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 fifty-one: So two gym leaders meet in Johto...
After they had parted ways with Ash, Alexa, and the reborn trainers, Cilan, Iris, and Bianca further parted ways upon arriving in Johto. For Bianca, this saw her head on over Violet City, where she would seek out Falkner as her first gym leader in Johto to battle. For Iris, the parting of ways saw her head on over to Blackthorn City, where she would do battle with Clair; not for the purposes of collecting gym badges, mind you, but rather for the purposes of testing her growing mastery of the dragon type against one who already had firm mastery over the majesty of dragons.
And what of Cilan? He was fishing at a lake he found after wandering around lost in the woods.
Having spotted a Qwilfish in the lake, Cilan decided that he'd try catching it. As he fished for the Qwilfish, Pansage out by his side, Cilan caught a very strong aquatic Pokémon on his line. "This is a big one!" Cilan cried out, getting up and hoisting with all of his strength. Although Cilan did succeed in reeling in his catch, it wasn't the Qwilfish that he was intending. Instead, it was a Gyarados. "Alright, I'll capture this Gyarados instead," Cilan said, "Pansage, use Bullet Seed!"
Pansage fired the Bullet Seed attack at Gyarados, but it didn't do too much. "Follow it up with Rock Tomb!" Cilan called out, prompting Pansage to use Rock Tomb, doing a tad bit more but still nothing much. Cilan then had Pansage charge up a Solar Beam attack, but the Gyarados used Flamethrower, striking Pansage and causing it great damage in the process. Cilan, worried about Pansage, decided to abandon his plans to catch Gyarados and run to take Pansage to the nearest Pokémon Center.
Because of Cilan leaving, he didn't see Gyarados get zapped with blue electricity before it fired a Hyper Beam and dove back into the water of the lake. So focused on getting medical attention for his injured Pansage that Cilan ran past Brock, who like him was associated with Ash, Dawn, and Kenny. But neither Cilan nor Brock had any knowledge of the fact that they share multiple mutual friends. As far as Brock knew, Cilan was just a guy who looked to be running to the nearest Pokémon Center so he could get his injured Pokémon treated.
Brock did pay Cilan some attention, though.
At the nearby Pokémon Center, an anxious Cilan told the Nurse Joy about what all had happened, when Brock suddenly came in. "Excuse me," Brock said, "But I may be able to help with the treatment of the injured Pokémon. I do have some training as a Pokémon doctor."
"Oh that would be great, thanks," Nurse Joy replied. Within moments, Brock was helping Nurse Joy with treating Cilan's Pansage. Eventually, Nurse Joy and Brock came out from the treatment room and told Cilan that his Pansage just needed to rest.
As Cilan breathed a sigh of relief, Brock asked, "What happened, by the way?"
"I was fishing at the nearby lake because I saw a Qwilfish swimming in it and decided to try catching it," Cilan began to explain, "But I accidentally hooked a Gyarados instead and decided to switch plans to catch that Gyarados instead. It fired a Flamethrower that hit Pansage."
"...You may have hooked the Gyarados that's known as the local lake's master of the lake," Nurse Joy began, "It's got a powerful Hyper Beam, so the fact you didn't even face that Hyper Beam is very lu-"
"NURSE JOY!"
Nurse Joy was cut off when she, Cilan, and Brock all heard a young girl cry out in distressed panic. Turning to see, the three of them saw a young girl run in, an injured Pikachu in her arms. The heart shaped dent at the end of Pikachu's tail denoted it as female.
"You're that Ayumi girl who I heard is struggling to get her Pikachu to get down Thunderbolt," Nurse Joy said. Looking at Ayumi's Pikachu, Nurse Joy saw that it was banged up way more than it should have been if all Ayumi was doing was trying to get it to master Thunderbolt. "What happened here?" Nurse Joy asked Ayumi as she gestured to the very much injured Pikachu.
"Pikachu and I were at the nearby lake," Ayumi began to explain, "Training to get her to master using Thunderbolt, when a bunch of those Team Scorn villains came in all of a sudden and chased me out!"
"Team Scorn is at the nearby lake?!" Cilan exclaimed, the hint of anger in his tone a sign to the others present that he's encountered Team Scorn before.
That hint in Cilan's tone was easily picked up by Brock. "...You fought Team Scorn before."
Cilan nodded in the affirmative. "I have, yes."
Brock folded his arms over his chest. "I never heard of any Team Scorn activity occurring over in Kanto where I come from, but I have heard on the news about Team Scorn activity occurring here in Johto, as well as over in Hoenn, Unova, and one incident in Sinnoh that not a lot of details on had been made public knowledge. All of my younger siblings are scared that Team Scorn may eventually set their sights on Kanto, and with Team Rocket having been wholly done away with, there'd be room for a new gang of villains to make themselves at home."
Cilan, a firm look on his face, nodded in agreement with Brock. "...We need to come up with a game plan."
Cilan and Brock soon got to work on a game plan to deal with the Team Scorn presence at the nearby lake. During said talk, they were met up by a number of local trainers who all wanted to help fight off Team Scorn. Additionally, during their discussion, it came up from Cilan that he had traveled with Ash, Dawn, and Kenny over in Unova. Brock, recognizing those names, showed Cilan a photo of himself with Ash, Dawn, and Kenny while they were all traveling in Sinnoh and asked if they were the same ones Cilan mentioned, to which Cilan confirmed.
Brock then explained to Cilan how he traveled in Sinnoh with Ash, Dawn, and Kenny, before formerly introducing himself to Cilan, who likewise told Brock his name. After the two were formally introduced to one another, Cilan went on to mention his other traveling companions in Unova, those being Iris, Bianca, and Trip. Brock already knew of Dawn having caught Palkia and Kenny having caught Giratina, but was surprised when Cilan informed him of the story of Trip catching Dialga during the brief time in Sinnoh that Team Scorn was acting up.
After Brock deduced that Trip's capture of Dialga was the main reason why Team Scorn's brief activity in Sinnoh was kept out of the news for the most part, someone came running in and said a Pokémon Poacher named Amer was caught at the nearby lake by Team Scorn and given a harsh booting out of there. Cilan, Brock, and Nurse Joy ran out of the Pokémon Center to see a cowed Amer, a broken robotic Qwilfish laying on the ground at his feet, giving a full report to the police as he calmly and even gladly accepted them arresting him for poaching.
As it turned out, Amer was trying to poach the Gyadaros at the nearby lake on the basis it knew Flamethrower. Team Scorn caught him and, after they had given him an ultimatum that he arrogantly denied, kicked his fanny and booted him from the area of the lake, as they themselves were interested in the Gyarados. When Cilan, Brock, and Nurse Joy got up to where Amer was being grilled by the local Officer Jenny, Cilan asked Amer if he got any names of Team Scorn members, specifically the names of any Officers or Officer's Assistants.
"...Actually, yeah," Amer replied, "I heard that this one guy called Captain Zed was leading the Team Scorn mission at the lake, with someone identified as Captain's Assistant Kenji noting how Zed succeeding there could earn back some trust from Admin Brother who wasn't present. I also heard the names of two members of the rank and file, Shimono and Matsuoka, who were there in a special role assigned to them by Admin Brother to supervise the mission Zed was leading to make sure that he didn't screw up."
Cilan nodded in understanding. "I heard about Admin Brother from Dawn and Kenny. Brother apparently decapitated a woman over in Blackthorn City because said woman was harshly bullying an autistic girl who attended Blackthorn City's local trainer academy, and Brother was right then when the woman was going on like that."
Brock wore a grim look on his face. "...I'd never kill a person like that, but I feel that I can understand where Admin Brother of Team Scorn might be coming from. My youngest sister, Tilly, has autism, so I'm kind of sensitive about people harshly going on about folks who have it." Looking to Cilan, Brock said, "Regardless, we have to stop Team Scorn from getting the Gyarados at the local lake."
Cilan nodded in agreement and then did a quick headcount of all of the trainers who were volunteering to go confront Team Scorn. Including Cilan himself as well as Brock, there were a total of twenty-one trainers. According to the numbers Amer gave, Team Scorn over at the lake had thirty when counting only the unnamed rank and file; the number was upped to thirty-four when including those whose names were identified. The gathered heroic trainers would be going in with a notable disadvantage in terms of numbers, but Cilan felt confident that they had sufficient quality to combat the quantity that Team Scorn had.
Officer Jenny and a few other members of the local police force were able to join in and help, but even then the heroes' numbers went up to twenty-seven; Team Scorn with just the nameless rank and file still held the numbers advantage here. Regardless of the less than favorable odds, the heroic trainers and their police allies still had to go down to the lake to confront Team Scorn. Thusly, with Officer Jenny, Cilan, and Brock leading the way, the heroic trainers and their police allies made their way to the lake to put an end to whatever it was that Team Scorn was up to.
Down at the local lake, Captain Zed, with his Captain's Assistant Kenji by his side, was supervising as a number of the Team Scorn grunts were trying to corral with the Gyarados who was the master of the lake. Even though they were evil, Team Scorn was NOT stupid; they were going at Gyarados with as many electric Pokémon as possible, mostly Magnemites and Voltorbs although there were a scant few Magnetons. "That's it, men," Zed said, "Just keep zapping that behemoth until it's unable to resist capture! The capture of this Gyarados will be a huge boon for Team Scorn!"
"Well now Zed," the voice of Shimono called out, making Zed and Kenji turn to see where Shimono and Matsuoka stood. "You actually do have some competency as a Captain in Team Scorn," Shimono went on, "You have not once fucked up on this mission so far."
"I don't really appreciate that tone, soldier," Zed scowled, "You do know that I outrank you, don't you?"
"Admin Brother had, with the permission of the boss himself when he explained things to him, created a special advisory position for Matsuoka and I while you're on probation," Shimono said, "Making the two of us at least equal to you."
"But the two of you are mere rank and file!" Zed scowled, "I'm the Captain here!"
Shrugging, Matsuoka said, "Technically, the rank that Shinmoomoo and I have is called Advisor. So no, we aren't 'mere rank and file' as you've put it."
"My name's pronounced Shimono," Shimono said to Matsuoka.
Zed still didn't like that he was being supervised by persons in Team Scorn who should be ranked lower than him. Especially these two, these Shimono and Matsuoka boys; they were a direct threat to his position in the hierarchy of Team Scorn. Zed was already scheming to figure out a way to get rid of them, and the threat they pose to his captaincy. But if Shimono and Matsuoka were to suddenly no longer be a thing, Admin Brother would immediately suspect that something was up. And even Zed was smart enough to not cross a superior who made it clear they were upset with him.
The Fourth Captain knew that he'd have to do it in a way so that Admin Brother would be inclined to believe that Zed wasn't connected in any way if he were to get these puffed up underlings out of his hair so that he could freely do what he felt would bring Team Scorn greater glory in the long run. Maybe if a would-be hero showed up at the lake to try to confront Team Scorn, Zed could somehow arrange it so that Shimono and Matsuoka were 'accidentally' captured and couldn't be saved without greater risk to Team Scorn as a whole. Yes, that is what Zed thought would be his ticket out of this unnecessary monitoring.
As Zed schemed while supervising his men trying to corral the Gyarados, Shimono and Matsuoka kept an eye on him. They both could tell, without even seeing Zed's face as his back was turned to them, that he was already plotting to figure out how to get them out of his hair so he would be without supervision thus leaving him free to do whatever asinine acts he in his delusions think would be of benefit to Team Scorn. Zed had pissed off the Boss of Team Scorn himself by launching a personal attack on one of the trainers that Team Scorn has a dossier on, even though those trainers were to be left alone if possible.
That being said, Admin Brother felt that Zed could no longer be left unsupervised. Hence why he got special permission from the Boss to make a special rank in the Katana Sector, called the Advisor rank. On paper, those at the Advisor rank were equal to Captain rank members within Team Scorn's Katana Sector but, as the name of their rank suggested, served an advisory role to Captains, letting them know what is and is not a good idea. Admin Brother told the men in the Katana Sector that those he appointed to the Advisor rank were wise, intelligent persons who he felt he could trust to advise the Captains in doing what Brother intended.
...That was the idea on paper. In reality, Brother made the position and gave it to two actual friends of his from before he joined Team Scorn (Brother when he first learned of it was surprised that Shimono and Matsuoka had also joined Team Scorn), friends that he knew he could trust, to effectively serve as babysitters to keep an eye on an idiot who constantly proves that he constantly needs supervision. The other Captains in the Katana Sector were aware that Brother had given Zed babysitters rather than advisors, although they didn't know that Brother, Shimono, and Matsuoka were all friends from before they had all joined Team Scorn.
It was as a child was thinking of how to get rid of his babysitters who were watching him that the members of Team Scorn at the lake all heard the shouts and cries of rallied citizenry charging in towards the lake. Turning to look, Zed and some of his men saw the large group of heroic trainers rushing towards the lake to combat Team Scorn's efforts to catch the Gyarados master of the lake. Zed, doing a quick headcount of all of the oncoming heroic trainers, soon relaxed visibly as he seemed to have gotten some degree of reassurance from his counting.
"I count only twenty-seven persons total," Zed said, "The rank and file alone outnumber them! Men, to battle! Let us-"
"Zed," Shimono began, his tone catching Zed's attention, "I recognize the two guys behind that Officer Jenny leading the charge. They're Brock and Cilan, both of them being being among the trainers that Team Scorn has dossiers on."
"Really?" Zed asked, able to see why Shimono sounded a little concerned, "How dangerous are they?"
"They are both competent enough to be gym leaders," Shimono explained, "Mind you, the both of them are nowhere near as dangerous as Dawn Berlitz, Kenny Harris, or Trip Barley. But they are close friends of those three, so messing with them beyond what is necessary is a very poor idea unless you want some legendary dragon Pokémon sicced on us. Just drive them and the rest of those would-be heroes out of here."
Zed nodded in understanding, knowing that trying to do anything beyond what special grunts who can and will report anything directly to Admin Brother would have him leap from the boiling pot and into the lava pit. "Men, defeat those would-be heroes who are charging at us and send them packing with their tails between their legs!" Zed ordered, "The numbers advantage is on our side, so doing so ought to be child's play for us!" As the nameless rank and file charged in to fight the on coming group of heroic trainers, the Gyarados was too beaten by their efforts to do anything while focus was off of it, Zed turned to look at Shimono and Matsuoka.
Gesturing to the 'advisors', Zed said, "It would help out if you two were to fight the would-be heroes as well."
Shimono rolled his eyes dryly. "Admin Brother told us to only fight if we need to do so to escape," Shimono began to explain, "We're not supposed to actually battle anyone who tries to interfere with the mission here."
"It's kind of a dumb order, if you ask me," Matsuoka remarked, "I'm really itching to get into the thick of things over there. So much fighting going on over there, and it sucks that I'm stuck here unable to get a piece of that action!"
Zed could tell that Matsuoka was sincerely itching to get into a scrape; the Fourth Captain could also tell that Matsuoka could be easily set on charging right in if the right buttons were pushed. And if Matsuoka charged in to join the fighting, then Shimono would most assuredly have to run in after him to get him back. That would be Zed's chance to lose Shimono and Matsuoka without making it look suspicious, thus once again giving him the freedom to do what he felt was best for Team Scorn, as well as get rid of the direct threats to his captaincy position.
"We could use all of the help fighting off those fools as we can get," Zed said to Shimono and Matsuoka, then added while pointing at Brock and Cilan, "Also, those two over there told me that you two look like dorks."
"THEY LOOK LIKE DORKS!" Matsuoka yelled before immediately turning around and, with an angered yell, charged right in to join the fighting so that he could get up in the faces of Brock and Cilan.
"Ah! Matsuoka!" Shimono cried out in surprise, running in to try to pull Matsuoka back.
After the two Advisors ran in, Zed took a step back to watch his handiwork; although he was able to tell that Matsuoka could be tricked into joining the fighting easily enough, even Zed had to admit to himself that he didn't expect Matsuoka to be tricked that easily. Regardless, the two Advisors went charging into the battle, so now all that Zed had to do was try to direct the flow of battle to set it up so that the two Advisors would be captured by the on-charging group of heroic trainers while Zed and as many of his men as possible would be able to withdraw.
Within short order either way, the fighting between the Team Scorn forces and the forces led by Brock, Cilan, and Officer Jenny was soon joined. Team Scorn, when they had come to the lake to subdue the Gyarados master of the lake, had brought many electric type Pokémon, at least one such Pokémon per rank and file member. Even Shimono had an electric type Pokémon, that being his Wattrel. Even so, Team Scorn at the lake didn't exclusively bring electric Pokémon, in case they had to fight off meddlesome snoopers who brought Pokémon resistant to electric.
As such, there were Pokémon of types strong against what electric struggles against among what Team Scorn used to fight off the group of heroic trainers. However, that wasn't the main focus here; what was the main focus was how Matsuoka, with Shimono trailing behind him, met up with Brock and Cilan in battle just after Officer Jenny got distracted by another Team Scorn member. "You two!" Matsuoka exclaimed while pointing at Brock and Cilan, "How dare you say I look like a dork! Imma kick your sorry asses and prove that it is you two who look like dorks!"
"We... never said anything to or about you," Cilan said, "And I at least don't necessarily think you-"
"Go, Sir and Ma'am!" Matsuoka said as he sent out his pair of Oinkologne, Sir the boy Oinkologne and Ma'am the girl Oinkologne. At that point Shimono had caught up and, seeing that Matsuoka was fighting, sent out his Wattrel.
Brock and Cilan were surprised to see Pokémon like that. "You two aren't from Johto, are you?" Brock asked.
"Actually we are from Johto," Shimono explained, "But we've recently help with setting up another Team Scorn Sector over in another region."
"A new sector of Team Scorn in another region?" Cilan practically exclaimed. Cutting to the chase, Cilan sent out his Stunfisk and Brock sent out his Croagunk.
Pointing forward, Matsuoka said, "Sir and Ma'am, both of you use Dig on Croagunk!"
"Wattrel, use Pluck on Croagunk!" Shimono called out.
"Stunfisk, use Scald on that Pokémon called Wattrel!" Cilan ordered.
"Croagunk, use Poison Jab on the pig Pokémon named Ma'am!" Brock commanded.
Shimono's Wattrel was the quickest, soaring in and plucking at Croagunk, sending it reeling back for just long enough for both Oinkologne to go underground, meaning that neither one could be targeted until they came back up. Wattrel was, however, blasted to the side by Stunfisk's Scald, although it wasn't knocked out nor was it burned. After a few moments, Sir and Ma'am in that order burst out from the ground under Croagunk, striking it hard with two seperate Dig attacks that, combined with Wattrel's Pluck, knocked out Brock's Croagunk.
After Brock recalled his Croagunk, he sent out his Sudowoodo next. "Sudowoodo, use Hammer Arm on the pig Pokémon named Sir!"
"Stunfisk, use Scald on that Pokémon called Wattrel again!" Cilan ordered a second time.
"Sir and Ma'Am, both of you use Dig on Sudowoodo!" Matsuoka called out.
"Wattrel, use Protect!" Shimono called out.
Wattrel went first again, only this time it threw up a protective barrier that ended up blocking Stunfisk's Scald. As for the pair of named Oinkolognes, they burrowed their way underground again, with Sir avoiding Sudowoodo's Hammer Arm. Shortly after that, Sir and Ma'am both burst out from under the ground, erupting into Sudowoodo and sending it reeling until it landed on the ground, clearly out of it. Brock recalled his fainted Sudowoodo and sent out his Chansey, the last Pokémon that he had on hand; he had only brought Croagunk, Sudowoodo, and Chansey to Johto with him.
Brock wasn't the only one to swap Pokémon; Shimono swapped out his Wattrel and sent out a Pom-Pom style Oricorio. "Oricorio, use Icy Wind on Stunfisk!" Shimono ordered.
"Sir and Ma'am, both of you use Body Press on Chansey!" Matsuoka called out.
"Stunfisk, use Sludge Bomb on the pig Pokémon named Ma'am!" Cilan called out.
"Chansey, use Pound on Oricorio!" Brock ordered.
Oricorio was the first to attack and blasted Stunfisk with a blasting breeze of icy cold wind, striking Stunfisk hard before it fired its Sludge Bomb attack at Ma'am. However, before the Sludge Bomb his Ma'am, both her and Sir used Body Press on Chansey, knocking her out with super effective physical attacks before she was able to attack Oricorio. As Brock recalled his fainted Chansey, Ma'am got hit by Stunfisk's Sludge Bomb, although it failed to inflict poisoning on her. Given that Brock was now out of Pokémon able to fight, Cilan was alone in dealing with Shimono and Matsuoka, neither of which had lost any of their Pokémon.
As things began to look grim for Cilan and especially Brock, a sudden shout from Officer Jenny caught their attention. "We've just defeated most of the rank and file members of Team Scorn here!" Officer Jenny called out, "Now we can push them back!"
Looking around, Brock and Cilan did indeed see that most of Team Scorn's presence at the lake had been defeated, and Zed called for all men working under him to withdraw. Shimono and Matsuoka, although they didn't serve under Zed, recalled their Pokémon and tried to flee. However, while they were occupied in dealing with Brock and Cilan, Zed directed his men so that enough of the heroic trainers who showed up ended up surrounding Shimono and Matsuoka. This ended up leading to the two Advisors, as well as Captain's Assistant Kenji through sheer accident, being captured by the heroic trainers. Zed and all of the rank and file working under him did successfully flee, though.
Although Cilan was put on the ropes and Brock was straight up defeated, they and their allies still scored an overall win by successfully driving out Team Scorn, not to mention how the heroic trainers had actually captured three members of Team Scorn, all of them being members of some note. Officer Jenny told Brock and Cilan, despite how they had greatly struggled while fighting Team Scorn, to consider themselves having won as this was the first known case of at least one member of Team Scorn successfully being captured. Brock and Cilan, taking Officer Jenny's advise, took whatever victory that they could get.
And it was actually a fairly good victory against Team Scorn.
Later back in town, Brock and Cilan met back up with Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and that Ayumi girl. "You guys actually managed to capture three members of Team Scorn?" Ayumi said, looking totally surprised, while talking to Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy, although Ayumi was focusing on Officer Jenny.
"We failed to capture the Captain and all of the unnamed rank and file," Officer Jenny said, "But we captured the Captain's Assistant and two guys who we got are Advisors."
While the young girl was talking to Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy, Brock saw Cilan come back from having used the video phone to make a call to someone. Seeing the look of troubled resignation on Cilan's face, Brock instantly was able to tell that something was up. "Would you mind telling me what all the call was about, Cilan?" Brock asked, "Or is it too personal?"
Letting out a troubled sigh, Cilan said, "I just got a call from Iris, who traveled with me, Ash, and the rest of our group over in Unova. Iris is over in Blackthorn City right now, meeting up with the local gym leader Clair."
"I remember Clair," Brock said, "Ash battled her when the two of us and our friend Misty traveled through Johto a while back." Looking to Cilan, Brock asked, "What happened to Clair?"
Cilan let out another troubled sigh, gently shook his head to show that he was at a loss over what he was told. "...Clair had suffered a really terrible loss in a recent Team Scorn attack in Blackthorn City that occurred at roughly the same time we dealt with Team Scorn a few moments ago."
Brock took a step back out of shock. "Team Scorn attacked Blackthorn City again?!"
"It was nowhere near as bad as the attack that saw a particularly high amount of damage done to the local trainer academy in Blackthorn City," Cilan said, "From what Iris told me, Admin Brother was helping the Admin of a recently set up sector of Team Scorn in another region pull out some allies that will transfer to said new sector."
Brock had a grim look on his face. "I see. Well, I'm guessing any battle lost to a member of Team Scorn would be a terrible loss for Clair to deal wi-"
Brock was then cut off by a gentle shake of the head from Cilan. "...Clair did suffer a really terrible loss, yes," Cilan said, "But it wasn't a loss as in 'losing a battle'."
That got Brock concerned. "...What happened?"
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-ONE
Author's notes;
This chapter adapts the events of BWS01, where Brock and Cilan have an adventure together. Unlike normally, here Brock and Cilan learn the names of one another and that they have multiple mutual friends. That helps them lend aid to an effort to drive out a Team Scorn scheme at a local lake, where Captain Zed, along with his Captain's Assistant Kenji, and the Advisors (i.e. babysitters) that Brother sent to look after Zed, Shimono and Matsuoka, were leading the rank and file in the mission to capture the Gyarados master of the lake (BTW, it's alright after Team Scorn was driven out).
Brock and Cilan even directly battle Shimono and Matsuoka, who both use Pokémon that are found in Paldea (Oricorio is also found in Alola, but Shimono caught his in Paldea). The two Advisors are... actually able to give Brock and Cilan significant trouble, as Matsuoka straight up defeated Brock while Shimono was able to pressure Cilan's Stunfisk by having Oricorio use Icy Wind (which the species CAN legally learn in Scarlet/Violet, via TM034). However, due to Zed's scheming and managing the flow of his men in battle, Shimono and Matsuoka, as well as Kenji, are captured by the heroic trainers at around the time Zed and the rank and file all flee.
Back in town, as Officer Jenny goes over how the capture of Shimono, Matsuoka, and Kenji is a major win against Team Scorn, Brock sees a depressed Cilan come back from a video phone call. Asking him about it, Brock learns from Cilan that Iris said Clair had suffered a terrible loss in a Team Scorn attack on Blackthorn City that took place while Cilan, Brock, and their party of heroic trainers dealt with Zed's actions at the local lake. The nature of the loss that Clair had suffered will be explored more in the next chapter, as the next chapter's name will give a hint as to what exactly the loss was.
Oh, and by the way, Happy New Year everyone. Let's see what 2023 has in store for all of us, hmm?
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Akiza (female Roserade), Germany (male Garchomp), Cyrus (male Staraptor), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Kermit (male Politoed), Shallot (male Glaceon), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), AkiBot 966 (Golurk), Deelia (Dialga), Fourze (male Electivire)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Charizard (male), Steelix (male; shiny)