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 – 9-13 – The Pokémon Storage System
It had only been a day since the Pokémon Storage System, otherwise known as the PSS, was released to the public and able to be bought by anyone. And already it was finding its way into all of the major cities as businesses, Pokémon Centers, and practically everyone else tried to get their hands on it and explore the new possibilities it offered.
With the PSS suddenly granting people with the ability to trade, store, and sell Pokémon without needing to be there in person, this rapidly opened up many possibilities for both legal and illegal actions as the smuggling and the selling of illegally-caught Pokémon became so much easier.
The latter was the biggest issue. It was like all of the poachers and illegal traders started coming out of the woodwork as soon as the PSS was released, greed blinding them to their recklessness.
In just a day, the release of the PSS managed to spread chaos across the entire region as poachers and greedy trainers ran rampant.
I was really starting to think these poachers had lost their common sense, because I caught EIGHT of them alone just today. Many of them were trying to catch Clefairy on Mt. Moon, thinking that they now had a much easier way of selling them if they could just get their hands on one.
They would find it much harder to sell them off once they were in prison.
The ONLY saving grace out of all this was that the PSS required a specific kind of computer to be installed in. The version that Bill released was designed to be used in those specialized computers in the Pokémon Centers, not your average laptop or home desktop, meaning that we could at least control where people could access the new systems. This also had the added benefit of making it much easier to catch these criminals while they were trying to transfer or sell off their illegally-caught Pokémon.
But even then, I was completely wiped out from the tiredness from a hectic day of patrolling, which had started practically at dawn and went long into the night, and I let out an exhausted breath as I collapsed into our couch at home.
I had just spent the day scrambling around and patrolling Mt Moon and Cerulean City, always scanning the skies on Port for any potential poachers and trespassing trainers while also helping out the Jennys to protect certain areas where Pokémon lived to make sure they weren't being over-caught.
While dealing with illegal poachers was the main priority, another problem was trying to manage the trainers that were now going out of their way to catch extra Pokémon just because they now had 'more storage' for them.
There weren't any specific laws preventing trainers from catching whatever Pokémon they liked, but there WERE laws on making sure trainers weren't catching so many Pokémon as to disrupt the local ecosystem.
And judging from the events of today, there were MANY trainers out catching Pokémon. Most of these trainers weren't new trainers, but rather they were already-experienced trainers looking to catch a few extra Pokémon to fill out their team since now that they suddenly had an easy way of storing the Pokémon that they didn't use.
That wasn't a bad thing, but most of them often got idiotic and lost their common sense when it came to how many Pokémon they should catch.
You had idiots catching five to six extra Pokémon because they thought they could, even though the PSS explicitly warned trainers that long-term storage of Pokémon within the PSS was a bad idea. I didn't care about their idiocy, but what the League and I DID care about was the fact that they threatened to ruin a few of the more delicate Pokémon habitats around the region.
We had to coordinate with the Jennys and the rangers to run a very strict monitoring and patrolling regime to stop over catching.
To make things worse, the dumber idiots would try to catch one of those powerful Pokémon in Cerulean Cave, thinking that the increased strength and rarity would make them more valuable and worth a higher price. I wasted almost an hour today trying to rescue one of those idiots who ran into the cave without any Pokémon backing him up, as if he was asking to become Pokémon food.
It was very annoying trying to rescue someone from their own stupidity, since they began blaming me for stopping him from "striking it rich". What a guy.
I knew it wasn't just me that was busy. EVERYONE had been running themselves ragged over the past day as the PSS was carelessly released to the public.
I heard from a few of my Gym Leader friends, like Blaine and Giovanni, that they had been completely swamped with trying to keep everyone in line in their respective cities and to crack down on poaching and overexcited trainers.
Even Karen, despite her lack of official responsibilities and her need to fight in the Open Qualifiers, volunteered and was deputised to help out the rapidly overwhelmed Brock in Pewter City. I knew she was still there, helping out by preventing overeager new trainers with swarming the 'beginner' areas and catching too many Pokémon since they were easier to catch.
However, the trainers and poachers were only one part of the problem. The other, and much more nefarious aspect, was the fact that companies could be doing the same thing, just on a much bigger scale. Companies that previously had to transport Pokémon by ship or by truck were now able to simply trade their Pokémon instantly.
That was fine, but some were doing it illegally without the relevant permits.
I knew Lance had been rushing around expanding our monitoring systems so that illegal trades could be prevented. But it was a race against time. He even had Lorelei and her new organisation out in full force to undergo the necessary investigations to ensure that the businesses of Indigo weren't abusing this new invention.
Long story short, everyone was being overworked. But there was no time for rest, as Lance had called in an emergency Committee meeting tomorrow to discuss the passing of new regulations that should hopefully restrict the use of the PSS to more manageable areas.
He informed the Elite Four and the Gym Leaders that he was planning to force companies that intended to use the PSS to obtain the new licences before they were allowed to make use of it. Furthermore, he was going to restrict the public from accessing the PSS only to League-approved places, which mostly meant Pokémon Centers.
His plans would make it so that the PSS would be more controllable, placing enough restrictions on it so that people wouldn't be able to so easily exploit it. While at the same time keeping the functionality and usefulness of the PSS so that it could be used as it was intended.
It helped that even scientists were beginning to realise how reckless Bill had been, and had silently distanced themselves from him. To Lance's joy, hardly anyone was crying out for 'overreach' when they saw the consequences of the PSS laid out in front of them.
However, there was still going to be some backlash to the restrictions, but Lance had said at this point that he couldn't care less about that. He was firm about the necessity of his actions.
It also helped that we all backed our Champion to the hilt.
I got whatever sleep I could before I forced myself out of bed the next day. As I briefly listened to the news while I chowed down on my breakfast, I realized that the other two regions, Hoenn and Sinnoh, were also suffering from the chaos.
I took the small moment of rest to speak to Cynthia as I ate breakfast.
"…You look like crap." She said to me as my face appeared on her screen.
"That's hurtful." I replied dryly, barely having enough energy to be sarcastic, "So how're you faring in Sinnoh?"
"Surprisingly alright." She said to my surprise, "Lucian told me about what you guys are facing over there. We don't nearly have as many instances of PSS abuse as you guys do."
"...Well, that's lucky of you." I said after a moment, "Why do you think that is?"
"Arceus knows." She shrugged, "But if I had to guess…it's probably due to the fact that our tendency towards traditionalism means we're more hesitant to try new things. That includes businesses as well."
"Huh. That's actually pretty funny." I commented, "Never would have thought that a reluctance to change might actually be useful for once."
"Yeah, that'd be pretty ironic." She agreed, "But it's bought us some time to pass the necessary regulations in Sinnoh. I heard you guys were doing the same?"
"Yep, which is why I have to head to this Committee meeting right after I finish my breakfast." I responded, "I hope this all blows over soon."
"It will. This isn't some terrorist attack, it's just some overexcited and reckless trainers. Once the arrests make themselves known, they'll calm down." She explained, "You just have to weather these few days. And the John I know would be able to do so."
A smile spread across my face at her words; she really did know the right things to say.
"You really do make it sound easy." I chuckled, "But thinking objectively, I don't disagree with your optimism. If the restrictions are as effective as we hope them to be, then honestly the situation was far from as bad as it could have been. Effective leadership from all of us have really saved us here."
And now, all of the regions were cooperating together, which I saw was an unintended benefit from all of this.
Either way, I couldn't continue chatting with my girlfriend for much longer and dragged myself to the Committee meeting.
Within, I didn't think I heard a single word of what was being said as I struggled to stay awake through the damn thing. New voting rights or not, my eyes refused to stay awake, especially since I knew what they were going to be voting on. My other Elite Four members were in a similar position.
Lorelei's normally put-together hair was frazzled and she never bothered to readjust her crooked glasses. Will's usually immaculate costume was crumpled and had a few coffee stains on it. Even his hair, which was normally meticulously combed, was left unchecked.
And then there was Agatha, who didn't even show up.
"You guys doing alright?" I asked them, to which both of them shook their heads.
"Exhausted doesn't even BEGIN to cover it." Lorelei muttered, "Between my responsibilities running my new organisation and my duty to help out with the Jennys, it's like I've been running a marathon for the past day." She let out a tired sigh, "It really seems like I chose a bad time to become a leader."
"I don't think I've done this much patrolling in my life." Will added, "I wasn't tied to an area like you were, John, so I was ordered to patrol practically wherever they needed me. That meant running from city to city, all across Indigo. I'm absolutely knackered."
I nodded, "I heard you had to patrol practically the whole of Johto." I said to him.
"And some of Kanto too, just because I didn't want to say no." He confirmed, letting out a breath laced with exhaustion. "You never realize just how many Pokémon that trainers are able to catch if given the chance to go wild. You think the forests of Viridian or the Safari Zones are overflowing with wild Pokémon, but then you get a horde of smugglers charging in and catching everything in it trying to quickly strike it rich and suddenly you're left with much fewer Pokémon."
"Ugh. The obvious smugglers are the worst." Lorelei grumbled in agreement, "It's like the thought of quick money has turned their brain to rot. I've personally arrested over a dozen of them in just a day alone; and yet there still seems to be more everywhere I look."
"Their numbers should hopefully die down after the initial overexcitement wears off." I pointed out, repeating Cynthia's words, "The first few days are always the worst."
"I hope so." Will muttered, "We don't really need all this added work on our plate. Let's hope we can sort this business with the PSS out quickly. But I remain confident that these restrictions should do the trick."
"I'm just glad that the bigger businesses seem to be playing nice." Lorelei sighed, "I was worried that the big titans like Silph Co were going to be making a ruckus about not wanting the restrictions to be in place, but they seem to be cooperating well with the League thus far."
That was probably because Giovanni knew unrestricted use of the PSS would harm Kanto more than it would benefit him. And for all that Giovanni was a businessman, he was a nationalist first. The chaos that the release of the PSS created did not benefit him. So while he never confirmed anything to me explicitly, I suspected that he had a big hand in keeping a few more notable businesses in line to not make a fuss.
"Chaos and over-catching is just bad business for everyone." Will spoke up, unknowingly confirming my thoughts, "I suspect that with the entire world out on the prowl trying to lock down on any abuses of the PSS, only the foolish would try to exploit it right now. The small bump in profits from abusing the new program would not be worth the trouble they would get into. Let alone the reputational damage."
"I hope that the businesses are all able to think as rationally as you do." Lorelei wanted to say more, but she was interrupted as the voting finally began.
Fortunately, the vote passed without much fanfare. It was beyond obvious that Lance had browbeaten the Committee into giving him what he wanted. He was throwing the full weight of his political power at this problem, with the Blackthorn clan fully backing him. No one in the Committee dared to vote against the proposal.
Not that they would, even if they might have wanted to. To anyone watching the news, it was obvious that the regions had all came up with a joint plan on how to tackle the crisis and would be implementing the same solutions together. Therefore, with the entirety of the known world following one course of action, it would be utter stupidity and political suicide to try and fight against this.
Even those in the Committee that had financial ties, who may have had interests that conflicted with the newly added restrictions, knew better than to speak up right now. They had to pick their battles, and this was certainly not one of them. Not when the world was united as one.
Despite all of the chaos that unfolded, I saw this as a huge win for internationalism. This was proof that we could work together to achieve a common goal.
So, with the proposal passing without any issues, Lance immediately moved to hold a press conference where he basically repeated the same statements that Lucian had made earlier. He announced the new restrictions, urged everyone for patience and caution and to keep their trust with the League as we worked to sort out these problems.
"…The new discovery of the PSS is obviously a great advancement for all of our society. I'm certain that the more business-minded and creative of us will find many ways to put this new invention to good use. However, it is also important to not lose your sense of rationality – to become too eager to explore the possibilities of the new invention that you begin being a disturbance to not only those around you, but society as a whole."
"It's been barely over a day since the release of the PSS, and we've already had to arrest hundreds of trespassers and would-be smugglers trying to break into restricted areas that are being guarded by the Jennys. Not only that, but we've had to step in around many areas where trainers had gotten too over-eager to catch new Pokémon to keep in their newly available storage boxes, disrupting and potentially permanently harming the fragile ecosystems and habitats of the local Pokémon population."
"For those of you planning to do the same, let this serve as a warning and a reminder that the League will always stand ready to punish those who break the law and indulge in their greed. For those who won't be, let me reassure you by promising that the League will do its best to restore order and to protect the Pokémon and their habitats that we all care and love."
"The PSS is an excellent and amazing invention that would bring a lot of convenience to how we transport and store Pokémon. But we have to make sure such a powerful tool is properly wielded, with the right amount of restrictions to prevent it from being abused and turned into something that could cause more harm than good."
His speech concluded not long after that, and Lance only bothered with a few questions before making his leave. He had said all he needed to say, and now was time to get back to dealing with all the other issues that had cropped up.
On my end, I had to head to a meeting with mayor Henry and the local council of Cerulean to discuss our future actions going forwards and how best to safeguard our local wild Pokémon population. A quick lunch was scarfed down, then I was once again off on Port to Cerulean City.
As I flew over the familiar city, the one biggest change that was obvious was that there was a significant presence of Jennys in the area. Around the outskirts of the city, practically everywhere you looked there were a few Jennys making sure that people weren't getting too excited with their Pokémon catching and that order was maintained.
Nodding to a few Jennys that were still on patrol, I made my way inside the council building, just in time for the meeting itself. As I entered the conference room, I saw everyone else had already gathered inside. I was the last to arrive.
"Sorry for the holdup." I apologized as I took a seat, shooting a quick acknowledging nod to my parents and the Waterflower sisters.
"It's not a problem." Mayor Henry shook his head, "You're just in time, actually. We were just talking about the effects of the recent patrols and the current situation here in Cerulean."
I nodded, "Any fires needed to be put out?"
"No, things have been calming down, especially now that we know we're getting some good direction from the higher-ups." Mayor Henry explained, "Plus, everyone's more willing to put in the hours and overtime when we know that those in charge are also working hard to deal with the threat. Honestly, I foresaw the worst when I heard the announcement yesterday, but things really haven't devolved as badly as I feared."
"Everyone's been doing good work." I agreed, "If nothing else, trust that the Champion and all the upper leadership are doing their best to work through this current situation together. The new regulations were just passed."
"Bah, not a fan of these restrictions." A businessman spoke up, "The League shouldn't be interfering in private business. We should be allowed to do what we want."
"It is a necessary measure. Without it, we would not be able to monitor those who abused the PSS." I defended Lance, "Besides, this is hardly an overreach by the League. If anything, we're stepping in to protect smaller businesses – ones that would be much more heavily disadvantaged if all the big businesses were allowed to make use of the PSS with impunity. This way, the restrictions should allow the League to have some oversight on how the PSS is being used and be able to step in to stop any abuses. I can assure you that this is FAR more beneficial to you than the alternative."
The businessman didn't look completely satisfied with my answer, but nor was he angry. He gave me a look that said 'we will see', before returning silently to his seat.
"So what should we do next, John?" Daisy of the Waterflower sisters asked, "Is there anything else we could help with?"
At their question, I realized that everyone had turned their way. The Waterflower sisters, my parents, all the wealthy businessmen. Even mayor Henry, the person nominally in charge of the people here, was looking to me for direction. To ask about how I would lead them and the city.
So I made sure to really think through my words before speaking, "Just to confirm, is the situation in Cerulean considered stable?" I asked Henry.
He nodded, "Mhm. I can confirm from the reports received that, while things were hectic to start with, thanks to the hard work of the Jennys and with your assistance with the patrols, most of the activity from smugglers and over-enthusiastic trainers have died down. The presence of the Jennys always serves as a good warning. And besides, Cerulean isn't known to have many Pokémon habitats living around here anyways, outside of Mt. Moon. So there's less to protect, at least compared to some other cities."
"Then I think we have an opportunity on our hands." I explained seriously, clasping my hands together, "I know that some other cities are going to be struggling with dealing with the consequences from the release of the PSS. Both in Kanto and Johto. Off the top of my head, I know that Pewter City is under a lot of pressure due to their need to supervise and patrol both Viridian Forest and Diglett Cave, along with all their other responsibilities."
Despite the name, Viridian Forest was under the authority of both cities, due to how large and sprawling it was. But even with Viridian's help, I heard from Karen that Pewter was still struggling.
"And so, I propose that we should take the first step as a region and offer assistance to any region where needed." I stated, "Whether that be a temporary loan of funds, more manpower from the Jennys, or anything else that they could reasonably request from us. We should provide it in their time of need."
"If we could pull this off, this would be a huge PR win for us as a city." I pointed out, "We would be able to show the whole region that WE were willing to help out our neighbours when they needed it. Not only that, but we could easily inspire others to join in to do the same. It wouldn't be too expensive either, as I predict that this whole incident should blow over in under a week."
"I intend for this call to action to transform into a unifying call of an entire region – where everyone will step up to provide help to those who need it." I continued, "If we are able to unite, then this crisis would be resolved all the quicker, and we can return to our normal lives."
A murmur of approval went around the room, with their heads nodding. My parents just shot me a proud smile, while Lily spoke up, "That's a great idea! I kinda felt a little bad for depriving Mt. Moon from Pewter City, so I'm glad we could do something to help them back."
"And it'll help restore relations between our two cities." Mayor Henry added, "Yes, that's a wonderful idea, John. But are you sure it'll light the spark that you want? Our efforts won't be nearly as impactful if it was just us offering the help."
"I'll make sure of it." I affirmed, "Assuming we agree, I'll make the announcement myself right after this. I know my words will be listened to." I was confident that the cities in need would never turn down a helping hand. Following that momentum, more cities would join in, and the call would quickly spread across Indigo.
This plan would work out.
More importantly, if the call did indeed stretch and spread across the entirety of Indigo, then it would be an incredible step forward in unifying the hearts and minds of the people of Kanto and Johto into one. To forge a shared identity.
And it would be another step into creating the Indigo of my vision.
A.N. A difficult chapter to write, but I thought that exploring the consequences of the PSS deserved such a chapter. The PSS is going to change many things for the world of Pokémon, but the consequences are similarly far-reaching. But thanks to good leadership, which John and the others have unknowingly laid the foundation for, things are far from disastrous and are being handled.
And yes, John's vision is coming into fruition. A more unified Indigo awaits!
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