The New Normal – 8-16 – Interlude – Lorelei
"You could have done better." Those were the words that her loving uncle had for her after her victory over Surge. But all she did was roll her eyes at him; he wasn't worth the effort to argue against.
But her uncle continued, ignoring her silence and her privacy as he just walked into her house, "So? Is this the place you live in now? Quite the downgrade from where you stayed back in the Mahogany Gym."
"At least it's away from you." She couldn't help but bite out, though her uncle merely snorted at that.
"If you say so." He said unconcerned as he sat down in her armchair, spreading his arms wide as if he owned the damn thing, "So, how are you making use of your popularity from your victory?"
"Is that what you came over for?" She spat out, shooting her uncle a venomous look, "Just to check on your niece's political aspirations? Looking to manipulate your way back into power?"
"You haven't kicked me out yet." Pryce pointed out smugly, "If you really disliked my questioning, you would have told me to leave ages ago."
She gritted her teeth, but her uncle was frustratingly correct. She had her proposal to create a financial crime organisation in the works, and with her victory over Surge - even if he wasn't the most threatening of opponents - it still went a long way into solidifying her position in the Elite Four and earning her much needed political capital.
Her victory had allowed her to attract many supporters who were once on the fence to at least consider giving her their support.
If anything, if the Pokenet and the news could be trusted, then Will was now considered to the Elite Four with the shakiest foundation. He had been voted in yet was still untested with a victory in a battle.
She expected someone to challenge his position soon after his return from Sinnoh.
"Well? Since when were you so silent?" Her uncle taunted, "Come on, I'm waiting."
She was so tempted to punch Pryce in his stupid face, but she was barely able to hold herself back. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she slumped into the nearby couch as she could no longer hold back the words, "I'm still not able to solidify my position! I've been in the Elite Four for some time now, but even after my victory over Surge, Will is still considered to be the more popular member. And he hasn't even won a battle yet!" She vented.
Her uncle straightened up in her chair, "Go on."
"So how?! How am I meant to really put myself in the public eye and prove my damn strength! I've been training like crazy, and I even had a clean victory over Surge! And yet the public still treats me as if I was the same trainer that barely beat Walker! So, what in Arceus can I do to change their perception of me?!"
She knew she was exaggerating a little bit, and that her uncle was about to give her a tongue lashing for her loss of control. While she certainly didn't have the popularity of John or Agatha, the public were now more confident than ever about her ability to remain in the Elite Four. But politically, she was still considered to be less influential than Will.
In fact, the public were hardly the source of her frustrations, but rather it was the Committee. They still looked at her if she was a mere newcomer, rather than someone who had proven herself twice over.
But to her amazement, the tongue lashing from Pryce never came. Instead, she found her uncle deep in thought, carefully considering her words.
"…Who's would be in charge of your financial crime organisation? Does it have a leader from the League directly?" Her uncle asked seriously. She blinked; she hadn't heard him this serious and so lacking in insults in quite a while.
"There is no leader." She explained to him, "It's just going to be an organisation that will be a special subsidiary to the Indigo Police. I presume they'll appoint someone internally to lead it."
"That won't do." Her uncle shook his head, "If you implement it like that, you won't get much credit beyond the first headline. You'll get praised in the news for a few days for creating such a 'cool' and 'reformative' organisation, only to be forgotten in a few days' time by the public as the next interesting thing catches their eye. Your achievements will have been long forgotten by then."
"What you NEED to do is to take control of the entire organisation. You need to put yourself as the person in charge of your new financial crime organisation. Make the entire organisation answer to you." Her uncle told her.
"But I don't have the slightest clue on how you would run such a big organisation–" She protested, only to be cut off by her uncle.
"That's not the point." Pryce stated firmly, "You need to make yourself the leader because that's how you will be able to forge connections for yourself and be recognized for your efforts. If you simply just create the organisation and then completely step away from it, then you won't be able to forge connections with anyone there."
"Tell me. Why do you think John became as popular as he is? It's because he was able to create connections with the right people, and those connections were able to build into more connections, and then suddenly you have him connected to a huge range of important people. I've kept a note on them, you know? The Champion, a few Gym Leaders, the CEO of Devon Corp, and even the big-name researchers of Sinnoh. All of them would happily pick up the phone if he dialled! Do you realize how much power that is?!" Pryce leaned forward, as if to emphasize his point.
Seeing that she remained silent, he continued, "You need to put yourself in a position to make those same connections. You had the opportunity in Hoenn when you helped out with setting up the International Police there, and that was a good start in establishing your credentials as someone who is supportive of law enforcement, but you can develop that even further."
"Set yourself up to be the leader of this new financial crime organisation, even if it's only a figurehead position, and elect a second to actually do the work. But you need to be THERE, shaking hands and making friends. Give it a month or two, and suddenly you'll find yourself with a whole host of new connections to make use of. And those connections will turn into popularity soon enough. If nothing else, you should trust me on this - having connections into law enforcement is a big thing to have." He advised seriously.
Lorelei blinked. She never expected her uncle to be this verbose, nor this helpful. But he was right. Connections were important, and putting herself in a position to make more was going to help her develop her political network.
She didn't know what made her uncle so helpful today, but she wouldn't question it, "Thank you, uncle. You were actually nice today."
"Bah! I was the Champion for a reason, you know? This is child's play." He boasted, returning to his abrasive self.
But, his words rang true. For a brief moment, she was reminded of the uncle that she greatly looked up to. For a brief moment, she remembered that this was the person that she had used to want to make proud. For a brief moment, she was speaking not to her uncle, but the man that Champion Oak chose to be his successor.
And she would follow his words.
A.N. Pryce making a small comeback! I wanted to show a different side of him from what we've previously seen in the story, where it mostly consisted of Pryce in his cranky old age and was too blinded by his ego to be an effective Champion.
But there once WAS someone brilliant. Someone competent enough that Oak chose him as his successor. And I wanted that part of him to peek out, even if only just a little. Hope you liked it!
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!