The New Normal - A Pokémon SI

by CartecFF

For most, becoming a member of the Elite 4 would be the culmination of their Journey. A great achievement that solidified your status in the annals of history. For me, it was just the start of my journey. Hopefully, everything stays Normal. A pre-canon self-insert into the world of Pokémon. Inspired by Hard Enough. Crossposted SB/QQ. Updates every Mon/Fri. Short Interludes on Wed.

268. The New Normal - 12-8

John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon2

Euphie - Sylveon

Ornstein - Obstagoon

Wraith - H-Zoroark

Winston - Lickitung (Shiny)

The New Normal – 12-8 – Battle of Starters

As I expected, Lucian finished off his final battle in this impromptu showmatch by defeating Samson 2-0 – his Alakazam proving superior over Samson's and earning the Elite Four a convincing victory. Still, considering the rare but excited expression on Sabrina's face, I knew that Samson's performance was well done. He held up well as the resident Kantonian Psychic specialist.

There was a lot of daughterly pride being displayed on Sabrina's face.

After that, with all the battles wrapped up, Lucian hosted a quick interview with the reporters there where he talked about how happy he was to be here, and then proceeded to compliment the many interesting things that he'd seen in Indigo so far. Basically, your standard cookie-cutter and 'safe' answer, though he went into more detail when he talked about the battles themselves.

"The battles are by no means indicative of each trainers' strength, and were merely done for entertainment purposes only." He said to them, "If we had actually fought in a proper battle, then I'm sure the outcomes will be very different."

"And what do you think about the strengths of your Elite Four counterparts in Indigo?" A reporter asked him.

"They are just as formidable as I expected." He replied, "I may have defeated Lorelei, but my Pokémon were uniquely suited to countering hers, and it was obvious to me that she was trying to test out her new Ice type. Had she used Pokémon she was more familiar with, she may have achieved victory over me."

"As for John, well – I don't think there's much that needs saying there." He chuckled, "Cynthia has always liked to comment about his strength, and clearly for good reason."

"Many have already acknowledged John's strength after his starter managed to beat Champion Lance's. Do you think he is stronger than your Champion?" He was also asked.

"No comment." Lucian stated instantly, knowing that this was a potentially volatile question, "Both trainers have their own strengths. I wouldn't know who would win in a battle between them, and that's all I'll say on the matter. Thank you."

Lucian then gave a few more complimentary words about the Saffron Gym, during which I subtly made my exit from the group. Lorelei and Lucian would continue to explore Indigo together, and I didn't want to get in the way of that.

I would have hung out with Whitney, but she was on the job and it was best not to disturb her. Besides, watching those battles had given me more inspiration for moves I also wanted to include on a few of my support Pokémon, which I had not really been focusing on in recent times.

Power Swap and Guard Swap had incredible potential, and while I wasn't sure if any of my Pokémon could learn it naturally (since Power Swap and Guard Swap were such niche moves in the games and were often overlooked), I wanted to train my support Pokémon to be able to utilise the moves in battle.

If they could mimic the way Lucian's Bronzong fought, they would be able to deal a crippling blow to a potential opponent in the right circumstances.

Of course, the fact that the moves were probably not moves that they learnt normally meant it was going to take quite some time before they could master it, but I believed the effort would be worth it. I had strength in spades, so now was the time to focus on crippling the opponent's strength instead to really emphasize the difference in strength.

Well, given that I had little else to do for the rest of the evening, then I supposed it was best to start right away.

---

After that rather long day, I had expected to be able to get a good night's sleep and be well rested for the next day. What I certainly wasn't expecting was to receive a call in the early hours of the morning, before the sun was even out.

And if it wasn't Lance calling me, I wouldn't even have picked up.

"Lance, what's the emergency?"

"…There's no emergency, what are you on about?" He asked confusedly.

I blinked, "Then why the fuck are you calling me so early in the morning?!" I whisper-shouted at him, "Do you know what time it is?"

"Well, we had to do it this early for the sake of secrecy." He replied, and now it was my turn to be confused. "Besides, don't you want to see who's stronger between your girlfriend and I?"

"Uh, yeah, absolutely." I said instantly, "Wait, are you guys having a battle now?"

"Yes, but for the sake of avoiding rumours, it needed to be done at such an early hour, and it was the only time that fit into both of our schedules." He said, "Thanks to Clair, we've got everything arranged. If you want to come, just fly to Blackthorn Gym and she'll show you where to go. And please, try to be subtle – having two Champions duelling each other is not what I want to see in this evening's news headline."

Well he didn't need to tell me twice; there was a reason why Champions never really fought each other. You generally wanted to avoid comparisons of strength when you were a Champion, and you could ill-afford to lose.

Lance only got away with losing to me because my strength was recognised many times over. Losing or winning against a foreign Champion would certainly have political implications that couldn't be so easily glossed over.

So as soon as the call ended, I immediately made my way over on Zephyr this time, since Port was a little too recognisable, and flew to Blackthorn City. The wind of the skies helped cleanse the rest of my sleepiness away.

I landed on the outskirts of the city, ensuring that no one could see my descent, and I hastily jogged to the Gym, where Clair was already waiting for me.

"You're the fourth to arrive." She told me, "Come, I've already cleared out the training fields for you guys."

"Wait, fourth?" I asked, "Who else is coming?"

"Lance said that he invited everyone in the Elite Four." She replied, "But my cousin, Cynthia, and Lucian are already here. He told me the rest should be arriving shortly."

Ah, so Lance wanted to make this a private viewing party of sorts. I guessed he was always eager to have an audience for his displays of strength, especially among peers.

As I stepped into the large enclosed arena, I immediately spotted the three of them chatting away at each other. There was literally no one else here; Clair must have cleared out the Gym Trainers for this. Cynthia grinned as she saw me, and quickly ran up to me.

"Surprise!" She exclaimed cheerfully, somehow not looking tired, "Did you think this would be happening when you got called this morning?"

"I thought it was an emergency." I replied, "Lance never calls me this early in the morning."

"I'm not awake this early in the morning." Lance cut in, bags visible under his eyes. I supposed I wasn't the only one deprived of sleep, "But this was all arranged very last minute. Like literally, Clair only confirmed the arrangements at midnight."

"…Still, I wish we had a little more advanced warning." Lucian yawned tiredly, "As exciting and as rare as this occasion might be, I pretty much passed out on my bed last night."

"That reminds me, how were your fights yesterday?" Cynthia asked Lucian, "I only saw the results."

"Well John beat me handedly; I overestimated how well my Gallade would do in a 2v1." He said, "And I got way too excited with my Espeon. I definitely should have acted more defensively."

"But I feel like Avalugg has the potential to be one of the new dominant Ice types in Sinnoh." He said, "My Medicham struck it with a critically supereffective fighting move, and Lorelei's Avalugg barely even flinched."

"You took it down pretty easily though." I pointed out.

He shrugged, "I had a feeling she was going to use it, so I had picked out Pokémon particularly suited to counter it. I'm sure most trainers she'd face would not have the same access to the utility moves that I have."

"I regret telling you about my Avalugg then." A new voice suddenly spoke up from behind us, and we turned to see both Lorelei, Clair, Koga, and Will walking up to us. Wait…Will?

"Will? You're here too?" I blurted out.

"Yeah, I was surprised too." Lorelei nodded, "But apparently Lance invited him."

"Hey, he was a member of our Elite Four until recently, so I saw no reason to not invite him." Lance walked up and patted Will on the shoulder, "And I'm sure he would like to see this as well. Besides, he's not one to blurt this out to the news."

"I'd like to keep myself reporter-free, thank you very much. I already get more than enough attention from them ever since I became the new Gym Leader." He chuckled, "Speaking of which, it's good to see you all again. I very much appreciate that I'm still included."

"It is good to have you here." Lucian said as he and Will shook hands, "I apologise not visiting you at your Gym—"

"Oh don't even worry about it." Will interrupted and waved him off, "I'm a little too swamped with setting myself up. I don't think I'd be able to properly entertain you."

Lucian chuckled, "But a visit from me wouldn't go amiss for your Gym's reputation, right?"

Will snapped his fingers, "Oh true. Okay, maybe come over when you can. I'll be sure to be a good host."

"You will be fine." Koga added, "I have kept an eye on your progress; your efforts at repairing the reputation of the Goldenrod Gym has not gone unnoticed."

A clap of someone's hands got our attention, "…As much as I'd love to see all of you bonding, I believe we've gathered here for a particular reason?" Clair cut us all off, "Lance, Cynthia, how are you battling?"

"We were planning to just fight starter vs starter." Cynthia said, "I know I'm the underdog going in, but I've always wanted to see how well my starter would match up against Lance's Emperor."

"Well, best of luck to you." I said to Cynthia, "I'm sure you'll put on a good show."

She pouted, "You don't think I'd win? Aren't you supposed to support your girlfriend?"

"I may not have fought against your Garchomp yet, but I know full well how strong that Dragonite is." I shrugged, "I think it's better if I didn't overinflate your confidence. You have enough of it already."

"I'll choose to take as a compliment." She replied, "But I expect your enthusiastic support the next time I battle. You ought to be more supportive."

"Hey, fight anyone here that isn't Lance and I'll support you." I said, "Like I said, I'm just being realistic."

"Okay, the both of you can flirt later. We're wasting time." Lance interrupted, "Cynthia, let's take our positions."

Nodding, the two of them took their positions opposite each other while the rest of us settled into the audience stands. We were literally the only ones there, so we sat at the very front.

Despite the air of excitement surrounding us as we prepared to watch two Champions fight with their strongest Pokémon, we remained completely silent as we sat enraptured by what was about to happen. If there was any drowsiness remaining, that was all gone by now.

Then, the arena was drowned in the sounds of two bellowing roars as Garchomp and Emperor took their places. Garchomp might be a terrifying Pokémon on his own, but Emperor still managed to dwarf Cynthia's starter.

Thank Arceus we were indoors and soundproofed. We likely would have waken up the whole neighbourhood otherwise.

A harsh sandstorm quickly descended on the battlefield, but Garchomp made no move to charge forwards. Instead, she seemed content to stay where she was, waiting for her opponent to make the first move.

Emperor was all too happy to oblige. With another roar, he charged forwards with Extreme Speed, only for a wall of stone to suddenly form in his path. Emperor smashed through it with ease, and unleashed a fearsome swipe at Garchomp, only for it to go wide as Garchomp already retreated.

So instead of hitting his target, Emperor let out a grunt as he was blasted face-first with a powerful Dragon Pulse. However, instead of going on the defensive, Emperor instead blitzed forwards once again, tanking through the Dragon Pulse as his rushed towards Garchomp's location with another Extreme Speed.

His fist smashed into a shaking claw as Garchomp barely managed to block the attack. The two locked themselves into a contest of strength, one that Emperor was clearly winning as the ground below Garchomp began to crack from the sheer force that Emperor was exerting on her.

Then, Garchomp exploded with power as the familiar aura of an Outrage surrounded her form. With that burst of strength, Garchomp pushed Emperor's arm aside, leaving him wide open for a devastating Dragon Claw to rip into him. Emperor stumbled backwards, and Garchomp burst forwards with a Dragon Rush of her own, crashing into Emperor with her full draconic might.

But Emperor didn't break. Instead, he swung around and sent his massive Dragon Tail crashing into Garchomp's side, knocking her straight to the floor.

Immediately, Emperor's fist was encased in Ice as he thrust his fist forwards, only to be interrupted as a sudden eruption of stone struck him in the face. That bought Garchomp precious time to Dig away and narrowly avoid the incoming Ice Punch.

Seeing his foe Dig away, Emperor instantly slammed his foot down, causing the ground to split and shatter as destructive tremors shot through the ground with his Earthquake. But Garchomp proved too fast to be caught, having leapt out of the ground and firing off another pulsating Dragon Pulse that caused Emperor to stumble backwards yet again.

"ENOUGH! DRACO METEOR, EMPEROR!"

Likely having cottoned on to Cynthia's strategy of not having her Garchomp fight Emperor at close range, Lance decided to force the issue.

The roof of the arena shimmered with energy as huge orbs of energy formed above us, before they slowly hurled downwards like an incoming apocalypse.

I didn't care how trained her Garchomp was; there was no chance Garchomp would ever be able to cleanly tank through that attack, especially with her weakness to Dragon.

And Lance knew it too, as he repeated what he did with Pryce, ordering Emperor forwards with an almost reckless disregard for his own health. Despite the sheer destruction that was about to rain down on the both of them, Emperor charged straight into Garchomp, and the two began to grapple and wrestle against each other, vying for strength.

"Outrage, Garchomp! Time to go all-out!"

"MATCH IT, EMPEROR!"

Knowing there was no chance to break free, Garchomp's aura soared to life like a blinding beacon of light as she Outraged once again. At that same moment, an enormous pulse of energy exploded forth from Emperor, and a deep blue aura flared out around him as he also began Outraging.

There were now two Outraging, extremely powerful Dragons clashing in the centre of the arena, while enormous orbs of destructions were about to crash into the ground like an apocalyptic rain of devastation.

I really hoped the soundproofing would hold, because this was truly a battle of cataclysmic proportions.

As the Draco Meteor got closer to the ground, it was becoming harder to see anything as the air shimmered and distorted from the sheer energy that they radiated. Instinctively, I knew that the Psychic shields that had been set up would not be enough to withstand the blast, so I quickly sent out Klee and had her form a Protect shield.

Then the first Draco Meteor crashed into the ground, and everything turned silent.

The psychic shields shattered instantly from the deafening explosion that took place, and I was immediately blinded as the resulting wave of force instantly dispersed the harsh sandstorm, sending a blinding cloud of dust and sand everywhere.

I was so glad that I put up that Protect shield. My peers had copied me and followed suit, otherwise they would have just been blasted by a face full of sand.

After what felt like minutes, the wave of sand finally petered out. As visibility slowly returned, I witnessed the sight of two Dragons breathing heavily as they continued to circle the other, still eyeing each other with wariness.

I didn't know what happened in the intervening period, but from appearance alone, it looked like Garchomp had taken far more of a beating, as one of her clawed arms now hung limply to her side and there was a slight stumble in her movements. In the meanwhile, Emperor, though he no longer stood as domineeringly tall as he did before, seemed to still be in fighting condition.

More importantly, I stared at their two pulsating blue auras. Both still blazed like a raging inferno, but despite Garchomp's more efficient use of it, her aura was noticeably less bright.

That made sense, because Emperor was the more resilient of the two. While Cynthia had done her best to not engage Emperor at close range, it seems like the moment the two began to brawl, the difference in strength had become apparent, and Garchomp suffered for it.

Of course, the devastating Draco Meteors were probably the cause for a large part of her injuries as well.

Ruthlessly denying Garchomp a chance to catch her breath, Emperor let out another booming roar as he blitzed forwards in a blur with another Extreme Speed. Garchomp tried to backpedal away to make distance with her own Dragon Rush, but Emperor was just faster and managed to catch up with Garchomp and grapple onto her arms and lock them in place with his own.

The two were now trapped in another battle of strength. One that Garchomp was slowly losing.

Garchomp's legs created a small groove in the ground as they skidded backwards, and Emperor had both of her clawed arms locked down tight, not allowing Garchomp to counterattack with her arms. Garchomp's muscled bulged with exertion as she tried desperately to push back against Emperor's superior strength, the ground below them cracking and shattering once again at their titanic struggle as they both flared their draconic auras to the limit.

Yet Emperor still remained the stronger of the two.

Then an eruption of rocks shot out from below the two of them, and a barrage of sharp stones impaled themselves into Emperor. Emperor flinched backwards from the pain, and Garchomp instantly capitalised on the opportunity.

"GARCHOMP!" With a roar that revealed all of her rage and determination, Garchomp's burst forwards in a blue blur as she crashed into Emperor, eviscerating the Dragonite with a ruthless Dragon Rush and Dragon Claw combo. Letting out a pained grunt, Emperor fell onto his knee, before a massive Dragon Tail slammed straight into his face, sending him tumbling backwards.

"Dragon Rush again, Garchomp!"

Not wanting to give Emperor any chance to recover, Garchomp exploded forwards once again, hoping to finish off Emperor while he was still disoriented. However, the moment Garchomp rushed forwards, Emperor suddenly disappeared into a blur, reappearing just to the right of Garchomp with a blinding beam of light charging up in his mouth.

Realising her mistake, Garchomp immediately pivoted on the spot and threw up a Protect shield, but it was too little too late. An enormous ray of light shot out from Emperor's maw, instantly disintegrating the Protect shield, but that bought just enough time for Garchomp to release her own blindingly bright Hyper Beam.

The two incredibly intense beams of light crashed into each other, and the air around the two pulsating rays literally began to warp and distort itself from the sheer power of the clashing energies. In fact, the entire battlefield took on a blue hue from the enormous amount of draconic power that was radiating out of both Pokémon.

I felt the hairs on my arms stand up from the pure concentration of draconic energies that had now filled the enclosed arena.

Yet everyone's eyes were locked onto the two Hyper Beams; tensely awaiting who would come out on top. But as the seconds passed, Emperor's superior strength demonstrated itself once again as Garchomp's attack was slowly, but visibly being pushed back.

"Dodge away with Dragon Rush, Garchomp!"

Cynthia must have realised that too, as her Garchomp stopped her Hyper Beam and quickly dashed to the side, moving fast enough that she only took a glancing blow from the incoming Hyper Beam, which proceeded to cut a swathe through the first layer of reinforced walls around the arena, shearing through them if it was paper rather than specially reinforced steel.

Taking the small moment before the Hyper Beam could sweep her way, Garchomp stomped on the ground, causing another volley of rocks to erupt from underneath Emperor, impaling him on the spot and cancelling the Hyper Beam.

But that small victory came at a heavy price for Garchomp. The once bright blue aura of draconic energy surrounding her had now dimmed significantly, and it was impossible to hide the raw exhaustion that was present in her expression, nor the plethora of injuries that now littered her body. While Emperor's condition was hardly any better, the near-limitless stamina that he had was paying dividends.

It spoke volumes to how efficient Cynthia's Garchomp was at making use of her Outrage that she was able to somewhat match Emperor's incredible stamina.

"Get in close, Emperor!"

"Dig and ambush, Garchomp!"

Lance evidently realised that his opponent's strength was waning, and decided to not give Garchomp any opportunity to catch her breath. But before Emperor could slam into his target again, Garchomp disappeared into the ground before leaping out from the right and slashing down with a ferocious Dragon Claw.

But Emperor endured through the attack, refusing to flinch as he swept his legs out, knocking Garchomp off balance as she tumbled to the ground – her knees being too injured to support her weight.

Another eruption of rocks prevented a counterattack, this time managing to flinch Emperor for long enough that Garchomp managed to get back on her feet before spinning around and delivering a hammering Dragon Tail that knocked Emperor aside.

Then, without any hesitation, Garchomp leapt forwards and pounced onto the stumbling Emperor, sending them both crashing into the ground.

Garchomp's Outrage flared up again as she burned the last of her energies to take down Emperor. However, despite his injuries, Emperor's own Outrage was still going strong, and the two began to brawl relentlessly as they ferociously wrestled on the ground.

At first, Garchomp looked to be the victor as she pounded Emperor with a vicious barrage of Dragon Claws and Ice Punches as she kept him pinned to the ground. But Emperor gritted his teeth and pushed through the pain, managing to grab a hold of one of Garchomp's clawed arms as he sent an Ice Punch of his own crashing into Garchomp's chest.

Yet that failed to knock Garchomp off of him, and the two unstoppable Dragon types continued their violent beatdown of each other, using what remained of their strength to ensure that the other would stay down.

But ultimately, the battle would be decided with their Outrages.

Whose Outrage was going to peter out first? What would the deciding factor be?

Would it be from Garchomp's mastery over her Outrage, to the point where she had managed to maintain such incredible discipline that she was able to toggle her Outrage and maximize its efficiency to conserve the most energy?

Or would it be from Lance's and the Blackthorn's training method? Where they utilised and weaponised their innate draconic pride to push their strength and endurance to their utmost limit, and therefore managing to overwhelm any opponent with seemingly limitless power?

Both of the starter's eyes burned with determination as they burned whatever energy remained to overpower the other – to grant their trainer the victory that they deserved.

In the end, as the two viciously and ferociously pummelled, bashed, and thrashed the other, it was Garchomp that faltered first. The signature blue aura of her Outrage had blinked out as a sudden bout of confusion set in for Cynthia's starter.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Emperor kicked out Garchomp's legs from under her before brutally slamming her head straight into the ground and unleashing a point-blank Earthquake that finally finished off Cynthia's strongest Pokémon.

It was over.

"DRAGONITEEE!" Despite the litany of injuries scattered across his form, Emperor proudly let out a roar of victory as he stood over his conquered foe, his booming roar echoing across the now-damaged enclosed arena.

The Emperor had held his throne today. Only a Tyrant could dethrone him.

But with his victory and the Outrage finally wearing off, Emperor began to wobble unsteadily as he was hit by a surge of confusion. Combined with his injuries, the once-intimidating Emperor now looked in terrible shape, almost as if a stiff breeze could knock him over.

It was proof that Garchomp had been a worthy contender for the throne.

In the meanwhile, we were all clapping excitedly for the incredible battle that just took place. It was truly stunning, even if I somewhat proudly thought that my battle against Lance was just a little bit cooler.

I quickly shook that arrogant thought from my mind as we all rushed up to the two battlers. Of course, I immediately went to Cynthia, "That was so close. I really thought you had him there."

"…Thanks, but it's so hard to defeat an opponent that's both faster and stronger than you." She sighed out, "The only area where Garchomp was quicker than Emperor in was underground, but it's always risky to use Dig when an Earthquake can so easily punish the move."

She shook her head, "I had hoped that my more efficient use of Outrage might be able to give me enough of an advantage to outlast Emperor. But clearly Emperor's stamina is nothing to scoff at."

"Yet you certainly did not make it an easy battle." Lance stated, "I don't think Emperor has ever been pushed this hard against an opponent that was weaker than him in terms of raw strength. John only managed that because Tyrant was actually stronger than Emperor when he wasn't Outraged. But I really underestimated just how efficient your Outraging was – just when I think that your Garchomp was going to run out of energy, there seems to just be more in the tank."

"I can say the same to you." Cynthia replied, "Your Emperor's stamina is truly limitless. I really thought I had you at the end there, but you still managed outlast and overpower my Garchomp."

Then she smirked at me, "Makes it even more impressive that you beat him."

"Things would be different in a proper battle, though." Lucian cut in, "You could have buffed up your Garchomp with a Baton Pass in advance, for example."

"Or poisoned it." Koga added, "Then your victory would have been much easier. I know you have a Roserade to do just that."

"You're right." Cynthia nodded, "But I won't make excuses for today. My starter challenged yours, and mine lost. Congratulations Lance. Your strength is truly incredible."

Lance grinned at the praise as he turned towards Clair, "Cousin, what did you think? You think you could replicate this performance?"

She scoffed at his preening, "Not likely; you know I was never close to being able to beat you Lance, no matter how hard I tried." Her expression then softened, "You know, for a long time I never really thought that Dragons could be raised properly by anyone outside of the Blackthorn Clan. Drake was an exception, as I knew he had real experience to make up for it."

"But today was the first time that I've seen someone as young as you use Dragons almost better than the Blackthorns themselves." Clair said to Cynthia, "How did you manage to get your Garchomp to control her Outrage like that?"

"I taught her to control her pride and rage." Cynthia replied, "The rest of my team do not share Garchomp's temper, and that allowed me to highlight the strength of controlling her emotions and to maintain strict self-discipline. I know full well that Dragons draw a lot of their strength from their pride, so I have merely chosen to temper it."

"And that's the difference between our training styles." Lance nodded, "Us Blackthorns? We reinforce that pride and rage. But with your generalist approach, you have more diverse temperaments, which allows your Dragon to develop differently. Normally, that's seen as a bad thing, but you've clearly made it work."

Then he grinned smugly, "But my Emperor is still superior."

"Don't grin too hard. You lost to John." Cynthia shot back, wrapping an arm around me, "There's always someone better than you."

"Let's cut the conversation here." Koga suddenly interrupted us, gesturing to his watch, "We have to clean up the mess from your impressive battle before the Gym's doors open."

"Aw come on, I was hoping to see a bit more." Will pouted.

Clair's eyes shot open, "Oh shit! It's almost time to open!" She then released a few ground types that I recognised were Gym Pokémon used to clean up and rebuild the arena, "Let's talk later, we need to clean this all up, and you guys need to get out of here before they spot you and question what we were doing here."

We all moved to help out, quickly repairing the training grounds and arena just in time for the doors of the Gym to open. Before we could be spotted by the incoming crowds, we all split up.

Of course, I stuck with Cynthia.

"You know, Lucian's volunteered to attend a few of my meetings tomorrow in my place – meaning that I have a bit of free time." She grinned cheekily at me, "And your girlfriend needs some cheering up after her loss, so…"

"So I'll be happy to take you on a date." I finished for her, giving her a smile of my own. I took her hand in mine, "Come, I want to show you around Cerulean City properly. There're many things I'd love to show you, if you have the time for it. I'll happily adjust to whatever schedule you have."

She gave me a quick peck on the cheek, "Sure, I'll follow your lead."

A.N. This battle between Cynthia and Lance's starters was a long time coming. Yes, Cynthia unfortunately lost, but I hoped that she still managed to put up a good showing. It's just that, at the end of the day, Lance's Emperor just beats her out in terms of raw strength. And in a 1v1, raw strength is one of the more important attributes to have.

In a full battle, things would be different. And as both Lance and Cynthia continue to train and develop their starters, the outcome of their next battle could be very different. I hope you enjoyed!

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!