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 – 9-15 – A Much Needed Rest

The bright rays of sunlight shined onto my blearily eyes, forcing consciousness back into my body. Stifling out a yawn, I pulled off the covers and dragged myself off the bed, blinking the last vestiges of sleepiness from my eyes.

As I left the bed, I let out a full stretch that forced the sleepiness out of me. It was nice to have some good days of sleep after all of the hassle with the PSS, and the training session that I had done with Daisy – and with my own Pokémon – were perfect for relieving me from all that built-up stress.

Working through my morning ablutions, it didn't take long before I slumped onto the sofa with a full plate of breakfast in hand. I casually chewed through my breakfast while I idly watched the news.

I could never have dreamed of doing this if the PSS crisis was still ongoing. Fortunately for everyone, the messages I received from Lance last night confirmed that the situation in every region was stabilizing. Control measures had been set up to deal with the PSS and FINALLY everyone could let out a big sigh of relief as things returned to normal.

I took another bite out of my toast as I continued watching the news.

"…Despite all the events and announcements that have taken place over the past few days, it appears that none of that has distracted our famed Challenger from yet another decisive victory over Elite Flint! Challenger Cynthia managed to break the Fire specialist's team with an outstanding 6-3 victory! While Flint may have put up more of a challenge than his colleagues, it seemed like he was still no unable to stop the dominant streak from our challenger! Cynthia's Milotic has proven to be unbreakable!"

"And now, Cynthia is one step away from earning her position as Champion of Sinnoh! Would she be the successor we have sought since ex-Champion Hayato's abdication?!"

"But it's not been all good news for our new challenger. Some of her more vocal critics have criticized both her and the League for 'exaggerating' her strength, claiming that the Elite Four had purposely sandbagged themselves in order to make her victory more impressive. These critics state that, alluding to her previous correspondence with the Elite Four, that the Elite Four and Cynthia have been colluding to exaggerate her strength in order to install a puppet Champion. Whereas, in reality, her strength was nowhere near as impressive as her victories make it seem."

"There have been no comments from the League, or Cynthia herself, in response to these criticisms."

I snorted. I knew this was coming, and so did Cynthia and the Sinnoh Elite Four. She was absolutely not faking her strength, and I didn't doubt for a moment that Aaron, Bertha, and Flint had put in their all to beat Cynthia during their matches, only to fall short regardless.

There was no need to 'sandbag' against her. Cynthia was strong enough to fight them at the best and still win.

That being said, watching that news report of her instinctively made my hand move to my phone. I called her up before I even realised what I was doing.

"Hey, John. How's everything going in Indigo?" She greeted.

"Things are fine – I've finally gotten a chance to relax." I replied, "But never mind me, congratulations on your victory against Flint! Hope I caught you at a good time."

"Any call from you is always at a good time." She said, causing me to break out into a chuckle, "But yes, I've a few moments to spare. I admit that I made a few mistakes against Flint. I think my victory could have been more perfect." She said.

I snorted, "More perfect? A 6-3 victory against a member of the Elite Four is impressive enough, especially since this is your third battle with such a result. I think you're too hard on yourself – but I suppose that's in your nature."

"You had a more dominant showing in your 3v3 battle against him." She pointed out, "Besides, I acknowledge that I made a few mistakes. I underestimated just how hitting some of his Fire attacks could be, and I don't have any Pokémon that can match the endurance that yours do. My Milotic really had to pull its weight for me to win convincingly."

"We both know I only won as dominantly as I did because Flint was a poor matchup against me." I reminded, "Your victory was impressive enough."

"Anyways, let's not dwell on this for now. Focus on your battle against Lucian. You're only one fight away from making it as Champion." I said.

"I know, I know." She responded, "And…I don't know if this makes me arrogant, but I can't see myself losing to Lucian."

I smirked, "I would call that arrogance for anyone else – but I know how strong you are. Instead, I would just label it as confidence. Just make sure not to underestimate him; Will had plenty to say about Lucian's strength."

"I won't. You know how much research I've done in preparation for this. I won't be caught off-guard, and I've already developed a plan for him. Just trust in your girlfriend." She said, causing me to chuckle.

"Speaking of which, and not to bring down the mood, but do you have a plan for how to handle your critics?" I asked, "Knowing you, I figured that you've already thought of something up."

"I have." She confirmed, "I discussed the idea with Lucian, and he's onboard with it as well."

"Care to share with your boyfriend?" I grinned.

"Nope." She smiled cheekily, "You'll just have to hear the announcement like everyone else."

"Aw…are you trying to keep it a surprise?" I teased, "You know I wouldn't spill."

"Mhm, but I think I want you to react like everyone else." She giggled, "I think you'll approve once you do hear of it."

I was curious, but I knew that she was adamant in her path; I wouldn't be able to persuade her.

"Then I'll be looking forward to it." I replied, "It's a shame that I won't be there to congratulate you in person at your victory ceremony. I would have liked that. You deserve it."

"It's okay, it's enough for me to know that you're cheering me from Indigo. I wouldn't make you come all the way here for something like this." She said. "And sadly enough, with my new ascension, we probably wouldn't get much time to spend together anyways."

"You know I'll do my best to find time for us to spend together." I said firmly.

A small smile adorned on her lips, "And so will I. Don't worry John, once I become Champion, even if I'm busy, I promise I'll make time for us to see each other. You have my word."

That was a shared promise we made to each other.

"Anyways, keep your chin up and maintain that confidence of yours." I said to her, "You'll make Champion in no time. I look forward to seeing you on that victor's podium."

"Thanks John, I appreciate it." Then she looked at the time and frowned, "Ah, sorry to cut this short, but I have somewhere else to be." She said apologetically, "We can talk more later."

Our call ended there, which was just in time because I heard my parents coming down from their room.

"Oh, you're here today?" My dad asked me, "I thought you'd be rushing out of the house like usual."

"Nah, that stuff's finally over and done with." I shook my head, "I'm treating it as my day off just to unwind."

"That's good." My mom nodded, "I saw you were very busy dealing with that Pokémon Storage System stuff. Too bad the new system isn't very useful for our company. Being able to transfer Pokémon doesn't benefit too much."

"At least that means we don't have to suddenly reorganize everything." My dad exclaimed, "I heard that some of our neighbouring businesses had to practically reorganize their entire company because their way of working would be rendered completely obsolete by the new invention. At least we weren't affected, for good or bad."

"Hmm…true enough." My mom agreed, "Makes me glad we went into the Moomoo milk business instead. It seems like there are fewer problems to deal with."

"How is the business going anyways?" I asked, "I've not been caught up with it because of everything's going on. But I read the recent report from a few days ago – have we finalized the decision to expand into Mauville?"

"Yes, but we were waiting on you." My dad replied, "We knew you had the connections, so we wanted to see if you can save us on costs by making use of them. You said something about speaking to Mr. Stone?"

"Sure, I'll send Joseph an email." I said, "He's already been expecting it for some time."

Ever since I helped him deal with the criminals in Hoenn, Joseph had always been looking to repay me for my efforts. That feeling only redoubled after he failed to find a Normal type fossil for me, despite his best attempts. I heard that he had even managed to revive a Cranidos and Sheldon at this time, but he had regretfully told me that they weren't Normal types.

I honestly didn't mind at all, but he sounded upset that he couldn't repay me for my help. Hopefully asking him for assistance on this would cheer up him up. He was a good man.

My dad patted me on the shoulder, "Thanks, son. Let us know what he says."

"Oh, that reminds me! Where IS Whitney?" I asked. "I was too busy to think about it for the past few days, but she hasn't been home recently, has she?"

"Our little girl's all grown up." My mom smiled, "She's spending time with her friends now. She called over yesterday and said she's been sleeping over with Sabrina until she starts working as a Gym Trainer at her Gym."

"It seemed like it was only yesterday when she was too nervous and unwilling to leave the house." My dad reminisced fondly, "And now its like she doesn't want to come home. But I'm happy that she seems to have great friends to spend time with."

I smiled. My sister had really come a long way. And without much intervention on my end, it seemed like she had naturally fallen onto the path of becoming a Gym Leader. I'm not sure if she and her friends deliberately planned it this way, but Whitney really was boosting up her potential to one day be a future Gym Leader.

Maybe she would be able to position herself to be an ideal candidate to be the Gym Leader of Goldenrod like she did in canon? That would be cool.

Polishing off the remains of my breakfast, I stood up to clean my plate before my phone started to ring. This time it was Karen.

"Hey, what's up?" I answered.

"Just finished with the Open Qualifiers, that's what's up." She replied, "You're now speaking to someone who made it into the Preliminary Rounds!"

"Congratulations!" I praised, "Knew you could do it."

"Yeah, thanks. But everyone knew getting here wasn't going to be a big problem for me." She waved me off, "Even the Preliminary Rounds shouldn't be too bad. It's when I get to the Finals that I should be concerned."

"Eh, fair." I nodded, knowing that she wasn't talking out of arrogance. She WAS much stronger than what was normally seen in the Preliminary Rounds. "So what are you up to today? I have a whole day off."

"Well…I could use a break." She said mischievously, "And since you aren't busy too, why don't we meet up somewhere? Maybe Pewter? I want to visit Brock and his family, and it's been some time since you've seen them too."

Pewter? She was right; it had been a while. I wonder how he had handled the PSS. "Sure, I want to meet him too. Meet you for lunch?" I asked.

"Do you mind eating with the kids? I'll text ahead if you don't." She questioned.

"Nah, go ahead. I'll meet you then." I replied.

Since today was a day where I was meant to unwind, right after I sent that email to Joseph I spent the rest of the morning training up with my Pokémon again.

Well, I say 'training', but what I meant was that we all just hung out together in the training fields and played around. They deserved a small break too.

Pixel, Ornstein, and Euphie returned to playing around with each other. Although now that they were a little older and all evolved out of their basic stages, their 'playing' was a lot more intense than before. Their 'playful' attacks were now strong enough to knock down your average Pokémon, and their games of tag were wholly unfair as they had started throwing in their own attacks to try and trip up the chaser.

Klee and Luna were always on standby just to make sure there were no injuries on that front. Though they generally spent most of the time just cheering the younger ones on.

In the meanwhile, my latest addition to the team was surprisingly hanging out with Smough. Overtime, I learnt that Wraith shared a similar voracious appetite as Smough did, although it was fortunately nowhere near as bad. Wraith was just very appreciative of food, possibly due to all the scavenging for food that he had to do when he used to live deep underground. So whenever we weren't training, he could often be found just chowing down on food with Smough.

I was just glad that he was getting along well with the team. I wouldn't call his relationship with everyone to be 'cordial' yet, but he was on friendly terms with some, such as Smough and Tyrant, while being at least neutral with the rest. That was good enough for me for now.

In the distance, Klaus, Zephyr, and Port were freely sprinting and flying around the house, to the distraction of the farmhands. This actually doubled as training for the three of them, because Klaus was getting better with moving around, and sometimes even Teleporting, from mid-air platform to platform. While Zephyr and Port were getting more practice making sharper turns when flying at high speeds.

That just left Vordt and Tyrant. But they were just hanging out next to me. Vordt was snoozing in the morning sun, lazing around and taking full advantage of the break as best he could. On the other hand, Tyrant sat close to me, joining me in watching the rest of my team play around.

"Not going to join them?" I asked him, but he simply shook his head in response and let out a quiet snort.

I smiled slightly, "You're not that much older. You can join them if you like." Another grunt was what I got in reply.

"…Suit yourself." I muttered as I munched on a cookie that my mom had decided to bake. They really were quite good.

The two of us sat in tranquil silence, allowing the feeling of relaxation to simply wash over us as we continued to idly watch our Pokémon play around. Eventually, I broke the silence, "Say, Tyrant, do you ever see yourself giving up on battling? Retiring to just play around all day?"

Tyrant let out an amused snort, as if the very concept of retiring was laughable to him. I let out a chuckle, "Yeah…didn't think so. I don't think you and I are the retiring sort. There's always something to do, isn't there?"

"Sla…king." He agreed. "King…"

I nodded, "You're right. I was just airing out some idle thoughts. Don't worry, I'm not about to get complacent. Not when there are still things to do."

Despite this moment of peace, I knew that Team Galactic were still continuing their scheming. Archer had been put on the case, but I haven't heard anything back from Giovanni yet. No news WAS good news, since any major action by Team Galactic would have tipped off Archer. But it still meant that they were able to build up their resources.

I would have to wait for Cynthia to settle in as Champion before I could really do anything about it. Luckily, I had already hinted to her about my plans and asked for her cooperation, which she was more than happy to accept.

Shaking off that negative thought for now, I looked at the time and realized that it was about time to meet up with Karen and the children. Brushing off the crumbs that I had left, I pulled myself off the ground and let out a stretch, with Tyrant copying me.

"Right, let's go see the kids." I muttered, "RIGHT! TIME TO HEAD OUT EVERYONE! ENOUGH PLAYING!" I shouted out to my Pokémon, ordering them back.

It took a little while since some of my Pokémon were reluctant to end their playtime, but I eventually was able to get going and set off for Pewter City on Port. I was heading there empty handed; Karen had already reassured me that she would be buying enough for everyone.

I landed near a small, unassuming clearing near the Gym before making my way to where Brock and his family lived. I hadn't been here in a while, and it showed in my lack of recognition at the changes that took place.

The house seemed to have gotten a little bit of an upgrade. I saw a small extension to the side that wasn't there before that I presumed was used for storage. I hoped that would at least clear up some of the space for the residents of the house, but I still doubted there was enough space for all 10 of them to live in.

But my doubts were more reassured when I walked inside. The interior of the house had gone through a small makeover, and some of the chipped paint on the walls were now gone. The sofa was also brand new, no longer the patchy and old thing they used to sit on. Small differences, but it showed that their lives were improving.

And that's all that mattered.

"Hello everyone!" I greeted as I walked inside.

"Ah, hello John." Forrest greeted me with slightly less enthusiasm than I expected, "Thanks for coming."

…Was it me, or did I sense a little bit of tension in his voice? Was that just my imagination?

"No problem. I wanted to see you all anyways." I smiled, then I turned to next eldest sibling who had been busy setting up the table, "Yolanda, is there anything else I can help with?"

"No, it's alright. You can sit down for now." She said, giving me a smile that I immediately knew was a bit forced, but nothing I could consider impolite.

Still, that confused me. What was going on here? That could not have been a coincidence.

It wasn't outright hostility that I was sensing from them, but there was this sort of wariness that they definitely didn't have last time. Oh sure, they were at least trying to hide it, but they were doing a bad job of it.

I was pretty sure I didn't do anything bad since I last came over, and that was a while ago.

But judging by their expressions, it didn't seem like I was going to get any answers from them anytime soon. So I did my best to ignore it as I offered to help out simply sat down and made some small talk with Forrest, who at least was cordial enough to hold a conversation with me. Even if he was staring me with a studying expression.

Luckily, before long, the door swung open again, this time letting in Karen and Brock, with all the rest of the kids trailing after them.

"Oh, hey John. Didn't know you arrived already." Karen waved to me. "How was your morning? You looked a lot more relaxed."

"Yeah, and it felt great." I smiled, "Also, hey Brock. Nice to see you again."

"Thank you, John." He said politely, but just like the rest of his siblings, he seemed to be giving me an odd look.

Okay, what the fuck was going on here?

I sat in silence for a moment as Karen spoke with the kids, but that distinct feeling of uncomfortableness never left. Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to know what was causing this weirdness.

Giving off my apologies, I pulled Karen aside and decided to directly ask her.

I made sure we couldn't be overheard before speaking, "Okay, do you know what's going on here? Because the kids are all giving me weird looks."

Karen blinked, "Weird looks? How?"

"I don't know. It's not hostile, but it feels like they're wary of me. No, not wary, but it seems like they're not sure how to act around me." I explained, "Did I do something wrong or something? I don't want to make them uncomfortable if I am."

"…Are you sure you're not overthinking things?" She replied.

I shook my head, "No, definitely not. Brock was friendlier with me the last time I was here – and we were strangers then. I don't think I've done anything to upset them, so why the distancing?"

A pondering look fell upon Karen's face, and she tapped her chin as she thought over my conundrum. It took some time, but then she suddenly broke out into a smirk, "I think I figured it out. You see, I told the kids that you and I weren't dating. I remembered seeing the shock and how disappointed they were for me."

My mind blanked, "Wait. What? They're wary of me because we're not dating?"

Karen giggled and patted me on the shoulder, "Mhm, though 'wary' isn't the right word. If my guess is right, then they're just not sure how to act around you. I wouldn't worry about it; they're just naturally sensitive to this kind of thing considering what happened to them. I think they're just being protective of me, but I'll explain things to them and I'm sure they'll get over it. I do want to apologise on their behalf."

That…made sense, actually. "No, no. You don't have to apologise. I can understand where they're coming from." I replied as a small smile appeared on my face, "And if its true, I think that's cute of them."

Karen turned, sending the kids a fond glance, "They're good kids. I know they treat me as some sort of mother or sister figure, which I'm deeply honoured by. So they're just looking out for my happiness."

I scratched my head, "I didn't expect this. How awkward."

Karen laughed, "You really need to spend more time around kids, they act like this all the time! Anyways, they'll calm down once they see things haven't really changed between us, and I'll talk to them if they still don't understand. They've always listened to me."

I nodded and followed her back into the dining room, where lunch had already been set up. We all took a seat at the table, with me deliberately sitting down nearest to the eldest of Brock's siblings, while Karen sat with the youngest ones so that she could help them with lunch.

I decided to just address the Donphan in the room as soon as possible, "You don't need to be so worried, Karen and I are still friends. That hasn't and won't change."

They all blinked, taken aback my directness. There were a few blushes, but Brock was first to recover, "We believe you. Sorry, we didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, but Karen means a lot to us, and we'd be very upset if anything happened to her."

"Yeah, we know you're a nice guy and that you've helped us with the Gym, but this and that are different." Yolanda added, "We know you're a bigshot Elite Four, but we just didn't want Karen to feel sad."

"No, I understand." I replied, "I can promise that I won't do anything to hurt Karen intentionally. I'm not perfect, after all. But I do care greatly for her, and I wouldn't think of hurting her on purpose."

And I meant it. I thought I did a good job balancing the new dynamic between Karen and Cynthia. At least, I didn't suddenly ignore Karen now that I was dating Cynthia, and I treated her no differently than I did in the past.

The three eldest siblings all stared at me with a scrutinizing look, before they all nodded in sync as if satisfied with what they saw. "We'll hold you to that. Elite Four or not, we look after our own."

I smiled, glad my sincerity had shown through. Even though some might see their confrontation as a little hostile and rude, I knew where they were coming from. Was it an overreaction? Perhaps, but I didn't blame them for it. It was natural for them to be as defensive and they were when they had gone already gone through so much already.

Though that didn't stop Karen from whacking them on the head, "You're being too overprotective. Don't you trust your big sister to take care of herself?"

"No, it's not like that!" Brock protested, losing all of his earlier seriousness, "We just wanted to make sure…"

"Bah! You're being too paranoid." She rubbed her knuckles into Brock, "I already said that John was a good guy."

"AH! HELP! BULLY!" Brock squealed as his siblings laughed at his fate.

Eventually, Karen deemed it a sufficient punishment and let out a sigh, "Anyways, you should all apologise. John doesn't deserve your hostility."

They pouted, but did as she said anyways, ""Sorry John.""

I waved them off, "Don't sweat it. As I said, I understand where you're coming from. Now let's put this all behind us – lunch isn't going to eat itself!" I gestured to the food.

Karen nodded, "Let me get the younger ones." She quickly stood up from her table and rushed to the rooms, where I heard more laughter.

The mood turned much friendlier after we had cleared the air, with me inquiring about how the Gym had been faring given the recent shenanigans that had spread throughout Indigo. Brock cheerfully talked about all the improvements that they had managed to achieve, and how even the official regent had praised him for his diligent and efficient work ethic.

He also said that he was spending a lot of his spare time on training up his team, just so that he would be able to stand tall with all of the other Gym Leaders.

In the corner of my eye, I could see Karen giving me a sweet and proud smile, like a sister would. I was just happy that she was happy. Karen had truly earned her way into the kids' affection. And I knew they both treated each other as family at this point. They were inseparable.

And as she laughed and smiled at the youngest of pair of twins – I thought that there was no place more suited for her.

A.N. I felt that it was about time we had a proper winding-down chapter after everything that has happened, and I wanted to take this chapter to explore a few plot points that I've left a little bit by the wayside.

As for Brock and his siblings, this was inspired by an IRL interaction I had. And I figured that a family of traumatized children might be wary of someone hurting their big sister figure. Considering what the siblings have been through, I feel like this was an appropriate reaction for them to have.

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!