INTERLUDE - VOLKNER
"Victory to Leader Volkner!"
Volkner Doyle watched as electricity and poison washed off his Toxtricity, who roared in celebration after his victory over Mira Compton's Alakazam. He had savaged the psychic, turning the entire field into a minefield full of electrified poisonous bombs. The pink-haired girl, for her part, looked to be quite shaken at her loss. Not terribly sad, but somewhat disbelieving. Volkner recalled Toxtricity and left without another word while his Gym Trainers came en masse with their Pokemon to fix up the field. Pyukumuku to absorb any poison, Hippowdon and Dugtrio to mold the earth back into a relatively flat field and recreate his spires. Durant to tunnel and replenish the supply of iron under the field and the rocks themselves. The Gym didn't only raise electric type Pokemon, even if keeping all of them fed and taking care of them in general came at a hefty cost.
That wasn't counting maintenance, salaries for Gym Trainers, equipment, utilities, security… every single Gym in Sinnoh ran at a loss, and the government covered the majority of the costs even if negotiations were sometimes fierce. There were tricks to use, though. Candice liked to spend any money she had left over on useless things just so she'd get the same amount of money or more from each subsequent budget passed.
Now that Cynthia ruled alone, Volkner didn't think that they would have any problems with the budget this year.
Volkner reached his office and kicked off his slippers with a yawn. Now that Mira Compton had lost, he was done with battles for the day, but that didn't mean he was done with work. He could still afford to take a break for twenty minutes or so. Mira had good instincts. She seemed to know how to respond to every problem or test Volkner gave her and how to counter them. The problem had been that she didn't actually have the tools to do so. Tricks like mass Teleportation from her Alakazam and Gardevoir worked in lower levels and the Gym Leaders might have let her through, but the sixth badge was the big leagues. It wasn't something she could rely on and win, and Volkner wouldn't allow her to rely on one gimmick to win. She had done nothing to stop him from altering the field or countering his influence and he'd been in a dominant position from the start of the battle.
Volkner wasn't very impressed, for a child that had been supposedly blessed with Knowledge.
Oh, Cynthia had told him and the other Gym Leaders all about the blessings right after they'd left Veilstone. Volkner still couldn't believe it, nor did he fully understand the ramifications, but he appreciated being in the loop. Cynthia had also not-so-subtly hinted at the fact that she wanted the four of them to be 'as strong as possible' by the end of the year, and he hadn't missed the implications. She had wanted him to evolve her Electabuzz for free, and Volkner was sure she wouldn't miss a beat if Mira Compton ever asked her to evolve her Haunter.
Mira apparently had enough morals not to ask for it to be done. Days with a Haunter was not something many would wish on their worst enemies.
He had refused to evolve Grace's Electabuzz for free, telling Cynthia that a test would be more appropriate, and Grace Pastel had passed, for better or worse. Volkner did not look forward to the political blowback he would get after all was said and done. He could already hear the whining about favoritism from here, and if he was being honest, it wasn't like it was wrong.
The Gym Leader leaned back against his chair and sighed. What he wouldn't do to spend his break with Jasmine right now… but she was at her support group.
There was an obvious reason Cynthia wanted Cecilia, Mira, Chase and Grace to be as strong as possible by the summer. Team Galactic had somehow vanished. The League was going house by house, searching Veilstone with a fine tooth-comb, and still nothing. The fact that they were holding out for a big assault was apparent.
When else to strike then when all the best trainers in the region and many of the League Trainers would be at the Conference? Cynthia had planned for this already. The League would not be caught off-guard.
"Well, time to get to work," Volkner groaned.
His twenty-minute break passed in a flash, and Volkner went through his day. A new batch of baby electric Pokemon for the Gym that he quickly signed off, and they were a lot more expensive now that the Hunters were gone because their Daycare did not run anywhere as smoothly now that the League had taken it over. He also had to inspect their capabilities. Some Pokemon were more talented than others, even when they'd been born a few weeks ago, and he had to individually pick their training regiment. Thank Arceus his Gym Trainers could handle that.
After around two hours, he was back in his office for a video chat meeting with the City Council. Volkner wasn't one to leave his Gym unless it was absolutely necessary. He dozed off for most of the meeting. The topic of housing wasn't exactly his favorite.
"Home prices are rising far too quickly. Young people are moving here in droves and we simply don't have enough space for them. Homelessness has been on the uptick for the fifth year in a row. It's simple, gentlemen, we need to build more housing," Mr. Brandt listed as he tapped on a piece of paper.
"I don't appreciate your use of 'gentlemen' here," Ms. West said.
"Oh, yes, yes, whatever! Fucking political correctness—"
"We could always loosen our building code a little. Are we going to let some NIMBYs get in the way of progress?" Mr. Rozen shrugged. "We can't let the older folk go 'fuck you, I've got mine'. We need high-density apartments."
"Mayor Sanchez won't approve," Ms. West spoke again. "His election is next year. He'll get ousted if he does."
Volkner twirled his pen and sighed. "I'll talk with Sanchez about housing. We have other things to discuss either way."
Everyone in the conference call froze, and Volkner's pen stopped in his hand.
Mr. Serrano was the first to talk. He cleared his throat and unmuted his microphone. "Um, could we know what this is… about?"
"No need to worry. Your jobs are safe," Volkner lazily said.
Every single City Council Member in this call feared Cynthia.
Every single one.
Speaking out against her in a position of power was career suicide, or worse, you'd be investigated for ties to Team Galactic.
They had not forgotten how half of the Directorate had been fired or arrested. The Directorate was quite literally a stone's throw away from Sunyshore, and the political ramifications had been felt. They had not forgotten how all of Solaceon's own City Council and other positions of power had been swiftly replaced with loyalists either. Days passed, the world turned, and they all pretended Sinnoh was still a democracy. Unova, Galar and Kalos had already offered scathing remarks about 'democratic backsliding' and Galar had put sanctions on the table. It was the price to pay for Cynthia's silence on the matters of Team Galactic.
The world did not see what she saw. They saw a rag-tag group of crazies on the verge of defeat while she saw a threat capable of ending the world.
Volkner felt a chill run down his spine, and the meeting resumed.
No matter how much the City Council pretended to have a hand in policy, they had not had any real power in months. Elections still existed, but the final say would be always Cynthia's.
And Volkner would rather have her in charge than them without a shadow of a doubt.
—
"Mr. Sanchez! How are things?" Volkner said. "How was the surgery?"
"Well, you know, my eye still hurts and I'll be wearing an eyepatch for the next few days. Thank you for asking, though," the mayor said. "I heard you wanted to speak to me?"
"Two important matters," Volkner said, pressing down on his pen. "Housing first—"
"I've already told them I will not be signing any kind of housing reform."
Volkner put his feet on his desk and restrained a groan. "We can make it incremental. Set up areas with different zoning laws so your voters can still enjoy their view on the beach. Expansion into route 222 is not an option at the moment. Too expensive of a project, and the government's coffers have seen better days as you know."
"The only cities not running at a deficit are Sunyshore and Jubilife, I know," he acknowledged.
"Sinnoh's credit rating is about to be downgraded, the loans from Galar are going to run dry soon and the 'softer' regions will think twice before letting us borrow, and that's not even counting sanctions. We'll have to start relying on austerity measures soon enough."
Sanchez laughed dryly. "I'm not looking forward to my constituents' pensions running dry. But let me guess. Cynthia wants Team Galactic dealt with before the entire region plunges into an economic depression never seen since the Great War?"
"You got it," Volkner shrugged.
"It's at times like these that being an Autarky like Kanto-Johto would have paid off—"
"Let's not deny that Cynthia opening up our economy has drastically improved the quality of life," Volkner interrupted.
"You open yourself up to globalism, you expose yourself to the double-edged sword," Sanchez said. "Anyway, back to housing… what does Cynthia think about it?"
Volkner pondered on how to answer the question. He could very well lie and say that she'd have his head if he didn't sign a housing bill, especially when Gym Leaders were a part of the League itself. They had a direct line of contact with Cynthia while mayors did not— or at least not at the moment.
But that wasn't really his style.
"I'll be honest with you Sanchez. We've worked together for a while, I think you're an intelligent guy," Volkner replied. "She doesn't care, at the moment. This is a local matter."
Sanchez finally found his voice and started speaking more confidently, as if he'd been scared that Volkner would snitch before asking him that question.
"Just like she doesn't care about the rising crime rate in Jubilife, the deficit issues, the poachers near Pastoria and the crumbling tourism industry. We have 36% fewer tourists than last year, and it isn't even summertime yet, Volkner. 36%! Sunyshore's never seen such a sharp drop in tourism in a single year. The Conference this summer will have half of its seats empty. The Champion is growing lax. I'm not the only one that thinks it. Why do you think they stopped doing approval rating polls?"
Volkner inhaled, letting the bubbling rage subside before he answered. Cynthia had given him so much. All of them too. And when the going got hard, people drew their knives behind their backs while they shook your hand. Cynthia worked harder than all of them combined. There were no breaks, no respite, no time to breathe. She took it all upon her shoulders and bore with it.
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"I'd suggest you don't continue this," Volkner said. "We're living through extraordinary times."
"And those times require action, which hasn't happened since Solaceon, and I'm convinced that was because that city was almost destroyed. The rest of us get crumbs."
Volkner stayed silent for a few seconds
Better not rise to that level. Threatening was beyond him.
Maybe Jasmine was rubbing off on him too much.
"I had another matter I wanted to bring up with you. Consider it a favor," Volkner said. "In approximately… a week and two days, I'd say. I'm going to need you to prepare the city for blackouts."
"Blackouts? What section?"
"All of it," Volkner added. "Call it a ten-minute maintenance at a press Conference or something. Say that the grid is overloaded and we need to do some check-ups. Have our key infrastructure run on their generators for those ten minutes, and it should be fine."
"Could I have the real reason?"
"No. I'm sorry."
Sanchez sighed. "We've had a good relationship, Volkner. It isn't often that a Mayor and Gym Leader cooperate as closely as we do."
"Hmhm."
"Yet being kept in the dark like this… still bothers me," the mayor sighed. After a short bout of silence, he continued. "But I'll get it done."
"Appreciate you, Tom," Volkner said.
"That's Mr. Sanchez to you," he joked before hanging up.
Volkner nodded to himself and placed his phone back onto his desk. Electricity was a complex thing. Electabuzz's evolution would be a long and grueling process. He still remembered being in Grace Pastel's position like it was yesterday. Grace would have to wait a while before revealing Electivire, but he doubted that many would corroborate the two events. People often didn't look at the simplest solution to a problem.
Still, for safety's sake, he would get his dark types to disable the thin stream of dark TE and allow her to Teleport in and out so no one would spot her.
The Gym Leader heard a knock on his door, and Jasmine barged in like she owned the world.
"Hey!" He smiled. "What happened? You look happy."
"Volkner! Guess what, guess what?" She yelled as she scurried toward him.
He wrapped her into a tight hug and kissed her. He couldn't help but feel guilt when he instinctively felt relief that he couldn't taste any alcohol. Trusting her with this was hard, especially when she was coming back home alone because of work.
"What is it?" He asked.
"I passed by a bar on the way home and I felt nothing," Jasmine grinned. "No primal urge to run in there and order something, and I didn't even feel thirsty! I did look back for a second, but I mean, I didn't actually have to release Metagross so they could stop me—"
"Arceus… I'm so proud of you."
Volkner hugged her again.
"Are you crying?"
"Shut it. I don't cry."
—
Another day, another flurry of battles— most of them high leveled. His final fight of the day had been against another one of the blessed kids, and he had performed incredibly well. Chase Karlson's Pokemon might not have had the firepower others had, but their fundamentals were all trained far beyond their level and his Darkfire attack had even caught Volkner off-guard. It wasn't often that six-badgers knew how to play with dark TE to such an extent.
That Houndoom would be a real menace when it reached its full potential. It leaned against its dark typing a whole lot, unlike Flint's Houndoom who had basically neglected that entire side of him save for a few tricks that Volkner knew by heart. His Abomasnow had coated the entire arena in a Sleep Powder combined with Blizzard which made all of his Pokemon sluggish. Sigilyph could Teleport Volkner's attacks away from itself and didn't have to spend energy on dodging. Lucario's aura manipulation was something he would only see out of Maylene's. Zangoose had come already poisoned and was not only incredibly fast, but could tear his Pokemon to shreds from up close and at a distance. Vikavolt's maneuverability was incredible and it had forced Volkner not to set up Electric Terrain because it could take advantage of it more than his own Pokemon.
But Chase Karlson still had much to work on. His Pokemon had clearly been at the sixth-badge level, but his mindset was not, and because of it he had only won 4-5. The cap-wearing teenager battled like no one would punish him for his mistakes and took too many risks.
Oh well, it was just more talent to nurture. Byron would probably shut him down hard if he didn't fix his issues. Gym Leaders would not allow a trainer to pass the eighth Gym with such glaring problems, and he wasn't the only one in his group with issues.
Volkner's eyes narrowed when one of his trainers waited for him at his office.
"Leader Volkner! Cynthia on the line in your office, sir!"
"Leslie? Since when do you speak like that?" Volkner frowned. "Did Jasmine put you up to this?"
The young girl blushed. "Um, yes."
"Relax, okay? This technically isn't the League. Speak to me however you want. You don't even have to add Leader before my name."
"R—right."
"And stop listening to Jasmine. She likes to trample meek people, it's how she copes with her withdrawal. I'll talk to her, okay?"
"Thank you, Lea— Volkner."
"Gotcha. Say, there's a second-badge Gym Battle after this one. Tell Rocky I told you that you can take over that one. Get yourself some more practice," he said.
The girl beamed and ran off, nearly tripping when she stepped into the elevator. Volkner opened the door to his office and smiled when he saw Raichu sitting at his desk.
"Get off there, you," he smirked. "I hope you didn't send any emails. And that you didn't scare Leslie."
The electric type snickered and climbed on his shoulder, his long whip-like tail hanging next to his back. Just like almost every Gym Leader save for Roark, Volkner's Pokemon liked to wander the Gym wherever they pleased. Raichu usually spent the most time with his two kids— The Pichu and Pikachu who wore ribbons on their ears— but he'd swung by to hang out. Electivire was still brooding about his loss to Electabuzz because he was still a child at heart. Jolteon was definitely asleep on his and Jasmine's bed, hogging all of the space for himself like usual. Luxray was downstairs helping Pokemon train, and Ambipom was helping whoever was currently at the Gym's reception. Octillery and Lanturn were the only ones in their Pokeballs at the moment.
Just like Flint, Volkner hadn't always been a type specialist. Ambipom and Octillery were his second and third Pokemon, but he'd decided to lean fully into the type after realizing its limitless potential.
Although Volkner was sure that any type specialist would say the same about their own type.
The Gym Leader picked up the phone, and Cynthia's smooth voice rang out.
"Volkner. How's your day going?"
"So and so," he said. Raichu clamored in his ear, and he changed his answer. "It's going great, actually. You?"
"Terrible. But it could be worse," she said. "Did you hear the news?"
"Cynthia, if you have to ask if I've heard the news, I haven't heard the news."
The Champion laughed— and Volkner caught himself laughing too. It was a rare sight, to see her genuinely laughing. Unfortunately, the event was short-lived.
"Bad news, I'm afraid," she sighed. "International trouble."
"I've been battling and crawling through paperwork all day."
"Galar's started to move. They've frozen our foreign currency reserves and the assets of a lot of our politicians, and the riff-raff aren't happy. Then there are the usual sanctions they already have on Indigo. Restraining loans, investment, trade… I'll have Lucian write you up a report."
Volkner drummed his fingers against the desk. "Already? I just spoke to Sanchez about that yesterday… I thought they'd wait."
"Oh, they've got a new Champion that's incredibly charismatic, so you know how that usually goes," Cynthia said. "You come in, sit in that chair for the first time and you start thinking you can save the entire world."
Cynthia stopped, and Volkner didn't exactly know what to say.
"Leon, right?" He probed.
"Yes. He's invited 'all of the democratic nations of the world' to do the same," Cynthia chuckled. "But the other so-called 'democratic' countries haven't done anything but condemnations so far. I've tried talking to him, but Leon doesn't want to speak to a dictator. I also thought that Unova would stay on our side after all of the rapprochement we had this past decade, but I suppose they don't like seeing the system we imported from them be ripped to shreds."
"You're doing it because you have to."
"And yet it hurts."
Volkner blinked. He didn't often see her espouse weakness before— not that he minded! And he understood. She'd torn apart the system that she'd taken decades to put into place in less than a year. Volkner couldn't even imagine Sunyshore losing all of the progress the city had made during his tenure.
The moment of weakness lasted only a second. "I wanted to warn you personally because Sunyshore is going to get hit particularly hard. I apologize."
"I know. I'm guessing the materials to create solar panels are in the sanction package."
"Yes. Solar cells specifically. Sinnoh's still lacking in semiconductor manufacturing. It has come to my attention that there was some debate about some housing bill… that'll have to wait, I'm afraid."
She already knew, Volkner noticed.
"What do I do about Grace Pastel's Electabuzz—"
"Evolve him. There's only so much electricity we can store, so it does not matter in the long run," she instantly answered. "I'll have to call Mark Obel to negotiate some kind of deal, otherwise we'll be pushed into the arms of Kanto-Johto for trade and politically as a whole. Honestly, we might still strike a deal with Indigo. I'll see if I can wrangle the two sides together. Hoenn… well, Hoenn has no backbone. They'll stay neutral, but maybe we can use this. Still, this risks an entire political realignment…"
Volkner opted to let her ramble about geopolitics for a while. Cynthia didn't really have many people to vent to.
"Mark Obel. Quiet, reserved, and often underestimated," she continued. "And yet, just like Galar, he's in the hands of a few corporations. Looks like I'll have to trade him his father back."
"Clarence Obel?!" Volkner stammered.
"The investigation on him is nearly done anyway. If Galar and Unova drop us, Sinnoh will collapse," Cynthia said as a matter of fact. "We have fewer people, less economic power, and we import our food to have a surplus. We're small, Volkner. I am a realist at heart. I know how Mark works. He could care less about his father. Do you know about what is happening in Unova?"
"An energy crisis."
"Correct. There's also the start of a political upheaval going on and a refugee crisis due to Orre, but that isn't relevant at the moment. The people that are truly in power, the suits behind the seat, they want Clarence Obel back to stabilize the Obel Energy Company."
"That's the issue when you rely on one company for the majority of your energy… majority of anything, actually."
"A lesson we learned dearly with Harvey Bianchi and the Hunter family," Cynthia agreed. "Either way, I am sure that if we free Mr. Obel, then Unova will look the other way. Then it's just a matter of convincing Kalos not to follow their dear old rival Galar into their plans. It should be easier said than done. I already have our diplomats talking at their embassy."
"Should I talk to Jasmine? She could get Lance to support us, and unlike Unova and Galar, whatever the Champion says goes in Indigo."
"I would appreciate that. This is going to hurt, Volkner. I've already got my economists and Lucian's Alakazam on it, but there's only so much we can do when the central bank of the world decides to destroy us. We're looking at a way of dodging them by trading for sanctioned goods through Hoenn, but that'll be inefficient and they'll extort us."
"The knives are out. So much for sharing a bond from living on the same continent."
"Yes. I haven't felt this way since I was a child," Cynthia said. Volkner almost thought she was smiling, but that must have been his imagination. "Regardless, get that Electabuzz evolved, and remember to talk to Jasmine. A report will come to you shortly, and like always, let me handle the press."
"Are you sure you don't need help—"
"Let me handle the press, Volkner," she repeated more firmly.
Volkner wanted to protest. She already handled everything.
"Fine," he sighed. "Arceus, what a shitshow. I fucking hate politics."
"I'll see you later."
The Champion hung up, and Volkner stood to look through his office window. Sunyshore lay below him in all of its glory. A colorful pattern of blue solar panels. A home to millions of people. His people. They had no idea what was coming, did they? Sanctions sounded scary on television, but they didn't know what it truly implied.
"Fuck," he swore through clenched teeth.
—
"So you want me to call Lance?"
"Yes," Volkner nodded. "Sorry to use you for work stuff, but my boss asked, so I've got no choice in the matter. Butter him up and get him to call Cynthia. A conversation between the two would solve a lot of problems, but she's the only one who doesn't care about two Champions actually talking to each other. It rarely ever happens."
"Well Lance likes to cultivate this image of being above everyone else, but I'll try," Jasmine said. "I might have to sell that you need him. He respects strength, though, so I think I can make it happen. I've always wanted to fight Cynthia's Spiritomb!"
"Do it by any means possible. And Cynthia doesn't care about what you have to do, she doesn't have much of an ego," Volkner shrugged. "When it comes down to it, she'll get down to crawl in the mud. She would die for Sinnoh."
"Any good Champion would die for their region," Jasmine said. "I'll call him right away. This'll just make you more of a pariah, though. A rapprochement with the world's boogeyman? How exciting."
"Not like we have much of a choice in the matter. Sinnoh's got 30 million people to Kanto-Johto's 250 million and you're self-sufficient."
Jasmine hugged Volkner from behind. He was still sitting in his chair, and her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Maybe that'll stop you from trying to become like Galar and Unova," she softly said. "The culture's different. You can't fight against that."
"I disagree, but it's not like we have the luxury of choosing at the moment."
There was a flurry of reasons Kanto-Johto was self-sufficient, but the one Volkner was the most familiar with was Pokemon-generated energy. Something that had been banned in almost every region due to the horrible abuses suffered by the working Pokemon was still legal and common in Indigo. Volkner was an electric-type specialist, and he knew first-hand how terrible those conditions must have been. For all he loved Jasmine, getting closer to her country left a bad taste in his mouth.
"Oh well," Volkner sighed. "They forced our hand."
The next day, Cynthia and Lance called. A few hours later, a brand new partnership between the two regions was announced, and Kanto-Johto spoke out against Galar's 'unjust persecution' of Sinnoh.
The world was moving.