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 seventy: The Pocketwatch Sector, part four
Still in the Kanto region due to recent activity from the Pocketwatch Sector, Kanto's native sector of Team Scorn, the reborn trainers find themselves in Celadon City. Trip, who Dawn saw had something of a knowing look of amusement in his eyes, said that they ought to go check out Celadon City, where the gym ran by Erika the grass type specialist is located. Upon arriving in Celadon City, Trip got the other reborn trainers to follow him over to Erika's gym. When they got there, they saw to their surprise that the gym... actually was no longer ran by Erika.
"Erika's no longer the gym leader?" Dawn said, surprise clear in her expression and tone.
Trip chuckled in amusement. "Yeah, turns out Erika's gym got the last strike needed after the one I had triggered."
Turning to look at Trip, Mina said, "The strike that you had triggered?" Trip then explained to the others that he didn't like how, in the anime in their previous life, Ash had been barred from the gym because of the issue with the perfume shop. With that in mind, Trip knowingly triggered a similar situation during the course of his solo journey through Kanto, but after Erika's gym trainers barred him entry, Trip simply reported the gym for their unlawful barring of him. This got Erika into a LOT of trouble, even more so as it turned out Trip's scheme wasn't the first time Erika's gym got in trouble over challengers not being favorable towards the perfume shop (although Trip's act was probably the first time such an incident was knowingly triggered by the trainer Erika's gym trainers tried barring).
Long story short, Trip got Erika's gym in trouble with the Indigo League because he didn't like what the gym did in the anime in his previous life. "Granted, I wasn't expecting THIS much to have been done," Trip said, "But I am glad I was able to avenge some wrong-doing against my husbando."
"You... cost Erika her gym leader position over something that's honestly more the fault of her gym trainers," Dawn summed up, her expression and tone equally dry.
Shuddering, Kenny said, "And it's because Trip has the hots for Ash." With a look of curious wondering on his face, Kenny went on, "Speaking of having the hots for Ash, I wonder what sort of lengths Serena would go to in order to avenge any wrong-doings against Ash." It was something the reborn trainers wondered, what lengths that Serena would go to in order to avenge wrong-doings done to slash against Ash.
Dawn and the other reborn trainers were about to leave, but they stopped short when they heard a female voice call out, "Hey, you're the boy who caught that frightening Mr. Mime!" The reborn trainers all stopped when they heard that girl cry out, and they turned to look to see who it was. Dawn and Kenny recognized her as one of the girls who worked for Erika, was even with Erika when Kenny caught Hisoka, his named Mr. Mime. Pointing at Kenny, the girl said, "Maybe you can help my friend Mai out with something."
Looking to the girl, Kenny said, "Explain."
Gesturing to Kenny and the other reborn trainers, the girl explained, "Mai has been harassed on and off by members of Team Scorn. Things started to click for Mai on why Team Scorn was harassing her because on the latest time, one of the grunts let it slipped that they were bothering Mai because, and this is a quote that I got from Mai herself, 'Tomatsu sent his regards'."
Dawn's eyes widened a bit as her memory was sparked; the journal that the late Sabrina left behind with intel of Team Scorn she'd been able to foresee mentioned a Captain Tomatsu as one of the Captains of the Pocketwatch Sector. "...You said that things for Mai clicked because of hearing the name Tomatsu," Dawn said.
The girl nodded in the affirmative. "Mai said that she remembers a guy named Tomatsu, a guy she absolutely hated. She even admitted to doing whatever it took to ruin Tomatsu's life, eventually succeeding in getting him to drop off the face of the earth until he popped back up as a member of Team Scorn."
"Hol' up a minute," Mina began, "Your friend Mai admitted to hating this Tomatsu guy and ruining his life?" Shrugging, Mina with a confused and mildly annoyed look on her face asked, "Why did Mai hate Tomatsu? What did he do to Mai that made her feel justified in driving him away and eventually into joining Team Scorn?"
Gently shaking her head, the girl replied, "Mai never explained why she ruined Tomatsu's life so utterly, only saying that she is one-hundred percent in the right for having done what she did to Tomatsu."
Dawn dragged her right hand down over her face. "Odin help me," Dawn muttered under her breath in an exasperated tone. To the girl, Dawn said, "Alright, since this IS a case involving someone being harassed by Team Scorn, my friends here and I will be willing to help out. But before we ACTUALLY agree to help, we're going to want a full, detailed explanation from Mai on why she felt it necessary to ruin this Tomatsu guy's life."
The rest of the reborn trainers nodded in agreement, with Kenny even saying, "And Artemis help Mai if it turns out she's actually in the wrong here. It wouldn't be the first time someone was driven to join Team Scorn because of another person's thoughtlessness." The girl conceded the point before she gestured for the reborn trainers to all follow her. They were then led to the girl's friend Mai's place, so they could speak with her and get to the bottom of Tomatsu's actions against Mai, with Mina having the vibe already that Mai is the true source of screw-ups here.
Mai's place ended up being a rather lavish estate in Celadon City, where some more afluent persons were at as Mai was hosting a party. As for Mai herself, she was the textbook definition of pretty; fair flawless skin, her hair styled in a cute side ponytail, sharp yet beautiful eyes, and she wore a stylish top, stylish skirt, and wore stylish sandals. Mai was surprised to see that the girl had brought back Dawn Berlitz, who is the Sinnoh Champion and the current Monarch in the current season of the World Coronation Series.
Mai, however, looked a bit surprised when Dawn asked her for specific details on WHY she had acted against Tomatsu to ruin him, with Dawn and the other reborn trainers threatening to deny helping her with Tomatsu unless she spilled the beans. "...Fine," Mai replied, desperate enough to get help to deal with Tomatsu to spill her reason for driving him away and eventually into a life of crime, "I'll tell you guys why I had it out for that jerk Tomatsu."
"Good," Trip said, "So what is it? Why did you ruin Tomatsu's life?"
"Because his dad killed my biological dad," Mai said. The reborn trainers all had shocked looks of surprise on their faces. "...Yeah, I bet none of you expected that," Mai said, "Well, here in Kanto as well as in certain companies over in Johto, there's a sort of culture in corporations and other such business for employees to overwork, often to the point that they work themselves to death. My late biological dad worked at such a company, and he ended up being one of the many persons who had ended up working to death."
"And this is the fault of Tomatsu's dad... how?" Dawn asked.
"He was my biological dad's boss," Mai said, "It's obvious to me that Tomatsu's dad hated my biological dad, and was able to use the overwork culture in businesses here in Kanto to work my biological dad until it killed him. Worse yet, Tomatsu's dad can't be charged because it can't be proven he was doing it deliberately. Even if it could be proven, Tomatsu's dad can't be given a big enough legal punishment to make up for killing my biological dad with overwork"
"That..." Kenny began, "...That is a lot to take in." Looking to Mai with a more serious look on his face, Kenny went on, "Okay, so now we know why you decided to turn Tomatsu into a social pariah, which ended up driving him into joining Team Scorn. But before we continue, I need to ask a rather you pertinent question." With all eyes on him, Kenny asked Mai a question that took her by surprise.
"How is any of that Tomatsu's fault?"
"Pardon?" Mai asked.
Gesturing to Mai, Kenny asked, "So your biological dad died due to the overwork culture here in Kanto and parts of Johto, and Tomatsu's dad was your biological dad's boss. I'm assuming the reason you specify it's your biological dad who died is because your mom must have remarried."
Nodding once, Mai said, "Yes, this estate is my step-dad's."
"But that's getting off subject," Kenny continued, "The point here is that I'm trying to ask how is any of what Tomatsu's dad did to your biological dad the fault of Tomatsu himself? What did Tomatsu himself do to warrant ANY of what you did to him?"
Gesturing a bit wildly, Mai said, "His dad killed my biological dad! That's it!"
Kenny frowned a bit in disappointed unamusement, folded his arms over his chest. "So Tomatsu himself did nothing to warrant your ruining his life, aside from just so happening to be the son of the man who led to the death of your biological dad via the overwork culture. You ruined an innocent dude's life over a sin committed by said dude's dad, a sin that technically we can't prove was intentionally committed."
"I wanted to get at least some sort of payback for what happened to my biological dad!" Mai said, "Is that too much to ask?!"
Sighing in an exasperated tone, Trip said, "Yeah, we need to look into this more. What's the name of your late biological dad?"
"Marcus Harrington," Mai replied, "Why?"
"Do you have the name of Tomatsu's dad?" Trip went on.
Nodding once, Mai with an unamused scowl on her face said, "Yeah, the bastard's name is Tooru Amano. You think I could ever forget the name of the man who murdered my biological dad?"
Trip took out a small spiral-bound notepad, wrote down the names of Mai's late biological dad and Tomatsu's dad. "Okay, I think that I speak for everyone in my group when I say that we wanna get more details here first," Trip said, "I wanna find out the true ultimate start of things here, because I got an itching feeling that you may not be as justified as you think you are."
"What are you talking about?" Mai asked, "I'm totally fully justified in doing what I did to Tomatsu. Knowing that not only was Tomatsu's life ruined but that Tomatsu himself is now a member of Team Scorn ought to be eating away at the bastard who killed my biological dad."
"Revenge often is an unpleasant thing," Kenny said as he and the others prepared to take off, "Especially if it's revenge-by-proxy." The reborn trainers then went off to do their investigation into the story of Mai's grudge against, with Dawn saying that she first wants to visit Tooru Amano first to get a feel for what kind of man he is, and if he is as much of a jerk as Mai implies that he is.
Later, the reborn trainers were able to meet with Tooru at the office building he was working at. The man was fair skinned, had dark brownish hair, and he was dressed in a white dress shit with red neck tie, tan dress pants, shiny black dress shoes, and he wore a pair of suspenders. He looked like a man dressed for corporate work, at least that's the vibe he gave off. To say that Tooru was surprise a number of accomplished trainers in the current season of the World Coronation Series wanted to speak with him was an understatement, especially as one of said trainers is the Sinnoh Champion and current Monarch.
"Is there anything I can help you with, Champion Dawn?" Tooru asked, obviously trying to be cordial and friendly, as if sucking up to her might net his company some favor later on down the line. Or at least net him some favor later on down the line.
Nodding once, Dawn said, "Actually yeah. We're here as part of an investigation my group here and I are doing to get to the bottom of the story surrounding Tomatsu."
Tooru's expression immediately became guilty and somber. "...Ah yes, my son," Tooru remarked, sounding guilty and wishing things turned out different, "His life was ruined by some horrible little vixen, that's how my wife Ryoko describes said girl. And then the last I heard of Tomatsu, he not only had joined Team Scorn, but he's one of their Captains." Gently shaking his head, Tooru said, "I just wanna know why that girl who ruined his life had acted so."
"When you say 'little vixen who ruined Tomatsu's life'," Mina began, "Are you referring to Mai Harrington? Although she and her mom now use Mai's step-dad's last name of Brusis since Mai's mom remarried."
Perking up a bit, Tooru said, "That's the girl's name?"
Gesturing to Tooru, Trip said, "Yeah, Mai has a beef against you because of your interactions with her late biological dad Marcus Harrington."
Right away, the look in Tooru's eyes shifted to one of recollecting bitter, unamusing memories that made him grumpy. "...Ah yes, Marcus Harrington," Tooru said, "He was one my employees before he died due to overworking. It's more common here in Kanto and parts of Johto than what people would like."
"You weren't," Dawn noted, "Still aren't, fond of Marcus."
"Why should I ever have liked him?" Tooru said, "He was one of those jerk jock types back in school who acted like he wax the big man on campus. He technically was, but he was more of a big jerk on campus than anything else. You only ever saw his jerk qualities shine through if something offended him." Arching a wry eyebrow, Tooru went on, "And believe you me. If something offended him, he'd make it known."
"I... take it he took offence to you back when you guys were in school," Kenny said.
Nodding once in the affirmative, Tooru replied, "Oh yeah, he obviously didn't like me. To make matters worse, I never learned why, even though I had clearly asked him in no uncertain terms what I had done. Well, more than a decade after school, I got my position here in the company, and who would one day turn up as a new hire here than Marcus himself. I also noticed it that he very clearly had no idea who I was, he had completely forgotten who I was. But I never forgot him."
"...So you used the position you had over a former bully to overwork him," Trip asked, getting the feeling that Mai's hatred for Tooru actually WAS justified, even if it didn't justify what she did to Tomatsu.
"In my defense and to Marcus's credit, he was actually one of the very few competent employees I had working under me at the time," Tooru said, "And the company was going through a crunch period, made worse by activities from the then existing Team Rocket. I kind of needed ALL of my competent employees, among which was Marcus, to do as much work as possible until the crunch period was over. It... was during that crunch period that Marcus died from overworking. I actually hated that he had died, partly because I got petty joy out of making him do as much as I could get away with, but mostly because, regardless of my personal feelings for him, Marcus was one of my best employees." Looking a bit remorseful, Tooru said, "I... should have eased up on Marcus."
"Yeah, especially as Marcus's daughter Mai ruined your son Tomatsu's life due to believing you knowingly and willingly overworked Marcus to death," Mina said.
Getting a bit defensive, Tooru said, "I would NEVER overwork an employee to death knowingly and willingly, even if said employee was a bully from my school days."
"But you did get at least some satisfaction from making him work as much as you had," Mina said. Tooru nodded in agreement to the point.
To the other reborn trainers, Dawn said, "We need to look into WHY Marcus had bullied Tooru here when they were in school." To Tooru, Dawn asked, "Would you know of anyone who might know the answer?"
Shrugging, Tooru said, "Maybe his widow, she might have something that could hint towards why Marcus made my life a living hell when we were in school." The reborn trainers nodded in thanks to Tooru before they made a trip back to the estate Mai lived at with her mom and step-dad, as Mai's mom is the widow of the late Marcus, who may not be as clean as Mai herself believed.
Back at the estate, the reborn trainers met with Mai's mom inside. Mai's mom, named Maya, was basically an adult version of Mai, albeit her long-sleeved blouse, khaki pants, and hair worn down over her back unbound in a ponytail made Maya come off as not as in-tune with current styles as Mai herself. Maya expressed surprise over the reborn trainers asking her about her late first husband Marcus. "Oh, I have a photo of him next to his urn on the mantle in the living room," Maya said as she led the reborn trainers over to see.
The photo next to the urn depicted the textbook definition example of a salaryman; his dark grayish brown hair was combed and brushed straight and it reached his jaw, he wore glasses, and he was dressed in a white long-sleeved dress shirt and wore a red tie; the picture was a profile pic so it didn't show Marcus from the waist down, but Dawn was willing to bet that the rest of Marcus's outfit he wore when the photo was taken included a pair of dress pants that met company dress code, dress shoes, and a belt holding the pants up. Marcus's expression seemed placid and dry, yet friendly.
A person looking at this photo of Marcus would NEVER guess him to have ever been any sort of bully, at least without knowing of his past with Tooru. As such, Dawn had asked Maya, "Did Marcus ever say anything about his boss at work, Tooru Amano?"
"Only that Mr. Amano placed a lot of stock on him and the other employees who performed similarly as well as Marcus himself," Maya said, "Why?"
Gesturing to Maya, Trip said, "We... actually spoke to Tooru Amano at his work, and we got it from him that Marcus had actually bullied him pretty bad back when they were in school. By the time Marcus and Tooru met in the corporate world years after graduating, Marcus completely forgot Tooru and failed to recognize that his former bullying victim was now his new boss."
A look of remembering something crossed Maya's face. "Marcus DID tell me about his time in school, about how he would screw with this one boy he didn't like because the girl Marcus had a crush on at the time ended up being in love with the boy Marcus would screw with."
"So Marcus... had a crush on a girl that ended up being in love with a boy Marcus would screw with," Dawn said, "And chances are that said boy was Tooru." To the other reborn trainers, Dawn said, "I think that we may have the reason why Marcus had been bull-"
*CRASH*
"AH! IT'S TEAM SCORN!"
"ALRIGHT, EVERYONE! TURN OVER THAT BITCH MAI BRUSIS AND NO-ONE ELSE WILL GET HURT!"
Dawn was cut off when the event outside that Mai was throwing was crashed, and it was obvious that Team Scorn was the party crasher. Dawn also had a sinking feeling that Tomatsu was among the number, looking for Mai specifically. "It looks like we got us some party crashers," Kenny said grimly.
Nodding once, Dawn said, "Yeah, let's go deal with them." The reborn trainers then all ran outside to go deal with Team Scorn.
...
Outside, the party guests were running around in a panic as they were harassed by Team Scorn grunts. Among the number of persons running around in a panic were Mai, who was being chased by a female Team Scorn grunt dressed in the standard uniform, although she had her hair in a high ponytail with a yellow ribbon. The female Grunt was aided by a male Team Scorn member dressed in a unique outfit; a yellow shirt that was open in the front to reveal the dark blue shirt underneath, yellow pants that ended about halfway down his shins, yellow socks, and dark blue shoes.
His hair was brown and three points stuck up on top, with a small tuft sticking up at the base of his skull on the back of his head. The Team Scorn insignia, a yellow heater shield with a dark blue Team Scorn 'S', was over his chest on his shirt. The uniquely dressed Team Scorn member, plus the female grunt accompanying him, soon had Mai cornered, leaving her no avenue to escape. Seeing that he had Mai trapped, the uniquely dressed Team Scorn member smirked in dark amusement, cracking his knuckles a bit in a show of intimidating Mai. It worked well as Mai began whimpering out of fright, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes.
"Oh don't give me that sad scared girl b.s," the uniquely dressed member of Team Scorn snarled, "You brought this on yourself for not only ruining my life but going as far as you did, and for seemingly no reason!"
Mai was about to speak up, but was cut off when Kenny and Mina leapt in to stand between Mai and the Team Scorn members. Seeing this, the uniquely dressed Team Scorn member looked around and saw that Dawn and Trip were going about fighting the other present members of Team Scorn. Looking back to Kenny and Mina, the uniquely dressed Team Scorn member said, "And who are you guys to get in the way of my revenge on the harlot who ruined my life?"
"You're Tomatsu Amano, right?" Kenny asked.
The uniquely dressed member of Team Scorn looked surprised for a moment, but simmered down. "...Yeah, I'm Tomatsu," replied the now identified Tomatsu, "I'm the First Captain of Team Scorn's Pocketwatch Sector. The girl with me is Endo,, my Captain's Assistant. Now answer me this. Why are you in my way of getting revenge?"
"My friends and I investigated things when Mai asked us to help cover her if you showed up," Kenny said, "We learned that Mai ruined your life because she held your dad accountable for the death of her biological dad, and from that we learned that Mai's biological dad had been your dad's bully back in school, although he didn't let that go to his head when he became Mai's biological dad's boss and was actually upset his old bully had died from overwork."
"And we just found out from Mai's mom that Mai's biological dad had bullied your dad because the first girl Mai's biological dad had a crush on fell in love with your dad," Mina went on, "So from what we're figuring, this whole mess started because Mai's biological dad got mad your dad stole his first crush."
Tomatsu's eyes widened a bit again, but simmered back down. "...My dad did tell me he met my mom back when they were in school and he was being bullied by a jerk named Marcus," Tomatsu said. Looking to Mai who now had a surprised look of shock on her face, Tomatsu said, "And the jerk bully's daughter decided to do to me what her dad did to my dad. Keep the legacy going as it were."
"I... I had no idea my biological dad had... holy hell..." Mai said, "My... my dad had... and I thought that-"
"You thought nothing!" Tomatsu screamed, cutting Masi off, "And now I'll make you pay!"
"As much as you have some legitimate beef with Mai over an issue that ultimately her late biological dad started," Kenny said, "We can't let you who is a member of Team Scorn harm anyone! Okay, Cell! Let's make it cringe!"
"Go, Umbreon!" Mina said as she sent out her shiny Umbreon to back up Kenny's named shiny Scizor.
"Go, Grumpig!" the now identified Endo said as she sent out a Grumpig.
"Go, Swoobat!" Tomatsu said as he sent out a Swoobat. Pointing forward, Tomatsu said, "Swoobat, use Air Cutter on Scizor!"
"Grumpig, use Power Gem on Umbreon!" Endo called out.
"Umbreon, use Bite on Grumpig!" Mina ordered.
"Cell, use Night Slash on Swoobat!" Kenny commanded.
Cell was the first to go, and his Night Slash scored a critical hit on Swoobat that knocked it out before it could attack. Umbreon's Bite didn't knock out Endo's Grumpig, but it did make Grumpig flinch thus keep it from attacking. Tomatsu recalled his fainted Swoobat and sent out a Ludicolo. "Ludicolo, use Bubble Beam on Scizor!" Tomatsu ordered.
"Grumpig, use Power Gem on Umbreon!" Endo commanded.
"Umbreon, use Bite on Grumpig!" Mina called out.
"Cell, use X-Scissor on Ludicolo!" Kenny ordered.
Once again, Cell was the first to move, and the named shiny Scizor scored a solid blow with X-Scissor that ended up knocking out Ludicolo before it could attack. Likewise, Endo's Grumpig fell to the second bite from Mina's shiny Umbreon. Tomatsu and Endo recalled their Pokémon, and Endo sent out an Alcremie that was Vanilla with a Love Sweet. However, the Pokémon that Tomatsu sent out took Mina and especially Kenny by surprise, not because of its species but because of its appearence and how it shared something in common with one of Kenny's on-hand Pokémon.
"Go, Delcatty!" Tomatsu called out as he sent in a shiny Delcatty.
Kenny, upon seeing the shiny Delcatty that Tomatsu sent out, said, "I know what I must do. Cell, return! Okay, Jibanyan! Let's make it cringe!" To the surprise of Tomatsu and Endo, Kenny swapped his shiny Scizor out for a shiny Skitty. "We must reach deep within to unleash ultimate cringe and moxie in order to win, Jibanyan!" Kenny declared, "Hit the Delcatty with your Paws of Fury!"
"Wait, what?" Tomatsu said, only to be cut off when Jibanyan rushed Delcatty and struck it with fury Swipes that looked like rapid fire fisticuffs. The shiny Skitty struck the shiny Delcatty hard, so much so that Jibanyan was actually able to knock Delcatty out with the one assault. Jibanyan then ended up helping Mina's Umbreon take out Endo's Alcremie, resluting in a win for Kenny and Mina.
Tomatsu scowled in bitter annoyance as he and Endo recalled their fainted Pokémon. "...So," Tomatsu said, "I still failed to get back at the girl who ruined my life because she held me accountable for a mess that, as you heroes said, ultimately is traced back to be the fault of her own biological father. Mai ruined my life because her dad didn't like mine when they were in school."
Mai, now realizing how badly she had messed up, tried to apologize, but at that point most of Team Scorn at the party had been bested. At Tomatsu's cue, Team Scorn took out and used smoke grenades to cover their escape. When the smoke settled, everyone saw that Team Scorn had disappeared. The heroes had won and no-one was hurt or missing. But Mai looked down to the ground, ashamed, as the weight of everything hit her. She had ruined Tomatsu's life over something he was in no way guilty of or responsible for, to avenge her biological dad against Tomatsu's dad, even though it turns out Mai's biological dad had bullied Tomatsu's dad without mercy over a reason as petty as Mai's biological dad losing his first crush to Tomatsu's dad.
Mai, realizing everything that happened here today was her fault over tormenting a guy who didn't really deserve it, started crying.
Later, when police came by to get statements, the reborn trainers saw that a number of civilians had gathered to see what was going on. Among the civilians, Dawn noticed, was Tooru who stood with a woman she assumed was Tooru's wife he mentioned earlier, Ryoko. She had a lovely face, with her eyes behind glasses. Fair and flawless skin, she had long brown hair, and she wore a yellow long-sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up about halfway up her forearms, a pastel pale orange scarf, denim shorts, black tights, and plain yellow shoes. The woman was also notably obese, with Dawn estimating her to weight at least a quarter-ton. But the woman's fatness helped to make her come off as a warm, kindly, welcoming motherly figure.
Dawn led the reborn trainers over, met with Tooru and confirmed the fat woman with him was indeed his wife Ryoko. That also confirmed that she's the mother of tomatsu, who fled with the rest of Team Scorn. Dawn told Tooru and Ryoko that Tomatsu was here, as well as why he sought revenge on Mai. Dawn also told Tooru and Ryoko the specific details they learned about the history between Tooru and the late Marcus; to sum things up, Marcus's first crush fell for Tooru instead, leading to Tooru being bullied by Marcus, leading to Tooru resenting Marcus and delighting in adulthood how he was able to work him hard, leading to Mai resenting Tooru, leading to Mai ruining Tomatsu's life, leading to tomatsu joining Team Scorn and trying to get revenge on her.
Ryoko, a look of heartbroken horror on her plump face, held her hands over her mouth, only to remove them enough to say, "My... my baby was here..."
"And he sought revenge," Kenny said, "Possibly as violent as possible, on Mai because she ruined his life."
"Which she did because she held Tooru here accountable for her biological dad's death," Mina went on while gesturing to Tooru.
"Which happened due to overwork on Tooru's watch albeit not by his intentional doing," Trip went on.
"But he DID admit to SOME satisfaction to working his former bully hard," Kenny went on.
"And Marcus had bullied Tooru back in school because it turns out the first girl Marcus had crushed on fell for Tooru instead," Dawn finished, "So unfortunately for Mai, when one gets right down to it, ultimately this whole mess started because Marcus was petty and jealous."
Ryoko had a look of surprise on her face. "Wait... you said Marcus had bullied tooru here back in school because a girl that Marcus had a crush on fell for Tooru instead," the very fat woman began, "That... that girl might have been me."
"What?!" the reborn trainers (aside from Dawn who kept quiet) exclaimed in unison.
Nodding oncde, Ryoko said, "Oh yes, Marcus back in school did ask me out, said I was the cutest girl at school. But I turned himdown due to having fallen in love with the boy who eventually grew into the man I married and had Tomatsu with." Rubbing her hands over her very considerable belly, Ryoko said, "Granted, Marcus if he saw me today would be surprised with how I turned out. I was a beanpole of a girl back when we were all students."
As the reborn trainers talked with Tooru and Ryoko, they were approached by Mai and her mom Maya. "...You guys are Tomatsu's parents," Maya said, drawing affirmative nods out of Tooru and Ryoko, "I am so sorry about what my daughter did to your son. If I had known of the campaign she led to ruin Tomatsu, I would have put a stop to it."
"To... to be honest," Tooru said, "Your daughter was in a bad place because things weren't clarified and discussed in open, civil talk. I... I could have saved a lot of trouble here if I just told Marcus what exactly had me so upset. We were civil adults by that point, we matured enough to settle things resposibly. But I guess some scars are so painful they refuse to be healed."
"Well as sad as it is," Dawn spoke up, "Regardless of who is truly at fault here, Tomatsu has thrown his lot in with Team Scorn, so he has to be brought in and brought to justice. And it's not just him, but all of the Pocketwatch Sector of Team Scorn, as well as Team Scorn as a whole."
"Speaking of the Pocketwatch Sector," Trip said, "I get the feeling we'll next run into the Admin leading the pocketwatch Sector, that Kyubi fellow who has a Delphox that will kick the ass of Kenny's Tyranitar."
"GODZILLA WILL BREAK THE CURSE!" Kenny declared.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY
Author's notes;
This chapter sees the continuation of the struggles against the Pocketwatch Sector, the native sector of Team Scorn in the Kanto region. This time we're introduced to Captain Tomatsu, who seeks revenge on a girl named Mai for ruining his life, because she holds his dad accountable for her biological dad dying due to overwork (more common in Japan IRL than it should be), although her biological dad had bullied Tomatsu's dad back in school because a girl who would end up being Tomatsu's mom fell for Tomatsu's dad instead. When one gets right down to it, things ultimately started because Mai's biological dad didn't like taking no for an answer.
Revenge is often an ugly sort of business; it's often detailed and varied, but in the end it's still often ugly business. That factoid, I believe, is part of why some folks often discourage seeking revenge. But revenge can be as tempting and desirable as it can be ugly, hence why people often go after it anyway. But revenge won't stop here. The next chapter will see the reborn trainers run into Admin Kyubi, head of Team Scorn's Pocketwatch Sector. But how things there will go has yet to be seen, although Kenny will seek the 'break the curse' that Godzilla has so to speak. Things will continue in the next chapter, so until then take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Tsukune (Palkia), Odin (Arceus), Argent (male Arcanine; alpha; Hisuian), Germany (male Garchomp), Leni (female Lucario)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Cell (male Siczor; shiny), Venoct (Suicune), Jibanyan (male Skitty; shiny), Master Nyada (male Meowth; Galarian), Zamasu (Necrozma)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Emploeon), Deelia (Dialga), Natalya (female Copperajah), Akibot 966 (Golurk), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; totem), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Dragonite (male), Gardevoir (male), Espeon (male; shiny), Jolteon (male; shiny), Flareon (male; shiny)