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

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter fifty-three: Paul's problems

The last thing that the heroes, dining with Mitchell and Rhyanna right now, were expecting was for Paul of all people to pop in. He even spoke up having heard Dawn talk about a court trial where a Pokémon food production company would be in some hot water because of tainted shipments of Pokémon food that led to dozens of Pokémon getting sick, with four of said Pokémon even dying as a result. He spoke up because apparently his older brother Reggie owned one of the four Pokémon in question who died as a result of eating the tainted Pokémon food.

Paul gave a firm but mildly grim nod. "Yeah, Reggie is still upset over the death of his Linoone. At least it's guaranteed that the Pokémon food production company will be sued into oblivion. Money's no equal replacement to cover Reggie's Linoone, or the other three Pokémon who had died. But it will be a start."

Ash gave Paul a wry look. "...You know, your actions almost put Mayl-"

"-Through the exact same deal that Reggie and the other trainers who lost Pokémon due to the tainted food are going through right now," Paul cut off. Letting off a resigned sigh, Paul replied in a guilty and defeated tone, "I know. If it counts for anything, I never straight up ordered the use of lethal force specifically. I just told my Pokémon to hold nothing back." Cringing a bit, Paul went on, "Still doesn't excuse how I had acted so reprehensibly in my rematch against Maylene."

"...So you're the one who upset the girl I'm succeeding as Veilstone City's gym leader into stepping down," Mitchell said, giving Paul a wry look.

Paul turned his attention to Mitchell. "...I was aware that Maylene was stepping down as gym leader and that someone was going to be taking her place. I just never would of guessed that the person in question was a boy younger than me." Shrugging, Paul went on, "But I shouldn't be too surprised. After all, many talented trainers here in Sinnoh are young." The formerly cruel trainer turned his gaze right to Dawn. "...You understand what I'm getting at, Champion Dawn?"

Dawn nodded once in agreement. "...Talent and skill isn't something exclusive to those with some notable age to them, no."

Ash got Paul's attention again. "So why did you come all this way, Paul?"

Gesturing to Dawn, Paul explained to everyone as a whole, "Well first off, I wanted to congratulate Dawn for defeating Cynthia. It's something that I had failed to do, something that everyone before Dawn had failed to do. I had also wanted to congratulate her for defeating all of the notable trainers that she had to get through in order to reach the battle with Cynthia, namely the elite four, but also Ash which, as I can attest to, is no small feat."

"She also defeated that Tobias guy who uses nothing but legendary Pokémon," Kenny pointed out.

Paul nodded in agreement. "...Yes. Tobias eliminated me from the first round of the Lily of the Valley Conference, using only his Darkrai. It took out my Torterra, Crobat, and Umbreon."

The last two Pokémon Paul mentioned caught Dawn's attention. "Crobat and Umbreon?"

The formerly cruel trainer gave an affirmative nod. "Part of my efforts in trying to better myself as a trainer, as a person, is to catch Pokémon that evolve through what I had formerly dismissed as just spoiling them, then raise said Pokémon I caught to see if I can get them to evolve. I thought that if I could get a Pokémon I caught to evolve solely because it was happy to be with me, then I was at the very least starting to do something right."

Dawn was actually intrigued by the idea that Paul had. Catch Pokémon that evolve through friendship, then raise them and care for them until they evolved. Paul prior to being humbled by Ash at the Lake Acuity battle never in a million years would of even considered doing something like this. The fact that the Paul here and now had at least two Pokémon that wouldn't evolve under an abusive trainer's hand meant that Paul was rectifying some of his previously held errors.

"Well Paul," Mitchell began, "If you have the time and haven't done so yet, you can have your Pokémon join mine as I give them breakfast. Don't worry, I don't use the brand of Pokémon food that caused those sicknesses and deaths."

"...Pretty generous of you," Paul said with a nod, "Thanks."

A short while later in an open court area on Veilstone City gym grounds, Mitchell and Paul were feeding their respective Pokémon. Mitchell, in addition to his Honchkrow, also had his previously mentioned Cacturne, Houndoom, and Crawdaunt, but the heroes also saw that Mitchell also now had a Spiritomb and a Tyranitar.

As for Paul, in addition to his Torterra, he also had a Crobat and an Umbreon like he said. However, he also had a Lopunny, a Blissey, and to the heroes' surprise, a shiny female Nidoran. Four Pokémon that required high friendship with their trainer to evolve, plus a small cutesy Pokémon (admittedly it was cool due to how it's a shiny). The fact that Paul had such a lineup now showed that he really was trying to make an honest effort to become a better person.

Looking at the six Pokémon Mitchell had, Paul remarked, "You favor the dark type, I see."

Mitchell nodded in the affirmative. "Yeah. Of course, I'll only use three against challengers to the gym once I officially become the gym leader."

"You can very easily make challengers sweat," Paul said, "Is there a set three that you'll always use against challengers, or will you switch Pokémon in and out as needed?"

Mitchell gave a gentle shake of his head. "...I'll be sticking to Cacturne, Houndoom, and Honchkrow against challengers aiming for the Brew Badge."

Dawn, sounding mildly confused, spoke up. "Brew Badge?"

"Here's one I had made to show people what it'll look like," Mitchell explained, taking out a gym badge from his pocket. Surprisingly, the Brew Badge was a mostly a dark circle that had a white crescent moon shape along the bottom and parts of the right, with a smaller white bump along the white moon shape. Overall, the Brew Badge greatly resembled a mug of coffee seen from above at something of an angle.

Putting the Brew Badge away, Mitchell went on, "Many would suspect that I'd go for something like 'the Darkness Badge', or 'the Shadow Badge', given that I'm going to be specializing in dark type Pokémon when I'm the gym leader, and that the badge would mostly resemble a dark blob of some sort or another."

"I..." Rhyanna spoke up as she raised a hand, "...Admit that's exactly what I thought you'd go for, Mitchell. Sorry."

Shrugging, Mitchell said, "Ehh, no biggie." To everyone as a whole, Mitchell went on, "I bet that a lot of people wouldn't expect me to base a dark type Pokémon gym's badge off of a mug of dark roast coffee that's been freshly brewed. Hence, the Brew Badge."

Dawn arched a wry eyebrow as she regarded Mitchell. "...You got the idea for this while drinking coffee during breakfast one morning, didn't you? I mean I know you've gotten into having coffee."

Mitchell nodded once in agreement. "Only because one of the gym trainers said that I still needed to come up with a design for the gym's new badge since I was taking over and changing the type that the gym specializes in, and they gave me that prompt during breakfast where I had a mug of coffee along with what food I was eating."

...

After everyone, humans and Pokémon alike, were done eating, Paul turned right to face Dawn, getting her attention in the process. "There's something else that I want to do," Paul said, "To see how far I've come in bettering myself both as a trainer and a person."

Dawn arched an eyebrow out of piqued interest as she regarded the formerly cruel trainer. "Oh? And what would that be?"

Paul closed his eyes, inhaled and exhaled through his nose once each before opening his eyes and regarding Dawn again. "I wish to challenge you to a full battle."

The challenge to Dawn caught everyone else, Dawn herself especially so, by surprise. "You're challenging Dawn to a battle?" Mitchell said, sounding near incredulous.

"Man, what is with you and challenging champions to full battles?" Kenny asked, arms folded over his chest as he regarded Paul.

"This isn't something I'm doing out of cocky pride," Paul replied, "But rather to measure how far I've come. If I want the best improvement, then I had better test myself against the best."

Dawn, as she regarded Paul, could see where he was coming from, what he was trying to get at. Standing up from where she was sitting, Dawn replied, "...Well I don't think the grounds here at the Veilstone City gym are sufficient to hold our battle. We ought to take it outside, maybe in a secluded area without much of an audience."

"So the guys and I here can't watch?" Kenny asked.

Rolling her eyes, Dawn clarified, "I said 'without much of an audience', not 'with no audience period'. Of course you and everyone else here gets to watch." Turning to look at Paul, Dawn asked, "Will that be okay with you?"

Paul nodded once in agreement. "Yes, that will be sufficient." Mitchell said that he knew of a good location that would be sufficient for the battle between Dawn and Paul, so he proceeded to lead the whole group out of the Veilstone City gym and off to said location, so Dawn and Paul could have their battle against one another.

A short while later in a mostly secluded area of local park, Dawn stood in opposition of Paul as they got ready to battle. It would be a full battle. Dawn knew full well that Paul's on hand team consisted of the Pokémon he had at Mitchell's gym, especially since he never made any effort to rotate his party at all. Even so, Dawn was not going to tread lightly here; redeeming himself or not, this was still Paul that they were talking about, and he had been known to boast power.

Soon, with everyone standing by watching, the battle between Dawn and Paul began. "Blissey, stand by for battle!" Paul said, sending his Blissey out first thing.

"Alright, Chi-Chi!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Infernape, "Let's get goin'!" Blissey, despite all of the bulk it possessed, still crumpled up like an accordion when hit by solid physical attacks, especially if said physical attacks were fighting type. Hence why Chi-Chi, who was wearing an Expert Belt held item, was primed to take Paul's Blissey down and fast. "Chi-Chi, use Brick Break!" Dawn called out.

"Blissey return!" Paul said as he swapped his Pokémon out, "Crobat, standby for battle!" After the swap, Paul had his Crobat out, and it took Chi-Chi's Brick Break fairly well, although it was clear that the attack still did a decent hunk of damage. "Crobat, use Wing Attack!" Paul ordered.

"Chi-Chi, use Thunder Punch!" Dawn commanded. Faster than Crobat could raise its wings, Chi-Chi slugged an electrified fist right into Crobat's gut, hitting it hard with a super effective move that sent it reeling back until it slammed into the ground, clearly defeated.

Paul exhaled through his nose as he recalled his fainted Crobat. "...That was my fault. I forgot that I had seen your Infernape use a move that covered its weakness to flying Pokémon. I should have been more prepared for that." Tossing up another pokéball, Paul said, "Torterra, standby for battle!"

Dawn took note of how Paul had just admitted to being at fault for losing a Pokémon in the current battle, rather that pin all of it on his Pokémon in question who had gone down. Again, Paul had just shown growth in his path to redeeming himself as both a trainer and as a person. The reborn trainer like what she was seeing out of Paul so far, and hoped to see more of it as her battle against Paul continued to go on.

Pointing forward, Dawn said, "Chi-Chi, use Fire Punch!"

"Torterra, use Stone Edge!" Paul commanded.

Torterra summoned up a stream of pointed rocks that it cast at Chi-Chi, who ran in and avoided all of the rocks while her right fist was engulfed in flames. Getting within a few inches of Torterra's face, Chi-Chi slugged it in the face with a fiery fist, covering most of Torterra's left eye. Torterra had ended up going down to that one Fire Punch from Dawn's named Infernape, as the attack in addition to being super effective also got a STAB plus boost from Expert Belt plus boost from Iron Fist.

Paul was actually shocked to see his Torterra go down in one hit, the fact said hit was super effective and boosted by a few things notwithstanding. After recalling his fainted Torterra, Paul had actually murmured a quiet apology to his Torterra. That act didn't escape Dawn as it was the first instance she had ever seen of Paul actually apologize to one of his Pokémon when they had gone down in a Pokémon battle. After Paul recalled his fainted Torterra, Dawn spoke up.

"Have you ever considered having your Torterra learn Earthquake?" Dawn asked.

Paul seemed mildly surprised that Dawn was seemingly trying to offer him advice. "Have Torterra learn Earthquake?"

"Torterra as a species is capable of learning the move Earthquake," Dawn began to explain, "As a matter of fact, Kenny's Torterra Roshi learned Earthquake upon evolving from Grotle into Torterra. Also, Kenny and his Torterra had been working with Ash and his Torterra to help Ash's Torterra to learn Earthquake. It would give Torterra an answer to opposing fire type Pokémon."

Paul looked genuinely, honestly intrigued. "...Huh, I actually never even considered that. I'll keep the idea in mind. But we still have business to handle here." Tossing up another pokéball, Paul said, "Lopunny, standby for battle!" After Paul's Lopunny entered the battle, he pointed forward as he had called out, "Lopunny, use High Jump Kick!"

"Chi-Chi, use Brick Break!" Dawn ordered. The two Pokémon rushed at one another, with Lopunny hopping up and flying down at Chi-Chi, who jumped up to intercept her opponent. Chi-Chi swung a chopping strike right into the right side of Lopunny's rib cage, making it cough up a bit of spittle before being thrown into the ground, clearly out of it.

Paul recalled his fainted Lopunny, his expression firm but the nod he gave understanding. After Lopunny was recalled, Paul tossed up another pokéball, saying, "Umbreon, standby for battle!" The next Pokémon Paul had sent out into the battle was his Umbreon, yet again putting him at a very steep disadvantage. Regardless, he pushed onwards. "Umbreon, use Feint Attack!" Paul ordered.

"Chi-Chi, use Brick Break!" Dawn called out. The two Pokémon rushed at one another, but Chi-Chi was faster by far, striking Umbreon in the head with a chopping strike that made it shiver for a bit out of shock before it fell over onto the battlefield, defeated.

As Paul recalled his fainted Umbreon, the others who were watching the battle were surprised by how Dawn was sweeping everything Paul was throwing at her using just her named Infernape. "I knew that Dawn was strong," Mitchell muttered just loud enough for the others watching the battle to hear, "Because come on, this is Dawn we're talking about. But taking out four of her opponent's Pokémon using only Infernape so far...!"

Kenny got Mitchell's attention by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Your senpai over there is the champion of Sinnoh now. She's got that champ swagger backing her."

Over where Dawn and Paul were having their battle, Paul tossed up a pokéball while calling out, "Blissey, standby for battle!" After Paul's Blissey came back out, Paul commanded, "Blissey, use Egg Bomb!"

"Chi-Chi, use Brick Break!" Dawn called out.

As Blissey tried conjuring up the Egg Bomb attack to cast at Chi-Chi, the named Infernape rushed in and struck Blissey in the left side of her rib cage with a potent chopping strike, making Blissey cry out in pain as her Egg Bomb move fizzled out, before Blissey fell over onto the ground defeated. Just as Dawn had predicted, Blissey despite the bulk her species boasted went down to one solid physical attack that also had the advantage of being super effective.

Paul, though his expression remained firm, once more nodded in understanding as he recalled his fainted Blissey. After that, however, he turned his attention directly to Dawn. "...I surrender," Paul said, "This battle is your victory, Dawn."

Everyone was taken by surprise by Paul surrendering to Dawn, the reborn trainer herself especially so. "Are... are you sure you want to surrender?" Dawn asked.

"...My only remaining Pokémon is Nidoran," Paul said, "And I have no doubt she'd go down to your Infernape. I'd really rather not have to send Nidoran into a battle like that." Paul threw his head back, let out a resigned sigh. "...I guess I still have a lot to learn about being a better trainer, about being a better person."

Dawn, keeping her eyes on Paul, replied, "...Maybe, but I'd certainly say that you've gotten a good number of things down already."

Paul, a surprised look on his face, turned directly to face Dawn. "...You really think so?"

"Not once over the course of the battle did you ever scold any of your Pokémon," Dawn said, "You even apologized to one after it went down. Also, there's the fact you'd rather refuse to send Nidoran into a battle that you feel she's got no shot of winning." Dawn gently shook her head. "The you from prior to Ash setting you straight back at Lake Acuity would never have acted in such a manner. The fact that you're now knowingly, willingly, and deliberately taking such actions shows that you really are improving as both a trainer and a person."

"The fact that you've raised at least four Pokémon that can only evolve if they feel their trainer cares about them enough so far is a sign that your attitude has taken the right turn," Kenny went on, "So just keep on doing what you've been doing and you'll be fine."

Paul closed his eyes, gave a small and gentle, but mildly amused, smile. "You don't say." Seeing that the group was done at the park, everyone gathered their stuff and took off to head back on over to the Veilstone City gym.

As everyone walked, Paul spoke up. "...So Ash."

"Hmm?" Ash replied, curious as to what Paul wanted.

"How is your Infernape doing?" Paul asked.

Ash gave a small smile. "Fine. He's overcome a lot of problems that he had when I first got him."

Paul nodded in acknowledgement of that. "I'm not quite sure how Infernape had gotten to you at all, but given what you've been able to do with him, I think it's for the best." Paul then arched a wry eyebrow. "...How about your obese Gardevoir? I recall you saying back at our battle at Lake Acuity, or were at least trying to say before I had interrupted you, that you were working with it, probably to help it lose weight."

"Gardevoir no longer qualifies as obese," Ash began to explain, "Thanks to the diet and exercise regimen I had put her on. Granted, she does qualify as slightly overweight, given she still has a bit of pudge left, but I'll get Gardevoir to work on burning what pudge she's got left.

Paul gave a small smile, nodded once in acknowledgment. "I bet that Reggie would be interested in hearing all about it."

"Hearing all about what, Paul?" Reggie's familiar voice called out, making everyone turn to see that Reggie himself was walking over. "Yeah, I just got off of having to do an appearance in court in regards to how I'm a party affected by the tainted Pokémon food scandal," Reggie explained, "There will be another trial same time next week."

Brock nodded in understanding. "Yes, Paul told us about how you had lost a Linoone that you owned due to the tainted Pokémon food scandal. If it counts for anything, I'm sorry for your loss."

Reggie nodded once in thanks. "Yeah, losing a Pokémon like that is never a good thing, even if it's the only loss of any kind that I suffered as of late." With a bit of a smirk, Reggie reached into his right pants pocket and pulled out a Brave Symbol. "...Speaking of, guess who just won a rematch against Pyramid King Brandon."

Everyone looked surprised at what Reggie said, Paul especially. "You... you actually defeated Brandon?!" Paul exclaimed, "But how?! Wouldn't his legendary-"

Reggie held up a hand to cut his little brother off. "...About that," Reggie said, "As it turned out, your little explosion at Brandon a while ago was noticed by the Kanto Battle Frontier committee. Said explosion was actually the latest in a long series of complaints levied against Brandon for being too strong to overcome, due to how he had a habit of near exclusively using his Regirock, Regice, and Registeel against challengers."

"...Go on," Paul said.

"Apparently," Reggie went on, "The sheer number of complaints about Brandon being too strong for challengers to defeat prompted the Kanto Battle Frontier committee to look into the matter. After seeing that the complaints were mostly warranted, the committee had basically required Brandon to refrain from using Regirock, Regice, and Registeel from that point moving forward, unless either he's fighting in an exhibition match, or if a challenger specifically requests he use his legendary Pokémon. He's still okay to use them in battles that aren't official challenges for the Brave Symbol."

Kenny folded his arms over his chest. "So the guys who one can say are basically Brandon's bosses decided to whack him upside the head with the nerffing stick a few times."

Shrugging, Reggie said, "Essentially. I was Brandon's first opponent in an official battle for the Brave Symbol following the committee mandated restrictions placed on him. Although he couldn't use Regirock, Regice, or Registeel against me, he was still a tough opponent who I barely eeked a win out against in our three-on-three battle."

Dawn nodded in agreement, surprised by this development. Brandon, the Pyramid King, is apparently so strong of a trainer for others to face, that his bosses in the Kanto Battle Frontier had to order him to greatly restrict himself so that challengers actually had a chance to defeat him, rather than him being an insurmountable wall braced by three legendary Pokémon. Speaking of, Dawn turned to look at Paul.

"...You know, Paul," Dawn began, "If you have your Torterra learn Earthquake like what I had first suggested during our battle a while ago, it'd go a long way to help you win a three-on-three battle against Brandon if he uses Regirock, Regice, and Registeel."

Paul arched a wry eyebrow. "...Really?"

"Against Regirock and Registeel, yes," Dawn replied, "But using Torterra against Regice is a poor idea. I recommend your Magmortar, who can also help cover against Registeel."

Reggie looked a bit surprised at what Dawn was saying. "...You really think that Paul can win a three-on-three battle against Brandon while Brandon's using his legendary Pokémon? Also, what's this about Paul battling you?"

"He wanted to test himself to see how far he's come in trying to better himself," Dawn explained, "And personally, I'd say he's on the right track. As for Paul beating Brandon in a three on three where Brandon uses his three legendary Pokémon, Paul having his Torterra learn Earthquake and then using Torterra in said battle would really give Paul an edge. He just has to avoid exposing Torterra to Brandon's Regice is all."

Paul nodded in understanding of the logic Dawn was showing. "...Yes. No more of that silly 'make Pokémon work to push past their limits by exposing them to severe type disadvantages' business. I still want to know how I even came to that conclusion."

...

Later, the heroes were waiting to take a blimp service to Twinleaf Town for a party that was being thrown in Dawn's honor because she became champion of the Sinnoh region. "Paul really has come a long way, hasn't he?" Ash asked.

The others all nodded in agreement. "Yeah," Brock replied, "I'm glad to see that he's straightening himself out."

Dawn gave a small hum of amusement. "...Maybe we'll see him again sometime in the future."

Ash gave a small but warm and gentle smile. "That'd be nice, actually."

"But that's for later," Kenny said, "Because for now we've got a party ship to take to get to Twinleaf Town!" Everyone else was excited for the party being thrown over in Twinleaf Town. Dawn especially so, given that it was being thrown for her to celebrate her great accomplishment.

END, CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Author's notes;

This chapter shows Paul getting some spotlight to help show how his redemption arc is coming along. He's still not FULLY fixed, but he has shown signs of improvement. He will crop up again later in the story, but I won't say when as that'll be spoilers. Anyway, the next chapter will see the heroes all get to Twinleaf Town for the party to celebrate Dawn becoming champion of Sinnoh.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Akiza (female Roserade), Leni (female Lucario), Cyrus (male Staraptor), Germany (male Garchomp), 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)