John's Team
Tyrant - Slaking
Vordt - Ursaluna
Smough - Snorlax
Klee - Blissey
Port - Mantine
Zephyr - Pidgeot
Klaus - Wyrdeer
Luna - Clefable
Pixel - Porygon-Z
Euphie - Sylveon
Ornstein - Obstagoon
Wraith - H-Zoroark
Winston - Lickitung (Shiny)
The New Normal – 12-14 – Beginnings
It was a little weird being in a Committee meeting that didn't have Agatha in it. I mean, she wasn't always present at these meetings anyways, but when she was here, her snide and sarcastic comments were just an integral part of these meetings.
It was always amusing to watch how she dismissive she could be of the other Committee members, or the numerous ways that she could display her boredom. Her bluntness was always a refreshing sight in these dreary meetings, so it was quite the shame that we couldn't enjoy it anymore.
I knew that even Will, who enjoyed these meetings the most and was supportive of acting 'properly and formally', had caved when it came to Agatha's antics.
Eventually, Lorelei was the one to break the silence, "Hey, John…any idea what Karen's going to propose?"
"No, I've not been told." I shook my head, "I doubt it'd be anything too radical. She wouldn't dare propose anything like that when she's still cementing her support base. Those larger and more radical proposals will probably come later."
"I agree. We should not see any large surprises today." Koga nodded, "Though, from what I have heard, Karen might not even be the star of today's meeting, since I heard that the Regional Union is being proposed to the Committee today."
"Oh, right. Wait – how did you hear about this before me? I wasn't informed." Lorelei said accusingly, causing Koga and I to share a look.
"We both have our sources." He eventually replied, getting a grumble from Lorelei.
Before she could say anything else, the doors to the rooms swung open again, and in came both Karen and Lance.
Karen shot me a small smile as she sat down next to me.
"I hope you don't make a habit of being late." I jokingly whispered to her, "I think that would be copying your mentor's actions a little too closely."
She rolled her eyes playfully, "Blame your Champion. He wanted to speak to me. I would have been early otherwise."
"Anything important?" I asked.
"No." She shook her head, "He just gave me a rundown of a few things to catch me up to speed in case I hadn't been informed previously."
Before I could say anything else, Lance knocked the gavel on the podium, shutting everyone up as we all turned to him. "I'll keep this brief, as we all know why we've gathered here today." He turned to look at Karen, "Karen. Welcome to the Elite Four. We hope that you will live up to and uphold the responsibilities of your new position – though with Agatha as your mentor I'm sure you'll be handle this quite easily. I'm sure this is nothing compared to dealing with her for your entire life."
That got a few chuckles from everyone, "Nevertheless, the stage is yours."
With a nod, she walked up to the podium, "Ladies and Gentlemen of the Committee. I know many of you expect me to be a walking, younger copy of my mentor. I am here to assure you that, while I may share some similar policies as my mentor, I am my own persons with my own agenda in mind."
"That being said, I am always welcome to having open and frank discussions with any who want to approach me regarding any future policies, so please feel free to do so if I am available."
In other words, Karen was again laying out that she wasn't going to be a carbon copy of Agatha, and that her goals would be different. In the same stroke, she also announced that she was flexible in her policies and might be persuaded, which would at least get her some attention from the Committee members as they would seek her out to obtain her favour.
It was a good way for her to quickly establish a political foundation for herself.
"Nevertheless, as is tradition for those who ascend to the Elite Four, I would like to propose a new policy, one that is dear to my heart. I have made no secret of my lowly origins as someone who was nothing more than a lucky orphan that was one day taken in by Agatha, and she brought me up from the dredge that was the orphanage that I once resided in."
"However, I do not have fond memories of my time in the orphanage. While I was always grateful that we never went hungry, I always felt that us orphans were unintentionally neglected by the League, and I distinctly remember the lingering air of sadness that pervaded through all of us as we tried our best to make do with what little resources were available to us."
"So I can say for certain that the orphanages in Indigo need to be attended to. I have every respect for the matrons and caretakers that do their best to run the orphanages despite the limited resources they are provided, but considering all of the economic developments that we've seen in our region, I think it's about time that we funnel some of those resources into making sure that the unfortunate youth of tomorrow are still given the opportunity to live a happy life in their orphanages. After all, do we not have a duty to ensure that all of Indigo's citizens, no matter how unfortunate their circumstances, to deserve the chance to be happy?"
"Thus, my first proposal shall request for the Indigo League to have the cities of Indigo allocate a certain amount of their funding to be given to their orphanages to ensure that they receive sufficient support from their local council – and likewise, the Indigo League shall also carry out inspections to ensure that the state of the orphanages are at satisfactory levels. If this is agreeable, we can discuss the minutiae in detail at a later date."
"And while I have the stage, I will say that this is merely the first step into my plan to reform and better the orphanage system that we have here in Indigo. While I will not make any other proposals for today, I do have plans to introduce further policies to discourage child abandonment, as it is so commonly seen nowadays from overly reckless teenage trainers during their journeys. Like I said previously, I am amenable to any suggestions about what those plans could look like, so please approach me if you have such ideas."
There were a lot of mutterings and whispers as Karen's speech concluded, and there were distinct looks of confusions on the faces of many Committee members as they probably hadn't expected Karen's first proposal to be on a topic like this.
Yet to me, it made perfect sense, and it felt very 'Karen' – even if it was far more radical than I thought it would be. It might not be the best proposal to make politically, as anything that asked the local councils to give away funds for was going to step on a few toes, but I could tell that it came from the heart, and that was what was most important.
After the round of polite applause came to an end, Karen sat back down next to me as I whispered her a question.
"…That was good." I told her, "But I thought you would focus on something relating to Lavender Town."
"That can come later." She replied, "The old hag and I agreed that having my first proposal be something related to Lavender Town would be too much like I was just retreading the same road as her. So she told me to go for what I wanted – and I did."
The time for discussions came after that, and Karen went around trying to hash out the details about what the Committee were willing to compromise with as to the amount to funds to be allocated to the orphanages. Eventually, Lance stepped in and offered for the League to supplement the necessary funds for Karen's proposal for the cities, as he deemed that looking after the orphanages and the youth of Indigo was a region-wide responsibility.
With Lance stepping in, the proposal didn't face any more challenges as it was quickly passed through. For the Committee, voting on something as humanitarian as improving the orphanages of Indigo was a pretty easy choice.
And so began Karen's time in the Elite Four, with an optimistic start.
Before we were allowed a small break for lunch, there was another small matter to settle first. At some point, Dorothy had waltzed into the Committee room, before promptly walking out about fifteen minutes later when she was appointed to become the Gym Leader of Lavender Town. No one really said anything against it – despite her absence and retirement, Agatha was still firmly in charge of the affairs of Lavender Town and whatever she said went.
I…didn't see anything that caught my eye when I met her. She spent most of her time in the room speaking privately with Karen, but otherwise looked like basically any other Ace trainer that I've seen during my journey.
She did offer for me to come over to the Lavender Gym if I wanted to take a look, and I promised that I would take her up on that when I had some free time.
After the small break was over, we reconvened in the Committee room. However, I immediately noticed that several giant screens had been set up on the side, with two of them portraying the Committee rooms of both Hoenn and Sinnoh respectively. On the other screens were Wallace and his Elite Four respectively, while Flint, Aaron, and Bertha comprised the other as Cynthia was here in Indigo with us.
The atmosphere of the room instantly changed, as we all understood that this was the moment of something truly monumental. As soon as everyone arrived, Cynthia was the first to speak.
"Good afternoon. As you were all informed beforehand, today is the day that we, the Champions and representatives of Indigo, Hoenn, and Sinnoh respectively, jointly put forwards the idea of a Regional Union – an organisation that's sole purpose is to facilitate, maintain, and reinforce the bonds of friendships between our regions."
"As agreed upon between the three of us, we propose that the Regional Union begin with three core articles – the need for open borders, the need for open trade and access to the PSS system, and lastly, for any region to request for assistance from the others during times of international threats or humanitarian disasters…"
Cynthia then went on to explain what she had previously told me, and she gave the Committees an explanation of why the Sevii Islands were a perfect fit for the Regional Union's headquarters to be located. Though from the discussions I could overhear from around me, everyone was most focused on the three articles anyways, for good reason.
The articles would basically cement our bonds of friendship and prevent regions from easily backsliding into isolationism. Of course, we had open borders and open trade now, but making sure these were codified and formalised was an essential protection to make it harder for such things to be revoked. Therefore, should a particularly hostile Champion be ascended, it would make things harder for them to tear down the pillars of internationalism that I've worked so hard to build up.
Obviously, an announcement as monumental and consequential as this couldn't be enacted so quickly, especially since it involved a vote that included all three regions simultaneously. Therefore, the Champions gave the Committee a week to discuss before we reconvened for the joint vote.
Still, I hoped that they would come to an agreement sooner rather than later. The Regional Union was going to be a shining beacon of my ideals – a symbol that represented our collective bonds of friendship and unity. And I couldn't wait to see it with my very own eyes.
After the meeting was wrapped up, the Champions asked us Elite Four to stay behind as they had another thing they wanted to bring up with us. Cynthia then explained about her plans to raid Galactic Company soon, and the potential consequences of that decision.
"There is every likelihood that Cyrus and whatever criminals decide to follow after him will not so easily submit to our authority, especially if their crimes are as heinous and as terrible as we suspect them to be." She said, "Therefore, like I explained to your Champions, if they choose to go rogue, then through the third article of the Regional Union we will call on your support to quickly subdue these terrorists. This is just to warn you and keep you ready for once or if the call does come."
Everyone nodded their heads solemnly at that.
"Aye. You'll have your support." Drake growled, "John and I have unfinished business with these fucks. They've scurried away for long enough. No more. In fact, why don't you call us over right now? We can be there for the initial raid for the additional manpower. No need for us to wait for the Regional Union to be set up first."
"Because if she does that then it would cost her far too much political capital to justify." Wallace explained, "It is why that article in the Regional Union is so important. Right now, any foreign support that are sent over on a discretionary basis – it is done on the request and of a Champion or the Committee – and there's a chance that it could be seen as a overreach. Thus, Sinnoh could be seen as weak for over-relying on foreign support or we could be seen as trampling on Sinnoh's authority, especially 'only' for a raid that is supposedly there to investigate allegations of financial discrepancies. The last thing we want to happen is for our foreign support to arrive only to be met with angry protests from the local people that don't want us there – regardless of how dangerous the threat actually is."
"So the article will make it clear that as soon as an organisation is labelled as an 'international threat', then an inter-regional response is expected, rather than a surprise – so there won't be much, if any, political pushback." Sidney finished for him, "Basically, it's all about the packaging for the masses."
"Bah. I don't fucking get it, but I guess I can wait a few weeks." Drake grumbled, "I'll make use of my time to get ready and get my team and I to full force. We'll crush these fuckers."
Similar sentiments were expressed by everyone. However, even though none of us here were ones to turn down an opportunity for a battle, we all knew that this was not a fight to welcome with open arms – terrorists were notorious for their reckless disregard for the damage they caused, so even in the most perfectly executed operation, there would inevitably be people in harm's way.
Yet that only caused our conviction to harden – to take them down and limit the damage they could do.
With all of the necessary meetings wrapped up, the day had finally come to an end – at least for us Elite Four members, the Champions still had other tasks they needed to handle. Poor them.
But before we could leave, Karen spoke up first, "…Are you all free? For perhaps the next few hours or so? There's something I'd like to show you."
The rest of the Elite Four and I shared a look before eventually nodding, and we ended up following after Karen as she brought us to Lavender Town. At first, I was curious as to why she brought us here – there was no way she was here just to show off, but then we arrived at a pretty non-descript building nearer to the outskirts of Lavender Town.
It took me to realise what this was, but this was the Lavender Town orphanage. It was in a pretty good state, and looked well taken care of. Clearly some renovation work had been done to spruce it up a bit. There was also a small playground attached to it, which at least had a decent variety of equipment for the children to play on.
"…This is where I grew up – where I spent a large part of my childhood." She explained to us, a bitter smile on her face as her old memories were dredged up, "Before I met Agatha, this was the only life that I knew."
"It looks to be in pretty good shape." Lorelei observed.
"It didn't use to look this fancy." Karen replied, "The Lavender orphanage that I grew up in was little better than a rundown shack. When it rained, we would have water leaking through the boards, soaking into our clothes and bunkbeds. And that playground didn't use to exist – it used to just be an empty yard that we would run around and play tag in, or whatever game we could create with our imagination."
"Actually, why don't you come inside to see for yourself? I'm sure the kids would love to see you." And so we did.
Both the children and the matrons greeted Karen very familiarly as she stepped inside, demonstrating just how often she had visited the orphanage. We followed after her, making sure to greet everyone and entertain whatever questions the kids had for us. They mostly asked your usual fare of questions such as what our Pokémon were like and if they could see them, but it was a little heart-wrenching to see the simple joy in their eyes at even getting such basic attention from us.
I also took the opportunity to take a look around, and I noticed that a few children were carrying around a brand new Pokéball around their waists. Since Karen was busy regaling her victory over Agatha to the children, I asked one of the matrons about it.
"With the older children that are about to go on their journey, we do our best to make sure that they are given an opportunity to get a Pokéball and catch their own Pokémon instead of solely relying on the handouts from the Gyms." The matron explained, "Since it was only recently where Lavender Town got its own Gym, the children used to have to travel to one of the nearby cities to obtain their first Pokémon, which wasn't very convenient and the Pokémon they receive aren't usually very strong."
"So by giving them an opportunity to catch their own starter, it gives them a chance to level the playing field with the more fortunate children that have had their starters from a younger age." She said.
"–If it was not for this, it would be too much of an uphill struggle for most children to make a name for themselves in the trainer world." Karen cut in, "Can you imagine? A child with substandard education, with no ability to catch their own Pokémon and could only rely on the starter Pokémon provided by a Gym; it would be so difficult for them to even be able to clear four badges, let alone all eight."
"If they were not blessed with talent, or got lucky like I did, how could your average orphan be expected to succeed?" She finished rhetorically, with the matrons nodding sadly alongside her, "Because of the unfortunate circumstances of their birth, so many opportunities are ripped away from them – and this has a cascading effect throughout the rest of their life."
Making sure that we were out of earshot of the rest of the children, the matrons then explained to us Elite Four that Karen had not overstated the situation. Apparently, some of them had worked in the other orphanages before, and they even had to suffer cuts to their own salary in order to pay for basic amenities for the children. And according to them, before the recent economic revitalization of the region, the situation for these orphaned children was even worse.
"We do our best, but we're often overwhelmed and greatly outnumbered by the children that we take care of." One of the matrons said, "Too many parents decide that they don't want the burden of raising an 'accident' as they're still busy on their journey, and leave their children on our doorstep only to never see them again. It's a terrible thing, but the fact is that teenage trainers are just careless, and this is the painful consequence. It's only made even worse because adoption is a rare sight."
"…I never even realised it was so bad. I thought my childhood was pretty rough for having to deal with Pryce all the time, but it's nothing compared to this." Lorelei said first, "But now that I know, I can see why you would want to improve the standard and conditions of orphanages around Indigo."
"Just so you know, the Lavender orphanage practically receives the most amount of support and funding when compared to all the other orphanages around Indigo." Karen added, "So what you're seeing is likely the best orphanage in Indigo – but can you just imagine how much worse the conditions of the other orphanages are in comparison?"
We all grimaced at that, as it didn't take very much imagination to visualise what that would look like. Despite all of the care and attention that had been placed onto the Lavender orphanage, there were still unmistakable signs of poverty if you knew where to look. The occasional second-hand clothes, the worn out books, the lack of common technology.
…If that was the case here, then the other orphanages must be even worse. At least the children here still had smiles on their faces. I could only hope it was the same elsewhere.
"I admit that I have overlooked the condition of the Fuschia orphanages as well." Koga also said, "I hadn't received any complaints from them during my time as a Gym Leader, so I must have thought that all was well. I can see now that I was mistaken in this assumption."
"Was it that bad for you, John, since I know you came from a poor background as well?" Lorelei asked me.
"…I can't say that it was." I replied truthfully, the fact that I had meta-knowledge really cancelled out whatever disadvantages I would have received from my poor upbringing, and it wasn't right for me to pretend otherwise, "These orphans have it worse than I did. I at least had a loving family to take care of me, and we could at least afford a few things. That makes a whole world of difference."
"I'm glad that you all think this way." Karen nodded, "I don't want to ask you this as a political request, but rather the request of a former orphan that just wants to make sure that others just like her don't need to suffer through the childhood that I did. Please, support these initiatives. Or better yet, go take a look at the orphanages of the cities within your control. See what they need, and provide it to them."
"You don't know how many orphaned children will thank you for it."
A.N. While I wanted this chapter to focus on the politics of Karen's ascension, I felt that it was equally as important to demonstrate just why Karen is doing the things that she's doing. Karen's past as an orphan has been mentioned several times throughout the story, but I wanted to experiment with this chapter and really go into the reality of what that actually means since it's so important to Karen. As idyllic as the Pokémon world can be, there are still things that can fall through the cracks, and this is one of them. Hope you enjoyed, and that the reasonings fit with Karen's character thus far.
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!