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 sixty-three: Diantha's Dilemma, Goh's Goals
"Aurorus, use Reflect!"
"Kurumu, use Brick Break!"
A fierce battle between two members of the Masters Eight in the current season of the World Coronation Series was going down at Wyndon Stadium, where their spots could change if the lower numbered one beats the higher numbered one. Diantha, Champion of Kalos and currently ranked fourth, was challenged to the battle by Dawn, Champion of Sinnoh and currently ranked eighth. Dawn had just freshly entered the Masters Eight and, in a bid to avoid being bogged down by people constantly trying to battle her in Promotion Battles, she made plans to challenge a higher ranked person in the Masters Eight for their spot.
To the surprise of many following the current season of the World Coronation Series, Dawn chose to challenge not Leon, who is ranked at number one and is the current Monarch, retaining the title from the previous season. Instead, Dawn chose to challenge Diantha who, while certainly a powerful trainer (that could not be denied), she was by no means Leon. The match between Dawn and Diantha was to be a single style battle, with three Pokémon allowed per trainer and all other rules for World Coronation Series battles in place. Kicking things off for Diantha was her Aurorus, her first of three Pokémon.
Dawn, on the other hand? She chose to start off with Kurumu, her named Groudon who, upon entering battle, underwent Primal Reversion due to holding the Red Orb, thus becoming Primal Groudon. Aurorus tried to conjure up its Reflect attack, but Dawn having called for Brick Break would nix that. Dawn actually had Kurumu learn the move for coverage, and upon seeing the dual ice rock Aurorus come out of Diantha, Dawn's instincts immediately compelled her to call for Kurumu to use Brick Break, so at to inflict times four super effective damage on Diantha's Pokémon. The fact Aururus can set up barriers was more reason Brick Break was called for.
The chopping strike from the named Primal Groudon swung in and struck Aurorus along its body, eliciting a pained cry from Aururus as it was thrown to the side before it hit the pitch and skidded for a bit, kicking up a bit of dust as it did so. When the skidding stopped and the dust settled, everyone saw it that Diantha's Aurorus had been knocked out. "Aurorus has been defeated," the Rotom Drone announced, "Groudon wins!" The audience roared with excited cheers, although some cheers also voiced a few complaints about the sweltering heat generated by the harsh sunlight generated by Kurumu's Desolate Land ability.
Diantha, sweating from more than just the heat, recalled her fainted Aururus and sent out her next Pokémon, which was a Goodra. "Use Water Pulse!" Diantha called out.
"Kurumu, use Dragon Claw!" Dawn called out, also sweating due to the heat.
Goodra tried to cast Water Pulse as Kurumu charged at it with claws glowing fiercely with dragonic power, but the water type attack evaporated in the intense heat. As such, Kurumu's Dragon Claw was uncontested as it swung down and clawed at Goodra, doing to it what Kurumu had previously done to Aurorus. Within shoret order, the audience saw it that Goodra had gone down to the named Primal Groudon. "Goodra has been defeated," the Rotome Drone announced as the audience cheered loudly once again, "Groudon wins!"
Diantha recalled her fainted Goodra before looking right at Dawn. "The only thing about this battle that upsets me," Diantha called out, "Is how all of this heat is making me sweat a lot! It's going to ruin the outfit I'm wearing, and I'm rather fond of this outfit!"
"Don't you have multiples of that outfit?" Dawn asked.
Holding the Pokéball that contained her last Pokémon for the battle, Diantha called out, "Doesn't mean I can't get upset over an outfit being ruined! Go, Gardevoir!" The last Pokémon sent out by Dianthha, as Dawn was anticipating, was her Gardevoir. Something else that Dawn had anticipated was Diantha immediately Mega Evolving her Gardevoir as soon as she was able to, giving her Mega Gardevoir to contend against Primal Groudon. "I've so far seen Brick Break and Dragon Claw out of Groudon," said Diantha, "One Gardevoir highly resists and the other Gardevoir is flat out immunte to! This is where I make a turnaround!"
"We'll see about that!" Dawn called back, "Kurumu, use Earthquake!"
Diantha, her eyes widening a bit in alarm, called out, "Gardevoir, try to dodge it!"
The named Primal Groudon triggered a massive quake that shook the whole of the stadium, sending out seismic waves in all directions. Gardevoir was able to avoid things for a second with her dodging Dawn recalled seeing in the XY anime in her previous life. But given the wide area Earthquake covered, it was inevitable that a hit from those seismic waves would strike Gardevoir. The Mega Evolved Gardevoir had to leap up into the air to avoid taking any more strikes from seismic waves, but that left the airborne Gardevoir a sitting Psyduck as it couldn't do its signature dodging while in the air.
Gardevoir was looking down as it leapt up into the air to get away from Earthquake, so it had to jerk to look up when it heard Dawn call out, "Kurumu, use Fire Punch!" The instant Gardevoir looked up, it saw a practically colossal fist cloaked in flames rushing right for it. Before Gardevior could have even reacted, it took a slamming hit to the whole of its body, like it was struck by a truck going at full speed. Gardevoir was thrown to the ground by the force of the Fire Punch from Kurumu. When Diantha saw it as her Gardevior's Mega Evolution was undone, she knew what the result of the battle was going to be called as.
"Gardevior has been defeated," the Rotom Drone announced, "Groudon wins! Dawn is the winner of this battle!" The audience cheered as Dawn was declared the winner of the battle, and as such her rank went up to four while Diantha's dropped to eight. Now Dawn, at minimum, didn't have to worry about fighting an endless stream of Promotion Battles against trainers who reached the number nine spot. Although Diantha had lost, she did not begrudge the loss in the least. Diantha was for real when she said the only part about her battle with Dawn was how the heat generated during said battle made her sweat a lot and ruin her outfit.
...
After the reborn trainers met back up to discuss Dawn now being the number four trainer, Kenny said, "Who's the current number two again?"
"That would be Lance," Mina said as she looked it up on her phone, "Why do you ask?"
"Because I'm worried he may become a fiery asshole obsessed with becoming the number one, thus start a bitter, angst-fueled rivalry with the current number one," Kenny replied, "But as it's Lance who is the number two, I can rest easy as I just can't see Lance being the kind of guy who shares a bed with a second place trophy."
Dawn, sighing in a mildly exasperated tone, said, "Lance is not the Flame Hero, Kenny. We can trust him."
Kenny was about to speak up, but got cut off when Trip pulled out his phone as he was getting a call. "...Oh, hey Ash!" Trip said, "Yeah, Dawn just made Diantha trade places with her in the Masters Eight. What are you up to?" As it turned out, Ash was calling Trip, and the two caught up on what all they had missed since they last saw one another during the incident where Dawn, Trip, and Kenny caught Entei, Raikou, and Suicune respectively. After a few minutes of talking, the call ended when Ash on his end said that he had to go.
After Trip ended the call on his end and put his phone away, Dawn asked, "What was that about?"
"Well Ash is in the Ultra Class now," Trip began, "Also, Ash told me that Goh had just joined Project Mew, or at least is working to join it." The news of Ash being in the Ultra Class now told the reborn trainers that, in the time they were focusing on other things, Ash and Goh had a lot of adventures. But that wasn't the part that held most of their focus, although it still held some focus for them because let's face it, Ash was their friend and they were excited for him and the strides he has made as a trainer. They had no doubt that a trainer like Ash was going to make it into the Masters Eight where Dawn was now waiting for him.
No, the part about what Trip got from Ash that held a lot of focus for the reborn trainers was the fact that Goh had just started work with the people running Project Mew. None of the reborn trainers in their previous life saw the conclusion of that story arc in the anime, so they had no idea if the people running it were truly altruistic, or if they had something darker waiting in the wings. Dawn was now more alert, more protective of her named Mew Froot Loop. If the people behind Project Mew were to learn of Dawn's named Mew, then who can say what all would go down as a result?
At a minimum, Dawn expected all hell to break loose. It was truly a good thing that only the reborn trainers themselves were aware of Dawn being in possession of Froot Loop; not even Professor Oak had learned of Dawn having Mew yet as she never rotated it out of her party. Dawn also sincerely hoped that such a factor would never be forced onto her, because she had reason to fear that the more people who knew about Froot Loop, at least before the reborn trainers were able to discern the true aims of Project Mew, the more danger there would be. Better safe than sorry, as Dawn often lived by.
In a twist from the usual saying, Dawn felt that there WAS need to worry, or at least be very cautious until all relevant info was made known to her.
In the passing days, Dawn and the reborn trainers saw some notable changes to the rankings in the Masters Eight, at least from fifth to eighth. Iris and Raihan managed to stay in at least for some time, but Diantha and Alain were knocked out over time. Diantha was taking out of the Masters Eight by Nina Bloomingwood, the autistic preteen girl from Galar who had been making heads turn ever since she started making her name known in the World Coronation Series. Nina, after she defeated Diantha, went on to challenge and defeat Alain, pushing him down to the number eight spot in the Masters Eight of the current season of the World Coronation Series.
Alain was in the number eight spot when he was challenged to a Promotion Battle by Rimu, the Champion ranked trainer from the Paldea region and Kenny's rival. Although Rimu has yet to best Kenny (he came close a lot, though), Rimu had a fairly easy time in his three on three battle against Alain, defeating him despite the fact that Alain had Mega Evolved his Charizard into Mega Charizard X. Rimu then later had a battle against Raihan and won, pushing Alain down to the number eight spot and putting him at risk of being eliminated if he were to lose a Promotion Battle to someone.
As such, to avoid that happening immediately, Raihan challenged and defeated Iris, taking her spot and pushing her down to his, leaving Iris as the number eight trainer in the world, the lowest of the Masters Eight in the current season of the World Coronation Series. As such, when Iris was challenged by the next trainer to reach the number nine spot, she knew that if she were to lose then she could kiss being one of the top eight strongest trainers in the world goodbye. Things stayed that way for a time, at least enough to see Kenny and Trip each win another Ultra Class battle each.
But after Trip's second Ultra Class win, a Promotion Battle was announced, letting the reborn trainers know that Iris was going to have to fight to be able to remain in the Masters Eight. However, the reborn trainers doubt that it was going to be an easy feat for Iris, given that her opponent was slated to be Ideku Badorigo, the roaming trainer from Johto and the Champion of Unova before Unovan government passed xenophobic laws that allowed them to boot the foreigner Ideku from the seat of Unova's Championship, which Iris scooped up sometime after.
Dawn and the others were anticipating Ideku to fight hard and harsh, probably due to being bitter over how his Champion position he had earned was taken from him solely because the locals didn't take kindly to him, a foreigner, being their Champion. And Iris, who sat in the seat that Ideku had once occupied, was to be Ideku's foe in his Promption Battle. Considering the fact that Ideku was packing Enamorus and (especially) Zekrom, the reborn trainers were very much highly doubting that Iris was going to keep a hold on her position in the Masters Eight of the current season of the World Coronation Series.
...
"Excadrill, use Dig!"
"Meganie, use Reflect!"
The Promotion battle between Iris, number eight in the World Cornation Series, and Ideku, number nine in the World Coronation Series, kicked off with Iris's Excadrill versus Ideku's named Meganium Meganie. Excradrill dug its way underground as Meganie set up a Reflect, which would curb the sting Ideku's Pokémon would take from physical attacks. "Meganie, use light Screen!" Ideku called out. Meganie set up the Light Screen, which would curb the sting Ideku's Pokémon would take from special attacks, as it was hit by Excadrill's Dig, which didn't do a lot to be honest.
Iris scoffed at her bad luck; Meganium as a pure grass type resisted ground attacks like Dig, and as a physical attack Dig was curbed in damage output by Reflect. "Excadrill, use focus Blast!" Iris called out.
"Meganie, use Giga Drain!" Ideku commanded.
Excadrill was still faster, so it was able to conjure and cast its Focus Blast attack. However, the attack missed its mark, and Meganie's Giga Drain not only hit Excadrill and damage it fairly well (being part ground nixed Excadrill's otherwise resistance to grass from its steel typing), but it fully healed the named Meganium. Gesturing forward again, Ideku called out, "Meganie, use Giga Drain!"
"Excadrill return!" Iris said as she swapped her Pokémon around, "Go, Haxorus!" After the swap, Iris had her Excadrill swapped out and her Haxorus swapped in. Focusing on her connection to dragon Pokémon, Iris called out, "Haxorus, use Giga Impact!"
"Meganie return!" Ideku said as he swapped his Pokémon around, "Go, Tornupto!" Taking the place of Ideku's named Meganium was his named alpha Hisuian Typhlosion. As the Hisuian variant of the Typhlosion species, Tornupto was dual fire ghost type; its partial ghost typing made it immune to Haxorus's Giga Impact. Gesturing forward, Ideku commanded, "Tornupto, use Infernal Parade!"
"Haxorus, use Dragon Claw!" Iris called out.
Tornupto, with its advantage of distance, was able to conjure and cast its Infernal Parade attack, not only hitting Haxorus before it got within melee range, but also inflicting a burn. As such, the physical Dragon Claw, which already would be curbed by Reflect, was further curbed by the burn Haxorus got. The named alpha Hisuian Typhlosion took a pittance of damage from Iris's Haxorus as a result. Gesturing forward, Iris called out, "Haxorus, use Outrage!"
"Tornupto, use Infernal Parade!" Ideku ordered.
Again, Tornupto was able to strike first, and as Haxorus was suffering from a status ailment, Infernal Parade did double damage, striking Haxorus hard and pushing it back, making it have to run again at Tornupto to try and strike it with Outrage. The distance Tornupto acquired allowed it to hit Haxorus with another Infernal Parade at Ideku's command, resulting in Iris's Haxorus being defeated. "Haxorus has been defeated," the Rotom Drone announced, "Typhlosion wins!"
Iris recalled her fainted Haxorus, looked a bit sorry, then sent back out her hurt Excadrill. "Excadrill, use Drill Run!" Iris ordered.
"Tornupto, use Flamethrower!" Ideku commanded.
Excadrill leapt up and spun quickly as it flew straight at the named alpha Hisuian Typhlosion, pointing right at it while spinning like a drill bit. However, Tornupto's Flamethrower struck Excadrill true, and also inflicted a burn. That, plus Reflect still being up, saved Tornupto from a lot of pain from an attack that, despite being curbed by two factors, was still super effective. Excadrill fell out of its drill form and stumbled back, wincing in pain from its burn. Seeing the opening, the roaming trainer from Johto went in for the kill, he struck while the iron (or steel in this case) was hot (which in a way was technically true).
"Tornupto, use Infernal Parade!" Ideku called out.
Tornupto conjured and cast its Infernal Parade attack at Iris's Excadrill, striking it and dealing a hit that doubled in power due to being used against a Pokémon that was suffering from a status ailment. Excadrill, due to what all it had taken, let out a pained, gasping cry before it fell over onto the battlefield, laying there clearly defeated. "Excadrill has been defeated," the Rotom Drone announced, "Typhlosion wins!"
Iris recalled her fainted Excadrill before she looked over at Ideku. He had no words to offer her. His glare, firm and serious, lacked warmth and mirth, held only cold, calculating business. Iris was thinking about how her current situation may be karma coming back to bite her on her butt because of how she had sabotaged Ideku to lose back when the Manalo Conference took place. but she still had one Pokémon, a strong one she bet could rival even Typhlosion and Meganium combined, a Pokémon that Iris was betting would take Ideku busting out Enamorus or Zekrom to best.
"Go, Dragonite!" Iris called out as she sent in her last Pokémon for the battle, her Dragonite.
"Tornupto return!" Ideku said as he called back his named alpha Hisuian Typhlosion, "Go, Impergator!" To Iris's surprise, Ideku's third and final Pokémon for the battle against her was a Feraligatr. Dawn and the other reborn trainers, as they were in the audience to watch the battle live, knew where Ideku got his Feraligatr from; it had belonged to Ideku's older brother Katsuku, who was killed during the events of Alola's first Pokémon League when Team Scorn attacked. Feraligatr, along with a few other Pokémon, were passed down from Katsuku to Ideku.
Ideku had been known to make use of the Pokémon he had inherited from his older brother. Looking it up, Mina learned that all of Ideku's battles he's won in the current season of the World Coronation Series when he changed ranks, he had won by ending things with one of the Pokémon he had inherited from Katsuku. It was as if Katsuku's strength was lending aid to that of Ideku's own, further bolstering Ideku as he fought his way through the ranks in a bid to reach the top. Dawn and the other reborn trainers looked on as the battle between Iris and Ideku was entering the final stage, to see if Ideku would be knocking Iris out of the Masters Eight.
Gesturing forward, Iris called out, "Dragonite, use Thunder Punch!"
"Impergator, use Ice Punch!" Ideku commanded.
The two Pokémon rushed one another and slugged once another with their punching attacks. Impergator was hit hard and also paralyzed, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been thanks to Reflect still being up. Dragonite, due to having a times four ice weakness, got off the worst for things, and it was also frozen. "Impergator, try using Ice Punch again!" Ideku called out.
The named Feraligatr was able to fight through its paralysis and strike the frozen Dragonite with another Ice Punch; this one, in addition to still being times four super effective, looked to have scored a critical hit on Iris's Dragonite, who was busted out of the ice that entraped it. Dragonite was sent flying back a bit before it hit the ground, skidded for a bit, and came to a stop after kicking up a trail of dust. When the dust settled, everyone saw it that Iris's Dragonite had been defeated. "Dragonite has been defeated," the Rotom Drone announced, "Feraligatr wins! Ideku is the winner of this battle!"
...
Iris couldn't believe it; she had not only been knocked out of the Masters Eight, but it was Ideku, the info withholding jerk, who had done so. Iris soon spotted Dawn and the others after the battle with Ideku, but they were congratulating the roaming trainer from Johto when she spotted them. Iris was upset, having lost the lofty position she had held in the current season of the World Coronation Series. No doubt the citizens of Unova will be unamused that their reigning Champion was not only taken out of the Masters Eight, but by the foreigner who once held her seat no less.
But Iris was still in the World Coronation Series, she was still at the top of the Ultra Class. She could potentially attempt an Entrance Battle against the number eight, but it would be very difficult for her, especially as the number eight right now was Ideku who, in addition to having beaten her just now, also had Enamorus and (especially) Zekrom at his beck and call. It wouldn't be until a week after Iris got back to Unova, with the citizens receiving her more warmly than she had anticipated in all honesty, that Iris heard that Ideku challenged, and defeated, Raihan to take his place in the Masters Eight.
Looking it up, Iris saw that the current Masters Eight was, from top to bottom, Leon, Lance, Steven, Dawn, Nina, Rimu, Ideku, and Raihan. Raihan was nowhere near as much of a threat to face in battle as someone who had two (known) legendary Pokémon, but even so Iris was planning to prep as much as she could in order to stand as much of a chance as possible at taking on Raihan, said to be the only trainer in the Galar region powerful enough to effectively serve as a rival to Leon, the Champion of Galar, to help keep said Champion strong and on his toes. Raihan's no pushover.
Iris was going to have to give it her all in battle if she were to stand any sort of chance at battling her way back into the Masters Eight of the current season of the World Coronation Series.
Sometime after Ideku made Raihan swap places with him in the Masters Eight, the reborn trainers were in the Sinnoh region, having heard that Pyramid King Brandon was in Sinnoh for an Ultra Class battle. They were hoping to get a chance to speak with the Pyramid King in the hopes of being able to work out a deal where they could, if only for a temporary amount of time, get Regigigas from him. At least for long enough to get that 'ultimate key' and use it to get the power that it can unlock, a power that will be needed to help prevent a region wrecking threat.
Speaking of Ultra Class battles, Trip heard it that Ash just won his first such battle, against Volkner of the Sunshore City gym. The reborn trainers were hoping to catch up with Ash to congratulate him, but failed to find him in person. Oh well, they settled for calling Ash to congratulate him over the phone instead. When they did, they also heard Goh in the background crying out over how awesome Ash had been by winning against Volkner, and that Ash's rise to the top of the rankings was more or less a sure thing at this point. Goh even said Dawn ought to be wary of Ash's advancing.
The reborn trainers dismissed Goh's boasting of Ash's skills and strength as him just being excited for a friend. But remembering that Ash was traveling with Goh reminded the reborn trainers that the shenanigans with Project Mew had just started. They still had no clue as to the true intentions behind Project Mew, none of them had lived in their previousl ife long enough to see the conclusion of that story, so they were planning on waiting and seeing before they were certain that Froot Loop was not going to be put into any unnecessary danger.
That was the last thing that Dawn wanted for any of her Pokémon, and she prayed it would not happen in this case.
...
The reborn trainers failed to find Brandon, he flew off in his Battle Pyramid before Dawn and the others were able to reach where he was at. Wondering what could have gotten the Pyramid King acting so excited, Mina looked things up on her phone. "Oh, he's gonna have an official Ultra Class battle against Iris in a few days," Mina said, "From the looks of it, if Brandon wins then he'll be eligible for a Promotion Battle to get into the Masters Eight."
"His highness the Pharaoh of the Pyramid is now rocking enough legendary Pokémon to have a full party's worth of them," Kenny said, "And one of said legendaries has a type advantage over Iris's chosen type. Iris, despite being a region Champion, may not have the sheer force of power to fend that off."
Dawn turned to look at Mina, gave her a questioning look. "Where is the Brandon versus Iris battle going to be taking place?"
Mina looked it up on her phone. "...Oh, it's gonna go down in Opelucid City in the Unova region," Mina said, "As a side note, there's an article about how there's some displeasure in Unova over Iris being knocked out of the Masters Eight by Ideku, but said displeasure comes mostly from folks running the Unovan government. Regular Unovan citizens are far more warmly receiving of Iris, and as a side note the common folk of Unova are stated to be growing more and more unamused with the bigwigs running their region's government."
Dawn was worried for Iris's sake, given that she was facing some disfavor from her region's government over her losing to Ideku. But there was also how the common people of Unova were in turn unamused with Unova's government, growing increasingly so by the day supposedly. Dawn worried how it might boil over if Iris were to go down in her scheduled battle with Pyramid King Brandon, who undoubtedly was going to be packing all six of his legendary Pokémon for the battle despite how he could only use three of them. Although chances are that Brandon will be whipping out his Regice.
...
A few days later over in Unova, the reborn trainers had gathered to watch the Iris versus Brandon battle that, should Brandon win, he'll be eligible to have an Entrance Battle that, should he win there, he'll have made his way into the Masters Eight. As the reborn trainers were looking around for the location of where the battle was going to be held, they stopped short upon hearing a voice call out to them, one that struck them as familiar. "Oh," Dawn said as she and the others turned around to see their surprise guest, "You're that Nemona girl who's a Champion ranked trainer over in Paldea."
Nemona, who had shown up in Opelucid City again, nodded in the affirmative. "What brings you guys here?"
"We're here for the battle between Iris and Brandon," Trip explained, "We have business with Brandon, you see."
Nemona arched a wry eyebrow as she regarded the reborn trainers. "It's about how he's got a lot of legendary Pokémon same as you, right?"
"Actually we're concerned about just one of the legendary Pokémon that Brandon has," Kenny replied, "Our business with his highness the Pharaoh of the Pyramid revolves around his Regigigas."
Folding her arms over her chest, Nemona said, "I was actually on my way to the Battle Pyramid, which had landed in a field here in Opelucid City. That's where the battle between Brandon and Iris is going to be held."
Trip's eyes narrowed out of suspicion. "Sounds to me like Brandon plans to retain the home field advantage at all times."
Shrugging, Nemona said, "Well what can you do?" The reborn trainers then allowed Nemona to lead them over in the direction of where the Battle Pyramid was located.
When they got there, a crowd had gathered around as Brandon was greeting them. The Pyramid King boasted that not only was he going to win against Iris, but he planned to ace his inevitable Entrance Battle after that. "And don't you worry!" Brandon proclaimed in a proud, boasting, booming bellow, "Once I battle my way into the Masters Eight, I intend to challenge and defeat the current Monarch Leon! Ladies and gentlemen, people of Unova, you're looking at the man who will soon be ranked as the number one best trainer in the world!"
The crowds ate up Brandon's boasting, it was hyping up his battle with Iris that was soon to go down. The reborn trainers and Nemona, when they heard what Brandon was boasting, instantly grew worried. "...Given Brandon's attitude problems we've observed during the course of this current season in the World Coronation Series," began Mina, "I'm not too certain that him becoming the Monarch would be a good thing for the competition as a whole. He's giving me vibes that he'll let the position go to his head if he gets it."
"So what can we do?" Kenny asked.
Dawn, with a serious look on her face, said, "I'm getting vibes we'll fail to get a hold of Brandon today. But he's made it clear he's aiming for the Monarch's seat. That being said, I say we go on ahead to wait at a place we know Brandon will be coming to, let him come to us rather than try to chase after Brandon." The Pyramid King was being like a roaming legendary Pokémon in the video games in Dawn's previous life, hard to just encounter in the wild, bound to leave at the first opportunity, and near impossible to pin down.
Trip looked to his sister. "So how do we get to a place we know Brandon will come to?"
"You heard him," Dawn said, "He's aiming to challenge the Monarch as soon as he fights his way into the Masters Eight. But there's still time for there to... be a change... in the position, as it were."
Kenny arched a wry eyebrow in amusement. "...You plan to challenge Leon and take his place as Monarch before Brandon gets there."
Dawn nodded in the affirmative. "We'll have to wait and see if it'll even be necessary, but I get the feeling I'll be having to bust out the big guns."
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND SIXTY-THREE
Author's notes;
This chapter sees a lot of shifting in the personnel in the Masters Eight; Dawn fights and beats Diantha to take her place so as to avoid a constant stream of Entrance Battles, and then Diantha, Iris, and Alain get knocked out and replaced with Ideku, Nina, and Rimu. The reborn trainers hear of Ash's success in the World Coronation Series, but they're also wary of Goh because he just started the Project Mew shenanigans; none of them have any idea how it ended in the anime, and when things get past the point where their previous life knowledge of the anime runs dry, things will pretty much be up to me.
There's also Brandon, the Pyramid King of the Kanto Battle Frontier, getting ready to battle Iris; should Brandon win against Iris, he'll go up to ninth in the World Coronation Series, making him eligible for an Entrance Battle. Should he win there, he'll have made his way into the Masters Eight. And he is already boasting that not only will he succeed, but he'll then challenge and beat Leon to take his place as Monarch. This alarms Dawn to the point she's considering challenging and beating Leon for the Monarch title before Brandon has a chance to get there.
If anything, it means Brandon WILL have to meet with the reborn trainers eventually. Anyway, the next chapter will continue things from here, so until then take care.
There's an update on the business involving PhoenixRebel, the guy over on Webnovel who's been re-posting (plagiarizing) this story. They have dropped what they were doing and came out to their readers about what had been going on, as well as apologize. It still kind of hurts what had been done to me, but the fessing up and swearing of stopping what they were doing is good. So long as PhoenixRebel keeps that good behavior up, I'll be good.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Froot Loop (Mew), Lincoln (male Latios), Tambourine (female Kommo-o' totem), Kurumu (Groudon)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Siczor; shiny), Venoct (Suicune), Zarbon (male Machamp), Delerious (male Mimikyu; totem), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Natalya (female Copperajah), Akibot 966 (Golurk), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; totem), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Dragonite (male), Gardevoir (male), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny), Sylveon (male; shiny)