The New Normal – 4-1 – Interlude – Pryce & Lance
Pryce sat alone in his office, staring blankly as the news droned on about Lance's upcoming challenge against him, of all things. He didn't understand where Lance had received all of his ill-found confidence to dare to challenge him for the position of Champion, the position that has, and will always, belong to HIM.
What did this Dragon trainer think he was anyways? To go against a master of Ice? Pryce didn't understand why his supporters all looked so nervous when they warned him about Lance and his prowess, do they truly think that Lance had a chance of winning?
He sighed at the incompetence of his fellows; as always, it was so hard to find good help before they betray you. Unconsciously, an image of John floated to the top of his mind, causing Pryce to snarl.
HE was the one who elevated John into the Elite Four, as he was able to spot out the talent that was John and how best to cultivate it. HE was the one who magnanimously allowed John to train up and develop his reputation in Hoenn. HE was the one who welcomed John back into Indigo with warm and welcoming hands, and this is how John repays his favour?!
Both him and Lance were wilful traitors to Indigo, allowing themselves to be emboldened and corrupted by their unending and insatiable greed and ambition. Never once pausing to look at the damage and harm that they would cause in their pursuit of more power.
If John had accepted his hand of friendship, Pryce could hardly imagine what greatness that he would be able to achieve together with John. But no, John, like all ambitious men, sought to bite the hand that fed him in order to gain more power. In order to enrich themselves on the suffering of others.
Pryce would see them both ended. If they dared to step out of line to take what was rightfully his, then he would forcefully show them the errors of their ways and crush them so thoroughly that they could never dare rise up against him ever again.
The Blackthorns especially must be punished. They were too powerful, too grasping, and must be put in check. Pryce tolerated them over the years, but now that they have chosen to show their traitorous hands, he vowed to deal with them soon enough.
Blackthorn City needed to be renamed anyways.
Before he could properly decide on how best to punish the Blackthorns for their overreach, he felt one of his Pokéballs shaking on his belt. He sighed and released the offending Glalie.
"What is it?" He asked his Glalie sharply.
"Glalie…Glalie…" His Glalie replied hesitatingly, and Pryce frowned. Even his Pokémon felt like he had to train up against a pretender like Lance?
"Do you not have faith in your trainer?" He glared at his Glalie, who seemed to falter slightly at his glare, but maintained his insistence.
"Glalie. Glalie!" His Glalie said more forcefully, eliciting a sigh from Pryce.
"Fine. I suppose there's no harm." He replied reluctantly, before he pulled himself out of his seat and, accompanied by his Glalie, made his way to the underground training grounds of the League.
As soon as he arrived, he released the rest of his team onto the field.
"Right then, let's get this over with."
"Are you sure you're ready, cousin?" Clair's voice broke through Lance's thoughts as he continued studying and making notes of Pryce's previous battles.
"You know that I have been preparing for this moment for a long time." Lance simply replied, still continuing to finish writing his notes. "And I have studied Pryce's tactics extensively. I have pride in my Pokémon to deliver me the victory."
He finished writing the last sentence and looked up to Clair, "Besides, Pryce is far past his prime. He is no longer the prodigy he used to be. He has hardly had to fight a real challenge ever since he became Champion, and that was a long time ago."
"Neither have you." Clair pointed out, and Lance conceded the point.
"Neither have I, but we both know that I have been training more than Pryce. Do you think that grump even visits the training fields while he's not busy doing nothing?" Lance scoffed, sarcasm leaking from his tone. "You know that I've spent every moment since the elders decided on this course of action preparing for the battle, so relax, Clair, I'll be fine. Besides, my pride won't allow me to fail."
Clair gave him a scrutinizing look before she sighed, "…If you're sure. But at least you won't be lacking on popular support."
Lance frowned, "That's true, though I hate that lives were nearly lost before the public were finally able to see the true extent of Pryce's incompetence and misrule. I certainly would have never allowed such an incident to occur."
"Yes, thank Arceus that John got there in time." Clair agreed before she tilted her head curiously, "…Don't you think that we've seen John a little too much on the news recently?"
"Frankly, I'm not surprised." Lance remarked, "Don't you remember what he was like during our meeting? He was practically frothing at the bit to defeat Team Rocket. And all his recent actions only backed up what he told us in that meeting."
"True. He has really lived up to his words." Clair nodded, then suddenly adopted a look of concern. "Aren't you worried that he might challenge you for the title of Champion?"
Lance paused. It was not something that he had previously considered happening, but with John's recent success…
"…Well, I cannot deny that John's popularity is likely going to be very high for a while. Undoubtedly, his heroic actions were truly able to mitigate much of the disaster at Olivine. He doesn't strike me as particularly ambitious for the role of Champion though…" Lance thought aloud.
"At least he still lacks much of our political connections." Clair said, but they both knew that was cold comfort. Any competent Elite Four member would be able to garner political connections given sufficient time. And John was no mere competent one, he was proving to be exceptional!
"…I guess we have to keep an eye on him then." Lance said, "Though I truly don't think he's looking to become Champion any time soon. He lacks my charisma."
"For now." Clair pointed out, and Lance nodded.
"For now. But we'll deal with that when it happens." Lance stated, "Admittedly, I respect John. And he managed to pull himself to the top of the region from less than nothing and reverse his fortunes. I admire it. And he may be the closest member of the Elite Four to match my strength." Though John would not win against him; his Dragons were a very different foe from Drake's despite their type similarities.
"Maybe you can make friends with him then?" Clair suggested, "He's not a bad friend to have politically. Plus, you can possibly persuade him to not challenge you for the role of Champion. Also, I'm fairly sure that he is friendly with you."
"…Perhaps." Lance allowed, "But now is not the time to think of such things. John is not some power-hungry monster, so let's not treat him as one." Clair nodded, "Now, would you like to accompany me to the training yard? I have something to test out."
Clair agreed and the two of them proceeded to the Blackthorn training field. And as soon as Lance arrived, he released his Pokémon.
A Gyarados, Charizard, Salamence, and three Dragonites, one which was significantly bigger than the others, were released on to the field. He had other Pokémon too, but this was the team he was going to bring. A team that encompassed his power as a trainer. Lance smiled as he allowed himself to bask momentarily in the sheer strength of his team, before finally addressing them.
"Come, let us practice!" He announced to his Pokémon, and the ground shook as his Pokémon roared out in agreement.
A.N. I wanted to show off the differences between Pryce and Lance. One deluded and blinded by his pride, the other allows his pride to better himself and to train harder.
For the sake of clarity, Pryce never lost his starter Piloswine and became bitter as a result. I felt that, if something like that happened, he would never have been chosen to become Champion. Instead, his source of corruption comes from staying in power for too long.
Once again, next week's chapter will return to the regular schedule.
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