The New Normal - 18-7

The New Normal – 18-7 – New Ideals

I didn’t know how long I spent wrapped up in the familiar arms of my Pokémon, but I knew it was for a while as we celebrated out victory.

But then I was snapped out of it as I felt a lingering presence in my mind suddenly vanish. I quickly realised that it was the lingering feelings of the false visions of N’s ideals that Zekrom had implanted in me. But now that the Legendary of Ideals had returned to its dormancy, that had all faded away too.

Which meant that everyone else was about to awaken from their false visions too.

Knowing that they were bound to be confused, since they had all been Teleported to a safe location by my Pokémon, I knew I had to be there to calm them all down before they started panicking or making unwise decisions.

So with a quick nod to Klaus, I was promptly Teleported to where all of the other trainers that had accompanied me in this battle had been taken to.

Not too surprisingly, I found myself on the outskirts of Castelia City, in the area just before Skyarrow Bridge. It was just beyond the Electric barrier that had once walled off the entire city. Klaus and the others must have been able to Teleport past them, which was definitely a smart choice considering the widespread destruction of Castelia City caused by Zekrom.

As soon as I arrived, I was immediately approached by practically every member of the Elite Four. And they were all talking over each other.

“Status report.” Drayden practically ordered, “What happened to us?”

“Where’s Zekrom?” Grismley asked, “What happened to Castelia?”

“Is Regigigas not with you?” Lucian asked, “Did something happen?”

“FUCK!” Drake shouted out, “What the FUCK happened to me?!”

“John! Are you doing okay?” Karen tried to check over me, “Why did you teleport us all here? Were we in danger?”

“Is the fight over?” Bruno asked, “Is everyone safe?”

“Woah, woah, hold on. Too many questions.” I extended both arms out and pushed them back slightly, “I know you have questions, so I’ll go through them one at a time.”

I then proceeded to explain everything that had happened since their incapacitation. I explained that N’s death had triggered Zekrom to unleash its full power, and it had imposed a false vision of N’s ideals onto everyone. That had placed everyone in a trance, and I had ordered my Pokémon to Teleport them out of the battle for their own safety.

After that, I explained how it was down to me, my Pokémon, and the Regis to take down Zekrom – which we did eventually. I also explained how Regigigas also managed to harness Zekrom’s power to create two new Regis – Regieleki and Regidrago.

That had caught everyone’s attention, “Wait, so Regigigas just created two new Legendaries? Just like that?” Flint exclaimed, “Since when could it even do something like this?”

“Regigigas has always been described as a crafter, so I suppose it doing something like this was always possible.” Lucian replied before I could, “Still, I can’t deny my surprise either. I didn’t think it could just create two new Legendaries on the spot, and during a battle against another Legendary no less. John, did you ask it why it chose to do so?”

“No, but I can tell you that the creation of Regieleki and Regidrago spelled the beginning of the end for Zekrom in the fight.” I said, “We were already overwhelming it to the point where Zekrom had taken on some serious injuries, but having Regieleki and Regidrago joining in on the fight practically neutralised all of Zekrom’s offensive power, as most of its attacks could be safely redirected towards them.”

“I see.” Lucian nodded, “Well if you haven’t planned on doing so already, please ask Regigigas what it intends to do with these new Regis in the future, and if they will return dormant just like the current Regi Trio—”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Drayden cut in, “But what is the state of Castelia City? And can you confirm that Zekrom is properly subdued?”

“Yes, I saw it with my very own eyes that Zekrom has returned to its dormant state as the Dark Stone.” I replied firmly, “I left the Dark Stone over with Regigigas while I came to pick you all up and explain everything to you all.”

Then I winced, “…As for Castelia City… I’m afraid that the city has been pretty devastated by Zekrom’s attacks. I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to protect it.”

“Don’t blame yourself.” Marshal said, “We all knew to expect heavy collateral damage when we faced off against Zekrom. In fact, you could say that we got lucky that the damage was limited to Castelia City. Knowing the power that Zekrom possesses, it could have probably destroyed all of Unova in its rampage had we not stopped it.”

That was true, but that was cold comfort. I was no engineer or builder, but I knew that it was probably going to take at least a solid month to rebuild everything that had been destroyed. That might not seem like too long, but considering that Castelia City was basically the heart of Unova’s economy, it was a cripplingly long time.

Naturally, I told the Unovas that I could ask the Regis if they were willing to assist in the reconstruction efforts before they returned to their dormant states.

“…Only do so if you if you believe it won’t be offensive to them.” Marshal said slowly, “We would of course appreciate any and all assistance, but we’ve already made use of them as common labourers once. At least that time it was ‘justified’ because it was an emergency scenario, but if you don’t think that reasoning will hold up to them again them it might be better not to ask. Of course, you’re the expert here, John, so we’ll leave it up to you.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I nodded.

“Don’t worry, you can trust him.” Cynthia chimed in in support, “If it’s anything to do with the Legendary Titans, just trust John. He’ll know what to say.”

I just smiled at her, silently thanking her for her support.

Of course, everyone else still had a million and one questions to ask, but I asked them to save it for later. So we all moved back to Castelia City, where everyone else got to finally lay their eyes on the true extent of the damage done by Zekrom’s rampage.

Needless to say, the once shining jewel of Unova was now nothing more than a smouldering ruin. Almost half of the city was on fire, probably from several stray attacks, and the rest was just destroyed. The city could not be considered ‘habitable’ in the current state it was in.

Office buildings, apartments, high-rises, skyscrapers – none were spared. And if that wasn’t bad enough, every single electronic device that had been plugged in to the mainframe of Unova was now completely dead. The sheer amount of electricity that they were overloaded with meant that they were irreparably damaged, and were going to need to be replaced.

I heard people muttering in sadness or horror as they took stock of the damage done to Castelia City. I think I heard Burgh break out into a sob from behind me – understandable, since this was his city.

I hoped he wouldn’t blame himself. There was nothing more he could have done.

Meanwhile, I had approached Regigigas and the other Regis, who had been standing there idly as they awaited my return.

“I’m not sure if I’ve said it yet, but thank you once again for helping us with the fight.” I said to it, “Your assistance was invaluable.”

Regigigas let out an affirmative buzz, so I continued, “May I ask what your plans are now? Are you going to return to your dormancy? If so, where will the new Regis retire to?”

It buzzed out a reply, and I smiled.

“Thank you for letting me choose.” Regigigas had just told me that it was going to let me choose where it would be best for Regieleki and Regidrago to return dormant at.

Obviously, this was a really important decision. Placing a Regi somewhere would be akin to placing a permanent guardian there, which is why I had requested for the original Regi Trio to be placed at the three Lakes of Sinnoh.

Therefore, I made sure to think through before giving a response, “…In that case, I would like for both Regieleki and Regidrago to reside at Spear Pillar. That way, they’ll be able to respond immediately if one of the Creation Trio turns hostile against us. Meanwhile, Regice, Registeel, and Regirock will remain at one of the three Lakes to guard the Lake Guardians. Would this be an acceptable arrangement for you?”

All of the Regis let out a buzz of affirmation, confirming that they were okay with this arrangement.

“I appreciate it. Though I have two more things to ask of you.” I said, pointing towards the Dark Stone that was somehow currently floating in front of Regidrago, “First – what will you be doing with the Dark Stone? Will you be keeping it?”

If it was the latter, then I was almost certain that the rest of Unova would not be happy. Recent events aside, they’d never be okay if the Dark Stone was taken away right from underneath them to a foreign region, since it was supposed to be a ‘Unovan’ Legendary.

Of course, if Regigigas insisted on it, then it wasn’t like there was anything any of us could do to stop it. Today had just been even more proof about how destructive fights between Legendaries could be, so no one would be dumb enough to intentionally aggravate one.

Fortunately, Regigigas didn’t insist on taking away the Dark Stone. In fact, the Legendary Titan stated that the Dark Stone must be kept in Unova’s borders.

“I see. Good to know then.” I replied, “And just one more thing – will you be amenable to helping out with the reconstruction efforts at Castelia City? You must have seen how destructive our fight was against Zekrom, so any help you can offer in fixing up the damage would be appreciated.”

Through my connection with the Regis, I could tell that they were deliberating on my request. I knew that their instinct was to refuse – Legendaries generally tended to avoid interfering with human society as much as possible. However, due to the fact that this damage was caused by Zekrom, they eventually agreed to help out with some reconstruction efforts.

They wouldn’t help with repairing any of the interiors or anything, but they would help clean up most of the infrastructure damage. That was already a big help.

So as soon as I heard that, I immediately relayed Regigigas’ words to the Unova contingent.

Grimsley let out a relieved sigh, “Phew. Okay, that’s good news. We were worried that Regigigas was going to confiscate it or something. That really wouldn’t have gone over well with the rest of the public. Did it provide any suggestions on what we need to do with it?”

“No.” I shook my head, “All it said was that the Dark Stone had to be kept within Unova. It didn’t specify why, but I suspect that it’s probably due to the fact that Zekrom is a Legendary from Unova, and in the spirit of preserving the natural order, the Dark Stone needs to stay in Unova as well.”

“I see… in that case, could we ask Regigigas to hold onto the Dark Stone for now while we discuss where we’re going to keep it?” He asked, “We’ll try to come to a decision before you guys depart from Unova.”

“I’ll be sure to ask.” I nodded, “But anyways, the Regis have offered to help with some of the reconstruction efforts. No idea what they’ll be helping with exactly, so just follow their lead.”

“We won’t complain about that.” Drayden chuckled, “Any help is appreciated.”

“Oh, and one more thing, has anyone seen Ghetsis anywhere?” I asked, “Or is he still on the loose?”

“If he’s been found – I haven’t been told about it.” Marshal replied, “But we’ve already sent people out to hunt him down. Hopefully he’ll be found soon.”

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

Despite us all being completely tired from the battle, dealing with the aftermath was a thankless yet gruelling and necessary task that we all had to handle. Fortunately for me, I had a comparatively much easier job than everyone else.

Since the Regis were roaming around and helping with the reconstruction efforts, I had assigned myself to be their ‘overseer’ and just watch over them. In reality, I didn’t actually have to do anything as the Regis didn’t need me to give them any specific instructions, so I got to stand around and look busy while everyone else was doing the actual work.

Honestly, Regigigas was pretty much in the same position. It too was just standing around as it watched the other Regis do all the hard work for it.

I suppose even Legendaries understood the joys of delegation.

Nevertheless, it was still amazing to see how much of a help the Regis were in fixing up the damage done by Zekrom. Entire roads, pavements, and walls were rebuilt in an instant with the help of Regirock and Registeel. Likewise, any materials that had been destroyed during the battle were quickly recycled into something usable, as plenty of shattered and partially melted steel beams were reconstructed so that they were as good as new.

Even the greatest of construction Pokémon couldn’t match the speed at which Regirock and Registeel worked.

Meanwhile, Regieleki was busy serving as a portable charger for most of the city’s electricity. It had connected itself to the Castelia City’s power supply, and was currently serving as an emergency generator for the entire city so that essential devices could function. The previous emergency generators had all been destroyed by Zekrom.

Similarly, Regice and Regidrago had mainly helped out with putting out a few of the lingering fires that had been slowly spreading around certain parts of the city, since the fires caused by Zekrom’s draconic energies weren’t so easy to extinguish by common means.

While this was all happening, everyone else was hard at work at reinstating order. For those who remained in Unova and had been bunking in the shelters, they were allowed to finally exit as the threat was now over. Furthermore, the same announcement had been broadcasted to those who had evacuated overseas – though of course, they could stay for longer if they wanted an extended holiday.

There was still the threat of Ghetsis, as he was still out in the wild, but I was confident that he would be eventually found soon. Without the resources of PLASMA, I knew he was not a threat on his own unless he somehow managed to get his hands on another Legendary – but that was awfully unlikely.

Then there was the topic of N and the Dark Stone. I had actually gone over to where N had been struck down and inspected his still body. It was a mangled and… unsightly mess, and I genuinely felt bad seeing him like this.

I could only hope that he wasn’t in pain for very long before he met his end.

I got a few strange looks for asking to see the body, but turns out I wasn’t the only one. Looker was there too, with a much more troubled and regretful expression on his face than I had.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” I told him, “I know you were… close.”

“I was manipulating him to gather more information against PLASMA. Our friendship was built on lies and falsehoods.” He said, “That being said, I regret that I wasn’t able to tear him away from the destructive and ultimately doomed path he was on. If I had, maybe things wouldn’t have ended up this way.”

“You did your best, and it’s not your fault.” I replied, “The choice was his to make.”

“Was it? Or was it just him following through on what Ghetsis told him to do?” He shot back, “Was it really his choice when he was manipulated into it?”

I stayed silent, knowing that Looker was right. N was not someone who would resort to enacting his ideals with force. Ghetsis must have pressured and/or manipulated him into this.

Looker let out a tired sigh, “He deserves better than this fate. You know he’ll be reviled as one of the greatest terrorists Unova has ever known right? His name and reputation will be tarnished for generations to come. In the history books, they’ll write him right next to Cyrus as one of the greatest villains that the world has ever seen.”

“…If we take down Ghetsis, perhaps we can clear his name.” I suggested, “Not completely, of course, but we can show the world that N was manipulated into this by Ghetsis’ actions if we get the man himself to admit to his wrongdoings. It won’t bring N back to life, but it’ll at least salvage his reputation. You’re right – he doesn’t deserve to be spoken alongside Cyrus.”

Looker nodded, “Perhaps that is the best we can hope for… You know, this might be the first time I have gone undercover and regretted abandoning the bonds that I made. That might be because all of the other ‘bonds’ I made in previous undercover missions was with hardened criminals and terrorists who were overall just unpleasant and far from innocent people. But it was different with N. It’s hard to see him as the same sort of person as them.”

I nodded understandingly.

After a short moment of silence, Looker kneeled down slowly and placed his hands over N’s eyes, closing them for him, “…I’m sorry that it ended up this way, N. May you find the paradise you wished for. I promise I will clear your name, at the very least. Ghetsis will pay for all that he has done to you.”

I silently said the same in my heart.

Goodbye, N. And while I never agreed with your ideals, I promise to create a balanced world where both trainers and Pokémon can peacefully and happily coincide with each other.

It might not be the utopia that you envisioned, but it will be close to one nonetheless. I promise.

During all this, Cynthia must have seen what I was doing, and she walked up to me and patted me comfortingly on the shoulder, which I leaned into. Thanks to my shared metaknowledge, she also knew that N’s fate was different to what had happened to him today. So she knew how I was feeling.

Nevertheless, after seeing N off, the final matter that I had to help out with was the safekeeping of the Dark Stone. Basically, the Unova League had decided that the Dark Stone was too dangerous to be kept out in the open, given how potentially destructive another Zekrom awakening would be.

Admittedly, doing this was pretty unfair for Zekrom. Zekrom was not an inherently malicious being, it merely followed through on the ideals of its awakener. So it could be argued that it was not right to try to keep it locked up for all of eternity. But just like N had just demonstrated, a rampaging Zekrom was a region-wide threat. So for the sake of the continued prosperity of Unova, Zekrom had to be kept away.

Notably, when I brought this all up to Regigigas, it didn’t seem to have a problem with it either – almost as if it didn’t understand my query at all. Perhaps this was because Legendaries really do not care about where they remained dormant in.

But, at the same time, they couldn’t just keep the Dark Stone locked away in a vault. Technically, there was nothing stopping them from doing that, but they just deemed it to be culturally inappropriate – which I could understand. The Dark Stone was ultimately still one of Unova’s most important treasures, so locking it away like that didn’t feel right at all.

As Lance put it, “Ultimately, this is still a Legendary artifact. When the Plates were discovered in Sinnoh, they weren’t just hidden away. They were displayed for all to see. I just don’t believe it to be right if we hide all of this away from the public just in the name of ‘safety’.”

“Agreed.” Alder nodded, “We should not let our paranoia rule us today. Don’t forget, the Dark Stone is Zekrom, so it should be afforded the appropriate level of respect.”

So in the end, they decided that it would be kept in display in the Unova League building, in a specialised gallery made just for it. It would be heavily reinforced, and trackers would be placed literally everywhere so that the Dark Stone could always be retrieved if it somehow got stolen. That way, the public still got to visit and look at it, but it should remain safe enough that no one could just steal it for themselves.

It was the most balanced solution that the League could think of. And this was something that the other Champions in attendance also agreed with.

However, I had to remind them of something.

“It’s all well and good to keep the Dark Stone out of the hands of the public, but don’t forget that Reshiram is still out there.” I said, “Its Light Stone is still in the wild, and someone like N could get their hands on it and awaken it. If that happens, and for whatever reason Regigigas is unable to assist you, you might have to awaken Zekrom yourself in order to fight against Reshiram. Do remember that.”

Using Regigigas to defeat Zekrom was definitely not the ‘intended’ method of doing so. We had used brute force of a ‘foreign’ Legendary to take it down. But the ‘proper’ way was to match Zekrom’s strength with Reshiram’s, and vice versa. That’s why I had to remind them that having Zekrom be ‘available’ was going to be important.

“…We won’t forget that.” Alder nodded, “Thank you for the reminder.”

And with that, my time in Unova had come to an end. I stayed around for a bit longer to help out with some of the reconstruction efforts, and I also made sure to chat with all of my friends to make sure that everyone was okay, but eventually Regigigas had informed me that it was time for it to return to its dormancy – as it had overstayed its welcome – and so I once again prepared to hitch a ride on Registeel and returned to Sinnoh.

Overall, it was a mission success. Our secondary Legendary battle had resulted in another great victory.

And even better than that, just before I left, I heard even greater news from Looker.

“We found him.”

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

(Looker POV)

While everyone else was busy with the reconstruction efforts, he knew that his talents were better suited to the manhunt for Ghetsis.

His colleagues believed that finding Ghetsis would be like finding a needle in a haystack – and impossible task due to the size of Unova. They argued that Ghetsis could be hiding literally anywhere, and it would take a miracle to find him.

But he knew better. Even though he had hardly met the man in person, he already had a good enough read of the man to know what he was like.

Ghetsis liked to portray himself as a genius manipulator. A man with plans upon plans upon plans. A man who could outthink and outwit any of his opponents with cold, hard rationality.

Yet, in reality, that was not the case. Because he knew that, more than anything else, Ghetsis was a man ruled by his megalomania. He was a man ruled by the need to be acknowledged as being superior to you.

It was why he feared Cyrus far more than he would ever fear Ghetsis. By all accounts, Cyrus, up until his last moments, was a true monster. An unfeeling corpse of nihilism that cared for little else than the completion of his plans.

Ghetsis was not that. No matter how much he thought himself to be a monster. He was merely a false tyrant pretending to be one.

So he knew with utter certainty that Ghetsis would never miss out on this battle. Even though it was objectively foolish and stupid to do so, he was certain that Ghetsis would be here, at Castelia City, waiting to see the League be crushed by Zekrom.

He was too prideful to not be. He would not even consider the possibility that his plan would fail.

And in the end, after probably over a few hours of searching, he found exactly what he was looking for.

Just on the edges of Castelia City, a tattered cloak that was once colourful and ornately decorated, now burnt and sheared apart, lied face down on the ground.

And next to it was a mangled corpse. Its face twisted into a rictus of pain and suffering. The smell of burns lingered in the air, which said enough about the man’s fate.

It was Ghetsis, and by the looks of it, he was likely electrocuted to death by one of Zekrom’s stray attacks.

…How ironic.

But – just in case – he dropped a cinder brick on his head too. The body didn’t even twitch. The man was dead.

Good.

A.N. A slower chapter this time so that we can focus on the aftermath of the battle. I once again wanted to highlight the ‘utility’ of the Regis, and how they can help out in the real world outside of battles. I tried to be careful with how much I had the Regis doing, since I wanted to make sure that ‘Legendaries’ and ‘normals’ were kept separate – since Legendaries should aim to limit their interaction with the world.

Also, as promised, I didn’t forget about Ghetsis. And yes, there was no big fight. There was no last stand for the man. He simply dies off-screen, as I felt was fitting for him. I always felt that although Ghetsis was the ‘big bad’ of Unova, the screentime belonged to N. N was the main driving force of PLASMA, and he was the real reason why PLASMA was able to do what it can. So Ghetsis is nothing more than a parasite that has leeched onto N – and I felt that he deserves a similar fate.

A Pokenet Chapter will be coming soon. Hope you enjoyed!