The New Normal – 2-18 – Victory Ceremony
After the conclusion of our battle, I was barely allowed to bask in my victory and give Vordt a nice tight hug before I was quickly escorted away from the arena and asked to make my way onto the stage.
I had wanted to speak to Drake and thank him for a battle well fought, but the League officials insisted that there would be ti to mingle later and that it was more important for to give a winner's interview. At least they allowed to heal my Pokémon before they made have the interview.
A part of wanted to tell them to stuff it; I was tired and way too excited and just wanted to calm down and celebrate my victory with my Pokémon. However, I knew that it wasn't worth it kicking up a fuss at this stage, so I stifled a groan and sigh as I reluctantly followed their instructions.
My instinct to just run away was made even stronger as I saw the veritable sea of reporters and caras that were aid my way when I got to the stage. I was instantly blinded by the continuous flashes of the caras, and I almost stumbled over a small step on the stage that I couldn't see because of all the flashes. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Drake was also being dragged onto the stage, but he looked like he was about to pop a vein.
As I finally settled down in my seat, I adopted a blatantly false smile as I braced myself for the barrage of questions that I knew were coming; I could hope that they didn't ask anything too sensitive or controversial.
Although that hope was slowly dwindling as I saw the hungry expressions on the faces of the reporters who swiftly sward like unfed Snorlax with their microphones outstretched.
"ELITE JOHN! How does it feel to win against Elite Drake?" The questions began, "Did you expect yourself to win?"
"I feel elated, and very pleased with my Pokémon." I answered as humbly as I could, I really didn't want to see articles appear on the Pokénet about bragging about my victory. "Of course, I have the fullest of respect for Drake's team and was very thrilled and honoured to be given the opportunity by the Hoenn League to fight against such a strong opponent."
I made sure to placate the Hoenn League and give them the credit for hosting the event. I didn't want them to cause problems for in the future.
"But were you confident in your victory against Elite Drake?" Another reporter pressed, "After all, you did win 6-3!"
"I was confident in my Pokémon to perform to the best of their ability." I answered evasively, "And I was in no doubt that they would provide a good fight against Drake. But luck played a heavy factor in my 6-3 victory against Drake today, and if events had happened slightly differently, then perhaps today's victor would have been Drake."
That was true, Zephyr was very lucky that his final Hurricane was able to confuse Kingdra, which then allowed Smough to quickly knock it out. Also, if Flygon had decided to fly higher off the ground, then there was no way that Tyrant would have been able to knock it out so quickly.
And it was the quick defeat of Flygon that was the most important factor in securing my victory. I didn't really have any good options for defeating Drake's Flygon, as it wasn't susceptible to my most common thod of using rocks to knock down opposing Flying Pokémon. Thus, I would be forced to use Special Attacks like Ice Beam to hopefully snipe it down, but my Pokémon weren't the most proficient at that.
Strangely enough, looking back with hindsight, Drake's Flygon might have been the most problematic Pokémon on his team for my Pokémon to fight against. I made a ntal note to see if I could train my team to be more able to fight against Flying type Pokémon who are resistant to Rock-type moves.
"Elite John! What did you think of Elite Drake's performance in today's battle? Do you think he might be unsuitable to be part of the Elite Four?!" Wow, I could feel the malice in that question. I turned to the reporter who asked and answered with the most serious expression as I could muster.
"Elite Drake is absolutely deserving of being a mber of the Hoenn Elite 4." I locked eyes with the reporter who asked, "The battle against Elite Drake just now was by far the hardest battle that I have ever had to fight in my career as a trainer, and I know for a fact that if I hadn't gotten as lucky as I did, Drake would have been the one who won, not ."
That reporter frowned and gave an angry look as I clearly didn't answer the question as he had hoped I would, but I ignored him. Besides the fact that Drake was a friend, there was no doubt in my mind that he deserved to be in the Elite 4.
Then, another one of the more excited reporters almost shoved their microphone into my mouth. "Are you going to be doing anything else this exciting while you're in Hoenn?! Maybe another battle against another mber of our Elite 4?! Who would you like to battle the most among the remaining three?!"
I politely pushed the microphone away from my mouth because I wasn't sure that the reporter wouldn't shove the microphone down my throat if I started talking. When I made sure that the microphone was an appropriate distance away, I responded.
"I'll be very honoured if I ever got the opportunity to battle against another mber of the Hoenn Elite 4." My smile turned genuine for a mont as I said that, before returning to the fake one that I often adopted for the caras, "However, as much as I would love to have another great battle like the one I just had against Elite Drake, my Pokémon very much do need to rest and recover from their gruelling battle. However, if I was offered the opportunity to battle the Hoenn Elite in another show match soti in the future, I would be very happy to accept."
As soon as I finished answering that question, another round of microphones were pushed forwards. This ti, I just selected one at random.
"Elite John, why were you sent to Hoenn in the first place? Did you just co on vacation like the Pokénet rumours suggest?"
This ti, I gave myself ti to think before I responded. I knew that the official reasoning by the Indigo League for my trip to Hoenn was never disclosed to the public, and I also knew what a shitstorm I could cause if I told them that I was here on an official visit for diplomatic reasons.
Since the Hoenn League has made it very clear to that they didn't receive any notice that the Indigo League was sending on a diplomatic mission, it wouldn't be long before the public realized that that the true reason that the Indigo League sent here was to side-line to Hoenn and keep from interfering with the political affairs of Indigo.
I was so tempted to kick the hornet's nest and stir up the shit for Pryce. The more vindictive part of myself, the part of myself that held my pride, wanted to get revenge for Pryce by telling the world about how he fucked over. A part of wanted to watch Pryce get the couppance he deserved. For the dishonour and the humiliation of sending away to Hoenn.
But the more rational part of myself started to weigh the pros and cons of such a decision. I knew that the mont I did this, I would make an enemy in Pryce for life. There would be no going back for this, and I would irreparably damage my relationship with Pryce and a few other mbers of the Indigo League that supported my 'trip' to Hoenn.
Also, I felt like I would co off as whiny and immature if I ratted on Pryce at this mont, since many could simply say that this was 'not a big deal' and that I was just making a childish tantrum. Airing out the dirty laundry of Indigo like this might breed resentnt and be seen as traitorous by those who supported Indigo, and many would say there would be more mature ways of handling the situation.
I clenched my fists as I had to hold down my anger and my need for revenge. Once again, I found myself needing to restrain myself for the sake of not making unnecessarily enemies. I hated the fact that I agreed with my more rational argunts compared to my more instinctual and emotional response.
But, for the sake of a united Indigo, I needed to not infla tensions between Kanto and Johto and airing out Pryce's dirty laundry right now would also create negative implications for Johto. Furthermore, it could shatter my political aspirations of fostering closer relations with the two regions.
On the other hand, I knew that my patience and resolve was waning quickly. I promised myself that the mont I got ho to Indigo, I would speak with the right people to see if I can my revenge against Pryce. I wasn't going to allow this humiliation to be swept under the rug and be conveniently forgotten.
No, now was not the ti to expose Pryce. Today was one of celebration, to honour my victory against Drake. I wouldn't ruin the festivities by stirring up a shitstorm right now; that would also end up annoying the Hoenn League as well. However, that didn't an I couldn't throw out so hints in my answer.
"Thank you for that question. Champion Pryce sent here." I said without elaborating, setting up the bait for the follow-up question.
"If Champion Pryce sent you here, does that an that you were here on official reasons? If so, why weren't we inford about it?" The reporter asked the question that I was hoping for.
"I'm afraid that I wasn't privy to the details as to why I was sent to Hoenn so soon after my appointnt, I only followed their orders." I answered technically truthfully, before deciding to twist the knife a little, "I'm sure Champion Pryce will be able to answer those questions if needed."
The reporter backed away, seemingly satisfied with my answers. I had to fight down a smirk that threatened to appear on my face; I thought that I had given a very carefully crafted response that avoided imdiately exposing Pryce's misdoings while also leaving enough hints to imply that there was sothing nefarious going on in the background.
"Elite John! What were the special Pokéballs that you used for your Pokémon? Where did you get that from?" One reporter asked.
I grinned inwardly at the question, and I adopted what I thought was my most marketable smile as I answered, "Ah, these special Pokéballs are called Premier Balls. They were designed and created by Devon Corp, and they gave a few when I visited them a couple of days ago."
I took one of the Premier Balls out and started showing it to the caras, "I really like their design, I think it looks really sleek and minimalistic. I believe having their Pokéballs with this design is a great way for more elite trainers to show their status by having their Pokémon in these Premier Balls. As you can see, I replaced all my old Pokéballs with these new Premier Balls and all my Pokémon are stored within." I gestured to the other Premier Balls on my belt.
With that, I felt that I had marketed the Premier Ball sufficiently enthusiastically to fulfil my portion of the contract with Devon Corp. I hoped that these Premier Balls would sell well, as I'd get a nice chunk of inco from my 5% of sales as per my contract with Devon Corp.
Afterwards, the next round of questions was comparatively mundane and were all focused on my match against Drake. So asked about how I managed to get so strong, so asked if there were any training techniques that I could share, and another one asked if my family's Moomoo milk business had anything to do with my success.
To the last one, I gave them a proper response by saying that my family's Moomoo milk business was invaluable in providing support throughout my journey to being a mber of the Elite 4, and I doubted I would make it to where I was without it.
While nothing I said was technically false, I only really ant that they had supported emotionally, but if the public misconstrued my words and assud sothing different...well that would only prove beneficial for the family business.
A few more questions later and we finally wrapped up my winner's interview, and I was told to pose for a few pictures with the 'trophy' before I was finally allowed to leave, and Drake was forced to take my place and be the victim of the next barrage of questions. I gave him a pitying look and a smile as I left.
Finally free from the hound of reporters, I slumped slightly against the nearby wall and let out a sigh of relief. At this point, all I wanted to do was to find so Pokécenter and just relax and wind down in one of their rooms. Of course, just as I was thinking about this, my phone started ringing. I quickly forced down my annoyance though when I saw that it was Giovanni that was calling.
"John speaking." I began.
"John, it's Giovanni." He sounded strangely happy, which was a bit unnerving. "Congratulations on your victory against Elite Drake. I think all of Indigo had their eyes glued to the broadcast, included, and I could say that we were all very happy about your victory."
From the tone of his voice, he was legitimately congratulating and seed happy for . I was seriously weirded out by a happy Giovanni, but I tried to not let it show as I responded.
"Thank you very much for your congratulations, Giovanni." I replied, "But I did get quite lucky with my match against Drake, and I'm not sure that I could secure another victory if I fought him again."
"As humble as ever I see." Giovanni chuckled, "Well, John, I didn't call you just to congratulate you on your victory, but also on your restraint in not exposing Champion Pryce for his true reasons for sending you to Hoenn."
I grinned as I heard this, glad to see that my decision to keep silent for the ti being was not wrong. "Thank you, I didn't think it was the right ti to do so either, but could you elaborate on why you thought I shouldn't have done so?"
"Of course." Giovanni answered smoothly, "You see, John, if you had decided to expose Pryce's actions at this mont, I guarantee you that while so of the public would have been sympathetic to your plight, many other mbers of the public would have just seen it as a childish outburst that ultimately demonstrates that you were unsuited for your position as the Elite 4."
I nodded at his reasoning, since that was what I was thinking as well, before staying silent as he continued, "More importantly, as you still aren't back in Indigo, you wouldn't really be able to control the narrative and influence public opinion as well as the Indigo League and Pryce could. You would be at a huge disadvantage in the war for public opinion, and your reputation may be very quickly tarnished and irreparable."
I grimaced, but understood what Giovanni was telling . Fortunately, my patience had won out today and I hadn't started a war against Pryce that I wasn't sure that I would be able to win.
Seeing my continued silence, Giovanni kept going. "However, and I would like to applaud you for doing this, your response was vague enough to not imdiately warrant a response from Pryce, but also hinted to all those starving reporters that there might be sothing to investigate. And, better still, even if they do discover sothing, you'd mostly be in the clear because you weren't the one who 'deliberately' brought it up."
Well, this is one of those tis where I thank myself for not being ruled by my temper. Still, I reigned in my relief as I refocused myself and responded to Giovanni.
"Yes, thank you for your explanation, Giovanni, it was very helpful." I remarked, "I'm very glad that I managed to avoid making a huge mistake."
"Mmh, you did." Giovanni replied before pausing slightly for a mont before continuing, "John, you've proven to be a valuable ally for to have, and I could definitely see us maintaining our friendship for a long ti." My eyebrows shot up with surprise, "With that in mind, I have so important news for you."
"What is it?" I asked, unable to stop my curiosity.
"Ever since your journey to Hoenn, Lance has been making moves to replace Pryce to be the new Champion of Indigo. He's still in the preparation stages, but he's been making it increasingly obvious that he intends to challenge Pryce. Just the other day he openly called out Pryce for trying to appoint Lorelei to be the next Gym Leader of Mahogany Town."
"That's quite the move." I answered with open surprise; I didn't think Lance would be making his move so soon. "Thank you for telling this, Giovanni, but do you have anything in mind about what we could do about this?" I deliberated emphasized the word 'we' so that Giovanni could know that I was with him on this.
"Thank you for your support, John, I'm glad to see you understand the value of this information." Giovanni spoke, "I wanted to discuss this with you more when you get back to Indigo, but I want to know what your preliminary thoughts are about this?"
I carefully thought about the issue for a few monts, Giovanni staying silent as he allowed to think. A short while later, I stated my thoughts.
"I think that this is an opportunity for us to gain so important influence within the Indigo League." I explained, "I think that, if Lance proves to be worthy of our support, we should support his challenge against Pryce so that we may extract more favours from him and increase our own influence in the Indigo League. We should especially prioritise extracting a promise from him that he would ensure that Kanto doesn't stagnate and fall behind Johto like it has under Pryce."
Giovanni remained silent, so I continued, "Also, while Lance is also from Johto, I feel like he would be more supportive of a united Indigo and is not in favour of the current status quo. Overall, I believe that he would be a better Champion to have for our goals of an improved Kanto."
Giovanni gave out a considering hum as I finished, and I allowed him to think over what I had just said. After thinking it through, he replied.
"Though I am not as optimistic as you about Lance's views for a united Indigo, I do agree that Lance would most likely be a better Champion to have than Pryce." He admitted, "Of course, I am hesitant to act so quickly without knowing more, but assuming that my investigations into Lance prove fruitful and positive, then I see no reason why we shouldn't follow through with your plan."
"Thank you, Giovanni, I'm glad that we could see eye to eye on this matter." I said with concealed relief, I really didn't want Giovanni going against Lance, "Perhaps we should discuss this further when I return from Hoenn." I suggested.
"Yes, we should." He affird, "And with that, I think I have taken up enough of your ti. Congratulations once again on your victory, John."
I thanked him again for his words and we politely hung up on each other. As I hung up, I smiled down at my phone, happy to see that my connections to Giovanni had only strengthened during my ti in Hoenn. I still didn't fully trust him and would continue to remain cautious during any of our interactions, but the conversation we just had was another reminder of how useful Giovanni was as a friend, since he had a vast network of connections that I could make use of.
Knowing that Lance was going after Pryce's position so soon was definitely a big surprise, but it also presented a huge opportunity for to hopefully make use of. I quickly took out my notepad and reminded myself to at least speak with Lance when I returned so that I could get a better asure with him.
Just as I finished writing down my reminder, my phone rang again. My eyes shot up with surprise yet again as I saw who was calling, Champion Pryce.
"Champion Pryce, how may I help you?" I answered politely, keeping any hint of frustration and annoyance out of my tone.
"Elite John, well done on winning." He said as coldly as ever. Though I didn't manage to detect any hint of anger or frustration in his tone. "You did well in Hoenn, but now I need you back in Indigo."
"Thank you for your words." I replied, maintaining my politeness, "I'll be happy to return to Indigo. Can I ask how I will be returning?" I was tempted to ask why I was being returned, but I didn't want to risk aggravating him at the mont, so I kept the question to myself.
"A private ship will be chartered for you." He answered blandly, "It will be departing the day after tomorrow in the afternoon. Don't miss it."
At this point, I could tell that Pryce genuinely wasn't angry at at all for winning against Drake or from my interview. He was just his normal unpleasant self, which was sowhat reassuring. And surprising.
"Of course, I'll be there. Is there anything else that you need of ?"
"No. There'll be a welco committee to et you when you get back. I'll speak with you then." Then he hung up.
I frowned as I put down my phone. I was more confused than angry at the conversation we just had. What was that about? Why wasn't he angry? Why did he want back so soon? I had a few guesses, but did it have sothing to do with Lance's actions?
I mulled over it in my head for a mont, before deciding that I didn't have the answers and would only be able to find out more when I got back. So, I pushed those thoughts about politics of Indigo to the side and allowed myself to relax once again.
I quickly texted Karen telling her to et at the Ever Grande City Pokécenter, and I strapped myself onto Port as I started making my way there.
As I enjoyed the short flight from the stadium to the Pokécenter, it hit that my journey in Hoenn was at an end, for now. I thought back over the many things that took place during my trip here, and I felt that I had accomplished much throughout my pseudo-exile. Obviously, I wasn't about to thank Pryce for side-lining here, but I did co to enjoy and appreciate my ti in Hoenn.
I hoped that one day, I could return.
The New Normal – 2-18 – Interlude – Giovanni
Giovanni sat back and watched the re-run of John's winner interview against Drake. He was being truly genuine when he gave his congratulations to John about his victory, and he was very pleased to see that John wasn't soone who let their anger guide them into making bad decisions. He wasn't lying when he said that John's decision to not announce Pryce's failings at the mont was the correct one.
And yet, even then, he was taken aback by John's victory over Drake.
Despite all of the information that Giovanni had compiled about John, sohow the fact that John's battle prowess was so high seed to slip under his radar. This obviously had Giovanni rearranging his evaluations about John's team and power. He rembered previously asking Petrel if he had a chance of beating John in a fight, and now he realized that Petrel's cautious estimation of John's strength was actually a vast understatent! Giovanni knew that he had no chance to win, not unless he played dirty.
Giovanni felt that it was very fortunate that they discovered John's true strength like this; it would have been disastrous if he had made an enemy of John without realizing just how strong he truly was. Of course, he never intended to break his friendship with John, not when they had accomplished much together, and Kanto's future was, for the first ti in a long while, looking very bright.
He was very pleased about their cooperation together as it brought the both of them many benefits. John was very active in making new connections with important figures in Hoenn, and he never forgot to share so of that credit back with Giovanni too. It was good that John understood the need to pay back his debts.
The joint research project that they established in Petalburg was already in the process of being set up, and the fact that he had indirect control over the entire project through Ariana could only be a good thing for Kanto's future. Obviously, he would ensure that any new discoveries and inventions made there would be sold and distributed in Kanto first.
However, the real winner in Giovanni's eyes was the building of the new Devon Corp branch offices in Viridian. International cooperation aside, so long as Johto never gets their own Devon Corp branch, anyone looking to purchase Devon Corp products will be forced to co to Kanto to do so. He felt that it would do wonders for our balance of trade.
Not only that, but with the new branch's inevitable success, more foreign businesses will look to Kanto as a ans of increasing profits and set up their own branch offices here as well. The more that foreign businesses invest in Kanto, the more jobs that can be potentially created in Kanto. Thus, the more businesses get established here, the better for Kanto.
An unintentional benefit for Devon Corp's new branch offices that John would likely never realize is that it provides a legitimate reason why Viridian City remained so prosperous despite Kanto's poor economy. Before the new branch was set up, Giovanni had to be very careful about how he used his less legitimate funds into improving Viridian City and its infrastructure.
He knew that savvy investigators would realize that the amount of money flowing around Viridian City was unusually high, and they might unravel Giovanni's sches as a result. However, with the new Devon Corp branch being created, Giovanni thought that many would just see how successful the Devon Corp branch was and imdiately assu that they were the reason for Viridian City's prosperity, not bothering to look further into Giovanni's underground funds.
This also ant that Giovanni would be able to increase the amount of underground funding into Viridian if he wanted to, but he didn't see the need for that at the mont.
He went to pour himself another drink and thought carefully about the future of his cooperation with John. With Lance making a move to be the next Champion, he remained cautious that a Johtonian like him would make for a good Champion, though he certainly would be better than Pryce. Likewise, he agreed with John's assessnt that this would be a perfect ti for the both of them to capitalize on the political turmoil to grab so extra political capital for themselves.
As a 're' Gym Leader, his actions were far more restricted than John's, so he hoped that John would be able to fulfil what he said he would do. He would wait and see and guide John if that ever beca necessary. As always, his guiding hand was always ready to steer Kanto in the right direction. Giovanni let out a content smile as he leaned back in his chair and enjoyed his drink.
However, just as he did that, his phone pinged as soone sent him a text.
Giovanni took one look at the ssage and shot out of his seat with his drink long forgotten. He grabbed his coat and hat and hastily made his way out of the office.
He bumped into Petrel on the way out, and he simply told Petrel to handle his calls and inform everyone that he would be unavailable for so ti. Petrel saw the uncharacteristic alarm on his face and imdiately nodded without questioning his orders.
Giovanni then made his way out of the Gym in a rush and into the night.
The New Normal – 2-19 – INTERLUDE: Pokénet Reactions
[DEVON CORP TO SET UP NEW INDIGO BRANCH IN VIRIDIAN CITY! Is this the start of sothing special?] by The Indigo Post
Dear readers, just monts ago, Devon Corp and Gym Leader Giovanni of Viridian City have made joint announcents announcing the establishnt of a new Devon Corp branch office that will be set up in Viridian City! Interesting enough, they both openly thanked our newest Elite Four mber, Elite John, for being a vital interdiary to facilitate and approve the cooperation between the two. Gym Leader Giovanni especially stressed how this new branch would create new jobs for the residents of Viridian, and he hopes that this is one big step into helping out those who remain unemployed despite their best efforts.
Although so initially feared that the establishnt of the new offices would be t with hostility from our local Silph Co., it appears that the two rival businesses have sohow managed to resolve their differences and there appears to be no signs of protest coming from Silph Co.
Not only that, but the two have also reported that, with the help of Elite John, they will also be sending their scientists to cooperate on a joint research project to discover the potential evolutions for a recently created Pokémon, Porygon. This new research facility will be built in Petalburg City, with the blessing of their Gym Leader Norman.
This writer believes that this newfound cooperation between Devon Corp and Viridian City will be the beginning of a series of foreign cooperation and investnt from both regions, which this writer hopes should prove prosperous for both regions. What do our readers think? Let us know in the comnts!
Comnts
KantoRepresent
Interesting to see Viridian City cooperating with Hoenn's Devon Corp. On the one hand, I'm concerned that this expansion from Devon Corp into Kanto may eventually be revealed to be exploitative and hurt Kanto's economy. On the other hand, I'm cautiously optimistic that Gym Leader Giovanni knows what he's doing and won't allow Devon Corp to just take advantage of us.
Hope this will all turn out well! I'm staying hopeful.
ILoveGoldenRod
...can't you just be happy that Indigo will have more access to Devon Corp products instead of being paranoid over every little thing? Also, when is Johto going to get a Devon Corp branch?! It's unfair that only Kanto gets one.
ANormalFan
Hell yeah! John's doing work while he's in Hoenn!!!
TangelaThoughts
Huh. I admit to being very surprised that this newfound cooperation was facilitated by Elite John. Never thought that he had the political maturity and skills to pull sothing like this off. Colour pleasantly surprised.
ANormalFan
Hah! That's what you get for looking down on Elite John! Just you wait! He's going to do sothing even more amazing while he's there, I'm sure of it.
NotTooMuchWater
About ti we got so foreign investnt and cooperation into Hoenn! Despite having integrated with Indigo all those years ago, it did seem like Hoenn wasn't really attracting much foreign cooperation. Glad to see that's no longer true though, and I agree with the article that I hope to see more inter-regional cooperation in the future!
AreYouSlowBro
You know, this is probably what happened. Elite John beat Norman, and then used his victory to get Norman to agree to the proposal! Like, they must have bet before their match that the winner could order the loser to do anything!
Gardevoir34
OMA that's so romantic! I need to write this down!!
NotTooMuchWater
...it probably wasn't as dramatic as that. But I do agree that Elite John probably t up with Gym Leader Norman after their match to discuss this. Proud of the both of them for being able to work together despite not coming from the sa regions!
===================================================
?[AN ELECTRIFYING BATTLE! AGATHA'S APPRENTICE DEFEATS GYM LEADER WATTSON IN AWE-INSPIRING DISPLAY OF SKILL AND POWER!] by BattleCast
[Edited video of the fight]
Today we were blessed with an unexpected fight between Agatha's apprentice, Karen, and the Mauville Gym Leader Wattson! What was supposed to be a relatively mundane 8-badge fight between the two ended up transforming into an all-out match filled with excitent and skill!
In their final round, Wattson's Magnezone really showed off why it deserved to be called his Ace as it unleashed a blistering fast onslaught of attacks that would have overwheld and devastated most Pokémon. But to the surprise and cheers of many, Karen showed the world why she was Agatha's chosen apprentice as her Houndoom managed to not only endure through Magnezone's barrage but also fight back and even secure a decisive knockout against it.
This is Karen's second Gym badge at the ti of writing that she has won in Hoenn, on top of the full roster of badges that she has already earned from Indigo. Is Karen going to be challenging the remaining Hoenn Gyms? This writer is excited to see more from Karen in the future!
Thanks once again to our many dear readers for providing us their video clips for us to compile together. We at BattleCast are always grateful for your support.
Comnts
SlugmaBalls
Holy shit!! That final round was so coooool!!!! Never thought that Wattson had it in him to be so strong! Since when could his Magnezone do that? Why has he never done it before?!
NotTooMuchWater
Agreed. That was a surprising performance by Wattson even if he did end up losing. But I'm honestly more surprised at the power of Karen's Pokémon. After reading through this article, I went back and looked over her performance against Gym Leader Roy, and she completely dominated him. Makes think about how strong Karen truly is.
FightClub
Another fanboy of a type weak to Fighting...it's like you guys never learn. Watch, Karen is going to get it in her head that her Dark types will be able to take out the mighty Fighting type Gym in Dewford before her Pokémon gets smashed to the ground where they belong.
GeneralistGeneral
Although I wouldn't put it as harshly as @FightClub, I do wonder why more people don't use generalist teams with multiple types to prevent their Pokémon from all being weak to a single type. Surely that would make more sense?
FearTheRat
It's because it's easier to train more Pokémon together and to maintain cohesion within your team if they all share a type. Referring to Karen's match against Wattson, even though her Pupitar wasn't a Dark type, she obviously trained it well to prepare for its evolution into a Tyranitar, as you can see her Dark Pulses are very much well-trained and powerful.
That's why a huge majority of our Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champion, all specialize in one type. It's not only easier to just have all or most of your Pokémon sharing a type, but also because it allows you to pass and share training techniques between your Pokémon. It's just much more efficient that way.
GeneralistGeneral
@FearTheRat - Sure, I get that. But, in theory, wouldn't a trainer who could train up a full Elite level team with Pokémon of different types be the strongest trainer we've ever seen? I an, that way their Pokémon could cover each other's weaknesses and they'd be unstoppable. That's what Samuel Oak did, and he beca Champion. Just curious why we don't see more generalist trainers at the Elite level.
FearTheRat
@GeneralistGeneral – In theory, yes, but that's MUCH easier said than done. In the history of Indigo and Hoenn, besides the Legend that is Samuel Oak, I don't think we've ever seen a generalist trainer rise high and beco a mber of the Elite Four or higher. It's just too difficult.
But Ex-Champion Oak definitely proves that if you can manage to train a generalist team to that level, then yes, you'd be likely one of the strongest trainers in the world. Heh, now that you ntion it, maybe one day there will be another generalist trainer that rises to be the Champion.
BeautyIsFree
OMA yesssss we need so girls getting in on that Champion position!!! Hope one day we get a hot blondie to be Champ!
ANormalFan
Ok enough with the tangent. Didn't everyone forget that Karen was travelling with Elite John? Does that an John saw Karen's potential and is now trying to train her up as well to join the Elite Four!? How exciting!! And did you see Elite John in the stands holding up that new Pokémon of his?! I think he's training it up to add to his team!
EDIT: Why do I hear piano?
FightClub
Hah! Weaklings training weaklings. Couldn't be a better pair.
TangelaThoughts
Just looked up the Pokémon that John was seen carrying during the match – it's a newly created Pokémon by the Viridian City scientists called a Porygon. It's also what the newly created joint research project in Petalburg is going to be researching. Exciting news!
And pleasantly surprised to see John carrying one around – probably ans that he's cooperating or involved with the research project too! Good to see an Elite Four mber taking such initiative.
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?Topic: [ELITE JOHN SPOTTED TRAVELLING AROUND HOENN WITH AGATHA'S APPRENTICE! ROMANTIC GETAWAY TO HOENN AND THE START OF SOTHING SPECIAL?!] by Baby Doll Eyes
[Collection of photos of Karen and John]
Look at this!!! They've been travelling around Hoenn together and spending ti together! They even trained their Pokémon together and they both watched each other during their Gym battles. It's so romantic!!! I'm pretty sure they've already gotten together. What do you guys think?!?!
Comnts
BeautyIsFree
OMA They look so cute together!! I hope they both get into the Elite Four together – they'd be such a power couple!!
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