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 eighty-one: The Masters Eight tournament, part three
Dawn found herself floating in a white void. She wore her standard outfit, although her hat was missing for some odd reason. "...Fuck," Dawn swore, more annoyed than anything else, "Don't tell me that I kicked it."
"Thou hast not struck anything with either of thy feet," a mysterious voice said as it called out to Dawn, "And if it be the mortal coil thou is worried about, fret not for thou shalt awaken in a place of healing, thy Pokémon and friends by thy side."
Looking around, Dawn called out, "Who was that?" Dawn was apprehensive, but not too alarmed.
"A familiar friend," the voice called out, "Using divine powers to reach thee in thy rest at the place of healing thou hast been taken to for treatment, following thy asthma attack. I am speaking to thee as thou lay dreaming. Thou art safe and sound, and shall awaken in due time."
Dawn gave a mildly unamused scowl. "So it WAS an asthma attack. Great. I thought I had-"
"Thou art a soul reborn to the world in which thee and thy friends now live," the mysterious voice said, "Though by what means thee and thy friends had come to thou current realm escape even my ability to reason out. Thy asthma had followed thou, although it took a while to catch up. It was to return eventually, for it is part of thou."
"So I have asthma again," Dawn scowled, "Great."
"It is understandable that thou art not amused to be plagued by compromised health once more," the mysterious voice continued, "And although thy asthma was fated to return to thou once more, here it can be kept from claiming thy life. The divine powers that are allied with thou, even they had not the power to prevent thy asthma from returning to thou, but said divine powers can keep thy asthma from claiming thy life."
Dawn arched a wry eyebrow. "...The presence of my legendary Pokémon can keep my asthma from killing me."
"Indeed," the mysterious voice replied, "The aura of protection their presence makes will also keep at bay all other manner of plagues to thy health that weren't a part of thou in thy past life." Dawn was looking like she understood that her legendary Pokémon, simply by hanging around her, generated some manner of protective aura that preserved her health, ensuring she'd never suffer anything that she didn't suffer in her past life.
...But she suffered from asthma in her past life, and as such it returned to her in her current life. And it couldn't have come back at a worse time, as she had an asthma attack after round one of the Masters Eight tournament but before round two of the same. Dawn was figuring it'd have her drop out of the competition, which sucked as she was looking forward to seeing how far she would have been able to go.
"Thou art set to awaken in the place of healing that thou has been taken to in short order," the mysterious voice said, "I shall cease being able to speak with thou here, though I shall be seeing thou when thou is awake soon enough. Rest well, good hero, for thy strength shall be needed yet to help combat the terrors plaguing thy current world." Dawn then felt everything getting brighter and brighter, to the point she couldn't even see herself.
Dawn's eyes fluttered awake and, as soon as she had the energy, she sat up. She found herself in a hospital room, laying in a hospital bed as she wore only a hospital gown. Dawn sat up in the bed, the blanket falling down but piled a bit in her lap. Looking around, Dawn saw that Kenny, Trip, and Mina were all in the room, keeping guard over her obviously. They all sat in chairs, and all of them were currently fast asleep.
Dawn heard the door leading into her hospital room open, making her turn to see a doctor walk in, followed by a worried looking Johanna, who is the mom of Dawn and Trip. Johanna, seeing Dawn was awake and sitting up in bed, looked fit to exclaim in relief that her daughter was awake, but said daughter held her right index finger in front of her mouth to make her mom hush before even one bit of noise escaped from her mouth.
...
Later, after the other reborn trainers were woken up and made to keep from rushing Dawn, the doctor began to explain a few things. "Yes, Dawn Berlitz does indeed have asthma," the doctor said, "It's looks to be a fairly bad and strong case too, and given the chronic nature of the issue it'll stick with Dawn for the rest of her life. However, it can be managed."
"How soon can Dawn be discharged from the hospital?" Mina asked, "She's got a battle in the second round of the Masters Eight tournament to win."
"Dawn can't be discharged until after the Masters Eight tournament is set to be concluded, I'm afraid," the doctor explained.
Johanna nodded in grim confirmation. "Yes. The people running the Masters Eight tournament had officially dropped Dawn from the running earlier after the hospital submitted the initial report on her condition. As a side note, Dawn is the first person in the history of the World Coronation Series to have been eliminated from the Masters Eight tournament for a reason aside from losing a battle, as she was put down as 'dropped due to medical emergency'."
"So Dawn is so strong a trainer that the only way for her to not win a tournament she's in is to have a medical emergency that requires she be dropped from the running," Kenny said. Turning to look right at Dawn, Kenny said with an amused smirk on his face, "Well now, ain't that something."
Dawn rolled her eyes dryly at Kenny's smirking amusement. "I guess this means that Ash will move onto the finals of the Masters Eight tournament automatically."
"Speaking of," Trip began, "What, if anything, has Ash said about Dawn having suffered an asthma attack? Does he even know?"
"Given it made the news," Johanna said, "And the fact that I was told that all of the other trainers in the Masters Eight tournament have been told, I would say that Ash is indeed aware. But I have no clue how he's reacted." Gently shaking her head, Johanna went on, "But he's a close friend of yours and Dawn's, I've met him a few times and personally know him enough to know that he's not going to be happy with what happened."
"Because Dawn had an asthma attack, or because Ash himself is going to miss out on getting to have a fierce Pokémon battle?" Mina asked.
"Yes," Johanna replied. Gently shaking her head, Johanna continued, "I can't imagine anyone being happy that Dawn had an asthma attack that got her dropped from the tournament."
...
Ayane, the Boss's Assistant of Team Scorn, was very much happy that Dawn had an asthma attack that got her dropped from the Masters Eight tournament.
This not only made it so that the biggest threat to Team Scorn's plans involving the Masters Eight tournament was off the table, but it actually saved Team Scorn the effort of having to do the work themselves, not to mention how it can't be traced back to them unlike how the plan they came up with to do it themselves could have potentially of been traced back to them. A completely random event that Team Scorn didn't even know about until it was in the morning news that morning had helped to ensure that Team Scorn's plans involving the Masters Eight tournament would succeed.
Ayane, back in her disguise she was wearing while in Wyndon, spoke in a private hotel room with Rimu and Penny, the trainers from Paldea who were, unbeknownst to the public, members of Team Scorn. "Thanks to random chance of Dawn Berlitz suddenly developing asthma and suffering an attack from it that had her dropped from the tournament," Ayane said, "Team Scorn's plans for the tournament are now assured to succeed."
"Yeah, I was a bit worried myself," Penny said, "I mean, we saw Dawn bust out friggin' Arceus during her battle against Lance in round one. There was no being able to overcome that, not for us of Team Scorn at least."
Ayane nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Now we just need for the rest of Team Scorn's interest in the tournament to do as told and as predicted, and a major step of Pariah's plans for Team Scorn to achieve its goal will be accomplished."
Rimu arched a wry eyebrow. "It will be pretty sweet, being in a spot so far above others that those in Team Scorn can do whatever whenever without penalty or anyone being able to tell us no or even be able to stop us." Rimu looked down at his right hand, gently clenched it into a fist as he wore a look of somber nostalgia on his face. "...There's some people in Paldea that I'd like to... have punished as it were... for how they had treated my sister."
Ayane could tell that the Paldean Champion sought revenge for a wrong committed against a loved one. A revenge that Ayane estimated had a ninety-one point six percent chance of being violent and possibly bloody. A revenge that, as far as Team Scorn is concerned, Rimu is by all rights entitled to. A revenge that, thanks to the random chance that took Dawn out of the running of the tournament for Team Scorn, will be far more likely to be accomplished now.
Nothing can stop Team Scorn now.
Due to Dawn needing to spend the rest of the Masters Eight tournament's time in the hospital to recover from her asthma attack, as well as wait for her first inhaler prescription to come in, she and the other reborn trainers would watch the rest of the Masters Eight tournament on the wall mounted TV in Dawn's hospital room.
They saw on TV how the committee running the show had to announce how Ash had advanced due to Dawn having a medical emergency that knocked her out of things, before announcing that the round two battle between Ideku and Nina would be held later in the day. Given that said battle was going to be the only battle in the second round of the Masters Eight tournament, as well as how it was going to be the first full battle of the tournament, everyone was excited for it.
The reborn trainers got it that Ash, along with Goh and Chloe, had tried to visit to see how Dawn was doing, having heard that Dawn had woken up. However, they were respectfully kept out as Dawn had to be allowed to rest; only Dawn's usual company, as well as Johanna by virtue of how she's Dawn's mom, were able to get in to see Dawn. Right now, the reborn trainers were getting ready to watch the match between Ideku and Nina on TV.
Whoever between the two of them wins will move onto the finals of the Masters Eight tournament, where they will fight Ash to determine who will end the current season of the World Coronation Series as the Monarch, a title that Dawn's asthma attack made her give up. Who was going to win, the roaming trainer from Johto and former Unova Champion, or the shy preteen girl who proved able to face down and best the near undefeatable Galar Champion Leon?
Only time would be able to tell as the battle looked like it was about to commence. The reborn trainers all paid close attention as they wanted to see what all that Nina, who they still know so little about as a trainer, was capable of.
"This round two battle in this Masters Eight tournament for the current season's World Coronation Series will see Nina Bloomingwood of Spikemuth, Galar face off against Ideku Badodigo of Cherrywood City, Johto!" the referee announced, "This will be a single style battle where each trainer may use their full party of Pokémon! Substitutions are allowed at any time, and the last trainer with any of their Pokémon still able to battle will be declared the winner and move onto the semifinals! Additionally, each trainer may only use one of either Mega Evolution, Z-Moves, or Dynamax slash Gigantimax during this battle! Now then!"
Throwing a hand up into the air, the referee loudly declared, "BEGIN!"
"Go on, Stonjourner," Nina said as she sent her Stonjourner out, "I know you can do it!"
"Go, Meganie!" Ideku said as he sent out his named Meganium. Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Meganie, use Reflect!"
"Stonjourner, use Rock Tomb!" Nina called out.
The named Meganium was able to get the Reflect set up, and to make things worse for Nina her Stonjourner's attack missed. Gesturing forward, Nina called out, "Stonjourner, use Heavy Slam!"
"Meganie, use Giga Drain!" Ideku commanded.
Meganie, holding the speed advantage, was able to drain off a lot of Stonjourner's health, dealing a huge hunk of damage that Stonjourner, with its species having a less than favorable special defense stat overall, was barely able to endure as it pulled off its Heavy Slam attack that didn't do as much as it normally would have due to the Reflect. It would seem that it would take a trainer like Ideku to make Nina struggle notably.
"Meganie," Ideku called out, "Use Energy Ball!"
"Stonjourner that's enough, come back!" Nina said as she swapped her Pokémon around, "Go on, Obstagoon! I know you can do it!" Coming out to battle in place of Stonjourner was Obstagoon, who has some degree of fame for being responsible for sweeping Leon's entire team in round one, with only a Stealth Rock set-up from Stonjourner to help. Seeing this on TV in Dawn's hospital room, the reborn trainers felt like Nina was set to make a comeback against the roaming trainer from Johto.
Gesturing forward, Nina called out, "Obstagoon, use Brick Break!"
"Meganie return!" Ideku said as he swapped his Pokémon around, "Go, Tornupto!" In place of Ideku's named Meganium was his named alpha Hisuian Typhlosion who, due to being part ghost type was immune to the fighting type attack Brick Break, preventing the Reflect that was set up from getting busted. "Tornupto," Ideku called out, "Use Flamethrower! Push Obstagoon back!"
"Obstagoon, use Night Slash!" Nina ordered.
Tornupto was able to fire off its Flamethrower, striking Obstagoon directly. But Obstagoon wasn't burned and, pushing through the pain, was able to land a Night Slash on Tornupto, scoring a super effective hit that was curbed only by the Reflect. From what the reborn trainers saw on TV, Reflect was the main reason that the named alpha Hisuian Typhlosion didn't go down, as that Night Slash looked anything but friendly.
Gesturing forward, Ideku ordered, "Tornupto, use Flamethrower!"
"Obstagoon," Nina called out, "Use Night Slash!"
Obstagoon ran in to use Night Slash again, and tanked another Flamethrower from Tornupto in order to strike. Tornupto was hit hard, but so was Obstagoon. In the end, it was surprising to see it that BOTH Obstagoon and Tornupto went down in battle, having knocked each other out. "Both Obstagoon and Typhlosion are unable to battle!" the referee declared, "This is a double knock out!"
Both Ideku and Nina recalled their respective fainted Pokémon, with Nina looking apologetic and Ideku looking grim but accepting. The trainers sent their next Pokémon back out, seeing both Nina's Stonjourner and Ideku's named Meganium again. "Stonjourner, use Rock Tomb!" Nina ordered.
"Meganie, use Reflect!" Ideku commanded. The same song and dance from before was repeated here, seeing Meganie set up a Reflect before Stonjourner used Rock Tomb, missing for a second time. After Reflect was refreshed for him, Ideku commanded, "Meganie, use Energy Ball!"
"Stonjourner that's enough, come back!" Nina said as she swapped her Pokémon around, "Go on, Dragapult! I know you can do it!" Coming out in place of Stonjourner was a Dragapult, which none of the reborn trainers were expecting out of Nina. It took the Energy Ball and looked to have suffered the drop to special defense, but it still wasn't a very effective attack. Gesturing forward, Nina called out, "Dragapult, use Dragon Claw!"
"Meganie return!" Ideku said as he swapped his Pokémon around, "Go, Cupidos!" Coming out in place of the named Meganium was Ideku's named Enamorus who, due to being part fairy type was immune to dragon attacks. Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Cupidos, use Moonblast!"
"Dragapult, use Phantom Force!" Nina commanded.
Dragapult tried to slink into the shadows to strike Cupidos from in the following turn. The operative word here is 'tried', as while Dragapult tried to vanish, it was blasted by a Moonblast attack, and it had its special defense compromised earlier. Dragapult cried out in pain as it flew out from the move it tried to use before it hit the pitch and laid there, obviously in no condition to get back up to try fighting again.
"Dragapult is unable to battle!" the referee declared, "The winner is Enamorus!"
As Nina called back her fainted Dragapult, the reborn trainers from where they watched the battle on TV were a bit surprised. Sure Ideku was good, but Nina had proven herself to be good as well, as she won a three on three against Leon, the Champion of Galar, without losing a single Pokémon. Now Nina had only four Pokémon left to Ideku's five in a full battle, and one of Nina's remaining four Pokémon is in fairly bad shape.
It was just like how Ideku scored a fairly easy win against Rimu, the strongest Champion ranked trainer from Paldea. Even Kenny struggled with beating Rimu every time he and Rimu fought, and yet Ideku swept Rimu in round one without issue. At least Nina here was able to do some damage to the roaming trainer from Johto, proving that she was still a cut above the rest. But how far will she be able to go against Ideku here?
The reborn trainers would have to wait and see, as Nina tossed up a Pokéball to sent out her next Pokémon with a call of, "Go on, Stonjourner! I know you can do it!" Coming back out to battle was Nina's Stonjourner, which was fairly worn out by this point. Pointing forward, Nina called out, "Stonjourner, use Heavy Slam!"
"Cupidos return!" Ideku said as he called back his legendary Pokémon, "Go, Impergator!" Taking the place of Ideku's named Enamorus was his named Feraligatr, one of the Pokémon that Ideku had inherited when his older brother Katsuku was killed during the events of Alola's first Manalo Conference. It would seem that Ideku was wanting his brother to fight at his side, even if such a gesture from the late older Badorigo brother was only in spirit.
But such feelings had helped Ideku before, helped him fight his way into rank after rank in the current season of the World Coronation Series. Perhaps they can help him here. Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Impergator, use Waterfall!"
"Stonjourner, use Earthquake!" Nina called out.
Stonjourner, heavier and more worn out, wasn't as nimble as the lighter and fresh Feraligatr. As such, Impergator was able to rush in while cloaked in harshly surging water and slam right up into Stonjourner, making it cry out in great pain. Despite having good physical defense, Stonjourner was still hit by a super effective attack, and while it was worn out as well. As such, Stonjourner ended up falling over onto the pitch, laying there clearly out of it.
"Stonjourner is unable to battle!" the referee declared, "The winner is Feraligatr!"
The audience at Wyndon Stadium cheered loudly as Ideku pulled ahead once more, now having half of Nina's party down. Nina recalled her fainted Stonjourner before taking up the Pokéball that held the next Pokémon she was going to send out. However, what that Pokémon ended up being clearly took everyone in Wyndon Stadium by surprise. The audience, the referee, even Ideku himself. The reborn trainers from where they watched were also taken by surprise, and Dawn was willing to bet others watching on TV were also taken aback by what Nina's next Pokémon was.
"Go on, Zarude! I know you can do it!"
Coming out into battle was Nina's next Pokémon, which was a Zarude. A mythical Pokémon. One that is fairly strong too. And as a partial grass type, Zarude had the advantage over Feraligatr who is a water type. Ideku saw the disadvantage for what it was, as he swapped his Pokémon around while saying, "Impergator return! Go, Meganie!" Coming back out was Ideku's named Meganium, who has been with Ideku since the beginning of his journey as a trainer.
Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Meganie, use Reflect!"
"Zarude, use Crunch!" Nina called out. Meganie, with the advantage of distance, was able to get its Reflect up just in time to avoid the full sting of Zarude's Crunch. But even so, an attack coming from a Pokémon of lore will always sting. The named Meganium was able to endure, but it looked like the Crunch from Zarude would have been much worse were it not for the Reflect that it was able to get up just in the nick of time.
Swapping his Pokémon around, Ideku said, "Meganie return! Go Dragoran!" Coming out in place of Ideku's named Meganium was his named Dragonite. Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Dragoran, use Wing Attack!"
"Zarude, use Rock Tomb!" Nina called out. Zarude was able to strike first, making rocks fall down on the named Dragonite and slowing it down enough to let it avoid getting hit. From the looks of it, only the Reflect saved Dragoran from going down to the super effective hit from the mythical Pokémon. Gesturing forward, Nina called out, "Zarude, use Rock Tomb!"
"Dragoran, use Dragon Dance to get out of there!" Ideku commanded.
Dragoran tried to dance out of the way of the attack. Tried to, but didn't succeed as it was curbed in its speed due to being struck by the first Rock Tomb. The second one, however, ended up knocking Dragoran out, proving the power of lore was not an easy power to overcome. "Dragonite is unable to battle," the referee declared, "The winner is Zarude!"
The audience cheered as it looked like Nina was making a comeback. And given that Zarude showed knowledge of being able to use a fairly decent rock type attack, Enamorus who is a partial flying type with its other type not nixing the rock weakness wouldn't have as easy of a go at trying to take down Zarude despite what their typings would suggest.
Even so, Ideku sent his named Enamorus back out. "Cupidos, use Moonblast!" Ideku called out.
"Zarude, use Rock Tomb!" Nina commanded.
Cupidos was able to conjure and cast its Moonblast, but Zarude was also able to get off its Rock Tomb despite being slightly slower. Both were at a distance, and that distance granted time for both Pokémon of lore to attack. Zarude was struck hard but was able to pull through, and the named Enamorus was struck harder by Rock Tomb than what Ideku had expected, pulling through mainly due to the Reflect.
The same exchange happened again, Zarude using Rock Tomb and Cupidos using Moonblast. The only difference this time is that Zarude had the speed advantage, no doubt due to Cupidos suffering the speed drop from the first Rock Tomb. Regardless, both of them still had distance, so they were both able to get their attacks off again. However, and to the surprise of the audience, both Zarude and Enamorus ended up going down in battle.
"Both Enamorus and Zarude are unable to battle!" the referee declared, "This is a double knock out!"
As both Ideku and Nina recalled their respective fainted Pokémon, the reborn trainers as they watched things on the TV in Dawn's hospital room knew that they were going to have to speak to Nina as soon as possible about how she suddenly whipped out a mythical Pokémon. Something as big as this could NOT be ignored, especially as such power ought to be put to use when fighting the good fight to fend off Team Scorn.
Back to the battle, Ideku and Nina sent their next Pokémon out; for Ideku this saw him send his named Meganium Meganie back out, while Nina sent her Barraskewda out. Gesturing forward, Nina called out, "Barraskewda, use Crunch!"
"Meganie, use Reflect!" Ideku called out. As the named Meganium refreshed the Reflect, Nina's Barraskewda came rushing in to bite down. Thanks to the distance between the two, Meganie was able to get the Reflect up just in time to soften the blow from Barraskewda's Crunch. "Meganie, use Giga Drain!" Ideku ordered.
"Barraskewda, use Crunch again!" Nina commanded.
As Barraskewda opened its mouth again to lunge in to bite hard into Meganie a second time, Meganie struck Barraskewda with red beams of energy that drained Barraskewda's health in order to restore that of Meganie itself. Barraskewda cried out in pain as it reeled back, unable to get its attack off. "Meganie, use Giga Drain again!" Ideku called out.
"Barraskewda, use Crunch!" Nina ordered.
Meganie, due to Barraskewda still reeling a bit, was able to hit it a second time, and this time the attack did enough to knock Barraskewda out. making it pass out onto the pitch. "Barraskewda is unable to battle," the referee declared, "The winner is Meganium!"
The crowds cheered wildly as things were looking to wind down; said things were also looking favorable for Ideku, as he had three Pokémon left to Nina's one. But that one remaining Pokémon of Nina's would prove to be a real show stopper. After she had called back her fainted Barraskewda, Nina sent out her last Pokémon as she called out, "Go on, Cinderace! I know you can do it!"
Upon seeing Nina's last Pokémon, her Cinderace, come out, Ideku immediately recalled Meganie and sent Impergator back out. "Impergator, use Waterfall!" Ideku ordered.
"Cinderace, use Iron Head!" Nina commanded.
Both Pokémon rushed one another, but Cinderace was faster, and its Iron Head struck the named Feraligatr around the area of its right eye, making it flinch and drop out of its attack. "Cinderace, use Fire Punch!" Nina called out.
"Impergator, use Waterfall!" Ideku ordered.
Once more, Cinderace was faster. Also, despite how its attacks weren't very effective, Cinderace was still able to dance around the named Feraligatr to an extent; this time, Cinderace's attack had burned Impergator before it could hit Cinderace with an attack that, although super effective, was curbed in its stinging force due to a burn. But at that point Reflect had worn off, and Ideku didn't want to risk Meganie going down trying to refresh it. Nina's attacks were going to sting more now.
Gesturing forward, Ideku called out, "Impergator, use Waterfall!"
"Cinderace, use Low Sweep!" Nina commanded.
Cinderace, still being faster, did a sweeping kick that knocked Impergator off its feet and hit the pitch, although it wasn't knocked out yet. But one more attack, provided it was at least moderately effective against a pure water type, ought to be enough to knock out Ideku's named Feraligatr. It was clear that Nina was planning to seize the chance and try to even the score more, maybe try to catch up to Ideku in the battle.
However, all that flew out the window when Ideku, very annoyed and frustrated but able to hide it well, swapped his Pokémon around. "Impergator return! Go Schwarz!" After calling back his named Feraligatr, Ideku sent his named Zekrom out. It gave a bellowing roar, making Nina flinch a bit, as it flew in place above the pitch before landing back down.
Mustering some courage back up, Nina said, "Cinderace, use Low Sweep!"
"Schwarz, use Fusion Bolt!" Ideku ordered.
The named Zekrom flew up, cloaked in a giant sphere of electricity, before flying right down to slam into Cinderace who tried swinging at the legendary dragon with a sweeping kick. The attack from Cinderace failed, and it was struck back, sent tumbling along the pitch. Miraculously, Cinderace was NOT knocked out by that attack, it was able to pick itself back up.
But Cinderace was kneeling, on one hand and one knee, panting with pain and exhaustion. It was trying to force itself back to its feet, giving Schwarz a firm, defying glare while doing so. But it was doubtful that Cinderace, especially as it was right now, was going to be able to overcome the mighty opponent that it was glaring down at right now. It was pretty much a guarantee at this point in the battle that the roaming trainer from Johto was going to cinch the win.
Cinderace was still kneeling, still panting with pain and exhaustion, still trying to force itself back to its feet, when Ideku gestured forward as he said, "Schwarz, use Dragon Cl-"
"I YIELD!"
Ideku was cut off when Nina, tears in her eyes as she looked like she was about to freak, practically screamed that she was giving up. Ideku, looking surprised, turned to look up at Nina. "Are... are you sure you want to yield?" Ideku asked, looking concerned that he might have made Nina freak.
Gently shaking her head, Nina said, "I know when I'm beat. I know that there is no way at this point that I can win against you." From what Ideku was figuring, Nina was freaking out more because her Cinderace was getting beaten bad and she wanted to prevent any more beating on Cinderace.
Turning to look at the referee, Ideku asked, "Is she allowed to yield or no? What are the rules on if a trainer wants to yield a battle?"
"It's... actually never come up before, honestly," the referee replied, looking a little confused, "Hold on, I need to call it in." The referee then called up the people running the show and asked what the rules for when a trainer wants to surrender a battle. "...Okay," the referee said after ending the call, "I was just told that as this is literally the first time ever in World Coronation Series history that a trainer tried to yield a battle, it's up to said trainer and their opponent, so you and Nina have to reach an agreement with one another on this matter."
Ideku gave the situation a moment's consideration. "...If Nina is absolutely sure that she wants to yield," Ideku said, "Then I'll accept it." Nina reiterated that she did indeed want to yield, and Ideku, giving a single nod, accepted the surrender.
It was actually the first time ever in World Coronation Series history, and during a Masters Eight tournament no less, where a competing trainer surrendered in a battle. Because this had literally never come up before, the people who managed the World Coronation Series was going to have to discuss how to work this into the rules.
When word got out that there was no official rules or other protocol to follow in case a trainer in a battle surrendered, the people who managed the World Coronation Series actually got a little bit of flack over having such oversight. The reborn trainers, watching things on the TV in Dawn's hospital room, were surprised that Nina actually surrendered, although Ideku was given some props for how he was understanding and accepting of it.
Regardless, this result meant that the finals of the Masters Eight tournament of this year's World Coronation Series would see Ash battle Ideku, to see who would be named the Monarch. The two of them have battled many times before, with Ash winning against Ideku roughly as often as Ideku had won against Ash. From what Dawn figured, it all depended on who used what Pokémon, although it was looking to Dawn that Ideku may win, as he's bound to bring Enamorus and Zekrom.
But Ash has been known to pull off amazing and odds-defying wins before. One never knows when it comes to that boy from Pallet Town, Kanto.
Later that evening in an undisclosed location in Wyndon, Ayane in her current disguise was meeting with Nina and Marnie. "When were you going to tell Pariah and I that you owned Zarude?" Ayane asked, sounding a mix of curious and demanding. It was obvious that the Boss's Assistant of Team Scorn was not all that amused with the Admin of the Headphones Sector right now.
"Umm, you guys never asked about what Pokémon I have," Nina pointed out, "Thus I didn't really see a reason to say anything."
Ayane was trying to keep a lid on how annoyed she was. The Boss's Assistant of Team Scorn kept it in mind that Nina is autistic; Ayane did NOT want to act similarly to the witch who had her expelled from Blackthorn City Academy, so she went with the reasoning approach. "I understand that," Ayane said, "But keep in mind that Zarude... is a rather special and unique Pokémon. A Pokémon the likes of Zarude being in your ownership is something that you should have reported to us."
"I had it that only grunt level members needed what Pokémon they owned on official records," Marnie said, "And the only Pokémon that Officers own that are on record are ones that had been reported via word of mouth."
"It looks like I'll have to speak with Pariah about this," Ayane said, "Have officers submit lists of what all Pokémon they own."
Looking to Ayane, Nina asked, "So now what?"
To the two girls from Galar, Ayane said, "Now that things are as Pariah had planned for, Team Scorn is set to accomplish a major step in its goal."
Marnie arched a wry eyebrow. "The use of that Ideku Badorigo fool as an unknowing pawn for accomplishing our plans. I got it that Team Scorn wants him to win the Masters Eight tournament and end the current season of the World Coronation Series as the Monarch. But why Ideku? Why is he so valuable as an unknowing pawn to Team Scorn's goals?"
"You know how livestock is sometimes fattened for slaughter?" Ayane asked, "Yeah, Ideku's reputation as an awesome trainer and hero to the people is the livestock, and Team Scorn is going to be the butcher."
Marnie gave the Boss's Assistant a curious look. "...So we're building him up until he reaches a high enough peak before knocking him down."
"When the world sees that even a max reputation Ideku cannot stand up to Team Scorn, it'll give the world the idea that Team Scorn plain and simple just cannot be defeated," Ayane said, "That sort of demoralizing ought to make everyone else realize that their only real option is to just roll over and let Team Scorn take its rightful place as the authority that rules over all that there is."
"Is that why you were pretending to be a random girl and acted as his girlfriend before your cover was blown?" Nina asked.
"I... don't like being reminded of how those idiot girls in Alola ruined a lot for me," Ayane replied, "But yes, I was trying to steer Ideku Badorigo in the direction that Pariah wanted me to steer him in. It also had the added benefit of giving Team Scorn direct access to info on one of the trainers that we have a dossier on."
Folding her arms over her chest, Marnie remarked, "There's just one thing we need to worry about now, that being Ash Ketchum. I had a battle with him in the Ultra Class and he beat me. Ash is not a trainer that can be taken lightly."
"Which is why we've taken to having a spy network of sorts monitor Ash Ketchum," Ayane said, "We will know what Pokémon he'll come into the final round of the Masters Eight tournament with." Giving an amused smirk, Ayane said, "Don't worry about it, girls. I can assure you both, and with one-hundred percent certainty, that Team Scorn's unknowing pawn will be claiming the highest throne in the world that any trainer can claim."
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-ONE
Author's notes;
This chapter opens with Dawn having a dream where a voice tells her that, essentially, her asthma from her previous life not only came back to her but it was fated to do so eventually. However, here it will be kept from killing Dawn, also she's protected from suffering anything that she didn't suffer back in her previous life. Pretty sweet in and of itself, but it doesn't change the fact that Dawn had to be dropped from the running in the Masters Eight tournament.
Given that Ash had automatically advanced to the finals of the Masters Eight tournament by default, the only remaining battle in round two played out, seeing Ideku battle Nina. The Galar native proves to be full of surprises, especially as she busts out the mythical Pokémon Zarude. But even so, in the end Nina yields to Ideku to avoid Cinderace being ravaged by Zekrom, pushing the roaming trainer from Johto into the finals where he'll face off against Ash.
...Just as Team Scorn had intended, as they're using the unknowing Ideku as a pawn in their plans for ultimately taking over the world. Ayane, while avoiding acting like the teacher who had gotten her kicked out of Blackthorn City Academy, explains to Nina that her owning Zarude was something she should have reported, and then gets the idea to have ALL members of Team Scorn, not just the peons, report what all Pokémon that they respectively own.
Anyway, the next chapter will see Ash battle Ideku to see who will end the current season of the World Coronation Series as the strongest trainer in the world. Will it be the roaming trainer from Johto who has no idea that he's being used, or will it be everyone's favorite Pallet Town native? Only time will tell as the next chapter will be getting into that. The Masters Eight tournament arc will be reaching its climax soon, but until then take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Odin (Arceus), Germany (male Garchomp), Leni (female Lucario), Khan (Mewtwo)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Kermit (male Politoed), Zarbon (male Machamp), Shallot (male Glaceon), Cell (male Scizor; shiny), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Veda (female Abomasnow), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Fourze (male Electivire), Todoroki (male Goodra; alpha; Hisuian), Deelia (Dialga)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Dragonite (male), Gardevoir (male), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny), Flareon (male; shiny)