John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
Vordt - Ursaluna
Smough - Snorlax
Klee - Blissey
Port - Mantine
Zephyr - Pidgeot
Klaus - Wyrdeer
Luna - Clefable
Pixel - Porygon2
Euphie - Eevee
Ornstein - D-Zigzagoon
The New Normal – 5-1 – The Calm before the Storm
A few days later, with the ceremony come and gone, Karen and I resettled into our normal relationship. While on the surface not much seems to have changed, but I felt that since we opened up to each other on how we wanted our relationship to progress, there was a lot of cleared air between us.
It was hard to describe…but I just felt more at ease when I spent time with her. With our boundaries properly defined, there was no need to tip toe around things.
And even though she had told me that I was free to pursue others, I truthfully didn't have anyone else in mind, at least not for the time being. I told her so, and she just shot me a teasing smile that implied many things, but she just said that I was free to look elsewhere, but she would prefer to get a heads up on it. I was just glad she wasn't enforcing double standards.
Of course, my mom was very pleased with how we handled it when I spoke to her about what we talked about. I left out some of the details of Karen's trauma, but my mom was still very pleased with how we went about it.
"As I told you, it's good that the two of you have communicated what you wanted to do." She said to me the day after the ceremony, "With boundaries properly set, you'll hesitate less and enjoy spending time with each other even more. Trust me."
And her words proved true enough as Karen and I went back to train together a few days after the ceremony, our steps light. We had wanted to train up before, but we both had different commitments occupying our time. Karen was with Agatha, and I was helping out my parents with a few business matters.
Luckily, we had finally made time today to train up together, which was where we found ourselves now, heading towards the fields. Though, she had an odd look as she looked around our usual training fields.
"Hey John, did your family hire some more people to help out around the farm?" She asked, gesturing towards our latest farmhands.
"Yes, we figured that we needed some help with working with the Miltank since we're also expanding to Johto. I think my uncle's helping out my parents with that." I replied, "Why? Is it a problem?"
"Not really." She shook her head, though her eyes kept swivelling around, "Though they are looking at me quite intently."
I shrugged, "Why are you surprised? You're the one that's been doing interviews for the past few days. Trying to 'get people to know you'" I said in air quotes. "You're basically a minor celebrity now. Of course people will begin to recognize you."
Being seen as my date in such a public event skyrocketed the public's interest in Karen, and she was a common topic that was being thrown around by reporters and newscasters ever since the ceremony. Many people were interested to see who Agatha's apprentice was and her potential as a trainer.
This all fell within Agatha's expectations, though, and she was quick to instruct Karen to participate in interviews so that the public would get to know her better. Unsurprisingly, many people started digging up her past match history, most notably her most recent run through the Hoenn Gyms, and people were beginning to recognize her as one of the upcoming premier Dark type specialists in Indigo.
Not only that, but people NOW remembered that she was also co-author to the PIT Technique. Sure, she was previously overshadowed by my own fame, and she had publicly stated that the project was more my own than hers, but people still acknowledged her contributions to science.
Being recognized for her scientific contributions did wonders for her budding reputation, as it meant that she was more than just a brute that knew nothing else but battling. Pokémon researchers and scientists were very respected in this world and were good signs of leadership.
Overall, Agatha was very pleased with how Karen's reputation has developed. If she was able to stay within the public eye, that would give her a solid foundation for which to use when she eventually made it into the Elite Four.
"Are they going to take any photos of us?" She asked me worriedly, shaking me out of my thoughts.
"No." I firmly stated, "They're contractually forbidden from taking or uploading any photos of us while they are under our employ. They also have NDAs and have undergone background checks. Can't have them whipping up scandal for an Elite Four member otherwise."
"That's good." She sighed out in relief, before her expression turned excited, "Anyways, let's not worry about that now. Come, didn't you say you had some ideas for how we would train up custom moves?" She excitedly pulled me forwards as she jogged to the training yards.
I chuckled and allowed myself to be pulled along, only speaking up when we arrived at the training fields. "So, for custom moves, you realize that it's very common for them to take a long time for your Pokémon to master, right?"
She nodded, and I continued, "Thus, its best for you to choose a custom move that can be shared among as many of your Pokémon as possible. For me, I have something I've named as 'Seismic Eruption', which is effectively just combining Stone Edge and Earthquake together. Vordt has already gotten pretty proficient at the move, so now I'm using him to instruct Smough and Tyrant to learn the move as well."
"Ah, so that way you can save the time and effort on creating specific custom moves for every one of your Pokémon." She replied, understanding.
"Yep." I confirmed, "And on that note, I do have one possible example for a custom move that you can start working on, if you want to hear it." She nodded, "Well, I've come up with a combination of both Dark Pulse and Snarl. If you can infuse the Special Attack lowering effect of Snarl into your Dark Pulse, then it'll make it far easier for you to win longer battles of attrition between other Special Attackers. You'll turn your most common attacking move into a potent debuffer as well." I explained.
She digested my words for a few moments before breaking out into an excited smile, "That's a great idea. And both Snarl and Dark Pulse are both common moves that all my Pokémon can learn and are proficient in. That's an amazing idea, John! I'm going to get started on that right away."
And then, with our goals properly set, the two of us got to work. Karen quickly released all of her Pokémon and explained to them what she wanted them to do. The idea of combining moves was received well by her team, and they quickly turned it into a friendly competition to see who could master it first.
On my end, I split up my Pokémon. The trio of Smough, Vordt, and Tyrant would be training up on Seismic Eruption, since the latter had at least learnt how to use Facade. Then, I grouped Pixel, Luna, and Klee together so that the former could be tutored on how to use and develop its recovery moves and Gravity. I also grouped Klaus, Euphie, and Ornstein together, due to their currently similar fighting styles, and made the former tutor them on how to add more power into their Normal Physical attacking moves.
Unfortunately, that left Zephyr on his own. But was fine, as Karen generously offered to allow me to make use of her Spiritomb as a target dummy to let Zephyr continue practicing his Foresight on.
That was how we proceeded to spend most of the day. Occasionally, I would step in and give some tips on how I thought I could improve her training process. For example, I told her that she should try to develop the move using her Pokémon that were most proficient with Dark type attacks first, such as her Houndoom and Honchkrow.
That way, after they actually managed to combine the moves together, it would be far easier then to just teach her remaining Pokémon how to do the same.
"You know, training my Pokémon like this to start using custom moves really makes me appreciate the fact that Pryce's Pokémon were so well-trained that they were able to have a variety of custom moves." She admitted to me as we trained, "It makes me think back to how he still managed to lose despite all that training."
"It's because he lost sight of what truly made his Pokémon strong." I informed her, "Pryce initially tried to use his Ice types to fight straight-up against Lance's Draconic brutes. No number of custom moves or training would allow him to win that kind of fight."
"And that's why you must not lose sight of what makes you and your Pokémon strong in the first place." I reminded her, "My Tyrant may be currently trying to learn the new Seismic Eruption, but I'm always going to be reminding myself that his strengths lie in his close quarters fighting ability, not his geokinesis. You should remember the same for your own Pokémon."
"Yeah, tricks and subterfuge are always going to be the backbone of my team. I'm just developing more moves to give myself more options if I need them, or if my tricks aren't working out." She affirmed.
"Exactly." I remarked. And I truly hope that she would remember this too. Even if her Pupitar evolved into a Tyranitar, or if she mastered all sorts of custom and combined moves, I highly doubted that her Houndoom or any other of her Pokémon would be able to beat Tyrant in a straight-up fight without any tricks. It was good for her to remember where her strengths lay, and how best to capitalize on them.
And thus, the hours flew by as the two of us continued training together.
A few hours later, with our Pokémon either thoroughly exhausted or bored of training, I was about to order a break and invite Karen for dinner with my family before my phone started to ring.
Interestingly, I saw that the Waterflower sisters were calling me.
"Hello? This is John." I picked up.
"Elite John? This is Daisy, speaking on behalf of the Cerulean Gym." She replied.
"Oh? How may I help the Cerulean Gym?" I asked, slightly surprised at the call.
"Well, uh…we wanted to invite you and the Mayor to visit the Gym tomorrow…as a favour. Our new secretary…that is, the one you recommended…we uh, really like him, and he had some good ideas. So, we wanted to have this PR event where we showed you around and take some photos for the public."
Huh. That was very interesting. "I see…can I ask why you wanted the mayor and I to participate?"
"Yeah, so like, we recently made some improvements to the Gym, and wanted to inject some confidence in the public towards the Gym. At least, that's what Petrel told us, but we agreed! And we would like to bring up some things with you in person."
"I see." I said after I went over her words, "Sure, I'll come over. When should I arrive?"
Daisy then told me that we should arrive during the one-hour lunch break at the Gym, if possible. I said that it was fine; the Committee meeting wasn't until the day after tomorrow anyways. Daisy then thanked me for my time and hung up.
Well, tomorrow would prove to be interesting.
The next afternoon, I ensured that I was properly dressed up to suit the expected formality of the invitation before I made my way to the Cerulean Gym.
As I arrived, I was greeted this time by a tired looking, yet still professional, young Gym Trainer that quickly escorted me to Waterflower sister's office. As I entered, I found that I was the last to arrive and that Mayor Henry was already making small talk with the Waterflower sisters and Petrel.
"Hello all. I apologize if I'm late." I greeted as I made my way in.
"Ah, John, it's good to see you again." Mayor Henry replied, shaking my hand. "And you're not late. We were just making some small talk about what to expect from today's invitation."
"Oh?" I asked curiously, "I would like to know too, if someone could explain things to me."
"Certainly." Petrel stepped forwards, speaking on behalf of the sisters, "As you know, I've been recently appointed by the Cerulean Gym as their personal secretary and administrator. And over the past few days, I've been trying to reorganize and fix some of the major problems of the Gym. We wanted to get a grip on these problem before the League gets alerted and sends their own investigation team down here."
He smoothly lifted a finger, "First. I had to improve the discipline and standards of the Gym Trainers. That isn't something I can achieve in such a short time, but luckily, I managed to hire a new Head Gym Trainer that should hopefully fix most of the problems over time."
He raised another finger, "Second, and this is linked to the first issue, the Gym needs time to train up a greater reserve of Water type Pokémon to handle challenges outside of the usual 2-badge challenge. We're handling that internally, but we do have a proposition for the both of you."
We both gave him curious looks, prompting him to continue, "As soon as I was hired on, I realized that the sisters' water shows that they performed were a huge untapped market for advertising and sponsorships. Thus, we would like to offer the opportunity to the two of you, or in your case Mayor Henry, your supporters, to make use of the sister's shows as advertisement opportunities for your companies."
Wow. I had to hide back my surprise at Petrel's proposal. And yet, it made so much sense. The sisters' show was surprisingly popular in Indigo, and they performed the show frequently enough that any astute businessman would see the marketing opportunity for what it was. As expected of Giovanni's personal assistant.
I was brought back from my thoughts as Petrel continued speaking, "Of course, you don't need to decide that now. As for today in particular, we wanted the two of you to be seen 'inspecting' the premises and shaking hands with people where necessary. In essence, we want to prove to the public that the Gym is making improvements, and that we are actively addressing their concerns."
Mayor Henry cut in, "And this also boosts our own reputation as well, doesn't it?" He stated rhetorically, "Because we'll be seen as 'doing something' and actively helping out with the continued prosperity of the Gym."
"Exactly." Petrel nodded, which the sisters' joined in, "Right now, things aren't as bad as they could be. But we need to act quickly to restore the public's confidence before the rumour-mongering spirals out of control. That was why I invited you both on such short notice."
"I see." I muttered, "Well, I don't have any problems with this. So, I'm happy to go along with your idea right now."
Mayor Henry stated the same, eliciting a small nod from Petrel, and wide smiles from the sisters. The group then proceeded forwards to the main battling hall of the Gym, which was currently being cleaned during the lunch break.
As we entered, a very familiar looking teal haired man made his way forwards to greet us. "Ah, Petrel, you're here. And these must be Mayor Henry and Elite John. I'm Archer, the newly appointed Head Gym Trainer here. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He said formally with a short bow.
My fists clenched instinctively as I took in his appearance, and I had to fight down my surprise. I was about to question him about what he was doing here before he began his introduction into his duties and how he's trying to improve the standards of the trainers.
He explained to us that the initial problem the Gym faced was that it was seen as a low-level Gym of relatively little importance. Thus, being a Gym Trainer here wasn't an attractive option, especially when the Waterflower sisters didn't have stellar reputations themselves as trainers. This led to most of the Gym Trainers being hired were people of similar ages to the sisters, and teenagers were never going to be the most disciplined of workers.
Archer described that his solution was two-pronged. First, to fire any Gym Trainer that failed to pass a certain standard after a week of observations. That lit a fire in most of them to behave properly to the standards expected of a Gym. Second, was to divert and limit all non 2-badge challenges to a separate time slot on the weekends.
He explained that this served two purposes, one, to discourage trainers from challenging the Gym outside of the usual order, which often placed a lot of stress on the Gym Trainers to adapt to the different level of challenge. Secondly, it was so that Archer and Petrel, both of whom were very experienced trainers, could temporarily handle all those challenges in the meantime to alleviate some of the burden on the Gym Trainers as they still got used to their duties.
Furthermore, this would also give the girls the time and space to work on their shows and continue training up their personal teams. I knew that, according to the official League standards, they had to match up well against 7-badge challengers. I wondered how strong the sisters were.
"It's not a perfect solution, I admit." Archer stated, "But Petrel and I, along with the sisters, believe that this is the best solution available to us at the moment. At the very least, it'll show that we're trying to make a difference."
The mayor and I both nodded at that; we both agreed that the plan made sense. Still, I had a few worries of my own, and I quickly took the time while we were being shown around the Gym to quietly speak to Archer.
"…I think I recognize you from somewhere. I'm pretty sure Giovanni's brought you up before." I whispered to him.
Archer only chuckled at my words, "Well yes, I'm sure he has. You see, I found myself…unemployed recently, and Giovanni was kind enough to offer me this job when it came up."
"…and no one from your previous job will give you any grief for your sudden change in job?" I asked. Is anyone going to recognize you as the former leader of Team Rocket?
He shook his head, "No, of course not. I was more careful than that and always wore a disguise. You can ask Petrel; he helped me design it. Don't worry, Giovanni also made sure of that none of it can be traced back." He replied, assuaging most of my concerns. Still, it was really weird to see another one of Team Rocket's executives just working a legitimate job. Especially as a Gym Trainer.
"Are you going to be here permanently?" I asked out of curiosity.
Archer shook his head. "Unlikely. I'm not sure what Giovanni's plans are for me after this, but I know he won't keep me here forever." He explained, "I'll stay for long enough to help out with the Gym so that it doesn't fail; can't have Giovanni's reputation being attached to a failure, after all. But after that, only Giovanni knows."
Huh. That was interesting, and good to know. Though I might still bring it up with Giovanni in casual conversation. Just in case.
With my main concerns resolved, I allowed myself to be dragged along with the group to take some photos. They mainly consisted of me shaking hands with a few people or be seen pretending to inspect some aspect of the Gym or another. Basically, the usual fluff piece for the news.
As we neared the end of our 'tour', we bumped into someone very interesting. The Waterflower sisters were quick to take over from Archer and introduce the little girl to our group.
"And this pretty little girl here is our youngest sister!" Daisy gushed, messing up Misty's hair to the latter's annoyance, "Petrel and Archer both suggested that she should be involved in the running of the Gym. And Misty was very excited to do so! So, she's now a junior Gym Trainer here at the Gym!"
"It makes for good PR." Was all Petrel said when we turned to him.
"Oh, ignore the serious guy." Lily playfully fake-grumbled, "At first, we didn't want to involve our sister in the Gym because we all thought she was too young. But Petrel was quick to point out that we should have just asked to see if she wanted to. And now it seems like she's really enjoying herself! Isn't that right Misty?"
The young Misty broke out into a wide and excited smile, "Yep! And I get to play with all these cool Water types! I can't believe that I wasn't doing this earlier! This is so fun! I can't wait to go on my own journey!"
We all chuckled at her childish enthusiasm. As for me personally, I felt that this was a surprising, yet not unwelcome development; getting Misty involved early would probably be a good thing for her own development. Afterwards, Petrel asked if the sisters wanted to take a photo playing around together, Misty included, so that they could show off how 'personable' and 'likeable' they were.
With that done, Archer and Misty returned to their duties and the rest of us all reconvened in the sisters' office where they all thanked us for our time. We went over all of the photos today to make sure that we were happy with them being published, which we were. Then Petrel reminded us that if we were interested into having our advertisements be played during the sisters' water shows, we were free to get back to them to secure some contractual agreements.
I spoke up and told them that I would speaking to our parents about it soon, but that I was interested to see if we could make it work. Similarly, the mayor pointed out that many of his supporters would be eager for said opportunity, and he could really boost his own reputation if he could facilitate such an agreement.
With that done, we ended the meeting there, and the sisters thanked us for coming and for our time before we made our way out. I parted ways with mayor Henry then, making my way back home.
Overall, I was very impressed with the changes that the Cerulean Gym was implementing. While I couldn't say for sure that they would work, I was at least hopeful that with Petrel guiding the Waterflower sisters, that they wouldn't allow the Cerulean Gym to fall to the state of disrepair that it was in canon.
And, with a strong and secure Gym, it was looking increasingly likely that my vision of Cerulean would be able to be put in place.
A.N. TLDR, Petrel flexing his administrative muscles and slowly pulls the Cerulean Gym out of the pit it was in.
So, this chapter was primarily focused on the development of the Cerulean Gym. I doubt there will be future chapters as detailed as this one regarding the Gym. I just wanted to show how the Gym is going to develop and grow so that it isn't going to end up like canon.
This also marks the beginning of Arc 5 – the New Elite Four Arc. Hope you enjoy it!
This chapter has been BETAed by Allute! 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!