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

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter Sixty-four: The reason why, part one

Dawn and Kenny arrived in Pallet Town, having arrived from Cinnabar Island. They were mainly passing through, as they were on their way to Viridian City. There they would issue challenges to the Viridian City gym, in the hopes of earning their respective eighth and final Kanto gym badges. "Do you have any idea what type of Pokémon Agatha specializes in?" Kenny asked Dawn as the two of them walked along a small dirt road that connected a few houses.

Dawn nodded once in the affirmative. "I do. She uses ghost Pokémon, but also mixes in a few poison types as well." Dawn already had multiple ideas on how to go about the battle she plans to have against Agatha for the Earth badge. Turning to look at Kenny, Dawn asked, "That being said, what do you plan to do?"

"Ghost with a side of poison, huh?" Kenny replied, "Yeah, I got a few ideas. And given Agatha's at the very least at elite four level, I may be warranted to bust Black out against her." Dawn nodded along in agreement with her fellow reborn trainer; Black, Kenny's Giratina, would be a boon against Agatha because, in addition to being part ghost itself and knowing Shadow Force, Kenny also had Black go ahead and learn Earthquake, which would also cover the 'side of poison' fairly well.

As for Dawn, she was planning on making her Lucario Leni her first pick for the team against Agatha; being part steel granted Leni immunity to the side of poison, and Leni knew both Psychic and Dark Pulse, covering both known types Agatha could whip out against her. Dawn also had a few more ideas, but she knew that Leni already had a spot.

As the two reborn trainers walked through Pallet Town, they stopped short when they heard the familiar voice of Professor Oak call out to them. "Oh! Dawn and Kenny!" Oak called out, getting the two of them to turn to face him, "How goes your journey through Kanto?"

Seeing the man who was now housing their Pokémon since there wasn't enough room back at Rowan's area in Sinnoh, Dawn and Kenny walked up to him. "Oh, we're about to head on over to Viridian City," Dawn replied, "We just came from Cinnabar Island, after we each earned a Volcano badge from the local gym there."

"Oh my, you two certainly are talented Pokémon trainers!" Oak remarked, "I dare say that even my grandson Gary could stand to pick up a hint or two from you! I mean, Ash certainly has gotten loads better thanks to working with you, so who knows?"

Shrugging, Kenny said, "Well it's not just me and my main man Dawn alone. Our Pokémon are just as, if not more, deserving of praise here."

Oak gave a good natured laugh at that. "All too true!" Oak agreed, "We'd never be as far along as we are today without Pokémon at our sides!" Looking to the reborn trainers, Oak went on, "Hence why the new exhibit that will be on display over at the museum in Pewter City in a few days will be quite the educational experience."

That got the attention of Dawn and Kenny, with the former saying, "Exhibit at the museum over in Pewter City?"

"Oh yes," Oak began, "The exhibit will in fact feature all sorts of objects related to the ancient culture of your home region of Sinnoh, from the time period back when it was still called the Hisui region instead."

That revelation further piqued the interest of Dawn and Kenny, as they hadn't heard mention of Hisui since that shared dream where they and Ash were visited by the Lake Guardians, and one of them referred to Sinnoh as Hisui before changing it to Sinnoh because it was the modern term. It also reminded the reborn trainers of the Legends Arceus game from their previous lives. This supposed exhibit is bound to be interesting indeed.

"Do you know of anything that will be at the exhibit that you're looking forward to seeing, sir?" Dawn asked.

"Some day to day objects like clothing and cooking utensils and pots," Oak said, "But also a few statues and some signs. There's also going to be an exhibit of an average small home that people can walk into. Oh!" Clapping his hands together, Oak said, "What I'm looking forward to the most will be the displays of the skeletal remains of two alpha Pokémon."

"Skeletal remains of alpha Pokémon?" Kenny repeated.

Oak nodded once. "Oh yes. You see, long ago in Hisui, sometimes a Pokémon could get to be far larger than what's considered the average. A Pokémon whose species is normally six feet tall could see a nine foot tall alpha of their species, to give an example." Gesturing to himself, Oak went on, "I'm wanting to study those alpha Pokémon skeleton exhibits to get notes to help me with a theory I have that connects the alphas of Hisui with a particular phenomena over in the Alola region."

Given what Oak was saying about trying to connect the alphas of Hisui to something in Alola, Dawn had a fair idea of what that something in Alola could be. "...Well hopefully Kenny and I will have time to swing by Pewter City after earning badges from the gym in Viridian City. We might even be able to pop in on Brock while we're in Pewter City."

"I might get to see him myself," Oak said. Dawn then expressed interest in seeing how all of her Pokémon at Oak's lab were doing, and Kenny similarly expressed interest in seeing how his cringe posse were all chilling out. More than happy to oblige, Oak invited them to his lab, where they'd get to see things for themselves.

A short while later, Dawn and Kenny were sitting with Oak in a lounge area, enjoying some cookies and mugs of tea that were provided. As they sat and talked, Dawn and Kenny regaled Oak with their exploits throughout Kanto so far. "...Hmm, yes," Oak said, "I never really had fully trusted what those League Admissions Exam guys were up to. I always had some suspicion that they weren't being too honest with how they ran things."

"Well Dawn, Koga's family, and I helped Lance being those knuckleheads to justice," Kenny said, "And this one director guy Lance knows is going to make a documentary on the raid and the stuff all leading up to it."

Oak nodded in approval. "Speaking of Lance, he and I have already begun plans on relocating the wild Pokémon who had taken to inhabiting that abandoned mansion on Cinnabar Island. Lance also told me about a Magmar that Dawn had caught during the events there."

"Oh yeah, you mean Dende," Dawn said, "I want to do some work on training him, get him to learns some attacks I'm interested in having him learn, before I try evolving him into a Magmortar. I don't want to evolve him straight away."

Once more, Oak nodded in approval. "That's a good way to go, young lady. Holding off on trying to evolve a Pokémon until after working with it first is always good." Oak then took a sip from his mug, savored the flavor a bit. "...So you're heading to Viridian City, ehh? Going to challenge the gym that's over there?"

The two reborn trainers both nodded in the affirmative. "It'll be the eighth badge each for us," Dawn said, "We got it that the gym leader over there right now-"

"-Is someone who..." Oak began, letting out a mildly resigned sigh, "...I had a bit of a falling out with a while ago."

Although Kenny was confused by this revelation, Dawn sort of expected it, given her knowledge from her previous life. "Is... is it bad, sir?" Dawn asked, sounding concerned.

"Agatha and I... have a history, as it were," Oak began to explain, "We were close friends a long time ago, but then one day, when I said I was going to focus on helping to catalogue as many of the Pokémon that are out there in the world as possible in the pokédex, Agatha started growing distant from me, eventually cutting off from any contact with me altogether. I'm still not sure why she had decided to end our friendship so suddenly like that."

Shrugging, Kenny asked, "Maybe Dawn and I could look into it when we get to Viridian City?"

"Oh no, I can't trouble you kids like that," Oak said, "You two ought to just focus on earning your final Kanto gym badges, as well as look forward to the Hisuian exhibit that'll be on display at the Pewter City museum in a few days."

The reborn trainers, although still a bit worried about the thing between Oak and Agatha, decided to respect Oak's reasons for now. After checking up on their Pokémon at Oak's lab while rotating their respective parties to be ready for the battle against Agatha, Dawn and Kenny took off for Viridian, zooming there quickly on the backs of Tsukune and Black respectively. There, they both aimed to get their last Kanto gym badges each, which would mean the end of their time in the Kanto region.

...Save for one or two last minute things, maybe.

After recalling Tsukune and Black upon landing, Dawn and Kenny proceeded to look around Viridian City, asking for directions to the local Pokémon gym. "You're looking to challenge the gym here?" one friendly looking granny type lady asked when Dawn and Kenny told her they were looking for the Viridian City gym, "I have to warn you dearies, Agatha who is the current gym leader is tough as nails. But then again she is at elite four level."

Shrugging, Kenny replied, "We'll manage somehow."

Nodding once in understanding, the granny said, "Well alright then. I know where it is, so you two just follow me." Dawn and Kenny proceeded to follow the granny for a bit, for about five minutes or so, until they turned a corner and it was Dawn who spotted the gym. "Just be careful now," said the granny, "Agatha wasn't an elite four for nothing." The granny then took off, leaving Dawn and Kenny to head on over to the gym.

Scoffing, Kenny asked, "Man, what was her deal?! We can totally take Agatha. You especially, my main man, given that you had defeated friggin' Cynthia."

"But a fair number of people here in Kanto don't seem to be aware of what reputation we have," Dawn pointed out, "Outside of friends we've made, Lance, and whoever those guys decided to inform about us." As the two reborn trainers talked, they made their way over to the gym, opened the door, and went on in.

...

Inside of the Viridian City gym, Dawn and Kenny wandered into the stadium of the gym. "Hello?" Dawn called out, "We're looking for Agatha? We're here to ask about challenging her to an official gym battle here!"

"Oh my, challengers," an elderly female voice called out, making Dawn and Kenny turn to see Agatha herself come on out. Dressed as she was in the Let's Go games from Dawn's previous life, Agatha here had a different expression than her in-game counterpart. Here, Agatha looked genuinely amused, with a dash of surprised curiosity. She walked up to Dawn and Kenny to greet them, with no apparent haughty, cocky pride or anything commonly associated with trainers of her level of skill and power.

"I haven't gotten very many challengers ever since I had taken over as gym leader here," Agatha said, "My reputation of having been in the elite four seems to scare off a fair number who would have challenged me otherwise. And those who do challenge me, I always whip in battle. I suppose that goes on to further reduce the number of challengers interested in challenging me."

Pounding a fist into his hand, Kenny said, "My cringe posse and I are very difficult to intimidate and scare off. You being at the elite four level ain't gonna cut it."

Dawn nodded once. "...My Pokémon and I are confident enough."

Agatha let out an amused bark of laughter, which sounded a bit like cackling from a laughing old witch. But there was no malice or ill intent coming from Agatha. "More trainers need to have spunk like you kids!" Agatha declared, "Very well. I will accept challenges from both of you, but only one at a time. Also we don't have a referee because he's visiting his fiance in the hospital right now. The poor dear had a terrible bit yesterday with her asthma."

Dawn understood all too well how bad asthma could be; after all, it was Dawn 'having a terrible bit with asthma' that resulted in her death in her previous life and subsequent reincarnation into the world where she and Kenny now live. Remembering this also reminded Dawn that she wanted to ask Kenny, when they were alone of course, how he died in his previous life. But she decided to put asking that off for now.

Looking to Agatha, Dawn asked, "So how will we decide who will get a shot at you first?"

"I'll take you on first," Agatha said to Dawn, "Ladies first, after all." Dawn nodded in understanding, then proceeded to take her place on the battlefield as Agatha took hers, with Kenny moving off to the side to watch the battle. "We each get to use five Pokémon in this battle, but only one Pokémon at a time each," Agatha said, "Also, I'm not allowed to switch my Pokémon out until they go down. Last one with any Pokémon who can still fight wins."

Dawn nodded once in understanding, knowing that's how gym battles usually worked. Once both trainers were ready, the battle began, with Agatha sending out her first Pokémon first. "Misdreavus, I choose you!" Seeing Agatha send a Misdreavus out first told Dawn that Agatha here, at the very least, was going to use a party that mixed some Pokémon she had in the games in Dawn's previous life, with the FRLG rematch team contributing at least one Pokémon.

Although she was planning to use Leni, Dawn wanted to save the named Lucario for later in the battle. Thus, Dawn tossed up a pokéball as she said, "Alright, Akiza! Let's get goin'!" Coming out first for Dawn was her Roserade, who looked primed to battle. Gesturing forward, Dawn called out, "Akiza, use Shadow Ball!"

"Misdreavus, use Shadow Ball as well!" Agatha commanded.

The two Pokémon cast their respective Shadow Balls, with both attacks flying at and colliding into one another, blowing up and kicking up a sight obscuring cloud of smoke and dust. As the cloud was settling, Agatha heard Dawn call out, "Akiza, use Extrasensory!" Suddenly, Misdreavus was struck in the head by an assaulting psychic force, making it cry out in pain as it recoiled away due to having flinched. "Use Shadow Ball again!" Dawn called out.

A Shadow Ball flew out from the cloud of smoke and dust, then went right on to strike Misdreavus directly, making it cry out again before it collapsed onto the ground, clearly defeated. By the time the dust had settled, Agatha had already recalled Misdreavus. "Not too bad at all, dear," Agatha remarked, sounding more amused than anything, "But let's see how you're able to deal with this little one! Golbat, I choose you!"

"Akiza that's enough, fall back!" Dawn said, swapping her Roserade out, "Alright, Germany! Let's get goin'!" Taking Misdreavus's place was Golbat, and Dawn had swapped her Garchomp into the battle. Gesturing forward, Dawn said, "Germany, use Rock Tomb!"

"Golbat, use Crunch!" Agatha ordered.

Golbat flew in as it aimed to bite down hard on Germany. It avoided one or two of the summoned boulders, but the third one slammed into its back as it was flying, knocking it to the ground where it was hit and trapped by a few more boulders. Not that Golbat had to worry for very long about being trapped by those boulders since it was knocked out by the attack. Recalling her fainted Golbat, Agatha let out an amused bark of laughter once again.

"Well now! You took out two of my Pokémon without any of yours going down in the process," Agatha said, "Not bad at all, dear!" Smirking in a challenging manner, Agatha went on, "I'm going to have to step it up, it would seem! Arbok, I choose you!"

"Germany that's enough, fall back!" Dawn said, swapping her Pokémon in and out once more, "Alright, Leni! Let's get goin'!" Taking Garchomp's place was Lucario. Pointing on ahead, Dawn called out, "Leni, use Psychic!"

"Arbok, use Screech!" Agatha ordered. Leni blasted Arbok with a powerful telekinetic blast, sending it reeling. Arbok barely hung on by the skin of its teeth, and went on to release a horribly loud screeching cry, only to see that its aim was off since it screeched as it tried to get back up from being sent reeling, meaning it was turned to not properly face the named Lucario when it tried to use its attack.

Gesturing forward, Dawn called out, "Leni, use Dark Pulse!" Leni conjured her pulsing attack and cast it at Arbok, hitting it and sending it flying a bit until it hit the ground, clearly knocked out.

Recalling her fainted Arbok, Agatha remarked, "Well now, I seem to be on the ropes. I wonder if you'll be able to keep me there?" Sending out her next Pokémon, Agatha said, "Haunter, I choose you!"

"Leni that's enough, fall back!" Dawn said, swapping her Pokémon out, "Alright, Akiza! Let's get goin'!" Once more, Dawn's Roserade had taken to the battlefield. Gesturing forward, Dawn called out, "Akiza, use Extrasensory!"

"Haunter, use Hypnosis!" Agatha ordered.

Akiza's eyes flashed with psychic power before said power proceeded to assault Haunter's head, making it cry out as it was trying and failing to use Hypnosis. After barely shaking the attack off, Haunter proceeded to shake slightly as it floated hunched over, gave a tired gasp, then fell down and passed out, clearly out of it. "Aha, that was clearly a critical hit that your Roserade had scored," Agatha said as she called back her defeated Haunter.

Dawn nodded once, relieved that she was doing as good as she was so far. Agatha held the pokéball that contained her last Pokémon for the gym battle. Tossing it up, Agatha said, "Gengar, I choose you!"

"Akiza that's enough, fall back!" Dawn said, calling back her named Roserade. Tossing up another pokéball, the reborn trainer called out, "Alright, Germany! Let's get goin'!" Garchomp once again came out onto the battlefield, standing in opposition of Gengar who stood on the ground as well. Seeing this, Dawn ordered, "Germany, use Earthquake!"

"Gengar, use Shadow Ball!" Agatha ordered.

As Gengar tried conjuring up its Shadow Ball attack, Germany triggered an earthquake that shook the battlefield harshly, slamming Gengar with seismic waves that smacked it back and sent it reeling until it hit the ground, kicking up some dust in the process. When the dust settled, everyone saw it that Gengar had been knocked out. From the sidelines, Kenny pumped a fist into the air as he cheered for what was clearly Dawn's victory.

Similarly, Agatha threw her head back as she laughed out loud. "Now that was a battle! I haven't been whipped so soundly since the days of my youth decades ago!" Calming down, Agatha looked right at Dawn as she walked up to her. "I suppose that I owe you an Earth badge now, don't I?" Upon getting up to Dawn, Agatha handed to her an Earth badge, thus completing Dawn's trek through the Kanto region to earn all eight Kanto gym badges.

Turning to look at Kenny, Agatha said, "Young man, I'll be needing to have my Pokémon rested at the Pokémon Center, but I can squeeze in your challenge sometime shortly after six this evening. Can you wait until then?"

"No problem, ma'am," Kenny replied, giving Agatha a salute. After that, the two reborn trainers took off from the Viridian City gym, with the promise to return for Kenny's challenge to Agatha later that evening when both trainers were ready. Dawn looked at her rightfully earned Earth badge as she and Kenny took off for the Pokémon Center so that Dawn could rest her Pokémon, not to mention see Kenny rotate his party if need be for the battle to come that evening.

Later that evening, Dawn and Kenny returned to the Viridian City gym when they were contacted by Agatha who informed them that she was ready to take Kenny's challenge. The battle was fierce for Kenny, but he still ultimately prevailed; using a mix of Juan, Spider-Frog, Cell, Roshi, and Slick (with Black as the nuclear option but it never ended up being used in the battle), Kenny defeated Agatha's team, with only Slick going down although he took Agatha's last Pokémon in that battle, her Gengar, down with him.

As Kenny marveled at his freshly earned Earth badge, Agatha said, "My oh my, kids. You two really made me sweat today. The upcoming Hisuian exhibit that'll be at the museum in Pewter City in a few days will be a nice little breather."

Hearing Agatha mention the Hisuian exhibit piqued the interest of both Dawn and Kenny. "Oh, you're going to see that exhibit too?" Dawn asked.

"...You kids knew about it before I mentioned it just now, didn't you?" Agatha asked.

"Oh yeah," Kenny replied, "Professor Oak over in Pallet Town told us about it." Agatha let out a very mild scoff of annoyance when Kenny mentioned Oak, although it was mild enough so that Kenny didn't actually hear it. But Dawn did, and she was hoping this wouldn't lead to a blow up. "Yeah, my main man here and I were both planning to go," Kenny went on, "And Professor Oak said that he's planning to go too."

Agatha closed her eyes, let out a 'hmph' of a laugh. "So that old bookworm is going to the exhibit as well, ehh? Well it certainly has been a good long while since I last saw him." Turning around to walk a few steps ahead, Agatha said, "...I need to get ready for my trip to Pewter City in a few days for the exhibit, kids. I hate to be rude, but could you two please see yourselves out?" Understanding the cue from Agatha, Dawn nodded once and led Kenny out of the Viridian City gym.

...

As the two reborn trainers walked to the local Pokémon Center again, Kenny asked, "Yo Dawn, what was up with Ghost Granny?"

"Remember what Professor Oak told us in Pallet Town about the history he and Agatha had when we mentioned we were going to challenge Agatha at the Viridian City gym?" Dawn asked, "Yeah, I think it's safe to say that us telling Agatha that Oak would be at the exhibit presented her with the chance to bust Oak's chops over their bad blood from years ago."

"You... think we should warn Oak?" Kenny asked.

"It would be nice of us to do so, yes," Dawn replied, "It wouldn't do if he went in blind while we could have given him a heads up."

Kenny nodded once before turning to face forward. "...Speaking of the exhibit," Kenny went on, "I'm kind of looking forward to it. A chance to look at stuff related to Hisui!" Pumping his fist a bit, Kenny added, "And I'm also looking forward to seeing those skeletal remains of alpha Pokémon!"

Dawn smiled a bit as she thought about the Hisui exhibit herself. In her previous life, she had actually died sometime before Legends Arceus came out, meaning she never got a chance to give the game a shot. But she did absorb all credible info on the games that were revealed before her death in her previous life as Don in late December of 2021. Dawn would have liked to of played Legends Arceus, but the exhibit in Pewter City in a few days will be a nice substitute.

...Still, she would have liked to of given the battles in that game a shot, as well as try battling against those alpha Pokémon that were reported. The chance to fight oversized boss Pokémon like that would have been a blast for the reborn trainer.

END, CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR

Author's notes;

This chapter sees Dawn and Kenny each earn their respective eighth and final Kanto gym badges each. But they aren't finished in Kanto just yet; before they can take their gym challenge tour over to the Johto region next, they'll visit that Hisui exhibit at the museum in Pewter City (as well as check in on Brock), then they'll visit Lance at the city at Indigo Plateau to help with a problem that will be cropping up, a problem that will see Dawn gain something valuable.

But before the Indigo Plateau, Dawn and Kenny will go to Pewter City for the exhibit where, among other things, Agatha will meet up with Oak. The next chapter will be a blast, or at least I'll try to make it that way, so don't turn that dial.

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

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand), Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Slick (male Snorlax), Juan (male Pikachu; Libre), Spider-Frog (male Ariados; shiny), Black (Giratina)