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-seven: The Pokémon League, part two
Today was the day that Dawn would be having her battle against Bertha of the Sinnoh elite four. As the second member of Sinnoh's elite four, Bertha was bound to be a greater challenge to face off against than Aaron was, despite how Dawn was figuring that Bertha would have multiple Pokémon on her team that carry times four weaknesses that she (Dawn) could potentially exploit in order to do some big damage really quickly.
Dawn knew that grass and water Pokémon would be the main bulk of her efforts here; Tsukune would make things a cinch here due to being part water type. But Dawn didn't want to have to bust out her named Palkia unless absolutely necessary, so she was going to be careful with what all other Pokémon she chose to use in her party. As Dawn was getting her party ready for the battle against Bertha, the boys were all watching.
"Man, Dawn seems really intent on making sure she's ready to take on Bertha," Ash remarked.
"Hey, I heard that Bertha was involved in some effort against a scheme that Team Rocket ran a while ago, involving a phony day care center," Brock remarked, "I wonder how things there went for Bertha." Shrugging, Brock went on, "But then again, this is Bertha that we're talking about. I have no doubt that she wrapped it up quickly and easily, probably even more so than we could have. After all, Bertha is a member of Sinnoh's elite four."
"And yet Dawn not only defeated one yesterday," Kenny pointed out, "But she's gearing up to challenge Bertha herself in a little bit. And from what I'm feeling, Dawn's going in as if she's going to take on her toughest battle yet."
It was true; Dawn was prepped with as many water and grass Pokémon as possible that she could fit into her party. She also had an ice type Pokémon, given that ground Pokémon were also weak to ice type moves; if Dawn remembered from the games and anime in her previous life correctly, there was a Gliscor in Bertha's corner. Even if Bertha here didn't have one, an ice Pokémon could still be a useful addition to Dawn's party here.
Dawn had all six of her on hand Pokémon prepped to take on Bertha, giving all of them their respective held items that she felt would be serving them best in the battle ahead. Dawn was as ready as she'd ever be against the second member of the Sinnoh elite four, so now all that she could do now was go in and have her battle. If she won here, then the reborn trainer will have taken down half of the Sinnoh elite four; the other half after them will be all that would be left who stood in Dawn's way to reach the challenge against Cynthia.
To see if Sinnoh would be seeing a new champion on its throne.
Later in the main arena of the Lily of the Valley Island stadium, Dawn stood on her end, looking over at where Bertha stood on her end. The older woman stood with her eyes closed, her hands on the end of her walking cane she had more for class than actual need (Bertha's not that old yet) which she had planted in front of her. Dawn could tell that Bertha was trying to be serious and solemn, as if she was trying to work over a past mistake.
"She must of heard what happened to Maylene and the close call that she had," Dawn thought as she stood ready to take on the second member of the Sinnoh elite four.
Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "This official challenge to the Sinnoh Pokémon League's elite four will see Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh, face off against Bertha of the elite four! Each trainer may use their respective entire parties of Pokémon, and the battle is over when all of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle! Also, both trainers may substitute Pokémon out at any time! Let this battle..." Throwing both hands up, the referee yelled, "...BEGIN!"
Bertha tossed up the pokéball that held her first Pokémon. "Quagsire, I choose you!" Seeing the dual water ground type Quagsire come out as Bertha's first Pokémon for this battle made Dawn feel reassured that her choice of party set-up was a good one.
"Alright, Akiza!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Roserade, "Let's get goin'!" Dawn actually had Akiza, along with Leni, in her party when she had fought against Tobias during the Lily of the Valley Conference, but never used them as the other four Pokémon she had was able to take down the whole lot of Pokémon from lore that Tobias had brought with him. But here, against a ground type Pokémon user who already shown one Pokémon with a times four weakness to grass type moves, Dawn knew that her named Roserade, who had a Black Sludge held item on her person, will get to see a little bit of action.
Pointing forward, Dawn said, "Akiza, use Giga Drain!"
"Quagsire, use Earthquake!" Bertha ordered.
Akiza cast red beams of light at Quagsire, striking it and quickly draining as much of its energy as possible before the attack was over, before Quagsire even had a chance to trigger its Earthquake attack. To the surprise of many who were watching the battle, Bertha's Quagsire went down before it could even attack. Even Dawn, who was exploiting Quagsire's times four weakness to grass type moves, wasn't expecting such an easy take down.
Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "Quagsire is unable to battle! The winner is Roserade!"
As Bertha recalled her fainted Quagsire, she let out a gentle sigh. One only Dawn was able to pick up on, and she could tell there was some melancholy regret in the older woman's tone. Dawn had it figured that Bertha really did hear about what Maylene was going through, and that it was able go get through to her and make her at least a little troubled. Bertha must be a more empathic person than Dawn gave her credit for.
Still, there was a battle to be had, so Bertha tossed up another pokéball as she said, "Golem, I choose you!"
Although Akiza still had a significant advantage here, Dawn wanted to save her for later in case things started to look a little dicey. As such, Dawn said as she swapped her Pokémon out, "Akiza that's enough, fall back! Alright, Lynn! Let's get goin'!" Coming out in Roserade's place was Dawn's named Floatzel, who looked determined to take down her opponent here. Dawn could see just how determined that Lynn was to fight and win here.
"Is she wanting to make up for how she went down in my battle against Ash?" Dawn thought, but she decided to store that away for now. Pointing forward, Dawn called out, "Lynn, use Waterfall!"
Gesturing forward, Bertha ordered, "Golem, use Heavy Slam!"
Hearing Bertha call for her Golem to use a steel type move against Lynn, who as a Floatzel was resistant to steel, caught Dawn's attention. Was Bertha trying to say she was so confident that she will win here that she's deliberately playing poorly to try to handicap herself against Dawn, to give the reborn trainer a more fighting chance? Dawn wasn't sure if that was the case, and she hoped it wouldn't be otherwise she'd feel insulted.
Regardless, as Golem tried rushing in to jump up to slam down right onto Lynn, the named Floatzel, cloaked in violently surging water, jumped up and slammed right down on top of Golem, dealing so much damage that Golem reeled back, clearly hanging in there by the skin of its teeth. Dawn could see from how Golem had its arms raised up in front of its face that it had flinched due to getting hit by Lynn's Waterfall. Dawn also had a feeling that Golem endured Waterfall because it has Sturdy as its ability and it kicked in.
Not wanting to let up, Dawn pointed forward and said, "Lynn, use Brick Break!"
"Golem, try using Heavy Slam again!" Bertha called out.
Given that Golem was still trying to get over its flinching, Lynn was free to rush in and strike Golem in the head with a chopping strike, making Golem cry out in pain as it reeled back and rolled over onto its back, laying there clearly out of it. "Golem is unable to battle!" the referee announced as he raised a hand, "The winner is Floatzel!"
Bertha recalled her fainted Golem as Lynn cried out in victory, clearly elated to have gotten some measure of consolation over how she went down in Dawn's battle against Ash a few days ago. Dawn herself, however, felt that something was up here. Bertha is the second member of the Sinnoh elite four, supposedly stronger than Aaron who Dawn had just defeated yesterday. And yet Dawn had taken out Bertha's first two Pokémon without any of her own Pokémon so much as taking a scratch.
Dawn would have attributed this mainly to how she's exploiting the multiple times four weaknesses that are present in Bertha's team, but the fact that Bertha, repeatedly, tried calling for Golem to use a steel type move on a water type Pokémon told Dawn that it couldn't of be just Dawn's own skill and knowledge here. There was something very clearly bothering the older woman who she was in the middle of a battle with, and Dawn wanted answers.
But those would have to wait until after the battle against Bertha, which continued by seeing the woman herself toss up a pokéball as she called out, "Gliscor, I choose you!"
"Lynn that's enough, fall back!' Dawn said as she swapped her Pokémon out. Seeing Bertha send out Gliscor made Dawn feel assured that her decision to put an ice Pokémon in her party for this battle was a wise move, especially since Bertha was known to have Gliscor in both the games and anime back in Dawn's previous life. Tossing up the pokéball that held the Pokémon she was sending out in Lynn's place, Dawn said, "Alright, Luan! Let's get goin'!"
Coming out into the battle was Dawn's named Weavile, who cried out challengingly as she faced off against the opposing Gliscor. Pointing forward, Dawn said, "Luan, use Ice Punch!"
"Gliscor, use Thunder Fang!" Bertha called out.
Both Pokémon rushed at one another, but Luan was clearly faster. As Gliscor tried to move in to bite down with electrified teeth, Luan, her right fist glowing an icy blue as it radiated an icy cold energy, slugged Gliscor right in the gut with that right fist, making it cough up some spittle as it was sent reeling back, hitting the ground and skidding along for a bit while kicking up a slight trail of dust as it did so. When Gliscor came to a stop and the dust settled, everyone saw that Gliscor was out of it.
Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "Gliscor is unable to battle! The winner is Weavile!"
Dawn was now getting a little more concerned here as she watched Bertha recall her defeated Gliscor. Alarms were going off in Dawn's head, in a way they hadn't since Dawn had her battle with Maylene a while ago in order to earn the Cobble Badge. Even the commentator took note of how badly Bertha was doing right now. "This is amazing, folks!" the commentator said, "Challenger Dawn has taken down half of Bertha's party without taking a scratch so far! Is Bertha slipping?"
The second member of Sinnoh's elite four didn't respond to that. Instead, she tossed up a pokéball as she said, "Wishcash, I choose you!"
"Luan that's enough, fall back!" Dawn said as she called her Weavile back, "Alright, Fena! Let's get goin'!" Coming out in Luan's place was Dawn's named Leafeon, who looked primed to square off in battle against a Pokémon belonging to a member of the Sinnoh elite four. Pointing forward, Dawn called out, "Fena, use Leaf Blade!"
"Wishcash, use Hydro Pump!" Bertha ordered. Again, Dawn was surprised by Bertha calling for a less than optimal move against her Pokémon. Wishcash opened its mouth to spew a large forceful blast of water at Fena, whose tail was glowing bright forest green as she ran towards her target. Right before Wishcash could fire its attack, Fena jumped up, seemingly flew in, and spun around to slash at Wishcash with her green glowing tail.
Wishcash cried out in pain as its Hydro Pump attack sputtered out, making Wishcash reel back as it took the full brunt of an attack that, aside from being times four super effective against it, clearly had scored a critical hit. Wishcash was slammed to the ground by the force of the Leaf Blade from Fena, and after hitting the ground, Wishcash promptly passed out. "Wishcash is unable to battle!" the referee announced as he raised a hand, "The winner is Leafeon!"
As Bertha recalled her fainted Wishcash, Dawn's feeling that something was up was growing only more and more. Bertha, despite how Dawn had been exploiting the times four weaknesses of the Pokémon she was using, should not be this easy for her to face off against. Dawn was figuring that Bertha was planning something, trailing as badly as she was, so that she could make some manner of comeback later on down the line during the battle.
The reborn trainer was keeping her guard up, daring not to let her good lead she had lull her into a false sense of security. As such, she was prepared for anything when Bertha tossed up another pokéball as she said, "Sudowoodo, I choose you!"
"Fena that's enough, fall back!" Dawn said as she swapped her Pokémon out, "Alright, Shadow! Let's get goin'!" After the swap, Dawn's west sea Gastrodon took to the battlefield. Pointing forward right towards Sudowoodo, Dawn called out, "Shadow, use Earth Power!"
"Sudowoodo, use Head Smash!" Bertha commanded.
As Sudowoodo rushed in at Shadow, the named Gastrodon made bursts of power erupt from the ground all around Sudowoodo, who got hit a few times on its way to slam its head right into Shadow. That was the first time in the battle where Bertha had done anything at all to one of the Pokémon Dawn used, and even then it didn't do too much given that Gastrodon resisted rock moves such as Head Smash. Additionally, Head Smash looked to have done no recoil to Sudowoodo from what Dawn could tell; she was attributing that to Sudowoodo's Rock Head ability.
Gesturing forward, Dawn ordered, "Shadow, use Scald!"
"Sudowoodo, use Head Smash again!" Bertha said.
Shadow opened his mouth and spewed a forceful blast of scalding hot water at Sudowoodo, pushing it back as it failed to get in and use Head Smash again. Sudowoodo eventually fell over onto the ground, where it laid defeated. Holding up a hand, the referee announced, "Sudowoodo is unable to battle! The winner is Gastrodon!"
As Bertha recalled her fainted Sudowoodo, Dawn felt a little more relieved that Bertha had been able to fight back at all. Even so, Bertha had still called for a less than optimal move, and Shadow still had more than enough steam to keep on going against the second member of the Sinnoh elite four. Dawn was ready for whatever Bertha could throw at her, and saw it when Bertha tossed up a pokéball as she called out, "Hippowdon, I choose you!"
When Bertha's Hippowdown, light tan indicating it's male, had come out into the battle, Dawn noticed that Hippowdown, much like Bertha herself, didn't look to be all that confident really, could tell that the confident air he was giving off at the moment was nothing more than a front. Still, Dawn was wanting to win here, as she needed to defeat Bertha so that she could further make her way through the Sinnoh elite four and, hopefully, reach the challenge against Cynthia.
Pointing forward, Dawn said, "Shadow, use Scald!"
"Hippowdon, use Dig!" Bertha called out. As Hippowdon burrowed his way underground, Shadow fired another forceful blast of scalding hot water, striking Hippowdon on his backside and even managing to inflict a burn before Hippowdon was fully burrowed underground.
Seeing as how Hippowdon wasn't going to be doing too much damage to Shadow due to the burn, Dawn called out, "Shadow, use Recover!"
Shadow proceeded to glow with a white glowing outline, healing off all damage from the one Head Smash it took from Sudowoodo. After Shadow was done recovering, Hippowdon burst out from under the ground and sent Shadow reeling back, although the attack didn't do too much to hurt the named Gastrodon. Gesturing forward, Dawn called out, "Shadow, use Scald!"
"Hippowdon, use Fire Fang!" Bertha ordered.
Shadow once again fired a forceful blast of scalding hot water, not only striking Hippowdon who was charging in with flame cloaked teeth, but also striking Hippowdon right on his burn. Hippowdon cried out in pain from his burn being struck, a clear sign that the Scald had scored a critical hit on the last Pokémon Bertha had in the battle. Sure enough, after getting hit by Scald, Hippowdon gave a tired, pained cry before falling over onto the battlefield on his side, defeated.
Holding up a hand, the referee called out, "Hippowdon is unable to battle! The winner is Gastrodon!" Gesturing over to where Dawn stood, the referee went on, "Victory of this battle goes to Dawn Berlitz!"
The audience cheered wildly, given that Dawn had just secured victory over the second member of the Sinnoh elite four. And despite how Bertha was touted as being stronger than Aaron, Dawn had a much easier time against Bertha than she did against the bug Pokémon user. Dawn wanted to get some answers, and the only way that she figured she could do that was by asking Bertha herself for some details here, hoping that Bertha wouldn't be opposed to talking.
Luckily, Dawn had the perfect opportunity to ask Bertha if they could talk in private somewhere when the woman herself came over to Dawn, after both of them had recalled their Pokémon. "I've got to admit it, young lady, you were running circles around me," Bertha commented, "I guess that it's a sign I'm not as spry as I used to be."
Seeing Bertha offer a hand for a handshake, Dawn accepted it. "...Thanks. Umm, if it's not too much to ask, could I talk to you privately after we're done here? There's something that's bothering me, so I was hoping that you'd be able to fill in some blanks for me."
Bertha looked mildly surprised by Dawn's request, but nonetheless agreed. The audience didn't hear what Dawn and Bertha were talking about, all that they knew was that the girl who won the Lily of the Valley Conference and had decided to challenge the elite four has just defeated the second member of said awesome group of trainers. They were only thinking about how well Dawn would be doing in the battle tomorrow against the third member of the Sinnoh elite four.
Later that afternoon at the local Pokémon Center on Lily of the Valley Island, as her and Bertha's respective Pokémon were all being treated, Dawn was sitting down with Bertha at a table. At Dawn's request, the boys were keeping their distance, as Dawn had no idea how Bertha would feel, and as such Dawn didn't want to put too much pressure on the older woman. Both Dawn and Bertha began their chat as they both held drinks.
"So, what was it that you wanted to ask me about?" Bertha asked.
Giving Bertha a serious look, Dawn said, "Well to be frank, it's about our battle today." Bertha looked a bit surprised by that, but relented a little, looking down at her can of iced coffee with a resigned look on her face. "You barely did anything," Dawn went on, "Even though I was expecting a greater challenge than when I had battled Aaron yesterday. Something's up."
Bertha, although still looking resigned, cracked a small smile. "...You have good observational skills. I like that in people." Sighing in a troubled tone, Bertha admitted, "Yes, I suppose that I wasn't giving our battle today my all, and I apologize for that. It's just..." Bertha let out another sigh. "...It's just that I have something big on my mind right now."
"I... guess that you heard about what happened to Maylene, the Veilstone City gym leader?" Dawn asked, "And that the close call that Maylene had has made you feel troubled?"
Bertha arched a wry eyebrow at Dawn. "Heard about what happened to Maylene? No, I wasn't even aware of anything at all happening to her before you told me about it right now. What happened?"
"That's another subject for another time," Dawn replied, "I'll fill you in after you fill me in on why you were so distracted during our battle today."
Sighing, Bertha said, "To be honest, the reason why I was so distracted is because I had failed not only as a member of Sinnoh's elite four, but also as a member of my family." Looking to Dawn, the elite four member explained, "You see, a while ago, this criminal group calling themselves Team Rocket was running some phony day care center scam where they'd trick unsuspecting trainers into leaving their Pokémon with them."
Nodding along, Dawn said, "Go on."
"I had found out about it because Roland, the young child of one of my cousins, was tricked into leaving his Magby with them," Bertha went on, "By the time that he went to check on them, the store front had picked up and vanished without a trace. I was able to find them and chase them down, but they sent a mechanical robotic Gliscor after Roland. I had my own Gliscor attack and destroy the robot, but by then Team Rocket had gotten away not just with Roland's Magby, but with eleven or so other Pokémon that they had tricked hapless trainers into leaving with them."
Dawn was actually shocked by what Bertha had just told her; as it turned out, Team Rocket had actually succeeded in a scheme that resulted in them getting away with at least a dozen Pokémon from various trainers, with one of said trainers having their Pokémon stolen by Team Rocket being the kid of Bertha's cousin. Dawn suspected that it must have happened while she and the boys had been occupied elsewhere. All of those Pokémon that Team Rocket had successfully stolen must be in the clutches of the Team Rocket higher ups by now, ready to be sold or used for whatever.
"Is anything being done about it?" Dawn asked.
Bertha nodded in the affirmative. "Inter-regional law is currently on the job of recovering the stolen Pokémon, but it'll take ages." Bertha grimaced as she looked down at her iced coffee. "I still can't believe it that I had not only failed, but did so as badly as I had. My cousin's family isn't on speaking terms with me right now because I had failed to get back Roland's Magby. More so aside from all of that, I feel that I've failed to uphold the responsibility of being one of Sinnoh's elite four, given how I had let criminals get away like that."
This was certainly a lot to take in for Dawn, who remembered the events of the episode from the anime in her previous life that Bertha had described. There Team Rocket had actually failed and the kid's Magby was rescued, but here Team Rocket succeeded and got away with Magby and at least eleven other Pokémon. A part of Dawn couldn't help but feel that this was partly the fault of her and the boys, because them being there always results in Team Rocket being stopped.
If they had been there, then Roland and approximately eleven other trainers wouldn't of had their Pokémon stolen by Jessie, James, and Meowth. The reborn trainer, the next time that she ends up getting a hold of Team Rocket, intended to have a very long and very serious conversation with the three of them, intending to set them straight or, at the very least, to think twice about trying to pull off any sort of scheme.
...Given not only what Team Rocket had gotten away with but also the fact that Team Rocket was able to get away with anything at all even though a member of a region's elite four tried to get them to yield, Dawn realized that Team Rocket wasn't the bumbling bunch of idiots that they usually were most of the time.
END, CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Author's notes;
This chapter has Dawn battle and sub sequentially defeat Bertha, meaning that Dawn's trek through the Sinnoh elite four is now halfway through. Just two more members to go, and if Dawn's able to overcome both of them, then she'll be banging on Cynthia's door. However, the shoddy performance out of Bertha set alarms off in Dawn's head, and after the battle Dawn learns from Bertha that Team Rocket here actually succeeded in the scheme where, in the anime in Dawn's previous life, they were running that phony day care center to dupe unsuspecting trainers out of their Pokémon.
This includes Roland, the young kid of Bertha's cousin, as his Magby from that episode was among the dozen or so Pokémon that Team Rocket successfully steals here. This will be a point that will come up down the road later on, especially since Dawn plans to be having words with Team Rocket the next time that she sees them, words that Dawn wouldn't be opposed to if Tsukune joins in on. But that will be for later, because the next chapter will see Dawn face off against Flint next to see if she can go further through challenging the Sinnoh elite four. Take care, everyone.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Akiza (female Roserade), Lynn (female Floatzel), Luan (female Weavile), Fena (female Leafeon), Shadow (male west sea Gastrodon), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Kermit (male Politoed), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Shallot (male Glaceon), Zarbon (male Machamp), Black (Giratina)
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Swellow (male), Heracross (male), Swampert (female), Sceptile (male), Charizard (male)