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 – 10-2 – The New Elites

"Did you really call me here because you wanted to have someone to spar against?" Karen asked jokingly as we walked to the training fields, "Surely with all the people you know you could have called someone else to fight against. And I would have thought you would have wanted to spend more time with Cynthia."

"You're right, but Cynthia's busy, and I can't exactly train with her in person. Besides, I also wanted to spend some time with you as well." I smiled, waving idly as I greeted a few farmhands, "Plus, my parents wanted to see you again, so it works out."

"Oh – well, uh, thanks for not forgetting about me." She said a little embarrassedly, "I admit I was a little scared that our friendship would slowly fade away over time, so I'm glad that hasn't happened. You really held to your word."

"Well I was never going to let that happen." I chuckled, "And my parents would never forgive me. They're always very happy to spend time with you and hear about what you've been doing. They're very excited about how you're handling the Preliminary rounds."

She turned to me, "And I'll always welcome the opportunity to speak to them. You know I already treat them as a second family to me."

"I never thought you'd have any issues getting along with them." I said, "I was honestly more worried about how Agatha would treat me when Cynthia and I started dating."

Karen snorted, "The old hag said I brought it on myself, which I agree with. If she truly thought you wronged me, she'd be a real Bannett to deal with."

Then she shook her head, "That being said, I fear that you might have ruined her expectations. If I ever brought home a guy in the future, I doubt that she's going to be satisfied. The old hag already had high expectations, and now it's only going to be even higher."

"How is she anyways?" I asked, "Is her health doing any better?"

Karen nodded, "Thankfully, she seems to be holding strong." She casually kicked a small pebble off the path, "I wouldn't say she's in the greatest of health, but I'm just relieved that her health doesn't seem to be getting worse."

"Well I hope so as well." I replied. Just like Karen, I had no desire to see Agatha wither away with old age, so I hoped she proved stubborn enough to even hold that back as well.

A slight sombre mood fell on the two of us, and we continued our walk to the training fields in silence. But as soon as we arrived, I moved to dispel the fog of melancholy.

"Right. I wanted to get some proper tests done with Pixel. Out of all of my newer Pokémon, I think it is the one that is closest to being able to join my Elite team." I told her.

There was no real need to wait for Devon Corp to finalize their not-so Dubious Disk research. I felt that Pixel was just strong enough to deserve a spot on the Elite team with its incredible flexibility of moves and with the use of Conversion. It was still not as strong compared to even the likes of Klaus or Zephyr, but I already foresaw situations where it would be able to use its unique niche to win fights that my other Pokémon might struggle with.

Therefore, I wanted to challenge Karen to make sure that my gut feeling wasn't wrong. Plus, I wanted to stress test Pixel to see just how much it could push itself.

"Thought it was about time for it to join." Karen nodded, "I already have Crawdaunt on my team."

"Then let's do this. Your Crawdaunt vs Pixel. Just like old times." I suggested.

"You're on." She grinned, drawing Crawdaunt's Pokéball. "We'll do this just like a real duel."

I nodded back, drawing Pixel's Premier Ball from my belt. A short silence stretched between us before we both released our Pokémon simultaneously.

"Pixel."

"Crawdaunt!"

The battle began as Crawdaunt rushed forwards with a burst of speed; jets of water shooting out behind him. Not only that, but the signature Dark aura from a Taunt was also moving forwards alongside Crawdaunt, ready to deny Pixel the ability to make use of any status shenanigans.

However, Pixel neatly dodged out of the way of the Aqua Jet and formed a Protect shield to block the Taunt, before retaliating with a bolt of Lightning that shot forwards like a spear.

One of Crawdaunt's claws instantly turned to Steel as he stabbed it into the ground, allowing most of the damaging current of electricity to dissipate harmlessly into the ground. Since he was only slightly shocked, that gave Crawdaunt the ability to press forwards and stay on the offensive.

A brutal Clawhammer painfully battered Pixel aside, but before Crawdaunt could follow up on his attack, the Gravity suddenly intensified and Crawdaunt came crashing down onto his knees.

A Thunderbolt was immediately shot his way, but Crawdaunt powered through the Gravity and managed to block it just in time with a Protect. Then, having been very used to dealing with Gravity thanks to our shared training, it didn't take long for Crawdaunt to adapt to the sudden shift in Gravity as he shot backwards with an Aqua Jet, dodging out of the way of another Thunderbolt.

Yet, Crawdaunt's choice to retreat was not punished. Now that it had space, Pixel was able to quickly heal itself with Recover, bringing it back to full health.

"Tsk. That's really annoying to fight against." Karen muttered. "Then I guess I have to hit harder."

"Swords Dance, Crawdaunt!"

"Grass Conversion, Pixel!"

Crawdaunt slammed his claws together as they began glowing with a powerful white. At the same time, Pixel's form shimmered green as it used Conversion to change itself into a Grass type. Besides the resistances that this new type would provide, it also put Pixel in a perfect position to increase its own firepower while also crippling Crawdaunt's.

Thanks to all its training, Pixel's Conversion finished at the same time as Crawdaunt's Swords Dance. And while Crawdaunt rushed back into the fray with another Taunt + Aqua Jet combo, I knew I had one opportunity to make use of a utility move before Karen would shut them down permanently.

Luckily, I had just the thing in mind.

"Sunny Day, Pixel!"

"Crunch down on it, Crawdaunt! This is your chance!"

Pixel shot out a bright ray of light into the sky, turning the already bright sunlight to become even more harsh. The harsh sunlight would nullify the effectiveness of Crawdaunt's Water moves, while giving Pixel access to blast the Water type down with devastating Solar Beams. Of course, that left Pixel vulnerable to the incoming Taunt and the barrage of attacks from Crawdaunt. It was a calculated risk.

We both knew that Pixel was about to receive a punishing pummelling from Crawdaunt, but if Pixel could separate itself from Crawdaunt without fainting, then it would have an overwhelming advantage in the fight as it could just heal itself up.

But Crawdaunt wasn't making it easy. A powerful Crunch snapped down on Pixel's smaller frame that ripped through its Defense, and a flurry of Night Slashes was quick to follow that up as Crawdaunt eviscerated my Pokémon with a series of critical hits. Pixel was given no opportunity to counterattack as Crawdaunt pummelled it with blow after blow.

Yet despite what appeared to be a terrible situation for Pixel to be in, it had been in worse. We had trained for this, knowing that Pixel's mobility would never be enough for its faster opponents. Smough and Vordt had been its practice partner, who hit FAR harder than Karen's Crawdaunt despite the Swords Dance.

If Pixel could break free from their brutal onslaught, then pushing through Crawdaunt's would be far less challenging.

Therefore, it only took a single moment where Crawdaunt landed a weak attack for Pixel to make use of the escape plan that we had trained with.

"NOW!"

Gravity shifted once again. However, instead of growing heavier, Gravity suddenly became far, far lighter. At the same time, Pixel made use of Magnet Rise to propel itself into the air. Therefore, once Crawdaunt's next Night Slash came crashing into it, Pixel was sent flying into the air like a weightless balloon.

It was far from a clean escape, and Pixel's aerial trajectory was not entirely controllable, but this gave it the distance it needed to Recover away some of its injuries.

More importantly, it now gave it the space it needed to go on the offensive.

"Solar Beam! Blast that Crawdaunt away!"

"DIG AWAY, CRAWDAUNT!"

Crawdaunt hurriedly dug into the ground, not wanting to face the full might of a STAB Solar Beam. But it would be a fool's hope. An orb of golden light formed on top of Pixel's head for a brief moment, before an annihilating ray of blinding golden light came tearing through the training fields, blasting straight into the tunnel where Crawdaunt had tried to hide away in.

With its Grass Conversion giving Pixel STAB on its Solar Beam, it was able to match the power of the Solar Beams coming out from Klaus.

And Crawdaunt wasn't nearly proficient enough with Dig to get out of the way. Nor was he durable enough to be able to withstand against such a powerful supereffective attack. The Solar Beam caught him right in the chest, and a pained cry was all that Crawdaunt could do before he rapidly succumbed to his injuries.

Or at least he appeared to do so. I took no chances with Karen.

"Thunderbolt, Pixel." I ordered, making sure that Crawdaunt was ACTUALLY fainted and not just pretending to be.

And as I expected, a Protect shield suddenly appeared and blocked the incoming Thunderbolt. At the same time, Crawdaunt rapidly shot into the air with an Aqua Jet, using the water and lessened gravity to propel himself into the air.

"Gravity again."

But before Crawdaunt could reach Pixel, gravity shifted and intensified once again, sending the Water type crashing straight into the ground as he fell out of the air. In the meanwhile, Pixel barely stayed afloat with Magnet Rise, and before Crawdaunt could recover, another Thunderbolt came slamming down from above – pinning the Water type to the ground.

A pained groan was forced out of the Crawdaunt as a terrible amount of electricity painfully surged into him; his body twitched randomly on the ground from the overload of electricity.

"Thunderbolt and finish it off, Pixel."

"Okay, STOP! That's not needed." Karen quickly shouted out, withdrawing her no-longer-faking injured Crawdaunt, "I knew it wouldn't work, but I still had to try."

I shrugged, "I think I'm a little too used to your tricks to fall for that. Nice try though, you might have caught Pixel if you were a little faster."

"The same tricks don't really work when you've seen them dozens of times." She shook her head, "Still, that was a good fight. I could see why you thought Pixel was ready to join your Elite roster. It's one thing to know about its versatility, its another to really face it in battle. You only made use of its Grass typing, but I suspect that it's going to be doubly or even triply more annoying to deal with once you switch between several Types during a fight."

"Thank you, I thought the same as well." I replied, "I just wanted to make sure with one final duel against Pixel's old sparring buddy." I patted Pixel on the head as I said so, and it buzzed cheerfully at its victory.

"Well it did a number on my Crawdaunt, that's for sure." She said, "I thought Crawdaunt might have a chance when he began his onslaught of attacks, but I guess even with Swords Dance he doesn't quite hit hard enough. Not against the Pokémon you must have had Pixel train against."

She tapped her chin, "Still…I'm surprised you said that only Pixel was ready to join your Elite team. I would have thought your other Pokémon might be ready as well. Especially your newest Pokémon, the one you caught in the wild. What was the Pokémon's name again?"

"Zoroark." I answered as I withdrew Pixel back into its ball.

"Ah yes. That." She muttered, "But as I was saying, why do you think that those Pokémon aren't ready yet?"

"I hope to train them up more before I start to consider them." I responded, "Pixel is in a unique situation because it fulfils an extremely rare niche with its ability to change Types at will and with its incredible utility moves."

"My Zoroark technically also falls under a similar niche with his Illusion ability, but he's still a little lacking in self-discipline and I fear he might still be prone to losing himself in battle." I added, "That being said, I think he's nearly there since he was already quite strong when I caught him, so I hope to get him battle-ready soon."

I idly thought about Cynthia's Kleavor that I knew she must be training up. I wondered how strong was it now? Would I expect to see it on her team anytime soon?

I also made a mental note to ask Cynthia the next time we spoke if she was going to do another big expedition to find that Sneasler we missed. But maybe she was too busy at the moment to do so with her Open Challenge and her recent ascension to Champion.

I dismissed that thought before Karen could accuse me of being distracted and went to check the time. "Oh, it's almost lunch. Want to head back and get some lunch?"

"Did your parents cook?" She asked.

"No, not today. I think we're just putting together some sandwiches." I said, "You okay with that?"

"Duh. Let's go." She shoved me gently as she pushed me towards the house.

Needless to say, we had an enjoyable lunch together. As a family.

Unfortunately, my time with Karen was cut short in the afternoon. She had to prepare for her next match for the Preliminary Rounds, and I had received a call from Blaine asking me to meet him at the power plant. He said he had something to discuss with me quite urgently regarding the Electirizer.

Considering that he sounded a little frustrated on the phone, I already knew it probably wasn't going to be the best of news.

Flying over to the power plant, my suspicions were confirmed as I was greeted with a frowning Shelly and an annoyed-looking Blaine.

"John, sorry to call you here on such short notice, but thanks for coming." Shelly greeted.

"It's no problem, but what did you call me here for? I don't presume it's anything good." I asked as I looked around, "And wow, they really tidied up the place. This place is looking far more like a proper production facility than some run down power plant."

Whoever was in charge of fixing the place up had worked well, and fast. Not only had everything been polished and fixed up, with new machinery put in place that looked a lot more modern and advanced than what I had previously saw, but the many swarms of Electric Pokémon that had I had last seen around the place had been heavily cut down on.

I wondered how they got rid of them. Did they just relocate them?

"Hmph, you're right about that." Blaine grumbled, bringing my attention back, "Sadly, it appears that the two of us have severely underestimated the difficulty of creating an Electirizer. Turns out building the parts that we need to condense that amount of Electric energy is going to require some specialist knowledge. Unfortunately, despite out best efforts, recent results have proven that neither Shelly or I possess that kind of ability. We may have overestimated ourselves at the start."

"I see…but I'm afraid I'm not going to have that expertise either. I'm certainly not an Electric specialist." I replied with a helpless shrug of my own.

Blaine waved me off, "That's not what we were asking for. Once again, we were hoping if you knew any Electric specialists that might be interested in helping with this. Or if you think you can find a way to persuade Surge to help us."

I turned to Shelly, "Couldn't you ask Gym Leader Wattson? I'm sure he'd have the expertise to help out."

"I already tried that. But he said he was too busy to help out at the moment since he's currently still overseeing the construction of New Mauville. He also said he's not the most familiar with machinery and the like – though I'm not sure I believe him." Shelly responded.

I frowned, "That's frustrating. Wattson was my first go-to as well. Let me have a think…" I tapped my chin as I ran through all of the Electric specialists that I knew that could help with this.

It took me some time, but my brain eventually landed on someone that I felt would be the PERFECT fit for this project.

"Does anyone know Gym Leader Volkner, from Sinnoh?" I asked.

The two of them shot me puzzled looks, "I'm afraid I haven't had the time to become familiarized with the new Gym Leaders from Sinnoh." Blaine said.

"Me neither." Shelly agreed, "I've heard of him, but that's all. Why? Do you think he's suitable?"

I nodded, "I think he'll be very suitable – and interested. I've heard that he's frequently bored and always working on improving that lighthouse of his, and he's very interested in technology and machinery."

"Well if you're so confident, then it sounds like he'd be a great fit then." Blaine replied, "I'd still like to talk to him first before we decide if we bring him on board, but are you able to contact him?"

"…I think so, give me a moment." I walked away and dialled up Flint's number.

"John! Glad to hear from you!" His cheerful voice filtered through the speakers, "Hope you're doing well! What'd you need me for?"

"Hey Flint, hope you're doing good." I greeted, "Listen, could you pass me Volkner's contact details? I have a project that I hope he'd be interested in–"

"A project? Say no more!" Flint interrupted, "You called at a great time, actually. Volkner JUST lost to Cynthia, so this'd be a great way to distract him from his woes. I'll pass on his number to you."

My phone dinged, and I saw that his details had arrived, "Thanks, Flint. We can speak more soon." We exchanged a few more words before I went to call Volkner.

"Hello?" Unlike Flint, Volkner's voice sounded tired and bored. He couldn't be more opposite from Flint if he tried.

"Is this Gym Leader Volkner? This is John, from the Indigo Elite Four." I stated.

"Oh? It's a pleasure to meet you." His voice became more enthusiastic, "Did Flint give you my number?"

"He did – because I had a proposal for you." I replied, "Have you heard of the Magmarizer?"

"Yes, I have. Very interesting invention." He responded, "What about it?"

"Currently, the team that made the Magmarizer – that is Gym Leader Blaine, Director Shelly of Devon Corp, and I – have been trying to take what we've learnt and have been working to create an Electric variant of it. But we've run into some roadblocks, and we hoped that we could bring in your expertise as an Electric specialist to help out. Especially since you seem very interested in working with technology and machinery."

Though I could not see him, I could feel the grin splitting across his face, "Now, now, THIS is something I've wanted to hear." The excitement in his voice was palpable, "I would love to join in on this project."

Then he let out a sigh, "…But I'm all the way here in Sinnoh, and I unfortunately can't just drop my responsibilities as Gym Leader of Sunyshore to just head over to Indigo to help out." He said.

"Not to worry, I'm sure we can sort something out so that you'll be able to help out from where you are in Sinnoh." I reassured, "Blaine and Shelly told me that they were just having trouble with building something that could condense that much Electric energy into a small enough space. I'm sure that's something you could help with even while you remain in Sinnoh."

"…That might potentially be possible, but I would have to know more about the project first." He replied.

"That's no problem." I said, "Like I said, that's something I'm sure we'll all be able to figure out together. I was just calling to check if you were interested."

"Definitely." He said instantly, "If you'd have me, count me in."

"Great!" I grinned, "I'll pass your details to Blaine and Shelly. I'm sure they'll have a few questions to ask you in the future to see if you can be brought on board, though they shouldn't be anything to worry about."

"I'll be happily waiting for that call then." He stated, "Thank you for reaching out to me."

Then he snorted, "And I thought I would be spending the next few weeks in boredom; then two things just happened to me back-to-back to make me motivated once more."

"Well I'm happy to hear that as well." I replied, not exactly knowing what he was referring to but happy to hear that he was in a good mood, "We can speak again soon."

We ended the call soon after that, and I returned and relayed what I said to Volkner to Blaine and Shelly, along with passing his contact details to them.

"I'll give him a ring later today to check if he's suitable to be brought onto the team." Shelly told me, "Though I trust that you would never recommend someone unsuitable – especially since he's a Gym Leader."

"I really have to spend some time and study up on the new Gym Leaders." Blaine muttered, "As a Gym Leader myself, it's embarrassing that I don't know them."

My mind flashed to the Tri-Regional Tournament that Wallace was probably currently planning. Blaine's research would prove more useful than he expected.

"In that case…anything else I can help with now that I'm here?" I asked, "Besides that particular roadblock, how has the project been doing in general?"

"Things are running smoothly. As you can see, the place has really been built up, even if it's not finished yet." Shelly gestured around us, "Plus, our cooperation with Lavender Town has been moving a lot smoother than we expected."

"What she means to say is that we thought Agatha would be a right bitch to deal with; and I have the history to prove it." Blaine grumbled, "However, it seems like Karen is much more cooperative. Thank Arceus for that – I would have ripped my hair out if I had to deal with Agatha for more than is necessary."

I very wisely did not point out the fact that Blaine was bald, though I agreed with his point about Karen being easier to work with.

"She's trying to open up Lavender Town to be more appealing to the public." I said, remembering what Karen had told me about her plans with Lavender Town, "But the first step to that is proving that she isn't as…difficult to work with as Agatha was. Forging friendly connections helps with that."

"I suspect that the fact that you're good friends with her also helped a lot." Blaine smirked, getting a chuckle out of Shelly.

"Wow. You almost sounded just like Agatha." I shot back, and the look of horrified confusion and rage from Blaine's face was instantly worth it.

"YOU TAKE THAT BACK!" He shouted out, causing Shelly and I to break out in laughter.

Even though we all came from different backgrounds and occupations, I felt that the three of us made for a great trio to work together with. Not because we all had similar strengths, but because we were able to be genuinely friendly around each other. As friends would be.

I knew that if Volkner wanted to join us for more than just working on the Electirizer, then he would have to prove more than his wit. He would have to prove his friendliness to us as well.

Because it was always easier and better to work alongside your friends.

A.N. Some setup before we get into the Tournament itself. And yes, Pixel joins the Elite Team! Like I said, even though Pixel hasn't fully evolved yet, it's still got plenty of potential in the small niche that it fills. We'll be seeing it in a proper battle in the future, I promise!

And yes, Volkner is invited to join the scientific team! Thanks to whoever suggested Wattson as an idea, because I was inspired and went to Volkner instead since he seemed more suitable. Since Volkner seems to have a lot more free time on his hands compared to Wattson, I thought he would be more interested in a project like this.

Also, I have seen your comments regarding the security concerns of the Tournament. They will be addressed in a future chapter, but needless to say the Leagues aren't going to just leave their regions undefended.

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!