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

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter forty-one: Lily of the Valley Conference, round two

The Lily of the Valley Conference had kicked off with a blast, seeing all three of the heroes who had entered making it past round one with little difficulty if any. The day after round one, everyone went back to see who was fighting who in the second round. Up on the large monitor over in the main stadium, Dawn saw that she, Ash, and Kenny were all set to fight random nobodies; she anticipated that she, Ash, and Kenny would all make it past round two, but she didn't want to rest on her laurels.

She bet that Ash and Kenny felt the same way.

...

"This battle in round two will see Henry and Dawn battle one another!" the referee declared, getting the audience hyped up for the round two battle, "Each trainer may use three Pokémon each, and the battle is over when all of one trainer's Pokémon have been rendered unable to battle! Now then, let this battle..." Throwing up both hands, the referee yelled, "BEGIN!"

"Croagunk, I choose you!" Henry said as he sent his first Pokémon out, which was a Croagunk. Taking a look at Henry, Dawn saw he was fair skinned, had blonde hair, and looked to be about as tall as Brock (Dawn also estimated him to be about as old as Brock as well) but roughly twice as heavy if Henry's well fed form were any indication.

Seeing that Henry's first Pokémon was a Croagunk, Dawn sent out her first Pokémon as she said, "Alright, Coupins! Let's get goin'!" Coming out into battle was Dawn's named Mothim, her first for that battle.

Pointing forward with a confident look on his face, Henry said, "Croagunk, use Poison Sting!"

"Coupins, use Psychic!" Dawn called out, surprising Henry.

As Croagunk tried to will up the Poison Sting attack to throw at Coupins, the named Mothim's eyes glowed brightly with psychic power, slamming Croagunk with that same power and throwing it back as it skidded on the battlefield until it came to a stop. When it did, Croagunk was clearly knocked out. "Croagunk is unable to battle!" the referee announced, "The winner is Mothim!"

Henry recalled his fainted Croagunk before tossing up another pokéball as he said, "Breloom, I choose you!" To Dawn's surprise, Henry's second Pokémon was a Breloom. Pointing forward, Henry said, "Breloom, use Brick Break!"

"Coupins, use Air Slash!" Dawn commanded.

As Breloom ran in to strike at Coupins, the named Mothim whipped up a slashing projectile of wind that he threw at Breloom, striking it and sending it reeling back until it fell over onto the battlefield, clearly having been knocked out.

Holding up a hand again, the referee announced, "Breloom is unable to battle! The winner is Mothim!"

Henry gave a bit of a mildly annoyed scoff as he recalled his fainted Breloom, before tossing up the pokéball that held his third and final Pokémon. "Whiscash, I choose you!" Upon seeing the final Pokémon her opponent sent out, Dawn was wondering something, something that she was going to have to try if she wanted to know the answer. Pointing towards Coupins, Henry said, "Whiscash, use Water Gun!"

"Coupins, use Giga Drain!" Dawn called out, setting an alarmed look on Henry's face.

As Whiscash opened its mouth to fire a Water Gun at its target, Coupins cast red beams of light at Whiscash, which made contact with it. Whiscash cried out in pain as it felt all of its energy being siphoned away. The attack actually cut off because it did enough damage to knock Whiscash out, making it fall to the battlefield defeated.

Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "Wishcash is unable to battle! The winner is Mothim!" Gesturing to Dawn, the referee declared, "Dawn Berlitz moves on to the third round!" The audience cheered as Dawn was declared the winner. As for Dawn on her part, she was actually a little bit on the surprised side that she was able to win her round two battle using just Coupins. Speaking of, the named Mothim flew over to Dawn and nuzzled against her affectionately.

Dawn, giving a small but gentle smile, gently ruffled the top of Coupins's head.

...

"I'd say that the main reason I won my round two battle as easily as I did," Dawn said to Kenny during an intermission, "Was due to the fact that my opponent's three Pokémon all carried times four weaknesses that Coupins was able to exploit with his moveset."

Kenny nodded along in understanding. "Yeah, that there was a good bit of luck on your part. As for my own round two battle, although I won the battle it was tad close for comfort, given that by the time I had won, Kermit was knocked out and Cell was close to going down. My round two opponent got me by surprise, I will admit."

"Don't rest on your laurels, Kenny," Dawn said, "We need to tackle the Lily of the Valley Conference with the seriousness it deserves. I bet that Ash is also-"

Dawn was cut off when she and Kenny heard Ash call out, "Hey you guys! I just won my round two battle!" Dawn and Kenny turned to see Ash, with Brock following along behind, come running up to them. Reaching the reborn trainers, Ash made the 'V for victory' gesture with his right hand. "I'm going to be in round three! What about you guys?"

Gesturing to himself and then Dawn, Kenny explained, "We both made it in as well. If this keeps up, we run the risk of there being a battle where we have to face one another."

Ash thought about that, before he gave a confident smile. "...I'd actually enjoy getting to battle either you or Dawn. So here's hoping that I'd get to battle at least one of you two in the Conference!"

Dawn chuckled a bit in sincere amusement at Ash's enthusiasm. "Well at least you'd be a good trainer to battle against." A bit of a concerned scowl appeared on the reborn trainer's face. "...And that reminds me. Paul got all eight badges he needed to enter the Lily of the Valley Conference. So how's he doing?"

"Paul..." Brock began, "...Was actually eliminated from the conference in round one. His opponent defeated him using only one Pokémon." Folding his arms over his chest, Brock added, "But he did take the loss very well, simply offering his opponent a handshake which was accepted, then Paul took off. I don't know if he's still on Lily of the Valley Island or not."

The other heroes were surprised to hear that Paul, who did make it to the Lily of the Valley Conference, was actually eliminated in the first round, and may not even be on Lily of the Valley Island anymore. "...Oh man, I was hoping to get to battle him again," Ash said, "Not to mention tell him the good news about how he had just avoided some major trouble."

"Oh, that reminds me," Brock said, "We ought to check up on Maylene."

Dawn nodded in agreement. "Good idea. We'll use the video phone."

A short while later, Dawn and the boys were on the ground floor of the trainer accommodations, using the video phone to call the Veilstone City gym. However, it wasn't Maylene who had answered the call, but a boy who both Dawn and Kenny recognized, his appearance there taking the both of them by complete and total surprise.

"Mitchell?!" Dawn and Kenny said in unison, seeing the boy who Dawn and her Honchkrow Boss had worked with to help him and his Murkrow. Even more of a surprise, albeit a pleasant one, was that a Honchkrow popped up next to Mitchell, gently nuzzling against Mitchell's side.

"Wait a minute, Mitchell?" Brock said speaking up, "As in Rhyanna's younger brother Mitchell?"

Right away, Mitchell's expression dropped. "...I take it that you've met my older sister, then."

Ash joined in, looking similarly as concerned as Brock. "Yeah, Brock and I met your older sister. She said that you left on a journey without saying goodbye or even so much as telling her where you-"

"That's because I'm not on speaking terms with Rhyanna right now," Mitchell said flatly, cutting Ash off and making it clear that he didn't want to continue down this line of conversation. "Don't tell me she put you up to trying to find me," Mitchell said.

"...Actually, we called the Veilstone City gym looking for Maylene," Dawn said, "None of us had any idea you'd be there instead of Maylene." Looking at the Honchkrow with Mitchell, Dawn said, "I see you used the Dusk Stone that I gave you."

Mitchell smiled a bit, nodded in the affirmative. "Oh yeah, and Honchkrow immediately picked up how to use Night Slash upon evolving."

"Can you tell us where to find Maylene?" Kenny asked.

Mitchell nodded once in the affirmative. "She's currently staying in Oreburgh City." Looking a bit concerned, Mitchell added, "I was told she recently barely avoided suffering a tragic loss, but despite avoiding said loss, she still feels so torn up emotionally speaking that she feels she can no longer continue her gym leader duties, so she's going to be stepping down and handing the reins over to the person being trained to take her place as the new Veilstone City gym leader."

The heroes all looked shocked at the news that Mitchell had just told them. "Maylene's going to retire from being a gym leader?" Dawn asked, looking surprised.

Mitchell nodded grimly. "Yeah. What's really sad about it is how she was a gym leader for barely more than half a year." Shrugging, Mitchell added, "At least she still avoided that tragic loss."

"Do you know who's being trained to take Maylene's place as the Veilstone City gym leader?" Ash asked, looking mildly concerned for Maylene's sake.

Jerking a thumb at himself, Mitchell said, "You're looking at him."

"You're going to be the new Veilstone City gym leader?" Brock said, "Wait, I thought that gym uses fighting type Pokémon. Have you caught any?"

Holding up his index finger to make everyone pause, Mitchell explained, "Actually, since I'm going to be the new gym leader, I can change what type the Veilstone City gym specializes in." Patting his Honchkrow on the head, Mitchell went on, "I've decided to change the Veilstone City gym to being a dark type gym from the fighting type gym it used to be. In addition to Honchkrow here who I started with, I've also gotten a Cacturne, a Houndoom, and a Crawdaunt since I last saw Dawn and Kenny."

Pumping a fist into the air, Kenny said, "Well alright! There aren't too many dark type gyms out there, so good on you!"

"Thanks, Kenny," Mitchell replied, "Anyway, I still need to do some studying on legal material related to my training to be a gym leader. Is there anything else I can help you guys with before I go?"

"Actually, you said that Maylene's in Oreburgh City right now, right?" Ash said, "Do you know where in Oreburgh City she is exactly?"

Mitchell looked like he was thinking about it for a moment. "...Oh! She's staying at Roark's place. He's the gym leader in Oreburgh City."

Nodding once, Dawn said, "Thanks. And good luck with your studies." Mitchell nodded to her once before he ended the call, prompting Dawn to hang up.

"So that was Rhyanna's little brother Mitchell," Brock said, letting out a breath, "And he says he and Rhyanna aren't on speaking terms with each other at the moment."

"Actually, he didn't say he and his sister aren't on speaking terms with each other at the moment," Dawn pointed out, "He only said that he's not on speaking terms with her." Arching a wry eyebrow, Dawn went on, "If they both don't want to speak to one another, then Rhyanna wouldn't have gone on about Mitchell leaving without notice or informing her."

Folding his arms over his chest, Ash said, "Well at least we now know where Mitchell is so we can tell Rhyanna. But I feel that I want to first learn why Mitchell doesn't feel like talking to his sister at the moment before we try bringing them together to try to settle things."

Dawn nodded in agreement. "I think that's a good idea, Ash. It's clear Mitchell doesn't want his older sister to know where he is because he's clearly in no mood to speak with her. I say we let him cool off, also ask him first why he's not in the mood to talk to his older sister, before we even think about trying to meddle in that business."

"Also, Maylene's apparently staying with Roark right now," Kenny pointed out, "Let's call Roark's gym to see if Maylene's up to talk to us." Acting as Kenny suggested, the heroes proceeded to call over to Roark's gym in Oreburgh City. However, answering the video phone call was not Roark, but instead a rather disheveled looking Maylene.

Maylene's appearance really did take the heroes by complete and total surprise. Her hair was no longer in its usual style, now brushed straight but there were a few hairs were sticking out, she was wearing a baggy long sleeved jersey under an equally baggy shirt, and apparently she wore glasses now. Also there was a slight smudge on the side of her face that suggested she had been pigging out on at least a few baked sweets.

"Maylene?!" Ash and Kenny said in surprised unison.

Recognizing the boys and Dawn, Maylene instantly looked flustered. "Oh! Dawn, boys!" Maylene said, "I wasn't expecting you! But then again I bet you weren't expecting to see me either."

Gesturing to Maylene, Ash explained, "Actually, Maylene, we were looking for you. We called the gym over in Veilstone City to get a hold of you to see how you're doing, but the new gym leader in training over there told us you're in Oreburgh City right now with Roark for some odd reason that I can't begin to guess." Gently shaking his head, Ash said, "But that's besides the point. How have you been holding up?"

Shrugging, Maylene replied, "I've been better, but at least I'm not doing as bad as I could of been in other circumstances. Although the Pokémon Center in Veilstone City was able to save my Lucario, I still couldn't rouse myself up for any challengers, so I decided that I had to step down from my position as gym leader. That Mitchell boy sounds promising, and his choice of using dark Pokémon is interesting, so at an absolute minimum I'm confident that my old gym is now in good hands.

"Why are you staying in Oreburgh City with Roark?" Brock asked, sounding legitimately curious.

Nodding in agreement, Kenny said, "Yeah, I still wanna know what the deal between you and Roark is, why he'd phone you and you saying something about how you phone him all the time."

Sighing, Maylene replied, "Well, I guess I owe an explanation on that." Looking at the heroes, Maylene began to explain, "You see, the truth is that I actually have romantic feelings for Roark, and by that I mean I'm admittedly hopelessly in love with him. That's the main reason I've phoned him so much in the past."

The boys all looked surprised, although Dawn looked as if something of a suspicion that she had was just confirmed. "Go on," Dawn said.

"Since I needed a place to stay until I can find a new career and a new profession since I'm no longer in Veilstone City and I'm not a gym leader anymore, I called Roark and asked him if I could crash with him until I got my own accommodations," Maylene went on, "And to my surprise he not only offered to let me move in, but said that he'd be willing to start a relationship with me."

The heroes all looked surprised by that revelation, Ash and Kenny especially. "Really?" Kenny asked, "You got your guy that easily?"

"..." Brock had a serious look on his face as he replied, "...It's due to the suffering that the two of you share when it comes to Paul, isn't it? That common ground you two share is why Roark had finally answered your feelings. I mean sure, Paul's trying to clean his act up now, but that doesn't mean the messes he made aren't still there."

Looking mildly surprised, Maylene explained, "...Actually, it's mostly due to how Roark's mom has been low-key pestering Roark into trying to find a girl and start a relationship. Even so I'm just as, if not more so, surprised as you all are that Roark finally agreed to let me be with him." Looking a bit embarrassed, Maylene went on, "Despite how I'm a total mess right now."

"Maylene, you had a really close call with one of your Pokémon recently," Dawn said, "There is no shame in a little lack of care for appearance, at least until you're feeling better."

"Also where did the glasses come from?" Kenny asked.

Taking off her glasses, Maylene said, "Oh, the truth is that I've always had issues with eye sight, so I had to wear glasses. But when I became a gym leader, I was told that my style of glasses would clash with the air of a fighting Pokémon user that I was supposed to give off, so I got some contact lenses. But now that I'm no longer a gym leader, I've gone back to my glasses." Putting her glasses back on, Maylene went on, "Thank goodness for that, as the contact lenses were a complete and total pain in the fanny for me."

Dawn nodded in understanding towards Maylene. "...Well at least you're doing well enough for the time being. I hope that you'll start feeling better soon."

Sighing, Maylene replied, "It'll take me a while, if at all, to ever feel better about the close call that my Lucario had." Offering a small but sincere smile, Maylene replied, "But I know what you mean, Dawn, so thanks for that. Oh!" Suddenly changing tunes slightly, Maylene said, "How are you, Ash, and Kenny doing in the Lily of the Valley Conference? Roark said that he saw you guys on TV and that at the very least you all got past round one."

"Dawn, Kenny, and I all made it past round two and will be going on to round three tomorrow!" Ash declared confidently, "I hope you watch it Maylene, because I'll be making it to the top!"

"Oh, you guys all made it to round three!" Maylene said, "Congratulations! I bet that you three will give any opponents you face the fight of their lives! ...Except..." Maylene, looking a little concerned, trailed off a bit.

The hint of concern that Maylene was giving off did not escape any of the heroes. "...Except what, Maylene?" Brock asked.

Looking back up at the heroes, Maylene said, "Roark said that while watching the Lily of the Valley Conference, he noticed a guy who aced his battles using only one Pokémon. Roark identified it to me as a powerful legendary Pokémon called Darkrai."

"Someone entered the Conference with a Pokémon like that?!" Brock practically exclaimed.

Maylene nodded in confirmation. "At least that's what Roark told me. He also went on to say that he heard rumors that the Darkrai user had won all of his Sinnoh gym badges to qualify for the Lily of the Valley Conference using just his Darkrai. In fact, that horrid Paul guy who entered the Conference was eliminated by the Darkrai user in round one!" Maylene gave the heroes a serious look. "...Ash, Dawn, Kenny. If any of you end up getting paired to fight the Darkrai user, please be careful. The fact that he even owns a Pokémon like Darkrai makes him bar none the trainer most favored to win the Lily of the Valley Conference."

A few more pleasantries were exchanged before Maylene said that she had to tap out for the evening. After Maylene hung up and Dawn placed the phone back into the phone slot on the video phone, Dawn turned to face the boys.

"A powerful Pokémon like Darkrai," Brock said, his tone and expression grim and serious, as he folded his arms over his chest, "He's bound to be the man to beat. Especially since he defeated a powerful trainer like Paul in round one."

Ash, on the other hand, couldn't help but cheer in excitement. "Oh man, I hope that I get to battle him! He sounds like he'll be a blast to face off against!"

Dawn, despite her own concerns about the situation, couldn't help but find amusement in Ash's excitement at the prospect of getting to fight against someone using a legendary Pokémon like Darkrai (well technically it's actually a mythical, but the anime at this time generally blurs that line anyway). Dawn also knew who Maylene was talking about, thanks to what Dawn remembered from the anime in her and Kenny's previous life.

Tobias. The trainer who, in the anime, ended up winning the Lily of the Valley Conference. He had swept all competition aside using only Darkrai. The exception was Ash, who was able to take down Darkrai, and Latios after it. But Ash still ultimately lost to Tobias because the user of legend and myth had four unknown Pokémon remaining after Ash's last Pokémon in their battle, Pikachu, took Latios down with him in a double knock out.

Dawn had a very strong gut feeling that Maylene was right. Tobias was going to be a major threat, would undoubtedly warrant the use of Tsukune for Dawn to so much as stand a hope of lasting long enough against to at least give the audience watching an amazing show. Dawn thought that Kenny might similarly be compelled to use Black in an attempt to have any sort of edge against at all in a battle against an opponent such as Tobias.

He would be one to keep an eye out for, indeed.

The following morning while the heroes were walking through the village on Lily of the Valley, Dawn was chatting it up with the boys. "So round three is today, Dawn and Kenny," Ash began, "Aren't you excited?"

The two reborn trainers both nodded in the affirmative. "Oh yeah, and I'm totally going to smoke that funny looking guy with the blonde afro that I've been paired to face in round three," Kenny declared.

Dawn offered an amused hum of a laugh. "Well never let it be said that you aren't confident, Kenny. I likewise feel confident that I'll do well in my round three match, but I am going to be careful. Better safe than sorry, I always say."

"I'm actually looking forward to how I'll do against Conway," Ash remarked. Dawn had figured that Ash would be paired to fight Conway in round three; that's how it went in the anime in her and Kenny's previous life, after all. And with Pokémon that Ash has access to here that he didn't have in the anime in her and Kenny's previous life, Dawn felt that Ash would blow things out of the water and put on a show that-

"Hey look, it's him," Dawn heard one random villager say, cutting Dawn's line of thought off and making her turn to see. Similarly, the boys all turned to see as well when they noticed that Dawn had turned to look at something. When they did, the boys all saw why Dawn had heard that one villager speak up just now.

It was Tobias, the man who had entered the Lily of the Valley Conference with a Darkrai. Although Dawn and Kenny knew who he was, Ash and Brock didn't, so they went up to a random villager (the same one who spoke up about Tobias just now actually, although Ash and Brock didn't know that), with Dawn and Kenny having to jog a bit to catch up to them.

"Excuse me, ma'am," Ash said, "But do you know who that mysterious man with the long hair and the red cape is?"

The villager gave a look of genuine surprise as she regarded the heroes. "You mean you really don't know?" Pointing in the direction that Tobias had left in, the villager explained, "That was Tobias. He's the trainer who is most favored to win the Lily of the Valley Conference."

Ash immediately turned to look in the direction that Tobias had left in. "...So that was Tobias, huh?" Smirking, Ash said, "Glad I know what he looks like now. I can look forward to facing off against him in a battle."

"Good luck trying to beat him, young man," the villager said in a dismissive tone, "He's got this frightfully powerful Pokémon that has single handedly beaten everyone Tobias has faced thus far without breaking a sweat. That Tobias will be collecting all of the chips in the end, mark my words." The villager took off, giving the air of having smugly told someone off for trying to reach too high.

After that villager was gone, Ash turned to face the rest of the group. "She'll be sorry when she sees me win the Lily of the Valley Conference," Ash said confidently.

"Excuse me?" Kenny said, "You're going to win?" Gesturing to himself, Kenny declared, "You're going to have to have to get through me first!"

Dawn and Brock both laughed a bit in amusement at how Ash and Kenny were getting heated up for the Conference, especially since they're talking about potentially facing off against one another in the Conference at some point. If anything at all, it was good that they were in high spirits. They'll be needing it for the challenges ahead of them. Dawn felt that she was going to be needing it as well, and hoped that she'd be able to roll with the punches that may come her way.

END, CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Author's notes;

This chapter sees Dawn, Ash, and Kenny all make it past the second round of the Lily of the Valley Conference. It also shows the heroes checking in on Maylene to see how she's holding up, and being surprised to learn that Maylene is now in a relationship with Roark, which I had hinted at some time ago. The heroes also see Mitchell again slash meet him for the first time, and believe you me, he will be coming up later down the road while the heroes are still in Sinnoh.

There's also signs of how Paul is bettering himself as a person here, given that he had been noted to respectfully congratulate his opponent in round one for beating him. Said opponent here wound up being Tobias, the legend-spammer. Paul will be reappearing later so his progress in his redemption arc can be seen, but for now he'll have to wait to crop back up again. Anyway, the next chapter will see round three of the Lily of the Valley Conference, and will focus more on Ash's battle against Conway. The battle will be very much different than it was in the anime, so keep your eyes peeled.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Coupins (male Mothim), Shadow (male west sea Gastrodon), Akiza (female Roserade), Leni (female Lucario)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Slick (male Snorlax), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Shallot (male Glaceon), Elay (male Sandslash; shiny), Black (Giratina)

Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Swampert (female), Infernape (male), Torterra (male), Gliscor (male), Dusclops (male; shiny)