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

Wraith - H-Zoroark

The New Normal – 10-7 – Pre-Tournament

Time flew when you were having fun, and there were few things as fun and as exciting as preparing for a Tournament that would have the entire world watching and cheering. During that time, my sister finally deigned to visit home, where she spent the night regaling us of her time as a Gym Trainer of the Saffron Gym.

"It was strange working with Psychic types at first. They're really squishy, and most of them can't fight at all in close range. It was very different to what I was used to." She had told us that night, "But Sabrina did help out a lot, and now I'm trying to see what new Psychic moves and strategies that I can introduce to my own team!"

"Didn't you have a Girafarig?" I asked, hinting at its evolution, "I think out of all your Pokémon, it'd gain the most out of some good Psychic training."

"Yep! I mean, my Girafarig usually prefers to get up-close and bash its opponents, but I'm trying to teach it to also make use of Psychic moves so that it has some more ranged options as well." She said, "It took some time to persuade it, but I think Girafarig has the potential to become one of the stronger Pokémon on my team."

"That's great dear," My mom smiled at Whitney, "But don't overdo it with the training. Make sure you're still able to spend time with your friends. Have you spoken to Janine since you started working at Saffron?"

"Of course!" Whitney replied instantly, "I would never forget her just because we aren't working together! Sabrina and I always make sure to call her every night to update each other on our days. And once we get some free time we try our best to visit her in Fuchsia."

"How is she doing anyways?" I asked.

"Janine's happy, and she's doing well." Whitney said, "Apparently she had impressed her father with how much she had grown, and now he's starting to really train her so that she can eventually take over the Gym. It's not much different from what Samson and Katrina are doing with Sabrina either….though Sabrina seems to be better at learning than Janine. Don't tell her I said that though." She stuck out her tongue cutely.

It was a nice moment to catch-up. After dinner, she had shown me her Pokémon and how much they had grown. I was pleased with her progress, especially regarding her previously weaker Pokémon. Like she said, her Girafarig was really starting to grow into a powerful battler, and her Noctowl had finally found a niche as an agile supporting Pokémon that could shut down unaware opponents with her plethora of status moves.

There wasn't anything more I needed to say about her Wigglytuff, Exploud, or Miltank. She knew what she was doing.

That was why I didn't really offer Whitney any specific advice on how she should train up her Pokémon. Now was not the time to dictate to her what was best. She had already proven to me that she had discovered her own style of training, and she knew her team better than I did. She knew what she had to work on.

The one piece of advice that I DID give was that I reminded her to continue developing Girafarig's Psychic potential.

"You have the rare opportunity to be working as a Gym Trainer in an experienced Psychic Gym." I had told her, "You best make use of all they can teach you and apply it to your Pokémon."

"Don't worry bro, I'm already working with Sabrina on this." She grinned, "Just you wait! My Girafarig WILL surprise you."

Aside the highlight that was Whitney's visit, the other notable event of the week was that the Preliminary Rounds were about to finish. Karen had, unsurprisingly, cleared through this stage without much issue. She had matched up against a few powerful veteran Ace trainers that were much harder to defeat than your regular opponent, but her Pokémon had grown so much that she still won convincingly.

So now it was just a matter of time of waiting for the Preliminary Rounds to fully conclude, since there were still a few matches left. Once those were done though, then there would be a week's break before the Finals began.

Everyone knew that THIS was where the interesting fights took place. By now the Preliminary Rounds had weeded out all the weaker trainers, so those that remained were mostly the cream of the crop.

There would be no cruising through for Karen now. Fortunately, she didn't seem perturbed by the challenges ahead.

"John, I've fought harder opponents than this. Ace trainers they may be, but I've been training with the old hag for most of my life." She had told me, "And then there's all the training I did with you, then that battle against Sidney. I feel like I have the right to remain confident."

"Of course." I nodded, "Just don't get cocky."

"You don't have to remind me." She snorted, "I know full well how close I am to finally being able to achieve my goal – to finally being able to take the weight off of Agatha's shoulders and relieve her of her responsibilities. I know I have to win this, for her sake."

"…And besides, I'd also be happy if our relationship could be one of equals." She smiled, "I haven't forgotten all the help you've given me – and I want to be able to pay it all back and help you with your own goals. Agatha isn't the only person who I'd like to repay."

"You know that's not what I care about–"

"No, John. This is something I want to do." She patted me on the arm, "Anyways, enough with this sappy stuff. Didn't you say you were training your Tyrant up to be able to take on Lance's Emperor? Come, show me what you've done with him. I think I've come up with a better strategy to take him on."

…Needless to say, Tyrant won.

To no one's surprise, Cynthia had cleared through her Open Challenge and had finally and officially became the Champion of Sinnoh. There was this big ceremony in Sinnoh for her ascension and everything, and all of us sent our congratulations for her new position.

Ignoring all of the political consequences of that for the moment, this meant that the Tri-Regional Tournament was FINALLY here. And EVERYONE was heading to Hoenn in droves to see it. I only just now realized how beneficial this would be for their tourism.

And what was about to be even more beneficial was that Wallace had 'kindly' asked us to all participate in a photoshoot. All of us. Every Gym Leader, Elite Four, and even the Champions. The photos would all be for advertising purposes, and mainly to offset the costs for the Hoenn League for being the host of the Tournament.

But by my crude calculations I was willing to bet that the Hoenn League actually stood to gain more than they lost for setting up the event. Wallace's keen eye for business surprised me. It made me wonder if he had someone helping him.

However, as quite literally every important trainer was about to leave their region for a week to participate in the Tournament, that meant that there would be a temporary gap where Indigo and Sinnoh would be left slightly vulnerable.

That required Lance to place the Indigo Police and the rangers on higher alert. No temporary measures needed to be passed, but the Jennys were ordered to be more alert than usual when it came to what they considered to be 'suspicious'behaviour. Funds were further allocated to accommodate for any overtime hours, and Ace trainers would also be deployed to bolster the regions' security.

I had heard the same had been ordered in the other regions as well. Especially in Sinnoh, where Cynthia had ordered that those who had been knocked out of the Tournament to swiftly return as soon as possible.

Despite these measures, I was still a little worried that this would give Team Galactic an opportunity to advance their plans, but Giovanni had pointed out that this was also a trap for them.

"They don't know that they're being observed." Giovanni had told me, "They think that with all of the important trainers in Sinnoh heading to Hoenn, that there won't be as many prying eyes on them. But they're wrong."

"Archer and his team will keep careful watch on what they do. They'll be ordered only to observe, but we'll be able to turn this lack of perceived security against them." He explained, "Right now, our biggest difficulty for dealing with these terrorists is that they remain hidden. Whatever plans they use this opportunity to advance will be nullified if we are able to properly track them down. And once they slip up? Well then we know exactly when and where to strike, don't we?"

I had agreed with Giovanni's plan. The one-week period would serve as a trap for Team Galactic. We'll let them move around relatively freely, observing them as they moved around. Then, once we returned from the Tournament, we would pounce on them for the mistakes that they had made.

With a plan to handle Team Galactic sorted, I made my own way to Hoenn. Lance had forbid the Elite Four from ALL heading to Hoenn on the same transport in case something happened. So instead we all had to make our own separate ways there.

I decided to just keep it simple and fly over there on Port. His stamina was more than sufficient for such a flight. It also meant I could arrive slightly earlier so that I could get a quick training session in with Roxanne before the photoshoot and the Tournament.

There'd still be time after the photoshoot to train, but every moment counts.

As I arrived at Hoenn, I could see even from up high that it was packed to the brim with tourists. Ever Grande City was flooded with people – most of whom I assumed had come just to watch the Tournament. Even if they hadn't managed to book seats at the stadium, they would at least get to be closer to where all the VIPs were gathered.

I smiled; it always pleasing to see how much trust and faith the people had in their leaders. It was as it should be.

Ignoring the crowds, I left the skies of Ever Grande City and instead flew over to a place that I hadn't been in almost a year. The busy streets of Rustboro gleamed below me, filled to the brim with bustling tourists – though nowhere near as much as there were in Ever Grande City.

Even from up high, I could tell that the Gym's museum was a big reason for why the tourists chose to visit. As the region that was responsible for the revival of fossils, it was unsurprising that those interested or curious about these new Pokémon would flock to Hoenn to have a look and learn more about the history of these unusual and unique Pokémon.

And I was nearly certain that Roxanne would eventually have these exhibits filled with fossils in the future.

I landed just a short distance away from the Rustboro Gym as I quickly headed inside before the crowd could recognize me. I knew there must have been people on the lookout for my arrival, since the fact that the Elite Four would be departing from Indigo was a matter of public knowledge and everyone knew who my partner was. Fortunately, I managed to scramble inside before I got spotted.

I met Roxanne directly at her office. She turned to me with a polite smile as she saw me.

"You came here quickly – I wasn't expecting you for at least another few hours." She greeted me with a handshake, "I hope your journey here wasn't too uncomfortable. Judging by your windswept hair – I'm guessing you flew here?"

"Yes, my Mantine carried me over." I nodded, "It's strange that I've now arrived in Hoenn via my own personal Pokémon more than I've done by boat."

"At least there's no emergency for you to attend to this time; unless you count the photoshoot that Wallace has insisted on to be an 'emergency'." She muttered, "Though, now that I think about it, with that many 'unique' personalities crammed into one space together…it might become an emergency."

"Wait, are we seriously all going to be crammed into one studio?" I asked, baffled. "It's going to be 44 of us! And that's not including all the other staff."

"No idea, Wallace didn't explain it to us." She shrugged, "But he seems smart enough to not do that. Wallace isn't foolish enough to disregard the dangers of cramming every single important trainer into one room like that."

"Well we can worry about that later. We still have some time before that happens, right?" I asked, getting a nod from her. "In that case, we should get a quick spar done. I want my Pokémon to really understand just how powerful yours are – and vice versa. Unless you have students to teach?"

"Not today. I've taken some time off for this Tournament. Their parents were understanding." She stated, "Nevertheless, we shouldn't waste time. Let's do 2v2 battles, with the rest of our Pokémon spectating. Come, I'll bring you to the training field immediately."

I followed her to the Gym's training facilities, which was fortunately private and away from prying eyes. Having spectators would only serve as unnecessary distractions.

The facilities that we found ourselves in was surprisingly modern. For all that the Gym liked to promote the history and archaeology of Hoenn, their facilities looked state-of-the-art. That bode well for the Gym's success.

But that was enough idling about for me. As soon as we arrived, I resummoned my focus and sent out the team that I intended to be using. Euphie, Ornstein, Wraith, Pixel, Luna, Klee, Smough, and Vordt all came out.

"Phew. That's some team." Roxanne whistled, "It's very different seeing them up close. Your Pokémon seem to radiate with far more strength than when I observed them through a screen. Well then, here's mine!"

She released her team onto the field. It was a testament to Wraith's newfound discipline that he didn't snarl and charge at the sudden appearance of her team. He definitely would have done so before.

"Let's not wait any longer – we'll get straight into this." She declared, with me nodding in agreement.

I chose Pixel and Wraith to be her opponents this time, as they were the more unique Pokémon on my team. Roxanne might have seen them through a screen, but I wanted her to truly experience what it was like fighting with and against them just so she could get a handle of what it was like.

On the other hand, she chose her trusty duo of Golem and Steelix.

"You ready?" I asked, getting a nod from her. Then the fight began.

"SPLIT APART!" I shouted.

"Magnet Rise up, Steelix!" "Earthquake, Golem!"

Both Pixel and Steelix flew into the air; though Pixel did so with considerably more ease and speed compared to Steelix. Roxanne was hoping to use Steelix to check Pixel by putting pressure on it, separating Pixel from the fight.

At the same time, Wraith bounded forwards, rushing towards the Golem just as a powerful Earthquake shook the ground, knocking Wraith out of his charge and causing him to fall onto his knees.

"Stone Edge, Golem. Smash it!"

Golem roared and a large circle of rocks exploded out of the ground from where Wraith had fallen. The rocks ripped into his body as he let out a pained howl and collapsed weakly to the ground. Unconscious.

…Of course, that was when the REAL Wraith came bursting out of nowhere, his eyes gleaming with malice as he got the drop on a surprised Golem. Golem's raised its arms instinctively to shield itself, but a sharp Low Kick from Wraith sent Golem stumbling to the ground.

Seeing its ally in trouble, Steelix turned around and unleashed a powerful Dragon Pulse that threatened to blast Wraith into the ground. However, Pixel came flying in front of it and intercepted the Dragon Pulse with its body – after already having used Conversion to turn itself into a Fairy type.

With Steelix not able to interfere, Wraith was free to continue his beatdown on the vulnerable Golem, savaging it with a brutal combo of Brick Breaks and Shadow Claws. Every time Golem tried to fight back with a Thunder Punch or Fire Punch, Wraith would interrupt its attempts with a nasty Sucker Punch to the gut, not letting up on the pressure.

Most other Pokémon would have been knocked out by now. But Golem's impressive defenses were not for nothing, and it managed to withstand the onslaught of attacks from Wraith without being too injured.

"Gyro Ball, Golem! Fling it away!"

Letting out a grunt as another hard-hitting Brick Break slammed into it, Golem managed to curl itself into a ball and began to spin with rapidly increasing speed.

Not wanting to be caught in that, Wraith backed off. Which was exactly what Golem seemed to be waiting for.

Using the full momentum of its spin, Golem rocketed itself forwards, its head gleaming and its fists crackling as it readied an Iron Head and Thunder Punch. Golem had a vicious smile on its face as it crashed into the surprised Wraith, pummelling it with a devastating combo of moves that landed with enough power to crack the reinforced ground around them. Wraith was smashed painfully into the ground.

Only…he didn't hit Wraith. It was another Illusion.

"Punish it with a Shadow Ball."

The real Wraith let out a cackle as he reappeared a short distance away, immediately firing off a barrage of Shadow Balls that detonated painfully on a surprised Golem yet again. For all of its impressive physical defenses, Golem's special defenses were found wanting and the volley of incoming Shadow Balls ripped through its health.

However, just as Wraith was about to move in for the final blow, a powerful Iron Tail suddenly slammed into him from behind, sending Wraith face-first into the nearby wall – this time it wasn't an illusion. Steelix immediately tried to follow-up on its successful attack with a Stone Edge, but an Ice Beam from Pixel forcefully interrupted its attack.

Steelix whirled back on Pixel with an annoyed look on its face. Pixel was an incredible nuisance. It was just agile enough to dodge away from Steelix's slow-moving, yet powerful attacks. Even after firing off a barrage of rocks with Stone Edge, Steelix never really managed to land more than a glancing blow. And worse, having used Conversion to change itself into a Water type, Steelix had no good moves to really damage Pixel.

It lacked the option to use Earthquake – its' most powerful move, as the two of them were currently fighting in the air using Magnet Rise. It became clear to me that even though Steelix could fight in the air; it was far from proficient at it. Something to make a note of for our future fights.

"Flash Cannon, Steelix! Make space to get close to it!"

Steelix let out a roar of frustration as it shot off a Flash Cannon, only for the attack to detonate in the air as Pixel countered it with its own Tri-Attack. Steelix tried making use of the opportunity to rush forwards, trying to slam its devastating Iron Tail into Pixel, only for Pixel to fire off an Icy Wind. The chilly winds battered the Steelix, slowing it down enough so that Pixel was easily able to dodge out of the way.

In all honesty, Pixel was completely outclassing Roxanne's Steelix. Pixel was used to fighting far greater threats and powerhouses – having frequently sparred with Vordt and Smough. Not only did the two of them hit way harder than Steelix, they also moved faster and their Stone Edges were far more voluminous.

And this was without taking into account Pixel's mastery of self-recovery moves. Steelix stood no chance.

While the battle in the skies began to stall, the battle on the ground was reaching its inevitable conclusion. Though he had just been slammed into a wall, Wraith was still more than able to keep fighting, while Golem looked like it was about to collapse from its injuries. One of its eyes was forcibly sealed shut, and the once pristine and smooth boulder on its back was now chipped and cracked.

But I remained alert, wary of the determined look that Golem was unable to hide from its eyes. I knew from experience what was coming.

But since Roxanne must have known that Wraith was immune to her plan, there was only one possible target for her.

I moved to counter her move, but Roxanne acted with surprising decisiveness.

"EXPLOSION! Toward the Porygon!"

"CONVERSION: GHOST!"

Golem leapt up with whatever remained of its strength, forcing itself into the air to get as close as possible to Pixel as its entire body started to glow a dangerous bright. At the same time, Pixel began to flash a dark purple as it began the process of Converting into a Ghost type.

Trying to take advantage of this distraction, Steelix rushed forwards – its own head gleaming as it tried to crash their heads together in a brutal Iron Head. However, all Steelix ended up doing was roaring in pain as Wraith fired off another barrage of Shadow Balls that struck the Steel type – interrupting its charge as it staggered backwards.

And then her Golem exploded.

I was forced to shield my face from the resulting shockwave that blasted outwards, blinding me to what was happening. Remarkably, I noticed that the specially-made walls of the training field seemed to be able to absorb the sudden explosion of energy, leaving the outer walls unharmed.

As the shockwave gradually dispersed, I looked at the result of Golem's final stand. To my surprise, the only Pokémon left standing was Wraith. All of the other Pokémon were on the floor, either groaning or knocked out.

However, upon giving the battlefield another careful look, I realized that Pixel wasn't actually knocked out. It had just collapsed onto the ground from the explosive wave of force, and while it was badly damaged, it was already in the process of healing itself up.

Steelix was not so fortunate. Its' steely exterior was marred with lingering ghostly energies that flickered off its fallen body. Wraith must have taken advantage of his immunity to the Explosion to blast Steelix with more Shadow Balls while it was unprepared.

It was my victory.

"Fuck. That didn't go as planned." Roxanne blurted out, and my eyes immediately snapped to her in surprise. She swore?

She must have seen the look on my face, as a slight red tinge coloured her cheeks, "Oops. Pretend you didn't hear that." She looked away from me embarrassedly, "Uh…that was a good fight. Hehe…"

I chuckled at her display of bashfulness, "There's no need to be embarrassed. I swear all the time too. I was just surprised because I didn't expect it from you–"

"Because I look like the formal and no-nonsense teacher that's all strict and disciplined?" She rolled her eyes, "That's the image I like to put up, yes. But try teaching a bunch of school children for a long time. No matter how nice or adorable they are, your blood pressure will go up one day."

She looked me dead in the eye, "Swearing silently under your breath is an essential skill for all teachers to learn."

"…I'll take your word on that." I nodded, before deciding to return back to the main topic, "But back to the battle. How did you think you performed? I think you did quite well, especially with your Golem, but let's focus on what we learned."

"Steelix should not have tried to chase after your Porygon2 in the air. I should not have tried to challenge your Porygon in an aerial duel with Steelix's mobility being as poor as it is." She replied, adopting a thoughtful pose, "In fact…from the very beginning of the fight I should have tried to pair up Golem with a speedier attacker, or alternatively dedicated time to buffing up with Rock Polish. That's something we should account for when we pair up."

I nodded; though I kept the fact that I could have easily shut down any of her attempts to buff up her Pokémon's speed with a quick Taunt to myself. No need to ruin the mood.

"I was unused to fighting against your Zoroark's Illusion ability, and I admit it will take some time to adapt to that." She added, "Other than that, my Pokémon's attacks were just too slow. You were able to interrupt them too easily throughout the fight."

"Yes, that it something to focus on." I agreed, "But don't beat yourself up too much. It's heartening to see that your Pokémon live up to my initial impressions of them. Yes, their attacks are slow and easy to avoid, but they hit hard. Had my Zoroark not tricked you with his Illusions, you could have brought him down with your Golem's hard-hitting attacks, and there were some impressive bursts of speed when it mattered. Same applies to Steelix."

I clapped my hands, "Well, while we should keep practicing, I'm satisfied to know that our plan should work out. Your Pokémon hit hard, and my Pokémon should be able to take down key threats or set up opportunities for you to do so."

"Plus, if I was surprised by your Pokémon's versatility, then certainly some of my colleagues will be too." Roxanne pointed out, "That's quite the surprise factor we have."

"I hope so as well." I smiled, quickly glancing at my watch, "And since we still have some time before we're required to head to Ever Grande City, let's quickly run through our other Pokémon. Get the both of us on the same page. We can talk more strategy later."

She nodded, and the two of us got back to work. Seeing the look that she had in her eyes, I knew that the two of us shared the same determination and drive.

We were going to win this whole thing. Together.

A.N. Sorry for the late upload - FFN went down. Though as a kind reminder, please note that I do crosspost these chapters on SB/QQ, so you can read those chapters there if anything similar happens to FFN again.

The time until the Tournament is fast approaching, and I wanted to highlight a few other events that have been taking place in the background. Not only that, but I also wanted to do a quick demonstration of John's 'weaker' Pokémon. They are still very formidable, and they're only 'weaker' when compared to the other powerhouses on his team.

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!