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: The Manalo Conference, part five
When word from Admin Mage got out to pull out, all of Team Scorn that was on Manalo Island ceased activity and pulled out, all of them getting away due to a mix of smoke bombs and making distractions that would be pursuers were forced to prioritize. It was rather annoying that Team Scorn got away, but silver lining was that they lacked the power necessary to stick around and actually win overall; they only could have at most done superficial damage given the multiple trainers who each owned multiple legendary Pokémon that were there at Manalo Island.
Even if the highest ranked member of Team Scorn known to the public, Boss's Assistant Ayane, hadn't been deprived of her own legendary, and she was there to help with the chaos, Team Scorn still wouldn't of had enough power to let them win, and they still would have eventually been driven off with their tails between their legs. But Ayane didn't show up, did not want to risk herself after what had happened to her. The right hand girl of Team Scorn's overall boss still had to bide her time until the moment was right for her to take the revenge that she so craved.
She... would also be dealing with some work that she was going to feel she should not have to deal with. Said work being that Captain Zed of the Katana Sector from the Johto region had, once again, shot someone, only this time said incident occurring during the Team Scorn attack on Manalo Island. And it was blatantly obvious that Zed had acted as such only because he otherwise would have been forced by the person he shot to battle. Ayane had heard that Zed had shot someone, but it would not be for a while after Team Scorn left Manalo Island until she learned WHO exactly it was that Zed had shot.
Some helicopters had to fly out to Manalo Island to air lift hurt persons to the hospital on the mainland of Alola; there were multiple persons hurt during the Team Scorn attack on Manalo Island, although an especial rush had to be done for the person who Captain Zed had shot in the chest. With everything settled well enough, everyone left Manalo Island to return to Melemele Island, where the hospital was located and as many people as possible rushed to go check up on the person who had been shot in the chest, especially Suwabe and Matsuda, the teachers from Blackthorn City Academy supervising their students on the field trip from that school.
The reason why those men rushed to the hospital was because it was one of Suwabe's students, Katsuku Badorigo, who was the one shot in the chest. When word reached all of the students in the field trip group from Blackthorn City Academy that Katsuku had been shot in the chest by someone using a gun (the short boy with the purple Mohawk couldn't keep his mouth shut), the students who were part of the field trip all freaked. Especially Sarah, a girl with long flowing blonde hair, and one of the girls who is in Matsuda's homeroom class. Sarah freaked because Katsuku is her boyfriend.
As well as the guy who got her pregnant; she at that point was about half a month away from her scheduled due date, but the worry and stress that came from hearing that Katsuku had been shot freaked and distressed Sarah to the point it triggered her to go into labor early, requiring her to go to the same hospital where her boyfriend was fighting for his life. Katsuku's best friend Justin also had to go to the hospital, but that was because Faba, formerly of Aether Foundation but now of Team Scorn, did not like Justin trying to reach for him, so he stomped on and broke the offending hand.
Some of the other students from the Blackthorn City Academy field trip were hurt, but none of them required a dire trip to the hospital; at most, after Sarah, Justin, and Katsuku, one boy from Matsuda's class needed a slight stitch under one of his eyes, and that Trina girl in Suwabe's class had sprained her ankle (adrenaline that she was feeling at the moment allowed her to ignore it). But those minor boo-boos were nothing compared to a boy with a busted hand, a girl going into labor, and a second boy having been shot in the chest by a criminal using a gun.
Blackthorn City Academy was already suffering in the media due to the fallout of Ayane being outed as the Team Scorn boss's right hand girl, given her fall from grace was a direct result of Blackthorn City Academy staff exercising power and authority without any checks in place to keep said power and authority from being abused. The top trainer academy was sorely in for it now if word got out that some students needed care at a hospital following a Team Scorn attack, and that one of said students may very well end up dying on the grounds of a foreign region.
...
Justin, wearing a cast on his busted hand, met with Dawn, Kenny, Trip, and Mina. The four of them waited around outside of the hospital room where Katsuku was now fighting for his life as far as they knew. "...Do you guys now how Katsu-bro's doing?" Justin asked.
"...He actually asked for a lawyer well versed in Johto region inheritance laws," Dawn said, her tone and expression somber and grim, "Matsuda-sensei went along as well as he also knows about those laws. But the lawyer is needed due to needing things to be legal."
A flash of fear entered Justin's eyes. "Katsu-bro, he..." Swallowing the lump in his throat, Justin went on, "...He's gonna die, isn't he...?"
"The doctors say it's a miracle he survived long enough to ask for a lawyer to help him do up his last will and testament," Trip said, "And to have said business taken care of. As far as we know, Katsuku technically is still alive right now."
"How's his girlfriend doing?" Mina asked.
Justin let out a troubled sigh. "...She was able to deliver her and Katsu-bro's kid safely enough, despite how the kid's half a month early. Katsu-bro's a father now. He has a son."
Gesturing to Justin's cast, Kenny asked, "How are you doing?"
Justin at that prompting held up his hand that was in a cast. "Pfft, this is nothing, at least compared to what Katsu-bro's going th-"
Justin was cut off when the door leading into Katsuku's room opened, and out walked Suwabe, Matsuda, and a plump early thirties woman dressed like she was from a law firm. "Oh, Justin," Suwabe said, clearly trying to remain stoic as he usually is, "We... actually came out to find you, Katsuku was hoping to speak with you."
"Here... here is the deal," the plump lawyer woman said, "Katsuku Badorigo is... he is not going to survive the night." Justin and the reborn trainers all looked shocked. "He must have had a feeling that he wasn't going to make it," the plump woman went on, "Hence why he called for someone like me."
"You're the lawyer well versed in Johto region inheritance laws," Dawn remarked.
The plump woman nodded in the affirmative. "He wanted someone to help him properly do up his will to make sure it was air tight and perfectly legal in accordance to the laws of his home region. I... can't disclose what all he allocated to who, but I will say that I feel part of why he called for someone like me is because he must not be all that fond of his parents for some odd reason, given he wanted to ensure he could leave them as little as his will could legally get away with." Patting her briefcase, the plump woman said, "Anyway, the will's done up and it's wholly legal as per all Johto region inheritance laws."
"And as for us needing to find Justin," Suwabe said, "Katsuku... wanted to speak with him one last time." It was clear that at this point, Suwabe was actively trying to hold it together. But it was clear that even the most stoic of teachers will break down emotionally if a student they're responsible for had been shot in the chest and will be dying in a hospital away from his home region.
The reborn trainers allowed Justin to go in alone, waited outside for him to get out. It took about fifteen minutes for Justin to come out after he went in, but when he did come out he was very obviously crying. Suwabe let out a resigned, somber sigh. "...He's just died, didn't he." The way Suwabe spoke made his statement sound more like a statement than a question. His tone also made him sound defeated, broken, like a man who lost a child of his.
Justin somberly nodded his head a bit before speaking up. "He... he wanted me to make sure that a deal that was made between me, him, and our respective girlfriends was going to be honored," Justin said, "And also asked me to pass along some... ideas. He died about five minutes after I went in to see him, and I cried for the rest of the time I was in there before the doctor in there had to send me out."
Suwabe let out a resigned, troubled sigh. "...Well fuck. Katsuku's dead. How the hell will we break this to his family?"
"Especially his parents who Katsuku wanted to leave as little as possible in his will?" Matsuda asked, "Are they even aware that their now dead son had hated them enough to want to screw them over? Why would he even go so far?"
Gesturing to Matsuda, Kenny said, "I think it may have to do with how Katsuku's parents had been towards Katsuku's younger brother Ideku."
The plump woman nodded once in confirmation. "Considering how much Katsuku had left to Ideku Badorigo, I'd say that's a very sound deduction."
...
As the reborn trainers would later find out, Ideku had inherited quite a lot from Katsuku. As per the inheritance laws of the Johto region, at least ninety percent of the value of a deceased person's estate they left behind has to remain with surviving family if possible, and furthermore each surviving relative is entitled to a certain percentage of the value of their late relative's will. This is why Katsuku had called for the lawyer well versed in Johto region inheritance laws; he wanted to be sure that the bare minimum that was legally required would be left to his respective parents, otherwise they could have contested the will and claim more than he wanted them to get their hands on.
Luckily for the late Katsuku, he had enough money saved up in his account to leave his parents the value they were respectively legally entitled to with just cash; they didn't get a dollar more, and they got none of his possessions (at least right off the bat). The other two persons mentioned in Katsuku Badorigo's will were his best friend Justin and his (Katsuku's) younger brother Ideku. Justin was left Katsuku's class ring, a bulky gold number with a red gem stone set into it. Justin now had a ring for people to kiss as he IS the godfather of Katsuku's now born son.
As for Ideku, he got literally everything else; the rest of Katsuku's savings, what all material possessions Katsuku left behind (the will stated that what all Ideku didn't take could go to their parents), and most notably all of Katsuku's Pokémon. This meant that Ideku now owned a Feraligatr, a Jumpluff, a Magcargo, an Umbreon, a Fearow, and a Sudowoodo (Katsuku only ever owned the six). Katsuku's parents when they found out that their first born son had been killed were understandably very upset with their loss, and judging by how they tried to contest Katsuku's when they were told how little they were getting, the fears Katsuku had surrounding them were very much well founded.
They gave up when an inheritance lawyer in Johto confirmed that their son's will was perfectly legal and air tight. The will reading actually took place in the Johto region, and it was actually the first time Ideku had seen his parents in years; given how they had treated him, it wasn't surprising that it took a will reading that named all of them to bring them together. Mrs. Badorigo also tried to contest Justin getting Katsuku's class ring, but that failed too because, after all, everything was perfectly legal and air tight. Ideku, accompanied by a lawyer to make sure the Badorigo parents had complied, went to the Badorigo household to collect what all material possessions Katsuku left behind that he wanted.
Ideku took literally everything of interest to him, including a small jewelry box containing men's jewelry that was sitting on Katsuku's desk in his old room; Ideku took this because of something Justin whispered to him in secret, something Katsuku had told him minutes before he died. After laying claim to what all stuff of Katsuku's that he wanted (a list was written up to log what all Ideku was claiming slash carrying away with him for now), Ideku left the house that never really welcomed him, the house that never really wanted him. ...No, it wasn't necessarily the house entirely, it was just his parents. The Badorigo parents were now effectively broken; they lost the son they had tried for, and the son they didn't try for or wanted now wanted nothing to do with them.
Because they had allowed their pride to run things all their life.
Back in Alola, the mood in the heroes' class was rather somber. "So it turns out that Katsuku wanted to make sure his parents didn't find out he got his girlfriend pregnant," Dawn said as she talked to Kenny and Trip, "And that the deal to claim the kid is Sarah's and Justin's would stick. As far as everyone outside of the know is aware, the kid really is the child of Sarah and Justin as a result from an orgy between Katsuku, Sarah, Justin, and Amanda."
"So Katsuku's parents have no idea that they're grandparents now," Trip remarked, drawing an affirmative nod from Dawn.
"Katsuku also asked Justin to tell Ideku to make sure to grab his thing of men's jewelry," Kenny said, "As he has a ring in there he wants given to Sarah, some brass, bulky looking number with six differently colored little faux gems in it." Looking to Dawn, Kenny asked, "How is the kid himself doing?"
"As per another request Katsuku on his deathbed made to Justin," Dawn began, "The kid was named after Justin himself. Katsuku had asked that the kid be named Justin if it's a boy or Amanda if it's a girl. Apparently, Katsuku wanted to name the kid after its godparent that it has the same gender as. The kid ended up being a boy, so he was named Justin."
Looking to Dawn, Trip asked, "How are Katsuku's classmates and peers taking his death?"
Dawn let out a troubled, resigned sigh. "His classmates are all upset, as are the students in their rival class. The teachers supervising the field trip are also upset, Suwabe-sensei especially as Katsuku was one of his students. Katsuku's girlfriend Sarah is still the most upset among the students, as she lost the boy she was in love with, as well as the father of her son."
"How's..." Kenny began, "...How's Ideku taking the death of his older brother?"
"Ideku is prioritizing making sure Katsuku's Pokémon are able to get through the death of their old trainer," Dawn said, "As much as Ideku is grieving his only family member that had shown him care or respect, he feels that Katsuku's Pokémon are going to have it worse." Shrugging, Dawn said, "Doesn't surprise me. Ideku always had a tendency to prioritize the care and well being of Pokémon under his care over his own care and well being. I... I guess trying to make sure Katsuku's Pokémon are able to get through what happened is Ideku's way of coping."
The reborn trainers let out a collective resigned sigh; things had gone straight to hell due to the Team Scorn attack on Manalo Island. The exhibition battle between Ash and Serena being interrupted aside (they redid the battle in a stadium on Melemele Island and Ash won), the Team Scorn attack on Manalo Island had caused loads of damage. Various businesses were also robbed, and there's the blatantly obvious thing of Katsuku having been shot in the chest and later dying as a result. There was also the fact that a number of persons were hurt; due to the evil of Team Scorn, the legacy of the Alola Pokémon League now had a shadow over it, given what all had gone down at the first Manalo Conference.
Kenny, after thinking about what all had happened, remarked, "Well hot damn. I can't possibly think of any way how this whole mess could possibly get any worse." The exact moment after Kenny finished saying that line there, his girlfriend Mina, dressed in her casual outfit, came rushing into the classroom. When Kukui who saw Mina rush in questioned her, Kenny vouched for her; Mina being his girlfriend aside, Kenny could tell that she had something rather urgent to say, hence her rushing in. "Hey Mina, what's the rush for?" Kenny asked.
"You know that Sarah girl from the Blackthorn City Academy field trip who had a kid here in Alola?" Mina said, "Yeah, her kid had just been kidnapped by Team Scorn!"
"Team Scorn did WHAT?!" Dawn, Kenny, and Trip all exclaimed in unison, and likewise the rest of the class got worked up.
Nodding once in the affirmative, Mina said, "Oh hells yeah! According to what I got, the Team Scorn guys who took that Sarah girl's baby claimed that they actually have a spy within the ranks of students in the field trip from Blackthorn City Academy, and said spy told them about the baby! Team Scorn was seen in a helicopter flying away from the hospital, and one doctor even claimed he saw a Team Scorn peon handing Sarah's baby to that Ayane chick who's now wearing a fantasy mage outfit in the Team Scorn colors! They got into the helicopter and took off! There's no telling where they're at now!"
The students in Class 1-A of the trainer school looked beyond mad at the revelation that Team Scorn had kidnapped the just very recently born son of the late Katsuku Badorigo. "They... they kidnapped a baby," Ash said, "Team Scorn had actually kidnapped a baby. This is beyond wrong."
"Hoo boy," Kenny said, "Am I glad that I am NOT part of Team Scorn." Dawn could tell what Kenny meant; Kenny was clearly thinking about how Ideku, who knows baby Justin's true parentage, will react upon hearing that his infant nephew had just been kidnapped by a Team Scorn effort, and one that had apparently led by the girl that had been leading him on for so long at that. Ideku was very clearly one of the strongest trainers in the world, and he's already grieving over the loss of his older brother. But now Team Scorn had done something that is bound to send a grieving and upset uncle on the warpath against them.
Dawn was calling it right now; Ideku was going to be out for Team Scorn's blood.
Iris was packing up her case before heading out of Alola to return home to Unova. She fully intended to redouble her efforts in training to keep herself and her Pokémon strong; as much as Iris didn't want to admit it, she knew full well that Admin Mage and his backup would have beaten her on Manalo Island, had it not been for the timely arrival of Dawn and Trip scaring Mage and his posse into fleeing. Iris was a region Champion, for crying out loud! And yet she was almost defeated by a group of evil and petty criminals! This was majorly embarrassing for Iris.
As well as the wake-up call she needed to keep up with her training. She recalled how she had lost to that Champion-ranked trainer from the Paldea region, and now she had very nearly been defeated by a group of Team Scorn members. Iris felt that she, if she didn't improve herself and her Pokémon fast, would be an embarrassment to the Unova region. It's already bad enough that Unova is getting blasted in inter-regional news for its persisting xenophobic slant its government had taken, Unova didn't need a reputation of its current regional Champion being weak.
She needed to be strong, and that's exactly what she planned to get working on as soon as she got home to Unova. Having finished packing her case, Iris grabbed it and was ready to leave. However, there was a knock at her door, then she heard the voice of Ash's friend Serena call out, "Iris? You in there?"
"Yeah, come in," Iris replied, wondering what in blazes Serena would want with her.
Serena came in, closing the door behind her, and walked up to Iris as she pulled her phone out. The look on Serena's face made it clear to Iris that she knew something serious. "Just so you know," Serena began, her tone and expression brokering no quarter, "I have a copy of the video clip I'm about to show you recorded and stored elsewhere, so don't think you can get out of this."
"A video clip?" Iris said, "What are you-" Iris stopped short when Serena turned her phone around and showed Iris the video that was playing on it. To Iris's surprised shock and horrified worry, it was a recording of Iris herself talking to Ideku alone, back when she deliberately misinformed him in a bid to compromise his ability to fight against Ash in the Manalo Conference.
Pulling her phone away to put it away, Serena said, "I know full well what you did, even though the audio was barely able to record any volume period. You had tried to deliberately sabotage Ash so that he'd lose in the Manalo Conference. I have no idea what game you're playing at, and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for doing something like this when, you being the Unova Champion aside, you're supposed to be Ash's friend. I knew something was up about you, given how you constantly insult Ash by calling him 'a little kid'. Well, I think we both know who the REAL 'little kid' here is, wouldn't you say?"
Iris couldn't believe her luck; Serena had actually gotten proof of her sabotaging Ideku's efforts against Ash. Granted, from the looks of it, as well as what all noise could have been heard, it would seem like Iris was sabotaging Ash so that he'd lose to Ideku, but the reality is that Iris was trying to sabotage Ideku so that he'd lose to Ash. If Serena felt like it, she could make the evidence public, which would ruin Iris's reputation; it would also make Unova look REALLY bad on the inter-region scene, which is something it already has plenty of and by no means needs anymore.
Folding her arms over her chest, Serena went on, "Luckily for us, Ash is too good to fall victim to such petty tactics. It's obvious that he foiled whatever plans you may of had, further proving just how great and awesome of a person Ash is." Again, Serena was showing she firmly believed Iris was acting against Ash instead of for him which was the truth of Iris's actions. Iris was also getting vibes that Serena was as upset with her as she is partly (it was clearly a VERY large part) due to Serena apparently having romantic feelings for Ash. Iris... was not quite sure what to make of a guy like Ash having attracted a girl's affections, but said girl was now acting on Ash's behalf (at least as far as said girl believed).
Gesturing to Iris, Serena said, "Anyway, the point of why I came here to see you. This is the deal now; I know full well the region you're the Champion of is in a lot of trouble with the other regions because of some issues your region refuses to drop. Make your region drop those issues for good and play nice with the other regions, and I'll withhold the video of you trying to sabotage Ash from the media. Agreed?"
So that was the deal here; Serena was wanting to make Iris force Unova to drop its negative traits, particularly its xenophobia, and make other regions more agreeable to the idea of working with Unova. Iris also saw the practicality behind such a move, as out of all of the regions, Unova was suffering the worse overall due to Team Scorn because outside aid from other regions isn't coming in. Iris was still hurting over how Reshiram, one of the legendary dragons of Unovan lore, wanted nothing to do with Unova or its people due to the xenophobic slant it had taken as of late. Iris figured that Zekrom would hate Unova even more, given its trainer is foreign born from Unova and was victimized directly by Unova's recent xenophobic slant it had taken.
"It's... something I've been trying to work on myself," Iris began, "I haven't had much luck thus far. But I had been subtle about it, I didn't wanna force things or be overt. But I can see now that a more forceful, overt hand is needed here to make Unova grow up."
"I'm looking forward to seeing how a more directly guiding hand makes Unova mature and grow up as it has to," Serena said evenly and business-like. She turned around to walk away, but stopped and spoke up to get Iris's attention, never turning back around to face Iris. "...Oh, and one more thing. If you ever do anything to act against or harm Ash again..." Serena turned her head, her glare a piercing visage of vengeful anger. "...I will make you regret it." Serena turned her head back around and left the hotel room, leaving Iris alone.
Alone now, Iris knew that she was caught between a rock and a hard place. She also felt it that she had to change clothes before leaving, as she just realized that she when scared by Serena's anger had soiled herself. Iris did not know what to make of it that Ash clearly has a female admirer who'd scare people into soiling themselves for any offence made against him. At least Serena clearly had nothing but care and affection for the boy from Pallet Town, Kanto. Regardless, Iris had to clean herself up before she could get going back home to Unova, where she had another task on her to-do list.
Iris, as she cleaned herself up, was glad that she was only scared into doing number one.
Over at a Team Scorn base in an undisclosed location, Zed was walking assured and proud as he made his way to an office that he had been summoned to. Following along behind him was his Captain's Assistant Kenji. "It's obvious that I'm going to be rewarded for my brave and valiant efforts in taking down one of the trainers that Team Scorn is being wary of, Kenji," Zed said, "I can see it now. I'll be let off the hook for what all trouble I'm in, and I'll be promoted so much the higher ups will more or less beg me to take an Admin position."
"Sir, when Admin Brother told us to come, he did not sound even one iota happy," Kenji pointed out, "Surely you heard his tone, didn't you? What makes you believe that you will be let off the hook for what all trouble you're in AND be promoted?"
"Because I am bar none the one most worthy of commendation," Zed replied. The pair kept going until they got to a door leading into the office that Zed and Kenji had been summoned to. To Zed's piqued interest, Admin Brother's Admin's Assistant (and autistic younger sister) Akari was waiting outside of the door with Shimono, Matsuoka, and Admin's Assistant Goemon. "What are all of you doing here?" Zed demanded more than asked, "You do realize that yo-"
"Get in there, Zed," Goemon said, cutting Zed off as he jerked a thumb at the door, "Kenji waits out here with us. This is a direct order from Boss's Assistant Ayane." The tone of Goemon was cold, businesslike, indifferent.
A bit weirded out by Goemon's tone with him (he was considering reporting it), Zed nonetheless complied, having Kenji wait outside with the others as Zed himself went into the office alone. As soon as the door closed behind Zed, he heard Ayane's voice say, "Search him."
At that moment, Brother and Ninja suddenly came in and proceeded to frisk down Zed. "Hey, what's the meaning of this?" Zed said, "What are-"
"Submit to the search, Zed," Ayane called out, making him turn to see her standing in front of the desk in the room. Zed personally wasn't much of a fan of Ayane's new Team Scorn outfit, what with its fantasy mage theme; he much preferred her old outfit that was based more on a proper school academy uniform. Ayane's tone, her glare, made it clear to Zed that the right hand girl of the boss was brokering no quarter. Ayane pointed her wizard staff, embedded inside the head of which was her Key Stone, at Zed in an accusing manner.
"You..." Ayane said, her current tone taking on a hint of danger, "...Have fucked up big time. You had knowingly and deliberately straight up KILLED one of the trainers that Team Scorn keeps dossiers on. What's worse is that I had gotten it that you had done so solely to avoid battling said trainer, which helps to further highlight your disgustingly high cowardice." Ayane pulled her staff back, her brows furrowing more as she continued to glare at Zed as his on hand team of Pokémon, as well as that very infamous gun of his, were all confiscated by Brother and Ninja.
As Ninja went behind Zed to hand the confiscated goods off to someone Zed couldn't see as he had to face forward to look at the Boss's Assistant, Ayane went on as she continued to glare daggers at Zed. "...There's no undoing what you had done, there's no making up for it. You have crossed the line this time, Zed. As such, there is but one punishment that has been deemed fit to dole out to you here for your serious transgression. I hope you're ready Zed, because much like what you had done over on Manalo Island, your punishment will be something that can't be taken back."
"You're... you're going to demote me to the rank and file and keep me there for good?" Zed said, genuine panic and worry clear in his tone and expression, "Oh please, ma'am, surly I can be given anoth-"
*BANG*
Zed was dropped to the floor of the office after he was shot in the head from behind, killed before he could even finish begging to be kept on as a Team Scorn Officer. Standing behind where the now late Zed had stood was a uniquely dressed member of Team Scorn; he was male, with fair skin and jet black hair, but his eyes were unknown as he wore black sunglasses. He wore a gaiter mask up, covering all of his face below his eyes as well as his neck, and his head was perfectly shaded under a large dark blue hood. He wore a sleeveless yellow shirt, but that wasn't easily seen as he wore a dark blue sleeveless jacket over it and the jacket was zipped up.
He also wore a baggy pair of dark blue cargo short held up with a similarly colored leather belt, yellow socks, and a pair of rather clunky dark blue sneakers. He also wore a pair of dark blue soft leather gauntlets, with the right hand holding the gun confiscated from Zed, its barrel smoking as this mysterious member of Team Scorn had been the one to shoot Zed in the back of the head. The mysterious member of Team Scorn then proceeded to empty the remainder of the gun's clip into Zed's dead deceased lifeless corpse, getting off five more shots until no would come out as the clip had been expended.
As Brother and Ninja looked on in shocked surprise, Ayane with a calm and understanding look on her face knelt before the mysterious Team Scorn member, bowing her head to him. "I certainly hope you had made you point clear to Zed," Ayane said to the mysterious Team Scorn member, her calm tone conveying nothing but obedience and respect, as well as a little bit of reverence for the person she spoke to. She lifted her head, looked directly at the mysterious member of Team Scorn who had just shot and killed Zed before emptying the rest of a gun's clip into Zed's corpse.
"...Boss Pariah."
The now identified Pariah, the Boss of Team Scorn, held the now empty gun to Ninja. "Hold onto this for me until I'm ready to take it to the foundry. Don't lose it, I wanna be able to watch it get destroyed." Pariah's voice sounded cold, mature, business-like; an average person going by Pariah's voice alone would estimate him to be at least thirty years of age.
"Yes sir," Ninja said immediately, taking the gun from Pariah gingerly.
After handing off the gun to Ninja, Pariah turned to regard Brother. "...Admin Brother." The head of the Katana Sector was ready to be berated for the fuck ups of his now slain underling, but to Brother's surprise the next words out of Pariah's mouth, their tone making it clear the Boss of Team Scorn was truly sincere, were, "I believe that I owe you an apology."
"...Sir?" Brother replied, sounding curious and mildly confused, as well as (significantly) relieved.
"I make it a habit of allowing my Admins to choose who serves under them as Captains in their respective sectors," Pariah began to explain, "As I believe that being able to pick out one's Officer staff helps an Admin to make their Officer staff a stronger team. It's like how a trainer picks from among what Pokémon they own to make the strongest team that they can come up with. But that is not the case when it came to Zed. I had basically forced him onto you when your Sector first got up and running, and because of that his ego and incompetence had caused the Katana Sector, and Team Scorn as a whole, more trouble than he was worth. As such, I'd like to apologize to you for it."
Bowing his head to Pariah, Brother said, "You're too gracious to me, sir. I should have been able to control Zed better."
"Another thing I'd like to apologize for," Pariah went on, "Is that fact that, technically, your Sector's now down a Captain. And this time, I'm going to make sure that you're allowed final say in who gets the empty Captaincy spot." Arching a wry eyebrow which was barely able to be seen behind the sunglasses, Pariah remarked, "I got it that you were secretly training up someone of your choosing to be ready to take up a Captaincy spot as you were wanting to get rid of Zed anyway. I was well aware of Zed's continuous fuck ups and would have agreed to let you make the change to your Sector's Officer staff. Would you say the person's ready?"
"Not fully," Brother said, "I had a bit more work to do before the person was ready, and was hoping to make the change as soon as I felt they were ready. But I suppose a little on-the-job training will also help them get fully trained."
Pariah nodded once in understanding. "Very well. Oh, one more thing." Pariah reached into a pocket on his sleeveless jacket and pulled out a bag of watermelon flavored jelly candy rings. "I understand this is a favorite candy of Akari's," Pariah said as he tossed the bag of candy to Brother, "I got it she's waiting outside. She must have heard the gunshots and is frightened out of her mind. Please give that to her for me, along with my apologies for potentially having scared her."
Brother bowed his head to Pariah out of thanks for such consideration; although the Boss of Team Scorn can be harsh if given a reason, he was still a kindly leader to those under him overall. Pariah even went so far as to personally look out for the well being those in Team Scorn who are autistic, such as Brother's sister Akari who serves Brother as his Admin's Assistant. Pariah, when he heard what Brother did to the late Miss Akeno of Blackthorn City Academy, summoned him to see him as soon as Brother was able to go and praise him for decapitating that horrible woman.
Turning to look at Ayane, Pariah said, "Anyway Ayane, I got it you heard word of how the ongoing World Coronation Series is going."
Ayane nodded once in the affirmative. "Yes, sir. I heard that people are calling it that the finals of the Masters Eight this year will see Indigo Champion Lance battling against Galar Champion Leon to see who will earn the title of Monarch."
Pariah nodded once in acceptance of the information. "Fair enough. Team Scorn will be taking action regarding the World Coronation Series AFTER the current season of it finishes. It's too late in the current season for Team Scorn's plan regarding it to be implemented. Oh, that reminds me, how is the Headphones Sector shaping up?"
Ayane looked a bit confused. "The Headphones Sector? ...Oh, that's the name of the Team Scorn Sector native to the Galar region. I don't have much from them other than general info that they're doing well."
"I hope that Admin Scorbunny, who heads up the Headphones Sector, is ready to do her part for Team Scorn's plans regarding the next season of the World Coronation Series," Pariah remarked, "Because if Team Scorn's plans for the World Coronation Series are successful..." Pariah held up a hand, clenched it shut tight into a fist, as if to make a dramatic scene.
"...I shall be one step closer to my TRUE goal."
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND FORTY
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the end result of the chaos on Manalo Island coming to a close. Sadly, Katsuku Badorigo ends up dying due to Zed's cowardice, and he leaves most of what all he had to his younger brother. The child that Katsuku has with his girlfriend is also born, a boy who is named after Katsuku's best friend Justin, but Team Scorn kidnaps Baby Justin, with word left that Team Scorn has a spy among the ranks of the students in the field trip from Blackthorn City Academy.
Speaking of spy bits, it's revealed that Serena had secretly spied on Iris when she fed misinformation to Ideku to sabotage him, and even recorded a video of it on her phone to blackmail Iris with. Granted, Serena's acting like that out of a belief that Iris was trying to sabotage Ash, but the point remains that Serena's more than ready to ruin Iris for daring to act against her (Serena's) man. Being generous, Serena decides to simply force Iris to force Unova to clean up its act, something that Iris had planned to do anyway. Iris taking a bolder approach in getting her region to stop being one big collective little kid will be part of her character arc during the next saga in the story here.
Meanwhile, at a Team Scorn base in an undisclosed location, Zed is brought to an office room, where he's stripped of his ability to fight back as Ayane lambastes him, right before Zed's shot in the back of the head and killed with his own gun (the same gun that killed both Trip's biological mom in this world AND Katsuku) by the now finally revealed Boss of Team Scorn, a mysterious and unknowable person named Pariah. After making some apologies, Pariah makes a few comments about how Team Scorn has a plan in store for the World Coronation Series, saying that should said plan be successful then he'll be one step closer to his TRUE goal.
The next chapter will be spent cleaning up a few things before the reborn trainers return home to Sinnoh, also Mina will be starting to come along. The time in Alola may be coming to an end, but there's gonna be a region-hopping adventure around the world in the next saga of this story. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Kurumu (Groudon), Fangfang (Yveltal), Ruby (Reshiram), Zyuoh (Solgaleo)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Badeeyaa (Xurkitree), Zamasu (Necrozma), Shenron (Rayquaza), Porunga (Zygarde), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Gypsy Danger (female Togekiss), Space Kitta (Celesteela), Foruze (male Electivire), Suzaku (male Primarina)
Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Greninja (male), Inciniroar (male), Decidueye (male; Hisuian), Goodra (male), Naganadel (gender unknown)