The New Normal - 19-2

The New Normal – 19-2 – Mega Changes

Since I was still in Hoenn, I made sure to pay a visit to my friends while I was there. So I made a brief stop over to visit Roxanne and Norman so that I could catch up with them.

They mostly congratulated me on my time in Unova and the fight against N, but otherwise, I hung out for about an hour each with each of them before I had to head back to Sinnoh to deal with everything else.

And time quickly flew by after that. The people of Unova quickly returned back to their homes, and Castelia City was hastily yet efficiently rebuilt to much of its former glory. A nice and unintended side benefit from the destruction of the city was that many of the forgotten alleyways, that had been left to rot and decay overtime, were able to be rebuilt and properly restored.

Furthermore, this also gave the builders an opportunity to redesign some of the alleyways of Castelia City, making them less cramped and more organised in general. Overall, it was like the city had gone through some much needed refurbishments.

Now that the city was rebuilt, it was time for the numerous award ceremonies to take place. Honestly, though they were all a good time, most of the award ceremonies blurred together for me. I understood why they were necessary, and I was more than happy that everyone else who participated was able to be honoured and rewarded for their bravery, but they were a little repetitive.

Don’t get me wrong, the rewards were nice. The Unova League had built a large monument in the centre of Castelia City to honour those who fought in this battle, and a long list of names were etched into the monument – much like what had been done at Spear Pillar after our battle against Palkia.

But for me, I found it more valuable to use the award ceremony as an opportunity to catch up and speak with a whole bunch of people. I never was one to waste an opportunity to schmooze.

“Really didn’t think my life would go from winning the Pokémon World Tournament to immediately fighting against a Legendary.” Elesa muttered, “I don’t know what I did to receive such an exciting life.”

“You’ll think back on these events fondly.” I replied reassuringly, “Yes, it might have been terrifying to face off against a Legendary. But it is also proof of your bravery and conviction – that when Unova needed you, you chose to step up and defend your region. You’ll sleep well thinking about that, I promise you.”

“Well, yeah, when you put it that way, I guess it was good that I went through all that.” Elesa said, a small smile forming on her face, “Honestly, I think I got off easy compared to most. I wasn’t in the thick of the fighting; I was off to the side at a mostly safe distance just helping to support other Pokémon since my Electric moves were mostly ineffective. I can imagine the experience being a lot worse for those who were more up close and personal with their fight against Zekrom. Like you were.” She finished while giving me a look of concern.

I waved her off, “Don’t worry about me. I got over most of my fears after my fight against Palkia. Trust me, this fight was not nearly as bad as that one. That fight was much, much worse.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Elesa nodded, “Say, did you check on Iris lately? I hope she’s doing okay after that fight. I was shocked to see her in the fight when she’s so young. I only spoke to her briefly over text.”

“Same, actually. But I heard enough from Karen – she’s been speaking to her the most.” I said, “Fortunately, Iris seems okay. She wasn’t in the middle of the fighting either, so she wasn’t hurt outside of some hairs being singed from Zekrom’s Electric attacks, but nothing major. In a way, Zekrom taking everyone out of the fight with its false visions was a blessing in disguise, as it spared everyone from experiencing the worst of the fighting.”

“Only because you Teleported everyone to safely.” Elesa pointed out.

I shrugged, “I suppose. But I was only doing what I had to. I’m sure everyone else would do the same too, in my place. Besides, I’d rather Iris suffer through some false visions than exposing someone as young as her to the full horrors of a battle against a Legendary. We were lucky that we got away with so few casualties that day.”

“I suppose so.” Elesa agreed, “But you know, I’m surprised you aren’t the main character of this award show. I thought you’d be the centrepiece for today’s events, considering everything that you did.”

“I explicitly asked for that not to be the case.” I revealed, “I didn’t think I need further accolades, and I really didn’t want the public to put me more on a pedestal than they already have. Besides, I was the one charging into the fight with multiple Legendaries backing me up. Everyone else did it without those Legendaries – which I find to be much braver. So you could argue that me doing everything that I did was merely what was expected, since I was the one with the Legendaries.”

“I don’t think you’ll see many subscribing to that point of view, but I won’t try to argue against it.” Elesa said, “Anyways, in case you somehow haven’t heard this already, but thanks for your assistance. Unova appreciates it.”

“I’ll always be there to help.” I promised sincerely.

I spoke with other people as well at the ceremony, including Iris, before making my way back to Sinnoh. Which was all in good time, because the Professors had revealed that it was about time to show off Mega Evolution to the wider world, and we needed to prepare for the consequences.

Technically, this was supposed to be a discussion between the Champions, but Cynthia insisted that I participate, and no one had a problem with that.

Steven had honoured his promise to us, and he was in the process of handing over both the Pidgeotite and Garchompite to both me and Cynthia respectively. He said that he wanted to make sure that we were at least familiar with the process of Mega Evolution, as he wanted us to show off our Mega Evolutions during the press conference. That’s why we were also getting a Mega Bracelet in advance – which was just a fancy storage compartment for the Key Stone.

The Mega Bracelet itself was merely a prototype, and it definitely favoured functionality over form. It was plain, thick, and pretty ugly. But this was just to ensure that the Key Stone was as protected as possible, and I knew later designs would be more visually appealing.

Similarly, as Steven said he would, Lance and Alder also received their own Mega Stones, though not ones that immediately suited them. The only Mega Stone that we had that actually was for a Dragon type (besides the Garchompite) was the Altarianite, so that was given to Lance. However, for Alder, things were a lot trickier as none of his Pokémon matched any of the Mega Stones we currently had.

Because of this, Steven had even debated about delaying the reveal just so that we could find a Mega Stone that would fit Alder. But after speaking with the man himself, he insisted that the Mega Stone reveal proceed as is, because he didn’t want a reveal as momentous as this to be delayed at all.

Therefore, after some discussion, he was given the Manectite, with a Manetric being loaned to him so that he could make use of it. It wasn’t ideal, but Steven said he would make a public announcement that both Lance and Alder could trade their Mega Stones in the future for something more suitable if they’d like. And this was only really for the announcement anyways. Still, both parties seemed okay with it, so I guess it wasn’t an issue.

But then came the meat of the matter – how to deal with the fallout.

Lance spoke first, “We should do what we did when the Fairy reveal happened. Big lockdowns for the first week. Restrict access to certain areas to prevent over-catching. Police out in force, etc.”

“…That wouldn’t really work this time.” Steven said, “With the Fairy reveal, people went crazy over catching the new Fairy types. But Mega Evolution is about the stones, not the Pokémon.”

“So how do we stop people from digging up every random stone we see then?” Lance asked, “Because you know that’s what’s going to happen.”

“We’ll close down important areas that we can’t afford the public to violate.” Cynthia said, “Areas such as the Lakes and Spear Pillar will all be temporary closed to the public. Otherwise, areas such as the Oreburgh Mines will also be closed to the public, for obvious reasons. But besides that, I don’t really see what else we can do. We can’t exactly stop people from digging up rocks.”

“Museums and other geology related exhibitions should also have extra Jennys assigned to them.” I pointed out, “You never know if you’ll have people trying to steal artifacts thinking that they’re Mega Stones or whatever.”

We all continued to hash out the details of the orders that would be put in place when it came time for the Mega Stone to be revealed. After all that was done, we then moved on to how the reveal was going to happen in the first place.

“I want this all done in Hoenn.” Steven said, “Ideally, I would like all Champions to join me here in Hoenn when we make the announcement so you can show off all of the Mega Stones on stage. We’ll even have a test fight to show off the newfound power of your Pokémon. Alder, I know this is the hardest for you, given that you are the furthest away, but would this be acceptable?”

“I’ve no problem with this.” He said, “I’ve been meaning to head to Indigo anyways to make a show of exploring the Regional Union building. You know, showing my face and all that. Just to set the stage for what’s to come. So visiting Hoenn would be easily accommodated.”

Ah, I could read between the lines here. Alder was basically saying that Unova was planning on joining the Regional Union, and was making sure that the public got hints about their intentions before it was time for the big announcement. Pretty standard policy.

However, I was a little surprised at the fact that they were looking to join so quickly – it hadn’t been that long since we first met them. Then again, considering that we all rallied to their aid when PLASMA started to terrorise Unova with Zekrom, I guess it was pretty easy to understand how we earned their trust.

Furthermore, considering that the other Champions didn’t look surprised at this comment meant that they had probably been discussing this for some time now. So it was just me that was out of the loop.

“Is it just us that are going to be participating?” I asked, “Or will the Gym Leaders or Elite Four get involved as well?”

“Sadly, we don’t really have enough Mega Stones to go around, and I’m not a charitable enough person to just hand out what few Mega Stones remain in my possession for free.” Steven said, “So yes, it’ll just have to be us. The Gym Leaders or Elite Four are of course going to be informed ahead of time so they won’t be caught off guard by this development, and they’ll be free to attend if they wish.”

And not long after that, everything was planned out. It was just a matter of executing the reveal. But first things first, I wanted to play around with the new Mega Stones a bit first.

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

“…I thought this would look more impressive.” Cynthia said to me as we both stared down at the freshly opened package we had just received. In it contained both of our Mega Bracelets, as well as our Mega Stones. She was holding the Mega Bracelets in her hands as she inspected them.

“The Key Stone isn’t all that big to begin with.” I pointed out, “So it makes sense that the Mega Bracelets don’t need to be all that bulky.”

“Yeah… but couldn’t they have gone with a better design? Why couldn’t they have gone for a smaller design, so it doesn’t look as tacky?” She grumbled, twirling the Mega Bracelet around, “I mean, really? Why is it all grey? Were there really no better colours to use?”

“Pretty sure Colress designed these.” I said, “I don’t think the word ‘fashion’ even registers in his internal dictionary. He probably just came up with whatever was most efficient, knowing him. That said, this was supposed to be made with some reinforced material to prevent the Key Stone from accidentally breaking, which might explain the utilitarian appearance.”

She sighed, “I know, I’m just complaining for the sake of it. But enough grumbling from me, I can’t wait to see how powerful my Garchomp will be with its new Mega Evolution. Come, let’s get training.”

I quickly followed after her as the two of us made our way to our home’s private training field. Our Pokémon were all there already, and were mostly sitting around as they waiting excitedly for what was about to happen. They were obviously all informed beforehand about what was going to happen.

Once we got close, Zephyr and Garchomp rushed over to us as soon as we approached. Both of their eyes were laser-focused on the two Mega Stones that we held in our hand, as if some primal force was directing their attention.

“Are you both ready?” I asked the two of them, “We’ll have you sparring right after this. Don’t hold back – make sure to give it all you got. We want to really test out your newfound power, got it?”

They both nodded, and Cynthia and I activated their Mega Stones for the very first time. We pressed their Mega Stones against our respective Mega Bracelets, which instantly caused a reaction.

A blindingly bright rainbow of lights immediately began to shine out from both of our Pokémon as they resonated with their respective Mega Stones.

And as the light faded away, the two new forms of our Mega Pidgeot and Mega Garchomp blessed our eyes. Zephyr especially was preening with pride and excitement as he inspected his new form – and the power that it contained.

This must have been everything he had ever wanted, for he finally had the power to match his skills.

“…They’re beautiful.” Cynthia gasped out, “People really are going to go crazy over these new Mega Evolutions when they see them.”

“Well let’s make sure we get some practice in with their new forms.” I said, “Come, let’s not waste more time. I’m sure our Pokémon are also itching to try out their newfound power as well.”

Cynthia agreed, and we made sure to make enough space from each other before the spar began.

Instantly, I was able to tell the difference between Zephyr’s non-Mega and Mega form. Not only was he so much faster now, as he swerved through the skies at lightning-fast speeds, but his Air Slashes were so much more potent than before as they cut through the sky like a hot knife through butter.

Even Garchomp, with its respectable Special Defense, actually flinched when it got struck by a volley of them. It helped that Zepyhr’s new No Guard ability also increased his attacking power at the cost of his own defenses.

Naturally, even with all of this newfound power, I knew full well that a single hit from this Mega-Garchomp would instantly take Zephyr out of the fight. If I remembered correctly, Mega-Garchomp’s offensive power was actually greater than Tyrant’s at a base level, which meant that Zephyr would absolutely not be able to take a hit from it.

So instead of getting close, Zephyr stayed high in the air as it fired off Hurricanes and Air Slashes simultaneously – something that it couldn’t do before – while also making use of Quick Attacks to dash out of the way of incoming Stone Edges and Rock Slides.

Naturally, as this was just a spar, neither of us went for the killing blow, and we were both content to allow our Pokémon to test out their attacks as much as possible.

Something I realised was that with his newfound speed and base power, using setup moves on Zephyr to boost up his own stats was more effective than ever. Before, he had to make use of repeated Work Ups just to reach a level of parity against most of his opponents. But now, if Zephyr was allowed to set up with two or three Work Ups, then his already-high Special Attack would skyrocket to threateningly high levels.

With just a few of those boosts, a single Air Slash from Zephyr managed to be more potent or even surpass the attacks from other very powerful Special Attackers like Drake’s Kingdra. And if you added Zephyr’s incredible mobility on top of that as well, then you had a Pokémon that was both incredibly difficult to hit and could also eviscerate your Pokémon from a completely safe distance.

So while Zephyr likely couldn’t match the raw power of other Mega Evolutions, the fact that he was both quick and powerful more than made up for it. Because what use was all that power when you couldn’t land a hit – as Garchomp was currently demonstrating, since it really wasn’t able to land a single good hit against the incredibly agile Zephyr.

Eventually, we swapped tests so that Zephyr was paired up against someone who could also fly in Cynthia’s Togekiss, while Garchomp was paired up against Tyrant so we could see just how much the difference in power was between its Mega and non-Mega forms. The former went almost completely as expected, with Zephyr completely dominating his fight against Togekiss, but the latter was more evenly matched.

Before it Mega-Evolved, Garchomp was not as strong as Tyrant. It could never take him on in a head-on fight, and had to rely on flanking around or hit-and-run attacks to slowly wear down Tyrant. Of course, that was much easier said than done, and in all of our sparring sessions Tyrant had always come out on top, simply because his arsenal of both physical and Special moves made him impossible to kite.

However, it was a very different story now. Even without its Sand Force ability active, Garchomp’s attacks now easily mirrored the likes of Emperor, and Tyrant was forced to respect its power. Every one of Garchomp’s Dragon Claws were a massive threat, and he let out an uncharacteristic growl of pain as one slashed into him.

Tyrant quickly realised that he couldn’t just shrug off attacks anymore. He had to play this smart with more blocks and parries.

Ironically, the roles in the fight were reversed. Instead of Garchomp making use of hit-and-run attacks to deal short bursts of damage, it was Tyrant doing that very thing. He was keeping his distance, firing off Ice Beams and Icy Winds before backing off and out of Garchomp’s striking range. This wasn’t all that effective, as Garchomp’s Mega Evolution also bolstered its defences, making it much more durable and harder to bring down.

But after he got readjusted to Garchomp’s new level of strength, Tyrant stopped playing it safe and shifted back into offense.

He dashed in close, using his ice-covered fists to block against the incoming Dragon Claw, before firing off a point-blank Ice Beam that momentarily flinched Garchomp. That gave him the opportunity to barrel into Garchomp with a Play Rough, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

Garchomp released a retaliatory Dragon Pulse that struck Tyrant in the face, but expecting the counterattack, Tyrant had already thrown up a Protect shield in advance. He then sent an Ice Punch that struck Garchomp hard in the throat, before backing away while firing off another Ice Beam that caught Garchomp in the leg.

Tyrant was really respecting Garchomp’s strength. Normally, when he had thrown an opponent to the floor like that, the fight was usually over. Tyrant would just mercilessly pummel that foe into the ground, and they would have no chance to get back up. It was what usually happened in our previous spars.

But I doubted that Tyrant could hold Garchomp down in a pin for very long in its Mega state. So he made the right decision to back off.

So as the sparring progressed, I started to notice something – Tyrant was actually far more technically skilled than Garchomp was when it came to fisticuffs. It wasn’t something that mattered a lot of the time, because Tyrant was usually just so much physically stronger than any of his opponents that technique didn’t matter all that much, but all those years of experience was really starting to show themselves here.

In the end, it was Garchomp’s unfamiliarity with its new Mega Form that dictated the winner of our spar. Since this was its first time mega evolving, it hadn’t grown accustomed to its newfound power, and I believe it burned through its own stamina far quicker than it should’ve. So with it being unused to the heavy stamina drain needed to maintain its Mega Evolution, it faltered and slipped up, and Tyrant capitalised on this to end the fight with a devastating Counter-boosted Ice Punch to the cranium.

Nevertheless, I was pleased with the result, and so was Cynthia. For me, I was just glad to see that even with this new Mega Evolution, it didn’t automatically mean that Tyrant was going to lose. In fact, he still had a very good chance of winning – he just had to fight smarter.

And for Cynthia, she was happy because her Garchomp was now finally an equal of Tyrant’s. It now finally served as a proper challenge for Tyrant.

Likewise, I made sure to also compliment Zephyr for his powerful showing. I wouldn’t forget about him. In fact, I felt like Zephyr’s Mega form was going to be far more powerful than people expected it to be, just because the combination of power, speed, and flight was just so hard for most Pokémon to deal with.

Honestly, after seeing what our Megas could do firsthand, I was now more excited than ever for Mega Evolution to be revealed to the world. I couldn’t wait to see how battles were going to change in the future.

The reveal couldn’t come any quicker.

A.N. Here are Mega Evolutions! And of course I wanted to show off Tyrant vs Mega Garchomp. I wanted to particularly emphasise how Tyrant can no longer brute force through his opponents, but he still has many other techniques and moves that he can use to work around this newfound power.

Also, a reminder regarding ‘No Guard’ – I am reimagining the ability from how it works in the games, since that obviously wouldn’t work here. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!

And thank you to all your kind comments from the previous chapter. I was very happy to see so many of you still so supportive and excited for my new stories. While I can’t promise an ETA, since I am still very busy at this moment, I will be posting out new stories later. As mentioned before, some stories might be short snippets. Others might be long-form. Or some may start as snippets but transform into long-form if you guys like it enough. So we’ll see. But thanks again for all the support.