The New Normal – 2-19 – Interlude– Lorelei
Lorelei knew accepting the title of Gym Leader of Mahogany was a mistake, even before all of the backlash occurred towards her uncle, Pryce. She knew that she was certainly unqualified for this prestigious role, but she was going to do her best running the Gym anyways. It's just too bad that the public, justifiably, weren't willing to put their trust in her just yet. Or ever.
She supposed she could redeem and prove herself over the next circuit, although she was pessimistic about her chances about gaining the public's favour. She expected to be labelled as a Gym Leader who was undeserving of her title for a long time, and she anticipated that she wouldn't be able to scrub the mark of nepotism off of her.
What was worse than the negative public opinion was that she didn't garner any respect from her Gym Trainers either. Many of them had worked very hard and dedicated themselves to the Mahogany Gym for a long time before they were able to earn their positions, and they saw Lorelei being 'gifted' the title of Gym Leader to be a massive insult to all their efforts. And since her uncle didn't deign to give her any help in the form of loyal assistants and Gym Trainers, she had to manage all of this by herself!
That was far more problematic to solve. She needed the help of her Gym Trainers to be able to effectively run the Gym, but most of them either treated her with polite disdain or outright hostility. And none of them were willing to respect her authority as a Gym Leader.
Lorelei desperately hoped that she would be able to reign them in and assert her authority by the time the new circuit revolves around. She would have no hope of salvaging her public reputation if she couldn't manage her Gym properly, which she needed the assistance of her Gym Trainers to do. It was a vicious cycle and certainly an uphill battle that Lorelei wasn't looking forward to, but she willed herself to at least try.
But with every day that passed, it was increasingly apparent that becoming the Gym Leader of Mahogany was far more trouble than it was worth.
Of course, she couldn't exactly say no to the position either. Despite their best attempts, her parents weren't the greatest of trainers, and neither were most of her extended family, so her uncle dismissed them as useless for helping him maintain power as Champion. However, once she came along and started showing off her potential in the Indigo Conference, that was when she caught the attention of her uncle. But only as a pawn to be used.
Although she was unable to win the Indigo Conference, settling for a 'mere third place' according to her uncle, he was satisfied enough that he could make use of her to further his own interests. Much of Pryce's support base was located in Mahogany, and he pressured them into accepting Lorelei as the new Gym Leader after the previous one stepped down. She didn't really have a choice to refuse, unless she chose to leave Indigo entirely, but that was never a realistic option.
He had made her a Gym Leader in order to assert a further level of control over the Johto Gyms, but that seemed to be an overly ambitious idea from Lorelei's perspective. And to make matters worse, her uncle was getting raked over hot coals on the Pokénet and the news for appointing her as a Gym Leader anyways! Lance was really trying to drive a stake through her uncle's cold dead heart, and on some nights, she wanted to help him!
She knew that her uncle wasn't always like this. Her parents had told her that he used to be a bright and capable trainer that many in the family saw as an inspirational leader. But that was before he became the Champion. That was before the power of his title went to his brain and rotted him from inside out. That was before it was rumoured that he turned to bribery and intimidation to maintain his position. Lorelei had serious trouble reconciling her parents' description of a younger, more innocent Pryce, to the stern, cold, and uncaring uncle that she always knew.
She sighed as she leaned back in her seat in her new office; she didn't even have the time to redecorate it with her personal items, so it was still as the old Gym Leader left it. She looked and the clock and saw that she had already spent ten minutes just moping about. She sighed once more as she pulled herself out of her chair as she adorned her haughty façade once more.
It was time to confront the world.
A.N. Although Lorelei isn't going to be a major character in this story, I felt like a short Interlude about her would be nice to show how she's doing at the moment. We will be seeing more of her later!
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