The New Normal - 15-14 - Interlude - Archer

The New Normal – 15-14 – Interlude – Archer

Today at the Battle Castle had been a particularly long day for him. There were many more challengers than he had expected, and many of them had earned the required number of wins to challenge him directly – which meant that he had to participate in several high intensity battles back-to-back-to-back for several hours without any chance for a break.

But even though he was pretty drained and exhausted from the sheer number of challengers that he had to face, the fact that the popularity of his Battle Castle was growing could only be a good thing. It showed that the unorthodox battling style that he offered had his own unique charm that the public recognised. And more importantly, it meant that he could argue for more budget in the coming budget meetings.

However, the surprising popularity of his Battle Castle wasn’t the reason he was smiling right now. No, that was because of the visitors that he was expecting to have.

And the sounds of his door knocking told him that they had just arrived.

“Hello, Archer. I hope we haven’t caught you at a bad time.” His former boss said as he stepped into his office, with Petrel and Ariana following right behind him, “Although, looking at your face, you seem pretty wrung out. You sure you’re doing okay, Archer?”

“There’s no need to worry about me, boss.” He said reassuringly, “I’m actually enjoying myself in this position. Much more than I thought I would.”

Yes, he was tired. But it was the good kind of tired. The one that left you feeling fulfilled and satisfied.

“Please, I’ve already said this before, you don’t need to call me boss anymore. Just Giovanni would do.” His boss said as he took a seat opposite him, “But knowing you and Petrel, I doubt I’ll be able to convince you guys anytime soon.”

“We call you ‘Boss’ as a show of our respect and gratitude.” Petrel remarked as he also took a seat, “Even if we may no longer be working under you – our respect for you does not change.”

“I’d also be calling you Boss too if I weren’t your partner.” Ariana added, “But I’d much prefer calling you just ‘Gio’.” A teasing but fond smile appeared on her face.

His boss just shook his head in exasperation, before changing the topic completely, “Anyways, how’re you doing in your new position, Archer? You said you were enjoying yourself?”

“Yes, I am.” He nodded, “I never realised this about myself, but I actually find being able to ‘teach’ others about my unique kind of battling style is quite fulfilling. I could never stand in a classroom and lecture, but as a Frontier Brain, I’m able to teach by example. And I can’t deny that I find it fun.”

“I’m sure the added popularity and attention that you get now also helps too.” Ariana smirked.

“I found it difficult to adapt to at first.” He admitted, “I wasn’t used to being recognised on the streets and being called out by name. At first that made me paranoid, because I felt like I had been exposed. I guess I was just too used to working undercover. And I wasn’t all too sure about how to deal with my newfound fans.”

“Managing fans is an acquired skill.” His boss agreed, “But it’s a rewarding skill to learn once you do master it.”

“I had some help with that.” He said, “I reached out to my colleagues, and Dahlia has been very helpful with teaching me how to manage my newfound fame. She’s definitely far more used to the spotlight than I would ever be.”

“So does that mean you plan on sticking with your job as a Frontier Brain for the foreseeable future?” Petrel asked.

“I think so.” He nodded, “I don’t see any reason why I would quit when I’m enjoying myself. This job pays well, lets me train up my Pokémon more, and allows me to experience a different kind of lifestyle than what I was used to. So overall, I have no complaints. What about you, Petrel? How are you finding your time working in the Cerulean Gym?”

“Rewarding, though I’m sure you already knew that.” Petrel answered, “However – recently, I have had thoughts about quitting.”

Ariana whirled towards him, “Quitting? That’s not like you, Petrel. I thought you adored those girls. You talk about them all the time. Why would you think of quitting?”

“Apologies, I misspoke. I don’t intend on quitting anytime soon; as you say, the girls still need me.” Petrel clarified, “However, maybe in a few years down the line, when the sisters are able to manage the Gym without my expertise, then I believe I’d like to move onto newer pastures.”

“You have something you want to do?” He asked.

Petrel nodded, “I have had thoughts about starting my own management company, mainly for contest performers. This is because I have come to learn, to my horror, that most contest performers and trainers are horrible at managing their own schedule and their own bookings. This is especially true for contest performers, since they often require additional supporting crew, like those that handle lighting and music and so on, to help them. And those need to be organised in advance, which contest performers are terrible at arranging. So that’s where I could offer my services to assist them with the tasks that they’d rather not deal with.”

“That’s a very good idea. Always a good thing to take advantage of an empty spot in the market.” His boss smiled, “Let me know if you need any assistance with startup funds or whatnot. I’ll always be there to assist.”

“That would be most appreciated. Thank you.” Petrel bowed deeply towards Giovanni, who merely waved it off and said it wasn’t a big deal.

“Actually, now that we’re on the topic of future plans, I might as well speak up about what I was thinking of doing to you two since Gio already knows.” Ariana said, “Right now I’m occupied with raising Silver. But once he heads out on his journey and becomes mostly independent, I wanted to resume my old position as a researcher – with the aim of eventually becoming a Professor.”

He whistled, “That’s not an easy task. Not many scientists are able to make it to become a Professor.”

“It will be tough.” She agreed, “Yet it’s something I want to work towards regardless. Hopefully, one day I could be known as ‘Professor Ariana – Pokémon Inventions Specialist’. Has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

She then let out a sigh, “But that dream is still very far away from me. I’m going to have to make some big discoveries if I want to ever be able to become a Professor.”

She was quickly pulled into a one-armed hug by his boss, who was now looking at all of them with a proud smile on his face.

“My, my. Look at you all. Before, if I ever asked you a question about what you wanted to do in the future, you would all say that you would do whatever I told you to do. However, look at you now. You’ve all got your own goals and dreams that you want to fulfil. You don’t need me to tell you what to do anymore.” Giovanni’s smile grew wider, “And that just makes me all the more happy to see you all turn over a new leaf in life.”

“Well done, everyone. And I hope all of your dreams come true as well. You all deserve it.”

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

The four of them spent an enjoyable hour together just hanging out and catching up with each other, but eventually, his boss and Ariana had to head back to take care of Silver, and Petrel went along with them.

He checked his watch. It was already dinner time, and so he decided that he might as well head down and grab a quick bite to eat.

But that was when he heard another knock on the door, and Dahlia popped her head in with her usual bright smile on her face.

“Was it nice meeting your old friends?” She grinned, “I wanted to ask you earlier if you wanted to grab dinner, but I didn’t want to disturb you all.”

“Sorry, I could have introduced you if I’d known.” He replied, “They would have loved to meet you.”

“No, no. It wasn’t for me to intrude on such a conversation anyways when it was clearly very personal. And you deserved to have an opportunity to catch up with your old friends.” She said, “Anyways, have you had dinner yet?”

“I was about to go eat.” He replied.

“Excellent.” Her smile grew wider, “Then what do you say we grab something together? A new restaurant just opened up in the Resort Area. I’ve been hearing many of my challengers talking about it. Want to go check it out?”

“Sure.” He went to grab his coat, “Is it just us two? What about the others?”

“Palmer’s gone home to eat with his family – I saw him rushing out the door the moment the Battle Frontier closed.” She explained as they stepped out of his office.

“He’s always in a rush.” He smirked, “Palmer never has any patience for anything.”

“Well his wife seems to have enough patience for both him and his son, which is frankly extraordinary.” Dahlia chuckled, “I wish I had half the patience she had.”

“You’ve met her?” He asked curiously, “Why haven’t I seen her yet?”

“She came to visit Palmer a few days before the Battle Frontier opened.” She explained, “I think you were busy working out the last minute details of your Battle Castle, so you probably just missed her.”

“That’s probably it.” He nodded, “So you were saying about the others…?”

“Ah, right. Well, Argenta’s already eaten. As for Thorton…” She shrugged, “I have no idea where he is. Couldn’t find him. He’s probably hidden away somewhere. Again.”

“So as usual then.” He replied amusedly, following after her, “He’s likely still obsessing over the plans for his new Battle Factory.” This was despite the fact that the Battle Factory was already almost fully built. Thorton was just being overly obsessive about it, as usual.

His obsessive nature actually made him pretty adorable to all the other Frontier Brains, himself included. They all saw him as the ‘child’ of the group, in a good way.

“That sounds like him. It’s impossible to pry him away from his plans.” Dahlia shook her head fondly, “So I hope you don’t mind if it’s just us two.”

“Of course not.” He replied, a little quicker than he intended. Then, feeling a little daring, he extended an arm out for Dahlia, “Lead the way then, my lady.”

“Oh my.” She giggled, but moved her arm so that it slipped inside his, “Keep acting this way, and a lady might get the wrong idea.”

He grinned slightly, “It’s only wrong if you dislike it.”

“Well I didn’t say that.” She smiled playfully, pulling him along, “Come on, it’s already pretty late. We need to move fast or we won’t be able to secure any seats…”

A.N. I read the comments about how people wanted to see more of Archer’s interactions with the Battle Frontier. And I agreed that the Frontier Brains deserved some attention too. However, I also wanted to add some more story to Giovanni’s previous subordinates, and highlight what they wanted for the future. So this was a combination of both. Hope you enjoyed!