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 thirty-five: Humilau Hustle

The heroes had just stepped out of the stadium where the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup had been held, where Trip not only won the tournament thus netting the Junior Cup trophy, but he also won the exhibition battle against Alder. But then again, Trip here is a reborn trainer, having been a mid-teens girl in high school named Piper before dying and being isekai'd into this world as Trip. But that's not something the others aside from Dawn and Kenny, also reborn trainers, knows about. But that would be getting off subject.

Now that the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup was over, Meloetta floated away from Dawn and back over to Ash. "So gang, where to next?" Kenny asked as the heroes made their way from the stadium.

"We still have time before the Vertress Conference," Ash said, "I say we get in some extra training over at Cynthia's villa before making our way over to attend the Conference."

Dawn nodded in agreement. "Yes, we should train before the conference. Even me, despite how I have no plans to enter the conference. I'm not the kind of girl to let her skills grow rusty." Turning to look at Iris, Dawn went on, "We may also wanna work on correcting the attitude problem your Dragonite has, Iris."

Sighing in a troubled tone, Iris said, "I know. I still can't believe that-"

"Watch out!"

Iris was cut off when a young man and a Riolu came crashing into her, the two of them rushing in so fast that they couldn't stop themselves. After they barreled into Iris, knocking her over as well as falling over themselves, the reborn trainers saw the boy and his Riolu, and were able to identify him as Cameron, although none of them said so out loud and were going to wait for Cameron to introduce himself.

"Hey, are you okay?" Ash asked Cameron while Meloetta hid behind Ash, peeking out from his shoulder that Pikachu was not perched on.

"Who even is this kid?" Bianca asked.

Shrugging, Kenny replied, "I don't know, I think he's like a lunch monitor?"

"I'm not a lunch monitor!" Cameron declared. Gesturing to himself, Cameron went on, "My name is Cameron! I'm here for the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup, which starts tomorrow!"

"Uhh, it doesn't start tomorrow," Ash said.

Looking surprised, Cameron said, "...Wait, seriously?"

Nodding once in the affirmative, Ash said, "It actually just ended." To point, the heroes showed their participation prizes, and Trip showed the Junior cup trophy he won.

Cameron, with his Riolu mimicing his every move, slumped in defeat. "Aww man, this always happens." Straightening up, Cameron said, "Oh well, I can still catch the next plane to Johto for the Vertress Conference. I've gotten all seven badges that I need to enter, so-"

Cutting in, Kenny said, "Uhh, dude, the Vertress Conference is here in Unova. Also, you need eight badges to enter."

Cameron, looking embarrassed (his Riolu even mimicked his embarrassed expression), said, "...Well it's a good thing that I have a week left before it then. I still have time to earn the last badge I need."

"You actually have over a week," Dawn corrected, "I think at this point you have roughly a month and a half before the Vertress Conference."

"Even better!" Cameron declared, "That'll grant time for getting my last badge AND extra training time!"

Ash nodded in agreement. "It can never hurt to get in some extra training."

Gesturing to Cameron, Kenny said, "Why don't you join us? We're all gunning for the same conference, so stick with us and we'll make sure you don't lose your head trying to get around."

"Sounds great!" Cameron said, "Count me in!" And so, with Cameron joining the group, the heroes made their way back over to Cynthia's villa, to relax the rest of the day and get in some extra training time. Also, Dawn was going to ask about gyms that Cameron could look into, with the unspoken idea to keep in mind the Humilau City gym, as it's the one Cameron in the anime in Dawn's previous life challenged.

Later, the heroes which now includes Cameron were relaxing outside of Cynthia's villa. While Ash's Pikachu sparred with Cameron's Riolu, the heroes took pause when they saw Meloetta sing out to the sea. "...Why is Meloetta singing to the sea?" Iris asked.

Shrugging, Kenny said, "Maybe Meloetta wants to serenade the sea due to wanting to marry it? I don't know."

Sighing, Trip said, "Kenny, Meloetta does not want to marry the sea. Meloetta is not a freaky fish guy."

"Maybe the sea is Meloetta's home," Cilan offered.

After a break was called in the training between Pikachu and Riolu, Cameron said, "Speaking of homes, the badge I'll earn at the next gym I'll challenge will get a new home in my badge case!"

"If it's a gym you're looking for," Jervis began as he came out of the villa, having overheard Cameron, "Then may I suggest the gym over in Humilau City?"

Clapping her hands together, Bianca said, "An excellent suggestion! Cameron can challenge and defeat the gym there, and after that gym leader is recovered enough, I can take a crack at him or her!"

Iris, looking surprised at Bianca, said, "Wait a minute Bianca, you already have eight badges."

Clenching her right hand into a tightly shut fist, Bianca said while looking down at said fist, "I still wanna challenge that gym as well and win the badge there. A trainer with nine gym badges ought to be stronger than one with only eight. Winning in Humilau City ought to help me get one step closer to becoming strong enough to defeat the bastard who killed my father."

"Someone killed your dad?!" Cameron exclaimed, clearly caught off guard by what Bianca had just said.

"We... can tell you the tale during dinner tonight," Dawn said, "And speaking of earning the badge at Humilau City, I think I'll challenge the gym there as well."

Chuckling in amusement, Ash said, "Well my friend Gary earned ten badges in Kanto. I fail to see why you can't earn more than the necessary eight here in Unova." As such, not only was Cameron making plans to challenge the gym in Humilau City, but so was Bianca and Dawn. Kenny and Trip also said that they planned to do so as well, and Ash also got interested in the idea, saying he wanted to try to do there in Unova what Gary did in Kanto. It also helped that it was an excellent opportunity to get in some extra training for the Vertress Conference.

That being said, Humilau City had a storm coming its way.

The following day, the group made great time getting to Humilau City, thanks to Dawn looking up the directions and having everyone stick with her as she led the way. They soon found the Humilau City Pokémon Center where, after asking around and learning that the Humilau City gym leader, Marlon, uses water Pokémon, did some necessary party rotation to have the best odds of winning. After that, they made their way over to the Humilau City Gym. Within half an hour, they saw a Wailord swim towards where they were waiting, with a man on its back.

When Wailord and its passenger got close enough, they saw that it was Marlon, the gym leader that they were looking for. "Hey-o, I see that I got a lot of guests," Marlon greeted in a good-natured tone, "I can only assume one of you wishes to challenge me at my gym?" Gesturing to himself, Marlon added, "The name's Marlon, and I'm the gym leader here in Humilau City."

Pointing to Cameron, Dawn said, "He still needs to earn one more badge to qualify for the Vertress Conference, so he ought to go first. After that, my other friends and I want to take cracks at you, but before we do I wanna ask a question."

"Alright, shoot," Marlon said.

"My friends and I who wish to challenge you already have eight Unovan gym badges," Dawn said, "But for various reasons, we wanna see if we can earn more. Are we allowed to do so, yes or no?"

Marlon gave a good-natured chuckle. "It's actually something some trainers fret about, believe it or not," Marlon replied, "They worry earning more than eight badges might actually disqualify them from entering. But the truth of the matter is that, legally speaking in accordance to the rules set forth by Unova's Pokémon League Commission, there's no harm in earning more badges than what a trainer needs to qualify for the Vertress Conference. It's just that only eight of the badges they earn will be counted, the rest are considered just bragging rights."

Ash nodded once in acknowledgement. "Thanks for clearing that up. I actually have a friend who earned more badges than necessary for Kanto's Pokémon League Conference a while ago, and I wanna see if I can pull off here in Unova what my friend pulled off in Kanto."

"Oh, a foreign trainer!" Marlon said, his interest clearly piqued, "I don't get too many of those! I usually just get challengers born and raised here in Unova."

Holding up a hand, Dawn said, "Actually Marlon, out of the total six of us who plan to challenge you, half of us were born and raised outside of Unova. Ash is from Kanto like he said, and Kenny and I both come from Sinnoh."

Turning to look at Cameron, Trip said, "Wait a minute. Cameron, what region were you born and raised in?"

"Unova," Cameron answered, "I was born in Opelucid City because my mom went into labor while visiting my dad who was there for work, but I was raised mostly in Mistralton City."

Once things were settled, everyone went into the Humilau City gym, where Cameron would battle for his final Unovan gym badge that he needed to qualify for the Vertress Conference. Iris, though, went in with some concern because Cameron had mentioned Opelucid City by name. She shook her head to banish her concerns for the time being; they weren't planning to go to Opelucid City after all, so there was no need for worries.

...

The battle between Cameron and Marlon was a two on two affair, as that's how Marlon says he runs all of his gym battles. "This is an official Humilau City gym battle between the gym leader, Marlon, and the challenger, Cameron," the referee announced, "Each trainer may use only two Pokémon, and the battle is over when both of one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle. Furthermore, Marlon as the gym leader cannot switch Pokémon out until they go down in battle! Now then, begin!"

"Go, Jellicent!" Marlon said, sending out his Jellicent which was male.

Tossing up a pokéball, Cameron called out, "Go, Hydreigon!" This surprised Dawn, given that she remembered from the BW anime in her previous life that Cameron didn't use his Hydreigon against Marlon. Dawn attributed seeing Cameron bust his Hydreigon out against Marlon to Ash working with his Hydreigon. And Hydreigon did have several advantages over Jellicdent; dragon resists water, and dark not only resists ghost but is super effective against it in return. Cameron's choice in Hydreigon against Marlon was a wise one indeed.

Gesturing forward, Marlon called out, Jellicent, use Shadow Ball!"

"Hydreigon, blast through it with Dragon Rush!" Cameron ordered.

Hydreigon cloaked itself in a harsh aura of dragonic power that took on the head of a dragon with its maw wide open. Then, it flew right through the Shadow Ball, bursting it harmlessly, before going on to slam right into Jellicent. Jellicent took great damage but wasn't down for the count. Additionally, Hydreigon looked rattled by something, shaking a bit before regaining itself. "Hey Hydreigon, are you okay?" Cameron called out.

"That was Jellicent's Cursed Body ability activating," Marlon explained, "It disabled your Hydreigon's Dragon Rush attack."

Cameron was a bit shocked, but with a determined look on his face he pushed on through. "Hydreigon, use Dragon Pulse!"

Gesturing forward, Marlon called out, "Jellicent, use Shadow Ball!"

Both Pokémon charged up and fired their attacks at one another, and due to the angles of the attacks when they fired, they passed by one another before going on to strike their respective targets. However, while Hydreigon took little damage from Shadow Ball, Jellicent who was struck hard by Dragon Rush ended up going down after it took the Dragon Pulse. "Jellicent is unable to battle!" the referee announced, "The winner is Hydreigon!"

Marlon let out an amused smile as Cameron jumped up and down in victory. After recalling his fainted Jellicent, Marlon held up the pokéball that held his final Pokémon. "This one here is pretty ace. I hope you're ready." Tossing that pokéball up, Marlon said, "Go, Mantine!" Coming out was Marlon's Mantine, his second and last Pokémon for the battle with Cameron.

Surprisingly for the reborn trainers, Cameron swapped his Pokémon out. "Hydreigon, return! Go, Ferrothorn!" Cameron's second Pokémon for the battle was his Ferrothorn, which had trouble with balancing on the floating platforms.

"Interesting choice," Marlon said, "But let's see if it'll be enough to help you out here." Gesturing forward, Marlon said, "Mantine use Wing Attack!"

As Mantine flew in closer and closer to Ferrothorn, Cameron said, "Wait for it, Ferrothorn... wait for it, Ferrothorn..." When Mantine was within a meter, Cameron called out, "Now, Ferrothorn! Use Thunderbolt!" Ferrothorn unleashed a Thunderbolt on Marlon's Mantine at point blank range, striking it and dealing massive damage; the end result of using an electric attack on a dual water flying type, as both water and flying are weak to electric.

Mantine gave a tired cry as it fell down into the water. It strained to lift its head up, cried out challengingly at Ferrothorn. "That's right, Mantine!" Marlon said, "We don't give up when the chips are down! Use Psybeam!"

"Ferrothorn, counter with another Thunderbolt!" Cameron called out.

The two Pokémon charged up and fired their attacks at one another, but Mantine being in great pain hindered it, while Ferrothorn wasn't hurt at all. Thunderbolt pushed through the Psybeam and went on to strike Mantine, this time knocking it out. "Mantine is unable to battle!" the referee declared when he saw that Mantine was clearly out of it, "The winner is Ferrothorn! Victory of this battle goes to the challenger, Cameron!"

Cameron jumped up and down as he cheered, a gesture his Riolu next to him mimicked, as Cameron had been declared the winner. Marlon, being a graceful loser, gave Cameron a thumbs up for winning before awarding him a Wave Badge. Turning to look at the heroes, Marlon said that he'll need to rest his Pokémon up at the local Pokémon Center before he can take a challenge from any of them later in the afternoon, a challenge that Bianca insisted on taking. Thus, with the plans made, everyone took off from the Humilau City gym for the time being.

To the worry of some of the heroes, Cameron had taken off, citing that he heard of something that caught his attention. As such, with Cameron out of the group at least for the time being, the heroes focused on their own efforts against Marlon's gym. Starting off as she had insisted earlier was Bianca. Using her Shiftry she caught at the Nature Preserve to defeat Marlon's Jellicent then had her Galvantula take out Marlon's Mantine, Bianca won and earned the Wave Badge, her ninth Unovan gym badge.

After that, Marlon and his Pokémon had to rest for the night. The following morning, the heroes were wide awake and saw Ash have his go against Marlon. Taking a cue from Cameron, Ash used his own Hydreigon to defeat Marlon's Jellicent; Ash's Hydreigon came knowing Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, and surprisingly enough Flash Cannon. Using Dragon Pulse to bait out Jellicent's Cursed Body then firing off a safe Dark Pulse, Ash's Hydreigon defeated Marlon's Mantine. Ash then used Pikachu to take on Marlon's Mantine, defeating it with a few electric attacks. Thus was how Ash won and earned the Wave Badge.

Later that afternoon, Trip took the next go against Marlon. Trip had his Empoleon Myde tango with and defeat Jellicent, using Ice Beam to bait out Cursed Body while also scoring a lucky freeze that let Trip spam Grass Knot with impunity. Trip then used his Magnezone HedonismBot to tango with and defeat Marlon's Mantine, scoring Trip his ninth Unovan gym badge. After that, Marlon had to rest both himself and his Pokémon for the evening, meaning that Dawn and Kenny would have to try for their goes at Marlon the following day.

Which, with gusto, they took on. First to go was Kenny, who used his Hisuian Samurott Giyu to take on and defeat Marlon's Jellicent, not once triggering Cursed Body despite striking it with two Night Slashes. After that, Kenny sent out Juan, his Pikachu who was wearing one of his Libre wrestler outfits, to do battle with Marlon's Mantine. After an exchange of blows, Juan unleashed a second Thunderbolt which took out Marlon's Mantine. Kenny as he was awarded a Wave Badge said that it would not have been possible without Juan Carlos Santiago Dominguez Hernandez de la Santa Cruz.

After Marlon had time to rest his Pokémon, he was ready to take on Dawn's challenge. In a rare showing, Dawn used her Porygon-Z, Rapparata, who took out both Jellicent and Mantine on its own, using one Shadow Ball to knock out Jellicent although it was disabled via Jellicent's Cursed Body, then a Thunderbolt that knocked out Mantine before its Psybeam even got half way to reaching its target. That was how Dawn earned the Wave Badge, which was something she was glad she did as it was a nice boost given that she was on a gym challenge tour. And so, with the heroes aiming to earn badges now at nine Unovan gym badges each, they were able to leave Humilau City, feeling that much more invigorated for the Vertress Conference.

The following morning, the heroes were back at Cynthia's villa, with all of them training. While Ash, Trip, Kenny, and Bianca trained to prep for the Vertress Conference, Dawn trained while working with Iris to help get her Dragonite to settle down. The heroes had also done some party rotating, mostly to focus on Pokémon they wanted to use in the Vertress Conference as well as ones they felt needed more work; Ash had Pikachu, Sawsbuck, Emboar, Scrafty, Krookodile, and Hydreigon, Kenny had Roshi, Goofy, Kermit, Cell, Shallot, and Black, Trip had Myde, Veda, Mr. Popo, Fourze, Todoroki, and Deelia, and Dawn had Chi-Chi, Cyrus, Akiza, Leni, Germany, and Tsukune.

As the heroes were training, Kenny said, "Hey, I just had a thought. Isn't there a gym in Opelucid City?"

"Yes but it's still closed!" Iris said, clearly worried about something.

"The young lady there is right," Jervis said as he came over, "But it is slated to be reopen for business sometime before the Vertress Conference."

Nodding once in confirmation, Kenny said, "Excellent! That means we can swing on by!"

Jervis nodded once to Kenny before saying, "By the way Kenny, about the request you had made, I got the info you need. And since you all seem to plan to head to Opelucid City, it's convenient as the location is literally right up next to Opelucid City."

"You made a request for some information?" Trip asked.

Nodding once in the affirmative, Kenny said, "Yeah. I had asked if there were any places one might be able to find Riolu in the wild. I wanna catch one."

"You'll be looking for a place called Challenger's Cave," Jervis said to Kenny, "Located along Unovan Route 9, which on its east end exits into Opelucid City."

"Well that's even more reason to hit up Opelucid City," Kenny declared, "It's a stop we have to pass through in order to reach a personal goal that I have!"

Seeing that Iris still seemed hesitant to go to Opelucid City, Dawn let out a troubled sigh. "Look Iris," Dawn began, getting Iris to perk up and look to her. "It's clear to me that you got some sort of baggage when it comes to Opelucid City."

"Actually," Ash said, "Now that Dawn mentions it, I do recall Iris expressing relief when we were told that the gym in Opelucid City was closed down for the time being a while ago."

Turning to look at Iris, Dawn said, "Look, we won't pry into your past if that's what you're worried about. In fact, if any of the guys try I'll tell them off for you. But you ought to at least respect the fact that some of us want to go to Opelucid City."

Looking like she knew she ultimately wasn't going to win the argument here, Iris replied, "...Fine. I'll relent and not try to keep the rest of you guys from going to Opelucid City."

"The gym won't be open for a few more days, just so you all know," Jervis said, "But you still ought to get there soon. There's also how Kenny wishes to go over to Challenger's Cave to try to find a wild Riolu."

Stretching his arms into the air, Kenny said, "Well we ought to think about how to go about that business later. For now, let's head back to training."

The other heroes all agreed, and went back to training. During said training, Ash went up to Kenny and asked him if his Pikachu knew Grass Knot. Kenny said that Juan did indeed know Grass Knot, to which Ash then asked if Kenny and his Pikachu would be willing to help Ash's own Pikachu with learning Grass Knot. Dawn realized that Ash had gotten the idea of having Pikachu learn Grass Knot from seeing Ideku's named shiny Raichu, Blitzkrieg, use it repeatedly during their battle back in the Pokémon World Tournament Junior Cup.

Having Pikachu learn Grass Knot was a very smart move on Ash's part; not only would Grass Knot cover Pikachu's sole weakness of ground, but there weren't very many Pokémon who weighed as much as or less than a Pikachu. Additionally, many of the Pokémon who outweighed Pikachu had weaknesses to grass moves, often times with said weaknesses being times four weaknesses. Kenny, eager to help Ash's Pikachu unlock 'more cringe power' as he put it, was more than glad to have Juan work with Ash's Pikachu to learn Grass Knot in order to boost his versatility in battle.

Thus was how that day was spent. The heroes were even treated to more of Meloetta's singing, which they all enjoyed. The latest song that Meloetta sang even brought tears to Jervis's eyes, he found it that beautiful. The heroes all felt that they had no worries, at least until reaching Opelucid City at the absolute earliest as the ones in their group aiming to earn badges wanna try their respective hands at the Opelucid City gym. There was also Kenny wanting to check out Challenger's Cave which was located out on Unovan Route 9, but that wasn't related to the gym in Opelucid City.

Indeed, the heroes all felt that things moving on from that point would be nothing but smooth sailing.

...

A floating platform in the seas near Unova was the destination of a helicopter with a large red capital 'R' on the front, clearly marking it as a Team Rocket helicopter. A different helicopter was already on that platform, with Jessie, James, Meowth, Dr. Zager, and a few rank and file Rocket grunts stood at attention as the helicopter that was incoming landed. The door on its side opened and a set of stairs came out from it. Everyone already on the platform stood straight and gave a salute as the big boss of Team Rocket himself, Giovanni, stepped out from the helicopter and came down the steps to stand on the platform.

"How is the progress with the plan for our efforts in Unova coming along?" Giovanni asked as a few more rank and file Rocket grunts came off of the helicopter after him.

"We have close to enough data on the singing of Meloetta to proceed, sir," Dr. Zager said to Giovanni.

Giovanni nodded in understanding before turning to look at Jessie, James, and Meowth. "This next bit I have to say is aimed towards the three of you." Jessie, James, and Meowth all tensed up, worried that the boss was going to read them the riot act for some screw up on their part. Even the others present, like Dr. Zager and all of the rank and file Rocket grunts, tensed up out of worry. However, all worry fled the lot of them and was replaced with confusion when Giovanni said what he wanted to say to Jessie, James, and Meowth.

"I am very impressed with you three."

Jessie, James, and Meowth all looked surprised into dumbfounded-ness, and at least half of the rank and file Rocket grunts eyes the Team Rocket trio with jealousy as they were being praised by the boss. "You're..." James began, sounding like he was having trouble believing what he had just heard, "...impressed with us, sir?"

"You three have given a lot of effort to fighting off that meddlesome Team Scorn organization," Giovanni said, "The three of you alone have done more to fight back than any twelve other members of Team Rocket combined. You also have the greatest record of wins against Team Scorn members." Holding his arms behind his back, the boss of Team Rocket went on, "As such, I expect that you three can continue said efforts."

The Team Rocket trio all saluted Giovanni in unison. "You can count on us, sir!" Jessie said, "We'll send any Team Scorn member who comes our way packing!"

Giovanni nodded once in acknowledgement. "Good. The other rank and file in Team Rocket can learn a thing or two from you three about fighting off members of rival organizations." To everyone else on the platform as a whole, Giovanni went on, "But that's something to be discussed later! For now, we're proceeding with our plans for the Unova region!" Everyone let out excited cheers, eager to get to work to carry out the will of their boss.

END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE

Author's notes;

This chapter sees the heroes meet Cameron and handle business over in Humilau City. Cameron earns the last badge he needs to qualify for the Vertress Conference, and the heroes who are earning badges decide to challenge Marlon despite how each of them already has eight Unovan gym badges. As such, all of them wind up with a Wave Badge each, and they now have their sights set on the gym in Opelucid City.

But that will have to wait, as the next few chapters will see them have to deal with the cunning planning of Team Rocket, in a scheme so important that Giovanni himself comes in to personally oversee things. Giovanni also takes time to give a thumbs up to Jessie, James, and Meowth, giving them a level of praise he seldom ever shows them much less anybody, given that they're constantly fighting off Team Scorn's efforts. Anyway, look forward to seeing how things will end up going down here.

Oh, one last thing; I hope you all who play the games are enjoying Scarlet and Violet right now as they're out now. I'll be tackling my fourth gym leader after this chapter goes up.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Rapparata (Porygon-Z), Zancrow (male Volcarona), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Giyu (male Samurott; Hisuian), Juan (male Pikachu; Libre), Black (Giratina; Origin Form), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Shallot (male Glaceon)

Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Byron (male Bastiodon), HedonismBot (Magnezone), Myde (male Empoleon), Veda (female Abomasnow), Deelia (Dialga), Fourze (male Electivire)

Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Krokorok (male; Sunglasses), Scrafty (male), Gigalith (male), Hydreigon (female), Steelix (male; shiny)