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.

117. The New Normal - 6-7

John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon2

Euphie - Eevee

Ornstein - D-Zigzagoon

The New Normal – 6-7 – Raid Rewards

Fortunately, the attack at Mt Pyre seemed to be the 'last hurrah' for the grunts. Between their doomed assault and their failed ambush, that seemed to have used up whatever remained of their fighting strength left.

That didn't mean our job had become that much easier, though. Throughout the next week, we continued to raid hideout after hideout, and it was one of constant movement and tension. Now that we were sure that the grunts were in full retreat, it started a race against time to see if we could catch all of the grunts before they retreated to whatever hole they crawled out of.

On the bright side, Wallace's speech did everything it intended to, riling up the public and throwing his full weight behind our actions in driving out these criminals. With the Champion publicly supporting us, and our undeniable string of successes, we were able to paint a very favourable narrative that caused the committee to finally realize the way the wind was blowing. Not wanting to be caught on the wrong side, they stepped back and allowed us free reign to do as we pleased.

Though we now had access to additional reinforcements, Drake and I still ran our Pokémon to exhaustion as we skipped out on sleep and rest to bust down more locations. There was no need for subtlety. The evil teams knew we were coming for them. In light of the damage caused at Mt Pyre, we did our best to minimize collateral damage...but we were not always successful. Common office buildings, warehouses, random bases in the middle of nowhere, none were safe from us.

It had almost become routine at this point, and the Hoenn Police were rapidly becoming experts at raiding locations. At some point, I trusted them enough to outright loan them Smough and Klee while I took the rest to attack some other location. The grunts had learned to fear the signature roar of Salamence, which was now an indicator of their impending doom.

Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, it quickly became clear that it was a losing battle on our end. Though we continued to cooperate heavily with the Hoenn Police to coordinate and locate the grunts' hideouts, following any found memos and tracing back the money, each raid turned up with increasingly diminishing returns.

What became increasingly clear was that the criminal's retreat had been a partial success, and at least the leaders had successfully escaped from us. It was annoying, but even with our increased patrols around the borders of Hoenn, the availability and manoeuvrability granted by Pokémon made it near impossible to properly secure all exits.

But it was far from a total loss. We had captured many of their grunts, foot soldiers, and stolen Pokémon while also destroying most if not all of their infrastructure that they had set up in Hoenn. There was absolutely no chance that they could rebuild in Hoenn any time soon, and we were confident that their organisation numbers had been severely crippled.

Team Aqua, Magma, and Rocket wouldn't prove to be a problem for some time. Not without some serious time to recover.

The Committee were horrified to find out just how far the evil teams had infiltrated Hoenn, and I knew Drake had to resist giving them a "I told you so". But they were placated by the fact that most of the stolen assets were now back into their hands, which was a nice win for everyone.

On a more amusing note, I had heard bits and pieces about what went on with their attempted allegations at Silph Co., which I realized quickly went nowhere. I wasn't sure what Giovanni did, but I had seen and read that he had been working hard at dispelling the allegations and protecting Silph Co's reputation. His recent public statement seemed to have done the job.

And now, Drake and I were waiting for the prisoners to be transported to Indigo to be psychically interrogated to see if more information would come up through that. Drake had petitioned the committee again to label the evil teams as terrorists, but this was where our rapid and constant success bit us in the ass.

Although the Committee were willing to give us free reign, they saw our rapid success as proof that things were being 'handled' and there was no need to 'escalate the situation and cause further panic'. What was worse was that they weren't exactly wrong; we had been taking big wins and we had pretty much dismantled their operations. Even at this point the public thought that the matter was slowly settling down.

That really drove Drake up the wall, but he distracted himself by throwing himself into more raids, taking out his annoyance on any grunts that were unlucky enough to find themselves in his path.

Regardless, this meant that Drake and I needed to wait for the prisoners to be transported to Indigo before they could undergo psychic interrogation. The fact that I sustained an injury actually helped here, since I had been injured as a member of a foreign Elite Four in Hoenn territory.

The Hoenn Committee desperately did not want it to be a talking point. I was tempted to make it one, but my more rational side prevailed. So instead, I leveraged it for everything I could.

First, I told Lance about it and he used my injury to pressure the Hoenn Committee and smooth over any jurisdictional issues with the prisoners, and we got authority over the prisoners without any issues as an 'apology'.

Then Wallace got told. And he used that to rake the Hoenn Committee over the coals and was finally able to cow them into compliance, for now. That allowed them to approve the transport ship containing the International Police members that were being sent over from Indigo. They would be arriving later this afternoon.

But I also made sure to get my own cut of the profits. Both Lance and Wallace were able to advance their own agendas by leveraging my successes, so they acknowledged that they owed me for my efforts. For Wallace, this was separate his promise to aid me if I called for him, which I was glad for. And the Hoenn Committee knew that my injury served as a black mark for them, as the public would not forgive them for their inaction when I went out and got injured on their behalf. They knew I could hold this incident over them.

All in all, I would say the whole 'getting injured' thing was worth it in the end, as I managed to push my own agenda of being one of the primary brokers that allowed for a closer bond between Hoenn and Indigo, extending my own influence even further. I was sure that the connections I had made and reinforced during my time here would serve me well.

Despite my success, I would not like to repeat getting injured like that again – after settling down from all the battles, it had taken me some time to process that near-death experience. But I refused to be unnerved by these grunts.

This also symbolized the beginning of the end of my time in Hoenn, at least for the time being, as Lorelei would be replacing my duties here and overseeing the first ever deployment of the International Police in foreign territory.

Lance successfully persuaded me that, considering the raids were being increasingly sparse and failed to obtain much new information, there was really no need for me to stay there and act as the Houndoom. I had done enough, and now it was time for me to return to my duties in Indigo.

Surprisingly enough, Drake agreed with Lance. He said that, with the evil teams in full retreat, a lot of the investigation work now would be done by the ones sitting behind the desks pouring over the collected information. Thus, staying here would just be a waste of time for me, and any of my previous duties could easily be handed over to Lorelei.

But Drake was quick to remind me that, just like how Wallace promised me that he would come over and help when it was needed, he would do the same and more.

"You're a fine lad, John. I would be honoured to fight alongside you once again in the future." He told me. "You bled for our region – that means a lot to an old fighter like me. And I'll always have your back for it."

"Thank you, Drake." I smiled. "I'll keep that in mind." And he patted me on the shoulder.

So it wasn't long after that where it was my last day here in Hoenn. To my surprise, I got a call from Joseph even before my last day became public knowledge, who asked me to come over to visit him at Devon Corp if I had the time.

Considering I didn't have anything better to do until the afternoon, I made my way over there, curious to see what he needed me for. As soon as I arrived, the receptionist hastily escorted me up to Joseph's office, where he promptly greeted me with a wide smile.

"Ah, John! Just the man I wanted to see!" He said cheerily, "I'm sorry for taking up more of your time, but I really wanted to thank you and give you something for your efforts in helping me find justice for their attack on my company."

I tried to put on a humble smile, "It was no problem, Joseph. These criminals were a threat to Hoenn as a whole, so I felt like I was just doing my duty anyways as a firm ally of Hoenn. I do hope that your company is recovering smoothly from whatever damage it suffered."

He nodded, "Thank you, and it is, thanks to your help. So, I would be remiss if I didn't appropriately award you with something. Look here, I have something to show you." He fiddled with something underneath his desk before he brought out a small chunk of rock with a peculiar pattern on it. My eyes widened as I immediately recognized what it was.

A fossil. And a very well-kept one too considering how distinct its shape was. But did that mean…

"Yes, I can see it in your eyes that you recognize what this is." Joseph spoke up, a hint of pride in his voice, "Like I mentioned to you the first time we met, we here at Devon have been trying to create a machine that would reliably allow us to revive these fossils into living Pokémon. Fortunately for us, the attack at our company failed to damage any of that research, so I can proudly say that we almost have a finished prototype working."

"Wow!" Was all I could say to that. I didn't think a working fossil machine could be created so soon, even if it was still a prototype. "That's incredible!"

"Thank you. It's my pride and joy." He said gleefully, looking like a young child on his birthday, "But that's not all, of course. We're going to be running real tests hopefully soon with the prototype, and I just wanted to let you know that, if we are successful, I'll be gifting you the first Normal type fossil that we get!"

Ah. I had to hide a wince as to not shatter his enthusiasm. From my metaknowledge, I knew that there was no such thing as a Normal type fossil. Thus, I highly doubted that I was going to actually receive anything. Still, I really appreciated the gesture, and so I made sure to respond accordingly.

"That's very nice of you, Joseph. You really didn't have to." I said kindly, making sure that I put on my best thankful smile for him. Even if I wasn't going to be getting anything, his kindness was still a nice substitute.

"Nonsense! Besides, if we do get a Normal type fossil, who better than you to discover its' full potential?" He responded rhetorically, "I'll be sure to let you know if we are successful, or you could check on the news, I'm sure it would be in the headlines." He joked.

"Oh, and speaking of which, I saw that your family's business had been popping up a little bit in the business section of the news." He continued, to which I nodded, "Glad to see that you're all moving up in life. And I figured that – as part of my thanks for all your hard work in avenging and protecting Devon Corp – if you or your parents ever decide to start expanding into Hoenn, be sure to let me know. I'll see what I can do for you."

Okay, that was far more of a gift than the fossil. Sure, one new Pokémon to have on my roster would have been nice, but having access to the many business connections that Devon Corp had was invaluable. It would likely make setting up a branch in Hoenn much easier.

"That would be incredible, Joseph." I replied sincerely, "I'm sure my parents would be very appreciative of this as well."

He just waved me off, "It's the least I could do. And besides, it's not like helping you would hinder us. In fact, we'd probably make some money off your ventures as well!" He laughed.

And with that, the two of us continued making small talk for a while longer. On my end, I mostly chatted about the investigations' progress, making sure to leave out any confidential information. In return, Joseph proudly gushed about Steven's progress in Indigo and his successes when challenging the Gyms. He insisted that I meet with him at least once, and I promised that, as soon as I got back, I'll make try to make time.

But before long, it was time for me to head to Ever Grande City to meet up with Drake once again for the Indigo delegation to arrive. And for my own departure from Hoenn.

And so, with one last goodbye, I made my way to Ever Grande City.

---

Turns out, there was more than just Drake waiting for me here, as standing right next to him was a familiar face that I hadn't seen since my show match here. Sidney of the Elite Four was there, chatting away with Drake about something. They turned to me as soon as I approached.

"Ah, John, you're here." Drake greeted, before gesturing to Sidney, "Sorry for not letting you know about this, but this was a last-minute thing. I'll let Sidney explain."

"It's nice to see you again, John." Sidney shook my hand, "When the committee was informed that a delegation from Indigo was coming over, they realized that we had received much from Indigo and haven't really been giving anything back. So, as a result, they're sending me over there as a diplomatic gesture and to speak with the people from Sinnoh as well."

"Of course, I have my own reasons for going there." He added, "There are a few people I'd like to meet. I'm sure you know who she is; she's practically the only other Dark type trainer on the radar these days." He smiled.

Karen. I nodded, "Can't say that was unexpected."

He chuckled, "Yes, as I'm sure you realized, I would love for the opportunity to finally meet another Dark type specialist. I've recently come into a bit of a funk with my training, so I thought that maybe an alternate perspective might shake things up for me. And even if that doesn't happen, chatting and discussing things with a fellow Dark type specialist wouldn't hurt."

"She would certainly welcome that." I agreed, "It'd be a welcome break from her effort in running the Gym. And I'm sure she will provide some insight into Dark types. She's the best Dark type trainer I know."

"How many Dark type trainers do you know besides me and her? We're rarer than a shiny!" Sidney quipped, "But yes, that's what I'm counting on. It's been hard to find another Dark type specialist that actually is strong enough to reach the Elite level. It'll be nice to compare our methods and strategies."

I laughed, "Well, I'm sure Karen would appreciate it. She can be an ambitious person. But also one burdened by high expectations."

"Ah, high expectations…I can definitely relate to that." He nodded sympathetically.

"Just be careful of Agatha." I joked, "She'll probably be there if you ever meet with Karen."

"Her? What's wrong with her?" Sidney asked confusedly, "If you mean that she's a Ghost specialist, I can assure you that I have plenty of practice dealing with mischievousness from Phoebe."

"…Agatha is nothing like Phoebe." Was all I said, which only served to confuse Sidney even further. Before I could warn him further, I was interrupted as a ship appeared on the shoreline, signalling the arrival of the Indigo delegation. Oh well, he'll find out the hard way.

We stayed silent as the ship carrying the visitors from Indigo arrived into port. The exiting ramp extended, revealing the suit-adorned figure of Lorelei in the front, followed by many other individuals wearing a dark blue uniform that I recognized were likely the members from the International Police.

Lorelei approached us first, making sure to address the many members from Hoenn, "Elite Drake, Elite Sidney, it's a pleasure to meet you both." She said formally, before gesturing to the small group people following behind her, "Behind me are our most prestigious members of the newly formed International Police, and we hope that we can serve you well with continuing to uncover the plans and designs of these criminals."

Sidney stepped up, "Thank you, Elite Lorelei, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well." He replied diplomatically, "On behalf of the Hoenn League, we are greatly thankful for your assistance. Now, let us not take up any more of your time and escort these fine individuals to their temporary office, where they can get started."

Lorelei nodded to the leading member of her group, "Looker, I'll meet up with you later. Please get yourself settled."

The aforementioned Looker, and wasn't that a surprise, nodded back before making his way to the Jennys, where they were escorted elsewhere. In my mind, I wished them all the best. I hoped that they could at least further dismantle whatever foundations and remains that the evil teams left behind.

As the International Police group made their exit, Lorelei turned to me, "John, thanks for handling all of this until now. If Lance hadn't told you yet, you're free to head back to Indigo if you'd like."

"Thanks, and yeah, I will be." I replied, "You know Sidney is coming with me, right?"

"Yes, Lance told me before I left." She confirmed, before looking around curiously, "Where are the prisoners? I thought they'd be here."

"They're going to be Teleported straight onto the ship, one at a time." Drake interrupted, "Less chance of them getting away this way. Even if it is much fucking slower."

"And I think that's our cue." Sidney added, as he started making his way onto the ship, "Come on gramps, let's check on the prisoners to make sure everything's going okay."

"Call me gramps one more time and you're going to join those fucking prisoners, sonny." Drake growled, only to elicit a laugh from Sidney. The two of them walked away as they made their way on board the ship.

As I watched them leave, a thought suddenly sprang to mind, "Who's going to be overseeing the psychic interrogations?" I asked Lorelei, "Do you know?"

"I think we all are." She answered. "But everything's going to be overseen by the Indigo Police as well, just in case."

"Wait, how long are you staying here for?" I cut in.

"Lance didn't exactly say, but probably around how long you stayed for." She replied, "I'd say a few weeks is most likely."

Then she looked around hesitantly for a moment to see if anyone else was nearby before lowering her voice to a whisper, "John, can I have your honest opinion of the situation here in Hoenn? I'm in charge of overseeing the International Police and to see their effectiveness. Lance wants this to be a test run for them to see if we can actually turn this into a long-term thing. I would really appreciate any advice you have to give." She said, a trace of nervousness in her tone despite her confident façade.

I could sympathize, I knew that Lance had a lot riding on ensuring that the International Police would turn out to be a success. Thus, by appointing Lorelei to oversee it, while it was a great opportunity for Lorelei to show off her leadership skills, it also would ruin her if she made a mess of it. It was no wonder that she was doing everything to ensure that it was a success.

I hummed thoughtfully for a moment as I went over the last few days of raids in my head. "Honestly, Drake and I are fairly certain that the criminals are in full retreat." I said carefully, "I'm confident that we've handled most of the raids, but I'm sure you can find more once you actually delve deeper into the evidence that we collected. You will need to act fast on whatever you uncover, though, since they're definitely getting rid of everything incriminating as they retreat."

"I see." She responded, "And from what I understand from Lance, thanks to you, we have plenty of goodwill with the Hoenn Police at the moment. Enough to hopefully ensure that this cooperation will be rather smooth."

"Speaking of which, what were the raids like?" She asked curiously, "Admittedly…I haven't actually participated in a battle that wasn't under tournament or League rules, and yet you and Drake have already fought in so many. Even the other members of the International Police have only really participated in simulated battles, and not the real thing. Not in such large scales at least. What's it like? Is it dangerous?"

"Yes, and you should not underestimate anyone." I stated immediately, "The grunts and their Pokémon are much weaker than you, sure, but all they need one lucky strike against YOU, and then suddenly your Pokémon will be devoid of any leadership. And, in a lot of cases, you WILL be outnumbered, and you're going to have to act fast to quickly nullify their numbers advantage before their numbers overwhelm you. That's what I did at Olivine where I held the ramp."

"That's…" She exclaimed concernedly, but I wasn't done.

"In fact, this wasn't in the news, but I was caught in an ambush over Pacifildog Town. The grunts tried to take advantage of my lack of fliers to bring me down before backup could arrive. It was partially luck that I got out of it mostly unscathed." I patted at my arm, where a bandage was still wrapped around the room, "But I did get cut in the arm for my efforts."

She nodded solemnly, "Yes, I heard that from Lance too. Was it serious?"

"No, and it's already mostly healed up." I reassured her, keeping up a nonchalant look on my face, "Just don't get overconfident like I did and you'll be fine. The grunts don't have nearly as much manpower anymore anyways, so I highly doubt they'll be able to pull something like this off again."

She didn't look very reassured, so I continued in a lighter tone, "Furthermore, the Hoenn Police are all very experienced at this, so just follow their lead. Your Pokémon are definitely going to be the strongest thing in the fight, so never forget that and use it to your advantage. Don't try to make use of Snow strategies like you would against a normal trainer, instead focus on large area-of-effect attacks to quickly cripple your opponents."

I proceeded to list off most of the advice and strategies that I had picked up over my numerous raids. At one point, Lorelei took out her phone and started making notes on it. I felt oddly proud at that; it was like I was mentoring a pupil. It reminded me of what it was like when I taught in the past, and I curiously found it to be very satisfying.

Eventually, I ran out of things to say, and Lorelei finished typing up the rest of her notes before bowing thankfully towards me, "Thank you, John. I'm sure this'll be a great help going forwards." She raised her arm to check the time, "Ah, I think I've taken up enough time here. I should head over to check out how the group is settling in. Thanks again, John, and I'll see you later."

"Kick their ass for me." I said to her before making my way onto the ship, figuring that it was probably about time to leave anyways. My guess quickly proved right, as one of the Jennys kindly informed that the ship will be departing soon, and that they were just going through some final checks.

I thanked her before heading over to where Sidney and Drake were chatting, overhearing bits of their conversation.

"…I don't think the committee are going to be very eager for something like that." Sidney remarked sadly to Drake, who seemed to be growing irate. "Even if Wallace did agree."

"Those fucks are in hot water right now. Wallace will get them to agree. They won't dare refuse considering how much shit they're in. And we're going to look really ungrateful if Indigo sends us their International Police members and we don't do the same!" Drake explained frustratedly, "Look, unless the group that just arrived massively fucks up, the International Police idea WILL gain traction. We might as well jump on board."

"Something wrong?" I asked, joining into the conversation.

"Nothing much, son, just trying to get Sidney to understand that we need to be training up our own branch of International Police members as soon as possible." Drake answered with a sigh, "We can't just take advantage of your kindness forever, and we're going to have to give back soon enough."

"Drake, I'm on your side." Sidney said, before he let out a sigh, "Okay, maybe you're right and that the Committee are more amenable than usual. I'll scout out the mood of a few members and see what I can do. Maybe they'll see sense with the Indigo group here."

"I fucking hope so." Drake grumbled, before he let the topic drop and turned back to me. "John, once again, thanks a lot for coming over on such short notice. We might not have managed to get them all, but I can safely say that we managed to catch a lot more than if you weren't here. You have my thanks."

I waved him off, "It's not a problem, Drake. I'm happy to help. Now that I'm leaving, I hope you can keep up the good work." I joked.

"HAH! I'll be sure to." He barked out a laugh, "Anyways, I think this ship is setting sail very shortly, so I'm going to make my leave. Enjoy your time in Indigo, Sidney, and have fun back at home, John." Drake and I shook hands, as our eyes exchanged a look of mutual respect.

We had done a lot together for the past week. And, after fighting in so many battles together with Drake, I felt confident that Hoenn would remain in safe hands.

As if on cue, an announcement blared through the ship, signalling its departure from port. Drake exchanged a few final words with us before he promptly left the ship.

Before I lost reception, I quickly sent out a text to Karen, Whitney, and my parents to inform them I was on my way back. Then, I made some small talk with Sidney about his plans in Indigo, which mostly amounted to 'being a diplomatic and going on holiday', before I eventually excused myself and retired to the room with some food that I bought before I left.

As I slowly chewed through my lunch, my thoughts turned to the many events that had taken place since I had arrived in Hoenn. Although I was confident that we had crushed a large portion of the evil team's influence here, I knew the battle was far from over. And that the next battlefield would be in Sinnoh.

Which meant that my standing invitation to visit there was all the more important.

A.N. A slower chapter to wrap up John's stay in Hoenn. Unlike Arc 2, I didn't have any reason to let John stay for much longer, and I didn't want to spend TOO much time on dealing with the evil teams. I hope this was a good balance for everyone.

This chapter has been BETAed by Allute! Big thanks! 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!