CartecTNN
patreon
The New Normal - 9-14
🕑 Added 2024-05-06 11:00:09 +0000 UTCThe 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 on this bandwagon and provide aid wherever it was needed – whether that be in Kanto or Johto.
With all this support, any city that found themselves struggling to protect their Pokémon habitats from smugglers and over-catching were given the necessary resources, manpower, and/or funding to help them deal with the situation.
Was it all out of altruism? Of course not. I bet most of them had realized what a giant PR win this could be for them, and were eager to reap the rewards of their participation.
Not that I cared. False altruism or not, they were still contributing. And more importantly, the public of Indigo could see that by working together, by not focusing on regional differences so much, we could all stand to benefit.
I hoped that they would remember this feeling; this collective enthusiasm to help their fellow neighbors. I hoped that it would help break down any lingering animosity between our regions as we all got together to help each other.
And now, only 2 days since the unexpected and chaotic release of the PSS, our swift actions were bearing fruit; the initial burst of chaos was rapidly being contained.
Between our warnings and statements being blasted over the news, the new regulations that all of the regions had collectively put in place, a heavy amount of patrols from the ever-present Jennys, all of these factors helped cut down on the number of smugglers and overeager trainers.
They must have regained the rationality because their numbers practically vanished overnight as they realized how hard the League was cracking down on them. We had made it very clear – the PSS was not a tool for them to exploit.
But with their numbers dying down, yet with the morale of the public still so high, I realized that I had yet another opportunity on my hands. With the spirit of cooperation still going strong, I was going to use this moment to push for the further unification of our region. There would never be an better opportunity for it.
So after checking through with mayor Henry about my plans, I went to Lance and offered him a new proposal.
“…You want to create a region-wide charity run by the League?” Lance checked with me.
“Yes.” I confirmed, “Though I wouldn’t call it a charity. I figure it would be more like a…publicly funded emergency fund.”
“And what would the purpose be?” He questioned.
“The purpose of the fund is to replicate what we’ve done here over the past few days – giving rapid assistance to those who need it.” I responded, “The fund would be able to collect donations from anyone, and any city, who wanted to donate, and this public fund can be used to be support cities and places that are in need of financial support – whether that be in Kanto or Johto.”
“…Would this fund fall under the authority of the Champion? Or the Committee?” Lance asked after a moment to think.
“I think it’d be best if they fall under the authority of the Committee, and the panel should be chosen from certain select members – with an even split of Kantonians and Johtonians.” I replied, “In order to prevent any accusations of misuse of the funds, the funds can only be usable with approval from the Committee via a vote, or something of the sort. I’m sure your administrative assistants could figure out the details.”
“And it’ll give the Committee members something to work towards.” Lance finished for me, “They always like having another feather to add to their cap.”
“Exactly.” I nodded. “Since they’ll be able to hold both roles simultaneously, it’ll give them that extra bit of prestige that they might be angling for. I highly doubt they’ll say no to this, especially not when they’ll be able to capitalize on the recent momentum.”
And more importantly, it’ll give another reason for Kantonians and Johtonians to work together. By creating an inter-regional fund like this, I’m confident that it would further promote the idea of unity for both regions. Plus, it was important to actually to turn all this public sentiment into something tangible.
I didn’t know how effective such an emergency fund would be, but I trusted that we had sufficient oversight to not have the Committee members abuse and misuse the public’s funds. Especially with Lorelei’s new organization in place.
“Hmm…I think you’re right about that. It needs to be monitored carefully, but it should be a nice PR win for us, one that we quite desperately need right now after what just happened.” Lance agreed after thinking it through, “…I believe it’ll be a good idea. I pulled forward another Committee meeting for tomorrow, I think we can propose that on top of my own proposal as well.”
I tilted my head curiously. “What’s yours?”
“We need to massively expand on our current systems of monitoring trade.” Lance explained, “With the PSS now out, our current numbers just won’t cut it. So, just like Wallace and Lucian would be doing in their respective regions, we’re going to propose this expansion to allow us to cut down on any future abuses of the PSS.”
I nodded, “Yeah, that seems like a good idea. I’m just glad the restrictions have achieved what we hoped they would. Speaking of which, how are the other regions getting along? I’ve only heard bits and pieces from Cynthia about Sinnoh.”
I didn’t want to seem biased, but I knew that Indigo was currently blessed with better leadership than the other regions. Hoenn had a solid core of Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and a good Champion, but their Committee was unreliable and infamously fractious.
On the other hand, Sinnoh had a relatively powerless Committee that had mostly just been replaced, and they had no Champion. But what they DID have were competent Elite Four members, and a public that were naturally against change in the first place. As Cynthia mentioned before, the public of Sinnoh weren’t nearly as excited to jump onboard and make use of the PSS.
“As from what I heard from my counterparts, they’ve all implemented the restrictions that we agreed upon, and they are working with similar degrees of effectiveness. However, I believe that Hoenn is struggling the most out of all 3 of us.” Lance responded, “That’s not to say they’re doing badly. But Wallace has mentioned his frustrations about dealing with the Committee, especially with all the many business interests that are entrenched there. They are handling the situation, but it just took them longer to push things through.”
“As for Sinnoh…I was remarkably surprised by how well they’ve managed it.” Lance added, “I admit to being doubtful about their situation at first. They had no Champion and a public that had just gone through some political upheaval. So I thought they would be doing the worst. But their Elite Four, and especially Lucian, have really impressed me. They were the first to pass through the changes needed to control the situation.”
“And, I’m not sure if you’ve been following the news, but I suspect that they’ll be having a new Champion very soon.” Lance continued, but then he grinned, “Of course, you don’t need me to tell you that. I’m sure you know more than me on that front – I’m sure you’ve spoken quite a bit with her.”
I chuckled, but I didn’t deny his words. Although I enjoyed the phone conversations that we had, I really did want to see her in person again. Hopefully I would get the opportunity to do so soon.
“No comment.” I replied cheekily.
Lance let out another chuckle, “You think we’d get along when or if she becomes Champion?”
“First of, I’m very confident it’s a matter of when, not if.” I raised a finger, “Secondly, I’m as biased as they come, but I’m sure you two will get along well. I’m certain she’ll impress you.”
Lance whistled, “High praise from you, but I guess you are dating her.” He laughed, “Well I hope that you’re right. Sinnoh desperately needs a guiding hand if they want to fully enter into a period of recovery.”
I agreed, before switching the topic back to what was important. “…So can I assume that the consequences of the PSS have been dealt with?” I asked.
Lance nodded slowly, “…I don’t want to celebrate too early, but it does seem that way. For the most part, my advisors and I don’t see any other big problems stemming from the PSS.”
“There will likely be more laws that need to be created once people start exploring the PSS and its capabilities further, but those are only going to be minor problems and nothing like the crisis that we just had to deal with.” He confirmed.
He then let out a tired breath, “And thank Arceus for that. This really caught us with our pants down, and I don’t think I’ve had to run myself this ragged since I started out as Champion. Even the Fairy reveal wasn’t this crazy.”
He growled, “I’m going to wring Bill’s neck if he ever does this again. He broke his damn promise to me.”
I winced, Lance sounded mad. “Where is he anyways? And do you know why he did it?”
“Because he didn’t want to wait.” Lance spat, “The man is a great scientist and inventor, no doubt about it, but I’ve come to learn that he doesn’t give any thought at all about the consequences about his actions. He thought he had a great invention, something comparable to the Pokédex, and he just HAD to publish it as soon as possible. Consequences be damned.”
“The man didn’t even think he did anything wrong. Not only that, but he dared to question me about why I was getting so frustrated at him.” He seethed, “I don’t know what he’s working on now, but he’s retreated to his little seaside cottage. I hope he isn’t about to drop another big invention on us, because I might seriously pay him an unfriendly visit with my Dragonite if he does. I’m not dealing with this kind of mess again.”
He deflated and slumped into his chair, “I feel like I need a week’s break.”
“Are Champions even allowed to take breaks?” I asked, genuinely curious.
“Technically, Champions can choose their own hours.” He answered amusedly, “You technically don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to, but that’s a mark of a bad Champion. I took the position, so now I owe a duty to handle the responsibilities of this role. So as much as I want to, there’ll be no breaks for me.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Maybe you could pass the role to Clair for a few days while you take a rest?”
Lance cringed slightly, “…That would not be ideal. My cousin is capable, but she definitely lacks the temperament for this position. I’ve tried my best but…she’s still very much a work-in-progress. As much as I would like to have a trusted successor to succeed my position, just like Oak did with Pryce, Clair is not a good option for it.”
…Knowing what I did, I could see why.
We made some more small talk before I eventually decided to head off. The past few days dealing with the PSS had been difficult to deal with, but I think I was able to make some big gains during it. I hoped that the region as a whole became more unified as a result.
However, just like Lance had said, I really needed a rest. And thinking back on the conversation that I had over dinner with Koga, I think I knew how to kill two Pidgey with one stone.
But that could wait till tomorrow. Right now, I was going to catch up on some sleep.
============
Now that the chaos from the PSS had settled down, I had time to honour the words that I shared with Koga. So one phone call later, and the young Daisy Oak arrived at my house.
She looked around a little nervously, but straightened up as soon as she saw me.
“…Hi, John. Thank you for having me.” She greeted politely, “I, uh, heard you wanted to train me?”
“I did.” I confirmed, forcing away the tiredness that I felt from the past days of running around and pushing the enthusiasm into my voice. “I’ve said this a few times, but I think you certainly have the potential to be a great trainer. So I thought – if I already have the time to work with you, I might as well also nurture your potential as a trainer too.”
“…But, John, I’m not sure if I really want to be a trainer.” She said hesitantly, “I think your efforts might be wasted. I think you could spend your time better elsewhere.”
I smiled kindly at her, “Training you won’t be a waste of effort, I promise. And besides, training you gives me an excuse to not focus on anything else. I’ll also be training my own Pokémon as well; so it’s going to be doubly effective.”
“But wouldn’t you want to train someone who was more enthusiastic about becoming a trainer? Like I said, I’m not like my brother.” She responded.
I shook my head, “I think you’re lying to yourself, Daisy.” I said gently, “I think you like training as much as any other trainer. I’ve seen it in your eyes when you talk about your training with your Clefairy, and you already told me that you had a goal of getting all 8 badges. No one aims for that without having a great deal of passion for training.”
“But I won’t force you.” I reassured her, “If you would prefer not to train with me, that’s perfectly fine. I won’t be offended, and we can instead spend some time going over what you’ve learnt while working for me. It’s totally up to you, whatever you feel comfortable with.”
“…I just don’t think being a trainer as a career is what I want to do.” She muttered.
“And that’s fine.” I patted her on the head, “Training with your Pokémon doesn’t mean you HAVE to become a career trainer in the end. Many powerful trainers often end up taking up other jobs, while still training their Pokémon. I have a friend, who’s probably one of the most capable trainers I know, and she still spends most of her time as a historian and archaeologist rather than as a trainer. Although recently she’s pursued a trainer career again.”
“…Okay.” She said after a moment, before bowing deeply to me, “Then thank you in advance for your help.”
I smiled, and we got to work. About an hour later, I realized that Koga’s advice to train with Daisy was utterly correct.
I don’t know whether it was the natural talents of someone born from the Oak bloodline, but Daisy took to training like a Magikarp to water. She had all the right habits already ingrained into her, whether that was from her grandfather’s teachings or not, but I knew that it would save her tons of time and prevent her from making many common mistakes that trainers made.
Between her and her little brother, they both would be ones to watch in the future.
While she only had her Clefairy as her sole Pokémon, she was already training it in all the right ways. Instead of focusing on power like most younger trainers did, she prioritized training up Clefairy’s supportive and regeneration moves as Clefairy was meant to do. From what I could tell, she seemed really suited to playing to the strengths of the Fairy type. And I made sure to tell her that.
“Have you ever considered becoming a Fairy specialist?” I asked her. “From what I’ve seen, you seem very suited to it.”
Daisy blinked, “Not really…I didn’t think that much about it. I only got my Clefairy recently because grandfather was doing some research on them for the Fairy type. I was just helping out with the Pokémon one day – since they seemed to like me – before this Clefairy waddled up to me and asked to join my team.”
She rubbed the little Clefairy on the head, a fond smile growing on her face, “I couldn’t say no to this little sweetie, so she became my first Pokémon. But…it was all a coincidence. I never intended or thought of becoming a Fairy specialist.”
“I think it’s something you could consider.” I advised gently, “Like I said, you’re very suited to it. And you seem to instinctually know how to train up Fairy types and help them fulfill their full potential.”
She blushed, “That…that’s because I used to play with my little brother a lot.” She explained, “Every time we would use grandfather’s Pokémon, and he would pick the stronger and cooler-looking Pokémon all the time. I liked to pick the cuter looking Pokémon, which meant that I knew I had to fight smartly if I wanted to defeat my brother’s stronger Pokémon.”
She turned to me, “Do you really think I could become a Fairy type specialist?” She asked, fully serious.
“I certainly think you have the potential for it.” I confirmed, “Here, maybe this would help solidify your decision.” I released Luna and Euphie onto the field, who both immediately ran up and played with Daisy and her Clefairy. Euphie wrapped herself around Daisy like a coat, to her joy, while Luna greeted her younger evolution with a cheery wave and a high five.
“You know of my sister, Whitney?” I asked as she nodded, “She told me early on that she really wanted to be a Normal specialist. But besides wanting to follow in my footsteps, her other main reason was that she could see herself training up and battling alongside a full team of Normal types. She loved being around Normal types – and felt most in tune with them. THAT was why she wanted to be a Normal type trainer.” I explained.
“So spend some time around my Clefable and my Sylveon. Play around with them, ask them to show off some of their moves. See what they can do.” I suggested, “And after that, we can have a practice battle with you using my Sylveon to face off against one of my developing Pokémon so you can get a feel of what it’d be like in the future if you go down this path. How does that sound?”
She nodded excitedly, and I let her run off to play around with my Fairy types. In the meanwhile, I released Ornstein and Pixel to check in on their training progress, since I had been too busy over the last week or so to really check up on them.
Though Shelly never got back to me on the progress of a sane version of the Dubious Disk, saying that there were far more complications than expected, Pixel was making plenty of headway regardless. It had taken longer than I expected, but Pixel had successfully mastered the use of Conversion, and was now able to switch types at will – barring a short delay. I ran a few tests with it, and I was very satisfied with what I saw.
And Pixel’s durability and offensive power had grown. It still wasn’t quite there for what I would like in an Elite Pokémon, but I felt that it now had the potential to be a legitimate option in serious battles for me. The combination of its wide movepool, ability to switch types, and regeneration abilities all made it a perfect addition to my team.
Moving on to Ornstein, he was really turning into the equivalent of Sidney’s Sharpedo. But he had more than raw speed; he had trained himself to be able to pivot and spin around on the spot, making him really hard to pin down and hit with an actual attack. Not only that, but he was able to leverage his speed to hit REALLY hard, much harder than what you would expect a Pokémon of his size to be able to accomplish.
Sure, his endurance was poor, but that was always going to be the case until he evolved. And now that I was satisfied with his ability to evade attacks, I decided to develop his all-in mindset even more by teaching him to train and learn to use Belly Drum. That would turn him into more of a glass cannon, but the raw damage he would be able to output would be a match for some of my Elite Pokémon.
It would also give him a trump card for when he evolved.
That being said, I still didn’t think he was quite ready to join my team as a proper consideration in serious battles. I think he needed to evolve into his final stage before that could happen.
I continued training up with both of my Pokémon for a little while longer before I decided that Daisy had enough time to play around.
“Hey!” I called out to her, waving for her to come back. “You feel up for a battle?”
“Sure!” She said excitedly, her face flushed red from running around with Luna and Euphie. She was also giggling a lot, which said enough about how much she enjoyed her time with my Pokémon.
“Well then, let’s take our places.” I gestured to a spot a slight distance from me, and Daisy quickly jogged over with Euphie. Luna and Pixel moved to the sidelines to cheer us on. Ornstein moved next to me and got ready.
“Are you ready?!” I shouted, getting a nod back from her. “Then…START!”
“Reflect, Sylv- Euphie!”
“Hone Claws, Ornstein.”
A faint screen of light shimmed into existence in front of Euphie as Ornstein brandished and sharpened his claws. I could have shut down Euphie’s attempt with a Taunt, but I was using this battle to encourage Daisy’s interest in the Fairy type. I didn’t need to fight that seriously.
As such, the fight was much slower than you would expect. Despite her natural talent, Daisy was unused to battles and it showed – she gave commands late, and seemed a little hesitant on what to do. But that was fine; that was why she was here to learn.
So I had Ornstein hang back, focusing on dodging Euphie’s attacks rather than actually attacking himself. Moonblasts and Dazzling Gleams were both either avoided or blocked by Ornstein, who continued to circle around Euphie.
Though she wasn’t able to land a move, the sheer excitement on Daisy’s face as she fired off attack after attack told me all that I needed to know. She was really getting into the battle, and I was all too happy to stand back and let her enjoy herself.
Eventually, realising that she couldn’t hit Ornstein, she tried for a different tactic.
“Dig, Euphie!”
“Hone Claws again, Ornstein.”
Ornstein continued to buff himself up as Euphie disappeared into the ground. I didn’t have to wait long before Euphie erupted out of the ground near Ornstein. But instead of going for an attack, Daisy had a different plan.
“Thunder Wave!”
A paralyzing wave of electricity shot out from Euphie and went straight into Ornstein. The paralysis quickly set in, drastically cutting Ornstein’s speed to something far more manageable. But then Daisy failed to capitalize on it, and I decided to make this a learning moment.
“Baby-Doll Eyes, Euphie!”
“Iron Tail, Ornstein.”
Euphie’s eyes began to sparkle with almost unnatural charm, but a fierce Iron Tail slammed into her side before the attack lowering effect could go off. Euphie skidded back with a pained cry, and a look of alarm appeared on Daisy’s face.
“Oh no! Uh, Dazzling Gleam!”
“Iron Tail again!”
Ornstein rushed forwards, rapidly closing in on Euphie despite the effects of his paralysis. But Euphie moved first, firing off a powerful wave of Fairy energy that crashed into the charging Ornstein. Ornstein stumbled, but Daisy’s delay in making the attack meant that he was close enough to interrupt the Dazzling Gleam by smashing another Iron Tail into Euphie, cancelling the attack and throwing her into the ground.
With all the Hone Claws boosts, Euphie wasn’t doing very well. So I decided to call the battle here. Luna immediately ran forwards to heal up both combatants.
“Good job, Daisy! You really picked up on that fast!” I complimented, making sure to praise her despite her defeat, “You got a little careless with not having Euphie back off after landing that paralysis, but that’s something experience will help to fix.”
“Thanks, John. For both the battle and for letting me play and train with your Pokémon.” She said with a bright smile adorned on her face.
“So…you have any thoughts on the Fairy type now that you’ve played around a little more with it?” I asked.
“Yes.” She nodded while her hand patted Clefairy on the head, her voice filled with conviction. “I think…I think I want to try to be a Fairy type specialist after all. I’ll let grandpa know about this – but I look forward to training with you more in the future.”
And thus, Daisy Oak – Fairy specialist, was born.
A.N. A split chapter this time. I wanted to show that all of the efforts that John and his allies have put in to stabilize Indigo have really paid off, and now they’re actually quickly able to respond to would-be crisis with efficiency and haste. The chaos of the PSS could have lasted much longer, but competent leadership makes a difference.
And I also wanted to give more attention to Daisy Oak, who I thought would make an excellent Fairy specialist for the future. Things just lined up in my head for it to happen. Hope you enjoyed!
Comments
Middlemoe2
It'll be nice to see Daisy around more often, hell maybe she'll get strong enough to be sort of his right hand in a way, like her being strong enough to be Elite one day while still working with John. I also had a funny thought of John taking Lance on a vacation, maybe Cynthia too, then hilarious chaos ensue!
King Lokajad
Lit Indigo is going to have a fairy specialist! Now if only there was a gym opening...
