John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
Vordt - Ursaluna
Smough - Snorlax
Klee - Blissey
Port - Mantine
Zephyr - Pidgeot
Klaus - Wyrdeer
Luna - Clefable
Pixel - Porygon
The New Normal – 3-7 – INTERLUDE: Pokénet Reactions
[GYM LEADER GIOVANNI SEEN FIGHTING AGAINST CRIMINALS! FULFILLS HIS PREVIOUS PROMISES!] by the Indigo Post
[Image of Giovanni patrolling the streets of Viridian City and arresting criminals]
A few days ago, Gym Leader Giovanni held a press conference where he denounced the recent crime wave and promised quick and decisive action to curb the recent outbreak of criminals. It seems like the Gym Leader is now backing up his words with actions as he has been seen patrolling the streets of Viridian City alongside the Indigo Police and assisting in the capturing of criminals.
Many have commended Giovanni's recent actions, and Elite John has declared his support of Giovanni's actions and has joined in with a speech that encourages action from all Gym Leaders across Indigo to follow Giovanni's inspiring actions and help defend the public from the terrible acts of these criminals.
Elite John is quoted to have said, "This recent wave of criminals is a plague on Indigo. These criminals are indiscriminately targeting innocent members of the public and using violence to forcefully separate them from their Pokémon. A lifetime of bonds made between trainer and Pokémon, broken in an instant because of the malicious actions of these criminals. This cannot be allowed to stand. I encourage and call upon all Gym Leaders and Elite Four members to follow the example of Gym Leader Giovanni and fight against this infection of criminals. Let's make Indigo safe again!"
This writer is in complete agreement with Elite John's words. Dear readers, please do everything you can to help out our valiant and brave Indigo Police members in fighting against this tide of crime. Don't be a spectator!
Comments
KantoRepresent
Glad to see that SOMEONE is doing something about these criminals. Proud of Gym Leader Giovanni and Elite John for taking the initiative and spreading the word that we all should be fighting against these terrorists! And shame on the Indigo Police and others for dawdling until now. Down with criminals!
ILoveGoldenRod
Yesss! About time we saw some actual action being taken against these scums. But why is it that both people that have pledged their support to fight against this scum are both from Kanto? Where are those from Johto who are supposed to fight for our protection? And, despite how I disagree with KantoRepresent at times, shame on those who were idle and apathetic until now. Shame!
The leaders from Johto better step it up and get their shit together to fight against this threat. Utterly disgraceful at their lack of action so far.
ANormalFan
WOOO happy to see Elite John delivering the good news once again! So proud to see that he's active and advocating for action! I knew that my support for him was never unjustified and I'm glad to see that John is proving it every step of the way!
RockGetGrunt
Hey guys, chill on the bloodlust. Even if these 'criminals' are really doing bad things, we should be careful that we aren't overly violent with their arrests. They are people too, with their own lives and families. Have some sympathy.
DragonPower
Fuck that RockGetGrunt! Didn't you see the latest report of these criminals stealing a Dragon type Pokémon! THEY STOLE A DRAGON TYPE. That poor Dragon was taken away and likely raised by some sub-par trainer where it is forever unable to reach its full potential. What a tragedy! These criminals must be punished with force for their crimes against Dragons!
FearTheRat
…they should ALSO be punished for their crime against US TRAINERS. But DragonPower has the right spirit; these criminals need to be cleaned up!
[GYM LEADER GIOVANNI ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIPS FOR PUBLIC WORK SCHEMES AND OTHER FINANCIAL SUPPORT! ELITE LANCE PLEDGES BLACKTHORN SUPPORT!] by the Indigo Post
It seems like Gym Leader Giovanni has been very active the past week as he has made yet another announcement detailing his plans to provide financial support for numerous public work schemes and towards the Indigo Police. Giovanni has stated that he hopes that this increase in funding towards public work schemes will encourage the poor and other more unfortunate members of society to remain productive instead of joining up with organized crime and other criminal gangs.
And now, Elite Lance has also jumped up to support his fellow Elite Four's efforts as he pledges the full support of the Blackthorn clan into repelling these criminals.
In his recent press conference, Elite Lance had this to say. "Members of the public! You have my sincerest apologies for my delayed reactions in responding to the recent crime wave that has been terrorising our population. However, I am here now to pledge the full backing of the Blackthorn clan to eradicating this threat, and I will not rest until the threat of these criminals are dealt with and utterly destroyed. To all citizens of Indigo, I promise you that every effort and resource will be used to uncover the leaders behind these criminals, and they WILL be brought to justice! This will be a war on crime, and I implore every able hand to join in to assist us in this fight! And if those leaders are listening now, then heed my words. Turn yourself in now, before my Dragonites inevitably hunt you down. You will NOT like it if that happens."
With more and more public officials turning their attention to fighting against these criminals, this writer hopes that the situation will be resolved in short order and that the leaders are found and arrested. Let peace return once more!
Comments
ILoveGoldenRod
About time we saw some Johto people start doing something! Took a while, but at least Elite Lance seems very serious about fighting this threat. Might be a bit late, but I'm all for it and I wish him the best of luck!
TangelaThoughts
Wow, didn't think we'd see such a large scale action by Lance today. He's really stirring the pot if he's declaring that all of Blackthorn's resources will be used to fight against the criminals. Very serious rhetoric too since he called this a 'war on crime'. Wonder what he's going to be doing next and hope he's successful with his efforts.
AlluteNinja
About time we got something done. We here at Fuschia have been dealing with these nutjobs from Team Rocket for far too long. They've even been stealing Pokémon from even the Fuschia Clan unimpeded! Something must be done! I hope having the Blackthorn Clan finally step in is going to put a stop to this.
RockGetGrunt
Guys does no one think that Lance's speech was way too aggressive? Look at what he's calling it! A 'war on crime'! That kind of aggression is completely unwarranted and really shows how bloodthirsty Lance is! Don't let him sway you with his words!
NotTooMuchWater
Man, what is going on over there in Indigo? Over here in Hoenn we just got reports about the recent crime wave that's been spreading rapidly across Indigo, but is it really that serious? I mean I saw the first reports and thought most of them were just exaggerated for the views. But now I'm not so certain after I've seen that all these prominent names are stepping up to do something about it. Can anyone tell me what it's like there?
FlyingHigh
It's pretty bad IMO. Well, to clarify, it's not like everyone's getting robbed or attacked. But if you've got a large group of friends or just know a lot of people, then chances are that one of them have been targeted before by these criminals. I'm certain that there has been an attack at least once per city. So, while it's not prolific as the news make it seem, Gym Leader Giovanni and Elite John and Elite Lance are absolutely in the right to take action against them. I predict that the situation was only going to get worse if nothing was done.
[ELITE JOHN VS ELITE DRAKE: A THOROUGH ANALYSIS OF ELITE JOHN'S TEAM AND HOW THEY WON] by BattleCast
Every BattleCast reader knows that Elite John had recently pulled off a surprising win against the more veteran and experienced team of Elite Drake in a stunning 6-3 victory. Yet, why was John able to win with his team of Normal types, a typing which is not seen to be nearly as strong as Drake's mixture of Dragon and Water types.
It may just be easy to state that John's win was due to luck. And yes, there were a few situations where luck was on John's side, such as Kingdra's confusion after Pidgeot's last-ditch Hurricane, which allowed John to quickly knock it out without his Snorlax taking too much damage, allowing it to subsequently defeat Drake's Gyarados as well.
However, claiming John's victory was purely to luck ignores the many more important factors that led up to John's victory. After reviewing and going through John's previous matches, it becomes obvious that John's most favourable battling style is to force his opponents into a brawl, where he is able to make use of his Pokémon's high endurance and strength to just outlast and outfight his opponents.
And, coincidentally enough, anyone who is familiar with Drake also knows that brawling is Drake's favourite battling style as well. Thus, Drake was either intentionally or unintentionally playing straight into John's hands by choosing to fight in the manner that John's Pokémon were best at. As we've seen time and time again with John's battles, as soon as one of his heavy hitters gets in close, the battle almost always ends in his favour. It is easily visible to see that John has tailored every Pokémon on his team to revolve around and be extremely proficient at this style of fighting. Perhaps this is why it should have been unsurprising in hindsight that John was able to beat Drake this same way.
Of course, battling style aside, it is impossible to ignore the significance of John's actual Pokémon themselves. While his Pidgeot and Wyrdeer were certainly no slouches and definitely powerful Pokémon in their own rights, it is inevitable that people will focus more on his trio of Snorlax, Ursaluna, and Slaking. Those three Pokémon form the core of John's team and are easily capable of taking on an Elite level Pokémon by themselves without much difficulty. Special mention must go to his Slaking in particular, which has never been knocked out throughout John's battling career ever since its evolution into a Slaking.
Thus, it is a combination of his powerful Pokémon coupled with a synergistic battling style, and a sprinkle of luck, that allowed John to take on Drake and win his famous 6-4 victory.
Comments
ANormalFan
So TLDR – John's strong and can't be beaten?! Sounds good to me! Can't wait to see more high levels battle from John. LET'S GOOO!
FutureAce
WOW! Never really looked at John's team that way. I always knew that his Pokémon were complete BEASTS but didn't actually realize that he revolved his whole strategy around them. WAIT does that mean that John would be weaker against opponents that don't rely on brute strength?! Maybe more agile Pokémon or something like Ghost type trainers or something?
FearTheRat
Well, looking at John's battle against Shin's Scizor, which was renowned for its incredible speed and agility, it was very obvious that John had absolutely no trouble smashing it into the ground with his Slaking. Now, while I suspect that his Slaking may be anomalous, I feel that John has strategies or Pokémon who are adept at dealing with faster threats.
We've actually never seen his team go against a Ghost type specialist though, so perhaps that would be his weak point. Ghost types are normally very good against teams that rely on their physical bulk due to their abundance of evasive moves and mental attacks.
FutureAce
^Thanks man! Now you're making me hyped about John battling against Agatha? Who would win? I mean, I get what you're saying, but I'm still going to have to put my vote for John.
FearTheRat
Eh…I might have bought into the recent John hype train, but I think my vote would still be on Agatha. She's far too experienced against trainers like John, and her Pokémon are probably the most veteran and experienced of the current Elite Four, excluding Pryce. I like John, but my votes on Agatha.
DragonPower
Yeah, and Lance will crush them both. Dragons FTW!
[ELITE LANCE CALLS OUT INDIGO LEAGUE FOR THEIR INACTION AGAINST THE RECENT CRIME WAVE! DEMANDS MORE ACTION AGAINST 'TEAM ROCKET'!] by The Indigo Post
Elite Lance has just denounced the Indigo League for their relative inaction against the recent crime wave that has been spreading throughout Indigo. He declares that their actions were "slow" and "apathetic" and says that if it was not for the heroic actions that have been taken by several Gym Leaders and Elite Four members ever since Elite John's call to action, the situation would be a lot worse.
Lance said this in his speech:
"I understand that the Indigo League, and Champion Pryce, have not been inactive. I acknowledge that they have announced a proposal to improve funding and support for the Indigo Police, and Champion Pryce has been seen aiding the public and patrolling the streets like many others. However, why did it take the call of an Elite Four member to mobilize the Indigo League like this? What caused the delay in the Indigo League's response? They should have acted immediately instead of waiting until now!"
Lance also made sure to thank those who have helped out so far. And according to the extensive reports gathered by the Blackthorns, incidents of crime have been severely reduced throughout Indigo, and many arrests have been made of these criminals, which we now know from the police interviews that this organisation is called 'Team Rocket'.
Unfortunately, the leaders of this 'Team Rocket' remain elusive. This writer hopes that Lance's words manage to reinvigorate the Indigo League to work harder and bring these terrible leaders to justice once and for all.
Comments
KantoRepresent
Can't believe I'm actually saying this about a Johtonian but LET'S GO LANCE CALL OUT THE CORRUPT LEAGUE! Very happy to see that Lance is willing to actually bring up what the public always knew – that the Indigo league is corrupt and slow. Maybe a League under Lance would not be so stagnant like it is now.
ILoveGoldenRod
Proud of Lance for doing his duty as a citizen of Johto and looking out for the common people. The reports produced by the Blackthorn are so helpful! Hope this leads to more arrests! We got to get rid of these criminal 'Team Rocket' scums as soon as possible! Glad to see that the tide is finally turning!
RockGetGrunt
…Uh oh.
TangelaThoughts
Anyone notice that Lance's recent statements have been overly critical of the League, and by extension, Champion Pryce? Is it just me or has Lance been throwing a lot of criticism at both the League and the Champion recently? Just look at his previous comments about Pryce's acts of nepotism, and now with the Indigo League's inaction. Methinks a plot is being hatched.
[PRYCE IN TROUBLE FOR FORCEFULLY SENDING ELITE JOHN TO HOENN! LANCE OPENLY DENOUNCES THE CHAMPION!] by the Indigo Post
In an earth-shattering announcement made today by Elite Lance, he reveals that the recent trip of Elite John to Hoenn was ordered by Champion Pryce as a 'diplomatic mission'. While normally that isn't anything unusual, Lance demonstrated evidence showing that the Hoenn League was not informed about John's arrival to Hoenn and there were no plans to accommodate John for his supposed diplomatic mission!
Lance explains that the true reason why Champion Pryce had sent John over to Hoenn was to side-line him and to prevent John from disrupting Pryce's political plots. He provides evidence of reports showing that several anonymous members of the Indigo League had agreed with Champion Pryce's plot and decided on this course of action to protect their own interests.
We managed to reach out to several members of the Hoenn League and their testimonies matched with Lance's words. Even more damningly, Elite Drake had this to say.
"I received a very brief note one day that the recently appointed Elite John was coming to Hoenn on vacation to celebrate his victory. I was suspect of this, and I checked his arrival times and went to meet him. As soon as I met him, I realized that this whole 'holiday' thing was a whole pile of steaming shit and that John was forced to be here. I spread the news to my other colleagues in the Elite Four, and we're all in agreement that the Indigo League's reasonings for sending John here were full of shit and lies. Not that I expected any better from that tower of crap that you guys call your Indigo League..."
Very strong words coming from the veteran Elite Four member Drake! Furthermore, we also managed to reach out to Elite John, who had this to say.
"It was a great shock when I realized that I was being sent off to Hoenn so quickly after taking up my new position. Regardless of the reason, I felt greatly hurt by the lack of support given to me by the Indigo League for their act of sending me to Hoenn. However, I am very thankful for the understanding and support that I received from the members of the Hoenn League. They are great people, and I am honoured to have their friendship. I wish our two regions will continue to improve and develop our relations further for the years to come."
We have yet to hear a response from Champion Pryce yet, but this writer is eagerly awaiting Pryce's reply because he has a lot to answer for!
Comments
[Comments have been temporarily disabled in lieu of the inappropriate language that has repeatedly been used within]
[PRYCE PUSHES BACK! DENIES ALL ALLEGATIONS MADE BY LANCE AND DENOUNCES LANCE AS A POWER-HUNGRY MANIPULATOR!]
Just a day later after Lance's condemning report of Pryce's actions regarding his alleged side-lining of Elite John, Pryce has finally replied and is fighting back against Lance's statements. In his recent interview, Champion Pryce commented:
"I was very saddened to hear Elite Lance's accusations against me. Not only are his words unfounded, but I can see that Lance had made a common mistake that can be found in untested and inexperienced politicians. Namely that they have chosen to interpret and warp the evidence to fit their own pre-determined conclusions. Lance chooses to see malice in areas where there isn't any to be found."
"I chose to send John to Hoenn not out of some malicious intent like Lance foolishly claims, but rather to test and train his skills so that he can grow and become an effective member of the Elite Four. As many know, the position of being in the Elite Four is one that requires someone who is careful and calm, and my colleagues and I needed to know if John would measure up by agreeing to send him to Hoenn. Lance has chosen to ignore this fact in lieu of pushing forward his own agenda and slandering me over something that was done out of a desire to see John grow into his full potential. Lance's actions were not done out of some false concern for a friend, but rather his actions are akin to a power-hungry manipulator who seeks to bring the public over to his side before seizing power. Do not allow yourselves to be tricked!"
Very powerful words from the Champion. This writer isn't sure who to believe at this point, so we'll let you decide in the comments!
Comments
KantoRepresent
I'll say it again because the last comment section got scrubbed – but this is such a typical slimy response by that condescending old fossil. Don't listen to Pryce's words guys! He's clearly trying to weasel his way out of the accusations made by Lance. He's provided no evidence to support his claims, unlike Lance, and he's just running damage control! Don't trust Pryce!
ILoveGoldenRod
Not sure who to trust at this point. On the one hand, I believe that Lance's evidence is indisputable, especially with the Hoenn Elite Four testimonies, and that Elite John had been sent to Hoenn without them being informed of his trip. However, I also believe that Pryce was just doing what he was doing because he thought it was the right thing to do to test if his newest Elite Four member was up for the job, especially considering John's young age. Either way I hate to see the two Johtonians fight it out like this! I want Johto to be united on the political stage!
ANormalFan
OMA I'M STILL SO MAD AT PRYCE! How could he just send John away to Hoenn like that!? And why didn't' John say anything? He could've made a huge fuss about it the moment he was there! Maybe he was bullied into saying nothing?! GRR gets my blood boiling just thinking about it! HOPE YOU'RE OKAY JOHN!
NotTooMuchWater
We're mad over here in Hoenn as well. How dare the Indigo League manipulate us like this for their own selfish purposes? Don't they realize that they could have severely damaged our relations if John had caused a diplomatic incident over here in Hoenn due to the lack of provided guidance?
Of course, nothing like that happened, and I'm glad that John acknowledged being welcomed into Hoenn regardless. But things could have gone really bad and I'm furious at the Indigo League for acting like this! Leave Hoenn out of your schemes!
TangelaThoughts
Ok, now this solidified my theories. Lance is going to make a play for being the Champion. There's no way he's doing all this without a goal in mind, and I am confident that his aim is to replace Pryce and become the new Champion. Honestly, hope it works out for him. I do feel that the Indigo League has become overly stagnant and is dire need for some change.
A.N A much bigger focus on the politics this time, and less space for memes. And yes, there will be a short timeskip as the chapter shows.
This chapter has been BETAed by Allute. Thanks!