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 thirty: No seriously, what the hell is up with Hapu's eyebrows?
The heroes and their classmates all gathered at the Ruins of Hope to watch Hapu's inauguration ceremony to be made the Kahuna of Poni Island. Even Gladion was there, and saw it with Lillie as Kiawe wrestled Rotom Dex into submission for disturbing the ceremony by taking a lot of photos. Hapu, wearing a special blue dress, knelt before the altar at the Ruins of Hope to pray to Tapu Fini before she begun to twirl around in dance for it. As the heroes and everyone else watched Hapu's dancing, they were surprised when Tapu Fini itself emerged from the waters.
Hapu removed her Z-Ring and pledged how she would look after Poni Island, to which Tapu Fini sprinkled Hapu's Z-Ring with a light spray of water with a mystical vibe to it. Several spouts of water erupted nearby, signaling that Hapu had officially been sworn in as the Kahuna of Pomni Island. Tapu Fini, crying out in a tone of wishing good luck, took off after the ceremony was finished. With everything settled, Hapu, now officially Poni Island's Kahuna, turned to look at the heroes and the others who had gathered to witness her inauguration ceremony.
"I will need time to change into an outfit more suited to the rough business of battling other trainers," Hapu said, "But after that I can take on Grand Trial challenges."
"Fair enough," Ash replied, him and the reborn trainers all excited at the prospect of getting to battle Hapu so soon after she had been made Kahuna.
...
After Hapu was ready, she walked everyone over to Poni Breaker Coast where an ancient battlefield began emerging from the low tide. "The battles will be here, when the battlefield is open after the tide pulls back enough," Hapu said, "Battles with me will be one on one affairs, meaning I can take on two challengers by using Mudsdale and then Golurk. That ought to speed up the process of you guys clearing your business here."
"That's fair," Trip remarked. It was agreed that Hapu will first battle Ash, then regardless of that battle's outcome Hapu will next take a challenge from Trip. Then the next day Hapu will take a challenge from Kenny, and after that Hapu will take Dawn's challenge. After Dawn's go Hapu will proceed to take rematches if any of the four heroes fail the first time around, although Kenny boasted that he was confident he, Trip, Dawn, and Ash will all pass on their respective first tries each.
Hapu took off on her Golurk, saying she'll be back by nightfall for the Grand Trial battles. In that time, the heroes and their peers played around on the beach. In that time, Ash and the reborn trainers got in some extra training, especially Dawn as she was wanting to work on training Shouta, her recently caught Shaymin. Despite how it is a mythical Pokémon and it had a type advantage against Hapu's ground types, Dawn by no means was planning to use the named Shaymin in battle against Hapu; Dawn had other plans for that.
Eventually, when night had at last fallen, Hapu returned to battle Ash first in a Grand Trial battle. Ash, same as he did in the anime in Dawn's previous life, beat Hapu in the Grand Trial on his first go, although here Ash used his Greninja rather than Pikachu. Ash used a strategy that saw Greninja go into its Ash-Greninja form, use Double Team, then it and its doppelgangers all spammed Water Shuriken, overwhelming Hapu's Mudsdale with sheer force and numbers. After Ash won, Hapu offered him his choice of Z Crystals, and Ash let Pikachu pick a Steelium Z.
After that, Hapu used her Golurk in a Grand Trial battle against Trip, who used his named Abomasnow Veda. Veda was able to land many super effective hits on Hapu's Golurk, made even stronger as Trip decided to Mega Evolve Veda into Mega Abomasnow for the battle. Within short order, Hapu's Golurk went down, and after Trip was declared the winner, he was given his choice of Z Crystals same as Ash. Citing a want to try out the Z Move that Hapu was seen using in the Grand Trial battles against himself and Ash, Trip ended up picking a Groundium Z.
The next night, Hapu had her Grand Trial battles against Kenny and Dawn. Hapu, using her Mudsdale, first went up against Kenny who decided to use his named Torterra Roshi. The two heavy hitting ground types had a bit of a back and forth, but Roshi with his type advantage due to being a partial grass type as well ended up winning the battle for Kenny. After Kenny had won, he got his pick of Z Crystals, same as Ash and Trip. Kenny ended up finding a Mimikium Z in the chest of Z Crystals that Hapu had, making Hapu remember that she had that.
"Ohh hoo hoo hoo, Delirious is gonna have fun with this one," Kenny chuckled in an amused tone.
After that was Hapu's battle against Dawn, who chose to use her Roserade Akiza against Hapu's Golurk. The named Roserade's use of Giga Drain and Shadow Ball soon brought Golurk down, and what little damage Golurk was able to inflict was healed due to the use of Giga Drain. Dawn ended up easily winning against Hapu, who gave Dawn her choice of Z Crystals from the chest. Dawn ended up picking a Dragonium Z, given that she had acquired a number of quality dragon Pokémon ever since she had gotten to the Alola region.
With Ash and the reborn trainers having completed their time on Poni Island, Kukui arrived by boat the next day to pick everyone up, where Nurse Joy told Kukui that they all completed their assignments. As Kukui was getting everyone on the boat, Hapu arrived on her Golurk and gave the heroes some of her homegrown radishes. She also said that she needs to prep for a Grand Trial challenge she got before she came to the port to see the heroes off; the heroes and their classmates were all a bit on the surprised side to hear that Hapu's latest challenger for a Grand Trial battle was Ideku Badorigo, the roaming trainer from Johto.
As the heroes wished luck to Hapu as she took off, the boat took off as everyone was on it. As the boat sailed back to Melemele Island, unbeknownst to everyone else on the boat, several Meltan had snuck aboard and hid in the ship's cargo hold area.
The next day at trainer school on Melemele Island, Kukui said that the class would be working on building electrical appliances, with a focus on a Pokémon training machine that Sophocles had designed. Kukui had to step out for a bit, but luckily for him he was able to get Clemont to watch the class for him; new school policy stated that students in class couldn't be left without teacher supervision. Given that it was Clemont, who was already a skilled inventor of (various) success, the making of the device Sophocle had designed went even more smoothly.
When Sophocles asked Ash to bring him a ring spanner, Ash came back with the ring spanner, saying Clemont helped him identify it, but the ring spanner was in the process of being eaten by a Meltan; Ash was actually carrying the Meltan who held the ring spanner as it ate the tool. "Umm... the ring spanner ended up being lunch for this one here," Ash said, a hint of dryness in his tone, as he showed the Meltan to everyone.
"Is... is that a Pokémon?" Sophocles asked as he and the others watched the Meltan eat the tool.
Rotom Dex, as it floated above the scene, scanned Meltan and searched its data banks. "...It's unidentified," Rotom Dex said, "That said, I daresay it may be a newly discovered species of Pokémon."
"Nonsense!" Clemont said, "I'm sure we can identify what Pokémon this is!" Clemont then brought out an invention of his, one that looked to be made primarily of solid metal parts. "With this latest addition to the Celmontic Gear showcase," Clemont said, "The Identify-inator, we shall be able to identify this Pokémon! The future is now, thanks to sci-" Clemont was cut off when the Meltan Ash held jumped out of Ash's hands and made its way right to Clemont's device, followed by a bunch more Meltans that jumped out of Sophocles's toolbox.
The class watched as the Meltans all swarmed onto the device Clemont brought out to identify Meltan with, and within moments the device seemingly melted away as the Meltans ate it. Even Kenny's named Tyranitar Godzilla, who Kenny had out in case Clemont's device showed signs it was going to blow up, looked a bit surprised to see the device simply eaten, leaving not even one flake of metal. "Whelp, there goes that machine," Kenny said in a casual tone.
"My Identify-inator!" Clemont cried out.
"My tools!" Sophocles said as he looked into his toolbox and saw that all of his tools had been eaten, at least all of the parts that were metal. Turning to look at the Meltans, Sophocles said, "Why I oughta-"
*RING* *RING* *RING*
The school bell rang, but not to alert the heroes to an Ultra Guardian emergency. Regardless, the ringing made the Meltans all dizzy, and drove them all to flee school grounds. "...So they just ate lunch and then left?" Kiawe asked.
"I got a bunch of snapshots of them, as well as a few video clips of them in action," Rotom Dex said, "Maybe if we send the goods there to Professor Oak in Kanto, he can research those mysterious Pokémon and find out more."
Ash nodded once in agreement with Rotom Dex. "Sounds to be as solid of a plan as any that I have ever heard. I say go for it."
...
The next day at trainer school, the heroes and their classmates were gathered in class. "So Ash, any word from Professor Oak?" Dawn asked.
Nodding once, Ash said, "According to Professor Oak, the Pokémon is actually a newly discovered species never before recorded or documented. He determined that it's a pure steel type, and he has named the species Meltan."
"Well alright," Sophocles said, "Let's see if we can find one of those Meltans!"
Trip gave Sophocles a rather curious look. "For a guy who sounded pretty vengeful yesterday, you seem to sound like you're forgiven the Meltans for eating your tools yesterday."
"This is a brand new never before discovered species of Pokémon," Sophocles said, "Just think of how much further we can push research into this new species if we had an actual member of the species for stu-"
Sophocles was cut off when he and the others heard the noise of something falling over with a light flump. Looking around, the heroes and their classmates saw that Ash's bag was what had fallen over. Furthermore, it was unzipped, and the students saw that something was moving from inside of Ash's bag. However, to everyone's relief as well as surprise, it was simply one of the wild Meltans. Ash walked over, gently picked the Meltan up, and carried it over to where the rest of the students in class were gathered.
"It... it was just hiding in your bag," Kenny said, his expression a bit dry.
"Well Professor Kukui did say something about how some pots and pans Professor Burnet had out earlier this morning looked to have been eaten through," Ash said, then added while gesturing to the Meltan he held, "I bet this one right here in the culprit."
As the students all looked at it, Meltan got a bit scared, then it jump down, patted a Poké Ball Ash had on hand to call out one of his Pokémon, this ended up being Ash's Dartrix, and then Meltan proceeded to hide behind Dartrix. Dartrix, after seeing Meltan, turned to look at the humans and said something in Pokémon-talk. "According to Dartrix," Rotom Dex began, "Meltan apparently sees it as a sort of protector after developing some manner of friendship with it. Meltan is scared, so it brought Dartix out to protect it."
"Heh, sorry about scaring you, Meltan," Ash said, "I guess all of us crowding around made you nervous." Dartrix then said something else to Meltan in Pokémon-talk, and after that Meltan looked up to Ash and cried out at him.
"Dartrix has convinced Meltan that Ash is a good person, and now Meltan wishes to join Ash's team," Rotom Dex translated.
"Well alright," Ash said, right before he proceeded to use a Poké Ball to capture Meltan. As Ash did a victory pose with the ball containing his new Meltan, Clefable came up from the Ultra Guardian base, followed by a bunch of the other Meltans from yesterday. The classmates saw that Clefable had apparently tamed the Meltans, even got them to perform several acrobatic tricks. This amazed the heroes and their classmates, although it was more due to how there was now steady access to subjects to study for new info on the newly discovered Meltan species.
Some time later, an Ultra Wormhole opened above a forest, and a Pheromosa came out of it but it ran off into a forest. Meanwhile, Hala was working on his Z Ring when he was met up by the Pheromosa. It swiftly defeated Hala's Hariyama and Hala himself, before just waltzing right into Hala's home, grabbing his Fightinium Z, before it rushed out and ran off.
...
The heroes and their peers were soon summoned to the Ultra Guardian base. All of them were here, including Mallow, Lana, and Lillie who just came off of probation. "So what's the sitch this time, Zordon?" Kenny asked as he and the others looked up to the big monitor screen that Lusamine was on.
"We have new readings on an Ultra Beast that has just appeared," Lusamine said as she showed an image of Pheromosa, "This Ultra Beast, which we have dubbed as Pheromosa, has been targeting trainers who have Z Crystals. It's actually stealing the Z Crystals, but we have no idea why. Regardless, it's up to you kids to stop this latest crisis before it gets out of hand."
As the heroes all agreed to do their job, the Meltans living at the base carried over their kits for the mission, handing them over to the heroes. Clefable gave the Meltans some metal bolts as the heroes took off on their ride Pokémon.
...
As the heroes flew around on the lookout for Pheromosa, they heard some alarmed cries sound out. Looking down, the heroes saw a display on the beach where some persons with Z Rings were showing Z Moves to a group of gathered students. Dawn recognized the students as the students from the field trip from Blackthorn City Academy, and apparently some of them were fighting Pheremosa in between the Ultra Beast snatching Z Crystals from the guys with the Z Rings.
"Ah hell," Trip swore under his breath, "Ideku's brother Katsuku and the other Blackthorn City Academy students got caught up in fighting Pheremosa."
As the Ultra Guardians landed, they saw Justin's Scizor rush at Pheremosa with Bullet Punch, but Pheremosa with its blinding speed dodged it and was able to kick Scizor away before snatching another Z Crystal. Another female student tried having her Froslass cast Ice Beam at Pheremosa, but Pheromosa dodged that attack as well. It then tried kicking Froslass, but it saw the kick had no effect on Froslass, and barely had time to dodge another Ice Beam from Froslass. That error on Pheromosa's part cost it a chance to immediately snatch yet another Z Crystal.
As the students from Blackthorn City Academy struggled with Pheromosa, Dawn sent out her own Ultra Beast. "Wyrmscale," Dawn said, "Use Sludge Wave! Spray it over the entire general area that Pheromosa is in!" The named Naganadel did as told, and cast its Sludge Wave attack to flood the area with sludge. The brunt of the attack itself didn't hit Pheromosa who looked confused at the attack as it was not even aimed at it. Pushing that thought aside, it made an immediate lunge at the guys with the Z Ring to snatch even more Z Crystals.
However, Pheromosa soon discovered why Naganadel wasn't aiming at it directly; by covering the entire area in sludge, it made the area slick and easy to slip on. As a result, Pheromosa ended up slipping and falling backwards onto its butt, landing hard with a slight splash of sludge. Pheromosa tried getting up, but it kept slipping in the sludge that Naganadel had cast. As Pheromosa was helplessly slipping around, Dawn called out, "Wyrmscale, hit Pheromosa with Flamethrower!"
"Poipole!" Ash said as he called his Poipole out, "Back up Dawn's Naganadel by hitting Pheromosa with Dragon Pulse!"
The twin attacks of Flamethrower and Dragon Pulse both hit Pheromosa, and the fires of Flamethrower even ignited some of the sludge, burning Pheromosa even more. Within quick order, Pheromosa was defeated, and all of the Z Crystals it had stolen fell out. At Dawn's cue, Ash had quickly used a Beast Ball to successfully capture the Pheromosa. As things were being settled, the Ultra Guardians were approached by Katsuku and his classmates and their rival class.
"What... what the hell was all of that?" Justin said as he recalled his Scizor.
"It's... part of some private work we're doing for the Aether Foundation," Dawn said, "We really can't talk about it with people not in the know."
Gesturing to the Ultra Guardians, Katsuku's girlfriend Sarah said, "I love your outfits."
"Oh, umm..." Serena said, "...Thanks." Gently shaking her head, Serena said, "Well anyway, we need to wait to meet up with Miss Lusamine, as well as return the stolen Z Crystals to their rightful ow-" Serena was cut off when she and the others heard the sounds of a Pokémon evolving; everyone turned to look and saw that it was Ash's Poipole who was evolving, changing form and growing in size until the glowing faded, revealing that Ash's Poipole had evolved into Naganadel.
"Hey, that looks like the dragon Pokémon that Dawn has out!" Amanda said as she pointed to Ash's now Naganadel.
At that point, the homeroom teachers from Blackthorn City Academy had gotten to the scene and were able to usher their students away, although both Suwabe and Matsuda both looked at the Ultra Beasts with expressions of varying level of wariness. After the field trip from Blackthorn City Academy was gone, the heroes went about gathering the Z Crystals Phermosa had stolen to return to the rightful owners. Conveniently enough, all of the crystals save for a Fightinium Z belonged to the two guys who were going to demonstrate Z moves for the students of Suwabe and Matsuda.
After the Z Crystals were all returned to their rightful owners, the Ultra Guardians met up with Lusamine, Wicke, and Burnet, the last of those three using her Ultra Wormhole device to open an Ultra Wormhole to send Phermosa back to Ultra space. Phermosa was displeased to have been caught, but seeing the angry snarling looks on two Naganadels, those looks aimed right at it, kept Phermosa from showing any attitude as it was sucked back into Ultra Space. With the mission done and over with, the heroes were able to call the mission a success.
Days later, a number of persons were gathered at Aether Paradise, where Professor Kukui was hosting a press conference. The heroes and their classmates were led in by Burnet, and directed to some seating where they sat down. Soon after that, the heroes and their peers saw it as Kukui walked up onto the stage. Cameras flashed as photos were taken at the press conference, where people were getting the feeling that Kukui was going to be making an announcement that would be ground breaking history in the Alola region.
Those feelings were right on the money, as the first words out of Kukui's mouth were, "Yeah, I'm here to announce the first ever Alolan Pokémon League, the winner of which will be the first ever Alola region Champion." The press members went wild at the announcement, further backed by the four Kahunas of Alola, as well as Lusamine who heads up the Aether Foundation, all of whom had agreed to back the idea. Hala mentioned a long abandoned tradition of the Island Challenge where those who clear all four Grand Trials would clime to the top of Mount Lanakila and battle one another there.
Hala went on to say that Kukui has revived that part of the tradition in a form all persons can participate in. Lusamine then mentioned how Aether Foundation was currently building the stadium the League would take part in, building it a short sight away from Aether Paradise. The press conference ended right as Kukui was being hounded for more exclusive scoops by the ever hungry media. Kukui was able to slip away and meet up with his students, thanks to the Kahunas occupying the attention of the press, although Nanu had pulled something akin to a Substitution Jutsu and replaced himself with Acerola to take the media for him.
When Kukui met up with his students, he asked, "So what do you kids think?"
"I'm going to enter Alola's Pokémon League!" Ash declared.
Turning to look at Dawn, Kukui said, "What about you, Dawn? Will you participate in Alola's first ever League Conference? It'd give the event a much bigger boost if a foreign region's Champion took part."
Gently shaking her head, Dawn said, "If I take part and win, then Inter-regional League customs will require me to choose which between the Alola Champion title and the Sinnoh Champion title I want to take, dropping the one that I don't pick. So no, I don't think I'll enter the Alola League Conference itself. However, there's no issue with me fighting an exhibition battle."
"Ooh, you can fight an exhibition battle against the winner of the Alola League Conference," Kenny said, "That being said, you better prep yourself for the wrath of cringe, because you shall be facing me in that exhibition battle!"
"Get in line, Kenny," Trip said, "It starts behind me!"
"No, you get in line behind me," Ash declared firmly, "I'm first up! I still want a rematch with Dawn after the battle we had in the Lily of the Valley Conference back in Sinnoh." Everyone there laughed in good nature as they proceeded to make their way back to Melemele Island.
...
The next day, the reborn trainers went to see Ash, only to find him training outside of Kukui's house, getting his Pokémon ready for the Alola League Conference. "Wow, he's really going at it," Dawn remarked, she and the boys not having gotten close enough for Ash to see them. The heroes were about to make their presence known to Ash, but they were cut off when a short old man walked up to Ash and seemingly asked him a few questions.
The short old man was fair skinned, had a ring of white hair around his head that pointed somewhat upwards at the ends, he had a similarly colored bushy mustache, and he wore a red Alolan style shirt with white flower prints on it, baggy cargo shorts held up with a belt, and brown leather sandals. When the reborn trainers got close enouth to hear, they heard the old man's voice; it sounded like a gentle and understanding grandpa's voice, one troubled by past shame and regret that made it clear he saw no-one but himself to blame.
"...So if you could find Professor Kukui for me, young man," the short old man said to Ash, "I would be grateful."
"Hey Ash, what's going on?" Trip spoke up, catching the attention of both Ash and the short old man.
Gesturing to the short old man, Ash said, "This retiree here wants to talk to Professor Kukui about something. Apparently he has some intel on the high ranking members of the Team Scorn sector native to Alola."
The short old man eyed the reborn trainers, and could totally recognize them. "...Yes, you three ought to be brought in on things here as well," the short old man said, "Perhaps you could also be of assistance."
...
Later inside of Kukui's house, Kukui and Burnet sat on a love seat together as the short old man sat in an arm chair across from them. Ash and the reborn trainers all stood off to the side. "So now Mr. Shinpachi," Kukui said, "What's this about the high ranking members of Team Scorn's sector here in Alola you feel you can share with me and the others here?"
The now identified Shinpachi let out a resigned, troubled sigh. "...That all of them, the Captains, the Officer's Assistants, even Tetsuya..." Gently shaking his head out of a clear sense of shame, Shinpachi said, "...They all fell down the path of villainy that they are all on right now because of me."
"They're all members of Team Scorn because of you?" Kenny asked, "And who the hell is Tetsuya?"
"That's the real name of Admin Mage," Shinpachi answered, "I saw his face on the news when the report of the Team Scorn Boss's Assistant being broken out of police holding was aired. When I saw the photo of the person identified as Admin Mage, I recognized him as Tetsuya. The others as well... Yuichi, Bulat, Sayaka, my own grandson Konishi, Aya, Mai, Yomi, Satomi, Konishi's boyfriend Jun'ichi... they along with Tetsuya were all members of a sales guild that I had founded and run a long time ago back in the Johto region."
"...Back when Kenny and I were traveling through Johto to earn gym badges there," Dawn said, "Bulat when he worked a temp position as the Olivine City gym leader said his girlfriend Yomi had belonged to a sales guild that had to disband. Bulat likened it to the merchant guilds of long ago." Folding her arms over her chest, Dawn said, "But Bulat never mentioned that he was also a member."
"Given how vocal he was about his displeasure with my decision to expel Tetsuya from the sales guild, I can see why he'd rather not associate himself with it," Shinpachi replied, a hint of irony in his tone.
"You expelled Admin Mage from your guild, huh?" Kenny asked.
Shinpachi nodded once in the affirmative. "...Yes. You see, I had founded my sales guild, which I dubbed Pixie Lore, with the idea of bringing into modern times the ways of the merchant guilds of the past, such as the Ginkgo Guild which operated in Sinnoh's Hisuian period."
"I have a book of accounts from the Hisuian period," Dawn said, "It mentions the Ginkgo Guild a few times."
"Anyway," Shinpachi said, "I founded the guild over half a century ago, and from the beginnings of Pixie Lore up until my retirement shortly after the guild's fiftieth anniversary, things had not only run smoothly, but netted me considerable profit. I daresay my pocketbook can rival that of Lusamine's from Aether Foundation."
Gesturing to Shinpachi, Burnet said, "Go on."
A troubled look appeared on Shinpachi's face. "...Between the fiftieth anniversary of Pixie Lore and my retirement," Shinpachi said, "I was presented with evidence by my son Masaharu that Tetsuya had been stealing from the guild, both products and actual money. After seeing the evidence that Masaharu presented to me, I expelled Tstsuya from Pixie Lore without a second thought."
"...I'm guessing that you should have bothered to verify if the evidence that your son presented to you was legit," Kenny said.
Shinpachi nodded once in agreement. "It wasn't until six months after I had retired," Shinpachi said, "When I got news that Pixie Lore went out of business due to going bankrupt, that I had learned that it was actually Masaharu himself who had been essentially using my guild as his personal ATM machine for ages. I also learned that Tetsuya had actually found out what my son was doing and had gathered evidence to prove it when Masaharu learned what Tetsuya was doing and decided to frame him to cover his own tracks."
The professors, as well as Ash and the reborn heroes, were shocked with what they had heard. "How..." Kukui said, "...How did you learn all of this?"
"Sayaka told me when she found me to confront me on the matter," Shinpachi explained, "She even presented me with the evidence confirming my son's secret greed and indifference towards anyone other than himself, evidence Tetsuya had originally gotten. She also proved that the evidence Masaharu gave me saying that Tetsuya had been a thief was wholly fabricated and one-hundred percent false." Gently shaking his head, Shinpachi said, "But by then it was too late. I had already retired from working and was enjoying my retirement, at least up until I learned what all had happened."
Dawn, folding her arms over her chest, had a firm and suspicious look on her face. "...Let me guess, it was your son Masaharu who took over running your sales guild after you retired."
Shinpachi nodded once in confirmation. "...Fifty years of hard work, fifty years of my life that I had dedicated, my own son had squandered and ruined within six months after he took over." Sighing, Shinpachi continued, "And he duped me into expelling Tetsuya from Pixie Lore so easily, played the family card to further convince me by saying that he as my family would never lie to me. But it was Tetsuya, who Pixie Lore had taken in when his foster father was murdered leaving him with no family, who never lied to me. And look at how I had paid him back for his loyalty to me and the guild."
"Tetsuya was orphaned?" Ash asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes, and more than once if you count losing his biological parents and losing his foster father as separate counts," Shinpachi said, "Tetsuya was a sweet kid from what I remember of his days in Pixie Lore. He was also a bit fond of that scarf I saw him wearing when he first entered the guild, never a day went by when I didn't see him wear that scarf of his. I had asked him about it out of curiosity, he told me it was a birthday gift from his late foster father."
"...He seems to be the kind of guy who cares deeply for his loved ones," Dawn said.
"Oh, you wouldn't believe it," Shinpachi said, "He once broke a customer's right wrist because the man had slapped Aya's butt with his right hand, so Tetsuya grabbed the man by his right wrist and pulled his hand back, squeezing his grip hard enough to cause some breakage. Heh, his protectiveness of those he cares for often led to a few nasty incidents, but he never went wild without good reason."
"That being protecting those he cares about," Trip said.
"...During the second Team Scorn attack on Blackthorn City," Dawn began, "When Clair's Druddigon was killed by Ma... by Tetsuya... Druddigon had attacked Aya, caused an injury that I later got it required stitches. Tetsuya physically grappled with Clair's Druddigon and ended up killing it by snapping its neck."
Shinpachi looked shocked to hear what Dawn said. "Tetsuya killed a Pokémon?" Shinpachi's surprised simmered down, a look of resigned acceptance appeared on his face. "...I guess that not even being a Pokémon is an excuse to avoid Tetsuya's wrath if you lay a finger on those he holds dear. Weird, considering that according to Tetsuya, his foster father was a larger than normal Charizard."
"Tetsuya's... foster father..." Burnet said, sounding like she was finding the story hard to believe, "...was a Charizard."
"It would explain why he was a bit rough around the edges when Pixie Lore first took him in," Shinpachi remarked, "Being raised by a Pokémon. But then the guild took him in and raised him, educated him. Pixie Lore, in that sense, became Tetsuya's family."
"Only for said family to turn its back on him without a word and without giving him a chance," Kenny said, "Solely because you were tricked with the blood thicker than water ploy."
Gesturing to Shinpachi, Dawn asked, "Do you know where your son Masaharu is now?"
"Last I got, he's constantly on the run, hiding from people he owes money to," Shinpachi said, his tone grim, "But given what he's done, I say let him lay in the bed that he had made. I'm more concerned about Tetsuya and the others from Pixie Lore who followed him into Team Scorn."
"They're still in Alola," Burnet said, "I mean they're the officers in charge of the Team Scorn sector that's taken root here. But I haven't heard of much of what they were up to as of late. The last major act they did that I can recall right now is Tetsuya, going by Admin Mage now, led a charge to break the Assistant of Team Scorn's boss out of police custody. I also heard that Mage had killed a police officer in the effort."
Looking grim, Shinpachi said, "I did hear that a police officer was killed in that incident, yes. But Tetsuya did it...?"
"By picking up a sofa at one end and swinging it around," Kenny clarified, "He apparently hit the police man in the head with one of the feet of the sofa."
Shinpachi, looking surprised, said, "Well... umm... well that's interesting. But I guess Tetsuya is stronger than he looks, given that he can apparently grapple with a Druddigon and kill it in said grapple." To the professors, Ash, and the reborn trainers, Shinpachi went on, "But that's getting off subject. I came here because I was going to ask that you help bring in Tetsuya and the others from Pixie Lore who followed Tetsuya into Team Scorn. I had wronged them all, Tetsuya especially so, by falling for the honeyed words of my greedy son Masaharu. And I have no one to blame for what all had happened save for myself."
"It's not just us who wants to bring Team Scorn in," Dawn said, "It's something every region in the world wants. There's no way that the regions of the world will give in to Team Scorn, no way the regions of the world will stop trying to fight against Team Scorn until Team Scorn goes down same as how Team Rocket had gone down." To Shinpachi, Dawn continued, "But I'm certain that deals can be worked out for various members who are brought in, mainly important members of note like officers and their assistants. If only to learn their stories, that is."
Shinpachi nodded once in understanding. "That's all I can ask for at this point, really. Thank you." The fight against Team Scorn was still going strong in Alola, but the heroes now had a better understanding of some of the big name players in the Scarf Sector. They hoped that, by having that better understanding, they could figure out how Admin Mage, or rather Tetsuya, and the others from Pixie Lore who followed him into Team Scorn functioned as people. and understanding that would be the key to bringing them in to face justice.
...Justice that they probably wouldn't of had to face in the first place were it not for Shinpachi's hasty actions, fueled by the honeyed words of his untrustworthy son.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND THIRTY
Author's notes;
This chapter covers the Grand Trials on Poni Island for Ash and the reborn trainers, something they all clear on their respective first tries. Ash also ends up catching his Meltan, something that will play a big role later on down the line when Ash is in the Alola League Conference. The heroes also meet Shinpachi, an old man who gives them a lot of background info on Admin Mage and the other big names in Team Scorn's Scarf sector; long story short, they're all criminals now because Shinpachi was tricked by his greedy adult son who ended up squandering Shinpachi's dream after taking it over upon Shinpachi's retirement.
Anyway, the next chapter will see the first Alola Pokémon Contest on Poni Island, where Serena will try for her third Tiki Necklace. After that, the heroes will meet ya boi, travel to take on the Kantonian Gym, and a certain someone will visit Alola who will inspire Kenny on what to make as the next film out of Kenny Harris Studios. Things will be getting interesting, so until then take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Akiza (female Roserade), Lincoln (male Latios), Wyrmscale (Naganadel), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Badeeyaa (Xurkitree), Zamasu (Necrozma), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Elay (male Sandslash; shiny), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Veda (female Abomasnow), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; Totem), Foruze (male Electivire), Suzaku (male Primarina)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Greninja (male), Torracat (male), Dartrix (male), Meltan (gender unknown), Naganadel (gender unknown)