The New Normal - A Pokémon Elite 4 SI by CartecFF

Chapter 61: 235-238

The New Normal – 11-6 – An Icy Discovery

The battle started off with a bang as our Pokémon rained down from above, with us joining them.

"Tyrant, show no mercy! Drive them out!"

"Salamence, obliterate them! Make them FEAR you!"

"SLAKINGGG!!" My starter roared out as he SMASHED down on top of a surprised Glalie, crushing the Ice type beneath his weight. A Froslass immediately prepared an Ice Beam, but Tyrant's arm lashed forwards like a hook and clutched the Froslass in his iron grip, before throwing the Ice type like a bowling ball and sending it crashing into a group of Jynx.

Then the entire cave began to shake violently as Vordt landed next to Tyrant, unleashing a devastating Earthquake that caused huge rocks to fall from the roof. But those fallen rocks were swiftly held in place by Vordt's geokinesis before being shot towards the wild Pokémon, raining down in a painful hail of stone that crushed many a Pokémon underneath, burying them beneath a tomb of rocks.

Just as that happened, Luna and Klee joined forces with the other Psychic types to form a large protective bubble of Psychic energy around all of us, protecting the trainers from the myriad of collateral damage that we were wreaking through our fight.

"SALAMENCEEEE!!!" Then an enormous beam of blinding light shot through the clearing, leaving a trail of fire in its wake as Salamence unleashed a devastating Draco Beam that burned right through the enemy lines. Any Pokémon that were caught in that could only let out a cry of pain before they were quickly knocked out.

A few Ice Beams were shot back in retaliation, but Smough carefully stood in front of Drake's Salamence as to shield it with his body. The Ice Beams simply bounced off Smough, which did little more than tickle him.

A Mamoswine tried its luck against what it thought was a distracted Smough, but Smough swivelled around with more speed than it expected and crashed a Hammer Arm right to the side of its face. Then Smough lifted the dazed Mamoswine off the ground and hurled it like a Rock Throw at his opponents, knocking over a Lapras in the distance as it was preparing a Hydro Pump.

Behind us, Tyrant continued tearing through the enemy like a one-man army. He was an unstoppable juggernaut, ignoring all of the attacks being sent his way with dismissive ease as he ripped and tore through anything that stood in his path. The wild Pokémon let out panicked screams as they tried to dive out of the way, to no avail.

A sneaky Weavile that tried to sneak around him found itself catching a Drain Punch to the face, sending it crashing limply into a wall. Another Glaceon tried to form a Blizzard but was interrupted when Tyrant swung a Mamoswine around like a hammer, using its tusks as a makeshift handle, turning the Ice and Ground type into a battering ram and meatshield to bash his foes out of the way.

And those Hisuian-Avalugg? Which were supposedly famed for their impressive, almost unbreakable physical defenses? Those fared no better in face of Tyrant's overwhelming might.

At first, the Avalugg remained confident in their endurance; filled with certainty that this bruiser in front of them would stumble and fail to break through their defenses like so many others had done. So they charged into Tyrant with arrogance in their eyes as they believed themselves invincible.

That aura of 'invincibility' was very quickly shattered as Tyrant's fists came colliding into their face like a sledgehammer and they were sent tumbling back with a shocked cry of pain. That shock turned to horror as Tyrant grinned maliciously as his mouth opened wide – and a stream of flames came rushing out and engulfing the terrified Avalugg with a Flamethrower.

The Avalugg flailed painfully on the ground as they desperately tried to put themselves out, but all they could do was roll around helplessly as they were thoroughly scorched by Tyrant's flames. And, as if to add insult to injury, Tyrant hardly spared the Avalugg a second glance before he spun around and landed a spinning Mega Kick right into a Lapras' neck, causing the Ice type to let out a choked gasp as it collapsed to the ground.

He didn't even bother to give the Avalugg a second glance, content to leave them to their fate.

And Tyrant's rampage didn't end there as he launched himself into the deepest part of the fighting, allowing himself to be surrounded by enemies.

Though that just meant that he wouldn't have to worry about running out of targets.

His fist came flying out with a rocket of a punch that smashed a Walrein deep into the wall. Then another powerful kick lashed out that launched a Weavile back into its own pack, making them all fall over. A Mamoswine managed to slam into his back, but Tyrant shrugged off the pain and retaliated with a Counter that instantly took out the Mamoswine in a single blow.

Seeing his rampage, many of our explorer's Pokémon joined in to help Tyrant, and he found himself quickly supported by a mixture of Infernape, Arcanine, and Luxray as they all blitzed in behind Tyrant. They were careful to allow Tyrant to take up the bulk of the attention while they focused on picking off stragglers that tried desperately to flee from Tyrant's unstoppable wrath.

And not wanting to be left out of the fighting, the rest of our bruisers that weren't Tyrant, such as Salamence, Smough, and Vordt rushed forwards in different directions as they too began to unleash their own storm of violence and brutality as they tore their way through the undisciplined ranks of Ice type Pokémon.

But while none of them, not even Drake's Salamence, could match up to the sheer overwhelming power of Tyrant, they were more than enough to scatter all that dared stand in their way, especially as they were supported by the occasional Hydro Pump that sniped any potential counterattacks with precise shots before they could strike back.

In the meanwhile, Drake's Blastoise and Kingdra were serving as our long range artillery as they stood next to us while firing off volley after volley of oppressive Hydro Pumps that bombarded the scattered wild Pokémon. To make things worse for them, both Blastoise and Kingdra were receiving multiple Helping Hand boosts from a few of the more supportive Pokémon that we had, empowering their Water attacks to even greater heights.

Even those that would normally resist Water type moves like Walrein were getting blasted back and pinned to the wall by the Hydro Pumps, their defenses were insufficient at enduring past these Helping Hand boosted attacks and the overwhelming tide of water coming their way.

Had the wild Pokémon been able to truly coordinate and work together, then they may have posed a greater threat and might have even managed to breach through the defensive bubble of protection that surrounded us. After all, despite the ferocity of our attacks, they still greatly outnumbered us. However, 'working together' and 'cooperation' were hardly common among wild Pokémon, who had to often fight each other for resources.

And their lack of coordination was made even worse when we started ripping through their numbers, terrifying many of them and instinctively making them want to retreat. Our violent bombardment of attacks successfully and quickly crushed their morale, leading them to try to flee futilely from our attacks instead of trying to fight back.

Then, as they seemed moments away from completely breaking, we went for the finisher.

""EARTHQUAKE!!""

In sync, both Drake and my bruisers roars echoed through the caves as they all slammed into the ground, unleashing a rippling Earthquake in synchronised act of destruction that shattered and split the ground in half, actually managing to crack through the dense ice and sending wave after wave of explosive tremors through the ground.

Even us trainers, who were protected in a reinforced bubble of protective Psychic energies, tumbled to the ground from the earth-shattering attack. The very caves rumbled and shook as if it was about to collapse on itself, though we all had our own resources to dig us out of a cave-in if one did actually occur.

The combined Earthquake was what finally shattered what remained of the enemy's morale. Their numbers, already thinned out by our blitzkrieg of attacks, became inconsequential in the face of the rupturing fissure that snaked through the earth itself. The Earthquake ravaged and tore through them indiscriminately.

Those that valiantly tried to stand their ground, those that ran away in fear, or those that were plagued with indecision – it didn't matter. The Ice types, no matter their size, strength, or speed, fell all the same.

As the Earthquake subsided, all that remained was a cave that looked like it was moments away from collapsing on itself, and a sea of unconscious Pokémon. Our Pokémon stood victoriously on top, their injuries quickly patched up by our plethora of support Pokémon, and our assault was an overwhelming success.

"Make sure they're all down! We don't want any nasty surprises!" I called out.

"Secure the perimeter! I want trainers watching over every opening to this opening!" Drake shouted, "We didn't knock them all out and many just retreated. Plus, our fight must have attracted more Pokémon this way, so make sure we greet them appropriately!"

"Someone keep an eye on the ceiling! Get your Pokémon to reinforce it!" One of the explorers added.

All of us got to work, splitting up as we focused on ensuring that we were as safe as possible and that we weren't about to be rudely interrupted. Of course, I didn't forget to catch an Avalugg to gift to Lorelei – since I had permission to do so. The other explorers also made sure to catch a few Avalugg and Bergmite for study.

As soon as we were sure that all of the surrounding wild Pokémon were indeed knocked out, and that the cave wasn't about to collapse on us, we reconvened to discuss the indescribable feeling of power that we all felt, which seemed to radiate from just below us.

"First things first. Incredible luck we had to discover yet another new Pokémon." An explorer grinned excitedly, "Did anyone catch its name?"

"Avalugg I think. And I think what I managed to catch that the pre-evolution is called a Bergmite." Another answered, "Dunno what Type it is other than Ice."

"Can we save that discussion for later?" Another explorer snapped, "Because unless you guys are all dull, you can all feel that power radiating out from somewhere in this clearing, right? I almost tripped over when I felt it."

"You'd have to be a fucking idiot to not feel that." Drake snapped, "I don't know what the fuck that is, but this has to be the source of the unnatural coldness."

"...Then why aren't we freezing to death right now?" Someone pointed out, "If this is the source of the cold, then shouldn't we already been frozen solid since we're so close to it? Just like everything else around us?"

We all shared uncomfortable looks at that realisation, because his words made sense. We all looked at each other, silently hoping someone would have an explanation for this unnatural phenomenon, but none did.

Eventually, I broke the silence, "No point standing around here guessing. Better to just dig it up and find out what's exactly causing this."

No one was against that, which made sense. They were all explorers and/or archaeologists, and they had made a career of uncovering the unknown.

"...Then let's do this carefully. Who knows what's going to happen if we accidentally destroy it." One muttered, and we all agreed.

So we all took turns with our Pokémon to slowly and carefully dig through the ice to hunt down whatever it was that was generating that mysterious aura of power. We didn't have to dig very far, but the ice had hardened so much that it took both Luna AND Klee working together to even levitate a small block of it out of the way.

Out of curiosity, I had Smough try to smash that block of ice once it was removed. And while he was successful in doing so, he groaned as he flicked his hand in pain from how tough it was.

Which was both fascinating and alarming in equal measure.

Still, progress continued to be made, slow as it was. But at least we knew that we were on the right track, and had our stronger Pokémon help remove the final few layers of near-indestructible ice. And as the final layer of ice was removed, it revealed a tiny plate of ice, small enough that it was only slightly bigger than my hand.

However, there was a distinct sense of otherworldliness about it. Even though it looked like it was just a plate of ice, which nearly looked identical to the ice surrounding us, there was something that made it impossible to mistake it for anything else. It just radiated with uniqueness and distinctiveness, and there was just something about it that made it stood out from the ice that surrounded it.

Almost by instinct, I instinctively went to grab it, something in the back of my mind guiding my hands as I did so. Despite how it seemed to be the cause of all the unnaturally freezing conditions of these caves, it didn't feel any colder than your normal chunk of ice to me.

That disconnect between what I expected to feel and what I was actually feeling was jarring.

"Mence!!" Drake's Salamence actually recoiled as I lifted the plate of ice into the air. And so did the rest of his Dragon types, and they all stepped back in fear as they stared terrified at the small object in my hands.

My Pokémon were doing little better. Though they had not recoiled like Drake's Dragons did, they still looked uneasy and wary at the icy plate in my hands.

"King..." Tyrant muttered aloud, and I frowned as he mentioned the sheer amount of Ice energy that was radiating out of it. It was like an even more powerful Ice-version of the Magmarizer – a super concentrated of Ice energy formed into a single plate.

"...What the fuck is that?" Drake asked, "Is that small fucking thing the cause of all this cold?"

But the look in the eyes of the Sinnoh explorers were far more reverent.

"...The Icicle Plate." They almost muttered in sync, "We never could have imagined that it was here all along."

Drake frowned, "Sorry if I'm sounding like an idiot, but what the fuck is an Icicle Plate? And why are you all staring at it like you're about to worship it?"

If the Sinnohnians cared about Drake's lack of respect, then they didn't show it, "We have books and legends discussing the existence of the Plates." One of the explorers patiently explained to him, "They are...artifacts of sorts, but are said to be symbols of the very power of the Legends themselves."

Drake nodded slowly, now understanding its importance, "So what does it do?"

They shrugged, "We haven't a clue. According to legend, this isn't the first time a Plate was found, but there are no documents that ever state what they were meant for. As far as we are aware, they are a symbol or fragment of a Legends power, nothing more."

For once, I was also as in the dark as they were; my meta-knowledge didn't provide me any answers. In different mediums, the Plates performed a different purpose. In most, they were used to switch Arceus' type depending on which one it held. But the item in front of me was clearly far more than that. Even Drake, who was a little ignorant about the significance of the Plate, could tell that it was no mere object.

The thing radiated with power. It was like holding onto a fragment of a Legendary with our hands. One of the explorers put it best.

"This Icicle Plate is still inert." He whispered to us with undisguised awe, "...I don't know how I know...but I can just tell. This is supposed to be part of a bigger whole."

Everyone nodded in agreement; all of us feeling the same sensation that he was – that the Plate in front of us was somehow incomplete. However, a suspicion began to form in my mind. IF they were right about this being a fragment of a Legendary, then I strongly suspected that there was only one Legendary that it could have been – Regice.

We were holding onto a piece of Regice. Or something that would eventually become Regice.

If so...then it explained why the Plates could be used to awaken Regigigas.

"Hmm...and yet a mere fragment was able to do all this." Drake gestured to the surrounding ice and frost covering every inch of the opening, "...This Plate proves more mysterious by the minute."

"...Either way, we shouldn't linger here for too much longer." I spoke up, putting my thoughts to the side for a moment. I had no way of confirming my suspicions anyways, only time would tell if I was right, "There's no telling when these Pokémon will wake up. And we've been down in these caves for over a full day now."

"Agreed." An explorer nodded, "Now that the adrenaline has faded, I'm starting to really feel tired. We should head back as soon as possible."

"Are we bringing the Plate?" Another asked.

"We should. Legendary artifact or not, we need to study it." They confirmed, "And it's not like it's doing much by staying buried here."

"...Cynthia is going to have a heart attack when she hears about this." I muttered, getting a few chuckles from everyone.

"Then can we leave it to you to tell her?" One of them teased, "After all, a boyfriend should ideally be the one to break the good news to her."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah yeah, very funny. Now let's get out of here."

"Chin up, John. It's not every day that a girl can receive an artifact from the very Legends themselves as a gift." Drake grinned as we began our ascent, "You can almost say it's a gift worthy of a Champion. Oh my, what a good boyfriend you are."

I smacked him on the shoulder, "You should have been a comedian. But seriously, let's get out of here."

My words just caused Drake to laugh at me, and I kept my grumblings to myself as we made our way back up.

Luckily, we had the fortune of not running into any further problems as we retraced our steps. Instead, the issue came with the Icicle Plate that we were carrying.

If we stuck around an area for a while, it would actually slowly start freezing up the area because it radiated with that much Ice energy. While this wasn't exactly a hinderance now, this would cause problems for when we brought it back to Celestic Town, as we couldn't store it just like any other object as it would cause everything around it to freeze over.

"That's something for the eggheads above to solve." One of the explorers declared, "Our job is just to bring this Plate to them. There's no need for us to worry about what happens after. Worst case scenario is we bring it back underground again if it does start freezing up the town."

"Perhaps we can make a specialised storage unit for it?" Someone else suggested, "I know we've done it before with other hazardous materials..."

"Cut the chatter. We're not out of the caves just yet." Another interrupted, "Shut up and keep moving. We don't want to get into more fights."

With that, the rest of our ascent was done in silence as we gradually made our way back to the forward base. We took that time there to relax and to switch out of our heavily insulated clothing that we were wearing, all the while everyone had crowded around to take a better look at the Ice Plate – all of them with awed looks on their faces.

But due to our tiredness and growing fatigue, we kept the discussions short. They could see the Icicle Plate in all of its glory once we had returned it to the surface.

We could have rested and gotten some sleep in the forward base, but everyone wanted to just be out of the damn caves by now and deliver the Plate safely to the Celestic Town Research Centre. So we grit our teeth and powered through the last stretch of the journey upwards, until we saw the bright rays of light shining through the opening to the cave.

As we finally exited the caves, all of us took a moment to simply bath in the warm rays of sunlight that greeted us. After spending hours upon hours in the freezing cold, damp, and claustrophobic caves, the sight of open fields of grass and the bright sun had never been more inviting.

Yet we didn't let ourselves rest for too long, and we quickly headed into the Research Lab where we deposited our little artifact onto a nearby table, to the shock of everyone there.

"...Arceus, what did you uncover?" A scientist asked us, as he carefully leaned forwards to better inspect the Icicle Plate.

"Something we could have never imagined." An explorer answered gleefully, "It's not just that too, but we discovered an entirely new Pokémon too. Two, actually." As he said so, he gestured for everyone to step back before he released the new Avalugg for everyone to see.

"Ava...?" The newly captured Avalugg looked around confusedly. Seeing the horde of scientists and explorers standing curiously at it, its eyes narrowed as it instinctively began to lash out – only to be immediately subdued by a double dose of Hypnosis from two Bronzongs waiting in the wings.

"I'll bet any amount of money that this 'Avalugg' is a tank." One said.

"No bet. Just look at it." Another shook his head, "Everything about it screams slow and sturdy Pokémon."

"We need to run some tests for it to confirm its typing." Someone else piqued up.

"No, the priority is on the Icicle Plate. Just look at that." I interrupted, gesturing to the small patches of frost that had been slowly spreading around the table since we began talking, "If we don't have some way to properly store this Icicle Plate, it's going to slowly freeze everything around us. THIS needs to be our priority."

"Agreed." An explorer said, "We'll show you the pictures we took of the cave systems later, but EVERYTHING was frozen solid with ice that refused to melt or break. If we didn't have John or Drake there with us, I think we might have struggled a bit with breaking the ice surrounding the Icicle Plate."

"...Understood, then we'll take that as our first priority." The scientists nodded, "Someone needs to inform Cynthia and Carolina about this. It's prudent that they know."

"I'll do it." I volunteered, taking out my phone and texting her. "Done, she should be here any moment now."

"What did you say to her?" Someone asked.

"Just that we found an artifact related to the Legends and that we discovered a new Pokémon. Nothing too surprising." I grinned.

There was a round of chuckles, "Then knowing Cynthia, she might have just sprinted out of a meeting in excitement."

I laughed as that was pretty much the reaction I thought Cynthia would have had when I sent out that text.

"Well today was enough excitement from me. I'm heading to bed." Drake grumbled, "But hey, thanks for letting me be a part of this. I know I'm a grump, but it's been a long time since I've had a proper adventure like this. Brings back good memories."

"Hey no worries Drake, your assistance was very useful." We all said, "I doubt things could have gone so smoothly without your help."

"If you need things blasted to smithereens, then I'm your guy." He smirked, "Anyways, I'm fucking tired. Good luck on your research. And say hi to Cynthia for me if she does come around."

He walked off to his room, retiring from the night. As he did so, a yawned escaped from me – a reminder that I was no less tired than him.

But as much as my bed was inviting me, I remained still. I wanted to be here for when Cynthia arrived to see everything we had discovered over our successful expedition.

I couldn't wait to see the look on her face.

The New Normal – 11-6 – Interlude – Cynthia

As a Champion, she was expected to stay calm and composed at all times. To give off an air of authority and competence that would ensure that she was instinctively listened to. This was especially true when she was a meeting with members of the Indigo delegation, and it was her job to ensure that she remained engaged and listened to their talks, boring as they were.

It was also true that a Champion needed to be contactable at any and all times, just in case an emergency cropped up that needed their immediate attention. So that was why she had her phone out and openly displayed on the table – just in case there were any urgent messages.

And that was why she was instantly able to see the message that John had sent her, and she was forced to do a double take to make sure she didn't misread what he had sent.

...It took everything in her power to not have an expression of abject shock appear on her face. She knew that he would be joining on another expedition into the caves of Snowpoint, and she had high expectations that they would find something, but this was far beyond her expectations.

An artifact related to the Legends?! A new Pokémon!? What in the world was going on here?!

Her instinctive reaction was to bolt out of her seat in excitement. But again, she couldn't do that. It wouldn't be proper, and it'd give off the wrong impression to her guests.

Relaxing with her boyfriend on a ship was one thing, hastily dashing out of a meeting like she was bolting to the bathroom was another. One was forgivable, the other made you look ridiculous.

So instead she mastered herself and slowly, and carefully, raised her phone to her face like she was reading something important. After a second or two of pretending to read through the message, she whispered to Lucian who was sitting next to her.

"...Something happened in Research Centre. They discovered something big and I want to check it out now." She told him quietly, adopting a faux look of concern.

He hid his amusement behind his own look of concern, "Okay, I'll cover for you. Just be back before the next meeting begins."

She nodded her thanks and exited the meeting, making to take measured steps as to not seem overly hurried. Then, as soon as she was out of sight, she broke into a sprint and hurriedly climbed onto her Togekiss as she swiftly flew over to Celestic Town. Her scientific curiosity could no longer be held back.

She arrived a short while later, and she practically ran over to the Lab, flinging the door open to see what exactly they had discovered.

Only to find herself staring at a sea of amused faces that seemed to have all been waiting for her arrival. The look from John screamed smugness and amusement.

"You didn't need to be in such a hurry, we would have waited for you." He smiled teasingly at her, "I hope I didn't surprise you with my message. It was never my intention to do so."

He was mocking her. And it wasn't just him. The giggling from the scientists that they tried to hide told her that they were all in it.

Damn him. He worded his message like so vaguely like that because he knew she would react like this. She vowed to get him back for this one day.

Still, there were more important things to think about then revenge, "Yes, haha very funny. Now what kind of Legendary artifact did you find that warranted getting my attention so urgently? You wouldn't have messaged me like that unless it was important."

She tried to word it like she didn't really care, but it was clear that none of them were buying it.

He chuckled, "Let me show you the new Pokémon first." He gestured for her to follow after him, which she did after she pulled his hand into hers. He shot her an amused look, which she ignored. If he was going to drag her all the way here and make her skip a meeting, she might as well indulge herself.

He brought her over to where a large Ice type Pokémon was being carefully poked and prodded while all sorts of machinery were attached to it. Looking at its large frame, bulky legs, and the way that the ice shaped around its body to give it a muscular physique, she had a good idea on what kind of Pokémon this was already.

"...A bulky Ice type Pokémon? Slow, but hits hard with high defenses?" She asked aloud.

"Close, but it's not just an Ice type. It's actually Ice and Rock." John nodded, "And it's called an Avalugg. There's also a pre-evolution called a Bergmite, but I think those are being tested later."

A scientist came over to show her a picture of it, and her eyebrows rose, "Interesting. We'll need to test out just how defensive it can be, but I suspect Walrein might have just gotten upstaged as the most defensive of the Ice type Pokémon." She muttered.

"Horrible Special Defenses though. Like, it's absolutely abysmal. Same with its Speed. But it's physical defenses are second to none." John told her, though she frowned as she heard his words. Having extremely poor Special Defenses was terrible for such a slow and immobile Pokémon. While it could be trained up, that really scuttled her plans of including a new Ice type to her team.

Especially when her Milotic could pretty much fulfil that exact same role already. Perhaps someone else could find a suitable role for Avalugg and train it up so that it could be the defensive monster she knew it could be. But she didn't have the time to train up another Pokémon that was ill-suited to fit in her team.

Unknowing of her thoughts, John continued, "That being said, I did capture one that I intend to gift to Lorelei. I hope you don't mind. Even with its weaknesses, I'm sure she'll be able to turn it into a powerful addition to her team."

She waved him off, "Feel free. You found it. Plus, I'll be interested to see how she makes use of it." Would it be as strong as her Kleavor and his Zoroark were proving to be?

Then another pair of scientists approached her with an excited gleam in their eyes, "We've records of witnesses staring at moving glaciers in Hisuian times. We thought them to be hyperbole at first, but the existence of Avalugg proves otherwise."

She nodded, "So it's another link to the past...very interesting."

She wasn't able to dwell on that point for long as John brought her into the next room, and immediately she spotted the small tendrils of frost that seemed to be spreading out from one of the storage units situated in the middle of the room. She stepped forwards to take a look at what was the cause of this spreading frost, only for her eyebrows to jump up to her hair as her eyes widened almost comically.

She could hear someone talking to her, but the words never registered in her mind. Instead, she continued to draw closer to the Icicle Plate, observing it from every angle. The historical significance of this...it was unparalleled!

But even beyond the historical considerations, the business side of her noted that this discovery would skyrocket the Celestic Town Research Centre to be the premier research centre in Sinnoh, bar none!

If they just managed to uncover what the purpose of the Icicle Plate was, and why these Plates were created in the first place, then it would be like piecing together a secret of the world. Even after becoming Champion, she had never lost her ambition to gain a deeper understanding of the Legends that helped create her world.

And she knew it in her heart that the Icicle Plate was going to be the first step towards finally uncovering those secrets.

...Then she realised just how excited she had gotten over it, and she noticed that her jaw was hanging open. She quickly coughed and schooled her expression into something more professional, and she deliberately ignored the amused look that John was giving her.

No, she did not let the excitement get to her. And she was going to deny it if anyone said otherwise.

"Thank you all for finding this." She announced to the surrounding crowd, making sure her voice was calm and professional, "The discovery of the Icicle Plate is, without exaggeration, the find of the century. We have always known that the Plates have significant ties to the Legends, and now we have a Legendary artifact in our very halls!"

Everyone clapped excitedly, but she wasn't done yet, "Therefore! I propose that there be a shift in focus for our research centre. It is with Arceus' blessing that we stumbled upon the Icicle Plate, and thus, I believe we have a duty to discover the purpose of these Plates and what they do."

"Maybe you should try finding the rest of them!" John called out, possibly jokingly.

She just shook her head, "No. There is no 'maybe'. We will be finding out where the other Plates have been hidden." She corrected, "We've already found this one. We know there are more out there, and our explorers should do their utmost to uncover the rest."

A wave of acknowledgement greeted her words. Everyone in the lab agreed with her plans, and there was no doubt that unlocking the secrets of the Legends would be something they all were eager to work towards. Plus, seeing the excited gleam in everyone's eyes, she was confident that they would be able to do so.

The other Plates will be found.

"...Are we going to be putting the Icicle Plate on display for the public to see?" One of the scientists suddenly asked, "Once we announce this, the people will be flocking to see it. There will be no stopping them, not even with you as Champion."

She agreed, the announcement would undoubtedly end up sending shockwaves throughout Sinnoh. Even for those uninterested in history, finding a Plate was a big deal.

"It will be displayed carefully, behind multiple layers of security." She replied, "You're right. The public deserve to see this, and this isn't something we can keep from them." That would have to be carefully handled, but she trusted her people to see it done.

She spent the next few minutes discussing future plans about how they would find the other Plates, as well as discussions about how they would actually store the Icicle Plate in the first place. Clearly, they need to create a very specialised storage container for it to keep the frost from spreading.

But these were all happy problems to have.

And as Cynthia smiled to herself as she thought about the future, further away, in the depths of a carefully preserved location, a single pair of gemstones attached to a towering figure slowly flickered to life. Unbeknownst to everyone, the Icicle Plate did the same, as it momentarily vibrated with power like a connection had been formed. Then, the Plate quickly fell still once again, as the gems also turned dark.

It was not yet time.

The New Normal – 11-7 – The Lake Guardians

I knew from everyone's reaction that the discovery of the Icicle Plate would be a very big deal. But even then, I had still underestimated just how important these Plates were to the traditional Sinnoh people, and the amount of interest that its discovery was about to garner from the public once the announcement was made.

Now it made sense for why the entire research centre had been rushing around in preparation for its announcement, with the most important item to sort out being the safe containment of the Icicle Plate. I didn't understand the inner workings of it, but last I saw there was a huge, specially made, reinforced glass container with a lot of tubes sticking out of it that would serve as the storage capsule for the Icicle Plate. That finally stopped the ever-present frost from radiating out.

However, I noticed that I was unconsciously lingering around the Icicle Plate more than I thought I would. For some reason, I felt a slight tingle of a connection between myself and the Plate. I didn't know why I thought this, but it reminded me of the time where I was face to face with the Regigigas statue.

Every time my gaze would linger on the plate, images of the Regigigas statue would flash in my mind. But never for very long.

Strangeness aside, I had also overheard that a new gallery was already being rapidly constructed in order to display the Icicle Plate, with tons of security measures being discussed to prevent its theft. Of course, while the Icicle Plate was going to be the shining star of this new gallery, there would be many other items on display too like rare fossils, shiny gems, and other unique rock formations.

It was going to be a huge expense, but Cynthia was confident that it would pay itself back very soon from all the attention it would inevitably get.

Overall, it was a pretty substantial expansion for not only the Research Centre, but for Celestic Town as a whole. Once the new gallery was built, it would serve as a newfound tourist attraction for the once sleepy town.

Maybe this was the start of something special for the small town?

Outside of all the developments in Celestic Town, Drake and I took a break from any cave diving and returned to helping out where we could with exposing the criminals. But now was not the time for action, as the raids had mostly died down due to lack of info, but rather careful research and analysis – things that we were not helpful with.

Yet since we still wanted to make ourselves useful while we were here, we did the next best thing. We patrolled aggressively, making sure that everyone know where we were at all times. We followed after the Jennys as they hunted down every lead, making it very clear and obvious that we were actively hunting down the criminals.

The reason we were doing so was to force all of the attention onto us. We knew that the true work in uncovering the criminal's schemes were actually being handled by Lorelei and Lucian, but they needed time for their analysis to come through.

That was why we were doing what we were doing, in the hopes that we could serve as the smokescreen to distract the criminals to the real threat to their plans. If they were frightened off by our presence and chose to cowardly hide in the shadows, then that just bought more and more time for them to be eventually exposed by our analysts. The last thing we wanted to happen was for a sudden and chaotic outbreak of crime.

We were here to deter that.

Not only that, but our visible and obvious presence would also help reassure the public that things were being handled, and that the peace and stability that Cynthia had earned was not about to fall apart anytime soon. It also helped put a face to the international support that Sinnoh was receiving, helping to prove that Cynthia's choice to invite us in was indeed the right decision.

Plus, having the public's trust was going to be essential for the times to come. I knew for certain that as soon as we publish any kind of allegations against Galactic Company that it was going to cause a PR war to break out. Without a doubt, Cyrus would do everything he could to deflect blame and challenge our findings, and he would use the public and the long-established reputation of his company as a shield to prevent us from taking any decisive action.

It would be down to the public to decide who they believed.

But if Team Galactic were so insistent on using the public as a shield, then I would make sure that that shield is turned against them. As long as we found the right evidence, the right argument, then the public support that they once relied on would end up being their downfall.

Nevertheless, that was why Drake and I were once again on a patrol with the Jennys, though this time we were also accompanied by Flint in a show of cooperation between the regions. But we weren't going to be exploring the same cities or towns, but rather we would be going somewhere very special.

The Lakes.

Thanks to Archer's 'work', the authorities had a suspicion that the criminals were scouting around the Lakes for whatever reason. So that was why the three of us were sent there today, both to make sure that the security around the Lakes would hold or at least buy time against any intrusions, and as a deterrent and a firm reminder that Sinnoh would respond to whatever criminal designs that they had for the Lakes.

"...What a beautiful view." I muttered aloud as we entered the clearing around Lake Valor. Once you managed to get out of the forest of trees, all you could see was the beautiful blue and clear waters of the lake, with plenty of healthy and free wild Pokémon swimming within it.

In fact, the waters were so clear that it was almost see-through. With the bright sun shining above us, it was almost impossible to tell what was underwater and what was above water.

It truly was a beautiful sight.

"Can't disagree on that. Even the waters of Hoenn are rarely this clear." Drake nodded, but then he frowned, "...But I thought these Lakes were culturally and historically important to you Sinnoh folk. Don't you have the Lake Guardians here? I definitely remember reading about that."

"You're right, they do live here." Flint confirmed.

"Then why was there no security here before this?" Drake asked curiously, "I would've thought that some place as important as this would be heavily protected."

"That's because there's nothing to protect." Flint answered, and he gestured with a hand, "Look around you. There's nothing here for the criminals to take other than some wild Pokémon. But even then, the wild Pokémon here are not particularly rare nor valuable. You could easily find rarer Pokémon elsewhere and in a far less obvious location, so this wasn't a high priority place for patrols."

"Then what about the Lake Guardians themselves?" I asked, "Surely THEY could be a target for the criminals. Especially because we know they have their insane ambition of targeting the Legendaries for their power."

"That is a prudent concern." Flint agreed, "And hence why we decided to ramp up security just in case. However, insane ambitions or not, the Lake Guardians are known to conceal and hide away from the outside world. We know they exist, as they have revealed themselves to a few lucky visitors at times, but those moments are few and far between."

"Often times they are content to remain hidden, doing whatever Legendaries do in their time." He said, "And if they choose to remain hidden, then there's no way to find them. Many have tried, but the Lake Guardians always remained elusive enough to stay concealed unless they choose to show themselves. Even if they aren't the strongest of Pokémon, despite being a Legendary, it is commonly known that the Lake Guardians will always be safe to uphold their duties so long as they remain hidden as they always do."

"That's why there was previously no security here, because the Lake Guardians do not need to be guarded, ironic as that sounds." He chuckled, "They're perfectly safe on their own. Still, if our suspicions that the terrorists are interested in the Lakes are correct, then hopefully our extra patrols here would be able to catch them in whatever they're planning."

Drake and I nodded at that explanation, satisfied with his answer. And more importantly for me, it reassured me that the Sinnohnians were at least not being negligent with their protection of the Lake Guardians, just practical.

But that was enough wool-gathering from us, and the three of us, plus our team of Jennys and a small group of reporters that silently followed after us, quickly flew over to the cave in the centre of Lake Valor.

A sudden pressure fell on us as we stepped into the damp cave. Despite it being completely empty, devoid of any signs of life or interesting marks, there was an indescribable presence in the cave that constantly reminded you that there was indeed something here, watching over everything with its presence.

Yet the gaze was far from hostile. Instead, it reminded me the feelings of being watched over by a parent. It felt protective and loving; like you were being watched purely out of a desire to keep you safe.

Just like a Guardian would.

Despite the watchful presence that lingered around the cave, there truly was nothing here. No matter how carefully I searched, I didn't see a trace of the Lake Guardians. Even if I squinted my eyes and tried to pick out any irregularities, there were none to be found. No slight shimmers in the air, no sudden breeze, no strange reflections in the puddles of water, nothing. The Lake Guardians, at least to my eyes, were completely undetectable.

That was a slight shame, as I did want to actually see a living and 'active' guardian with my very two eyes. Seeing the unmoving statue of Regigigas was one thing, but an actual moving Legend would be another.

I was tempted to release my Pokémon to see if they had any better luck, but I stopped myself from doing so. That would've been incredibly rude to our hosts.

We left the cave shortly after that and continued our patrols around the lake, mainly for PR purposes. When that was done, with the reporters all leaving, we were about to split off when Drake spoke up.

"Hey John, did you hear about Volkner?" He suddenly asked me.

Judging from the very amused look that he had, I think I knew where this line of questioning was going, "No, I didn't hear anything. What's going on with his relationship with Jasmine?"

"And the man thought he was actually being subtle about it." Flint laughed, "You know when he told me that they were dating, he thought that I was the only one to know because he told it to me. He said that, and I quote, that 'even the scientist group I work with do not know about it'."

"...We definitely know." I replied dryly, my lips slowly forming into a smirk, "I remember we were trying not to tease him about it. He's not very good at hiding it. Good to know that they're dating, though. They seem like a happy match."

Drake elbowed me, "I guess you and Cynthia aren't the only ones forming international relationships."

"Well technically John and Cynthia are the only 'public' relationship right now." Flint corrected, "Although with how bad these two are at hiding their feelings, I'm sure the rumours will spread soon enough."

He then let out another chuckle, "What an event this Tournament was. I might have done worse than I hoped, but having Volkner get into a relationship was worth it. All the teasing opportunities aside, he deserves it – he needs someone else other than me that he talks to."

That last part cemented the fact that, despite how much they ribbed each other, Flint and Volkner were inseparably close.

"Speaking of the Tournament, I don't think I ever congratulated you for beating down Emperor, John." Drake said to me, "Arceus was that the greatest fucking duel I have ever seen. Man, I really need to get Wallace to host another Tournament next year. That fight was fucking exciting. Even though we lost. Fucking Wallace and his annoying Milotic."

"No offense to your girlfriend, John, but that Milotic was a huge pain in the ass." Drake grumbled, "It's a very good reminder why I don't bother challenging Wallace for his position as Champion. Not that I'd ever want to – I'd fucking end myself before being subjected to all that fucking paperwork. I am MORE than happy with my current position, thank you very much."

""Totally agree."" Flint and I nodded sagely, and the three of us shared a common moment of agreement where we all thought that the position of Champion was far more trouble than it was worth.

===========

?The discovery of Avalugg and Bergmite were officially released to the world not too much later, just as soon as their stats were properly identified and their Typing were confirmed. As Pokémon known to have existed in the Hisuian times, their existence was a big deal for many historians and archaeologists.

And, while the two Ice Types didn't garner the same level of explosive popularity in the trainer scene, their discovery still made a big splash.

Ice Types had always been popular, thanks to it being supereffective against many strong Types like Dragon, Ground, and Flying. Plus, with Pryce only recently no longer being Champion, many trainers had still been inspired by his past prowess and had become Ice type specialists as well. So having another strong Ice type, especially when Avalugg looked strong, was always going to garner interest.

Sadly, I knew that Avalugg was going to be a very expensive trap for a lot of people, if they somehow managed to acquire one in the first place. While on paper it looked incredibly bulky, that was severely undermined by its plethora of weaknesses that its Ice/Rock typing plagued it with. Sure, a clever trainer could definitely make use of its high attack and absurd physical bulk, but it was going to require a lot of specialised training to reach that level.

Off the top of my head, I could think of a few powerful strategies to make use of Avalugg. For one, there was always Trick Room, which would reverse its extremely slow speed and turn it into a powerful advantage. That had a lot of potential in double battles, especially with how hard it could hit.

Still, for most normal trainers, Avalugg was not going to be a good fit for their team.

Of course, with the proper reveal of Avalugg, it meant that I could finally honour my promise to Pryce and deliver the new Ice type to Lorelei.

I also made sure to come clean with Lorelei about why I was gifting her this new Pokémon.

"...So you made a deal with my uncle." She muttered, though she didn't seem annoyed, "Are the details of said deal a secret?"

"Not particularly, he never said I had to hide it from you." I replied with a shrug, "In return for his support for one of my future policies, I had to give you a 'rare' Ice type Pokémon and also make sure that if you were ever to be leave the Elite Four, willingly or not, then I would petition to reinstate you as the Gym Leader of Mahogany Town. The last thing was to silently support you with your current position with the Indigo Revenue Service, and to not deliberately try to have you replaced until the end of the next circuit."

Speaking of which, that reminded me to check up on my team in Indigo about how the public of Indigo were reacting to the news of my relationship with Cynthia, now that enough time had passed for them to fully digest the matter.

I sincerely hoped that they were and would remain happy about it. Some discontent was fine, but I really would prefer if the public didn't barge into my personal life. That was a headache the both of us would rather not deal with.

A snort from Lorelei brought me back from my thoughts, "Is this the way of my uncle showing that he cares for me?"

I shrugged again, "Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue. A part of me thinks that Pryce has mellowed out slightly, yet another part of me thinks he's still the same cranky asshole he's always been. It's very hard to tell."

"Oh he's still a cranky asshole. I'm pretty sure that part is engraved into his very being." She grumbled, "Well, I can at least appreciate the gift that he asked you to get for me. I'm always thankful about having another Pokémon to train up."

"Think Avalugg would see any use on your Elite team in the future?" I asked.

"...Perhaps. It would be very good with Trick Room, and I do have a Jynx and Slowbro to set it up." Ah, she thought along the same lines as me, "And my team does lack a hard hitting physical attacker. Avalugg would fit that niche quite nicely, even despite its weaknesses. It's also about time I got a new Pokémon."

"I'm sure you can think of something." I said, "Just...good luck dealing with its abysmal Special Defenses. That's quite a big weakness to overcome."

She just nodded, staying silent as she fell deep in thought.

"...Anyways, enough about the events of Indigo, how has the exposing of Cyrus been going?" I asked, breaking her out of her thoughts, "I remember hearing from a few of your teammates that you were looking into something?"

"Yes, we haven't been idle on that front." She nodded, "Actually, if you hadn't come over, I was going to inform you that we were about to publish our findings against Cyrus and Galactic Company."

She sighed, "It's going to be a shitshow once we do."

I knew that already. "What did you find?" I questioned.

"Enough evidence that the amount of funds that they are dedicating to their research department doesn't make sense." She replied, "There's far too much allocated there for it to make rational business sense, and all of our analysts are in agreement that they have to be hiding something."

"But the evidence we have collected isn't foolproof." She continued, "For one, the fact that their research projects are inherently confidential means that they could argue that the funding amount was accurate, because their research projects just demanded that much resources. That argument might not hold up logically, but we believe it would still sow enough doubt amongst the general populace to earn their support."

"The second issue is that this does not provide a clear link to the criminal events that took place across our regions." She said, "It would be a massive jump in logic to assume that just because their finances don't make sense that they're suddenly the sponsor behind such large-scale criminal activities."

I frowned, but didn't disagree with her logic. "If that's the case, it seems like this isn't the ace in the hole that we were looking for."

She nodded, "Even some of our analysts and investigators remain doubtful. However, we brought our findings to the Champion, and she backed our conclusion to the hilt and insisted that we publish it anyways, which temporarily silenced any doubts."

"And she did so because she deemed it worth the risk." Another voice said behind me, and I turned around to see Lucian walking up, "According to her, she felt that overlooking corruption just because of political difficulties was a compromise that she refused to make. We have reasonable suspicion that Galactic Company are concealing their funds, for whatever reason. And largest company in Sinnoh or not, it is the right thing to question their actions for any criminal intentions."

"...Of course, it also helps that Cynthia is as eager as anyone to expose the true sponsors of these criminals." His voice lowered to a whisper, "So she's acting quite decisively to ensure that all leads are thoroughly explored."

He smirked at me, "I'm not sure if you said anything to her, but she's taking this matter very seriously."

"Then I'm glad." I smiled, very much happy about my girlfriend's choice of action, "These terrorists have escaped from the grasp of the authorities from long enough, and their ringleaders have continued to scheme all this time. It's about time that they be punished for their wrongdoing. There's nothing I would want more than that."

"Well then you don't have to wait much longer, because we're going to be publishing our results tomorrow to the public." Lucian informed me.

"And we'll get to see how much of an outcry that Galactic Company is about to make when we do." Lorelei frowned. "It'll be a war of public opinion."

Lucian's smile turned predatory, "Oh I'm sure it will be. But we just need to make sure that this is going to be as costly as possible for Cyrus to maintain. We'll make him burn every resource he has, every favour and connection that he is owed, until he is left with nothing. We have the evidence – the onus is on him to somehow disprove it, and we can always find more to bury him with. A cornered Pokémon may lash out, but a patient hunter has already laid their trap."

Lorelei turned to Lucian, "I thought you liked Cyrus. What happened?"

"He's proven unworthy of my support." He stated firmly, "With what we've found, I've become disillusioned with him...and I suspect I won't be the only one, in the future."

"The public will soon know that Cyrus is not worthy of their admiration."

The New Normal – 11-8 – A War of Opinion

As planned, the Sinnoh League ended up releasing their findings to the public early in the morning on the following day. They were careful to not make any wild accusations, making sure that all their claims and statements were rigorously supported by their factual findings so that we couldn't be accused of exaggerating things.

It was Lucian who had the responsibility of making the speech.

"After many sleepless nights of hard work and dedication, we have finally come to the unfortunate conclusion that the finances of the Galactic Company are suspicious beyond reasonable doubt, and it is beyond what could be excused as a mere rounding or unintended administrative error. As you can see from our analysis of the financial documents that THEY submitted, you will see that an unexplained, enormous amount of funds, are being diverted to their R&D division with no formal reports or documentation being provided for what these funds are being used for."

"This goes beyond merely having an overly excited research group. It is the majority belief of the financial analysts working on this case that, should these documents be accurate as Galactic Company claimed that they are, then it would be completely unsustainable for Galactic Company to continue doing business. We go in more detail in our official analysis report, but in summary, we have sufficient reason to believe that the financial documentation provided by Galactic Company are false."

"Therefore, this is an official demand by the Sinnoh League for Galactic Company to provide an official explanation for why they have provided false financial information to us. Should their explanations not be forthcoming or are inadequate, then we may proceed to proper criminal investigations and charges."

Expectedly, that sent shockwaves throughout the public of Sinnoh. Cyrus was quick to fire back, but not with blazing statements and lashing anger, but with a composed and measured response where he calmly refuted our statements and presenting it as a bout of paranoia.

Annoyingly, his calm response actually made it more difficult for us.

Had Cyrus reacted with anger and vitriol, then it would have been much easier to convince the public that Cyrus' anger was because he HAD done something wrong, so he was now lashing out in an enraged panic to try to conceal his crimes.

However, the fact that he was acting so calm and composed about it made him look confident – as if he had nothing to worry about at all. It was like the accusations being laid against him held no truth within them.

He didn't just stop there, because he also went on the counterattack, where he made use of Galactic Company's large range of connections with other prominent businesses of Sinnoh to make a joint complaint about the Sinnoh League's 'Massive overstep of their authority, spurred on by an overly eager Champion who fails to respect the private boundaries of businesses', even though the results of the audit were always going to be public.

With this, they were trying to win over the public's trust by painting themselves as the innocent victim who had been subjected to unfair and unjust accusations by an overly paranoid Sinnoh League.

Of course, we had expected something like this, and the Sinnoh League wasn't just going to allow Cyrus to sway public opinion so easily. From what Cynthia told me, she had given strict instructions for the Sinnoh League to not overreact and to be seen as the 'aggressor'. If Cyrus was maintaining his calm and trying to appear rational and composed, then it was extremely important that the Sinnoh League did the same.

And she reached out to other larger businesses for their expertise, such as Devon Corp and Silph Co. Both Steven Stone and a representative of Silph Co came back with similar statements that supported the Sinnoh League's arguments, stating that they both agreed that the finances of Galactic Company did not make sense for such a large business.

Steven worded it best, "Every CEO of a company focusing on creating technological developments knows and understands how much of a money sink that the R&D department are. That's the inherent risk of investing into researching new technologies. However, that is why the budget that is allocated to the R&D department always have to be carefully measured and accounted for. Otherwise, the R&D department can be a blackhole where your invested money just disappears."

"So for Galactic Company to claim that they sink that amount of funds into their R&D department is unreasonable, and could not possibly be standard procedure for such a large and successful company. Furthermore, even if they did spend that much money, the fact that there are no reports provided about what that money is being spent on – even vague descriptions about why the R&D department requires that much funding, is completely reckless and extremely damaging to the longevity of the company."

"Therefore, I agree with the analysis and observations of the Sinnoh League. I believe, beyond reasonable doubt, that Galactic Company have provided false records of their finances, for their business would be unsustainable with such numbers."

Steven's words had the effect that many of us were hoping for, as it gave our side's argument the credence that it needed; it meant that Cyrus couldn't so easily dismiss them as he would have wanted to.

It was ironic that the public seemed to give more credit to the words of a heir over the careful considerations of experienced and qualified analysts, but that was how public perception worked.

Everyone knew that Steven Stone was 'the man' to look to if you ever wanted to develop a career in business. He was the shining prodigy and the role model, which I knew was a reputation that he had carefully crafted for himself.

So his words carried a certain weight to them. I supposed this was the power of star appeal.

Yet Cyrus continued to fire back, this time switching tactics so as he calmly accused Cynthia for trusting the words of outsiders and foreigners over the established reputations of those who have helped to support Sinnoh during their darkest times.

"While it is undoubtedly a good thing that our Champion seems to wholeheartedly embrace change and reform, a wiser Champion would know that there is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Unfortunately, Cynthia has long since stepped away from the old traditions and establishments of Sinnoh. Instead, our Champion chooses to embrace and adopt the new, tempted and excited by the potential and fortune that outsiders may bring."

"However, what about those who have been loyal to Sinnoh since time immemorial? Those like Galactic Company that have constantly and endlessly supported the region of Sinnoh – being a stable pillar of beacon of security, hope, and innovation that have stood the tests of time. While new ideas are shiny and alluring, it is both unwise and unjust to prioritise the words and plots of outsiders rather than the trusted words of those that have, and will continue, to loyally serve the interests of Sinnoh."

Unsurprisingly, his statements appealed most to the traditionalists, many of whom were likely slighted or dissatisfied by Cynthia's reformist actions. So while Cyrus never actually labelled himself as a traditionalist, his words were still able to strike a chord with these people.

Combined with the joint complaints that he was making with a few other businesses from Sinnoh, Cyrus was able to maintain a strong enough position and force the situation into a bit of a stalemate, even in the face of mounting suspicion.

That wasn't ideal, but the situation was acceptable. With all this extra attention suddenly on Galactic Company, it meant that they had to be extra careful with their finances. They knew that the slightest slipup would bring their whole story crumbling down around them, and they couldn't afford to lose their shield that was public opinion.

All the while, the noose that we had tied around Galactic Company's neck was slowly going to tighten. With them losing their ability to easily shuffle around their monies to further fuel their criminal schemes, we were confident that their criminal operations would not be sustainable without any form of reliable cash flow.

That would put them in a really bad position, where they likely would either have to take the risk to try to discreetly divert funds to keep their criminal operations afloat, despite all the attention that was currently on them, or lash out with their fanatics and try to make up for their loss funding by force.

The former would hopefully get them exposed by us, leading to them being discredited in the public's eye and for legal charges to be pressed. The latter was exactly what Team Rocket had tried to do in Indigo, and they failed. We hoped they would make the same mistake here, and patrols would be maintained and enforced to ensure we would punish them in the act. Overall, we hoped to have them trapped between a rock and a hard place, where their actions would be limited to only bad options.

And of course, the analysts would continue working hard to see if there were any further discrepancies that we could attack them with, while others would try to see if they could whittle away at the support that Galactic Company was receiving from other businesses.

At the same time, with a plan of action firmly established, it meant that Drake and I were no longer needed in Sinnoh. In fact, we were close to overstaying our welcome. With Cyrus trying to target Cynthia's overreliance on foreigners to 'solve' Sinnoh's problems, if Drake and I were to continue staying in the spotlight, it would give credence to his words.

No, while inviting foreign assistance had led to visible benefits, Sinnoh now had to prove that they could solve their own problems. That they weren't entirely dependent on foreign aid to be able to do anything.

So while Lorelei and her team would stay for a little longer to wrap up any further leads, it was time for Drake and I to make our exit. But with my imminent departure, Cynthia suddenly had a bright idea.

"There should be a celebration dinner for all the hard work that you have all contributed to helping out with Sinnoh." She said to me over the phone, "I think it would be better received if we had a nice dinner and invite everyone that has helped us. That includes all of the International Police analysts, and those brought over as staff members as well. It would serve as a symbol of our gratitude for your joint assistance."

"That's a good idea." I nodded, especially since it would give me an excuse to spend more time with Cynthia, "But this is on quite the short notice. Are you sure you'll be able to arrange, organise, and invite everyone in time?"

She snorted, "I'm not going to be the one doing it. I'll pawn it off to Aaron to arrange."

I chuckled, "Ah, the joys of delegation."

That was scheduled for later tonight, so I had some time to kill. I had heard from Drake that he had captured a Gible for himself, and so I was on the hunt for any new Pokémon to catch. Not just for myself, but for Whitney and Karen also.

However, when I called the both of them up and asked if they wanted me to catch them something, both of them actually replied in the negative.

For Karen, she told me that she didn't want to take in a new Pokémon now while she was still going through the Conference, and would rather focus her efforts on winning and ascending to the Elite Four. For Whitney, she was busy with her new Farigiraf, and didn't want to add on a new Pokémon now. Plus, the only 'unique' Normal Types in Sinnoh were the Bidoof, Glameow, and Buneary lines. She didn't express any interest in the first two, which was fair enough as I didn't think they provided anything unique to her team either, but there was some interest in the latter.

Not enough for her to ask for one now – but she told me she would use her own money to purchase one in the future if she wanted to add a Lopunny to her team.

However, Whitney did ask if I could catch something for Janine, since Sinnoh had a lot of powerful Poison types that would be really good to have on her team. I offered to get them all for her, but she insisted that one was enough. In the end, I decided to catch her a Croagunk, since I felt that a Poison/Fighting Type was eminently suitable for her, considering her ninja background.

That was very easy for me to do. I literally didn't even need to catch one myself. With the new PSS system, I just asked one of the scientists if he knew where to get one and simply bought it off of him. Very convenient.

I knew that Croagunk would be an excellent addition to Janine's team.

Still, with Croagunk 'caught' and transferred to Janine, I briefly considered if I should catch another Pokémon for my own team before quickly decided against it. I was very happy with what I had so far, and nothing really caught my eye in Sinnoh. Perhaps in the future.

Instead, I spent the remaining time before the dinner to buy souvenirs for everyone, though it wasn't nearly as voluminous as the amount I had bought the last time I was here. I kept it very simple this time and limited my gifts to just my closest family and friends.

And of course, something small for Cynthia too.

=========

So Aaron had actually managed to arrange everything in time. I got the official invitation just before it turned evening, which would have been barely enough time to get changed and get ready for the dinner.

As far as I knew, everyone was coming. That included all of the Sinnoh Elite Four, Drake, myself, Lorelei, as well as everyone else who had accompanied us onto this trip.

Aaron had chosen a good job choosing the location. We were in the Sinnoh League building, where they had repurposed the usual reception area and fitted in more tables so that everyone could be seated. I also noticed that Aaron had deliberately toned it down on the decorations and the formality, so while the place was still undoubtedly fancy, it wasn't so fancy that it would have been stifling to sit in.

I suppose he wanted to make sure that the common rank-and-file staff members didn't need to feel overly pressured by attending this dinner.

Drake and I arrived together, because we were both living in the same place. The two of us had dressed up appropriately, with me wearing a proper suit and tie that was standard for these types of events. On the other hand, Drake was still teetering between formal and informal with his lack of a tie and with the coat jacket that he had intentionally left hanging off his shoulders.

He actually looked like someone out of the mafia. It was pretty cool, actually, and I made sure to say as much.

"Son, I've had years to develop my sense of fashion." He barked out a laugh, "I better fucking look good."

"Just because I'm old doesn't mean I have to look like some boring grandpa." He added with a smirk, "I'm not going to follow the likes of Bertha and Agatha. They're old, sure, but their choice of clothes don't fucking help either."

I nodded. Drake was very wise.

Once we entered, we found that the Elite Four members were organised to be all seated together in a circular table near the front, with Cynthia obviously joining us. I silently thanked whoever had the foresight to seat myself next to Cynthia.

We didn't have to wait long before the others started to arrive too. Lorelei had actually arrived first with all her companions, and she strode in at the front of her group as she headed towards our table. She was wearing a deep blue dress that exposed just enough of her leg, and it matched very well with the red of her hair.

Drake whistled, "A big change from your usual looks, isn't that right Lorelei? You usually look a lot more bookish."

"A different appearance for a different occasion." She replied as she sat down, "And this was the best thing I could come up with in such a short notice. I'm just glad it doesn't look too tacky."

"Nah, you look great." I said, "Anyways, sorry that you have to stay here in Sinnoh for longer. I hope you weren't hoping to head back."

She shook her head, "No, I truly don't mind staying. The longer and more that I'm able to help out around here, the more the people will see the usefulness of the Indigo Revenue Service. I'm hoping to have the Indigo Revenue Service become a proper element of the International Police and be an essential component of it."

"Making you the figurehead and leader of a powerful International organisation." I finished for her.

"Exactly." She nodded, "I'm already building connections to make that happen, like with my new friendship with Lucian. And if it does, then even if I were to drop out of the Elite Four, I'm confident that I'll still play a big part in shaping politics into the future."

"Bah, I'm too old for all this politicking." Drake grumbled, but there wasn't any heat in it, "If I ever do retire, I'd be more than fucking happy to never see another glimpse of the shit that is politics ever again."

Before we could say anything else, the door swung open again, revealing the final group of people that we were waiting on.

The Elite Four of Sinnoh, and their beautiful Champion, came walking in, flanked by the large group of analysts and auxiliary staff that would also be joining us this dinner. My eyes immediately jumped to Cynthia, who with her tight black dress that was lined with a hint of gold, made her look absolutely stunning. And the fact that the dress seemed to hug her figure...

I already thought she was beautiful before. But this was a completely different story.

I almost failed to tear my eyes away before I got slapped hard on the back, "Don't get too enraptured by your girlfriend, lover boy." Drake teased, "I don't want you drooling in public." Lorelei giggled at his words.

"Fuck off, Drake." I replied, which only made him grin wider.

We toned down on our juvenile comments as the rest of the Elite Four arrived and took their seats, sharing a round of greetings with everyone. Though Cynthia had to head to the stage where a microphone was already set up to speak a few words.

"Thank you all for coming, and I do apologise for how last minute this was all arranged. I just thought that you all deserved to see that we here in Sinnoh DO appreciate all that you have done for us, and will continue to assist us with. With your help, we have quickly crushed the threat that these criminals and so-called terrorists before they could truly enact their plans, ripping them out by the roots and tearing down their bases."

"This serves as iron-clad proof that by working together, by extending a helping hand towards our neighbours, and by welcoming them into our region, we are able to achieve a level of security and prosperity that would not be so easily obtained without our joint efforts."

"Look around you. Look at your neighbours, your colleagues, and the friends that you have hopefully made during your time in Sinnoh. I truly hope that during your time here, you would have learnt that the people of Sinnoh are just like the people you are used to seeing. And it is my sincere wish that you have built up some friends or connections with those you have worked with while in Sinnoh, and that those friendships are able to build a strong and sturdy bridge between our regions."

"So that's enough from me! For those of you who will be leaving our lovely region, I hope you have enjoyed your time here and will bring back fond memories and stories to your friends and loved ones upon your return. For those that remain, I look forward to continue working and achieving success together!"

"Now, bring out the food! Let's dig in!"

A loud round of applause came from all of us as she concluded her speech. At the same time, the doors swung open again as plate after plate of food was brought in for us to scoff down.

Conversation flowed smoothly and openly between us Elite Four members, like we had all gathered together as friends for a farewell party. Which was what this was.

"You all ought to visit Indigo some time in the future." I said to them, "We might not have your historical sights, but there's still plenty of things to see and explore."

"We will be." Lucian nodded, "Not only for vacation, but also for political reasons. We need to show that we are willing to reciprocate the help that you have offered us. The same goes for Hoenn, of course."

"Will you be sending me over again?" Bertha asked Cynthia, who shook her head as she took a bite out of her food.

"Probably not, it's best if we sent over a new face." She replied.

"Oooh, please pick me!" Flint waved his hand, "I've always been interested in exploring the likes of Mt. Chimney and Cinnabar Island."

"...Why didn't you do so when we were in Hoenn?" Aaron asked.

Flint rubbed his head sheepishly, "I got too distracted teasing Volkner about Janine that I forgot about it."

I burst out laughing, "Yeah, that sounds like something you'd do." It WAS funny though.

"It's the duty of every best friend to relentlessly tease the other when they finally find themselves in a relationship." Flint said firmly, before getting whacked over the head by Aaron.

That was basically the mood of the entire conversation. It wasn't anything serious, as we all knew the plan moving forwards for Sinnoh anyways. It was just a nice opportunity to hang out one last time before we had to head home to our respective regions. To my slight surprise, I noticed that Lucian and Lorelei actually got along really well together, and unlike how she handled Agatha, Bertha wasn't hostile to Drake and found some common ground.

On my end, I actually spent most of the dinner chatting with Aaron, who I had probably spoken to the least out of the Sinnoh Elite Four. The man was incredibly enthusiastic about Bug Types, even more so than you would expect a typical Type specialist to be. He made it very clear that he genuinely found Bug Types to be beautiful, and part of his motivation to become a Bug specialist was to unlock the full potential of their beauty.

He also told me that he was extremely envious of Cynthia's new Kleavor, and wanted to get his hands on one himself. Cynthia said if they had spares then she would see if she could acquire one for him. The two of them also arranged for a spar and to exchange tips, since Cynthia wanted to make sure she was training her new Kleavor correctly.

Besides talking amongst each other, all of us made time to thank the rank-and-file personally, moving from table to table to thank them for their efforts. Even if they expected it, they still seemed to appreciate the effort. I think it made them feel valued.

The dinner was actually wrapped up pretty quickly, and Cynthia announced that you were free to leave whenever you wanted to. There was no obligation to stay until the end.

Of course, that also applied to us as well. So as we finished our meals and the conversation slowed, Cynthia and I both got up from the table and made our way out of the League building together, walking with our arms linked around each other towards the large waterfall that served as the 'entrance' to the Sinnoh League.

"...Saying goodbye is always hard, isn't it?" I said softly to her.

"We should be used to it by now." She replied, "But it probably will be some time before we can meet in person like this. Since right after the Conferences are over, we'll all be busy with the start up of the new circuit soon."

"And...as callous as this might sound, some physical distance between us might be a good thing for our shared image." She continued, "Right now, our relationship is going to be one of the things in the forefront of the public's mind, both because of how new it is and since we're always spotted spending time with each other. If we gave the public some time and by not always appearing in the spotlight together, it might normalise our relationship for them."

I nodded, seeing the benefits, "I can't disagree...but I'll miss you."

She smiled softly, "Don't worry. I still have that locket you gave me. I won't forget."

"That reminds me, I bought you a small little something too." I fished her gift out of my pocket, "Here, for you."

I knew that she liked wearing dress shirts underneath that long coat of hers, so I had gotten her some golden cufflinks that were shaped like a Pokéball. They were small and subtle, but I figured that was how she preferred her accessories.

Her eyes sparkled as she saw them, "Oh my, that's a very lovely gift. You definitely got the colour right – I'll be trying them on tomorrow. Thank you, John."

"...Actually, I got you something as well." She added, "Unfortunately, it's actually still being prepared, and it would have been a little too big for me to have brought it to the dinner party. But I'll make sure its shipped to your home as soon as its ready."

That caught my interest, "Now I'm very curious. What kind of gift is it? If it's so big, maybe I should've gotten you something bigger too."

She chuckled and shook her head, "No, no. It didn't really cost me anything. You'll see when you receive it."

I was still curious, but I let the matter drop and just focused on enjoying our last night together. And so that was how the two of us remained for the rest of the night, spending time in each other's loving care as we remained under the bright and starry night.

We both had our duties to our regions, and we would once again be separated physically from each other.

But that just made the small moment that we could share together all the more precious.

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