The New Normal – 10-12 – Interlude – The Losers
(Sidney POV)
"…Are you feeling any better, Brock?" He spoke softly to his partner, making sure that his voice remained calm and gentle. The young lad hadn't taken the loss very well, which was only to be expected.
It was a little soul crushing to be given a second chance by the public, winning the public vote after they lost in the first round, only for it to not matter in the end.
"I think so." Was Brock's response, but Sidney knew he was lying.
"You don't have to lie. I'm not going to judge you for feeling bad." He said soothingly, "It was just some bad luck that we were against difficult opponents. If we had gotten an easier pairing, then we might have done better."
It was like Arceus had cursed them with their matchups. They had to go against both Lucian and Surge, then Pryce and Candice! Both were ridiculously difficult matchups, and unfortunately they were not able to overcome them.
Still, he didn't let any of that regret show on his face as he patted Brock on the shoulder, "Don't think it's your fault. You did well. Very well for your age."
"Roxanne did better." Brock sulked, pointing to the screen where they were playing a highlight reel of John and Roxanne's battle, "You saw her Steelix – mine could never compare."
"She did surprise me – I hadn't thought she could put up such a dominating performance." He allowed, "But let's not forget that she had John's Clefable supporting her every step of the way. Without his Light Screens, Life Dews, and Helping Hands – there was no way she could have made such a strong showing."
"If anything, you weren't at fault for our loss." He continued, "It was mine for not being able to stop them from setting up the Snow. I slipped up, and we lost the fight from there."
"If only I was stronger…" Brock began to say, only for Sidney to quickly interrupt him.
"And as I've been saying many times this Tournament, you are plenty strong enough." He advised, "Remember, no one expects you to be a match for anyone here. Everyone in this Tournament are all Gym Leaders or Elite Four, while you are still an underaged future Gym Leader. The fact that you held your ground as well as you did is good enough. Don't forget that."
Then he was reminded of someone important in Brock's life, "Why don't you give Karen a call? I'm sure she'll be all too happy to congratulate you on your performance."
He nodded slowly and went to do so. Sidney stepped away as Brock spoke on the phone; not wanting to eavesdrop on their conversation. By the time they were done, Brock seemed a little happier.
"Feeling better?" He asked.
"Slightly." Brock nodded, before bowing, "Thank you for being my partner in the Tournament and for being so patient with me."
"There is certainly no need to thank me." He replied, "Working with you has been a pleasure."
He extended out his hand, "Brock, you are a bright young man, and I foresee a bright future ahead for you. Throughout this entire Tournament, you have remained steadfast, willing to learn, and incredibly determined. It has been an honour to be your partner. If you are ever in Hoenn, or if you just need someone else to speak to, I would be happy to take your call."
His words caused a smile – the first one in a while – to break out on Brock's face, "Thank you, Sidney. I promise to call." They shook hands for the final time, signalling the end of their partnership in the Tournament.
Yet also marking the beginnings of a new friendship.
(Lorelei POV)
She let out a sigh as soon as she saw who was calling. Even though she had expected this call, that doesn't mean she was enthusiastic about it.
But she decided to pick up anyways.
"So you lost." Her uncle's voice filtered through the phone, "I thought you were better than this."
"If you're here to just complain, then I'm hanging up." She bit out.
"Calm yourself – I know full well you'll just ignore a verbal lashing, so I'll reserve that for when you get home." Thanks, uncle. "Instead, let me ask you a question. Why did you not set up the Snow for yourself?"
She winced; she knew this question was coming.
"You don't need to answer that." His uncle continued before she could say anything, "Whatever your reasons were, they were wrong. You should have set up the Snow, damn whatever that Gym Leader partner of yours wanted."
"Remember, Lorelei, there are times when you must stamp down your authority." Her uncle reminded, "This was one of them. When your partner is making a mistake, it is your job to call them out on it. The fact that you didn't cost you the fight."
"…Wake was a little too enthusiastic." She tried, remembering how insistent that Wake was that he could overcome his Electric weakness, "He wasn't the best of listeners. He's quite headstrong and gets a little too lost in the excitement of a battle."
Wake wasn't a bad person – far from it. But he had no limits on his enthusiasm.
"Hmph. Well, I suppose the fault isn't entirely on you, but you ought to learn to reel in your partners." Her uncle stated, "You do not need to have an equal partnership. You could always take the lead and be the one giving out orders and setting strategy. Look at the other pairings, like Drake and John's – they clearly are the ones who are in charge of their partnership. And so am I."
"And how's that working out with you and Candice?" She shot back, "Doesn't she hate your guts?"
"And so what?" He fired back easily, "In fights, we work together and she listens, as do I if she says something intelligent. I do not care for her feelings towards me, only that we are effective in battle."
She closed her mouth and thought through his words. Was he right?
"Now, I have my own battle to prepare for. But think about that, oh niece of mine." Pryce said, "Try not to lose again."
He hung up before she could tell him to fuck off.
(Lucian POV)
It was a little amusing, in a dark humour kind of way, that he found himself on the ship back to Sinnoh with his fellow Elite Four member. They hadn't planned it out like this, but they had both lost in the second round. So now they were on their way back to Sinnoh.
"So you were knocked out too." Bertha walked up to him as he leaned on the rails of the ship, staring idly to the sea, "You know that means the entirety of the Sinnoh Elite Four has been knocked out of the Tournament."
"Yes, I do." He sighed, "And that means we're the only region to have all of our Elite Four knocked out."
Hoenn still had Drake, who looked poised to make it to the Top 3. While Indigo still had John and Agatha, who were both most certainly making it to the Top 3 unless they faced off against each other. Actually, barring some serious unfortunate matchups, it looks like at least one Elite Four from both Hoenn and Indigo would make it to the top 3.
But none from Sinnoh.
"I hope Cynthia's a forgiving sort." Bertha chuckled bitterly, "This doesn't look great."
While he didn't disagree, and he was not usually one to vent his frustrations, he couldn't help but lament their respective partners. Surge was undoubtedly a strong partner, and at first he had been pleased by their partnership. Until he had to spend time around the man.
His stubbornness reminded him way too much of the unpleasantness of his first meeting with Pryce when he was still Champion. That didn't mean Surge wasn't professional – he was, and despite his obvious nationalism they were cordial with each other, but even his fighting style was stubborn. The man fought one way, and one way only. It was difficult to come up with creative strategies to work around that.
And the less to say about Lewis, that old and frail Gym Leader of Goldenrod that was Bertha's partner, the better.
He couldn't help but think that perhaps they could have gone farther had they gotten a better roll of the dice in their partners—no, he shouldn't think like that. There were more he could have done. He couldn't just blame Surge; that would be unfair.
Surge was a respectable Gym Leader – they just didn't mesh well together.
"At least we have some promising Gym Leaders who look to make it far." He tried, shaking himself out of his previous thoughts, "Volkner and Candice look like they can make it to the Top 3."
If Volkner was the teasing type, then Flint was never going to hear the end of it since he lost in the first round. That being said, Flint was definitely going to fire back with his own round of teasing. There was no way anyone could miss the closeness between Volkner and Jasmine.
"Let's just hope we have one person from Sinnoh that's in the Top 3." Bertha said, "It'd look really bad if not a single one of us made it to the end."
He winced; let's hope it didn't come to that. He really had hoped that he would have done better in this Tournament.
A.N. Originally this was supposed to be another Live Reactions interlude, but I changed it to this because I thought this added more to the story and allowed me to setup a few things for future chapters.
Ultimately, I did not want to dedicate multiple chapters to fights that weren't directly related to John. I didn't want to write that, and I didn't think it'd be interesting to read and would simply be a waste of chapters. Instead, I wanted to highlight a few different perspectives from a few important characters from each region, and how they have taken their respective losses from the Tournament.
For some, the Tournament was an opportunity to make new friends. For others, it was a possible learning moment. For others, it was a moment of slight regret and bitterness. I hope you enjoyed!
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!