

She was so angry at them! She didn't get why THEY were allowed to play around with the Gyarados when she wasn't allowed to. She wanted to ride on Gyarados' back too!

Her sisters were cool, but annoying.

So, even though a part of her wanted to ask her sisters for help training up her water types, her pride pushed her away from them. Instead, she found herself outside the office of Petrel, about to knock on his door.

She paused though as she heard voices coming from within.

"...And he said nothing else?" She could tell that was Petrel.

"No, but I'm fairly certain that he's enjoying spending time with his family." This voice was a little harder to make out through the door, but she recognized it as being from their Head Gym Trainer, Archer.

"...Is he now? I haven't read through his reports in some time." Petrel replied, and Misty could hear the happiness in his voice.

"Honestly, with him and Ariana together again, I don't think he has time to submit any." Archer chuckled, "But it's nice to see the boss so happy again. But this does mean I'll be staying here longer than expected."

The boss? Who was that? What were they talking about? Unable to hold back her curiosity, Misty swung the door open and stepped into the room.

"What are you two talking about?" She asked, accidentally startling the two occupants of the room.

"Misty! I didn't realize you were here, my apologies." Petrel said with an exaggerated deep bow. Misty giggled at him; he always did these kinds of things to make her laugh. She liked it when he did that.

Oh whoops, she was letting him distract her.

"So what were you talking about? Who was the boss?" She asked again, this time putting her fists on her hips to emphasize how serious she was.

For some reason, instead of scaring them, Archer broke out into a smile. "The boss is Gym Leader Giovanni." He explained kindly as he patted her on the head, "Before the two of us worked here, we used to work for him. That's why we call him the boss. It's a sign of respect."

"Oh cool!!" Her mind immediately jumped to the next logical question, "So do I get a nickname too!? I want one!"

That broke Archer as he quickly descended into a fit of laughter. Before Misty could pout at him, Petrel quickly spoke up, his voice sounding very serious. "And what do you want to be called, Misty?"

Oh no, she hadn't thought of anything yet! Her mind quickly flicked through the available options in order to find a cool nickname, but all that came out of her mouth was a pathetic "Uh...I don't know?"

She had expected Petrel to laugh at her, but he didn't. Instead, he nodded and replied, "If you do think of one, please let me know as soon as possible. I would be happy to address you as appropriate." Misty nodded her head excitedly; she was going to think of the COOLEST name ever!

But before she could run off and do just that, Petrel continued, "Now, was there something else you wanted from me? It looked like you were searching for me."

Oops! She nearly forgot why she came here! She kicked herself mentally for almost forgetting.

"I wanted you to train me." She told him, "I want to get stronger too. I'm nearly ten years old, so I deserve to be as strong as my sisters as well!"

Petrel raised an eyebrow at her request, "Really? And are you not satisfied with what you have now? You're already training yourself while you help out in the Gym, after all."

She shook her head, "That's too slow! I want to get stronger NOW! I want to catch up to my sisters, because they never let me play with them when they're training. I want to join them!"

"You know that it's not going to be easy, right?" Archer added from the side, "You're already doing well, but if you want to push yourself even harder, it's going to be tough for you. Are you willing to put in that effort?"

She took a moment to think, but then she remembered just how cool the performance was yesterday, and how she wanted to replicate it and make it better.

Her head bobbed up and down rapidly, "I am."

Archer gave her a scrutinising look for a moment as he leaned forwards, towering over her. It was a really uncomfortable position, and Misty instinctively took a step back as she suddenly felt his eyes boring into hers. But just before Misty was about to open her mouth, Archer leaned back.

"I'll train you." He announced, causing Misty to break out into a wide smile. "Don't bother Petrel about something like this; he's already busy enough. I'll be the one to train you instead while I'm here."

Misty was about to thank him, but Archer cut her off with the palm of his hand. "Don't get too excited. It's not going to be easy. And I expect you to follow order and work hard. Do I make myself clear?"

Archer's voice changed into something scary at that last part, but Misty held in her fear and gave him a shaky nod.

He nodded, "Good. Then I'll see you before sunrise tomorrow. Hope you sleep well."

Misty cheered and thanked him before immediately dashing out the room in excitement. But it was only then, when she got back into her room, did she realize with dawning horror what he just said.

SHE DIDN'T WANT TO WAKE UP THAT EARLY IN THE MORNING! Oh Arceus, she was regretting this already.

The New Normal – 7-5 – Further Developments

The grand opening of the Grand Fountain Hall turned out to be a great success, much to the happiness of mayor Henry. He practically had his next election in the bag just by riding on the coattails of this grand opening. Personally, I was happy for his re-election. I felt that that the two of us had an understanding and were willing to cooperate together on most matters, and I wanted this positive relation to continue.

After all, there was every possibility that his replacement would turn out to be an ass.

And with the great success of the grand opening, the Waterflower sisters joyously invited everyone to their Gym to celebrate with a small afterparty. A few of the more esteemed guests were invited too, including Will, Sidney, and Giovanni, but everyone other than Giovanni and his family had to beg off due to having other duties.

Many of the performers were similarly invited, which turned the whole party into a rather substantial get-together. Still, it was fun, and although I would probably not talk to anyone there ever again, it was nice to meet all these amazing Contest performers.

Furthermore, I had hoped to take the chance to fulfil my promise of duelling against Silver while I had the time, but he had fallen asleep, much to the amusement of his parents.

"The excitement must have gotten to him." Ariana remarked with a fond smile as she looked down happily at her quietly sleeping son, "Typical of him to tire himself like this. Reminds me of his father."

"I'm not that bad." Giovanni protested, but an incredulous look from Ariana caused him to shut his mouth.

Besides that, the Waterflower sisters did ask if I wanted to join in on any further contest performances with them since this one went so well. Unfortunately, I politely declined, saying that I didn't really have the time, nor did I think that I personally wanted to go down the Contest route.

I was more of a spectator than anything else.

Still, I did tell them that if Klaus or any of my Pokémon was interested in participating in something like this again then I'll let them know. That put their smiles back on the sisters' faces.

As the party winded down, the ever-prudent Petrel came in and asked for some photos, clearly hoping to turn this whole party into a PR event for the benefit of the Gym. Thus, we all got together to take a few group photos which would be published. In the photos, I stood next to a smiling Giovanni and Ariana, both of whom were carrying a quietly sleeping Silver.

The photos were really cute - they really looked like a happy family. And what was surprising was that I no longer felt a sense of whiplash of Giovanni being a family man. It really did suit him.

On that nice note, the day finally drew to a close, and I went to bed thinking that the opening of the Grand Fountain Hall was going to be THE event that was talked about for the rest of the week.

==========

?I woke up the next morning to find out that I was partially correct. Indeed, there were many articles on the news about the success of the new Contest Hall opening in Cerulean, with many speculating and hoping for Contest halls to become a regular thing in Indigo like they are in Hoenn.

Not only that, but there was also quite a lot of interest in Giovanni and the sudden appearance of his new family. Apparently, the fact that he had a son was not a well-known fact. Coupled with the fact that Giovanni and Ariana weren't actually married, that drew much speculation and gossip onto the two of them.

Giovanni hadn't made a public statement on that yet, but I personally wished him all the best. He must have known that showing up with Silver was going to attract this kind of attention, so I'm sure he had a plan in mind.

However, what was the REAL show stealer was the sudden announcement by Steven Stone about the upcoming charity match between Sidney and Karen. Steven had announced that not only would all proceeds for the match be dedicated towards helping those who had suffered during the Team Rocket attacks in Hoenn, but also donations would be used to help the rebuilding of any damaged property and land.

But the part of the match that really grabbed attention was the fact that the number of Pokémon that Sidney and Karen would be fighting with would increase based on the number of donations received. Thus, for each milestone reached, Sidney and Karen would be battling with an additional Pokémon, up to a maximum of 6.

Mind you, I took one look at the 'milestones' and instantly realized that Steven had set the number too low. There was no way we wouldn't surpass it.

Even ignoring those who wanted to donate to charity, the star power of a match between Sidney, a member of the Hoenn Elite Four, and Karen, Agatha's apprentice and recently the temporary regent of Pewter, could not be underestimated. Especially because they were both Dark type specialists, which was a rarity in themselves, and newscasters were quick to label this battle as the match to watch for anyone interested in pursuing a Dark type specialty. Or anyone interested in high-level battles, really. Which was most people.

The charity match was going to take place in Olivine, for symbolic reasons, as it was also one of the places that became victim to Team Rocket's actions. I was still a little stunned at how much Stven managed to arrange in such a short time. I guess money and connections do grease the wheels of administration significantly.

But aside from all of that, I also made sure to personally call Professor Elm, both to introduce myself and to thank him for his contributions to the project and his aid with evolving Sylveon. He turned out to be far more humble than you would expect for someone of his position, and seemed very happy that I reached out to him at all.

Even with our short conversation, I was confident that he would be a great guy to get along with.

With our introductions made, I was heading to my next meeting on Cinnabar Island. As I had promised Blaine, I was going to meet up with him to see what he wanted help with. Plus, he said he had something to show to both Shelly and I, which stoked my curiosity.

Beyond that, I still needed to ask for his permission to warn Lance about the consequences of the upcoming Fairy reveal. But knowing his dislike for the Dragon master, I doubted it would be an easy conversation.

Regardless, after a short flight on Port, I arrived at Cinnabar Islands near his laboratory. As soon as I walked in, I found Shelly and Blaine already deep in conversation speaking in the lobby.

"Hey there." I called out, causing both their heads to turn towards me. "Hope I'm not late. Stayed a tad too long at the afterparty."

Blaine laughed, "Hah! Not a worry, I saw that on the news. That was a great performance from the sisters; about time they finally got their act together. Water performance, am I right?!" He giggled madly at his own pun.

For that monstrosity of a pun, I immediately ignored him and turned to Shelly, "So how are you doing? It's been some time since we last spoke." I asked her, ignoring Blaine's grumbles to himself about my lack of appreciation for 'good humour'.

"I've been more than well." She replied happily, shooting me a grin full of teeth, "I got promoted recently. I'm now the head of Devon's newly created international outreach and research department. Basically, it's a new title for my old job, but now with the ability of being able to independently request cooperation between notable scientists on behalf of Devon Corp. It helps that I'm now at least acquainted with Steven, since I helped him with setting up his charity match."

"Oh, wow! Congratulations! That sounds like a big step up!" I remarked, genuinely excited for her, "How are you finding it?"

"It's more or less similar to my old job, but with more pay, so I can't complain." She smiled, "There's probably going to be an expansion of our offices here in Indigo to accommodate my larger scope of responsibilities, which is both a good and bad thing."

"Bah. Having more employees can be a huge pain in the ass if you don't hire the right ones." Blaine added with a scoff, sounding remarkably like another grumpy old woman I knew, "It's why I handpicked all my of Gym Trainers and junior scientists. You'd only get a bunch of fools otherwise."

Shelly shrugged, "Unfortunately that's not up to me. The HR team handles all of that, and they're back in Hoenn. I don't really have a say in that."

"Then let's just hope you get lucky then." Blaine remarked, "Anyways, now that you're both here, I want to show you the thing I mentioned earlier. Come this way." The two of us followed him into his offices, where he took out a heavily secured and reinforced lockbox that looked like it could take an attack or two from a Pokémon and still not be broken open.

But more interestingly, it looked like it was built for thermal insulation.

"This has been something I've been working on for quite a while." He explained to us as he took out a key and began to unlock the box, "I got distracted for a while with the whole new fad of the PIT technique and with the Fairy evolution, but in a way, both projects gave me an idea on how to finalize this one."

With a loud snap, the box was finally opened to reveal a small red box that I clearly recognized as a Magmarizer. However, what I didn't expect was the fact that the Magmarizer was just exploding with heat. Even at a distance and without even touching it, I could feel the scorching waves radiating off it. Sweat was already beginning to drip down my forehead.

And Shelly was doing even worse, "Arceus, what IS that?!" She exclaimed as she fanned herself with her hand. "Why is it so hot?!"

Blaine just shot us both a smirk; he was barely affected by the heat. "This is the culmination of all my research into creating a special evolution item for Fire types. I call it the Magmarizer!"

Shelly's eyes turned wide, even as sweat continued to pour down her face, "That's...quite the discovery..." She spoke through panted breaths, "How did...you manage it? Also, could you...please put that away...I'm dying here." She continued to fan herself as her tongue lolled out.

"Bah, bunch of weaklings." He taunted with a chuckle, but he did put away the box. I didn't know what kind of material that box was made out, but to be able to resist the sheer heat of the Magmarizer was very impressive. That was some quality material!

Luckily, as soon as the Magmarizer was stored away, the room no longer felt as swelteringly hot as it just did; and the temperature dropped to something far more comfortable.

Arceus, that thing was hot.

"Thank you." Shelly said as she took a swig of water from the water cooler, "So, do you know what you could use it for? And how did you even make it?"

"Naturally, otherwise I wouldn't have called it the Magmarizer. Didn't you like the pun?" He replied with a smirk.

I got it, but clearly Shelly didn't because she was still giving Blaine a confused look. Blaine sighed, "It's a pun on Magmar. You get it? Magmarizer?"

Shelly facepalmed, "Really?! You're going to name your discovery after a PUN?!"

Blaine shrugged, "Hey, I discovered it. I get to name it!" He chuckled to himself, "Anyways, to answer your other question and summarize things a little, I got my Fire types to help me heavily condense some magma into that box you just saw. The whole thing took some serious and meticulous effort on my Pokémon's part to condense together. It's practically just an entire block of condensed and refined magma, so I'd really not recommend touching it with your bare hands unless you want to seriously burn yourself."

Suddenly, I remembered my earlier thoughts on the Cinnabar eruption, "Wait, how did you extract the magma to make this?" I asked urgently.

"I just used my Pokémon to assist me with the gathering process. It was nothing special." He looked at me curiously, "Why do you ask?"

"I mean, is it wise to be poking around with a potentially active volcano?" I questioned seriously. "Seems like you're just playing with fire there." I accidentally made a pun.

"HAH! Good one!" He laughed, "But don't worry about that kid, when it comes to playing with fire, I'm the best there is. Thank you for the concern, but even if the volcano does erupt, we've plenty of measures to buy us time to evacuate. I might not look it, but I still uphold my duties as Gym Leader seriously. Everyone will be fine." He finished with confidence.

Seeing the look of confidence he had, I swallowed whatever I had to say and just nodded. I recognized that Blaine was unmovable at this moment. And to be fair, I would be the same in his position. He WAS right about the plethora of early warning signals around Cinnabar to warn of a potential eruption.

"Maybe you could double check those systems to make sure they function correctly." I tried, "An eruption would be...bad."

Blaine paused for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, sure. I guess you're right that we should check up on the warning systems." Blaine fortunately agreed, "I'll have a look when I have some free time." I shot him a relieved smile, glad that he was at least doing SOMETHING.

In the meanwhile, Shelly was carefully observing the Magmarizer, inspecting it from different angles. "And I assume the thing works?" She asked.

"Naturally, wouldn't have been so confident to show you otherwise. See for yourselves." He grabbed a Pokéball off his belt before releasing a Pokémon into the room.

A large red figure emerged into the office, immediately causing the temperature to rise up once again. It was an intimidating figure, with small plumes of fire spewing out of its two long cannon arms. But it was also solidly muscled, looking like it was ready to brawl if it came to it. A natural mix of firepower and brawn.

There was no doubting the raw potential that radiated out of this Pokémon. And I was confident that, with just a little bit more effort, it could turn into something REALLY powerful.

"It looks like you got your new Ace." I said to Blaine, who grinned back at me.

"It really is a powerful thing, isn't it?" He remarked proudly, "It's called a Magmortar. And I've already done a few tests with it. Magmortar here still needs some more training before it really becomes an Ace, but let's just say that it meets my expectations and more."

"It definitely looks like it." Shelly commented as she continued inspecting the new Pokémon, "Looks like it could beat my team by itself. Not that I'm a strong trainer or anything."

"HAH! If I had this evolution back when I was an Elite Four?! I would have been more than just second fiddle to Agatha." He boasted, seeming VERY pleased with himself about this evolution.

I didn't blame him; if I was a fire specialist too I would have been ecstatic.

Shelly and I seemed to let Blaine show off his new Pokémon for a little while, not wanting to ruin his moment. After a few minutes of letting him continue to ramble, Blaine finally seemed to have gotten it all out of his system.

Eventually, he withdrew his Magmortar and let out a sheepish cough as he realized that we had been indulging him. "Ehem. Sorry about that. Got too heated for a moment there. HAH!"

He must have been numbed us to his puns by this point, because we both barely batted an eye at his most recent one. Seeing a complete lack of reaction on our part, Blaine continued onwards, "Anyways, besides showing off the Magmarizer to you, which I hope to be publicizing and distributing soon, I had hoped to start a new project that we could cooperate on. If that still sounds like something you both want to be doing?"

"I should have the time for that." I replied, before looking to Shelly, who nodded back as well. "Actually, before we talk about that, I wanted to discuss the Fairy type project."

Both of them grew concerned, "What's wrong? Something the matter?"

I hurriedly waved them off their concerns, "No, no, sorry it's not like that." They quickly relaxed, "I meant that I just wanted to know when I could speak to Lance about the upcoming consequences of the Fairy reveal so that we could prepare for it."

"I have no problem with that. You, Blaine?" Shelly shrugged as she turned to Blaine.

As expected, Blaine was gritting his teeth at my question. Clearly, he had a response on the tip of his tongue that he was holding back. After a moment, he managed to grumble out, "What do you need to speak to him for?"

"The impending invasion of Mt. Moon by overenthusiastic and reckless trainers." I pointed out, "I've already hinted at something happening to the mayor, but I need Lance's express permission to mobilize more of the Indigo Police to protect the area. I fear that the ecosystem of Clefairy would be irreparably damaged otherwise."

"Yes, you mentioned it before." He said with a sigh, and I could see the moment where he let go of his instinctual hate. "Fine. Go speak with him. Samuel already gave his approval to it anyways."

"Any idea when we're going to be publishing the Fairy type?" Shelly asked. "No rush though, just wanted to know."

Blaine shrugged, "No clue, but it's up to Samuel. He should still be confirming a few things."

"Then I'll make the call once I've double checked with Oak again." I nodded. "Anyways, what did you want to cooperate on?" I returned to our previous topic.

"Two things really." He began, raising a finger, "One, I wanted to be able to sell the Magmarizer once everything gets tested. I didn't do this for the profit, but I might as well now that I've actually created it. And Devon Corp and Silph Co would likely be eager buyers of something like this."

"I don't actually have the authority to do something-" I started to say, only to be cut off.

"Sure, sure, but everyone knows you're friends with Giovanni." He interrupted, "I've worked with him on a few things before. Just float the suggestion to him, and he should be able to take care of the rest."

Huh, I wasn't aware that Blaine was knowledgeable of Giovanni's true power in Silph Co. Must have forgotten that detail. Then again, it could just be that Blaine was more knowledgeable than his mad science appearance made him seem.

Shelly broke me away from my introspection as she nodded, "I can do that. In fact, I would love to get a better idea of how you've accomplished this. I was thinking maybe we could try to create alternate versions of the Magmarizer with different types."

"I did think of that." Blaine agreed, "That was actually the next thing I wanted to work on. I have all the notes here for us to use which should give us a head start, but I felt that working together on this could save some time and provide some immediate funding."

I spoke up at this point, "Okay, I understand. But, no offense intended, what do you need ME for? I'm not exactly in a position to provide funding or anything. And I'm not actually a scientist." I pointed to Shelly, "Not like she is."

"That's true. And, admittedly, you hit the nail on the head there." Blaine remarked, "Strictly speaking, your help wouldn't be necessary for the completion of this project, though I'm sure having you help would prove valuable in some way or another."

"Then why have me on board if that means sharing the credit?" I asked, confused.

"Son, I'm an old man trying to live out until retirement, it's a little too late for me to be caring about something like 'credit'." He stated, as he straightened up with his arms behind his back, "Sure, I would like to be praised and rewarded for my efforts, but I don't need to hog it all for myself. Besides, my main motivation for all these discoveries is because I truly want to be able to uncover more of the mysteries behind Pokémon; to push the limits of what we know even further."

"However, the other reason I wanted you to join was because I felt that I owed you for bringing us on board for the Fairy project." He told me, eyes locked onto mine, "We both know that the only person you really needed was Samuel. The rest of us were just extra additions. No offense intended, Shelly."

"None taken." She replied easily, "I understood that as well."

I moved to protest, but Blaine cut me off, "So what if I bring you onto this project for little gain? I don't particularly mind. I guarantee that whatever we discover here is not nearly going to be as big of a deal as discovering a whole new type. And besides, I'm sure having your assistance with this matter will help us in some way or another. Especially with all those connections of yours."

I sighed, realizing I wasn't winning this argument, "Thank you. Then I'll be glad to help." I smiled while performing a short bow, "But I promise I'll work to earn my due."

"Then welcome aboard." He smiled at me, "We can get started on this right away. And John, there's no need to thank me. We're all friends here." Shelly nodded in agreement. Then Blaine moved to pull out some chairs as he moved over to his desk and computer, "Come, take a seat. We'll start by going over my notes."

And thus, the three of us spent the afternoon deep in research as we began to discuss and share our ideas on how we could create an alternate type of a Magmarizer equivalent. I added my two cents, hinting towards the possibility of creating an Electrizer, but making sure that I was careful to not give anything directly away.

And although some of the topics we discussed were far beyond my intellectual capacity to understand, I still found the whole thing to be strangely relaxing.

Day turned to night as I unknowingly spent the rest of the day hard at work with the two of them. I made sure to treasure it. After all, I was going to have to reveal the big news to Lance tomorrow.

I wonder how he'd react.