The New Normal - 18-2 - Interlude - Allies

The New Normal – 18-2 – Interlude – Allies

(Cynthia POV)

“…I see.”

There were a few words that she never wanted to hear from John, and these were a few of them. But she wasn’t afraid or nervous – she had expected this day to come, even if it was a little sooner than she had expected.

It seems like PLASMA had one final, spiteful trick up their sleeve. As befitting madmen, they would never stand down unless you put them down with force.

And much like Cyrus did, the entire crux of their plan seemed to revolve around obtaining the power of a Legendary. Because they knew that for all of their vile rhetoric, the people of the world would be too smart to fall for it.

Oh sure, they may gain a sizeable minority, but the majority of the wider public will never be on their side. The Leagues and the authorities will never condone their victory. Because we can all see them for what they are – fanatical madmen.

That’s why, in the end, they are always forced to impose their insane plans by force. In their madness, they thought that the rest of the world would simply bend over if they managed to wield the powers of a Legendary for themselves.

Cyrus had thought so. But in the end, even with the power of Palkia at his side, he failed.

And now Ghetsis was going to learn the same.

“You have authorisation.” She replied to the Protector-Guardian of Sinnoh, “Go, John. Awaken Regigigas – and bring us victory once more. We will await your success.”

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(Drake POV)

“…I see.”

It seems like, even in his retirement, the world continued to spin, and the madmen continued to plot. And now, once again, they seemed to have done something as fucking stupid as awakening a Legendary to fight on their side.

Once again, retirement or not, Drake was asked to answer the call. To fight to defend his homeland once more.

He was an old man. And even then, this was going to be the second time he was asked to head into a battle against a Legendary.

The first time he had done so, he had nearly died, along with the rest of his team. They were literally moments away from being wiped out from the fabric of reality by a being that overpowered them so heavily that they still struggled and nearly lost against it, even when they had their own Legendary fighting by their side.

So even though he had been elated and filled with an immense sense of pride and joy in his team when the battle was over, he knew full well how close he was to losing almost everything he cared about. That had been the most dangerous fight of his life – as you would expect a fight against a Legendary to be – and now he was just asked to go into another one.

He had no obligation to fight. He was retired now, and old besides. No one would begrudge him if he sat this battle out.

Maybe a small part of himself even agreed with that.

But he knew he could never stay away from a fight. Even though he no longer needed to adhere to any formal duties, this was a duty that he had imposed on himself. One he would never give up on.

To fight to protect the world, no matter the danger. No matter the cost. No matter what was asked of him. For he could never live with himself if he simply chose to cower away.

Therefore, there was only one response he could give.

“Count me in, John.” He grinned, “The moment I saw that fucker Ghetsis, I always figured he’d pull of some shit like this. I wanted to punch him in the face right then and there – but it looks like I’ll be able to make up for all that lost time.”

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(Lance POV)

“…I see.” Steven muttered, “Thank you for letting us know.”

Currently, all four Champions had gathered together for a call as Cynthia reported what John had sensed, thanks to his link to Regigigas.

Unlike the last time a Legendary awakened, where the effects of its summoning could be felt across the world, this time it appeared that the presence of a Legendary was a lot more muted.

That being said, he doubted anyone here would underestimate the newly awakened Legendary simply because of this. After all, Legendaries came in all different forms. But the one universal and common factor between them was that their power was beyond them. They were simply overwhelmingly strong.

He might not have been in the battle against Palkia, but the reports he received back told him enough. And now the situation was happening all over again, just with a different Legendary.

“We didn’t feel anything over here in Unova.” Alder said, “Not to cast any doubt, but are you sure that a Legendary has awoken? We cannot afford for this to be a false alarm.”

“I am certain.” Cynthia replied firmly, “John would not be mistaken about this. Not with his connection to Regigigas, and he is already on his way back to the Temple of the Titan to awaken Regigigas.”

Alder nodded, “Fine. I’ll trust that. But what do you need from us? You are all more experienced at dealing with such a threat than we are – so we’ll let you take the lead on this. A hostile Legendary is a good reason to put aside any regional political concerns for now, isn’t it?”

That response was fortuitous for them, because it meant that Alder knew that this wasn’t the time for politics or pride. It was a time for action.

“I will immediately mobilise the Indigo Elite Four. Steven, you should do the same over in Hoenn.” His Hoenn counterpart merely nodded, deferring to his greater experience in this, “In Unova, I request that you put all your Gym Leaders on high alert and demand that they get ready for immediate action. Suspend all circuit activities for now until the threat is dealt with, as the Gym Leaders may need to be called to action to help out in the fight.”

“Every extra bit of strength matters.” Cynthia added, “Another Pokémon in the battle means another point of distraction during the battle against the Legendary.”

“It’ll be done.” Alder nodded, “What else?”

“Beef up any patrols or scouting efforts that you might have.” Lance said, “The most important thing to do right now is to locate where the Legendary is and make sure that we have an eye on it at all times. The destructive power of a Legendary is absolutely immense, and the potential lost of life from a single one of their attacks is extraordinary. We cannot afford for that to happen.”

“So do we need a generalised evacuation?” Alder asked, “We do have underground and reinforced shelters for such a purpose.”                                                                                                         

“Yes, they should be evacuated there.” Cynthia said, “Admittedly, it might not be enough to protect against a Legendary that’s going all-out, but it’s better than nothing. More importantly, it’s better than allowing the public to just panic in the streets – which is what happened back in Sinnoh when we were fighting against Palkia. Make sure to order your Gym Leaders to help to maintain order. It’ll still be chaos, but a more-or-less controlled chaos is better than completely losing control of the situation.”

“We still have members of the International Police there. I’ll make sure they assist with those efforts.” Lance added.

“Thank you both. I’ll get on that right away—”

“Oh, one more thing.” Cynthia cut in, “If you do get eyes on this new Legendary, do not engage it. I know it might seem tempting, especially if the leaders of PLASMA are right there in front of you. But I promise you wholeheartedly – you will lose that fight. Wait for reinforcements, and more importantly, wait for the arrival of Regigigas.”

“Once they’re here, then you can take the fight to them. But no sooner than that.” She finished.

“…Got it. Anything else we should do?” Alder asked again.

“Pray.” Was his response, “Pray and hope that we can get through this unscathed. Then swallow those prayers and use it as fuel for your courage and conviction. We will need it for the coming days ahead.”

Cynthia nodded, “It’s time for us to earn our worth. Let’s not disappoint the Legendary Titan.”

They all agreed with that, and after a few more moments of discussion, the meeting came to an end. As he let out a tired breath and took a look outside his window, he saw dark thunderclouds ominously looming in the distance.

War was here once again.

A.N. As befits the awakening of a Legendary, the world naturally responds to it. But this time around, I wanted to highlight the difference in reactions between Palkia’s awakening and Zekrom’s. Thanks to their past experiences, the Leagues are acting much more calmly now. After all, they’ve done it once before. The fight will be happening very soon! Hope you enjoyed!