The New Normal – 4-10 – Burn them all
We didn't have to wait long before Lance sent out his next monster.
"Charizard, it's your turn."
Lance's Charizard erged from its Pokéball with a terrifying roar, sending out a huge plu of searing flas towards the sky and allowing small embers to descend onto the ground like droplets of fire. It looked every bit like a fearso Dragon that was eyeing down its prey.
The clouds of snow in the sky imdiately began to recede as Charizard sent an intense ray of light into the sky, gradually being replaced by a scorching harsh sunlight that illuminated the entire arena.
Even before Charizard made its first attack, I knew that this was going to a horrible matchup for Pryce's Abomasnow. The type matchup was just too imbalanced in Lance's favour. And, just as I was thinking it, Pryce made the move to imdiately swap out his Abomasnow.
"Return, Abomasnow!"
"FIRE SPIN, CHARIZARD! Don't let it escape!"
Before the red light of the Pokéball could reach the Abomasnow, Charizard reacted quickly, releasing a quick burst of flas that snaked out and wrapped up the Abomasnow in a vortex of fire, blocking it from being withdrawn from the fight.
Pryce frowned as his Pokémon was trapped. The Fire Spin tore through Abomasnow, dealing constant supereffective damage that gradually chipped at its health. It was in a really bad spot.
But, faced with no better option, Pryce's eyes narrowed and he went on the offensive, likely hoping to do as much damage as he could.
"Rock Slide, Abomasnow!"
"Into the air, Charizard! Break down those rocks with Focus Blasts!"
As Charizard flapped his massive wings and took off into the air, rocks began being ripped out from the arena from around Abomasnow before being fired off in a barrage towards Charizard. Without slowing down, Charizard sent out a volley of Focus Blasts that shattered all of the incoming boulders while using his aerial manoeuvrability to dodge the rest.
However, as Abomasnow continued firing out rocks towards Charizard, the volley of rocks started to beco staggered and weak, as if the Abomasnow was unused to maintaining continuous geokinesis like it was currently doing, especially while it was burned. And unlike my fight against Drake's Salance with Vordt, Charizard was far from being pressured from the far weaker onslaught of rocks.
This was the disadvantage of relying on a Pokémon purely for its surprise factor. Once that surprise factor was exposed and the montum lost, you had a weaker than average Pokémon that wasn't up to your usual level of training.
And, with that gap between the barrage of rocks, Charizard was able to begin his attack.
"Incinerate everything, Charizard! Flathrower!"
A torrent of blue flas shot out like a long spear of fire out of Charizard's gaping maw, burning with such intensity that the flas were able to lt through the volley of rocks coming its way.
"Chilling Water, Abomasnow! Match it!"
Abomasnow retaliated as it fired out its own stream of freezing water towards the incoming spear of flas, and the two attacks clashed against each other. Normally, common sense dictates that fire ought to be put out by water. Similarly, a torrent of flas should be pushed back by a stream of water. But Charizard's blue flas were no ordinary fire.
And the result only beca more skewed as Charizard's flas were boosted by the harsh sunlight, while Abomasnow's stream of Water was weakened.
A horrible hissing sound erged from where the two streams t, and the crowd and I stared with enraptured silence as we watched as the blue flas literally evaporated the stream of water where they collided, forming a huge wall of steam that increasingly concealed the fight occurring below.
And so, the rest of us watched as Pryce's attack was slowly beaten back by the realities of physics, and his powerful geyser of water was nullified and pushed back by the imnse heat from Charizard's flas.
Likely recognizing that he was not about to win this exchange of attacks, Pryce went on the defensive.
"Protect! Shield yourself, Abomasnow!"
Abomasnow quickly cut off his attack as a Protect shield ford around it, before it quickly got engulfed by searing hot blue flas that began to lt the ground from underneath it. Though at least Abomasnow remained safe from within the Protect shield.
However, this focus on defense now gave Charizard free reign to make use of its more devastating attacks.
"Flare Blitz, Charizard! Annihilate it!"
With a deafening roar, Charizard surrounded itself with a ball of flas as it started its apocalyptic descent into the Abomasnow, looking every bit like a sun was about to crash into the ground of the arena.
And, surrounded by flas that as it still was, Abomasnow didn't even realize that its doom was rapidly descending from the sky. But Pryce knew that the end was coming, and so, with a determined frown, he gave his Abomasnow his final command to make its last stand.
"Outrage, Abomasnow. Fight till the last."
But Draconic energy was barely able to surge around the Abomasnow before Charizard crashed into it like a descending teor, knocking up a huge cloud of dust. The cloud of dust blocked the spectators from seeing what was happening below, but it didn't take a genius to guess what had happened.
I heard Walker sigh from next to before he got up and made his way to the buffet table once again, likely to pour himself another drink. Poor guy, I knew that he was likely friends with Pryce, so seeing him in this state was likely a sad affair.
I stared patiently as the dust slowly settled, revealing what I had expected. Abomasnow was lying unconscious in a center of a newly created crater, small wisps of fla still dancing across its badly charred body, while Charizard stood triumphantly over it, barely scratched and hardly winded.
"WHAT A CONVINCING VICTORY FOR LANCE'S CHARIZARD! MANAGING TO BLOCK OFF PRYCE'S ATTEMPTS TO SWITCH OUT HIS ABOMASNOW JUST TO FINISH IT OFF WITH AN EXPLOSIVE FLARE BLITZ! LANCE REGAINS THE LEAD WITH 2-1!" The announcer called out over the excitent of the crowd, "HOW WILL PRYCE RESPOND TO THIS DEFEAT? HE HAS THIRTY SECONDS TO DO SO!"
Pryce withdrew his Abomasnow and gave Lance an angry glare, no longer maintaining the indifferent stoicism that he had previously. Perhaps he was starting to realize how big of a threat Lance truly was at his ability to maintain his title as Champion, sothing I'm sure literally everyone else had realized by now.
He fidgeted with a few of his Pokéballs before eventually deciding to send out his chosen challenger against Lance's monstrous Charizard.
"Dewgong, you're up."
Pryce's Dewgong slamd onto the wrecked arena as the sheer weight of its body cracked the ground. Its normally friendly expression at odds with its size and heft. Even more importantly, a thick layer of fat could be seen wrapped around its body, which only serves to improve its distinct bulky appearance.
"AND PRYCE HAS BROUGHT OUT HIS FEARSO DEWGONG! THE FAD ICE-TYPE DRAGON SLAYER HAS BROUGHT DOWN MANY A BEAST BEFORE, BUT WOULD IT BE ENOUGH TO BRING DOWN THE FIERY CHARIZARD?!" The announcer hyped up for the crowds.
Dewgong was an excellent choice for Pryce. Lance had no good swaps; Charizard was his only Pokémon left that wasn't weak to Ice. But with Dewgong's ability Thick Fat, Charizard wasn't the best Pokémon to fight with either. It was a dilemma between choosing between two bad decisions, and I wondered which choice Lance was going to make.
"Aqua Ring, Dewgong. Prepare yourself."
"Flare Blitz, Charizard. Start out strong and puml it!"
With a reverberating roar, Charizard burst forwards as it engulfed himself in flas once again, leaving a trail of scorch marks in the wake of its attack, before the two Pokémon slamd together.
Fire t Ice, but the Ice refused to lt. The Thick Fat surrounding the Dewgong insulated it from the sunlight-boosted scorching flas of the attack, leaving Dewgong mostly unhard and healthy. As if to take its endurance as a personal insult to its pride, Charizard roared out and unleashed a stream of blue flas point-blank straight towards Dewgong.
"Ice Slam, Dewgong."
Making use of its inherent bulk and resistance to fire, Dewgong elected to simply tank through the ltingly hot blue flas and shielded itself with an aura of ice and charged through it to land a powerful Ice-infused Body Slam against Charizard.
Charizard stumbled back as the impact cut off its own stream of fire as he was forced to take a breath. Pryce was unwilling to allow Charizard room to breathe and pressed on.
"Again!"
Dewgong pulled its weight to the front and remorselessly slamd into Charizard once again, this ti able to land a direct hit into the center of the Charizard as it couldn't raise its arms in ti to block the attack. Charizard roared out in pain and indignation, enraged at the fact that this oversized slug was able to hurt a Dragon like it was.
Thinking that Charizard was on the backfoot and not really able to harm his Dewgong, Pryce used this mont to hopefully secure his lead.
"Set up the Snow, Dewgong!"
Dewgong seed content to ignore the raging Charizard before it as it began to release a gust of cold air around it, causing thick clouds dripping with snow to descend from the sky and shield against the once harsh sunlight.
Being ignored only seed to infuriate the Charizard even further, and Lance seed to share in his Pokémon's frustration.
"Dragon Claw, Charizard! Overwhelm and crush that thing before you!"
"Aqua Tail, Dewgong! Hit it hard!"
No longer being weakened by the harsh sunlight, Dewgong followed up with a powerful swipe of its tail that was blocked by one of Charizard's arms. However, fuelled by its pride, the Charizard ignored the pain of the supereffective move as it charged forwards and raked its claws violently across Dewgong's fatty body; Dewgong tanked through the attack with barely a reaction.
The lack of effective damage from its attack only further incensed Charizard, who, unprompted, recklessly slashed again with another Dragon Claw, but it failed to do much damage to the Dewgong. Worse, by attacking recklessly like this, Charizard had unintentionally overextended and exposed itself to being counterattacked, which Dewgong quickly capitalized on with another hefty Aqua Tail to the chest.
To add insult to injury, this kind of agre damage from Charizard was quickly healed up by the Aqua Ring that Dewgong had deployed at the beginning of the fight. Realizing that the Dewgong proved resistant to its Dragon Claw, Lance took command of his Charizard before it could lose itself in its rage once again.
"Brick Break instead, Charizard! Smash it!"
"Waterfall, Dewgong! Put your weight behind it!"
Its rage now tempered by its trainer's command, Charizard refocused itself on the fight and was no longer lashing out. This renewed discipline allowed it to brace itself for Dewgong's incoming Waterfall and partially blocked the attack with a defensively raised arm before its other arm descended from above and chopped supereffectively into Dewgong.
Dewgong stumbled backwards with pained surprise; this was the first attack that managed to actually hurt it throughout the entire battle. Lance imdiately pounced on the sudden distance between the two Pokémon.
"Focus Blast, Charizard!"
A volley of Focus Blasts almost instantaneously shot out from Charizard's claws, detonating savagely as they impacted on Dewgong before it could even form a Protect shield to block the damage.
"Again!"
"Hydro Pump, Dewgong!"
Two instances of damage were hardly enough to fell a tanky beast like Dewgong, and it reared its head backwards and unleashed a powerful torrent of water that collided against the barrage of Focus Blasts. A series of detonations followed as the Focus Blasts repeatedly detonated against the stream of water, the two attacks constantly pushing back and forth against each other.
However, the deciding factor revealed itself to be the energy reserves of the two Pokémon. While Charizard was an extrely well-trained and all-round terrifying Pokémon, it ultimately wasn't a Fighting type. Sure, it was more than proficient at using Focus Blasts, but Dewgong simply had more energy in reserve to use its sa type Hydro Pump compared to Charizard.
Thus, as the two Pokémon continued to give their all with their two attacks, Charizard slowly wavered as it gradually bottod out its Fighting type energy reserves. Its attacks were starting to get pushed back.
I wasn't sure if Lance had realized this, or if his pride stayed in the way of him ordering Charizard to switch attacks, which would effectively be conceding defeat in this exchange, but he made no move to change tactics.
Of course, the result was that Charizard inevitably ran out of energy and was blasted backwards as the torrent of water slamd it unceremoniously into the psychic shields.
"Typical Blackthorn pride." Agatha scoffed as she watched Charizard remained pinned, "Any idiot can see that it was about to lose that exchange, and yet Lance insists on continuing because his Pokémon would never forgive him if he didn't allow them to give it their all and TRY to win."
That was very interesting to hear, but Karen spoke up before I could. "You an that Lance had raised all of his Pokémon like this?"
"Of course." Agatha answered as she rolled her eyes. "Were you blind when his Gyarados refused to stay down? That's the fad Blackthorn pride at work. All of his Pokémon think they're so mighty Dragon that can never be defeated. Oh sure, it has its upsides, as you saw, but then you get stupidity like this because they're so unwilling to bend or concede." She scoffed once again.
"That's ridiculous. A Pokémon should use every little inch to their advantage." Karen said, like the Dark-type specialist she was.
I agreed with Agatha about the drawbacks. I could never see myself encouraging my Pokémon's pride to such an extent that they would literally refuse to back down from an engagent due to their pride. Despite the advantages and obvious power that such a training thod allowed for, I thought that this way of fighting was far too restricting and prone to being exploited by crafty opponents.
Pride was important for a Pokémon to have, but never to such an extent that it consus your every action. Perhaps it was suitable for a team as strong as Lance's, but since Normal types weren't traditionally powerhouses like Dragons were, this thod of fighting was entirely unsuitable for . Even Tyrant, with all his battle lust, can still reign himself in when necessary, such as when he allowed to withdraw him against Drake's Salance because he knew that was what we had planned for.
Although, the tenacity shown by Lance's Pokémon was truly impressive.
Despite being blasted with a supereffective torrent of water that kept it pinned against the psychic barriers of the arena, Charizard's eyes remained alight with rage and defiance. Its eyes told the world that it would not be defeated so disgracefully, and Lance understood that.
"Rock Slide, Charizard! Fight back and interrupt it!"
Impressively, Charizard was able to push past the pain of being endlessly blasted by a stream of water as it still managed to focus itself and start levitating the many surrounding rocks around it. I knew just how difficult it was for a Pokémon to be able to concentrate on their attack like that WHILE it was still being pinned by a supereffective attack, so it was remarkable that Charizard had the willpower to push through the pain.
With intense concentration fuelled entirely by its unyielding pride, the rocks shot forward like bullets that crashed into Dewgong's side, eliciting a moan of pain, and cutting off its Hydro Pump. As Charizard was finally free from being pinned by the Hydro Pump, Lance went back on the offensive.
"Flare Blitz, Charizard! Show your strength to the world!"
With a defiant roar, Charizard surrounded itself with a pulsating flas as it blitzed towards the Dewgong.
"Glacial Impact, Dewgong! Crush this usurper!"
Dewgong let out a powerful bellow of its own, ignoring its many injuries that had gradually built up over the course of the battle, before it rapidly charged up its own Ice-infused Giga Impact and burst forwards like a rocket.
A deafening BANG exploded across the arena as Fire t Ice once again and the two Pokémon collided with their most devastating attacks. An unstoppable force eting an immovable object as a cataclysm of opposing energies crashed against each other, causing a veritable eruption of power.
And then, there was nothing left. Not even steam. Even the clouds of Snow above were dispersed by the attack.
The arena shattered instantly at the impact, ripped entirely apart. The first layer of psychic barriers utterly failed at containing the blast, almost as if it they didn't exist entirely. The second layer, held in reserve to protect the audience for destructive attacks like this, flickered widely as it strained to maintain itself.
The VIP room was far more protected, the reinforced glass and stronger psychic barriers managing to protect us from feeling most of the impact, but glass and plates shattered as the force of the impact still managed to send tremors through the room. Though the trainers in the room all remained unfazed as we were more than used to enduring through these kinds of attacks. You didn't make it this far without being able to do so.
As the tremors ended and the aftershocks of the impact went away, we were all able to observe the results of that attack.
Unsurprisingly, the arena was devastated. Cracks spread out from the center of a massive crater that was almost artistic in appearance. In the middle of the crater, both Charizard and Dewgong laid unconscious at the center of the crater, almost looking like an entire portion of the arena had just collapsed on itself from the attack. From my high-up viewing point, it was almost like a reverse pedestal for the two Pokémon. A very fitting result for an attack of that calibre.
I was sowhat surprised at Charizard's defeat, thinking that it would be like Lance's Gyarados and fight to the end. However, I suppose that its pride may have been sated by going out in a 'blaze of glory' like this, or possibly because it had just suffered from too much damage throughout the fight that it could fight no longer.
"AND BOTH TRAINER'S POKEMON LIE DEFEATED AFTER A DEVESTATING FINAL ATTACK FROM THE BOTH OF THEM, PUTTING THE SCORE AT 3-2!" The announcer cut through the silence with his booming voice. "HOWEVER, THE REFEREES HAVE JUDGED THAT THE ARENA IS NO LONGER SUITABLE FOR FIGHTING AND THAT THE BARRIERS NEED TO BE RECHARGED, SO THERE WILL BE A SHORT BREAK TO FIX EVERYTHING!"
Then a few comrcials started playing on the big screen as the repair crew went and tried to fix up the arena. I was almost amused by the fact that they had saved comrcials in advance just to be played during situations like these even when they had previously announced that there wouldn't be comrcial breaks. The consurism was almost impressive.
"Any thoughts on the battle so far, John? Put that brain of yours to good use." Karen said as she poked in the face before she stood up and stretched from her seat. My eyes lingered slightly too long before I responded.
"...Despite his recent showing, Pryce threw away a big advantage early on." I remarked, trying to avoid her gaze. "He wasn't utilizing his Pokémon properly up to now, but I fear it might be too late."
"Oh? Now that's a very interesting thing to say." Agatha suddenly interrupted us. "Go on, explain why you think Pryce is using his Pokémon badly."
I was slightly surprised by the question, but I mulled it over in my head before responding. "...Well, like you said before, Pryce should have tried to make use of his freeze strategies that he so favoured using in the past. He underutilized his Glalie and Abomasnow against Gyarados by trying to brute force his way to winning." I replied and then continued when I saw Agatha give a 'keep going' look.
"He could have focused on maintaining the Snow and made use of Snow-based weather strategies, or just used it to boost his Ice type attacks and make it easier to freeze his opponents. He had a huge advantage with Abomasnow's ability to instantly set the Snow, and with careful switches could have maintained the Snow for the entire fight and set up powerful support moves like Aurora Veil. But he was careless and utilized and got it knocked out far earlier than I would have anticipated, losing a very useful Pokémon. He's doing better now with his Dewgong, but it might be too late." I explained thoughtfully, digging into so of my ta-knowledge. Though, to be fair to Pryce, that was all on paper. Everything could go wrong in an actual fight.
"...Good, well explained." Agatha said after she gave a considering look that flicked between Karen and I. "Glad you're using your brain of yours to do proper research against your enemies. Don't let yourself get caught off-guard. And don't let yourself get ruined by pride like the two fools battling right now. You're on a hot streak, boy, don't let it get to your head."
I nodded while trying to keep the surprise off my face. That was probably the friendliest interaction that I had ever had with Agatha, and she even gave advice!
"Why are you staring at like that, boy. Go on, they've almost finished repairing the arena." She said with a visible smirk, and I felt like I was missing sothing. Still, I turned back to the now repaired arena and tried to put it out of my mind.
I would think about Agatha's sudden friendliness another ti. For now, I had a match to watch.
The New Normal – 4-11 – A Fight to the Finish
"ANND WITH THE ARENA FULLY REPAIRED, WE CAN GET BACK TO THE BATTLE!" The announcer declared to the sounds of cheers from the audience. "TRAINERS, ARE YOU READY?!"
Both trainers nodded. "BEGIN!"
"Dragonite, win."
"Weavile, you have the advantage."
Both Pokémon couldn't be more different as they appeared on the battlefield. While Dragonite erged with a thundering roar, as if announcing its presence to Arceus itself, Weavile was silent, remaining completely still with hardly a twitch. One flaunted its power openly for everyone to see, the other chose to hide it like a concealed blade.
Their respective presences rolled off each other as if they didn't exist. Weavile was not going to be Intimidated, nor was Dragonite going to be affected by the silent pressure that Weavile emitted.
"That's not Lance's starter is it?" Karen asked as she stared carefully at the posturing Dragonite.
"No, it isn't. His starter is far larger. Trust , you would know if he ever sent it out." I replied, before I pointed towards Pryce's Weavile. "You should study his Weavile, see how it matches up to yours. Maybe you could learn sothing. Or perhaps it could just serve as a good point of comparison."
Karen accepted my advice with an easy nod, and out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw Agatha's mouth twitch upwards in approval montarily before it settled back to its signature enigmatic expression. Could have just been a trick of the light.
"Focus Blast, Dragonite! Knock it out with one good hit!"
"Dodge and Ice Shard, Weavile. Keep your distance."
The battle began as Weavile took off with a running start as it began circling around Dragonite while firing off small shards of ice, who was charging up a volley of Focus Blast in its hands. Dragonite easily tanked through the Ice Shards, allowing its Multiscale to tank through the first volley of ice shards without disrupting its Focus Blasts.
Then, it unleashed a barrage of Focus Blasts that blasted towards Weavile. However, Weavile began dodging the attacks with contemptuous ease as it made use of its innate agility and speed to duck, jump, and slide under the volley of Focus Blasts, while hardly seeming winded while doing so.
Lance realized that he had to stop Weavile from making use of its greater mobility and changed course.
"Heat Wave, Dragonite! Burn everything around you!"
"Ice Spinner, Weavile! Flood everything!"
A veritable tide of flas exploded outwards from Dragonite, scorching the ground around it as the circle of flas spread out from it. As the ring of flas was about to incinerate the Weavile, it leapt over it while it covered its feet with a layer of ice as it then began to spin around, flinging ice everywhere around it and creating a safe platform to land on and putting out so of the burning ground.
"Earthquake, Dragonite! Shatter that Ice!"
"Interrupt it with Ice Punch, Weavile! Don't touch the ground!"
I understood Lance's plan. He realized that if Dragonite could break Weavile's makeshift Ice platforms, then Weavile would start taking damage over ti if it was forced to fight on the scorching hot ground, probably even being inflicted with a Burn.
However, Weavile showed off its extre mastery with Ice moves as it leapt from one hastily created Ice platform to another as it jumped quickly with huge strides towards Dragonite. The earth shook first, shattering all of the thin ice platforms that Weavile created, but Weavile anticipated the attack and jumped into the air just in ti, twisting its body mid-air for just slightly more reach, and pumlling a critical Ice Punch straight into Dragonite's face.
Yet, despite being punched with a 4x critical Ice Punch, Dragonite roared past the pain as it refused to flinch with its significant Inner Focus and glared murderously at the Weavile that had now entered its range.
"Body Press into it, Dragonite! Hit it as hard as you can!"
"Protect and get back with Ice Spinner, Weavile! Make so distance!"
Weavile quickly kicked off the side of Dragonite's face and flipped backwards, spinning around in mid-air as it began to cloak itself with a layer of ice once again, while rapidly forming a shimring Protect Shield between itself and Dragonite.
Then, Dragonite rushed forwards in a rage, throwing its entire body into the attack with a Body Press. The shield shattered as Dragonite smashed into it, but it managed to block so of its montum. As it broke past the Protect shield, Dragonite was t with a flurry of Ice from the spinning Weavile that repeatedly cut into it. Yet, its fury remained unabated as it charged forwards regardless, ignoring its ramping injuries from the supereffective hits, and managed to slam into the Weavile with its Body Press.
Weavile was flung across the field from the impact and crashed unceremoniously into the dirt. In a way, it was lucky that it was thrown so far back as the ring of fire had yet to scorch the outer most area of the arena.
Still, the damage taken was severe. An already fragile Pokémon by nature, taking a 4x supereffective attack like that, though partially blocked by the Protect Shield, still devastated the glass-cannon Weavile.
On the other hand, Dragonite wasn't looking much better either. The terrible type matchup really started to show itself as even that quick exchange was able to demolish Dragonite's health. But there was no way both trainers didn't plan around this reality; with Charizard and Gyarados knocked out, most of Lance's remaining team were going to be extrely weak to Ice.
"Why doesn't Lance just order his Dragonite to fly up into the air and harass the Weavile with Special Attacks?" Karen spoke up and asked, "Knowing Weavile, they all have terrible Special Attacks and Lance would probably be able to win a battle of attrition that way. Seems like the smart thing to do."
This ti, Agatha spoke up and responded before I could. "Hah! Haven't you been listening to what your boy has been saying, Karen? Lance would never do sothing as unsightly as winning like that. His pride wouldn't let him." Agatha mocked, before turning with a wry smile towards Walker. "Unlike this guy here. That's his favourite strategy."
Walker simply shrugged and continued ignoring Agatha's taunts while Karen nodded in understanding. Personally, like I thought when I battled Drake, sotis you have to do what you have to do to win, pride and honour be damned. This fight between Weavile and Dragonite wouldn't be as close as it is if Dragonite simply stayed out of range, and it would have likely forced Pryce to switch from Weavile to sothing else that could handle a long-range fight, giving Dragonite the freedom to start setting up.
Of course, at this point, it would be a terrible idea for either Pokémon to switch out. If either Pokémon tried switching out, the other would be quick to pounce on the opportunity to either heal up with Rest or start buffing up against whatever ca next. Considering both of their vast experiences as Elite trainers, they would never allow the other to gain such an advantage and would rather fight to end with their current Pokémon.
Just as I thought that, both trainers went back on the offensive, trying to finish off the other.
"Shardstorm, Weavile."
"Dragon Rush, Dragonite! End this fight!"
A huge whirlwind of chilling winds and ice shards started to be ford in front of Weavile, a powerful combination of both Ice Shards and Blizzard that ford a deadly vortex that threatened to shred any that dared enter its gaping maw with a tornado of shards. In fact, the sheer amount of ice shards within the Blizzard made it impossible to see inside it, as the spinning shards ford a thick wall that blocked all sight.
However, never one to back down from a fight, Dragonite surrounded itself with an abundance of Draconic energy, before it shot forwards and charged fearlessly into the midst of the icy whirlwind. I couldn't tell if it was doing so because of pride, or because it genuinely believed that it could endure through an attack that it was 4x weak to.
And thus, Dragonite disappeared into the center of the vortex of ice, completely disappearing from view.
The crowd all held their breath as they waited to see the outco of Dragonite's charge. Undoubtedly, if it broke through the vortex, Weavile was in no position to dodge or tank another hit as it was consud with maintaining the Blizzard. But breaking through was no easy matter for the Dragonite.
The silence extended for a mont, until suddenly, a small plu of flas shot out from within the whirlwind of ice, briefly scorching Weavile before it was quickly cut off. However, that small burst of fire was enough to Burn the already weakened Weavile and interrupted its Shardstorm. But there was still no sign of the Dragonite.
Eventually, the icy vortex slowly faded away, revealing the frozen form of the Dragonite.
Its mouth was still open, and its face was warped into one of defiant resignation, likely to force itself to shoot out that one last breath of fire when it realized that it was unable to go any further. Yet, its arms were limp, and its eyes, while open, were devoid of any energy.
It was clearly knocked out, but perhaps its pride demanded that it unleashed one final attack before going down? Considering my observations of Lance's other Pokémon, that seed very likely.
The crowd went wild seeing Pryce actually defeating one of Lance's Dragonites, normally a symbol of strength and pride for the Blackthorn Clan, and to see one actually fall was certainly a montous occasion.
Lance grimaced as he withdrew his Dragonite, though I could not tell if he was disappointed or angry. And at whom.
"OHH, IT LOOKS LIKE LANCE'S DRAGONITE HAS BEEN DEFEATED! IT WAS UNABLE TO WITHSTAND THE FREEZING WINDS FROM THAT UNIQUE BLIZZARD FROM WEAVILE AND WENT DOWN! THE MATCH IS NOW TIED UP AGAIN 3-3!" The announcer shouted out over the noise of the crowd. "LANCE HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT HIS NEXT POKEMON!"
"I'm withdrawing my Weavile as well." Pryce announced as he returned his burnt and limping Weavile back into its Pokéball, obviously in no condition to continue fighting.
"...AND WITH PRYCE'S WITHDRAWAL, THE SCORE IS 4-3! EACH TRAINER HAS 30 SECONDS TO SEND OUT THEIR NEXT POKEMON!" The announcer corrected himself.
"...An impressive performance still from that Dragonite, to get an effective draw against that a Pokémon that it was 4x weak against." I muttered absentmindedly.
"Bah, he was foolish to charge into the midst of that Blizzard." Agatha scoffed dismissively, before she turned her attention to Karen. "Karen, you learn anything from watching Pryce's Weavile?"
"...It's much better at using Ice type attacks than mine." Karen said after she mulled over it but elaborated when she saw Agatha roll her eyes at that basic answer. "With my Weavile, our only reasonable long-range option is with Icy Wind to hopefully slow and freeze enemies down so that Weavile can get in range to finish them off, but we don't really have any long-range attacks like Pryce's does."
"And do you think that you should work on developing these long-range attacks for your Weavile?" Agatha asked, surprisingly seriously. I supposed that this was a teaching mont for Karen.
"Yes, I think I can see the use of it. I would need so way of forcing enemies to fight Weavile in close range, so developing so attacks that could hit far away opponents would prove useful." Karen replied confidently. Agatha smiled at her answer.
"Do not try to copy Pryce. You are not him, after all. Develop your own strategies to deal with your Pokémon's weaknesses." Agatha reminded her, and Karen nodded.
Before the conversation could continue though, both trainers had sent out their next Pokémon.
"Glaceon, strike down that Dragon."
"EMPEROR! IT. IS. TI!"
All eyes were locked onto the appearance of Lance's starter Dragonite. He towered over everything and was almost a head taller than the Dragonite he had sent out just before. He didn't roar out, as he had no use for such common thods of Intimidation. No, his presence alone was enough to cause most Pokémon to shudder in fear.
His royal gaze swept across the field, briefly locking on to Glaceon before his gaze moved on dismissively, as if he hardly recognized the Glaceon as a threat. And perhaps, he was right.
This was the alpha of alphas. The Dragon to beat all other Dragons. I had never t a Legendary or a Mythical Pokémon before, but I would imagine the sheer Pressure radiating out of Lance's Emperor would likely be a close match for a few Mythicals. I gripped the armrests of my seat in excitent; I wanted to learn everything I could about this pri specin of a Pokémon.
In my mind, a single line of thought repeated itself. Could Tyrant defeat such a foe in a straight-up fight, with no tricks involved? If not, then what could I do to ensure Tyrant's victory?
"Your strength is respectable, Pryce!" Lance shouted out, "However! I will not allow another Dragonite to fall to your hands. This Champion match has been a fun challenge for , but IT ENDS NOW."
"Extre Speed, Emperor!"
"Protect and Ice Beam, Glaceon."
To Pryce's credit, he hardly reacted to Lance's threat aside from a slightly raised eyebrow. That stoicism held on even after Emperor rushed towards Glaceon at such speed that he was little more than a blur. Emperor smashed through the Protect shield with ease before he easily tanked the incoming Ice Beam, shrugging it off as the attack bounced off its Multiscale before a devastating Fire Punch pumlled into the Glaceon.
Glaceon fell backwards helplessly as it whined in pain, as if Emperor had struck with such strength that he completely disregarded the defense boost from the snow.
But Emperor was unrelenting, unleashing a huge ball of flas that ruthlessly blasted the helpless Glaceon even further backwards before it could recover. Hardly twenty seconds had passed since the start of the round, and already Glaceon was severely wounded by the two super-effective attacks.
Fortunately, it didn't share the frailty of the previous Weavile, or else it would have been knocked out already. Though that was a cold comfort since it was still in a horrible position.
"Snowstorm, Glaceon! Get control of the weather!"
"Extre Speed again, Emperor! Finish it off!"
Impressively, despite the sheer speed of Emperor's charge, Glaceon was still able to form a powerful Blizzard that managed to also change the weather of the battlefield to a moderate Snow. Another vortex of ice and snow ford itself between the two Pokémon, its icy maw once again daring Emperor to enter its frozen depths.
However, just like its weaker counterpart, Emperor simply let out a dismissive snort and charged headfirst into Blizzard, utterly fearless. The Blizzard ripped through Emperor, causing a litany of wounds to appear on his body, but it failed to halt his charge. Within seconds, Emperor erged out the other sight with a ferocious expression before he ramd the Glaceon with yet another rciless Fire Punch.
Glaceon cried out in pain, but Emperor refused to allow Glaceon any chance to recover and savagely continued his onslaught by ruthlessly slamming their heads together with a disorientating Iron Head, flinching the Glaceon and interrupting any potential counterattacks. Then, without any prompting from Lance, Emperor picked up the disorientated Glaceon and lifted it into the sky, before Emperor brutally slamd it back down into the ground.
Even after all that, Emperor moved to charge up one last Fire Blast to ensure its opponent stayed down before Lance interrupted it.
"Stop. That's enough, Emperor." Lance said while staring down at Pryce, as if silently ssaging him to withdraw his Pokémon. His Glaceon was lying pitifully in a small crater; its only movents were the slight twitching of its legs.
It was obvious enough to the audience that it could no longer fight any further.
Pryce t Lance's stares unflinchingly, but ultimately conceded and withdrew his Glaceon from the fight to the sounds of applause and cheers from the crowd.
It had lasted barely over a minute against Lance's starter.
Against any other Pokémon other than Emperor, it would have been a poor showing for a Champion's Pokémon to be knocked out so quickly, but I'm sure anyone who had been in the presence of Emperor would forgive Pryce for his quick defeat.
"WOW! THAT WAS A FRIGHTENING PERFORMANCE FROM LANCE'S STARTER, MANAGING TO KNOCK OUT GLACEON WITH RECORD SPEED! THE SCORE IS NOW 5-3! CHAMPION PRYCE IS NOW ON HIS FINAL POKEMON, WILL HE BE ABLE TO TURN THIS MATCH AROUND?!" The announcer hyped up.
To , Glaceon's defeat was unsurprising, though I was slightly surprised at just how quickly it was knocked out. From that performance alone, I as starting to think that Pryce's starter might not be able to match up to Emperor, and I was feeling a plethora of different emotions.
On the one hand, I was both excited and relieved at the fact that Lance was likely going to win this match, aning that he was about to supplant Pryce as Champion and that all of our political manoeuvrings over the past month or so haven't been wasted. That relief also extended to the fact that Lance was indisputably going to be a strong Champion, who would be awfully difficult to supplant through a battle. That was good, since I had tied a lot of my political influence to supporting Lance and needed him to stay as Champion to make use of it.
On the other hand, witnessing the true power of Lance's starter was equal parts worrying and inspiring. Worrying, because any trainer would start to doubt themselves when they compared themselves to such a monstrosity, and inspiring, because I was now determined to continue training up my team to be strong enough to confidently overco such a strong Pokémon.
Of course, I knew that I was deliberately aiming far higher than I needed to. I didn't NEED to be as strong, or stronger, than Lance, and my current level of strength was more than sufficient for the Elite Four. In fact, compared to Pryce's arguably diocre performance in this battle, I would say that my team had a much stronger showing against Drake.
Yet, I was not one to rest on my laurels and accept such concepts as 'good enough'. Yes, I was in a solid position right now, both politically and in terms of my Pokémon team's strength. However, it was unwise to build a foundation on sothing as volatile as temporary esteem and strength. I knew that, if I did not continue to work hard, I may end up as conceited as Pryce was, and may one day be facing against an opponent that I was too egotistical to defeat.
No, I would learn from Pryce's mistakes and would continue to strive forwards. And just as I reaffird my will, Pryce sent out his final Pokémon and his starter.
"Mamoswine, do NOT lose."
My head snapped towards where Pryce was standing when I heard those words. I stared carefully and Pryce and saw the cracks starting to appear in his previous stoic exterior. It was inevitable that he was starting to feel worried; he was down to his last Pokémon after his previous one got decimated by an awfully powerful Dragonite. And he was one step away from losing the title that he had been holding on to for many years.
Yes, his Mamoswine was very clearly a powerful Pokémon, well deserving to be the ace and starter of a long-ti Champion. Its huge ivory tusks shimred nacingly like daggers of bone in the snow and coupled with Mamoswine's large and bulky fra that hinted at its massive strength, it would normally be an Intimidating sight on its own.
And yet, Emperor simply stared at Mamoswine with a mixture of amusent and arrogance. Even when Mamoswine raised its tusks threateningly at Emperor, he continued remaining unfazed as the two Pokémon stared each other down.
Looking at Pryce, the terrible situation that he was in finally must have set in for Pryce, as he realized that he was probably about to lose all of the power that he possessed for years. I was truly curious about what thoughts were going through his head at the mont; was he in despair at the realisation that he was about to lose everything? Was he in denial, refusing to accept reality? Or would he finally accept the situation that he was in and accept his demise with dignity?
Sadly, I could not tell what Pryce was thinking from his reford blank expression, so his inner thoughts remained unexplained to as Pryce's final stand began.
"Icy Wind, Mamoswine! Take advantage of the Snow and slow it down!"
"Draco teor, Emperor! Enough gas!"
Pryce, obviously aiming to try to slow or freeze Emperor by slowly wearing it down with Icy Wind, was imdiately interrupted as Emperor, in a mighty display of his power, roared out to the skies and shot out a radiant ball of energy that lood threateningly in the sky. The sphere of energy quickly detonated, forming colossal teors of destructive energy that rained down apocalyptically towards the arena, the snow seemingly forgotten as the Draco teor took over and dominated the skies.
However, Mamoswine had not been idle, and a chilling gust of wind, further enhanced by the cold weather conditions, snaked itself around Emperor. Without Multiscale, Emperor let out a grunt of pain as it tanked through the 4x supereffective move. Despite its show of strength, Mamoswine's attack was a humbling reminder to Emperor that his opponent was far from soone he could simply overlook.
Yet it was Pryce who was in more trouble, as with the imminent threat of Draco teors crashing down destructively from above, Pryce was forced to change tactics.
"Icicle Crash, Mamoswine! Shoot them down!"
"MAMO! SWINE!" Enormous icicles that matched the size of its tusks ford around the roaring Mamoswine, before they fired off like giant spears of ice into the air to shoot down the incoming teors.
The spears impaled themselves deep within many of the falling teors, causing them to detonate in mid-air. However, many more orbs continued to descend unimpeded, overwhelming Mamoswine's admittedly admirable attempt at shooting them down.
They continued to fall, and it quickly beca obvious that it was far more than Mamoswine could handle. Knowing that Mamoswine was about to be overwheld, Pryce went on the defensive.
"Mamoswine, Brace and Protect!"
"Dragon Rush, Emperor! Don't let it hide away!"
Gasps and shouts could be heard from the surprising command. Yet Emperor unquestionably obeyed his trainer as it burst forwards and smashed into Mamoswine's Protect shield, shattering it and grappling onto the Mamoswine, preventing it from forming another one.
Mamoswine tried to force Emperor away by spearing it with a deadly Ice Fang, but Emperor narrowly dodged out of the way of the ice-infused tusks and crashed their heads together with a powerful Iron Head.
The teors continued to descend ever closer to the ground, and yet Emperor still showed no signs of hesitation as it continued to grapple the Mamoswine. In fact, Emperor continued trading blows with Mamoswine, not giving it a single mont of repreieve as Emperor relentlessly pumlled it with an onslaught of Brick Breaks. In a display of supre confidence in his strength and his trainer, Emperor willingly remained in the destructive path of its own attack and prevented Mamoswine from trying to get away or shield against it.
However, Mamoswine was not willing to simply fold over. With a defiant roar, it managed to wrestle back against Emperor and impaled it with one of its deadly tusks, causing Emperor to stumble backwards from the powerful hit. Not wasting the opportunity, Mamoswine crashed into it with an Ice-Infused Take Down before Emperor could recover.
And then, the teors fell.
The first layer of psychic shields shattered instantly, hardly putting up any resistance as the tidal wave of force from the explosive bombardnt blasted past it. The second reserve layer were strained to its very limits as they flickered harshly as they were barely able to withstand the veritable tide of force slamming against it.
So in the audience stands were knocked off their seats as the psychic shields failed to withhold all of the destructive energy. Fortunately, the stadium and the force dampeners were built and reinforced to et these standards of high-level attacks, so no further damage was done.
The VIP room was similarly unhard, though I think most of the food from the buffet table behind had clattered onto the ground. At least soone saved the bottles of expensive alcohol.
"You think Lance's Dragonite was knocked out as well?" Karen suddenly asked as we waited for the dust to settle, and I shook my head.
"...I don't think so." I comnted, "From what we just saw, it felt like it knew it could survive an attack. And I'm not willing to bet against that."
Karen accepted my explanation with a nod, "I wonder if my own Tyranitar will ever beco so powerful." She muttered to herself.
"...With good training, who knows? Gravity training is definitely going to help. And lots and lots of sparring and training." I whispered to her, and she shot a grateful smile before she turned back to observe the match.
The battle certainly wasn't over yet, but I knew that we were in its final monts.
With the dust finally settled, the announcer made himself known once again.
"ANOTHER POWERFUL ATTACK FROM LANCE'S STARTER, CHOOSING TO FORCE MAMOSWINE INTO AN UNFAVOURABLE BRAWL JUST SO THAT IT COULDN'T SET UP ITS DEFENSES! A RISKY PLAY, BUT HAS IT PAID OFF?!"
And sure enough, the scene laid out before us was one of familiar destruction. Just like most of Lance's devastating attacks, the arena was once again a complete ruin, and had basically transford into one gigantic crater, with many smaller craters dotted around it.
But more importantly were the states of the two Pokémon. Mamoswine's once pristine fur was now cut up and lightly singed in various places, its magnificent tusk was chipped and covered with dirt, and one of its eyes were sealed shut due to its injuries. It was clearly on its last legs.
In comparison, Emperor initially looked hardly winded even though it also took the brunt of its own supereffective attack. However, a closer inspection using the caras revealed that it was panting harder than it was before, and that its wings hung weakly on its back. It looked like it was holding itself together to stop it from collapsing, but it was doing an admirable job not allowing these injuries to slow it down and maintained a fa?ade of indifference and strength.
Pryce grimaced as he saw the state of his Mamoswine, but Lance reacted before he could do anything.
"Emperor! This is the final mont! Overwhelm it with a Dragon Pulse!"
"Mamoswine! Do NOT fall! Blast it back with an Ice Beam!"
Both Pokémon roared out and unleashed a powerful beam of Draconic and Ice energy respectively that both collided in the center of the field in a blinding burst of light. This was it, the final exchange of match.
Dragon and Ice clashed against each other. The beam of Ice normally had a significant advantage piercing through the draconic beam, but both attacks were hindered by the wounded and damage state of their source. It was now a battle of pure determination, a manifestation of each challenger's respective ambitions.
Was Pryce's desire to stay in power stronger? Or would Lance overco him with his own ambitions to beco Champion?
The battle of wills extended for so ti, each Pokémon putting their all into the attacks, acting as a physical manifestation of their trainer's spirit. But, in the end, Mamoswine was the first to fall.
It slowly started to slump over, succumbing to the weakness of its injuries. Its beam of frost gradually getting weaker as exhaustion and tiredness rapidly built, until eventually Mamoswine was blasted backwards by the victorious Dragon Pulse.
Not having any more energy left, Pryce's final Pokémon, his last hope, collapsed to the floor. And with it, so did his chance of holding on to his title as Champion.
On the other side, Emperor wobbled uncertainly on its feet, swaying slightly as it looked about to fall over. Its victory ca at a cost, and it looked like it was monts away from collapsing as well. However, in one final display of its pride, it let out a triumphant roar to the skies as it forcefully held itself together until the end. And with that, the battle was over.
"ANDDD PRYCE'S FINAL POKEMON GOES DOWN! LADIES AND GENTLEN, WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION! GIVE A HUGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE TO THE NEW CHAMPION OF INDIGO, CHAMPION LANCE!!"
And a new Champion was finally here.
The New Normal – 4-12 – A New Champion
I watched as Lance posed proudly as the announcer finally declared his victory. His expression was one of proud triumph, but there was still a hint of arrogance in there as if he thought that his victory was an inevitability.
Though, anyone who had just watched the match would probably think that his arrogance was well-deserved.
Pryce looked the exact opposite. There was no sign of anger in his expression at his defeat, nor was there any bitterness. Rather, he had stood there blankly, looking like he was unable to comprehend the fact that he had lost both the battle and the title of Champion. Although, unlike with Walker, I didn't feel any pity for him.
He was a thoroughly self-absorbed man who could not even see beyond his own ego. He was generally unpleasant and condescending to everyone he spoke to and showed little regard for those he thought were beneath him, which was practically everyone. While I was not about to rub his loss in his face, the more vicious side of was pleased with his defeat and that he was finally humbled.
Suddenly, the door to the VIP room opened and a League Official made his way inside. He briefly made a questioning glance to Karen's surprising presence before he addressed the other Elite Four mbers.
"mbers of the Elite Four, would you please accompany to the stage for the ceremony of our latest Champion?" He asked politely, but formally. It was kind of a rhetorical question since we didn't exactly have a choice.
"Oh, right, almost forgot about the pageantry." Agatha scoffed, before she carefully pulled herself up from the chair, bones creaking slightly. Karen went to help her, but Agatha waved her off and said that she was fine.
"Karen, you stay here for now while we handle this. et with afterwards once we're done." Agatha said to her, and she nodded. The League Official wanted to protest having a non-VIP remain in a VIP area, but a sharp look from Agatha silenced him. The official turned to Walker and I for support, but Walker was likely too distracted to notice the implied question, and I simply shook my head at the official.
He sighed, realizing he would get no support, and simply began to escort the three of us out of the room as we made our way very slowly to the victor's podium. We walked as slowly as we did so that Agatha could catch up, but I was almost certain she was deliberately walking even slower than she had to just to ss with us.
Either way, we eventually made our way to the stage, where a grinning Lance welcod us with wide arms. In the corner, Pryce seed to have gotten out of his shock and was now glaring at everyone with open hatred. We of course, ignored Pryce.
"Welco, everyone!" Lance greeted us with a smile, with the caras pointed towards our group. "I hope you enjoyed the battle."
"Congratulations, Lance, it was a well fought battle." I praised, making sure that I tended to his ego. "You'll make a great Champion."
"Of course, of course, and I thank you for your words, Elite John." Lance easily replied, "We both know how much you have helped to get where I am now, so you deserve so of the credit too." He said for the benefit of the caras.
I realized that he was saying this to tell the world about our political ties, both to give credit for aiding his victory, and to also make use of my currently excellent reputation to solidify the early days of his rule. That was fine, I expected it anyways.
Then the other two mbers of the Elite Four similarly gave their congratulations, though theirs were far more lukewarm than mine. Nonetheless, Lance was happy to accept them.
Afterwards, he was escorted onto the stage where he would be sworn in as Champion. A very senior looking League Official made his way on stage. He made a few choice, but ultimately aningless, words about the importance of the title of Champion, and their responsibilities towards the continued protection and safety of Indigo.
Then, in sothing that I had completely forgotten about, he proceeded to invite both Lance and Pryce to the front so that Pryce may pass the title of Champion to Lance. That must have really been rubbing salt on the wound for Pryce.
In fact, when Pryce made his way to the front with a smug Lance, I had to hold in my laughter. His face scread to the world that he wanted to be anywhere else but here, and his gait was no longer as steady as they used to be. In contrast, Lance just took it all with a smugly satisfied smile.
"Champion Pryce, as the leaving Champion, do you agree to pass down the position of Champion, and all of its associated responsibilities and power, to your successor, Lance?" The League Official began.
"...I agree." Pryce bit out reluctantly, but there was sothing else in his tone that I couldn't quite place.
"Lance, do you accept the position of Champion, understanding the necessary responsibilities and duties that cos along with the position?" The official asked Lance.
"I accept this duty." Lance said solemnly, though his eyes glead with pride and eagerness. To Lance's credit, he was doing a good job not acknowledging whatever look that Pryce was giving him.
"Then, congratulations, Champion Lance! You are the newest Champion of Indigo!" The official declared, and crowd went wild with applause and cheers. So had even unrolled banners that said "CHAMPION LANCE!" to show their support; I casually wondered if they were mbers of the Blackthorn Clan.
The official allowed the crowd to cheer for a little while before he interrupted them. "Normally, we would move straight into the interview, but a surprise guest wanted to speak a few words to you, Champion Lance, if you were to allow it."
Lance looked surprised for a brief mont, but then recomposed himself. "Oh? Well, certainly. I would love to speak to whoever this is."
The official nodded, looking a little bit relieved that Lance didn't decline, which only stoked my curiosity further about who this individual was. Especially one that was influential enough to disrupt such a montous occasion. Soon enough, I realized what the fuss was about when a very familiar looking person made his way on stage. The caras flashed rapidly as they took pictures of the newcor.
My jaw nearly dropped when I saw who it was.
"Hello, Champion Lance, it's a pleasure to et you like this. Congratulations on your win." said a smiling Professor Oak, walking onto the stage donning his usual lab coat. He looked like he had just co down straight from his laboratory, and he certainly wasn't dressed for such a formal occasion. But seeing the sheer surprise in everyone's faces, including mine, I didn't think anyone cared to ntion it.
"...oh, uh, yes, it's an honour, Champion Oak." Lance stuttered out, genuinely surprised at Oak's appearance. "And thank you very much for your words. I am undeserving of the honour." He said as he bowed in deference, which caused my eyes to nearly pop out.
I never knew that Lance had the ability to be deferential.
But then I noticed that the other mbers of the Elite Four, including Pryce, were all bowing slightly in respect to Oak, and I quickly followed suit despite not fully understanding why.
"Ah, you don't need to use that title anymore. I retired from that position a long ti ago." Oak said humbly while scratching his head, "I'm just here to congratulate you on your successes and to say a few words of advice, to the both of you, if you want to hear them."
"Of course, Champion, I an, sir. Please, go ahead. I'm honoured to listen." Lance said respectfully.
"I'm sure you are very excited to be the newest Champion of Indigo, but rember that all power corrupts eventually, and it is an eternal struggle for those in power to fend off the darker temptations that are inherent to all positions of power." Oak advised with a calm smile, "If you don't, you may find yourself lost to that obsession." He glanced towards a surprised Pryce, who seed to have been shocked out of his anger.
"Of course, sir. Thank you for your advice." Lance replied, understanding the warning that Oak had given.
"Good...good. I would hate to see the latest generation repeat the mistakes of the past." He said pointedly, before turning his full attention towards Pryce.
"Pryce, do you still rember what you were like when you were chosen to be my successor?" He asked, and Pryce seed taken aback for a mont before he gave a small nod. "Do you rember how bright-eyed you were, how excited and honoured you were to continue my actions as Champion?" Another hesitant nod, one that had a mixture of bitterness and nostalgia. "Well, you may have lost your way in the past few years, but I believe that you will be able to return to that bright-eyed successor that I had personally chosen. Do not hold on to your bitterness, and I'm sure you'll be able to return to being the great man that you once were."
The two of them shared a aningful look for a mont, one that must have held a plethora of different emotions for Pryce. The silence extended for so ti, with none daring to break it.
Eventually, Pryce nodded, concluding whatever silent conversation took place between the two of them. Oak smiled, and patted Pryce on the shoulder. Then he began to address the rest of the Elite Four.
"And to the rest of the Elite Four, I look forward to seeing all of you continue your good works. You have the potential to do great things! And I wish you the best in all your endeavours. And Agatha, good to see that you're still doing so well in your advanced age." He said jokingly, and to my further surprise, Agatha didn't even respond with her signature cutting tongue.
"Thank you, Champion Oak. Your words do a great kindness." She bowed deeply, and I had to force myself not to react. Oak just smiled in response.
"Please, Agatha, you don't need to do this. But I think I've wasted enough of everyone's ti. Thank you very much for allowing this washed-up old man to say a few words." He turned to Lance. "Champion Lance, I hope you do your new position proud, and that you continue to uphold the oaths that you once gave." He said that friendly, but in his tone was a forceful reminder of his newfound responsibilities. Lance nodded firmly.
"Then I'll be off. Thanks for having !" Before anyone could stop him, he released an Alakazam onto the field. And then, with a quick explosion of powerful Psychic power, he was swiftly teleported out of the arena.
Oak's abrupt exit left us all still in various states of confusion and awe, though as Elite trainers, we all recovered very quickly. The League Official coughed to grab our attention.
"Champion Lance, if you could please make your way onto the interview podium right now. I'm sure you would appreciate the opportunity to answer so questions." The official gestured to a lectern with multiple attached microphones, and Lance made his way there. The rest of the Elite Four stood to the side just in case any reporters wanted to ask us any questions. I sincerely hoped not.
"...Thank you all very much for bestowing the honour of becoming the newest Champion of Indigo. As I have previously vowed, I swear to work hard for the continued prosperity and safety of our two regions, and to work hard to bolster the unity and friendship between us. Also, I would like to thank Champion Oak for his kind words and wish him the best in his retirent. I will now open the floor to questions." As soon as he finished speaking the reporters were finally let in and they surged in like they had just bypassed an open dam, hungry to question the new Champion.
"Champion Lance! How are you feeling right now?! Do you feel happy that you've beaten Champion Pryce?!" The first of many reporters asked.
"Of course, I am feeling very proud of my achievent. Becoming Champion is no easy feat, and I'm very thankful and proud of my Pokémon for being able to carry to where I am today." Lance replied, "As for Pryce, any issues that I had with him was purely political and had nothing to do with my personal opinion of the man. Champion Pryce was a great man, and soone who had led Indigo for many years. Despite our recent disagreents in his choice of policy, I still remain very much honoured to follow his footsteps and to fill his shoes."
"And how do you think you will stop yourself from making the sa mistakes that you claid Champion Pryce made?" Another reporter questioned the mont Lance finish speaking.
"That's a great question. And I'm glad soone asked that." Lance comnded, "Well, I initially intended to tell the other Elite Four mbers about this privately, however, this is as good as an opportunity as any. To ensure that I will not be repeating the sa mistakes as Pryce, I will be inviting the other Elite Four mbers to listen in on any proposals that I may have during the early periods of my new reign as Champion. That way, I hope that by opening up discussions and increasing transparency, I will stop myself from being blinded by overconfidence until I can properly get a handle on things."
I was not particularly surprised by this announcent; truthfully, I had expected Lance to do sothing like this to differentiate himself from Pryce. It's no good calling soone out for being a corrupt dictator when you proceed to just do the sa thing as they did. This way he gets to preach about his transparency and how he's making changes compared to what Pryce did. A smart move.
"Does that an you'll be excluding the Elite Four from future discussions after you get a hang of being Champion?" A different reporter inquired.
"No, and do not twist my words." Lance answered firmly, glaring at the reporter. "I will always welco any solid advice from my Elite Four. It's just that, during the earlier periods of my new reign, I will be more open to advice until I can get the hang of things. I would NEVER exclude the opinions of the Elite Four. And, who knows, if I find that the Elite Four give prudent and reasonable advice, then I may maintain this transparency for the entirety of my ti as Champion."
"Do you have any new proposals in the works that you would like to announce right now?" Soone else asked.
"Yes, but I'm not willing to announce anything right now until I've conferred with the other mbers of the Elite Four and the Committee. I believe it would be overly hasty do make an announcent now without checking on its feasibility. Rest assured that announcents will be made relatively shortly." Lance declared.
Of course, the fact that Lance had sothing in the works spawned a swarm of questions all asking about what it was, but Lance simply said he wasn't going to talk about it and to switch to a different topic. Eventually, the reporters complied.
Lance then proceeded to answer similar questions about his new Championship. I almost began to tune everything out before a reporter went up to Pryce and started asking him a few questions.
"Ex-Champion Pryce, I'm sorry for your loss." The reporter said unsympathetically, clearly not caring for Pryce. "How do you feel right now? I'm sure you must be devastated with the loss of your position."
Wow, I had to hold actually force my mouth to remain closed at the sheer disrespectfulness of that question. That was like twisting the knife that was already stabbed into Pryce. Suddenly, Walker, who had been silent and morose this entire ti, spoke up to defend Pryce.
"That's a very disrespectful way of addressing the recent Champion, sir." Walker stated firmly, walking up to the reporter. "Being a reporter does not an you get to forget your courtesies, so I demand that you apologize to Pryce for your malicious words or to leave this venue entirely."
Walker's demand seed to draw the attention of all the reporters in the area, even Lance stopped answering his question and nodded in support of Walker's words. The reporter, suddenly the center of attention, quickly grew flustered and stamred out an apology, before fleeing the scene.
I heard Pryce mutter a very quiet "thank you" to Walker, which he accepted with a small smile and a shrug. I smiled too, mostly for Walker's sake. As much as I thought he was unsuited for the role of Elite Four, I didn't hate him, and was happy for him that a small spark of his previous friendship with Pryce still remained.
After that interruption, the questions resud. Pryce was interviewed a few more tis, this ti far more politely, and one of the questions that caught my attention was that they asked where he was going to go now that he was no longer Champion.
He spoke out about returning to his hotown of Mahogany, and perhaps being an advisor to the Gym for so ti. He gave no further details than that, but I thought that if he could finally get his head out of his arse then he would make a great and experienced advisor for Lorelei.
Then the reporters began to hound us three mbers of the Elite Four. They generally asked us the sa few questions, mostly inquiring about our thoughts on Lance as a Champion, and what we thought of the battle. We mostly gave similar answers; that we thought that Lance had great potential to be a Champion and that we wished him the best, and we thought the battle was well-deserving of a challenge for the title of Champion.
However, they singled out in particular and asked a few more detailed questions because of my explicit support for Lance to beco the next Champion.
"Elite John, what made you support Lance in the first place? How did you and Lance decide to join forces as you did?" They asked .
"Well, I had just returned from my forced visit to Hoenn, and I was displeased with many aspects of Pryce's leadership." I explained, "I spoke to Pryce about them, but then realized that he was not able to assuage my concerns. This led to speak with Lance, who also shared my displeasure with many elents of Pryce's ti as Champion, and we both felt that the only path forwards was to replace Pryce as Champion with Lance. We got to discussing on the details after that."
"Then why did you not offer to beco Champion yourself? You did defeat Drake after all, so it's not like your strength was in question. And you seem to be doing a great job at handling the politics of Indigo, despite your age, so why did you not nominate yourself?" They pushed.
"Strength isn't everything." I quickly answered. "And I certainly feel, even now, that making a play to beco the next Champion at my age would be far too soon. I have only been a mber of the Elite Four for a few months, which would not reassure many that I am ready to beco the next Champion. Moreover, I definitely have no intention of becoming the Champion, and I'm more than content with remaining as a mber of the Elite Four." I remained very careful with my words to not accidentally frighten Lance with the impression that I'd be looking to replace him soon. I wasn't and had no plans to do so.
"Does that an you might change your mind in the future?" They kept asking, perhaps trying to generate so scandal or so gossip.
"I cannot answer that, because I could not possibly know about the thoughts of my future self." I answered dryly, resisting the temptation to be sarcastic. "I will say that I am more than happy to see Lance beco the next Champion, and I look forward to working with him productively in the future."
The reporters left, seeming satisfied with my answers even if they didn't get the juicy scandal that they likely hoped for.
The interview eventually wrapped up after a final question where a reporter asked who would be replacing Lance in the Elite Four. It was a very good question, and one that Lance truthfully didn't have an answer to. He said that this would be one of those topics that he will bring up with the Elite Four and the committee, and that they'll make an announcent when a decision has been made.
Lance then ended the interview after that, refusing to answer any more questions and leaving the stage. Before we were allowed to leave though, a League Official told us to all to shake hands with Pryce as a gesture of farewell before we were all led backstage together and back to the VIP room.
As we entered the VIP room, Karen greeted all of us with a very formal bow, and introduced herself as Agatha's apprentice, while thanking her with the opportunity to stay in the room and witness the match from here.
Pryce frowned, but surprisingly kept silent. Lance gave her an inspecting look, then smiled knowingly at and Agatha before he went and greeted Karen politely and said that he was looking forwards to seeing more of her battles in the future. Karen was montarily flustered, but quickly recovered her composure and thanked Lance for his kind words, before congratulating him once again for becoming Champion.
Walker of course made no comnt either way, content to just grab his briefcase before getting ready to leave. Agatha in the anwhile slumped into a chair, obviously tired from all that standing around. I gave Karen a smile as well before I went to grab a bite to eat, since they had restocked so of the food and I was starving.
Pryce then spoke up, "I understand that I am unwelco, so I'll be making my leave now." He then was about to leave before he abruptly stopped and turned around, "Walker, thanks for speaking up. I hope to see you again soon." Walker actually smiled at that, and Pryce finally left the room.
Lance waited for a few monts for Pryce to leave the room before he spoke up, "Right, Karen, I'm sorry, but I'm going to be discussing a few things with the Elite Four at the mont, and you can't be here. Remind next ti to invite Clair to these VIP rooms, I keep forgetting I could have done that now that since Pryce wasn't here." He muttered that last part to himself.
Karen understood and quickly left the room after whispering a few words to Agatha and getting a nod in return. With one last wave to , she left the room.
"Okay, well now that the ceremony is over with and that I'm the Champion, I'll be looking for soone to take up my spot in the Elite Four." Lance explained, "I believe that the Committee is looking for a Johtonian to replace , so that we would have a good balance within the Elite Four, so if you have any ideas, please let know. Otherwise, like I said in the interview, I am openly inviting all of you to sit in on the discussions that the committee will be having so that you can provide input as well. You won't get any votes though."
The three of us all nodded, and Lance looked around to see if we had any suggestions.
"And who are the committee going to suggest?" Agatha asked, "Or are we going in blind?"
Lance shrugged, "I don't know either. So yes, we'll find out on the day or close to that. I'll be using my own resources to see if I can find out earlier." Agatha muttered sothing indecipherable but was probably rude, but Lance pretended he didn't hear anything and looked around to see if we had anything else to say.
Seeing that we all remained silent, he clapped his hands. "Well then, seeing as no one has anything else to say...then you're free to leave. We'll be discussing any future policies that I will be making in the future, but I have taken up enough of your ti today with the whole challenge as well, so I'll not hold you any longer. I will be seeing you all later."
As soon as he finished speaking, Agatha released a Gengar and quickly teleported out of the room, with the chair. I shook my head at Agatha's antics and left the room with Walker, Lance staying behind for so reason.
Walker surprisingly spoke up as the two of us were leaving the building.
"John, I would like to apologize to you for your forced exile into Hoenn. It was not my idea, though I will not excuse myself for my complicity, but it was unfair of Pryce to have done so." I raised my eyebrow questioningly, and he continued. "I am not saying this as a last-ditch opportunity to win you over, but simply because I understand that my ti in the Elite Four is likely rapidly coming to an end, and I would just like to make ands before that happens." He said solemnly.
I thought over his words for a mont before responding, "...well, thank you for giving an apology, Walker. For what it's worth, I never hated you either. We were just on different political sides, and I understood that whatever animosity was between us wasn't personal. So, thanks again for apologizing, and I am sorry that your ti in the Elite Four might be coming to an end. Even if it does, I wish you all best in whatever you end up doing."
He nodded and we remained silent again. We both understood that while I may have forgiven him for his complicity, that doesn't an that I was about to do anything to stop him from being kicked out. And he understood that too.
Eventually we went our separate ways, and I flew back on Port to make my way ho. With Lance now replacing Pryce as Champion, I felt that we had entered a new era for Indigo.
Hopefully one for the better.
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