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 - Lickilicky (Shiny)

The New Normal – 14-3 – Perspectives on the Future

(Civilian POV)

As a resident of Sinnoh, he had always wanted to visit Indigo – ever since the region had been newly 'discovered' alongside Hoenn. But it had taken a long time for him to finally persuade his parents to let him go on this trip. Normally, his parents were much more laid back with their parenting, but after the events at Spear Pillar a few months ago, they had gotten very worried for his safety – so much so that they barely let him out of the house after dark; let alone going to a foreign region all by himself.

Why couldn't they realise that he was already in his mid-teens? He didn't need to be pampered and babysat like this. He was old enough.

But it had been several months since the 'Day of Calamity' as it had been called, and it was clear that there was not about to be a repeat of those events. In fact, things had been very calm since then, with most of the criminals that would have caused trouble having been arrested during that fateful day.

He remembered visiting the memorials that had been erected after that day. His parents had taken him to visit Spear Pillar on the day that it had reopened to the public, just to see the statue of the Legendary Titan for themselves.

He remembered how crowded it was there, as practically all of Sinnoh wanted to see the newly constructed statue of Regigigas with their very own eyes. With the newly rebuilt Snowpoint Temple, which was also renamed to the Temple of the Titan, no longer accessible to the public due to security concerns, the statue of Regigigas was as close as people could get to seeing the Legendary Titan in person.

Despite the huge crowd that was there, making it almost suffocatingly crowded, he admitted that he was glad that his parents had brought him there. They had done a very good job capturing the presence that the Legendary Titan must have had, and the statue was as huge as it was awe-inspiring as it towered over them all. If a mere statue was able to elicit such feelings, he couldn't imagine what it was like to actually see the Legendary Titan in person.

He still had a photo of Regigigas' statue on his phone to this day. He always liked to look at it from time to time.

It was truly a shame that they were no longer allowed to visit the Legendary Titan, or even the three Regis which the Sinnoh League announced were now residing in the caverns of the three Lakes. As, just like they did with the Temple of the Titan, those Lake caverns were under lockdown too and barred from the public.

There were a small minority of people that protested against the League's security measures, demanding that they had no right to bar the public from viewing these Legendary figures for themselves. He agreed with these opinions, but every time he spoke to his parents about it they vehemently disagreed with him – citing that after the events of the Day of Calamity, it just proved that the public should not be allowed anywhere near the Legendaries just in case there was a repeat of that day.

...He hoped that they would change that policy soon.

Nevertheless, these visits had at least proven to his parents that the region had indeed become safe again for him to travel. So after giving a few promises of his own, and reassuring them that he would be fine staying at his friend's house, they finally gave him the green light to travel to Indigo on his own to explore the region and take in all of the sights.

It had taken him over a day by ship to finally reach Indigo. On the way, he had heard from a few other passengers that there was apparently some talks about building up a new transportation system that would be quicker than just travelling by ship, but that was still in the planning stages. He remembered hearing about it in the news; apparently it was an idea headed jointly by Gym Leader Will and Elite John.

He could see why it was necessary. The ship that he had boarded to take him to Indigo was practically full up, and he knew that the other ships were no better. It was clear that there were a lot of people starting to travel to and from their regions, and just relying on ships might not be efficient for the long-term.

Having the regions be connected by train would be so much better.

After arriving at Vermilion City, he quickly met up with his friend and stored his luggage into his new temporary room. Then, he practically rushed out of the house as he began his adventures in this new land.

One of the main reasons he was so excited to visit Indigo was because he wanted to know more about the people that had made such a big change to their region. While they were certainly on friendly terms with Hoenn, it seemed like all the big moves were initiated by some member of Indigo.

Or more specifically, everyone acknowledged that it was Elite John that facilitated much of their cooperation. In a way, it was fitting that he was dating their Champion.

That was why the first stop that he wanted to visit was Cerulean City, since that was the home town of John. He had heard many good things about how much the city had grown and developed, and he wanted to see that for himself.

On his way there, he coincidentally headed past the Cerulean Cave, which he saw was filled with people. There were many Ace trainers loitering around the entrances, with many looking like they were either about to go inside or were just chatting with their companions with their Pokémon out – which they presumably just caught.

It was nice to see that Sinnoh's tradition of cave diving had found their way to Indigo too.

As soon as he made his way into Cerulean City, the first thing he noticed was that a small arena had been set up in the centre of the city. There, the Waterflower sisters seem to have been hosting a small mini-Tournament for the public, allowing children and young trainers to have a shot at challenging their Gym team and get a feel of what their Gym battle would be like.

There was a huge crowd gathered around them, and their chants of support were deafeningly loud as they cheered on the battlers onstage. He knew that the Cerulean Gym Leaders were popular, and they had managed to garner a considerable online following thanks to their fantastic performances and contests, but seeing it in person was very different.

Though he did notice that not all of the Waterflower sisters were present; he wondered where the others were since the Waterflower sisters were always seen together.

But what really caught his attention was that they were using a Kabuto; a rare fossil Pokémon that not many people had managed to get their hands on yet. As far as he was aware, the Waterflower sisters were one of the few trainers that currently had their hands on a revived fossil. From what he remembered, only Brock, Roxanne, Roark, Byron, and Steven Stone were the others.

He let out a quiet sigh. If only he had the money to afford one for himself. Fossils were pretty cool.

He contemplated whether to stay and watch, but ultimately decided that he had to move on. He was only in Indigo for so long, and he didn't want to waste too much time on this. So instead, he decided to take a thorough walk around the city, just to take a look at everything that the city had to offer.

Something that seemed to have been plastered all over Cerulean City were the hordes of posters and signs that all highlighted and advertised the new renovations that were being built on Route 24 and Route 25. Not only was there a new apartment complex being built, but there was also a new park being built just after Nugget Bridge, which had apparently been inspired by Amity Square from their very own Hearthome City.

He expected the sights to be just as beautiful.

But the other big thing that he spotted was a large tower that was being constructed. According to the pictures that were posted around, this large tower was going to be turned into a new TV station, one that would focus on culture. Made sense, considering all of the many contests that were being hosted here.

…Maybe he should visit the city again in a few years' time. It would be nice to compare how much it had changed.

After taking his fill of pictures of the picturesque city, his grumbling stomach alerted him that it was about time for lunch. Therefore, he made his way into one of the many restaurants and settled in for a nice meal.

As he chowed down on some delicious food, he idly hoped that he would bump into Elite John while he was in Indigo.

He would love to speak with the man who had awakened the Legendary Titan.

(Misty POV)

She held onto Violet's hand as they alighted onto the port of Ever Grande City. Her feet bounced off the ground as she was hopping up and down in excitement.

"Come, come!" She pulled her older sister, "Drake's waiting for us!"

"We're early, sis." Violet out an amused sigh, "There's no need to rush, he might not be here yet."

"But he promised!" She whined, "He said he'd meet us here!"

"AND HERE I AM!" A booming voice came out from behind them, "How would I ever be late for such lovely young ladies?"

She spun around as she recognised the voice, "Drake!"

Her shout had caught the attention of a few other passengers, and a few of them turned her way as they tried to look for the Elite Four member. However, Drake didn't seem to mind, as he let out a loud laugh at her approach and bent down to rub her head.

"Hello, little Misty." He smiled down at her, "How was your trip here?"

"Boring!" She stated, punctuating her statement by throwing her arms up, "We should have rode the trains here!"

"The League hasn't even voted on whether they would build the trains yet – let alone build them." Violet sighed, "For now, you'll just have to settle with taking the ship like the rest of us. Besides, it's your own fault that you had too much energy and couldn't sleep on the ship."

"That's cause you didn't let me leave the room!" She pouted, deliberately not mentioning the candy that she had sneakily eaten while her sister hadn't been looking.

"And if you left the room while I slept then who would have taken care of you?" Violet responded, "If anything happened to you, your other sisters would kill me."

She continued to pout at that, but they were interrupted when Drake patted her on the back, "Okay, enough bickering. Let's not waste any more time. You guys have lunch yet?"

They both shook their heads, "Then in that case, I know just the place. Follow after me."

Drake took the lead as he pushed through the crowd, ignoring how many called out to him as they spotted who he was. Many were even shouting out their demands for Drake to battle them. Misty felt a little guilty as she followed after him; maybe she shouldn't have called out to him like that so loudly.

Either way, Drake was thick-skinned enough to ignore all of his many fans, and they made a quick detour in the League building to get away from the crowd before they finally headed to their restaurant.

After being seated, it didn't take long for their food to arrive. They talked as they ate, with Drake asking the first question.

"So, how's my favourite little water trainer doing?" He asked her, "Have you been following my training instructions?"

"Yep!" She said with a wide grin, "My Staryu's getting real strong! I think it can reach the level of one of our two-badge Gym Pokémon if I keep it up!"

"Good!" He barked out with a smile, "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. And how about your Psyduck?"

"…Uh… it's doing okay." She lied, only for her sister to instantly burst that bubble.

"Don't try to hide it, sis. We all know your Psyduck needs a lot of work." Violet said, "It's always plagued by its usual headaches and can't seem to focus on anything."

"But its Confusions are powerful!" She insisted.

"Maybe." Violet allowed, "But that doesn't change the fact that it barely listens to you right now. Until it can learn to get control of its headaches, it won't be a good battler."

Drake must have seen the frown that appeared on her face, because he was quick to comfort her, "There's no need to be disappointed by that." He said gently, "Some Pokémon just need more time to get started compared to others. My Magikarp was like that before it evolved into a Gyarados – but look at it now! It's one of my strongest Pokémon! I'm sure it'll be the same for your Psyduck."

"Now, let's quickly finish up on lunch." He gestured to the plate of foods in front of them, "I have a packed schedule planned for you both, and we don't have much time to waste."

His words reminded her why she was here in the first place. Firstly, and most importantly, she wanted to visit Hoenn as she had never been here before. But when she accidentally mentioned that fact to Drake during one of their regular phone calls, Drake immediately offered to house her during her stay here, while also insisting that he help out with her training efforts when she came over.

At first, Violet declined, saying that they didn't want to disturb Drake and waste too much of his time. But he remained adamant, saying that it wouldn't be a bother at all and that he hadn't had much use for his free time anyways, especially during such a period of calm. Ultimately, Drake's stubbornness won out, and so they gratefully accepted his invitation.

So with his reminder of their limited time together, she quickly began scarfing down her lunch, only tempered by Violet's words to slow down. After they all finished up with their food, they set off once again. Instead of walking around, though, she was strapped onto Drake's Altaria as he rode with her into the skies. Violet had to fly separately on her own Mantine.

She let out a squeal of excitement as they flew through the air. Flying on Drake's Altaria was so different when compared to flying on her sister's Mantine. For one, the cotton clouds that Altaria had were so fluffy and warm, and it helped protect her from the cold winds as they flew. It was like flying on a warm pillow!

They flew to Lilycove City, in which Drake explained that it was where his house was. She was awed by the sights of the clear blue sea that surrounded the beautiful city, but instead of focusing on the water, Drake was pointing at a nearby cave that was currently under renovation.

"You see that construction site over there? Wallace got inspired by all these new construction projects being proposed and decided to come up with something of his own for his home city." He explained, "So that's going to be the foundations for a new underwater tunnel system that connects Lilycove and Sootopolis City. It gives us an extra way of accessing the city instead of only relying on ships as we used to."

"Sounds expensive." Violet commented.

"It was." Drake nodded, "I remember there was a lot of fuss being thrown up when Wallace first proposed it, though I honestly can't remember how he resolved it. I was bored stiff listening to all those grandstanding idiots prattling on about this and that, so I'm pretty sure I slept through the whole discussion."

Misty giggled. She could relate; she felt the same way whenever Petrel started to drone on about some administrative aspect of the Cerulean Gym. She knew that this was important, so she tried her best to pay attention, but sometimes it was just so boring.

After that small distraction, they quickly landed near Drake's house, which was not as luxurious as she had expected. She had always thought that Elite Four members and Champions would often have extremely luxurious homes that you only saw on pictures on the Pokénet – but this cottage in front of her was very different from what she had imagined.

"It's small." She blurted out, only to immediately get a glare from Violet.

"Misty! That's rude!" Violet scolded, "Apologise!"

Oops. "I'm sorry, Drake."

He just barked out a laugh, "Nah, kid, I appreciate the honesty. Yeah, my home doesn't look like much – but at least I have this big fuc— ranch out back that I use to train with my Pokémon. Honestly, never saw much of a point of having such a big house, even if I had the money for it. What am I going to do with such a large home when I live by myself?"

"I suppose it's a little different for you guys, since you have such a big family and all." He added, before shaking his head, "Anyways, never mind that, let's head straight to the ranch. I've got a training schedule and everything all planned out!"

Nodding excitedly, she followed after Drake as he headed into his ranch, which had a few inhabitants already there.

There were a few other Water types hanging about in this large pool that he had. She recognised a few that were from Sinnoh, including a Prinplup and a Floatzel. Outside of the pool, she spotted a Swampert and a Gabite playfully sparring against each other as well.

"I didn't know you had so many Water types kept in reserve." Violet mused, "I thought your team consisted only of those that you used in battle."

"Pah. I have the resources and money to train up more, so why wouldn't I?" He asked rhetorically, "And I like training up new Pokémon – it gives me something to think about and work on since every Pokémon needs to be trained up differently. Gives me a way to pass the time."

"Enough about me, though." Drake continued as he walked over to the pool, "I have something else for you guys." He picked up something that he had stashed away.

"Drake. No." Violet immediately said as she saw what Drake had just retrieved, "You've already given us enough. There's no need for more."

"But I insist." He chuckled as he carried over a pair of Eggs and their incubators, "Besides, I had this prepared specifically for the two of you, since I knew you were coming. If I don't give this to you, then it's just going to go to waste."

Violet sighed resignedly, "…What are they?"

He grinned and pointed to the blue and green egg, "This one is a Lotad egg." Then he pointed at the blue and pink egg, "And this one is a Clamperl egg. I got these for you guys. One for the young'un, and one that you oldies can share."

Her sister placed her face in her hands, "Please don't call us that. And why'd you get us these?"

Drake shrugged, "Why not? Gym Leaders you guys might be, but I know that you've had to rely on yourselves for most of your lives. You've done a fine job of it, but why can't an Elite Four like me spoil you guys with some presents every once in a while? It's not like I have anything better to do with my time or money anyways."

"Maybe, but what did we do to deserve such generosity?" Violet continued to question.

"Does everything need a reason?" He grinned shamelessly, "I like you kiddos. I saw your determination in the Tournament, and I'm invested in your success. You lot have so much potential, and I want to see it flourish. Besides, the only other person that I really talk to in Indigo is John – and I can't exactly gift him things nearly as easily, now can I? However, since you're all Water specialists, why shouldn't I help you out from time to time?"

After a bit more back and forth, Violet eventually and reluctantly acquiesced to Drake's stubbornness and gratefully accepted the gifted Eggs from him. Then, she turned to Misty, who had been looking around patiently as the two had their discussion.

"Which one of these do you want, sis?" Violet asked her, giving her the option to choose, "Clamperl or Lotad?"

She gave Drake a look, "Which one is stronger?"

He barked out another laugh, "They're both strong, kid. Lotad is able to eventually evolve into a Ludicolo, which is a really powerful Water/Grass type which makes it not weak to Electric attacks. On the other hand, Clamperl are able to evolve into either a Huntail or a Gorebyss, depending on your chosen evolution item. And both are very capable Water types."

She tapped a finger on her chin as she thought about it for a moment. Even though having a Grass/Water type was tempting, she was more interested in having a Pokémon where she could choose the evolution. That sounded so cool!

"I want the Clamperl!" She decided, and she bounced on her feet in excitement as Violet passed over the pink and blue egg.

This trip to Hoenn was already worth it!

(Lance POV)

He sat down at his desk with a sigh as he stared at the lone document in front of him. It was a proposal that had been written up by one of his advisors – requesting for a small tournament to be held at the end of the circuit where ace trainers would be allowed to challenge the Elite Four, regardless of whether they managed to win the Indigo Conference or not.

Of course, win or lose, the match would not lead to any political consequences. Meaning that the fight was 'for fun', and would not count as someone officially defeating an Elite Four in battle.

Normally, his advisors would never suggest such a thing. Challenges to an Elite Four or Champion were seen as weighty things – and was not something to be done frivolously. However, as a result of the fight in Sinnoh, many were clamouring to fight against Koga or John in an attempt to challenge the Pokémon that had 'beaten' a Legendary.

It was made worse because, thus far, the two of them hadn't entertained any offers for a battle, which only further fuelled the public's desire to challenge them. It was getting to the point where some people deemed it 'unfair' for John and Koga to 'avoid meeting the demands of the public'. That was a ridiculous sentiment and most reasonable people ignored it; but it did highlight that people really wanted a battle.

Therefore, with how much the public seemed to want an opportunity to fight against some of their Elite Four, his advisors had been pushing for him to give the public what they wanted. They argued that it would be a good and easy way to for the League to earn some public goodwill, and more importantly, it would be an excellent fundraiser.

The latter was especially crucial given all those new construction proposals that were currently being discussed. It would make things easier if the League had more money.

Ultimately, he decided that it really wouldn't be a bad thing to host such an event. Of course, he needed to confer with his Elite Four first to check that they were agreeable, but hosting a tournament like this at around the halfway point of the Circuit seemed like a good idea.

Hmm… maybe he could find a way to participate as well…

A.N. A very split chapter this time focusing on developments across multiple regions. I wanted to demonstrate the progress that's been made during the timeskip through other perspectives, as well as hint towards future events to come.

For the civilian, I wanted to demonstrate all of the new developments that were taking place in Cerulean, showing what's changing in John's hometown. For Misty, I wanted to highlight how Drake's taken on more of a mentor role with her, as well as a few changes taking place in Hoenn too. And yes, Drake's like her cool grandpa. With all the war stories included. Finally, with Lance, I wanted to focus on the 'consequences' of John and the others' victory over Palkia and what it's done for their reputation. 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!