John's Team

Tyrant - Slaking

Vordt - Ursaluna

Smough - Snorlax

Klee - Blissey

Port - Mantine

Zephyr - Pidgeot

Klaus - Wyrdeer

Luna - Clefable

Pixel - Porygon2

Euphie - Sylveon

Ornstein - Obstagoon

Wraith - H-Zoroark

The New Normal – 10-13 – To the Finals

Browsing through the Pokenet a few hours after our match made me realize that we had gotten on a few headlines for making it into the Final Rounds. Like I had hoped, Roxanne got her share of the spotlight, even if that spotlight was split between encouragement and criticism.

There were some that supported and cheered for Roxanne for being able to make it to the Finals and for keeping up with an Elite Four member. On the other hand, there were some that criticised her for letting me doing all the work and simply being there to 'deal the final blow'. Those same people claimed that she had been carried all the way to the Finals.

I asked Roxanne if she would like me to make a public statement going against these claims, but she said that it wasn't necessary. She didn't want to make a drama out of it and she was happy enough with the recognition that she was getting.

"Stirring up drama at this point wouldn't do anyone any good." She had told me, "Better to let them vent off their steam and focus on winning our next battles."

"Agreed. We still have a battle to win." I nodded, "But if you ever want me to speak up for you, just let me know. I'll be happy to do so."

I was also amused to find that there was a sizeable legal and illegal betting pool that had been set up for the Tournament. Out of curiosity, and certainly not because I wanted to see who had the best odds, I went to take a peek at the numbers.

Funnily enough, Roxanne and I did not have the best odds to making it to the Top 3, though we were near the top. That honour belonged to the pair of Agatha and the Psychic twins. We actually weren't even second, because Pryce and Candice took that spot.

Interesting.

One last thing that I noticed was that there was finally some interest being shown to my new Obstagoon evolution, especially in the science forums. They were speculating as to why an alternate form of Linoone would have an evolution when the original form was proven to not have one. That led to further speculation if there were other Pokémon with alternate forms that also had an evolution that had been previously undiscovered.

Some were even trying to test if their original assumption that a standard Linoone didn't have an evolution was false, and if there was a way of triggering a normal Linoone into evolving into an Obstagoon.

Fortunately for me, they kept their discussions to the forums and never pestered me with interviews. The last thing I wanted was a horde of scientists trying to inspect Ornstein's new form.

Of course, reading through articles and looking at gambling odds about us wasn't the only thing I did. I also made sure to watch and study all our other matches, just in case one of them would be picked as our opponents. I knew that we were in the home stretch now, and that there would be very few breaks between the remaining matches.

Time had really flown by for this Tournament.

The Final Rounds were going to take place tomorrow, and the match against the Champions shortly after that. So I might as well make use of whatever time we had to prepare; I had no doubts that we were up for a challenging fight ahead. None of our remaining opponents were going to be easy.

With the Second Round concluding, the pairings that made it to the Final Rounds were: myself and Roxanne, Pryce and Candice, Drake and the Waterflower sisters, Agatha and the Psychic twins, Volkner and Jasmine, and Norman and Giovanni. We made up the Top 6.

And it was late at night, where Roxanne and I had reconvened at her office, that we discovered who our next and final opponents were going to be. Amongst the Top 6, there were a few pairs that I hoped we would get, as I was far more confident about securing my victory against them. However, my gut told me that we wouldn't get lucky this time. And my suspicions were quickly proven correct as our final opponent was revealed.

We were going to be fighting against Agatha and the Psychic twins.

A frown instantly appeared on my face – one that Roxanne shared.

"…Do you have a plan for this, John?" She turned to me, uncertainty evident in her voice. I was glad that she trusted my opinion so highly, but I was drawing a blank at the moment. This was not going to be an easy fight by any stretch of the imagination.

Nothing needed to be said about Agatha's strength; I had watched her previous battles and had heard enough from Karen to be wary of her. Her Ghost types basically matched Karen's in terms of trickery, or even surpassed them in some cases, and I was nearly certain that I wouldn't be able to lock them down with a Taunt. Not like I did with my previous opponents.

Unless…"Roxanne, do you have a Pokémon that knows Helping Hand?"

"…My Sudowoodo knows it." She said after a moment to think, "Am I going to be taking up a supportive role this time?"

I nodded, "I think you have to. I don't think this is a fight we can manage with our previous set up."

"Does your Sudowoodo know Taunt as well?" I asked, a plan starting to form in my mind.

"It does, but it's not very proficient at it." She admitted, "I neglected training it because I didn't think it was a very useful move for my Rock types to have. But after seeing Karen and Sidney's fight, I had been reconsidering but didn't have time to properly master it."

"Do you have anyone else on your team that knows both Helping Hand and Taunt?" I had to check. My whole plan was reliant on this.

"Yes, my starter Probopass knows those moves too." She confirmed.

"Good, then we'll be using your Sudowoodo and Probopass in the fight." I informed her, "Yes, you will be taking up a supportive role this time. Taunt is going to be the most important move for our next fight, or else the fight is going to spiral out of our control."

I watched as she took out a notepad and starting jotting down notes. I gave her a moment to finish writing before continuing, "But for you specifically, as crude as this might sound, your role might just revolve around distracting Agatha for as long as possible and firing off the occasional Taunt against the twins."

She nodded, not at all offended by my plan, "Then what about Agatha? Should I try to Taunt her too?"

"No, don't even bother." I shook my head, "Agatha trained up the best Dark specialist I know. You won't catch her like that. Focus on keeping your Pokémon in the fight and supporting mine."

"I understand. Then I'll have to leave it to you." She nodded again as she stared at me with determined eyes.

Hearing the trust that she had in me was good for my ego, but it also meant that I now had to live up to her high expectations. Still, I didn't let that get to me. Agatha was a formidable opponent, and her Ghost types were as dangerously agile and as deadly as ever. From the few matches I watched of her performance in this Tournament alone, I knew that old age hadn't caused her to lose out on her skill as a trainer.

And that wasn't even taking the twins to account, who could be a really disruptive nuisance for me.

So there would be no more sandbagging for me. I would choose my Pokémon based on what would work best to secure a victory. This was going to be a difficult battle, and deserved an appropriate response from me.

My bruisers were going to need to prepare themselves.

That was how, as the night ticked away, Roxanne and I got together and began forming a plan for how we were going to deal with our final opponent.

I would not lose here. Not when my match against Lance was oh so close.

(Giovanni POV)

"Did you think we would have made it this far when the pairings were first announced?" His fellow Gym Leader and teammate asked him as they walked to his house.

Norman had invited him over for dinner. It was something that he had initially wanted to politely turn down, but Ariana had already given her acceptance before he could decline. She was all too happy to learn more about parenting from them.

Or perhaps it was just an excuse to gossip.

"...Admittedly, I did not." He shook his other thoughts aside as he responded to Norman's question, "I didn't know much about you, except that you were a Normal specialist."

"And you didn't look down on me for that?" Norman asked, "Normal specialists aren't known for being the strongest, after all."

His head shook, "Of course not. John's been making far too many waves, and securing many victories, for me to underestimate the power of Normal types. Plus, the both of you share the same starter."

"I know. We battled against each other – starter vs starter – quite a long time ago." Norman revealed to his surprise. "I lost, obviously. My Slaking wasn't a match for his."

"Well that's not anything to be upset about." He chuckled, "I can count on one hand the number of trainers that I believe could beat his Slaking, and even then a part of me still thinks he'll be able to narrowly beat them all anyway."

The conversation stopped there as they finally arrived at Norman's place. Giovanni was surprised at how humble it was; Littleroot Town was not where you would expect a Gym Leader to live. But he kept those thoughts to himself as he entered into his house, immediately spotting his partner chatting expressively with Norman's wife.

The latter lit up as soon as she saw him.

"Oh, my apologies for not getting the door." Norman's wife said as she stood up and rushed over, "It's nice to meet you, Gym Leader Giovanni. My name's Caroline. It's a pleasure to have you over."

"Nonsense. It is me who should be thankful to you for hosting Ariana and I." He said smoothly, "And I'm sure Ariana has been pestering you with many questions. I appreciate your patience in entertaining her."

"It's nothing." Caroline giggled over the glare that Ariana shot him, "Mothers like to talk, you know how it is. She was just telling me about Silver."

"More like I was praising May and Max." Ariana corrected, "Like I said, if Silver was a fraction as well-behaved, it'd be a miracle."

"You know we could invite him over to play with them, right?" Norman spoke up, "I think the kids would appreciate having a new friend – and potentially a pen pal."

Giovanni considered it for a moment before nodding; yes, that was something that could work. Silver really did need more friends. It wasn't good to rely solely on Whitney's friendliness.

Nonetheless, that was for the future him to think about. For the time being, he allowed himself to relax and enjoy himself as they all dug into Caroline's wonderful cooking. Both their kids had joined them at one point and, just like Ariana described, were both extremely well behaved at the dinner table.

Of course, that didn't mean they didn't ask him questions.

"What do you think of the Ground types from Hoenn, Gym Leader Giovanni?" May had asked him, "Which ones do you recommend for a beginner trainer?"

He liked that she emphasised the 'easy to train' part. A lot of young trainers only focused on power and little else, not realising how difficult it would be for that Pokémon to reach that power. There was a reason why powerful Pokémon weren't just handed out to newbie trainers.

After thinking it over, he answered, "I would recommend Claydol."

"Not Flygon?" Max interrupted to ask.

He shook his head, "No. Remember, your sister asked for a Pokémon that was suitable for beginners. Flygon are powerful, but a Trapinch is incredibly weak before it evolves into a Vibrava. It's both slow and frail, and doesn't offer anything beyond your generic Ground type moves. Then, as a Flygon, I guarantee that you won't be able to properly control and instil discipline in it unless you are also an experienced trainer."

"But a Baltoy, and later Claydol, are powerful choices for beginners. Especially for their Psychic typing." He explained, "It has both ranged and close-range attacks, and can Levitate, which gives it a huge advantage against purely grounded attackers. It's also not as slow as a Camerupt, which makes it easier to use for inexperienced trainers. Plus, you can teach it Teleport, and it'll become a huge convenience in your lives."

The two children nodded understandingly at his answer with a thoughtful expression on their face, before they both expressed their thanks for his detailed explanation.

The dinner continued on similarly peaceful lines like that, with him and Norman in charge of answering the children's endless questions, while Ariana and Caroline gossip as they were wont to do.

However, after dinner was over and the children retired upstairs, it was time for him and Norman to return to more serious topics as their next opponents were about to be revealed.

"Volkner and Jasmine…Pryce and Candice…John and Roxanne…Agatha and the twins…Drake and the Waterflower sisters…that's quite the lineup that we have in the Top 6." Norman said to him as they sat down on the couch, "Almost intimidatingly so."

"They are all very formidable." He agreed, "We are most certainly the underdog here."

And what an odd feeling it was, being the underdog. It's been some time since he felt this way.

"Indeed. I know I said I was pleasantly surprised that we got too far, but honestly I'm just being realistic when I say that our chances don't look great." Norman exclaimed as he leaned back, "Our winning streak might end here."

They had secured their previous victories by keeping it very simple. Both he and Norman's Pokémon were tough and strong, so they played to their strengths by forcing close range engagements and worked together to pummel their opponents with their stronger Pokémon. It was especially effective when their opponents were either weaker than them in a direct engagement, or they had some weak link they could exploit.

It was a very brute force method of winning, but it worked out.

However, while he wasn't one to be defeatist, seeing who they were potentially up against, he had to agree with Norman, "I see a few pairings that I am certain we would lose to. I know full well how strong John and Agatha are, and if they decide to take us seriously then I can say for certain that we won't be winning against them."

Since their strategy relied on combined brute force rather than any fancy tricks or creative displays of teamwork, he knew that they didn't stand a chance against any team that could endure and overcome their offensive momentum.

That being said, he would rather die than lose to Pryce. But he kept that bit to himself.

Norman nodded, "Can't disagree with that. Let's hope to avoid them. I would prefer if we fought Volkner and Jasmine, if only because we seem to have the strongest Type matchup against them, but admittedly I don't know much about them."

"Me neither." He said, "I only know that Jasmine is also a new Gym Leader. I would have thought she would be weaker because of that, but her and Volkner make for a stronger pair than I expected. They worked impressively well together."

"You don't need to be so doom and gloom." Caroline suddenly spoke up from the side, "You know that the twins would be happy that you even made it this far. Treat winning as a bonus, not an obligation."

Ariana wasn't far behind, "Likewise, Gio. You've already proven enough by making it to the Finals. Don't stress about losing here."

Their wives' words (because Ariana was his wife in all but name) had allowed a sense of calm to settle over the both of them. They were right; he hadn't expected to make it to the Top 3 in the first place, so there was really no need to stress too much about losing.

They would still strive for victory, but they wouldn't agonize over it.

And this reminder came just in time, as the announcement about who their next opponents were going to be was revealed.

They were against Drake and the Waterflower sisters. That was not ideal.

"…That's going to be an uphill battle." Norman mumbled, and he agreed. Drake might not be at the level of John or Agatha in his mind, as he saw Drake as a lesser Lance, but he didn't underestimate the man.

Still, they needed to come up with a plan. "My first thought is that we avoid Drake's Pokémon at all cost. Focus down the Waterflower's Pokémon to secure a quick 2v1 scenario. Like we've done before."

"Won't be easy." Norman disagreed, "We aren't the only pair to think of that – others have tried it before us to little success. Drake knows how to cover his partner. His Hydro Pumps hit very hard."

Norman then stared at him, "How confident are you in your Ground types to be able to tank those Water attacks?"

"…Not very." He admitted, "At least not Drake's. His Pokémon will blast through mine."

"Remember boys, relax. Losing isn't the end of the world." Carolina reminded the two of them again, "And don't forget that you're both getting on in years. Try not to add to your stress lines." And with those final parting words, the two ladies left their husbands alone to ponder over their strategy.

The two of them exchanged a wry look and a small chuckle before they returned their efforts to the battle ahead.

The planning went long into the night.

(Volkner POV)

Flint could never find about this, or he would never hear the end of it.

Yes, he was having a dinner with Jasmine. No, he did not know whether this would be considered a date, but a voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Flint was telling him that it was.

"…Are you feeling alright?" Jasmine asked from across him as she took a bite out of her dinner, "Do you have something on your mind?"

He quickly threw his errand thoughts to the back of his mind as he shook his head, "No, sorry. I was just distracted. Were you saying something?"

Volkner, you stupid idiot. Why would you admit that?

Luckily, Jasmine only chuckled at his words, "I get it. I'm nervous about the next battle too."

That wasn't what he was thinking about, but he wasn't going to correct her, "Mhm. Our next opponents prove fearsome."

"I thought that's what you wanted." She giggled, "Didn't you tell me you were excited to have all these powerful trainers to fight against?"

Yes, he did say that. He still remembered those being one of his first words to her, how he told her to not slow him down – stupid words that he now dearly hoped he could have taken back. Before the pairings were announced, his singular goal in the Tournament was to fight through to the top 3 for the opportunity to fight against the Champions. He hadn't forgotten his battle against Cynthia, and he was all too eager to try to reexperience it.

But now, with Jasmine as his partner, his reasons for winning had changed. Now, he wanted to win together, because he wanted to help her with her reputation as a Gym Leader.

…He swore to himself that there was no other reason, no matter how much Flint had teased him that he was trying to impress her.

Oh shit, he was distracted again. "I was, but you know I've always wanted to fight the Champions. Now that the opportunity is so close, I have some concerns about whether we can cross this final hurdle."

"Ah, that makes sense." Jasmine nodded, "Truthfully, I'm happy enough to get this far already. I don't have the…ambition that you have, and I've already seen how much more popular I've gotten for making it to the Final Rounds."

"Still, I know I wouldn't be able to get this far without you, so I'll do my best to support you!" She pumped a fist, and Volkner forced his face to remain steady before he grinned like an idiot at that cute gesture of hers.

The conversation carried on like that for a few more minutes, and just as they were about to wrap up their meals, his phone alarm went off. The announcement had come – their next opponents had just been revealed.

And it turned out to be Pryce and Candice.

"…Another weather team." He muttered, "I almost would have preferred Drake and the Waterflower sisters. At least we could take advantage of their Rain in that case."

"Well they're fighting Norman and Giovanni." Jasmine said, "At least we didn't get John and Roxanne. Or Agatha and the twins."

"Yes…we got 'lucky' there." He agreed, "Hm…Pryce and Candice…you know more about Pryce than I do. How strong is he?"

Jasmine tilted her head cutely as she thought over his question, "Hm…that depends on how much he's let his team go since his retirement. He used to be very strong – he was Champion for a reason, but his defeat to Lance exposed his weakness and complacency. I've heard a few reliable rumours that he's not as complacent as he used to be, but I doubt he's training up as hard as he could be."

"Stronger than Lorelei?" He asked.

"I would expect them to be equal in strength." Jasmine confirmed, "But don't look down on his Mamoswine. It matched up to Lance's Emperor very well, and most Pokémon just aren't able to do that. That should tell you all you need to know about its strength."

"I know, I know." He said with a frown. Damn Ground types, he still hadn't trained up his Octillery to be able to deal with those yet. That was still someways into the future.

Still, there was one thing that was of paramount importance in the fight, "We must be able to take control of the weather in our fight. We cannot win if the Snow is allowed to remain, and I doubt that Pryce will make the same mistake as Lorelei did."

He was used to fighting for control over the weather during his many, many battles against Flint, so this should prove no different.

Jasmine agreed as he continued, "You also have the Type advantage against his Ice types. I know we've primarily made use of your Electric moves in the past, but you're going to have to demonstrate why you're a Steel type specialist now."

"I'll do my best." She nodded firmly, "And I think my Pokémon are strong enough to take down Candice's in a few good hits. I'll try to prioritise that."

And so, the two of them continued discussing their plans for the upcoming battle deep into the night. As they talked, his heart pumped with both excitement and concern, as it always did when he was about to fight a difficult battle.

This was just the final hurdle before he won his chance to face off against the Champions.

However, deep into the back of his mind – so far back that he didn't even realise he was thinking it, he knew that, win or lose, he had already won something more valuable than the Tournament.

After all, he had made another friend. Or…perhaps more than that.

(Candice POV)

"…You know, I really regret my earlier optimism." She said to her friend over the phone.

Cynthia laughed, "I did warn you that Pryce was going to be a pain to work with. Still, you've been winning, right? That has to count for something."

"I think winning is the only redeeming factor about this partnership." She grumbled, "We've made it to the Final Rounds, and Pryce is still impossible to work with."

"Really? You've been doing fine in battles, though." Cynthia remarked curiously, "That must be because of your cooperation."

"…Well, maybe." She couldn't deny that, for all of Pryce's faults – and there were many – he was a good battler and planner when he got his head out of his ass, "It helps that we fight so similarly. If it wasn't for the fact that I was also an Ice specialist, I don't think we would have made it this far."

"Well let's not think of what-ifs." Cynthia stated, "I thought you would be discussing things with Pryce about your next opponents. You know how strong Volkner is."

She rolled her eyes, "I would be, if Pryce was here to begin with. He's gone off to do who knows what, so I'm stuck here making my own plans."

"So you do know how to get angry." A very familiar and unpleasant voice suddenly appeared from behind her, and Candice turned around to see Pryce walking up to her, "I thought you only knew how to smile and be jolly."

She quickly hung up the phone and scowled at her partner, "Congratulations. You broke through my joy. I demand compensation."

"I'll compensate you by granting you another victory." Pryce said dryly, causing her scowl to deepen, "Nevertheless, you can moan about it later. We have a battle to win."

"Huh. I didn't think you would be so enthusiastic." She said sarcastically.

"Well my niece ended up losing, so it's up to me to carry the mantle." Pryce explained, "Not only that, but I realised that we could be the only non-Elite Four pair to make it to the Top 3 if we won – if the others don't win." Pryce explained, "After all, I still have a reputation to uphold as a former Champion. I will prove that I am more than their match."

"And yet we're fighting against two Gym Leaders – one of them is even new." She shot back, "Not much of a 'grand victory' there, ex-Champion."

She usually wasn't this sarcastic, but Pryce made it really easy for her to want to snap at him.

Especially since he brushed off her words dismissively, "You can spare your insults. Just know that I'm not about to lose to two Gym Leaders, especially not against another weather team." Then he gestured for her to follow him, "Come on, let's find a place to sit and discuss things through. I can already guess their strategy, and there are a few pointers I want to give about your Froslass so you don't make a mess in our battle. Maintaining the Snow is paramount, and I want to make sure that your Froslass can achieve that simple task. If so, then victory will be ours."

Candice wanted to explode at him for his condescending attitude, but she ultimately swallowed her anger and followed after him. What infuriated her more was that Pryce actually gave good advice, he was just a complete ass over it. She knew that his tutelage had actually helped her, which made her even more frustrated.

It would've been easier if she could just hate him.

(Drake POV)

"So, kiddos. Looks like we're against ol' Norman and Giovanni." He smiled down at the sisters, "How're you feeling about our chances?"

He always liked asking the sisters such questions, as he found that it helped with their confidence if they could express their chances of victory out loud. He knew that the sisters had the potential to become great Gym Leaders, so he was doing his best to nurture it. And the most important thing was to grow their confidence.

"We hold the advantage." They all nodded, "We win in terms of brute force, so it would be better for us to keep things simple and just blast them with powerful Water attacks."

"Too bad Petrel isn't here." Lily added, "We could have asked him about Giovanni's strengths and weaknesses."

"I don't think he'd tell us." Violet disagreed, "You know he's grown immune to our pleading eyes. And he's still holds Giovanni in very high regard."

"But we don't need his advice anyways." Daisy finished their tangent, "We know how they both fight. They like getting in close and pummelling their opponent. We just need to break that. Drake should be able to completely overwhelm Giovanni, so we just need to distract Norman before he can interrupt Drake."

"Good." He grinned, "You got to the heart of the matter. That's very likely what they will end up doing." And he was very good in fights like this.

Then he lowered himself so that he was at their eye level, "Look here kids. You've done very well. We've just got one hurdle to beat, and we're in the Top 3 and placed to fight the Champions. But there's no need to be nervous."

In truth, he was completely fucking ecstatic to be so close to having the opportunity to face off against the Champions, to the point that he was already looking past this upcoming battle. But he forced himself to control his excitement in front of the kids. They needed him calm right now.

"We got lucky this time with our matchup, so take it easy." He said gently, more gentle than he'd been in some time, "You already know how we can beat them. You have strong Water types; I know because I helped you train them. Stay confident in your team. After all, haven't we fu – crushed everyone that was in our way?!"

The girls all nodded, causing a wide grin to break out on his face, "That's the spirit. So just calm yourselves, get some good rest, and settle your minds. And if you ever get nervous, then just remember that I will always be right next to you, fighting alongside you."

"So come on, we have a battle to win!"

The girls' cheers were all that he needed to hear.

(Agatha POV)

"…I'm surprised you haven't thrown a fight just to get out of the Tournament early." Her student said sarcastically over the phone, "I didn't think you would be so invested to win. Did the twins manage to hit your soft spot?"

She didn't bother answering that question as she just hung up the phone, cutting off whatever Karen was about to say. Instead, she turned to the two little twins next to her, who had been running around excitedly as they heard who their opponent was going to be.

They really had far too much energy. She wasn't nearly as invested into this Tournament as they were.

"Agatha, Agatha, do you think we can win against John and Roxanne? I heard John's strong." The twins said one after another.

She smirked at their question. She knew that John was making use of his weaker Pokémon in this Tournament to test them out. And while she approved of this long-term thinking, it also gave her an opportunity to really put him on his toes.

She cackled in her mind; if he did that in his next fight, then she was really going to throw a wrench into his plans.

"Not to worry, all you need to do is what you've been doing already. No need to change anything." She smiled down at the twins, holding back her cackles, "John might be strong, but so am I. I'll make sure to remind him of that, if he forgets."

He better take her seriously, or she was going to overturn those big plans of his.

A.N. I know we just had a multi-POV interlude, but I really felt that it would be good to set the stage for the trainers that would be entering the Final Rounds. Everyone has their own goals and ambitions, with very differing levels of relationship with their partners. Some better, some worse, and I wanted to shine the spotlight on all of them in this chapter.

Hope you enjoyed! Agatha and the Twins vs John and Roxanne is coming up!

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!