Need help writing a tense negotiation scene with N

[Yiguandoa]

In the fic I'm currently writing, Team Plasma actually believe and practice what they preach. N isn’t a powerless figurehead and actually holds some power in the organization. Ghetsis also believes what Plasma preaches, but there’s some conflict between the two. You see, Team Plasma is split in their methods. N and his pacifist wing believe that Plasma’s goals can be achieved peacefully and through reform. They're also more 'moderate' in their beliefs, advocating for full rights for pokemon. Meanwhile Ghetsis and his followers instead believe the only way to liberate pokemon is via a revolution/hostile takeover. There several political factions involved in this debacle, all of them have differing goals and agendas.

The civilian government

This is the faction the MC is in, in the sense that he's the President of the USA (yes this fic does take place in the real world). He is this ‘fighting progressive’ type, but he knows his limits and is pragmatic when need be. That’s the best way I can describe it without spoiling his entire character. Regardless, he believes that Team Plasma can be pacified by negotiations and compromise, however there’s the very real possibility of backlash from conservative and nationalist elements, who want to eliminate Plasma outright, that could very well end his political career. The main conflict here is the MC trying to please Team Plasma with just enough comprises, but not so much as to anger the opposition so that they won’t immediately get rid of his reforms after he’s been elected out of office.

The League corporation

Their main goal here is to prevent Team Plasma from any influence at every level and wish for negotiations to breakdown, so that they won't have to lose profit from granting rights, protections, and essentially welfare to trainer Pokémon. To be clear, I'm not trying to write a cartoonishly evil corporation that only cares about profit, but I do want them to be an obstacle to the MC. Perhaps via lobbying.

The military.

Although they don't involve themselves much in Unova's politics, they do see Ghetsis's wing as a genuine threat to Unova's safety, and they are willing to take radical action if Ghetsis ever does something too crazy. There's also the problem with a good part of the army generalizing Ghetsis's faction with N's. Again, to be clear here, the military only uses guns, aircraft, ships, and the like. Not a single pokemon is involved in their operations. Whilst this does mean they're less empathetic N's cause, this does not necessarily mean they're an active opposition. They're merely Indifferent/tolerate his ideas.

So if the MC has several factions working against him, what advantage does he actually have? Simple, the people.

Across Unova and the larger United States, there's a large and growing growing discontent with Pokemon battling, especially so in Urban areas. Pokemon Battling is often portrayed and seen as backwards, archaic, and inhumane. Large scale protests are already occurring throughout major cities speaking out against battling, several charities have already been set up to help abused pokemon, and a good amount of trainers have stepped down due to public pressure. It's just so that Team Plasma's headquarters are centered in Unova.

So N and the MC have come to the negotiating table to discuss what could be done to make life for pokemon better. N wishes for complete and utter rights on the same level as human rights granted to Pokemon, alongside extensive welfare and social programs being available to all pokemon, trained, wild, or else. Whilst the MC does agree with N's ideas, he knows he can't get them all passed through congress. He wishes to implement reform slowly as to not polarize the conservative opposition too much. I'm not trying to imply that N is naive when it comes to politicking, but he fears that his demands will only get partly implemented.

The main conflict is already there. Problem is, I've got very little idea as to how to make the scene actually tense when it comes to technically writing it.

Also, I do want to include the theme of ‘technology making pokemon obsolete’, but I’m not sure how to work it in, if I should put it in in the the first place.

 

[Negrek]

I think what normally makes a scene tense is a real sense of stakes--what sort of consequences will there be if something goes wrong here? You want the reader to come to the scene with a strong investment in the outcome, so that they're really rooting for things to go well and will be watching for any sign of a shift in the dynamics of the conversation.

In the scene itself you'll then want to pay particular attention to character reactions and moods. The way the audience is going to recognize that the scene has big stakes is if the characters behave as though it has big stakes. The characters should be obviously emotionally engaged in the outcome--this isn't a case where a negative response to what they say should elicit an "oh, oops, bummer," reaction, but rather one of real fear/anxiety over whether they've screwed things up and aren't going to get what they want out of this (and then that's going to cause all kinds of problems in the future...). Furthermore, the audience needs to be able to tell how the conversation is progressing, which character is "winning," at any particular time. You can do that by making the characters react clearly in a positive/negative way to how the other is behaving, the offers they're making in the negotiation. That doesn't mean they need to get dramatic, throwing their arms up and storming out of the room or anything like that, and if the characters are supposed to be good at negotiating, they're going to be doing their best to avoid exactly that sort of thing. But small tells like a hardening of facial features, clipped words, or a brief smile can all give readers an insight into what the characters are feeling and whether they're getting closer to or further from their goals.

Dramatic irony is often used a lot in these sorts of scenes as well--the "bomb under the table" effect, where the readers know that time is ticking while the characters in the scene are oblivious. This isn't necessary and may be difficult to set up depending on the sort of POV you're using, but if readers e.g. know something about N's strategy or the information he has that the MC doesn't--like maybe the MC is going to try and bargain with changes to some aspect of League policy, but we know that some bad actor has told N that this particular policy is impossible to change and that claiming otherwise would be a sign of bad faith. This adds a layer to the conversation where the reader is anxiously waiting to see whether the character is going to say the thing or oh no, they said it, what's going to happen now??? That extra anticipation can ramp up the tension for sure.

But the basics for narrative tension are really clear stakes and clear communication through characters' reactions about whether each person is getting closer to their goals or farther away from them.