Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter One-hundred and twenty-four: Skyla's Struggles
After some time traveling, during which they had to camp out for the night and Kenny awoke the next morning talking of a nightmare he had where EVERYONE in the group (their on hand Pokémon all included) got afros, the heroes all made it to Mistralton City, the location of the next Unovan Pokémon gym that the heroes aside from Cilan and Iris would be aiming to challenge. After the heroes got their Pokémon checked out at the local Pokémon Center, as well as the reborn trainers taking time to do some party rotation to prep for battling the Mistralton City gym, the heroes took off to find the gym.
As the heroes wandered around, they came upon a large group of other trainers standing around outside of a business called Mistralton Cargo Services. The heroes also noticed that a lot of the trainers looked unamused. "Hey, what's going on?" Ash asked as he and the heroes approached the group outside of Mistralton Cargo Services.
"The substitute gym leader can't take anymore challengers right now because the last challenger defeated him," one trainer complained, "And what's worse is that we can't take numbers to cue up to challenge the gym anymore." The crowd of trainers began to disperse, leaving just the heroes when the other trainers had all left.
"Substitute gym leader?" Cilan said, "Taking a number in a cue? What's going on here?"
Gesturing to inside of Mistralton Cargo Services, Dawn said, "Maybe we'll get answers inside." Dawn was getting vague memories of the BW anime episodes from her previous life where Ash and company encountered Skyla, the Mistralton City gym leader. Things didn't seem to be adding up here though, prompting Dawn to want to investigate things personally.
...
Inside of Mistralton Cargo Services, the heroes met Miles, an older man who owned Mistralton Cargo Services. He also identified himself as the substitute gym leader, as well as the former official gym leader of the Mistralton City gym, having stepped back in when Skyla, the current official Mistralton City gym leader who Miles also said is his granddaughter, was officially suspended from her gym leader duties by the Unovan Pokémon League Commission. "Skyla has been suspended from her gym leader duties?" Ash asked, "What happened?"
Sighing in a troubled tone, Miles began to explain, "You see, Skyla used to actually battle challengers, but soon started to regularly receive so many challengers that it left her with no time for her hobby of flying planes. Thusly she came up with this 'Air Battle' system where she called out all three of her Pokémon, then had the challenger call out all three of their Pokémon that they were going to use, and then Skyla would simulate how the battle would go in her mind. If she determined that she would most likely lose then she'd just give the badge to the challenger, but if she determined that she would most likely win then she would give no badge."
Cilan's expressions soured a bit, showing he didn't exactly approve of what Skyla had apparently been doing. "...Go on, sir."
"A few days ago," Miles went on, "This one trainer, a mid-teens boy from the look of him named Ideku Badorigo, challenged Skyla to a gym battle."
"Oh, Ideku's been through here!" Kenny said, "Sorry, but the lads here and I all know Ideku. He's a friend of ours."
Nodding once, Miles said, "I see. Well anyway, when Ideku challenged Skyla to a gym battle, she ran one of her Air Battles, calling out her Swanna, Swoobat, and Unfezant, before having Ideku call out the Pokémon that he was intending to use. Ideku clearly seemed unsure with what Skyla was up to, but even so he ended up calling out a shiny Raichu, an Armaldo, and a Dragonite. Skyla, using her Air Battle system, quickly determined that Ideku would most likely defeat her, thus she tried awarding him a Jet Badge."
"Wait a minute," Bianca interrupted, "She tried to award him a Jet Badge? What do you mean she tried?"
Miles let out a troubled sigh. "Ideku actually refused to take the Jet Badge from Skyla. He said that what Skyla was doing was wrong, that gym leaders are supposed to actually battle challengers instead of just giving out badges based on guess work, and that Skyla was proving herself unfit to be a gym leader because she was clearly trying to shirk her duties in order to have more time for her hobby. Ideku turned around and left Skyla, not getting the Jet Badge from her."
"And this lead to Skyla being in trouble with the Unovan Pokémon League Commission because..." Trip asked, expecting to be filled in.
Miles let out another sigh. "...Ideku actually reported what Skyla was doing to the Unovan Pokémon League Commission, giving them all the details he had on the matter. A representative from the Commission came down to Mistralton City, confirmed what all Ideku had told them when the representative actually caught Skyla in the act of one of her 'Air Battles', and proceeded to read Skyla the riot act for her behavior."
Iris looked a bit curious, as well as worried. "I don't get it. Skyla's 'Air Battle' system seems like a logical way to take multiple challengers on in a single day, which is why she set it up in the first place. Why is it bad?"
"The representative from the Unovan Pokémon League commission said that what Skyla was doing was actually illegal in accordance to the official Unovan Pokémon League Guidelines," Miles began explaining, "First off, Skyla as a gym leader was supposed to actually battle challengers, just as Ideku had said, so her Air Battle system that allowed her to circumvent having to actually battle challengers went against the rules in that regard. Second, the part of Skyla's Air Battle system where she had challengers show her what Pokémon they were planning to use in battle against her was decried by the representative as blatant cheating on Skyla's part, as Skyla being the gym leader isn't supposed to know what Pokémon her challengers are going to use against her in advance."
Cilan actually nodded in agreement with what Miles was saying, although Cilan's expression was still mildly annoyed. "...Go on, sir."
Shrugging, Miles said, "After the representative had commission charges filed against Skyla, he forced her to have an actual gym battle against Ideku, who ended up winning against Skyla. When Skyla started saying that she was right with her predictions made when she ran her Air Battle against Ideku earlier, he cut her off before she could finish what she was saying."
(FLASHBACK)
Miles stood behind Skyla, who had just lost an actual gym battle to Ideku, who had his shiny Raichu Blitzkrieg out. The representative from the Unovan Pokémon League Commission, a late middle-aged balding man in a business suit, was watching things carefully, and with a judgmental eye on the disgraced Skyla as Ideku stood against her victoriously.
Ideku gently shook his head as he looked at Skyla, his expression making it clear that he was very much unamused with her. "It doesn't matter if you think you'll lose to a challenger," Ideku scolded, "You're a gym leader. It's your job to actually battle challengers no matter what you think your odds of winning are. What you were doing was highly unprofessional."
(FLASHBACK OVER)
Sighing once more, Miles went on, "Skyla got into a little bit more trouble when she gave Ideku the Jet Badge that he properly earned by more or less shoving it into his hands and effectively telling him to get lost, given that she did that while the representative from the Unovan Pokémon League Commission was watching. He barked at her to properly apologize to Ideku, then forced her to re-do awarding him the Jet Badge in a proper and respectful manner. Ideku handed the Jet Badge back over so Skyla could award it to him properly. Skyla's improper actions in initially awarding a Jet Badge to Ideku was another count added against her."
"What's going to happen to Skyla now?" Ash asked, concerned.
Letting out a breath, Miles said, "Well right now, Skyla's officially suspended from her gym leader duties, hence why I'm back in the saddle temporarily. The Unovan Pokémon League Commison is currently running a thorough investigation, and if they uncover sufficient proper evidence to do so, they'll strip Skyla of her gym leader position permanently."
The heroes looked surprised by that revelation. "Skyla could potentially be striped of her gym leader position permanently?" Iris nearly exclaimed, "But that's-"
"What Skyla deserves," Cilan said, his tone and expression unamused. All of the other heroes turned to look at Cilan. "I will not apologize," Cilan said when he saw that he was getting harsh looks from Iris, "Ideku and the representative are right. What Skyla was doing as a gym leader was both highly unprofessional and illegal. Granted, it is a little on the harsh side, but if that's what it takes to make Skyla see reason, then I say good show to that."
Standing up forcefully, Iris practically snapped at Cilan, "You're being mean, Cilan! Skyla had a good idea going with her Air Battle system if you ask me. It let her take multiple challengers in one day without having to battle. It saved her a lot of time!"
"Uhh, Iris," Dawn began, "Keep in mind that Skyla apparently set up the Air Battle system to save time solely so she'd have more time for her plane flying hobby. What was said about her shirking her duties is actually pretty spot on. An actual professional gym leader wouldn't do anything to let them shirk their duties just so that they'd have more time for a hobby."
Holding up a hand, Trip said, "It's like a kid in school shirking off doing their homework so they could play video games."
Nodding in agreement with her sister-brother, Dawn said, "Yes, Trip. That's a perfect analogy."
"Well we should still see Skyla!" Iris cried out, "I bet she's probably really upset with Ideku tattling on her and getting her in trouble!" Turning to look at Miles, Iris asked, "Where can we find Skyla right now?"
"Whenever she's upset," Miles began, "She always goes to the Celestial Tower located up along Route 7. She climes up to the top and sits near the big bell that can be found there."
Iris nodded once in confirmation. "Celestial Tower. Got it."
"Try not to get it confused for the Mistralton Tower," Miles said, "They're located close to one another and are built very nearly identically." After Miles gave them the directions to get to the Celestial Tower, the heroes proceeded to take off to go see Skyla. So that they could talk to her.
A short while later, the heroes made it to the Celestial Tower. As they climbed up to the top, the heroes took note of all of the Pokémon grave markers. "The Celestial Tower is a Pokémon cemetary," Dawn said, "According to what Miles told us. The bell at the top is rung by trainers to offer respect to departed Pokémon, although it can be rung to offer respect to anyone important who had passed away."
Kenny, a look of melancholy on his face, said, "...Imma ring that bell to pay respect to some departed persons."
"Really, Kenny?" Cilan said, "You have some departed persons to pay respect to?"
"Some folks that I personally knew," Kenny said. He didn't specify out loud that they were persons from his previous life, but he still wanted to pay respect to them. Gently shaking his head, Kenny went on, "Also, I wanted to pay respect to those who lost their lives due to the actions of the various villainous organizations that we've faced, like Team Rocket and Team Scorn."
Bianca, with a serious look on her face, said, "...I want to ring the bell too, to pay respect to my father who was killed by Admin Swordsman."
Kenny nodded once in understanding. "Fair enough. Just let me go first, alright? I got a lot of people to pay respect to, although I can leave out paying respect to your dad so you can do all of it yours-"
"Wick-wick-wick!"
Kenny was cut off when he and the others heard the sincerely amused, jolly laughter of a Pokémon coming from behind them. The heroes all turned to look and saw that it was a wild Litwick. It was looking up at Kenny with a happy, amused look. Litwick nodded to Kenny in approval, clearly finding favor in him. "Oh, it looks like Kenny got the approval of a wild Litwick," Bianca said.
"Maybe because it likes how Kenny is not only respectful to the departed but also to the living?" Trip guessed.
"Say Litwick," Kenny said, "You wanna join us in going to the top of Celestial Tower here so we can pay respects and try to find this one chick named Skyla?" The wild Litwick gave a happy cry of agreement before hopping up to follow along behind Kenny. "Excellent," Kenny said, before he turned around and said, "Anyway, we're off to the top of Celestial Tower!"
...
After some more climbing up through the different floors, the heroes and their friendly Litwick follower made it to the top. When it was Dawn who was the first to get to the top, she saw that Skyla, dressed as she was in the anime in her previous life, was sitting facing the bell and didn't see her. Getting an idea, Dawn quietly told everyone to wait, and once they all agreed, Dawn quietly approached Skyla. When she got within a meter of standing behind Skyla, Dawn, with a devious smirk on her face, shouted, "BREWHAHOO!"
"GAAHH!" Skyla cried out in frightened alarm, jumping up from her crossed-leg sitting position right up to standing on her feet. Dawn wasn't able to help it but laugh her butt off at the practical joke she had played on Skyla, who was now glaring angrily at her in annoyance. "What the heck is wrong with you?!" Skyla snapped at Dawn, "It's bad enough that I might potentially lose my-" Skyla suddenly stopped short when she realized who she was talking to. "...Hey wait a minute, you're Dawn Berlitz, the Sinnoh Champion," Skyla said, "What are you doing here in Unova?"
"Challenging gyms to earn badges as part of a Gym Challenge tour," Dawn said, "But that's besides the point." Turning to look at where the stairs exited onto the top of Celestial Tower, Dawn called out, "Okay, everyone! You can come out now!"
As the rest of the heroes came up to the top of Celestial Tower, Kenny asked, "Was that Skyla screaming in fright just now?"
"Yeah, I wanted to sneak up on her so I could scare her," Dawn said, "Not something that I'd usually do, but the fancy struck me suddenly."
"I guess even someone as mature and intelligent as you can have a bit of a mischievous side," Ash remarked, "Not that it's a bad thing."
Looking at all of the heroes, Skyla asked, "What do you want?"
Gesturing to Skyla, Iris said, "We came here to offer you our sympathies because we got it that you're in trouble with the Unovan Pokémon League Commission because Ideku tattled on you."
"What he did was completely justified and something that should have been done sooner," Cilan said firmly.
"Bianca and I want to ring the bell to pay respect to the departed," Kenny said, holding up a hand.
Skyla got everyone to focus on her by sighing loudly. "I've been think about what happened," Skyla said, a sad and resigned look on her face, "And I've come to the conclusion that I had been acting rather reprehensibly. It's just that I was getting so many challengers that I had no time to fly planes! What was I supposed to do?"
Shrugging, Dawn said, "You could have just set days aside for flying planes. For example, you could take challengers for five days in a row, then take two days off. You could have run being a gym leader like the average nine to five job." Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn asked, "Why didn't you do that?"
"Yeah, okay," Skyla said, "See, Champion Dawn, the problem with that... is that it's an EXCELLENT idea that I wish I had thought of back before I came up with and implemented my Air Battle system." Sighing, Skyla said, "I guess that whatever punishment I end up getting from the Unovan Pokémon League Commission for what all I did is all on me." Letting out another sigh, Skyla said, "I guess that I should return to Mistralton City now. My grandpa will probably scold me for how I messed up."
Nodding in agreement, Kenny said, "Yes yes. But first, Bianca and I each have to ring the bell to pay respects." Skyla stood with the other heroes before Kenny and Bianca, with the friendly Litwick following along behind Kenny, so they could take turned. Everyone remained silent as Kenny, followed by Bianca, rang the large bell, with Bianca waiting for the ringing from Kenny's turn to be almost completely faded before she went. After Bianca and Kenny had their goes, everyone proceeded to go back down Celestial Tower.
...
As the group was partway down Celestial Tower, Skyla said, "So whose Litwick is that?"
"It's actually a wild Litwick that I invited to follow us to the top of Celestial Tower because it liked how we were planning to pay respects," Kenny explained, "Litwick is just a friendly little-" Kenny was cut off when Litwick, crying out happily, hopped up and down before nuzzling up against Kenny's left leg.
"...I think Litwick's trying to say it wants to go with Kenny!" Ash said, with Litwick hopping up and down while crying out happily to confirm what Ash said.
Smirking in amusement, Kenny took out a spare pokéball, expanded it, then threw it at Litwick, who went inside before the pokéball fell lightly to the floor and shook for a bit before making a ping sound, indicating capture. Kenny then picked up Litwick's ball and scanned it with his pokédex; Litwick was male, had a jolly nature ("He's got a jolly nature?" Trip said, "Ow, that hurts,"), and the Flame Body ability.
Holding the pokéball that contained his new Litwick, Kenny said, "I'll name him Fancy Lamp."
Seeing the confused look on Skyla's face, Ash explained, "Kenny, Dawn, and Trip name all of their Pokémon."
"Ah, trainers do occasionally name their Pokémon," Skyla remarked as she and the heroes all exited the Celestial Tower, then proceeded to head straight back over to Mistralton City.
When the group got to Mistralton City, they headed on over to Mistralton Cargo Services, where they were greeted by Miles. He did give Skyla a mild scolding, but overall he was happy she had calmed back down from being upset and was back in Mistralton City. "And there's a job for you too, little missy," Miles said, "One that will make use of your piloting skills." Turning to look at the heroes, Miles said, "The job could also use the help of you lot as well, provided that you're willing."
"What's the job, chief?" Kenny asked.
Gesturing to Skyla, Miles said, "The people running the Nature Preserve need another one of their routine shipments brought in by plane. You may be suspended as a gym leader, but you're still on as a pilot."
"The Nature Preserve?" Ash asked, sounding curious.
Turning to look at Ash, Miles explained, "It's a natural habitat enclosed in a location that can only be accessed by flying in via plane. It functions as a wildlife preserve for Pokémon, although honest trainers who come in are usually permitted to capture some Pokémon if they wish."
That got the attention of the heroes. "What kind of Pokémon can be found there?" Bianca asked.
"Mostly commonly found Pokémon here and there," Miles said, "Although the Nature Preserve is home to some wild dragon Pokémon like Altaria and Fraxure. The people running the Nature Preserve are even looking after a shiny Haxorus."
"A shiny Haxorus?" Iris exclaimed excitedly, with Axew popping out of her hair to also look surprised.
Nodding once in confirmation, Miles said, "Yes, there is currently a shiny Haxorus located at the Nature Preserve." Sighing in a troubled tone, Miles said, "And that's why I was hoping you youngns would be able to help. The staff running the Nature Preserve got what is blatantly a threatening phone call from Team Scorn, telling them that they were planning to come on by to capture the shiny Haxorus."
Dawn wore a look of serious consideration on her face. "...The Pokémon all living at the Nature Preserve are wild, right? Does that include the shiny Haxorus?"
"Yes indeed," Miles said, "But the staff running the Nature Preserve say that the shiny Haxorus is off limits from being captured. They're currently using the shiny Haxorus as a research subject to gather data on shiny Pokémon." Folding his arms over his chest, Miles went on, "That's why the staff running the Nature Preserve are all worried about if and when Team Scorn will come on by."
Dawn folded her arms over her chest as well. "...Kenny, Trip, and I got it that Team Scorn is trying to find and scoop up a shiny Pokémon, and that it specifically has to be a WILD shiny Pokémon, so no trying to steal one already belonging to someone. Team Scorn is probably targeting the shiny Haxorus located over at the Nature Preserve because of that."
"Why would Team Scorn want a shiny Pokémon that's wild?" Ash asked, looking curious.
"Doesn't matter," Dawn replied, "What does matter is that we stop them before it's too late."
"You said that some of the other wild Pokémon living at the Nature Preserve can be caught, right?" Trip asked.
Nodding in confirmation, Miles replied, "As long as you don't try going after the shiny Haxorus, as well as be respectful and try to keep a limit on how many Pokémon that you catch, then the staff running the Nature Preserve should have no problem."
Turning to look at the other heroes, Kenny said, "Well since Team Scorn is involved, we kind of sort of have to go so we can put a stop to their scheme. Having a chance to catch some new Pokémon is just smuggling the hot oil."
"I think the phrase that you're trying to use is 'icing on the cake'," Dawn pointed out.
Looking mildly lost, Kenny asked, "What did I say?"
Sighing, Dawn replied, "You said 'smuggling the hot oil'."
"What the hell does that mean?!" Kenny exclaimed.
And so, despite Skyla being a bit weirded out by Kenny, the group was able to take a plane flown by Skyla over to the Nature Preserve. There, they would, among other things, work to prevent Team Scorn from trying to capture the wild shiny Haxorus that was being cared for at the Nature Preserve by its staff. However, little did any of the heroes know that there would be more than stopping a Team Scorn scheme awaiting them over at the Nature Preserve.
...
Another plane at an undisclosed location somewhere in Unova was being loaded up by members of Team Scorn. Supervising all of them was Miyuki, Third Captain of Team Scorn's Longsword Sector, accompanied by her Captain's Assistant Ayahi. "So Captain Miyuki," Ayahi began, "When will we take off for the Nature Preserve so we can get that shiny Haxorus they got over there for Boss's Assistant Ayane?"
"As soon as the plane's loaded, fueled up, and ready to go," Miyuki said.
Ayahi couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "I can't believe that the Longsword Sector will be the one to fulfill the side-mission that any of the sectors can fill out. I have no doubt that Admin Swordsman will be very pleased with us when the boss rewards him for Longsword Sector completing the side-mission of tracking down and capturing a wild shiny Pokémon!"
Miyuki nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Now, since this IS a Haxorus that we're gunning for, we're going to have to come prepared for a tough battle. Haxorus as a species are very powerful Pokémon. Given that we're going in with the standard twelve rank and file below the two of us, I'm expecting at least half of them to get wiped out in battle before the Haxorus is weakened enough for us to attempt capture."
"But that will be the only challenging part, right?" Ayahi asked.
Miyuki nodded in confirmation. "I fail to see anything that could pop up to throw a wrench into the gears."
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FOUR
Author's notes;
This chapter sees some of the events of BW067 get covered; I say 'some' because it deviates due to Ideku here reporting Skyla and her 'Air Battle' system from that episode to the Unovan Pokémon League Commission due to how it didn't sit right with him. The UPLC is in full agreement because they ruled what Skyla had been doing as illegal, thus they took disciplinary actions against her. The heroes went to Celestial Tower to collect Skyla and calm her down, while Kenny and Bianca rang the bell at the top to pay respect to some departed persons.
After getting Skyla and seeing Kenny catch a Litwick, the group returns to Mistralton City, only to get side-tracked with a mission to the Nature Preserve to stop Team Scorn from taking the shiny Haxorus there. The next chapter will cover the heroes' time at the Nature Preserve, as well as see some of them make a catch or two; I can only see Dawn and Bianca each making a catch (Bianca so that she can have a full party) right now, but who knows where my creative muse will end up leading me to when I'm writing out the next chapter. Until then, stay tuned for more.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Shalltear (female Rhyperior), Souji (male Rampardos), Leni (female Lucario), Foamy (male Pachirisu), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Giyu (male Samurott; Hisuian), Juan (male Pikachu; Libre), Black (Giratina; Origin Form), Priestess (female Lilligant; alpha; Hisuian), Android 21 (female Weavile; shiny)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Metroid (female Galvantula), Tsunade (female Gastrodon; east sea), Myde (male Empoleon), Veda (female Abomasnow), Deelia (Dialga), Fourze (male Electivire)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Krokorok (male; Sunglasses), Scrafty (male), Tranquil (female), Servine (female), Jellicent (female)