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The New Normal - 14-7
🕑 Added 2025-02-28 12:00:11 +0000 UTCThe New Normal – 14-7 – Newcomers
Unsurprisingly, discussions on topics as radical as increasing the number of Gym Leaders beyond the traditional eight Gyms took a long time to reach a consensus. Even after a few weeks had gone by, we weren’t anywhere closer to coming to an agreement.
However, at least the idea of having ‘minor Gyms’ seemed to have gained some traction amongst the Committee and Gym Leaders. There were many that were against an outright expansion of the current 8 Gyms were able to be mollified by the compromise of these additional Gyms being optional and being distinct from the traditional Gyms. Though of course there were some that were opposed to it no matter what.
Fortunately, Cynthia and her new Battle Frontier that was being built was helping with public perception – showing the world that there could be many other battle facilities than just having your standard 8 Gyms.
Furthermore, on the topic of the Battle Frontier, I was surprised to hear when Cynthia came to ask me if I had anyone I wanted to recommend for the Battle Frontier. I was initially about to say no, but I don’t know why the thought popped into my head, but I suddenly realised that Archer might have been a good choice for it.
Not only was he a capable trainer – far more than he lets on, I knew that he had a knack for handling the administrative aspects that came with being a Frontier Brain. So I went and asked Giovanni about his thoughts about recommending Archer, and he replied with much enthusiasm.
“This came at a good time.” He told me, “Archer’s currently been helping me with a few matters at the Viridian Gym, but that’s mostly because I didn’t really have anywhere to place him. After the events of the Day of Calamity, I didn’t have any place which immediately required his expertise, so he should be free to take on this new position of yours.”
“But… I’m not going to force him to take up the position. Now that things are settling down, I’m trying to avoid giving a direct order if I can avoid it.” Giovanni continued, “I’ll let him make his own choices. I’ll pass on the idea to him, and he can make his own decisions. I’ll tell him to contact Cynthia if he agrees.”
From what I heard from Cynthia, Archer had quickly made the trip over to Sinnoh to meet Cynthia in person. And Cynthia very much liked the former Rocket admin. Apparently, while he wasn’t as strong as the other Frontier Brains, he made up with it with very creative ideas about what he wanted his Battle Facility to look like in the future – saying that it differed heavily from what all the other Frontier Brains would offer.
Though my girlfriend refused to tell me what his plans were, teasingly insisting that it remained a secret and that I would find out with everyone else. Spoilsport.
Furthermore, with discussions about expanding the Gyms stuck in a deadlock and the Battle Frontier smoothly sailing through, Cynthia and I felt like it was a good time to start planning on how we would execute our plan to have me move to Sinnoh as Regigigas’ guardian and have it be accepted by the public.
In this, we ended up finding an unexpected ally in Steven. The man had actually reached out to the both of us, as he had a similar proposal that he wanted to achieve as well.
“I figured the two of you would be planning to propose something along those lines.” He said when we asked him why he had wanted to speak to us, “I’m not into gossip, but even I could tell that the relationship between the two of you is going strong – and is likely going to remain strong. And with how ambitious you both are, I highly doubted that you would be satisfied with maintaining your long-distance relationship. Therefore, if I were in your position, I too would try to have John move over to Sinnoh, as that would be easier than the reverse, while maintaining most of his influence and political power. It’s a good plan, and hence why I wanted to talk to you.”
I nodded; in hindsight, it wasn’t surprising that someone like Steven could deduce our plans.
“I’m assuming it’s something to do with Bruno, right?” I asked.
“Indeed it is. Once I make Champion, I fully intend to have Bruno join me in the Hoenn Elite Four.” Steven replied, “In fact, Wallace already knows the details of my plans, and he’s promised to support them if I do earn the position of Champion. Not only that, if I don’t make it, he told me that while it wouldn’t be his first priority, he still will do his best so that foreigners like Bruno could still be appointed into important League positions if they were capable enough. He’s always been encouraging of similar international policies anyways.”
“So that’s why I felt like we could work together on this.” He explained, “We have a mutual goal here.”
“That we do. This is something we could definitely work together on.” Cynthia agreed, before pausing to think, “Hmm… actually, let’s say you do make Champion. If we can get Lance on board as well, then we’ll have all three Champions advocating for a similar policy. With our joint influence, that’ll definitely swing the vote in our Committees in our favour.”
“I was thinking along those lines too.” Steven nodded, “The start of a new Champion’s reign is always a great time to enact large sweeping changes. It always faces less pushback, considering no one wants to try to stonewall a new Champion and wants to get on their good side.”
“But more political allies would make things easier too.” I added, “Besides us and hopefully Lance, all the other Elite Four should agree too. And if we can get the Gym Leaders, even better.”
“Yes, I’ll be working on that.” Steven said, “But I also have an additional suggestion. In the near future, I’m going to have Bruno running around and showing off his strength by having him ‘unofficially’ challenge as many strong trainers as he can – ideally that includes members of the Elite Four if possible. Basically, I’m going to treat Bruno like a product that I’m trying to sell. So I’m going to need to show the public just why they should ‘buy in’ on the idea that Bruno should be in the Elite Four.”
“I suggest you do the same, John.” He stared at me, “Though obviously you don’t need to go to my extent. Your strength is already well-known in all three regions, especially after your recent actions, but you’ll need to make sure that this image of strength, as well as your pristine reputation, is never tarnished by anything. The public of Sinnoh will find it a lot easier to accept your move if you have proven to them repeatedly that you are someone they can trust, and that you are deserving of such a high honour.”
“Good idea. We’ll be keeping an eye on that.” Cynthia replied for the two of us, “Though I think we’ll leave it here for now. In summary, we should all begin gathering up as much political support as we can, and the moment you make Champion, we’ll start executing our plans. Sounds good?”
“It does.” Steven nodded, “And thanks for listening to me. I’m glad I was able to work together with you two on this.”
Our call ended there, and Cynthia and I were both pretty happy to have brought Steven on board with our plans. Especially because it helped us fill in one of the blank spots in our political spheres of influence in Hoenn. Just like we said, if all three regions and their respective leaders were in agreement on one single policy, it was very likely that the public would follow. So even if some Committee members would normally be opposed to it, most would see the writing on the wall and choose to fight another day.
Of course, a big part of this was contingent on Steven actually becoming the new Champion of Hoenn. However, knowing him, I remained very confident that he’d be able to do it.
After all, I wasn’t stupid enough to bet against a man like Steven Stone.
=================
Seeing that the both of us didn’t have any urgent matters that took up our free time, Cynthia and I made an immediate start on trying to gather up public support.
To this end, I had invited over Karen for dinner to explain what our plans were in hopes that she would support it. She didn’t even hesitate before agreeing, and explained that she didn’t see this as a political proposal, but rather a personal one. Therefore, as she considered Cynthia and I to be very good friends, she would obviously help us wherever she could.
I was very thankful for her kindness.
However, it was during that joyful dinner that both Karen and I received an alert from Lance. He informed us that one of the usual Pokémon ranger patrols that scouted around the edges of Sinnoh had spotted an unregistered ship heading right towards Sinnoh.
Therefore, fearing that this might be another attack from whatever hidden remains of Team Galactic were out there, the order from Sinnoh was given to forcefully raid and inspect the ship.
Yet that was when the situation got complicated. Instead of finding criminals, they found a whole bunch of explorers and scientists that were apparently looking to investigate the mysterious readings that they had detected all the way from their home region of Unova.
It was like opening a can of Caterpie – everyone realised that we had just stumbled into a new, previously undiscovered region. And the implications were enormous.
Currently, apologies were given for the sudden and hostile raid and they were comfortably settled into the Sinnoh League building. There was a lot of excitement going around in the upper echelons of all three Leagues as we discussed what the introduction of Unova meant for us.
Honestly, I was taken aback too. I didn’t know when or how exactly Unova came into contact with the other regions, but considering they said they were here to investigate the source of the strange readings that they had gotten, I suspected that we might have unintentionally pushed up the schedule a little bit because of our earlier battle against Palkia.
Therefore, an urgent conference call was held between the Indigo Elite Four, and a decision was quickly made to send a representative over to Sinnoh as soon as possible to meet with the Unovans in person and hopefully establish cordial relations.
With that in mind, I volunteered to be sent over, but Lance surprisingly denied my request – stating that I’ve been at the forefront of too many of these issues and that someone else should get the opportunity. I was a little disappointed, but could accept the reasoning. Therefore, Lorelei was chosen to be the representative instead. I suspected the reason she was chosen was because, aside from myself, Lorelei was seen as the most internationally focused amongst us.
So off she went, taking the new express ship to Sinnoh alongside a few other officials from Indigo. Her goals were to at least establish friendly communications with the Unovans and begin forming the foundations for future diplomatic relations. Hopefully, Lorelei would be also be able to do a preliminary cultural exchange so that we can learn more about the Pokémon that were available exclusively to Unova.
Of course, that wasn’t necessary for me as I already knew about them.
My mind instantly flashed to several of the unique Normal types that were available in Unova. Off the top of my head, the two that I was most interested in were a Cinccino and Braviary. The former could be trained up to an agile, deceptively powerful combo attacker with Skill Link, and the other would be a more physically bulky alternative to Zephyr, since he had now taken on a more supportive role.
That wasn’t to say the other Normal types weren’t powerful enough to join my team. Pokémon such as Stoutland and Bouffalant were certainly no slouches, but I figured that I already had enough bruisers on my team. There would just be too much overlap.
Though those were just my preliminary thoughts for now. IF I got the opportunity to catch Pokémon from Unova, then my opinions may change.
However, the immediate consequences of a sudden new region being introduced was that almost everything else was going to be put on the backburner as we were all focused on dealing with this new region. That meant our political plans too, but that was fine. There was no immediate rush.
I just hoped that we could establish ties with Unova quickly. Having a new friendly region would only be beneficial to us.
==================
(Explorer POV)
If you had told him that the trip to identify the source of the strange readings that the egghead scientists had observed would have led them to finding a new region, and he would be a part of that trip, he would not have believed you.
He didn’t think that he was the kind of person to be lucky enough to be apart of something that was undoubtedly going to shake the status quo of Unova for the future.
However, here he was, lying down on a sinfully comfortable bed in one of the fancier rooms that was undoubtedly meant for foreign diplomats and not raggedly explorers like himself. But no one had expected this trip to turn into a diplomatic venture, so besides him and a few other explorers, they were now the first representatives of Unova to set foot on these foreign lands.
He was absolutely unprepared for this position. Why couldn’t one of the Gym Leaders or Elite Four be here with him to handle these matters? Or even Champion Adler, assuming you could get the man to stop with his incessant wanderlust.
He didn’t know a thing about diplomatic courtesies! Oh Arceus, he really hoped that he wouldn’t fuck it up.
“Sir.” A voice called out through the door, “Champion Cynthia awaits you in the conference room.”
Fuck. It was showtime. “Be right there!”
He stepped out of his luxurious room, and did his best to calm his nerves as he walked to the conference room.
“Who’s going to be there?” He asked the person guiding him, desperately hoping that knowing would somehow reassure him slightly.
The answer definitely did not make him feel any better, “Aside from Champion Cynthia, there are several Elite Four members from Sinnoh, and one Elite Four representative from both Hoenn and Indigo in attendance.”
He gulped. That was a scary roster, especially for a nobody like himself. But he wasn’t able to think about his fears for much longer as he finally arrived at the meeting room, swinging open the doors and instantly finding all eyes on him.
Why oh why did he volunteer to be the representative of their little group?
Doing his best to force his fears away, the first thing that caught his attention was the blonde lady sitting at the head of the table. Even though she was one of the younger members here, there was no mistaking that aura of confidence and strength that she naturally exuded.
She couldn’t be anything else other than the Champion of Sinnoh. Even Alder didn’t seem to possess such a presence.
Sitting next to her were who he assumed to be the Sinnoh Elite Four – who at least seemed a lot more normal when compared to the Unovan Elite Four, or at least more professional. Shantal was infamously overly engrossed in her books and writings… and the less said about Grimsley and his ‘habits’, the better.
Besides the Sinnoh Elite Four, his eyes turned to the remaining Elite Four members from the other two regions – and found a man with a mohawk that stood out heavily from the others, as well as a prim and proper lady that sat next to him. The former’s fashion choice was certainly… interesting, for an Elite Four member.
He was likely a Poison or Dark specialist, if he had to guess.
“Firstly, thank you for agreeing to see us so soon despite the long trip that you must have had.” Cynthia began, shaking him out of his observations, “Your team members spoke highly of you as their leader and said they were comfortable with us speaking with you in their place.”
More like they were just happy to throw him up as bait. Again, why did he volunteer again?
Despite the annoyance and regret that he felt, he managed to not let any of that show on his face, “…It was my pleasure. I couldn’t be any happier about being the first representative of Unova.” Completely lying through his teeth.
The Champion smirked at him, as if she saw through his lie, but chose to not comment and instead just nodded, “So, Christopher? Or may I call you Chris? Let me introduce you to the representatives that have gathered here today. Starting with…”
She then proceeded to introduce everyone by name, allowing him to identify who was who. He was still a little surprised that there were actually two other regions out there that were also connected to Sinnoh, and he asked about that.
“Oh, Sinnoh is actually the newcomer when it comes to the Regional Union – that’s the name for the alliance between our three regions.” Cynthia explained, “You could consider Indigo to be the unofficial ‘founder’, as they were the ones to reach out to both us and Hoenn. And Indigo itself is actually comprised of both Kanto and Johto, but they were recently unified after a previous war.”
She must have seen the confusion on his face, because she gave him a reassuring smile, “We can give you a more thorough explanation later. For now, we would like to address any primary concerns that you might have had. After all, you said you had originally come here to investigate certain strange readings that you picked up on?”
“That’s right.” He confirmed, happy that they were back on familiar ground, “The fact that we were able to detect such energies from so far away was alarming enough, but then we weren’t even able to identify what and where such energies came from. After discussing it, we feared that the energies may have been created from the residue of a battle between powerful Legendaries, as it was one of two plausible explanations that fit.”
“As a result, our exploration team was sent to identify and locate the source of these strange readings and determine whether they constituted a threat to our region.” He said, “…We just didn’t expect to stumble into an entirely new region.”
“That’s understandable. We would have done the same thing in your place.” Cynthia replied, “And as to those strange readings, we do have answers for you. However, I believe it’s better to show you, rather than just telling you. Would you be okay for a quick trip?”
…He knew better than to say no, so he nodded along and followed after everyone as they saddled up onto their mounts and flew to the nearby mountain that seemed to loom over the entire region. During their brief flight, he openly marvelled at the sights below him.
Seeing all those large cities and landmarks below him, the sheer scale of what they had stumbled across had finally began to settle in.
As they landed near the summit of the mountain, he immediately understood why they brought him here. The entire summit felt strange, as if something was watching him at all times. There was this strange sort of Pressure slightly weighing down on his shoulders. He had not felt anything like this before, even when he helped to scope out Relic Castle.
He didn’t even need them to explain what had happened; seeing the statue of an enormous Pokémon told him everything he needed to know.
That was undoubtedly a Legendary. Which likely meant that a battle must have occurred here if they were immortalising the moment so much.
“I can see you understand.” Cynthia said softly, “Yes indeed. A battle between Legendaries took place here.”
“Wait. Legendaries?! Plural?” He had to interrupt, “So more than one fought here?”
“…Yes. By the end of the fight, four different Legendaries of incredible power were involved.” The Champion’s answer sent him into a stunned silence.
FOUR Legendaries!? What the fuck happened here?!
“Don’t worry. It was an extraordinary scenario, caused by a madman that has since been dealt with. Such a battle won’t ever happen again on our watch.” Cynthia said, though he wasn’t sure if that was meant to be reassuring or not.
“…Were you a part of that battle?” He had to ask.
Cynthia nodded solemnly, but what was more interesting was that the Sinnoh Elite Four also joined in. “Yes. And I’m not ashamed to admit that it was the most terrifying battle of our lives. If Regigigas, the Legendary Titan, hadn’t assisted us, we would have lost. It truly was a battle for the fate of the world.”
Hearing that admission, one made completely devoid of any pride or satisfaction, was both haunting and humbling in equal measure. It allowed him to understand the true calibre of the people that he was currently speaking to.
These weren’t just your typical Elite Four and Champion. These were people who, if they had spoken genuinely, had managed to take down a Legendary.
What the fuck was in the water of Sinnoh to produce such incredible trainers?!
“And did anyone else participate in the battle?” He asked, only for Cynthia to point towards a small engraving on one of the pillars next to the Regigigas statue that displayed a list of names.
He carefully read through the list, finding many names that he recognised and didn’t. Judging by the ‘Elite’ prefixed before their names, he inferred that they were also members of the other two regions’ Elite Four. They were Elite Koga, Elite Drake, and Elite John.
Wait… there was an additional inscription next to John… thanking him for helping to AWAKEN the Legendary Titan?!?!?
“…Who is Elite John?” He had to ask. Did this mean that a person actually had control of a Legendary here?! How strong would that make him?
The answer from the Champion only shocked him even further as she released a humorous chuckle.
“Oh, him? He’s my boyfriend.”
A.N. AND HERE WE GO! Unova is finally introduced to the three regions. I wanted their introduction to be from the Unovan’s perspective, to show how he reacts to everything that has happened. Having not lived through or witnessed the events and only learning of it now, he’s going to be incredibly shocked. Especially with the people involved. Hope you enjoyed!
Comments
DJC (MagicLover2128)
Oh man, I can’t wait to see Alder make a fool of himself later when he is introduced to Cynthia? And John’s reaction will be Legendary.
LandoCali96
Can we get an omake with Explorer guy walking into the room wondering why there's intense piano music playing?
Spider_Fanboi
Bruh I freaked a bit here Insae CYTNHIA using my name 😂
David Green
That poor explorer
