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 ninety-two: Navi Nonsense
Over at his semi out of the way home in a semi out of the way area in a semi out of the way town in the Orange Islands, Ideku Badorigo was running his on hand team of Pokémon through some exercises in the field behind the home. Well, he was running his Meganium, Houndoom, Quagsire, and Dragonite through the exercises; he'd draw unwanted attention if he were to have his Zekrom and Enamorus join the group.
They finished the group exercise just in time for the arrival of Ayane, wearing her current disguise for going out in public. Seeing that his girlfriend had come and that the group exercise was finished just now, Ideku decided that it was the perfect time to take a break. "I don't suppose I can get your help in bringing food out to my Pokémon, can I?" Ideku asked as he and his Pokémon took the time to catch their breaths.
...
As Ideku's on hand Pokémon ate, Ideku and Ayane sat at an outdoor table off to the side. "Admin Slime's most recent act went off without a hitch," Ayane informed Ideku, "Dawn Berlitz and her group of companions have no idea what Admin Slime's real plans are, or where they're even being carried out at. The most recent event involved distracting Dawn's group with an attack on the Paldean town of Porto Marinada."
Ideku nodded once in acknowledgement. "Good. Admin Slime is one step closer to being able to carry out the 'Scorched Earth Paldea' plan that I had posed to him. As a vital part of my true goals, the plan I had posed to Admin Slime must be carried out successfully."
Ayane arched a wry eyebrow. "So it was you who actually came up with the plan that will result in Paldea being wiped off the face of the Earth?" Shrugging indifferently, Ayane said, "...Huh. I could of sworn that it was Admin Slime's brainchild."
"No, Admin Slime is NOT the one who came up with the 'Scorched Earth Paldea' plan," Ideku replied, "He's just all too happy to play along with it and help see it to fruition. And with his latest success, he is one step closer to successfully completing so important a plan."
"Fair enough," Ayane said. Looking to Ideku, Ayane said, "I got word that Dawn and her companions are heading in the area of another one of the abandoned Team Star bases. This one is in the forest area, and was formerly ran by Captain's Assistant Atticus." Gesturing to Ideku, Ayane said, "Captain Hochu is already set to besiege the base while Paldean authority works to clear it away."
Ideku gave a single contemplative hum. "I got it that all of the authority figures in the Mask Sector, Officers and Officer's Assistants alike, personally suffered in some form due to the corrupt wealthy elite that essentially rules the Paldea region. But I don't quite remember how Hochu suffered due to the incompetent greed of Paldea's wealthy elite."
"Wealthy elite children attending Naranja Academy killed Hochu's grandson who was also a student in a hazing ritual gone wrong," Ayane explained, "Granted the killing was technically an accident, but by no means was the hazing ritual something that they should have been doing at all. The wealthy elite, as they are wont to do, were able to cover things up and allow their murderous legacies to get away with what they had done scot free."
Nodding once in understanding, Ideku said, "Ah yes. Hochu is one of the oldest, if not THE oldest, members of Team Scorn in terms of personal age. It makes sense that he's old enough to of had at least one grandchild."
"He seeks to avenge the death of his grandson," Ayane said, "And I got it that said grandson, at the time of his death, was a year or two younger than Dawn Berlitz."
Ideku scowled bitterly. "The spoiled brat rich legacy kids allowed to make Naranja Academy their personal stomping grounds have been allowed to get away scot free with committing all manner of foul offenses, up to and including taking lives. And because the wealthy elite hold all the chips in the Paldea region, nothing can ever be done against them. I can see why Admin Slime has been quick to get into my 'Scorched Earth Paldea' plan."
"Naranja Academy," Ayane began, "What with how they're forced by the wealthy elite to let them do as they please and when, makes even Blackthorn City Academy look tame. Keep in mind that I was expelled from Blackthorn City Academy because a legacy hire didn't like that I stood up to her when she was blatantly bullying an autistic girl in front of both the autistic girl's homeroom class and the homeroom class I was in."
Ideku arched a wry eyebrow. "It would seem that enough money and political pressure can not only take away the spines of even the most stubborn persons willing to do right by the people, but also keep persons under such pressure from being able to regrow their spines. The wealthy elite of the Paldea region, by constantly insisting that they never face responsibility or consequences, will end up driving Paldea into oblivion anyway, even without Team Scorn interference. All that Team Scorn is doing by getting involved is making the inevitable happen sooner and at a quicker rate."
"Hopefully the persons who make up the command structure of the Mask Sector will get to carry out their personal vendettas before Paldea is rendered no more," Ayane said.
"It's like I've said before," Ideku remarked, "So long as it doesn't interfere with their work, I'm all for letting the men under my authority knock out two flying types with one rock type. If they're able to carry out a personal vendetta while working a mission, or better yet a mission just so happens to let slash help them carry out a personal vendetta, then who am I to tell them no?"
Ayane gave Ideku an amused look. "Here's to you, Boss of the Year."
Over in the Tagtree Thicket area of the Paldea region, The Jelly-Filled Donut was parked in a cleared area within the fenced in area of the abandoned Team Star base located in that wooded area of the Paldea region. Dawn and her usual group left the flying ship, leaving the regular adult men on board to guard the place.
"But there's not going to be any spoiled brat rich legacy kids here," Mina said as she and the others got off of The Jelly-Filled Donut and onto solid ground, "Why leave some of the crew behind?"
"There's still the fact that Team Scorn is likely to try and lay siege to the Team Star base here, given that they had done so to the first few Team Star bases so far," Dawn pointed out, "Also." Without saying a word, Dawn pointed something out to her group; Geeta, the Top Champion of Paldea, was seen being chewed out by a group of three wealthy elite type persons. "Now the parents responsible for spoiling the kids into incompetence are here," Dawn said dryly.
"You think that they may try to force their way onto the flying ship?" Sho asked.
Nodding once, Dawn replied, "I wouldn't be surprised if the spoiled brat rich legacy kids are the way that they are because they learned by observing." Within short order, the group made their way over to the main big tent thing in the Team Star base. Sho and Rhyanna held the flaps open and let Dawn and the others go inside, dropping the flaps after them when following.
Inside of the tent was a large custom hotrod vehicle. The group aside from Dawn, Leona, and Omiyo checked out the custom hotrod while the three girls looked around to see if there was a desk setup with a forgotten journal and a Team Star badge laying on it. Sure enough, there was such a desk in the back right corner of the tent if you're facing the tent while entering through the front flaps.
It was the same setup as the first few times; a single folding table and folding chair (same kinds as the last two bases too), plus an abandoned journal with a pen laying next to it. Dawn saw and picked up a small circular badge comparable to Paldean gym badges; the symbol on the Team Star badge clearly represented the poison type. Dawn pocketed the Team Star badge.
After Dawn had pocketed Team Star badge number three, she heard Leona speak up in a dry and unamused tone, "Oh wow. The rich kids are even worse than I thought." Looking over, Dawn saw that Leona was reading the abandoned journal.
"What's up?" Dawn asked.
Gesturing to the journal, Leona began, "Apparently, a trio of the rich kids attending Naranja Academy had decided to put a new kid through some manner of hazing ritual that had ended up resulting in killing the kid."
Dawn actually blanched at that. "They murdered a kid in a hazing ritual gone wrong?"
Nodding once in the affirmative, Leona went on, "And get this; despite how a good chunk of the student body knows about it, the guilty rich kids got away with what they did. Blame was able to be pinned on other factors, and one of the rich kids said it was an accident."
"Hang on," Omiyo began, "The journal says that a good number of students at Naranja Academy all know that the trio of rich kids in question had killed a new student. Accident or no, that's still murder. How come the guilty rich kid trio wasn't expelled from school and arrested for the blatantly obvious case of murder that they had committed?"
"I think it's been firmly established that if you're a citizen of Paldea and you're rich enough," Dawn began in a dry tone while wearing a likewise expression, "Then the consequences of what actions you take simply don't exist for you."
Nodding in agreement, Leona said, "Tell me about it. The family of the kid killed in the hazing ritual gone wrong, the boy's parents and grandfather, tried to take legal action against the families of the rich kids, but the boy's family was browbeaten into submission by the limitless authoritative power that Paldea's wealthy elite have access to."
"You got that from the journal?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah, although the journal was a bit hard for me to follow," Leona replied, "It's written by some guy named Atticus, and he wrote everything in the journal in some manner of flowery, ye old Galarian speak, like he's a character in an old timey play written by that one famous Galarian playwright who lived a couple of centuries ago."
Dawn's eyes widened a bit out of surprise. "...There was a Team Scorn Captain's Assistant named Atticus at the last Team Star base we were at, and he spoke in a manner such as what you've just described, Leona. I think he might be the same guy who wrote that journal."
"You don't think that we may encounter other journal writers after they had joined Team Scorn, do you?" Leona asked, looking concerned.
Dawn let out a whistle. "I hope like hell that we don't. We have already seen two confirmed former Team Star members having joined Team Scorn. We don't need to see anymore."
After Leona handed the journal over to Dawn, they were met up by Kenny, Trip, Mina, Rhyanna, and Sho who just got done checking out the abandoned custom hotrod. Sho, spotting the free to take folding table and folding chair, acted on opportunity again and claimed them. There was nothing to stop him and the others, and having the extra table space and extra chairs would come in handy for when big parties are held on The Jelly-Filled Donut.
With nothing else to keep them there, Dawn and her crew left the big tent, so as to take their claimed items back to the flying ship to put away before resuming to assist in dismantling the Team Star base in the Tagtree Thicket area.
...
As Dawn and her group was making it back to The Jelly-Filled Donut, they stopped short when they saw the trio of wealthy elite adults arguing with Geeta about a meter in front of where Mitch stood in front of where the drawbridge touched the ground; Heath stood at the top of the drawbridge, blocking the way onto the deck of the flying ship. Dawn, figuring that there was a chance that the wealthy elite adults were trying to bully their way aboard The Jelly-Filled Donut because they're just like the generation they're raising, led her group over.
However, when Dawn and her group got close enough, they saw that it was simply just more of the adults chewing Geeta out for letting any harm befall the generation they're raising. "Seriously, how could you be so careless, Geeta?" the lone woman of the group, dressed like a wealthy socialite, said as she berated the Top Champion of Paldea.
"Your negligence, combined with your clear lack of knowing how to prioritize the real top priority, led to three innocent children being killed!" said a somewhat older man who was balding and had a bit of a paunch, "You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"
"And then word gets out you tried to shirk the blame by pinning it on a girl that you had been noted to have set up to fail," said the other man of the group, a reed of a man about as old as the fellow in his group, "Shirking blame is not something one is allowed to do."
"Unless of course they're wealthy jerk-wads who are part of the social class that had more or less bought the region that everyone lives in," Mina's voice spoke up as she, Dawn, and the rest of the group came walking up.
The second man, not having seen Dawn's group, said, "Yes, exactly. Only the- hey, who said that?" The trio of wealthy elite adults, as well as Geeta, looked around until it was the second man who saw Dawn's group approach. "Which one of you damned little brats was the one who insulted my fellows here and I?" the second man demanded firmly, "Others aren't allowed to insult or so much as criticize us, you know!"
"It's amazing how some people out there can be so utterly full of themselves that they flat out proclaim that they are prevented from essentially having to be responsible for their own actions," Mina said dryly, "Seriously? You just flat out say that others outside of your social circle aren't allowed to insult or criticize those who are in your social circle? Are you and your fellows really that far detached from reality?"
"How dare you, you little brat!" the woman said, "I can have you arrested for daring to show me and my fellows even the barest bit of disrespect! It'd take me but a single call to have you ruined!"
Nodding once to the trio of wealthy adults, Rhyanna said, "Yup, yeah, you guys really are that far detached from reality."
"You guys are less well behaved than the average minor," Sho said, "I've met kids who are more mature than what you three are being right now. No wonder the brats your generation is raising had all turned out to be spoiled brats, because that's what the lot of you are."
Giving the wealthy adults a firm look, Dawn said, "The clearing of the Team Star bases is official work being done by authorities in the Paldea region. The work on its own has some risk, and there's a further level of risk involved because both prior cases of Team Star bases being cleared away saw Team Scorn attack while the bases were being cleared. With the precedent set, people who have no real reason to be at the Team Star bases while said bases are being cleared away shouldn't even be at the bases in the first place."
The first wealthy man was about to speak, but Trip interrupted him. "Team Scorn is involved here," Trip said, "That means that all bets are off the table. Dealing with them while preventing as much stuff as possible is the top priority, and if that means rich idiots like you guys have to swallow your pride and concede in certain areas to the others who are willing to fight Team Scorn, then you had better do so because otherwise you'll be nothing but liabilities."
"How dare you!" the wealthy woman practically shrieked, "Do you have even an inkling of an idea of who I am, you little-"
"No he doesn't know who you are," Dawn interrupted, "Nor could he, or anyone else who's part of the crew of my flying ship for that matter, care less who you are. You wanna know who else couldn't care less who you are? Team Scorn. All of the threats and social pressure that you and your fellows in the same social circle as you could apply won't mean anything to members of an inter-regional criminal organization who have no qualms with killing others if it'll help them achieve their goals."
"This may sound like a crazy idea to you and your fellows," Rhyanna said to the trio of wealthy adults, "But you guys ought to try actually thinking realistically and considering the consequences of what all you get up to. Your social circle shouldn't have made Geeta let your fellows' kids come and watch even the first Team Star base get taken down. But the first base being besieged by Team Scorn while we were in the middle of taking it down should have been all the warning you needed to get it that you and those of your social class shouldn't even be here."
"Those kids were killed by Team Scorn because, when one gets right down to it," Omiyo spoke up, "You and your fellows had put them in danger out of arrogance. You and those in your social circle have no one to blame for the deaths of those kids but yourselves."
The first wealthy man tried speaking up, but Dawn cut him off by saying, "Do you REALLY wanna risk an inter-regional incident by getting up in the faces of me and my crew, even though all we've really done is tell you off?" That apparently made the wealthy adults realize that this was a case where they really shouldn't be trying to push for assuaging their wounded pride, that they honestly had no real choice aside from swallowing their hard to swallow pride and let things go.
Dawn was feeling that Team Star's actions, although still unjustified to an extent, were getting more and more understandable to an extent.
In her personal room on board of The Jelly-Filled Donut, Dawn put Atticus's Journal on her bookshelf along with where the journals of Giacomo and Mela were kept. Dawn also put the Poison Badge in the keepsake box, where the other Team Star badges were being kept. The keepsake box is also where Dawn put the Titan Badges that Arven made for her.
After she was done putting stuff away, Dawn left her room. However, the moment she opened her door to leave, she saw that Mina, Leona, and Omiyo were all there, with Leona looking like she was about to knock on Dawn's door. Arching a wry eyebrow, Dawn said, "Let me guess. Team Scorn has swarmed into the Team Star base."
"According to what we heard, the three wealthy adults who were chewing Geeta out earlier have..." Omiyo began, taking pause to shudder a bit out of fright, ""... Have been murdered already by this one grandpa looking man."
"Grandpa looking man?" Dawn asked, a voice in her head telling her that this 'grandpa looking man' may very well be important.
Nodding once, Mina said, "He looks to be the Team Scorn Officer leading the raid on the Team Star base! Everyone outside is already trying to fight off Team Scorn! We need to go help!"
Dawn agreed and proceeded to rush out with the other girls. Dawn could only hope that they could prevent anymore damage than what had already been done. But given that there were deaths again, and of three of the wealthy elite persons from the social circle that basically runs Paldea, Dawn had no doubt that shit was going to hit the fan.
...
When Dawn got outside with the other girls, they saw that there was fighting all over. Over in one area, Dawn spotted Rimu, Nemona, and Penny trying to fight off some Team Scorn grunts, showing Dawn that those three were still on the 'Team Star base clearing' payroll. She also spotted Geeta fighting a trio of Team Scorn grunts alone. The numbers that Geeta faced along with Geeta looking unsettled told Dawn that the Top Champion of Paldea wasn't doing so hot.
Dawn and the girls were about to rush in to help Geeta, but were stopped short when they heard an older man's voice call out, "Well now, it would appear that an adept opponent had appeared on the field of battle. Said opponent may very well be TOO adapt to take down, but we must try to face her either way."
Dawn and the girls turned to see an older man, easily senior citizen, approach them, followed by a male Team Scorn grunt who clearly assisted him. The older man had fair skin and was somewhat wrinkled to show his more advanced age. His hair was white and long, with the hair in the front all combed back and some of the hair in the back bound in a men's ponytail. He also had a long white goatee growing down from his chin.
The older man wore a yellow long sleeved overcoat, loose yellow pants, a pair of dark blue tabi socks inside a pair of yellow zori sandals, and a dark blue scarf worn around his neck and shoulder area. A Team Scorn insignia patch, dark blue heater shield shape with a yellow Team Scorn 'S', was on the overcoat over the older man's left pectoral. The older man also walked with a simple cane, but Dawn got vibes the cane wasn't exactly for helping the older man get around.
"Aren't you a bit old to be a Team Scorn member?" Mina asked as she addressed the older man.
"Aren't you a bit disrespectful towards your elders to be a would-be hero?" the older man Team Scorn member replied, "Seriously, young lady. My late grandson who died younger than you are was far more courteous and respectful towards his elders." The older man's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And that long lost lad is the ultimate reason why I am here."
Dawn perked up, her attention caught by what the older man said. "...You're the grandfather of the young Naranja Academy student killed in a hazing ritual gone wrong."
Arching a wry eyebrow, the older man said, "So you heard of that. Good, then you understand what drives me." Gesturing to himself, the older man went on, "I am Hochu, Second Captain of Team Scorn's Mask Sector. The lad with me is Giacomo, my Captain's Assistant."
"People say that Team Star, of which I used to be a member, were the bullies tormenting the students at Naranja Academy," the now identified Giacomo said, "But I say that if the accusers had bothered to really check things out, then they'd know the truth!"
Dawn perked up again, this time because she and the girls encountered Giacomo. Dawn got his journal back at the first Team Star base that was cleared away, and now she and the others were meeting Giacomo face to face. "...Regardless of how bad those you argue against are," Dawn began, "What all actions you and your fellows have taken goes too far!"
"Those in Paldea who decided themselves to be Paldea's lords can't be taken down by any means other than means that many say goes too far," the now identified Hochu replied, a mild hint of grim tone in his words, "Anything less simply will not do. Those who we aim to bring down low are far too entrenched, their thumbs far too deep into too many pies, to be removed by any means of a lesser sort. And we WILL be removing all of them from their much coveted thrones."
"...Leona, Omiyo," Dawn said, "Are you two up for serious battling against any of the Team Scorn members here?"
"I may be able to handle one or two of the ones that Mina here refers to as peons," Leona replied, "But not much beyond that."
"I'm seeing a lot of poison type Pokémon being used by the bad guys here," Omiyo said, "That won't be easy for Granbull, and he plus Bellibolt are more companions than battlers."
Dawn nodded once in understanding before asking Leona to take Omiyo somewhere safe while Dawn herself and Mina handled Hochu and Giacomo. After Leona took Omiyo away, Dawn and Mina were able to begin their battle against Hochu and Giacomo. "Go, Cacturne!" Giacomo said as he sent out a Cacturne.
"Go, Grafaiai!" Hochu said as he sent out a Grafaiai.
"Alright, Leni!" Dawn said as she sent out her named Lucario, "Let's get goin'!"
"Go, Gardevoir!" Mina said as she sent out her Gardevoir who is male.
After all Pokémon were out for the battle, Dawn proceeded to Mega Evolve Leni into Mega Lucario. Seeing this piqued Hochu's interest. "So you aim to step things up," Hochu said.
"Considering the fact that you guys, regardless of your reasons, are villains," Dawn began, "I think I'd be completely justified in doing what all I can to combat you."
Hochu actually replied by giving an approving nod. "A good mindset to have when one faces an opponent, especially outside of official events that have some degree of rules enforced. Very well." Gesturing forward, Hochu said, "Grafaiai, use Cross Poison on Gardevoir!"
"Cacturne, use Drain Punch on Lucario!" Giacomo ordered.
"Leni, use Aura Sphere on Cacturne!" Dawn commanded.
"Gardevoir, use Psychic on Grafaiai!" Mina called out.
The named Mega Evolved Lucario was the quickest to act, conjuring and casting an Aura Sphere at Cacturne as it tried rushing her to strike her. The rush failed when Cacturne was blasted by Aura Sphere and went down in one hit. Similarly, Gardevoir blasted Grafaiai with a psychic blast of energy that knocked it out before it could do much.
Hochu and Giacomo were forced to recall their fainted Pokémon to send their next Pokémon out. Giacomo's second Pokémon was a Honchkrow, and to the worry of the girls the next Pokémon that Hochu sent out was a Dodonzo. Seeing one in real life made Dawn and Mina surprised by just how large it was; they were told that Dodonzo were somewhat smaller than Wailords, but they were still plenty big. It dwarfed Dawn's big name legendary Pokémon at least.
Dawn figured that picking off Giacomo would be the way to go here so that Dawn herself and Mina could focus on Hochu's Dodonzo later. "Leni, use Flash Cannon on Honchkrow!" Dawn ordered.
"Gardevoir, use Psychic on Dodonzo!" Mina commanded.
"Dodonzo, use Heavy Slam on Gardevoir!" Hochu called out.
"Honchkrow, use Sucker Punch on Gardevoir!" Giacomo said.
"'AY!" Mina snapped, "Don't gang up on me!"
Team Scorn ignored Mina as Honchkrow rushed in with a priority move and struck the partial psychic type Gardevoir for a fair hit before being blasted by a Flash Cannon from the named Mega Evolved Lucario and going down. Gardevoir was able to blast Dodonzo with Psychic, but so large and bulky a Pokémon wouldn't go down easy, and nothing stopped Gardevoir from being slammed very hard by the steel type assault from Dodonzo.
Giacomo was forced to recall his fainted Honchkrow and send in his next Pokémon, a Kingambit. "Kingambit, use Iron Head on Gardevoir!" Giacomo ordered.
"Dodonzo, use Heavy Slam on Gardevoir!" Hochu commanded.
"Gardevoir return! Go Vaporeon!" Mina said as she swapped Gardevoir to avoid it getting knocked out and sent her (bulky and resistant to steel attacks) shiny Vaporeon out.
"Leni, use Aura Sphere on Kingambit!" Dawn called out.
Thanks to the notes on Paldea's Pokémon that were provided by Jacq so that the reborn trainers could complete the dex completion quest given to them, Dawn knew that Kingambit was an evolved Bisharp and retained the dual dark steel typing. That said, the fighting type move Aura Sphere struck Giacomo's Kingambit down before it even got close to Mina's shiny Vaporeon who was swapped in so that Mina wouldn't see one of her Pokémon go down in battle against Team Scorn.
Vaporeon took the Heavy Slam far better than Gardevoir would have. "Yeah, I'm out of Pokémon," Giacomo said as he recalled his fainted Kingambit.
"Then it falls to me," Hochu said, "Dodonzo, use Order Up on Vaporeon!"
"Leni, use Aura Sphere on Dodonzo!" Dawn ordered.
"Vaporeon, use Shadow Ball on Dodonzo!" Mina commanded.
Leni was first to go, and her Aura Sphere blasted into Dodonzo hard. But it truly was a powerful Pokémon, able to take the Aura Sphere and strike Vaporeon with an attack that had elegant poise to it; Dawn also saw an image of a wooden tray of sushi appear for some odd reason. The attack wasn't super effective on Vaporeon, but neither was it a type that Vaporeon resisted. Dawn had no idea what type of attack Order Up was, but she supposed that she and the others will learn later as they catch a Dodonzo for their dex completion quest.
Dodonzo then took the Shadow Ball from Vaporeon, and was looking to be on the verge of going down; the damage from Gardevoir's Psychic, plus Leni's Aura Sphere and Vaporeon's Shadow Ball, were looking to be adding up now. And Shadow Ball looked to have scored a special defense drop on Dodonzo; Dawn had to strike while the iron was hot.
Dawn called for another Aura Sphere from Leni, who conjured and cast it at Dodonzo. That blow had proven to be the final blow as it was enough to knock out Hochu's Dodonzo. Dawn, as she and Mina looked on, saw Hochu recall his fainted Dodonzo. "...Well now, it would appear that I am bested as well," Hochu said, "This day, as much as I don't like it, belongs to the two of you young ladies."
Suspicious as she can clearly see that Leni's Mega Evolution hadn't come undone yet despite Hochu saying he was finished, Dawn asked, "...Are you sure?"
"I do have a Tatsugiri, but it is ill due to eating something it didn't know was foul, thus is in no shape to battle," Hochu replied, "But rest assured that, should our paths cross again, I shall not be holding back as much but not by lack of options." Hochu then made the call for Team Scorn to pull out from the Team Star base; a bunch of smoke grenades were used to mask their escape, and by the time all of the smoke had settled, Team Scorn was gone.
As Leni's Mega Evolution came undone, Dawn looked on grimly; just like last time, this round's clearing of a Team Star base saw Team Scorn strike directly at the wealthy elite of Paldea. But this time saw not some kids of the wealthy elite be killed, but some of the wealthy elite themselves. No doubt this was going to hit the news in Paldea hard, and no doubt Geeta was going to be in greater trouble than she had gotten into before.
As things were getting cleaned up, Dawn and Mina met back up with the rest of the group that got off of The Jelly-Filled Donut. "So some of the rich idiots with their heads up their butts were put to the chopping block by Team Scorn, eh?" Kenny remarked grimly.
"Eww," Omiyo said, sounding mildly disgusted, "Having one's head up their own butt sounds super nasty! Also, how flexible would a person have to be in order to be able to bend around and stick their own head up their butt like that?"
"Omiyo, the phrase 'head up one's own butt' is a saying to describe someone who is incredibly stubborn," Leona explained, "The three wealthy elite adults that were here were all very much like that, not to mention dumb."
Folding his arms over his chest, Trip said, "I'd say that this ought to be enough to convince all of the rich idiots who basically own the region to just stay the hell out of this business, but if three of their kids getting killed wasn't enough, then I'm not sure if three of the adults themselves will be able to foot the bill."
Dawn gently shook her head. "Well this base is essentially cleared, but I have no clue as to how many bases there are left after thi-"
"There should be only two left after this one."
Dawn took pause when she and the others heard the familiar voice of Penny, the girlfriend of Rimu, call out to them. Turning to look, Dawn and the others saw Penny approach them. "I got it from Rimu," Penny said, "When he was made part of the effort to beat down Team Star back when it was still active. There's a total of five Team Star bases. Three have been cleared away now, so that's got to mean we've only got two bases left."
The heroes were surprised to learn this bit from Penny. "I figured that there was an effort to beat down and get rid of Team Star," Kenny began, "I just didn't think that my worthy adversary Rimu was a part of that effort."
"It occurred shortly after Rimu passed the Champion's Assessment and became a Champion ranked trainer of Paldea," Penny explained, "From what Rimu told me, he and his Pokémon had barely a day of rest after passing the assessment before they were drafted into action."
"We heard a general consensus that the situation with Team Star wasn't exactly handled properly," Sho began, "But then again Chief Dawn and some of the others have seen signs of former members of Team Star having joined Team Scorn, so there's that. What do you think about how the deal with Team Star was handled?"
"That Top Champion Geeta didn't even consider verifying everything before going in," Penny said dryly, "She was just aimed by Paldea's wealthy elite whose kids weren't being allowed to bully their peers at Naranja Academy without consequence, fired from the cannon, and allowed what damage she caused as a result to remain unaddressed."
Dawn turned her head to look over to where Geeta was talking to some emergency workers who were called in as there were three dead bodies at the Team Star base now. Turning to look back to Penny, Dawn said, "...From what we've gathered, Geeta either is turning a blind eye to the actions of the true guilty party, or she legit isn't aware of what the true guilty party is up to."
"If the latter case is the one that's true," Penny began, "Then Geeta is even more oblivious than what Nemona can be. Keep in mind that Nemona, when she saw me and Rimu together for the first time, accused me of trying to 'steal her rival' like how girls would normally accuse one another of trying to steal their boyfriends. Rimu and I had to explain to Nemona that I'm Rimu's girlfriend, not his rival. I swear, Nemona must be part of that one fictional race of alien warriors all addicted to battle."
"Well I hope you're doing fine after repelling the Team Scorn attack," Rhyanna said, "Dawn was telling us about how she and Mina fought off the Officer leading the attack, as well as said Officer's Assistant. The Officer only used two Pokémon because he said his third was in no condition to battle due to getting sick from eating something it didn't know was foul."
Penny looked like her interest was piqued. "Really. Who was the Officer?"
"An older man called Hochu," Dawn explained, "He used a Grafaiai and a Dodonzo, while saying his third Pokémon Tatsugiri was sick."
Penny's eyes widened a bit out of surprised realization. "I heard Hochu's name before. He, his daughter, and the daughter's husband tried taking legal action against the families of three of the rich kids attending Naranja Academy who recklessly caused the death of Hochu's grandson. Said grandson owned a Tatsugiri."
Dawn, hearing that bit, was given reason to believe that Hochu's Tatsugiri wasn't actually sick, he just didn't want to risk seeing it get bested in battle because he actually inherited it from his now late grandson. Rather touching, not to mention sad as if anything it's grandsons that inherit from grandfathers and not the other way around.
Sighing, Dawn said, "Well since things for my crew and I are basically done here, we're getting going. Our next stop is a city called Medali, it's the location of the next gym for me, Kenny, and Trip to go after for challenging."
"Oh, the gym leader there is a man named Larry," Penny said, "Rimu, after he helped with the purging of Team Star, had to assess the gym leaders of Paldea for Geeta, and gave his most favorable assessment to Larry. Even before the assessment, Rimu felt that Larry was the Paldea gym leader he'd approve of the most. According to what Rimu had told me on the matter, Geeta's tone towards Larry is nowhere near as favorable as Rimu's own tone towards Larry."
Arching a wry eyebrow, Kenny said, "Yeah, if my worthy adversary and the Top Champion each have widely differing assessments of a particular person, I'm more inclined to believe the assessment of the former." With all other business settled, the crew of The Jelly-Filled Donut took off on their flying ship after settling everything. The course was set, and they set sail for Medali.
END, CHAPTER TWO-HUNDRED AND NINETY-TWO
Author's notes;
This chapter sees Team Star base number three get cleared, although Dawn and the others had to deal with a Team Scorn attack led by one of Team Scorn's most elder known members, an elder who is aiming to avenge the death of his grandson. Three of Paldea's wealthy elite members were also killed, and no doubt the other wealthy elite persons of Paldea are going to be up in arms over the matter of some of their own being so much as touched.
The chapter ends with discussion on the gym leader Larry, not too favored by Geeta but very much favored by Rimu. And Rimu's seal of approval is all Larry needs for... pretty much everyone else to give him their own seal of approval. How the chapter will go is an adventure that has yet to be seen. It'll be a wild ride, so until then take care.
Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Benimaru (male Skeledirge), Akiza (female Roserade), Luna (female Luxray), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)
Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Elay (male Sandslash; Kantonian; shiny), Moista Fista (male Ursaluna), Black (Giratina; Origin Forme), Panther (female Meowscarada), King Julian (male Grafaiai)
Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Myde (male Empoleon), Mr. Popo (male Magmortar), Alfred (male Marowak; Alolan; Totem), Deelia (Dialga), Launchpad (male Quaquaval), Mike (male Pawmot)
Mina's Pokémon: (on hand) Scar (male Eevee; scared over one eye), Dragonite (male), Gardevoir (male), Umbreon (male; shiny), Espeon (male; shiny), Flareon (male; shiny)