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The New Normal - 10-16 - Interlude - Cynthia

The New Normal – 10-16 – Interlude – Cynthia

Cynthia stood with her arms crossed as she stared stoically at the two titans of battle in action. She watched each blow with a critical look, trying to scorch the memory of the power behind each attack into her brain.

THIS was what she hoped to achieve with her Garchomp.

The sheer devastation, the unstoppable power, their unyielding strength – all of this was mesmerising to see. Her Garchomp...

The New Normal - 10-16

The New Normal – 10-16 – A Clash of Kings

With the meeting wrapped up, Wallace subsequently made an announcement to the public regarding the change in plan, declaring that the upcoming battle of Champions would be a 2v5 and that there would be a duel between Lance and I.

Naturally, the public lost their collective minds over this sudden change, in a good way. Like Lance had mentioned in our previous meeting, there had been a lot of debate within the Indigo bat...

The New Normal - 10-15

The New Normal – 10-15 – The Other Battles

Unfortunately, my celebrations with Roxanne about our mutual victory was interrupted by the sounds of children sniffling as Agatha and the twins approached us.

The twins were ‘unhappy’ about their defeat.

“…Look at what you’ve done, John.” Agatha scowled at me as she took out a handkerchief to wipe down the snot from their noses, “You just had to win with your Ursaluna. You couldn’t...

The New Normal - OMAKE - Ingame Snippet - Tri-Regional Tournament

The New Normal – OMAKE – Ingame Snippet – Tri-Regional Tournament

[New FREE DLC: THE TRI-REGIONAL TOURNAMENT, HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE GAME! FIRST PLAYTHROUGH AND THOUGHTS!] by Earlier Access

So I know there were a few players complaining about the lack of endgame for the latest Pokémon game (which is insane, btw. This game has more endgame than the others by far], so I guess the Pokémon company listened and dropped this banger for u...

The New Normal - 10-14

The New Normal – 10-14 – Ghostly Finale

Our planning almost went deep into the night, but we eventually called it quits so that we and our Pokémon could get a good night’s sleep before the upcoming battle. We were going to need it.

Besides, there was nothing more that we could really plan for. We had a decent understanding of what our opponents were capable of, having studied their past matches and all, but having things planned on paper and actually dealin...

The New Normal - 10-13

The New Normal – 10-13 – To the Finals

Browsing through the Pokenet a few hours after our match made me realize that we had gotten on a few headlines for making it into the Final Rounds. Like I had hoped, Roxanne got her share of the spotlight, even if that spotlight was split between encouragement and criticism.

There were some that supported and cheered for Roxanne for being able to make it to the Finals and to keep up with an Elite Four member. On the other...

The New Normal - 10-12 - Interlude - The Losers

The New Normal – 10-12 – Interlude – The Losers

(Sidney POV)

“…Are you feeling any better, Brock?” He spoke softly to his partner, making sure that his voice remained calm and gentle. The young lad hadn’t taken the loss very well, which was only to be expected.

It was a little soul crushing to be given a second chance by the public, winning the public vote after they lost in the first round, only for it to not matter in the end.

...

The New Normal - 10-12

The New Normal – 10-12 – The Second Battle

Blaine had offered us to join him for a dinner, but Volkner and I both declined as we wanted to return to our respective partners as soon as possible. So with that ‘distraction’ over, Roxanne and I were able to spend whatever time we had until after battle training together.

During our preparation, Roxanne actually asked if she could try to play a bigger role in the upcoming battle, since I was so confident about ...

The New Normal - 10-11

The New Normal – 10-11 – Overthrow

Time quickly flew by when we were having fun. And the evening rays of light told us that we had been playing around for long enough.

Our stomachs also alerted us to the fact that we were actually pretty hungry. So despite the two of us still being soaked, we were tired enough from all that playing around that we had to drag ourselves to the nearest restaurant to get some dinner.

Yet, ignoring all the tiredness, it was c...

The New Normal - 10-10 - Interlude - Archer

The New Normal – 10-10 – Interlude – Archer

The terrorists were on the move.

Just like his boss had predicted, the criminals thought that they were safe – that the whole world’s attention would be focused on the Tournament, and that the security measures would be relatively lax.

Oh sure, Cynthia may have ordered the Sinnoh Police to be on high alert, but career criminals like them were bound to know how to stay away from the authorities, especially...

The New Normal - 10-10

The New Normal – 10-10 – The Beach Episode

Winning against Will meant that we had successfully managed to clear through the first round of the Tournament. And since we were one of the earlier fights to take place, it meant that we had some time off before our next battle. Plus, since we didn’t even know who our opponent would be yet, there was no point in doing any specialised training until then.

After the match ended, I did invite Roxanne for a celebratory...

The New Normal - 10-9

The New Normal – 10-9 – The First Match

As soon as the announcements were over and we were allowed to leave the arena, Roxanne and I broke off from the rest of the group to get some more training in.

I was happy to see her determination. It was clear that she was putting a lot of effort into winning this Tournament, and she recognised what an opportunity these battles served for her.

Not only did it allow her to show off her talents on what was likely th...

The New Normal - 10-8 - Interlude - Live Reactions

The New Normal – 10-8 – Interlude – Live Reactions

[LIVE: OFFICIAL BROADCAST FOR THE TRI-REGIONAL TOURNAMENT!]

FutureAce : When are they all coming out? I feel like I’ve been staring at an empty arena for hours now.

FearTheRat : Relax, it’s only been 10 minutes since the event officially started. Of course there’s going to be waiting around. There are too many trainers gathered in one place for there not to be....

The New Normal - 10-8

The New Normal – 10-8 – The Gathering

We fully threw ourselves into training for as long as possible, until we realized that we couldn’t train for any longer or else we’d be very late for the photoshoot. There was a difference between being fashionably late and just late. With how late we ended up setting off, we were really edging towards the latter.

Especially since Roxanne insisted that we be Teleported there.

“…I’m not sure if they are goin...

The New Normal - 10-7

The New Normal – 10-7 – Pre-Tournament

Time flew when you were having fun, and there were few things as fun and as exciting as preparing for a Tournament that would have the entire world watching and cheering. During that time, my sister finally deigned to visit home, where she spent the night regaling us of her time as a Gym Trainer of the Saffron Gym.

“It was strange working with Psychic types at first. They’re really squishy, and most of them can’t fi...

The New Normal - 10-6 - Interlude - Drake

The New Normal – 10-6 – Interlude – Drake

Drake fiddled with his phone for a while before he finally managed to dial up the Waterflower sisters’ correct number.

He had no idea why all these newfangled phones were all determined to make their buttons even smaller than before. What was so wrong with bigger buttons? What was this obsession with making everything ‘sleek’ and ‘minimalistic’?

He put aside his grumblings as he heard the call connect...

The New Normal - 10-6

The New Normal – 10-6 – Partnering up

As was to be expected, the announcement for the Tri-Regional Tournament dominated the headlines. It was the first large scale event that would involve all of the known regions, and every Gym Leader and Elite Four was allowed to participate.

ANYONE who was a fan of Pokémon battling was immediately drawn to the upcoming Tournament. Everyone had their favourite Trainers, and they all wanted to see who would end up in the Top...

The New Normal - 10-5

The New Normal – 10-5 – A New Stage

(Cynthia POV)

It was time. Her battle against ex-Champion Hayato had finally come.

She wasn’t nervous, far from it. She couldn’t be, not when she was here to make a statement – to remind the traditionalists that their time had come to an end.

She knew that he was a Poison specialist, though his entire team did not solely comprise of Poison types. Though, as befits a man that championed the cause of...

The New Normal - 10-4 - Interlude - Proton

The New Normal – 10-4 – Interlude – Proton

Idling around did not suit a man like himself.

Proton had initially thought that they could have made use of the current political instability of Sinnoh to start getting things done, but he was unanimously shot down by everyone he had suggested the idea with.

He didn’t know why he expected anything different. Those weird freaks with Cyrus were obviously going to only listen to his own commands, and ...

The New Normal - 10-4

The New Normal – 10-4 – A Frosty(?) Reunion

I was reluctant to go see Pryce, as all I anticipated was getting a major headache from our conversation. But there was no real good reason to put it off, and so I eventually decided that pushing forwards my plan was worth any potential frustration that I might have with dealing with Pryce. It was best to get this out of the way first before I got distracted by the upcoming Tournament.

Therefore, with a resigned brea...

The New Normal - 10-3

The New Normal – 10-3 – Plans and Preparations

As I laid down on my bed the previous night, I had come to startling realisation – and it was something that, in hindsight, I couldn’t believe I had overlooked.

The Tri-Regional Tournament that Wallace was setting up was a fantastic opportunity to finally push for my long-time proposal – to have all Gym Leaders within Indigo be able to be appointed from either Kanto or Johto.

Previously I had held back...

The New Normal - 10-2 - Interlude - Volkner

The New Normal – 10-2 – Interlude – Volkner

Despite being on the backfoot, he could feel his heart pumping in excitement as he stared down the newest Champion of Sinnoh.

Flint was always generous with his praises, so he had his doubts about how strong Cynthia truly was. Oh, he wasn’t blind; he knew well enough how strong someone needed to be if she managed to clear through all of the Elite Four the way she did.

However, he was not someone who liked t...

The New Normal - 10-2

The New Normal – 10-2 – The New Elites

“Did you really call me here because you wanted to have someone to spar against?” Karen asked jokingly as we walked to the training fields, “Surely with all the people you know you could have called someone else to fight against. And I would have thought you would have wanted to spend more time with Cynthia.”

“You’re right, but Cynthia’s busy, and I can’t exactly train with her in person. Besides, I also w...

The New Normal - 10-1

The New Normal – 10-1 – A New Tournament

Turns out that just because Cynthia wasn’t going to ‘officially’ style herself as Champion of Sinnoh until the Open Challenges were done doesn’t mean that she couldn’t get a head-start in pushing through the policies she wanted to pass through.

And the first thing she did was to reach out to Lance and Wallace, as well as some of our Elite Four, to try to create a proposal that would tie our regions closer toge...

The New Normal - 9-18 - Interlude - Cynthia

The New Normal – 9-18 – Interlude – Cynthia

Cynthia let out a tired breath as she finally managed to escape from the crowds of reporters and well-wishers. They had been hounding after her after she made her open challenge. While she usually would have the patience to at least answer a few more questions, she wasn’t feeling up to it today.

But the day wasn’t over yet. As she flung open the door to her new private office, she already found the Sinnoh Elite...

The New Normal - 9-18 - Pokenet Interlude

The New Normal – 9-18 – INTERLUDE – Pokenet Reactions

[THE CHAOTIC RELEASE OF THE POKÉMON STORAGE SYSTEM! WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE WORLD AT LARGE?!] by The Indigo Post

[A picture of a PC in a Pokémon Center with the PSS installed]

Often times, the release of a fantastical invention is able to invoke a paradigm shift in our world. It flips over everything we know and forces everyone to relearn the basics. The release of the Pokémon Storage System, o...

The New Normal - 9-17

The New Normal – 9-17 – The New Champion

(Cynthia POV)

She stared Lucian down, ignoring the roar of the audience around her. She had a one Pokémon lead on him, leading the match 4-3.

Her team had taken down his Mr. Mime, Medicham, Espeon, and Bronzong, leaving him with his final two Pokémon. In return, he had knocked out her Roserade, Togekiss, and Spiritomb. Compared to all the other matches that she had fought – this was her closest fight ...

The New Normal - 9-16 - Interlude - Whitney

The New Normal – 9-16 – Interlude – Whitney

“…And this is the cafeteria where you’re free to eat whenever you want, but try to keep it to the lunch break.” Samson said to her as he showed her around the Saffron Gym. The fact that they had an all-you-can eat cafeteria that was FREE was an amazing benefit to working for the Gym.

Her eyes scanned around and took a look at the options available, where it was mostly standard cafeteria fare.

…Okay,...

The New Normal - 9-16

The New Normal – 9-16 – Back to Business

I had hoped that my stress-free vacation would be able to last a bit longer than it did. However, duty called, and when Giovanni rang you up saying that he had news from Archer, that warranted enough importance for me to resume my duties.

Of course, I was just about to get started with training with Karen, so that was a bit of unfortunate timing.

“Sorry, Karen, but I need to head out. This probably shouldn’t w...

The New Normal - 9-15

The New Normal – 9-15 – A Much Needed Rest

The bright rays of sunlight shined onto my blearily eyes, forcing consciousness back into my body. Stifling out a yawn, I pulled off the covers and dragged myself off the bed, blinking the last vestiges of sleepiness from my eyes.

As I left the bed, I let out a full stretch that forced the sleepiness out of me. It was nice to have some good days of sleep after all of the hassle with the PSS, and the training session t...