The New Normal - 16-7

The New Normal – 16-7 – Exposed

Looker’s plan of personally infiltrating PLASMA’s ranks was turning out to be a better decision for each day that passed.

The very fact that we knew exactly what PLASMA planned to do with their challenge meant that the League had ample time to come up with a proper response. We knew that they were going to be cheating, and this was an excellent opportunity to expose that fact to the public.

Cheating in an official Pokémon battle was an incredibly serious crime. But even with unofficial Pokémon battles, cheating was a huge social faux pas. Pokémon battling was one of the major pillars of our culture and tradition, so anything that aimed to tarnish the sanctity of a honest battle was extremely frowned upon.

Therefore, if you were ever caught cheating in an official battle, not only were you immediately stripped of your trainer license and any achievements or badges that you had previously acquired, but you may even face jail time. So while PLASMA’s challenge to us technically wasn’t an ‘official’ challenge, as only League-sanctioned battles could be classified as that, if their cheating was exposed then their reputation would be sunk like an anchor.

That was how much people treasured the art of battling.

Furthermore, now that the League understood that PLASMA were willing to exploit underhanded tactics to try to get their way, it cleared out all of their doubts. At first, since the suspicions laid upon on PLASMA only really came from Drake and I, not everyone was completely convinced of their guilt. Now? It was completely different.

Simply because if they were willing to cheat on a battle like this, then what other nefarious schemes could or have they already cooked up?

This meant that there would be a lot more eyes on PLASMA in the future. Not only that, it would also make it easier for me to persuade them to take more drastic actions against PLASMA, should they become necessary.

Therefore, with the challenge date set for the afternoon of the next day, a few select members of the League, including myself, worked through the night as we discussed the best way we would approach it – we wanted to maximize the amount of reputational damage we could do. We also made certain that any information didn’t leak back to PLASMA, so that they would have no idea that we were already informed about their cheating.

We didn’t even let Looker in on it, just in case his cover was blown between now and tomorrow. Though he knew that we received his message.

In the end, the task ‘fell’ upon myself and Drake, though we practically volunteered for the position. It really could be no one else other than us, given that we already had established reputations as being unyielding forces of justice. It also helped that we were two of the strongest non-Champion trainers out there.

But more importantly than that, we just wanted to be the ones to stomp Zinzolin, and whoever else he sent out, into the ground.

The final thing we discussed is how they would be cheating. We obviously knew that they would try to buff up their Pokémon before the battle, likely using the X items, but what we were more concerned about is if they were making use of any other artificial enhancers that we didn’t anticipate.

I actually learnt a lot about artificial Pokémon enhancers during these meetings; it was far more complicated than I first thought. X items were merely the tip of the iceberg – as those were just used by scientists under strict lab conditions – there were many more potent variants out there.

For example, unlike an X item which could only mimic a particular stat increase, certain artificial enhancers could push a Pokémon far over its own natural limits, skyrocketing their offensive or defensive power to dangerous levels. So much so that it could even cause their attacks to become uncontrollable and potentially do a lot of collateral damage, or for their pain receptors to be unnaturally muted.

Worse, these enhancers couldn’t be so easily purged out of the system. It wasn’t as simple as using a move like Clear Smog to reset their status effects. If a Pokémon was subjected to one of the more potent enhancers, it’d take a trip to the Pokémon Centre to purge out all of the harmful substance.

There was a reason that these kinds of enhancements were strictly prohibited by all of the Leagues. Fortunately, production of the more potent enhancements was difficult and costly, which is why it was only rarely seen, even by criminal groups.

However, since we didn’t have any way of knowing what kind of enhancement items PLASMA would be using, we instead just organised for plain-clothed members of the Sinnoh Police to hang around the area in case of an emergency. Especially since there was every likelihood that this battle might quickly spiral out of control.

Therefore, as the sun began to rise and with all of the planning out of the way, all that was left to do was to expose PLASMA to the public.

===================

The battle was going to take place on the outskirts of the Fight Area, in a relatively remote area that PLASMA had picked out beforehand. It seemed like they had rented out one of the public arenas to make use of for this battle. We already had our Psychic Pokémon scan the area to see if they had set up any kind of traps or the like, but they weren’t able to find anything. So it seemed like their schemes only extended to the battle itself.

Drake and I had decided to arrive together, and once we did we saw that a huge crowd of spectators had already gathered in preparation for the upcoming battle. I suspected that most were here to see PLASMA lose, but there were a few that must have come because they genuinely believed that PLASMA might have a point.

Well, I’d make sure that would change once Drake and I were done with them.

“Are you sure about not using our strongest Pokémon here?” I quietly asked Drake as we landed, “We could always change the plan.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Drake replied firmly, “Using our strongest Pokémon would give them an excuse if they lose. Those fucks would whine about how they only lost because we sent out our strongest Pokémon to fight against them. Or they might try to tell the public that they ‘did well’ even when fighting against our strongest. It’s all a lot of fucking nonsense, but there’ll always be some who believe it.”

He shook his head, “No. Our victory must be fucking perfect. We will show the world that no matter how much they try to cheat in order to win – that none of that matters against us.” A savage grin began to appear on his face, “We will thrash them and expose their lies for all to see. We will make sure that PLASMA never dares to set foot on our shores again. That is the only acceptable outcome from today’s battle.”

I matched his grin – his sentiments matched mine exactly.

We were quickly escorted into the waiting area amidst the cheers of the crowd, most of whom were rooting for our victory.

The battle had yet to start, so I was expecting for us to sit there in silence until the battle begun. However, to my slight surprise, Zinzolin approached the two of us while we waited.

“I am surprised that the League sent out the two of you to respond to our challenge.” Zinzolin said to us, “Do they treat us that seriously? Or are they just afraid that our message might be the truth, and are doing everything they can to stop it from spreading? You know that the truth cannot be hidden forever. PLASMA will do all we can to make sure it spreads, no matter your futile efforts.”

He must have intended to rile us up, but instead of getting angry, Drake just barked out with laughter, “You really think that the League is so free that it can dedicate time to even thinking about PLASMA? No, you’re too small to even register for them. Don’t delude yourself with your own sense of importance.”

Zinzolin’s face remained calm, but I could tell by the clenching of his hands that Drake’s words got to him, “Oh? If that’s the case, then why have you two come here? Did your masters bark at you, and you followed their orders like the loyal Herdier that you are?”

Another bark of laughter came out from Drake, “Nah, we’re here cause we got bored. Humiliating you on stage is going to be fucking hilarious. Isn’t that right, John?”

I pretended to shrug casually, “It’ll make for a good joke.”

A small frown appeared on Zinzonlin’s face, “You mock us, but not for long. You will soon come to regret those words when you see the real strength achievable by a truly free Pokémon. Then, you won’t be laughing anymore.”

“That won’t be happening – because I know everything that PLASMA says about Pokémon is a lie.” I shook my head firmly, meeting Zinzolin’s eyes with my own, “IF your organisation was truly looking out for a Pokémon’s happiness, then Drake and I would have left you well enough alone. It would be a respectable goal, if anything. However, let us do away with the pretence – we all know you’re lying. And the very fact that your goals have always been to rip our Pokémon away from us is where I draw the line.”

“I know why you’ve hosted this event. You’re trying to earn back some of the reputation that you lost after I exposed the truth of PLASMA to the public. You’re trying to trick the public into thinking that you might be in the right.” My frown hardened, “I will not let that happen.”

I was fully aware that there were very likely hidden cameras that they had set up in the room, recording our every word and conversation. If we had said anything too insulting or mocking, PLASMA probably would have published it to make us look bad.

But that’s why I wanted to make my stance towards PLASMA crystal clear. I wouldn’t try to hide a knife behind a false smile. They would see that I loathed their very existence.

And after today, this footage would be unusable for them. Because all it would do was prove me right.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to able to provoke the either of us, Zinzolin turned around with a scoff and left us on our own. After a few more minutes of relative silence, we finally received the call to head into the arena.

The fight was about to begin.

Zinzolin stood opposite us, this time with a genial smile on his face as he greeted us politely, as if to pretend that our earlier conversation didn’t happen at all.

“Ah, Elite John and Elite Drake – it’s so nice for the two of you to join us.” He said gently, lying through his teeth, “Is this all the trainers that the League will be sending out against us?”

Instead of responding to that, a puzzled look appeared on Drake’s face, “Are you sure you’re doing okay over there Zinzolin? Why are you speaking like we didn’t just talk literally three minutes ago. Maybe you should get yourself checked out.”

I held back a chuckle as I watched Zinzolin grit his teeth in frustration.

“…So you would not even return my polite greeting.” He growled, “Fine, have it your way – we’ll get straight to the battle. I propose that we do a 2v2. With both of you sending out one Pokémon and me sending out two—”

“Wait, ‘sending out’? I thought the Pokémon you intended to use in this battle were supposed to be ‘freed’.” I pointed out smugly, gesturing with air quotes for the word ‘freed’, “After all, isn’t the whole point of this battle supposed to be for you to prove that your so-called ‘freed’ Pokémon are stronger than our trained ones? So how do we know that the Pokémon you intend to use are ‘freed’ and not trained?”

I didn’t initially intend to join in on Drake’s mocking, but I couldn’t help myself. Still, it was working, as Zinzolin only grew even more furious at the disrespect we were showing him, and more and more cracks appeared in his genial façade.  

“Do not worry. Even if you don’t trust my word on it—”

“And I don’t.” I interrupted.

“—We will be releasing evidence after our victory to show that the Pokémon that stand by our side today are doing so of their own free will.” He forcefully continued, “They have volunteered to battle you today because they want to. Because they believe that more Pokémon should be able to receive the happiness that they have achieved.”

“Or so you claim.” Drake returned, “But I think that’s enough chit chat. Are we going to get into the battle or not? We agree with your rules. So can we finally fight already? I’m getting bored.”  

Zinzolin smiled, though he did not know that would be the last time he did so, “Then let us make sure our guests are thoroughly entertained. Referee, start the battle!”

The referee moved to do so, and after a short countdown, all of us released our Pokémon.

“Come out! Hydreigon! Cryogonal! Show the world the strength of your conviction!”

“Go! Ornstein!”         “Crush them, Flygon!”

As Zinzolin didn’t make use of Pokéballs, his Hydreigon and Cryogonal came out from the waiting area, where they had been kept before the battle.

But as both of Zinzolin’s Pokémon made their way into the field, I could immediately tell that they were absolutely bursting with unnatural power.

A layman might not be able to see it, but to veteran trainers like Drake and I it was abundantly clear that the two Pokémon had been artificially boosted beforehand, whether that be by just natural set up moves or something more nefarious.

However, I didn’t get to dwell on that fact for much longer as the Cryogonal fired off an enormous Ice beam in our direction.

It was by far the most powerful Ice Beam that I had ever seen, even managing to surpass those fired off by the likes of Lorelei and Pryce. It shot forwards like humongous spears of pure frost that threatened to freeze and impale all in their path.

But Ornstein managed to dive in front of Flygon and take the hit for it with a well-timed Obstruct, giving Flygon the space to retaliate with a powerful Stone Edge of its own. An explosion of sharpened rocks erupted out from the ground and impaled the Cryogonal, who made no move to even try to dodge or defend against the attack.

It didn’t even flinch. The supereffective attack didn’t even register in its mind.

Furthermore, that left Hydreigon unattended, and I had half-expected for it to start wildly firing off a whole artillery’s worth of Special Attacks at our Pokémon – just like what most Hydreigon would do. Instead, all three heads let out a manic roar to the skies before it charged at our Pokémon, rushing them down with an enraged Frustration.

“COUNTER, ORNSTEIN!”

Reacting on a dime, Ornstein pivoted on the spot and dashed forwards to meet its foe. It ducked under another Ice Beam and spun its body out of the way, angling itself so that Hydreigon’s Frustration was only able to land a glancing blow.

And then he Countered it.

With all of the unnatural boosts that Hydreigon had, Ornstein’s fist was literally bursting with orange light from all of that accumulated power, and he returned all of that false power in a single devastating strike.

Hydreigon was launched into the air from the impact – with the resulting shockwaves even managing to cause the psychic shields to flicker and crack as they struggled to absorb the blow.

And the beating wasn’t over yet as Flygon dodged out of another Ice Beam as it flew after the Dark type before it slammed it back down into the ground with a hammering blow of its massive Dragon Tail.

Which caused Hydreigon to land right into the waiting arms of Ornstein, who managed to catch the Dark type with a well-placed, critical Cross Chop to the throat.

Hydreigon crumbled to the ground… right until another Earth Power exploded out from under it and launched it right back into the air again.

Hydreigon was literally being juggled. And it was all possible because we had quickly realised that neither it nor Cryogonal were not anywhere near to our level of training, likely as a result of whatever twisted training regime that PLASMA had made use of. Nor did Zinzolin seemed inclined to give the Pokémon any kind of instruction whatsoever.

The two Pokémon that we were faced with were quite literally all power and no skill.

However, despite all of the damage that we had inflicted to it, Hydreigon didn’t let out a single cry of pain. Its eyes remained glassed over, and I was pretty sure it barely understood what was even happening. Much like with Cryogonal, the damage wasn’t even registering in its mind.

This level of ‘endurance’ and ‘strength’ was likely far beyond what you could achieve naturally with buffing moves or X Items. These were some seriously potent and dangerous enhancers that they were on.

Because of this, Hydreigon picked itself off the ground with no issue. All the while, Cryogonal had swapped away from Ice Beams and now was trying to envelop the entire battlefield in a massive, overpowered Blizzard that threatened to freeze everything over.

Flygon would not survive the attack if that happened, so without needing to communicate, we both knew we had to target it down first.

“Helping Hand, Ornstein!”

“Iron Tail, Flygon. Take it down!”

Boosted by Helping Hand, Flygon rushed down Cryogonal and brutally smashed into it with its strongest Iron Tail possible. The impact caused Cryogonal to be literally buried into the ground, and also managed to interrupt its Blizzard before it could form.

Unfortunately, that left Flygon unguarded from Hydreigon, who got its revenge as it charged it down with a very strong Dragon Rush.

Flygon was sent crashing into the side of the arena, letting out a cry of pain as it did so. The unnaturally enhanced attack had skyrocketed Hydreigon’s Attack to absurd levels, which almost allowed it to knock Flygon out of the fight with a single hit.

That was how insane the potency of its stimulants were. Something like this would usually be unthinkable for a Pokémon as untrained as this.

But even as hurt as it was, this was Drake’s Flygon. It wouldn’t go down just like that.

“Outrage, Flygon! Don’t let these fucks bring you down!”

Forcing itself up, Flygon roared and exploded with draconic power; a blue aura flaring to life around it. Similarly, before Hydreigon could rush it down again, Ornstein ignited himself to active Guts and delivered a full-powered, point-blank Close Combat right into its unguarded back.

Then, just as another powerful Ice Beam from Cryogonal was about to strike him, he swiftly dodged out of the way with a Quick Attack – making the Ice Beam hit Hydreigon in the back as well as the large lance of ice speared right through the doped-up Dragon.

Cryogonal probably didn’t even care that it had just hit its own partner.

Ironically, this was when the tide of battle began to change, because the unnaturally powerful Ice Beam actually temporarily froze Hydreigon over.

This gave Flygon time not only to rush it down with a hard-hitting Dragon Rush of its own, but also eviscerate it with a furious assault of supereffective Dragon Claws to the face. Meanwhile, Ornstein made sure to keep Cryogonal distracted by pummelling it with Fire Punches, Brick Breaks, and Night Slashes alike.

Cryogonal’s raw offensive stats might be higher than I’ve ever seen before, but due to its lack of training, it didn’t know how to deal with Ornstein when he closed the distance like this. All of the Ice Beams had missed and gone wide, and even when Cryogonal tried to get physical and retaliate with a Rapid Spin or Body Slam, it was so clumsy that Ornstein either easily dodged out of the way or parried it with an Obstruct.

The same applied to Hydreigon, who was now slowed down heavily even after it had unfrozen itself, making its attacks sluggish despite all of the unnatural power behind them.

The battle descended into two different separate brawls. With Flygon expertly handling the now-slowed Hydreigon, and Cryogonal getting completely beaten up by Ornstein.

But as the battle ticked on, I began to notice that both Hydreigon and Cryogonal were starting to act more and more erratically. Their attacks were already never precise, but they were starting to become more and more uncontrolled.

For example, Hydreigon had tried to tear into Flygon with a Dragon Claw, only for it to suddenly change its mind and go for a Dragon Tail instead. But all that did was cause Hydreigon to fall over itself as it tried to reverse its own momentum mid-way through the attack, to expected results.

Likewise, Cryogonal’s Ice Beams were becoming less accurate, and at some point it was just wildly firing them out without any care about where it hit.

This was a sign that the stimulants were starting to wear off. Or, more likely, whatever extra substance that was included in the enhancers to keep their Pokémon’s sanity relatively intact – as there was no way that they could achieve this level of power without some mental damage – was starting to fail.

Zinzolin probably didn’t expect the battle to have lasted this long. He probably thought that, with how juiced up his Pokémon were, one or two good hits would have settled the battle in under half a minute.

Yet it didn’t. And our Pokémon weren’t letting up, with the both of them continuing their vicious assault with no end in sight. It was why Drake and I had specifically chosen to use these two Pokémon, as both his Flygon and my Ornstein were both Pokémon that had great speed, strength, and more importantly, incredible stamina.

This was our plan going into this battle. Knowing that we probably couldn’t take down our opponents with all of their unnatural enhancements, we were going to put on a show to the public. Our Pokémon would just continually pummel and savage their opponents, demonstrating the sheer cliff in skill between our Pokémon, and make it clearly obvious that there was something very wrong with Zinzolin’s Pokémon.

Because there was no way that they should still be in this fight when they were this out-matched in skill.

Their ‘enhancements’ suddenly running out like this wasn’t part of the plan, but we weren’t going to complain.

Even better for us, there was nothing Zinzolin could do to stop us. He couldn’t even give his Pokémon any orders or ‘recall’ his Pokémon, as they were supposed to be ‘free’ from human influence. It would go against the very ideals of PLASMA for him to do so.

Therefore, there was nothing he could do but sit and watch with growing anxiousness as his Pokémon began to fall apart as the enhancers ran their course.

And then suddenly, after probably what was a few more minutes had passed, Hydreigon suddenly spasmed violently and collapsed to the ground. Flygon didn’t take any chances and finished it off with one final supereffective Dragon Tail to the face, knocking it out of the fight.

Seconds later, the same happened with Cryogonal and Ornstein knocked it out with a decisive Brick Break.

It was our victory. And the crowd loudly made sure we knew it. Some of them had even begun booing PLASMA, since it was clear that they had done something unnatural to their own Pokémon.

A small twinge of sadness filled me as I took pity on the defeated Pokémon. They did not deserve such a fate, and a big part of me wanted to call for one of the nearby Nurse Joys to deliver them to a Pokémon Centre immediately to get them checked out, but our plan forced me to hold my tongue for a little longer.

Because there was one final thing that had to happen.

And just on cue, a loud and piercing whistle echoed throughout the arena as a Jenny came running out of the waiting area.

“STOP THE BATTLE!” She shouted, “PLASMA IS CHEATING!”

The crowd roared out in outrage. Just as planned.

A.N. As mentioned in chapter, I wanted to do a little bit of worldbuilding into the kinds of artificial enhancements that can be found in the Pokémon world. I wanted there to be more than just the X-Items, and I wanted their effects to be more potent and dangerous than just stat boosts.

Furthermore, I know that this story has frequently shown that speed and skill can be triumphed over using raw power. However, there are always exceptions, and I wanted this battle to show off just why power alone cannot win a fight. Especially when all of that power is used to try to cover up a significant lack of skill.

Both Hydreigon and Cryogonal had their stats buffed up to ludicrous amounts thanks to the artificial stimulants they were given. On paper, they were nigh undefeatable. However, when you strip away an already untrained Pokémon’s skill in favour of raw power, then this is the outcome. You get pummelled and demolished.

The next chapter will focus on the consequences of this battle. Hope you enjoyed!