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 – 14-9 – Champion Alder

Though I wasn't there personally, the rest of the Indigo Elite Four and I were still kept in the loop about what was happening over in Sinnoh thanks to Lance. According to him, both he and Wallace had virtually joined into a meeting with Alder and Cynthia, where they began discussions about establishing preliminary relations between our regions.

It was your usual fare – an exchange of basic information and making verbal promises that there wouldn't be any hostility between us.

However, from the information packet about Unova that was forwarded to me, I was surprised to realise that Unova hadn't done almost any exploration beyond its own region – to the point where we were the first regions that it discovered. It was a shame, but at least that made things simpler for now.

Naturally, with Unova's public arrival, the news couldn't be concealed from the public for much longer. Therefore, our discovery of Unova was properly revealed to the wider world, to the excitement and enthusiasm of many.

Many instantly gravitated to the information about the Unova-exclusive Pokémon that were provided, and the Pokénet became rife with discussions over what they thought about these new additions. As expected, I saw that Hydreigon took up most of the public's attention as Unova's sole Psuedo-Legendary, and both Lance and Karen were eying it up hungrily as it was a Dark/Dragon Type.

Karen was definitely pretty eager to add another powerhouse onto her team, and she had so many options to choose from between Hydreigon, Bisharp, and Krookodile, but she was even more excited to finally be able to obtain a Zoroark.

Ever since I had gotten mine, she had been interested in getting one of her own, despite it not being a Dark Type, simply because its fighting style with Illusion perfectly complimented her own strategies as well. However, she had not been able to do so because another H-Zoroark had not been found yet, and I haven't gone around to start breeding my own one either.

I probably should get started on that sometime soon.

Speaking of Zoroark, the fact that there were two different variants of the Pokémon, and that the one we discovered in the ruins of Sinnoh was noticeably different to Unova's Zoroark, had caught people's attention. From my discussions with Cynthia, this pretty much confirmed that the variant of Zoroark that we found had come from Hisuian times, and thus had diverged from the species that was seen in Unova.

Still, for the sake of clarity, it was pretty easily agreed that we would simply be calling Sinnoh's Zoroark as a Hisuian-Zoroark from now on to avoid confusion.

But we weren't the only ones impressed by what the Unovans had brought. It was more like the reverse, as they were utterly fascinated by the technologies that we had managed to create. Between the Pokédex, the fossil revival machine, and the PSS system that we had implemented throughout all three regions, they marvelled at what these technologies all brought to the table.

Safe to say, Unova was incredibly interested in getting their hands on these themselves.

Despite all of these remarkable inventions, what really blew their minds was the reveal of the Fairy type. They had absolutely no knowledge of the Fairy type and its existence prior to meeting us, and from Lorelei's description, it seems like the existence of a completely new type was as shocking to them as it was here when we initially revealed it.

I knew it was going to take some time for them to wrap their heads around it.

Yet for now, the biggest priority was to set up a communication system that could actually connect to and from Unova, which definitely wasn't going to be easy considering the distance between the regions.

However, once the preliminary discussions were done, Alder surprisingly announced that he would be making a trip to both Indigo and Hoenn to see what it was like there, while he left Drayden in charge of handling the remaining negotiations with Sinnoh.

Everyone had been caught flat-footed by that. If anything, most people thought that it should have been the other way around. However, Lorelei's comments helped contextualise the situation.

"…Alder seems to be a very easy going person." She told us, "He's pretty jovial, charming, and friendly, but it isn't hard to see that he doesn't really care much for the politicking or responsibilities of his position. And I've noticed that he doesn't seem capable of sitting still. I first suspected that this was merely a façade, but Lucian convinced me that it was not."

"Was that why he came all the way in person to greet us?" Karen suggested, "Because he wanted to take a break from his duties?"

"I don't know. But what I can say is that none of the Unovan League officials really look at Alder with much fondness or respect." Lorelei replied, "Compared to how most officials look up to Lance, Wallace, or Cynthia, it's quite different – which tells me that maybe he isn't very well-liked back home."

Her insights matched up with what I remembered of canon. Even though the reason behind his wanderlust had escaped me, I knew that he had chosen to distance himself from the responsibilities of a Champion in the games. Because of this, and the fact that he would eventually lose against N and subsequently be replaced by Iris, I didn't think he was nearly as strong as the current roster of Champions that we had.

Nevertheless, with Alder coming over to visit both Indigo and Hoenn, it was also suggested that we should send someone to visit Unova in turn. Once again, I was quick to volunteer for this task, and this time Lance didn't turn me down.

"Considering your reputation of both strength and diplomacy, I can't deny that sending you over wouldn't be our best choice." He said to me, "But you won't be going alone. Karen – I want the public to see you doing more than just working on Lavender Town. And I trust your diplomatic skills. So head over to Unova with him. I trust you'll both work well together."

Hearing that perked me up. I was actually very excited to go on a trip with Karen again – it had been some time since our last outing together.

"Sure." She nodded, "But when would we be heading over?"

"Not yet. It'd probably be after Alder finishes visiting Indigo and heads over to Hoenn." Lance replied, "I want all of us to be there to greet him. These are very important days ahead, so it's vital that we put our best foot forwards."

"We don't want anyone to underestimate us, after all."

Barely a few days later, all three remaining Elite Four members, plus Lance, gathered at Vermillion City to await the arrival of Alder and Lorelei, who had also accompanied him. We weren't the only ones there, as the public had also come out in droves to see the new members of Unova for themselves.

However, we weren't just there to greet him. Instead, Lance had his own plans that he had revealed to us in the privacy of his office.

"If I think he'll be amenable to it, I'm going to offer him a friendly challenge." He told us, "It'll just be a battle between our starters. I think it'll be good for us to show off our strength here, and I doubt he'd refuse."

"Are you sure about this, Lance?" Koga asked, "It might hinder our attempts to establish friendly relations with them if they think you're acting aggressively."

"Perhaps." Lance admitted, "But it is equally important that they do not look down on us. We need to make it absolutely clear to Alder that Indigo should be treated as equals, and not as a lesser. Besides, Sinnoh has already acted as the velvet glove – showing off all the bountiful treasures that they could have if they worked alongside us. Now it's time for us to be the iron fist – a reminder of why they should not provoke us."

Karen nodded, "Agatha would approve. And if Alder performs well, he also gets the opportunity to show the public of Indigo that Unova are worthy of our respect too."

"A logical line of thinking." Koga also nodded, "But are you certain of your victory? Nothing in their information packets have mentioned Alder's strength in any way. We cannot even ascertain the Type that he specialises in. If you were to lose here, you would accomplish the opposite of what you wanted to achieve."

But Lance just snorted, "If I didn't have confidence in my Dragons to beat anyone I came across, then I wouldn't be your Champion now would I? Koga, you must have more faith in me than that. My Dragons won't falter just because of a bad type matchup, if one does exist. Even if he somehow turns out to be a Fairy specialist, despite not even knowing about the Type until they met us, I've already worked around the new Fairy type. They aren't the universal counter to my Dragons like some think they are."

"Or maybe you just haven't faced off against a true Fairy specialist yet." I smirked, "Maybe you'd rethink your thoughts after that."

"And when one shows up that is worth the name then we'll see." He fired back, "But for now, such a trainer does not exist."

Our banter cut off as we saw the ship from Sinnoh coming into view. We all stood in a line, with Lance in front, as we prepared to welcome our first visitors from Unova onto Indigo soil. For the first time in a while, we really pulled out all the stops for this greeting, and we even rolled out a red carpet for Alder – while a sea of reporters and League officials flanked us from both sides.

Alder stepped out first, his fiery red hair swaying in the wind, an easy-going grin on his face.

"Ah, and here I thought all three of the regions would be as cold as Sinnoh. I'm so glad that that isn't the case." He chuckled, "And you must be the Champion of Indigo."

"I am." Lance nodded, "And it is my great honour to be able to welcome you to our prosperous region of Indigo. I assure you that you will not be disappointed."

"Hah! Elite Lorelei has already regaled me with some of the tales and stories of your region on the ship ride here." He gestured to Lorelei, who had disembarked and had now rejoined our side, "Seems like you've been through quite the exciting history."

"I'm sure Unova must have similar tales to ours." Lance allowed, "But let me be the first to say that we are very glad that you are willing to enter into friendly diplomatic relations with us. I understand the temptation to treat unknown strangers with wariness and hostility, but I can assure you that the Indigo League will expend every effort to ensure that our regions can work alongside each other harmoniously and peacefully."

"On that note, we would like to also send over our own Elite Four to Unova to see your many lovely sights for ourselves." He gestured to Karen and I, "Elite Karen and Elite John have volunteered for the journey – with your permission."

I felt Alder's eyes dart to me as soon as he heard my name, "Ah. So you're Elite John – I've heard many good things about you, and from what everyone's been telling me, you've seem to be involved in a great many things around here. People have had very high praise for you. The Champion of Sinnoh also had much to say about you."

"I'm just often in the right place and the right time." I replied, trying to remain humble, "And I was never alone. My friends and colleagues deserve every bit of the praise that has been laid onto me."

"And yet I can see the respect and admiration that your colleagues look at you with." He countered, "So that tells me your achievements and strength must be noteworthy."

He let out a grin, "Noteworthy enough that I want to see it for myself."

I blinked, not exactly sure how I was meant to respond to that.

But then he let out a chuckle, "You don't have to look all confused. I'm sure you know what I mean. After hearing all about you, my blood itches to get a measure of your strength. And the only way we can do that is with a battle."

He pointed a finger at me, "Me and you, Elite John. I want to see what one of the strongest trainer of Indigo has to offer!"

His declaration was met with shocked looks from not only our people, but also the Unova contingent that Alder had brought alongside him. Given the horrified looks they were shooting to their own Champion, they clearly were not expecting for their Champion to make such an open challenge to a foreign member of the Elite Four that he had just met.

Sure, Lance was planning to challenge him too, but it was different because he was also a Champion. Technically, a fight between them would be as equals as they shared the same position. But a fight between an Elite Four and a Champion was, by its nature, unbalanced. In other words, it wasn't the most politically adept decision to make, and the Unovan League officials clearly knew that – if the horror and shock on their faces were any indication.

Despite this, Alder didn't seem to care at all as he remained staring at me with his usual grin on his face, waiting for my response.

I shared a look with Lance, wanting to confirm our course of action. His silent nod told me what I needed to know.

"…In that case, I will gladly take you up on that offer, Champion Alder." I responded, which only caused the Unovan representatives to become even more alarmed.

"Excellent! I don't think we need to battle with our full teams, I just want to get a glimpse of that strength that everyone seems to acknowledge." Alder said, "Maybe we can keep it to just our starters. How's that sound?"

"You know, John's starter is very capable. He's even taken down my own starter before." Lance spoke up, which got a look of interest from Alder, "We had a duel before between our starters for a fun show match, and his starter ended up beating mine. I wouldn't underestimate him just because he isn't a Champion."

I knew that he was giving one last opportunity for Alder to back out. But he didn't take it.

"Well that just makes me even more excited for the battle!" The warning didn't even seem to have been acknowledged, "Come, let's get into it right away. Surely we have an arena nearby that we can use with enough spectator seats for all of us. I want for all of us here from Unova to witness the strength of Indigo firsthand."

"…Yes, we should have one." Lance replied, who was now a little taken aback by how quickly Alder was rushing into this, "Give me just a short moment to quickly make the arrangements."

One quick call to the Vermillion Gym later, and we had successfully commandeered Surge's Gym for our use.

I inwardly apologised to all those Gym challengers that we had probably just pushed out of the way, but even we didn't expect Alder to be so battle-hungry.

As we walked to the Gym, Alder made his rounds as he spoke to every person on the Elite Four equally, each time asking a different question about a different aspect of Indigo. For example, with Koga he asked a few questions about the Gyms and how they were run, since Koga used to be a Gym Leader. Then with Lorelei he asked about the International Police and how they operated. With Karen he asked about Kanto-Johto relations and what that dynamic was like nowadays.

I wanted to say that he was doing so to fish for information about our politics… but unless he was an incredibly good actor, my gut told me that he was just asking these questions because he was interested, and not because he was trying to extract some kind of political benefit from them. Just like Lorelei had described him, Alder seemed like an amiable and cheery man, but he didn't quite act like how a Champion was supposed to.

He seemed just a little too carefree for that.

It didn't take long for us to arrive at the Vermillion Gym, where Gym Leader Surge was there to greet all of us. Despite his well-known distrust for Johtonians, he was at least able to put on a mask of civility when he greeted the Unovan delegation, offering them all due respect and politeness as he offered them a tour of his Gym.

Alder had taken him up on that offer, though he was at least considerate enough to keep it short. Meanwhile, as he was on the tour, I was deep within my own thoughts as I did my best to try to recall Alder's team. It was… surprisingly difficult to recall what his team was. Not to insult him, but his team just wasn't as memorable as the other Champions I knew.

All I remembered was that his starter was a Volcarona. Which, since this was a battle between our starters, was enough.

I couldn't help but let out a small, excited grin. If it was a battle that Alder wanted, then it was a battle that he was going to get. It was a battle that I wasn't going to hold back on, and I was fully willing to allow Tyrant to unleash his full might since the pride and prestige of Indigo was on the line.

This was going to be the first battle between our two regions – a showcase of both of our regions' potential that would set the tone for the negotiations to come. And I would do my utmost to ensure that we held the advantage.

I hoped Alder wouldn't regret biting off more than he could chew.

After receiving an encouraging pat on the shoulder from my Elite Four colleagues, Alder and I stepped up to take our positions in the arena. The reporters and League officials who had accompanied us were staring us with visible anticipation in their eyes.

I stared down at Alder, droning out the sounds of the referee as I inspected his form. Despite the battle that was about to take place, his laid-back smile never wavered. He looked completely relaxed about the battle, as if he was hardly concerned about the result.

I frowned slightly; a little insulted that he wasn't taking me seriously. Was this arrogance on his part? Or just aloofness?

Either way, let's see if he could maintain that attitude when he faced off against Tyrant.

"Trainers! Let the first friendly match between Unova and Indigo begin! Three! Two! One! FIGHT!"

"Volcarona, it's on you!"

"Tyrant! A show of strength!"

Volcarona emerged within a fiery vortex of flames, rapidly scorching the air around it as it wasted no time in sending forth a huge wave of fire at Tyrant. In response, Tyrant launched himself off the ground with a Mega Kick as he spun through the air – and over the Heat Wave – before retaliating with a barrage of Thunderbolts.

Volcarona easily dashed out of the way with its incredible speed as its eyes flashed, sending forth another enormous tornado of flames in a combination of both Heat Wave and Hurricane. However, instead of ordering Tyrant to form a Protect shield, I decided to make a statement.

"Giga Impact."

Tyrant's form briefly glowed orange before he suddenly rocketed forwards, shooting through the air like a wrathful missile as he tore right through the fiery Hurricane, unbothered even as his fur was scorched black and singed.

His eyes were burning with eager violence; one that promised only pain and brutality.

Alder must not have expected Tyrant to charge through the searing flames, as his aloof expression melted away into one of pure surprise.

"PROTECT!"

Despite the shouts of its trainer, Volcarona was equally as surprised as its trainer and was a little slow in trying to dash out of the way of the incoming meteor strike from Tyrant. Volcarona may have been fast, but right now, Tyrant was simply faster.

The earth shook and cracked as Tyrant's almighty Giga Impact violently slammed into it with so much force that Alder's starter was sent hurling backwards, skidding across the ground face-first and leaving a deep trench in its wake.

"SLAKINGGGGG!" Tyrant's thunderous roar of primal power echoed throughout the arena, and was a sign that his assault wasn't over yet. Burned as he now was, that didn't stop him from stomping on the ground and impaling the fallen Volcarona with an eruption of deadly sharp rocks.

The Fire type tried to retaliate by unleashing six orbs of white-hot flames, one formed from each of its wings, but knowing that he wouldn't be able to get out of the way, Tyrant simply allowed himself to be struck and set aflame by the volley of Fire Blasts as he charged forwards. Despite being engulfed in a burst of white flames, Tyrant's charge did not break and he ferociously pounced on top of Alder's starter and pinned it below him.

Then one of his arms clamped around Volcarona like a vice and the other began to rain down a storm of devastating strikes – each of them serving as a very painful lesson about Tyrant's colossal strength.

Though I usually wasn't one to take pleasure in other's suffering, I couldn't deny that slight sense of satisfaction that I felt as each one of Tyrant's destructive attacks slowly broke through Alder's aloof expressions further and further, with the gravity of the situation slowly dawned on him.

He had just picked a battle against a Pokémon that he was completely unprepared to face.

"OVERHEAT, VOLCARONA! GET IT OFF OF YOU!" He shouted out desperately.

Impressively, even through the beatdown it was receiving, Volcarona proved why it was a Champion's starter as it maintained its concentration and managed to detonate itself in a fiery explosion that sent a wave of searing hot flames burning out in all directions. And Tyrant was just caught right in the epicentre, eating the entire fiery explosion head-on.

Admittedly, it was a very powerful Overheat – easily the most powerful one I had ever seen. An enormous circle around Volcarona was scorched completely black, and even behind the safety of the psychic shields, I could feel the intense heat radiating out from within.

Unfortunately for Alder, it wasn't enough. Tyrant had fought and withstood against attacks far greater than that.

There was only one Pokémon that Tyrant considered to be his rival – and that was Emperor. Not this Volcarona.

So Alder was once again completely taken by surprise as Tyrant refused to let go of the Volcarona even after tanking through the entirety of that Overheat. Instead, he pushed through the searing pain with almost insane-looking grin on his face as he ferociously slammed his two monstrous fists into the ground and unleashed a point-blank Earthquake. A barrage of explosive tremors tore through the pinned Volcarona before a field of rocks also erupted from below, painfully impaling the Fire type with another quadruply supereffective move.

"Whirlwind! Get it away from you!"

"Stone Edge to finish it off."

Now utterly desperate, Volcarona tried to summon up a powerful gust of wind to force Tyrant back, but its attempt was interrupted by a quick Sucker Punch that flinched it.

Then a huge slab of rock was ruthlessly smashed into its face.

The Fire type collapsed to the ground, only for it to be buried under a further tomb of rocks.

Just to make sure that his opponent was actually down, Tyrant showed absolutely no mercy as he raised his arms up once again and got ready to unleash another Earthquake that would almost certainly have been complete overkill.

"Enough! ENOUGH!"

Alder's uncharacteristically frantic voice suddenly cut through the battlefield, causing me to raise a hand to stop Tyrant. Turning towards the Champion of Unova, I was a little surprised at the haunted look in his eyes as he quickly recalled his fallen Volcarona back into his Pokéball.

I frowned inwardly; did I go overboard here? Maybe Tyrant's brutal performance was a little much.

Fortunately, Alder recovered quickly as he took a deep breath, letting out a slightly forced chuckle as his usual smile returned to his face.

"Oops… got a little too emotional there." He ran his fingers through his hair, "But that was a good battle. Are all the Elite Four in Indigo as strong as you?"

"I would like to think so." I replied, rubbing Tyrant's Pokéball affectionately after I recalled him, "I am proud to fight alongside any of them."

"I'm sure you are." He nodded, "Well, I can now fully understand how you just managed to fend off a Legendary now with strength like that. That must have been a good fight!"

I was very aware of the horde of reporters and cameras that were listening into our every word, so I worded my response carefully, "…It was a battle worth fighting for."

Luckily, Lance walked up to us and saved me from answering any more questions on the topic, "I hope you were satisfied with that fight, Champion Alder. Like I said, John's starter has actually beaten mine in a straight fight. Many have called him a Champion in all but title, and I agree."

"And yet you don't seem bothered by that statement." Alder pointedly observed, "I would have thought that a Champion might have been concerned with an overly strong Elite Four member."

"John and I have an understanding." Lance replied vaguely, "We have similar goals and a shared vision on how we can continue to grow Indigo and ensure its prosperity. As a result, we both found it easier to simply work together instead of trying to fight for the position of Champion while the region suffers for it."

I nodded supportively, making sure it was clear that I was backing up Lance's words. I knew why he was saying it so blatantly like this – because he wanted Unova to understand that the leadership of Indigo was solid and unshakeable.

I had just given them a clean demonstration of our fearsome strength, and now Lance wanted to remind them that Indigo was united in purpose as well.

I could see a considering look pass through Alder's eyes, but it quickly vanished as Alder let out a bark of laughter, "Man… you remind me of Marshal and I. That brings back good memories."

"Anyways, I think I made quite the fool of myself today." He said easily, not seeming too bothered about his loss. Though I highly doubted that the other members of Unova would see it the same way, "I wanted to see the strength of Elite John for myself, and I think I got quite the good look at it today."

He let out a big stretch, "But I'm pretty tired now. Champion Lance, would you mind escorting us to our residences?"

"Sure." Lance nodded, "Please, come this way."

While Lance escorted the Unova delegation out, I remained there as my colleagues in the Elite Four approached me.

"…Lorelei, I don't your description of Alder could've been any more accurate." Karen commented, "That man is the most carefree Champion I've ever seen in my life."

"I genuinely thought it was a façade at first, but at this point I'm convinced it's not." Lorelei agreed, "It's just how he is."

"I do not think Alder's behaviour is a facade as well." Koga stated, "I have watched him closely ever since his arrival. There were moments and glimpses where he became serious, but those moments were few and far between. His most expressive moment was when he had that haunted look when you buried his Volcarona."

"…There must be a story there." Karen suggested slowly, "I caught that look from him too. And I'm thinking maybe he lost a Pokémon in the past? It would explain his sudden look of horror."

"Never mind that for now." Lorelei said, before patting me on the shoulder, "Good job out there, John. I was pretty nervous at first, but then I guess I shouldn't have been. You crushed him. But now I'm starting to wonder how the rest of Unova is going to react after you so thoroughly trounced their Champion like that."

Truthfully, I felt that Alder could have done much better than he did. If he had been on his guard and aware of Tyrant's capabilities from the start, I believed he would have done far more to not allow his Volcarona to be so easily caught within Tyrant's grasp like it was. If Volcarona hadn't been caught off-guard, then I felt that it could have made use of its superior speed more effectively.

But until we ever got a rematch, I guess we would never know.

Karen shot me a look, "Think your victory today might complicate things once you head over to Unova?"

Koga answered for me, "It should not. Perhaps it will make them more wary of you, but I do not see that as a negative. On the contrary, such wariness would also generate a level of respect from them. Just like Lance hoped, they have now seen our strength, and they would likely decide to tread carefully around us. This should make it less likely that they would treat the two of you negatively when you do head to Unova."

I sure hoped so. I was really looking forward to that trip to Unova.

A.N. And Alder fights John! Unfortunately for Alder, that wasn't the best performance he could have pulled out. Looking through canon, I've interpreted Alder to not be the strongest of Champions, as he did canonically lose to N and then got replaced by Iris. And I really can't see him being as strong as the other Champions either. That's not to say he's weak, but John is most certainly not an opponent he can afford to take lightly – which he did at first.

Compared to the other Champions, I see Alder's biggest flaw to be that he's too laidback, almost like he's trying to avoid the responsibilities of the position. Alder's character and his political 'weakness' is going to be a plot point moving forwards. 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!