The New Normal - 14-10 - INTERLUDE - Pokenet Reactions

The New Normal – 14-10 – INTERLUDE – Pokenet Reactions

[THE INDIGO ELITE FOUR’S GAUNTLET RUN! A SHOW OF STRENGTH FROM THE INDIGO LEAGUE! WERE YOU THERE?!] by Battlecast

[Snapshots of the gauntlet run containing various images of the Elite Four fighting. Lance is featured most prominently.]

Ever since the reveal that both John and Koga had participated in the raid against a Legendary in Sinnoh, many have you have been eagerly clambering for an opportunity to see and test yourselves against the strength of the Elite Four, especially ones that had held their own against a Legendary. Well, the opportunity has now come and gone, and we really hope that the Ace Trainers among you got your chance to show off your strength!

For those who somehow missed the event, we won’t be summarising the event here. Go back and watch the event yourself! It’s worth the time investment!

Anyways, as for the final results of the event itself, it should come to no surprise that our Champion Lance came out on top. I know many people were supportive of John and hoped he would win, but despite coming close, Lance’s full team of complete powerhouses still managed to out-class him. In a gauntlet format like this was, it was perfect for Lance to show off the incredible strength and endurance of his team. John instead came a respectable second place.

But both Tyrant and Emperor were as unstoppable as ever. It really felt like the both of them were impossible to take down.

However, as much as both Lance and John deserve praise for their amazing performance, it is equally as impressive that both Karen and Koga lasted as long as they did – considering their Types are not traditionally known for being powerhouses. They might have fallen behind Lorelei in terms of number of knockouts, but it just goes to show just how inventive tactics, clever and precise training, and confidence and experience can really push your team to go further beyond their ‘expected’ limits.

Did anyone manage to take down one of the Elite Four’s Pokémon? We’d love to know if you did! Or if you were just a spectator, let us know how you felt watching these battles! Should the League do something like this again?

Comments

DragonPower

THAT’S FUCKING RIGHT! DRAGONS SHOW UP WHEN IT MATTERS! STRENGTH IS EVERYTHING, AND DRAGONS ARE STRENGTH!

ANormalFan

John was so close to beating Lance there! Maybe if his Pokémon had just held on for a little bit longer, or hit just that little bit harder… Still, there’s no shame for losing against the Champion. Especially not one as strong and as formidable as Lance.

FutureAce

I WAS THERE AT THE EVENT! FUCK! I wish I was an Ace Trainer so that I could have fought against one of the Elite Four! I saw Lorelei’s Froslass flagging really hard; I think I could have taken it down with a good Metal Claw!

FearTheRat

Do you think you were the only one to think like that? I had the unfortunate luck of facing off against John’s Snorlax. Let me tell you – it’s much faster in person than you think. It looks slow and lumbering, but then it suddenly rushes towards you and you have no time to react. My own Hitmonlee wasn’t even able to get out of the way before it got knocked out with a single Zen Headbutt! Crazy!

FlyingHigh

Not surprising, John’s Snorlax has always been known to be one of his strongest aces. And it speaks volumes that Bruno was able to match it for as long as he did.

Speaking of Bruno, hasn’t he declared his intent to join the Hoenn Conference? That’s going to be interesting.

SlugmaBalls

I wish we had something like this take place in Hoenn! I’d love to have the opportunity to challenge one of the Elite Four’s Pokémon for myself! I think I could even take down one of Sidney’s Pokémon if it's already injured! They might be crafty, but they aren’t known for their raw strength.

NotTooMuchWater

That’s being very optimistic – I’m sure Sidney definitely has more tricks up his sleeves than that, especially as a Dark specialist.

Speaking of which, isn’t Wallace planning to host another Tournament of sorts soon? I hope more details on that gets announced pretty soon!! That last one was a banger!

AlluteNinja

Shame that Koga got last place here… but you’ll always be first in our hearts! This just wasn’t suited to your battling style!

KantoRepresent

Hmph. It seems like there’s still a gap between the Johtonian Champion and the Kanto Elite Four. Not unacceptable, but I hope it closes soon.

GeneralistGeneral

While I’m not usually one to boast – I took down Karen’s Crawdaunt! Here is the proof!

TangelaThoughts

Hope we get more events like this in the future that involve the public. It’s always a bit of good fun. But it also shows off just how much stronger our Elite Four are compared to us. John and Lance even managed to nearly hit TWO HUNDRED knockouts with just six of their Pokémon. If you really spent some time to think about that, that number is insane!

They really are deserving of every last bit of praise we heap on top of them.

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[A NEW REGION DISCOVERED? UNOVA DELEGATION ARRIVES IN SINNOH! A HISTORIC FIRST CONTACT BETWEEN TWO REGIONS?!] by Sinnoh News

[Picture of Alder and Drayden taking a photo with Cynthia, the Sinnoh Elite Four, Lorelei, and Sidney]

Today the Sinnoh League has finally decided to dispel with the growing rumours and dropped this bombshell of an announcement on us. While many have been whispering about it for some time, the Sinnoh League has finally confirmed that they have just made contact with another new region – Unova!

Who would have thought that there was yet another region out there, undiscovered until now?! Well they’re here now, and now our regions have entered into preliminary discussions with Unova’s representatives that have just arrived.

And what a surprise it was for them to send over their very own CHAMPION Alder (standing in the middle), accompanied by Elite Drayden of Unova (standing on the left)!

In their very first speech to the public of Sinnoh, Champion Alder had this to say:

“Thank you very much for the warm welcome to your lovely region. Admittedly, this comes as a very large surprise for us too – we had not expected to uncover a new region like this, but we are all the more happy for it. Unova has never known anything beyond our own borders, so it will be very interesting to explore more of your regions and hopefully forge friendly relations between us.”

“In the future, we hope to learn much more about the regions of Sinnoh, Indigo, and Hoenn, and slowly make ourselves familiar with your culture, your Pokémon, and your traditions. Despite the distance between Unova and Sinnoh, that is no reason for us to allow that to affect the closeness of our relationship. Personally, I am extremely excited to explore all three of your regions and see all of your wonderous sights for myself! I’m sure I’ll be appropriately wowed.”

A very friendly message from their Champion, which was further supported by our Champion’s own follow-up speech:

“Our meeting and subsequent discovery of Unova might have been a fortunate coincidence, but we have not allowed our shock and surprise to hamper the diplomatic wheels. Champion Alder and I have already entered into preliminary agreements to establish friendly contact between our regions, and we have both expressed our intent to continue to grow closer over the coming weeks and months, which includes a mutual exchange of information that would be performed and announced shortly. Sinnoh has gained much from our connections with Indigo and Hoenn, and it is my sincere hope that the same could be accomplished with Unova too.”

“Likewise, as communication with Unova’s homeland is currently impossible due to the distance between our regions, we will also be sending our own representatives to Unova soon to confirm our new friendly relations.”

That’s a bit of good news which should reassure anyone that had been concerned or worried about the new region being hostile or aggressive towards us. Of course, the current discussions are only preliminary, but this writer has faith in both Champion Cynthia and the Sinnoh League to be able to successfully enlighten the delegations of Unova about the benefits of a mutual alliance and bring them over to our side.

What were all your reactions to this new region? Are you excited or worried about their arrival? Let us know in the comments!

Comments

LoveIsEterna

WOAH WOAH WOAH! Definitely didn’t expect to see this when I woke up in the morning! A whole new region?! Where did they even come from?! Very excited to see and learn more about them!

RuinsManiac

Seeing that our first contact ended on a good note I really hope that Unova opens their borders to us soon! I’d love to visit a new region and explore some of the ruins that they have there and learn more about their history! I wonder how much they differ from ours!? I can barely wait!

EDIT: IMAGINE THEIR FOSSILS!!

TangelaThoughts

As exciting as this all is, and it is indeed very exciting, it’s very interesting to note that Unova decided to send over their Champion as a representative. Usually, such a role would be performed by an Elite Four member, such as Elite Drayden, because it isn’t usually a good idea to have a Champion leaving their own region for an extended period of time like their Champion seems to be doing. And especially not when they couldn’t fully be certain about their intentions towards them (since they didn’t know we would be friendly).

I wonder what that says about the mindset of Unova and their leaders? Something to think about.

FutureAce

Oh man, how strong do you guys think Champion Alder and Elite Drayden are compared to our current Champions and Elite Four? I mean, first impressions of Drayden alone already screams strength. But for Champion Alder… I don’t know, he feels a bit too laid back?? But maybe that’s just a façade that hides his true strength.

FearTheRat

Can’t wait for the reveal of their Pokédex. I think that’s when we can have a better idea of their strength. They must have some really strong Pokémon! Or better yet, I hope have new evolutions for currently existing Pokémon that we just haven’t discovered yet. That would be so cool!

NotTooMuchWater

I hope they get a chance to visit Hoenn soon. We might be furthest away from Unova, but that’s no reason to exclude us from any negotiations.

SlugmaBalls

Anyone else think that Drayden has Drake vibes? Or is it just me?

NotTooMuchWater

Nah, if that was Drake he would have dropped four swear words by the time he finished greeting everyone. Drayden seems far more polite and reserved.

DetectivePikachu

You FOOLS! Why can’t you understand that the only reason Unova sent their CHAMPION over of all things is because they’re preparing for an invasion! YOU GUYS ARE BLIND! YOU’RE BEING TRICKED! OPEN YOUR EYES!

FlyingHigh

Calm down on the conspiracy there buddy. And even if your paranoia-induced thoughts were true, have some trust in our leaders to handle the problem for us. They’ve proven time and time again that they’re both willing and capable of defending us. You’ve seen what they’ve managed to achieve recently.

PianoLover

Yeah! Cynthia and co. fended off a Legendary! Unova wouldn’t scare them!

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[REVEAL OF UNOVA’S POKÉDEX! SO MANY NEW POKÉMON TO CONSIDER! HOW WOULD THIS AFFECT THE BATTLING SCENE IN THE FUTURE?!] by Battlecast

[A graphic containing Unova’s full Pokédex. Minus the fossils and the Legendaries, it is the same as in canon]

Finally the reveal of the Unova Pokédex is here – and what a treat it is for us battle lovers! Just look at all those new Pokémon to choose from! This writer can’t wait for us to get access to them in the future! But never mind that for the moment, as we’re here to discuss the Pokémon that our analysts have estimated to have the most potential amongst them – and there are so many good choices to choose from!

First and foremost, we must take a look at what is clearly the strongest among them – Hydreigon! With its unique Dark/Dragon type, this is clearly going to be a contender for being the strongest Dragon type in the future! Furthermore, unlike most of its draconic counterparts, Hydreigon is primarily a Special Attacker, meaning that it doesn’t have to get in close and can devastate your team at a distance with its barrage of incredibly powerful and extremely versatile Special Attacks. It knows far more than just your standard Dragon and Dark moves!

Therefore, it isn’t surprising for Dragon lovers to be salivating over this one, as it gives them a whole new artillery Pokémon to make use of! Of course, be very wary of Fairy types, as this Pokémon is quadruply weak to it.

But the Dragons don’t stop there, as the pure Dragon Type Haxorus seems to be almost equally as powerful as Hydreigon as a more physical attacking counterpart. With its enormous Attack, there won’t be many Pokémon that can resist one of its Dragon Claws, and will more likely just fall to it. We wonder how well it would match up with the current Dragons that we have?

Dragons aside, there are also two incredibly powerful Steel Types in both Bisharp and Excadrill. Most notably, these two Steel types shy away from the usual stereotype of Steel types to be defensive supportive Pokémon, as they both pack a serious punch and have the speed to back it up. Their Attack rivals some of the strongest of Pokémon, and this gives Steel specialists another powerful attacker that they could include into their team.

Volcarona and Chandelure also caught our eye, being a pair of Special Attacking Fire Types that…[Click here to continue reading]

Comments

DragonPower

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES HYRDEIGON AND HAXORUS ARE JUST THE ADDITIONS WE NEED TO ONCE AGAIN REMIND EVERYONE OF OUR SUPERIORITY!

LOOK AT YOUR PUNY PSYCHIC AND GHOST TYPES AND TREMBLE BEFORE A DARK AND DRAGON TYPE!

WiggleThatTuff

And yet your new Hydreigon gets completely shutdown by a single Moonblast from a strong Fairy type. Makes me wonder if the Fairy type popped up just because Dragons were getting too strong! Would be pretty funny!

EDIT: ALSO JUST REALISED THAT THERE ISN’T A SINGLE NEW FAIRY TYPE IN UNOVA. WHAT THE FUCK!?

FlyingHigh

Well, maybe there are, but they just hadn’t been identified as a Fairy type yet. Remember that Unova apparently didn’t even know about the Fairy type until they discovered us. And we wouldn’t have known either if not for the efforts of Professor Oak, John, and the others who helped discover it.

Maybe new Fairy types will be identified once we’ve had the chance to properly examine all those Pokémon. Don’t lose hope!

SlugmaBalls

Interested to see what new fossils are available in Unova as well and what they will revive into. The current list of fossil Pokémon is already impressive – can’t wait to see what Unova will add to that list!

EDIT: Also, I WANT A VOLCARONA! IT LOOKS SUPER STRONG!

TangelaThoughts

Very interesting to see that Unova has their own version of Zoroark. Besides the Type differences, Unova’s Zoroark looks almost identical to the Sinnoh one. But what this does mean is that, assuming Unova’s Zoroark isn’t very rare, we’re about to see more people running around with a Pokémon that can make use of illusions – I wonder what new strategies people can come up with.

PunchingBag

ANOTHER FIRE/FIGHTING ‘STARTER’ JUST PROVES ONCE AGAIN THAT EVEN POKÉMON THEMSELVES KNOW THAT FIGHTING TYPE IS THE BEST TYPE!!

FutureAce

I really hope we can establish a PSS connection with Unova as quickly as possible! There’s so many cool Pokémon that I want! I hope they won’t cost too much…

FlyingHigh

Judging that Unova’s Pokémon are probably going to be in very high demand, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Leagues place a restriction on buying Pokémon from Unova for the time being. Or, barring that, the price of an Unovan Pokémon is probably going to skyrocket due to the high demand.

Unless you’re made of money, it might be better to wait.

GeneralistGeneral

I’m so jealous of the Elite Four/representatives that will get to go to Unova first! They’re going to be able to catch and train up the new Pokémon before us! They’re so lucky!

TangelaThoughts

That might not be the case… it depends on whether the Unova League is willing to allow them to capture Pokémon while they’re there, and they might not be. I hope they are though – it would symbolise their willingness to welcome us with open arms.

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[CHAMPION ALDER DUELS JOHN!? AND JOHN WINS IN A BATTLE OF STARTERS! TYRANT REIGNS SUPREME!] by Battlecast

[A snapshot of the battle between Tyrant and Volcarona. Tyrant can be seen charging straight through the wall of flames with a Giga Impact]

It seems like Champion Alder was eager to test out the prowess of our Indigo League, having quickly made a challenge to our very own Elite Four shortly after arriving in Indigo. Champion Alder must have been quite hungry for a battle if he’s so keen on getting into one before he had even had a chance to set down his bags.

We were unfortunately unable to interview Alder about his reasonings for challenging Elite John in particular, as after the battel concluded he had quickly retired for the night before we got an opportunity to interview him. However, after speaking with a few of his associates, they were able to provide a clearer picture of Alder’s intentions. One Unovan official said this:

“Ever since we started to learn more about your region and your leaders, Champion Alder has been very intrigued about Elite John in particular – given what he has reportedly done during your ‘Day of Calamity’. So he was naturally very excited about seeing that strength for himself, as any Champion would be. Please rest assured that this was merely an act done out of excitement, rather than a probe of one’s strength.”

However, in his eagerness, it seemed like Champion Alder had bitten off far more than he could chew. John had made the region proud today, as he very convincingly demonstrated the strength of Indigo through the one-sided beatdown delivered by his Tyrant. Alder’s own starter, a Volcarona (a powerful Bug/Fire type), was not able to put up a fight before it was brutally taken down by Tyrant.

Make no mistake. Alder was strong, and a lesser foe would definitely have faltered against his starter. But not John.

It just serves as another reminder (as if we needed one) that John’s past victories were no fluke. Don’t forget, this was the man who had managed to fight against Champion Lance’s starter and won. Although we have yet to see the full extent of Alder’s full generalist team, as a proud resident of Indigo, this writer is pleased to say that Elite John really upheld our prestige today. Alder was dominated quite handedly.

Were you guys able to watch the match between the two of them? What did you think of Champion Alder and his mysterious starter? Let us know more in the comments!

Comments

KantoRepresent

That’s right! Don’t you dare look down on Kanto just because you’re the new kid on the block! Our Elite Four will never lose to anyone!

ILoveGoldenRod

…I doubt that Alder was ‘looking down’ on anyone. I mean, did you see the Champion’s face? I know appearances can be deceiving, but he hardly looks like the arrogant type. I’m convinced that he was probably just excited to test himself against someone as famous as John.

FearTheRat

Very interesting to see a Unovan Pokémon in action – wish we could have a more extensive fight between the two just so we could see more. But I think after today there’s going to be many Fire and Bug specialists who will be quite eager to get their hands on Volcarona. It might have lost, but it looked very good.

ANormalFan

WOOO!!! Didn’t doubt John for a moment there! The moment I saw the headline, I knew that John would win. New Champion or not, John ain’t losing.

EDIT: Is Wallace the only Champion remaining that John hasn’t fought against in some capacity? Maybe that could be arranged?!?

TangelaThoughts

I didn’t expect to see a battle between Unova and Indigo so quickly, let alone between their Champion and our own Elite Four no less. I hope there won’t be any hard feelings from the Unova side for losing, even if that would be quite petty.

…This is why we don’t usually see Champions fight outside of official challenges. Unless the position of the Champion is extremely secure (and we don’t know what the political situation in Unova is like right now), any sort of loss can be a big political detriment to them since Champions aren’t meant to lose. So I’m surprised to see that Alder even offered a battle in the first place.

NotTooMuchWater

Hey, on that note – they just released another information packet that details the current Elite Four of Unova. Their current roster consists of: Elite Shauntal (Ghost specialist), Elite Grimsley (Dark specialist), Elite Marshal (Fighting specialist), and Elite Drayden (Dragon specialist).

Anyone else think it’s pretty amusing that their Elite Four is basically a mixture of Indigo’s and Hoenn’s when it comes to Type specialities?

PunchingBag

A FIGHTING ELITE FOUR MEMBER LETS GO! HE WILL BE CHAMPION OF UNOVA SOON! BYE BYE ALDER!

TangelaThoughts

Ooh, very interesting note – it’s stated that Marshal is an apprentice of Alder’s. Maybe he’s being groomed to be a successor? Are we going to see a change in their Champions soon? If so, then that makes Marshal definitely a person of interest that is worth looking into. He might be the next Champion, after all.

DarkManager (Verified POG)

I think Karen’s a pretty easy opponent. I think Alder should try to fight against her.

FlyingHigh

Nice try, Karen. But you’ve got the ‘Verified POG’ now. Your anonymity is compromised!

IcyTrainer (Verified POG)

Karen’s jokes aside, I want to make it clear that none of the Indigo Elite Four were offended or insulted by Alder’s sudden challenge against John. Even had John lost the battle, we are all trainers here. Battling is in our blood. We wouldn’t turn down the opportunity for a good battle, let alone be offended by one.

Besides, Alder and the rest of the Unovan delegation have treated us with nothing less than the utmost of respect. Even though he lost, he still bore no ill-feelings against us and simply thanked us for the battle. You could say he took his loss like a Champ.

…Anyways, his kind temperament ought to be commended.

A.N. This actually marks the end of Arc 14, the Future Arc, and I felt it was only appropriate that we have a Pokenet chapter for everything that has happened over the past few chapters. Naturally, much of the focus is on the arrival of Unova, so I hope you enjoyed!

The next chapter will be the start of Arc 15 – the Unova Arc. No prizes on guessing what that’s going to be focusing on. But expect several Unova characters to be introduced and developed!