John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
Vordt - Ursaluna
Smough - Snorlax
Klee - Blissey
Port - Mantine
Zephyr - Pidgeot
Klaus - Wyrdeer
Luna - Clefable
Pixel - Porygon
Euphie - Eevee
Ornstein - D-Zigzagoon
The New Normal – 4-9 - The Showdown
I sat down in the VIP viewing room for the Elite Four, overseeing the upcoming match between Lance and Pryce. Agatha sat down on my right, accompanied by Karen, who Agatha had invited into the normally exclusive room; the security guards hardly even batting an eye at her intrusion.
Even Walker, who I would have thought would have at least spoken up to criticise Agatha, was silently hanging around the buffet table and pretending to not be noticed. He looked like a man awaiting his turn for the executioner; at least he knew when he was unwelcome.
Pryce would probably throw a fit at this 'impropriety' if he was here, but he definitely had a different problem to deal with at the moment. The more malicious part of me was salivating at the thought of witnessing his defeat, to see him humbled to the world. But I kept my rationality.
As I sat, I thought over the events that had occurred since Whitney's departure from home as she set off for her journey. It was a bittersweet event, and I occasionally felt melancholic as I walked around an emptier house. At least I was comforted by the fact that she was doing well.
A few days since her departure and she had already defeated Flint for the Boulder Badge, not that I foresaw any challenge in that respect. She probably had more trouble trying to wait her turn – I bet she regretted declining my offer to fly her there by now to get ahead of all the people.
Still, it was a big brother's duty to worry, and even amidst the barely contained excitement of the crowd, my thoughts still occasionally strayed to how Whitney was doing.
"Worried about your sister?" Karen's voice brought me back from my thoughts as she hovered over me with concern. She knew that I'd been acting weird for the past week, and that I hadn't been at my usual level of focus during our training sessions. "She'll be fine, you know."
"Yeah…it's just unusual with the house so empty at times. I guess I've always been used to seeing her at home." I admitted with a sad smile, and Karen patted me comfortingly on the shoulders for a moment.
"Thanks though, and I'm fine. Besides, I'll have this exciting match to distract me soon enough. I've been waiting ages for this." I said while gesturing to the window overlooking the arena.
Karen gave me an inspecting look for a moment before she nodded and left me be, returning to where Agatha was sitting. The large screens hanging on the wall continued showing analysts trying to predict the outcome of the match, with several speculating that Pryce might actually be knocked off his throne.
And the best part was that I didn't have to lift a finger to see it happen. For the first time in a while, it was no longer up to me to decide the future. What happened between Lance and Pryce during the battle would be solely out of my control, and while a part of me was worried about the lack of control, the other part was grateful to be temporarily free from the responsibilities.
"I'm not sure why you're brooding when this was supposed to be a happy moment for you." Agatha suddenly said, forcing me to turn towards her. "I would have thought you would be jumping for joy at the thought of seeing Pryce on his knees and defeated. Arceus knows this was a long time coming." She said that loud enough, likely deliberately, so that Walker could overhear her. I wasn't able to see his expression as he simply walked further away from the two of us.
"I'm not, I was thinking about something else…but I suppose I was just a bit worried about the outcome of this match." I replied unexpectedly truthfully.
"Bah. You'll learn eventually that some things are simply out of your control. This is one of them. Get used to that or else you'll never be a good leader." She said in a dismissive tone, though I felt like she was trying to give me advice. I simply nodded and was about to stay silent before another question popped into my head.
"Didn't you go through with this before? When they had to find a replacement for Oak?" I asked her.
"That's Champion Oak to you, boy." Agatha corrected sharply, before an uncharacteristically fond expression appeared on her face. "But yes, when Champion Oak stepped down, the nation mourned his decision. He was, and still is, the best Champion Indigo has ever seen…but some things are just outside of our control, no matter how much you beg or plead." She said that last part with some regret and bitterness, but I knew better than to question her about it.
I simply stayed silent, continuing to wait with anticipation for the match to start. I heard Agatha muttering something about "reclaiming the title", but the announcer boomed out before I could really think about it.
"WHAT A MONUMENTAL OCCASION THIS IS FOR EVERYONE IN INDIGO! FOR YEARS WE HAVE NOT HAD A DIRECT CHALLENGE FOR THE POSITION OF CHAMPION, AND IT IS A GREAT HONOUR TO BE ABLE TO HOST TODAY'S EVENT!" I swear I saw the supposedly reinforced glass window wobble when the crowd cheered.
"AND TODAY, WE HAVE A FANTASTIC MATCH FOR YOU! ON THE ONE SIDE, THE DEFENDING CHAMPION, THE SUCCESSOR, AND THE ICY PRODIGY, PLEASE WELCOME YOUR HONOURABLE CHAMPION, PRYCE!" Despite all of the recent controversies regarding Pryce, the crowd nonetheless roared as he made his way onto the arena, the cameras instantly zoomed into him, capturing every microdetail of his posture and expression, which I'm sure analysts around Indigo were desperately scrutinising in order to come up or support whatever theory or headline they were spouting.
Pryce entered looking stiff yet unconcerned, and even giving off an air of confidence or arrogance that the cameras managed to capture.
"AND TODAY'S CHALLENGER, YOU ALL KNOW WHO HE IS. AN ESTEEMED MEMBER OF THE BLACKTHORN CLAN, A MEMBER OF THE ELITE FOUR, THE DRAGON MASTER HIMSELF, PLEASE WELCOME, LANCE!" On the other hand, Lance's entrance didn't lack for any flair, with his cape bellowing in the wind and his arms outstretched, looking everything like a conquering hero ready to accept his grand prize.
There was nothing to analyse with Lance, every bit of him SCREAMED confidence bordering on arrogance, and power. There was not a single trace of worry on his face, as if the idea of losing this upcoming match was inconceivable to him.
I would even call it overconfident if I didn't know just how strong Lance's Pokémon were from watching his previous battles. It took a certain level of insanity and strength of character to be able to train the Pokémon he did to the level they were at.
One Dragon was hard enough, let alone multiple.
"AND TODAY'S MATCH WILL BE A SIX-ON-SIX BATTLE, THREE SWITCHES ALLOWED. STANDARD RULES. THERE WILL BE NO COMMERCIAL BREAK AFTER THREE KNOCKOUTS." The announcer stated after the applause died down. "NOW, TRAINERS, I HOPE YOU'RE READY BECAUSE THE MATCH IS STARTING. COUNT DOWN WITH ME!"
"THREE!" I leaned forward with both worry and excitement. There was nothing I could do but wait to see the fruit of our efforts.
"TWO!" If Lance lost, then I knew I was likely on my way out of the Elite Four. I had caused too many problems for Pryce, inadvertently or otherwise, for him to allow me to stay. Lance had to win. I had worked too hard to allow any other outcome.
"ONE!" They both released their Pokémon.
A raging Gyarados emerged on Lance's side of the field, comparable in every way to Drake's own Gyarados. A paradox of wrath and discipline; yet entirely obedient to its owner. A calamity taken the form of a water serpent. I instinctively knew that I would not want to face down against such a Pokémon.
On Pryce's side of the field, a powerful Glalie floated off the ground, looking alert and unfazed by Lance's Gyarados. Despite being much smaller in size and lacking that distinct intimidation factor that the Gyarados had, the Glalie looked very much like a warrior of old bravely staring down the monster he was going to defeat.
Pryce was prepared. But would his preparations prove sufficient?
"Waterfall, Gyarados! Smash it apart!"
"Ice Wall, Glalie!"
Gyarados immediately threw itself into the fray as it began its vicious assault against Glalie. Glalie quickly responded by erecting a huge wall of ice in Gyarados' path, but Gyarados easily smashed through it with an expression that almost seemed insulted that Glalie thought such a meagre wall could halt its charge.
"Freeze Dry, Glalie!"
Glalie then reacted with Pryce's signature move, and the one he invented, as he fired off a wave of chilling water straight towards Gyarados, which should have been supereffective against the Water type Gyarados, but the attack only caused Gyarados to give off an enraged snarl as it forced itself forward and slammed into Glalie, as if to try to shatter the smaller Ice type with its larger body.
"Ice Spinner! Knock him away, Glalie!"
"Fire Fang. Don't let go, Gyarados."
Gyarados latched onto the Glalie with its giant maw, fangs alight with scorching flames that slowly consumed the flailing Glalie. To its credit, Glalie put up a remarkable effort trying to shake off the Gyarados as it spun like a whirlwind of ice, but like a predator that had finally caught its prey, Gyarados refused to let go.
As the two of them thrashed wildly on the ground, Glalie suddenly managed to shake itself free from Gyarados' gaping jaws, and Pryce quickly tried to turn the situation around.
"Freeze Dry, Glalie! Propel yourself backwards!"
"Fire Fang again, Gyarados!"
Glalie fired off a torrent of water and propelled itself backwards by taking advantage of the expelling pressure, pushing itself just far enough away to dodge out of the way of another supereffective crunch from those searing fangs of Gyarados.
"Dragon Rush and chase after it, Gyarados!"
"Giga Impact, Glalie!"
"Iron Head instead, Gyarados, fight it head on! You can take it."
Like a man who was utterly unworried about his Pokémon's ability to take a hit, Lance didn't even bother trying to get his Gyarados to set up a Protect shield as he ordered his Pokémon to continue the assault and match Glalie's attack literally head on.
"The fool thinks he can win in a battle of strength? He's really lost his touch." I heard Agatha mutter next to me. Sure enough, Glalie shot forward like a bullet as it threw itself towards Gyarados with as much power as it could muster.
However, Glalie's fully charged Giga Impact was met with an equally powerful Iron Head from Gyarados, who barely flinched from the attack's impact as they smashed their heads together. Gyarados let out a mocking snarl as they collided together, as if to taunt the Glalie and asking if that was the extent of its power.
The difference in their Pokémon's inherent strengths was obvious; no matter how much Glalie was better trained compared to Gyarados, it was lacking in both strength and endurance to beat it in a straight up fight.
Without allowing Glalie to recover from its attack, Gyarados retaliated with a bone-shattering Aqua Tail that smashed directly into Glalie's side, sending the Glalie careening through the air and landing in an unsightly heap on the ground.
"Stone Edge! Don't let it get up, Gyarados!" Showing no mercy, Gyarados continued its relentless assault as huge pillars of stone rose up from the ground and crashed down on it like a landslide, burying the Glalie under a tomb of rock.
"Hyper Beam, Glalie! Break free!" Glalie remained stoic despite its injuries and shot out a powerful beam of energy that disintegrated the rocks in front of it, momentarily freeing itself from its tomb as the ray of energy struck Gyarados in the center. But Gyarados merely grunted in pain as it tanked through the attack.
"Dragon Rush! Push through it, Gyarados!"
Gyarados immediately obeyed as it rushed towards Glalie, seemingly unconcerned about the intense ray of energy trying to bore a hole into its body. It was not about to lose a battle of raw strength, and it refused to show any weakness as it enduringly pushed back the Hyper Beam and smashed straight into Glalie, cutting off the Hyper Beam and sending it tumbling down onto the ground.
"Earthquake!" In what was almost certainly overkill, Gyarados slammed its tail into a ground, sending huge tremors through the ground that violently shook the buried Glalie, ensuring that it had absolutely no chance of getting back up.
The crowd waited in silence to see if Glalie was going to rise up or not, but after ten seconds of no movement, the announcer called it.
"AND PRYCE'S GLALIE HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT! WHAT A QUICK AND DEVESTATING FIGHT! I CANNOT BELIEVE THE STRENGTH OF THAT GYARADOS! LANCE NOW LEADS THE MATCH 1-0!" The crowd didn't seem disappointed at all at the quick defeat and were instead roaring out their approval towards Lance. "CHAMPION PRYCE HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON!"
"Feh. That was disappointing." Agatha said bitingly, though I partially disagreed with her words. Yes, sure, Pryce's Glalie was knocked out quickly. But that was to no fault of his own, but rather, Lance was just THAT strong.
"Indeed, Pryce has lost sight of what made him strong in the first place." Walker surprisingly sighed out.
"Hah! I'm surprised you opened your mouth, Walker." Agatha mocked cuttingly, but Walker didn't rise to the bait. "But you're right. Pryce's forte was never about the pure strength of his Pokémon, but rather the fact that his Pokémon are so able to control fights with freeze strategies."
"…he's been Champion for too long." I also spoke up, getting nods from everyone including Walker. "When I spoke with him a while ago, I noticed that his ego had gone to his head. I don't think he could even comprehend losing this match."
Walker let out another breath, "…no, you're right. I must have realized this long ago but refused to acknowledge it." He didn't say anything else as he wandered off into the corner, declining any further conversation.
I gave him a pitying look for a moment before I turned back to the arena. Pryce was sending out his next Pokémon.
"Come, Abomasnow."
I heard the entire arena gasp in unison as the Abomasnow revealed itself onto the battlefield as Snow began to descend on the arena. I too was surprised; how did Pryce manage to train up a Pokémon from Sinnoh to the level where he was confident in using it against LANCE?!
"WAIT, WHAT IS THAT POKEMON!? I'VE NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT HAS SETUP THE SNOW!" The announcer supported my thoughts, "WELL IT LOOKS LIKE OUR CHAMPION HAS SOME SURPRISES UP HIS SLEEVE!"
"Isn't that one of those Pokémon from Sinnoh?" Karen asked aloud as a look of recognition appeared in her eyes, "I think I saw it a few times when I was looking into their Dark type Pokémon."
"…It must have been a gift from the Sinnoh League when Pryce revealed them to the public." Agatha spoke out seriously as she observed the Abomasnow. "Pryce must have kept it secret as a trump card against Lance…well played."
"Surely it couldn't have been that well-trained though. Sinnoh was revealed only a few weeks ago!" Karen exclaimed, but I shook my head.
"Not unless they were given to Pryce pre-trained." I replied, the puzzle pieces clicking together in my head, "Sure, it probably isn't as trained as his other Pokémon, but I wouldn't count it out just yet." That, and I wasn't certain for how long Pryce has had that Abomasnow. Plus, having an advantageous type matchup and surprise went a long way to securing a victory.
I turned and gave Walker a questioning look which he simply shook his head at. I frowned, hoping that Lance had studied the Sinnoh Pokédex sufficiently to understand what type it was.
But seeing the confused expression of Lance, the first crack in his normally confident appearance, I figured that he probably doesn't know.
This was going to be bad.
"Blizzard, Abomasnow."
"Waterfall, Gyarados! Just get close to it quickly!"
I winced as Gyarados charged right into the center of Abomasnow's Blizzard. It was less foolhardy than it might seem, as Gyarados was always going to be a physical attacker that needed to get closer to its opponent. So given that Lance didn't know what type Abomasnow was, or its strengths, this was likely the most reasonable choice.
However, boosted by the snow like this, even the battle-hardened Gyarados slowly froze over by the Blizzard's freezing gales of winds that sliced at it. It continued to push forwards nonetheless, valiantly ignoring the small frost crystals gradually growing along its body as it continued to writhe angrily, determinately struggling to get closer to Abomasnow before it froze over.
Yet Abomasnow's relative lack of training began to show itself. I knew instinctively that if this Blizzard was fired off by any of Pryce's regular, more-trained Pokémon, Gyarados would have frozen near instantaneously.
Eventually, likely out of sheer wrathful determination, Gyarados managed to force itself through the Blizzard, charging headfirst with murderous rage in its eyes as it angled itself to slam straight into Abomasnow with what Lance thought was going to be a devastating Waterfall.
However, with the Snow boosting his Pokémon's defenses, this just played right into Pryce's hands.
"Wood Hammer, Abomasnow!"
Just as Gyarados slammed into Abomasnow with his ineffective Waterfall, Abomasnow brutally retaliated as it morphed one of its arms into the shape of a stump and bashed it hard into the side of Gyarados' head.
"AGAIN!"
"Aqua Tail, Gyarados! Fight back!"
Gyarados was able to quickly respond by whipping its tail around and pummels it into the side of Abomasnow. Yet, despite the sheer power behind the blow, Abomasnow's typing proved its worth as it shrugged off the ineffective attack and responded with another crushing Wood Hammer to the face, landing a critical hit on the Gyarados that caused it to stagger backwards in pain.
Without allowing it to recover, Abomasnow relentlessly clobbered the Gyarados one more time as it brought another powerful strike down onto its head, smashing the Gyarados into the ground.
"Protect and reorient yourself, Gyarados!"
"Wood Hammer again, Abomasnow! Smash through that shield!"
A faint shield hastily formed in front of the Gyarados as it writhed painfully on the ground, but Abomasnow shattered through that flimsy Protect shield with a powerful chop that struck down mercilessly on the top of Gyarados' head, knocking it once again into the ground.
"Earthquake and finish it off, Abomasnow!"
Abomasnow slammed into the ground and unleashed a powerful tremor that sent cracks spreading throughout the arena, violently shaking the Gyarados as it laid prone on the ground and taking the full brunt of the attack. An attack like that would normally be more than sufficient at finishing off an already wounded Pokémon.
And yet, Gyarados refused to fall.
"Outrage, Gyarados! You're not done yet!"
Understanding just how far he was able to push his Gyarados, Lance refused to allow Gyarados to go down just like that. Despite being battered, beaten, and knocked repeatedly into the ground, Gyarados' unending rage continued to drive it forward.
As Gyarados wrapped itself up in that familiar draconic energy, I noticed that the blue aura around it was literally pulsating outwards. The power that I could feel radiating out of Lance's Gyarados, even through the window, was almost incomparable to Drake's. And then, without warning, it burst forwards off the ground as it shot towards Abomasnow, tearing a huge gash in the arena in its wake.
"Blizzard, Abomasnow! Stop it in its tracks!" Pryce shouted, showing the slightest bit of panic at Gyarados' rapid approach, his first hint of emotion since the start of the battle.
Abomasnow roared out and formed another intense Blizzard in its wake, engulfing the Gyarados within once again. However, unlike before, Gyarados was hardly deterred by the freezing winds, its anger now so all-consuming and explosive that none could stop it. Realizing that Gyarados was undeterred by the Blizzard and was not slowing down, Pryce changed tactics.
"Leaf Storm, Abomasnow!"
As soon as Gyarados broke free from the Blizzard, a torrent of leaves shot themselves towards Gyardos, inflicting a litany of cuts and wounds as they sliced into it. Gyarados roared out in determination as it continued to ignore its growing injuries and exhaustion and forced itself through the storm of razor-sharp leaves and slammed itself into Abomasnow.
However, its once pulsating aura of Draconic energy was rapidly dimming, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before Gyarados' exhaustion caught up with it. Pryce must have had the same realisation too, as he tried to stall for time.
"Protect and Giga Drain, Abomasnow!"
A sturdy cyclical shield formed itself in front of Abomasnow, shattering but successfully blocking an Iron Head from Gyarados. Making use of that space, Abomasnow fired out small green tendrils that attached themselves to Gyarados, gradually draining away its health and healing Abomasnow in return.
Blinded by murderous rage as it was, Gyarados was unable to realize what was happening as it continued to ignore the life-draining tendrils and continued its volley of attacks against Abomasnow. But now, Abomasnow was starting to get used to Gyarados' wild attack patterns and was now able to occasionally parry the attacks using Wood Hammer to transform its arms into stumps and using them as makeshift shields.
Gyarados must have realized that its energy was waning, that the plague of exhaustion was just around the corner. And yet, Gyarados refused to lose. It refused to fall to some unknown Pokémon that wasn't even a Dragon. Its pride, its anger, its loyalty, refused to allow such an outcome. So, it roared towards the sky above, willing itself to just land one more attack in the hopes that it would finally bring down that blasted Abomasnow before it as it continued lashing out.
But sometimes, rage, raw power, and determination alone is insufficient. Although Abomasnow was not the bulkiest of Pokémon, nor could it match Gyarados' level of training, its grass-typing paid dividends in being able to resist the normally devastating Water attacks from Gyarados. Without being able to detach itself from the life-draining tendrils, Abomasnow was continuously able to heal itself through its Giga Drain and endlessly resist even the Outrage boosted attacks from Gyarados.
By now, Lance likely realized his mistake at trying to bring down Abomasnow with purely Water-type attacks; and I'm sure that he even figured out what Abomasnow's typing was. Still, he was forced to stoically watch as Gyarados' attacks grew weaker and weaker, until eventually its reserve of Draconic energy ran out and its Outrage petered out, its once deep blue aura dimming completely, causing Gyarados to slump over in exhaustion.
Pryce spared no time for it to recover as he gestured forwards.
"Abomasnow, finish it off with an Energy Ball."
Abomasnow casually fired off a green sphere of energy that struck the exhausted Gyarados in the face; Gyarados no longer having any energy to dodge and was blasted backwards. At this point Gyarados was so injured and damaged that even Abomasnow's Giga Drain was unable to drain out any health.
Yet it continued to struggle.
"Again."
Abomasnow fired another blast of energy, once again striking Gyarados center mass as it roared out in pain.
And yet it remained defiant.
"…Its tenacity is impressive, but no matter. Again."
I turned to Lance, watching him as he continued staring stoically at Gyarados. I wondered why he wasn't returning his Gyarados; he must have known that it was clearly unable to battle. So why was he allowing his Gyarados to tank further punishment like this?
I gave a questioning look towards Agatha, and she answered my question before I could even ask it.
"Silly boy, don't you know that a Dragon has its own pride?" Agatha mocked, "And Lance's Pokémon has more pride than most. They value that over everything else. The fools."
I gave a nod of understanding as I refocused on the fight, just as Abomasnow landed yet another round of Energy Balls that detonated themselves on Gyarados. Gyarados was so covered with wounds at this point that it was unable to move its body, and yet its eyes remained alight with vengeance and rage.
Its eyes were screaming to the world that it would not concede defeat. Not yet. But Pryce was going to force the issue one way or another.
"Enough of this. Abomasnow, get close and Wood Hammer it."
Abomasnow obeyed and dashed towards Gyarados, one of its arms raised menacingly as it glowed intensely with energy, ready to bash the defiance out of Gyarados.
But just before Abomasnow could strike down with its arms, it accidentally got too close to Gyarados' head.
"FIRE FANG!"
Gyarados' head suddenly whipped forwards with a surprising burst of speed as it pushed itself far over its limits and it crunched down supereffectively with its flaming fangs onto Abomasnow's shoulder, eliciting a cry of pain from Abomasnow as Gyarados struck with all of its accumulated rage. Abomasnow quickly retaliated by bashing down powerfully at the top of Gyarados' head, striking it with a savage critical blow that finally knocked out the Gyarados.
But the final blow from Gyarados could not be ignored, as small flickers of embers continued to spread across Abomasnow's body. I saw Lance smirk smugly towards Pryce for taking him off-guard with that final attack.
"OH, AND LANCE'S GYARADOS FINALLY GETS KNOCKED OUT AFTER LANDING A LUCKY FIRE FANG ON PRYCE'S POKEMON, TYING OUT THE MATCH 1-1!" The announcer shouts out, before pausing to allow the crowd a moment to cheer. "AN INSPIRING PERFORMANCE FROM LANCE'S FIRST POKEMON! IT JUST REFUSED TO GO DOWN! WILL WE SEE MORE LIKE THAT FROM OUR CHALLENGER? WE WILL SEE IN THE NEXT THIRTY SECONDS!"
Lance withdrew his Gyarados with a proud expression. And I couldn't help but reflect on the battle that had just occurred, measuring his Gyarados up to my own Pokémon. Smough was barely able to beat Drake's Gyarados, but could the same be said against Lance's?
Although Smough has gotten stronger and has become proficient at using ThunderPunch, but that level of determination from his Gyarados was always going to be a frightening prospect to face off against.
Especially if Gyarados' determination was the norm on Lance's team for his Pokémon. What kind of monsters remained on his team?
A.N. And that's the start of the fight between Pryce and Lance. As I mentioned before, we will be seeing more Whitney chapters in the future, but they will be scattered throughout future chapters. However, I promise that there will be a much larger focus (With more dedicated interlude chapters) on Whitney now that her journey has started to see how she's progressing.
And yes, I hope I made it clear that while Abomasnow isn't as well-trained as Pryce's other Pokemon, it makes up for that fact with surprise and typing. Of course, as soon as Lance realizes, Abomasnow quickly becomes a liability in such a high-skilled fight.
Also, I made the decision that, under Snow (which is the weather condition I'm using for this fic instead of Hail), Ice type attacks are 'boosted'. Nowhere near as much as in Rain or Sun, but it rationally makes sense to me if Ice type attacks either hit slightly harder or had a better chance of Freezing the targets while in Snow.
Thanks to Allute for BETAing this chapter! Big thanks! 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!