The New Normal – 9-12 – Interlude – Lance
There were times where being Champion was a slog, where you were forced to handle the myriad of mind-numbing responsibilities placed on you. There were times where being Champion was fun, like when you could do all the speeches for the important events.
And then, there were times where being Champion meant stepping up to the plate and getting things done, to instil order and stability during times of chaos.
This was one of those times.
Inwardly, he apologized to John for so abruptly hanging up on him. But there were things to be done.
"Get me a conference call with Wallace and Lucian from Sinnoh." He ordered one of his assistants, and the man scrambled to get it done.
He turned to another assistant, "You, get me the head of the Indigo Police. And get me Lorelei and her new department."
As his assistants set off to make the necessary preparations, he gave himself a moment to breathe in and vent his frustrations. It wasn't meant to be like this; he had been reassured by Bill that his invention wouldn't be made available to the public instantly. Like he told John, it was meant to be released in waves, just so that they could control and manage the chaos.
Because an invention as enormous as this was BOUND to get out of control. But this was even worse than the PIT Technique. The Pokémon Storage System fundamentally changed the way that businesses, trainers, and even the League dealt with the transportation and supply of Pokémon.
The discovery would open up whole new ways to transport Pokémon, both legitimate and otherwise. He foresaw a huge increase in Pokémon captures as trainers who were previously unable to catch as many Pokémon now would be encouraged to catch more, either for themselves or to sell them to the highest bidder.
Lance knew from the very beginning that the chaos that this invention would create was going to be more than the Fairy type reveal and the PIT technique reveal combined together. That was why he let out a big sigh of relief when Bill agreed to releasing his invention in controlled waves with League oversight. But now it appears like he had celebrated too soon.
He had underestimated Bill's recklessness.
And it wasn't like he could directly block the release of the invention anyways. Bill's creation was privately owned, which had received its funding from certain businesses. The League weren't allowed to interfere in what Bill could or couldn't do it with it – to do so would be a grave overreach.
At most they could place restrictions on it, which was what he was rushing to do now.
His assistants came running back in, and a laptop was placed in front of him with a conference call already being hosted. In it, he saw his counterparts from Hoenn, Wallace, and the temporary representative of the Sinnoh League, Lucian, already there. They all had the same look of concern.
And that was the worst part of this problem. It wasn't just contained to Indigo.
"Lance, I heard the news." Wallace spoke first, his usual bright and showy expression long gone, "Do you know anything else about how this happened?"
"I'm afraid not." Lance shook his head. "I was as surprised as you all were with this release. But we can get back to our regrets or mistakes at a later time, now we need to organize a complete and full response to this situation before things get out of hand."
"I suggest mobilizing everyone." Lucian spoke up, "All the Elite Four, all the Gym Leaders, all the police. Install order as much as you can short of declaring martial law. We need to make a big show to the public with the relevant announcements and warnings to let them know that it's not all fun and games, and that we're taking this very seriously."
"Important Pokémon locations need to be locked down." Wallace agreed, "Poachers were already a big problem when the Fairy type was revealed. This will be equally as bad, especially now that selling Pokémon illegally just became all the more easier."
"New departments would have to be set up to monitor these transactions." Lance nodded, "The current plans and systems that we have to monitor Pokémon trading are not going to be sufficient with the Pokémon Storage System coming out. We're going to have to invest a lot more into monitoring these trades to stop any illegal activity."
"Should we issue an outright ban on using the program for trading for the time being?" Wallace asked carefully, "At least until we can implement some degree of control on the trading?"
"An outright ban is not going to go over well." Lucian warned, "We need to play it smart. If we act too heavy handed, we suddenly get a lot of the public angry at us for 'restricting their freedoms'. And, at least in Sinnoh, we cannot afford to lose more of the public's trust. Issuing a ban would be seen as an enormous overreaction – and the public are only going to view it as if we're taking a new toy away from them. Maybe a restriction would be fine, but not anything more."
Him and Wallace nodded at that.
"We will also need to implement new temporary policies to ensure that habitats aren't accidentally destroyed by over-catching." He pointed out, "Have the Jennys assigned to areas not currently restricted and have them be ready to step in if trainers are catching too many Pokémon. Each region will have to deal with that on a case-by-case basis."
"We'll get the Elite Four and Gym Leaders on this." The other two agreed.
And so the call between the three representatives of each region went on for a long time. By the end of it, they all came out of it tired, haggard, and with a massive headache.
But there was no time to rest. Each second they wasted potentially led to more damage and chaos being done in their regions.
Lance himself only gave himself time for a quick sip of water before he started making more calls, this time to the Jennys, as he explained to them their new orders. Then he called the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders, and forcefully drafted them with their new duties.
Lance knew that this was going to be a test of how well-liked he was as Champion and whether he was able to foster the right connections to put the right people in the right place.
Each and every single one of them needed to pull their weight to ensure that they could get themselves out of this crisis mostly unscathed. And, as Champion, he knew that there were going to be several sleepless nights ahead of him as he scrambled to put out the fires that he knew were about to spread across his region.
But he accepted that responsibility. He knew that there would come a time when a crisis would break out during his term as Champion. And this was merely going to be the first of many. Yet, no matter what may come, Lance would be ready. He would do his duty and guard his region from whatever threatened to harm its prosperity.
Because a Dragon always protects his hoard.
A.N. I thought it was the perfect time to get into the head of Lance to see how he tackles this problem. While this isn't an enormous crisis like an outbreak of terrorism that Team Rocket was, this new paradigm shift is bound to cause a lot of chaos that no one wants.
Also, yes, Bill acted rashly in the release of the Pokémon Storage System. I always saw him as the guy who put science first above all else, even his own safety. Why else would he accidentally transform himself into a Pokémon, if not due to recklessness?
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!