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-four: Uncharted Territory
Dawn was in the pilot area of The Jelly-Filled Donut, where Heath as the helmsman was at work piloting the ship. "Yeah, that big ol' building right there is Naranja Academy," Heath said to Dawn, the owner of the oddly named flying ship. With an amused smirk on his face, Heath turned to look at Dawn, saw that she was letting slip at least a tiny bit of excited eagerness in her expression, a kind of excitedness one feels when seeing something they wanna get a piece of.
"We're officially in the Paldea region," Heath said, "Anyway, where are we going to land?"
"I got off the phone with the director of Naranja Academy, a man named Clavell," Dawn said, "There's a large space behind the academy, it has multiple battlefields for Pokémon battles. The area's been cleared there for us to land." Nodding once, Heath steered the ship to fly around the large and grand school for Pokémon trainers. Flying to behind Naranja Academy, Heath saw the open area and proceeded to make landfall, settling down on an open battlefield to the upper left corner (if you are facing the battlefields with Naranja Academy directly behind you).
Dawn walked out to the deck of The Jelly-Filled Donut and saw that, even before the drawbridge from the ship to let those aboard get off was lowered, a number of persons had gathered outside to see the flying ship. Most of them were very clearly students, although Dawn was seeing a few persons from outside of the school enter school grounds to get an up-close look at the flying ship. Dawn looking out the window as the ship came in saw people in the streets below come running in the direction of where things were going.
As the drawbridge was lowered, Dawn was met up by Kenny, Trip, and Mina. "So this is Mesagoza," Mina said, "According to what I looked up on the way here, Naranja Academy had recently been officially ranked as the top Pokémon trainer school in the world, recently booting Blackthorn City Academy from that spot."
"I can see why Blackthorn City Academy was booted," Trip said, "Being ravaged by Team Scorn can do one to make parents think a school isn't safe."
"That's only one part of the reason Naranja Academy took Blackthorn City Academy's spot," Mina said, "Another reason is that some shade had been thrown on the staff of Blackthorn City Academy, mostly centered around that Akeno woman killed by Admin Brother. Not helping is how Akeno was reported to get away with a lot of total bullshit due to being a legacy hire."
"Well let's just hope that we won't have to deal with such persons here at Naranja Academy," Kenny said right as the drawbridge touched the ground, letting the people on The Jelly-Filled Donut step off and reach ground.
Dawn saw how many of the gathered persons around were chomping at the bit to see the flying ship, and maybe even take a tour. Luckily for the reborn trainers, staff members of Naranja Academy were keeping the crowds at bay. One staff member, however, broke away to greet Dawn and the others. This was a fair skinned older man, with white hair in a medium long length, and he similarly had a white goatee that looked neat and trimmed.
He wore an orange suit top over a black dress shirt with white fluffy collar, white dress pants, white dress shoes with black soles, white socks, and there was white trimming on the pockets of his suit top, also his suit top had a white collar. He had six Pokéballs, all of them Premier Balls, hanging from the pockets of his suit top, three each to the two pockets. He radiated an aura of kindly, well-mannered respect and intelligence.
"I'm terribly sorry for the sudden excitement here," the man said to Dawn's group, "But when the students saw a flying ship come sailing in and landing in the battlefield area behind the academy, they all came out in a mad rush to see what was going on."
"You're Director Clavell, I take it?" Dawn asked.
Nodding once, the now identified Clavell spoke up, "I'll have to leave the staff members here to guard things and keep the students from trying to get on your flying ship. I hope you have a crew who can help to-"
"Director Clavell, sir," a familiar young male voice spoke up, making Clavell perk up as he and Dawn's group all turned to look. To the delighted surprise of Dawn's group, it was Rimu, who they had met a few times during the most recent season of the World Coronation Series. Rimu was in the company of his girlfriend Penny, fellow Champion ranked trainer of Paldea Nemona, and a taller male student with long tannish hair with dark streaks in it, and he had bangs covering one of his eyes.
Gesturing to himself, Rimu said, "The teachers are looking to be overwhelmed, or will get that way shortly. It you're okay with it, I was going to volunteer to help the teachers keep everyone else under control while you meet with Dawn and her group for whatever. Penny, Nemona, and Arven here had said they'd help me with the job."
Nodding once, Clavell said, "Yes, that will do nicely, Rimu."
"Dude, Rimu!" Kenny said, "Long time no see! How you bez?"
Turning to look at Kenny, Rimu replied, "Things had been a bit hectic here in Paldea, what with signs of Team Scorn activity going on. Not to mention how the Treasure Hunt is about to begin, and that has the student body of Naranja Academy excited."
Dawn arched a wry eyebrow, curious as to what Rimu meant by 'the Treasure Hunt'. Dawn supposed that she and the others could ask Clavell about it as they met with him. After Mina went back onto The Jelly-Filled Donut to tell Heath to hold down the fort while she and the others were inside, Dawn and her group went with Clavell into Naranja Academy, to see what it was that the Director of what is now officially ranked as the top Pokémon trainer school in the world wanted to discuss.
Inside of Clavell's office, Dawn and the other reborn trainers stood before Clavell's desk. "So what is it that you wished to talk to us about?" Dawn asked.
"First off, the gift that had been arranged for your group as a show of good faith for how you'll be helping out here in the Paldea region," Clavell said, before taking out three Pokéballs and tossing them up, calling out a Sprigatito, a Fuecoco, and a Quaxly in his office in front of the reborn trainers. Dawn and the others were able to identify them due to a mix of a pamphlet slash brochure they got from Rimu a while back, and what little knowledge on gen nine Trip was able to bring with him from his previous life.
Gesturing to the Pokémon, Clavell said, "These are the three Pokémon offered to certain lucky trainers when they start out here in Paldea. I'm certain that you may already know that, if you are familiar with Rimu like what I heard. I was going to let each of you pick one, but there's only three Pokémon here and four of you."
Holding up a hand to cut off argument, Mina said, "I'll be fine going without. Kenny and the Berlitz siblings here are actual heroes, so they ought to get the nice bennies."
Nodding once in understanding, Clavell said, "Very well." To Dawn and the boys, Clavell went on, "I suppose that means that you three will get Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly. I will have to ask that the two boys wait and let Champion Dawn go first."
Trip and Kenny both nodded in understanding, letting Dawn go first in picking a Paldean starter Pokémon. They both predicted that Dawn, who always picks the fire type starter, would spring for Fuecoco, and were not disappointed when Dawn pointed at Fuecoco and said to Clavell, "I would like to take Fuecoco from the Pokémon you're offering us."
"Very well," Clavell said to Dawn as he handed her Fuecoco's Pokéball. Dawn, on instinct, scanned Fuecoco's Pokéball with her Pokédex, already wondering what nickname to give her. Dawn saw that Fuecoco's nature was timid, and that Fuecoco's ability is Blaze. Nothing odd about any of that. But there was one thing about Fuecoco that caught Dawn by surprise, something that disrupted what all ideas Dawn had for Fuecoco's nickname, a reason she use any of those nickname ideas for her.
...Because Fuecoco was NOT a her. He was a him. A boy. A male fire type starter Pokémon. The first one that Dawn ever got. But Dawn was nothing if not able to make adjustments to plans on the fly. "I'm going to be naming him Benimaru," Dawn said.
"Wait, him?" Kenny said, "Your Fuecoco's a boy?"
Clavell looked curious at the reborn trainers. "Yes, Fuecoco and Quaxly are boys and Sprigatito is a girl. Is that a problem?"
"No it's no problem," Trip said, "It's just surprising that the Fuecoco that Dawn just got from you is a boy. Every other time she got a fire type starter Pokémon in any of the other regions, they have without exception ALWAYS been girls." Listing off of his fingers, Trip said, "Dawn's Charizard is a girl, Dawn's Typhlosion is a girl, Dawn's Blaziken is a girl, Dawn's Infernape is a girl-"
"Very much obviously a girl," Mina cut in.
Trip nodded once as he went on. "Dawn's Emboar is a girl, Dawn's Delphox is a girl, Dawn's Inciniroar is a girl, and Dawn's Cinderace is a girl!" Gesturing to Fuecoco, Trip said, "Dawn's Fuecoco here is the first starter Pokémon Dawn got that's a fire type that's a boy! We got so used to Dawn always getting fire type starters that are girls that we just assumed Fuecoco was going to be a girl as-"
Trip was cut off when Dawn picked up Benimaru and held him in a hug. "...The chain is broken," Dawn said, burying her face into Benimaru's shoulder, "I finally got one that's a boy. He's beautiful." The named Fuecoco, for his part, merely made a soft purring sort of noise before he licked at Dawn's left ear. This elicited a chuckle out of Dawn.
"It's rather surprising that you have so many examples of females from species that are almost always male, Champion Dawn," Clavell said. To Kenny and Trip, "You two boys may go, although be warned when you pick. Sprigatito seems to fancy herself as something of a daring thief, and Quaxly fancies himself as a driver slash pilot but every time he gets behind a wheel he crashes whatever it is that he's trying to drive."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Kenny said, "Seriously?"
"We've lost three golf carts because Quaxly here thinks he's a driver," Clavell said, "And I'd advise keeping him out of your flying ship's cockpit."
"Quaxly Quaxly," said the Quaxly as he stood there looking up at Kenny and Trip.
Pointing at Quaxly, Trip said, "No you ain't."
Looking surprised, Clavell said, "You can understand what Pokémon are saying?"
"Technically no, I don't understand the words they speak," Trip said, "But I can tell that Quaxly here said that he's either a driver or a pilot. Either way, he ain't what he said he is, and no way will I let him behind the wheel of anything that can be steered." It was soon settled that Kenny would get the girl Sprigatito, and Trip would get the boy Quaxly. Kenny named his Sprigatito Panther, and Trip gave his Quaxly the only name fitting a being such as Quaxly.
Pointing at Quaxly, Trip said, "I'm naming you Launchpad."
...
After the issue with the Paldea starter Pokémon was settled, Dawn asked about where to go to make the arrangements that Princess Salvia requested. "Oh! You and your company are working at the behest of Princess Salvia!" Clavell said, "Well to answer your question, you'll have to speak with Miss Geeta, she can get the necessary permissions granted."
"I think I heard the name Geeta once before," Kenny said, "Is Geeta an important figure here in Paldea?"
Nodding once, Clavell said, "Oh yes. In addition to being the chairwoman of the school board here in Paldea, she is also the Paldea Pokémon League's Top Champion. She also has various other jobs, but there is no denying that Miss Geeta holds a lot of prominence." Holding a hand to his chin, the director of Naranja Academy said, "It also strikes me as curious that Miss Geeta wasn't here to greet your party. You'd figure that she'd be front and center when a foreign region's Champion stops on by to-"
"I was caught up until now," a female voice called out, cutting off Clavell and making him plus the reborn trainers all turn to see a dark skinned woman come walking up. She was dressed in a fine dark suit, and she had long dark hair with the odd streak of dark color in it. She also wore a pair of gloves, and her dark colored shoes were shiny.
"Oh! Miss Geeta!" Clavell said, looking surprised. To the reborn trainers, Clavell said, "Dawn Berlitz and company, this here is Miss Geeta."
"My apologies for not being here to greet you," the now identified Geeta said to Dawn and the others, "But various duties have occupied my time."
Nodding once, Dawn said, "That's fair."
"Wait a minute," Trip began, "What kind of duties? Or are you not allowed to disclose them?"
"I am waiting for a party representing the interests of Princess Salvia's nation to come by as they are expected to submit a request to allow Princess Salvia's countrymen to come to Paldea," Geeta said, "But I'm not allowed to disclose details on that. I don't even know what Princess Salvia and her people are going to ask for."
"Umm, actually," Mina said, "The dudes here and I ARE the representatives for Princess Salvia. She wants permission for her people to come here to visit some big ol' lake where Pokémon called Dodonzo and Tatsugiri live, citing how they want to capture some and bring them back to their own country in order to bring their native population of Dodonzo back up."
"Ah, Casseroya Lake," Geeta said, "And I did hear of it in inter-regional news that the native population of Dodonzo over in Princess Salvia's nation was wiped in an act of terror carried out by the now long defunct Team Rocket." Nodding once, Geeta said, "I can very easily get the paperwork done up and completed to let Princess Salvia's countrymen come over and do as they said they wish to do."
Dawn nodded once, glad to see that the issue that Salvia asked for wouldn't be a problem. "Can I ask you, as well as Clavell, something given that you two are respectively the chairwoman of the Paldea school board and the director of this school?" Dawn asked.
Her curiosity piqued, Geeta replied, "I see no problem with answering a few curious questions. What do you say, Clavell?"
"It's clear something about Naranja Academy has piqued Champion Dawn's interest," Clavell said, "I believe there won't be any harm in answering a question or two in that regard."
After Geeta moved to stand next to Clavell, Dawn gestured to the both of them. "As Clavell led my friends and I on here," Dawn began, "We saw Rimu, who my group is familiar with, and he mentioned something about a 'Treasure Hunt' that has the student body of this school excited. What is this Treasure Hunt business, exactly?"
"Ah, so that's what you're curious about," Clavell said, "Well to put it simply, the Naranja Academy Treasure Hunt is an independent study project available to all Naranja Academy students. It sends them all over Paldea to learn by experiencing. They are also encouraged to find a 'treasure' as part of the assignment, hence the name 'Treasure Hunt'."
"They have to find a treasure?" Kenny asked.
"It doesn't have to be a straight up actual treasure," Clavell clarified, "The idea of 'finding a treasure' is what goal the student has when working the Treasure Hunt, playing into learning by experiencing. Rimu's peer Nemona, for example, competed in the Champion's Assessment during her first go in the Treasure Hunt, becoming a Champion ranked trainer of Paldea in the process. She wanted to find strong trainers to battle, to hone her skills, to achieve glory and renown. Such self-improvement can be considered the treasure that Nemona sought in her treasure hunt."
Gesturing to Clavell, Dawn asked, "What of Rimu? Has he done the Treasure Hunt before? Or is the upcoming one going to be his first?"
Clavell looked a bit troubled, regretful melancholy in his expression. "...No, he's done the Treasure Hunt before," Clavell said, "He also did the Champion's Assessment same as Nemona, but only due to her finding him to be the perfect rival for her, so she pushed him into following her path. Rimu said he was interested in the Champion's Assessment anyway and likewise wanted to earn all of the badges, but he had a secondary goal."
"What is it?" Kenny asked.
"A... few years ago," Clavell began, "Naranja Academy had Rimu's older sister, Allison, as a student. She was likewise interested in Pokémon, but she also had a passion for the culinary arts. She had cited an interest in visiting cities in Pladea known to be the hometowns of prominent faces in the culinary arts here in Paldea, wanting to learn from said culinary masters. I believe she held a lot of interest in visiting Kofu, she even had a copy of one of Kofu's cookbooks."
Dawn had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that this story wasn't going to end well. "I'm guessing something bad happened to Allison?"
"Allison had been feeling ill for an extended period of time before the first Treasure Hunt that she could have taken part in," Clavell said, "About three months before what would have been her first Treasure Hunt, Allison, she..." Shuddering a bit, Clavell said, "...Allison threw up a fair bit of blood." The reborn trainers, as well as Geeta, all looked shocked. "She was rushed to the hospital," Clavell went on, "But I got it that Allison died the morning after she was taken to the hospital. I know not what Allison had been sick with for so long, only that went undetected until it was too late."
Trip felt something of a personal connection to the story of Rimu's late older sister. "My... friends and I got it that Rimu's Quaquaval was originally belonging to someone else, but he inherited it as a Quaxly," Trip said.
Nodding once, Clavell said, "Yes, Rimu's Quaquaval originally was a Quaxly that belonged to Rimu's older sister Allison. When I saw Rimu on his first day as a Naranja Academy student and got it he's Allison's younger brother, I who got Allison's Quaxly decided to give it to Rimu, so that Quaxly could go back to his original trainer's family. I also gave Rimu a Fuecoco as I let him pick from a standard allotment, and he got a Sprigatito from someone who is friends with his family."
"Would it be safe to say that Rimu traveled to places during his Treasure Hunt that his late older sister would have gone to?" Mina asked.
"Given that Kofu, as well as Katy, are also both gym leaders," Clavell said, "Rimu was going to see them anyway as he sought badges to earn."
"So this Katy chick is also a cook that the late Allison was interested in learning culinary skills from," Kenny said.
"A baker to be specific," Geeta cut in, "But this Allison girl seemed interested in learning all manner of kinds of culinary arts." Gently shaking her head, Geeta said, "Rimu must be stronger than I had given him credit for. Going through all of the gyms of Paldea same as Nemona, completing the Champion's Assessment same as Nemona, being the one trainer who Nemona could never best in battle, and I feel that I myself can never best Nemona. Rimu had shown such skill and strength, all the while carrying a heartbreaking burden. I find it odd I didn't know until now."
"Rimu only ever told me," Clavell said, "Partly because he sort of had to. I think that he would like it of the matter here is kept to ourselves. It's clearly a sensitive issue for him." Geeta nodded somberly in agreement, promising to keep word of it to herself.
Gesturing to Clavell and Geeta, Dawn asked, "Is there anything else we need to know?"
To Dawn, Geeta said, "I would like your help in cleaning up the remains of the Team Star bases that are scattered all throughout Paldea, if you're okay with that."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Mina said, "Yeah, I think we heard about Team Star once before. What's the story behind them? They aren't bad like Team Scorn, are they?"
"Oh no, Team Star was nowhere near as bad or as much of a threat as Team Scorn," Geeta said, "Team Star was basically nothing more than a large group of hoodlum students of Naranja Academy, causing loads of disruption and generally being bullies to the good innocent students of this proud school."
"One notable good female student, the daughter of a very prominent and highly successful and wealthy businessman who contributes financially to Naranja Academy," Clavell spoke up, "Was able to get info on the five Team Star bases and submit said info to the proper authorities to let them deal with the hoodlums. This was after Nemona and Rimu became Champion ranked trainers of Paldea, so they were asked to help with riot control as it were."
Sighing regretfully, Geeta said, "Aside from one student who was a notable member of Team Star's hierarchy, every student who was a member of Team Star who we found out was affiliated with Team Star was expelled from Naranja Academy. With all due respect, Team Star's actions, both the harassment of innocent Naranja Academy students and general disruptive activities that messed with the life of Paldeans as a whole, could NOT be tolerated."
"The good innocent students who suffered under those Team Star hoodlums provided ample testimony," Clavell said.
The reborn trainers were surprised to hear of such widespread expulsion from Naranja Academy, as well as how school students were members of a villainous team. ...Well, as far as a group of hoodlum students could be called a villainous team. To Geeta, Dawn asked, "So what would you have us do?"
"Just help with clearing out the remains of the bases set up by Team Star," Geeta replied, "They set up some temporary huts and fencing around certain areas. I think some modified vehicles are also left in the bases." The reborn trainers nodded in understanding, with Trip making a mental note to keep Launchpad away from those vehicles that Geeta mentioned.
From what the reborn trainers were feeling right now, helping to clean up the mess left behind by Team Star ought to be simple enough. They just hoped that Team Scorn won't somehow corrupt any of the former Team Star members. It's bad enough that Jessie, James, and Meowth of the now long defunct Team Rocket had joined the Team Scorn ship.
The last thing that they needed is for a bunch of former school students, obviously disenfranchised, who at worst were mere delinquents end up becoming full fledged criminals. It would not be good, especially if it turned out the act of expelling them caused damage that otherwise could have been prevented with a more reasoning and lenient sense of compassion.
"Oh, there is one more thing," Clavell said, "A request by Jacq, a member of the Naranja Academy staff who works as a teacher here. He's currently researching the various species of Pokémon that are native to Paldea, ones that can't be found in any other regions. He's stuck here doing his duties, and got it from me that your group will be going around the region. That said, he'd like you to do a bit of field research for him on his behalf."
Shrugging, Kenny said, "Shouldn't be too big an issue. What's he want us to do?"
Clavell pulled out a packet, handed it to the reborn trainers. "He's been able to get the names of every species of Pokémon unique to Paldea, although some were taken from lore, and a good few also taken from books of questionable repute. He wants you to have each Pokémon listed in here recorded as caught."
Dawn, as the reborn trainers received the missive, said, "...Que?"
The reborn trainers returned to The Jelly-Filled Donut, going to a meeting room on board. The task given to them by Jacq would have them basically do a 'dex completion quest, getting one of each Paldean Pokémon registered as caught. It was a very big task a head of them, and there's also the challenging of the Paldean gyms, AND Geeta's request to clear up the bases left behind by the now long defunct Team Star. There's also the thing that Princess Salvia requested.
For the 'get one of each Paldean Pokémon registered as caught' quest, the reborn trainers were able to cross off the unevolved starters. After the opening ceremony for Naranja Academy's annual Treasure Hunt was kicked off, the reborn trainers decided to track down as many unique species of Paldean Pokémon as possible, so as to fill the boat as it were.
They first hunted around South Province Area One. There, Dawn found and caught a Paldean Wooper and a Pokémon called Fidough that struck Dawn as the most adorable little canine Pokémon ever. Both of them were boys, so Dawn named the Paldean Wooper as Geld and the Fidough as Ranga.
Kenny caught a Pokémon called Shroodle. It was a boy and, seeing an image of Shroodle's evolved form Grafaiai, Kenny decided to name his Shroodle as King Julian. Trip ended up finding and catching a Pokémon called Pawmi, which from its appearance Trip figured to be the 'Pikachu clone' of the Paldea region. Pawmi is a boy, so Trip named him Mike.
With the reborn trainers having found as many unique species of new Pokémon as possible, Dawn had Heath take The Jelly-Filled Donut in the direction of a town in Paldea called Cortondo. From what Dawn got from Geeta on the matter, Cortondo is the location of the gym run by Katy, a baker who was mentioned in the story Clavell gave on Rimu's late older sister.
...
Having made landfall in a field literally a dozen feet next to Cortondo, the crew of The Jelly-Filled Donut rested for the night. As Lance was preparing dinner for the crew, the reborn trainers had the foldable battlefield unfolded; it went from a tail fin like fixture on the back of the ship to an actual battlefield. There was no battling here though, as the reborn trainers were just looking over all of their newly caught Pokémon in Paldea.
Leona and Omiyo was there as well, wanting to see the new Pokémon. Dawn's new Pokémon were eating with Chi-Chi and Argent; Dawn also had Tsukune on hand, but would take care of it later. Similarly, Kenny's new Pokémon ate with Goofy, Hoodini, and Roshi (Kenny had Black on hand but kept it back), and Trip's new Pokémon were eating with Myde, Mr. Popo, and Alfred (Trip had Deelia but kept it back). Everyone was intrigued by the new Pokémon.
"So wait, Dawn," Leona began, "You, Kenny, Kenny's girlfriend, and your brother have to, between all of you, get one of each Pokémon on a certain list caught or listed as obtained?"
"Mina's not part of it, but otherwise yeah," Kenny spoke up.
"There's at least one-hundred different Pokémon to get in that regard," Dawn said, "Luckily we can just record a lot of them as obtained by evolving a lot of Pokémon we can catch."
Leona went wide-eyed with shocked surprise. "That's still a lot."
"Well what can you do?" Trip replied with a shrug, "If my math is correct, if we evolve what we got as much as possible, we can cross off about seventeen different species from the list given to us by that Jacq guy."
Folding her arms over her chest, Leona went on, "Wait, what about the task that Princess Salvia gave you guys? About securing rights for her countrymen to come in and catch a few Pokémon that are called Dodonzo and Tatsugiri? Will one of you guys catch one each of those two?"
After thinking about it for a moment, Dawn replied, "We're going to have to, Leona, as we've been charged with getting one of each species in the list given to us registered as caught."
"Speaking of," Kenny said, "I think we missed a few. There was this one pig-like thing that got away, as well as a sleepy looking spider whose body is a ball of yarn."
Scowling, Dawn said, "You're right. Lechonk and Tarountula. We may have to make a round trip to go back and look for them."
Hands on her hips, Leona asked, "Why does this Jacq guy want one of each Pokémon on the list given to you registered as caught?"
"We... don't know why, exactly," Trip said, "Maybe because it relates to research for the Pokédex here in Paldea?"
"Well either way," Kenny said, "Once we're done feeding our Pokémon here, we're gonna head in and see how Lance is doing so we can get an estimate on how long before dinner. Then after we eat we'll tap out for the night. We ought to get our rest, as the lads and I have a gym to challenge. I call first dibs, by the way."
"I also wanna ask this Katy girl if she remembers Rimu," Dawn said, "As well as if he mentioned a sister who was interested in the culinary arts. It was mentioned that Katy is a baker, and baking is part of the culinary arts."
After the Pokémon were done eating, they were recalled before the group all went inside to check out the progress of dinner. It was about ready to be served by that point, so Lance asked Dawn and the others to let everyone know. Dinner ended up being had on the deck of The Jelly-Filled Donut, and the reborn trainers enjoyed eating with a fair bit of company.
Paldea was looking to be a blast.
...
By the time that he and the rest of Team Scorn were going to be done with things here in Paldea, Rimu was going to see to it that the region is blasted to kingdom come.
There wouldn't necessarily be explosions, but with the plans that had been drummed up, Paldea was going to be so utterly and thoroughly ravaged, it would be rendered uninhabitable for humans, and only the hardiest of Pokémon species, as well as species able to adapt quickly to sudden harsh changes to environment, would still be able to call Paldea home.
Rimu even predicted that a fair percentage of Paldea's human population was going to be killed; he was certain that a specific list of persons were going to be killed, because the people on said list were going to be killed either by Rimu himself or he would personally oversee things to make sure that they go down as he wanted them to go down. There was going to be blood. Human blood.
Spoiled brat human blood.
Rimu wouldn't have it any other way.
Rimu stood in his office in the Team Scorn base in an undisclosed location in the Paldea region, wearing his outfit as Admin Slime, head of the Mask Sector. Only Penny, Rimu's girlfriend and his Admin's Assistant, was in the room with him, so he had his mask off. Penny was likewise in her outfit as a ranking member of Team Scorn, really just a pallet swap of her normal outfit to have the Team Scorn colors, with only her Eevee backpack unaltered.
"If our plans for moving to the Orange Islands don't work out," Penny said, "My family who lives in our home region of Galar can help us move in there."
"The plans for the Orange Islands are a go, but thank you for thinking ahead," Rimu said, "It's nice to have a backup plan." Arching a wry eyebrow at his girlfriend slash Admin's Assistant, Rimu went on, "I'm actually surprised you're as on board with the 'scorched earth' type plan Team Scorn has set up to deal with Paldea."
Gently shaking her head, Penny explained, "Paldea is too far gone to be saved at this point. It's been corrupted too much, those who are responsible for said corruption have their talons dug in too deep for them to be dislodged. Even the efforts I led in secret as the secret Boss of Team Star, before I followed you into Team Scorn, were foiled because a spoiled brat played a wounded Stantler gambit and cried Lycanroc at Team Star, sicced a bunch of authorities on us and getting the whole group taken down before we could deal with the bullies at school who tormented us."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Rimu said, "And the brat who sicced the authorities on Team Star is one of the leading bullies at Naranja Academy. She and her fellows are too far protected to get at by any legal means, the whole lot of them are very wealthy legacy children. The spoiled brat and her fellows had done something against all of the authority figures in the Mask Sector of Team Scorn. Me, all of the Captains, you, all of the Captain's Assistants."
"I knew that most of us suffered due to the rich legacy children who had conducted mass bullying expecting to be allowed to get away with their cruelty scot free," Penny said, "But what did they do to you exactly? If I recall correctly, you were never bullied."
Nodding once in agreement, Rimu said, "True, I was never bullied. But the girl who I had a crush on before you was bullied to the point she committed suicide just to get away from it. And my late older sister Allison had also suffered under the harsh cruelty of those who designated themselves as untouchables."
Penny perked up a bit. "I did hear that you had a crush before me. What was she like?"
"Equal parts smart and cute," Rimu said, "Same as you, Penny. I guess I have a type and it's cute smart girls."
Penny chuckled in sincere amusement. "I'm glad that you like me for more than just my looks. And I will help you avenge your first crush, as well as help with avenging your late older sister."
Holding up a hand to cut off arguments, Rimu said, "I'll allow you to assist in helping me avenge my first crush. But avenging Allison is something that I want to do by myself. She... she had wanted to see what all Paldea had to offer, but her surprise illness took her before she could see it. The bullying that she had suffered must have aggravated her illness somehow, I bet. But yeah, I'm all down for casting the Paldea region into oblivion..."
For dramatic effect, Rimu held his right hand with the palm facing up at shoulder level, then quickly clenched it closed. "...because if Allison isn't able to enjoy the Paldea region," Rimu said, his grim and serious expression brokering no quarter, "Then no-one should be able to."
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-FOUR
Author's notes;
This chapter begins the Paldea saga of this story, first covering the events of the story of the main gen nine games. I'll be doing the main game first, then the Teal Mask shenanigans, then the Indigo Disk shenanigans. After all of that is out of the way, I'll do the rest of the story I have planned for this part before I look into adapting the Horizons anime; I'm gonna have to juggle with Terapagos in the Indigo Disk shenanigans so it can do its thing in Horizons.
Anyway, the reborn trainers will tackle the main game stuff in a recommended order that I found on the internet. This will see them take on Katie in Cortondo first. Additionally, the reborn trainers are charged with getting one of each gen nine Pokémon registered as caught between them; sorry if it comes off as checking items off on a list, but there's a reason for it. A reason that may or may not relate to some troubles later on in the story here...
...But I digress. Anyway, look forward to Dawn and the boys spanking Katie's gym in the next chapter. Until then, take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Benimaru (male Fuecoco), Geld (male Wooper; Paldean), Ranga (male Fidough)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Goofy (male Houndoom), Hoodini (male Noctowl), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme), Panther (female Sprigatito), King Julian (male Shroodle)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; Totem), Deelia (Dialga), Launchpad (male Quaxly), Mike (male Pawmi)
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)