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 forty-nine: Draconic Duchess

The reborn trainers were in the Unova region, having traveled there as part of them going around the world to seek out other trainers entered into the recently started World Coronation Series season. They went to Dragonspiral Tower, where they heard that a few trainers were there. Sure enough, when the reborn trainers showed up, they were immediately spotted by the other trainers, with many of said trainers all clamoring to battle Dawn on the basis that she had been the first known trainer to defeat Galar Champion Leon in a battle, even though it was an exhibition battle.

Naturally, Dawn battled the first trainer who approached her, but his Vibrava quickly went down in battle to Dawn's named Salamence Drachen. The Rotom Drone monitoring the battle took note of it, and sub sequentially Dawn's ranking in the World Coronation Series went up. One of the other trainers at Dragonspiral Tower had tried to challenge Mina, but she explained she wasn't entered into the World Coronation Series, making that trainer back down. The other trainers didn't seem in the mood to wanna try challenging any of the other reborn trainers, which allowed them to catch their breath.

"What are all of you guys doing here at Dragonspiral Tower anyway?" Trip asked.

"We heard that there was some rare Pokémon out here," said the trainer who lost to Dawn, "So we all came out here to check things out."

Dawn was not all that surprised to hear it that the trainers came here due to chasing rumors of rare Pokémon. Dawn was about to speak up, but she got cut off when the familiar voice of Iris called out, yelling, "Oi, Dawn!"

Everyone located at Dragonspiral Tower turned to see it as Iris, the Champion of Unova, came flying in on her Dragonite. Iris was decked out his her Champion outfit when she showed up at Dragonspiral Tower, landing near Dawn. "...Ah, you made it," Dawn said.

The hint in Dawn's tone told Kenny, Trip, and Mina that this was something Dawn was anticipating. "...You were waiting for Iris, Dawn?" Trip asked.

"I said that the first region we visited for World Coronation Series battles ought to be Unova for a very specific reason," Dawn said. Turning to look at Iris, Dawn said, "Iris, I believe that you, as Champion of Unova, ought to apologize on Unova's behalf to Ruby." Dawn then tossed up a Master Ball to call out Ruby, her named Reshiram. Formerly under the command of Team Scorn, Reshiram was freed during some issues in Alola and was caught there by Dawn. The Vast White Pokémon roared out, and looked down at Iris with a less that amused snarling expression on its face.

Iris nodded in agreement with Dawn, before she knelt down before the named Reshiram and bowed her head to it. Even Iris's Dragonite, its aggressive expression ever present, knew better than to act up here despite how its trainer was humbling herself. Iris then proceeded to apologize to Ruby for how Unova had been behaving as of late, and even added that she has been re-doubling her efforts to get Unova to be more agreeable with the rest of the regions.

Seeing that Ruby was happy enough with Iris humbling herself, Dawn recalled her named Reshiram. "Yes, I did hear it on the news that you've taken a more active role in trying to get Unova to play nice with the other regions."

"Yes, but it's touch and go at the moment," Iris replied, "Maybe we can talk about it during lunch?"


A short while later, the reborn trainers and Iris sat at a picnic table set up near Dragonspiral Tower, and other trainers were still seen in the general area, either having World Coronation Series battles or looking for the rumored rare Pokémon. "So various persons of influence here in Unova aren't entirely fond of how you're advocating for Unova as a whole to start playing nice with the other regions," Dawn said.

Iris nodded once in the affirmative. "Yes. Granted, those naysayers had it pointed out to them that my efforts are lessening the displeasure other regions have with Unova, but said naysayers still are having trouble budging." Iris gave a resigned sigh. "The naysayers fear that, by having to play nice with those who aren't Unova born and raised, they have to let them take the lead on things rather than see a natural born Unovan be the lead hero who saves the day and everything." It would appear that trying to mitigate the xenophobia inherit in hardline Unovan government officials may take more effort and time than what was (generously) assumed initially.

"I also got it that you and your Pokémon are training like crazy," Kenny said.

Once more, Iris gave an affirmative nod. "If it wasn't for Dawn and Trip showing up when they did during the incident where Team Scorn attacked the Manalo Conference back in Alola, I would have lost to Admin Mage and his posse, although by that point only Mage and Bulat had one Pokémon left each, their respective Meowstics."

"Talk about powerful pussy," Mina whispered into Kenny's ear, making him sputter as he held back laughter.

"What did she say to Kenny?" Iris asked.

"It's nothing important," Dawn replied.

Sighing, Iris said, "Well anyway, as part of my efforts to train and become stronger, I've entered the World Coronation Series."

The reborn trainers weren't surprised by this revelation from Iris. "Ooh, did you score any cool wins so far?" Mina asked.

Holding up four fingers, Iris explained, "I've only had a total of four battles in the World Coronation Series thus far since the current season started. I won the first two, lost my third against Pyramid King Brandon of the Kanto Battle Frontier, and won my fourth."

"Wait a minute," Danw said, "Brandon is in the World Coronation Series?" That actually surprised the reborn trainers, as none of them recalled Brandon in the anime in their previous life past some shenanigans in Sinnoh, shenanigans that here Dawn and Kenny were present for.

Iris nodded in the affirmative. "Yeah, it was a one on one where his Regice beat my Dragonite."

Gesturing to Iris, Kenny said, "Well that's a no brainer right there. His highness the Pharaoh of the Pyramid had a very distinct type advantage against you."

"I also heard that the Pyramid King has won literally every battle he's had thus far in the Normal Rank," Iris said, "And he's a few points shy of breaking into the Super Rank. He's had a lot of battles and has aced them all, and reportedly he's only ever used either his Regice, or his Regirock, or his Registeel."

Dawn leaned back a bit, folded her arms over her chest, as she wore an unsure look on her face. "So he's spamming his legendary Pokémon to win loads of battles and rise through the ranks quickly. I got it that he's no longer allowed to use his legendaries against challengers to the Battle Pyramid for the Brave Symbol, as Brandon's bosses in the Battle Frontier got loads of complaints about Brandon being way too tough to beat otherwise."

Holding up a hand, Kenny said, "Ooh, Iris! Did Brandon talk down to you after he beat you?"

"Actually, yeah he kind of did," Iris replied, "He said something about how I let my fear of ice types control me and that said fear led to me losing."

"Yeah, Brandon kind of has a point there," Trip agreed, "But at the same time you being afraid of ice types is kind of valid given you specialize in dragon types. Also, his Regice had a times four type advantage against your Dragonite as it's dual dragon flying."

"...I don't know as I'm not familiar with the rules for the World Coronation Series," Dawn began, "But I would guess that Brandon having talked down to you like that, especially after he defeated you in an official battle for the World Coronation Series, might at minimum get him a reprimand from the Officials who are running the World Coronation Series." It was also that (admittedly rather nasty) habit of the Pyramid King's, talking down to his opponents after he beat them (especially if Brandon beat them using one of the Regis), that was a triggering event that started Paul down his path of redemption. But that's another tale to be spun for another time.

Looking at Iris, Trip said, "So I take it that Brandon's very generous and liberal use of his Regirock, Regice, and Registeel in the World Coronation Series means that people who have legendary and or mythical Pokémon can use them if they feel like it?"

Nodding in confirmation, Iris said, "Oh yeah. Even in previous seasons it was allowed although it never really came up. But the people running the World Coronation Series are said that they'll heavily encourage the use of such Pokémon, on the basis that it draws in obscenely high rates of viewership. Dawn's exhibition battle against Leon drew in more viewers than any given battle in the previous season of the World Coronation Series."

"Oh ho ho ho ho ho," Kenny laughed in amusement as he eagerly rubbed his hands together, "We're going to be cringing up a storm in the current season, mark my words my good dudes."

"Ash even had a battle he won in the World Coronation Series go viral because he used his Melmetal to win," Iris explained, "And from what I heard, Ash similar to Brandon has yet to lose in the current season." The reborn trainers weren't surprised in the least to hear that Ash was doing well; they also recalled that, when Ash left Alola to go on his next journey, he brought Melmetal and Naganadel along with him in addition to the always assured presence of Pikachu. Dawn and the others couldn't help but wonder how Ash was going to be doing this time around, as well as wonder how Ash was doing now.

Iris was about to speak up, but some of the nearby trainers cried out in alarm. "The heck's going on?" Iris muttered as she and the reborn trainers got up to go see what in blazes was making the other trainers act so freaked out.

...

When the reborn trainers and Iris made their way over, they saw that a few of the surrounding trainers were backing away from a wild Dragonite that was standing in front of some foliage off to the side from Dragonspiral Tower. The wild Dragonite stood firm and tall, its expression making it clear it would not let anyone get past it to whatever was behind it. The wild Dragonite's expression still had the general kind look known for its species, unlike the hostile scowl Iris's Dragonite had, but the look on its face made it clear it was acting with a purpose and it wouldn't let anyone stop it from said purpose.

"What's with the wild Dragonite?" Dawn asked.

"It's standing in front of a path to a clearing," one female trainer said, "And I saw some Dratini go down that path! I think one of the Dratini was even a shiny!"

"But every Pokémon we send out against the Dragonite gets beaten back," one boy said, "Even my Alolan Ninetails despite how it's a dual ice fairy type going against a dual dragon flying type!"

Stepping up to the scene, Iris said, "Not to worry, trainers! I, being the Champion of Unova and an aspiring Dragon Master, shall deal with this!" Tossing up a Pokéball, Iris called out, "Go, Dragonite!" Iris called out her own Dragonite to deal with the wild one that was keeping trainers from going down the path behind it. Pointing right at the wild Dragonite, Iris called out, "Dragonite, use Ice Beam on that wild Dragonite!"

Iris's Dragonite charged up and fired its Ice Beam, but the wild Dragonite countered it by blocking it with Fire Punch. "Okay, didn't expect that," Iris said, "But I guess it'll be a battle of punches! Dragonite, use Thunder Punch!" Iris's Dragonite flew in with its right fist pulled back as said fist crackled with electrical power. But the wild Dragonite caught Iris's Dragonite by its right arm, raised it away so it couldn't land Thunder Punch, then struck Iris's Dragonite with Dragon Claw. Iris's Dragonite had been pushed back, but the wild Dragonite was showing signs of exhaustion.

"...How many trainers have tried fighting the wild Dragonite?" Dawn asked as she turned to look at the unnamed trainers at Dragonspiral Tower.

"Over a dozen of us, not counting Champion Iris," the boy with the Alolan Ninetails explained, "That wild Dragonite has so far fought and knocked out a total of thirty-two other Pokémon."

"Yeah, that would explain why it's looking worn out," Dawn said, watching as Iris's Dragonite's Dragon Rush was countered by the wild Dragonite's Iron Head; that Iron Head attack, which is a steel type move, would explain why the wild Dragonite fared so well against the dual ice fairy Alolan Ninetails. Eventually, another clash between the two Dragonites saw Iris's Dragonite go down in battle against the wild one, although it was clear the wild Dragonite was getting to its limits.

Iris, as she recalled her fainted Dragonite, remarked, "My Dragonite has trained a lot ever since I had that showdown with Admin Mage and his posse back in Alola. And yet going in fresh against a battle with a wild Dragonite that went into the battle worn out, my Dragonite still lost. Just how strong is that wild Dragonite exactly?"

Dawn and the others turned to look at the wild Dragonite; despite how it was very much worn out, it still stood tall and proud to block off the path some trainers saw a few Dratini go down. "...Dragonite here reminds me about a story I remember hearing a while ago," Dawn said, catching the attention of the reborn trainers and Iris, "About a legendary warrior named Benkei, standing in front of a path to block it off so his allies on the other side can't be touched by the foes that tried and failed to get past Benkei. The Dragonite here is obviously trying to keep people from getting to the Dratinis that fled down the path it's blocking off."

Turning to look at Dawn, Mina asked, "Did the legendary warrior eventually go down?"

Nodding once, Dawn said, "I'm not sure, it's been a while since I heard the story. But I think Benkei in the old story that I recall took out a number of enemies that reached triple digits."

"Well I don't think we can afford to wait for Dragonite here to take out a hundred Pokémon minimum," Mina said, "We ought to-"

"Alright, Ruby! Let's get goin'!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Reshiram, "Use Dragon Pulse on the Dragonite standing in front of that path!" Ruby flew in the air as it raised its head back before firing a Dragon Pulse attack at the wild Dragonite that was blocking off the path. Even if it was perfectly fresh, the wild Dragonite still would have gone down in one blow from that Dragon Pulse. But the attack seemed to be a tad overkill, given that the wild Dragonite now was exhausted when it was struck down by the Vast White Pokémon.

After the wild Dragonite collapsed, Dawn took out a spare Pokéball and threw it at the wild Dragonite, successfully capturing it. Checking her newly caught Dragonite's info with her Pokédex, Dawn saw it was male, had a jolly nature, and the Inner Focus ability. It also knew Dragon Claw, Fire Punch, and Iron Head which it was seen using, but Dawn was surprised to learn that her new Dragonite also came knowing Earthquake. And her Dragonite turning out to be male amused Dawn, as she had the perfect nickname in mind for him. "I'm going to name you Benkei," Dawn said before the ball containing the now dubbed Benkei was transported to Oak's lab.

With the issue of the Dragonite blocking off the path now taken care of, the other trainers in the area of Dragonspiral Tower cheered, with one other boy even declaring his intent to go down the path to find and catch the supposed shiny Dratini. However, Iris blocked the path off. "There's got to be a reason the Dratini fled down the path that was blocked off by the Dragonite that Dawn just caught," Iris said, "Let me and her go check things out, we're both region Champions."

The other trainers, recognizing that Iris and Dawn both had a lot of pull here, relented and allowed them to head down the path first. A few moments after the two girl Champions went down that path, they both came running back out, with Dawn calling out, "Kenny! Trip! Mina! Call for some help! The Dratinis are all sick!"


Thankfully, all of the Dratinis (seven in total; three females and four males with the shiny being a male) weren't TOO sick, but the Nurse Joy at the Iccirus City Pokémon Center (the first Pokémon Center the reborn trainers were able to get a hold of) still praised them for acting as quickly as they did. Dawn also had a better idea of why Benkei when he was still a wild Dragonite was so vigilant in blocking off the path; the Dratinis at the other end were all sick and Benkei wanted to make sure that they were able to rest.

The seven Dratinis were all cared for at the Iccirus City Pokémon Center, and Nurse Joy there after giving medicine to the Dratinis said that all they would need is some rest. Iris also made arrangements for the seven Dratinis to be taken to the village she grew up in, as the folks there worked well with dragon Pokémon. This annoyed a number of the trainers who were also at Dragonspiral Tower, as most of them were clamoring to capture the shiny Dratini. But they were wild Pokémon found sick by an unknown reason, so they had to be taken to a sanctuary to be cared for.

There was also the issue of finding out how the seven Dratinis got sick. Iris, using her authority as Champion of Unova, was able to call for an investigation into the matter. Iris would soon be praised for how she used her Champion's Authority, as the investigation uncovered how the waters that were around Dragonspiral Tower had been used as a dump site for some rather nasty material. It was assumed said nasty material was responsible for the seven Dratinis getting sick. A sample of the water, with some nasty looking goo in it, was collected and sent to a lab.

The investigation at the waters around Dragonspiral Tower also uncovered evidence of who was responsible; a metal lid from a metal drum that held nasty waste, and the lid had the Team Scorn logo on it, a dark blue heater shield with a yellow Team Scorn 'S'. "So Team Scorn isn't just in the business of stealing, killing, and general discount dastardly deed-doing," Kenny said, "They also wanna make the environment their bitch." The reborn trainers would later learn that the waters surrounding Dragonspiral Tower were evacuated of the Pokémon living there.

When Dawn inquired as to why, Iris was able to learn and sub-sequentially tell Dawn that the waters as a whole were contaminated to the point it wasn't safe for wild Pokémon to live there. A vast decontamination effort had to be done by Unova's government, but due to how Unova's government was already dealing with so much on its plate at the moment, it was decided that, until other issues are cleared, the cleaning of the waters around Dragonspiral Tower would be postponed. It would seem that the environment wasn't very high priority wise.

...

After wishing Iris well and hoping she'll have better luck in making Unova grow up (Iris phrased it as making Unova 'stop being a little kid'), the reborn trainers next made their way to the Kalos region, as there were reports there that multiple Normal Rank trainers in the World coronation Series were battling one another in the area of Kalos's Victory Road. The reborn trainers were able to get to the Kalos Victory Road, were Dawn won all three of the battles she had there. Trip and Kenny won two battles each as well, and as such all three of the reborn trainers competing in the World Coronation Series saw their ranks rise.

They took a break in an outdoor area of Kalos's Victory Road, a grassy area that had public park vibes kind of. The reborn trainers all sat at a picnic table as they discussed how things were going. "So we're all off to a roaring start in the current season of the World Coronation Series," Kenny said, "I have made it known that the powers of cringe and moxie are not to be underestimated."

"You did kind of cut it close in your first battle as Cell took a hit to his abdomen from that Primeape," Trip said.

"Yeah, Cell does seem to get hit in the shmeat quite a bit," Kenny agreed, "It's kind of concerning."

Setting her drink down, Dawn said, "What has ME concerned is the fact that Unova had put clean up efforts for the waters around Dragonspiral Tower down low on their list of priorities. Wild Pokémon lived in those waters until they were all evacuated to a wildlife sanctuary."

"Well Unova has quite a lot to deal with," Mina pointed out, "Their government officials are still being babies who don't wanna play nice with foreigners, and that leads to the issue of Unova's native sector of Team Scorn more or less trotting around Unova scot-free. At least Iris is trying to use her position as Champion of Unova to cut off some of the red tape entangling things."

"Government officials love their red tape," Kenny said, "They grind it up into a fine powder so they can snort it off the backs of hookers, they're that obsessed with the red tape tying things in government back." Mina laughed out loud due to what Kenny said, and even Dawn and Trip had to snort back a bit of laughter.

Letting out a resigned sigh, Dawn said, "It still kind of sucks how Pokémon are being given the short end of the stick here. I bet Ideku if he were still Champion of Unova would be utterly pissed that Unova's government is making wild Pokémon take such a raw deal."

Mina pulled out a phone and used it to check rankings for various trainers competing in the current season of the World Coronation Series. "...Oh, it says here Ideku has yet to lose a battle in the current season. Granted, he's still in the Normal Rank same as you, Kenny, and Trip, but Ideku is rising fairly well. It says here he won his most recent battle using a Jumpluff."

"That's..." Kenny said, "...That's one of the Pokémon that Ideku inherited from Katsuku." Back in Alola, Ideku's older brother Katsuku was shot in the chest by Team Scorn Captain Zed, and ultimately died in an Alolan Hospital. Katsuku was, however, able to dictate his will before he died, calling in a lawyer well versed in Johto region inheritance laws, and in said will Katsuku left all six Pokémon he ever had to Ideku who is his younger brother. Among the Pokémon that Ideku inherited from his late older brother is a Jumpluff.

Mina put her phone down and reached for a small sandwich on the table, but stopped short when a loud roar sounded out, catching her attention and the attention of the other reborn trainers, as well as some other trainers nearby. Suddenly, a wild Hydreigon flew in and fired Dragon Pulses and Dark Pulses off in each odd direction, making a number of trainers scatter away from other picnic tables. The wild Hydreigon then flew to a table and began helping itself to what all food was left there by the trainers that were scared away.

"That wild Hydreigon is scaring random trainers out of their lunches so it can eat its fill!" Trip said.

Getting up from the table she and the other reborn trainers sat at, Dawn said, "I got this!" Tossing up a Pokéball, Dawn called out, "Alright, Lincoln! Let's get goin'!" To the surprise of the other reborn trainers, Dawn sent out her named Latios Lincoln. Although its dragon allowed it to go toe to toe with Hydreigon's dragon, Hydreigon's dark gave it an edge over Lincoln's psychic. Dawn was probably banking on Lincoln's status as a legendary to help it edge out against Hydreigon, also Dawn would never really be foolish enough to fight at a straight up disadvantage.

"Lincoln, use Dragon Pulse on that wild Hydreigon!" Dawn called out, prompting the named Latios to fire a Dragon Pulse at the wild Hydreigon. It was hit, but it still had a fair bit of steam in the tank. Turning to face Lincoln, the wild Hydreigon fired a Dark Pulse at him. Seeing this, Dawn called out, "Lincoln, counter with Aura Sphere!" Lincoln then conjured and cast an Aura Sphere to cast at Hydreigon. The Aura Sphere and Dark Pulse collided into one another, and after a bit of back and forth pushing, Aura Sphere had been the attack to win out.

Aura Sphere blasted through Dark Pulse and went on to blast right into Hydreigon, knocking it down out of the air as it fell down onto the ground. As Hydreigon laid there in defeat, Dawn, acting on opportunity, took out a spare Pokéball and used it to capture Hydreigon, successfully nabbing it on the first try. With the formerly wild Hydreigon now caught, Dawn went over to where the ball holding her newly caught Hydreigon laid on the ground, picked it up, and then proceeded to scan it with her Pokédex to get Hydreigon's general info.

The Hydreigon turned out to be a female, had a timid nature, and Levitate as its ability. Smirking in amusement, Dawn said, "Yeah, this one here is literally going to be named Lori."

"You got quite a selection of dragon Pokémon now, Dawn," Kenny remarked, "Not to mention your catches while we did our Galar gym challenge tour who you need to train up."

"We can cover that later," Dawn replied, "Because I'm not the only one with catches that need to be trained." Looking around at the chaos that had been caused by her named Hydreigon before she caught her, Dawn continued, "We ought to help out with cleaning things up around here."

"Hydreigon wasn't yours until AFTER the chaos was caused, so people better not blame you for the mess here," Mina swore. Luckily, the other trainers all understood that Hydreigon caused the damage while it was still a wild Pokémon. As such, Dawn got no flak for how Lori had rampaged until Lincoln defeated her.


Continuing their travels from region to region for the World Coronation Series, the reborn trainers went back to Galar as they heard there were trainers gathered there in high concentrations, partly due to wanting to see Leon, the Champion of Galar and current Monarch of the World Coronation Series; his ranking from the previous season had carried over. Leon was also officially undefeated, his only known loss being the exhibition battle against Dawn that essentially kickstarted the current season of the World Coronation Series.

Even though exhibition battles don't count towards the changing of ranks or positions, Leon's defeat at Dawn's hands made it clear that the seemingly invincible Champion of Galar is not as invincible as previously thought. It was noted in Galar news that Raihan is training like crazy, partly because he wants to be the one to beat Leon in an official battle, and partly because he's inspired by the thought that Leon can actually be defeated, that taking down the Champion of Galar isn't as far fetched of a dream as was previously thought.

As for the reborn trainers, they actually went to the Lake of Outrage in the Wild Area to do some training. They were there for a few days, working on evolving their various Pokémon that weren't fully evolved. Within due time, Dawn was able to get Rumi, Dracule, Birb, Komori, Jet, and Fullbuster to all fully evolve, giving her Cinderace, Obstagoon, Corviknight, Alcremie (ruby swirl with strawberry sweet), Dragapult, and Frosmoth. After the training there was complete, Dawn was seen by the other reborn trainers petting Fullbuster, who's now a Frosmoth, on the head.

"She likes moth Pokémon almost as much as she likes dragon Pokémon," Kenny noted dryly with some hint of amusement.

Kenny also fully evolved Cinder, Nuova, Cream, and Cooler, giving him Cinderace, Centiscorch, an Amped Toxicitry, and an Alcremie that's Rainbow Swirl with a star sweet. Trip also was able to fully evolve Gandalf, Bilbo, Shizune, Enchilada, Eva, and Lahjakkuus, giving him Inteleon, Boltund, Alcremie (Rainbow swirl with blueberry sweet), a Low Key Toxicitry, Grimmsnarl, and an Orbeetle that, due to being shiny, looked pretty damn sick with its colorations.

The reborn trainers were getting ready to leave the plot of land in the Lake of Outrage, especially as it was raining heavily while thunder was going off in the distance. "Yeah, I think it's time to pack it in," Dawn said as she and the other reborn trainers were getting soaked, "We can get to a hotel in a Galar city, check in for the night, freshen up in the morning, and seek out more trainers to battle in the World Coronation Series."

"Sounds like a plan," Trip said, "And you Dawn are ahead in the rankings from me and Kenny, so we gotta catch up to you if we-"

"Goo!"

Trip was cut off when a random wild Pokémon cry sounded off, making him and the others turn to see some nearby tall grass rustle as the rain hit down upon it. The reborn trainers were prepped for a battle, only to be relieved when a wild Sliggoo came out from the grass, clearly posing no hostility whatsoever. It then inched up quickly to Dawn and threw its little arms around her left leg to hug her; the Sliggoo hugged her as high as it could reach. "Aww, this wild Sliggoo just wants some love and attention," Dawn said, reaching down to pet Sliggoo's head which was slick from the continuing rain.

Gesturing to the Sliggoo, Mina said, "Well knowing you Dawn, you ought to catch it. Sliggoo is a dragon, and it evolves into-" Mina was cut off when the wild Sliggoo suddenly began to evolve, growing in height and changing form. When the process was complete, the wild Sliggoo was now a Goodra. "...Yes," Mina said, her dry tone a contrast to the wet rainy weather happening at the moment, "I was... just about to say."

The wild Goodra, still as friendly and affectionate as it was as a Sliggoo, hugged Dawn again, this time with its arms around her body as it could reach high enough. Dawn was able to get Goodra to let go, and she used the continuing rain to help slick off the goo left behind. Seeing that the Goodra became attached to her, Dawn had asked it if it'd like to come along with her, to which the Goodra agreed. As such, Dawn used a spare Pokéball to catch it. The Goodra turned out to be female, so Dawn had named her Mihama before the ball containing the now dubbed Mihama was sent to Oak's lab.

"Now you're just trying to make Iris jealous," Kenny said after Dawn's newly caught Goodra was sent away.

"I'm not so certain," Dawn said as she wiped away more goo from Mihama's last hug, "I'm pretty sure Iris wouldn't be entirely receptive to the idea of her fancy getup she wears as a Champion being coated in goo." The reborn trainers then took off for a hotel in Hammerlocke, where they checked in for the night, were able to have their clothes laundered, then were able to take off in the morning. Dawn and the boys had quite a lot of battles ahead of them if they wanted to make it far into things in the current season of the World Coronation Series.

END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND FORTY-NINE

Author's notes;

This chapter focuses on some region-hopping escapades that see Dawn make multiple dragonic catches. There's also a fair bit of focus on Iris, who is also competing in the World Coronation Series here, trying to get Unova to essentially grow up. The problem in Unova that the reborn trainers came upon is uncovered, and the Pokémon harmed and could of been harmed by said problem are removed and taken to sanctuary. But given how much Unova's government has on its plate right now, it'll take a while before the waters around Dragonspiral Tower are cleaned.

Then the last bit of this chapter focuses on the reborn trainers evolving most of their catches from Galar, skimming it because, in all honesty, I wanna be able to focus more on battles and other storylines to come and didn't exactly feel like diverting time just to see the Pokémon evolve, potentially one at a time. So most of them are fully evolved all at once. Sorry if that bothers some, but action and story to come ought to make up for it. Speaking of, the developments in the next chapter ought to be a hoot, but until then take care.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Froot Loop (Mew), Lincoln (male Latios), Ruby (Reshiram), Drachen (female Salamence)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Siczor; shiny), Zarbon (male Machamp), Elay (male Sandslash; Kantonian; shiny), Shallot (male Glaceon), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)

Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Space Kitta (Celesteela), Suzaku (male Primarina), Foruze (male Electivire), Todoroki (male Goodra; alpha; Hisuian)

Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Dragonite (male), Gardevoir (male), Lucario (female), Espeon (male; shiny), Sylveon (male; shiny)