The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 30: 117-120

Chapter 30: 117-120

The New Normal – 6-7 – Raid Rewards

Fortunately, the attack at Mt Pyre seemed to be the 'last hurrah' for the grunts. Between their doomed assault and their failed ambush, that seemed to have used up whatever remained of their fighting strength left.

That didn't mean our job had become that much easier, though. Throughout the next week, we continued to raid hideout after hideout, and it was one of constant movement and tension. Now that we were sure that the grunts were in full retreat, it started a race against time to see if we could catch all of the grunts before they retreated to whatever hole they crawled out of.

On the bright side, Wallace's speech did everything it intended to, riling up the public and throwing his full weight behind our actions in driving out these criminals. With the Champion publicly supporting us, and our undeniable string of successes, we were able to paint a very favourable narrative that caused the committee to finally realize the way the wind was blowing. Not wanting to be caught on the wrong side, they stepped back and allowed us free reign to do as we pleased.

Though we now had access to additional reinforcements, Drake and I still ran our Pokémon to exhaustion as we skipped out on sleep and rest to bust down more locations. There was no need for subtlety. The evil teams knew we were coming for them. In light of the damage caused at Mt Pyre, we did our best to minimize collateral damage...but we were not always successful. Common office buildings, warehouses, random bases in the middle of nowhere, none were safe from us.

It had almost become routine at this point, and the Hoenn Police were rapidly becoming experts at raiding locations. At some point, I trusted them enough to outright loan them Smough and Klee while I took the rest to attack some other location. The grunts had learned to fear the signature roar of Salamence, which was now an indicator of their impending doom.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it quickly became clear that it was a losing battle on our end. Though we continued to cooperate heavily with the Hoenn Police to coordinate and locate the grunts' hideouts, following any found memos and tracing back the money, each raid turned up with increasingly diminishing returns.

What became increasingly clear was that the criminal's retreat had been a partial success, and at least the leaders had successfully escaped from us. It was annoying, but even with our increased patrols around the borders of Hoenn, the availability and manoeuvrability granted by Pokémon made it near impossible to properly secure all exits.

But it was far from a total loss. We had captured many of their grunts, foot soldiers, and stolen Pokémon while also destroying most if not all of their infrastructure that they had set up in Hoenn. There was absolutely no chance that they could rebuild in Hoenn any time soon, and we were confident that their organisation numbers had been severely crippled.

Team Aqua, Magma, and Rocket wouldn't prove to be a problem for some time. Not without some serious time to recover.

The Committee were horrified to find out just how far the evil teams had infiltrated Hoenn, and I knew Drake had to resist giving them a "I told you so". But they were placated by the fact that most of the stolen assets were now back into their hands, which was a nice win for everyone.

On a more amusing note, I had heard bits and pieces about what went on with their attempted allegations at Silph Co., which I realized quickly went nowhere. I wasn't sure what Giovanni did, but I had seen and read that he had been working hard at dispelling the allegations and protecting Silph Co's reputation. His recent public statement seemed to have done the job.

And now, Drake and I were waiting for the prisoners to be transported to Indigo to be psychically interrogated to see if more information would come up through that. Drake had petitioned the committee again to label the evil teams as terrorists, but this was where our rapid and constant success bit us in the ass.

Although the Committee were willing to give us free reign, they saw our rapid success as proof that things were being 'handled' and there was no need to 'escalate the situation and cause further panic'. What was worse was that they weren't exactly wrong; we had been taking big wins and we had pretty much dismantled their operations. Even at this point the public thought that the matter was slowly settling down.

That really drove Drake up the wall, but he distracted himself by throwing himself into more raids, taking out his annoyance on any grunts that were unlucky enough to find themselves in his path.

Regardless, this meant that Drake and I needed to wait for the prisoners to be transported to Indigo before they could undergo psychic interrogation. The fact that I sustained an injury actually helped here, since I had been injured as a member of a foreign Elite Four in Hoenn territory.

The Hoenn Committee desperately did not want it to be a talking point. I was tempted to make it one, but my more rational side prevailed. So instead, I leveraged it for everything I could.

First, I told Lance about it and he used my injury to pressure the Hoenn Committee and smooth over any jurisdictional issues with the prisoners, and we got authority over the prisoners without any issues as an 'apology'.

Then Wallace got told. And he used that to rake the Hoenn Committee over the coals and was finally able to cow them into compliance, for now. That allowed them to approve the transport ship containing the International Police members that were being sent over from Indigo. They would be arriving later this afternoon.

But I also made sure to get my own cut of the profits. Both Lance and Wallace were able to advance their own agendas by leveraging my successes, so they acknowledged that they owed me for my efforts. For Wallace, this was separate his promise to aid me if I called for him, which I was glad for. And the Hoenn Committee knew that my injury served as a black mark for them, as the public would not forgive them for their inaction when I went out and got injured on their behalf. They knew I could hold this incident over them.

All in all, I would say the whole 'getting injured' thing was worth it in the end, as I managed to push my own agenda of being one of the primary brokers that allowed for a closer bond between Hoenn and Indigo, extending my own influence even further. I was sure that the connections I had made and reinforced during my time here would serve me well.

Despite my success, I would not like to repeat getting injured like that again – after settling down from all the battles, it had taken me some time to process that near-death experience. But I refused to be unnerved by these grunts.

This also symbolized the beginning of the end of my time in Hoenn, at least for the time being, as Lorelei would be replacing my duties here and overseeing the first ever deployment of the International Police in foreign territory.

Lance successfully persuaded me that, considering the raids were being increasingly sparse and failed to obtain much new information, there was really no need for me to stay there and act as the Houndoom. I had done enough, and now it was time for me to return to my duties in Indigo.

Surprisingly enough, Drake agreed with Lance. He said that, with the evil teams in full retreat, a lot of the investigation work now would be done by the ones sitting behind the desks pouring over the collected information. Thus, staying here would just be a waste of time for me, and any of my previous duties could easily be handed over to Lorelei.

But Drake was quick to remind me that, just like how Wallace promised me that he would come over and help when it was needed, he would do the same and more.

"You're a fine lad, John. I would be honoured to fight alongside you once again in the future." He told me. "You bled for our region – that means a lot to an old fighter like me. And I'll always have your back for it."

"Thank you, Drake." I smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." And he patted me on the shoulder.

So it wasn't long after that where it was my last day here in Hoenn. To my surprise, I got a call from Joseph even before my last day became public knowledge, who asked me to come over to visit him at Devon Corp if I had the time.

Considering I didn't have anything better to do until the afternoon, I made my way over there, curious to see what he needed me for. As soon as I arrived, the receptionist hastily escorted me up to Joseph's office, where he promptly greeted me with a wide smile.

"Ah, John! Just the man I wanted to see!" He said cheerily, "I'm sorry for taking up more of your time, but I really wanted to thank you and give you something for your efforts in helping me find justice for their attack on my company."

I tried to put on a humble smile, "It was no problem, Joseph. These criminals were a threat to Hoenn as a whole, so I felt like I was just doing my duty anyways as a firm ally of Hoenn. I do hope that your company is recovering smoothly from whatever damage it suffered."

He nodded, "Thank you, and it is, thanks to your help. So, I would be remiss if I didn't appropriately award you with something. Look here, I have something to show you." He fiddled with something underneath his desk before he brought out a small chunk of rock with a peculiar pattern on it. My eyes widened as I immediately recognized what it was.

A fossil. And a very well-kept one too considering how distinct its shape was. But did that mean...

"Yes, I can see it in your eyes that you recognize what this is." Joseph spoke up, a hint of pride in his voice, "Like I mentioned to you the first time we met, we here at Devon have been trying to create a machine that would reliably allow us to revive these fossils into living Pokémon. Fortunately for us, the attack at our company failed to damage any of that research, so I can proudly say that we almost have a finished prototype working."

"Wow!" Was all I could say to that. I didn't think a working fossil machine could be created so soon, even if it was still a prototype. "That's incredible!"

"Thank you. It's my pride and joy." He said gleefully, looking like a young child on his birthday, "But that's not all, of course. We're going to be running real tests hopefully soon with the prototype, and I just wanted to let you know that, if we are successful, I'll be gifting you the first Normal type fossil that we get!"

Ah. I had to hide a wince as to not shatter his enthusiasm. From my metaknowledge, I knew that there was no such thing as a Normal type fossil. Thus, I highly doubted that I was going to actually receive anything. Still, I really appreciated the gesture, and so I made sure to respond accordingly.

"That's very nice of you, Joseph. You really didn't have to." I said kindly, making sure that I put on my best thankful smile for him. Even if I wasn't going to be getting anything, his kindness was still a nice substitute.

"Nonsense! Besides, if we do get a Normal type fossil, who better than you to discover its' full potential?" He responded rhetorically, "I'll be sure to let you know if we are successful, or you could check on the news, I'm sure it would be in the headlines." He joked.

"Oh, and speaking of which, I saw that your family's business had been popping up a little bit in the business section of the news." He continued, to which I nodded, "Glad to see that you're all moving up in life. And I figured that – as part of my thanks for all your hard work in avenging and protecting Devon Corp – if you or your parents ever decide to start expanding into Hoenn, be sure to let me know. I'll see what I can do for you."

Okay, that was far more of a gift than the fossil. Sure, one new Pokémon to have on my roster would have been nice, but having access to the many business connections that Devon Corp had was invaluable. It would likely make setting up a branch in Hoenn much easier.

"That would be incredible, Joseph." I replied sincerely, "I'm sure my parents would be very appreciative of this as well."

He just waved me off, "It's the least I could do. And besides, it's not like helping you would hinder us. In fact, we'd probably make some money off your ventures as well!" He laughed.

And with that, the two of us continued making small talk for a while longer. On my end, I mostly chatted about the investigations' progress, making sure to leave out any confidential information. In return, Joseph proudly gushed about Steven's progress in Indigo and his successes when challenging the Gyms. He insisted that I meet with him at least once, and I promised that, as soon as I got back, I'll make try to make time.

But before long, it was time for me to head to Ever Grande City to meet up with Drake once again for the Indigo delegation to arrive. And for my own departure from Hoenn.

And so, with one last goodbye, I made my way to Ever Grande City.

=========

?Turns out, there was more than just Drake waiting for me here, as standing right next to him was a familiar face that I hadn't seen since my show match here. Sidney of the Elite Four was there, chatting away with Drake about something. They turned to me as soon as I approached.

"Ah, John, you're here." Drake greeted, before gesturing to Sidney, "Sorry for not letting you know about this, but this was a last-minute thing. I'll let Sidney explain."

"It's nice to see you again, John." Sidney shook my hand, "When the committee was informed that a delegation from Indigo was coming over, they realized that we had received much from Indigo and haven't really been giving anything back. So, as a result, they're sending me over there as a diplomatic gesture and to speak with the people from Sinnoh as well."

"Of course, I have my own reasons for going there." He added, "There are a few people I'd like to meet. I'm sure you know who she is; she's practically the only other Dark type trainer on the radar these days." He smiled.

Karen. I nodded, "Can't say that was unexpected."

He chuckled, "Yes, as I'm sure you realized, I would love for the opportunity to finally meet another Dark type specialist. I've recently come into a bit of a funk with my training, so I thought that maybe an alternate perspective might shake things up for me. And even if that doesn't happen, chatting and discussing things with a fellow Dark type specialist wouldn't hurt."

"She would certainly welcome that." I agreed, "It'd be a welcome break from her effort in running the Gym. And I'm sure she will provide some insight into Dark types. She's the best Dark type trainer I know."

"How many Dark type trainers do you know besides me and her? We're rarer than a shiny!" Sidney quipped, "But yes, that's what I'm counting on. It's been hard to find another Dark type specialist that actually is strong enough to reach the Elite level. It'll be nice to compare our methods and strategies."

I laughed, "Well, I'm sure Karen would appreciate it. She can be an ambitious person. But also one burdened by high expectations."

"Ah, high expectations...I can definitely relate to that." He nodded sympathetically.

"Just be careful of Agatha." I joked, "She'll probably be there if you ever meet with Karen."

"Her? What's wrong with her?" Sidney asked confusedly, "If you mean that she's a Ghost specialist, I can assure you that I have plenty of practice dealing with mischievousness from Phoebe."

"...Agatha is nothing like Phoebe." Was all I said, which only served to confuse Sidney even further. Before I could warn him further, I was interrupted as a ship appeared on the shoreline, signalling the arrival of the Indigo delegation. Oh well, he'll find out the hard way.

We stayed silent as the ship carrying the visitors from Indigo arrived into port. The exiting ramp extended, revealing the suit-adorned figure of Lorelei in the front, followed by many other individuals wearing a dark blue uniform that I recognized were likely the members from the International Police.

Lorelei approached us first, making sure to address the many members from Hoenn, "Elite Drake, Elite Sidney, it's a pleasure to meet you both." She said formally, before gesturing to the small group people following behind her, "Behind me are our most prestigious members of the newly formed International Police, and we hope that we can serve you well with continuing to uncover the plans and designs of these criminals."

Sidney stepped up, "Thank you, Elite Lorelei, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well." He replied diplomatically, "On behalf of the Hoenn League, we are greatly thankful for your assistance. Now, let us not take up any more of your time and escort these fine individuals to their temporary office, where they can get started."

Lorelei nodded to the leading member of her group, "Looker, I'll meet up with you later. Please get yourself settled."

The aforementioned Looker, and wasn't that a surprise, nodded back before making his way to the Jennys, where they were escorted elsewhere. In my mind, I wished them all the best. I hoped that they could at least further dismantle whatever foundations and remains that the evil teams left behind.

As the International Police group made their exit, Lorelei turned to me, "John, thanks for handling all of this until now. If Lance hadn't told you yet, you're free to head back to Indigo if you'd like."

"Thanks, and yeah, I will be." I replied, "You know Sidney is coming with me, right?"

"Yes, Lance told me before I left." She confirmed, before looking around curiously, "Where are the prisoners? I thought they'd be here."

"They're going to be Teleported straight onto the ship, one at a time." Drake interrupted, "Less chance of them getting away this way. Even if it is much fucking slower."

"And I think that's our cue." Sidney added, as he started making his way onto the ship, "Come on gramps, let's check on the prisoners to make sure everything's going okay."

"Call me gramps one more time and you're going to join those fucking prisoners, sonny." Drake growled, only to elicit a laugh from Sidney. The two of them walked away as they made their way on board the ship.

As I watched them leave, a thought suddenly sprang to mind, "Who's going to be overseeing the psychic interrogations?" I asked Lorelei, "Do you know?"

"I think we all are." She answered. "But everything's going to be overseen by the Indigo Police as well, just in case."

"Wait, how long are you staying here for?" I cut in.

"Lance didn't exactly say, but probably around how long you stayed for." She replied, "I'd say a few weeks is most likely."

Then she looked around hesitantly for a moment to see if anyone else was nearby before lowering her voice to a whisper, "John, can I have your honest opinion of the situation here in Hoenn? I'm in charge of overseeing the International Police and to see their effectiveness. Lance wants this to be a test run for them to see if we can actually turn this into a long-term thing. I would really appreciate any advice you have to give." She said, a trace of nervousness in her tone despite her confident fa?ade.

I could sympathize, I knew that Lance had a lot riding on ensuring that the International Police would turn out to be a success. Thus, by appointing Lorelei to oversee it, while it was a great opportunity for Lorelei to show off her leadership skills, it also would ruin her if she made a mess of it. It was no wonder that she was doing everything to ensure that it was a success.

I hummed thoughtfully for a moment as I went over the last few days of raids in my head. "Honestly, Drake and I are fairly certain that the criminals are in full retreat." I said carefully, "I'm confident that we've handled most of the raids, but I'm sure you can find more once you actually delve deeper into the evidence that we collected. You will need to act fast on whatever you uncover, though, since they're definitely getting rid of everything incriminating as they retreat."

"I see." She responded, "And from what I understand from Lance, thanks to you, we have plenty of goodwill with the Hoenn Police at the moment. Enough to hopefully ensure that this cooperation will be rather smooth."

"Speaking of which, what were the raids like?" She asked curiously, "Admittedly...I haven't actually participated in a battle that wasn't under tournament or League rules, and yet you and Drake have already fought in so many. Even the other members of the International Police have only really participated in simulated battles, and not the real thing. Not in such large scales at least. What's it like? Is it dangerous?"

"Yes, and you should not underestimate anyone." I stated immediately, "The grunts and their Pokémon are much weaker than you, sure, but all they need one lucky strike against YOU, and then suddenly your Pokémon will be devoid of any leadership. And, in a lot of cases, you WILL be outnumbered, and you're going to have to act fast to quickly nullify their numbers advantage before their numbers overwhelm you. That's what I did at Olivine where I held the ramp."

"That's..." She exclaimed concernedly, but I wasn't done.

"In fact, this wasn't in the news, but I was caught in an ambush over Pacifildog Town. The grunts tried to take advantage of my lack of fliers to bring me down before backup could arrive. It was partially luck that I got out of it mostly unscathed." I patted at my arm, where a bandage was still wrapped around the room, "But I did get cut in the arm for my efforts."

She nodded solemnly, "Yes, I heard that from Lance too. Was it serious?"

"No, and it's already mostly healed up." I reassured her, keeping up a nonchalant look on my face, "Just don't get overconfident like I did and you'll be fine. The grunts don't have nearly as much manpower anymore anyways, so I highly doubt they'll be able to pull something like this off again."

She didn't look very reassured, so I continued in a lighter tone, "Furthermore, the Hoenn Police are all very experienced at this, so just follow their lead. Your Pokémon are definitely going to be the strongest thing in the fight, so never forget that and use it to your advantage. Don't try to make use of Snow strategies like you would against a normal trainer, instead focus on large area-of-effect attacks to quickly cripple your opponents."

I proceeded to list off most of the advice and strategies that I had picked up over my numerous raids. At one point, Lorelei took out her phone and started making notes on it. I felt oddly proud at that; it was like I was mentoring a pupil. It reminded me of what it was like when I taught in the past, and I curiously found it to be very satisfying.

Eventually, I ran out of things to say, and Lorelei finished typing up the rest of her notes before bowing thankfully towards me, "Thank you, John. I'm sure this'll be a great help going forwards." She raised her arm to check the time, "Ah, I think I've taken up enough time here. I should head over to check out how the group is settling in. Thanks again, John, and I'll see you later."

"Kick their ass for me." I said to her before making my way onto the ship, figuring that it was probably about time to leave anyways. My guess quickly proved right, as one of the Jennys kindly informed that the ship will be departing soon, and that they were just going through some final checks.

Loudred was quickly bombarded by an onslaught of Psychics and Air Slashes. Despite how much Whitney had trained her Loudred in order to maximize her raw power, she wasn't the bulkiest of Pokémon. And when she found herself facing off against an onslaught of attacks from various different angles, her Loudred unfortunately fell soon after to a surprise Air Slash from behind.

"Slow...Slow..." One of the spectating Slowpoke seemed to cheer at Sabrina's victory as it slowly crawled closer to the grinning Sabrina.

"Did you like what you see? The power on display?" Sabrina asked as she stared knowingly at the Slowpoke, flanked by both of her victorious Pokémon.

"Poke..." The Slowpoke nodded slowly and continued its slow crawl towards her. Despite how slow it was, Sabrina made no move to assist it and allowed the Slowpoke to slowly make their way to Sabrina in a show of its determination.

"Slow? Poke...?" It seemed to say as it looked upwards and met Sabrina's eyes with a determined stare of its own. Then, Sabrina's eyes flashed a brilliant blue, causing Slowpoke to do the same as the two began to communicate telepathically.

Whitney didn't know what they were saying to each other, but she and Janine remained silent as they simply watched Sabrina work her magic. In the distance, she could see the Jenny that had been guarding the Slowpoke Well walk over, observing Sabrina with a small smile. After what felt like a good minute of silent conversation, Slowpoke let out a cheerful cry.

"Slow! Slow! Slow!" It raised its small stubby arms into the air as its tail slapped the ground repeatedly in excitement. Apparently, whatever they said had thoroughly convinced the Slowpoke.

With a slight smile, Sabrina took out a free Pokéball from her belt and tapped the Slowpoke with it, causing it to instantly disappear into motes of light as it got absorbed into the Pokéball. The ball didn't even shake as the Slowpoke voluntarily captured itself.

"Well done!" The Jenny congratulated, approaching the trio while clapping her hands. "I knew you had it in you to secure the friendship of a Slowpoke. It was a smart plan of yours. I hope you treat it well."

"Thank you, and I will." Sabrina said firmly as she released her newly captured Slowpoke.

"Poke!" It said happily, and Sabrina shot it a happy smile as she shared in her Pokémon's enthusiasm, lifting the pink blob of a Pokémon into her arms.

Whitney and Janine quickly approached Sabrina and exchanged their own round of congratulations; both of them were truly happy for their friend for being able to capture a Slowpoke.

But, since it was starting to turn dark, Whitney suggested that they head back to her farm at Goldenrod to rest up for the night before they continued their journey. The other two agreed, and Janine even asked if they could visit the Safari Zone, since that should be a great location for them to catch some of the more rarer Pokémon available in Johto.

They all nodded; it was a plan!

The New Normal – 6-9 – A Fairytale Homecoming

I soon found that staying on a moving ship filled to the brim with potentially dangerous prisoners was far less exciting than I expected. In fact, it was just as boring as a multi-hour cruise with no access to the internet. In other words, a dull pain in the ass.

The prisoners weren't in any position to break out. So, with nothing else better to do, I decided to wander around the boat and catch some fresh air and hopefully decompress after my last few busy days of running around trying to catch the many grunts of the evil teams.

After a small walk around, I found a nice spot in the shade that still managed to capture the pleasant and refreshing sea breeze. I stayed there for a moment, allowing myself to bask in the natural wonders of nature as I allowed my mind to wander. In the distance, small flocks of wingulls and Pelippers flew in the sky, while small schools of Remoraid swam around in the bright blue ocean. It was truly an idyllic view.

I don't know how much time passed as I sat there, reflecting on the events that had taken place in Hoenn while also trying to anticipate the many changes that must have happened in Indigo while I was away. I looked forward to catching up on what I had missed.

The sounds of footsteps caused me to look up, and I saw Sidney casually walking up to me with his hands in his pockets.

"Hello." He greeted politely, which was once again a little jarring when you considered his outwardly punk rock appearance, "I'm sorry for shaking you out of your relaxation, but I thought I might join you."

"That's no worry." I replied easily, "Please. Take a seat."

"Well, if you insist." He chuckled as he sat. I watched as a content smile slowly formed on his face as he too recognized the calming effect of nature. He indulged in it for a moment like I did, before speaking up once again.

"I have to apologize for something, John." He said. I turned to him curiously, not knowing what he was on about, "About not participating in the raids with you and Drake. The rest of the Elite Four wanted to, but we couldn't."

"And why not?" I said, not trying to accuse him. I knew that Drake had said something similar, but I wanted to hear what Sidney had to say.

"Because that would be seen as an extreme escalation by the rest of the League. Having the entire Elite Four acting together to deal with a threat is only really seen in the direst of circumstances, which was why the Committee was so against us getting involved as well." Sidney sighed, "Maybe you're unaware of this because you're still relatively new to your position, and frankly, your time in the Elite Four has been quite unusual. Even in the Elite Four, it is rare to get involved in terrorist attacks as often as you did."

I stayed silent, allowing him to continue, "The three of us had petitioned Wallace to let us come and assist. Especially after your string of successes, we felt that the committee SHOULD have been calm enough to allow us to assist. But Wallace, perhaps wisely, refused. Honestly, I felt bad for him, he was doing a huge juggling act trying to keep the committee from imploding on themselves and ordering something stupid, while at the same time trying to muster up whatever political support he could for you and Drake. He worked himself tirelessly to do so, and the three of us were so inspired by his actions that we quickly joined in. After all, we couldn't leave him to deal with all the burden."

"Wow." I said aloud, "I knew Wallace was doing a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes, but that's something else." It really put in perspective why Drake had nothing but praise for him. He was not prone for shows of strengths like Lance, but he was great all the same.

Sidney continued with a fond smile, "You know, he told me just yesterday when he asked me to head to Indigo that he very desperately wanted to me in my place. He was really excited to be a participant at your newly opened Contest Hall! He's always been one to enjoy the spotlight in contests, and I'm pretty sure he's still sulking about it."

I laughed. Yeah, that sounded just like the Wallace I knew from my meta-knowledge. Then, an amusing thought popped up, "Hey, you think Wallace is a better Contest performer than the Waterflower sisters?"

"Perhaps!" Sidney chuckled, "Truthfully, I have not seen much of the Waterflower sisters. Hoenn TV don't often cover their performances, which is a bit of a shame. I have heard of their great talent, and I'd be honoured to see them in person."

"You can see them in Indigo while you're there." I pointed out, "You probably could make the time for it. I'm sure Wallace wouldn't begrudge you."

"He might, if only out of jealousy." Sidney replied amusingly, "But you're right. I'll try to make time for it."

"Anyways, I'm glad that the two of you managed to deal with them." He continued, returning to our previous topic, "I know some escaped, but you honestly did a great job with capturing many of them as well as dismantling their operations. This ship filled with prisoners is only proof of that."

"Thanks." I replied awkwardly, still not used to praise, "Are the others getting involved with the clean-up now that I'm gone?"

"I think so. At least, that's what Phoebe told me." He replied, "The committee finally let loose the shackles a bit for the free PR and to show that they were doing something." He said that part a little reluctantly, as if he disagreed with their course of action. I could understand.

"It's a little strange to me how powerful your committee is compared to ours." I admitted, "In Indigo, it would be rare for the committee to be able to browbeat someone like Lance. Normally, what he says will be what gets passed through."

"Wallace and Lance are different." Sidney explained slowly, "Despite my full confidence and respect for Wallace, he is not as politically influential as Lance. In fact, I find it pretty absurd that Lance managed to earn his position as Champion while also being from such prominent and influential group in the Blackthorns. I'm guessing that's why he's been able to be so forceful and able to cow the committee like he does; Wallace couldn't do that because his influence as Champion isn't enough."

"And that's not all, of course." He continued, "Professor Oak, when he was Champion, did a lot to install that kind of attitude within your Committee. After all, with his reputation and achievements, who would dare challenge him? Then Pryce, as his chosen successor, inherited that attitude from the committee, and that still carried on to this day. We don't have something like that in Hoenn."

I tilted my head in thought, never even considering that. I had totally overlooked how much Oak's and the Blackthorn's influence could have had on the Committee. Now that Sidney pointed it out, it seemed obvious why our two Committees had become so different.

I was just so used to the fact that, both under Pryce and Lance, the Committee were nothing more than puppets that had to be occasionally fed the odd morsel or so. Both Champions were able to cow the committee in their own ways.

"I never realized the difference." I said to Sidney, "My impression of the Committee have always been that they were meek, often with more bark than bite."

"Some of them are like that." Sidney nodded, "But you can't expect everyone to be a fool. Or rather, you can't expect everyone to be as easily cowed. Not without some serious political backing. And unfortunately, Wallace doesn't have what Lance has. Which makes our Committee meetings far more argumentative and combative, with many of them often challenging the Champion's policies out of a desire to posture if nothing else."

I agreed, understanding that both had their advantages and disadvantages. This is one of the times that I actually would have preferred dealing with Indigo's committee, sycophantic as they were.

"Is that why you didn't simply ignore their orders?" I asked him. "I mean from what you've said it really feels like you three were chomping at the bit to actively get involved."

"Yeah. Phoebe especially was raring to go, but I reluctantly talked her out of it." He admitted with a shake of his head, "It just wouldn't have been worth antagonizing the Committee against us. They might have tried to set up a smear campaign against us out of spite, and they would almost certainly have done everything they could to block our future policies. They're unreasonable like that. And so, after some careful consideration, we reluctantly realized that the long-term costs of our unauthorized intervention would have been a little too high of a price to pay. And since you and Drake seemed to have things handled, we ultimately let it go."

"Though I did hear from Wallace that you gave him some much needed ammunition to finally wrangle the Committee into submission, at least temporarily." He grinned at me, "Thanks for that."

I waved him off, telling him that he didn't need to thank me. But I understood what he was saying. Getting involved against the orders of the Committee would have stepped on all of their pride, which was always a bad idea with overly prideful people in positions of power. So, I could get where he was coming from.

We winded down a little after that surprising bit of comparison between our respective Leagues. Our conversation quickly adopted a more casual focus once again, as we talked about a few of the more interesting sights in Indigo.

I reminded him of my invitation to visit the newly built Contest Hall once again before we finally parted ways as I made my way back to my room. Deciding to rest my head for a moment, I eventually fell asleep on the bed, unknowing to the surprising turn of events that was taking place in Kanto at this very moment.

=============

(Oak POV)

John's Eevee, which he later learnt was nicknamed Euphie, was a real feisty one that was almost always in a playful mood. That was often a double-edged sword, as though her friendliness allowed her to make fast friends with many other Pokémon at the ranch, there were several times that Oak was alerted by his assistants because Euphie had broken out of her enclosure in an attempt to make friends on the other side. Which almost always turned out poorly for Euphie.

Unfortunately, it takes more than a friendly attitude to get a Seviper to NOT try to eat you. Still, Euphie was far from any real danger, and it was nothing that Oak and his Pokémon couldn't handle. The Pokémon on his ranch knew better than to go against his orders.

The Pokémon all understood who was in charge. Even if he wasn't their trainer.

Regardless, just like how busy he saw John was in Hoenn from all the news reports, he had been hard at work over the past week or so training with Euphie in hopes that she would eventually evolve like they were hoping for.

Speaking of John, he was impressed by far how along Euphie was in regards to training up its Fairy type affinity. He realized that John was really underselling just how long he had been working on this; to have been able to progress his Eevee to this level would have taken far more than a month. And the more that he discovered about the potential of the Fairy type, the more he regretted overlooking such a pivotal type for as long as he did.

But he was determined to correct this oversight as soon as possible. He brought his old friend, now Professor Elm, to help him both with the training of Euphie and updating the Pokédex to identify any Pokémon that had been previously misidentified as a Normal type or had missed out on the Fairy type label. Elm was especially helpful in helping him identify the signs of a possible evolution when it came to Euphie, and his keen insights aided them greatly in developing her Fairy affinity even further.

And Carolina and Shelly pulled their weight as well, helping them acquire many of the harder to obtain Sinnoh and Hoenn Pokémon respectively for him to examine and study, though he had to inspect some of the former remotely. Carolina and Blaine would also occasionally pop in and work effectively at his assistants, aiding him with his tests and helping him pour over results whenever they were free. He really appreciated their help; he would have seriously struggled to handle most of these tasks by himself.

Besides that, he made sure to introduce Professor Elm to all of the other members, barring John because he was unreachable. None of them had any problems with bringing him officially onboard, recognizing just how much his expertise could bring to the table.

And after some gruelling weeks of work, he had come up with a pretty efficient and convenient method for testing out whether was a Fairy type or not. Single type Fairy Pokémon were the easiest, as he could just copy over the method that he used for Clefairy and apply it to them. Dual typing took more time, but that was why he left them for later.

Some of the new discoveries that he made really did surprise him. For instance, who knew that a Granbull was actually a Fairy type?! He certainly didn't. He even tripled checked his results to make sure he didn't get anything wrong. But no, Granbull was indeed a Fairy type. A remarkable yet odd discovery.

Anyways, over the last week or so, he had wanted to call John and inform him of all the progress that he had made with his Eevee, but ultimately, he decided against it when he saw just the sheer chaos that had been taking place in Hoenn. The newspapers didn't make it sound so bad, but he knew how to read between the lines, especially when it came to conflict like this.

He knew better than anyone that John was in the thick of it.

A part of him, the part of him that he had kept deeply buried ever since he retired from being Champion, screamed at him to join in. To let his blood run wild once more. But he managed to keep that part of himself tempered. His glory days were long over, he reminded himself, and it was no longer his fight. Not unless they really needed him.

Shaking himself from his more nostalgic thoughts, Oak returned his attention to his ranch as it was time for Euphie's daily training session once again. A few of his assistants waved to him as he walked past, which he returned. A few others gave him curious looks, likely wondering what he was doing spending so much time with an Eevee.

Oh, they probably suspected that he was trying to discover a new Eeveelution; that was hardly difficult to figure out. But he simply allowed them to speculate, it did him no harm after all. And it was here when he was actually thankful for his, in his opinion, overinflated reputation. He was confident that none would try to leak what he was doing, because to be shunned by him would be the equivalent of shunning yourself from Indigo. It was useful, in times like these, to have your privacy be so respected like that.

Even the nosiest of reporters would not dare to bother him.

After a short detour around his ranch to pick up a few of the other Clefairy that weren't currently undergoing tests, he finally arrived at Euphie's pen. As soon as he approached, Euphie quickly rushed up to him with her tail wagging excitedly. She knew that his arrival always signalled the beginning of 'play time'.

With a smile, he stepped aside and allowed Euphie and the Clefairy to play around together. Elm had pointed out that young and baby Pokémon often learn better when they're paired up in groups of Pokémon with similar interests and skills. He explained that being able to relate more with each other improved a Pokémon's ability to develop and nurture the group's shared skills, which in this case revolved around manipulating the Fairy energy. The relaxing environment also allowed Euphie to develop her skills at her own pace, without being weighed down by unnecessary pressures often unintentionally forced upon them by their trainers.

And Elm's advice was paying off with huge dividends. More so than when he tried to teach Euphie directly, simply allowing Euphie to spend her free time around the Clefairy had allowed her to grow her affinity with Fairy energy by leaps and bounds. Oak suspected that it also helped that now Euphie was constantly exposed to Fairy energy and was now much more comfortable with it.

Seeing this, Elm had helped him create a schedule that would efficiently split Euphie's time between playing freely with the Clefairy while also spending time under dedicated training sessions, where they would look to nurture and train up a specific area that they found needed improving.

And the results of all this training was shown yesterday, where Euphie had managed to create a small pink glow within her paws, but it failed to manifest any further. Still, that was an excellent sign, and he hoped that Euphie could develop even further.

And so, today, both he and Elm once again simply stood a small distance away as they idly watched Euphie frolicking around the field with the other Clefairy. Every once in a while, the group would stop to show off a move or two, before they dashed off once again. This pattern would constantly repeat itself for quite some time, the Pokémon seemingly having infinite energy to play around with.

However, after this pattern repeated itself a few times, something interesting began to occur. In one of their 'breaks' to show off their moves, this time ALL of the Clefairy decided to form a small orb of Fairy energy in their little pudgy hands. 5 small pink balls began to surround the lone Euphie, who also had her eyes shut, hard in concentration. Oak took a step forward to have a better view of what was going on.

"Clef! Fairy!" One of the Clefairy's cheered as she waved her hands above her head. The others quickly joined in, forming a circle around Euphie as they waved their fairy-infused hands around in the air.

Euphie's eyes remained shut in concentration, and a very faint pink aura managed to shimmer around her small form for a brief moment before it quickly faded away. Euphie drooped in disappointment as her recent attempt seemed to have resulted in failure.

"Clef! Clef! Clefairy!" Unwilling to allow Euphie to simply give up, another Clefairy let out an enthusiastic cheer before it suddenly threw the small orb of pink Fairy energy that it was holding straight towards Euphie.

"Eevee!?!" Euphie cried out in surprise from the attack. However, the sudden influx of Fairy energy seemed to have broken whatever barrier that held Euphie back, and suddenly her entire form was surrounded with a faint, but noticeable, glowing pink aura.

"Eevee!? Eevee! Eevee! Eevee!" She exclaimed with astonishment as she was suddenly filled with an unfamiliar sensation. Before the sensation disappeared, she shut her eyes once again as she tried to focus on the sudden burst of energy. With immense concentration, a small, yet distinct, pink orb slowly coalesced in front of her, hovering slightly in the air.

Just then, the pink aura surrounding her grew even brighter, as she continued to channel more and more fairy energy into that pink orb. Until suddenly, the pink aura emanating from her transformed into a harsh white light that quickly grew blindingly bright, covering up her form entirely.

At this point, Oak had broken out into a small sprint as he wanted to witness what was about to happen first hand, with Elm following right behind him. Was this finally it? Was their hypothesis about to be proven right? What kind of Pokémon would this Eevelution be like? He assumed it was going to be pink, but what would it actually look like?

His answers couldn't come soon enough as the blinding white light of the evolution faded, revealing Euphie in all her magnificent glory. Just like Oak had imagined, her form was a bright mix of pink and white, and there seemed to be many feelers attached to her form that swayed in the wind like ribbons.

"...We did it." Elm's breathless voice came out, and he couldn't help but agree. The form that stood in front of them was utterly remarkable. Elegant, yet cute. It was practically the perfect representation of the Fairy type.

"Sylv! Sylveon!" She sang out excitedly, as she straightened herself as if to bask in the attention of her new form. The other Clefairy quickly surrounded her, eager to inspect and explore her new evolution.

Oak allowed them a few moments to enjoy themselves before he unfortunately had to intervene. There were so many tests that he wanted to run. A new evolution, especially with an Eevee, was always extremely exciting, and he was having trouble holding himself together as is.

Fortunately, despite her obvious desire to continue playing around, Euphie remained obedient and, slightly reluctantly, allowed Oak to return her to Pokéball so that she could be brought back into the lab discreetly. Having a new, undiscovered, Pokémon simply walking around his lab was a recipe for disaster.

He shared a giddy look with Elm before they quickly headed back to his lab, both equally eager to run tests on their new evolution. The trainer side of him wondered how strong his new evolution was compared to the other eevelutions. Many of the eeveelutions were all coveted Pokémon for their strengths, so he hoped that this one would be no different.

Before he forgot, though, he made sure to fire off a message to all the other members of their little group to inform them of the good news. He was sure that some of them would be quick to visit them as soon as they read his message.

And what a surprise they'd be in for. And he was particularly excited to see the look on John's face when he got back.