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-seven: Rocket's Recede

A few boats had to be called out to sail to the raised Abyssal Ruins, the skies above lightening back up now that all troubles had been settled. The defeated Forces of Nature were restored with Max Revives that the reborn trainers had, and after they had dusted themselves off, the Forces of Nature took off into the skies, presumably to return from where they had been summoned from in the first place. It was only after the Forces of Nature had taken off and the Reveal Glass placed on a pedestal that was part of the Abyssal Ruins that said ruins started to sink back into the waters of Undella Bay.

But by that point, everyone had long since vacated the ruins.

The reason for the need to call for so many boats to pick people up was due to the fact that, with the exception of Jessie, James, and Meowth (who were all sent 'blasting off again'), all members of Team Rocket who were present at the Abyssal Ruins during the incident were captured by the heroes. That included the Team Rocket scientist Dr. Zager and, in an especially shocking turn of events, the boss of Team Rocket himself, Giovanni. The boat that Giovanni was on was heavily guarded, with the three reborn trainers volunteering to help keep an eye on things.

Given that each of them flew their respective legendary dragons back to land, one can see why having Dawn, Kenny, and Trip serve as the guards for transporting the captured boss of Team Rocket was a good idea.

Eventually, everyone got off of the boats, where the captured members of Team Rocket were taken by police. Again, the escort had heightened security, with Dawn, Kenny, and Trip going along again. All captured Team Rocket members were interrogated for information about the Team Rocket organization as a whole, although only Giovanni and Dr. Zager were able to provide the names of other ranking members of Team Rocket; some of the grunts did provide locations of properties owned by Team Rocket. All of the info gotten from Giovanni, Dr. Zager, and the grunts was obtained via the use of having Pokémon use Mind Reader on them, and then said Pokémon used their psychic powers to put that info into the minds of the authorities.

That, in turn, led to the subsequent tracking down and capturing of all other ranking members of Team Rocket; executives like Archer, Ariana, Petrel, and Proton, and scientists like Dr. Zager, such as Dr. Namba and Professor Sebastian. There were various other notable members of Team Rocket also rounded up; Dawn, Kenny, and Ash had learned, to their pleasant surprise, that Paul had actually played a major role in helping with rounding up Team Rocket with capturing two noteworthy members, called Attila and Hun, when he came across them while he was on his (as Kenny calls it) redemption quest.

Dawn wondered for a moment how Maylene would react to it if she was told that Paul had played a major role in helping with rounding up two noteworthy members of a villainous team.

All properties under Team Rocket ownership were also raided by the authorities, spanning over at least two regions. Lance the Champion of the Indigo League played a major role in the raid on Team Rocket properties in Kanto and Johto, and was even responsible for taking down and capturing the aforementioned Dr. Namba. The info that was gotten via having Pokémon use Mind Reader on the Team Rocket members captured at the Abyssal Ruins incident went a very long way to clearing out the stain that was the Team Rocket organization.

...

A few days after the heroes got back to Cynthia's villa and all of the actions against Team Rocket were made, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip were seen walking into Cynthia's villa with Cynthia herself, to the expectant looks on the faces of the other heroes. "Sorry if Kenny, Trip, and I have been busy the last few days," Dawn said, "We were all asked to assist with rounding up the last of Team Rocket's influence."

"And?" Ash asked.

Dawn wasn't able to contain her smile for very long. "...The last of Team Rocket's influence, all of their ranking members, business interest, and other properties, have been rounded up and seized by the authorities. Team Rocket, in its entirety, officially has been disbanded and dismantled for good." That drew a round of cheers from the rest of the heroes.

"The authorities are currently in the process of tracking down what all Pokémon that had been successfully stolen and sold by Team Rocket," Cynthia added, "It'll take a while to finish tracking down all such Pokémon, but luckily among the many things seized by the authorities are the full and extensive records that Team Rocket had kept of all of their dealings. At the very least, the twelve Pokémon that were stolen by Jessie and James back in Sinnoh despite how Bertha had been trying to stop them have all been found and taken back to their real owners. The men who had those Pokémon have been arrested as well, but for different charges rather than due to being part of Team Rocket."

"This is awesome!" Ash cheered, "Team Rocket is no longer a thing! I didn't even think that this could have ever happened!"

"Hold your Ponytas there, Ash," Kenny said, "There's an estimated three dozen or so rank and file level members of Team Rocket unaccounted for, including Jessie, James, and Meowth. Granted they're all being tracked down right now, because let's face it many regions want to wholly wipe out Team Rocket for good, but it'll be a while before the last of them are rounded up."

Folding his arms over his chest, Trip said, "Also, although Team Rocket has been wholly taken down for good, they're far from the only villainous organization out there. There's also Team Scorn to still worry about, not to mention various other organizations that may also exist in other regions."

Bianca looked down at her hands, a contemplative and somber look on her face. "...I can never forget about Team Scorn."

Looking around, Dawn saw that someone was a few someones were missing. "...I take it that Ridley and Meloetta had taken off while Kenny, Trip, and I were busy with helping with the mass roundup on Team Rocket?"

"Well, Ridley had taken off yeah," Ash said, "As for Meloetta, however, well, after the chaos at Abyssal Ruins and seeing what all we did to fight Team Rocket and save Meloetta, Ridley decided that it'd be for the best to... well..." Figuring that it'd be better to show, Ash got up, took out a pokéball that he expanded, and tossed it up, calling Meloetta out in the process.

This development took the reborn trainers by surprise. "Ridley allowed you to catch Meloetta, Ash?!" Dawn exclaimed out of sheer surprise.

"He figured that Meloetta would be safer with trainers who were more able to fight off major threats," Ash explained, all the while Meloetta hopped around while crying out happily. The capture of Meloetta, who is a mythical Pokémon, has significantly boosted Ash's potential, giving him far greater overall power than what he had by this point in the anime back in the previous lives of the reborn trainers. Trip and Kenny, who were going to be taking part in the Vertress Conference same as Ash, now had to really be on their toes if they had to battle the trainer they aimed to avenge losses against.

After Ash recalled Meloetta, Kenny stretched his arms into the air. "Well another bit of good news," Kenny said, "I got it that the gym over in Opelucid City is now back up and running. By the time we get there, we can see if we can earn a tenth Unovan gym badge each." Gesturing to himself, Kenny added, "And as for me, I also plan to check out that Challenger's Cave place on Unovan Route 9."

Cynthia smiled in amusement. "Given that you're on that gym challenge tour with Dawn, I'm not surprised that you're looking to challenge every gym you hear of. I hope you all have fun, and to never forget to love your Pokémon." The heroes all nodded in agreement and, after taking care of a few last minute things, took off from Cynthia's villa. Their time there may have come to a close, but the heroes had more adventure laying ahead of them, especially since they have still got the Vertress Conference to look forward to.

Indeed, the heroes all felt at ease. Team Rocket in its entirety was no more, meaning that there was one less villainous organization out there to worry about.

Jessie, James, and Meowth were, to put things mildly, not doing good.

The Team Rocket organization, the very foundation that they had given their all to for many years, was now wholly and for good done away with. Team Rocket was no longer a thing. Team Rocket had been their home, their family even. And now, thanks to the twerps, Jessie, James, and Meowth had lost said home. They were cast out, adrift in the world. They did, however, manage to recover what all Pokémon that ey had left with Team Rocket; this meant that Jessie and James got back Seviper, Mime Jr., Carnivine, Wobbuffet, and Yanmega. Combined with Jessie's Woobat and Frillish and James's Yamask and Amoongus, Jessie and James respectively had four and three Pokémon.

"Uhhg," Jessie moaned, her tone a mix of bitterness and despair, "I can't believe that we're no longer members of Team Rocket, boys."

"Well given that Team Rocket no longer exists because of the twerps, I have to agree," James replied. Arching a wry eyebrow, James asked, "Anyway, where are we now?"

Meowth took out some tech device from the bag he had on and used it. "...We've somehow made it to the Hoenn region."

"I remember Hoenn," Jessie said, her voice still somewhat lame with sadness, "It's where I got my taste for contests. Ah, memories." The gurgling sound made only by stomachs that have been empty for a while sounded out from each member of the trio.

All three of them slumped their heads. "...We're done for," Meowth said, his tone similar to Jessie's. Looking up into the skies above, Meowth saw that they were painted a brilliant and vibrant hue of orange by the setting sun. "...At least the last thing we'll see before going out is the beautiful sunset painted skies above."

After Meowth had said that, the trio all fell to their knees onto the ground, too tired to carry on. Looking from his left to his right, James saw that Jessie and Meowth had passed out from exhaustion and hunger before he did. He felt it to be his duty to stay up as much as he could to watch over them, maybe even rouse himself up as much as he could so he could go about finding some food to at least partly fill their empty bellies. He tried to push himself back up, propping himself up somewhat with his right arm as he tried to get back up.

But he slipped, fell back down into the ground and laid there. As he slowly began passing out, James muttered, "...So... this is how I go..." He let out a tired chuckle, one filled with sad irony. "...Heh. At least I... went out living as I wished... and with friends I could count on to... have my... back..." James, at that point having spent all of his energy, passed out on the ground, laying there in the dirt with Jessie and Meowth by his side.

...

James, when he finally started coming to, realized that he must have survived long enough to be rescued. He didn't open his eyes yet, he was still a little tired, but he could tell that he was in a warm, safe place. It lacked the feel of custody, meaning that he hadn't been rescued by any manner of authorities. James's first thought was that he hoped that Jessie and Meowth were also rescued same as him, and that they too had also survived. Slowly, James started to stir. His eyelids, feeling steadily more light, slowly fluttered open.

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

James realized that he must have been looked after by someone sitting by his bedside, given that they spoke the instant James's eyelids began the process of opening up. After enough effort, James forced his eyes open all the way, then sat up in bed. Looking around, James saw that he was in a bunk room in a base somewhere; where were six beds with their head ends along one wall, and six more beds opposite of them. James was laying in the bed along the first row, furthest from the lone door that he saw that led into and out of the room. Jessie was in the bed opposite from James in the second row.

Turning to his left side, James was as surprised as he could be given how tired he was, but he was nonetheless still surprised. But then again, the person sitting at his bedside was a uniquely dressed member of Team Scorn, meaning that he was either a Team Scorn officer or the assistant of an Admin. He had dark hair that shot up and back aside from face-framing bangs, and he wore a dark blue long sleeved shirt with the Team Scorn vest zipped up, pants matching the shirt but the legs ended an inch above the ankles, and dark blue sandals. His Team Scorn insignia patch was over the left pec area on his vest.

"You and that lady in the bed over there," the Team Scorn member said while pointing to where Jessie laid, "Were in pretty bad shape. You guys were clearly hungry, as were your Pokémon."

"Are..." James began, "...Are Jessie okay? What about Meowth and the rest of our Pokémon?"

"All of the Pokémon you guys had on hand were the first to wake up," the ranking member of Team Scorn said, "And were all fed. You and the girl who I assume is named Jessie haven't eaten yet, but that's because you guys haven't woken up yet. Well, you're up now, so some food will be rustled up for you."

James nodded once, too tired and hungry to do much else. "Can... I at least get your name?"

"I'm Goemon," the now identified (to James at least) Goemon said, "I'm the Admin's Assistant to Admin Ninja, head of Team Scorn's Kunai Sector which is the sector of Team Scorn that primarily works in the Hoenn region."

The tired James gave a single nod. "Well that's Jessie in the bed over there," James began, "And I'm James. We-"

"-Were members of the now defunct Team Rocket," Goemon said, finishing James's sentence for him, "I can tell by those tattered uniforms you and Jessie were found in when Admin Ninja and I saw you in when half a dozen rank and file in Team Scorn found you guys."

"...What is it that you want with us?" James asked.

"As soon as you and Jessie are fed," Goemon began to explain, "Admin Ninja wants to see you. He says he's got an offer for you guys." Getting up, Goemon added, "And don't worry. If you two decide not to accept, we'll return all of your Pokémon, blindfold you since we don't trust you yet, then take you away from our Hoenn base here and release you, sending you on your merry way. We'll also provide clean outfits for you and Jessie, because your Team Rocket uniforms are not only tattered, but also reek to the point that they'd make a Garbodor blush with jealousy."

Goemon took off, saying he'll be back shortly with meals for James and Jessie. After Goemon had left the bunk room, James took the chance to take a whiff of his tattered and dirtied Team Rocket uniform. It really did have something of an odor. But that could wait for the time being. For now, James called out to Jessie, who woke up about a minute after James started repeatedly calling out to her. Jessie, when awake, said, "James, where are we?"

"In a bunk room in a Team Scorn base somewhere in Hoenn," James said.

"T-Team Scorn?" Jessie said, "James, we need to fight back! They're a threat to Team Ro-"

"Team Rocket was dismantled and disbanded a few days ago, remember?"

Jessie stopped short at what James pointed out. Gently shaking his head, James said, "We... we aren't members of Team Rocket anymore, because Team Rocket doesn't exist anymore. At a minimum, that means that Team Scorn aren't our enemies anymore. As a matter of fact, they're the reason we were rescued, brought to safety, and had also seen to feeding Meowth and the rest of our Pokémon."

At that prompting, Jessie quickly checked herself. "My Pokémon are missing!"

"So are mine," James pointed out, his tone somewhat dry, "But the Admin's Assistant I talked to said that Meowth and the rest of our Pokémon will be returned to us soon." Giving Jessie a wry look, James added, "Also, they're bringing food to us, so try to show at least some gratitude."

Jessie was about to open her mouth to argue, but her stomach growled before she got even one syllable out. Relenting, Jessie said, "...Fine. But they had better return our Pokémon like you said they will." James gave a single nod to Jessie, knowing full well that, given the situation that they were in, they didn't really have all that much of a choice in the matter.

They could only hope for the best.

A short while later, James and Jessie were ravenously devouring all of the food brought to them while Goemon and Ninja watched, both with some degree of amazement. That was also the first time Jessie met Goemon, as well as the first time Jessie and James met Ninja. The Admin of the Kunai Sector of Team Scorn was dressed the same as Goemon, but he also had a sleeveless haori long coat, dark blue save for a yellow flame pattern rising up from the bottom hem, and he also wore a steel plated headband, the Team Scorn insignia engraved in the center of the metal plate.

"You..." Ninja began, somewhat at a loss for words, "...Guys really must have been hungry."

Jessie, after swallowing the mouthful of mini bread loaf she was eating, said, "We haven't had anything to eat since our old boss was captured and taken by authorities a few days ago."

Ninja nodded once in understanding. "Yes. I have heard that Team Rocket had been taken down and dismantled, all of its noteworthy and ranking members captured." Arching a wry eyebrow, Ninja went on, "But you two evaded capture."

"The twerp who had caught Dialga sent us blasting off," James scowled, "Or maybe Dialga acted on its own in that case. I don't remember, details are fuzzy for me."

Once more, the Admin of the Kunai Sector of Team Scorn nodded in understanding. "Yes, I know who you speak of. Trip Barley, a Unova born boy who is friends with Dawn Berlitz and Kenny Harris." Looking to James and Jessie, Ninja said, "Originally, Team Scorn had replicated the feat the now defunct Team Galactic had pulled off in order to summon Dialga into this world so that Boss's Assistant Ayane could capture it, so as to give Team Scorn better footing to fight Dawn and Kenny equally. But the plan failed because Ayane only had standard pokéballs to use."

Jessie looked surprised. "She tried to capture a super-powerful legendary Pokémon... using only standard pokéballs."

"Team Scorn's efforts in Unova are currently working to summon forth the legendary Pokémon Reshiram so as to have Ayane set up to capture it," Ninja said, "Only this time, Ayane will be prepared because she has a Master Ball to use."

Both Jessie and James went wide eyed with surprise. "You're really going that far to have a counter for the twerps?" Jessie asked.

"Dawn Berlitz and her friends are powerful trainers who constantly interfere with Team Scorn's actions," Ninja pointed out, "Also, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip have Palkia, Giratina, and Dialga respectively. We need to get Reshiram so as to at a minimum have a good shot at fighting them off."

Jessie and James were surprised by how far Team Scorn was planning to go; they're taking aim at Reshiram, and rather than try to control it with some sort of relic or device, the plan is to catch it in a Master Ball, like a normal trainer would catch a common Pokémon in a pokéball. There was something else about the plan that got the attention of James, at least when it concerned one of its details.

"...Hang on a minute," James began, "Who's this Ayane lady who you've mentioned again?"

"Boss's Assistant Ayane is the assistant of the boss of Team Scorn," Ninja explained, "The boss himself said that Ayane would be the one to catch and use Reshiram against Dawn Berlitz and her friends."

That got Jessie's attention. "The boss of Team Scorn doesn't want to use Reshiram himself?"

Ninja gently shook his head. "The boss has a method to his madness, don't you worry about that."

James, after taking a gulp from his drink, said, "Well we won't doubt that. Part of the reason Team Rocket fell, I believe, is because our boss had tried using legendary Pokémon himself directly, and he tried controlling them with a relic rather than just capturing them like how trainers normally catch Pokémon. The boss of Team Scorn having his assistant be the one to use a legendary Pokémon, and have her catch it rather than try some convoluted method of controlling it, is showing a healthy level of caution and calculation here." Jessie, while chewing another mouthful of food, nodded in agreement.

Ninja smirked in amusement. "I'm glad to see that you two see that the boss of Team Scorn knows what he's doing. Because that's where my offer to the two of you comes in."

"Yeah, your assistant mentioned that you had an offer for us," James replied, "And I am actually rather curious. What is it that you want to offer us?" James and Jessie watched as Ninja lifted his right hand up and used it to gesture to the both of them. What he said, what his offer turned out to be, ended up taking the both of them by complete and total surprise. It was an offer that neither of them would have seen coming, not even in a million years. But there Ninja was, extending to them that very surprising offer, as casually as if he were offering them a cookie.

"Would the two of you be interested in joining Team Scorn?"

"You want us to join Team Scorn?!" Jessie practically exclaimed.

Ninja nodded in the affirmative. "You two do have experience working against the law, something that Team Scorn does in spades. And the Kunai Sector in particular is somewhat short staffed. You guys, whose previous organization you had belonged to, aren't part of said organization anymore due to its complete and total dismantling. Joining Team Scorn would, among other things, give you a new purpose in life."

Turning to look at Jessie, James said, "...Well what do you think, Jessie? I actually think it's a good idea."

Jessie, with a contemplative look on her face, said, "...Well it would give us a new thing to work with while looking into getting some revenge on the twerps who had taken out Team Rocket. We should discuss this with Meowth, however."

"Ah yes, your Meowth you two have with you," Goemon spoke up, "I'm actually rather amazed that he can not only talk like a human, but easily can serves as a translator for humans to know what Pokémon are saying."

"And I've been meaning to ask," Ninja said, "Which one of you owns the talking Meowth?"

"Umm, neither of us own Meowth, actually," James admitted, "He was more or less an equal member alongside both Jessie and I, back when the three of us were in Team Rocket."

Gesturing to James and Jessie, Ninja said, "I suppose that I will have to let you two include the talking Meowth in your discussions, but if you all do decide to join Team Scorn, then Meowth can't join as a member in and of himself. One of you two will have to take official ownership of him." Jessie and James turned to look at each other. Team Scorn had once been their enemies, but that was when Team Rocket still existed. The once glorious criminal organization that was feared throughout Kanto and Johto (and to an extent regions beyond those two) was gone now, leaving behind something of a power vacuum that Team Scorn seemed to be looking to fill up.

Jessie and James, knowing full well that they wouldn't survive otherwise, knew that joining Team Scorn was their only option at this point. They would still have to discuss the matter with Meowth, explain things to him and figure out who between Jessie and James would have to take official ownership of Meowth, but they knew that they'd be able to convince him that it was the best way to proceed from this point moving forward. As such, Jessie and James looked to each other, gave one another knowing nods, before turning their attention back to Admin Ninja and Admin's Assistant Goemon to give their answer.

END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND THIRTY-SEVEN

Author's notes;

This chapter sees a major development in the story's setting; Team Rocket in its entirety being removed permanently. This, although a major victory for good guys all over in the various regions, will have the unintended side effect of creating a power vacuum that other villainous organizations will capitalize on. Chief among them being Team Scorn, whose Kunai Sector rescues Jessie and James who somehow made it to the Hoenn region, before Admin Ninja offers to let them join Team Scorn. How this will work out will be seen later, so stick around.

And as per usual, I hope those of you who got Scarlet and Violet are having fun.

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) Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), HedonismBot (Magnezone), Myde (male Empoleon), Veda (female Abomasnow), Deelia (Dialga), Fourze (male Electivire)

Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Krookodile (male; Sunglasses), Scrafty (male), Meloetta (gender unknown), Hydreigon (female), Steelix (male; shiny)