"Well, five days left," a concerned but unburdened Winona asked Steven, her guest in the gym for the past month and then some. "I'm going to the gym leaders' summit either way, but how does it look right now?"
"We have Rocky in Rustboro, of course – he's been friends with my dad for ages and owes Devon Corporation a ton of favors. Wattson's still running Mauville and seems to have beaten his challengers, and you said he's on our side. We have you in Fortree, of course, but that's disputed to begin with. Brawly in Dewford's been noncommittal and we might have him if we're lucky," Steven said, then paused with a sigh.
"But Bernadette in Lavaridge is almost certainly a no – she hasn't responded yet, but her late husband was in the Elite Four and seemed to like the current members, and she never forgave my dad for that time the hot springs got polluted. Simon in Mossdeep's been noncommittal at best, but he's close to Ever Grande and fearful of invasion – count him out. Blanche in Petalburg is still bitter about losing to me in the quarterfinals the year I won it in the first place – she thinks my Skarmory made a ring out, but the rule has always been wing feathers don't count. Juan in Sootopolis has responded – to call me a traitor who couldn't keep the championship honestly and say he wants no part of my coup, and he controls the city where they're meeting, though he won't need to try anything to force a vote against me. So at best we get three plus you, and your status is the first thing they'll vote down. It looks like I've lost." Steven finished his explanation, his defeated head sunken into his hands, and he looked even shorter; this was a child champion, and despite his skill at pokemon, League politics – like pre-League politics - was a game mastered by the old.
"Juan won't necessarily be the Sootopolis Gym Leader at the time of the meeting," Winona answered. "And his challenger is a good friend of Fortree's prospective gym leader. It's time to head there and watch his fight – I've got to cheer him on!"
Winona had hoped for a reunion with Wallace the moment she arrived in Sootopolis City, but she could barely get a hold of him between his media interviews and preparing his pokemon. Juan had faced more than a few challengers who sought his position and not merely a badge in his twenty-plus years as Sootopolis City's Gym Leader, and Winona had hoped his challenge would be like the last one, with sparse media attention and few bodies in the stands.
Of course, the reason no one had paid attention to Juan's last challenger was that she had far more determination than skill. She had entered the match as a heavy underdog, and never gave anyone cause to question that perception, her three pokemon beaten one by one by his Kingdra. And in a way, even if Winona had only managed to say hello and wave so far, the crowd was a good thing; it meant the trainer she was cheering for had a chance, or at least that people thought he did.
Wallace, Juan's former student as a coordinator, had arguably exceeded his master in pokemon contests already, and now he had followed him into the realm of battles. It was an exciting sports story even if the match would prove a blowout, but he had put in great effort to learn the sport of pokemon battles, and his elite contest pokemon had natural talent and many skills which translated well across disciplines. The media expected a close fight, Sootopolis Gym's stands had filled up, and televisions across the Hoenn region were tuned in to the match.
"I guess it's not a competition anymore! Either we both win or we both lose!" Winona cheered from the stands, to be answered with a thumbs-up on the part of her old friend; further banter would have to wait until after the match – if they would still be in any mood to do so. "Don't let Juan crush my dreams! Let's win and fix Hoenn together!"
She wasn't sure if Wallace had heard the second part of her cheer - he hadn't acknowledged them, having been too busy dancing, twirling, and summoning his Milotic to the artificial pond ringed with waterfalls that made up this gym's battlefield. She certainly hoped that Juan hadn't heard her, although at least he was at the other end of the arena – it was bad enough that she couldn't sit in the gym leaders' section with the other six spectators, the last thing she wanted was to make her claim to still be Fortree's rightful gym leader too loudly. After all, if Wallace did lose, Winona would like to make it back home without being arrested.
Home. It was a weird concept, Winona thought, watching as Juan summoned his Kingdra into the pool she had grown up swimming in and the arena her pokemon had flown above for so long. Back on the day she turned ten, she couldn't wait to get her trainer's license and leave Sootopolis, but Wallace had often brought her back here; this gym always offered nicer beds than the tents and pokemon centers where she usually slept. Most trainers went home to their parents. Her parents had taken off for Kanto not long after she was old enough to leave. Juan had described Steven as a traitor and seemed intent on blocking any chance she had of becoming a gym leader. If Wallace lost, she wouldn't have a place here anymore – and if he won, she would have her own gym to look after and call home.
Juan ordered his Kingdra to use Outrage, his voice snapping Winona out of her reminiscence, although a huge wave from earlier in the fight forced Winona to crane her neck towards a gap in the water and steam if she hoped to see anything. The attack seemed to connect, but the serpent gracefully twirled its body around and recovered most of the damage like a roosting Altaria, and it looked healed enough to make her wonder why Juan had ordered that technique in the first place; had he underestimated his foe? After the Outrage was completed, Kingdra was left disoriented and swam into walls, while Milotic seemed more than capable of fighting on and sniped it with yet another Ice Beam.
"Kingdra, come back! I always wanted a chance to say that here!" Juan said – they weren't fighting for a badge, so he was within his rights to switch pokemon.
"Take this match seriously!" Wallace shouted back. "I came here to surpass you, not to be toyed with!"
"I have been," Juan answered. "Though what I tried with Kingdra didn't work – I take it you missed the Focus Energy before it went into Outrage."
"The... so that was your plan. I didn't even see it behind the steam," a humbled Wallace answered.
"I hope I've taught you well enough to know how to handle at least this strategy! Crawdaunt, go!"
Both trainers had microphones on their platforms, and unlike the crowd noise, their commands – and their taunts – were heard throughout the arena. At the highest levels, Winona knew, what wasn't said to your pokemon could be every bit as important as the techniques ordered out loud. And in a fight between these two, the taunting was to put on a show for the crowd like it was a coordinator's entrance; there was no actual enmity. The Wallace boasting about how he had already surpassed his master was the same character he put on for tough contests; Juan, although seeming to genuinely struggle, and probably fearing for his gym and the fate of Hoenn, had chosen to keep things cool.
Crawdaunt's Swords Dance was still a thing of twirling beauty, although it gave Milotic a chance to Recover. And the Wallace pointing boldly and asking if that was the best he could do bore little resemblance to the trainer Winona had long practiced with, who knew full well he had made a mistake in leaving Milotic out that might cost him his match before Crawdaunt swam across the arena and dispatched his star pokemon with a Night Slash.
"Is this the best you've got? I needed to teach you more if you lost your Milotic that easily!"
"My Milotic did its job – so it's a real shame my out-of-practice Master thinks taking one pokemon down after it accomplished its goal means he's on the way to victory!"
Winona glanced at the scoreboard, wondering if she had drifted off and missed a technique Wallace's next pokemon could combo with – but the only thing she saw was a flickering but not yet faded Reflect towards the start of the match, and being able to hit through it was precisely what made Juan's current strategy so dangerous. Wallace was in big trouble, although his training as a coordinator let him play off losing Milotic as if the match was going just as planned.
"Lapras, come out and Freeze-Dry that crab!"
As an enormous blue plesiosaur emerged from Wallace's pokeball, Winona thought back to her response to Wallace's letter asking for training advice. She wasn't able to think of a way for his Whiscash to shed its issues with water pokemon, but it had made her remember her brief experiment with training a Delibird, and her childhood fantasies of catching the most graceful sky dancer of all: Articuno. Both pokemon were flying and ice type and known to struggle against the mighty defenses of water pokemon, so Winona had read up on how they could counter them – and she had answered Wallace's letter with an explanation of the technique he was now commanding his pokemon to use.
And they had done well to master it.
Lapras spat a light blue mist at Crawdaunt's body which encased it in ice and spread out to freeze most of the pool's surface and shatter, leaving a fainted crustacean and an array of ice floes scattered around the battlefield.
Juan summoned a Politoed next, and the green frog managed a lucky hit on Lapras with an enormous Focus Blast, barely survived a Freeze-Dry, and finished it off with a Surf. Wallace summoned a Walrein, which Winona recognized as having once been his Sealeo – but it was bigger now, with a white mane and long, tusk-like fangs. Even in this heavily chilled arena, its Ice Beam wasn't going to do much damage to Politoed – but it didn't need to after all the damage Lapras had inflicted, and another attack left Juan with only the wounded pokemon he had recalled precisely because it didn't have a chance against his Milotic's ice attacks and bulk.
And Walrein exceeded Milotic on both counts.
Most of the trainers watched the dance of ice and water with awe; to Winona, it had been a foregone conclusion the moment Crawdaunt fainted. A final Ice Beam finished Kingdra off, and the two trainers walked across the now mostly frozen arena to shake hands; they met in the center, within earshot of Winona's front-row seat.
(Under ordinary circumstances, they would have walked around the pool, meeting to the right of the arena – the far side from Winona – to shake hands; in this battle, the flurry of ice techniques from Wallace's pokemon had created a frozen path which had cut the pool in two by the time the match finished.)
"I trained you well. The gym will be in good hands," a magnanimous Juan said. "I'll miss it, but honestly it was time for me to get going – I'll have a lot more time to myself now. Maybe I'll use it to take back your contest championship!"
Wallace laughed. "Well, I finally beat you in a battle – so I guess it's only fair," he said, then dropped his voice to a whisper. "You're not worried, are you? About the gym leader summit? I know you called him a traitor and said you want no part of his coup..."
Juan nodded. "I don't, and now I don't have to take sides. But I was wrong about whose coup this was. That girl in Fortree City managed to grab two gyms and turn a champion into her puppet – she'd make a dangerous enemy, but I don't know what she's trying to do with the Hoenn League. Maybe she really just wants her own gym, or maybe we won't recognize the League when she's through with it."
"I miss traveling with her," Wallace answered, to an eavesdropping Winona's elation. "I'm glad to call her a friend, and whatever she's trying, I'll be on her side."
The Gym Leaders' Summit is not a de jure organ of Hoenn's government. Official power rests exclusively with the Champion – a virtual dictator answerable only to the international Pokemon League – and, in the event of his incapacity or a vacancy, with the Elite Four. Since the fall of the world's kings and warlords, it's been accepted that rightful authority rests with the strongest Pokemon Trainer in the land.
But an annual meeting of the mayors of most of Hoenn's large cities has never been something a government in Ever Grande could afford to ignore. While by definition not as powerful as the Elite Four, the Gym Leaders are twice their number alone, among the strongest trainers in Hoenn in their own right, and have far greater numbers of trainers in their domain whom they could theoretically entice into an army. The contest cities, traditionally governed by prominent citizens without regard to skill, have never fielded a large or powerful force of trainers, for pokemon battles didn't catch on to the same degree in those lands. Even if tensions do not come to blows, the Pokemon League needs gym leaders to issue badges and ensure only qualified trainers are admitted to the tournament, and they have learned to neglect that fact at their own peril.
Early in Hoenn's post-monarchical history, the gym leaders struck in protest of the Champion of the time, an Aqua partisan who had declared the worship of Groudon illegal and directed public efforts to locating and resurrecting Kyogre. This led first to a confusing event where virtually the whole population – excepting those Groudon partisans and diehard monarchists who refused to acknowledge the League – entered and a no-name water trainer entered the Elite Four because they were matched against unqualified opponents until the semifinals.
Five years of tournaments followed where entrance was restricted to those who had won badges in foreign lands and before the strike, the numbers of contestants slowly diminishing until the Elite Four deposed the Champion and finally gave in, ending the farce and his zealotry once and for all.
The Gym Leaders have not come into open conflict with Ever Grande since that incident, in part because of conciliatory policy from both sides, and in part because a skilled Gym Leader would typically seek to move up to the Elite Four, and a defeated Elite Four member would often take over a gym of their pokemon type while preparing to win back their title. The two groups are not truly that distinct, and have little inherent cause to be at odds.
Then again, while Champions had been removed before, it had never been in the middle of the night in a four-on-one matchup, although their inability to use a pokemon center between matches had never made it a fair fight. And while many Gym Leaders sought to move up to the Elite Four, they also wanted to someday become the Champion.
The first topic before the seven gym leaders meeting this day in Sootopolis City was whether to accept the credentials of the eighth. Officially, this was done in a closed-door meeting, and Winona (who had not been accepted yet) would not be present – but none of this stopped her from hovering outside the gym's second-floor window on her Altaria and pressing her ear to its thin walls, or sneaking glances when she was confident no one would look back or recognize what they saw.
"The Elite Four rejected her application, citing an abuse of power – it's not clear Fortree's trainers signed her card because she beat them, and given the ranks she gave as an assessor a quid pro quo must be investigated," an elderly female voice said – Winona recognized it from the previous day's festivities as belonging to Bernadette of Lavaridge, the old hot springs matron.
"None of which is relevant," Wattson, the short, yellow-clad Mauville gym leader answered, "because she had already been approved by the champion at the time the Elite Four opened the investigation."
"We're getting to that next," a terse Blanche, the normal-type (and quite plain) leader of Petalburg gym, responded. "And if I understand your position, I think you want her in here for that."
"Not what I meant," Wattson shot back. "Steven had already approved Winona's entry by the time the Elite Four deposed him. If you let them revoke gyms at will on whatever pretense they give... then all of us are in danger."
"If you accept the claim that Steven had already written the letter and given it the League's seal of approval. But I see no evidence of that fact at this time. Winona's been sheltering Steven since the moment the Elite Four defeated him – they have every reason to lie!" Simon, a psychic from Mossdeep Gym, dressed in the light blue robes of that class, added.
"Shall I get Winona, then?" Wallace asked. "I'm sure she can present the letter and clear all of this up."
Winona surreptitiously flew back into the lobby of the gym where she was supposed to be waiting, but Simon's loud, furious rant meant she didn't need to press her ear to the wall anyway. She wasn't sure if the letter Steven had handed her soon after he had taken refuge in her gym – which she had all but forgotten about until this meeting - actually was valid, but she had brought it anyway, along with the message from his Skarmory about Steven approving her application and being deposed for it.
But Simon wasn't sure either – or worse, he knew it didn't support his position.
"Let's end this farce! She's from Fortree! Fortree! I don't care how many criminals and savages she got to sign her card – this is the Hoenn League, and we're not going to accept a bunch of bandits from the jungle as the equal to Mossdeep and the other real cities around here! The Elite Four did what they had to – even if she grew up in civilization, she's gone native, and who knows how long it'll be until a real native takes over!"
"Simon," Brawly, Dewford's gym leader, dressed in surfer gear more appropriate for wilder waters than Sootopolis', said sternly, "I never took you for a bigot, and frankly, you've never been one. Why are you really opposed?"
"It's my twins. I'm a father now, and I can't afford to ignore the future this decision is showing me. Team Aqua and Magma's raids are growing more dangerous by the day, and a civil war will only embolden them. I'm on the front lines; if we lose even a bit of ground, the Elite Four will sack Mossdeep, and if that rumor about them finding Groudon and Kyogre beneath the sea is true, any drought or flood will hit it hard. If it were just myself I'd be willing to play the hero... but I have to worry about Tate and Liza and all the people of Mossdeep, too," a worried Simon spoke, holding back tears.
"Are all arguments concluded?" Rocky, a rock specialist from Rustboro city (dressed in a miner's outfit, as Winona had noticed from peering through a crack in the door) asked. "If there are no objections, I'll have Winona submit the letter and then we can vote."
Winona heard murmurs of agreement, then backed up just in time for the door to swing open. She handed the two envelopes to Rocky, who read them aloud – the first a form note of approval, stamped with the Hoenn League's seal. The second was the letter from his Skarmory that had convinced Winona, thinking herself out of options and her dream dashed, to support his claim, but no sooner had he said "the Elite Four" then was he shouted down.
"The second letter is inadmissible!" Blanche protested. "There's no League Seal on it, and no way to tell how long after the battle it was written. It could've just as easily have been made after they formalized their alliance, because Winona couldn't get her gym the honest way!" Winona stared daggers at the plain-looking Petalburg Gym Leader, who soon backtracked. "It could also be legitimate. But there's no way for any of us to verify that, and it's not an official communication."
"It's legitimate," Simon answered. "I can't speak to Steven's motives, because he's not here, but it was written on the right date and I don't sense any doubt from Winona. I don't like what we're doing, Blanche, but please do not question my foresight."
"So now you say you can see the past as well as the future?" Blanche mocked.
"Enough!" Rocky shouted. "If we're just going to let this devolve into personal attacks, then we might as well call the debate finished and vote! Any objections?"
Both Blanche and Simon shook their heads.
"Those in favor of recognizing Winona's Flying Gym in Fortree City, please raise your hands. Those opposed, stay silent." Rocky's went up, as did Wallace's, Wattson's, and surprisingly Brawly's and Bernadette's.
"Five to two. I proudly welcome, for the first time in sixty-three years, the leader of Fortree City Gym!" Winona took a bow – and then a seat, looking around at her newfound colleagues, including the two reluctant ones. "And now to the other business of this meeting: the question of the champion!"
"What question is there?" Bernadette asked. "The Elite Four beat Steven; the slot is vacant."
"Did they? Steven claims otherwise," Wallace argued.
"Of course they did," Blanche answered. "Let's not get into quibbling about legalities; if he had won, the Elite Four would be the ones who fled. It's not like he won legitimately in the first place – championships always change hands with a few disputes."
"You still bitter at that?" Wattson asked. "I'd thought you of all people would be the first to stand up to cheating, but I guess I was wrong."
"There's no match log, no witnesses, and the loser claims the Elite Four fought him all at once. I don't know what more proof you need to not recognize this fight," Rocky said. "I think we all know he's telling the truth about what happened; the question is what we're going to do about it, and I know some people here want the answer to be 'nothing'."
"Or to be 'peace'." Simon shot back. "They've infiltrated junior trainers into multiple gyms, they threw the championship out in the middle of the night. For all the Pokemon League's faults, it's a better way to divide up power than kings and gangs and civil wars, and this isn't that different from business as usual – there will be more challenges."
"Whatever we decide," Winona said, "we can't do it on a 5-3 vote... If we really are going to resist four of the strongest trainers in Hoenn, I'll need all of your support. I'm asking you for it both as gym leaders and as fellow pokemon trainers, and on behalf of everyone in the region who dreams of becoming champion someday by way of winning an honest tournament. I've spent months in Fortree, I've heard their stories, and no one moves there because they think they just aren't good enough to win honestly. This has gone on for way too long."
"I don't like Steven," Blanche admitted. "But he wasn't the one who cheated me out of an Elite Four position after I lost to him, and he also wasn't the ref."
Bernadette nodded. "I don't like him either, and I like Mr. Stone even less. But that's all the more reason to beat him – once we make sure I have an honest pokemon league to do it in!"
Simon shook his head. "I never thought the day would come when Fortree City sends Hoenn into war. Rayquaza's long been a peacemaker between Kyogre and Groudon."
"And sometimes that means doing what it takes to calm the storm. I hope the Elite Four see reason – I didn't start this fight," Winona shot back.
The psychic shook his head. "You did far more than you realized. Without a gym leader from Fortree, they would've never needed to resort to such drastic measures to keep the League from changing. But I'm as tired of biased refs and Ever Grande greasing the wheels with League headquarters money as the rest of you, and Steven isn't that bad a kid. If war is coming, may it be fought on battlefields with pokemon centers – but I'm a gym leader, and I'm fighting on the same side as the rest of you."
To the Elite Four,
Your deposition of Steven was illegal. Reinstate him to his position or hold a legal elite four battle, or he remains the champion. The League will take orders from Steven in Fortree City until you turn over Ever Grande.
With regards,
Gym Leaders Simon, Wallace, Rocky, Winona, Blanche, Bernadette, Wattson, and Brawly.
To Hoenn's so-called Gym Leaders,
Your rejection of a deposed champion is itself illegal, but not unexpected, as is your recognition of an illegal gym in Fortree City. However, loyal agents have prepared for this eventuality. Arrest warrants have been issued throughout Hoenn for treason.
With regards,
Elite Four Sidney, Drake, Haley, and Finch.
To all parties in Hoenn,
The Pokemon League has an established mechanism for resolving disputes of this nature. Settle it in a Pokemon Battle or the Hoenn League is deregistered.
With regards,
Champion Oak, International Pokemon League.