Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter nine: He had it coming, with all due respect
The battle between Cynthia and Paul kicked off with Cynthia tossing up a pokéball as she said, "Garchomp, I choose you!" The crowds were amazed that they got to see Cynthia's Garchomp, who is regarded as her strongest Pokémon, come out right off the bat.
Looking at the pokéball he held, Paul tossed it up while saying, "Magmar, stand by for battle!" Magmar then came out ready to face Garchomp.
Dawn looked on with an unamused scowl. "I remember from the anime in my previous life that Paul more or less replaced Chimchar with Magmar as his fire Pokémon after releasing Chimchar," Dawn thought, "I guess Paul here caught up to that. Still..." Looking on as the battle was about to begin, Dawn thought, "He's still sending a fire type out against Garchomp, a dual ground dragon type. This will end badly for him."
Right on cue, Paul called out, "Magmar, use Flamethrower!"
"Garchomp, use Dig!" Cynthia called out. Garchomp quickly dug its way underground, avoiding the Flamethrower. While Magmar looked around for its opponent, Garchomp quickly burst out of the ground beneath Magmar's feet, sending it flying and knocking it out.
Scowling, Paul recalled his defeated Magmar. Looking at Magmar's pokéball, Paul muttered under his breath, "How pathetic." Paul's scolding of his Magmar was caught only by Ash, Brock, Dawn, and Cynthia, none of whom were too happy to hear Paul berate his Pokémon for losing. Regardless, the battle went on, with Paul sending his Weavile out next.
...
The rest of the battle between Cynthia and Paul went more or less as Dawn remembered it from the anime in her previous life. Paul ended up surrendering after Cynthia's Garchomp took out Magmar, Weavile, Murkrow, and Torterra in quick order. Really, the only change from what Dawn remembered was how Paul here had Magmar instead of Chimchar. After Paul surrendered, people in the crowd began to poke fun at him, chiding him for thinking he ever stood a chance against Cynthia.
To Dawn's surprise, Ash didn't stand up for Paul here, despite how he did so in the anime; here Ash remained quiet, same as Dawn. It was Cynthia who scolded the crowd, telling them that they had no right to poke fun at him because he challenged her and lost. After the crowd, sufficiently shamed, broke away and left, the group saw Paul take off in a random direction. "Hey Paul, the Pokémon Center isn't in that direction," Ash pointed out, his tone neutral.
"He's got a point," Cynthia said, "You really ought to treat your Pokémon."
Seeing that he wasn't being given wiggle room here, he relented. "Fine, we'll go to the Pokémon Center." They then took off to the Pokémon Center, with Dawn recalling Chi-Chi before leaving with the others.
When they got to the Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy said that she has to perform surgery on a trainer's Pokémon, so she will be a while before she can treat Paul's Pokémon. As a result, Cynthia said that she'd take care of Paul's Pokémon. While treating Paul's Torterra, Cynthia said, "I have to say, you have some very well trained Pokémon. Your Torterra especially so."
Paul gave a bemused hmph in response. "Well Torterra is my first Pokémon. I've had it with me when I went through the Hoenn, Johto, and Kanto regions, although I failed to win in any of their Pokémon League Conferences. I figured that coming back here to Sinnoh, my home region, will give me an edge." Paul then shook his head. "Regardless, I want to get stronger."
Smiling, Cynthia said, "Then why don't you let your Pokémon rest here. There's something that I want to tell you back at the stone tablet over in Amity Square." Paul shrugged and agreed, getting up and going with Cynthia. Ash, Brock and Dawn followed along, with Dawn wanting to see where this would be heading.
...
Over at Amity Square, Cynthia showed them the stone tablet. "You see, before I read this tablet, all I did was train and battle," Cynthia said. She placed a hand on the tablet, closed her eyes as she gave a gentle smile. "...But then I learned that all Pokémon have different personalities. Now I would like to see what all of those different personalities are like."
"Heh," Dawn muttered dryly to herself, far too quietly for anyone else to hear, "You'll get enough personality from Kenny's Pokémon to set you up for life."
Thinking someone said something, Cynthia turned to face where Dawn stood with Ash and Brock. "Did you say something just now, Brock?" Cynthia asked, having thought that it was Brock who had spoken up just now.
"No, although I was going to say that you made an excellent point on getting to know what kind of personalities different Pokémon have," Brock replied.
Meanwhile, back at the Pokémon Center, Team Rocket snuck into the room where Paul's Pokémon were resting. "The serious twerp's Pokémon are just here for the taking," Jessie harshly whispered to James and Meowth, "This will be a major score!"
"Oh yes, I can already see the boss being happy with us when we give him all of these Pokémon," James whispered back.
"We'll be swimming in cash and praise after this," Meowth commented quietly, "And there's nothing that can possibly-"
"Sandshrew shrew Sandshrew?"
Team Rocket all froze, looks of shocked horror on their faces, when they all turned and saw that, somehow, the same shiny Sandshrew from Wayward Cave had followed them all the way here, and was in the room with them. The three villains even shivered when the shiny Sandshrew made a tongue click sound while they were looking at it.
"...Oh no," Jessie said, "Oh no, no, no, no, NO. You are NOT bothering us again!"
"Meowth, can't you convince it to leave us alone?" James asked.
Sighing, Meowth said as he walked up to the shiny Sandshrew, "I'll give it the ol' college try." Facing the shiny Sandshrew, Meowth began, "Listen buddy. We're flattered that a rare Pokémon like you actually likes following us around. Really, we are. But we simply don't have the room in Team Rocket to bring you along with us. So respectfully, we're going to have to ask that you find someone else to party up with." Patting the shiny Sandshrew on the back, Meowth added, "What do you say?"
"SANDSHREW SHREW!" the shiny Sandshrew exclaimed as loud as possible. Due to how loud the shiny Sandshrew was being, Paul's Pokémon started to stir from their slumber. Additionally, Nurse Joy came running into the room and spotted the villains.
"Hey!" Nurse Joy shouted, "Who are you guys and what are you doing in here?!"
"We've been caught!" Jessie exclaimed, "Forget it! Just run!" Team Rocket then burst through a window in the room and proceeded to run away. As Team Rocket ran away from the Pokémon Center, they were spotted by the group of Ash, Dawn, Brock, Paul, and Cynthia, all of whom were just now getting back from the stone tablet over in Amity Square.
Immediately, Ash went on the offensive. "It's Team Rocket!" Ash exclaimed, "No doubt they were trying to steal Pokémon from the Pokémon Center just now!"
"We were, yes," Jessie admitted, "But that stupid Sandshrew who keeps following us around and harassing us blew our cover! Now we're just trying to get away!"
"Ursaring, hit those thieves with Hyper Beam!" Paul said as he called out his Ursaring and had it attack Team Rocket, sending them blasting off. Dawn, as she heard Team Rocket disappear into the horizon, could have sworn that they expressed sincere, heartfelt gratitude to Paul for making them blast off again.
...
"A Sandshrew?" Nurse Joy said, "Actually yes. I saw a shiny Sandshrew in the room with those would be thieves. Its shouting altered me to the presence of the thieves."
"Wait, it's a shiny Sandshrew that Team Rocket claims is harassing them?" Ash said skeptically, "I'm surprised that they haven't tried taking it and selling it to someone."
Cynthia nodded in agreement. "I actually have heard of Team Rocket to an extent. From what I've heard about them, they're a criminal organization based in the Kanto and Johto regions. Taking a Pokémon like a shiny Sandshrew and selling it in a black market sounds like it'd be right up the alley of criminals like them."
Even Paul was intrigued by the appearance of a Pokémon as rare as the shiny Sandshrew. "Do you know where it is now?"
Gently shaking her head, Nurse Joy replied, "Sadly no. It wandered off while we were all distracted by those would be thieves."
Ash leaned back in his seat, a contemplative look on his face. "...If Team Rocket is bothered by this shiny Sandshrew to the point they don't want to be anywhere near it, I'd say that it's got to have one unique personality."
Cynthia smiled a bit in agreement. "I wouldn't mind getting to see this hero shiny Sandshrew whose shouting altered everyone to those thieves and saved Paul's Pokémon from getting kidnapped." As the others talked about it, Dawn couldn't help but have a dreading feeling about this supposed shiny Sandshrew, wandering about seemingly to continuously find and harass Team Rocket.
But it would have to be another topic for another day.
A few days later after some extensive traveling, Dawn who broke off from Ash and Brock's group to travel alone again reached Hearthome City and, expectedly, found that the gym leader was out at the moment. As she turned around to leave, she heard a female voice call out to her, "Hey, you look like that Dawn girl that Ash and Brock told me about."
Hearing someone call out to her like that, as well as how they mentioned Ash and Brock by name, Dawn turned around and saw Zoey approach her. Dawn remembered, from her previous life, that in the anime Zoey was one of anime!Dawn's contest rivals. But due to how Dawn had isekai'd into the world, this was her first run-in with Zoey. As such, Dawn had to play dumb. "...I take it that means you've met Ash and Brock before."
Zoey nodded in the affirmative. "Yeah, I ran into them a few times, like the time that Ash and I both aimed to catch the same wild Buizel although Ash ultimately won out there." Giving Dawn a curious look as she saw her stand outside of the Hearthome City gym, Zoey went on, "So what Ash told me is true. You're aiming for the Sinnoh league same as him."
"I already got my first two badges," Dawn said, "And I came here to see if the gym leader was present. But they aren't, so I was planning to check in later after trying a few more gyms."
Smirking, Zoey said, "If you're interested in the Sinnoh league, then why not try the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition?"
That caught Dawn's attention, as she remembered from her previous life that it was during that event in the anime where Paul released Chimchar who was then subsequently taken in by Ash. But here, where that happened well ahead of schedule, Dawn wasn't quite sure what to expect. With a shrug, Dawn replied, "Sure, why not?" Dawn then asked Zoey if she knew where to go get registered for the event, and proceeded to go along with Zoey when she said she can show the way.
...
Later, Dawn reached the location of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Competition. While in the stadium, Dawn reunited with Ash and Brock, with the former similarly expressing disappointment that the gym leader of Hearthome City wasn't present. After Enta the announcer explained the rules for the competition and showed off the Sooth Bell prize for winning, all of the contestants were shuffled around and then sent to go find their partners.
"If I recall correctly," Dawn thought, "The girl I had been reborn as partnered up with that Conway guy. That being said, he'll most likely be my-"
"Number sixty-nine! Who's the other number sixty-nine? I'm your partner!"
Dawn stopped short upon hearing the familiar voice of Kenny, her friend from her previous life who like her also isekai'd into this world, call out. Looking over, Dawn saw Kenny, who was reborn as Kenny the contest rival, waving his arms in the air. Dawn then looked down to her card she had been given, and saw that her number was sixty-nine. "...Well how about that," Dawn said to herself as she walked over to Kenny and got his attention.
Kenny was surprised to see Dawn here, and further surprised to see that they had been partnered up for the tag battle competition. "Dude, we got this one in the bag, bro," Kenny said, "There's no way we can go down since we're fighting together!"
Dawn nodded gently in understanding. "Well let's give it our best either way." Soon, all of the partners found one another, and the tournament was able to get underway. To the surprise of Dawn, she and Kenny were the first to go. Further surprising Dawn, she and Kenny were facing off against Ash and Paul. Dawn could tell that Paul was not happy to be partnered with Ash, and Ash seemed to be returning the favor but was willing to put it aside for the sake of trying to win.
"Each trainer may use one Pokémon each!" the referee announced, "The battle is over when all of one team's Pokémon are defeated! Now then, begin!"
"Pikachu, I choose you!" Ash called out, prompting his Pikachu to jump off his shoulder and run out into the battle field.
"Elekid, stand by for battle!" Paul said, sending out his Elekid.
This caught the attention of Dawn and Kenny. "Two pure electric types," Dawn pondered, "Interesting." Tossing up a pokéball, Dawn said, "Alright, Chi-Chi! Let's get goin'!" Soon enough, her Monferno appeared, ready to fight.
"Okay, Roshi!" Kenny declared as he sent his Grotle out, "Let's make it cringe!"
Upon seeing the two evolved Sinnoh starters, Ash said to Paul, "Hey, this might be a tough-"
"Just keep out of my way," Paul scowled. Gesturing forward with his right hand, Paul called out, "Elekid, use Brick Break on Grotle!"
Ash was clearly annoyed with Paul blowing him off like that, but decided to continue with the battle either way. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack on Monferno!"
"Roshi, use Bite on Elekid!" Kenny ordered.
"Chi-Chi, use Flame Wheel on Elekid!" Dawn called out.
Due to using a priority move, Pikachu got in close and grazed Chi-Chi before she hopped up and rolled towards Elekid in a wheel of fire. She soon closed the gap and slammed hard into Elekid, making it cry out in pain. That brief moment gave Roshi the time he needed to rush in and bite down onto Elekid's head, eliciting another pained cry and making Elekid fall over backwards, very clearly having been knocked out.
Raising a hand to make the call, the referee announced, "Elekid is unable to battle!"
Paul went wide eyed with shock that his Pokémon had been taken out so quickly. Scowling bitterly, he recalled his Elekid before muttering to its pokéball, "We'll be talking about this later."
Ash once again caught Paul's scolding of his Pokémon but said nothing on the matter for now. Turning to look back at the battle, Ash said, "Pikachu, use Iron Tail on Grotle!"
"Chi-Chi, use Flame Wheel on Pikachu!" Dawn ordered.
"Roshi, use Razor Leaf on Pikachu!" Kenny called out.
Pikachu ran at Roshi this time, his tail glowing and shining like polished metal. But first Pikachu got hit by Chi-Chi's Flame Wheel which even managed to inflict a burn, which diminished the impact of his Iron Tail attack on Roshi, who cast a bunch of sharp leaves that flew at and into Pikachu, hurting him more. Pikachu was then pained by his burn, but he still had a bit of steam in him.
Seeing that Pikachu was on the ropes, Ash knew he had to end this quickly. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Monferno!" Ash called out.
"Chi-Chi, use Flame Wheel on Pikachu!" Dawn ordered, "Try using it to block the Thunderbolt on the way!"
"Roshi, use Bite on Pikachu!" Kenny declared.
Pikachu cast his Thunderbolt attack at Chi-Chi, who was already rolling right towards him in a wheel of flames. The electric attack bounced off of the Flame Wheel right before the fire attack rammed right into Pikachu, sending him flying back until he landed on the ground, clearly knocked out. Roshi who was running in to attack Pikachu stopped upon seeing that Pikachu had already been taken out by his ally in the tag battle.
Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "Pikachu is unable to battle! The winners are Monferno and Grotle!" Gesturing to Dawn and Kenny, the referee announced, "Dawn and Kenny move on to the second round!"
Jumping up onto the air, Kenny cheered, "Woot! We owned it just now!"
Dawn, although elated to have won, couldn't help but think of how this was vastly different from what she remembered from the anime in her previous life. In that anime, it had been Ash and Paul who ultimately won the competition, but here they lost in the first round because she and Kenny had taken them out.
Walking up to Ash as he collected Pikachu, Dawn held her hand out. "...Not bad at all, Ash," Dawn said, "Umm, no hard feelings, right?"
Ash soon gave a small, appreciative smile. "Yeah, that was a good battle."
"Whatever," Paul said as he turned to leave.
As Dawn, Ash, and Kenny watched Paul take off, Ash couldn't help but scowl. "Geez, if it's not one thing with Paul, it's another."
Getting Dawn's attention by patting her on the shoulder with the back of his hand, Kenny whispered into her ear, "Paul's probably just bitchy because he's got sand in his vagina."
Dawn couldn't help but snort in laughter, which caught Ash's attention. Looking confused, Ash asked, "Is something funny?"
"Oh, it's nothing much," Dawn said, "Although Kenny really ought to watch his language more."
When the first round battles were done for the day, Dawn and Kenny met up with Brock and his partner Holly, who both had moved on to the second round. "Wow, I'm impressed that you guys were able to win against Ash like that," Brock remarked, "You guys certainly know how to raise all of your Pokémon right."
Dawn nodded once in thanks. "Well I certainly try my best."
"My Pokémon, like myself, know the power of cringe," Kenny remarked, "And through it, we've been able to overcome even the most-"
"I hope you realize that it's all your fault that we lost."
"Excuse me?! How is it my fault that we lost?!"
Kenny was cut off when he and everyone else heard an argument between Ash and Paul spark up some distance away. Going over to investigate, the group saw Paul try to verbally tear Ash a new one. "You were obviously a weak link holding me back," Paul scowled at Ash, "We could have won if it wasn't for your weakness!"
"My weakness?!" Ash shot back, "Well now, it must be convenient for you how you're forgetting that Dawn and Kenny had their Pokémon focus on your Elekid until it was knocked out! That was all between you and them! I wasn't involved in any of that at all! In fact, if anything, they saw YOU as the weak link!"
"Excuse you!" Paul very nearly shouted, his expression a visage of pure fury, "Did you just imply that I'm weak?!"
Getting a dreading feeling that things might actually come to physical blows if no one stepped in, Dawn ran right over to the arguing trainers. "Alright boys, break it up," Dawn said, "Your arguing could be heard from all over. If you had gotten any louder, you two might have gotten yourselves forcefully removed from the premises here."
Paul relented, seeing that Dawn had a point on how he might very well have been forced to leave if the argument had continued. Giving a scoff, Paul said to Ash before leaving, "Keep this in mind for the future, Ash. I am NOT weak. And if you EVER even so much as even IMPLY that I am weak ever again, I will prove to you just how wrong that notion is. Do I make myself clear?!"
"What is your problem, Paul?!" Ash snapped, starting to reach his limit with Paul.
Giving off an annoyed tch, Paul turned around and immediately walked away. "I don't have to answer to trainers who have no right to even be in the profession!" Paul then left before anyone else could have gotten a word in edgewise.
After Paul was gone, Dawn turned to look at the others. "...Feh, saying Ash has no right to be a trainer," Kenny scowled, "Hey Mrs. Kettle, Mr. Pot asked me to tell you that he thinks you're black."
Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn said in an unamused manner, "Well now, I think that's one more bit to add to the list." Turning to look at Ash and Brock, Dawn asked, "If need be, would either of you be willing to testify against Paul?"
"Count me in," Ash said without hesitation.
"Considering how Paul had straight up threatened Ash just now, I think that would go a long way to helping to bring a case against him," Brock remarked, feeling similar as Dawn and everyone else there.
Kenny looked up, let out a breath. "Hoo boy, well now we certainly have a need to lighten the mood, what with Paul being a grade-A pile of what Miltank leave in the field and whatnot."
It was then that Holly perked up. "Oh! We can visit a friend of mine here in Hearthome City. You guys will like her."
Holly then led Dawn, Kenny, Ash, and Brock to a house located in Hearthome City. After Holly knocked on the door, a woman who looked like the Battle Girls from the games in Dawn's and Kenny's previous life, but was also wearing a white lab coat over her outfit, answered the door. "Oh, Holly!" the girl greeted, "And you brought guests."
Holly nodded in confirmation. "Bebe, these here are trainers who are in the Hearthome Tag Battle Competition with me. In fact Brock is my partner and we made it past the first round."
The now revealed Bebe nodded in understanding. "Well don't just stand there, guys! Come on in!"
...
Inside of Bebe's house, as Holly, Ash, and Brock were telling Bebe about how Paul had acted, Dawn was deep in thought. "Bebe appeared in the original games in my previous life," Dawn thought, "She gave the player an Eevee after they got the national dex, although they can get the Eevee right away in Platinum. I don't think she ever appeared in the anime, so this is new."
"You're kidding me!" Bebe exclaimed, "How is a jerk like that Paul guy even allowed anywhere near Pokémon?! He ought to be reported!"
"Dawn here says that we need to gather enough evidence to build a solid case first," Ash said to Bebe while gesturing to Dawn, "And if it'll stop a guy like Paul, then I'm all for it."
Bebe turned to look at Dawn, gave her a considering look. "...That's a pretty smart idea," Bebe said, "Make sure he can't escape punishment." Sighing, Bebe gently shook her head. "Seriously, that Paul guy sounds like just the worst. There's no way I would ever trust one of the little ones to him."
Ash perked up at that mention. "Little ones?"
"Oh, that's right! You guys haven't seen them," Bebe remarked. She then whistled loudly before calling out, "Hey little ones! Come here!" After a few seconds, a pair of Eevee came scampering right into the room. Judging by the cream colored tips of their tails, one was male and the other was female. The sight of the pair of Eevees running in made everyone light up. Gesturing to the pair of Eevees, Bebe explained, "These two Eevees were left abandoned somewhere here in Hearthome City, and were entrusted to me by the local gym leader, Fantina."
Smiling, Holly remarked, "Well they're in good hands. Better than that jerk boy Paul."
Nodding in agreement, Bebe said, "Well here's the thing. Although I'd love to care for them, I simply don't have the time to do so. Hence I'm looking for someone to take them off my hands and give them the care they need."
"Yo, I can totally roll with an Eevee," Kenny volunteered, raising a hand.
"That's nice," Bebe admitted, "But first I'd like to extend the offer to Dawn, since she's helping to build a case against that abusive trainer."
Dawn looked surprised by the offer, but soon relaxed. "...If no one else minds that I take an Eevee, then sure."
"Yeah, those Eevees will be in good hands if both Dawn and Kenny take one each," Ash admitted, "Those two have proven that they care about their Pokémon."
Kenny looked surprised at Ash before saying, "Are you sure you don't mind?"
Smiling, Ash replied, "Well you did get dibs before me, Kenny. Also, I can tell that you're a good person. A little eccentric with all due respect, but nothing bad. Whichever Eevee you end up getting will be in good hands."
Holly giggled a bit. "I hope you two take good care of them, Dawn and Kenny. Those Eevees are certainly adorable."
The male Eevee then looked up at Holly and said, "Eev eev Eevee eev eev, eev Eevee Eevee eev!" The male Eevee had a firm, serious look on his face.
The humans were a bit surprised by this. "What do you think he's trying to say?" Brock asked.
Kenny, with a look of dawning realization on his face, pointed to the male Eevee and said, "I think he's trying to say that he's not adorable, he's intimidating."
"Eev? Eev Eevee," the male Eevee said while jerking his head at Kenny. The male Eevee then walked up to Kenny and jumped up into his lap. Meanwhile, the female Eevee wandered over to Dawn, who scooped her up and sat her down on her lap. Given that Dawn and Kenny both accepted their respective Eevees, Bebe gave their pokéballs to them. Out of a sense of curiosity, Dawn scanned her new Eevee's pokéball with her pokédex.
"Female, quirky nature," Dawn thought, "Wait, her ability is Anticipation? Well, there's hidden abilities cropping up again." Looking at her new Eevee as she sat in her lap, Dawn gave her a gentle smile as she gently stroked her head. "...I'm going to name you Fena."
"And you shall be Shallot!" Kenny said as he held his Eevee up, "You'll have a blast with the others in my cringe posse!"
"Oh yeah, you two give nicknames to your Pokémon," Ash remarked, a mildly amused look on his face. The group there laughed the rest of the night away, at Bebe's insistence as she wanted them to stay and have a party with her on the basis that she doesn't get visitors too often. They all stayed the night, with Dawn, Kenny, Brock, and Holly resting up as they've got to go in for the second round of the tag battle competition tomorrow.
END, CHAPTER NINE
Author's notes;
This chapter helps to showcase a lot of Paul's character in this story; I might unintentionally make him a worse guy than he canonically is, but then again he's suffered at least two losses that under normal circumstances he didn't lose and, given this is before he got his act together somewhat, I'm trying to think about how he'll develop as a result of said losses. His saga will continue, and for a bit longer than some may think.
Anyway, another few changes that occurred here was Dawn partnering up with Kenny in the tag battle competition, and Dawn facing and winning against Ash and Paul in the first round. There's also how Dawn and Kenny both got Eevee, although that's not important right now. Anyway, the next chapter will see the tag battle continue, along with a saga that started a few chapters ago.
Dawn's Pokémon: Chi-Chi (female Monferno), Cyrus (male Staravia), Coupins (male Mothim), Fena (female Eevee), Lucy (female Misdreavus), Germany (male Gible)
Kenny's Pokémon: Roshi (male Grotle), Kermit (male Poliwag), Zarbon (male Machop), Shallot (male Eevee), Cell (male Scyther; shiny), Moista Fista (male Teddiursa)
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Turtwig (male), Chimchar (male), Staravia (male), Buizel (male), Buneary (female)