Chapter 1: 1-3

Chapter 1: 1-3

The New Normal 1-1 – Returning Home

Flying home from winning the Indigo Conference definitely felt different. A lot of stress and anticipation had gone away, and I felt far more relaxed than I ever was before. Sure, I still had things to worry about, especially from my latest victory, but I can at least tell myself that I had not wasted this second life in the Pokémon world.

From my view up above on Port, I could already see the family home on the outskirts of Cerulean City, which the farm seemed to have grown larger since the last time I visited, and my parents holding up a large red banner that said, "Congratulations John!" and little Whitney was holding up her own small banner of "Best Elite 4 Member!" I smiled despite myself; it was always nice to see the support and encouragement that my family unhesitatingly provided to me.

Port landed safely on the edge of the farmhouse, and I was quickly glomped by my sister. Whitney had a beaming smile on her face and was babbling her congratulations to me. My parents also joined in the hug with their own smiles and I had to hold back tears at our joyful reunion.

"I'm home." I managed to eek out, eliciting small smiles from my family.

"Welcome back, John. We're so proud of you." My mother said while hugging me ever so tightly. My father also nodded and patted me on the shoulder in agreement.

"Mantine! Mantine!" exclaimed Port in happiness, making Whitney giggle as she ran over to pat my Mantine on the head.

After the moment of reunion passed, I was invited back home to have dinner with my family. As I saw the great piles of food that my mother had prepared for dinner, I smiled again at the newfound prosperity that my family had finally achieved through my own success. No more vegetable and rice dinners.

Whitney spent the entire dinner being super excited about my final battle against Shin, with my parents failing to try to curb her enthusiasm. She went on and on about how cool my Normal types were, and wanted to know everything that I knew. I happily doted on Whitney's enthusiasm as usual and answered as many of her questions as I could. She also talked about her new Miltank, which our parents had finally allowed her to begin training, and she asked for as many training tips as I could provide. I promised that before I left, I would oversee her training process and give her advice as needed.

"John, your swearing in ceremony is tomorrow, right?" My father cut in. I gave a hum to that as I shovelled more rice into my mouth.

"I don't mean to overly worry you John, but those Johto Elite 4 members might not be very welcoming to a Kantonian like you. Especially with your age." I frowned slightly at that, but it was not something that was unexpected, and I said as much to my father.

"You're right dad, but they will respect my strength if nothing else. Walker is on the way out anyways, and I wouldn't be surprised if he was replaced soon."

"And Agatha is from Kanto anyways, Jack." My mother said to my father before patting his hand with hers to reassure him, "John's already done so much and has gone so far, I believe he can handle a bit of politicking."

"Yeah!" my sister chimed in, "And brother's Slaking will beat them up if they're mean!"

We all chuckled at that. Whitney always had a way of bringing up the mood. She was such an innocent ball of boundless enthusiasm and positivity. As a reward, I patted her on the head while giving her a piece of meat from my plate that I knew she liked. She gave me a cheeky smile in response.

The remainder of dinner passed by uneventfully, though happily. As my parents somehow managed to coax Whitney to bed, my parents and I settled down in the living room to discuss the family business.

"Your mother has told me that the family business has been doing very well ever since you advertised it in your matches," father started, "She ran the numbers, and we agreed on purchasing more Miltank so that we can increase Moomoo milk production."

"The new Miltank have been doing well," my mother continued while looking down at the paperwork, "and honestly our profits from our Moomoo milk business are much larger than what Jack and I have initially predicted." She passed the paperwork to me.

I looked through the numbers on the account. It was clear that the small family business was small no longer. With me acting as free advertisement, the Smith's Moomoo milk was becoming a staple amongst trainers and its popularity was booming. We were selling our Moomoo milk directly to Pokéshops around Kanto, which was always a sign that something was in high demand and becoming mainstream.

Unfortunately, that meant that the demand for the Moomoo milk was much higher than what we could produce with our farm. I pointed this out to my parents and suggested that we buy more land.

"Yes, that's what Angela and I thought as well." My father said. "We've already filled in the paperwork to apply for the purchase of more land, but we want you to sign it before we send it in."

I was confused for a moment, and my mom caught on to that confusion.

"You see, John, many in the Cerulean council still know us as those poor country-hicks running a run-down farm. Those in the council look down on the Smith name, as it is both a common name and does not have an affluent reputation." My mother said with a slight grimace, as if remembering our poorly past, "However, if you sign it and make it clear who you are and the title you hold, that will make things much easier for us."

I unconsciously grit my teeth as I heard that and fought to prevent a scowl from showing. I knew how hard my parents struggled to raise myself and Whitney with their mediocre income, and I saw time and time again how many in Cerulean shunned and mocked us for our miserly lifestyle.

'No, you don't have to worry about it anymore.' I assured myself, 'I made it to the Elite 4. They won't look down on us anymore. I'll make sure my parents business thrives even more.'

I gave my parents a nod of agreement as I reached over to sign the paperwork. As I did so, I reaffirmed my vows to make sure that my family will be able to live prosperous lives and not have to worry about money ever again. I had already achieved great personal success, and now I had to make sure that I could share my personal success with my family.

After signing the paperwork, I asked what the plan was for the new land.

"Well, Jack was saying how we should wait until the new Miltank have adapted to the new land." My mother said, "We wanted to see how much space the Miltank have to roam and if we can manage the feeding and maintenance of so many Miltank with just us 2 in the long-term."

"Have you considered hiring a couple of employees to help with the Miltank?" I asked.

"Of course," my dad remarked, "But we didn't want to hire any before we needed them. We will see how many Miltank we can manage ourselves, and if we need more hands or if we want to purchase more Miltank than yes, we'll be getting a few employees."

I smiled at that, "It looks like we'll be becoming more than just a simple family business." I joked.

My father gave a small laugh at that, "yes, we're becoming successful businessmen." My mother leaned into my father as he said this, and they rested their heads on each other.

I knew that my dad had always wanted to run a successful business, and my mom was always supportive. I gazed upon my parents embracing with a solemn, yet happy, mien and I captured this image of happiness and stored it deep within my heart. This happiness was what I worked so hard to achieve. But this was just the beginning.

I would ensure my parents would want for nothing. I would ensure that Whitney would never have to worry about doing odd jobs just to bolster the family income. I would ensure that none would look down at my family with scorn and disgust ever again.

This I do swear.

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With the business discussion out of the way, my parents retired to bed for the night. I told them I would join them after releasing my Pokémon in the farm, as they were too big to fit in the house.

As I walked into the stables, I could see that the Miltanks were already asleep in various spots and positions around the stable. However, one Miltank that was far muscular than its counterparts was still awake, and it mooed at me when it saw me. I immediately recognised that this was Whitney's starter.

I gave a wave in response as I walked slowly towards it. I patted it on the head as it mooed quietly in appreciation.

"It's good to see you again Miltank," I started, "I can see that Whitney has already begun your training."

"Moo, mooooo, mil." I smiled in response to Miltank's bragging. Although humans were unable to understand precisely what a Pokémon was saying, those who spend enough time around a specific Pokémon will eventually unconsciously be able to understand and interpret what that Pokémon is saying.

"Yes, I can see that you're very strong now Miltank," I praised, "But don't get too cocky. There will always be Pokémon stronger than you. Always keep training and never give up." I admonished slightly with a waggle of my finger.

Miltank nodded at this, and I gave it another pat on the head in return. Then I grabbed the Pokéballs on my belt and released my Pokémon into the field.

Eight pokemon of varied sizes emerged onto the field with a white glow. I looked around with a proud nod as I watched my Pokémon all having their own prideful satisfactions on their faces. They were still cheerful about our recent victory, and deservingly so.

"Blissey! Blissey, Bliss!" Klee wrapped me in a careful hug of her own that I returned. Despite her rotund appearance, Klee was more than capable of crushing every bone in my body if she wished. Not that she would, she was always the most motherly of my Pokémon and often gave the most hugs.

Our hug was rudely interrupted with a loud groaning noise from Smough's stomach. Despite feeding him less than 3 hours ago, Smough unsurprisingly had an insatiable appetite. Snorlax in general were often prohibitively expensive to raise and maintain due to their eating habits, and if it were not for my successes, I would not have been able to raise him.

"Ok Smough I got it." I broke away from Klee's hug as I reached into my backpack for the giant Pokéblocks that I had specifically for Smough. I grabbed a few blocks that were half a square meter each and fed them to Smough, who ate them with relish.

Smough groaned happily at the food, which made me smile and I patted him softly on the belly. Seeing Smough's snack, Vordt also lumbered forward on all fours for a snack. It tried to persuade me by giving me its Baby Doll Eyes, but they aren't as effective as they were when he was a small Teddiursa. An Ursuluna looking at you with baby doll eyes just looks scary and unsettling, not cute.

Still, I thought about his request for a brief moment, before deciding to allow it as we were all in a celebratory mood. I fed him a few smaller Pokéblocks with some berries as a snack for Vordt.

As I gazed away from Smough and Vordt's happy eating, I watched Zephyr flying around as Pidgeots are wont to do with Port with Klaus galloping after them on the ground as usual. Despite its non-avian appearance and lack of wings, Klaus was actually able to chase after the two Flying Pokémon in the air through the creative use of Psychic shields that he leaped on to gain and maintain height. The three of them always had far too much energy to expend and loved racing each other, but I happily allowed it as it was good training for them.

In complete contrast to this, my starter, Tyrant, was predictably already asleep on the ground. While that was extremely common for Slaking, Tyrant was always an Early Bird, so he was much less lazy than his other Slaking counterparts. He was also a complete battle lover, and that offset much of his laziness as he actually often preferred to train and battle instead.

I looked around again to see Luna in a group with Klee and Miltank, gesturing happily with each other. They seemed to have become fast friends and were quick to share stories of their training with each other. I laughed softly to myself as I watched them communicate, imagining my two greatest defensive Pokémon training Miltank to be another unstoppable wall.

I sat down on the grass as I continued watching my Pokémon with content and pride. No matter what anyone tells me, I will always attribute my victories and successes to my Pokémon. Sure, I had an advantage with my past life meta-knowledge, but it was only through my Pokémon's strength and determination that carried me through both Kanto's and Johto's gyms to become the victor of this year's Indigo Conference and the youngest member of the Elite 4.

Before I headed off for bed though, I reached for my notepad as I went over my personal notes again. Everything in my notes was written in English, which differed from the standard Pokémon language that they used in this world. This meant that anyone who secretly read my notes would be unable to understand anything.

Contemplating my notes for a moment, I thought about my next steps in gaining more personal success. My rebirth into the world of Pokémon was an unexplained blessing that I would forever treasure and be thankful for, and I promised myself that I would make the most of it.

To that end, I have been making great use of my meta-knowledge to deliberately put myself in the spotlight and to generate popularity. So far, I have used my meta-knowledge to 'find' two new evolutions for Pokémon. Looking through the Pokénet, my victory in the Indigo Conference and my discovery of the new evolutions have brought me international recognition across all three regions, with many acknowledging both my strength as a trainer and my scientific mind.

In the future, I planned to release my 'discovery' of the Fairy type, using Luna as a shining example of the 'new' type. Of course, I had already informed my Pokémon about Luna's pure Fairy typing, as a few of my more observant Pokémon like Vordt and Tyrant have already sensed that Luna's typing differed from the rest. Luckily, my Pokémon had no problems with this and they also promised to keep it secret from other Pokémon.

However, I reminded myself to make sure that I stagger my discoveries, both because I only have a limited amount of meta-knowledge and because too many discoveries within a short period lessens the impact. Through careful planning, I should be able to stretch out my discoveries to maximize my own popularity.

Though it may seem overly calculating for me to do this, I inwardly justify my desire for popularity as I intend to use that popularity to both improve my family's business, and also prevent some of the disasters that the evil teams are always scheming with in the Pokémon world.

No matter how strong my Pokémon may be, they would be crushed all the same by a Legendary. And I highly doubt that I have the power of anime or protagonist power necessary to befriend and calm them, so I won't be taking my chances with them. It would be better for me to stop the evil teams before they awaken their Legendaries, rather than after.

And in order to stop the evil teams, especially the ones outside of Indigo, I would need to be a popular and respected public figure that people can trust. Thus, my selfish desire for popularity is actually a selfless desire to save the world from rampaging Legendaries!

At least that's what I tell myself.

I ended up putting down my notepad before browsing the Pokénet for a while. Already there were plenty of articles and comments about my latest battle and I could see that a couple of articles were spreading about my family's business, meaning that attaching the family's Moomoo badge on my jacket during the battle had paid off. Hopefully, that's going to lead to more sales in the future.

There was a ton of speculation about whether I would challenge Pryce for the title of Champion, but that was never in my plans. I was cautiously confident in my ability to beat Pryce, but even if I were to attain the title, many would see a 16-year-old champion to be unsuitable for the position and there would be much opposition. It would be safer to remain as an Elite 4 member for some time to both prove myself as a trainer and as a pillar of Indigo before making any future plans about becoming Champion.

Besides, being Champion was overkill anyway. Being the youngest Elite 4 member was sufficient enough for my purposes.

I ended up yawning, checked the time, and found that it was almost midnight. I looked around and saw that my Pokémon had dispersed into familiar groups, where they were either chatting quietly or sleeping. I said my goodbyes to them and went back into the house.

Before I went to into my room though, I quietly entered Whitney's room to make sure she was safe and asleep. I smiled as I found her snuggling her Teddiursa plushie that I bought for her years ago and sleeping soundly. I patted her softly on the head, making sure not to wake her, before heading back to my old room.

I performed a quick check to make sure that I had a good suit and tie for my swearing in ceremony tomorrow, and then went to bed. My old bed creaked loudly at my weight, and the mattress was clearly old and needed to be replaced.

Despite the fact that it wasn't the comfiest of beds, it was still good to be home

The New Normal – 1-2 – The Ceremony

I was jolted awake the next day by Whitney, who pestered me incessantly to watch and help her train her Miltank. Her enthusiasm eventually won over my sleepiness, and I dragged myself out of bed to handle my morning ablutions.

A very quick breakfast later, I joined my sister in the fields to oversee her training. My parents were already out taking care of the other Miltanks, and they said they didn't need my help.

"Ok Miltank, we're going to be continuing your strength training so keep breaking those boulders!" Whitney had already told me in advance what she wanted me to help with, so I sent out Vordt to create rocks for Miltank to smash.

"Miltank! Miltank! MILLLLTANK!" With each thrust of her deceptively stubby arms, Miltank managed to smash a rock into pieces. I looked carefully at Miltank as she continued smashing rocks, and noticed that though she was breathing heavily, it impressively still had plenty of energy left.

I was amazed at Whitney's and Miltank's progress. Despite just being 11-years-old, Whitney's determination and persistence in training her Pokémon in a healthy and efficient manner was extremely eye-opening and remarkable.

Admittedly, I did the same thing. But I had the benefit of my past-life to rely on. Whitney was just that naturally determined even as a child. And I couldn't be prouder.

"Good job Whitney," I said as I patted her head with pride, "you've made incredible progress with Miltank's training. I believe you'll be one of the strongest starting trainers next season."

Whitney turned to me with a bright smile on her face, "Thanks John!" she hugged me, "I just followed the tips you gave me in your letters. So you helped a lot too!"

"Mil, Miltank!" Miltank clearly overheard our conversation and gave me a thumbs up with a smile on her face. I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Ursa, Urs, Luna" Vordt cut in. I nodded in agreement to Vordt's observations and looked at Whitney again.

"Vordt's right Whitney. You and Miltank are definitely strong, but that's only for starter trainers." I tried to put a serious expression on my face as I said this, "Never let yourself become overconfident and rest on your laurels too much. There are –"

"Always stronger opponents, yeah yeah I get it brother." Whitney snarked, "But I get it John, I really do. I'll never stop training my Pokémon." Miltank nodded alongside her.

"Good. I know I say it a lot but it's the most common failing of an aspiring trainer to become arrogant and rush into things without proper preparation and training." I then gave her another pat on the head, "Besides, it's my duty as a brother to make sure you're going to be successful in whatever you do."

Whitney turned red at this and punched me in the stomach in embarrassment, which I barely felt but pretended that it hurt, before turning away from me and telling Miltank to start with dodge training.

I nodded to Vordt as he began throwing rocks at Miltank, who dodged the rocks with various degrees of success.

"Miltank's dodging still needs work," I noted to Whitney, who didn't react to my comments, "But her endurance is quite good. She got hit by several rocks and shows no sign of injury."

I was clearly talking to myself because Whitney ignored me as she continued watching Miltank struggle to dodge the incoming rocks.

Whitney then cupped her hands and shouted, "Miltank! Use your fists to break the rocks that you can't dodge!" I smiled as I heard this. This was the exact conclusion I hoped Whitney would bring up herself without me telling her.

With her added rock smashing, Miltank managed to avoid far more rocks than she did previously. Whitney allowed Miltank to persist for a few more minutes before ordering a break. Klee, who was watching carefully on the sidelines, went up to Miltank to heal her up.

"Blissey, Blissey." Klee seemed to lecture Miltank about not training too hard and harming himself.

"Mil, Mil." Miltank sighed and nodded at Klee, probably too tired at the moment to argue anyway.

"Well, I can't say that I'm not frustrated about this, but thank you anyways for the warning, Agatha." I said to her, before turning my attention to Karen who had been standing there silently, "And yes, Karen, I'd love to bring you along with me to Hoenn. Can I get your contact details so that we can meet up later?"

Karen gave me a sultry smile at that, before taking out a pen and paper from her pockets and writing down her phone address on it. "Call me anytime." She smirked.

I gave her a smile of my own before turning back to Agatha, who had been eyeing my interactions with Karen with a sharp look, "Is there anything else?" I asked.

"No," she said with a shake of her head, "But I think introducing you to Karen is going to go better than I thought it would." She said with a grin and a gleam in her eyes. Agatha then turned and ordered Karen to escort her away.

I stopped to watch them leave momentarily before returning to my family. Both my mom and Whitney gave me cheeky smiles when they saw me talking to Karen, but I ignored their teasing looks as I tried to absorb everything that just happened.

Of course, that was when Pryce approached me with a blank expression on his face.

"John, I'm sending you to Hoenn tomorrow evening by ship. You'll be communicating with the Hoenn League to show off the strength of Indigo and to ensure that we can work closely with each other. While in Hoenn, you will act and behave as a member of the Elite 4 should. Understood?" Pryce said sternly with a curt tone that warranted no response.

I held in my annoyance and managed to give off a "Yes, Sir." Where he merely nodded in response and walked away. I clenched my fists as I watched him leave.

"Problems?" Asked my mother with a worried look.

I held her hand in reassurance and shook my head, "No, it's ok. I can handle it."

"The Champion looked unhappy to see you." Whitney mumbled with a frown, "He looks so mean."

"Don't worry sis. That's just how he is." I comforted my sister with a pat on the head, making sure not to mess up her carefully crafted hairstyle.

I then took out my phone and texted Giovanni, I wanted to meet him tonight.

The New Normal – 1-3 – An Important Meeting

I was too caught up in my own thoughts to mingle any further at the ceremony, so I left and made my way to Viridian by flying on Port after making sure that my family were able to be Teleported home.

As I was flying to meet with Giovanni, my thoughts lingered on Pryce's attitude towards me. Although I had assured my parents that there were no issues, I knew that I was lying. I was upset at Pryce but couldn't say anything due to my juniority.

I could only hope that Lance would replace Pryce soon. I had a better first impression of Lance, and he seemed to genuinely respect me. I hoped to foster good relations with Lance; he and the Blackthorn clan would be valuable allies to have.

Speaking of plans, I refocused my attention to the upcoming meeting with Giovanni. When I first met Giovanni during my match against him for the Earth Badge, I saw him as someone who deeply cared for his Pokémon. I don't believe someone like that would resort to stealing other people's Pokémon for money unless he had no other choice or was doing so to serve a larger goal.

Therefore, for our meeting, I had two goals going in. One, I wanted to ascertain the status of Team Rocket. Ideally, I hope to steer Giovanni away from Team Rocket if that was possible. To do that, I would need to know more about Giovanni's aims and persuade him that the use of Team Rocket was unnecessary. Secondly, if he proves to be receptive, then I wanted his help in integrating Kanto with Johto on a greater level.

I managed to go through my plan once more before I landed just outside the Viridian Gym. It was very late at night, so the streets were empty. The lights at the Gym were all turned off, and I wondered how I would get to Giovanni's office by myself.

Just as I thought that a lone security guard waved at me at the unlocked back entrance and gestured for me to head inside. I gave him my thanks as I followed him into the building. As I walked with the security guard, I noticed that he had a familiar purple goatee that I swore I recognised somewhere. However, as it was dark, I couldn't properly make out his identity.

Neither of us said a word to each other as we walked to Giovanni's office. Once we arrived, he simply knocked on the door and left us alone.

"Ah, come in John, good to see that you're someone who honours their promises." Giovanni greeted, "please, have a seat. Do you want something to drink?" He gestured to the many, likely expensive, bottles of alcohol stored in his wine cabinet.

"Um, no, that's fine. I'm too young anyways." I responded as I sat, and I really didn't want to get drunk for this conversation. I waited as he poured himself a drink.

"So, John, I hope you don't mind if we skip the pleasantries." I nodded at that, "What did you think of Champion Pryce?"

I carefully considered my response before I said anything. I knew that any potential friendship or alliance with Giovanni would be made or broken by my next few sentences.

"Well...I think that he could be doing a lot more with his position than what he is currently doing." I stated diplomatically, thinking carefully before I continued, "I think that his inaction blatantly favours Johto, and us Kantonians are suffering from it."

I saw that Giovanni agreed with my statements, as he leaned forward slightly, and his eyes gleamed with interest.

"I think that, while Pryce has provided stability to Indigo, that stability came at a cost of Kanto's economy as Johto's stronger economy encroaches more and more on Kanto's for every passing year." I continued, now speaking with a bit more confidence and passion in my voice, "The Indigo League sits around and does nothing about it...if anything, they're the ones benefiting from this. I'm wary that if this continues, Kanto will be subordinated to Johto and we will no longer be equals."

I saw a smile spread across Giovanni's face as he nodded to this, unconsciously tapping a finger on the table, "Yes, you're right," he replied, "It's surprising how someone as young as you can see the exact problems facing Kanto that I saw."

Giovanni got up and started pacing around the room, "Continuing with the administration's current course would be disastrous for Kanto in the long-term. They would use their economic advantage to create a military advantage against us." He stopped and turned to me, his face now adopting a furious expression and his tone becoming increasingly enraged, "and I will not allow Kanto to be subordinated to Johto."

Giovanni exhaled and took a deep breath to calm himself before questioning, "Tell me, John, what do you think we should do about this?"

"We should find ways to improve Kanto's economy and circumvent the League." I responded immediately, "Encouraging more private businesses and trade to be based in Kanto will help bolster the economy and hopefully allow Kanto's economy to catch up with Johto's. Currently, many businesses and industries are based in Johto due to their better economic situation, but if we could persuade them to move to Kanto, then our economies would be more balanced and we wouldn't suffer from such a large trade deficit as we do now."

Giovanni gave a hum of approval at that, "Yes, that's what I thought of too, but that isn't enough."

"It isn't." I replied, "Therefore I believe that we should also work to integrate the two nations closer together. After all, we already share many similarities in our culture, so we would just need to change the way people think. If everyone didn't think of 'Johto' or 'Kanto', but rather the combined 'Indigo', then Kanto will never be subordinated to Johto because both will be one in the same."

Giovanni listened to this with a stoic expression as he locked eyes with me. A part of me wanted to look away, but I reminded myself that I had stared down greater threats than Giovanni, so I refused to break eye contact.

"Hmmm, I must admit that your ideas are novel and are something I hadn't previously considered." Giovanni allowed, "You know, my late mother was convinced that the only way for Kanto to maintain its position in the world was to create a paramilitary group of trainers that operated in the shadows to prevent and undermine a Johto invasion."

"That seems like an incredibly terrible idea," I quickly cut in, understanding that this was Team Rocket's true purpose, "not to mention very short-sighted. Hoenn wouldn't stand for that either and they'd quickly ally against such an organisation."

"Perhaps," Giovanni permitted, though he clearly didn't agree with what I said, "But I did think that doing so would be a last-ditch resort." He paused to take a sip of whiskey before giving me a look, "You know, Pryce was planning on directly appointing his niece, Lorelei, to replace Blaine as the newest member of the Elite 4. He felt that having another member of the Elite 4 that was supportive to him would let him stay as Champion for longer. Luckily, the fact that you won the Indigo Conference and discovered two new evolutions made you the far better appointment than Lorelei, so Pryce was practically forced to appoint you. He hated doing that and has been trying to find a reason to get you removed."

I blinked at that, since I didn't know that was how Lorelei got appointed. Giovanni chuckled at my surprise, before his expression darkened.

"If Lorelei had been appointed instead of you, we would have had no representation within the upper echelons of the League." Giovanni scowled as he began to rant, "Kanto would have been side-lined! Those Johto parasites would make us poorer and poorer until we were nothing more than their servants! I would do ANYTHING to prevent that from happening. You understand, don't you, John? You came from poverty too, didn't you?"

"Of course I understand." I bit out before I could stop myself, my fists clenching beneath the table reflexively. A thought suddenly came up, "What about Agatha? She's from Kanto." I pointed out.

Giovanni shook his head at that, "No. Agatha may be from Kanto, but she is entirely unconcerned about anything that isn't related to Lavender Town." He took another sip of whiskey, "She has Lavender Town under her iron grip. It is her legacy. She would ensure that Lavender Town, and only Lavender Town, remains strong, regardless of what happens to Kanto. No, we can only rely on my-...ourselves to protect Kanto."

Giovanni then checked the time on his expensive wristwatch, "Ah, it's getting late." He noted, "Regardless, I was very pleased to see you and to discuss things with you, John. You have some interesting ideas, and I think you and I will be able to work well together." He extended a hand towards me.

"Yes, I agree." I said, shaking his hand, "This was an enlightening conversation." I said, surprisingly honestly. I learnt a lot more than I thought I would about the politics of Indigo from this conversation. Then again, considering how involved and passionate Giovanni seems to be about it, maybe it isn't so surprising.

"Oh, and before you leave, John, did Pryce give you a task to do as a member of the Elite 4?" Giovanni ventured.

"Ah, yes, he did actually." I said, which caused Giovanni to raise an inquisitive eyebrow, "I'm being sent to Hoenn on a 'diplomatic' mission and to show off the strength of Indigo. It's all a lie though, they bought me an economy class seat on a standard ship and are sending me by myself!" I said the last part with more bitterness than I was expecting.

Giovanni rubbed his mouth with a considering expression, "Hmm, he's clearly trying to move you out of the way, so you don't do anything he doesn't like. That, or he's trying to trip you up." I nodded at that, "That's disappointing, but not surprising."

He thought about it for a bit, before snapping his fingers and a cunning smile spread across his face, "But that gives us an opportunity." He turned towards the closed door, "PETREL, get in here!"

I had to fight to prevent the look of surprise and recognition from appearing from my face. I knew that name. So, it seems that the Team Rocket admins were founded from Giovanni's close friends. Interesting. I wonder if I would be able to identify the other executives through this way of thinking.

I dismissed my errant thoughts as Petrel walked into the room, looking exactly like his in-game sprite, though he wasn't slouching and instead stood ramrod straight. Giovanni nodded at Petrel as he arrived and said, "Petrel, go to the lab and fetch a Porygon for John here. I want to present it to him as a gift."

My eyes widened at that. I obviously knew that Team Rocket had produced Porygons, and obtaining one was one of my goals, but I never thought I would just be given one. From Giovanni no less.

I barely even noticed Petrel leaving the room before I saw Giovanni turning to me again, "Porygon was a Pokémon that my scientists created out of computer code," he explained, "We all thought it was an Electric type at first, but it's proven to be a Normal type. I thought that it would be a suitable gift for you, considering your type specialty, and you could bring it to Hoenn and show it off. Just don't forget to mention my name." He chuckled.

"Oh, um, yes, of course." I babbled in surprise, "Thank you, Giovanni, I do really appreciate this."

"Don't worry about it," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand, "After all, we're friends, right?" He smiled at me as he said this, but I noticed that his smile didn't reach his eyes and that he was staring deeply at me. I gulped involuntarily, realizing that I may have just accepted a gift from Giratina.

"Yes, friends, of course," I agreed, hopefully without any nervousness in my voice, "was the discovery of Porygon your idea?" I said, hoping to change the topic.

"Hmmm, no. I didn't think of it." Giovanni stated, "I don't have your talent for discovering new Pokémon. My talents lie more in delegation and leadership." He boasted.

"Maybe you can teach me more about delegation one day." I joked but realized that Giovanni had a considering expression on his face.

"Maybe." Was all he said in response, which made me nervous once again.

Luckily, Petrel re-entered the room carrying a Pokéball, breaking me from my thoughts. He passed the Pokéball to Giovanni, who grabbed my hand and placed it carefully on my palm.

"Here you go, John. Make sure you treat it well." He said with a weird look in his eyes that I couldn't quite place.

"I will." I promised, before releasing my newest Pokémon into his office. The Porygon was so small, and despite its blocky appearance I found it to be very cute. I smiled as I thought about how Whitney would react to it.

Giovanni saw my smile and gave one of his own, "I can see that you like it already." He chuckled slightly before donning a more neutral smile, "Sadly, we still aren't able to mass produce Porygon at this time. We also haven't figured out if it can evolve yet. But who knows, maybe you'll be able to figure out if it can evolve!"

'Oh, I'm sure it can.' I thought to myself, 'Just need to figure out how to create an Up-Grade and a Dubious Disc.'

I returned my new Porygon back into the Pokéball and bowed slightly to Giovanni. "Thank you again, Gym Leader Giovanni. I promise to treat Porygon well and train it to be the best it can be."

Giovanni simply nodded in acceptance before glancing at his watch once again. "Hmm, it's really late. And you have a long journey ahead of you to Hoenn tomorrow, so I better let you go." He snapped his fingers at Petrel and gestured towards the door, "It was nice meeting you, John. Let's talk again soon."

"Yes, it was nice talking to you. Have a good night, Giovanni." I followed Petrel out the door and was once again escorted by him back the way we came. As we walked, I engrossed myself in my own thoughts and pondered the meeting I just had.

Overall, I considered the meeting a great success. I believe that I may have managed to avert Giovanni from forming Team Rocket, not with my smart and intelligent arguments, but with the sheer coincidence that my appointment to the Elite 4 managed to prevent the worst-case scenario. Not that I'm complaining of course, preventing Giovanni from creating Team Rocket was one of my biggest goals, after all.

Though I knew that it didn't mean that Team Rocket was gone forever. Circumstances may change that would cause Giovanni to resort to using Team Rocket. Or perhaps Team Rocket would be formed under another leader. But I couldn't do anything about that now, so I forced myself not to worry about it.

My friendship with Giovanni was definitely a welcome surprise though, especially with him gifting a Porygon to me. I was hesitant to admit it, but I could relate to Giovanni. If something or someone threatened to return my family back into poverty, I believe I would also do anything and everything to ensure my family's prosperity, no matter the cost. The thought that I was similar to Giovanni scared me, but I assured myself that I wouldn't allow such a scenario from occurring in the first place.

"You have my thanks, Elite John." Petrel suddenly said with a surprisingly refined voice, breaking me away from my dark thoughts as I turned to him with a curious expression. "Giovanni had been overly stressed that Lorelei would be the new member of the Elite 4 to replace Blaine. I doubt you did it on purpose, but your appointment really alleviated a lot of the worries on Giovanni's shoulders."

I wasn't too sure how to respond to that, so I simply said, "Well, you're welcome, I think?"

Petrel chuckled at that, "Yes, I'm also glad that you saw past Giovanni's unflattering reputation and agreed to work with him." He said loyally, "Giovanni may act unscrupulously at times, but he does so for the good of Kanto. I hope you'll be able to understand his motivations and continue your friendship with him in the future."

I only nodded at that, and we walked the rest of the way in silence until we arrived back outside the Viridian Gym. I released Port from his Pokéball and began saddling myself up. Petrel spoke up one last time before I flew off, "Good luck in Hoenn, Elite John. Please call Giovanni if you need any help or if you have any news that he'd might want to hear."

"I will." I said honestly, as I did intend to foster my newfound friendship with Giovanni, "Have a good night, Petrel." And I flew off back towards the farmhouse, deep in my thoughts once more.

'On the whole, being friends with Giovanni could only be a good thing, right?' I convinced myself.

Not long after, I arrived back at home and noticed that all the lights were off, meaning that my family was most likely already asleep.

I walked to an empty space in the fields, being careful not to wake any of the sleeping Miltank that were scattered around, before releasing all my Pokémon except for my new Porygon.

"Ok gang," I called out, "We have a new team member," I was cut off by the cheers and roars of my Pokémon, "Yes, yes, quiet down, I know it's very exciting but please don't wake everyone up." I said, trying to calm my Pokémon's excitement.

"Bliss, Blissey!" Klee said excitedly, before running over and grabbing Porygon's Pokéball from my belt and releasing my new Porygon.

"Porygon? Gon?" My small Porygon only had a small window of relief before it was immediately mobbed by my Pokémon. Klee was holding it in her arms, patting it down and checking it over. My larger Pokémon, Smough, Vordt, and Tyrant, were looming over it at a distance. I wasn't sure yet if Porygon's had emotions, but if they did then the looming presence of my three largest Pokémon must have made an intimidating sight.

My remaining Pokémon all took turns with Klee inspecting or holding my new Pokémon, and my poor Porygon was subjected to a mixture of hugs, soft pecks, and antler rubs.

I stood back and happily watched my Pokémon play with my new Porygon as I struggled to think of a good name for it. Not only that, but I had to think of a plan on how to train it. Most importantly, I needed to find out if my Porygon could feel or could learn to feel emotions. My training methods would vary heavily if it couldn't.

I took out my notepad and started scribbling some notes as I drowned out the sounds of my Pokémon playing around in the background. Though it was late, apparently for my Pokémon the excitement of greeting a new teammate was more important than sleep. To this day, I am still surprised, and proud, by the fact that Smough, Vordt, and Tyrant were so active and energetic. That was very unlike their lazy counterparts.

"Clef! Clefable." Luna suddenly called out to attract my attention as she lifted Porygon in her arms and carried it over to me. Apparently, she wanted me to name it as soon as possible as she didn't want it to feel left out by not having a nickname.

As I looked down at the tiny Porygon being cradled by Luna, I had a sudden urge to take a picture of this scene and show it to Whitney. As I thought that, a name suddenly sprang to mind.

"Pixel. I'm going to name you Pixel, Porygon." I declared and patted its blocky head. Honestly, its blocky frame was a bit awkward to stroke, but I'm sure I'd adapt soon enough. It was too cute to resist anyways.

"Porygon? Pory. Gon! Gon!" Pixel cheered. I could tell that it liked its new name as I saw its eyes turning into small crescents as it brightened. It was very subtle, but it proved that Pixel was capable of feeling emotions, though its appearance made expressing that emotion to be very subtle.

"Clefable! Clefable!" Luna was obviously equally as delighted as Pixel and carried it back over her head back to my other Pokémon, who all joined in on the enthusiasm.

Amusingly, I watched as Tyrant bent over more than ninety degrees as he carefully picked up Pixel in his giant hands, which seemed to make Pixel look even smaller, and placed it on Smough's belly, who was lying down on the grass.

Pixel looked down and inspected the new 'ground' that it was on, before bouncing slightly on Smough's belly, eliciting cheers from Klee and Luna and a disgruntled groan from Smough. Soon after, Klaus levitated Pixel on his back before galloping quickly around the fields, Pidgeot and Port flying after them.

Although I wanted to join in on the fun, I was feeling too tired to do so after the long and exhausting day that I had. Seeing that most of my Pokémon didn't seem like sleeping anytime soon, I allowed them to continue their fun before I made my way back to my room and promptly fell asleep.