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The New Normal - 17-14 - INTERLUDE - POKENET REACTIONS

The New Normal – 17-14 – INTERLUDE – POKENET REACTIONS

[SINNOH WELCOMES IN THEIR FIRST EVER PROTECTOR-GUARDIAN! CONGRATULATIONS TO JOHN, FORMERLY OF THE INDIGO ELITE FOUR, FOR HIS ASCENSION!] by Sinnoh News

[Pictures of John at his ascension ceremony. He can be seen wearing his new outfit]

For those of you who were keeping an eye out on the local news, it should come as no surprise that John was eventually selected to become the first ever Protector-Gu...

The New Normal - 17-13

The New Normal – 17-13 – Kitakami

Reports about Kitakami kept flooding in. For practically a whole week, every single news station was talking about something new that they had discovered about Kitakami. Whether it be something about their local culture, rare Pokémon sightings, or an interview with one of the locals, Kitakami was always at the forefront of everyone’s minds.

An unintentional consequence of this was that the news about PLASMA had been complet...

The New Normal - 17-12 - Interlude - Aaron

The New Normal – 17-12 – Interlude – Aaron

The first thing he thought when he had arrived at Kitakami was that this place was truly empty.

He knew as much from the descriptions that Yukiko had given him during their trip here, but hearing about it and seeing it for himself was two different things.

For one, the sole settlement in the entirety of Kitakami was Mossui Town, and calling it a ‘town’ was already stretching it. Compared to even Solaceon T...

The New Normal - 17-12

The New Normal – 17-12 – Big Developments

However, as successful as the raids were, they were almost too successful. One of the issues that Unova now faced was that they had captured a huge amount of PLASMA’s members, and they were actually struggling to keep them all in custody as they were unused to dealing with such a surge of arrests at once.

Not only that, but unlike when we had made our big captures against the criminal Teams all that time ago...

The New Normal - 17-11

The New Normal – 17-11 – New Operations

When Cynthia received a call late last night while we were trying and failing to make some kind of fancy dinner together, I already knew that something important had just taken place. And after one tense phone call, I quickly found myself in a conference call with not only the rest of the Sinnoh Elite Four, but also my former colleagues from Indigo and those from Hoenn too.

In short, Looker had come in clutch for us. He ...

The New Normal - 17-10 - Interlude - Legendary Discussions

The New Normal – 17-10 – Interlude – Legendary Discussions

(Excerpt from the article: Unovan Mythology – an examination behind the tales of the Twin Heroes and the Legendaries of Unova)

Every child in Unova has heard of the tale of the Twin Heroes – the story of how an unidentified Legendary being had somehow split into two, with each of the two following after a different Hero. These beings were later recorded as Zekrom and Reshiram, representa...

The New Normal - 17-10

The New Normal – 17-10 – Extraction

(Civilian POV)

It wasn’t surprising that John and Cynthia were the power couple that had dominated the headlines for several weeks, especially after their engagement had become public knowledge. It only took a single intrepid reporter at the right place and at the right time to snap a picture of the ring on Cynthia’s figure for the whole world to explode from the implications.

Most of known world,...

The New Normal - 17-9

The New Normal – 17-9 – Intermission

Despite my new engagement to Cynthia, nothing really changed in the wider scope of things. Of course, every time I saw her newly adorned ring, a brand new smile would always grow on my face. Waking up every morning together was also another incredible source of joy.

It truly felt like we had finally begun living our lives together, as it was always meant to be.

We decided that there was no need for a marriage ceremony...

The New Normal - 17-8 - Interlude - Looker & N

The New Normal – 17-8 – Interlude – Looker & N

(Looker POV)

Recently, the upper leadership of PLASMA had been meeting far more often – which did not bode well. Ever since their humiliating retreat from Sinnoh, the leadership of PLASMA had all agreed to lay low for the time being; to avoid taking any further action that might accidentally draw the authorities attention onto themselves.

Which was why the recent uptick in meetings was so co...

The New Normal - 17-8

The New Normal – 17-8 – A New Life Together

Naturally, the ceremony wasn’t over just because I was sworn in. After formally accepting my new position as the Protector-Guardian of Sinnoh, I spent most of the evening mingling with the other guests in attendance as they congratulated me on my new position.

I spent most of that time speaking with many of the attending Gym Leaders that I hadn’t yet spoken to. Though I hadn’t been the closest with the Sinnoh G...

The New Normal - 17-7

The New Normal – 17-7 – Sworn In

Expectedly, my arrival was met by a ton of fanfare from the Sinnoh League. From the moment I got off the ship, the League wasted absolutely no time as I was immediately escorted to the Temple of the Titan, where an official swearing in ceremony would be held for me as I took on my new position as Sinnoh’s first ever Protector-Guardian.

Fortunately, my girlfriend was there to accompany me on every step of the way. Not...

The New Normal - 17-6 - Interlude - Elite Four

The New Normal – 17-6 – Interlude – Elite Four

(Karen POV)

A day after John had left, they were all shuffled back into Lance’s office for a discussion about their upcoming plans and proposals.

Even though it had only been a day, she had keenly felt the lack of John’s presence in the room. Whenever they were called into meetings like this, she had a habit of immediately turning to John – as he was often the reasons that the meetings were ...

The New Normal - 17-6 - INTERLUDE - POKENET REACTIONS

The New Normal – 17-6 – INTERLUDE – POKENET REACTIONS

[DRAKE FIGHTS BRUNO! THE FIRST-EVER FOREIGNER CHALLENGE TO AN ELITE FOUR MEMBER!] By Battlecast

[Pictures of the battle. Annihilape is featured frequently]

This was the battle that we’ve all been waiting for. Ever since Drake made his declaration against Bruno, we all knew that the man was going to accept – giving his ambitions to become the first-ever foreign Elite Four member to be appointed.<...

The New Normal - 17-5

The New Normal – 17-5 – Time To Leave

The next week or so passed by both eventfully and quickly, given how much that I had to do.

First and foremost, Drake had lost his battle against Bruno, making Bruno the newest and first ever foreign Elite Four to be appointed.

We had all gathered in Lance’s office to watch the battle live, and there were moments during that battle that had shocked all of us. For example, Annihilape’s ridiculous damage and endura...

The New Normal - 17-4 - Interlude - Drake

The New Normal – 17-4 – Interlude – Drake

As he watched his beloved starter go down to the single most powerful move he had ever seen, he felt a whole host of different emotions sprung up within him.

On the one hand, he was disappointed in himself. He knew that this was a battle he could have won, had he chosen to make different choices during it. The defeat of his Flygon especially was particularly regretful, as he knew he could have utilised his Ground typ...

The New Normal - 17-4

The New Normal – 17-4 – Ascension

(Bruno POV)

The feeling of someone tapping on his shoulder told him that it was time. His battle against Drake was here.

Opening his eyes, he exited the meditative state that he was in as he wordlessly stood up and walked forwards into the arena. The crowd were loudly cheering their support from all around him, but he allowed none of it to enter into his mind. Right now, his mind was like a cage – bounded by t...

The New Normal - 17-3

The New Normal – 17-3 – Plans

A few days later, which I had been busy running around making preparations and fulfilling my promises to my friends from Cerulean, I received a very interesting call from Will.

“John, I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time, but would it be possible if you could come to the Goldenrod Gym sometime soon?” He said, “I have a proposal for you.”

“What kind of proposal?” I asked.

“A political one – but al...

The New Normal - 17-2 - Interlude - Volkner

The New Normal – 17-2 – Interlude – Volkner

He couldn’t deny that his decision to take on Misty as his assistant was partially a spur-of-the-moment thing. Although he had made the offer, and didn’t regret it, the realisation of what he had done only set in later.

Taking on Misty as an assistant, and helping to train her, was different than just training up Gym Trainers. Here was a little girl who had voluntarily left her home behind just so that she coul...

The New Normal - 17-2

The New Normal – 17-2 – Preparing for Departure

As per Lance’s request for us to assist him with mustering up public support so that Alder could be persuaded to allow the International Police to have jurisdiction over Unova, I immediately got to work.

I went to text Elesa first, since I knew that she’d be the easiest to bring onboard. And indeed, it only took a few minutes of conversation before she agreed to at least speak to the other Gym Leaders about i...

The New Normal - 17-1

The New Normal – 17-1 – New Direction

With the Tournament now over, I really didn’t expect for anything interesting to pop up as I prepared to make my way back home to Indigo. I did speak with Elesa and Iris before their own ship departed for Unova, exchanging a promise to continue keeping in touch and maintaining our friendships. And if there was ever an opportunity for one of us to visit the other, then we would do so.

However, just as I was about to head ...

The New Normal - 16-18 - Interlude - Blaine

The New Normal – 16-18 – Interlude – Blaine

When he was first assigned to the mysterious ‘evolution stone’ project, not only was he honoured to be working alongside such brilliant talents, but he also thought that because of said talent that the project would be a breeze. He thought that the mysteries of these stones would be revealed to them within the course of a month or so.

And while they were making progress, it was far from what he had ini...

The New Normal - 16-18 - INTERLUDE - POKENET REACTIONS

The New Normal – 16-18 – INTERLUDE – POKENET REACTIONS

[A SURPRISE BATTLE?! CYNTHIA AND STEVEN BATTLE AGAINST JOHN AND ELESA!? THE CHAMPIONS FIGHT ONCE AGAIN!] By Battlecast

[Pictures of the battle. Tyrant, Metagross, and Garchomp are featured most prominently]

Despite their positions as being the strongest trainer in a region, everyone should know that it is very rare for a Champion to actually participate in a battle. There are political reasons for ...

The New Normal - 16-17

The New Normal – 16-17 – Tournament’s End

Ah. So in the end, even with Tyrant’s best efforts, it hadn’t been enough.

Faced off against the might of two Champions’ greatest Pokémon, he had lost. But it had been a valiant attempt nonetheless.

In hindsight, it should have been an expected outcome. Tyrant, at the end of the day, no matter how strong and determined he was, was not so overwhelmingly powerful that he could have been realistically expec...

The New Normal - 16-16 - Interlude - Other Participants

The New Normal – 16-16 – Interlude – Other Participants

(Iris POV)

“…Seeing this… I don’t feel so bad that we lost.” She remarked to Karen as they watched as John’s Slaking valiantly held his ground in a 2v1 against both of the Champion’s starters. And it did this without any buffs or setup moves – relying on pure tenacity alone.

“I did say that John was going to be our toughest opponent of the Tournament.” Karen said, “W...

The New Normal - 16-16

The New Normal – 16-16 – Champions

My first thought was that I was hearing things wrong. I had absolutely no idea that such a thing was going to be sprung on us.

Fuck, this must have been the surprise that Cynthia was hinting to me about. I thought it’d be something newsworthy, but I didn’t imagine it would be on a scale like this!

Who drops a battle against two Champions on you out of the blue like that?! We didn’t even have any ...

The New Normal - 16-15

The New Normal – 16-15 – The Finals?

Our victory over Koga and Flannery was definitely not clean, but I couldn’t deny being satisfied with it nonetheless.

However, I didn’t get much chance to replay that battle in my head as I had to focus on getting ready for the next battle. We were given the rest of the day to rest and heal up our Pokémon before the final battle would take place.

So for the very last time, Elesa and I burned through the ...

The New Normal - OMAKE - Ingame Snippets - Pokémon: Black and White

The New Normal – OMAKE – Ingame Snippets – Pokémon: Black and White

[A review of Pokémon: Black – a worthy sequel? Or a hastily produced ripoff?] by Earlier Access

[A gallery containing the official promotional material of the game. Many Gym Leaders and Pokémon that are exclusive to Unova can be seen]

For those wondering whether it’s worth it to buy the game as a casual fan – or if you greatly enjoyed their previous titles – then I will save...

The New Normal - 16-14

A.N. Hi all, but I’m sorry to say that it’s going to be very likely that, for the foreseeable future, uploads will generally be delayed by a certain amount of hours from what you’re used to. I’ve really tried my best to fix my schedule, but it’s just not happening. Just to be clear, I will do my utmost to ensure that you will still get the same amount of chapters and on the same day, but each chapter might be delayed or so. Thank you again for understanding.

<...

The New Normal - 16-13

The New Normal – 16-13 – Interviews

With our victory over Lorelei and the psychic twins secured, we had secured our final place in the Top 4, and it didn’t take long for the remaining pairs to be decided.

Besides us, Karen and Iris, Flannery and Koga, and Crasher Wake and Marshal had also made it to the Top 4.

Incredibly, that meant that amongst the remaining teams, only Indigo and Unova had members of their Elite Four remaining in the Tournament. All ...

The New Normal - 16-12 - Interlude - Cynthia & Misty

The New Normal – 16-12 – Interlude – Cynthia & Misty

The land that both her and John had agreed upon at Route 221 had finally been purchased, with all of the legalities sorted. The large patch of land was now theirs – free to do whatever they liked with it. Or in this case, free to build their dream house upon.

As she had discussed with John, the best way of making sure that they both got what they wanted was for both of them to individually come up wi...