The New Normal - 15-8

The New Normal – 15-8 – The Battle Frontier

Things had gone by quickly ever since our return from Unova, though not to my surprise. The first thing between our regions that was rushed through was the construction of the transmission towers – apparently, all of our regions were dedicating a lot of resources to getting them set up as quickly as possible, so I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before we could actually communicate with them digitally. That would save us from needing to travel to and from there in person.

In the meanwhile, discussions were well at hand for Unova to at least begin opening their borders for businesses. Sinnoh actually proposed to Unova the phased system that they used themselves to integrate with Hoenn and Indigo, and Unova seemed to like that well enough to apply it for their own situation.

On less optimistic news, I had reported everything that Drake and I suspected about Ghetsis and his cultish goals. Having lived through Cyrus’ actions, the three Leagues took our warnings very seriously, though obviously they weren’t able to do anything directly to Ghetsis while he remained in Unova. Yet they would keep a watchful eyes on PLASMA’s actions if they ever expanded onto our shores.

So far, that was everything that was concerning Unova. There wouldn’t be any ‘open’ trading between our regions yet, so the Unovan Pokémon were still inaccessible for the majority of the public. Only exceptions like myself, Karen, or the other Elite Four that went over to Unova, were able to have Unova Pokémon for the time being.

Speaking of those Pokémon, I finally decided on a name for my newly caught Audino – Sona. Given that she was the Hearing Pokémon, and a supportive healer, I felt it fit very well.

Fortunately, neither Pokémon had any problems with the rest of my team. Tails was pretty terrified of the likes of Tyrant, Vordt, and Smough at first, but Klee and Luna helped soothe her fears. Meanwhile, Sona was completely calm about the whole thing, and was able to settle in very quickly.

Thus, with the introductions out of the way, I had begun to train up both Sona and Tails, though obviously they were trained differently. I had paired up Sona with my support Pokémon and got her training with the basics first, while Tails was paired with Ornstein to train up her own speed and physical attacks. It wasn’t anything complicated for now, but once they mastered the basics, then I would go into more specialised training.

But it wasn’t my own Pokémon that I had to handle. Upon my return to Indigo, I had also thrown myself deep into helping my parents out with the new breeding farms that we had set up. As I would soon realise, raising a whole bunch of Pokémon with the explicit intention to be sold was a very different thing than raising them for your own team.

For one, you had to have a certain level of detachment with the Pokémon you raised, because ultimately they would not be able to stay with you. You had to be kind and loving to them, but not too much so for them to get overly attached to you. That was a surprisingly difficult balance to maintain, as I was always so used to having a strong and personal relationship with the Pokémon that I was training up that it was strange to not do so.

As my uncle put it, “It’s all about making sure that the Pokémon understand your intentions from the get go. Think of yourself as their matron. You are responsible for making sure they grow up strong and loved, and that they will have an equally loving home for them to move onto. Yet they cannot grow dependent on you, or else you selling them off would be a great betrayal to them.”

“Striking that balance isn’t easy.” I admitted.

“It isn’t.” He nodded, “That’s why we have so many other breeders to assist you. Just because you’re a great trainer doesn’t mean you’d be a great breeder – those are two very different skillsets. Your focus is on the combat aspect of the Pokémon, while the breeders will help make sure that they are able to develop the right mentality to be used by a different trainer. Don’t worry too much about it. You’re doing a great job so far.”

His explanation did help, and things got much easier after that. Just like we discussed all that time ago, most of the Pokémon on the farm were Eevee and Teddieursa, though with my sister’s suggestion we also included Miltank as well. My sister would be working on the latter.

In fact, helping out with the farm took up so much of my time to the point that I had almost overlooked the fact that Steven ended up winning the Hoenn Conference – though I wasn’t all that surprised. After his victory over Bruno, I sincerely doubted anyone stood a chance of beating him, and I was right.

Following his victory, he had publicly challenged Wallace to become the next Champion, and his first fight with Sidney was arranged for the coming week. Judging by his performance against Bruno, I don’t think Steven would have any trouble in the strength department. It was just a matter of seeing whether Sidney or Phoebe’s tricks would trip him up.

On that note, Drake had spoken to me about how excited he was for the battle ahead.

“Do you know how long it’s been since my last good battle?” He said to me over the phone, “Too fucking long – that’s what! Crushing criminals and then fighting a Legendary had been a nice snack, but I’m ready to fight a proper 6v6 again. Steven better live up to the fucking hype, or I’m going to be so disappointed.”

“You’ve any thoughts about him becoming Champion?” I asked, “Or would you rather Wallace stay?”

“Eh, I’m too fucking old to care at this point.” He shrugged, “I like Wallace – I think he’s been a great Champion for Hoenn and his leadership has held strong even through some pretty fucking turbulent times, but I know Steven and Wallace are friends, and Wallace trusts Steven to do a good job in his place. I also know that Steven won’t tarnish the reputation of what it means to be Champion, so I’m confident I can leave it to his hands if he does win. But what do I know? I’m just rude old man. If you want a more in-depth opinion, ask someone like Sidney.”

That was the response I had expected from him.

However, even while Steven was busy with his own challenge against Wallace, he still had time to advance his agenda to prepare Bruno to join the Hoenn Elite Four by allowing him to earn the necessary accreditations for his appointment to be accepted by the public.

Therefore, right after his loss to Steven, Bruno had immediately begun working at the Dewford Gym as the Head Gym Trainer with Brawly. As a young and inexperienced Gym Leader with little direct political connections, Brawly had been struggling to find competent Gym Trainers that he could trust to assist him before the next Circuit came around.

That was where Steven had offered up Bruno, since there was no explicit law preventing a foreigner from serving as a Head Gym Trainer, only as a Gym Leader. Thus, with what was probably a few secret arrangements with Brawly, Bruno was subsequently made to be Head Gym Trainer. He had been working there for a few days now, and Brawly had nothing but commendations for the man. If anything, Bruno was grossly overqualified for the position, as while he certainly had a one-track mind, Bruno was no slouch when it came to keeping people and Pokémon in line.

Enforcing discipline was second-nature to him as an experienced martial artist, and his training with Steven had helped him with the administrative side of things. He wasn’t the greatest at the latter, but his personal strength and leadership abilities more than made up for it.

It was a win-win situation for both sides. Brawly would get help running the Gym and get himself stabilised as Gym Leader, while Bruno would be able to prove himself to the public in preparation for when Steven eventually invited Bruno to join the Hoenn Elite Four.

As Steven had likely calculated beforehand, the public reactions to this unorthodox appointment was pretty neutral. Even though being a Head Gym Trainer was a prestigious position, it didn’t carry the same political connotations as being a Gym Leader, so no one really batted an eye about a foreigner taking up the position.

Hopefully it was going to stay that way.

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

Even though Cynthia spoke about it often during our nightly conversations, I had very much underestimated how fast the Battle Frontier could be built. As far as I was aware, it had only been a matter of months since construction initially began, but now everything was already built up.

So much so that I was invited over there to participate in its grand opening.

Admittedly, not everything was fully built up yet, but they were still going to host the grand opening regardless. Thus far, only the Battle Tower (run by Palmer), the Battle Arcade (run by Dahlia), and the Battle Castle (run by Archer) had been built and would be shown off in today’s grand opening. The Battle Factory (run by Thorton) and the Battle Hall (run by Argenta) was still being built.

As Cynthia explained to me, that was by design.

They were doing it this way so that the public could get a taste of what the Battle Frontier had to offer. And when they saw there were still other facilities being built, it would serve to generate more hype as they could see that there was still more to come.

Therefore, I was travelling over to Sinnoh, having been personally invited there by my girlfriend as the sole foreign representative. Hoenn were meant to send someone as well, but due to Steven’s challenge they held off from travelling during this period.

Since Cynthia was busy running around making sure the opening was a success, after I arrived I spent a bit of time before the ceremony just wandering around the Battle Zone and taking a look at the sights – as almost the entire place had been transformed.

Before, the area around Stark Mountain was pretty barren, with only a few dozen houses that I could see from on top of Port whenever I flew over the area.

However, now things were completely different. Pokécenters and various shops now lined the streets, while in the distance, several hotels and luxury buildings were either already built or were being built up in the so-called ‘Resort Area’, which would give wealthy travellers another more luxurious option to spend their vacation time.

Having Pokémon being able to assist us in the building process really sped things up.

After wandering around for a bit and checking up the local shops, it eventually came time for the opening ceremony. Since I was a VIP, I headed backstage where I found Dahlia, Palmer, and Archer all waiting patiently for it to begin.

“Hey, congratulations on the grand opening.” I greeted them, “You must all be excited.”

“Sure am.” Palmer grinned widely, “I can’t wait for the world to see just what my team and I have got in store for them! My subordinates and I have been working really hard to make sure the Battle Tower is going to be an experience that they’ll remember and keep coming back to! I’m confident we’re going to get a lot of attention from Ace Trainers around the world once this is all set up.”

“That’s excellent news.” I nodded, before turning to Dahlia and Archer, “And you two? You excited as well?”

“Of course! Most people only know me as a star, but this is the opportunity for them to get to know Dahlia the trainer!” She gave me a thumbs up, “So you and Cynthia don’t need to worry about a thing. 2v2 battling is going to become really popular after today, I guarantee it.”

“I don’t think any of us could match Palmer’s excitement levels.” Archer deadpanned, “But yes, surprisingly I am. In the past, my achievements weren’t usually so public… but this has been a nice change of pace. I can’t deny that I feel… happy, with my new role. Not only that, but I found it rather entertaining to come up with different scenarios for upcoming trainers to fight in.”

I smiled, “Glad to hear it, Archer.” I wouldn’t really call us friends, but it was nice to see him doing well. If only because he would be less inclined to return to a life of crime if he was happy in his new, and legal, position.

Then I realised something, “Wait a minute, is it just you three? Where are Thorton and Argenta?”

“Since their sections are still under construction, they’re busy supervising everything.” Dahlia replied, “However, don’t worry about them being left out. They’re going to have their own ceremony once their sections are done as well, and it’s also going to be a whole other big event just for them. It’s just that Thorton’s Battle Factory takes longer to build and organise logistically, and Argenta insisted that the Battle Castle be finished first before her own section, so here we are today.”

I nodded understandingly, though Dahlia seemed to have something to ask me as she nudged me on the shoulder, “Say, John, you seem quite familiar with Archer, right? Do you know what he used to do? After spending time around the guy, we’ve pretty much all figured out that he’s had a plenty of different experiences. I mean, not just in battling, but also in administration and planning. Actually, in the latter I’d say he’s better than all of us! So he can’t just be your regular ol’ trainer.”

Luckily, Giovanni had already prepped me for what to say if I ever got questioned like this.

I gave off a nonchalant shrug, “I know he used to work with Giovanni as his right-hand man in the Gym. And he also worked in Silph Co. with Giovanni as well in the same capacity. That probably explains his experience.”

“…But that’s what he told us too.” Dahlia looked like she wanted to ask for more, but she was subsequently cut off as Cynthia took to the stage, beginning the opening ceremony.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, and trainers from all around the world, I welcome you to the grand opening of the Battle Frontier! A place for any trainer to come and hone their skills against experienced and carefully selected Ace Trainers! It is a place for those that yearn for a challenge beyond the ordinary Gym Circuit, to be able to push their teams even further beyond. Here in the Battle Frontier, you’ll be able to match against a wide variety of trainers, all with their own differing teams and specialities. You’ll come to find that the Battle Frontier is the perfect place to train!”

“Not only that, but as of today’s opening there are three different sections of the Battle Frontier for you to choose from, all of which offer a different battling experience for you. AND, like we stated in the promotional material that you might have seen, there are plenty of prizes for you to earn should you prove victorious in your challenges. Feel free to check out the shop at any time to see just what you could exchange for your wins!”

“However, before that, let me introduce you the three Frontier Brains that will serve as the leader of each section.” She gestured for the three Frontier Brains to step up, “First we have Palmer, head of the Battle Tower. He will be hosting traditional 1v1 battles that most of you are used to. Then we have Dahlia, head of the Battle Arcade. She will be hosting 2v2 battles, giving trainers’ Pokémon more opportunities to fight together on the battlefield. And last but certainly not least, we have Archer, head of the Battle Castle. For those of you who want a very different kind of battling experience, one where the battling conditions aim to simulate real life scenarios as much as possible, then the Battle Castle is where you want to be.”

There was a roar of excited cheers and applause at that. Though many people here likely knew about the format of the three sections beforehand – as they had been extensively advertised in the news already, this didn’t make them any less excited.

However, as the applause died down, Dahlia took up the mic, “Thank you, Champion Cynthia, for that excellent introduction. But I’m sure you’ve all come here to listen to more than just a speech. I’m sure many of you are trainers here – so what better way to show off our prowess than through a battle!”

“That’s right.” Archer nodded as he too stepped forward, “Considering that many trainers might not have been in a 2v2 fight, or the unorthodox type of fights that I offer, a demonstration would be ideal to show off exactly what you could be expecting.”

“Therefore!” Dahlia grinned widely, her enthusiastic energy clearly on display, “We invite you into the Battle Arcade, where I will be battling against Champion Cynthia herself!”

“And I will do the same with Elite John, who has graciously offered his assistance today.” Archer followed. “So if you would like to spectate that, then please follow me into the Battle Castle.”

After more excitement from the crowd, the public eventually split into two pretty even groups as they either followed after Dahlia or Archer. Cynthia and Archer had already asked me earlier if I was willing to participate, and I was. Therefore, I walked over with Archer as the crowd followed us into inside of the Battle Castle.

I actually hadn’t been inside before, but it was extremely clear that they had put a lot of effort into the aesthetics of this place. Yet, the Battle Castle I stepped into today was also completely unlike the grand and palatial appearance that the one run by Darach and Caitlin would’ve been like. The Battle Castle this time was far more medieval and brutal in its design.

The grey and lifeless brick walls, thick steel chains dangling from the roof, and the metal braziers lining the walls made it look more like a dungeon cell than a royal castle.

Then we got to the main arena itself, and it didn’t look any less menacing. Instead of a mostly flat arena with tons of open space and clear line of sight, the arena that Archer had designed was filled with obstacles. Large, uneven rocks were seemingly haphazardly thrown around in a random pattern that scattered across the battleground, while large reinforced pillars were sprung up all over the place as well. There was also a few thick metallic beams lying down, which could be used to take cover in for smaller Pokémon.

Not only that, but everything was built out of some super reinforced material, making it so that Pokémon couldn’t just break through them with their attacks so easily.

“Welcome to the Battle Castle, everyone.” Archer began as we arrived, “As you can see, the arena we will be fighting on is very different from what you usually expect. Like I mentioned earlier, I am trying to replicate the conditions of a real-world battle, where you might have to fight in an enclosed space. Moving around and spotting your opponent isn’t going to be as easy as in a regular battle, and I very much hope that this will be an opportunity for all of you to train up your own tactical awareness when in a battle.”

“But that’s enough from me.” He nodded to me, “Let’s head straight into the battle. For the sake of this demonstration, John and I have already agreed it for to be a 2v2. However, in your own battles, we are able to do any variation from 1v1, 2v2s, or 3v3s.”

I headed over to the starting area, my mind already planning out how I wanted this battle to play out. Admittedly, it was a little strange fighting like this, but I trusted in my team’s past experience to grab the win anyways.

Of course, I realised that the main thing that might scare people off from this was that you had to follow your Pokémon through the maze-like arena in order to continue giving commands – meaning that you might be in the line of fire. Obviously, directly harming your opponent was not allowed, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t get hurt by stray attacks.

Fortunately, the Battle Frontier’s main target were Ace Trainers, who should be more than comfortable in putting themselves into scenarios like this.

But I shook those thoughts out of my head for now. I had a battle to win.

“Trainers! Are you ready?!” I nodded, though I couldn’t see if Archer was doing the same. “FIGHT!”

I silently sent out both Klee and Wraith, not announcing them as I usually did because that would give away what my choices were to Archer. I couldn’t see what he sent out, but I didn’t think I needed to.

I immediately sprinted for one of the corners before I gestured for Wraith to disguise himself on one of the nearby pillars; his form shimmering and fading away as he cloaked himself in his illusion. In the meanwhile, Klee threw up a Reflect and Light Screen around myself, before we hunkered down and both my Pokémon began setting up with Swords Dance and Calm Mind respectively.

Was it scummy, camping it out like this? Yes it was. But I had to play this smartly – I wasn’t as familiar with the layout of the arena, and I was willing to bet anything that Archer was better at sneaking around and tracking me down. So instead of wandering around in circles, I simply waited for him to come to me.

Therefore, I remained in place, patiently waiting for Archer to arrive as I kept an ear out for footsteps. I had placed myself just within viewing distance of the pillar that Wraith had camouflaged himself on, though still a good distance from the battle itself so I wouldn’t be hurt accidentally, which hopefully meant that in a fight we could flank and attack Archer from two angles.

Eventually, I heard the sound of a flame flickering, and the chittering of an unknown Bug type. I silently gestured for Klee to get ready, and her eyes began to glow blue as she prepared a Psychic.

Then a Fire Blast was suddenly lobbed over the wall.

Reacting instantly, Klee threw up a Protect shield and covered herself as the Fire Blast harmlessly exploded above her. Right afterwards, a Houndoom and Pinsir rushed around the corner.

The Fire Blast had merely been a distraction, and Pinsir instantly slammed into Klee with a full-powered Superpower before she could realise what was happening. Just like we did, Pinsir must have maxed out its own attack as well, as my normally incredibly tanky Klee was knocked down to the ground from the supereffective physical hit.

Then before she could get up, Houndoom unleashed a point-blank Fire Blast – that must have also been boosted to the max – as it managed to finish off Klee.

Fuck. That was the risk of fighting this way. Since I was playing so defensively, everyone got an opportunity to boost themselves to the max before the fight began, meaning every hit was almost guaranteed to be a one-hit KO.

However, as Houndoom had been too distracted finishing off Klee, that was when Wraith revealed himself, leaping off of the wall with a snarl as he ambushed Houndoom from behind – smashing a devastating and fully boosted Focus Punch right into the back of the Houndoom’s head. Houndoom let out a pained whine as its face was smashed into the ground, right as another supereffective Brick Break finished the job.

Surprised at the unexpected takedown, Pinsir spun around and with its arms gleaming with Dark energy as it prepared to avenge its teammate. However, it was too slow, and Wraith fired off a Flamethrower that forced Pinsir to throw up a Protect shield.

Then, with his opponent momentarily blinded by the flames, Wraith dashed forwards and lashed out with a Low Kick that tripped and sent Pinsir sprawling to the ground. Pinsir instinctively tried to push Wraith off with a Seismic Toss, only for the attack to do nothing as Wraith was immune to Fighting type attacks.

It was too late once Pinsir realised its mistake as Wraith struck the Bug type with a Foul Play, turning Pinsir’s own maxed out Attack against it – knocking the Bug type out.

Unlike a standard fight, ignoring the waiting period, the moment we actually began exchanging moves – the entire fight between Archer and I barely took more than thirty seconds. It just goes to show just how different these kinds of fights were compared to your standard fights, where Pokémon may have the time to buff up to the max beforehand.

Of course, other fights could go on for much longer depending on the trainer’s preferred fighting style, like if they were to use hit-and-run tactics for example.

And as if he was reading my mind, Archer practically relayed my own thoughts out loud to the spectating crowd, who were clapping loudly at our battle. “Thank you, John, for helping show off how different my facility will be to my peers. As you can see, the fights that take place here in the Battle Castle are going to be very different to what you’re used to. Fights can end in a matter of seconds if you’re not careful, and being able to leverage your surroundings will be extremely important in securing your victory.”

“Therefore, as far as I’m aware, we provide an experience that can’t really be found anywhere else in the world. So if you’re looking to challenge yourself and train up some important skills that could help you when it truly matters, then come over to the Battle Tower. We greatly anticipate your visit!”

And thus, the Battle Frontier made its grand opening.

A.N. And here’s the Battle Frontier! I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to expand on it a bit more, especially with the changes that I’ve made compared to canon. And with Archer now in charge of the Battle Castle, I felt like aesthetically having it be something like a royal palace doesn’t quite make sense for a man like him. So instead I went for something more brutish and dark, which should be more appropriate given the experience found within.

As with the show match in the Battle Castle itself, I wanted to show off something very different from your usual style of Pokémon battling. Since there’s no easy line-of-sight, you’re able to set up with your Pokémon before actually engaging in battle. Of course, there’s always the slight risk that you might get ambushed while doing so, so you need to maintain your awareness as well. I hope you enjoyed!