The New Normal - 13-5

The New Normal – 13-5 – The New Circuit

Today was finally the day that many, many young trainers from around the world had been waiting for. The day that trainers around the world were finally able to take the first steps towards their dreams. For today was the day that the Circuit started up once more.

This time last year, my sister took the first steps onto her journey, where she had gone on to make precious friends and forged strong bonds with her Pokémon that I hoped would last a lifetime. And now, it was time for other people to experience the very same.

For example, I knew Daisy Oak was going to be starting her journey – with me serving as her unofficial mentor. Perhaps I’ll end up seeing her at Pewter during the ceremony.

So while the Regional Union’s opening ceremony was likely a more momentous event, nothing could surpass the excitement of the beginning of another Circuit. For both trainers and non-trainers, this was always the event to watch.

And I had to be ready for it too – for I had a fight against Koga to get to. While Lance emphasised that achieving victory was secondary to putting on a good show, we knew that excuse wouldn’t fly with us. It was win or lose, and I certainly didn’t intend to lose.

I had done my preparation. Even though I didn’t intend to use my ‘stronger’ Pokémon, intending for this to be an opportunity to get some valuable experience with my newer Pokémon, I had spent time drilling Koga’s tactics into them and prepared them for what was likely to come.

Fortunately, with the format of these battles being three 1v1s rather than an ongoing 3v3, it meant that neither of us could carry out strategies that would last from Pokémon to Pokémon.

I was sure that Koga would certainly be hindered more than I was from that.

Either way, we were about to find out. We had gathered once again at Pewter City, and this time the atmosphere of the city had completely turned around. Usually, Pewter City was rather quiet, if you excluded the activity coming in and out of the Gym. However, that was completely different today.

The entire city was packed to the brim full with people; most of them were young and aspiring trainers that were buzzing with excitement. It was like a horde of children had suddenly stampeded into the city and taken up residence there. Not just that, but the city itself had also transformed, with an entire army of signs, advertisements, and the like being hoisted around the city as companies did their best to show off their new trainer products. Likewise, the Pokémon Centre and other places for renting rooms were flooded with young trainers.

I knew that this wasn’t exactly unusual for Pewter City as it was the traditional place to ‘start’ the Circuit, but this time, with Lance also hosting an opening ceremony on top of this – that only caused more people to flock to the city to the point where it was almost too full.

I tried my best to see if I could spot any familiar faces in the crowd – especially Brock, just to see how he was handling things – but I failed to find him. He was probably holed up in the Gym trying to run through any last minute preparations.

I eventually found the place where the Indigo League had repurposed and set up for the show matches that was going to take place. It was hastily, though competently built, and had plenty of spectators stands surrounding it so that as many people as possible could watch the match.

Lorelei was already there, but she was alone. Surprisingly, both Koga and Karen weren’t here yet. Nevertheless, I quickly exchanged greetings with Lorelei and asked if she knew where the others were.

“They’re probably just running late because they’re helping out with their own Gyms.” She predicted, “I assume Koga’s just making sure his daughter is able to handle things. Same with Karen.”

I nodded, then decided to bring up a topic I had wanted to ask, “You excited for this year’s circuit? By the end of this circuit, we might get someone new who will issue a challenge against us.”

“Well, it would be good to have more eligible candidates waiting on the wings to challenge the Elite Four.” She said, “With both yours, Will’s, and Karen’s ascension, we haven’t actually had any eligible challengers outside of the Gym Leaders. I think the public would appreciate having other trainers to root for.”

“Are you worried that you might get knocked down?” I asked curiously.

She shook her head, “I think I used to be, but I’ve grown more confident in my own strength since then. That doesn’t mean I won’t be nervous if I do get challenged – I think that sort of thing is inevitable – but I know my worth. I’m confident I won’t be displaced from the Elite Four anytime soon.”

Then she let out a chuckle, “It’s strange that I’m considered the second most senior member of the Elite Four now. I don’t feel it.”

I agreed, “Tell me about it. I’m somehow the most senior and ‘experienced’ member, even though someone like Koga is my peer. It’s strange.”

We ended up chatting for a bit as we waited for the others to arrive, and they both did so promptly. As we suspected, they had both been hung up with their last minute checks on their respective Gyms, although they both reported that things were fine and ready for the Circuit’s opening.

I was too busy chatting and had missed Lance’s arrival, though the booming of his microphone quickly corrected that fact as he begun his speech.

Between this and the opening of the Regional Union, Lance was a very active Champion. That could only be good for him, as now that he was well into his time as a Champion, it was good to see him still retain his enthusiasm for the position.

The speech that he gave didn’t start off as anything particularly unique, as he simply reiterated the same sentiments about the prestige of the Circuit and the opportunity that it provided for trainers everywhere to finally be able to achieve the dreams – all of that was pretty standard stuff. He also made sure to introduce the show match, and he talked about how it would be a great way to highlight the potential of our respective Types and show what it means to be an Elite trainer.

However, it was the last part of his speech that took me – and everyone else – a little by surprise.

“On a more personal note – and I say this as not the Champion of Indigo, but rather as a member of the Blackthorn Clan – I would like to make a separate announcement. As part of a new policy set by the clan, we will be distributing rare Dragons to any trainer that we deem worthy of it once they have beaten and obtained their 8th Gym Badge.”

That got the crowd to break out in exciting whisperings, the surprise obvious in their faces. I was no different, as I would have never expected the Blackthorns to be so ‘generous’ with their Dragons. They were usually so cagey and restrictive with them that it was very unusual for them to suddenly be handing them out.

However, after thinking it through, I started to suspect that this was all done to earn back some influence and reputation for the Blackthorns.

In essence, the Blackthorn name had noticeably deteriorated in reputation in recent times; no longer being as influential as it once was. If not for the acts and achievements of both Lance and Clair, they would have practically been forgotten about, especially after their humiliation by Oak with the Fairy debacle.

Furthermore, the Blackthorns didn’t have the best historical reputation either. Though they were powerful and influential, if you ever mentioned the name ‘Blackthorn’ to someone, they would probably react to it with mild disdain. They weren’t the most liked, even by Johtonians.

Yet with this new scheme in place, this could be an attempt by them to buy back some of that public goodwill, and it would cost them very little. They would still hold their dominance over most of Indigo’s Dragons, but now they were at least less cagey with them. And there was nothing better at earning goodwill like gifting someone a free Dragon. It was a very good plan for them.

After allowing everyone to properly soak in his words, Lance continued.

“However, due to the sheer number disparity between potential candidates and available Dragons, we have unfortunately had to implement a strict, and secret, criteria for who will be eligible to obtain a Dragon from us. And before anyone else asks, please do not think that this criteria is linked to the speed that you managed to obtain all 8 Badges. It has nothing to do with that, nor does it matter if you achieve all your badges on your first attempt or not.”

“What we are looking for are trainers of the right character and ability. So don’t think that you would have missed out on the opportunity if you lose a Gym Battle at any point – that is not what we’re looking for. So remember to tackle the Gyms at your own pace and don’t rush through them because you think that will improve your chances of obtaining a Dragon. It won’t, and it may even hurt your chances if we think that you are rushing through things recklessly.”

“That’s all I wanted to say. So – without further ado – let’s give it up for our Elite Four! They have gracefully volunteered to show you just what it’s like to fight at the highest level of Pokémon battling! But you knew that already – so let’s just start the battle!”

That was our cue to take our positions. We had already agreed that Koga and I would be heading up first, so Karen and Lorelei headed for the spectator stands as we got ready for the battle. Though just before I did, I leaned over and asked Lance a question.

“Was that whole idea your own plan? Or one of the Blackthorn elders’?” I asked.

“Mine, of course. Well, mine and Clair’s. She’s the one that’s actually going to be judging these trainers. I don’t really have time for it.” He explained.

“I’m surprised the elders let you.” I replied, “From what Agatha told me of them, I didn’t think they were the type to want to share their power.”

“And you’d be right.” Lance nodded, “But it’s not up to them anymore. Let’s just say that they’ve been convinced about the benefits of my proposed course of action, and they weren’t really in any position to refuse. Not anymore.”

That sounds like Lance had come out on top of whatever internal politicking that had gone on within the Blackthorn clan, but I was happy for him. Knowing what I did of the elders, I think I much preferred this change in leadership.

But our conversation ended there as I finally jogged over to the starting position, where I now stood opposite of Koga as the two of us readied ourselves for battle.

We locked eyes, and the battle begun.

“Seviper. Go.”

“Pixel! Swap to Poison!”

I inwardly grinned as Koga sent out the Pokémon that I had expected him to. His Seviper was a deadly fighter, carrying a fatal amount of paralytic venom that could both cripple and poison a foe simultaneously. While he did not reveal this trick in his battle against Will, I knew from watching his previous battles just how dangerous it was for a Pokémon to be bitten by that Seviper.

However, that was why I sent out Pixel first – with explicit instructions to instantly swap its own Type to Poison. A Poison type couldn’t be poisoned, making Pixel completely immune to one of Seviper’s most powerful weapons.

If this had been a standard 3v3 battle, then Koga would have just swapped out his Seviper at this point for something more suitable to dealing with another Poison type. However, he couldn’t – as this was a series of 1v1s. Therefore, he was locked into this choice, and I was going to punish him for that.

“Magnet Rise and Zap Cannons, Pixel! Stay out of reach!”

“Don’t let it fly away. Get in close, Seviper.”

Understanding my intentions, Koga ordered his Seviper forwards. The Poison type rapidly darted across the arena, charging towards my Pixel before it could fly off the ground. Unfortunately, Pixel wasn’t going to just allow it to do that as it began bombarding the ground with a volley of Zap Cannons. Orbs of shocking electricity detonated on the ground, often forcing Seviper to dart backwards to avoid getting hit.

So while Seviper had the agility to dodge past the attacks, Pixel had bought enough time for it to rise into the air – and far out of Seviper’s reach. Now that it was, Pixel could now fight far more aggressively.

“Conversion: Psychic! Then Psychic!”

“Taunt it! Anger it down!”

We both knew that Seviper was currently at a huge disadvantage. While it had a respectable Special Attacking arsenal that it usually used to counter other fliers, it was clear that Pixel far outclassed it in that department as a barrage of Psychics began crashing down from the sky. Due to the sheer number of attacks, Seviper was forced to throw up a Protect shield to buy time for it to Dig underground and into safety.

In the meanwhile, its Taunt had engulfed Pixel, but all it did was cause Pixel to attack even more ferociously. With all the previous spars I had done against Karen, Pixel wasn’t going to be brought to irrationality from a single Taunt alone.

However, now that Seviper was underground, Pixel’s Psychic didn’t have the raw firepower needed to cut through the ground and strike the Seviper. Therefore, Koga switched tactics, and had Seviper fight in a series of hit-and-run attacks where it would briefly pop out of the ground, fire off a Sludge Bomb or Dark Pulse, before burrowing down again before a counterattack could come.

All the while, Seviper was likely preparing several Swords Dances out of sight – ready to punish Pixel if it ever tried to get close to the ground for whatever reason.

Against a weaker Special Attacker, this trick could work to bait an attacker into coming closer in order for their attacks to more easily penetrate the ground, which would lead them into Seviper’s striking range. However, it was now time to show off just what Pixel’s new evolution allowed it to do.

“Conversion: Grass! Then Solar Beam!”

“PROTECT, NOW!”

The entire arena was suddenly lit up by a giant glowing orb of golden light as Pixel took in the energy from the sun. Realising what was happening despite being underground, I felt a faint shimmer of light come out of one of Seviper’s dug holes as it likely readied a Protect shield – knowing that it was probably not able to dodge out of the way in time.

And it was wise to think so, as Pixel proceeded to unleash an enormous beam of pure radiant light that absolutely annihilated the arena, scorching a massive hole through the centre of it as the beam disintegrated all that it touched.

Now that was the power I wanted to see – the power that Pixel now had access to after its evolution into a Porygon-Z.

Seviper’s Protect shield was little different as Seviper took the full brunt of the blast, though Grass being less effective against Poison types likely saved it from being a one-hit KO. But it was merely ‘surviving’, as Seviper was now severely injured as a result of tanking through that devastating explosion of solar power.

With it slithering weakly on the ground, it was unable to dodge out of the way as Pixel switched to Psychic type once again and finished off Seviper with a Psychic.

The crowd roared as Seviper went down as they cheered for Pixel’s dominant performance. It had been Pixel’s first public fight – and his performance had been everything I had hoped for. His flexibility, backed up with sheer power, had easily demonstrated just why he deserved to be on my Elite team.

As the crowd cheered, Koga remained silent as he withdrew his fallen Seviper from the arena, while I did the same with Pixel. He stared at me for a moment, before the two of us both sent out our next Pokémon.

“Crobat, it’s on you!”

“Come on out, Ornstein!”

Koga’s starter came rocketing out of its Pokéball, zipping through the skies like a bullet as it immediately rushed down Ornstein. In the meanwhile, my own Pokémon took up a defensive stance as it looked like it was bracing himself for the incoming attack – waiting patiently for Crobat to get in close.

As Crobat did so, charging forwards with a Cross Poison and Brave Bird – and just as it was about to enter into Ornstein’s striking range, a Thunderbolt suddenly came crashing down from the sky as Ornstein had only pretended to be waiting with an Obstruct.

However, with the honed instincts of a trained hunter, Crobat instantly swerved hard to the right, moving with exceptional agility and precision to dodge out of the way of the incoming Thunderbolt. Then it dove down once more, this time striking Ornstein with a powerful Cross Poison that left deadly venom seeping into its body.

A small frown adorned my face as my surprise ambush backfired. I had thought that by baiting Crobat to come in close against Ornstein, who wasn’t known for his Special Attacks, he could have surprised Crobat and knock it out of the sky with the Thunderbolt, where it would be vulnerable to a beatdown from Ornstein. I had thought that this was the best way to counter Crobat’s incredible speed, and to secure a knockout against Koga’s strongest Pokémon.

Yet, it seemed like I still underestimated just how good Crobat’s reaction speeds were, and the sheer speed at which it could dodge. And now Ornstein was badly poisoned, against an opponent that was far quicker than it.

Therefore, knowing that Ornstein was on a timer, it was now Koga’s turn to stay out of reach as he reversed the situation that I had with Pixel against his Seviper.

Ornstein was not lacking in Special Attacks, and while he valiantly held his ground as he tried to bring down Crobat with a volley of Ice Beams and Thunderbolts, or even trying to slow it down with a Scary Face or an Icy Wind, Koga was playing it extremely safe – keeping his Crobat safely out of reach while using its speed to just dodge past Ornstein’s attacks.

And just like Pixel, the Taunts that Ornstein fired off were not very effective. Crobat definitely had the mental discipline to not fall into an irrational rage and continued to heed its trainer’s orders.

In this situation, I realised that there was only one option available to me.

“REST NOW!”

“Finish the job, Crobat.”

Knowing that the situation was hopeless for Ornstein after it got poisoned, I knew that my only hope was to instantly purge the poison from Ornstein – no matter the price. So as Ornstein fell into a regenerative sleep, Crobat instantly capitalised on that by falling into a dive as it prepared a Brave Bird.

Seconds later, Crobat came violently crashing into Ornstein with a Brave Bird + Cross Poison combo, reapplying the poison. However, the instant Ornstein awoke, it lashed out with the quickest attack it could perform – a Night Slash – and slashed deeply into one of Crobat’s wings that knocked it off-course.

Crobat counterattacked with a X-Scissor, only for it to be blocked by Ornstein with an Obstruct before he used his other arm to land a crackling Thunder Punch that struck Crobat right in the face.

“Whirlwind, force it away!”

“TAUNT IT AGAIN!”

Knowing that this was my only opportunity to take down Crobat, I had Ornstein fire off a Taunt as fast as it possibly could. However, an Air Slash from Crobat came even quicker, firing off a blade of air that caused Ornstein to flinch for just long enough that Crobat was able to release the massive storm of wind that it had rapidly gathered within its wings.

Ornstein did his best to hold his ground, but the incoming storm of gale winds was too strong, and Ornstein was blown backwards. This easily gave Crobat enough space to take to the skies once more, once again far out of reach of Ornstein.

To make matters worse, as his Rest had been disrupted, Ornstein had only recovered some of his health, and that meant that it only took several more Air Slashes and the constant damage from the poison, to eventually bring Ornstein down.

…It was unfortunate. I had hoped that Ornstein had enough of an arsenal of moves and the close-quarters ability to create opportunities for himself to bring down even as agile of a fighter as Koga’s Crobat, but it seems like the latter proved just a little too quick for Ornstein.

Perhaps in the future. This was certainly something to work on.

I gave Koga a nod of respect as I withdrew my fallen Ornstein from the fight. His Crobat had definitely surprised me, even despite the research that I had done.

But, as the two of us sent out our final Pokémon, now it was my time to show off.

“Come, Ariados!”

“Vordt, flood the skies.”

How do you squash a Bug? Vordt’s answer was simple – just throw a rock at it. And if one rock wasn’t enough, then send a dozen. If a dozen still failed? Then throw hundreds, until even the sky itself was blocked out by the sheer number of rocks raining down like meteors from above.

Oh sure, Ariados was agile. It was quick, far quicker than most of its own species. It was even dexterous, capable of using its own string to slingshot itself in and around the falling rocks with incredible precision.

None of that mattered when there were enough rocks crashing down around you to literally bury Koga’s half of the arena.

And, if that display of power wasn’t enough, the arena suddenly burst open at the seams as it was ripped apart by an utterly devastating Earthquake from Vordt, throwing Ariados into the air as it was knocked up by the explosive tremors.

All that agility and powerful poisons meant nothing when an enormous chunk of rock crashed down on top of Ariados, smashing the Bug against the ground. Then, with Ariados now pinned to the ground, Vordt proceeded to charge forwards with a Headlong Rush – mercilessly colliding into it and sending it flying into the psychic shields.

Needless to say, Ariados did not get up from that. The sheer overwhelming power differential was too much between our Pokémon. This was a firm reminder to the audience that even with the display that Pixel and Ornstein showed off, this was what it truly meant to fight against me. Pixel and Ornstein might be a match for an Elite Four’s Pokémon, but the likes of Vordt and Tyrant? They were on a far different level.

And all this was without Vordt having a Guts boost. Only because Vordt might actually deal permanent damage to Ariados if he had been boosted.

The crowd had been momentarily stunned to silence at Vordt’s devastating display of power, but they quickly shook themselves out of their shock as they roared in excitement at Vordt’s victory and for the battle between Koga and I.

But more importantly for me, I had sent a message with this victory. Sure, this was just a show match that had a different format to regular battles, and Koga definitely didn’t show off his full arsenal of tricks and abilities with his showing today. So this wasn’t a ‘true’ battle.

However, most of the public wouldn’t be thinking of that. They would be thinking about just how effortlessly Vordt managed to crush an Elite Four’s Pokémon.

Just like he was squashing a Bug.

A.N. The circuit is about to begin! As for the match between Koga and John, I wanted to use this opportunity to highlight Pixel and its new firepower in particular. Like it was mentioned in the chapter, this was its opportunity to really show off the power of its evolution and what it means to fight against a Pokémon that can change its Type at will.

At the same time, I also wanted to show that Koga isn’t just going to get completely steamrolled by John, and the sheer speed that his Crobat can get to HAS to be respected. Without access to the same Psychic moves that Will did, most of John’s team would have issues dealing with a Pokémon THAT fast.

But with Vordt, he doesn’t have that problem – as I’m sure you can see. Sometimes, speed and agility just isn’t going to be enough when a Pokémon like Vordt can literally bury the arena in an endless tide of rocks. Hope you enjoyed!