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-six: Admin Hero of the Shield Sector

After Ash had won the Bug Badge off of Viola, the process of seeing the reborn trainers all earn their own Bug Badges began. To the surprise of Serena who had just join the group, Dawn, then Kenny after her, then Trip after Kenny, won their respective Bug Badges on their first tries each. Dawn had an especially easy time given that she went in with some incredibly powerful fire type Pokémon. Seeing Dawn, Kenny, and Trip battle at such a high level made Serena wish that she had been able to catch at least some of Ash's victory against Viola, but Ash told her that she can be right there when he wins his remaining Kalos gym badges.

Viola, despite how she lost four battles in a row to challengers, did not begrudge all of those losses in the least. If anything, they made her feel relieved that there were some incredibly powerful trainers of heroic intent in Kalos, as that meant any Team Scorn funny business would be dealt with at the snap of someone's fingers. Also, Viola, ever the shutterbug, used the time in between battles with Ash and the reborn trainers to take photos of some of their more awesome Pokémon. Viola especially wanted to take photos of Dawn's Palkia, Kenny's Giratina, and Trip's Dialga (none of those dragons ever battled Viola, though).

Eventually, when all business in Santalune City was settled, the (re)new(ed) group of heroes was able to take off for their next destination. According to Serena who had a map, the next city with a gym that was available to challenge was Cyllage City, given that Ash remembered that the gym in Lumiose City required challengers to have at least four Kalos gym badges before challenging it. Kenny declared that when he gets to challenge the Lumiose City gym, he'll be bringing a 'storm of cringe' that will make the gym leader cower in fear. Clemont, with a mildly unsure look on his face, said that Kenny if anything is very confident in himself.

As the heroes were walking along a forest path in the woods near Lumiose City, they were met up by an Officer Jenny on a motorcycle. "Excuse me kids," Officer Jenny said, "But you can't be on this path."

"We literally didn't know until just now when you told us this path is no es bueno," Kenny replied, "Also, why can't we use this path?"

"It's actually a Rhyhorn race track," Officer Jenny replied, "Although all Rhyhorn racing has been put on hold for the time being."

Serena, hearing about Rhyhorn racing, got curious. "Why? What happened?"

Officer Jenny could tell that the heroes meant no harm, that they were simply traveling and didn't know too many of the finer details on what was going on. "...The starting line for the track is in Odyssey Village which is nearby," Officer Jenny said, "We can explain things to you kids there."

"Who's we?" Bonnie asked, looking up at Officer Jenny.

Gesturing to herself, Officer Jenny explained, "In addition to myself, there's also Grand Duchess Sabine De Mornay, the highest ranked Kalosian noble and a patron of the Rhyhorn races regularly held in Kalos, and an expert Rhyhorn racer named Grace."

The name that Officer Jenny mentioned at the end caught her attention. "...When you say an expert Rhyhorn racer named Grace..." Serena began as she took out something to show to Officer Jenny, "Do you mean the lady in this photo with me?"

"Yes, that's Grace alright," Officer Jenny replied, "You know her?"

"She's my mom," Serena said, her tone a bit dry and bemused. Turning to look at the rest of the group, Serena said, "Well guys, you're going to get to meet my mom, I suppose."

"As well as a high ranking noble," Trip remarked as he and the other heroes proceeded to follow Officer Jenny to Odyssey Village.

Eventually, the heroes reached Odyssey Village, where they were led to a high end cafe where some guards stood outside of. One of the guards seeing Officer Jenny approach asked her about the kids with her. "The one girl is the daughter of the woman who's meeting with Grand Duchess Sabine," Officer Jenny explained, "And the rest are heroic trainers who can help with what Grand Duchess Sabine wants."

With that explanation, the heroes and Officer Jenny were let through. Going into the cafe, the heroes were soon led to a table at which Serena's mom, the now identified Grace, was sitting with a well dressed noblewoman who obviously had to be this Grand Duchess Sabine De Mornay person. Sabine was a lovely fair skinned woman with her light lavender hair done up in a bob, although she did allow her bangs to reach her collarbone. Sabine wore a lovely noble gown that was mostly lavender, although the chest and stomach areas of the gown were instead covered with bronze colored cloth instead. She seemed able to command the attention of all of those around her simply by entering the scene.

"Oh, Serena!" Grace said upon seeing her daughter, "Fancy running into you here!"

Smiling, Serena said, "My friends and I were brought here by Officer Jenny when she found us traveling on what we thought was a path in the woods but it was actually part of a Rhyhorn race track. Then we were told that Rhyhorn racing was being put on hold for the time being for some odd reason."

"Yes, I can explain that," Sabine spoke up, her tone and expression laced with hints of resignation and guilt. The heroes were all invited to sit down, and they were soon also joined by Officer Jenny, when Sabine and Grace began to explain what was going on. "...You see," Sabine began, "An entire sector of that horrid Team Scorn group is based here in Kalos, although the Kalosian government has no clue where to find them. This sector, which is known as the Shield Sector, is led by a Team Scorn officer known as Admin Hero."

Trip let out an incredulous scoff. "Like anyone who's part of Team Scorn has the right to be called a hero."

Letting out a troubled sigh, Sabine went on, "I actually saw a photo of the person confirmed to be Admin Hero. When I saw him in that photo, I felt as if my heart would stop out of shock. I know who Admin Hero really is."

Dawn immediately turned to look at the Grand Duchess. "...Yeah, I've got it that Admins in Team Scorn use code names, as I doubt the names they're known by are their actual names."

"Indeed," Sabine replied, "Anyway, Admin Hero of Team Scorn's Shield Sector is known also by his real name of Kaito Fu. And it isn't all that out there as you'd think that Kaito would take the name Hero as an alias upon becoming an Admin of Team Scorn."

"What do you mean, your grace?" Serena asked.

Sabine let out a troubled sigh. "Once, long ago, Kaito had been a well received and highly revered hero here in Kalos. His heroism and many accomplishments achieved in the name of the Kalos region had even earned him the Honor of Kalos, which is the highest honor anyone doing service in the name of the Kalos region can earn. Even more surprising is that he accomplished his heroic feats despite how he never owned enough Pokémon for a full party."

"He never owned enough Pokémon to have a full party of six?" Dawn asked.

Sabine nodded in the affirmative. "Kaito only ever owned three Pokémon. A Linoone, an Altaria, and a shiny Chesnaught."

"He owns a shiny Chesnaught?" Clemont asked, sounding surprised. Meanwhile, Trip was already imagining Admin Hero's shiny Chesnaught defeating Kenny's Tyranitar Godzilla in a battle.

Gently shaking her head, Sabine replied, "Not anymore. You see, that leads into the story of the path that Kaito had been forced onto, the path that led him to becoming who he is known as today, Admin Hero of Team Scorn's Shield Sector." Gesturing to the heroes, Sabine explained, "You see, I have two daughters. My youngest, Maaya, and my oldest, Sarah. Due to being the daughters of a Grand Duchess such as myself, Maaya and Sarah are Duchesses themselves. But this is getting off subject. Now, before I go on, tell me. Which of my two daughters would you kids suppose will take over leading our noble family when I myself am no longer able to fufill my duties as a Kalosian noble?"

Shrugging, Serena said, "Usually, the first born child takes that honor, so I'd normally guess that your daughter Sarah would get it. However, I'm getting vibes that it may not necessarily work out like that."

Nodding once, Sabine replied, "Your guess is right on the money. It's true, I've arranged for my daughter Maaya to be the one to inherit leadership of our noble family when I have to step down. Sarah, as she is now, can only be of use in the field of politics between Kalosian noble families by marrying the son of another noble family so as to form an alliance between their family and mine. Although I doubt there are any sons in any of the other Kalosian noble families who'd willingly marry Sarah."

"How so?" Ash asked, finding himself honestly curious as to how the game of politics between the various noble families of Kalos works.

Sighing, Sabine admitted, "Because Sarah is the cause of Kaito's fall from grace, solely because of her need to satisfy her ego. She's also the reason why Kaito no longer owns his shiny Chesnaught." To the heroes, Sabine said, "You see, it happened just after Kaito had risen to prominence thanks to being awarded the Honor of Kalos. He was at a party that I hosted at my family's royal mansion and, while there, he was approached by Sarah. Cutting right to the chase as she usually does on matters she's interested in, Sarah immediately told Kaito that she wanted his shiny Chesnaught."

"She wanted his shiny Chesnaught?" Trip said, looking surprised. He wasn't the only one; all of the heroes looked surprised.

Sabine nodded once in the affirmative. "Sarah figured that having a shiny Pokémon in her companionship and following her around would make her even more appealing and help her climb the social ladder of Kalosian nobility. Although that would work to an extent as Kalosian nobles go about with shiny Pokémon if they have them, Sarah was basically speaking about Kaito's shiny Chesnaught as if it were nothing more than a fashion accessory."

"That... that is low," Dawn remarked.

"At first," Sabine began, "Sarah straight up demanded to Kaito that he give her his shiny Chesnaught. When that failed because Kaito told her to get lost although he put it in a far more polite manner, Sarah then immediately tried offering to buy his shiny Chesnaught from him, but all of the offers that she made, each higher than the last, were shot down because Kaito refused to sell any of his Pokémon. Sarah then tried making moves on him, figuring that if she could court him and successfully score him as a consort, then she would have access to his shiny Chesnaught that way. Once again, Kaito turned down any and all attempts that Sarah made in this regard."

Shrugging, Kenny asked, "So why didn't your daughter get the idea that Kaito's shiny Chesnaught was simply something that she wasn't going to get?"

Sabine let out another sigh, one that sounded guilty and resigned. "...I suppose that it's partly my fault, I had not bothered to properly monitor Sarah's growth as she grew up as the first born child of the Kalos region's highest ranked noble family. She ended up becoming spoiled, selfish, egotistical. If there's something that she wanted, then she'd get it one way or another unless I knew what she was up to and put my foot down. I'm literally the only person who can bring Sarah to heel and, had I possessed the foresight to do so when she was borderline harassing Kaito for his shiny Chesnaught, I could have prevented the chain of events that led to Kaito having his fall from grace."

Pointing to Grace, Kenny asked, "He fell off of Serena's mom here?" Dawn smacked Kenny in the back of his head to make him zip it.

After the heroes settled down, Sabine said, "Here's how things began. Sarah... Sarah the morning following her ultimately failing to get Kaito's shiny Chesnaught from him had levied a horrible accusation against Kaito, claiming that he had raped her."

"Your daughter had accused a Kalos regional hero of raping her?!" the heroes aside from Bonnie all exclaimed in surprised tones.

Bonnie, being the only one who didn't understand, asked, "What does it mean when that Sarah girl said Kaito had raped her?"

"Bonnie you are too young to know," Clemont said firmly.

Sabine nodded once in apology. "I'm sorry that the content of this story may not be entirely appropriate for younger listeners. True details often aren't for the faint hearted. Anyway, given how serious rape accusations are taken in Kalos, especially if the one levying the accusation is a member of regional nobility, practically everyone skipped straight to condemning Kaito's name, not even giving him a chance to defend himself, or bother trying to investigate and look into matters. He was stripped of his Honor of Kalos award, arrested, and taken away. It was during that chaos that Sarah took the pokéball that Kaito's shiny Chesnaught was kept in, effectively getting a shiny Pokémon of her own."

Dawn scowled bitterly. "...So she ruined a regional hero's life simply because he told her no, and got what she wanted from him anyway."

Nodding once in the affirmative, Sabine with a guilty expression went on, "Even I got caught up in the hysteria of that scandal. I mean, why wouldn't I? I heard that one of my daughters had been raped. What mother wouldn't go to war against a person accused of raping her daughter?"

Gesturing to Sabine, Trip said, "Given that Kaito ended up becoming Admin Hero of Team Scorn's Shield Sector, he must have escaped at some point, either from jail or from custody."

"He escaped from custody," Sabine confirmed, "Got away from holding before he could be taken to and thrown into prison to await a trial that would have been certain to find him guilty simply because a Kalosian noble said he was so. There wouldn't even be a need for evidence if Sarah pushed the right social buttons, and knowing her she would have done so. After he escaped, Kaito managed to get back his Linoone and Altaria before escaping, never to be seen again until he popped up some time ago as a leading member of Team Scorn, operating here in Kalos."

"How did you discover that Kaito was actually innocent," Kenny asked, "And that your first born daughter was simply blowing hot air out her ass?"

Surprisingly, Sabine wasn't bothered in the least by Kenny's lack of decorum and overall rude way of putting things. "Maaya, my other daughter," Sabine began, "Had proof that Kaito was actually innocent. After Kaito escaped upon getting back his Linoone and Altaria, Maaya was able to come forward with undeniable material proof of Kaito's innocence, backed by how Maaya herself was a character witness because he was getting her medical attention when she was being bothered by her asthma. Kaito had Maaya stick with him the whole time as he tried finding a doctor for her, which he did and stayed by her side until she was in the clear. The timing of Kaito keeping an eye on my youngest makes it impossible for him to have done to Sarah what she accused him of."

Dawn was surprised to hear that asthma helped to save the day here. From her experience, asthma is a bitch that kills you, then makes you isekai into someone of the opposite gender as what you had before being isekai'd. "Well why wasn't Maaya's evidence known until AFTER Kaito was forced into his fall from grace?" Dawn asked.

"A mix of adults continuously dismissing her and Sarah actively trying to keep Maaya from coming forward," Sabine admitted, "She had to resort to releasing an entire fenced-in pen full of Rhyhorns raised for racing and having them stampede all over the place to get the attention needed to tell us the evidence she had, and by then it was too late." Gently shaking her head in shame, Sabine said, "Kaito by that time had already been branded a criminal, had been wrongly stripped of honors that he had worked so hard to achieve. Kalos had betrayed Kaito."

Dawn, with a grim expression on her face, remarked, "...So he ended up betraying Kalos in return."

"Was Sarah ever punished for what her uncontrolled ego led to?" Kenny asked.

"Aside from her reputation in Kalosian noble social circles being wrecked terribly, not really no," Sabine admitted, still looking ashamed, "I could have, and still could technically, take harsher actions with Sarah to punish her for how she had ruined Kaito's life, but doing would would cause quite the scandal, and the accompanying media storm is not something Kalos as a whole needs right now. Sarah even still has the shiny Chestnaught that she ruined Kaito's life over."

The heroes still didn't like how Sabine's oldest daughter more or less got away with ruining a regional hero's life with nothing more than a shot reputation among other nobles, a reputation that she might potentially recover if she plays the game of noble politics the right way. "Wait," Kenny said, "How does all of this relate to how all Rhyhorn racing is being put on hold?"

"One of the Captains of the Team Scorn Sector that Kaito now leads as Admin Hero sent in a threat over the phone," Grace explained to the heroes, "I was there with Grand Duchess Sabine when the threat was phoned in. The caller identified himself as Third Captain Jun, and he said that until further notice, all Rhyhorn racing events will be attacked by Team Scorn. Given the LAST time that a phoned in threat from Team Scorn was ignored here in Kalos, the region isn't exactly keen on ignoring any other threats that Team Scorn phones in."

Sabine nodded once in resigned regret. "I'm a rather big fan of Rhyhorn racing, I always make sure to watch all the big Rhyhorn racing events. Obviously that Captain Jun fellow is trying to hit me where it hurts on behalf of Kaito." Letting out a troubled sigh, Sabine said to the heroes, "Kaito has become what he is today because the region that he had valiantly worked hard to defend, the region that Kaito at one point had nearly lost his life for, had turned its back on him without a second thought due to the whims of a spoiled Kalosian noble. What all Kaito has done thus far and will end up doing as Admin Hero is the fault of Kalos itself. Please, if you kids can do anything to bring Kaito back to how he once was before he was wrongly betrayed by the region he had once called home, then do so."

The heroes were surprised with what all they had learned. This was also the first time they got such a level of detail into the background of a Team Scorn Admin, and were all quite revolted with how someone life was ruined and to such an extent because, ultimately, a spoiled bratty daughter didn't like being told no when she wanted something. It was also the first time they got the ACTUAL name of a Team Scorn Admin, rather than just the code name that said Admin is known by. It gave the heroes a lot more to work with when it came to dealing with the head of a region's native sector of Team Scorn. They just hoped that they would be able to get a hold of Admin Hero so that they could try to bring him back to his senses.

Kenny even suggested humbling Sabine's daughter Sarah and have Kaito see the humbling, as well as get back Kaito's shiny Chesnaught from Sarah so that it could be returned to Kaito. Dawn said that Kaito, despite how his life had been ruined, was STILL a member of Team Scorn thus he would have to face SOME punishment for it, but a deal would obviously be cut for Kaito depending on what all and how much information he provides on the inner workings of Team Scorn, up to and including the names of other high ranking members of Team Scorn. Sabine agreed, saying that if it would help with Kaito's recovery, she'd make Sarah prostrate herself on the ground before the man who she had so terribly wronged.

But first, actually getting a hold of Kaito.

After the conversation was done, Grace was seeing the heroes off. Focusing on Dawn and Ash, Grace said, "You two are the ones that Serena and I saw on that news report, about the chaos in Lumiose City where a Garchomp was made to go on a rampage by the scheming of Team Scorn."

"Yeah, Ash and I did get on the news for that," Dawn replied.

Turning to focus more on Ash, Grace went on, "I'm also surprised that you'd willingly jump off the very top of Prism Tower, despite how you had your Charizard ready to save you."

"Pikachu fell off," Ash explained, "I wasn't about to just let him fall all the way down."

Grace nodded in understanding, then gave Ash a slyly amused look. "You know Ash," Grace said, "Your heroism is what inspired Serena to start off on her own journey as a trainer. You're quite the influence on my daughter."

"Ash has inspired other people to turn their lives around for the best," Dawn remarked.

"I know, I know," Grace said, "But still, it's Ash who had lit the fire under Serena to spur her forward." Leaning forward towards Ash, Grace said, "You continue being good to my daughter now, hmm?"

Ash, looking mildly curious, replied, "I fail to see why I wouldn't be friendly to someone I care about, but yeah I'll be good towards Serena." Dawn could see that Ash was clearly oblivious to the fact that Grace was implying that Serena might wanna be more than friends with Ash. It was a classic Ash trait, having no clue about it when a girl expresses romantic interest in him, and Dawn knew full well that Serena had romantic interest in Ash. Dawn also was getting vibes that Serena was most likely jealous of her when it came to hanging with Ash, and it would be a problem that Dawn would nip in the bud as soon as possible. She did NOT wanna get caught up in a mess like that, especially since the bond between her and Ash did not extend beyond friendship. Hell, Serena ought to be more worried about competing against Trip for Ash's affections than competing against Dawn herself.

There were also other things to worry about aside from just romance.

...

(UNKNOWN LOCATION, KALOS)

At the Team Scorn base located in a hidden locale in the Kalos region, a man was sitting at a desk in an office. Judging by how the office was furnished, the man sitting at the desk was a high ranking member of Team Scorn. It was furnished much the same as the office maintained by Admin Ninja of Team Scorn's Kunai Sector over in the Hoenn region, the only difference was that this office had two extra framed posters hanging on the walls, one on each hand side if one walked into the office. There were also slightly fewer books in the one bookshelf, which used the extra space for knickknacks that were displayed.

As for the man sitting at the desk, he was sitting down at the moment but he soon stood up upon hearing a knocking at his office door. He was a fair skinned man with dark eyes and black scruffy hair that reached his chin. He wore a unique Team Scorn outfit consisting of a yellow long-sleeved top worn under a dark blue leather armor top that exposed his midriff to show more of his yellow long sleeved wore dark blue finger-less leather gloves that reached halfway up his forearm and had yellow fur trim at the ends, yellow britches with dark blue leather leg guards hanging off of the dark blue leather belt he wore to hold the britches up, also the leg guards had the same yellow fur trim his gloves had.

He also wore dark blue leather boots (also with the same yellow fur trim) that the legs of his britches disappeared into. He lastly also wore a hooded cloak although the hood was worn down at the moment; the cloak was dark blue and the rim of the hood had the same yellow fur trim. The man, after having gotten up, went over to the door and opened it, letting in a girl who was older than Bonnie but younger than Dawn and Serena. This girl was fair skinned and had bright colored eyes, and she had long brownish hair of a light hue. She wore a long-sleeved yellow tunic under a short-sleeved dress that reached her knees; the sides of the dress were dark blue but the middle was yellow. she wore yellow stockings that disappeared under and into her dress, and dark blue leather boots that reached halfway up her shins.

The heater shield shaped insignia of Team Scorn, with the shield part yellow and the 'S' dark blue, was worn as a patch on her shirt sleeved dress, located over her collarbone directly under the collar of the dress. The young girl, surprisingly affiliated with Team Scorn, threw her arms around the man and gave him a hug. This drew a warm, friendly smile out of the man. He reached forward and placed his right hand on the girl's head, giving her hair a gentle ruffle. "And what's gotten you so excited, Asami?" the man asked.

Looking up at the man, the now identified Asami said, "We're going to be starting the big plans that were sent to the Shield Sector soon! Miss Ayane says that they're very important to Team Scorn's plans for the Kalos region!"

The man let out a chuckle. "Yes, yes, I know. Just let me grab something." The man then walked over to his desk, walked around it, and picked up something that was hidden behind the desk. It was an actual heater shield, with dark blue trim along the edge and a mainly yellow body, save for a dark blue Team Scorn 'S' in the middle big enough to go from top to bottom within the dark blue trim border. The man slipped it onto his left arm, grabbing the handle on the far side on the shield's back before securing a strap on the shield's back to keep around his forearm.

The young girl let out a giggle. "Is that why our Sector of Team Scorn is called the Shield Sector, Admin Hero?"

The man, now identified as Admin Hero, head of Team Scorn's Shield Sector, nodded once. "You could say that, Asami. Anyway, come along." Walking to head out of his office, Hero said, "We've got a lot of work ahead of us for Team Scorn's plans in Kalos."

END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX

Author's notes;

This chapter skims over the reborn trainers getting their Bug Badges before they make their way to the place where they meet Serena's mom Grace, who here is entertaining a special guests who tells the heroes what she knows about the history of Kaito Fu, otherwise known as Admin Hero of Team Scorn. After getting a good amount of Kaito's backstory, the heroes proceed onward with their journey, knowing that they have to try to reason with Kaito to bring him back from the clutches of Team Scorn, also all Rhyhorn racing events are on hold because of a phoned in threat issued by one of the Captains working under Kaito. Meanwhile, Kaito himself gets ready to carry out the plans Team Scorn has for Kalos. Things are going to be getting heated, so don't change the channel.

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

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Kermit (male Politoed), Nogla (male Chespin), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)

Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), Kululu (male Froakie), Deelia (Dialga), Fourze (male Electivire)

Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Charizard (male), Steelix (male; shiny), Froakie (male), Fletchling (male)