บท 52: Pokemon: I Transmigrated Twice [52]
The TV news once again defended Lance, one of the Indigo League's Elite Four, stating:
["Alliance-level Class A criminals fear Lance's strength and dare not confront him directly. They can only resort to threatening civilians in an attempt to exploit Lance's weaknesses. Fortunately, under Lance's protection, there were no casualties in the Cianwood Department Store incident. We have reason to believe that shortly when Lance succeeds Agatha as Champion, he will lead the Indigo League into a new era."]
Anyone who isn't blind and has read the news—or anyone with even a bit of real-world combat experience—can see it.
Yesterday's battle? Lance lost.
Even though the two sides never actually engaged in direct combat, this was, without a doubt, a defeat in terms of strategy. Lance was too careless. Seeing that the opposition wasn't making any overt moves, he closed the distance far too much. When the Sleep Powder was unleashed, he visibly panicked. He even made a rookie mistake by using Hurricane to blow the powder toward the ground.
Honestly, Lance is still young. After all, he's only just become an adult. That said, the News TV belongs to the Johto region, so it's understandable that they would try to say nice things about their local Elite Four to save face. Plus, people in the Pokémon world tend to have more forgiving attitudes overall. Sure, there are keyboard warriors here too, but nowhere near as toxic as in Stephen's previous life.
As for media coverage in other regions, they haven't been so kind.
From the Unova region, Flycloud Daily wrote:
["Although Lance is one of the youngest and most outstanding trainers the League has seen in recent years, he still lacks experience when dealing with rogue organizations like Team Rocket, who fight dirty. We hope he can improve in this regard. However, considering Lance recently defeated Joker, we have reason to believe this was merely a moment of carelessness, and he won't make the same mistake again."]
Regions like Unova, Hoenn, and Sinnoh offered relatively neutral and objective commentary, though they leaned slightly in Lance's favor. This makes sense—after all, Lance is an Elite Four member of the League. Even if he's not from their region, he's still one of their own.
But two regions stood out.
First, from the Paldea region, The Naranja Academy wrote:
["Although Lance is widely regarded as the most promising Elite Four member across the League, he made the rookie mistake of blowing Sleep Powder toward civilians. We hope he avoids such errors in the future. Additionally, the citizens of Cianwood City showed a clear lack of crisis awareness. Instead of evacuating when they learned of a dangerous situation nearby, they stayed around to watch the spectacle, allowing criminals to exploit the chaos. Such a thing would never happen in Paldea, as our citizens have all received higher education at the Naranja Academy."]
They didn't just criticize Lance and the Johto region—they also made sure to praise themselves. Just... amazing.
But the real drama came next.
A video interview with Chairman Rose of the Galar League went viral online. On Gate TV, the male host began:
["Lance's humiliating defeat has become the hottest topic in the Pokémon League over the past two days. Let's hear what Chairman Rose of the Galar League has to say."]
Known for his straightforwardness, Chairman Rose bluntly remarked:
["If the Indigo League loses like this, they might as well give up their dignity altogether."]
...
...
Media from all regions have gone wild.
At home, Stephen didn't even know how many chaotic news stories he had read.
To summarize:
Media in Kanto and Johto are bending over backward to defend Lance and downplay the incident.
Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos maintain a relatively neutral stance but are still somewhat supportive of Lance.
This is normal—after all, Lance is an Elite Four member of the League. Even if he's not from their region, he's still part of the same organization.
Paldea, on the other hand, took a critical stance.
Galar? They outright kicked Lance while he was down.
This attitude from Paldea and Galar is... worth pondering.
Paldea's League Chairman focuses heavily on developing the Pokémon education industry, aiming to make the Naranja Academy the largest Pokémon school on the continent. Their goal is to train the strongest trainers to lead Paldea to become the strongest League.
Meanwhile, Rose plays a money game. He invests heavily in nurturing promising young trainers and even poaches talented trainers from other regions.
Their attitude toward the Indigo League is blatant: "We can replace you."
So, with the Indigo League's poster child Lance making a fool of himself, Rose naturally didn't hold back.
This whole debacle has sparked widespread discussion among the public.
...
Pallet Town, Kanto Region.
"So the supernova Elite Four of the Indigo League isn't all that great. If it were me, I wouldn't have fallen for that masked guy's tricks!"
A boy around five years old with light brown spiky hair stood with his hands in his pockets, looking smug.
"Green, you're just talking nonsense. Lance was only careless!"
A boy around four years old, with a naive expression and innocent eyes, protested indignantly.
"At the very least... we can't make the same mistake."
Another five-year-old boy, wearing a red cap, spoke sparingly but firmly.
The four-year-old boy looked shocked. "Wow, Red, I'm surprised you said so much at once!"
His facial features bore a striking resemblance to the spiky-haired boy next to him—over 80% similar. However, his hair was darker, a deep brown.
"The relationship between these four kids is as good as ever," said Milf Delia, who, though not yet 30, was already the mother of two children. She smiled warmly as she watched them.
"Pity they're all boys. If one of them were a girl, they might even end up as in-laws," joked Professor Oak, standing nearby.
...
Cianwood City, seaside cottage.
In the living room, the TV was broadcasting news about yesterday's incident. The media seemed intent on shifting focus back to Rihua. Although her displayed power was limited and there were no casualties, her association with Joker earned her a Class B wanted level.
After preparing food for the Pokémon, Stephen and the others sat down to eat.
Stephen clapped his hands to get their attention and said:
"From now on, we're teammates. To strengthen our bond, let's start with some simple self-introductions."
If this had been Will speaking, Rihua would probably have scoffed, "I have no interest in bonding with you."
However, after the past few days of reflection, Rihua realized she owed Stephen quite a few favors, so she didn't object.
"What should we say?" Will asked curiously.
Stephen spread his hands and jokingly imitated a certain streamer's tone:
"Just your name, what you like, what you dislike, your dreams for the future, your hobbies... stuff like that. Yeah, that should do."
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