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 twenty-five: Tiki Trials Testing
Ash and the reborn trainers were in Serena's backyard, watching as she ran Braixen, Pancham, Sylveon, and Trevenent through some paces for their work in Contests in the Alola region. "Wow guys, Serena seems more fired up than ever before," Kenny remarked, "The fires of competitiveness have been lit under her, it would seem."
"Well you've gotta figure that Serena has a chance to get ahead in acquiring the four Tiki Necklaces she needs to enter the first Alola Contest Grand Festival," Trip began to explain, "Due to Ayane being exposed and the Tiki Necklaces she had earned being ruled as voided, extra contests have to be held to re-award those Tiki Necklaces. If Serena proves successful, she may potentially get both, putting her at one away from qualifying for the Grand Festival."
"I just know that Serena will do well!" Ash declared, "Especially as there's no villains in disguise now."
Dawn nodded once in understanding, but kept her expression neutral. "Bare in mind, Ash, that just because one of Serena's most notable opponents had been exposed as a member of Team Scorn thus barred from getting to compete, doesn't mean that it'll be smooth sailing for Serena. She still has some stiff competition to throw down against in Contests here in Alola." Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn went on, "I would say that May is probably Serena's most challenging opponent. Respectfully, I have to say that May is overall better that Serena due to being vastly more experienced, losing what Alola Contests she's been in thus far only due to luck not being in her favor most of the time."
Shrugging, Kenny added, "That, and a member of Team Scorn wearing a disguise came in and essentially cheated things."
Nodding once, Dawn went on, "Serena can't rest on her laurels. The practice and training she's doing now is essential if she wants to be ready for whatever may come her way in the Contests being redone."
"I heard that your and Trip's mom will be missing a few Contests because she's still recovering," Ash remarked.
"Oh yeah," Kenny said, "Mrs. B was hurt in the attack on the Melemele market square that came about due to Ayane throwing a temper tantrum."
"Which wouldn't of happened if some of the girls didn't act before thinking," Trip said, sounding and looking bitter over what had happened to Johanna, "Regardless of the fact we were able to temporarily capture Ayane and release Reshiram into the wild, the damage STILL could have been avoided. And Ayane was able to get away in part due to how much of a scene had been caused with her unplanned capture, resulting in Team Scorn easily finding out and pulling her out of trouble. If the original plan was followed, we would have caught Ayane and released her Reshiram anyway, AND it would have been done quietly and without making a show of it meaning there was far less chance of Team Scorn being in the know until we got what all info we could have gotten out of Ayane."
"...Yeah, the girls were a bit hasty in their actions," Dawn said, "But there's no use crying over it at this point. Everything's been cleaned up, so the best that we can do is put it behind us and move on."
"Move on to seeing Serena totally win it in the Contests you mean," Ash said confidently.
Dawn couldn't help but show a warm and gentle smile. It really was nice to see Ash be so supportive of Serena; Serena herself was too focused on the training she was doing to pay much mind, but Dawn bet that if Serena was hearing what Ash was saying about her, her face would light up red with embarrassment.
The following morning was the first Alola Contest being redone due to a disguised Team Scorn member having won the original. The heroes and all of their classmates this time were at the Contest Hall on Melemele Island. They were even being chaperoned by Kukui and Burnet, the latter looking really excited to get to check out an actual Pokémon Contest. "You think that you can win it, Serena?" Kukui asked.
"With what all she was doing to prep, I fail to see how she'll blow it," Kenny said, "Barring luck not being on her side."
"Luck can be a fickle mistress," the familiar voice of Bonnie called out, making the heroes turn to see Bonnie come walking up, followed by Clemont. "As for me, I find myself in a rather unlucky situation every Contest here in Alola so far," Bonnie went on, "On the one hand, I wanna cheer for Serena to win because she's a friend. But on the other hand, I wanna support May winning because she's Max's older sister and I figure Max may like it if I root for his sister."
"I'm pretty sure Max won't mind you supporting Serena over his sister," Clemont remarked.
Looking to Clemont, Kukui said, "Oh Clemont, I got it you had some trouble in a recent class you taught?"
Sighing, Kenny said, "Yeah, it's... partly my fault, Professor Kukui. Clemont was going over male anatomy during Sex Ed, and if I had the foresight to see that lesson that day coming, I wouldn't have brought Zarbon to class with me. He came out of his Poké Ball the moment Clemont's lesson began to cover the male... manhood."
"Kenny's Machamp was kind of a distraction, yes," Clemont admitted. Looking to Serena, Clemont said, "Well anyway Serena, I hope you do your best."
Serena nodded in confident agreement, feeling ready to do her best in the Contest that was about to be taking place. "Don't worry, Ash. By the time the Contest today is over, I'll be walking out of here with my second Tiki Necklace!"
"You mean to say that I will be walking out with MY FIRST Tiki Necklace," the familiar voice of May called out, making everyone turn to see May walk up, followed by Max who Bonnie immediately went up to.
Seeing Serena and May exchange challenging looks, Kenny said, "Oh ho ho, things are looking to get heated today! Taking all bets! Taking all bets here!"
The first redone Contest got well underway, after all of the Coordinators were thoroughly checked to ensure none of them were wearing any disguises of any kind. Although Lila was able to fulfill her role as master of ceremonies, Johanna's role as one of the three judges was filled by the local Officer Jenny; the local Nurse Joy and Hala (the redone Contest was taking place on Melemele Island) were still able to do their roles just fine. After Lila had given her usual bit at the beginning, the Contest was kicked off with a showy bang.
The appeals round went by in a blur, and to the relief of the heroes and their classmates, Serena made it past the appeals round. May did as well, along with Shauna who Kenny admitted he had forgotten about until the point he and the others saw Shauna get on stage to do her appeal. Regardless, the three notable Coordinatiors who the heroes and their classmates cared about had all made it past the initial hurdle in the redone Contest. However, the next hurdle, that being the battle round, came up next, and that was where things will be tested.
Especially given that the first battle of the battle round would be seeing Serena face off against May. All of Serena's training the previous night was going to be put to the test here, and she had to hope that luck was going to be on her side here.
...
Serena and May stood opposite of one another on the battlefield stage, and when Lila called for the battle to begin, both girls sent their Pokémon out at the exact same time. "Go, Trevenant!" Serena called out, sending out her Trevenant.
"Go, Glaceon!" May said, sending out her Glaceon. Immediately May had lost some points, but that was only because Serena had sent out a shiny Pokémon while May did not. Although Serena did gain an early lead, the heroes and their classmates worried that it was a lead that Serena will be able to hold onto for very long due to May having the type advantage with her ice type Glaceon against Serena's grass type Trevenant.
But Serena would not be discouraged. "Trevenent, use Drain Punch!" Serena called out.
"Glaceon, use Ice Shard!" May commanded.
The two Pokémon threw out their attacks, but Glaceon had the advantage of distance and using a priority move, scoring a quick and easy hit on Trevenant that shaved some points off of what Serena had. But Trevenant wasn't hit by ALL of the shards of ice; spinning around, it shattered the remaining shards of ice with Drain Punch in a sparkling display that shaved some points away from May's total. Right now, Serena still had the point lead, but May's call for Ice Shard had helped to even the gap, even with Serena shaving off some of her (May's) points.
As Trevenant was finishing up spinning, May saw that it wouldn't quite stop in time to avoid another attack. "Glaceon," May said, "Use Ice Beam! Aim for the floor on the stage under Trevenant's feet!" Glaceon did as May commanded, and the Ice Beam it cast created a sheeto f ice on the stage that Trevenant, still spinning, ended up slipping and falling over on. The blunder there had cost Serena a good chunk of points. "Now use Shadow Ball!" May called out.
"Trevenant, counter with Shadow Claw!" Serena called out. Trevenant had Shadow Claw ready to strike, but it couldn't get up due to constantly slipping on the ice, and that slipping cost Serena a few more points. As such, Trevenant got hit by Glaceon's Shadow Ball, costing Serena even more points. Eventually, however, Trevenant was able to get up, but only because the force of Shadow Ball hitting it shattered some of the ice, allowing Trevenant a solid enough footing to get up. "Trevenant, use Drain Punch!" Serena called out.
"Glaceon, use Ice Beam!" May commanded. Due to the distance, as well as there still being some ice sheet on the floor, Trevenant wasn't able to get to Glaceon quickly, allowing Glaceon to strike Trevenant with Ice Beam and make it stumble back, costing Serena even more points. "Now use Ice Shard!" May called out. Glaceon cast its Ice Shard attack that flew at and struck Trevenant, dealing enough damage to actually knock it out.
"Trevenant is unable to battle!" Lila announced, "The winner is Glaceon! May advances to the second stage of the battle round!" The audience cheered excitedly as May was declared the winner, and although May was ecstatic to win, Serena was crushed to have lost. She wasn't even able to land a hit on May's Glaceon, regardless of all of the praqcticing and training she did up to this point.
Luck simply wasn't on her side this time.
...
May eventually ended up winning the first redone Contest, besting Shauna in the final round. This meant that May had earned her first Tiki Necklace, putting her in even pace with Serena who already had a Tiki Necklace. Despite the fact that she did earn a Tiki Necklace before May, Serena was still crushed to have lost to May. But then again, it's only natural for her to feel crushed. She was blocked yet again on her goal of earning what all she needed to qualify for the Alola Contest Grand Festival.
But there would still be plenty of Contests, and there was also the second Contest that had to be redone. Serena was determined to not lose there, especially as winning the second redone Contest means she'll be at two Tiki Necklaces, putting her at the halfway mark to qualify for the Alola Constest Grand Festival. She resolved to work harder than ever in order to get to the point where she will win and get what she needed to earn the right to compete to become Alola's first Contest Kahuna.
...Little did she know that her meeting a new friend who was going to help her was going to happen just around the corner.
"Well what did you expect?" Mallow said to Serena one day while the heroes and their classmates were at trainer school, "Not only does May admittedly have a lot more experience than you when it comes to Contests, she had the type advantage in the battle you guys had!"
"It also didn't help Serena that all of Trevenant's attacks are physical moves that require the user to get in close to hit the target," Sophocles pointed out, "While May's Glaceon had the advantage of being able to keep Trevenant at bay with ranged attacks."
Serena, although feeling bummed over how her classmates were grilling her over her loss, saw that they had a point. "...So my Pokémon that can attack from a distance would be a better bet against May, you say."
"That leaves Braixen and Sylveon as dedicated special attackers," Trip said, "That said, you may wanna look into expanding your team a bit. Even though you have been a trainer for a while, you still have only a total of four Pokémon. You can carry up to six on your team, you know."
Clapping her hands together, Mallow said, "The forests behind the school! We can take Serena out there after school today and find her a fifth Pokémon to catch!"
"Sounds like a plan," Ash remarked, "And Trip has a point on how Serena can carry up to six Pokémon." Turning to look at Serena, Ash added, "I say that you ought to take Trip's advice and get at least two more Pokémon so that you'll have a full team. The new Pokémon can also throw your opponents in Contests for a loop."
Hearing the way Ash put the idea of her getting more Pokémon gave Serena the confidence to give it a try. "Alright, I'll look into getting more Pokémon. I just hope they're up for taking part in Contests."
...
Later that day during lunch, the heroes and their classmates had lunch near a fenced in area with a shed in it, and there was tall grass growing within the fenced in area. The heroes and their classmates didn't go inside, they just sat outside of it. The reason they chose that area was because they saw that Clemont was talking to Kukui and Bonnie asked Kukui for advice Clemont can use to find a wife as Kukui himself was able to get a wife. The heroes and their classmates wisely decided to have their lunch outside and far away from the teachers until Clemont settled down.
"What's Bonnie even doing here?" Mallow asked, "Doesn't Lana's mom watch her along with Kenny's little sister during this time of day?"
"My mom can't do babysitting duty today due to an injury," Lana explained, "Heck, she even had to find a sitter for Harper and Sarah."
As Serena set something she was eating aside so she could pull out a thing of Poké Puffs she made, Ash who saw this said, "Oh, you brought some of your Poké Puffs to lunch, Serena."
"Well our Pokémon may be hungry as well," Serena said as she picked out a Poké Puff and moved to offer it to Ash's Pikachu. However, she stopped short when she heard some rustling from the grass nearby, making her and everyone else turn to see the grass in the fenced in area shaking, meaning something was about to come out of the grass. The heroes and their classmates readied themselves in case it was a hostile wild Pokémon, and even Pikachu looked ready to fling a Thunderbolt right at the threat.
...Except it wasn't a threat, it was just a curious and friendly wild Zorua who, to the amazement of the heroes and their classmates, was a shiny. The wild shiny Zorua, eyeing the treat Serena had in her hand, bounded right up to Serena before trying to reach for it. "Dudes, a random wild shiny Zoura just ran right up to Serena during lunch," Kenny said, "Mayhaps this be the point where Serena's bad luck from yesterday turns around!"
Serena, amazed that a wild shiny Zorua had pretty much just bounded up to her, gently handed it the Poké Puff she was holding, eliciting a happy cry from it as it gobbled the treat up. After finishing, Zorua leapt into Serena's lap and then reached its head forward to sniff at Serena's hand that fed it the Poké Puff. Serena, smiling gently after getting over the shock of how she had just befriended a shiny Pokémon, got out another Poké Puff and fed it to Zoura, who happily ate it as well. Zorua ate a few more Poké Puffs before it indicated it was full.
"...Say, Zorua," Serena began, "How would you be interested in me making sure you're kept fed regularly? You won't have to worry about food ever aga-" Serena was unable to finish as the Zorua hopped up and down while excitedly crying out at Serena. Seeing that Zorua was agreeing to come along with her, Serena took out a spare Poké Ball and used it to capture the shiny Zorua. "Alright," Serena said, "I caught a Zorua!"
"And it's a shiny too," Kenny said, "That ought to up your appeal factor in the Contests here in Alola."
Mallow smirked a bit in amusement. "And it's a cute Pokémon overall, so that ought to help it with appeals."
"Although given the power creep that's happening in Contests right now, you ought to look into training Zorua to evolve into Zoroark," Dawn pointed out, "Additionally, as you caught Zorua, you now have a dark type Pokémon in your party, meaning you're capable of evolving Pancham into Pangoro."
Serena nodded in agreement with what the girls were saying. "Yeah, Zorua is cute and can help me with appeals. But Dawn also has a point on how a lot of my usual rivals in Contests here in Alola are strong, both when appealing and when battling. I really ought to look into training as soon as I can."
"But that can wait until after school," Trip said, "And be careful to not train TOO much. You wouldn't wanna be pushing your Pokémon too far now."
Serena nodded in agreement. "It's part of why I always ask Ash to supervise when I train with my Pokémon. He can tell when a Pokémon is being pushed more than it ought to be, which is useful as I can get so caught up in training I neglect to pay attention to how my Pokémon is doing."
The reborn trainers all nodded in agreement, glad to see that Serena had taken measures to ensure she doesn't lose sight of herself. The heroes and their classmates were then able to enjoy the rest of lunch, where Mallow, Lana, and Lillie all asked to see Serena's new Zorua because of how plum=picking adorable it is. Dawn allowed the girls to have their moment, and Kenny seeing how the girls were fawning over Serena's Zorua not only gave him the idea of having Serena use her Zoura as the cutesy Pokémon her character in the movie he was planning would have, but Kenny would later find himself plotting the movie around Serena and Zorua.
That night, the reborn trainers and Ash saw Serena train with her Pokémon in her backyard, focusing a bit on the new Zorua. "In addition to Zorua being a shiny," Dawn said, "It also has the Illusion ability, which makes it come out into battle disguised as the last Pokémon in Serena's party in terms of placement. If she works it properly, Serena not only can do a dramatic reveal during battles that the Pokémon she had out was a Zorua in disguise with Illusion, but do so in a way to better show off how it's a shiny."
Nodding in agreement, Kenny said, "That sounds like a move that can cost Serena's opponents some points."
"Serena may also be able to trick an opponent into using sub-optimal moves on her Zorua," Trip said, "Maybe even send Zorua out while disguised as Pancham, in order to trick an opponent into calling for a psychic type attack that will be foiled."
Dawn turned to look at Trip, gave him an amused look. "A Coordinator's call during a Contest's battle round failing like that could cost them points. Serena may be able to do some serious damage if she gets lucky."
Turning to look where Serena was training, Kenny asked, "But will Serena's luck she's got going right now hold? Or did the burst she got earlier today die out due to getting a shiny Pokémon?"
"There's no way Serena will give up," Ash said, a confident and assured smile on his face, "She'll keep on going until she gets what all she needs to reach the top!"
Dawn turned to look at Ash, gave him a wry look. "No wonder you're such a magnetic person, Ash. You always believe in the best in others, you always believe that they will accomplish the dreams that they set themselves to."
Ash was about to speak up, but he as well as Serena and the reborn trainers were all surprised when Burnet hopped over the fence into the backyard. Grace must have seen this from the kitchen as she opened the sliding glass door that led into the backyard. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Grace demanded at Burnet, "And while we're on the subject, who even are you?"
"Mom, this is Professor Burnet, remember?" Serena said, "You were at the wedding where Professor Burnet married Professor Kukui."
Calming down, Grace looked at Burnet and said, "...Oh yeah. Sorry, but you just trespassed into my backyard. You couldn't have knocked on the front door?"
"It's an emergency," Burnet said, a grim hint in both her expression and tone, "An emergency that the Ultra Guardians are being assembled for."
"We got another mission coming up?" Kenny asked, sounding surprised.
...
At the Ultra Guardian base, the Ultra Guardians (aside from Mallow, Lana, and Lillie who all were still on probation) were in their uniforms and all looking up at the monitor where Lusamine could be seen. "What's the sitch, Zordon?" Kenny asked.
Lusamine, with a troubled, guilty look on her face, said, "...It would appear that I didn't clearly think things through when I had decided to let Faba go from the Aether Foundation."
"...He's doing something for revenge now, isn't he," Dawn said, the way she sounded making it seem more like she was stating the obvious rather than ask a question.
Lusamine nodded once in the affirmative. "Yes. I'm...not quite sure how to put this delicately, so I figure that I might as well rip the bandage off as it were and-"
"Faba joined Team Scorn," Kenny interrupted, "Didn't he?"
The rest of the Ultra Rangers who were present all looked surprised by Kenny's random guess, and were further shocked when Lusamine nodded in confirmation. "To make matters worse," Lusamine went on, "Literally five minutes before I got word that Faba had thrown his hat in with Team Scorn, I had found evidence that makes it clear Faba was actually telling the truth when it came to the Team Scorn members he brought into Aether Foundation. He honestly had no idea who they really were, and was just as surprised by the revelation of their true allegiance as I was."
Folding his arms over his chest, Kiawe said, "But it's too late now. By siding with Team Scorn, Faba's now just as guilty as they are."
"A guilt he never would have to bear had it not been for my hastiness," Lusamine went on, "And now because of my refusal to believe in Faba being ignorant as to what had been going on, I had driven him into siding with Team Scorn, who I got Faba said they owed him to an extent."
"Faba..." Ash said, sounding mildly surprised, "...Said that Team Scorn owed him."
Shrugging, Kenny said, "Must be due to how their trickery led to him getting fired from Aether Foundation. Regardless, Faba must have a very serious pair of big ones if he willingly said that he was owed by Team Scorn."
Gesturing to Lusamine on the monitor, Trip asked, "So our mission is to find him?"
"It shouldn't be too hard," Lusamine said, "As he was seen heading in the direction of Wela Volcano Park with a dozen Team Scorn members, including the officer who had been identified as Captain Bulat and his Captain's Assistant Yomi. " Dawn and Kenny, both still remembering the first time they met Bulat back in Johto, couldn't help but grimace at the reminder that someone like Bulat had been driven to villainy solely because he was trying to do his job.
"Is there anything else we ought to keep in mind?" Sophocles asked.
Nodding once, Lusamine said, "Yes. An Aether Foundation warehouse was raided by members of Team Scorn. It was only a minor raid with only a few Team Scorn members involved, but they made off with several Beast Balls. I fear that Team Scorn may put two and two together and get it that they have to use Beast Balls to catch Ultra Beasts. They're practically guaranteed to know now that Faba's on their side, especially since I've been able to confirm that Faba stole an extra of the machine Burnet has that can be used to reopen Ultra Wormholes in order to send Ultra Beasts back home.""
"...Faba and his entourage are gonna try and open an Ultra Wormhole at Wela Volcano Park to summon an Ultra Beast to catch," Dawn said as the realization kicked in.
"I figured that as well," Lusamine said, "Anyway, you haven't a moment to lose, Ultra Guardians! Go, and stop Faba from falling too far down!" The Ultra Guardians all saluted Lusamine before they took off on their latest mission.
...
Over at Wela Volcano Park, Faba was standing by with Bulat and Yomi as they saw the Ultra Wormhole machine work its magic while the nameless grunts all stood around in a circle in anticipation. "So this is how those Ultra Beast things come into our world, huh?" Bulat said.
Faba nodded once in confirmation. "Indeed, Captain Bulat. There's a good spike of Ultra Aura here, it's perfect for using the machine here to open an Ultra Wromhole and capture whatever Ultra Beasts come out."
"H-Hopefully it's only one," Yomi said nervously, "Aside from the fact we're dealing with a Pokémon-like creature from another world, we only have the one Beast Ball as our storehouse we had them at for safety was raided, and all but one Beast Ball was taken."
Fab scowled bitterly. "Yes, I heard of that. Supposedly it was a buffoon of a Team Scorn Officer known as Captain Zed who was supervising the guards there, and Zed and the guards failed to stop a lone trainer from storming the place. Granted, we later got word that said trainer was-"
*WRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR*
Faba was cut off when the Ultra Wormhole machine activated, creating an Ultra Wormhole. Emerging from the Ultra Wormhole was a lone Nihilego. Seeing that nothing more was coming out from the Ultra Wormhole, as well as how they really only had the one Beast Ball, they could only manage the one Ultra Beast. As such, as soon as the Nihilego was out, Faba had a grunt cut the power, turning the Ultra Wormhole machine off before more could come out.
The Nihilego fidgeted as if scared, as it could tell it was surrounded. Not helping matters was how Bulat sent his Aggron out to smash right into the Nihilego, sending it reeling as it cried out in pain. "Inter-dimensional alien or not, it's still a Pokémon," Bulat said, "And you gotta weaken Pokémon first if you want as good of a shot to nab them as possible!" Gesturing forward, Bulat called out, "Aggron, use Iron Head!" The mighty Aggron let out a roar as it charged right at Nihilego, who was still swaying from the last hit that it took. It seemed that Team Scorn, with assistance from Faba, was about to succeed in getting an Ultra Beast. But...
"Schwarz, Fusion Bolt!"
It looked as if a large sphere of electricity dropped down from the blue to strike Bulat's Aggron, pushing it back and even hitting it hard enough to knock it out. The electricity faded, and everyone looked up and saw that the legendary Pokémon Zekrom had shown up and struck Aggron down, saving Nihilego in the process. As the black dragon roared at the villains, Ideku Badorigo came flying in on the back of his Dragonite Dragoran.
Pointing up at Ideku, Faba said, "You! You're the lone trainer who raided that Team Scorn warehouse and stole most of our Beast Balls!"
Ideku gave an indifferent glare at Faba. "I got the gist of what Beast Balls are for and what Ultra Beasts are," Ideku said, "It pays to be friends with the strike team sponsored by the Aether Foundation to combat Ultra Beasts. No way in hell can those of evil intent like Team Scorn be allowed to get their hands on the Ultra Beasts!" The Team Scorn grunts tried fighting back, but all of their Pokémon were struck down by Schwarz who used Slash while spinning in place, striking many enemy Pokémon in its spinning. However, Schwarz did accidentally wreck the Ultra Wormhole machine Faba had brought along.
The grunts were all defeated and had to fall back, and although Bulat, Yomi, and Faba tried fighting back, they stood no chance as Ideku already had his named Zekrom out. He also landed Dragoran and had it fight at Schwarz's side, and Ideku even sent Cupidos out; Ideku WAS technically facing a triple battle, after all. Team Scorn had proven easy for Ideku to mop the floor with, and with no other option, the villainous team members were all forced to flee. "Good luck sending Nihilego back to its home world with the Ultra Wormhole machine wrecked!" Faba taunted as he and the others all fled.
Ideku could have stopped at least one Team Scorn member from fleeing, but having to handle Nihilego came first. "...I'm not sure if you can understand what I say," Ideku said to Nihilego, "But I mean no harm to you. Please, allow me to handle taking care of you. I'm not sure if I can get you back to your home, but I will try and, if I fail at that, do my best to give you a new home here in this world."
Nihilego looked at Ideku, if a creature with no eyes WAS capable of looking, and made cooing noises that suggested that it was in agreement with Ideku. Nodding once, the roaming trainer from Johto took out one of the Beast Balls he plundered from the Team Scorn warehouse he raided, expanded it, and threw it at Nihilego. The Beast Ball flew at Nihilego, bumped into it, took it inside, then fell to the ground with a light clink, before it shook for a bit before making a ping sound, indicating that Ideku had caught the Ultra Beast.
Ideku walked over to pick up the Beast Ball that held his newly caught Ultra Beast, picked it up, sent one of his on hand Pokémon to storage so he could add Nihilego to his party right away while saying, "I need to look into this matter more." He then recalled Schwarz and Cupidos, but hopped onto Dragonran's back, took up into the air, and flew off. Due to how quickly he was able to get out of there, Ideku was never seen by the Ultra Guardians when they showed up, as all they found was the sight of a battle that had taken place and the remains of a ruined Ultra Wormhole machine.
..But Dawn did see footprints that told her that Ideku was here, by virtue of said footprints coming from Ideku's named Zekrom.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIVE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the first of the redone Contests and, although she puts up a great effort, Serena is ultimately beaten by May who goes on to win. However, there are signs that Serena's luck is on the upturn as she befriends and captures a shiny Zorua, who Dawn states multiple ways for how it can help Serena's Contest career in the Alola region. But practice with Zorua that night is interrupted when the Ultra Guardians are called in and not only learn Faba had defected to Team Scorn, but he's going to be helping them summon an Ultra Beast into Alola.
Which he does and as such he, Bulat, Yomi, and about a dozen grunts see it as a Nihilego is summoned into their world through an Ultra Wormhole opened up by Faba using an Ultra Wormhole machine not unlike what Burnet uses to help send Ultra Beasts caught by the heroes back home. However, Ideku who is also fighting against Team Scorn shows up, drives Team Scorn and Faba out, and ends up capturing the summoned Nihilego with a Beast Ball he got from raiding a Team Scorn warehouse. He then leaves before the heroes even saw him, but Dawn saw signs that he was there.
Anyway, the next chapter will see the second redone Contest, where Serena will be putting her new Pokémon to the test. Serena will also be seeing her sixth capture of a Pokémon she'll be keeping in her team, and the heroes will learn of Ideku's exploits against Team Scorn. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Wyrmscale (Poipole), Lincoln (male Latios), Tambourine (female Kommo-o; Totem), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Badeeyaa (Xurkitree), Delerious (male Mimikyu; Totem), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Elay (male Sandslash; shiny), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Space Kitta (Celesteela), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; Totem), Foruze (male Electivire), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Greninja (male), Torracat (male), Dartrix (male), Lycanroc (male; Dusk), Poipole (gender unknown)