The New Normal - A Pokémon SI

by CartecFF

For most, becoming a member of the Elite 4 would be the culmination of their Journey. A great achievement that solidified your status in the annals of history. For me, it was just the start of my journey. Hopefully, everything stays Normal. A pre-canon self-insert into the world of Pokémon. Inspired by Hard Enough. Crossposted SB/QQ. Updates every Mon/Fri. Short Interludes on Wed.

86. The New Normal - 5-4

John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon2

Euphie - Eevee

Ornstein - D-Zigzagoon

The New Normal – 5-4 – A Battle for their Futures

Once again in under a month, the next day I found myself sitting within the VIP section of the spectator stands for the upcoming match between Lorelei and Walker. Obviously, unlike last time, Karen wasn't here as it was far from appropriate. Instead, her presence was replaced by Lance and Will, the latter of which seemed to be silently avoiding me.

I wonder how long it would take for his ego to recover from his loss against me. At least he was trying to hide it.

"Has anyone looked into Lorelei?" Lance asked, breaking me from my thoughts.

"I have." I answered, accidentally cutting off Will who was about to speak. "Though I never fought her during my time in the Indigo Conference, my research of her previous matches shows that she's basically Pryce Jr., which isn't that surprising. She's been known to make great use of her Ice type Pokémon to control the arena and the fight."

"Yes, my contacts have said the same." Will added, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the blatant attempt to show off. "She failed to achieve much of anything during her short time as a Gym Leader, but many suspect that she's been secretly training for this match against Walker."

"Arceus! The youth these days really enjoy saying a whole lot of nothing, don't they?" Agatha scoffed, causing Will's eyes to narrow in anger or embarrassment.

"The both of you make good observations." Lance spoke up placatingly, "I myself also checked up on Lorelei as well after her announcement, and I've been fairly impressed with her battles. She is nowhere near as strong as Pryce, but she doesn't seem to make the same mistakes that he did."

"Hah! Yes, the girl's too young to have a stick up her backside like her uncle." Agatha chuckled, "Maybe that would be enough for her to overcome Walker."

Before she could say anything more, the announcer began his opening speech in his usual booming voice.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME ONCE AGAIN TO ANOTHER FANTASTIC OCCASION FOR EVERYONE IN INDIGO! NOT LONG AFTER CHAMPION LANCE'S ASCENSION, WE HAVE A NEW CHALLENGE FOR THE ELITE FOUR! AND IT IS A GREAT HONOUR TO ONCE AGAIN BE YOUR HOST FOR TODAY'S EVENT!"

I thanked Arceus again that I didn't need to be in the regular stands as the crowd began loudly cheering. I did not want to become prematurely deaf. And I felt bad for Karen for having to endure it.

"NOW PLEASE WELCOME TODAY'S DEFENDING MEMBER OF THE ELITE FOUR, THE ACE OF FLYING TYPES, ELITE WALKER!" Despite his relatively poor reputation amongst the Elite Four, Walker still got a huge roaring cheer as he made his way into the arena. As the cameras got closer, it was evident that he was filled with stress and nervous energy. But upon closer inspection, his eyes were focused and ready, and his head held high. He might be walking to his defeat, but he would not simply fold over.

"AND ON THE OTHER SIDE, PLEASE WELCOME TODAY'S CHALLENGER, THE NIECE OF THE PREVIOUS CHAMPION, GYM LEADER LORELEI!" Unlike Walker, my eyes widened with surprise as the only reception that Lorelei got as she entered the stage was a stifling and condemning silence, with only sporadic clap from a few spectators. I thought I heard the occasional boo from the crowd as well.

The cameras quickly snapped to Lorelei to take in her reaction, but all they got was stoic acceptance and determination, as if she had anticipated and accepted her frosty reception.

"The girl's got spunk, that's for sure." Agatha commented as she stared at Lorelei, "She's definitely not the fan favourite between her and Walker. And I didn't think that was a sentence I would ever say."

"Well, I think she deserves the cold reception she got." Will said, crossing his arms, "The way she exploited her undeserved position as a Gym Leader to challenge the Elite Four without winning the Indigo Conference is disgraceful!" He turned to me, "Don't you agree, John? After all, you worked hard to win the Indigo Conference."

I shrugged, "Eh. I had time to think about it when I heard that she was making the challenge. Honestly, I'm indifferent. If she wins against Walker in this match, then I'd support her entry into the Elite Four. I'm fairly sure that this is something that was carefully weighed and planned by her, so she must have decided that the alternative was worse."

"Fully agreed." Lance added, causing Will to frown, "I was against her appointment as the Gym Leader of Mahogany because of how nepotistic it was. But, if she wins against Walker in a fair challenge like this, then who am I to hold her back? If she wins, then she has proven her strength, and thus deserves her position. Whether she can keep it though…that's another matter entirely."

The announcer's voice boomed out before Lance could say anything more. "AND TODAY'S MATCH WILL BE A SIX-ON-SIX BATTLE, THREE SWITCHES ALLOWED. STANDARD RULES, WITH NO COMMERCIAL BREAKS!"

"NOW LET'S START THE BATTLE! COUNT DOWN WITH ME!" I heard many of the crowd roaring in support of Walker. Personally, I had no idea who was more likely to win.

"THREE!" Both trainers looked ready. Walker had swallowed his nervousness, while Lorelei looked as stiff as a statue.

"TWO!" Their eyes both narrowed into glares, but Lorelei's was far more intense. It was as if she was putting her hopes and dreams into this match and would knock over anything in her way.

"ONE!" They both released their Pokémon.

A Pidgeot and a Cloyster emerged onto the field. At first glance, both appeared to be highly trained Pokémon that were obviously at the Elite level but compared to the Pokémon used by Pryce and Lance…they were honestly a little underwhelming. They lacked the presence of the Champions' Pokémon.

Regardless, it seemed like Lorelei sought to prove my thoughts wrong as she immediately started off the battle.

"Icicle Spear, Cloyster!"

"Quick Attack and make some distance, Pidgeot!"

Cloyster quickly began rapidly firing off a volley of Icicle Spears in 5-round bursts, forcing the Pidgeot to show of its impressive flight speed as it flew away just before the Cloyster quickly blanketed the area in sharp spears of Ice.

Seeing that the Pidgeot began flying away, Lorelei quickly gave a new command.

"Set up the Snow, NOW!"

Before Pidgeot could counterattack, Cloyster instantly started releasing a gust of cold air from its body that wafted towards the sky, forming dark clouds that began to snow.

Just by seeing her opening moves, I felt that I had pieced together Lorelei's plan. She was making use of her Cloyster's naturally high defenses, coupled with an intimidating salvo of Icicle Spears, to quickly discourage any close-range engagements from Walker. Then, using the opening provided, she would quickly set up the Snow for her team that hopefully would last for the entire battle.

With the Snow in place, I expected that she hoped to use her Snow-boosted Ice attacks and inherent type advantage to win in a long-range battle. It was a good plan, and honestly what I believed Pryce should have done against Lance in his battle.

Considering the grimace on Walker's face, I'm sure he had also comprehended Lorelei's plan as well. However, whether he was able to do anything about it was a completely different story.

But Walker seemed to be able to read my thoughts as he ordered his next move.

"Hurricane, Pidgeot! Overwhelm it!"

"Blizzard, Cloyster! Match it!"

Two huge pillars of swirling winds formed in front of each Pokémon, one made of powerful and cutting gales, while the other of chilling and freezing winds. As each Pokémon fired off their attacks, each of their own tornados threatened to consume the other, eventually colliding in the middle of the arena.

However, whether due to the boost from the Blizzard or from the inherent type disadvantage of Flying types against Ice, the Blizzard broke through the gales of the Hurricane and rushed towards the Pidgeot.

"Dodge and Air Slash, Pidgeot! Speed up!"

"Ice Beam, Cloyster! Keep up the pressure!"

Pidgeot let out a screech as it dove away from the speeding vortex of ice and frost, which spun dangerously close towards Pidgeot. To its credit, Pidgeot quickly showed off its speed once again as it dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the ensnaring gales of wind and firing off its own Air Slashes.

Wind blades met beams of Ice as both attacks smashed against each other in the air. This exchange of blows continued with some time, with Pidgeot making use of its superb mobility to fly circles around the stationary Cloyster. However, for all of its mobility, Pidgeot was unable to break through the superior power of Cloyster's Ice Beams.

It was an admirable display of all the training Lorelei must have done with her Cloyster for it to maintain such stamina and accuracy, where it still managed to track and pressure the Pidgeot with a constant barrage of precision shots. And a mobile Pidgeot, especially one as well-trained as Walker's was, was not an easy target. Not at such distances.

After the stalemate lingered on for some time, Cloyster's persistence finally paid off as it landed a lucky shot. A lone Ice Beam seemed to come at an unexpected angle towards Pidgeot, surprising it and clipping one of its wings with a glancing shot. Boosted by the Snow as it was, frost crystals rapidly spread across its wing, freezing it over.

With a panicked screech and deprived of one of its wings, Pidgeot rapidly began falling uncontrollably out of the air as it could no longer steady itself.

"Icicle Spear, Cloyster! While it can't dodge!"

"Dodge and Roost, Pidgeot! You need to recover!"

Lorelei was quick to pounce on this new opportunity as Cloyster fired a barrage of Icicle spears at the falling Pidgeot. Despite Walker's orders to dodge, Pidgeot's frozen wing ripped away all of its famed mobility, and it was unable to dodge out of the way in time before a hail of spears crashed into it. Pidgeot was subsequently buried in an avalanche of Icicle Spears, defeated and unconscious.

"AND WALKER'S PIDGEOT GOES DOWN! A DECISIVE KNOCKOUT BY THE CHALLENGER LORELEI, WHO NOW LEADS THE FIGHT 1-0!" There were no boos coming from the crowd, but the audience's response to her victory was quite lacklustre. Still, the announcer continued on as if he didn't notice. "ELITE WALKER NOW HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON! WILL HE BE ABLE TO REVERSE HIS FORTUNES?!"

"Hmm…not a bad start." Lance commented thoughtfully, stroking his chin as he observed Lorelei's Cloyster, "Definitely than a better showing than I feared. Looks like she really put in work to it."

"Bah. Of course, she did." Agatha bit out, "You were going to kick her out of being Gym Leader soon enough if she didn't make the challenge. Of course she's going to go all-in on this match. This is her future, after all."

"I'm surprised she didn't ask for help." I said, "Maybe she could have offered something in exchange for help."

But Agatha shook her head at me, "No, think harder, boy. Then that would undermine the message that she's trying to show. Her victory must be achieved from her own merits to prove her strength to the public. Getting help would compromise that."

I nodded in understanding just as Walker sent out his next Pokémon.

"Avenge your friend, Pelipper! Start setting up with an Agility!"

"Set up the Snow again and Icicle Spear, Cloyster! Knock it out!"

As soon as the Pelipper emerged from its Pokéball, it started glowing with a faint pink glow as it began boosting its speed. Furthermore, Pelipper's Drizzle immediately caused rain to pour from above. But Lorelei was quick to act on this, choosing to make use of the precious seconds while Pelipper was setting up to reinforce her control of the weather by returning it to Snow. Then, Cloyster sent out another wave of Icicle spears that blanketed the skies once again as they began their deadly descent. But Walker seemed ready for them.

"Protect and rush them, Pelipper!"

Using its boosted speed, Pelipper immediately began rushing towards Cloyster while forming a Protect shield above itself to protect against the rain of Icicle Spears. The Protect shield managed to block a significant number of spears, and Pelipper's natural bulk allowed it to withstand against the rest.

"Get as close to it and Air Slash, Pelipper!"

"Make some distance, Cloyster! Drive it off with a Rock Blast!"

Walker cunningly capitalized on Cloyster's poor Special Defenses as his Pelipper began bombarding the Cloyster with a barrage of close-range Air Slashes. The blades of gale winds cut deeply into the Cloyster, causing the occasional flinch that interrupted its attempts to fire off its own volley of rocks.

This was Walker's favourite tried-and-true strategy that he frequently employed; making use of his higher mobility Flying Pokémon to doggedly harass and wear down a slower opponent. A simple plan that nonetheless remained effective at whittling down his opponents.

Here, Cloyster was unable to break away from the hounding Pelipper, the latter making use of its superior boosted speed to continue its assault endlessly. All the while firing off cutting bldes of winds with each flap of its wings. Things were going from bad to worse for Cloyster, as it rapidly began running out of options while it constantly was pummelled by an unending wave of Air Slashes that chipped away at its health as it was unable to back away and make space.

Perhaps Lorelei could have switched out her Cloyster earlier to prevent such a scenario, but it was too late now. Cloyster had taken too much damage to be useful in the future, even if it was swapped out.

Realizing the situation was doomed, Lorelei resorted to a final attack.

"Icy Wind, Cloyster! You NEED to lower its speed!"

Understanding the desperation in its trainer's command, Cloyster visibly braced itself as it fired off one last gust of freezing wind towards the Pelipper, just as the Pelipper fired off one more round of Air Slashes.

Both attacks struck their targets, and Pelipper was engulfed and slowed by the freezing Icy Wind. However, an Air Slash cut right into the core of Cloyster, landing a critical hit that Cloyster was no longer able to endure and was knocked out.

"OH, AND A QUICK RETALIATING KNOCK-OUT FROM ELITE WALKER'S PELIPPER! OVERWHELMING THE CLOYSTER BEFORE BRINGING IT DOWN WITH AN UNRELENTING SERIES OF ATTACKS! THIS PUTS THE SCORE AT 1-1!" The announcer's voice boomed out once more, the crowd cheering wildly at Walker's victory. "CAN LORELEI RESPOND TO THIS THREAT? SHE HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT-"

"Go, Froslass! As we planned!"

A small white Ghost floated on the battlefield, and the entire Elite Four, plus Lance, all jerked forwards with various degrees of surprise as we were all stunned by Lorelei's next Pokémon.

"Where did she get that?!" Lance half-asked and half-demanded, "She shouldn't have access to Sinnoh Pokémon so soon!"

"Perhaps she was gifted a Dawn Stone from her uncle? Or maybe she just had a Dawn Stone lying around somewhere." Will suggested, and Lance nodded after a moment to think. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Will smirking to himself, proud at the praise.

"Yes, that does make sense. Damn Pryce and his nepotism." Lance muttered angrily as he settled back into his seat. "His Abomasnow nearly humiliated me, and I'm displeased to see another 'surprise' like this showing up."

"Oh, calm it with your incessant pride." Agatha cut in with a scoff, "I thought all you cared about was if she deserved her title. Well, let her prove it to you."

Lance didn't respond, but he visibly calmed himself with a few deep breaths. "Fine. We'll see how she utilizes it."

And Lorelei seemed to have unconsciously heard Lance's words, because she started off with a bang.

"Thunderbolt, Froslass! Bring it down!"

"PROTECT! NOW!"

A small explosion rocked the battlefield as Froslass began the battle with a bang as she struck the Pelipper with a bolt of Thunder, who narrowly blocked it in time with a Protect shield. Then, with her vastly superior speed, she continued bombarding the slower Pelipper with an onslaught of 4x supereffective attacks, constantly crashing down Thunderbolts against her opponent.

Honestly, I think any Elite trainer could tell that they Froslass' Thunderbolts weren't that powerful, and that Lorelei had clearly used a TM to teach her the move. But that didn't really matter; Frolass was able to make use of her inherently superior speed and Pelipper's devastating typ weakness against Electric attacks to her advantage.

"Quick Attack and get out of there, Pelipper!"

"Keep up the pressure, Froslass! Chase after it!"

Pelipper tried to use Quick Attack to dash away with a burst of speed, but Froslass' insanely fast base speed quickly caught up with the fleeing Pelipper and chased after it with a stream of continuous Thunderbolts, targeting Pelipper's critical weakness. Pelipper valiantly tried to swoop and dive away from the rain of Thunderbolts, but Froslass was in hot pursuit and continued to pile on the pressure.

It was solely due to Pelipper's aerial manoeuvrability that allowed it to dodge the attacks. It seemed to know just when to fake a dive before swerving somewhere else, or when to suddenly adjust its speed and when to burst forwards. Even with a traditionally slower Flying type, Pelipper's surprising agility made it incredibly difficult to hit.

This was why Walker was a famed trainer, even if he was considered to be the weakest of the Elite Four. This level of aerial manoeuvrability was envious; Zephyr could not perform to this level with technique alone.

But, even with this display of skill, Walker remained in a bad position.

"Air Slash, Pelipper! Knock it away!"

"Dodge in the snowstorm, Froslass! And keep chasing it!"

Pelipper attempted to retaliate by firing a few Air Slashes backwards towards the chasing Froslass to hopefully buy some space, but Frolass made use of its own excellent mobility and speed, as well as the concealment provided by Snow Cloak in the Snow, to nimbly evade past the incoming attacks. All the while never letting up on the pressure and repeatedly firing off Thunderbolts.

The situation was ironic. Whether intentionally or otherwise, Lorelei had flipped the table on Walker and was now making use of his own preferred strategy against him. Walker likely never expected Lorelei to have an Ice type that could be faster than his own Flying types. Which wasn't an unfair assumption, considering how naturally slow most Ice types were.

Increasingly desperate, and realizing the situation was only going to get worse from here, Walker switched tactics as he realized that his Pelipper was unable to escape.

"Hydro Pump, Pelipper!"

"NOW! THUNDERBOLT!"

I winced as soon as I heard Walker's command. I knew it to be a mistake. And sure enough, as soon as Pelipper stopped to begin charging up its Hydro Pump, a devastating Thunderbolt crashed down from above, causing it to fall out of the sky, barely holding onto consciousness.

"Finish it off with another Thunderbolt!"

Despite remaining unscathed, Froslass had exhausted most of her energy with her constant spam of Thunderbolts. Still, she had enough left in the tank to fire off one last burst of Thunder that crashed down like a glowing spear from Arceus on the fallen and helpless Pelipper to knock it out of the battle.

There was no getting up from that one.

"OH, WHAT AN AMAZING SHOWING FROM THAT RARE POKEMON FROM LORELEI! I THINK I RECOGNIZE IT FROM SINNOH; HOW DID SHE GET THAT POKEMON!? REGARDLESS, SHE NOW LEADS THE MATCH 2-1!" The crowd once again gave another half-hearted applause at her victory. Some were probably upset at her use of a 'unobtainable' Pokémon giving her an unfair advantage, which I personally felt that such sentiments were ridiculous. "AND NOW WALKER HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON!"

"Hmph. It doesn't look that well-trained to me." Lance muttered bitterly, though there was no heat in it.

"Oh, are you a child?" Agatha scoffed scathingly, eyeing Lorelei with interest. "She did fine with it. She made great use of its strengths to beat out a more well-trained Pokémon. Personally, I can't wait to see what she'd do next. Stop projecting your bitterness on her, she doesn't deserve it."

Lance frowned but didn't say anything more. I was amused at Lance's petulance but kept it to myself. Who knew that Lance could hold grudges like this? I didn't have a chance to dwell on this further as Walker sent out his next Pokémon.

"Crobat, it's your turn."

A large purple bat appeared on the battlefield, quickly swooping up in the air with powerful flaps of its wings, hinting at its well-trained speed and mobility. I saw Lorelei stiffen with a frown as she took in Crobat's appearance. She must have known that this was the fastest out of all of Walker's Pokémon, and he had likely sent it out now to out-speed and dominate Lorelei's Froslass. In fact, I was fairly certain that even my Zephyr would not be able to out-speed it.

I wondered what she would do in response.

"Steel Wing, Crobat! Get in close!"

"Aurora Veil, Froslass!"

With hardly a warning, Crobat shot forwards like a bullet, being little more than a blur with its wings gleaming in the air as it charged towards the Froslass. Amidst the Snow, Froslass cried out and became surrounded by a veil of rainbow-coloured aura, which gradually expanded outwards from it to form an intangible yet persistent shield around Froslass. The shield managed to form just in time before Crobat came crashing into it with a gleaming Steel Wing, mercilessly bashing the Froslass aside as she cried out in pain from the super-effective hit.

Froslass was barely able to recover from that attack, and I suspected that only the Defense boost from the Snow kept it conscious.

"Refresh the Snow, Froslass!"

"Steel Wing again, Crobat! Finish it off!"

My eyes bulged at the command. What was she doing?! Shouldn't she be making use of her high Special Attack to at least damage the Crobat? Why waste time idly setting up the Snow when the next attack threatened to knock you out?

But my thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of Agatha's laugh.

"HAHAHA! What a clever girl!" She cackled, a hint of pride and satisfaction in her voice. "My…if I hadn't taken in Karen for an apprentice, I would be very interested in her." Her words elicited confused looks from Will, and a considering one from me and Lance.

I turned to Lorelei to see if I could gauge anything from her reaction. She was stoic, with fists tightly clenched as she stared at the approaching Crobat like a hunter waiting for its prey.

And then it clicked for me. The gears snapped in place. It was a trap!

"DESTINY BOND!"

"STOP, CROBAT-!"

Walker screamed out to his Crobat to abort the attack, but it was too late. Froslass' eyes glowed a menacing purple just as Crobat's Steel Wing smashed powerfully into her, promptly knocking her out. But from her fainted body, a ghostly energy emerged and wrapped itself around the Crobat, instantly causing it to faint.

Silence descended momentarily on the battle as the audience tried to comprehend what just happened. I could understand; I was in a similar state of shock.

Then, almost in sync, the crowd exploded in a mixture of jeers and cheers as the crowd didn't know what to make of Lorelei's strategy.

The announcer said it best, "OH, WHAT A SURPRISING DOUBLE KNOCKOUT PLAY FROM LORELEI! USING DESTINY BOND TO BRING DOWN A SUPERIOR FOE AFTER SETTING UP THE SNOW ONCE AGAIN! WAS THIS A CUNNING PLAN? OR A DISHONORABLE TACTIC?! EITHER WAY, THE BATTLE IS NOW 3-2! BOTH TRAINERS HAVE 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!"

"…An impressive strategy." Lance admitted slightly begrudgingly, though he seemed to be viewing Lorelei with a new light. "I was curious to see how she would bring down Walker's second strongest Pokémon, and this certainly was not what I was expecting."

"Hah! That's why Ghost types are the best." Agatha bragged haughtily, "Walker was a fool to not expect such a plan. After all, he's spent years hanging around a master like me. He should have known better."

Inwardly I shook my head, partially disagreeing with Agatha. Yes, it was a REALLY painful mistake for him to make, but considering the high-stakes circumstances that he was in, a lapse in memory could be expected. Especially from a non-Ghost specialist.

I turned to where Walker was and could see a bitter and angry expression on his face. I could sympathize; I would be mad as well if a 'rookie' mistake like that cost me my second strongest Pokémon.

"True enough, though I will give credit to Lorelei's plan." Lance said, tapping his fingers on the chair, "She made great use of her Froslass to both knock out two of Walker's Pokémon, and also refresh the Snow and set up the Aurora Veil for her future Pokémon. She's in a great spot and she fully utilised her Pokémon to the max. I approve."

I nodded in agreement; Lance basically took the words out of my mouth. Lorelei had clearly planned extensively for this battle, and the results spoke for themselves. If she could keep this up, then she might be able to surpass Walker and earn herself a position in the Elite Four.

I found that thought to be extremely exciting.

A.N. I hope I showed that, even though Lorelei's much weaker than Pryce, she has a clearer mind and is able to properly utilize her Ice types to a great extent. Less brute force, and more strategic planning.

Also, there unfortunately won't be a chapter on Wednesday, so the next chapter will come Friday. I'm sorry about this.

BETAed by Allute! Cheers! And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!