Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter Eighty-nine: Return home before further adventure in Hoenn
Kenny walked into the Blackthorn City Pokémon Center, letting out a cheer as he held up a Rising Badge. "Guess who just brought the hurt to Clair with Juan, Android 21, and Godzilla?!" Kenny called out loudly and excitedly.
Dawn, who was accompanied by Lance and an unidentified man with a moustache, looked over at Kenny who had just walked into the Pokémon Center. "Yeah, it's a shame you couldn't have your battle with my cousin at the stadium at Blackthorn City Academy since repair efforts are being taken care of right now," Lance said, "It's even put classes on hold, giving the students a surprise vacation from school."
As Kenny came up to the group, he looked at the unidentified man. "Sup, I'm Kenny Harris," said Kenny, hoping that the man would be prompted to identify himself.
Gesturing to the man, Dawn said, "Kenny, this here is the mayor of Diglett Village. He is friends with Lance apparently, and after Lance told him about our part in driving off Team Scorn, he came here to speak with the two of us."
The now identified Mayor of Diglett Village nodded in confirmation. "Indeed. Lance did indeed tell me of how you both had heroically fought off those horrid Team Scorn fellows, including one who had actually taken a life. Although the horrors dealt by Team Scorn cannot be undersold, there is still the fact that those brave heroes who had fought against Team Scorn ought to be recognized for their valiant heroism. As such, I have something for each hero who Lance named to me, which includes the both of you, Dawn Berlitz and Kenny Harris."
After being prompted to do so by Lance, Dawn and Kenny each held a hand out. The mayor of Diglett Village then put a Silver Wing Badge into each out held hand. "Those are Silver Wing Badges," the mayor of Diglett Village explained, "They are awards that are handed out in recognition of great and noble efforts. You two are among those receiving ones for your efforts."
"Looks like it can pass for a badge handed out by a gym," Kenny said, "Neat."
Looking to the reborn trainers, Lance asked, "So what will you two do know?"
Dawn let out a tired sigh. "My mom told me that she and her friends Lila and Cookie will be heading back to Twinleaf Town soon, partly to take a break from their efforts to introduce Pokémon contests to regions where they don't exist. Since Kenny and I have finished touring around Johto to challenge the gyms here, Kenny having literally just finished, we were planning to return home to Sinnoh for a bit and rest before setting our sights on Hoenn."
Dawn let out another tired sigh. "...Especially since we know that Team Scorn has a presence in regions outside of Johto, with Hoenn being one of them."
"I'll get into contact with Steven Stone then," Lance said, "Let him know you're coming to his region soon."
Although Dawn, thanks to her knowledge from her previous life, knew who Steven Stone was, Lance didn't know that she knew, so she had to play dumb. "I assume that this Steven Stone fellow is a notable trainer in the Hoenn region?"
Lance nodded in the affirmative. "Steven had recently become the new champion of the Hoenn Pokémon League, defeating the prior title holder Wallace. Steven is also the son of the President of the Devon Corporation. Also." Giving Dawn a serious look, Lance said, "As the Champion of Hoenn, Steven ought to be made aware of the fact that Team Scorn has some presence in Hoenn."
Dawn nodded in agreement. "I'll also spread the word about Team Scorn in Sinnoh, let notable trainers there know what to keep an eye out for. We have no idea at the moment if Team Scorn does have any presence in Sinnoh. But if they do..." Dawn trailed off, then took out one of the pokéballs that held one of her on hand Pokémon. She expanded it, revealing it to be the Master Ball that held her named Palkia. "...Then I will personally drive them back out of my region."
Lance smiled in amusement. "Sinnoh is in very good hands, it would seem. I don't think that even Cynthia would be able to compare." The others then let out some good natured laughs; despite how the fight against Team Scorn had taken a drastic turn during the attack on Blackthorn City, the mood was light for the group gathered at the Pokémon Center in Blackthorn City.
Dawn and Kenny were walking through Blackthorn City, looking around to see what all damage had been done by Team Scorn. As they walked, the reborn trainers came upon the cafe where Ayane, the former Blackthorn City Academy student, worked at. It was there that Dawn and Kenny came upon an interesting sight; Katsuku prostrating himself in front of Ideku, who was looking on in surprise at what his older brother was doing.
Dawn and Kenny made their way over to the scene, getting the attention of the Badorigo brothers. "I was apologizing to Ideku for my part in how he'd been forced to lived a screwed up life," Katsuku explained when he got up, "And he'd done way more than I did in fighting off Team Scorn as things turned out."
Dawn looked to Ideku. "What do you think, Ideku?"
The second born Badorigo son looked unsure on what to think. "...I... I don't know. I mean, sure Katsuku was mean to me when we were kids, but looking back it stemmed from the fact we always had to compete against one another for extra little things, so naturally he couldn't afford to show any sort of leniency if he wanted a little extra pocket money and the like."
"Did..." Kenny began, "...Did he tell you that-"
"-That our mom and dad basically took my chance to go to Blackthorn City Academy and had it given to him instead? Yeah," Ideku said, scowling a bit, "That..." Ideku began tearing up a little bit. "...It actually hurt me to learn that. It had hurt me to learn that I could have gotten to attend Blackthorn City Academy, the Pokémon trainer school that I've always wanted to go to, but the chance was taken from me because my parents felt that I didn't deserve it."
"How do you think I feel?" Katsuku added, "I too had wanted to go to Blackthorn City Academy just as much as you. I got to go, have been going for years. And then one day out of the blue, I find out that I wasn't the one who had earned the chance or had the scholarship offered to me. It was all for someone else, but it was stolen from them and given to me instead. That is not how I had wanted it to happen, believe you me."
Ideku looked a bit somber, but after a few moments passed in silence, he nodded in agreement. "...Yeah, I can see how that would wound your pride, Katsuku."
"Kenny and I got it that students will be excused from classes at Blackthorn City Academy for a while," Dawn said, "Given that the school needs time to repair and in certain areas rebuild, and overall just clean up the place." The reborn trainer did not want to mention how there had to be some grim clean-up in the library, cleaning up and scrubbing out the stain in the carpet left by the blood pool found on the floor between Akeno's head and the rest of Akeno.
"What about you guys?" Kenny asked, "What will you do?"
Katsuku shrugged. "Well I'm going to have to go back home to mom and dad. At the very least, they ought to know that I had survived the attack on Blackthorn City Academy."
"As for me," Ideku said, "I'm planning on heading straight to Hoenn. I doubt that, aside from most likely Katsuku, I don't have anyone here in Johto who-"
"Ideku!"
Everyone stopped stopped short when they heard a familiar, sweet natured sounding female voice call out. Turning around, the group saw Ayane come walking over. To their surprise especially that of Ideku's, Ayane put her arms around his shoulders before leaning in to kiss him on the lips. "Sorry, but I just wanted to say thanks for saving me during the attack on Blackthorn City," Ayane said, "You really came in like a hero." Ayane smiled tenderly as she blushed a little.
As for Ideku, he was blushing furiously. He wasn't even able to give a proper response, given that all he could do was stammer in embarrassment. Everyone else laughed a bit, amused by how Ideku despite getting a girl to fall for him without even trying or knowing had no idea how to process having a girl make moves on him. Katsuku was particularly amused, saying that he knew that Ideku and Ayane were made for one another.
Katsuku, however, stopped short upon seeing what Ayane was wearing; normal street cloths. "Wait, don't you have a shift today?" Katsuku asked.
Ayane gently shook her head. "I actually had to resign from my job here. Luckily I already have another job offer, and I'm starting it soon."
"Why did you have to resign from your job here? Dawn asked, sounding curious.
Ayane gave another gentle shake of her head. "... People are moving out of Blackthorn City due to the recent attack by Team Scorn. That's going to drive down the number of customers the cafe will expect to see, enough to the point that the manager said she'd have to let at least one person go due to not being able to afford to keep everyone currently on staff. I decided to save the drama and willingly resigned, especially since the job offer I got pays a lot more."
The reborn trainers, as well as Katsuku and Ideku, all nodded in understanding. "That makes sense," Dawn remarked, "Well whatever your new job winds up being, I hope you can take care of yourself."
"I, umm," Ideku said, "I hope we can remain in touch."
Ayane smiled gently, warmly, at Ideku. "I'll see to it, Ideku."
"Oh, Ideku," Katsuku began, "Before you leave, there's something that I wanna give you." Katsuku then took his bag off, opened it, and fished out one each of the apricorn pokéballs that Kurt makes. "I... had commissioned Kurt in Azalea Town to make a set of one each of the pokéballs that he can make from apricorns," Katsuku explained, "With the intent of giving said set to you the next time I saw you, assuming that I ever saw you again. I... I really want to make up for how our parents forced you to give me your share of that reward we got that one time."
Ideku, a bit wide eyed in surprise, accepted the apricorn pokéballs from his brother. "...Thank you."
"Good luck with wherever your travels will take you next," Katsuku said, being sincere in his words.
Pointing to Ideku, Kenny said, "Oh, we got it down he's headed to Hoenn next, same as me and Dawn. Maybe we'll run into him there?"
Ideku smiled warmly at Kenny, as well as Dawn. "...Yeah, that does sound like it'd be nice," replied the second born Badorigo son. Although things had gone to hell in the final stretch of the Johto portion of their gym challenge tour, Dawn and Kenny were still able to push through and help save the day. Now, with each of them at eight Johto gym badges, plus all other business in Johto having been taken care of, Dawn and Kenny were now able to call their time in Johto over.
It was time for them to go home. Sinnoh was calling.
After a lengthy airplane flight, Dawn and Kenny had made it back home to Twinleaf Town in the Sinnoh region. After having recovered from jet lag, Dawn went about setting up her accolades that she had earned while in the Johto region. A frame holding all eight of her Johto gym badges was put along the same level as the frames that respectively held the Sinnoh and Kanto badges, and the Silver Wing Badge was in a small individual frame and hung with other small awards also in small individual frames.
Dawn also saw the stack of magazines and newspapers with talk about her exploits grow a little, although she wasn't focused on that.
...
Dawn, after having set up her accolades from Johto in her room, went outside to feed her Pokémon. She had rotated her party so that she had Chi-Chi, Leni, Akiza, Tsukune, Holger, and Vegeta on hand. As Dawn was feeding her Pokémon and enjoying being outside with them, she heard Kenny call out, "Hey Dawn, my main man!" Dawn, as well as her Pokémon, all turned to see Kenny come up, being followed by Roshi.
"Oh, hey Kenny," Dawn greeted, "What's up?"
"Our time to head off to the Hoenn region is fast approaching," Kenny said, "I hope you're ready."
Dawn nodded in the affirmative. "I'm ready to leave at the time that was agreed upon. The plane we'll take to Hoenn will see us to an airport in Littleroot Town, then we'll be able to get directions to the Pokémon research lab run by Professor Birch. We'll meet him, as well as Steven, at the lab."
"Ah yes, Steven Stone," Kenny remarked, "The champion of Hoenn. He's going to want to have up help him keep an eye out for any Team Scorn activity in Hoenn, isn't he?"
"Well we're going to fight Team Scorn regardless, so why not agree to help Steven with it?" Dawn replied, "Oh, while Lance and I had talked to Birch over the video phone, Birch mentioned that he'll arrange something nice for us. I won't say what it is because that will be spoilers."
Kenny nodded in understanding. "I have a fair idea what it might be already." Gesturing to Dawn, Kenny went on, "So how will we cover the Hoenn portion of our gym challenge tour? Just zoom around to each city with a gym we can challenge, or do we travel on foot so that we don't skip over incidents involving Team Scorn? Traveling on foot will also let us get in more training for all of our Pokémon, especially for ones who haven't evol-"
Kenny was cut off when he and Dawn heard the flashes of light and some sound go off, making them turn to see that Vegeta and Holger, who from the looks of it were being separated from play fighting one another by Chi-Chi and Leni, were currently evolving, with Chi-Chi and Leni backing off to let them evolve. After the glowing, growing, and form shifting had finished, Vegeta and Holger had evolved into Ambipom and Venomoth respectively.
Smirking in amusement, Kenny said, "...Do I have good timing or what?"
Dawn nodded in agreement to Kenny, acknowledging that his timing in this case was pretty damn good. With Vegeta and Holger having fully evolved, she can now put focus in training on trying to get Muten, Kowalski, Amy, and Sticks to all fully evolve. There was also how she'd probably catch a few new Pokémon while she and Kenny were in Hoenn, and they would be needing training as well, especially one who she had in mind to catch, that being a Dustox.
To, among other things, help keep Coupins and Holger company. The moth Pokémon trio.
After resting back in Twinleaf Town for a bit, Dawn and Kenny were ready to head off on to the Hoenn region. Getting their plane tickets proved easy enough, but there was additional screening processes they and their Pokémon had to go through. The people who ran security at the airport explained that, in light of the recent attack that Team Scorn had launched on Blackthorn City, all of the new security measures were necessary.
The two reborn trainers were understanding of this, and Dawn noted how the airport staff and its security were particularly apologetic to her. Dawn figured that their being so apologetic to her had to do with how she's their region's champion. Regardless, Dawn, Kenny, and their Pokémon all had been passed, so Dawn and Kenny were able to board their plane, which soon after took off for the next stop on Dawn and Kenny's gym challenge tour.
The Hoenn region.
...
Kenny suddenly shot awake on the plane when Dawn gently shook him. "Hey Kenny, we landed in the Hoenn region," Dawn said dryly, "We're at Littleroot Town Inter-regional Airport."
"Oh, sweetness," Kenny replied before getting up from his seat next to the one Dawn sat in. The two reborn trainers then got off the plane and were escorted into the airport. There, they both went through more screening processes related to the recent attack on Blackthorn City by Team Scorn, but were likewise passed easily enough. However, right before they could leave the airport, Dawn and Kenny were stopped by an airport employee, a cute enough mid twenties lady.
"Oh, you're Sinnoh champion Dawn Berlitz," the airport employee said, "Steven, the champion of Hoenn, is actually here saying that he's waiting for you." The airport employee then gestured for the reborn trainers to follow her, saying that she will lead them right to Steven.
Dawn and Kenny were a bit surprised that Steven had met them at the airport, and a nagging voice in the back of Kenny's head told him that he and Dawn might be led into a trap here. But all of those worries fled the moment he and Dawn spotted a man who the airport employee identified as Steven Stone; he was even holding a cardboard sign that said 'DAWN BERLITZ', showing that the champion of Hoenn did indeed come here to meet the reborn trainers upon their arrival.
From what Dawn could tell, Steven looked as he did in the gen six games, but lacked the pin that held a Key Stone. "Ah, glad to finally meet you, Dawn and Dawn's friend," Steven greeted, "As I'm sure you can figure, I'm Steven Stone, the Hoenn region champion."
"Lance told me that you'd be wanting to discuss how to fight off the presence of Team Scorn here in the Hoenn region," Dawn said.
Steven nodded in agreement. "Indeed. But it wouldn't do to have such a sensitive topic out here in public. We'll discuss the matter over at Professor Birch's lab."
"Oh, I think it was mentioned that Professor Birch would be there as well," Kenny said as Steven led him and Dawn out of the Littleroot Town Inter-regional Airport. To the surprise of the reborn trainers, Steven had a limo as their ride waiting for the three of them.
"Well my father is the man in charge of the Devon Corporation," Steven explained as he got in, with Dawn and Kenny following in that order. Once everyone was inside and buckled up, the limo took off for Professor Birch's lab.
Soon enough, the limo pulled up right outside of Professor Birch's lab in Littleroot Town. To a lack of surprise on Dawn's part, some onlookers had gathered upon seeing the limo pull up, and more than a few of said onlookers cried out in excitement when they saw Steven get out. Some even tried to rush him for an autograph or to shake hands with him; as the recently established new champion of Hoenn, Steven was quite popular.
"Sorry everyone," Steven said, sounding flattered and mildly apologetic, "But I have a private conversation that my guests here and I need to have with Professor Birch. I'm going to have to ask that you let us go into Birch's lab to see him."
"Wow, he is popular or what?" Kenny whispered to Dawn as they made their way into Professor Birch's lab.
...
Inside of the lab, Dawn and Kenny were led in by Steven as they went further into the building. "Hello? Birch?" Steven called out, "It's me, Steven! I've brought Dawn and her friend with me so we can begin discussions on how to deal with the presence of Team Scorn here in Hoenn!"
The reborn trainers and Steven then heard some clattering, followed by a man crying out in surprise before he shouted, "No, you three stand still!" A few moments later, Professor Birch came walking out into the area that Steven and the reborn trainers were in. "It's a pleasure to meet you all," said the mildly tired looking Birch, "I'm glad that all of you are here. Now we can begin discussions on how to deal with-"
*CRASH*
"...Actually," Birch said suddenly, knowing full well what made that crashing noise, "Why... don't we first deal with the surprise that I have lined up for Dawn and her friend Kenny?" Birch then had the three guests follow him into the room he had come out of looking a little frazzled.
Inside of the room, Dawn and Kenny spotted a Treecko, a Torchic, and a Mudkip sitting on a lab counter table. The three Pokémon offered to beginner trainers starting off in the Hoenn region. The moment that Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip saw Birch lead Steven and the reborn trainers into the room, they all hopped off of the counter table and scampered right on over, jumping up and down around Dawn and Kenny in a clear bid to get their attention.
Gesturing to the three Hoenn starter Pokémon, Birch explained to Dawn and Kenny, "These are the three Pokémon offered to trainers starting off here in the Hoenn region, Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip. When I was told you two would be coming here to help deal with the presence of that Team Scorn group here in Hoenn, I had arranged to get these Pokémon ready to let you both pick from, as a token of thanks and good faith."
Dawn and Kenny, the latter looking surprised, looked down at the Hoenn starters who were all excitedly jumping up at them, as if they were happy puppies seeing new people. "I... was hoping to wait until after we've discussed how to deal with Team Scorn before letting you two pick," Birch said, "But as you can see, these guys are all too excited at the prospect of getting to go home with new trainers to sit still. I think it'd be best to let you pick one each from this lot first, and then have that talk about dealing with Team Scorn." Looking at Dawn, Birch said, "You pick one first, Dawn."
Looking down at the Hoenn starters, Dawn immediately focused on Torchic before saying, "I'm going to have to go with Torchic here." The Torchic cried out happily as it had been the first one to be picked to go home with a new trainer.
Birch smirked in mild amusement. "...Norman's daughter had also picked Torchic. I guess that it's a popular Pokémon among girls." Turning to look at Kenny, Birch went on, "Now you pick, Kenny."
Kenny looked down at the Treecko and Mudkip, both clamoring for him to pick them. Pointing to Mudkip who was more or less glomping on his right shin, Kenny said to Birch, "Yeah, I'll be taking Mudkip here." Mudkip cried out happily while Treecko, who wore a shocked expression, fell to its hands and knees as it wore a shaded, downcast expression on its face.
Birch smiled, glad that, finally, the Hoenn starters had calmed down. He then handed Torchic's pokéball to Dawn and Mudkip's pokéball to Kenny. "Oh, will either of you be wanting to nickname your new Pokémon here?" Birch asked.
Dawn and Kenny were then prompted to scan the pokéballs of their respective new Pokémon with their respective pokédexes to check their genders. Dawn's Torchic turned out to be female, and Kenny's Mudkip turned out to be male. Dawn looked to her Torchic, who was now cuddling against her chest as she held her. Dawn smiled gently down on Torchic. "...I'll name her Pakura."
"And Mudkip here shall be named Husky," Kenny said, rubbing the now dubbed Husky on the head as he held him in his arms.
Birch nodded in understanding before recalling the unpicked Treecko. "Well now that we've taken care of that," Birch said, "Let's move on to discussing how to handle Team Scorn's presence here in the Hoenn region."
"Yes, I want to open those discussions myself," Steven replied, with Dawn and Kenny both nodding in agreement as they, while carrying Pakura and Husky, followed Birch and Steven into a lounge room off to the side, where they would discuss the problem of Team Scorn's presence in the Hoenn region. Dawn actually had some info on Team Scorn that would be relevant to the discussion, and she was going to be sure to bring it up as soon as the talks would permit.
END, CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Dawn and Kenny wrap up their business in Johto, rest for a bit in Sinnoh, then head on over to Hoenn to continue their gym challenge tour. They wouldn't have been rushing so much under normal circumstances, but the advent of Team Scorn, highlighted by the devastating attack they had launched and carried out on Blackthorn City, has given the world at large reason to do what was necessary to fight back.
Thus arriving in Hoenn, Dawn and Kenny are picked up by Steven Stone, who brings them right over to Birch's lab. After being allowed to pick from the Hoenn starters who apparently couldn't sit still, Dawn and Kenny are now more than ready to discuss with Steven and Birch how to deal with what all Team Scorn may try to pull in Hoenn, along with Dawn providing what relevant info she already has that could help them fight Team Scorn off.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Leni (female Lucario), Akiza (female Roserade), Pakura (female Torchic), Holger (male Venomoth), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Android 21 (female Sneasel; shiny), Godzilla (male Tyraniar), Shallot (male Glaceon), Roshi (male Torterra), Husky (male Mudkip), Black (Giratina)