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-eight: Showcase Showdown Shinobi
After the heroes continued their journey to Coumarine City with some new Panchams in their corner, they stopped for a bit, with Ash and the reborn trainers training for the next gym battle, Serena prepping for her first Pokémon Showcase, and Clemont working on a new invention that for some odd reason Kenny's named Tyranitar Godzilla insisted on keeping an eye on. This left Bonnie to her own devices, and she ended up finding a group of klds who were protecting a Lapras that got into the lake in the forest somehow. Bonnie ended up joining these kids, named Heidi, Jay, and Kye, becoming part of their 'Lapras Defence Force'.
As the kids were playing with Lapras, however, the Lapras started feeling unwell. Bonnie suggested getting some outside help, but Heidi said no on the basis that 'adults can't be trusted' since they found an Eevee they were caring for but their teacher took it away upon finding out about it. Eventually, Bonnie heard the rest of the heroes call out for her and, telling the other kids that the others weren't adults, convinced them to allow the other heroes in on things so they could potentially help the Lapras. The older members of the heroes had to convince the kids that only Nurse Joy at the nearby Pokémon Center can help, as the kids still weren't trusting of adults.
The Nurse Joy was able to treat the Lapras, and even revealed to the kids that the Eevee they found already had a trainer and their teacher had to return it to its trainer. The kids settled down, and soon Lapras was freed. They had to help it back to the ocean, but after clearling away a boulder that was clogging up a river, the heroes and the kids were able to get Lapras back out to sea, where it reunited with the rest of its herd. With the Lapras situation resolved, the heroes were able to continue with the trek to Coumarine City, while also teaching the kids to be more trusting of adults because adults and other older people simply know better than young kids like them.
It was after that which the heroes had a certain encounter...
The heroes stopped for lunch one day on the road to Coumarine City. As the heroes all got the tables sat up, Serena came by with a case full of Poké Puffs. "I hope you guys are ready," Serena said as she opened the case, "Because I have plenty of hey where did all of the Poké Puffs go?"
When everyone saw that the case of Poké Puffs was empty, they heard a belch before turning to see the source; Clemont's Chespin, who had crumbs on its face while rubbing its belly. Both Serena's Pancham and Kenny's named Pancham Panda got angry, Panda expecially so given his pissed off snarling expression, and both of them jumped. Serena and Kenny were able to make both Panchams back off, but Kenny's shiny Scizor Cell ran in and dropped kicked Clemont's Chespin, punting it away and sending it flying through the air like an early dream of mankind. Cell yelled angrily at Clemont's Chespin as it flew out of sight, angrily waving a metal pincer claw at it.
"Great, now we have to go get Celmont's Chespin!" Kenny said as he, Serena, and Clemont ran after Clemont's Chespin.
...
A ways away, a girl named Nini was practicing some Pokémon Showcase routines with her Smoochum and Farfetch'd. As Nini was practicing, she and her Pokémon all stopped short when they heard a crying sound coming in from out of nowhere. Looking around, it was Nini who eventually saw Clemont's Chespin flying right at her, a look of panicked alarm on its face right before it slammed its head onto Nini's forehead, knocking Chespin out an Nini over onto the ground. It was in that state in which Nini was found by Serena, Clemont, and Kenny.
"Holy geez!" Kenny said, "This girl who looks like a four out of ten was knocked out by Clemont's Chespin's fastball special!"
"Hey mysterious girl, are you okay?" Clemont asked, clearly concerned for Nini.
Holding up a hand weakly due to dizziness, Nini with her eyes in dizzy swirls said in a dazed tone, "Did someone get the number of that taco truck?" Nini then passed out, prompting Serena, Clemont, and Kenny to collect her and bring her back to their camp to look after her, prompting Nini's Smoochum and Farfetch'd to follow them to see if their trainer was going to be alright.
At the heroes' camp, Nini was roused and treated for her injury, as well as treated to lunch. "Wow, a shiny Scizor," Nini said as she spotted Cell among Kenny's Pokémon, "That would totally up my odds at winning a Pokémon Showcase or two."
"Yeah, I'm not trading any members of the cringe posse," Kenny said flatly.
"Oh, you're training for Pokémon Showcases as well?" Serena said to Nini, "I'm doing that as well and-"
"Could you watch my performance and give me your opinion on it?" Nini asked, "I haven't had a chance to talk to very many fellow Performers recently."
Serena looked a bit hesitant to comply. "I... only just started recently, to be honest."
Nini gently shook her head, brushing aside Serena's worries. "I'd just like an opinion is all. I don't need professional judging skills." Serena eventually agreed, and thus Nini put on her performance with Smoochum and Farfetch'd. After the performance was done, Nini asked, "Well, what do you think? Anything I can do to improve it?"
Shrugging, Serena said, "I'd try coordinating movements with your Pokémon more if I were you."
"Have Smoochum use Heart Stamp in a flashier manner?" Ash offered.
Nini took notes on what all advice she was being given. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Turning to look at Serena, Nini said, "Now it's your turn. I'd like to see what all you got ready."
Once more, Serena looked unsure. "I don't think I got much of anything ready yet, but-"
"Practice makes perfect, Serena," Trip pointed out. The other heroes all agreed, although Serena only really decided to give things a go when Ash said he wanted to see how far Serena has gotten thus far while saying he was confident that Serena would knock it out of the park. Serena, bolstered by Ash's vote of confidence in her, ended up agreeing to show what she had down so far. However, as she got ready with Fennekin and Pancham, Serena was interrupted by Clemont's Chespin butting in.
"Oh!" Bonnie said, "Chespin wants to dance too!"
"Well I got the perfect solution to that," Clemont said as he took out a robot that looked like a Chespin in a pink dress, "Behold! The Only Lonely Dancing Robo Partner! The future is now, thanks to-" Clemont was cut off when Godzilla ran in, grabbed the robo Chespin, and threw it straight up into the air, where it exploded harmlessly above everyone's heads about fifty feet above all of them. Godzilla then leaned close to Clemont and gently shook his head at him before leaning back and backing off. Clemont sighed in defeat and had Chespin dance with Bunnelby instead.
After that, Serena had Fennekin and Pancham go through the routine that she had come up with. After she was done and everyone applauded, Nini said, "Hmm, I don't think that Pancham's acrobatics really fit with the performance, not matching up with Fennekin's performance at all." A vein popped up on the side of Serena's head, not that anyone noticed. As that happened, Nini's Smoochum became infatuated with Serena's Pancham somehow and began to try flirting with slash forcing itself onto the little ursine Pokémon, much to Pancham's annoyance.
"Aww, I think it's cute how they interact," Nini said to Serena, "Say, wanna trade Pokémon so I can get Pancham?"
"I... wanna keep Pancham," Serena said, "It's the first Pokémon I caught, and I've already decided on making it one of my Pokémon Showcase partners."
Pointing at where Smoochum was flirting with a clearly uncomfortable Pancham, Trip added, "Plus, it's obvious that Serena's Pancham by no means is comfortable with how Smoochum is trying to force things here."
Nini looked a tad annoyed with Trip's assessment. "Are you suggesting that my Smoochum makes others uncomfortable?"
"Dude, take a good look at what Smoochum is doing!" Kenny said, gesturing to where Smoochum was STILL trying to force romance onto Serena's Pancham. "Even you can't be blind to how your Smoochum is trying to force things onto Serena's Pancham!" Kenny said, "Take a good, long, hard, honest look and tell us what you see!"
"My Smoochum is simply being affectionate is all," Nini replied.
"Alright, now take a look at how Serena's Pancham is reacting," Ash said, "How does he look?"
Nini turned to look at Serena's Pancham, who very obviously doesn't like how Smoochum was trying to force romance onto it. Turning to look back at the heroes, Nini said, "He's just embarrassed is all. He'll get over it and soon return Smoochum's feel-"
"PAN-PAN!" Serena's Pancham yelled in a VERY CLEARLY pissed off tone, right before firing a Stone Edge attack directly into Smoochum, sending it flying away until it crashed into a tree, clearly out of it.
"Ah! That little hoodlum attacked my innocent Smoochum!" Nini yelled.
"Innocent?" Serena said, "Granted, my Pancham may have over-reacted, but your Smoochum was blatantly trying to force itself onto him despite how Pancham very clearly didn't want any of it! Not to mention how he yelled just now! That should be all the signs you need to understand that my Pancham does not like your Smoochum at all!"
Recalling her fainted Smoochum, Nini yelled, "I demand that you apologize for what that little hoodlum did just now! Smoochum by no means meant any harm! Pancham attacked her for no reason!"
"Your Smoochum was harassing Serena's Pancham!" Clemont pointed out, "Even if it meant no harm, it still did harm anyway! And yet you think you're wholly in the right?"
"You're darn right I'm wholly in the right here!" Nini scowled, "Now apologize right this instant for Pancham's totally unwarranted behavior just now!"
Counting things off of his fingers, Kenny said, "One, Pancham's actions were warranted albeit a little excessive, Smoochum was not just harassing him but given the context said harassment comes off as being sexual harassment. Two, no apology is owed to you, you're the one in the wrong here because you didn't call your Pokémon off from harassing Serena's. Three, the fact that you're obliviously blind to the faults of your own Pokémon combined with how you're quick to find faults in the Pokémon of others when said faults aren't there is gonna get you booted from Pokémon Showcase events, I'm just saying. And four, straight up demanding an apology like that makes you come off as a complete and total bi-"
Trip quickly covered Kenny's mouth. "That's... a bit too far, Kenny," Trip said. Turning to look at Nini, Trip went on, "Kenny does have a point though. You're the one in the wrong here, so it's you who has to apolo-"
*SLAP*
Trip was cut off when Nini slapped him across the face. "How dare you!" Nini scowled, "I owe no apology to no one!" Pointing an accusing finger at Serena, Nini spat, "And you! You have just earned yourself a bitter rival in the Pokémon Showcase scene, I hope you know! Prepare to go down in your first showcase!" Nini then turned around and stormed off, clearly in a huff.
After Nini was gone, Kenny folded his arms over his chest. "Man, what a bitch."
Scowling, Serena said, "Well I hope she's in for the rude awakening she's gonna get when she loses at her first showcase." They did indeed become rivals, Serena and Nini, but of a bitter variety due to Nini being oblivious, as well as her overreacting, her doubling-down, and her refusal to back down. Things are not going to be all that pleasent for the Pokémon Showcase scene, the heroes could tell.
After the less than pleasant deal with Nini, the heroes continued with their journey to Coumarine City. Along the way, they helped out a man named Carl who was making an entertainment production that mixed acting and battling, and Carl's lead Pokémon here was a shiny Hawlucha. Ash got out his own Hawlucha and, after the two Hawluchas got off on the wrong foot but settled their differences, the heroes were able to help Carl, although production had to be delayed when both Hawluchas were knocked out by Kenny's named Pikachu Juan during a wrestling scene.
After that, the heroes had an encounter with an old acquaintance...
...
As the heroes continued on their way to Coumarine City, they had to stop for a bit to have something to eat. While the table was getting set up, Ash was practicing with Pikachu and Froakie as Bonnie watched. While she was watching Ash, Bonnie allowed her eyes to wander, and as such she ended up seeing something floating in the river that caught her attention. "Hey!" Bonnie exclaimed, "Someone's floating in the river face down! There's some sort of Pokémon with them as well! We need to get them out of there!"
Ash and the others were all alerted by Bonnie's cry, and went over to the river to save the floating person and his floating Pokémon. To the surprise of the heroes, it was Sanpei, the ninja they had encountered a while ago, along with a Greninja who the reborn trainers reasoned was the Frogadier Sanpei had when they last saw him; it was logical to assume that Greninja must have evolved in that time frame. Sanpei and his Greninja were roused, and Clemont even took time to treat the injuries and poisoning that Sanpei's Greninja had, using a Full Restore provided to him by Dawn.
"Oh yeah, my Frogadier had indeed evolved into Greninja," Sanpei explained when Ash and Serena asked about it.
"Quick question," Kenny began, "How was it that your Greninja got poisoned in the first place? Also, how was it that the two of you were floating down the river like you were before we fished you both out?"
Before Sanpei could explain, everyone heard a demanding male voice call out, "Hand over the scroll you are carrying right now, young ninja!" Everyone turned to see a man dressed as a ninja, but he was wearing a Shiftree mask. He also had a Barbaracle with him. "You will not be so lucky as you were last time when you escaped from my pursuit," the masked ninja said, clearly addressing Sanpei, "Now that you are cornered and weakened, I shall very easily-"
"Mr. Popo, use Psychic to telekinetically grab that guy and drag him down here!" Trip said as he sent his named Magmortar out.
"Roshi, hit that Barbaracle with Seed Bomb!" Kenny said while calling out his named Torterra.
The masked ninja was surprised, and he tried to flee from the assault. But he was grabbed by his left shin by the telekinetic psychic grab of Mr. Popo. Barbaracle was able to dodge out of the way of the first Seed Bomb, but seeing its master dragged down and slammed into the ground surprised Barbaracle, leaving it open to a second Seed Bomb that was successful in hitting it, making it fall down to where its master was dragged down to. Barbaracle was clearly knocked out, and as the masked ninja struggled to get up, he was restrained by the reborn trainers, with Dawn even taking his katana.
...
After the masked ninja was subdued and bound, the heroes and Sanpei stood over him while he was their prisoner. "My master Saizo had entrusted me with taking the scroll to a safehouse," Sanpei said to the enemy ninja, "So no way would I ever consider letting you so much as see where I have it hidden on my person! And just who are you anyway, a mercenary hired by that detestable clan Team Scorn to steal the scroll that I was entrusted with?"
"Well gang, time to find out who this enemy ninja really is," Ash said as he reached forward and grabbed the mask off of the enemy ninja. After Ash had taken the enemy ninja's mask off, Sanpei took a step back out of surprise.
"Saizo?!" Sanpei said, revealing the masked ninja to really have been his master Saizo this whole time, "It was you all along? But why did you give me the scroll to guard, then immediately don a disguise and try to take the scroll from me?"
"The mission that I gave you was designed merely to test you to see what all you have learned thus far," Saizo admitted, "The scroll's actually empty, by the way. Given that you aren't lambasting me for giving you a blank scroll to guard, I assume that means you didn't peek at what was in the scroll, just like I had instructed." Letting out a sigh, Saizo said, "I guess a lot of this is my fault. I wanted to continue testing you to see how far you've come, but I got overconfident and ignored the fact that there were some others with you when I found you."
"Yeah, attacking a group like ours from out of nowhere is kind of dumb," Kenny remarked.
Turning to look at Sanpei, Saizo said, "Anyway, you still have to complete the mission of delivering the scroll to the agreed upon location. Given that the screw up here is mine and not yours, you'll be given credit for completing the mission. Just... just don't tell the rest of Ninja Village about this, especially the elder." Looking a bit worried, Saizo said, "The elder will kick my butt if word of my screw up here gets out."
The rest of the heroes all agreed and, after confirming that Saizo really meant no harm, undid the rope they used to bind him, also Saizo's Barbaracle was treated with a Revive and a Max Potion that Trip provided. Dawn was just about to hand Saizo his katana back, when suddenly the heroes, Sanpei, and Saizo were interrupted when a stampede of wild Pokémon was seen rushing towards them. "We need to fight off those wild Pokémon!" Sanpei exclaimed.
"You may have to take the lead here, Sanpei," Saizo said, "I'm still a little sore from being dragged down from a great height and bound with rope, and Barbaracle's literally just been treated for his injuries." The younger ninja nodded in understanding and, taking the lead, led the heroes in fighting off the stampede of wild Pokémon who would overrun them if given the chance. After a great deal of effort, the stampede of wild Pokémon ended up being defeated by the combined might of all of what Pokémon the heroes and Sanpei used to fend them off.
...
As the rest of the heroes relaxed with Sanpei and Saizo after taking a breather, Ash came walking up to them with Serena and Dawn. To the piqued interest of Sanpei, Ash was being followed by a Frogadier. "It turns out that the stampede of wild Pokémon we defeated was whipped up into a frenzy by some Team Scorn members who were trying to mine up something," Serena said to the others, "Ash, Dawn, and I chased them off. ...Well, Ash and Dawn did most of the work. During said work, Ash's Froakie evolved into Frogadier."
Ash gave an amused smirk. "I guess this means I caught up to Trip, since we both have Frogadiers now."
Trip, with his own amused smirk, tossed up a pokéball, calling out a Greninja in the process. "Guess again Ash," Trip said, cleatly being playfully teasing, "For I have pulled ahead of you yet again! Behold, for Kululu is now a Greninja!"
"Nogla also evolved after we finished driving off all of the stampeding wild Pokémon," Kenny admitted, tossing up a pokéball from which came a Chesnaught, "Now that Nogla has reached his final form, he's ready to-"
"CHEEEEEEEEEEEEES!" Nogla the Chesnaught cried out, interrupting Kenny in the process, before he proceeded to just stand there, a goofy and somewhat vacant expression on his face.
"...Yes," Kenny remarked. Serena mentioned that Dawn's Braixen had also evolved, prompting Dawn to call out Levy who indeed is now a Delphox. "So anyway, did you all discover what it was that Team Scorn was trying to mine up?" Kenny asked.
Ash gently shook his head in the negative. "Sorry, but no. They shouted how they were barely able to get about a foot into the ground before Serena, Dawn, and I showed up and drove them off. And call me cautious, but I get the feeling that we ought to look into getting the area that Team Scorn was mining at secured by good people who we can trust."
"I can look into matters," Saizo said, "And I'm certain that the elder of Ninja Village will agree to secure and guard the area in question." Holding a hand to his chin, Saizo said, "...Would you guys all mind it if we spun a tale to give Sanpei as much credit here as possible? Have it said that he's the one who found out what Team Scorn was up to and led people to help drive Team Scorn off."
"You're wanting to make up for how it was your screw up that messed with Sanpei's test, huh?" Kenny said.
Letting out a guilty sigh, Saizo said, "You don't know the half of it." Dawn was getting vibes that another part of why Saizo was wanting to get as much credit for Sanpei as possible was because he was worried about word of his screw up messing with Sanpei's test may reach the ears of Ninja Village's elder; Saizo was clearly trying to bribe Sanpei into keeping quiet about his (Saizo's) screw up. The heroes all agreed, and eventually once everything was settled, they made their way to the mansion that Saizo said was the goal Sanpei had to get to.
To speed things along, the reborn trainers called out Tsukune, Black, and Deelia, then everyone got on, took up into the air, then zoomed in a straight line right on over to the mansion. There, Saizo recieved the revealed to be blank scroll from Sanpei, thus completing the mission. After that, Saizo had Ash, Serena, and Dawn lead him and the others back to where the team of Team Scorn members were trying to mine something up. Once the area was revealed to Saizo, he committed a path to the spot to memory so he could lead other Ninja Village members there later.
"We have no idea what it was that Team Scorn was trying to dig up here," Saizo said, "But whatever it was, it can't be good for the rest of Kalos at large as Team Scorn were the ones after whatever goods they were hoping to find here. I'll bring by what men and women from Ninja Village can be sparred, bring them here to guard the place and set up a Ninja Village outpost, as well as continue the mining efforts. We won't let what goods that are here fall into Team Scorn's hands, but if those goods can be placed into our hands and the hands of those we name as allies, then that's perfectly fine."
...
After the heroes were done helping Sanpei and Saizo, they continued on their way towards Coumarine City. "Oh, Frogadier learned Aerial Ace by the way," Ash said as he and the others continued traveling.
"That's a flying type move," Bonnie said, "You think it may be helpful when you take on the Coumarine gym? What type does the Coumarine gym use anyway?"
"I know since I checked ahead of time," Serena said, "The gym in Coumarine City uses grass Pokémon."
Trip had a look of consideration on his face. "...Although flying attacks like Aerial Ace would be good against grass Pokémon as they're weak to flying, using Frogadier which is a water type which is weak to grass may not be the best idea." Looking to Ash, Trip said, "You may wanna consider using the flying Pokémon that you're using in Kalos when you take on the gym in Coumarine City, Ash. Feltchinder and Charizard especially."
Kenny nodded in agreement. "Both of them are dual fire flying, and fire is also strong against grass." Turning to look at Dawn, Kenny went on, "And you Dawn have quite the selection of fire Pokémon to use. You're probably set when you take on the Coumarine City gym when we get there." Dawn wasn't going to argue that point. She did have quite the selection of fire Pokémon, and her alpha Hisuian Arcanine, Argent, had just gotten down Flare Blitz (as well as Wild Charge); combined with how unapproved experimenting with some Ability Capsules and an Ability Patch some of Oak's aides did resulted in the alpha Hisuian Pokémon owned by the reborn trainers got said Pokémon their hidden abilities, and Argent's is Rock Head, Dawn was quite eager to use consequence-free Flare Blitzes.
But that would have to wait until the heroes got to Coumarine City. A journey that will see a few more stops before Ash and the reborn trainers could each try for their respective fourth Kalos gym badges. But the heroes were all confident, and were eager to continue on their way as they journeyed around the Kalos region, to see what all there was laying ahead of them.
END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-EIGHT
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the introduction of Serena's showcase rival Nini, who leaves the heroes on a less pleasent note than normal due to her overreaction and obliviousness. Then the heroes have an encounter with Sanpei again, allowing Ash's Froakie, who evolved into Frogadier here, continue on the path to the destiny that awaits him; also, the Kalos starters of the reborn trainers are now all fully evolved, but being fully evolved doesn't change Nogla's personality all that much. Anyway, next time, the heroes will see Serena's mother Grace again, also Ash will encounter and catch a certain gooey friend.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Levy (female Delphox), Germany (male Garchomp), Ieyasu (male Aerodactyl), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Nogla (male Chesnaught), Hovernyan (male Meowstic), Panda (male Pancham), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Dovahgex (male Sceptile), Myde (male Empoleon), Kululu (male Greninja), Deelia (Dialga), Mitsu (male Helioptile)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Charizard (male), Trevenant (male), Frogadier (male), Fletchling (male), Braviary (male; alpha; Hisuian)