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The New Normal - 9-14 - Interlude - Steven & Bruno

The New Normal – 9-14 – Interlude – Steven & Bruno

Bringing in Bruno as his personal trainer was the best decision he’s ever made.

Ever since he had started training with Bruno, he could feel that his Pokémon were getting stronger with every session they participated in. Bruno was not only a powerhouse of a trainer, but the man was an excellent teacher with a sharp eye on where his Pokémon needed improving.

As a Steel specialist, Steven had nat...

The New Normal - 9-14

The New Normal – 9-14 – A Call to Action

As I hoped, my announcement and call to action spread rapidly across the entirety of Indigo. Cerulean was only the starting point, as more successful cities like Viridian, Blackthorn, Fuschia and many others echoed my sentiments.

Support and aid were rapidly being provided to the cities that were in need of assistance. Seeing this tidal wave of collective support, businesses and even private individuals began to jump in...

The New Normal - 9-13

The New Normal – 9-13 – The Pokémon Storage System

It had only been a day since the Pokémon Storage System, otherwise known as the PSS, was released to the public and able to be bought by anyone. And already it found its way into all of the major cities as businesses, Pokémon Centers, and practically everyone else got their hands on it and began exploring the new possibilities it offered.

With the PSS suddenly granting people with the ability to trade, stor...

The New Normal - 9-12 - Interlude - Lance

The New Normal – 9-12 – Interlude – Lance

There were times where being Champion was a slog, where you were forced to handle the myriad of mind-numbing responsibilities placed on you. There were times where being Champion was fun, like when you could do all the speeches for the important events.

And then, there were times where being Champion meant stepping up to the plate and getting things done, to instil order and stability during times of chaos.

Thi...

The New Normal - 9-12

The New Normal – 9-12 – Calm Conversations

“Oh…damn. Is Sabrina doing okay?” I asked concernedly to my parents.

My dad gestured to my mom, “She’s talking to Sabrina’s parents right now.”

“Don’t worry, Katrina says that Sabrina’s doing fine.” My mom spoke up as she saw me walk in, “A little disappointed, but not devastated.”

“That’s a relief.” I replied, “How did she lose?”

“She just went up against a trai...

The New Normal - 9-11

The New Normal – 9-11 – Power Projection

Overall, I was pretty satisfied with my crushing performance against Shin, to the point that I even hoped that he would challenge me again just so I could have a repeat performance. Alas, I had to make do with relishing in the despair that was painted on his face as he left the match.

But I didn’t myself indulge in my victory too much. As soon as the battle was over, my first priority was to check up on my sister to s...

The New Normal - 9-10 - Interlude - Shin

The New Normal – 9-10 – Interlude – Shin

“…CERTAINLY ONE TO BE REMEMBERED!” No matter what he tried, Shin could still hear the damning last words from the announcer echoing constantly in his head.

Those accursed words. The humiliation. The despair when he realized that everything he worked for was for nothing. Nothing at all. All that time and effort obsessing over how to defeat John, and he couldn’t even make it past the starting line.

The New Normal - 9-10 - Pokenet Reactions

The New Normal – 9-10 – INTERLUDE – Pokenet Reactions

[THE INDIGO CONFERENCE FINALLY BEGINS! ARE YOU READY FOR THE OPEN QUALIFIERS?!] By the Indigo Post

[Symbol of the League Logo] [Picture of all the current Indigo Elite Four, with Champion Lance in the middle]

Ladies and Gentlemen! Trainers of all ages! It is this time of the year as the Indigo Conference has finally begun once again! It’s time for trainers from all over Indigo to gather and show o...

The New Normal - 9-9

The New Normal – 9-9 – Wrath of a Tyrant

My match against Shin turned out to be easily scheduled. I had given my public acceptance to Shin’s ‘invitation’ practically right after his TV interview was over, and suddenly I had a call barely two hours later saying that my match was scheduled for the next afternoon.

Apparently the League officials who were in charge of organisation the Indigo Conference were especially interested in having a ‘impromptu show...

The New Normal - 9-8 - Interlude - Intermission

The New Normal – 9-8 – Interlude – Intermission

(John POV)

Putting down my phone, I walked out of the house and back into the training fields. Right after my talk with Karen, Cynthia had called, apparently having coincidentally having watched Shin’s challenge against me on TV. She asked me how I was doing, and I utterly failed to hide how livid I was.

I gave her a quick rundown on what happened and what we discovered, and my girlfriend quick...

The New Normal - 9-8

The New Normal – 9-8 – Growing Wrath

I hurried out of stadium and rushed over to the nearby Pokémon Center, immediately finding Sabrina and Janine hovering over protectively over my tearful sister.

Sabrina’s eyes immediately snapped to mine as I arrived, “Don’t push her.” She warned me, and I gave off a stiff nod.

Janine patted Whitney once more on the shoulder before she stood up, walking away with Sabrina and leaving the two of us alone.

The New Normal - 9-7

The New Normal – 9-7 – To the Indigo Conference

Time flew quickly after that. And in what felt like a blink of an eye, the Indigo Conference was starting up once again. It actually made me feel quite nostalgic – seeing the news talk about the many hopefuls and their predictions about who would win it all. This time last year, I was one of those hopefuls. And now, I was already an accomplished member of the Elite Four, with an unshakeable foundation that I leverage...

The New Normal - 9-6 - Interlude - Bruno

The New Normal – 9-6 – Interlude – Bruno

Bruno let out a satisfying groan as he just completed his final stretch of the evening. He had just got done wrestling with his Onix, but he still wasn’t able to lift the Rock type fully over his head yet.

He’ll manage it one day.

As soon as he finished up with his stretches and shattered one last boulder with his fist, he made the short walk back into town to buy some new supplies. He walked into his favour...

The New Normal - 9-6 - INTERLUDE - Whitney

The New Normal – 9-6 – INTERLUDE – Whitney

They had been throwing their all into their training, but while they pushed their Pokémon hard, they were always careful never to overly exhaust and tire out their Pokémon. It wasn’t healthy to do so.

But now, after having spent whatever time they had left training up their Pokémon to be as powerful as they could be with all their training and sparring, the three of them knew they couldn’t put it off any long...

The New Normal - 9-5

The New Normal – 9-5 – Training for a Crowd

Turns out I had nothing to worry about. My sister – being the little pink ball of sunshine that she was – was able to quickly put Silver at ease.

Oh he was still very shy about suddenly being surrounded by older girls, but he soon relaxed as he realized that they really meant him no harm. I think my sister really enjoyed being able to play around with someone that was younger than her.

And her friends were ...

The New Normal - 9-4 - Interlude - Cynthia

The New Normal – 9-4 – Interlude – Cynthia

Although she was not someone that was prone to arrogance, she was pretty confident in saying that Aaron was just not at her level.

Especially after her Lucario just decimated his Scizor in under a minute.

The normally speedy and agile Scizor quickly found its match against her Lucario, who was not only faster in many ways, but was able to punch and strike with far more precision and force. Even after taking do...

The New Normal - OMAKE - April Fools

The New Normal – OMAKE – April Fools

Suddenly, I received an emergency call from Lance.

“John, I need you to hurry over here.” He said to me with obvious alarm and panic in his voice. I had never heard him so unsettled before, “I know you’re busy, but you have to come see this. It’s urgent.”

“On my way.” I nodded, dropping everything I was doing as I pushed myself to head to the Indigo Plateau as soon as possible.

And as soon as I a...

The New Normal - 9-4

The New Normal – 9-4 – An afternoon in Lavender Town

My press conference made the headlines the very next day, as I expected it to. The news, as they were wont to do, were all busy discussing the implications of this discovery, trying to play up this ‘revelation’ of my connections and what that meant for my ability to influence politics in the future.

The news had unofficially labelled me as the ‘foreign representative’ of Indigo, stemming from my myri...

The New Normal - 9-3

The New Normal – 9-3 – Interviews and Meetings

Even though I still had a several more meetings to go through, I didn’t let that stop me from getting up late the next day. I was tired and exhausted, so I believed that I deserved to be able to lie-in for once.

That was why I found myself slowly chowing down my breakfast alone in the living room, idly listening to the news; my parents had already long gone to work by then.

“…With Elite Bertha now ...