Chapter 52.3- Oak

“I don’t think the chosen venue will have much of an impact on any of the teams. Yes, the Islands are more predisposed to overcast weather and this might make moves like sunny day marginally more difficult, but any pokemon at the tournament is unlikely to be bothered by that. After all, these are the best trainers from each individual region. A bit of weather won’t stop them from giving their all.” I said finally, ending that out. “Last question” I proclaimed, pointing at a man that looked the least troublesome of all the ones yet to ask a question.

“What do you think of the Kanto-Johto separation for the tournament? Some are saying this ought to be the end of Indigo, are you one of them?” He asked, and I took a deep breath and wondered how I’d navigate such a tense topic.

“Mewtwo’s threats were clear. I think we’ve all seen too much footage from the other regions to call them empty. Considering any region that doesn’t win will be destroyed promptly, I doubt there is any remaining hope for a reunified Indigo at the end of all this” The reporter nodded, noting down every word, and I really looked forward to whatever my statements ended up being spun as. It would be an interesting look into the psyche of reporters, after all.

From there, Bruno ushered me straight to Sabrina, and I began to wonder if she’d suddenly changed specialisation in the last half an hour. Every word of greeting she gave to the elite four member dripped with poison, but he didn’t seem deterred, sticking around enough to deliver some parting words.

“That was a draw, but I think neither of us has any doubt as to who the more powerful trainer here is. However, until you learn to use that head of yours, you’ll never beat me. In terms of raw power, your team is stronger than mine. Even when you fought Claire, they’d been about equal with mine, but from your Kommo-o’s performance, they’ve all grown even stronger. They’ve done their part. Now, you need to do yours. As trainers, we are both our pokemon’s greatest weakness and their greatest strength. I believe you’ve spent too much time being the former, and not enough being the latter. YOu should probably get on fixing that.” He said, and walked away from us, not even looking back.

I just turned to Sabrina and flashed her a smile as we made our way back to Viridian via teleportation. Alakazam and Ino turned it into a bit of a race, but expecting a Gardevoir to beat an Alakazam in such a contest was an exercise in futility. I ignored Ino’s glare and made my way to where Sabrina had appeared. We’d gone through the first stage, now, after a day of rest we’d have to allocate the rest of our time to get ready. Broly had pointed out a massive weakness in Gai, and I had to make sure more of my team didn’t have such weaknesses. I mean, the problem with the gates was one that 99% of the trainers out there would never be able to exploit, but people like Lance and his Dragonite, Stephen and his Metagross, or even Cynthia and her Garchomp? If I made it to the tournament, I’d be fucking around with the best of the world with stakes as high as they’d ever be.

XXXXX- THE SINNOH ELITE

“So what do we know about this Mewtwo?” The champion asked as she sat on her throne for the first meeting in the two weeks since the announcement of the Tournament of Power. I’d been inclined to ignore the psychic and finish our preliminary attack on Indigo, but Cynthia’s orders had been irrefutable.

“We know his threats aren’t empty, first of all” Lucian said, reading through the report from our scouting teams. All the previously identified regions were nothing but dust and smoke. They’d been taken, and hard. Even the wild pokemon there had been culled. Not completely exterminated like the humans, but their population had suffered tremendously. The entire thing shocked me quite a bit. I thought Cynthia’s Garchomp was the peak of pokemon strength, but to think there’s something out there that can lay waste to whole regions. Insane.

“Apart from that?” Flint asked with his head on the table. The idea of the tournament was wearing down on  everyone, and considering the information had been released to the press by the damned psychic, we’d all had to spend many an hour reassuring aggravated members of the public. At least, their fantastical belief in Cynthia’s strength was finally proving to be semi-useful. There was little real doubts about our ability to prevail, and footage of her fight against Lance had been released to reassure those that were beginning to doubt.

“It’s bioengineered. Created by a terrorist group known as Team Rocket. The same group that Champion Lance of Indigo insists are responsible for Champion Gerald’s death.” Lucian spelled out again, reading from the same folder that I’d gone over half a hundred times since it had been sent to me this morning.
We all just sat there looking at each other, wondering about the elephant in the room that we were all delaying discussing. This Tournament of Power. I decided to bite the bullet and start it out.

“Luckily for us, unlike the other regions, we recently held Championship trials, so we are well satisfied that we are the strongest trainers in Sinnoh-”

“Are we?” The Champion interrupted. “No. Are you?” She continued. “I remember quite a few elites in this room suffering a defeat or two. Yes, I was the only one to beat all four of you, but there were enough defeats going around that public belief in our collective invincibility has suffered. No, we can not simply select the four representatives of the region from this room. I will be hosting a selection league to determine those that will represent us. This meeting is over.” The Champion said and strolled out of the room, leaving all of us staring at each other.

“Well, we all need to get some training done,” Flint said, looking right at Bertha and I as he spoke. What little pride I had chafed at his words, and that of the champion. I’d never had my strength doubted so openly and obviously since I’d ascended to the elite four. Lucian walked away shortly after Flint left, and Bertha followed their lead, leaving me alone in the room.

I picked up my computer and started to go through my team’s graphs. I’d crafted a training routine months ago after I’d lost to Cynthia to help my team get even stronger, but never found the time or will to properly adopt it. Now? I had nothing but time and plenty of will. I’d prove them all wrong. They’d forgotten.

XXXXXX- THE DRAGON CHAMPION

“And our four representatives?” I asked the gathering of gym leaders and elite trainers. They gathered in the Blackthorne hall to hold the elections to determine those that would represent our region in the fight for our continued existence. When word of Kanto hosting a tournament had begun to spread, we’d considered doing the same, but considering we were also planning on using that tournament to spy on Kanto’s possible representatives, the idea hadn’t lived long.

Johto was the oldest and most civilised of all the regions. Disputes weren’t settled with pokemon and fists. They were settled with words and debate. That was the major bone of contention between the citizens of Johto and their Kantoan overlords all those years ago.

We held an election among us, because who else will be able to decide the strongest trainers than the strongest trainers, and when someone had mentioned everyone simply choosing themselves, the idea had cemented itself even more. Surely whichever trainers managed to get votes from the others were guaranteed to be impressive. And luckily, in an election so important, people had been less inclined to play the political games that would have marked any other election for any other purpose.

“Lance, Claire, Pryce and Karen” The Blackthorne Chief read out the results from the ballots and I felt a smile break across my face. Of course, there had been no doubts about me being chosen, but it was good to see that my first choices had all made it through. “Good, now we must begin the training,” I said, ending the meeting.

We had our representatives months before Kanto would manage to choose their four. With this kind of time advantage, could there be any doubts about our eventual victory? I’d finally get the chance to crush Oak beneath my feet, and that Cynthia of Sinnoh would also find herself beneath me, where she belonged. This was my chance.