Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter fifteen: Celestic Struggles, part two

The heroes still found themselves surrounded by Team Galactic, who still had a good number of their Golbats out. "We still need to find out where these meddling fools have hidden the Lustrous Orb," Saturn said to his fellows in Team Galactic, "We've got to secure it if we're to succeed in our job here!"

"Yeah, but I don't see it anywhere," Mars called out, then added after looking to her Purugly who was barely hanging in there, "We really ought to wrap this up quick!"

Cynthia scowled at Team Galactic. "You criminals won't be getting away with this, and you won't even lay a finger on the Lustrous Orb!"

Cyrus, with a concerned look on his face, said to Cynthia, "What are we going to do here, Champion? These folks are giving me bad vibes." Sighing in a resigned tone, Cyrus went on, "I fear that they'll unleash a whirlwind of trouble not seen since the dawn of time if this keeps up."

"Don't worry, Mr. Cyrus," Professor Carolina spoke up in a confident tone, "All of these trainers here, my granddaughter Cynthia especially so, can deal with these cretins."

Ash nodded in agreement. "Oh yeah! Kenny, Dawn, and I can roll with the best of them!" Dawn and Kenny both nodded in agreement with Ash.

Saturn, looking a bit surprised, suddenly pointed at where Germany stood, then where Souji stood. "Grunts," Saturn called out, "If any of you have Golbats who know Whirlwind, have them use it on the girl's Gabite and Rampardos! Also, make sure Mars's Purugly gets cover so it can be treated!"

"Wait, what?!" Dawn exclaimed.

At Saturn's prompting, two grunts ordered their respective Golbats to use Whirlwind on Germany and Souji, resulting in Chi-Chi and Cyrus getting dragged out in their place. "Wait, why are the Team Galactic grunts trying to play roulette with Dawn's Pokémon?!" Kenny asked. The heroes growled in annoyance as they now had to deal with Team Galactic making Dawn's Pokémon switch in and out repeatedly, which will run a very high chance that Coupins will get dragged out.

Thus revealing the hiding place of the Lustrous Orb.

Meanwhile on a hillside overlooking Celestic Town, Team Galactic commander Jupiter, her Skuntank, and a number of Team Galactic grunts, were looking down on the town as two grunts brought over a briefcase and opened it on the ground, revealing the Spear Key. Looking down at the Spear Key, Jupiter couldn't help but chuckle.

"...Those meddling fools who are trying to play hero will not succeed for long," Jupiter said in a tone of self-assured amusement, "We'll snatch the Lustrous Orb from them no problem."

The Spear Key floated up, then turned to point in the direction of the Celestic Town Historical Research Center. "Hey Commander," one female grunt began in a curious tone, "That's the Historical Research Center, isn't it?"

Jupiter had a curious look on her face. "...It would seem that Saturn and Mars are in need of back up." At Jupiter's direction, half of the grunts stayed put where they were at while Jupiter led the other half of the grunts to the Historical Research Center. Whatever was going on, Jupiter was very determined to make sure Team Galactic got what they wanted.

To make sure the boss got what he wanted.

Back at the Historical Research Center, the heroes were still stuck dealing with Team Galactic, with a portion of them focusing their Golbats on using Whirlwind on Dawn's Pokémon to keep making them swap out. Of course, with those Golbats focused on making Dawn's Pokémon swap out, they are forced to leave themselves as sitting ducks that had to take attacks from the Pokémon of the other heroes.

After another round of Whirlwinds, Germany and Souji got dragged out into battle; by some miracle, Coupins hadn't been dragged out yet. "Germany, use Rock Tomb on the Golbat to your left!" Dawn ordered, "Souji, use Rock Tomb on the Golbat to your right!"

Dawn's Pokémon attacked the Golbats and knocked them out, but even with Ash and the others fighting as well, the heroes hardly made a scratch in the numbers that Team Galactic commanded. "Mars, is your Purugly healed?" Saturn called out.

Over where Mars and her group were at, Mars was able to get her Purugly back to shape with a Super Potion; far from fully healed, but Purugly now had enough steam to do one quick act. "We're good to go over here!" Mars called out, "Just tell me when to act!"

Saturn called for another round of Whirlwinds on Dawn's Pokémon, forcing Germany and Souji out and dragging in Chi-Chi and Cyrus again. Dawn snarled a bit in annoyance, worried that, eventually, Coupins could get dragged out which would reveal the Lustrous Orb given that he is still holding onto it. "Chi-Chi, use Thunder Punch on the Golbat to your left!" Dawn called out, "Cyrus, use Facade on the Golbat to your right!"

Dawn's Infernape and Staraptor, the first two Pokémon she ever got, acted swiftly, their powerful physical strikes knocking out another two Golbat. A few more Golbats were taken out by Ash and the others, making Saturn worry. "Hey, how many of our remaining Golbats know Whirlwind?" asked the Team Galactic commander, "We can't keep things up at this rate!"

"Only four of them, Commander!" one of the grunts yelled. Two of the grunts had their Golbats use Whirlwind on Dawn's Pokémon to force them out while the other two hung back for safety reasons. Chi-Chi and Cyrus were forced out again, and this time Akiza and Germany were dragged out into the chaotic battle that was going on.

"Akiza, use Extrasensory on that Golbat!" Dawn ordered while pointing at one of the Whirlwind Golbats, then added while pointing to the other, "Germany, use Rock Tomb on that Golbat!" Dawn's named Pokémon attacked their targets and took them out quickly.

"If luck is on our side," Dawn thought, "Then we can take out the remaining two Golbats who know Whirlwind before they manage to force Coupins out into battle." Looking to where her Gabite stood with her Roserade, Dawn thought, "At least fighting all of these Golbats is good experience. It should go a long way to get Germany to evolve into Garchomp."

As the battle dragged on, Cynthia looked to where Mars got her Purugly back up to snuff. It was then that Jupiter came running in, flanked by her Skuntank and a new group of grunts. "Please tell me some of the Golbats you and your regiment have know Whirlwind," Mars said to Jupiter, "We only have two left here that know Whirlwind."

Looking curious, Jupiter asked, "Why do we need Golbats who know Whirlwind? I mean sure, we got four who fit the bill, but what's up?"

Pointing at Dawn, Mars said to Jupiter, "Just keep using Whirlwind to force that girl's Pokémon out of battle repeatedly!"

"There is no way that we're going to let you criminal jokers keep playing roulette with Dawn's Pokémon!" Kenny declared, "Juan, use Thunderbolt on their Golbats!"

"Pikachu!" Juan exclaimed with a distinct Latino accent as he jumped up and cast Thunderbolt at the Golbats flying in front of Mars and Jupiter, taking them out.

"Drat! He got our last two Golbats who know Whirlwind!" Mars snapped, "Jupiter! You and your regiment here are up!"

Jupiter still had no idea what was going on, but she decided to trust her fellow Team Galactic commander and have her regiment send out their Golbats who know Whirlwind. Akiza and Germany were forced out, and Chi-Chi and Souji were dragged back out. Dawn breathed a sigh of relief that Team Galactic still failed to force Coupins out into battle, and hoped that she and the others could take out these four more Golbats who know Whirlwind.

"Chi-Chi, use Thunder Punch on that Golbat!" Dawn said as she pointed to the first Whirlwind Golbat, then added while pointing to the second one, "Souji, use Rock Tomb on that Golbat!"

"Juan, use Thunderbolt on that Golbat!" Kenny ordered while pointing at the third Whirlwind Golbat.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on that Golbat!" Ash commanded while pointing at the fourth and final Whirlwind Golbat.

Chi-Chi, Souji, Juan, and Pikachu attacked their respective targets and took them out in quick order. Saturn, seeing this, scowled in annoyance. "You've got to be kidding me. Did we do all of this for nothing?" Pointing at the heroes, Saturn called out, "Everyone in Team Galactic! Send out all of your Pokémon who aren't knocked out! We'll just rush these fools and force them to comply!"

Cyrus, looking worried, said, "This is bad! We need to fight back!" Cyrus went over to Dawn and forcefully borrowed one of her Pokémon. "Sorry young lady, let me borrow your Staraptor who has the same name as me!"

"Hey wait!" Dawn exclaimed, panic on her face as she saw the pokéball Cyrus took, "That's not-"

"Go Staraptor!" Cyrus yelled as he tossed up the pokéball he took from Dawn. However, rather than Cyrus the Staraptor coming out, it was Coupins the Mothim, who was clearly holding the Lustrous Orb.

"Sir, you just revealed the Lustrous Orb to the criminals!" Professor Carolina exclaimed.

Cyrus choked back a curse, clearly embarrassed by his blunder. "I am so sorry! I just panicked!"

"That girl's Mothim has the Lustrous Orb!" Mars exclaimed as she pointed at Coupins, "Purugly, use Thief on Mothim!"

"Skuntank, you use Thief on Mothim as well!" Jupiter commanded, "Better safe than sorry!"

"Pikachu, force Skuntank back with Volt Tackle!" Ash called out.

"Juan, trip Purugly up with Grass Knot!" Kenny exclaimed.

The two Pikachu ran in to attack their targets, with Ash's Pikachu cloaked in electricity ramming right into Skuntank and pushing it back. Juan then tripped up Mars's Purugly, but it was able to get back up, push past Juan, and then was able to land a solid blow on Coupins using Thief, taking the Lustrous Orb from him in the process.

"We got the Lustrous Orb!" Mars declared, "Now we need to get out of here!"

"Skuntank, use Smokescreen to keep these foolish would-be heroes from coming after us!" Jupiter yelled. Skuntank shook off some discomfort before releasing a sight-obscuring smoke that filled the entire room.

As the sounds of footsteps running away could be heard, Professor Carolina exclaimed, "Get back here, you thieves!" By the time the smoke had cleared, all of Team Galactic, as well as the Lustrous Orb, were gone. Professor Carolina looked very disheartened by Team Galactic successfully taking the Lustrous Orb. "...This... This can't be for real..."

Late that afternoon, everyone met up outside of the front of the Historical Research Center. "I am once again very sorry," Cyrus said as he bowed his head in apology to everyone, "In my haste to help drive those criminals off, I had accidentally revealed to them what we were trying to keep them from taking away."

Sighing in a resigned tone, Professor Carolina said, "Well no one was seriously hurt, and I know you didn't mean to reveal the Lustrous Orb to Team Galactic."

"And can you give me back Coupins's pokéball?" Dawn asked as she held a hand out. Cyrus gave a bit of a nervous and mildly embarrassed laugh as he returned the pokéball to Dawn. After Dawn recalled her named Mothim, a car came pulling right up to the scene. Getting out of it was a wealthy looking businessman and two employees of his, who came running right up to Cyrus.

"Cyrus my good man, I heard you were trapped in an attack here at the Historical Research Center!" the wealthy businessman said in concern.

Ash looked at the new arrival in confusion. "Umm, who are you, sir?"

"I'm Koji Hanamaru," the businessman said as he introduced himself, "I'm a senior member of the board running Silph Co. over in Kanto. I came here to Sinnoh on business to discuss business with Cyrus on medical machines that can be used to upgrade the Pokémon Centers here in Sinnoh."

"And I'm afraid that you came at a bad time, Koji," Cyrus said with a concerned look on his face. He then proceeded to explain to Koji what exactly had happened, up to Team Galactic successfully taking the Lustrous Orb. "...And it was my fault because I acted in haste due to being frightened of those criminals," Cyrus said in a dejected tone, then added while pointing at Dawn, "Making things worse is that I ruined the plan that miss Berlitz here came up with to protect the Lustrous Orb, as otherwise it would have gone off without a hitch were it not for me."

Koji looked a bit concerned about that. "...Yeah, this won't look good, especially since you had unnecessarily endangered a bug Pokémon. I mean, those guys are just adorable."

"Mr. Hanamaru here is fond of bug Pokémon," one of Koji's employees said to the heroes, "This trip is actually partly a vacation for him so he could do some photography with his camera to take pictures of the species of bug Pokémon native to Sinnoh. He's got an entire album of such photos in the bookshelf in his office back at Silph Co. in Kanto."

Holding up a camera, Koji asked Dawn, "Would it be alright if I took a picture or two of your Mothim, young lady?" Dawn nodded to show she was okay, then she called Coupins out. The named Mothim flew in place at around shoulder level with Dawn as Koji took a few pictures of him. "This is great! You don't see bug Pokémon like this in Kanto!" Koji declared, "I still don't know why that one girl in Cerulean City hates bug Pokémon so much."

Hearing that from Koji, Ash nudged Brock with his left elbow. "Sound familiar?" Ash whispered to Brock, making him snort back a laugh.

"If it's the bug Pokémon of Sinnoh you want to take pictures of," Dawn said, "Then if you haven't taken a picture of a Yanmega yet, give me time and I can rotate my Yanmega Minato into my party so you can take photos of her if you want."

"Sounds excellent!" Koji declared, "We can do so tomorrow, as it's a bit late and I do need to discuss a few things with Cyrus." To the heroes, Koji said, "Meanwhile, you all can join me for the night at the villa room I rented at the local five star hotel. I basically have the whole top floor to myself."

"Woot!" Kenny cheered as he pumped both fists into the air, "We get to live it up!" The other heroes agreed as well, although Cynthia said that her grandmother was letting her crash at her place for the night. The heroes needed all of the rest time that they could get their hands on, especially after the battling that they had just done.

The following morning, Dawn and the boys were having breakfast in an open air patio on the top floor of the hotel. They were also taking the time to feed their Pokémon; Dawn had literally just gotten back from rotating Coupins out to rotate Minato in. "I still can't believe that Team Galactic was able to steal the Lustrous Orb," Ash said, sounding disappointed.

Kenny, with a suspicious look on his face, remarked, "I don't know about you guys, but that Cyrus guy looks pretty sus to me." Cyrus the Staraptor looked up from eating and over to Kenny while he made a confused sounding cry. "No, not you Cyrus," Kenny said to Dawn's Staraptor, "I mean this one human who is named Cyrus." The named Staraptor then went back to eating.

As the heroes and their Pokémon ate, Koji came walking in. "How are you all doing?" Koji asked.

"We're still a little bummed that we ultimately failed to stop Team Galactic yesterday," Brock explained, "But we'll get them next time."

"You kids did your best, and the failure is if anything on Cyrus," Koji replied.

"Star?" Cyrus the Staraptor said, looking confused and mildly offended.

Sighing, Dawn said, "Mr. Koji is talking about his business associate who is named Cyrus, not you."

Chuckling a bit, Koji said, "I see that this could cause some confusion." At Koji's suggestion, Dawn recalled Cyrus and then turned to face him. "Anyway, there's something I wanted to give you, Dawn," Koji said, "Partly as thanks for letting me take photos of your bug Pokémon, partly to reward your efforts in trying to protect the Lustrous Orb yesterday, and partly as apology for how your efforts were ruined on accident by my business associate Cyrus in a fit of panic."

"You're giving me something?" Dawn asked.

Smiling a bit, Koji said, "It's something that I can only give you due to my very high position over at Silph Co. It's one of our top of the line items that we make in extremely limited numbers, so I hope that you make good use of it." To Dawn's surprised wonder, Koji took out and handed over to her a Master Ball.

"This is a Master Ball, Dawn," Koji said, "Guaranteed to catch any wild Pokémon you use it on without fail."

"Wow, Dawn!" Ash exclaimed, "How cool is that? Being guaranteed to catch any wild Pokémon you want!"

Dawn nodded in agreement as she looked down at the Master Ball that she now had. In the video games in her and Kenny's previous life, Dawn remembered how some players never used their Master Balls on the basis that they were too good to ever use and how you only ever got one per game. Others used their Master Balls to catch powerful legendary Pokémon, usually whatever was the version mascot of the game that was being played, or they decided to use their one Master Ball to catch a roaming legendary. Or a random shiny.

As for Dawn, she now held that very ultimate model of pokéball in her hands. She can now make any one wild Pokémon that she wants hers guaranteed, even if it's a legendary. Of course, such a power had to be used wisely, especially since it is a one time deal. Dawn nodded in thanks to Koji for the Master Ball before she put it away. "Thank you, sir. I'll make sure I use the Master Ball well."

After the heroes finished breakfast, they gathered their stuff and left. Dawn and Kenny made their way straight for Hearthome City, while Ash and Brock decided to detour a bit again with the promise to meet back up with Dawn and Kenny over in Hearthome City. And so it was that the heroes parted ways, but they were confident that they would meet each other again before long.

After a few days of traveling, Dawn and Kenny made their way right back to Hearthome City. In preparation for facing Fantina, Dawn and Kenny bought some Chesto and Lum berries. They also rotated their respective parties to have Pokémon that would give them as much advantage when they tried for the Relic Badge as possible. After that, they simply did some training.

"Hey Dawn," Kenny said as Dawn recalled Boss, "What was that you gave to your Honchkrow to hold just now?'

"It's an item called a Scope Lens," Dawn explained, "It boosts the critical hit ratio of the Pokémon holding it." Holding up her right hand but with the fingers all curled in, Dawn said as she periodically held up one finger at a time, "The Scope Lens boosting Boss's critical hit ratio, plus Boss's ability Super Luck which boosts his critical hit ratio even more, plus Boss's Night Slash move which already has an increased critical hit ratio also Boss gets STAB on it, plus Boss at max affection-"

"Your Honchkrow will one shot at least one of Fantina's Pokémon," Kenny said, "Which are all ghosts which are already weak to dark moves like Night Slash." Dawn nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, but aren't you worried about Hypnosis hitting your Honchkrow?"

"I have a plan, don't worry," Dawn replied.

As the two reborn trainers worked with their Pokémon, they heard a male voice cry out, "Hey, you're those two who beat Paul!" Suddenly, Dawn and Kenny were rushed by Barry; they remembered him from the video games in their previous life as the rival in the Sinnoh games, and how in the anime he was a Paul fanboy. "Yeah! I recognize you two!" Barry scolded as he pointed at Dawn and Kenny, "You're the dirty cheaters who defeated Paul in the Hearthome Tag Battle competition by cheating!"

"Excuse you?" Kenny said, "The hell makes you think that Dawn and I cheated?"

Pointing dramatically at Kenny, Barry said, "Paul is the strongest trainer ever! There's no way that anyone can ever beat him!"

Dawn, with a dry look on her face, said, "Alright. So that means that Cynthia, who is the Champion of Sinnoh, is also a cheater since she forced Paul into surrendering in the battle that they had."

"Umm..." Barry said, looking like he was taken aback.

Continuing on, Dawn said, "Or Roark and Maylene, both of whom are Sinnoh gym leaders thus are forced to uphold strict professional and moral standards, are also cheaters because Paul had lost on his first tries at both of them."

This time, Barry took a step back. "...Uhh..."

"Or how I am a way more likable person than Paul," Kenny said, "Due to how I drip with massive shmeat energy."

Pointing at Kenny again, Barry said, "Okay, that makes no sense!" Folding his arms over his chest, Barry said, "Anyway, you guys ARE cheaters because you both had your Pokémon gang up on Paul's Pokémon in the Hearthome Tag Battle Competition!"

"There was nothing in the rules preventing us from doing that," Dawn pointed out, "Kenny and I were well within our rights to do that. In fact, focusing on one enemy like that is a very solid tactic to use in tag battles."

Pointing at Dawn this time, Barry exclaimed, "You guys are cheaters and I'll fine you for it!"

"...Get your finger out of my face," Dawn scowled in clear unamusement, "You Pachirisu hopped up on a gallon of espresso."

"I hope you're ready to lose!" Barry exclaimed, still pointing his finger right at Dawn's face, "Because you're dealing with a guy who's earned three Sinnoh gym badges!"

Chuckling a bit, Kenny said, "A few things. One, Dawn and I both have four Sinnoh gym badges, meaning we're both ahead of you. Two, neither of us are under any obligation to accept a challenge from you, especially considering how you're clearly nothing more than Paul's deranged fanboy who dreams of one day getting to smell Paul's farts."

Turning on Kenny, Barry pointed at him and snapped, "I do not want to smell anyone's farts! That's just nasty!"

Shrugging, Kenny said, "Well if the shoe fits..."

Barry growled in frustration before pointing his finger back into Dawn's face. "That's it! You and me are battling right now!"

"...Get your finger out of my face," Dawn growled, getting fed up with Barry at this point, "I will not warn you again."

"You sorry cheater losers will get what you have coming to you!" Barry exclaimed angrily, "Just you watch it, as I will-"

"Hey, what's going on here?" a police officer spoke up, getting the trainers to all turn to face him as he came walking over.

Gesturing to Barry, Dawn explained to the police officer, "This boy here came up to my friend and I and began harassing us. He didn't like that we won a tag battle where one of the opposing trainers is one he's a fan of, and now this boy is calling my friend and I cheaters while also demanding that we battle him."

Taking a look at Barry, the police officer said, "Alright, you're going to be coming with me down to the station, young man."

"Hey wait!" Barry cried out as he was led away, "This isn't fair! Those guys really are cheaters!"

After Barry and the police officer were gone, Kenny turned to look at Dawn. "...I hope he gets off lightly. I mean he's not too bad, he's just a Paul fanboy who gets carried away."

"So long as he promises to behave himself from this point moving forward and stick to that promise, then I'm all for letting him off with a warning," Dawn remarked, "Now, where were we at again?" The two friends proceeded to get to work on dealing with the strategies they were working on to deal with Fantina. The ghost type Pokémon user would be quite the challenge, so Dawn and Kenny both had their work cut out for them.

But never let it be said that they weren't up for the challenge.

END, CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Author's notes;

This chapter wraps up the business with the Lustrous Orb where Team Galactic successfully steals it; I'm sticking to what canonically happens there. Dawn and Kenny also make it back to Hearthome City, where they're harassed by Barry who was shown to be a Paul fanboy in the anime, so of course Kenny has to have fun messing with him. Anyway, the next chapter will see Dawn and Kenny make their respective tries for the Relic Badge, as will Ash because he'll pop back up.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Cyrus (male Staraptor), Germany (male Gabite), Boss (male Honchkrow), Souji (male Rampardos), Scorpion (male Drapion)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Shallot (male Glaceon), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Goofy (male Houndoom), Juan (male Pikachu)

Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Turtwig (male), Monferno (male), Staravia (male), Buizel (male), Buneary (female)