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 sixty-five: Camp Chaos
The heroes trecked onward following their encounter with Team Scorn at Pomace Mountain. Although they did successfully drive Team Scorn off and defeated them in battle for the most part while Korrina finally fully mastered the use of Mega Evolution, the heroes still felt down due to the fact that Team Scorn still successfully got away with Mabel's Mawile, the Mawilite it held, and Mabel's cane which held Mabel's Key Stone. That gave Team Scorn all that it needed to use Mega Evolution; it was a rather devastating blow for the heroes.
Not much could be done about it for now, so the heroes had to move on. Along the way, Ash had made several important strides in his travels in Kalos. First, he helped out with a situation in a forest involving a wild Hawlucha, and ended up capturing said Hawlucha in the end. After that, Ash's Fletchling evolved into Fletchinder following a kerfuffle with a Sky Trainer and her haughty Talonflame; the Talonflame initially refused to even acknowledge Fletchling who wanted to battle it, but Talonflame agreed, begrudgingly so, to accept a challenge from Fletchling anyway when Ash battled and defeated the Sky Trainer and her Talonflame by using Charizard.
However, before the Talonflame versus Fletchling match could commence, a group of Team Scorn members showed up, aiming to steal some goods related to Sky Battling. During that mess, Fletchling played a big role in driving off the villains, earning a lot of respect from Talonflame in the process who had a more respectful and accepting attitude towards Fletchling as a result. The two birds had their battle and, after Fletchling evolved into Fletchinder during the battle, Talonflame was defeated a second time, now fully acknowledging the now Fletchinder.
Then there was another scheme sometime after that involving Team Scorn, where Jessie from the now defunct Team Rocket was leading some Scorn grunts who actually answer to James in a mess involving a wild Bonsly and Sudowoodo. A mess that a Trevenant who was friends with Bonsly and Sudowoodo dragged Ash into helping to free them. Unfortunately, Jessie and the Scorn grunts were able to escape with the wild Bonsly and Sudowoodo, albeit barely just; they would of have gotten away more easily, but Jessie wanted to try taking Ash's Pikachu as well.
And it turned out that Jessie was doing that scheme involving taking the wild Bonsly and Sudowoodo in the first place because James got word that Ash and the rest of the heroes were coming, so he had Jessie lead some other Scorn grunts in a fake mission to distract the heroes, having Jessie act within the heroes' range so they'd see her thus would have to stop to try and confront her. That gave James, who was assisted by Meowth, time to successfully complete the REAL mission; Jessie and the Scorn grunts getting away with Bonsly and Sudowoodo anyway was just a bonus.
The heroes, although devastated they failed to stop another Team Scorn scheme (and this one involving the Team Rocket trio), were perked up by the fact that the wild Trevenant, seeing that Ash had earnestly tried helping it, decided that it wanted to go with Ash, allowing him to capture it. Trevenant joining Ash's rotation for the Kalos region would be very beneficial, and might even be useful in the gym battle in Shalour City due to ghost's immunity to fighting, which is what Korrina will be using when Ash and the reborn trainers have their go at her.
But first, before any goes at the gym in Shalour City could be done, there was some... camp business... that had to be handled.
The heroes ended up finding themselves at a seaside summer camp area for Pokémon trainers. "So Professor Sucksmore invited us to this Pokémon Summer Camp that's a week long event, huh?" Trip said to Dawn and Kenny while the rest of the group looked out at the sea, standing too far away and being too caught up in the view to have heard what Trip said.
"Sycamore wants you, me, and Kenny to help run things," Dawn explained, "We're sorta gonna be camp counselors."
Inhaling through his nose, Kenny said, "Ah, summer camp. Reminds me of the time I saved the girl who would go on to become my girlfriend from catching fire because she got too close to a-"
"Hey, she's that girl from that Pokévision Video!"
The reborn trainers were cut off when they heard a female voice call out, then turned and saw who they recognized as Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor run up to Ash's group. The three trainers who had just showed up were, in the previous lives of the reborn trainers, friends of the player character in the XY games, and they had some show in the anime. Seeing that Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor were now interacting with the rest of the group, the reborn trainers decided to make their way over, right as Tierno was talking to Serena.
"That video was the cutest thing I ever saw!" Tierno said, "But since a girl like you made it, it's no wonder!"
"Yeah, Tierno here is easily infatuated," Shauna said, right as the reborn trainers reached the group.
When he, Dawn, and Trip reached the scene, Kenny called out, "And just what all is going on here?" This prompted Ash and the others to all turn to see Kenny there with Dawn and Trip.
"Oh Kenny," Clemont said, "These are some of the others participating in the Pokémon Summer Camp. The fellow in the Vanilite shirt gave his name as Tierno, but we haven't gotten the names of the others yet."
"Oh, I'm Shauna and me and Tierno's friend with the camera is Trevor," Shauna said as she gave her and Trevor's names.
Clapping his hands together, Trip said, "Well since Dawn, Kenny, and I are gonna be acting in camp counselor roles, it's good we got your names in case we-"
Trip was cut off when Shauna pointed at Dawn and exclaimed, "Oh! I thought I recognized you! You're Dawn Berlitz, the Champion of Sinnoh!"
"...Yes," Dawn said, "And Trip, Kenny, and I will be helping to run the event here."
Giving Dawn a curious look, Shauna asked, "Well how come you didn't make a Pokévision Video? I mean you're with Serena here obviously, so unless you didn't meet up with her until after she made hers..."
"Oh, I met Serena far before that," Dawn explained, "I just wasn't in the mood to do one of those videos is all. And it was more of being Serena's thing, so I didn't want to intrude on it."
Clapping his hands together, Trevor said, "That reminds me!" Looking to the heroes, Trevor said, "What all sort of goals do you all have? I myself am aiming to be a photographer, hence why I always carry a camera."
"I wanna become famous and stuff as a Pokémon Performer!" Shauna said.
"I'm all about the dancing life, yo!" Tierno said, even doing a short bit of street dancing, showing off some amazing skills, "I wanna form a dance troupe with my Pokémon!"
Gesturing to himself, Clemont said, "I am already a gym leader, but I would like to become famous as an inventor as well."
"I want to become a Pokémon Master," Ash said.
"I haven't decided yet," Bonnie said, "I think it's a bit too early for me."
Gesturing to himself, Kenny said, "I am to find the perfect cringe with which I can sustain my life force."
Shrugging, Trip said, "Travel around and see what all there is out there in the world."
Dawn looked down at her left hand, clenched it shut. "...I want to become someone that my mom would be proud of."
Hearing about what all goals the others had, Serena found herself surprised. Like Bonnie, Serena hadn't actually yet decided what to do with her life. But unlike Bonnie who had the excuse of being too young to have that stuff figured out yet, Serena was in the same age group as everyone else. They all decided, so why not her? It left Serena wondering what all she could do.
Maybe that's what she can do while journeying with Ash. Serena can find what it is she wants to do, and in doing so find herself.
Later, Sycamore started the camp orientation, where he introduced the campers to the custodian Madame Catherine, and the counselors Dawn, Kenny, and Trip. "This camp is meant to teach you to bond with your Pokémon," Sycamore said, "And to that end you all will compete in a series of challenges to earn points, with the team with the most points entering the camp Hall of Fame."
Sycamore then had the campers engage in a series of one on one battles to get to know one another and become friends. Ash ended up battling Tierno, Clemont ended up battling Trevor, and Serena ended up battling Shauna. Dawn remembered this from the anime in her previous life, and the rival characters all more or less won; here, due to the extra experience that came with fighting off Team Scorn repeatedly, Ash, Serena, and Clemont all won instead. It also helped Ash that when Tierno sent out his Squirtle, Ash sent out his new Trevenant that apparently knew Horn Leech.
After the battling, there was a brief repose that provided time for treating the defeated Pokémon of the three rival characters. Dawn, in a move that surprised Kenny and Trip, moved to first help Tierno tend to Squirtle, with Kenny saying he'd of guessed Dawn would move to help tend to Trevor's Charmander as it's a fire type. Dawn said that Squirtle took a heavy hit from Ash's Trevenant's Horn Leech, so she's prioritizing Squirtle. "Thanks for the concern," Tierno said, "But what Kenny said has given me something to ask you about. Do you really prefer fire Pokémon?"
"...Well I guess that I do own a number of fire Pokémon," Dawn said, "In fact, my first ever Pokémon is a Chimchar who is now my Infernape."
"Hmm," Tierno said in a contemplative hum, "Maybe a fire type in my party will give my dance crew the kick it needs to really turn heads with our mad dancing."
"A fire Pokémon would help cover Squirtle from grass Pokémon," Dawn said, "And Squirtle in turn would cover the fire Pokémon from rock and ground types."
...
Dawn and Trip saw that Kenny made signs for the cabins each group had. The group of Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor was called Team Squirtle, so their cabin got a sign that said 'Squirtle Cabin', the group of Ash, Serena, and Clemont plus Bonnie was called Team Froakie so their cabin got a sign that said 'Froakie Cabin'. However, Dawn and Trip saw that the sign for the cabin the two of them had with Kenny had a sign that said 'Cringe Counselor Cabin'. "Why did we let him make the signs for all of the cabins again?" Trip whispered to his brother turned adoptive sister.
"He actually did produce good work, you have to admit," Dawn whispered back, "But I at the same time will admit that Kenny should have been supervised when he made the sign for our cabin."
Stretching his arms into the air, Kenny said, "Hoo boy, now that the signs are finished, we all know who goes to what cabin!" Walking up to Dawn and Trip, Kenny went on, "By the way, I got a clipboard with the names of all the campers on a sheet of paper, and I let out a chuckle upon seeing Trevor's last name."
Kenny held up the clipboard, and Dawn and Trip read what Trevor's last name was. "...His full name's Trevor Belmont?" Dawn said, "Huh, that's interesting." Given the late time, the reborn trainers decided to do what the other campers did and turn in for the night.
The following day, the camp got into full swing. The first was a fishing competition where the campers fished for water Pokémon. Trevor, surprisingly, reeled out a Wailord, and Sycamore would have given Team Squirtle the win for it. However, Kenny when he pointed out that everyone else caught small Pokémon that were totally dwarfed by the Wailord that Trevor reeled in said that Trevor's catch simply wasn't fair for the rest of the campers as nothing could even begin to compete with a beast the size of a Wailord.
Sycamore saw the point and agreed, saying that if something was way too big then it'd be disqualified. Because of how really big catches were off limits now, the competition ended up being won by Team Froakie when Ash was able to reel in a Wailmer that, although still big, wasn't Wailord sized when the rest of his team praised him for his fishing skills, Ash said he got some experience thanks to a friend of his from Kanto. After the fishing competition, Sycamore had everyone gather around in a room in the main lodge to discuss the next activity.
"A Pokévision video?"
The campers as a whole were all surprised by Sycamore's latest challenge to them. "Each team must make one, and the team with the best video wins for the day," Sycamore explained. The teams were then sent about to get ready to make their videos, with Dawn, Kenny, and Trip settling into their roles as counselors to supervise all of the teams to make sure nothing went wrong.
...
Dawn, for her part, was supervising Serena, Bonnie, and Shauna as the girls were making Poké Puffs in the main hall. "Oh by the way," Shauna began as she spoke to Serena and Bonnie, "Have you seen Aria's latest Pokévision video? She's gotten even more popular thanks to her work as a Pokémon Performer."
"What's that?" Bonnie asked, "A Pokémon Performer, I mean."
Giggling a bit in amusement, Shauna proceeded to explain what Pokémon Showcases are, as those are the competitions that Pokémon Performers... well, perform in. There were a few rounds, the first being a Theme Performance where they do things like making Poké Puffs and perform with props, then there's the Freestyle Performance where Performer and Pokémon combine the former's skills with the latter's moves. As Serena and Bonnie began to marvel at the idea of what all Shauna was talking about, Dawn spoke up by saying, "Sounds similar to the Pokémon Contests in regions like Hoenn and Sinnoh."
"Sort of, yeah," Shauna replied, "Anyway, after one wins three Showcases, a Performer goes onto the Master Class, and winning there nets one the title of Kalos Queen, and it's Queen because only girls can be Pokémon Performers. Anyway, Aria is the current Kalos Queen, and she's got a Braixen."
Pointing at Dawn, Bonnie said, "So does Dawn. Oh Dawn, what do you think about Pokémon Showcases?"
Dawn gently shook her head. "Doesn't really sound like my cup of tea. I'm more of a Pokémon battle kind of girl."
"I bet you would do awesome as a Pokémon Performer, Champion Dawn," Shauna said, "Especially if you use your legendary Pokémon. It's also a darn shame that your friend Kenny can't compete due to being a boy, because I got it from Ash that Kenny owns multiple shiny Pokémon, and those would totally give a Pokémon Performer an edge in Pokémon Showcases."
Dawn nodded in understanding, seeing what Shauna was getting at. "I also own a shiny Pokémon, that being my Hariyama. But still, I prefer the battlefield as my stage over the performance stage of contests and showcases." Dawn, although she didn't say it out loud, also knew that Serena would get into things here. Looking at Serena, Dawn asked, "What do you think Serena? Of Pokémon Showcases, I mean."
"Well it does sound very appealing," Serena said, "I'm going to want to look more into it." Dawn nodded in understanding, and then settled back to continue supervising the girls. When the Poké Puffs were finished, the girls gave some to their Pokémon; Serena's Fennekin, Bonnie's Dedenne which technically was Clemont's but Bonnie is being allowed to take care of it, Shauna's Bulbasaur, and Dawn's named Infernape Chi-Chi. As the girls' Pokémon enjoyed the sweets, Kenny's shiny Scizor Cell barreled into the area they were working in, followed by Kenny chasing after him.
Dawn let out some amused laughter, knowing that Cell was following his nose.
Later, the teams of campers began making their Pokévision videos. During the filming, Ash and Serena fall off a small cliff and, although not seriously hurt, were still sore and needed to be rescued. It was Trip who went down there on Deelia and collected Ash and Serena, bringing them back up where the slight sprain Ash suffered in one of his feet was treated. Team Froakie then found a large plain that was ideal for the making of their Pokévision video, which they proceeded to do. Clemont tried to use another video camera he invented, but Godzilla as if sensing something ran in, grabbed Clemont's invented video camera, and threw it perfectly straight up into the air, where it exploded above everyone's heads about fifty feet above them.
Kenny gave Clemont the driest of looks. "...Dude, just use a regular video camera. We don't need you blowing us all up because you wanna use your own self-made gear." Clemont bowed head and sheepishly complied with Kenny.
Eventually, all of the videos were made and shown, and Team Froakie won. As the campers relaxed the rest of the night away, Dawn noticed that Serena was looking to be deep in thought. Dawn could tell that Serena was strongly considering the idea of Pokémon Showcases. It was an integral part of Serena's character in the anime in Dawn's previous life, so it didn't surprise Dawn that Serena here was considering it. Dawn couldn't help but wonder what all there would be in store for the rest of their group if and when Serena started to do her own thing.
...
The next day, Sycamore announced the next activity, which was a Pokémon Orienteering competition where the campers had to go around the whole of the camp grounds to find and collect all the stamps, and first team to succeed in getting all of the stamps won. During the competition, Ash and Trevor encountered a mysterious 'X' Pokémon in the fog, but it ran off before Ash could scan it with his Pokédex or Trevor could take a photo of it with his camera. Trip did see it run past, however, and he not only knew what Pokémon it was, but got a good look at it too.
The Pokémon Orienteering competition came to an end, and surprisingly Team Froakie ended up winning, even though Dawn remembered the events here from the anime in her previous life and recalled that neither Team Froakie or Team Squirtle won. Regardless, Ash and the others were congratulated for the win, and the excitement packed day of camp ended, allowing the campers to rest up for the next and final day of camp. In the counselor cabin, Trip discussed with Dawn and Kenny what he had seen earlier, and Dawn and Kenny both nodded in agreement that it had to mean something.
After that, the final day of camp came, and Sycamore announced that the final competition would be a team battle tournament event. Right now, Team Froakie had the most overall points, but Team Squirtle wasn't far behind. Ash's group is informed that the battles are done battling as a team and uses various kinds of formations to get the most out of the team's Pokémon. Shortly afterwards, the competition started, and Ash's team won their way all the way to the final round, where they would face off against Team Squirtle, that being Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor.
After strategy meetings and getting some practice in, the two teams got ready to face off against one another. As such, the battle saw Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor using Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander, while Ash, Serena, and Clemont used Braviary, Fennekin, and Bunnelby. Ash's choice of using his alpha Hisuian Braviary surprised the reborn trainers, and Sycamore upon seeing Braviary cried out in excited amazement, clearly chomping at the bit to study it. The battle commended, and although Ash's team won the battle, the strategy that was used here involved Fennekin and Bunnelby keeping the other opposing Pokémon off of Braviary's back while he knocked out the enemy Pokémon one at a time.
After Ash's team won and got into the camp's Hall of Fame, Ash asked Tierno about his dancing battle style, wishing to utilize some of it in the strategy that he had planned for when he got to the gym in Shalour City. Tierno agreed, although Shauna tried to convince him to not help out due to being sore over how badly she, Tierno, and Trevor lost to Ash's team. In Shauna's defense, Ash's Braviary on his own was a bit too much for Bulbasaur, Squirtle, and Charmander to handle. Ash, seeing that he did use more force than he intended, apologized for going too strong.
Trevor, surprisingly, defended Ash's choice of using Braviary, saying a powerful flying type like Braviary would be invaluable to Ash when he challenged the gym in Shalour City as that gym specialized in fighting types which are weak to flying. Ash received even more praise from Trevor when it was revealed that Ash's Braviary, due to being the variant from the Hisuian period, was dual psychic flying rather than dual normal flying like the modern variant. This talk of Ash's alpha Hisuian Braviary got the reborn trainers thinking about their own alpha Hisuian Pokémon.
...
"What do you mean Todoroki's ability is now Gooey? I distinctly remember it being Sap Sipper!"
The reborn trainers, due to feeling nostalgic about wanting to see their alpha Hisuian Pokémon, decided to contact Professor Oak after the camp hosted by Sycamore had ended and the heroes hit the road again. They stopped off at a Pokémon Center on the way to get to Shalour City, and it was there that Dawn, Kenny, and Trip called up Professor Oak on the video phone. However, when they inquired about their respective alpha Hisuian Pokémon, the reborn trainers got a rather surprising update about them from Professor Oak.
Looking sheepish and apologetic, Oak explained to the outraged Trip, "I'm very sorry, Trip. But some assistants I had to hire to help me out around the lab decided to go ahead and proceed with some experimentation that I was planning to ask you, Dawn, and Kenny for permission to do before going ahead and doing it. Rest assured that had things gone as I wanted, the experimenting wouldn't of happened if you didn't give permission."
"Permission for what?" Dawn asked, a bit suspicious as to where this could go.
"An experiment to determine what possible abilities that Hisuian variant Pokémon had," Oak proceeded to explain, "Given that Hisuian variant Pokémon aren't typically around anymore, there's not a lot available on them, especially due to the very limited numbers. As such, the best way to figure out what abilities that Hisuian variant Pokémon had was using Ability Capsuels and then Ability Patches on the Hisuian variant Pokémon we did have access to. That's why I said that I was going to ask you three for permission first and not proceed if you said no; you three own the only Hisuian variant Pokémon we have access to."
Dawn let out a gentle sigh. "Well at least you were planning to do things the proper way, rather than what your assistants ended up doing." Looking at Oak with a wry eyebrow arched, Dawn went on, "So what all abilities did you and your assistants discover that Argent, Priestess, and Todoroki have access to as Hisuian variants of their respective species?"
"Well for your Arcanine," Oak began, "He originally had Intimidate, but the other normal ability for the Hisuian variant of Arcanine is Flash Fire. Using an Ability Patch on it, we discovered that Hisuian Arcanine's hidden ability is Rock Head. For Kenny's Lilligant, she originally had Chlorophyll as her ability, but the other normal ability for the Hisuian variant of her species is Hustle. With the Ability Patch applied to her, we discovered that Hisuian Lilligant's hidden ability is Leaf Guard. For Trip's Goodra, the normal abilities the Hisuian variant of the species has are Sap Sipper and Shell Armor, and its hidden ability is Gooey. All three of them have their hidden abilities now."
"How did you get the funding to afford all of the necessary Ability Capsules and Ability Patches?" Kenny asked, his tone and expression making it clear he was amazed, "That sounds like some serious coinage is being thrown around."
Chuckling a bit, Oak said, "Well being a renowned Pokémon Professor with a big lab and loads of land for research does have its benefits, including being able to get research grants."
Groaning a bit, Trip said, "Well this is all well and good, but I would of rather that Todoroki's ability wasn't changed around like that. I really like how he had Sap Sipper."
"It can actually be fixed," Oak said, "Through research, I've confirmed that if an Ability Patch is used on a Pokémon that already has the hidden ability for its species, then the hidden ability will change to one of the abilities its species has normally. Granted, we're out of Ability Patches right now, but when we get one, we will use it to change your Goodra's ability to one of its normal abilities. If it becomes Shell Armor, we can use an extra Ability Capsule to change it to Sap Sipper." Sighing in a clearly apologetic tone, Oak said, "Again, I'm terribly sorry for how my assistants acted with out your knowing or consent. Heck, they acted without MY knowing or consent."
"So what do the hidden abilities of the alpha Hisuian Pokémon do?" Kenny asked with a shrug.
"Goodra's Gooey makes it so that a Pokémon who hits it with a move that makes contact has its speed lowered," Oak began to explain, "Lilligant's Leaf Guards protects it from status conditions while in strong sunlight, and Arcanine's Rock Head protects it from suffering recoil damage such as what comes from using Take Down."
Dawn, with a look of consideration on her face, said, "...What about if Arcanine uses Flare Blitz?"
"Oh, using that move also causes recoil damage to the user," Oak said, "Yes, your Arcanine's Rock Head ability will also protect it from suffering recoil damage from using Flare Blitz. He's also showing signs of learning Wild Charge, which is also a move that causes recoil damage to the user."
Dawn then pumped a fist up into the air as she cheered in amusement, prompting Trip to groan in mild annoyance over how his foster sister seemed to be getting all the luck. "...Just please look into getting an Ability Patch so Todoroki's ability can be returned to normal."
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter covered the camp arc that introduces Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor. The reborn trainers get counselor roles rather than actually compete in the camp, due to how I feel they'd overwhelm everything. The camp more or less goes as it did in the series proper, with only a few changes to show Ash's group winning everything that they try their hands at. There's also the brief scene with Ash and Trevor seeing what's obviously Xerneas, and Trip sees it as well for reasons that will come up much later in the story
There's also the bit at the end showing the alpha Hisuian Pokémon the reborn trainers respectively own getting their hidden abilities due to an experiment some assistants of Oak did using Ability Capsules and Patches to learn what all abilities the Hisuian variants of those species have access to. Oak wanted to do that experiment as well, but he was going to inform the reborn trainers first and ask for permission, saying he'd agree to not go through with it if he didn't get permission. This is due to how information about the abilities of Hisuian variant Pokémon are available in gen nine despite how Pokémon can't be transferred in yet from past gens. Hisuian variant Pokémon get some neat abilities.
Anyway, the next chapter will see the heroes reach Shalour City so that Ash and the reborn trainers can try for their respective third Kalos gym badges. There will be some consequences discussed concerning Team Scorn successfully getting away with taking Mabel's Mawile, the Mawilite it held, and Mabel's Key Stone, but the heroes won't suffer from it aside from being reminded of their guilt in how Team Scorn got away. Don't change the channel, because more will be coming, especially a surprise guest appearance by someone from the pasts of Ash, Dawn, and Kenny.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Levy (female Braixen), Germany (male Garchomp), Ieyasu (male Aerodactyl), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Rex (male Tyrunt), Hovernyan (male Espurr), Nogla (male Qulladin), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Veda (female Abomasnow), Myde (male Empoleon), Kululu (male Frogadier), Deelia (Dialga), Mitsu (male Helioptile)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Charizard (male), Steelix (male; shiny), Froakie (male), Fletchling (male), Braviary (male; alpha; Hisuian)