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The New Normal - 3-3
🕑 Added 2023-05-01 14:11:14 +0000 UTCThe New Normal – 3-3 – Unpleasant Discoveries
Home was always a place where I thought I could sit back and relax and allow all of the accumulated stress that I had built up over the past few weeks to fade away. Initially, my return home this time was no different.
After our family hug was over, I was almost immediately pestered by questions about how I was doing from my parents and demands for training from Whitney. I begged off the both of them and told them, since it was getting late and I hadn’t actually eaten anything, that I would address a few questions at dinner, but I wanted to go to bed earlier because I was awfully tired.
Whitney pouted at that. Clearly, she had wanted me to help her with her training as soon as possible. Normally, I would be more than happy to, but I really did just want to rest for the moment.
Thus, after a quick dinner where my parents and I had a short, but pleasant conversation where we both caught each other up on what was going on with our respective lives, I quickly found myself laying down in my bed and fast asleep.
In hindsight, I wished I had at least skimmed through the Pokénet before I went to bed last night. That way, I wouldn’t have been caught by surprise during lunch the next day while we all sat together and watched the news.
I nearly choked on my rice as I heard what the news was reporting.
‘There has been no new information about the new gang of criminals that have been terrorising the streets of Indigo as of late. Our hard-working Jennys have reported that they have arrested several members from this ‘R’ gang, but they have yet to unearth the true leadership that are behind this slew of criminal activity. However, at this point the Indigo Police is certain that these criminals are a part of an organized crime group and have announced a monetary award for any relevant information regarding this group.’
“What’s wrong, John? You look like you just saw a Ghost.” My mom commented with concern as she watched as my eyes nearly shot out of their sockets. I wasn’t able to answer her at the moment as alarm bells were ringing loudly through my head.
What the fuck was this? Why is Team Rocket on the news and stealing Pokémon already? Didn’t Giovanni say that he was cancelling the project? Did he lie to me? Questions were running through my brain at a mile a minute, and I was tempted to rush to my room in a panic.
I forced my panic down, “Just…something came up.” I answered unconvincingly, before trying to fish for some information. “Do anyone of you know anything about this recent crime wave? Has it been on the news for a while?”
“I think so…” My father responded, “We’ve been quite busy the last few days, but yes, I think it came up in a couple of headlines. Why?”
“Just something on my mind.” I answered evasively, my mind a mixture of confusion and anger towards Giovanni. I didn’t understand what he was doing, and my mind screamed for answers.
“Sorry, I’m not hungry.” I said quickly as I stood up, ignoring their questions of concern before I dashed back to my room, locking the door behind me.
A part of me felt bad for brushing off my parents like that, but I was way too distracted at the moment to care. I hastily fetched my phone and dug through the Pokénet to see if there were any previous news reports that I missed when I was travelling back from Hoenn.
Sure enough, there had been a few reports regarding Team Rocket and their acts of Pokémon thievery. That seemed to be all they were doing now, which was a cold comfort, but at least that probably meant that they were still in the beginning stages of their criminal activities.
Still, that didn’t explain why they existed in the first place. I had hoped, and I certainly had reason to believe, that my first meeting with Giovanni and my subsequent actions managed to persuade Giovanni away from forming Team Rocket. He even told me himself that he was abandoning it!
I paced around my room uncertainly, contemplating on what I could do, before eventually just damning the consequences and making the call anyways. I needed answers and standing around idly was never going to achieve anything.
Curiously enough, it was not Giovanni who picked up the phone.
“Hello, John, this is Petrel.” A familiar refined voice answered, and I was taken aback with the fact that it was Petrel on the line instead of Giovanni.
“Hello, Petrel.” I said, my surprise helping to temper my anger at hearing about Team Rocket. “It’s a surprise hearing you on the phone instead of Giovanni. Why are you the one on the line right now? And may I please speak to Giovanni as soon as possible.”
“I’m sorry, John, but Giovanni is currently unavailable at the moment, which is why I am the one currently in charge of handling his calls.” Petrel replied apologetically, and was it me or did I hear a hint of nervousness in his voice?
Also, the fact that Giovanni was unavailable was certainly even more alarming. What in Arceus was going on?
“I see.” I responded more calmly than I felt. “Petrel, I’ve just heard a very concerning report on the news about this crime wave, and I need to ask Giovanni some questions. May I ask what Giovanni is currently doing? It is certainly unusual for him to be away from his personal phone.” I asked suspiciously, trying to extract whatever information I could from Petrel.
Petrel noticeably paused for a moment before he responded to my question, which only confirmed to me that Giovanni was currently dealing with something urgently. I suspected that it might have to do with Team Rocket, but I didn’t know what his involvement with the latest iteration of Team Rocket was. As the leader? Or as something else?
“…Gym Leader Giovanni is currently dealing with the latest group of criminals that have been seen throughout Indigo.” Petrel answered evasively. But I pushed him for more.
“Petrel, that’s not good enough for me.” I insisted more forcefully, losing my previous politeness. “You can probably guess why I am looking to speak to Giovanni so urgently, especially with what Giovanni revealed to me when we spoke together that night all those weeks ago. So, for the peace of my mind and for Giovanni’s sake, I. Need. To. Know. What’s. Going. On.” I ordered.
I could hear Petrel hesitating over the phone. I guess my line of questioning was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, but I wouldn’t let him go without at least having a few of my questions answered.
Seeing that Petrel was still unwilling to speak up, I decided to push him a bit harder.
“Petrel, I’m sure that you are more than just some random security guard for Giovanni and that you know more than you let on.” I persisted, deciding to reveal just a little bit of what I knew. “So, you must know just how important Giovanni values my friendship, and vice versa. And, at this very moment, I am considering severing my relations with Giovanni if I do not get a satisfactory answer of what his involvement is regarding the latest crime spree. I do not want to become enemies with Giovanni, but I will if I have to. So, TELL ME, Petrel, What. Is. Giovanni. Doing?”
I injected as much force as I could into that last sentence to show Petrel just how serious I was taking this situation, and how important his next few sentences were going to be for the future of my friendship with Giovanni. It was a reminder to him that I was more than just some random teenager, but that he was speaking with a member of the Elite Four with all the power and influence behind said title.
I also convinced myself that it wasn’t a bluff. As useful as Giovanni has been for me, if it was revealed that he was the leader of Team Rocket, I told myself that I would immediately cut off any connections with him. I saw it as too much of a risk to be associated with Team Rocket.
I heard Petrel audibly exhale at the other end of the phone, and after a brief moment of hesitation he decided to give me a few answers.
“Giovanni…is not directly involved with the situation at hand.” Petrel said cautiously, his voice no longer as refined and taking on a hint of fear and worry. “I suspect that…he is as worried as you are about this whole affair…and is trying to handle the situation before things get any worse for him.”
I hummed thoughtfully at Petrel’s reply. He could have been lying to placate me, but my gut told me that he was telling the truth. Nevertheless, I continued pressing Petrel for more information.
“So, and answer me plainly, Petrel. Is Giovanni responsible for the latest wave of criminals?” I demanded.
“…No. He isn’t.” Petrel answered after a moment, and he paused a bit before he elaborated. “…Giovanni initially had much different intentions for these individuals, but they have decided to disobey Giovanni’s orders and have gone off on their own.”
Ah, now the picture was becoming clearer. From what Petrel was saying, it appears that a group of individuals under Giovanni had gone rogue and decided to form Team Rocket without Giovanni’s consent. But who was the leader? And what were their goals if they were no longer following Giovanni? What about the other admins? What were they doing?
I mentally gauged if I could demand more information from Petrel, and I decided that he was currently sufficiently pliable and that there was no harm in continuing my questioning.
“Petrel, tell me everything you know about these criminals. What are their goals? And who’s leading them?” I demanded again.
“I truly don’t know anything about them, Elite John.” He responded quickly, and he could clearly feel my disbelief even over the phone as he explained. “Giovanni really didn’t tell me anything regarding this. As soon as he heard about it, he quickly rushed out of the room after telling me to handle his calls without explaining anything else to me. I figured all this out myself and I’m still not sure when he’ll return.”
That was a reasonable explanation, and my gut was telling me that he was being honest with me, so I decided to believe him. But even though a few of my worries were assuaged by Petrel’s answers, namely that I truly didn’t think that Giovanni was in charge of the new Team Rocket since it didn’t make sense with his own actions, I still needed to speak with Giovanni urgently.
I asked Petrel when Giovanni was available because I had many questions that have yet to be addressed, and Petrel promised that he would get back to me as soon and arrange a meeting as soon as Giovanni was available.
Before I hung up the call, I went through my list of questions in my head to see if there was anything else I could extract from Petrel, but then quickly realized that Petrel wouldn’t be of help and that it was very likely that only Giovanni had the answers I sought.
Thus, with a terse ‘goodbye’, I hung up the call with Petrel and grabbed my notepad as I started scribbling down notes from our recent conversation. I definitely needed to write all this down, so I didn’t forget anything, especially for something this important. Not that I’d trust everything that Petrel told me, and much of what I learnt today would have to be verified and compared with Giovanni’s responses.
I was almost done writing everything down when I heard a knock at my door.
“John, are you okay in there?” My mom’s voice came through, “We’re all worried because you just suddenly got up from your seat and left. Is everything okay?”
“Um, just give me a second.” I responded lamely while I finished off my notes. Finally satisfied, I stored my notepad back in my pocket before I went to open the door and found my mother standing outside with a worried expression.
“Hey, sorry about that, mum. But I had something very important to do and had to try to sort it out straight away.” I told her apologetically.
“No, that’s okay, son.” My mom replied softly, “We know that you have your own matters to deal with now that you’re in the Elite Four. We were just concerned and worried because you looked like you were almost about to panic.”
Well, I didn’t realize that my expression was so panicky back then, but then I supposed that I may have looked like that due to just how surprised I was. As I hesitated about how I would explain myself, my mom just patted me on the head and looked me over.
“It’s okay, John.” My mom comforted, “You don’t have to explain everything to us now. Your father and I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”
I gave my mom a small smile and tried my best to reassure her. “Everything should be okay, mum. I just called someone I knew, and they’ve sort of reassured me that things aren’t as bad as I initially thought they’d be.”
“But things are bad, aren’t they, John?” My mom asked perceptively, and I poorly hid a wince that she immediately caught and sighed. “Well, whatever it is you’re dealing with, your father and I hope that you’ll be able to resolve it quickly. We don’t like seeing you stressed out like that.”
“Thanks mum, I’ll definitely try. And sorry for worrying you all.” I apologized.
“It’s okay, John, we understand.” She responded kindly, before she gestured towards the fields. “But Whitney really wanted you to train with her today. Why don’t you go to train with her?”
I nodded at her suggestion and made my way to the fields where Whitney was; it was a good way of keeping my mind off things. Despite the reassurance I received from my mum, I still felt uncomfortable about not knowing the full situation regarding Team Rocket. A part of me wanted to dash off to Viridian City and demand more information from Petrel in person, but I felt that was a step too far for the time being and would ultimately be a fruitless effort.
Admittedly, my more calculating side reminded me that Team Rocket going rogue was not the worst-case scenario. Team Rocket was far from the evilest of the villainous teams, nor were they the most problematic. At least for the Team Rocket under Giovanni in canon, they were mostly focused on stealing Pokémon and experimenting on them.
Sure, it was definitely evil for them to engage in Pokémon thievery and experimentation, but from my understanding of canon, beyond the creation of Mewtwo, they didn’t and wouldn’t do anything that was likely to end the world and only strived for profit. And I felt confident that, so long as they didn’t create Mewtwo, the Indigo League would be sufficient at stopping whatever plans they have.
Though that was only in canon, and I couldn’t be sure that the current Team Rocket would follow the same actions as canon, especially because their leader may not be Giovanni according to Petrel. The thought of a more extremist Team Rocket filled me with worry, and I was itching to get out there and try to stop them. After all, their actions were still repulsive and immoral.
But without knowing more about their leadership and infrastructure, my hands were tied. I couldn’t just break down every door in a futile manhunt for them.
“John, you’ve finally stopped thinking so hard!” Whitney’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I found myself staring at my sister with her arms crossed. “You promised yesterday that you would show me my new Pokémon! And yet you woke up so late and then you suddenly ran to your room without explaining and then you made me wait here by myself did you know how excited I was to see my new Pokémon-”
“Okay, okay. I get it” I stopped her rambling before it could go on any further. “I’m sorry for not showing you your new Pokémon until now, it’s just that I was dealing with a lot of stuff and was busy.” I apologized with a slight bow to Whitney. Inwardly, I held back a sigh as I was still really distracted and didn’t really feel like dealing with Whitney at the moment, but I would never forgive myself if I ignored Whitney and dismissed her, so I forced myself to pay attention to her.
“Hmph!” Apparently, my sister wasn’t in a quite so forgiving mood as she turned her head away in an attempt to look angry, but she just looked cute to me. “Well, hurry up then! Show me my new Pokémon!” She demanded impatiently.
I gave her a wry smile before I found and released the newest addition to Whitney’s team. Whismur emerged with a soft yet cute cry that immediately landed a critical hit in Whitney’s heart.
“ARCEUS THAT’S SO CUTE!!” Whitney squealed, her earlier annoyance completely forgotten, before she immediately embracing the new female Whismur in a tight hug. “YOU’RE SO SMALL AND SO ROUND AND CHUBBY AND I LOVE YOU ALREADY!!!”
I watched as Whitney continued smothering the Whismur, who panicked at the sudden contact and was trying, but failing, to wriggle free. I let Whitney have her fun for a few moments before I coughed to grab her attention.
“Um, sis, you know that you’re making the Whismur uncomfortable, right?” I told her, and Whitney let out a gasp and instantly released the Whismur while apologizing profusely. “Maybe give her some space so that she can get use to you first?” I suggested.
Whitney complied and backed off slightly, admiring her new Pokémon for a moment before turning to me. “John, I’m not familiar with her kind. You called her a Whismur, but what is she like?” She asked and I inwardly slapped myself on the forehead for forgetting that Whitney wasn’t as knowledgeable as I was with Hoenn Pokémon.
I quickly gave Whitney an explanation of Whismur and her evolutions, as well as some general ideas of how they are normally used in battle. Whitney studiously noted everything down, and even Whismur was listening to me intently. I thought that the two of them made a great pair.
Soon enough, Whitney’s Miltank wandered over and waved casually to me before her eyes snapped to the new Whismur.
“Miltank? Mil. Tank?” Miltank asked Whitney, and she gave her a nod and a bright smile.
“Yes Miltank, Whismur is the newest addition to our team that I told you about before!” Whitney said excitedly, before her expression turned worried. “I hope that you don’t think I’m replacing you, Miltank, you’ll always be my starter and I’ll never leave you behind! I hope you know that.” She said anxiously.
Luckily, Miltank was more than understanding as she patted Whitney on the head with a smile of her own, reassuring Whitney that she understood and that things were fine. Maintaining that cheerfulness, Miltank carefully crouched down and approached the shy Whismur.
“Miltank? Miltank.” Miltank greeted softly.
“Whis…Whismur.” Whismur replied nervously, but I noticed that the Whismur wasn’t as intimidated as she was when dealing with my Pokémon.
“Mil…mil, tank.” Miltank nodded, and I watched as Miltank slowly extended an arm and delicately patted Whismur on the head, which Whismur seemed to enjoy.
I looked over at Whitney and saw that she was looking at all this with a proud and bright smile. I guess she was happy that all her Pokémon were getting along well. Whitney noticed my stare and turned to me questioningly, but I shook my head and gave her a thumbs up, which she smiled at.
I then stayed there as I peacefully watched Whitney start to bond her with her newest team member for almost an hour. We were supposed to be training but interacting with your newest Pokémon was definitely more important.
Unfortunately, my idle spectating was cut short by the sound of my phone ringing. As I reached for my phone, all sense of relaxation and peacefulness rapidly fled from my body as I saw who was calling.
It was Lance.
A.N I had a few comments in the past saying that John was a bit too passive and ‘weak’. So, I hope that now, with his newfound confidence beating Drake, John is going to finally act more confidently and actually be more comfortable as a member of the Elite Four. Thanks to those who pointed it out, and I hope that the changes I’m beginning to show are satisfying.
I hope that his convo with Petrel was just the right enough of pressure to not be overly dominating, but just enough to be believable for a teenager that is a member of the Elite Four.
Comments
Dracontorrin
Do not know how the orginal chap was looking but this is good enough still I would say that he went too hard but I would understand why John was like that. Heh - I should not be one to judge (but I will anyway) as I would probably told the press that Pryce was petty and send me out because he did not get his way with E4 and probably would say to Giovanni few choice words myself :D
The Tallest Tree
Better for sure 👍
Vtec
Changes have been made! Hope they're better!
Vtec
Thanks for the comment and the suggestions! I can certainly understand your points; and since it doesn't affect the other chapters I can change it up. Thanks for pointing it out!
The Tallest Tree
This felt a bit ridiculous and contrived. John’s freak out comes on way too sudden and much too strong to be believable. He can’t even talk about the issue before running away in a panic and locking himself in his room? To then immediate do something foolish like call Giovanni directly, realize he’s massively jumped the gun, double down, interrogate Giovanni’s subordinate, imply he knew all along about Giovanni and Team Rocket, all to come to the conclusion that he can’t trust the info he got and will have to wait to talk to Giovanni anyway…. Bruh. After you just had several scenes of him with his political hat switched on and seeming decently competent this just feels like a mess. What I’d have like to have seen was him being surprised, asking his family for details, inwardly getting angry and doubting Giovanni, putting it off to train his sister for a bit, call Giovanni, when Petrel answers mention that you and Giovanni had agreed to speak, when Petrel becomes evasive then question him a bit more and relate it to the news thereby justifying your knowledge somewhat so when he speaks to Giovanni later he can bring up Rocket legitimately
