Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai
Chapter Two-hundred and three: Get lit with Litten
A wild Litten was running through a garden, a sandwich in its mouth. As it ran, it was suddenly confronted by an Alolan Persian. The Persian, looking smug and superior to Litten, swiped at the sandwich to take it. Litten fired an Ember, but Persian threw the sandwich at it, blocking the attack and burning up the sandwich. The Persian gave a haughty and better-than-you laugh at Litten, only to be cut off when a bluish blur with a red streak rushed in, slugging the Persian in the side of its face. As the Persian scrambled to recover, a male Meowstic wearing a red capt stood there, its right paw pulled back and glowing with the use of Power-Up Punch.
As the Litten looked on, it heard a male human's voice call out, "There's that bratty Persian! Kick its ass, Hovernyan!"
"Argent, cut off it's escape!" a female human's voice called out.
"Fourze, go help capture that Persian!" a second male human's voice called out, "It's been harassing the local Pokémon here for far too long and getting away with it!"
Before Litten knew what was going on, an Electivire and an Arcanine that looked different and bigger than normal Arcanine rushed in and cornered the Alolan Persian. The round headed cat Pokémon tried to make a run for it, but the Arcanine leapt at it and pinned it down. This allowed the Electivire to go in, grab it by hits front paws with one hand, pull it up, and punch it hard a good few times in the gut, also a few in the rib cage, with Thunder Punch. The Electivire then let go of the Persain, letting it drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Hovernyan also slugged it really hard in the eye with Power-Up Punch.
At that point, a trio of humans, two boys and a girl with the girl having another Litten with her, came running up. "That's what you get for trying to bully Kirara, you damn dirty Persian!" the girl scowled at the defeated Persian, drawing a surprised look out of the wild Litten.
...
Dawn, Kenny, and Trip, after they apprehended the Alolan Persian, took it to the first Officer Jenny they could find. "Oh yeah, I've been hearing reports of an Alolan Persian going about bullying other Pokémon around here," Jenny said, "I take it this is the one?"
"Yeah, I saw it in the act of trying to pick on my Litten," Dawn said, "So I sicced my Arcanine on it."
As Dawn and the boys filled Jenny in on the details, a woman came walking up to the group. "Excuse me, Officer Jenny," the woman began, "I need to fill a report on a missing Poké- Oh my goodness that's my Persian but how did it get so beaten?!"
Gesturing to the fainted Persian, Jenny said, "So this is your Persian? Ma'am, it not only was caught in the act of harassing another trainer's Pokémon for no reason, but it's connected to a series of other cases where other trainers have reported that an Alolan Persian like this has been harassing their Pokémon. You do remember to make sure your Persian sticks with you, right? You don't let it wander around as it wishes?"
As the woman had a stunned look on her face that made it clear she knew she was in trouble, the reborn trainers were told that they were revealed and could go about their business. As such, they took it as their cue to head off to school. However, unbeknownst to them, the wild Litten from before was following them, as was a wild Alolan Meowth who seemed fixated on Kenny for some odd reason.
Over at the school, the reborn trainers told their classmates of their encounter with the Alolan Persian. "...Oh yeah," Kenny said, "I remember seeing a wild Litten there when the lads and I brought the pain of cringe down upon that Alolan Persian. Not sure where it's at now."
"I think it was near the burnt up remains of a sandwich," Trip said, "From the angle, I'd say the Alolan Persian took it from Litten, then when it fired a fire attack Persian threw the sandwich to intercept it to avoid any form of retaliation from Litten." With an amused chuckle, Trip said, "Heh, but we gave it plenty of retaliation."
"Oh, I heard about a wild Litten around here," Mallow said, "It often wanders around asking for food."
Lana giggled a bit. "I think it's kind of cute. Doesn't seem to be very fond of people for some odd reason, though. It tends to stick around only long enough to get food from them."
Folding his arms over his chest, Kiawe remarked, "I saw it near the restaurant, as well as the market where it snatches berries. We need a plan to deal with it."
"There's also how the Alolan Persian's owner isn't exactly guaranteed to reign in her pet," Dawn said, "It may be allowed to wander around and bully smaller Pokémon again." Holding up a poké ball, Dawn said, "Of course, it'll deal with Drachen next time.'
"How's your Salamence's training going, by the way?" Lana asked as she turned to face Dawn.
Nodding once with a mildly amused smile, Dawn said, "I've been able to get her to learn Aerial Ace thanks to having her work with Cyrus, and got her to pick up Earthquake from working with Germany."
"Oh yeah, Pokémon can learn and master moves more easily if another Pokémon who knows the move in question instructs them," Sophocles remarked, "Well what about the other moves for your Salamence?"
"She came knowing Dragon Claw which my sister intends for her Salamence to retain," Trip said, "And while she originally intended for Salamence to learn Steel Wing, apparently Salamence picked up Iron Head from Garchomp as well instead."
Kiawe, looking curious, said, "Salamence can learn Iron Head?"
Nodding once, Dawn remarked, "When I explained things to Kukui-sensei, he said that trainers in the Paldea region had discovered the method of having Salamence learn Iron Head. Either way, Drachen gets a steel type move which covers three of the four types that a dual dragon flying type is weak to." Gently shaking her head, Dawn went on, "But we're getting off subject. We need a plan to deal with the wild Litten being mischievous."
Standing up, Ash said, "I'll deal with Litten by catching it."
"You're going to catch it, Ash?" Serena asked, looking mildly surprised.
Nodding once, Ash explained, "Originally, I was a little annoyed with Litten given it stole my sandwich. But after hearing about Litten's situation, as well as how it's dealing with an Alolan Persian that's been bullying it and other small Pokémon before Dawn, Kenny, and Trip resolved things there, I think a more understanding and gentle approach is needed. We need to show Litten that we're friends."
"Why not leave it to Kenny?" Sophocles suggested, "He seems to be able to handle cat Pokémon pretty well."
"...Actually, I believe we ought to go with the plan of Ash eventually catching it," Kenny replied, "As chill as I am with Pokémon of the feline persuasion, I feel as if that wild Litten may not exactly be a good fit in with the cringe posse."
Clapping her hands together, Serena said, "I bet it'll be fun trying to help that Litten!" As such, the plan to help Litten was formed, with Ash being designated as the one to catch it, and Serena, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip going along to help.
Later in the marketplace, Jessie, James, and Meother of Team Scorn were wearing disguises to simply enjoy relaxing at a table with drinks and some fruit. "So Jessie, Meowth," James said, "I met that Bulat guy who Admin Mage went to Johto to pick up. He's the newest Captain in the Scarf Sector, yet has already been able to rise up to the position of Second Captain."
"That would explain why that Zed joker is so jealous of Bulat," Meowth remarked.
Jessie went to grab another piece of fruit, but the wild Litten hopped in, took the piece Jessie was reaching for, then scampered off. "'AY! I was gonna eat that!" Jessie yelled, and was about to get up but was stopped by James.
"Jessie, we can't afford to act up while out in public like this," James advised, "Just let that Pokémon go."
Jessie scowled bitterly and tried to settle down, right around the point where, in another area of the marketplace, Ash and his group were looking around for Litten. To help with the search, Dawn had her Litten Kirara out; it was reasoned by Serena that the wild Litten may be more willing to associate with a member of its species. As the heroes looked around, a kindly old lady named Anela offered the heroes some berries. "Here in Alola, nature's bounty is for sharing," Anela said, "So you kids ought to take some berries."
"Thanks," Ash said as he accepted the berries, "Maybe they'll prove useful in helping to find a wild Litten we heard about."
"Oh, I've actually seen it wander around here," Anela said, "I always have some food ready for the little fellah. I have no idea where he lives tho-" Anela was cut off when a berry fell out of the bag of berries Ash was handed, only for the wild Litten to dash in and pounce on the berry before eating it. Smiling in amusement, Anela said, "Well wouldn't you know it, we speak of him and then he suddenly shows up."
The wild Litten ate the berry, only for Ash to pull another berry out from the bag he got and offer it to Litten. The wild Litten at first was unsure of things, but then Kirara walked up and meowed at the wild Litten in Pokémon-talk for a bit. "I think Kirara is telling the wild Litten that we mean no harm and only want to be nice," Dawn said to the others as they watched Ash give the wild Litten a berry.
The wild Litten looked up at Ash for a moment, contemplated him, then gave an understanding nod before taking the berry and scampering off. "Shouldn't you have used that opportunity to catch Litten, Ash?" Serena asked.
"...There was something in Litten's eyes," Ash said, "A hint of intent to do something. I was figuring that me catching Litten would put a dampener on that plan."
"Ash is a master when it comes to understanding Pokémon," Trip said, "We ought to trust his judgment on the matter." Serena nodded in agreement before the five heroes took off from the market.
The following day after school, the heroes were walking back from school when Serena pointed something out while saying, "Hey, there's Litten!" The heroes all turned and saw the Litten, who had a berry in its mouth, but it was being cornered by the Alolan Persian on a cliff.
"That troublesome Alolan Persian is up to its discount dastardly deed doing once again!" Kenny said, "Okay, Hovernyan! Let's make it cringe!"
"Alright, Drachen!" Dawn said as she sent her named Salamence to back up Kenny's named Meowstic, "Let's get goin'!" Hovernyan actually hopped onto Drachen's back, something Pikachu did as well when Ash sent it to help deal with the Alolan Persian, and the three Pokémon rushed in to help save Litten. However, they stopped midflight when a dark blur rushed in to intercept the Alolan Persian, cutting it off and standing between it and Litten.
To the surprise of the heroes, it was a wild Alolan Meowth, but it wore a dark blue cape, with a scarf like feature around its neck, and it gave off an air comparable to Hovernyan. The caped Alolan Meowth approached the Alolan Persian endearingly, only to quickly strike the Alolan Persian and send it reeling back. "That was Covet that the Alolan Meowth just used!" Serena said, "And its cape looks cute too! Kind of like the cape Kenny's Meowstic wears, only it looks less neat as if Meowth itself made it without human help."
The Alolan Persian tried fighting back, but the caped Alolan Meowth knocked it back again with Night Slash. As the Alolan Persian reeled again, Drachen flew overhead as Pikachu and Hovernyan jumped off, firing a Thunderbolt and a Disarming Voice respectively at the Alolan Persian, striking it twice. The Alolan Persain, realizing it was now very much outmatched, scrambled to get away, but on Dawn's orders, Drachen flew around and rammed into the Alolan Persian with Iron Head, knocking it out cold and ending the conflict.
...
Over at the nearest Pokémon Center, the heroes turned over the Alolan Persian and explained what happened. At that moment, an Officer Jenny came in and was told of the situation before looking at the Alolan Persian. "...It's the same one as before," Officer Jenny remarked, "That lady is gonna be fined at the rate things are going here if she continuously allows her Alolan Persian to wander around and bully other local Pokémon."
"Speaking of," Dawn said, "When it cornered Litten earlier, a wild Alolan Meowth jumped in while wearing a little dark blue cape and distracted the Alolan Persian." Gently shaking her head, Dawn went on, "It's as if the Alolan Meowth saw Kenny's Meowstic Hovernyan in action and was inspired by it, thus it decided to try to follow in its footsteps."
Trip turned to look at where Kenny was fixing up the Alolan Meowth's cape, even affixed an Everstone Brooch to the collar of the cape to help keep it in place. "How's that Alolan Meowth doing by the way, Kenny?" Trip asked.
"Oh, Darknyan here will be learning how to achieve maximum moxie under Hovernyan's guidance," Kenny explained.
"Darknyan?" Officer Jenny repeated in a confused tone.
Getting up from kneeling, Kenny said, "Yeah, I actually caught the Alolan Meowth and named it. I can tell he will fit in well with the rest of the cringe posse." The now dubbed Darknyan gave a salute as he stood on Kenny's right hand side.
Nodding once in understanding, Officer Jenny replied, "Very well. I have heard of trainers nicknaming their Pokémon." As Officer Jenny was talking, the wild Litten who had been brought with the heroes ran out of the Pokémon Center, making Ash cry out after it. The Litten ended up running off, but Ash gave chase. The Alolan Persian tried to get up, but Officer Jenny brought out a Gumshoos and said, "You're in a lot of trouble, Persain. I suggest that you stand down." The Alolan Persain, seeing that Officer Jenny was brokering no quarter, decided to concede and not push things further.
This allowed Ash to go after the wild Litten without issue.
...
Ash and Pikachu eventually followed the wild Litten to an old, abandoned house where inside, they saw Litten bring a berry it got to an old looking Stoutland that was laying on a sofa. "Ah, so that's why you've been gathering food, huh?" Ash spoke up, making the Litten jump out of surprise and turn to see Ash standing there with Pikachu. Litten immediately arched its back and wore an aggressive look on its face, but Ash held his hands up at shoulder level with the palms facing forward. "Hey now, I mean no harm," Ash replied, "I just wanted to try to understand you better."
Litten, although still on guard, relaxed a bit due to confusion over what Ash said. "...I was right with an earlier hunch," Ash said, "I was intending to catch you to try to resolve the issue of you running around, but I saw a glint in your eyes that told me that catching you won't fix the whole picture. You care about Stoutland here, huh?" Litten, although still wary, un-arched its back and relaxed a bit while giving a single nod in the affirmative. Ash, with an understanding smile, said, "Would you like it if I brought some food for you and Stoutland here tomorrow?"
Litten perked up at the offer of more food, but even so it first turned to look at Stoutland to see what it would say. Stoutland, very tiredly, gave an okay nod, showing that it approved of the idea. Litten turned to look back at Ash and meowed while giving another single nod. Ash nodded in understanding and said good-bye to Litten and Stoutland before heading off. As Ash left, Rotom Dex popped out and said, "It's nice everything turned out okay. A darn shame you couldn't catch Litten, though."
"Things need to be approached here differently, Rotom," Ash replied, "We gotta be more respectful to Pokémon."
A few days later at the school, Ash told his classmates how he eventually found Litten at the marketplace again after the old house it and Stoutland were living at were vacated by them. Ash gave Litten a berry from a bag of food he brought and Litten ran off, but not before giving Ash a nod of thanks. As the students were all talking, Sophocles's Togedemaru was rolling around and smacked into some of the other Pokémon. Two of the Pokémon that Togedemaru bumped into were Serena's Sylveon and Dawn's named Salamence Drachen, who struck Togedemaru away with Dragon Claw, sending the electric steel annoyance away and zipping near Lillie along her left side. Lillie flinched not out of fright that something whizzed past her, but because said something was a Pokémon.
Seeing what had happened, Ash turned to look at Sophocles. "Hey Sophocles, you need to keep an eye on Togedemaru and keep it from causing too much trouble," Ash said in a mildly scolding tone.
"Hey, it was Dawn's Salamence who struck Togedemaru away!" Sophocles pointed out.
"Because Togedemaru was causing mischief as per usual and getting on Drachen's nerves," Dawn retorted, "And Sylveon over there also looks peeved with Togedemaru." Turning to look, the students saw both Sylveon and Drachen look at Togedemaru with annoyed expressions. The two of them then turned to look at one another and Sylveon bumped her right front paw against Drachen's front left foot in a manner akin to a fist bump, showing that the two of them were of a like mind.
Sophocles was about to complain about people ganging up on him and Togedemaru, but was cut off when Kukui entered the classroom and said, "Alright children, let's take our seats." The students all got to their desks, with those who had Pokémon out recalling them before going to sit down. "Now kids, Principal Oak will be coming in to show us two Pokémon eggs," Kukui went on, "One of them being the one Ash brought here from his home region of Kanto, and the other being one found up on Mount Lanakila. Principal Oak originally wanted you kids to see him in his office for this, but I had to point out to him that all of you kids in there all at once would have been a rather tight squeeze."
Nodding once in understanding, Kiawe said, "Yeah, we'd be too many to fit in the principal's office all at-"
"-I'm not interrupting, am I?" Samson said as he poked into Kukui's classroom, carrying two Pokémon eggs.
"Ah, just in time, actually," Kukui said as Samson walked in. Turning to look at the students, Kukui said, "Class, Principal Oak and I decided that we'll let you pick which of the two eggs here for you all to take care of." The class was then shown the two eggs, one being the one Ash brought and the other being mostly white in design.
Holding up a hand, Serena said, "I think that we ought to take care of the white egg. It actually makes for a good match with Lillie's outfit."
"And we can have Lillie take a leading role in caring for it," Kenny went on, "Mozel tov!"
"Hey now wait," Lille began, "I-"
"-It would be good practice for you to get used to Pokémon, Lillie," Kukui interrupted, "And it's not technically a Pokémon, so you shouldn't freak out too much."
...
Eventually, it was decided that Lillie would be assigned primary responsibility in caring for the egg, to help her get over her aversion to touching Pokémon. "At least lay a hand on it," Mallow said to Lillie, "It's an egg, so it won't move."
Lillie, gulping nervously, decided to reach a hand forward, but the egg shook ever so slightly, making Lillie pull her hand back out of fright. "We're getting nowhere fast here," Kenny remarked, "Also, we can't leave the egg here overnight."
"We can have Lillie take it home with her," Lana suggested.
Lillie fidgeted a little, but relaxed and said, "I... umm... I can certainly give it a go." The rest of the class cheer as Lillie agreed to take the egg home with her. At that moment, school ended, meaning the students had to go home. Ash, with Serena and Dawn going along, offered to help see Lillie home. Dawn told Kenny and Trip she'll see them later when she was done helping out at Lillie's place, an agreement the boys agreed to. As such, Lillie took off in a limo with Ash, Serena, and Dawn.
"...She has a limo?" Kenny said, looking and sounding surprised.
...
Eventually, Ash and the girls made it to Lillie's place, which turned out to be a big fancy mansion. Outside, they were greeted by Lillie's butler Hobbes. "Umm, Pikachu will have to remain outside," Hobbes said, "Pokémon typically aren't allowed inside, they tend to frighten miss Lillie-"
"Actually, Pikachu can come inside," Lillie said, "Ash, Dawn, and Serena came with me, and Pikachu's with Ash."
"Ah, I see," Hobbes replied, "My mistake. It's just that-"
"RAHRERRAHREH!"
Hobbes was cut off when he and the others heard a loud dragonic cry from a ways away. Suddenly, they all turned and saw Rayquaza come zooming up, and eventually landed along the path up to the mansion but a good few dozen meters away. Kenny and Trip were seen getting off, Kenny recalled Rayquaza, and the two boys ran up, with Trip handing Dawn her hat she's wearing while in Alola. "You left this at the school," Trip said.
"You could of hung onto it for me until after I got back," Dawn said as she put her hat on nonetheless, "But I do appreciate the gesture."
"Also thanks for landing very far away with that big scary Pokémon," Lillie said, visibly shuddering a bit.
Shrugging, Kenny said, "Well I did get it that you aren't comfortable around Pokémon. Even I couldn't miss that. So I figured landing Shenron far enough away before getting off and recalling it would save you some fright." Seeing as how Kenny and Trip were here as well, Lillie invited them in along with Ash and the girls, all of them heading into the mansion.
...
Lillie eventually led the heroes to her room, and placed the egg on the sofa in there. Lillie then checked a book on eggs and then decided to put some cushions around the egg. "There, that ought to be good," Lillie said, "Now we don't have to-"
"Hey, is this you with a Lillipup?" Kenny said as he picked up a framed photo of Lillie holding a Lillipup, and in the photo with them were two people who the reborn trainers, thanks to their previous life knowledge, knew were Lillie's mother and brother Lusamine and Gladion. But they didn't say anything on that yet because, as far as everyone else knows, they should know that yet.
Ash took a look at the photo. "I wonder why Lillie's afraid to touch Pokémon now, especially as she had shown so such aversion in the past."
"I myself am not sure on the matter," Hobbes said, "But miss Lillie was scared to touch Pokémon one day after she got back with staying with her mother. The people in that photo with miss Lillie are her mother and brother."
Eventually, a maid came in with refreshments. As the heroes ate, Serena said, "You eventually need to get used to touching Pokémon again, Lillie. I say we try to practice on that."
"I even prepped my party earlier this morning before coming to school because I wanted to tackle the problem as well," Kenny remarked.
Lillie instantly tensed up. "You aren't going to bring out that huge scary dragon, are you?"
"Pfft, hell no," Kenny replied, "Shenron is way above your level to interact with right now! I was thinking of Lin, Jibanyan, Hovernyan, and Darknyan."
"Those are Kenny's Purrloin, Skitty, Meowstic, and Alolan Meowth respectively," Trip explained.
Clapping his hands together, Ash said, "Not a bad idea at all, Kenny! Small cute Pokémon are the way to go here!"
...
After the heroes finished their refreshments, they got to work on training Lillie to be used to working with Pokémon again, heading into another room aside from Lillie's room to do so. Kenny went first, and he called out the four cat Pokémon he had on hand. He then took time to put little accessories on them; Hovernyan and Darknyan both got cat Pokémon-sized top hats that matched the colors of their respective capes as well as one tap dancing cane each, Jibanyan got a derby hat and a little bowtie, and Lin got a little tiara and a pearl necklace, both obviously costume jewelry.
Kenny then had Lin and Jibanyan stand on their hind legs and put their front paws on one anothers' shoulders, while Hovernyan and Darknyan stood on either side of the pair; going from left to right, Lillie saw Hovernyan, Lin, Jibanyan, and Darknyan more or less side by side. Kenny then pulled out a flute and said, "Now presenting the first performance of a little routine that I like to call 'Dance of the Ridiculously Cute Critters'." Kenny then proceeded to play the flute he pulled out as all of his cat Pokémon danced around.
"Aww, that it so cute!" Serena gushed as she and the others saw Kenny lead his cat Pokémon in dancing. Even Lille had to admit it was adorable seeing a bunch of cute cat Pokémon dress up and dance around while Kenny played cute dance music on his flute. Dawn could tell full well Kenny prepared this routine in advance with the intent of helping to ease Lillie towards Pokémon as a whole. Things seemed to be going well, but everything got derailed when a maid came running into the room all of a sudden, catching everyone's attention.
"What's going on?" Hobbes asked.
"A wild Salandit wandered in and was seen going towards miss Lillie's room!" the maid said.
"The egg's been left in there!" Lillie cried out, running out before she could be stopped. The heroes all ran after Lillie, with Kenny recalling his Pokémon aside from Darknyan who he told to follow along for more field experience.
...
Inside Lillie's room, a wild Salandit spotted where the egg had been left. Smirking to itself, Salandit shook its fanny in the air as it crouched like a cat Pokémon before attempting to make a leap for the egg. However, it stopped short when Lillie ran in and, without even thinking, ran to the egg and covered it with her body. The wild Salandit gave an annoyed cry before it tried jumping at Lillie instead, figuring that it could smack Lillie away from the egg and thus get to the egg.
However, Ash called out, "Pikachu, use Thiunderbolt on the Salandit!" Salandit was then struck hard by a Thunderbolt and sent reeling, landing on the floor as small arcs of electricity danced on its body, showing it was paralyzed.
"Darknyan, run in and stand with your back to Lillie to keep Salandit from making any moves towards her!" Kenny called out, "Attack Salandit if it gets close!" The named Alolan Meowth then dashed in, his cape flowing, and took a defensive stance in front of Lillie, ready to strike Salandit with Night Slash if it gets close enough to warrant Darknyan making Salandit fall into darkness.
The wild Salandit was able to pick itself up and get onto its feet, but it couldn't move due to the paralysis. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt on Salandit again!" Ash called out, prompting Pikachu to blast the Salandit with Thunderbolt again, knocking it out in the process. Ash then took the opportunity to throw a spare poké ball at the Salandit, which went into the ball before it fell onto the carpeted floor with the slightest of bumps. The ball then shook for a bit before it made a ping sound, indicating that Ash had caught the Salandit.
Serena was about to make a remark about Ash catching the Salandit, but was cut off before she could even get one word out when Trip said, "Hey, Lillie's touching the egg right now." Indeed, Lillie was still protectively hugging the egg, and was only now beginning to relax visibly given that she got it that the danger had just passed. Ash said that he'd look into making Salandit apologize for its actions later, but for now everyone needed time to settle down.
...
The following day at school, the rest of the class was surprised to hear that Lillie had started getting over her aversion towards touching Pokémon, at least to some extent. Right now, she's only fine with touching the egg entrusted to her, plus Kenny's cat Pokémon. Also Ash's Pikachu, but only if Lillie touches Pikachu; Lillie can still freak if Pikachu touches her. Sophocles's Togedemaru gave a happy cry and rolled right up to Lillie without warning, making Lillie freak out a bit. However, Togedemaru was lifted up by a Psychic attack, then floated over to Dawn's named Latios Lincoln who was the one using Psychic.
As Lincoln gave Togedemaru a gentle shake of his head, Mallow said, "Yeah, Dawn's Latios has a point, Togedemaru. You still can't just rush Lillie."
"It's part of why Ash had his Salandit keep a respectful distance away from Lillie when he had it apologize to her for its actions prior to Ash catching it," Serena remarked.
Turning to look at Lillie, Ash said, "That actually reminds me, Lillie. Why, after you asked what gender Salandit is and I confirmed it's a girl, did you congratulate me?"
"Because male Salandit are incapable of evolving," Lillie explained, "But female Salandit can evolve into Salazzle. Salazzle are a fairly notable and strong fire type Pokémon, having one will help you out a lot on your challenge on the island trials."
"Ooh, that's some awesome luck there, Ash," Trip said, "I can only assume you intend to train your Salandit up."
"Well I train all of my Pokémon," Ash replied, "So that's kind of a given."
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND THREE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the heroes first properly meeting the wild Litten who shares a destiny with Ash, also a lot more is done to deal with that bratty Alolan Persian. Kenny also adds a new member to his rotation, an Alolan Meowth who will learn to achieve maximum moxie under Hovernyan. Then the heroes are put in charge of caring for a certain egg that shares a destiny with Lillie, and she protects said egg from a wild Salandit that Ash ends up catching here. The Salandit is also confirmed to be female, meaning Ash will be able to evolve it.
Anyway, the next chapter will (start to) tackle the island trials, seeing Ash and the reborn trainers take on their first trial. There also will be some familiar faces popping up, including one seeking a new throne and another seeking redemption. Those faces will also lend a hand in fighting off the shenanigans of Team Scorn, as well as the local threat of Team Skull when those jokers pop up. Until next time, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Lincoln (male Latios), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Kirara (female Litten), Tsukune (Palkia), Drachen (female Salamence)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Hovernyan (male Meowstic), Jibanyan (male Skitty; shiny), Cell Jr. (male Rowlet; shiny), Lin (female Purrloin), Darknyan (male Meowth; Alolan), Shenron (Rayquaza)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Fourze (male Electivire), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Suzaku (male Popplio), Deelia (Dialga), Tetsu (Xerneas)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Greninja (male), Goodra (male), Mimikyu (female; shiny), Rowlet (male), Salandit (female)