The New Normal – 2-13 – Interlude – Walker
Walker was exceedingly worried when he heard the announcement of a show match between John and Drake. Though he had never met Drake, he certainly knew him by reputation as a strong Dragon Trainer with a very foul mouth. Truthfully, he had no idea why Drake wasn't Champion, as he certainly was strong enough to fulfil that role.
But it was this strength and reputation that worried Walker. As soon as he saw that a match had been announced between John and Drake, Walker was very quick to pick up on the political implications of this battle. If Drake won, which Walker and the rest of the public would expect, then John's reputation wouldn't really be harmed since Drake was known to be so strong unless John was utterly defeated.
However, if John won, then that would upset the status quo within the Indigo League. At the moment, despite John's recent successes in making a deal with Devon Corp, his fighting prowess was still untested and unproven. Many, though far fewer than there were at the beginning, were still curiously wondering if John was even deserving of his title in the Elite Four.
Now, Walker wasn't a mean person, but he recognized that he still had to look after his own self-interest at times to maintain his position in the Elite Four. The scrutiny facing John was a welcome thing for him because it distracted the public away from scrutinising HIS own strength. Oh, he certainly wasn't as weak as the public were made to believe, but he knew that he was no match for Lance or Agatha, and maybe even John.
So, deep in his heart, Walker regretfully admitted that he was rooting for Drake to completely dominate John. That would be in both his and Pryce's best interest, even if Pryce hadn't realised it yet, and Walker had long since aligned himself alongside Pryce. He previously figured that it was the best way to keep his position, though he was starting to increasingly regret that decision with Pryce's recent actions against John. However, no matter how disgusted he was about agreeing Pryce's recent decision to John's side-lining to Hoenn, he would still stand by Pryce. It was necessary for him to do so.
He knew that Lance was angling himself to recruit John as an ally, and from his first impression of John, Walker observed that John had an instinctive dislike of Pryce that he lacked towards Lance. Walker had tried to befriend John when they had first met in hopes of pulling him towards Pryce's camp indirectly, but John was sent away to Hoenn before he could really establish a connection with him. If John really did ally himself with Lance in the future, that would inevitably mean that he and John would become enemies as Lance would undoubtedly pit himself against Pryce.
Walker wasn't liking his own chances of staying in the Elite Four if Pryce and Lance came to blows. He was certain that whoever won would result in a lot of political upheaval, as the winner inevitably decides to clean house and replace many of the loser's previous supporters with their own within the League. And Walker wasn't certain that he would survive the fallout of a Lance victory.
Truthfully, Walker was not fond of making enemies, and would much rather have everyone just get along and be friends. However, the reality of politics dictated that you had to make enemies if you wanted to remain in power, and Walker was forced to slowly discard his ideals over time, though at least he tried to keep up his friendly façade. Perhaps that was the reason why he was labelled as being overly sycophantic and weak, at least for a member of the Elite Four.
Some days, the vitriol against him got so bad that many believed he was undeserving to remain in the Elite Four! That wasn't true of course, as he had fended off several challengers over the years during his time in the Elite Four.
Who knew that 6 Flying types would be extraordinarily annoying to defeat if you didn't have the right Pokémon for it?
There were a few close calls, but after a while many people just stopped challenging him. He didn't understand why, and he suspected Pryce had something to do with it, but he kept his mouth shut and pretended to not know what was going on. And so long as Pryce continued to support him politically, he knew that his position was safe outside of him losing a direct challenge for his position.
This was why Walker's eyes were nervously glued to the screen as it became time for John's match against Drake. For Pryce's sake, and his own, he hoped that John would lose. He once again felt a pang of guilt for rooting against his fellow Elite Four member, but that was the cost of politics.
A.N. A short perspective on Walker and his inner conflicts, as well as some hints towards the next arc, and just a glimpse of how someone supposedly so weak was able to stay within the Elite Four.
Also, a reminder that these Wednesday 'bonus' chapters are meant to be short interludes! Full chapters come on Mon/Fri.
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