History Fanfic / TheNewNormal

* InvincibleHero: A frequently mentioned flaw of the story. John not only never loses, he almost never even comes remotely close to losing; despite fighting Elite-level trainers with decades more experience than him, Elites with type advantages over him, and even future Champions. This goes doubly so for Tyrant the Slaking, who has casually won every single fight he has ever been in and is stated to be as physically powerful as it is possible for a non-Legendary Pokemon to be, capable of defeating Cynthia's Garchomp, and probably capable of doing the same to Lance's Dragonite.

* InvincibleHero: A frequently mentioned flaw of the story. John not only never loses, he almost never even comes remotely close to losing; despite fighting Elite-level trainers with decades more experience than him, Elites with type advantages over him, and even future Champions. This goes doubly so for Tyrant the Slaking, who has casually won every single fight he has ever been in and is stated to be as physically powerful as it is possible for a Pokemon to be and probably capable of defeating Lance's Dragonite.

* BoringInvincibleHero: A frequently mentioned flaw of the story. John not only never loses, he almost never even comes remotely close to losing; despite fighting Elite-level trainers with decades more experience than him, Elites with type advantages over him, and even future Champions. This goes doubly so for Tyrant the Slaking, who has casually won every single fight he has ever been in and is stated to be as physically powerful as it is possible for a Pokemon to be and probably capable of defeating Lance's Dragonite.

* BadassNormal: John's current roster of Pokémon is all made up of Pure and Dual Normal-types (two of his Pokémon are half-Fairy but have yet to be formally announced) and the fic starts with him coming home after winning the Indigo Conference and being promoted to EliteFour status.

* RagsToRiches: John Smith went from a nobody born to a pair of poor farmers living on the outskirts of Cerulean City with no chance of getting a sponsor and barely able to afford a Poké Ball to a respected EliteFour member and Pokémon researcher.

* ThatOneBoss: How John Smith would be portrayed if he existed as a game character shown in OMAKE - GAMER POV, with his boss fight being incredibly annoying and having {{Roguelike}} mechanics; his Slaking not sticking to its truant ability and attacking at every turn, Tyrant being a ''Gen 3'' Pokémon despite John being an EliteFour of Indigo, using Pokémon that shouldn't exist in a game with only the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions (Wyrdeer and Ursaluna), and even if the player resets the game to face him again, John's tactics won't go the same way as the previous battle.

* MeaningfulName: In general, John Smith is a very common full name and it reflects his humble origins as a Miltank farmer of poor financial status and his specialization with Normal-type Pokémon. However, it has plenty of meanings that reflect his character and status:

*** Negatively, "John" can also carry more unfortunate implications. For example "John Doe" (the go-to placeholder name for an unidentified male corpse), John's original identity in his past life is never explicitly revealed and his new life in the Pokémon had a rough start. Also, John can be used as slang for a prostitute's client; Karen is his LoveInterest in the fic and while she's '''''not''''' a sex worker, Karen does have a seductive and flirtatious air to her character, is known to specialize in Dark-type Pokémon (with Dark-type Pokémon having a reputation of specializing in trickery rather than brute force), was initially regarded as "being too good of a romantic partner" for John by the public opinion, and her name (the dub version) is also used as a slang typically for a middle-class white woman who is perceived as entitled or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal. Finally, "going to the john" is an informal expression of someone needing to use the toilet or bathroom; referencing John's private partnership with Giovanni who had done illegal activities in the name of Kanto's survival.

* NotUsingTheZWord: Justified. Ornstein is never called a "Galarian Zigzagoon" because he wasn't born in the Galar region and was the result of John and Karen's experiment of creating Regional forms/Regional variants by artificially and gradually exposing his unborn self to Dark-type energy. For the time being, he's labeled as a "D-Zigzagoon".

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: John is only 16 years old at the start of the fic but he proves himself to be more mature and aware of his newfound EliteFour status thanks to his PastLifeMemories and growing up in a poverty-stricken socioeconomic background in the Pokémon world.
* ZeroToHero: John Smith was born to a poor family of Miltank farmers but later rose to the status of Indigo's EliteFour at the age of '''16''' thanks to his PastLifeMemories of the Pokémon series and the conveniently vacant seat in the EliteFour.

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Many characters at the beginning, in both the League and the general public, often underestimate John's abilities and political acumen due to his relatively young age and the conveniently timed empty spot on the EliteFour. They get a big wake-up call when John manages to prove his strength in a Pokémon battle against Elite Drake of Hoenn and later his ability to make good judgments as a member of the EliteFour.

* MeaningfulName: In general, John Smith is a very common full name and it reflects his humble origins as a Miltank farmer and his specialization with Normal-type Pokémon. However, it has plenty of meanings that reflect his character and status:
** "John" is a name often worn by emperors, kings, and saints, befitting his status as a member of Indigo's EliteFour at the beginning of the fic. There is also the fact that he's known to advocate for the unification of Kanto and Johto into Indigo and for creating connections with other regions, which in turn, would allow [[TheChosenOne Ash Ketchum]] to have a much better time as a Pokémon trainer (though it's currently unknown of what he thinks and intends for Ash Ketchum) compare to the canon anime similar to how John the Baptist is known as the forerunner of Jesus. As for the meaning of the name, it is 'God is gracious'; he's the firstborn son of his family, and his unique status as a reincarnated person could be attributed to the "divine".
*** Negatively, John can also mean "John Doe" (the go-to placeholder name for an unidentified male corpse). John's original identity in his past life is never revealed and he has long made peace with himself in his new life. His current position as an EliteFour, on the other hand, would somewhat be called into question, whether it be politicians, the general public, or even members of the Indigo League due to his relatively young age and the common realpolitik attached to a high governmental status.

* ReassignedToAntarctica: Not soon after becoming a member of Indigo's EliteFour, Champion Pryce sends John off to Hoenn as part of a "diplomatic mission" to show off Indigo's strength. But in truth, it's to prevent John from becoming a potential political threat to the status quo and Pryce's current reign as Indigo's champion.

* BadassNormal: John's current roster of Pokémon is all made up of Normal-types (though two of his Pokémon are technically half-Fairy and the latter has yet to be discovered) and the fic starts with him coming home after winning the Indigo Conference and being promoted to EliteFour status.

** "Smith" derives from the Anglo-Saxon smitan, meaning "to smite or strike," and it correlates to John's efficient personality and methods in either Pokémon training and battling, advocating for policies to help the general public, securing public safety, advocating for the unification of both the Kanto and Johto regions into Indigo and advancing the scientific community. Also, Smith and its derivations are an occupational name for a man who works with metal (smith or blacksmith), one of the earliest jobs for which specialist skills were required; John was born in a family of Miltank farmers and is a rising figure in the Pokémon scientific community for his discoveries of variant regional Pokémon-types and the induction of the [=PIT=] technique (Parent, Intent, Type Technique).

* AdaptationalHeroism: Unlike the games, anime, and all other spin-offs and adaptations Giovanni ''doesn't'' create Team Rocket thanks to John's PositiveFriendshipInfluence and seeing that there are other options that would allow him to help the region of Kanto without creating a shadow group. It also helps that Giovanni is more of a Kanto nationalist with legitimate grievances against Champion Pryce's current policies benefiting Johto's economic status more than Kanto.

* AdaptationalProtagonist: In the fic, [[OriginalCharacter John Smith]] is TheProtagonist and the older brother of Whitney the future Goldenrod Gym Leader. Whereas in the core series games, anime, and other adaptations of the Pokémon franchise, there's no mention of Whitney having an older brother, never mind the idea that he even existed.

* PatchworkFic: Similar to ''Hard Enough'', the fic combines elements of the anime series (mostly), the core games, and many other adaptations of the franchise.

* ZeroToHero: John Smith was born to a poor family of Miltank farmers but later rose to the status of Indigo's EliteFour at the age of '''16''' thanks to his PastLifeMemories of the Pokémon series.

* BadassNormal: John's current roster of Pokémon is all made up of Normal-types (though two of his Pokémon are technically half-Fairy and the latter has yet to be discovered) and the fic starts with him being promoted to EliteFour status.

* UnderestimatingBadassery

* ZeroToHero: John Smith was born to a poor family of Miltank farmers but later rose to the status of Indigo's EliteFour at the age of '''16''' thanks to his PastLifeMemories of the Pokémon series.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: John is only 16 years old at the start of the fic but he proves himself to be more mature and aware of his newfound EliteFour status thanks to his PastLifeMemories and growing up in a poverty-stricken socioeconomic background in the Pokémon world.

** "John" is a name often worn by emperors, kings, and saints, befitting his status as a member of Indigo's EliteFour at the beginning of the fic. There is also the fact that he's known to advocate for the unification of Kanto and Johto into Indigo and for creating connections with other regions, which in turn, would allow [[TheChosenOne Ash Ketchum]] to have a much better time as a Pokémon trainer (though it's currently unknown of what his intentions for Ash Ketchum are for) compare to the canon anime similar to how John the Baptist is known as the forerunner of Jesus. As for the meaning of the name, it is 'God is gracious'; he's the firstborn son of his family, and his unique status as a reincarnated person could be attributed to the "divine".
*** Negatively, John can also mean "John Doe" (the go-to placeholder name for an unidentified male corpse). While John has long made peace with himself in his new life, his current position as an EliteFour would somewhat be called into question, whether it be politicians, the general public, or even members of the Indigo League due to his relatively young age and the common realpolitik attached to a high governmental status.
** "Smith" is derives from

* ZeroToHero: John Smith was born to a poor family of Miltank farmers but later rose to the status of Indigo's EliteFour at the age of '''16''' thanks to his PastLifeMemories of the Pokémon series.