Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter Seventy-one: Action in the Azaleas, Part one
Having taken care of their business in Violet City, Johto, Dawn and Kenny proceeded to make their way to Azalea Town. This would see them travel through Routes 32 and 33, as well as parts of Union Cave. The traveling will give them time to train up some of their newer Pokémon; Dawn was particularly hoping to evolve the unevolved starter Pokémon that she had at least once each while in Johto. "So how much longer do you think it'll take your Pokémon to evolve, dude?" Kenny asked right as he and Dawn exited Union Cave and got out onto Route 33.
Dawn gently shook her head. "I'm not entirely sure, but for Muten and Kowalski at least, it shouldn't take too much longer from what I'm feeling."
Kenny nodded in agreement. "Indeed. You've had them since right before we went to Kanto. They've been in your party for a lot of big battles and other events, so the two of them are bound to have passively gained at least some experience." Looking up, Kenny saw that the skies above were painted orange with sunset. "...It's getting late. Let's set up camp, rest here overnight, and head on over to Azalea Town in the morning."
"I was just about to say the same thing," Dawn replied, following Kenny as he looked for a good spot to set up the campsite with Dawn. Eventually, the two reborn trainers found a relatively spacious and uncluttered area on Route 33, so they went about setting up camp. Once things were properly up and running and Kenny started a pot of his camp out curry, he and Dawn brought their Pokémon out to relax and play around while dinner was being worked on.
...
"So we're going to be seeing a bug Pokémon gym when we reach Azalea Town," Kenny said, "What all Pokémon would be a good idea to bring?"
"Falkner recommended that I use Cyrus and Shalltear," Dawn said, "Given that they are a Staraptor and a Rhyperior respectively, I can't fault Falkner for recommending them. Flying and rock types are good choices to use against bug types."
"I own no rock Pokémon," Kenny pointed out, "And Hoodini is my only flying Pokémon." The two reborn trainers turned to look at where their Pokémon were all relaxing, and Dawn spotted Kenny's Hoothoot among the Pokémon.
Turning back to look at Kenny, Dawn replied, "Your Machamp knows Stone Edge. Combined with his No Guard ability, he's bound to take out whatever Pokémon of Bugsy's he faces. Also, you own a Houndoom which is part fire type and knows Flamethrower. Fire is also very effective against bug Pokémon." Letting out a calm sigh that carried a hint of mild amusement, Dawn went on, "In fact..."
Kenny looked at his friend out of curiosity. "In fact..." Kenny said, trailing off in a manner showing that he expected to be filled in.
"...In fact, I'm planning on using Argent against Bugsy," Dawn answered.
That got a surprised look out of Kenny. "Your alpha Hisuian Arcanine?" Kenny folded his arms over his chest. "...Yeah, that would make sense. He's dual fire rock, so he'll be hell for Bugsy to deal with in a battle." Kenny gave Dawn a curious look. "...What about your other Pokémon you'll use against Bugsy when you face him?"
"I'd like to use Amy and or Sticks, but neither have evolved yet," Dawn said, "So I think I'll use Chi-Chi and Dende alongside Argent."
Kenny smirked in amusement. "A bunch of big name fire Pokémon against a bug Pokémon gym. Yeah, you'll immolate the Azalea Town gym, my main man."
Dawn nodded to Kenny in thanks for the vote of confidence. "What about you? What Pokémon do you plan on using against Bugsy?"
Shrugging, Kenny replied, "I think I'll use Hoodini like what I was originally planning, plus Zarbon and Goofy like you suggested."
Dawn understood what Kenny had going on, raised her cup to him in a toast. "You'll do fine, Kenny," Dawn said, "Just be-"
Suddenly, both Dawn and Kenny heard flashes of energy go off, the telltale sign of a Pokémon evolving. The two of them both turned and saw that it was Muten and Kowalski who were both in the middle of evolving. After changing form and growing, Muten and Kowalski stopped glowing, revealing that they had evolved into Grotle and Prinplup respectively. "Hot damn!" Kenny cheered, "They evolved! About damn time, too!"
Dawn was indeed surprised to see she now had a Grotle and a Prinplup. At the very least, this meant that she can focus a bit more on training Amy and Sticks. Regardless, Dawn felt that two of her Pokémon evolving was cause for celebration. "...I say we celebrate this," Dawn remarked to her fellow reborn trainer.
"Woohoo! Party!" Kenny cheered, pumping both fists into the air. The cheering and celebration of Muten and Kowalski evolving went on for a bit before Dawn decided to have everyone call it a night on the basis they had to try getting up early the next morning in order to reach Azalea Town. Still, that didn't detract from how happy Dawn was to finally see Muten and Kowalski evolve.
She still needed to evolve Amy and Sticks at least once each while she was in Johto. Then there's evolving them plus Muten and Kowalski all the way. Dawn also had to train Vegeta until he learned Double Hit so that he can evolve into Ambipom. Dawn realized that she had quite the list of things to do in training her newer Pokémon, but it's not like she wasn't up for the challenge.
On the contrary, Dawn was looking forward to doing some training with her Pokémon again, given that she hadn't heavily done so since Sinnoh more or less.
Dawn and Kenny woke up early the next morning, got everything gathered up, then made their way down the rest of Route 33 in order to reach Azalea Town. Reaching there, the first thing that the reborn trainers did was go to the Pokémon Center to have their Pokémon looked over. After all of them got clean bills of health, Dawn and Kenny did some party rotation in order to better prep for taking on Bugsy at the Azalea Town gym.
Dawn, in addition to Amy and Sticks as she was now going to focus on getting them to evolve into Charmeleon and Quilava, also had Chi-Chi, Dende, Argent, and Vegeta in her party. "Might as well also get some training in on Vegeta to get him to the point where he'll evolve," Dawn remarked.
Kenny nodded in understanding. "Yeah, but with all of the firepower, both metaphorical and literal, that you have in your party, he'll probably just sit back and watch as your other Pokémon set Bugsy and his Pokémon on fire."
Dawn couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Thanks for believing in me."
"As for me," Kenny said, "I'm heading in with the plan to use Hoodini, Zarbon, and Goofy. I also have Cermit, Endive, and Elay, the first two in order for them to gain experience passively, and the third because I'd like to see Bugsy try to stand up to the might of the legendary Elay."
Dawn couldn't blame her friend for that kind of thinking. Kenny, although he was planning to bring two unevolved grass Pokémon with him to a bug Pokémon gym, made it clear he wasn't planning to actually use either one against Bugsy, that said grass Pokémon were along for the ride solely to passively gain experience while the Pokémon Kenny was actually planning to use handled all of the battling against Bugsy's bugs.
Dawn will be the first to say that Kenny's a lot smarter than what people would normally expect out of him upon first seeing/hearing of him. Underestimate Kenny Harris at your own peril.
...
When they exited the Azalea Town Pokémon Center, the reborn trainers were fully expecting to just head right on over to the Azalea Town gym to look into one of them (Kenny first since he won the rock paper scissors best two out of three against Dawn) challenging Bugsy in a bid to try to earn the Hive Badge. It would have been a simple start to what would have been a simple day for the two of them in Azalea Town.
...That being said, Dawn and Kenny were both taken aback out of shock when they saw a few random Azalea Town citizens fighting against a number of persons who were clearly members of a villainous team such as Team Rocket. But these villainous team members were not dressed as members of any villainous team that Dawn or Kenny were familiar with.
The male villainous team members were all wearing dark blue sleeveless jackets with yellow trim, matching pants held up with belts, and matching shoes with the shoelaces and soles being yellow while the rest were dark blue. The jackets were open, revealing that they wore baggy shirts under the sleeveless jackets that matched the colors of the rest of their outfits; dark blue, with yellow trim on the collars, hems, and sleeve ends.
The female villainous team members were dressed similarly, except that they wore baggy cargo shorts instead of pants, and their shirts under their sleeveless jackets were sleeveless same as their jackets. The color scheme for the female villainous team member outfits was still the same as their male counterparts, however. Additionally, all members of this new villainous team, regardless of gender, wore baret hats and gaiter masks that matched the color scheme of their outfits.
All of the sleeveless jackets had a heater shield shaped patch located above the left pec, bright yellow save for a stylized capital letter 'S' that was dark blue.
It was clear to Dawn and Kenny that the Azalea Town citizens who were fighting off the mysterious villainous team were on the losing end of what was starting to look like a full blown siege on Azalea Town. "...What in the name of Odin is going on..." Dawn muttered in disbelief, her eyes wide with surprise, "...Who are all of these people attacking Azalea Town..."
Before Kenny could speak up, he and Dawn were met up by two male members of the mysterious villainous team attacking Azalea Town. "Halt!" said the first villainous team member, "Azalea Town is under temporary occupation by Team Scorn! Do not attempt to fight back against us!"
"Team Scorn?" Kenny repeated, sounding mostly confused and not the least bit intimidated. Shaking his head, Kenny replied, "Never heard of you guys."
Dawn furrowed her eyebrows a bit as she looked at the two male members of what had been identified as Team Scorn. Dawn, similar to Kenny, wasn't the least bit intimidated, although that didn't stop her from being surprised by seeing what all was going on upon exiting the Azalea Town Pokémon Center. "...You say that you guys are called Team Scorn," Dawn began, "And that you're only occupying Azalea Town temporarily."
"The officer of Team Scorn leading this occupation, Captain Zed, is currently at Slowpoke Well," said the second Team Scorn grunt, "Leading the battling against the Slowpoke and those foolish enough to try to challenge us in a pointless bid to save the Slowpoke!"
"Hang on, don't the people living here in Azalea Town pamper the local Slowpokes and treat them like royalty?" Kenny asked, "Why would you guys attack the Slowpoke?"
This time, both of the Team Scorn grunts actually shrugged in confusion. "...To be honest, we don't know," the first Team Scorn grunt admitted, "Although I did get it that Captain Zed received orders from the admin in charge of our sector of Team Scorn that our temporary occupation of Azalea Town has two points."
Dawn and Kenny both immediately reached for the pokéballs containing their on hand Pokémon, called out Argent and Elay respectively. "I'm guessing that the Slowpokes are involved in one of the two points behind your team's attack on Azalea Town," Dawn said seriously, "That said, we're going to be looking to get answers out of you guys."
"Fat chance of that happening, even with your impressive Pokémon!" the second Team Scorn grunt said as he and his companion both called out one Pokémon each, both being Rattatas. "We'd like to see anyone here in Azalea Town try to stand up to Team Scorn!" the second Team Scorn grunt said as he and his companion got ready to battle against Dawn and Kenny.
...While having no idea how in over their heads they were in trying to fight Dawn and Kenny.
Over at Slowpoke Well, a number of Team Scorn members were attacking the Slowpokes at random, or battling what Azalea Town citizens with Pokémon who came by to try to stop them from terrorizing the revered Slowpokes. There was enough members of Team Scorn available to keep all would be heroes occupied while a somewhat older member supervised everything.
This older member wore a long sleeved shirt rather than a t-shirt or sleeveless shirt under his vest, which was zipped up. He wore boots, looking to be either work or military grade, with the ends of his pants legs tucked into the boots. He lacked the baret (showing his slicked back yellow blonde hair) and gaiter mask, but when he lowered his arms after having held them behind his back, he was wearing a pair of durable hide gloves that were bright yellow. His outfit still matched the color scheme of Team Scorn outfits.
"Ah, the field of battle," the older Team Scorn member said as he stood back while watching the grunts do pretty much everything, "What better place is there for one to prove himself as great and worthy of commendation?"
"Captain Zed," a male voice spoke up in what sounded like a long suffering tone of voice, making the now identified Captain Zed of Team Scorn turn to address the male Team Scorn member who got his attention.
"What is it, Kenji?" asked Zed, "Can't you see that I'm currently leading the men here in glorious battle to prove to Admin Brother that I'm worthy of promotion from Second Captain of the Katana Sector to First Captain?"
The now identified Kenji, clearly a Team Scorn grunt who served Zed as an assistant of sorts, let out a long suffering sigh. "If proving yourself to Admin Brother is what you're hoping to do, then why are you leading the efforts against the Slowpoke here in Slowpoke Well? The orders handed to you made it clear that Admin Brother wanted you to lead the effort to confront Kurt, the man who makes special pokéballs out of apricorns, in order to collect as many apricorn pokéballs as possible. The efforts against the Slowpoke were meant to serve as a distraction to keep as many people from interfering with the efforts againt Kurt as possible."
"A lone old man who can't stand up to the force that would be brought to bare against him," Zed said, "That's not going to help me earn greater glory, it won't prove that I'm an effective officer and great at leading the troops in battle!"
"No," Kenji sighed, "But it would prove that you're capable of following the orders that were given to you by our sector's admin. Sir, I really strongly recommend that you leave things here to the men and go lead those in the middle of confronting Kurt for the apricorn pokéballs. If Admin Brother finds out that you led the distraction rather than the real goal, he won't be happy."
"Not to worry, Kenji," Zed assured the Team Scorn grunt, "My leadership here in the battle against the Slowpoke and those who would try to defend them will be so epic and glorious, that Admin Brother will not only overlook what small problems will end up popping up, but he'll be practically begging me to accept the promotion to First Captain of the Katana Sector."
Kenji let out another long suffering sigh, realizing that his captain was too thick headed to listen to anything that any Team Scorn grunt has to say. Hell, Zed probably wouldn't listen to the words of concern/advice of other Team Scorn captains either. It'd have to take at least one of the admins of Team Scorn, most likely Admin Brother given he's the admin in charge of the Katana Sector which is the sector Zed belongs to, in order to get Zed to listen.
The long suffering grunt of Team Scorn resigned himself to the inevitability that Admin Brother was going to scold Zed for going against orders, which was bound to be followed by Zed somehow trying to pass the blame onto someone else, probably Kenji himself. The only silver lining in this entire situation was that, given how many grunts were in Azalea Town, there was no way they'd fail to carry out the orders from Admin Brother, even though Zed led the wrong portion of the siege.
Zed, at most, would probably only get a mild scolding for supervising the wrong part of the siege, then be congratulated for the siege being successful overall. Zed will not change his attitude at all and still aim to go up through the ranks, not caring at all about what all that he has to do in order to 'prove himself', despite how it would most likely go against orders given to him by Admin Brother.
Dawn and Kenny, after effortlessly fighting off the two Team Scorn grunts who confronted them right outside of the Azalea Town Pokémon Center, proceeded to fight off any other Team Scorn members that they came across. This included a pair of female Team Scorn grunts who, each using a Sentret, defeated two Azalea Town citizens and were preparing to accost said citizens for their money and or Pokémon.
Dawn and Kenny didn't know what those female Team Scorn grunts were going to do exactly, and it didn't matter that the reborn trainers didn't know because they had Argent and Elay attack and take out the two Sentrets. The two female Team Scorn grunts then sent out a Spinarak and a Zubat, but those fell in one hit each from Elay and Argent respectively. The two female Team Scorn grunts then ran away, saying that they were out of Pokémon who could fight.
"Thanks for the save," said the first Azalea Town citizen, a mid teens girl, as she addressed Dawn and Kenny, "Those girls would have taken the Snubble that my boyfriend had caught for me as a pet had the two of you not stepped in!"
The other Azalea Town citizen with the mid teens girl, an eight year old boy, nodded vigorously in agreement. "Oh yeah! My big sis here really loves her pet Snubble that her boyfriend caught for her! He also caught a Spinarak for me that those mean girls would have taken had you two not come in and saved us!"
Dawn scowled a bit, as if some grim theory she had was just confirmed. "So these Team Scorn jokers are also in the business of stealing Pokémon from helpless persons." Looking to the mid teens girl and the girl's eight year old little brother, Dawn asked, "My friend here and I got it that Team Scorn is harassing the Slowpokes here, but also has a secondary goal. I don't suppose that either of you two knows anything that could help us?"
While the mid teens girl looked to be thinking hard about something, the little brother said, "Ooh, ooh! I saw a number of people who were dressed like the mean girls head on over in the direction of Mr. Kurt's place!" The little brother looked a bit concerned. "...I'm not too sure if that would help or anything, though."
"Mr. Kurt?" Kenny repeated.
"He's a man who lives here in Azalea Town," the mid teens girl explained, "He's a renowned expert on pokéballs, and even makes quality pokéballs from apricorns."
Dawn's eyes suddenly went wide with realization; she remembered from the video games in her previous life that Kurt made the apricorn pokéballs. Now that things were real life, Dawn could see how Kurt would be a lucrative target for these Team Scorn fellows. But why also attack the local Slowpokes at the same time? Dawn wanted answers, and she wanted them as soon as they could get a hold of them.
However, with both Kurt and the Slowpokes being targeted at the same time by two separate groups of these Team Scorn jokers, Dawn turned to Kenny and said, "Kenny, can I count on you to go handle the Team Scorn members at Slowpoke Well while I head on over to confront the Team Scorn members who are going to confront Kurt?"
"Why can't I do the one with the guy with the magic pokéballs?" Kenny asked.
"One, the citizens here in Azalea Town," Dawn began, "Highly revere the Slowpokes. You'll be seen as a great hero for coming to the aid of the Slowpokes and those fighting to defend them at Slowpoke Well."
The mid teens girl and her eight year old little brother both nodded in agreement. "She's right," the mid teens girl said, "What I would question is why she's giving the role that will earn greater glory to you instead of trying to take it for herself."
"Two, the two Team Scorn grunts who confronted us right outside of the local Pokémon Center said that the only ranking member of Team Scorn here in Azalea Town is over at Slowpoke Well," Dawn continued, "I'd figured that you'd like the chance to knock around the highest ranking member of Team Scorn who's here in Azalea Town."
Kenny then let of an amused smirk. "...Yeah, that does sound right up my ally." Turning to look at Elay, Kenny said, "What say you, Elay? Wanna go defeat the Team Scorn captain over at Slowpoke Well by using the power of cringe?" The shiny Sandslash, with his eyes each going in a different direction, looked up at Kenny before giving a single tongue click and a nod as an answer. "Alright!" Kenny cheered, "Time to go knock some bad guy heads! Which way to Slowpoke Well?"
After the mid teens girl pointed the way, telling Kenny to just go straight in the direction she was pointing in while keeping an eye out for signs leading to Slowpoke Well, Kenny and Elay took off in a mad dash towards Slowpoke Well. Meanwhile, Dawn had Argent crouch down so she can climb onto his back, then had him stand up straight, giving him the idea that she was going to ride him right on over to their destination.
"Which way to Kurt's?" Dawn asked the mid teens girl and the eight year old little brother. The two Azalea Town citizens were awe struck by Dawn, looking very much heroic as she sat on the back of a large and more epic than normal looking Arcanine, ready to ride off to confront the Team Scorn members that were bound to be harassing Kurt. The mid teens girl, once again, pointed the way to where Team Scorn was also bound to be causing trouble.
Dawn nodded in thanks, then pointed the way for Argent to go. The alpha Hisuian Arcanine took off, fast but still manageable for Dawn, as they went off to go save Kurt from whatever troubles might be ailing him at the moment. As she rode, Dawn looked grim as she thought about what all was going on right now in Azalea Town; a villainous team that Dawn despite her knowledge from her previous life had no idea about, practically laying siege to Azalea Town while carrying out efforts on two separate fronts.
Who all were Team Scorn? What was their ultimate goal? Who all were the Team Scorn captain currently present in Azalea Town and the other Team Scorn officers? Dawn was very much worried about all of this, and feared this development would have an impact on other things that will go on in this world that she and Kenny had been reborn into. Dawn was wanting answers, and by Odin, she was going to get them.
END, CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Dawn and Kenny reach Azalea Town, intending to earn their second Johto gym badges each. However, those plans go off the rails completely when Team Scorn first pops up, with two separate efforts being made while a ton of Team Scorn grunts fight random persons in Azalea Town to keep as many as possible from interfering with said efforts. How this will impact the story will be seen as the story goes on, so don't turn that dial.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Argent (male Arcanine; Hisuian; alpha), Vegeta (male Aipom), Amy (female Charmander), Sticks (female Cyndaquil), Dende (male Magmortar)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Zarbon (male Machamp), Hoodini (male Hoothoot), Elay (male Sandslash; shiny), Cermit (male Bulbasaur), Endive (male Chikorita), Goofy (male Houndoom)