The New Normal – 3-7 – Interlude – Lorelei
Her uncle may have thought of her as an incompetent fool that was unable to even run the Gym that he gifted to her, but even this 'incompetent fool' could read the writing on the wall.
Pryce was in trouble, and his hold on the title of Champion was slipping away from his grasp.
Oh, when she was on the telephone with him the other day and expressed her concern about his ability to stay as Champion, he scoffed at her and denounced her for fearmongering and being swept up in the public opinion. Her uncle offered no reassurances other than the determined, obsessive insistence that he would be able to maintain his power as Champion for the years to come.
Lorelei really doubted that would actually be the case.
Lance was making a very good challenger against her uncle, and he was rapidly gaining powerful supporters to back up his claim. She was practically the only Johto Gym Leader that wasn't directly in support of Lance, and that was solely because of Pryce's looming hands endlessly pressing down on her shoulders.
To make matters worse, she realized that all of her Gym Trainers would much rather have Lance as their Champion, and the fact that she was forced to support Pryce did not endear her to them any further. Not that they needed any more reason to hate her, they were practically revolting in silent mutiny against her leadership.
And as the days crept ever closer to the restarting of the circuit, her despair grew as she realized that she would never be able to reign in her Gym Trainers in time to form an effective Gym. Oh, they would do their duty to not completely shame the Mahogany Gym, but they would make it clear to the challengers that she was not in charge of the Gym.
Initially, seeing the hopeless situation laid out before her, Lorelei was tempted to just wallow in her despair and moan about the unfairness of life to kill the potential of a promising trainer like herself by dragging her down with politics. And yet, one day, as she was browsing through the Pokénet, she saw her old opponent, and now the youngest Elite Four member, John, speaking in an interview and giving his thanks for the kind treatment that he received in Hoenn.
Oh, she knew all too well what her uncle did to Elite John. Even before Elite Lance called out her uncle for his disgraceful actions, she knew that he had planned to do something like this as soon as she was knocked out of the Indigo Conference. It wasn't anything personal to John, but her uncle was so consumed with the status quo that he could see nothing else beyond it.
But unlike her, Elite John was able to rise above her uncle's machinations and even turn the tables on him. John's popularity had skyrocketed ever since his defeat of Drake, and now went even higher as he continued getting involved in the politics of Indigo. He seemed to adapt to the treacherous waters of Indigo like a fish to water, and she had to fight down her jealousy at the fact that he seemed to be thriving while she was stuck in a hopeless cycle as a doomed Gym Leader with a reputation that was tarnished by the stigma of nepotism.
Absently, she ended up looking through his match against Drake that she had saved into her phone once again. Initially, she had just wanted to see how far the winner of her Indigo Conference could go against someone of Drake's strength but seeing him win so convincingly was a huge surprise. She had never faced up against John in any of her matches during the Indigo Conference before she was knocked out by Shin, but to see the enormous canyon between their respective strengths was both humbling yet frustrating, and she couldn't help but feel bitter.
But as she continued re-watching John's match against Drake, that bitterness slowly morphed into ambition as an idea settled into her mind. Suddenly, she could see a way out of this vicious cycle of hopelessness. She recognized that, if she continued to do nothing, then she would eventually be removed as a Gym Leader and be banished to obscurity, with nothing but her irreparable tarnished reputation to her name.
However, there was an opportunity available to her to break free from the chains that shackled her. One way to repair her reputation and to clear her name from the stench of nepotism.
She had to make use of the loophole that Gym Leaders could challenge a member of the Elite Four, even if they have yet to win the Indigo Conference.
If she could just win her place in the Elite Four, it would prove to the world that she EARNED her strength, and it would separate her from just being known as 'The Champion's niece'. Oh, she realized that this wouldn't be an easy task, nor would making it into the Elite Four suddenly mean that she would be well-liked. In fact, she might just be seen as an ultra-ambitious woman who made use of a loophole to force her way into the Elite Four.
But at this moment, she didn't care. It would still be a better outcome than whatever awaited her if she continued down her current path. She quickly got up out of her chair, put away her phone, and grabbed the Pokéballs of her team.
She had one chance to make something out of her life, and she wasn't about to let this opportunity slip away from her. She had her target, and now she would do everything she could to surpass him.
'Walker, you're in my way.'
A.N. Huge thanks to my patrons for suggesting this idea. And thanks to Allute for BETAing this chapter! 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!