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-six: The first badge in Kanto!
When the heroes arrived at a port in the Kanto region near Ash's hometown of Pallet Town, they were met up by a Nurse Joy, who was contacted by Normajean after Brock had worked to cure all of the baby Pokémon. She was given a full story by Ash, Dawn, Kenny, and Normajean, the last of those three giving Brock a glowing review of his work and how he is overall as a person, doing what he did and going to the lengths he went to in order to help the sick baby Pokémon.
"..Impressive," Nurse Joy said, then added after turning to face Brock, "You really ought to consider becoming a Pokémon Doctor. You clearly have the talent and know-how for it."
Brock held a hand to his chin, a look of deep consideration on his face. "...I might seriously consider doing that after all. I mean, I've been wondering about where to go in life and what to do, especially seeing what little I knew about taking care of Pokémon from being a Pokémon Breeder didn't quite seem to be enough to help take care of the baby Pokémon while they were sick. I seriously had wanted to do more to help with the baby Pokémon while they were sick, so if becoming a Pokémon Doctor will help me do more, then I'll take that path."
"We all have our own paths we wanna take," Kenny said, "You Brock, becoming a Pokémon Doctor. Me and Dawn, seeking to challenge the gyms in other regions to earn badges there, and Ash, heading off to Unova to continue his path in his own style of being a Pokémon trainer."
Turning to look at Ash, Dawn asked, "Oh, that reminds me. Ash, which Pokémon do you plan to use in Unova? Will you only bring one Pokémon you already have and use that plus whatever Pokémon you catch in Unova, or will you use a healthy mix of Pokémon you catch in Unova and ones that you already have?"
"...For the most part, I'm planning to rely on Pokémon that I'm going to be catching while I'm in Unova," Ash explained, "However, I do plan to bring Pikachu, Gardevoir, and Infernape with me."
Dawn and Kenny, due to the anime they saw in their previous lives, knew that Ash would bring Pikachu to Unova with him. But here in addition to Pikachu, Ash is also bringing both Gardevoir and Infernape. This also surprised Brock, who said, "That's a bit of a surprise. I've always pegged you as wanting to bring only Pikachu when beginning a journey through a new region."
"I still want to wrap up Gardevoir's weight loss regimen," Ash explained, "Gardevoir's weight is nowhere near as bad as it was when the regimen first started, but she does still have a bit of pudge left. I want to address that. As for Infernape..." Ash looked down, a mildly troubled look on his face. "...He's still got a few issues related to Paul from before Paul started cleaning up his act. I intend to bring Infernape with me mainly to look after him directly and do what I can to help him and reassure him that he's alright."
Dawn smiled warmly at that. "...I really did make the right choice in bringing Infernape to you back when he was a Chimchar that was just abandoned by Paul back when he was still lost on how to be a good person. But you Ash, you've always had your head on straight."
Ash nodded back to Dawn. "Thanks for that."
"Well Pallet Town is close by here," Brock said, "We can stop off there, see Ash's mom and Professor Oak, then proceeded to go off on our chosen paths." The other heroes all nodded in agreement before saying their goodbyes to Normajean and the Nurse Joy, although Brock did first ask Nurse Joy about what reading materials he ought to collect so he can study up on what he needs to learn to become a Pokémon Doctor.
Brock's Croagunk, sensing that Brock was about to talk to a pretty lady, came out and was about to jab him to bring him down, but upon seeing that Brock was merely asking Nurse Joy for advice and help, and not flirt with her, Croagunk backed down as he saw he didn't have to do anything.
Later on over at the Ketchum residence, the heroes were having a small lunch with Ash's mom Delia. "Oh my, that is amazing progress your Gardevoir has made since you first caught her, Ash," Delia remarked as Ash at Delia's request explained how Gardevoir's weight loss regimen was going, "I know a number of women here in Pallet Town who would be jealous."
Ash nodded once in acknowledgement. "Thanks, mom." Ash then put on a hat in the style he tends to wear, completing his outfit; Ash was wearing the outfit he wore when he traveled through the Unova region in the anime in Dawn's and Kenny's previous lives. Fitting, given that Ash was set to go to Unova with Delia and Professor Oak.
Turning to Dawn and Kenny, Delia said, "So you kids are aiming to challenge the gyms in Kanto to earn the badges here, hmm?"
"After you, Ash, and Professor O start getting ready to leave for Unova, Mrs. K," Kenny began, "Dawn and I will hitch a ride with Brock to head straight to Pewter City. We can challenge the gym there to get started on the two of us giving the Kanto region the business."
"Oh," Delia said, "If I recall correctly, the Pewter City gym uses rock type Pokémon." Looking to the reborn trainers, Delia asked, "What all Pokémon do you kids have on hand?" Dawn and Kenny then proceeded to explain that Dawn had her Infernape, Roserade, Lucario, Palkia, Turtwig, and Piplup on hand, while Kenny had his Torterra, Scizor, Sandslash, Ariados, Giratina, and Politoed on hand.
Delia nodded in approval. "You kids certainly seem primed to begin challenging the gyms here in Kanto." After the heroes and Delia finished up lunch, Delia said that she and Ash had to get ready for heading on over to Unova with Professor Oak. That prompted the reborn trainers and Brock to thank Delia for her hospitality before they took off to get a ride to Pewter City. However, just before the three of them left, Dawn walked up to Ash from Kenny and Brock to tell him something.
"...You better keep your wits about you in Unova, Ash," Dawn said, "I heard that Unova has Pokémon not found in Kanto or Sinnoh, or Johto or Hoenn for that matter. Don't forget what all you've learned as a trainer thus far, or what you've experienced in Sinnoh."
Ash considered Dawn for a bit, before smiling and returning with a nod. "...After what all that I've experienced in Sinnoh, I don't think I can be different in Unova than I was in Sinnoh." The two of them then shook hands. "Good luck to you on your gym challenge tour," Ash said with a knowing smile, "Champion Dawn."
"And good luck to you on your continuing journey," Dawn said, "...Umm... what are you aiming for again?" Dawn knew, but Ash didn't know she knew, so she had to play dumb.
"I'm aiming to be a Pokémon master," Ash replied.
"Then good luck to you on your journey," Dawn said, "Pokémon master Ash." With goodbyes having been said, the reborn trainers and Brock took off from Pallet Town, wishing Ash the best before seeing him for the last time for what they all figured would be for a while. It was a bit difficult for Dawn and Kenny to say goodbye to someone who's become a friend to them, but they had a strong feeling that they'll run into Ash again.
If they just went to the cities in Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn that had gyms and earned the badges there, they might catch up to Ash in Unova before they knew it.
Although they got to Pewter City by the end of that day, Dawn figured that it'd be too late in the day for either her or Kenny to try challenging the Pewter City gym. Expressing as such to Brock, Dawn was glad to see that Brock agreed with her, asking that any challenge from her or Kenny wait until the following morning. However, he did invite Dawn and Kenny to stay the night at his place, which was connected slash off to the side of the Pewter City gym.
Speaking of the gym, Brock asked Dawn and Kenny if they could let some of their Pokémon out into the gym so that his younger siblings could play with them. Aside from their respective legendary Pokémon, Dawn and Kenny let all of their on-hand Pokémon out to play with all of Brock's various younger siblings. The younger ones among Brock's younger siblings had a ball playing with all of the Pokémon Dawn and Kenny brought out.
As for the older ones, they were more tactful and kept a distance to let the younger ones have fun. Forrest did take note of Kenny owning three different shiny Pokémon, saying that it's a sign that Kenny is an incredibly lucky person. Speaking of Forrest, he turned to look at his older brother with a serious look on his face. "Hey Brock," Forrest began, "We got a call from the Pokémon Inspection Agency. An inspector is coming tomorrow."
Brock looked surprised at that. "What for?" Brock asked.
"As it turned out," Forrest began, "The PIA was never informed about how I had been placed in as the new leader of the Pewter City gym, so you're still the Pewter City gym leader as far as they are concerned. The inspector coming tomorrow intends to test the Pewter City gym to determine if it will be allowed to remain open."
Brock wore a grim look on his face. Seeing Brock's expression from where she supervised some of Brock's younger siblings playing with Muten and Kowalski, Dawn walked over to him and asked what was up. After Brock with help from Forrest explained everything, Dawn said, "Ooh, so some legal inspector person is coming tomorrow."
"It may interfere with you and Kenny challenging the Pewter City gym," Brock pointed out, "Unless we can somehow convince the inspector to make you and Kenny challenging the gym part of the inspection review."
That idea actually caught Dawn's attention. "...You really think that will work?" Dawn asked.
"We can try running it past the inspector person when they come here tomorrow," Brock replied, "But for now let's not worry about that." The rest of the evening was spent with the younger ones amongst Brock's siblings continuing to play with Dawn's and Kenny's Pokémon that were out. Aside from the youngest of Brock's sisters who for some odd reason was insisting on playing with Spider-Frog, the other younger siblings focused mainly on Muten and Kowalski while the older ones among them focused on most of the other Pokémon.
Brock, Dawn, and Kenny did get a chuckle out of seeing Brock's youngest sister ride Spider-Frog as if he were a Ponyta. Surprisingly, the shiny Ariados not only put up with the little girl playing with him like that, but he also seemed to be humoring her. Dawn even took a picture of it when Brock's youngest sister, who had put on a cute little pink cowgirl hat and got a toy gun, got back to riding on Spider-Frog while saying she was the sheriff of Pewter City.
The following morning after breakfast, Dawn and Kenny were doing some warm-ups outside of the Pewter City gym with Chi-Chi and Roshi. While they were warming up, they were approached by someone wearing a trench coat, sunglasses, a fedora, and a face mask. "Excuse me kids," said the mystery person, "But is Brock or Flint in? I need to speak to one of them regarding Forrest's testing to take over running the Pewter City gym."
"Wait, isn't Flint a member of the Sinnoh elite four?" Kenny asked.
"Brock's dad is also named Flint," Dawn pointed out. Turning to face the mystery person, Dawn could tell it was actually a Nurse Joy, mostly because she remembered that one episode from the anime in her and Kenny's previous lives. Gesturing to herself, Dawn said to the mystery person, "My friend Kenny and I just got here from the Sinnoh region, and we're doing warm-up exercises to get ready for one of us to-"
"Oh, I recognize you!" the mystery person said, "You're Dawn Berlitz, the new Sinnoh league champion. I did hear rumors that you and an assistant were both traveling to other regions on a gym challenge tour. That being said, maybe you can help me." Getting Dawn and Kenny to follow her after they recalled Chi-Chi and Roshi, the mystery person went into the Pewter City gym.
...
Inside of the Pewter City gym, Forrest saw the mystery person walk in, with Dawn and Kenny both following them. "Can I help you, sir or ma'am?" Forrest asked.
"I'm from the Pokémon Inspection Agency," said the mystery person, "And I'm here to see if the person identified as Forrest is fit to take over the Pewter City gym."
Gesturing to himself, Forrest said, "Well I'm Forrest, so let's get started."
"Actually, I also need Brock and or Flint here as well," the mystery person said, "As they were gym leaders for the Pewter City gym before you."
Forrest nodded in understanding before leaving the stadium of the gym and going to get Brock. The two oldest siblings of the family came out a moment later, with Brock saying, "So you're finally here for the inspection to see if Forrest can succeed me as the Pewter City gym leader," Brock said.
"Indeed," the mystery person replied, right before taking their disguise off in a flash, revealing themselves to be a Nurse Joy, just as Dawn had anticipated. Brock almost began flirting with the Nurse Joy, but he kept his cool because the Pewter City gym was on the line here. "I'm the Nurse Joy who used to work at the Saffron City Pokémon Center," Nurse Joy explained, "But now I'm a top agent for the Pokémon Inspection Agency."
"I assume you're here to battle Forrest to test his competency as a potential gym leader," Brock said.
Nodding once, Nurse Joy replied, "Originally, yes. But I'm changing how the exam for Forrest will go. Also, I still do need to have you tested as well." Gesturing to Dawn and Kenny behind her, Nurse Joy explained, "I will be using Dawn Berlitz here, who has recently become the champion of the Sinnoh region, to test Forrest. As for Dawn's assistant Kenny, he'll be used to test you, Brock."
"Assistant?" Kenny muttered under his breath in a confused, mildly bemused tone, drawing an elbow jab from Dawn to be quiet.
Brock nodded in understanding, surprised that the inspector, who turned out to be a Nurse Joy, was going with the plan to use Dawn and or Kenny to test the Pewter City gym without having to be given the idea. "Very well," Brock said, "Will my test be first, or will Forrest's test be first?"
"We'll test you first," Nurse Joy replied. Brock nodded in agreement, then after that he and Kenny proceeded to take their positions in the arena in the gym's stadium. "This battle will be between Brock, acting as the leader of the Pewter City gym," Nurse Joy said as she was acting as referee for the battle, "Versus the challenger, Kenny Harris from Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh! Both trainers may use two Pokémon each for the battle, and the battle is over when both of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle! Additionally, only Kenny can swap Pokémon out at any time!"
Throwing her hand up into the air, Nurse Joy said, "Now then... BEGIN!"
"Sudowoodo, I choose you!" Brock said, sending his Sudowoodo out into battle.
"Okay, Roshi!" Kenny said as he sent out his named Torterra, "Let's make it cringe!" Once both Pokémon were out, Kenny said, "Roshi, use Earthquake!"
"Sudowoodo, use Hammer Arm!" Brock called out.
Sudowoodo rushed in towards Roshi to strike him with a powerful swinging punch, but Roshi triggered an earthquake before Sudowoodo got close, slamming Sudowoodo with seismic waves that made it fall back, hitting the battlefield and laying there defeated. Holding a hand up, Nurse Joy said, "Sudowoodo is unable to battle! The winner is Torterra!"
Brock recalled his fainted Sudowoodo, gave Kenny a knowing smile. "You raised your Torterra well, I have to say."
"You ain't bad yourself," Kenny replied, "But our duet here ain't done yet."
Smirking a bit in amusement, Brock replied, "No, it's not." Tossing up another pokéball, Brock said, "Steelix, I choose you!" Coming out into battle was Brock's Steelix, arguably his strongest Pokémon. Pointing forward, Brock said, "Steelix, use Dragon Breath!"
"Roshi, counter with Seed Bomb!" Kenny called out.
The named Torterra conjured and cast a large seed at the incoming Dragon Breath attack. The two attacks collided and blew up into one another, making both Pokémon reel back although neither one was close to going down yet. Gesturing forward, Kenny said, "Roshi, use Earthquake!"
"Steelix, use Iron Tail!" Brock ordered.
Steelix's tail glowed and shined like polished metal before it was slammed into Roshi, who got off another Earthquake attack before the Iron Tail hit. Both Pokémon were starting to feel it now, and Dawn was able to tell both would go down before long if this onslaught from one another went on as it currently was. Pointing forward, Kenny called out, "Roshi, use Earthquake again!"
"Steelix, use Dragon Breath again!" Brock commanded.
As Steelix opened its mouth up, Roshi triggered another earthquake, slamming Steelix with seismic waves again and making it fall back, where it slammed into the ground of the stadium and laid there defeated. Holding up a hand, Nurse Joy said, "Steelix is unable to battle! The winner is Torterra!" Gesturing over to where Kenny stood, Nurse Joy declared, "Victory of this battle goes to the challenger, Kenny Harris!"
Brock gave a gentle sigh as he recalled his defeated Steelix. "...Excellent, Kenny," Brock said, "You've certainly proven to be an awesome Pokémon trainer." Turning to look at Nurse Joy, Brock asked, "Do you want to have Forrest tested right away, or wait until after I award a Boulder Badge to Kenny?"
Nurse Joy actually gave the notion some thought, before ultimately saying, "Let's wait until after Forrest is tested to see if the Pewter City gym will be awarding two Boulder Badges at once." Dawn and Forrest were then given the cue to take to the battlefield, partly for Forrest's test to see if he can take over as the Pewter City gym leader, and partly to see if Dawn will also be able to earn her first badge in the Kanto region on her first try.
"This battle will be between Forrest, acting as the leader of the Pewter City gym," Nurse Joy said as she was acting as referee for this battle as well, "Versus the challenger, Dawn Berlitz from Twinleaf Town, Sinnoh! Both trainers may use two Pokémon each for the battle, and the battle is over when both of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle! Additionally, only Dawn can swap Pokémon out at any time!" Throwing both hands up, Nurse Joy said, "...BEGIN!"
"Geodude, I choose you!" Forrest called out, sending in his Geodude.
"Alright, Akiza!" Dawn said as she sent out her Roserade, "Let's get goin'!" Once both Pokémon were out on the battlefield, Dawn called out, "Akiza, use Giga Drain!"
"Geodude, use Defense Curl!" Forrest ordered.
As Geodude proceeded to curl up, Akiza took aim and drained Geodude's health with red beams of light that hit it. Despite the times four super effective hit, Geodude was still in it, although Dawn could tell it was barely hanging in there. "...Geodude's ability must be Sturdy," Dawn remarked quietly to herself. Gesturing forward, Dawn ordered, "Akiza, use Extrasensory!"
"Geodude, use Rollout!" Forrest commanded.
As Geodude tried rolling right towards Akiza, she assaulted its head with a psychic power that made it cry out in pain before stopping in its rolling and laying on its back defeated. "Geodude is unable to battle!" Nurse Joy announced, "The winner is Roserade!"
Akiza gave a triumphant cry as she was announced the winner of the fight between her and Geodude. It reminded Dawn of how Lynn had acted when she scored a win as Dawn made her way through the Sinnoh elite four. Did all of her Pokémon who went down during the battle against Ash in the Lily of the Valley Conference, as well as in the battle against Cynthia, want to avenge how they had gone down? It was a thought that Dawn was going to be looking into later.
Forrest, after recalling Geodude, tossed up a pokéball as he called out, "Rhyperior, I choose you!"
"Oh, that reminds me that I want to look into getting a hold of a Rhyperior of my own at some point," Dawn thought as she saw Forrest's Rhyperior, "It's a solid Sinnoh Pokémon." Gesturing forward, Dawn said, "Akiza, use Giga Drain!"
"Rhyperior, use Megahorn!" Forrest called out.
Rhyperior charged right on in towards Akiza, who merely cast red beams of light at it and proceeded to drain it of its health. Rhyperior was forced down onto one knee as it pushed itself to not go down to the one attack, causing its Megahorn to fizzle out. Dawn wasn't sure if it was Rhyperior having Solid Rock, or just plain sheer heroic willpower, but either way Rhyperior wasn't going to go down to just one attack.
Pointing forward, Dawn said, "Akiza, use Shadow Ball!"
"Rhyperior, counter with Rock Wrecker!" Forrest called out.
Rhyperior tried raising its left arm to take aim and conjure its Rock Wrecker attack to cast at Akiza, but its exhaustion and pain slowed it down a lot. As for the named Roserade, she quickly conjured and cast a Shadow Ball that went on to blast right into Rhyperior's face, making it cry out and fall back until it landed face up on its back, laying passed out on the battlefield defeated.
"Rhyperior is unable to battle!" Nurse Joy announced, "The winner is Roserade!" Gesturing to Dawn, Nurse Joy declared, "Victory of this battle goes to the challenger, Dawn Berlitz!" Dawn breathed a sigh of relief that she had won, and Akiza looked to have no shortage of amusement of having netted a big win, clearly happy that she had gotten some measure of reassurance over how she had gone down during Dawn's battle against Cynthia.
But although Dawn won at the Pewter City gym, same as Kenny, the reborn trainer couldn't help but worry about how this might look for Brock and especially Forrest, given that both of them had lost in their respective battles. Dawn could only hope that the Pewter City gym wouldn't get shut down over this, and Dawn would be more than willing to make an argument on behalf of both Brock and Forrest, given how she and Kenny are close friends of Brock's.
...
"Yeah, the Pewter City gym passes with flying colors," Nurse Joy said, "Oh, before I go, I have a form that Forrest needs to fill out. After he fills it out, I'll take it so it can be processed, then we'll be able to send Forrest his official certification as a gym leader."
Everyone looked surprised by how Nurse Joy was just casually saying that Forrest passed. "Wait, I actually passed?!" Forrest practically exclaimed.
"To be honest," Nurse Joy began admitting, "The only thing I was really testing you on was to see if you'd be humble in defeat. You clearly passed that test, and everything else is in order, so all you need to do is wait for your certification to come in the mail before you can truly take over as the gym leader for the Pewter City gym. Oh! There is one last thing that I need to test you on, to see if you need any improvement in the field."
Forrest was about to ask what she was talking about, but Nurse Joy cut him off by saying while gesturing to Dawn, "I want to see how you award badges to trainers who defeat you in official challenges to your gym." Forrest, after calming down from the very mild worry he had, turned to face Dawn before walking up to her. He took out a Boulder Badge he got ahead of time (he anticipated he might need it) and presented it to Dawn as properly and professionally as possible.
Nurse Joy actually chuckled in playful amusement at how Forrest was acting. "Geez, there's no need to be so stiff," Nurse Joy said with a casual smile, "You can be a bit more relaxed."
Forrest chuckled nervously. "Umm, well this is the first time I'm handing out a badge, so I'm still trying to find my footing."
"Fair enough," Nurse Joy replied, "The presentation still technically passes, but you still ought to try practicing how you award badges so that you aren't always stiff about it." Turning to look at Brock, Nurse Joy said, "Given that Forrest here is your successor to being the Pewter City gym leader, you owe it to him to coach him on how to properly award badges to tainers who defeat him."
Brock nodded in the affirmative to Nurse Joy. "Yeah, i can also see that he needs to be a bit more relaxed. Just because the rock type can be rigid doesn't mean he's supposed to be as such himself."
Everyone had a good laugh, and after Forrest filled out the form he was given and Nurse Joy took said form before taking off, everyone celebrated for multiple reasons, those being how Forrest was now set to be the gym leader, and how Dawn and Kenny both got their respective first gym badges in the Kanto region (Brock gave Kenny the Boulder Badge that he had earned).
After they got a map of Kanto and found where Cerulean City was at, Dawn and Kenny waited until nightfall. Under the cover of night's darkness, Dawn and Kenny took off on Tsukune and Black, soon landing in Cerulean City. In the morning, one of them would challenge the Cerulean City gym, and from there the rest of their gym challenge tour in Kanto would continue to unfold. The two reborn trainers had no idea what awaited them now that they were in what they were considering to be their post-game content.
And that was part of why they were so excited for it.
END, CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
Author's notes;
Here the events of the episode where Brock decides to become a Pokémon Doctor are wrapped up, and the events of the special episode where Forrest becomes the Pewter City gym leader are worked in so that both Dawn and Kenny were able to get started on their gym challenge tour in the Kanto region.
Speaking of, Dawn and Kenny will be skipping most events of past episodes, mostly because they weren't actually around for said episodes, in favor of focusing solely on the cities with gyms. I will however make necessary references to things that I feel need to be addressed. Aside from that, their gym challenge tour is off to a good start, and in the next chapter they'll be seeing Misty. This is also the last chapter Ash will appear in for a while, so after this chapter and until Ash appears again, his current party won't be shown.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Akiza (female Roserade), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia), Muten (male Turtwig), Kowalski (male Piplup)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Spider-Frog (male Ariados; shiny), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Elay (male Sandslash; shiny), Kermit (male Politoed), Black (Giratina)
Ash's Pokémon: Pikachu (male), Infernape (male), Gardevoir (female; slightly overweight)