The New Normal - 17-6 - Interlude - Elite Four

The New Normal – 17-6 – Interlude – Elite Four

(Karen POV)

A day after John had left, they were all shuffled back into Lance’s office for a discussion about their upcoming plans and proposals.

Even though it had only been a day, she had keenly felt the lack of John’s presence in the room. Whenever they were called into meetings like this, she had a habit of immediately turning to John – as he was often the reasons that the meetings were called in the first place. He was always at the forefront of change, and she admitted that his presence gave them all a sense of direction.

After all, she didn’t need to think that hard about how they would better Indigo when she could just let John do most of the thinking for her. All she just had to do was follow after him, because she trusted him to guide the way. That might have been a little bit of an oversimplification, but she knew she wasn’t the only one to think so, as she noticed that both Lorelei and even Koga had also unconsciously turned to John for direction during these meetings.

And now he was gone. So it was up to them to steer the ship in his place.

She hoped that they would do a good job. It would be embarrassing if everything collapsed right after he left.

“Good morning everyone. Thank you for making it here so quickly.” Lance greeted them all, “And Will, how does it feel to finally be back in the Elite Four?”

“Well, this wasn’t how I wanted to make my comeback.” He admitted, and she noticed that he wasn’t wearing his usual mask anymore. It was still in his pocket, but at least he wasn’t wearing it in a private setting like this.

“I had it all planned out, you see. I was going to have this grand battle against Koga, where I would show off just how much I have improved since our last fight.” He explained, gesturing grandly to emphasise his point, “The battle would be long and hard, with plenty of reversals and demonstrations of power – but in the end, I would triumph over him and prove myself worthy of rejoining into the Elite Four.”

Then he chuckled, “But you know what they say about plans – sometimes you just take a Taunt to the face and it all goes wrong.”

She chuckled, “Indeed it does.”

“Still, I can’t complain. I’m honoured that John chose me to join the Elite Four in his place.” Will said, “And I’m eager to prove myself worthy of his trust.”

“Good.” Lance nodded, “Because, just like before, you should expect challenges to come your way. Especially because you’re replacing John. That spot is very highly desired right now.”

“Heh. Let them come.” Will smirked, “I’m not the kind of trainer that loses twice.”

She felt the conviction in those words, and so she knew that it wasn’t just some idle boast. He truly meant it, and that could only be a good thing.

As Will then moved on to talking about the things he was working on since he had left the Elite Four, she turned her gaze to the rest of the room.

Will, Koga, herself, Lorelei. With Champion Lance standing proudly above them.

These were the people that John had entrusted the future of Indigo to, and her gut told her that they were going to be the members of the Elite Four for many years to come.

She sincerely hoped that they could live up to John’s high expectations.

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(Sidney POV)

It was weird stepping into the Champion’s office and not hearing at least three expletives come out of Drake’s mouth the moment he stepped into the room. It was almost tradition at this point. Drake’s swearing was almost part of the atmosphere.

But now he was gone, and in his place was the far more stoic and silent Bruno.

Admittedly, he had initially worried about how Bruno’s vastly different personality would affect the mood of the Elite Four. Not politically, of course, since they were all professionals and knew how to argue and put forward their own proposals without stepping too hard on each other’s toes.

But as friends.

With Drake, he was always the boisterous and loud one, and his rough words and brutal honesty were always good as a conversation starter. He helped carry a lot of their conversations, and he was never shy to make his presence known.

So he had been concerned about how Bruno’s quiet nature would affect their dynamics.

Fortunately, that quickly proved to be a very unnecessary concern. Even though Bruno was very quiet in comparison to Drake, Steven more than made up for it. Their new Champion was incredibly sociable, even more so than Wallace, and he was far more observant as well. He was very good at facilitating a lot of their casual conversations, and had quickly roped both himself and Bruno into their personal dynamics.

And that was when he discovered that Bruno was also a very good listener, much like Glacia was. That was perfect for someone like Phoebe, who was always bright and energetic and full of stuff to talk about. Bruno would listen attentively, and actually extended the conversation by adding his own thoughts and advice whenever prompted. Bruno might not be good at initiating small talk, but he was great at replying to small talk.

Because of this, he already foresaw Bruno and Phoebe becoming fast friends. That was a good thing.

Besides this, Bruno was also far more competent politically than he expected. Not only was he far more patient than Drake would ever be (not that it was a high bar to clear. Drake hated anything that couldn’t be summarised in three sentences), he was also not just Steven’s puppet.

As he had come to learn, Bruno was a very principled man. And though most of his political education came from Steven, there were certain things he would absolutely refuse to budge on, much like Drake was. They were both people with a strong and unwavering sense of integrity.

That could only be a good thing. They needed someone like that within them.

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(Flint POV)

As they finished up with one of their usual meetings, he deliberately tapped on Lucian’s shoulder. He leaned in, with his voice falling into an exaggerated whisper that still allowed everyone to hear what he was saying.

“Hey, you ever see our Champion so happy like that? I wonder what’s gotten her so happy.” He was smirking as he said it.

Lucian rolled his eyes, “There’s no need to tease her like you do with Volkner. Just make sure you aren’t late for when we’re there to receive John. Cynthia will not be happy with you.”

He raised his arms in surrender, “I know, I know. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare be late for the arrival of our Champion’s dearest partner.”

“How do you think John’s going to get along with us?” Aaron placed both of his hands behind his head, “And I don’t mean personally – I know the man is friendly enough. But I mean politically. Do you think that him and Cynthia are just going to dominate us all politically?”

“That won’t happen.” Lucian replied firmly, his voice conveying a sense of certainty in his words, “Yes, I won’t deny that with John here, his proposals will definitely be backed up by Cynthia. And together, they form a very large voting bloc that will undoubtedly be extremely influential with our Committee. However, they are also not the type of people to just ignore our own proposals. They understand the value of cooperation, so they’ll at least try to hear us out.”

“It’s all about finding a compromise with them.” Bertha added, “We should already be familiar with the kinds of policies that both Cynthia and John are likely to want to enact. Therefore, just try to plan around it.”

“Volkner has always spoken well of John.” He agreed, “So if you don’t treat him as a threat, then he’ll happily be your friend. I’m sure of that.”

Lucian nodded, “Most importantly of all, don’t forget that John’s move to Sinnoh is undoubtedly a good thing for us. Ignoring our Champion’s personal feelings for a moment, having a trainer as strong as John join us, especially with his connection to Regigigas, is an enormous boon for us. He is probably the strongest non-Champion trainer at the moment, perhaps even more than that, and tying his prodigious strength to our region is a big win for us. Politically, it gives us many more tools to make use of.”

That was true and all, and he acknowledged just how lucky they were to have John joining their ranks, but he couldn’t deny that he was far more interested in seeing whether their normally confident and authoritative Champion would turn into a blushing maiden in front of John.

As much as he admired their Champion, she always seemed so well put together – so professional and calm. In front of them, she rarely ever reacted with much emotion. So it would be interesting to see if that would change now that her beloved boyfriend was coming.

And given the photos on the Pokénet that he had seen of them when they were out on their dates, he was willing to be that he was going to find them both very entertaining.

He hoped that it would make their meetings more memorable.

A.N. I wanted a chapter that would go over the thoughts of the Elite Four from our three most familiar regions, given all the changes that have happened around them with John’s arrival/departure and Bruno and Drake’s ascension and departure respectively. I felt that having a little bit of insight into the new inter-personal dynamics within the Elite Four would be interesting. Hope you enjoyed!