The New Normal - 14-8

A.N. I forgot to mention this last chapter, but because the 1st of March marked the second anniversary of TNN, and because I had the free time, I will be uploading a bonus chapter to Questionable Questing later in the day – taking place right after/during Chapter 13-18. It is marked as ’13-18X’ and is NSFW. So feel free to head over there if that’s something you’re interested in.

The New Normal – 14-8 – The Unovans

From what Lorelei reported back, the Unovan explorer, Chris, was suitably impressed by the tour of Sinnoh that he got, especially when the events at Spear Pillar were described to him.

I laughed when she told me all about how shocked Chris was when he heard that I had awakened Regigigas. Apparently, he had thought that meant I was the one in control over Regigigas, and so Indigo just had someone walking around with a Legendary at his beck and call. However, once we explained that I was only responsible for awakening it and didn’t have control over it, that managed to calm him back down.

Yet he was still pretty shocked to hear that an ordinary human was able to awaken a Legendary in the first place, but it wasn’t as bad as the thought of me controlling one.

Amusement aside, Chris was unfortunately unable to reach or contact his superiors all the way back in Unova, as the connection didn’t reach that far. So instead, he volunteered to head back to Unova to report about what they had discovered while he left a few of his colleagues here so they could familiarise themselves more with our region and got to know us better.

Because of this, we had given him a information packet containing some important information about our regions. This included a general history of our regions, an explanation of our geopolitical relationships, and a summary of the important events that had occurred.

On the other hand, since Chris and his team weren’t expecting to stumble into a completely new region, they didn’t have any information packets for us to browse through. But they promised to bring a proper representative once they returned. And at the very least he did give a brief summary of the political landscape of Unova.

From what Chris explained, the current Champion of Unova was Champion Alder, with Elite Shauntal, Elite Marshal, Elite Grimsley, and Elite Drayden serving as his current Elite Four.

The fact that Drayden was serving as an Elite Four member was a bit surprising to me. I had thought Caitlin would have been in the Elite Four, but then I recalled that she was supposed to serve as a Frontier Brain first BEFORE becoming an Elite Four. So maybe we were just a little earlier into the schedule, and Drayden being an Elite Four was pretty fitting.

Wait. Does that mean Iris is the Gym Leader of Opelucid City? Does that mean Pokémon White was canon? Hmm…

Nevertheless, my thoughts on canon aside, there was one thing from Lorelei’s report that caught my attention – when Lorelei asked Chris what other regions existed outside of Unova that they knew about, the answer was simply none. We were the first foreign region that Unova had discovered. The others didn’t seem to have a problem with this, but I definitely found that fact curious.

Because shouldn’t Alola be close to Unova? So why is it that Unova hasn’t discovered them yet? Or were the two regions actually further than I had expected?

I wasn’t going to get answers on this now, but I resolved to check up on it as soon as I could.

With Sinnoh being the region closest to Unova, it was deemed that they would be where further meetings would be held. There were talks about sending someone over to Unova to formally introduce and represent our regions, but ultimately it was decided that it would be better if we were the hosts rather than the guests.

For the time being, the discovery of a whole new region had yet to be formally announced; though with many of the League officials needing to be informed due to the scale of this event, rumours were already spreading throughout the three Leagues and it was only a matter of time before the public caught wind of this. Despite this, Cynthia wanted to wait for the official delegates from Unova to arrive first before making such an announcement.

It was best to make sure that Unova was actually going to be friendly with us. Not that we suspected anything malicious from Chris’ explanation to us, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Plus, there was every chance that Unova might be more isolationist than welcoming, so it was best to ensure that they were at least going to be cordial first before making a show of their arrival.

It would be pretty politically embarrassing if they snubbed us.

Still, everyone in the know was pretty excited about formally meeting the representatives from Unova, though due to the long travel time between Sinnoh and Unova it would be a bit before we would actually be able to meet them.

Let’s hope they arrived sooner, rather than later.

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

(Chris POV)

Normally, he would be bored stiff being stuck on a ship for so long without anything to do – but the information packet was very good reading material, even if it was a lengthy thing.

The three regions of Sinnoh, Indigo, and Hoenn were extremely interesting to read about.

He learnt about how the Regional Union was formed, and how Indigo was the first region to make contact with the other two. The very idea that regions could work so harmoniously together was enlightening, and even if politics wasn’t his thing, he too hoped that they could turn this stroke of fortune into prosperity for Unova.

However, as he continued to read through some of the information, he noticed a familiar name continuing to pop up time and time again.

Elite John.

From what was described, he was a very important proponent of expanding the international community and fostering good relations between all three regions. For an Elite Four, he was unusually active politically. At least he seemed to be the anomaly, rather than the rule, since his peers were nowhere near as active as him. Otherwise, he would be disappointed in their own Unovan Elite Four for their comparative inaction.

However, that really painted an interesting picture for the man. Because, despite not being in control of Regigigas (unlike what he had mistakenly assumed), the Sinnoh League had nothing but praise for his strength – claiming that he was basically an equivalent to a Champion in strength. That did make him wonder why he never challenged Lance for the position, since he only felt that this was the natural course of action for the man.

Regardless, it was clear that Elite John was a very successful prodigy, and was an extremely talented Pokémon trainer.

From Unova, the only person he could think of who could compare was Gym Leader Iris, who was seen as a prodigy of a Dragon Master even at such a young age. There was a reason she was allowed to be a Gym Leader, with Elite Drayden’s supervision, even though she was far from her age of majority.

He wasn’t the only person to suspect that she was being prepared for a much larger role.

Thoughts about Iris aside, he was very interested in meeting this Elite John if he ever had the opportunity to. He didn’t even know if he would be returning to Sinnoh after he reported back, but he hoped he would at least be given an opportunity to explore Indigo and Hoenn. Maybe he’ll meet John then.

His cabin remained silent for the rest of the journey home as he silently read through the information packet. A few other prominent names caught his attention, such as Professor Oak, Champion Lance, Champion Wallace, Champion Cynthia, Gym Leader Pryce, Elite Drake, Elite Lorelei, and Elite Agatha. All of whom seemed to have achieved something significant in recent times that have helped shape their regions to what it is now.

Professor Oak’s summary was especially interesting, considering that he was formerly the first Champion of Indigo and the man that managed to secure peace between Kanto and Johto. Now his story read much like a story book, with many, many achievements – each one already sufficient to earn someone plenty of acclaim and glory – and the fact that he went on to ‘retire’ to become a successful Professor.

And he made the Pokédex, a marvellous little invention that really helped trainers with the identification and classification of Pokémon. He wondered just how much time the invention managed to save ever since its creation – it was something that they needed to have back in Unova!

No wonder his section was marked as ‘critically important’. If all this was true, then Professor Oak could be seen as a founding member that was almost wholly responsible for the current status quo. No one else matched his level of influence, and there weren’t any that could compare from Unova.

So engrossed in his readings as he was, he almost didn’t feel the passage of time until he heard the ship’s horn blaring out – signalling that he had arrived back home in Unova. As he disembarked, he was surprised to see a League official waiting for him.

“Sir, how was your journey?” The official asked him, “The Elite Four sent me to ascertain your safe return. On behalf of them – did you discover anything of importance?”

“I did.” He nodded solemnly, “I discovered that we aren’t alone in the world. I stumbled into three regions – named Sinnoh, Indigo, and Hoenn respectively.”

The official was certainly surprised and taken aback by what he had just revealed, “…I beg your pardon? Did you say you discovered three new regions?”

“Yes, you heard me correctly.” He nodded again. Then he held out the information packets he had been given, “Please ensure that this gets to the Champion. I cannot stress enough how important this all is for the future of Unova.”

The official’s eyes darted to the information packet, still filled with shock and disbelief. It was only after the shock left his system did the official reach out with shaking hands and carefully took the information packet from him. He held on to it like he had just been given a priceless treasure.

“…I see… the Champion and Elite Four will have to be notified of this.” The official quickly tapped out a message on his phone, “Please head to the Pokémon League building as soon as possible. The Champion will wait for you.”

He did his best to not let out a sigh. He was tired and his muscles ached. So why he suddenly expected to meet all these high ranking figures? He was just some explorer…

But he knew that his complaints would go nowhere, and he understood that what he knew was of vital importance, so he toughed it out and allowed himself to be escorted to the Pokémon League building where he was quickly ushered into a meeting room containing the full roster of the Unova Elite Four.

…He felt that he should have been more nervous, being in the same room with the most powerful individuals in all of Unova. And yet, after spending some time in the presence of the leaders of Sinnoh, he was starting to get used to it.

Their Champion spoke first, “Sit down, son. It seems you and your boys found something important.” Alder began with an easy-going smile on his face. “You said you stumbled across a new region?”

Inwardly, he was just glad that Alder had even chosen to pause his wanderlust and attend this meeting.

“I did, Champion.” He nodded, taking the offered seat while the League official handed over the information packets he was given, “But I believe you should read through these as soon as possible. These were the information packets provided by the Champion of Sinnoh. I believe they’ll be able to explain things better than I could.”

He then proceeded to sit in silence as the Champion and Elite Four began reading through the provided documents. As they did, he watched their facial expressions carefully to see just how they reacted to this new discovery.

Interestingly, their reactions were all different. Alder looked interested, Shauntal was excited, Grimsley was frowning, Marshal was always glancing at Alder every few moments, while Drayden was stoic as usual.

“…Fascinating.” Alder exclaimed, “To think that all this once lied hidden beyond the horizon. How were we so blind to this?”

“Are they a threat to us?” Grimsley asked cautiously, “Because from what they’ve chosen to reveal, their strength is concerning.”

“Then we need to make sure that they do not become a threat to us.” Drayden stated, “They seem to be welcoming to us, as their past tendency for internationalism shows. We need to make sure they extend that hand of friendship to us as well.”

“You’re forgetting that those regions are relatively close together.” Grimsley denied, “We’re too far away to make the same bonds.”

“But we won’t know if we don’t try.” Shauntal said with an eager clap, “I think this might be the opportunity to finally expand our influence beyond our borders!”

“Alder, what do you think we should do?” Marshal deferred to the Champion, as he always did. The Fighting specialist had always looked up to the Champion…  after his recent actions, or lack thereof in Alder’s case.

“I think the choice has already been made for us.” Alder smiled, “Let’s put it another way – what if we don’t respond to this invitation? Then we would have just publicly snubbed and made an enemy of three regions, whose top trainers apparently have the firepower to take on a Legendary and survive. Now I may have been quite hands-off with my Championship thus far, but I think we can all agree that this isn’t a decision we can afford to make, right?”

There were an unanimous round of nods from the rest of the table.

“Excellent. Then our course of action is clear.” He said, “We should send a few representatives over, along with an information packet of our own, and prepare to greet our foreign neighbours. Let’s do this as soon as possible; we don’t want to keep them waiting too long.”

“And who should be sent over?” Grimsley asked, “Surely you’re not going yourself, Champion. That’s taking things a bit too far.”

“Who said it would be?” Alder chuckled, brushing off his Elite Four’s concerns, “I think heading over to a new region might allow me to find the thing I’m searching for.”

Grimsley scowled, “—But you can’t just abandon everything!”

“And I’m not. I have you guys to handle Unova’s ongoings, don’t I?” Alder grinned unrepentantly, “Besides, the Champion of Unova personally paying a visit would be a positive sign that we intend to foster friendly relations with them. It shows our sincerity. Drayden, I also want you to come with. You’ll be able to help me get their measure. I trust your judgement.”

Drayden simply nodded dutifully, not bothering to argue. In the meanwhile, Grimsley’s frustration merely grew, probably because he had likely just been saddled with a lot of the paperwork while Alder was gone.

…Personally, he didn’t blame Grimsley for his frustration. Alder’s overly lax approach to his reign had always been a source of criticism for many, and what was worse was that he made no effort to change his ways. But he was Champion, and for all his laziness, his strength was the real deal, so no one looked keen to try to challenge him.

“…But before we wrap up this meeting, I think there may be further insights we can obtain from our explorer here.” Alder said, turning to face him, “You said you were in a meeting with most of the upper leadership, and you saw the statue of the Legendary Titan that they made. What was your impression of them? What did you observe? Were they telling the truth about them battling a Legendary?”

“I highly doubt they’d lie about the latter, sir. There were too many people involved from many different regions. A lie like that couldn’t stand up to any scrutiny.” He said, “And while I may not have seen their Pokémon in action, their Champion had a level of confidence and surety in herself that heavily implied her strength. I asked around, and apparently she earned her position not by challenging the Champion as a current Elite Four, but rather by going through the entire gauntlet of Elite Four to make her way up to being Champion.”

“That’s an impressive feat.” Marshal commented, reading through the document containing information about the Champion of Sinnoh, “But what’s this here about her being in a relationship with this Indigo Elite Four named John? Surely that’s not allowed. They represent different interests.”

He shrugged, “I have no idea either. I did ask one of the Sinnoh Elite Four about it, but they just chuckled and laughed it off. So perhaps there’s more that we’re unaware of.”

“Perhaps it’s a political relationship?” Shauntal suggested, “I mean, he’s apparently quite the prodigy himself. Just look at his achievements thus far. Even excluding his awakening and partnership with a Legendary, he seems like he’s involved in quite a lot of things. Perhaps the ambitious Champion of Sinnoh is just trying to tie herself to someone like him for her own benefit.”

“Or she’s seduced him so that she could make use of that power for herself.” Grimsley added cynically, “It wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened." He turned towards him, "Did you manage to meet him in person and get a feel for his personality?”

“No.” He shook his head, “I wanted to, but he wasn’t there.”

“Hmph. Then I doubt he’ll be anything less than an arrogant braggart.” Grimsley scoffed, “Then again, assuming his achievements aren’t merely fabrications or exaggerations, then I suppose it is deservingly so. I doubt I would have acted any different had I been in his position at such a young age. Some people get all the luck.”

“Sounds like a person I should meet when I’m there.” Alder said with a thoughtful and excited smile, “I can’t wait to see what kind of man he is.”

“What about the region itself?” Drayden asked him again, “What did you think of Sinnoh? Does it compare to Unova?”

He had to think things through before replying, “…The environment and architecture is very different there. I saw that they had a lot of traditional looking buildings and cities, and they don’t have anything remotely close to the likes of Castelia City.” He described, “In fact, I didn’t really see any skyscrapers when I was flying around Sinnoh. But I don’t their lack of modern architecture is due to their poor economy; from what I saw they were hardly struggling. I believe that their preference for traditional architecture may be a stylistic decision rather than an economic one.”

“Perhaps they just didn’t reveal their problems to you.” Marshal stated, “Nevertheless, I suppose the Champion shall see it for himself.”

“Indeed I shall.” Alder nodded, “Let’s wrap up the meeting here; I think it’s gone on for long enough anyways. I need to get ready and packed for a whole new journey. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited. If you have anything else you want to discuss you can do so without me.”

“Please come back within a reasonable amount of time.” Grimsley pleaded, “Please don’t disappear for months on end. We can’t even communicate with you once you’re over there.”

“No promises.” Alder grinned.

He didn’t miss the audible sigh of frustration and annoyance from Grimsley. Poor guy. His hair was probably going to turn white from all the extra stress that Alder put on him.

At least his job was done. He was just some explorer; he didn’t want to be caught up in the complicated internal politics of the Elite Four.

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

(Lorelei POV)

Almost a week had gone by since the explorers had gone home to relay their information back to the leadership of Unova, and now they had just been informed by a ranger that a ship from Unova had been sighted and was about to arrive.

Even despite all the rumours that were going around, Cynthia had apparently still decided to keep the event a secret from the public for the time being. Only after ascertaining the Unovan’s intentions would they make a formal public announcement.

“Who do you think they’ll send over?” She asked Lucian, who was standing beside her at the pier of the Sinnoh Pokémon League.

“Probably one of their Elite Four.” He replied, “It would be unusual for them to send a Gym Leader or their Champion, considering that Chris told us that their Circuit is also running concurrently with ours.”

“I just hope they brought an index of the Pokémon that they have there.” She said, “I’m really interested to see just what kind of Ice Types they have over there.”

She hoped that there would be powerful Ice Types for her to catch.

“I’m sure everyone’s thinking the same thing.” Lucian replied, “Oh. I think they’re arriving now.”

Indeed, a giant cruise ship could be seen slowly entering into the port. On the side, the words ‘Royal Unova’ was plastered in a large font, and there were plenty of luxury facilities scattered across the deck of the boat.

Well… arriving on that was definitely a statement.

She stared eagerly as she watched the retinue from Unova disembark from the ship. At the forefront of their group, a large, wizened man trotted down the steps with an easy-going smile on his face; his red hair standing out amongst his companions.

Standing next to him was a heavily muscled man, with a frankly incredible beard. He almost reminded her of Drake, if he was more muscled and had a better moustache.

Drake could never know her thoughts. She wouldn’t hear the end of it otherwise.

Cynthia stepped up to welcome them, “Greetings. I am Cynthia, Champion of Sinnoh. It is an honour to welcome you to our great region of Sinnoh.”

“Likewise, Champion Cynthia! I am Champion Alder.” What?! “And my companion here is Elite Drayden. We appreciate the hospitality that you had shown our explorers. They relayed nothing but praise about their time here.”

“Then we will endeavour to repeat our efforts.” Cynthia replied smoothly, somehow unfazed at the fact that Unova had decided to send their Champion. “Please, follow me. We will show you to your accommodations.”

Alder quickly agreed, and he walked off with Cynthia as the two of them began a private conversation that she wasn’t close enough to overhear. In the meanwhile, Elite Drayden had approached her, extending a hand.

“And you must be the representative of Indigo.” He began, his voice gruff but surprisingly friendly, “Is it true that the Blackthorns have mastered the ways of Dragon training?”

“They are, and our Champion Lance is the best amongst them.” She replied, “I assume you’re a Dragon specialist yourself?”

“I am.” He confirmed, “I would love to see how our Dragon types compare and differ from each other. The information packet you sent us didn’t include a list of the known Pokémon.”

That was by intention. Until they confirmed Unova would be friendly, it was probably a bad idea to give away information like that so quickly.

“I believe we’ll be exchanging information on that soon.” She said, “But that’s out of my hands. I’m only a spectator today. Champion Cynthia will be doing most of the negotiation on our behalf.”

“I see. So it is true that your three regions have joined together in harmony.” Drayden said thoughtfully, “How unique.”

Actually, it wasn’t completely harmonious. There were still a few kinks that they still needed to work through, but she wasn’t about to reveal them here. Instead, she just smiled softly at Drayden.

“It’s something we’ve all worked very hard to accomplish.” She said, “So we’re naturally quite proud of our unity.”

“Mhm. That’s good.” Drayden nodded, “In time, I hope we can prove as steadfast allies as your neighbours have been. Unova has always had to rely on only itself, but now I'm starting to see that this doesn't have to be the case forever. It'll be nice to have friends beyond our borders."

“Maybe today can be the first step into making that a reality.”

A.N. And here comes the first visitors! Alder and Drayden arrive in Sinnoh! What kind of shenanigans will they be up to now? They’ll be sure to interact with a whole host of people! Also, I tried to lay the groundworks for the personalities of the Unova Elite Four. As always, I tried to make them familiar to what they were in canon, and I hope you liked the first glimpse of them and Alder. Moreover, I hope you were pleased with Drayden replacing Caitlin in the Elite Four; it just fit better in my timeline.

And now that they’re here, Unova is going to be taking centre stage as we explore more about the new region.

Nevertheless, thank you all for the support you’ve shown me for the past two years. For my first story, I never thought I would be writing to this many regular readers, and the kindness you’ve always shown me has been very heartwarming and encouraging. So thank you again to all of you, and I hope you enjoyed!