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The New Normal - 8-13

The New Normal – 8-13 – Explorers of Time

With the battle with Flint over and with him retiring to have his Pokémon healed up, Cynthia turned back to me.

“I’m glad you seem to believe in me.” She said with a cheeky smile.

“Why wouldn’t I?” I shrugged, though I was also smiling. “Anyways let’s talk and work at the same time. I need to clean up the fields.”

So that’s what we did. I had Smough and Tyrant help tidy up the field, wh...

The New Normal - OMAKE - Ingame Snippets v4

The New Normal – OMAKE – Ingame Snippets v4

When speaking at the Battle Frontier:

[“I’m sorry, but the Battle Frontier seems to still be under construction.”]

[“It’s really unfortunate, but it seems like construction just started a couple of days before you arrived. Weird how they seem to close just before you want to challenge it, right?”]

At the Lilycove Hideout:

[“Strange to see you here. There’s quite lit...

The New Normal - OMAKE - The Survivor

The New Normal – OMAKE – The Survivor

Her parents had always been against her participation in the war. They had tried to instil into her that a lady’s duty was in the household, to manage the finances of her husband, and to be a loyal wife. She had scoffed, never really buying into that nonsense. Besides, she had always been better as a trainer than she was at chores.

And war proved to be an effective teacher. Horrifying, but effective. Fighting with the to...

The New Normal - 8-12

The New Normal – 8-12 – Ignition

It had been a good few days after Lorelei’s victory against Surge. I spent the past few days both continue up with training my Pokémon as well as spending some time doing my duty as the Indigo representative. In this case, that meant welcoming the small group of people from Silph Co as they hashed out a deal with the Sinnoh League since it showed off good public relations between our regions.

And I pointedly did not bring at...

The New Normal - 8-11 - INTERLUDE - SABRINA & WHITNEY

The New Normal – 8-11 – INTERLUDE – SABRINA & WHITNEY

(Sabrina POV)

After Janine’s victory over her parents for the Marsh Badge, neither herself or Whitney had much difficulty against her parents for their own Marsh Badge.

Oh, she knew that her father had tried to make things harder for them, but he was still constrained by the limitations of the 6th Gym Badge. He could not pull off the raw power that she knew that he had, nor make use o...

The New Normal - 8-10 - Interlude - Blaine

The New Normal – 8-10 – Interlude – Blaine

Blaine grumbled as he walked back to his office. It had been another boring and tedious session of battles that he was forced to perform as the Gym Leader of Cinnabar. Honestly, did these trainers think that the 7th Gym Badge was just a joke? A warm-up for their showdown against the 8th Gym Badge?

He sent any that came to him under those false assumptions back to the Pokémon Center with their Pokémon thoroughly sc...

The New Normal - 8-10

The New Normal – 8-10 – Commentary

Seeing the determination in Cynthia’s eyes made it hard for me to focus back on the match. But I figured that just staring at Cynthia would be awkward, so I did my best to refocus on the battle.

Lorelei had sent out a Glalie that was trying to slow down the speeding Manetric with a barrage of Icy Winds. But instead of firing out Flamethrowers like I was expecting it to, Manetric only attacked with Electric moves, once again...

The New Normal - 8-9

The New Normal – 8-9 – Lightning Freezing Over

After that busy day of travelling, I decided to spend some time resting at Celestic Town for a few days. There were no cave explorations either, as Cynthia informed me that she had to handle a few personal matters of her own and had been running around to and from the Sinnoh League over the past few days. She told me that she had been speaking to Lucian and Flint about something, but never elaborated about what.

I...

The New Normal - 8-8 - Interlude - Proton

The New Normal – 8-8 – Interlude – Proton

It had taken some time for them to settle into Sinnoh, mostly because their ‘mysterious’ backer was not so keen on their intrusion into their territory. But a promise was a promise, and so whoever their backer was very reluctantly allowed their teams access to their resources.

Of course, they immediately revealed their cowardly nature by firmly warning everyone not to make a fuss, which really infuriated Proton.<...

The New Normal - 8-8

The New Normal – 8-8 – A Legendary Moment

Just because I had made important calls to Joseph and Giovanni didn’t mean Flint and Cynthia’s tour of Sinnoh was over, nor did I want it to be. Cynthia and Flint clearly had more in store for me, as they told me we would soon be heading to the freezing fields of Snowpoint City.

As soon I heard, I couldn’t help but protest slightly, “You realize I’m nowhere near dressed enough to head there. Especially while ...

The New Normal - 8-7

A.N. I have made amendments to 7-15 as published today in the standard chapters! It's not a big change, but I added in a short Pokenet Interlude to replace Karen's victory speech. Feel free to check it out if you want!

The New Normal – 8-7 – A Galactic Introduction

As soon as the match was over, I had hardly any more time to talk to Cynthia as she became THE target for all of the interviews. By nightfall, her name was spread across all of the ...

The New Normal - 8-6 - Interlude - Karen & Lorelei

The New Normal – 8-6 – Interlude – Karen & Lorelei

(Karen POV)

Having just finished up with her usual meeting with Agatha in Lavender Town, Karen flew over to Pewter City with the pleasant breeze blowing past her face. She had regularly visited Brock and his siblings; it served as a nice break from the remedial training sessions that she had been doing over the past few weeks.

And yet, her mood remained pensive.

Since her victory aga...

The New Normal - 8-6

The New Normal – 8-6 – A Display of Power

I didn’t need to wait long, because Cynthia quickly made up her mind as she fished up her last Pokéball. I leaned forwards instinctively, waiting to see which of her Pokémon she had chosen.

“Lucario. Defeat them.”

And her Lucario was her answer, which came sprinting out of its Pokéball in a blur as it immediately charged into the fight. Before Smough could even brace himself, Lucario suddenly exploded fo...

The New Normal - 8-5

The New Normal – 8-5 – Cynthia’s Rise

I shouldn’t have been surprised at the large turnout, since a match like this was bound to attract attention. Especially since it was known that members of the Sinnoh Elite Four would be watching.

However, I was more impressed at the work that the Research Centre had put into create a makeshift battel arena, with everything practically being set up overnight. I was a little ashamed that they didn’t ask me to help out...

The New Normal - 8-4 - Interlude - Lucian

The New Normal – 8-4 – Interlude – Lucian

“You have an intense look in your eye again, Lucian. What’re you thinking about so deeply about?” Flint asked him with his hands in his pockets as he usually did.

Flint always liked to put up an air of casualness to raise the mood, which Lucian appreciated. He tended to drift into more melancholic thoughts if he was left alone, so he was grateful for Flint’s cheerful personality.

“Just thinking about ...

The New Normal - 8-4 - INTERLUDE - Janine

The New Normal – 8-4 – INTERLUDE – Janine

“Urghhhh….” Sabrina moaned on the bench as she tried her best to recover from seasickness. Despite the fact that this was the second time taking the ship from Johto to Kanto, she didn’t seem any more used to it.

“There there.” Whitney patted Sabrina soothingly on the back, only to receive further groans of discomfort from their resident Psychic specialist. Janine just hung back; she was less touchy-feely ...

The New Normal - 8-3

The New Normal – 8-3 – The Daily Life in Sinnoh

The next week in Sinnoh were mostly ones of idle exploration, where Cynthia continued to show me the ropes of how I could get the most out of my time in the caves. She did not hold my hand, instead pushing me to do better and to go deeper yet always remaining close by in case she needed to bail me out of trouble.

Over these past few days, I learnt two things about Cynthia. One, she was actually an excellent teach...

The New Normal - 8-2 - Interlude - Lorelei

The New Normal – 8-2 – Interlude – Lorelei

Despite the absence of two members of the Elite Four, the atmosphere in the Indigo Committee wasn’t much different. There was still the usual bickering and arguments made by people who thought themselves to be overly important, while their Champion tried his best not to shut them up with his Dragonite.

She could relate. No wonder her uncle became like that if THIS was what he had to deal with everyday.

At le...

The New Normal - 8-2

The New Normal – 8-2 – Explorers of Ruins

Despite having just travelled to a whole new region, I woke up bright and early the next morning – with my enthusiasm and excitement forcing me awake. I couldn’t wait to get started with some cave delving.

I quickly made my way to the canteen where I got some breakfast. I got some curious and interested stares from the other people that were sitting around the canteen, but it looks like none of them had the courage...

The New Normal - 8-1

The New Normal – 8-1 – A New Horizon

The rest of the boat ride continued peacefully, with me being able to successfully catch up on some much-needed sleep. When I woke up and saw that there was barely half an hour left until we arrived, I decided to just get changed and spend the rest of the ride idling around in bed.

Soon enough, the signature blaring of the horn signalled our arrival at Sinnoh, and I made my way onto the deck as I excitedly stared at the reg...

The New Normal - 7-16 - Interlude - Cynthia

The New Normal – 7-16 – Interlude – Cynthia

When she had received a call one afternoon that she was to be the tour guide for Elite John when he came to Sinnoh, to say that she was surprised was an understatement. Ever since Sinnoh had become aware of their foreign neighbours, Cynthia had instantly hopped off of her piano and had done everything she can to find out more about the greatest trainers from each region.

She found many of them fascinating, and Elit...

The New Normal - 7-16

The New Normal – 7-16 – Road to Sinnoh

As expected, Karen’s victory over Sidney made the headlines over the next few days. They played it up really hard, trying to dramatize it as a huge underdog victory that was going to completely upset the Indigo and Hoenn political scene.

Though anyone with a brain knew that it probably wasn’t going to be as dramatic as that.

Many other reporters tried to badger her for interviews, and the Pewter Gym got really c...

The New Normal - 7-15

The New Normal – 7-15 – Victory Celebration

Karen had won. She had done it. Even if this was only a charity match, she had demonstrated her prowess by defeating a member of the Hoenn Elite Four.

“HAH! I knew she could do it!” Agatha shouted out proudly, her face lined with excitement and pride, “THAT’S MY GIRL!”

Steven and I shared an amused look as we stared at Agatha’s uncharacteristic display of enthusiasm. But Agatha quickly cottoned on t...

The New Normal - 7-14 - Interlude - Whitney

The New Normal – 7-14 – Interlude – Whitney

The three of them sat huddled in her room, all of them staring intently at the TV screen as they watched the final few moments of Karen’s fight against Sidney. They were still at the Safari Zone Gates, figuring that it would be a great place to continue training up their new captures before they eventually returned to Kanto.

And they were making good progress on that. The three of them had come up with great ways...

The New Normal - 7-14

The New Normal – 7-14 – Darker yet Darker

The two didn’t wait long until they sent out their next round of Pokémon.

“Weavile! Speed up!”

“Shiftry! Fan out!”

Two figures silently appeared on the battlefield before their figures blurred as they quickly dashed against each other. Without any preamble, a battle of speed rapidly commenced as both Pokémon sought to out-speed and out-position the other.

“Razor Leaf, Shiftry!”

�...

The New Normal - 7-13

The New Normal – 7-13 – Dark and Darker

Olivine city was packed to the brim with people, almost reminding me of the time when Team Rocket tried to escape on the ship. But at least this time I was reassured with the fact that they weren’t about to launch an attack, not when they were mostly all locked up or on the run.

Instead, everyone had gathered here today for a much more pleasant reason – for the match between Karen and Sidney. Steven had worked hard t...

The New Normal - 7-12

The New Normal – 7-12 – Scientific Summit

Even though some time had gone passed, the hype around the Fairy type had yet to die down. In fact, it was still going strong as many trainers continue trying to experiment and train with the new Fairy types.

According to Karen, there were apparently many new trainers that had originally failed to beat her, who were now trying to challenge her again for the 1st Gym Badge with a newly captured Fairy type in hand. Most o...

The New Normal - 7-11

The New Normal – 7-11 – Getting down to business

The TV blared as I sat with my parents to eat breakfast.

“…AND what a crushing victory from Professor Oak, once again proving to the world why his battling skills are still held in such high esteem! Just yesterday, he has managed to back up his scientific discoveries with this impressive 3-0 victory over the Blackthorn representative! Proving once and for all that the Fairy type is truly the Dragon kille...