John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon2

Euphie - Sylveon

Ornstein - D-Linoone

The New Normal – 8-1 – A New Horizon

The rest of the boat ride continued peacefully, with me being able to successfully catch up on some much-needed sleep. When I woke up and saw that there was barely half an hour left until we arrived, I decided to just get changed and spend the rest of the ride idling around in bed.

Soon enough, the signature blaring of the ship's horn signalled our arrival at Sinnoh, and I made my way onto the deck as I excitedly stared at the region of Sinnoh slowly getting closer to us. We were arriving late into the afternoon, close to early evening, and the backdrop of the slowly descending sun made for a magnificent view of the new region, giving it an almost fantastical and utopian feel.

Eventually, I managed to peel my eyes away from the view and made sure that I was properly dressed up as befitting a member of the Elite Four and representative of Indigo. Then, I met up with Will again on the deck as we made our final approach into the docks at Canalave.

"Exciting, isn't it?" Will said to me, "I cannot wait to see what kind of opportunities will be available to us."

I simply nodded, not saying anything else as we got even closer to the docks, the faces of the members of the welcoming party soon becoming more and more visible, though they were still obscured by the distance between us.

Moments later, the sound of the ship's horn blared again as it signalled our arrival into Sinnoh. The ramp of the ship descended onto the docks below, and Will and I carefully made our way down, followed on by a group of accompanying League Officials.

As we descended, the purple haired man made his way to us, a friendly smile on his face. But there was no mistaking the scrutinizing intelligence in his eyes, nor the analytical looks he was giving us. He had a knowing smile that seemed permanently affixed to his face, as if he was able to predict your every move. I knew who this was.

"Welcome to Sinnoh! I'm Lucian, of the Sinnoh Elite Four. It's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Will and John. Bertha has said many good things about you both." He carefully shook both of our hands.

Will took point, "It's certainly a pleasure to be here, Lucian. I cannot wait to see the many wonders of Sinnoh as we spend time here! I'm sure your region has plenty to offer." He praised.

Lucian let out a chuckle, "Ah, I can only hope we can meet your high expectations. And I hope you've both rested well on your way here."

"We have." I nodded.

"That's good. Though I do want to apologize on behalf of the other members of the Elite Four for not being here today." Lucian said, "Unfortunately, due to the current…instabilities plaguing our region and the Committee, we've had to take a more active role in ensuring the continued functioning of the Sinnoh League. I'm sure that both Flint and Aaron will have time to greet you later."

"That's not a problem, I can understand." I replied easily, with Will nodding along in agreement, "Still, if you don't mind, would you care to exchange contact details? Just in case we need to reach each other."

"Certainly. I was just about to ask that too." Lucian agreed, taking out his phone as we exchanged details. As we did so, the other League officials on both regions finally decided to approach each other now that the pleasantries were over with.

With that out of the way, Lucian suddenly snapped his fingers, "Oh, pardon me. I've been hogging you both all to myself." He chuckled apologetically, "I think I should allow this young lady who's been waiting patiently all this time to introduce herself to you."

"Thank you, Elite Lucian." My eyes turned before I froze on the spot as I took in the newcomer's appearance, her blonde hair swaying slightly in the wind. Her posture was straight and confident, with a slight smile on her face that was both friendly, yet not overly deferential. There was also a hidden strength in the way that she walked, and the way her eyes met mine.

So taken aback I was at her appearance that I missed her introduction, though I hardly needed to hear it. There was no way I could have mistaken who she was.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Cynthia. I'm John. Thank you for agreeing to be my tour guide." I said, shaking out of my stupor as we shook hands. "Your grandmother has been most welcoming with me. And she's an excellent chef."

Her smile grew an inch wider, "I'll be sure to pass on your words to her." Then she turned to Lucian, "Now, do you need us to stay here for any longer? Or may I bring my new guest back to Celestic Town?"

"No, feel free to go ahead." Lucian shook his head, before his eyes met mine. "John, it really was a pleasure to meet you. If I have some free time, I'll love to be able to speak to you further."

"Likewise. And please treat Will well!" I joked back.

"You don't have to worry about that, John!" Will responded cheerfully, "I'm sure as fellow Psychic specialists we'll have plenty to talk about."

"Indeed. And I'm sure those discussions will be very fruitful." Lucian agreed, nodding his head, "But we still have more introductions to go through. There are many businessmen who would like to meet you…" And the two of them trailed off as they slowly walked away, deep into their discussions of business.

Cynthia stared at them for a moment before shaking her head. "Well, now that they're gone…do you need to collect any more of your luggage, John? Or can we make our way to Celestic Town straight away?"

"I got everything right here." I replied, tapping at the luggage behind me.

"Great, then take this and let's go." She handed me a Flying License that already had my name on it before she threw out a Pokéball and released her Togekiss. I couldn't help but pause and admire her Pokémon for a bit – her Togekiss' eyes were shining with experience and alertness. As close as I was, I saw the concealed layer of muscles that were just hidden under its wings, highlighting just how much that this Togekiss had been training over the years.

This was not just a transport Pokémon, but one made for taking hits and dealing out damage. And I couldn't help but wonder how well Zephyr would match up against her Togekiss.

"Hey! You can admire my Pokémon later! We have places to be!" Cynthia shouted out from on top of Togekiss, amusement lining her voice. I shot her a wry grin as I released Port as well, before the two of us took to the skies as we made our way to Celestic Town.

During our flight there, Cynthia considerately stayed silent as she simply allowed me to admire the view of Sinnoh from up high. I knew enough about it from my meta-knowledge, but like I mentioned on the boat ride here, seeing it for yourself was definitely a completely different experience.

I recognized the modern skyscrapers of Jubilife City, the mountainous and construction-filled area of Orebough City, and in the distance, I could just barely make out the snow-covered mountains of Snowpoint City. As we flew, the sights only expanded, allowing me a magnificent view over the forests of Eterna, the ruins of Solaceon, and the beautiful parks of Hearthome City.

Sure, Indigo and Hoenn were equally as beautiful too, but there was this sense of novelty in Sinnoh that made the views all the more special. I'm sure it would wear off given time, but for now, I was content to just idly enjoy the new environment I found myself in as I allowed time to simply fly by.

Despite all of the political turmoil that was reported to be taking place throughout Sinnoh, I couldn't see any of that this high up. All I could see was the beauty of a new region.

I don't even know how much time passed, but a sharp whistle from Cynthia brought me back to reality.

"We're here!" She shouted out from her Togekiss, and I looked down to see the historical ruins and buildings of Celestic Town appearing below us. Almost immediately, I could feel the culture just radiating out of the area, as if history itself had seeped into the very roots of the city.

If this was where I was going to be spending my time in Sinnoh, then I was going to be a very happy man.

"Let's land over there." Cynthia called out as she pointed towards the large laboratory sitting in the middle of a forest of trees. I simply nodded and followed after her.

We landed just outside the entrance to the lab, and we both disembarked from our rides. Cynthia took a moment to comb her hair while I spent some time just looking around the area.

"This is all very impressive." I commented as I looked around, "And are those the ruins over there?" I pointed to an opening in the mountain that looked like it was connected to a cave.

"That's just one of them." Cynthia replied, "I'm not sure if my grandmother told you this, but we have authority over plenty of the surrounding ruins and caves here. Even the ones that go all the way up to Snowpoint. Those ones are fairly new, and there's plenty that we haven't even explored yet."

I nodded excitedly, "That's interesting! I would love to be given the opportunity to explore them."

"We can go today, if you'd like." Cynthia chuckled, "Though you'd probably want to settle down first and get yourself comfortable. Let's exchange numbers so we can meet up after you're ready. I have lots to show you."

I agreed, and Cynthia made a call for an assistant to show me to my room, where I'd be staying during my time in Sinnoh. They escorted me to a faraway wing of the labs, where their residential area was. As I was escorted over there, I couldn't help but mentally compare their lab to the one I saw in Devon Corp.

And I was happy to say that it came up favourably.

Whoever had constructed this facility obviously made sure that the building reached their very high standards. Despite Celestic Town being in a relatively rural location, everything in the lab that I saw was modern and clean. This was certainly no backwards countryside construction, but rather a high-tech and modern building that was the pride of the city.

That must explain why Professor Carolina was allowed to head to Sinnoh alongside their initial delegation. If she was the head of such a prestigious facility, then her influence must have been equally as significant.

I was given some time to settle into my new room and I was surprised with what I found. Instead of some small room with simple furnishings, as was what I had expected, I found myself in a decently sized suite with a pleasant number of hand-crafted furnishings with some tasteful décor scattered around.

Someone had clearly put in the time and effort to make sure that I would be satisfied with my accommodations.

I was pretty sure I knew who it was.

Still, I had no intention of idling about now that I was here, and I quickly returned to Cynthia – who seemed very eager to give me a proper tour of the place and get things started. She greeted me with an excited smile on her face.

"Come, let me show you around before we get to the ruins." She said before she speed-walked ahead, forcing me to catch up to her.

She gave me a quick tour of the town itself. Admittedly, there wasn't much there. The lab and the caves were the biggest highlight of the town. Still, there was at least a Pokéshop and a Pokécenter, as well as a few other stores that you could purchase things from.

The whole place definitely gave off a 'rural' vibe, but that wasn't a bad thing. Celestic Town actually felt really relaxing, and it had just enough amenities to be comfortable. In a way, it reminded me of Pallet Town. But with far more culture and history ingrained into the city.

Unfortunately, Cynthia told me that the wild Pokémon variety around here wasn't that great when I asked. Though that was offset by the fact that there were many rare Pokémon that could often be found in the depths of the cave.

With the tour of the town done, she finally brought me over to where the entrance to the cave was. As we walked over, I could see that there were a few archaeologists that were chatting around the entrance as they chowed down on their lunch.

The moment Cynthia approached, the many archaeologists all turned and greeted her with a friendly wave, which she eagerly returned. She seemed to know all their names and made quick but friendly conversation with them as she continued to lead the way.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by Cynthia's popularity here.

"Hey, Cynthia! Come check out this new batch of fossils that we collected up." One of the archaeologists shouted out to her, waving her over with a hand. Cynthia raised a curious eyebrow and quickly came over to see what the fuss was about. I followed after her.

"Woah! Good find!" She praised as her eyes scanned over the small pile of fossils that the archaeologists had collected. I nodded in agreement; I could recognize that there were a good combination of Armor and Skull fossils.

"Yeah. Got lucky with one of those branching paths. Found them in a wall somewhere since I saw a little piece of those fossils sticking out." The archaeologist nodded happily, before turning to me with a curious expression, "And who's this? I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

"I'm John, of the Indigo Elite Four." I introduced myself, causing many of the archaeologists nearby who could overhear our conversation all turn to me with surprised expressions on their face, "Cynthia's here been introducing me around. It's very nice to meet such hard-working folks."

"Um, thanks, Elite John. Just got lucky, that's all." The man rubbed his head embarrassedly as he looked away, visibly embarrassed and a little starstruck, "Uh, I won't disturb you both anymore…good luck with, uh, whatever you're doing."

Cynthia and I both chuckled at his embarrassment, but not wanting to poke fun at him, we both decided to move on to where Cynthia had intended to bring me in the first place. Without a shred of hesitation, she casually stepped through the entrance to the cave without a Pokémon by her side.

She must have caught my concerned look because she only laughed, "Don't worry. The immediate entrance to the cave is extremely safe." She explained, "We have extensive safety measures to ensure that we don't accidentally let wild Pokémon loose. There's no danger to be found here."

I nodded, and she continued, "The same can't be said if you venture any deeper though. The general rule of thumb is that the deeper you go, the stronger the Pokémon get. But I'm sure that isn't a problem for you."

"Or you." I pointed out. "You don't seem like someone who's going to settle for having 'average' Pokémon. You appear too confident for that."

She smirked, "Oh? Is that a hint of challenge that I heard? Are you asking me for a battle?" Her voice was teasing, but there was a look in her eye that told me that she was being entirely serious. She really intended to prove her strength against me.

I didn't back down, smirking back at her, "You don't have to act coy. I can see the challenging look in your eyes."

She laughed, "You caught me. I was never good at holding myself back. But yes, I'd love to battle you one day. But not now, we still have a tour to finish."

I nodded, following after her. I looked around the entrance to the caves and saw that, indeed, it was very safe. There were plenty of scientists, miners, and other archaeologists either working hard or simply lazing about.

Just ahead of them, I could just make out a strong perimeter of Psychics, Fighting, and Ground types that blocked off the only entrance into this part of the cave system. There were a strong mix of Gastrodon, Toxicroak, and I even saw a Gallade or two. That was a very impressive lineup.

Clearly, Cynthia's words were not just idle boasts. It was a very solid perimeter.

"Any chance I could catch something from Sinnoh? Or from these caves?" I spoke up idly as I stared intently at Gastrodon and Toxicroak. Now that I was actually IN Sinnoh, the urge to expand my team with new Pokémon was getting ever stronger.

"Sure, I'm not going to stop you." Cynthia shrugged, "Feel free to catch whatever you like. Even if you find anything rare in those caves if you do go exploring. We might have to inspect any rare captures, but otherwise as long as you don't catch too many of them then we're okay with it."

"And I assume those ruins are deeper in there?" I asked, pointing to where the cave started spiralling downwards from beyond the perimeter.

Cynthia nodded, "Yes. I'm not sure why most of the ruins can only be found so deep, but that's where they are. We've mostly explored all the ones closer to the surface, but we're sure that there are still many we haven't found located deeper down or in one of the newer tunnels. Those are the ones that travel under Snowpoint, and we've recently acquired access to them."

"What are these ruins about anyways? What's in them?" I asked curiously.

"Mostly remnants of a lost or fallen civilisation. We strongly hypothesize that they are the remains of what used to be old Sinnoh." She explained, confirming what I had assumed was the case. "I won't go into the details of that right now, but our explorers are still finding out more every day. Maybe one day we'll have a clearer picture on what we've found here."

"Speaking of which, I just realized I haven't actually explained to you how we're going to do this 'exploring' thing." She chuckled, but then took on a slightly apologetic tone. "Unfortunately, while we do not doubt your strength, there is a very real risk of you getting lost in these cave systems. While we know you could easily brute force your way back to the surface, doing so would risk destroying some precious ruins as collateral damage. And none of us want that."

I nodded, agreeing with her words. She continued, "As a result, you'll have to be accompanied by a trained explorer to make sure that you don't get lost."

"I'm assuming that explorer is you?" I cut in, giving her an amused look.

"Who else would it be?" She laughed, and it was a beautiful sound, "Grandmother told me to look after you, and I certainly won't be pawning off this job on someone else."

"Well you could if you were busy–" I began to say, but she interrupted me.

"No. Firstly, this is MY responsibility. I'm not about to pawn it off to someone else. Secondly, why in Arceus would I give up such an opportunity? Do you know how lucky I got to be able to spend time around an Elite trainer?" She asked rhetorically, "I intend to learn every single thing about you. I've seen your battles – I would love to be able to learn more about how you trained up your Pokémon so well. Not just that, but your political ambitions, your ideas, everything."

"Well, let none say that you aren't ambitious." I chuckled, "And what's to say I'll be sharing all those secrets?"

"With all the time we're going to be spending around each other, I'm sure I'll pick up a thing or two." She shot back with a grin. "And I'm sure you'll learn plenty about me as well. Let's call it…a mutual exchange of knowledge."

My laugh grew, "We'll see about that."

Her honest ambition amused me greatly, and I ended up hanging around the entrance to the cave for a little longer. Our conversation always remained casual, but she was doing a great job at easing me into this new region.

Eventually, we both realized that we had probably talked for long enough, and I was feeling especially tired from my boat ride, so I retired for the day whereas she headed back to the training field. I blinked at that; she was still training when it was already night?

But I didn't think much of that as I retired to my room to rest up. We would be meeting up again tomorrow for our first exploration of the caves together.

As I headed back to my room, all I could think about was how excited I was about finally having the opportunity to explore around Sinnoh that I nearly forgot to text my friends and family that I had arrived safely in Sinnoh. With that done, I laid down in my bed with my head filled with thoughts about all the things I could do now that I was actually in Sinnoh.

But more than that, I thanked Arceus that I had such an interesting exploration partner. Cynthia was definitely fun to be around.

A.N. This marks the start of the "Sinnoh" Arc. No prizes for guessing what this arc is going to be about.

And while Cynthia and John's interactions are hard to write, I hope you're pleased with what I've come up with. Cynthia is going to be a very important character for this arc, as you might have expected, so I wanted to ensure I got the foundations of her interactions with John correct.

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!