Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter twenty-eight: Over the mountain
After everyone was ready to get going, the heroes left Lake Acuity and proceeded to make their way back to Twinleaf Town, as there was going to be a big festival there. Given what they had just gotten off of, they needed the festival as a chance to unwind and have some fun. In their journey towards Twinleaf Town, the heroes came across this marshland like area that was part of Mt. Coronet. The heroes stopped there to gain their barrings.
"So which way to Twinleaf Town again?" Ash asked.
Brock looked to the map he held. "...I think following this river this way-" Brock paused to point in one odd direction, "-Will take us right through Oreburgh City. It'll be a hop, skip, and a jump from that point to get us to Twinleaf Town."
Dawn and Kenny both nodded in agreement. The two reborn trainers, who had reincarnated as residents of Twinleaf Town, were actually rather excited to head on back to Twinleaf Town for a bit to enjoy the festival. It'd also give them a chance to talk to their respective new families. Dawn was even wondering what her mom Johanna would say about some of the Pokémon that she got over the course of her journey thus far.
As the group took off again, they spotted a west sea Shellos caught in the river current. "Hey, it's just like Zoey's," Ash said as he pointed it out.
"...A west sea Shellos on the east side of Mt. Coronet?" Dawn said as she called Leni out. Having her named Lucario use Psychic, Dawn saved the west sea Shellos by having Leni levitate it out of the river before setting it down on the ground at the feet of the the heroes.
After the Shellos was rescued, a Nurse Joy came over, having seen the heroes from a distance but not knowing what they were up to. Brock naturally tried flirting with Nurse Joy, but was jabbed by Croagunk and dragged off. After that was settled, Nurse Joy said to the heroes, "Thanks for saving Shellos here." Picking the Shellos up, Nurse Joy went on, "This one here is the third west sea Shellos that was found on the east side of Mt. Coronet this week thus far."
Kenny looked confused by that. "I did hear that there were two versions of Shellos and its evolution Gastrodon, east sea and west sea. But is a west sea Shellos on the east side of Mt. Coronet really all that big of a deal?"
"It could be a sign of some trouble," Nurse Joy replied, some concern in her tone. She led the heroes over to the nearby Pokémon Center to examine Shellos. Fortunately, there was nothing wrong with the Shellos, so Nurse Joy asked the heroes to take Shellos back go the west side of Mt. Coronet so it could go home.
As the heroes collected Shellos, they were surprised to see Looker enter the Pokémon Center. "Oh, it's a pleasure to see all of you again," Looker said, "How have you kids been?"
"Ash beat someone in a full battle and made them reconsider their life choices," Kenny answered dryly, "So you know. Same old, same old."
Nodding once, Looker replied, "Hmm, I see. Well either way I'm glad to hear that Ash won." Looker then saw the west sea Shellos, which Dawn was carrying. "...Huh, another west sea Shellos on the east side." Gently shaking his head, Looker said to the heroes, "Sorry kids, but I'm in a hurry. I'm just here for a thing or two before I get going."
As Looker went about his business, the heroes looked on. Dawn had a feeling where this would be going, but she decided to let things play out. Besides, they had to take Shellos back to the west side of Mt. Coronet. After saying their goodbyes to Nurse Joy, the heroes took off from the Pokémon Center in order to get Shellos back home to the west side of Mt. Coronet, then they'd be able to get right on over to Twinleaf Town for the festival.
...Although Dawn was remembering that they'll most likely run into some trouble first.
Later, the heroes are walking along outside on one area of Mt. Coronet. Dawn, who was being followed by Leni, was carrying the Shellos in her arms. Ash as per usual had Pikachu riding on his shoulder, and Kenny, in a move to playfully mimic Ash, had Juan on his shoulder. "So we just make our way through this area," Brock said, "And before you know it, we'll be in Twinleaf Town."
Looking around, Kenny and Juan spotted a large hole that led into a cave. The reborn trainer and his Latino Pikachu went over to check it out. "Yo dudes, check it," Kenny said, "This here hole looks like it leads into a cave if you go in deep enough."
Suddenly, Kenny's Machamp Zarbon came out and cried, "MAAAAAAACHAAAAAAAMP!" in aroused, sensual pleasure. Unfortunately, due to Zarbon coming out like that suddenly, he accidentally knocked Kenny and Juan into that hole, as well as fall in on accident himself, prompting the rest of the group to run over.
"Oh for crying out loud!" Dawn snapped as she, Leni, and the boys ran over. Due to the weak footing in that area, they all fell down into the hole as well, with Dawn trying to use herself as a shield to protect the Shellos she was carrying. The heroes all soon fell down deep, deep into the cave, being swallowed up by the inky black below.
...
The group of heroes found themselves on a grassy patch down deep in the cave. Aside from a few minor scrapes, there was nothing wrong with any of them. The very slight cut that Ash had gotten on his left forearm was nothing to worry about, for example. Looking to Kenny's Machamp, Dawn said in a dry tone, "Smooth move, Zarbon. You got all of us to fall down into this cave."
As the named Machamp offered a sheepish apology, the heroes all got up. "Well now, I think that we need to find our way out of this cave," Ash said, "Because we can't go back up the way we came in for obvious reasons."
"Oh I'm sure we'll be fine," Brock replied as he proceeded to lead the rest of the group through the caves that they were all in, although Dawn and Kenny first recalled Leni and Zarbon respectively.
While exploring the caves, Brock with a flashlight was leading the group. "...Huh?" Brock said aloud, "There are footprints here."
Seeing where Brock was shining his flashlight, Dawn squinted, memories of an episode of the anime from her and Kenny's previous life coming to her. "...It's looking to me that there are not only multiple sets of footprints, indicating that there's more than one person involved here, but also these footprints appear to be fresh, meaning that the people who had made them had been through here very recently."
Brock shined his flashlight up the path that the footprints went down. "I say we try following them and see where they go." The group proceeded to head down that cave path, soon seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. "An exit!" Brock exclaimed as he, Ash, and Kenny ran on ahead, with Dawn having to jog to catch up. However, when the heroes made their way through the light at the end of the tunnel, they saw a rather nasty surprise waiting for them.
"You meddling fools again!" Saturn the Team Galactic commander said in annoyed surprise as he saw the heroes emerge from the cave. Standing with Saturn was Charon and a bunch of Galactic grunts. On Saturn's order, the grunts all surrounded the heroes and tied them up with rope. They had even tied up the Shellos and placed it on the ground next to Dawn.
After the heroes were tied up, Charon turned to look at them. "Wow, so those are the famous would-be heroes who keep interfering with our efforts," Charon said, "Hmm, I expected them to be a little older than mere youths. I was counting on all of them to at least be in their mid teens."
"Just ignore them for the time being, Charon," Saturn said, "We've got to get back to work."
As Team Galactic got back to work, the heroes looked on in grim worry. "Grr," Ash growled bitterly, "What are Team Galactic up to this time?"
As the heroes wondered, the Shellos began to cry out of fear. "Tell that pest to zip it!" Charon snarled in annoyance.
A grunt with his face partly obscured held up a hand, saying, "I'll handle it, sir!" The obscured grunt then went over to the bound heroes and yelled at the Shellos, trying to put enough fear into it to give it the idea it has to be quiet. Ash and Brock were about to snap at the grunt, but he whispered to them and the reborn trainers who he really was.
"Kids," Looker harshly whispered to the heroes, "It's me, Looker. I need you all to trust me on this, I'm investigating Team Galactic's activities." Dawn got the boys' attention and nodded to them to do as Looker said.
"Hang on," Saturn called out from where he and Charon stood, "You, over by the meddling fools. Who even are you?"
Getting up, the disguised Looker walked over to the head honchos of the expedition. "Just part of the rank and file, sir," Looker said, "I was sent from headquarters to help out here."
Charon had a curious look on his face. "Really? I mean we already have enough manpower here, so why would more be sent?"
"I'm not sure what to tell you, sir," Looker said, "I was only told to come here to help out. I wasn't given all that many details on the matter."
Nodding in understanding, Charon replied, "Understandable. The ultimate goal of this expedition is to uncover the path here on and in Mt. Coronet that will lead directly to the Spear Pillar." At Charon's instructions, a grunt with a briefcase opened said case, revealing the Spear Key inside. "This Spear Key is the literal key to finding our goal," Charon went on. As the Galactic commander explained all of this, the heroes looked on grimly.
"...Shellos must have gotten lost due to Team Galactic messing around," Brock remarked quietly to the others.
Over where the disguised Looker was talking to Saturn and Charon, the latter of those two said to Looker, "Anyway, back to work with you."
With a smirk, Looker leaped back towards the bound heroes and, moving quickly with a pocket knife, cut all of the rope binding them, allowing the heroes to get back up, with Dawn collecting the Shellos in the process. Taking off his Galactic grunt disguise, Looker in his regular outfit said, "Not so fast, criminals! I am Looker of the International Police! You all are under arrest!"
"Men! Seize them!" Saturn barked, sending in some of the grunts to surround the heroes and Looker.
"Pikachu, you ready for this?" Ash asked, with Pikachu nodding in confirmation before leaping in to help fight off Team Galactic.
Pointing forward, Kenny said, "Juan! Back up Ash's Pikachu!" Juan the luchador Pikachu gave a distinctly Latino sounding cry as he leapt in to join up with Ash's Pikachu.
Tossing up a pokéball, Brock said, "Croagunk! I choose you!"
"Alright, Germany!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Garchomp, "Let's get goin'!"
The grunts running towards the heroes and Looker called out a flock of Golbats, but then a Haze attack from off to the side caught everyone by surprise. Under the guise of that Haze, someone ran in and snatched up the Spear Key. "Identify yourselves, thieves!" Charon yelled as, running out of the Haze, Team Rocket stood off to the side.
Holding up the Spear Key, Jessie said, "Prepare for trouble!"
"And make it double," James went on.
Jessie continued by saying, "To pro-"
"I don't need your life story!" Charon snarled, "Men! Those thieves have the Spear Key! Get it back!" Team Rocket soon found themselves surrounded by a portion of the Golbat flock that the grunts had all called out.
On the orders of Saturn and Charon, the grunts got to work against the heroes, Looker, and Team Rocket. One of the grunts armed with a dark metal staff ran in, but Dawn called out, "Germany, knock that Team Galactic minion with Iron Head!" The named Garchomp, his head shining like a polished metal ball, headbutted the grunt away, making him drop his metal staff in the process. In an act of opportunity, Dawn went in and collected the staff.
Ash and Kenny had Pikachu and Juan dish out a series of Thunderbolts to take down some of the Golbats, and Looker managed to punch out a few of the grunts out. Saturn scowled in annoyance as the heroes, Looker, and Team Rocket were being an annoyance. "Sir," one of the grunts said while holding a sensor at some of the walls, "There's some signals coming from behind that wall!"
Saturn smirked in relief as he called out his Toxicroak. Pointing at the wall, Saturn said, "Toxicroak, use Rock Smash to-" Saturn was cut off when Brock's Croagunk leapt in and struck at Toxicroak with Poison Jab. "You annoying little pest!" Saturn barked as he turned to face Brock's Croagunk, ran up to him, and then kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying away.
"Croagunk!" Brock cried out in worry, seeing his Croagunk sent reeling back, up until Germany caught him and set him down. Looking up at the named Garchomp, Croagunk nodded once to him in understanding, before the two of them stood back to back against the many Golbats who had the heroes, Looker, and Team Rocket surrounded.
With all of those against Team Galactic occupied, Saturn turned back to look at the wall he was previously looking at. "Toxicroak, hit that wall with Rock Smash!" Toxicroak, having recovered from being ambushed by Brock's Croagunk, rushed the wall and began smashing at it, eventually making a large portion of the wall come crumbling down and revealing some ruins.
Arching a wry eyebrow at the ruins, Saturn said, "Huh, that's interesting." Turning to look at where Team Rocket was standing as they tried fighting off the Golbats, Saturn called out, "Someone bring me the Spear Key!" One of the Golbats being used by the Galactic grunts flew in and snatched the Spear Key from Jessie, bringing it right on over to Saturn's waiting hands. "Toxicroak, get rid of those meddling fools with Dark Pulse," Saturn said while pointing at Team Rocket. On Saturn's order, Toxicroak cast a Dark Pulse at Team Rocket, sending all of them blasting off again.
After Team Rocket was gone, Saturn placed the Spear Key back into its case and aimed it so that it faced the ruins. However, nothing happened. "Hmm," Charon remarked upon seeing this, "I guess that these ruins aren't the gateway."
"Then we no longer have any reason to be here!" Saturn barked, "Everyone! We're falling back!" At Saturn's order, all of Team Galactic took off. Ash and Kenny had Pikachu and Juan cast Thunderbolts at the fleeing Team Galactic, but some Golbats used Protect to block the attacks, allowing Team Galactic to get away scot free.
With Team Galactic gone, the heroes and Looker breathed a sigh of relief. Dawn then picked her bag up and put the strap back on over her shoulder. The bag was open, and Shellos was sticking out of it. "Yeah, I had Shellos hide in my bag while we dealt with Team Galactic," Dawn explained.
"Well that's a relief," Ash said, "For a second there, I was worried that Shellos might have-" Ash was cut off when the cave all of them were in began to flood. "Team Galactic's Toxicroak must have triggered this flooding when it broke up that wall with Rock Smash!" Ash yelled out.
Acting quickly, Looker took out an inflatable raft and activated it. "Everyone, hop in!" Looker called out, prompting all of the heroes to get into the raft after it had fully inflated, with the heroes recalling their Pokémon who were out in the process aside from Ash's Pikachu. With Looker driving the raft, he soon got everyone out of that area of Mt. Coronet. They rode the currents, and eventually flew out of a cave entrance that exited out on the west side of Mt. Coronet.
With a splashing slam, the heroes and Looker landed on a river, and soon reached the riverbank, allowing them to get out.
After the heroes and Looker were able to catch their breaths by that evening, Looker took a look around. "Huh, we're on the western side of Mt. Coronet already." Straightening himself out, Looker said to the heroes, "Great work, kids. Team Galactic ought to think twice before messing around if you all are in the immediate vicinity."
"So you're International Police, huh?" Kenny said as he shot Looker a wry look, his arms folded over his chest.
Nodding once, Looker replied, "I am, and I'm sorry I had to conceal that from you kids. I'm actually here on business to look into Team Galactic's activities. I'm going to have to ask that you kids not tell anyone what I am up to here, also keep my identity as Interpol a secret." The heroes all nodded in agreement to Looker, swearing to keep his secrets. "Thank you," Looker replied, "Anyway, I need to get going back to headquarters."
The heroes waved Looker goodbye as he took off, allowing them to continue on their goal of reuniting Shellos with its home. After some walking, the heroes came across a group of wild west sea Shellos, which the Shellos in Dawn's bag saw and recognized. It jumped out of Dawn's bag and made its way over to the Shellos group. "Aww, Shellos found its friends," Brock said, "Well isn't that sweet."
"Now with our goal there done," Kenny said, "We can focus on getting back to Twinleaf Town. Say, where are we?"
At that prompting, Brock took out his map and looked at it, taking in some sights as he did so. "...Oh!" Brock exclaimed as he recognized where they were at, then added while pointing in one odd direction, "If we go straight that way for an hour tops, we'll hit Oreburgh City! Given the time of day, we ought to rest in Oreburgh City for the night." The others all agreed with Brock, and with a game plan in mind, the heroes proceeded to make their way to Oreburgh City, to rest there for the night before they proceeded to head on down to Twinleaf Town.
The following morning in Oreburgh City, the heroes woke up at the local Pokémon Center, fed themselves and their Pokémon, then were able to use a blimp service to fly all the way over to Twinleaf Town. As the heroes stood in a town square, Dawn and Kenny looked around. The two of them breathed in through their noses as they inhaled the Twinleaf Town air. This was their home in the world that they had been reincarnated into, so they felt good to be back.
Ash smirked a bit in good natured amusement as he and Brock looked at the reborn trainers. "It's good to be home, huh?" Ash asked.
"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Kenny replied. Getting an idea, Kenny took out a pokéball and tossed it up, calling out Roshi in the process. Taking a cue from Kenny, Dawn called Chi-Chi out.
"Oh, your respective first Pokémon," Brock said, "I'm guessing you two want to personally show them around your hometown as they've been with you since the very beginning of your journeys?"
"Well why not?" Dawn replied, "Also I bet that my mom would get a kick out of seeing-"
"Oh, it's Dawn and Kenny!" an older female voice called out, cutting Dawn off and making her and the others all turn to see two older folks come walking over.
Shooting the older folks a curious look, Ash asked, "I take it you are some of Dawn's and Kenny's neighbors here in Twinleaf Town?"
"Yes young man, my name is Cara," said the now revealed Cara, "And this is Izzy." To Dawn, Cara said, "Could you go see your mother, Dawn? She's pulling a lot of strings to get the festival up and running, so we need to ask her a few things."
Dawn nodded a few times in agreement. "I was aiming to go home anyway, so I'll be glad to pass the word along to my mom." With Dawn leading the way, the heroes took off in the direction of the house where the Berlitz family lived.
A short while later, the heroes made their way to the Berlitz residence, with Dawn opening the door to lead the group inside. Seeing that Roshi was trying to follow the group inside, Dawn said, "Umm, Kenny, can you recall Roshi? He won't fit through the door and he'd be too big to fit inside of the house."
"Very well," Kenny said before recalling his named Torterra. With that out of the way, the heroes made their way inside.
When the heroes entered the Berlitz residence, Dawn called out, "Mom? Are you ho-"
"Oh, Dawn!" Johanna's voice called out, "You're back!" Johanna then walked into view, with her Glameow and Umbreon following her. Johanna then walked over to Chi-Chi and greeted her. "So you're my daughter's Infernape, huh?" Johanna said, "I have to say, you look like Dawn has taken very good care of you."
Chi-Chi nodded once before turning her attention to Glameow and Umbreon, both of which snuffed her, which elicited an annoyed scoff out of the named Infernape. As Dawn had Chi-Chi back up, an older girl came walking down the stairs, followed by her Bellossom. "Hey Johanna, the extra rooms are rea-" the older girl said, but stopped short upon seeing that there were guests. "Oh, you must be the guests," the older girl said, "I'm Noelle, and I'm-"
"Here to steal my heart!" Brock proclaimed as he dashed forward to flirt with Noelle. As per usual, Brock's Croagunk jabbed Brock to drag him away, but Bellossom added its Stun Spore to help speed along the process of dealing with the flirty Brock.
...
After Brock was dealt with, the heroes sat down outside with Johanna and Noelle, taking the time to feed their Pokémon. Dawn and Kenny saw that Ash had rotated his party since he defeated Paul back at Lake Acuity and made him rethink his life, and now Ash's on hand team consisted of his Pikachu, Infernape, Grotle, Swampert, Gardevoir who was still visibly overweight, and to their surprise an Ambipom. "Oh yeah, my Aipom evolved a while ago," Ash said to Dawn and Kenny, "I guess I never got the chance to tell you guys about it until now."
"Well she is a lovely Pokémon, young man," Johanna remarked, then she turned to look at where Dawn's Pokémon were gathered as they ate; Chi-Chi, Cyrus, Akiza, Leni, Germany, and Boss all sat around as they ate their lunch. "...Although I have to say I'm also impressed with the Pokémon that Dawn has gotten a hold of," Johanna went on.
Noelle nodded in agreement. "Oh yes. They'd be a cinch to help Dawn follow in your footsteps as a coordinator."
"Actually, I'm taking the Pokémon League challenge instead, Noelle," Dawn explained, pulling out her badge case and showing the seven Sinnoh gym badges she had earned so far.
"You're up to seven badges already?!" Johanna said, "My word! I guess you really have blazed your own trail!" Relaxing, Johanna said with a gentle smile, "That being said, I'm glad to see that you're doing so well."
Dawn nodded in thanks, then explained that Ash and Kenny were both also taking the Sinnoh Pokémon League challenge, with the boys taking out and showing the badges that they had both earned respectively as well. "Well all of you are one badge each away from qualifying for the league conference," Johanna remarked, "That being said, you all better train for the next gym that all of you will set your sights on."
The three of them all nodded in agreement, and the rest of lunch passed calmly as Dawn told her mom about Cara and Izzy needing to see her. "Oh yes," Johanna said, "The festival this year will be bigger and better than previous festivals as we got a little extra boost thanks to you and Kenny here, Dawn."
"Hmm?" Dawn said in a confused tone.
"That big cash reward you two kids got for catching and turning over that horrid J woman," Johanna explained, "One fifth of it was given to the effort to rebuild Snowpoint Temple, and another one fifth was put into funding the festival this year. It's why the festival will be bigger than ever. The rest of the reward money is left to be split evenly between you and Kenny."
Dawn nodded in understanding to that. "The reward was fifty million total," Dawn began, "One fifth would be ten million, which is what the festival effort and the Temple effort each got, meaning a total of twenty million was used. That leaves thirty million, which divided evenly between me and Kenny would be fifteen million each."
Kenny, a bit wide eyed in surprise, said, "...Wow, dude. You're quick with math like that."
"Well my daughter is among the more intelligent of her age group here in Twinleaf Town," Johanna said, sounding like she was bragging about having a genius child.
Dawn nodded in acknowledgment to the compliments. "Thanks." The group continued to eat, with Dawn thinking about using her share of what's left of the reward money to make some necessary purchases. Mainly various held items for her Pokémon she'd like to get a hold of, although Dawn was wondering where she'd even be able to but said items at, assuming that they could be bought somewhere in the world she and Kenny had been reborn into.
END, CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Author's notes;
This chapter covers the events of the episode that see Saturn and Charon uncover some ruins in Mt. Coronet as part of Team Galactic's scheme to ultimately reach the Spear Pillar. It also covers the first part of the events in Twinleaf Town for the festival there, although Dawn and Kenny have a bit of work ahead of them. The Twinleaf Town festival mini-arc will continue on into the next chapter or two, so keep your eyes peeled.
Also, for those unaware, I've rewritten chapter twenty-seven to make it so that Paul, rather than assault Ash and get arrested, instead is humbled and proceeds to begin a redemption arc. The change doesn't start until after Ash is declared the winner of the Lake Acuity battle, but it is there. The Paul redemption arc will be a bit touch and go for me, but I DO intend to fix him up, so please try to bear with it.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Leni (female Lucario), Cyrus (male Staraptor), Akiza (female Roserade), Germany (male Garchomp), Boss (male Honchkrow)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Zarbon (male Machamp), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Goofy (male Houndoom), Juan (male Pikachu), Slick (male Snorlax)
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Gardevoir (female; obese), Swampert (female), Infernape (male), Grotle (male), Ambipom (female)