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-five: Battle at the Pokéathlon Dome
Dawn and Kenny, having earned their respective Plain Badges from Whitney earlier, were leaving Goldenrod City to make their way up to Ecruteak City so as to challenge the gym there. They were on Route 35, heading north to reach their goal. Given how late it was by the time they got about halfway through Route 35, the reborn trainers decided to set up camp for the night and get an early start the next morning.
While Dawn, Kenny, and their Pokémon were all eating, Dawn took note of how Kenny was making sure that his named Larvitar, Godzilla, ate his fill of camp out curry. "Trying to get your bond with Godzilla boosted as high and as quick as possible, hmm?" Dawn asked.
Gesturing to Godzilla, Kenny explained, "This little dude here is going to be one of the headliners of the cringe posse when he's all big and strong. Everything I do is part of his training to see him kick the butts of everyone and everything." Godzilla, for his part, was happy he was being tended to so much, not to mention how he was being trusted with such responsibility, like a young child eager to prove himself to his parents. As the reborn trainers and their Pokémon continued to eat, Kenny asked, "Hey Dawn, can we swing by the Pokéathlon Dome tomorrow, if only to check it out?"
"I figure it wouldn't hurt to see what's going on over there before continuing our way," Dawn replied, "Might be good for some entertainment before we hit up Ecruteak City." Fiddling around with her fork on her plate, Dawn added, "Seeing the National Park on the way as well wouldn't hurt."
"Indeed!" Kenny agreed, and together the two reborn trainers relaxed the rest of the night, excited for their adventures the following morning.
...
It was barely five in the morning when Kenny woke Dawn up at their camp site. "...Kenny, I know you're excited to go check out the Pokéathlon Dome, but can't it wait until later?" Dawn said in a tired tone, "Besides, I'm certain the place isn't even op-"
"Dude, some people ran by screaming that villainous team members were attacking the Pokéathlon Dome!" Kenny said, cutting Dawn off. Hearing that, Dawn became far more awake, instantly getting up. Looking around, Dawn saw that the campsite had already been tidied up completely. "Yeah, I got everything put away before I got you up so we can go to the Pokéathlon Dome to see what's going on," Kenny said, "Anyway, let's go!"
Dawn wasn't even going to ask how Kenny got everything put away, including their tent and Dawn's sleeping bag, without waking Dawn herself up in the process. She was going to attribute it to Kenny being Kenny as she followed after him to go see what was going on over at the Pokéathlon Dome. She hoped it was nothing too bad, but she had a dreading feeling that things weren't going to be as well as she was hoping.
Upon reaching the area that the Pokéathlon Dome was in, Dawn and Kenny saw that pretty much everything was being ransacked by Team Scorn grunts, with a few odd trainers trying to fight back against the Team Scorn grunts. "Team Scorn is at it again!" Kenny snapped, "What do you think that they're after this time?"
Gently shaking her head, Dawn replied, "I don't know and I don't care! What we ought to focus on is stopping Team Scorn from trying to pull off whatever scheme they're af-"
"Dawn! Kenny!" a familiar male voice called out. Dawn and Kenny both stopped short and turned to see Ideku Badorigo come jogging up to them. He was still skinny, but Dawn saw that Ideku's face looked a little bit less thin than last time, showing that he was putting on some missing weight that he needed. "What are you guys doing here?" Ideku asked, "There's members of a villainous team running around here!"
"We know," Dawn said, "Kenny and I came here due to Kenny having heard people fleeing from here saying something about criminals, so we came to check it out. Turns out it's Team Scorn."
Ideku nodded grimly in agreement. "Yeah. Kind of reminds me of the one or two run ins with members of Team Rocket back when my brother Katsuku and I were first traveling through Johto. Rocket or Scorn, it doesn't matter. You got criminals needing to be stopped either way."
"Yo Ideku," Kenny said, "Wanna help us fight off the Team Scorn grunts here?"
Ideku nodded in agreement immediately. "Can one of you stay out here to help fight off the guys here while the other comes with me into the main Pokéathlon Dome? I heard talk that a Team Scorn captain is in the dome, trying to steal a bunch of Pokéathlon medals."
"Kenny, you go with Ideku to handle the Team Scorn captain," Dawn said, "I'll help to handle the guys out here!"
"Here's hoping that I get to help foil the true point of Team Scorn's latest act!" Kenny said as he and Ideku went off to go confront the Team Scorn grunts and one captain in the Pokéathlon Dome, leaving clean-up outside to Dawn. She ran towards the largest group of Team Scorn grunts that she saw, calling out Chi-Chi, Leni, and Froppy in the process. "Alright, you Team Scorn jerks!" Dawn said, "Let's dance!"
...
Inside of the main lobby of the Pokéathlon Dome, Kenny and Ideku ran on in, only to see every Team Scorn grunt inside occupied in a battle with a random trainer each. "Looks like we've been beaten to the sport, ehh?" Kenny said, "There's no one here for us to fi-"
"Unless you wish to... push matters in that regard, young man," an older male voice called out, making Kenny and Ideku both turn to see a man who is clearly a Team Scorn captain walk down a set of wide, carpeted stairs, followed by a female Team Scorn grunt carrying a fairly large box that was making the sound of a lot of metallic disks clinking together like loose change in a piggy bank.
The Team Scorn captain wore a dark blue dress robe, with yellow long sleeved dress shirt under a dark blue dress vest underneath, dark blue dress pants held up with a belt, and shiny dark blue boots. His long, straight dark hair was worn in a casual but relatively neat style. "You boys best get out of my way," the Team Scorn captain said, "I've been charged by Admin Brother to lead the mission to make off with those Pokéathlon medals. It wouldn't do if I failed, especially given the... blunder that Second Captain Zed had back in Azalea Town."
"So you're in the Katana Sector of Team Scorn," Kenny snarled, "Same as that Zed jerk and your Admin Brother."
"Indeed," the Team Scorn captain confirmed, "I am Captain Alan, third captain of Team Scorn's Katana Sector. Now then, unless you two boys both wish to... insist... on fighting me, I do advise you both on getting out of my way."
Kenny took out a pokéball and tossed it up, calling out Godzilla the Larvitar in the process. "Nope, Imma have to insist that you two FiGhT mEh!"
Ideku tossed up a pokéball as well, saying, "Morlord, I choose you!" Ideku's Pokémon turned out to be his Quagsire.
Alan sighed, tossing up a pokéball while saying, "Go Ekans!"
"Go Nidoran!" the female Team Scorn grunt said after setting the box she was carrying down and sending out a Pokémon to fight, her Pokémon being a male Nidoran.
Kenny saw Ideku give him a look and a nod before the teenage trainer said, "Morlord, use Earthquake!"
"Godzilla, return!" Kenny said, "Okay, Hoodini! Let's make it cringe!" Godzilla was immediately recalled and Hoodini, Kenny's named Hoothoot, was sent out in his place, flying above the ground as Morlord triggered a massive quake that slammed both Ekans and Nidoran with seismic waves, hurting both terribly and knocking them out.
Alan and the grunt with him recalled both of their fainted Pokémon, then sent out an Arbok and a female Nidoran respectively. "Arbok, use Bite on Hoothoot!" Alan ordered.
"Nidoran, use Scratch on Quagsire!" the female Team Scorn grunt commanded.
"Morlord, use Waterfall on Arbok!" Ideku called out.
"Hoodini, return!" Kenny said, "Alright, Godzilla! Let's make it cringe!" Kenny swapped his Larvitar back in, mainly to ensure he got good experience for every Pokémon the enemy was using. Meanwhile, Morlord the Quagsire slammed hard into Arbok with Waterfall and knocked it out before it could hit Godzilla. The female Nidoran successfully attacked Quagsire, but her Scratch didn't do all that much damage.
Alan, seeing his second Pokémon taken out, recalled Arbok before taking out a third pokéball. He looked at it with a melancholy look of resignation before he tossed it up, saying, "Go Deerling!" To Kenny's surprise, Alan's third Pokémon was a Deerling of all things. It was the winter style Deerling to be specific, but the fact that an officer of a villainous team had a Deerling of all things in their party took Kenny by surprise. "Deerling, use Double Kick on Larvitar!" Alan called out.
"Nidoran, use Scratch on Quagsire!" the female Team Scorn grunt said.
"Morlord, use Ice Punch on Deerling!" Ideku ordered.
"Godzilla, return!" Kenny said as he swapped his Pokémon in and out again, "Okay, Hoodini! Let's make it cringe!" Kenny's named Hoothoot came back out, and the Double Kick from Alan's Deerling aimed at him was foiled when Ideku's Quagsire punched it with a fist radiating icy cold energy, knocking Deerling out in one hit. Quagsire took another Scratch from the female Nidoran, but it'd take a lot of scratches from Nidoran before any substantial damage began to pile up on Quagsire.
Alan recalled his fainted Deerling, grimacing as if regretful over sending his Deerling out into any danger. Kenny, ignoring Alan, pointed at the female Nidoran and said, "Hoodini, use Confusion!"
"Morlord, use Earthquake!" Ideku ordered.
"Nidoran, use Scratch on Quagsire!" the female Team Scorn grunt commanded.
The Nidoran never got a chance to attack as Quagsire triggered another quake that shook the battlefield, slamming Nidoran with seismic waves that knocked her out. The female Team Scorn grunt recalled her fainted female Nidoran. "Captain Alan, we're both out of Pokémon," said the female Team Scorn grunt, "What do we do?"
Alan let out a breath. "We have to... unfortunately leave the box filled with the Pokéathlon medals behind. We're in no position to try to fight out way out of things here with the medals, so I'll have to report the failure to Admin Brother." Alan then led the female Team Scorn grunt away, with the box filled with Pokéathlon medals left where the grunt had set it down at. Kenny and Ideku succeeded in keeping Team Scorn from making off with the prize that they were after this time.
As Kenny and Ideku went to secure the box containing the Pokéathlon medals, they saw it that the remaining Team Scorn grunts were all falling back with their captain. "Hopefully this means that the business Dawn is handling outside will come to an end as well," Kenny said to Ideku as they looked over the Pokéathlon medals in the box. Sure enough, the remaining Team Scorn members in the Pokéathlon Dome area all fell back, their mission there having ultimately been foiled by the trainers who confronted them.
Later that morning at around six forty-five, the trainers who fought against Team Scorn gave statements to the law enforcement men who came by to canvas the area. More importantly, Lance the Indigo League champion came by as well when he heard of Team Scorn's attack on the Pokéathlon Dome, and he immediately made a beeline for Dawn, Kenny, and Ideku when he saw all of them together.
"Thanks again for your efforts in the fight against Team Scorn," Lance said to Dawn and Kenny. Looking to Ideku, Lance said, "And it's great to see you again, Ideku Badorigo. It's been a while, near five years I believe."
"You were in attendance to the Johto League Conference that I participated in and won," Ideku confirmed with a nod.
"Anyway Lance," Dawn began, "Team Scorn this time had a goal that at least sort of makes sense for a villainous team, that being trying to steal a bunch of Pokéathlon medals. Kenny and Ideku put a stop to that and prevented any medals from being stolen while I helped to hold off the grunts outside of the Pokéathlon Dome. I also have notes on two Team Scorn grunts trying to steal from the daycare center on Route 34."
Lance looked a bit surprised by that, then Dawn showed him her notes on what they had on Team Scorn thus far, updated to include the act on Route 34. "...They only wanted to steal just one Pokémon egg? Without caring what Pokémon could hatch from it?" Lance gently shook his head in disbelief. "Team Scorn is even more of an enigma than I had first assumed."
"An enigma that will be beaten either way," Ideku stated firmly.
Lance cracked a small smile at that. "A very reassuring thought, Ideku. Thanks." To Dawn and the boys as a whole, Lance said, "I hope I can count on all of you to help continue the fight against Team Scorn. Even though it took them up until now to try carrying out a scheme that at least makes some sense for a villainous team to try to carry out, there's still no predicting them"
Dawn and the boys agreed, and after Lance went to talk to some officers to learn more about what had happened, Dawn and the boys turned to look at one another. "How did you do against the grunts out here, my main man?" Kenny asked.
Smiling a bit, Dawn took out and tossed up two pokéballs, calling out a Charmeleon and a Quilava in the process. "Amy and Sticks both evolved after enough enemy Pokémon were defeated."
"A Charmeleon and a Quilava!" Ideku said, "Those are both fairly rare fire type Pokémon." Dawn nodded in agreement after recalling Amy and Sticks. "You really are a talented trainer, Dawn," Ideku said, "Same goes for Kenny. You both show what it truly means to work well with Pokémon."
"Thanks," Dawn replied, "Say Ideku, what are you up to after this?"
"I plan to head straight to Ecruteak City," Ideku explained, "I want to see some of the sights there, do a little bit of tourist stuff I didn't quite get the chance to do when I took the Johto League challenge way back in the day."
"Dawn and I are planning to hit up Ecruteak City as well," Kenny said, "But we were going to check out the Pokéathlon Dome and the National Park on the way first." Looking around, Kenny said, "But with what happened here, I think checking out the Pokéathlon Dome is out of the question."
Ideku nodded in agreement. "But the National Park is still nice. A great place to relax and chill out, which I think is advised given that we've all just gotten out of dealing with a Team Scorn attack."
The reborn trainers nodded in agreement with Ideku, then waved him off as he took off for Ecruteak City. After Ideku was gone, Dawn turned to look at Kenny. "I'm glad to see that he's doing well," Dawn said, "Especially given how he was when we first met him."
"Totally," Kenny said, "Anyway, let's go chill over in the National Park. We could really use a breather after what we've been through." Dawn nodded in agreement before she followed Kenny out of the Pokéathlon Dome area, and back on the path that would eventually lead them to Ecrutrek City.
But first, some relaxation.
Later that day, Dawn was sitting on a bench in the National Park, watching as Kenny was having his Pokémon play around to unwind. Dawn let out a tired sigh that carried all of her exhaustion; it was barely just eight in the morning by this point, and yet Dawn felt as if she had already gotten her daily recommended amount of excitement. Looking over at where Kenny was playing around with some of his Pokémon, Dawn felt that his stamina for excitement was without limit.
Then there was the enigma that was Team Scorn. They have finally, at least to Dawn's knowledge, tried to carry out a proper act for a villainous team, if one can call it 'proper'. The attempt to steal all of those Pokéathlon medals was something that would be right up the alley of a group the likes of Team Scorn. But the fact that they had finally tried to pull something that people wouldn't be all that surprised that Team Scorn would try to pull only makes their previous known acts more confusing.
Why lay siege to Azalea Town with the ultimate goal of taking as many apricorn pokéballs made by Kurt the pokéball smith as possible while not bothering with a potential cash cow in the form of the Slowpoke tails? Why try to steal only one Pokémon egg from the daycare center on Route 34, and not caring about what Pokémon could potentially hatch from that lone egg they were trying to steal, when they could easily have tried to steal as many as possible? Dawn's mind was boggled by how Team Scorn was, at this point, being impossible to figure out.
As Dawn thought about the matter more, she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Kenny cry out, "Oh snap, Hoodini!" Dawn quickly looked over in the direction where Kenny was in the middle of playing with Godzilla and Hoodini, and saw it as Kenny and Godzilla stood back with looks of awe on their faces as Hoodini was glowing bright white while changing shape and growing. When the growing and changing was done, the glowing faded to reveal that Hoodini had evolved into a Noctowl.
"Well now," Dawn called out as she got up from where she was sitting, making her way over to Kenny and his Pokémon, "It looks like your Hoothoot had evolved into Noctowl, Kenny."
Kenny smiled, gently petted Hoodini on the head. "He's looking pretty ballin' too. Hey Dawn, how do you think Hoodini will help out with the gym battles ahead?"
"If I recall correctly, there's one gym here in Johto that Hoodini will be a boon in," Dawn replied, "But we'll have to wait on that." Kenny's Hoothoot evolving into Noctowl would also be a boon that will help out with the fight against Team Scorn.
Kenny nodded in agreement with Dawn, before he turned back to look at Hoodini the Noctowl. As Kenny cheered over his Pokémon evolving, Dawn couldn't help but smile. Team Scorn wasn't the only enigma out there being borderline impossible to figure out; Kenny Harris has something of a monopoly on that business himself. At least Kenny has pure intentions and means well, even more so when one considers how he treats his Pokémon.
Dawn also couldn't help but wonder how the rest of her and Kenny's Johto portion of their gym challenge tour was going to go. Dawn was expecting a simple jaunt with few (if any) distractions popping up to cause her and Kenny to detour from simply earning eight Johto gym badges. But now with the advent and rising of Team Scorn, the reborn trainer had no idea what to expect out of her and Kenny's travels throughout the Johto region.
And what if this somehow ends up affecting their travels through the other regions? After Johto, Dawn and Kenny intend to do Hoenn, then go through Unova, Kalos, Alola, and Galar. And whatever other regions pop up after that. Furthermore, what will Ash and the others say about the rising of Team Scorn? Undoubtedly they'd offer to help fight Team Scorn off, but Dawn has no idea what any of them would say exactly. She figured that she would just have to wait and see on that one.
Checking the time, Dawn remembered that she, Kenny, and their Pokémon haven't even gotten a chance to eat yet. "Hey Kenny!" Dawn called out, getting her friend's attention, "We haven't eaten any breakfast yet! Why don't we get started on that?"
"Good idea, my main man!" Kenny called out, jogging over to meet up with Dawn, prompting Hoodini and Godzilla to fly slash waddle after him.
...
A short while later in a designated outdoor eating area with stationary grills, Dawn and Kenny had gotten some food made up for them and their Pokémon. As Kenny was still tending to Godzilla in a bid to curry favor in the hopes of raising friendship and affection as much and as quickly as he could, Dawn was setting some food dishes down for her Pokémon. "There we go, you guys," Dawn said as she placed food down for her Pokémon.
Dawn's Pokémon all looked happy for a chance to dig in, but Chi-Chi stopped short before she started to reach for her food. The named Infernape turned to look at some nearby bushes, and she snarled at them while giving an untrusting glare. "What's wrong, Chi-Chi?" Dawn asked, instantly trusting her Infernape's instincts and turning to look at the bushes that Chi-Chi wasn't amused with. To some mild alarm on Dawn's part, the bushes began to rustle, as if something alive was about to come out of them.
Something did end up coming out, but it was only a Venonat. Dawn was instantly relieved, as she was worried it might have been something worse. "Veno?" the Venonat said in a curious tone as it approached Dawn and her Pokémon.
"You and your Pokémon looked a bit tense there just now," Kenny said as he came over.
"Yeah, we saw some rustling bushes," Dawn began to explain, "But it was just this wild Venonat."
The Venonat cautiously approached Dawn's Pokémon, or rather their food dishes, but Chi-Chi and Froppy both snarled angrily at the Venonat, making it back off instantly. Dawn figured that the Venonat must be hungry. "Hold on, Venonat," Dawn said, getting the Venonat's attention as she got a dish of food ready for it. Dawn then placed the food dish down in front of Venonat and, after she assured Venonat the food was for it, watched as Venonat practically dove right at the food.
After Venonat ate everything, it gave a little burp before rolling over onto its back, giving a content sigh before promptly falling asleep. Smiling gently, Dawn took the opportunity to take out a Net Ball, expand it, and tossed it at Venonat. The Net Ball took Venonat inside before landing softly on the grass, then shook for a bit before making a ping sound, indicating capture. "You decided to catch that Venonat?" Kenny asked in mild surprise.
"Venonat evolves into Venomoth, a species of Pokémon from the Kanto region that I've always had a sort of fondness for," Dawn explained, "It sort of reminds me of Mothim." Taking a look at her newly caught Venonat, Dawn saw it was male, had a timid nature (probably explained why it was so cautious approaching Dawn's other Pokémon), and the Tinted Lens ability. "I'll name him Holger," Dawn said, right before the Net Ball holding the now dubbed Holger was sent to Oak's lab.
Smirking, Kenny said, "Imagine if you evolve him, then show both him and Coupins to Misty at the exact same time. For bonus points, get a Volcarona as well since it's also a moth Pokémon." Dawn couldn't help but chuckle at what Kenny said. Hell, Dawn was now considering getting a Dustox as well (it's also a moth Pokémon) just to further compound things. And Dawn really was considering getting a lot of different moth Pokémon just to screw with Misty via her fear of bug types.
With some good mood and humor restored after a rather annoying early start to the day, Dawn and Kenny felt all the better, making them look for forward to their trek to Ecruteak City. They just hoped that nothing was going to crop up to scuttle things for them in Ecruteak City, as least before they're both able to get the Fog Badge from Morty at his gym. They'd like to make more progress towards completing the Johto portion of their gym challenge tour before doing any side things while they're in Ecruteak City.
END, CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter features some Team Scorn inspired chaos at the Pokéathlon Dome, with Kenny teaming up with Ideku to confront Team Scorn captain Alan to stop him from stealing a bunch of Pokéathlon medals. There's also a brief stop in the National Park area, and there Dawn catches a Venonat that'll help her with screwing with Misty in the future. Anyway, the next chapter will see the reborn trainers reach Ecruteak City, where they'll be doing a lot to help out. Catch you later.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Leni (female Lucario), Froppy (female Toxicroak), Amy (female Charmeleon), Sticks (female Quilava), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Priestess (female Liligant; Hisuian; alpha), Zarbon (male Machamp), Hisoka (male Mr. Mime), Hoodini (male Noctowl), Godzilla (male Larvitar), Black (Giratina)